《Let Me Game in Peace》


 1 Abandoning Himself to Vice

    "After the dimensional storms decades ago, multiple dimensional zones appeared across the world¡ªgods, immortals, ghosts, monsters, angels, devils, elves, etc. All kinds of legendary dimensional creatures were discovered. Via hunting these dimensional creatures, humans acquire their powers¡­" As the grizzled Yu Qiubai lectured, he would occasionally cast his gaze to the corner seat at the back of the classroom.


    The other students were listening attentively, but the boy in the corner had his textbook in front of him while sleeping with his arm lay outstretched on the table. From time to time, one could hear faint snoring.


    Yu Qiubai shook his head indiscernibly as he sighed inwardly. So what if you are talented? What can you accomplish if you falter from a single setback? Although the setback from that failure was big, not recovering from it really doesn''t make him live up to the former principal''s approbation of him.


    Yu Qiubai recalled what the former principal had said to him before his retirement. Looking back at the boy sleeping soundly on the table with drool hanging from the corner of his lips, he couldn''t help but shake his head and sigh.


    "Qiubai, I''ve seen many geniuses in my life. In summary, there are two types of geniuses." The former principal back then had very bright eyes.


    "What are the two types?" Yu Qiubai had asked curiously.


    "One type of genius is called Zhou Wen, the other type is the other geniuses."


    The former principal''s words left a deep impression on Yu Qiubai, but the student who was given heaps of praises by the former principal was now a degenerate, one who had no intention of improving himself. All he did was sleep in class. After class, he would be gaming on his cellphone.


    Yu Qiubai had attempted to bolster Zhou Wen''s confidence in the past, hoping that he could rally him up. But despite the numerous pep talks, Zhou Wen remained the same. He continued sleeping in class and gaming out of class. He didn''t focus on cultivation as though he had lost all sense of enterprise.


    Ring!


    With the bell ringing to mark the end of class, Yu Qiubai saw Zhou Wen sit straight up, having awoken from his sweet slumber. Without even turning back, he grabbed his phone and rushed out of the classroom. This only disappointed Yu Qiubai as he muttered with a sigh, "Principal, I''ve tried my best. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen is a hopeless case."


    Zhou Wen jogged the entire way and soon left the building before coming to a secluded corner in the school compound.


    He wasn''t oblivious to the strange looks his teachers and schoolmates gave him, but he didn''t take it to heart.


    Others believed that Zhou Wen had wallowed in self-misery because he had failed to handle the setback, but he knew very well that he had never taken the defeat to heart. The reason he was "abandoning himself to vice" was due to an incomprehensible reason that even he couldn''t explain.


    After unlocking his phone, with great familiarity, Zhou Wen launched a game program called "Ant Nest". Soon, the phone''s screen revealed the dark interior of an ant nest. The meandering paths had countless black ants crawling about.


    After ensuring that no one was looking at him, Zhou Wen pricked his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto the screen.


    A strange scene happened the next second. The drop of blood seeped into the screen as a blood-colored avatar appeared in the game screen of Ant Nest. Beside the blood-colored avatar was a stat window.


    Zhou Wen


    Age: 16 years


    Lifeform level: Mortal


    Strength: 9


    Speed: 5


    Constitution: 8


    Primordial Energy: 4


    Primordial Energy Art: Ascetic Meditation


    Primordial Energy Skills: None


    Companion Beast: None


    Ever since the dimensional storms, all sorts of dimensional life forms had appeared. They were roughly categorized as Mortal, Legendary, Epic, and Mythical. Humans stood at the bottom of the totem pole as Mortals. By cultivating in Primordial Energy Arts, they could raise their constitutions and evolve to higher life forms.


    However, simply cultivating in a Primordial Energy Art to hone one''s body and evolve was extremely slow. Hunting dimensional creatures and robbing them of their dimensional crystals for one''s own use allowed accelerated evolution.


    Pan-dimensional creatures lurked in dangerous places. Other than the zones where humanity had explored, the other zones were almost a sure ticket to death. Not everyone was willing to risk their lives.


    Furthermore, Earth''s federation had clear rules¡ªunderaged youths were forbidden entry into the dimensional zones.


    The Ascetic Meditation, which Zhou Wen had cultivated, was also a Primordial Energy Art. It solely relied on arduously tempering one''s body to cultivate Primordial Energy without the reliance on external forces.


    In the federation, there were plenty of sixteen-year-old geniuses who could produce Primordial Energy from cultivation, but few people on Earth could do it simply by cultivating Ascetic Meditation and tempering his body to produce Primordial Energy, especially without any external help. He was the only one capable of doing so in the history of the small town of Guide City 1 .


    Shortly after, every teacher and student in Guide High School believed that Zhou Wen would achieve great things in the future. Then, one day a transfer student came to Guide High School and challenged him. To everyone''s surprise, the transfer student defeated him in one strike. Furthermore, it was done by a girl.


    Zhou Wen stopped cultivating arduously after that. He appeared to abandon himself to vice. People imagined that he was mentally weak and couldn''t suffer the setback, but Zhou Wen knew very well that his change had nothing to do with the failure. It was completely because of the mysterious phone in his hand. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Zhou Wen looked down at his phone as he kept controlling the blood-colored avatar on it to slay the black ants in an Ant Nest.


    "Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant¡­ Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant¡­ Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant¡­"


    Notifications quickly flashed past as he killed every ant.


    Ding!


    After killing countless Vigor Ants, he suddenly heard a crisp sound as a special notice appeared on the screen: Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Primordial Energy Crystal.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze and saw a crystalline body resembling a diamond that appeared after a Vigor Ant was killed. On it was the number five.


    He was delighted as he hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Primordial Energy Crystal. The moment the Primordial Energy Crystal touched its fingers, it immediately transformed into a strange aura that drilled into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Simultaneously, Zhou Wen felt strength surge into his body from his phone as though he had been struck by lightning. It caused the Primordial Energy within him to be rapidly replenished.


    The Primordial Energy entry in the blood-colored avatar''s stats went from four to five.


    After killing a dimensional creature, there was a chance that various kinds of crystals would drop. The most common crystals were Strength, Speed, Constitution, and Primordial Energy Crystals.


    The usage of Strength Crystals enhanced the Strength of humans, while using Speed Crystals increased one''s speed. The other crystals had similar effects.


    But in reality, crystals didn''t have numeric displays. Humans couldn''t see their own stats and only knew that their Strength increased after using a Strength Crystal without knowing the exact quantitative increase.


    The mysterious phone in Zhou Wen''s hand not only allowed him to obtain dimensional crystals that others had to risk their lives in dimensional zones to obtain, but it also allowed him to see the numeric values of the dimensional creatures, himself, as well as the dimensional crystals. This is a real city in China, so pinyin will be used based on its official translation.

 2 Ant Nes

    Ever since he had obtained that phone, Zhou Wen had spent nearly every moment grinding on it with a game. In turn, he received all kinds of dimensional crystals.


    In the past, his Strength was 7, Speed was 4, Constitution was 7, and Primordial Energy was 1. After receiving the dimensional crystals from grinding, he had raised all these values in slightly more than a month. If it were in the past, it might have taken him years to develop so quickly.


    After using large numbers of dimensional crystals, Zhou Wen realized a set of rules. No matter which dimensional crystal it was, as long as its value was higher than his, using it would result in his stats directly rising to the same value as the said dimensional crystal.


    But if the dimensional crystal''s value was lower or the same as his, it could only replenish some of his energy. Then, by cultivating the Primordial Energy Art, he could raise his own stats instead of a direct raise.


    This also meant that the higher the dimensional crystal''s value was, the better. Its effects on Zhou Wen would also be amplified. However, having killed so many Vigor Ants in the Ant Nest, the highest Strength Crystal he had seen was a 9. The highest Constitution Crystal was only an 8. Speed Crystals were all low in value. Primordial Energy Crystals were extremely rare. The 5 he had received today were the highest valued he had seen to date.


    Zhou Wen had considered the possibility that it had something to do with the Vigor Ants'' natural makeup. They were outstanding when it came to their Strength and Constitution, but their Speed was lacking. This was also why the Strength Crystals that he received were relatively high in value, while Speed Crystals weren''t much to speak of.


    However, even low-valued dimensional crystals could be used as energy supplements, allowing Zhou Wen to quickly cultivate Ascetic Meditation; thus, it wasn''t completely useless.


    The only regret was that the crystals that dropped in the game were directly absorbed upon contact with the blood-colored avatar. They couldn''t be brought to the real world; otherwise, just the sale of the low-valued crystals he had no use for would be enough to make him quite a wealthy person.


    There were many ants in the Ant Nest, and whenever they discovered Zhou Wen''s blood-colored avatar, the number that gathered only increased.


    After killing over a hundred Vigor Ants, another dimensional crystal dropped. Unfortunately, it was a Strength Crystal 3 and could only be used for energy replenishment.


    The drop rate of dimensional crystals wasn''t high, and most of them were valued at 3 or lower. The higher-valued ones had extremely low drop rates, so Zhou Wen could only rely on massive amounts of grinding to raise the chances of him getting them.


    This was also the reason he often slept in class and stopped cultivating¡ªapart from classes, he spent the rest of his time grinding, even at night. He didn''t have the time or energy to cultivate or pay attention in class.


    Even so, the rate at which he strengthened himself was incomparable to the past. If he had only cultivated Ascetic Meditation like before, the time it took to raise his Primordial Energy to 5 would have been several times or even dozens of times longer.


    As the number of Vigor Ants increased, Zhou Wen was beginning to feel overwhelmed. Before long, the blood-colored avatar was inundated by Vigor Ants, and the screen went black.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to restart the game by dripping a drop of blood onto the game''s screen. His blood was akin to a 1-Up in games¡ªone drop of blood was a life.


    With the game launched, he embarked on his grinding again, killing one Vigor Ant after another. However, Zhou Wen wasn''t too lucky this time. Not a single dimensional crystal dropped despite killing over a hundred Vigor Ants.


    Since Zhou Wen was a sedate person and not quick-tempered, he continued to patiently grind in the Ant Nest.


    Suddenly, he saw a somewhat special Vigor Ant amidst the hordes.


    This Vigor Ant was blood-red in color as though it was completely covered in blood. It stood out among the other black Vigor Ants, and its head was slightly bigger. Zhou Wen noticed it immediately.


    Upon noticing the red Vigor Ant gearing for a charge, Zhou Wen cautiously probed it and found its Strength and Speed was far greater than other black Vigor Ants. However, it was still manageable for him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    After positioning the blood-colored avatar several times, it managed to hit the red Vigor Ant, but only dealt minor damage to it. He had failed to slay it.


    However, there was still clear progress¡ªthe red Vigor Ant''s health bar was slowly dropping. Perhaps about a hundred strikes were needed to slay it.


    Thankfully, the red Vigor Ant was only slightly faster than the typical black Vigor Ant. The blood-colored avatar had enough time to position itself and dodge, so killing it was only a matter of time.


    However, the black Vigor Ants were increasing in number. The development worried Zhou Wen because, at this speed, he might be swarmed by the ant horde before he successfully killed the red Vigor Ant.


    However, no idea came to mind for the time being. Zhou Wen could only do his best to control the blood-colored avatar''s speed to deal damage to the red Vigor Ant.


    Just as the red Vigor Ant''s health bar almost depleted to zero, the surrounding Vigor Ants increased, giving the blood-colored avatar no space to circle around the former.


    Crack!


    The blood-colored avatar failed to dodge in time and was bitten by a black Vigor Ant. Instantly, its health bar was almost halved.


    Zhou Wen knew that he was at the end of the rope. All he could do was to use the blood-colored avatar to deliver one final strike with all its might at the red Vigor Ant.


    Boom!


    When the punch landed, the red Vigor Ant''s vital spot was struck. Its final bit of health was depleted and its red carapace instantly exploded. Two crystals burst out from its carcass.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the luxury to see what type of dimensional crystals they were. His blood-colored avatar was in a critical state as the two crystals were picked up.


    Moments after the blood-colored avatar picked up the two dimensional crystals, it was swarmed by the Vigor Ant horde, and before long, the screen went black.


    Zhou Wen looked at the two notifications that appeared on the screen. He heaved a deep sigh of relief for he had had similar experiences. As long as he could pick up a dimensional crystal before dying, the effects would be applied.


    "Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Primordial Energy Crystal."


    "Killed Mortal creature, Vigor Ant. Discovered Vigor Ant Crystal."


    Upon seeing the two notifications on the screen, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be taken aback. He had seen a Primordial Energy Crystal drop plenty of times, but a dimensional crystal named after Vigor Ants was a first.


    After a brief pause, Zhou Wen reacted. Although he had never seen such dimensional crystals, he had heard of their existence. In textbooks and videos on the Internet, people had used similar crystals. However, they weren''t Vigor Ant Crystals, but crystals of other dimensional creatures.


    Could it be that this is one of those legendary dimensional crystals? While Zhou Wen was feeling exhilarated, he felt a strange force from his phone spread through his body.

 4 Fang Ruoxis Invitation

    The cultivation of Primordial Energy Art already played an important role in the Earth Federation''s physical education system. Apart from the ordinary subjects tested at the college entrance examinations, there was a special combat test.


    As combat tests were dangerous, not every candidate needed to participate, and the results weren''t included in the overall score of the entrance examinations. It was completely voluntary to participate, but to apply for some special schools, the results of a combat test was necessary for standardization purposes.


    In the past ten years, more and more famous schools used the results of the combat test as one of the standards for student recruitment.


    Of course, to get a job involving dimensional zones, the results on the combat test was a very good prerequisite.


    Although Zhou Wen could obtain dimensional crystals from the phone without him risking his life to enter dimensional zones, he still planned on taking the combat test and enter a school focused on cultivation. This would aid him in getting a job related to the dimensional zones in the future.


    If Zhou Wen didn''t involve himself in any dimensional zone work, he wouldn''t have the sources or channels to obtain dimensional crystals. This would make it difficult for him to explain his rapid growth or any Companion Beasts he might receive in the future.


    By hiding in plain sight he would not garner the notice of others, just as a diamond would be lost in a sea of crystals.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to risk his life at the dimensional zones, but he needed to have a job involving such matters. At the very least, he needed a channel to obtain dimensional items. This way, he wouldn''t be suspected when he used large numbers of dimensional crystals in the future.


    The combat test wasn''t a solo affair. Instead, it was carried out in a team of four. Apart from one''s individual combat prowess, teamwork, leadership, and other traits influenced the final results.


    If one were to be the final man standing in the combat test, with the other teammates dropping out ahead of time or an accident happening, one''s score would be greatly affected, even if the individual did very well to receive high individual scores.


    Zhou Wen had quite a good reputation in Guide High School in the past. He was an ideal teammate, but in the past month or so, his image and reputation had drastically declined. There were also significant doubts about his abilities.


    It was still understandable if an ordinary student were to team up with him, but for Fang Ruoxi who had a chance of coming first in the Guide City combat test, there wasn''t a good reason for her to recruit him.


    Zhou Wen had been famous because of his cultivation of Ascetic Meditation. But when it came to actual strength, there were a few sixteen-year-olds in Guide High School who had cultivated Primordial Energy. However, they were not like Zhou Wen who simply relied on honing his body to cultivate Primordial Energy. They had more or less absorbed Primordial Energy Crystals to supplement their cultivation. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Why are you recruiting me?" Zhou Wen asked Fang Ruoxi with piqued interest.


    Fang Ruoxi and Zhou Wen locked gazes. Her eyes were clear and untainted like a mountain spring.


    "I want to do my best to get a high score on the combat test, so I need a strong teammate. And you have that strength," Fang Ruoxi said calmly.


    "You are referring to me from a month ago, right?"


    Fang Ruoxi''s glimmering eyes stared at Zhou Wen intently as she said firmly, "From what I see, Zhou Wen is Zhou Wen. He has never changed. You are still the only person in Guide High School that I view as my match."


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He was rather surprised that Fang Ruoxi thought so highly of him. He couldn''t help but feel some indescribable, odd feelings.


    "What''s An Jing if you say something like that?" Zhou Wen said in a self-deprecating manner. Although he wasn''t concerned about his defeat under An Jing''s hands, he had to admit that she was much stronger than he was.


    Fang Ruoxi sighed. "I said the only person in Guide High School. An Jing was never one of us. Also, she will not be participating in the college entrance exams here."


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen was taken aback.


    "Don''t you know? She has already transferred out." Fang Ruoxi paused and continued, "Although I don''t know An Jing''s origins, I''m certain that she has exceeded the Mortal stage. To reach such a stage at her age, she must have quite a remarkable background. And with that strength of hers, it was completely unnecessary to challenge you. Furthermore, her arrival and departure happened so suddenly. It gives the feeling that she just came here to beat you up. I even imagined that you were acquainted with her and had crossed her somehow."


    Zhou Wen had never thought too much about it previously. Now, on careful thought, it did seem to be the case. He could, however, be sure that he had never met An Jing before, much less have crossed her.


    "How is that possible? I''ve never met her before. How could I have crossed her?" Zhou Wen tried carefully recalling, but couldn''t figure out how he could have had bad blood with her.


    "Perhaps I was just overthinking it." Fang Ruoxi didn''t continue on the topic as she looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "So, what''s your answer?"


    "Since you are willing to team up with me, I naturally don''t mind cozying up to someone powerful," Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    "Then it''s a deal. I''ve already found the other two teammates. Starting today, the four of us will train together during cultivation classes in the afternoon. We need to ensure that we have the necessary teamwork and coordination during the combat test." Fang Ruoxi looked at her wristwatch and turned to say to Zhou Wen, "Come on. Cultivation classes are about to begin."


    When Li Zhi and Tian Xiangdong watched Fang Ruoxi return with Zhou Wen, they were quite surprised. They knew that she had gone to find their fourth teammate, but weren''t aware of who she had in mind.


    Now, upon realizing that it was Zhou Wen, they felt puzzled. They all knew of Zhou Wen''s antics over the past month.


    Cultivation was in an ever-regressive state, especially combat. Even frequent practice made it difficult to seize fleeting opportunities in battle. The lack of practice for a few days greatly slowed down one''s reflexes. Considering how Zhou Wen hadn''t practiced for over a month with him completely engrossed in gaming, to the point of looking pale and sickly, it was almost a certainty that his combat abilities had drastically fallen.


    It was just like a professional boxer. They needed enough time to recover and train after a period of zero practice to compete in matches again. No one could become stronger doing nothing. They only became weaker.


    They weren''t that far off from the college entrance exams, and even if Zhou Wen made a comeback like a prodigal son, it would be very difficult for him to recover his original combat prowess.


    "Ruoxi, don''t tell me the fourth teammate is Zhou Wen? Is this a joke!?" Tian Xiangdong rubbed his nose and said in an exaggerated manner.


    "I''m not joking. Zhou Wen will be our fourth teammate," Fang Ruoxi said in all seriousness.


    Tian Xiangdong looked at Fang Ruoxi and then at Zhou Wen. He habitually rubbed his nose and said, "Ruoxi, all of us know how talented and capable Zhou Wen is, but he hasn''t been training for more than a month. Even if he were to restart his training now, it will be difficult for him to recover his former standards. Our goal is to be first in Guide City''s combat test. I don''t think Zhou Wen is the best candidate? Why don''t we do this? I have some ties with Zheng Yi. If you feel uncomfortable asking him, I''ll do the invitation. How about that?"

 5 Strength Tes

    Tian Xiangdong''s words were clearly directed at Zhou Wen, but the latter wasn''t angered.


    The combat test at the college entrance exam was key to the latter half of an average person''s life. Anyone would hope to do their best and not have others affect their own results.


    Whether one could attend a reputable school, find a decent job after graduation, or even have the chance of entering high society, was highly tied to the test.


    Furthermore, the strength of a teammate affected one''s safety. No one wished to use their lives as a joke.


    Even Zhou Wen had aimed for a reputable school before he obtained the mysterious phone. This gave him more opportunities to become stronger and not let his talent go to waste. Therefore, Zhou Wen could fully comprehend Tian Xiangdong''s rationale for saying such things.


    After Tian Xiangdong said his piece, he stopped looking at Fang Ruoxi and stared at Zhou Wen.


    Fang Ruoxi looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Zheng Yi might be outstanding as well, but I think Zhou Wen is the best candidate."


    By the side, Li Zhi thought and said, "We know you have an eye for talent, Ruoxi. Zhou Wen is indeed outstanding, but the combat test results are very important to all of us. We have to treat it with utmost seriousness. Let''s do this. If Zhou Wen doesn''t mind, we can do a simple test. Once the results of the test are out, it will be obvious if Zhou Wen suits our team."


    "Li Zhi''s right. I agree," Tian Xiangdong said immediately.


    "What kind of test?" Fang Ruoxi asked.


    "Wouldn''t that be simple? I''m the weakest among the three of us. Let Zhou Wen fight me in combat. As long as he defeats me, he will naturally be qualified to join our team. You wouldn''t call that bullying, right?" Tian Xiangdong hurriedly said.


    Fang Ruoxi didn''t say a word and looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen knew that he needed to voice his opinion at such times; otherwise, it would be difficult for him to join the team. Although he wasn''t too interested in joining this team, he still wished to get good results for the combat test. Fang Ruoxi''s team was likely considered the strongest team at Guide High School, so there was definitely no harm in joining them.


    "I''m fine with that. However, actual combat has risks. It would be terrible if anyone gets injured," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    Tian Xiangdong laughed in response. "Zhou Wen, I know you''ve been cultivating Ascetic Meditation. Your Constitution and Strength must be extraordinary, but your Speed must be lacking. I won''t take advantage of your weaknesses. Why don''t we determine the winner through a Strength competition?"


    Fang Ruoxi couldn''t help but frown when she heard Tian Xiangdong.


    Tian Xiangdong cultivated Lightning Art and it was also a Primordial Energy Art that primarily unleashed massive bursts of strength. Tian Xiangdong had also coupled Lightning Art with a Primordial Energy Skill, Lighting Fist. Tian Xiangdong''s Lightning Fist had only reached Rank 1, however, among typical high school students, the chances of them coming into contact with a Primordial Energy Skill was rather low. To grasp one Primordial Energy Skill, especially one that matched their Primordial Energy Art, was very rare. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Fang Ruoxi didn''t know Zhou Wen''s family background, but from the way he cultivated a Primordial Energy Art like Ascetic Meditation, without ever purchasing any supplementary Primordial Energy Crystals, it was highly likely that his family wasn''t well-to-do. If he couldn''t even afford Primordial Energy Crystals, how could he have the money to buy the expensive Primordial Energy Skill Crystals?


    Furthermore, in his battle with An Jing, he hadn''t used any Primordial Energy Skills.


    Fang Ruoxi''s lips quivered, but she didn''t say a word. She thought inwardly, "Let''s see how Zhou Wen will handle this."


    Zhou Wen looked at Tian Xiangdong and asked, "How do we compete in Strength?"


    "Although the school has a Strength-measuring device, those lifeless numbers don''t mean much. Let''s exchange blows. Whoever retreats loses. How about that?" Tian Xiangdong said with squinted eyes.


    "I think it''s better we use the school''s Strength-measure device," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "Why? Are you afraid of me injuring you?" Tian Xiangdong said, curling his lips.


    Zhou Wen smiled without a word. He was more afraid of killing Tian Xiangdong with one punch.


    Tian Xiangdong''s Primordial Energy Skill, Lightning Fist, wasn''t a secret at school. Just relying on strength alone probably couldn''t beat him. Therefore, if Zhou Wen used Vigor Divine Fist, he was afraid that a single punch would obliterate Tian Xiangdong''s arm as well as his body.


    "Alright. Since you''re afraid, let''s use the Strength-measuring device," Tian Xiangdong said, feeling some regret.


    For the past three years in high school, all the teachers and students had claimed that Zhou Wen was the number one genius of Guide High School. Tian Xiangdong naturally wasn''t very accepting of this accolade and had long wished to prove himself by defeating Zhou Wen.


    This was a tiny wish many top students at the school had. After Zhou Wen was defeated by An Jing''s single blow, this desire subsided significantly.


    However, since there was a chance to defeat him, Tian Xiangdong still held some anticipation and excitement. After all, Zhou Wen was once honored as Guide High School''s number one genius.


    The only thing that left Tian Xiangdong regretful was that he couldn''t personally defeat Zhou Wen as An Jing did. All he could do was defeat him with numbers on a Strength-measuring device.


    Now that it was lunchtime, the device room didn''t have any students. As always, Yu Qiubai was inspecting the various devices personally, checking to see if there were any problematic ones that could receive timely repairs.


    Just as Yu Qiubai sat inside a spacecraft-like Primordial Energy-measurement device, he heard someone push open the door. Following that there were footsteps.


    It''s lunchtime. Who would come here? Yu Qiubai looked out the observation hole from inside the device and discovered that it was Fang Ruoxi, Tian Xiangdong, Li Zhi, and Zhou Wen. He couldn''t help but be somewhat surprised.


    These four students could basically be considered the top elites of Guide High School''s graduating class. Apart from Zhou Wen''s wallowing in self-misery, the other three were highly anticipated to do well.


    For the four to come to the device room, including Zhou Wen, left Yu Qiubai curious. He had no idea what they were doing here.


    Four¡­ Could these four be forming a team to participate in the combat test¡­ But with Zhou Wen''s current state¡­ How could Fang Ruoxi and the rest be willing to form a team with him? Yu Qiubai''s heart stirred as he remained inside the Primordial Energy-measuring device. He was curious as to what they were up to.


    "Who''s going first? You or me?" Tian Xiangdong walked to the Strength-measuring device and turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    "Anything works," Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    "Anyway, everyone gets three tries. The highest one shall count. Since it doesn''t matter who goes first, I''ll do the honors first," Tian Xiangdong said as he walked in front of the device.


    Tian Xiangdong took a deep breath as he circulated his Lightning Art and gathered his strength before smashing his fist into the pressure board on the Strength-measuring device.


    The pressure board was made up of a metal alloy with hydraulic machinery behind. Based on the different amount of strength delivered, the board would jerk back and produce a figure onscreen.


    When Tian Xiangdong threw the punch, a series of numbers lit up on the display one after another. It only stopped when it reached 7.


    Tian Xiangdong hadn''t used Lightning Fist and had only relied on pure Strength. With regard to that, he was rather satisfied with the value of 7.


    For the average high-school student, a Strength value of 7 was undoubtedly head and shoulders above their peers.

 7 Destroying the Machine With One Punch

    "Xiangdong¡­" Li Zhi was just about to say something when Tian Xiangdong waved his hand to cut him off.


    The benefits were obvious if a person with Strength 10 could join their team. Li Zhi believed that since Zhou Wen had shown enough of his prowess, there was no need to continue. Making things ugly was not beneficial to any party.


    If Tian Xiangdong were to use Lightning Fist to defeat Zhou Wen; thus, causing him to leave. It would be a loss for them.


    Upon seeing Tian Xiangdong walk to the pressure board, Li Zhi had wanted to say this but was stopped by Fang Ruoxi.


    "Is this really fine?" Li Zhi looked at Fang Ruoxi and said.


    "It''s fine. That fellow has already accepted Zhou Wen. He just doesn''t want to lose," Fang Ruoxi said softly.


    Li Zhi was slightly taken aback before he was enlightened. He cursed in amusement before falling silent, "That fellow just can''t bear to play second fiddle."


    Tian Xiangdong began the second round of Strength tests.


    Tian Xiangdong''s expression was heavy as he stood in front of the pressure board. He slowly lifted his fist as veins protruded from it. Lightning bolts seemed to mesh together, making it look ferocious and terrifying.


    Bang!


    The fist slammed heavily into the pressure board. The special metal alloy pressure board jerked back obviously as the numbers on the screen rapidly lit up, eventually stopping at 11.


    "How''s that?" As he reeled from expending all his Primordial Energy, Tian Xiangdong secretly wiped sweat from his brow.


    His Strength was only a 7. And with a Rank 1 Lightning Fist, it could raise his Strength by about half. It wasn''t extremely stable, allowing him to dish out 10 or 11 randomly. He had done pretty well today, allowing him to defeat Zhou Wen.


    "That''s impressive." Zhou Wen was indeed a genius when it came to cultivation. However, he wasn''t a sensitive person. He didn''t notice Tian Xiangdong''s emotional changes and was caught up with the notion that he couldn''t join the team unless he defeated Tian Xiangdong. Therefore, he walked towards the Strength-measuring device again.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t immediately throw out his punch. Instead, he began studying the Strength-measuring device.


    "What are you looking at? Just tell us if you can''t do it. It''s not embarrassing losing to me." Realizing that Zhou Wen wasn''t delivering the punch, Tian Xiangdong was imagining that Zhou Wen lacked the confidence and was hesitant about delivering the punch.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Strength-measuring device and asked worriedly, "The school won''t ask me to pay for it if I break it, right?"


    The moment Tian Xiangdong heard Zhou Wen, he burst out in exasperated laughter. "Bro, nice bragging. This is a Strength-measuring device. It''s specially made for Strength-measuring. Although it''s only a low-end model meant for high schoolers with an upper limit of 20, few high schoolers can hit the limit, much less destroy it. Let''s do this. If you really destroy it, I''ll pay for the damages."


    "Makes sense." Zhou Wen nodded. The device did seem rather solid, so it was unlikely it be damaged.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate further as he raised his fist. The skin on his fist gradually turned red with a metallic sheen. It looked like it was wrapped in a red metallic membrane. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Primordial Energy Skill¡­ So Zhou Wen has already learned a Primordial Energy Skill¡­" Tian Xiangdong was instantly somewhat disappointed.


    Without a doubt, with Zhou Wen''s Strength, the knowledge of a Primordial Energy Skill¡ªno matter how weak it was¡ªcould dish out Strength that was far greater than Tian Xiangdong''s. Therefore, the latter knew that his loss was a certainty.


    Fang Ruoxi and Li Zhi were somewhat surprised that Zhou Wen knew a Primordial Energy Skill. It enabled them to earn higher points at the combat test.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen slammed his fist heavily into the pressure board and as though it was hit by a sledgehammer, it jerked back. The numbers on the screen kept lighting up, instantly surpassing 11.


    I wonder what his final score will be through the use of a Primordial Energy Skill, Fang Ruoxi thought, but she saw the numbers lighting up at a blisteringly fast rate. In a blink of an eye, all of the numbers were lit up as her expression changed.


    Boom!


    Before the spectators could have any thoughts, the Strength-measuring device produced a strange sound. At some spot, the back of the device cracked as pale yellow liquid spewed out like a fountain.


    Tian Xiangdong and company widened their mouths into an O shape as they stared blankly at Zhou Wen and the liquid-spewing Strength-measuring device. There was silence.


    Yu Qiubai''s eyes widened as well, eager to rush forward to personally determine if the Strength-measuring device was really broken.


    He naturally wasn''t wanting payment from Zhou Wen, but that he was filled with disbelief that a high schooler''s Primordial Energy Skill could be this strong.


    Tian Xiangdong trembled. At the thought of the punch''s might, he couldn''t bring himself to imagine what would have happened if he had battled Zhou Wen in a Strength test.


    The upper limit of the Strength-measuring device was 20, but it didn''t mean that it could only withstand Strength 20. In fact, to burst the hydraulic mechanism needed Strength that far exceeded 20.


    Even with Strength 10, Zhou Wen probably needed a Primordial Energy Skill at Rank 8 or 9 to deliver such damage.


    If he hadn''t learned of Zhou Wen''s background from the former principal, he would even have suspected that Zhou Wen had used high-level Primordial Energy Skill Crystals; otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to possess such Strength.


    However, with Zhou Wen''s background, it seemed impossible for him to possess such high-level Primordial Energy Skill Crystals.


    If he had truly mastered a Primordial Energy Skill to such a level by himself, that''s way too terrifying! Yu Qiubai couldn''t help but recall the former principal''s evaluation of Zhou Wen: "There are two geniuses in the world. One type of genius is called Zhou Wen, the other type are the other geniuses."


    "You said that you''d be paying if it''s damaged. You''re a man of his word, right?" Zhou Wen was taken aback as he looked at Tian Xiangdong.


    He hadn''t expected Vigor Divine Fist to really be vigorous enough to destroy the Strength-measuring device.


    He was poor and really didn''t have the money to compensate the school if it really pressed him for damages.


    "Yes, I''ll pay for it. Bro, any problem that can be solved with money isn''t a problem. We are old classmates and a team. Leave this to me," Tian Xiangdong said with a beaming smile as he came round.


    Tian Xiangdong came from a rich family and could easily afford it. However, a second teammate like Zhou Wen was probably impossible to find in a small city like Guide City.


    With Zhou Wen joining the team, Tian Xiangdong believed that perhaps they weren''t only able to obtain first at the combat test in Guide City, but that they could even raise their targets.


    Li Zhi and Fang Ruoxi were in a good mood as well. Having a powerful teammate like Zhou Wen join the team brought them one step closer to their goals.


    This fellow is more interesting than I imagined. Fang Ruoxi narrowed her eyes as she looked at Zhou Wen.


    With Zhou Wen officially joining the team, the four submitted an application form for the combat test. Many of the teachers and heads in the school were rather surprised to see Zhou Wen''s name on the list.


    The teachers of Fang Ruoxi, Li Zhi, and Tian Xiangdong had even spoken to them privately, openly and covertly trying to get them to select another teammate. They didn''t want Zhou Wen to be a burden on them. However, the trio refused, adamant about having Zhou Wen in their team. It left their teachers vexed.


    Only Yu Qiubai drank his tea calmly. He knew very well that Zhou Wen was the strongest among the four.


    Just wait and see. After the test, we will know who''s the burden. Yu Qiubai drank his tea as he thought.


    Zhou Wen was his student, so he was naturally displeased that the other teachers spoke ill of him behind Zhou Wen''s back.

 8 Zhou Lingfeng

    Zhou Wen didn''t think too much about it. The thoughts of others had nothing to do with him. All he wanted was to score well at the combat test during the college entrance exams. From that, he could enter a reputable school before focusing on gaming. After cruising through college and graduating, he could then get a job related to the dimensional zones.


    However, there was one thing that Zhou Wen took notice of. Fang Ruoxi''s mention of his defeat under An Jing''s hands had made him realize something was amiss. It was something he hadn''t thought too deeply about previously.


    An Jing was about his age and was perhaps a little younger; yet, she was very likely already a Legendary stage expert. Although they were just separated by one stage, it was a night and day difference between the Mortal and Legendary stages. It was almost impossible for someone at the Mortal stage to defeat a Legendary stage expert.


    The clearest indicator of a Legendary stage expert was the opportunity to obtain a Companion Beast. And at the Mortal stage, it was very difficult to obtain Companion Beasts. Even if one did get a Companion Egg, they lacked the Primordial Energy to carry out the incubation.


    There were also many opaque differences. For example, after a human advanced to the Legendary stage, they would awaken their Legendary Life Providence, greatly augmenting their constitutions. It also widened the gap between Mortal stage and Legendary stage.


    Unless there was any reason that prompted action, the typical Legendary stage expert found it beneath them to attack people at the Mortal stage. For An Jing to challenge him, a student at the Mortal stage, and then transfer out of the school shortly after the challenge, it appeared as though she had specially come to beat him up.


    "I''ve never left Guide City all my life. How could I have offended someone like her? Could it be Dad¡­" As Zhou Wen thought about it, he came up with one possibility.


    Zhou Wen''s mother had passed away during childbirth, causing him to be brought up in a single-parent family. As for his dad, he was an unreliable man. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Zhou Wen''s father was named Zhou Lingfeng. Like the word ''feng'' symbolizing ''wind'' in his name, he was like a gust of wind. From the age of five, Zhou Wen learned to be independent. He had to do simple cooking, laundry, and the management of household matters, as well as do groceries.


    And in the words of his unreliable dad, this was to nurture his survivability as a man. It would also be the foundation on which he would use to get a wife.


    Although his dad was very lazy, there was something that left Zhou Lingfeng slightly relieved. Zhou Lingfeng had never missed out on paying his living expenses.


    As a polyglot, Zhou Lingfeng did translation work. When Zhou Wen was young, his father often translated documents from home. However, with the improvement in technology, translation software became much better and Zhou Lingfeng''s work reduced as a result.


    When Zhou Wen grew a little older, he became more independent, so Zhou Lingfeng took on interpretation work. He often went out of town for a week or even as long as a few months.


    The latest instance was more ridiculous. Zhou Wen hadn''t seen his father in half a year. If it wasn''t for his monthly living expenses being transferred into his account, he would have been worried his father had died.


    This was because Zhou Lingfeng often went to relatively remote places. The reception conditions there were often terrible, so it was common for him to be uncontactable. Zhou Wen was used to it.


    Even if he wasn''t used to it, it wasn''t as though he could do anything about it other than waiting for Zhou Lingfeng''s return.


    Their home was made up of two men. Zhou Wen had no chance to offend a figure like An Jing, so he was highly suspicious that his dad had offended her. Failing to find him, all she could do was to vent her anger on his son.


    Zhou Wen had zero confidence in his dad. He was the kind of person that indulged in pleasures. He was also someone who often spent time at bars. He had often hit on chicks in the past, only to be beaten up by the woman''s male partner.


    Luckily Zhou Wen was able to fend for himself. If not, he wondered if Zhou Lingfeng would even have had the ability to raise him.


    As he thought about it, his phone suddenly rang. With his mind wandering, Zhou Wen jumped. After taking out his ordinary phone, he realized it was from his father, Zhou Lingfeng.


    Speak of the devil. Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the call. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Zhou Lingfeng''s voice: "Son, I''m getting married. Will you be coming to my wedding?"


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn''t drinking any water; otherwise, he would have spewed it all out.


    "You''re getting married? To whom?" Zhou Wen wasn''t against Zhou Lingfeng getting married. After all, he had been single for so many years, so it was very normal for him to find a partner. Besides, he might become more reliable after his marriage, so it could be a blessing in disguise.


    "I''ll send Sweety''s photo to you," Zhou Lingfeng said. Before Zhou Wen said a word, the phone hung up and a photo was sent.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the photo and saw Zhou Lingfeng with a young woman. The woman looked to be in her thirties at most. She was elegant and beautiful, and she had a rather good presence. She looked different from the so-called beauties on the Internet. This lady had a sensual aesthetic and a unique presence that could hardly be described with words.


    "How''s it? Your new mom isn''t too bad, right? Her name is Ouyang Lan," Zhou Lingfeng called again and said smugly.


    "Not bad, but she''s not my mom," Zhou Wen said.


    Although he didn''t mind Zhou Lingfeng getting remarried, he didn''t plan on acknowledging a new mother at his age. After all, Zhou Lingfeng wasn''t home most of the time and he was already accustomed to living alone. It was also not necessary that the lady would like baggage like him, so it would be quite nice if they led their own separate lives.


    "My wife is naturally your mom. That''s an undeniable fact. By the way, my wedding is in a few days. You have to come, alright?" Zhou Lingfeng said indifferently, as though he took nothing to heart.


    "Where is it? When is it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Luoyang. In a week," Zhou Lingfeng said.


    "I''ll be taking the college entrance exams in a few days. The period you mentioned happens to clash with the combat test which I plan on participating in. I won''t be able to go even if I wanted," Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    He was willing to participate in the wedding, but he really couldn''t go.


    "Wow, time passes so quickly. You are already having your college entrance exams." Zhou Lingfeng clearly didn''t remember this as he made a poignant comment.


    Zhou Wen didn''t expect his father to know it, but he was still somewhat disappointed hearing him say that. Perhaps Zhou Lingfeng had even forgotten that he was graduating from high school this year.


    "Dad, do you know that metal biscuit tin inside our wardrobe?" Zhou Wen suddenly asked.


    "Biscuit tin? What biscuit tin?" Zhou Lingfeng asked in puzzlement.


    "The one that''s about thirty centimeters long. It''s a biscuit tin that''s squarish and made of metal. It has a picture of a cartoon bear¡­" Zhou Wen described the biscuit tin''s characteristics in detail.


    "Oh, that bear biscuit tin. I often ate from it when I was little. However, that brand of biscuits isn''t sold anymore. The one we have at home was probably left behind. Why are you asking about it?"


    "Inside that bear biscuit tin is a cellphone. Did you put it in?" Zhou Wen''s heart raced slightly. That cellphone was the mysterious phone he was using.

 9 Mysterious Phone

    "Cellphone?" Zhou Lingfeng was somewhat puzzled. Only after quite some time did he suddenly say, "Is the phone you''re talking about one with a completely white metal case and a black screen without any buttons. About five to six inches big?"


    "That''s right. Is that phone yours?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "No, it''s your grandfather''s. I''d have already forgotten about it if you hadn''t mentioned it," Zhou Lingfeng said with a laugh. "That phone was your grandfather''s baby."


    "Grandfather''s baby? Where he did get it from?" Zhou Wen seemed to notice something amiss with Zhou Lingfeng''s tone as he pressed on.


    Zhou Lingfeng recounted the phone''s origins, leaving Zhou Wen quite surprised.


    Zhou Wen''s grandfather was a carpenter years ago; however, he wasn''t a carpenter who made tables or chairs. He could do those, but his focus was on building wooden buildings that mimicked ancient structures.


    In the past, when Guide Ancient City was being rebuilt, they needed to preserve the ancient city''s former state, so the construction of many wooden buildings in the ancient style was needed. Zhou Wen''s father had taken the job and spent more than a year in the City.


    During this period, an ancient dried well was excavated from the ancient city''s site. It was the graveyard shift, so there weren''t any outsiders around. Only Zhou Wen''s grandfather and a few workers were present.


    When the ancient well was dug out, there was a glow that emitted from below. Imagining that they had dug out treasure, the workers came to an agreement and headed down to dig for it, hoping to strike it rich.


    After they went down the well, they discovered an ancient rotting wooden case. The case had almost disintegrated, and there were many holes in it. It was from these holes that the light shone out.


    The few workers brought the case up, imagining that there was some treasure in it. With just a few of them, they could split it and end up living in the lap of luxury for the rest of their lives.


    To their surprise, it was a cellphone. Although cellphones had just become widespread back then, it was no longer anything rare.


    Furthermore, the phone was still lit in the beginning. After they took it out, the screen went black as though it had lost power. There weren''t any buttons on the phone, nor was there any charging port.


    Zhou Wen''s grandfather and company were greatly disappointed, imagining that it was a prank. Since it looked broken without any value, everyone lost interest in it. Eventually, Zhou Wen''s grandfather threw it into a tool bag.


    Later, it was brought back home. Zhou Wen''s grandfather didn''t throw it away and kept it in the storeroom. When Zhou Lingfeng was young, Zhou Wen''s grandfather had even told him the story. However, it was recounted like a horror story; thus, leaving quite a deep impression on Zhou Lingfeng.


    "That crappy phone can''t even be turned on. When I was young, I took it to a phone repair shop, hoping to sell it for a few packets of cigarettes, but the boss said it was worthless. So I just threw it into the biscuit tin. Don''t tell me you plan on selling it for money? Cellphones have such a short lifespan and they aren''t considered antiques. Old models aren''t worth anything," Zhou Lingfeng said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Thankfully, you didn''t manage to swap the phone for cigarettes; otherwise, me crying would be an understatement.


    "The phone has never lit up before?" Zhou Wen asked further.


    "How could it? It''s been sitting there for years. Ignoring the fact that it''s broken, even if it isn''t, it would have long run out of charge." Zhou Lingfeng cut off Zhou Wen and said, "Alright. I have many things to tend to over here. Since I''ve already informed you, it''s up to you to come to the wedding."


    With that said, Zhou Lingfeng hung up.


    Something dug up from Guide Ancient City? Unfortunately, that place has already become a dimensional zone. Ordinary people have no way of going close. However, Guide City''s combat test is inside Guide Ancient City. I wonder where that ancient well is or if I have a chance of heading over to take a look. Zhou Wen thought about it but was without any clues.


    Just as Zhou Lingfeng had said, phones were something that were made in the last few decades. It was impossible for them to be antiques. Even if they were antiques, they couldn''t possess any mystical power.


    "Damn it. I forgot to ask dad if he had offended anyone." Zhou Wen was planning on calling again, but after some thought, he decided against it.


    Since An Jing was gone and hadn''t really done anything to him, there was no point in raising it now that the matter was already over.


    Taking out the mysterious phone, he opened the Ant Nest app and once again started his grinding.


    The ants were killed by the blood-colored avatar as his in-game character behaved like him. Zhou Wen received all the experiences and lessons learned from combat.


    Now, Zhou Wen was getting more experienced at killing Vigor Ants. He lasted much longer and could now kill four to five hundred Vigor Ants with just one life. In the past, he would usually succumb after killing about a hundred.


    Unfortunately, his luck today was nothing to speak of. Two Strength Crystals and a Constitution Crystal dropped. Furthermore, they were low in value and could only be used for energy replenishment. He wasn''t able to upgrade himself directly with them.


    As he was getting pumped from the killing, he suddenly saw a red Mutated Vigor Ant appear. Delighted, he controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush over.


    Before he had mastered Vigor Divine Fist, killing Mutated Vigor Ants was somewhat difficult, but this time, he delivered one Vigor Divine Fist immediately, blasting its head apart. Following that, he threw out another punch to blast its body apart. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Ding!


    A crisp sound was heard as a dimensional crystal dropped. Unfortunately, there was only one.


    "Killed Mutated Vigor Ant. Discovered Constitution Crystal."


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that it had a value of 9, delighting him.


    His Constitution was at 8, and with this Constitution Crystal, he could improve once again.


    Constitution involved a person''s resilience and endurance. Only with high Constitution could someone fight prolonged battles without becoming exhausted. One would also be able to better withstand blows. The Ascetic Meditation he cultivated in mainly strengthened his Constitution and Strength.


    Picking up the Constitution Crystal with the blood-colored avatar, a strange force was transmitted from the phone, instantly spreading across Zhou Wen''s body. It made every cell in him seem to come to life.


    As he watched his in-game Constitution change to 9, Zhou Wen felt his body become significantly tougher. When ordinary Vigor Ants bit at his blood-colored avatar, the amount of health he lost was much less.


    Zhou Wen continued grinding and discovered that such Mutant Vigor Ants occasionally appeared in the nest, but its spawning spot was random. Furthermore, they didn''t always drop dimensional crystals.


    Later, Zhou Wen encountered two Mutated Vigor Ants again, but nothing dropped.


    Time quickly passed amidst his grinding. Nothing changed. He slept through his classes and gamed after classes. Only during cultivation classes did he hone his teamwork with Fang Ruoxi and company.


    However, over the past few days, Zhou Wen often felt that Yu Qiubai looked at him strangely. The latter was often smiling at him with narrowed eyes, creeping him out.

 10 Companion Egg

    Tian Xiangdong was training his fist techniques on the field, but from time to time, he would sneak a glance at Zhou Wen who was under a tree. He had been training for nearly an hour while Zhou Wen had spent the same amount of time gaming on the phone.


    "It''s really exasperating to compare. We spend so much effort training, but that fellow just games." Tian Xiangdong felt more depressed the more he looked.


    After the past few days of training, Tian Xiangdong had learned something. The reason Zhou Wen was considered the best genius in Guide High School wasn''t solely because of his cultivation talent.


    Tian Xiangdong had originally thought that cultivation akin to sailing against a current was suitable for all humans since humans weren''t machines. It was very easy to regress if one didn''t train daily.


    It was especially so when putting theory into practice in actual combat. Some level of deviation would affect the timing of opportunities and distance placement.


    But Zhou Wen was different. As long as he learned something, regardless of whether he trained or not, he appeared very skilled and natural when actually putting it to practice.


    Over the past few days, Zhou Wen would join them when the quartet trained together. But when it was time for individual training, Zhou Wen would run to the side to game.


    If it wasn''t because Zhou Wen''s performance was impeccable when cooperating with the rest and, in fact, was the most outstanding one among the four, Tian Xiangdong might have taken on a teacher''s responsibility to teach the former a good lesson, inculcating in him the importance of daily practice and improvement.


    But now, all Tian Xiangdong could do was sneak glances at Zhou Wen sitting there gaming while he had to engage in strenuous training.


    "Where are you looking at? Focus. Your actions aren''t right," Li Zhi said as he walked over.


    Tian Xiangdong glanced at Zhou Wen who was just gaming and said in envy, "How nice it would be if I had talent like Zhou Wen. Cultivation is so miserable. Who doesn''t want to just game daily?"


    Li Zhi said with a laugh, "Do you think Zhou Wen is really just gaming all day?"


    "Isn''t that so? He has so much fun gaming daily. It''s obvious for us all to see," Tian Xiangdong said.


    Li Zhi shook his head and said, "We can only see him when he''s in school. We have no idea what he does after school."


    "Are you telling me that he''s cultivating hard at home after school?" Tian Xiangdong understood what Li Zhi was getting at.


    "There''s no free lunch in the world. A person like Zhou Wen might appear harmless as though he cares about nothing, but deep down in his bones, he''s extremely prideful. He suffered such a terrible defeat under An Jing''s hands, and although there might be extenuating circumstances for his defeat, with his character, he probably couldn''t accept it. He must have worked very hard at cultivation. This can be seen from how adept he is in actual combat. He''s definitely just putting on a farce that he''s decadent and engrossed in gaming," Li Zhi said with a severe countenance.


    "Then why does he act so decadent in school? There''s no need for him to do so. Isn''t it better to spend time gaming than on cultivation?" Tian Xiangdong was doubtful.


    Li Zhi shot a glance at Zhou Wen and said, "I believe that he suffered quite a psychological setback when he was first defeated by An Jing, causing people to mistake him for wallowing in self-misery."


    "But that doesn''t explain why he games in school?" Tian Xiangdong was still puzzled.


    "Think about it. If everyone believes you to be trash, and you end up scoring shockingly well on the college-entrance exams, taking first place in the city, wouldn''t it feel awesome to look back at the naysayers with a beaming look of success?" Li Zhi said.


    "Holy sh*t, Zhou Wen has such nefarious thoughts? That scumbag¡­" Tian Xiangdong instantly came to a realization as he nearly exclaimed. Thankfully, Li Zhi cupped his mouth in time. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Zhou Wen obviously wasn''t as Tian Xiangdong imagined. Gaming similarly allowed him to grow stronger. Furthermore, the in-game character was equivalent to another him. When the in-game character was in combat, he would acquire the experience and skill familiarity from combat; therefore, he had no need to train.


    "Mutated Vigor Ant!" Zhou Wen was grinding happily when he saw a blood-red Vigor Ant appear.


    Over the past few days, he had killed more than ten Mutated Vigor Ants, but the outcome wasn''t anything desirable.


    Apart from the first Mutated Vigor Ant dropping two dimensional crystals, the subsequent ones dropped dimensional crystals at a much lower rate. Their qualities were also worse.


    Ignoring the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal, even dimensional crystals with a value of 9 were rare. They didn''t appear even after about ten Mutated Vigor Ants were killed.


    Now, Zhou Wen wasn''t as excited as before when he saw Mutated Vigor Ants. He very calmly controlled the blood-colored avatar to proceed forward and deliver two Vigor Divine Fist strikes to kill it.


    Ding!


    He heard a familiar chime. Something had dropped this time.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too excited. Even if a dimensional crystal dropped, it was useless even if it was valued at 7 or 8, unless they were Speed Crystals. They could only replenish his energy expenditure.


    However, when Zhou Wen identified the item that dropped, he was slightly taken aback. It was because the word "Crystal" wasn''t in the name of the item.


    "Killed Mutated Vigor Ant. Discovered Companion Egg."


    A game notice popped up at the bottom left of the screen. It left Zhou Wen surprised and delighted.


    Having a Companion Egg drop meant that he had a chance of possessing a Companion Beast. But based on what he knew, it was very rare for Companion Beasts to appear at the Mortal stage. One could usually only have one after reaching the Legendary stage.


    It could be said that Companion Beasts were a manifestation of one''s strength and status. Humans that would take their Companion Beasts on the streets were basically experts at the Legendary stage or higher. They were respected and envied by others.


    The reason people at the Mortal stage lacked Companion Beasts was that Mortal stage dimensional creatures almost never dropped Companion Beasts. Even Legendary stage dimensional creatures had a relatively low probability of dropping one. Furthermore, Legendary stage Companion Eggs required one to provide Legendary stage Primordial Energy to incubate it. Therefore, even if Mortal stage humans obtained a Companion Egg, they had no means to incubate it.


    Companion Beasts that hatched after incubation would live and die with their masters. It was very difficult for them to be transferred. If a forceful transfer was made, an extremely huge price needed to be paid. The typical person had no way of achieving that.


    In a tiny city like Guide City, Zhou Wen had never seen a human at the Mortal stage have a Companion Beast.


    The Companion Egg was about the size of the fist of the blood-colored avatar. It was completely milky-white and translucent. It was oval in shape and inside some red lights were flickering. It looked mysterious and beautiful.


    Zhou Wen eagerly made the blood-colored avatar pick up the Companion Egg. The moment it made contact, Zhou Wen felt a jolt through his body. As though extracted by a needle, his Primordial Energy instantly flowed towards the phone.


    And in-game, the blood-colored avatar''s Primordial Energy instantly went from 9 to 0.

 11 Mutated Vigor An

    Zhou Wen felt exhausted as though he had been sucked dry. The color in his face instantly drained as beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead.


    In-game, the Companion Egg''s red stream of light brightened after it absorbed the Primordial Energy, dyeing the entire Companion Egg red, making it look like a blood crystal.


    Crack!


    It cracked open and a blood-colored Vigor Ant''s light projection flashed and entered the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen felt an odd force surge into his body. It was as though the force had a life of its own. Although it was indescribable, it was transmitting information to Zhou Wen in a magical manner.


    "Pledge my life to follow you¡­ Pledge my life to follow you¡­ Pledge my life to follow you¡­"


    As the voices sounded in Zhou Wen''s mind, the force in him gathered towards the back of his left hand. Slowly it formed a blood-colored ant symbol like a tattoo made from blood.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously pulled his sleeves down and shrank his left hand in to prevent others from seeing the ant symbol on the back of it.


    Companion Beasts had an extremely mystical existence. They were like parasites that live on humans, living and dying with their masters.


    Zhou Wen took a look at the in-game information. Indeed, there was an additional entry of Mutated Vigor Ant at Companion Beast. Then, he took another look at the Mutated Vigor Ant''s stats.


    Mutated Vigor Ant: Mortal


    Strength: 9


    Speed: 5


    Constitution: 9


    Primordial Energy: 9


    Talent Skill: Vigor Divine Fist (Rank 9)


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    ---


    Zhou Wen was delighted seeing this. A Mutated Vigor Ant''s stats could match a top Mortal stage human and it had a Rank 9 Vigor Divine Fist. If he summoned it out, it was equivalent to having another hatchet man as strong as him. It could even be more ferocious than Zhou Wen since his Vigor Divine Fist was Rank 7 while it was at Rank 9.


    Zhou Wen was eager to immediately summon the Mutated Vigor Ant to see what it looked like in real life, since all he saw in-game was a Mutated Vigor Ant drawn in a cartoon style. He had no idea what it really looked like.


    However, with him being in school, Zhou Wen could only resist his desire.


    A Mortal stage Companion Beast would probably attract plenty of attention if he summoned it in school. Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn''t have any good explanation for the Mutated Vigor Ant''s origins.


    Tian Xiangdong couldn''t help but sneakily size up Zhou Wen. Upon seeing him, he said in a depressed tone, "Look at Zhou Wen. He''s gaming until he''s pale and breaking out into a cold sweat. He looks so frail. If I hadn''t seen his Strength and Primordial Energy Skill with my own eyes, I would really think that he was a sickly fellow."


    Little did he know that the reason for Zhou Wen''s sickly look was because he had been using his blood to revive himself in-game over the past month. Although one drop of blood each time wasn''t a lot, the numerous times he did so still caused him to lose a shocking amount of blood. This made Zhou Wen look somewhat pale and weak as though he was malnourished or suffering from anemia.


    This was also one of the reasons why Yu Qiubai and the others believed that he was being decadent. That pale face was like a perfect example of someone wallowing in self-misery.


    After returning home from school, Zhou Wen drew the curtains. Only then did he summon the Mutated Vigor Ant in his living room.


    The symbol on the back of his hand burst out in a resplendent sanguine light. The symbol''s blood color seemed to come to life as it turned into a stream of blood that flowed over his palm and soon enveloped it within, turning it into a boxing glove that was neither gold or jade. On the back of the boxing glove was the symbol of a Vigor Ant.


    Zhou Wen looked at the boxing glove on his left hand. He felt an explosive force fill his left fist as though he could blast apart a tank if he threw it out.


    Indeed, it''s just like the livestreams on the Internet. Companion Beasts provide an augmentation effect in a companion state. A Vigor Ant augments Strength, right? Unable to test the augmented effects of the boxing glove at home, Zhou Wen could only put it away and switch to summoning the Mutated Vigor Ant.


    As the Mutated Vigor Ant symbol on the back of his hand shimmered, a strange blood-colored projection appeared in front of him. The projection gradually materialized, turning into a blood-colored ant the size of a racehorse.


    A Mutated Vigor Ant in real life was in no way as adorable as the cartoon version in-game. Its blood-red carapace appeared to be cast from metal. Its physical contours seemed to contain infinite explosive strength. Its long, slender ant legs were like saws. The feelers on its head looked like resilient steel pieces.


    Ignoring being pierced by its leg, just being slammed by its body would probably result in fractures and debilitation.


    It left a strong impact on him when he observed it up close. It had a dangerous beauty that looked somewhat demonic. While it left one shuddering in fear, it also prompted one to subdue it.


    The game''s depiction really can''t be counted on. Such a ferocious killing machine actually looks so cute in-game. Zhou Wen swung himself onto the back of the Mutated Vigor Ant and made it circle the living room.


    Unfortunately, the living room was too small, making it difficult for the Mutated Vigor Ant to turn around. He didn''t experience much of a thrill as a result.


    I''ll try riding you out when I next have a chance. Unless necessary, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on letting others know of the existence of the Mutated Vigor Ant.


    Although Mortal stage Companion Beasts were rare, they were much weaker than Legendary stage Companion Beasts. It was pointless showing it off.


    However, the dropping of the Companion Egg made Zhou Wen more diligent. He continued striving hard with the phone, hoping to see what other drops he could get from the Ant Nest.


    With the college entrance exams approaching, Zhou Wen went into school earlier, hoping to sleep in class. The moment he reached the school''s entrance, he saw Tian Xiangdong standing there with an odd expression.


    Seeing Zhou Wen walk over, Tian Xiangdong hurriedly came forward, wearing an odd look on his face. He gritted his teeth and said, "Zhou Wen, I''m sorry. My friend invited me to join his team. I can''t be in the same team as you."


    With that said, Tian Xiangdong didn''t wait for him to say another word before running off.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback, unsure what was wrong with the fellow. The test was about to begin, yet here he was switching teams.


    I wonder if Fang Ruoxi has any backup plans for Tian Xiangdong quitting the team. It''s not easy to find another teammate this late. Zhou Wen walked into the school as he thought about the matter only to find Li Zhi standing in front of him.


    "Li Zhi, do you know about Tian Xiangdong quitting the team?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Zhi was taken aback before he looked at him with an odd expression. "I''m sorry. For some reason, I can''t take the combat test with you either."


    Zhou Wen looked at Li Zhi and felt an ominous feeling rise in him.


    "Why?" Zhou Wen looked at Li Zhi and asked.


    "Don''t ask. It''s my bad." Li Zhi wore a look of guilt and bowed before quickly walking away.


    When Zhou Wen saw Fang Ruoxi, he could tell from the look on her face what she was about to say.


    "I''m sorry, Zhou Wen. I can''t take the combat test with you." Fang Ruoxi came in front of him and remained silent for a long while before speaking.

 12 The Influence of One Sentence

    "Why?" Zhou Wen stared into Fang Ruoxi''s eyes and asked.


    Fang Ruoxi''s gaze dodged his, unwilling for their eyes to meet. She shook her head slightly and said, "Don''t ask. In short, it''s my fault."


    Zhou Wen smiled and reached out to press onto Fang Ruoxi''s head. He ruffled her hair and said, "I should be the one apologizing. Someone is out to get me; thus putting you, Tian Xiangdong, and Li Zhi in a difficult position. Now that there''s still time, get another teammate. Make sure to do well, or I''ll feel uneasy. Also, help me apologize to Tian Xiangdong and Li Zhi."


    Fang Ruoxi stared at Zhou Wen blankly. Her face wore a complicated expression. It was a lost, guilty, confused look with a hint of abnormality.


    "Alright, move along. I need to work hard as well." Zhou Wen retracted his palm as he left with a smile.


    Fang Ruoxi stood there watching his back and after he had walked quite a distance away, she said with her body trembling, "Zhou Wen, I''ve no idea who you offended, but that person wields great power. You have to be careful."


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word. All he did was turn his head and smile at her before briskly walking away.


    Zhou Wen knew that he didn''t have much time left. Li Zhi''s family was ordinary, but Tian Xiangdong belonged to one of the most powerful families in Guide City. Furthermore, Fang Ruoxi''s family was even better. Rumor had it that her father was a high official in the city and someone with plenty of power.


    Someone who had the ability to influence; all three must wield extraordinary power.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t figure out who he could have offended, but connecting it to An Jing''s transferring to fight him had clues left behind.


    Coming to a spot devoid of anyone else, Zhou Wen took out his phone, thinking of asking his father if he had offended anyone.


    However, there was only the voice message that the phone was not in service. He didn''t know what Zhou Lingfeng was up to for him to not even switch on his phone in the day.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen contemplated his subsequent plans.


    The most important goal now is to find three students who are willing to join me in the combat test. Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    The combat test was different from the other subjects in the college entrance exam. As it was held in the dimensional zone and although humans had already obtained control over the dimensional zones, reducing the dangers involved, there were still a number of casualties from the yearly test. Therefore, the combat test needed to be voluntary and the team formed freely.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what method of testing the League government would choose for the test. Every year, the result of casualties would result in a massive debate, but the combat test still continued every year. There weren''t any signs of the League changing the situation.


    Zhou Wen didn''t mind danger. With his present strength, even if he were to join the combat test alone, he was still bound to receive stellar results.


    However, it was a rule by the League government. It required four students from the same school to participate. Therefore, before the application deadline, he needed to find three students who were willing to form a team with him.


    I''m still a few days away from the college entrance exam. The students who are willing to take the combat test probably already have their own teams. How am I to find people to form a team? Zhou Wen was rather vexed.


    In the beginning, all he wanted was to apply to a reputable school and find a stable job. Then, he could game in peace, but someone didn''t seem willing to give him his peace. They were bent on messing things up.


    "Zhou Wen, follow me." Just as Zhou Wen reached the classroom, Yu Qiubai called out to him.


    He had a nasty expression as he took Zhou Wen back to his office. After closing the door, he looked at him and with a grave expression, asked, "Zhou Wen, do you know Overseer An?"


    "Who is he?" Zhou Wen asked blankly.


    "Overseer An is an honorific title that also includes his rank. His real name is An Tianzuo. Do you really not know him?" Yu Qiubai asked Zhou Wen again with glaring eyes.


    "No." Zhou Wen shook his head firmly.


    Noticing that Zhou Wen didn''t seem to be hiding anything, Yu Qiubai revealed a look of puzzlement. "That''s strange. If you do not know Overseer An, why did he criticize a high schooler like you when he came to inspect Guide City?"


    "What kind of background does An Tianzuo have?" Zhou Wen got a rough idea about the reason Fang Rouxi and the rest had quit the team. It was likely to do with An Tianzuo.


    Yu Qiubai wore a bitter smile. "I''m only a teacher. I have no chance of coming close to a figure like that. I''ve only heard the principal mention a person like that. Earth''s League is split into four districts¡ªnorth, south, east, and west, and Guide City is just a tiny city in East District. Although Overseer An Tianzuo is young, he comes from an illustrious family. In his twenties, he enjoys a high rank and is a high official in the East District''s military. He wields plenty of power and is an impressive figure."


    "Sir, are you implying that An Tianzuo is targeting me?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Perhaps not, but he said one sentence criticizing you. However, the people who were trying to be cozy with him are free to think and do many things," Yu Qiubai said helplessly.


    "As a high official, doesn''t he know that a mere sentence is enough to destroy the future of a high schooler?" Zhou Wen said coldly. "Could this Overseer An be related to An Jing?"


    "From the looks of it, probably. As for what the exact relationship is, I''ve no idea either." Yu Qiubai thought for a moment and said, "We can figure this out later. It''s imperative we find you a team to participate in the combat test. The day after tomorrow is the deadline. We don''t have time to spare."


    Zhou Wen said helplessly, "At this point in time, the students who are willing to take the combat test already have their teams. How am I to find others? Besides, even if I found one, can''t the dismantling of my team happen a second time?"


    "Therefore, the teammates you will be finding this time must not be ordinary students." Yu Qiubai appeared to already have a plan.


    "Not ordinary students?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback, confused as to what Yu Qiubai was getting at.


    Yu Qiubai pondered for a moment and said, "The combat test requires four students to freely form a team. This rule has a huge loophole, but the League has insisted on keeping it without changing it for decades. Under such rules, many students who aren''t too strong but have extremely powerful teammates have obtained results that don''t match their ability."


    After a pause, Yu Qiubai continued, "Our school has a student named Li Xuan. If you are willing to form a team with him, and as long as he''s willing, I doubt anyone will make it difficult for you. However, you have to ensure that he receives good results in exchange. Furthermore, he needs to be the one doing the best on the team."


    "Are you telling me I''ll be carrying Li Xuan?" Zhou Wen wasn''t a fool, so he naturally understood what Yu Qiubai was getting at.


    "Under normal circumstances, you naturally wouldn''t have to do so. But in the present circumstances, although you won''t get first in the team, you will still receive quite remarkable results. You just won''t be first. This will be much better than not being able to participate at all."


    Zhou Wen wasn''t a stubborn person. Without any hesitation, he said, "Sir, I''ll be troubling you to help me then. However, does our school really have a student named Li Xuan?"


    If Guide High School really had a student with such a striking background, there was no reason for him not to know.


    "Although Li Xuan is a student at our school, he has never come to school except on matriculation day. It''s normal that you don''t know him. Even amongst the teachers, few of them know of him," Yu Qiubai said with a smile. "In short, let''s get over this obstacle first. You can leave any considerations to the future." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.

 14 Li Xuan

    A silver ant that can fly. Could it be a Legendary stage dimensional creature? Zhou Wen thought.


    He had planned on reviving the blood-colored avatar and heading for the area where the silver flying ant had appeared, but with noon almost approaching, Zhou Wen could only put it on hold.


    Although Yu Qiubai had tacitly allowed him to skip classes, he had arranged for Zhou Wen and Li Xuan to meet at noon. Therefore, Zhou Wen needed to make the trip.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that they would meet in school, but to his surprise, Yu Qiubai drove Zhou Wen out of school after morning classes and arrived at a private club east of the city.


    "Li Xuan is quite someone with an ostentatious character, but he''s not a bad person. You are only here for the test, so don''t take anything else to heart." Before entering the club, Yu Qiubai exhorted Zhou Wen with deep underlying tones. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Sir, don''t worry. I know what I should do," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    Although Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared, he was still somewhat surprised when he saw Li Xuan inside a luxurious private room.


    A teenager who looked about sixteen was sitting on a huge sofa. His shirt was untidy and frivolous and around him were beauties.


    "Old Yu, come and have a drink," the teenager raised his glass of alcohol when he saw Yu Qiubai, slipping effortlessly into addressing him by an affectionate diminutive.


    "There''s no need for that. I still have classes this afternoon." Yu Qiubai seemed accustomed to this. As though not noticing the sexy ladies, he pointed to Zhou Wen and introduced, "Li Xuan, this is the Zhou Wen I mentioned before. He''s very capable and should be of some help for your test."


    "Old Yu, don''t worry. On your account, I''ll let him join me. Getting a pretty good result won''t be a problem," Li Xuan downed his alcohol and said indifferently.


    "Hearing you say that puts me at ease. I still have lessons so I''ll be heading back to school. Have a discussion with Zhou Wen about the combat test," Yu Qiubai said.


    "Old Yu, are you really not going to have any drinks? The alcohol and women here are really good." Li Xuan said with a chuckle.


    "Thanks for the offer. I still have classes, so I''ll be heading back." Yu Qiubai waved his hand and said to Zhou Wen, "Leave the application to me. Stay here for the next few days to familiarize yourself with Li Xuan and the rest. It will be good for you during the combat test."


    "Thank you, Sir." Zhou Wen was rather moved.


    Yu Qiubai had no ties with him; yet, he was helping him at the risk of offending An Tianzuo. It left him feeling very grateful.


    "By getting into a reputable school and having a decent future is a way to not let me and the former principal down." Yu Qiubai patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder and said with a smile, "Alright, I''ll be heading back. Have a good discussion with Li Xuan about the details."


    After Yu Qiubai left, Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan who was reveling amidst the embraces of the beauties. He asked, "Do we get the other two teammates here and do some teamwork training before the test begins?"


    Li Xuan narrowed his eyes and said to Zhou Wen, "Zhou Wen, right? I''ve heard of you, the number one genius in Guide High School."


    "Just some random rumors. Don''t treat it seriously," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s right. In a small city like Guide City, how can there be a real genius? If you were really a genius, you wouldn''t have been defeated by An Jing''s single strike," Li Xuan said languidly. "There''s no need for any teamwork practice. I''m allowing you to join my team solely because of Old Yu. When the time comes, make sure you follow obediently behind us and not give us trouble."


    "That works," Zhou Wen said, unfazed.


    "Do you drink? If you can finish this bottle, I''ll let you choose from them." Li Xuan placed a bottle of alcohol in front of Zhou Wen.


    "I don''t drink." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "Up to you." Li Xuan found Zhou Wen boring and ignored him as he began having fun himself.


    Zhou Wen found a corner to sit down and began gaming on his phone, continuing his grinding fest.


    He wasn''t interested in staying here, but since Yu Qiubai had requested he stay behind, he didn''t think it was right to leave. Therefore, he just stayed behind to game.


    Seeing Zhou Wen sitting motionless in the corner gaming, Li Xuan had a feeling of contempt for him. To wallow in self-misery just because of a little setback. For this good-for-nothing, Old Yu had to beg me. It wasn''t worth it.


    Suddenly, Li Xuan''s heart stirred. He whispered to a sexy girl beside him.


    "You''re naughty." The girl jokingly snapped back as she walked towards Zhou Wen with her hips swaying.


    Zhou Wen was busy grinding, eager to rush back to where the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was. He wanted to know what level the dimensional creature was.


    Just as he was getting into it, he suddenly felt a softness touching his arm. Then, a sweet voice rang in his ear. "Hey Handsome, what''s this game? Is it fun?"


    "Yes." Zhou Wen continued grinding without looking up. After all, even if they saw the game, the cartoon-styled ants and the interface made it difficult for one to connect it to the dangerous dimensional zones.


    Besides, Zhou Wen had never heard of a dimensional zone that was an ant nest.


    When the girl saw Zhou Wen ignoring her, she subconsciously bit her lip. Then, she reached out to caress his cheek. She slightly used some force as she turned Zhou Wen''s head towards her as she leaned into his ear and breathed out. "What''s so fun about the game? Why not play a game with me?"


    As Li Xuan drank, he watched Zhou Wen''s reaction with piqued interest. He thought to himself, Zhou Wen is such a gaming addict. He probably has never touched a woman''s body, much less a woman as coquettish as Xiaoya. Will he end up with a nose bleed as a result?


    Xiaoya had only thought of turning Zhou Wen''s face slightly. Under such situations, men would automatically look at her, but despite doing so, Zhou Wen''s face was unmovable, like a rock. His eyes were still peeled to the phone screen.


    A little peeved, Xiaoya exerted some strength, and forcibly turned Zhou Wen''s head. As she used too much strength, Zhou Wen''s cheeks were a little deformed from the squishing.


    Zhou Wen was grinding and was unwilling to be unfocused. The blood-colored avatar was amidst a horde of Vigor Ants, so any moment of distraction led to possible death¡ªthe loss of one drop of blood.


    Over the past month, Zhou Wen had been using his blood to game. With so much blood being expended, he was beginning to suffer from anemia; therefore, he didn''t even wish to lose one drop.


    Although Zhou Wen was facing her because of her twisting, Xiaoya realized that his eyes were still diagonally peeled to his phone screen. Enraged, she reached out her other hand and held his face with both hands. She turned his head even more, making Zhou Wen have no choice but to look at her. Then, she revealed a mesmerizing smile and said sweetly, "Stop gaming. Let''s have some drinks, alright?"

 16 Downloading

    The vegetation outside the ancient city was abnormally luxuriant. The moat''s banks were lined with willow trees, all more than ten meters tall. Even the normal grass on the roadside was half an adult''s height.


    The moat''s surface was filled with lotuses the size of boats. The lotus flowers were the size of a face washbasin and they presented a strange redness as though they were dyed in blood.


    Due to the influence of the dimensional zone, the nearby animals had experienced different levels of mutations. However, the mutations weren''t as serious as those inside the dimensional zone.


    Stationed outside the ancient city were armed soldiers with tanks patrolling the area. Without an entry pass, no one was allowed into the ancient city.


    There were even surface-to-air missiles installed in the vicinity. However, Zhou Wen had never seen those missiles launch.


    In fact, the threat firearms had on dimensional creatures was highly limited. Little damage would be incurred even if a nuclear bomb were to explode inside a dimensional zone. It would lead to more dimensional creatures absorbing the radioactive energies and mutating to become more terrifying.


    Ordinary bullets were even more useless. When shot at dimensional creatures, they would be devoured and fuse with them.


    Only bullets made from special materials could generate damage on dimensional creatures, but those materials were very rare to begin with. Making such expendable bullets was wasteful, so they were typically made into melee weapons like swords and sabers.


    Firearms were not very useful against dimensional creatures, but they still dealt plenty of damage on humans. These days, the main usage of such weapons was solely to maintain order in human society.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have an entry pass, but his candidate pass could be used as one. During the combat test, these passes allowed a single entry into Guide Ancient City via the north gate.


    Guide Ancient City had four gates at the four directions. It was originally a small city, and circling the entire city didn''t even cover more than five kilometers.


    However, after the dimensional storms, Guide Ancient City became a dimensional zone. The space within became several times bigger than it originally was. To date, humans had yet to completely explore the whole of it.


    Entry via the different gates allowed one to encounter different dimensional creatures. The creatures encountered from the north gate were the weakest. Typically not much danger, as long as one didn''t venture too deep.


    As the candidate pass only allowed four people to enter together after a verification process, Zhou Wen could only stand outside the ancient city''s gate to wait for Li Xuan and the two other teammates who Zhou Wen had never met. Luckily there was still some time before the entrance closed.


    The ancient city''s north gate was ancient and mysterious. Its bricks were mottled and worn, with many spots having signs of weathering.


    However, Zhou Wen had heard of stories in which the troops had bombarded Guide Ancient City with massive amounts of ordnance for more than ten minutes. Yet, not a single tile, from the seemingly desolate ancient city, shattered.


    Above the city gate was a board with the words "Guide City" written in traditional text. They had an ancient and vigorous flair with a lingering charm that went back a thousand years.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze finally fell onto the strange symbol at the end of the gate''s board.


    The symbol looked like a palm-sized indentation left by a baby''s palm. However, inside the mark was an engraved pattern that looked like a bulb of garlic or onion.


    Guide Ancient City naturally hadn''t had such a symbol in the past. Legend had it that this strange symbol appeared after the dimensional storms, but no one knew the meaning of it. Nor did anyone know who had engraved it.


    Zhou Wen was studying the symbol when he suddenly felt the phone in his pocket vibrate.


    Believing that Yu Qiubai or Li Xuan was looking for him, Zhou Wen reached into his pocket to take it out. But he was left momentarily stunned.


    This was because the phone inside that pocket wasn''t the phone he usually used. Instead, it was the mysterious phone. It didn''t have any calling functionality, nor had it ever vibrated. So why would it suddenly do so now?


    Seeing no one around him was looking, Zhou Wen took out the phone from his pocket and saw that the screen had automatically lit up. A camera icon was flashing on it.


    Why didn''t I see this camera app in the past? What use does it have? Does it want me to take a selfie? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he tapped the camera icon.


    Like an ordinary phone, it entered photography mode. However, it wasn''t taking a picture of Zhou Wen. The rear camera had been activated.


    Thankfully, the ancient city didn''t restrict photography. Therefore, the soldiers didn''t approach to stop him despite seeing him taking out his phone to take a picture.


    Zhou Wen raised the phone and pointed it at the vegetation beside him in an attempt to figure out the uses of the photography function. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    He quickly realized that it was apparently broken. There was no way for him to press the shutter button to take the picture.


    The phone still wouldn''t take a picture of the scenery despite Zhou Wen''s finger tapping the screen. There wasn''t any reaction.


    What exactly is it? Zhou Wen raised his phone and waved it around. When the city gate''s tiny hand symbol appeared on screen, there was a beep. Surprisingly, the phone responded.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he took a careful look. He realized that there was a green box that appeared on screen that locked onto the strange palm symbol above the city gate.


    After three consecutive beeps, the palm symbol was zoomed in. The ancient city in the background gradually blurred and the words beneath appeared: "Loading¡­"


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen looked at his phone with the loading screen as a thought flashed across his mind. This thought gave him a fright as he found it unbelievable.


    But before long, the phone proved that his guess was correct. The loading completed and the hand symbol turned into an icon that appeared on the phone''s home screen. It was right beside the Ant Nest logo, with the three words: "Ancient Imperial City."


    It''s really become a game dungeon? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised as he held back his excitement and tapped the Ancient Imperial City icon.


    Indeed, the screen displayed the familiar loading screen of the game. After a while, the interface changed into Guide Ancient City''s north gate. Unlike reality, the door to the ancient city was already open.


    Zhou Wen dripped a drop of blood on the screen which manifested into the blood-colored avatar that directly walked through the gates.


    The sights that welcomed him were ancient stone pavements and antiquated old wooden buildings. Although Zhou Wen had never entered Guide Ancient City, he had seen videos of its interior on the Internet. It was identical to what he was seeing.


    Before Zhou Wen could do a comparison, a ragged-clothed skeleton holding a bone club appeared on the streets. It ran straight for the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen had seen this creature before in the videos. It was none other than Guide Ancient City''s dimensional creature, Skeleton Soldier.

 17 Ancient Imperial City

    Skeleton Soldiers were rather weak dimensional creatures. They had slow Speed, medium Strength, and weak Constitution. They had been taught in school how to deal with them. A typical high schooler who wasn''t too terrible at cultivation had no trouble dealing with one or two Skeleton Soldiers.


    Although Zhou Wen had never fought with a real Skeleton Soldier before, he could tell that they were much weaker than Vigor Ants. He didn''t know how much Strength or Constitution it had, but its Speed was at a max of 3.


    Controlling his blood-colored avatar to rush over, Zhou Wen met the Skeleton Soldier as it struck down with the club but due to its extremely slow speed, it was reduced to scattering bones by the blood-colored avatar before it could even land a hit.


    Ding!


    Amidst the pile of broken bones, a dimensional crystal dropped. Upon scrutiny, it was a Skeleton Soldier Crystal.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. The chance of a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropping was very low. To have one drop almost immediately meant he was very lucky.


    Unfortunately, the Skeleton Soldier''s Primordial Energy Skill is supposedly Skeleton Palm. It can only boost some Strength and its effect isn''t very strong. Besides, it''s typically a low Rank 1 Primordial Energy Skill. Zhou Wen recalled the information he learned from school and felt somewhat disappointed.


    Getting the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Skeleton Soldier Crystal, caused it to instantly transform into a gray stream that bored into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Zhou Wen also felt a cold aura go from his phone to his palm. Then, it circulated through his body, forming a strange Primordial Energy circulation path.


    Obtained Primordial Energy Skill: Skeleton Palm (Rank 1). Expends 1 Primordial Energy.


    Skeleton Palm expends 1 Primordial Energy per use. It uses much less than Vigor Divine Fist but is much weaker. It should be one of the weakest Primordial Energy Skills. Zhou Wen knew that typically, the stronger the Primordial Energy Skill, the more Primordial Energy it used. Something that only expended 1 Primordial Energy was definitely weak.


    Since it wasn''t convenient to test the might of Skeleton Palm, Zhou Wen made the blood-colored avatar continue walking deeper into Ancient Imperial City.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know why Guide Ancient City would be renamed as Ancient Imperial City in-game. Based on what he knew, Guide City was an ancient city with a long history. In ancient times, it had the names of Yingtian and Shangqiu, and its history traced back to the mythical times of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.


    Emperor Zhuan Xu of the Five Emperors had once set up his capital here before moving it to Diqiu. The leader of the Three Sovereigns, Suiren was born here. Likewise for Emperor Ku of the Five Emperors and his son, Xie of Shang. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    A name like Emperor Ku was probably unfamiliar to the average person, but Emperor Ku was the underlying archetype in which Emperor Dijun was depicted in the classic text of mythic creatures, Classic of Mountains and Seas.


    These were all myths and no one knew if they truly existed. However, after the dimensional storms, Guide Ancient City became a dimensional zone, and to date, it hadn''t been fully explored.


    A few years ago, powerful humans at the Epic stage stormed deep into Guide Ancient City, never to return. From that moment forth, no one dared to venture deep into it.


    Over the past few decades of evolution, the strongest human was only at the half-step Mythical stage. In fact, that only meant the peak Epic stage. The disappearance of such an expert spoke volumes of how terrifying the deep depths of the ancient city were.


    Thankfully, the dimensional zones seemed to have powerful restrictions, making it difficult for the dimensional creatures to rush out of the zone''s confines. Otherwise, human society would probably be in pandemonium, and wouldn''t be as calm as it was.


    Summoning the Mutated Vigor Ant, he charged deep into Ancient Imperial City with it. From time to time, Skeleton Soldiers would charge up to him only to be easily slain by him and the ant.


    However, apart from the first Skeleton Soldier encounter, no other crystals dropped. The drop rates of Skeleton Soldiers were lower than Vigor Ants.


    In the game, Zhou Wen tried the might of the Skeleton Palm, and unsurprisingly, it was much weaker than Vigor Divine Fist. It boosted his Strength by about 10¨C20%, making it significantly weaker than Tian Xiangdong''s Lightning Fist.


    However, there was a pro to Skeleton Palm. It had a mildness to it, and the amount of motion required when delivering it was minimized. It was agile and quick, unlike Vigor Divine Fist which required open and exaggerated actions.


    Skeleton Palm is more suitable for fusing with Inch Punch. However, Skeleton Palm is too weak. Even if I fuse it, the damage against the Silver-Winged Flying Ant will be limited. As Zhou Wen was in thought, he sensed someone walking towards him.


    There were quite a number of students gathering for the combat test. However, Zhou Wen had chosen a corner, so anyone who walked over was highly likely to be looking for him.


    Thankfully, there weren''t many Skeleton Soldiers, so the Mutated Vigor Ant was more than sufficient to handle them, making it possible for Zhou Wen to divert his attention. He looked up and took a glance.


    Believing that it was Li Xuan, Zhou Wen was surprised when he identified the person. It was An Jing who he hadn''t seen since she had defeated him in one move.


    An Jing was a girl who didn''t have the modern interpretation of beauty. She didn''t have a sharp chin, double eyelids, or a high nose. She looked more like a classic beauty with a petite nose and a slight chubbiness to her face that wore a sharp, masculine air. She had feline-like eyes and her gaze was firm and forceful.


    She was taller than Fang Ruoxi and was almost Zhou Wen''s height. To men, a woman this tall exuded a suppressive feeling. It was especially so with An Jing''s demeanor that automatically warded off strangers. Boys with slightly weaker willpower might not even dare to look her in the eye.


    An Jing walked straight to Zhou Wen and, without waiting for him to say a word, she threw a USB drive at him.


    "What''s this?" Zhou Wen caught it and asked An Jing in puzzlement.


    "Uncle Feng got me to give this to you." An Jing glanced at the phone Zhou Wen was holding and said in a seemingly mocking tone, "However, I think Uncle Feng''s painstaking actions were for nothing. Anything, no matter how good it is, is a waste when given to someone who wallows in self-misery."


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, An Jing turned and walked a few steps before pausing. Without looking back, she said, "In the future, don''t you say that you''re from the An family. Our family does not want such a weakling like you."


    With that said, An Jing walked off without turning back. Once she had left the warning zone, she left in a car with a military license plate.


    Zhou Wen stared blankly as the military vehicle left. Only then did he shake his head and mutter, "I''m not from your family to begin with. Neither did I plan on rubbing off some of your family''s glory. Perhaps you guys are overthinking things."


    Placing the USB drive into his pocket, Zhou Wen continued grinding the Ancient Imperial City dungeon and kept killing Skeleton Soldiers.


    Even if nothing good dropped, it allowed him to familiarize himself with the environment inside Ancient Imperial City.


    Although the school had provided them with the information and a map of the ancient city, the map was only limited to the vicinity around the northern city gate. On the one hand, the map wasn''t complete and on the other hand, it was to prevent the students from venturing too deep into the ancient city for fear of any mishaps.

 18 Skeleton General

    If Zhou Wen didn''t have the phone or the game dungeon, he wouldn''t have ventured deep into the ancient city either. It would be risking his life for nothing and there was no need to do so.


    But things were different now. He could venture deep into the game dungeon and figure out the situation inside. When he later entered the ancient city, he would naturally be familiar, reducing his risk.


    It was quite similar to the information and maps given by the school. The region in the vicinity of the north gates had some Skeleton Soldiers. These Skeleton Soldiers were slightly stronger than adult men who had never cultivated. Against high schoolers who had cultivated, they were only in for a beating. Unless one courted death and charged into a horde of Skeleton Soldiers, it typically wouldn''t be too dangerous. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Without much holding him back, Zhou Wen made the blood-colored avatar ride on the Mutated Vigor Ant and storm in. Even if he encountered Skeleton Soldiers that formed a group of a dozen or so, the Mutated Vigor Ant was easily able to kill the horde. It wasn''t something Zhou Wen needed the blood-colored avatar to take action on.


    Soon, Zhou Wen rushed outside of the map given by the school.


    The ancient city''s interior was filled with stone-paved streets and ancient buildings. The further he ventured, the more ancient the style of the buildings.


    Zhou Wen only dared to proceed along the streets and avoided the ancient buildings that lined them. In the education curriculum, it had been repeatedly mentioned that it was best that one didn''t enter the buildings of dimensional zones. Many buildings were connected to dimensional rifts, so entry might lead to getting lost in a different dimension.


    The drop rate of Skeleton Soldiers was extremely low. He had killed more than two hundred, but other than his first Skeleton Soldier, nothing else had dropped.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t surprised by this. He had previously heard that Skeleton Soldiers seldom condensed dimensional crystals because of their low level.


    Although Skeleton Palm was weak, it was really rare to obtain a Skeleton Palm Crystal.


    While in thought, he suddenly saw a group of Skeleton Soldiers on the street up ahead. There were about twenty to thirty of them. This was the biggest horde of Skeleton Soldiers he had seen since he had stepped in.


    Unlike the Skeleton Soldiers from before, this horde of Skeleton Soldiers was surrounding a skeleton horse. Riding it was a Skeleton General wielding a bone spear.


    The Skeleton General on the skeleton horse was clearly taller and stronger than the typical Skeleton Soldier. It was at least one head taller. Furthermore, its skull was especially thick. It wasn''t the ordinary grayish-white color as it had an ivory sheen to it.


    The armor he wore was ragged, but he wore a dark red cape over his back. Although it was somewhat old, it was complete.


    The bone spear was about two meters long and its surface was rough. Its tip was sharp like a thorn and it was barbed. If one was stabbed by the spear, it would probably lead to incessant bleeding.


    When Zhou Wen saw him, the Skeleton General had also seen the blood-colored avatar and Mutated Vigor Ant controlled by Zhou Wen. However, he wasn''t like the typical dimensional creature who immediately charged forward. Instead, he continued riding on his skeleton horse as though he loathed the idea of attacking. It was the horde of Skeleton Soldiers that charged forward like savage tigers and wolves.


    The Mutated Vigor Ants front claws sliced like Death''s scythe and in one revolution, cleaved through the Skeleton Soldiers, killing around ten of them.


    The fellow on the skeleton horse finally couldn''t put up with it and it roared into the sky, letting out a harsh, terrifying cry before charging forward.


    The skeleton horse''s speed wasn''t something the typical Skeleton Soldier could compare with. It even took Zhou Wen by surprise for it was faster than the Mutated Vigor Ant and the blood-colored avatar. It swept over like a tornado in no way slower than the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    In the blink of an eye, the skeleton horse landed in front of the Mutated Vigor Ant. Zhou Wen commanded the Mutated Vigor Ant to meet the enemy with its claws, hoping to hold back the bone spear before the blood-colored avatar leaped up to strike at the enemy''s head.


    But to his surprise, the bone spear accelerated, turning into a blur in Zhou Wen''s vision as though it had vanished for a moment.


    By the time Zhou Wen could see again, the bone spear had penetrated the Mutated Vigor Ant''s claws, stabbing straight into the blood-colored avatar''s chest.


    Boom!


    Blood spewed out as the blood-colored avatar was thrown off the back of the Mutated Vigor Ant. The game screen instantly went black. Clearly, he had died an instant death.


    That powerful? Zhou Wen felt a little delighted. Challenges were meant to be met and overcome. Killing the ordinary Skeleton Soldiers was meaningless as they didn''t drop anything fancy.


    Just as he was about to restart the game, he saw Li Xuan walking over with two similarly aged youths.


    Zhou Wen had never met them before. They didn''t appear to be students of Guide High School, and there was a high chance that they were like Li Xuan, being a student of Guide High School in name, but had never schooled there.


    "When we enter the ancient city, you don''t have to do a thing. Just follow by my side, leave the rest to them." Li Xuan didn''t introduce Zhou Wen to the two youths. All he did was give a casual warning.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded in agreement. Since he could easily pass the combat test, he had no plans on stealing the limelight.


    With the two youths having no intention to greet him, Zhou Wen was happy to be free of the small talk. He stood by the side as he continued gaming.


    While the two youths discussed the combat test with Li Xuan, they kept assuring him, claiming that with them around, Li Xuan was definitely getting first on the Guide City combat test.


    Their tone made it seem as though obtaining first in the Guide City combat test was as easy as drinking water.


    "That may be so, but you have to do it well for me. Nothing must go wrong. I have to be first in the Guide City combat test at all cost," Li Xuan said.


    "Brother Xuan, rest assured. What kind of true experts can there be in a small place like Guide City? Ignoring the fact that I''ll be joining forces with Jiang Hao, just me alone would be able to guarantee that you get first," Xu Miantu said without any concern.


    Seeing Li Xuan frown slightly, Jiang Hao hurriedly said, "Brother Xuan, rest assured. We will do our best. We guarantee you that nothing will go wrong."


    "Good." Only then did Li Xuan nod slightly.


    Xu Miantu was still about to say something when he saw someone walking over.


    The four turned their heads over. It was a tall beauty who easily lit up the eyes of others.


    "Zhou Wen, it''s great that you can find a team," Fang Ruoxi came in front of Zhou Wen as she said in relief.


    Zhou Wen smiled and said, "That''s all thanks to Li Xuan. I''m able to join the combat test thanks to him."


    Fang Ruoxi didn''t know Li Xuan, nor did she know Xu Miantu and Jiang Hao. However, she felt a weight lift off her chest that Zhou Wen was able to participate. She said with a smile, "I thought I could still try my luck at first, but with you around, I guess first is impossible."


    Xu Miantu wasn''t too happy when he heard that. Fang Ruoxi''s words sounded as though them teaming up with Zhou Wen was them taking advantage of him.


    "Babe, with Zhou Wen joining us, you can be at ease. Although he has no hopes of getting into the top three, it''s still easy to guarantee that he gets fourth thanks to the team," Xu Miantu said to Fang Ruoxi with a grin.

 20 Persuasion

    Upon seeing the trio''s expression, Zhou Wen knew that his persuasion was completely useless.


    He did have the intention to stay behind, ignoring whatever the trio might encounter. However, his results would be severely impacted if they were to die inside. He might even be removed from the list of candidates from the top schools.


    Also, Yu Qiubai had introduced him, so he had the responsibility to help Li Xuan attain good results. Although Li Xuan didn''t think so, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to see Li Xuan sending himself to his death. That would affect Yu Qiubai''s reputation and it was highly likely that the Li family would blame it on Yu Qiubai.


    Let''s hope they don''t venture too deep. As long as they don''t approach the area where the Skeleton General is, there shouldn''t be much of a problem. Zhou Wen thought without saying another word as he followed Li Xuan and company.


    Seeing Zhou Wen silent, Xu Miantu imagined that it was because Zhou Wen didn''t dare be alone. He scoffed in contempt. "When one''s a burden, one should realize that. Just follow us obediently and cut the nonsense."


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the interest or time to bother with him. Taking out his phone, he secretly dripped a drop of blood before entering the Ancient Imperial City game dungeon.


    He wanted to venture ahead to test the Skeleton General''s strength. It was best if he could find a way to kill him, and even if he failed, he could at least find a way to ensure his survival in front of him.


    After all, Jiang Hao and Xu Miantu were taking point, killing all the Skeleton Soldiers that rushed at them. There was nothing Zhou Wen needed to do.


    The danger was nonexistent. Even if a Skeleton Soldier were to rush at him, he could easily finish it off with his present strength.


    Zhou Wen kept walking behind, unafraid that they would see his screen since they were unlikely to recognize it.


    The game interface followed a cartoon style, making it very disparate from real life. The typical person wouldn''t make the connection.


    Li Xuan was like Zhou Wen; he had nothing to do. When he saw Zhou Wen taking out his phone to game in such an area, he quipped, "You are really a gaming addict. You still feel like gaming in here?"


    "It''s not like I have anything else to do, so I''m just playing games to kill time," Zhou Wen replied without looking up. His eyes were peeled to the screen as he controlled the blood-colored avatar, blazing a trail while riding the Mutated Vigor Ant.


    The ordinary Skeleton Soldiers were unable to block the Mutated Vigor Ant at all. Their bodies scattered from the impact and they weren''t as fast as it was.


    Zhou Wen also couldn''t be bothered to kill them. All he wanted was to rush to the spot where the Skeleton General was.


    "That''s right. I shall game as well," Li Xuan said as he took out his phone. He tapped on the screen; the game he played a mystery.


    Li Xuan''s gaming could be ignored, but Zhou Wen was also playing. This pissed off Xu Miantu.


    "What the hell? Is this the number one genius of Guide High School? He''s like a gaming nerd," Xu Miantu cursed under his breath in great displeasure.


    Although Xu Miantu and Jiang Hao were powerful, they were still made up of flesh and blood. They were still susceptible to fatigue and injury; therefore, when they encountered relatively large hordes of Skeleton Soldiers, they had to be very careful. This slowed down the speed of their advancement.


    As for Zhou Wen, he was charging the entire way in-game. His rate of progress was far faster than their progress in real life. In just half an hour, he arrived at the spot where he had met the skeleton horse-riding Skeleton General.


    Like the last time, that fellow immediately charged when it saw the blood-colored avatar and Mutated Vigor Ant. Its speed was terrifying, in no way something Zhou Wen and the Mutated Vigor Ant could compare with.


    This time, Zhou Wen was fully focused. He was thinking of ways to deal with the spear attacks, but when he saw the bone spear thrusting at him, he failed to dodge it. He didn''t have the opportunity to extend his hand to block the attack before being penetrated in the chest.


    That was fast. This spear attack must be some type of Primordial Energy Skill. Zhou Wen could already confirm that the spear attack was a Primordial Energy Skill; otherwise, it was impossible that he had failed to even react.


    A speed-type Primordial Energy Skill? This fellow is more difficult than the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. However, that Silver-Winged Flying Ant apparently never used Primordial Energy Skills. As Zhou Wen pondered over the matter, he revived the blood-colored avatar, rode the Mutated Vigor Ant, and charged into the depths of Ancient Imperial City.


    As Zhou Wen rushed over, he carefully recalled the details of his previous two deaths. He hoped to find a strategy to deal with the Skeleton General by studying the details.


    By doing so, he came up with a few possibilities. However, their viability needed him to test them out to know if they worked.


    When he saw the Skeleton General charge at him again, Zhou Wen deliberately dodged the skeleton horse''s direct charge. He wanted to know if the Primordial Energy Skill was only capable of a frontal thrust. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The facts proved that he was wrong. When the blood-colored avatar dodged to the side of the skeleton horse under Zhou Wen''s control, the bone spear tip swept a crescent arc like a stream of light, instantly decapitating the blood-colored avatar''s head. It was no doubt an instant kill.


    Making mistakes wasn''t a terrifying problem. What was terrifying was the lack of opportunity to amend strategies. However, the mysterious phone was what gave Zhou Wen this opportunity for amendments.


    His Primordial Energy Skill is not only a thrust, but it''s also capable of side cleaving. This makes it difficult. Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged; instead, he secretly dripped another drop of blood on the phone''s screen.


    Perhaps it was because of his severe loss of blood in the past month or so, Zhou Wen felt a little giddy.


    I need to think of means to replenish my blood in the future. If this continues, I might really end up dying from anemia. Zhou Wen felt a slight headache, but he couldn''t think of a good solution.


    With the first experiment failing, all Zhou Wen could do was switch methods. Thankfully, he was only making attempts in-game. If it happened in real life, there was no way he would do something beyond his means. After all, he only had one life. He couldn''t just bet on it.


    While Zhou Wen made his attempts, Xu Miantu and company were continuing their push forward.


    The dimensional creatures in the dimensional zone were nearly endless. As the zone was connected to dimensional rifts, even if the creatures were wiped out, the area would be occupied again by new creatures. There was no way of killing them all.


    However, the dimensional rifts weren''t stable. Pan-dimensional creatures didn''t appear at random, so after clearing an area, there wouldn''t be any Skeleton Soldiers appearing for a short period of time. Xu Miantu and company''s advancement was still pretty good.


    The chances of Skeleton Soldiers producing dimensional crystals were quite small, with one Strength Crystal being dug out from the Skeleton Soldiers'' bodies every two to three hundred Skeleton Soldiers.


    Unfortunately, this wasn''t a game. They could only roughly identify the Strength Crystals, but had no idea what their values were.


    The Strength Crystal was naturally Li Xuan''s. In fact, as long as he had one, he would be first in the team.


    "We''ve already hunted enough Skeleton Soldiers. We are very far from the determined region of the test. We need to rush back before the end. Can we not continue proceeding forward?" Upon noticing that they were approaching the Skeleton General''s region, Zhou Wen said once again to Li Xuan.

 21 Unexpected Developmen

    Before Li Xuan could say a word, Xu Miantu said, "It''s still early, and the number of bone beads we have isn''t enough to guarantee us first place. We naturally need to proceed forward."


    Jiang Hao also looked at the map and said, "Based on the map, this area is still the safe zone. We can proceed another ten kilometers without encountering much danger."


    Li Xuan opened up the map on his phone and nodded after taking a look. "Based on the information, there aren''t any Legendary stage creatures in the vicinity. It should be ok if we proceed forward a little. We need to obtain enough bone beads to be the bona fide winners of Guide City. We cannot afford otherwise."


    Zhou Wen knew that he needed to dissuade Li Xuan and company from proceeding forward; otherwise, the death of any one of them when they encountered the Skeleton General would drastically affect his results.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t have any plans to enter high society via the university he attended, he still wished to enroll in a reputable university.


    If any of the four of them died, the chances of entering a top reputable university became extremely slim. No matter how well he did in his other subjects, he would only be able to enroll in a first-rate university. That wasn''t something Zhou Wen wanted.


    "Li Xuan, do you believe in the sixth sense?" Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and asked Li Xuan.


    "What are you getting at?" Li Xuan didn''t directly answer as he asked with piqued interest.


    "I find my sixth sense better than most people. Since I was little, I would have a vague feeling just before encountering danger. This feeling leaves me very uncomfortable. Although I''m not sure if it''s a premonition for danger, I usually encounter trouble soon after." Zhou Wen continued, "And I just had a very uncomfortable feeling."


    "Just admit to being afraid. Why use sixth sense as an excuse?" Xu Miantu spoke with contempt.


    Li Xuan sized up Zhou Wen for a moment before casting his gaze at Jiang Hao.


    Jiang Hao thought and then said, "The bone beads we have at present can''t guarantee us first place. It might be a little inappropriate if we were to head back now."


    Clearly, Jiang Hao was supportive of continuing forward.


    Seeing Li Xuan somewhat persuaded, Zhou Wen hurriedly said, "Li Xuan, please trust me. Although this feeling of mine doesn''t happen every time danger rears its head, great trouble is certain once I have this feeling. If I''m just a coward, I could have just retreated to the entrance and waited for you guys. There isn''t a need for me to tell you this."


    After a pause, Zhou Wen continued, "Just as Xu Miantu said, Guide City is a small city. There aren''t many high schoolers who are that strong. I doubt many high schoolers will dare to venture past the designated zone to kill Skeleton Soldiers. We have already obtained a sizable number of bone beads and can always return to the designated zone to kill more. First place is practically guaranteed without taking any risks. After all, we only have one life. There''s no harm in being cautious."


    "What you say makes sense." Li Xuan seemed to be moved by Zhou Wen''s words as he nodded. "Let''s do this then. We shall head back before heading elsewhere to hunt Skeleton Soldiers."


    "Come on, there''s no need for that." Xu Miantu grumbled but didn''t dare disobey Li Xuan''s decision. He turned around and headed back with the team.


    Jiang Hao also followed and walked by Li Xuan''s side.


    Obviously, Zhou Wen had already turned around to head back, but after taking two steps, he suddenly heard Jiang Hao exclaim. "What''s that?"


    He gave everyone a shock as they turned to look. They found him looking at an ancient building with a bewildered look as though he had seen something most terrifying.


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Xu Miantu subconsciously turned their heads to look when a glint flashed in Jiang Hao''s hands. A strange jade dagger appeared in each of his hands.


    The jade dagger in Jiang Hao''s left hand struck like a venomous snake''s tongue, instantly stabbing Li Xuan. The foot-long blade plunged into his waist completely.


    This sudden development happened so abruptly that Xu Miantu didn''t even realize what was happening when the other jade dagger in Jiang Hao''s right hand swiped at his neck. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Xu Miantu had retreated quickly but had failed to avoid being injured. Although none of his arteries were severed, his neck was instantly dyed red with blood.


    "Jiang Hao¡­ What are you doing¡­" Xu Miantu wore a look of alarm as he covered the wound on his neck, shouting as he retreated. He was filled with disbelief over what had just happened.


    Jiang Hao ignored Xu Miantu as he clenched the pair of jade daggers with both hands, staring intently at the wound on Li Xuan''s waist.


    He was responsible for the wound and he knew what kind of effect such a wound would have; however, the flesh and fat at the wound seemed to possess a certain force that exerted pressure on the wound. The tiny amount of blood that had seeped out was nearly impossible for a wound this deep.


    "I never expected that the promiscuous third scion of the Li family would have mastered something that would require being a virgin¡ªthe Invincible Connate Divine Art," Jiang Hao said slowly as he glared at Li Xuan.


    Zhou Wen was similarly alarmed when he heard "Invincible Connate Divine Art."


    Primordial Energy Skills and Companion Beasts could be obtained by hunting dimensional creatures, but Primordial Energy Arts weren''t things that could be obtained by dimensional crystals.


    Legend had it that Primordial Energy Arts stemmed from ancient arts like Chinese qigong , battle qi , or Japanese ninjutsu . However, due to the lack of Primordial Energy Crystals in the past, those arts lacked the support of Primordial Energy, preventing them from expressing their true might.


    It was only when the dimensional creatures appeared, allowing humans to absorb dimensional crystals, that these arts grew in use, gradually developing into present-day Primordial Energy Arts.


    Primordial Energy Arts had significant effects on humans. Absorbing dimensional crystals allowed humans to grow stronger and evolve, but this wasn''t sufficient at advancing between stages. Instead, it was Primordial Energy Arts that possessed the power to allow a breakthrough of such restrictions.


    For instance, if Zhou Wen wanted to advance from the Mortal stage to the Legendary stage, simply absorbing dimensional crystals would be insufficient. He would need to advance Ascetic Meditation to a whole new realm before his body would evolve to the Legendary stage.


    However, Primordial Energy Arts had their differences. Ascetic Meditation could, at best, advance Zhou Wen to the Legendary stage¡ªthe maximum it could go. It was unable to advance Zhou Wen to the Epic stage no matter how much more he cultivated in it.


    Among the known Primordial Energy Arts, there were fewer than twenty that allowed humans to advance to the Epic stage. Invincible Connate Divine Art was one of them.


    Furthermore, Invincible Connate Divine Art had a strange cultivation requirement. It required the cultivator to be a virgin.


    Once one was no longer a virgin, the Invincible Connate Divine Art would become ineffective, losing all of its original might.

 22 Legendary Companion Beas

    Due to the strange cultivation requirement, the Invincible Connate Divine Art was also known as a Virgin Divine Art. It was the least cultivated among all the Epic stage-capable Primordial Energy Arts.


    Firstly, Invincible Connate Divine Art could only be cultivated by men. Women who took up slightly more than half of the human population were incapable of cultivating it. Furthermore, with the requirement of being a virgin, even fewer people cultivated in it.


    No matter how potent the Invincible Connate Divine Art was, to become useless the moment one lost their virginity was a fatal flaw.


    Of course, the typical person didn''t have the chance to acquire it, so they had no chance of cultivating it even if they wished to.


    Zhou Wen wouldn''t be too surprised if someone else had cultivated in it, but Li Xuan was a man who found himself swimming amongst women daily. Therefore, it was truly unbelievable that he had managed to master the Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    Li Xuan didn''t look at the wound on his waist. In fact, due to the compression and suppression of his muscles, the wound had basically stopped bleeding.


    "Did my second brother send you?" Li Xuan glared at Jiang Hao as he asked. He didn''t wear the blank, ignorant look that Xu Miantu wore.


    Jiang Hao nodded and said, "I originally thought that it wasn''t necessary for him to take such actions, but from the look of it, your second brother has quite a discerning eye. For you to maintain your virginity, despite swimming in pussy daily, you are truly an incredible genius. You will definitely be a thorn in his side."


    "Jiang Hao, are you mad? You are actually helping Li Mobai kill Brother Xuan? Do you not know that if Brother Xuan dies here, there will be no way we can answer to Godfather. Don''t forget how much we owe Godfather for his kindness. He also dotes on Brother Xuan the most, so how can you bear to make him sad?" Xu Miantu said as he held his wound.


    His injury was a lot lighter than Li Xuan''s, but unfortunately, he hadn''t cultivated in the Invincible Connate Divine Art. The blood that he had lost was enough to make his head spin.


    Jiang Hao ignored Xu Miantu as he gripped his dangers tightly, staring intently at Li Xuan like a ravenous wolf.


    Xu Miantu still wasn''t done when he was interrupted by Li Xuan. Li Xuan looked at Jiang Hao and said, "I''ve never fought Brother for anything since I was little. To prevent him from second-guessing me, I spent all my time with women and never paid attention to any Li family matters. Yet, he still is unwilling to let me off."


    "Two tigers cannot share one mountain. A family can''t have two heads. If there''s anything to blame, it''s that you only acted like a pig instead of being a real one. Otherwise, none of this would be necessary," Jiang Hao said.


    "Jiang Hao, do you really believe you can kill me?" Li Xuan said coldly.


    "By telling you this much, it shows how determined I am to kill you. Your mastering of the Invincible Connate Divine Art has indeed exceeded my expectations, but unfortunately, you are only at the Mortal stage and have yet to advance to the Legendary stage. Your death is a certainty today," As Jiang Hao spoke, he tore off his left sleeve, revealing his entire left arm.


    There was a spiraling blue-green tattoo that nearly covered Jiang Hao''s entire left arm¡ªa coiled snake.


    The snake tattoo was shimmering with a demonic green-blue glow as though it was alive. Green-blue scales surfaced and enveloped Jiang Hao''s entire left arm and hand, making his arm appear like a bizarre venomous snake exuding extremely uncanny vibes.


    "Explosive Scaled Snake, a Legendary stage Companion Beast¡­ Impossible¡­ You are only at the Mortal stage¡­ How could you incubate a Legendary stage Companion Beast? Don''t tell me that you have already advanced to the Legendary stage? To reach the Legendary stage at sixteen¡­ That''s impossible¡­" Xu Miantu stared at Jiang Hao''s left arm as he exclaimed, a look of horror plastering his face.


    Jiang Hao shook his head slightly. "I haven''t advanced to the Legendary stage. I''m just capable of using the Explosive Scaled Snake."


    "How is it possible to incubate one without advancing to the Legendary stage? The Primordial Energy needed by an Explosive Scaled Snake is enough to suck dry anyone at the Mortal stage. It''s impossible to incubate one¡­" Xu Miantu still found it unbelievable.


    Li Xuan harrumphed and said, "Brother sure went for broke in order to kill me. There''s only one way to possess a Legendary stage Companion Beast at the Mortal stage without incubating it yourself¡ªit''s to let a Legendary stage expert with a Legendary stage Companion Beast transfer it to the person at the Mortal stage, even at the cost of their lives, "


    "You are indeed smart. Unfortunately, you will have to die today." Jiang Hao no longer hesitated as he rushed towards Li Xuan. Meanwhile, his arm that resembled a snake slashed down with the jade dagger.


    He was exceedingly fast as his snake-like arm seemed to phase away. It was almost impossible for one to use the naked eye to capture its trajectory. As an uncanny green-blue stream of light, it flashed across Li Xuan''s neck.


    It was at a speed so fast that it even exceeded the Skeleton General''s spear attack. It gave Zhou Wen the impression that Li Xuan was doomed.


    But to his surprise, he heard a clang. Li Xuan had gripped the lightning-fast jade dagger, holding it right in front of him.


    Li Xuan''s hand holding the dagger, or perhaps it should be said that most of his body, was enveloped by black iron armor.


    "Black Knight, a Legendary stage Companion Beast. So you have also used the same method to obtain a Legendary stage Companion Beast at the Mortal stage. It''s no wonder you held no fear." Jiang Hao instantly recognized what the black iron armor on the Legendary stage represented.


    "No, you are wrong. I don''t have to use such a cruel method to obtain a Legendary Companion Beast. Nor do I have such a need to." Li Xuan exerted strength, immediately snapping the dagger in his hand and leaving Jiang Hao to retreat rapidly with the remnants of the jade dagger.


    "The Invincible Connate Divine Art is the Primordial Energy Art that has the most amount of Primordial Energy amongst its peers. Even though I''m only at the Mortal stage, I still have the chance of incubating a Legendary stage Companion Beast despite them being the weaker ones and me needing to take on some risk. However, it''s more than sufficient when dealing with your Explosive Scaled Snake." Li Xuan had a sharp glint in his eyes as he approached Jiang Hao.


    "It''s no wonder Second Brother views you as a threat. Such talent is indeed terrifying," Jiang Hao said as he retreated. After saying that, he turned around and ran deep into the Ancient City.


    Li Xuan didn''t hesitate as he immediately pursued him.


    "Don''t chase after him!" Zhou Wen hurriedly yelled to stop Li Xuan when he saw Jiang Hao fleeing in the direction of the Skeleton General.


    However, Li Xuan was bent on killing Jiang Hao. There was no hesitation in his huge strides.


    The two probably had Speed valued at 8 or 9, making it too late for Zhou Wen to catch up with them. Soon, they vanished around a corner.


    Zhou Wen slowed down his pace without continuing his pursuit. Instead, it was Xu Miantu who handled the wound on his neck before chasing after them. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "What are you waiting for? Why aren''t you chasing after them to help Brother Xuan?" Xu Miantu yelled at him when he saw Zhou Wen stop.


    Zhou Wen held his phone and launched the Ancient Imperial City dungeon as he said to Xu Miantu, "After you."

 24 Who the Hell is He

    Zhou Wen picked up his pace and entered the battlefield in a most ingenious manner, appearing behind the Skeleton General.


    The Skeleton General keenly noticed Zhou Wen''s appearance and gave up attacking Li Xuan. It struck backward, transforming the bone spear into a cold beam that stabbed at Zhou Wen''s head.


    Without waiting for the Skeleton General to raise his spear, Zhou Wen crouched down and lunged for the underside of the skeleton horse. This prevented the bone spear from locking onto him; thus, resolving the Skeleton General''s thrust.


    Xu Miantu struggled to his feet as he looked at Zhou Wen with a look of disbelief. Zhou Wen had actually managed to hold back the Skeleton General!


    Zhou Wen oscillated between the skeleton horse''s sides, occasionally tumbling to the ground. It looked extremely pathetic, but his actions worked.


    Xu Miantu knew how difficult it was. He had the same idea as Zhou Wen earlier, hoping to hold back the Skeleton General to give Li Xuan time to finish off Jiang Hao.


    However, he had been swept away the moment he approached the Skeleton General and nearly died from severe injuries. It made him deeply realize the huge differences between the Mortal stage and the Legendary stage.


    Zhou Wen was likewise at the Mortal stage, but he had managed to hold back the Skeleton General. It might look pathetic, but he remained unharmed the entire time. It left Xu Miantu amazed.


    Thinking back to his mockery of Zhou Wen, his originally pale face blushed an abnormal red.


    Jiang Hao was alarmed to see Zhou Wen hold back the Skeleton General. Despite all his plans, he had never expected a Mortal stage high-schooler to be capable of holding back a Legendary Skeleton General.


    In fact, Jiang Hao long knew of the existence of the Skeleton General in the vicinity. He had planned on taking Li Xuan nearby and letting the Skeleton General finish him off.


    Unfortunately, this plan had been foiled by Zhou Wen. Jiang Hao had no choice but to take action himself, but he ultimately failed.


    While Zhou Wen was holding back the Skeleton General, Li Xuan had already rushed towards Jiang Hao. He unleashed a barrage of punches that shimmered like shooting stars at him.


    He knew that it wasn''t pragmatic to expect a Mortal stage hold back the Skeleton General for extended periods of time. He had to finish off Jiang Hao before Zhou Wen was killed by the Skeleton General.


    Jiang Hao now truly realized how terrifying this intemperate scion, Li Xuan, was. Despite using similar Legendary Companion Beasts¡ªeven with him having two¡ªhe was still completely overpowered by Li Xuan.


    "I don''t believe I can''t last two minutes. We are both at the Mortal stage and are using Legendary Companion Beasts!" Jiang Hao battled Li Xuan with gritted teeth.


    Bang!


    In less than twenty seconds, Jiang Hao was hit on the left elbow by Li Xuan, snapping the bone armor in two.


    The color in Jiang Hao''s face drained as he rapidly retreated. However, upon seeing Li Xuan pursue him like a leech, his eyes flashed with a ruthless glint. With a swing of his left arm, the Explosive Scaled Snake tattoo shimmered as a brightly-colored blue-green venomous snake tore out from his arm, coiling towards the pursuing Li Xuan.


    Seizing this opportunity, Jiang Hao pushed his speed to the limit, allowing him to traverse four to five meters. He was attacking Zhou Wen from behind with a dagger!


    "Ah!" This sudden development caused Xu Miantu to cry out.


    Zhou Wen was already in a perilous situation while holding back the Skeleton General. Now, with Jiang Hao sneaking an attack on him, death seemed inevitable for him.


    Li Xuan was alarmed and furious as well. However, with the Explosive Scaled Snake blocking him, he didn''t have the time to rescue Zhou Wen.


    While the bone spear thrust around at lightning speed, a dagger stabbed at Zhou Wen''s waist from the back. At this critical moment, Zhou Wen exerted strength into his legs, allowing him to do a sharp turn. A powerful twisting force erupted from his waist muscles as his body twisted at an odd angle.


    Zhou Wen''s feet were still facing the Skeleton General''s side, but his torso had already turned to face Jiang Hao.


    The bone spear stabbed at Zhou Wen, just brushed past his cheek. This left a faint wound on Zhou Wen''s cheek, but he remained stoic. Without even blinking, he threw a punch at Jiang Hao''s dagger.


    A look of mockery flashed in Jiang Hao''s eyes. Although the Explosive Scaled Snake had left his body, he still had the bone breastplate protecting him. It was also a Legendary Companion Beast and, although it wasn''t a Strength-type, it augmented his Strength a little. It wasn''t something a typical Mortal stage human could withstand.


    Furthermore, the jade dagger was made of special materials. Not only did it have the ability to kill dimensional creatures, but it also had a terrifying sharpness to it.


    "Die!" Jiang Hao steeled his heart as he exerted all his Strength, gathering it at the blade tip. He wanted to slice through Zhou Wen''s fingers.


    "Dodge! You can''t handle it!" Li Xuan cried out in panic.


    Xu Miantu spewed another mouthful of blood¡ªa result of his anxiety, not his injuries.


    At the instant the fist and blade met, a sanguine glow shimmered across Zhou Wen''s fist. The red carapace instantly wrapped around his fist, condensing like a dark red boxing glove.


    "Companion Beast!" Jiang Hao''s eyes constricted as an ominous feeling arose in him. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    As Mortal stage Companion Beasts were rare, he had subconsciously imagined the Companion Beast to be at the Legendary stage. This alarmed him greatly.


    However, the distance between the fist and blade was just too narrow. Just as the thought came to Jiang Hao, Zhou Wen''s fist had already struck the blade of the jade dagger.


    Crack!


    The mighty force tore through the blade as cracks rapidly extended, shattering the entire dagger, turning them into countless fragments.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen''s punch didn''t pause as it struck Jiang Hao''s dagger-wielding fist. It smashed the bones in his hand and arm.


    The fractured bone tore out of Jiang Hao''s flesh as blood gushed out. Without the protection of the bone armor, his arm popped like popcorn. He flew out with a tragic cry.


    All of this happened in a split second. As Xu Miantu watched, he glared with a wide-open mouth, momentarily speechless.


    Li Xuan was thrilled. Ignoring the Explosive Scaled Snake that embroiled him, he charged forward and smashed open Jiang Hao''s head in midair. There were no more chances for him.


    Zhou Wen was calm. After destroying Jiang Hao''s arm, his body twisted around like a loach and, using the momentum, lunged for the skeleton horse''s back. This made the Skeleton General miss once more.


    Everything happened with such fluidity, as though it had been practiced countless times. It was a beautiful sight.


    "Who the hell is he?" Xu Miantu snapped to his senses as his mind was filled with puzzlement. He refused to believe that Zhou Wen was merely an ordinary high-schooler from Guide City.

 25 Weakness

    Jiang Hao''s death signified the dissipation of his Companion Beast. The Explosive Scaled Snake and the bone armor Companion Beasts exploded, turning into bits of Primordial Energy that scattered across the land.


    Li Xuan didn''t have the luxury of time to entertain nonsensical thoughts like Xu Miantu. After finishing Jiang Hao, he rushed straight for the Skeleton General. At the same time, he shouted, "Zhou Wen, I''ll attract his attention. Try to find an opening to deliver the lethal strike."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen retreated. Just as the Skeleton General was about to chase after him, Li Xuan had already delivered a punch to the skeleton horse''s head.


    This contained the Strength of a Black Knight, but all it did was cause the skeleton horse''s head to flinch and its feet to stagger for a moment.


    "Pledge my life to defend the city¡­" The Skeleton General was enraged as the glow in his eyes burgeoned. He let out a furious roar as he charged at Li Xuan with his spear.


    Li Xuan could barely kite the Skeleton General with the Black Knight''s powers, but he was completely suppressed. He had no means to counterattack.


    Zhou Wen circled around the skeleton horse without giving the Skeleton General a chance to attack him. From time to time, he would deliver a Vigor Divine Fist at the horse''s legs or body. It affected the skeleton horse''s mobility, giving Li Xuan a breather.


    The two besieged the Skeleton General, but everything remained in a tizzy.


    The Skeleton General in-game doesn''t seem this powerful? Zhou Wen was quite puzzled. He was certain of his judgment.


    It wasn''t only aspects like Strength or Speed, most importantly, the Skeleton General in-game was rather uniform in his attacks. It was obvious he was a NPC 1 in a game. But in real life, the Skeleton General was clearly more intelligent and autonomous than in-game. His combat experience seemed to be honed from multiple battles, making him completely different.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t seen this phenomenon on the ordinary Skeleton Soldiers. Be it in-game or in real life, the Skeleton Soldiers shared the same rigidness.


    What''s the reason? Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to figure out the reason.


    Bang!


    Li Xuan was sent flying by the Skeleton General''s spear sweep, but he managed to stop himself after tumbling about eight meters.


    He got to his feet and charged forward once again while enduring the pain. Meanwhile, he shouted, "This Skeleton General is a little odd. He appears to be getting stronger!"


    If any other Mortal stage were to suffer such injuries, they would probably be dead, even if they had a Legendary Companion Beast protecting them.


    However, Li Xuan''s Invincible Connate Divine Art was indeed formidable. It allowed him to continue battling with full force.


    Zhou Wen had heard of how potent Epic stage Primordial Energy Arts were in the past, but it was only today that he realized how disparate things were.


    The Ascetic Meditation he cultivated had similar benefits to the Invincible Connate Divine Art. They were Primordial Energy Arts that strengthened one''s Constitution, but the differences were huge when a comparison was made. If he had suffered injuries as terrible as Li Xuan''s, it would be unlikely that he could get back on his feet.


    As expected, I need to cultivate in a top-grade Primordial Energy Art. But where am I to get one? These things aren''t like Primordial Energy Skills that can drop from the game. Zhou Wen was slightly vexed.


    In the schools of Earth''s League, especially in university, different Primordial Energy Arts would be taught. However, they were capped out at the Legendary stage. There weren''t any Epic stage Primordial Energy Arts to be taught. Zhou Wen had no chance of cultivating in such Primordial Energy Arts even if he wanted to.


    "Bro, stop daydreaming. Help me finish him quickly!" Li Xuan was running about yelling while being pursued by the Skeleton General. The black armor that encased him had nearly shattered.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of helping. Instead, he said, "It''s useless. My Strength isn''t enough to injure it. I think it''s better we flee."


    "Don''t you have a weaponized Companion Beast?" Li Xuan exclaimed.


    "It''s only a Mortal Companion Beast. Although the augmentation to Strength is great, it wouldn''t be very effective against such a Legendary stage dimensional creature," Zhou Wen explained.


    "Mortal Companion Beast?" Li Xuan immediately felt speechless.


    The higher the grade of a dimensional creature, the easier it could condense a dimensional crystal. The chances of producing a Companion Egg was also higher. Therefore, it was the low-grade dimensional creatures that could hardly produce Companion Eggs.


    Therefore, a Mortal Companion Beast could be more expensive than his Black Knight Legendary Companion Beast, but at this juncture, money meant nothing.


    "That''s bad. Although my Black Knight also augments my Strength, it mainly augments my defense. It''s not great when it comes to Strength¡­ Damn it¡­ I should have learned a few Primordial Energy Skills with potent destructive forces¡­ Or I should have incubated a Strength-type Legendary Companion Beast¡­" Li Xuan said in regret.


    "If not for your black armor protecting you, you would have died a couple of times. Having a Strength-type Legendary Companion Beast is useless," Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    Li Xuan no longer had the time to chat with Zhou Wen for the Skeleton General almost stabbed him in his thigh.


    The Black Knight Companion Beast didn''t enhance his Speed, so Li Xuan was unable to dodge the Skeleton General''s thrusts. All he could do was rely on the black armor to resist the blows. It seemed quite tragic for it appeared as though he would be stabbed to death at any time.


    The skeleton horse was too fast and, with Li Xuan not being at the Legendary stage, there was no way of escaping.


    "Zhou Wen, I beg you to save Brother Xuan." Xu Miantu struggled to get up as he pleaded with Zhou Wen.


    At this moment, Xu Miantu no longer had the arrogance from before. Instead, he treated Zhou Wen as a pillar of support.


    Deep down, he no longer treated Zhou Wen as a higher schooler from a small city. Just the Mortal Companion Beast was not something the typical person could possess. From his point of view, Zhou Wen definitely had an extraordinary background.


    And his previous actions made Xu Miantu believe that the former could save Li Xuan if he so wished.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and said, "It''s not completely impossible, but I''m not sure if it will work."


    "We have to try it regardless," Xu Miantu said.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly as he observed the Skeleton General but was thinking about the Skeleton General in-game.


    He had fought the Skeleton General several times in-game. It wasn''t without any benefit because through his observations, he had noticed a weakness on the Skeleton General.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t certain if the weakness in-game was the same in real life. After all, the Skeleton General was a lot more powerful in real life.


    But at this moment, Zhou Wen could only give it a try.


    Seeing Li Xuan being pursued by the Skeleton General, Zhou Wen silently circled to the back and gradually approached to await an opportunity.


    Without needing Zhou Wen to say a word, Li Xuan knew that he needed to create a window of opportunity for Zhou Wen. Li Xuan gritted his teeth and used his black armor to envelope the left area of his abdomen to take on the Skeleton General''s thrust.


    When the sharp tip plunged into the black armor, it ripped apart Li Xuan''s flesh. However, before the spear could be retracted, he gripped the stone spear tightly.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen leaped up and jumped onto the Skeleton General''s back. He rode on the skeleton horse just like the Skeleton General while reaching out his hand at his target''s neck. Lodging the head up to the sky, he used his other hand which wore the Vigor Ant''s boxing glove, slamming it heavily at the Skeleton General''s eye sockets. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting. Non-Playable Characte

 26 Sun Strafe Ar

    Bang!


    With the combined forces of Vigor Divine Fist and the Vigor boxing glove, the Skeleton General''s eye sockets cracked as Zhou Wen''s fist plunged straight in. The sanguine flame scattered immediately like splattering blood.


    The Skeleton General, who had been retracting the spear with all his might, came to an abrupt halt. The next moment the bone spear fell to the ground, as all his bones scattered around him. Even the skeleton horse crumbled to a pile of rotting bones.


    And inside the skull which Zhou Wen had collapsed, there was a slight red glow.


    Zhou Wen flipped the skull around and saw the red Companion Egg. It was the size of a goose egg, its entire body crystalline, like jade. Blood flames seemed to burn in it.


    "A Companion Egg? Your luck ain''t bad. Unfortunately, you don''t have enough Primordial Energy to incubate a Legendary Companion Egg. Besides, that Skeleton General was a little odd. It''s best you don''t incubate it randomly." Li Xuan was covered with wounds, but regardless of their sizes, they were beginning to close up and stop bleeding. It was clearly thanks to the Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    "Don''t you want it?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan shook his head. "If it wasn''t for you, Miantu and I would be dead. Also, what use is a Companion Egg? Besides, I don''t really take a mere Legendary Companion Egg to heart. You should take it for yourself."


    Zhou Wen nodded without any intention of standing on ceremony. He directly stuffed the Skeleton General''s Companion Egg into his pocket before looking at Jiang Hao, whose head had ruptured. "Jiang Hao deserved this, but his death will definitely affect our results. It will probably be difficult for us to get into a reputable school."


    Li Xuan laughed when he heard that. "Rest easy. Once we leave, apply to any reputable school you like. I guarantee you your admission.."


    Xu Miantu suffered grievous injuries and, although Li Xuan''s wounds didn''t worsen, they weren''t trivial either. He was also in need of medical attention. The trio stopped hunting Skeleton Soldiers and left Guide Ancient City directly after gathering all the bone beads.


    After the invigilator inspected the number of bone beads and dimensional crystals, he sent Li Xuan and Xu Miantu for treatment. As for Zhou Wen, he headed home alone on public transport.


    On the way back, he used his phone to enter the Ancient Imperial City dungeon once more. He wanted to confirm that the Skeleton General in-game was weaker than the one in real life.


    As expected. It''s not an illusion of mine. The Skeleton General in-game is much weaker. It''s no wonder I suspected that he wasn''t a Legendary creature.


    But even so, without Li Xuan to divert the Skeleton General''s attention, Zhou Wen was only capable of circling around the Skeleton General in-game. Killing him by his strength alone was almost impossible. The blood-colored avatar that Zhou Wen controlled had zero chance of getting close enough to smash through the Skeleton General''s eye sockets. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t mind. He continued circling around the Skeleton General with the blood-colored avatar. Since Zhou Wen knew the Skeleton General''s weakness, a solo-kill was just a matter of time. He just needed to do the best he could.


    Back home, Zhou Wen continued his daily lifestyle. Apart from sleeping, he would be gaming even while eating or using the bathroom.


    After repeated attempts, he finally relied on a perfect positioning to kill the Skeleton General.


    Although the Skeleton General in-game didn''t drop a Companion Egg, it gave Zhou Wen a pleasant surprise¡ªa Speed Crystal valued at 13.


    Zhou Wen absorbed the Speed Crystal and immediately felt a jolt run through his body. It made him feel as if he was on cloud nine.


    After a while, the feeling gradually dissipated. When Zhou Wen looked at his in-game stats, he was stunned.


    He had absorbed a Speed Crystal valued at 13, so logically speaking, his Speed should have risen to 13. However, his Speed had only increased to 9, much lower than he expected.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen roughly understood why this was happening.


    I was taught that although the effects of absorbing Legendary stage crystals are good at the Mortal stage, that doesn''t allow one''s body to rise to the level of a Legendary stage. Only by raising one''s Primordial Energy Art to a new realm would the absorption of a Legendary stage dimensional crystal raise one''s stats. From the looks of it, this is the reason. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown when he thought of this.


    He originally intended on relying on Ascetic Meditation to advance to the Legendary stage, but after witnessing how formidable the Invincible Connate Divine Art was, it was apparent to him that advancing to the Legendary stage with Ascetic Meditation wasn''t the best choice.


    But if I don''t use Ascetic Meditation to advance to the Legendary stage, how am I to obtain an Epic stage Primordial Energy Art? Zhou Wen was at a loss.


    ¡­


    A few days later, the examination results were announced. Zhou Wen''s results in his various subjects put him amongst the top. He got second on the combat test, one spot below Li Xuan. He was ranked even higher than Xu Miantu, so it did seem that Jiang Hao''s death hadn''t affected his results.


    While pondering over the matter, his phone suddenly rang. It was an unknown number.


    Picking up the call, Li Xuan''s voice sounded over the phone. "Zhou Wen, have you seen the results? I should have given you first place, but I have some special use for being first place. So please forgive my shamelessness in taking first. I''ll make sure to compensate you in the future."


    "We agreed on being fourth, so getting second is good enough. I don''t really care for my placing as long as it doesn''t affect my university enrollment."


    "Let''s not talk about that. I owe you one, so I have to repay you one day." Li Xuan paused before continuing, "I''ll be studying at Sunset College in the future. Are you interested in joining me there? We can take care of one another as friends."


    "Sunset College?" Zhou Wen revealed a pensive look.


    Sunset College was one of the top schools in the East District of the League. At the very least, it was ranked within the top ten. And there were dimensional zones inside Sunset College; therefore, students of Sunset College could enter them during their college years for actual combat. This was a boon compared to the typical university.


    Entering Sunset College wasn''t a bad choice. The only thing that held Zhou Wen back was that Sunset College was located in Luoyang City and the An family was in Luoyang as well.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to have close ties with the An family; thus, leaving him hesitant about choosing Sunset College.


    Li Xuan did his best to persuade Zhou Wen to attend Sunset College, but all Zhou Wen said was that he would consider it.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen recalled something. An Jing had given him a USB drive, claiming that it was given to him by Zhou Lingfeng. Zhou Wen had been spending the past few days trying to take down the Skeleton General, so he had forgotten all about it. He had no idea what was on it.


    After finding the USB drive, he inserted it into his computer and opened it. There was only one folder in it, labeled¡ªSun Strafe Art.

 27 Elder

    Zhou Wen was slightly alarmed. He had heard of Sun Strafe Art. It was a Primordial Energy Art that reached the Epic stage and was in no way inferior to the Invincible Connate Divine Art when it came to fame. However, in comparison, the Sun Strafe Art was far more precious.


    After all, the Invincible Connate Divine Art''s cultivation requirements were excessively harsh. In contrast, the Sun Strafe Art didn''t have that many requirements. As long as one was willing to work hard at it, even the most mediocre person could attain certain levels of achievement.


    Furthermore, Sun Strafe Art was an extremely potent offensive Primordial Energy Art. It was far more popular than the Invincible Connate Divine Art that only strengthened one''s Constitution.


    However, based on what Zhou Wen knew, the Sun Strafe Art was an exclusive Primordial Energy Art of some bigwig in the League. Apart from this bigwig''s descendants, no one else had the chance of obtaining it.


    How did Dad get the Sun Strafe Art? It''s most likely obtained thanks to the An family, right? Zhou Wen had a guess in mind.


    He didn''t reject the Sun Strafe Art because of this guess. Since Zhou Lingfeng had given it to him, he must have paid the corresponding price even if it was thanks to the An family. Zhou Wen naturally didn''t have any reason to reject it and couldn''t ignore Zhou Lingfeng''s well-meant intentions.


    After all, the number of things that Zhou Lingfeng had given him since he was young¡ªapart from his living allowance¡ªwas limited to a handful.


    He actually remembers that he has a son. Zhou Wen didn''t immediately look at the Sun Strafe Art. Switching off his computer, he pulled out the USB disk and prepared to get some food.


    Cultivating a Primordial Energy Art wasn''t something that could be done in a day. Even though he had a 9-valued Primordial Energy as a foundation, making it faster for him to cultivate other Primordial Energy Arts, it still wasn''t something that could be mastered in a month or two. There wasn''t any rush.


    Opening the fridge, he found nothing inside. Looking at the cardboard boxes in the corner of the living room, there wasn''t a single packet of instant noodles left.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment and gave up the thought of getting a delivery. He washed his face, changed his clothes, and prepared to head out to get something to eat. He could also buy some food to stock up on the way.


    At almost nine in the evening, there weren''t many pedestrians on the street.


    Zhou Wen had heard from his grandfather when he was young that before the dimensional storms happened, even a small city like Guide City was lit up for the entire night. However, such scenes were very rare these days.


    The dim street lamps left Zhou Wen a little uncomfortable. His anemia was also getting worse.


    He had lost too much blood recently. Thankfully, he was young and sufficiently strong. If he were an elderly man, the amount of blood he expended was definitely something his body''s self-replenishment wouldn''t be able to keep up with. Things would have deteriorated much earlier. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "I''ll head to the supermarket to buy some brown sugar and make it into a syrup for drinking. Let''s hope this old wives'' tale can help in replenishing my blood," Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    He also knew, deep down, that it wasn''t going to be of much use. Even if he visited the doctor, it was unlikely to resolve the problem.


    The only way to resolve the excessive loss of blood was to prevent his blood-colored avatar from dying frequently in-game. As long as it didn''t die, he wouldn''t need to waste his blood.


    Cough! As Zhou Wen was walking, he heard a man cough in front of him. Looking up, he saw an elderly man walking over with a hunched back. He had his head bowed, holding one hand to his mouth as he coughed from time to time.


    Zhou Wen didn''t think too much of it as he continued proceeding forward. But to his surprise, the elderly man collapsed to the ground when he was less than three meters away from him.


    "Uncle, are you alright?" Zhou Wen walked over to check on the elder.


    The elder seemed weak as he sat on the ground without getting up. He said feebly, "I''m fine. Old age is getting at me. I''ll be fine after resting for a while."


    "Let me help you to the side." Zhou Wen saw that there was a bus stop nearby which had benches for commuters to sit on.


    With the elder nodding, Zhou Wen reached out, held him by the arm and helped him to the bench.


    He observed the elder from the side and guessed that he was in his seventies to eighties. His hair was gray and his face was covered in wrinkles. However, from his thin face and facial features, this elder had probably been a handsome man in his prime.


    Zhou Wen felt some pity for him. An elder at this age was truly from the most tragic generation.


    When the dimensional storms descended upon the world, it created pandemonium. That decade or two was the most chaotic and darkest period of human history.


    And the source of this chaos wasn''t the terrifying dimensional creatures, but humanity itself.


    Most dimensional creatures were unable to leave the dimensional zones; therefore excluding those zones, humans in the other zones weren''t in too much danger.


    However, when humans realized that they could have superpowers with the help of dimensional crystals, those who obtained these powers revealed the darkest side of humanity.


    In this dark era, many vile and ambitious people who struck fear into people were produced. The number of deaths that arose among humanity''s infighting could be said to be awash with rivers of blood.


    At the elder''s age, he was a person who had survived the dark era but he was also beyond his prime for cultivation during the same period. Back then, there weren''t any systematic education or resources available. Most men his age had never cultivated. And even if they did, their achievements were extremely limited.


    To be lucky enough to not die in that dark and chaotic era and live to this day wasn''t something worth being happy about either.


    Humans nowadays who cultivated from a young age not only had a strong immune system that made them less prone to falling sick, but the speed at which they aged was reduced. They also experienced an extension of their lifespan, something incomparable for the elder from that era.


    Now, most people in their forties and fifties looked no different from the twenties or thirties of yesteryear.


    Even if one grew old in the future, they wouldn''t be so frail like this elder in front of him.


    "Uncle, if you''re fine, I''ll be taking my leave." Seeing how the elder''s condition had improved, Zhou Wen planned on leaving.


    "Lad, it''s a lucky coincidence that we meet other. Why don''t you have a chat with me?" the elder looked at Zhou Wen with his turbid eyes as he spoke with his feeble voice.


    "I''m not good at chatting." Zhou Wen wasn''t declining the elder''s request. He really wasn''t good at chatting.


    "It''s fine. Let me ask you a few questions." The elder smiled, only to break into a coughing fit a moment later.


    "Go ahead," Zhou Wen said and stood in front of the bench.


    He usually only gamed and seldom communicated with people. Therefore, it didn''t seem like a bad thing to have someone willing to chat with him.


    Of course, this was under the premise that the elder didn''t ask questions that stumped Zhou Wen.


    "Do you like women with big or small breasts?" The elder''s question left Zhou Wen taken aback.

 28 Jing Daoxian

    Zhou Wen was still a pure and innocent virgin who had never been in a relationship before. Furthermore, always being focused on cultivation, he had never considered this problem.


    The elder''s question was somewhat odd, but Zhou Wen answered after some serious thought, "Women with smaller breasts."


    The elder was delighted to hear that as he said with a smile, "That''s exactly what I think too. Only women with smaller breasts are beautiful. What''s so nice about big-breasted women? They are no different from cows. Only babies who still suck on their mother''s tit will like cows."


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t agree with the elder, he didn''t think it worth arguing with him. He chose women with smaller breasts because having big breasts made it unsuitable for combat. It would affect one''s sense of balance.


    The elder''s complexion seemed a lot better once he broached the topic of women. He continued asking in excitement, "Lad, let me ask you another question. Do you like gentle women who are docile and obedient or women who are shrewd and unreasonable?"


    This old man sure is odd. Does he have a screw loose? Who wouldn''t like a docile and obedient woman and instead like an unreasonable shrewd?


    Zhou Wen had the intention of answering that he preferred docile women, but he felt that choosing this would only excite the elder even more. There would then be no end to the conversation. Besides, Zhou Wen had no interest in continuing his chat with the elder.


    "I like shrewd and unreasonable women," Zhou Wen swallowed the words he wanted to say and spoke against his will.


    To his surprise, the elder smacked his thigh before Zhou Wen could even finish his sentence. He said in great excitement, "Not bad! Not bad! It''s only when women are shrewd and unreasonable that they are cute and fun. Those docile and obedient women are no different from dead fish. What''s so fun about that? I never expected a young lad like you would have such refined taste in women¡­"


    The way the elder treated Zhou Wen as though he was a confidant left him bewildered. He was momentarily at a loss for words.


    He''s a lunatic indeed. Zhou Wen was increasingly convinced that the elder wasn''t mentally sound. Otherwise, how could he have said such inane stuff?


    If Zhou Wen had chosen honestly, he definitely wouldn''t have chosen unreasonable shrewd women.


    "Uncle, where do you live? Do you need me to take you home?" Zhou Wen really didn''t want to be caught up here. All he wanted was to send the elder off and find somewhere to eat so that he could return to his gaming.


    The elder ignored Zhou Wen and continued rambling, "Lad, you have exquisite taste when it comes to women. You are a genius. However, you don''t look good and your body condition isn''t great. One''s body is crucial when hitting on chicks. If you don''t have a good body, you will be lacking in the strength needed, despite having good taste¡­"


    What the hell? You call this good taste? Zhou Wen regretted agreeing to the elder''s request for a chat.


    Having said that, the elder groped around before pulling out a tattered diary. "You are quite a fine lad and are rather compatible with me. Written in here is a Primordial Energy Art. If you cultivate it, it will be beneficial for you. As long as you can master it, you will have the strength to deal with any problematic women in the future."


    A dark cloud hovered over Zhou Wen. The elder seemed to be implying that the cultivation of Primordial Energy Arts was meant to deal with unreasonable shrewd women.


    "Uncle, thanks for the offer. However, I''ve already cultivated in a Primordial Energy Art. I don''t need any others." Zhou Wen already had the Sun Strafe Art, so he naturally wasn''t very interested in other Primordial Energy Arts. Furthermore, he doubted that the elder''s Primordial Energy Art was anything impressive.


    The elder glanced at Zhou Wen and said in contempt, "Although this Skyfiend Treatise isn''t a top-grade Primordial Energy Art, it''s not anything your crappy one can compare with. Useless Primordial Energy Arts like Ascetic Meditation are meant for trash. You are a lad with exquisite taste. You shouldn''t be cultivating in such a trashy Primordial Energy Art."


    "How do you know I cultivate in Ascetic Meditation?" Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    The elder curled his lips. "Although you don''t look well, there''s a yellow jade-like luster suffusing your skin and flesh. Your eyes are spirited and your bones are huge. Clear signs of cultivating Ascetic Meditation. However, it''s also at the beginner level. It''s good that you are still a beginner; otherwise, cultivating such a trashy Primordial Energy Art would have been a waste of your youth. It would have ruined your entire life."


    Zhou Wen sized up the elder. He hadn''t noticed before that this sickly old man was so keen.


    As though reading his mind, the elder said, "Dazed? This Skyfiend Treatise is hundreds if not thousands of times better than Ascetic Meditation. It''s stronger than any Epic stage Primordial Energy Art at present. As long as you master it, you would definitely amount to much in the future. Although it wouldn''t make you invincible, it wouldn''t be difficult for you to advance to the Epic stage."


    "Thank you. I can''t accept something this valuable from a stranger. I''m very grateful for your kind intentions, but if there''s nothing else, I''ll be making a move now." Zhou Wen didn''t know about the authenticity of the elder''s Skyfiend Treatise for he had never heard of such an Epic stage Primordial Energy Art.


    Regardless if it was one, Zhou Wen already had the Sun Strafe Art. There was no need for him to cultivate in the Skyfiend Treatise of unknown origins.


    With that said, Zhou Wen turned around as he prepared to leave. With the elder''s queer actions, he didn''t wish to attract more trouble. It was best he left as soon as possible.


    "Stop right there." Just as Zhou Wen turned around, he heard the elder''s cold bellow.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ignore him and leave, but just as he opened his stride, he felt as though his body was being grabbed by a huge invisible hand. It yanked him back, turning him around to face the elder.


    The elder''s turbid eyes were shimmering with a fearsome glint that resembled light bulbs.


    He sat on the bench as he coughed slightly with his hand over his mouth. However, Zhou Wen could only stand motionless in front of the elder due to the invisible hand.


    "I, Jing Daoxian, have reigned supreme for decades and no one has ever lived to say no to me." The elder glared at Zhou Wen as he spoke coldly.


    He found the words "Jing Daoxian" familiar; however, it was only when he matched this name to a memory did his expression change drastically.


    When the dimensional storms first happened¡ªin the period before the League government was established when it was the most chaotic period in human history¡ªthere had been a vile and bloodthirsty people. The most terrifying and evil of them all was named Jing Daoxian. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    The legends of Jing Daoxian''s cruelty was enough for a novelist to write an epic tale, spanning ten million words or more.


    Jing Daoxian was most infamous for storming the League government''s office, killing twenty-seven Epic experts. The rest of the lower-stage experts were too numerous to count. He had turned what represented the highest authority of the League into a river of blood.

 29 Lost Immortal Sutra

    Many of the history books in the League had depicted that battle, the Day of the Fiendish Calamity. As for Jing Daoxian, he had the nickname of Fiend King. The number of Epic experts back then weren''t as numerous as the number these days, so to kill twenty-seven Epic experts basically meant slaughtering most of humanity''s strongest experts. It set back humanity''s strength by at least ten years.


    Zhou Wen stared at the elder in front of him, finding it difficult to put this sickly old man with the terrifying Fiend King of legends.


    "You are Fiend King Jing Daoxian?" Zhou Wen didn''t feel horrified because of his restrainment. This was because he knew very well that it didn''t make a difference.


    "Do you now want it?" Jing Daoxian said to Zhou Wen with a faint smile.


    "Yes." Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate in answering for he had no intention of dying at the hands of this devil.


    When Jing Daoxian heard Zhou Wen''s reply, he narrowed his eyes and said, "You may say so, but you don''t want it deep down. Even if you take it, I''m afraid you wouldn''t cultivate in it."


    Is this guy nuts? Zhou Wen thought. "I''m naturally not going to cultivate in it. If that Skyfiend Treatise is really a Primordial Energy Art of yours, wouldn''t the League''s government believe that I''m related to you if I were to master it? I would also be wanted."


    Jing Daoxian fell silent for a moment before his eyes lit up as though he had thought of something. Putting the notebook away, he took out something else.


    It was a violet, metal box that resembled copper. However, it didn''t have the luster of copper with its dark, brushed-metal texture.


    Looking small and exquisite, the metal box was squarish, about the size of a cigarette case. Carved on it were strange and messy patterns with three words written vertically in the middle.


    "Lost Immortal Sutra!" Zhou Wen recognized the three words but didn''t understand what they meant.


    The elder held the tiny box in front of Zhou Wen before lifting the lid. At this moment, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t a box but pieces of violet metal sheets that were connected to one another. They were like violet metal name cards. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    There was a total of thirteen extremely thin, violet sheets. Each one was engraved with words the size of a fly''s head. Due to the tiny text, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to read the words on them.


    Jing Daoxian didn''t look at the words on them. After opening it, all he did was wave the sheets in front of Zhou Wen before stacking them back together, turning them back into the violet metal block that resembled a cigarette case. Finally, he stuffed it into Zhou Wen''s hands.


    "A Primordial Energy Art is written on it. It''s rather interesting, so take your time to cultivate it." Jing Daoxian gave an odd smile, revealing his white teeth. It gave Zhou Wen the creeps.


    Jing Daoxian stuffed the Lost Immortal Sutra into Zhou Wen''s hands before walking away amidst coughs with his back hunched. Soon, he vanished from the dark street.


    Only then did Zhou Wen feel the invisible force around his body dissipate. Having regained control of his body, he glanced at the direction in which Jing Daoxian had vanished. Unable to see him, he hurriedly looked down at the metal slab in his hand.


    The history books speak of Jing Daoxian as having an eccentric and unreasonable temperament. He does things as he pleases. It''s really an apt description. Legend has it that Jing Daoxian was capricious, killing people in a way no different from having his meals. He had no sense of morals. Zhou Wen didn''t believe that Jing Daoxian was nice enough to give him a high-grade Primordial Energy Art due to a lucky encounter.


    Zhou Wen observed the metallic slab but failed to find anything special about it. Without opening it, it looked like a metal cigarette case.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen didn''t check the Lost Immortal Sutra''s contents. He had the mysterious phone and Sun Strafe Art that destined him to become an expert. There was no need for him to take the risk of cultivating a Primordial Energy Art given to him by Jing Daoxian.


    Hesitating for a moment while holding the metallic slab, Zhou Wen carefully placed it in his pocket.


    Firstly, he was afraid that Jing Daoxian was watching nearby. If he were to throw it away, he was afraid that Jing Daoxian would flare up into a rage and kill him.


    Secondly, Zhou Wen didn''t know if there were any harmful traps in the Lost Immortal Sutra. He wasn''t sure if others would be harmed if he just threw it away.


    Looking in the direction that Jing Daoxian had vanished, Zhou Wen turned around and headed for the supermarket.


    At the moment he turned around, Jing Daoxian, who was standing on another street, curled his lips. He sneered with an odd expression. I originally wanted to give you an opportunity for catching my fancy. Who knew that you are such a philistine. No one can live comfortably in this world after rejecting me. You''ll die regardless of whether you cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra. If there''s anything to blame, blame it on yourself for not knowing better.


    Suddenly, Jing Daoxian frowned slightly. Did they catch up that quickly?


    With that said, Jing Daoxian walked towards the other end of the city, quickly vanishing from the city''s landscape.


    Before Zhou Wen walked far, he saw people running toward him from the street ahead. They were wearing black uniforms that resembled a police uniform, but there were some differences. Despite carefully looking at it, he failed to recognize the uniform.


    There were men and women in the group, with all of them looking to be in their twenties or thirties. The person leading them was a man in his thirties. He was clean-shaven other than the thin mustache above his lips. He was thin, with a hooked nose, and his eyes were as sharp as a blade.


    "Hey there, did you see an elder in his seventies or eighties when you came from there?" The person ran past Zhou Wen without giving him a second glance. However, before they went far, the man who led the group stopped and turned to ask Zhou Wen.


    "I think there was one. He headed in that direction." Zhou Wen pointed in the direction where Jing Daoxian had left.


    The man observed Zhou Wen for a moment before he nodded and said his thanks. Then, he led the group of uniformed personnel in the direction Zhou Wen had pointed.


    Zhou Wen waited until they were a distance away before he turned around and briskly walked off. He really didn''t wish to embroil himself in such trouble. He sought a life of gaming in peace while schooling.


    This time, he finally arrived at the supermarket without any mishap and bought plenty of food. Like always, Zhou Wen headed home and continued his grinding fest.


    He gamed past one in the morning before he forced himself to put down the phone and go to bed.


    Zhou Wen''s sleep quality had always been good. This might have something to do with his talent in being able to get into a focused state when learning something. It was the same with sleep. He could fall asleep within three seconds of lying down.


    Zhou Wen imagined that he would be able to sleep till daybreak, but he felt something amiss while sleeping in the middle of the night.


    In the past, Zhou Wen was able to sleep the entire night unless roused up by someone. But today was different. The room was so silent that one could hear a pin drop; yet, Zhou Wen woke up.

 33 Undistracted

    Li Xuan found it boring as he closed his eyes to circulate his Primordial Energy to begin cultivating his Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    As for Zhou Wen, he controlled his blood-colored avatar and stormed towards the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Although he had the experience gleaned from killing the Skeleton General¡ªa Legendary stage creature¡ªhe found his ability falling short when facing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. He was killed after a few clashes.


    This Silver-Winged Flying Ant seems more difficult to deal with than the Skeleton General. It''s faster and it has the ability of flight. It''s unrestricted due to the lack of the skeleton horse. Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He originally thought that he had improved significantly over the recent period of time, but after a clash with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, he realized how small the improvement was.


    If I can incubate the Skeleton General''s Companion Egg, I should be able to kill the Silver-Winged Flying Ant using the Skeleton General''s strength to fight it. Unfortunately, as I don''t have the Invincible Connate Divine Art, it''s almost impossible for me to incubate a Legendary stage Companion Egg at the Mortal stage. As Zhou Wen thought over the matter, he went back to his original thoughts of combining Inch Punch and Vigor Divine Fist.


    However, he didn''t have the means to practice while in the car. Having reached a bottleneck in-game and unable to make any progress, he felt that it was pointless continuing for it was a waste of his blood.


    Seeing Li Xuan enter a cultivation state and with the driver not taking a look back at the situation, Zhou Wen took out the Lost Immortal Sutra and planned on reading the contents within.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra had the ability to perplex the mind. Even a terrifying expert like Jing Daoxian was unable to focus fully to finish reading the text.


    However, Zhou Wen was different. As the former principal of Guide High School had mentioned, Zhou Wen could be absolutely focused on anything if he so wished. This was the main reason for his excellent studies and fast cultivation.


    Now, with Zhou Wen''s mind completely settled, he read the Lost Immortal Sutra without any distractions. The power of the text that could perplex the human mind failed to distract Zhou Wen at all.


    The focused Zhou Wen just wanted to finish reading the contents; his brain didn''t have any capacity for second thoughts. So even though the textual power of the Lost Immortal Sutra was extremely bewitching, the thoughts failed to distract him.


    No one had ever been able to read Lost Immortal Sutra from cover to cover; yet, Zhou Wen managed to do so without any incidents occurring. Zhou Wen was completely engrossed as he finished reading it.


    Humans had a plethora of emotions that could cause them to be enticed by various things. Even Buddha found it difficult to remain unmoved. So although it wasn''t the case that there wasn''t anyone who could finish reading the Lost Immortal Sutra, there was only a handful.


    People like Zhou Wen, who could dedicate himself once they made up their mind to be truly focused, were an extremely small minority in the League. Even Epic stage bigwigs whose strength far exceeded Zhou Wen couldn''t achieve this focused state of mind.


    Even the immortals of heaven would be lost to the enticement, giving Lost Immortal Sutra its name.


    Zhou Wen managed to read it from cover to cover without being perplexed by the textual power. The Lost Immortal Sutra which had never been read by others finally appeared in Zhou Wen''s eyes in their entirety.


    When Zhou Wen had finished reading the final word of Lost Immortal Sutra, he suddenly felt his body quake. Primordial Energy in his body began automatically flowing at some point in time.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had cultivated years of Ascetic Meditation, so once his Primordial Energy did a circulation, it would circulate in the Ascetic Meditation''s trajectory. However, this time, the Primordial Energy''s trajectory followed a strange path that Zhou Wen had never seen before. It nearly coursed through his entire body in constant circulation.


    Based on what Zhou Wen knew, any kind of Primordial Energy Art had a beginning and an end.


    For example, Ascetic Meditation''s beginning point was in the dantian''s sea of energy. When the Primordial Energy flowed out of it, it would follow his meridians and ultimately return to the sea of energy after completing one circulation. The sea of energy was the reservoir of Primordial Energy.


    Most Primordial Energy Arts were the same. Certain special Primordial Energy Arts would forge an extremely special sea of energy in particular regions, or multiple ones. However, they were ultimately meant as a reservoir for Primordial Energy.


    Now, Zhou Wen''s physical situation was a little odd. The Primordial Energy in his body kept flowing repeatedly without stopping. There wasn''t anywhere he could store his Primordial Energy or for it to stop. It was like a perpetually moving train on a circular track.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed as he attempted to circulate Ascetic Meditation to redirect the out-of-control Primordial Energy back to a proper trajectory. However, he quickly realized that the Ascetic Meditation he had been cultivating for years was helpless. The Primordial Energy didn''t listen to his instructions.


    He didn''t panic as a result. He carefully sensed the trajectory of his Primordial Energy circulation and quickly discovered that the trajectory followed the Lost Immortal Sutra''s circulation trajectory.


    Eh, I actually still remember the Lost Immortal Sutra? Zhou Wen was somewhat taken aback when he thought of the Lost Immortal Sutra. After all, he had been thinking about other things, but at this moment, he still remembered it clearly. He could recall each and every word of the entire Lost Immortal Sutra. There weren''t any signs of forgetting them as he had previously.


    If the narrow-minded Jing Daoxian were to know that Zhou Wen hadn''t died from reading the Lost Immortal Sutra in its entirety, to the point of gaining a basic mastery of it, he would probably throw up blood in anger.


    Unable to stop his Primordial Energy from circulating, Zhou Wen could only take the risk to cultivate in the Lost Immortal Sutra. Once he tried, he felt his Primordial Energy immediately course in delight, answering to the call of the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    He originally intended to read the Lost Immortal Sutra''s content once, but to his surprise, he actually ended up mastering it after he had finished reading. He had no idea if it was a boon or bane for him.


    Zhou Wen entered a cultivation state without realizing that the thirteen violet metal sheets had gradually turned to dust and vanished when he began cultivating the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    After cultivating it, he found several points of interest. It really didn''t have a concept of a sea of energy. His Primordial Energy would constantly circulate around his body unceasingly, like the blood that coursed through his veins.


    Zhou Wen''s circulation of the Lost Immortal Sutra allowed him to control the speed of the Primordial Energy flow, but he wasn''t able to completely stop it.


    Even if he didn''t circulate the Lost Immortal Sutra, his Primordial Energy would continue circulating slowly, following the Lost Immortal Sutra''s pathways.


    With the circulation of the Lost Immortal Sutra, Zhou Wen felt his entire body abruptly become light. It felt as though his body had its shackles unlocked, giving him an indescribable sense of freedom and comfort.


    But other than that, there was nothing special. He hadn''t advanced to the Legendary stage and it was still slowly circulating.


    Zhou Wen realized that he didn''t need to deliberately cultivate in the Lost Immortal Sutra. When he opened his eyes to move about, he found that the Primordial Energy would continue to circulate automatically. His actions didn''t influence it at all. Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    I have to cultivate even if I don''t wish to. Zhou Wen sighed secretly.


    Without needing to deliberately cultivate Lost Immortal Sutra and with nothing else to do, Zhou Wen picked up the mysterious phone and used the hidden needle in his ring to stab his finger, dripping a drop of blood onto the phone''s screen.


    This time, Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to enter the game dungeons. He first took a look at his stats in-game.


    Zhou Wen


    Age: 16 years


    Lifeform level: Mortal


    Strength: 10


    Speed: 10


    Constitution: 10


    Primordial Energy: 10


    Primordial Energy Art: Lost Immortal Sutra


    Primordial Energy Skill: Vigor Divine Fist, Skeleton Palm


    Companion Beast: Mutated Vigor Ant (Mortal)

 34 Murmuring

    Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. He hadn''t advanced to the Legendary stage, but all his stats had risen by 1 point, from 9 to 10.


    This increment of one point left Zhou Wen somewhat amazed. This was because 9 seemed to be the limits of the Mortal stage. If one didn''t advance to the Legendary stage, absorbing dimensional crystals with values of 10 or more was useless.


    This had already been proven when he absorbed the 13-valued Speed Crystal. However, the appearance of the Lost Immortal Sutra had broken that limitation.


    What kind of Primordial Energy Art is Lost Immortal Sutra? The moment he thought of it, he realized that the thirteen violet metallic sheets had vanished at some point in time.


    Beside him, Li Xuan was still in cultivation while the driver ahead was isolated from them by a transparent bullet-proof glass. It was impossible for them to have taken the Lost Immortal Sutra away.


    Zhou Wen searched everywhere for the Lost Immortal Sutra''s violet metallic sheets to no avail.


    How odd. Zhou Wen frowned slightly, unsure if the loss of the Lost Immortal Sutra was a good or bad thing.


    But since he couldn''t find it, Zhou Wen didn''t force it. Seeing Li Xuan still cultivating his Invincible Connate Divine Art, he raised his phone and began gaming. However, killing ordinary Vigor Ants and Mutated Vigor Ants were of little meaning. He quit the game after playing for a while, leaning into his seat and sleeping.


    If the typical person wanted to sleep, it wasn''t something that could happen at will. However, Zhou Wen was different. If he wished to sleep, he could quickly fall asleep anytime, anywhere. Even if perilous situations were all around him, he could still fall asleep.


    This was a type of talent that not everyone was capable of.


    The reason Zhou Wen decided to sleep now was to figure out if he would still suffer from sleep paralysis after mastering Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Badump! Badump!


    Shortly after he fell asleep, Zhou Wen felt his heart race again. He felt stifled in the chest as though something was pressing down on him.


    Damn it, here it comes again! Zhou Wen was stumped. He had already cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra, but the anomaly of sleep paralysis remained.


    Not only had it not been removed, but it had appeared to have worsened. Zhou Wen could vaguely hear strange murmurings by his ears. They didn''t sound like they came from the mortal world, appearing in an oxymoronic manner of being extremely far and extremely near. He couldn''t figure out what was being said as they sounded like the ravings of devils in hell.


    In this turbid half-sleep state, Zhou Wen snapped awake from the abnormal state of sleep paralysis only when Li Xuan nudged him awake.


    However, unlike the last two instances of sleep paralysis, Zhou Wen didn''t have the discomfort of having the urge to vomit. He had only broken out into a cold sweat. He felt refreshed when the wind blew on him, giving him a better state of mind.


    "Sunset College follows the management model of a partially-restricted state. After we matriculate, we will have to stay in dorms. Even I''m no exception. Before that, why don''t you stay at my place?" Li Xuan got out of the car and took Zhou Wen to a villa.


    After the dimensional storms, due to Luoyang being rich in pan-dimensional resources, it quickly became a first-tier city of the League''s East District. This area was also the most flourishing area in the city, so every spot was worth its weight in gold. People who could live in such villas were both rich and noble.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t surprised that Li Xuan could live in a place like this. What left him surprised that apart from Li Xuan''s driver, this massive villa didn''t have a single servant.


    "Don''t tell me you clean such a huge place alone?" Zhou Wen asked while sitting on the sofa.


    "There were a few servants in the past, but I managed to get rid of them. After all, I don''t want outsiders to know of certain matters." Li Xuan took out a beverage can from the refrigerator and threw it at Zhou Wen. He then continued with a smile, "Besides, I seldom return here. As a profligate scion, I naturally have to spend my nights out. That matches my persona. As for you, feel free to stay here. After school begins, I''ll think of a way to get the school to assign us the same dorm."


    "Aren''t there any single-person dorms in school?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He had been used to living alone from a young age. Besides, he needed to game, so it would be better if he lived alone.


    "No. The League has always been thinking up means to nurture our teamwork. Be it in the combat test of having four people a team or the team assignments during university, it''s all built on this premise. It''s especially so for Sunset College which has a military background. The management style is also partially militaristic. It''s impossible to get a single room. Even An Jing has to live in a group dorm," Li Xuan said.


    "An Jing has also entered Sunset College?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    "Definitely. Her elder brother is Overseer An Tianzuo, one of the military brass. She definitely will attend Sunset College which has a militaristic background."


    Having said that, Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen with a cheeky smile. "Bro, tell me. How the hell did you offend An Jing? She even especially transferred to Guide High School to beat you up. An Jing would never have done something like that in the past."


    Zhou Wen thought and asked Li Xuan, "Do you know Ouyang Lan?"


    "Of course, if one doesn''t know Ouyang Lan in a place like Luoyang, they would have lived here for nothing," Li Xuan said with a smile. "Don''t tell me you offended Ouyang Lan? Then you are truly unlucky. It''s no wonder An Jing came over to beat you up."


    Zhou Wen shook his head. "I didn''t offend Ouyang Lan." Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Then why did you mention her?" Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen, baffled.


    Zhou Wen asked again, "Has something happened to Ouyang Lan recently?"


    "Yes. Who in Luoyang City doesn''t know that Ouyang Lan has remarried? However, there wasn''t any grand wedding. Only a few close relatives and friends were invited for a gathering. Outsiders don''t even know what kind of man Ouyang Lan has married. I heard it''s a translator with the surname Zhou¡­" Having said that, Li Xuan''s eyes widened. He looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "Your surname is Zhou as well¡­ Don''t tell me that there''s some relationship between the two of you?"


    Zhou Wen shook his head without a word. Li Xuan felt his curiosity itching at him but was helpless with Zhou Wen refusing to speak.


    After Zhou Wen took up residence in Li Xuan''s place, he went to his room and immediately called Zhou Lingfeng.


    Zhou Lingfeng was his father, not his son. It wasn''t his prerogative to question Zhou Lingfeng''s decisions. Therefore, Zhou Wen had never delved deep into his thoughts before.


    In fact, Zhou Lingfeng had never overturned Zhou Wen''s decisions. He hadn''t even participated or given his advice on something as major as attending university. This had seemingly become something tacit between the father-son duo.


    Zhou Wen called Zhou Lingfeng to inform him that he was in Luoyang and would be attending school at Sunset College.


    "Son, you''re done with the college entrance exam? How did you do?" Zhou Lingfeng''s voice sounded over the phone, sounding lethargic.


    "Not bad. I applied for Sunset College. If nothing surprising crops up, I''ll be attending school at Sunset College in the future," Zhou Wen said.


    "Sunset College? Isn''t that in Luoyang? Come over and live with me then," Zhou Lingfeng said.


    "There''s no need to. I''ll be staying at a friend''s place for the time being. I''ll be living on-campus once I matriculate." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to have any ties with the An family.


    Zhou Lingfeng didn''t force him. "Alright then. If there''s anything, just tell me. I''ll make sure to help you. You are already in college, so you aren''t young anymore. I''ll give you a bit more living allowance in the future."


    Zhou Wen didn''t reject it but asked, "Dad, where do you obtain the Sun Strafe Art from?"

 35 Ashen Palm

    "What Sun Strafe Art?" Zhou Lingfeng asked in surprise.


    "Didn''t you get An Jing to send me the Sun Strafe Art?" Zhou Wen was also taken aback.


    "It''s not like you don''t know that I have zero interest in cultivation. I don''t know much about such matters," Zhou Lingfeng said.


    Zhou Wen fell silent in thought. If the Sun Strafe Art wasn''t given to him by Zhou Lingfeng, then why did An Jing claim that it was given by Zhou Lingfeng? Matters had seemed to become somewhat complicated.


    What is An Jing up to? Is the Sun Strafe Art real or fake? Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to figure things out.


    Zhou Wen had no means to figure out the authenticity of the Sun Strafe Art. The average person had no means of coming into contact with the Sun Strafe Art, so it was even more impossible to determine its authenticity.


    Meanwhile, Zhou Lingfeng continued, "If it was given by Little Jing, it might be some well-meant. Just keep it for now. I''ll ask her when I meet her again."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen didn''t continue. Zhou Lingfeng''s impression of the An family siblings seemed pretty good, so it was pointless to say anything else until he figured out the truth.


    Everyone had their independent thought processes. It was impossible to force someone to view things from your own point of view, even the person closest to you. Only reality had convincing power. Zhou Wen had understood this reason from a young age.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen composed himself. He didn''t game but instead began practicing his palm techniques.


    He had tried many times but had failed to use the force-exerting principles of Inch Punch on Vigor Divine Fist. Therefore, he went for second best in a bid to fuse Skeleton Palm and Inch Punch together as a reference.


    With complete focus, he used the techniques of Inch Punch when delivering Skeleton Palm.


    Skeleton Palm''s uniqueness was indeed compatible with Inch Punch. This process was a lot smoother than Zhou Wen imagined. The first few palm strikes were somewhat rough as he failed to fuse the two together correctly.


    However, it didn''t take long for Zhou Wen to grasp the trick. The fusion of the two attacks became increasingly better.


    After striking out about ten times, Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy was completely drained. All he could do was go in-game to grind on Vigor Ants to use the Primordial Energy Crystals that appeared to replenish his Primordial Energy for further practice.


    Shortly after he entered the game, Zhou Wen was astonished to discover that his Primordial Energy had already recovered a little before a Primordial Energy Crystal dropped.


    Back when he cultivated Ascetic Meditation, it would take him about an hour to recover one Primordial Energy point. Now, only a few minutes had passed for him to recover one point of Primordial Energy. The speed at which the recovery far exceeded his imagination.


    Is this the outcome of Lost Immortal Sutra? Zhou Wen felt the Primordial Energy slowly coursing through his body as he felt some delight.


    To achieve such Primordial Energy recovery speeds at the Mortal stage was unprecedented according to what Zhou Wen knew.


    Ignoring whether the Lost Immortal Sutra had any other uses or not, just this one trait alone was sufficiently shocking.


    While grinding in-game with the blood-colored avatar, the mysterious phone was purely controlled by a touch-screen. However, the control of the blood-colored avatar didn''t require any contact with the screen. Most of the time, just thinking was enough to control it. There was some psychic connection between the two.


    Thoughts and feelings were synchronized, so all the battle experience the blood-colored avatar received in-game was shared with Zhou Wen.


    Upon seeing a Mutated Vigor Ant crawl over, Zhou Wen controlled his phone''s angle and used his thoughts to control the blood-colored avatar. He wanted to attempt to see if he could fuse Skeleton Palm and Inch Punch together.


    When the blood-colored avatar struck the Mutated Vigor Ant on the head with its palm, the carapace on the Mutated Vigor Ant''s head remained undamaged. However, after lunging forward a few steps, the Mutated Vigor Ant staggered before collapsing onto the ground.


    On the left corner of the phone''s screen: Killed Mortal Mutated Vigor Ant.


    The first line wasn''t of anything to take note of since Zhou Wen had seen it countless times. Besides, this Mutated Vigor Ant hadn''t dropped anything.


    It was the second line that left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised.


    "Acquired Skeleton Palm''s high-level skill. Skeleton Palm has evolved into Ashen Palm."


    Zhou Wen glanced at the blood-colored avatar''s stats and found that the Skeleton Palm in the Primordial Energy Skill row had vanished. Replacing it was a Primordial Energy Skill known as Ashen Palm.


    Primordial Energy Skill: Vigor Divine Fist (Rank 9)


    Primordial Energy Skill: Ashen Palm (Rank 10)


    Rank 10? Wasn''t Skeleton Palm a Rank 1 Primordial Energy Skill? How did it become Rank 10 after it evolved into Ashen Palm? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Ashen Palm at Rank 10 required expending 5 Primordial Energy points with each use. Its cost was the same as the Rank 9 Vigor Divine Fist.


    From the Primordial Energy cost, a Rank 10 Ashen Palm likely has the same potency as a Rank 9 Vigor Divine Fist. Zhou Wen had the intention to test the potency of Ashen Palm, but ordinary Vigor Ants and Mutated Vigor Ants were unable to withstand this single strike. It didn''t matter if it was Rank 1 or Rank 9.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to leave the Ant Nest dungeon and switch to entering the Ancient Imperial City dungeon.


    As long as the blood-colored avatar didn''t die, leaving a dungeon and re-entering or switching dungeons didn''t require him to waste blood.


    However, if the blood-colored avatar didn''t die, the game dungeons wouldn''t refresh, so the creatures in the dungeons wouldn''t be refreshed either.


    The blood-colored avatar had previously died in the Ant Nest, so after entering Ancient Imperial City, the dimensional creatures in Ancient Imperial City had already reappeared. The blood-colored avatar rode the Mutated Vigor Ant as it stormed ahead and soon found the newly spawned Skeleton General.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Like previously, he made the blood-colored avatar jump off the Mutated Vigor Ant and charge at the Skeleton General.


    Using his positioning techniques to circle around the skeleton horse, it took him less than twenty minutes to find an opportunity. He got the blood-colored avatar to leap up and ride on the skeleton horse''s back, sitting right behind the Skeleton General.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen didn''t get the blood-colored avatar to strike the Skeleton General''s weakness¡ªthe eye sockets. Instead, he directly struck at the back of the Skeleton General''s skull with his palm.


    This palm didn''t injure the Skeleton General''s head at all. However, the blood-colored flames in the skull seemed to splatter out like a crushed watermelon.


    Due to the momentum of the strike, the Skeleton General lunged forward on the skeleton horse before his bones scattered, turning into a pile on the ground.


    "Killed Legendary Skeleton General. Discovered Skeleton General dimensional crystal."


    Zhou Wen looked at the dimensional crystal that had dropped in-game, feeling a pleasant surprise.


    Ashen Palm could destroy the Skeleton General even without striking its weakness. Its potency was clearly above the Rank 9 Vigor Divine Fist.


    A Rank 10 Primordial Energy Skill is indeed powerful. I wonder if Ashen Palm has a chance of killing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Zhou Wen had the urge to immediately storm to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to give it a try.


    Vigor Divine Fist was too slow when it came to throwing a punch, preventing him from touching the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. However, Ashen Palm didn''t have such a weakness. It was extremely fast when delivering a palm strike.

 36 Making up the Numbers

    The blood-colored avatar picked up the Skeleton General''s crystal and immediately, a potent Primordial Energy surged into Zhou Wen''s body like a boring drill that opened up a brand new path.


    After this force slowly disappeared, a notification popped up on the game screen: Absorbed Skeleton General Crystal. Learned Legendary Primordial Energy Skill¡ªPenetrating Pierce.


    Zhou Wen had already been prepared to suffer damage, but he was surprised that everything had happened rather smoothly.


    With a Mortal stage body, one could only fuse with Mortal Primordial Energy Skill Crystals under normal circumstances. If one forcefully fused a Legendary Primordial Energy Skill, their bodies would suffer an immense impact. The consequences ranged from damaged meridians to instant death.


    Zhou Wen had relied on his body being far stronger than the typical Mortal stage, and with no fear of death in-game, this gave him the courage to absorb the Skeleton General Crystal. Everything went smoothly and other than the pain of having a Primordial Energy passageway open up in him, there wasn''t any damage dealt to him.


    "Is this the case when played in-game or is this an effect of Lost Immortal Sutra?" Zhou Wen couldn''t be sure of the reason, but ultimately, it was a boon for him.


    After glancing at the provided information in-game, Penetrating Pierce was a Rank 1 Legendary Primordial Energy Skill. However, Penetrating Pierce was a Primordial Energy Skill that required a spear-type weapon to deliver maximum force.


    "Li Xuan, come out here!" Zhou Wen was planning on switching dungeons to try his chances at killing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant in Ant Nest when he heard a woman''s voice sound at the villa''s entrance. At the same time, the doorbell kept ringing.


    Li Xuan probably wasn''t home and he was the only one inside.


    Although Zhou Wen heard the doorbell, the visitor had come for Li Xuan. Since the latter wasn''t home, he didn''t have any intention of opening the door. He continued gaming while sitting on the sofa.


    "Li Xuan, I know you''re home. If you don''t come on out, don''t blame me!" After pressing the doorbell for quite some time, the woman still refused to give up.


    Zhou Wen completely ignored her and pretended not to hear her shouts. The doorbell''s ringing didn''t disturb him in any way, so he continued gaming.


    Zhou Wen imagined that the woman would leave quickly, but to his surprise, the woman stopped after yelling for a while. Then, two seconds later, there was a loud bang followed by two thuds. The door had been kicked open!


    The woman dashed into the villa and saw no one in the living room, so she headed straight upstairs.


    She appeared to be very familiar with the place, rushing straight for Li Xuan''s room. Without knocking, she kicked the door open.


    "Li Xuan, there''s no hiding today!" Seeing the room empty, the woman headed down the corridor and kicked open one room after another.


    When she reached the second room, she saw Zhou Wen gaming while leaning on the bedhead.


    Seeing a person, the woman was delighted. However, she immediately wore a look of disappointment when she realized that it wasn''t Li Xuan. She glared at Zhou Wen and asked, "What''s wrong with you? Didn''t you hear me screaming?"


    "I did," Zhou Wen answered as he gamed, not even looking up at the woman.


    "Why didn''t you answer when you heard me?" the woman said, peeved.


    "You were looking for Li Xuan, not me. What should I say?" Zhou Wen answered in passing.


    The woman was instantly at a loss for a rejoinder. She glared at Zhou Wen fiercely and asked, "Where''s Li Xuan?"


    "He''s out."


    "I know that he''s out. I''m asking you where he is." The woman didn''t feel that there was any need to be polite in front of this fellow.


    "I''ve no idea," Zhou Wen answered very succinctly because he really had no idea.


    Just as the woman was about to say something, her phone rang. She picked up the call, said a few words, and prepared to turn to leave as though there was something pressing.


    But after taking a few steps, the woman seemed to think of something. She rushed back in front of Zhou Wen and yanked him up by the arm. "Follow me. Count it as helping me. At the very least, you can make up the numbers."


    "Who are you? I don''t know you." Zhou Wen frowned slightly, wishing to free himself from the woman''s grasp.


    "For you to stay here, you must be one of Li Xuan''s trashy friends. How can you not even know his elder sister? You enjoy life with Li Xuan all thanks to him. Is there a problem helping his sister with something?" The woman seemed anxious, pulling Zhou Wen as she walked out.


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. He wasn''t a trashy friend as she described, but it was true that he was living at Li Xuan''s place at his expense.


    "Let me go. I can walk on my own. What help do you need from me?" Zhou Wen thought about it and felt that if it wasn''t anything serious, he could always help as payment for rent.


    The woman didn''t loosen her grip upon hearing that. She continued speaking as she walked. "Don''t worry. I''m only getting you to make up the numbers. I don''t have any hopes of you doing anything. Just don''t screw things up."


    Without even knowing the name of Li Xuan''s sister, he was pulled out of the villa.


    A motorbike was parked at the villa''s entrance. After throwing the helmet that hung on the handle to Zhou Wen, she got on and said, "Come on up."


    When he saw her tall figure in a pair of short boots, t-shirt, and jeans, with black curly hair freely cascading down, he found a heroic vibe to her. She was very different from the women Zhou Wen had previously met.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t have any other thoughts about it. After putting on the helmet, he sat behind Li Xuan''s sister.


    "Sit tight." As there was only one helmet, the woman naturally didn''t have one to wear after giving it to Zhou Wen. When the engine roared to life, her curly hair began flailing in the wind, sweeping across Zhou Wen from time to time.


    On the streets of Luoyang, one could occasionally see experts riding all kinds of dimensional creatures. In contrast, this was rarely seen in Guide City.


    Vehicles and Companion Beasts followed their own paths looking somewhat bizarre and harmonious.


    Companion Beasts were taking on an increasingly important role in the League. Work that many humans and machines were unable to complete required the help of Companion Beasts.


    With powerful Companion Beasts, not only did it strengthen oneself, but it could also provide service to all of humanity.


    The woman drove extremely fast, swerving through traffic in a harrowing manner. However, she was surprisingly stable, without showing any signs of emergency braking.


    Zhou Wen sat behind her, with his hands still on his phone gaming. The journey didn''t affect his ability to game.


    After riding for quite a while, Li Xuan''s sister¡ªLi Weiyang¡ªimpression of Zhou Wen improved after not feeling any hands placed around her waist.


    She had never had a good impression of Li Xuan''s bad company. If she wasn''t in a rush to get Zhou Wen to make up the numbers, she wouldn''t have brought him along. She originally had imagined that Zhou Wen would hug her waist to take advantage of her while riding on the bike, but none of that happened. Even his body hadn''t made any contact with her, as though he was deliberately keeping a distance.


    I never expected Li Xuan''s friends to show some manners, Li Weiyang thought as she subconsciously looked back at Zhou Wen. It would have been fine if she hadn''t looked back, but with that one look, all her favorable impression was gone.


    She originally imagined that Zhou Wen was being a gentleman, but when she looked back, she realized that Zhou Wen was still gaming on his phone, having the time of his life. From the way he was engrossed in it, it looked as though he wished to be in the game itself.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    From the looks of it, I was overthinking things. How could any of Li Xuan''s friends be a gentleman? Li Weiyang thought to herself in a self-deprecating manner.

 37 Vying for the Companion Egg

    Li Weiyang stopped inside a Companion Beast Arena with Zhou Wen. A few girls who had been waiting outside rushed over and began breaking out into a cacophony.


    After listening for a while, Zhou Wen had a rough idea of what was happening.


    Li Weiyang and the few girls were students of Sunset College. They were his future seniors.


    These girls and another girl had entered a dimensional zone to slay dimensional creatures and were lucky enough to have a Mortal Companion Egg drop.


    It was an Ancient War Steed Companion Egg. Furthermore, it had apparently dropped from a Mutated Ancient War Steed.


    Mortal Companion Eggs were rare to begin with, so to have one drop was a really lucky event. Furthermore, it had dropped from a Mutated Ancient War Steed. This meant that its stats would be extremely high, making it priceless.


    Companion Beasts of the same level varied drastically in terms of stats. Mortal Companion Beasts'' four main basic stats typically varied between 1¨C9. As for Legendary Companion Beasts, their basic stats varied between 10¨C18.


    The importance of basic stats was obvious. The higher the stats, the more powerful their innate abilities were. After becoming a Companion Beast, the augmentation they provided their owners was boosted as well.


    Mutated Ancient War Steeds were top-notch when it came to Strength and Speed at the Mortal stage; therefore, they definitely weren''t inferior in Companion Beast form. To be able to drop such a Companion Egg was definitely a great thing to happen.


    However, the owner of the Companion Egg became the reason for the strife.


    As a team, they should have split the spoils of war equally, but the girl who had obtained the Mutated Ancient War Steed Companion Egg claimed that she was the one responsible for killing the Mutated Ancient War Steed and digging out the Companion Egg. Therefore, she should have sole possession of it.


    The other girls naturally disagreed. However, the girl, Su Mei, forcefully snatched the Companion Egg thanks to her boyfriend being quite a force to be reckoned with in school. She didn''t even intend to provide any compensation.


    The girls were infuriated and as one of them had a close relationship with Li Weiyang, she got her to stand up for them.


    After Li Weiyang had heard of the ins and outs, she originally intended to mediate the situation and get both parties to compromise. Su Mei could take the Companion Egg, but she needed to compensate the rest.


    But to her surprise, Su Mei wouldn''t compromise at all thanks to her boyfriend''s standing. The situation became worse as both sides decided to battle at the Companion Beast Arena. The winner would then be able to take the Mutated Ancient War Steed away.


    Su Mei''s boyfriend was a senior student at Sunset College named Gao Yang. Li Weiyang also knew him and how strong he was. Therefore, she wanted Li Xuan here and have him bring more people to stand by them in the event Gao Yang went back on his word after losing.


    But to her dismay, she wasn''t able to get Li Xuan on the phone. Unable to find him at home, all she could do was bring Zhou Wen along.


    "Sis Weiyang, what do we do without Li Xuan being here?" The girls wore a look of worry.


    Although Li Xuan had just been admitted into Sunset College, his infamy as a prodigal son of the Li family was well known in all of Luoyang. The girls were no exception.


    Furthermore, they had often seen Li Xuan visiting Li Weiyang.


    "What''s there to be afraid of? I''m around?" Li Weiyang said.


    "But Su Mei''s boyfriend, Gao Yang, is a fourth-year senior. I heard that he''s very¡­" a girl said, trembling.


    "So what if he''s a fourth-year? He''s still at the Mortal stage. I have confidence in beating him and getting back the Companion Egg," Li Weiyang said.


    Zhou Wen found it odd. Since Li Weiyang was Li Xuan''s sister, it meant that she was the eldest daughter of the Li family. Why wasn''t she able to settle such a trivial matter, to the point of having to settle it with a battle at the Companion Beast Arena?


    He was automatically ignored by the girls because although he had a good build, he looked pale due to his loss of blood. He looked sickly and looked incapable of fighting.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    After entering the arena, they came to a ring. From afar, there was a group of young men and women. Not only were their numbers far greater than Li Weiyang''s side, but they were also mostly stoutly men.


    Leading them was a tall and handsome man who was hugging a girl''s waist by the side of the spectator stand. Upon seeing Li Weiyang walk over, he said with a laugh, "Li Weiyang, you actually have the guts to come?"


    "Why not? Defeating you won''t be difficult. I''ll definitely get back the Companion Egg," Li Weiyang said.


    "I''ve heard of your capability, but you are no way my match. Besides, I''m a fourth-year senior. It''s really not nice bullying a junior like you," Gao Yang said with narrowed eyes.


    "Gao Yang, what are you getting at?" Li Weiyang had an ominous feeling.


    "I never bully others, so I''ve deliberately found a second-year junior like the rest of you. As long as anyone of you can defeat him, I''ll return the Companion Egg on a golden plate. Of course, it needs to be a student at Sunset College. Outsiders don''t count," Gao Yang said as he clapped his hands.


    On a seat on the spectator stand behind Gao Yang, a figure stood up.


    "Gu Dian!" When Li Weiyang and the other girls saw the figure, the color in their faces drained. The more timid one nearly burst into tears out of fear.


    Zhou Wen was also alarmed as he stood by the side and sized up the man.


    He had never seen a person look this fierce all his life.


    Ugly and fierce-looking were two completely different concepts. This person didn''t look ugly, but he exuded vibes like a devil that left one shuddering. Timid people would probably be frightened to death if they met him in the middle of the night.


    Zhou Wen never believed that looks alone could frighten someone to death. However, Gu Dian really left chills running through one''s heart, making one not dare look at him straight.


    "Gao Yang, how despicable of you. You actually got Gu Dian to represent you. How much of a sore loser are you?" Li Weiyang said with an ugly expression.


    Although she was very confident in her strength, Gu Dian was no ordinary student.


    Gu Dian was nicknamed The Devil at school. Not only was it because of his muscular body, that stood more than two meters tall, or his fierce, devilish looks, but that he had unfathomable strength. His abnormal strength made him nearly invincible among those at the Mortal stage.


    Gu Dian was probably the first and only person to beat up a senior on the first day he was admitted into Sunset College.


    Although Li Weiyang had never fought Gu Dian, the latter had once pummeled a fourth-year senior whose strength almost equaled her with a few punches. Li Weiyang knew that her chances of victory against Gu Dian weren''t high.


    Su Mei, who remained leaning on Gao Yang, mocked, "Li Weiyang, there''s something wrong with what you say. Gao Yang got a second-year because he just doesn''t want to bully a junior like you. So how can you say something like that? Besides, didn''t we already agree that the battle shouldn''t involve any outsiders? Only students from our school can participate in the battle. Isn''t Gu Dian a student of our Sunset College? If you think your strength is lacking, you are free to get help. We aren''t stopping you."

 39 Porcupine Skill

    Everyone was reeling with anxiety. Even Gao Yang and Su Mei were shocked.


    Although they had gotten Gu Dian, none of them expected him to be this ruthless. If Li Weiyang were to really suffer any serious injuries, it would only escalate the matter.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Although she was an illegitimate daughter of the Li family and was never allowed inside the Li family''s house, she ultimately had the Li family''s blood coursing through her veins. It would be impossible for them to ignore it if something really happened to her.


    When Zhou Wen''s voice sounded, it immediately provided a vent for everyone''s tense feelings. Even Li Weiyang and Gu Dian looked over at him.


    "Schoolmate, did you say that we can enter the ring as long as we are students of Sunset College?" Zhou Wen asked Su Mei.


    "That''s right. What do you wish to say?" Su Mei didn''t know what Zhou Wen was getting at.


    "I''ve just been admitted into Sunset College, but I haven''t matriculated. Am I allowed to enter the ring?" Zhou Wen asked.


    He imagined that if Su Mei said no, he could use this opportunity to pull Li Weiyang from the ring and return home early to game.


    Upon hearing that, Su Mei guffawed. "So you are our Sunset College''s junior. I can''t tell that you are a man who knows how to cherish women. But as your senior, I''m giving you the chance to be the hero to rescue the damsel in distress. Go on up if you wish to, but don''t blame me for not warning you if you get injured. University and high school aren''t the same."


    Gao Yang and company jeered. Anyone that could be admitted into Sunset College was an elite. There were plenty that came first or second in their own cities.


    But so what? After stepping into the college, won''t they all schooled? High school geniuses only lined the bottom at Sunset College. The ones who could really stand out were few and far between. Most ended up drowning in a sea of talent.


    It was especially so for the top students in small cities. Most of them gradually became mediocre once they arrived at Sunset College. It wasn''t that they weren''t outstanding, but there were just too many people who were more outstanding than them.


    Gu Dian happened to be one who stood out from his peers. For a rookie who hadn''t even been matriculated to actually dare challenge Gu Dian because of Li Weiyang was, in their opinion, blinded and driven by lust.


    Gao Yang said with a cheeky smile, "Junior, you do resemble me from a few years ago. It''s fine. Go on up if you want to. As your senior, I''ll give you a chance to show off in front of the beauties."


    As he said that, he thought to himself, Gu Dian doesn''t know how to hold back. It''s definitely not good to injure Li Weiyang. So it''s good that she can be swapped.


    The girls on Li Weiyang''s side looked at Zhou Wen worriedly. They were afraid that his sickly body would just die from a single punch from Gu Dian.


    "Senior Weiyang, let me," Zhou Wen said as he flipped himself into the ring.


    "Don''t mess around. Go down." Li Weiyang had only pulled him here to add to the numbers. She had zero intention of getting him to fight.


    Furthermore, Gu Dian was just too strong and he didn''t hold back. based on Zhou Wen''s sickly look, it was really possible that he could die from a single punch. As students, they might not be able to extricate themselves from his death, nor could Li Weiyang bear the responsibility.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to speak further. He just wished to settle this matter so that he could game in peace.


    Without waiting for Li Weiyang to speak again, he reached out and lifted Li Weiyang up.


    Li Weiyang''s arm was dislocated and she was heavily injured. Unable to put up any resistance, she was lifted up by Zhou Wen.


    "What are you doing? Let me go!" Li Weiyang was embarrassed and enraged.


    Zhou Wen ignored her and directly leaped out of the ring with her. After handing her to the girls, he returned to the ring.


    "We are students of the same school, not some archenemies. There''s no need for us to fight to the death. No one can shoulder the responsibility if an accident happens. Why don''t we change the criteria for victory?" Zhou Wen sized up Gu Dian and said.


    "How so?" Gu Dian spoke very succinctly. His voice didn''t sound like a college student. It was low, gruff, and forceful¡ªakin to a man in his thirties or forties.


    Matched with his fierce looks, Zhou Wen really couldn''t believe that he was a college sophomore if it wasn''t for the Sunset College uniform he was wearing.


    "You let me punch you once. If you take less than three steps back, count me as the loser. Otherwise, I win. What do you think of my suggestion?" Zhou Wen had only said it randomly. Clearly, this disadvantaged Gu Dian.


    However, finding a Strength-measuring device was just too much of a waste of time. Therefore, Zhou Wen had given the suggestion.


    To everyone''s surprise, Gu Dian said coldly without any thought, "Sure."


    Somewhat surprised, Zhou Wen said with a smile, "Then let''s begin."


    Gao Yang curled his lips and said, "This rookie even thinks that he has taken the advantage. If he knows what Primordial Energy Skill and Primordial Energy Art Gu Dian cultivates in, he might be crying, much less laugh."


    "Brother Yang, what Primordial Energy Skill and Primordial Energy Art does Gu Dian cultivate?" Someone beside him was intrigued.


    "It''s not my place to mention what Primordial Energy Art he cultivates in. However, I''m sure all of you have heard his Primordial Energy Skill before." Gao Yang deliberately acted mystifying.


    "So what Primordial Energy Skill is it?" Su Mei couldn''t hold back her curiosity as she wheedled and nudged Gao Yang''s arm.


    Gao Yang chuckled. "Have you heard of dimensional creatures known as Needle Porcupines?"


    "Brother Yang, are you kidding me? We''ve obviously heard of Needle Porcupines. Although they are at the Mortal stage, they are especially thorny. Not only are their carapace tough, but they are also covered with quills. Unless it''s those Legendary stage seniors, we have to circle around them," a male schoolmate said.


    "Gu Dian''s Primordial Energy Skill came from a Porcupine Skill from a Needle Porcupine Crystal. If he were to use it, not only will his body be as hard as steel, he will also have the ability to deal thorns1 damage," Gao Yang said.


    "No way. I heard that Needle Porcupines very rarely drop Primordial Energy Skills, and even if it drops, with the powers of a Needle Porcupine, it will be a Rank 1 or 2 Primordial Energy Skill. How strong can it be?" Su Mei said in disbelief.


    "That''s why people call Gu Dian terrifying. Not only did he have exceedingly good luck to have the Porcupine Skill drop, he even managed to cultivate a Rank 1 Porcupine Skill all the way to Rank 9. Furthermore, he didn''t rely on Primordial Energy Skill Crystals to increase his rank. Isn''t that sick or what?" Gao Yang paused before sneering. "When it comes to Rank 9 Porcupine Skill, I''ve once seen a fourth-year use a Primordial Energy Skill strike Gu Dian, only to have his palm riddled with countless bloody holes as though he had been stabbed by countless steel needles. His hand was almost crippled. It''ll be fine if that rookie doesn''t use any Primordial Energy Skills, but if he does, he''s in for a bad time."


    Su Mei was delighted when she heard that. She naturally didn''t want Zhou Wen to win, much less hand over the Mutated Ancient War Steed Companion Egg. Thorns automatically cause damaging hit to any melee attacker.

 40 Strength Clash

    "Sis Weiyang, is he ok?" The few girls asked worriedly, as they helped Li Weiyang up.


    Li Weiyang obviously had no idea. However, since Zhou Wen was Li Xuan''s friend and based on the kind of company the latter mixed with, the former was definitely not someone they could rely on.


    However, Li Weiyang couldn''t say it out loud. All she could do was say something assuring. "Since he dares to enter the ring, he should be somewhat capable."


    Instead of saying that to assure her companions, it was more to assure herself.


    Zhou Wen stood in front of Gu Dian. He wasn''t short among men, but in front of Gu Dian, he was a head shorter.


    Gu Dian''s body was extremely brawny. Not only was he tall, but his muscles were taut, exuding vibes that he had explosive strength within. There was nothing clumsy about him.


    During Gu Dian''s battle with Li Weiyang, Zhou Wen had already noticed that the former cultivated in a high-level defensive-type Primordial Energy Skill. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to withstand the strike from a Primordial Energy Skill no matter how strong his physical body was.


    Gu Dian glared at Zhou Wen with his cold eyes like the devil. In a chilly manner, he said, "Come. Don''t waste any more time."


    "You have to be careful. This punch of mine has great Strength," Zhou Wen warned him before slowly raising his fist.


    Su Mei was amused when she heard Zhou Wen. She said in mockery, "It''s great if you have great Strength. Gu Dian loves that. Use more of your strength, lest you disappoint him."


    Su Mei''s words sounded like a joke, but they hid extreme wickedness. Gu Dian''s Porcupine Skill possessed terrifying thorns damage, so the more Strength Zhou Wen used, the greater the damage he would suffer.


    Although Gao Yang didn''t say a word, he waited to watch the spectacle.


    Sunset College had many powerful students, but at the Mortal stage, no one was Gu Dian''s match.


    "If you aren''t afraid of death, feel free to strike." Gu Dian''s expression remained unperturbed, but it was already extremely terrifying.


    Zhou Wen didn''t speak further as he threw out his right fist, producing immense strength with Vigor Divine Fist. It caused his fist to swell up to a whole new size as though it was a hammer.


    Gu Dian''s eyes narrowed as he stood firmly on the ground. An abnormal redness flushed through his body as though he was lit aflame.


    Knowing that this was a trait of Porcupine Skill, Gao Yang''s smile became more obvious.


    When Li Weiyang saw the anomaly on Gu Dian''s body, she immediately recalled something. Ignoring her injuries, she hurriedly yelled at Zhou Wen, "Don''t throw out that punch! It''s Porcupine Skill! It will rebound¡­"


    Bang!


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen''s fist had struck Gu Dian''s abdomen before she could finish her sentence.


    This was a spot Zhou Wen had deliberately chosen¡ªit was an area that could resist relatively more impact; thus, reducing the chances of death.


    When the hard-as-steel fist struck at firm muscles, there was a loud thud with the slightest hint of a metallic clash.


    Zhou Wen''s and Gu Dian''s eyes narrowed simultaneously as Gao Yang and Su Mei watched in disbelief. Gu Dian''s gargantuan body curled slightly like a shrimp as his feet slid across the ice, stopping only after he retreated nearly four meters.


    Two nearly four-meter-long black marks appeared on the rubber surface like skid marks left by a car''s emergency braking.


    Li Weiyang stared at Zhou Wen with a blank look, finding his strength unbelievable. He had managed to send Gu Dian retreating about four meters despite the latter using Porcupine Skill.


    The other girls had already broken out into cheers. This wasn''t just three steps, but three to four meters! It was probably as many as eight steps!


    "Gao Yang, can I take your word?" Zhou Wen retracted his trembling fist and asked.


    He had sent Gu Dian retreating with one punch, but he wasn''t too good either. His fist was trembling uncontrollably.


    Gao Yang didn''t say a word as he looked at Gu Dian who said coldly, "I''ve lost."


    Gao Yang nodded as he looked at Su Mei. "Give the Companion Egg to them."


    Su Mei immediately stood up and yelled, "What right do they have? The agreement was between them. I didn''t agree that a loss would be counted if Gu Dian retreated three steps. It''s completely unreasonable. Besides, Gu Dian''s feet didn''t even more. It can only be considered one step. Let him fight Gu Dian. If he can trounce Gu Dian, I''ll count it as his win. Besides, he isn''t a student of Sunset College yet¡­"


    Smack! Before Su Mei could finish her drivel, Gao Yang slapped her in the face, leaving her stunned.


    "Do I need to say it a second time? A loss is a loss. I, Gao Yang, never go back on my word. Do you think that a Companion Egg of yours is more important than a promise of mine?" Gao Yang glared coldly at Su Mei.


    Su Mei was much aggrieved, but she didn''t dare say another word. Unwillingly, she took out the Companion Egg from her bag and handed it to Gao Yang with gritted teeth. Then, she turned around in anger.


    Gao Yang ignored Su Mei and walked to Zhou Wen with the Companion Egg in hand. Throwing it to the latter, he stared at him. "What''s your name?"


    "Zhou Wen," Zhou Wen replied calmly.


    "Zhou Wen? I''ll remember you. Since you will be a student of Sunset College in the future, we''ll have plenty of time to spend together soon," Gao Yang said coldly before he turned around and left with the group of students.


    Gu Dian glanced at Zhou Wen, but didn''t say a word. He then left, following behind Gao Yang and company.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    "Zhou Wen, I sure couldn''t tell that you had such Strength when you look like such a pretty boy," Li Weiyang walked over and said as she sized him up.


    "Zhou Wen, are you really our junior?"


    "Are high-schoolers these days so strong?"


    "Junior, you used a Primordial Energy Skill, right? How impressive. What is its name?"


    The few girls circled around Zhou Wen as they asked him all kinds of questions. Their interest in him seemed to exceed the interest in the Companion Egg he had snatched back.


    "My victory was all thanks to luck. That devil-like fellow was truly terrifying. If we had really engaged in battle, it would be hard to tell who would have won." Zhou Wen handed the Companion Egg to Li Weiyang before raising his injured fist. There were dense, needle-like holes on the back of his hand which were beginning to ooze a tiny bit of blood.


    "Are you injured?" Li Weiyang was alarmed when she saw the wound on Zhou Wen.


    Without waiting for his reply, Li Weiyang handed the Companion Egg to the girls and got them to leave. Then, she pulled Zhou Wen outside. "Let''s go. You need to check on your injuries."


    "There''s no need. It''s just some superficial wounds. It didn''t injure my bones," Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    "You need to have a check-up, otherwise it will be a problem if it leaves some side effects." Li Weiyang dragged Zhou Wen to the medical room without listening to his protests.


    The Companion Beast Arena had dedicated medical facilities. By the time they arrived, Zhou Wen''s wounds had already healed and produced scabs that were fine after some treatment. Instead, Li Weiyang was the heavily injured one. She had dislocated her arm and the wound on her face needed treatment. It was Zhou Wen who had to run around to do all kinds of medical paperwork for her.


    Li Weiyang lay in bed, looking at Zhou Wen and his staid, gentle face as he ran around. With mixed feelings, she thought, I never expected Li Xuan to have such a friend.

 41 Companion Beast Fusion

    It was quite an ordeal for Zhou Wen to finally return home and be able to game in peace. But just as he sat on the sofa and launched the game dungeon, Li Xuan rushed home.


    "Your door was kicked down by a woman who claimed to be your sister. Her name is Li Weiyang," Zhou Wen immediately made things clear, afraid that Li Xuan would blame him for damaging his villa.


    However, Li Xuan didn''t heed that at all. In excitement, he asked Zhou Wen in a mysterious manner, "Are you interested in visiting the dimensional zone I previously mentioned?"


    "Are you talking about the dimensional zone that produces organ-type Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Bingo. Are you interested?"


    "But we haven''t matriculated! Can we enter now?" Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan suspiciously.


    "The average person obviously can''t, but I''m no average person," Li Xuan said as he languidly slapped his chest.


    "Alright, let''s head over." Zhou Wen was quite intrigued, but it wasn''t that he wanted to enter a dimensional zone. Instead, he wanted to know if the dimensional zone could be installed on his phone just like Guide Ancient City.


    "Bro, can you show me some excitement? I really can''t feel a sense of achievement with that face of yours," Li Xuan said gloomily.


    "Wow! You''re awesome!" Zhou Wen cried out in a very perfunctory manner as he continued gaming on his phone without looking up.


    "Forget it." Li Xuan became even more depressed. However, he cheered up almost immediately. Pulling Zhou Wen out, he said, "Pal, I''ll be broadening your horizon today."


    When they arrived in the yard, Zhou Wen saw a white tiger sprawled outside the villa. It was even bigger and muscular than an ox.


    "Legendary Jade-Eyed White Tiger. How cool is that? I incubated it just today. It was such a harrowing experience¡­" Li Xuan bragged as his saliva splattered about.


    "With such flaunting, you have no plans on acting any further, right?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    Li Xuan''s face sank. "In the past, I wished that things wouldn''t turn nasty among the family, so I didn''t compete with him. Since he doesn''t even want to spare my life, there''s no need for me to stand on ceremony with him. From now on, I''ll become the Li family''s genius, Li Xuan. What should be mine will be mine, nothing less."


    Zhou Wen gave Li Xuan the thumbs up. Indeed, a genius like Li Xuan didn''t deserve to be hidden. However, he was curious. Li Xuan cultivated in the Invincible Connate Divine Art, so was he to stay a virgin his entire life if he continued cultivating in it?


    "Let''s not touch on such matters. Come on up. Let''s go a joyride. This Jade-Eyed White Tiger is extraordinary. If I use enough resources on it, it has a chance of advancing to an Epic King of White Tigers. That would make it truly terrifying," Li Xuan said as he jumped onto its back.


    Zhou Wen knew that certain Companion Beasts could evolve, but they were in the minority. Furthermore, evolution required special dimensional materials and very strict criteria.


    Currently, the League was doing research in this respect. There were less than four hundred on the official list of evolvable Companion Beasts. The rest were still being studied.


    Riding on a Companion Beast didn''t feel good in any way. The trembling was intense due to the lack of a suspension. Zhou Wen would rather ride in a comfortable sedan car.


    However, Li Xuan was thrilled. He dashed down the road riding the Jade-Eyed White Tiger, whistling and waving to beauties he passed on the street.


    This fellow''s foppish character sure doesn''t appear to be an act. Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a problem. He whispered into the Legendary stage''s ear, "Li Xuan, what are the criteria needed to incubate a Legendary Companion Egg for those at the Mortal stage?"


    Li Xuan said, "You wish to incubate that Skeleton General, right? I''m warning you not to mess around. Don''t try it just because it seems it''s easy for me to incubate one. Let me tell you seriously that people with such thoughts mostly end up either crippled or dead."


    After a pause, Li Xuan said smugly, "To incubate a Companion Egg, the most important criteria is to have sufficient Primordial Energy. A typical Legendary Companion Egg needs more than ten Primordial Energy to incubate it. The typical human at the Mortal stage doesn''t have that much Primordial Energy. After being sucked dry of their Primordial Energy, one''s vitality and essence would be drawn in place of Primordial Energy. When that happens, it''s either death or disability. The reason I can incubate a Legendary Companion Egg is because my Invincible Connate Divine Art has cultivated to 9 points of Primordial Energy. Furthermore, I have plenty of vitality and essence that I''m not afraid of being drained. Even so, I had to specially select Legendary Companion Eggs that require relatively fewer Primordial Energy points. Only then can I succeed and survive. It''s almost impossible for others to succeed, unless you aren''t afraid of death.


    "Give up, man. I''m unique," Li Xuan added smugly.


    What Li Xuan had said served as a warning for Zhou Wen. The latter was obviously afraid of death, but the blood-colored avatar in-game wasn''t. Perhaps he could use the blood-colored avatar to incubate a Legendary Companion Beast.


    Unfortunately, I have no way of taking the Companion Egg into the game. To make an attempt, I can only wait until a Companion Egg drops in-game. With this in mind, he was quite tempted.


    The phone''s camera feature is able to download dimensional zones. I wonder if it can be used on Companion Eggs? When Zhou Wen thought of this, he took out the Companion Egg and phone from his pocket.


    He was sitting behind Li Xuan and, with him in the way, no one else could see what he was doing. Zhou Wen then attempted to open the mysterious phone''s camera function and aimed it at the Skeleton General Companion Egg.


    Beep!


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, the camera function was usable. When the camera was pointed at the Skeleton General Companion Egg, a green box appeared on the screen, and with a beep, it focused on the Companion Egg. At the same time, many text and numbers appeared.


    Skeleton General Companion Egg: Legendary


    Life Providence: Oath of City Defense


    Strength: 15Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Speed: 13


    Constitution: 16


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Primordial Energy Skill: Penetrating Pierce (Rank 3)


    Companion Form: General Bone Armor


    Zhou Wen looked at the Skeleton General''s stats in surprise. It wasn''t because the stats were surprising, but that no one was able to run tests before a Companion Egg was incubated; thus, making it impossible to know how good a Companion Beast would be before incubation.


    With just a snap, the phone could list down detailed numbers. It was amazing.


    The same Companion Beast type all had different stats. The higher they were, the better they were naturally. It was especially so with Primordial Energy Skills. The higher the Rank, the more valuable the Companion Beast was.


    Beep!


    While Zhou Wen was looking at the Skeleton General''s stats, his phone beeped again. At the same time, a notification popped up on the screen.


    "Skeleton General and Mutated Vigor Ant have a compatibility score of 47%. Fusion has a success rate of 47%. Proceed with fusion?"


    A ''yes'' and ''no'' option popped up on the screen. Without any hesitation, he chose ''yes.'' Then there was a clicking sound¡ªthe sound of a camera''s shutter.


    The phone snapped a picture of the Skeleton General, simultaneously making the Skeleton General Companion Egg in Zhou Wen''s hand vanish into thin air.

 42 Underground Buddha City

    As the phone screen presented the Skeleton General Companion Egg, Zhou Wen''s Mutated Vigor Ant appeared beside it.


    A notification popped up on the screen again: ''As the Mutated Vigor Ant has already finished incubating, the Skeleton General Companion Egg will be used as supplementary material. Proceed with fusion?''


    Zhou Wen chose ''yes.'' Since he was unable to incubate the Skeleton General Companion Egg and there were chances for him to obtain Mutated Vigor Ants again in the future, there was no harm trying.


    With Zhou Wen making the choice, the Skeleton General Companion Egg flew towards the Mutated Vigor Ant. After infusing into the Mutated Vigor Ant, the screen immediately turned into a spiraling chaos.


    Ding!


    After a while, the game screen finally returned to normal. At the same time, there was a notification sound as the following line appeared: ''Fusion successful. Mortal Mutated Vigor Ant has evolved into Mortal Mutated Skeleton Ant.''


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed when he heard that. The outcome was still a Mortal Companion Beast after fusing with a Legendary Skeleton General. It felt like a terrible loss.


    When he carefully studied the Skeleton Ant after the successful fusion, he saw that its originally red carapace had turned dark red. Furthermore, the carapace''s texture had changed. It now seemed like bone that had been dyed red. Even its feelers and claws had the same texture.


    Furthermore, its claws had turned sharp, covered with razor-like barbed bones. It looked ferocious and terrifying, especially its two front claws. They looked like two strange sickles.


    Although it had evolved to something rather strong, it was still at the Mortal stage. No matter how much it evolved, it had no way of competing with a Companion Beast at the Legendary stage.


    Tapping on the Mutated Skeleton Ant''s stats to take a look, Zhou Wen was immediately taken aback. Compared to the Mutated Vigor Ant, its stats had changed tremendously.


    Mutated Skeleton Ant: Mortal


    Strength: 10


    Speed: 9


    Constitution: 10


    Primordial Energy: 9


    Talent Skill: Skeleton Pierce (Rank 10)


    Companion Form: Bracer


    Strength and Companion Beast has increased to 10. Same for the talent skill¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had never heard of Companion Beasts having Rank 10 talent skills.


    In fact, Zhou Wen always believed that Rank 9 was the limit to Primordial Energy Skills. Only when his Ashen Palm reached Rank 10 did he realize that there was such a thing.


    Zhou Wen had the urge to summon the Mutated Skeleton Ant to see what it looked like. After all, it was drawn in a cartoon style in-game. There were bound to be differences in real life.


    Unfortunately, he was sitting on Li Xuan''s Jade-Eyed White Tiger. This wasn''t the best time to summon it.


    Despite his arrogance, Li Xuan put away his Companion Beast at the entrance to Sunset College. He then walked in with Zhou Wen without the pompous attitude.


    Sunset College was a new college that was established after the dimensional storms. It was very close to the Dragon Gate Grotto¡ªthe biggest dimensional zone in Luoyang to date. To this day, humanity had not finished exploring it in its entirety. It was even said that humans had only managed to explore a very tiny area.


    Apart from the Dragon Gate Grotto, there were several dimensional zones found inside Sunset College. It could be said that Sunset College took most of the dimensional zone resources in Luoyang.


    Due to it being a partially-restricted school, the students still had to wear uniforms despite being university students. It was a little like military wear.


    It was still the holidays, but there were plenty of students on campus. Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were stopped by the guards at the door.


    The guards of Sunset College weren''t security guards but real soldiers. In fact, the dimensional zones in Sunset College were guarded by real military troops.


    Li Xuan took out two special passes before being permitted to enter.


    As Li Xuan led Zhou Wen in, he explained, "Luoyang was home to thirteen Chinese dynasties., Ancient cities had been built on this piece of land for millennia, but for all kinds of reasons, these ancient cities had been destroyed and lost to the rivers of time. It could be said that the ground that Luoyang sits on is piled up from multiple ancient cities. Ever since the dimensional storms, many dimensional zones were formed underground. The deeper one goes, the more terrifying the zone becomes.


    "People from Luoyang are accustomed to calling the underground dimensional zones dungeons. At present, the explored dungeon has four levels. There''s definitely more, but no human expert can get any lower. This time, an entrance to a new dungeon was discovered at Ancient Inlet, and new dimensional creatures and organ-type Companion Beasts were found inside¡­"


    Zhou Wen listened attentively to Li Xuan''s explanation. Sunset College was just too huge. After walking for nearly an hour, they finally arrived at Ancient Inlet which Li Xuan had mentioned.


    Ancient Inlet was, in fact, a marshland. Rumor was that it was once a river mouth of the ancient Yellow River which once brought disaster to this area by drowning the ancient cities. Later, the Yellow River moved and stopped flowing over this region.


    In this former riverbed, a new dimensional zone was discovered. When Zhou Wen looked at a stele inside the marshland, his eyes lit up.


    The stele stood in the middle of the marsh at a height of over ten meters tall. There was a sitting Buddha engraved on it with fairies circling him.


    Amongst the various engraved symbols, Zhou Wen found a tiny palm symbol. It was rather inconspicuous amongst the fairies and Buddha palm symbols, but to Zhou Wen, it was extremely familiar.


    On the city gates of Guide Ancient City, Zhou Wen had seen a similar symbol. Furthermore, he had focused his mysterious phone on it to download the Guide Ancient City game dungeon.


    However, this tiny palm symbol was a little different from the one he had seen at Guide Ancient City.


    The palm in the Guide Ancient City''s symbol carried something akin to an onion or garlic. But here, engraved in the middle of the tiny palm symbol was a blooming lotus flower.


    I''ll try to download this game dungeon now. Zhou Wen took out his phone and turned on the camera before aiming it at the tiny palm symbol.


    Beep!


    A green box appeared on the screen as it focused on the tiny palm symbol. After the light beep, the familiar ''Installing'' word appeared.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    It really works. Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    Imagining that Zhou Wen was snapping photos, Li Xuan said, "This stele looks to be in the style of the Northern Wei dynasty. Back then, Buddhism thrived¡­"


    Zhou Wen wasn''t listening to what Li Xuan had to say. The phone had finished installing as a lotus icon appeared on his phone''s home screen. Beneath it were three words: ''Underground Buddha City.''

 43 Buddha Heart Lotus

    The bottom of the stele was the entrance to the dimensional zone where military troops were standing guard. Li Xuan took out two entrance passes before they entered.


    Going down the blue-tiled stairs beneath the stele, they ventured deep underground. Zhou Wen finally knew why the people of Luoyang described dimensional zones as dungeons.


    In an underground space tens of meters deep, a dilapidated ancient city connected as one with the underground world. All sorts of blue-tiled ancient architecture made it appear like a maze.


    At fixed distances, oil lanterns hung on the blue-tiled walls for lighting purposes. The dim yellow light made the already dark and humid ancient dungeon appear even older.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were on a street. The buildings that stood on either side were engraved with several symbols related to Buddhism. Even the blue-tiled roofs were engraved with flying fairies.


    "Trading 8-valued Strength Crystals for 8-valued Speed Crystals. Grab it if you want it!"


    "One Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal. Only trading, no selling¡­"


    "The most complete and detailed Buddha City map. With one map in hand, Buddha City is your oyster¡­"


    There were several youths dressed in school uniforms setting up stalls along both sides of the street. Clearly, they were seniors of Sunset College.


    Zhou Wen had wanted to buy a map but was stopped by Li Xuan.


    "Buddha City was only recently discovered. The students here can only explore the vicinity. What value can their maps have? I have here the latest map released by the military. It''s much more useful than theirs. Let''s head over to the Lotus Pond to try our luck. Let''s see if we can find the Buddha Heart Lotus," Li Xuan said as he walked with a map in hand.


    "What''s a Buddha Heart Lotus?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s a kind of plant-type dimensional creature. Didn''t I mention that organ-type Companion Beasts were found here? Buddha Heart Lotus is one of them. Buddha Heart Lotus in Companion Beast form is the heart," Li Xuan explained.


    Li Xuan held the map and navigated the dark dungeon with Zhou Wen in tow. Perhaps a result of the dimensional creatures having been wiped clean, they didn''t encounter a single one.


    After walking for nearly an hour, the scene before them opened up. They saw a large swath of green lotus leaves appear in their sights. They were as green as jadeite and they shimmered with a green glow.


    This huge underground lotus pond was several acres in size. The glimmering green light dyed the entire underground world with a green hue and at spots relatively far from the bank, one could see huge white lotus flowers blooming.


    "Is that the Buddha Heart Lotus?" Zhou Wen stared at the huge white lotus and asked.


    "That''s right. That''s the Buddha Heart Lotus, a plant-type dimensional creature. However, those Buddha Heart Lotuses are too far from the bank. Unless one can fly, there''s no way of getting near them," Li Xuan said.


    "Can''t you swim over?" Zhou Wen looked at the water in the pond. It was a transparent green and resembled crystals.


    "Definitely not. The water here can even melt steel beams. Humans will be reduced to nothing instantly," Li Xuan hurriedly said.


    "If that''s the case, what''s the point of coming?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    "That''s why I said we are trying our luck. If a Buddha Heart Lotus happens to bloom near the bank, we have a chance." Li Xuan rubbed his nose and said, "But it seems we aren''t having much luck. There isn''t a Buddha Heart Lotus blooming by the bank."


    Just as he said that they heard galloping sounds coming from behind them. They turned their heads and saw a white horse bolt over with a cold-eyed man sitting on it.


    The white horse was extremely fast, allowing him to arrive in front of the lotus pond almost instantaneously. However, the man had no intention of reining his horse in and it didn''t drop in speed at all. It rushed straight into the lotus pond.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen was astonished to find a pair of snow-white wings grow out from the white horse''s sides. It leaped into the air and flew above the lotus pond.


    "White-Winged Flying Horse at the Mortal stage. A very rare Companion Beast. That''s presently the only one in Sunset College. Its owner is Sunset College''s sophomore, Luo Xuan. He''s been called one of the four most handsome hunks of Sunset College. I don''t like him; he''s very arrogant," Li Xuan said as he looked at the White-Winged Flying Horse in envy.


    His Jade-Eyed White Tiger was far faster than the White-Winged Flying Horse, but it couldn''t fly. Naturally, he wasn''t able to ride on a white horse and leap across the lotus pond as coolly as Luo Xuan.


    Luo Xuan rode on his white horse and approached a Buddha Heart Lotus. When he was about ten meters away from it, he suddenly saw the petals of a Buddha Heart Lotus close up on itself, turning into an oval. When the petals suddenly spread open, a green lotus seed was shot out, seemingly blasting Luo Xuan with a cannonball.


    With a stoic expression, a flash appeared at Luo Xuan''s waist, halving the green lotus seed. Only then did others notice a sword in his hand.


    "What a fast move!" Zhou Wen was somewhat astonished.


    "The Luo family are swordsmen. The Azure Star Sword Anthology is a rather famous sword art. It''s not surprising that he''s fast with his sword,'' Li Xuan said, feeling sour grapes.


    It wasn''t that he was jealous of Luo Xuan''s sword techniques. It was just that the White-Winged Flying Horse drew too much attention. Although it was at the Mortal stage, it was cooler than his Jade-Eyed White Tiger.


    Zhou Wen was envious as well. Although the Mutated Skeleton Ant was strong, it had a frightening look. In terms of looks, the White-Winged Flying Horse was on a completely different level.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t care about looks. It was simply that the White-Winged Flying Horse''s ability of flight made it extremely useful.


    The White-Winged Flying Horse swept across the white lotus pond as Luo Xuan swept his sword, slicing off the huge white Buddha Heart Lotuses.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen could only watch in envy as the Buddha Heart Lotuses were harvested by Luo Xuan.


    "If I had known, I would have tried to obtain a Companion Beast that can fly," Li Xuan said through gritted teeth.


    "Forget it. Let''s head elsewhere to take a look. There should be other dimensional creatures apart from Buddha Heart Lotuses, right?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The area ahead has dimensional creatures, but it''s a little odd there. When the military explored the area, many people died for no reason. It wasn''t an exception even with Legendary experts. It has already been labeled a restricted zone. Ordinary students cannot approach the area," Li Xuan said as he looked at his map.


    Intrigued, Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan, "How did those people die?"


    "If the cause of death was known, it wouldn''t be called odd. They just died while walking. No dimensional creature was sighted, nor were there any wounds. Even when the corpses were taken back for an autopsy, it was discovered that their organs had failed and they had shriveled terribly," Li Xuan said.


    "Other than these two places, is there nowhere else in Buddha City with dimensional creatures?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    "There''s definitely more in the deeper areas of Buddha City. However, even the military hasn''t explored the area, so how would the typical student dare to venture in? It would only be courting death. We can''t risk our lives for adventure, right?"


    After a pause, Li Xuan added, "In fact, the military has offered a reward. If anyone can crack the mystery of the deaths, the military will reward them with a Legendary Companion Egg. Furthermore, they will be awarded perpetual rights to entering Buddha City."

 44 Blood-Patterned Buddha Heart Lotus

    Zhou Wen had wanted to say something when he heard a splash. It was as though a bomb had exploded in the water.


    The duo turned their heads and saw a wave rise up from the lotus pond like an erupting undersea volcano. Amidst the wave, a gigantic lotus flower with a diameter exceeded ten meters emerged.


    The lotus flower was different from the normal Buddha Heart Lotus. Ordinary Buddha Heart Lotus had petals that were pure white, but this Buddha Heart Lotus had blood vessel-like patterns on their white petals. The patterns were faint, outlining a sitting Buddha''s silhouette. It appeared as though a blood-colored Buddha was sitting on each petal.


    Luo Xuan rode on his White-Winged Flying Horse as he dodged the splashes in midair, but some still managed to splattered onto his steed.


    The White-Winged Flying Horse neighed in pain as its snow-white hide began corroding away, turning into a bloody, gaping hole. It looked extremely terrifying.


    Luo Xuan wore an ugly expression as he struggled to steer the White-Winged Flying Horse towards the bank. If they were to fall into the water, they were doomed.


    Real life wasn''t a game. Be it a human or a Companion Beast, death meant death. There were no second chances. It wasn''t like Zhou Wen''s game, which could be repeated after dying.


    Luo Xuan wished to escape, but the strange Buddha Heart Lotus had no intention of sparing him. It shot out a lotus seed the size of a basketball that tore through the sky and headed for the White-Winged Flying Horse and Luo Xuan.


    Typically, lotus seeds shot out by Buddha Heart Lotuses were green in color, but this lotus seed was like crystal blood. It appeared instantly in front of Luo Xuan.


    The White-Winged Flying Horse could no longer dodge in time. Luo Xuan drew his sword and cleaved, sending a beam that sliced through the blood-colored lotus seed. However, before his sword could fully slice through the blood-colored lotus seed, his expression changed.


    Almost instantly, Luo Xuan retracted his sword as he tapped his toes on the White-Winged Flying Horse''s back, jumping nearly three meters back like a hawk.


    Bang!


    At the same time, the blood-colored lotus seed exploded, turning into bloody rain that enveloped the White-Winged Flying Horse.


    Following that, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan saw a horrifying scene. The blood landed on the White-Winged Flying Horse like red-hot metal hitting snow. It instantly melted away the White-Winged Flying Horse''s flesh.


    In just seconds, the White-Winged Flying Horse''s flesh was completely gone, revealing its white bones. All it could do was let out a tragic neigh before plummeting into the lotus pond. There was zero hope for it.


    "Little White¡­" Luo Xuan yelled out in anger and sadness but to no avail. He was still in danger.


    He was at least five hundred meters away from the bank. With the White-Winged Flying Horse dead, he had no means of flying. The lotus pond was no different from the rivers of hell.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan wanted to help, but they were helpless. They didn''t have any Companion Beasts capable of flight, nor did they have invulnerable bodies. All they could do was stand at the side and watch, unable to do a thing.


    As the duo believed that Luo Xuan was doomed, they saw him tap a toe on a lotus leaf, soaring back up as though he was weightless as he stepped towards the next leaf.


    "Hey, this pretty boy has quite some skills. He even has a Primordial Energy Skill that imbues alacrity," Li Xuan exclaimed.


    When Zhou Wen saw Luo Xuan leap up from the lotus leaf, he was delighted to see the frail lotus leaf tremble slightly instead of being crushed by him.


    "In the dimensional zones in Sunset College, are there places that drop Primordial Energy Skill that imbues alacrity?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    "Obviously. The most famous one is Dragon Gate Grotto."


    Zhou Wen began planning to visit Dragon Gate Grotto when he had the chance. If he could download the game dungeon at Dragon Gate Grotto, he could grind for one without any worries. Such a Primordial Energy Skill would be extremely useful. Even if he was no match for his enemies, he could always use it to escape.


    Boom! Boom!


    Luo Xuan used the lotus leaves to leap into the sky, but before he got far, two salvos were heard. More than ten blood-colored lotus seeds enveloped the area, sealing off all of Luo Xuan''s exits, leaving no room for him to dodge.


    Although he still had half a sword left, it was useless against the blood-colored lotus seeds. After slicing them apart, their explosive might would only grow stronger.


    Gritting his teeth, the clothes on Luo Xuan tore apart, revealing a blue ox tattoo. The next second, it tore out of his body, taking on the form of a blue ox Companion Beast. It appeared in front of Luo Xuan and blocked the blood-colored lotus seeds.


    With the blue ox as a shield, Luo Xuan finally found a chance of survival. At that split second, he rushed out of the lotus seed bombardment.


    However, his blue ox Companion Beast had taken the hit. Once the seeds exploded, splattering the blood within them onto it, its flesh and blood began corroding. It then plummeted into the pond with a tragic cry.


    "That pretty boy, Luo Xuan, sure has plenty of expensive stuff up his sleeves. He actually has two Mortal Companion Beasts. Unfortunately, it still won''t be easy for him to survive. He''s just too far from the bank," Li Xuan said with a shake of his head.


    Zhou Wen ignored Li Xuan as he stared at the lotus pond.


    The White-Winged Flying Horse and the blue ox had their flesh corroded, reducing them to a pile of bones as they fell into the pond.


    This terrifying scene made Zhou Wen recall his Mutated Skeleton Ant.


    The lotus pond and the Buddha Heart Lotus''s bloody liquid seemed to be only capable of corroding flesh. Bones weren''t corroded, so was it possible for the Mutated Skeleton Ant who was already reduced to bone to survive in the lotus pond?


    At this thought, Zhou Wen summoned his Mutated Skeleton Ant and commanded it to approach the lotus pond. Then, it extended one of its claw tips into the water.


    When the Mutated Skeleton Ant flew out of the back of his hand, it seemed to be made out of blood-stained bones. Its body was filled with bone spikes and it was much bigger than before its evolution. It looked like a skeleton tank, much more ferocious and terrifying than in-game.


    "Holy sh*t. What Companion Beast is that?" By the side, Li Xuan jumped in fright from the appearance of the Mutated Skeleton Ant. Then, he realized that it was Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast.


    "Skeleton ant," Zhou Wen answered without much thought as he made the skeleton ant extend one claw into the lotus pond.


    "What are you doing?" Li Xuan jumped in fright.


    Soon, Li Xuan realized that the skeleton ant was completely fine, despite extending its claw into the water. It hadn''t been corroded by the lotus pond''s water.


    Only then did Zhou Wen confirm that his theory was right. The Mutated Skeleton Ant, which was all bone, wasn''t afraid of the lotus pond''s water.


    With a command from him, the Mutated Skeleton Ant slowly entered the lotus pond. Nothing happened despite its body being soaked in the water. Clearly, the pond water had zero effect on it.


    Zhou Wen was originally worried that the Mutated Skeleton Ant couldn''t swim, but he was immediately relieved when he saw it paddling its claws on the surface of the water and the lotus leaves like a water spider. It crawled at a rapid speed, in no way different than it was on land.

 45 Elites Gathering at the Lotus Pond

    When Li Xuan saw the Mutated Skeleton Ant crawling across the water at a rapid speed, he turned agape.


    Luo Xuan hopped across the lotus leaves with great speed, but the Buddha Heart Lotus shot its second round of lotus seed bombardment. He had nowhere to hide.


    Furthermore, even if he could dodge the second salvo, his Primordial Energy could hardly support his continuous use of his Primordial Energy Skill with alacrity traits. He would still die if he were to land in the lotus pond.


    Suddenly, he heard a voice from the bank. "Luo Xuan, jump on that ant''s back!"


    Luo Xuan had no idea who was speaking, nor could he process it. He tried his best to avoid a large portion of the blood-colored lotus seeds, but there was one he couldn''t dodge completely. All he could do was grit his teeth and block it with his sword.


    Although he knew that this action was meaningless¡ªthe blood-colored lotus seed would explode once it struck his incomplete sword, reducing him to a pool of blood¡ªhe still chose to do so due to his survival instinct.


    Before his sword hit the blood-colored lotus seed, Luo Xuan suddenly saw a blood-colored figure flash above him. A huge, ghastly ant had leaped over him, slamming into the lotus seed.


    The blood-colored lotus seed exploded on the ant''s head, splattering it all over with its contents. However, the ferocious-looking ant seemed unfazed by it. It landed on the water surface as it began moving its six claws rapidly, turning to crawl towards Luo Xuan.


    Luo Xuan was alarmed, imagining that the ant was about to attack him. However, upon recalling the voice and how the ant had blocked the seed, he immediately understood what was happening. He exerted strength on the lotus leaf and jumped onto the Mutated Skeleton Ant''s back.


    The Mutated Skeleton Ant crawled swiftly across the water surface, much faster than Luo Xuan''s hopping about. By the time the Buddha Heart Lotus produced its third salvo, the ant had already escaped beyond its reach.


    The Mutated Skeleton Ant rushed onto the bank and stopped in front of Zhou Wen.


    Luo Xuan jumped off the ant''s back. Even if he were dumb, he could tell that the Mutated Skeleton Ant was Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast. The one who had shouted was likely Zhou Wen.


    "My name is Luo Xuan. I''ll definitely repay you for saving my life. May I know your name?" Luo Xuan said.


    "I''m Zhou Wen. He''s Li Xuan. We are fellow schoolmates. It''s nothing, so don''t take it to heart," Zhou Wen said casually.


    "Zhou Wen. I''ll remember you." Luo Xuan sized up Zhou Wen''s looks before turning around to leave.


    "That fellow is already in such a pathetic state, but he still wears that cocky look. He pisses me off," Li Xuan couldn''t stand Luo Xuan.


    But moments later, Li Xuan was happy again. He chuckled. "Without the White-Winged Flying Horse, let''s see how he can act cool in school in the future."


    Zhou Wen ignored him as he sized up the gigantic Buddha Heart Lotus in the middle of the lotus pond. He guessed that it was a Legendary stage dimensional creature.


    "Zhou Wen, this skeleton ant is quite impressive. It seems to be the Buddha Heart Lotus''s nemesis. Why don''t you send it over and try eliminating that Buddha Heart Lotus? If you succeed, you might even get something good," Li Xuan said as he looked at it.


    "Forget it. That Buddha Heart Lotus is odd. I only have this Companion Beast. It''s best I don''t take risks." Zhou Wen planned on returning to grind the Underground Buddha City dungeon. In-game, his Companion Beast could be revived unlike in real life. There was no need for him to take such huge risks here.


    "You are good at everything except that you lack the spirit and fervor of a young man. What''s there to be afraid of? It''s only a Companion Beast. You can get another one in the future. If you can kill that strange Buddha Heart Lotus now, who knows if a special Companion Beast will drop. Wouldn''t you make a killing that way?" Li Xuan commented in dejection.


    "I don''t like betting." Zhou Wen shook his head as he turned around and headed back.


    Li Xuan could only helplessly follow Zhou Wen to head back. It wasn''t easy for him to get two entry passes, and now they were returning without even killing a single dimensional creature after coming to Underground Buddha City.


    "Why don''t we visit that bizarre place where everyone dies mysteriously?" Li Xuan suggested as he was unwilling to leave empty-handed.


    "You have a Legendary Companion Beast to protect you. I don''t. Besides, I don''t wish to bet my life." Zhou Wen walked off without even turning back.


    "You have zero spirit of adventure." Li Xuan shrugged before leaving Underground Buddha City with Zhou Wen.


    Li Xuan grumbled the entire way about how timid Zhou Wen was, but the latter completely ignored him. After returning to Li Xuan''s place, he went straight to his room and launched the Underground Buddha City dungeon.


    When the blood-colored avatar entered, it looked identical to what Zhou Wen had seen of Underground Buddha City. He then used the map from Li Xuan and used it to find the lotus pond in-game.


    Unlike reality, where the Buddha Heart Lotuses near the bank had been sliced clean by students, leaving only Buddha Heart Lotuses deep inside the lotus pond, the game was filled with Buddha Heart Lotuses everywhere across the pond. However, there wasn''t a gargantuan Buddha Heart Lotus.


    To prevent the blood-colored avatar from dying, Zhou Wen didn''t let it enter the lotus pond. He summoned the Mutated Skeleton Ant and got it to rush towards a Buddha Heart Lotus situated near the bank.


    The Mutated Skeleton Ant''s sharp front claws sliced through the green lotus seeds that shot out as it didn''t hesitate to slice through the Buddha Heart Lotus.


    "Killed Mortal dimensional creature, Buddha Heart Lotus."


    The system''s notification appeared, but nothing dropped.


    Zhou Wen ordered the Mutated Skeleton Ant to storm into the lotus pond, slicing any Buddha Heart Lotuses he saw. After killing more than thirty Buddha Heart Lotuses, a dimensional crystal finally dropped.


    However, Zhou Wen realized that it was a Constitution Crystal with a value of 2. All it could be used for was replenish some of his expended Primordial Energy.


    While Zhou Wen was mindlessly killing Buddha Heart Lotuses, the news of the gargantuan Buddha Heart Lotus''s appearance had spread across Sunset College.


    Many students who hadn''t left campus during the school break rushed to the lotus pond when they heard. There was no lack of powerful Legendary stage students.


    Everyone wanted to slay the gargantuan Buddha Heart Lotus. When a Legendary stage student released a Legendary Golden-Eyed Condor Companion Beast in a bid to slay the Buddha Heart Lotus from the air; to everyone''s surprise, it was struck down. It nearly fell into the pond and almost all its feathers dropped off.


    Thankfully, the Golden-Eyed Condor''s owner was quick to react and made it return early. However, it barely escaped with its life. To make it receive a full recovery was not easy.


    Many Legendary stage students tried various methods but failed to make much progress. After all, Companion Beasts capable of flight were relatively rare. And with a place like the lotus pond, humans didn''t even dare do the deed themselves, relegating it to their Companion Beasts.

 46 Small Buddha Temple

    Ding!


    In the Underground Buddha City dungeon of the game, Zhou Wen slew countless Buddha Heart Lotuses before a Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal dropped.


    He was somewhat disappointed. After spending the entire night grinding¡ªwith the dawn approaching¡ªnot a single Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg had dropped. The dimensional crystals he obtained were useless, with only the Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal being of some use.


    Li Xuan hadn''t informed Zhou Wen what Primordial Energy Skill the Buddha Heart Lotus had. However, from the lotus seeds it shot out, it was likely a projectile-type Primordial Energy Skill.


    Mortal stage Primordial Energy Skills basically didn''t have the ability to project their Primordial Energy outwards. This was limited to a small number even at the Legendary stage.


    Even for a projectile-type Primordial Energy Skill, only the use of a physical projectile could be used at the Mortal stage. There was no way to condense the Primordial Energy into a projectile.


    Zhou Wen directly absorbed the Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal and quickly a strange force traveled from his phone into his body.


    The force of the Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal was different from the crystals he had previously absorbed. Its force was extremely mild like a spring''s warm water infusing his body. It slowly flowed through his body before gushing into his heart. It strengthened his heart, making it beat with greater strength.


    ''Absorbed Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal. Attained Primordial Energy Crystal Heart Meditation (Rank 7).''


    Zhou Wen tried using Heart Meditation and found a warm stream flow out of his heart into every corner of his body. Other than giving him a warm and fuzzy feeling, there was nothing else.


    No wonder Li Xuan only said that Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Beasts are awesome, but he didn''t mention the Buddha Heart Lotus''s Primordial Energy Skill. It''s really useless. Zhou Wen didn''t mind as he continued ordering the Mutated Skeleton Ant to slay the Buddha Heart Lotuses.


    As he was having a great time killing them, he suddenly heard a boom. The pond water nearby spewed hundreds of feet high as a gargantuan Buddha Heart Lotus with petals having a sitting Buddha tore out of the water.


    Before the Mutated Skeleton Ant could react, the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus had shot out more than ten blood-colored lotus seeds at it.


    Knowing that the Mutated Skeleton Ant wasn''t afraid of the corrosion, Zhou Wen ordered it to rush forward against the torrent of seeds.


    When they struck the Mutated Skeleton Ant, they blasted open, releasing the blood within. They flowed everywhere across its body but failed to deal any damage.


    The Mutated Skeleton Ant dashed towards the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus and when it was about six meters away, it leaped up, inward slashing its razor-sharp claws at the flower bud.


    Based on Zhou Wen''s observations, the Buddha Heart Lotus itself wasn''t very powerful. Even if it was a Legendary stage creature, the Mutated Skeleton Ant had a chance of cleaving off its bud based on the Strength and talent skill it had.


    With the Mutated Skeleton Ant right in front of the Buddha Heart Lotus, the Buddha Heart Lotus suddenly spread its petals open like a bizarre mouth and devoured its aggressor. The petals then contracted, turning into a closed bud.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen saw the system''s notification of the Mutated Skeleton Ant''s death.


    Indeed, when the petals spread open again, the Mutated Skeleton Ant was nowhere to be seen. There weren''t any remnants of its bones.


    What a terrifying Buddha Heart Lotus. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but sigh.


    Without the Mutated Skeleton Ant, Zhou Wen lacked the ability to enter the lotus pond to attempt killing the Buddha Heart Lotus. Although his Companion Beast could be revived in-game, it could only be revived together with the blood-colored avatar. This also meant that when Zhou Wen revived the blood-colored avatar with a drop of blood, his Companion Beast would also revive.


    But as the blood-colored avatar was still alive, sending it to its death for nothing would be quite a waste.


    Looking at the map Li Xuan had given him, he controlled the blood-colored avatar and sent it to the restricted zone carved out by the military. Since death was required, he might as well visit to figure out the mystery.


    In the ancient, dark, and moist Underground Buddha City, there were crumbling walls everywhere. There was also plenty of sand and gravel that tumbled across the ground.


    Zhou Wen saw a stone bridge when he approached the restricted zone on the map.


    Typical stone bridges had flowers, grass, birds, or beasts patterned on the bridge railings. But this bridge had several colored, flying fairies.


    They were in the form of young women as their clothes fluttered in the sky while they danced. It was a staggeringly beautiful sight.


    Comparing it to the map, Zhou Wen quickly confirmed that the restricted zone was just after the bridge. The soldiers had died mysteriously on the other side of the bridge.


    Zhou Wen was only gaming, so he naturally didn''t have many apprehensions. He controlled the blood-colored avatar to step onto the bridge.


    He didn''t discover anything abnormal, it seemed an extremely normal stone bridge. The blood-colored avatar easily crossed and arrived at the other side.


    Across the bridge, it''s original appearance could no longer be identified. Boulders filled both sides, leaving a narrow path among the rock that was enough for a single person''s passage.


    There was a faint flickering of flames at the end of the rocky path. It was likely an illumination object such as a fire torch or oil lamp.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the path but didn''t discover anything abnormal. He then controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk in and head toward the light.


    The passage gradually headed up and it was then that Zhou Wen realized that there were stone steps at his feet. However, due to the mud and rubble, the steps had been hidden.


    After walking for a while, he saw the stone steps exposed outside.


    He didn''t encounter any danger despite walking hundreds of meters. However, he didn''t let down his guard as he kept observing the stone walls and the steps beneath him.


    But nothing happened at all. Instead, the flaming light gradually turned clear. With it, he could barely make out a grandiose entrance.


    The entrance had a plaque that was rather old and damaged. The red paint had mostly faded and the text was already very blurry. At this distance, it was impossible to see what the words were.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to approach the entrance. Shortly after, he finally saw the words: ''Small Buddha Temple.''


    What''s Small Buddha Temple? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He had heard of Grand Buddha Temple, but he had never heard of Small Buddha Temple.


    While he was in thought, he suddenly saw the game screen turn black¡ªclearly, the blood-colored avatar had died.


    How did it die? He couldn''t help but frown. He had been staring at the blood-colored avatar the entire time, but he didn''t see how it had died.


    After dripping his blood to revive, he sent the blood-colored avatar to the Underground Buddha City. He made the first stop at the lotus pond and spawned the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus, only to have the Mutated Skeleton Ant killed again.


    The blood-colored avatar then headed to Small Buddha Temple, but it once again died mysteriously at the stone steps in front of the entrance. Zhou Wen had watched very carefully with widened eyes, but he failed to see how the blood-colored avatar had died under his nose.


    However, Zhou Wen shared the same feeling when the blood-colored avatar died. At that instant, he felt all his organs suddenly contract.

 47 Reunion Meal

    Of course, this was the feeling the blood-colored avatar had given Zhou Wen. None of his organs really contracted.


    Strange. I didn''t see any dimensional creatures appear. There wasn''t even a strand of grass in the stone rifts. What could have caused the blood-colored avatar to die? It''s no wonder the military are helpless. This place is indeed quite odd. Zhou Wen was thinking of trying another round at the lotus pond and Small Buddha Temple when he heard knocking on the door.


    "Zhou Wen, are you up?" Li Xuan''s voice sounded.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the sky had already lit up. He had unknowingly gamed for the entire night. Time passed way too quickly.


    "It''s unlocked," Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan pushed the door open and saw Zhou Wen gaming. Furthermore, he had dark circles under his eyes and his hair was disheveled. He couldn''t help but exclaim, "Don''t tell me you gamed the entire night."


    "Tell me if there''s something interesting. Otherwise don''t disturb my sleep," Zhou Wen said as he put down his phone.


    He still planned on having a short nap. Sleep was a form of repose for him in the past, but now, he found sleep torture.


    The feeling of sleep paralysis was terrible. Furthermore, he often heard devil-like murmurs that went on throughout the entire night.


    It was only because Zhou Wen was capable of completely focusing that he could ignore these soul-crushing murmurs and withstand the pressure. If any other person were to suffer such torture daily, they would probably have gone mad.


    Subconsciously, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to sleep. It was also why he gamed with such obsession without realizing it.


    "Sunset College''s matriculation day is earlier than the average university. School will officially begin in a few days. If nothing surprising happens, we might have a chance to watch a good show play out after we matriculate," Li Xuan said with a chuckle.


    "What good show?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Xuan said mysteriously, "I heard that many Legendary stage students ranked in the top twenty of Sunset College have gone to the lotus pond, hoping to slay that gargantuan Buddha Heart Lotus, but not only have they failed, but some have even lost their Legendary Companion Beasts. Now, they are all actively purchasing Companion Beasts capable of flight. We should be in time to watch a grand battle play out."


    "Sunset College and the military have Epic stage experts. Why don''t they just mobilize them to vanquish that Buddha Heart Lotus?" Zhou Wen asked, perplexed.


    "If every problem is resolved, how are they to nurture the younger generation? The League has rules that reserve these resources for us, the future seedlings. Unless it''s something special, the military or school will not interfere."


    Pausing, Li Xuan continued, "I was planning on having breakfast with you, but looking at your present state, you probably want to have some more sleep. I''ll have breakfast alone."


    After Li Xuan walked out, Zhou Wen slept. As always, he quickly fell asleep. The sleep paralysis happened once again as the devil-like murmurs kept sounding in his ears like a fly that he couldn''t chase away.


    Zhou Wen ignored the discomfort and noise as he focused his mind on sleeping. However, he was unable to sleep as soundly as he used to.


    After about five hours of sleep, he was woken up by his phone ringing. He felt his mind a lot clearer.


    "Fang Ruoxi?" Zhou Wen saw the caller''s number and was surprised that it was Fang Ruoxi.


    "Zhou Wen, long time no see. I heard you applied to Sunset College. Is that true?"


    "Yes."


    "Great." Fang Ruoxi seemed to exhale in relief.


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen didn''t know what Fang Ruoxi was getting at.


    "It''s nothing. I still have something else to do. Bye." Fang Ruoxi''s voice sounded a lot happier and she hung up after saying goodbye.


    She''s crazy! Zhou Wen looked at his phone, having been rendered speechless.


    Just as he put his phone down, it rang again. This time, it was Zhou Lingfeng.


    "Dad." Zhou Wen picked up the call.


    "Son, are you in Luoyang now?"


    "Yes. What''s up?" Zhou Wen had an ominous feeling.


    "Little Lan wishes to treat you to a meal. Let''s have a reunion," Zhou Lingfeng said with a smile.


    "I''m having it pretty good over here. It''s probably good over on your side, so there''s no need to force a meeting, right?" Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    "No matter what you say, we will be a family in the future. It''s only right to get to know one another. Besides, Little Lan really wishes to meet you. Come have a meal on account of your dad." Zhou Lingfeng didn''t show any intentions of giving up.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before saying, "Alright then. What''s the time and place?"


    "It''s not easy to find the place. Where are you? I''ll get someone to pick you up."


    Zhou Wen gave an address. he didn''t mention that it was Li Xuan''s place and only said a nearby street''s name.


    "Alright. Wait there. I''ll get someone to pick you up." Zhou Lingfeng hung up once that was said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know when his ride would come. So all he could do was get out of bed, wash up, and head out. He got to the designated street and, when he saw no one, he crouched by the side of the road to game.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t continue grinding at Underground Buddha City. Instead, he chose the Ant Nest. He wanted to see if he now had a chance of killing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Before he found it, he heard the sound of a vehicle stopping beside him. It was a jeep.


    Zhou Wen saw a long snow-white leg extend out of the car when he looked up. Then, he saw a familiar face.


    "An Jing?" Not expecting Zhou Lingfeng to get An Jing to pick him up, he was somewhat taken aback.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen''s phone and couldn''t help but frown when she saw the game running on the screen. She then sized him up and coldly said, "You didn''t cultivate the Sun Strafe Art?"


    "I was about to ask you. I asked my dad and he said he didn''t give me the Sun Strafe Art," Zhou Wen said to An Jing as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to a safe corner before quitting the game.


    "I gave you the Sun Strafe Art to harm you," An Jing said with a cold expression before getting into the car. Without looking back, she asked, "Aren''t you getting in?"


    Zhou Wen never expected An Jing to be so direct. He was momentarily unsure if she was speaking the truth.


    However, since she was here and he had agreed to meet, there was naturally no reason for him to turn back. Zhou Wen pulled open the car door and sat at the passenger''s seat.


    "I''m returning this to you." Zhou Wen handed over the USB disk with the Sun Strafe Art.


    After cultivating the Lost Immortal Sutra, no other Primordial Energy Art could work in his body. Regardless of its authenticity, it was already meaningless to him.

 49 Silver-Winged Flying An

    After leaving the An family, a chauffeur took Zhou Wen home. He didn''t see An Jing again.


    Why would Ouyang Lan deliberately try to win my favor? With the An family''s power, there''s no need for her to do so. Zhou Wen saw that the An family''s compound had proper soldiers guarding it. This was a treatment few families in Luoyang enjoyed.


    He wasn''t convinced that Ouyang Lan was simply trying to build better ties with him just because of Zhou Lingfeng.


    After all, Zhou Lingfeng left him to his own devices, so there was no need for her to do something as troublesome as this.


    Completely perplexed at this development, Zhou Wen decided not to vex over the matter. After all, he was just a poor kid and Ouyang Lan likely couldn''t benefit much from him no matter how she schemed.


    After returning to Li Xuan''s villa, he found it empty. Over the past few days, he seldom saw Li Xuan at home.


    Zhou Wen sat on the sofa and took out his phone to launch the Ant Nest dungeon once more. As he had only quit the game and the blood-colored avatar remained alive, there was no need for him to waste a drop of blood to enter the game.


    The blood-colored avatar appeared at the spot he had quit where there were a number of Vigor Ants crawling around him. Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Vigor Ant and got the blood-colored avatar to ride on it before storming off.


    The Mutated Vigor Ant was just too powerful. Not even Vigor Ants posed a threat, even Mutated Vigor Ants could be cleaved apart with one swipe.


    After leaving a wake of destruction and slaying a Mutated Vigor Ant, Zhou Wen heard a notification sound. Originally imagining that a dimensional crystal had dropped, through observation he realized it was only a Mutated Vigor Ant Egg.


    "Discovered Mutated Vigor Ant. It has a compatibility score of 73% with the Mutated Skeleton Ant. Proceed with fusion?"


    Zhou Wen chose no because the last fusion hadn''t brought about any excellent effects. He had no idea if a fusion might end up making the Mutated Skeleton Ant weaker; therefore, he chose not to.


    After choosing ''no,'' the Mutated Vigor Ant Egg automatically entered an incubation mode. In turn, Zhou Wen felt his Primordial Energy flow towards the Companion Egg.


    This time, the incubation was very successful without having his Primordial Energy drained. He took a look at his stats in-game and realized that he still had two Primordial Energy left.


    After the Mutated Vigor Ant had finished incubating, it turned into an ant tattoo that appeared on the back of his right hand. Perhaps due to the Mutated Skeleton Ant on his left hand, this new Companion Beast had chosen the right.


    Mutated Vigor Ant: Mortal


    Strength: 7


    Speed: 4


    Constitution: 7


    Primordial Energy: 2


    Talent Skill: Vigor Divine Fist (Rank 2)


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    This Mutated Vigor Ant''s stats are far worse than the first one. It''s not of much use to me. Unfortunately, I can''t take out things that drop in-game. Otherwise, I could sell them for money. Zhou Wen felt a little depressed.


    Despite so, he was still happy that something had dropped. After all, this was rare to begin with.


    Due to having his Primordial Energy expended, Zhou Wen didn''t head straight for the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. He first circled the region and killed large numbers of Vigor Ants, using the Primordial Energy Crystals that dropped to replenish his Primordial Energy.


    After refilling his Primordial Energy to 10, Zhou Wen headed for the spot where the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was.


    When he saw the Silver-Winged Flying Ant from far away, it flapped its wings and flew over, its speed so fast that it left behind after-images on the screen.


    Without hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Vigor Ant and made it deal with the nearby ordinary ant horde. As for the Mutated Skeleton Ant, he had summoned it out as his Companion Form.


    Blood-red bones appeared on his left arm as though he had an exoskeleton. It enveloped his entire left arm, including his hand, turning into a fearsome bracer.


    The bracer could not only serve as protection, it even had quite a number of bone spikes that made it even more terrifying.


    Almost at the instant the bracer took form, he felt a force pump into his left arm, condensing its Strength and making it more robust. He had the feeling that his single punch could blow through a mountain.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant arrived at the next instant. Its silver transparent wings rapidly flapped, streaking a curve across the air like a silver bolt of lightning. Its claw stabbed towards the blood-colored avatar''s chest.


    Zhou Wen had fought the Silver-Winged Flying Ant multiple times, so he knew it very well. Upon seeing its actions, he knew where it was attacking. Without waiting for it to complete the attack, he took a sidestep and turned his body, using his left hand, which was protected by the bracer, to deliver an Ashen Palm strike.


    At this close distance, with Ashen Palm''s explosive speed, Zhou Wen imagined that it was in the bag. To his surprise, silver streams of light shot out from above the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s four transparent wings.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant, which was already exceedingly fast, had its speed increase significantly. At such close proximity, Zhou Wen''s Ashen Palm failed to keep up with his opponent''s speed. He was just a sliver short of hitting its body.


    Instead, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s claw directly stabbed into the blood-colored avatar''s chest in that fluid motion. There was no chance for the latter to even struggle as it died on the spot.


    "A flying-type Primordial Energy Skill?" Looking at the blackened screen, Zhou Wen was excited instead of being sad.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant had never used Primordial Energy Skills before. However, he had managed to force it to use it, meaning that Zhou Wen felt that he had a chance of defeating it.


    After all, Primordial Energy Skills required Primordial Energy. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant couldn''t keep using it. As long as he figured out a way to stall for time, it wouldn''t be impossible for him to slay it.


    Furthermore, since the Silver-Winged Flying Ant had a flight-type Primordial Energy Skill, this was undoubtedly good news for him. They were relatively rare and were very useful.


    With something to look forward to, Zhou Wen worked even harder. He used a syringe to draw some blood and dripped it on his screen, reviving the blood-colored avatar and immediately sending it do battle.


    When he came in front of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant again, Zhou Wen lasted an additional three seconds. The third time he fought it, he used positioning and Ashen Palm that threatened the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, successfully dodging its use of the Primordial Energy Skill twice.


    Zhou Wen exchanged the repeated deaths for combat experience as he slowly approached his goal of killing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Finally, he confirmed that the Silver-Winged Flying Ant could only use its Primordial Energy Skill twice. This was its limit. As long as Zhou Wen could dodge the greatest threat twice, he would have the chance of defeating it.


    During his seventh encounter with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, he successfully dodged the two critical instances and found an opportunity to deliver Ashen Palm, striking at the thin waist of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.

 50 Incubation Failure

    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s thin waist didn''t snap. It didn''t even show signs of being injured. However, after it flew several meters away, its waist suddenly seemed to bend. Its upper body drooped down as though it lacked the strength to prop it up. After staggering for a while, it collapsed to the ground due to a lack of balance.


    Zhou Wen was delighted to see this. He immediately controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush over to deliver another Ashen Palm strike, hitting the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s head.


    After this strike, Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy was completely drained. He was unable to use Primordial Energy Skills again, but the effects of this strike were very evident. With the augmentation of the skeleton bracer and Ashen Palm''s cold, explosive might, it blasted apart the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s head. Immediately, it began going in circles as it flapped its wings.


    Seeing it still alive, Zhou Wen threw a few more punches. However, without any Primordial Energy left, he was unable to use Primordial Energy Skills. He relied only on his Strength and the augmentation of the skeleton bracer. However, he only managed to leave the Silver-Winged Flying Ant tumbling around without dealing any serious injuries to it.


    However, the two Ashen Palm at full might were lethal. After the Silver-Winged Flying Ant slammed around randomly, it slowly stopped moving.


    "Killed Legendary creature, Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Discovered Silver-Winged Flying Ant Companion Egg."


    Zhou Wen was taken aback, having never expected a Companion Egg to drop. Although the chances of a Companion Egg dropping were significantly higher for Legendary creatures, it was still a relatively low probability.


    To have a Companion Egg drop on his first kill of a Silver-Winged Flying Ant was sheer good luck.


    However, with this happening, Zhou Wen could only make a bet. A Legendary Companion Egg required plenty of Primordial Energy during incubation. He wasn''t necessarily capable of incubating the egg successfully.


    Zhou Wen''s only advantage was to use the game character to incubate. Even if he failed, it only led to the game character''s death and nothing to do with him. However, he didn''t know if the Companion Egg would still exist in such circumstances.


    Can''t this darn game have a backpack? Let me store the Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals that I pick up in an inventory instead of having to use them immediately. Zhou Wen''s grumblings were in vain. He still got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Companion Egg. Otherwise, the Companion Egg would no longer be there once the dungeon refreshed if his in-game character were to die.


    However, he didn''t pick it up immediately. He did some grinding on the Vigor Ants and used the dropped Primordial Energy Crystals to replenish his Primordial Energy. Only then did he pick up the Silver-Winged Flying Ant Companion Egg.


    ''Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Mutated Skeleton Ant have a compatibility score of 21%. Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Mutated Vigor Ant have a compatibility score of 11.1%. Proceed with fusion?''


    They are all ants, so why is the compatibility so low? The system''s notification left Zhou Wen speechless.


    Without having the intention to change his mind, Zhou Wen chose ''no'' before letting the Companion Egg enter the incubation mode.


    Hum!


    Zhou Wen felt all his meridians tremble vigorously as his Primordial Energy was instantly drained, leaving not one bit behind. He felt as though he was about to die.


    He felt a burning pain that seemed to come from an explosion across his back and couldn''t help but spew out a mouthful of blood.


    Boom!


    Without any surprises, the blood-colored avatar in-game exploded to its death, turning the screen black.


    Indeed, even with a 10-valued Primordial Energy limit as a Mortal, using that to incubate a Legendary Companion Beast is still too demanding. Besides, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant isn''t an ordinary Legendary. Zhou Wen felt a little stifled. He had long steeled himself for the worst possible outcome, so he wasn''t too disappointed.


    When he dripped a drop of blood and relaunched the game, he couldn''t help but widen his eyes when he looked at the stats of the blood-colored avatar.


    The other stats hadn''t changed, but in the Companion Beast entry, there was an additional "Silver-Winged Flying Ant."


    It actually managed to be incubated¡­ Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He hadn''t held any hope, so he was surprised to see the Silver-Winged Flying Ant appear in his Companion Beast entry.


    He hurriedly checked on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s stats. He was rather expectant of it. Other than having a slightly weaker Constitution, it was unlikely to have any other weakness.


    More importantly, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s body shape could perhaps be used as a mount.


    Also, with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant as a Legendary Companion Beast capable of flight, he could now attempt to kill the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus.


    However, when Zhou Wen saw its stats, he was taken aback. He took quite some time to recover.


    Silver-Winged Flying Ant: Legendary (Larva State)


    Legendary Life Providence: King of Low Altitudes


    Talent Skill: Silver Wing Flash


    Companion Form: Wings


    Strength: 12


    Speed: 14


    Constitution: 10


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Ignoring everything else, its stats were clearly too weak. Among Legendary Companion Beasts, it was the weakest kind. It was even inferior to the Skeleton General and could even be said to be much worse.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant shouldn''t be this weak. Could it be because it couldn''t finish the incubation? Does this Larva State mean that it still has room for growth? Zhou Wen thought about it as he summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    A silver glow appeared on the back of the blood-colored avatar before a silver flying ant flew out. The moment it appeared, Zhou Wen saw how different it was.


    This Silver-Winged Flying Ant he had incubated was at least half the size of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant he had killed.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant was bigger than a Vigor Ant to begin with and about the size of a Mutated Vigor Ant. But now, it was only about half the size of a Vigor Ant.


    This size was definitely unsuitable for riding as it was just too small.


    Zhou Wen tried turning the Silver-Winged Flying Ant into its Companion Form and saw a silver light flash. Four silver transparent wings appeared on the back of the blood-colored avatar.


    However, the wings looked a little too small, extremely disproportionate to the blood-colored avatar''s size. It left Zhou Wen wondering whether such small wings could lift the blood-colored avatar.


    He made an attempt and the four silver wings actually managed to allow the blood-colored avatar to fly. The speed was not bad and allowed for nimble maneuvering. However, the wings didn''t allow him to fly high. Its maximum height didn''t surpass twenty meters.


    Zhou Wen then had a serious look at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Life Providence''s and Talent Skill''s introduction.


    King of Low Altitudes: Has tremendous air superiority, but can only fly at low heights. A king when it comes to low-altitude flight.


    Silver Wing Flash: Significantly boosts flying speed for a short period of time.


    Silver Wing Flash was as Zhou Wen expected. However, the Legendary Life Providence title of King of Low Altitudes left him depressed. This creature couldn''t fly high.


    From the looks of it, I can only count on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant maturing. Otherwise, with such stats, it''s unlikely to hold much of an advantage over any Legendary creature. I shouldn''t even pin my hopes on it to kill the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus. I''m just curious what needs to be done to allow the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to mature, Zhou Wen thought.


    While Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Companion Beast interface produced a system notification: Silver-Winged Flying Ant is currently in a hungry state. Proceed with feeding?

 52 Lizs Plan

    Zhou Wen left Li Xuan''s place and walked along the road. It was a really nice neighborhood, but there weren''t any large-sized supermarkets. Zhou Wen navigated using his phone and discovered that the nearest supermarket was about a kilometer away.


    Everything around here is nice except the distance needed to buy stuff. Zhou Wen wasn''t averse to walking, but he didn''t wish to waste time on walking.


    He believed that wasting time was no different from wasting life, so he took out the mysterious phone and gamed while walking.


    Liz, who had received Qiao Siyuan''s orders to bring Zhou Wen back, had already dispatched men to watch Li Xuan''s place.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen leave the house, a subordinate whispered, "Director Liz, shall we head over and take him away?"


    Liz rolled her eyes. "Zhou Wen enjoys a special status. We mustn''t allow others to discover that he was taken by us. And there are cameras everywhere in that upscale neighborhood. We''d be exposed if were to directly take him away?"


    "Then what should we do?"


    Liz impatiently waved her hand. "Head back now. Leave this to me."


    After chasing away all her subordinates, Liz combed her wavy blonde hair and thought, With my charm, won''t it be a piece of cake dealing with his kid?


    Liz wasn''t in a hurry. She waited until Zhou Wen left the upscale neighborhood before she started her red convertible sports car. When she saw a stretch of road without any cameras, she drove over.


    She deliberately stopped her car beside Zhou Wen, and flicked her blonde hair, exposing the snow-white, supple skin of her shoulder. She then shot Zhou Wen a glance with an expectant and alluring look.


    That kid will be groveling at my feet seeing a sports car matched with a beauty like me. Having this thought, Liz''s look and posture became even more seductive as she wore a faint mesmerizing smile.


    But soon, her smile froze. Zhou Wen walked as he gamed on his phone, his head lowered. He didn''t even look at her and walked past the car, wasting all of her efforts to present her beauty.


    Darn loser! Liz fumed with anger, but she still maintained her mesmerizing pose. She then shouted with a voice that could make any man swoon, "Handsome, mind giving me a hand?"


    As she spoke, Liz blinked her eyes, preparing to send his heart into a flutter. As long as Zhou Wen looked at her, she planned to sweep him head over heels.


    Liz maintained her coquettish pose while waiting for Zhou Wen to turn around. However, he didn''t even hear her. He continued walking forward without any intention of turning back.


    "Handsome¡­ Handsome¡­" Liz resisted the urge to pull Zhou Wen back and beat him up. She deliberately shouted charmingly a few times.


    However, Zhou Wen was completely engrossed in his game, ignoring Liz completely. He didn''t know that Liz was shouting at him since he hadn''t heard his name.


    Liz finally realized that her strategy had failed when she saw Zhou Wen extending the gap between them.


    This loser¡­ Liz gritted her teeth, adamant about not giving up. She floored the accelerator, taking the sports car in front of Zhou Wen again.


    This time, Liz didn''t make the same mistake. She got out of the car, stood in Zhou Wen''s way, putting one hand on the car. Her other hand twirled her hair as she posed in a most charming and alluring manner, accentuating her exquisite curves to the fullest.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to move his gaze from the phone when he realized that something was in his way. He saw Liz when he looked up.


    "Handsome, can you help me?" Liz asked, blinking her eyes.


    Yes, take it in and appreciate my charm. You''ll pay in a while. Liz thought hatefully, having already prepared her lines. Once Zhou Wen answered her, she would invite him to get into the car and take him back with her.


    "No." However, Zhou Wen''s single-word answer instantly left Liz''s words stuck in her throat.


    After speaking, he bowed his head and stared intently at his screen. Then he circled around Liz and walked past her.


    The corners of Liz''s eyes twitched as flames nearly spewed out of her eyes. Plumes of fiery anger nearly tore out of her busty chest.


    Darn loser¡­ He actually dared ignore my charm¡­ You''re dead¡­ Liz thought hatefully as she turned around slowly and sat back in her car.


    Hum!


    The sports car''s engine roared like the rage in her heart. The red sports car was like an unbridled mare on the plains as it drove straight for Zhou Wen who was by the side of the road.


    Since soft tactics didn''t work, Liz decided to switch tactics. She planned on taking Zhou Wen back with her by creating an accident.


    Controlling the strength and spot to hit with a car was nothing for a peak-Legendary like Liz. If she wanted his left leg broken, there was no way his right leg would be broken.


    I planned on having you comfortably return with me, but you just insisted on doing it the hard way. Liz floored the accelerator pedal as strange patterns surfaced over her skin. Faint swirls of light extended from her body and enveloped the car.


    Her eyes flickered with excitement. She didn''t believe that she would miss; given the close distance, the car''s speed, her maneuvering, and Zhou Wen''s engrossment in his game.


    Zhou Wen didn''t seem to notice. He remained gaming, even when the sports car was very close to him. However, when the car ramped up the curb, Zhou Wen finally reacted and saw the sports car slamming towards him.


    It''s too late to notice it now. Liz floored the accelerator in hate as she slammed over with the car.


    Just as she was about to succeed, Zhou Wen''s back suddenly grew four transparent silver wings and a silver stream of light flashed over the silver wings. Zhou Wen''s figure instantly retreated in violation of the ordinary laws of physics, dodging the sports car.


    Bang!


    The sports car missed Zhou Wen and collided with an electricity pole by the side of the road. While the pole snapped, the car''s head was dented. Components were left flying everywhere.


    "Hello? Is this the traffic police? There''s an accident here¡­" Zhou Wen took out his ordinary phone and called the police hotline.


    Liz glared at Zhou Wen viciously and reversed the car onto the road. Then, she sped off in a blink of an eye.


    What''s the brand of that car? The quality is so good. How can it still be driven after such a collision? Zhou Wen watched in astonishment as the sports car vanished from his sight, leaving a gloomy look in his eyes.


    Clearly, the sports car was targeting him instead of just having an accident. Furthermore, he had already recognized the female driver. On the night he had met Jing Daoxian, she was one of those pursuing the latter.

 53 Early Matriculation

    Who are these people? Since they were pursuing Jing Daoxian, it makes them either League civil servants or soldiers. But why would they drive a car to knock over an ordinary League citizen?


    Zhou Wen secretly frowned as he thought, I didn''t have any relationship with Jing Daoxian. Could it be that those people know that Jing Daoxian gave me the Lost Immortal Sutra and have treated me as his accomplice?


    The more he thought about the matter, the more he found it serious. From the actions the woman had taken, those people wouldn''t stop at anything.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    Without managing to buy his items, Zhou Wen directly turned back and gave Li Xuan a call.


    "Zhou Wen, how rare it is for you to call me," Li Xuan teased. The phone call was affected by the noisy din¡ªa result of loud music and shouting.


    "Find somewhere quiet. I have something to say to you," Zhou Wen said.


    "Wait a moment. Don''t hang up." After a while, the phone turned silent. Li Xuan''s voice then sounded. "You can tell me what''s up now."


    "Is there a way for me to be matriculated now?" After racking his brains, Zhou Wen believed that matriculating was the only viable solution.


    After the dimensional storms, the institute was different from the universities of the past. It was especially so with Sunset College. It had close ties and history with the military and was considered a ministry department. In a law-by-law situation, it was impossible for one to enter Sunset College to apprehend someone.


    Sunset College was a partially-restricted school. As long as he didn''t leave campus, outsiders were unable to drive into him like today.


    Furthermore, with the other party being so fearless, he believed that there was a chance of implicating Li Xuan if he continued to stay at his place.


    "No problem. I''ll settle it immediately. Can you tell me what happened? Just pretend I didn''t ask if you can''t."


    Zhou Wen had no intention of hiding the matter as he explained all that had happened, apart from his conversation with Jing Daoxian and how the Lost Immortal Sutra had been forced on him.


    "Holy sh*t, you actually met Jing Daoxian?" Li Xuan exclaimed.


    "I wish I had never met him. I''ve attracted so much trouble simply from meeting him once," Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    Li Xuan pondered for a moment before saying solemnly, "Wait at home for me. I''ll head back immediately. It''s best we don''t talk about certain topics over the phone."


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen returned to Li Xuan''s place and waited for him to return.


    "If my guess isn''t wrong, the woman who was pursuing Jing Daoxian, and attempted to run you over in the car, likely comes from the Special Inspector Bureau."


    "What department is the Special Inspector Bureau? Does it come under the military or the police?" Zhou Wen had never heard of such a department.


    "Neither," Li Xuan said with a shake of his head. "This department specializes in special cases. It has great authority and autonomy, so they often carry out operations that do not come under the legal process. It can almost be described as unscrupulous. It does many sordid things that get covered up. There''s a lot of disagreement regarding the existence of this department in the League with many people hating it. They call the people in the department hyenas."


    Zhou Wen wore a heavy look. From the name ''hyenas,'' he knew what kind of people this department comprised of.


    Hyenas were the most scheming, filthy, dirty animals in the natural world. To achieve their goal, they did anything, not releasing their grip once they bit down hard. Furthermore, they always appeared in packs.


    "It''s a good idea to matriculate early. Although the Special Inspector Bureau has great authority, they are unable to flout the law openly. They can only covertly do certain deeds. It won''t be easy for them to deal with you when you stay on campus. However, there''s a need to resolve this matter ultimately. Otherwise, they will keep biting down on you and something bad will ultimately come out of it."


    Li Xuan thought before continuing, "Stay on campus now. I''ll discuss it with my father. He should be able to find people from the Special Inspector Bureau to figure out why they are targeting you. If it''s nothing too serious, we can try to think of means to resolve this matter once and for all."


    Zhou Wen didn''t reject Li Xuan''s offer for help, but he didn''t place all his hopes on him.


    Strength. I need greater strength. If I was as powerful as Jing Daoxian, would I be afraid of a mere Special Inspector Bureau? A cold glint flashed in Zhou Wen''s eyes.


    He could sense that the woman didn''t want his life. However, the outrageous attempt to run him over was something he wouldn''t forgive even if the Special Inspector Bureau were to close the case.


    Li Xuan quickly finished the matriculation procedure. He claimed that since he had nothing better to do at home, he decided to matriculate early with Zhou Wen.


    However, Li Xuan wore an odd expression when he told Zhou Wen about the matter. "I originally wanted to pull strings so that we could get allocated to the same dorm. But the school''s side said that your dorm has already been assigned¡ªFour Seasons Garden."


    "Is there something wrong with Four Seasons Garden?" Zhou Wen had guessed that it was the dorm that Ouyang Lan was referring to. However, he had no idea why Li Xuan wore such an odd expression.


    "Four Seasons Garden is a place where special admissions students live. They are quite different from the typical student. You were admitted just like me and not a special admit, so why were you allocated Four Seasons Garden?" Li Xuan chuckled. "From the looks of it, you have quite an extraordinary relationship with the An family. Can you help me get one at Four Seasons Garden?"


    "If you wish to live there, can''t you just live with me? But, how are you certain that it has to do with the An family?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "Don''t tell me you aren''t aware? Sunset College was originally spearheaded and established by the An family. Although it''s a public school in name, the An family has greater say than the League President inside Sunset College."


    "Really?" Zhou Wen never expected that Sunset College had such a connection with the An family.


    "You actually weren''t aware? Then what relationship do you have with the Ans?" Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen with a suspicious look. If Zhou Wen really had a close relationship with them, how was it that he didn''t know about it?


    Feeling that there was no point in hiding this matter from Li Xuan, Zhou Wen said, "Zhou Lingfeng is my father."


    Pfft! Li Xuan spewed out all the water that he had just drunk as he widened his eyes and looked at Zhou Wen. "You are Zhou Lingfeng''s son? That makes Overseer An your stepmother. An Jing and An Tianzuo are your step-siblings? Holy sh*t, you have a huge backer with the An family or Overseer An. Why are you afraid of the Special Inspector Bureau? Once you live with the An family, even if the minister of the Special Inspector Bureau were to come, he wouldn''t even dare touch you."


    "That''s them. I''m me. My surname isn''t An, so we aren''t considered family. I only wish to coexist with them peacefully. It''s best if we each mind our own business."


    "You''re too stubborn. If I were you, I''d wheedle my way into Ouyang Lan''s good books. When that happens, I''d have whatever I want," Li Xuan joked.


    "However, Four Seasons Garden is nice too. It will be difficult for the Special Inspector Bureau to deal with you if you were to live there," Li Xuan said, feeling relaxed.

 54 Raise it High

    "I ordered you to bring back Zhou Wen secretly without alerting anyone. But what did you do? You tried to run him over with a car! Have I been too lax on all of you recently that you''ve forgotten how to abide by the rules?" Qiao Siyuan said calmly, but his eyes were rather cold.


    Liz trembled as she quickly stood up and bowed. "Sir, I was derelict in my duty. It was thankfully not detected by the Ans. Please give me another chance. I''ll definitely bring Zhou Wen back."


    "Not detected?" Qiao Siyuan placed a document dossier on the desk and said calmly, "Take a look at this."


    "This is?" Liz opened the dossier in puzzlement and was alarmed when she read its contents. "How is this possible? It''s impossible, right? Sir, is the information in here real?"


    Qiao Siyuan shot a look at Liz and said slowly, "I had a feeling that Ouyang Lan''s marriage with Zhou Lingfeng was odd. I felt that it might be connected to that matter, so I deliberately requested my teacher to help me investigate the An family''s candidate. This was the outcome my teacher gave me. Do you think it could be wrong?"


    "Naturally not!" The alarmed look on Liz''s face became more pronounced. "But isn''t the An family''s candidate An Jing? Why did it turn into Zhou Wen? He has zero blood relations with the An family and isn''t even half a son. Why would the An family give such a huge opportunity to an outsider?"


    "That I do not know, but I can be sure that after Zhou Wen was admitted into Sunset College, the An family indeed changed their candidate''s name from An Jing to Zhou Wen. And based on the regulations, the An family only has one chance of changing their candidate. Even if Zhou Wen were to die, it would be impossible to change it to anyone else."


    Having said that, Qiao Siyuan glared at Liz with a burning gaze. "Do you still believe that the An family is completely unaware of your little accident with Zhou Wen?"


    Liz broke out into a cold sweat as she bowed her head. "Sir, I''m aware of my mistakes. I''m fully prepared for any punishment."


    She knew very well how important Zhou Wen now was to the An family. It was impossible for them not to know of such a person being hit by a car in Luoyang. If they really were so oblivious to such developments, they would have long been cleanly devoured by others.


    "Considering how you were only recently transferred to the Special Inspector Bureau and aren''t aware of how we run things here, I''ll let this pass. Don''t repeat this a second time," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "Sir, please give me an opportunity to make up for my mistakes," Liz requested.


    "Not now. Zhou Wen has already headed for Sunset College early. If there''s no reasonable excuse, it won''t be that easy to invite him over. I have other arrangements, so stay out of this matter," Qiao Siyuan said with a wave of his hand.


    Liz said with an odd expression, "I really find it unbelievable that the Ans would switch their candidate to Zhou Wen. Even if Ouyang Lan were blinded by love and couldn''t be bothered about the opportunity for her daughter, how could they be agreeable to giving this opportunity to Zhou Wen? How is it possible for An Tianzuo to agree? This opportunity should belong to the Ans!"


    "There''s no need to waste your efforts trying to understand something you don''t. Just do what you''re supposed to do. You are dismissed." Qiao Siyuan waved his hand, an indication that Liz should leave. He then picked up the dossier and muttered to himself while reading it, "What''s the An family up to? How''s it possible for them to give such a huge opportunity to an outsider? Could it be that Ouyang Lan gave away this opportunity because she doesn''t want her daughter to take the risk? But with An Jing''s talent, the chances of her succeeding is rather high. It wouldn''t be considered risky. Is Jing Daoxian''s encounter with Zhou Wen, and the way he abnormally remained in the vicinity, purely coincidental?"


    After Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had completed the matriculation paperwork, the latter chose not to stay in Four Seasons Garden with Zhou Wen. Therefore, Zhou Wen headed to the specially designed region like a park, alone, with the dormitory card Ouyang Lan had given him.


    There were rows of two-storied buildings which weren''t too big. They were minimalistic and simple and each building came with a tiny yard.


    The yard didn''t have any walls. They were just surrounded by a white wooden fence that was half an adult''s height, allowing people to clearly see into their neighbors compound.


    702. It should be this one. Zhou Wen stood in front of a small building by following the dormitory card. He looked around and realized that this was the last row in Four Seasons Garden. There were three buildings in this row, and his building was in the middle. The building on the left seemed uninhabited and the right building''s yard had some plants grown with the soil still moist. It was likely inhabited by someone.


    Zhou Wen thought of pushing the door open to enter when he heard the door open on the building to his right. Then, he saw a figure walk out.


    An Jing? Zhou Wen was taken aback when he identified the figure.


    An Jing was equally taken aback, clearly not expecting to meet Zhou Wen here.


    However, she instantly understood what was happening. Biting her lip, she ignored Zhou Wen and left her yard.


    Since An Jing had ignored him, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on being chummy with her. Without a word, the two pretended as though they hadn''t seen the other.


    After entering the building with his dormitory card, Zhou Wen found the place excellent. Although the layout and renovations were simple, they were very suitable for cultivation. It even came equipped with Strength-measuring devices and other useful tools.


    A new beginning. Seems pretty good. After Zhou Wen surveyed the entire building, he planned on buying some necessities first.


    Although the building was furnished, it didn''t come with blankets or other personal belongings. It still required Zhou Wen to buy them himself.


    Previously, Li Xuan had taken him to the entrance of Four Seasons Garden. However, attempting to walk out himself, he realized how ridiculously huge Sunset College was. Although it wasn''t big to the point of getting lost, Zhou Wen still took several detours due to the inaccurate navigation on his phone.


    Furthermore, he wasn''t aware of where he could buy daily necessities on campus.


    As he walked, he found himself in an increasingly remote and isolated area. Just as he was about to ask around for directions, he realized that he was surrounded by old, dilapidated buildings¡ªlikely old teaching buildings that had been abandoned.


    How is the GPS tracking so ridiculously wrong? Zhou Wen looked at the map on his phone in exasperation.


    Just as he was about to turn back, he heard voices from a bend ahead.


    I should ask for directions. Zhou Wen took a few steps forward, planning to ask the talking person about the location of the on-campus supermarket.


    "Little Mei, you have to be good. Work hard in the future." Zhou Wen heard a man''s voice around the bend and found it somewhat familiar. However, he wasn''t able to immediately put the voice to a face.


    As he was thinking, Zhou Wen turned the corner and saw in the corner of a dilapidated building nearby, a towering figure. He had his hands raised high, raising a petite and adorable kitten. His eyes wore a warm look as he suffused a smile. However, that face still looked as ferocious as a devil despite smiling. It left anyone who laid their eyes on him afraid.


    Gu Dian? Zhou Wen was momentarily left rooted to the ground. He couldn''t put Gu Dian with this man who was warmly smiling and raising a kitten high up.


    Likewise, Gu Dian noticed Zhou Wen. When his eyes locked with Zhou Wen with him raising the kitten, the atmosphere between them immediately became odd.

 55 Heart Meditations Use

    Only when Gu Dian put the kitten aside did Zhou Wen see another three cats on the grass patch to the side. Two of them were kittens and one of them was an adult. Clearly, this group of four was a family. The mother cat was sunbathing in the sun with her three kittens.


    By the side of the grass patch were two bowls. One of them had water in it and the other had cat food. It was obvious that they had been prepared by Gu Dian.


    After putting down the kitten, the look in Gu Dian''s eyes turned extremely cold. He glared at Zhou Wen like a devil and coldly said, "You''re dead if I hear any rumors spreading."


    His devil-like looks and bone-chilling voice would probably frighten Zhou Wen at any other time. However, the scene of Gu Dian raising the kitten high kept flashing across his eyes. Zhou Wen just couldn''t bring himself to feel any fear.


    "Don''t worry. I''m not a gossipy person."


    "That better be the case," Gu Dian said coldly. Ignoring Zhou Wen, he bent down and picked up the two bowls. After taking another glance at the four cats who were frolicking on the grass, he turned and left.


    After taking a few steps, Gu Dian stopped and said without turning his head. "Also, don''t you attempt to harm them; otherwise, you''re dead."


    After saying that, Gu Dian took huge strides and left.


    Li Xuan said that not only does Gu Dian look fierce, but that he''s extremely bad. It''s said that he''s willing to do anything awful as long as he''s paid. Now from the looks of it, he might not be as bad as the rumors say. To be so close to cats which are naturally wary of others, to the point of letting him get so close to the kittens, he''s probably not as evil as the rumors say. Zhou Wen glanced at the four cats and thought to himself.


    In present times, animals like dogs and cats were no longer as cherished as in the past. After all, they were only for aesthetics. In contrast, Companion Beasts had magical powers. People were more willing to spend money on them.


    In the past, all kinds of valuable pet cats and dogs had mostly turned into strays. They were no longer doted on by humans.


    With the time changing, many things changed as well. In the past, figures who could fly or have tremendous strength were extolled for being capable of becoming Legendaries. Their tales were spread to this day because few humans in the past had such powers.


    But in this day and age, it wasn''t difficult to have tremendous strength if one could advance to the Legendary stage. Now, almost everyone could become as legendary as those people from the past since the Legendary stage was no longer rare. As long as one cultivated hard, they would definitely advance to the Legendary stage as long as they weren''t without any aptitude.


    However, to advance from the Legendary stage to the Epic stage wasn''t simple. This required talent, Primordial Energy Arts, resources, and the combination of all kinds of factors. It wasn''t achievable simply through hard work.


    After all, those people who had their names put into the annals of history to be extolled in poems and songs were basically close to mythical existences.


    Back when Zhou Wen cultivated Ascetic Meditation, he had planned on advancing to the Legendary stage during college. Such a speed made him a genius among humans.


    However, his Ascetic Meditation had already been replaced by the Legendary stage. To advance to the Legendary stage with the Lost Immortal Sutra wasn''t a simple endeavor to begin with.


    Zhou Wen had been repeatedly studying Lost Immortal Sutra recently and he discovered that it was very different from the typical Primordial Energy Art.


    In typical Primordial Energy Arts like Ascetic Meditation, advancement was in fact breaking one''s shackles. Humans had the limits of their Strength, Speed, Constitution, and Primordial Energy shackled, so consuming no amount of supplements was of any use. The stats just wouldn''t continue rising.


    Only after breaking those shackles would a human''s upper limits be unlocked. While being able to continue raising one''s stats, one would also obtain a Life Providence that was related to one''s aptitude. It was commonly known as Legendary Life Providence.


    However, after Zhou Wen''s repeated studies of the Lost Immortal Sutra, he didn''t see any descriptions regarding the breaking of those shackles.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen still hadn''t figured out how he could use the Lost Immortal Sutra to advance to the Legendary stage.


    After going through quite a hassle to find the on-campus supermarket and buying the daily necessities he needed, he returned to his dorm to unpack it. Once he was done with all of that, he then began grinding.


    Since it was unlikely for him to have any progress with Ant Nest any time soon, Zhou Wen chose to enter the Underground Buddha City.


    He spent some time grinding the Buddha Heart Lotuses at the lotus pond, but not a single Companion Beast dropped. Instead, his Mutated Skeleton Ant was devoured by the gargantuan blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus.


    Zhou Wen then controlled the blood-colored avatar to Small Buddha Temple. Before climbing up the stone steps, Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to activate his Primordial Energy Skill¡ªHeart Meditation.


    The stretch of road in front of Small Buddha Temple was extremely bizarre. Death seemed to be the only outcome no matter how he traversed it. He still hadn''t found the reason why that was the case.


    Using Heart Meditation was a last-ditch effort. He felt that since Heart Meditation came from the Buddha Heart Lotus, it was possible that using it worked.


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, the blood-colored avatar, which would usually die once it arrived at a spot where it could see the Small Buddha Temple''s signboard, didn''t die this time. It could still move higher and progress forward.


    Does Heart Meditation really work? Even Zhou Wen was surprised.


    He made the blood-colored avatar proceed forward and indeed, nothing happened the entire way. However, Heart Meditation was a Primordial Energy Skill which expended Primordial Energy while it was in use, at a rate of two points a minute.


    By climbing up the stone steps in such a way, there was still quite a distance from Small Buddha Temple before his Primordial Energy was completely drained.


    The moment Heart Meditation wasn''t in effect, the blood-colored avatar collapsed to the ground and the game''s screen went black.


    Since he knew that Heart Meditation worked, Zhou Wen eagerly revived the blood-colored avatar and made it come in front of the Small Buddha Temple''s stone passageway.


    Zhou Wen activated Heart Meditation and made the blood-colored avatar run towards the Small Buddha Temple at full speed. However, it died once again when its Primordial Energy was drained about ten meters away from its destination.


    With my present speed, the time Heart Meditation can be in effect isn''t enough for me to rush into Small Buddha Temple. Do I have to wait until I''ve advanced to the Legendary stage and have plenty of Primordial Energy before I can rush in with Heart Meditation? But I''ve no idea how long it will take before I advance to the Legendary stage¡­


    Primordial Energy Skills like Heart Meditation that continuously expend Primordial Energy expend less Primordial Energy at higher ranks. I wonder if it''s the same with Heart Meditation? Currently, Heart Meditation is at Rank 7. If I can grind a Rank 8 or Rank 9 Heart Meditation, perhaps I might have a chance of entering Small Buddha Temple.


    Since he had nothing else to do, Zhou Wen continued grinding Buddha Heart Lotuses with a try-and-see attitude, hoping to receive something.


    After repeated grinding, Zhou Wen realized a pattern. The blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus was always submerged underwater in the beginning. Only after Zhou Wen cleaved some of the Buddha Heart Lotuses around the middle of the lotus pond would the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus rise above the water surface in rage.

 56 Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk

    With the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s wings, Zhou Wen flew directly above the lotus pond to battle the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus. Although he died plenty of times, it wasn''t without return.


    Zhou Wen was rather familiar with the few moves available to the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus¡ªknowledge he had gained from repeated deaths. Although he was temporarily unable to slay it, he knew of a way to kill it. He just wasn''t powerful enough; thus, preventing him from actualizing his strategies.


    "Zhou Wen, quickly get up. It''s great that we matriculated early. Otherwise, we would have missed a great show." Li Xuan called him on the phone early in the morning.


    "What great show?" Zhou Wen put down the phone and stretched before asking.


    "Didn''t I mention that the Legendary stage students are purchasing powerful Companion Beasts capable of flight? They plan on slaying the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus today. Let''s head over to take a look," Li Xuan suggested.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen was also interested in watching battles at the Legendary stage.


    He got out of bed, washed up, and headed out, meeting Li Xuan at the entrance of the Four Seasons Garden.


    Li Xuan had clearly been waiting for a while, pulling him to head for Ancient Inlet the moment he saw Zhou Wen come out. As they ran, he said, "Quick! We''ll miss the show if we are late."


    Zhou Wen learned from Li Xuan that the person who planned on killing the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus was a famous third-year senior in Sunset College, Yang Lie. He was a mighty figure who had advanced to the Legendary stage.


    Apparently, he had spent a large sum of money buying Legendary Companion Eggs and had tried means to speed up the incubation in order to slay the blood-colored Buddha Heart Lotus. As soon as that was done, he rushed for the lotus pond.


    After the two entered Underground Buddha City, they rushed to the lotus pond, where there were many students surrounding the pond. They had clearly heard the news and were here to watch Yang Lie battle the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    Just as the duo arrived, a man ran over.


    "Brother Xuan, Brother Wen!"


    "Xu Miantu, you also applied for Sunset College?" Zhou Wen recognized the person.


    Xu Miantu scratched his head in embarrassment, seemingly unable to verbalize his reasons. By the side, Li Xuan scolded him in a bemused state, "Dude, just say it. It''s not like it''s something disgraceful. In fact, Xu Miantu should have been matriculated last year. However, to help me in the examination, he deferred his application to Sunset College by one year."


    Xu Miantu chuckled and said, "A genius like Brother Xuan didn''t even need my help. I was just ignorant."


    Just as the trio began having a conversation, they heard an uproar.


    "An Jing''s here."


    "An Jing from the An family?"


    "Who else could it be? Tsk, she indeed lives up to the rumors. She''s really a beauty."


    "I heard that she advanced to the Legendary stage at the age of thirteen. She''s extremely talented and she comes from a formidable family. She has the money, the talent, and the looks. It''s like the Creator favored her when creating her."


    Zhou Wen traced the students'' gaze and looked over. Indeed, he saw An Jing arriving on a white horse. However, it didn''t have any wings, so it wasn''t a White-Winged Flying Horse.


    Yang Lie, who had been surrounded by people, walked over to An Jing.


    This gave Zhou Wen a chance to see him. He stood at more than 1.80 meters. His sword-like brows and starry eyes made him look sharp. Beside him was a black leopard with one eye, making it look extremely odd.


    "An Jing, you came just in time. Regardless of what drops today when I slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, I''ll be giving it to you as a matriculation gift," Yang Lie said with a spirited look.


    Many students revealed a teasing smile when they heard him. It was obvious that Yang Lie was expressing his interest in An Jing.


    However, Li Xuan said in contempt, "Although the Yang family is rather famous in Luoyang, it''s not of the upper class. Besides, they have many businesses that rely on the An family''s power in Luoyang. This punk is probably up to no good by expressing his interest in An Jing. However, it''s probably in vain. No matter how blind the An family is, they wouldn''t fancy the Yang family."


    "Brother Xuan, I believe you are the only one qualified to be with An Jing in all of Luoyang," Xu Miantu said with a chuckle.


    Li Xuan spat at that thought and said, "An Jing is an arrogant woman. She also has a bad temper. That cold demeanor of hers isn''t fun at all, so it''s useless no matter how beautiful she is. Only an idiot will marry a woman like her."


    With that said, Li Xuan glanced at Zhou Wen and said with a mysterious, furtive smile, "Besides, I understand the rationale of not hitting on a friend''s sister."


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to refute and he pretended not to hear it.


    Xu Miantu had no idea of Zhou Wen''s relationship with the An family, so he failed to understand what Li Xuan meant. Puzzled, he looked at them blankly.


    An Jing sat on the white horse with no intention of getting off. She said in a calm tone, "I don''t need any gifts. Besides, you won''t be able to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus either."


    Yang Lie wasn''t angry when he heard that. Instead, he guffawed and said, "Then let''s have a bet. Why don''t you accept my present if I succeed in slaying the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus?"


    "No," An Jing replied without any hesitation.


    "You''re afraid of losing?" Yang Lie said provocatively.


    "You won''t be able to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, so the bet can''t even be established. There''s no need for it." After An Jing said that, she rode the white horse to the side of the lotus pond.


    Yang Lie felt embarrassed, but due to her extremely special identity, he didn''t dare flare up at her.


    "Alright, I''ll show you that I''m capable of slaying the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus," Yang Lie said. He spread his arms and two Companion Beasts were summoned out by him.


    They were two Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks, but they were much larger than the typical hawk. Their wingspans reached more than ten meters and with a flap, they shot out like a golden beam of light. They then spiraled above the lotus pond like two golden clouds.


    A Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk swooped down and extended its claws like a phantom, instantly grabbing a Buddha Heart Lotus.


    "Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk. And there''s two of them. This fellow sure is willing to make the investment," Li Xuan curled his lips and said.


    Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks were rare Legendary Companion Beasts. They were only found in the dimensional zones of the Heavenly Lake of the Heavenly Mountain. However, there were many dimensional zones in the Heavenly Mountain''s vicinity, so it wasn''t easy to reach the Heavenly Lake itself. Furthermore, Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks were rare in number. They also lived on cliffs, making it difficult to kill them and have a Companion Egg drop.


    If one''s luck wasn''t good, even experts at the Epic stage would return empty-handed.


    Seeing the students look at his pair of Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks in envy, Yang Lie felt slightly pleased with himself. Without any hesitation, he ordered the hawks to attack the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    When they rushed at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus from the flanks, the latter sensed the threat and shot out twenty to thirty blood-colored lotus seeds that hurtled towards the two hawks.


    As the blood-colored lotus seeds were about to hit the hawks, they showed no intention of dodging. They continued flying forward and released a golden glow over their feathers as though they were emitting light themselves.


    Boom! Boom!


    When the blood-colored lotus seeds exploded on the golden feathers and splattered into bloody water, they rolled off as if the golden feathers were nonstick. The hawks weren''t damaged at all.

 57 Quarrel

    "As expected of Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks. They are truly extraordinary. It appears this blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus will likely be slain by Yang Lie," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and whispered, "Not necessarily. The blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus can''t be slain by just two Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks."


    Zhou Wen''s research on the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus was nothing these students could compare with. He was acutely aware of how powerful the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus was. It was impossible to slay it with just two Legendary Companion Beasts capable of flight.


    Perhaps intentionally or unintentionally, An Jing happened to shoot Zhou Wen a look when he said those words.


    Li Xuan was just about to ask why when the lotus pond experienced an anomaly. One of the Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk rushed right in front of the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus and was swallowed by the latter''s petals that opened like a gaping mouth.


    Just as the other Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk was about touch the petals with its talons that were glimmering in gold light, the blood patterns on the petals¡ªa sitting Buddha¡ªshot out beams of sanguine light. What seemed like a fragile petal remained undamaged after clashing with the hawk''s talons.


    When the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus opened its petals again, the Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk which had been devoured was reduced to bone. Furthermore, the bones were rapidly melting.


    The students watching this battle gasped. It was shocking that the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus could devour the Legendary Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk and instantly corrode its bones.


    It even managed to resist the Golden Halo Talons of the Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk, a Primordial Energy Skill. It was quite shocking.


    Flower-type dimensional creatures typically were rather weak in Constitution. Amongst dimensional creatures of the same stage, their Constitution usually lined the bottom.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.com for visiting.


    However, the fact that this blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus was able to withstand a powerful Legendary Primordial Energy Skill like Golden Halo Talons made it terrifying. It overturned the average person''s understanding of flower-type creatures.


    Yang Lie''s expression was livid. He didn''t dare order his Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawk to continue attacking as he summoned the surviving one back.


    All the students looked at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with fear and greed. It clearly had more than one Primordial Energy Skill. If it dropped as a Companion Beast, they could possess a Companion Beast with more than one Primordial Energy Skill.


    However, the chances of Companion Beasts dropping were low to begin with. Furthermore, with Yang Lie''s two Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks suffering a defeat, it meant that no student could currently kill it.


    "How did you know that the two Hawks weren''t a match for the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus?" Only then did Li Xuan have the chance to ask the question that was eating at him.


    "It was obvious to the eye." Zhou Wen shrugged, preparing to leave the area. It was unlikely that the students could kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus anytime soon. This lotus flower was probably a top existence among Legendary creatures. Unless one had even more powerful Companion Beasts or was capable of targeting its weak points, even a siege against it wouldn''t be of much use.


    "Brother Wen, since you were able to tell that the Hawks weren''t the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s match, doesn''t that mean that you have the means to kill it?" Xu Miantu''s eyes lit up as he asked Zhou Wen.


    Xu Miantu wasn''t much to speak of. He wasn''t a bad man either, but he was someone who shot his mouth off. He hadn''t suppressed his voice, allowing people around them to hear him.


    Yang Lie was already in a bad mood, so when he heard Xu Miantu, he turned his head and saw that it was Li Xuan, Xu Miantu, and an unfamiliar youth, he immediately felt even more infuriated.


    Li Xuan was well known to be a foppish person in Luoyang. Together with an adopted son of the Li family, Xu Miantu, Yang Lie naturally knew how much they amounted to. It could even be said that he viewed them with contempt.


    Yang Lie often imagined that if he were Li Xuan and had all the resources of the Li family, he would be able to achieve so much more.


    Xu Miantu''s unintentional question sounded like a mockery to Yang Lie.


    "To be able to tell at a glance that the hawks aren''t the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s match. Not a bad eye. Might I know how you should be addressed?" Yang Lie held back his anger and asked Zhou Wen as he sized him up.


    Although he was angry, he wasn''t willing to offend students with significant backing. After all, the students of Sunset College were the elites of East District. Many of them had strong backers.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word, but Xu Miantu drummed up support for him. "Zhou Wen got second in the combat test of Guide City. He''s the number one genius of Guide High School. He''s Brother Xuan''s buddy!"


    Xu Miantu didn''t brag emptily but was trying to use this opportunity to make Zhou Wen known to all, making students of Sunset College know of his existence.


    This brought about plenty of benefits. In the future, when they formed teams to enter dimensional zones to complete the missions handed out by the school, other strong students would be willing to team up with Zhou Wen.


    Otherwise, if Zhou Wen was unknown to everyone, how would those strong students be willing to team up with him? It was already a very common way of societal thinking for the strong to ally together.


    However, those who heard Xu Miantu looked at him and Zhou Wen with a look of mockery. It wasn''t only Yang Lie, but all the other students as well.


    Many students in Sunset College had the accolades of being the number one genius of so-and-so high school or first in the combat test of so-and-so city. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had only gotten second place. Others weren''t even interested in who got first place, much less second place.


    If it were first place in places like Beijing, people might have paid some attention. However, a tiny city like Guide City wasn''t worth paying any attention to.


    When Yang Lie heard that Zhou Wen had come in second at the Guide City''s combat test, he knew that Zhou Wen likely didn''t have much of a background. Otherwise, he would have obtained first place. Only those who obtained the first place of a city could receive certain privileges and resources from the Sunset College. This was also one of the reasons why Li Xuan needed to get first.


    "Second place. That''s pretty impressive," Yang Lie quipped. "In that case, I would like to know what amazing strategy you have to kill that blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus."


    The other students could naturally tell that Yang Lie was being sarcastic. They were freshmen and only at the Mortal stage. They weren''t even close to the Legendary stage, so it was obvious that they didn''t have the qualifications to kill top Legendary creatures like the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    Xu Miantu couldn''t tolerate the treatment as he curled his lips and said in disdain, "Are you a fool or do you think of us as fools? Why should we tell you the strategy we''ve come up with?"


    Ever since the battle at Guide Ancient City, Xu Miantu was truly impressed with Zhou Wen. He strongly believed that Zhou Wen had the means to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Since it was a given, he naturally wouldn''t tell others of the strategy.


    But his words only amused Yang Lie. "Alright. There''s no need to tell me. Don''t you have the strategy? Isn''t being second in Guide City impressive? Fine then, slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Please broaden our horizons."

 58 The Opportunity to Slay the Blood-Patterned Buddha Heart Lotus

    Xu Miantu didn''t dare make the decision as he cast his gaze at Zhou Wen. There was a fervent look of encouragement in it.


    Zhou Wen could only smile wryly in secret. Xu Miantu had thought too highly of him. He didn''t have the strength to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus at present. All he could do was slightly shake his head at Xu Miantu.


    However, Xu Miantu had full confidence in him. Believing that Zhou Wen was only being humble, he continued encouraging him. "Brother Wen, there''s no need to be overly humble in a place like Sunset College. You have to showcase your absolute strength. This will give you the opportunity to obtain more resources."


    Zhou Wen felt a little depressed. He did wish to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, but he really wasn''t capable of doing so at present.


    Seeing Zhou Wen show a stumped look, Yang Lie sneered and said, "One needs to have the strength to actually showcase it. Otherwise, they will only be a joke."


    After saying that, Yang Lie ignored Xu Miantu and turned to walk to An Jing.


    From Yang Lie''s point of view, he would only disgrace himself if he continued embroiling himself with Xu Miantu, Li Xuan, and Zhou Wen.


    Although Xu Miantu didn''t wish to let it go, he was helpless when he saw Zhou Wen remain silent. All he could do was watch the supercilious look Yang Lie had while turning around.


    Yang Lie came in front of An Jing and said in a very gentlemanly manner, "I lost the bet. If you have anything you need me to do, I''ll definitely give my all. However, I''m curious why you knew that the Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks weren''t the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s match? Could it be that you''ve already fought it before?"


    "First, I''d said that the bet was completely meaningless. Neither do I have anything I need you to do. I am equally capable of doing what you are capable of. If I can''t do it, it only makes it impossible for you to do it. Second, those who are truly in the know do not need to engage in a fight to know who''s stronger." An Jing wore a calm look, but every word she said was biting.


    Zhou Wen suspected that with her vicious tongue, she might have been beaten up by many if she hadn''t been born into the An family.


    Indeed, Yang Lie wore a rather embarrassed look. His face oscillated between blue and white. He was a student who wasn''t even twenty years old, so he wasn''t thick-skinned enough.


    "Well said." Xu Miantu took this opportunity and cheered. This only made Yang Lie glare at him hatefully.


    An Jing ignored him and rode her white horse, brushing past Yang Lie''s shoulder. She headed for Zhou Wen.


    "Your sister is coming over," Li Xuan whispered as he nudged Zhou Wen with his elbow.


    Zhou Wen shook his head, gesturing to Li Xuan to cut the nonsense. However, before he could say a thing, An Jing had already arrived in front of him.


    When Yang Lie and the other students saw An Jing standing in front of Zhou Wen, all of them cast their gazes over, curious as to what she wanted.


    An Jing stared into Zhou Wen''s eyes and asked, "Do you have the confidence in slaying the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus?"


    "It definitely won''t be a problem. An Jing, let''s work together to slay this blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Brother Wen will definitely not let you down." Xu Miantu didn''t know the relationship between An Jing and Zhou Wen. Imagining that An Jing was interested in Zhou Wen, he believed that Zhou Wen might be able to sweep her off her feet if he did well.


    Furthermore, this beauty''s family was extraordinary. She was the daughter of Luoyang''s An family. She was practically a princess in Luoyang.


    "Is that right? Brother Wen?" Xu Miantu nudged Zhou Wen as he winked at him while his back was facing An Jing. His meaning was clear¡ªhe wanted Zhou Wen to do a good job.


    Although Zhou Wen knew that Xu Miantu had good intentions, he really couldn''t do it. All he wanted was to game in peace and he had no intention of stealing the limelight here. Involving himself with An Jing was the last thing he wished to do.


    "You really have wild ideas. If An Jing really wants to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, would you have even have a chance?" Yang Lie already detested Xu Miantu, so he couldn''t help but shoot off a snide remark. He vented all the pent up anger he had thanks to An Jing on Xu Miantu. "A dog is a dog. It only knows how to threaten others thanks to its master. However, you have to at least take a good look. Is that really your master?"


    When Yang Lie said that, not only did the expression on Xu Miantu''s face change, even Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were no exception.


    Li Xuan coldly said, "Yang Lie, who did you say was the dog? I dare you to say it again."


    Yang Lie sneered and said, "Who in Luoyang City doesn''t know that your patriarch enjoys adopting sons. To put it nicely, it''s an adopted son, but at the core of the matter, it''s just a lapdog reared by your Li family. This is known by all, so what did I say wrong?"


    The look in Li Xuan''s chilled. Just as he was about to flare up, he was held back by Xu Miantu. Surprisingly, Xu Miantu wasn''t angry. He grinned at Yang Lie and said, "That''s right. I''m a dog of the Li family. I even feel proud and honored being the Li family''s dog. The Li family is my benefactor and I''ve benefited from them. It''s not like someone who yearns to be the dog of the An family, but they can''t even be bothered to spare him a glance. Something that''s worse than a dog isn''t worth mentioning."


    Xu Miantu''s words hit Yang Lie where it hurt. It was true that the Yang family was trying to cozy up with the An family, but the An family''s attitude was rather vague. It had never truly accepted the Yang family.


    Therefore, Yang Lie''s expression changed drastically once he heard that. His face was extremely livid. His eyes stared viciously at Xu Miantu as a look of killing intent flashed through them.


    "Does a dog of the Li family only know how to bark? If you''re as impressive as you say you are, slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus; otherwise, quit the barking," Yang Lie said with a cold look. If they weren''t in public, he would have immediately taken action and slaughtered Xu Miantu.


    Xu Miantu was about to snap back when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Then, he heard Zhou Wen whisper, "If you wish to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, we can do it together."


    "Brother Wen, really?" Xu Miantu was delighted as he hurriedly asked.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly and said seriously, "As long as you aren''t afraid of sacrificing your Companion Beast."


    Xu Miantu had started the conflict because of Zhou Wen and Yang Lie, so naturally, he couldn''t sit idly as Xu Miantu was being ridiculed by Yang Lie. However, his claim of being able to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus wasn''t just a spur of the moment.


    Zhou Wen really couldn''t kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus in-game, but this wasn''t the game. He didn''t need to face it alone and he still had Xu Miantu and Li Xuan to help him.


    Zhou Wen had carefully run through the Companion Beasts they possessed. If they controlled them well and no mistakes happened, he believed he could slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus based on his understanding of it.


    "There''s nothing to be afraid of. Let''s do it," Xu Miantu turned to say to Yang Lie. "Heard that, Yang? We''ll be slaying it right now. Open your eyes and watch it well. Don''t blame us for not teaching you."


    "I''m looking forward to it," Yang Lie said with a sneer.


    From his point of view, it was fool''s talk that the trio could kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Even two Silver-Eyed Golden-Feathered Hawks weren''t a match for it, so it would be ridiculous if three freshmen at the Mortal stage could slay it.

 59 Besieging the Buddha Heart Lotus

    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were amongst the first group of people who had discovered the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Zhou Wen had been thinking up a strategy to slay it in-game. Likewise, Li Xuan hadn''t been slacking off either. He had also tried all kinds of means to obtain Legendary Companion Beasts capable of flight, hoping to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    However, Legendary Companion Beasts capable of flight were rare. Those with considerable strength weren''t easily acquired. Furthermore, Li Xuan was only at the Mortal stage, so the Legendary Companion Beasts he incubated needed more time and effort than those at the Legendary stage.


    At this point in time, Li Xuan had only incubated a Legendary Sky Conch.


    Xu Miantu was also at the Mortal stage. He didn''t have the Invincible Connate Divine Art, so he wasn''t capable of incubating a Legendary Companion Beast. However, he had always been Li Xuan''s right-hand man. He had also contributed when Jiang Hao betrayed Li Xuan.


    Therefore, Li Xuan had gotten a Mortal Dragon-Scaled Turtle Companion Egg and given it to him. Although it was only at the Mortal stage, it lived in Black Dragon Pool, so it had extremely high resistance against corrosive liquids.


    Li Xuan had prepared a Dragon-Scaled Turtle to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, so it was perfect to have Xu Miantu control it.


    Zhou Wen knew of this, so after taking into account all the Companion Beasts they had, he had the confidence that the three of them combined could kill it.


    "To kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, apart from letting our Companion Beasts engage in battle, we will need to enter the lotus pond as well. Only then will we have a hundred percent chance of killing it. Are you certain that you want to enter?" Zhou Wen looked at Xu Miantu and Li Xuan, confirming with them with great solemnity.


    "Buddha needs incense, and a man needs self-respect. I''m bent on killing that blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus," Xu Miantu said loudly.


    "Zhou Wen, how confident are you?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen with a serious look.


    "Follow my instructions, 100%. However, there mustn''t be any mistakes in our cooperation or it will be very dangerous. It''s especially so for Miantu who has to control the Dragon-Scaled Turtle. You mustn''t make any mistakes or both you and I will be in grave danger," Zhou Wen said as he looked at Xu Miantu.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll make sure nothing happens to you even if I were to die," Xu Miantu said as he slapped his chest.


    "Alright. Let''s do it," Li Xuan locked eyes with Zhou Wen and said with a nod.


    "Then let''s begin. Listen to my every command. Miantu, release your Dragon-Scaled Turtle¡­" Zhou Wen softly informed the other two of his plan.


    The trio made their own preparations. Xu Miantu released the Dragon-Scaled Turtle and a turtle the size of a tiny boat appeared on the lotus pond. Not only did it have a turtle shell, but it also had black scales on its shell, making it look very odd.


    The average Companion Beast would immediately be reduced to bone upon contact with the lotus pond''s water. Yet, this Dragon-Scaled Turtle was completely fine. It floated in the lotus pond like a tiny black boat.


    Xu Miantu and Li Xuan jumped onto the turtle''s back. Zhou Wen was about to jump onto it when he suddenly heard a cold, clear voice. "Good intentions might not result in good outcomes. At times, good intentions might even kill."


    Zhou Wen turned his head and looked over to see An Jing sitting on her white horse with a cold expression. She had been the one who had said that sentence.


    Zhou Wen shot a look at her and smiled before jumping on the turtle''s back.


    The Dragon-Scaled Turtle waded through the lake and the green lotus leaves, rapidly approaching the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. When it was nearly twenty meters from the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, Zhou Wen got Xu Miantu to stop the Dragon-Scaled Turtle.


    "Miantu, stay here to wait for us. Make sure to constantly take note of Li Xuan''s landing points. Follow the plan. Make sure nothing goes wrong," Zhou Wen told Xu Miantu again.


    "Brother Wen, don''t worry. As long as I''m not dead, I guarantee you that nothing bad will happen to the two of you," Xu Miantu guaranteed with a slap of his chest.


    "Okay." Zhou Wen nodded and looked at Li Xuan. "Act according to plan."


    After uttering a confirmation, Li Xuan summoned his Legendary Companion Beast, the Sky Conch.


    The Sky Conch resembled a conch that was found in the sea, but it had a pair of wings. Its body was about the size of a Volkswagen Beetle. It was extremely stable while flying in midair. Although it flew very slowly, it was good at being able to glide in the sky for long periods of time without needing to land on the ground to continue its flight.


    "Legendary Sky Conch? How is it possible? Isn''t Li Xuan at the Mortal stage? How is it possible for him to incubate a Sky Conch?" One of the students on the bank immediately recognized the Sky Conch and couldn''t help but exclaim.


    "Aren''t you making too much of a fuss?" Li Xuan chuckled as he summoned Black Knight and Jade-Eyed White Tiger.


    Black Knight transformed into an armor that encased Li Xuan''s body. As for the Jade-Eyed White Tiger, it turned into a Tiger Soul Saber. Its cold glimmers stirred one''s soul. Embedded in the saber''s handle was a gem resembling a tiger''s eye.


    "Black Knight and Jade-Eyed White Tiger. They are both Legendary Companion Beasts¡­ Heavens¡­ Isn''t Li Xuan at the Mortal stage? What''s going on? Is this fellow really that prodigal son of the Li family?" The students widened their eyes as they looked at him in disbelief.


    Li Xuan felt a little pleased with himself. Wearing the black armor and holding the Tiger Soul Saber while riding a Sky Conch, he flew towards the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with tremendous pomp.


    Zhou Wen seemed to pale in comparison. He summoned the Mutated Skeleton Ant and stood on its back without any weapons or armor. The Mutated Skeleton Ant waded across the water surface to another side of the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    "Miantu, pay attention to Li Xuan more. Make sure he doesn''t fall into the water," Zhou Wen looked at Xu Miantu urging him again.


    "Don''t worry, Brother Wen," Xu Miantu said with a slap on his chest.


    Zhou Wen didn''t speak further. The Mutated Skeleton Ant and Sky Conch closed in on the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus from both sides. With Li Xuan''s speed faster than Zhou Wen''s, the latter had apparently deliberately stayed a little behind.


    Boom! Boom!


    More than ten blood-colored lotus seeds shot at Li Xuan, instantly blanketing him and the Sky Conch, sealing off all routes of retreat.


    With a loud roar, Li Xuan slashed the Tiger Soul Saber at the blood-colored lotus seeds. The saber was so fast that the seeds didn''t explode when they were halved.


    The seed only exploded when both halves had flown out further than a meter.


    "Is that really the Li family''s foppish Third Young Master Li Xuan?" Yang Lie watched in astonishment as Li Xuan showed his prowess. He sliced through all the blood-colored lotus seeds and charged at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    And while Li Xuan was handling the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s attacks, Zhou Wen took the chance to order the Mutated Skeleton Ant to rush towards the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus at full speed.


    When he was less than three meters from the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, Zhou Wen ordered the Mutated Skeleton Ant to jump. And it was at this moment that the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus spread open its petals in a bid to devour the Mutated Skeleton Ant. If the latter had been one bit slower, Zhou Wen and the Mutated Skeleton Ant would have been devoured.


    "Right now!" Zhou Wen roared.


    Li Xuan didn''t hesitate to jump from the Sky Conch, slashing down at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with two hands clasping the saber.


    A blinding-white saber beam blasted out of the Tiger Soul Saber, instantly cleaving the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s petals. The petals shot out a red luster that attempted to resist the Tiger Soul Saber''s strike.


    However, the saber beam was just too sharp. Combined with Li Xuan''s saber-type Primordial Energy Skill, the Tiger Soul Saber sliced through the petals.


    The petal was cleaved open, revealing the black lotus receptacle. Crouching on it was a pitch-black toad covered in black venomous warts. It opened its mouth and spat a mouthful of venom at Li Xuan.

 60 Atonemen

    Li Xuan''s strength was used up by the time his cleave tore through the Buddha-patterned flower petals. Furthermore, he wasn''t able to dodge in midair. The Sky Conch was too slow at flying, making it unable to keep up with Li Xuan. It was still gliding at a relatively high altitude and the direction in which it was heading wasn''t towards Li Xuan.


    Suddenly a fist appeared beneath Li Xuan''s feet, striking his soles. Zhou Wen had come flying over!


    Li Xuan exerted Strength in his feet as he stepped onto Zhou Wen''s fists and used this as an impetus to soar high into the sky. Zhou Wen ended up plummeting rapidly, allowing them to dodge the toad''s venomous shot.


    Li Xuan used his momentum to leap onto the lotus receptacle and cleaved down at the venomous toad''s head. After the saber beam flashed by, Li Xuan flew back in retreat, jumping out of the lotus receptacle.


    Bang!


    The venomous toad exploded like a bomb, splattering venomous liquid in every direction like flying arrows, covering a massive region.


    Li Xuan was already unable to dodge the attack while in midair, but the Sky Conch which had been constantly in the sky arrived in the nick of time, putting its body in between Li Xuan and the venomous liquid.


    Zhou Wen also landed on the Mutated Skeleton Ant before leaping up once again, jumping back tens of feet to dodge the range of the venom''s splash.


    The venom was extremely terrifying. The Sky Conch''s body was immediately corroded like snow touching ember. With a tragic cry, it fell straight into the pond.


    When Zhou Wen landed, the Mutated Skeleton Ant had already stopped beneath his feet. On the contrary, Li Xuan was plummeting straight into the pond without having any place to land his feet.


    The Dragon-Scaled Turtle, which was meant to catch Li Xuan, was still a distance from Li Xuan under Xu Miantu''s flustered commandeering. It was apparent that he wasn''t going to arrive in time.


    Zhou Wen had just landed on the Mutated Skeleton Ant and it was already too late for him to command it to rush over when he saw this scene. He stomped on the Mutated Skeleton Ant and flew across the pond for Li Xuan, pulling him up just as his back was about to touch the water.


    However, Zhou Wen''s leap was ultimately limited. He soon began falling.


    "Miantu, what are you waiting for? Quick catch us!" Li Xuan, who had been pulled up by Zhou Wen, shouted at the nearby Xu Miantu.


    Xu Miantu watched Zhou Wen and Li Xuan fall from about three to four meters away. He was likely to able to reach the two of them if he extended his arms while getting the Dragon-Scaled Turtle to speed up.


    However, he stood there motionless. He clenched his teeth in silence as his forehead''s veins throbbed. Ultimately, he chose not to do a thing.


    "Xu Miantu, why!?" Li Xuan wore a grimace. At this stage, it was already obvious to him that Xu Miantu had deliberately thrown him and Zhou Wen into a trap.


    From the initial provoking of Yang Lie to turning a blind eye to their peril, everything was a deliberate ruse by Xu Miantu.


    The only person who was capable of doing this had to win the trust of Li Xuan and to know everything about him¡ªXu Miantu.


    However, Li Xuan could do nothing. All he could do was stare intently at Xu Miantu as the duo were on the brink of falling into the pond.


    There were exclamations on the bank. After all, they were still students. Even if they didn''t like Zhou Wen or Li Xuan, none of them wished them dead.


    With Li Xuan and Zhou Wen about to fall into the pond, Xu Miantu''s face read, I had no choice. Don''t blame me.


    Am I really such a failure as a friend? Li Xuan, who had been staring at him, could read his lips. He couldn''t help but feel a dreary sadness. The people he thought were his friends¡ªJiang Hao and Xu Miantu¡ªhad both betrayed him. It left him downhearted.


    Just as Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were about to fall into the water, a white and silver beam shimmered above the lotus pond.


    Silver light swirled behind Zhou Wen as four transparent wings appeared behind him. They were rapidly flapping as they pulled him and Li Xuan up, allowing them to escape certain doom.


    Impossible¡­ How do you have a Companion Beast capable of flight? Xu Miantu looked at the flying Zhou Wen, feeling alarmed and afraid. His expression was distorted beyond description.


    With Li Xuan in tow, Zhou Wen landed on the Dragon-Scaled Turtle''s back. He looked at Xu Miantu and said, "I kept giving you an opportunity, but unfortunately, you still did it."


    "Have you always suspected me? So you deliberately hid the fact that you own a Companion Beast capable of flight?" Xu Miantu stared at Zhou Wen in alarm and anger.


    "If it weren''t the case, how would I be able to test if you really treat me as a friend?" Zhou Wen said indifferently. "I''m cool-natured and do not know how to be nice to others, so when others are nice to me, I suspect if they have any ulterior motives. Although I also wish that you really had treated me as a friend, the facts have unfortunately proven that this world is as cruel as I imagined."


    Having said that, Zhou Wen glanced to the side of the lotus pond. He saw a beautiful girl floating in the sky with a pair of pure-white wings. This beautiful and holy beast was shockingly the legendary angel Companion Beast.


    This angel Companion Beast had flown over and across the lotus pond almost at the same time that Zhou Wen had summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    "Thank you." Zhou Wen looked at An Jing riding the white horse''s back. Zhou Wen had understood An Jing''s warning; he had just feigned ignorance to test Xu Miantu.


    At the instant the angel Companion Beast appeared, even if Zhou Wen didn''t like An Jing as a person, he felt that he needed to thank her.


    "I was afraid you wouldn''t die and wanted to make your death a clean one. From the looks of it, I don''t have an opportunity," An Jing said with a deadpan expression as she reached out her hand to withdraw her angel Companion Beast. She then rode the white horse away.


    "Xu Miantu, give me a reason to let you live," Li Xuan said to him with a cold glare.


    "Brother Xuan, I''m sorry. I was really forced. I was forced by your brother¡­ Please, spare me¡­" Xu Miantu plopped to his knees as he hugged Li Xuan''s legs to beg for mercy.


    "You''ve once risked your life for me. I can choose not to take your life, but you tried not only to harm me but Zhou Wen as well. Your life isn''t enough to atone two lives." Li Xuan kicked Xu Miantu away and turned around. With his back facing Xu Miantu, he said, "Scram. If you can leave Luoyang alive, I''ll spare your life."


    Xu Miantu wore a livid expression. He was from the Li family and knew what it was capable of. As long as Li Xuan was unwilling to spare him, there was no way he could live Luoyang alive.


    In his despair, a look of hatred flashed in Xu Miantu''s eyes. He pounced at Li Xuan with all his might, roaring with a ferocious look. "Then let''s die together!"


    Just as Xu Miantu was about to pounce on Li Xuan, the latter took a sidestep to dodge him as though he had eyes on his back.


    Unable to stop himself, Xu Miantu fell into the lotus pond.


    "Ah!" Xu Miantu struggled and cried in the water. His flesh was corroded as bloody bubbles emerged. It looked extremely tragic and horrifying.

 61 Qualifications

    Due to Xu Miantu''s death, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were investigated by the school, but they were quickly released.


    "What kind of person is your brother?" In the dorm, Zhou Wen leaned against a chair and asked Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan casually sat on the floor, holding a can of beer and downing it slowly. Then, he said, "My family has three brothers. My eldest brother was a genius. He was good at everything, believed to be a super genius on par with An Tianzuo in Luoyang City. He was the most talented of our Li family. Unfortunately, he died young."


    Downing another mouthful of beer, Li Xuan continued, "My second brother, Li Xiubai, was promising at a young age. Although he wasn''t as illustrious as An Tianzuo. He''s a Li family genius known to all and he has a very good reputation outside. At home, he''s a figure who can discuss the Li family matters with the other uncles. He''s a lot stronger than a foppish scion like me. Most of my old man''s adopted sons look up to him as their leader.


    "But you can see that my childhood friends, Jiang Hao and Xu Miantu, people who had the strongest relationships with me in the Li family betrayed me one after the other. They spent no effort to help my brother kill me. It was especially so for Xu Miantu. I''m certain that he wasn''t working for my brother before he returned to Luoyang. But in a few short days, he turned his back on me. You should be able to guess what kind of character and means my brother has." Li Xuan crushed the beer can upon saying that.


    "Why? Aren you vying for the Li family''s business? Just to be safe, he''s willing to do this to his younger brother? Doesn''t your father care?" Zhou Wen found it somewhat unbelievable.


    "No, it''s not because of the Li family''s business. If it was only that, we wouldn''t have reached this point," Li Xuan said with a shake of his head.


    "Then what''s the reason?" Seeing Li Xuan silent, Zhou Wen said, "Forget it if you can''t say."


    Li Xuan shook his head slightly and sighed after a long period of time. "The higher the levels of dimensional creatures, the greater the difference in strength. Just like Legendary creatures are almost no match for Epic creatures, with the gap between the Epic stage and the Mythical stage even larger, it can be said that even a hundred humans at the Epic stage might not be able to kill a Mythical creature. It might even lead to their complete wipeout."


    "I''ve learned that from the textbooks." Zhou Wen felt that Li Xuan was saying the obvious.


    Li Xuan continued, "Then have you thought about how humans were able to kill the first Mythical creature considering the huge difference in strength?"


    "Legend has it that the few founders of the League combined forces to kill it. It''s also the Six League Heroes as taught in the textbooks." Zhou Wen knew that Li Xuan definitely had more to tell.


    "Then do you know how they killed the Mythical creature?" Li Xuan asked with a smile.


    "The books say that they had a difficult battle that lasted three full days¡­" Before Zhou Wen finished his sentence, Li Xuan interrupted him.


    "Don''t believe in the books'' nonsense. If they were really only at the Epic stage, even sixty people wouldn''t be able to kill a Mythical creature, much less six," Li Xuan said in disdain.


    "Then how is one killed?" Zhou Wen asked out of curiosity.


    "It''s because they had Mythical Companion Beasts," Li Xuan said.


    "Isn''t what you say contradictory? Without killing the first Mythical creature, how will one have a Mythical Companion Beast? This doesn''t adhere to logic."


    Li Xuan laughed in reply, "Of course it doesn''t adhere to logic. It''s because their Companion Beasts weren''t obtained by killing Mythical creatures. Instead, someone gave them to them. Although they can''t be considered real Mythical creatures and can only be called larva of Mythical creatures, it''s already enviable."


    "This still doesn''t adhere to logic. If someone gave them Mythical Companion Beasts, then the person who gave them must have killed Mythical creatures before," Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    "No one can answer this question. At the very least, not me. I only know that there''s such a department in the top brass of the League that does such matters. Some humans can obtain the qualifications just like the Six League Heroes. And my Li family has such a qualification. Then, the person who might be able to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast might be me. Only with me dead will this opportunity have a chance of landing on my brother. It''s because I was appointed by my old man," Li Xuan said in a teasing tone.


    "So that''s the reason. In that case, isn''t your old man going to rein in and do something about your brother?" Zhou Wen asked, puzzled.


    If it were him, he definitely wouldn''t kill his younger brother over such matters. However, everyone was different. Zhou Wen didn''t believe that his thoughts represented everyone. In fact, he always felt that his character and thoughts were in the minority.


    "Rein in? How? Beat him to death? Or get me to give up the Mythical Companion Beast qualifications? At this point in time, I can only compete with my brother," Li Xuan said with a glint in his eyes. He didn''t seem afraid and was even excited.


    "You have to be careful." Although Zhou Wen had never met Li Xiubai, he had a deep impression of him after what had happened to Jiang Hao and Xu Miantu.


    "I will soon advance to the Legendary stage, then I''ll have nothing to fear. Instead, it''s you that should be careful. You have foiled my brother''s plans twice. With my understanding of him, he will definitely not spare you," Li Xuan said very solemnly.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly. He didn''t believe that Li Xuan was being an alarmist. It was something very possible.


    Although the campus didn''t permit private fighting, even Xu Miantu dared to take action in a dimensional zone under Li Xiubai''s scheme. It was difficult to guarantee that a second or third Xu Miantu wouldn''t appear on campus.


    "Thankfully you live alone in Four Seasons Garden. The situation there isn''t as complicated as the ordinary dorms. It makes it a lot safer. Speaking of which, I recall that the An family also has the qualifications to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast. Unfortunately, you aren''t born into the An family; otherwise, you might have a chance to vie for it from An Jing," Li Xuan joked.


    "Why would it be with An Jing? Didn''t you said that An Tianzuo was the genius? Shouldn''t the An family''s Mythical Companion Beast qualification be his?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "That I''m not sure. While my old man was telling me about the Mythical Companion Beasts, he had mentioned in passing that the An family had likely chosen An Jing. In Luoyang City, only my Li family and the An family has the qualifications," Li Xuan said with great certainty.


    Li Xuan was in a bad mood, so he drank plenty. In his drunken stupor, he vomited and collapsed in Zhou Wen''s bed.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to sit on the chair to game since he had no intention of sleeping.


    Although the Li family''s matters had nothing to do with him, it was as Li Xuan said; Li Xiubai¡ªin his displeasure¡ªmight even want him out of the way, so he needed to be wary.


    But no matter what he did, nothing was as effective as being strong himself.


    After today''s experience and the battle with the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, Zhou Wen was quite inspired. He wanted to see if he could kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus alone. Although this was a crazy idea, Zhou Wen could already see its viability.

 62 The Storm Approaches

    Shortly after Zhou Wen entered the game, he saw a notification before he arrived at the lotus pond: Silver-Winged Flying Ant is currently in a hungry state.


    The notification quickly disappeared, but Zhou Wen took no notice of it. He continued forward, only to receive automatic notifications from the system every ten minutes.


    This fellow feeds on Companion Beasts, but Companion Eggs aren''t easily produced. Zhou Wen felt a little depressed and could only ignore the notification.


    If Zhou Wen were rich, he could purchase Companion Eggs to feed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, but he wasn''t rich. The living allowance Zhou Lingfeng gave him was only enough for his usual expenses, leaving nothing left for him to buy Companion Eggs.


    It''s best I am self-sufficient. I should grind more. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar as he stormed into the lotus pond.


    At this moment, a video remained at the top of the school''s Intranet trending searches¡ªa video of Zhou Wen and Li Xuan combining forces to strike at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus.


    It was unknown which student on the bank had recorded the video. From a bystander''s angle, the entire process had been recorded in high definition.


    However, the video had clearly been edited. The entire video only reached the point when Zhou Wen summoned his silver wings and flew up with Li Xuan in tow.


    "What the f**k. Isn''t Li Xuan that prodigal of the Li family? How is he this strong? He summoned three Legendary Companion Beasts at the Mortal stage and even slew the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus that many Legendary seniors at school couldn''t?"


    "Li Xuan is too cool!"


    "The other freshman isn''t bad either. Although he''s slightly weaker, he also has two Companion Beasts. They''re just quite unfamiliar ones. I''ve never seen them in the past. Are they at the Mortal stage or Legendary stage?"


    Li Xuan went completely viral. Due to him hogging the spotlight, Zhou Wen wasn''t noticed by many.


    This video also appeared on the desktop computer of Qiao Siyuan. He sat in front of his computer watching it several times with his arms crossed.


    "Noticed anything?" Qiao Siyuan asked Liz.


    "Li Xuan is very strong. This fellow is rather interesting. He really acted the part well in the past. All three brothers of the Li family are real pieces of work. It''s only because the eldest brother died early that the An family''s standing in Luoyang has not been shaken." Liz watched a few times, but with Qiao Siyuan silent, she was already growing impatient.


    Qiao Siyuan shook his head gently. "I''m not talking about that. Did you notice Zhou Wen?"


    "Naturally. Although Li Xuan is very strong, the one giving instructions was Zhou Wen," Liz said.


    Qiao Siyuan stared at the computer screen as his eyes glowed. "No, I''m not talking about that. Look carefully. Zhou Wen did three consecutive jumps at full strength. Such a jump would probably be difficult even for you to accomplish without special Primordial Energy Skills or Primordial Energy Arts to support you."


    Liz was taken aback as she watched again carefully. A look of surprise emerged as she said, "Indeed. Without a Primordial Energy Skill or Primordial Energy Art to support that, the human body can hardly complete three consecutive jumps under gravity. He clearly didn''t use any Primordial Energy Skills. That must mean that his Primordial Energy Art is extraordinary¡­"


    "Wasn''t it written in his dossier? He cultivates in Ascetic Meditation and has cultivated it for years," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "But Ascetic Meditation is a Primordial Energy Art that''s good for Strength and Constitution. It doesn''t equip one with the characteristic of such repeated bursts. From the looks of it, Zhou Wen has hidden his cards well. He likely doesn''t cultivate in Ascetic Meditation," Liz said.


    Yet, Qiao Siyuan said with great certainty, "No, I''m very certain that Zhou Wen cultivated in Ascetic Meditation. At the very least, he was definitely cultivating in it before we met him in Guide City."


    "Why?" Liz was confounded.


    "Didn''t you size him up carefully when you encountered the youth that appeared out of the blue? Back then, his skin was slightly yellow and there was a dark gold luster at the bottom of his eyes. That''s the characteristic of long-term cultivation of Ascetic Meditation. Back then, he must have cultivated it for years, but now, I don''t see those traits.


    "But it''s only been days since our meeting with him in Guide City. Even if he were to switch Primordial Energy Arts in such a short period of time, he wouldn''t be able to completely replace Ascetic Meditation which he cultivated for years, right? At the very least, there should be signs of retrogression of those traits. It shouldn''t vanish in such a short period of time.


    "That''s where the problem lies. Zhou Wen encountered Jing Daoxian and shortly after that, the Ascetic Meditation he cultivated for years was replaced by another Primordial Energy Art. And shortly after that, the An family changed the nomination from An Jing to Zhou Wen. Is there some connection in this matter?" Qiao Siyuan rapped his fingers on the table and said slowly.


    Liz trembled. "Sir, do you mean that the An family and that devil, Jing Daoxian, have some kind of relationship?"


    "No, I didn''t say that. However, there''s indeed something abnormal about Zhou Wen. Perhaps something happened between him and Jing Daoxian. Only a handful of people in the League can change the Primordial Energy Art that they have been cultivating for several years in such a short timespan, and Jing Daoxian happens to be one of them," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "If that''s the case, doesn''t it mean that Zhou Wen is in cahoots with Jing Daoxian? We should do our best to bring him back for questioning as soon as possible." Liz''s eyes lit up.


    "There''s indeed such a necessity, but we are in Luoyang, not at our headquarters in the capital," Qiao Siyuan said with a sigh.


    "We can request the higher-ups for an arrest warrant. The Sunset College wouldn''t dare stop us from arresting someone," Liz said.


    "Sunset College might not, but one person would," Qiao Siyuan said indifferently


    "An Tianzuo? No way, right? Would he dare openly defy the League''s laws?" Liz asked with a frown.


    "Yes, he will," Qiao Siyuan said with great certainty.


    After some thought, Qiao Siyuan added, "However, it will depend on An Jing''s and An Tianzuo''s attitudes. They are likely displeased that Zhou Wen took away the nomination that originally belonged to An Jing. Otherwise, would the great Overseer An deliberately criticize an ordinary high-schooler during his inspection of Guide City? An Jing wouldn''t have specially transferred to Guide High School to beat Zhou Wen up."


    "Sir, what are you getting at?" Liz probed.


    "Immediately apply for an arrest warrant, then bring back Zhou Wen as quickly as possible. You have to be fast. When that happens, even if the An family receives the news and tries to rescue him, we should have already asked everything we would like to know. Besides, An Tianzuo might not necessarily want to save him," Qiao Siyuan said lightly.


    "Yes, sir. I''ll apply for an arrest warrant as soon as possible. Once he''s brought back, I''ll definitely interrogate him personally." Liz''s eyes flashed a burning flame.

 63 Ill Give You Three Months

    The weather was pretty good today. Zhou Wen brought a chair over and rested in the courtyard, suntanning while gaming.


    As school hadn''t officially started, there weren''t any training or missions assigned yet. Zhou Wen led a rather pleasant life.


    He had been constantly trying to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus alone, but he had failed.


    Thankfully, all his efforts had not been in vain. He managed to have an ordinary Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg drop, but it was quickly fed to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    The typical Companion Beast only needed to depend on its master, absorbing the Primordial Energy that emitted from its master''s body for survival. It could also slowly recover from its injuries without needing to eat anything. At best, it would absorb some Primordial Energy Crystals, allowing it to quickly recover Primordial Energy.


    However, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant needed to swallow Companion Eggs or Companion Beasts or the game would constantly notify him that it was in a hungry state. In the beginning, Zhou Wen ignored it, but later, the game indicated that the Silver-Winged Flying Ant would vanish in twenty-four hours if it remained in a prolonged hungry state.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had no choice but to feed it the Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg to alleviate the pressing matter at hand.


    Zhou Wen gamed in the yard, half leaning back. His neighbor, An Jing, had finished morning cultivation and had walked out of the cultivation room to the balcony on the second floor. Hoping to look far into the distance to relieve stress before continuing her cultivation, her gaze subconsciously swept towards the courtyard beside hers. Immediately she saw Zhou Wen gaming in the courtyard while sunbathing. Immediately, her mood turned foul.


    Even if it''s as Mom said, that his talent is better than mine, so what? A person''s talent cannot decide his achievements. What right does a person who has engrossed himself in games to avoid reality¡ªeven after suffering a tiny setback¡ªhave to fight me for the Mythical Companion Beast? Besides, his talent might not be better than mine. An Jing watched for a while before heading downstairs, muttering to herself, "Mom, watch and see. I''ll prove that I''m better than Zhou Wen. I totally have the ability to fight for the right to possess a Mythical Companion Beast by myself. There''s no need for Zhou Wen."


    "Zhou Wen." Zhou Wen was having a great time grinding when he suddenly heard his name. He turned around and saw that someone was standing quietly in the other courtyard by the fence, staring at him.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen gave An Jing a look before lowering his head to continue staring at his game screen.


    "That Sun Strafe Art is real. You can cultivate it." An Jing paused for a moment before saying, "If you don''t believe me, give a call to Uncle Feng. He will help you verify its authenticity."


    Zhou Wen was unconcerned about the authenticity of the Sun Strafe Art as he could no longer cultivate it anyway.


    "Why did you give it to me?" Zhou Wen asked as he gamed.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and said, "You must feel indignant about losing to me last time, right?"


    "Not at all. You beat me fair and square," Zhou Wen said in passing. He really didn''t want to have any connection with An Jing. It was best if they could be like strangers.


    The words An Jing had originally prepared were swallowed. Feeling a little uncomfortable holding it, she bit her lip and said, "I''ll give you three months to cultivate the Sun Strafe Art and advance to the Legendary stage. With your foundation, three months should be enough. We will then fight another match. If you still haven''t advanced to the Legendary stage within three months, I won''t show any mercy."


    After pausing for a moment, she added, "Don''t say that I''m bullying you. I''ll get someone to deliver you Primordial Energy Crystals and other cultivation necessities. Whatever Primordial Energy Skills you need can be given to me as a list. I''ll try to get them for you. Remember, you only have three months."


    Zhou Wen felt that An Jing was being unreasonable. He frowned and said, "I admit defeat. You win. There''s no need to go through so much trouble."


    He neither wanted to take advantage of the An family nor did he want to waste time competing with An Jing again. It was meaningless to him and defeating her brought him no benefits.


    "You have to fight. Remember, I''m only giving you three months. I definitely won''t show you any mercy when the time comes." After saying that coldly, An Jing turned around and left. She was afraid that she wouldn''t be able to hold herself back from beating Zhou Wen with how detestable he looked.


    "Why must you fight with me?" Zhou Wen felt puzzled. If An Jing hated him because of Ouyang Lan''s remarriage, she could have beaten him right there and then without going through all that trouble.


    "I want to prove that I''m better than you." After finishing her sentence, she walked into her dormitory without looking back.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat baffled. When it came to who was better, Zhou Wen only had a little fame in Guide City. However, An Jing was publicly known as a genius in Luoyang. She had advanced to the Legendary stage at the age of thirteen and Zhou Wen still hadn''t advanced. The difference between the two was almost unbridgeable.


    Do all people from noble families have such odd tempers? Li Xiubai can scheme to kill his younger brother for a qualification. An Jing is likewise ridiculous. Zhou Wen shook his head slightly.


    He had no intention of fighting An Jing, much less cultivate the Sun Strafe Art. As for advancing to the Legendary stage in three months, he was still working hard towards that. Of course, he wished to advance to the Legendary stage within three months, but the Lost Immortal Sutra was somewhat weird, making it difficult to make any prior estimates.


    An Jing returned to her small building and couldn''t help but head for the balcony on the second floor. She secretly shot a glance at Zhou Wen and saw that he was still sunbathing and gaming. He didn''t seem to feel any sense of urgency after what she had said or any intention to work hard. She couldn''t help but bite her lip.


    After An Jing finally left, Zhou Wen didn''t manage to game for long before someone came to his door. Furthermore, there was not one but four people.


    Zhou Wen looked up and saw four people, three of which he didn''t know. One of them was Gao Yang who had a grudge against him because of Li Weiyang.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Gao Yang and company were here for revenge, but to his surprise, Gao Yang greeted him with a smile when he saw Zhou Wen sitting in the yard. "Zhou Wen, still remember me? I''m your fourth-year senior, Gao Yang."


    "Why are you looking for me?" Zhou Wen continued gaming, having no intention of inviting them in.


    Gao Yang didn''t get angry as he continued chuckling. "You really don''t become close unless you fight. What happened wasn''t a big deal. If I had done anything wrong, I''d apologize to you today. Let''s ignore who was right or wrong and just bury the hatchet, alright?"


    Gao Yang naturally wouldn''t make up with Zhou Wen for no good reason. The typical student who watched the video of Li Xuan and Zhou Wen battling the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus would feel that Li Xuan was formidable; thus, overshadowing Zhou Wen.


    However, those who were truly keen knew that Zhou Wen''s role in the battle far exceeded Li Xuan''s.


    Li Xuan was indeed strong, but there were still other students at Sunset College that were as strong as him. After all, Li Xuan hadn''t advanced to the Legendary stage and there were many students at the Legendary stage. They could replace Li Xuan''s role in the battle.


    As for Zhou Wen, no other student could replace him.

 64 Invitation

    "Okay," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    Since he hadn''t suffered any losses the last time, as they were borne by Gao Yang and Su Mei, there was naturally nothing that was irreconcilable.


    Gao Yang was very happy when he heard that. He pushed the door open and entered the yard, speaking as he walked. "I came here today for one other matter. Let me do the introduction. These three are students at our school. They are also your seniors. This is Hui Haifeng. You just matriculated, so you might not have heard his name. However, you''ll definitely learn of his name once you familiarize yourself with the campus."


    "Zhou Wen, hello there." Hui Haifeng reached out his palm in a friendly manner.


    "Hello. I''m gaming, so just get straight to the point." Zhou Wen was controlling the blood-colored avatar to battle in the Ant Nest. There were Vigor Ants everywhere swarming around him. He couldn''t divert his attention to shake hands with Hui Haifeng, so it wasn''t because of any disrespect.


    Gao Yang and the other two showed their displeasure, but Hui Haifeng thought nothing of it. He said with a smile, "I''ve watched the video of you and Li Xuan fighting the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. It was truly impressive, your judgment and commanding left me surprised. It''s like you could predict the future. The only thing that''s a pity was that one of your teammates was problematic, preventing you from slaying the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus."


    With Zhou Wen not having the intention to answer him, Hui Haifeng continued, "I came here hoping to invite you to our team to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus."


    "Not interested." Zhou Wen was already rather familiar with the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. He believed that it wouldn''t take long for him to slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus in-game, so there was no need for him to take any risks.


    Gao Yang tried persuading him. "Zhou Wen, consider it. Hui Haifeng is a lot stronger than Li Xuan. These two are Legendary experts that rank in the top twenty in school. Killing the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with them is almost guaranteed. There won''t be many risks and it can be said that there are only benefits to it."


    "Sorry, I''m really not interested." Zhou Wen shook his head again.


    He was doing his best grinding the Ant Nest dungeon, hoping to drop Companion Eggs to feed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. For this reason, he wasn''t even visiting the lotus pond and chose to head to the Ant Nest where there were more dimensional creatures. He didn''t have the time to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with Hui Haifeng.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen felt that what Xu Miantu said previously was right. In a place like Sunset College, showcasing one''s strength allowed one to gain more opportunities.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t need the opportunities as they would affect his gaming and become a distraction.


    Gao Yang was slightly displeased. He thought differently of Zhou Wen only because Hui Haifeng appreciated Zhou Wen. He himself didn''t think Zhou Wen was that strong.


    Hui Haifeng patted Gao Yang on the back, indicating him to swallow his words back. Then, he said to Zhou Wen, "Let''s do this. I''ll hire you to help us slay the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. If you have any requests, raise it."


    Zhou Wen was just about to reject him and send them off so that he could game in peace when a thought flashed in his mind. He looked up and asked Hui Haifeng, "Any condition?"


    "That will depend on whether it''s worth it," Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    "You can hire me. But I want a Legendary Companion Egg." Zhou Wen gave his condition immediately.


    He had grinded an entire day at Ant Nest, killing countless Vigor Ants and only with good luck could a Companion Egg drop. Otherwise, nothing would drop, making it difficult for him to rear a Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    If he used a Legendary Companion Egg to feed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, perhaps it could grow faster and no longer suffer from hunger that quickly.


    Gao Yang wasn''t willing when he heard that. "Zhou Wen, aren''t you being exorbitant? We are killing a blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, so the chances of a Companion Egg dropping isn''t high. By wanting a Legendary Companion Egg, aren''t you being difficult?"


    "That''s my price. If you want it cheaper, you are free to hire others," Zhou Wen continued gaming as he said without looking up.


    Gao Yang wasn''t done, but Hui Haifeng cut him off. "A Legendary Companion Egg, no problem. What kind do you want?"


    "Any kind will do." Since Zhou Wen was only using it as food, he didn''t have any special requests.


    "Alright. I can give it to you tonight. Shall we head to the lotus pond tomorrow?" Hui Haifeng said without hesitation.


    Zhou Wen finally looked up at Hui Haifeng and said, "Sure, I still have another request."


    "Zhou Wen, don''t push it," Gao Yang said unhappily.


    "No worries. Go ahead." However, Hui Haifeng was unperturbed as though he didn''t care about it.


    "If I am to go, everyone has to follow my commands. Before taking action, I also need to understand all the Companion Beasts you will use in detail. If you are also participating in the battle, I''ll also need to know your combat standards and Primordial Energy Skills"


    "No problem," Hui Haifeng replied immediately.


    "Also, I will not join the battle myself like the last time. I''m only in charge of giving commands," Zhou Wen added.


    "It''s your commanding ability that caught my eye. I don''t need you to take risks," Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    "Deal. When will you send my Legendary Companion Egg to me?" Zhou Wen lowered his head and continued gaming.


    Hui Haifeng thought for a moment before giving a time. "Eight in the evening."


    After discussing the specifics, Hui Haifeng and Gao Yang left. On the way, Gao Yang said unhappily, "Haifeng, I really can''t tell how Zhou Wen is as important as you describe him to be? I''ve watched the video of his battle with the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus numerous times. We are already very clear about what needs to be done. With our strength, we should be able to kill it by ourselves. Why must we spend so much to hire him?"


    Hui Haifeng shook his head slightly. "Seeing and doing are two completely different matters. Besides, we only saw a portion. We still have no idea what other capabilities the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus has."


    "We might not know, but neither will Zhou Wen. What use is he?" Gao Yang still couldn''t get his mind around it.


    "I have a nagging feeling that Zhou Wen is somewhat different. Just treat it as buying some insurance," Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    At eight that evening, someone sent a Legendary Companion Egg over. At the same time, a contract was included. Zhou Wen read through it and signed it after checking that it was fine. He then accepted the Legendary Companion Egg.


    Closing the door and returning to his cultivation room, Zhou Wen took out the Legendary Companion Egg from the box. At the same time, he summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, hoping to see how it would eat a Companion Egg in real life.


    Once the Silver-Winged Flying Ant saw the Companion Egg, it flew over and opened its huge mouth, biting onto the Egg and sucking at it. Soon, all that was left of the Companion Egg was its outer skin.


    The next second, Zhou Wen saw a silver swirl around the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s body with a red hue within.

 65 Growth

    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s silver and red light intensified and enveloped its body like a massive flame.


    When the flame gradually died down and revealed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s body, Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up.


    It was now twice its former size, about the same size as the Silver-Winged Flying Ant which Zhou Wen had killed. However, its exterior wasn''t exactly the same.


    On its body were some additional red-ringed stripes that alternated with the silver patterns. They made the lower half of its body appear like a hornet.


    More strangely, the tip of the ant''s bottom had grown a silver spike that resembled a hornet''s tail.


    Is this growth or mutation? Zhou Wen was astonished seeing this. He remembered that the person who delivered the Companion Egg mentioned that it was a Fire Hornet''s Companion Egg. From how it looked, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant had apparently obtained some of the characteristics of the Fire Hornet.


    He quickly checked the in-game stats and found that the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s stats had changed drastically.


    Silver-Winged Flying Ant: Legendary (Adult)


    Legendary Life Providence: King of Low Altitudes


    Strength: 17


    Speed: 20


    Constitution: 16


    Primordial Energy: 19


    Talent Skill: Silver Wing Flash, Magical Needle


    Companion Form: Wings


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised and delighted seeing this. With such stats, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant could be said to be a pinnacle existence among Legendary Companion Beasts, especially its Speed. Typically, the stats of a Legendary maxed out at 18. 20 points was described as an Overdrive.


    Although the Primordial Energy was lower than Speed, it was also an Overdrive value.


    What surprised Zhou Wen, even more, was that the Silver-Winged Flying Ant had an additional Magical Needle Primordial Energy Skill. It had become a Companion Beast with two skills, making it an excellent Companion Beast.


    Although compared to the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus which had many skills, two skills weren''t many, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was already considered rather rare when most Companion Beasts only had one Primordial Energy Skill.


    Zhou Wen was even more delighted when he saw the information regarding Magical Needle. It was a long-range Primordial Energy Skill. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant could release a Magical Needle and attack a target from afar.


    With this Silver-Winged Flying Ant, I don''t have to worry about killing the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Without a second thought, Zhou Wen ended the summoning of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and chose to enter the game dungeon.


    Zhou Wen headed straight for the Underground Buddha City. With the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s present size, it was big enough for him to sit on it. Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to ride on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and quickly fly to the lotus pond.


    A Speed of 20 was much faster than Zhou Wen could run himself. It was almost the difference between a horse carriage and a sports car. It didn''t take long for him to fly to the bank of the lotus pond.


    The blood-colored avatar jumped off the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s back and watched the ensuing battle from the sidelines. Without any hesitation, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant flew towards the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus in the middle of the pond.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    More than ten blood-colored lotus seeds shot at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant as it flapped its four wings, leaving behind afterimages in the sky, easily dodging the attack range of the blood-colored lotus seeds.


    A Speed of 20 was just too fast. In a blink of an eye, it arrived in front of the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, to which the latter''s petals contracted in a bid to devour the former.


    Just as the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was about to be devoured, silver light swirled from its back. Like a rocket, it blinked several meters away, dodging the petals. At the same time, it slashed at them with its blade-like claws.


    The blood pattern on the petal shimmered, producing a halo that blocked the claws.


    Although the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Strength was already one of the best amongst Legendaries, it was unable to slice through the petal without the augmentation of any Primordial Energy Skills.


    The petal wasn''t slashed through, but it opened by itself, revealing the venomous toad which opened its mouth and spat venom at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    While the Silver-Winged Flying Ant easily dodged this, a silver light flashed at its tail, shooting a silver beam through the toad''s forehead.


    Bang!


    The toad exploded, splattering its venom everywhere. However, the speed of the venom couldn''t catch up with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Speed.


    After the toad was killed, the lotus receptacle was completely exposed. The lotus seeds that resembled blood crystals exposed their tips as they suffused a sanguine luster.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant didn''t stop as its silver tail flashed, shooting another Magical Needle at the lotus receptacle.


    Magical Needle''s attack range was less than twenty meters. Although its range was limited, it was potent. The blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus closed its petals, blocking with the blood-patterned Buddha Glow, but ended up being penetrated by Magical Needle.


    At the instant the Magical Needle impaled the lotus receptacle, a blood-colored explosion erupted like a volcano. Twenty to thirty blood-columns spewed out, turning into bloody rain that covered twenty meters of the area. Whatever touched the bloody rain was liquefied. Even the other Buddha Heart Lotuses and lotus leaves living in the pond were no exception.


    The blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s petals were corroded by the bloody rain as they became riddled with holes.


    Thankfully, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was fast enough and dodged most of the splash; otherwise, it would have been reduced to a pool of blood.


    After the bloody rain finished its attack, Zhou Wen ordered the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to fly forward. At this moment, the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus was no longer capable of putting up any resistance. It didn''t take long for its lotus receptacle to be sliced open.


    ''Killed Legendary creature, Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    A dimensional crystal from the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus dropped. It almost fell into the pond, but Zhou Wen was quick enough to command the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to grab it.


    Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal! Zhou Wen studied the text on the dimensional crystal carefully and was immediately exhilarated. He was originally a little depressed that no Companion Egg dropped, but after reading the text, he instantaneously felt better.


    Although a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus wasn''t as valuable as a Companion Egg, it was possible that this Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus''s Primordial Energy Skill was able to help him enter Small Buddha Temple.


    The Primordial Energy Skill of ordinary Buddha Heart Lotus is Heart Meditation. But a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus has several Primordial Energy Skills. I wonder if Heart Meditation will be obtained by absorbing its Primordial Energy Skill? Zhou Wen wasn''t sure either.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant brought the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus back to the blood-colored avatar''s side. The moment the latter touched the crystal, the energy within surged into its body.


    Almost simultaneously, Zhou Wen felt a burning strength surge out of the phone. It instantly filled his body, making his body feel like a furnace. His body perspired profusely as though he had been scooped out of the water and was now being baked.


    After quite some time, the heat gradually subsided and he felt a refreshing coolness emerge in his body.


    It was especially so for his heart. It felt an indescribable comfort. It had a miraculous feeling of tranquility and coolness. At the same time, plenty of magical information surged into Zhou Wen''s brain.


    ''Absorbed Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. Attained Blood Meditation (Rank 9).''

 66 Charging into Small Buddha Temple

    Zhou Wen took a look at the blood-colored avatar''s stats and saw that the Heart Meditation in the Primordial Energy Skill slot had vanished. Replacing it was Blood Meditation.


    Zhou Wen attempted activating Blood Meditation and immediately a cool aura emerged from his heart. That aura went to every part of his body by coursing through his veins, making Zhou Wen feel an indescribable comfort.


    As for his skin, it suffused an abnormal ruddiness that made him look a little odd.


    It felt a little different from Heart Meditation. Furthermore, the Primordial Energy expenditure was much slower. One point of Primordial Energy lasted almost three minutes. With 10 Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen could use Blood Meditation for almost half an hour.


    If Blood Meditation is like Heart Meditation, half an hour should be enough to counter the Small Buddha Temple''s mysterious force. It''s enough for me to make a few trips to the stone staircase in front of the temple. Zhou Wen didn''t waste any time and immediately got the blood-colored avatar to ride the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and fly for Small Buddha Temple.


    As he expected, Blood Meditation and Heart Meditation had the same effect. After activating Heart Meditation, the blood-colored avatar ran all the way up the stone stairs until it arrived in front of Small Buddha Temple without any accidents.


    Small Buddha Temple was dilapidated. The sign on the door had already faded and the walls surrounding the temple were crumbling in many places.


    Pushing open the dust-covered door, Zhou Wen saw the interior laden with dust. However, he was slightly taken aback.


    He was prepared to battle a powerful dimensional creature, but he didn''t see any dimensional creature in the yard. There was only a stone monument in the middle of the yard.


    Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be somewhat perplexed when he identified the biggest words on the stone monument.


    Large Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was well-known to many. It was a theoretical foundation of the Great Vehicle Buddhism. After the dimensional storms, a Buddhist figured out a Primordial Energy Art from it. Along with the Agama, it was ranked as the two greatest Primordial Energy Art in Buddhism. They were Primordial Energy Arts capable of the Epic stage, in no way inferior to the Li family''s Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    However, Zhou Wen had never heard of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. This name sounded like a joke.


    After getting the blood-colored avatar to approach it and carefully look at its contents, he immediately felt his mind groggy, with his head almost exploding.


    This sutra is odd! Zhou Wen was alarmed. Just as he was about to cast his gaze away, he suddenly felt the Primordial Energy in his body slow down.


    Ever since Zhou Wen cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra, it would constantly flow without him needing to deliberately cultivate it.


    Now, the sudden slowdown of the Lost Immortal Sutra''s automatic circulation speed was unprecedented. However, after it slowed down, Zhou Wen felt his splitting headache seem to alleviate.


    When Zhou Wen looked at the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra again, he no longer felt the discomfort.


    He was surprised as he continued reading the sutra. He realized that the more of it he read, the slower the Lost Immortal Sutra''s circulation became.


    There was just too much text on the monument, so before Zhou Wen could finish reading it, the screen went black¡ªthe blood-colored avatar had died.


    Ah! Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he had Blood Meditation activated the entire time. By reading the sutra for an extended period of time, Blood Meditation had expended all his Primordial Energy and stopped circulating.


    From the looks of it, Small Buddha Temple is just like the stairs. It has an odd force blanketing it. Without Blood Meditation to protect me, means death. If I had known earlier, I wouldn''t have read the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Zhou Wen thought.


    Dripping a drop of blood and entering the Underground Buddha City dungeon again, Zhou Wen first headed for the lotus pond, planning to kill the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. It was best if a Companion Egg dropped and even if none dropped, a Primordial Energy Crystal was appreciated.


    However, to his dismay, after spending plenty of effort, all that dropped was a 14-valued Strength Crystal when he finally killed the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus.


    When the blood-colored avatar picked up the Strength Crystal and absorbed it, its Strength stat didn''t grow. It remained at 10.


    From the looks of it, even if I cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra, the bottleneck of my realm remains. I''m unable to exceed the limitations of 10 points at the Mortal stage. Zhou Wen felt somewhat disappointed.


    After killing all the Buddha Heart Lotuses and finally replenishing ten points of Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen headed for the Small Buddha Temple.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t waste time at the stone monument. After entering the temple, he headed straight for the grand hall''s entrance.


    The grand hall was already in a shambles. Its roof had mostly collapsed and its door was slanted, about to topple at any moment. There wasn''t any sign above the door, so the name of the hall was unknown.


    The blood-colored avatar pushed the door, causing it to creak and fall into the hall. With a thud, it sent dust flying into the air.


    Looking at the dust-laden hall, his eyes first noticed a Buddha statue.


    Although the game had a cartoon version of a Buddha statue, it still shocked Zhou Wen. Buddha statues typically had genial looks and stately bearing. Only a few guardians had furious glares.


    However, those kinds of deities would never be consecrated in the middle of the main hall. Yet, this Buddha statue wore a devil''s expression. Although it didn''t have a furious expression, it made Zhou Wen shudder. It seemed to be staring at him coldly.


    Boom! Zhou Wen only managed to take one look because the blood-colored avatar exploded the moment it took a step into the hall. It reduced to a pool of blood and the game screen went black.


    Zhou Wen broke out into a cold sweat. Small Buddha Temple sure is odd. Just one look can kill. Thankfully, I didn''t head there with my real body; otherwise, no amount of lives could keep me alive. I wonder how those predecessors explored dimensional zones. Perhaps plenty of lives were sacrificed to attain what we have today.


    Although Zhou Wen knew of stories of the tragic sacrifices when soldiers explored dimensional zones while in school, it was nowhere as shocking as experiencing it himself.


    Zhou Wen then had another thought. After entering the hall, even Blood Meditation is useless. However, the temple has a stone monument with the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Perhaps it might be of some use. However, there''s clearly a Primordial Energy Art and I''ve already cultivated Lost Immortal Sutra. I can''t change my Primordial Energy Art and this Small Buddha Temple is so odd. Who knows if that Primordial Energy Art has any problems.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen decided to first memorize the sutra when entering the Small Buddha Temple.


    As for taking pictures, that could be struck off. Ordinary phones couldn''t take pictures of the screen of the mysterious phone, so all Zhou Wen could do was memorize it himself.


    The sutra was very long, but thankfully, it wasn''t like the Lost Immortal Sutra which made memorizing untenable. Zhou Wen memorized a few paragraphs each time and left Small Buddha Temple whenever the time was almost up. He would then head back in once he recovered his Primordial Energy.


    After he had memorized the entire sutra, he realized that the sky had lit up. He had stayed up the entire night again.


    Just as Zhou Wen remembered the last line of the sutra, Lost Immortal Sutra, which had nearly stopped circulating, suddenly circulated crazily.

 67 Sudden Shackles

    However, the circulatory path wasn''t that of the Lost Immortal Sutra, but a brand new one. It seemed as though he had completely switched Primordial Energy Arts.


    Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra? Zhou Wen immediately recalled that the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra he memorized followed such circulatory methods.


    With the Primordial Energy''s circulation, Zhou Wen felt the cells in his body seem to come to life. His body burned and itched as though countless worms were crawling under his skin.


    He resisted the urge to scratch himself, but in fact, he didn''t dare move. When the energy flowed into him according to the Lost Immortal Sutra, he could move freely, but the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was different. The turbulent flowing of Primordial Energy made Zhou Wen afraid of moving, afraid that it would branch out wrongly.


    After sitting on the sofa for quite some time, Zhou Wen felt his body jolt as though some shackle had been cleaved apart. His body relaxed indescribably as the hot and itchy feeling vanished.


    Zhou Wen could sense that he had achieved initial mastery of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    Opening his eyes and planning to look at his phone, Zhou Wen got a fright when he looked at his hands.


    They were covered in lumps of peeled skin. He ripped off the skin without feeling any pain. In fact, it felt awesome.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t just his hands. His entire body had shed a layer of skin. Large amounts of dead skin could be easily peeled off by him.


    He had no choice but to head for the bathroom and soak himself in hot water. The dead skin on his body peeled off, revealing supple new skin that had a milky luster to it.


    He looked at himself in the mirror after taking a bath. There weren''t any intrinsic differences other than he now looked more refreshed and cleaner.


    Returning to the living room, he once again lost himself to gaming. After he saw the stats of the blood-colored avatar, he couldn''t help but be alarmed.


    After cultivating the Lost Immortal Sutra, his four stats were at 10. It didn''t improve even if he absorbed dimensional crystals.


    But now, his Constitution had raised to 11.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously looked at the other stats which hadn''t changed. Even the listing of Primordial Energy Art remained as Lost Immortal Sutra. It didn''t have the addition of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    What happened? Why didn''t the game indicate my mastering of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra? Could it be that the game is unable to identify this kind of Primordial Energy Art? Zhou Wen felt puzzled as he attempted to circulate it and found it circulating as he wished. Clearly, he had gained some initial mastery of it.


    He attempted to circulate the Lost Immortal Sutra and his Primordial Energy immediately circulated according to its pathway just as it had before without any changes.


    Odd, what''s happening? Zhou Wen made a few more attempts and realized that he could freely switch between the Lost Immortal Sutra and Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra without any difficulty.


    Zhou Wen seldom heard of people cultivating two Primordial Energy Arts at the same time. Many Primordial Energy Skills could be learned, but Primordial Energy Arts involved too many things. Typically, the higher the grade of the arts, the more conflict they had, making it difficult to cultivate two at the same time. It was especially so with arts capable of the Epic stage. If one were to cultivate both, it was possible to suffer a deviation and end up dying.


    To be able to switch freely between two Primordial Energy Arts was something Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    He was just about to attempt using the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to enter the temple when he heard his phone ring.


    "Zhou Wen, it''s about time. Let''s meet at the lotus pond," Hui Haifeng''s voice sounded over the phone.


    "Got it." Zhou Wen looked at the time and realized that it was almost nine. Although he hadn''t taken a wink of sleep the entire night, he was in no way tired.


    He rushed to Underground Buddha City after packing up.


    "Zhou Wen, you sure made us wait," Gao Yang said in displeasure.


    "I don''t think I was late, right?" Zhou Wen looked at the time. It was ten minutes to the agreed-upon time.


    "Let''s not talk about that. Here''s the information on our Companion Beasts. Have a look." Hui Haifeng handed Zhou Wen a tablet computer.


    The information included the details of the four people''s four Companion Beast, including Hui Haifeng. There were even videos of the skills their Companion Beasts could release. It made it easy for Zhou Wen to understand what abilities they had.


    After carefully taking in the information, Zhou Wen looked up and asked Hui Haifeng, "You plan to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus with the four Legendary Companion Beasts without joining the battle, right?"


    "We only have one life after all. It''s best if we don''t take risks." Hui Haifeng looked at Zhou Wen and said, "If four Companion Beasts aren''t enough, I can still think of other solutions."


    "As long as your control isn''t too poor, these four Companion Beasts should be enough. However, I have to make it clear. All of you have to obey my instructions. If any problems arise due to the disobedience of my instructions, I will not be responsible for anything. I will not refund the Companion Egg either," Zhou Wen said.


    "No problem. We''ll leave it all up to you." Hui Haifeng was rather obliging.


    "Alright then. Let me go through the detailed plan. However, a plan is ultimately a plan. When the actual battle happens, follow my orders." Zhou Wen informed them of his plan.


    Hui Haifeng and company didn''t raise any objections after hearing it. One of the girls named Nana looked at Zhou Wen with piqued interest and asked, "If we follow your instructions in battle, but end up failing to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus or have any losses, what will you do?"


    "I''ll make compensation," Zhou Wen said casually.


    "Alright." Nana was very pleased with his reply.


    Zhou Wen pointed at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus and said, "If there are no other problems, let''s begin now,"


    Hui Haifeng and company summoned their Legendary Companion Beasts¡ªthree of them were birds while Nana''s was a vine. According to the detailed information, this was a Water Wisteria at the Legendary stage. It could resist the lotus pond''s corrosive nature and could move in the water. It was a plant-based Companion Beast that was excellent at water combat.


    Under Zhou Wen''s command, the four Companion Beasts charged into the lotus pond.


    Many students were watching this battle. Although the battle involving Zhou Wen and Li Xuan was interesting, they had failed to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. This time, with Hui Haifeng participating, many students believed that there was a high possibility of slaying it.


    Not far away, two of the university''s teachers were looking at the lotus pond.


    "Miss Wang, do you think Hui Haifeng and the rest will succeed?" Liu Zhengyan looked at the four Companion Beasts rushing into the lotus pond and asked in passing.


    "Zhou Wen and Li Xuan nearly succeeded the last time. This time, Li Xuan has been swapped with the stronger Hui Haifeng. The chance of victory is naturally higher," Wang Fei said.

 68 Commanding

    "I don''t think so," Liu Zhengyan said with a smile.


    "Why?" Wang Fei asked, looking perplexed.


    Anyone who had seen the video of Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s fight with the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus knew that they had the means to kill the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus and were just short of the final strike.


    Now, with four stronger people, it made no sense that they wouldn''t succeed.


    "Watch this now." Liu Zhengyan unlocked his phone and played a video.


    "This is the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus? It doesn''t seem to be the same one?" Wang Fei gave the video a look and immediately saw a few soldiers fighting the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus via their Companion Beasts.


    Liu Zhengyan said, "This is a blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus found by the military elsewhere in Underground Buddha City. They used five Legendary Companion Beasts but ended up with tragic losses. They were almost wiped out."


    "I didn''t know that." Wang Fei was somewhat alarmed.


    Liu Zhengyan skipped to the end of the video and let Wang Fei watch carefully. The final scene had twenty to thirty jets of blood spew out from the lotus receptacle.


    Once they were hit by the blood, the flesh melted off the five Legendary Companion Beasts, plummeting them into the lotus pond amidst cries. None of them survived with an intact body.


    "I never expected the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus to have such an ability. Should we stop Hui Haifeng and the rest?" Wang Fei frowned after finishing the video.


    Liu Zhengyan shook his head and said, "If we were to warn them now, who can warn them when they head to some unknown dimensional zone in an expedition? Cruel reality is the best teacher. Today, they will pay for the experience using only a few Companion Beasts. In the future, it might save their lives."


    Wang Fei nodded slightly. Liu Zhengyan was right¡ªin school, the dimensional zones they encountered had all been explored by the military. The level of danger wasn''t too high, causing some students to think little of dimensional zones. It was also good to let them suffer a little.


    "Mr. Liu, what''s your take on Zhou Wen?" Wang Fei''s gaze landed on Zhou Wen who was overseeing the battle.


    "To be honest, although his performance with Li Xuan was very exciting, I still think more highly of Li Xuan when it comes to potential. After all, to go far, relying on talent and hard work isn''t enough. Besides, I''ve heard that Zhou Wen is engrossed in gaming. He might not amount to much." Liu Zhengyan paused and looked at Wang Fei. "You are the teacher in charge of Zhou Wen''s class, right? I''m afraid it will be hard for you."


    Wang Fei nodded as she looked at the distant Zhou Wen with a deep, meaningful look. She muttered to herself, "I don''t think so. This Zhou Wen might be quite an interesting fellow."


    Under Zhou Wen''s commands, the four Companion Beasts besieged the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus. Hui Haifeng and the other three followed his instructions and were good at controlling their Companion Beasts. Soon, they tore open the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s petals and defeated the venomous toad.


    After the toad exploded, the four controlled their Companion Beasts to charge at the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus, hoping to slay it.


    "Windchime Bird, Blood Raven, retreat ten meters. Water Wisteria, retreat fifteen meters. Crow Tengu, head left seven meters and shoot Crow Feathers," Zhou Wen instructed.


    Seeing that victory was at hand and that the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus was about to die, the boy controlling the Blood Raven said in excitement, "Let me finish the final strike. Blood Raven, cast Blood Feather Storm!"


    Hui Haifeng and Nana had followed Zhou Wen''s instructions and retreated the Companion Beasts they controlled. As for the boy, he didn''t make his Blood Raven retreat and instead launched the final strike.


    Everything had gone too smoothly, so smoothly that he felt he could complete everything without the need for Zhou Wen.


    As the blood feathers hit the lotus receptacle, it immediately riddled them with wounds. It seemingly cracked open as the boy felt a sense of smugness when he heard a boom.


    The lotus receptacle suddenly exploded as blood splattered out, instantly raining down.


    The Companion Beasts of Hui Haifeng and the other two had already retreated according to Zhou Wen''s instructions. They reacted with great composure, retreating out of reach of the blood rain''s range in a timely fashion.


    As for the Blood Raven, it was too close to the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus since it hadn''t retreated ahead of time. It had no time to escape and it was drenched by the blood rain.


    Gu!


    The Blood Raven cried out tragically as most of its feathers rotted. It fell straight into the lotus pond, leaving all the other students drawing a cold gasp. The boy''s expression also turned nasty.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a thing as he continued commanding, "Windchime Bird, cast Primordial Energy Skill attack to attack the flower stalk. Crow Tengu, use Crow Feathers as cover. Water Wisteria, prepare to catch the lotus flower."


    Under Zhou Wen''s command, the trio successfully slew the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus and dragged the damaged lotus flower out.


    "Junior, not bad," Nana said with a smile.


    "Blood Raven''s death wasn''t my responsibility. I''m not making compensation," Zhou Wen said.


    The boy who controlled Blood Raven blushed as he said in embarrassment, "You don''t have to. I''m sorry, I was just too anxious. Zhou Wen, you were impressive. How did you know that the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus still had such an internecine attack?"


    "Faced with any dimensional creature, one has to view it with a sense of fear and reverence. Otherwise, you might end up paying with your life. I was only trying my best to prevent any accidents." Zhou Wen randomly gave an excuse.


    "I have to thank you or we would have really suffered terribly," Hui Haifeng said with narrowed eyes. He didn''t mind the losses, but Zhou Wen''s performance had garnered his interest.


    "I was paid so it was part and parcel of my job. If there''s nothing else, I''ll be heading back." After Zhou Wen said that, he turned and left. The only thing on his mind was to head to Small Buddha Temple''s main temple and figure out what was inside. He really didn''t have the mood to say anything else.


    Gao Yang watched Zhou Wen leave with mixed expressions. He always felt that Hui Haifeng''s hiring of Zhou Wen was superfluous, but now, he realized that without Zhou Wen, it was very likely that all four Companion Beasts would have died. It was better to lose a single Companion Egg.


    Liu Zhengyan also wore an odd look. "Strange, could it be that he has a relationship with the military and has seen that video?"


    Wang Fei smiled and said, "Don''t you know that Zhou Wen''s staying at the Four Seasons Garden was arranged by the An family?"


    "I see. No wonder." Only then was Liu Zhengyan enlightened.


    However, Wang Fei narrowed her eyes as she watched Zhou Wen leave. She still had something she didn''t say: Although Zhou Wen''s ties with the An family aren''t to be dismissed, this is definitely not obtained from the An family. How did this fellow do it? What an interesting chap. From the looks of it, I should delve deeper and treat it as helping Little Lan.


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and eagerly launched the game on his phone, entering Underground Buddha City.

 69 Strange Temple Hall

    Zhou Wen was already very familiar with Underground Buddha City. He rode on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to the lotus pond at full speed before killing the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus.


    For others to kill the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, they needed to wait for one to travel through the dimensional rift; however, Zhou Wen simply needed to revive his blood-colored avatar and refresh the dungeon, allowing the game to reproduce a new Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. He could practically kill it an infinite number of times.


    Killing the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus was extremely easy for Zhou Wen now. After following a standard set of steps, it was killed.


    Ding! An item dropped out of the lotus accompanying the crisp, melodic chime.


    A Companion Beast! Zhou Wen was overjoyed for he never expected it.


    However, he was currently unable to incubate Legendary Companion Beasts. The thing he could do was use the blood-colored avatar''s death to create an incomplete one just like the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    There was little meaning to doing so. Zhou Wen already found it difficult enough to rear a single Silver-Winged Flying Ant, so another one would probably bankrupt him.


    When the blood-colored avatar picked up the Buddha Heart Lotus, the system gave the fusion notification.


    ''Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus and Silver-Winged Flying Ant have a compatibility score of 3%. Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus and Mutated Skeleton Ant have a compatibility score of 5%. Proceed with fusion?''


    Fusion my ass. Zhou Wen felt depressed. The compatibility score was so low that the chance of a successful fusion was no different from striking the lottery. There was no need for him to take the risk.


    If only I could take the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus out of the game. Zhou Wen spent some time studying if it was possible, but there was no such function to be found.


    However, Zhou Wen also realized that he couldn''t sell it if he brought it into reality. It would be difficult to explain how he had obtained a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg.


    Using the mysterious phone''s function, Zhou Wen directly checked the Companion Egg''s stats.


    Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Turbid Waters Clear Lotus


    Strength: 15


    Speed: 13


    Constitution: 12


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Blood-Patterned Buddha Aspect


    Zhou Wen felt somewhat disappointed after seeing that. The Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus wasn''t too terrible in stats compared to the typical Legendary Companion Beast; however, compared to how potent a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus was, this Companion Beast''s stats were nothing laudable.


    It was especially so for the talent skills. The Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus should have four Primordial Energy Skills, but this one only had one. Clearly, these weren''t the stats an excellent Companion Beast should have.


    Zhou Wen had been somewhat hesitant in the beginning, but he no longer had any doubts now. He chose not to proceed with the fusion and fed the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    He originally imagined that the Silver-Winged Flying Ant wouldn''t need to be fed after becoming an adult, but he soon realized that he was wrong. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant not only needed food, but it needed more than before.


    After feeding the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, there weren''t any obvious changes other than the slightly hungry notification disappearing.


    I can always wait till I have an excellent-grade Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus drop before incubating it. Zhou Wen naturally wished to have a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Beast with maximum stats.


    After all, he had plenty of time to grind the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus in the future, so getting one was only a matter of time and luck.


    After slaying all the Buddha Heart Lotuses in the pond, he didn''t obtain any ordinary Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Eggs and headed straight for Small Buddha Temple.


    After entering Small Buddha Temple, Zhou Wen switched his energy circulation from the Lost Immortal Sutra to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Then, he controlled the blood-colored avatar to head into the temple hall.


    The Buddha statue still wore a ferocious expression as it stared at the blood-colored avatar, but this time, the latter didn''t immediately die.


    I''ve succeeded. The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is really related to this temple hall. Zhou Wen was delighted as he continued proceeding forward with the blood-colored avatar. Finally, he saw what was inside the temple hall.


    The temple hall had many Buddhist murals; however, they were different from the murals Zhou Wen had seen in the past. The murals here looked like scenes from hell.


    There were ox-headed demons being thrown into boiling oil as well as bird-headed and human-bodied monsters having their tongues pulled out. There were also imps who were sawn into two. The entire temple appeared creepy and terrifying as though it was a punishment chamber in hell.


    And the Buddha statue was very different from the typical one. Other than its ferocious face, it also had two other faces.


    It had three faces on one head, with the one facing Zhou Wen looking ferocious. As for the faces on the sides, the left one looked similar to the ordinary Buddha statue with a benevolent look and smile.


    However, the right face was even stranger than the front-facing face. It was a crying face with bloody tears at the corner of its eyes. There was a sliver of melancholy amidst the ferociousness.


    What Buddha is that? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled, he had never heard of any three-faced Buddha in the little he knew of Buddhism.


    The temple didn''t have a sign, nor were there any signs indicating the name of the Buddha statue. The entire hall was empty except for the Buddha. There weren''t any dimensional creatures either.


    Amidst Zhou Wen''s puzzlement, he saw the Buddha statue''s six eyes light up with a golden glow. Then, the statue which appeared to be carved from stone slowly suffused a golden halo, making it appear gilded.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he tried to get the blood-colored avatar to retreat. There was definitely something sinister due to the anomaly. Although death in-game wasn''t true death, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to waste a drop of blood.


    However, before Zhou Wen could retreat out of the hall, the six eyes shone out like a torchlight, illuminating his body. Then, he saw the Buddha statue speak.


    However, the words said were soundless. Instead, they appeared onscreen in text form.


    ''My pious child, a Buddhist representative that walks the land, you shall earn the grace of Buddha. You can choose one of the three Buddhist-type creatures as your guardian.''


    As the text appeared, the two arms of the Buddha statue''s gilded body raised up slowly. In his palms, swirls of light condensed and gradually formed three Companion Eggs.


    The three Companion Eggs were resplendent with golden light as though they were emitting a strange Buddhistic glow.


    That nice? A Companion Egg is given directly? Is it the same for the Small Buddha Temple in reality? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he carefully sized up the three Companion Eggs.


    They were glowing with golden light as though protected by the Buddhistic glow. The only difference was the size, making it obvious that they were not the same Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen tried to use the phone to check the three Companion Eggs'' stats, but failed. All he could do was try his luck.

 70 Three Choose One

    With the naked eye, the three Companion Eggs were golden in color, but the three types of gold were different.


    As this was in-game, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to tell how big the three Companion Eggs were. Using the blood-colored avatar as a comparison, the biggest Companion Egg was about half a person''s height. Not only did it have a golden Buddha glow swirling around it, but there was even a scarlet hue amidst the golden glow. Although its temperature couldn''t be felt, the huge egg seemed to be scorching hot inside.


    The leftmost Companion Egg was the smallest. It was about the size of the blood-colored avatar''s fingertip. It was also golden, but the Companion Egg was crystalline like a golden opal.


    The middle Companion Egg was about the size of a soccer ball. It looked like it was tempered with gold and its outer shell was filled with rugged patterns. They looked like Buddhist scriptures that Zhou Wen couldn''t understand.


    Which one should I choose? Zhou Wen sized up the three Companion Eggs, having been thrown into a dilemma.


    Although he could sense the same sensory feelings as the blood-colored avatar, he wasn''t able to tell which was better from its vision.


    ''My child, choose by following your heart. There''s no need to hesitate.'' The strange three-faced Buddha spoke again. And again, it appeared in text form.


    Zhou Wen thought for a while and realized that there was nothing to be hesitant about. He had never heard of the three Companion Eggs before and had nothing to base his judgment on. He might as well choose one that caught his fancy and leave the rest to fate.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate further. He got the blood-colored avatar to reach out to grab the smallest of the three Companion Eggs.


    The small Companion Egg appeared like a golden crystal in the blood-colored avatar''s hand. Immediately, the Buddhistic glow emitted.


    ''Obtained Mythical Companion Egg, Truth Listener. Automatically incubating¡­''


    "F**k¡­ You are going to kill me¡­" Zhou Wen immediately cried out as he threw the mysterious phone out of his hand.


    A Mythical Companion Egg was very strong and impressive, but Zhou Wen knew himself. With his Primordial Energy, just incubating a Legendary Companion Egg was enough to suck him dry, much less a Mythical Companion Egg.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen wasn''t fast with the throwing. A terrifying force surged out from the phone and instantly sucked dry Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy.


    11 points of Primordial Energy was pathetic. Zhou Wen instantly felt drained and that wasn''t all. His blood seemed to be sucked by a water pump, gathering towards his ten fingers.


    The tips of his fingers burst as ten spouts of blood spewed onto the phone, and instantly, the phone sucked it clean.


    I''m doomed. Am I going to be the first college student in the new era to die gaming? This thought flashed across his mind, but the suction force from the phone vanished the next second.


    Zhou Wen''s fingers finally regained their freedom. They no longer had blood gushing out. At the same time, a strange golden pattern appeared on his left ear.


    The golden pattern resembled a symbol that tattooed itself on the back of his left concha. It gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling in his left ear.


    I actually incubated a Mythical Companion Egg? Zhou Wen couldn''t believe the outcome for it was too unbelievable.


    A Legendary Silver-Winged Flying Ant Companion Egg was enough to kill the blood-colored avatar, but the Mythical Companion Egg didn''t blast it apart. It only sucked dry all of Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy and a portion of his blood. This didn''t seem to match the status of a Mythical Companion Beast.


    After Zhou Wen incubated Truth Listener, the two other Companion Eggs in the three-faced Buddha''s hands disappeared. The resplendent Buddha statue that emitted a Buddhistic glow also slowly converged its glow and was restored to its original stone form. It no longer spoke or did anything.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly checked Truth Listener''s stats to confirm whether it was really a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Truth Listener: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Golden Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    Zhou Wen''s eyes nearly popped out. Truth Listener wasn''t at the Mythical stage but at the Mortal stage. However, Zhou Wen had never really heard of a Mortal Companion Beast with 11 for all its stats.


    Furthermore, it had four talent skills. This was already the maximum number of talent skills a Companion Beast could have.


    The system''s notification said that it was at the Mythical stage, but why is the incubated result at the Mortal stage? Could it be related to the evolvable trait? But how do I evolve it? Don''t tell me it''s like the Silver-Winged Flying Ant¡ªevolving by eating Companion Eggs? Zhou Wen didn''t dare to stay in the temple any longer, worried that something bad might happen.


    After leaving, he circled Small Buddha Temple and realized that it lived up to its name¡ªit was really small. Apart from the temple hall, there weren''t any other temples, but it was possible that the collapsed rubble had covered the other areas of the compound.


    Zhou Wen didn''t find anything after circling Small Buddha Temple once. The three-faced Buddha didn''t react when he entered the temple again.


    All he could do was leave and quit the game. Only then did he dare summon Truth Listener.


    Small Buddha Temple was just too odd. Even in the game, Zhou Wen didn''t dare mess around in there.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t a stranger to the name ''Truth Listener''; in fact, he knew it well.


    In Buddhist myths and legends, Truth Listener was the mount of K?itigarbha Bodhisattva. Legend has it that it was manifested from a white dog and had the ability to know all that happened in the world. It was also extremely loyal.


    In Journey to the West, the six-eared Macaque had impersonated Sun Wukong and no deity was able to distinguish between them. Although Truth Listener could tell them apart, it didn''t dare speak it out loud.


    Don''t tell me this fellow is really the legendary Truth Listener? Zhou Wen felt somewhat expectant.


    However, after Truth Listener was summoned, Zhou Wen was left somewhat depressed. It wasn''t a white dog but a golden-silk monkey the size of a palm.


    Its golden fur resembled golden silk and its eyes resembled two golden gems. It looked extremely adorable, but it was just too small.


    This fellow is Truth Listener? Zhou Wen found it somewhat unbelievable.


    This mini-figure stood at opposite ends with those terrifying stats. They didn''t seem connected at all.


    Zhou Wen tried Truth Listener''s companion form and immediately, it turned into a golden earring behind Zhou Wen''s left ear.


    He felt his ear quiver suddenly as though whatever blockage in his ear had been pulled out. His hearing became clear, many times sharper than his normal hearing. What he couldn''t hear before could now be heard very clearly.


    "Uh!" A woman''s moan suddenly sounded in Zhou Wen''s ear, making him feel somewhat odd. When he glanced at the direction it came, he realized it was from his neighbor.


    And his neighbor was that proud and cold, somewhat crazy, An Jing.


    That''s not right. The buildings here should have special soundproofing features. Even those with hearing Primordial Energy Skills can''t hear things through the walls, so how am I hearing what''s happening next door? Don''t tell me that Truth Listener boosts my hearing ability this much? Zhou Wen thought.

 71 Sick

    Painful moaning kept sounding from next door. Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he hesitated whether to take a look.


    But when he considered how An Jing was an unreasonable person, he decided it was best not to have anything to do with her. Besides, they were on campus with the most advanced hospital attached to it. If An Jing really was in trouble, she was a phone call away from having a doctor rush over to rescue her.


    Zhou Wen was just about to take off the Truth Listener earring when he heard a thud as though something heavy had fallen to the ground.


    When the sound reached Zhou Wen''s left ear, a blurry scene of An Jing falling to the ground from a great height appeared in his mind. The scene vanished almost as quickly as it came when it was silent next door.


    Don''t tell me that something really happened to An Jing? Although Zhou Wen wasn''t too concerned with An Jing, he didn''t have a blood feud with her. On the account of her mother, Ouyang Lan, he couldn''t just watch as she died.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen decided to head next door to take a look.


    Washing his face and walking out of the building, he jumped over the low wooden fence and stood in front of An Jing''s door and pressed the bell that came equipped with a camera.


    Zhou Wen believed that if An Jing could reply, it meant that she was okay. He could then return to gaming.


    However, if no one replied, it definitely meant that something had gone wrong. He couldn''t just sit idle; after all, he had a basic sense of compassion. He would call emergency services even for a stranger.


    After pressing the doorbell once, he didn''t hear any response as the building was silent. Zhou Wen used the ring on his left ear to listen carefully, but still failed to hear any sounds inside. There weren''t any footsteps either.


    Don''t tell me something really happened? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. To make sure, he repeatedly pressed the doorbell, but silence was the only response.


    From the looks of it, something really happened. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen began looking carefully at the building.


    The door had a keypad door lock and it was made of special materials. It wasn''t easy to smash through the door. If he couldn''t enter, he planned on reporting it to the school.


    Shifting his glance up, he realized that the special tempered glass sliding door on the second-floor balcony was closed but not locked. He leaped up to the balcony, opened the sliding door and entered the building.


    The buildings in Four Seasons Garden were identical. Zhou Wen rushed straight for the bedroom with great familiarity.


    Fortunately, the problem happened in the bedroom. If something untoward had happened in the cultivation room, I''ll probably have to report it to the school authorities. I wonder if they will be in time to save her though. Zhou Wen opened the unlocked door and entered.


    What welcomed him was An Jing in bed, her face shockingly pale. Her eyes were closed as she gritted her teeth tightly. She was profusely sweating and her body appeared stiff. She didn''t look like she was in a good condition.


    "What''s wrong with you?" Zhou Wen walked forward and crouched down beside An Jing. He then pinched the bottom of her nose.


    However, An Jing wished she were dead. Due to her physique, she had been diagnosed with a strange illness. She had periodic relapses that would leave her body in excruciating pain. In serious cases, her entire body would go numb and she would remain motionless.


    Thankfully, this strange illness was like a woman''s period. It came rather punctually and An Jing could expect when it would happen. During those periods of time, she would stay in her room to silently endure the pain until it was over.


    Today, she had planned to stay in bed to silently endure the pain just like she usually did. But this episode was worse than normal, so she couldn''t help but let out a soft, painful moan. This was heard by Zhou Wen wearing Truth Listener as an earring.


    Due to the pain, An Jing fell from the bed while rolling about. The fall made her body stiff and motionless, but she remained lucid.


    She had also heard Zhou Wen pressing the doorbell. She believed that he would leave without any response, but to her surprise, he had barged in by jumping into her balcony.


    An Jing felt deep regret for not locking the sliding door.


    In fact, she wasn''t to be blamed. They were in Sunset College after all. Only students were admitted inside and there were surveillance cameras everywhere. Since no one knew of her physical problem, they wouldn''t dare barge into her room.


    When Zhou Wen walked towards the bedroom, An Jing kept enduring the pain while praying that he wouldn''t enter. This was because she was only wearing a nightgown.


    A symptom of each episode was profuse sweating, so there was a need to change her clothes. To reduce the trouble, she changed into a nightgown.


    Furthermore, An Jing''s current position was rather unbecoming due to her fall. Having received etiquette lessons from a young age, she couldn''t accept others seeing her in that pose, especially Zhou Wen who she treated as her enemy.


    He clearly didn''t think too much about it. He treated her as a patient and asked while pinching her nose. "Can you hear me? Can you?"


    An Jing opened her eyes and glared at Zhou Wen, but that was all she could do. At this moment, her pain had already reached its climax. Her body was stiff and her entire body was trembling. Even her teeth were chattering, so she had no strength to speak.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll call the doctor for you." Zhou Wen felt relieved when he saw her open her eyes. Since she wasn''t dead, there was likely a chance of treating her.


    He didn''t hesitate and took out his ordinary phone and called the school''s emergency number to get the hospital to send a doctor over.


    As a student of Four Seasons Garden, the perks they enjoyed were pretty good. They also had the best medical facilities.


    An Jing fumed with anxiety when she saw him about to call the hospital. Her ailment wasn''t something an ordinary doctor could treat, so visiting the hospital was pointless. Otherwise, with the An family''s resources, she would have received the best treatment from the best doctors and hospitals in the League.


    What made her feel most unacceptable was that she wore a nightgown that only covered half her thigh. Also, her hair was disheveled. She couldn''t accept letting other students see her in this state if she were carried out by the medical team.


    Although she knew that he was doing it out of goodwill, An Jing couldn''t help but grit her teeth in anger.


    With Zhou Wen about to make the phone call, An Jing tried hard to regain control of her body. With immense willpower, she shouted through chattering teeth, "D¡­ Don''t call¡­ I''m fine¡­"


    An Jing was drained of all her strength by the time she said those words. Her face was even paler and her voice was intensely trembling. She almost couldn''t hear what was being said.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was wearing the Truth Listener earring and could hear her clearly. However, he looked at her painful expression in a doubtful manner and said, "You don''t seem fine. If you''re sick, you need treatment. You shouldn''t hide your ailment and not take medical advice. Relax and leave the rest to the doctors¡­"


    An Jing was in despair. Thankfully, her pain had already climaxed and she was now feeling a lot better. Enduring the stabbing pain, she said harshly, "I''m really fine. Leave."

 72 Blood Replenishment Tea

    "You don''t look fine." Zhou Wen thought and said in enlightenment, "Are you afraid that I''ll take this opportunity to seek revenge? Don''t worry. Although I don''t think too highly of you, I wouldn''t harm you on account of Sister Lan and my dad. I''m just calling for a doctor."


    With that said, Zhou Wen continued calling the emergency hotline.


    An Jing burned with anxiety and embarrassment as she shouted once more, "There''s no need. Really, there''s no need. I¡­ I¡­ I was having menstrual cramps¡­ I''ll be fine after some rest¡­ Leave¡­ Don''t disturb my rest¡­"


    An Jing had given that reason because she couldn''t think of anything else. She just wanted him to leave.


    "I see. I''ve heard that women can be in great pain a few days a month, but I never expected it to be this bad." Zhou Wen had lived alone from a young age and he didn''t have a mother. Thus, he had little contact with women. When he was a little older, he began cultivating and hadn''t ever had a girlfriend. He knew almost nothing about such matters.


    Although he remained suspicious, Zhou Wen believed that it was unlikely that she would play games with her life.


    "I''m really sorry. I''ll leave now," Zhou Wen said in embarrassment before he turned to leave An Jing''s room.


    An Jing heaved a sigh of relief when she saw him leave. The pain she was experiencing also seemed to lessen significantly.


    "Women sure have it tough. Fortunately, I''m a man. I don''t have to endure such pain every month," Zhou Wen mumbled to himself as he returned to his residence.


    However, on second thought, he realized that he had it tough as well. He had endless noise blaring into his ears like an irritating chant when he slept. He also had to lose large amounts of blood daily. It was especially so this time. To incubate Truth Listener, he had lost at least 500¨C600 cc of blood. He didn''t have it good either.


    I bought some brown sugar and wolfberries last time, and I''ve no idea if it will work. I might as well cook some to give it a try. My anemia has been pretty terrible recently. Zhou Wen scratched his forehead and thought to himself.


    Returning to his room, Zhou Wen forgot the matter of making the blood-replenishment drink as he continued grinding.


    This time, Zhou Wen entered the Ancient Imperial City dungeon. After killing the Skeleton General, he had a Skeleton General Companion Egg drop.


    However, the stats weren''t comparable to the first one in every aspect. Zhou Wen directly fed it to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. As for Truth Listener, as there weren''t any hunger notifications, Zhou Wen didn''t know if it needed to be fed.


    Switching to the Underground Buddha City, he no longer had any need to explore the Small Buddha Temple again since he had finished covering the area. He had slain the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus in the lotus pond and it hadn''t spawned again.


    Zhou Wen skipped the lotus pond and ventured deep into Underground Buddha City.


    In the midst of his travels, he saw a few lotus ponds, but not every one of them had a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. After spending an entire day, only one ordinary Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg dropped.


    Although the stats were relatively ordinary, it was a heart-type Companion Beast. Zhou Wen incubated it, planning on using its companion form to temporarily allow his heart to continue functioning if it was ever damaged.


    After so many sleepless nights, Zhou Wen finally couldn''t take it. He switched off his phone and slept through to the next morning. Only then did Zhou Wen get up to cook the supplements, making a pot of brown-sugar, wolfberry tea.


    "Zhou Wen, are you up? Today is matriculation day. Come on out and walk around." Just as Zhou Wen finished brewing his tea, Li Xuan called.


    "What''s there to see?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "Today''s the matriculation day for the freshmen. Many clubs in school are recruiting freshmen. We can also take a look," Li Xuan said with a chuckle.


    "I have no interest in joining any clubs." Zhou Wen poured a cup of blood-replenishing tea and drank it.


    "You don''t have to join one. You can take a look at all those beautiful female juniors and seniors." Li Xuan revealed his true motives.


    "Not interested." Zhou Wen still planned on exploring Underground Buddha City.


    "Don''t be so cold. There are benefits. The school will assign missions and most of them need to be completed by a team. The seniors already have their own teams. If we want to make a new team, we will have to recruit from the freshmen. To walk around now is also to prepare for the future¡­"


    Li Xuan gave plenty of reasons that irritated Zhou Wen so much that he agreed to walk around campus.


    After drinking a huge bowl of tea, Zhou Wen filled up a thermos and walked out of his place.


    It just so happened that An Jing walked out at the same time. She couldn''t help but grit her teeth when she saw him. However, she was slightly taken aback when she saw the glass thermos in his hand.


    She recognized it. There were wolfberries and other supplements in it and it was obvious that it was brewed with brown sugar. Her servants had previously prepared it for her.


    Do you think you can bribe me with a cup of brown-sugared water? Men almost never drank this and after what happened yesterday, An Jing imagined that he had brewed it for her, hoping to warm up his relationship with her.


    Although she had this in mind, the look in her eyes softened. She found Zhou Wen rather thoughtful and sensitive.


    When Zhou Wen walked out of his yard, An Jing came out as well. He needed to walk past her to leave the compound.


    She watched as Zhou Wen walked over, wondering if she should accept it if he were to give it to her.


    Amidst her thoughts, he arrived in front of her and saw An Jing looking at him. He nodded at her gently as a greeting.


    An Jing imagined that Zhou Wen was about to give her the tea when he nodded at her. She turned her head away slightly, waiting for him to hand it over.


    To her surprise, Zhou Wen just walked past her with the thermos in hand. He had no intention of walking towards her. Furthermore, he even drank a mouthful while walking off.


    "It seems to be a little too sweet," Zhou Wen muttered to himself after taking one mouthful.


    An Jing''s face burned as her eyes nearly spewed flames.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t paid any attention to her and walked straight out of Four Seasons Garden.


    Why don''t you die from an overdose drinking something like that! An Jing clenched her teeth hatefully as she looked at his departing figure.


    Today was matriculation day. However, Sunset College was unlike the typical school. There wasn''t any welcome ceremony or many decorations. Apart from the crowds, it didn''t seem any different from usual.


    On the two sides of the road, there were two rows of tables neatly placed. There were banners and signs placed in front of them¡ªrecruitment notices of the school''s clubs.


    Sunset College encouraged them to set up clubs, hoping that it could increase cooperation between students, especially when they entered dimensional zones to complete missions.


    "Zhou Wen, I''m here." Just as Zhou Wen was looking around, he heard Li Xuan''s voice from a particular club''s recruitment booth.


    He looked over and found Li Weiyang and Li Xuan standing together, the former waving her hand at him.

 73 Matriculation Day

    "Zhou Wen, are you interested in joining the Weiyang Club?" Li Weiyang winked at him. "Members of our Weiyang Club are basically all women. Many of them are beautiful female seniors."


    Zhou Wen didn''t reply as Li Xuan yelled, "Sis, that''s not fair. How can you snatch him from me? However, it''s useless even if you try. Zhou Wen and I are establishing a new club. He won''t join your Weiyang Club."


    Li Weiyang curled her lips and said, "That depends on whether Zhou Wen is willing to establish a new club with you. Sisters, let''s show our Weiyang Club''s strength to our junior."


    The row of female students behind¡ªall contending in beauty and fascination¡ªbegan putting up all kinds of sexy, mesmerizing, and adorable poses. They were like flowers in full bloom.


    "A honey trap!? Sis, that''s against the rules!" Li Xuan protested as he salivated.


    "It''s called the reasonable usage of available resources." Li Weiyang ignored Li Xuan''s protests as she smiled at Zhou Wen. "How about it? Consider joining the Weiyang Club. I won''t treat you shabbily."


    Zhou Wen shook his head. "I''ve already told Li Xuan I''d set up a new club with him."


    Li Weiyang was somewhat helpless after he declined her invitation. "Alright then, but I hope that your new club can ally with our Weiyang Club. We can always complete missions together if an opportunity arises."


    "No problem. Absolutely no problem," Li Xuan agreed immediately, his gaze wandering across the bodies of the female students of Weiyang Club.


    "What are you looking at? Little Virgin?" Li Weiyang mocked Li Xuan. After saying bye to Zhou Wen, she led the girls to recruit other freshmen.


    Li Xuan chuckled and said, "Zhou Wen, you missed an excellent opportunity. The Weiyang Club usually only recruits female students. You almost became their only male member. You missed a chance of being an emperor."


    However, Zhou Wen thought nothing of it. He looked around and said, "When can we establish the club? Can we begin recruiting members now? If we don''t do it now, the better freshmen might all be taken."


    The other clubs were recruiting freshmen, but Li Xuan didn''t seem prepared at all.


    He said helplessly, "This is also beyond our control. Freshmen can only apply to set up a club one month after matriculation. Also, you will need to have at least five students before you can make the application. The typical student will choose to join existing clubs, so it will make it quite difficult for us to set up a new one. However, we wouldn''t be under the mercy of others or care about other older members."


    Zhou Wen nodded. That was one of the reasons he hadn''t joined the Weiyang Club.


    If possible, he''d rather not join any club. Gaming alone in peace was much better than joining any club.


    Zhou Wen looked at the freshmen entering from the school''s main gates when he was suddenly taken aback. He saw two familiar figures.


    One of them was a tall girl and the other was a boy of medium stature. They were none other than Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong.


    The duo also saw Zhou Wen. They walked over with backpacks. Tian Xiangdong even greeted him in a rather triumphant manner. "Zhou Wen, you never expected to see us here, right?"


    "I never expected the two of you to be admitted into Sunset College." Zhou Wen was really surprised. The League had plenty of universities and Sunset College wasn''t the best choice. Yet, the duo had chosen to study here.


    Fang Ruoxi looked at the clubs around and asked Zhou Wen, "Zhou Wen, have you chosen a club?"


    "Babe, Zhou Wen and I plan on setting up our own club. Join us. I''ll make you vice chairwoman." Li Xuan posed handsomely and hit on Fang Ruoxi.


    "Alright," Fang Ruoxi replied with a smile.


    Li Xuan never expected her to answer so quickly, leaving him stunned. Then, he said bashfully, "However, we are all freshmen. We will only be able to apply for the club in one month. Babe, if you are in a rush, you can always take a look at the established clubs."


    Li Xuan might speak bombastically, but he was a genuine virgin. Furthermore, he was a virgin who didn''t dare lose his virginity.


    "There''s no need. I''ll wait till your new club is established," Fang Ruoxi said firmly as she stole a glance at Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen, you sure are fortunate," Li Xuan patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder and said with a smile.


    He naturally could tell that Fang Ruoxi was only joining because of Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen, I''m really sorry about what happened. Please believe me that nothing like that will ever happen again." Fang Ruoxi was naturally referring to her sudden quitting of the team during the college entrance exams.


    "No worries. It wasn''t your fault." Zhou Wen didn''t take it to heart.


    He always believed that since Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong were unrelated to him, it was only normal for them to quit.


    Tian Xiangdong hurriedly said with a smile, "That''s right. We really had no choice. Now that we are at Sunset College, we have a promising future. We don''t have to worry that much anymore. We guarantee you that nothing like that will happen again."


    Zhou Wen didn''t speak further. Things were always unpredictable. No one knew the future, so any guarantee now was without meaning.


    "Since we are all former schoolmates, I''ll take you to the matriculation booth," Li Xuan introduced as he walked. "Sunset College is different from the other schools. There are very few protocols and ceremonies. There aren''t any welcoming ceremonies or matriculation ceremonies for freshmen. Just register at the matriculation booth and be assigned to your dorm. Classes start tomorrow. By the way, I forgot to tell you, the first class of the first day at Sunset College is a combat test. Freshmen will be sent into dimensional zones to hunt dimensional creatures. Make sure you are mentally prepared."


    "Where will be the test? Buddha City?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "Of course not. Buddha City was only recently discovered. It isn''t fully under control, so they won''t send freshmen to take risks. Based on past experience, they will go to one of the four relatively safer dimensional zones on campus. Every freshman just needs to kill one dimensional creature to complete the mission. The more killed, the better the results," Li Xuan said.


    "What''s the point in that?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Count it as a way to benchmark. Although you can be admitted into Sunset College and everyone is a top student in their various high schools, everyone''s abilities are varied. Such a test allows the teachers to understand their true strength. Secondly, it''s also to create a ranking of the freshmen," Li Xuan explained.


    "What''s the freshmen ranking?" Tian Xiangdong asked out of curiosity.


    "A results ranking. The higher the ranking, the more resources the school will provide. Consider it a reward system." Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen and continued, "If this were in the past, Zhou Wen would have had the chance to enter the top three, but there are just too many strong freshmen this year. Just An Jing alone, who advanced to the Legendary stage two to three years ago, makes her a definite first in the rankings."

 74 Dimensional Forum

    After Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong had finished matriculation and were taken to their dorms, Zhou Wen returned to his. He wasn''t too interested in such activities.


    Just as he reached Four Seasons Garden, he saw a few students walking in with their luggage in tow. Clearly, the special admissions students had arrived and were beginning to move in.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t interested in them. He naturally didn''t care what they looked like. He walked to the row of buildings at the back of Four Seasons Garden with his head bowed.


    Just as he reached the last row, he saw a girl standing in front of the other building, opening the door with her dorm key.


    "Hello there. My name is Wang Lu. You live next door, right? We will be neighbors in the future," the girl greeted Zhou Wen in a friendly manner.


    "I''m Zhou Wen." Zhou Wen replied before entering his dorm.


    This guy is odd. As expected of special admissions students. Do all of them have such a character? Wang Lu was curious.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and used his phone to enter Ant Nest.


    Previously, he had encountered a bottleneck at Ant Nest. After entering, his strength hadn''t allowed him to progress deeper. Now with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant evolving to an adult state, he planned on giving it another try.


    Ant City was identical to before. It looked mysterious and bizarre. The ants were coming in and out of their nests and many of the black-winged flying ants were flying around.


    He controlled the blood-colored avatar and stayed far away from the City, sending Silver-Winged Flying Ant to fly over alone.


    The adult Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s stats made it a pinnacle existence among Legendary Companion Beasts. With a flap of its four wings, it flew directly towards Ant City.


    The black-winged flying ants immediately discovered it and rushed at it while flapping their black wings. The black swarm looked rather frightening.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant moved like lightning as it used its stinger to shoot Magical Needle, tearing through the head of the black-winged flying ant that charged headfirst. It then plummeted.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant didn''t stop as it shot into the ant swarm like a silver bolt of lightning.


    ''Killed Black-Winged Soldier Ant. Discovered dimensional crystal.''


    Zhou Wen saw a dimensional crystal drop due to the black-winged flying ant''s death, but he was unable to pick it up due to the distance.


    If the blood-colored avatar were to rush into the Ant City''s vicinity, it would suffer an attack. With his present strength, it would be difficult for him to survive the black-winged flying ant swarm.


    He kept watching as chimes kept ringing. Many dimensional crystals dropped, but Zhou Wen didn''t dare pick them up. He felt quite depressed as a result.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant could hardly move amidst the black-winged flying ant swarm. Although he slew a lot, there were just too many of them. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant was constantly in peril with the chances of it being overwhelmed by the ant swarm at any time.


    Damn it. There are too many ants and they are Legendary creatures. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant can''t rush in at all. Zhou Wen thought of getting the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to rush out, but it was already too late. Surrounded, it could only fight the black-winged flying ants that inundated it, the injuries it suffered increasing.


    Ding!


    Another black-winged flying ant was killed, dropping a black-winged flying ant dimensional crystal¡ªa black-winged flying ant''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    I''ll risk it! Zhou Wen looked at the copious numbers of dimensional crystals strewn across the ground. He could hold back, but upon seeing the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal, he couldn''t hold back any longer.


    He sent the blood-colored avatar to rush to the periphery of Ant City without any hesitation, summoning the Mutated Skeleton Ant and Truth Listener to distract the swarm.


    The black-winged flying ants quickly noticed him. Before he could arrive near the dimensional crystal, massive numbers of them rushed over.


    The Mutated Skeleton Ant tried to lead a number away, but it was only a Mortal Companion Beast. It died almost instantly under the Legendary creature horde.


    Using this brief moment, he leaped up and rushed towards the spot where the dimensional crystal dropped. He had his eyes fixed on the black-winged flying ant crystal.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant also died at this moment from the barrage of attacks. Its bleeding carcass fell and large numbers of black-winged flying ants turned around and rushed for the blood-colored avatar.


    Let me pick it up! Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and used his greatest Speed and Strength to grab that black-winged flying ant crystal.


    However, when its fingers were two feet away from the crystal, a large swarm of black-winged flying ants had rushed over, drowning it.


    Thankfully this is in-game. If I had done that in real life, death would have been a certainty. Zhou Wen looked at the black screen and wore a bitter smile.


    Dying without gaining anything in return was something Zhou Wen was already used to. Recently, he seldom died, unlike the period when he had first obtained the mysterious phone.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive himself, Zhou Wen entered the game once more. However, he knew that his strength was still lacking if he wanted to charge into Ant City. Therefore, he headed for Underground Buddha City.


    Zhou Wen wished to visit Small Buddha Temple and see if he could make the selection again with the dungeon refreshed, hoping to get another Mythical Companion Egg.


    However, he was disappointed when he entered. Even though Small Buddha Temple had been respawned, he wasn''t able to trigger the scene with the three-faced Buddha.


    From the looks of it, I can only obtain one Mythical Companion Egg in-game. I wonder if visiting it in real life will allow me to trigger the three-face Buddha''s gift of a Companion Egg. Although Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted, he didn''t wish to take the risk and finally eliminated the thought.


    To obtain the three-faced Buddha''s Companion Egg, I apparently need to first master the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra or death is certain. Those soldiers do not know this secret, so I''m afraid there will be many sacrifices. Zhou Wen had the intention of telling this secret to the scouts who explored Underground Buddha City; thus, reducing their losses. However, firstly, he didn''t have the chance to interact with these soldiers and secondly, he had no way of explaining how he knew that.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up as he muttered, "Since I can''t tell them directly, I can post the strategy guide of Underground Buddha City on the League''s Dimensional Forum. This way, I can receive the official''s reward and also prevent those soldiers from making sacrifices in vain."


    The League had always been encouraging its citizens to write out their thoughts and experiences regarding dimensional zones. For this, it had specially set up a server and an official Dimensional Forum.


    Posting dimensional zone strategies on the forum could be set as paid articles. It was even possible for the officials to buy the rights and use it as teaching material in textbooks.


    To ensure that the poster didn''t have any hesitation in writing these, the Dimensional Forum used a completely independent server and high-security measures. Unless it was voted by Congress, no one could check the data of the Dimensional Forum.


    For this, the League had clearly set up a guarantee by law. It was to prevent experts who didn''t wish to expose themselves to freely write their strategies on the forum.


    The League had many powerhouses who had the habit of browsing the Dimensional Forum. The typical citizen also treated it as a resource database.

 75 Fire God Platform

    Zhou Wen didn''t rush to post on the Dimensional Forum; instead, he first took a look at the other threads on it.


    The threads mainly had three different kinds of monetization methods.


    The first kind was a thread that provided a free strategy. Such threads didn''t require payment when reading. According to the number of clicks, the officials would pay a certain number of Dimensional Points in a particular ratio.


    Of course, if the reader count was very low, one wouldn''t be able to earn many Dimensional Points. 10,000 clicks were probably only enough to earn 1 Dimensional Point.


    Dimensional Points was the point system of the Dimensional Forum. It couldn''t be spent like money or be withdrawn. However, it could be used to exchange items at the Dimensional Forum''s official shop. Dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs were options for exchange and different items required a different number of points.


    Exchanging for an item only required a mailing address. Receipt of the goods was done with a password without any need for identification.


    The second kind of thread was monetized threads. Such threads could be read by paying. The price was determined by the poster and was also purchased with Dimensional Points.


    Of course, threads posted by unknown people on the Dimensional Forum basically didn''t have many people paying to read. One had to have a certain level of fame before people considered the purchase.


    The third kind of thread was official threads. An official guide and strategy was provided and could typically be read at very cheap prices. Furthermore, the authenticity of the content could be guaranteed.


    Zhou Wen registered a Dimensional Forum account which only required a bank account number, password, and alias without any other agreements.


    The entry of a bank account number and password was relatively simple. As for aliases, there were many which were duplicated. It was difficult to find a unique name.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to think of one. He randomly tapped on the keyboard and pressed space, immediately having a few words appear in the alias field.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what he had written, but on careful inspection, he realized that autocomplete had filled it in as "Poison." Zhou Wen subconsciously pressed confirm and realized that it could be used. The registration succeeded immediately.


    Zhou Wen didn''t care about his alias and directly used this account to log in and post his first thread.


    When posting, Zhou Wen chose monetization. Firstly, he was really poor and wished to earn something to buy Companion Eggs to feed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Secondly, there were too many threads on the Dimensional Forum. Ordinary threads very easily sank to the bottom and in comparison, monetized threads were rarer. They stayed longer on the monetized boards.


    After seeing the forum shop''s prices for Legendary Companion Eggs, Zhou Wen set the price for his first thread to be 20,000 Dimensional Points. This was the price of two Legendary Companion Eggs.


    Soon, a monetized thread named "Small Buddha Temple Stone Steps Strategy" appeared in the monetized board.


    Ordinary monetized threads ranged from a few points to a dozen points, and the more expensive ones were about a hundred points. For a thread to cost more than a thousand Dimensional Points, meant they were usually professional strategies usually written by some bigwigs on the forum.


    Yet, the Small Buddha Temple mentioned in the thread was almost unheard of. Even the alias which was used to post the thread was rather unfamiliar.


    "This must be a nutcase. 20,000 points? Only an idiot will read it."


    "This must be a scammer that''s hoping someone gives him Dimensional Points."


    "The rules on the forum need to be more comprehensive. Such scams need to be held legally responsible."


    ¡­


    Wang Fei was also browsing the Dimensional Forum when she suddenly saw the thread. She couldn''t help but be astonished.


    This was because Small Buddha Temple was in Sunset College''s Underground Buddha City. This secret wasn''t known even by ordinary teachers of Sunset College, but Wang Fei, who had an official position, knew very well what kind of place it was.


    Since the person who wrote the thread knew of Small Buddha Temple and wrote the keywords "stone steps," it meant that they knew something.


    Could it be just some nonsense? Wang Fei felt hesitant seeing the price of 20,000 points. However, if the thread really held the method of entering Small Buddha Temple, then 20,000 points was nothing.


    With so many lives sacrificed on the stone steps, each one of them was worth far more than 20,000 Dimensional Points.


    Gritting her teeth, Wang Fei paid and opened the thread. When she saw the content inside, she revealed a look of disbelief. The Heart Meditation Primordial Energy Skill at the Mortal stage can crack the oddness of the stone steps? Is this possible?


    The soldiers responsible for exploring the stone steps were at least at the Legendary stage. Even if they had obtained the Buddha Heart Lotus dimensional crystal, none of them would be interested in a low-grade Primordial Energy Skill. To her surprise, such a puny Heart Meditation was able to resist the stone step''s mysterious powers.


    The thread had little content. That was all it said. Finally, it warned that one was not to enter the temple or death was a certainty.


    Zhou Wen had posted the thread out of goodwill, but he also had some selfishness.


    He only had one life, so he was worried about risking his life heading for the Small Buddha Temple in reality. If reality was different in-game, he could at least get the military to scout it out. If they could safely enter Small Buddha Temple, he wouldn''t hesitate any further.


    After all, the military didn''t know the secret of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Even if they did, cultivating it wasn''t something that could be done in a short span of time. Zhou Wen could beat them in entering the temple hall in the real world and visit the three-faced Buddha.


    Of course, he had to confirm that reality''s Small Buddha Temple was identical to the game. Only with him being able to safely enter would he personally visit it.


    After Wang Fei saw the thread, she immediately made a phone call and informed the military department she came under.


    Before long, Wang Fei received feedback from the military. They had already sent a soldier who had cultivated Heart Meditation to attempt ascending the stone steps. He ended up entering the compound of Small Buddha Temple without dying like all the soldiers from before.


    The thread is real! Who''s that Poison? How does he know about Small Buddha Temple? Wang Fei was shocked.


    Zhou Wen discovered that he had two clicks on his thread which also meant that two people had purchased his thread. Immediately, he had 40,000 Dimensional Points deposited into his account.


    That''s some easy money. Zhou Wen was delighted.


    However, he soon discovered that no one else purchased his thread beyond the two clicks.


    If I had known, I should have set the price even higher. Zhou Wen stopped paying attention to the thread and entered the Ancient Imperial City dungeon.


    After killing the Skeleton General, Zhou Wen continued exploring. With the Silver-Winged Flying Ant leading the way, the large horde of Skeleton Soldiers could do nothing against him. He stormed all the way in.


    After several kilometers, a platform obstructed his path. From afar, he saw the words¡ª"E Bo Platform."


    Zhou Wen wasn''t a stranger to this name. E Bo was one of the sons of the Five Emperors in Chinese mythology, which was also the founding ancestor of the Shang clan. He had the title of Fire God, so E Bo Platform was also known as Fire God Platform, a star observatory that E Bo used.


    However, in the history books, Zhou Wen remembered, Fire God Platform wasn''t inside the ancient city, but southwest of it.


    Amidst his thoughts, he saw the fire on Fire God Platform burgeon. A scarlet flame soared into the sky, turning into a firebird that charged at the blood-colored avatar.

 76 Wangs Man

    The firebird was extremely fast. Silver-Winged Flying Ant dodged the firebird''s charge with Silver Wing Flash, but the blood-colored avatar didn''t have the same speed. It was already too late to summon the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to turn it into wings.


    Since he couldn''t dodge, Zhou Wen struck out with Ashen Palm.


    However, when the palm made contact with the firebird, it felt like he had struck air. There was no corporeal entity to direct his force and by then, the firebird had already charged into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Bang!


    The next second, the blood-colored avatar exploded like fireworks, turning the screen black.


    Unwilling to accept this, Zhou Wen dripped his blood and revived the blood-colored avatar. He charged straight for Fire God Platform and before long arrived there. This time, he was prepared. He first turned Silver-Winged Flying Ant into its companion form. Four translucent silver wings appeared behind the blood-colored avatar.


    Indeed, the firebird flew out from the top of the Fire God Platform once more. Zhou Wen used the flight obtained from silver wings to face off with the firebird and, although he couldn''t shake it off, the firebird was unable to catch up to him.


    Ignoring the firebird, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to fly towards the Fire God Platform. He wanted to see what was on top of it.


    The Platform was squarish in shape like a gigantic chimney. It was a thousand feet tall and although he wanted to fly to its peak, his silver wings only allowed him to fly a dozen meters or so. He wasn''t able to reach higher altitudes.


    The Life Providence as King of Low Altitudes allows the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to be extremely agile at low altitudes, but it can''t fly too high. This is a damning weakness. Zhou Wen landed on the stone steps of the Fire God Platform and seeing the firebird about to chase up to him, he summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and shot Magical Needle at it.


    The firebird didn''t dodge and allowed it to rush straight at it.


    Bang!


    Magical Needle was useful as it exploded the firebird; however, the system didn''t indicate that he had killed a dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. Just as he was about to rush up to the Fire God Platform, he saw another flame soar into the sky from the top of the platform. This time, two firebirds swooped down.


    Zhou Wen continued rushing up the staircase and before long, the two firebirds came to him. The blood-colored avatar gained the silver wings and faced off with the two firebirds again. After taking painstaking efforts, he finally slew the two firebirds. But this time, four firebirds flew out.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare kill them. All he could do was try his best to escape the firebirds'' pursuit and head to the top of the Fire God Platform as quickly as he could.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen was wrong. Even if he didn''t kill the firebirds, the top of the Fire God Platform sent out eight firebirds when he reached a certain height.


    Zhou Wen was already doing the best he could, but he wasn''t the firebird''s match. Soon, the blood-colored avatar had a firebird charge into his body and exploded to its death.


    However, from where it stood, he could already see some of the Fire God Platform''s peak. There was a stone monument erected on it, but Zhou Wen was only able to see the tip and vaguely made out the word: ''Imperial.''


    The game screen went black, but he didn''t immediately revive again. Instead, he recalled his past experiences.


    After killing the firebird, there wasn''t any indication of me killing dimensional creatures. This means that they aren''t dimensional creatures. If they aren''t, it means they are a type of Primordial Energy Skill. But why didn''t the dimensional creature at the top of Fire God Platform release large numbers of firebirds at the very beginning but instead slowly double them up?


    Zhou Wen then thought of something. In real life, the ancient city is clearly Guide Ancient City, but the game dungeon''s name is Ancient Imperial City. That Fire God Platform has a stone monument with the word "Imperial" on it. Could it be related?


    Unable to figure things out immediately, Zhou Wen decided to take a rest and calm his mind.


    Pouring himself a cup of blood-replenishing tea, he sipped at it as he checked if there was any new income from the thread he had posted on the Dimensional Forum.


    He was left disappointed as the clicks remained at two. However, he had received a private message on the forum.


    Zhou Wen saw that the message was posted by a user named "Wang''s Man." He clicked it and gave it a look.


    "Dear Sir, might I discuss Small Buddha Temple with you?"


    "Discuss?" Zhou Wen replied.


    Wang Fei always had the forum open on her phone. Although she hadn''t received a reply after waiting for quite some time, she had continued waiting patiently.


    The discovery of Small Buddha Temple was too astonishing. After using Poison''s method, the military had finally rushed into the compound of Small Buddha Temple and discovered the stone monument with the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    This discovery astounded Wang Fei and the military top brass. Such a stone monument had been discovered in other mysterious dimensional zones in the past. People had mastered the Primordial Energy Art on the stone monument and earned a mysterious Companion Beast.


    However, Wang Fei and the military top brass knew very well that although the Primordial Energy Art was potent, it wasn''t something that anyone could cultivate. One needed the corresponding special physiques to cultivate the corresponding Primordial Energy Arts.


    Although they saw the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, no one dared to cultivate it. A volunteer attempted to memorize the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra on the stone monument, but a few words were enough for him to clasp his head and cry out in pain. He then died with blood gushing out of his seven orifices.


    A general had personally visited the stone monument before ordering all soldiers to leave Small Buddha Temple. Furthermore, all news regarding Small Buddha Temple was made top secret.


    Wang Fei contacted Poison on the general''s orders.


    "Have you mastered Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra?" Wang Fei hurriedly asked.


    "What has that got to do with you?"


    "I''m willing to pay large sums of money to buy information from you." Sensing the other party''s tone to be somewhat impatient, Wang Fei got straight to the point and indicated her motives.


    "What information? Tell me."


    "Do you know what special physiques are needed to cultivate in the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra?" Wang Fei hurriedly replied.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He had no idea what physiques were needed. However, on second thought, he immediately came to a realization.


    I was wondering why the three-faced Buddha called me his child. I thought it had to do with my cultivating of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, but from the looks of it, it''s not that simple. But I don''t seem to possess any special physique. If Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra requires one to cultivate, how did I succeed? With this in mind, Zhou Wen''s eyes suddenly lit up. Could it be the Lost Immortal Sutra?


    He recalled that his brain felt extreme discomfort when he began reading the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. After the Lost Immortal Sutra took effect, he was able to finish reading the former in its entirety and mastered it.


    From the looks of it, it''s most likely Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Wang Fei waited for quite a while, but there was no reply. She couldn''t help but feel a little uneasy, but it wasn''t appropriate for her to send another message to rush the person. All she could do was continue waiting, with every second feeling like an eternity.

 77 Matriculation Tes

    Wang Fei didn''t receive a response after waiting all day. Her message was like a rock sinking into the ocean. Finally, she couldn''t help but send another message, but once again, she didn''t receive a reply.


    Unbeknownst to her, Zhou Wen had already closed the forum and was gaming away.


    He didn''t know what physiques were needed to cultivate the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, so he naturally wasn''t able to answer her. However, he didn''t wish to let the other person know that he was clueless. He decided to not answer for there was a chance he could learn more from the other party in the future.


    But this only served to torture Wang Fei. This was because the Dimensional Forum didn''t have any indication of online status, nor was there any way of checking. Therefore, she didn''t know if Zhou Wen was online or not. All she could do was continue waiting.


    Wang Fei immediately picked up her phone when it suddenly sounded and she saw the number flash up.


    "Little Fei, did you figure out Poison''s identity?" A man''s voice sounded over the phone.


    "Sorry, General Shen. There was no response from him. I''m also temporarily unable to figure out his identity," Wang Fei said after a pause. "General Shen, can we figure out his geographical location through the forum?"


    "The Dimensional Forum is under the Zhang family. You know what they are like. Unless Congress passes it through a vote, there''s no way we can get the information from them. It''s impossible. The Zhangs won''t even entertain me," General Shen thought for a moment before continuing, "Since Poison knows about Buddha City and Small Buddha Temple, as well as the secret of the stone steps, it means he must have been there. This place is a recently discovered dimensional zone, so not many people have been there. Apart from our military personnel, there are only the students and teachers of Sunset College. Investigate it from this angle. You have to find Poison no matter what."


    "Yes." Wang Fei hung up and thought about how she could begin.


    Quite a number of students and teachers had entered Buddha City, so it wasn''t an easy task to find out who they all were.


    Early in the morning, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan reported for class.


    Sunset College used an education system that followed half-restricted military practices. It was different from the typical university. Here, there was no distinction between electives and compulsory classes. They only needed to attend the lessons of one teacher. They could attend the classes of other teachers based on their own interests.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen happened to be assigned to Wang Fei''s class, and she was in a rather unhappy mood today. After entering the class, she saw all the freshmen looking languid. She pursed her lips before curling the ends of her mouth slightly.


    "Students, from today, I''ll be your counselor. Let me introduce myself. My name is Wang Fei." Wang Fei wrote her name on the board.


    When the students realized that she was in her late twenties, exuding a mature lady''s sexiness by wearing a gray professional blazer matched with stockings, something that the female students were unable to compare with, some of the bolder students cheered.


    Li Xuan was clearly one of the bolder ones. He called out, "Miss Wang, are you taken? If you aren''t, you can consider me."


    Upon hearing Li Xuan''s words, many students laughed out. Many students also made catcalls.


    Wang Fei seemed used to such situations and thought nothing of it. She shot Li Xuan a look and said, "Of course. But you have to first be able to graduate while under me. Alright, this is Sunset College. The word ''Sunset'' is a warning to us that time is precious. Our school''s purpose is to cherish time. Now, I''ll be assigning you your first matriculation homework. It will also be your first test. Kill a Demonized General within ten days. Each team is only allowed a maximum of four people. The kill has to be done within ninety seconds. If you fail to complete the test, you will be expelled from school. You can then seek out other opportunities for yourself. The school will also arrange for you to apply to other ordinary schools."


    The noisy classroom instantly fell silent.


    Students who were admitted into Sunset College weren''t to be trifled with. Before arriving on campus, many of them had gained an understanding of Sunset College via various channels.


    To have a test on the first day of classes was a tradition of Sunset College. It wasn''t much of a surprise.


    However, to slay a Demonized General within ninety seconds in a group of four, it was quite demanding.


    Sunset College had many dimensional zones, so the typical matriculation test was to kill a certain number of Mortal dimensional creatures, but a Demonized General was a Legendary dimensional creature.


    Although the students here were all elites, most of them were at the Mortal stage. Killing a Legendary dimensional creature through the combined forces of four students at the Mortal stage wasn''t simple. Furthermore, Demonized Generals didn''t appear alone. They would have plenty of Mortal stage Demonized Soldiers around them, increasing the difficulty.


    Most students probably were incapable of killing one in ninety seconds as a group of four.


    "Miss Wang, we just matriculated and have learned nothing. Isn''t it too demanding for us to kill a Demonized General?" a student raised his doubts.


    "Didn''t I give you ten days to learn? As long as you are willing to put in the effort, ten days is sufficient. If you don''t have the will, a hundred days would be useless. This is Sunset College. It doesn''t have that much time for you to waste. Kill a Demonized General in ten days or study at another university. Your fates are in your hands. Alright, this will be the end of the administration matters before class starts. You can officially begin attending lessons. As for the classes you would like to attend, it''s up to you to decide. The timetable has the various counselors'' lesson timings. You can choose the subjects you would like to learn more about." Wang Fei handed out passes before she left, leaving the room filled with dumbfounded students.


    "College life seems to be a little more interesting than I expected. Killing a Demonized General in ninety seconds in a group of four probably isn''t easily accomplished, much less ordinary students," Li Xuan whispered to Zhou Wen.


    The other students either lamented or grumbled. Their test was the hardest among all the matriculation tests in previous years.


    "What kind of dimensional creature is the Demonized General?" Zhou Wen held the pass he had received and studied it. On it were the words: Tiger Cage Pass.


    Li Xuan said, "Tiger Cage Pass is a dimensional zone east of campus. In ancient times, it was called Sihui Pass. After it became a dimensional zone, large numbers of Demonized General and Demonized Soldiers appeared. Among dimensional creatures of the same level, Demonized Generals and Demonized Soldiers are middle to upper tier. Some Demonized Generals even reach the level of pinnacle Legendary. They are very difficult to deal with. Such a matriculation test is really difficult for newly matriculated students."


    "Let''s visit Tiger Cage Pass then," Zhou Wen said with piqued interest.


    His other dungeons had reached a bottleneck. He was unable to reach the top of Fire God Platform and he couldn''t break into Ant City. There wasn''t much to be discovered in Underground Buddha City, so it would be a good development to have a new dungeon.

 78 Demonized General

    "Ms. Wang, you shouldn''t have used the test meant for the special admissions students of the previous two years on ordinary students, right?" Liu Zhengyan told Wang Fei inside the school office.


    "These imps are filled with arrogance; if they aren''t taught a lesson, it might not be easy teaching them in the future. Mr. Liu, rest assured. I know what I''m doing," Wang Fei said with great confidence.


    Wang Fei naturally wouldn''t expel her students. She had prepared a strategy for killing the Demonized General. As long as these students worked hard to look up information on it, they would discover the strategy she had specially written.


    By studying the strategy completely, it wasn''t difficult to slay the Demonized General within ten days.


    The average student did research in school, but Zhou Wen was clearly an exception. Without doing any research, he and Li Xuan headed straight for the Tiger Cage Pass dimensional zone.


    Tiger Cage Pass was similarly underground. After receiving a temporary pass from the school, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were able to enter it.


    The pass had to be returned in ten days, so it wouldn''t be easy for them to enter Tiger Cage Pass again after that time.


    It wasn''t that the school wasn''t willing to open Tiger Cage Pass to everyone, but it had too few resources available for all. Real life wasn''t a game where dimensional creatures would keep respawning after being killed. One had to wait for new dimensional creatures to come out of the dimensional rift, and this process was much slower than in-game respawning.


    Therefore, dimensional zones like Tiger Cage Pass that were specially prepared for students were typically opened up to them for fixed periods of time to ensure that there would be sufficient dimensional creatures in it.


    Outside Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen discovered the familiar palm symbol, but it was a symbol with a tiger-headed gate.


    Before entering, he used his mysterious phone to snap a picture of the palm symbol and indeed, he successfully downloaded the Tiger Cage Pass game dungeon.


    Since he was here, he entered with Li Xuan to take a look. Several students from the same class had come as well. They too were here to take a look at Tiger Cage Pass''s situation.


    In the underground ancient battlefield, Demonized Soldiers were wandering in groups. They wore ragged clothes and had blood-red eyes. Their dark skin suffused a metallic luster.


    There were also different types of Demonized Soldiers. Most of them carried lances while others held knives and shields. A few of them had bows and arrows.


    Most of the students were geniuses of their various high schools, so dealing with the typical Demonized Soldier wasn''t difficult. However, there were no signs of Demonized Generals anywhere in the vicinity.


    "Shall we head in and find a Demonized General so that we can complete the test today?" Li Xuan asked with a smile.


    "Another day perhaps. It''s best we head back and study the information regarding Tiger Cage Pass." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to underestimate any dimensional zone. It was equivalent to dancing on the edge of a blade.


    Although he now had the capability of killing Legendaries, Legendary creatures were varied in their abilities. No one could guarantee that nothing would go wrong.


    "You''re just too careful. Without strength, we can just be over and done with by storming in," Li Xuan said with a laugh.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and headed out. After returning to his dorm, he first launched the school''s official page and looked up the information regarding Tiger Cage Pass.


    Wang Fei had deliberately stuck to the strategy, so Zhou Wen naturally found it at a glance. When he loaded it, there was a detailed introduction to the strategy and how it could be used. As long as one cooperated well with one another, killing a Legendary Demonized General wasn''t difficult.


    However, it had pointed out something¡ªthe Demonized Generals mentioned in the strategy were typical Demonized Generals. If one were to encounter a Demonized General with engraving on their helmets, one was to immediately stay away from them.


    After studying the information available, Zhou Wen launched the game dungeon and entered Tiger Cage Pass.


    The game''s graphics were nearly identical to Tiger Cage Pass, other than the fact that it was cartoonish. It didn''t look as bloody and terrifying.


    With Zhou Wen''s strength, killing ordinary Demonized Soldiers was easy. Even small groups of them didn''t pose any threat. He stormed his way and headed in the direction of Tiger Cage Pass''s gate.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant slew the ordinary Demonized Soldiers as if it was dicing vegetables. This went on for kilometers until he suddenly saw a Demonized General rushing over on a Demon Horse.


    The Demon Horse was entirely red in color. It looked like a cloud of flames and its speed was astonishing. It arrived in front of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant almost in the blink of an eye.


    The Demonized General on the horse was abnormally stocky. It wore black armor and a helmet, and the weapon in its hand looked extremely odd. It looked like a spear, but the two sides of the spear tip had two crescent blades. It was more than three meters long and looked a little like the trident of the mythical Poseidon.


    The raven-black spear suffused a red glow and although it was drawn in a cartoon style, it still gave one the feeling of ferocity and dominance.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze swept across its helmet and saw a circular groove. Engraved in it was the word "Paper."


    Boom! The Demonized General raised its spear and thrust it at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Burning flames spewed out of the spear tip, making the strange spear appear like a flaming wyrm that swept towards the ant at blistering speed. Clearly, it was a Primordial Energy Skill.


    Under Zhou Wen''s control, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant used Silver Wing Flash to dodge the Demonized General''s thrust. At the same time, it moved its stinger and shot out Magical Needle, aiming right at the Demonized General''s eyes.


    "Roar!" The Demonized General let out a roar as its body produced fiery ripples that resembled lotus flower petals. It had surprisingly withstood Magical Needle as it threw the strange burning spear right at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant in midair.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly made the Silver-Winged Flying Ant fly higher, hoping to use the distance of height to prevent the attack from hitting.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant flew to a height of more than ten meters, a height that Zhou Wen imagined the strange spear wouldn''t be able to reach.


    But to his surprise, the Demon Horse, the Demonized General was riding, leaped up and jumped more than ten meters into the sky, instantly closing the distance between it and the ant. The strange spear in the Demonized General''s hand again swept at it like a fiery wyrm.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant lived up to its name as King of Low Altitudes. As it flapped its four wings, it dodged the attack like a silver bolt of lightning. However, a shocking scene happened the next second.


    The Demonized General aimed one hand at the Silver-Winged Flying Ant in midair and sucked at it. As though space was collapsing towards its palm, the Ant which was at least two meters away was pulled towards the Demonized General. No matter how hard it flapped its four wings, it was unable to escape the suction.


    Crack!


    The strange spear cleaved down, immediately lopping off the motionless Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s head. Zhou Wen turned around and retreated, but the blood-colored avatar did not have enough strength to fend off a pinnacle Legendary creature.


    Zhou Wen had ultimately retreated too late. Without even pursuing him, the Demonized General sat on the Demon Horse''s back and threw the strange spear over.


    The flaming wyrm tore through the sky and without being able to dodge in time, the blood-colored avatar was pinned to the sandy ground in the battlefield. The screen went black.

 79 Crazy Grinding

    How terrifying! Zhou Wen didn''t feel depressed. Instead, his eyes lit up as he felt pumped with excitement.


    The stats of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant were already considered top-notch among Legendaries. Yet, it had been butchered by the Demonized General. Such a powerful existence made Zhou Wen eager to obtain it.


    Be it the Demonized General Companion Beast or the Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill, they were both of extreme value. It was especially so for the skill that could pull the Silver-Winged Flying Ant over. It was practically godlike.


    Without any hesitation, he dripped his blood to revive the blood-colored avatar. He then chose to head for Tiger Cage Pass immediately.


    The typical Demonized Soldiers held little meaning to him. He stormed all the way in, leaving a wake of destruction behind him. Soon, he encountered the Demonized General who came riding on a horse.


    However, this Demonized General was somewhat different from the one he had previously encountered. Although it wore the same black armor and helmet, there wasn''t any engraving on its helmet. Furthermore, it was riding a black horse and it was slightly shorter. The weapon it wielded was an ordinary spear.


    Upon exchanging blows, Zhou Wen realized that this was the ordinary Demonized General as described in the school''s strategy. It was completely different from the word-engraved Demonized General he had seen.


    Although an ordinary Demonized General was rather strong, it wasn''t the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s match. After about ten minutes of battle, it was slain and had dropped a Primordial Energy Crystal.


    A 15-valued Primordial Energy Crystal didn''t help Zhou Wen break through his limits. Apart from his Constitution at 11, his other stats peaked at 10. He was unable to exceed the limit.


    Zhou Wen continued controlling the blood-colored avatar as he stormed towards Tiger Cage Pass. The nearer he was to it, the more Demonized Soldiers there were. He did encounter two Demonized Generals, but they dropped nothing of note.


    When the city gates of Tiger Cage Pass were in sight, Zhou Wen wanted to continue charging forward when he heard the twang of a bowstring. An arrow shot out from Tiger Cage Pass like a bolt of lightning, instantly killing the blood-colored avatar.


    What the hell? Zhou Wen was able to hear the bowstring''s twang thanks to the Truth Listener earring, but he hadn''t managed to see who had shot the arrow, nor was he able to dodge it in time.


    Such an outcome clearly didn''t satisfy him. He dripped his blood and entered the game again, but this time, he didn''t enter Tiger Cage Pass but first entered Ant Nest, Ancient Imperial City, and Underground Buddha City. After killing the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, Skeleton General, and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus once, he headed for Tiger Cage Pass.


    He failed to encounter a word-engraved Demonized General again and only encountered two ordinary ones. After killing them, he was killed on the spot by the arrow as he tried to approach Tiger Cage Pass. He still failed to identify who had killed the blood-colored avatar.


    Without immediately entering the game, Zhou Wen headed online to check the school''s online database and studied in detail the information regarding Tiger Cage Pass.


    There was plenty of information, but little regarding the word-engraved Demonized General. It was only mentioned that they were occasionally encountered outside Tiger Cage Pass and were very rare, with one not even appearing for a month or two.


    Furthermore, there were many bigwigs who had their sights on word-engraved Demonized Generals. It was said that their Primordial Energy Skills were very valuable, but Zhou Wen didn''t manage to find any information regarding that.


    As for what was inside Tiger Cage Pass, an Epic stage expert had once rushed in but ended up escaping with grievous injuries. To date, humanity hadn''t yet cleared the Tiger Cage Pass dimensional zone.


    The area twenty-five hundred meters outside Tiger Cage Pass was considered a forbidden area. Typical students and teachers were forbidden from entry and they had only themselves to blame if an accident were to occur there.


    Without finding the word-engraved Demonized Generals'' detailed information, Zhou Wen tried again. He dripped his blood again to revive himself in the bid of encountering one outside Tiger Cage Pass.


    However, before heading to Tiger Cage Pass each time, he would kill the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, Skeleton General, and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus. A Legendary Companion Egg did drop and ordinary Companion Eggs dropped as well. They were all given as food to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener also needed food, but it was picky. It only ate Companion Eggs and had no interest in incubated Companion Beasts. This made it different from the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Ding!


    For the next few days, Zhou Wen continued grinding crazily. After he slew a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus once more, a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Crystal dropped¡ªa Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    This was even rarer than a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg. He had already had three of them drop, but the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal only had one drop.


    I already have Blood Meditation. I hope it isn''t the same one this time. Zhou Wen carefully looked at the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal''s stats.


    Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus: Lotus Flower Buddha Body (Rank 9)


    Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up as he didn''t hesitate to let the blood-colored avatar fuse with it.


    Lotus Flower Buddha Body was the blood-patterned Buddha Heart Lotus''s protective Primordial Energy Skill and furthermore, it was Rank 9. Zhou Wen couldn''t ask for more.


    Thankfully, the Buddha-type Primordial Energy Skill was relatively mild. Although it was at the Legendary stage, it didn''t excessively burden Zhou Wen''s body. It allowed him to successfully obtain the Rank 9 Lotus Flower Buddha Body.


    When Zhou Wen attempted to circulate it, faint blood patterns immediately suffused his skin. They covered his entire body with flower petals as though a Buddha''s aspect was hidden within.


    Lotus Flower Buddha Body expended one Primordial Energy point every second, therefore, only allowing him to use it for ten seconds. This was under the condition that he didn''t use any other Primordial Energy Skills.


    This Primordial Energy Skill is good in every way, but its expenditure is just too high, Zhou Wen thought with an insatiable desire.


    He entered the game to try his newly mastered skill and realized that he had basically achieved invulnerability against the attacks of Demonized Soldiers at the same Mortal stage. His defensive strength was indeed pretty good.


    It could also defend the attacks of ordinary Demonized Generals if they didn''t use Primordial Energy Skills. If they were to use one, the Lotus Flower Buddha Body wasn''t able to defend against it, but it still prevented him from being killed instantly.


    Of course, this was under the condition that the ordinary Demonized Generals could hit the blood-colored avatar. In fact, with the silver wings formed by the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, ordinary Demonized Generals were incapable of touching the blood-colored avatar.


    As for the arrow that shot out from Tiger Cage Pass, it was still able to penetrate his body. Lotus Flower Buddha Body''s defensive powers were like paper mache that didn''t show any obvious effects. Even Silver Wing Flash didn''t help him in dodging it.


    The one shooting the arrow from Tiger Cage Pass is likely an Epic dimensional creature. Zhou Wen no longer dared to approach Tiger Cage Pass and only sought Demonized Generals in the periphery.


    He grinded Tiger Cage Pass countless times, and one time, he encountered a red horse dash towards him shortly after he arrived near Tiger Cage Pass. The Demonized General riding on it was stocky and tall. Its strange spear, resembling Poseidon''s trident, was eye-catching. There was a word engraved on its helmet, making it the word-engraved Demonized General which Zhou Wen had been trying hard to find.


    However, upon careful inspection, he was stunned. This was because the word engraved was different from the one he had previously seen.

 80 Battling the Demonized General Again

    The last time Zhou Wen saw the Demonized General, it had the word Paper engraved on the helmet. This time, it wasn''t Paper but Blade.


    It was Paper and now it''s Blade. Don''t tell me the next one is Rock? Although he didn''t know why they differed, he still followed his plans. He fused the Mutated Skeleton Ant, Silver-Winged Flying Ant, and Truth Listener into the blood-colored avatar and prepared for a full-power skirmish.


    Although the Demonized General was strong, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant wasn''t weak, especially when it came to Speed. It was definitely not weaker than any Legendary dimensional creature.


    The Demonized General''s attack was identical to the one he previously encountered. The strange spear in its hand swept over with blazing flames, but Zhou Wen managed to dodge it by flying.


    He didn''t rejoice when he dodged the strange spear''s attack. He continued staring intently at the Demonized General''s left hand.


    Indeed, after the spear missed, the Demonized General raised its left hand just as Zhou Wen had expected.


    However, to his surprise, the Demonized General didn''t suck the blood-colored avatar over. Instead, it transformed its palm into a blade and waved it at it.


    The faint red blade aura tore out like a thin thread, instantly cleaving the blood-colored avatar''s waist, an attack that even the silver wings were unable to dodge.


    The blade aura flashed past the blood-colored avatar''s waist, slicing it into two. It then plummeted from the sky and the screen turned black.


    Zhou Wen was confused when he saw the black screen. The left-hand technique of Paper is suction, while Blade has a blade aura that''s as fast as lightning. If there''s Rock, would it be a powerful punch that strikes from afar?


    He didn''t immediately revive the blood-colored avatar to try again. He carefully considered the battle and quickly realized that he was unlikely to defeat the Paper Demonized General with only the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. However, he had a chance of defeating the Blade Demonized General.


    The suction force of the Paper Demonized General''s palm was something the Silver-Winged Flying Ant couldn''t avoid. However, the extremely fast Blade aura of the Blade Demonized General could be avoided if Silver-Winged Flying Ant was used properly. This also meant that Zhou Wen had the chance of killing a Blade Demonized General.


    This was if the Silver-Winged Flying Ant fought alone. If it fused with the blood-colored avatar as a companion form, there was zero chance.


    This was because, in its companion form, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was unable to use its talent skills. And since Zhou Wen hadn''t had the Silver-Winged Flying Ant Primordial Energy Skill drop, he wasn''t able to use such flight-capable skills. Therefore, he ended up losing his advantage after fusion.


    Heavens, show your grace on me. Let me encounter a Blade Demonized General again. Zhou Wen entered the dungeon once more, but luck was clearly not on his side. After repeatedly grinding, he didn''t encounter any word-engraved Demonized General outside Tiger Cage Pass.


    He spent several days in his dorm grinding without attending class. Li Xuan visited him a few times, hoping to invite him to complete the test at Tiger Cage Pass, but Zhou Wen would decline with some excuse.


    Wang Fei constantly monitored her students in secret and discovered that most students had diligently done their research and formed teams to attempt slaying the Demonized General at Tiger Cage Pass.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were the only ones in class who didn''t do a thing. Excluding their first visit to Tiger Cage Pass, there had been no sight of them again.


    I can ignore Li Xuan, but what''s Zhou Wen doing? Why didn''t he head to Tiger Cage Pass to complete the mission? Wang Fei was rather curious about Zhou Wen.


    She had a good relationship with Ouyang Lan and knew how proud and doting she was as a mother. Even a woman like Ouyang Lan had given Zhou Wen an extremely high appraisal and had even given the rights that should have been An Jing''s to Zhou Wen. This had piqued Wang Fei''s curiosity.


    Zhou Wen had showcased impressive potential back in his participation in the slaying of the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, so this deepened her curiosity.


    She wouldn''t have thought much about it if Zhou Wen had completed the mission at Tiger Cage Pass without any fuss, but there was nothing from him for several days. This just intrigued her even more.


    Wang Fei clearly wasn''t a patient person. Since she was curious, she decided to visit Zhou Wen at his dorm to see what he was doing.


    And in a room in a particular part of Luoyang City, Liz excitedly came to Qiao Siyuan with an arrest warrant. "Minister Qiao, the arrest warrant has been granted. Shall we take immediate action?"


    Qiao Siyuan nodded slightly. "Take some men to Sunset College. However, don''t use the arrest warrant. Get the school to bring Zhou Wen over under the guise of getting him to aid in investigations. If he''s cooperative, bring him back. If not, you''ll have to use the warrant. Try not to garner the notice of too many people when you do it, especially the An family."


    "Minister, rest assured. I know what needs to be done. I''ll definitely bring Zhou Wen back," Liz said confidently.


    "Go then. Come back quickly. We don''t have much time. We have to get what we need to know before the An family sends someone, so it has to be fast," Qiao Siyuan exhorted once more.


    Liz obeyed the order and took men to Sunset College. Then, in the name of needing Zhou Wen to aid in investigations, she met the school''s managing vice-chancellor.


    If they were ordinary police, they probably wouldn''t be able to meet the managing vice-chancellor. However, being in the Special Inspector Bureau allowed Liz a meeting.


    In the League, the Special Inspector Bureau was feared and hated by everyone. Although the vice-chancellor didn''t wish to involve himself with Liz and company, he had no choice but to talk to them.


    The entire League knew of many high-ranking officials that had their reputations ruined after entering the Special Inspector Bureau. If one was targeted by this bureau, severe loss or even death was certain.


    "Chancellor, rest assured. We just wish to invite a few witnesses to provide us with some information. It won''t take too much of these students'' time," Liz said with a smile.


    There was a name list on the managing vice-chancellor''s desk, one with a total of six names. They were all Sunset College students, but five of them were just a ruse. Zhou Wen was the person she really wanted.


    "Alright then." The managing vice-chancellor didn''t wish to offend the Special Inspector Bureau because of such trivialities, so he got his secretary to summon the students on the list.


    Zhou Wen was gaming in his dorm when he received the notice to head to the school''s administrative building. He had no idea why the chancellor was summoning him.


    Knocking on the door and entering the office, he instantly saw Liz who was sitting there drinking tea. He immediately knew that things weren''t good, but he knew that escape was futile. All he could do was pretend to not recognize her and walk in calmly.

 81 Stalling For Time

    "This female officer wishes to ask you a few questions. Just answer truthfully," the vice-chancellor said to Zhou Wen and company.


    Liz didn''t look like she was targeting Zhou Wen. She asked all six students some questions and treated him the same as though she didn''t know him.


    "Officer, will that do?" the vice-chancellor asked after Liz was done with her questioning.


    "The other students can head back now. However, I would like to invite Mr. Zhou Wen back to assist us in our investigations." Liz waved her hand, permitting the other students to leave the office as she scrutinized him as though speaking casually.


    The vice-chancellor frowned slightly but soon smiled. "Officer, you naturally can get our students to assist in your investigations, but as you know, Sunset College is considered half a military school. These students can be considered part of the military reserve force. If you wish to take him away, you will need to go through the procedures. If you are in a rush for time, I can do the paperwork for you now."


    "There''s no need. This is an arrest warrant. Take a look at it. I''ll only be taking him with me to assist in our investigations. We will bring him back unharmed, so you don''t have to worry," Liz said with a sneer as she took out the arrest warrant, placing it on the desk in front of the vice-chancellor.


    How could she not be aware that the vice-chancellor was a sly old fox? Despite speaking pleasantly, he was probably planning to head out to inform the An family. Sunset College has been set up by the An family to begin with, so if anything were to happen, they wouldn''t sit idle even if they didn''t like Zhou Wen.


    The vice-chancellor looked at the arrest warrant carefully and immediately, his expression changed. He glared at Liz and asked, "What law did our student break? To actually use an arrest warrant of this level?"


    He could already tell that Liz was here for Zhou Wen. Whatever excuses previously used had been solely to get Zhou Wen here.


    "No comment," Liz said as she gestured for her man to apprehend Zhou Wen.


    She knew that she couldn''t waste any time. She needed to take Zhou Wen away before the Ans came.


    Zhou Wen was the An family''s only candidate, one that couldn''t be changed. Ignoring his importance to the An family, to request they hand him over without any concrete evidence was something they would definitely disagree with.


    Interrogation of Zhou Wen under the An family''s supervision was nearly useless. It was basically telling Zhou Wen that they couldn''t do a thing to him, so how could they get anything out of him?


    Furthermore, Qiao Siyuan also suspected that the An family was involved in this matter. This was also one of the reasons he needed to take Zhou Wen back for interrogation.


    As for killing Zhou Wen, not only was Liz fearful of doing so, but even Qiao Siyuan wouldn''t do so. The An family had Zhou Wen as their only candidate, so killing him was equivalent to crossing them. Qiao Siyuan didn''t wish to completely offend them; at least he wouldn''t do so until he had concrete evidence.


    Of course, if he could obtain actual evidence from Zhou Wen that the An family was involved with Jing Daoxian, that would be a whole different matter.


    The possibility was very small to begin with; therefore, Liz didn''t really have much hope of obtaining such evidence. She only wanted to take Zhou Wen back and question him about the things that Qiao Siyuan wanted to know before the An family arrived.


    Zhou Wen immediately hid behind the vice-chancellor''s back. He had heard Li Xuan describe the modus operandi of the Special Inspection Bureau¡ªa place that was enough to figuratively skin a person no matter who they were. For them to have spent so much effort to come all the way to Sunset College to arrest him, he clearly wasn''t going to be released after a simple interrogation.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt guilty. After all, he had cultivated Jing Daoxian''s Lost Immortal Sutra. If the bureau were to believe that this Primordial Energy Art was related to Jing Daoxian, wouldn''t that make him his accomplice?


    Zhou Wen didn''t know that Jing Daoxian hadn''t cultivated in the Lost Immortal Sutra himself because it wasn''t his. Even if others were to recognize the Lost Immortal Sutra, it was impossible to connect him to Jing Daoxian.


    Furthermore, no one in the League had ever mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra, so it was almost impossible to recognize.


    "Officer, you should know that Overseer An shows great concern about Sunset College. Shouldn''t you inform him of this?" the vice-chancellor said with a frown.


    Liz said in all seriousness, "The League''s laws are supreme. I don''t care where this is or who''s here. I''m duty-bound to do what needs to be done. It doesn''t matter who comes. Chancellor, are you implying that Overseer An is greater than the League''s laws?"


    "You are taking me out of context. On this matter, our Sunset College will definitely seek an explanation from Congress." The vice-chancellor''s face was livid.


    "Feel free to do so." Liz knew that she couldn''t waste any more time. She had to leave immediately with Zhou Wen, so she gave her men the signal.


    Two men moved like phantoms as they tried to take Zhou Wen away by force.


    "Don''t touch me. I can walk by myself." Zhou Wen knew that the school was powerless against them since the vice-chancellor didn''t stop them.


    "Alright, move along." Liz wasn''t afraid that Zhou Wen could do much. She waved her hand, giving the silent order to her subordinates not to touch him and let Zhou Wen walk by himself.


    She didn''t wish to blow matters up if things could be done in a furtive manner.


    Zhou Wen didn''t resist as he obediently walked out. The two men walked behind him, prepared to immediately restrain him if he did anything abnormal.


    "Chancellor Ya, goodbye for now," Liz said and directly walked off.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dawdle as he directly walked towards the school''s entrance.


    He was lacking in EQ, but it didn''t mean he was dumb.


    Liz had tricked him and was now eagerly taking him away. Although she spoke in an overbearing manner, he could tell that there were things holding them back. Their eagerness was apparently because they were afraid of something.


    Every second I stall counts. Zhou Wen didn''t have the opportunity to send an SOS message. From the moment he entered the room and saw Liz, he knew that he wasn''t able to do so under Liz''s nose. Therefore, he hadn''t made any attempts to prevent himself from being taken into custody immediately. It might even cause his mysterious phone to be confiscated.


    However, believing that the vice-chancellor would have already sent out the news, all he needed to do was stall for time to have a turnaround.


    Under normal circumstances, it was clearly impossible for someone at the Mortal stage to escape from a few Legendary officers.


    Zhou Wen kept walking towards the school''s entrance without acting out of place. Nor did he take any detours. He made Liz and the officers believe that he had stopped resisting and was returning with them.


    In fact, even high officials of the League wouldn''t try anything funny if they were under the bureau''s control, much less a student.


    Zhou Wen walked normally as though he had resigned himself to fate. But when he arrived near a forest within the campus grounds, he suddenly exerted full force and dashed into the woods. As he ran, he said, "I need to pee. Wait a moment."


    By passing through the forest, he was already close to the entrance of Underground Buddha City in the real world. As long as he could escape into it, he could use the Small Buddha Temple''s mysterious forces to stall for time.


    Although doing so was risky as he still didn''t know if Small Buddha Temple in the real world was identical to the game, he no longer had the luxury of choice. He had things on him he absolutely couldn''t expose.


    If he were to be taken away for interrogation, all the items on him would be scrutinized¡ªthe mysterious phone would thus be exposed.

 82 Escape

    Upon seeing Zhou Wen escape, Liz watched with a teasing look without any intention to take action.


    The bureau arrested and pursued people daily. If a student at the Mortal stage were to escape under their noses, they could forget about staying in the bureau.


    Without needing Liz to give the word, the two officers behind Zhou Wen reached out their hands to grab him. Speed at the Legendary stage emerged as four hands seemed to lock onto Zhou Wen''s arms like phantoms.


    But in that split second, a silver glow flashed behind Zhou Wen. Four silver wings extended and with one flap, he flew seven to eight meters high. He was incredibly fast and unexpectedly dodged the officers'' attacks, successfully rushing into the forest.


    "A Legendary Companion Beast capable of flight¡­ Chase after him¡­" Liz was slightly taken aback, but she immediately led the chase after snapping back to her senses.


    They originally imagined that it would be impossible for Zhou Wen to escape from the Legendaries even with his Legendary Companion Beast, but to their surprise, Zhou Wen was like a nimble bat. He flapped his four wings and darted through the woods, using the trees to conceal his motion. He cut off their attempts to encircle him as he rushed out of the woods.


    "I want to see how far you can go!" Liz was alarmed and infuriated. She chased Zhou Wen at an unimaginably fast speed.


    Without the woods concealing his actions, Zhou Wen was unable to pull open the distance between them. All he could do was rush towards Ancient Inlet, that wasn''t too far away, at full speed, rushing into Underground Buddha City before Liz and company could catch up to him.


    Zhou Wen showed his pass and directly entered Underground Buddha City. However, Liz and company were stopped by the soldiers who were guarding it. After they revealed their identification as bureau officers, they were permitted into Underground Buddha City to continue the pursuit.


    Zhou Wen didn''t even turn his head as he ran towards Small Buddha Temple at full speed. Liz and company chased him relentlessly and were closing up to him despite the Speed he obtained with the wings obtained from the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    "Zhou Wen, do you know what crime it is to resist arrest? We originally only required you to return to assist us with our investigations. Now that you''re escaping, that will compound the crime. It''s still not too late for you to stop now," Liz shouted as she chased.


    Zhou Wen completely ignored her as he dashed forward at full speed.


    Liz knew that she couldn''t waste any more time when she saw Zhou Wen running in silence. Gritting her teeth, she summoned an azure sword and slashed it towards Zhou Wen.


    An azure sword beam appeared immediately, traversing several meters as it headed straight for Zhou Wen''s back.


    Zhou Wen heard the sound of wind as he hurriedly dodged with a sidestep, barely dodging the sword beam''s slash. Without another word, he continued running forward.


    He originally only had the thought of finding an opportunity to hide the mysterious phone, but with Liz''s tight pursuit, they weren''t giving him a chance to do so. All he could do was desperately escape in the direction of Small Buddha Temple.


    "My name isn''t Liz if you escape me today!" Liz was infuriated and couldn''t care less. She slashed out with her sword repeatedly.


    Although the sword beams weren''t aimed at Zhou Wen''s vital spots, it was enough to grievously injure him.


    Due to him dodging the sword beams, Zhou Wen''s speed immediately dropped. This allowed the other officers to catch up to him. They didn''t stand on ceremony as they cast several Primordial Energy Skills at him.


    They were experienced veterans and attacked viciously in a non-lethal manner. It was solely to heavily injure him so that he could be taken back.


    A huge burst of blood shot out of Zhou Wen''s thigh as Liz''s sword beam sliced across it. The blood continued gushing out of the laceration.


    Zhou Wen continued dashing forward in silence, but the injuries he suffered kept increasing. Although they weren''t lethal, his wounds were extremely horrifying.


    Liz was also alarmed. Although Zhou Wen was augmented by a Legendary Companion Beast and he was flying very quickly, he was ultimately at the Mortal stage.


    Under their relentless attacks, he only suffered injuries without succumbing. Although he looked seriously injured, he had avoided having his vital parts injured. He hadn''t suffered any serious damage.


    This definitely had to do with Liz and company having no intention of really killing Zhou Wen, but he had been able to avoid any injuries that were enough to put him out of combat.


    Many times, Zhou Wen was able to dodge an attack at the final moment even without taking a look. It was as though he had eyes in the back of his head. This shocked Liz greatly.


    This Zhou Wen is so calm in battle. Even when injured, he chooses to allow himself to be injured to minimize the overall damage. He''s terrifyingly calm. It''s unbelievable that he''s only sixteen. Liz looked at the bloody Zhou Wen flying off with a resolute look in his eyes. Her heart stirred as she thought, It''s no wonder the An family chose him. It''s probably not just because of the relationship between Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Lan.


    Zhou Wen fought as he retreated. After his body was injured, his Lost Immortal Sutra automatically switched to Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. What further surprised him was that his wound pulled together to exert compression and prevent blood from gushing out just like Li Xuan.


    I never expected the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to have such ingenious uses. Zhou Wen was quite surprised.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra allowed Zhou Wen''s Constitution to exceed 10¡ªthe only stat that reached 11. Therefore, it definitely boosted Constitution, but he had no idea what it did.


    The Small Buddha Temple''s stone staircase was already in sight. It had a metal fence barricading it with a forbidden zone sign to prevent students from accidentally venturing in.


    Small Buddha Temple didn''t have troops guarding it because it was unnecessary. If someone was really able to enter Small Buddha Temple and master the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, the military would be very happy.


    There were all kinds of similar, mysterious places in the world, but less than 10% of them had been completely cleared.


    Zhou Wen rushed to the fence as his left arm conjured the skeleton bracer. He tore a huge hole through the fence and immediately crawled through it.


    Liz and company weren''t from Luoyang, so they knew little about the recently discovered Buddha City. Although they saw the forbidden zone sign, they continued their pursuit.


    Firstly, Liz needed to capture Zhou Wen as soon as possible. Secondly, with Zhou Wen in front of them, he would end up bearing all the dangers first. Therefore, she didn''t hesitate to rush in with her men.


    In the narrow rock passageway ahead, the space that allowed him to dodge decreased. Liz managed to slash a beam on Zhou Wen''s back, causing him to trigger the Lotus Flower Buddha Body skill. However, a long bloody gash cleaved open on his back as he was thrown forward. He spat out blood when he slammed onto the stone steps high above.


    Liz approached Zhou Wen with a sword in hand as she said coldly, "Zhou Wen, you''re cornered. Stop having illusions that you can escape. Returning with us to assist in the case will only benefit you,"


    Zhou Wen shot a look at Liz and company who had managed to catch up to him. Wiping away the blood that trickled from the corner of his mouth, he said indifferently, "Why would I be escaping? You are the ones who should be escaping."

 83 Stalemate at the Stone Stairs

    "Madman." Liz ignored what Zhou Wen had said. She gestured with her hand for the officers to head over and apprehend the heavily injured Zhou Wen.


    She had already wasted too much time, far more than she had originally planned. It was already hard to tell if they could take Zhou Wen away before the An family came. She couldn''t afford to waste any more time.


    The few officers lunged forward. By heading higher, the stone stairs had broadened. They were no longer as narrow as before, allowing them to rush up together.


    But this time, Zhou Wen didn''t immediately run. He sat at the top of the stairs, striking forward at the officer that led the charge.


    This strike seemed soft and powerless as though he hadn''t exerted a sliver of strength. The officer was nearly two meters away, so not even his sleeves were touched.


    Liz and the few officers naturally didn''t believe that Zhou Wen had the ability to strike them from a distance. Skills that could project Primordial Energy was considered a minority even at the Legendary stage, so it was impossible for someone at the Mortal stage to master such a skill. Even if there was one, someone at the Mortal stage didn''t have the Primordial Energy needed to support the expenditure.


    However, with Zhou Wen''s gentle strike, the officer silently collapsed to the ground. It instantly shocked the rest.


    Zhou Wen remained unperturbed as he repeatedly struck the air. In response, the remaining officers collapsed in the zone as though their souls had been dissipated.


    Liz was stunned and bewildered, nearly unable to believe her own eyes. The few Legendary officers had clearly stopped breathing; yet, she couldn''t tell how they had been killed by Zhou Wen. Her eyes flickered with a glint of shock and puzzlement. Momentarily, she didn''t dare approach him.


    Yet Zhou Wen knew very well that they hadn''t been killed by him. Instead, it was the mysterious force of the stone stairs and Small Buddha Temple that robbed them of their lives.


    However, no one knew this mysterious force better than Zhou Wen. He had accurately estimated the moment of the officers'' death and just posed with a strike. It was simply to scare them off.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that Liz wasn''t affected by the stone stairs'' force; otherwise, she should have been lying dead.


    Strange, don''t tell me Liz possesses a Primordial Energy Skill similar to Heart Meditation? That''s why she hasn''t been killed by that mysterious force? But that''s not right. Even if she has something like that, she doesn''t know the secret of this place. She wouldn''t be using it ahead of time¡­ What''s happening?


    Zhou Wen was puzzled, but he didn''t show it. He continued sitting on the stone stairs with a leisurely look, looking down at Liz with an air of superiority. "I didn''t want to kill, but why did you have to force me?"


    His words were half-truths. If Liz hadn''t forced him, he definitely wouldn''t wish them dead, much less make people from the bureau die.


    He didn''t know if he could explain their deaths clearly in the future, with the possibility of the League putting him on a wanted list.


    But even so, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to expose the secret of his mysterious phone.


    At most I''ll be a fugitive, escaping into dimensional zones that aren''t within human control. As long as I have the mysterious phone, the dangers of the dimensional zones are nonexistent to me. Zhou Wen made up his mind that if he were truly cornered, he would have to become a wanted fugitive.


    "Don''t try to act all mysterious. Do you think you can fool me?" Liz didn''t believe that a student like Zhou Wen at the Mortal stage could possess such terrifying power.


    However, she was unable to instantly tell how the four officers had died. This hesitance made her lack the courage to directly rush forward.


    "You can give it a try if you don''t believe it. Let''s see if my Formless Divine Palm is capable of killing you," Zhou Wen said with a deadpan expression as though he had everything in the bag.


    However, Zhou Wen was lamenting inwardly, I''ve already stalled for so long. Even without Heart Meditation''s protection, no matter how strong Liz is, she should have died on the stone stairs. Why is she completely fine?


    "What Formless Divine Palm? I''ve never heard of it." Liz kept staring at Zhou Wen and the four dead officers in an attempt to figure out the reason for their deaths.


    "The Formless Divine Palm is colorless and shadowless. It kills people in an invisible manner, a Primordial Energy Skill Ouyang Lan gave me. It was meant to protect me, and I usually wouldn''t readily use it. If you hadn''t cornered me today, I wouldn''t have used such a vile Primordial Energy Skill." Zhou Wen spoke nonsense, but he was considering how he could escape.


    He didn''t believe he could really scare Liz. She hadn''t rushed up because she hadn''t figured out how her four colleagues had died and was unwilling to take the risk.


    Liz was doubtful of Zhou Wen''s words. It was true she couldn''t tell how the deaths occurred because they didn''t seem to have any injuries at all.


    Suddenly, an idea came to Liz. She recalled the forbidden zone sign she had seen and immediately came to a realization. She sized up her surroundings and sneered. "Then, let me try and see how your Formless Divine Palm can kill me!"


    As she spoke, Liz summoned a Companion Beast.


    It had pure-white wings and supple skin and was dressed in a white gown. It resembled the mythical angel but had one thing that was different. This angel Companion Beast didn''t have a head. It was empty from the neck up.


    "Headless Angel!" Zhou Wen immediately cried out when he saw the headless angel.


    Headless Angel was very famous as a Companion Beast. Although it came from the League''s West district, its name had already spread across Earth''s League.


    Headless Angel wasn''t a true angel, but a figure in western legend.


    Legend had it that a pious nun believed in God with the purest heart, hoping that she could one day ascend to heaven to serve God as an angel.


    Every person who saw the nun believed that she was the purest and most flawless person in the world. Therefore, everyone who knew her believed that she was bound to ascend to the heavenly kingdom after her death, becoming an angel who would serve God.


    Perhaps the nun''s devotion moved God. One day, God descended before the nun and cast a divine light down on Earth, purifying the nun''s body into that of an angel''s.


    Just as the nun''s body was being transformed into an angel''s body, she saw a prisoner on death row piously praying and confessing to God.


    Hence, the nun asked God, "That prisoner is so pious. Can you absolve him of his sins?"


    God answered, "I can, but his sins need to be burdened by someone. If you agree, you can replace the prisoner at the guillotine and bear his sins."


    After hearing that, the nun resolutely chose to bear the sins for the prisoner. Hence, with a flash of divine light, the prisoner at the guillotine was switched to the nun who was quickly transforming into an angel. Before her body could completely turn into an angel''s, her head was chopped off.


    Although her head had been chopped off, the other parts of her body were already that of an angel. It was an unaging and immortal body that didn''t die because of a beheading.


    However, the head wasn''t able to recover due to it not being angelized. Therefore, the nun became the legendary Headless Angel in western legend.


    Although the name was terrifying, a Headless Angel was synonymous with purity in the West district.


    After the dimensional storms, inside one dimensional zone in the West district, a Headless Angel dimensional creature appeared. It was later slain by humanity and its Companion Egg obtained.


    As such, the Headless Angel at the Epic stage became famous across Earth''s League. She wasn''t the greatest at combat strength but she was great for protection.


    With the protection of a Headless Angel, all kinds of evil forces like curses and hexes were unable to harm her master. It was to date, the strongest defensive Companion Beast in the West.


    The master of Headless Angel relied on her defensive powers to explore dimensional zones amidst many mysterious dangers¡ªones that humanity believed were forbidden¡ªreturning safely every time.


    Hence, the fame of Headless Angel intensified. But based on what Zhou Wen knew, there was only one Headless Angel Companion Beast, and its owner wasn''t Liz.

 84 Headless Angel

    Headless Angel wasn''t a Companion Beast with offensive traits. Its body appeared like a holy halo that floated in front of Liz.


    Liz extended her hand and beckoned, causing the Headless Angel''s body to quickly transform into a white crucifix that landed in Liz''s palm.


    The crucifix suffused a holy glow that made Liz appear like a goddess with it in hand.


    Zhou Wen finally understood why Liz hadn''t been killed by Small Buddha Temple''s mysterious force. It was likely due to the Headless Angel''s protection.


    He didn''t hesitate to turn around and flap his wings to fly towards Small Buddha Temple.


    The wings the Silver-Winged Flying Ant manifested gave Zhou Wen Speed that was in no way inferior to a pinnacle Legendary. He instantly rushed to the entrance of Small Buddha Temple at the end of the stone stairs.


    Zhou Wen originally didn''t wish to risk entering Small Buddha Temple in real life, but now wasn''t the time to consider that. All he could do was enter to seek refuge.


    "Continue running and I''ll cut off your legs." Liz''s voice was cold as she held the Headless Angel''s crucifix. Like a panther, she chased after Zhou Wen with a sword in her hand. She then slashed it at Zhou Wen''s thigh like it was a whip.


    Liz had previously held back due to her qualms with regards to the An family.


    However, the death of the four officers had triggered Liz''s rage. All she wanted to do was take Zhou Wen back alive. She had zero other scruples.


    The strike was exceedingly fast as the sword beam instantly arrived behind Zhou Wen.


    Summoning the Silver-Winged Flying Ant with clenched teeth, he made it watch his back as he rushed into Small Buddha Temple.


    At the same moment Zhou Wen rushed into Small Buddha Temple, he heard a creaking sound behind him. When he looked back, he saw the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s two foreclaws cleaved apart by Liz. Even its forehead had a bloody gash that was seeping blood.


    Reality wasn''t a game, so the Silver-Winged Flying Ant couldn''t be revived if it died. With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned it back as he continued running into the temple hall at full speed.


    Without the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s wings to help him, his speed was much slower.


    The environment inside the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was identical to the game. The first thing he saw when he entered the Small Buddha Temple''s compound was the stone monument with the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra inscribed on it.


    In reality, the stone monument looked even more ancient and spartan as though it had suffered the ravages of time. The mottled exterior made it look even more rugged as if there was an indescribable charm to it.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered with it. He circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra as fast as he could before rushing into the temple hall.


    Liz followed closely behind as she slashed her sword at Zhou Wen''s thigh again without any hesitation. It was as though she wanted to lop off both of his legs.


    Even without turning his head, Zhou Wen was able to know that the sword beam was already behind him, due to Truth Listener.


    He leaped without any hesitation towards the temple hall.


    In midair, he felt the bottom of his feet become chilly. His sports shoes were made of high-tech cloth and had their soles sliced off. Even some of the flesh on the sole of his feet wasn''t spared. The bleeding of his soles was rather harrowing.


    However, Zhou Wen had finally rushed into the temple hall and landed on the stone panes.


    Buddha, please watch after me. Let the forces in this temple be effective against that woman; otherwise, that mad woman will definitely lop off my legs. As Zhou Wen retreated inside the temple, he prayed silently.


    Under the Headless Angel crucifix''s protection, the forces of Small Buddha Temple seemed to lose all its original mystery, being completely useless against Liz.


    Liz held the crucifix in one hand and sword in the other, dashing straight inside the temple hall.


    However, at the instant one of her legs breached the temple hall''s interior, the three-faced Buddha statue inside suddenly widened its eyes.


    Bang!


    The holy crucifix''s glow instantly exploded like a red-hot metal piece being shattered by a sledgehammer. The glow of the crucifix seemed to splatter like liquid and instantly became dim. It even seemed incomplete.


    As though she had suffered a tremendous blow, her body flew backward and slammed into the stone monument, her mouth spewing out blood.


    Liz struggled on the ground and failed to get to her feet.


    Zhou Wen was delighted and surprised by this, almost to the point of giving the statue a thumbs up and expressing his deepest feelings: ''You''re awesome.''


    Without thinking further, he summoned the injured Silver-Winged Flying Ant¡ªits front claws had been sliced off and its head injury was serious. Thankfully, it hadn''t died.


    Zhou Wen instructed it to conjure Magical Needle and shot at Liz.


    At this stage, if he could retain everyone, Zhou Wen would still have the time to escape from Luoyang and into the unknown dimensional zones.


    However, if he allowed Liz to escape and gather more people for a second wave of attacks, he probably wouldn''t have a chance of escaping.


    Liz could hardly move due to her serious injuries, but she was able to summon a Companion Beast that resembled both a tiger and a lion. It picked her up and dodged the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Magical Needle before rushing out of the temple.


    Zhou Wen immediately carried out his pursuit, but the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was too injured and unable to maintain its companion form. Hence, he wasn''t able to catch up with her.


    When he rushed to the stone staircase, the Legendary Companion Beast had already run far away with Liz.


    Despite seeing that he couldn''t catch up to her, he continued pursuing while giving Li Xuan a call, explaining the entire situation to him.


    He didn''t hope that Li Xuan could help him resist the bureau; he only hoped to get some suggestions from him.


    Zhou Wen was still a student, so he had limited horizons. Furthermore, he knew little about the bureau and wasn''t sure what was his best option.


    Liz was enraged as she endured her injuries, rode the Companion Beast out of Underground Buddha City and headed for the school''s entrance.


    Zhou Wen resisting arrest was already a serious crime. She believed that she now had every right to mobilize the forces of the bureau to openly capture Zhou Wen without worrying about the An family.


    "Immediately inform the Minister¡­" As Liz rushed out of the school gates, whilst trying to order the bureau officers outside the school to contact Qiao Siyuan, she suddenly stopped, stunned.


    She saw the officers who often appeared high and mighty standing silently by the roadside with their heads bowed. Beside them were a row of soldiers aiming their rifles at them.


    And on the road opposite them, there was a black sedan car. Beyond the rolled-down windows in the backseat, she saw a handsome man sitting there. He was looking straight at her.


    "An Tianzuo!" Liz couldn''t help but tremble when she saw the man.


    Back when she was in the vice-chancellor''s office, she had claimed that she didn''t care if he came and would continue carrying out whatever she needed to do. However, when she actually saw An Tianzuo, everything was different.


    This ridiculously young man had authority in the League that made even her uncles steal glances at him. Although she was about the same age as him, their level of accomplishment was on completely different levels.


    "Overseer." Liz endured her pains and came off the back of her Companion Beast, bowed at An Tianzuo, and forced a smile.

 85 The An Family Has A Mine

    "Who gave you the guts to dare harm the students of Sunset College on its campus?" An Tianzuo asked Liz while sitting inside the car.


    "Overseer, I''m Liz from the Special Investigation Bureau. I am under orders from Congress to arrest people related to Jing Daoxian¡­" Before Liz finished her sentence, she suddenly heard a bang.


    She felt an intense pain and burning feeling coming from her left thigh. While crying out loud, she couldn''t help but fall to the ground on one knee as a bloody, gaping hole appeared on the side of her thigh. There were burn marks on her wound.


    Besides the sedan car, a man in military uniform and white gloves holstered his pistol and said, "Answer whatever the Overseer asks, and nothing that he doesn''t ask."


    "How dare you fire at me? You¡­" Before Liz could finish her sentence, she heard another bang. A bullet had shot through her other leg, causing her to collapse to the ground with blood pooling around her.


    "As the adjutant to the Overseer, I am obligated to remind you once more that you only need to answer the Overseer''s questions. If you say anything wrong or utter any unnecessary nonsense, the next thing to be crippled won''t be your legs," the white-gloved man said gently with a smile.


    If it wasn''t because he had crippled Liz''s two legs, anyone would have mistaken him for a kind man who couldn''t bear to kill even a mosquito.


    However, Liz''s forehead was breaking out into a cold sweat. It wasn''t just a result of the excruciating pain in her legs, but more a chill that came from deep down in her bones.


    Upon seeing the white-gloved man raise his gun again and aim it at her head, Liz snapped to her senses and, ignoring the pain in her legs, shouted, "It was Minister Qiao Siyuan who sent me."


    At this moment, she had forgotten the status that she had always been proud of and her family''s standing in the League. She only knew that if she didn''t immediately answer the question, the seemingly harmless man would immediately blow her brains out.


    Liz didn''t hesitate that the bullets within the gun had such might. Typical bullets could hardly injure her, but that didn''t include bullets made of Primordial Gold.


    Very few materials could damage dimensional creatures on Earth, but Primordial Gold was one of them. And the An family controlled the biggest Primordial Gold mine in the League. The reserves it had covered more than 70% of the entire Earth League''s reserves. Wealthy tycoons who could extravagantly use Primordial Gold in bullets weren''t unheard of, but the An family was probably the only one to actually issue them to one''s troops.


    "Call Qiao Siyuan," An Tianzuo said mildly again, but it was a tone that didn''t permit any doubt.


    The white-gloved adjutant handed a phone to Liz.


    Liz didn''t hesitate and reached out to call Qiao Siyuan.


    ¡­


    Qiao Siyuan was feeling uneasy, having a nagging feeling that something was about to happen. Just as he was frowning in thought, he heard his phone ring.


    It was an unknown number. Seemingly realizing something, he picked up the call and said, "I''m Qiao Siyuan. Who''s this?"


    "I''m giving you five minutes. If I do not see you, all those who dared cross Sunset College will be executed by firing squad." A male voice with a magnetic charm sounded from the phone.


    "H¡­ Hello¡­" Qiao Siyuan broke out into a cold sweat. He wanted to say something, but the phone emitted a loud beep, an indication that the call had already been disconnected.


    What has Liz done? I clearly told her to be quick and bring Zhou Wen back before the An family arrived. Now, even An Tianzuo is there. Qiao Siyuan immediately felt his head ache, but he didn''t hesitate. He didn''t even put on the coat on his chair, he rushed straight out of the office, heading for Sunset College.


    He was long aware of An Tianzuo''s style of doing things, but he never expected him to be so domineering to even dare execute a Senator''s daughter.


    The League''s Congress was split into the Senate and the House. They were all representatives of the various areas of the League and were voted in by the citizens of each jurisdiction.


    The Senate was different. There were perpetually six Senators, with only people from six families qualified to have a seat. They were the families of the Six League Heroes.


    The Senate had veto rights for any bills the House proposed. It could be said that the entire League''s government was in fact controlled by these six families.


    Every League President was also selected from one of the six families.


    And the Special Investigation Bureau that Qiao Siyuan was from came directly under the Senate. Under the insistence of the Senate, agencies like the Special Investigation Bureau, which were hated by all, continued their existence in the League.


    Liz wasn''t considered a smart woman, and her work ethic had never left Qiao Siyuan assured. However, as she was a daughter of a Senator, he had no choice but to keep her by his side.


    If Liz was really executed by An Tianzuo, Qiao Siyuan didn''t dare imagine what the outcome would be. He didn''t know if An Tianzuo would die as a result, but he knew that his death was a certainty. There was no question about it.


    Outside Sunset College, the nearby road had been sealed off by the soldiers. The students and passersby didn''t know what was happening and could only circle around it.


    "How long has it been?" An Tianzuo looked at the sky outside and asked casually.


    "4:43," the adjutant looked at his watch and politely replied.


    An Tianzuo didn''t say a word as he waved his hand. Immediately, a row of soldiers raised their rifles, aiming their black muzzles at the back of Liz''s and other officers'' heads.


    Liz was trembling. She had never felt this afraid before because she could tell that An Tianzuo really had no scruples about killing her.


    She really wished to say that she was a Senator''s daughter and declare her identity, but she was afraid that the moment she spoke, the seemingly harmless and perpetually smiling adjutant would blow her brains out.


    "Overseer, it''s time," the adjutant turned and politely said to An Tianzuo after looking at his watch.


    "Then, proceed with the execution," An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    "Overseer Sir, please wait." A voice suddenly sounded from the sky as a figure flapped two wings and rushed down from the sky.


    The person who landed on the ground with his clothes soaked in sweat was none other than Qiao Siyuan. He had rushed over at such speed that he nearly had a heart attack. Thankfully, he had arrived just in time.


    Upon seeing Liz''s crippled legs, Qiao Siyuan''s heart was filled with agony.


    "You''re Qiao Siyuan?" Although An Tianzuo sat in the car, making his eye level much lower than Qiao Siyuan''s, the way he looked at him was as though he was looking from high above.


    Qiao Siyuan walked to the car and said politely, "I''m Qiao Siyuan from the Special Investigation Bureau, Overseer Sir. Can we have a private chat?"

 86 Heaven is on the Righ

    "There''s nothing that needs to be hidden. Just say it straight," An Tianzuo said indifferently, without looking at Qiao Siyuan.


    Qiao Siyuan''s heart skipped a bit, aware that there was likely no way of conciliating the matter today.


    "Overseer, Liz and the rest were just acting under orders from our people higher-up. This matter has nothing to do with them. Can they be sent to the hospital?" Qiao Siyuan drew a deep breath and said.


    "Who are the people higher-up," An Tianzuo continued asking with the same expression.


    "Overseer, you should have heard of Jing Daoxian, right?"


    "The League''s vilest criminal."


    Qiao Siyuan continued, "Jing Daoxian slaughtered many high-ranking members of the League at the League government office. It halved our League''s strongest combat strength and set back our overall strength by ten years. The Senate has always placed the utmost importance on Jing Daoxian. Over the years, the League has been trying all means to pursue him. Our Special Investigation Bureau has also been putting in great efforts towards this cause. Just a few days ago, we discovered that Jing Daoxian had interacted with Zhou Wen."


    "Oh, so are you implying that Zhou Wen is in cahoots with Jing Daoxian?" An Tianzuo shot Qiao Siyuan a look.


    Qiao Siyuan shook his head and said, "We are still unable to confirm if they are in cahoots; therefore, we wanted to invite Zhou Wen back to assist in our investigations. Overseer, you are of noble birth, but the responsibilities you bear are unimaginable to the typical person. It''s not easy for you nor the An family. Why should you burden yourself with nagging tongues because of a huge problem like Jing Daoxian? Besides, didn''t you once criticize Zhou Wen and say that there was a problem with him?"


    "So are you saying I should thank you?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "Not at all. Overseer, I''ll just be extremely grateful if you can understand where we are coming from." Qiao Siyuan felt more and more uneasy as he forced a smile.


    An Tianzuo looked at Qiao Siyuan with a faint smile. "I did criticize Zhou Wen and I do find him a sore sight. But how I criticize or bully him is down to my whims, did I say that any Tom, Dick, and Harry could bully him?"


    Qiao Siyuan''s expression instantly changed. He forced a smile and said, "Overseer, you''re absolutely right. We''ll definitely change for the better. We will definitely inform you of any operations that involve the An family in the future."


    "Not a bad attitude. Alright, I''m not an unreasonable person. Since you have said this much, I''ll spare their lives," An Tianzuo said.


    "Thank you, Overseer. I''m truly grateful. Feel free to issue me orders if there''s anything you need of me," Qiao Siyuan quickly said.


    "They can be spared from death, but not punishment. Otherwise, wouldn''t any Tom, Dick, and Harry come to Luoyang to do as they please? Are the League''s laws to be flouted?" An Tianzuo spoke another sentence, one that was completely different from the previous one.


    Qiao Siyuan long knew that An Tianzuo wouldn''t let this matter rest easily as he grumbled inwardly, You are the one who''s best at flouting the League''s laws.


    "You can take them back with you, but cripple them of their cultivation to prevent them from using it to run amok," An Tianzuo said casually.


    Liz was horrified when she heard that as she yelled crazily, "No¡­ No¡­ You can''t cripple me of my cultivation¡­"


    Qiao Siyuan''s expression changed drastically as he said through gritted teeth, "They were just obeying orders and there''s nothing wrong with that. Overseer, if you were to punish them, what does this make of the Senate? You should also know the League''s present situation. The President and the Senators have spared no effort dealing with matters regarding Jing Daoxian. If you were to implicate yourself in this matter, wouldn''t it give a great opportunity to those people who are watching you and eyeing the An family''s Primordial Gold mine? Liz''s father is Senator Cape. If you give Liz a chance, Senator Cape and the entire Cape family will be very grateful. In the future, he will definitely help the An family at congressional meetings. A thought separates heaven from hell. Overseer Sir, you must think about it carefully."


    An Tianzuo looked at Qiao Siyuan in contempt and said, "Qiao Siyuan, do you know why my name is An Tianzuo?"


    "I''m afraid not. Please tell me, I''m all ears."


    "As the saying goes Heaven is on the right, and Hell is on the left. And I incline towards the left," An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    "Ah!"


    Liz let out a painful cry as the adjutant drew an exquisite knife, stabbing into her Primordial Energy sea. Blood stained the hand holding the knife, turning the white gloves red.


    "Remember, Luoyang belongs to the An family." An Tianzuo looked forward as his car windows wound up, slowly hiding his face.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen was hurriedly sneaking out of Sunset College via the back door. Li Xuan had given him two suggestions. One was to head to the An family to seek their help in settling this matter. The second suggestion was to immediately hide in unknown dimensional zones, never to appear again.


    Zhou Wen never wanted to have any relationship with the An family; therefore, he decided to flee into the dimensional zones. With the mysterious phone, unknown dimensional zones weren''t too dangerous for him.


    He planned on escaping to the nearest, Dragon Gate Grotto. There were many dimensional zones in its vicinity that humans had yet to explore to date.


    However, just as he left Sunset College''s back door, he saw a young, refined-looking military officer standing there in a military uniform and white gloves.


    "Young Master Wen, Madam has gotten Overseer to take you home for dinner." As the young officer smiled, he revealed two rows of neat, white teeth, emitting a warm, comforting glow like the sun in spring.


    When Zhou Wen sat inside the car, beside him was the person whose name he knew but had never met before¡ªAn Tianzuo.


    They had never met and had no ties in the past. But now, there was a particular relationship between them, making the mood rather delicate.


    "You must hate me, right?" An Tianzuo suddenly asked.


    Zhou Wen never expected him to say this. However, he wasn''t someone with a high EQ, so he replied, "I wouldn''t call it hate, but I definitely ain''t fond of you."


    "Very good. This is what I want to say to you. I have never believed that you have the qualifications to replace Little Jing. It has been that way in the past, the present, and will be so in the future," An Tianzuo''s gaze was peeled to the front as he spoke without expression.


    "You are talking about An Jing? How did I replace her?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    An Tianzuo didn''t reply but said indifferently, "I really don''t understand why my mom believes you are better than Little Jing. A man who only knows how to escape reality when encountering something doesn''t have the right to be called a man, much less be better than Little Jing."


    "I think you should visit a doctor and check if you have a screw loose in the head." Zhou Wen felt that An Tianzuo was definitely crazy as he spoke in a completely baffling manner.


    The adjutant, who was driving the car, couldn''t help but twitch when he heard Zhou Wen.Tian in An Tianzuo''s name can be interpreted as heaven.Zuo in An Tianzuo''s name is a homophone to left.

 87 Special Physical Condition

    This was Zhou Wen''s second time at the An family home. Although An Tianzuo didn''t like him, what had that got to do with him?


    Zhou Wen sat beside Ouyang Lan and focused on eating. He had a great time chatting with Ouyang Lan.


    An Tianzuo and An Jing sat opposite him and focused on eating as well as though they couldn''t see him.


    After dinner, Zhou Wen planned on bidding them farewell and leaving when Ouyang Lan pulled Zhou Wen''s hand and said, "Don''t be in a rush to leave. Have a walk with me."


    Zhou Lingfeng got up and was about to accompany them when Ouyang Lan said with a smile, "It''s rare for Tianzuo to return. Help me nag him to get married and have children so that he can carry on the family line. Also, teach him how to coax women. You are the best at that."


    Zhou Lingfeng said with a bitter smile, "Can you not sully my reputation when you''re getting me to help?"


    "This is me praising you," Ouyang Lan said with a giggle as she headed out while holding Zhou Wen''s hand.


    The An family home was really big and beautiful. As they walked on the stone trail inside the garden, Ouyang Lan said, "Little Wen, there''s something troublesome that I took the liberty of pushing the matter on you. Can you help me?"


    "What is it?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    Ouyang Lan sat on a bench by the side of the lawn and said in thought, "When you were in school, you must have heard of the story of the Six League Heroes, right?"


    He nodded. "It''s how humanity first slew a Mythical creature. It was also them who established the League government and ended the darkest and most chaotic period of humanity."


    Ouyang Lan said with a smile, "Establishing the League government is real, but it''s not necessarily true that darkness and chaos were ended."


    Zhou Wen''s knowledge of this was limited to his textbooks, so he waited silently for Ouyang Lan to continue.


    "Currently, the League appears to be stable and flourishing, but there are dark undercurrents surging. Something can happen anytime that develops into a cataclysm for human society," Ouyang Lan said with a sigh.


    "Is the cataclysm related to dimensional creatures?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The dimensional zones restrict the region of activity of dimensional creatures, but no one knows how long such restrictions can last. However, this isn''t the most pressing cataclysm at the moment."


    Ouyang Lan paused before continuing, "In fact, the greatest cataclysm now is humanity itself. The Six League Heroes established the League and on the surface, it promotes democracy and freedom, but in fact, the ones in true power are the Senate and President. And the selection of these people comes from the families of the Six League Heroes. Therefore, the League is in fact no different from an autocracy.


    "And an autocracy needs absolute central power. But in this era, to have absolute rule clearly isn''t an easy task. At the very least, the families of the Six League Heroes do not have the absolute strength to control all of the Earth League. Even though they have been working hard for a number of years, it''s noticeable from the outcome, that their control over the League is constantly weakening. Currently, the League is more of a fragmented nation with rival factions."


    Upon saying that, Ouyang Lan cast her gaze on Zhou Wen and asked with a smile, "Do you know why the League remains stable and doesn''t completely collapse despite reaching such a state?"


    "I don''t," Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    "That''s because, in the League, only the families of the Six League Heroes have experts at the Mythical stage."


    Zhou Wen was surprised. "Isn''t it said that no one in the League has broken through to the Mythical stage?"


    "If one relied on themselves, it''s true that no one has been able to break through to the Mythical stage, but there''s a shortcut that allows humans to first obtain Mythical Companion Beasts and then by nurturing them, use their powers to advance to the Mythical stage. That''s why Mythical experts are born amongst the families of the Six League Heroes," Ouyang Lan said.


    "Then what''s the shortcut?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "You were chased into Small Buddha Temple by the Inspection Bureau. You should have seen the stone monument and temple hall. Engraved on the stone monument was a Primordial Energy Art. If you can master it, you can enter the temple hall and directly receive the mysterious powers from the dimension; thus, obtaining a Mythical Companion Beast."


    "Really? Then as long as Small Buddha Temple is controlled, wouldn''t we be able to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast just like the families of the Six League Heroes?" Zhou Wen said, feigning surprise.


    Ouyang Lan shook her head. "It''s not that simple. To master the Primordial Energy Art on the stone monument, one needs a special physique. And people with such bodies are one in a billion. In a place like Small Buddha Temple, there are far more than one or two that have been discovered in the League. However, the number of people who can truly master the mysterious Primordial Energy Art is a pathetic number.


    "The six heroes all had special physiques. Furthermore, they found the mysterious lands that matched their bodies and mastered the mysterious Primordial Energy Arts, obtaining their Mythical Companion Beasts." After a pause, Ouyang Lan continued, "However, the special physiques of their bodies weren''t innate, but obtained from a mysterious dimensional zone. There are still mysterious creatures inside it that can make other humans obtain special physiques like the six heroes; thus, obtaining a chance to acquire a Mythical Companion Beast."


    "With such a place, the hero families probably do not wish to share it with others, right?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Ouyang Lan curled her lips. "If they have the strength to suppress the entire League, they naturally won''t share it with others. Unfortunately, even if they have Mythical experts, it''s only limited to a few people. To suppress the massive Earth League is impossible. Besides, there are terrifying enemies overseas, beyond the League''s jurisdiction. The hero families can''t just put all their efforts on their own members."


    "Enemies overseas?" Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    "The Earth League only controls the land. Overseas, there are other human factions in existence. I''ll tell you about them in detail in the future. To prevent the League from fracturing, the hero families have given the bigwigs of the various lands certain candidate spots, allowing the descendants of these bigwigs to have a chance of entering such mysterious lands. They will vie with the descendants of hero families for the chance to obtain special physiques. This temporarily stabilizes the League''s peace on the surface. As for the An family, it possesses one such spot."


    "Don''t tell me you gave me the spot?" Zhou Wen suddenly realized something as he looked at Ouyang Lan in disbelief.


    She nodded and said, "That spot was meant for Little Jing, and with her talent and capabilities, she had a very high chance of obtaining a special physique. Unfortunately, she was born with an ailment. As her mother, I don''t wish for her to take further risks. Therefore, I wish for you to replace Little Jing in this competition and obtain the special physique, thereby obtaining a Mythical Companion Beast.


    "I will need to ask for your forgiveness for changing our nominee to you without obtaining your permission. Furthermore, it can''t be changed again." Ouyang Lan patted Zhou Wen on the head and said with a smile, "You don''t have to feel too pressured. I never planned on sending An Jing to begin with, so this spot would have been a waste. That''s why I changed it to you. So don''t worry if you aren''t willing to go."

 88 Entering Tiger Cage Pass Again

    "Why didn''t you give the nomination to An Tianzuo?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    Ouyang Lan said with a smile, "Because he''s too strong. It''s useless sending him."


    Zhou Wen didn''t understand what Ouyang Lan meant. However, he had a general idea. Perhaps the obtaining of a special condition limited one''s evolutionary level.


    "Why did you give me the nomination?" Zhou Wen wasn''t silly enough to believe that this nomination would be for nothing.


    Even if An Tianzuo and An Jing couldn''t do it, the An family could use this nomination to exchange for immense benefits. Many famous and noble families would be very interested in this nomination spot.


    Taking ten thousand steps back, the An family could always give the spot to another collateral relative. It was a big family clan, so it would be easy for it to find someone suitable.


    Ouyang Lan looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Little Wen, whether you believe it or not, since I''ve married Lingfeng, we should accept each other''s children. I''ll treat you as my own child. Of course, Tianzuo and Little Jing are my children, so my feelings for them go far deeper than yours. If all three of you were to encounter danger together, I''d definitely prioritize saving them. But other than that, I''ll do my best as a mother."


    "There''s no need for you to do that." Zhou Wen was actually quite fond of Ouyang Lan''s style.


    She said, "You don''t have to feel psychologically burdened. This is just a thought of mine that I won''t force on you. If you wish, this family''s door is forever open to you. If you aren''t willing, I won''t get others to disturb you. Everything is up to you to choose."


    "Do you really believe that I can obtain the special physique?" Zhou Wen still found it inexplicable why Ouyang Lan was so confident in him.


    Even someone as outstanding as An Jing wouldn''t have absolute confidence, and with Zhou Wen not yet having advanced to the Legendary stage, he was far inferior to An Jing to others.


    Ouyang Lan smiled as she raised her phone and opened the Photos app. She opened up a photo that had a refined, bespectacled old man on it.


    "Do you know him?" Ouyang Lan pointed at the elderly man in the photo and asked.


    "He''s the former principal¡­" Zhou Wen said in surprise. Back in Guide High School, he had been very taken care of by the former principal.


    As Zhou Wen spent most of his time living alone, he seldom returned home when he was in high school. He even spent the weekends arduously cultivating.


    Whilst doing this, he would often encounter the former principal. Over time, they built up quite a relationship. The former principal had even invited him over to his place for meals.


    Later, the former principal had to retire early due to his ailing physique. Back when he left, Zhou Wen had planned on sending him off, but the former principal refused. He claimed that he hated such scenes the most.


    Ever since then, Zhou Wen never met him¡ªit had almost been a year.


    "It was he who told me that you''re excellent, far better than Little Jing. Although I''m not fully in agreement with that, you must be excellent since he says so," Ouyang Lan said with a smile.


    "What''s your relationship with the former principal?" Zhou Wen looked at Ouyang Lan and asked politely.


    "He¡­" Ouyang Lan blinked craftily before saying, "is my father."


    "Ah!" Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he looked at the photo and back at Ouyang Lan. They did share some resemblances.


    After Zhou Wen returned to the school''s dormitory, he still found it incredible. The woman his father had married happened to be the former principal''s daughter.


    Ouyang Lan told him not to worry further. The Special Inspection Bureau wouldn''t find fault with him in the future under the premise that he didn''t leave Luoyang.


    She also told Zhou Wen that he could attempt cultivating the Sun Strafe Art that An Jing gave him.


    The Sun Strafe Art also came from a mysterious land; however, it had been modified to a simplified version that could be cultivated even without special physiques. In fact, the famous Primordial Energy Arts, like the Invincible Connate Divine Art, all had similar origins.


    However, the simplified versions were inferior to the original versions. They lacked the capability of obtaining Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Although the simplified versions were a lot weaker than the original versions, they were still far stronger than the typical Primordial Energy Art. Ouyang Lan hoped that Zhou Wen could master the Sun Strafe Art to increase his chances when he vied for the special physique and Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Even if he wasn''t concerned about these two factors, cultivating such a high-level Primordial Energy Art only brought benefits.


    Zhou Wen didn''t make his decision on whether he would be vying for the special physique, but he did plan on taking a look at the Sun Strafe Art.


    It wasn''t that he didn''t wish to cultivate the Sun Strafe Art, but since the Primordial Energy Art came from lands of mystery like the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Zhou Wen wished to know if the Lost Immortal Sutra had any effect on these Primordial Energy Arts.


    Having had the USB drive in his possession for so long, this was the first time he was seriously reading the contents. The Sun Strafe Art was indeed a high-level Primordial Energy Art, far greater than Ascetic Meditation.


    After reading the entire Sun Strafe Art, nothing happened to the Lost Immortal Sutra in him. It wasn''t like when he had read the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in which the Lost Immortal Sutra would automatically switch to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra''s circulation method.


    Could it be that I need to see the original scriptures for it to be of use? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly.


    Zhou Wen put away the USB drive and was about to use his phone to grind the Tiger Cage Pass dungeon when Li Xuan came to him.


    "The An family has settled the problem for you. The Special Inspection Bureau won''t dare come again. You can rest easy now. Isn''t it about time we complete the test mission Counselor Wang gave us?" Li Xuan said with a grin.


    "Alright," after some thought, Zhou Wen agreed. After all, they didn''t have much time left. It wasn''t a bad idea to complete the test mission now.


    Although Wang Fei had said that they could kill the Demonized General in a team of four, Li Xuan and Zhou Wen had no intention of recruiting others. Just the two of them were good enough.


    Sunset College was so large that news of yesterday''s ongoings on hadn''t spread to the others. Those who knew Zhou Wen and what had happened were even fewer. Amongst those students, they didn''t react differently when they saw Zhou Wen either.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were walking towards Tiger Cage Pass when they suddenly heard a commotion up ahead. Then, they saw many students running back.


    A few of them were running and shouting, "Run! There''s a word-engraved Demonized General ahead. It''s rushing over here."


    As the strategy had specially mentioned that even Legendary stage experts were not necessarily able to defeat word-engraved Demonized Generals, none of the freshmen dared to take risks. All of them fled for the Tiger Cage Pass dimensional zone''s exit.


    "We sure have bad luck. To think that a word-engraved Demonized General would appear. Let''s head back now and wait until the school eliminates it before coming back." Although Li Xuan was arrogant, he knew where to draw the line.

 89 Blade Demonized General

    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t mind. Word-engraved Demonized Generals were extremely powerful, pinnacle existences among Legendaries. He was only confident of killing Blade Demonized Generals among the word-engraved Demonized Generals. If he were to encounter a Paper Demonized General, death was certain, so there was no need for him to take the risk.


    Just as the two were prepared to leave, they saw the stocky Demonized General riding over on a red horse with spear in hand. A few female students were too close to it and were about to be caught up by it.


    "Sis!" Li Xuan took a careful look and immediately, the color in his face drained. He summoned the Jade-Eyed White Tiger and rushed over against the escaping crowd.


    Zhou Wen also saw Li Weiyang among the students being pursued by the Demonized General. However, he did not rush over immediately. He was too far away and couldn''t see clearly what the engraved word on the head was.


    If it was Blade, he was confident that he could help Li Xuan rescue Li Weiyang. It was even possible to kill it in passing and he might obtain something good.


    However, if they had encountered a Paper Demonized General, Zhou Wen would only be sending himself to his death if he rushed over. It would be meaningless.


    Li Weiyang had the Legendary Companion Beasts, Black Knight and Jade-Eyed White Tiger. Even if they weren''t a match for the Paper Demonized General, they were enough to rescue Li Weiyang by sacrificing them.


    "Isn''t Li Xuan your friend? Why aren''t you going to help him?" Zhou Wen was trying to make out the word engraved on the Demonized General''s helmet when he heard a familiar voice.


    He turned around and saw An Jing standing beside him with a deadpan expression. She had walked over at some point in time.


    Her tone had a clear hint of mockery. He glanced at her before ignoring her. He turned his head back to scrutinize the Demonized General''s helmet, trying hard to figure out what the word was.


    Although Zhou Wen was quite fond of Ouyang Lan, it did not mean that he had a favorable impression of everyone in the An family. At the very least, he didn''t have a favorable impression of An Jing and An Tianzuo, so he didn''t want to have any interaction with them.


    Zhou Wen wouldn''t vent his anger on Ouyang Lan because of the An siblings, but he wouldn''t extend his fondness to them just because of her.


    An Jing didn''t say anything else. She also knew that it was unrealistic for a Mortal stage student to fight a word-engraved Demonized General. It wouldn''t be a heroic act but a suicide.


    However, for some reason, An Jing just found Zhou Wen a sore sight. Even if he did the right thing, she just couldn''t help but poke fun at him.


    Although she said that, An Jing''s eyes were peeled at the Demonized General. She was prepared to summon her Companion Beast to engage it in combat.


    Firstly, it was because An Jing wouldn''t allow her fellow students to be killed by the Demonized General and secondly, the probability of a word-engraved Demonized General''s appearance was very low. Once it appeared, it became the target of the best students in school.


    The Companion Beast and Primordial Energy Skill that the word-engraved Demonized General dropped were extremely rare and very useful.


    The Companion Beast needed no explanation. It was a Legendary Companion Beast with exceptional strength and could even be of certain use in battles with Epic creatures. It was a top-grade Legendary Companion Beast that was extremely rare.


    The word-engraved Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill was also very useful. The Paper Demonized General''s Astral Suction Palm, the Blade Demonized General''s Astral Slash Blade, and the Fist Demonized General''s Astral Fist were all rare top-grade Primordial Energy Skills among Legendary ones.


    Astral Suction Palm could suck things across space. Astral Slash Blade had a blade beam that was as fast as lightning. Astral Fist''s explosive might was unparalleled. All of them were Primordial Energy Skills that Legendary experts yearned for.


    Unfortunately, there were too few word-engraved Demonized Generals. The drop rate of Companion Beasts and Primordial Energy Skill crystals were just too low. It had been years since the discovery of the Tiger Cage Pass dimensional zone, but the number of people with word-engraved Demonized General Companion Beasts and Primordial Energy Skills was few in number.


    Inside Sunset College, if one could possess a word-engraved Demonized General Companion Beast, or possess a word-engraved Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill, they would be envied by everyone.


    It was easy for An Jing to get Companion Beasts and Primordial Energy Skills, but to obtain a word-engraved Demonized General Companion Beast wasn''t an easy endeavor. There were just too few of them and there was practically none on the market for sale.


    Furthermore, a Companion Beast that dropped from one''s kill gave one a better sense of achievement than buying one.


    Just as An Jing was prepared to take action, she saw Zhou Wen suddenly dash forward like a released arrow as he headed straight for the word-engraved Demonized General.


    An Jing was taken aback as she hurriedly rushed over.


    Although she found Zhou Wen a sore sight, she didn''t wish to see him die here.


    She believed that she could easily catch up to him since she was already at the Legendary stage while he was only at the Mortal stage.


    However, shortly after she chased him, she saw Zhou Wen with four translucent silver wings behind his back. Instantly, his speed was elevated significantly and was in no way inferior to a Legendary. He was even faster and prevented An Jing from catching up to him.


    A Legendary Companion Beast? An Jing was puzzled. Zhou Wen was only at the Mortal stage which usually meant the impossibility of incubating a Legendary Companion Beast unless Zhou Wen cultivated in Primordial Energy Arts like the Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    However, An Jing knew him pretty well. She knew that he only cultivated in Ascetic Meditation which made it impossible for him to incubate a Legendary Companion Beast at the Mortal stage.


    Furthermore, she had never seen the Companion Beast he was using. This was quite astonishing to her, considering her background as a member of the illustrious An family.


    Even if he has a pinnacle Legendary Companion Beast, it''s impossible to fend against a word-engraved Demonized General. An Jing knew how powerful they were, so she didn''t stop and continued rushing forward.


    However, she didn''t plan on overtaking him this time. She wanted to know how strong Zhou Wen currently was. She could take action when he was in danger.


    Zhou Wen didn''t think too much. The moment he saw that the Demonized General''s helmet was a Blade, he had rushed forward.


    Since he had the ability to help, there was no reason for him to idly stand by. Furthermore, word-engraved Demonized Generals had a low probability of spawning even in-game. Zhou Wen was already hoping to find a Blade Demonized General, so encountering one here was a boon.


    Just as Li Xuan had said, he had summoned the Jade-Eyed White Tiger and Black Knight to stop the Demonized General, protecting Li Weiyang and the other girls as they retreated.


    The Black Knight rushed right in front of the Demonized General and slammed forward by relying on its heavy armor.


    Bang!


    The Demonized General''s strange spear thrust out powerfully with roaring flames, stabbing the Black Knight''s helmet right into the breastplate. Half of the Black Knight''s body was slammed into the ground like a wooden column.


    Meanwhile, the Jade-Eyed White Tiger had leaped up, flashing its claws at the Demonized General''s neck. However, before it arrived in front of the Demonized General, the left hand slashed out with a faint, thin blade beam, splitting the Jade-Eyed White Tiger into two.


    Li Xuan felt his heart ache. Although Legendary Companion Beasts weren''t much to him, the Jade-Eyed White Tiger was quite a rare Legendary Companion Beast, so finding a second one wasn''t going to be easy.

 90 Annihilating the General with One Palm

    After killing the Jade-Eyed White Tiger, the Demonized General didn''t cease at all. It raised the strange spear in its hand and the crescent-like side blades swept across the Black Knight''s waist with terrifying flames.


    Half of the Black Knight''s body was buried in the ground and it was unable to move at all. If it was struck, it was likely to have its head separated from its body.


    "Leave quickly." Li Xuan didn''t have the luxury of time to moan over his Companion Beasts. The Blade Demonized General was just too fast and powerful. The speed at which it killed the Jade-Eyed White Tiger and Black Knight had far exceeded Li Xuan''s expectations. If they didn''t pull open a distance quickly, it would probably chase after them again.


    Suddenly, a figure flew over Li Xuan, arriving above the Demonized General in a blink of an eye. Then, it was split into two.


    Zhou Wen had summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and was riding on its back, rushing straight for the Demonized General''s head.


    The Demonized General waved its left hand, shining out a lightning-like blade beam that moved at an inconceivable speed. The instant it smashed down, the beam had arrived in front of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant spread its four wings and phased away with silver, dreamy light. Its speed was instantly raised to a terrifying level, allowing it to dodge the Demonized General''s blade beam.


    An Jing, who was prepared to take action, was stunned. The Blade Demonized General''s Astral Slash Blade was famous for being fast, accurate, and mighty. Yet, that Companion Beast had managed to dodge it. It truly caught her by surprise.


    To have a non-avian Companion Beast that has a flight Primordial Energy Skill is rather rare. An Jing stopped in her tracks as she watched the battle.


    When the Demonized General missed the Silver-Winged Flying Ant with its blade, the strange spear in its hand swept flames up into the sky, hoping to sweep the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Zhou Wen down.


    However, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant agilely changed directions in midair, dodging the Demonized General''s strike. At the same time, its stinger shot out Magical Needle at the Demonized General''s head.


    However, before it reached the Demonized General, it was cleaved apart by the Astral Slash Blade it sliced out with its left hand.


    Zhou Wen controlled the Silver-Winged Flying Ant as he battled the Demonized General. Using its speed and flight capabilities, and Silver Wing Flash, he dodged all of the Demonized General''s attacks.


    "Old Zhou, that Companion Beast is awesome. Where did you get it from? Help me get one in the future." Li Xuan''s eyes glimmered as he slipped effortlessly into address Zhou Wen affectionately.


    To use speed to dodge the Demonized General''s attacks made the Silver-Winged Flying Ant a pinnacle speed-type Companion Beast.


    An Jing, Li Weiyang and company also noticed the value of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, but An Jing was able to figure out more.


    That strange flying ant is a top speed-type Companion Beast at the Legendary stage, but to be able to dodge the Blade Demonized General''s attacks so perfectly isn''t something that can be done with speed alone. Zhou Wen''s control and predictions are all excellent. An Jing didn''t let her hatred for him affect her own judgment. She could tell how formidable Zhou Wen really was.


    With Zhou Wen fighting the Demonized General, Li Xuan finally seized the opportunity to get the Black Knight to escape from the ground. Just as he was about to order it to help, he saw Zhou Wen jump off from the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s back.


    "Holy sh*t, Old Zhou, what are you trying to do?" Li Xuan jumped in fright. For the Mortal Zhou Wen to lunge at the Demonized General looked no different from courting death.


    Li Weiyang and the other students had their hearts pounding nervously as though they were about to leap out of their chests. Even An Jing''s breathing sped up.


    From An Jing''s point of view, Zhou Wen''s actions were too rash. Furthermore, there weren''t any substantial effects.


    He was only at the Mortal stage. With Strength at the Mortal stage, even if it was boosted by Primordial Energy Skills, striking a Demonized General''s helmet probably didn''t deal it much damage.


    Zhou Wen wore a stoic expression as his body rapidly plummeted. He swung his arm that had been enveloped by the skeleton bracer, striking straight at the top of the Demonized General''s head.


    This leap looked like a risky move, but in fact, Zhou Wen had already simulated it hundreds of times in his head. Ever since he had fought the word-engraved Demonized General, he had been thinking of a way to kill them.


    The only possibility was to first kill the Blade Demonized General. As for the Paper Demonized General, he temporarily had no means of killing it.


    This leap had been calculated by Zhou Wen countless times before he deduced the opportunity.


    Back when the Silver-Winged Flying Ant kept flying, it had made the Demonized General run through all its moves. Its Primordial Energy Skills had all been used and it couldn''t immediately use them again. All those powerful moves prevented it from instantly retaliating against Zhou Wen.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen leaped down headfirst as his palm struck the Demonized General''s helmet.


    If it were only an ordinary Mortal Primordial Energy Skill, it wouldn''t be able to tear through the helmet''s defense with the skeleton bracer''s augmentation.


    However, Zhou Wen''s Ashen Palm at Rank 10 was different. This was a palm with a cold, explosive might. It could generate a penetrative effect at short distances.


    Although this palm looked like it had smacked the helmet, its force had already penetrated into the Demonized General''s head, striking its brains.


    With the success of the attack, Zhou Wen pressed down on the Demonized General''s helmet and used the reactionary force to retreat several meters. The Silver-Winged Flying Ant was already waiting there for him as he somersaulted and landed on its back, his eyes staring intently at the Demonized General.


    As he had never attempted it in-game, he wasn''t sure of the effects of this palm strike.


    An Jing, Li Xuan, and the other students were also staring at the Demonized General. They felt that the palm didn''t seem to have much of an effect as there wasn''t any mark on its helmet.


    But the next second, the Demonized General looked up and spewed a mouthful of blood before collapsing from its horse. The red horse neighed as it exploded, scattering its flesh and blood everywhere.


    He had managed to slay a word-engraved Demonized General! When An Jing saw the horse explode, she knew that the Demonized General was definitely dead.


    Li Xuan yelled, "Did anyone do a recording? Did anyone record that battle? How long did he take?"


    The school''s test missions required video proof. Although he didn''t know how long Zhou Wen had taken, it didn''t feel like he took more than ninety seconds.


    "I did," a girl beside Li Weiyang said meekly.


    The few of them had come to complete a test mission, so they had a video recording the entire time. They had also recorded the battle that had just finished.


    Li Weiyang got the girl to play the recording as they looked over. He had taken 79 seconds.


    "Old Zhou, you took 79 seconds to kill a word-engraved Demonized General. You are really awesome!" Li Xuan yelled at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was in no mood to care about the numbers. He ran straight to the dead Demonized General, hoping to find a dimensional crystal or Companion Egg from its corpse.


    Pulling apart the Demonized General''s helmet, he saw red and white fluids flow out. Amidst that was a resplendent object.

 91 Astral Slash Blade Beam

    Li Xuan and company noticed the egg-sized crystal that Zhou Wen pulled out.


    The crystal looked dreamy with a glow flickering within it. The glow had the appearance of the Demonized General, making it a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    "The Blade Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill. I wonder which one is it. He''s really struck it rich if it''s Astral Slash Blade," Li Xuan said as he approached to take a look at the crystal.


    As the Blade Demonized General had several Primordial Energy Skills, with Astral Slash Blade being one of them, the chances of it dropping were extremely low even if a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal were to drop.


    By the side, An Jing suddenly said, "The Demonized General figure inside the crystal has a faint red glow on the word engraved on top of its head. This Primordial Energy Skill Crystal is Astral Slash Blade."


    "It''s really Astral Slash Blade! Old Zhou, your luck is really unparalleled!" Li Xuan said in excitement, "If you wish to sell this Astral Slash Blade skill, just sell it to me. I''ll quickly advance to the Legendary stage, so I''ll be able to use it."


    Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and placed the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal in his pocket.


    The average person couldn''t withstand the surge of Primordial Energy Skills at the Mortal stage. Any forceful absorption would damage the body, and in serious cases, might even lead to death.


    However, Zhou Wen was different. If he could take the Primordial Energy Skill into the game and let the blood-colored avatar attempt to absorb it, he himself wouldn''t be in any danger.


    Zhou Wen had already tried absorbing Legendary Primordial Energy Skills in-game and all of them had happened without a hitch.


    Zhou Wen''s news of killing the word-engraved Demonized General quickly spread across campus. To kill one in 79 seconds was unheard of even amongst special admissions students.


    However, the topic of conversation was the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Many people believed that it was due to it that Zhou Wen was able to slay the word-engraved Demonized General. Such Speed and ability of flight made it a top Speed-type, flight-capable Companion Beast among those at the Legendary stage.


    After Wang Fei saw the recording of Zhou Wen slaying the word-engraved Demonized General, she gave Zhou Wen a very high evaluation, believing him to be a talent worth nurturing.


    Even An Jing, who always found him a sore sight, viewed him in a different light. She believed that Zhou Wen would once again get back on his feet, turning back into the genius he once was.


    However, Wang Fei and An Jing quickly realized they were wrong. After killing the word-engraved Demonized General, Zone didn''t come out of his dorm at all. He didn''t enter the dimensional zones to train himself, nor did he attend any classes.


    An Jing often saw Zhou Wen lying in the yard, holding his phone gaming while sunbathing. He gamed for several hours at a time without even changing his pose.


    After he obtained the Astral Slash Blade Primordial Energy Skill, many students tried to buy it from him through different means, but they were all rejected by him.


    Although Zhou Wen already had the ability to kill Blade Demonized Generals and could always slowly grind one in-game, that would take him too much time. He didn''t wish to waste any time for just some pittance of money.


    On the day he returned home with the Astral Slash Blade Crystal, he had tried using the mysterious phone to snap a picture of it. It instantly pulled it in-game and allowed him to successfully master the Astral Slash Blade Primordial Energy Skill.


    What left Zhou Wen perplexed was that Astral Slash Blade was somewhat different from the typical Primordial Energy Skill. This was because it didn''t have a rank and the amount of Primordial Energy it expended wasn''t fixed.


    Either 1 or 10 points of Primordial Energy was enough to release Astral Slash Blade, but the unleashed force was different. The more Primordial Energy used, the stronger the Astral Slash Blade''s beam was.


    Zhou Wen had tested the might of the Astral Slash Blade in-game. When using 10 points of Primordial Energy, it could instantly cull the Legendary Silver-Winged Flying Ant in midair. It was fast and ruthless, giving him the exhilaration of killing someone through empty space. It was something Ashen Palm and Vigor Divine Fist couldn''t compete with.


    Over the past few days, Zhou Wen had been grinding Tiger Cage Pass in a bid to encounter Paper Demonized Generals. He wanted to see if Astral Slash Blade could crack the Primordial Energy Skill of the Paper Demonized General.


    Unfortunately, his luck was terrible. After repeatedly grinding Tiger Cage Pass, he only encountered one word-engraved Demonized General. It wasn''t a Blade Demonized General, but a Fist Demonized General.


    When Astral Slash Blade and Zhou Wen''s other Primordial Energy Skills hit the Fist Demonized General, its body would flash a golden light as though it was layered in gold. Even the Astral Slash Blade''s beam couldn''t leave a scratch.


    Finally, the blood-colored avatar was slain by the Fist Demonized General with one charge, leaving him rather disheartened.


    However, he was used to such outcomes. Compared to others being capable of encountering one word-engraved Demonized General in a timespan of two to three months, his efficiency was considered a lot higher.


    Just as he was preparing to continue grinding Tiger Cage Pass, he heard his phone ring. He still picked it up despite it being an unknown number.


    "Is this Zhou Wen? You have a delivery." A man''s voice sounded from the phone.


    I don''t think I bought anything on the Internet recently. Who would deliver something to me? Zhou Wen thought for a while to no avail. However, he went to the door to take receipt of the parcel.


    The parcel wasn''t very big. Zhou Wen looked at it carefully and saw that the sender had the word "principal" written on it.


    The former principal mailed me something? Zhou Wen found that the most probably.


    Previously, Ouyang Lan had mentioned to him that the former principal had been invited to a mysterious dimensional zone and hadn''t returned to date. That was because the magnetic fields there were abnormal, preventing any communication devices to be used. Even Ouyang Lan didn''t know his present situation.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen opened the parcel and couldn''t help but be shocked when he saw the thing inside.


    The parcel wasn''t big to begin with. Stuffed inside it were several old newspapers, but the only thing of note was a name card.


    It was a real name card. The owner of the name card was the owner of a dimensional crystal shop. His name was Qin Xiyuan. On the back of the name card was the address and contact number of the shop.


    Apart from that, there was a string of numbers that were handwritten at the bottom. It was just underneath the telephone number, so it looked like an additional number to call.


    Is this name card really from the former principal? Zhou Wen felt puzzled, unsure why he would mail this to him.


    He picked up the delivery notice and tried calling the sender''s number, but he only received the notification: "The number you called is not in service."


    What''s going on? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown. He took a look at the sender''s address and saw that it was a place in the East District named Zhuolu County. There wasn''t an exact street or unit number.

 92 Excellent-Grade Companion Egg

    Zhou Wen studied it for quite some time before figuring out what the name card meant. On it was a string of handwritten numbers that didn''t seem like a telephone number.


    Typical cell phone numbers were 11 digits with landlines being 7. However, this number had 10 digits, so it clearly wasn''t right.


    It didn''t seem right either that certain digits of a cell phone number were missing. This was because the string of numbers started with a 5 while cell phone numbers typically started with 1. Most people usually wouldn''t write the first digit wrongly.


    5156942730. What does this string of numbers represent? Zhou Wen had the urge to ask the former principal if it was from him, but he didn''t have his contact details.


    Although he could return to the An family to ask Ouyang Lan, he didn''t wish to have too much interaction with them, nor did he wish to head to the An family home again.


    Ouyang Lan was nice, but Zhou Wen wasn''t fond of the An siblings, much less wish to have much to do with them.


    After some thought, he put away the name card. If this item had really been mailed to him by the former principal, it was likely that he would contact him in the future.


    After packing up, Zhou Wen continued gaming.


    Wang Fei''s mood was terrible. Her opinion was that Zhou Wen was a genius. For him to slay the Blade Demonized General single-handedly, that level of combat skill was enough to shock Sunset College even if one didn''t consider his cultivation talent.


    Wang Fei believed that if he was properly nurtured, his future was limitless. Furthermore, Ouyang Lan had also requested her to take good care of him.


    No matter how good his talent is, it will all go to waste if he keeps gaming. I have to place him back on the right track. Wang Fei believed that she was obligated and responsible for teaching Zhou Wen well.


    Even without Ouyang Lan, she didn''t wish a genius like Zhou Wen to let his talent go to waste.


    How can I get Zhou Wen to quit gaming and reestablish his values towards life and the world? Wang Fei frowned in thought.


    The harm games brought about was a serious societal issue before the dimensional storms. Countless parents and teachers did their best to stop students from being obsessed with gaming, but this problem wasn''t solved at its roots.


    After the dimensional storms, due to the change in society and the collective consciousness, the number of students who gamed had reduced significantly. However, there were still many who were obsessed with gaming.


    Wang Fei felt that Zhou Wen mustn''t have fallen too deep. After all, he had been a diligent student in the past. He was only using games to escape reality after suffering a heavy setback.


    However, from the two battles Zhou Wen engaged in after coming to Sunset College, his foundation was excellent. He had to be a very diligent and assiduous student. As long as his confidence and values towards life were established again, he could quit his gaming addiction.


    After some thought, Wang Fei''s eyes suddenly lit up. He that hides can find. Since Zhou Wen lost his confidence and is escaping from reality after his defeat by An Jing, wouldn''t defeating An Jing allow him to reestablish his confidence?


    The more Wang Fei thought about it, the more viable she found it to be. To get Zhou Wen to defeat a genius like An Jing was also a challenge and accomplishment for a teacher. This would only make it more interesting.


    Wang Fei steeled her resolve to complete this plan of hers. She wished that a student she mentored could defeat An Jing who the An family treated like a treasure. Even her body heated up in excitement.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know that he had become a gaming addict youth in Wang Fei''s eyes. He had even become a target for receiving plenty of help. At this moment, he was still focusing on grinding.


    Having lost count of the number of times he grinded Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen finally encountered a word-engraved Demonized General. From a distance, Zhou Wen was delighted because engraving on the Demonized General''s helmet was "Paper."


    He sent the blood-colored avatar charging at the Demonized General for he was already very familiar with its series of attacks. With the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Speed, it wasn''t difficult for him to deal with it.


    When the blood-colored avatar dodged the strange spear''s first strike, the Paper Demonized General used its Astral Suction Palm. It widened its left palm and aimed it at the blood-colored avatar.


    The blood-colored avatar seemed to be bound by a potent, invisible force and was yanked towards the Paper Demonized General.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the blood-colored avatar''s left palm exploded a faint beam that resembled a blade. It instantly sliced through the invisible force beyond his body.


    The Astral Suction Palm''s strength was like a piece of paper that was sliced through by the sharp blade beam. The thin silk-like blade beam then cleaved into the gap between the Paper Demonized General''s helmet and breastplate, beheading it with one strike.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. Although he guessed that Astral Slash Blade could counter the Paper Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill, he never expected it to be this strong. He had expended 10 points of Primordial Energy for the Astral Slash Blade, and it ended up beheading the Paper Demonized General.


    ''Killed Mutated Demonized General. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    However, what left Zhou Wen depressed was that the Paper Demonized General didn''t drop a Primordial Energy Skill or Companion Egg. All it dropped was a Strength Crystal valued at 18.


    If Zhou Wen had advanced to the Legendary stage, such a Strength Crystal was naturally the best. He would instantly have his Strength stat rise to 18. Unfortunately, he was still at the Mortal stage and his Strength''s limit couldn''t be broken. Having such a high-valued Strength Crystal was useless.


    Rushing in the direction of Tiger Cage Pass, he was shot to death once again. It was equivalent to him committing suicide but he had no way of having the dungeon respawn its monsters without him dying.


    When he entered the game again, Zhou Wen killed the Skeleton General, Silver-Winged Flying Ant, and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus once more.


    As the chances of a drop were too low, Zhou Wen''s repeated grinding didn''t reward him with anything good. However, with a massive number of grinding instances, anything with a low probability would eventually drop.


    This time, after killing the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, a Companion Egg dropped. When Zhou Wen saw its stats, his eyes lit up. He nearly kissed the Companion Egg.


    Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Turbid Waters Clear Lotus


    Strength: 18


    Speed: 15


    Constitution: 17


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Blood-Patterned Buddha Aspect, Lotus Bullets, Venom Toad, Buddha Lotus Rage.


    A Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus with four talent skills. Its Strength and Primordial Energy are considered at max level. Even for a flower-type Companion Beast with weak Constitution, it''s at 17. This Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus is an excellent one! Zhou Wen drooled as he looked at the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg.


    But in an instant, Zhou Wen felt vexed. He couldn''t bear to feed such an excellent-grade Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus to Truth Listener and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    However, if he were to incubate it, his lacking Primordial Energy might create new problems.


    I can only risk it. Zhou Wen saw that the Mutated Skeleton Ant and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus''s fusion success rate and decided to fuse them together.

 93 Lotus An

    The game system gave a compatibility score of 34%. This also meant that the chance of a successful fusion was at about a third. It was quite a low probability.


    However, the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus was so excellent that Zhou Wen couldn''t bring himself to feed it to Truth Listener. He had no way of taking it out of the game after all.


    As for the Mutated Skeleton Ant, although it was quite a good Mortal Companion Beast, it was limited by its Mortal stage. After having the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, there was a decreasing need for it. Even if he didn''t fuse it now, it would gradually be eliminated in the future.


    Therefore, after plenty of thought, he decided to risk it to fuse the two Companion Beasts together.


    After Zhou Wen chose to proceed with the fusion of the Mutated Skeleton Ant and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, the game system immediately gave a notification: ''As the Mutated Skeleton Ant is an adult, the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus will be treated as a supplement for fusion. Proceed with fusion?''


    It was identical to the previous time. Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared, so he instantly chose ''Yes.''


    The Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus Companion Egg and Mutated Skeleton Ant bloomed with light as the former flew to the latter. As the two blobs of light merged into one, it caused the entire phone screen to light up. Instantly, nothing could be seen.


    Zhou Wen waited for quite some time until the phone''s screen dimmed. Then, he heard a chime.


    ''Fusion successful. Obtained Legendary Companion Beast, Mutated Lotus Flower Ant.''


    Only then could Zhou Wen see a Companion Beast on his screen. It didn''t look much different from the Mutated Skeleton Ant from before. It still had a white bone exterior and its body seemed to be bigger. On its head, there was a budding blood-colored lotus flower.


    After opening the stats of the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, Zhou Wen was overjoyed by what he saw.


    Mutated Lotus Flower Ant: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Turbid Waters Clear Lotus


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 17


    Constitution: 18


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Skeleton Pierce (Rank 10), Blood-Patterned Buddha Aspect (Rank 9), Lotus Bullets (Rank 5), Venom Toad (rank 8), Buddha Lotus Rage (Rank 9).


    Companion Form: Bracer.


    The Lotus Ant had inherited the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus''s Life Providence¡ªTurbid Waters Clear Lotus. It was a pretty good and pragmatic one that made it immune to venomous liquids and corrosion.


    Amongst the four stats, only Speed was 1 point short of maxing out. As for Strength, it was an Overdrive at 19, having exceeded the limits of a typical Legendary maximum. It was considered the best among the best.


    Even crazier was that the Lotus Ant had retained all the Mutated Skeleton Ant''s and Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus''s skills, becoming one with five Primordial Energy Skills. Furthermore, it was a terrifying existence with rather high Primordial Energy Skill ranks.


    If such a Legendary Companion Beast was put on sale, just the fact that it had five Primordial Energy Skills was enough for it to be sold at an astronomical price. If there was an overall Legendary Companion Beast ranking, the Mutated Lotus Ant would definitely rank high.


    In his joy, Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Lotus Ant and saw a horrifying tank-sized ant appear in front of him. Its body was covered in terrifying bone spikes that made it look ferocious and terrifying.


    But on its head was a red lotus flower. It was connected to the top of its head with a flower bud. It made its terrifying looks appear rather adorable.


    As the Mutated Lotus Ant crawled, the lotus flower on its head would bob up and down, making it rather interesting.


    Just as Zhou Wen was admiring the Mutated Lotus Ant, he suddenly heard the doorbell ring. After dispelling the summon, he opened the door and was astonished to see Wang Fei.


    Sunset College''s education methods were very simple. One counselor led a class and was responsible for giving class homework and missions. Under normal circumstances, they wouldn''t be directly involved in the education of students.


    Students could select which teacher''s classes they attended based on the mission they had. They could then learn the knowledge and techniques they needed.


    Therefore, although Wang Fei was Zhou Wen''s counselor, there weren''t many opportunities for him to meet her. She typically wouldn''t request a meeting with her students before the ten-day deadline of the last mission.


    Unless a student encountered problems and sought her help, a counselor typically didn''t interfere with a student''s usual studies.


    "Zhou Wen, pack your things. Let''s have a walk," Wang Fei said directly before he could even speak.


    "Miss Wang, what do you want me to do?" Zhou Wen asked, feeling somewhat unhappily.


    Wang Fei said with a smile, "Professor Chen has a project that requires a student to be his assistant. I think you are very suitable for it, so I recommended you to him."


    "Is that a homework mission?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He had no intention of being an assistant.


    He had long heard of the benefits that came from being a professor''s assistant as it allowed one to interact with many high-level objects and broaden one''s horizons while also gaining some pointers from a professor. It was an opportunity many students wanted.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t like having such an opportunity. Although it was beneficial, it required him to sacrifice his time to work for the professor.


    To other students, such work was a way of honing themselves, a type of improvement. But to Zhou Wen, it was a waste of time that would eat into his gaming time.


    "It''s not a homework mission. I just find you very suited for it, so I recommended you. Professor Chen has great achievements when it comes to nurturing Companion Beasts. In Sunset College, he''s an authority in such matters. Furthermore, he has done a great amount of research on melee-fighting Primordial Energy Skills. I believe it will be very beneficial to you if you were to learn from him." Wang Fei was feeling rather pleased with herself.


    Professor Chen was a famous old fogey. Getting anyone to convince him to take in another student as an assistant was practically impossible. In Sunset College, not more than three people could get Professor Chen to agree to such a request.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t able to see Wang Fei''s face as he said directly, "Miss Wang, if it''s not a homework mission, I hope to decline the offer."


    Wang Fei''s smile instantly froze. Imagining that Zhou Wen wasn''t aware of what was happening, she explained, "Professor Chen Qishan isn''t just an authoritative figure in Sunset College, but in the entire League. By being his assistant, you can come into contact with several high-level Companion Beasts and learn of their characteristics and powers. This will be of tremendous help to your future exploring of dimensional zones. Furthermore, Professor Chen is¡­"


    Before Wang Fei could finish, Zhou Wen said firmly, "Miss Wang, thank you for your kind intentions. I still wish to decline. My usual homework missions give me enough stress. I need time for studying and revision. I really do not have enough time, so if it isn''t a homework mission, I wish to decline."


    Wang Fei felt as if she had been doused in cold water. All her excitement and glee instantly turned to nothing. It left her mood extremely nasty.


    "Are you sure you are declining?" Wang Fei asked Zhou Wen with a glare.


    "Yes, Miss Wang." Zhou Wen clearly wasn''t good at reading people as he nodded.


    "Alright." Wang Fei turned and left, her teeth grinding angrily.


    As Zhou Wen''s counselor, one who had paid special attention to him, Wang Fei knew that he hadn''t attended any teacher classes for the past few days, so what did he mean by studying and revision? Apart from slaying the Blade Demonized General, he likely spent most of his days in his dorm gaming.

 94 Unwinding Monumen

    Wang Fei clearly didn''t plan on giving up just like that. Regardless of her being a counselor or Ouyang Lan''s good friend, she believed that she had the obligation to rescue Zhou Wen who was a gaming addict who had excellent talent.


    Since you have no intention of improving yourself, I''ll make you realize the importance with the help of external forces. Wang Fei''s eyes darted about as she came up with an idea.


    However, her idea couldn''t be carried out immediately. She needed to wait for the Demonized General slaying mission to end before she could use a new homework mission and force Zhou Wen to face the difficulty.


    In the next homework mission, it appears I need to get that little fellow to make a trip to Jingshi Mountain. Wang Fei''s eyes flickered with excitement.


    Jingshi Mountain was also known as Mount Laojun. It was the main peak in the Qin Mountain Range that stretched to the Funiu Mountain Range for a distance span of 400 kilometers. Legend had it that this was the place the founder of Daoism, Li Er, had hidden himself. Although the legend''s veracity couldn''t be confirmed, Mount Laojun also became a dimensional storms zone after the dimensional storms. Furthermore, it became rather strange.


    The other dimensional zones were fraught with danger with dimensional creatures extremely ferocious. However, Mount Laojun''s dimensional creatures wouldn''t attack humans without reason. They almost never injured anyone.


    Mount Laojun''s Golden Peak had many Daoist temples, but to date, no one had been able to conquer the Golden Peak.


    Beneath the Golden Peak was a Wordless Monument. Although there were no words engraved on it, whoever viewed it would feel inspired and refreshed. They wouldn''t be frustrated by trivialities of the human world. Therefore, the Wordless Monument was named Unwinding Monument.


    However, looking at Unwinding Monument for a while was good, but if one looked at it for too long, one''s mind would be so stimulated that not only couldn''t they sleep, they would even be in a hyperactive state, as though they had infinite energy and were eager to do something.


    Some people who looked at Unwinding Monument for too long would begin boxing with all their might for three full days. Others would begin running until they were exhausted and unable to crawl.


    In short, as long as one looked at the Unwinding Monument, they would become extremely inspired and diligent no matter how lazy they were.


    The amount of time one looked at Unwinding Monument had to be controlled. If one were to stare at it for too long, they might die from overstimulation. It was something that had happened before.


    Although Mount Laojun was in Luoyang, it wasn''t inside Sunset College. Therefore, Wang Fei planned on leading the class to Mount Laojun after the Demonized General homework mission was over.


    Zhou Wen continued grinding in his form, but he wasn''t just mindlessly grinding.


    He had planned on rushing into Ant City, Fire God Platform, and Tiger Cage Pass to see if there were any places similar to Small Buddha Temple. Unfortunately, he met with repeated failures.


    Zhou Wen had a suspicion that the reason the Lost Immortal Sutra couldn''t advance him to Legendary had to do with his mastery of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Small Buddha Temple.


    Due to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Zhou Wen''s stat had broken through to 11 points while the other stats remained at 10.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen believed that the Lost Immortal Sutra allowed him to master other Primordial Energy Arts and they also could perhaps raise his other stats to 11.


    He didn''t know if the Lost Immortal Sutra had such a feature, nor did he know if he could advance to the Legendary stage when all his stats reached 11. However, it brought him some hope, far better than not having any clue at all.


    It was a pity that Zhou Wen didn''t find any places similar to Small Buddha Temple. There was a monument above the Fire God Platform, but there were firebirds protecting it, preventing him from rushing up and seeing what the monument with the word "Imperial" engraved on it was.


    Truth Listener is said to be a Mythical Companion Beast, so all its beginning stats are at 11. Perhaps the value 11 has some specialness. Zhou Wen thought about rushing to the Fire God Platform again, but before he could rush to its peak, he died under the ever-increasing horde of firebirds.


    From the looks of it, I need to obtain a Primordial Energy Art that imbues alacrity. It''s impossible to reach the top of Fire God Platform by simply relying on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. Zhou Wen switched off the phone and began researching on the school''s website.


    Currently, his phone had Ant Nest, Ancient Imperial City, Underground Buddha City, and Tiger Cage Pass. None of these dungeons produced Primordial Energy Skills that imbued alacrity. Therefore, Zhou Wen had to find new dungeons.


    The school''s data was very comprehensive. When he searched for Primordial Energy Skills that imbued alacrity, he quickly found an answer.


    Sunset College had many dimensional zones that produced such skills. And the most famous one was at Dragon Gate Grotto.


    There were two from Dragon Gate Grotto. One of them was the Mount Dragon Gate''s Fish Dragon Transformation while the other was the Dragon Gate Grotto''s Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    Mount Dragon Gate''s Fish Dragon Transformation stemmed from the legend of carps jumping through a dragon gate to transform into a dragon. It was a Primordial Energy Skill that allowed one to soar straight up to a height of hundreds of feet as though one was flying in the sky.


    However, a single leap of Fish Dragon Transformation was enough to drain all of one''s Primordial Energy. Such massive expenditure wasn''t one that Zhou Wen needed. Furthermore, Mount Dragon Gate wasn''t in Sunset College.


    Dragon Gate Fairy Skill was the complete opposite of Fish Dragon Transformation. It was a long-lasting Primordial Energy Skill that imbued alacrity. It used one''s changes in motion to fly and dance in the sky like a fairy. Although it needed a point to leverage upon, making it not true flight, it was good enough.


    However, obtaining the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill wasn''t simple. This was only produced by the Lotus Flower Cave in Dragon Gate Grotto. Furthermore, the drop rate was very low. People could spend more than a year inside without having it drop.


    Firstly, Dragon Gate Fairy Skill''s drop rate was very low and secondly, there were very few dimensional creatures in Lotus Flower Cave.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t have any qualms about that. All he needed to do was head to Dragon Gate Grotto and download the dungeon before being able to grind it infinitely. He didn''t need to worry about not having dimensional creatures to clear.


    Of course, that was on the premise that he had enough blood to support such an action.


    Thinking of how great his recent blood loss was, he drank a mouthful of his self-brewed blood replenishing tea. Although it didn''t seem to be of any use, it gave him a placebo effect.


    He was about to head to Dragon Gate Grotto and see if he could download it, but to his surprise, just as he left his building, he saw the young white-gloved military officer standing at his yard''s entrance, instructing two soldiers to carry a crate in.


    Zhou Wen recognized the young military officer. He was An Tianzuo''s adjutant and driver who he had met before.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know why he was here. Just as he was about to ask, the adjutant said, "Young Master Wen, Madam has requested me to bring this crate to you. Please acknowledge receipt."


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly and walked over to the crate and opened it up a little. Immediately, he saw all kinds of dazzling dimensional crystals inside.

 95 Dragon Gate Grotto

    "What''s the meaning of this?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Young Master Wen, this is your allowance for this month. If it''s not enough, you can always request more from Madam. She had actually planned on preparing a few Companion Beasts that would be suitable for you, but after recognizing the fact that you would be advancing to the Legendary stage soon, they weren''t made. There will be more choices and useful ones when the time comes," the adjutant said.


    "Sis Lan really gave this to me?" Zhou Wen asked the adjutant.


    "Yes," the adjutant answered with great certainty.


    "Then help me thank Sis Lan. I appreciate the gesture, but I don''t need it," Zhou Wen said as he lowered the lid.


    The adjutant looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. "Young Master Wen, this is your allowance, just like Miss Jing. It''s what you deserve."


    "That''s what An Jing deserves, not me. I have no need for it either. Please return and tell Sis Lan. I respect her, but my surname isn''t An," Zhou Wen said.


    The adjutant looked at Zhou Wen but stopped trying to persuade him. He just took out a pen and paper to write down a cell phone number and handed it to him with both hands. "Young Master Wen, I''ll take the items back. This is my number where I''m contactable any time of the day. If you have any requests, feel free to give me a call."


    "Alright. Thank you." Zhou Wen took the paper slip and saw the number. There were the words "Ah Sheng" written behind the number, perhaps the name of the adjutant.


    However, the name looked more like a nickname or pet name. It didn''t seem like a real name.


    As though he noticed Zhou Wen''s doubts, Ah Sheng said, "I was picked up by Overseer An in a dimensional zone. I had suffered serious injuries to my head and lost all my memories. Overseer An hopes that I can be reborn from the flames, which is why he gave me the name "sheng" representing life. I also took on his surname as An. Young Master Wen, you can just call me Ah Sheng."


    "Alright, thank you Ah Sheng. Please help me take the things back." Zhou Wen put away the paper slip and after sending Adjutant Ah Sheng off, he headed straight for Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Ah Sheng returned to the An family with the items; however, he didn''t take them to Ouyang Lan but to An Tianzuo.


    "Why did you bring the items back?" An Tianzuo looked at the crate with a frown.


    "Young Master Wen wanted me to bring them back," Ah Sheng said.


    "Did you tell him that they were from my mom?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "Yes, Young Master Wen said to thank her. He appreciates her gesture, but he doesn''t want the items," Ah Sheng replied truthfully.


    "Then put them away," An Tianzuo said after some thought.


    "Overseer, I think Young Master Wen must have guessed that these things weren''t from Madam," Ah Sheng added.


    "Why so?" An Tianzuo asked with piqued interest.


    "Just a feeling without any basis."


    "You aren''t a woman, so what feeling is there to speak off." An Tianzuo paused and said, "This Zhou Wen has quite a backbone. However, one cannot be successful with backbone alone. If he wishes to cultivate the Sun Strafe Art, it''s a mystery how long it will take for him to advance to the Legendary stage without enough Primordial Energy Crystals. We can''t have Little Jing waiting for him all the time, right?"


    "Overseer, I have something I''m not sure if I should say," Ah Sheng said with some hesitation.


    "Cut it out. When have you held back?" An Tianzuo said with a grunt.


    Ah Sheng said, "Miss Jing''s body isn''t good, so Madam preventing her vying for the special physique is for her own good, but why must she compete with Young Master Wen for supremacy?"


    An Tianzuo said lightly, "I know Little Jing''s personality all too well. She doesn''t care about the nomination, but she wants to prove to Mom that Zhou Wen isn''t as excellent as Grandfather claims him to be, and definitely not better than she is."


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen followed the navigation and headed for Dragon Gate Grotto.


    As Dragon Gate Grotto was just too huge, Sunset College actually covered a tiny area of it. Most of it was outside the campus.


    After Zhou Wen arrived, he realized a serious problem.


    Places like Ancient Imperial City, Underground Buddha City, and Tiger Cage Pass had a small palm symbol that allowed him to see it at a glance, thereby successfully scanning it and downloading the dungeon.


    However, Dragon Gate Grotto was a kilometer-long stretch. There were countless stone monuments and stone sculptures here, but there was nothing that resembled an entrance like a city gate. There was no obvious spot to find the small palm symbol.


    There were many caves that could be entered in Dragon Gate Grotto. The dimensional zones inside formed an infinitely extensive area. For instance, the Lotus Flower Cave which Zhou Wen wanted to go to was just one of many.


    Without the palm symbol, Zhou Wen could only follow the river, carefully taking in everything around him¡ªthe Buddha statues and stone sculptures. He hoped to find the palm symbol and download the dungeon into his mysterious phone.


    The Dragon Gate Grotto had about a hundred thousand Buddha statues. The tallest one reached nearly twenty meters and there were more than fifty caves. The masonry numbered thousands. After the dimensional storms, every cave had a huge number of dimensional creatures appearing in their interior.


    Zhou Wen looked around as he walked, making extremely slow progress. However, he didn''t find the palm symbol.


    "Zhou Wen?" As he was searching for the symbol along the river, he suddenly heard someone call his name.


    Zhou Wen turned and realized that the person who called out to him was the girl, Wang Lu, who lived next door to him.


    "Zhou Wen, have you come to Dragon Gate Grotto for cultivation as well?" Wang Lu asked with a smile.


    "I''m just here to take a look. I don''t plan on entering," Zhou Wen said.


    "Since you''re here, it''s a shame if you don''t go in. I heard there have recently been dragon roars inside Old Dragon Cave. There''s also a treasure-like glow that appears at night. It''s very strange. Why don''t you go in with me to take a look?" Wang Lu invited.


    "The stranger it is, the more dangerous it is. It''s better I do not enter," Zhou Wen said as he continued walking ahead.


    Wang Lu stuck her tongue out and headed for Old Dragon Cave.


    Dragon Gate Grotto was just too huge and there were too many carvings. To find a small palm symbol clearly wasn''t an easy task. Zhou Wen was very patient, but despite scouring every inch, he ultimately failed to find the tiny symbol.


    Could it be that not all dimensional zones can be downloaded? Zhou Wen began having doubts, but he continued searching.


    Outside Dragon Gate Grotto was a rather popular place as many Sunset College students came here for cultivation and to kill dimensional creatures.


    There were some people from Luoyang who weren''t students who entered via the north entrance. He also saw many people setting up shop by the caves, some selling the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs that came from the respective cave.


    Upon seeing those stalls selling Companion Eggs, Zhou Wen suddenly had a thought. The mysterious phone can download a Companion Egg into the game via taking a picture. Then, can I take the Companion Eggs of others in-game by snapping a photo? The phone shouldn''t be smart enough to tell who the Companion Egg belongs to, right?

 96 Rock Qilin Companion Egg

    Zhou Wen wasn''t the kind of person who would rob for no good reason. Although he thought of doing so, he didn''t actually do it.


    However, he still used the phone''s camera app to aim it at a Companion Egg placed on a stall but he didn''t press the shutter button.


    Although he didn''t snap the photo, the phone''s screen still showed the Companion Egg''s stats.


    Stone Warrior: Legendary


    Life Providence: Stone Contract


    Strength: 16


    Speed: 13


    Constitution: 16


    Primordial Energy: 12


    Talent Skill: Stone Blast Punch


    It was a Legendary Companion Egg with very ordinary stats and nothing outstanding. However, the mysterious phone''s feature delighted Zhou Wen.


    Dimensional crystals did not have numbers in real life, but technological methods could be used to roughly measure their power. This allowed them to roughly tell the level of dimensional crystals.


    However, Companion Eggs could not be measured at all because the same type of Companion Eggs gave almost the same figures even when measured using a device. To get a Companion Beast with excellent stats depended on luck.


    With the mysterious phone''s feature, he could directly see the Companion Egg''s stats. That way, he didn''t need to count on his luck and directly choose a Companion Egg with excellent stats for incubation.


    The Companion Eggs sold at Dragon Gate Grotto were basically at the Legendary stage and were few in variety. Most stalls only sold two types.


    One of them was a Stone Warrior and the other was Stone Qilin. Other than those, it was rare to see other types.


    "Boss, are there any other Companion Eggs besides the Stone Warriors and Stone Qilin?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    The boss shook his head impatiently and said, "No, Dragon Gate Grotto produces plenty of these. The other Companion Eggs have an extremely low chance of dropping. They are almost unobtainable. Even if someone obtains one, they won''t sell it cheaply."


    Before Zhou Wen could ask further, he heard someone beside him say, "The Stone Warriors and Stone Qilins are the most common dimensional creatures in Dragon Gate Grotto. The probability of them dropping Companion Eggs is also very high. In Luoyang, those at the Legendary stage will have two Companion Beasts but don''t think little of them just because they are common. In fact, excellent-grade Stone Warriors and Stone Qilins are rather powerful and useful Legendary Companion Beasts."


    Zhou Wen turned his head and realized that the person who spoke was Wang Lu.


    Wang Lu continued, "An excellent-grade Stone Warrior is top amongst its peers in terms of Strength and Constitution. They are just a tad slower. However, the might of its Stone Blast Punch is very powerful. It''s a Companion Beast with extremely strong offensive ability. A Stone Qilin is even stronger. A typical Stone Qilin has a Primordial Energy Skill that can harden one''s skin by turning it to stone, but if one can obtain a Stone Qilin that has Qilin Dominance Body, they will be a powerful existence among the top-ranking Legendary Companion Beasts.


    After Wang Lu said that, the stall owner gave her a thumbs up and said, "This young lady is an expert. She even knows about Qilin Dominance Body. That''s right, Stone Qilin with Qilin Dominance Body are indeed excellent among Legendaries, but despite the numerous Stone Qilin Companion Eggs, the number with Qilin Dominance Body are one in a thousand. They are just too rare."


    With that said, the boss chuckled and pointed at a stone egg on his stall''s counter. "I only have one Stone Qilin Companion Egg. Lady, do you want to try your luck?"


    Wang Lu smiled and shook his head. "Although Stone Qilins are strong, they don''t look very cute. It''s not the type I''ll like, so I think I should forget it."


    Out of interest, Zhou Wen used his phone''s camera to take a look at the Stone Qilin Companion Egg. Then, he was surprised to discover that the stats of the Stone Qilin egg had the talent skill of Qilin Dominance Body.


    Is it that coincidental? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. He carefully took a closer look and indeed, there was the Qilin Dominance Body Primordial Energy Skill. Furthermore, the other stats were pretty good. It was likely one of the most excellent Stone Qilins.


    "How much is a Stone Qilin Companion Egg?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "If you are paying in cash, 150,000 and you have yourself a deal." When the boss saw that Zhou Wen was a student of Sunset College, he expected him not to have any high-valued dimensional crystals, so he only reported the price in terms of the League''s currency.


    Zhou Wen shook his head with a wry smile. It was useless even if he knew that the Stone Qilin egg was an excellent-grade egg. He didn''t have the money to buy it even if he added up all the money in his accounts since it didn''t even reach 10,000.


    Wang Lu suddenly said, "Zhou Wen, if you want this stone Qilin Companion Egg, why don''t you make a deal with me? Do me a favor and I''ll help you buy it."


    "What deal?" Zhou Wen asked, puzzled.


    "I saw the video of you killing the word-engraved Demonized General. You were really impressive, so I hope that you can help me complete my homework mission," said Wang Lu.


    "Do you still need to spend money to hire someone to help with your homework mission?" Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu in puzzlement.


    Wang Lu was a special admissions student at Sunset College, so she was definitely not weak. She could even be said to be an extremely strong person amongst her peers. It was hard to believe that a special admissions student like her, needed help in a homework mission.


    Wang Lu smiled and said, "If it''s just a simple homework mission, I naturally don''t need your help. However, I want to get first place in class and even break the records. This requires you."


    "What is your homework mission?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    "It''s to kill a Fairy in Lotus Flower Cave with a party of fewer than four people. There is no time limit, but the previous record is 56 seconds," Wang Lu said.


    "How much time do you have left?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "There are still six more days." Wang Lu counted with her fingers.


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, "Alright, deal."


    Wang Lu''s goal was exactly the same as his. Zhou Wen had to go to the Lotus Flower Cave anyway. It was best if he could download Dragon Gate Grotto as a game dungeon; otherwise, he had to enter the Lotus Flower Cave and kill a Fairy himself. He wanted to see if he could get the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. Making a trade with Wang Lu in passing wouldn''t affect his plans.


    Wang Lu was very straightforward. Upon hearing Zhou Wen agree to the trade, she directly bought the Stone Qilin egg for 150,000. She didn''t even blink her eyes or ask for a discount. It delighted the boss so much that he couldn''t even contain his joy.


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony either. After receiving the Stone Qilin egg, he placed it in his backpack.


    "Do you want to head to the Lotus Flower Cave now?" Zhou Wen asked. He felt extremely responsible when it came to mercenary jobs.


    "I''d like to make a trip to the Old Dragon Cave first. If you have nothing to do, why don''t we go take a look together?" Wang Lu invited.


    "I''ll pass. This is my phone number. Call me before going to the Lotus Flower Cave." Zhou Wen gave Wang Lu his phone number.


    Wang Lu was somewhat taken aback. It was her first time seeing such an insensitive man as Zhou Wen.


    This person is really interesting. Wang Lu didn''t mind and turned to head to the Old Dragon Cave.

 97 Mobile Game

    Zhou Wen circled the nearby stalls and used his mysterious phone''s camera to take a look at all the Stone Qilin Companion Eggs. As Wang Lu and the boss said, there were very few Stone Qilins that possessed the Qilin Dominance Body, so he didn''t discover a second one.


    It was common for students to use their phones to take photos. Zhou Wen''s actions were not out of the blue, nor did he attract the attention of others.


    The mysterious phone''s functions are impressive, but unfortunately, I''m too poor. Even if I can discover excellent-grade Companion Eggs, I wouldn''t have the money to buy them. Zhou Wen felt vexed.


    It was impossible to sell the Companion Egg to earn money because although he knew that the Companion Egg was an excellent-grade egg, others didn''t know that. It was impossible for others to buy an unknown Companion Egg at the price of an excellent-grade Companion Beast.


    The dimensional crystals in the game could not be used, so they could not be exchanged for money.


    Zhou Wen realized that unless he sacrificed some gaming time, it would be difficult for him to obtain money.


    "Hey there, hey there, you are a freshman this year, right?" As Zhou Wen walked, a stall owner held him back.


    Zhou Wen realized that the stall owner was about the same age as him and was wearing Sunset College''s uniform. He was also probably a student from Sunset College, so he asked, "I''m a freshman who recently matriculated. What''s the matter?"


    "Junior, you came to Dragon Gate Grotto right after you matriculated. It''s obvious that you are a diligent student. However, dimensional zones are dangerous and you don''t know much about the dimensional zones in Dragon Gate Grotto. Entering like that is extremely dangerous. I have something good here that can allow you to understand the dimensional zone before entering," the student-like stall owner said.


    "I''ve already seen all the information available from the school." Zhou Wen prepared to continue walking forward.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen about to leave, the young stall owner hurriedly peddled his service. "Junior, don''t leave. It''s useless just reading that information. Those things are dead after all. No matter how much you read them, it doesn''t imbue you with deeper memory from experiencing it yourself. I have something here that can make you faster than others. You will be able to understand the situation inside deeply before entering."


    "What is it? Show it to me." Zhou Wen sized up the young stall owner curiously.


    Seeing Zhou Wen''s interest, the young stall owner hurriedly took out his cell phone and opened a game app on his phone. Then, an extremely simple game interface appeared.


    "Junior, this is a mobile game app I created. Don''t write it off just because of its graphics. The map and monsters here are designed according to Dragon Gate Grotto''s actual terrain and dimensional creatures. After playing this mobile game, you will have a full understanding of the Dragon Gate Grotto dimensional zone¡­"


    The graphics of the mobile game were very simple, but this student''s creativity made Zhou Wen''s eyes light up.


    "Senior, did you make this game yourself?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the game interface.


    "That''s right. A person''s time and capabilities are limited after all, so it''s a little crude. However, I can guarantee that the content is absolutely real. They are places that I have personally been to. Those dimensional creatures were also seen with my own eyes." The young stall owner came close to Zhou Wen and said, "Junior, download it. It''s absolutely beneficial for you. You can download it from the official app store. It''s only a hundred bucks."


    "Alright, I''ll download it to take a look. What''s your name, Senior?" Zhou Wen found the game app on the app store according to the name he was told.


    "My name is Huang Ji. Junior, you have good taste. Work hard." Seeing Zhou Wen download his game, Huang Ji was overjoyed.


    Zhou Wen launched on the game and played. He realized that the controls were smooth and the graphics were crude. The avatars'' and dimensional creatures'' actions were stiff like robots.


    "Senior Huang, can you improve this game and make it more real?" Zhou Wen asked as he played.


    "Of course I can. However, that requires a professional team and a large amount of money. I don''t have that much time or money right now, so I can only make it like this for the time being." Huang Ji said regretfully.


    "If given a professional team and funding, what level of development could you push it to?" Zhou Wen asked.


    He was really interested in this game. If such mobile games became popular in the future, then no one would be suspicious of him if he kept gaming on his phone.


    Huang Ji said, "The technology these days is actually very mature. However, gaming is gaming after all. It''s different from real battles. The officials haven''t invested too much in this area. If a person wants to do it, the amount of technical support and resources needed is too much. It''s especially so when it comes to funding. The average person would find it difficult to obtain the huge sums needed. Furthermore, even if one really developed it, they wouldn''t be able to provide precise information to the experts who could venture deep into the dimensional zones. That would make the game meaningless as it would be better to just watch videos."


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before asking, "Senior, if I can obtain a large amount of funds, are you willing to make this game better?"


    "Do you have money to invest? How much can you invest?" Huang Ji''s eyes lit up as he asked Zhou Wen.


    "I don''t have money for the time being," Zhou Wen said as he shrugged.


    "Then let''s wait until you have money." Huang Jing was very disappointed.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. He didn''t have any money, so there was no point in saying anything. All he could do was ask Huang Ji for a contact number before seeking him out when he had money.


    After separating from Huang Ji, Zhou Wen continued walking forward in search of the tiny palm symbol that might exist. However, he failed to discover it despite nearly reaching Lotus Flower Cave.


    "Zhou Wen, why haven''t you reached Lotus Flower Cave?" Wang Lu called him and urged him to meet up at the entrance.


    "Didn''t you go to Old Dragon Cave?" Zhou Wen asked casually as he continued walking forward slowly.


    "I waited inside Old Dragon Cave for quite some time, but I didn''t see any treasure light, nor did I hear any dragon roars. I had no choice but to head to the Lotus Flower Cave now. Come quickly," Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t far from Lotus Flower Cave, so as he walked he carried on searching. Soon, he arrived at the entrance of Lotus Flower Cave and saw Wang Lu waiting for him outside.


    There were soldiers guarding outside Lotus Flower Cave, preventing ordinary people from entering. Wang Lu took out two passes before leading Zhou Wen inside.


    "I don''t have the same counselor as you. Is it really fine for me to participate in your homework mission?" Zhou Wen asked while examining the situation inside Lotus Flower Cave.


    "No problem, as long as it''s a student from our school," Wang Lu said nonchalantly before continuing. "The record for Lotus Flower Cave was maintained by a fourth-year named Huang Ji. We have to break his record this time, so I need to ensure that all the steps are done well. I''ll leave the recording to you later. You must do a good job filming me¡­"


    "What''s the name of the senior that maintained the record?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Huang Ji," Wang Lu repeated.


    It couldn''t be the same person, right? Zhou Wen recalled Huang Ji who had used rather pushy sales tactics to promote his game app. He felt that it was probably just two people who shared the same name.

 98 Fairy Monkey

    There were no real lotus flowers inside the Lotus Flower Cave. Instead, there was a huge lotus stone sculpture carved on the ceiling. Around the stone statue were many graceful flying fairies.


    According to the school database, the gigantic lotus flower sculpture was where a dimensional rift was located. Occasionally, a dimensional creature would burrow out of the dimensional rift, looking as though it had flown out of a lotus flower.


    Dimensional creatures that appeared in the Lotus Flower Cave were currently limited to creatures known as Fairy Beasts. However, they were different from the fairies in the murals. Dimensional creatures called Flying Beasts didn''t look beautiful. Instead, they were like monkeys, so Fairy Beasts were also known as Fairy Monkeys.


    The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill that Zhou Wen needed was a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal that dropped from Fairy Monkeys. However, there were very few Fairy Monkeys. The chances of it dropping a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal were even lower.


    Before the dimensional storms happened, the Lotus Flower Cave had been an individual cave, but now, there were many caves that connected to it. Each cave had a lotus flower ceiling and fairies. There were also many sculptures of Buddha, Bodhisattva, Malla, and monks.


    Lotus Flower Cave had been sealed for a period of time, so it would have accumulated quite a lot of Fairy Beasts. However, the numbers were only enough for special admissions students. Therefore, every special admissions student only had two chances. If they couldn''t obtain their ideal results after killing two Fairy Monkeys, they were not allowed to continue killing them.


    Zhou Wen followed Wang Lu through the different lotus flower caves and finally found a Fairy Monkey.


    The Fairy Monkey was somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. Zhou Wen''s impression of a monkey was an animal with brown fur, but it was actually covered in white fur. Its eyes were bloodshot with a pair of white wings on its back.


    When the Fairy Monkey noticed Zhou Wen and Wang Lu, it immediately bared its teeth and charged over.


    "Do you know how to use this? Help me take a good shot. You have to keep up with my speed. Make sure that I look good in it." Wang Lu handed a special camera to Zhou Wen.


    "Don''t tell me you hired me just to film you?" Zhou Wen said as he took the camera.


    "That''s right. What other reason would there be?" Wang Lu said as she charged at Fairy Monkey.


    Rich people are really willful! Spending 150,000 bucks for a videographer? Zhou Wen couldn''t understand the thought process of rich people.


    However, he quickly learned why Wang Lu was hiring.


    The Fairy Monkey''s Speed was extremely fast and it was good at flying. It moved like a ghost in the sky, making it impossible for an ordinary person to keep up with it.


    Wang Lu changed her movement technique as a pair of butterfly-like wings spread open on her back, allowing her to actually keep up with Fairy Monkey''s speed.


    If it were any ordinary person to do the filming, they would only be able to shoot from afar. They wouldn''t be able to follow Wang Lu''s figure. Zhou Wen summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and kept filming while riding on its back. He could barely keep up with Wang Lu.


    Before long, Wang Lu''s saber beam flashed as the Fairy Monkey was struck down. It fell to the ground and died.


    "How long did it take?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen without looking at the Fairy Monkey''s corpse.


    "One minute and five seconds." Zhou Wen looked at the time of the camera and gave an accurate account of the time.


    "Did I take that long? It''s still quite a distance from Huang Ji''s record." Wang Lu frowned slightly. Clearly, her results were not satisfactory.


    However, Wang Lu only had two chances, so she wasn''t in a rush to find another Fairy Monkey. She called out to Zhou Wen and they left Lotus Flower Cave together.


    "If I want to break the record, it looks like I still need a more detailed plan. Let''s end it here for today. Let''s do it again next time." Wang Lu took back the camera and watched her battle with the Fairy Monkey.


    "Call me when you need me," Zhou Wen said.


    "Of course, you only have to help me do the filming." Wang Lu had no intention of letting Zhou Wen help her. She had to break Huang Ji''s record alone, or it would be meaningless.


    After separating from Wang Lu, Zhou Wen continued following the stone stairs and looking around Dragon Gate Grotto, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol.


    There were many palm imprints within Dragon Gate Grotto. The Fairies, Buddhas, Malla, and Monks had different palm symbols, but they were different from the ones Zhou Wen remembered.


    Zhou Wen was beginning to wonder if the Dragon Gate Grotto didn''t have any tiny palm symbol when he suddenly felt his mysterious phone vibrate. He took it out and switched on the camera. Soon, he found a tiny hand symbol in some inconspicuous spot on the mountain wall. It then locked onto the symbol.


    I''ve finally found it! Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw the tiny palm symbol.


    The position of the tiny palm symbol was very inconspicuous. It wasn''t as beautiful and eye-catching as the other Buddha palm imprints. It simply extended its five fingers and held a picture of a sitting Buddha.


    If one took a closer look, one would realize that the Buddha pattern in the hand was very similar to the biggest Buddha statue at Dragon Gate Grotto. However, it was just several times smaller.


    Zhou Wen used the camera function and aimed it at the tiny palm symbol. Indeed, a scene was locked onto it.


    In that case, I can grind Lotus Flower Cave without any qualms. Zhou Wen only wished to obtain Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and then attempt to rush up Fire God Platform.


    Very quickly, Dragon Gate Grotto was downloaded onto his phone, forming a Buddhist icon.


    Zhou Wen tapped on the Dragon Gate Grotto''s icon. This time, he didn''t enter the game like before. Instead, many options appeared.


    Ancient Yang Cave, Myriad Buddha Cave, Old Dragon Cave, Lotus Flower Cave, Inferno Cave. There were plenty of options.


    After he chose the Lotus Flower Cave, the blood-colored avatar entered the game interface of Lotus Flower Cave. Inside the cave filled with mysterious colors, a gigantic lotus flower sculpture was situated in the middle of the dome, surrounded by symbols of Fairies, Monks, and Malla.


    A Fairy Monkey burrowed its head out of the stone lotus flower and pounced at the blood-colored avatar while screaming with its teeth bared.


    Zhou Wen controlled the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to face the Fairy Monkey. Instantly, the two dimensional creatures¡ªwhich were equally outstanding at flight¡ªbegan having an aerial battle in Lotus Flower Cave.


    Finally, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant took nearly ten minutes to slay the Fairy Monkey, but nothing dropped.


    Zhou Wen continued walking deeper into the Lotus Flower Cave with the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant summoned. He hoped to test it to know how strong it was after becoming a Legendary through the fusion.


    Seeing a Fairy Monkey charge at him, the lotus flower on the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s head suddenly bloomed, revealing a venomous toad. It spewed venom at the Fairy Monkey, instantly drenching it.


    The Fairy Monkey yelled as it rolled on the ground, its fur and skin corroded as blood gushed out.


    The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant charged forward without any hesitation and stabbed at the Fairy Monkey with its bone-spiked front claws, impaling its head and chest.


    47 seconds! Zhou Wen looked at the time. From the beginning of the battle to the system''s indication of the Fairy Beast''s death, it took a total of 47 seconds. He had already broken Huang Ji''s record.


    The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant is really powerful! Zhou Wen was delighted. The more he looked at it, the more adorable it looked.

 99 Ancient Imperial Sutra

    Although the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant was very strong, its own Primordial Energy was limited. It wasn''t able to keep using Primordial Energy Skills. However, even if it didn''t use any Primordial Energy Skills, the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant could easily kill a Fairy Monkey.


    Fairy Monkeys often produced dimensional crystals, but they were mostly Speed Crystals. Occasionally, it would drop some Primordial Energy Crystals, allowing Zhou Wen to replenish the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s Primordial Energy.


    Now, Zhou Wen believed that the Primordial Energy Crystals were rather useful. He only had two Companion Beasts at the moment, but he already needed plenty of Primordial Energy Crystals to replenish his Primordial Energy. In the future, with more Companion Beasts, the Primordial Energy Crystals would be even more useful.


    Unfortunately, there''s nothing like a storage bag in the game. Otherwise, I could store up the Primordial Energy Crystals and use them when needed. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, he heard a chime.


    After a Fairy Monkey was killed, a dimensional crystal dropped. Zhou Wen took a closer look and saw that it was a crystal with the words Fairy Monkey on it. He was delighted.


    Fairy Monkeys typically only had one Primordial Energy Skill, which was Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. He had never heard of there being a second Primordial Energy Skill. Now that a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropped, it was definitely Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to pick it up.


    Wisps of white light floated out of the crystal and drilled into the blood-colored avatar''s body. Zhou Wen also felt a strange power surge from his phone into his body. It opened up a strange aura circulation path that allowed him to feel light as though he could fly at any moment.


    As Zhou Wen had expected, this was the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. The information regarding it also surged into Zhou Wen''s brain at the same time, giving him deep knowledge about the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    ''Attained Dragon Gate Fairy Skill (Rank 6)''


    With Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, I can attempt to storm Fire God Platform. Zhou Wen was delighted. As he was about to leave Dragon Gate Grotto, he suddenly saw a dimensional creature burrow out of the lotus flower situated at the Lotus Flower Cave''s ceiling.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that a Fairy Monkey had appeared and planned on killing it before leaving, but upon careful inspection, he realized that it wasn''t a Fairy Monkey, but a female fairy with fluttering clothes.


    The fairy had a graceful figure, and her silk ribbons were dancing in the air. Although she did not have any wings, she was able to spiral and fly in midair, completely defying the laws of physics.


    Is this a real Fairy? Zhou Wen looked enviously at the beautiful Fairy. There was some discomfort using wings to fly, so it was better to fly freely like a Fairy.


    The Fairy spun a few times before flying towards the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant to charge forward in battle. However, the beautiful Fairy waved her hand gently, sending a ribbon to sweep over like a white python. Even the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Silver Wing Flash failed to dodge the ribbon that resembled a living creature. The blood-colored avatar and the two Companion Beasts were soon coiled together.


    The Fairy in the air pulled and tightened the grip on the ribbon, rupturing their bodies and causing the game screen to instantly darken.


    What a terrifying Fairy! Zhou Wen marveled inwardly.


    He didn''t continue gaming as he put away his phone. He planned on returning to his dorm before dripping blood and making a trip to the Fire God Platform. He wanted to see if he could rush up Fire God Platform with a Rank 6 Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and see what was engraved on the stone monument.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen eagerly launched the Ancient Imperial City dungeon. He dripped his blood to be reborn and rode the Silver-Winged Flying Ant towards the Fire God Platform.


    This time, Zhou Wen was fully prepared. He rushed up the stairs on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s back, dodging all the firebirds without killing them. The higher he charged, the more firebirds appeared.


    Previously, Zhou Wen could only rely on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s flight, but now, the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill had also given him a pretty good ability that allowed him to hover in midair.


    Just as a firebird was about to hit the blood-colored avatar, the blood-colored avatar leaped up in the air and spiraled in midair like a giant bird. It circled around the firebird and avoided its attack before landing on the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s back.


    Although the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill didn''t allow for true flight, it could allow one to hang in midair for a short period of time, making one look cool and elegant.


    Boom!


    With the blood-colored avatar rushing past the furthest he had reached last time, the Fire God Platform''s flames surged into the sky as flocks of firebird-like clouds descended upon him, their numbers inestimable.


    I''m dead! Zhou Wen knew that no matter how agile he was, it was impossible for him to charge through the dense flock of firebirds. All he could do was try his best.


    The lotus flower on top of the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s head exploded like a bomb, turning into a rain of blood that killed many nearby firebirds. Taking the moment when the pressure of the firebirds lessened, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant charged into the sky and broke through the firebirds'' encirclement.


    However, there were too many firebirds. They immediately gathered together and blocked their path.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant spread its wings and charged towards the firebirds, colliding with the firebirds at the head of the flock. As for the blood-colored avatar, it leaped up under Zhou Wen''s control and circled above the sky like an eagle.


    One firebird after another was dodged by the blood-colored avatar as it reached an unprecedented height. Through the holes in between the firebird flock, he saw half of the stone monument.


    Zhou Wen''s sharp eyes immediately saw that the largest three ancient characters on the stone monument were "Ancient Imperial Sutra." And when he saw the three words clearly, a ball of fire seemed to rise within him.


    However, the moment he saw those three words, the blood-colored avatar was inundated by the flock of firebirds. The game screen quickly turned black.


    It''s impossible for me to rush up with a technique that imbues me with alacrity. However, I can now see a part of the stone monument. If my movement skills are better, I can hold on for a longer period of time. I''ll then be able to memorize parts of the monument''s content. This way, I don''t have to reach the peak. Zhou Wen held his phone as he thought.


    He felt that this idea was feasible, but his movement skills were still lacking. He wanted to last longer and see more of the content, so he needed a higher ranked movement skill.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to continue grinding the Lotus Flower Cave. Peeking at the Ancient Imperial Sutra could wait until he first grinded a Rank 9 Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    While Zhou Wen was trying his best to grind Fairy Monkeys, the first homework mission that Wang Fei assigned finally came to an end. Although some students were unable to complete their homework mission, they were not expelled. They only had some homework points deducted.


    Wang Fei convened a meeting with all her students and announced her second homework mission. It was for them to visit Mount Laojun to look at the Wordless Monument.


    When the mission was announced, Wang Fei gave Zhou Wen a meaningful glance¡ªthis mission had originally been prepared for him.

 100 Wordless Monumen

    Mount Laojun wasn''t in Sunset College. Zhou Wen originally didn''t wish to go that far, but he had to complete the school''s homework missions. Otherwise, he couldn''t graduate so it was practically compulsory.


    As for Li Xuan, he was very excited as he sat on the bus and continually explained Mount Laojun to Zhou Wen.


    "A place like Mount Laojun can be said to be the safest dimensional zone. Although there are many dimensional creatures, they won''t attack humans without reason. As long as you don''t annoy them, there''s no danger at Mount Laojun. The only thing to take note of is that our homework mission is to visit the Wordless Monument. It''s also known as Unwinding Monument. No matter how strong a person''s will is, they can''t look at it for more than half an hour or things will turn fun¡­"


    Zhou Wen sat by the window, grinding the Ant Nest dungeon while listening to Li Xuan''s detailed explanation of Mount Laojun.


    "What''s so fun?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "That thing is very sinister. Although it doesn''t kill people, it will make people excited and make them constantly wish to do something," said Li Xuan with a chuckle.


    Mount Laojun was in Luoyang, so it wasn''t long before the bus arrived.


    It was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. Mount Laojun wasn''t too tall, but it had many peaks with pine and cypress trees winding around them. There were ancient buildings erected above the mountain, making it a picturesque scene.


    From afar, Mount Laojun looked like a classic ink painting of landscapes.


    Wang Fei did a headcount before taking the students up the mountain.


    There were rabbits, squirrels, and other small critters on the mountain, as well as groups of immortal cranes flying in the clouds. They showed no fear of humans and only curiously observed the students from Sunset College.


    Zhou Wen kept searching for the palm symbol, but he hadn''t discovered one. However, he wasn''t worried as the mysterious phone could automatically lock onto the tiny palm symbol if it was close enough.


    The most mysterious thing about Mount Laojun was the Golden Peak. There were many mysterious ancient buildings there, but no human could ascend to the Golden Peak.


    Legend had it that people once saw countless animals crawling out of the mountain, such as snakes, worms, rats and insects. The black mass of creatures covered the entire Mount Laojun as they prostrated for three full days in front of the Golden Peak before dispersing.


    It was almost taboo to spill blood on the land around Mount Laojun. There was once someone who attempted to carry out a massacre and kill those gentle dimensional creatures.


    Just as that person had killed a dimensional creature that resembled a white rabbit, his expression changed drastically for some reason. He turned around and ran down the mountain like a madman.


    When his friend went to look for him the next day, he wouldn''t have been able to recognize him if not for his clothes and personal items.


    That person was covered in rabbit fur, and his mouth had turned into three lines like a rabbit. His eyes were red and he was sprawled on the ground eating grass like a rabbit. He couldn''t be stopped from doing so no matter how hard his friend tried. He became a lunatic for the rest of his life.


    Since then, no one dared to kill on Mount Laojun. Even the spilling of blood was taboo.


    Legend had it that an Epic expert didn''t believe in the rumors and started a killing spree on Mount Laojun, but the outcome was equally tragic.


    This was all the knowledge taught in school, and Zhou Wen didn''t know how true it was. However, as he walked up Mount Laojun, he indeed felt very serene. There seemed to be a magical power here that calmed one''s mind.


    Wang Fei led the students to a platform on the mountainside and pointed to a stone monument at the end of the platform, saying, "That''s the legendary Unwinding Monument. Although it doesn''t have a word on it, it has magical powers. Your homework mission is to sit in front of the Unwinding Monument for half an hour and stare at it. Not one second less and not one second more."


    The stone monument was only two to three meters tall. It looked old and dilapidated, and there was nothing out of the ordinary about it. It stood by the edge of the mountainside, looking like it accompanied the rosy clouds of dawn. Its solitude had an indescribable feeling to it as though just staring at it would placate any irascible feelings.


    "Line up, ten people in a row. Sit down in front of Unwinding Monument. Wear the sunglasses I gave you. Listen to my instructions before taking them off. Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, don''t just stand at the back. Come to the first row." Wang Fei arranged for a group of students to sit in front of Unwinding Monument, and, when she saw Zhou Wen and Li Xuan at the back, she immediately called them to the front.


    The closer one was to the Unwinding Monument, the stronger the effects. Wang Fei had steeled her heart to help Zhou Wen regain his drive.


    Zhou Wen didn''t mind where he sat. Anyway, there wasn''t any risk looking at the Unwinding Monument as long as one didn''t exceed the time limit.


    The only things that left Zhou Wen a little disappointed were his failure to find the tiny palm symbol, and that the mysterious phone hadn''t vibrated.


    Could it be that Mount Laojun''s dimensional zone is at the Golden Peak? Zhou Wen looked at the mountaintop as he secretly made plans.


    Seeing how Zhou Wen was still looking around, Wang Fei thought to herself, After you look at the Wordless Monument, you won''t be as half-hearted as you are now.


    "Alright, take note. Take off your sunglasses. Everyone is to begin looking at the Wordless Monument. The time limit is half an hour. If you get up before half an hour, it will be a failure and you will have to look at it for another half an hour." Wang Fei wore the sunglasses without any intention of taking them off. All she did was start the stopwatch in her hand.


    These sunglasses were specially made. Wearing them to look at the Wordless Monument decreased its effects significantly. However, one still couldn''t keep looking at it because with prolonged staring at it, even the sunglasses were useless.


    Zhou Wen and the rest of the students took off their sunglasses as their gazes landed on the Wordless Monument.


    It was strange. Initially, many students felt nervous. However, after looking at the Wordless Monument, their nervous feelings vanished instantly. They relaxed entirely and their spirits became extremely tranquil.


    However, this feeling of tranquility became a little odd as time passed.


    Although one''s mind remained calm, energy seemed to surge in their bodies. It made the students feel like they were filled with Primordial Energy. They yearned to immediately get up and begin carrying out a series of boxing moves or fight someone. This irascible feeling that came from within stood in strong contrast with the tranquility their minds generated.


    The students naturally didn''t dare to stand up. They had only sat down for less than three minutes, so standing up now would mean the failure of their homework mission. All they could do was sit there and bear with it.


    This feeling was like a person who was hyperactive but had to sit there and not move an inch. It was not something a person could usually understand.


    Zhou Wen also felt the same stirring feelings, but he only felt them a little bit at the beginning. Just as his body began to stir, the Lost Immortal Sutra that was circulating at a normal speed gradually slowed down. It made Zhou Wen''s body feel strange as the irascible feelings slowly vanished.


    Why is this happening? Zhou Wen was alarmed. The last time the Lost Immortal Sutra did such a thing was when he was reading the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.

 101 New Primordial Energy Ar

    Just like the last time, the Lost Immortal Sutra''s circulation increasingly slowed down. After some time, it was as if it was about to stop.


    At the instant the Lost Immortal Sutra came to a complete halt, Zhou Wen felt his body suddenly come to a halt, as though there was a crisp sound of a lock being turned.


    The last time, Zhou Wen had been rather slow to react and didn''t have too strong a feeling. Now, after carefully sensing it, he realized that the ceasing of the aura circulation wasn''t the only thing. His entire body had come to a halt and even his heart had skipped a beat.


    This pause only lasted for an instant. In the next second, Zhou Wen felt his Primordial Energy rapidly circulate. However, this circulation pathway was completely different from the Lost Immortal Sutra''s Energy. It also wasn''t that of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, but a different Primordial Energy Art that he had never cultivated before.


    This Primordial Energy Art had a strange feeling of having his body fuse with the world itself. It was as though his entire being had become a part of the universe. His heart and the breathing of the universe was happening at the same frequency.


    Zhou Wen did not see a single word on the Wordless Monument, but he could sense the Primordial Energy Art came from it. It was a very strange feeling that was indescribable.


    Wang Fei constantly observed her students to prevent any accidents happening from staring at the Wordless Monument.


    However, Wang Fei''s attention was mostly focused on Zhou Wen. She wanted to see him change. She wanted to see him turn from a loser obsessed with gaming to a diligent genius.


    But soon, Wang Fei felt something amiss.


    The other students were all sweating profusely, trying their best to hold back their irascible emotions as they wore heavy or ferocious expressions. Even the extremely resolute students were frowning and looking as though they were struggling to cope.


    However, Zhou Wen was completely different. He naturally looked relaxed as he sat there languidly, as though he was sunbathing. It was as if he didn''t feel any pressure.


    Could it be that Zhou Wen is so disheartened that even the Unwinding Monument''s power can''t help him? Wang Fei naturally didn''t believe this. She only believed that Zhou Wen hadn''t been exposed for long enough.


    As time passed, the expressions of the other students worsened. The students who had weaker self-restraint started to move around as if their bodies were crawling with worms.


    However, none of them stood up. They were the top students from every high school, so they naturally had their pride. None of them wanted to lose to their classmates, so they had to endure it.


    Li Xuan''s condition was slightly better. One could tell that his will was extremely firm. He sat there motionless without any changes in expression. However, the sweat on his forehead indicated that he was not having an easy time.


    As for Zhou Wen, he was still languidly sitting beside Li Xuan. His expression hadn''t changed from the beginning to the end. Furthermore, he appeared more and more relaxed. If not for Wang Fei''s requirements for them to sit, he would likely be lying on the ground.


    Strange, how did this happen? Wang Fei was alarmed.


    She had also stared at the Wordless Monument before, so she naturally knew how powerful it was. Zhou Wen was only at the Mortal stage, even Epic experts would be influenced by the power of the Wordless Monument. It was absolutely impossible to be this relaxed.


    It has already been ten minutes, but he hasn''t reacted at all. Could it be¡­ Wang Fei''s heart skipped a beat when she thought of a possibility.


    Someone had previously guessed that there was a mysterious Primordial Energy Art engraved on the Wordless Monument, but was invisible to everyone.


    If a candidate with a suitable physique placed their eyes on the Wordless Monument, perhaps it would reveal the Primordial Energy Art on it.


    Could it be that Zhou Wen has a special physique that has an affinity with the art on the Wordless Monument? Wang Fei believed that the chances of that happening were extremely low, but Zhou Wen''s present performance was somewhat odd.


    She planned on observing further. If Zhou Wen truly had a special physique that had an affinity with the Wordless Monument, she would have to reevaluate Zhou Wen''s future achievements.


    If that''s the case, Sis Lan has really picked up a treasure. She got a free son from her marriage, one who has a one-in-a-billion special physique. That would be incredible. Wang Fei looked at Zhou Wen with mixed emotions as countless thoughts ran through her mind.


    Zhou Wen was feeling extremely relaxed. After completing one circulation, it was already enough for him to use it, just like the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    At the same time, he felt that his body was filled with Primordial Energy. It was as though every breath he took could draw Primordial Energy from the world into his body.


    Although he couldn''t make attempts, Zhou Wen felt that his Primordial Energy recovery was much faster than before.


    Now, he wished to switch on the game to see how his stats had changed. But in the present situation, it was inconvenient for him to take out his phone to game. All he could do was hold back his desire and continue staring at the Wordless Monument.


    After waiting for quite a while and seeing Zhou Wen maintain his languid expression with no special changes to the monument, Wang Fei began thinking about her previous idea.


    Could it be that Zhou Wen doesn''t have a special physique, but that he''s born with that expression? Wang Fei was puzzled as she looked at Zhou Wen''s languid look.


    Half an hour quickly passed, but that was only for Zhou Wen. To the other students, half an hour felt like a century.


    When Wang Fei announced that the mission was over, all the classmates leaped up at the same time. Some were running at full speed, while others were exerting all their strength to strike out a set of moves. Some were constantly somersaulting.


    There were also some students who were quieter. Although they did not engage in any intense activity, they also circulated the Primordial Energy Art they had cultivated and quickly circulated it again and again.


    As for some irascible fellows, they even used their Primordial Energy Skills to deliver a barrage of fists on the mountain rocks. It was as if that was the only way they could vent their infinite energy.


    Li Xuan was an especially energetic fellow, but he didn''t strike the rocks. Instead, he was sprawled on the ground doing push-ups as though he had an electric motor installed in him.


    Wang Fei was very satisfied with her students'' performance. Although the power of the Wordless Monument was strange, as long as she used it well, it would be a great boon in educating them.


    However, when her gaze landed on Zhou Wen, her good mood immediately vanished.


    She saw Zhou Wen sitting on a rock beside the stone wall as he quickly took out his phone. He held the phone in his hands and was tapping away his fingers at a dazzling speed. Without looking at his phone screen, it was obvious that the fellow was playing a game.

 102 Three-Eyed Antelope

    Zhou Wen secretly dripped a drop of blood on the phone screen. Although the blood-colored avatar was still alive, he still did the same thing.


    This was because this blood could represent his present physical condition. The blood-colored avatar condensed from the previous blood drop had stats of his previous self.


    Zhou Wen


    Age: 16 years


    Lifeform level: Mortal


    Strength: 10


    Speed: 10


    Constitution: 11


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Primordial Energy Art: Lost Immortal Sutra


    Primordial Energy Skill: Vigor Divine Fist, Ashen Palm, Blood Meditation, Penetrating Pierce, Dragon Gate Fairy Skill


    Companion Beast: Truth Listener, Silver-Winged Flying Ant, Mutated Lotus Flower Ant


    My Primordial Energy has risen to 11. My Primordial Energy Art is still Lost Immortal Sutra without any new Primordial Energy Art appearing. Zhou Wen looked at his stats as countless thoughts ran through his mind.


    The game displayed Lost Immortal Sutra as his only Primordial Energy Art. It meant that he had not mastered any others, but he could freely switch modes to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra or the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art. It was truly fascinating.


    Seeing the other students desperately venting their energies without paying attention to him, Zhou Wen put away his phone and planned on walking around Mount Laojun to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    Since he had mastered the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra the last time, he had obtained Truth Listener that was suspected to be a Mythical creature. Perhaps, the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art had similar benefits too.


    Legend had it that no one could ascend Mount Laojun''s Golden Peak, so perhaps there was an existence akin to the three-faced Buddha inside.


    Of course, Zhou Wen wasn''t planning on walking straight to Golden Peak himself to verify his theory. All he wanted was to find the tiny palm symbol to download Mount Laojun''s dungeon and try it out in-game.


    He had only taken a few steps when Wang Fei appeared in front of him. She stared at him and asked, "Where are you going?"


    No matter how she looked at it, Zhou Wen didn''t look like he needed to vent his energy. He was still as languid as usual, but he looked much better than before.


    "I have an inexhaustible amount of energy all over my body. I need to run to release it." Zhou Wen''s insincere words were so obvious, that they nearly made Wang Fei laugh out in exasperation.


    "You want to run? Very good. Run twenty times from the foot of the mountain to the stone bridge in front of Golden Peak. I''ll be here watching you. Not one round less," Wang Fei said angrily.


    "Yes, Miss Wang." Zhou Wen didn''t even try to defend himself. Keeping his arms close to his torso, he jogged upwards.


    The Wordless Monument was the boundary of Mount Laojun. Any further up allowed one to see true dimensional creatures. And from that point onwards, there would be animals from Earth that had mutated.


    Zhou Wen ran up the stone stairs and saw a white antelope standing by the edge of the cliff. It was eating from a blade of grass that grew out of the cliff.


    The antelope was snow-white in color with curved horns on its head that looked like carved white jade. It was obvious that it was not an antelope from Earth. On its forehead, there was a vertical eye that was half-open. One could vaguely see a holy white light shimmering within.


    In between its four hooves, there was a faint stream of white light swirling about, making it look as though it was walking on the light.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t know the level of the dimensional creature, he could tell that it was definitely extraordinary.


    The antelope also saw Zhou Wen, but it ignored him. It continued eating the grass on the mountain cliff.


    The grass grew among the rocks, its leaves withered and yellow. It did not look eye-catching but the antelope was enjoying its meal as though it was delicious.


    Mount Laojun''s dimensional creature didn''t harm others, so Zhou Wen wasn''t worried that the antelope would attack him. He approached it curiously and carefully observed the withered yellow grass growing from the cliff.


    The grass was split into five leaves. A leaf was only the length of a middle finger. It was yellow and withered as if it was about to die.


    But in the middle of the leaf, there was a white flower. It was about the size of a fingernail and looked as if it was carved from jade.


    The antelope bit down on the withered grass and flower and chewed repeatedly before swallowing them down. Its face was filled with bliss as though it was extremely satisfied.


    The antelope was only able to eat withered grass that was relatively close to the steep cliffs. Zhou Wen looked at the mountain cliff and saw that there wasn''t much withered grass. An idea couldn''t help but come to him.


    He leaped up and stepped on the mountain cliff with his toes, swirling around like a huge bird. It was none other than the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill he had just learned.


    He grabbed a withered yellow grass in midair and yanked at it forcefully; however, it remained motionless. With Zhou Wen''s Strength, he was surprisingly unable to pull the grass out.


    Zhou Wen held onto the grass with one hand while his body hung in midair. He turned his head and glanced at the antelope and saw that it had no intention of attacking him. As it chewed on the withered grass, it looked at Zhou Wen, with a rather odd expression as though it was mocking him.


    Zhou Wen made two more attempts with all his strength, but the withered grass remained motionless. The leaf didn''t show any signs of tearing. It was hard to imagine its tenacity.


    This withered grass is actually so tenacious. I''m afraid there''s something odd about it. Zhou Wen had learned from textbooks that many dimensional zones had strange plants with various magical powers.


    Some plants could cause instant death from consuming them while others could increase a human''s physical fitness greatly by eating them. They could even break through and evolve to a different level.


    Since the three-eyed antelope was eating such withered grass, it meant that it wasn''t poisonous. As for whether humans could eat it or not, Zhou Wen didn''t know.


    Seeing that he couldn''t pluck out the grass, Zhou Wen changed his mind and summoned the Lotus Flower Ant''s bracer. Pieces of bone that resembled lotus flower petals wrapped around Zhou Wen''s left arm, forming the razor-like blades along his arm as his fingernails became as sharp as a blade.


    Zhou Wen thrust his fingers forward as though he was cutting tofu and stabbed into the stone cliff. He hurriedly dug a few times and snapped the rocks around the grass and dug it out.


    Upon landing back on the stone stairs, Zhou Wen was unable to make head or tail. He had no choice but to put the grass back into his backpack. When he turned his head, he realized that the remaining withered grass had already been devoured by the three-eyed antelope.


    He was only curious at first, so he didn''t think much of it as he continued running up the mountain.


    Mount Laojun was known as the safest dimensional zone and as long as he didn''t cross Golden Peak''s gates, there wouldn''t be any danger. Even if a human wanted to kill Zhou Wen, they typically wouldn''t choose a place like Mount Laojun.


    Zhou Wen jogged as he surveyed his surroundings but failed to see any tiny palm symbol.


    As he ran, Zhou Wen suddenly felt his back tighten as though someone was pulling him from behind. He couldn''t help but be alarmed as he hurriedly turned his head and saw the three-eyed antelope biting his backpack.

 103 Revenge

    Zhou Wen could tell that the three-eyed antelope wasn''t using much force. Since its bite could chew through the tenacious withered grass, his backpack would have been torn to pieces if it exerted a little strength. It wouldn''t remain in one piece as it was now.


    The antelope bit on the zipper in an attempt to unzip it. It most likely had its sights on the withered grass that Zhou Wen had dug up.


    Zhou Wen took off his backpack and carried it as he continued walking up the mountain with his back facing the three-eyed antelope. After all, Mount Laojun''s dimensional creatures weren''t violent, so he wasn''t afraid it would do something to him.


    The antelope clearly wasn''t giving up as it circled Zhou Wen and attempted to reach its head into his backpack.


    Zhou Wen could only constantly move his backpack around to dodge the antelope''s head. Without trying, its speed was surprisingly fast. The moment Zhou Wen failed to focus, it had pulled open the zipper of his backpack.


    This three-eyed antelope is no ordinary mortal. If it wants to eat the withered grass so much, the grass must be extraordinary. With this in mind, Zhou Wen hurriedly hugged his backpack tightly and pressed down the hole.


    The three-eyed antelope didn''t give up either. It buried its head deep into Zhou Wen''s embrace, steeling its heart to eat the grass in his backpack.


    Although the three-eyed antelope didn''t use brute force, its strength, speed, and reflexes were much better than Zhou Wen''s. Unable to tussle against it, the three-eyed antelope was close to succeeding.


    Zhou Wen felt indignant, but ignoring how violence was not allowed on Mount Laojun, wouldn''t have dared fight the antelope even if he could.


    The withered grass had already been revealed. Just as the antelope was about to bite onto it, Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he spat at it.


    Saliva sprayed onto the withered grass, covering its surface with spots of foamy saliva.


    The antelope, who already had its mouth open, was taken aback. It looked at the withered grass covered in saliva before looking at Zhou Wen, its expression extremely odd.


    "Do you still want it? I''m taking it away if you don''t want to eat it." Zhou Wen spread open his backpack generously, but the antelope didn''t react at all. All it did was look at the withered grass with a conflicted look.


    Seeing no response from it, Zhou Wen zipped up his backpack, slung it on his back, and ran up the mountain.


    The scenery of Mount Laojun was truly impressive; unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn''t see the palm symbol.


    Although the antelope didn''t eat the withered grass, it didn''t leave either. It slowly followed behind Zhou Wen without any intention of attacking him. He didn''t know what it was up to.


    Mount Laojun wasn''t very high, but after the dimensional storms, the space on the mountaintop seemed to be dilated. Despite the mountain looking short, Zhou Wen ran for quite some time before he gradually approached the mountaintop.


    From afar, he could see the scenery of the mountain peak. There were ancient buildings of various heights dotted on it. Although the buildings weren''t majestic, they were built on the peak of the mountain with clouds clinging around them. They resembled the immortal residences as spoken of in myths.


    At the end of the stone stairs, there was a wooden structure that resembled a gateway. On it were the words "Central Heaven Gateway."


    In front of the gateway was a stone statue¡ªan elderly man riding on the back of a stone cow. His gaze was trained towards the firmaments, but the stone cow had its head turned towards the horizon.


    Zhou Wen had read the information on Mount Laojun before coming. He knew that the stone statue was likely the founder of Daoism, Li Er.


    Before the dimensional storms, although Mount Laojun was a scenic spot, it wasn''t developed too well. This resulted in few tourists. Instead, it was common for locals to scale the mountain to see the sunrise over the sea of clouds from Golden Peak.


    From the information, the stone sculpture had been recently sculpted, so there was likely nothing odd about it. However, when Zhou Wen approached it, the mysterious phone vibrated.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his mysterious phone and activated the camera function. Soon, he locked onto the stone cow''s forehead. There was the familiar palm symbol.


    I''ve finally found it! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    Before coming to Mount Laojun, Wang Fei had repeatedly exhorted everyone not to cross Central Heaven Gateway. If they did, they would have to bear the consequences themselves.


    Zhou Wen wouldn''t have dared venture deeper if he couldn''t find the palm symbol.


    The phone screen showed that he had finished downloading the Mount Laojun dungeon. Just as Zhou Wen was reeling in delight, he suddenly felt a force slam into his back. He involuntarily flew up.


    The force was immense, making it impossible for Zhou Wen to control his strength. However, the force was extremely strange. Although it was heavy, it didn''t injure Zhou Wen''s muscles or bone. All he could do was fly involuntarily towards Central Heaven Gateway.


    In midair, Zhou Wen turned his head to take a glance, only to see that the three-eyed antelope was standing watching. It was giving him a nefarious smile.


    Holy sh*t. Wasn''t it said that Mount Laojun''s dimensional creatures are docile? To think that the three-eyed antelope holds such grudges, taking revenge in a blink of an eye. One really can''t believe in rumors. Zhou Wen thought unhappily.


    He had always been wary of the three-eyed antelope, but he hadn''t heard any sound before he was sent flying.


    Zhou Wen slammed through Central Heaven Gateway and when he landed on the ground, he immediately bounced to his feet and attempted to rush out.


    However, he was taken aback when he looked back. He had clearly crossed the gateway with the words "Central Heaven Gateway," but when he looked back, he realized that the gateway, along with the stone sculpture and stairs were gone. He was by the side of a hanging cliff with clouds swirling around.


    Is this an illusion? Zhou Wen carefully headed to the edge of the cliff and looked down. A gust of the mountain wind blew and nearly blew him off the edge.


    "Meh!" A goat''s cry sounded from nearby. Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly turned his head and saw the three-eyed antelope standing on a nearby boulder, looking at him mockingly.


    In this day and age, you can''t even offend an antelope. Zhou Wen licked his lips and ignored it before glancing at his phone.


    He finally understood what was happening. The three-eyed antelope didn''t dare harm him on the mountaintop, so it had struck him, throwing him onto Golden Peak, hoping to use its forces to finish him.


    Zhou Wen made up his mind not to head forward. He stood there and waited. Then, he used his phone to scout the way to see what oddities lay ahead on Golden Peak.


    There was no more downloading notice on the phone screen. On its home screen, there was an icon of a stone cow. On it were the words "Mount Laojun."


    Zhou Wen was just about to click on the Mount Laojun icon when he felt something amiss.


    The hair follicles in his pores began to grow thicker and longer. They even sprouted leaves, turning him into a humanoid grass field. It left him alarmed.


    No good! Zhou Wen was alarmed as his mind raced. He instantly thought of the new Primordial Energy Art he had learned from the Wordless Monument and quickly switched from the Lost Immortal Sutra to it.

 104 Three Talismans

    The moment the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art was activated, the grass sprouting on Zhou Wen immediately stopped growing. Furthermore, it gradually began to recede. Soon, Zhou Wen''s body returned to normal.


    The three-eyed antelope wore a look of surprise when it saw this. It stood nearby and sized up Zhou Wen.


    Thankfully, the Primordial Energy Art of the Wordless Monument works. Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief. He turned his head and saw that the area he came from remained a steep cliff and not the gateway he came from.


    Forget it. I''ll find a way out in-game. Since there''s the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art, there shouldn''t be too much danger as long as that antelope doesn''t find trouble with me. Zhou Wen''s heart jumped for joy when he subconsciously looked at the antelope.


    The antelope who had been standing nearby just moments ago was nowhere to be seen.


    "Meh!" A bleat sounded from behind Zhou Wen, causing him to break out into a cold sweat. Turning his head, he indeed saw the antelope standing behind him, its eyes sizing him up.


    That was not all. As it sized him up, it circled around him as though he wanted to take in every inch of his body clearly, unwilling to miss out any detail.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what it was up to. He went on full alert for he wasn''t going to just sit back and do nothing if the antelope really wanted to harm him even if he knew he was no match for it.


    However, it had no intention of taking action. It circled Zhou Wen a few times as the puzzlement in its eyes intensified.


    "Brother Antelope, let''s negotiate. I''ll wash that blade of grass and return it to you. Why don''t you live and let live?" Zhou Wen carefully said to the three-eyed antelope.


    If he knew that the antelope would be so vengeful, he wouldn''t have dug up the grass.


    The antelope ignored him as it moved closer and nudged him to walk inside with its head.


    The antelope had great strength, so much so that Zhou Wen felt that his strength couldn''t put up any resistance. Being pushed by that force, he couldn''t help but walk in.


    Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind, but he ultimately didn''t risk his life by fighting with the antelope.


    The ancient buildings on top of Golden Peak were extremely large. They were connected by stone bridges. Beneath the stone bridges was a swirling sea of clouds and walking over them made one feel like they were walking in the sky.


    "Brother Antelope, where are you pushing me? Can''t I walk on my own?" Zhou Wen asked.


    The three-eyed antelope seemed to understand what he said and stopped nudging him with its head. It bleated at him before walking off.


    Zhou Wen knew that his Speed and Strength were inferior to that of the antelope as it was likely an Epic creature, so it wasn''t realistic for him to escape under its nose. All he could do was follow it.


    The antelope led him through the ancient buildings, passing under many stone bridges before arriving at a Daoist temple. Zhou Wen focused his gaze and saw that the signboard had the words "Great Pure Temple."


    Zhou Wen had a superficial knowledge of Daoism, but he didn''t know that Great Pure One was one of the Three Pure Ones¡ªJade Pure One, Supreme Pure One, and Great Pure One. Among them, the Great Pure One was the most famous, also known as Taishang Laojun. It was probably a name everyone in East District was aware of.


    This Daoist temple''s name was Great Pure Temple, so it was definitely meant to consecrate Taishang Laojun.


    Don''t tell me that Taishang Laojun is still living here? When Zhou Wen recalled his encounter at the Small Buddha Temple, he couldn''t help but increase his circulation speed of the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art.


    The antelope came to the entrance of the Great Pure Temple but didn''t enter. With a flash of its figure, it was already behind Zhou Wen and, before he even realized what was happening, it had pushed him into the temple.


    Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared so he wasn''t surprised. The antelope definitely wasn''t taking him to sightsee when it led him here.


    Standing firm, Zhou Wen studied the situation within. Beyond the door was a compound that looked rather old. The ground was covered in dust and fallen leaves. It was as though no one had stepped foot into it for a thousand years.


    In fact, what Zhou Wen knew was that before the dimensional storms, Great Pure Temple enjoyed plenty of incense offerings. And that was only decades ago.


    "Since you are a disciple of my Daoist school. You can choose any of the Three Pure Talismans on the table." An ancient voice rang out from an unknown location, resounding inside Great Pure Temple as though it came from every direction. It was impossible to tell where the source came from.


    "Yes, Master." Zhou Wen didn''t dare hesitate. After bowing, his gaze landed on an offering table in the yard.


    After he passed through the door, he saw three talismans on the offering table. They looked completely different in material. One was like flawless white jade, while the second was made of metal, and the last one was carved from wood.


    The three talismans were the size of a palm with similar appearances. However, the runic patterns on them were different.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t read the runes since he had a limited understanding of Daoism. He could only make half-baked guesses. Small Buddha Temple''s three-faced Buddha made me choose a Mythical Companion Egg, but I''m made to choose talismans here. I wonder which one is useful. This is Great Pure Temple, so logically speaking, the three talismans should be related to Taishang Laojun. However, that might not be the case. Daoism''s Three Pure Ones were one embodiment to begin with, so the three talismans might represent the Three Pure Ones.


    If my guess is correct, then the jade talisman represents the Jade Pure One, Lord of Primordial Beginning. The wooden talisman has something to do with nature, so it likely represents Taishang Laojun. As for the golden talisman, it should represent the Supreme Pure One. Which one should I choose? Zhou Wen was just making random guesses, so it wasn''t as though he knew if he was correct.


    However, from an aesthetic point of view, he would have taken the jade talisman. But upon realizing that he was at Great Pure Temple, he hesitated for a moment before taking the wooden talisman.


    The instant Zhou Wen picked up the wooden talisman, he saw the projection in front of him, transform. Like a dream, Great Pure Temple dissipated. When Zhou Wen''s vision returned to normal, he realized that he had already returned to the spot beside the stone sculpture of an elderly man riding on the back of a cow.


    If it wasn''t for the wooden charm in his hand, Zhou Wen would have wondered if he had been dreaming.


    "Meh!" A bleat sounded. Upon seeing the three-eyed antelope, Zhou Wen confirmed everything that had happened was no illusion.


    He didn''t dare stay here any longer. Although Mount Laojun''s Golden Peak wasn''t as strange as Small Buddha Temple, it left Zhou Wen apprehensive as he ran down the mountain with the wooden talisman in hand.


    When he reached the halfway point and saw Wang Fei and his classmates, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Zhou Wen, I told you to run. Were you off merrymaking?? Why did you bring an antelope back?" Wang Fei frowned when she saw Zhou Wen.


    He turned his head and saw that the three-eyed antelope had followed him down. However, the vertical eye on its forehead had vanished. Apart from its whiteness, it looked no different from an ordinary white antelope.


    Wang Fei originally imagined that it was an Earth animal that had mutated on Mount Laojun, not expecting it to be a dimensional creature. After all, dimensional creatures weren''t able to step past the Wordless Monument.

 105 The Antelope That Just Wont Leave

    At the Special Investigation Bureau''s dedicated hospital.


    "Liz, answer me honestly. Is there anything you exaggerated in the report you submitted?" Qiao Siyuan asked with a grave expression.


    "Minister, I''ve been strictly trained in intelligence. I know the importance of correct intelligence. I can guarantee that the report I wrote has no exaggerations or falsehoods. I can be responsible for every word in it." Liz struggled to get up as she was pushed down by Qiao Siyuan.


    "You have just received treatment. Only by recuperating and being able to move can you have what it takes to continue fighting." Qiao Siyuan placated Liz and flipped through her report. "I have already done thorough investigations and have confirmed that there''s a mysterious stone tablet in Small Buddha Temple. It''s like the other lands of mystery. No one can master the Primordial Energy Art on the stone monument unless that person possesses the special physique that matches it."


    "In that case, that Zhou Wen¡­" The mere thought of Zhou Wen made Liz immediately clench her teeth.


    If it weren''t for Zhou Wen, she wouldn''t have been injured, much less have her sea of energy destroyed.


    Qiao Siyuan nodded slightly. "According to your report, he was able to enter the temple hall without being harmed. As for you, you had Headless Angel to protect you; yet, you were nearly killed. This means there are only two possibilities. First, it''s that he has a guardian Companion Beast that''s stronger than Headless Angel, protecting him from harm. The other possibility is that he possesses a special physique that matches Small Buddha Temple, preventing him from being attacked. I''m inclined towards the latter."


    Liz said hatefully, "The An family must have known that Zhou Wen had a special physique. That''s why they view him in a different light and gave him An Jing''s candidacy at all costs. If by a stroke of luck, he has obtained another special physique, having two talents on him, it won''t be impossible for him to have a chance to break through to the Mythical realm. The An family has really made their plans. I think Ouyang Lan and Zhou Lingfeng''s marriage was probably just a transaction."


    At the thought of the An family, Liz also gritted her teeth in hatred. She was the daughter of a Senator after all; yet, An Tianzuo had her sea of energy crippled. She had to have her revenge.


    Qiao Siyuan said plainly, "The impact dimensional zones have in various parts of the world is growing more obvious. It results in the barriers between territories growing, therefore impeding movement. The factions from these territories have always been trying to use this opportunity to extricate themselves from the League''s control. The An family is filled with ambition and they have a Primordial Gold mine while they have been nurturing their army. They are also using all kinds of means to seek out a way to break through to the Mythical stage. Their ambition knows no bounds."


    "Minister, we can''t let the An family continue. We have to nip Zhou Wen in the bud. As long as the An family doesn''t have a Mythical expert, they will have scruples and won''t easily betray and abandon the League," Liz said excitedly.


    "Calm down. You haven''t recovered from your injuries." After placating Liz''s emotions, Qiao Siyuan continued, "Let''s not talk about whether Zhou Wen was intentionally nurtured by the An family, just the fact that he has a special physique implies he needs to come under the League''s service. He cannot become a private tool of the An family. However, Luoyang is ultimately the An family''s territory. After what happened the previous time, they will definitely enhance their protection of him. It''s probably impossible to touch him in Luoyang."


    "Are we just going to watch the An family do whatever they want?" Liz said angrily.


    "Of course not. However, everything depends on the ways and methods employed. The League needs the An family''s supply of Primordial Gold Ore so we can''t touch them for now. However, since Zhou Wen obtained a nomination, he will definitely be sent to our League''s holy grounds and lose the protection of the An family. From there, it will be a lot easier for us to bring him back," Qiao Siyuan said indifferently.


    "We let him off. He can live for a few more days," Liz said hatefully.


    Qiao Siyuan exhorted again. "For now, don''t tell anyone about Zhou Wen''s special physique. It''s best if there aren''t any external complications."


    "Minister, don''t worry. I understand what needs to be done." Liz nodded slightly.


    Having a special physique had wide implications. Even in the Senate, there were different voices. The various factions also treated special physiques seriously. If other factions knew that Zhou Wen possessed a special physique, it would likely be impossible for them to control the situation''s development, something Liz and Qiao Siyuan least wanted to happen.


    Qiao Siyuan was thinking about work, but Liz only wanted to finish off Zhou Wen personally.


    In the Four Seasons Garden dorms, Zhou Wen sat on a chair and stared at the white antelope.


    This antelope had been following him ever since he returned from Mount Laojun. It even squeezed into the college bus and returned to the college with him.


    Zhou Wen really wished to chase the creature away, but he knew how terrifying the antelope was. If he forcefully chased it away, it was possible that it would explode with rage and slaughter someone. When that happened, not only would it affect Zhou Wen, even his fellow classmates and teacher would be down on their luck.


    Therefore, even though Zhou Wen wished to chase away the antelope, he didn''t forcefully drive it away.


    Thankfully, it was normal for students to use Companion Beasts at Sunset College, so it wasn''t too shocking for Zhou Wen to bring one back. However, Li Xuan and the other students didn''t cease mocking him on the way back.


    "I say, Zhou Wen, your luck is pretty good. A pet automatically recognizes you as its owner. Unfortunately, this is only an antelope that mutated on Mount Laojun and not a high-level dimensional creature. If this fellow was an Epic dimensional creature, that would be awesome. It''s really a pity." Back when Li Xuan said those words, it was naturally a jibe at Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that the fellow definitely had powers at the Epic stage.


    "Brother Antelope, I''ve washed your grass. Eat it with ease. I''ve used green, natural, uncontaminated cleaning fluid to wash it more than ten times. It''s clean. Quickly finish it and go on your merry way. A place like school has too much dust and the pollution is terrible. There are all kinds of people here and there''s all kinds of noise pollution. It''s nothing comparable to a place like Mount Laojun. It must be hard on you living here. It''s best you return." Zhou Wen placed the withered grass on the table in front of the antelope as he persuaded it sincerely.


    Glancing at the withered grass on the table, it didn''t even sniff it but turned around and walked to the couch. It then lay on the couch and squinted its eyes comfortably.


    "Brother Antelope, although you are indeed impressive, you should know that this is Sunset College. Many Epic experts are stationed here. If they discover that you are a feral dimensional creature, I''m afraid¡­" Zhou Wen had planned on reasoning with it when he realized that emotional appeal didn''t work.


    To his surprise, the antelope had fallen asleep on the couch as though it hadn''t heard Zhou Wen at all.

 106 Entering Mount Laojun Again

    Zhou Wen felt a little troubled, but he couldn''t think of a way to chase the antelope away. All he could do was let it occupy his couch.


    I''ll take my time to think of a solution. Zhou Wen returned to his room and closed the door before lying in bed. Only then did he take out his mysterious phone and open the Mount Laojun dungeon.


    He wanted to see if he could enter Great Pure Temple in-game again and choose another talisman.


    The last time he entered Small Buddha Temple in-game, he got Truth Listener from it. Later, he went to Small Buddha Temple in real life, but he didn''t discover anything. He did not even awaken the three-faced Buddha.


    Zhou Wen believed that it was likely that the three-faced Buddha had sensed Truth Listener on him, so the chance to choose wasn''t given.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen first placed the wooden talisman he had chosen to the side and locked it up in a box. Only then did he turn on his phone and enter the game dungeon of Mount Laojun.


    The environment of the game''s Mount Laojun dungeon was identical to the real Mount Laojun. But the dungeon started directly from the spot with the cow statue which had the elderly man riding on it.


    The moment the blood-colored avatar entered the game, it stepped through the Central Heaven Gateway.


    Zhou Wen didn''t switch to the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art in the beginning. Instead, he used the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, but once he entered, grass grew crazily on him with nothing capable of stopping it.


    He hurriedly switched to the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art, allowing the blood-colored avatar to gradually return to normal.


    It indeed shares the same logic with Small Buddha Temple. One has to master the corresponding Primordial Energy Art to enter as they please or death awaits them. Zhou Wen had roughly understood the rules of the mysterious lands.


    Unbeknownst to Zhou Wen, people with Buddhist and Daoist physiques could enter Small Buddha Temple and Mount Laojun unscathed without practicing the respective Primordial Energy Arts.


    The reason Zhou Wen needed to master the Primordial Energy Art to come and go freely was that he didn''t have a special physique. It was solely because the Lost Immortal Sutra''s power confused those terrifying existences, allowing Zhou Wen to retrieve the benefits that only people with special physiques could obtain.


    Furthermore, the real difference between Zhou Wen and those with special physiques was that those with special physiques, like a Buddhist body, could only enter a place like Small Buddha Temple. They were no different from ordinary people when entering Mount Laojun, so there were no benefits to be reaped.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra''s powers allowed Zhou Wen to mimic all kinds of physiques and obtain the benefits he couldn''t otherwise obtain.


    The Mount Laojun pavilions in-game were above the clouds, making them look like a heavenly palace.


    Zhou Wen didn''t just casually walk around. His memory was pretty good, so he still remembered the path that the antelope had taken while leading him. He followed the route according to his memories.


    However, he had only walked a short distance when he saw an immortal crane with a red top. The immortal crane was standing on a rock railing by the side of the bridge, its snow-white feathers seemingly engraved from jade. It suffused a glittering divine glow, an obvious indication that it wasn''t an ordinary creature of Earth.


    The game seems a little different from reality. I didn''t see any other dimensional creatures when I followed the antelope! Zhou Wen looked warily at the immortal crane, unsure if it would attack him.


    While Zhou Wen was pondering over it, reality gave him the cruelest answer. The immortal crane opened its mouth and sucked at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to summon its Companion Beasts to engage in battle, but he had no chance. The blood-colored avatar and its Companion Beasts were sucked into the immortal crane''s mouth before the game screen went black.


    The immortal crane is probably a top Epic creature, right? Zhou Wen helplessly put down his phone. The immortal crane was simply too powerful and Zhou Wen''s present Strength was insufficient for him to challenge it, or rather, he was unqualified to fight it. Making another trip was useless.


    I''ll do some research and see what uses that wooden talisman has. Zhou Wen had already given up on entering Mount Laojun. There was no way he could gain anything from that area before he advanced to the Epic stage.


    Taking the wooden talisman out of the box, it felt warm to the touch. It was as if a refreshing energy was emitting from it, jolting his mind.


    How do I use it? Zhou Wen attempted to circulate the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art before injecting his Primordial Energy into the talisman.


    When using the item forms of his Companion Beasts, this was typically how it was done. All Zhou Wen could do was give it a try.


    However, the moment his Primordial Energy entered the wooden talisman, the runes on it lit up. Then, Zhou Wen felt like the wooden talisman had turned into a huge pump that was draining his Primordial Energy as it flowed to the wooden talisman.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen felt pain all over his body as his mind nearly exploded. In an instant, his Primordial Energy was completely drained.


    Zhou Wen was too familiar with this feeling. It was the feeling of incubating a Companion Egg.


    Could it be that¡­ The wooden talisman is actually a Companion Egg! Just as this thought surfaced in Zhou Wen''s mind, the wooden talisman in his hand transformed into a sliver of refreshing energy that imprinted on his palm.


    The excruciating pain vanished at that moment as Zhou Wen slumped to the ground, panting heavily.


    Although it was only for a brief moment, Zhou Wen felt the fat in his cheeks disappear and his eyeballs were almost tearing out of his sockets.


    Thankfully, he recovered a lot faster after cultivating the Wordless Monument''s Primordial Energy Art. Even if he didn''t use Primordial Energy Crystals, his Primordial Energy would recover quite significantly after some rest. It made Zhou Wen feel a lot better.


    When he raised his palm, he saw a leaf tattoo. The leaf was green and looked like jadeite. There were some crystal-clear white veins in it that looked like they were formed from frost.


    Zhou Wen already had information about the Companion Beast appear in his mind. This information was typically only obtained after contracting a Companion Beast. Based on the very vague information, he had no way of understanding the Companion Beast in detail.


    Thus, he still took out his mysterious phone and dripped a drop of blood onto the screen before looking through the blood-colored avatar''s stats.


    Indeed, there was an additional Companion Beast on the blood-colored avatar''s stats.


    Banana Fairy: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Grand Yin Wind


    Companion Form: Fan


    Its stats are the same as Truth Listener, but why is there only one talent skill? Truth Listener at least has four. For a Companion Beast of the same grade, there should be at least two or three, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    Although this Companion Beast could evolve to the Mythical stage in the future, who knew how long it would take to nurture it. Its present stats were still more important. A single skill was clearly inferior to having four skills in terms of usefulness.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen summoned the Banana Fairy to see what kind of Companion Beast it was.

 107 Banana Fairy

    A green light flashed as an adorable palm-sized, green-dressed girl appeared in front of Zhou Wen. She sat on a jadeite-like banana leaf floating in mid-air like a boat swaying above the lake under the moonlight.


    Why are all Mythical Companion Beasts so small in size? Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned to Banana Fairy. The girl, along with the banana leaf, flew over and landed in Zhou Wen''s hand, turning into a petite green fan.


    The fan was only the size of Zhou Wen''s palm and the leaf was crystalline-like jadeite. Its design was also extremely exquisite and beautiful, but it was a little too small.


    It''s so tiny. Isn''t it a joke to use it as a weapon? Zhou Wen looked around and felt that using the tiny fan as a weapon wasn''t suitable at all. Furthermore, he had never learned how to fight with a fan.


    However, he soon realized that Banana Fairy and other Companion Beasts were somewhat different. Typical Companion Beasts couldn''t use their talent skills when they were in their companion form, but a Banana Fairy actually could.


    Zhou Wen held the tiny fan and flapped at a sandbag meant for training. Immediately, an invisible gust of wind blew over, shaking the sandbag left and right.


    Is that all? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. Although the winds were strong, they were not considered fantastic. They didn''t seem to have much destructive force.


    Zhou Wen reached out to press down on the swaying sandbag and was slightly taken aback. When his fingers touched the sandbag, he realized that it was covered in a layer of frost. The spot his fingers had touched was ice-cold.


    Grand Yin Wind has wintry effects, but such coldness isn''t enough to kill an opponent, right? With this in mind, Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something. Grand Yin Wind is a wintry wind, so will it be able to repress the Fire God Platform''s firebirds? If so, wouldn''t I be able to reach its peak?


    Zhou Wen didn''t have much hope regarding his random thought. After all, the Banana Fairy was only at the Mortal stage. Even if she advanced to the Mythical stage in the future, her standards now weren''t comparable to top Legendary Companion Beasts.


    As for the firebirds, each of them had strength at the Legendary stage.


    Despite having such thoughts, Zhou Wen still launched the Ancient Imperial City dungeon on the mysterious phone. He planned on testing out his theory by heading to the Fire God Platform. If the Grand Yin Wind could really suppress the firebirds, he wouldn''t do it as all he needed to do was nurture her to the Legendary stage. By then, scaling Fire God Platform wouldn''t be a difficult task.


    Zhou Wen had been grinding at Ancient Imperial City countless times. He had once again arrived in front of Fire God Platform and ridden the Silver-Winged Flying Ant up the stairs. Soon, a firebird flew down from the Fire God Platform.


    Seeing a firebird fly down, the blood-colored avatar clenched the banana fan tightly, aimed it at the incoming firebird, and produced Grand Yin Wind.


    A gust of cold wind blew at the firebird, making it look like a fire plume that fell into the water. It instantly extinguished, leaving no trace behind.


    Zhou Wen stared with his mouth agape. He couldn''t help but hug his phone and give it two kisses. What a treasure. The Grand Yin Wind is so effective against firebirds. I have a chance of scaling the Fire God Platform.


    Another two firebirds flew down from the Fire God Platform. Zhou Wen ordered the blood-colored avatar to flap the fan, again and again, using the same Grand Yin Wind skill.


    However, before the Grand Yin Wind appeared, the game system notified: ''Insufficient Primordial Energy to release Grand Yin Wind.''


    Holy sh*t, does Banana Fairy''s Primordial Energy only have enough for one use of Grand Yin Wind? Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush down Fire God Platform. Without the Grand Yin Wind, there was no way he could rush up using the blood-colored avatar''s capabilities alone.


    After finding a safe spot, Zhou Wen began researching the Banana Fairy and Grand Yin Wind skill. Indeed, the former''s Primordial Energy had been expended, leaving nothing behind.


    After grinding a round of Skeleton Soldiers and having their Primordial Energy Crystals drop, Zhou Wen filled up the Banana Fairy''s Primordial Energy and got her to use Grand Yin Wind once. Indeed, her eleven points of Primordial Energy were depleted immediately.


    Zhou Wen made the Banana Fairy turn into a fan, attempting to infuse his Primordial Energy into it to see if he could use the Grand Yin Wind.


    He was able to use it, but his 11 points of Primordial Energy were instantly drained, leaving not an iota behind.


    With my Primordial Energy, I can only use the Grand Yin Wind twice in a short period of time. Can I rush up the Fire God Platform only relying on two uses of Grand Yin Wind? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    The Grand Yin Wind is an area-of-effect Primordial Energy Skill. If I can lure the firebirds into a certain range, it''s not impossible to get rid of a large number of firebirds at once. If used properly, I might be able to rush to the top with just two uses. Zhou Wen inwardly made plans.


    With the hope of ascending Fire God Platform, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate to try it. With the help of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Speed and flight and Zhou Wen''s Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, the blood-colored avatar charged all the way up while consciously luring the firebirds in a particular direction.


    This was because Banana Fairy was only at the Mortal stage, greatly limiting the range of the Grand Yin Wind. To eliminate the firebirds as best as possible, he had to try his best to bunch them in a certain spot.


    More than ten firebirds were led to a spot by Zhou Wen. Almost reaching his limit, Zhou Wen no longer hesitated. He ordered the blood-colored avatar to hold the banana fan and gently fan the firebirds.


    The firebirds were instantly extinguished by the Grand Yin Wind. Only two firebirds that were not within the Grand Yin Wind''s range, managed to survive.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to continue charging up Fire God Platform.


    With more than half the distance traversed, a firebird horde erupted from Fire God Platform, blotting out the sky as they charged down like a fiery cloud.


    The blood-colored avatar once again activated its Grand Yin Wind skill and fanned the fiery cloud. Immediately, a large hole was blown through the cloud with the Grand Yin Wind. An unknown number of firebirds were blown to nothingness.


    Using this opportunity, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant spread its four wings and passed through the hole and continued charging up. The firebird horde behind it swept back and closed the hole, chasing after the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant wasn''t able to fly at a high altitude in one fell swoop. When it reached its apex, the blood-colored avatar jumped on its back and leaped up in the sky like a hawk hovering above Fire God Platform with the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    This time, Zhou Wen finally saw the complete Fire God Platform. Apart from a stone monument with the Ancient Imperial Sutra, there was a stone furnace in front of it. The flames in the furnace flickered as the firebirds flew out of it.


    At that moment, a large flock of firebirds shot out from the furnace. Zhou Wen ignored them as his gaze landed on the Ancient Imperial Sutra''s stone monument, trying to memorize a few words.


    After memorizing about eight words, the flock of firebird had surrounded him and the game screen quickly went black.


    With seven or eight words each time, I wonder how many times it will take for me to memorize the complete Ancient Imperial Sutra. Zhou Wen dripped his blood and revived himself as he entered the game once again.

 108 Xiyuan Crystal shop

    Wang Fei had been in a bad mood recently. Based on her plan, Zhou Wen should have been motivated to diligently cultivate after staring at the Unwinding Monument.


    However, although it was true that Zhou Wen was motivated, it was towards gaming and not cultivation.


    You clearly have such great talent. Why do you want to be a loser that is obsessed with gaming? Wang Fei was completely perplexed by Zhou Wen''s thoughts.


    From the looks of it, relying on external forces won''t do. I have to give him some stimulation. Wang Fei thought about how to inspire Zhou Wen and make him get back on his feet again.


    However, after much thought, she was momentarily unable to think of a good solution. Wang Fei knew that one couldn''t rush or force education. To change a student''s mindset would require a suitable opportunity.


    Hence, she planned on observing for a period of time and waiting until Sunset College''s first comprehensive test before making any plans.


    There was a single comprehensive examination that every student had to take, regardless of seniority, one month after school began. All the students in each class and grade would have to take part in the exam. The test was uniform and it determined a student''s ranking in school.


    Wang Fei felt that Zhou Wen might be inspired if he were to see the true strength of the college''s top students.


    Zhou Wen''s life was ordinary and fulfilling. He crazily grinded daily at dungeons before committing suicide at Fire God Platform to memorize a few words of the Ancient Imperial Sutra.


    By now, Zhou Wen hated its length. Despite the numerous times he went up, he had only memorized half of the sutra. It was unknown when he would finish it.


    The antelope took up residence in Zhou Wen''s dorm, eating and drinking for free, showing no signs of leaving.


    Zhou Wen could have just eaten anything without especially heading to the cafeteria, but after this fellow came, it required fresh vegetables daily, forcing him to have no choice but to head to the cafeteria to think of a solution.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ignore it, but as long as the fellow didn''t eat anything, it would stay by Zhou Wen''s side. It didn''t do anything out of line except circle around Zhou Wen, nudging him with its head, giving him no peace. It was even more impossible to play games, so this forced him to prepare food for it.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that his life would continue like this, but Ah Sheng''s arrival had shattered his peaceful life.


    "Young Master Wen, Madam has asked me to take you over there." Ah Sheng was always so humble and polite. Even a person with a fiery temper would not flare up at him.


    "Is there a reason why Sis Lan is looking for me?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown. If there wasn''t anything important, he''d rather not visit the An family again.


    "Madam wanted me to tell you that she''s waiting for you at the shop in the city district. She has something private that needs your help," Ah Sheng said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded slightly. Since he wasn''t going to the An family and he didn''t mind Ouyang Lan, he didn''t find making the trip too aversive.


    Ah Sheng drove Zhou Wen out of Sunset College. Usually, after school started, students couldn''t leave unless it was a holiday. However, people that Ah Sheng wanted to pick up were clearly not on this list.


    After the soldier guarding the door saw the pass Ah Sheng took out, he directly let them through.


    Ah Sheng didn''t lie¡ªthey really didn''t head for the An family home. Zhou Wen originally imagined that Ouyang Lan would meet him at a restaurant or a cafe, or perhaps a clothing or jewelry shop.


    However, when the car stopped, Zhou Wen realized that they had come to a dimensional crystal shop named "Xiyuan."


    He found the name of the dimensional crystal shop a little familiar. After some thought, he recalled that in the delivery package the former principal had sent him, the owner of the name card was the owner of the Xiyuan crystal shop, Qin Xiyuan.


    As there hadn''t been any other related incidents since he had received the delivery, Zhou Wen ignored the name card. He only recalled the name card now when he saw the signboard of the Xiyuan dimensional crystal shop.


    I wonder if that string of numbers was casually written on Qin Xiyuan''s name card or if it has anything to do with Qin Xiyuan. Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    It was impossible for him to show the name card to Qin Xiyuan. Without figuring out what the number on the card meant, Zhou Wen had no intention of letting anyone see it.


    "Little Wen, come over quickly." After the car came to a stop, Ouyang Lan, who was dressed in sports attire, stood on the steps of the shop and beckoned to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen alighted and approached Ouyang Lan. He politely asked, "Sis Lan, how may I help you?"


    Ouyang Lan smiled and said, "It''s almost Little Jing''s birthday and I want to give her a Companion Beast as a gift. I want you to give me some advice."


    "Sis Lan, you must be joking. Your understanding of Companion Beasts is definitely greater than mine," Zhou Wen said.


    Ouyang Lan thought nothing of it. She hooked her arm around Zhou Wen and walked into the shop. "This is a birthday gift, not a piece of equipment used to kill enemies on a battlefield. There''s no need for pragmatism, just aesthetics. To let my Little Jing love it at a glance, I believe young people like you will do a better job than me. So give me some suggestions."


    Zhou Wen never guessed Ouyang Lan''s important matter would be this, but since he was already here, he couldn''t just turn around and leave. Besides, Zhou Wen wanted to see what kind of place the Xiyuan crystal shop was.


    The staff seemed to know Ouyang Lan and the manager came over personally to greet her.


    "Don''t mind us. We are just taking a look," Ouyang Lan said with a smile.


    The manager and salesperson knew better and retreated to the side. Only Ah Sheng maintained a distance behind Ouyang Lan and Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was rather puzzled that they were the only customers in such a huge store. With such terrible sales, it was a miracle how the store managed to continue operating.


    As though reading Zhou Wen''s mind, Ouyang Lan said, "Although Xiyuan''s store is not the biggest in Luoyang, it is the store with the most excellent products. It often has trinkets that give one a pleasant surprise. My father and the boss here were childhood friends. He often brought me here when I was young. Before I advanced to the Epic stage, many of my Companion Beasts were bought here. Many of them were also given by Uncle Qin. Back then, the Xiyuan shop wasn''t that big. Every time Father brought me here, Uncle Qin would close the shop by hanging the "on a break" sign before taking my father around to see his latest collection."


    With that said, Zhou Wen roughly understood what Ouyang Lan was getting at. It wasn''t because the business here was bad, but that Ouyang Lan''s arrival made the Xiyuan shop temporarily closed for business.


    "However, since Father left Luoyang, I haven''t been here in a long while." As Ouyang Lan spoke, she walked to a row of lockers and entered a string of codes. She opened one of the lockers and took out a bunch of keys.


    Zhou Wen didn''t peep at the codes Ouyang Lan had input, but due to Truth Listener on his ear, his hearing was much better than before. When he heard Ouyang Lan enter the code, he knew how many numbers she had entered.


    A ten-digit code? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he subconsciously looked at the locker. He thought, Could the string of numbers on the name card be a storage code here?

 109 Choosing a Companion Egg

    Zhou Wen looked around and found two rows of lockers nearby. There were at least forty to fifty of them.


    Ignoring the fact that he didn''t know if the ten numbers on the name card were a locker''s code, even if they were, he had no idea which locker the code belonged to.


    Ouyang Lan held the bunch of keys and said, "In the past, Uncle Qin would always leave the spare key in this locker. If my father came when he wasn''t around, he could use the key to access the Companion Beasts and Companion Eggs. I never expected Uncle Qin to keep this habit despite all these years. Even the code is the same."


    "Did the former principal use a particular locker in the past?" Zhou Wen asked casually.


    "Of course, the lockers here are all old-fashioned safe deposit boxes. They aren''t like the public lockers that are popular these days. As long as a code is set, apart from the setter, even Uncle Qin can''t open them. Therefore, the lockers here cannot be used by anyone. Those who can use them are typically old customers or Uncle Qin''s friends."


    As Ouyang Lan spoke, she walked to a locker numbered 42. She said with great nostalgia, "This locker is the one my father uses every time he comes."


    Zhou Wen''s gaze immediately landed on the locker as he thought to himself, Could that string of numbers be Locker No. 42''s code?


    While Zhou Wen was deep in thought, Ouyang Lan had already reached out her fingers and tapped on the code pad a few times. Then, Locker No. 42 opened.


    Ouyang Lan had only pressed six digits. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the codes weren''t necessarily ten digits. It was likely that everyone had their own habits.


    There were only a few miscellaneous items inside Locker No. 42, such as white gloves and masks.


    Ouyang Lan took out a pair of gloves and a mask and handed it to Zhou Wen. "Put it on. Although most Companion Eggs and Companion Beasts aren''t afraid of contamination, there are some exceptions. This is my father''s habit."


    Zhou Wen silently took the gloves and mask and put them on. Ouyang Lan also wore one set herself before taking Zhou Wen in the elevator and going down to basement one.


    "The three levels above are all kinds of dimensional crystals and materials. Basement one is filled with Companion Beasts and Companion Eggs, with most of them at the Legendary stage." As Ouyang Lan spoke, the two of them reached basement one.


    Zhou Wen immediately saw many glass cages in the hall of basement one. There were all sorts of Companion Beasts some he had heard of and others he had never heard of.


    "These Companion Beasts were placed here by their owners. It''s not easy to buy them. This is because their owners have to pay a huge price to transfer them so the transfer cost is much higher than buying a Companion Egg at the same level." Ouyang Lan was very knowledgeable as she introduced all the Companion Beasts they could see, allowing Zhou Wen to broaden his horizons.


    When they came to the Companion Egg area, the numbers clearly increased. Rows of Companion Eggs were placed behind tempered glass. The colors, sizes, and shapes were all different, making them look like dazzling gems.


    Besides each Companion Egg was a sign. On it was some information on the Companion Egg. There were even portraits of the beast after the egg hatched.


    "Little Wen, what do you think of this Butterfly Fairy Companion Egg¡­ This Ice Moon Fox seems pretty good too¡­" Ouyang Lan seemed to be enjoying it as she kept asking for Zhou Wen''s opinion.


    "As long as it''s from you, I believe An Jing will be happy receiving it," Zhou Wen said.


    "That may be right, but I still wish to give her something that she will truly like. You are all young people, so your aesthetic standards are similar. Give me more opinions," Ouyang Lan said while choosing the Companion Eggs.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else as he thought to himself, As a man, my aesthetic sense is naturally different from women. If I were to give my opinions, the Companion Egg chosen will probably not be something An Jing will like.


    However, since Ouyang Lan kept asking for his opinion, Zhou Wen couldn''t just keep silent. After some hesitation, he asked, "Sis Lan, can I take pictures of the Companion Eggs here?"


    "Not for others, but it''s no problem for you. Feel free to take pictures. Later, I''ll take you downstairs. There are some Epic Companion Beasts there which you can take pictures of. If you meet them in dimensional zones in the future, you will be able to recognize them." Ouyang Lan even pointed out some relatively important Companion Beasts and got Zhou Wen to take more pictures.


    Zhou Wen took out his mysterious phone and pretended to take photos. After taking pictures of the Companion Eggs, he immediately saw their information and data.


    He wasn''t afraid of being recorded by the surveillance cameras because he had already tried many times using modern tools like cell phones or cameras to capture pictures of the mysterious phone''s screen to no avail. All that was snapped was a blur that prevented anything from being discerned.


    He really couldn''t give any suggestions regarding beauty, but with the feature of the mysterious phone, he could give Ouyang Lan some suggestions of the pros and cons of the Companion Egg''s stats.


    "No matter how I look at it, I still find the Butterfly Fairy and the Ice Moon Fox most suited for my Little Jing. Little Wen, what do you think?" Ouyang Lan finally decided on the Butterfly Fairy and Ice Moon Fox, but she was in a dilemma with which to choose from.


    "You can buy both," Zhou Wen said.


    With Ouyang Lan''s wealth, buying two Legendary Companion Eggs was just a drop in the bucket. There was no need to fret over it.


    However, Zhou Wen had used his mysterious phone to look at the two Companion Egg. They had very average stats.


    Ouyang Lan shook her head and said, "Giving one gift reveals one''s sincerity. Giving two would only backfire. It will make Xiaojing think I''m just patronizing her."


    Zhou Wen felt a little envious of An Jing. He had never had a mother. His father wasn''t a person who was good at taking care of children, so no one had celebrated his birthday for him, let alone give him birthday presents.


    Ouyang Lan''s thoughtfulness towards An Jing made Zhou Wen suddenly realize that if his mother hadn''t died from a miscarriage, she would probably have loved him just like Ouyang Lan loved An Jing.


    However, this thought only lasted for a moment. Zhou Wen was already used to living alone. He might end up feeling uncomfortable if he really had a mother like Ouyang Lan.


    "Little Wen, what''s your take? Don''t be bothered by my choice. If it were you, which Companion Egg would you want?" Ouyang Lan asked again.


    Zhou Wen pointed at a pitch-black egg that was about the size of a pigeon''s egg as he said, "If it were me, I would probably want that Venomous Caterpillar Companion Egg,"


    "For real?" Ouyang Lan looked at Zhou Wen in astonishment.


    Venomous Caterpillars were not powerful Companion Beasts. Although they were at the Legendary stage, their various stats were lacking. The talent skill they had¡ªVile Venom¡ªwas also extremely useless.


    Such venom would only show its effects on places that the Venomous Caterpillar crawled over. However, its crawling speed was relatively slow. Even certain Mortal creatures were faster than its crawling, much less Legendary creatures.

 110 Chained Companion Beas

    Key to everything was that Venomous Caterpillars were really ugly. Furthermore, they even emitted a foul smell when summoned. Typical girls didn''t like such Companion Beasts.


    "Yes, very," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    He had already used his mysterious phone to look at most of the Companion Eggs here. That Venomous Caterpillar''s stats were indeed one of the best Legendary Companion Eggs he had ever seen.


    Other than having nearly full stats, it also had a rare three skills. One of them was basically the godliest skill of a Venomous Caterpillar.


    Butterfly Transformation was a skill that could transform Venomous Caterpillar into a venomous butterfly, allowing it to gain powerful flying abilities. Its originally weak Speed then became its strongest aspect.


    The Vile Venom skill also underwent some changes after the Venomous Caterpillar became a Venomous Butterfly. Just touching the Venomous Butterfly''s venomous powder was enough to poison someone.


    This rare Venomous Caterpillar with three skills was considered one of the best excellent-grade Legendaries. If Zhou Wen had the money, he would probably be tempted to buy it.


    Of course, it was just a passing thought of his. It was useless even if he bought it. Firstly, it was difficult for him to incubate a Legendary Companion Egg. Secondly, his Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and Silver-Winged Flying Ant were not weaker than Venomous Caterpillar and were perhaps a little stronger. There was no need for him to waste time and energy on it.


    Even if he really bought it, he could only use it as food for his Companion Beasts or for fusion.


    "Your taste is really unique¡­" Ouyang Lan seemed to think of something as she narrowed her eyes and mumbled to herself, "Perhaps this is a good choice. I''m just unsure if Little Jing can recognize the Companion Eggs of a Venomous Caterpillar. If not¡­ I can tell her that this is a Black Jade Butterfly''s Companion Egg¡­ And when she incubates it¡­ Haha¡­"


    While Zhou Wen was flabbergasted, Ouyang Lan had already used her key to open the glass case and taken out the Venomous Caterpillar Companion Egg.


    Ouyang Lan called Ah Sheng over and said, "Ah Sheng, take this Companion Egg and pay for it. When the invoice is issued, get them to write it as Black Jade Butterfly. The packaging needs to be done nicely. Why don''t you do it yourself."


    Ah Sheng seemed to be accustomed to Ouyang Lan''s random and unconstrained ideas. He didn''t wear a look of surprise as he took the Companion Egg and left.


    "Little Wen, let''s head down and take a look. There are quite a number of interesting Companion Beasts there. They aren''t commonly seen." Ouyang Lan led Zhou Wen downwards.


    After reaching basement three, they saw all kinds of independent special rooms. Each room had a Companion Beast. Although no one was guarding them, there was a powerful security system; every room needed a different key to open it.


    Any entry to take a look at the Companion Beasts here actually required Qin Xiyuan to personally escort them. However, Ouyang Lan had his key, allowing her to directly open the room and broaden Zhou Wen''s horizons.


    "Most of the Companion Beasts here were left behind by veterans. Companion Beasts are their partners and comrades, so they do not wish for Companion Beasts who have a limitless lifespan to die with them. Therefore, many veterans choose to transfer their Companion Beasts over here before their passing. Although there are some that do it because of financial reasons, it can''t be denied that the feelings soldiers have for their Companion Beasts far exceed those of ordinary people," Ouyang Lan said.


    Zhou Wen had always felt respect for soldiers. During the early days of the dimensional storms, countless soldiers used their lives to save ordinary people and explore dimensional zones.


    At that time, the number of sacrificed soldiers were so many that it decreased the global military forces by a third.


    "I wonder if that fellow is still around¡­" Ouyang Lan said as she walked forward and stopped in front of a door.


    After searching the bunch of keys for a while, Ouyang Lan finally found a key and opened the heavy metal door that looked like a vault.


    Zhou Wen looked into the room and was stunned when the scene before him turned clear.


    This room also had a Companion Beast, but it was different from other Companion Beasts¡ªit had shackles on its body.


    As the Companion Beasts were placed here by their owners, they did not need to worry too much about them hurting others. Nor was there any need to worry about them escaping.


    The reason they were locked in rooms was that they were afraid that people would forcefully take them away or harm them. This also prevented others from pulling any tricks due to ulterior motives.


    However, the Companion Beast in the room had shackles and cuffs on all limbs. Chains were bound around its body and behind the chains was a metal slab the size of a millstone.


    Ouyang Lan walked into the room and looked at the Companion Beast as she said, "When I was young, my father would visit him whenever he came to Uncle Qin''s place. It''s been so many years, yet he''s still here."


    Zhou Wen also sized up the Companion Beast. He looked very much like a human, but his muscles were extremely thin as though he was just skin and bones. Even his ribs could be seen clearly.


    However, his body was dry but not withered. His skin emitted a silver metallic luster. On the skin of his upper body, there were many strange silver tattoos.


    His long, silver hair cascaded down and covered his face and parts of his body. It was hard to see what he really looked like sitting there. It was even difficult to tell his gender.


    "Sis Lan, what Companion Beast is this?" Zhou Wen had seen a few humanoid Companion Beasts in his textbooks, but they had traits that were different from humans. But, Zhou Wen didn''t notice anything obviously different on the Companion Beast in front of him.


    "I don''t know. I asked my father when I was young, but he didn''t answer me or tell me about the Companion Beast. However, he would come here every time he came to visit Uncle Qin." Ouyang Lan clearly had some interest in this Companion Beast. She sighed and continued, "I later asked Uncle Qin, but he said that he has no idea what Companion Beast it is. It was put here by my father, and he hasn''t told Uncle Qin anything about it."


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious as he sized up the Companion Beast. Suddenly, he saw a nine-key pad on the metal piece that chained it up. It looked very similar to a keypad for passcodes.


    Don''t tell me the numbers the former principal sent me are for this? Zhou Wen had a thought.


    However, upon further thought, he felt that something was amiss. The former principal had his daughter and granddaughter, and Qin Xiyuan was his close friend. There was no reason for him to send the passcode to Zhou Wen.


    Furthermore, if Ouyang Lan hadn''t brought Zhou Wen here, he wouldn''t have had the chance to see the strange Companion Beast. It was useless for the former principal to send the passcode to him.

 111 Entering the Lotus Flower Cave Again

    What perplexed Zhou Wen the most was why the former principal had sent him such a name card. Or perhaps it was not sent from the former principal at all.


    But if it wasn''t from the former principal, who could have sent it to him?


    Zhou Wen''s mind was filled with questions, but an answer eluded him. He wanted to try the number on the name card to see if it could open the Companion Beast''s chains, but he didn''t dare to do so because of the unknown consequences.


    It would be fine if he couldn''t open it, but if he did, he couldn''t imagine what might happen.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly felt a chill down his spine. Cold sweat instantly oozed out of his back as though he had been targeted by a ferocious ghost.


    His gaze froze as he looked at the chained Companion Beast. Due to the silver hair covering the Companion Beast''s face, Zhou Wen couldn''t see his eyes or facial features. However, he had a nagging feeling that a pair of eyes were staring at him from behind the waterfall-like silver hair.


    Unsure if it was an illusion, Zhou Wen even felt that the face behind the silver hair was smiling strangely at him.


    "It''s almost time. Let''s get something to eat before I get Ah Sheng to take you back. We can''t affect your studying." Ouyang Lan led Zhou Wen out of the room and locked the door.


    Standing outside the door, Zhou Wen watched as the metal door slowly closed and slowly hid the Companion Beast''s figure. However, Zhou Wen still felt that he was staring at him and smiling.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to return to school immediately, but Ouyang Lan didn''t want to hear anything of that. She had a meal with him before getting Ah Sheng to take him back to school.


    During the meal, Zhou Wen asked about the former principal. Ouyang Lan shared plenty of information with him, allowing him to gain a new understanding of the constantly smiling former principal.


    In the past, Zhou Wen felt that the former principal was kind and had taken good care of him, but he didn''t care much about the administrative matters. Back when he was the principal of Guide High School, he didn''t really deal with matters. Everything was left to the vice-principals while he spent his days planting flowers and taking care of his grass. He looked especially relaxed.


    However, from Ouyang Lan''s recount, Zhou Wen learned that the former principal was a very famous historian and had experienced the era of the dimensional storms.


    The An family''s previous generation and the old principal were sworn brothers and even closed their ties through marriage. However, life was harsh on Ouyang Lan''s ex-husband and he died too early.


    Although he learned quite a bit about the former principal, this wasn''t of much help to him. The only information that helped him was when Ouyang Lan said that the former principal had indeed been invited to a dimensional zone in Zhuolu County.


    As the magnetic interference was too overwhelming, it rendered electronic communications almost useless. It had been a long time since Ouyang Lan had received news from the former principal.


    Although such things happened often in the past, Ouyang Lan was worried as there was nothing she could do.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen saw the antelope still sleeping on the couch. This left him disappointed.


    Lying in the bed, he took out his phone and continued grinding the dungeons. Like before, he first wiped out the various mini-bosses before committing suicide at Fire God Platform.


    When he arrived at Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen saw a word-engraved Demonized General appear. Delighted, he closed the distance and realized it was a Paper Demonized General.


    Although the word-engraved Demonized General was powerful, Zhou Wen had the Astral Slash Blade that restrained it. Soon, he killed the Paper Demonized General and heard a chime¡ªa dimensional crystal dropped.


    Primordial Energy Skill Crystal! Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the crystal''s name.


    He impatiently picked up the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal and the blood-colored avatar successfully absorbed it.


    ''Absorbed Paper Demonized General Crystal. Attained Astral Suction Palm.''


    Zhou Wen had longed for the Paper Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill and now with his wish answered, he couldn''t help but use it immediately.


    He reached out and sucked at a Demonized Soldier at Tiger Cage Pass. The Demonized Soldier''s body was instantly sucked towards the blood-colored avatar''s palm, unable to escape no matter how hard it struggled.


    The blood-colored avatar waved its other palm and slashed down at the Demonized Soldier''s head with Astral Slash Blade.


    It''s truly a godly skill! The importance Zhou Wen placed on the Astral Suction Palm was higher than the Astral Slash Blade.


    Although Astral Slash Blade was powerful, it was only an offensive measure. Even without it, Zhou Wen still had other offensive means. However, this was the only Primordial Energy Skill he had that could force an enemy to change trajectories.


    After studying it for a while, Zhou Wen gained a general understanding of the Astral Suction Palm. It was just like Astral Slash Blade, a Primordial Energy Skill that didn''t have fixed Primordial Energy costs.


    The further the enemy was or the greater the weight, the more Primordial Energy that Astral Suction Palm expended.


    With the amount of Primordial Energy Zhou Wen had at present, he could easily absorb creatures like Demonized Soldiers from about two meters away. In turn, Legendary creatures like a Demonized General would be more difficult.


    However, being unable to draw an enemy didn''t mean it was useless. The suction force would still affect the Demonized General, causing its actions to deviate from its intentions.


    A clash between experts lasted for an instant, so any deviation was fatal.


    The more Zhou Wen studied Astral Suction Palm, the more satisfied he was with it. In the future, after he advanced to the Legendary stage, his Primordial Energy upper limits would increase; thus, raising the might of his Astral Suction Palm. It would be an ever-green Primordial Energy Skill.


    Among the three word-engraved Demonized Generals, only the Fist Demonized General hasn''t been killed. I wonder if the Astral Suction Palm palm can withstand the Fist Demonized General''s skills. Zhou Wen couldn''t be sure.


    Now that Zhou Wen had the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, he was still unable to defeat the Fist Demonized General.


    It was not that the Fist Demonized General was much more powerful than Paper and Blade Demonized Generals, but that its main skill was just too ridiculous. When used, it seemed to gain an invincible body that the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s Primordial Energy Skills were unable to injure or kill.


    Now, all Zhou Wen could do was place his hopes on Astral Suction Palm. Since Astral Slash Blade countered Astral Suction Palm, it was possible that Astral Suction Palm countered the Fist Demonized General''s skill.


    However, encountering a Fist Demonized General solely depended on luck. Zhou Wen constantly grinded the dungeon before heading to the Fire God Platform to read the Ancient Imperial Sutra. This continued as the days passed.


    "Zhou Wen, I''m ready. Come to Lotus Flower Cave with me again." Wang Lu, who he hadn''t seen in days, shouted for Zhou Wen from the neighboring yard. Today was the deadline for her homework mission.


    Zhou Wen had been paid, so he naturally had no reason to reject her. He had to accompany her to the Lotus Flower Cave.


    "This is my last chance. Today, I will definitely break Huang Ji''s record." Wang Lu was filled with confidence.


    Zhou Wen declined to comment. All he did was film Wang Lu from behind with a camera. After they entered the Lotus Flower Cave, they searched for Fairy Monkeys in the stone cave.


    After exploring several spots in the stone caves, they finally discovered a Fairy Monkey. However, before Wang Lu could make a move, the Fairy Monkey was killed by someone else.

 112 Swift Saber Heavenly King

    It was a boy of Zhou Wen''s age. He held a purple narrow saber in his hand, and his body flashed like a ghost. With a few clashes with the Fairy Monkey, he slew it.


    The entire process took less than twenty seconds, and the speed at which it happened was terrifying.


    Zhou Wen sized up the boy in astonishment. He found it amazing that the boy''s Speed was faster than a Fairy Monkey''s. It was extremely rare among students.


    His saber skills were even faster than his physical movement techniques. Fairy Monkey''s Speed and movement techniques were top in class amongst Legendary creatures, but for it to fail to dodge a single saber strike implied how terrifyingly fast this saber was.


    The boy wiped the blood from the saber and looked at Zhou Wen and Wang Lu. Soon, his gaze landed on Zhou Wen.


    "Are you Zhou Wen, the one who killed the word-engraved Demonized General?" the boy stared at Zhou Wen and asked.


    "I''m Zhou Wen. Who are you?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "What a pity," the boy said without rhyme or reason before leaving with the saber.


    Zhou Wen felt a little baffled, but he couldn''t be bothered to think too much. With the camera, he prepared to continue forward.


    Wang Lu, however, looked in the direction of the boy''s departure and said, "I didn''t expect Feng Qiuyan to actually come to Sunset College. Why didn''t I see him among the special admissions students?"


    "Do you still want to break the record?" Zhou Wen asked.


    The boy from before had clearly broken Huang Ji''s previous record. Furthermore, the time he took significantly broke the record at below twenty seconds. Wang Lu might be strong, but to slay a Fairy Monkey within twenty seconds was clearly impossible.


    "What record? With that fellow around, no one can be faster than him." Wang Lu paused and explained, "That fellow is called Feng Qiuyan. You might not have heard of his name in a place like Luoyang, but where I come from, his fame is at the level of Luoyang''s An Jing. They are all considered invincible, cream of the crop. Rumor has it that his Legendary Life Providence is Swift Saber Heavenly King. At the same stage, no one can be faster than his saber. You saw it too. Even the Fairy Monkey couldn''t dodge his strike, it''s obvious how fast his saber is. It''s completely impossible to compete in speed records," Wang Lu said with a bitter smile.


    "Swift Saber Heavenly King? Is this a Life Providence that augments his swift saber?" Zhou Wen asked out of curiosity.


    "Probably. A Life Providence is a secret for everyone, so people wouldn''t usually tell others. I only know that his Life Providence is known as the Swift Saber Heavenly King that significantly augments anything to do with sabers." After a pause, Wang Lu continued, "Do you know there''s an organization that especially rates Life Providence? The Feng family has a senior that works at that organization. When evaluation of Feng Qiuyan''s Swift Saber Heavenly King Life Providence was made, the rumored result was an S-grade talent."


    "Isn''t it said that the ratings of that organization aren''t accurate?" Zhou Wen had also heard of the organization. However, it was only a grassroots organization and wasn''t created by the League''s officials. Therefore, its ratings were greatly limited.


    "Indeed, it can''t be confirmed as the Life Providence they evaluate is firstly based on how much it boosts one''s combat ability. As a result, the combat-based Life Providence ratings are usually higher, but in fact, many Life Providence might not boost one''s combat strength too significantly while still remaining very useful. However, to be rated as an S-grade means the Swift Saber Heavenly King Life Providence is undeniably powerful." Wang Lu didn''t deliberately belittle that organization.


    I wonder what my Life Providence will be in the future? Typically, a Life Providence is related to a person''s physique and the Primordial Energy Art one cultivates. My physique isn''t bad and the Primordial Energy Art I cultivate in isn''t weak. I don''t think it will be difficult to obtain a powerful Life Providence. I just have no idea what kind it will be. It''s best if it''s a combat-style Life Providence. Zhou Wen felt some anticipation for his Life Providence.


    However, advancement with the Lost Immortal Sutra was much more difficult than the average Primordial Energy Art. Even the Primordial Energy Arts on the mysterious stone monuments weren''t as difficult to cultivate as the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    "With Feng Qiuyan around, there''s no hope of breaking the record. I can only blame myself for my bad luck." Wang Lu was slightly depressed.


    Although she didn''t really care about this record, to be doused with cold water after preparing for so long and being at the brink of success would leave anyone depressed.


    "It''s not difficult to break his record," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "You have a solution?" Wang Lu''s eyes lit up as she looked at Zhou Wen. She surprisingly didn''t have any doubts over his words.


    "There is a solution, but it''s not part of my job," Zhou Wen said.


    "Speak. What conditions do you have?" Wang Lu saw through Zhou Wen''s thoughts and curled her lips.


    "Money, how much can you pay me if I help you break the record?" Zhou Wen wasn''t materialistic and didn''t spend much money. However, to invest in Huang Ji''s game required a huge sum of money.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time or means to earn money. All he could do was start with trivial matters and save up whatever he earned.


    A rich person like Wang Lu, who could pay 150,000 bucks for a videographer, likely valued help to break a record at 150,000 bucks or more.


    Wang Lu sized up Zhou Wen and asked, "Are you that short of money?"


    "Yes, very." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "What do you plan on doing with the money? How much do you need?" Wang Lu asked again.


    "I have no idea how much money I need. A senior from our school is making a mobile game. I wish to invest in him, but I don''t know how much I need to invest. However, I believe plenty is needed." Zhou Wen didn''t hide the fact that it was an investment in a game. He was planning to invest in Huang Ji''s game to make others know of it. The more people who knew it, the better.


    "You''re really a gaming fanatic. In this era, there aren''t many people who are addicted to games like you anymore." Wang Lu thought for a while before saying, "But the scale of making a game has quite a range, so the amount of money spent will be highly variable. If you only wish to make a simple game, a hundred to two hundred thousand bucks would be enough. I can give you that immediately, but if the game you wish to make is grander in scale, the money I give you will be a drop in the bucket. You might as well write up a proposal. If I think it''s feasible, I can invest in both of you."


    "We''ll talk about investment in the future. It''s best you give me the money for helping you break the record," Zhou Wen said as he extended his hand.


    Wang Lu fiercely swatted away Zhou Wen''s hand. "You can have the money, but first you have to break the record for me. How do I know if you can really help me break the record or not?"


    Zhou Wen didn''t say another word. He began searching for a Fairy Monkey in Lotus Flower Cave with Wang Lu. Breaking a record needed them to first find a Fairy Monkey.


    Zhou Wen was rather confident about breaking Feng Qiuyan''s record. He had been grinding Fairy Monkeys recently and had quite some experience killing them. It could be said that Zhou Wen was the person who understood Fairy Monkeys the most in Sunset College.

 113 Performance

    Wang Lu was actually quite doubtful about Zhou Wen''s ability to help her break the record. Although he had a pair of Legendary wings and powerful movement techniques, that level of movement and speed was definitely capable of dodging Feng Qiuyan''s saber.


    The saber speed which Swift Saber Heavenly King Life Providence brought about made Feng Qiuyan''s strikes far exceed the speed of peers at his level. Furthermore, Zhou Wen hadn''t advanced to the Legendary stage¡ªhe was one level lower than Feng Qiuyan.


    Compared to someone who had the Life Providence of Swift Saber Heavenly King, even Wang Lu did not have the confidence to beat him in speed.


    "How are you going to help me? Although the homework mission permits a four-person team to complete it, I do not plan on joining forces with others. If that''s the case, defeating Feng Qiuyan would be meaningless," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen as they walked.


    "When you encounter a Fairy Monkey later, I''ll first demonstrate it to you. All you need to do is remember my steps. With your strength, you will be able to kill Fairy Monkeys in less than twenty seconds." Having been in charge of filming Wang Lu''s combat, he had a good idea of her strength. It was also why he dared to help Wang Lu break the record.


    "You''ll be demonstrating?" Wang Lu sized up Zhou Wen and asked.


    "We have no choice. You only have one chance left, and I''m afraid you won''t be able to grasp the crux by just verbally explaining it to you," Zhou Wen said honestly.


    His method of slaying Fairy Monkeys was from the experience he had gained from killing countless whilst in-game. Every step had been calculated to extreme precision. He could not afford any mistakes if he wanted to kill one in the shortest time possible.


    If Zhou Wen were to do it himself, it wouldn''t be a problem even if he made a mistake. However, Wang Lu didn''t have that much experience fighting Fairy Monkeys. She only had the theory from the college''s information and videos.


    In fact, the information provided by the school wasn''t as logical or pragmatic as Zhou Wen''s designed plans. After all, there were too few Fairy Monkeys and no one had the chance of killing many, so it was naturally impossible for them to have a deep understanding of them.


    After traveling through several caves, they finally found a Fairy Monkey. Just as Zhou Wen was about to charge forward, Wang Lu suddenly thought of something. She hurriedly said, "By the way, after the Lotus Flower Cave is sealed by the college, students are not to hunt Fairy Monkeys without permission. Our class was given the homework mission, and we can only kill two. You aren''t a student of our class, so you didn''t receive the homework mission that allows you to kill a Fairy Monkey."


    "I know, so I have no plans to kill it." Zhou Wen didn''t stop as he charged at the Fairy Monkey.


    This time, Wang Lu became the videographer. She aimed the camera at Zhou Wen, curious to see how he could kill the Fairy Monkey faster than the Feng Qiuyan.


    Wang Lu was still a little apprehensive. Zhou Wen had Primordial Energy Skills that she definitely knew couldn''t be identical to hers. If he used some special skill which she lacked, then even if Zhou Wen''s method was much faster than Feng Qiuyan''s, she would be unable to use his method.


    However, Wang Lu quickly realized that her worries were completely unfounded. This was because Zhou Wen hadn''t used any Primordial Energy Skill or Companion Beast. All he did was rush towards the Fairy Monkey.


    If it were anyone else, Wang Lu would have believed that he had a death wish, but she knew Zhou Wen''s strength and character quite well. It was impossible for him to do something so foolish.


    She adjusted the camera to ensure that she could record Zhou Wen''s every move, while her gaze never left him.


    The Fairy Monkey bared its teeth as it charged down. Its pair of wings made it abnormally agile, swooping down like a bird of prey while its claws swiped at Zhou Wen''s head with a sharp beam.


    The Fairy Monkey was much faster than Zhou Wen, but he seemed to have expected it. He slightly tilted his body to dodge the claw beam as he clung close to the Fairy Monkey''s left.


    The Fairy Monkey''s wings flapped as his body warped. Its claws once again thrust out at Zhou Wen''s heart with a sharp claw beam.


    This time, the Fairy Monkey was closer to Zhou Wen, and its claw beam was even faster and sharper. However, Zhou Wen''s body moved slightly to the side again, dodging the attack in what seemed like an impossibility.


    Wang Lu stood to the side and watched. Zhou Wen didn''t use any Primordial Energy Skills, not even anything related to movement techniques. With his absolute Speed deficiency, he leisurely managed to dodge all the Fairy Monkey''s mighty attacks.


    Zhou Wen gave Wang Lu an odd feeling. It was as though he was the stronger party¡ªnot the Fairy Monkey who was at the Legendary stage.


    Zhou Wen''s every move was calm and composed, but he had the feeling of clairvoyance, emitting a pressure as though the Fairy Monkey was dancing in his palm.


    It may have felt slow, but in fact, it all happened very quickly. In just ten seconds. Zhou Wen had nimbly moved to the Fairy Monkey''s back and easily struck the back of its skull.


    Pa!


    It looked like it didn''t use much strength, but the Fairy Monkey appeared to be struck by lightning as it fell from the sky. It fell to the ground and twitched, unable to get up immediately.


    Wang Lu''s eyes widened when she saw this. A Mortal-stage fellow had only relied on his Strength and Speed. Without the help of his Primordial Energy Skills and Companion Beasts, he had knocked out a Legendary-stage Fairy Monkey.


    More importantly, slightly more than 10 seconds had passed, without even exceeding 11. Wang Lu was afraid that none of her classmates would believe her if she told them.


    "How did you do it?" Wang Lu asked as she glared at Zhou Wen who was walking back.


    "You can do the same if you observe and study more." Zhou Wen pointed at the Fairy Monkey on the ground who still couldn''t get to its feet due to its stupor. "It''s a little groggy from the strike. It will quickly regain consciousness, so let''s leave now. Find a spot and watch my demonstration video a few times. Remember my positioning and the timing of my attacks. It probably wouldn''t be difficult to squeeze it within 20 seconds. Also, the spot I struck should be precisely where you hit during your final strike. It will result in a death blow; otherwise, it will be a waste of time."


    Wang Lu and Zhou Wen came to an empty stone cave before the former carefully watched Zhou Wen''s video.


    "How did you figure out such positioning and the Fairy Monkey''s weakness?" Wang Lu found it inconceivable the more she looked at it. Even the college''s strategies were not as simple and effective as Zhou Wen''s.


    "I carefully watched the videos I recorded for you the other day. I studied them for a long time before I could achieve such results. Selling it to you for 150,000 isn''t expensive, right?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Not at all." Wang Lu nodded with affirmation.


    Such experience could not be measured with money. If they were in a real battlefield, it could save one''s life.


    Wang Lu practiced Zhou Wen''s positioning for more than half an hour before mastering the crux. Her talent in martial arts wasn''t to be underestimated, allowing her to live up to being a special admissions student.


    Then, Wang Lu found the Fairy Monkey again and killed it according to Zhou Wen''s method. The process was rather relaxing. Although the positioning was a little rough, she obtained good results in 17 seconds. It was probably a little faster than Feng Qiuyan.


    Although the record had been broken, Wang Lu wasn''t happy. Others might not know, but she knew very well that Zhou Wen had a more ridiculous result. It was just that his results would not appear in the school''s record.

 114 Gym Training

    Inside an office, Qiao Siyuan stood respectfully in front of his desk with his head lowered, wearing a humble look.


    "Have you found the thing I asked you to find?" A man sat behind his desk. As the only light in the office was the table lamp, the man''s face couldn''t be seen clearly. Only a blurry silhouette could be seen.


    "Sir, apart from the An family, I''ve searched everywhere I can. I didn''t find the thing you were talking about." Qiao Siyuan lowered his head and replied cautiously.


    "Why didn''t you go to the An family?" the man asked indifferently.


    "We had sent people to infiltrate them, but Ouyang Lan keeps the An family tightly under wraps. The people we sent didn''t have the chance of getting close to where Ouyang Lan and the rest live. They were only able to do miscellaneous chores in the yard." After a pause, Qiao Siyuan continued, "In the name of pursuing Jing Daoxian, I had tried using Liz to test the An family''s attitude. An Tianzuo was very unyielding, and he didn''t care about the Senator by maiming Liz''s energy sea. It''s not simple to enter the An family to search for it."


    "If everything is that easily solved, what do I need you for?" the man coldly asked.


    "Yes, sir. You''re right. I will think of another solution." Qiao Siyuan bowed slightly before continuing, "Sir, I don''t think Professor Ouyang left the thing at the An family home."


    "Why do you say that?" The man sitting behind the light lit up a cigarette with an old lighter.


    "According to my investigations, Professor Ouyang may be close friends with the An family, but he did not agree to Ouyang Lan''s marriage into the An family. Because of this matter, they had a falling out. Since then, he hasn''t entered the An family home and wasn''t even present when An Tianzuo and An Jing were born."


    Seeing no response from the man, Qiao Siyuan continued, "It''s also because after that person''s death in the An family that Professor Ouyang and Ouyang Lan''s relationship improved. However, he''s only visited the An family a few times and never stays there for more than an hour, much less stay overnight. With Professor Ouyang''s relationship with the An family, I don''t think he will leave something so important there."


    "Then, where would Ouyang hide the thing?" the man flicked away some cigarette ash before asking.


    "Sir, do you think Professor Ouyang could have taken it with him?" Qiao Siyuan probed.


    "Impossible. That thing can''t enter dimensional zones or it will only spell trouble. Ouyang often needs to enter dimensional zones, so he won''t be so stupid. He must have hidden it somewhere." The man paused before saying, "Regardless, you must find the thing at all costs. Do not dismiss the An family''s residence. Who knows if their poor relationship was just an act Ouyang deliberately created."


    "Yes, sir." Qiao Siyuan bowed.


    "We don''t have much time left. We need to retrieve it as soon as possible. Those ignorant fools outside think that time can be squandered, but they have no idea that the disaster is already hanging above their necks like a guillotine blade. It can fall at any time. Once the dimensional zones'' restrictions are gone, humanity will usher in the apocalypse. Therefore, we need to have that item in our hands to prevent that from happening," the man said.


    "Sir, is that thing really that important?" Qiao Siyuan asked the question on his mind.


    "Back when humanity entered the Holy Land, there weren''t just six heroes. In fact, there were a lot more, but most of them ended up dying inside, their names unknown to people. Besides the six heroes, some also left the Holy Land alive and brought certain things out. Jing Daoxian was one of them. Likewise for Ouyang. The thing he has was something I saw him take out the Holy Land with my own eyes. It is of grave importance. We need to gain control of it," the man said.


    "Sir, I think there''s a coincidence over a matter, but I''m not sure if it''s problem," Qiao Siyuan said after some thought.


    "Speak."


    "Back when Jing Daoxian was seriously injured and under our pursuit, he actually stayed in Guide City for nearly ten minutes," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "You''ve already written this in the report. It''s related to that youth named Zhou Wen, right?"


    "That''s right. Later on, I investigated Zhou Wen in detail. Other than being Zhou Lingfeng''s son, he has a rather good relationship with Professor Ouyang. When Professor Ouyang was principal at Guide City, he often invited Zhou Wen to eat at his place¡ªa treatment that other students and even teachers didn''t receive. Now, Ouyang Lan has married Zhou Lingfeng. I just find it too much of a coincidence. I''m thinking of the possibility that Professor Ouyang gave the item to Zhou Wen or Zhou Lingfeng."


    "Impossible. The power of that thing isn''t something a Mortal-stage can withstand. It''s impossible to even hold it. You can continue investigating Zhou Wen, but you have to place your focus on the An family. The only ones with the capability to commandeer that item in the An family are An Tianzuo and Ouyang Lan."


    "Yes, I understand."


    ¡­


    Feng Qiuyan wasn''t in a good mood. He originally thought that he would definitely be first in class for the homework mission, but he never expected Wang Lu to be faster than him by nearly a second.


    As expected of Wang Lu. She already has such power even before advancing to the Legendary stage. After Feng Qiuyan saw Wang Lu''s video for the homework mission, he realized that he had lost fair and square. Wang Lu''s comprehension and control over her positioning had reached an extremely high level. This was something that he lacked.


    After Wang Lu advances to the Legendary stage, I will definitely fight her. Before that, I still need to train myself and make myself stronger. Feng Qiuyan quickly walked to the school gym.


    Feng Qiuyan believed that he had to be focused on everything he did. Quality was demanded for everything, so he only practiced his saber techniques. He hoped to make his saber techniques faster and stronger, allowing him to reach the peak of the world.


    Hence, after arriving at the gym, Feng Qiuyan immediately walked towards the training court where the ball launcher was. It was the most suitable machine for him to practice his saber''s speed.


    However, when Feng Qiuyan got to the ball launcher court, he frowned when he realized that someone was occupying the grounds in practice.


    On careful look, he realized that the person was someone he knew¡ªthe freshman who had killed the word-engraved Demonized General, Zhou Wen.


    There was only one ball launcher, so Feng Qiuyan didn''t wish to waste any time waiting. Therefore, after some thought, he walked straight into the court and picked up a rubber training saber from the rack before walking towards Zhou Wen.

 115 Unable to Touch the Balls

    Zhou Wen felt that having his strength constantly increase despite staying in his dorm gaming all day seemed a little too eyebrow-raising, so he planned on some outdoor activities. At least, he had to let others know that he was cultivating arduously.


    After circling the gym once, he had planned on choosing a simple strength training machine to train his legs, allowing him to free his hands and continue gaming.


    But to his surprise, the gym was filled with people. After searching for a while, he discovered an empty training court.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had never used a ball launcher. After seeing the demonstration on the screen, he knew what kind of machine it was.


    The ball launcher was similar to the pitching machines used in baseball practice. Balls were shot out of the machine and the trainee aimed to hit them.


    It was just that the launcher would be shot in random directions in a wide area. Furthermore, it could also shoot multiple balls simultaneously. This was slightly different from a baseball pitching machine.


    There were many practice weapons on the racks¡ªsabers, swords, poles, spears, whips, etc. They were all made of rubber.


    Zhou Wen casually picked up a short pole and turned on the ball launcher. He was too lazy to study how he could adjust the launcher''s difficulty, so he simply switched it on.


    A ball shot out from the launcher''s barrel like a cannonball. Zhou Wen took note of the distance and swung his short stick, easily striking the ball and sending it far away.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that the launcher was rather simple. He could use one hand to strike the balls while using the other for gaming.


    Some training like this doesn''t seem too bad. As Zhou Wen gamed, he didn''t need to look at the balls with his eyes to strike them. The listening ability that Truth Listener imbued him allowed him to hit the balls accurately.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen discovered that practicing Truth Listener''s hearing ability was very helpful to his hearing.


    There were all kinds of dimensional zones, many that had a great effect on one''s vision, causing people to sometimes fight blind. All Zhou Wen originally wanted to do was to get some exercise, but after practicing for a while, he found such training very beneficial.


    At that moment, Feng Qiuyan arrived at the training ground.


    He walked onto the court with a practice saber in hand, but when he saw Zhou Wen gaming while striking the balls, he couldn''t help but frown.


    Looking at the balls'' trajectory and speed, he knew that this was the lowest level of difficulty. It wasn''t even a challenge for ordinary high-schoolers who had cultivated, much less students of Sunset College.


    From Feng Qiuyan''s point of view, Zhou Wen''s training was an insult to the word "training."


    Therefore, Feng Qiuyan decided to kick Zhou Wen out. Rather than let Zhou Wen waste the school''s resources, it was better for him to train more.


    Of course, it was beneath Feng Qiuyan to chase someone away, nor did he want to nag at Zhou Wen like a woman.


    Feng Qiuyan had his own ways of doing things¡ªin a masculine manner.


    He approached Zhou Wen with a practice saber in hand and Feng Qiuyan stood there silently without moving as he stared at the ball launcher''s muzzle.


    Feng Qiuyan''s idea was very simple. It was like playing basketball. As long as he snatched away all rebounds, preventing Zhou Wen from touching the balls, Zhou Wen would naturally find it pointless and leave.


    Feng Qiuyan was confident he could snatch all of Zhou Wen''s balls, preventing him from even touching a single ball.


    Pong!


    With a compressive blast emitted from the launch, a ball was shot out as it flew towards Zhou Wen at high speeds.


    "Right now." Feng Qiuyan''s heart stirred and was about to swing the wooden saber in his hand.


    He was confident that as long as he brandished his saber, there would be nothing left for Zhou Wen. The speed at which he drew his saber was not something any ordinary student could match. Even if Zhou Wen stood in front of him, Feng Qiuyan was confident he could gain the upper hand.


    However, when Feng Qiuyan raised the practice saber in his hand and was about to brandish it, his hand paused in midair. He had ultimately failed to complete the slash as he watched Zhou Wen send the ball flying with his practice pole.


    Is it a coincidence? Feng Qiuyan frowned as he looked at Zhou Wen. He had his back to him, one hand still holding a pole, the other hand gaming on his phone.


    However, just as Feng Qiuyan was about to attack, he felt that Zhou Wen was standing in the most appropriate position, blocking all the trajectories of his saber slashes. It prevented him from slashing at the ball.


    It was like a rebound in basketball. Zhou Wen stood in the spot where the basketball landed. Although the others could jump higher than him, it was difficult to snatch the ball if they weren''t in the right place.


    The position Zhou Wen stood in had given Feng Qiuyan such a feeling, preventing him from having any chance of striking.


    It''s probably just a coincidence, Feng Qiuyan thought to himself as he stared at the ball launcher''s muzzle.


    There were a total of thirty-six launching muzzles. They were split into six rows, covering a length and height of twenty meters. Each muzzle had a small range of movement and direction, allowing for different trajectories in the balls it shot out.


    As it was set to the lowest difficulty level, it only shot out one ball at a time. However, where the ball shot out from and its direction was unpredictable.


    Feng Qiuyan focused and planned on finding the ball''s landing spot before Zhou Wen could. He wanted him to have a taste of what it felt like to not be able to hit the ball.


    Pong!


    Another ball shot out. Feng Qiuyan trained his gaze at the ball''s direction and position. Just as he raised his foot to rush over, he saw Zhou Wen already walk over. He was already one step too slow if he took the step now. Even if he rushed over, he would lose the optimal spot, failing to snatch the ball from Zhou Wen like before.


    If you want to play, fine! I''ll be serious this time. Feng Qiuyan imagined Zhou Wen was competing with him.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen''s attitude of gaming while striking the ball made it obvious to him that he thought nothing of him. This made Feng Qiuyan vexed.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t thinking too much about it. He did hear someone beside him, but he didn''t know that the person was Feng Qiuyan, nor did he know that Feng Qiuyan wanted to chase him away. He originally imagined that the training court allowed multiple people in, so he thought nothing of it. He just struck the balls relying on his hearing and senses.


    The inclusion of Feng Qiuyan was also a form of practice for him.


    Zhou Wen was still grinding Ant Nest¡ªa dungeon he usually grinded when in public with other people around.


    Another ball shot out. Feng Qiuyan was already fully focused, but just as he took his step, he realized that Zhou Wen was one step ahead of him, happening to walk to the optimal location before him again.


    Pong!


    The ball was sent flying by Zhou Wen again. Feng Qiuyan had failed to touch three consecutive balls. He didn''t even strike out at all.

 116 How Did You Do It?

    At first, Feng Qiuyan had deliberately suppressed his Speed, trying his best to maintain it at the Mortal stage to compete with Zhou Wen.


    However, with the passage of time, Feng Qiuyan subconsciously increased his Speed after repeatedly failing to beat Zhou Wen to the punch. He began competing with Zhou Wen with Speed at the Legendary stage.


    This only served to alarm Feng Qiuyan even more¡ªSpeed at the Legendary stage was still inadequate. Although his Speed was really much faster than Zhou Wen''s, with Zhou Wen standing in the middle of the court which was about twenty meters wide, he only needed to cover ten meters.


    Due to the short distance, he wasn''t able to manifest his Speed advantage.


    That was not the main reason either. Although the advantage of a short distance wasn''t too obvious, an advantage was still an advantage. Under normal circumstances, he would definitely grab an advantageous spot ahead of time.


    Even if he couldn''t take that spot, with his saber speed, he could still strike the ball before Zhou Wen.


    However, it was like Zhou Wen was prescient. Before the launcher shot out the ball, he had already begun moving. It was too late for Feng Qiuyan to move by the time he saw the ball. Having faster Speed was useless and this left Feng Qiuyan extremely aggrieved.


    What was even more unacceptable to Feng Qiuyan was that Zhou Wen had been gaming with his other hand the entire time while snatching the ball away from him.


    At first, Feng Qiuyan thought that Zhou Wen was deliberately insulting him and wasn''t really focused on his gaming.


    However, Feng Qiuyan later discovered that Zhou Wen was truly gaming. His eyes were peeled to the screen, having never left it once. It was as though snatching the ball was something that he did in passing.


    This fellow¡­ He''s formidable¡­ Sweat began oozing out of Feng Qiuyan''s forehead as he stared at Zhou Wen''s back. The contempt he had for him previously vanished completely. Zhou Wen''s figure seemed to grow in size, turning tall and mighty. It was like an uninvadable city wall.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t paying attention to him at all, lost to his new discovery.


    The Truth Listener earring gave him tremendous hearing, enough to make him hear the ball launcher in operation clearly. Therefore, he knew which muzzle the ball would shoot out ahead of time, allowing him to know the ball''s trajectory and landing spot before Feng Qiuyan.


    However, this wasn''t the biggest surprise for Zhou Wen. What truly surprised him was his train of thought.


    Zhou Wen was an extremely focused person. In the past, no matter what he did, he could be fully focused without being disturbed by anything. Therefore, others might find him dull due to his lack of reaction no matter what they said to him.


    In fact, it wasn''t because Zhou Wen was dull and silly, but that he was too focused to the point of not being able to hear what others were saying to him.


    Now, Zhou Wen realized that he could still be focused on what he was doing, but at the same time, he seemed to be able to handle other matters as well. This feeling was rather indescribable.


    If an analogy had to be made, Zhou Wen''s thought process could be analogous to a computer processor. In the past, Zhou Wen''s brain was a single-core processor, but now, it was a dual-core, allowing it to handle multiple programs at the same time.


    Of course, this was only an analogy and was limited in its accuracy. However, it was a fact that Zhou Wen could hit all the balls while gaming. There didn''t seem to be any interference between the two activities.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen keenly discovered that while he was gaming and striking the balls, the Lost Immortal Sutra''s circulation became especially fast. It was more than twice as fast as usual.


    It appears this is the result of the Lost Immortal Sutra. Zhou Wen increasingly found the Lost Immortal Sutra extraordinary. However, he couldn''t figure out why Jing Daoxian had given him such a powerful Primordial Energy Art for no reason. It didn''t seem to make sense if it was simply because he caught his fancy.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know the origins of the Lost Immortal Sutra, so he naturally didn''t know how terrifying it was. If not for the extraordinary focus he was born with, he would have long been killed by it. Even if he didn''t die, he would go mad.


    Even now, Zhou Wen could hear the murmuring voices resounding in his ears when sleeping at night. It would be difficult for a normal person to endure such harassment. Even if he didn''t go mad, he would become extremely irascible; yet, Zhou Wen didn''t suffer from such effects.


    As Zhou Wen indulged in the thrill of his new discovery and training, Feng Qiuyan''s expression became increasingly ugly.


    He had already done his best, but couldn''t snatch the ball from Zhou Wen. Although summoning a Companion Beast would give him a chance of defeating Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan''s pride prevented him from doing so. He continued relying only on his physical prowess to compete with Zhou Wen.


    When Zhou Wen felt that he had enough practice today, he stopped and rested. Just as he was about to return, he turned his head to look at Feng Qiuyan.


    He couldn''t help but be taken aback by what he saw.


    He recognized Feng Qiuyan, but he looked drastically different from before. He was covered in sweat as he panted heavily. His eyes were glaring at him with eyes as red as a rabbit''s eyes. This look like he could devour him at any moment gave Zhou Wen a fright.


    Feng Qiuyan wasn''t truly exhausted but was suffering from immense mental stress. With his physique at the Legendary stage, he had lost to a Mortal-stage fellow. Furthermore, he had been badly defeated. He had failed to snatch a single ball despite Zhou Wen gaming with one hand. The stress was simply unimaginable.


    If it weren''t for Feng Qiuyan''s determination, anyone else with a slightly weaker well would probably have already lost their confidence.


    The more Feng Qiuyan wanted to win, the greater the stress he was under. The mental fatigue he suffered exceeded his physical fatigue.


    When Zhou Wen imagined that Feng Qiuyan would lunge at him and bite him, Feng Qiuyan glared at him and suddenly asked, "How did you do it?"


    "What do you mean how?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    "How are you able to predict the landing spot of the ball without looking for it?" Feng Qiuyan asked the question burning in his heart.


    He was stronger than Zhou Wen in everything, but he had lost to him on this point.


    "Because of this." Zhou Wen pointed at his ear before picking up the coat on the chair and left.


    Zhou Wen was referring to the Truth Listener earring he was wearing, but Feng Qiuyan clearly misunderstood Zhou Wen''s words. He believed that Zhou Wen was referring to his ear and instantly, he fell into thought as he muttered to himself, So that''s how it is. So he wasn''t really gaming, but using the game to divert his sight and only use his ears to listen out for the ball. So there''s actually such a training method. From the looks of it, the rumors of him being a gaming fanatic aren''t as simple as they seem. He''s more hardworking than anyone. Even gaming is a form of cultivation.


    Clearly, Feng Qiuyan misunderstood Zhou Wen. In fact, gaming was his main goal and practicing his listening skills was just something he did in passing.


    Seeing Zhou Wen walk out of the court, Feng Qiuyan suddenly snapped to attention as though he had awoken from a dream. He chased after him and called, "Zhou Wen, wait a moment."

 117 Please Be My Coach

    "What''s the matter?" Seeing Feng Qiuyan chase after him, Zhou Wen could only stop and turn his head to look at him.


    Feng Qiuyan stared at him and enunciated each and every word as he said, "I want to hire you as my personal coach. Help tailor a training plan for me."


    "You want me to be your personal coach?" Zhou Wen pointed at his nose and asked in surprise.


    He did not believe that he had the talent to make training plans. His own plan was to game after gaming, ad infinitum.


    "Please don''t reject me. If you have any conditions, feel free to raise them. Money isn''t a problem." Feng Qiuyan was quite sincere.


    Zhou Wen had already opened his mouth, prepared to reject the offer, but upon hearing the words "money isn''t a problem," he swallowed the words he was about to say.


    "Are you sure you want me to be your personal coach and tailor training plans for you? I''m only a Mortal-grade student." Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan and confirmed it once again.


    "Your level is not a problem. I just want to know your training methods. If you find it troublesome, you don''t have to deliberately plan one for me. I just need to train with you. I''ll do whatever you do," Feng Qiuyan said with all seriousness.


    Feng Qiuyan clearly misunderstood Zhou Wen, believing that he, who could think of using his sense of hearing to train his strikes, definitely had plans for targeted training. Therefore, he wanted to hire Zhou Wen as his personal coach.


    He wanted to know how Zhou Wen had trained to his present standards. Perhaps, it could aid him in his cultivation, allowing him to break through his recent bottleneck.


    "I''m very expensive." Zhou Wen didn''t think too much about it. Since there was a chance for him to earn money, there was no reason not to.


    "I''ll pay you what it costs to hire the most expensive personal coaches on the market. The payment can be made monthly or per class. If you have any other requests, you can tell me now," said Feng Qiuyan.


    "It''s best we settle it according to class, so a payment for each class." Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that he didn''t have much to teach. He decided to teach a lesson first and if he really couldn''t handle it, he wouldn''t keep scamming Feng Qiuyan¡ªone class would be all.


    "Alright." Feng Qiuyan agreed without hesitation. He paid Zhou Wen for one class and eagerly asked, "Coach, what kind of training do we have for the first class?"


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before asking, "You use the saber, right?"


    "That''s right. I train to push my swift saber to the pinnacle and I pursue extreme speed." Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation. He hoped that Zhou Wen could give him some special training method to aid his breakthrough.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a while when he heard that. He suddenly realized that he didn''t know any saber techniques, nor had he practiced any of them. The only thing he knew that had anything to do with sabers was Astral Slash Blade.


    However, Astral Slash Blade was a Primordial Energy Skill that resembled a blade beam. It did not have any technique to speak of, as it was cleaved out directly without any need for cultivation.


    Despite thinking all day, Zhou Wen couldn''t think of a training plan tailored to Feng Qiuyan''s cultivation.


    Suddenly, an idea flashed in Zhou Wen''s mind as he thought of the word-engraved Demonized General in Tiger Cage Pass.


    The word-engraved Demonized General had three different types. The Blade Demonized General''s Astral Slash Blade was fast and ruthless, but it could only suppress the Paper Demonized General and was useless against the Fist Demonized General.


    Although a swift saber was formidable, there were also ways to counter one.


    In any case, I don''t know any saber techniques yet. I''ll make Feng Qiuyan practice his saber in a diametrically opposite manner. When the time comes, he''ll find something amiss and won''t come looking for me again. Realizing how quick Feng Qiuyan was to pay him, he found him quite a nice guy and didn''t wish to scam him further.


    "Feng Qiuyan, have you ever heard of the principle of extreme Yang gives birth to Yin?" Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan.


    "Are you referring to how things develop in an opposite direction when they go to the extreme?" Feng Qiuyan asked after some thought.


    "It''s almost the same. The ancients say that true wisdom sounds foolish and great skill looks clumsy. It''s possible to have the opposite effect once you reach an extreme. You practice in the swift saber, then perhaps one day, if you feel slow drawing your saber, it might mean that your saber techniques can improve further," Zhou Wen said in a cursory manner, hoping that he could satisfy Feng Qiuyan for now, so that he wouldn''t seek him out again.


    Feng Qiuyan took Zhou Wen''s words seriously as he asked, "Then, how do I train to reach the realm of the slow saber?"


    "Some things require you to figure it out yourself. No matter how well others explain it, that''s still someone else''s insight. Only something you figure out is yours. I have already given you direction. As for how you should do it, it will require you to think about it." Although Zhou Wen was bullsh*tting Feng Qiuyan, what he said was truly what he believed in and understood. It wasn''t complete nonsense.


    After managing to get rid of Feng Qiuyan with great difficulty, Zhou Wen jogged back to his dorm and lay comfortably in bed as he took out his mysterious phone.


    Perhaps it was his luck. This time, while he was grinding the Lotus Flower Cave, although he failed to obtain a Rank 9 Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, he managed to obtain a Fairy Monkey Companion Egg.


    Fairy Beast: Legendary


    Life Providence: Pet of Air


    Strength: 15


    Speed: 18


    Constitution: 15


    Primordial Energy: 14


    Talent Skill: Dragon Gate Fairy Skill


    Companion Form: Wings


    The Fairy Monkey''s stats were clearly incomparable to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, so he directly fed the Companion Egg to Truth Listener.


    In the past, Truth Listener didn''t react much after eating a Companion Egg. However, after swallowing the Companion Egg this time, a system notification appeared.


    ''Truth Listener has obtained the evolution requirement and is beginning to evolve.''


    Zhou Wen saw Truth Listener''s figure appear on the screen. It was a tiny beast in the shape of a golden silk monkey. At this moment, Truth Listener was glowing with resplendent golden light, as though it was a golden Buddha statue. It was so blinding that it filled the entire screen with golden light.


    After feeding it for so long, it''s finally evolving. Zhou Wen was delighted.


    Truth Listener at the Mortal stage was not of much use. However, it would definitely be very useful after advancing to the Legendary stage.


    After a while, the golden light on the screen gradually faded away, revealing its true looks. At the same time, a system notification popped up on the screen: ''Truth Listener''s evolution completed.''


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t seem to notice much of a change. Its body was still small, only slightly bigger than his fingers. It was covered in golden fur and its eyes were sparkling with golden light.


    No, it''s still a little different. Zhou Wen realized that Truth Listener was indeed somewhat different. It originally resembled a golden silk monkey with just a pair of ears, but now it had another pair of ears. It now had four ears.


    However, its ears were very small. They were neatly placed on both sides of its head without making it look ugly at all. If one didn''t look closely, one would not notice that it had four ears.

 118 Heavens Senses

    Truth Listener: Legendary (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven''s Senses


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Primordial Energy: 21


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Golden Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    In the past, Zhou Wen thought that the maximum stats for Legendaries was 18. He later found through the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and Silver-Winged Flying Ant that 18 wasn''t the limit, but he had never seen 21.


    Mythical creatures are really different. Even if they haven''t evolved to the Mythical stage, their stats aren''t something ordinary Companion Beasts can compare with. However, I have no idea what exact use Heaven''s Senses has. Zhou Wen read Truth Listener''s stats carefully and saw that there was an additional note regarding the Life Providence: Prying into the secrets of the world using ears instead of eyes.


    When he summoned Truth Listener, it still looked petite. It was glowing with golden light as if it was a piece of golden silk monkey art carved out of gold.


    From its appearance, it did not seem powerful at all. The Legendary Mutated Skeleton Ant that shared its level looked many times stronger than it.


    Getting Truth Listener to turn into an earring before wearing it, Zhou Wen closed his eyes and focused. He immediately felt that the Truth Listener earring had augmented his sense of hearing in a way that was much better than before.


    Although he had his eyes closed, everything around him appeared like a three-dimensional figure in his mind. It was as though Zhou Wen could see everything around him. The only difference was that the three-dimensional figure in his mind was black and white instead of the colored world he saw with his eyes.


    Zhou Wen knew that he wasn''t really seeing anything, but the ability brought by the Truth Listener earring.


    He originally believed that he had no way of hearing a still object no matter how good his hearing was. But now, he realized that what he believed was wrong.


    No object existed independently. Although some objects were still, the movement of other objects would similarly affect them. As long as his hearing was powerful enough, he could replace his eyes with his ears to see still objects.


    The flow of air and the sound waves produced feedback the moment they touched a still object. The average person couldn''t hear such feedback, but the Truth Listener earring allowed Zhou Wen to hear it clearly. Furthermore, it outlined a three-dimensional figure in his mind, as though he was looking at it with his own eyes. There were even more details than could be seen with open eyes.


    Within twenty meters, even if there were obstructions, Zhou Wen could still see everything behind the walls with his ears. It was as if he had x-ray vision. Other than the lack of colors, everything else was no different from normal vision.


    With this strange sense of hearing, Zhou Wen could clearly hear everything in the two buildings beside him. The sound-proofing was completely ineffective against him.


    While Wang Lu wasn''t in the dorm, An Jing happened to be in the bedroom near to Zhou Wen. He didn''t have a fetish for invading privacies, so just as he was about to retract his hearing, he heard An Jing say, "Zhou Wen still hasn''t cultivated in the Sun Strafe Art. Was the harm I dealt him last time that great? Did I really go too far?"


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. If he hadn''t identified that the person speaking was clearly An Jing, he would have believed that he had heard wrongly.


    His impression of An Jing was always one that was haughty and aloof as if she viewed everything in a condescending manner. It was hard to imagine that these words came from her mouth.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel curious. He wanted to hear what An Jing would say, so he didn''t put away the Truth Listener earring and continued listening to the commotion next door.


    The usually cold and arrogant An Jing was now sitting on the bed with a teddy bear in hand. It was as if she was speaking to the bear. "I didn''t really want to hurt him. I just wanted to prove myself. I just want to let Grandpa know that Mom''s choice was wrong. Her child is the best, far more excellent than the genius described by Grandpa. I know Zhou Wen is innocent and this matter has nothing to do with him, but apart from defeating him, I didn''t have any way of proving to Grandpa that I''m better than him. I really didn''t want to set him back."


    "Bear Bear, what do I have to do to make him stand back on his feet?" An Jing paused before adding, "It''s not that I care about him. It''s just that if he can''t get back on his feet and advance to the Legendary stage, my defeat of him will be meaningless. It still wouldn''t prove to Grandpa that I''m better than him. So I must first help him establish his confidence and then help him advance to the Legendary stage. I''ll defeat him when he''s at tip-top shape. This will let Grandpa know that his daughter''s child is the best. Mom''s decision to marry Dad was right."


    Upon hearing this, Zhou Wen stopped listening and put away the Truth Listener earring.


    Now, he finally understood why An Jing was targeting him. It was not because of Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Lan''s marriage, nor was it simply because of that special physique.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t concerned that An Jing was upset with him. He only hoped that An Jing would not disturb him in the future. It was best if they minded their own business.


    Now, all Zhou Wen wanted to do was game in peace. The fewer things he had to do, the better.


    As usual, he first killed all the mini-bosses in the dungeons before heading to Fire God Platform to memorize the Ancient Imperial Sutra. Just as he was doing it the second time, the doorbell rang.


    Zhou Wen opened the door and saw that it was Li Xuan, who he hadn''t seen in days.


    Li Xuan wore a smug look as he patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder. "Brat, I''ll be protecting you in the future. If there''s anyone who dares bully you, just give them my name."


    "You aren''t sick, are you?" Zhou Wen swatted away Li Xuan''s hand and sat down on the couch. He poured himself a cup of blood-replenishing tea and slowly drank it.


    Li Xuan smugly sat down beside Zhou Wen and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. Suppressing his excitement, he deliberately whispered, "Old Zhou, I finally succeeded in advancing to the Legendary stage. Guess what my Life Providence is?"


    "I''m not guessing. I''m not interested." Zhou Wen continued drinking his tea.


    However, Li Xuan still said excitedly, "I doubt you can guess it anyway. Let me tell you, my Legendary Life Providence is Immortal God of Combat. Isn''t that impressive? Just the sound of the name makes it freaking awesome. I''m not bragging, but this Life Providence pretty much means invincibility¡ªan immortal body, a supreme Dominance Body. People like Yang Lie will be exhausted to death beating me while I stand there, completely unmoved¡­"


    When Li Xuan said this, he stood up and jumped onto the couch. He made an arrogant pose, his eyes filled with contempt as though he was looking down on everyone in the world.


    But as soon as he finished speaking, he was kicked down by the sleeping antelope.


    The antelope had already treated the couch as its bed. For Li Xuan to have the guts to hop on its bed in his shoes, there was no way it was going to be friendly with him.


    Bang!


    Li Xuan fell to the ground, his sternum sinking in with the shape of a hoof while he spewed out blood from his mouth.


    "Isn''t¡­ Isn''t that an antelope?" Li Xuan sprawled on the ground as he looked at the languid antelope in astonishment, his face wearing a look of disbelief.

 119 Providence Palace

    Li Xuan had always believed that the antelope was a mutated animal from the bottom half of Mount Laojun. However, the power of its hooves made him realize that it was not only a dimensional creature but an extremely high-level one.


    His Immortal God of Combat Life Providence had greatly augmented his Constitution. Although calling it an immortal and indestructible Dominance Body was an exaggeration, it wouldn''t be easy for mere Legendaries to injure him.


    The antelope had severely injured him with a casual kick of its hoof. This was already beyond the strength of a Legendary level. It was highly likely an Epic stage existence.


    "I''ll take you to the hospital." Zhou Wen was also given a fright. Although the antelope had been staying at his place and refusing to leave, it had never hurt him.


    Now, with this strike, it had severely injured Li Xuan, who had just ascended to the Legendary stage. It also confirmed Zhou Wen''s previous speculation that the antelope had terrifying strength.


    "There''s no need. This small injury is nothing to me. The Immortal God of Combat Life Providence still means something." Li Xuan shook his head and propped himself up, using the coffee table to stand up.


    Li Xuan seemed to be enduring a great deal of pain in the beginning. Even breathing seemed to be unbearable, and his face was ghastly pale.


    However, after taking a few deep breaths, his complexion gradually improved. The injury on his chest seemed to be slowly recovering.


    "The Immortal God of Combat has a powerful self-recovery ability. As long as I''m alive, my injuries can slowly recover." Li Xuan did not forget to boast about his Life Providence.


    "Your Virgin God of Combat Life Providence sure is nice." Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. This Life Providence was really impressive¡ªit could be considered a life-saving skill.


    "What Virgin God of Combat¡­ It''s Immortal God of Combat¡­ Cough¡­" Agitated, Li Xuan pulled at his internal injuries, causing him to cough out a lot of blood.


    "It looks like your self-recovery powers won''t restore you that quickly. Let me take you to the hospital now." Zhou Wen helped Li Xuan out.


    Li Xuan originally wanted to say no, but when he saw the antelope on the couch, he shivered and left Zhou Wen''s dormitory with his neck shrank back.


    "What''s with that antelope? Isn''t it a mutated animal from Mount Laojun?" Li Xuan asked in a suppressed voice after Zhou Wen helped him out of the building.


    "I''m not too sure either. It''s been following me all this time, but it hasn''t injured anyone before. It''s the first time today," Zhou Wen said honestly.


    "I¡­ Forget it¡­ I''ll just blame it on my luck¡­ There''s no need to go to the hospital. Let''s find a place to rest. I still have something to tell you." Li Xuan felt depressed.


    Zhou Wen sized Li Xuan up and asked, "Is your injury really alright?"


    "It''s just a flesh wound and I''m not internally injured. Even if we don''t go to the hospital, it will only take a few days before I recover. It''ll be troublesome if we go to the hospital, but you be careful in the future. Don''t end up getting kicked to death by that animal," Li Xuan said.


    The two of them sat down on a long bench on the lawn. Li Xuan''s complexion was much better now, having appeared to have returned to normal. From the looks of it, he wasn''t just bragging. The Immortal God of Combat was indeed impressive.


    It''s not bad to have a life-saving Life Providence like Li Xuan''s, Zhou Wen thought.


    "The school''s first comprehensive test is almost here. How''s your preparation going?" Li Xuan asked after taking a few deep breaths while on the long bench.


    "What preparation?" Zhou Wen knew about the monthly comprehensive test, but he had no idea why he needed to prepare for it.


    Li Xuan rolled his eyes at Zhou Wen speechlessly. "Let me guess. You didn''t read the syllabus for the comprehensive test?"


    "No, has it been announced?" Zhou Wen shook his head slightly.


    Li Xuan complained, "You really don''t know anything about the outside world. All you focus on is gaming. Every year, the first comprehensive test is the same. There are a total of four subjects¡ªfishing a coin from a pot of oil, crossing a paper bridge, lifting stone tripod cauldrons, and sucking in the mountain and rivers. You need to pass two of these tests to pass. If you were to fail three of them, you would be dismissed from school."


    "Why do these names sound like acrobatic performances of the past?" Zhou Wen laughed.


    "The names are indeed tacky, but they really aren''t easy. These tests are real tests of ability and not some sleight of hand used by acrobats on the street. Fishing out a coin from a pot of boiling oil uses real oil. To fish one out with one''s physical body is definitely impossible. Your hand will be crippled the moment you put it in. You need to have a Primordial Energy Skill covering your hand or have a protective Primordial Energy Skill to fish the coin out. Crossing the paper bridge is the easiest test to fail. It''s a paper bridge spanning a hundred meters. The bridge''s surface is made of thin calligraphic paper and tearing it when stepping over it will be considered a failure. Without a Primordial Energy Skill that imbues you with alacrity, there''s no way to cross it.


    "The lifting of the stone tripod cauldron is easy. As long as you have enough Strength, using some Primordial Energy Skill that enhances Strength will allow you to pass. It''s not difficult to devour the mountain and rivers either. As long as you have 9 points of Primordial Energy, you''ll basically pass. These are the basic requirements Sunset College sets. You should be fine for the latter two, but you need to prepare the first two. If you don''t have the type of Primordial Energy Skills required, I can lend you a few Primordial Energy Skill Crystals," Li Xuan said.


    "There''s no need. I have my ways of passing." Zhou Wen had Lotus Flower Buddha''s Primordial Energy Skill, so it shouldn''t be a problem to fish out a coin.


    As for crossing the paper bridge, he also had Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. It wouldn''t be difficult for him to cross the bridge.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on completing all the tests since he could pass as long as he completed two tests. There was no need for him to participate in all four of them.


    However, Li Xuan said, "Don''t take this matter lightly. If you can squeeze into the top ten in the comprehensive test, you can get a chance to enter Providence Palace. Besides Sunset College. That''s an awesome place unique to Sunset College that you can''t find elsewhere."


    "Providence Palace?" Zhou Wen was surprised.


    Zhou Wen had heard of this name before. Providence Palace was actually the royal palace in the era of the Sui and Tang dynasty. Back then, Luoyang City was the capital and center of politics of the country and Providence Palace was the political center of Luoyang.


    Later on, Providence Palace was later buried in history and was destroyed during a war. However, after the dimensional storms, its ruins formed a dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen had heard a lot of rumors about the Providence Palace''s dimensional zone. It was a relatively special dimensional zone without much danger inside; yet, it was possible to obtain great opportunities inside.


    In the past, when he was in high school, there were rumors of a certain student obtaining a particular treasure in Providence Palace and ended directly shooting to stardom, advancing to the Legendary or even the Epic stage.


    Of course, they were only urban myths. The Providence Palace''s dimensional zone had always been under Sunset College''s control and had never been open to the public. Only a handful of Sunset College students had the qualification to enter. As for what benefits lay within, Zhou Wen really did not know what it was.

 120 Providence Palaces Treasures

    "I''ve already found out that there aren''t many areas in Providence Palace that have been cleared. We can only walk to the main entrance and can''t even enter the city gates. In fact, people do not even consider entering Providence Palace," Li Xuan said.


    "If we can''t even get in, why are we heading there?" Zhou Wen asked puzzled.


    "Don''t be anxious. Listen to me slowly." Li Xuan acted all mysterious and continued, "Usually, the doors of Providence Palace are sealed shut. Even the most famous Epic experts would not be able to enter, much less us. That''s why no one knows what''s inside to date. However, one day every year, the city gates to Providence Palace will open. Many strange and magical items will appear from everywhere as though they are dragged by invisible ghosts, lining up to fly inside."


    "I heard that there are all sorts of treasures in there. There are rare antiques, weapons and armors, gemstones and jade, and all kinds of precious treasures. However, they are practically no use to us. True treasures are the Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals. Rumor has it that a senior once obtained a Companion Egg which was an Epic stage angel. You definitely know of angel Companion Beasts. They are dimensional creatures that only appear in the West District''s dimensional zone. Logically speaking, we shouldn''t have any angel Companion Eggs here," Li Xuan said in a tone of mystery.


    "Is that true?" Zhou Wen found Li Xuan''s words getting more and more outrageous as he found it unbelievable.


    "Why would I lie to you? Someone from our Li family has already entered, but they didn''t pick anything good," Li Xuan said.


    "According to what you''ve said, since there are so many good things in Providence Palace, why don''t they invite more people to head in to take them out? Why do they only allow the top ten in the comprehensive test in?" Zhou Wen still found it unbelievable as Li Xuan''s account didn''t make sense at all.


    "Do you think anyone can choose what they want? When they first discovered the Providence Palace dimensional zone, they discovered ten tokens. On that day, only a person with a token had the right to choose one of the items to bring back. Those without the token couldn''t even touch anything inside. Those with a token could only choose one object, nothing more," Li Xuan said in apparent seriousness.


    Although Li Xuan''s words were bizarre, Zhou Wen knew that there was no need for him to lie. Instead, he was a little curious about Providence Palace.


    Li Xuan smiled and said, "It''s useless to think too much now. If I want to choose something from Providence Palace, I''ll have to enter the top 10 at the comprehensive test or it''s useless. There are all kinds of experts in Sunset College, so even though I''ve advanced to the Legendary stage, I don''t have the confidence of squeezing into the top ten. Old Zhou, you haven''t even advanced to the Legendary stage. It will only be harder for you to enter the top ten. Ignoring everything else, there''s Huang Ji, Hui Haifeng, Wang Lu, Feng Qiuyan, and that sister of yours. Those five people will definitely enter the top ten, occupying five spots. The remaining five spots have many powerful fellows vying for it. I''m sure I can enter the top ten given a year or two, but now, it''s a little hard to say."


    Zhou Wen didn''t know many students at Sunset College, but he knew all of the people Li Xuan mentioned.


    "There''s nothing wrong with the rest, but Wang Lu hasn''t advanced to the Legendary stage yet, right? How do you know that she would definitely be able to take up a spot?" Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan suspiciously.


    "Do you really not know it or are you faking it? The Wang family''s Wang Lu cultivates in the Youth Rejuvenation Divine Art. If she can''t take the spot, who else can?" Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen was confused by what he heard. Seeing that he did not know anything, Li Xuan explained in detail to Zhou Wen.


    The Youth Rejuvenation Divine Art was the Wang family''s Primordial Energy Art which few outsiders knew much about. After cultivating this Primordial Energy Art, the first breakthrough would result in someone regaining their youth.


    The youth here didn''t mean age, but the drop of one''s stage to the Mortal stage. At the same time, one''s physique and talent would improve tremendously. Not only was advancing quick, but one''s attainment was higher when redoing the cultivation.


    Wang Lu''s first advancement to the Legendary stage happened when she was about the same age as An Jing. However, after the advancement, the effects of the Youth Rejuvenation reduced her back to the Mortal stage. She needed to cultivate and advance to the Legendary stage again, but she wouldn''t suffer a repeat.


    However, after Wang Lu advanced to the Epic stage, she would experience the effect of Youth Rejuvenation again. She would still drop to the Mortal stage and have to cultivate again.


    "Wang Lu definitely must have taken a liking to the opportunity of Providence Palace by choosing to study at Sunset College. Before the comprehensive test, she will definitely be able to advance back to the Legendary stage," Li Xuan said with great certainty.


    "I see." Only then did Zhou Wen realize that Wang Lu actually had such a story.


    "Anyway, I''ve already informed you. Think about it yourself. Call me if you need anything." Li Xuan rubbed his chest and got up to leave.


    His Invincible Connate Divine Art Life Providence and Invincible Connate Divine Art could heal his body quickly, but the pain didn''t lessen one bit.


    After Li Xuan left, Zhou Wen had been thinking about the comprehensive test.


    If it was only a competition for placement, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t have wanted to vie for it. However, the items in Providence Palace were quite attractive to him.


    Even if the other students were to compete, they could only choose one at most. However, Zhou Wen was wondering if he could download Providence Palace to his phone and choose multiple items.


    To verify this thought, he had to download Providence Palace first. However, if he didn''t enter the top ten, he wouldn''t have the chance to get there and naturally wouldn''t have the chance to download the dungeon.


    It looks like I''ll have to try for this spot. Zhou Wen made up his mind to vie for it, but he wasn''t sure if he could get the nomination.


    The four projects tested the students'' Speed, Strength, Constitution, and Primordial Energy respectively. Zhou Wen''s four attributes were stronger than anyone else of the same level, but compared to those at the Legendary stage, he was still very much inferior.


    "Fortunately, the comprehensive test allows the use of Companion Beasts. It''s not like I don''t have a chance at all." After Zhou Wen returned to his room, he began crazily grinding again.


    In the past few days, Zhou Wen''s luck had seemed pretty good. When he was grinding Lotus Flower Cave, another Fairy Monkey Companion Egg was dropped. Furthermore, its attributes were extremely high.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t bear to use it as food. Finally, he steeled his heart and fused the Fairy Monkey Companion Egg with the Stone Qilin Companion Egg.


    If he could get an excellent-grade Companion Egg with two skills, Zhou Wen decided to take the risk to incubate it.


    However, with a 65% compatibility score, the fusion failed. With a loud bang from the phone, the two Companion Eggs vanished.


    Although Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared for failure, he still felt depressed when he saw the two Companion Eggs disappear.


    Gambling is indeed a terrible thing. Zhou Wen sighed and could only continue grinding.

 121 Untouchable Stone Saber

    "Overseer, there''s news from the League that a dimensional creature broke out from the sea and has infiltrated the East district. It might be coming to us," Ah Sheng said as he held a document that had just been faxed over.


    "What level is the dimensional creature?" An Tianzuo frowned and asked.


    "I''m not too sure yet, but from the description of the document, it didn''t easily break through the coastal defenses and even suffered some injuries. It should be an ordinary Epic stage creature," Ah Sheng looked at the document and said, "However, after it charged through the coastal defenses, the League hasn''t been able to track it. They occasionally discover its traces and from its trajectory, it might pass through Luoyang. The League wants us to cooperate in stopping it. Overseer, what''s your take on this?"


    "Strengthen the defenses and distribute the newly researched Primordial Gold bullets. Even if you can''t kill it here, you can''t let it do as it pleases in Luoyang," An Tianzuo said.


    "Yes, Overseer." Ah Sheng received the order and left.


    With the help of the Legendary Truth Listener earring, Zhou Wen felt like a fish in water. A few days later, he finally managed to remember all the content of the Ancient Imperial Sutra.


    The moment he finished memorizing the Ancient Imperial Sutra, he felt as if every cell in his body was igniting. His entire body became extremely hot, almost to the point of burning.


    As for the firebird horde that charged towards the blood-colored avatar, they retreated and returned to the furnace in front of the stone monument.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought his body was about to explode, the Lost Immortal Sutra came into effect, causing his body to turn completely still.


    In the next second, his Primordial Energy began circulating again. However, it was no longer the path of the Lost Immortal Sutra. It became the Ancient Imperial Sutra that Zhou Wen had just memorized.


    The Ancient Imperial Sutra could be described with one word¡ªoverbearing. Wherever Primordial Energy flowed, Zhou Wen felt as though all his cells had turned into explosives that could explode with unparalleled power.


    That searing, potent, and oppressive power was something Zhou Wen had never experienced in any of the other Primordial Energy Arts he cultivated in.


    However, this overbearing power made him feel brimming with energy and vitality instead of destruction.


    When the Ancient Imperial Sutra completed a cycle, Zhou Wen felt a strange change in his body. It was as though a casual punch could cause a rupture in the world.


    Looking at the blood-colored avatar''s stats, he discovered that the values of the four attributes had changed from 10 to 11 points. Now, Zhou Wen had three stats at 11, leaving only one stat at 10.


    As he had mastered the Ancient Imperial Sutra to a basic level, the blood-colored avatar could stand near the Fire God Platform without firebirds appearing to attack him.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk up to the Fire God Platform. The flames inside the furnace flickered but did not spew out any firebirds.


    He originally thought that Fire God Platform would give him a Companion Egg, but he was ultimately disappointed. There was only a stone monument and a stone furnace on Fire God Platform, nothing else; hence, there was no one to give him a Companion Egg.


    So not every place has a Mythical Companion Egg to give! Zhou Wen didn''t feel disappointed as he carefully observed the stone monument and furnace.


    He had already noted down the words on the monument. Furthermore, he had already gained a basic mastery of the Ancient Imperial Sutra, so there was nothing special about it.


    On the contrary, the stone furnace was rather strange and Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be even more meticulous studying it.


    There were many firebird symbols on the outside of the stone furnace, but upon closer inspection, he realized that they were not firebirds but fire plumes of different shapes.


    There was something in the furnace that was burning with scarlet flames.


    Zhou Wen looked at it for a while before identifying it as a stone saber. It was in the furnace flames that burned vigorously. This only allowed him to make out its blurry outline.


    Is the stone saber in the furnace also a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat as he made the blood-colored avatar attempt to remove the saber from the furnace.


    Since it was only a waste of a blood drop if the blood-colored avatar were to die, Zhou Wen was not stingy with making such attempts.


    After circulating the Ancient Imperial Sutra to its limit, the blood-colored avatar''s palm reached into the stone furnace. The flames in the furnace automatically parted, as though they were welcoming his hand.


    The flames split apart, revealing the stone saber stuck in the middle of the stone furnace. Zhou Wen could now see it clearly instead of a blurry outline.


    The first impression that he had of the stone saber was that it was rough. It was ground from black stone with many rough edges and uneven pot marks. It was nothing perfect or exquisite.


    However, this stone saber gave Zhou Wen an extremely oppressive feeling. It was as though it was the only thing that could claim to be supreme in the entire world as an ancient and desolate aura inundated him.


    On one side of the stone saber, there was a bloodstain. The blood-red color coupled with its shape made it look like a blood-red bolt of lightning.


    Without any hesitation, he controlled the blood-colored avatar to grab the handle, hoping to pull the stone saber out of the furnace.


    However, when the blood-colored avatar''s palm touched the stone saber, Zhou Wen was stunned. The blood-colored avatar''s palm seemed to pass through an illusion and did not touch it.


    Why is this happening? Zhou Wen tried a few more times, but the result was the same. The stone saber did not seem to exist at all as though it was only an illusion. It was futile no matter how the blood-colored avatar tried to grab it. Time and again, its palm would pass through it.


    Zhou Wen spent a long time studying the situation on Fire God Platform without figuring out what was going on.


    Could it be that the stone saber is really just an illusion? Zhou Wen stared at the stone saber in the game, but it didn''t look like an illusion at all, because the aura of the saber was just too potent. How could an illusion have such an aura?


    Now, Zhou Wen had the urge to immediately return to Guide Ancient City and scale the Fire God Platform in reality. He wanted to see if there was a stone saber in the furnace.


    That was just an impulsive thought after all. It was impossible for him to return to the Guide Ancient City, so he could only give up on his plan of obtaining the stone saber and leave the Ancient Imperial City dungeon.


    My three stats have already reached 11 points, so how can I find a Primordial Energy Art to increase my Speed to 11 points? Zhou Wen only wanted to quickly advance to the Legendary stage.


    Being at the Mortal stage was just too weak. He would be slaughtered if he encountered true experts. Furthermore, only by advancing to the Legendary stage could he incubate Legendary Companion Eggs without any worries.


    Armor, weapons, necklaces, and other Companion Beasts were very helpful in improving his strength.


    After careful consideration, Zhou Wen headed to the college library. He wanted to see if there were any other mysterious dimensional zones in Luoyang that had Primordial Energy Arts.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t find anything similar to Small Buddha Temple or Mount Laojun. At least in Luoyang, there was no place like that.


    Zhou Wen browsed through the other dimensional zones in the League. He made some decent discoveries through this search.


    Boom!


    As Zhou Wen was checking the information, he suddenly heard a loud boom. The entire library was shaking violently as a large amount of cement fell from above.

 122 The Library Inciden

    Zhou Wen immediately activated his Lotus Flower Buddha Body. At the same time, he extended his silver wings and retreated more than 10 meters. His left hand, which was wrapped by the lotus flower bracer, shattered the large piece of concrete steel that came crashing towards him.


    Boom!


    Amidst the splattering dust and plaster, Zhou Wen saw a huge green-scaled snake falling down from the hole in the roof. It shattered the bookshelf and the wood fragments flew everywhere as the ground opened up into a huge crater.


    A large number of fragments smashed onto Zhou Wen. Thankfully, he had already activated Lotus Flower Buddha Body, so none of the flying rubble harmed his body.


    The green-scaled snake was extremely large, spanning more than a hundred meters long. It was as thick as a water barrel and on its back was a pair of gigantic wing-like fins.


    The students in the library dodged and screamed as they ran out. Although Zhou Wen didn''t know what was going on, he knew that he couldn''t stay here for long. Just as he was about to flee the library, he saw the huge snake open its enormous mouth in a bid to devour a student.


    The student was too close to the spot where the snake had landed. A flying fragment of a steel slab had pierced through her calf and her body was pinned to the ground. She could not free herself to escape.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that the student was Fang Ruoxi. With a thought, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant immediately separated from him and transformed into a silver stream of light, pulling her out before the snake could devour her.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant carried the injured Fang Ruoxi and flew back to Zhou Wen''s side. The enraged snake lifted its neck and opened its mouth, wanting to lunge towards him.


    Zhou Wen was just about to flee when he suddenly heard a series of gunshots. A large number of soldiers jumped down from the hole and held their assault rifles in their hands. They fired unceasingly at the snake.


    Typically hot weapons had limited impact on dimensional creatures even with nuclear bombs, much less bullets. They might even accelerate the mutation of dimensional creatures.


    However, when the soldiers'' bullets hit the snake, they pierced through the scales and caused it to bleed. The snake began to twist its body and cry out as it tried to escape.


    However, it was already too late for it to escape. The soldiers continued firing at it. In just a few seconds, the gigantic snake had become riddled with holes. The snake''s blood was everywhere.


    "Young Master Wen, are you alright?" A young man who looked like an officer rushed over and sized Zhou Wen up before asking anxiously.


    "I''m fine." Zhou Wen recognized the officer to be An Tianzuo''s adjutant, Ah Sheng.


    "It''s good that you''re fine. Young Master Wen, you can go back now. There are still some matters to settle here." Ah Sheng called two soldiers over and asked them to escort Zhou Wen and Fang Ruoxi out of the library.


    Fang Ruoxi''s calf was injured and the steel slab was still piercing through it. Thankfully, the injury was not serious. The moment they left the library, the medical team rushed over with a doctor to treat Fang Ruoxi.


    "Thank you Zhou Wen. You took the risk to save me even though I treated you badly in the past," Fang Ruoxi said to Zhou Wen. She had been brooding over the fact that she had failed to form a team with Zhou Wen.


    "It''s nothing. It wasn''t much of a risk. If it were any other student, I would also have saved them. You don''t have to think too much." Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    The middle-aged female doctor who was treating Fang Ruoxi''s wound almost burst out laughing when she saw the disappointment on Fang Ruoxi''s face. She said, "Young lady, there''s no loss missing out on such insensitive men. It''s how he acts that makes him single. It will save you a lot of woe in the future."


    Fang Ruoxi blushed. "We''re just ordinary classmates, don''t think too much."


    The incident at the library caused quite a commotion on campus. The students were all discussing this matter.


    The college also gave an official account that a criminal was escaping with a Companion Beast and ended up entering the college accidentally under the military''s pursuit. The criminal and the Companion Beast were both killed on the spot by the military.


    Zhou Wen had seen the gigantic snake with his own eyes, but he didn''t feel that it was a Companion Beast with an owner. It resembled more of a feral dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen himself also felt that it was impossible. After all, feral dimensional creatures weren''t able to leave their dimensional zones. However, when he thought of the antelope in his dorm, he felt that it wasn''t exactly possible.


    If all dimensional creatures can rush out of their dimensional zones, what would the human world become? Zhou Wen could not help but shudder when he thought of this possibility.


    The number of human experts had increased over the past few decades and Epic experts were no longer rare. But compared to those dimensional creatures, they were still far inferior.


    Ignoring everything else, just like the three-faced Buddha in Small Buddha Temple and the expert who didn''t even show his face at Mount Laojun, they were probably existences that few humans could match.


    Furthermore, there were many places like this on Earth.


    If there really comes a day when dimensional creatures are able to rush out of the dimensional zones, it would be the end of the world for humans. One must be strong enough to survive. Zhou Wen felt that the day wasn''t too distant. The examples of the antelope and the snake made his sense of danger tingling.


    I still need to increase my strength. Zhou Wen felt the urgency to improve his strength¡ªhe needed to have the ability to survive in such a disaster.


    After returning to his dorm, he decided to take a shower and change out of his tattered clothes and dirt-covered clothes before taking a shower to continue gaming.


    However, when he removed his clothes, he realized that there was a clamshell the size of an egg on the inside of his shirt.


    The clamshell''s rainbow colors made it extremely beautiful. Zhou Wen casually pulled it off and was about to throw it away when he noticed something while holding it in his hand.


    Inside the clamshell was filled with blue seawater. Even if the clamshell was facing downwards, not a single drop of seawater stirred, it all remained inside.


    Zhou Wen was a little surprised to suddenly see waves rise up from the seawater. Ripples spread out and something slowly floated up in the middle.


    He was alarmed as he quickly threw away the clamshell. At the same time, he summoned his Companion Beasts and fused with them to prepare for battle.


    However, the clamshell that Zhou Wen threw was floating in mid-air. A petite, beautiful figure emerged from the rippling seawater.


    It was a mermaid-like creature with a head of golden wavy hair. However, her ears looked like fish fins and her eyes were blue like the sea, seemingly possessing an indescribable charm.


    Is this a mermaid or a siren? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He was now sure that this was definitely a feral dimensional creature.

 123 The First Order of Chaos

    Without much hesitation, the moment he saw the siren-like mermaid appear, the transparent wings on Zhou Wen''s back vibrated and he slammed his feet on the ground, wanting to rush out from the balcony.


    There were too many unknown and terrifying existences in this world. Regardless of his chances of defeating a siren, Zhou Wen was unwilling to risk it.


    But just as he moved, a large amount of seawater burst out from the clamshell behind the siren. The egg-sized clamshell spewed out seawater like a waterfall that engulfed the entire living room.


    Zhou Wen''s body collided with the waterfall formed by the seawater and immediately felt his body being pushed back into the living room like a wave.


    \"Keke, foolish human. When standing before the Queen of the Sea, resistance is futile. Your only option is to become my slave and be used by me.\" The siren''s body gradually walked out of the clamshell and gradually grew in size, becoming as big as an ordinary human.


    Zhou Wen gathered his Strength and repeatedly slammed into the waterfall formed by the seawater. He was repelled every time. Even Astral Slash Blade left a tiny crack when he slashed down on the waterfall before the hole disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    \"It''s useless, foolish human. Stop doing such foolish acts and become my slave.\" As the siren spoke, a strange light shone in her blue eyes, exuding an indescribable charm.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze landed on the strange pair of eyes and his eyes immediately lost focus. As though in a trance, he dazedly walked towards the siren.


    \"Yes, that''s right. Come into my embrace and be my slave. It''s a great honor for a human¡­\" She spread out her arms and embraced Zhou Wen like a mother. At the same time, she was about to plant her pale-blue lips on his forehead.


    Zhou Wen continued walking towards the siren in a daze, as though he was unaware of everything. All that was left in his eyes was the reflection of the siren''s strange eyes.


    The siren''s hands were already on Zhou Wen''s shoulders and her lips were about to be planted on Zhou Wen''s forehead when his originally dull eyes turned clear and limpid. His left hand which was wrapped in a lotus bracer rose up as his palm brought a Astral Slash Blade beam, slicing it straight at the siren''s abdomen.


    With the augmentation of the lotus bracer, the Astral Slash Blade beam that combined 11 points of Primordial Energy violently struck the belly of the siren, leaving a mark on it. This act stunned the beautiful face of the siren.


    Perhaps it was overconfidence or that she didn''t expect Zhou Wen to remain clear-headed under her gaze, the siren failed to react completely as she looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate at all. His entire body rose up in an instant. He rained down his fists and knees like a thunderstorm, attacking the vital spots of the siren.


    The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant were also summoned by Zhou Wen. They surrounded the siren on both sides, trying hard to severely injure the siren in the shortest time possible so that she wouldn''t be capable of counterattacking.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen watched as the arm of the siren moved. Then, he and his two Companion Beasts retreated at the same time, slamming into the seawater waterfall before bouncing back and falling onto the ground.


    The siren stared coldly at Zhou Wen, her fingers touching the wound on her abdomen. The wound had strangely healed, not leaving any scars behind.


    \"Humans are despicable. They do not heed well-meaning advice, forcing me to take action myself.\" The siren stared coldly at Zhou Wen and swung its tail towards him.


    Bam!


    The moment the siren finished speaking, a hoof fell from above, knocking her down along with the clamshell. This caused the seawater waterfall, enclosing the living room to collapse, restoring the living room to its original appearance.


    Zhou Wen saw that the siren was slumped on the floor and could not stand up no matter how hard she struggled. On her back, the white antelope was standing leisurely with its hooves stepping on her. It was as if it wasn''t stepping on a terrifying dimensional creature, but a block of wood.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say another word as he immediately changed the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant into a bracer and sliced at the siren''s neck.


    The siren was most likely an Epic creature. No matter what dropped from killing her, it would fetch a good price. This was undoubtedly very tempting for the broke Zhou Wen.


    Of course, the main reason was to resolve any possible problems. He couldn''t allow such a dangerous dimensional creature to continue living. This was too dangerous for Zhou Wen and his classmates.


    \"Don''t kill me! As long as you''re willing to let me go, I can share a huge secret with you,\" the siren hurriedly shouted.


    However, Zhou Wen ignored her and slit her neck with the edge of the lotus bracer. However, it only left a faint red mark on her fair neck. All he managed was a slight laceration.


    Zhou Wen was a little shocked. The lotus bracer was already considered a top-notch weapon amongst Legendaries, but it could only tear open a tiny part of her skin. It was probably that this siren was a top existence among Epic creatures.


    \"Brother Antelope, why don''t you help me get rid of her?\" Zhou Wen said as he looked at the antelope on the siren''s back.


    Unless Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy was restored, allowing him to use Astral Slash Blade matched with his lotus bracer, it wouldn''t be easy for him to kill this siren.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, the siren hurriedly exclaimed, \"I really have a huge secret to share with you. I''ve obtained the First Order of Chaos from the primordial god, Chaos. If you are willing to let me go, I can share it with you.\"


    \"What First Order of Chaos?\" Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he looked at the siren on the ground and asked.


    Zhou Wen had heard of the name Chaos before. It was a primordial god in Greek mythology. It was the first god to be born in Greek mythology.


    It was just that this god was not well-known in the world, but his descendants were famous, ones that many knew.


    For example, the third generation god-king from Chaos''s family line, Zeus of Olympus; Sea King, Poseidon; the Goddess of Wisdom, Athena; and Sun God, Apollo, were descendants of this god.


    Some people said that Chaos was one of the celestial gods of Time, Space, and Space-time. Others said that Chaos was chaos itself. In any case, the status of this god in Greek mythology was akin to the Chinese myth of Pangu''s splitting of the primordial egg.


    When the siren mentioned this name, Zhou Wen was rather surprised.


    Zhou Wen had heard that in some of the dimensional zones in the West District, many dimensional zones related to Zeus and the other gods were found. There were even second-generation Titans found in some dimensional zones. However, he had never heard any news about Chaos.


    \"The First Order of Chaos is the source of Lord Chaos''s power. To you humans, that is Lord Chao''s Primordial Energy Art,\" the siren hurriedly said.

 124 Crystal Ball

    \"Did you bring out the First Order of Chaos? Is it the original version?\" Zhou Wen didn''t really believe that the siren could obtain the original version of Chaos''s Primordial Energy Art.


    Although to Zhou Wen, the siren was very powerful, she was definitely not a top-notch expert among dimensional creatures. There were too many dimensional creatures that could kill her.


    For something as valuable as Chaos''s Primordial Energy Art, it was possible if the siren had taken out a copy, but the original copy was probably something not even Mythical experts would move around casually, let alone a mere siren.


    However, a copy was useless to Zhou Wen. The Lost Immortal Sutra needed the original version of the Primordial Energy Art to do its magic.


    The siren said, \"Of course it''s the original version. Don''t look down on me. Although I''m not strong, Lord Chaos''s blood runs through my veins¡­ there''s that tiny bit¡­ After getting the First Order of Chaos, I escaped to the East.\"


    \"Then where is the First Order of Chaos? Show it to me now. If it''s really useful, I can spare your life,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"I can show you the First Order of Chaos, but you have to swear that you will return it to me after you see it and that you will let me leave safely.\" As the siren spoke, it glanced sideways at the antelope.


    The antelope seemed to have some interest in the First Order of Chaos that the Sea Demons mentioned. It bleated out twice as if urging the siren to take it out quickly.


    \"You don''t have the right to bargain. Show me the item. If it''s real, I can spare your life,\" Zhou Wen said coldly.


    \"Alright.\" The siren hesitated for a while before clenching its teeth. It reached into the clamshell and pulled it out and handed it to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked over and saw that the siren was holding a crystal ball, but it was different from an ordinary crystal ball. Within it were constantly changing light and shadows.


    Night, day, fire, lightning, wind, clouds, sun, moon, and stars kept flashing and disappearing. As they flashed, Zhou Wen could see the characters changing into words, vanishing when the light and darkness crossed each other.


    However, he didn''t know what those words meant. They were different from the language he had learned in the League¡ªprobably an ancient language that predated the League.


    Although he couldn''t read it, Zhou Wen was shocked to discover that his gaze was still attracted to the words in the crystal ball. He couldn''t even look away as his body and mind changed along with the changes in the crystal ball.


    It felt as if he had entered the world within the crystal ball, feeling his body assaulted by all kinds of things, burned by flames, and struck by lightning. He shivered in the darkness and sank into the sea.


    It wasn''t only Zhou Wen. Even the antelope which was also staring fixedly at the crystal ball seemed to suffer from dementia.


    Upon seeing this, the siren was delighted as a sinister smile appeared on her face. How can fools like you be able to withstand Lord Chaos''s divine powers? Without the bloodline of Lord Chaos, reading the First Order of Chaos in the chaos space is simply courting death.


    The siren struggled to get up, hoping to kill Zhou Wen and the antelope who were entranced by the text in the crystal ball.


    However, with the antelope''s body on her, it was like a mountain. Despite exerting all her strength, there was no way to break free.


    Dammit, how is this antelope so strong? Although I was injured before I escaped, I shouldn''t be so weak that I can be suppressed by an Epic creature¡­ The siren wasn''t anxious despite not being able to break free.


    The siren knew very clearly that as long as they spent more time looking at the First Order of Chaos, they would be assimilated very quickly, and would be thrown uncontrollably into the chaos space. All she needed to do was wait patiently for the time to pass.


    After waiting for a moment, a look of doubtful shock flashed in the siren''s eyes. Zhou Wen was clearly a Mortal stage student, which gave him an upper limit of less than a minute before he should be pulled into the chaos space and be trapped inside.


    However, two to three minutes had already passed, and Zhou Wen was still standing there looking at the chaos space. He had no intention of walking forward.


    This human is really strange. Thinking back to how her eyes had failed to entrance him, she couldn''t help but examine him.


    For a Mortal stage to perform as such, she believed that he might have some treasure on him. Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain why he was able to resist her eyes and be able to look at the First Order of Chaos for so long.


    As for that antelope, she had already determined that it was an extremely powerful existence. It was not surprising that it could persist for so long.


    Thus, an extremely bizarre scene happened in the two-story living room of Zhou Wen''s building. An antelope was standing on a mermaid, while a human and antelope were staring intently at the crystal ball held by the mermaid.


    Time ticked by. Half an hour later, the siren was certain that Zhou Wen must have an extremely powerful treasure when he still didn''t walk towards the crystal ball.


    God really watches over me. Not only was I lucky to get the First Order of Chaos, but I actually have a powerful treasure to deliver itself to me. The siren was delighted and wished to immediately free herself from the antelope and search Zhou Wen''s body for the treasure.


    Suddenly, the antelope on her back moved and slowly walked towards the crystal ball.


    \"They''re finally moving.\" The siren was overjoyed. She threw the crystal ball into the air, causing it to float far away from her, making the antelope slowly walk towards it, getting off her in the process and giving her freedom.


    She had not thrown the crystal ball at the antelope earlier because she was afraid that with it pressing down on her body, it would also pull her into the crystal ball.


    The siren didn''t take back the crystal ball immediately to deal with the antelope but instead headed straight for Zhou Wen.


    Even a powerful creature like the antelope was attracted by the words in the First Order of Chaos, walking towards it involuntarily; yet, Zhou Wen managed to be unfazed by it, affirming her belief that he had a powerful treasure on him¡ªone not weaker than the chaos space.


    The siren wriggled her tail impatiently and swam towards Zhou Wen, but at that moment, Zhou Wen, who was standing there like a wooden pole, suddenly moved.


    The silver wings behind him spread out like a silver bolt of lightning and flew up into the air, lunging in the direction of the crystal ball where the chaos space was.


    The first reaction of the siren was that Zhou Wen finally couldn''t withstand the power of the First Order of Chaos and was being attracted over to it.


    However, she immediately dismissed such a thought. How could people who were attracted by the First Order of Chaos use Primordial Energy Skills and Companion Beasts?


    Zhou Wen was very close to the crystal ball to begin with. Therefore, with the siren''s hesitation, he managed to grab onto it with one hand.


    \"You have a death wish!\" The siren didn''t panic as she looked at Zhou Wen and sneered.


    Without a Chaos bloodline, touching the chaos space would cause one to be sucked into it and be trapped inside forever.

 125 Chaos Space

    Even the siren with some of the Chaos''s bloodline couldn''t easily touch the chaos space at first. Only after cultivating some of the First Order of Chaos could she use her hands to touch it before fleeing to the East.


    However, at the moment Zhou Wen grabbed the crystal ball, the expression of the siren changed.


    When he held it, it actually retracted its brilliance and everything within it vanished. The text of the First Order of Chaos naturally vanished as well.


    Seeing Zhou Wen play with the chaos space that had lost all its glow in his hands, the siren was dumbfounded.


    \"Impossible¡­ How is this possible¡­ You are an Eastern creature¡­ You can''t possibly have the blood of Lord Chaos¡­\" The siren spoke incoherently, unable to accept the fact that Zhou Wen had control over the chaos space.


    \"Meh!\" With the crystal ball controlled by Zhou Wen, the antelope immediately sobered up. It flew into a rage as it glared at the siren and let out an angry bleat.


    The siren shuddered and turned to flee. Unfortunately, it was too late.


    The third eye on the antelope''s forehead opened and a blinding white light shot out and hit the siren. The latter didn''t even let out a cry before it was sucked into the vertical eye of the antelope.


    The antelope closed its vertical eye and its mood changed for the better. It had been too careless and thought that nothing would happen with its strength. Yet, it fell for the siren''s scheme and almost got sucked into the chaos space.


    If it wasn''t for Zhou Wen, it would really have perished.


    Zhou Wen didn''t notice the expression on the antelope''s face as he fiddled with the crystal ball in his hand.


    It wasn''t very big¡ªabout the size as a billiard ball. In the beginning, Zhou Wen had indeed been affected by the First Order of Chaos.


    Fortunately, after being influenced, the Lost Immortal Sutra slowly stopped its circulation and when it restarted, it had turned into a brand new Primordial Energy Art circulation method¡ªnaturally the First Order of Chaos.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had already regained his clarity of mind. However, he wasn''t a match for the siren and with the crystal ball in her hands, there was no way he could snatch it away from her, much less save the antelope.


    Without rescuing the antelope, he still wasn''t the siren''s match when she regained her freedom, so he could only wait for a chance.


    After the siren threw out the crystal ball, Zhou Wen knew that his opportunity had arrived. He snatched the crystal ball and controlled it with the power of the First Order of Chaos Primordial Energy Art, allowing the antelope to regain its lucidity.


    This crystal ball was indeed very strange. When Zhou Wen used the power of the First Order of Chaos to control it, he found that its interior was a huge space that could contain infinity.


    If he hadn''t cultivated the First Order of Chaos, this crystal ball would only allow entry just like a huge prison cell that didn''t allow escape.


    However, after cultivating the First Order of Chaos, he could control it freely. It wasn''t difficult for him to extract something from the chaos space.


    Isn''t this equivalent to a huge storage space? With a thought, Zhou Wen injected the power of the First Order of Chaos into the crystal ball, causing it to shrink according to his will and it soon became the size of a bean. However, it didn''t shrink any further.


    Zhou Wen was naturally in a good mood after receiving such a magical crystal ball. However, although the Lost Immortal Sutra had helped him master the First Order of Chaos, it didn''t increase any of his attributes. His Strength, Constitution, and Primordial Energy were still at 11 while his Speed remained at 10.


    He thought for a moment before carefully taking in the power of the First Order of Chaos and guessed a probable reason.


    From what Zhou Wen sensed, the First Order of Chaos obviously had an effect on strengthening his Primordial Energy. However, his Primordial Energy attribute had already been enhanced by the Wordless Monument, so when cultivating a relatively similar First Order of Chaos, it wasn''t of much use. He just had an additional Primordial Energy Art to call his own.


    If my theory is correct, then I have to cultivate another Primordial Energy skill that improves Speed, to raise my Speed attribute to 11 points. Zhou Wen felt a slight headache.


    It was already very difficult to find a Primordial Energy Art, and it had to be one that focused on increasing Speed. The difficulty had increased quite significantly.


    The information I found in the library did mention lands of mystery similar to Small Buddha Temple and Mount Laojun, but how can I confirm that the Primordial Energy Arts in that particular land of mystery will increase Speed? Zhou Wen was a little vexed.


    Those lands of mystery weren''t in Luoyang to begin with, and now there was such a limitation. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss where to find the Primordial Energy Arts.


    I''ll wait until after the comprehensive test. Zhou Wen couldn''t leave the college now. So even if he had a target in mind, he wasn''t able to go.


    The antelope sized up Zhou Wen and finally slumped back on the sofa, looking rather listless.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and closed the door. He then took out the crystal ball that was about the size of a soybean and attempted to put things like teacups inside before retrieving them.


    It went very smoothly. Be it small items like teacups and spectacle boxes or bigger items like blankets or chairs, they could easily be put inside and retrieved. It was like a particular robot cat''s pocket.


    However, after Zhou Wen mastered the complete First Order of Chaos, the mysterious light, shadows, and text in the crystal ball didn''t appear again. It lost the ability to attract other creatures to enter by themselves.


    When Zhou Wen tried putting the mysterious phone into the crystal ball, he realized that it couldn''t fit.


    After studying it for a while, Zhou Wen put away the crystal ball and went online to search for items like jewelry or accessories.


    In the past, all sorts of gemstones, jade, and diamonds were expensive. But now, the prices of those items were very cheap, and ordinary people could buy them.


    Especially the price of diamonds, they weren''t much more expensive than natural crystals now.


    Firstly, it was because diamonds weren''t worth much with artificial diamonds capable of replacing the demand for natural diamonds. Furthermore, in this era, people were more willing to spend money on Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals. This caused the price of diamonds to naturally drop drastically.


    Now, an increasing number of high-level jewelry was made with dimensional crystals. Anyone who had a bit of money wouldn''t wear ordinary diamonds.


    Zhou Wen was trying to hide the crystal ball inside an accessory. It was easy for others to suspect a single crystal, but it was difficult to feel any problems when the crystal was surrounded by several inlaid crystals similar to it. After all, the chaos space crystal ball usually looked no different from ordinary crystals.


    After some choosing, Zhou Wen chose a silver bracelet made of natural crystals and diamonds.

 126 Bracele

    As Zhou Wen had deliberately chosen a seller in the same city, the silver bracelet he had bought over the Internet was delivered the next afternoon. When he went to the school gates to get the delivery, he saw Ah Sheng driving up.


    \"Young Master Wen, Madam has ordered some dishes at a restaurant and wishes you to have a meal with her.\" Ah Sheng was so polite that it was embarrassing to reject him.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Since he was going to the restaurant and not the An family''s residence, there was no harm in him going.


    The bracelet didn''t take up much space, so Zhou Wen didn''t return to the dormitory first and got into Ah Sheng''s car.


    \"Young Master Wen, rest for a while. It''ll take about half an hour before we reach the place,\" Ah Sheng started the car and said to Zhou Wen as he drove.


    \"Aren''t you An Tianzuo''s adjutant? Why do you always work for Sister Lan?\" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    Ah Sheng smiled and said, \"I''m the Overseer''s adjutant. Other than my usual duties, I''m also in charge of taking care of the Overseer''s life as well as the safety of the An family. You can think of me as half a butler of the An family.\"


    Zhou Wen nodded and didn''t say anything more. As half an hour was just too long, he thought for a moment and opened the accessory box and took out the silver bracelet.


    The bracelet looked beautiful and exquisite. On it was quite a number of diamonds and crystals. Zhou Wen had only bought it after looking at the dimensions, so the size of the crystals was basically the same as the chaos space crystal ball.


    Zhou Wen carefully removed one of the crystals and then embedded the chaos space crystal ball. It looked perfect, and he couldn''t see any flaws.


    With the diamonds forming a contrast, the crystal ball wasn''t eye-catching. Most people wouldn''t purposely take note of the crystals on it.


    After trying it on his wrist, he found a problem. The chaos space crystal was indeed inconspicuous, but wearing this bracelet on a man''s wrist seemed a little too conspicuous.


    The silver is a little too shiny and it''s not hard enough. It breaks easily so I think I''ll buy another bracelet made of carbide later, Zhou Wen thought to himself and took the bracelet off and put it in the box.


    The box was a little too big to permit him to put it in his pocket, so Zhou Wen could only hold it in his hand.


    When he arrived at the restaurant, he realized that An Jing was also there.


    \"Little Wen, come over quickly. The dishes have already been ordered. We''re just waiting for you.\" Ouyang Lan pulled Zhou Wen to sit beside her naturally.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t have a good impression of An Jing, he didn''t care too much about it. Since he was already here, he might as well sit down and accompany Ouyang Lan and leave after the meal.


    An Jing sat on the other side of Ouyang Lan. She glanced at Zhou Wen but didn''t say a word. She had an arrogant and cold expression.


    Ah Sheng had already ordered the staff to serve the dishes. Before they were served, Ouyang Lan saw the box in Zhou Wen''s hand and asked, \"Little Wen, what are you carrying?\"


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, It''s not a bad idea to let Ouyang Lan take a look too. If she doesn''t notice anything, it would be even harder for others to notice anything amiss.


    \"I bought a bracelet. Sister Lan, take a look.\" Zhou Wen handed the box over to Ouyang Lan.


    Ouyang Lan took the box and opened it to take a look. It was a silver bracelet worn by a lady. Although it was not an expensive item, its design was quite unique.


    \"Little Wen, I didn''t expect you to be so thoughtful. Is this a birthday present for Little Jing? I didn''t plan on telling you that it''s her birthday today and just wanted to invite you to a meal. I never expected you to get her a gift.\" Ouyang Lan really imagined that Zhou Wen had bought a present.


    If not, why would a man like him bring a female bracelet here?


    Zhou Wen was stunned when he heard that. He didn''t know that he had bought a female bracelet since he only bought it because the dimensions for embedding the chaos space crystal ball was perfect.


    If Ouyang Lan hadn''t told him, he wouldn''t have known that this was a female bracelet.


    An Jing also thought that Zhou Wen had really bought this bracelet for her. She felt a little ashamed in her heart. Zhou Wen is quite a nice person. I went a little overboard in the past. Should I find a chance to apologize?


    Just as An Jing was thinking about this, she suddenly heard Zhou Wen say, \"Sis Lan, I didn''t know it was An Jing''s birthday today. This isn''t a gift for her.\"


    An Jing''s expression froze. For a moment, she had mixed, conflicted feelings.


    Ouyang Lan hurriedly changed the topic and said, \"You bought such a pretty bracelet. Is there a girl you like?\"


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, \"I bought the wrong item. I bought a male bracelet myself and ended up buying a female one. I''ll have to return it later.\"


    This little rascal, he''s like an impervious rock. Zhou Lingfeng is so good at reading people, so how did he give birth to such a brat? Ouyang Lan felt a little despondent hearing Zhou Wen''s words. Since you bought the wrong item and have no intention of giving it to someone else, can''t you just give it to An Jing? It''s not like a bracelet costs much.


    How could Ouyang Lan know that there was a chaos space crystal ball embedded in the bracelet? How could Zhou Wen give it to An Jing?


    This meal was very awkward. Ouyang Lan didn''t have a solution either. After quickly finishing the meal, she got Ah Sheng to take Zhou Wen back first.


    After Zhou Wen returned to the dormitory, he immediately ordered another bracelet online. This time, Zhou Wen was more careful and confirmed that it was a male bracelet. He even specially chose a carbide bracelet.


    After Zhou Wen received the new bracelet, he embedded the chaos space crystal ball into it and found it very suitable. Even if he looked closely, it was difficult to distinguish the chaos space crystal bead from the diamonds and natural crystals.


    Moreover, most people wouldn''t be able to see him wearing a bracelet with his sleeves usually covering it.


    After much effort, Zhou Wen finally managed to settle the bracelet. The date for the comprehensive test was already nearing.


    He had not seen Li Xuan for days, perhaps a result of him working hard to improve his strength. He had the Li family backing him, so he had endless numbers of dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs. Raising his stats and contracting powerful Legendary Companion Beasts wasn''t a difficult task. It was expected that his strength would soar extremely quickly.


    Only on the day of the comprehensive test did Zhou Wen realize how many students Sunset College had. The dense horde of people probably numbered more than ten thousand.


    There were four special zones on the field. In one area, there were about a hundred pots with scorching hot oil. Blue smoke emitted from them as though it would ignite at any moment.


    In another zone, there was a hundred-meter-long bridge made with thirty-centimeter-wide calligraphic paper. It was probably the testing venue for crossing the paper bridge.


    The other two testing venues were quite far from Zhou Wen, he could only see a few stone tripod cauldrons and nothing else.


    \"Old Zhou, how were your preparations? Are you confident of entering the top ten?\" Li Xuan came to Zhou Wen''s side and threw his arm around his shoulder.


    Upon hearing Li Xuan''s words, one of the group of female seniors beside them said with a laugh, \"Juniors, you guys are really amusing. You want to get into the top ten as freshmen? Nice dreams and aspirations. Here''s me wishing you all the best as a senior.\"

 127 Comprehensive Tes

    \"Seniors, since you think so highly of us, why don''t we be friends? We should work on our communication for pure friendship at school¡­\" Li Xuan used this opportunity to chat with the seniors as he walked over.


    Just as they were happily chatting and Li Xuan was about to take a step further, they suddenly heard a commotion from the students. It was as though many female seniors were talking about a particular Brother Wei[1].


    \"Ah! Brother Wei¡­ Brother Wei¡­\" The female seniors who had been conversing with Li Xuan suddenly ignored him and began waving their hands in a different direction.


    \"F*ck, when did Sunset College become so liberal?\" Li Xuan was puzzled as he turned his head to look in the direction where the female seniors were waving their hands. He saw a boy walking towards the stage to speak on behalf of the students.


    When he saw the boy''s appearance, Li Xuan said with a tinge of jealousy, \"So what if you''re president of the student council? You''re only two years ahead of us. I''ll be running for student council president later. I''ll also be president.\"


    \"Is he very strong?\" Zhou Wen asked.


    \"Not bad I guess. The student council president of Sunset College usually has the strength to squeeze into the school''s top three. Before we arrived, this Wei Ge was considered the second strongest in the college. His Life Providence was about being all-rounded in both academics and martial arts. He is extremely fast at learning and mastering things when others need to spend a lot of time practicing. From martial arts and weapons to theoretical knowledge, he has never gotten second place after entering Sunset College.\"


    \"Since he has never gotten second, why do you call him the second strongest?\" Zhou Wen asked, perplexed.


    Li Xuan chuckled and said, \"He hasn''t been second before, but he has been beaten up badly by someone. However, that person was the weirdo, Huang Ji. Now, the situation is different. The two of us are here in Sunset College, so he can only be fourth in the future.\"


    After Wei Ge delivered his speech, he did a demonstration for all the students in the four tests, mainly to teach the freshmen how the test was to be held.


    In the coin fishing in oil pots, there were a total of 100 pots with boiling oil inside. However, the 100 pots were split into ten groups. Each group had 10 oil pots, and the further back the oil pots were, the higher the temperature.


    Normally, if one could pull out a coin from the pot with the lowest temperature, it would be considered a pass.


    \"This test is very dangerous. Before choosing it, you must consider it carefully. Even if you have decided to participate in it, please start with the oil pot with the lowest temperature,\" said Wei Ge as he summoned a Companion Beast¡ªa black-furred gorilla.


    \"This is a Blackiron Gorilla at the Mortal stage. Its Constitution is at about 9 points, so it''s considered top-notch among the Mortal stage.\" With that said, Wei Ge ordered the Blackiron Gorilla to fish out the coin from the first oil pot. However, just as its claws reached into the pot, it screamed.


    The Blackiron Gorilla screamed as it retracted its claw, but the fur on it had already blistered. It looked very scary, and there was even a faint meat fragrance.


    Everyone''s heart skipped a beat when they saw this. Those students who were originally hoping to try their luck immediately gave up on the idea of choosing this test.


    \"I believe everyone has seen it. You must be careful when choosing this option. Next, I will demonstrate it for everyone.\" Wei Ge smiled as he rolled up his sleeve. A red tattoo appeared on his smooth arm¡ªa red-scaled snake.


    Following Wei Ge''s summoning, the red-scaled snake tattoo on his arm seemed to come alive. It transformed into a red-scaled bracer that wrapped his entire arm and palm. Then, Wei Ge extended his hand into the oil pot and took out a coin as if nothing had happened.


    Following that, Wei Ge demonstrated the remaining three options, but he only did it for the lowest difficulty, mainly to let the freshmen know how the options were tested.


    Out of the four options, only crossing the paper bridge did not have any ranking. All the paper bridges were 100 meters long, and the results were determined by the time it took for one to cross. Tearing the calligraphic paper meant zero points.


    Besides, one was not allowed to use flying Companion Beasts when crossing the paper bridge and had to walk on paper. Therefore, this was a huge obstacle for many students.


    After Wei Ge''s demonstration, the students started signing up for the options they were participating in. Each of them had to declare at least two, and of course, they could select all four.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan declared that they were taking all four options as they wanted to enter the top ten. Therefore, not only did they need to complete the four options, but they also had to obtain good results.


    These four options didn''t seem easy to Zhou Wen. It wasn''t difficult to pass, but it wasn''t easy to obtain a high score.


    However, the first student who went up on stage chose to fish the coin from the oil pot. Furthermore, he walked straight to the hottest pot in the row of ten. He casually stood in front of the pot and rolled up his sleeve. He did not use a Companion Beast, but his arm had a metallic sheen. It was unknown what Primordial Energy Skill he used as he extended his hand into the pot and pulled out a coin.


    \"That guy''s name is Wu Jun. He also has a younger sister named Wu Nan. It''s very difficult to see the siblings in action. However, they have unfathomable strength,\" Li Xuan told Zhou Wen.


    Wu Jun''s performance gave many of the students who had been frightened earlier, hope. In the end, a freshman chose to fish the coin, believing that his Primordial Energy Skill could help him pass. However, just the lowest temperature pot scalded his hand. Luckily, there were doctors present to provide him emergency treatment.


    After Wei Ge''s demonstration, he watched from the side. When he saw Feng Qiuyan choose to cross the paper bridge and obtain excellent results, breaking the previous record, he came to Feng Qiuyan''s side with a smile.


    \"Feng Qiuyan, I''ve heard so much about you. Are you interested in joining the student council?\" Wei Ge asked with a smile.


    The students beside them looked at Feng Qiuyan with envy. Those who could join the student council were all the college''s top students. Normally, they would have to apply to join. Yet, the student council president, Wei Ge, personally invited him. To the typical student, it was a great honor.


    \"Not interested,\" Feng Qiuyan replied expressionlessly as he walked past Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge only smiled. Those who were capable all had some character. He could understand that, but at the same time, he firmly believed that it was only a matter of time before Feng Qiuyan joined the student council.


    He turned to look at Feng Qiuyan and realized that he was actually walking towards Li Xuan.


    Wei Ge naturally recognized Li Xuan, a famous scion from Luoyang City. He couldn''t help but be surprised that with Feng Qiuyan''s temper, he would actually have ties with Li Xuan. It was truly unbelievable.


    However, Wei Ge soon discovered that Feng Qiuyan was not looking for Li Xuan, but the boy standing beside him.


    [1] The name of Viagra in Chinese.

 128 The Rejected Wei Ge

    With a careful look, Wei Ge recognized Zhou Wen. As the president of the student council, he paid attention to the top freshmen.


    Wei Ge had already carefully studied Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s battle of the Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, as well as the video of him slaying the word-engraved Demonized General.


    Zhou Wen''s performance was indeed good, but it also exposed some problems. Therefore, Wei Ge had only placed Zhou Wen on a list of possible nominees as student council members. As for whether he would invite him to join in the future, it also depended on what Life Providence he obtained after he advanced to the Legendary stage.


    Li Xuan was talking to Zhou Wen when he saw Feng Qiuyan walking over. He found it odd, but ended up seeing Feng Qiuyan walk straight towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat when he saw Feng Qiuyan. Could it be that Feng Qiuyan found out that I was just being perfunctory with him and came to settle scores with me?


    \"Coach, when''s the next class?\" Feng Qiuyan asked Zhou Wen.


    \"Wait, coach? What''s happening?\" Li Xuan widened his eyes as he looked at Feng Qiuyan and Zhou Wen.


    Upon hearing Feng Qiuyan''s words, Zhou Wen''s hanging heart eased. He said to Feng Qiuyan, \"First, master what I said previously. We''ll talk about the rest later.\"


    \"Alright.\" Feng Qiuyan agreed and sat down beside him.


    \"Old Zhou, what''s going on?\" Li Xuan felt like a cat was clawing at his curiosity. He really couldn''t understand why Feng Qiuyan was acquainted with Zhou Wen and addressed him as coach.


    \"It''s nothing. It''s just that Feng Qiuyan invited me to be his personal coach and tailor a training plan for him,\" Zhou Wen said casually.


    After Li Xuan heard this, the way he looked at Zhou Wen became even odder. With Feng Qiuyan by his side, it wasn''t appropriate for him to say anything. However, he thought to himself, What the hell. Feng Qiuyan can hire any coach. It''s not difficult even finding an Epic expert as a personal coach for him. Why would he find a student from the same school? Furthermore, Zhou Wen hasn''t even advanced to the Legendary stage. Is Feng Qiuyan bonkers to hire him as a coach?


    Li Xuan sat there uneasily, eager to know what had happened between Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan; however, it wasn''t the best place to ask him.


    When Wei Ge saw Feng Qiuyan sitting beside Zhou Wen, he was somewhat surprised, but he didn''t think too much about it.


    Seeing that Wang Lu had finally appeared on the field and had just registered for the tests she was taking, Wei Ge hurriedly went up to her and smiled like a gentleman. \"Wang Lu, I''m the student council president, Wei Ge. I wish to invite you to join the student council¡­\"


    \"Sorry, I don''t plan on joining any club.\" Wang Lu politely rejected Wei Ge before walking towards Zhou Wen as well.


    Wei Ge was not surprised that Wang Lu had rejected him, because her family background was obvious. Others might think highly of the student council''s connections and influence, but Wang Lu had no need for it.


    However, when Wei Ge saw that Wang Lu had actually walked over to Zhou Wen and exchanged a few words with him before sitting down beside him, he couldn''t help but be alarmed.


    When Wei Ge saw An Jing, he didn''t mention the invitation to her. He just went up to greet her to acquaint himself with her.


    Sunset College was originally under the An family, so if she were to join the student council, she would definitely become president. When that happened, he would have to step down to the rank of vice president, so Wei Ge naturally wouldn''t do such a stupid thing.


    Fortunately, after all this time, An Jing hadn''t shown any intention of joining the student council. This relaxed Wei Ge a lot more.


    An Jing nodded politely as a response to Wei Ge before walking towards Zhou Wen again.


    What the hell is wrong with that punk? He''s only been in Sunset College for a month, yet he already has such connections? Wei Ge was secretly alarmed as he couldn''t help but think more highly of Zhou Wen.


    An Jing came in front of Zhou Wen. She looked at him and said, \"If you can get into the top 100 at the comprehensive test, I''ll count you as winning the bet.\"


    With that, she walked away.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback before recalling the three-month declaration An Jing had made with him. However, he hadn''t taken it to heart. So if she hadn''t mentioned it at that moment, he would have already forgotten it.


    \"What bet?\" Li Xuan probed, his eagerness for gossip rearing its head.


    \"Nothing.\" Zhou Wen shook his head without saying a word.


    Wei Ge sized up Zhou Wen from a distance, wondering how he could pull him onto the student council. Since Zhou Wen had such connections, it would be of great help to the student council''s future development if he could get him on the student council.


    Wei Ge could also use Zhou Wen''s connections, perhaps to break into Wang Lu''s and An Jing''s circle.


    As he was thinking, he saw Huang Ji walking over from the front. Wei Ge immediately changed directions, unwilling to meet Huang Ji.


    In this school, the person he hated the most and also didn''t dare provoke the most was Huang Ji. In the past, he had wanted to rope Huang Ji onto the student council but had been rejected. Later, he used some tricks, only to realize that Huang Ji was much more powerful than he had imagined. This ended up in him being beaten up.


    The school knew that Huang Ji had beaten him up, but they did not know why.


    Ever since that time, Wei Ge would circle around Huang Ji when he saw him. He had stopped thinking of roping Huang Ji onto the student council again. Moreover, he did not think that anyone had such a pull with Huang Ji.


    After Wei Ge circled around Huang Ji and looked back, he saw Zhou Wen stand up and wave at Huang Ji, as though he was beckoning for him to head over.


    By then, Huang Ji had already taken a seat. With Wei Ge''s understanding of him, he believed that Huang Ji definitely wouldn''t bother with Zhou Wen.


    However, to his surprise, Huang Ji actually got up and walked over after hearing Zhou Wen calling out to him. When he arrived beside Zhou Wen, he began chatting very warmly with him.


    Wei Ge was dumbfounded. What''s going on? That weirdo Huang Ji can actually chat with someone for so long?


    He had no idea that the reason Huang Ji was chatting with Zhou Wen for so long was that Zhou Wen was talking about his game and investment. That was why Huang Ji was so interested.


    This first-year freshman, Zhou Wen, needs serious observation. Wei Ge felt that it was necessary to reassess Zhou Wen again. If possible, he had to rope him onto the student council and be under his service.


    Not long after, Wei Ge saw Hui Haifeng and Nana walk over to Zhou Wen''s side with a few high-ranking students. They seemed to be having a great chat with Zhou Wen and company, and his heart skipped a beat.


    By right, since he was the student council president, there shouldn''t be anyone in Sunset College who could compete with him. However, Hui Haifeng was an exception.


    If Wei Ge was a classic model student at Sunset College, Hui Haifeng was a typical bad role model. Most of the students around him were people who didn''t abide by the rules.

 129 Perfect Score

    Sunset College is indeed one of the best schools in the East District. There are just too many formidable people around. Li Xuan couldn''t help but feel nervous when he saw someone raise the heaviest stone tripod cauldron.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that based on the present situation, the two of them had to obtain perfect scores on at least two tests before they could enter the top ten.


    Hui Haifeng and Feng Qiuyan had already passed the test, each scoring full marks on three and nine points on the fourth. Hui Haifeng was one point short of crossing the paper bridge and Feng Qiuyan was one point short in the coin fishing test.


    As Li Xuan expected, Wang Lu had indeed advanced to the Legendary stage. Like An Jing, she had obtained 4 perfect scores very easily.


    Huang Ji hadn''t taken the test, but considering how he had beaten up Wei Ge previously, Zhou Wen knew that it was highly likely that Huang Ji would receive four perfect scores as well.


    There were already five people in the top ten. In addition, there were Wu Jun and Wu Nan who had outstanding performances, leaving three spots left.


    \"That''s not right. There are only two slots left. That Wei Ge will definitely score four perfect scores,\" warned Li Xuan.


    \"In that case, we need to obtain four perfect scores to safely enter the top ten,\" Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before saying and basically giving up.


    After all, he had yet to advance to the Legendary stage. He could only rely on his Companion Beasts, so it was very difficult for him to score high.


    Hui Haifeng, Wang Lu, and company looked at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan with smiles. They had already received their results, so they were all waiting to see the duo''s performance.


    \"We have to give it a try no matter what,\" Li Xuan said through clenched teeth. The situation was worse than he had expected.


    When the staff called out Zhou Wen''s name, he had no choice but to head to the venue with oil pots to fish out a coin. Just as he was about to register with the staff and head on up, he was stopped by someone.


    \"Zhou Wen, mind if we have a chat?\" Wei Ge said with a smile.


    \"How may I help you?\" Zhou Wen stopped and asked Wei Ge.


    \"Let the other students take the test first. Let''s have a chat at the side.\" Wei Ge led Zhou Wen to a quiet spot.


    \"Feel free to speak your mind,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Zhou Wen, you haven''t advanced to the Legendary stage yet, right? Are you confident of getting into the top ten?\" Wei Ge said when he saw Zhou Wen looking at him suspiciously. \"Don''t misunderstand me. I don''t have any other intentions. I just feel that you are a talent. It''ll be a pity if you can''t get into the top ten because of your stage.\"


    \"What do you mean?\" Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge in puzzlement, unsure what he was getting at.


    \"The student council still has an empty spot for vice president. I admire you very much and wish to recommend you to be the vice president of the student council.\" Wei Ge paused for a moment before smiling and saying, \"As a member of the student council, I will naturally do my best to help you. Perhaps it will help you enter the top 10 in the comprehensive test.\"


    \"Thank you for your kind intentions. However, I''ve already made an agreement with Li Xuan to organize a club on my own,\" Zhou Wen said.


    Sunset College had a clear rule that students who had already joined a club could not become members of the student council. This was to prevent some clubs from using the power of the student council to seek personal gains.


    \"Is that so? That''s such a pity. The doors of the student council will always be open to you. If you ever change your mind, hit me up anytime.\" Wei Ge looked saddened but did not say anything else.


    Zhou Wen went to the staff to register before heading to the first test venue¡ªfishing a coin from a pot of boiling oil.


    \"President, will Zhou Wen become the second Hui Haifeng?\" a student council member standing beside Wei Ge whispered.


    Wei Ge didn''t answer him. He thought for a moment and asked, \"Were you in charge of setting up the venue?\"


    \"Yes, it was all set up by our student council. Didn''t you arrange for it?\" Zheng Tianlun was puzzled.


    \"I didn''t arrange for you to tamper with it, right?\" Wei Ge narrowed his eyes at Zheng Tianlun.


    Zheng Tianlun''s forehead immediately broke out into a cold sweat. He forced a smile and said, \"As expected, I can''t hide anything from you, President. I was just trying to help some friends out. I wasn''t trying anything else since all they wanted was a pass.\"


    Wei Ge said indifferently, \"You don''t have to worry. I didn''t say anything before, and I won''t say anything now, but I need your help with something.\"


    \"If there''s anything, President, please instruct us. We will definitely do it well,\" Zheng Tianlun hurriedly said.


    \"The difficulty of Zhou Wen''s options should be lowered. The lower the level, the better. It''s best if he gets 4 perfect scores,\" commented Wei Ge.


    Zheng Tianlun asked with a puzzled look, \"President, that Zhou Wen has already rejected you. Why are you still helping him?\"


    \"Rejection doesn''t make him an enemy. This person isn''t simple. There''s no harm in doing him a favor.\" Wei Ge smiled at Zhou Wen when he said that. He didn''t say certain things.


    If he were to become an enemy in the future, this matter might become a skeleton in the closet for Zhou Wen.


    Cheating was a serious matter at Sunset College. The punishment ranged from having a black mark on their records to being expelled.


    \"Alright, I''ll do it now. However, all we can do is adjust it within a certain range. If it''s at the Mortal stage, I''m afraid it will be difficult for him to get a perfect score,\" Zheng Tianlun said after some thought.


    \"Just do what needs to be done. Remember, I don''t know anything,\" Wei Ge said.


    \"I got it, President. Don''t worry, this has nothing to do with you at all,\" Zheng Tianlun said hurriedly.


    Zhou Wen came to the oil pot and was rather cautious. He began with the pot that had the lowest temperature.


    \"How many points do you think Zhou Wen will get?\" Li Xuan asked Hui Haifeng.


    Hui Haifeng shook his head and said, \"It''s hard to say. Normally, without advancing to the Legendary stage, he won''t have any Legendary Companion Beasts or Primordial Energy Skills. Fishing out a coin from the fifth pot is already quite impressive. However, Zhou Wen is somewhat abnormal. He might have some unexpected results.\"


    \"It''s about the same as I expected. With his abilities, I think he should be able to obtain around seven points. It will be a little difficult to get any higher.\" Li Xuan knew Zhou Wen quite well.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had roughly estimated getting such a score. Although the Lotus Flower Buddha Body could protect him, it was a Primordial Energy Skill that augmented his entire body. It was inferior to Primordial Energy Skills that specialized in augmenting one''s arm.


    Furthermore, his Constitution wasn''t comparable to those at the Legendary stage. The latter might not even be able to obtain ten points, so Zhou Wen estimated that he would get about seven or eight.


    However, when Zhou Wen tried the oil pots one by one, he realized that the temperature of the pot wasn''t as high as he imagined. He had managed to successfully take out a coin from the final pot and obtained full marks without any surprises.


    Although it was thanks to the lotus flower bracer, Zhou Wen still felt that something was amiss.


    What? Looks like the test isn''t that difficult. Li Xuan heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Wen easily obtain a perfect score.


    He was just after Zhou Wen in fishing out the coin. Seeing how Zhou Wen had easily scored a perfect ten, he didn''t bother wasting any more time as he directly headed straight for the tenth pot.


    To Li Xuan''s surprise, when he extended his hand into the pot, believing that his Immortal God of Combat Life Providence and Invincible Connate Divine Art could protect him, he let out a loud cry. He hurriedly pulled out his hand only to see his skin scalded red.

 130 Peerless Genius?

    Impossible! How can Zhou Wen fish out a coin, while I can''t? Li Xuan''s expression was one of disbelief.


    However, the results of this option were set in stone. Li Xuan couldn''t even fish out a single coin, putting his result at zero. Even if he received a perfect score on the other three options, there was no way he could squeeze into the top ten.


    Li Xuan felt a sense of regret. If he hadn''t been careless and bore with it, he could have taken out the coin. After all, with the Immortal God of War Life Providence, his hand wouldn''t be crippled.


    One false step will lead to everlasting grief! Li Xuan nearly cried.


    Zhou Wen successfully passed the subsequent tests. Other than crossing the paper bridge at a slower speed, he obtained a perfect score on the other three options.


    Instantly, the entire school broke out into a flurry of discussion. People were trying to find out more about Zhou Wen. A freshman at the Mortal stage had actually received three 10s and one 9. They were basically certain that he could enter the top ten. The results were really shocking.


    Although Wang Lu, An Jing, and Feng Qiuyan were freshmen, they had already advanced to the Legendary stage. It was understandable for them to have such results. It was shocking for Zhou Wen, who was at the Mortal stage, to obtain such results.


    Instantly, the reputation of the peerless genius Zhou Wen spread throughout the school, but there were also teachers who had their doubts.


    They had seen their fair share of geniuses, but none of them could achieve such results at the Mortal stage.


    The person who had the greatest suspicions was Wang Fei. She had wanted Zhou Wen to be stirred up by the comprehensive test and see if he could pull himself together, but to her surprise, Zhou Wen had managed to enter the top ten and even obtained the qualifications to enter Providence Palace. She thought this was unacceptable.


    However, all the tests were carried out in front of everyone. Zhou Wen wasn''t the first or the last one. People before and after him used the same equipment, so there wasn''t any evidence to explain it away with cheating.


    \"It doesn''t make sense¡­ This doesn''t make sense¡­ Why did I only get three 9s¡­ Yet, you obtained three 10s and a 9¡­\" Li Xuan really couldn''t accept this outcome.


    In fact, Li Xuan wasn''t the only one who couldn''t accept it. Zhou Wen also knew that his results were absolutely problematic. On the Strength test, Zhou Wen knew very well that he couldn''t lift the tenth stone tripod cauldron; yet, he had managed to raise it in the end. Furthermore, he felt that the tenth stone tripod wasn''t any heavier than the ninth. It was impossible that there wasn''t something fishy about it.


    How could Zhou Wen know that electromagnetic devices were installed at the bottom of the stone cauldron and the platform beneath them? Zheng Tianlun could control the power needed to lift the stone cauldron to a certain extent.


    The other tests had also been tampered with. However, they were done in an extremely unnoticeable fashion. Even the teachers did not know that the venue had already been tampered with during the setup.


    After the comprehensive test ended, the venue was dismantled, so no one would realize anything.


    All of this was something Zheng Tianlun had actually prepared for himself, hoping to use these methods to enter the top ten, but after he was exposed by Wei Ge, he didn''t dare continue with the tampering. This ended up benefiting Zhou Wen.


    This resulted in Zhou Wen inexplicably gaining the reputation of a genius. When Wei Ge specially came to congratulate him, he even winked at him, making Zhou Wen, who had originally suspected Wei Ge, confirm his theory.


    Indeed, it was Wei Ge who tampered with it. But why did he do that? Is it to rope in a freshman to join the student council? Zhou Wen was perplexed.


    Regardless, Zhou Wen was famous in Sunset College. Since its establishment over the years, no Mortal-stage student had such results.


    As expected of Coach. Feng Qiuyan had zero doubts, believing that it was all Zhou Wen''s true strength, so his determination at getting him to be his personal coach became firmer.


    Although there were people who had their doubts, they could only keep quiet because of a lack of evidence.


    Finally, the top ten spots were confirmed. Without any surprises, Zhou Wen successfully entered the top ten and obtained the qualification to enter Providence Palace.


    \"Old Zhou, I really can''t accept it. Other things aside, your Strength definitely isn''t as great as mine. It doesn''t make sense that you could lift the tenth stone tripod cauldron, but I couldn''t.\" Li Xuan''s face was filled with resentment.


    \"That''s life for you.\" What else could Zhou Wen say?


    Thankfully, Li Xuan wasn''t really bothered by the spot. All he did was gripe at Zhou Wen.


    \"I''m not bragging, but Zhou Wen is a genius amongst geniuses. Back when we were in Guide High School, everyone in our school knew that Zhou Wen was a genius. You know Ascetic Meditation, right? With how difficult it is to cultivate, the typical person won''t even gain a basic mastery in Primordial Energy without a couple of years, even if they have Primordial Energy Crystals. Yet, Zhou Wen forcibly mastered it without using a single Primordial Energy Crystal¡­\" Tian Xiangdong''s saliva splattered as he described anecdotes of Zhou Wen''s past during high school to other students.


    Without Zhou Wen even realizing it, he had become an iconic figure amongst Sunset College''s freshmen and was regarded as the most promising freshman in Sunset College.


    Although this wasn''t the outcome Zhou Wen wished to see, obtaining the qualifications to enter Providence Palace was a pleasant surprise for him.


    The second day after the comprehensive test ended was the day Zhou Wen and the other nine students entered Providence Palace. All of them received a token given by the school, and under the leadership of a counselor, they arrived at the legendary Providence Palace.


    Providence Palace was more magnificent than the Forbidden City. After becoming a dimensional zone, it gave people the feeling that it was magnificent and majestic. Although it was underground, it did not hinder Zhou Wen and the other students from marveling at the greatness of the ancient culture.


    Outside the entrance, Zhou Wen and company were waiting for it to open. Wang Lu looked around curiously. \"This place is about a thousand meters deep and is surrounded by rocks. Where did those legendary treasures come from?\"


    \"Other dimensions, obviously. Do you really think there are ghosts?\" Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    It wasn''t Wei Ge''s first time here, so he explained, \"Those treasures float out of the dimensional rifts before flying into Providence Palace. There is no lack of precious, rare treasures. However, the typical rare treasures are only collectibles that can only be exchanged for money. The truly precious ones are the Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals. Among them are things that the East District doesn''t have. If you are lucky enough, you might obtain a Companion Egg like an elf or an angel. They are pretty good selections.\"


    \"How does one know what type of Companion Eggs they are?\" asked Wang Lu curiously.


    \"I really do not know. Let''s not talk about identifying Companion Eggs, it''s hard to even choose one,\" said Wei Ge.


    \"Why?\" Wang Lu was a little confused.


    \"Because all the treasures are in boxes. All we can see are those boxes. We don''t even know what''s inside. Once the box is chosen, we won''t be able to change it. Therefore, we can only rely on luck to choose something,\" Hui Haifeng explained.

 131 Treasure Selection

    Zhou Wen had been searching for the tiny palm symbol the entire time, but he hadn''t found it. He had scrutinized the building that housed the city gates countless times, but he had failed to find it.


    However, other than the entrance, there were only city walls with no sign of the tiny palm symbol.


    Is the tiny palm symbol in Providence Palace? Zhou Wen looked at the tightly shut door of Providence Palace and thought, If it were really in Providence Palace, that would be troublesome. Every year, the Providence Palace only opens its gates once a day. However, the counselors have repeatedly exhorted us not to enter. In the past, there were experts at the Epic stage who had entered the Providence Palace on this day without being able to exit. Furthermore, I''m only at the Mortal stage.


    Just as he was feeling disappointed, he suddenly heard the melodious and solemn music from within Providence Palace.


    Accompanied by the music, it was as if the city gates, that had been sealed shut for centuries, were slowly opening. The city gate was filled with a brilliant purple glow, so blinding that it was hard for anyone to look straight at it.


    Before Zhou Wen and company could see what stood beyond the city gates, the underground space suddenly emitted a blinding light that resembled holy light from the spatial rifts.


    Then, they saw an inconceivable sight. They saw large and small boxes flying out from the spatial rifts.


    There were exquisite wooden boxes, boxes filled with antiquity, and green and snow-white jade boxes. There were also large metal chests.


    There were also gold and silver boxes with gems embedded in them. They looked dazzling and exquisite. The girls stared at them, almost entranced.


    There were many gift boxes. In just a moment, more than a thousand boxes flew towards the entrance in a line. Just like the legends said, there seemed to be invisible ghosts dragging them into the entrance.


    \"There are so many boxes. How should I choose one?\" Feng Qiuyan frowned.


    \"You can only rely on luck. There''s no other way.\" Hui Haifeng took a large stride towards a golden box with all sorts of gems embedded in it. He took out his token and lightly tapped the small golden box with the token. The small golden box stopped floating in midair having lost its support as it fell to the ground.


    Hui Haifeng immediately reached out and held onto the small golden box, then returned. He was very decisive.


    Zhou Wen looked at the gift boxes that numbered more than ten thousand. He really didn''t know which one to choose from. At that moment, Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen, \"My luck has always been good. If you need it, I can help you choose one.\"


    When Wang Lu said this, she was brimming with confidence. It was as if she would definitely be able to choose something good.


    \"Alright, I''ll leave it to you then.\" Zhou Wen was extremely disappointed having failed at finding the tiny palm symbol. Choosing a box held little meaning for him.


    If he couldn''t download the Providence Palace dungeon, the probability of choosing a gift box with a Companion Egg in it was just too low.


    To be able to choose a gift box with a high-level Companion Egg was even more difficult.


    Zhou Wen never had luck with gambling, so it didn''t matter whether he chose it or not. He couldn''t be bothered to waste his time and energy and casually threw the token to Wang Lu.


    Even if he had to choose it himself, he could only randomly pick one. It was no different from letting Wang Lu choose one. He might as well save some time to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    \"Anyone else need my help?\" Wang Lu looked at the others and asked.


    \"Since we are already here, it''s all down to luck anyway. It''s better to choose one yourself,\" Wei Ge said with a smile.


    The others obviously liked to hold their own fate in their hands, so no one planned on letting Wang Lu choose for them.


    Other than Hui Haifeng who had already made his selection, the others began to observe the boxes, hoping that they could find some clues.


    Zhou Wen was also observing, but he was looking into Providence Palace to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    Unfortunately, it was filled with a screen of resplendent divine light. All he could see was gift boxes flying in, but he couldn''t see what was on the inside.


    However, Wang Lu had no intention of seriously choosing. She treated the two tokens as darts and threw them into the row of boxes.


    With two clangs, two boxes were knocked to the ground by her random throw.


    Wang Lu grinned as she ran over and carried the two gift boxes back, handing one to Zhou Wen.


    The gift box was carved out of wood. It was about thirty centimeters wide on all sides, and there were cloud patterns engraved on it. Other than that, there was nothing else.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to see what was inside. After receiving the box, he stuffed it into his bag and continued gazing into the palace.


    \"Aren''t you going to open it?\" Wang Lu said.


    \"There''s no need. It doesn''t matter what it is,\" Zhou Wen said casually.


    Wang Lu was a little displeased that Zhou Wen didn''t care about it. Seeing that everyone was choosing their boxes and that no one was paying any attention to them, she said to Zhou Wen, \"Don''t think that I just randomly chose it. My luck is really good. The items I inside will definitely be good.\"


    \"Yes, thank you,\" Zhou Wen said perfunctorily.


    Wang Lu was incensed when she saw Zhou Wen''s perfunctory manner. She glared at him hatefully, but Zhou Wen had been observing the situation inside Providence Palace the entire time without giving her a second glance.


    \"If I knew this would happen, I wouldn''t have helped you choose.\" Wang Lu pouted and resentfully retreated to the side. She didn''t even have the mood to open her gift box to see what was inside.


    Even after they had all made their choices, one after another, and the counselors had led them out of Providence Palace, Zhou Wen still hadn''t found the tiny palm symbol. He was extremely disappointed.


    None of them had the intention to open their gift boxes on the spot. Zhou Wen also took the box that Wang Lu had chosen for him back to his dorm.


    I wonder what it is? Zhou Wen opened it up.


    Indeed, it was the same as he imagined. There were no Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals inside, but a strange old bronze flask.


    It can''t be a chamber pot, right? Zhou Wen looked at the bronze flask inside the box, and it looked like one, no matter how he looked at it.


    But from the looks of it, it seemed to be a little too small. It was probably not suited for adults.


    Furthermore, the style looked more exquisite and it had smooth curves as if it did not match the style of the East District''s ancient style.


    Zhou Wen switched on his ordinary phone and checked the Internet. Soon, he learned what it was. It was a hand-held oil lamp from ancient Arabia.


    From the looks of the oil lamp, it should be an antique. I wonder how much I can sell it for? Zhou Wen muttered to himself as he took out the bronze lamp and wiped the dust he saw on it with a piece of tissue paper.


    After a few strokes, the bronze lamp suddenly trembled, and the patterns on it began to glow strangely.

 132 No Acquaintances with Immortals

    The pattern on the lamp''s body flickered as swirls spun in circles. A flame was spontaneously ignited at the mouth of the lamp, giving off an inexplicable demonic charm as it danced. It was like a seductive woman twisting her waist while dancing.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze was attracted by the strange flame as though it was the most beautiful woman in the world. He couldn''t help but become engrossed, unable to shift his gaze away from the flame.


    He was extremely determined, so when he felt that something was amiss, he forcefully shifted his gaze away from the flame.


    However, when his gaze moved away from the flame, he was attracted by the shimmering patterns on the bronze lamp. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the patterns weren''t simple patterns. Instead, they were ancient words. The demonic powers contained in them were countless times stronger than the flame, making him unconsciously attracted.


    How is this happening! Zhou Wen''s fingers on his left hand suddenly moved, as though they were playing a piano. However, his mind hadn''t willed his fingers to make any movements.


    Zhou Wen wanted to use his other hand to control his left hand, but his other hand''s fingers moved along with it.


    Soon, it wasn''t only his fingers, but Zhou Wen''s entire body. He moved uncontrollably in an irregular fashion, something he realized to be dancing.


    Zhou Wen had never come into contact with dancing, nor was he interested in dancing. He didn''t even watch dancing shows, but he was now like a professional dancer. His body danced with the rhythm of the music, making all sorts of moves he had never thought of before.


    And no matter how he looked at it, he could see that it was a woman''s dance moves. They were enchanting and charming, light and elegant.


    However, to have a man dance it made him look extremely comical. If Li Xuan were here to see him, he would probably be rolling on the ground laughing.


    Zhou Wen tried his best to control himself, but it was useless. He had repeatedly switched a few Primordial Energy Arts, but they were all useless. His body was squirming more and more intensely, and there were also many coquettish moves included.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered that his actions were identical to the flickering of the lamp. It was as though he was a puppet controlled by the flame.


    Damn it¡­ What the hell is this¡­ Zhou Wen felt as though he was going crazy.


    As his dance sped up, the Lost Immortal Sutra which automatically circulated slowed down. As the Lost Immortal Sutra slowed down, Zhou Wen''s body gradually slowed down.


    When the Lost Immortal Sutra completely stopped circulating, Zhou Wen''s body also stopped twisting.


    However, the next second, the Primordial Energy in his body circulated in a frenzy, but it was no longer the path of the Lost Immortal Sutra. Instead, it was another Primordial Energy Art that Zhou Wen had never cultivated before.


    The patterns on the oil lamp are also a Primordial Energy Art? Zhou Wen was astonished but also somewhat delighted.


    This Primordial Energy Art was very odd. It was different from anything Zhou Wen had previously come into contact with. It seemed to have countless odd transformations, and at times, it was light and graceful, at other times as forceful as a storm. It made Zhou Wen have the urge to tear through the air and dance.


    Time ticked by. By the time Zhou Wen regained control of his body, he had already mastered the Primordial Energy Art.


    The oil lamp that had been floating in the air suddenly lost its radiance and fell to the ground. It returned to its old and damaged state.


    Zhou Wen was just about to pick up the oil lamp when he suddenly felt something amiss with his body. The Primordial Energy Art he had just mastered instantly dissipated as the Lost Immortal Sutra began to circulate again.


    However, the circulation this time was different from the previous one. Primordial Energy flowed through his body like blood circling his body.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen felt his brain buzz as a voice resounded incessantly.


    \"If God opposes me, I will slay God¡­ If an immortal opposes me, I will cull the immortal¡­ No exchanges with god¡­ No acquaintances with immortals¡­ I am me¡­\" The voice was unbridled and savage, but it also had a terrifying power that made his blood boil. It was as if something was stirring in one''s heart, eager to poke a hole in the sky.


    This voice wasn''t unfamiliar to Zhou Wen. Over the countless nights he had cultivated in the Lost Immortal Sutra, the voice had kept whispering into his ear. However, in the past, he couldn''t hear the voice clearly.


    Today, he finally heard what that voice was saying. It was a woman''s voice, but it had a heart-stopping aura. It was as if all living beings from the various worlds would fall prostrate at her feet.


    Although Zhou Wen only heard a voice, he couldn''t help but envision a scene. Countless deities prostrating themselves on the ground, bowing towards a woman as though on a pilgrimage.


    Unfortunately, this was just Zhou Wen''s imagination and was able to see the woman''s face clearly. He felt that her bearing was incomparable. She was lofty, but she wasn''t as holy as an immortal or Buddha. She had a killing aura.


    The voice in his mind became weaker and weaker, as if it was about to disperse. In the end, it was almost inaudible.


    Zhou Wen vaguely heard a sentence that sounded a little different from the repeated sentence he had just heard: \"My return¡­ will spell¡­ the death of all immortals¡­\"


    However, the voice at the end was so soft that he didn''t hear the complete sentence.


    Boom!


    The Lost Immortal Sutra in his body seemed to explode as all the cells seemed to bind together. It made Zhou Wen suspect if his body had self-destructed.


    Falling¡­ Constantly falling¡­


    Zhou Wen felt as though his consciousness had plunged into the deep sea as it constantly plummeted. Finally, his consciousness was completely submerged in the darkness.


    Ever since he had mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra, he hadn''t had a proper sleep.


    Every time he fell asleep, no matter where he was or what time it was, there would be a voice whispering into his ear, akin to scripture chantings by Buddha or a devil''s enticements.


    Together with the sleep paralysis, anyone else would have gone berserk.


    Zhou Wen grinding every day was certainly to raise his strength, but it also included his thoughts of trying to avoid sleeping.


    Up to this day, the feeling of being haunted by ghosts finally completely dissipated. Zhou Wen slept soundly as though nothing in the world was more blissful than having a good sleep.


    When he woke up and stretched his back, he felt so comfortable that he almost moaned in delight. All his cells seemed to emit comfortable cheers.


    Zhou Wen pressed his palm down on the bed to sit up, but when he pressed down, his body bounced up, slamming his head into the ceiling. Half his head was inside the ceiling made of steel and cement, leaving him dangling from it.

 133 Exchange Studen

    \"Pui! Pui!\"Zhou Wen spat out the cement in his mouth and looked at his hands in surprise. What''s going on?


    After some thought, he recalled what had happened yesterday and seemed to realize something. He quickly took out his mysterious phone and pricked his finger with a needle, dripping a drop of fresh blood onto the screen.


    The blood quickly coagulated into the blood-colored avatar. Zhou Wen looked at its stats and was overjoyed. He had indeed advanced to the Legendary stage.


    He eagerly checked the blood-colored avatar''s attributes only to be left somewhat puzzled.


    Zhou Wen


    Age: 16 years


    Level: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Strength: 12


    Speed: 12


    Constitution: 12


    Primordial Energy: 12


    Primordial Energy Art: Lost Immortal Sutra


    Primordial Energy Skill: Astral Suction Palm, Astral Slash Blade, Astral Suction Palm, ¡­


    Companion Beast: Truth Listener, Banana Fairy, Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, Silver-Winged Flying Ant


    His stats and Primordial Energy Art were considered normal, but his Legendary Life Providence was a little strange. Typically, ordinary people weren''t able to see their attributes in the game like Zhou Wen, but after advancing to Legendary, they were able to sense the basic abilities of their Legendary Life Providence and know how it could be used.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn''t sense what his Life Providence could be used for. All he could sense was that his Life Providence''s powers needed certain conditions to be triggered.


    As for the triggering conditions, Zhou Wen only had a vague sense which wasn''t too clear.


    When he looked at the additional note regarding Sigh of the King in-game, there was only one sentence: Sigh of the King, it is endless sinking.


    Zhou Wen didn''t understand the meaning of the annotation, so he was momentarily unsure whether his Life Providence was good or bad.


    However, being able to advance to the Legendary stage was ultimately a boon. It meant that Zhou Wen could finally incubate a Legendary Companion Egg without any reservations. He could also absorb high-valued dimensional crystals to raise his stats.


    As for killing Epic creatures, Zhou Wen didn''t have a blind sense of self-importance. The difference between the Epic and Legendary stages was far greater than the difference between the Legendary and Mortal stages. The weakest Epic could easily kill the strongest Legendary.


    It wasn''t only because an Epic''s attributes were higher, but also because an Epic''s life possessed a form of soul protection. They were completely different from Legendaries, making it an extremely difficult task to defeat an Epic at the Legendary stage.


    Whatever. I''ll increase my stats first. Zhou Wen picked up the mysterious phone. He wanted to enter the game and use some high-valued dimensional crystals to raise his stats. Otherwise, even if he had advanced to the Legendary stage, he would still be one of the weakest.


    Li Xuan and An Jing had their family''s support, so it was very simple for them to raise their stats. They just needed to use the dimensional crystals prepared by their families, but Zhou Wen needed to rely on himself.


    Before he could launch a dungeon on his phone, the doorbell rang.


    \"Old Zhou, what treasure did you choose from Providence Palace? It can''t be that your luck was so bad to choose a urinal or something, right?\" Li Xuan didn''t dare enter the room as he looked straight in. When he saw the antelope sleeping on the couch, he immediately retracted his head.


    \"See for yourself.\" Zhou Wen invited Li Xuan into the house.


    \"No, no, no. I''m not going in. I''m not here to see the treasure you chose. Counselor Wang Fei got me to tell you that she wants you to see her.\" Li Xuan quickly shrank back again.


    \"Why is the Counselor looking for me?\" Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    \"She didn''t say, but I''m guessing it has something to do with the exchange students with from Covenant College,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"What do you mean?\" Zhou Wen didn''t understand. Covenant College was a famous school in the West District and was worlds apart from Sunset College. Even if there was an exchange student, it shouldn''t have anything to do with him.


    Li Xuan smiled and said, \"There''s an exchange student from Covenant College here in Sunset College to study for a period of time. I heard that the exchange student is quite extraordinary. He''s from one of the Six League Heroes families. He''s famous at Covenant College and is considered as the heir to the six heroes. He''s the most likely person to reach the level of the six heroes.\"


    \"What has this got to do with me?\" Zhou Wen frowned.


    \"Since it''s an exchange student, they will interact with students from our college after arriving. In order to not lose face, the school will definitely let the best students interact with that fellow. Having entered the top ten at the comprehensive test, it''s normal for the school to give you such an important mission. However, I don''t think it''s any of your business. After all, your ranking in the top ten is too low. As long as you stand out, it will definitely be Huang Ji, Wei Ge, and An Jing who will deal with that exchange student. Just watch the show,\" Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense and went to Wang Fei''s office.


    It was just as Li Xuan guessed. Wang Fei informed him that an exchange student from Covenant College was coming to study at Sunset College.


    \"Zhou Wen, do you know who the exchange student is?\" Wang Fei asked.


    \"Is this related to me?\" Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    \"Of course it has something to do with you. Otherwise, why would I especially summon you here? If it was just an ordinary exchange student, you wouldn''t be needed.\" Wang Fei paused. \"The student''s name is John. Like Liz, he comes from a family with the last name Cape.\"


    \"Liz?\" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    Wang Fei continued, \"John is Liz''s younger brother, but he''s different from the poorly talented Liz. His talent is almost comparable to the hero from the Cape family. Not only did he inherit the physique of the hero, but he also obtained an extremely powerful Life Providence when he advanced to the Legendary stage. In the west, he has the title of a Saint.\"


    \"So what?\" Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    \"Do you need me to go into the details between Liz and you? Given John''s status, even if he came to Sunset College, he wouldn''t purposely challenge a Mortal. However, you happened to be ranked in the top 10 at the comprehensive test as a Mortal stage. This gave John an excuse to challenge you. When the time comes, even if he doesn''t dare to do anything to you in Sunset College, it will be a disgrace to both you and Sunset College if you were to suffer a terrible defeat.\"


    Wang Fei paused for a moment before saying, \"That''s why the school hopes that you can go home for a few days and not give John a chance to challenge you.\"


    \"If he''s really out to get me, won''t he come knocking on my door even if I were to hide in my dorm?\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"It''s alright. You can return to the An family home to rest for a few days. The school will approve your leave,\" Wang Fei said.


    \"There''s no need.\" Zhou Wen directly rejected it. He definitely wasn''t going to seek protection from the An family.


    \"Zhou Wen, if you really had the strength to be in the top ten, the school doesn''t mind you fighting with John. It doesn''t matter even if you lose. However, I think you should know better than me how you ended up in the top ten. The school didn''t hold it against you for the sake of the An family. However, you should know that your current strength isn''t enough to represent Sunset College''s top standards. It''d be meaningless to accept such a challenge,\" Wang Fei said.

 134 Mutated Demonized General

    \"Counselor, although my strength isn''t enough to represent the college, there''s no need for me to be afraid of John, much less escape.\" Zhou Wen bowed slightly to Wang Fei before turning to leave the office.


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen had already advanced to the Legendary stage, even if he wasn''t John''s match, he still wouldn''t choose to flee to the An family residence.


    This fellow''s surname isn''t An, but why is he as stubborn as the An siblings? Wang Fei watched Zhou Wen leave the office and couldn''t help but worry.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he launched an instant dungeon and began grinding crazily. He wanted to spawn some high-level dimensional crystals and quickly raise his attributes.


    Ding! After killing a Silver-Winged Flying Ant, a 14-valued Speed Crystal dropped. The blood-colored avatar absorbed the Speed Crystal and his Speed increased to 14.


    Ding! After killing a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, a 13-valued Primordial Energy Crystal dropped. The blood-colored avatar absorbed it and his Primordial Energy increased to 13.


    Ding! After killing a Skeleton General, a Skeleton General Companion Egg dropped.


    Zhou Wen unhesitatingly incubated it and obtained a Skeleton General Companion Beast. However, the Companion Beast''s stats and skills were relatively average.


    While grinding the Lotus Flower Cave, Zhou Wen was once again lucky enough to spawn a Fairy Monkey Companion Egg. When he incubated it, the stats weren''t too bad, but they weren''t considered excellent-grade stats.


    Since it wasn''t an excellent-grade Companion Beast and its skills weren''t anything special, Zhou Wen decided to attempt a fusion when he saw that the Skeleton General and the Fairy Monkey had a compatibility score of 57% which was a rather high success rate.


    However, Zhou Wen was extremely disappointed. The fusion failed as the two Companion Beasts disintegrated simultaneously.


    Zhou Wen knew how lucky his Mutated Lotus Flower Ant had been at succeeding from the recent fusion failures. The chances were about the same as winning the lottery.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was able to keep grinding dungeons. His chances of dropping a Companion Egg were much higher than the average person. After persisting for an entire day and night, Zhou Wen''s stats experienced a significant boost. His Strength and Constitution had reached 16 points. His Speed and Primordial Energy were slightly weaker and had only increased to 15 points.


    This made Zhou Wen clearly feel that his body was much stronger. During this process, he managed to raise his Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to Rank 9, raising his movement technique to its limit.


    Rank 9 was a standard Primordial Energy Skill limit. There was no way to continue raising it with Primordial Energy Skill Crystals. In the past, Rank 9 was the highest Zhou Wen could reach. However, with the precedent of Ashen Palm, he knew that Rank 9 wasn''t the limit and that there was room for improvement. However, that required him to train and figure it out himself before being able to reach Dragon Gate Fairy Skill''s limit of Rank 10.


    It was unknown how many times he had entered Tiger Cage Pass dungeon before he encountered a Demonized General with the word \"Fist\" engraved on its helmet. It delighted Zhou Wen.


    Seeing the Demonized General turn golden in color, like a golden-armored god of war, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to charge forward instead of retreating, clashing head-on with the Fist Demonized General.


    Now that Zhou Wen had advanced to the Legendary stage, his speed had increased significantly. Coupled with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s silver wings, his speed was no longer slower than the Fist Demonized General''s. He easily dodged its strange spear''s thrust before slashing at its neck with his hand wrapped in the lotus flower bracer.


    With a clang, Zhou Wen''s present strength combined with the lotus flower bracer was still unable to damage the Fist Demonized General. Instead, his opponent balled its other hand into a fist and threw a punch at the blood-colored avatar''s stomach.


    Astral Suction Palm! Zhou Wen guessed that the Astral Suction Palm could restrain the Fist Demonized General''s Primordial Energy Skill. Unsure if it was true, he gave it a try.


    The strength of the Fist Demonized General''s fist was extremely domineering, as though it had gathered all of its energy into one point. Even the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant at the same level would explode with one punch.


    The Astral Suction Palm appeared nothing powerful with how soft and weak it was. The instant his palm clashed with the fist, Zhou Wen felt a strange feeling. His Astral Suction Palm seemed to be able to guide the forces of the Demonized General''s fist.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen pulled and pushed with his Astral Suction Palm, directing the Demonized General''s domineering punch right back into the other side of his enemy''s chest. With a boom, the armor on his body shattered and blood spewed out.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw this. He controlled the blood-colored avatar to charge forward, penetrating the wound on the Demonized General''s chest with his palm which wore the lotus flower bracer. This impact burst the heart inside.


    ''Killed Fist Demonized General. Discovered Companion Egg.''


    Zhou Wen was still immersed in the excitement of his killing the Fist Demonized General for the first time when he saw the system notification appear. He couldn''t help but be pleasantly surprised.


    Upon careful look, he saw a black-colored Companion Egg drop on the ground. He hurriedly ordered the blood-colored avatar to pick it up but seeing its attributes, he couldn''t help but find it odd.


    Mutated Demonized General: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Malignant General


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 17


    Constitution: 18


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Astral Fist, Demon Flame Spear, Demon Rider Summon


    Companion Form: None


    How can a Mutated Demonized General not have a Companion Form? Zhou Wen found it odd, but its stats were really high. It was considered a top-notch existence among Legendaries.


    He directly incubated the Mutated Demonized General since he had no plans on giving such an excellent-grade Companion Beast as food.


    He summoned the incubated Mutated Demonized General and it was exactly the same as the one in the game. A burly Demonic General riding on a red horse, with a strange spear in his hand. With one charge, the strange spear in its hand could knock over a large number of Demonized Soldiers. It was extremely powerful.


    Another Demonized General! Zhou Wen was delighted. With the boost provided by the Demonized General''s skills¡ªfar greater than the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant¡ªit was good as a vanguard.


    Taking advantage of the excitement of having a new Companion Beast, Zhou Wen continued grinding. He wanted to raise his stats in one fell swoop. It would be best if he could raise everything to 18.


    Perhaps due to luck, Zhou Wen encountered another Mutated Demonized General when he respawned again and went to Tiger Cage Pass. However, the Demonized General''s helmet had the word ''Blade'' engraved on it this time.


    He didn''t attack himself, allowing the Fist Demonized General to charge forward. Due to the effectiveness of the Fist Demonized General against the Blade Demonized General, it killed the Blade Demonized General with one charge.


    The Blade Demonized General''s Astral Slash Blade was shattered by the Astral Punch and was made completely useless.


    Exceeding Zhou Wen''s expectations, the Blade Demonized General once again dropped a Companion Egg. Having obtained two Mutated Demonized General Companion Eggs consecutively, this was a probability that Zhou Wen found unbelievable.


    Mutated Demonized General: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Malignant General


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 18


    Constitution: 17


    Primordial Energy: 16


    Talent Skill: Astral Slash Blade, Demon Flame Spear, Demon Rider Summon


    Companion Form: None

 135 Demonic Words

    The Blade Demonized General''s attributes were similar to the Fist Demonized General''s. Only its talent skills were somewhat different.


    Zhou Wen looked at the system notification and discovered that the compatibility score between the two Demonized Generals was as high as 88%. It tempted him greatly, and in the end, he couldn''t help but tap on the fusion button.


    Ding! When he heard the system''s chime, Zhou Wen''s heart couldn''t help but pound. He was even a little nervous.


    Fortunately, a compatibility score of 88% was as true as it gets. The fusion succeeded and produced a new Demonized General.


    Just by looking at the new Demonized General''s appearance, it seemed to be even more ferocious and domineering. It wore red-vested armor, and its eyes were fiercely glowing red. It looked like a ferocious general in a raging inferno.


    And the word engraved on its helmet was neither Blade nor First, but the word \"Demon.\"


    Mutated Demonized General: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Malignant General


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 18


    Constitution: 18


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Astral Slash Blade, Astral Fist, Demon Flame Spear, Demon Rider Summon


    Companion Form: None


    These stats are a little sick. Furthermore, it also has the Astral Slash Blade and Astral Fist skills. If I were to obtain another Paper Demonized General Companion Beast and fuse with it, would it result in an excellent-grade with all three skills? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, it wasn''t easy to have two Mutated Demonized General Companion Eggs drop. It was unknown how long it would take to have another one drop.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had to grind Tiger Cage Pass dungeon every day, so he wasn''t in a rush. There were always opportunities.


    The Mutated Demonized General was good at the offensive and defensive. It killed everything in its way, and together with the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and Silver-Winged Flying Ant, they formed a team that could kill monsters from both air, land, and sea. Most of the time, the blood-colored avatar didn''t even need to move a finger to kill the dimensional creatures.


    With my current strength and Truth Listener at the Legendary stage, can I try clearing Ant City? Zhou Wen had always been obsessed with the golden beam of light in Ant City. However, previously he had been lacking in strength and couldn''t make much progress. Now that he had advanced to the Legendary stage and had four top-notch Legendary Companion Beasts, it seemed like he could make an attempt.


    \"Old Zhou, we can finally register our own club. What do you think it should be called? Do you think it''s better to call it the God of Combat Alliance or Invincible Club?\" Li Xuan walked into the living room excitedly.


    \"Up to you.\" Zhou Wen was grinding Ant Nest, so he didn''t have the capacity to care. Furthermore, he wasn''t obsessive-compulsive. He would accept any name.


    \"Don''t mind. This is our club. There''s meaning only if we think of names together. Those two aren''t good. What do you think about Xuanwen? Our names are both in it. Others can tell that it''s our club,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Sure.\" Zhou Wen nodded while gaming¡ªthe blood-colored avatar had already rushed to the periphery of Ant City.


    \"Then that''s it. Let''s register for the Xuanwen Club.\" Li Xuan pulled Zhou Wen out excitedly.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to follow him out. But when they arrived, they realized that setting up a club didn''t just require filling in an application form. They had to gather at least five people to submit the application to establish a club.


    \"Why do we need so many people? The two of us are good enough to beat everyone in the world.\" Li Xuan''s heart stirred as he looked at Zhou Wen and asked, \"It won''t be easy to find people now. Almost all the senior students have already joined clubs. After more than a month, most of the freshmen have been roped in. It will be very difficult to find suitable people. Your two high school classmates seemed to be interested in our club. Why don''t you rope them in to make up the numbers?\"


    \"I''m not sure if they have joined other clubs or not,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Then let''s make a call and ask. Do you have the phone number of that beautiful woman named Fang something?\" Li Xuan urged.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to take out his ordinary phone and call Fang Ruoxi while gaming with one hand.


    \"F*ck, you even have a game-only phone and a phone for calls. Bro, you sure are extravagant,\" Li Xuan teased.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and called Fang Ruoxi. He heard her voice and asked, \"Hello, is this Fang Ruoxi?\"


    \"It''s me. Li Xuan and I established a club. If you and Tian Xiangdong haven''t joined other clubs, why don''t you consider it?\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"We haven''t joined anything yet. I heard that you were setting up a club, so we have been waiting for your invitation,\" Fang Ruoxi replied with a smile.


    \"Alright, we are still short of one person. I''ll contact you after we find everyone.\" Zhou Wen hung up after making an agreement with Fang Ruoxi.


    \"Quite swell of this old classmate of yours. She''s pretty and pure, and she has some feelings for you. You have to act as early as possible. Otherwise, she''ll be contaminated by this mixing bowl known as university,\" Li Xuan said with a smile.


    \"Don''t spout nonsense. She''s just an old classmate,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Now we have four people. We are still short of one. Who do you think we should get?\" Li Xuan tugged at his hair in frustration.


    \"Is it that difficult for Young Master Li to find someone?\" Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan in confusion.


    \"It''s really not difficult to find someone. Just a simple call and I can get a dozen or two. However, I''m afraid that there might be my brother''s people among them. I''m more at ease with people you recruit,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"I don''t know anyone¡­\" Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he asked Li Xuan, \"Do you know Gu Dian?\"


    \"Of course I know him. How can I not know this person? He''s the school''s most problematic person. He beat up a senior when he had just started school. He''s a person who only recognizes money. As long as he''s paid, he will do anything¡­\" Li Xuan said as he looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. \"Why are you asking about him?\"


    \"Has he joined a club?\" Zhou Wen asked.


    \"Let''s not even talk about him having thoughts of joining a club; even if he does, no one will want him. Who knows when he might beat up the people in his club. That would be such a joke¡­ Wait¡­ Don''t tell me you want to recruit him?\" Li Xuan widened his eyes.


    \"I think he''s not bad. If there''s really no other candidate, we can give him a try,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"That won''t do. Such a person will definitely be bribed by my brother. When the time comes, he will harm us once again.\" Li Xuan shook his head repeatedly.


    \"Do you think the others won''t be bribed by your brother?\" Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Xuan was slightly taken aback before he smiled bitterly. \"You are right. As long as my brother wants it done, it''s useless who I find.\"


    \"At least Gu Dian has a clear price. Let''s be wary of him. It''s better than people that put on different facades, right?\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"You''re right. However, there were people who invited Gu Dian in the past. He didn''t join either. It won''t be easy inviting him to join our club,\" Li Xuan said with a sigh.


    \"Can you find him? Let''s give it a try,\" Zhou Wen said.

 136 Myriad Buddha Cave

    \"Are you sure Gu Dian is here?\" Zhou Wen looked at the Myriad Buddha Cave in front of him and looked at Li Xuan in disbelief.


    \"There''s no mistake about it. According to what I learned, Gu Dian is a weirdo. Ever since he entered school, he hasn''t slept in his dorm. As long as he''s not in class, he will definitely come to Dragon Gate Grotto. It''s normal for him to spend half a month here. I received accurate news that he entered Myriad Buddha Cave three days ago and hasn''t come out yet. There''s no mistake about him being inside,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Do you honestly think someone can live inside here?\" Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the Golden Warriors wandering around the Myriad Buddha Cave.


    There were relatively rare dimensional creatures in Dragon Gate Grotto. Typically, they were at the Mortal stage. As long as their numbers were few, ordinary students could handle them.


    However, the Golden Warriors in the Myriad Buddha Cave were different. Not only were they at the Legendary stage, but they also had powerful defensive strength. Legendary students needed a great deal of effort to kill them. It was very difficult.


    Unless there was a special requirement, the average Legendary wouldn''t be willing to come here to kill a Golden Warrior.


    At that moment in the Myriad Buddha Cave, he could see two or three Golden Warriors wandering around. Zhou Wen didn''t believe that students could live here for two to three days.


    Even if he had the ability to fight with a Golden Warrior, it was impossible for him to fight for three days and three nights. He would probably die from exhaustion in one day, much less three days and three nights.


    \"The news shouldn''t be wrong. Gu Dian is a weirdo. He often does this kind of thing. No one knows how he survives in the dimensional zones, but he manages to. It''s likely that he''s inside the Myriad Buddha Cave,\" Li Xuan said with certainty.


    \"Since that''s the case, let''s go in and take a look.\" Zhou Wen had entered the Myriad Buddha Cave in-game and knew that it was difficult to kill a Golden Warrior. However, their Speed wasn''t very fast. He just needed to avoid them since he was only spending a short amount of time to find Gu Dian.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen enter, Li Xuan followed him into the Myriad Buddha Cave.


    Seeing that someone had stepped into the Myriad Buddha Cave, Golden Warriors immediately rushed over. Their bodies were dark as if they were carved from some kind of jade. Every step they took left a deep footprint on the ground, indicating their extreme weight.


    Li Xuan drew his saber and slashed down at the Golden Warrior that was charging right in front of him. His saber was fast and ruthless and was transformed from a Legendary Companion Beast. If an ordinary Legendary creature were to be struck by him, they would have their bones cleaved through even if they didn''t die.


    However, when the blade landed on the Golden Warrior, sparks flew everywhere, producing a sound of metallic hum. Only a faint white mark was left on the Golden Warrior while Li Xuan''s palm went numb from the shock.


    \"It''s harder than the legends say!\" Li Xuan hurriedly dodged, afraid to clash head-on with the Golden Warriors.


    Zhou Wen dashed in and had no intention of fighting the Golden Warriors. Not only were they strong, but they also possessed the talent skill, Golden Bell.


    Unless someone wanted to have Golden Bell drop, no one would waste their time killing Golden Warriors. Unfortunately, the drop rate of Golden Bell was very low, making the Warriors unpopular among students.


    Thankfully, the Golden Warriors were naturally slow, so it was impossible for them to catch up to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. As they ran, they avoided the Golden Warriors'' attacks and entered the Myriad Buddha Cave.


    Perhaps it was because no one had been here to kill the Golden Warriors for a while, there were plenty of them in the cave. After covering a few hundred meters, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had about thirty to forty Golden Warriors chasing behind them.


    \"Is Gu Dian really here?\" At that moment, even Li Xuan himself doubted the authenticity of the information he had received. No matter how he looked at it, there didn''t seem to be anyone here.


    Just as Li Xuan was about to suggest returning, he suddenly saw a Golden Warrior rushing out of the cavern in front of him. However, it was different from the typical black Golden Warrior. It was covered in golden light and there was a single golden vertical eye on its forehead.


    \"Three-Eyed Golden Warrior!\" Li Xuan exclaimed when he saw the warrior. However, it was a more pleasant surprise than horror.


    \"What''s that?\" Zhou Wen had never seen a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. Back when he entered the Myriad Buddha Cave in-game, he hadn''t ventured too deep. This was because it was too difficult to kill the Golden Warriors. He wasn''t interested.


    In the time it took to kill a Golden Warrior, he could kill at least more than ten Legendary creatures.


    \"Three-Eyed Golden Warriors are an extremely rare Legendary creature. It should be a mutated version of Golden Warriors; however, their skills are different from that of other Golden Warriors. Typically, most Golden Warriors only drop two Primordial Energy Skills¡ªGolden Palm and Golden Bell. As for the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Primordial Energy Skill, it''s called Invulnerable Golden Power, one that''s far higher than Golden Bell. Not only is the Primordial Energy expenditure low, but the defensive strength is even higher¡­ Since we encountered it today, let''s just kill it first. It will be great if the Invulnerable Golden Body drops.\" As Li Xuan spoke, he rushed towards the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior.


    He used all his strength to slash at it, but the Speed of the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was much faster than the typical Golden Warrior. It didn''t show any signs of clumsiness.


    As Li Xuan slashed down, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior actually raised its hand and grabbed Li Xuan''s saber in midair before forcefully twisting it.


    The Legendary saber in Li Xuan''s hand was twisted around. In the end, it couldn''t withstand the terrifying force and broke into several pieces.


    \"My Frost Cicada Saber!\" Li Xuan felt his heart ache so much that he nearly vomited blood. He had recently been unlucky and had already sacrificed several Companion Beasts.


    Zhou Wen swept past the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s head and struck out with his palm, hitting the top of its head.


    With a clang, the Rank 10 Ashen Palm failed to injure it. The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior turned its head and struck out with Golden Palm, striking at Zhou Wen''s back like a bolt of lightning.


    Its palm move was like lightning¡ªfast and ruthless. With Zhou Wen''s body in midair, it was as though he had no way of dodging. Li Xuan was alarmed as he kicked at the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and shouted, \"Old Zhou, dodge!\"


    Bang!


    Li Xuan''s kick was rather heavy¡ªit was enough to snap a tree that was as thick as a person. However, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior seemed oblivious to the attack as it ignored him. Without moving, the Golden Palm continued its trajectory towards Zhou Wen''s back.


    In midair, Zhou Wen suddenly drew out a trajectory like a strange bird, dodging the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s strike.


    Zhou Wen, who was like an eagle, was hovering above the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. At the same time, he repeatedly struck with his palms, clashing with the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior.


    Li Xuan, who was standing by the side, had no means to join in. Furthermore, large groups of Golden Warriors had gathered around them, instantly cutting off all paths of retreat.

 137 Three-Eyed Golden Warrior

    \"Old Zhou, there are too many Golden Warriors. I can''t hold on any longer, quickly retreat!\" Li Xuan shouted as he dodged the power Golden Warriors.


    \"Hold on. Give me three minutes,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Three minutes? Even thirty seconds would be too difficult. Three-Eyed Golden Warriors are too difficult to kill. We definitely won''t be able to kill it in a short period of time. Let''s go back and get more people to come over. We can clean up this group of Golden Warrior hindrances before slowly killing it. Besides, I really can''t last three minutes,\" Li Xuan shouted while fighting.


    \"Two minutes,\" Zhou Wen said again.


    \"F*ck, if you can''t kill it, my blood will be on your hands.\" Li Xuan gritted his teeth and summoned a Companion Beast armor to protect his body as he charged into the Golden Warriors'' ferocious attacks, slamming one of them back several steps.


    \"If the tiger doesn''t show its might, do you really think I''m HELLO KITTY?\" Li Xuan was like a god of combat that had descended to the mortal world. His body slammed forward, his fists unleashed a barrage of attacks, and he managed to charge out of the crowd of Golden Warriors.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time or mood to appreciate Li Xuan''s ferocious appearance. He circled above the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior like a hawk, dodging its Golden Palm. At the same time, he struck out repeatedly with his palm, striking the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s head.


    Even with the augmentation of the lotus bracer, Zhou Wen''s might made it very difficult for him to injure the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. Every collision was like a clash of metal as sparks flew.


    Although it seemed to be filled with zest, Zhou Wen''s palm strikes couldn''t hurt the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior at all. At most, it only made it uncomfortable.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior didn''t feel good either. It waved its palm again and again, but it failed to even touch the corner of Zhou Wen''s clothes. Zhou Wen was like a giant fly flying above it.


    \"Roar!\" Even the most mild-tempered Buddha would be enraged, much less an irascible warrior. With Zhou Wen enraging it, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s palm glowed with golden light as it used all its might to strike at the airborne Zhou Wen in an indomitable manner.


    It''s now! Zhou Wen''s eyes focused as he no longer relied on his movement technique or silver wings to dodge in the air. He flattened his left hand as he sucked at the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s bloodthirsty Golden Palm.


    Zhou Wen''s palm was blood-red, as though it possessed an invisible force that deviated the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s palm to the side.


    With a boom, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior delivered its full might with Golden Palm to its forehead, shattering the forehead with the vertical eye, as well as the golden eye.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior collapsed to the ground with a loud thud. Within its own shattered skull, there was a strange dazzling golden glow.


    Zhou Wen landed in front of the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s corpse and reached into its head. He pulled out a golden crystal bead the size of a goose egg. Inside it, there was a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior figure shimmering¡ªit was a Companion Egg.


    My luck with Companion Eggs seems pretty good at the moment. Zhou Wen reeled with joy.


    \"Old Zhou, stop staring blankly. I can''t hold it any longer. Quickly come and help!\" Li Xuan shouted.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that he was surrounded by a group of Golden Warriors. They were pummeling Li Xuan until he was dizzy. His armor had cracked from the beating and was about to explode.


    However, Li Xuan''s Immortal God of Combat Life Providence and Invincible Connate Divine Art were really good at tanking. After being struck countless times, to the point of almost being beaten to a pulp, he still remained conscious. However, the situation looked extremely bad.


    Zhou Wen threw the Companion Egg into his backpack as the silver wings on his back vibrated. Instantly, it transformed into a silver beam of light that flew above Li Xuan. He reached out and pulled Li Xuan into the air and landed on the Buddha statue on the mountain cliff.


    \"Don''t touch those Buddha statues!\" Li Xuan immediately shouted when he saw this. His face was filled with horror.


    However, he had shouted too late. Zhou Wen raised him with both hands as he stepped on the Buddha statue''s shoulder and used the momentum to once again leap into the sky.


    \"It''s over¡­ It''s over¡­ Old Zhou¡­ You''re really trying to kill me¡­ In the future, you should just stay at home and play games. No number of lives is enough coming out with you.\" Li Xuan nearly cried.


    There were countless Buddha statues in Myriad Buddha Cave. Before becoming a dimensional zone, there were more than ten thousand of them, but the number was inestimable after the area became a dimensional zone.


    In Myriad Buddha Cave, everything could be touched, but not the Buddha statues. Once touched, the Buddha statue would awaken. Although it wouldn''t really stand up, with the awakening of the Buddha statue, all the dimensional creatures in Myriad Buddha Cave would go berserk. Their strength would greatly increase, and in addition, their bodies would also become even harder. Even their originally low speed would turn extremely fast.


    Just the thought of a group of accelerated Golden Warriors was terrifying. It was almost impossible for the two of them to escape Myriad Buddha Cave alive with their Legendary stages.


    However, Zhou Wen ignored Li Xuan. After he leaped into the air, he landed on the legs of a Buddha statue that was sitting at a greater height.


    \"Old Zhou, why are you still stepping on them? Do you think our deaths need to be expedited?\" Li Xuan felt that his name was already written in the King of Hell''s notebook.


    The Golden Warriors below couldn''t come up, nor did they dare to touch the Buddha statues. As for Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, they stood there for quite a while without seeing any movement from the Buddha statues.


    Li Xuan looked at them in confusion. \"Could it be that these Buddha statues aren''t awake today?\"


    \"That''s possible,\" Zhou Wen said casually as he looked around Myriad Buddha Cave.


    He had entered Myriad Buddha Cave in-game, so he naturally knew that the Buddha statues couldn''t be touched. However, that was before he used the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    As long as Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, he wouldn''t anger the Buddha statues no matter how much he touched them.


    After all, the Buddha statue was only a statue, not a true Buddha. Even a true Buddha might mistake Zhou Wen as a pious child, so it was even more natural for the Buddha statues to fail to distinguish him.


    This was because Zhou Wen''s Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was too low. If he reached an extremely high level, most Buddha-type creatures would bow to him without daring to fight him.


    The Golden Warriors were, after all, low-level dimensional creatures without any intelligence, so they lacked the ability to sense such weak auras of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    \"Old Zhou, stop carrying me. Put me down now.\" Li Xuan had been too nervous before, but now that he relaxed, he realized that Zhou Wen''s hands were still carrying him in a princess hold without letting him down.


    \"I think it''s better I carry you.\" Zhou Wen didn''t know if his Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra could protect Li Xuan. It was fine if he stepped on it himself, but he didn''t know if it was okay for Li Xuan.


    \"I know I''m handsome, but you can''t have impure thoughts about me just because I''m handsome.\" Li Xuan leaped out of Zhou Wen''s embrace and stood on the Buddha statue''s knee.


    Boom!


    As Li Xuan stood still, he suddenly felt the Buddha statue shake violently, nearly throwing him down, its eyes suffused a golden glow.

 138 The Ship Anchor

    Li Xuan jumped in fright as he wrapped his arms around Zhou Wen''s neck and hung off his body.


    However, it was already too late. The Buddha statue did not stop its anomalous change. The countless Buddha statues in Myriad Buddha Cave all suffused golden glows, illuminating the cave in a golden resplendence.


    The ordinary Golden Warriors'' eyes also became golden. Their black jade-like bodies emitted golden glows as they stared straight at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    \"They¡­ shouldn''t be able to come up, right?\" Li Xuan gulped and said with some difficulty.


    Just as Li Xuan said that, he watched the warriors'' bodies as a golden halo appeared beneath their feet and began to levitate them. This only served to turn Li Xuan''s face green.


    \"Come here.\" Just as the Golden Warriors were about to charge up with the golden halo, they suddenly heard a low and hoarse voice coming from above.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were alarmed as they hurriedly looked up and saw that in the middle of the many Buddha statues, a person had extended half his body and was waving at them.


    That ferocious face that resembled a ferocious ghost was obviously Gu Dian''s.


    \"Why is Gu Dian here?\" Li Xuan exclaimed.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to speak to Li Xuan. He leaped up with him in his arms as the silver wings on his back vibrated. Soon, he arrived at the spot where Gu Dian was standing.


    Only then did the two realize that in the middle of the two Buddha statues was a stone rift.


    Gu Dian retreated and let the two of them follow him into the stone rift, leading them deeper in.


    The Golden Warriors rose up with the help of the golden halo, but they didn''t dare touch the Buddha statues. All they could do was surround them from the outside without chasing up to them.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan walked a distance with Gu Dian before the stone rift opened up. There was an uncarved stone cave inside.


    The cave wasn''t small, and there was a pool below. There was clear spring water flowing in the pool, making it look very clear.


    There were also some daily necessities in the cave, which looked like they belonged to Gu Dian.


    \"Everything outside will return to normal in an hour. You can then leave,\" said Gu Dian coldly.


    \"Old Gu, we came specially for you. We plan on registering a club and wish to invite you.\" Li Xuan exchanged looks with Zhou Wen and directly explained his intentions.


    \"Not interested.\" Gu Dian said without lifting his head.


    \"Don''t be in such a hurry to reject it. Our club''s benefits are good. There will be quite a good membership allowance every month.\" Having heard that Gu Dian loved money very much, Li Xuan hurriedly used monetary incentives.


    \"One hundred thousand a month. I''ll join if you pay me,\" Gu Dian said.


    100,000 was nothing to Li Xuan, but Gu Dian''s attitude displeased him. Furthermore, he had never heard of any club using money to buy members. Wouldn''t that be a joke?


    Li Xuan wanted to say something but was stopped by Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen looked at Gu Dian and said, \"Five members are needed to register a club. There are only four of us now. We wish to invite you on board, and it would be best if you are willing to join. If you aren''t willing, can you help us out and register with us? Although you will be one of our members in name, you actually don''t need to attend any of the club''s activities or be responsible for the club. How much would that cost?\"


    \"10,000,\" Gu Dian said straightforwardly.


    \"Alright, 10,000 it is. Li Xuan, pay up.\" Zhou Wen agreed without hesitation, but the one paying had to be Li Xuan.


    \"Just helping in the registration costs ten thousand? Isn''t that a little too easy?\" Li Xuan said reluctantly.


    \"Anyway, I can''t find anyone else. Find someone else or pay. Choose one,\" Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    \"Even if I''m willing to pay, I still need a signal. How am I to transfer money in this crappy place?\" Li Xuan said gloomily.


    \"That''s settled then. You can return with us later. We''ll transfer the money to you once there''s a signal,\" Zhou Wen said to Gu Dian.


    \"Sure,\" said Gu Dian and he began packing his things.


    Gu Dian reached out his hand for something on the mat and stuffed it into his pocket. Zhou Wen had been observing Gu Dian all this time, so his action left him puzzled.


    When Gu Dian took the item, he had clearly used his body to block their line of sight, as though he didn''t want them to see it.


    However, Zhou Wen had been wearing the Truth Listener earring during his previous battle. Through the abnormal hearing given to him by the earring, Zhou Wen could hear the shape of the item.


    As Truth Listener only provided listening abilities and not true sight, all Zhou Wen knew was that it was a pocket watch. The exterior was likely made of metal. As for the color, it was unknown to Zhou Wen.


    However, there was a strange symbol engraved on the pocket watch''s surface, something that Zhou Wen seemed to have seen somewhere before.


    After all, he had heard it without any color, making it different from true vision. Therefore, Zhou Wen momentarily couldn''t recall where he had seen the symbol before.


    As he stared at Gu Dian who was thinking as he was packing his things, Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up. He finally remembered where he had seen such symbols.


    The symbol on the pocket watch was a ship''s anchor, but it was different from the typical ship''s anchor. On the surface was a woman''s side profile.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, people who went out to sea to fish in the past were very particular about women. Typically, they wouldn''t let women go out to sea with them, nor would they carve women''s symbols on the boat.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had a deep impression of the ship''s anchor when he saw it.


    The last time he saw the symbol was when he followed Ouyang Lan to the Xiyuan Crystal Shop. In the room at basement four, there was a silver-haired Companion Beast in chains.


    Behind the chain was a metal piece the size of a millstone. On the metal piece was a nine-number keypad, and on the side of the metal block was such a ship''s anchor symbol.


    However, Zhou Wen''s mind was focused on the nine-number keypad back then, so he didn''t pay much attention to the ship''s anchor symbol. Furthermore, the symbol on the metal piece was huge while the pocket watch was very small. Therefore, Zhou Wen took a while before recalling the matter.


    Is it a coincidence? Zhou Wen thought with a frown. Although the difference in size between the two symbols was huge and he hadn''t seen the anchor''s colors on the pocket watch, from the structure of the symbol, it was indeed the same.


    \"Old Zhou, what did that Three-Eyed Golden Warrior drop? Quickly take it out and show it to me,\" Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen handed Li Xuan the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg that dropped. When Li Xuan saw it, his eyes lit up as he cried out, \"Why is your life so good? You actually had a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg drop. That was worth it. Totally worth it. There aren''t many of these things, so even if you have the money, you might not be able to buy them. It really was worth risking our lives for it.\"

 139 Working Hard to Improve

    \"Do you like it?\" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    \"Nonsense. Who wouldn''t? This thing can only be obtained by chance. I''ve only heard of it in the past. I don''t even know what companion form this Companion Beast has,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Take it if you like it,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Really? Don''t you want it for yourself?\" Li Xuan was slightly taken aback.


    \"Of course I do. However, you have to give me the amount of money I deserve. It can''t be lower than the market price,\" Zhou Wen said.


    The Three-Eyed Diamond Companion Egg might be difficult for others to obtain, but to Zhou Wen, it was just a little difficult. If he wanted, he could visit Myriad Buddha Cave multiple times in-game in the future. It wouldn''t be difficult for him to obtain one.


    The game''s Companion Eggs couldn''t be sold in the real world, so it was best to sell Companion Eggs obtained in reality.


    \"Money isn''t a problem, but are you sure you don''t want to keep it for yourself? This item is truly rare and even if its companion form isn''t something you wish for, the Companion Beast is strong enough. It can be used as a meat shield and as a vanguard while charging ahead. Very few people can hurt it. It''s a rare excellent-grade beast,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"I don''t need it now. If I need one in the future, I''ll just get one more from the Myriad Buddha Cave,\" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    \"Get one more? You make it sound easy. Ignoring the fact that Three-Eyed Golden Warriors are extremely rare, just the time it takes to spawn one takes months. And even if you manage to wait for its spawn, the chances of a Companion Egg dropping after killing it is less than 20%.\" Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen as though he was looking at an idiot.


    \"Why are you saying so much? If you don''t want it, just give it to me,\" Zhou Wen said as he reached out his hand.


    \"Yes¡­ but don''t regret it¡­\" Li Xuan hurriedly clenched the Companion Egg in his hand.


    Gu Dian said that the Myriad Buddha Cave would return to normal an hour later. There was still plenty of time, so Li Xuan couldn''t help but incubate the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior.


    \"Wow¡­ Invulnerable Golden Power¡­ Golden Palm¡­ Double skills¡­ Wow¡­ Its companion form is actually a Golden Silk Soft Armor¡­ It looks so cool¡­\" When Li Xuan summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Golden Silk Soft Armor companion form, he deliberately walked in front of Zhou Wen and occasionally let out an exaggerated cry. Clearly, he was showing off on purpose.


    Zhou Wen ignored him without giving him a second look. All he did was lower his head and game.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen was ignoring him, Li Xuan felt a little bored. He ignored Zhou Wen and went to Gu Dian to show off. He summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and ''tsked'' in amazement. \"Look at its body. Look at how domineering it is. It''s a rare excellent-grade beast. Old Gu, have you seen anyone else with such a Companion Beast after living in the Myriad Buddha Cave for so long?\"


    \"Pay me and I''ll say no.\" Gu Dian looked up at Li Xuan with a serious expression.


    \"How boring¡­ The two of you are really boring¡­\" Li Xuan felt that being with the two of them was like playing a zither to a cow. He felt depressed that no one was available to appreciate his splendor.


    After waiting for an hour, the Myriad Buddha Cave was indeed restored to normal. The Golden Warriors also returned to their original states. The three of them rushed out together and did not waste time with the Golden Warriors.


    After getting Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong together, the five of them filled out an application form and returned to wait for the news after the submission. The school said that the club would be approved within a week.


    Li Xuan told them to leave the matter to him and that Zhou Wen didn''t need to worry about it. Their Xuanwen Club would get the approval tomorrow.


    Zhou Wen had no plans on bothering with it anyway. He planned on heading home to game, but unfortunately, he bumped into Wang Fei and was taken to her office.


    \"Zhou Wen, have you considered the matter that I mentioned previously?\" Wang Fei asked.


    \"Ms. Wang, I already said that I won''t avoid it.\" It wasn''t that Zhou Wen insisted on fighting John, but that he had nowhere to go.


    \"Alright, since you''re so insistent, I won''t persuade you any further. In light of how you might be representing the school in battle, you can bring up anything that you need now. The college will try its best to support you,\" said Wang Fei.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, \"I want the entry pass to Tiger Cage Pass and Lotus Flower Cave. I wonder if it''s possible?\"


    \"Of course, that''s not a problem. If you need anything, I can help you apply for a few more passes,\" Wang Fei agreed readily.


    Wang Fei felt gratified. Although Zhou Wen had almost no chance of defeating John, it was still worth it if this could stir up Zhou Wen''s fighting spirit.


    \"That''s even better. Thank you, Ms. Wang.\" Zhou Wen expressed his gratitude.


    He didn''t really wish to enter to train himself with the pass, but to find a reasonable excuse for future summonings of the Demonized General and using of the Primordial Energy Skills.


    \"There''s no failure when you''re young. The most important thing is not to leave any regrets. Work hard and don''t make yourself regret in the future.\" Before Zhou Wen left, Wang Fei even encouraged him.


    Zhou Wen felt that Counselor Wang Fei was really a nice person, but she was just too naggy.


    That afternoon, Wang Fei sent a few permit passes to Zhou Wen. Apart from Tiger Cage Pass and Lotus Flower Cave, there were several other dimensional zones that had been closed by the school¡ªones that the typical student wasn''t able to enter.


    After Zhou Wen had obtained the passes, he went to Tiger Cage Pass first.


    He did enter Tiger Cage Pass, but he didn''t kill any monsters. He killed Demonized Soldiers for a while before finding a spot without any Demonized Soldiers. Coincidentally, there was an old, broken-down tank there. He lay down in it and continued to use his phone to grind.


    There were many black-winged flying ants outside Ant City. They were Legendary creatures, and their combat ability was similar to the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. However, they were not as agile as the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.


    Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener, the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, and the Mutated Demonized General in their Companion Beast form. Together with the blood-colored avatar, they charged towards Ant City.


    The Mutated Demonized General charged forward as the Silver-Winged Flying Ant flew in the air. Behind it were the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and Truth Listener. The blood-colored avatar was in the middle, sending the grinding team into the black-winged ants.


    Despite being at the Legendary stage, Zhou Wen''s few Companion Beasts were much more ferocious than the black-winged flying ants. With one charge of the Mutated Demonized General and a cleave of the strange spear in its hand, it killed several black-winged flying ants.


    The lotus flower above the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s head spewed out large amounts of red lotus seed bullets. The black-winged flying ants that were hit by the lotus seed bullets immediately corroded away, losing their ability to fly. After landing on the ground, their combat strength decreased drastically and they were beheaded by Truth Listener''s tiny claws.


    What shocked Zhou Wen the most was Truth Listener. Despite its tiny size¡ªless than the size of a palm¡ªits claws were like a ghostly claw that could lop off a black-winged flying ant''s head with one strike.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it would be a bitter fight, but now he realized that he didn''t need to do a thing. All he needed to do was follow behind to pick up the items.


    The four Companion Beasts charged forward, and from time to time, he would hear a chime. Quite a number of dimensional crystals dropped on the ground, and even a black-winged flying ant''s Companion Egg dropped.

 140 Golden Ant Honey

    Picking up things from behind his Companion Beasts made Zhou Wen feel guilty of reaping the fruits of success without putting in any effort.


    It''s no wonder so many people wanted to be a general in ancient times. With a bunch of lackeys sweeping through everything, it''s truly a pleasure to reap the spoils. In a blink of an eye, he threw away the guilt he felt and continued picking things up without any qualms.


    17-valued Strength dimensional crystal! Zhou Wen hurriedly picked it up and allowed the blood-colored avatar to absorb it, raising his Strength to 17. This was the highest attribute Zhou Wen currently possessed.


    The dimensional crystals produced by Legendary creatures were commonly below 15 points. It was rare to see them above that. This was the first 17 points he had obtained.


    Ever since Zhou Wen began grinding Legendary creatures, he hadn''t seen 20-valued dimensional crystals. This left him somewhat worried as to how he could raise his attributes to 21.


    Based on his previous experience, he had to raise his attributes to the level of a Mythical creature like Truth Listener, so that he could advance to the next level.


    All the attributes of Truth Listener at the Legendary stage were 21, so Zhou Wen naturally had to raise his attributes to 21.


    As the four powerful Companion Beasts charged forward, the blood-colored avatar had already entered Ant City. Large numbers of ants immediately rushed out from the ant nest.


    These ants were different from the black-winged flying ants. There were red-armored ants and black-armored ants but most of them were yellow-armored ants. Their numbers were terrifying, but they couldn''t fly and could only attack on the ground.


    The blood-colored avatar and the four Companion Beasts immediately plunged into the endless sea of ants. The previously ferocious Mutated Demonized General charged forward. Although it killed several ants, more surged forward and pulled it deep into the swamp-like sea of ants.


    When Zhou Wen realized that the situation was turning south, he made the blood-colored avatar jump onto the back of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and fly straight into the sky before flying towards the middle of Ant City.


    He let the Mutated Demonized General slow down the ant horde as much as it could.


    Due to the large number of black-winged flying ants killed previously, there were very few ants that could fly after entering Ant City. Using the ant nest as an obstacle, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant dodged left and right, flitting through the air swiftly as it got closer and closer to the strange ant nest in the middle.


    A black-winged flying ant charged forward, but the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was no longer capable of dodging. The blood-colored avatar struck out with Ashen Palm and struck the black-winged flying ant''s head. As though it had been struck dumb, it began flying in random directions before plummeting to the ground.


    Zhou Wen didn''t use any other Primordial Energy Skills as their expenditure was too high, allowing him to only use them twice. Only Ashen Palm used a relatively lower amount of Primordial Energy. With Zhou Wen''s natural speed of Primordial Energy recovery, he could barely use it for extended periods of time.


    However, that was only on the basis of occasional use. As the black-winged flying ants charging at him from his surroundings increased, Zhou Wen couldn''t even use his Ashen Palm.


    Seeing that he was about to be surrounded by the black-winged flying ants, Zhou Wen looked at the distance between the blood-colored avatar and the ant nest. Gritting his teeth, he leaped from the back of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and charged towards a black-winged flying ant. He took the opportunity to use Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to rush to the top of an ant nest by the side. He then used the momentum to rush straight to the highest spot where the nest was glowing with a golden halo.


    In the nest behind him, several ants were leaping into the air in a bid to strike the blood-colored avatar. Thankfully, they were wingless red-armored ants. The blood-colored avatar circled the sky with the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, causing the red-armored ants to miss and fall to the ground.


    When the blood-colored avatar used the momentum to slide towards the golden ant nest, two black-winged flying ants rushed over from both sides.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant had already been surrounded by a group of black-winged flying ants. Its wings had been ripped apart and it was being eaten. There was no way it could help him again.


    The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill was only a movement technique and not a flight technique. As Zhou Wen''s strength had reached its limit and without anything to push off from, there was no way he could dodge the two black-winged flying ants'' attack.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen thought of something. A green beam of light was summoned from the blood-colored avatar''s palm, transforming into a little fairy sitting on a banana leaf.


    Before the fairy could see what was happening, the blood-colored avatar stepped on her banana leaf and leaped into the air again. However, the little fairy, along with the banana leaf, fell to the ground.


    It was not easy for the little fairy to regain control of the banana leaf. Her ashen face was filled with anger. She pointed at the blood-colored avatar in the sky and yelled something.


    With this step, the blood-colored avatar finally managed to dodge the pounce of the two black-winged ants. Like a cannonball, it slammed into the shimmering golden ant nest.


    Bam!


    The ant nest wasn''t as solid as Zhou Wen imagined. He had actually managed to open a huge hole as the blood-colored avatar rolled in with the mud walls.


    The scene in the nest left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback. That so-called golden light wasn''t treasure.


    The bottom half of the nest was filled with golden liquid, one that was sticky like glue.


    Zhou Wen remembered hearing from others that some kinds of ants made honey like bees. Furthermore, these ants that could make honey were typically terrifying poison ants.


    However, the honey they made was a tonic that was nourishing and even had medicinal value.


    Of course, this was all hearsay. Zhou Wen was unsure of its authenticity, but the golden liquid in the nest seemed to be ant honey no matter how one looked at it.


    After the blood-colored avatar entered the nest, it fell into a golden liquid. Immediately, it felt like it had fallen into a quagmire, so the more it struggled, the deeper it sank.


    However, after the blood-colored avatar''s mouth was stained with the golden liquid, he felt a sweet fragrance entering his mouth. It made Zhou Wen even more certain that it was the legendary ant honey.


    ''Consumed Golden Ant Honey, Primordial Energy+1.'' A notification notification popped up on his phone screen. It left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback before he became ecstatic.


    Just as he was about to control the blood-colored avatar to drink a few mouthfuls, he suddenly heard an ear-piercing scream. When he looked up, he saw a flying ant that looked like it was cast from gold. It angrily flew down from the top of the nest and was as fast as a golden phantom.


    Zhou Wen was only able to see the Golden Flying Ant''s appearance when the blood-colored avatar was slain by a golden beam of light. Its head and body were separated.


    However, the last thing he saw was something like a cocoon floating in thin air in the upper half of the nest. It was snow-white and crystalline, and he had no idea what it was.


    Without even having the time to look at it, the phone screen went black.


    Ants seem to be born from eggs, right? That thing was clearly a cocoon formed from thin silk. Could it be that ants in a dimensional dimension can reproduce? Zhou Wen found it odd. The aura from the cocoon seemed somewhat different from the Golden Flying Ant.

 141 Strange Siblings

    Just as Zhou Wen was about to drip his blood to revive and continue fighting, he suddenly heard a voice coming from afar. The sound became clearer as though someone was walking over.


    \"Brother, is that thing really inside Tiger Cage Pass?\" A woman''s voice sounded. Although it wasn''t loud and was rather far away, Zhou Wen could still hear it clearly with Truth Listener''s ability.


    \"The most likely place is Tiger Cage Pass.\" A man''s voice rang out.


    \"If that thing is really inside Tiger Cage Pass, with our abilities, we won''t be able to rush in at all. I''m afraid we''ve made a wasted trip,\" the woman added.


    \"Not necessarily,\" the man said with a laugh.


    \"The one in Tiger Cage Pass is not the usual person at the Epic stage. I''m afraid we won''t even be able to catch an arrow from him, so how can we rush in?\" the woman said.


    \"Blindly charging in will definitely not work. However, I do know of a method that can allow us to enter.\" The man paused before continuing, \"There are three mutated Demonized Generals like Fist, Paper, and Blade in Tiger Cage Pass. If we can gather all three Demonized Generals'' skills, we can use them to get past that arrow. When the time comes, as long as we can get close enough to Tiger Cage Pass, we can enter it through that secret tunnel.\"


    \"There aren''t many mutated Demonized Generals to begin with. It''s easier said than done to have one drop with all three skills,\" said the woman.


    \"Let''s take it slow. After all, we still have to stay at Sunset College for two years. If we are lucky, we might be able to gather the three Primordial Energy Skills,\" the man said.


    Zhou Wen was lying in the broken-down tank and heard their conversation clearly. The duo talked as they walked and soon, they had gone some distance without discovering Zhou Wen.


    Those two must be Wu Jun and Wu Nan who were in the top ten, right? They actually know so much about Tiger Cage Pass and some secret tunnel? What''s the thing they were talking about? Zhou Wen could easily recognize them with Truth Listener''s ability.


    However, the siblings'' behavior was somewhat odd.


    However, none of this had anything to do with Zhou Wen. He continued to lay in the tank and grind away. He still wanted to enter the Golden Flying Ant''s nest to drink a few mouthfuls of the ant honey.


    He had only taken a sip due to his lack of preparation the last time. Next time he felt that he would be able to fill his stomach.


    However, through a great ordeal, when Zhou Wen finally arrived in front of the nest at the highest point, he saw a golden beam flash before he could enter. The golden flying ant charged out of the nest and killed the blood-colored avatar outside without giving him a chance to enter.


    Zhou Wen refused to give up and tried again, but the result was the same. Without even having the chance to enter the nest, he was killed by the Golden Flying Ant.


    How can this be? Logically speaking, the game''s program should be fixed. The first time I went there, the Golden Flying Ant was in the nest. It only took action after I rushed in. Why did it come out before the blood-colored avatar entered the nest during the second and third time? Zhou Wen felt depressed.


    Drinking the Golden Ant Honey seemed hopeless, so all Zhou Wen could do was grind the other dungeons.


    While grinding, Zhou Wen also headed to Myriad Buddha Cave to see if there were any Three-Eyed Golden Warriors.


    There were Three-Eyed Golden Warriors, but they spawned at different locations every time which meant that it took Zhou Wen some time to find them.


    The Mutated Demonized General led the way on a horse, blasting through the horde of Golden Warriors. This made Zhou Wen''s progress speed much faster.


    After finding a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, the Mutated Demonized General clashed head-on with it but failed to gain much of an advantage. However, it wasn''t placed at a disadvantage either.


    The clash between the Golden Palm and Astral Fist was like a collision between Mars and Earth. The air blasts that produced were enough to send the Golden Warriors by the side flying.


    Although the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was powerful, its Speed and means of attack were still inferior to the Mutated Demonized General.


    Zhou Wen used Astral Suction Palm to help the Mutated Demonized General to kill the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, which ended up dropping an 18-valued Constitution Crystal, raising Zhou Wen''s Constitution to 18 points.


    Time passed as Zhou Wen grinded away, living a very regular lifestyle. He alternated between Tiger Cage Pass and Lotus Flower Cave on a daily basis.


    Wang Fei was greatly gratified when she learned how hardworking Zhou Wen was. However, unbeknownst to her, Zhou Wen only found a place to game after entering the dimensional zones.


    \"Who''s that boy? Why haven''t I seen him before? He''s so handsome!\" A few girls were walking in the school when they suddenly saw a boy walking over. After taking a closer look at his face, their eyes lit up.


    \"Really? Our school actually has such a handsome guy. Why didn''t we notice him in the past?\" The girl''s eyes were almost fixed on him.


    In their eyes, that boy was flawless from head to toe. His entire being seemed to be glowing.


    When the boy saw them looking at him, he smiled at them. The girls'' hearts pounded wildly and they lowered their heads shyly, not daring to look at him again.


    By the time they lifted their heads again, the boy had already disappeared.


    \"Damn it, I should have asked for his number just now.\" A girl stamped her feet in regret.


    \"The door isn''t locked. Come in.\" Wei Ge was clearing some student council work when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.


    The door was pushed open, but Wei Ge felt that something was amiss. It was as if the person was not a member of the student council, so he looked up.


    Upon seeing this, Wei Ge felt a sense of animosity.


    The boy in front of him was his idea of the perfect man. He was elegant, mature, reliable, and had the aura of a nobleman. No one could ignore his existence with him merely standing there. It was as though he was the center of the world.


    With just a glance, Wei Ge had already added the boy to the list of his opponents.


    The boy reached out his hand and, in a friendly manner, said, \"Hello, I''m John.\"


    \"So it''s John. I''m the student council president of Sunset College, Wei Ge. I''ve already received notice from the school that I''ll be responsible for your daily life while you''re studying here.\" Wei Ge stood up and reached out to shake John''s hand as their gaze met.


    John''s gaze was as pure as a silent sea, without any ripples.


    When their hands held each other, Wei Ge smiled as he secretly exerted strength in his palm. He wanted to test John''s strength.


    Wei Ge had long heard that John had the title of Saint in the West district¡ªhe was a famous genius in the West district.


    Wei Ge didn''t think that he would be any worse than John, but after his hand gradually tightened, his expression changed.


    No matter how much Wei Ge exerted his strength, nothing happened to John''s palm. It remained warm and firm, as though strength couldn''t affect it at all. Even his expression was as gentle as ever.


    Wei Ge felt that John was like an unfathomable ocean. No one knew how terrifying it was beneath the calm.

 142 Saint John

    \"John, welcome to Sunset College for your studies. I''ll take you to the dormitory first.\" Wei Ge retracted his hand as his expression was a mixture of emotions.


    \"Then I''ll have to trouble you,\" John said with a smile, \"I heard that Sunset College produced a genius this year. A freshman who has yet to advance to the Legendary stage has managed to enter the top ten of the comprehensive test.\"


    Wei Ge was a shrewd person. Upon hearing John''s words, he immediately had a guess. Could it be that this John has a grudge with Zhou Wen?


    Although he had such thoughts in mind, Wei Ge said, \"I do indeed have such a junior. His talent and character are excellent.\"


    \"I heard his name is Zhou Wen?\" John asked again.


    \"That''s right. Do you know him?\" Wei Ge asked.


    \"I don''t know him. I heard that Sunset College has produced such a genius, so I''m looking forward to it. If there''s a chance, I hope I can spar with him.\" John made his words very clear.


    This only affirmed Wei Ge''s conjecture, but he avoided answering. He only smiled and said, \"I''ll take you to the dormitory first. The school will arrange everything else.\"


    John nodded with a calm expression. He didn''t say anything further and instead chatted with Wei Ge about the glorious history and interesting news of Sunset College.


    News of John coming to Sunset College quickly spread. Even if the school didn''t promote him, a tall, handsome, and outstanding student like John would easily attract attention once he appeared on campus.


    \"It''s as the rumors say, John is indeed a genius with both looks and strength. The reputation of a saint is true.\"


    \"What do you mean ''as the rumors say''? You haven''t seen his strength at all, have you? Maybe he''s just a pretty boy.\"


    \"Generally, men who are good-looking can''t be too weak,\" said a girl.


    The students of Sunset College were discussing the genius student from the West district, especially the Cape family that had borne one of the six heroes. This gave him an even more mysterious halo.


    Many of the experts in the school hoped to battle John, but this was not something they could sort for themselves. They had to follow the arrangements of the school''s leaders.


    Sunset College had carefully selected a list of students to interact with John. There were five people, including Huang Ji, Wei Ge, Hui Haifeng, Wang Lu, and Feng Qiuyan.


    In consideration of Zhou Wen''s relationship with Liz, he wasn''t put on the list.


    When John saw the name list, he didn''t say anything. The corners of his mouth curled up and he revealed a rare smile.


    Zhou Wen had also heard the news of John''s arrival, but he didn''t take it to heart. With his present strength and his legendary Companion Beasts that possessed astonishing combat strength, it could be said that he wasn''t afraid of any cultivator of the same level. If John really wanted to fight him, he wouldn''t back down.


    He continued persisting in his old ways by grinding daily. He obtained quite a number of dimensional crystals and Companion Beasts, and his attributes increased significantly. Apart from his Speed, the other attributes had increased to 18 points and his Speed was at 17 points.


    However, he didn''t obtain any better excellent-grade Companion Beasts. Most of them were used as food to feed Truth Listener and Banana Fairy. He attempted to fuse a small number of them, but all of them failed. The success rate of the fusion was frighteningly low.


    Providing plenty of food was clearly beneficial. After consuming a copious number of Legendary Companion Eggs, Banana Fairy finally began to evolve.


    Banana Fairy didn''t undergo much of a change when she reached the Legendary stage. Her body was still small and petite, and she didn''t grow up at all. Instead, the banana leaf she was sitting on had enlarged but was merely the size of a palm.


    Banana Fairy: Legendary (Evolvable)


    Life State: Great Yin Spirit Root.


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Primordial Energy: 21


    Talent Skill: Grand Yin Wind


    Companion Form: Fan


    Apart from possessing a Life Providence, her attributes had grown to the same level as Truth Listener''s. There were no changes in other aspects, with her only skill being Grand Yin Wind.


    The Great Yin Spirit Root seemed to have a certain augmentation effect on the Grand Yin Wind. Zhou Wen tested the power of the Grand Yin Wind in-game and with a gentle flap, he sent several black-winged flying ants flying tens of feet away. Furthermore, the wind caused their bodies to be covered in frost, to the point of nearly being frozen into ice sculptures and losing all their combat strength. They were so stiff that they curled into a ball and trembled.


    What a potent Grand Yin Wind. Unfortunately, I can only use it once. Zhou Wen realized that the Grand Yin Wind was completely uncontrollable. If he used it once, it would absorb all his Primordial Energy at once without leaving him a single drop.


    After advancing to the Legendary stage, Truth Listener and the Banana Fairy became restless. Zhou Wen often sensed their thoughts, hoping that he could release them.


    When there was no one around, Zhou Wen would release them to allow them to take a breather. Truth Listener was rather well-behaved. He crouched beside Zhou Wen and pricked up his four ears to listen to him. It was unknown what he was listening to.


    However, Banana Fairy wasn''t that well-behaved. She flew around like a fly on the banana leaf, her mouth smacking away, saying something completely indecipherable.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn''t have any other advantages but being sufficiently focused, no matter how noisy the tiny Banana Fairy was beside him, he didn''t seem to hear her. He continued gaming without being affected.


    Wang Fei was originally worried that John would cause trouble for Zhou Wen, but John didn''t seem to have any objections to the list of people. Nor did he mention Zhou Wen, as though he had no idea that Zhou Wen existed.


    In just three or four days after arriving at Sunset College, John received unanimous praise from the students, especially the female students. They almost thought John was their Prince Charming.


    During his sparring; John battled Wei Ge to a tie with his sword techniques, he tied with Hui Haifeng with his melee combat skills, his saber techniques were comparable to Feng Qiuyan''s, and his skills of alacrity were no weaker than Wang Lu''s.


    Apart from not really fighting Huang Ji, John and the other four top students of Sunset College were tied. Although they didn''t win, they didn''t lose either.


    However, many students believed that John was stronger because he had never used Holy Light Judgment, the Primordial Energy Skill he used to obtain the title of Saint.


    A Primordial Energy Skill like the Holy Light Judgment was not something that could be learned with a dimensional crystal. Before that, one had to possess a Covenant Royale physique of the Cape family¡ªone of the six heroes¡ªto absorb the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal needed to master the terrifying Primordial Energy Skill like Holy Light Judgment.


    In just a few days, John became synonymous with the words \"humility,\" \"elegance,\" \"nobility,\" and \"gentlemanly.\" Even Wei Ge, who was popular with female students, was overshadowed by John.

 143 Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces

    \"Zhou Wen, be careful. That John is terrifying,\" Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen with a heavy expression when he arrived at his dorm one night.


    \"What''s wrong?\" Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan in puzzlement.


    \"Don''t you find it strange? He definitely knows about you and Liz, but he hasn''t mentioned it in the past four days in school. Don''t you think this person is too sinister?\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Isn''t it better if he doesn''t mention it?\" Zhou Wen asked.


    \"Not mentioning it doesn''t mean he won''t cause trouble for you. Anyway, I think there''s something fishy. You have to be careful and don''t fall into his trap. By the way, it''s best you don''t agree to spar with him. Do you know what Wei Ge said about him?\" Li Xuan said.


    \"I don''t,\" Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    \"Unfathomable,\" Li Xuan said before continuing, \"Although Wei Ge''s character isn''t great, he''s still quite powerful. If even someone like him views John as unfathomable, it must mean that John''s strength is really terrifying. Unless necessary, it''s best not to fight him.\"


    \"Alright, I''ll remember that.\" Zhou Wen nodded in agreement.


    As long as John didn''t make trouble for him, he didn''t plan on fighting him.


    When it comes to fighting, how can it be more fun than killing monsters in games? It''s not like fighting people can drop equipment or pets, Zhou Wen thought.


    After sending Li Xuan off, Zhou Wen continued gaming while lying in bed. When Zhou Wen entered Myriad Buddha Cave again, he killed another Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and actually had a Companion Egg drop.


    My Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg has finally returned. Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly checked its attributes.


    Three-Eyed Golden Warrior: Legendary


    Life Providence: Golden Body


    Strength: 18


    Speed: 14


    Constitution: 18


    Primordial Energy: 17


    Talent Skill: Invulnerable Golden Body, Golden Palm, Golden Fiendtamer Fist.


    Companion Form: Golden Silk Soft Armor


    This Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was actually a rare Companion Beast with three skills. Furthermore, its attributes were even better than Li Xuan''s. It was basically maxed out.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Speed wasn''t fast to begin with, so 14 points was its limit. Li Xuan''s was only at 13, even slower than Zhou Wen''s. Its Strength and Primordial Energy were slightly lower than Zhou Wen''s, with only Constitution being equal.


    Although its attributes were inferior to his Demonized General, its Golden Body Life Providence made it hardier than the Demonized General. It was an excellent-grade meat shield pet.


    With the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior tanking any attacks up ahead, it gave Zhou Wen much more space to maneuver.


    As for the Golden Fiendtamer Fist, it seemed to be weaker than Golden Palm, but something was better than nothing.


    ¡­


    The Xuanwen Club was finally officially established. In order to celebrate the birth of the club, Li Xuan organized his first club activity and gathered all the members together. He planned on having a training event at a dimensional zone.


    Although Gu Dian was only a member in name, Li Xuan still sent him a message, hoping that he might participate.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan never expected him to join them, but to their surprise, Gu Dian actually came.


    \"Are you going to Dragon Gate Grotto''s Ancient Yang Cave?\" asked Gu Dian.


    \"That''s right. Shall we go together?\" Li Xuan said with a smile.


    \"Alright.\" Gu Dian nodded slightly before standing to the side without speaking to anyone.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had roughly understood his personality, so they didn''t mind. After getting Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong, the five of them set off towards Ancient Yang Cave at Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Ancient Yang Cave was considered one of the more famous caves in Dragon Gate Grotto. The famous ancient tablets from the Wei dynasty¡ªthe Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces¡ªconsisted of twenty items. And nineteen of them were in the Ancient Yang Cave.


    After it became a dimensional zone, the Dragon Gate Nineteen Pieces also underwent changes, giving birth to a Legendary creature, the Mounted Tablet Beast.


    Li Xuan''s organization of the club activity was to hunt the Mounted Tablet Beast together.


    Mounted Tablet Beasts looked extremely odd. It was a stone turtle that carried a stone tablet on its back. It moved very slowly, but its body was extremely hard. It was like a Golden Warrior, a Legendary creature that was extremely difficult to kill.


    The only difference was that no one liked to kill Golden Warriors. However, Mounted Tablet Beasts were popular for hunting because although it was difficult to kill, they dropped excellent Primordial Energy Skills. Furthermore, the drop rate was rather high.


    According to the differences in the words written on the tablet, there were a total of nineteen types. Every Mounted Tablet Beast had a special Primordial Energy Skill. There were nineteen types that could drop and each one had their own uses and was deeply loved by the students.


    As too many students hunted Mounted Tablet Beasts, the school had no choice but to limit entry into the Ancient Yang Cave. They had to have a permit to enter freely.


    After Li Xuan used some connections, he obtained the pass to Ancient Yang Cave and organized this event.


    There were too many small dungeons in Dragon Gate Grotto. Although Zhou Wen knew of the existence of Ancient Yang Cave, he had never been to it in-game.


    Originally he was not interested in the Cave, but he still had to participate in the club''s events. Hence, he went along with Li Xuan and company.


    The Buddha statues and Buddhist shrines in the Ancient Yang Cave were dazzling. Just as they entered, they saw a moving stone pillar. On careful look, it was a giant turtle carrying a stone tablet crawling on the ground.


    \"Let me repeat again. When killing the Mounted Tablet Beast, make sure not to touch the Buddha statues or the Buddhist shrines. Otherwise, no one can save you if something bad happens,\" Li Xuan exhorted again.


    \"Brother Li, don''t worry. We know the rules. We guarantee that we won''t break them,\" Tian Xiangdong said as he patted his chest.


    \"That''s good. After all, there''s not much danger in Ancient Yang Cave. The Mounted Tablet Beast crawls very slowly. As long as you don''t court death, it probably won''t be able to harm you. Everyone split up and do whatever you need to do. You can all find Mounted Tablet Beasts for yourselves.\" Li Xuan immediately began as he charged towards the Mounted Tablet Beast.


    Gu Dian and Fang Ruoxi went in different directions to search for the Mounted Tablet Beasts hidden in the Ancient Yang Cave.


    However, Zhou Wen stood rooted to the ground as he watched Li Xuan attack the Mounted Tablet Beast. At the same time, he looked at the stone tablet text on the back of the Mounted Tablet Beast.


    The words on the tablet danced and moved in a strange way. The strokes were full, straight, and filled with spirituality. It had an unbound beauty.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know calligraphy, but when he saw the words on the tablet, he thought of the mysterious stone monuments he had seen.


    The stone tablet on the back of the Mounted Tablet Beast couldn''t match the mysterious stone monuments Zhou Wen had seen. Nor did it have any mysterious power lingering on. It was likely something ordinary.


    However, after reading through the information regarding Ancient Yang Cave, Zhou Wen''s heart stirred. The species of the Mounted Tablet Beast corresponds to the Dragon Gate Nineteen Pieces. Does that mean that at the last piece of the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces, there''s a corresponding dimensional creature and Primordial Energy Skill? But why haven''t I heard of any other Mounted Tablet Beasts outside the Ancient Yang Cave?


    Zhou Wen checked the information regarding the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces and discovered that nineteen of them were in Ancient Yang Cave. Only one piece was located outside Old Dragon Cave at Cixiang Kiln.


    Upon seeing this, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall something. Wang Lu had previously mentioned that one could hear a dragon''s roar near Old Dragon Cave and that there was a treasure halo that appeared at night. Apparently, it was close to Cixiang Kiln.

 144 Rising Sun Monumen

    It killed Wei Ge to meet John again, but he had no choice but to take him around to experience campus life at Sunset College.


    In the past, Wei Ge had been the center of attention wherever he went. He had been the target of all the girls'' passionate gazes. But with John by his side, Wei Ge felt as if his brilliance had been completely overshadowed.


    He felt it now as they were touring the campus. There was a large group of girls following them, however, the girls who used to only have eyes for him were now staring unblinkingly at John. Their eyes were almost in the shapes of hearts.


    \"Is this Sunset College''s Rising Sun Monument?\" John stood in front of a monument made of white jade and stared at the rows of names on it.


    \"That''s right. This is the Rising Sun Monument. The names of the top ten students of each year''s comprehensive test are engraved on it as a way to inspire future students. If they make it onto the rankings several times, there will be a star-shaped mark beside their names. The number of stars tells you how many times the student has had their name appear on the Rising Sun Monument while schooling,\" said Wei Ge proudly.


    He had been on the rankings ever since he was in his sophomore year. Together with the current year, he had already been on the rankings twice. He was bound to appear on the rankings next year, in his final year.


    Only a small group of elites in Sunset College attained such rankings for three consecutive years. This was an illustrious result that one could be proud of.


    \"President Wei''s cultivation is superb and his sword skills are peerless. I guess you definitely make it onto the rankings?\" John asked with a smile.


    \"I was lucky enough to get on the rankings twice.\" Wei Ge pointed at his name on the monument.


    \"Hui Haifeng, Feng Qiuyan, and Wang Lu are both highly talented, so they should be on this list, right?\" John asked again.


    \"Indeed. They were in the top ten in the comprehensive test this year.\" Wei Ge pointed them out one by one, but he could already feel that something was amiss.


    \"Eh, that''s weird.\" John looked at the Sun Rise Monument and suddenly exclaimed in surprise.


    Wei Ge had already realized something as he shot a look at John. However, he didn''t follow up on the topic, as if he hadn''t heard John''s words of surprise.


    Although Wei Ge didn''t respond, one of the girls following them asked, \"What''s so strange, John?\"


    Wei Ge wanted nothing more than to give the girl a slap, thinking that this woman was truly stupid.


    John pointed at the name on the monument and said, \"President Wei, you and the others are all elite talents, being able to advance to the Legendary stage before reaching twenty. It''s not surprising that you could make the rankings. However, on this entire Rising Sun Monument, other than one person, all of them are at the Legendary stage. Why is this person''s name on it despite being only at the Mortal stage?\"


    \"The person you''re talking about is Zhou Wen, right? Although he is only at the Mortal stage, his strength is indeed astonishing. He obtained the stunning results of three perfect scores and one short of perfect at nine during the comprehensive test. He''s indeed a genius, so it''s not surprising that he made the rankings,\" the girl from before added.


    John pulled up the corners of his mouth and looked at Zhou Wen''s name on the monument. \"I never expected such a genius to exist in this world. To be able to enter the top ten of Sunset College''s comprehensive test at the Mortal stage makes him a truly rare sight. Since I''m here at Sunset College, I have to see him for myself. Otherwise, wouldn''t this be a longing regret?\"


    Wei Ge''s expression changed slightly before it immediately reverted to its original state. He looked at John and said, \"Zhou Wen is indeed a genius. However, he''s still at the Mortal stage. It''s probably not appropriate for you to spar with him, right?\"


    Although Wei Ge didn''t have a good impression of Zhou Wen, as the student council president of Sunset College, he still stood in the position of upholding the school''s reputation.


    John said indifferently, \"President Wei, that''s not right. There were many experts at Sunset College''s comprehensive test. Even the top twenty-three are probably Legendary experts. For a Mortal stage to be able to defeat so many Legendary experts, and for you, President Wei, Feng Qiuyan, and company, to be similarly ranked in the top ten, isn''t it odd that you''re now telling me that he doesn''t have the ability to fight someone at the Legendary stage? Could it be that Zhou Wen''s results weren''t obtained by his strength alone? If that''s the case, I suggest that his name be promptly removed from the Rising Sun Monument, lest it mars the reputation of Sunset College. Those not in the know might even come to the impression that students of Sunset College only know how to cheat.\"


    Wei Ge''s expression changed as he replied firmly, \"Zhou Wen''s results are real. Students from Sunset College never cheat.\"


    \"In that case, I would like to see how this Mortal stage genius managed to enter the top ten of the comprehensive test¡­\" John said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was gaming on his bed when he suddenly heard his phone ring. When he saw that it was a call from Li Xuan, he chose to answer.


    \"Old Zhou, bad news. That bastard John is too sinister.\" Li Xuan''s resentful voice sounded.


    \"Calm down. What happened? Tell me slowly.\" Zhou Wen wasn''t flustered at all.


    \"That bastard is standing in front of the Rising Sun Monument¡­\" Li Xuan recounted what had happened and continued anxiously, \"This matter has blown up quite a bit. The school doesn''t have a way out, so this matter probably won''t be easy to settle.\"


    \"Got it.\" When Zhou Wen heard the doorbell ring, he said to Li Xuan, \"Someone''s pressing the doorbell. It might be Ms. Wang Fei. I''ll talk to you later.\"


    \"What do you plan on doing?\" Li Xuan asked again.


    \"What else can I do if others come knocking at my door?\" Zhou Wen hung up after saying that.


    Opening the door, it was indeed Wang Fei. She looked at Zhou Wen and sighed. \"Zhou Wen¡­\"


    Just as she said that, Zhou Wen cut her off. \"Ms. Wang, I can fight. Take me there.\"


    Wang Fei was stunned. Seeing Zhou Wen''s indifferent expression, as though he had already made a decision, she still asked, \"Have you decided?\"


    \"Yes, don''t worry. Even if I can''t win, I definitely won''t embarrass the school,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Just do your best.\" Wang Fei didn''t believe that Zhou Wen could defeat John. If possible, she would rather Zhou Wen not fight.


    However, the matter had blown up so much that it might even affect the reputation of Sunset College. Regardless of whether it was victory or defeat, Zhou Wen needed to step forward to battle John.


    The school held no hopes of Zhou Wen defeating John. They only hoped that he wouldn''t lose too terribly so that they could have a chance of spinning it in a better light.


    Wang Fei didn''t wish for Zhou Wen to fight, afraid that the positive attitude he had recently established would crumble from the beating.


    John''s family background was better than An Jing''s. His achievements were not much worse than An Jing''s, and might even be better.


    Back then, Zhou Wen didn''t even manage to withstand a single blow from An Jing. This time, the outcome wasn''t optimistic either.

 145 Ten Minutes

    \"Since you are doubting the standards of our Sunset College students, I''ll fight you.\" A cold voice was heard in front of the Rising Sun Monument. Everyone turned their heads and saw the deadpan An Jing approach John.


    John said with a smile, \"Miss An, I believe you are mistaken. I''m not doubting Sunset College''s teaching ability or strength of its students. I''m very respectful to students like President Wei, Hui Haifeng, Feng Qiuyan, Wang Lu, and you, Miss An. All of you are truly capable students. As for Zhou Wen, I was originally very respectful to him. I wanted to get to know this rare genius, but your attitude has left me somewhat puzzled. This matter had nothing to do with me to begin with, but since I''m an exchange student here at Sunset College, I''m considered part of it during this period of time. I don''t wish for the college''s reputation to be sullied.\"


    \"You don''t dare to fight me?\" She stared at John quietly.


    John continued with a smile. \"Miss An, are you upholding Zhou Wen''s honor or Sunset College''s? Could it be that this Zhou Wen is truly lacking in strength and cheated to obtain a spot that should have belonged to another student?\"


    John''s doubts caused the students of Sunset College who were watching to whisper amongst themselves. Clearly, everyone became suspicious.


    Previously, when Zhou Wen obtained the spot, there were already people who suspected him. However, there was no evidence back then, so no one mentioned it. Now that John mentioned it, the previous suspicions were magnified.


    \"There''s absolutely no such thing. Our Sunset College categorically forbids cheating. Once they are discovered, they are immediately expelled,\" an official from the college hurriedly explained. However, no matter what he said, he was unable to dispel the suspicions of those students.


    \"Unless Zhou Wen comes out to fight me to prove to everyone that he isn''t any worse than the other students in the top ten, it''s hardly convincing,\" John said with a smile.


    \"How shall it be proven? By defeating you?\" An Jing was about to say something when she suddenly heard a voice.


    Everyone turned their heads and saw Zhou Wen walk over and stand in front of the Rising Sun Monument.


    \"It might be a little too harsh on you to talk about defeating me. Weapons or empty-handed, strength, speed, and endurance, or even if it''s a battle of Companion Beasts, you can choose any one type. As long as you can last ten minutes without being defeated, it''s your win.\" John was forcing Zhou Wen to have no way out.


    \"That bastard John is so sinister,\" Li Xuan cursed under his breath.


    Now, he finally understood why John hadn''t directly challenged Zhou Wen when he first came to the college. His intentions were extremely sinister.


    If Zhou Wen were to fight John as one of the students who interacted with him in the beginning, he could just admit defeat if he wasn''t his match.


    But now that things had reached this stage, if Zhou Wen couldn''t hold on for more than ten minutes, not only would Zhou Wen lose face, but even Sunset College''s reputation would be tarnished.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had to persist for ten minutes regardless. And in these ten minutes, John could do whatever he wanted.


    John definitely wouldn''t dare kill Zhou Wen at Sunset College, but he could teach him a lesson that he would never forget.


    An Jing naturally saw through John''s intentions and said to Zhou Wen, \"Zhou Wen, you don''t need to prove anything to others.\"


    \"Since you are so lacking in confidence, how about this? I won''t do a thing. As long as you can last ten minutes without being defeated in front of one of my Companion Beasts, I''ll count it as you winning. How can a top ten student of Sunset College''s comprehensive test not be able to complete such a simple matter?\" John looked at Zhou Wen mockingly.


    \"Ten minutes?\" Zhou Wen asked John.


    \"That''s right. Just ten minutes.\" John couldn''t help but smile when he saw Zhou Wen about to agree.


    \"Ten minutes is too long.\" Zhou Wen shook his head.


    \"Oh, then how long do you think you can last?\" John looked at Zhou Wen with piqued interest. It was beyond his expectations that Zhou Wen was actually showing signs of weakness in front of so many people.


    \"One minute.\" Zhou Wen thought seriously before giving a number.


    With Zhou Wen''s words, the surrounding Sunset College students felt ashamed. After all, Zhou Wen was in the top ten of the comprehensive test, so for him to admit that he could only last a minute in front of John''s Companion Beast was a disgrace to Sunset College.


    \"A minute is indeed short, but since you have spoken, let''s do it,\" John said with a smile that had no mirth in it.


    John thought to himself, Even if it''s only a minute, I can still cripple you. How dare you treat my sister that way. I will definitely settle this score with you.


    There were special combat grounds in the school. Under the guidance of the college staff, the two of them arrived at the venue.


    This matter had long spread across Sunset College. Many students had come to watch, but there were very few counselors. Apart from Wang Fei and a few other counselors and staff who maintained order at the scene, there was basically no sight of the college''s upper management.


    The college''s upper management could roughly guess how Zhou Wen had entered the top ten. However, they didn''t hold it against him because of the An family. From their point of view, Zhou Wen was bound to lose to John in combat, so no one wanted to embarrass themselves here.


    \"Will Zhou Wen be alright?\" Fang Ruoxi asked worriedly.


    \"Old Zhou will definitely be fine if it''s just a minute, but¡­\" Li Xuan said.


    \"But what?\" Fang Ruoxi asked.


    \"I have a nagging feeling that things aren''t that simple. Old Zhou''s personality seems mild and uncompetitive, but he''s a very proud person deep down. He shouldn''t¡­\" Li Xuan didn''t continue.


    When Li Xuan saw Feng Qiuyan sitting by the side, he asked, \"Little Feng, you fought with John. What are your thoughts?\"


    \"John is very strong, a minute will be very difficult,\" Feng Qiuyan said.


    Li Xuan, Fang Ruoxi, and Tian Xiangdong were alarmed. Tian Xiangdong said in disbelief, \"Is John so strong that Zhou Wen won''t even last a minute?\"


    Feng Qiuyan said calmly, \"It''s indeed difficult to defeat John in a minute, but Coach might have his own ideas.\"


    Tian Xiangdong''s and Li Xuan''s mouths widened so much that an egg could be stuffed into them. They looked at Feng Qiuyan like he was an alien.


    \"Did I hear wrongly just now? Are you saying that Zhou Wen wants to defeat John in a minute? Is that what Zhou Wen meant by a minute?\" Tian Xiangdong felt his mind become a mess.


    However, Li Xuan slapped his thigh. \"I knew it. How could Old Zhou be so cowardly? That''s right, that must be the case.\"


    As the few of them spoke, John had already summoned his Companion Beast. Many of the onlookers shouted its name when they saw it.

 146 One Minute Is Too Long

    \"Knight of the Round Table!\" Li Xuan cried out softly when he saw John summon his Companion Beast.


    Among the many dimensional zones in the West district, Camelot was undoubtedly one of the most famous.


    There was only one dimensional creature in Camelot¡ªthe legendary Knights of the Round Table. They were rare in number, and each one of them had different abilities.


    To be able to obtain a Knight of the Round Table Companion Beast was like a dream to Legendary cultivators in the West district.


    In the West district, a Knight of the Round Table Companion Beast was synonymous with being invincible at the Legendary stage. It was not only because they were powerful, but also because of another important reason: Other than a Knight of the Round Table''s own abilities, they were also one of the few Companion Beasts who could be augmented by their owner''s strength.


    The more powerful the person with a Knight of the Round Table was, the more it boosted the Knight. This made him almost invincible at the Legendary stage.


    There was a very famous West district expert who had used Galahad of the Knights of the Round Table to be unparalleled in Companion Beast combat in the West district.


    John''s Knight was riding a black horse, carrying a steel spear that made him look extremely majestic. He wore a medal signifying his status as a knight of the Round Table.


    \"That''s Holy Spear Knight of the Knights of the Round Table. Legend has it that he corresponds to the Round Table knight, Lamorak. He''s one of the three most powerful Round Table knights. His usage of spears is nearly invincible. He once defeated thirty knights single-handedly and is an extremely powerful Legendary Companion Beast. With John''s augmentation of the Round Table knight, it wouldn''t be too much to say that he''s one of the strongest Companion Beasts at the Legendary stage.\" Wang Lu identified the Round Table knight''s origins.


    \"Is Zhou Wen alright?\" Li Xuan began to worry. It wouldn''t be easy for Zhou Wen to defeat such a powerful Companion Beast in a minute.


    Wang Fei was also astonished when she saw the Holy Spear Knight.


    There were very few dimensional creatures in Camelot, so the number of Companion Beasts produced was limited. Every Round Table knight''s owner was very famous, so it was unexpected for John to have one.


    However, Round Table knights were usually one of a kind. She had never heard of two Round Table knights appearing at the same time. According to what she knew, the Holy Spear Knight originally belonged to an Epic expert in the West district, but now, it was appearing with John.


    Although Sunset College also produced knight-type Companion Beasts in the dimensional zones, they were naturally inferior to the world-renowned Knights of the Round Table.


    John looked at Zhou Wen and said, \"This is my Companion Beast Holy Spear Knight. He only has one active Primordial Energy Skill¡ªSpear of the Holy Steed, but the might of this spear is nearly invincible amongst its peers. However, since you are one of the top ten students at Sunset College, it shouldn''t be difficult for you to last a minute under his spear, right?\"


    \"Are¡­ are you ready?\" John narrowed his eyes and asked Zhou Wen.


    \"I''ll be done soon.\" Zhou Wen had planned on using the banana fan to just blow away John''s Companion Beast, but after seeing the Holy Spear Knight, he dispelled the thought.


    As he spoke, Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. A crimson beam of light flew out, materializing in front of him to form a red-armored knight on a red horse. It was a mighty knight that resembled a devil.


    \"A Demonized General¡­ No¡­ It''s not an ordinary Demonized General. It''s a word-engraved Demonized General¡­ Why is the word engraved on its helmet a little odd¡­?\" The students from Sunset College immediately recognized the Mutated Demonized General and began stirring.


    Even Wang Fei was somewhat surprised. Zhou Wen actually obtained a word-engraved Demonized General as a Companion Beast? Isn''t his luck too good? How many days has it been since he obtained the Tiger Cage Pass''s entry pass? He actually managed to have a Mutated Demonized General''s Companion Egg drop. Furthermore, that word-engraved Demonized General is a little odd. Why isn''t the helmet engraved with Blade, Paper, Fist, but Demon?


    \"F*ck, Old Zhou is amazing. He managed to obtain a Mutated Demonized General''s Companion Egg without anyone knowing. However, can itl beat a Holy Spear Knight?\" Li Xuan said.


    \"I don''t know. In theory, Holy Spear Knight should be stronger. After all, he can be augmented by his owner''s power. In contrast, the Mutated Demonized General doesn''t have this ability. He can only rely on himself,\" said Wang Lu in thought.


    \"I''m ready now,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"A knight versus a knight? That''s interesting. I''ll show you what a real knight is.\" John proudly raised his finger and gently swiped it. \"The time starts now.\"


    As though he had received an emperor''s order, the Holy Spear Knight lifted up his spear and launched an attack at Zhou Wen and the Mutated Demonized General.


    As the charge increased in speed, a terrifying spear beam emitted from the Holy Spear Knight''s spear. The spear beam pierced through the air, and formed a swirl that was visible to the naked eye. It was like a hurricane that effused a terrifying holy luster that charged at the Mutated Demonized General.


    Zhou Wen didn''t make any moves as the Mutated Demonized General charged out as well. The red-armored spear was like a red flame.


    The white and red horses charged forward at the same time, like two hurricanes sweeping through the battlefield, hitting each other in an instant.


    Bam!


    The red spear clashed with the holy spear. The terrifying power tore through the air, creating a piercing explosion.


    This strike was actually a tie. John couldn''t help but frown slightly as he couldn''t accept the outcome.


    The Holy Spear Knight failed to gain the upper hand despite being augmented by his powers. It left him somewhat astonished by the power of the Mutated Demonized General.


    The spectating students were also excited. The Mutated Demonized General was actually on par with the famous Knight of the Round Table. It made them yearn for one and wished that they could head over to Tiger Cage Pass to have a Mutated Demonized General''s Companion Egg drop.


    However, just as everyone thought that the clash had ended, the Mutated Demonized General''s other hand clenched into a fist and bombarded the Holy Spear Knight.


    Bam!


    Under everyone''s shocked gaze, the Holy Spear Knight''s body was sent flying from the horse''s back. He flew more than ten meters before landing on the ground. The knight lost grip of his spear as it fell far away. The heavy armor on his chest also cracked, while his helmet rolled to the side.


    Before the Holy Spear Knight could stand up again, the Mutated Demonized General on the horse that resembled a devil, struck out with another palm. A blood-red saber beam slashed through the air, chopping off the Holy Spear Knight''s head.


    Everything happened in the blink of an eye, so fast that everyone stared in shock. Even John himself had yet to react. His Holy Spear Knight had been killed the moment the face-off began.


    \"One minute¡­ From the looks of it, it''s still too long¡­\" Zhou Wen looked at the Holy Spear Knight''s corpse and spoke without expression.

 147 Rebellious Knigh

    \"What''s that? Was I seeing things? That Mutated Demonized General seems to have used two Primordial Energy Skills of fist and blade at the same time, am I right? Is there such a Demonized General?\" A student from Sunset College stared at the scene with widened eyes.


    \"Haha, what Knight of the Round Table. He''s far inferior to our Demonized General.\"


    \"Ten minutes was indeed too long. A minute was too long as well. What Zhou Wen said was right. Haha.\"


    \"I knew it. How could someone from Sunset College cheat? Zhou Wen''s results must be real. With this Companion Beast, he''s qualified to be in the top ten.\"


    \"Isn''t Zhou Wen at the Mortal stage? Can a Mortal stage use a Legendary Companion Beast?\"


    As the students were in a flurry of discussion, Wang Fei wore an odd look as well. What''s going on with that Demonized General? It has both fist and blade techniques. Is this another mutation of the Mutated Demonized General?


    \"Old Zhou, amazing. The Mutated Demonized General is truly powerful,\" Li Xuan said with a laugh.


    John''s eyes narrowed as he stared at Zhou Wen and said slowly, \"Sunset College is indeed worthy of its reputation. I''ve underestimated you. I lost just now. You have the right to fight me. Do you dare fight me seriously in battle?\"


    \"Tch, I thought a saint from the West district would be impressive. So they are just people who can''t afford to lose,\" Li Xuan curled his lips and said disdainfully.


    \"John, you''ve already lost,\" An Jing said coldly.


    John remained unmoved as he continued staring at Zhou Wen. \"Are you afraid of accepting the real challenge?\"


    \"You''ve already lost. I''m not interested in people who have been previously defeated,\" Zhou Wen said calmly before turning to leave.


    John''s expression turned ugly as he clenched his fists tightly and stared intently at Zhou Wen''s back. \"Do you dare to fight me with the Cape family''s honor on the line as well as this Rebellious Knight Companion Egg?\"


    Those who had heard of the name Rebellious Knight were alarmed. Even Zhou Wen stopped in his tracks and turned to look at John.


    \"The Rebellious Knight you mentioned is the one that''s strongest among the Knights of the Round Table?\" Zhou Wen asked.


    \"That''s right. The most powerful Knight of the Round Table¡ªLancelot. If you can defeat me, you can have him.\" John took out a Companion Egg.


    The egg emitted resplendent holy light and the flawless shell that resembled jade had the marks of a sword and shield.


    Zhou Wen stared at the Companion Egg and was truly tempted.


    Lancelot was known as the strongest Round Table knight, but it was also because of his existence that it fractured the Knights of the Round Table and the legend of King Arthur.


    He was somewhat similar to a General Lu Bu in the history of East district. They were all tragedies that were a result of a woman and eventually ended a great legend.


    Besides other things, Lancelot was indeed an invincible Round Table knight of that era. If the Rebellious Knight really corresponded to Lancelot, then it was likely to be even stronger than the Holy Spear Knight that John had used.


    Zhou Wen didn''t doubt the authenticity of the Rebellious Knight Companion Egg. The Cape family was one of the Six League Heroes'' family clans, so for John to dare say such things about betting on the Cape''s family''s honor, there was no need to use a fake Legendary Companion Egg to ruin the reputation of the family.


    \"Since you are betting with Rebellious Knight, I can give you a chance. However, victory and defeat require a clear definition. You can''t just let me kill you here, can you?\" Zhou Wen spoke very seriously.


    When people heard this, they felt like Zhou Wen was looking down on John, as though he was saying that John would lose without a doubt and that he would go back on his word when he lost.


    John''s eyes twitched a few times, but he suppressed the anger in his heart.


    He had paid a heavy price for underestimating Zhou Wen. Now, he needed to fight him again. He believed that it was easy for him to defeat him with his strength. A real battle wasn''t as simple as relying on a powerful Companion Beast. John was confident that he could repress Zhou Wen and his Companion Beast.


    Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself down and maintain his usual composure. He took out a pen and drew a circle on his chest.


    \"It''s your victory as long as you can touch this area,\" John said as he pointed at the circle on his chest.


    \"Alright.\" Zhou Wen nodded, but he had no intention of drawing a circle on his chest. It was as though he was saying that he wouldn''t lose.


    When John saw Zhou Wen acting in such a manner, he felt even more infuriated. However, it also matched his thoughts. He had no intention of easily defeating Zhou Wen.


    Not only did he want to defeat Zhou Wen, he also wanted Zhou Wen to pay the price for the matter regarding Liz.


    When Wang Fei heard that Zhou Wen had agreed to fight John again, she couldn''t help but frown.


    Zhou Wen had defeated John by surprise with a powerful Companion Beast. He should have quit while he was ahead, but now, he had been enticed by the Companion Egg and agreed to the battle. It was somewhat irrational.


    \"Feng Qiuyan, in your opinion, what are the chances of Zhou Wen winning?\" Li Xuan asked Feng Qiuyan.


    Although he was most familiar with Zhou Wen, he didn''t know much about John. Furthermore, he was biased, so he couldn''t make an accurate judgment.


    Feng Qiuyan pondered for a moment before saying, \"Coach is indeed very strong. If both of them are at the Legendary stage, I think that Coach will definitely win. But if Coach hasn''t advanced to the Legendary stage yet, it''s hard to say. After all, they will be one level apart.\"


    As he spoke, John walked towards Zhou Wen. At the same time, a golden light condensed on him, transforming into a golden armor that enveloped his entire body.


    John clenched his right hand slightly as a gorgeous sword with embedded gems appeared in his hand.


    He was tall and handsome. With the gold armor and long sword as a foil for him, he looked mighty and domineering, like a legendary hero knight that saved the world.


    With John''s footsteps, his entire body and sword emitted a strange glow. The light seemed to condense into something corporeal that could be seen with the naked eye.


    \"Is that the famous battle aura Primordial Energy Art of the West district?\" Li Xuan and company widened their eyes as they looked at John.


    They had only seen battle aura in videos and teaching materials. This was the first time they had seen it with their own eyes.


    \"Battle aura Primordial Energy Arts are rather common in the West district. It''s somewhat different from our East district''s Primordial Energy Arts. It''s not as converged as our Primordial Energy Art. Typical battle aura arts are more domineering. Once one reaches the Legendary stage, they will have the ability to release their battle aura which has destructive power and is also slightly stronger than most of the East district''s Primordial Energy Arts,\" Wang Lu said.


    At this moment, John, who was less than ten meters away from Zhou Wen, suddenly sped up. He leaped up and slashed at Zhou Wen with both hands wielding his sword.


    All the battle aura in him condensed on the sword and transformed into a sword beam that was several meters long. It instantly slashed at Zhou Wen''s head.

 148 Super Meat Shield

    That strike was too fast and powerful. It was rare to see a sword beam several meters long in the East district.


    Although there were quite a number of Primordial Energy Arts and Primordial Energy Skills that allowed the projection of force in the East district, they were usually more converged, so there weren''t any exaggerated effects.


    However, to be able to slash out a sword beam that was several meters long meant that John''s strength was indeed extraordinary. Typically, the West district Legendary cultivators who cultivated battle aura and similar Primordial Energy Skills would only produce sword beams that were about a meter long. To have one spanning several meters was truly terrifying.


    \"This John didn''t reveal his true strength when he was sparring with us. That strike was much stronger than what he previously demonstrated,\" Feng Qiuyan said.


    \"Will Old Zhou, be alright?\" Li Xuan was alarmed when he saw the might of the strike.


    It wasn''t only Li Xuan. Many of the spectating students were worried for Zhou Wen when they saw such an exaggerated strike, afraid that he would be split into two by the sword.


    The two counselors who were in charge of refereeing were already prepared to save Zhou Wen at moment''s notice.


    Zhou Wen looked at the cleave without any intention of fighting. With a casual wave of his hand, a golden beam of light flashed as a ferocious-looking Golden Warrior appeared in front of him.


    The mighty Golden Warrior completely shielded Zhou Wen''s body as it raised its palm to meet John''s terrifying battle aura sword beam.


    Clang!


    An earth-shattering metallic clang sounded. The battle aura golden beam shattered like broken glass in the palm of the three-eyed warrior. The visual impact it dealt on the students made many of them crane their necks to see.


    John''s sword cleaved onto the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s palm, but it failed to proceed further with the huge palm in the way.


    \"Holy sh*t, Three-Eyed Golden Warrior! That guy actually had another Three-Eyed Golden Warrior drop!\" Li Xuan felt as if he was going mad.


    Zhou Wen had a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior drop not too long ago. Back then he gave it to Li Xuan and had said that he could get one to drop for himself if he needed it.


    Li Xuan had scoffed at it. The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was so rare that people didn''t usually encounter one in months. Even if one did, the chances of a Companion Egg dropping was pathetic.


    However, how long had it been? Zhou Wen had actually managed to produce another Three-Eyed Diamond? It made Li Xuan suspect that Zhou Wen had reincarnated ten times as a virgin. Otherwise, how could he have such good luck? The heavens had to be compensating him for the miseries in his past lives.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    John unleashed a flurry of slashes with his long sword, but they were all blocked by the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. Even if it directly hit the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, it merely left a faint mark.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Golden Body and Invulnerable Golden Power made its physical defenses stand at the peak of the Legendary stage. The only weakness was its third eye. Unless the third eye was hit, even Zhou Wen himself would find it difficult to injure it.


    \"Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, Mutated Demonized General. Zhou Wen is just too enviable. Those are Companion Beasts that can''t even be bought with money!\"


    \"Ignoring everything else, Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts are truly powerful, but he should have advanced to the Legendary stage. Otherwise, how could he incubate such a powerful Legendary Companion Beast?\"


    \"The Heavens are unfair. Just give me one of the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior or Mutated Demonized General.\"


    \"That punk, John, must be feeling depressed. After slashing so many times, he hasn''t even managed to injure the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. How can he fight Zhou Wen?\"


    The students discussed fervently, mostly envious of Zhou Wen for having two rare Legendary Companion Beasts.


    John originally believed that with his powerful strength, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to kill the Companion Beast in front of him. He wanted to kill Zhou Wen''s beloved Companion Beast just like Zhou Wen had killed Holy Spear Knight. He wanted Zhou Wen to experience what it felt like to lose a Companion Beast before dealing with him.


    But very quickly, John''s expression turned extremely ugly. This was because he knew that even if he used all his strength, there was no way he could hurt the Companion Beast in front of him. It was a meat shield-type Companion Beast with powerful defense. It would be meaningless if he continued fighting. It would only be a waste of his Primordial Energy.


    It was already too late by the time he realized this. His Primordial Energy at the Legendary stage was limited, and he had already expended most of it.


    Wang Fei looked at the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior standing in front of Zhou Wen in a daze. He had managed to have two such Companion Beasts¡ªones that might not even be purchasable with money¡ª drop in such a short period of time.


    With her relationship with Ouyang Lan, she naturally knew that Zhou Wen hadn''t accepted the An family''s help. For him to obtain such a Companion Beast, it was definitely something he had obtained on his own.


    This fellow actually managed to kill Mutated Demonized Generals and Three-Eyed Golden Warriors. He''s probably no longer at the Mortal stage, right? Wang Fei looked at Zhou Wen and suddenly felt infuriated.


    She had worked so hard to help Zhou Wen grow stronger, but who knew that Zhou Wen had already advanced to the Legendary stage? To think she had been worried for him, afraid that he would lose too terribly.


    This punk just needs to be punished. I should intensify the level of his training in the future, Wang Fei thought viciously.


    While feeling indignant, Wang Fei felt somewhat excited. Before Zhou Wen entered Sunset College, he was definitely at the Mortal stage. In just a short span of time, he had already advanced to the Legendary stage. Furthermore, he had managed to kill such powerful Legendary creatures in Tiger Cage Pass and the Myriad Buddha Cave.


    Such strength was worthy of the word \"genius.\" If he were to be properly trained in the future, she might really be able to produce a great cultivator.


    Sis Lan sure has sharp eyes. Zhou Wen''s talent is indeed not bad and his luck isn''t bad. If he can obtain a special physique in the Holy Land, he might really have the chance to step into the Mythical stage in the future. Wang Fei felt her heart beat faster when she thought of the possibility of producing a Mythical expert. Her cheeks flushed a little red from the rapid circulation of her blood.


    John had already stopped attacking. He wanted to retreat and recover his expended Primordial Energy before circling around the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior to attack Zhou Wen.


    He knew very well that such super meat shield-type Companion Beasts weren''t fast at all. With his speed and movement techniques, it wasn''t difficult for him to circle around the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. If he hadn''t wanted to kill Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast, he wouldn''t have been placed in such a passive position.


    However, the moment he retreated, Zhou Wen, who had been standing behind the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, suddenly moved. Like a ghost, he chased up to the retreating John and extended his palm to strike at his chest.


    John was alarmed and furious. Zhou Wen had grasped the perfect opportunity when he was retreating. His strength was receding and his center of gravity was shifted backward, making it impossible for him to counterattack.

 149 The Might of a Flap

    Light patterns on John''s chest emerged and turned into a warrior raising a shield in front of him.


    Zhou Wen struck the tower shield with his palm, but only managed to make the warrior retreat half a step.


    John''s expression was cold as his Primordial Energy churned. His hair flared up and he had a crown-shaped mark of light on his forehead.


    Zhou Wen was no stranger to this mark. It belonged to one of the six heroes, the Holy Emperor''s hero mark, which also represented the Holy Emperor''s special physique¡ªthe Holy Emperor Body.


    John''s current condition was a sign that the Holy Emperor Body was being activated. Then, there was no need to guess what John would do next.


    \"Oh no, John is actually going to use Holy Light Judgment in a spar like this?\" An Jing''s expression changed drastically, but it was too late to help.


    Others might not know how terrifying Holy Light Judgment was, but An Jing had seen the terror of the Holy Light Judgment in the An family''s database. Although John definitely couldn''t reach the level of the Holy Emperor, a Primordial Energy Skill like Holy Light Judgment was extremely terrifying. It was difficult for opponents of the same level to resist it.


    Indeed, John clasped his fingers together as he raised his arms and slashed at Zhou Wen.


    As he moved, a dazzling glow like the sun burst out from his tightly-locked hands, transforming into a huge blade of light that slashed down.


    The blade of light was more than twenty meters long and it was extremely fast. It cleaved down at Zhou Wen like it was a manifestation of lightning, reaching him almost instantaneously.


    At that moment, John, who was emitting holy light, looked like a representative of God in the mortal world. He used the power of God to judge the guilty.


    Not good¡­ The two counselors who were watching the scene phased away at the same time, hoping to save Zhou Wen before Holy Light Judgment landed.


    The spectating students stood up. This attack was too terrifying, one that was far beyond the typical Legendary stage. If Zhou Wen couldn''t withstand it, he would probably be killed by this strike.


    A cold look flashed in Zhou Wen''s eyes, but he didn''t have any intention of dodging. Instead, he advanced and extended his hand and beckoned. A small palm-sized fan that resembled jadeite appeared in his hand as he flapped it towards the approaching John who seemed to be delivering God''s punishment.


    Bam!


    Under the shocked looks of the crowd, the terrifying blade of light¡ªthe manifestation of Holy Light Judgment¡ªwas shattered like glass in a hurricane. John''s glowing body was sent flying by the fan and slammed into the tempered glass that lined the borders of the arena and shattered it.


    Instantly, the entire venue fell silent. Everyone stared wide-eyed at John, who was struggling to get up from amidst the glass shards.


    He was unable to get up even after repeated struggles. His body was still curled up as he shivered, like a creature that was about to freeze to death in an ice cellar.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen walked in front of John and stepped on his chest. He looked down at him and said coldly, \"Do you want to do it again? I can give you another chance.\"


    John was furious and embarrassed. He had the reputation of being a saint in the West district and was known to be invincible among peers of the same stage. He had never suffered such humiliation in Covenant College. In his anger, anxiety, and embarrassment, together with the injuries caused by the Grand Yin Wind, he spat out a mouthful of blood and passed out.


    The two counselors who had rushed in to rescue Zhou Wen were taken aback, momentarily unable to recover from their shock. They had rushed in for a situation completely different from the outcome. It left them at a loss.


    \"Counselors, I''ll have to trouble you with the rest.\" Zhou Wen didn''t care if John was dead or alive as he took out the Round Table knight Companion Egg from John''s backpack and bowed slightly at the two counselors.


    \"Alright.\" One of the counselors finally snapped back to attention and quickly went up to check on John''s injuries.


    After all, John was a descendant of the Cape family, and he had inherited the physique of a hero. If he died at Sunset College, it would be a huge problem.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t fazed by this and left after taking the Companion Egg.


    \"What just happened?\"


    \"Damn, I didn''t see clearly what was going on just now. Why was John, who was like a god descending to the mortal world, sent flying?\"


    \"I saw it. Zhou Wen waved a green fan in his hand at John, sending his sword beam flying together with him.


    \"That John looks quite scary, but why is he so weak? He can''t even withstand one strike.\"


    \"Zhou Wen sure is terrifying when it comes to strength. Although he relied on the powers of his Companion Beasts, they are still a part of his strength.\"


    \"This Zhou Wen''s background is probably extraordinary. A typical family student wouldn''t have so many powerful Companion Beasts even if they advanced to the Legendary stage.\"


    After Zhou Wen left, the students snapped to their senses and began discussing excitedly. The main topic was Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts, and the most discussed topic was the Companion Beast which manifested as a green fan.


    \"Old Zhou, you finally made a name for yourself. You sent Saint John flying with a fan. It''s simply exhilarating. What kind of Companion Beast is that fan of yours? It''s really too powerful,\" Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen excitedly as they walked to the dorm.


    \"He''s just too weak.\" Zhou Wen didn''t answer Li Xuan''s question. It wasn''t easy to explain the Banana Fairy''s origins, and Zhou Wen didn''t want to tax his brain to fabricate a story, much less deceive his friend.


    Li Xuan didn''t ask further either as the two returned to the dorm.


    John''s defeat at Sunset College had not only caused a stir at Sunset College, but also caused a great stir in Covenant College.


    John, a formerly undefeated hero''s successor, one who had the title of saint, had been beaten up by someone at Sunset College. Furthermore, the person wasn''t the strongest student at Sunset College. The fact that he barely entered the top ten rankings made it clearly unacceptable to them.


    For a moment, the discussion forums of Covenant College seemed to explode. Some people claimed that John was not fit to have the title of a saint, nor was he worthy of being the successor of Holy Emperor.


    People also said that John should work harder at his cultivation before defeating Zhou Wen and reclaim his glory.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t aware of this, nor was he in the mood to care. He had just hatched the Rebellious Knight and was admiring his attributes.


    Rebellious Knight: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Fate Knight


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 19


    Constitution: 19


    Primordial Energy: 19


    Talent Skill: Cross Sword, Everlasting Shield, Holy Steed Summoning, Holy Steed Battle Aura


    Companion Form: None


    It was a Companion Beast with four skills and all its stats reached Overdrive at 19 points. It could be said to be an excellent-grade existence among Legendary Companion Beasts. Its attributes were even more impressive than the Mutated Demonized General.

 150 Restriction City

    Wang Fei hadn''t been in a good mood recently. Apparently, she hadn''t been in a good mood ever since she had Zhou Wen as a student.


    Zhou Wen''s defeat of John had cheered her up for a period of time, but soon, there was no more joy in her.


    She originally believed that Zhou Wen would establish his confidence, stop giving up on himself, and become a hardworking student after defeating John.


    However, the truth was completely opposite to what she had imagined. Since Zhou Wen had defeated John, he hadn''t returned to the dimensional zones and just cooped himself in his dorm all day.


    According to Wang Fei''s investigations, although she didn''t know what he was doing in the dorm, Zhou Wen''s sunbathing every morning while holding his phone didn''t escape her notice. He was clearly playing a game.


    Damn you, Zhou Wen. You''re like a donkey. Every time I whip you twice, you''ll take two steps. If I don''t whip you, you just stay there and roll around. Do you really think I can''t do anything about you? The more Wang Fei thought about it, the angrier she became.


    She originally believed that Zhou Wen had finally snapped out of his doldrums, but to her surprise, he immediately returned to his original state after the crisis passed. It was like dowsing Wang Fei''s enthusiasm with cold water.


    Wang Fei was clearly not someone who could let matters pass. Therefore, she made it her mission to completely free Zhou Wen from the terrible habit of gaming. She wanted him to completely quit his online addiction.


    Of course, the reason Wang Fei was so adamant about it was that she didn''t want Zhou Wen''s talent to be wasted.


    He thinks he''s impressive just because he defeated John? He''s still far from invincible. Furthermore, he relied on his Companion Beasts, not his own abilities¡­ With this in mind, Wang Fei''s eyes suddenly lit up. She couldn''t help but smile as she revealed a bizarre smile. She had another idea once again.


    It wasn''t that Zhou Wen didn''t deliberately go to Tiger Cage Pass. He was just too famous. Recently whenever he went out, there were always students he didn''t know coming up to talk to him.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t ignore others when they came to greet him out of goodwill, but with so many students doing so, he had no time to focus on gaming.


    In addition, his Demonized General and Three-Eyed Golden Warrior had already been revealed, so there was no need for him to pretend to head to the dimensional zones. He might as well stay in his dormitory to play games.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he could game in peace, but the new homework mission that Wang Fei assigned washed his plans down the drain.


    \"Old Zhou, our counselor is treating us, ordinary students, as special admissions students. The homework mission she assigned us is only given to those special admissions students in past years,\" Li Xuan complained after seeing the homework mission.


    \"What kind of place is Restriction City?\" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the information on the homework mission.


    Their new homework mission was to hunt ten bronze beasts in Restriction City, but Zhou Wen had never heard of a dimensional zone known as Restriction City.


    Li Xuan said, \"Restriction City is one of the underground cities in Luoyang and is one of the few that''s right at the bottom. It isn''t considered dangerous, and there are quite a number of dimensional creatures at the Mortal stage in there. The highest-level ones are only Legendary creatures. However, there''s something very special about Restriction City. There''s no way to use a Companion Beast there. It''s impossible to summon them or use their companion form.\"


    \"In other words, we need to use our strength to kill ten Legendary creatures?\" Zhou Wen understood what Li Xuan meant.


    \"That''s right. This mission has very high standards required of one''s own strength. In the past, only special admissions students received this mission. I never expected that this year, our class would actually be given such a homework mission. I''m afraid most of the students will fail. The students in our class must be wailing in despair now,\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Is this bronze beast very difficult to kill?\" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Although most of the students were still at the Mortal stage, the mission allowed for up to four people to complete the mission. With the collective strength of four students, killing a Legendary creature wasn''t too difficult unless they encountered a creature as powerful as a Mutated Demonized General.


    Most of the students had completed the previous mission of killing ordinary Demonized Generals.


    \"It''s not easy to kill. According to the information, the various attributes of the bronze beasts are pretty good. They do not have any obvious weaknesses. Although they aren''t considered strong among the Legendary stage, they are extremely difficult to deal with. Under the circumstances of not being able to use a Companion Beast, it''s still fine for us at the Legendary stage, but it''s probably very difficult for those Mortal-stage students to accomplish it,\" Li Xuan said with a smile.


    \"Let''s go. Let''s head to Restriction City.\" Zhou Wen suddenly stood up and pulled Li Xuan out.


    \"Why are you suddenly so pumped up? Aren''t you gaming?\" Li Xuan was puzzled. Zhou Wen had never been so enthusiastic before.


    Zhou Wen said, \"Since most of our students are unable to complete the homework mission, don''t you think that they will spend money to buy my strategy if I can figure out a strategy?\" Zhou Wen said with lit eyes.


    \"Do you lack money?\" Li Xuan was rendered speechless.


    \"Yes.\" Zhou Wen nodded seriously.


    \"Why do you need money? How much do you need?\" Li Xuan asked again.


    \"I wish to invest in Huang Ji''s game. I''ve previously chatted with him and the first round of investment requires a million bucks for him to first create a simplified version. Development will continue when I have more money,\" Zhou Wen said.


    \"Are you crazy? What era are we in now? You actually want to invest in developing a game? Are you going to develop it for old people? Young people these days have more and more invested in dimensional zones. Apart from those old people who have never cultivated before, who else would be in the mood to play games?\" Li Xuan said.


    \"Me,\" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    \"That''s what depresses me. You game all day, so how are you this strong?\" Li Xuan was indeed depressed. On the surface, he appeared to be enjoying himself, but he cultivated hard in private. However, compared to Zhou Wen, his progress was clearly much slower.


    \"I game to become stronger,\" Zhou Wen said seriously.


    \"F*ck off. Stop pulling my leg. I won''t fall for your trick.\" Li Xuan didn''t raise the issue of money again. If Zhou Wen really needed it, he wouldn''t mind helping him. A million wasn''t a huge sum to him.


    However, Zhou Wen had indulged in the fantasy of investing in a game. Li Xuan felt that it was best if he wasn''t an accomplice in this, so he didn''t offer the money.


    Zhou Wen had no plans on borrowing money either. He wanted to earn money himself.


    Hence, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan went to Restriction City that was deep underground.


    Restriction City was in an ancient style. Legend had it that it was the capital city of a certain dynasty in ancient times. It was said to be related to East Zhou, but Zhou Wen didn''t know if it was real or fake.


    However, after entering Restriction City, he immediately felt as though the Companion Beasts on him had vanished. He no longer had any connection with them.


    However, Banana Fairy and Truth Listener were exceptions. Zhou Wen could still sense their existence and could still use his will to communicate with them.


    A Mythical pet is indeed extraordinary. Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted.

 151 Bronze Luck Beas

    Restriction City was totally unique. There were bronze beasts and bronze birds everywhere in the city, with smaller creatures such as rabbits, rats, sparrows, and bigger creatures such as tigers, wolves, and peacocks everywhere.


    Most of the bronze beasts here were at the Mortal stage, and the students'' homework mission was to kill ten Legendary bronze beasts. It looked very simple.


    However, without the protection of a Companion Beast, it would be very dangerous for them to charge into a bronze beast horde.


    It was fine if ordinary Mortal-level students didn''t have Companion Beasts, but Li Xuan and company were unable to use one even if they had one. It was a very unpleasant feeling.


    \"There are so many bronze beasts. Which one of them is at the Legendary stage?\" Zhou Wen looked at the bronze creatures in the city and was momentarily unable to distinguish them.


    \"There''s only one Legendary bronze beast in Restriction City called Bronze Lucky Beast. It''s definitely not here. We can only encounter them by walking further in.\" Li Xuan paused and pointed at the Mortal-level bronze beasts. \"It''s best you ignore those fellows. Let''s charge in and find the Bronze Lucky Beast.\"


    \"Why?\" Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    \"There are too many bronze beasts at the Mortal stage. Even if we kill all of them now, another batch will quickly surge in from the spatial rift. There''s no way to clear them no matter how fast we kill. Furthermore, they have very low drop rates. No matter how many we kill, nothing of use will drop. There''s no need to waste time on them,\" Li Xuan said as he rushed into the city.


    It was rather strange. The bronze beasts and birds in the city were originally motionless like statues, but the moment Li Xuan approached them, the bronze beasts near him came to life and charged at the duo ferociously.


    The duo tried their best to avoid their attacks, but once they went past a certain range, the bronze beasts stopped pursuing them. Instead, they automatically returned to their original spots, either crouching or standing, as though they had become statues again.


    Only when they reached the crossroads of the city did Li Xuan point at a bronze behemoth''s statue and say, \"That''s the Bronze Luck Beast.\"


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the statue resembled both a tiger or a lion. It had scales growing on its body, and its tail resembled a snake. On its head was a pair of horns, making it look extremely odd.


    \"Roar!\" The two of them were about fifty meters away from the Bronze Luck Beast when it suddenly came alive. It let out a roar before jumping off the bronze platform and charging at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan like a green beam.


    The two quickly dodged, causing the Bronze Luck Beast to miss. Its claws scratched the rock on the ground, leaving deep marks, as though someone had struck it with a sharp ax.


    \"Is this what you call ordinary?\" Zhou Wen knew from its Speed and Strength that this fellow was definitely in no way ordinary. It was definitely top-notch at the Legendary stage.


    Without using a Companion Beast, Zhou Wen''s Strength and Speed were probably inferior to it.


    Clang!


    Li Xuan''s punch landed on the Bronze Luck Beast''s body, but his fist turned numb from the impact. He failed to injure it.


    \"F*ck, how is that possible? The information clearly states that the Bronze Luck Beast''s attributes are ordinary. It''s only about the same as ordinary Golden Warriors, making it a little harder to kill.\" Li Xuan was also very depressed.


    When the two of them were dealing with the Bronze Luck Beast, the ordinary bronze beasts nearby also pounced forward and caused them some trouble.


    Zhou Wen used Ashen Palm, but it didn''t seem to be of much use against the Bronze Luck Beast. The Bronze Luck Beast''s resistance didn''t seem to be weaker than ordinary Golden Warriors.


    However, its Speed was much faster than that of a Golden Warrior. It was among the best, making it extremely difficult to deal with.


    After using the Astral Slash Blade, Zhou Wen left a deep mark on the Bronze Luck Beast''s body. However, the damage wasn''t enough to kill it unless Zhou Wen was able to release another two or three more Astral Slash Blade beams.


    Having used Astral Slash Blade with all his might, he had drained all of his Primordial Energy. He had none left for a second attack.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen had no choice but to leave Restriction City and return empty-handed.


    \"Thankfully, it''s the two of us. If it were those Mortal-stage students, I would be surprised if they hadn''t ended up dying in there. Isn''t the homework mission assigned by Ms. Wang a little ridiculous? Also, why is the information so unreliable?\" Li Xuan looked at his tattered clothes and said gloomily.


    \"Who knows? But that''s good too. I''ll think about it again when I return. If I were to come up with a strategy to kill the Bronze Luck Beasts, there will definitely be many students who will want to buy it.\" Zhou Wen was very optimistic because he had already discovered the tiny palm symbol before entering the city and downloaded Restriction City into his phone.


    Unbeknownst to Zhou Wen, Bronze Luck Beast had a weakness. As long as he spent more time researching it, it was only a matter of time before he found a simple method for killing it. If he wrote a strategy, he might even earn a fortune.


    Li Xuan had no choice but to listen to Zhou Wen and return.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen opened the Restriction City''s instance Dungeon and began his repeated grinding.


    From the path he took after entering the city, and how to best avoid awakening the bronze beasts to killing the Bronze Luck Beast, Zhou Wen repeatedly experimented.


    Li Xuan was right. The Bronze Luck Beasts were much stronger than what was written in the database. Even a Legendary-stage student would find it difficult to kill them without using a Companion Beast in a one-on-one situation.


    In the past, special admissions students needed the collection strength of four people to kill the Bronze Luck Beast. Now, most of Zhou Wen''s class was at the Mortal stage, so it was an impossible task to expect them to kill a Bronze Luck Beast.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen had relied on Truth Listener''s and Banana Fairy''s help to successfully kill a Bronze Luck Beast.


    After some slow research, he finally managed to kill the Bronze Luck Beast alone. However, his ability to do so didn''t mean that the other students could do it.


    Even if he wrote out his strategy, his fellow classmates, whose attributes remained at the Mortal stage or they lacked powerful Primordial Energy Skills, made it impossible for them to use this method and strategy.


    Is there really no other way? As Zhou Wen continued killing the Bronze Luck Beasts, he kept studying them, hoping to find a way for his fellow Mortal-stage classmates to kill them.


    ¡­


    At that moment, Wang Fei had a smug look on her face. She had indeed issued a homework mission for them to kill the Bronze Luck Beasts, but she had done some tampering with it when handing it out.


    Apart from Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, the other students had received the mission to kill a Mortal-stage bronze beast. Only the two of them had received the mission to kill Legendary Bronze Luck Beasts.


    They really think they''re impressive. I''ll let those two punks suffer. Wang Fei was very certain that Zhou Wen and Li Xuan wouldn''t be able to complete the mission.


    This homework mission was prepared for the Legendary-stage special admissions students this year and had not yet been officially handed out. Even for special admissions students, they needed three to four people to join forces to kill the Bronze Luck Beast.


    Now, Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were the only ones in their class who were at the Legendary stage. It was impossible for them to seek help from other students.


    When she imagined how Zhou Wen would come to her with his face ashen after failing to complete the mission, Wang Fei was filled with anticipation.

 152 Chess Mountain

    Cold river water flowed out between the mountains and bright moonlight shone, illuminating the river, giving a sheen that resembled fish scales.


    Although the moonlight was bright, it was still terrifyingly dark under the water surface. The mountain pass in the distance was like an abyss, as though it could devour everything at any time.


    On the bank of the river, there was a defensive mechanism made of steel concrete. The soldiers held their binoculars and watched the mountain pass.


    \"It''s already been more than ten days. There''s been nothing happening at Chess Mountain. Is it really as scary as you all say it is?\" a soldier muttered.


    \"That''s because you didn''t see the earlier situation since you were transferred in late. Otherwise, you would have peed your pants.\" Another middle-aged soldier chuckled.


    \"Tsk, what''s there to be afraid of? It''s not like I''ve never entered a dimensional zone before. What haven''t I seen before? Last month, we were ordered to explore a dimensional zone. There, we killed countless dimensional creatures,\" the soldier from before said.


    The middle-aged soldier curled his lips and said, \"I''ve been a soldier for so many years and the dimensional zones I''ve entered and the number of dimensional creatures I''ve seen are more than the number of women you have seen. But that day, I nearly peed my pants. If you really saw what I saw you would have peed your pants on the spot.\"


    \"What did you see that day?\" the soldier asked curiously.


    \"That day, we were under orders to guard the mountain pass. We were planning to enter the mountain the next morning to explore the dimensional zones in the Chess Mountain, but on that night, the river''s waters suddenly turned into something resembling blood¡­\" As the middle-aged soldier spoke, he subconsciously pointed at the river.


    However, when his eyes met the surface of the river, his eyes suddenly widened and he stuttered, \"Just¡­ like this¡­\"


    The young soldier turned his head and under the moonlight, saw that the shimmering lake had turned blood red at some point. The blood-red color rapidly spread out from the mountain pass. In just a moment, the river water had turned into a deep red liquid.


    The alarm in the base sounded and all the soldiers and officers that were either on duty or resting got up.


    As the highest-ranking officer in the area, Zhao Muye rushed to the outer perimeter of the defenses. When he saw the blood river flowing slowly, his expression turned abnormally grave.


    \"Commander Zhao, there''s something coming out from the Chess Mountain''s pass,\" shouted a soldier who had been using binoculars to monitor the mountain pass.


    Zhao Muye looked over with his binoculars. Sure enough, he saw something approaching from the mountain pass. Adjusting the focus of the night vision lens to make out what was it, Zhao Muye''s expression changed drastically.


    He saw a humanoid creature walking on the river of blood¡ªtowards them. The clothes he wore were very odd. It was likely a product of an ancient era.


    That wasn''t the crux. More importantly, the area above his shoulders was empty¡ªhe had no head. Instead, the head was in his hands.


    That head didn''t look like a human either. It had a green face and sharp fangs. It had crimson hair and a pair of strange horns growing on its head.


    The headless monster walked across the bloody river with its head in one hand. It walked out of Chess Mountain and gradually approached the defenses by the river bank.


    \"Fire!\" Zhao Muye ordered calmly as he waited for the headless monster to enter the shooting range.


    \"Fire¡­ Fire¡­ Fire¡­ Give it whatever you have¡­\" The soldiers who received the order raised their guns and aimed at the headless monster over the river, firing with everything they''d got.


    Bullets rained down on the headless monster''s body, instantly tearing his clothes apart. In the blink of an eye, his clothes were riddled with holes.


    Seeing the headless monster standing motionless above the river surface, the soldiers couldn''t help but stop shooting, but they quickly realized that something was amiss.


    The monster''s clothes were riddled with holes, but no blood flowed out.


    Suddenly, the head in the headless monster''s hand opened a bloodshot eye that seemed to contain infinite amounts of blood.


    \"No good!\" Zhao Muye''s expression changed as he summoned his Companion Beast, Guardian Spirit Hawk, turning it into a barrier of light that protected the nearby area.


    The headless monster''s body jerked violently. The bullets that had been sent into his body shot back like raindrops. Furthermore, the bullets followed their original trajectories and traced back to their owners.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The light barrier formed by the Guardian Spirit Hawk failed to block the bullets that were shot back as it was pierced by multiple spots.


    Screams were heard as the bullets penetrated the soldiers'' bodies. In a moment, more than half of the soldiers who had fired were killed.


    \"Change to the newest type of Primordial Gold bullets and continue firing.\" Zhao Muye gave the order. However, when he looked at the river surface, he realized that the headless monster had disappeared. Apart from the moonlight that scattered across the river, there was no trace of it.


    Zhao Muye cursed under his breath as he summoned his Companion Beast armor and weapon. When he turned around, he realized that the headless monster was holding its head, standing within the defensive line.


    The devil-like head and blood-red eyes were staring at Zhao Muye and the soldiers with bloodthirsty eyes.


    \"Inform the Overseer. Everyone else, prepare for battle!\" As Zhao Muye spoke, he raised his saber and slashed at the headless monster. The saber beam was like a rainbow as it streaked across dozens of meters.


    To his surprise, the headless monster didn''t dodge at all. Instead, it raised the head in its hand and blocked Zhao Muye''s saber beam.


    Clang!


    The saber struck the devil-like face, but it failed to tear apart its skin. The blood-red eyes stared at Zhao Muye under the saber as a creepy smile appeared on his face.


    \"Ah!\"


    Blood splattered as gunshots rang out. The silent night was completely broken.


    \"Qihe River Base requesting backup¡­ Qihe River Base requesting backup¡­ A dimensional creature has rushed out of Chess Mountain¡­ It has already rushed into the base¡­ Please provide support immediately¡­\"


    When Ah Sheng received the news, his usually stoic expression changed. He immediately awaited An Tianzuo''s further orders.


    \"Hold on for twenty minutes. Backup will be there soon,\" answered An Tianzuo.


    \"Something happened at Chess Mountain after all. Muye is there¡­\" Ah Sheng said worriedly.


    \"Let''s go.\" An Tianzuo interrupted Ah Sheng with a terse remark.


    Several helicopters quickly took off and carried An Tianzuo, Ah Sheng, and a group of spearhead troops towards Chess Mountain.


    When they arrived at the Qihe River Base, they saw dismembered bodies everywhere. The wounds on the broken limbs looked like they had been bitten off by something.


    From afar, the sounds of a clash could still be heard. Ah Sheng rushed over and when he took in the situation before him, his eyes instantly turned red.

 153 A Simple Strategy Guide

    Blood flowed everywhere, and corpses were strewn all over the place.


    There was only one living person left fighting in the entire base. Or rather, it could no longer be considered a living person. His left arm had already been completely severed, and his body was full of bite wounds. A large piece of flesh had been bitten off his left rib. One could vaguely see his internal organs and the bones on his leg were visible beneath their wounds.


    Even so, the person was still fighting the headless monster with all his might.


    Crack!


    The headless monster bit the person''s thigh with the head in its hand. This bite directly snapped his left thigh bone, causing him to lose his balance. As he retreated, staggering, blood spilled all over the ground.


    Ah Sheng''s eyes were red. He pulled out his gun and shot fiercely at the headless monster. At the same time, he rushed over to support Zhao Muye who was about to fall.


    \"Muye, why aren''t you retreating?\" Ah Sheng gritted his teeth as he held onto Zhao Muye''s body.


    \"Overseer told us to hold on for twenty minutes. It''s not time yet, so how can I leave?\" A smile appeared on Zhao Muye''s pale face. \"Besides, we can retreat, but the city behind us can''t. Ah Sheng, you don''t have to be sad. This day will come to all humans. I''m just leaving a little early. When you''re tired in the future, we can gather down there and have drinks together¡­\"


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Continuous bullets struck the headless monster, blasting open bloody holes in its body, but the injuries didn''t faze it.


    The headless monster held its head and let out a roar as it charged through the pelting shots of eight soldiers, aiming straight for An Tianzuo who was standing behind them.


    Clearly, the headless monster''s intelligence wasn''t low. It was able to tell that An Tianzuo was leading these people and wanted to kill him first.


    The headless monster''s skin suffused a demonic red glow as the bullets made of Primordial Gold failed to injure it. It charged through the storm of bullets, using the head in its hand to bite An Tianzuo.


    An Tianzuo remained unperturbed as he pulled out a gun and fired two shots at the headless monster.


    Bang! Bang!


    The first bullet hit the head''s cheekbones, causing the head to tilt a little before the second bullet drilled right through its ear.


    Blood splattered out from the ear before it began bleeding from all seven orifices. Its eyes exploded and the headless body collapsed to the ground.


    An Tianzuo didn''t look at the corpse as he walked towards Ah Sheng, who was hugging Zhao Muye.


    \"Overseer, Muye is dead.\" Ah Sheng raised his head, his eyes filled with grief. In his arms, Zhao Muye had already breathed his last.


    \"I gained control of the An family when I was 13 years old. At that time, Muye was already an assistant regional commander figure. So many years have passed and he still remains one. It''s not that he didn''t have the chance to be promoted, nor was he incapable. Instead, it was because he wanted to stand at the front line of Chess Mountain to protect those people that he now can''t ever help again.\" An Tianzuo sighed. \"Let him go. He deserves the rest.\"


    \"Overseer, when I first joined the army, Muye was the one who took care of me and taught me. I want to take him back to bury him with his family,\" Ah Sheng said.


    \"He doesn''t have family,\" said An Tianzuo. \"His family died in Chess Mountain, but their corpses were never found.\"


    Ah Sheng instantly fell silent. He couldn''t say a word, his heart was filled with unbearable pain.


    \"Bury him outside Chess Mountain. Let him watch over the area. One day, we will charge into Chess Mountain and slay all those dimensional creatures on his behalf. Perhaps he will truly rest in peace when that happens,\" said An Tianzuo.


    \"The situation at Chess Mountain is getting worse. Even our latest Primordial Gold bullets have started to lose their effectiveness. I''m afraid the situation is worsening,\" Ah Sheng said.


    \"That''s why we need to find the source of the dimensional zones and resolve the problem at the root. Otherwise, no number of dimensional creatures killed will matter,\" An Tianzuo said as he looked in the direction of Chess Mountain. \"Now, many dimensional zones have already appeared in various parts of the League. If we can''t find a way to resolve it as soon as possible, the ones dying won''t just be Muye and these soldiers. All of mankind will suffer annihilation. We have no time to spare. Let''s go. We have no time for grief. There are plenty of things that need our attention.\"


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen had been researching a simplified strategy for the killing of Bronze Luck Beasts. He didn''t know that other than him and Li Xuan, no one else in his class needed the strategy.


    After a few days, Zhou Wen finally figured out a way to kill Bronze Luck Beasts at the Mortal stage. After getting Li Xuan to come over, he planned on test-driving the strategy with just the two of them.


    \"Old Zhou, can this strategy of yours really work?\" Li Xuan read Zhou Wen''s strategy and found it unbelievable that Bronze Luck Beasts could be killed that easily.


    \"Don''t underestimate it. This is the result of me spending days racking my brains. As long as you follow the steps according to the guide, you will definitely be able to easily kill a Bronze Luck Beast,\" Zhou Wen said as he tapped Li Xuan, while holding a camera.


    \"Are you sure we don''t need two people? Can I really do it myself?\" Li Xuan was still doubtful.


    \"Yes,\" Zhou Wen said with certainty.


    \"Why don''t you give it a try with me first? It''s inevitable that I''ll make mistakes the first time. We can watch each other''s backs if we do it together. It''ll be more convenient to remedy the situation.\" Li Xuan felt that Zhou Wen had only been to Restriction City with him once. If the strategy he wrote was problematic, wouldn''t he be in deep trouble? He wanted Zhou Wen involved no matter what.


    \"Ain''t I in charge of filming you? If anything goes wrong, I''ll naturally take action,\" Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan thought that made sense. Since Zhou Wen was going in with him, He wouldn''t just sit idly if something bad happened. He wasn''t going to continue filming his death, right?


    The two entered Restriction City one after the other. Li Xuan charged ahead according to the strategy Zhou Wen had written while Zhou Wen followed behind him, filming. They soon entered deep into Restriction City.


    Li Xuan was originally worried that Zhou Wen''s strategy would be problematic, but when he charged in, he realized that it was as though he had entered a no man''s land. The bronze beasts didn''t even touch him at all.


    Finally, while battling the Bronze Luck Beast, he used perfect positioning and the Bronze Luck Beast''s weakness to easily kill it. It was so easy that Li Xuan suspected that the Bronze Luck Beast wasn''t the same one they had encountered before.


    \"Old Zhou, nice strategy! How did you come up with it?\" Li Xuan tried again and realized that killing the Bronze Luck Beast was extremely simple. Even ordinary Mortal-stage students would find it easy to kill the Bronze Luck Beast if they knew its weakness and joined forces.


    \"Do you think I can sell this strategy for money?\" Zhou Wen was more concerned about money.


    \"Definitely. Such an awesome strategy guide definitely will have people willing to spend money to buy it. With our classmates still at the Mortal stage, they definitely won''t be able to complete their homework mission without this strategy,\" Li Xuan said with certainty.


    \"Alright, let''s head back and seek out buyers now.\" Zhou Wen was eager to know how much his strategy guide could be sold for.

 154 A Strategy Guide That Cant Be Sold

    "What did you say?" Li Xuan''s eyes widened as he glared at a female student and shouted loudly.


    The girl looked a little afraid and said meekly, "My mission is done¡­ There''s no need¡­ There''s no need to buy your strategy¡­"


    "That''s impossible. Are you joking with me? How did you kill the Bronze Luck Beasts?" Li Xuan said while glaring at the girl in disbelief.


    The girl said cautiously, "I didn''t kill Bronze Luck Beasts; I only killed ten Bronze Bunnies and completed the mission."


    "Bronze Bunnies? Isn''t our mission to kill Legendary bronze beasts? What''s the point of killing Bronze Bunnies?" Li Xuan said with a frown.


    "The homework mission didn''t say to kill Legendary bronze beasts. All you need to do is kill bronze beasts." The girl hurriedly took out her phone to show Li Xuan.


    Indeed, her homework mission only stated that she needed to kill bronze beasts. There was no rule that required her to kill those at the Legendary stage.


    "That''s impossible, right? We can''t be mistaken?" Li Xuan hurriedly took out his cell phone and read his homework mission again, confirming that he wasn''t wrong. It clearly indicated that he needed to kill Legendary-stage bronze beasts.


    "Old Zhou, what does yours say?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen again.


    "Same as yours." Zhou Wen handed his phone to Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan took a glance and, just like him, quickly made a few phone calls. Soon, he looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression and said, "All of our classmates received missions to kill bronze beasts. We are the only two who received the mission to kill Legendary-stage bronze beasts."


    "Could it be a mistake?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s impossible for the wrong message to be sent. They are sent en masse. If it was sent wrongly, all the students must have received the wrong message. How can it be just the two of us? This is clearly a message that was separately sent to us," Li Xuan said.


    "Then doesn''t that mean that my strategy won''t be of any use?" Zhou Wen''s first thought wasn''t why Wang Fei had given them such a difficult mission, but if his strategy guide could still be sold.


    "That''s hard to say. According to what I know, the class of special admissions students received this mission as well. However, those guys are basically at the Legendary stage and all of them have their noses up in the air. They probably won''t spend money on buying your strategy," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown when he heard that he might not be able to sell the strategy guide. However, when he thought of Wang Lu, his eyes lit up again. He turned to Li Xuan and asked, "Li Xuan, is there any record in Restriction City? I mean the time record for killing the Bronze Luck Beast."


    "Definitely. There are records in every dimensional zone." Li Xuan instantly understood what Zhou Wen was getting at. "You mean you wish to sell this strategy to special admissions students who wish to break the record?"


    "I can give it a try." Zhou Wen felt that there was a chance. He planned on asking Wang Lu to see if she was interested in buying the strategy.


    They returned to Four Seasons Garden and went to Wang Lu''s dorm to look for her. They happened to meet her on the way there. She was accompanied by about five special admissions students, seemingly having just returned. They were chatting as they walked, as though they were discussing something.


    "Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, what a coincidence!" Wang Lu greeted Zhou Wen and Li Xuan when she saw them.


    "It''s not a coincidence. We came here especially to find you. Did you special admissions students receive the homework mission to kill the Bronze Luck Beasts?" Zhou Wen asked directly.


    "That''s right. What''s the matter?" Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen curiously, unsure why he would suddenly ask.


    "It''s this. Li Xuan and I have figured out a strategy to kill the Bronze Luck Beast. It should be of some help for killing them, allowing you to kill them faster and even break the record. Would you be interested?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Before Wang Lu could say a word, a male student beside her said, "Zhou Wen, we admit that your Companion Beasts are indeed powerful. Unfortunately, we don''t have any as powerful as yours. Your strategy is useless to us."


    "The strategy we came up with doesn''t need any special Companion Beasts. Besides, they can''t be used in Restriction City," Zhou Wen said.


    "Since no one can use a Companion Beast, we can figure out a method to kill the Bronze Luck Beasts ourselves. Why would we need to spend money on your strategy?" said the boy with a smile.


    Zhou Wen finally realized that with his low EQ, he had overlooked a problem. Those who could enter Sunset College were geniuses, and the special admissions students were geniuses among geniuses. They were all rather proud, so to get them to spend money to buy a strategy from someone else would be akin to making them admit that they were inferior to others. How could proud special admissions students be willing to spend money to buy such a thing?


    Another female student also said, "Zhou Wen, we came to Sunset College to hone ourselves. We have to experience it for ourselves before we can improve. Buying someone else''s strategy is equivalent to cheating. It''s meaningless to us."


    The other special admissions students likely had similar views.


    Wang Lu said, "Zhou Wen, I''m sure your strategy is useful, but I still want to challenge myself."


    With Wang Lu saying that, Zhou Wen knew that there was no hope in selling his strategy.


    After they returned to the dorm, Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen, "From the looks of it, the strategy would be a tough sell. I wonder what Ms. Wang was thinking. Why didn''t she tell us earlier that only the two of us were given the mission to kill Bronze Luck Beasts? We wasted so much time researching a strategy."


    "It''s nothing. Just treat it as a form of training and learning." Zhou Wen didn''t mind.


    Li Xuan thought for a moment and said, "By the way, you can post the strategy guide to our school''s intranet forums. It allows for monetization. Who knows, those special admissions students might be embarrassed to buy it in front of others, but wouldn''t have scruples doing it in private."


    "Alright, help me post it. However, the price must be set high. Such a strategy guide isn''t worth anything if it''s spread, so it''s best to earn as much as possible in one go." Zhou Wen still remembered the painful experience of posting the last strategy and warned Li Xuan.


    "But if the price is too high, it won''t be easy for them to be purchased, right?" Li Xuan remarked hesitantly.


    "It''s fine even if it can''t be sold, as long as it''s not sold too cheaply." Zhou Wen was quite open-minded.


    "Alright." Li Xuan nodded and posted the strategy on the school''s intranet forum. When he was done, he saw Zhou Wen lying on the sofa gaming again. He asked, "Aren''t you bored to death gaming all day? All you do is kill those ants. Isn''t it boring?"


    "Not at all," Zhou Wen said without looking up.


    "Stop gaming. Join me as I kill the ten Bronze Luck Beasts first. We''ll break the record. Since those special admissions students don''t want to, let''s break it ourselves," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen followed Li Xuan to Restriction City. As for the post, it attracted the attention of someone.


    The counselor of the special admissions class, Liu Zhengyan, saw the post titled "A god''s guide to slaying a Bronze Luck Beast in a minute."

 155 Liu Zhengyans Plan

    It isn''t difficult to kill a Bronze Luck Beast in a minute at the Epic stage. For those at the Legendary stage to kill Bronze Luck Beasts in such a short period of time without using a Companion Beast is not impossible, but it''s just too difficult. Liu Zhengyan was originally curious, but after trying to take a look at the content, he realized that it was monetized. Furthermore, the points needed to read it when converted to League current was ridiculous. It cost more than twenty thousand.


    Students nowadays really have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves. They want to cheat money like that? Liu Zhengyan shook his head slightly and logged into the management account on the forum.


    Liu Zhengyan was one of the moderators of the forum. If this was really a scam, he would have to deal with it and not let the other students be fooled.


    Although he felt that Sunset College didn''t have a student with such low intelligence, he still needed to quickly deal with any necessary threads.


    After logging into the moderator''s account, Liu Zhengyan used his authority to check Li Xuan''s post without spending any money. Although he felt that it was definitely a scam, he still planned on confirming it first.


    Very quickly, Liu Zhengyan saw the contents of the post and his expression changed drastically. He started off calm and indifferent, but in the end, he was flabbergasted. The changes to his face seemed like an artistic act.


    Is this strategy really feasible? Based on Liu Zhengyan''s understanding of Restriction City and Bronze Luck Beasts, the strategy did seem feasible. More importantly, there were a few places that even he didn''t know if they were real or fake. He was unable to determine the authenticity of the strategy.


    If it''s really possible, then the person who wrote this strategy is amazing. Liu Zhengyan decided to make a trip to Restriction City and personally test it out.


    If this strategy were real, he planned on including it as teaching material and let all the special admissions students study it.


    Liu Zhengyan didn''t want them to learn how to kill Bronze Luck Beasts, but to learn from the line of thinking and methods used to derive the strategy.


    The rarest thing about this strategy was that it was a meticulous and creative design. There was no need to rely on powerful strength to resolve the problem. It was solely designed using perfect positioning, suppression, and the use of the opponent''s weakness. If the strategy was proven to be real, even a few Mortal-stage cultivators could kill the Bronze Luck Beast in a group. Such a strategy was simply the work of a genius.


    Liu Zhengyan eagerly headed to Restriction City. He only wanted to quickly verify the authenticity of the strategy.


    However, when he entered Restriction City, he realized that someone was already killing Bronze Luck Beasts. The few of them near the city gates had already been killed.


    Liu Zhengyan''s heart stirred as he headed deep into the city. Indeed, not long after, he saw two students killing the Bronze Luck Beasts.


    When he saw the movements of the two students, he immediately came to a realization. He didn''t need to experiment anymore and he knew that the strategy was real. Besides, he already knew who had posted it.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen, were they the ones who wrote that strategy? Liu Zhengyan looked from afar at the duo''s slaying of the Bronze Luck Beasts and only grew increasingly alarmed.


    Li Xuan was executing the steps of the designed strategy. With his strength alone, he could easily kill the Bronze Luck Beast. The entire process definitely took less than a minute. This had already broken the student records of the school.


    The crux of the matter was that Li Xuan had completed it too easily. Furthermore, it also proved that Bronze Luck Beasts had a huge weakness. As long as one targeted this weakness, killing it would be too easy.


    What left Liu Zhengyan even more surprised was Zhou Wen. Although the person attacking the Bronze Luck Beast was Li Xuan, Zhou Wen had been following him all the way with a camera. He tossed and turned in the group of bronze beasts and followed Li Xuan, perfectly capturing his every move.


    It was not easy to keep up with Li Xuan''s actions, much less in Restriction City. There were many Mortal-stage bronze beasts and bronze birds around.


    With the bronze beasts awoken by Li Xuan, Zhou Wen''s subsequent tailing of him made the bronze beasts and bronze birds target him with priority. However, Zhou Wen''s pace was light and nimble as though he was taking a stroll. He didn''t even look at the bronze beasts, yet he was able to dodge all of their attacks.


    The entire process was pleasing to the eyes, so fluid that Liu Zhengyan felt like it was a sight to behold.


    This Zhou Wen doesn''t only have powerful Companion Beasts. His standards aren''t bad either. He should be more than able to enter the special admission class. The more Liu Zhengyan looked at him, the more he felt that difficulty as a videographer was more difficult than Li Xuan who was the protagonist when hunting the Bronze Luck Beasts.


    When Liu Zhengyan had watched the entire process of the two of them hunting the Bronze Luck Beast, he secretly left Restriction City without alarming Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    After returning to his office, he logged on to the website again and found the thread Li Xuan had posted. Then, he clicked on it.


    This time, Liu Zhengyan didn''t use his moderator account and access. Instead, he purchased the monetized thread as a normal user.


    Since I''ve already paid for it, it shouldn''t be a problem for me to use it. Liu Zhengyan smiled and had already made up his mind.


    The special admissions class was different from the ordinary classes. If the ordinary students of Sunset College were left to develop themselves, then the students of the special class were specially nurtured.


    There was no saying which of the two teaching methods was exactly good or bad, but the teaching methods of the special class were more targeted with results showing faster.


    However, this kind of teaching method required the students to have a very good foundation. This was something that ordinary students did not have. At the same time, they also needed a large number of resources from the college, so it was difficult to extend it to everyone.


    Liu Zhengyan planned to use this strategy as teaching material and give detailed explanations to the students of the special class.


    However, it wasn''t for now, but after the special admissions students completed their homework missions.


    With the pride and confidence of the special admissions students, they would definitely be very confident in their own results. Some would even feel proud of their own results.


    However, if they saw this strategy and saw the tremendous effects of it, he believed that it would be a good learning experience for them.


    However, before that, Liu Zhengyan had to confirm that those students didn''t know about it already; otherwise, the educational effects would be greatly reduced.


    Liu Zhengyan wasn''t worried about the thread on the discussion forum. With such a high price, no student would be foolish enough to purchase it.


    The only thing that needed to be resolved was Li Xuan and Zhou Wen''s recorded results.


    It looks like I need to have a good chat with Ms. Wang. Liu Zhengyan decided to discuss the matter with Wang Fei, and get her to temporarily hold back Li Xuan and Zhou Wen''s results and videos. It wouldn''t be too late to announce them after he had finished teaching his students.

 156 Who Was the One Who Wrote The Strategy Guide?

    Wang Fei had been in a rather good mood recently. Ever since she gave Zhou Wen the mission to kill the Bronze Luck Beasts, her mood had greatly improved.


    "Ms. Wang, are you there?" Liu Zhengyan''s voice and knocking came from outside her office.


    Wang Fei opened the door and invited Liu Zhengyan in. She poured him a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "Mr. Liu, what''s the matter?"


    "It''s like this, Teacher Wang. Did you assign a homework mission for Zhou Wen and Li Xuan to kill Bronze Luck Beasts?" Liu Zhengyan asked frankly.


    "Didn''t I inform you about this matter? Did something happen?" Wang Fei looked at Liu Zhengyan in confusion.


    "Nothing happened. I just have something to ask of you," Liu Zhengyan said.


    "Mr. Liu, you are my senior. You helped me a lot when I first joined the school. There''s no need to be so polite with me if there''s anything you need me to do," Wang Fei said.


    Liu Zhengyan said, "Alright, then I won''t stand on ceremony with you. I hope you can temporarily hold back Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s results and videos. You can report their results and videos after my class completes the homework mission."


    "Mr. Liu, I don''t understand. What are you getting at?" Wang Fei was confused as she did not know what Liu Zhengyan meant.


    It wasn''t difficult for her to do so, nor did it violate any of her principles. However, Wang Fei simply didn''t understand the meaning behind his actions.


    Liu Zhengyan pointed at the computer in front of Wang Fei. "Ms. Wang, open the student discussion forums on the intranet and take a look at the post titled ''A god''s guide to slaying a Bronze Luck Beast in a minute.''"


    Wang Fei doubtfully clicked open the forum and found the thread that Liu Zhengyan was talking about. When she saw that it was actually a monetized thread with a ridiculously high price, she couldn''t help but look at Liu Zhengyan.


    "Buy it and take a look. You won''t regret reading the contents in it," Liu Zhengyan said with a smile.


    Wang Fei hesitated for a moment before following Liu Zhengyan''s instructions. She bought the thread and clicked on it to read its contents.


    When she read it, Wang Fei''s expression was similar to the one Liu Zhengyan had when he first read it. Slowly, it turned to shock as she turned to look at Liu Zhengyan and asked, "Is what''s written real?"


    "Every word of it. I''ve already verified it," Liu Zhengyan said.


    "Was this strategy guide written by you, Mr. Liu. It''s really impressive." Wang Fei misunderstood and thought that the strategy guide was written by Liu Zhengyan.


    He shook his head and said, "I didn''t write the thread. I thought that it was a scam. I wanted to delete it, but after reading the content, I realized that it was a real strategy. Furthermore, it''s a shocking one."


    "If it wasn''t written by you, then which teacher would write a strategy for Bronze Luck Beasts?" Wang Fei subconsciously believed that most Legendary students wouldn''t be able to write such a strategy. It was likely written by a certain teacher.


    "The strategy guide isn''t written by any teacher." Liu Zhengyan shook his head again.


    "If it''s not written by a teacher, then who¡­" As Wang Fei spoke, she seemed to have some nasty thoughts surface in her mind.


    Liu Zhengyan said, "This is the reason why I wanted you to hold back Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s results. This strategy guide should be written by both of them or either one of them. I''ve seen them use this method to kill a Bronze Luck Beast with my own eyes. It''s absolutely feasible and there aren''t any problems. Therefore, I wish to use this strategy as teaching material for my students. However, I hope that they won''t know of the duo''s results ahead of time. Nor do I wish for them to see their videos. It''s why I''m here to trouble you."


    "Mr. Liu, are you sure that this thread was written by Zhou Wen and Li Xuan?" Wang Fei stared at Liu Zhengyan with widened eyes. She really couldn''t accept this outcome.


    She originally believed that she had Zhou Wen under her thumb, but she suddenly realized that the obstacle she had set up for Zhou Wen was completely useless. To think that she had been gloating over it.


    "No doubt about it. They wrote it. As long as you see their videos, you will understand that apart from the original author, no one else can do as well as they do, especially Zhou Wen, who''s the videographer. If you have the chance, you should go to Restriction City to take a look. The videographer''s performance will be more interesting than the main character in the video," Liu Zhengyan said with a smile.


    "Mr. Liu, I''ll follow your request. Don''t worry, I''m very sorry, but I''ll be heading out for a while now." Wang Fei decided to listen to Liu Zhengyan''s advice and go to Restriction City to take a look.


    She couldn''t believe that a gamer like Zhou Wen who gamed all day could write such a strategy.


    When Wang Fei rushed to Restriction City, Li Xuan was slaying the tenth Bronze Luck Beast for his mission. This was because he had spent too much time searching for Bronze Luck Beasts in Restriction City; otherwise, the mission would have been completed ages ago.


    Although Wang Fei didn''t see the complete process, with only the second half of Li Xuan''s hunt, it was enough to shock her.


    It was not only because the strategy was just as Liu Zhengyan had said, but also because of Zhou Wen''s movement techniques during the filming. That level of difficulty was even higher than Li Xuan''s hunting of the Bronze Luck Beast.


    If not for the fact that he knew the bronze beasts in Restriction City like the back of his hand, it would be impossible for him to reach such a level. Zhou Wen''s movement technique was as though he had installed a Heavenly Eye. He took into consideration the reactions of all the nearby bronze beasts and without even looking at them, he perfectly dodged all their attacks while following Li Xuan.


    Now, she finally understood why Liu Zhengyan was so certain that the strategy guide was written by the duo. Only someone who knew the bronze beasts so well could write such a strategy.


    This fellow¡­ He''s just too talented¡­ How did he do it? Wang Fei looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression as she felt mixed emotions. It was hard to describe what she felt.


    Zhou Wen was more outstanding than she imagined. As Zhou Wen''s counselor, Wang Fei was very pleased and happy for her good friend, Ouyang Lan.


    However, when she thought of how such a genius was obsessed with mobile games, the words "what a waste of a treasure" surfaced in her mind.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn''t notice the distant Wang Fei. After Li Xuan completed his mission, it was Zhou Wen''s turn to kill ten Bronze Luck Beasts.


    This change made Wang Fei more certain that the strategy was written by Zhou Wen, at least he took most of the credit.


    When Li Xuan did the filming, his movements were clearly a lot more amateurish. From time to time, he had to take care of the attacks of the Mortal-stage bronze beasts to prevent himself from being injured. He wasn''t able to be as focused as Zhou Wen on the filming.

 157 Multiple Life Providences

    When Wang Fei returned, she was exceptionally calm.


    She was somewhat astonished by Zhou Wen''s talent and capabilities. She believed that his gifts could no longer be judged simply by the standards of a genius.


    Throughout her teaching career, she had never seen a student like him.


    What Zhou Wen needs is no longer repetitive suppressive training. Such a student needs to be given more new things that he can analyze for himself. Wang Fei decided to return and think about it. She had never taught a student like him, so she needed to think more and reflect on herself. She wanted to come up with a new way to educate a student like Zhou Wen instead of using her past experiences on him.


    After handing in the Bronze Luck Beast homework mission, Wang Fei didn''t give him any more strange homework missions. Zhou Wen finally had some peace and quiet and now had the time to properly game.


    Outside Tiger Cage Pass, he encountered another Paper Demonized General.


    Drop me a Companion Egg! Zhou Wen commanded his Demonized General Companion Beast to charge forward as he waited in anticipation.


    The reason for his anticipation was that if his Demonized General could fuse with a Paper Demonized General once again, wouldn''t it become a complete Companion Beast with three skills?


    The Demonized General''s Astral Slash Blade restrained the Paper Demonized General, easily slaying it. At the instant the Paper Demonized General''s head was chopped off, a resplendent crystal dropped.


    An 18-valued Speed Crystal. That''s not too bad. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. Although he could encounter Paper Demonized Generals more frequently than the average person, there was no way to guarantee his drop rate. All he could do was rely on luck.


    The absorption of the Speed Crystal allowed all four of his attributes to reach 18. He was considered to be at the peak of the ordinary Legendary stage, but he was still 3 points behind Truth Listener''s and Banana Fairy''s 21 points.


    Although it was only three points, the higher the stat needed, the harder it was to raise. Normal Legendary creatures only produced 18-valued stats crystals at best. Even mutated Legendary creatures dropped 19-valued stats crystals. It was difficult to obtain 20-valued stats crystals, not to mention 21-valued stats crystals.


    I wonder if I can increase my attribute points by cultivating other Primordial Energy Arts like in the Mortal stage? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to visit Small Buddha Temple. After he advanced to the Legendary stage, he wanted to see if the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra''s stone monument was of any use.


    It had been a long time since he had been to Small Buddha Temple, but the environment here remained unchanged. When Zhou Wen came in front of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Pillar, his gaze landed on the stone monument. When he looked at it, the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in his body automatically began to circulate, evolving into the Legendary stage.


    Soon, the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra had risen to the Legendary realm. He didn''t face any obstacles during the advancement. It was so simple that it made Zhou Wen suspect that he wasn''t cultivating a Primordial Energy Art, but just doing a copy and paste.


    Zhou Wen looked at the blood-colored avatar''s stats and couldn''t help but be taken aback.


    He didn''t sense any special changes in his body, but the blood-colored avatar''s attributes changed drastically.


    There were a total of two changes. Zhou Wen''s original Legendary Life Providence was Sigh of the King, but it was now gone. Replacing it was a Life Providence named "Eight Perfections Wisdom."


    Together with the change in Life Providence, Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy Art also changed. It went from only having Lost Immortal Sutra to being replaced with Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    Instead, the stats that Zhou Wen hoped to increase didn''t increase. The four stats remained at 18 points.


    It can''t be? Could it be that the Lost Immortal Sutra has changed into the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly attempted to switch back to the Lost Immortal Sutra''s mode.


    The outcome made Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief. His Life Providence changed back to the Sigh of the King, and his Primordial Energy Art changed back to the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Zhou Wen switched back and forth a few times and realized that as long as he switched to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, his Life Providence would also change.


    Although his Life Providence had changed, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that it didn''t change at all. It was as though he still had his original Life Providence.


    Furthermore, the two Life Providences gave him a completely different feeling. The Sigh of the King gave Zhou Wen a feeling that it was one with his body, but although the Eight Perfections Wisdom had an extremely intimate tie with his body, he felt that it was lacking something compared with the Sigh of the King.


    However, he could clearly sense the characteristics of Eight Perfections Wisdom. It was similar to the typical feeling people had after possessing a Life Providence. It was unlike the Sigh of the King. Even Zhou Wen himself was half aware of it.


    I wonder if there will be another Life Providence after I upgrade the Ancient Imperial Sutra at the Fire God Platform? Zhou Wen immediately confirmed his guess and left the Small Buddha Temple''s instance dungeon before switching to the Ancient Imperial City.


    After returning to the Fire God Platform, he read the Ancient Imperial Sutra on the monument. It was similar to his previous experience. The Ancient Imperial Sutra automatically advanced to the Legendary stage, causing Zhou Wen''s Life Providence and Primordial Energy Art to experience changes.


    Ancient Emperor. When Zhou Wen looked at the two words of his Life Providence, he understood the benefits that such a Life Providence could bring him.


    Zhou Wen made another trip to Mount Laojun''s instance dungeon, and the outcome was the same. The Wordless Monument also gave him a Life Providence of Dao Body, and the Primordial Energy Art only had two words, "Dao Sutra."


    However, be it the Eight Perfections Wisdom, Ancient Emperor, or Dao Body, despite being able to clearly sense their effects, Zhou Wen found it unnatural. He felt as though the Life Providences didn''t belong to him.


    Only the Sigh of the King made Zhou Wen feel like there was no distance in between it and him.


    Could it be that those Life Providences and Primordial Energy Arts aren''t actually possessed by me, but a product of the Lost Immortal Sutra''s effects? Zhou Wen long had his suspicions, but it only felt more real this time.


    Taking out the oil lamp, Zhou Wen rubbed it once again. The oil lamp, which no longer had any characters, light, or darkness appearing on it, suddenly produced a projection of text. It turned Zhou Wen''s Life Providence into Godfiend and his Primordial Energy Art turned into Godfiend Era.


    Just like the first three Life Providences, the Godfiend''s Life Providence also felt somewhat distant. It made him uneasy, but it was only a feeling. It didn''t obstruct him from using it.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t able to use four different Life Providences at the same time. He could use the corresponding Life Providence when his Primordial Energy Art switched to the corresponding type, and different Life Providences gave him different augmentations.


    Eight Perfections Wisdom greatly augmented his body. It was similar to Li Xuan''s Immortal God of Combat that allowed for his physical resilience to improve greatly as he gained a powerful recovery ability.


    The Dao Body Life Providence augmented his Primordial Energy, greatly increasing Zhou Wen''s recovery speed. It just took him a few seconds to regain all his Primordial Energy.


    The Ancient Emperor Life Providence raised all his stats, but it mainly increased his Strength greatly. Furthermore, it made his Strength attribute experience some abnormal changes.


    The Godfiend Life Providence was the oddest. Zhou Wen originally believed that it would augment his Speed attribute greatly, but that wasn''t the case. The Godfiend Life Providence augmented all his attributes, but not by much. Its main purpose was to allow Zhou Wen to possess the ability to fly.

 158 Raising a Weighted Feather

    With the Godfiend''s Life Providence, Zhou Wen could choose not to use any Primordial Energy Skills, nor did he need to borrow the wings of his Companion Beast to directly float in the air. Furthermore, he could fly freely, as though he had invisible stairs in the air.


    Every Life Providence had its unique effects, and they all seemed very powerful, but Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that these powers didn''t belong to him.


    He was at home studying the effects of the Primordial Energy Arts and Life Providences when he suddenly heard the doorbell ring.


    At first, he thought it was Li Xuan, but when he opened the door, he realized that it was Feng Qiuyan.


    "Why are you here?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "Coach, I would like you to tailor a second cultivation plan for me," Feng Qiuyan said firmly.


    "Didn''t I say before that you have to finish the plan I tailor-made for you before you can proceed to the next stage of cultivation¡­" Zhou Wen really didn''t wish to lie to Feng Qiuyan, so he could only find an excuse to reject him.


    However, before he could finish speaking, Feng Qiuyan said, "Coach, I''ve already mastered the realm of the slow saber."


    "What? You''ve mastered it?" Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he looked at Feng Qiuyan in disbelief.


    He had only said it in passing. Although he had included some of his insights, most of them were just random thoughts he pulled out of his ass. The fact that Feng Qiuyan had actually managed to master the realm of the slow saber realm with his nonsense, left Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    "I''ve really mastered it. I''ll demonstrate it to you now." Feng Qiuyan slashed at Zhou Wen with his saber.


    In the past, Feng Qiuyan''s slashing of his saber was very quick, so fast that no one could see it clearly. It was like a bolt of lightning. It was extremely fast and agile.


    His saber remained very fast, but it was so fast that it gave one a heavy feeling. It was as if there was immense weight on his saber, as if a mountain was pressing on it.


    This saber move allowed others to see it clearly. It looked very slow, but in fact, its speed was even faster than before.


    "You move as if you are raising a weighted feather!" Zhou Wen directly spoke of the feeling that Feng Qiuyan''s saber had given him.


    Feng Qiuyan nodded and said, "As expected of Coach. You knew about this realm all along. If it wasn''t for your guidance, I don''t know how long it would have taken me to figure it out."


    Zhou Wen wasn''t able to describe his current feelings as he thought to himself, Feng Qiuyan, you are truly a genius. You actually managed to master something with that little said? What else can I say?


    "Coach, please continue to tailor a cultivation plan for me," Feng Qiuyan said solemnly to Zhou Wen.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to say a word, Feng Qiuyan transferred the money to Zhou Wen. It was actually more than twenty thousand, three times more than the first lesson.


    "Coach, I know that you aren''t doing it for this pittance, but this is just a form of my appreciation," Feng Qiuyan said.


    I''m doing it precisely for this pittance, alright? Zhou Wen was really in need of money, but he found the money to be a hot potato.


    "I''ve been a little busy recently. I probably don''t have much time to tailor a plan for you¡­"Zhou Wen wanted to find an excuse to send Feng Qiuyan away.


    However, Feng Qiuyan immediately said, "It''s alright. Coach, if you have time, give me some pointers. If you don''t have time, I can wait."


    Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan with a complicated expression, momentarily at a loss for words. After a long hesitation, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Feng Qiuyan, listen to me. In fact, from the beginning, I only wanted to earn a little bit of your money from teaching you. What I said to you previously was all nonsense. For you to master the realm of the slow saber is because you are talented and perceptive. It has nothing to do with me. I''m sorry; I''ll refund you the money you paid previously. I hope that you won''t take it to heart¡­"


    Zhou Wen really didn''t wish to lie to Feng Qiuyan. He told him the truth and would rather return the money to him than continue the lie.


    However, Feng Qiuyan didn''t believe him at all. He stopped Zhou Wen from refunding him the money and said, "Coach, it''s fine if you don''t have time. I can wait. If you think my talent is too poor and don''t wish to teach me, it doesn''t matter. I''ll stay by your side. You don''t have to deliberately teach me. Just let me figure things out on my own."


    Zhou Wen wasn''t an eloquent person. He was at a loss for an explanation as he stammered, "That''s not what I meant¡­"


    "Coach, you don''t have to say anything else. I know people like you are very diligent in your cultivation. You will definitely squeeze every minute and second for cultivation, or else you wouldn''t have improved so quickly. I was selfish to make you waste your time tailoring a plan for me. But other than you, I can''t tolerate those mediocre people who only teach following a fixed curriculum. So please do not reject me. I know that your time is precious, so you don''t have to do anything. Just let me be by your side and self-study. Don''t worry, I won''t affect your day-to-day life. I won''t disturb you when it''s inconvenient." Feng Qiuyan''s eyes were steeled with resolve.


    This person¡­ must be crazy¡­ Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan with his mouth agape. He realized that he had no way of explaining himself.


    "I''m telling you that I really have nothing to teach you. Are you sure you want to stay?" Zhou Wen said feebly.


    "Coach, don''t worry. I will definitely not disturb your cultivation," Feng Qiuyan said firmly.


    "As long as you''re happy. Let me make things clear. I have nothing to teach you. If you insist on staying, the money you gave me won''t be refunded," Zhou Wen said.


    "I don''t usually use a lot of money. I haven''t used much of the allowance that my family gave me. There''s still about a million left. If you need it, you can take it all," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "There''s no need." Zhou Wen shook his head helplessly as he went back inside and sat on the sofa to continue gaming.


    Feng Qiuyan walked in and closed the door before following Zhou Wen, preparing to watch him play games.


    "Do you want to watch me game too?" Zhou Wen put down his phone and asked Feng Qiuyan.


    "I want to understand your entire cultivation process. Gaming is also part of your cultivation, right? What game are you playing? I want to download one too," Feng Qiuyan said seriously. It was obvious that he wasn''t joking.


    "This is a game I created myself. It hasn''t been completed yet, so it is a trade secret." Zhou Wen felt like he was about to go mad.


    Feng Qiuyan was obviously the one who had been deceived, but he, the deceiver, felt extremely depressed.


    "I see." Feng Qiuyan nodded and stopped watching him game. He walked to Zhou Wen and pulled a chair to sit down as he stared at him intently.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered with him. He believed that Feng Qiuyan would leave once he was bored, so he decided to ignore him. Since Feng Qiuyan couldn''t see what game he was playing, he continued gaming and grinding the game''s instance dungeons.

 159 True Grinding

    This time, Zhou Wen was grinding the Ant Nest. When he arrived in the Ant City again, he immediately switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Dao Sutra. His Life Providence also changed to Dao Body, giving him immense augmentation to his Primordial Energy recovery rate.


    At the same time, he got the blood-colored avatar to summon the Banana Fairy in her fan-like state. Seeing the swarm of black-winged flying ants charging at him, he swatted the fan at them.


    The dozen or so black-winged flying ants in front of him were immediately sent flying. The cold wind caused their bodies to freeze into ice sculptures. When they were hit, they immediately shattered into broken limbs that fell to the ground.


    Following the dozen or so notifications that a black-winged flying ant had been killed, a dimensional crystal dropped on the ground.


    Awesome. This is what it means to grind. Zhou Wen summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, Mutated Demonized General, the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, and the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, but he didn''t let them attack. All he did was put up a battle formation for defense, preventing the horde of black-winged flying ants from approaching the blood-colored avatar.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior took point as the swarm of black-winged flying ants failed to injure its Golden Body. It occupied the space of nearly half the black-winged flying ants.


    The other Companion Beasts also used their own strengths to prevent the ant swarm from approaching the blood-colored avatar.


    However, there were just too many black-winged flying ants. In just a few seconds, a large group had gathered and were on the brink of breaking through the defensive perimeter.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the blood-colored avatar''s Primordial Energy. Under the effects of the Dao Body, his Primordial Energy had recovered to the maximum of 18 points. Without any hesitation, he swatted his fan again.


    Boom! Boom!


    A large group of ants was sent flying as they slammed into each other, shattering to pieces. The notifications of black-winged flying ants being killed flooded the screen.


    Under the protection of the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and other Companion Beasts, the blood-colored avatar delivered a gust of cold wind every few seconds. The immense numbers of black-winged ants couldn''t withstand such a slaughter. In less than half an hour, the massive Ant City had almost no black-winged flying ants left.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to charge into Ant City. All kinds of ants crawled out of the nest in an attempt to attack him, but a large swath of them was killed by the Great Yin Wind.


    There were shiny dimensional crystals on the ground, mixed with Companion Eggs. It was a spectacular sight that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Awesome! How awesome! Zhou Wen led the group of Companion Beasts to storm through Ant City, leaving a river of blood in his wake. He didn''t even have time to pick up the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs that dropped.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Zhou Wen immersed himself in a frenzy, slaughtering every ant he saw. He wanted to massacre Ant City before heading to the tallest ant nest and fight the Golden Flying Ant so as to drink the honey inside.


    Zhou Wen felt that the number of Legendary creatures he killed in less than an hour was more than the number of Legendary creatures he had killed previously combined. Just from the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs that shimmered on the ground, he knew how mind-blowing the number of ants he had killed was.


    It''s no wonder that the powerful family clans will become stronger, but it''s so difficult for the weak to become stronger. Once one''s strength reaches a certain level, it''s too easy to earn resources, Zhou Wen thought.


    While he was crazily gaming and killing monsters, Feng Qiuyan, who was sitting opposite him, kept staring at him. His eyes never left him.


    For a person as hardworking as Coach, his gaming must be a form of cultivation, but what''s the point of cultivating in such a way? Although Feng Qiuyan couldn''t figure out the outcome, he firmly believed that Zhou Wen''s actions had his reasons and meaning, so he continued staring at him.


    As Feng Qiuyan was pondering over the matter, the antelope that had been sleeping on the couch woke up. It jumped down from the couch and bleated at Zhou Wen a few times. It meant that it was hungry and wanted Zhou Wen to prepare food for it.


    However, Zhou Wen was engrossed in the game and completely ignored it.


    It was extremely unhappy as it stomped on the ground with its hooves, as though it was tap dancing.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen wasn''t paying any attention to it, the antelope circled around Zhou Wen and jumped around him. It even nudged its head into his embrace, hoping to attract his attention and get him to prepare food.


    Zhou Wen was very familiar with the antelope and knew that it typically didn''t use violence. Furthermore, he was at a critical moment in his grinding, so he had no time to deal with it. No matter how much of a fuss it made, he ignored it.


    As Feng Qiuyan watched, his eyes suddenly lit up. I understand now. Coach is practicing the cultivation of one''s mind. In such an environment, he can still focus on gaming. He''s not affected by any external factors or objects. This realm of single-mindedness is the optimal state for cultivation.


    I see¡­ So that''s how it is¡­ I understand what I should do next¡­ Feng Qiuyan leaped up and bowed slightly at Zhou Wen. "Coach, I understand. I''ll start my cultivation now. When I reach the same realm as you, I''ll seek your advice again."


    Zhou Wen didn''t respond and continued gaming as though he hadn''t heard him. Feng Qiuyan didn''t mind as he turned around and left Zhou Wen''s dorm.


    After glancing at Feng Qiuyan, a puzzled expression appeared on the antelope''s face. It had no idea what had happened to the person; he had acted like a madman.


    Feng Qiuyan walked out excitedly, but as he walked, he slowed down.


    How do I cultivate the way to having a calm mind? Just as Feng Qiuyan was thinking, he saw a person walking towards him. On careful look, it was Li Xuan.


    "Feng Qiuyan, why are you here at Zhou Wen''s place?" Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    Feng Qiuyan''s eyes lit up as he quickly came to Li Xuan. Without answering him, he asked, "Li Xuan, you have the best relationship with Coach. Do you know how he usually cultivates to be completely single-minded?"


    "What single-minded? That fellow, Old Zhou, is like a fool when he''s gaming. He doesn''t hear a thing," Li Xuan said casually.


    "That''s right. What kind of disturbance practice does he do when he''s gaming?" Feng Qiuyan hurriedly said.


    "Is there a need for practice? When he''s gaming, he isn''t distracted at all. In the past, I had a pretty chick tempt him while he was gaming, but guess what happened in the end? That punk acted as though he couldn''t see that chick at all. When that girl stopped him from playing, he threw her to the ground with a slap and continued gaming¡­" Li Xuan said as his saliva splattered.


    So one needs to get past lust first? Feng Qiuyan''s eyes lit up as though he had figured out something.


    However, when Feng Qiuyan thought about it, he realized that this was Sunset College. There was no way he could find such a woman to practice with. Instantly, he felt a little stumped.


    "Do you know anywhere that has women? The kind that are very noisy," Feng Qiuyan asked, having heard from Li Xuan that he had previously found women for Zhou Wen.


    "Very noisy women¡­ There really is one¡­" When Li Xuan saw how oddly Feng Qiuyan was behaving, he had the intention of pulling his leg.


    Feng Qiuyan was delighted when Li Xuan said yes. He immediately got Li Xuan to take him there and followed him to Li Weiyang''s club.

 161 Whos First?

    "It would be a wonder if he could sell it. In terms of Companion Beasts, we are indeed not as strong as him. Unfortunately, Restriction City doesn''t allow the use of Companion Beasts. Who needs his strategy?" Li Zhuo pursed his lips as he watched Zhou Wen leave.


    The girl beside him added, "He thinks he''s very strong just because he defeated John, but it was all because of his Companion Beasts. To write a strategy guide and sell it to our special class is indeed excessively arrogant."


    "Let''s not talk about the geniuses like An Jing, Wang Lu, or Feng Qiuyan in our special class, even the average ones are far superior to the students of the ordinary classes. If he wants to write a strategy guide, it will be us writing for them."


    The few special admissions students shared the same thought. They still felt a little displeased that Zhou Wen had tried selling them the strategy guide. It had hurt their pride.


    Wang Lu frowned slightly and said, "Zhou Wen is indeed a genius. The guide he wrote must have something to learn from. However, we aren''t buying it because we want to train ourselves, so there''s no need to belittle him."


    Li Zhuo laughed and said, "Wang Lu, you are overthinking things. We have no intention of disparaging him. We are just saying that no one is weaker than him in terms of their own abilities. There''s no need to buy his strategy."


    Wang Lu could tell that Li Zhuo was insincere, but she didn''t say anything else.


    The few of them headed for class together. The mission to slay the Bronze Luck Beasts had been completed, so Liu Zhengyan was to provide them a summary and explanation. All the special admissions students had to attend the class.


    Liu Zhengyan was in a good mood today. He didn''t blame Feng Qiuyan or another student for being late. He only waved his hand to get them to quickly take their seats.


    "Mr. Liu seems to be in a good mood today. He didn''t reprimand the late students!" a girl said in surprise.


    Shaking his head, Li Zhuo said with a smile, "Of course he''s in a good mood. Our special class did a good job with the homework mission. I heard that a few of us broke the special class record from last year."


    "Seems like we can relax for a while." The girl from before smiled.


    Liu Zhengyan raised his hand slightly to signal for the students to quieten down. Then, he swept his gaze across everyone''s faces and said slowly, "Everyone has completed the homework mission of killing Bronze Luck Beasts. Compared to the special classes of past years, the overall standard of this class is a level higher. It can be considered the best result in recent years."


    The students started clapping. Many students showed their excitement. Having been in school for more than a month, this was the first time they heard Liu Zhengyan praise them.


    Liu Zhengyan waved his hand and waited for the students to quieten down before continuing, "This year, a few students performed pretty well. They broke the records from previous years. An Jing with 3:20. Wang Lu with 3:27, and Feng Qiuyan with 3:28. Such results can be said to be extremely outstanding."


    The other students looked at the three of them enviously. Although they had already known that the three of them were exceptionally outstanding¡ªeven in the special class¡ªthey couldn''t help but feel jealous.


    "But¡­" Liu Zhengyan suddenly changed the topic and continued, "But this year''s best result wasn''t scored by any of them."


    "How is that possible? Who else could it be? Is there anyone else in our class who has better results than them?"


    "It can''t be, right? There are hidden big shots that are more impressive than the three of them?"


    "That''s impossible, isn''t it? An Jing, Wang Lu, and Feng Qiuyan are among the top ten students in the school. Even if the other students are very strong, they aren''t good enough to enter the top ten. It seems impossible for anyone to have better results than the three of them."


    The students engaged in a flurry of discussion. They looked around and wondered who that person was.


    "The person who obtained the best results in killing the Bronze Luck Beast this year isn''t from our special class." The students'' discussion became even more intense after Liu Zhengyan said those shocking words.


    "Mr. Liu, don''t tell me you''re talking about our seniors?" Li Zhuo couldn''t help but ask loudly.


    Liu Zhengyan smiled and looked at Li Zhuo. He asked, "Li Zhuo, who do you think should be first and what''s his timing?"


    "I think it should be Senior Wei Ge. I believe that if it were Senior Wei Ge, he should be able to do it in sub-three minutes," said Li Zhuo.


    "That''s right. Wei Ge got 2:57. It happens to be within three minutes. You are very keen," Liu Zhengyan said.


    Li Zhuo said proudly, "Mr. Li, you flatter me. I was just making a casual guess. I didn''t expect to be on the mark."


    Liu Zhengyan smiled. "But that''s Wei Ge''s results when he was practicing. Besides, he''s already in his third year, so he''s not within the rankings of you freshmen. The freshman in first place is someone else."


    "Who is it?" Li Zhuo couldn''t help but be dumbfounded.


    Liu Zhengyan picked up a dossier and said, "The results for this year''s killing of Bronze Luck Beasts puts Zhou Wen from Counselor Wang Fei''s class as first. Second is Li Xuan from her class as well. Third place is our class''s An Jing¡­"


    "Impossible!" Li Zhuo cried out in disbelief.


    This time, it wasn''t just Li Zhuo and the other students. Even An Jing, Wang Lu, and Feng Qiuyan''s eyes narrowed as they looked at Liu Zhengyan.


    "What''s Zhou Wen''s timing?" An Jing suddenly asked.


    "That''s a good question. You can guess what their results are," Liu Zhengyan said with a smile.


    "It''s at best an order of magnitude from An Jing, right?" suggested Li Zhuo.


    "It''s indeed an order of magnitude." Liu Zhengyan turned on the player and projector and played a video. "See for yourself."


    Everyone cast their gaze to the big screen. An Jing, Feng Qiuyan, and the others also had their eyes peeled to the screen as they watched the video carefully.


    The video was very short and only took less than a minute. However, after watching the video, the entire classroom fell silent. Li Zhuo and the others broke out into a cold sweat as they stared intently at the big screen. They failed to regain their cognitive abilities for a long time, and their faces were blank.


    Coach lives up to being a coach. What amazing positioning. Is this all the benefits of gaming while practicing to be undistracted? Looks like I still need further cultivation. Feng Qiuyan''s eyes were burning, but he seemed to have expected it.


    Wang Lu was somewhat astonished as well. Although she had expected Zhou Wen''s results to be excellent, she never expected them to be this good. It only took him forty-seven seconds.


    Zhou Wen was indeed faster than them by an order of magnitude, but this order was at the level of minutes.


    An Jing looked at the screen calmly, but her expression was a little odd. It was unknown what she was thinking.


    "Mr. Liu, are these results real? This is a strategy designed by the counselors before getting Zhou Wen to carry it out, right?" Li Zhuo still found it unbelievable.


    "Unfortunately, no counselor participated in the design of this strategy. The strategy was written by Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. I also spent money on the discussion forums to read their monetized thread before I learned that there was such a method to kill Bronze Luck Beasts. Such a line of thinking and design can be said to be unique. To resolve a problem from a weakling''s point of view, relying on intelligence and not strength is very difficult. Today, we will be discussing in detail the ingenuity of the design and their unique line of thinking. I believe all of you will learn plenty from it, especially their thoughts on solving the problem. Strength might not be the only solution to resolving problems. This is very important¡­"

 162 Restriction City Activity

    Li Xuan organized another event for the Xuanwen Club. Zhou Wen originally thought that not many people would turn up. If Gu Dian didn''t come, there would at most be four people, but when he arrived, he realized that there were more people than he imagined.


    Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong were there as well. Gu Dian had also come. Apart from the original five people from the Xuanwen Club, there were also Feng Qiuyan, Wang Lu, Li Weiyang, and Hui Haifeng.


    Li Xuan chuckled and said, "The club''s event is a joint activity between our Xuanwen Club, Weiyang Club, and the Ocean Club. Furthermore, our Xuanwen Club has added two more formal members. They are Feng Qiuyan and Wang Lu."


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He had been gaming permanently for the past few days and had not paid any attention to the situation regarding the Xuanwen Club. Only then did he realize that Feng Qiuyan and Wang Lu had been roped into the Xuanwen Club by Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan had set his sights on Restriction City. The group headed for the city with great fanfare.


    The Weiyang Club consisted of only girls while the Ocean Club was mainly boys. Furthermore, they were all infamous problematic students in school. With Li Xuan and Zhou Wen''s Xuanwen Club having some odd ones out, this group quickly attracted the attention of the school.


    The first person to receive the news was Wei Ge. As the president of Sunset College''s student council, he acutely believed that this matter was somewhat unusual. Perhaps it represented future trends of the students of Sunset College.


    Hui Haifeng and his gang are actually so close to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. Wang Lu and Feng Qiuyan from the special class all have large families backing them, so they haven''t joined any clubs. Now, they have joined the Xuanwen Club and that strange Gu Dian has joined them too. Will the Xuanwen Club become the second Ocean Club in the future? No, I have to see what those people are up to. Wei Ge quickly gathered student councilors and joined the Xuanwen Club''s activities in the name of maintaining order and keeping the students safe. Together, they entered Restriction City with Li Xuan and company.


    Due to the addition of the student council, the group once again grew bigger¡ªthere were already more than 50 people. After the group entered Restriction City, they directly stormed the area. The ordinary bronze beasts and bronze birds couldn''t withstand the slaughtering of so many students.


    Surprisingly, Feng Qiuyan, who loved to use his saber, didn''t take action this time. He was gaming on his phone just like Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen saw that the game Feng Qiuyan was playing was a mini-game called "Last 20 Seconds If You Are A Man." The game was very simple, but it wasn''t easy to maintain 20 seconds in the game without dying.


    When Zhou Wen saw Feng Qiuyan gaming, the latter had already lasted more than a minute. However, he still failed to escape the fate of death.


    As there were so many students, and many of them were extremely powerful seniors, the originally dangerous Restriction City seemed to become a tourist attraction. Even the Bronze Luck Beasts were quickly cleared.


    Wang Lu had even used Zhou Wen''s strategy to kill one. Indeed, she had easily improved her results to less than a minute.


    "Zhou Wen, I think highly of you. If you join the student council now, there''s a high chance of becoming the president of the student council. Think about it," Wei Ge said to Zhou Wen when they were alone.


    "I''m fine as is. Besides, I only like gaming. I can''t be president," Zhou Wen said.


    "No one was born to be one. Just take your time to learn. You don''t have to be in a hurry to answer me. Think about it first," Wei Ge said with a smile.


    Seeing Hui Haifeng walk over, Wei Ge didn''t wish to meet him. He bade Zhou Wen farewell and left.


    "Did Wei Ge tell you that he thinks highly of you and wants you to join the student council to work with him? And when he leaves in the future, you will be the president of the student council?" Hui Haifeng walked to Zhou Wen''s side and said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. Although his words were somewhat different, they had the same meaning.


    Hui Haifeng smiled and said, "There''s no need to be surprised. That punk is like that. He has said those words to almost every single member of the Ocean Club."


    "I see." Zhou Wen was enlightened as he finally understood why Hui Haifeng had guessed Wei Ge''s words so accurately.


    "I''ve read your Bronze Luck Beast strategy. It''s truly impressive. It has nothing to do with your combat strength. It''s the kind of planning ability that can calculate such shortcuts in chaotic environments that can avoid the sacrifice of many soldiers when exploring new dimensional zones," Hui Haifeng said.


    "You plan on joining the army in the future?" Zhou Wen asked Hui Haifeng.


    Hui Haifeng nodded. "If there''s a chance, I''ll join the army. If there''s no chance, I''ll work on something related. If a man can''t do something jaw-dropping his entire life, I feel like life would have been lived in vain."


    "I wish you success." Although Zhou Wen didn''t share the same views, it didn''t stop him from appreciating such a person. At the very least, he had a good impression of Hui Haifeng.


    Everyone kept storming into Restriction City as all sorts of bronze beasts were killed. Unfortunately, the drop rates of the bronze beasts were too low. It would only produce a single dimensional crystal occasionally. Furthermore, their attributes were generally not high.


    As he walked forward, Zhou Wen suddenly felt the mysterious phone in his pocket vibrate. It left him somewhat taken aback.


    He had already found the tiny palm print of Restriction City and had downloaded it into his phone. Why was the mysterious phone still vibrating?


    Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Zhou Wen deliberately stayed at the back. He took out the mysterious phone, wanting to know why it was vibrating.


    As soon as he took out the phone, the camera was automatically activated.


    Zhou Wen raised his phone and looked around the city. When a scene appeared on his screen, the camera app automatically locked onto it. A green frame appeared that enclosed something on the screen.


    It was an old and worn wall. At a glance, it seemed as though there was nothing different about it. There was nothing different about it from the brick walls beside it.


    However, when Zhou Wen walked to the side of the brick wall and touched it with his hand, he realized that the brick wall wasn''t made of ordinary brick, but some kind of metal.


    The mysterious phone''s camera function was only locked onto the metal wall, but it didn''t automatically take pictures or lock onto any patterns. Zhou Wen was momentarily unsure of what was so special about the metal wall.


    It was a part of a particular building, but the structure was somewhat odd. It was squarish, like a miniature ancient city.


    The four walls of the city were only about ten meters tall. Zhou Wen circled the building but didn''t find any doors or windows.


    Using his ability to fly thanks to the Godfiend Life Providence, he flew to the top of the building and discovered that the roof was sealed as well. The entire building didn''t seem to have an entrance.


    Can it be that the item that causes the mysterious phone to vibrate is inside the building and not the metal wall itself? Zhou Wen wondered.

 163 Death City

    "What did you discover?" Wang Lu jumped up and sized up the building beneath her.


    "This building is a little odd. There aren''t any entrances or windows around it. Furthermore, it doesn''t seem to use ordinary bricks. It seems to be made from a special type of bronze," Zhou Wen said.


    "It''s indeed a little odd." Wang Lu crouched down to touch it and nodded. "It''s metal. It''s indeed a little strange."


    Their actions attracted Li Xuan and company. Wang Lu explained the situation and everyone agreed that the building was strange.


    "All of you, move aside. Let me try and see if I can smash it open." A stout boy from the Ocean Club struck down at the metal wall with a huge hammer.


    The boy was at the Legendary stage, and he was a Strength-type. He had also used his metal hammer that had Primordial Gold mixed in, combined with his Primordial Energy Skill, to strike the wall. Even if the wall was made of metal bricks, he should have been able to smash open a crack.


    However, not only did he fail to blast through the metal wall, he even fell to the ground from the recoil. The hammer in his hand flew out of his hand, and his hands were dripping with blood. The area between his thumb and index finger had torn.


    "It''s so hard!" Everyone was shocked. The boy was famous for his Strength in school, but due to his poor Speed, he was unable to enter the top ten.


    In terms of Strength alone, he would probably be ranked in the top three. For the Full-Strength strike from such a person to fail to scratch the surface of the metal wall made it clear that it was truly extraordinary.


    This only intrigued everyone further. They tried a variety of methods, but unfortunately, they failed to succeed in seeing what was inside.


    Even Zhou Wen used Truth Listener''s powers. He wanted to hear what was inside, but the interior of the building seemed to be a chunk of solid mass. There wasn''t any movement at all. Zhou Wen couldn''t hear a thing from the dead silence.


    "That''s Death City." A voice suddenly sounded.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person speaking was a long-haired boy. His looks were ordinary, but he looked refined. He had a scholarly air to him.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t noticed him in the beginning perhaps because of his reticent temperament that didn''t attract much attention among the students.


    "Jiang Yan, this strange building is called Death City? Do you know its origins?" Wei Ge asked him.


    Jiang Yan was a member of the student council, but he didn''t look like one of the key members. He was probably just an ordinary member, so no one had noticed him before.


    "In the Zhou dynasty, while humans were still confined to the borders of undeveloped barbaric behavior, many people believed in ghosts and gods, and it was very common for them to carry out rituals to worship the heavens. The funeral rituals were also very particular, especially the members of the royal family back then. In the later years of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, King Zhou became afraid of death. He built Death City and placed his bones and blood in it, hoping that by indicating his passing, he could hide from the heavens and escape death. Unfortunately, heaven''s will couldn''t be violated. He ultimately died." Jiang Yan''s eyes flashed a look of mockery.


    After a pause, Jiang Yan continued, "According to the few historical records, Death City is made of bronze, with no doors or windows¡­"


    Hearing Jiang Yan''s words, everyone was increasingly convinced that this strange bronze building was the legendary Death City.


    "I thought it was something good, but it turns out it''s just a fake grave. It only spells bad luck," a boy said.


    "That might not be the case," said Jiang Yan indifferently. "In order to fool the ghosts and gods, King Zhou didn''t only put his bones and blood in Dead City; he also buried his personal items and treasures with him. There were even some brutal kings who would even bury their beloved concubines alive. In order to fool the ghosts and gods, he had put in much effort."


    "Does that mean that there might be treasures inside?" Many students'' eyes lit up when they heard that.


    "If the history books are right, there will definitely be burial items inside. However, now that this place has turned into a dimensional zone, there might be some abnormal changes in it. It wouldn''t be surprising if it had dimensional creatures inside," said Jiang Yan.


    "Jiang Yan, do you know how to open Death City?" Wei Ge asked Jiang Yan.


    It was his first time realizing that Jiang Yan had such a side to him, as though it was somewhat different from the person he knew before.


    "Dig into the area beneath the south wall of Death City. If this is really East Zhou''s Death City, there should be an entrance there," Jiang Yan said.


    Wei Ge arranged for people to dig according to Jiang Yan''s instructions. After a hole seven to eight feet deep was dug, they saw a hole appear on the metal wall.


    After digging further down, a circular hole appeared. It was a tunnel that went all the way into Death City, but it was winding, making it impossible to see what was going on inside.


    "Which one of us is willing to go in first and take a look?" Wei Ge said.


    "I don''t know about others, but I''m definitely entering to take a look. However, I don''t want to be the first to enter," Li Xuan said.


    After a short discussion, Hui Haifeng was the first to enter. The four clubs sent a few people in.


    Zhou Wen originally didn''t wish to enter, but Li Xuan pulled him inside. Soon, they heard Hui Haifeng''s voice from ahead. "Everyone, come on in. There''s no danger inside."


    By the time Zhou Wen and Li Xuan climbed in, Wei Ge, Hui Haifeng, Feng Qiuyan, Li Weiyang, and company were already standing in Death City.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he would see skeletons and coffins, but after entering, he realized that there was nothing of that sort. There was only a tree in the city.


    The tree was about two meters tall. The branches and leaves were all black, but there were many thin white lines on them. It looked like a painting drawn in black and white.


    "Jiang Yan, what''s going on? Didn''t you say that this Death City has King Zhou''s bones and burial items? Why is there only this tree?" Wei Ge questioned Jiang Yan.


    Jiang Yan said indifferently, "I''ve already said that those are records in the history books. After the dimensional storms, it''s normal to have abnormal changes inside."


    "Then do you know what tree this is?" someone asked.


    "I don''t know," Jiang Yan replied straightforwardly.


    Everyone was somewhat disappointed. Even though they didn''t really have any hopes of digging up any treasures, learning that there was only one tree in there wiped away their curiosity instantly. They were somewhat disappointed.


    "What crappy tree is this? It caused us to waste so much time." A member of the Ocean Club kicked the tree trunk unhappily.


    With this kick, the pitch-black tree swayed and turned a bright white color. In the blink of an eye, the black tree had turned completely white.

 164 The Color-Changing Tree

    The originally black tree turned snow-white in an instant. Everyone was shocked and retreated warily.


    However, other than turning snow-white, the tree did not undergo any other changes, nor was there any danger.


    After a while, the white tree gradually turned black again, as if nothing had happened.


    "This tree is a little strange. It''s clearly a black tree, so why did it suddenly turn white?" Li Xuan was extremely curious as he held a wooden stick and stabbed it a few times.


    However, the black tree remained black without any changes from before.


    Zhou Wen aimed his mysterious phone at the black tree and the camera function immediately locked onto it. Clearly, it was the tree that had caused the mysterious phone to vibrate.


    He pressed the shutter button and the phone immediately entered the picture-taking interface.


    Quite a number of people were using their cell phones to illuminate the area as well as taking pictures of the black tree. Zhou Wen''s actions didn''t seem too out of the ordinary.


    As there was no danger, someone boldly shook the black tree. In the next second, the black tree had turned into a ruby-like color. It was like a gem in the shape of a tree, shimmering with a dazzling glow of riches.


    The person shaking the tree was a girl. This scene gave her a shock and she hurriedly retreated.


    Just like before, nothing dangerous happened. The red gem tree gradually lost its luster and soon returned to its dark appearance.


    "This is really strange." Li Xuan seemed to have thought of something as he carefully shook the black tree with his hand. Indeed, the black tree had changed color again. However, it was different from the previous few colors. This time, the black tree had turned golden.


    "It seems like the color will be different depending on the person," Li Xuan said.


    "Let me give it a try." Everyone was curious as they attempted to shake the black tree.


    Indeed, just as Li Xuan said, when different people touched the black tree, it would transform into another color. Even if it changed to red, the red itself was a different shade.


    "Old Zhou, try it too," Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen.


    "There''s no need. I don''t like to take risks. It''s best you don''t touch it." Zhou Wen shook his head. Before figuring out what the black tree was, he was unwilling to touch it.


    The phone was still in the middle of downloading, and the download speed seemed much slower than before.


    After the crowd had their fun, they realized that the black tree didn''t have any other function other than changing colors. Soon, they were bored with it.


    As there was nothing else here, everyone left Death City and continued exploring Restriction City.


    The mysterious phone was still in the middle of downloading. It didn''t finish even when the club activity ended and everyone left together.


    With the screen constantly downloading, Zhou Wen had no way of gaming. After returning to his dorm, he had a good nap¡ªa rather rare opportunity.


    Ever since he had advanced to the Legendary stage, the feeling of having sleep paralysis hadn''t happened again. Zhou Wen had a good nap and ended up waking the next morning. After washing up and eating, he realized that the download had been completed when he unlocked the mysterious phone. There was a tree-shaped icon on the home screen.


    However, the cartoon-styled icon looked different from the black tree. There were three words "Dead Man Tree" written below.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious as to why a tree had an instance dungeon. He immediately tapped on the tree''s icon.


    After launching the app, the scene turned black. In the dark space, there was a tree¡ªa black one. However, in the dark cavern, one could clearly see the tree''s appearance.


    Apart from its cartoon-styled appearance, it was the black tree they had encountered in Death City.


    The blood-colored avatar stood in front of it, but apart from the black tree, there was nothing around it. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to what the instance dungeon was for.


    He summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and let it fly towards the black tree. He then attacked the black tree with Magical Needle which stabbed into it but failed to penetrate it. He wasn''t able to damage the black tree at all either.


    The tree didn''t react and remained standing quietly in the darkness.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before deciding to let the blood-colored avatar personally touch the tree to see if there would be any abnormal changes.


    However, Zhou Wen found it strange that after the blood-colored avatar touched it, the color of the black tree did not change. It was still black, completely the same as before.


    Strange, why didn''t the color change? Zhou Wen remembered that in Death City, the black tree had undergone a change in color when people touched it. Nothing like what had happened to him was experienced in game.


    Is it me or is it a problem with the game? Zhou Wen was momentarily unsure of what the tree was for, nor did he understand the use of the instance dungeon. All he could do was ignore it for the time being. After quitting the game, he logged into other dungeons to hunt monsters.


    Now, Zhou Wen only grinded two types of monsters. One was mutated Legendary monsters since only they could drop stats crystals above 18 points which were of use to him.


    Another was Epic creatures that could drop stats crystals that exceeded 20 points. They were similarly useful to Zhou Wen.


    However, Epic creatures were too powerful. He was no match for the few Epic creatures Zhou Wen encountered in-game, so all he could do was search for the mutated Legendary creatures.


    ¡­


    In a room at the An family''s residence in Luoyang, An Tianzuo had recently returned home.


    "Tianzuo, has the situation around Luoyang been very bad recently?" Ouyang Lan asked worriedly.


    "It''s not that bad. Apart from the problematic matters at the Qihe River, there aren''t too many problems in other places," said An Tianzuo with a smile. "Mom, don''t worry. As long as I''m in Luoyang, I won''t let those dimensional creatures invade Luoyang."


    Ouyang Lan nodded slightly and sighed before saying, "The Holy Land qualification competition is just around the corner. If Zhou Wen goes alone, I won''t be at ease. Let Ah Sheng accompany him, right?"


    "Mom, are you really letting Zhou Wen go? Aren''t you going to reconsider?" An Tianzuo frowned.


    Ouyang Lan shook her head and said, "I know what you''re thinking. However, Xiaojing has a congenital illness. It would be terrifying if something were to happen to her during her acceptance of the special physique. I don''t want Little Jing to take any risks. Do you understand?"


    "Understood." An Tianzuo added, "But I believe that Little Jing can do it."


    "There''s no need to elaborate on this matter. I''ve already made up my mind. Furthermore, the nomination has been changed to Zhou Wen. There''s no way to change it." Ouyang Lan stopped An Tianzuo from continuing.


    An Tianzuo remained silent. Although he didn''t agree with Ouyang Lan''s decision, he would not go against her wishes. He had always been a filial son.


    Ouyang Lan sighed lightly. "Besides, Zhou Wen might not be willing to go. He has no blood relationship with the two of you, but his temper is extraordinarily similar. He''s always so stubborn."


    "It''s different. He''s stubborn while we are confident," said An Tianzuo proudly.


    Ouyang Lan only looked at An Tianzuo and smiled without saying another word.

 165 Dead Man Tree

    An Jing huddled into a ball and leaned against the corner of the wall, enduring the pain that was like a knife being twisted inside her.


    Why don''t people who can cultivate the Sun Strafe Art cherish it? I have to ensure such pain just to cultivate it. Why is Heaven so unfair to me? An Jing thought of Zhou Wen amidst the pain as she clenched her teeth, seemingly reducing the pain she felt.


    She had a congenital disease, so she couldn''t cultivate Sun Strafe Art, a Primordial Energy Art which was highly yang in nature. However, if she failed to master the Sun Strafe Art, she would not be able to obtain the special physique she needed.


    In the Holy Land, there were several special physiques. The special physiques that everyone could obtain were different, but they had to have the corresponding strength attributes to obtain the corresponding special physiques.


    The special physique that An Jing wanted was the Sun God Body. If she could master the Sun Strafe Art, she would have an 80% chance of obtaining the Sun God Body if she stood out.


    However, the Sun Strafe Art didn''t match her body''s attributes. When she cultivated the Sun Strafe Art, it would trigger her congenital illness. Every time she cultivated, she would feel like dying due to the excruciating pain.


    An Jing didn''t give up because of this. Even though Ouyang Lan had forbidden her from cultivating the Sun Strafe Art, she still secretly endured it.


    Even Ouyang Lan believed that An Jing had advanced to the Legendary stage by using another Primordial Energy Art. She never expected An Jing to endure extreme pain to advance to the Legendary stage with the Sun Strafe Art.


    However, this matter was something An Jing had never told anyone. Even An Tianzuo wasn''t aware of it.


    After completing the Sun Strafe Art''s cultivation, the pain in An Jing''s body gradually disappeared, making her complexion turn for the better.


    After taking a shower and changing into a clean set of clothes, An Jing walked out of her dorm and arrived in front of her neighbor''s door. After a moment of hesitation, her eyes turned resolute as she pressed the doorbell of Zhou Wen''s dorm.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen opened the door and asked curiously when he saw An Jing standing outside.


    "Do you still remember our three-month contract?" she asked calmly.


    "I don''t remember." Zhou Wen shook his head. It was only a one-sided statement by An Jing. He had never agreed to a three-month contract.


    "It doesn''t matter whether you remember it or not. Although it''s not three months yet, since you''ve already advanced to the Legendary stage and have so many powerful pets, it will be a fair battle between us now. It''s time for us to end things," An Jing said.


    "I''m not interested in that special physique nomination. If you want it that much, I can accompany you to meet Sis Lan. Let me convince her to return the nomination to you," Zhou Wen said.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and suddenly felt extremely aggrieved. She had risked her life to obtain the nomination, but it was nothing of importance to Zhou Wen.


    Suddenly, An Jing''s fighting spirit vanished without a trace.


    So what if I defeat Zhou Wen? So what if I prove that I''m more outstanding than him? I still can''t go to the Holy Land to get the Sun God Body. An Jing felt like everything was meaningless.


    Without looking at Zhou Wen again, An Jing turned and left, looking somewhat lost.


    Strange person. Zhou Wen found it odd when he saw An Jing leave just like that.


    However, since An Jing had automatically given up antagonizing him, it was naturally best for Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen, bad news." Just as Zhou Wen was about to close the door and return to his room to continue gaming, he saw Li Xuan running over, panting.


    "What''s wrong?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Something happened. Something big has happened." Li Xuan gasped for breath as he said, "Someone died in our college. A few students died."


    "Did they die in the dimensional zones?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "No, they died in school. Furthermore, the people who died were people who joined us on our trip to Restriction City yesterday. Furthermore, all of them had entered Death City as well. That includes Wang Lu," Li Xuan said with an odd expression.


    "Wang Lu is dead? How did they die?" Zhou Wen was alarmed when he heard that.


    "I don''t know." Li Xuan shook his head.


    "How do you not know?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    "I heard from the school''s management that they have yet to find out the cause of their deaths, nor do they know how they died. A few of them were walking when they suddenly collapsed to the ground and died. They were not breathing and their heart had stopped beating. The cause of death hasn''t been found either. Wang Lu was roughly the same. She was reading in the library when she suddenly fell to the ground. There wasn''t any warning. The people from the school and the military are investigating, but there hasn''t been an answer yet."


    With that said, fear appeared on Li Xuan''s face. "What''s more frightening is that they died at the same time. Furthermore¡­"


    "Furthermore what?" Zhou Wen knew that Li Xuan had definitely discovered something important.


    "Further, if I remember correctly, those people who died had touched that black tree. Coincidentally, when they touched the black tree, the black tree turned red." Li Xuan swallowed his saliva and continued, "I don''t know if this has anything to do with their deaths, but it''s too much of a coincidence."


    "Did you tell the counselors about this?" Zhou Wen had an ominous feeling.


    "I told them. The college has already sent people to Restriction City and found that bronze building. However, after entering, there was no sight of that black tree. There was nothing inside, not even a leaf. It''s as if there was never a tree there." When Li Xuan said that, his body trembled slightly. Clearly, he was feeling a little horrified.


    "Let''s go. Take me to their corpses," Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth.


    "The military has already taken over this matter and the corpses are in the military''s hands. I''m afraid it will be difficult for us to enter," Li Xuan said.


    "Take me there now." As Zhou Wen spoke, he switched on the mysterious phone and opened the Dead Man Tree icon.


    After he loaded the game, Zhou Wen immediately felt his heart turn cold when he saw the dead tree. He saw that the originally pitch-black dead tree was now completely red, like it was carved out of a ruby. It emitted a strange red glow.


    The deaths of Wang Lu and company are indeed related to this Dead Man Tree. Now that the tree has turned red, Wang Lu and company have died. Then, if the tree becomes another color, will those students who share the same color after touching the tree also die? Zhou Wen''s ominous feeling intensified.


    Now, all he wanted to do was quickly see their corpses and see how their deaths were related to the Dead Man Tree. He wanted to know if there was still a chance of them being revived.


    An Jing overheard their conversation and subconsciously followed them.


    Under Li Xuan''s lead, the trio quickly arrived at the school''s military base.


    "Their corpses are inside, but it''s not just us; even if a counselor comes, they will definitely not be able to enter without the military''s permission," Li Xuan said as he pointed at the door manned by guards.

 166 Dissection

    "An Jing, can you take us in?" Zhou Wen cast his gaze at An Jing. At that moment, he couldn''t be bothered about their differences anymore.


    Now, Zhou Wen was afraid that the military would dissect their corpses, spelling doom to everything.


    "Sure, but I have one condition," An Jing said after some thought.


    "I promise to fight you. Take me in immediately," Zhou Wen said straight away.


    "I didn''t say I wanted to fight you," An Jing said, surprising Zhou Wen.


    "Then what do you want?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "I haven''t thought about it yet. Just treat it as if you owe me one. I''ll tell you after I''ve thought it through." After An Jing said that, she didn''t wait for Zhou Wen to rush her as she walked straight to the door.


    "Hello, please show some identification." The two soldiers who were guarding the door clearly recognized An Jing. However, after saluting her, they still kept her outside and did not let her in immediately.


    An Jing seemed to have known this would happen, so she didn''t react in any special manner. She took out an identification card from her pocket before the soldiers allowed her to take Zhou Wen and Li Xuan into the encampment.


    After asking where the morgue was, they went straight to it. She was no stranger to the military encampment here.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat glad that An Jing was here. Otherwise, with the encampment so huge, it wouldn''t be easy for him and Li Xuan to come in and find the morgue.


    Zhou Wen looked at his phone as he walked, only to see five flower buds appear on the glowing red Dead Man Tree.


    The flower buds also looked like they were carved out of ruby. It was even more dazzling, but they exuded an evil aura. Through the ruby-like flower petals, he could vaguely see something inside, as if it were a beating heart.


    "How many dead classmates are there?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Five." Li Xuan thought for a moment before replying.


    Zhou Wen was almost certain that Wang Lu and company''s deaths had something to do with the five flowers on the Dead Man Tree. However, he didn''t know what the five flowers meant, nor did he know what to do. He could only wait until he saw the corpses before deciding.


    In the morgue, Deputy Inspector Qin Wufu and a few Epic experts stationed at Sunset College were listening to the forensics report.


    "There are no obvious wounds or symptoms on the outside. We didn''t find anything through X-ray either. We can only perform an autopsy now before we decide the outcome," said Coroner Yan Zhen.


    "No, we can''t dissect them." An Epic expert immediately rejected Yan Zhen''s words with a firm tone.


    "If we don''t do an autopsy, it will be difficult to find the true reason for the deaths," Yan Zhen said slowly.


    "The daughter of the Wang family died here for no reason. If we were to dissect her body, how are we going to explain it to the Wang family when they arrive?" the Epic expert from before said.


    "Since Wang Lu''s corpse cannot be dissected, we can first dissect the corpses of the other four," said Yan Zhen.


    "That would work." the Epic expert''s tone softened significantly.


    "You can''t dissect them." However, Qin Wufu vetoed Yan Zhen''s suggestion.


    "Why can''t we dissect them?" Yan Zhen asked as he looked at Qin Wufu.


    "Although their bodily functions have stopped, they still have a tiny bit of life on them. They might not be truly dead yet. You can''t dissect them and kill them!" Qin Wufu said.


    Yan Zhen laughed after hearing that. "Deputy Inspector, if we don''t dissect them now, we won''t be able to find the reason why they are in such a state. Then, what''s the difference between them and the dead? Now, all we need to do is dissect the other four students, and we might be able to find out the reason. Who knows, we might be able to save Wang Lu. This is the best choice we have right now, isn''t it?"


    A few Epic officers also felt that this was a pretty viable plan. If Wang Lu could be saved, their problems would be greatly reduced.


    "If Wang Lu can be saved, the others should be saved as well," Qin Wufu said as he stared at Yan Zhen.


    "Please forgive me for my inadequacies," Yan Zhen said.


    "All of you may leave. I''ll chat with Dr. Yan alone." Qin Wufu waved his hand and dismissed everyone. They left the morgue, leaving only Yan Zhen and Qin Wufu behind.


    At this moment, Qin Wufu stared at Yan Zhen and said coldly, "Yan Zhen, I know that you can save them. You want to dissect them only because you want to know what kind of power has turned them into this."


    "Deputy Inspector, aren''t you thinking too highly of me? I''m just a doctor, not a god. I don''t even know what kind of injuries they have suffered, so how can I save them?" Yan Zhen nudged his glasses and said with an unperturbed expression.


    "Speak. What condition do you want to save them?" Qin Wufu frowned.


    "There''s no condition. Dissect four corpses and save one," Yan Zhen said indifferently, licking his lips as he stared at the five corpses.


    "They are living people, not your experimental subjects." A furious expression appeared on Qin Wufu''s face.


    "They''re real people if I save them. If not, they are just dead people. Using the dead as experimental subjects wasn''t even a big deal back in times of peace." Yan Zhen''s tone sounded like he was saying something that was only right.


    Qin Wufu was so angry that his face turned livid. If he didn''t know Yan Zhen well enough, he would probably have drawn his gun and killed this despicable fellow.


    But now, he couldn''t do that. The only person who could save these five students was Yan Zhen.


    Suppressing the anger in his heart, Qin Wufu said coldly, "Rescue these five students. I will apply for you to use the bodies of the dead soldiers for your experiments."


    "No, I want these four experimental subjects." Yan Zhen categorically rejected Qin Wufu. There was no room for negotiation.


    "Haven''t you always been wanting to experiment with the corpses of dead soldiers? If you miss this chance, you definitely won''t get another one. You''re giving that up just to dissect these four students. Is it worth it?" Qin Wufu looked at Yan Zhen and said.


    "It''s worth it. These five people are in a very strange state. If I dissect them, it might be of great help to my research. I want to see what kind of power is at work," said Yan Zhen.


    "I will definitely not give you this opportunity," said Qin Wufu angrily.


    "You have no choice. If I don''t save them, Wang Lu will also die. Should I let Wang Lu die with the four of them, or let the four die while Wang Lu lives? Deputy Inspector Qin, make your choice." Yan Zhen looked at Qin Wufu with certainty, as though he was certain that Qin Wufu could do nothing about him.


    Qin Wufu stared intently at Yan Zhen, wishing that he could slay this bastard with his saber. However, he knew that it was useless even if he killed him. Yan Zhen definitely wouldn''t yield unless he achieved his goals. Killing him made no difference.


    Furthermore, killing Yan Zhen meant Wang Lu was doomed.


    Just as Qin Wufu was about to compromise, he suddenly heard the door to the morgue being pushed open. He could not help but be enraged as he shouted coldly, "Get out! Who let you in?"

 167 Dead Man Flower

    "Uncle Qin." An Jing looked at the furious Qin Wufu, a little puzzled who could make him so angry.


    Although Qin Wufu''s name had the implications of being a warrior, he was not one that was prone to anger. The last time An Jing saw him angry was a childhood memory.


    The reason Qin Wufu was angry was not that he couldn''t save those four students. If there was really no way to save them, Qin Wufu wouldn''t be angered or have his judgment affected even when an entire battalion was wiped out in war, much less the deaths of four students.


    But now, there was a way to save them, but he could only watch helplessly as four students died. Furthermore, they died in the hands of a coroner on their side. This was something that Qin Wufu couldn''t accept.


    "Little Jing, why are you here?" Qin Wufu''s expression softened when he saw An Jing.


    "Uncle Qin, we would like to see the bodies of those five students." An Jing explained the purpose of her visit.


    Qin Wufu said, "What''s so nice about corpses? Little Jing, bring your classmates to my office first. Uncle Qin will catch up with you after I''m done here."


    "Inspector Qin, just like them, we had entered the bronze building in Restriction City. We have also touched a tree that can change color," Zhou Wen said.


    Qin Wufu said, "The military has already sent people to investigate the situation several times. There is indeed a bronze building in Restriction City, but there''s no sign of the tree all of you mentioned."


    "So many of us students saw that tree. So many of us can''t be wrong, right?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I already know about this. I will send people to continue the investigation. There are still matters to be handled here. Go outside and wait." Qin Wufu wanted to quickly convince Yan Zhen to save the five students.


    "Inspector Qin, when the five of them touched that tree, the tree turned red, and now, they have died in a bizarre manner. There are more than a dozen students who touched the tree, causing it to turn into another color. Now that Wang Lu and the rest are dead, will the other students die one day? If we don''t figure out the problem regarding Wang Lu and the others, there might be even more students dying," Zhou Wen said.


    When Yan Zhen heard this, he smiled and said, "This student is right. If we don''t figure out the cause of their deaths now, more people will die. My dissection of them now is to prevent more students from dying. It''s best you quickly decide."


    "You can''t dissect them," Zhou Wen said before Qin Wufu could answer.


    After seeing Wang Lu and company''s corpses, he was even more certain that they hadn''t really died. After approaching their corpses, the five flower buds in-game became even more dazzling, with signs of blooming.


    Qin Wufu, Yan Zhen, and even An Jing and Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement, unsure why he was so agitated.


    Zhou Wen knew that he had to take the risk. It was impossible for Qin Wufu to hear a student like him shoot his mouth. Furthermore, Zhou Wen himself didn''t know what was happening, so how could he convince Qin Wufu?


    Therefore, he could only take a gamble. If one of them could be revived, then Qin Wufu would naturally disagree with the dissection of the corpses.


    "I don''t think they''re dead yet. They shouldn''t be dissected," Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the corpses of Wang Lu and company.


    Qin Wufu was slightly taken aback as he couldn''t help but carefully size up Zhou Wen. He had been engaged in battle all his life, so he was accustomed to seeing dead people. Furthermore, with the cultivation of his Primordial Energy Art, he could sense that Wang Lu and company were not truly dead.


    A student like Zhou Wen was at most at the Legendary stage, but he could tell that Wang Lu and the others were still alive. This left him astonished.


    "What''s your name? Why do you say that they aren''t dead yet?" Qin Wufu asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn''t answer the first question and directly said, "I''ve seen that tree with them before. Furthermore, I am more sensitive than most people. I can sense that they have the aura of that tree and the aura of the tree represses their aura. That results in this phenomenon of a fake death. If the aura of that tree is removed, they might be able to come back to life."


    "Can you really sense their auras?" Qin Wufu sized up Zhou Wen from head to toe as he was secretly impressed with him.


    From his point of view, the aura Zhou Wen mentioned was likely life-force. It was impossible to see or touch life-force. Only people who cultivated some special Primordial Energy Art or had such special abilities could sense it.


    Although Qin Wufu didn''t know how true it was for Zhou Wen to be able to sense the existence of life-force, the current situation matched Wang Lu and company''s.


    "Yes." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "I''m already aware of the situation you mentioned. I''ll think of a way to save your classmates. You can return now." Although Qin Wufu thought highly of Zhou Wen, he didn''t think too much of it. All he thought was that Zhou Wen had a keen sense.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible to convince Qin Wufu with his empty words as a student. Furthermore, he lacked the plans needed to save Wang Lu and company.


    As he turned to leave, Zhou Wen took out his cell phone to take a look. At the same time, he ordered the blood-colored avatar to slash at one of the flowers.


    Zhou Wen was originally somewhat hesitant to sever the flower buds. After all, this was a risk. If he severed them and ended up harming them, it would be equivalent to him killing Wang Lu and company.


    But now, the military clearly didn''t have any good solutions. There was a high chance that they were going to dissect the students. If they were to do so, death was certain. Therefore, Zhou Wen might as well give it a try. That way, there would at least be a chance of survival.


    Through the blood-colored avatar''s perception, Zhou Wen tried his best to sense the five flower buds on the tree. He could vaguely sense that the aura within the five flowers seemed somewhat different. They corresponded to the five corpses on the bed.


    Zhou Wen roughly determined which flower bud belonged to Wang Lu before he got the blood-colored avatar to slash at another flower bud.


    Most people would subconsciously prioritize protecting people who were closer to them. Those who could prioritize protecting strangers or treat them as equals were saints.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t a saint, so he chose an unfamiliar classmate as his first test subject.


    The Astral Slash Blade slashed across the flower bud like a sharp blade. The flower bud and leaves shook a few times but failed to be lopped off.


    Zhou Wen''s heart tightened. The Astral Slash Blade was already considered a relatively powerful offensive Primordial Energy Skill of his. But if the Astral Slash Blade couldn''t injure the flower bud, it was likely that his other Primordial Energy Skills would be ineffective.


    Although the saber beam failed to cut off the flower bud, the corpse on the bed suddenly moved and sat up straight like a zombie having come back to life.

 168 Slaying Flowers

    The few of them were shocked as they looked at the corpse. It was the corpse of a male student.


    However, in the next second, the corpse fell back onto the bed without any movement.


    Yan Zhen immediately went forward to do a checkup. Qin Wufu also walked to the bed and stared at the corpse, hoping that things would turn for the better. He was in no mood to bother with Zhou Wen and company.


    The trio stopped in their tracks and watched the situation on the bed. Zhou Wen stood near the wall behind them and got the blood-colored avatar to summon Banana Fairy.


    The Banana Fairy held the banana leaf and waved it at the flower bud on the tree. The Grand Yin Wind swept over, causing the leaves to shake violently. However, that was all. It failed to blow off the flower buds.


    On the other hand, the corpse began to tremble again. It was an extremely harrowing sight.


    When Zhou Wen saw that he couldn''t even blow off the flower bud with the Grand Yin Wind, his expression warped. He knew that it would be very difficult for him to cut off the flower bud today.


    Unwilling to watch Wang Lu and company die, Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon his pets and attack the flower bud one after another. It could be considered a last-ditch effort.


    "How is this happening?" The boy''s corpse shook continuously. Yan Zhen had used several methods but failed to detect anything, nor could he stop the shaking.


    Noticing that Yan Zhen seemed to be at a loss, Qin Wufu couldn''t help but frown.


    Yan Zhen''s medical skills were not only excellent, and the Primordial Energy Art he cultivated had something to do with his Life Providence and Life Soul, so he had an ability that was just short of reviving the dead.


    Now that he couldn''t do anything about it, things were clearly turning for the worse.


    Zhou Wen watched his pets attack the flower bud one by one, but it was completely ineffective. Just as he was feeling disappointed, he saw Truth Listener''s figure flash. It arrived in front of the flower bud, grabbed it with its paw, and plucked it off. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be delighted.


    The moment the flower bud was plucked, the boy, who had been trembling non-stop on the bed, suddenly sat up. His tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.


    "What¡­ what are you trying to do¡­" When the boy saw Yan Zhen about to stab him with a needle, he immediately shouted and jumped down from the bed.


    "Yan Zhen, quickly stop." Qin Wufu was overjoyed. At the same time, he stopped Yan Zhen and immediately subdued the boy. He quickly checked his body and discovered that other than being a little weak, the boy was no different from a normal, healthy person.


    Zhou Wen was also observing the boy. Seeing that he was indeed fine, he got Truth Listener to pluck another flower bud from the tree.


    The flower buds were easily removed by Truth Listener. This time, Zhou Wen felt a lot more relaxed. He immediately saw the game''s system notification: ''Obtained an Unripe Dead Man Flower.''


    As the flower bud was plucked off, another schoolmate was revived. This delighted Qin Wufu greatly.


    Li Xuan was also overjoyed. He had also touched the dead tree and had always been very afraid that he would die just like them. Now that he saw them alive again, he immediately felt a weight lift off his chest.


    Zhou Wen waited for a while and seeing that the student was fine, he got Truth Listener to pluck the other flower buds.


    The flower buds were plucked off one after another. Similarly, the schoolmates revived. Wang Lu was the last to wake up as she looked around blankly, unsure of what had happened.


    Everyone was overjoyed. Only Yan Zhen frowned as he sized up the five students as if he was filled with doubt.


    Qin Wufu called out to the other medical personnel and asked them to give the five students a detailed examination. The results were normal, but their bodies were a little weak and were in need of nourishment.


    Seeing that they were fine, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief before leaving with Li Xuan.


    "Yan Zhen, it looks like you''re going to be disappointed this time." Qin Wufu said to him in a good mood before leaving with An Jing.


    However, Yan Zhen ignored Qin Wufu. He only looked at the test results of the five students and sank into deep thought.


    How did this happen? Their bodies had completely stopped functioning, so why would they be able to revive without any external help? Yan Zhen carefully recalled the entire process.


    The anomaly of the five corpses seemed to happen only after the three students arrived. Could it be related to the three students? Zhou Wen''s face flashed across Yan Zhen''s mind. Although there were three people, he had the deepest impression of Zhou Wen.


    Perhaps it was because Zhou Wen had said that Wang Lu and company were still alive or because of Yan Zhen''s intuition, he was increasingly convinced that the matter was related to Zhou Wen as he thought about it.


    That''s interesting. Was this a subconscious act or did he do something? The corners of Yan Zhen''s mouth pulled up as though he had thought of something interesting.


    Yan Zhen was more inclined to the latter as he thought to himself, They''d all come into contact with that tree. Could it be some situation that allows them to exert a mutual influence amongst themselves? It looks like there''s a need for further research.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he took out the mysterious phone and looked at the five ruby-like flower buds in Truth Listener''s hand.


    Dead Man Flower: Flower of a Condensed Soul, Unripe.


    After some research, Zhou Wen realized that the five flowers could neither vanish nor be absorbed. They didn''t seem to be of any use.


    From the looks of it, it must have been plucked off before it matured. That''s why it turned into this. What would happen if the Dead Man Flower matured? Zhou Wen wasn''t at all sure.


    Just as he was considering how to deal with the five flower buds, he saw Truth Listener gesturing, as though it had something to tell him. At the same time, Truth Listener''s conscience was sent over.


    The thought was vague and Zhou Wen was unable to take in the information clearly, but he could roughly make out that Truth Listener wanted to eat the five flower buds.


    Since there was no point in keeping them, Zhou Wen agreed.


    Truth Listener was overjoyed as it opened its mouth and swallowed a flower.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he hurriedly stopped Truth Listener from continuing eating the flower buds. Then, he made a phone call to confirm that the five students were fine. Only then did he relax and let Truth Listener swallow the remaining flower buds.


    Although Truth Listener''s tiny body had devoured five flower buds, it still looked as though it was yearning for more.


    Zhou Wen didn''t relax as he kept paying attention to the Dead Man Tree''s situation. Only after midnight did the red Dead Man Tree gradually change its color. However, it didn''t turn back to black, but golden.


    Zhou Wen remembered that the Dead Man Tree had turned golden when Li Xuan touched it. He hurriedly made a call to Li Xuan. The ringtone on the other end kept ringing, but no one picked up.


    On the dead tree, another few sprouts grew out

 169 Showdown

    Zhou Wen kept calling Li Xuan''s phone, but no one picked up his calls. As for the sprouts, they gradually grew in size, forming a bud.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate. He summoned Truth Listener and plucked the few sprouts. Then, he called Li Xuan and this time, it connected.


    "Old Zhou, why are you calling me in the middle of the night?" Li Xuan''s half-asleep voice came through the phone.


    "I called you more than ten times. Why didn''t you answer?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "No way, right?" As Li Xuan spoke, he looked at his phone. Indeed, there were more than ten missed calls. He was immediately given a fright. "Strange, my phone is right beside my pillow. How can it be that I didn''t hear it?"


    Cultivators had keen senses. No matter how soundly they slept, it was impossible for them not to be woken up by their cell phone''s loud ringing.


    "Perhaps you''ve been working too hard recently. Get some sleep. I need some as well." Zhou Wen was certain that Li Xuan had been in the same fake death state as Wang Lu.


    Ignoring what Li Xuan would be thinking, Zhou Wen hung up the phone and looked at the mysterious phone. He saw that Truth Listener had devoured all the little flower buds, licking its lips as though it hadn''t had enough.


    For the next few days, Zhou Wen didn''t game. He stared at the Dead Man Tree every day. As long as it changed its color and sprouted, Zhou Wen got Truth Listener to pluck the flower buds and eat them.


    As such, there were no more bizarre deaths in the school. At most, it was rumored that someone had fainted, only to awaken quickly.


    On the eighth day, the dead tree recovered its original black color. Only when there weren''t any other changes did Zhou Wen let out a long sigh.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen found it a pity. Up to now, he still didn''t know what changes the flowers would undergo if they truly matured.


    Now that this tree existed in a mobile game, no one can see it again, much less touch it again. I''m afraid there''s no chance to see the scene of the flower truly blooming. Zhou Wen felt a little regretful as he thought to himself, If only this tree can be taken out again. If anyone offends me in the future, I''ll plant it at their doorstep. Without knowing how powerful the Dead Man Tree is, they will die just from touching it. A death a touch, two touches two deaths, how quaint.


    Zhou Wen only mused over the idea. Since the Dead Man Tree had entered the game, it couldn''t be taken out again.


    "Coach, are you free now?" Feng Qiuyan, who had not seen him in days, suddenly came to Zhou Wen''s dorm.


    Zhou Wen felt a headache when he saw him, but he couldn''t chase him away. All he could do was reply, "I''m going to be gaming the whole day. I''m not free."


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t mind as he continued, "Coach, I have already gained some success in the way of calmness. I hope you can test the results of my recent cultivation."


    Zhou Wen wore a look of puzzlement. He didn''t remember when he had taught Feng Qiuyan how to calm his mind. Yet, this fellow had actually mastered it.


    "How do I test it?" It wasn''t right for Zhou Wen to say that he had taught him nothing.


    "I only know how to use a saber. Coach, please spar with me and see if there''s any room for improvement in my saber techniques. Consider it my third lesson," said Feng Qiuyan as he transferred the 20,000 to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to say that he didn''t have time to spar with him, but seeing that he could collect 20,000, he swallowed the words he was about to say.


    Simply sparring gained him twenty thousand. There was no reason to refuse.


    He went to a sparring hall in the school with Feng Qiuyan. Feng Qiuyan took a practice rubber saber and said to Zhou Wen, "Coach, what weapon would you like?"


    "I don''t need any weapons." Zhou Wen had never practiced any weapon skills in the real world. Although he knew how to use swords and sabers, it was only limited to him slashing with brute force. There wasn''t anything technical about it, so he might as well not use them.


    "Coach, on your guard." Feng Qiuyan didn''t stand on ceremony as he slashed with his saber.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber appeared as heavy as a mountain. It was so fast that one could clearly see it, but not dodge it.


    Even more terrifying was the biting cold saber aura that came with it. It instantly streaked across several meters and struck Zhou Wen.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber was fast, but Zhou Wen wasn''t slow either. He suddenly darted to the side and dodged Feng Qiuyan''s saber aura. At the same time, he used Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to escape Feng Qiuyan''s sharp and powerful saber aura.


    Feng Qiuyan''s attacks increased in speed with each strike he delivered. Zhou Wen pushed the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to its limits, but he found it increasingly taxing. It was as though he was a tiny boat in a stormy sea that could sink at any moment.


    Zhou Wen tried everything, but only barely stayed out of striking distance from Feng Qiuyan. If it was purely a competition of skills, Zhou Wen wouldn''t even have the chance to counterattack.


    "Hold on." Zhou Wen suddenly shouted to stop Feng Qiuyan from continuing his attack.


    "Coach, what''s the matter?" Feng Qiuyan stopped and asked.


    "You''ve slashed twenty-three times since the beginning. Even if each strike only consumes one Primordial Energy point, your Primordial Energy should have been depleted. How can you still use your saber aura?" Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan.


    Furthermore, Feng Qiuyan''s saber aura was so strong that it was impossible for him to only consume a bit of it.


    Feng Qiuyan said, "This is because I''ve raised my Primordial Energy Skill, Rainbow-Startling Saber Aura, to Rank 10. After advancing to Rank 10, the Primordial Energy consumption is greatly reduced. In addition, my Life Providence and Primordial Energy Art augments my saber technique. It will further reduce the expenditure and accelerate the recovery of my Primordial Energy. Under normal circumstances, I can continuously slash out twenty-seven times before being completely drained of my Primordial Energy."


    "Do all Primordial Energy Skills have such effects after reaching Rank 10?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "Regardless of which Primordial Energy Skill it is, there will be a qualitative leap when it reaches Rank 10. However, the effects might be different. Coach, don''t you know?" Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. He believed that Zhou Wen definitely knew about this.


    "I''ve never practiced Rainbow-Startling Saber Aura, so I didn''t know of the effects when it reached Rank 10. I was just asking." Zhou Wen thought of his Ashen Palm. Although it was only a Mortal-stage Primordial Energy Skill, it was abnormally powerful. It dealt quite a good deal of damage to Legendary creatures. Vigor Divine Fist, which was a Mortal stage skill, was already unsuited for him.


    Astral Slash Blade and Astral Suction Palm don''t have any ranks, so I''m afraid they can''t be upgraded. Ashen Palm has already reached Rank 10, but it''s a Mortal stage Primordial Energy Skill after all. Its might can''t keep up with my current needs, so I''m not sure if there''s any possibility of raising it. Zhou Wen decided to use his Ashen Palm to battle Feng Qiuyan.


    However, he soon discovered that Feng Qiuyan''s technique was much more skilled than his. Soon, Zhou Wen was at a disadvantage. All he could do was use Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to dodge, making it difficult for him to find a chance to counterattack.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques were getting faster and more stable. Even without the aid of the saber auras, he still possessed extremely lethal force.

 170 Epiphany In Battle

    Typically, someone at the Legendary stage had Speed that maxed out at 18. Now, the Speed of Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques was probably at 28, much less 18. It was getting faster and faster.


    If one''s Speed exceeded the user''s control limit, causing their reaction to not keep up, it would easily reveal flaws.


    However, Feng Qiuyan''s saber technique was as steady as a mountain. No matter how fast his saber was, he could control it freely without any signs of losing control after increasing his Speed.


    Zhou Wen had to admit that Feng Qiuyan was indeed very mighty. He was practically a genius born for sabers. If Zhou Wen hadn''t fought desperately in-game to exchange for plenty of combat experience, a Legendary student with similar attributes as Zhou Wen would easily have been slain by Feng Qiuyan.


    From the looks of it, combat techniques are equally important. Primordial Energy Skills also need to be upgraded to Rank 10. Zhou Wen had already discovered his inadequacies.


    He had learned quite a number of Primordial Energy Skills, but he didn''t really have many useful ones. Astral Suction Palm and Astral Slash Blade were very useful, but they drained Primordial Energy exceedingly fast, depleting him almost instantly.


    Ashen Palm at the Mortal stage was already somewhat unable to keep up with his pace. The Legendary Golden Palm was only at Rank 7.


    After some thought, other than Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, Zhou Wen didn''t seem to have any useful techniques.


    At the very least, when facing an expert like Feng Qiuyan, ordinary Primordial Energy Skills were useless.


    Zhou Wen decided not to counterattack. Instead, he switched his Primordial Energy Art, giving himself a Dao Body. He used it to rapidly recover his Primordial Energy, constantly using Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to deal with Feng Qiuyan.


    Even so, Zhou Wen still found it harder and harder. Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques seemed to be able to increase his saber''s speed without limit, and each strike was faster than the last, as though there was no limit.


    There was no limit to his saber speed, but Zhou Wen''s movement only had one speed. He was gradually unable to dodge Feng Qiuyan''s saber.


    A glint flashed in Feng Qiuyan''s eyes as though he had already noticed Zhou Wen at his limit. He remained unwavering as a mountain as he slashed out with both hands.


    This strike seemed to split a mountain apart as it seemed indomitable. It moved as fast as thunder as it tore through the air, ignoring all its resistance. With a whine that sliced through the air, it slashed right in front of Zhou Wen.


    With Zhou Wen''s current speed, it was impossible for him to dodge the attack.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t show any signs of panic. His eyes were calm as the entire world seemed to slow down before him. He tapped his toes on the ground gently as his body rode the wind and retreated. He didn''t look as fast as before, but Feng Qiuyan''s saber aura remained three inches away from Zhou Wen''s clothes. No matter how he tried, he couldn''t get close.


    The alacrity version of raising a weighted feather? Feng Qiuyan''s eyes were filled with excitement as he brandished the saber repeatedly with both hands. The saber aura was like a raging tidal wave as it swept towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt a sense of calm. In the middle of the battle, he had also gained insight into the concept of raising a weighted feather for the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, pushing it towards Rank 10.


    Dragon Gate Fairy Skill at Rank 10 not only augmented Zhou Wen with greater Speed, but it also increased his ability to stay in midair. It also greatly reduced his Primordial Energy expenditure.


    There were other miraculous aspects that couldn''t be explained in a few words.


    Just speed alone was inadequate to match Feng Qiuyan. After all, the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill had its limits, but Feng Qiuyan''s saber speed seemed to lack any.


    At the same realm of raising a weighted feather, Feng Qiuyan''s saber quickly caught up to Zhou Wen who was in midair.


    Just as he was about to strike Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan was suddenly taken aback. This was because Zhou Wen''s figure suddenly became light. It was as though he was weightless. As he rapidly plummeted, it was as though he had opened a parachute, making his body feel like it was rising instead.


    This change in speed made Feng Qiuyan show an error in judgment. The saber slashed the area beneath Zhou Wen''s feet, failing to touch him.


    Zhou Wen danced in the air like a fairy, but in the next second, his speed suddenly increased. He grabbed the moment Feng Qiuyan made the mistake, and like a bolt of lightning, struck Feng Qiuyan''s head.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber had lost its force, but his momentum continued propelling his body forward. He was already unable to dodge Zhou Wen''s strike.


    Feng Qiuyan was decisive as he threw his saber and turned to his side to dodge Zhou Wen''s strike. At the same time, he turned around and brushed past him. With a flip of his hand, he grabbed the saber in midair and slashed it at Zhou Wen. Then, using the spin he generated that boosted his waist, he slashed at Zhou Wen.


    In midair, Zhou Wen''s figure once again became lightweight, causing Feng Qiuyan to make a mistake in his judgment once more. He struck the empty air again.


    This time, Feng Qiuyan didn''t pursue him as he stared at Zhou Wen with a glint in his eyes. "As expected of Coach. That was the counter version of raising a weighted feather, wasn''t it?"


    Zhou Wen nodded. "Raising a weighted feather and raising a feather weight. By combining them, it''s similar to a technique that mixes truths and bluffs. It''s just a small trick."


    "It sounds easy, but it''s very difficult in practice. Coach, you''ve taught me something new again today. I know what to do next. Till next time." Feng Qiuyan turned around and left without any hesitation.


    This Feng Qiuyan sure is terrifying. If I hadn''t reached Rank 10 for the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, I probably would have been defeated. Ignoring the special physiques and Primordial Energy Arts, Feng Qiuyan is much more terrifying than John. Zhou Wen was in a good mood. He had raised the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to Rank 10, greatly strengthening his combat strength. Furthermore, he had found his weakness in today''s battle, giving him direction for improvement.


    It''s important to increase my level, but my techniques and skills mustn''t fall behind. After all, no matter how powerful one is, it requires powerful skills to fully deliver one''s greatest strength. Zhou Wen pondered over what skills he should practice.


    There were too many skills in the world. There were sabers, swords, staffs, spears, whips, axes, hooks, forks and all sorts of other weapons that had skills that matched them.


    It was likewise with feet, fists, fingers, palms, and legs. All of them had different skills. A person''s time and energy were ultimately limited. Although Zhou Wen was talented and could master everything quickly, being adept at one type of skill was much easier to reach the sublime realm than training in everything.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen still needed to take time to raise the few Primordial Energy Skills that were more suitable for him at Rank 10. He also needed to spend time gaming to have more high-level crystals drop. He really didn''t have that much time to master them all.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen came up with a perfect plan that killed two birds with one stone. It would be a waste of time to train in weapons while raising the rank of his Primordial Energy Skills.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to hone his palm skills before matching it with his Ashen Palm. With his Dao Body rapidly recovering his Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen felt that he could do both.


    Since ordinary Primordial Energy Skills can be raised to Rank 10, why can''t I raise my Mortal stage Primordial Energy Skill to the Legendary stage? Zhou Wen made up his mind to practice Ashen Palm.

 171 Old Dragon Cave

    Wang Fei had been seriously considering how to educate Zhou Wen over the past few days. In the end, her final consideration was that Zhou Wen didn''t need repeated practice. Instead, he needed a lamp to shine a path for him, allowing him to see far.


    Hence, Wang Fei thought of someone, Counselor Wang Mingyuan.


    Wang Mingyuan was an old counselor at Sunset College. He was about to retire, and at present, he was only doing some research work and no longer had class duties.


    However, he still had a few students by his side. They were all outstanding talents in the school. Although they were not as famous as Wei Ge, they were not inferior to Wei Ge in their field of expertise and were perhaps even stronger.


    Wang Mingyuan was Wang Fei''s uncle; thus, she knew him very well. She knew that although his level wasn''t too high¡ªaverage amongst those at the Epic stage¡ªthe results of his research were enough to rank him at the top of the League.


    In certain domains, Wang Mingyuan''s theoretical knowledge was so strong that it could be said to be the best in the League.


    If Wang Fei were to make the request, he would likely give Zhou Wen a chance. But now, she was afraid that Zhou Wen would be too proud and unwilling to learn from him.


    Wang Mingyuan''s theoretical knowledge was indeed very impressive, but he wasn''t very strong. In terms of strength, Wang Mingyuan could only be considered as below average amongst the counselors at Sunset College.


    A genius like Zhou Wen probably wouldn''t like such a teacher. Typical geniuses enjoyed having people who could talk the talk and walk the walk.


    Wang Fei couldn''t think of any good solution, so she could only try to persuade him.


    Zhou Wen was considering which counselor''s class he should attend to study palm skills when Wang Fei summoned him to her office.


    "Zhou Wen, I would like to introduce you to a counselor to learn more. I''ll let you study with him for a month. Is there a problem with that?" Wang Fei thought of how she had to convince Zhou Wen later. She wanted to let him know that learning from Wang Mingyuan was a lot more promising than other powerful counselors.


    "Does that counselor know palm skills?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Of course." Wang Fei nodded. She didn''t know why Zhou Wen would ask such a question. However, Wang Mingyuan had indeed studied palm skills, albeit it wasn''t his main research focus.


    Even if he had never researched palm skills, which Epic expert hadn''t practiced in one?


    "Alright, I''ll attend the class," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    Zhou Wen''s straightforward answer left Wang Fei in disbelief. She had thought of many solutions to save this gaming addict, but had failed. For him to agree so readily made her feel like she was dreaming.


    "Ms. Wang, what''s the counselor''s name? How can I find him? When can I begin class?" Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to waste any time. He needed to quickly make use of every minute to grasp the knowledge related to palm skills. He wanted to choose a palm skill that was suitable for himself before practicing it with Ashen Palm.


    "The counselor I was referring to is Wang Mingyuan. He no longer has any classes and is only doing some research. I recommend you to be his assistant and learn from him at the same time. You can just visit him." Wang Fei sent a message to Zhou Wen using her phone. On it was Wang Mingyuan''s laboratory address.


    After some hesitation, Wang Fei asked, "Do you need me to take you there?"


    "Thank you, Ms. Wang. I''ll be fine." After thanking Wang Fei, Zhou Wen went out in search of the address.


    He originally believed that Wang Mingyuan''s laboratory was in one of the experimental buildings on campus, but he soon discovered that the lab was in a dimensional zone.


    Old Dragon Cave! Zhou Wen wasn''t unfamiliar with this place. It was one of the caves in Dragon Gate Grotto. Wang Lu had previously been there, claiming that there were dragon roars and treasure glow inside.


    Zhou Wen had never encountered a dragon''s roar or treasure glow before, but he had been to Cixiang Kiln to see the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces.


    Despite its name, Old Dragon Cave''s interior was mostly occupied with Buddha statues. Zhou Wen had already been here once, so he was familiar with the area. However, he didn''t venture deep the last time. After passing through one cave after another, he saw a stone cave that had a manually installed door.


    Zhou Wen knocked on the door and a young male student opened it. He had long hair and looked rather delicate.


    "Jiang Yan?" Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. He actually knew this student. He was the student councilor who had recognized Death City.


    "Zhou Wen, right? Counsellor Mingyuan mentioned that you were coming. However, he''s at Dragon''s Well to carry out some inspection work. He won''t be able to meet you for the time being, but you don''t have to worry. He has left some work for you." Jiang Yan took Zhou Wen into the lab.


    Although it was called a laboratory, it was actually just a cave that had a large door installed. There were some apparatus and machinery inside, and on the other side, there were also daily necessities. It looked extremely crude and hard to imagine.


    "Hui Haifeng¡­" Zhou Wen saw two other students in the laboratory. One of them was Hui Haifeng.


    When Hui Haifeng saw Zhou Wen, he said with a smile, "I never expected you to become Counselor Mingyuan''s disciple. Great, we can be considered true fellow disciples."


    "Actually, I just wanted to learn some palm skills," Zhou Wen said as he scratched his nose.


    "It''s alright, Teacher Mingyuan is understanding and reasonable. You can learn anything you want. He won''t force you to learn things you aren''t fond of, nor will he make you do things you aren''t happy about." Hui Haifeng smiled and said, "But before that, you have to finish the job left behind by Counsellor Mingyuan. See that thing there? It''s the work Counsellor Mingyuan left you before he left."


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction of Hui Haifeng''s finger and saw that in the corner of the cave, there was a hollow. It was pitch-black and deep like a well.


    At the edge of the hollow, there was a chain that extended out. It was as thick as an arm and was pitch-black in color. It was made of some unknown metal.


    "Your job is to pull that chain up and then you can rest," Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    Although Hui Haifeng looked good when he smiled, his smile made Zhou Wen feel like he was up to no good.


    Jiang Yan, who was elsewhere, didn''t say a word. He only handed a piece of paper to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen saw that the note mentioned his arrival today and that work had been arranged for him. It was signed off by Wang Mingyuan.


    Since it''s work left behind by Mr. Wang, I''ll just do it. Zhou Wen had no choice but to walk to the hollow and grab the chain.


    The moment he placed his hands on it, they immediately retracted as if they had been electrocuted, causing Hui Haifeng to laugh out loud.

 172 Dragon Fishing

    Zhou Wen found the chain bone-chilling. It was colder than holding an ice block, as though the frost would drill into his bones.


    Hui Haifeng laughed and said, "There''s no need to be afraid. The coldness in the chains can''t hurt your Legendary body."


    "Why is this chain so cold?" Zhou Wen once again held the chain, feeling as though he had reached his hand into liquid nitrogen.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen''s feeling. He had never attempted to put his hand into the liquid nitrogen.


    Hui Haifeng said, "This hollow''s name is Dragon''s Well, but there''s no water underneath. Instead, there''s a very thick white fog. The white fog is extremely cold, and there are some places where the temperature is even lower than liquid nitrogen. This chain extends all the way into it and is affected by the white fog, causing it to turn extremely cold. If an ordinary person were to hold the chain, they would probably freeze their fingers in no time. However, with the body at the Legendary stage, the effects won''t be too severe."


    "What''s this chain for?" Zhou Wen asked as he pulled up the chain.


    "Do you know how to fish?" Hui Haifeng asked without answering Zhou Wen''s question.


    "I tried when I was young. It was just for fun, nothing serious," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Then you have to study hard. This chain is used to fish something, it''s not fish, but a dragon," Hui Haifeng said sternly.


    "Dragon fishing?" Zhou Wen looked at Hui Haifeng in surprise, hoping that he could make things clear.


    Hui Haifeng explained, "This chain was created by Counselor Mingyuan in order to fish up the dragon in Dragon''s Well."


    "There''s a dragon down there? What kind of dragon is it?" Zhou Wen was even more intrigued.


    In this era, any kind of mythical creature could appear. However, dragons were a legend after all. It was probably something that only those at the Mythical stage could see. The average person had no chance of encountering one.


    "I don''t know. It''s something Counselor Mingyuan deduced. We have never seen it before, but this Dragon''s Well does emit a dragon''s roar rather frequently. Occasionally, we can see a strange light shining out from Dragon''s Well," Hui Haifeng said.


    At that moment, a languid voice suddenly interjected, "No one has ever heard the voice of a dragon before, so how do you know that it''s a dragon''s roar? I think that even if there''s anything down there, it''s just a type of dimensional creature. It has nothing to do with dragons spoken in myths."


    Apart from Zhou Wen, there were three students in the laboratory. The person who spoke was the third person other than Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan.


    He put his hands behind his head languidly and slumped back on a chair. His legs were casually placed on the table, in a desultory fashion.


    "His name is Zhong Ziya, another student of Counsellor Wang," Hui Haifeng briefly introduced him.


    Zhong Ziya leaned against the chair and casually greeted Zhou Wen. "Junior, you came at the right time. I''ve had to pull up that crappy chain in the past. Now that you''re here, I''m finally free. I have to thank you for that."


    "It''s only right." Zhou Wen didn''t think much of it as he continued pulling the chain upwards. It was unknown how long the chain was, but Zhou Wen didn''t find its end despite pulling up more than ten meters.


    Furthermore, the areas he gripped turned colder as the chain was pulled up. It was something that Zhou Wen was unable to withstand despite his potent body. All he could do was circulate his Lotus Flower Buddha Body Primordial Energy Skill to protect his hands to withstand the terrifying cold.


    "Junior, you can''t use any Primordial Energy Skills when you pull the chains. This is a rule set by Teacher," Zhong Ziya said languidly. Among the three of them, he was the only one who called Wang Mingyuan "teacher" instead of the usual "counselor."


    "Is there such a rule?" Zhou Wen looked at Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan.


    Jiang Yan sat by the side reading quietly, as if he hadn''t heard Zhou Wen''s words. He felt oblivious to whatever was happening, only focused on reading.


    Hui Haifeng, on the other hand, was using some equipment to train his body. As he trained, he said, "Counselor Mingyuan has indeed set this rule. We can''t do anything about it. Just bear with it for a while. Thankfully, the cold really won''t hurt you. It just makes you feel a little uncomfortable."


    "What a strange counselor." Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop using his Lotus Flower Buddha Body. All he could do was rely on his flesh and blood to resist the coldness from the chain.


    The more Zhou Wen pulled, the colder his hand became. His fingers were so numb that they couldn''t even bend. However, Zhou Wen didn''t seem to have any intention of stopping as he continued pulling the chain.


    Hui Haifeng, Jiang Yan, and Zhong Ziya looked at Zhou Wen either intentionally or unintentionally as though they were watching something interesting.


    He kept pulling until all ten fingers turned numb from the cold. With a slip of his hand, the metal chain that he had pulled up by nearly a hundred meters slid down again.


    Hui Haifeng and company only watched. None of them said a word, nor did they have any intention of helping him.


    Zhou Wen looked at the falling chain and didn''t feel discouraged. He sat by the side and rested for a while. After the coldness in his hands dissipated and his fingers returned to normal, he got up to pull the chain again.


    This time, Zhou Wen did better than the last time. When he reached a little more than a hundred meters, he couldn''t stand the cold again, causing the chains to fall again.


    Zhou Wen waited for his hands to recover before picking up the chain again. This time, he pulled out more than a hundred and ten meters, but he ultimately failed to withstand the coldness on the chains, causing it to slide down once more.


    After repeatedly pulling for seven to eight hours, Zhou Wen still failed to pull out the entire chain.


    Just as he was about to continue pulling the chain, he saw someone crawl out of Dragon''s Well.


    The man was wearing an arctic suit and had a helmet on his head. When he climbed up, he took off his helmet, revealing a mature man''s gentle face. He looked rather young and had long hair. A few strands of white hair made him look more mature and masculine. He looked like a superstar in movies.


    Zhou Wen originally thought it was a senior, but ended up hearing Hui Haifeng say, "Counselor, you''re back?"


    This is Wang Mingyuan? Zhou Wen looked at the man in front of him in surprise, momentarily unable to accept it.


    He heard from Wang Fei that Wang Mingyuan was about to retire and thought that he was probably an old counselor with a head full of white hair. He never expected Wang Mingyuan to look like that.


    "Are your hands alright?" Wang Mingyuan nodded at Hui Haifeng and company before naturally pulling Zhou Wen''s hands over. A warm energy flowed into Zhou Wen''s hands and instantly dispersed the coldness.


    "Thank you, Counselor. I''m fine," Zhou Wen hurriedly thanked him.


    Wang Mingyuan released Zhou Wen''s hand and asked with a smile, "How many times did you pull the chain?"

 173 Seven Distribution Palm

    "I didn''t count, probably dozens of times," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Why didn''t you think of other solutions after making so many failed attempts?" Wang Mingyuan asked Zhou Wen with interest.


    "I just wanted to try pulling it up," Zhou Wen said.


    When Wang Mingyuan heard this, he smiled and said, "You''re quite interesting. The three of you, tell him how you pulled the chain for the first time."


    Wang Mingyuan''s words were obviously directed at Hui Haifeng and the rest.


    Hui Haifeng was the first to speak, "When I pulled the chains, I felt that the chain was too cold, so I sped up, pulling it all the way up before my hands froze."


    Seeing Wang Mingyuan''s gaze on him, Jiang Yan held the book in his hand and said, "I also felt that the chain''s bottom was too cold, so I slowed down my speed. Sometime after the chain leaves the frost, the temperature naturally gets higher. Slowly, I pulled the chain up."


    Zhong Ziya pursed his lips but didn''t say anything.


    Wang Mingyuan said, "Ziya doesn''t abide by the rules the most. When he couldn''t pull it up, he used a Primordial Energy Skill to pull the chain up."


    "Speaking of which, three of the five students who studied under me succeeded the first time when pulling the chain. Two of them failed to pull it up, but you are the first to fail despite making so many attempts." Wang Mingyuan smiled at Zhou Wen.


    "Who was the other person who failed?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "One of your seniors who has already graduated," Wang Mingyuan said indifferently and didn''t mention it again. He continued, "The rules are for rookies to pull the chain up before they are allowed to rest."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen walked back to Dragon''s Well and grabbed the chain before pulling it up again.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t seem to learn from the lesson or use the experiences of his seniors. He continued pulling at the same pace as before, and eventually, he failed.


    Wang Mingyuan only smiled and didn''t bother him anymore. He took off his arctic suit and changed into casual clothes. He then put on an apron and took out some vegetables to begin cooking.


    Not long after, the dishes were ready. There wasn''t much variety and they were relatively light and plain. They were basically vegetarian dishes with the only non-vegan dish being hard-boiled eggs.


    The few students gathered around the table to eat. Zhou Wen put down the chain and came over, ignoring the rules.


    Wang Mingyuan didn''t say a word as he similarly handed a set of cutlery to Zhou Wen. Everyone was given a bowl of porridge and an egg.


    After the meal, Zhou Wen continued to pull the chain. Wang Mingyuan, Hui Haifeng, and company did their own things. Apart from having the necessary exchanges, none of them spoke much.


    Zhou Wen had originally come here to study palm skills, but he ended up becoming the chain-puller. He ate and slept as usual, and only managed to pull up the nearly 200-meter-long chain at noon the next day.


    When the end was pulled out, Zhou Wen was taken aback.


    The end of the chain looked like a giant fish hook, but upon closer inspection, he realized that it wasn''t a fish hook, but in the shape of a ship anchor.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had seen such a ship-shaped anchor twice. The first time was at the Xiyuan Crystal shop, and the second time was on Gu Dian''s pocket watch.


    However, the anchor didn''t have a woman''s side profile, and the hook was polished sharp. It looked like it was used as a hook.


    Zhou Wen reached out to the side of the ship''s anchor and touched it. He couldn''t help but frown when he realized that it had signs of being polished.


    "Dragons are very greedy creatures, especially when it comes to food." As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he brought a bag of Companion Eggs over and used rope to secure them on the hook.


    "Lower it. I hope there''ll be something next time," Wang Mingyuan said as he looked at the bottomless Dragon''s Well.


    Zhou Wen lowered the chain back down. After finishing all his work, he came in front of Wang Mingyuan and asked, "Counselor, is there anything else you need me to do?"


    "In the future, you will be in charge of pulling the chain. Everything else will depend on your own interests. I heard from Little Fei that you want to learn palm skills?" Wang Mingyuan said gently.


    "Yes." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "Most cultivators nowadays train in weapons. Even if it''s physical training, there are many people who train their fists and legs. There are very few who train their palms and fingers. It''s mainly because fist- and leg-related skills are easy to learn but difficult to master. On the other hand, palm- and finger-related skills are difficult to learn but easily mastered. There''s no real difference between the two. It''s the same when you practice either to the extreme. However, most people like to start with the simple. That''s why fist- and leg-skills are popular these days. As for palm- and finger-skills, they are difficult to gain basic mastery, making them unpopular," Wang Mingyuan said with a sigh.


    "If I wanted to train in palm skills, how should I gain a basic mastery?" Although Zhou Wen knew Ashen Palm, it was only a method of using strength and not a technique. Now, what Zhou Wen wanted to learn was technique.


    "That depends on the type of palm skill you wish to cultivate in. Fists are external, while palms are internal. Ordinary fist skills go from the outside to the inside, while palm skills are the opposite. In the past, there was an old saying: Rather endure ten punches than a palm strike. It means that the palm strikes directly injure the organs, causing more serious damage to the body. However, it''s very difficult to gain basic mastery of such palm skills that focus on the internal. It requires long periods of practice. If you only wish to practice palm techniques, I have a few good ones. Gaining basic mastery is relatively simple. There are my comments on it. You can follow your own ideas to practice in it," Wang Mingyuan said as he handed a diary to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen opened it and saw that it was filled with the content of the palm techniques. Furthermore, it was all handwritten. There were many parts that had detailed notes. They were crystal clear at a glance.


    Wang Mingyuan''s handwriting was beautiful and graceful, a truly rare one. Even though Zhou Wen wasn''t a calligraphic expert, he found it extremely beautiful, leaving him comfortable just from looking at it.


    "Thank you, Counselor. I''ll take a look at these palm techniques first. I''ll seek your advice on the rest later." Zhou Wen had come here for the palm techniques. To him, the diary was like a treasure he had obtained.


    Wang Mingyuan didn''t say anything else as he continued his research.


    Zhou Wen stayed in the laboratory and had to pull the chain every day. Despite there being many Companion Eggs hanging on it when lowered, they were gone when he pulled them up. It was the same every time.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat curious. He wanted to use his cell phone to enter Dragon''s Well to probe, but he had recently been studying Wang Mingyuan''s palm techniques, so he didn''t deliberately enter the game.


    There were a total of seven palm techniques recorded in the diary. Although the moves were different, they were mostly similar. However, Wang Mingyuan managed to note down some of their ingenuity.


    Each palm technique was recorded and there were a total of seven moves. These seven moves were called Seven Distribution Palm by Wang Mingyuan. Each move was ingenious and had a completely different style.

 174 Dragons Well

    Zhou Wen felt that Wang Mingyuan as a counselor was rather interesting. When he had questions, Wang Mingyuan would answer every question he asked. Although he didn''t speak much, he explained in detail.


    Wang Mingyuan wouldn''t take the initiative to teach Zhou Wen, Jiang Yan, and the others anything either. He would only explain when they asked.


    Usually, he would do all sorts of research. Zhou Wen could understand some research projects, but he couldn''t figure out the meaning behind them.


    For example, if Wang Mingyuan allowed Jiang Yan to record the entire life process of an ant''s day, Zhou Wen couldn''t work out the meaning behind it. It was an ordinary ant, not a dimensional creature. It wasn''t even considered a mutated creature from Earth.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that Jiang Yan actually stared at the artificial ant nest created by transparent materials for 24 hours without moving.


    Anyways, Zhou Wen found these people odd. Only Hui Haifeng looked a little more normal.


    Although the Seven Distribution Palm had a few moves, it wasn''t easy to learn them. One had to first master the seven palm techniques and understand their essence, so as to better understand and master the seven moves.


    Zhou Wen was Zhou Wen after all. He trained with full focus, and in less than two days, he had learned the Seven Distribution Palm. All he lacked was proficiency and use in actual combat.


    Wang Mingyuan didn''t manage them, so Zhong Ziya would sleep on the table every day after he was done with his work. No one would bother about him.


    After Zhou Wen pulled up the chain, he took out his mysterious phone and sat in a corner to open the Dragon Gate Grotto''s dungeon and chose Old Dragon Cave.


    The blood-colored avatar quickly found Dragon''s Well which Wang Mingyuan and company had named. In the game, Dragon''s Well was an underground hole with no signs of artificial excavation or the chain.


    Zhou Wen knew that the bottom of Dragon''s Well was deep and extremely cold. He summoned the silver wings and switched to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra which strengthened his physique before descending Dragon''s Well.


    Dragon''s Well''s mouth was only about a meter wide in diameter, and the lower he went, the wider it became. However, when he was about fifty meters down, he saw white fog everywhere, making it difficult to see clearly.


    What was even more terrifying was that the temperature in the white fog was strangely low. After Zhou Wen used the Lotus Flower Buddha Body, he still felt extremely cold when he came into contact with the white fog. The coldness drilled right into his bones and, shortly after using all his strength to descend amidst the white fog, the screen turned black as the blood-colored avatar froze to death.


    Although Zhou Wen''s body was fine, he shared the same feelings as the blood-colored avatar. The feeling of freezing to death was extremely uncomfortable.


    Even the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the Lotus Flower Buddha Body can''t withstand the white fog''s coldness. How low is the temperature? Zhou Wen was alarmed, but he wasn''t willing to give up.


    After some thought, he revived the blood-colored avatar again. Zhou Wen switched the Primordial Energy Art to the Ancient Imperial Sutra before letting the blood-colored avatar descend into Dragon''s Well.


    Every time Zhou Wen circulated the Ancient Imperial Sutra, he felt as though a ball of fire was burning in his body. He wanted to try and see if the heat of the Ancient Imperial Sutra could withstand the cold.


    The moment he entered Dragon''s Well, Zhou Wen felt something was different. Back when he used the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, although his resistance had increased, he could still sense the cold.


    Now that he was using the Ancient Imperial Sutra, he only felt warmth throughout his body, without any cold at all.


    When the blood-colored avatar entered the white fog, Zhou Wen only felt a slight chill. Soon, the heat in his body dissipated the cold.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. The Ancient Imperial Sutra had a miraculous effect resisting the cold. While enduring the terrifying cold, Zhou Wen continued descending. The temperature dropped with distance, and after two hundred meters, even the Ancient Imperial Sutra''s power appeared somewhat lacking. It left Zhou Wen feeling a chill, albeit a tiny bit. It wasn''t enough to truly harm the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    How deep is this Dragon''s Well? Zhou Wen''s vision was blocked. Thankfully, the Truth Listener earring had given him a powerful sense of hearing, allowing him to use his sense of hearing to replace his sense of sight. He could see dozens of meters through the white fog, and if there were sufficiently large fluctuations in the distance, Zhou Wen could hear it from afar.


    He still didn''t reach the bottom after descending another hundred odd meters. However, Dragon''s Well had already expanded to a gigantic underground space. Zhou Wen''s hearing was no longer good enough to reach the surrounding stone walls.


    By the time he reached a distance of nearly 500 meters, he felt like he couldn''t hold on any longer. If he continued, he might just freeze to death like the first time.


    I can''t go any further down. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before getting the blood-colored avatar to summon a Golden Warrior Companion Beast.


    This was an ordinary Golden Warrior whose attributes were pretty good. Zhou Wen had originally planned on using it for fusion when he incubated it.


    The Golden Warrior didn''t know how to fly. After being summoned, it immediately plummeted and disappeared into the white fog.


    Thanks to the Golden Warrior''s falling through the white fog and creating sound and material flux, Zhou Wen was able to use Truth Listener''s hearing to see it and have an image form in his mind.


    The Golden Warrior kept falling. The Golden Warrior with the Golden Body Life Providence was unable to resist the cold produced by the white fog. Frost grew on its jade-like skin as it rapidly spread throughout its body.


    After falling a distance away, the Golden Warrior''s body was frozen into an ice sculpture, emitting creaking sounds. Before long, it exploded, splintering into broken ice blocks that plummeted further.


    As the fragments fell, they became smaller and smaller. Almost at the point of losing "sight" of them, Zhou Wen heard a terrifying scene.


    As the tiny ice fragments streaked across the white fog, Zhou Wen heard them land on something before a scene formed in his mind.


    It was a creature that resembled a winding mountain range. On a huge stone pillar that resembled a mountain peak, there was an oval-shaped object, looking like an offering.


    When the ripples produced by the ice fragments touched the oval object, it made Zhou Wen clearly understand what it was. The surface of the object wasn''t smooth, but rather, seemed to be wrapped by threads.


    Is that a cocoon? The oval object in Ant City appeared in Zhou Wen''s mind. It looked very similar to the cocoon in both shape and size.


    Before Zhou Wen could think further, the terrifying creature that had been hit by the ice fragments suddenly opened its huge mouth and roared upwards.


    It was an extremely strange sound that Zhou Wen found indescribable. It wasn''t like a beast''s roar, nor was it a bird''s screech. It was like a long hum from a musical instrument.


    Bam!


    When the sound wave reached him, the blood-colored avatar''s body immediately exploded and the game screen went black.


    Is that thing down there really a dragon? Is the thing it''s protecting the same as the cocoon protected by the Golden Flying Ant? Zhou Wen was filled with puzzlement.

 175 Dr. Soul

    Zhou Wen found it impossible to snatch the treasure from the terrifying dragon-like creature''s proverbial jaws.


    With just a casual roar, the fellow instantly killed the blood-colored avatar despite the two to three hundred meters. This was probably a top existence among Epic creatures, or even a Mythical creature.


    In contrast, Zhou Wen felt that the Golden Flying Ant was much easier to deal with.


    From the looks of it, I should think of a way to finish off the Golden Flying Ant and see what''s inside the cocoon. Zhou Wen was extremely curious.


    However, Zhou Wen was still lacking to date. Even if he continuously used the Grand Yin Wind, he was still no match for the Golden Flying Ant.


    It''s a little difficult to kill the Golden Flying Ant. Is there any way to obtain the cocoon without killing it? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he found it feasible.


    Before that, I need to have sufficient Speed. The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill nimbleness is sufficient, but its thrust and absolute speed aren''t its strength. Zhou Wen frowned as he thought. He wondered what Primordial Energy Skill could make him faster.


    "Zhou Wen, why are you frowning? Did you encounter some difficult problem?" Wang Mingyuan happened to walk over and asked when he saw Zhou Wen frowning in thought.


    "Teacher," Zhou Wen subconsciously called out. He found it easier to address him as "teacher" like Zhong Ziya, so he began following Zhong Ziya.


    "What problem did you encounter? Why don''t you tell me?" Wang Mingyuan said with interest.


    He didn''t seem to have the airs of a teacher, evident from how he often cooked for Zhou Wen, Jiang Yan, and the rest whenever he had nothing to do. If one didn''t know his identity as a counselor, one would completely treat him as an older brother next door.


    "Teacher, I''ve learned the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, but I feel that it isn''t fast enough. Are there any faster Primordial Energy Skills that imbue alacrity at the Legendary stage?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Mingyuan the question that happened to be on his mind.


    Wang Mingyuan thought for a moment and said, "The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill is considered one of the best alacrity-type Primordial Energy Skills at the Legendary stage. There are even faster Primordial Energy Skills and our Sunset College does have such a Primordial Energy Skill, but it''s not easy to obtain it."


    "What''s that Primordial Energy Skill? Which zone has it?" Zhou Wen was delighted when he heard that.


    "Outside Sunset City, there''s a strange dimensional creature known as the Sun Chasing Bird. It has a type of Primordial Energy Skill called Sun Chasing, allowing people to possess a speed faster than Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. In addition, the speed-up isn''t just twice as fast," said Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. The reason Sunset College had that name was largely due to Sunset City. No human had ever been able to enter the dimensional zone known as Sunset City; it was even more terrifying than Tiger Cage Pass.


    To hunt dimensional creatures there¡ªones that could fly and with unparalleled speed-type Primordial Energy Skills¡ªwas extremely difficult for humans.


    Although Sun Chasing Birds were only at the Legendary stage, Zhou Wen believed that the difficulty of killing one wasn''t lower than killing a Golden Flying Ant. After all, it wasn''t an easy task to catch up to it in the sky.


    There''s always a chance no matter what. I''ll visit the exterior of Sunset City to take a look. If I can download Sunset City as a game dungeon, it''s not like I have no chance of killing the Sun Chasing Birds. Zhou Wen applied for a leave of absence with Wang Mingyuan and planned on searching the area outside Sunset City for the tiny palm symbol.


    Since Wang Mingyuan didn''t restrict their freedom and it wasn''t the time to pull up the chain, he approved of Zhou Wen''s departure.


    Zhou Wen left Old Dragon Cave and, while walking up the steps of Dragon Gate Grotto, he began wondering how he could obtain the cocoon if he couldn''t kill the Sun Chasing Birds.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate as though something ominous was about to happen. It made his cold sweat flow down his back.


    He was alarmed as he immediately observed the area ahead of him. He saw a man walking towards him on the same flight of stairs. He wasn''t ugly, but he looked a little cold.


    "Yan Zhen?" Zhou Wen recognized the person as the unease and palpitations in his heart intensified.


    When he first met Yan Zhen, he felt that this person was a little sinister.


    "We finally meet again. I''ve been waiting so long for you," Yan Zhen said as he walked over, staring at Zhou Wen. Clearly, he was here for him.


    Zhou Wen turned around in a bid to leave, but he was dumbfounded when he turned around. He saw a figure wearing a white coat standing not far behind him, nearly sticking to his back Yet, he hadn''t realized it.


    The shadow looked like a human, but its feet didn''t touch the ground. Instead, it was floating above the stone steps.


    "That''s my Life Soul. His name is Dr. Soul." Yan Zhen''s voice came from behind.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed as he summoned his wings, hoping to combine it with his Godfiend Life Providence to fly up.


    However, Dr. Soul''s left eye seemed to flash like a camera. The flash in his eye contained a strange red color. The moment he was illuminated by the red light. Zhou Wen''s body, which was about to soar into the sky, instantly froze. He was unable to move an inch.


    Zhou Wen felt his muscles stiffen and he couldn''t move his body. He couldn''t even summon his Companion Beasts.


    Yan Zhen came in front of Zhou Wen and sized him up before saying with interest, "I''ve investigated all the students who entered Death City. Only three of them didn''t touch the black tree you mentioned, including you. But why did you say that you touched that tree? Why did you lie?"


    Zhou Wen was trapped by some kind of power and couldn''t even speak.


    Yan Zhen snapped his fingers as the red light in Dr. Soul''s eye flashed. Zhou Wen immediately felt his mouth regain its function, but the rest of his body remained motionless.


    "You are only a coroner, not a policeman. What right do you have to treat me like this?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s fine if you don''t wish to say it. I can speak for you. After you came to the morgue, Wang Lu and the other students came back from the dead. As for the other students who touched the black tree, they also experienced a temporary fainting spell, but quickly returned to normal. This is clearly very abnormal. Tell me, what did you do?" Yan Zhen asked as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    "I don''t understand what you''re getting at. Release me immediately or I''ll shout for help," Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    "It''s useless. Everyone''s brain waves or souls will be affected or controlled within a certain range by Dr. Soul''s powers. Unless permission is granted by me, no one can see us or hear our voices. Even if I were to kill you here, no one would have any reaction," Yan Zhen said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen shouted out in disbelief a few times. Indeed, the cultivators that came and went in Dragon Gate Grotto nearby didn''t seem to hear a thing or see them.


    "Answer my question, or let me dissect your body and find the answer myself." Yan Zhen''s eyes were burning with zeal. He was like a lunatic as he held a small and exquisite scalpel in his hand that emitted a chilling cold light.

 176 Madman

    "You are a coroner. Don''t you know that this is against the law?" Zhou Wen kept using all sorts of powers at his disposal in an attempt to break the force that restrained him physically.


    However, it was completely useless. With Dr. Soul staring at him from behind, with its left eye flashing with a sanguine light, he felt as though his soul had been sealed.


    Zhou Wen was unable to use his Primordial Energy Skills, nor was he able to circulate the Primordial Energy Arts or summon a Companion Beast. Even the Lost Immortal Sutra that automatically circulated seemed to freeze.


    However, this didn''t throw Zhou Wen into despair. This was because, in such an extreme environment, there was a strange and familiar power growing within him.


    "The law is created by Man. If I''m strong enough, then I can set the law. It''s not a problem," Yan Zhen said calmly, but the fervor in his eyes grew stronger.


    "But you aren''t strong enough to ignore the law. If you kill me, do you think you can escape punishment from the law?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "That''s why I get Dr. Soul to do it. Otherwise, a Legendary student like you wouldn''t need me to use my Life Soul." Yan Zhen approached Zhou Wen and used his fingers to open his eyelids. As he leaned in to carefully study Zhou Wen''s eyes, he said, "Even if I dissected you here, no one would know that I was here, much less know that I dissected you here. Therefore, it''s best you answer my question obediently. What did you do? How did you affect the souls of those students?"


    "I told you, I have no idea what you''re talking about. I could only sense the aura of the black tree on their bodies. I don''t know anything else, nor did I do anything," Zhou Wen said.


    "It''s fine. It''s fine if you don''t wish to tell me. All I need is a tiny surgery to know everything about you," Yan Zhen said as he swished his scalpel above Zhou Wen''s head with the scalpel. He said indifferently, "I''ll cut open your skull and extract your brain to read the memories inside. This isn''t difficult for Dr. Soul."


    "Why are you doing this? What do you gain by doing it?" Zhou Wen asked through clenched teeth. He knew Yan Zhen wasn''t joking.


    "What do I gain?" Yan Zhen said slowly. "All this time, science and medicine have never been able to resolve the question of the origins of life. The so-called explanations are full of loopholes. Life is not a machine, and human consciousness is not purely an intelligent program. How did their consciousness come about? What kind of relationship does it have with the body? Can consciousness exist independently away from the body? All these questions are very interesting."


    "Does that mean you can kill your own kind without a qualm just to figure out these questions?" Zhou Wen looked at Yan Zhen as though he was looking at a lunatic.


    "Life is short, so it''s only a matter of time before one dies. But my research is eternal. If my research succeeds, I can extract the consciousness of humans, or perhaps should I say the soul. Then, all humans will be able to gain eternal life. When that happens, I will be the savior of humans, and all humans will be grateful to me for I will be the one who made them gain eternal life. In this period of time, sacrifices are inevitable for research purposes. It''s an undeniable outcome for human advancement." Yan Zhen seemed to be talking about something very ordinary.


    "You really are mad." Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    "Mad? That''s right. This is an era of madness. Who in the past would believe that there are dimensional creatures in this world? Who would have imagined that there would be Companion Beasts and magical powers? Who knows if true gods might exist in those dimensional zones? And what I''m doing now is to become a god of humanity, allowing human life to truly belong to themselves, without being controlled by any other power. Aging, ailment, death, and disability will all become history and no longer be a problem that troubles humanity."


    The more Yan Zhen spoke, the more excited he became. "If my research succeeds, all humans can let their souls leave their weak bodies and enter high-level bodies at will. For example, you can use a tank as your body. You can also use powerful dimensional creatures as your body. As long as you are willing, you can have everything, and not have a weak, regrettable body as we have now."


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if he should call Yan Zhen a genius or a lunatic. All he knew was that he was truly crazy, and he wasn''t willing to become the necessary sacrifice he mentioned.


    "Perhaps what you said makes sense, but unfortunately, there''s nothing special about my body. I also have no idea about the matter you were talking about. Are you sure you want to dissect me?" Zhou Wen calmed down.


    In his body, that familiar yet unfamiliar power was brewing, like an ancient beast hidden under the calm sea.


    Zhou Wen knew that the power was his Life Providence. It was the Sigh of the King that was produced by the combination of the Lost Immortal Sutra and his talent.


    Ever since he advanced to the Legendary stage, Zhou Wen had been able to sense the existence of the Sigh of the King. It was like a part of his body, as though he had an additional body organ, an existence that resembled limbs.


    But before this, Zhou Wen had no idea how to use the new organ in his body. He could sense its existence and knew that it possessed immense power, but he was unable to use it.


    Only moments ago did Zhou Wen finally sense the Sigh of the King and how he could use it when his body was restrained by Dr. Soul.


    Humans were peculiar animals. Most of the time, they would only use the organs they needed. Many organs that they didn''t need would degenerate due to prolonged periods of idleness, to the point of forgetting how to use them.


    A typical human''s Life Providence was a passive ability. There was no need for one to take the initiative to use it, but Zhou Wen''s Sigh of the King was clearly different.


    When he truly sensed that the Sigh of the King could be used by him, the force had already begun to spread within his body like an ancient beast occupying his body.


    "Scientific research has many uncertain factors to begin with, so it''s inevitable to take a wrong path. After all, this is a study for becoming a god. No matter how many failures there are, they can be forgiven." Yan Zhen''s expression turned colder. The scalpel in his left hand had already reached Zhou Wen''s forehead. His voice said without any emotion, "Don''t worry. I won''t let you suffer too much pain. I''ll start with your skull and expose your pineal gland. Then it will be your left brain, followed by your right. When your brain is completely dissected, Dr. Soul will be able to use his powers to read the information within¡­"


    As Yan Zhen spoke, the scalpel''s blade shimmered with some crystalline light. Under his slender fingers, he was about to cut through Zhou Wen''s skull.


    Boom!


    At the instant, Yan Zhen''s fingers moved, the force which resembled an ancient beast within Zhou Wen''s body erupted.

 177 Terrifying Life Providence

    The scalpel''s blade was already clinging to the skin on Zhou Wen''s head and was just about to cut in, but at that moment, Yan Zhen''s pupils constricted.


    The scalpel''s light flickered, but it could no longer move an inch forward. It was as if it was being held by an invisible force. No matter how much strength Yan Zhen exerted, he couldn''t move an inch.


    "You do have secrets on you!" Yan Zhen was delighted instead of being alarmed. His eyes burned with frenzy as terrifying power erupted from his body, transforming into streams of light that gathered onto the scalpel, causing the light on it to become even more terrifying, one that was as resplendent as the sun.


    Behind Zhou Wen, Dr. Soul also released terrifying power simultaneously. He also held a surgical blade condensed from a beam of light and slashed it at the back of Zhou Wen''s head.


    Even though Zhou Wen''s body didn''t move, Yan Zhen and Dr. Soul appeared to be grabbed by a huge, invisible hand. They suddenly lost their balance and floated in front of Zhou Wen.


    Yan Zhen''s face was filled with shock as he struggled with all his might. The blood-red glow in


    the eyes of Dr. Soul''s eyes kept flickering, but it was completely useless.


    It was as if they were being controlled by an invisible hand, unable to move or make a sound. As the hand tightened, their bodies were being squeezed thinner and thinner.


    Flesh deformed as bones warped and his eyes protruded out.


    "No¡­ Impossible¡­ How can a student at the Legendary stage¡­ have such great power¡­" Yan Zhen was overcome with fear. Despite using all his strength, he was unable to resist that terrifying power.


    Bam!


    With a violent roar, Yan Zhen and the Dr. Soul were crushed by that invisible force and ended up dying.


    Zhou Wen watched as Yan Zhen was squashed, but he didn''t have it any better.


    The awakening of the Sigh of the King''s brought unimaginable power. After Zhou Wen''s body recovered thanks to the force, his bones emitted a creaking sound as though they would snap at any moment. His flesh and organs were under immense pressure.


    All the blood vessels in his body protruded, and many of the more fragile fine capillaries had ruptured. His organs felt like they had been crushed to smithereens.


    It wasn''t only Yan Zhen who couldn''t move, even Zhou Wen was unable to move thanks to the terrifying force. It was as though he was carrying a mountain on his back.


    Unlike Yan Zhen, Zhou Wen could see a shadow appear over his body. It was this figure that had squeezed Yan Zhen and Dr. Soul to their deaths.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen couldn''t withstand the terrifying power from his body as he collapsed to the ground with one knee propping him up. Blood spewed out of his mouth as the power that descended on him became more terrifying. It exceeded the limits of what his body could withstand. His organs looked like they were about to split apart.


    Just as Zhou Wen believed that he would be the first person in history to be crushed by his Life Providence, the force receded like the tide and shrank back into his body.


    He suddenly relaxed as the pressure abruptly vanished and he felt his vision go dark as he fell to the ground and fainted.


    When Zhou Wen woke up, he realized that he was actually lying in Wang Mingyuan''s lab. He was sleeping on the only bed in the laboratory¡ªWang Mingyuan''s resting spot. The students usually slept on the floor.


    He couldn''t see Wang Mingyuan, Hui Haifeng, or Zhong Ziya. Only Jiang Yan was reading quietly in front of the oil lamp.


    "Why am I here?" Zhou Wen moved and felt his body ache terribly. He didn''t have any strength and his body was as soft as a newborn.


    "It''s best you don''t move around. Your bones are fractured and your organs are damaged. Although Counselor has already used his Life Soul to heal your body, you still need to recuperate for a period of time. Otherwise, those injuries will easily relapse," Jiang Yan said casually.


    "How did I end up here?" Zhou Wen asked again in puzzlement.


    Logically speaking, Yan Zhen had died on the spot and, being seriously injured, he had fallen unconscious by the side. Even if the police didn''t believe that he had really killed Yan Zhen, they would still have taken him back to investigate. Therefore, it only made sense if he was in the police station''s hospital right now.


    "When Hui Haifeng went out to buy some stuff, he heard a scream. When he went over, he found you fainted on the ground with serious injuries, he immediately got Counselor over to treat your injuries and bring you back." Jiang Yan put down the book in his hand and looked at Zhou Wen. "You suffered such serious injuries in Dragon Gate Grotto? Who injured you?"


    "I don''t know who injured me. Was there anyone else nearby?" Zhou Wen was filled with puzzlement.


    It was fine if Dr. Soul had been crushed. After all, it was only a pure energy body, so it didn''t leave any traces. Yan Zhen was a living person, and Zhou Wen had watched him explode. Blood had splattered everywhere, so it was impossible for him not to leave a trace.


    However, Jiang Yan''s recount made it seem like no one had seen Yan Zhen''s corpse.


    "There were many people, but they were just bystanders. We didn''t discover anyone who had injured you," Jiang Yan replied with certainty.


    With that said, Jiang Yan got up and walked to the side. He picked up a bowl and walked in front of Zhou Wen. "This is the medicine prepared by Counselor before he left. He told me to feed you when you woke up. Not one drop can be left behind. This is one of my missions today."


    With that said, Jiang Yan picked up a spoon and scooped a spoonful of medicine and moved it to Zhou Wen''s mouth.


    "I''ll do it myself¡­" Zhou Wen struggled to sit up, but his body was aching so terribly that he felt limp and without any strength.


    "Didn''t I tell you just now that Counselor has just treated your injuries and your body needs to recover? Don''t move around or hinder me from completing my mission." Jiang Yan said as he took the spoon to Zhou Wen''s mouth.


    Zhou Wen knew that his body couldn''t muster any strength, so he could only open his mouth and drink the mouthful of medicine. He found it extremely bitter, and he had no idea what it tasted like.


    "What medicine is this?" Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown.


    "Medicine personally created by Counselor. It should be useful," Jiang Yan said indifferently.


    Jiang Yan fed Zhou Wen spoonful by spoonful until the entire bowl of medicine was finished ten minutes later. The medicine was so bitter that it made Zhou Wen''s mouth and intestines turn bitter. He almost couldn''t sense any other flavor.


    "Rest well, don''t move around. Counselor said that you can only get off the bed in two days. If you don''t want to be treated again, then lie down obediently," Jiang Yan said.


    Although Zhou Wen was weak, he could still move his limbs, albeit lacking the strength for any strenuous activities.


    When he pulled away the blanket to take a look, he realized that he was only wearing his underwear. He was shocked and was just about to ask Jiang Yan if he had seen his phone when he turned his head and saw that his clothes were neatly placed by the bed. There were two phones and some miscellaneous items on them. The bracelet was there too.


    Zhou Wen immediately heaved a sigh of relief as he reached out for the mysterious phone.


    There was no problem with turning it on. Zhou Wen unlocked the phone and was instantly taken aback. The other apps on the cell phone''s home screen were normal, but there was an additional number, "1," on the Dead Man Tree icon.

 178 Demonized General With Three Skills

    Zhou Wen was puzzled as he clicked on the Dead Man Tree icon. Soon, the image of the Dead Man Tree appeared onscreen.


    However, at that moment, the Dead Man Tree had already turned white. Between the white leaves, there was a white flower bud.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He looked at it for quite some time but failed to notice anything. The flower bud was still young, so there was nothing special about it.


    However, the bud''s appearance made Zhou Wen recall Yan Zhen''s corpse. Yan Zhen was indeed dead, but no one had discovered his corpse. Now that there was another flower bud on the dead tree, it was very difficult to not make any connections.


    No way? Could it be that the Dead Man Tree in-game can suck dead people from reality? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown when he thought of this.


    If the Dead Man Tree in-game still had an influence on reality, wouldn''t it be very dangerous for him to carry it with him all day?


    No one knew how great the effects of the Dead Man Tree were. It would only spell greater trouble if the people around him ended up being affected by the dead tree.


    Zhou Wen recalled his Life Providence and felt his head ache even more. He had never heard of anyone not being able to withstand their Life Providence''s power.


    In theory, this was an impossible situation. This was because the Life Providence had been born out of Zhou Wen''s body. Therefore, its power couldn''t exceed Zhou Wen''s own limits; otherwise, it would be impossible for him to produce it. Yet, Zhou Wen''s Life Providence had exceeded his own limits.


    It nearly crushed my body with just one use of my Life Providence. I''m probably the only person in history. Zhou Wen mocked himself.


    However, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that his Life Providence was abnormal. It was very likely related to the Lost Immortal Sutra. When he advanced to the Legendary stage, he had seen an illusion that vaguely looked like a woman. And the woman''s voice was similar to the devil-like whispers he heard when suffering sleep paralysis.


    When he used Sigh of the King, Zhou Wen felt the shadow around him seem to resemble a woman.


    However, he wasn''t sure because he had only seen a blurry shadow. Furthermore, he had only seen a portion of it. Without a mirror, he couldn''t see his entire body, so he naturally couldn''t see a complete shadow.


    Jiang Yan fed him the medicine three times a day, making Zhou Wen grimace in pain, to the point of feeling like he had transformed into a bitter gourd. It was as if his flesh and blood were emitting a bitter taste.


    Only in the evening did Wang Mingyuan and Zhong Ziya crawl out of Dragon''s Well. He had no idea what they were studying down below.


    Hui Haifeng left the laboratory for some matters and didn''t return that day. Wang Mingyuan checked Zhou Wen''s body again before saying, "Your injuries are no longer serious. You can get out of bed in two days, but you still can''t do any vigorous exercise. It will take at least half a month before you can begin practicing your palm techniques again."


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, Wang Mingyuan didn''t ask him how he was injured. It made the excuse he had prepared useless.


    As he couldn''t get out of bed, Zhou Wen could only play games on the bed. Thankfully, his injuries didn''t affect the blood-colored avatar, so it wasn''t a problem to grind in-game.


    "I say, Zhou Wen, I really couldn''t tell. You look so quiet usually, but you were so ruthless when you fought." Zhong Ziyuan placed Wang Mingyuan''s bowl of porridge on a chair beside Zhou Wen''s bed. He grinned as he continued, "Tell me, who beat you up? As your senior, I''ll avenge you."


    "I really don''t know who that person is. I was ambushed while walking. I fainted without seeing anyone." Zhou Wen felt weak all over and it was difficult for him to even sit up. So all he could do was roll around and lay on the bed to eat the porridge.


    "Alright, there''s no need to go through so much effort." Zhong Ziya picked up the congee again and fed Zhou Wen with a spoon. "You''re really useless. You didn''t even manage to see who your enemy was. It''s embarrassing for us. Don''t tell others that you are Teacher''s disciple."


    Knowing Zhong Ziya''s personality, Zhou Wen knew he was only joking, so he didn''t take it to heart. Instead, he changed the topic. "I heard that Teacher has another disciple. What''s the senior''s name? How is he now?"


    "That senior, well¡­ his name is Liu Yun. You should have heard of his name, right? Like you, he entered Sunset College from Guide High School," Zhong Ziya said with a strange expression.


    "Senior Liu Yun?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    Zhou Wen had heard of this name. Before Zhou Wen, there had been a few geniuses produced by Guide High School. One of them was a student named Liu Yun. It was said that he had received similar treatment to Zhou Wen in the past. He was the pride of Guide High School, and he was also the top scholar in the city''s college entrance examination.


    However, Liu Yun was a few classes higher than Zhou Wen. Back when Zhou Wen was in high school, Liu Yun had long graduated, so they never met.


    He never expected Liu Yun to be Wang Mingyuan''s disciple. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen arrived too late and again, Liu Yun had graduated a year ago.


    Zhong Ziya didn''t seem willing to chat with Zhou Wen about Liu Yun. After feeding him, he yawned and returned to his bed.


    Zhou Wen was rather bored lying there, so he could only continue gaming.


    When he arrived at Tiger Cage Pass, he encountered a Paper Demonized General once again. He was no longer as excited when he saw Paper Demonized Generals. He had met many before, but none of them dropped a Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he would end up with nothing, but after he killed the Paper Demonized General, he saw a Companion Egg mixed with red and black colors drop.


    He found it unbelievable that a Paper Demonized General Companion Egg dropped. After a momentary pause, he got the blood-colored avatar to pick it up.


    The attributes of the Paper Demonized General were similar to the two Demonized Generals from before and they had identical Life Providences. However, the only difference in skills was Astral Suction Palm.


    After taking a look at the compatibility between the Paper Demonized General and the Mutated Demonized General, he realized that the compatibility wasn''t as high as the previous two Demonized Generals. It was only about 54%, which was equivalent to a fifty-fifty chance.


    The probability wasn''t high, so Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before choosing the fusion.


    He had plenty of opportunities to have a Mutated Demonized General drop in the future. Even if he failed this time, he would still have a chance.


    With Zhou Wen''s choice, the Companion Egg transformed into a flash of light and infused itself into the mutated Demonized General''s body. Then, the sparkling glow on the mutated Demonized General''s body filled the entire image of the cell phone.


    ''Fusion successful. Obtained Mutated Demonized General.''


    As the light dissipated, the Mutated Demonized General''s figure appeared onscreen. It had a red horse and red armor, with a red crown on its head. It held a strange blood-colored spear, but its body emitted a strange black aura.


    Mutated Demonized General: Legendary


    Legendary Life Providence: Malignant General


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 19


    Constitution: 19


    Primordial Energy: 19


    Talent Skill: Astral Slash Blade, Astral Fist, Astral Suction Palm, Demon Flame Spear, Demon Rider Summon


    Having succeeded in fusing a Mutated Demonized General, the attributes were comparable to Rebellious Knight''s. Furthermore, it had five skills that exceeded the limit. Amongst Legendaries, it was considered the strongest existence other than the mythical pets.


    The reason Zhou Wen hadn''t hatched the Rebellious Knight Companion Egg all this time was that he had some concerns.

 179 Inauspicious Life Providence

    With an excellent-grade Companion Egg like Rebellious Knight, one would typically choose to hatch it unless they were already at the Epic stage and not have any need for a Legendary Companion Egg.


    John had been running around with the Rebellious Knight Companion Egg without hatching it. This left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    Hence, after obtaining Rebellious Knight, Zhou Wen carefully studied all of its attributes, including his Life Providence.


    Then, Zhou Wen realized the problem. Although Rebellious Knight''s Life Providence being Knight of Destiny didn''t seem to be a problem, the blurb introducing it was very intriguing.


    Knight of Destiny: Knight favored by destiny, the eternal protagonist.


    Despite being a Companion Beast, he had a Life Providence of a protagonist. This clearly wasn''t a good thing. At the very least, John definitely thought so. Otherwise, there was no reason for him not to hatch Rebellious Knight.


    After connecting the Rebellious Knight''s history with the knights of the round table, Zhou Wen was even more certain about his guess. The reason John hatched Sacred Spear Knight and not Rebellious Knight was definitely because of the same misgivings Zhou Wen had.


    That round table knight was once the strongest knight under King Arthur, and together with King Arthur, he had established a glorious era together.


    But it was also because of him that the round table knights fell apart. King Arthur''s death also drew the curtains on a legend.


    No matter how great the legends and novels described this knight, it couldn''t erase his betrayal and selfishness. Like the famous Lu Bu in the East District, they had ended an era because of a woman.


    Although humans could contract with Rebellious Knight, and not be afraid of his betrayal, it was ultimately not a good thing to have such an ominous Companion Beast by his side.


    The main problem lay in him and his Life Providence. If I can remove the useless and jinxed Knight of Destiny Life Providence, there shouldn''t be too much of a problem, Zhou Wen thought.


    Although John couldn''t resolve the problem, it wasn''t a problem that Zhou Wen was helpless against.


    The mysterious phone had the ability to fuse Companion Beasts. As long as Rebellious Knight fused with other Companion Beasts, he could resolve the Life Providence''s problem.


    Without a doubt, the best choice was to fuse him with the Mutated Demonized General. Both were Companion Beasts with mounts, so the chances of successfully fusing would be higher.


    However, Zhou Wen had previously seen the Mutated Demonized General''s compatibility with Rebellious Knight. It was only 23%. Even Zhou Wen didn''t dare to risk with such a low probability. There was almost no chance of success.


    Now that the Mutated Demonized General had undergone another fusion, Zhou Wen once again looked at his compatibility with Rebellious Knight. His compatibility score was even lower¡ª11%.


    From the looks of it, once a pet fuses, the compatibility score will drastically decrease. After repeated fusions, the compatibility score will drop even further. Zhou Wen naturally didn''t choose to have Rebellious Knight fuse with Mutated Demonized General. Therefore, up to now, Zhou Wen still hadn''t hatched it.


    While recuperating, he gamed and killed monsters. To Zhou Wen, it didn''t matter. When he was grinding the Three-Eyed Golden Warriors, he obtained a 19-valued Constitution Crystal, allowing his Constitution to advance to 19 points.


    Zhou Wen had previously heard from the Wu siblings that after gathering the three Primordial Energy Skills like the Astral Suction Palm, Astral Fist, and Astral Slash Blade, one would be able to destroy the arrow shot out from the gate.


    However, the Mutated Demonized General already possessed three abilities and was still unable to dodge the might of the arrow. Therefore, Zhou Wen was skeptical about what he had heard previously.


    Zhou Wen still went to Tiger Cage Pass every time, hoping to have the Astral Fist Primordial Energy Skill Crystal drop. Even if he countered that arrow, Astral Fist was still an extremely powerful Primordial Energy Skill.


    Ding!


    He had casually cleaved a soldier to death when a Companion Egg dropped. It left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    However, that was only an ordinary Mortal-stage soldier. It was useless even if its Companion Egg dropped.


    However, Zhou Wen was surprised when he saw the system''s notification. The Mortal Companion Egg''s attributes were very ordinary, but it had a 97% compatibility with Rebellious Knight.


    That can''t be, right? How can this Companion Egg have such a high affinity with Rebellious Knight? Zhou Wen carefully observed the soldier''s stats.


    Saber Shield Soldier: Mortal stage.


    Strength: 8


    Speed: 6


    Constitution: 7


    Primordial Energy: 3


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: None


    It was basically a useless Mortal Companion Beast with average stats. It didn''t even have a talent skill or a companion form. It could be said that it was trash at the Mortal stage.


    However, such a trash Companion Beast had such a high affinity with Rebellious Knight. This left Zhou Wen very surprised.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to hatch the Saber Shield Soldier. His attributes were identical to what he had seen before incubation¡ªtrash.


    Then, Zhou Wen made an extremely bold decision. He used the Rebellious Knight''s Companion Egg as a supplement to fuse with the Saber Shield Soldier.


    The main reason was that Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to make a pact with Rebellious Knight who had a problematic Life Providence, so it was useless keeping it. But since there was such a high success rate, he could try fusing it.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have much hope in the first place, but after the pet''s fusion was completed, the attributes gave him a fright.


    Saber Shield Knight: Legendary stage


    Life Providence: Offense and Defense


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 19


    Constitution: 19


    Primordial Energy: 19


    Talent Skill: Cross Sword, Everlasting Shield, Holy Steed Summoning, Holy Steed Battle Aura


    Companion Form: None


    The current Saber Shield Knight was completely different from the previous Saber Shield Soldier. He was wearing iron armor and riding on a black horse with a saber in one hand and a shield in the other. He looked extremely majestic and mighty.


    The crux of the matter was that he had inherited the four talent skills of Rebellious Knight. The abilities were not much weaker than Mutated Demonized General with three main skills.


    Zhou Wen was exhilarated. This fusion not only resolved the problem of the Life Providence, it also allowed him to possess yet another powerful Legendary warrior.


    Now that I have Mutated Demonized General and Saber Shield Knight, I might be able to form a cavalry team in the future if I get a few more. Zhou Wen glanced at the compatibility score of Saber Shield Knight and Mutated Demonized General. It actually reached 49%.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen gave up on the fusion, unwilling to take the risk.


    During the few days of recuperation, Zhou Wen lived rather comfortably. But on the seventh day, the white flower on the Dead Man Tree completely bloomed, and its petals began withering.


    After the flower wilted, a white fruit grew out which Zhou Wen could faintly see a blob of light within. It looked familiar, but also unfamiliar.

 180 Frui

    Zhou Wen was puzzled as he stared at the fruit for quite some time, but he failed to crack the puzzle.


    With the passage of time, the fruit grew bigger and bigger. The originally crystalline shell also gradually became thicker and harder. It looked like an eggshell.


    The fruit formed on the Dead Man Tree can''t be a Companion Egg, right? After two days, the more Zhou Wen looked at the fruit, the more it looked like a white Companion Egg. He had no idea how to describe his feelings.


    If the Dead Man Tree can really produce a Companion Egg, then what''s the Companion Beast inside it? Yan Zhen? Or is it his Life Soul, Dr. Soul? Zhou Wen could only make such a guess.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know when the fruit would mature. All he could do was slowly watch its growth. He spent the rest of the time grinding as usual.


    It was unknown how many times he had died at the hands of the Golden Flying Ant, but Zhou Wen failed to touch the white cocoon it was protecting. This left him somewhat depressed.


    From the looks of it, I have to think of a way to obtain the Sun Chasing movement technique. With absolute speed, I should have a chance of circling around the Golden Flying Ant and touch that cocoon. Zhou Wen was already able to get off the bed, so he decided to make another trip to Sunset City to check on the situation outside.


    Although Yan Zhen wasn''t part of the military, he was still a coroner. He had disappeared without a trace and had a deep relationship with the military. It was impossible that no one would investigate this matter.


    "Your body hasn''t recovered yet. Any more injuries will be very troublesome. Let Ziya accompany you." Wang Mingyuan instructed Zhong Ziya to accompany Zhou Wen to Sunset City.


    Zhong Ziya was originally unhappy, but because Zhou Wen was injured, he had no choice but to pull the chain. Now, he had to accompany Zhou Wen to Sunset City. This naturally displeased him greatly.


    It was unknown what Wang Mingyuan had said to Zhong Ziya before he agreed to accompany Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t even consider hunting the Sun Chasing Bird the moment he saw it.


    What Zhou Wen could see with his naked eye was a black dot that streaked across the sky. At that height and flying speed, it was impossible for him to catch up, even with the power of his Godfiend Life Providence.


    Furthermore, the Sun Chasing Bird never landed. It was a dimensional creature that would forever fly in the sky.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen Sunset City. It was like an ancient city floating between a mirage and clouds. It seemed to be extremely close, but it also seemed impossible to touch.


    Zhong Ziya looked at Sunset City between the clouds and said, "Because it can only be seen when the glow of sunset appears, it''s why this city is named after the sunset. The ''sunset'' in Sunset College also points to Sunset City. The additional meanings behind ''sunset'' were added by future generations."


    "Has anyone entered Sunset City yet?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "How do we get in?" Zhong Ziya curled his lips and said, "Did you see those Sun Chasing Birds? They have been chasing after Sunset City all their lives, never landing on the ground. However, none of them have been able to fly in. Who do you think will be able to enter Sunset City?"


    "By the way, why do you want to kill a Sun Chasing Bird? The difficulty of killing one is probably even harder than killing the typical Epic creature because you might not be able to catch up to it," Zhong Ziya added.


    "I need a movement technique that''s faster than Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. That''s why I want to kill a Sun Chasing Bird," Zhou Wen said.


    "If that''s the case, there''s no need for you to kill the Sun Chasing Bird. Do you know the Lotus Flower Cave in Dragon Gate Grotto? There''s an Epic dimensional creature known as the Fairy there. If you kill a Fairy, you might be able to have the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill. It''s the upgraded version of the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. It''s faster, more potent, and more agile. It''s much faster than the pure speed that Sun Chasing Skill provides," Zhong Ziya said.


    Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile, "I do want to do so, but I''m no match for Fairies. I''m only capable of killing a Fairy Monkey."


    Zhou Wen was speaking the truth. Back when he went to the Lotus Flower Cave, he had encountered a Fairy and ended up being instantly killed. Although he was much stronger now, it wasn''t easy to kill a Fairy.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Zhong Ziya immediately laughed. "Isn''t there a simple solution? As long as you are sincere enough, get Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan. With the three of us helping you, there''s no need to worry about not being able to kill a Fairy."


    "It won''t be nice troubling everyone, right?" Zhou Wen asked hesitantly.


    "There''s no trouble at all. I believe that those two fellows are bored staying in the lab all day. They''ll definitely be willing to accompany you to Lotus Flower Cave." Zhong Ziya thought for a moment before saying, "But that Fairy is an Epic creature after all. We''ll have to plan before taking action. We''ll discuss it later when we get back."


    Zhong Ziya continued speaking, blatantly ignoring if Zhou Wen was really asking for his help. They then rode an electric scooter back to the lab.


    After meeting Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya told them about helping Zhou Wen hunt a Fairy. Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan agreed readily without any conditions.


    "That''s settled then. I''ll first head to the Lotus Flower Cave to test the strength of Fairies. Once Zhou Wen recovers from his injuries, we''ll kill her together," Zhong Ziya said as he left the lab, giving Zhou Wen no chance to stop him.


    "Will it be dangerous for him to go?" Zhou Wen asked worriedly.


    He was a person who didn''t like to owe others favors. If Zhong Ziya were to die in Lotus Flower Cave, Zhou Wen really didn''t know how he should repay the favor.


    To his surprise, Hui Haifeng pursed his lips and said, "Don''t worry, even a more powerful Epic creature wouldn''t be able to kill that fellow, much less a Fairy. He will at most suffer a little pain."


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, unsure why Hui Haifeng was so certain.


    Jiang Yan said, "Zhong Ziya is a tough cookie. He has nine lives like a cat. He won''t die."


    Seeing how confident they were, Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else, but he was still a little worried.


    When it was night time, Zhong Ziya returned. His clothes were tattered and torn, and he looked like he had been through a fierce battle. However, there was no blood on his body at all. Beneath his tattered clothes was flawless skin.


    Zhong Ziya slept the moment he returned, without saying a word. This prevented Zhou Wen from asking him what had happened.


    When Zhou Wen woke up every morning, Zhong Ziya was nowhere to be seen. At night, he would see Zhong Ziya return in tattered clothes. This continued for several days until Zhong Ziya returned with his clothes intact on the fourth day.


    "Alright. After Zhou Wen recovers from his injuries, we''ll go hunt a Fairy," Zhong Ziya said languidly after returning instead of collapsing in bed.


    Zhou Wen originally thought they were just joking, but he never expected them to be that bold. In a few days, when Zhou Wen''s injuries were more or less healed, they actually dragged him to Lotus Flower Cave.

 181 Fairy

    "Are you confident in killing a Fairy?" Zhou Wen followed behind the group as they walked towards Lotus Flower Cave.


    "No," Hui Haifeng answered.


    Although Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya didn''t answer, their faces implied that they weren''t confident either.


    "Aren''t you taking too much of a risk when you don''t have the confidence in killing a Fairy?" Zhou Wen looked at the trio speechlessly.


    Hui Haifeng smiled and said, "If it''s something that can definitely be done, what''s the fun in doing so? It''s only interesting if you aren''t confident."


    "What theory is that?" Zhou Wen was rendered even more speechless. He didn''t agree that risking one''s life for fun was something interesting.


    Zhong Ziya pursed his lips and said, "Hui Haifeng might not be entirely right, but there''s nothing wrong with it. If it''s something others can do, why should we do it?"


    "What about you?" Zhou Wen looked at Jiang Yan.


    "Counselor got me to watch you all. Since all of you are going, I can only follow," Jiang Yan said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen looked at the trio and was momentarily at a loss for words. He increasingly felt that none of Wang Mingyuan''s students were normal.


    He had originally found Hui Haifeng was rather normal, but from what he saw today, he was wrong. Apart from Zhou Wen, no one else was in any way normal.


    Why would a gentle person like Teacher, teach such a bunch of strange and eccentric fellows? Zhou Wen originally wanted to say that he wasn''t going, but the trio had already gone far.


    "Whatever." Zhou Wen sighed and shook his head before following.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t completely lacking in confidence. He wasn''t a Fairy''s match in the past, but he was much stronger now. Although he wasn''t enough to fight an Epic Fairy, he still had some confidence in staying alive.


    When he grinded in Lotus Flower Cave, he would occasionally encounter a Fairy. It wasn''t difficult for him to escape.


    Soon, the four arrived at Lotus Flower Cave. Not long after they entered the cave, they met a Fairy Monkey.


    Before Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya could make a move, Hui Haifeng nudged Zhou Wen forward. "You''ve been recuperating for so long, let''s warm up your muscles first so that you won''t have a cramp when you encounter a Fairy."


    I''ll be the last one cramping between the two of us, Zhou Wen cursed inwardly, but he had no choice but to approach the Fairy Monkey.


    He had lost count of the number of Fairy Monkeys he had killed in-game, but he knew every action of theirs. When he saw the Fairy Monkey flap its wings and fly down, its claws shimmering with a terrifying light, he unhurriedly took a huge step forward and leaped up, causing the Fairy Monkey to barely miss him.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen struck the back of the Fairy Monkey''s head with his palm. The Fairy Monkey didn''t even have the chance to scream as it fell from the sky. It convulsed twice without any sound.


    "Beautiful!" Hui Haifeng couldn''t help but praise.


    Jiang Yan was also slightly surprised, but Zhong Ziya pursed his lips and said, "Passable. All that training in palm techniques didn''t go to waste after all. You didn''t embarrass Teacher."


    They encountered several Fairy Monkeys in a row, but no one was willing to take action. Zhou Wen had no choice but to head up and hunt them, treating it as an opportunity to practice his Seven Distribution Palm.


    Zhong Ziya led the way, passing through more than ten caves when they suddenly saw a fairy-like creature rushing towards them with its clothes fluttering.


    Zhou Wen recognized it at a glance. It was a Fairy¡ªan Epic dimensional creature inside Lotus Flower Cave.


    But upon careful inspection, Zhou Wen''s expression changed drastically. He had seen quite a number of Fairies, but they were all dressed in colorful clothes with ribbons wrapped around their bodies.


    However, this Fairy was different. She was dressed in black and the ribbons fluttering in her body were pure white in color. She was very different from the Fairies that Zhou Wen had previously seen.


    "Oh no, it''s a Mutated Fairy." Zhong Ziya was also surprised, but he had no intention of retreating. He took out a gun and aimed it at the Fairy, shooting three consecutive shots.


    The bullets instantly appeared in front of the Fairy, but she didn''t move at all. The pure white ribbons danced around her body as though they had a life of their own, repelling the three bullets.


    The bullets made of Primordial Gold failed to deal any damage.


    "Run!" Seeing that the three bullets were useless, Zhong Ziya immediately turned around and ran. His actions were swift and without any hesitation.


    Zhou Wen had just started when he saw Jiang Yan and Hui Haifeng running, each faster than the other. They had run virtually at the same moment with Zhong Ziya, and Zhou Wen was the slowest.


    However, even Zhong Ziya, who was running right ahead, was unable to rush out of the cave. Just as he was about to enter the neighboring cave, he saw the surroundings suddenly turn pitch black. He could no longer see anything.


    Zhong Ziya leaped up in a bid to rush out of the cave in the darkness.


    However, with that jump, he slammed into what appeared like a steel plate. With a loud bang, Zhong Ziya''s face was flattened from the impact. He fell back as his nose bled.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan could see, but he could see everything clearly with Truth Listener''s powers.


    As for the Fairy in the air, a black sun suddenly appeared behind her. It emitted black light which enveloped the entire cave, forming a dark space.


    Is that the Life Soul of a Fairy? Zhou Wen had also seen a few Fairies, but he had never seen them use their Life Souls. It was unknown if the typical Fairy''s Life Soul was the same as a Mutated Fairy''s.


    Zhou Wen was just about to warn Jiang Yan and Hui Haifeng to be careful when the ribbon on the Mutated Fairy flew over like a jade wyrm tearing through the air. It was targeting Zhou Wen.


    Just as he was about to fight, he saw Jiang Yan''s figure flash and help him block. A slender sword had appeared in his hand in the process.


    The sword''s width was at most one finger wide, even thinner than paper, so thin that it was almost transparent.


    The sword in Jiang Yan''s hand drew out a purple beam and accurately hit the ribbon. It failed to slice through it but instead wrapped around the sword.


    With a tug of the Fairy''s milky-white hand, the pure white ribbon tightened and the sword in Jiang Yan''s hand snapped loudly into several pieces.


    Jiang Yan retreated in time, avoiding being sliced by the ribbon.


    Zhong Ziya leaped up from the ground, a gun in each hand. He fired ceaselessly at the Mutated Fairy, but unfortunately, all the bullets were blocked by the spinning ribbons. The Fairy wasn''t injured at all.


    Why are we so unlucky? Zhou Wen knew that if he didn''t kill this Mutated Fairy, they would probably die. Without any hesitation, he took the opportunity to summon the Great Yin Fan while the Fairy was blocking the bullets. He leaped into the air and charged at the Mutated Fairy.


    Meanwhile, Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan seemed to act as though their minds were connected by telepathy. They charged at the Mutated Fairy, clearly having the same thoughts.

 182 Battling Fairy

    With a strong swish of the banana fan at the Mutated Fairy, the Grand Yin Wind swept out immediately.


    The Mutated Fairy''s body fluttered like the wind, and the Grand Yin Wind seemed to aid her. However, a thin layer of frost appeared over her body. It was just that the cold wasn''t enough to freeze her. It merely affected her agility.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was because the Banana Fairy''s level was too low. If the Banana Fairy was also at the Epic stage, this single flap would probably have frozen the Mutated Fairy in midair. It would be useless even if she had the ability to ride the wind.


    However, as the Mutated Fairy was flying with the wind''s momentum while suffering from diminished agility, it made her trajectory easier to predict. Jiang Yan held a semi-translucent whip that was neither gold nor jade. It looked like a weapon made out of a biological creature''s tendons. Lashing it out at the Mutated Fairy, the translucent whip wrapped around its ankle as though it had predicted her trajectory.


    Jiang Yan pulled the whip with all his might, but the strength of the Mutated Fairy was so strong that it lifted him up.


    Jiang Yan didn''t let go of the whip and continued to clasp onto it tightly. It was like a weight that greatly slowed down the Mutated Fairy''s speed.


    The ribbons on the mutated Fairy''s body fluttered like a wyrm as they swept towards Jiang Yan. If he was caught by the ribbons, his body would probably be broken into several pieces.


    Hui Haifeng had already rushed in front of the Mutated Fairy. An arm wrapped in a metal bracer erupted like a volcano, emitting powerful streams of light as it blasted at the Mutated Fairy.


    Due to the freezing and Jiang Yan, the Mutated Fairy''s movement was greatly affected. She could no longer dodge the punch, but she wasn''t flustered. She waved her hand gently, blocking Hui Haifeng''s punch.


    Bam!


    Hui Haifeng felt as if he had been struck by a hammer as his body flew backward. He slammed into the stone wall and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Seeing that the ribbon was about to sweep him up, Jiang Yan held the whip with both hands and shook his body, avoiding the entanglement of the ribbons several times. However, that was all he managed. It didn''t stop the ribbons from eventually being on the cusp of wrapping around his body.


    There was a sword flash hit the ribbon, a result of Zhong Ziya holding a sword at some point in time. It was unusually sharp and, although the sword beam shattered immediately upon contact with the ribbon and Zhong Ziya was sent flying, the change in the ribbon''s trajectory gave Jiang Yan a chance to dodge it.


    Jiang Yan continued to hold on to the whip, dodging the ribbon twice before the threat of having the ribbon wrap around him happened again.


    At this point, Zhou Wen noticed something. Jiang Yan''s whip seemed to have some special use which was why Jiang Yan refused to let go.


    Without any hesitation, he leaped up into the sky and once again flapped the banana fan at the Mutated Fairy. It blew the Mutated Fairy''s body to the side and changed her ribbon''s trajectory.


    However, this time, the mutated Fairy seemed to be prepared. While she used the wind to escape, she tapped gently with her milky-white finger, sending a beam in the direction of Zhou Wen''s heart.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his heart turn cold. The beam was too fast, one that he couldn''t dodge with his Speed. All he could do was summon the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior to put it in between him and the beam.


    Crack!


    The white beam penetrated the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Golden Body without stopping. Neither did its power dissipate as it continued forward, stabbing into Zhou Wen''s flesh.


    Blood immediately spewed out from the wound on his shoulder. Thankfully, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was able to ward off most of its might. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had also used that opening to adjust his position without being hit in any vital spots.


    Hui Haifeng''s mouth was covered in blood as he delivered another punch at the Mutated Fairy. Then, Zhou Wen saw that he had once again been sent flying upon contact with her palm.


    The diabolical longsword in Zhong Ziya''s hand flickered, but his eyes appeared even more diabolical than the sword''s glint. It presented a strange blood-red color as it slashed out blood-colored sword beams in a frenzy, sweeping right at the Mutated Fairy like a tornado.


    The Mutated Fairy''s ribbons spun as they shattered all the sword beams. Despite fighting against four, she still held an absolute advantage.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t know if it was an illusion, but he felt that the Mutated Fairy''s speed had slowed down. It wasn''t as fast as before, especially her hands. They weren''t as light and elegant as before, as though there was something heavy on them that prevented her from moving them as she wanted.


    It''s a result of Hui Haifeng''s punches? Zhou Wen saw a strange mark appear on the Mutated Fairy''s palm. He immediately thought of the two punches Hui Haifeng had delivered.


    Without time to think deeper, Zhou Wen stirred up the Grand Yin Wind once again. This time, it wasn''t directed at the Mutated Fairy, but rather, it was aimed at her ribbon. He was forcibly changing the trajectory of the ribbon that was targeting Jiang Yan.


    Even so, Jiang Yan''s face was still sliced by a ribbon. His cheekbones tore open and a trickle of blood immediately flowed out.


    Following that, another beam of light shot towards Jiang Yan''s head. He had no room to dodge unless he was willing to release the whip in his hand.


    "Hold her back." Jiang Yan grabbed the whip and screamed.


    "How? I can''t even if I were to throw my life at her." Zhong Ziya held his sword with both hands as he unleashed several sword beams at the light beams that the Mutated Fairy produced.


    When the diabolical blood-colored sword beams came into contact with the beams, they immediately burst like blood-colored fireworks.


    Zhong Ziya was also sent flying by the force of the blow. His hands holding the sword were covered in blood, but the beam still shot towards Jiang Yan.


    Just as the beam was about to shoot through Jiang Yan''s head, an invisible force suddenly pulled his body to the side, allowing him to barely dodge the attack.


    Zhou Wen had yanked Jiang Yan with his Astral Suction Palm, saving his life in a timely fashion.


    Despite the four of them engaging the Mutated Fairy in combat, he was covered in injuries. This was the first time Zhou Wen had risked his life so crazily. In the past, he had only been gaming. Although he shared the same feelings in-game, it was a game after all. Zhou Wen knew that he couldn''t die; therefore, the feeling now was completely different.


    Under the true threat of death, Zhou Wen felt his entire being in a state of nervousness and oppression.


    In such a state, a normal person''s body would become uneasy and cause their actions to change. Perhaps one wouldn''t even be able to perform at seventy to eighty percent of their original strength.


    However, the more pressure Zhou Wen felt, the faster his body and mind were.


    The ribbons sliced past his muscles, producing a sound of lacerating flesh and bones that left him trembling. The horror pressured him, but it made his body even more excited.


    As he licked the blood from his mouth, he saw the Fairy''s hands hang down. Having just exerted her strength, she could only rely on the ribbons to protect her. Zhou Wen flew in the air like a bat, narrowly passing through the gaps between the ribbons. He swept over the Fairy and simultaneously struck the top of her head.


    This palm was formless and silent, but when it struck the top of the Fairy''s head, it caused her to scream in pain. Subconsciously, it shot ten beams at Zhou Wen with her fingers.


    Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to Godfiend Era and using the Life Providence''s ability to levitate, he pushed the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to its limits. Twisting his body, he dodged the terrifying beams.

 183 Stat Requirements

    It wasn''t solely because of Zhou Wen''s speed and agility that he managed to dodge the beams. It had to do with the Mutated Fairy''s fingers drastically slowing down. The mark that Hui Haifeng''s strike left on her hand continued to do its magic, slowing down her hands with time.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn''t know if he was mistaken, but he felt that the Mutated Fairy''s strength had weakened significantly. The intensity of the beam had clearly decreased.


    By the time the Mutated Fairy attacked Zhou Wen, she was in a panic. Hui Haifeng took the opportunity to leap up and strike her back, bombarding her with his two fists. This produced about four marks on her back.


    The Mutated Fairy turned around in an attempt to kill him, but her body suddenly stopped in midair. Jiang Yan had already landed on the ground at some point in time. He held onto the long whip with both hands and forcefully pulled back the Mutated Fairy''s body, preventing her from continuing her flight.


    Zhou Wen saw Jiang Yan''s body sparkling with purple light like a demonic spirit. The whip was also glowing with purple light, as though it was a blood-sucking demon that was constantly trembling and swallowing.


    "Die!" Zhong Ziya repeatedly slashed with his sword, both hands gripped tightly on it. Streaks of blood-red sword beams slashed at the Mutated Fairy that Jiang Yan had put to a halt. They actually split apart her robe, leaving behind streaks of blood.


    Although the sword marks weren''t deep, it was the first time Zhou Wen and company had truly injured the Mutated Fairy.


    The Mutated Fairy was clearly a spent force. Her movements became slower and slower, as though she had a mountain suppressing her. Furthermore, her strength was weakening, and Jiang Yan was becoming stronger.


    Bam!


    Like a demon god, Jiang Yan pulled the whip in his hand, forcefully throwing the mutated Fairy''s figure out and slamming her into the stone wall. This left a huge hole in the wall as the Mutated Fairy''s mouth was covered in blood.


    Zhong Ziya slashed down with his sword as well. The blood-red sword beam slashed at the head of the mutated Fairy, and the sword plunged into the skull.


    A fierce glint flashed in the Mutated Fairy''s eyes as she abruptly stood up and hugged Zhong Ziya. A terrifying power erupted from her body.


    "No good¡­ She''s going to self-destruct¡­" Hui Haifeng shouted loudly.


    Zhong Ziya struggled with all his might, but he was unable to break free. Despite Jiang Yan yanking his long whip, he could only pull the Mutated Fairy and Zhong Ziya over. He couldn''t separate them.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t far from Zhong Ziya as he was right behind him. A thought suddenly came to his mind as he charged at Zhong Ziya and struck him on the back.


    Zhou Wen used all his strength to slam his Ashen Palm at Zhong Ziya''s back.


    Bam!


    Zhong Ziya''s body was fine, but the Mutated Fairy in front of him seemed to suffer a heavy blow to her chest. Blood spurted out of her mouth as her embracing of Zhong Ziya weakened significantly.


    Zhong Ziya struggled with all his might, got out of her embrace, and kicked her hard.


    Bam!


    As she flew in the air, the Mutated Fairy''s body exploded. A terrifying black aura sent Zhou Wen, Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, and Jiang Yan flying. Instantly, the entire cave trembled and the ground quaked. Dust rose up as gravel flew.


    "Are all of you alright?" Hui Haifeng crawled out of the rubble, his body covered in blood and dust. He wore an ashen look as though he had just crawled out of a tomb.


    "I''m fine." Jiang Yan also stood up from his spot elsewhere. Apart from his body being a little dirty, he was fine.


    "I''m not." Zhong Ziya was slumped at the feet of a stone statue. His back was covered in bloody flesh, and his injuries were indeed serious.


    Zhou Wen''s injuries weren''t light either, he was about as injured as Hui Haifeng.


    "Not being dead is good," Jiang Yan said with a smile after checking Zhong Ziya''s injuries.


    Clearly, Zhong Ziya''s life was not in danger, but his injuries were more serious.


    "Is that how a person speaks?" Zhong Ziya said weakly, "Don''t talk so much. Hurry up and look around and see if anything dropped from the Mutated Fairy. If nothing dropped, our injuries will have been for nothing."


    Jiang Yan''s condition was the best. He rummaged through the rubble and soon, they heard him say happily, "There''s something. It''s a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. I wonder if it''s the Flying Immortal Skill."


    "As long as there''s something. It doesn''t matter what it is," Zhong Ziya said.


    Jiang Yan threw a crystal at Zhou Wen. "I don''t know if it''s the Flying Immortal Skill. Go back and give it a try. However, be careful. Taking in an Epic Primordial Energy Skill at the Legendary stage is extremely dangerous. If you aren''t confident, it''s best you consult Counselor."


    "Give me your accounts. I''ll transfer your shares to you later," Zhou Wen said without standing on ceremony as he grabbed the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    "There''s no need for money. You will be part of my team when I wish to kill some dimensional creature in the future," Hui Haifeng said.


    "Can we talk about money later? Can you take me back to Teacher to treat my injuries first?" Zhong Ziya groaned.


    Jiang Yan carried Zhong Ziya on his back while Zhou Wen and Hui Haifeng helped each other out of Lotus Flower Cave. Soon, they returned to the laboratory in Old Dragon Cave.


    When Wang Mingyuan saw the four of them, Zhou Wen and company were like old, weak soldiers who had just been defeated. They were all covered in dirt and blood.


    However, Wang Mingyuan didn''t ask about their escapades. He only summoned his soul and used the power of his Life Soul to treat their wounds.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen Wang Mingyuan''s Life Soul. He had been unconscious back when Wang Mingyuan treated his wounds.


    Wang Mingyuan''s Life Soul was a bottle with a thin neck. Although it wasn''t gorgeous, it had some beauty. A stream of light flowed out of the bottle like water and when it touched a wound, Zhou Wen immediately felt a refreshing feeling as the pain of the wound was alleviated.


    As the aqueous light flowed into the wound, the wounds healed at a discernible pace. Even his bones recovered rapidly.


    After treating the quartet''s injuries, Wang Mingyuan smiled and said to them, "It''s rare that the four of you were injured together. Let''s have a feast to celebrate tonight."


    Zhou Wen recovered very quickly. Even without Wang Mingyuan''s treatment, as long as he switched to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, his recuperation ability would be much better than the average person''s.


    Hence, while Zhong Ziya and Hui Haifeng were still lying in the bed, Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan joined Wang Mingyuan for a celebratory feast.


    While resting in the evening, Zhou Wen took out the Mutated Fairy''s crystal. It was about the size of a chicken egg. It was crystalline, and inside it was a Mutated Fairy''s shadow.


    Using the phone''s camera function to check the crystal''s attributes, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be dumbfounded.


    ''Mutated Fairy Crystal: Epic stage. Merging requires a Speed of more than 21 points and a Buddha-elemental Primordial Energy Art.''


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a Primordial Energy Skill that had a stat requirement other than Primordial Energy points. Furthermore, there were requirements on the Primordial Energy Art. This was something he had never learned in school.

 184 Doctor Darkness

    Zhou Wen''s current Speed was only 18¡ªquite a distance from 21 points, so the final three points were extremely difficult for him to raise. Apart from grinding monsters to have high-valued crystals drop, Zhou Wen didn''t have any other good methods.


    I can only give it a try and see if I can use the mysterious phone to obtain the Skill Crystals in-game. Perhaps I can refine them and absorb them there. Zhou Wen hid under his blanket and used the mysterious phone''s camera function to try snapping a picture of the Mutated Fairy Crystal.


    A system notification popped up on the phone: ''Yet to reach the stat requirements for the skill crystal; thus, it cannot be refined and absorbed. Do you want to continue?''


    Zhou Wen hurriedly chose no. Since he couldn''t refine and absorb it, nor was there any way to store items in an inventory in-game, the crystal might end up being erased if the blood-colored avatar died after he brought it in-game. He might as well leave it in the real world.


    I can''t refine and absorb it in-game if I can''t meet the stat requirements? Zhou Wen felt a little depressed.


    It was nearly impossible for a 21-valued Speed Crystal to drop from a Legendary creature. Unless Zhou Wen killed an Epic creature, it was very difficult to get his hands on one.


    The experience of killing the Fairy today made Zhou Wen fully realize how terrifying an Epic creature was. If any of the four of them had made a mistake today, they might have perished there and then.


    And the combat power of Fairy was considered lowly among the Epic creatures.


    With Zhou Wen''s strength alone, it would probably be difficult for him to succeed even with the help of a Companion Beast.


    As for the Buddha-elemental Primordial Energy Art requirement, it wasn''t difficult for Zhou Wen. All he needed to do was switch his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, and he was likely to satisfy the condition.


    He took a look at his blood-colored avatar''s unchanged stats again. Only Ashen Palm had changed from the Mortal stage to the Legendary stage. Furthermore, it was still at Rank 10.


    Zhou Wen didn''t find it strange that his Ashen Palm had advanced from the Mortal stage to the Legendary stage. He had already sensed it during the battle; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to deliver the palm strike that saved Zhong Ziya.


    However, he never expected Ashen Palm to remain at Rank 10 after advancing to the Legendary stage.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen realized how difficult it was to obtain a Speed Crystal of 21 points from a Legendary creature. He might as well kill an Epic creature.


    However, with Zhou Wen''s strength alone, it was impossible for him to kill an Epic creature in-game.


    Today''s battle with Jiang Yan and company made Zhou Wen understand one thing. He was alone in-game, and that limited him. However, in the real world, there were many powerful humans like Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, and Hui Haifeng. As long as they had good teamwork, they could do things that he couldn''t do in-game.


    Zhou Wen planned on killing an Epic creature in reality, but before that, he needed to find some powerful helpers.


    People like Li Xuan, Wang Lu, and Feng Qiuyan were extremely powerful Legendaries. If he could obtain their help, they had a chance of killing low-level Epic creatures¡ªhigh-level Epic creatures were definitely impossible.


    Of course, Zhou Wen wouldn''t risk his life, nor would he risk Li Xuan and company''s lives. Therefore, he began crazily challenging the instance dungeons.


    The grinding this time was different from before. This time, Zhou Wen had especially sought out dungeons found in the college. Furthermore, he targeted dungeons with Epic creatures.


    The most common destination was Dragon Gate Grotto. In some of the caves, there were Epic creatures that existed. Zhou Wen tried hunting them one by one.


    This resulted in him naturally dying time and time again. When he encountered some powerful Epic creatures, the blood-colored avatar would be instantly killed.


    If he encountered a weaker Epic creature, he was able to last a little longer, but that was all. There was no way he could kill those Epic creatures.


    The most powerful thing about an Epic creature was that they possessed a Life Soul that had all sorts of powers. Those powers didn''t have the limitations on Primordial Energy, so they could be constantly activated. A stronger Life Soul could instantly kill the blood-colored avatar and a group of his pets. Weaker Life Souls all had their own unique characteristics and possessed all sorts of magical powers.


    Zhou Wen repeatedly tested in order to find an Epic creature that could possibly be killed by him. Then, he came up with a perfect plan, hoping to find a few capable helpers to kill an Epic creature without taking any risk.


    Time passed as the blood-colored avatar constantly died. As he repeatedly probed things way beyond his level, he ended dying instantly most of the time. Having dripped too much blood, Zhou Wen felt that he was beginning to suffer from anemia again.


    ¡­


    Yan Zhen''s disappearance didn''t seem to cause too much of a stir. Although the police came to the school to investigate, it was only part of their routine procedures. No one suspected that Yan Zhen had died on campus.


    This made Zhou Wen heave a long sigh of relief. However, on second thought, he understood why no one suspected that Yan Zhen had died on campus.


    This was because no one knew that he had come to school. Yan Zhen had come to Zhou Wen and wanted to dissect him. This was something clandestine to begin with, so he had definitely made preparations beforehand. He wouldn''t let anyone know that he had come to the school, nor would anyone know that he was here to find Zhou Wen.


    Upon thinking of Yan Zhen, Zhou Wen glanced at the fruit on the Dead Man Tree. The fruit was already the size of a papaya, and its exterior was white and shiny. It looked like an egg no matter how he looked at it.


    On the seventh day of the fruit''s growth, it automatically fell off the tree. Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to pick it up. Indeed, it was a Companion Egg.


    Doctor Darkness: Epic


    Life Providence: Golden Left Hand


    Life Soul: Dr. Soul


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 37


    Constitution: 26


    Primordial Energy: 38


    Talent Skill: Scalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, Light of Penetration


    Companion Form: None


    Upon seeing the information on the Companion Egg, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel odd. The Doctor Darkness was clearly a replica of Yan Zhen.


    Could it be that the power of the Dead Man Tree is to make a dead person a Companion Beast? Then, does Doctor Darkness have Yan Zhen''s memory? Zhou Wen was momentarily hesitant, unsure of how to handle the Companion Egg.


    Hatching an Epic Companion Egg required too much Primordial Energy. According to Zhou Wen''s previous experience, he was likely able to incubate an Epic Companion Egg using a bug in the game. However, there was a high chance that the Doctor Darkness would suffer a drop in level or be incomplete.


    However, if he didn''t hatch it, Zhou Wen was afraid that it would disappear on his next refresh of the game.


    Also, if the Doctor Darkness had Yan Zhen''s memories, would he rebel? This was something no one could guarantee.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen chose to incubate Doctor Darkness. He gritted his teeth and infused his Primordial Energy into the Companion Egg.


    At the moment the Companion Egg was activated, Zhou Wen felt his Primordial Energy surge like a flood that flowed out of a dam. In a blink of an eye, all his Primordial Energy was drained.


    The blood-colored avatar exploded to its death in-game. Due to the lack of Primordial Energy, the Companion Egg drained the blood-colored avatar''s vitality.

 185 Rejection

    The blood-colored avatar exploded to death as the game screen turned black.


    Zhou Wen dripped another drop of blood and was reborn. When he entered the game again, he saw a Doctor Darkness appear in his Companion Beast window.


    He realized that Doctor Darkness had already fallen to the Legendary stage when he took a look at his stats.


    Doctor Darkness: Legendary (Youngling)


    Life Providence: Golden Left Hand


    Speed: 18


    Strength: 12


    Constitution: 13


    Primordial Energy: 18


    Talent Skill: Scalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, Light of Penetration


    Companion Form: None


    He was considered quite a good Companion Beast at the Legendary stage, but that was all. After he evolved into a mature form, he might be able to return to the Epic stage. However, it required a large amount of time to feed him.


    Zhou Wen glanced at Doctor Darkness''s image in-game and thought he looked very similar to Yan Zhen, but he realized that Doctor Darkness wasn''t Yan Zhen.


    Doctor Darkness was wearing a white doctor''s robe, but he wasn''t a person, but a human-shaped puppet. He wasn''t of real flesh and blood.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. He really couldn''t accept it if Doctor Darkness really had looked like Yan Zhen.


    After testing the Doctor Darkness''s skills in-game, he realized that he was actually a support-type pet. He was rather formidable when it came to tasks related to surgery, but his true combat power was not even comparable to the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior of the same level.


    However, if he was used for surgery, Doctor Darkness was definitely a top-notch Companion Beast. If a doctor had him as a Companion Beast, it was very likely that he could become a famous doctor.


    The Scalpel technique allowed precise incisions with an error as small as three decimal places.


    Fight Poison With Poison was to use poison to stimulate one''s body, allowing one''s vitality to erupt, to tide through the most dangerous point in surgery. It could even suppress some viruses.


    Light of Penetration could be used to see through a patient''s body, far better than X-ray or MRI.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t know medicine. It was a waste giving him such an impressive medical Companion Beast. He didn''t know how to use it at all.


    Don''t tell me I need to study medicine now? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed, but on second thought, it wasn''t completely useless.


    If he had to deal with some external injuries on the battlefield urgently, Doctor Darkness was still useful. When he returned to the Epic stage in the future, his Dr. Soul Life Soul would be of great help to him in battles.


    If I can make the Doctor Darkness return to the Epic stage, it would be much easier for me to kill an Epic creature. However, I wonder how long it will take before I can do this. Zhou Wen kept a happy-go-lucky attitude as he went to Ant City to obtain a few Companion Eggs to feed Doctor Darkness.


    Days passed and Ouyang Lan got Ah Sheng to pick him up once again. She said that she had something important to discuss with Zhou Wen.


    "Little Wen, have you thought it through? Do you want to participate in the competition for the special physiques?" Ouyang Lan paused before saying, "The competition is about to begin. If you want to participate, you can head to the League''s Holy Land over the next two days."


    "Sis Lan, I don''t wish to go. Can you give the spot to someone else?" Zhou Wen didn''t wish to vie for a special physique. With the Lost Immortal Sutra, even if he didn''t have a special physique, he could still master the Primordial Energy Art of various styles.


    "There''s only one chance to change every nomination. I had already used up this opportunity when I changed the nomination to you. There''s no way to change it now. If you don''t go, this nomination would be considered null and void. Little Jing wouldn''t be able to go either," Ouyang Lan explained as though she had seen through Zhou Wen''s thoughts.


    "Sis Lan, I''m really not interested in that nomination. You should think of some other solution if it''s possible." Zhou Wen felt that going to the Holy Land to vie for those special physiques was a waste of time for him.


    Ouyang Lan sighed and said, "Since you don''t wish to go, I won''t force you either. Let''s forget about this matter. It''s fine if the nomination is voided. Since it''s useless to us, we''ll just leave it voided."


    Although Zhou Wen felt somewhat embarrassed, the nomination wasn''t what he wanted in the first place. It wasn''t his fault for having it voided because of his rejection.


    Ouyang Lan didn''t mention the matter again. She ordered a few dishes and the two chatted about family matters and school. After the meal, she got Ah Sheng to take Zhou Wen back.


    Ah Sheng wasn''t a conversationalist. He didn''t say anything the entire journey until he got Zhou Wen to the entrance of the school. Just as Zhou Wen was about to alight, Ah Sheng suddenly said, "Why didn''t you accept that nomination? Having that nomination isn''t a bad thing for you. Many members of the League''s large families yearn for this spot."


    "I just want to live peacefully. I have no interest in special physiques," Zhou Wen said.


    Ah Sheng shook his head and said, "Young Master Wen, perhaps you still don''t know that the League isn''t as peaceful as it seems. In fact, many of the other dimensional zones in the League have had cases of break-outs. Powerful dimensional creatures have rushed out of the dimensional zones and entered the human cities, creating terrifying massacres. Many people have died."


    After a pause, Ah Sheng continued, "Perhaps in a few years, all the dimensional zones will vanish. When that happens, large numbers of dimensional creatures would rush into the human cities. If one doesn''t have the necessary strength, they might not even be able to protect themselves, much less their family."


    "Is the situation very bad?" Zhou Wen knew that Ah Sheng wasn''t lying. In his dorm, there was a dimensional creature that had broken out and refused to leave. It ate like a lord every day.


    "It''s worse than most people can imagine. Not long ago, a military base at Chess Mountain was wiped out, including an Epic-stage commander. Now, Chess Mountain is only temporarily suppressed, and the creatures inside can rush out at any time. When that happens, the dimensional creatures that come out might be even more powerful. Once the military is unable to stop those break-out creatures, the human world will immediately plunge into a disaster."


    Ah Sheng looked into Zhou Wen''s eyes through the rearview mirror and said, "It''s not for anyone. It''s only for your survival in this chaotic world. You should also make a trip to the Holy Land. The things that can be given to you there might allow you to survive in a world of chaos that isn''t too far away."


    "Thank you for telling me this. However, I really do not wish to have anything to do with the An family or take anything from them," Zhou Wen spoke the heartfelt truth.


    Perhaps it was due to Ah Sheng''s natural affinity that made Zhou Wen believe that he could say what he couldn''t tell others.


    Ah Sheng fell silent. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Madam is right. Although your surname isn''t An and you don''t have any blood relations with Overseer An, your temperaments are too similar."

 186 Zhou Wens Plans

    When Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, his heart felt heavy.


    The reality was worse than he imagined. Even an Epic military officer had died in battle outside a dimensional zone, with large numbers of break-out creatures rushing into the cities. Zhou Wen couldn''t imagine how many humans would survive when that happened.


    Although he knew that danger wasn''t far away, there was little he could do now. The only thing he could do was to raise his strength as much as possible.


    If that day really came, perhaps he could use his own strength to save the people he wanted to save.


    He glanced at the antelope sleeping on the couch. This fellow did nothing but eat and sleep all day. Ever since it left Mount Laojun, it hadn''t done anything else.


    If only the dimensional creatures in the dimensional zones are the same as you. It would be great if they could just be dealt with by giving them something to eat. Zhou Wen was just musing, knowing that it was impossible.


    Even if dimensional creatures didn''t cause trouble for humans, the greedy nature of humans would still plunder their treasures.


    Sometimes, as a human, Zhou Wen felt that humans didn''t deserve pity.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and constantly launched suicidal attacks against various Epic creatures, hoping to find a pushover among them.


    His efforts were not in vain. Through the experience gained through death, Zhou Wen saw a sliver of hope.


    It was an Epic creature in Dragon Gate Grotto. However, it wasn''t a Fairy, but a tiger in the Binyang Cave. It looked ordinary, so every time Zhou Wen saw it, he wrote it off as an ordinary tiger. It was at best a Mortal-stage creature.


    However, when the tiger really began moving, Zhou Wen realized how ridiculously wrong he was. He didn''t put up much of a fight before he was swallowed by the tiger.


    Although he had suffered a terrible defeat the first time, Zhou Wen had no choice but to make attempts on the few weaker Epic creatures. Since he had suffered an even worse defeat by other Epic creatures, this was a safer option for now.


    He gradually discovered some of the tiger''s habitual weaknesses and after fighting the tiger several times, he was able to last longer.


    After countless deaths and repeated experiments, Zhou Wen was certain that it wouldn''t be difficult to kill the tiger if he had two or three powerful helpers.


    He already had a detailed plan. As long as he followed the plan, it wouldn''t be difficult to kill the tiger. The problem now was where to find a few powerful helpers.


    Zhou Wen''s three senior brothers were very strong, but they had already helped him once, and they hadn''t received any benefits from him. He had yet to return the favor he owed, so it wasn''t appropriate for him to seek their help again.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen made a phone call to Li Xuan and told him that he wanted his help in killing an Epic creature.


    "F*ck, Old Zhou, nice one. You are often silent, but once you make a sound, it''s shocking. You''ve actually decided to directly aim your sights at an Epic creature? Whatever, count me in." Li Xuan agreed without any hesitation. This trust was not something average people had.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else as he got Li Xuan to meet him the next day. There was no point in saying certain things. It was better to let actions speak for themselves to not disappoint him.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen made another phone call to Feng Qiuyan. Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques were sufficiently powerful, comparable to Zhong Ziya''s sword techniques. He was also a powerful aide.


    After explaining his thoughts on killing an Epic creature and telling Feng Qiuyan that he only wanted the Speed Crystals, and wouldn''t claim anything no matter what dropped, Feng Qiuyan didn''t hesitate either. Those other items could be split among themselves.


    He directly said, "To be able to fight with Coach is a very good learning opportunity. I don''t need to split the spoils. Just let me participate in the battle."


    Zhou Wen felt like crying when he heard that. What a good classmate and such a kind child. If there were more people like Feng Qiuyan in this world, would there still be things like war?


    According to Zhou Wen''s plan, it should be enough to kill the Epic-stage tiger with Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan''s help.


    However, taking in the old adages "expect the unexpected" and "man proposes god disposes," Zhou Wen decided to buy some "insurance" for his first attempt at killing an Epic creature.


    Hence, Zhou Wen made another call to Huang Ji and repeated what Feng Qiuyan had said to him. He also told Huang Ji that, other than the Speed Crystal, anything that dropped would be his.


    Zhou Wen knew that Huang Ji was also in need of money. As long as Huang Ji believed him, he definitely wouldn''t reject the opportunity to earn money. After all, anything dropped by an Epic creature could sell at a decent price.


    "If you had said so earlier, I would definitely have joined you. However, I''m already at the airport and am about to board the plane. I definitely won''t be able to join you," Huang Ji said.


    "Board the plane? Where are you going?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "I have some matters to attend to at the League''s Holy Land. I''m afraid I won''t be able to return anytime soon. If you''re not in a hurry, wait about ten days for me," said Huang Ji.


    "Let''s talk when you come back." Zhou Wen hung up the phone and thought for a moment before calling Wang Lu to ask if she was interested in hunting an Epic creature.


    "Of course I''m interested. How can such an interesting thing happen without me?" Wang Lu said with a smile. It looked like she had recovered pretty well.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, If Wang Lu were to turn into a Companion Egg by the Dead Man Tree, I wonder what kind of form it would be.


    After gathering a number of people, Zhou Wen called them over the next morning to give them a detailed explanation of his plans and things to take note of.


    "Old Zhou, what kind of Epic creature do you want to kill? Fairies in Lotus Flower Cave or the Golden creatures deep in the Myriad Buddha Cave?" Li Xuan asked with a grin.


    "Those Epic creatures are too powerful and too dangerous. I want to kill this Epic creature¡ªan epic tiger in Binyang Cave," Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan''s expression turned odd when he heard that. "The tiger you mentioned can''t be the one with white fur, black stripes, and a strange cross pattern on its forehead, right?"


    "That''s right." Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan in puzzlement. From Li Xuan''s tone, there seemed to be a problem.


    Li Xuan said with a bitter smile, "That tiger is indeed one of the weakest Epics, but the items it drops aren''t bad. They are even very rare and useful. Therefore, the tigers in the Binyang Cave are protected animals. You have to obtain permission to kill it."


    "What rare items can such a weak tiger drop?" Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    Li Xuan rolled his eyes at him and said, "Have you heard of the story of Buddha cutting his flesh to feed a tiger? It''s said that the tiger in the Binyang Cave is the descendant of that tiger. They aren''t strong, but their Life Providences are one of a kind. They are of immense use and everyone wants them."

 187 Baby Tiger of Luck

    "What Life Providence does that tiger have?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Its Life Providence is called the Baby Tiger of Luck. Think about it. A baby tiger that was just about to be eaten by his mother actually encountered Buddha and had Buddha sacrifice his body to feed his mother. Don''t you think it''s lucky?" Li Xuan said.


    "Indeed, it''s lucky, very lucky." Wang Lu nodded.


    "Therefore, that baby tiger''s Life Providence is one that comes with an extremely rare luck attribute. If one can obtain a baby tiger Companion Beast and use it to kill dimensional creatures, one will not only have the chances of dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs drop, but also be boosted by several percentage points, the dimensional crystal''s value and the Companion Egg''s attributes will be better than usual. Do you think this item is worth anything?" Li Xuan said.


    "It will be worth a lot. It''s so valuable. Even an excellent-grade Epic Companion Beast might not be worth as much as it," said Wang Lu firmly.


    "Therefore, there are too many people who want the baby tiger. Let''s not talk about us, even those bigwigs will want this baby tiger with them. It''s also because of this that the tiger in Binyang Cave has become an endangered dimensional creature. There have been a few clashes in Binyang Cave in the past. Eventually, the military was deployed to resolve the matter. Later on, they took over the area. You can enter to kill the tiger, but you have to obtain permission from the military. My family has some say in Luoyang, but it''s impossible to get in through the back door. Old Zhou, I think you need to change your plan," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen never expected the tiger he had chosen would be so famous. He couldn''t help but frown as he asked, "Then what should we do to obtain the right to kill the tiger?"


    Although Zhou Wen was very interested in a tiger with a lucky Life Providence, it wasn''t his main goal. All he needed to do was obtain the Speed Crystal.


    If he had to formulate a new plan, firstly, it wasn''t easy finding weak Epic creatures and secondly, Zhou Wen and company might not be able to beat them.


    "All the bigwigs in Luoyang City grit their teeth in anger when this topic is raised. In the beginning, everyone wanted to get connections to obtain the right to kill the tiger, but think about it. There are so many bigwigs in Luoyang City, so it''s not good for the military to permit and reject people. It might be because they were forced to do so, but I don''t know who came up with the idea. They set up a huge wheel of fortune. They claimed that whether you can get the lucky baby tiger will be decided by luck. Spinning the wheel each time costs 10,000. If you hit it, you are permitted to enter for 24 hours," Li Xuan said knowingly.


    "10,000 a spin isn''t considered expensive. Those bigwigs have plenty of money. Just spend some money. What''s there to be angry about?" Wang Lu asked in puzzlement.


    "If only it were that simple. The wheel of fortune the military set up is electronically controlled. Just pressing a button will automatically spin it. Furthermore, with the military''s dedicated personnel watching over it, there''s no way to interfere with it. The chances of success are what you call low. There was once a bigwig who led his men to spin the wheel of fortune. After a few hundred turns, they failed to hit it at all. In the beginning, the military earned quite a bit of money. It was practically a scam, but there was nothing that could be done about it. Blame it on the bigwigs wanting the baby tiger. It ranges from one to two hundred spins or a few hundred spins to hit it. But even if you hit it, the tiger might not drop a Companion Egg, right?" Li Xuan droned on.


    "Isn''t this a scam?" Zhou Wen frowned. He had completely given up on killing the tiger. With so much money, why was he going through all the trouble? He could just buy Speed Crystals?


    "It is a scam, but what can you do if you want the baby tiger? However, there are plenty of rich people and bigwigs who don''t care about money to spin that thing. I also wanted to try it in the past, but thinking about how I can''t spin too many times with my allowance, I gave up on this plan," Li Xuan said as he spread out his hands.


    "In that case, it looks like I can only give up on this plan. I''ll do more research when I get back. I''ll find another Epic creature as a target," Zhou Wen said.


    "There''s no need to give up. Follow me. I have a way to enter the Binyang Cave," said Wang Lu with certainty.


    "What solutions do you have?" Li Xuan asked Wang Lu in disbelief.


    Although Wang Lu had a powerful background, she wasn''t a Luoyang native. Li Xuan refused to believe that she had more say than the Li family that could only enter through the back door.


    "Just follow me. You will know when the time comes." Wang Lu looked confident.


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan had no choice but to follow Wang Lu to the Binyang Cave. Zhou Wen didn''t explain his plan and planned on seeing if Wang Lu could obtain permission to enter the Binyang Cave to kill the tiger. If she couldn''t obtain it, there was no point in explaining it.


    Soon, the four of them arrived outside the Binyang Cave. It was not completely sealed off. Only the cave where the baby tiger appeared had the military managing it.


    Not long after Li Xuan had brought Zhou Wen and company into the Binyang Cave, they saw a soldier guarding a cave entrance. Beside the cave''s entrance was a wheel of fortune.


    The white wheel of fortune was very eye-catching, but there was a thin red line that looked like a strand of hair. The needle had to hit the red line precisely before the system could automatically determine a jackpot.


    Ignoring the fact that it was an electronic wheel of fortune, even if it was manually spun, it would not be easy to hit it.


    There was only a red button on the entire wheel. It had pressure sensors that allowed for longer and faster spinning by pressing the button forcefully and a slower and short spin with a gentle press. The only thing that could be controlled was this button.


    Zhou Wen wanted to use Truth Listener''s hearing to hear the internal structure of the wheel, but he couldn''t hear anything. He didn''t know what device was installed in it.


    "How long would it take to kill that tiger?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen.


    "If it''s only to kill, it should be fast. If nothing goes wrong, it''s at most half an hour." Zhou Wen thought for a moment. He could have the tiger repeatedly appear in-game, but he didn''t know how long it would take for these tigers to burrow through a spatial rift.


    Li Xuan said, "I heard that a tiger will appear every two to three days. Furthermore, there is usually only one tiger in the cave at a time. There won''t be multiple tigers appearing together. We have no idea if a tiger has been killed."


    "Alright, I got it." As Wang Lu spoke, she walked towards the wheel of fortune and said to the guard, "I''m going to spin three times. How do I pay?"


    "Card, QR code, or bank transfer." The soldier smiled.


    "Wang Lu, don''t tell me your method is to throw money at it? Then why don''t you just give the money to Zhou Wen so that he can buy a Speed Crystal?" Li Xuan said with widened eyes.

 188 The Spinning Wheel

    "Just watch." As Wang Lu said that, she scanned the QR code to make payment and walked to the wheel of fortune. After being checked by the military, she pressed a red button.


    The wheel started spinning, stopping only after a while.


    Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick!


    When the wheel stopped moving, Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan''s eyes widened as they looked incredulously at the wheel of fortune.


    He saw that the needle had stopped at the red line that was as thin as a hair strand. The light on the wheel of fortune lit up, accompanied by a jackpot sound.


    "D*mn, what kind of dog sh*t luck did you get? You actually hit it in one shot!" Li Xuan''s eyes widened.


    An officer walked over but did not congratulate Wang Lu for winning the prize. Instead, he carefully checked the wheel of fortune and tried spinning it a few more times. After confirming that everything was normal, he said to Wang Lu, "Miss, you are really lucky. Congratulations on obtaining twenty-four hours. You may enter now."


    "Hold on, I still have two more chances," Wang Lu said as she pressed her palm on the red button again, making the wheel spin again.


    When the wheel stopped, Li Xuan, Zhou Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan widened their mouths as they looked at Wang Lu and the wheel as though they were watching an alien.


    All that could be seen was flashing lights and music fanfare playing. Wang Lu had hit the jackpot again.


    The officer''s expression changed and he quickly checked the machine again. In the end, everything was still normal. He tried many times but failed to get it. Clearly, there was no problem with the wheel of fortune.


    "Miss, congratulations on obtaining another 24 hours. There''s still one more chance. Are you still spinning?" The officer stared at Wang Lu and asked. Clearly, he suspected that there was something wrong with Wang Lu.


    "Why not? I did spend the money," Wang Lu said as she pressed her palm onto the red button.


    This time, the officer stared intently at Wang Lu the entire time. He wanted to know if she had used any powers to interfere with the wheel of fortune. He was in charge of this area and had special abilities. If powers affected the wheel, it would be impossible for him not to notice.


    However, despite staring at Wang Lu from beginning to end, he realized that she hadn''t used any powers to cheat, but when the needle stopped, the wheel of fortune''s light lit up again.


    A cold sweat broke out on the officer''s forehead. He didn''t believe that a Legendary student could cheat in front of him. However, surely it was impossible for her to hit the jackpot three times in a row. It was virtually impossible. The wheel''s program didn''t allow for such a high probability of hitting the jackpot.


    "72 hours. That should be enough, right?" Wang Lu returned to Zhou Wen and company.


    "Enough¡­ Enough¡­" Li Xuan and company subconsciously nodded in response.


    The officer and soldiers looked at her as though she was a monster as the four entered the cave together.


    "Wang Lu, how did you do it? I''m willing to pay to buy your method." When they arrived at an uninhabited spot, Li Xuan hurriedly asked Wang Lu. He believed that Wang Lu had definitely cheated, but they just couldn''t tell.


    Wang Lu smiled and said, "There''s no method. I just pressed the button a few times and hit the jackpot."


    "Tch, forget it if you don''t want to say." Li Xuan naturally refused to believe it.


    Seeing that he didn''t believe her, Wang Lu added, "I don''t have anything that stands out, but my luck is a little better than the average person''s. I heard from my dad that before I learned how to walk, he took me out for a stroll. I climbed out of the pram myself and picked up a piece of paper on the grass. Who knew that it was actually a lottery ticket. It even won the first prize that day. It was only seven or eight million. I can''t remember. When I was in kindergarten, I bought a second-hand hair clip for three bucks, but to my surprise, there was a high-valued crystal embedded in it. When I was in middle school¡­"


    "Are you kidding me?" Li Xuan refused to believe that such a lucky person existed in this world. After all, he had never won the lottery before, much less picked a winning ticket from the ground. What Wang Lu said was basically spinning tales.


    "Do you have any coins on you?" Wang Lu said with a smile.


    "Yes, you want to do a coin flip?" Li Xuan said as he took out a coin.


    "I''ll buy ten heads. Flip it," said Wang Lu.


    "Tch, I really don''t believe it." Li Xuan threw his coin into the air, but when it landed, it was really heads.


    After ten consecutive flips, Li Xuan looked at Wang Lu as though he had seen a ghost.


    "Sister Lu, can I call you sister? You are the humanoid version of the lucky baby tiger. Are you free tomorrow? The two of us can make a trip to the rich¡­" When Li Xuan jolted to his senses, he nearly pounced forward to hug Wang Lu''s thigh.


    "I''m not free." Wang Lu mercilessly rejected Li Xuan.


    "Alright, stop fooling around. I''ll discuss the detailed plan first. In a while, you must listen to my instructions and not make any mistakes. Although that tiger isn''t a very strong Epic creature, it''s still at the Epic stage. Any tiny mistake could kill us." Zhou Wen repeatedly exhorted them not to be careless.


    The tiger was just relatively weak compared to an Epic stage powerhouse. When compared to Legendaries like them, it was undoubtedly a super big boss to them.


    "Don''t worry. We aren''t fools. We know that it''s very dangerous. But Old Zhou, you haven''t killed a tiger before. Where did this strategy come from?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I watched videos on the Internet," Zhou Wen said.


    "Damn, can you be any more reliable? Those videos are experts at the Epic stage fighting. We are far inferior to them," Li Xuan said.


    "If you don''t make a mistake, it will be very reliable." Zhou Wen was very certain that his plan wasn''t problematic. He had already tried it countless times, but he was lacking in strength, so he couldn''t put his plan into action.


    He explained the detailed plan to the three of them, especially their positioning and cooperation. Zhou Wen had them practice it several times and only after seeing that they were familiar with the positioning did he confirm that there was no problem. He then led them deep into the cave.


    "Zhou Wen, can you change this plan? Let Wang Lu deliver the final blow to the tiger?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen.


    "Sure," Zhou Wen agreed readily.


    Based on Wang Lu''s nearly sick luck, killing the tiger would definitely result in something dropping.


    Tigers were so rare. If it didn''t drop anything, they would have to wait a few more days before they could try their luck again.


    However, to their surprise, Wang Lu shook her head and said, "I don''t like killing. It''s best you do it yourselves."


    After passing through a few caves, they suddenly saw a tiger covered in white fur and black stripes lying on a boulder in front of them. The tiger also noticed Zhou Wen and company. With a roar, it pounced down from the rock and attacked them.


    "Xuan, left; Feng, right; Lu, back." In order to reduce the troubles while giving commands, Zhou Wen only said one word in their names.

 189 You Owe Me

    "Is this really an Epic creature?" Twenty minutes later, Li Xuan looked in disbelief at the tiger lying in a pool of blood. He found it unbelievable that it was an Epic creature.


    In just twenty minutes, they killed the tiger without any injuries. It was so simple that it was unbelievable.


    "Is there another tiger beside it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I know it''s weak, but I never expected it to be so weak. It was like one of the weakest Epic creatures," Li Xuan said.


    However, Feng Qiuyan said in a serious tone, "No, it''s not that the tiger is weak, it''s that Coach''s plan is so targeted. The tiger didn''t have the ability to utilize its potential and was suppressed by us. If it wasn''t for Coach''s plan, it would be questionable if we could have killed it."


    "Old Feng, you really don''t have any sense of humor." Li Xuan curled his lips and said, "Forget it. Old Feng, go take a look and see if there''s anything good in the tiger''s body. It''s best if it can release Speed Crystals, lest we accompany Zhou Wen again next time."


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t say a word. He walked straight to the tiger''s corpse and dissected it. Soon, he dug out a crystalline white Companion Egg.


    "F*ck, Lucky Baby Tiger!" Li Xuan widened his eyes. Their luck was just too good. They had killed a tiger and ended up having a Companion Egg drop. It was unknown how those bigwigs who had killed countless tigers without having a Companion Egg drop would feel.


    "How do we split the Companion Egg?" asked Wang Lu.


    "I''ve said it before. All I want are Speed Crystals. Whatever else dropped will be yours." Zhou Wen was the first to excuse himself. He had already said it before coming, so he naturally wouldn''t go back on his word just because of a Companion Egg.


    Although the tiger was precious, and it was difficult for others to obtain it, Zhou Wen could kill it in-game. It wouldn''t be difficult to obtain it in the future.


    "I came just to help Zhou Wen. I also said that I wouldn''t take anything," Li Xuan said.


    "I don''t want it." Feng Qiuyan was even more straightforward.


    "I really want it, but it''s too valuable. It''s not appropriate for me to take it myself. Let''s do it this way. I''ll accept the Companion Egg. Your share will be converted into money or something," said Wang Lu.


    "Are we people who lack money? Rather than money, why don''t you help us enter a few more times in the future? Firstly, we can help Zhou Wen get the Speed Crystals he wants. Secondly, we can also try to see if we can get a few more tigers to drop. When the time comes, we can each bring one out to enjoy the breeze," Li Xuan said.


    "No problem. I''ll be there as you wish." Wang Lu also knew that it was indeed difficult to calculate something like a lucky tiger using money. To take it away, she had to owe them favors.


    There would only be a second tiger in three days. The four of them had no choice but to head back now and come back three days later.


    Zhou Wen felt a little depressed. He had read from a thread that the tiger easily dropped Speed Crystals. Maybe Wang Lu''s luck was so good that it affected the tiger''s drop-rate, resulting in a Companion Egg being dropped.


    It''s still three days before we can kill the tiger. It''s too long. I''d better do more research and see if there are any other Epic creatures that can be killed. Just as Zhou Wen was about to begin gaming, he suddenly heard a knock on the door.


    When he opened the door, he saw that it was actually An Jing.


    "Is there a reason you are looking for me?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "Can we talk inside?" An Jing appeared rather calm this time. Her expression did not change at all.


    "Sure." Zhou Wen let An Jing in and poured her a cup of tea.


    An Jing didn''t touch the teacup as she looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "Why did you refuse to participate in the competition for special physiques?"


    "Isn''t that what you wanted?" Zhou Wen asked casually.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and continued, "Is that why you refused to participate in the competition?"


    "It''s part of the reason. Since this is your spot, I''m not interested or have any desires in having it," Zhou Wen said.


    "You should know that there''s no way to change the nomination. I can''t go even if you don''t," said An Jing.


    "I know, but your things are yours. I can''t take your things away just because you don''t need them," Zhou Wen said.


    "I understand." An Jing nodded slightly as she pondered for a moment before looking up at Zhou Wen. "Do you still remember that you agreed to owe me a condition when I brought you into the military camp?"


    "Of course I do. You can raise conditions at any time, but it has to be within my abilities, I won''t do anything that harms others." Zhou Wen naturally wouldn''t forget the favor he owed.


    "It''s fine as long as you recognize the debt. Then prepare yourselves. Ah Sheng will take you to the Holy Land tomorrow," said An Jing.


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen was taken aback.


    "My condition is for you to represent me in the competition for special physiques. Is that clear enough? Do you understand?" she said indifferently.


    "Why do you want me to go? Haven''t you always wanted to prevent me from getting that spot?" Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at An Jing, unsure of her thoughts.


    Previously, An Jing had tried her best to stop him. She had even transferred to Guide High School to fight him, but now she was the one forcing him to go.


    "On Uncle Feng''s account, it''s not appropriate for me to personally teach you a lesson. However, there are many geniuses in the Holy Land. It would be appropriate to get them to teach you a lesson and help me vent my anger. It will also let my mother and grandfather know that the person they have high hopes for is useless. Only I can help the An family obtain a special physique." With that said, An Jing turned to leave Zhou Wen''s dorm. When she reached his door, she stopped and said without turning her head, "Remember, Ah Sheng will pick you up at ten tomorrow. You owe me this."


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for words as he watched An Jing leave in a daze.


    Should I go or not? Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant.


    He didn''t want to have anything to do with the An siblings, so he would rather have An Jing''s nomination be voided than go.


    However, for some reason, An Jing had used the condition in exchange, forcing him to go to the Holy Land. Zhou Wen didn''t know why An Jing would do that, so he was somewhat hesitant.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen took out his ordinary phone and called Ouyang Lan.


    "Little Wen, what''s the matter?" Ouyang Lan remained as cordial as ever. Even though Zhou Wen had rejected her the last time, her attitude towards Zhou Wen didn''t change.


    "Sis Lan, can''t we switch it to having An Jing head to the Holy Land?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It really can''t be done. If it were any other family, it might still be possible. However, the League has always been wary of the An family. They can''t wait to wipe away the An family''s nomination, so how could they give the An family another chance?" Ouyang Lan paused for a moment before continuing, "You don''t need to feel burdened. If you don''t want to go, so be it. Speaking of which, I was a little selfish. As it''s too dangerous there, I wasn''t willing to let my daughter take the risk. Instead, I pushed you to the forefront. It was my bad."

 190 Crystal Purchase

    "Sis Lan, can you give me the information about the Holy Land?" Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Since he didn''t wish to owe the An family any favors, he was prepared to make a trip to the Holy Land regardless of An Jing''s motives as payment.


    "You really don''t have to force yourself. It''s fine if you don''t go," Ouyang Lan said.


    "I wish to take a look," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright then. I''ll send you the information on the Holy Land." Ouyang Lan paused before continuing, "Look through the information first. If you aren''t confident, don''t go. If anything happens to you, I won''t be able to answer Lingfeng."


    "Alright, Sis Lan, send me the information first," Zhou Wen said vaguely.


    Ouyang Lan sent the information of the Holy Land to Zhou Wen. Only after seeing it did he realize that the Holy Land was actually a large dimensional zone.


    Unlike ordinary dimensional zones, there were extremely powerful creatures in it. These creatures were actually willing to give human special bloodlines to change their physiques.


    However, powerful creatures would not casually bestow human bloodlines. They had to pass their tests to obtain their bloodlines.


    Currently, the known bloodlines were those of the six heroes. Previously, John''s Holy Emperor Body was one of them. However, the bloodline John had inherited naturally couldn''t be compared to the first generation''s Holy Emperor Body.


    Zhou Wen had seen the Holy Emperor Body before. The other five types of physiques were all unique. The most detailed description was a body known as the Sun God Body. It was an extremely masculine type that needed one to cultivate an extreme Yang-elemental Primordial Energy Art to pass the test.


    Without a doubt, the Sun Strafe Art was prepared for the Sun God Body, but unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn''t cultivate the Sun Strafe Art. It was hard to tell if he could obtain the Sun God Body when the time came.


    "Sis Lan, I''ve already thought about it. I want to go to the Holy Land." Zhou Wen felt that there was no harm in making a trip there. He could return the favor he owed An Jing and also attempt to download the Holy Land into his phone.


    If possible, he might be able to use the Lost Immortal Sutra to obtain many special physiques in the Holy Land.


    "I thought about it carefully and felt that it was best if you don''t go," Ouyang Lan suddenly said.


    "Why?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Ouyang Lan said with a wry smile, "Back when Tianzuo was young, he went once. However, no one received any special physiques during the trip."


    "Why?" Zhou Wen was even more puzzled.


    "Ahem. When he went there, there was some unhappiness between him and the other youths who went. It devolved into an armed melee. That''s why the other contestants from other families were rather unfriendly to our An family. If you represent the An family, they will target you. It will be very troublesome when the time comes, so it''s best you don''t go," Ouyang Lan said.


    "Those that can enter the Holy Land are at most at the Legendary stage, right?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    "Yes, the Holy Land has restrictions. One cannot enter if they surpass the Legendary stage," Ouyang Lan said.


    "I''ll go," Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth. Perhaps it was as An Jing had said. There would be many elites waiting to teach him a lesson, but since he had agreed to return the favor, there was no reason for him to shrink back now.


    Ouyang Lan added some things to take note of and got Zhou Wen to be careful. Having a chance to obtain a special physique was the best, but it didn''t matter if he didn''t get it. Safety was the priority.


    Why are the mother''s and daughter''s temperament so different? If it wasn''t for the fact that An Jing had a unique appearance like Ouyang Lan, Zhou Wen really would suspect that An Jing wasn''t Ouyang Lan''s biological daughter.


    Although Zhou Wen had decided on heading to the Holy Land, he had to raise his speed to 21 points first. He could head there after refining the Mutated Fairy Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    It''s definitely too late to kill the tiger now. Ignoring the fact that there aren''t any tigers in Binyang Cave, even if there are, killing it might not necessarily result in a Speed Crystal. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one path he could take. He had to buy a 21-valued Speed Crystal from a crystal shop.


    Epic grade crystals weren''t cheap. Fortunately, a 21-valued Speed Crystal was considered one of the lowest grade crystals at the Epic stage, so the price wasn''t too ridiculous.


    However, even so, the price wasn''t something an ordinary person could accept. If it wasn''t for the urgency of the matter, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have chosen to spend money to buy it. After all, he lacked money.


    Zhou Wen requested Ah Sheng''s help to settle the administrative procedures for his suspension at school. Since he was going to the Holy Land tomorrow, he definitely wouldn''t be able to return in half a month. A day or two didn''t matter.


    He got Ah Sheng to drive him to the Xiyuan Crystal Shop. This time, there were many customers there, unlike the last time, when it was only Zhou Wen and Ouyang Lan.


    When he passed by the code lockers, Zhou Wen took another look and couldn''t help but recall the numbers on the name card.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn''t know what those numbers meant and wasn''t sure if it was the passcode for a locker.


    "Young Master Wen, what kind of stat crystal do you want to buy?" Ah Sheng asked when he saw Zhou Wen walk to the crystal cabinet.


    "I want to buy an Epic Speed Crystal. Just 21 points would do," Zhou Wen said.


    "Young Master Wen, you haven''t advanced to the Epic stage yet. It''s too dangerous to absorb an Epic stage crystal right now. If you need higher valued Legendary crystals, I can prepare them for you," Ah Sheng said.


    "There''s no need." Zhou Wen shook his head in rejection. The crystals Ah Sheng had brought were naturally given to him by the An family.


    "Ah Sheng, what brings you here today?" Zhou Wen was looking at the crystal when he suddenly heard an elder''s voice. He turned his head and saw that the person speaking was an old man with a sickly look.


    "Old Master Qin, I''m here to accompany Young Master Wen to buy crystals," Ah Wen replied respectfully.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the sickly old man in front of him was likely the owner of Xiyuan Crystal Shop, Qin Xiyuan.


    Qin Xiyuan appeared somewhat surprised as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Lad, you''re Zhou Wen?"


    "Old Master Qin, you know me?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    Qin Xiyuan said with a smile, "Of course I know. There''s probably no one in Luoyang City who doesn''t know about Little Lan''s marriage with your father."


    With that said, Qin Xiyuan pulled Zhou Wen''s hand and walked him deeper into the store. As he walked, he said, "The things outside are just to fool ordinary people. You are one of Little Lan''s. Come to my treasury and take a look."


    "Old Master, I just want to buy an Epic Speed Crystal. Just an ordinary one would do," Zhou Wen said.


    "It doesn''t matter if you are buying. Take a look first," Qin Xiyuan said with a chuckle as he pulled Zhou Wen into the elevator.


    Qin Xiyuan led him straight to the fourth floor. After exiting the elevator, he said to Ah Sheng, "Ah Sheng, stay here and watch. Don''t let anyone disturb us."

 191 Qin Xiyuan

    "This Companion Beast''s name is the Skygod Crane. It was sent here by an Epic expert, Lu Jiuyun. This Skygod Crane''s speed is extremely fast. Furthermore, its Life Providence and Life Soul are pretty good¡­" Qin Xiyuan held Zhou Wen''s hand as he warmly introduced the Companion Beasts in basement four.


    Zhou Wen felt odd. He was clearly here to buy a Speed Crystal, so why did Qin Xiyuan introduce these Companion Beasts to him?


    Zhou Wen had tried to emphasize the purpose of his visit several times, but he couldn''t find a chance to interject.


    In fact, when Ouyang Lan brought Zhou Wen here, she had already told him everything. However, with Qin Xiyuan''s enthusiasm, Zhou Wen could only patiently listen.


    Without realizing it, the two came to the room with the chained silver-haired Companion Beast. After entering the room, Qin Xiyuan suddenly said to Zhou Wen, "Zhou Wen, do you know that you are in danger?"


    "Old Master Qin, what do you mean?" Zhou Wen looked at Qin Xiyuan in confusion.


    Qin Xiyuan looked outside and saw that Ah Sheng was still guarding the fourth level entrance. He whispered to Zhou Wen, "Everyone in Luoyang City knows that Little Lan married another man, but they don''t know much about that man. At most, they know his surname is Zhou, much less know that he has a son named Zhou Wen."


    "Then how did you know about me?" Zhou Wen asked Qin Xiyuan.


    "It was Ouyang who told me. He said that he thinks highly of you and you are outstanding. If possible, he hopes that you can take over his job in the future," said Qin Xiyuan.


    "What job?" Zhou Wen looked at Qin Xiyuan in confusion.


    Qin Xiyuan smiled bitterly and said, "Ouyang is still as cautious as ever. He thought highly of you but didn''t tell you anything?"


    "The former principal has indeed praised me for my talent, but that was just a casual remark. Don''t treat it seriously." Zhou Wen paused and looked at Qin Xiyuan. "Old Master Qin, doesn''t the former principal study history? I''m not familiar with this area and am not very interested in it. You must have heard wrongly that the former principal asked me to take over his job, right?"


    "It can''t be wrong. Ouyang gave you the passcode, right? Did you see the metal slab over there? Enter the code. The items inside were all left by Ouyang. They should be of some help to you," Qin Xiyuan said as he pointed behind the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    What he was referring to was the metal slab with the ship''s anchor emblem engraved on it. The last time Zhou Wen came, he had seen the keypad on it. He guessed that it might be a password lock, but he never expected it to be true.


    Despite having those thoughts, Zhou Wen''s expression remained stoic as he feigned surprise. "Old Master Qin, what password are you talking about?"


    "Didn''t Ouyang give you the passcode? That''s bad. It''s all the things he left for you. You can''t open without the passcode, so you can only wait for him to return," Qin Xiyuan said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    "The former principal left something for me? He even wants me to take over his job. Why haven''t I heard him mention it before? I''ll have to ask him when he returns," Zhou Wen said.


    "Did Ouyang really not tell you anything?" Qin Xiyuan asked in surprise.


    "Back when the former principal was still in Guide High School, he often chatted with me, but he didn''t leave anything for me. Also, what was the danger that you mentioned?" Zhou Wen asked Qin Xiyuan.


    "The things Ouyang left for you are very important. If others know that you have the items, it will definitely be disadvantageous to you. So you must hide them well and not let anyone see them." Qin Xiyuan said sternly.


    "What are the things?" The puzzlement on Zhou Wen''s face wasn''t faked. He really didn''t know what the former principal had left him.


    "Since you don''t know anything, that can be considered a good thing. Forget it. Since Ouyang didn''t tell you the details, let''s wait until he comes back." Qin Xiyuan saw that Zhou Wen didn''t seem to be faking it, so he didn''t say anything else and left the room with the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    When Qin Xiyuan closed the door, Zhou Wen glanced at the silver-haired Companion Beast. Just like the last time he came, the Companion Beast was still sitting there with his head lowered. His long silver hair covered his face, masking his appearance.


    However, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that a pair of eyes were staring at him behind the waterfall-like silver hair. Furthermore, they were smiling at him.


    After leaving basement four, Qin Xiyuan got someone to give him the Speed Crystal which Zhou Wen needed. He gave him a very high discount, and eventually, Zhou Wen paid 138,000 for the 21-valued Speed Crystal.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen''s mind wasn''t on the Speed Crystal.


    Is the number on the name card really from the former principal? Is that string of numbers really used to open the metal slab? Zhou Wen was extremely puzzled as he felt that something was amiss.


    Therefore, when Qin Xiyuan said those words, Zhou Wen only pretended not to understand anything. In fact, he really didn''t quite understand.


    Sir, what''s going on? Zhou Wen was filled with doubt.


    After Zhou Wen left his store, Qin Xiyuan sat on a chair in his office. He was using the mouse to click on the video and repeatedly replayed the entire conversation he had with Zhou Wen.


    After watching for a while, Qin Xiyuan muttered to himself, It looks like I''m overthinking things. This kid really doesn''t know. Who did that old fool Ouyang pass the passcode to? He didn''t even tell his own daughter. Could that old fool have wanted that thing to die together with him?


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen took out the 21-valued Speed Crystal and attempted to snap a picture to put it inside the game.


    It was very dangerous to directly absorb stat crystals that exceeded one''s level. Although Zhou Wen''s body was powerful, he wasn''t willing to take the risk.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. A Legendary stage definitely had its limits, but he didn''t know what the limit was. A person''s limit was 18. His was clearly higher than the average person''s, but he had no confidence in reaching 21 points.


    The Speed Crystal successfully entered the game, the moment the blood-colored avatar touched it, it immediately transformed into a stream of light that fused into the blood-colored avatar''s body. It made Zhou Wen feel as though a force had fused into his muscles, strengthening them.


    The blood-colored avatar''s speed quickly increased by one point and became 19. Soon, it increased by another point and became 20.


    However, when the Speed Crystal was completely absorbed by the blood-colored avatar, his Speed stat stopped increasing.


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat. He knew what he was most worried about had happened. His Legendary stats hit the limit at 20 points, so he was unable to increase his Speed to 21 points. Unless he advanced to the Epic stage, he wouldn''t be able to learn the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill.

 192 Hope of Breaking Through

    At the Mortal stage, the Lost Immortal Sutra simulated four types of Primordial Energy Arts to boost my stats to 11 points. But now, those Primordial Energy Arts have already reached the Legendary stage, but it hasn''t increased my stats. How do I have my stats break through to 21 points? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    "Zhou Wen, I heard you are representing the An family and will be heading to the Holy Land?" Li Xuan ran over and sized up Zhou Wen.


    "Yes, I just decided to go yesterday. How did you know?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s almost time to enter the Holy Land, so the League has already released the list with your name on it. The An family sure treats you well. They actually gave you this spot." Li Xuan was very surprised. He never expected the An family to give the spot to Zhou Wen.


    If I didn''t have to go, I really wouldn''t have gone, Zhou Wen thought to himself, but there was no point in saying that now. Therefore, Zhou Wen only asked, "Does that mean you are going too?"


    Li Xuan curled his lips and said, "If Brother were to talk to me nicely, I might have even given it to him. However, with what he has done, I''ll definitely not let him get his wish."


    "By the way, how are you getting to the Holy Land? Let''s go together? We can join forces and forge a path of blood together. Each of us will obtain a special physique and return. Later, we will then have a mythical pet." Li Xuan rattled on. "Have you thought about which type of physique you will be vying for? Different physiques have different Primordial Energy Art requirements. You have to cultivate the corresponding Primordial Energy Art to have a possibility of passing."


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to answer, his eyes suddenly lit up as he thought to himself, That''s right. Why didn''t I think of it? Although the Lost Immortal Sutra has the power to confuse Immortals and Buddhas, making those Immortals and Buddhas think that I have a special physique, I actually do not have one. Could the special physiques in the Holy Land allow my body to exceed the limits of the Legendary stage?


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen suddenly felt that his trip wasn''t necessarily a bad thing.


    "Hey, what are you doing? I''m asking you a question," Li Xuan said as he waved his hand at Zhou Wen when he saw him looking down in a daze.


    "Ah Sheng will be taking me there." Zhou Wen snapped out of his daze and explained.


    "Then tell Ah Sheng to take one more person. I''ll go with you for company," Li Xuan said.


    "It shouldn''t be a problem. I''ll inform him later, but there will be trouble plaguing me. If you come with me, I''m afraid it won''t be too peaceful," Zhou Wen said.


    "People live in this world to resolve all kinds of trouble. There''s no point fearing it. Alright, I''ll head back to pack up." Li Xuan bade farewell and left.


    Zhou Wen called Ah Sheng, but he never expected Ah Sheng to say, "Young Master Wen, it''s best if you don''t go with Li Xuan."


    "Why?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "There are some internal problems with the Li family. I''m afraid that it won''t be safe on our trip." Ah Sheng wasn''t too direct, but Zhou Wen knew that the problem he was referring to was probably Li Xuan''s second brother, Li Mobai.


    "I''m also in trouble. Li Xuan isn''t afraid of trouble, so what''s there for me to be afraid of?" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen went to Old Dragon Cave. Ah Sheng could help him apply for a leave of absence, but Zhou Wen still wanted to inform Wang Mingyuan and company before he left.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the laboratory, he saw the rare sight of Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, and Jiang Yan there. Furthermore, Zhong Ziya wasn''t sleeping and Jiang Yan wasn''t reading. The three of them were playing cards.


    Not seeing Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen asked, "Where''s Teacher?"


    "He''s down Dragon''s Well. He should be back soon," Hui Haifeng answered.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but worry when he heard that Wang Mingyuan had gone into Dragon''s Well again.


    Hui Haifeng and company had never seen the dragon at the bottom of Dragon''s Well, but Zhou Wen had experienced it deeply. Although Wang Mingyuan was at the Epic stage, he might not be a match for the dragon.


    Sitting by the side and watching the trio play cards, he felt that something was amiss.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t figure out how the trio was playing, despite watching for quite some time.


    Zhong Ziya had thrown a 7, and Hui Haifeng had thrown an 8, but Jiang Guan threw a 5. No matter how he thought about it, 5 wasn''t bigger than 8.


    "What kind of game are you playing?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "Just a random game," Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    Zhong Ziya continued, "There''s no point in playing a proper game of cards. This is called Reverse. We''ll select one person to play cards in reverse while the other two play normally."


    This was the first time Zhou Wen saw that cards could be played this way.


    He found it more interesting as he watched. A clearly big card was used as a small card in Jiang Yan''s hand, while his smallest 3s to 5s all became the biggest cards.


    However, playing cards in such a way made it prone to confusion, especially for an ordinary person. However, the three of them played with relish and never made any mistakes.


    After waiting for more than an hour, Wang Mingyuan came out of Dragon''s Well. Zhou Wen recounted how he was going to the Holy Land.


    "I didn''t expect the An family to give you the nomination. If you really want to go, you have to be careful." Hui Haifeng spoke up first.


    Seeing Zhou Wen''s puzzled expression, Hui Haifeng said with a smile, "Back when An Tianzuo was about the same age as us, he went to the Holy Land. He didn''t obtain any special physiques, but he beat the descendants of the six heroes who went to the Holy Land one after another. He caused all the descendants of the six heroes to fall out and none of them obtained any special physiques. This resulted in a great feud. As a representative of the An family, you will likely be targeted."


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded when he heard that. Only then did he know that the trouble Ouyang Lan mentioned was really troublesome.


    "Why did An Tianzuo do that?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Rumor has it that An Tianzuo was too arrogant. He said that it was meaningless for the descendants of the Six Hero families to get the special physiques every time, so he beat them to a pulp and made them have to quit. But this is just a rumor. Only the real people involved know the truth," Hui Haifeng said.


    "If you don''t have to go, it''s best you don''t go. A special physique might not necessarily be good," Zhong Ziya said with a twitch of his lips.


    "I''ve already promised the An family," Zhou Wen said.


    "You''ll have to go if you have promised, but after you get there, you must take note of someone called Lance," said Jiang Yan.


    "What''s so special about that person?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Lance is also a descendant of the six heroes. Although his fame isn''t as great as John''s, he''s thousands of times more terrifying than John. With your abilities and Companion Beasts, it won''t be difficult for you to deal with the descendants of the other six heroes, but if you encounter this person, you have to be careful." Jiang Yan said very seriously without any intention of joking.


    "Lance, I''ll remember him." Zhou Wen repeated the name Jiang Yan mentioned and silently memorized it.

 193 Qin Mountain

    When Zhou Wen left, there was a necklace around his neck. Although it was a necklace, it was actually a red string with a bead carved from ivory.


    This was given to him by Wang Mingyuan who claimed to have made it personally. He originally planned on giving each of them one after making all four. Since Zhou Wen was leaving for some time, he wanted to give him the completed one first.


    The next morning, Ah Sheng came to fetch Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, and Ouyang Lan came over. Before leaving, she specially exhorted Zhou Wen, "Little Wen, I''m not worried about your strength, but I''m afraid that you might be careless. After you reach the Holy Land, you have to be careful of the descendants of the six heroes. The grudge from back then between Tianzuo and the six heroes is so deep, they will definitely target you. Remember, safety first. It''s nice to obtain a special physique, but it doesn''t matter if you don''t."


    "Sis Lan, I understand." Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    If this were in the past, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have taken the special physique to heart, but in order to break through, Zhou Wen had to vie for it.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that they were taking a plane to the Holy City, but to his surprise, Ah Sheng drove them out of Luoyang city without heading to the airport.


    "Brother Sheng, isn''t it too slow by car?" Li Xuan didn''t dare call him Ah Sheng, so he called him Brother Sheng.


    Previously, Li Xuan had told Zhou Wen that although An Sheng was only picked up by An Tianzuo and was not a true member of the An family, An Tianzuo treated him like a brother.


    In the An family, he was Ah Sheng, but outside, An Sheng''s name was frightening.


    "This was ordered by Madam. There are many routes to choose from so the roads are safer. Furthermore, there are a few dimensional zones. I want you to visit them before heading to the Holy Land," answered Ah Sheng.


    "Which dimensional zones?" Li Xuan was intrigued.


    "The nearest place is in Qin Mountain. I don''t know what the name is," Ah Sheng answered simply.


    However, Li Xuan''s expression changed when he heard the name. "Brother Sheng, don''t tell me you are really letting us enter the dimensional zone at Qin Mountain? I heard that the dimensional zones there are really terrifying. Without being at the Epic stage, entry means death."


    "It''s not that exaggerated. About 90% die," Ah Sheng said.


    Is there a difference? Li Xuan cursed inwardly.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know much about this, so he asked, "Is Qin Mountain terrifying?"


    "Is it terrifying? Remove that questioning tone and that''s more like it. That''s where the great horror lies. Have you heard of the legendary Kunlun?" Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    "Didn''t Ah Sheng say he was going to Qin Mountain? What has it got to do with Kunlun?" Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    "The legendary Kunlun of ancient myths refers to Qin Mountain. It doesn''t point to the present-day Kunlun Mountain Range. Qin Mountain is also a dragon vein of East District, basically the best geographical location. The dimensional zones there are extremely terrifying, and there are countless powerful dimensional creatures inside. Humans are nothing there. Even top human experts have to tread carefully inside like they are treading on thin ice. If they aren''t careful, they might perish, much less us Legendaries." Li Xuan asked another question after he was done, "Brother Sheng, are you really taking us to the dimensional zone in Qin Mountain?"


    "Yes," Ah Sheng answered simply.


    Li Xuan suddenly realized that coming with Zhou Wen was a wrong decision.


    It didn''t mean that he was afraid of going to the ruins. No matter how dangerous that place was, Ah Sheng wouldn''t bring them to their deaths.


    However, along the way, Ah Sheng drove without saying a word, while Zhou Wen gamed on his phone, leaving him bored out of his wits.


    "Is that stupid game really that fun? You''ve been grinding ants the entire journey. How many ants have you killed? Did the ants provoke you? If you really hate it so much, just find a real ant and kill it. Why do you have to seek revenge on it?" Li Xuan said gloomily.


    "Yeah," Zhou Wen replied before continuing grinding.


    Li Xuan was instantly rendered speechless. He had no way of communicating with Zhou Wen, so all he could do was lean back into his seat and sleep.


    Zhou Wen had been trying to kill the Golden Flying Ant or break the white cocoon it was protecting. Unfortunately, the Golden Flying Ant was too fast, so he could do neither.


    However, grinding for some Companion Eggs to feed his pets was not a bad choice. He could try his luck at Companion Beast fusion.


    The success rate of a fusion was really low. The success rate for the first fusion was the highest. After every fusion, the success rate plummeted. As for how much it decreased, it depended on the pet''s species.


    Due to the existence of the Grand Yin Wind skill, Zhou Wen could quickly grind ants. Many ant eggs dropped, so Zhou Wen began to wonder if he could come up with an ant that could both fly and provide defense.


    It would have high speed and high defense.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had been using Companion Eggs of the black-winged flying ants and the red-armored ants all this time. He had succeeded quite a few times, but none of them could satisfy Zhou Wen with their stats and skills.


    Red-armored, yellow-armored, blue-armored ants each have a defensive Primordial Energy Skill. I''ll first do fusion until I get an ant with three skills, then I''ll combine it with a black-winged flying ant, allowing it to have the ability to fly. That way, I''ll need at least three fusions. The success rate is just too low. Zhou Wen tried many times. Skills were either lost after the fusion or the fusions failed.


    It was especially so for the third fusion. The chances of success were too low. There was only a little more than an 11% chance of success. He had lost count of the number of times he had attempted fusion, but they all failed.


    Thankfully, there were many ant eggs. Zhou Wen didn''t have anything else to do on the way, so he slowly fused them.


    When the car entered the mountainous region, it was very rare to see people and cars.


    In this era, due to the appearance of the dimensional zones, many roads were blocked. Traveling between cities was actually a very difficult matter.


    If an ordinary person were to accidentally enter a dimensional zone, the probability of surviving was extremely low.


    Currently, there weren''t many civilian operations for the transportation of goods. The main reason was that the League''s military was doing it. Even so, there were still many accidents every year.


    Most of the time, people along with their vehicles would disappear. Search and rescue teams didn''t even have a clue where to begin.


    As the car drove along the mountain road, Zhou Wen, who was gaming, suddenly felt his eardrums hurt. The window shattered at the same time as the tires burst. Accompanied by an explosive sound, he heard a strange shriek.


    The car lost control and swerved into the railing of the mountain road as it began to spin off the road.


    Ah Sheng suddenly wound down the car window, and with one foot on the mountain road, he forcefully stopped the car. It was as if the car had been nailed to the ground, leaving it less than a meter away from the cliff.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were given a fright as they subconsciously looked out onto the mountain road. They saw a golden glow dancing in the middle of the mountain range.


    On a closer look, it was a giant bird that was as golden as a phoenix. It was dancing through the mountain like a golden sun. The bird''s cry from before came from it.

 194 Car Flying Through The Empty Sky

    "F*ck, is that a phoenix?" Li Xuan asked in surprise.


    "Don''t speak, don''t move, don''t make any sound," Ah Sheng said in a low voice.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan felt a baffling sense of pressure when they saw Ah Sheng being so cautious. They sat in the car without daring to move, but their eyes were focused on the dancing giant bird in the mountains.


    The giant bird flew very leisurely, like a golden cloud floating in the middle of a mountain. It leisurely bobbed up and down in the sky, like an elder taking a stroll.


    After flying for a while, the giant bird approached Zhou Wen and company. Only then did Zhou Wen and Li Xuan see that behind the giant bird was a row of chicks.


    The giant bird was like a golden cloud, but the chicks were about the size of a quail. Although their feathers were also golden, their color was lighter, and they didn''t have such a strong luster. Apparently, their feathers hadn''t fully grown.


    Zhou Wen counted and found a total of six chicks followed behind the giant bird. They flapped their wings and tried their best to maintain their flying postures, but it was extremely strenuous. They flew in all directions, as though they could drop at any moment.


    The giant bird ignored them and continued flying in front. The six chicks tried their best to follow the giant bird up and down as they flapped their wings with all their might.


    This is the true descendant of a dimensional creature! This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a dimensional creature''s descendant. A Companion Egg wasn''t a real egg, but a form of life crystal.


    As they watched, the giant bird flew over with the chicks. When it was a few hundred meters away from the mountain path, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan felt a strong heat blast, as though a scorching wind was hitting them.


    The sweat from their bodies intermediately oozed out. In a blink of an eye, their clothes were drenched.


    Because of Ah Sheng''s reminder, neither of them dared make a sound. They sat in the car, as though they were in a sauna.


    They were still somewhat worried, unsure if the giant bird was coming for them. Zhou Wen even wondered if their firm muscles had caught the fancy of the giant bird, making it decide to feed them to the chicks.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen looked at Ah Sheng, hoping to ask him what ideas he had. They were no match for such a monstrous creature. If they didn''t flee now, it would be too late.


    Ah Sheng sat there without any reaction. He looked at the giant bird without a word, evidently having no intention of escaping.


    The two of them could only bite the bullet and sit still. After a while, the giant bird flew past the top of the mountain with the six chicks and ignored them. Clearly, they were only out practicing flying and weren''t intentionally targeting them.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan secretly heaved a sigh of relief when they saw that the giant bird was about to fly over them.


    However, it was at this moment that something unexpected happened.


    An exhausted chick fell from the sky. Although it tried its best to flap its wings and control its body, it was unable to muster the required strength. It fell faster and faster.


    And coincidentally, the chick fell in the direction of their car.


    "What do we do?" Li Xuan and Zhou Wen looked at Ah Sheng.


    Ah Sheng obviously hadn''t expected this to happen and the look on his face changed as well. However, he still sat motionlessly in the driver''s seat and even gestured for their silence.


    The chick fell too quickly and just as Zhou Wen saw that Ah Sheng wasn''t moving, the chick had already fallen on the roof of the car. With a loud thud, a huge dent was produced on the roof.


    Furthermore, a tiny hole had smashed through the roof. The chick''s head and neck drooped down from the tiny hole as it shook in front of Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    Instantly, the air in the car seemed to freeze. Li Xuan robotically turned his head and exchanged a glance with Zhou Wen, seeing their worry in each other''s eyes.


    This chick won''t die here, right? Zhou Wen was very worried. If the chick really died here, would the giant bird vent its anger on them?


    Dimension creatures weren''t humans, so they wouldn''t reason with them. They could thank their lucky heavens if they weren''t eaten by them, much less think about being given compensation for the car damage.


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering whether he should immediately jump out of the car to flee, he saw the chick''s neck twitch before opening its eyes. It then looked at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan for a few seconds.


    Following that, they heard thumping sounds. The car''s roof which was made of special steel alloy had been warped and dented. There were a few more holes, as sharp objects pierced through the steel plate, allowing Zhou Wen and company to see tiny sharp hook-like talons.


    Precisely six sounds! Zhou Wen kept count as he listened to the thumping and knew that six chicks had landed on their roof.


    In the next second, before the sound could form an image in Zhou Wen''s mind, the car trembled violently. Outside the shattered car window, a gigantic golden bird claw appeared.


    Then, Zhou Wen and company felt the car rapidly rise as it instantly rose into the sky.


    How can I be so unlucky¡­ Zhou Wen felt that he never had a smooth trip when he went out. This time, he was ridiculously unlucky.


    Li Xuan could no longer hold his tongue, but Ah Sheng made a gesture a step ahead of him, indicating for him to remain silent and continue sitting.


    Soon, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan could already look down on the mountain. The entire car had been hoisted into the sky by the giant bird''s claw.


    The chick exchanged looks with the humans for a few seconds before struggling a few times to pull its head out.


    But soon, Zhou Wen heard the piercing sound of steel being torn through. The roof of the car was quickly ripped off by a tiny talon, forming a bigger hole. The chick jumped in.


    Seeing the chick about to land on him, Zhou Wen thought of the tiny, tender talon that could easily tear apart special steel plates. This gave him the urge to rush from the vehicle to flee.


    Ah Sheng, who was in front, gestured for him to hold back. Clearly, he didn''t want Zhou Wen to make any sudden movements.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before the chick landed on his leg. Unlike what he imagined, the chick was very light and was at most half a pound in weight. It didn''t have any strength in its claws.


    Before Zhou Wen could decide on how to deal with the chick, a few more chicks had jumped down from the hole and landed on Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, or into the back row of seats.


    Another chick landed on Li Xuan''s head and stood perched there, as though it had no intention of moving.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were equally depressed, but they didn''t dare move. They had the urge to cry.


    The six chicks jumped around Zhou Wen and company and pecked them from time to time. However, they didn''t really exert any strength, as though they were just curious.


    It''s over, it''s over. If this giant bird were to bring us back, we would definitely become their meal. Li Xuan lamented inwardly about his bad luck.

 195 Tree Halfway Up the Mountain

    The six chicks happily bounced around in the car. They pecked here and there, looking around with curiosity.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan clearly weren''t as relaxed as they were. They sat there motionless, afraid that they would anger them and incur the giant bird''s wrath.


    At the same time, they were afraid that these chicks would suddenly think of trying to test the hardness of their beaks.


    "Bam!" Just as they were in thought, a chick suddenly threw a tantrum and pecked heavily at the car door.


    The car was bulletproof. A normal bomb couldn''t even blast open the door, but the chick easily bore through a hole.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s cold sweat instantly poured, mixing with the warm sweat that they were already soaked in. It was quite an indescribable feeling.


    Thankfully, the chicks didn''t try their beaks on them. Zhou Wen was fine, but Li Xuan was a little unlucky. The chick that was standing above him actually pooped. Although it wasn''t much, it made Li Xuan feel like dying.


    With another loud crash, the car shook violently. The golden bird''s giant claw had vanished, and the car had apparently landed on the ground.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked outside, he immediately realized that he was wrong. They hadn''t landed on the ground at all. This was a mountain halfway up the mountain. The car had landed on a stone platform on the mountainside. It was neither up nor down. Unless their car could fly, it was impossible to drive away.


    Being able to drive away was secondary. Most importantly, it was whether they could return alive.


    Zhou Wen was considering how to survive when Li Xuan furtively tugged at the corner of his shirt and pointed outside the window.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction he was pointing and was immediately alarmed.


    They were on the mountainside of a lone mountain peak, at least 700 to 800 meters off the ground. However, from Li Xuan''s side, he could see the crown of a tree.


    A tree crown can be seen here? How tall is that tree? Zhou Wen found it unimaginable. Although there were many mutated plants in this era, Zhou Wen had never seen a tree that was 700¨C800 meters tall.


    If the height was converted into a building, it would be about 200 to 300 stories tall.


    The phoenix-like bird landed on the crown of the tree and let out a bird''s cry. It made Zhou Wen feel like his ears were numb, buzzing so much that he couldn''t hear anything.


    When the six chicks heard the giant bird''s cry, they bounced out of the window and approached the giant bird on the tree crown.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the huge bird didn''t live on the mountain peak. Its nest was on the large tree.


    On the mountain''s stone platform, besides their car, there were also several other cars. There were SUVs and trucks too, and many things were scattered around them.


    There was a box of beverages, as well as some timber from a vehicle. All sorts of things were scattered on the platform, but no one could be seen.


    From the looks of it, it''s not the first time that the giant bird has brought cars up here, but why isn''t there anyone around? Where did the people in those cars go? Did they escape or have they already found themselves in the giant bird''s stomach? Zhou Wen guessed.


    While Zhou Wen was contemplating, the giant bird had already led the six chicks into a tree hole. At that moment, Ah Sheng lowered his voice and said, "That giant bird is too terrifying. We are no match for it, so make sure not to anger it."


    "Brother Sheng, there are Epic creatures you can''t deal with?" Li Xuan asked with a sliver of hope.


    "I may have means to deal with an Epic creature, but it''s hard to tell whether that''s an Epic creature or not," Ah Sheng said calmly.


    Li Xuan was immediately alarmed when he heard that. "That can''t be? Could it really be the mythical phoenix?"


    "I don''t know if it''s a phoenix, but that tree should be the legendary parasol tree," Ah Sheng said as he looked at the giant tree outside.


    "The tree outside is the parasol tree? There''s the saying that a phoenix nests in a parasol tree. Does that mean that the giant bird is really a phoenix?" Li Xuan was even more alarmed.


    "That''s not necessarily the case. I once fought in the dimensional zones with the Overseer and have previously seen parasol trees slightly smaller than this one elsewhere. It was an Azure Luan which was just half a step short of being a Mythical creature. We suffered heavy losses in that battle and even the Overseer suffered serious injuries. That''s why we killed the Azure Luan and chopped down the parasol tree," Ah Sheng said.


    "Brother Sheng, what should we do now? Why don''t we sneak down the mountain and escape at night?" Upon hearing Ah Sheng''s words, Li Xuan felt even more afraid.


    "Forget about these terrifying dimensional creatures. Even ordinary birds have better eyesight than humans. Daytime or nighttime doesn''t make a difference to them." Ah Sheng scanned his surroundings and saw the cars and the things strewn on the ground.


    "You guys wait here. I''ll go out and take a look." Ah Sheng then quietly got out of the car. He crawled forward like a snake, so quiet that he didn''t even make a sound.


    In a short while, Ah Sheng returned with many things tucked under his arms.


    "These drinks still have half a year of shelf life. From the looks of it, their owners weren''t brought here too long ago. Now, there''s no one here. If they haven''t escaped, they are most likely in the giant bird''s stomach." Ah Sheng handed the cans in his hand to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. "Only after eating will we have the strength to flee. We don''t have much time left. There are still a few dimensional zones to go. We also need to arrive in the Holy Land on time. We can''t delay any further."


    Considering how the giant bird wasn''t likely to exit the tree hole moments after returning, they decided to leave immediately.


    After drinking some of the beverages and eating some snacks to fill their stomachs, the three of them immediately got up and quietly headed for the edge of the cliff to take a look. Not only was the mountain steep, but the stone wall was also as smooth as a mirror. There was almost no place to rest one''s feet.


    "It''s too steep here. If I don''t use my flying pets, I''m afraid I won''t be able to get down," Li Xuan said with a sullen expression.


    "You can''t use Companion Beasts. Dimension creatures are very territorial. If you use a Companion Beast, you will be making an enemy out of the giant bird, infuriating it in the process.


    "Young Master Wen, can you go down by yourself?" Ah Sheng asked Zhou Wen.


    "Yes." It wasn''t difficult for Zhou Wen to head down.


    "Alright, then I''ll carry Li Xuan. Let''s head down together." After Ah Sheng said that, he crouched down and waited for Li Xuan to get on his back.


    "Brother Sheng, there''s no need. There''s really no need. I should be able to give it a try myself. There won''t be much of a problem." Li Xuan hurriedly rejected Ah Sheng''s good intentions.


    The three of them climbed down together. Their ascension of the mountain was abrupt, but their descent was dangerous. With Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, Zhou Wen was barely able to maintain his balance while descending.


    Zhou Wen crawled for a while and saw Li Xuan sweating profusely. However, it seemed as though he could still hang on.


    He subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the tree hole. What he saw left Zhou Wen in a state of shock. He had no idea that the giant bird was standing at the tree hole''s entrance. Its eyes were coldly staring at him.

 196 Four Gentlemen Blades

    Ah Sheng and Li Xuan had clearly noticed it as well. They lay on the mountain wall, not daring to move.


    The giant bird spread its wings before violently flapping them once. An ominous foreboding rose in their minds when they felt a hurricane rise up and sweep their bodies up.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The three of them fell back onto the stone platform and saw stars. It took them a while before they could stand up.


    However, when they turned back to look at the tree hole in the towering tree, there was no sign of the giant bird. Looking everywhere, there was no trace of it. It was as though it had gone back inside.


    "From the looks of it, it knew we were here long ago. Since it didn''t kill us, why did it leave us here? Could it be that it treats us as a food stockpile and plans to keep us here for the new year?" Li Xuan was still in the mood to joke.


    "I don''t know if it''s keeping us for the new year, but it must have deliberately left us here," Zhou Wen said.


    "Since it didn''t kill us, we still have a chance. Let''s think of other ways." Ah Sheng said as he looked around the platform.


    Since the giant bird had already targeted them, it was useless no matter how careful they were. Zhou Wen also circled the platform, hoping to find something useful.


    "This item isn''t bad." Li Xuan found a playboy magazine in a cargo truck''s compartment.


    Zhou Wen picked up a beverage bottle and saw that there was still more than a month left before it expired. He opened it to drink it and, as he did so, he arrived in front of an off-road vehicle. The off-road vehicle looked very old and had all its windows shattered. The frame was also severely deformed.


    The vehicle''s body was covered in mud, and it was about the same inside. It looked like it had suffered the elements and had been here for quite some time.


    Zhou Wen looked inside and saw a plush doll covered in mud sitting in the back seat. He thought, The owner of this vehicle likely had a child on board. I wonder how they ended up. I hope they''re alright.


    There was too much mud in the vehicle, so it didn''t seem to have anything of use. Just as Zhou Wen was about to turn around and leave, he suddenly caught sight of a pole-like item caked in mud.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and pulled the item out.


    It''s really a saber. Zhou Wen wiped the mud away and revealed the true appearance of the object. It was a sheathed saber.


    The saber was straight, so its scabbard was also straight. Together with the hilt, it looked like a four-foot-long stick.


    After wiping it clean, he realized that the entire saber''s design was like a piece of bamboo¡ªsegmented. The top segment was the hilt, and the bottom four segments were the scabbard. If one looked closely, one would think that it was a bamboo stick.


    In fact, the hilt and scabbard were made of metal, and it weighed heavily in the hand.


    Zhou Wen attempted to draw the blade but failed to pull it out.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing?" Li Xuan ran over and stared at the bamboo blade in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    "I found a saber, but I can''t pull it out." Zhou Wen tried several times but failed to pull it out. He couldn''t help but be surprised.


    He was very strong and could easily break steel bars. He was rather surprised that he couldn''t pull out the bamboo blade.


    "It looks like a bamboo stick no matter how you look at it. How is it a blade?" Li Xuan commented as he looked at the bamboo blade in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    "No, that''s a saber. Its name is Bamboo Blade." Ah Sheng heard their conversation and walked over, only to see it. He asked in surprise, "Where did you find this Bamboo Blade?"


    "It was inside this car." Zhou Wen pointed at the off-road vehicle and said, "I wonder if it''s stuck from rust. I can''t pull out the blade."


    As Ah Sheng got into the off-road vehicle, he searched and said, "The Bamboo Blade is made of Primordial Gold. Even the scabbard doesn''t rust, much less the blade. This blade has a special design. You need to spin it counterclockwise to pull the blade out."


    Zhou Wen followed Ah Sheng''s instructions and turned the handle. Although it was very heavy, it could really be rotated. When he exerted his force outwards, a portion of the blade immediately came out of the scabbard.


    The blade was like a deep pool of water that emitted a coldness. It was only two fingers wide and the back of the blade was slightly wider. Its sharp edge was extremely thin, making it feel like it could easily slice through anything.


    Zhou Wen pulled the blade out and swung it around. When the blade brushed past the car window to his side, it was sliced apart cleanly. Zhou Wen didn''t sense any resistance from the blade''s edge, showcasing its shocking sharpness.


    "This blade is so sharp! Furthermore, it''s made of Primordial Gold. Are there any left? Find one for me too." Li Xuan was also shocked by the sharpness of the Bamboo Blade.


    "There''s only one Bamboo Blade in the entire League. Where are you going to find another one?" Ah Sheng crawled out from the off-road vehicle empty-handed. Clearly, he hadn''t found anything.


    "Are you serious? The An family has plenty of Primordial Gold ores. Isn''t it easy to make one?" Li Xuan said in disbelief.


    "Primordial Gold ores are restricted items. Every gram has a record. The League is very strict regarding this, so it''s impossible for the An family to use them as they wish. Besides, this blade wasn''t forged by the An family," Ah Sheng said as he looked at the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    Zhou Wen handed the Bamboo Blade to Ah Sheng and, after he took a careful look at the blade, Ah Sheng said, "The blade is like a pool of water over an abyss. Deep beneath is nothing but blood. This is indeed the Bamboo Blade of the Four Gentlemen Blades. I never expected that the Bamboo Blade that has been missing for so many years would actually be here."


    "What are the Four Gentlemen Blades? Why haven''t I ever heard of them before?" Li Xuan asked.


    Ah Sheng didn''t answer Li Xuan. He gently swiped the blade across his palm and immediately sliced open a bloody gash. Blood trickled down the blade, forming a line that remained coagulated without dripping.


    "Brother Sheng, what are you doing?" Li Xuan and Zhou Wen looked at Ah Sheng in a daze.


    "A gentleman doesn''t fight, but if there''s a need to fight, blood will definitely splatter. Hence, when the Four Gentlemen Blades are unsheathed, blood must be seen. Otherwise, it will deal harm to their masters." As Ah Sheng spoke, he swung the blade and threw blood on the blade out. The blade was spotless, like a pool of limpid water.


    After sheathing the blade, Ah Sheng returned it to Zhou Wen. "Young Master Wen, although this blade is sharp, it''s very inauspicious. It''s best you don''t use it if possible."


    Zhou Wen nodded and took the Bamboo Blade. He asked, "Who''s the owner of this blade? Will someone come looking for me in the future?"


    Ah Sheng shook his head and said, "The person who used the blade has been dead for years. The four original owners of the Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum Blades all died tragically. Later on, when these four blades found themselves outside in the world, they gradually vanished. Their subsequent masters probably didn''t have a good ending."


    "What era are we in now? Why do we still believe in such superstitions? Aren''t you a fool to not use such a good blade?" Li Xuan said disapprovingly.


    Ah Sheng didn''t argue with him and said, "The Overseer''s father, Old Master An, was once the owner of the Plum Blade."


    Upon hearing that, Li Xuan immediately fell silent. An Tianzuo''s father, Ouyang Lan''s ex-husband, was once the head of the An family with a promising future. Despite his bright future, he died early due to an accident. It was regretful and was known by all the rich and powerful in Luoyang. Li Xuan naturally knew.


    If this was really the inauspiciousness brought about by the Four Gentlemen Blades, it was really terrifying.

 197 Trainer

    "The owner of this blade might be like us¡ªcaught and brought here by the giant bird. There''s a high chance that they were eaten by that giant bird. From the looks of it, this blade is truly inauspicious. Zhou Wen, it''s best you throw it away," Li Xuan said.


    However, Ah Sheng said, "Once the blade is in hand, you''re its owner. It''s too late to throw it away now. You should bring it along."


    Zhou Wen nodded without a word. He wasn''t superstitious to begin with, so he naturally didn''t mind.


    The trio searched the platform for a while longer before finding two Companion Eggs in the trunk of a car. However, they were only at the Legendary stage and didn''t look like they were worth much.


    Realizing that the giant bird hadn''t appeared the entire time, the trio decided to secretly escape from another side, but before they could go far, they felt a hot gust of wind assault them. They were once again swept back onto the platform. This time, they didn''t even see the giant bird.


    After that, they made a few more attempts and even tried to escape by jumping down the mountain. However, the result was the same. The hot gust of wind blew them back onto the platform.


    The next morning, before the sun rose above the horizon, the giant bird brought six chicks out of the tree hole and led them to the mountaintop.


    Zhou Wen and company originally imagined that they would fly away like before, but to their surprise, the giant bird only brought the six chicks to the mountaintop. Then, they formed a line before jumping off the mountain peak like diving athletes. As they learned how to fly, they charged towards the platform.


    Zhou Wen saw a chick charging towards him and was about to dodge to the side when he felt a force overwhelming him. It impelled him to meet the chick and catch it.


    Soon, Zhou Wen and company knew the intentions of the giant bird. It had actually treated Zhou Wen and company as workers. They were to catch its six children while they practiced flying swoops.


    A day ago, Zhou Wen never imagined that he would be a nanny and trainer of six chicks.


    What left Zhou Wen even more depressed was that the birds seemed to always target him and fly towards him. They seldom flew towards Ah Sheng and Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan gloated by the side and said, "Old Zhou, it looks like you have quite good social relations, no¡ªmaybe I should say you have better twitter relations! Those chicks love you. If you were this good with women, you would have long been in a relationship."


    The chicks practiced flying the entire day. These fellows had extremely strong physiques and talent, but as they had just been born, they were unable to perfectly control their bodies. That was why they appeared rather clumsy.


    However, they improved extremely quickly. With just a day''s practice, their body control had increased tremendously. In the morning, they were still staggering in flight. Not only did they not land on Zhou Wen, they even missed and flew past the stone platform.


    By the evening, the chicks could accurately land on Zhou Wen''s head.


    When the sun set, the giant bird returned to the tree hole with the chicks. Zhou Wen believed that he could finally relax, but to his surprise, the giant bird flapped its wing, stirring up a gust of wind that pulled him into the tree hole.


    Ah Sheng''s reaction was extremely fast as he grabbed Zhou Wen, but with his strength, he couldn''t hold him back. His feet drew two long ditches on the stone platform and he was almost thrown off the stone platform.


    "This bird sure is sinister. It made us nannies in the day, and food at night." Li Xuan also pounced forward to grab Zhou Wen.


    However, it was useless. The giant bird''s wings flapped once again as the three of them were sent flying into the hole.


    "It''s over, it''s over. We''ll definitely be food for the birds this time!" Li Xuan cried out tragically.


    The tree hole was very deep. When Zhou Wen and company landed on the ground, they felt the force retract, preventing them from slamming heavily to the ground.


    "Stop shouting. These birds don''t eat meat," Ah Sheng looked around and said.


    "How do you know they don''t eat meat?" Li Xuan refused to believe it.


    "There''s no smell of blood here, nor are there any bones or anything like that. Instead, there are a lot of fruits here." Ah Sheng pointed to a corner of the tree hole. There were indeed many fruits piled there.


    "So they don''t eat meat. That''s good, that''s good." Li Xuan heaved a long sigh of relief.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t look at the fruits. He raised his head and looked up with a strange expression.


    The tree hole was nearly a hundred meters tall, like a huge warehouse. In the sky of the tree hole, floated a golden oval object.


    If one looked closely, one would realize that it was a cocoon made of silk.


    Zhou Wen had seen two similar cocoons, but they were white while this one above him was golden.


    That can''t be. There''s actually a cocoon here? Zhou Wen carefully looked at the golden cocoon. The more he looked at it, the more it looked like the two cocoons he had seen apart from the different color.


    Could it be that these dimensional creatures are actually born out of cocoons? Zhou Wen found it odd. Why did these different dimensional creatures have a cocoon in their nests?


    Up to this point, only Golden Flying Ant was the weakest of dimensional creatures with cocoons. The other two were ridiculously strong.


    There was no need to mention the dragon-shaped creature wrapped around the stone pillar in Dragon''s Well. It was unimaginable. Likewise for this giant bird. Ah Sheng was also one of the top experts in the Epic stage; yet, he did not seem to have much ability to resist the giant bird.


    Of course, it was also possible that Ah Sheng wasn''t planning on giving his all unless death was certain.


    Li Xuan and Ah Sheng followed Zhou Wen''s gaze and saw the golden cocoon. Li Xuan exclaimed in surprise, "Strange, why is there a cocoon here?"


    No one could answer him as the giant bird landed with six chicks. This sight made Li Xuan''s heart tighten, and he was in no mood to care what the cocoon was.


    The giant bird landed on a charred piece of wood and squawked at Zhou Wen and company, causing their eardrums to ring.


    The trio didn''t understand bird language, nor did they have telepathic abilities. They didn''t know what the giant bird meant, but just as they were hesitating, they saw that each of the six chicks had something in their mouths. They flapped their wings and flew diagonally to Zhou Wen, placing the things in their mouths at his feet.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that these chicks were afraid that their trainer would starve to death, so they brought him fruits to eat. But upon closer inspection, he realized that the six chicks didn''t bring fruit, but instead, they were shards that resembled jade.


    The six shards were all different shapes, but the material looked about the same. It was a translucent jade that was close to beige in color.


    Why are you giving me this? I''m not a Western dragon or a woman. I don''t like shiny things. I''d rather receive fruits, Zhou Wen thought.

 198 Shard Choice

    "These look like eggshell shards." Ah Sheng carefully examined the shards and said after a moment of thought.


    "Eggshell shards?" Zhou Wen carefully inspected the six shards and indeed, they looked like irregular shapes after an eggshell cracked.


    Furthermore, the shards all had some curvature, making Zhou Wen even more certain that Ah Sheng was right. These shards were likely the eggshells of the six chicks.


    But why are they bringing me their eggshells? Can it be that they want to treat me to eggshells? I can eat bird eggs, but I can''t eat eggshells. Zhou Wen felt depressed. Ignoring the fact that they couldn''t understand him, he coughed lightly and said to them, "Thank you for your kind intentions. I don''t eat eggshells. You should put them away."


    It was unknown if they didn''t understand him or if there were other reasons. The six chicks stood in front of Zhou Wen in a line as they stared at him with widened eyes, as though they hadn''t heard him.


    When Zhou Wen saw that they weren''t moving, he knew that he couldn''t continue the standstill. Hence, he picked up an eggshell and said, "I just need one piece. I''ll take it back and slowly eat it."


    Zhou Wen pinched the eggshell and found it smooth and supple. It was warm to the touch and resembled legendary warm jade. If he hadn''t seen these chicks before, no one would have expected it to be an eggshell shard.


    As Zhou Wen spoke, he placed the shard in his pocket, hoping that he would be able to bluff his way through.


    He never expected things to work out. Upon seeing Zhou Wen grab a shard, the other five chicks ran back with their respective shards in their mouths. Only the chick that Zhou Wen had taken a shard from stood in its original spot as it stared blankly at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen finally heaved a sigh of relief. If the chicks were determined to make him eat the eggshell, Zhou Wen would have to make a last stand in battle despite knowing that he was no match for them. He really couldn''t swallow something like that.


    I wonder what other tricks these chicks have up their sleeves? Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, he saw the giant bird perched on a piece of charred wood. It spread its wings and, immediately, a hot wind swept the three of them up like a tornado, throwing them out of the tree hole.


    The trio felt as though they were riding on floating clouds, and their vision was filled with distorted golden light. When the terrifying power disappeared, they fell to the ground and realized that there was no parasol tree in front of them. Instead, they were on a mountain path. There were also collision signs along the mountain railings¡ªit was where they had stopped their car earlier.


    Li Xuan looked around but did not see any sign of the giant bird. He could not help but exclaim in pleasant surprise, "We have returned to our original spot. Did that giant bird actually released us?"


    Zhou Wen was also delighted, but when he suddenly heard a bird''s cry, he couldn''t help but feel his heart turn cold. He imagined that the giant bird was here again, but on careful thought, he felt that something was amiss. The bird''s cry was clearly very tender and lacked a terrifying might. It wasn''t the giant bird''s cry, but more like a chick''s.


    Zhou Wen looked down and saw a chick standing by his feet in a daze. It was looking at him with its head cocked.


    Why was this chick swept away with us? Zhou Wen was alarmed, but on second thought, he felt that this might not be a mistake made by the giant bird.


    Zhou Wen had already found it odd that the six chicks had brought him shards. Back then, he hadn''t thought too much about it, but he had a lot more thoughts once he saw the chick had also been sent away with him.


    Don''t tell me I was choosing these chicks back when I took the shard? The chick I chose will leave with me? If that''s the case, what would happen if I had taken all six of them? Zhou Wen reached out to pick up the chick which didn''t resist. It allowed Zhou Wen to hold it in his hand as it cocked its head and stared at Zhou Wen with its round eyes.


    "Old Zhou, did the giant bird give this chick to you? That''s not fair. We did the work together, so why is it that only you received a present, while Brother Sheng and I have nothing?" Li Xuan also noticed the crux of the problem.


    "I still don''t know if it''s a blessing or a calamity." Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and shouted towards the mountain range with the chick in hand, "Divine bird, are you letting me take it away?"


    After shouting three times without receiving any response, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take the chick along with him.


    Without a car, the trio could only walk on foot. Although they could run as fast as cars, a human wasn''t a machine. With limited stamina, they would be drained of their strength if they ran for a long time.


    And in the wilderness of the mountainous region, with them near Qin Mountain, they would be in for a bad time if they encountered dimensional creatures while lacking strength.


    The trio didn''t dare to run too fast either. They alternated between walking and running.


    Originally, Ah Sheng had planned on taking them to a dimensional zone near Qin Mountain, but because of a lack of vehicle and no phone signal here, he had no choice but to abandon his previous plans and rush to the next city as quickly as possible.


    Ah Sheng told Zhou Wen that if they didn''t arrive at the next city in time, the An family would send a search and rescue team to seek them out. Therefore, they had to come into contact with the An family as soon as possible.


    Qin Mountain was just too mysterious. Although they were only close to it and had yet to really enter it, they had already seen many mysterious objects.


    That night, Zhou Wen and company heard the sound of immortal music coming from Qin Mountain. It sounded like fairies were playing music and dancing inside.


    Although Zhou Wen wished to take a look, he knew that he couldn''t take the risk.


    Along the way, he saw many plants that he had never seen before¡ªmushrooms that were taller than buildings, grass that resembled humans. There were all sorts of strange things happening. And this was only the periphery of Qin Mountain.


    Although they encountered many strange incidents along the way, nothing serious happened after encountering the giant bird. The three of them finally traversed Qin Mountain and arrived at a small city.


    Ah Sheng contacted the An family and gave them a timely update of the situation, stopping the search and rescue team that the An family had already prepared to send.


    "Our original plan was to let you first head to a few dimensional zones to train, but it''s too late now. We''ve already chartered a plane, and it will be taking us to the Holy Land in a while," Ah Sheng said to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan after the call ended.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan felt that it was better to head directly to the Holy Land, to prevent themselves from encountering further troubles. After realizing the terror of the giant bird, they didn''t dare to casually wander about in the wilderness.


    After resting for half a day, an armed helicopter came to pick them up and took them to a large city with an airport. Then, they flew to the Holy City.


    As many regions in the sky were enveloped by dimensional zones, planes couldn''t fly randomly. Most of the air routes they had used in the past were no longer usable. Very few regions allowed passage. Now, the airports had been taken over by the League government, and the members of the aircrew were military officers.

 199 Holy City

    Holy City was the highest administrative center of the League. It was also the world center that humanity had built after the dimensional storms.


    The reason it was named Holy City was that the Six League Heroes had obtained their powerful physiques in Holy Land. With immense power, they had been able to suppress the generation of those times and establish a fixed political system, reducing the suffering that war and disaster brought to humanity.


    The trio arrived at Holy City, a new city that was only built after the dimensional storms. The architectural style was different from the old cities like Guide City and Luoyang. It looked modern and there were statues of six heroes everywhere on the streets.


    As heroes who saved humanity from the chaos and disaster, they had received the highest honor in the League. All the citizens of the League remembered their names forever.


    However, this wasn''t a good thing for Zhou Wen because the descendants of the six heroes were likely to go against him.


    Ignoring the grudges between An Tianzuo and the six hero families, just the grudge between Zhou Wen and the Capim family was unlikely to be resolved so easily.


    Ah Sheng had booked a room for Zhou Wen and Li Xuan to stay in. After he settled them in, he began handling the administrative matters needed for entering the Holy Land.


    As they had been delayed at Qin Mountain for a few days, most of the youths participating in the competition had already arrived. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were considered the last two.


    ¡­


    "Minister, Zhou Wen has arrived in Holy City and has checked into Goth Hotel." Liz''s eyes shimmered as she clenched her fists tightly.


    Liz could still endure having her Primordial Energy Sea crippled, but John''s humiliation made her wish she could immediately charge over and kill Zhou Wen.


    "I already know. With An Sheng by his side, and with them being the League''s invitees at the Holy Land, it''s not appropriate for us to take Zhou Wen into custody so brazenly. Just as we said, contact the youths from the other families who will be participating in the competition and get them to take care of Zhou Wen inside the Holy Land," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "Don''t worry, Minister. Even if I don''t do it, the other families won''t let Zhou Wen off easily. Back then, An Tianzuo crippled six hero families'' generation of youths, and now with Zhou Wen representing the An family, everyone is rubbing their hands in glee. They want to cripple him just like what An Tianzuo did back then," Liz said.


    "Zhou Wen isn''t a simple person. He was able to defeat John despite him using Light of Judgment. With such strength, not many people, including those from the six hero families, would be able to do it. Besides, the An family naturally has some confidence if they dare send him here. It''s best you contact the other families to ensure that nothing goes wrong with this plan." Qiao Siyuan wasn''t as optimistic as Liz.


    "Don''t worry. I''ve already contacted a few people who are closer to my family to take action with John. There won''t be any problems," Liz said confidently. "This is the Holy Land, not the An family''s Luoyang. Zhou Wen won''t be able to escape this time."


    Qiao Siyuan tilted his head and paused before asking, "Have you contacted Lance?"


    "No, he has been missing recently. I don''t know where he''s gone. I''m afraid he will not return until the day the Holy Land opens," Liz said.


    "Try your best to contact him. If Lance were to take action, everything would be fine," Qiao Siyuan said.


    ¡­


    With this being his first time in Holy City, Li Xuan went out shopping. He said that he wanted to see how different Holy City was from Luoyang. However, Zhou Wen wasn''t interested and chose to game in his room.


    Zhou Wen had used his phone''s camera function to look at the Bamboo Blade and the eggshell shard, but he had failed to discover anything special. Since he couldn''t lock onto the two items, he naturally couldn''t bring them in-game.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to place them in the Chaos Bead''s space. Zhou Wen had originally planned on using the power of the Chaos Bead to raise the First Order of Chaos to the Legendary stage to see what Life Providence he would obtain.


    However, the Chaos Bead did not produce any light or text. Zhou Wen had no way of advancing himself.


    The chick kept hopping on the table. Zhou Wen had bought some fruits for it, but it didn''t eat much.


    Over the past few days, the chick didn''t eat much nor did it drink much water. However, it still looked energetic without showing any signs of frailty.


    Zhou Wen originally planned on grinding a few instance dungeons to see if he could raise all his stats to 20, but the chick didn''t sit still. It jumped onto him and kept peeping noisily.


    When he ignored it, it jumped onto his head and pecked him on the head with its beak.


    "What are you trying to do?" Zhou Wen removed the chick from his head and questioned it gloomily.


    Initially, he thought that it was pointless speaking to it since it wouldn''t be able to understand him. To his surprise, the chick actually understood him and jumped onto the table. Using its mouth, it flipped open a magazine to one of the pages, pressing its claw onto it.


    Zhou Wen looked curiously and saw that the chick''s claw was pressing down on an advertisement. The advertisement''s content was actually the auctioning of a Companion Egg.


    "You want to eat this?" Zhou Wen asked the chick in shock.


    The chick understood his words and immediately nodded.


    "I don''t have that, but I do have a Legendary Companion Egg. Make do with it." Zhou Wen took out a Legendary Companion Egg and placed it in front of the chick. It was something he had discovered in a damaged car on the stone platform.


    Seeing the chick''s look of contempt, Zhou Wen added, "That is a rare Epic Companion Egg. I don''t have the money to buy it for you. Don''t even think about it. Just make do with this one. If you don''t eat it, you won''t even have one."


    Seeing the number of zeros on the starting bid, Zhou Wen lost all interest. Even he didn''t need such a good Companion Beast, so it was a little too much to let the chick eat it.


    The chick glared at Zhou Wen before eventually lowering its head in resignation and pecked at the Companion Egg. It sporadically pecked at it, as though it was very unwilling to eat.


    Zhou Wen had no choice. To feed it with a Legendary Companion Egg already pained his heart. It was impossible for him to obtain an Epic stage Companion Egg.


    After resting for two days, Ah Sheng took them to the entrance of the Holy Land for registration. When they arrived, many young people had already finished registering.


    When Zhou Wen went to register, the official in charge of confirming the candidate read out ''Luoyang An family''. This drew the gazes of all the youths present. A few of them even began cracking their knuckles.


    Standing in the crowd, John stared coldly at Zhou Wen as the killing intent flickered in his eyes.


    "Old Zhou, it looks like we are very popular." Li Xuan also noticed that something was amiss, but he deliberately retorted.

 200 Thundergod General

    "Indeed. I''m just afraid that their passion will be unbearable when the time comes," Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    "The An family actually didn''t send An Jing. What''s the meaning behind sending an outsider? Are they afraid?" a stern-looking youth in black asked.


    "The An family is smart. They didn''t send one of their own out of fear and got an outsider to let us vent our anger." Another handsome young man with blonde hair wore a look of disdain.


    "It looks like apart from An Tianzuo, there aren''t many talents in the An family. They actually found an outsider to enter the Holy Land. I feel sorry for the An family."


    Zhou Wen could tell from the number of youths speaking that he was in trouble this time.


    "Young Master Wen, if you don''t wish to participate, it''s still not too late for you to quit. Madam has said that you should act according to the circumstances and don''t force it," Ah Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen.


    "Since I''ve agreed to come, I can only take the challenge even if there''s a sea of fire ahead of me. There''s no reason for me to return now." Although Zhou Wen spoke beautifully, he really didn''t wish to get involved if not for his attempt to see if the special physiques could enhance his physical stats.


    Of course, he had to return the favor he owed. No matter what, he had to enter the Holy Land to take a look.


    Ignoring the mockery and sarcasm of those people, Zhou Wen''s gaze constantly observed the so-called Holy Land, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol.


    The so-called Holy Land was different from what Zhou Wen imagined. It didn''t have any magnificent ancient buildings or immortal-like paradises.


    In a desolate desert, there was an ancient and worn-out stone platform. The stone platform was hexagonal and every edge had a stone pillar.


    The six stone pillars had different symbols engraved on them. Even the carving techniques and styles were different, as though they were made by six different kinds of craftsmen.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen failed to see any tiny palm symbol despite using Truth Listener to observe his surroundings for quite a while.


    "Shut up. This isn''t a wet market. Whoever spouts any more nonsense will be disqualified." The official coldly stopped everyone and continued, "Before coming here, your family has already informed you of the rules of the Holy Land. However, I still have to repeat them one more time. Everyone who enters the Holy Land does so voluntarily. If any mishaps happen in the Holy Land, it has nothing to do with the organizers of this trial. In other words, even if you die inside, no one will be responsible for it."


    With that said, the official looked at Zhou Wen and continued, "If anyone wishes to quit now, they can immediately make the request to not enter the Holy Land. However, once anyone enters the Holy Land, they need to be responsible for their actions. Good luck to them."


    Everyone knew very well that the official''s words were directed at Zhou Wen. With so many people targeting him, Zhou Wen probably wouldn''t have a good time after entering the Holy Land. The chances of death were much higher than the others.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had no intention of backing out, the official continued, "Since no one plans on quitting, this year''s Holy Battle will officially begin. In a while, the Companion Egg Market will begin business. If anyone needs a Companion Egg, you can purchase it. For the next twenty-four hours, you can enter the Holy Land at any time. As for whether you can leave the Holy Land alive, it will depend on your fate."


    After the official spoke, the trading market opened for business. Many merchants had set up stalls. On the stalls were various Companion Eggs. They were basically at the Legendary stage.


    Zhou Wen saw a few brands he was familiar with. They were all famous Companion Eggs retailers in the League.


    "Young Master Wen, feel free to choose any Companion Egg you need. Madam has already prepared sufficient funds. It should be enough to buy all the Companion Eggs you need. Therefore, you don''t have to worry about money," said Ah Sheng.


    "There''s no need. I''ll just use my Companion Beasts," Zhou Wen said.


    Although the Companion Beasts that a person could obtain were unlimited, having a large number of them would be difficult to command in battle. It would be fine if a Companion Beast had high intelligence, but most Companion Beasts had low intelligence. If they were left to attack on their own, they would be a bunch of disorderly mobsters. They might not be able to use their powers and might even hinder each other.


    Therefore, most people focused on training a few Companion Beasts, ones that they could use with the greatest ease.


    Zhou Wen was already very adept at using his Companion Beasts. Furthermore, they were considered top-notch existences at the Legendary stage. It was enough.


    "Madam was right. Indeed, you aren''t willing to buy Companion Eggs." As Ah Sheng spoke, he took out a box and handed it to Zhou Wen. At the same time, he solemnly said, "Before I left, I was specifically instructed to hand it to you. Madam said that you can choose not to have any other Companion Egg, but this one was personally obtained by her in a dimensional zone. She said that you have to accept it no matter what. Otherwise, she will make you accompany her for meals daily when you return. Miss Jing will also join the meals."


    "Sis Lan sure is thoughtful." Zhou Wen didn''t reject the offer and took the box.


    He didn''t like the An siblings, but he wasn''t averse to Ouyang Lan. Since Ouyang Lan had said so, Zhou Wen didn''t reject the item.


    When he opened it, he saw a black Companion Egg the size of a fist inside. It looked like metal, but it also had the luster of jade.


    "What kind of Companion Egg is this?" Zhou Wen looked inside the box, but there was no information card.


    "Madam didn''t tell me. She only said that you would know after you hatch it," Ah Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen nodded but didn''t immediately incubate it. He stored it away in his backpack and said to Ah Sheng, "I''ll accept the Companion Egg. I''ll find an opportunity to hatch it in the future. Don''t worry."


    Zhou Wen had a Dao Body and his Primordial Energy recovery speed was extremely fast. He could incubate Legendary Companion Eggs at any time, so he didn''t have to worry about the danger of expending too much of his Primordial Energy.


    "Alright, now that your matters have been resolved, and since you aren''t buying Companion Eggs, why don''t you accompany me to take a look. I don''t have as many excellent-grade Companion Eggs as you do. This is a good opportunity for me. Who knows, I might be able to obtain a few." Li Xuan pulled Zhou Wen towards the market.


    Li Xuan''s words weren''t wild fantasy. In fact, as long as he had enough money, he could buy Legendary Companion Beasts that were usually rarely seen.


    In order to leave an impression on these young people who could lead a future generation, many of the excellent-grade Companion Eggs were put on sale here.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be astonished when he followed Li Xuan around. He had never heard of many of the Companion Eggs here, but from their introductions, many of them had very useful abilities. They were in no way inferior to the Mutated Demonized General before it underwent a fusion.


    The Companion Eggs here were basically at that level. The prices were also astronomical and were at least twice the price of a typical Companion Egg shop.


    Even so, many young people who were prepared to enter the Holy Land spent a huge sum of money to buy Companion Eggs. Their expressions remained stoic as though what they were spending wasn''t money.


    "Thundergod General¡­ There''s actually a Thundergod General here¡­" Suddenly, a voice sounded, attracting the attention of many.

 201 Gold-Armored Beas

    The words "Thundergod General" seemed to contain infinite attraction. Many young people were attracted.


    Zhou Wen and company went over to take a look as well. After all, Thundergod General was a very famous Companion Beast. He had the reputation of being the best offensive pet, with potent offensive abilities. Be it his companion form or his pet form, he had extremely powerful attacks.


    The most famous aspect of Thundergod General was his Primordial Energy Skill, Thundergod Augmentation. It could augment a person with lightning from the void, giving a person infinite power to battle an enemy. Every strike had terrifying lightning power accompanying it. It struck extreme fear into the hearts of people.


    Furthermore, even in his companion form, Thundergod Sword, Thundergod Augmentation could still be used. Even someone who had never cultivated a lightning-elemental Primordial Energy Skill would be able to use the Thundergod Sword that came with sword beams imbued with lightning.


    The reputation of Thundergod General as the number one Legendary offensive pet was definitely not unfounded. However, that was if one had the Thundergod Augmentation. However, Thundergod had a total of four skills, so even if one hatched him, he might not have Thundergod Augmentation.


    Without the Thundergod Augmentation, Thundergod General was an ordinary Legendary Companion Beast. It was nothing compared to the best Legendary offensive pet.


    Therefore, whether Thundergod General was worth anything depended on whether he had the Thundergod Augmentation skill.


    Unfortunately, the items sold here were all Companion Eggs. Even with X-ray vision, it was impossible to tell the stats or skills available to the Companion Beasts.


    Hence, there were many onlookers, but none of them were willing to pay for it.


    The price of a Thundergod General Companion Egg was two million. This was definitely not too much to buy the best Legendary offensive pet. However, if Thundergod General didn''t have Thundergod Augmentation when he was hatched, he would be worth at most a hundred thousand or so. Spending two million to buy it was no doubt a waste.


    Therefore, many people just watched. It was very nicely priced. It made those who wanted to buy it still feel the pinch. Yet, they would find it unacceptable giving it up. After all, Thundergod General Companion Egg was extremely rare.


    Zhou Wen pretended to take a picture with his phone and glanced at Thundergod General Companion Egg''s stats. He discovered that it was Thundergod General with two skills, and one of the skills was the Thundergod Augmentation.


    "If it''s a Thundergod General with Thundergod Augmentation, two million would be worth it. I''m just afraid it doesn''t have it. Spending two million for trash would be a terrible loss." Li Xuan was also tempted.


    "If you know that it has the Thundergod Augmentation skill, would you even have a chance of making a comment? It would long have been sold." A blonde youth said disdainfully.


    "That''s odd. Why are there dogs barking randomly in Holy City?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen in surprise.


    "Perhaps someone''s dog wasn''t tied up and ended up running out," Zhou Wen added.


    The blonde youth''s expression instantly darkened, but he didn''t turn hostile. He only said coldly, "Are the people from East District so uncultured?"


    "For us from East District, that''s only reserved for the cultured," Li Xuan said, unwilling to be outdone.


    "Very good. I won''t argue with you. After we enter the Holy Land, we''ll settle the scores," the blonde youth said without any expression.


    "I''ll be your guest." After Li Xuan said that, he ignored him. He looked at Thundergod General Companion Egg before asking Zhou Wen, "Unfortunately, Wang Lu isn''t here. With her luck, she would definitely be able to help me get one that has Thundergod Augmentation."


    "It''s only two million. That shouldn''t be a huge sum to you. It''s good to bet. If you score one and obtain the best Legendary offensive pet, it will be worth a lot more than two million." Zhou Wen secretly nudged Li Xuan in the direction, hoping that he would buy the Thundergod General.


    He already had Banana Fan and had recently picked up Bamboo Blade. He didn''t lack any weapons. As for offensive pets, his Mutated Demonized General was in no way inferior to the Thundergod General. There was no need to buy another one.


    "Alright, I''ll take that bet." Li Xuan gritted his teeth and bought the Thundergod General Companion Egg under everyone''s gaze.


    "Two million to buy a Thundergod General Companion Egg. There are so many vulgarians in rural cities," someone mocked Li Xuan.


    Although Thundergod General Companion Eggs were rare, they were only worth four to five hundred thousand on the market due to the low probability of possessing Thundergod Augmentation. Buying it for two million was indeed expensive. This was also why nobody had bought it despite the huge crowd.


    However, Li Xuan didn''t mind. He went shopping with Zhou Wen and Ah Sheng at other stalls. He had plenty of wealth and wasn''t stingy with his money. He bought several Legendary Companion Eggs consecutively.


    "Will you have the time to incubate so many Companion Eggs?" Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    "Since I can''t incubate it outside, I''ll take it into the Holy Land. After all, we need to stay in the Holy Land for at least ten days. There will be time." Li Xuan seemed to be full of confidence, but he changed the topic and said, "However, I want to incubate Thundergod General before entering the Holy Land. I''m just too curious. I wonder if he has Thundergod Augmentation."''


    There were rooms prepared by the League government. Li Xuan and company each requested a room while the former began incubating the Thundergod General Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen already knew what the outcome would be, so he wasn''t too concerned. He sat down on the sofa in the living room and took out the Companion Egg Ouyang Lan had prepared for him. He glanced at it with his mysterious phone.


    Gold-Armored Beast: Legendary.


    Life Providence: Steel Protection


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 20


    Primordial Energy: 12


    Talent Skill: Tempered Steel.


    Companion Form: Armor


    Just by looking at the attributes, he knew that the Companion Beast was definitely an excellent-grade Legendary Companion Beast. Furthermore, it was one with an extremely high defense. It was very likely to be on par with the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior.


    The most critical thing was that the Gold-Armored beast''s companion form was armor. It was obviously given to him by Ouyang Lan to save his life.


    Li Xuan ran out from his room with a broadsword wrapped in lightning bolts as he shouted excitedly, "Jackpot¡­ Jackpot¡­ I never expected that I''d have such a day¡­ Old Zhou¡­ My Thundergod General has two skills¡­ One of them is Thundergod Augmentation¡­"


    "Don''t tell me you want the entire world to know that you have a true Thundergod General?" Zhou Wen was speechless.


    "What''s the harm?" Although as Li Xuan said that, he quickly stowed Thundergod General away. With no one knowing, Thundergod General would make an excellent trump card.


    They did some preparatory work before bidding Ah Sheng farewell, in preparation to head for the Holy Land''s entrance.


    "Go in later. Head in when the twenty-four hours are almost up. That way, you can avoid meeting most people. They won''t wait that long since they will be vying for the qualifications," Ah Sheng said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen was very patient, so there was no rush.


    Although Li Xuan didn''t think so, he patiently waited for Zhou Wen to head in with him.


    Zhou Wen had previously asked if Li Xuan wanted to head in himself to prevent him from being marked by the youths of the six hero families. However, Li Xuan didn''t mind at all. Since they came together, he believed that it was natural for them to enter together.

 202 Sky Battle

    The way he entered the Holy Land made Zhou Wen question life. He and Li Xuan stood on a stone pillar, and the stone pillar descended like an elevator.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that the Holy Land was underground, but after the stone pillar''s long descent, he suddenly felt the ground beneath him give way. Then, he realized that he was in the air, surrounded by floating clouds with mountains beneath his feet.


    How is this possible? We were clearly descending, so how did we end up in the sky? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he sized up the ground beneath him. Soon, he realized that the area below wasn''t Holy City''s territory.


    There were no mountains near Holy City, but there were endless mountain ranges below.


    Li Xuan didn''t have the Godfiend Life Providence, so he didn''t have the ability to levitate, preventing him from examining his surroundings as Zhou Wen did. Instead, he summoned a huge eagle pet and landed on its back. At the same time, he flew towards Zhou Wen and pulled him onto the back of the giant eagle.


    "How magical. This is the Holy Land, a sacred place. No one knows where the Holy Land is, but It''s definitely not underground anyway," Li Xuan said, as he looked at the surrounding mountains and rivers.


    "Which Holy Temple are you going to?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I cultivate in the Invincible Connate Divine Art. This Primordial Energy Art corresponds to the Connate Infinite physique, so I''ll be going to the Connate Holy Temple." Li Xuan replied, "It''s highly likely that the An family made you cultivate the Sun Strafe Art, right? In that case, you should go to the Sun Divine Temple. However, from the looks of it, your Primordial Energy doesn''t look like it''s of the Sun Strafe Art pedigree."


    "I''ve never cultivated the Sun Strafe Art, so it doesn''t matter where I go. Since you are going to the Connate Holy Temple, I''ll go somewhere else to try my luck." Zhou Wen naturally wasn''t willing to compete with Li Xuan.


    Every physique only chose one person. If Zhou Wen snatched it away, Li Xuan would definitely not have one.


    "Alright, where shall we meet later?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I haven''t decided where to go for the time being. If there''s nothing special, let''s meet up after we exit this place." If Zhou Wen wanted to vie for the special physique, he probably had to fight the youths from the six heroes'' families. He was unwilling to involve Li Xuan.


    "In that case, I''ll accompany you to find a suitable Holy Temple. After all, the test lasts ten days. It doesn''t matter when one visits it. I''m not in a rush either," Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Seeing how Li Xuan insisted on accompanying him, Zhou Wen could only say, "If that''s the case, let''s head to the Connate Holy Temple first."


    "Alright." Li Xuan didn''t stand on ceremony as he let the giant eagle fly east.


    Shortly after they flew off, they saw more than ten people riding on flying mounts. Leading them was someone Zhou Wen still remembered. It was none other than Saint John from the Cape family.


    "Zhou Wen, do you think you can escape trouble just by entering late?" John said coldly, as he rode on a flying lion.


    As they spoke, the group had already surrounded Zhou Wen and Li Xuan in all directions. Unable to charge out of the encirclement, the giant eagle could only spiral around in the middle.


    "John, if you wish to have another battle, I''ll take up your challenge any time." Zhou Wen shot Li Xuan a glance. Li Xuan immediately understood and controlled the giant eagle to land on the ground.


    "Trying to run? Aren''t you an overly naive one." John sneered as he gave the order. More than ten people together with their Companion Beasts attacked simultaneously.


    Without a word, Zhou Wen summoned the banana fan and sent a gust of Grand Yin Wind at John.


    "I wasn''t prepared the last time, allowing you to successfully sneak an attack on me with your Companion Beast. This time, you won''t have another chance." John clearly came prepared. Upon seeing Zhou Wen''s Grand Yin Wind approach, he didn''t fluster or show any intention of dodging.


    When the Grand Yin wind reached John, it was as if it had encountered an invisible barrier that splashed sideways. No damage was dealt to John nor the lion beast that he was sitting on.


    Zhou Wen was slightly surprised and he found it odd. However, time didn''t permit him to ponder over the reason. The attacks of the other ten plus Companion Beasts had already circled him, nearly sealing off all routes of retreat for him and Li Xuan.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to go all out, he suddenly heard a young bird''s tender chirping. It was the yellow-feathered chick.


    This fellow had been following Zhou Wen all this time. As it stood on Zhou Wen''s shoulder, a mere chirp was enough to make the dozen or so flying pets suddenly lose control and be thrown into disarray like a kite with a broken string.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and knew that it was all thanks to the yellow-feathered chick. The flying Companion Beasts who were randomly flying about were all birds. Only a minority, like John''s flying lion, wasn''t affected.


    With the opponent''s lineup in chaos, there was a weakness to exploit despite the attacks of the ones remaining. Li Xuan controlled the giant eagle to rush out of the encirclement and quickly landed on a nearby mountain.


    "Chase after him." John gritted his teeth and chased after him. The dozen or so disciples of the six hero families also joined in the chase.


    "John, are you really going to fight me to the death?" Zhou Wen stood on the back of the giant eagle as he stared at the chasing John.


    "You don''t have to die. We are very fair. Back then, An Tianzuo injured our family members. Now, since you are here on behalf of the An family, we will also be very fair. All we need to do is cripple your Primordial Energy sea and maim you," John said coldly.


    "An Tianzuo had crippled your family members once. Don''t force me to do the same thing," Zhou Wen said as he looked at the approaching John.


    "Haha, do you really think you''re An Tianzuo? You''re just representing the An family. Your name isn''t An Tianzuo. The pets you rely on are completely useless against me. Who are you to act so arrogantly in front of me?" John held his sword as he began to condense Light of Judgment. He was prepared to finish Zhou Wen and company in midair, preventing them from having a chance to escape back to the ground.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else as he took out the Bamboo Blade. With one hand holding the scabbard and the other holding the hilt, he said to Li Xuan, "You leave first." Then, he leaped up and flew towards John who was charging at him.


    "Old Zhou, what are you doing?" Li Xuan was alarmed. He wanted to stop Zhou Wen, but it was too late.


    "So you have a death wish." John knew that when fighting in the sky, the death sentence was practically given to those without a flying mount. Without any hesitation, he slashed out with his sword, transforming into a gigantic sword beam that tore towards Zhou Wen.


    The few youths behind him who weren''t using avian mounts also used their own Primordial Energy Skills. Together with John, they surrounded Zhou Wen. Several beams of light instantly intersected with each other, nearly sealing off all possible routes of retreat for Zhou Wen.


    This was difficult to avoid even on land, much less when in the air.

 203 A Man Doesnt Need Wings!

    "Zhou Wen, you won''t be able to escape today even if you have wings. I will return the humiliation you made me suffer at Sunset College with interest." The Sword of Judgment in John''s hand slashed down.


    More than ten Companion Beasts spat out all sorts of light blasts as they worked with the humans to attack the encircled Zhou Wen in the air. From the looks of it, it was impossible for him to escape.


    Unperturbed, Zhou Wen continued to rise with Bamboo Blade in hand. At the instant Light of Judgment and the numerous attacks were about to land on him, Zhou Wen exerted strength in his legs as though he had stepped on an invisible staircase in the air. He accelerated rapidly and changed his trajectory to avoid John''s Light of Judgment.


    John and company thought they were seeing things. John was right. Zhou Wen was indeed unable to escape if he had wings. Even a real bird would probably not be able to escape the encirclement.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn''t have any wings on his back, but he seemed to be walking on flat ground in the air. It was as though he could move as he pleased.


    Zhou Wen moved erratically in the sky. In a completely impossible situation, he tore through John and company''s encirclement and, like a ghost, rushed in front of a youth riding on a flying bird.


    The youth wasn''t a weakling either. He drew his saber and slashed at Zhou Wen, condensing potent battle aura into a corporeal blade beam.


    Zhou Wen spun like an eagle as he dodged the attack, brushing past the bird.


    Bamboo Blade instantly unsheathed itself and flashed like a cold beam of light. After Zhou Wen flew several meters away, the bird split into two and blood splattered across the sky.


    Instantly, John and company felt their bodies turn cold. It wasn''t as if they had never seen anyone with better movement techniques and saber techniques than Zhou Wen, but in the sky, to be able to fly freely without any external help was terrifying. It would be courting death to fight someone like him in the sky.


    Unfortunately, they came to that realization too late. Zhou Wen was like a specter in the sky as his body flashed. He slashed out again and again with Bamboo Blade, aiming for the mounts instead of their owners.


    Just as John had said, if one did not have a mount in the sky, death was almost a certainty.


    Those who relied on their mounts clearly couldn''t be as agile as Zhou Wen. With the difficulty of dodging plaguing them, they watched their own mounts being killed.


    Blood filled the sky, and feathers poured down like snow. The youth whose mount had been sliced apart cried out tragically as he fell to the ground.


    "Everyone, return to the ground!" John shouted out loudly, feeling extremely infuriated. He originally thought that killing Zhou Wen in midair was a plan that would be foolproof, but who knew that this would end up becoming their greatest disadvantage?


    "Ah!" Tragic screams were heard constantly as people fell onto boulders, fracturing their legs.


    Only a few people with backup flying pets and flying equipment were spared.


    Fortunately, these fellows were all from the families of the Six League Heroes, and were the children of the League''s wealthiest. They had plenty of good things on them, so they didn''t fall to their deaths. The ones that had been roped in to make up the numbers suffered terribly from the fall.


    John tried his best to control his flying lion, hoping to land back on the ground, but Zhou Wen was too agile in the air. He eventually managed to cleave off the head of the flying lion.


    John was infuriated as a pair of snow-white wings sprouted from his back. However, he didn''t charge at Zhou Wen and he sped towards the ground.


    Even with wings, John didn''t dare fight Zhou Wen in midair. The mobility his wings gave him was on a completely different level from Zhou Wen''s aerial combat ability.


    How could Zhou Wen let him off? The saber was like a rainbow as it chopped at John repeatedly. Although it wasn''t able to kill him, it had severed one of his wings.


    John lost control of his body and fell to the mountain peak below. He almost broke his bones in the process.


    Li Xuan was dumbfounded as he could not help but laugh out loud. "Indeed, you can''t escape even if you have wings. John, you''re really an honest person."


    Zhou Wen had no intention of letting them off. He charged straight for the mountain peak and landed on it.


    The group blamed the terrible loss they suffered for their immobility in the sky. So now that Zhou Wen had dared to land, they didn''t miss this opportunity and immediately surrounded him.


    A stocky man held a huge shield with one hand and a huge hammer in the other as he charged straight at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn''t draw his saber. Instead, he struck out with a gust of Grand Yin Wind with the banana fan, sending the man''s hammer and shield flying.


    With a loud bang, the man slammed into the mountain like a cannonball, creating a crater in the wall. His hammer and shield flew out of his hand as blood spewed out of his mouth. His hair and brows were covered in a layer of frost.


    After struggling a few times, the man was unable to stand up.


    As expected. There''s something on John that counters the Grand Yin Wind, preventing him from suffering its effects. After coming to this realization, Zhou Wen had switched his Primordial Energy Art into Dao Sutra. His Life Providence then turned into the Dao Body that could constantly restore his Primordial Energy.


    Seeing a few more people charging at him, Zhou Wen waved his fan again. The few of them were instantly blown away and their bones fractured from the fall. They rolled on the ground screaming.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had taken care of the dozen or so people with a few flaps of the fan, John turned around and tried to escape.


    "Didn''t you want to fight me?" Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to let him off as he slashed his Bamboo Blade at John''s back with a cold beam.


    John raised his sword to block, one that was transformed from a Legendary Companion Egg. Bamboo Blade immediately snapped it and didn''t stop as it hit John''s armor, leaving a foot-long wound on his armor. Blood immediately gushed out.


    John''s expression changed drastically. As he retreated, he summoned his Companion Beast, hoping to fend off Zhou Wen. Unfortunately, he was already in a state of frenzy. He had no intention of using the Companion Beasts to battle Zhou Wen. All he wanted was for them to hold Zhou Wen back so that he could escape.


    The Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen''s hand shimmered as the Legendary Companion Beasts were cleanly sliced through with a single slash. Before John could run far, Zhou Wen''s palm struck his back, sending blood spewing from him as he fell to the ground.


    It only took moments to have more than ten people collapsed on the ground. Not a single one of them could get up.


    "Kill me if you have the guts!" John shouted angrily when he saw Zhou Wen stepping on his chest.


    "Wouldn''t killing you be too easy on you?" Zhou Wen thrust out his Bamboo Blade and pierced through John''s Primordial Energy sea.


    "Zhou Wen, this isn''t over." John wailed in excruciating pain, eager to rip Zhou Wen to shreds.


    "You aren''t qualified," Zhou Wen said coldly. He waved his Bamboo Blade once again and tore off John''s armor, revealing a strange necklace around John''s neck.


    There was crystal embedded in the necklace, and within the crystal, there seemed to be swirling wind. It formed a vortex within, making it look rather special.


    It looks like it was this item that caused Grand Yin Wind to lose its effects. Zhou Wen raised his saber and broke the necklace''s latch, allowing it to fall into his hands.

 204 The Goddess of Winds Protection

    Li Xuan''s eyes lit up when he saw the necklace. He could not help but cry out, "Is that the Goddess of Wind''s Protection?"


    "You know what this is?" Zhou Wen asked as he held the necklace.


    "I''ve only heard that there are extraordinary treasures in some dimensional zones. Those treasures possess magical powers. The Goddess of Wind''s Protection is one of them. Legend has it that it''s a magical necklace that possesses the power of the wind. Wearing it can give you damage immunity from any wind element. However, according to what I know, the Goddess of Wind''s Protection likely belongs to the Qamar family. Furthermore, it''s unique, so I''ve no idea if it''s real or not," Li Xuan explained.


    "It doesn''t matter if it''s real or fake." Zhou Wen stuffed the necklace into his pocket. Since this item could resist the Grand Yin Wind, he naturally didn''t want anyone else to possess it.


    When John saw this scene, he was so angry that he vomited blood.


    The necklace was indeed the Goddess of Wind''s Protection. In order to counter Zhou Wen''s banana fan, Member of Parliament Cape had paid a huge price to borrow it from the Qamar family. Now, it had been snatched away by Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen ignored John as he walked towards the others with the Bamboo Blade in hand. He ignored their pleas or insults as he stabbed through their Primordial Energy sea. Quite a number of people fainted either from the pain or anger.


    "Li Xuan, help me search. They must have bought quite a number of Companion Eggs at the market before they came. Let''s see if they still have any on them." As Zhou Wen spoke, he personally pulled away a young man''s clothes and found two Companion Eggs.


    Li Xuan didn''t stand on ceremony either as he rummaged through the bodies of the rest. Soon, they had found 14 Companion Eggs which were likely at the Legendary stage. As for what type they were, it wasn''t possible for them to tell immediately.


    John and company seethed in anger with clenched teeth. Back then, An Tianzuo had crippled his peers, but he didn''t do anything else. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were even more ruthless. Not only did he cripple them, he even took everything from them.


    "Let''s go." After searching, Zhou Wen turned around and left, ignoring John and company.


    "Old Zhou, what sort of movement technique was that? It''s way too cool. You actually managed to float in midair like Superman," Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen as he looked at him enviously. Clearly, he was somewhat tempted.


    "That''s not a movement technique. Unless you give up the Invincible Connate Divine Art, you can forget about it," Zhou Wen told a half-truth.


    Even if Li Xuan was willing to give up the Invincible Connate Divine Art, he might not be able to master the Godfiend Era. Zhou Wen''s Godfiend Era was simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra, not that he had succeeded in cultivating it.


    When Li Xuan heard that, he heaved a sigh of relief and said depressingly, "Forget it. Although flying in the air is very cool, I''m not bad either."


    The two of them headed east. They knew that Connate Holy Temple was in the east from maps drawn by their predecessors. However, the exact location was unclear.


    Every time someone entered the Holy Land, the map they drew was different, but the general location of the Holy Temples Temple was never wrong.


    There were no dimensional creatures in the Holy Land, so the duo didn''t encounter any danger. After walking for more than half a day, they saw a sea in front of them. On the cliff by the seaside stood an ancient purple building.


    "It should be there." Li Xuan was delighted as he got Zhou Wen to rush over.


    By the time they reached the ancient building, there were already several youths standing in front of the building. Clearly, they were all here to receive the Connate Holy Temple''s test.


    When they saw Zhou Wen, they were slightly taken aback. They were somewhat suspicious, as though they were wondering how Zhou Wen had managed to come this far.


    From their expressions, Zhou Wen knew that these people definitely knew that John was about to besiege him and Li Xuan.


    "Zhou Wen, you sure are lucky. You actually weren''t stopped by John and the rest," said a black-robed youth coldly.


    "My luck has always been pretty good," Zhou Wen said.


    "However, your luck has come to an end. My goal is An Jing. I found it beneath me to fight you, but since she didn''t come and that useless bum, John, failed to stop you, I just can''t let you return whole now that you have come to me yourself. I have to leave some mark on you to show An Tianzuo when you return," the youth in black said arrogantly.


    "What''s with all the nonsense? If you want to attack, hurry up. Don''t delay us from accepting the Connate Holy Temple''s test," Zhou Wen said casually.


    Without another word, the black-robed youth released terrifying black flames from his body. He threw a punch at Zhou Wen like an erupting volcano.


    Zhou Wen didn''t use the banana fan. Instead, he switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Ancient Imperial Sutra and struck out with Ashen Palm, meeting the black-robed youth''s fist.


    As their fist and palm met, the youth in black felt a scorching pain in his visceral organs. He opened his mouth and spat out a large pool of blood as his body limply collapsed to the ground.


    The smiles on the faces of the youths beside him froze and a chill ran down their spines.


    They knew the strength of the black-robed youth very well. He was rather famous among the six hero families and was in no way inferior to John. However, he couldn''t even withstand Zhou Wen''s strike.


    Could this be another An Tianzuo? They had an ominous feeling.


    In the middle of the mountains, a beautiful butterfly leisurely flew past and, surprisingly, there was a person sitting on its back.


    As the butterfly flew, the person revealed a look of surprise. The butterfly changed its direction and landed on a mountain peak.


    More than ten people were lying on the mountaintop, moaning in pain. It was John''s group.


    "Lance, you''re finally here!" John was overjoyed when he saw the person on the butterfly''s back.


    "What happened?" Lance looked at John and the others while asking in surprise.


    "We had our Primordial Energy sea destroyed by Zhou Wen. He even stole our things¡­" John recounted what had happened through gritted teeth. Finally, he pleaded. "That Zhou Wen has powerful Companion Beasts aiding him and we weren''t his match. Now, you are the only one who can maintain the dignity of our six hero families. Perhaps no one else is his match."


    "This Zhou Wen is rather interesting, but I''ve already said that I''m not interested in him. Furthermore, you were the ones who went knocking on his door and ended up being crippled by him. You only have yourselves to blame for your lacking skills." As Lance spoke, he patted the butterfly beneath him and it immediately rose up and left the mountain.


    John and the others were stunned. They didn''t expect that Lance would actually disregard the solidarity between the six hero families.

 205 The Holy Temples Invitation

    Zhou Wen sat on the stone steps outside the Connate Holy Temple to game while Li Xuan entered to take the test.


    The youth in black and the few others had long disappeared. The youth''s Primordial Energy sea had been destroyed and he had even had his possessions robbed from him. They didn''t dare stay here any longer.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel somewhat disappointed that he had died once again at the hands of the Golden Flying Ant. He didn''t know how many times he had been killed by it; yet, he had failed to touch the white cocoon.


    Zhou Wen really wanted to know what was inside the white cocoon.


    "Why are you the only one here? Did no one else come here to the Connate Holy Temple?" Just as Zhou Wen was about to restart his game, he saw a man descending on a butterfly. The man glanced at the sealed temple door and then looked at Zhou Wen.


    "There''s another person inside the holy temple," Zhou Wen replied when he saw that the man didn''t harbor any ill intentions.


    After alighting from the butterfly''s back, Lance unsummoned the butterfly and looked at Zhou Wen''s phone. "I enjoy playing mobile games too. However, I play fighting games. These kinds of repetitive games aren''t suitable for me."


    Saying that, Lance took out his cell phone and launched a game. "It''s a pity that the magnetic field here is too unstable and causes excessive signal interference. Otherwise, we could network and play together."


    "I don''t play fighting games," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s such a pity." Lance seemed a little disappointed as he sat down on the steps beside him. As he gamed, he asked, "Are you also interested in the Connate Holy Temple?"


    "No, I''m just accompanying a friend here to take a look. Are you also here to accept its test?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Well, not really. I''m only here to see what the Connate Holy Temple looks like. I have no intention of receiving the Connate Holy Temple''s special physique."


    Zhou Wen found this person rather interesting. As he spoke, he played games. His actions and thoughts didn''t conflict, and his handling was extremely fine. This wasn''t something an ordinary person could do.


    "Since you came to the Connate Holy Temple, why don''t you give it a try? Perhaps there might be a chance of obtaining a Connate Infinite physique," Zhou Wen asked with interest.


    While playing games, Lance said, "It''s not only the Connate Infinite physique, I''m actually not interested in any of the special physiques in the Holy Land. It''s just that my family insists that I come. So, I came to take a look and since I''m here, I might as well visit all the Holy Temples. I''ll just treat it as a vacation."


    "You sure are interesting." Zhou Wen found this person interesting.


    "You''re very interesting too. I''ve heard of people vying for the nominations here in the Holy Land, but never about someone here to accompany their friend," Lance said with a smile.


    "I plan on vying for them too, but I don''t have my sights on the Connate Infinite physique," Zhou Wen said.


    Lance lowered his phone and sized up Zhou Wen for a moment before saying, "The six types of physiques in the Holy Land have their own advantages and weaknesses. This Connate Infinite physique has very high requirements on one''s body, so ordinary people are unable to meet the requirements. According to what I know, in the League, only those who cultivate in the Invincible Connate Divine Art can barely meet the requirements. From the looks of it, you don''t look like someone who cultivates in it. Your aura is a little odd. I''m afraid it''s not compatible with any of the Holy Temples'' special physiques. If you wish to vie for one, the difficulty might be higher than the others."


    "Human effort can achieve anything." Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to elaborate on his matters, but he was rather interested in Lance. He asked, "Why don''t you want a special physique? This is something many want to vie for."


    "It''s precisely because everyone wants it. It''s been so many years and although there aren''t many people with the six special physiques in the League, there are still quite a number of them. There''s no point in me obtaining what others have. It''s rather pointless so I might as well not get it. Besides, An Tianzuo of the An family doesn''t have any special physiques. Yet, he can suppress his peers. And if he can do it, so can I." Lance seldom shared such thoughts, but for some reason, he mentioned it in passing to Zhou Wen.


    Upon hearing An Tianzuo''s name, Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd.


    "You know An Tianzuo?" Lance acutely guessed that Zhou Wen knew An Tianzuo from his expression.


    "Yes, but we aren''t on good terms. If you wish to ask me about him, I''m afraid you will be disappointed," Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    "There''s no need¡­ There''s no need¡­ Please don''t tell me anything about An Tianzuo." Lance hurriedly waved his hands.


    "Why is that?" Zhou Wen looked at Lance in puzzlement.


    "I will personally defeat him in the future. If I hear about him now, it will be too boring if I end up learning about his weaknesses. The An Tianzuo I want to defeat is the strongest An Tianzuo I can face," said Lance solemnly.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, From the looks of it, this person should also be from the six hero families. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be thinking about defeating An Tianzuo all day. However, it''s strange. Doesn''t he know that I''m the one coming on behalf of the An family?


    After chatting for a while, they seemed to get along pretty well. They also talked about their experience in cultivation and martial techniques. Although they understood things differently, their shared concepts that were congruent with each other.


    As the two were chatting, they suddenly saw the door to the temple open. Li Xuan walked out.


    "How was it?" Zhou Wen got up and asked.


    "I passed, but I''ve no idea if anyone will have better results than mine. We''ll know in ten days," Li Xuan said with a smile. "I''m done. Which holy temple do you want to head to? I''ll accompany you."


    At that moment, Li Xuan saw Lance. Clearly, he didn''t know him. Seeing that he and Zhou Wen seemed to get along pretty well, he asked curiously, "Who is this? Someone you know?"


    "I just got to know him." Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he didn''t know of his name. Neither of them had said their names.


    Lance stood up and said, "It''s time for me to go in. See you again if there''s a chance."


    However, before Lance could enter the Connate Holy Temple, a wyrm statue coiled around a stone pillar in front of the door suddenly opened its eyes. Its body moved as it came alive. It stretched out its head and stared at Zhou Wen. "Are you willing to be the representative of my Connate Holy Temple?"


    The three of them were slightly taken aback. Lance looked at Zhou Wen with a strange expression. As a member of the six hero families, he had never heard of anyone receiving an invitation from a holy temple.


    Even the first six heroes who came to the Holy Land had only been chosen after many trials.


    It was the first time he had seen an invitation extended by the holy temple.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you waiting for? Quick, agree." Li Xuan hurriedly nudged Zhou Wen when he saw him in a daze.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t feeling happy about being invited. The reason he was stunned was because after the wyrm sent out the invitation, his Life Providence, Sigh of the King, seemed to be in a frenzy. A sense of disgust spread through him, affecting him with those emotions.

 206 Whos the Real Scion?

    That feeling was intense, so intense that Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate to reject it. "Sorry, I only accompanied my friend here to take a look. I don''t wish to obtain anything from the Connate Holy Temple."


    The wyrm shot Zhou Wen a look again before slowly retreating back to the stone pillar and slowly transforming into a lifeless statue.


    Lance looked at Zhou Wen with piqued interest.


    Li Xuan sighed and said, "Old Zhou, if you rejected it because of me, I will be touched and also sad."


    "That''s not it. Connate Infinite physique wasn''t my goal to begin with. Even without you, I would still reject it." Zhou Wen was telling the truth.


    "That makes me even more depressed," Li Xuan joked.


    "Let''s go and visit the other holy temples." Zhou Wen only wanted to visit the other holy temples to take a look.


    The Sigh of the King was a result of his own attributes and the Lost Immortal Sutra, but now that the Sigh of the King had ostracized the holy temple, it was likely difficult for Zhou Wen''s original advancement plan to succeed.


    If I can''t use a special physique to raise my stats to 21 points, how can I advance to the Epic stage? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    This fellow sure is interesting. Seeing Zhou Wen and Li Xuan leave, Lance turned and entered the Connate Holy Temple.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan rushed to the Sun God Temple, not because of the Sun Strafe Art, but because it was closest to the Connate Holy Temple.


    However, they did not know that the members of the six hero families were already gathered together, discussing how to deal with Zhou Wen.


    Previously, when Liz had gone to the various families to seek their cooperation, most of the members of the six hero families thought nothing of it. They felt that there was no need for them to involve themselves in dealing with Zhou Wen since An Jing wasn''t coming.


    However, who knew that John would have his Primordial Energy sea crippled by Zhou Wen despite leading more than ten people to teach him a lesson. Even the black-robed youth of the Xia family had been crippled.


    Zhou Wen appeared to be another An Tianzuo, making many of the members of the six hero families find it unbearable.


    "An Tianzuo has already humiliated our six families. Now, there''s another, Zhou Wen. Such a tendency cannot be encouraged. What do you think?" Xia Bing said coldly.


    The black-robed youth that Zhou Wen had robbed of his Primordial Energy sea in front of the Connate Holy Temple, was Xia Bing''s younger brother.


    "Originally, I couldn''t be bothered with him, but I never expected him to be so outrageous. We should really teach him a lesson. Otherwise, others will think that we are easily bullied. In the future, anyone will dare to bully us," Dugu Chuan of the Dugu family added.


    "Zhou Wen has to be crippled. However, he has an abnormally powerful Companion Beast on him. It can transform into a fan that can even withstand my Light of Judgment. If we can''t deal with the fan, I''m afraid it will be difficult to subdue him," John said weakly.


    "A Companion Beast Primordial Energy Skill that even the Light of Judgment can''t withstand is something we have to be wary of. If only the Goddess of Wind''s Protection was here. That treasure is most resistant to wind-elemental powers," said Xia Bing.


    John said with a bitter smile, "I did bring the Goddess of Wind''s Protection, but Zhou Wen snatched it away. However, even with the Goddess of Wind''s Protection, it was useless. After all, that item can only protect one person. The others will still be injured by the fan''s strength."


    Xia Bing and company were taken aback when they heard that. They never expected John to spend that much. He had even brought the Goddess of Wind''s Protection. It was a pity that Zhou Wen had robbed it from him.


    Dugu Chuan pondered for a moment before saying, "Such a Primordial Energy Skill definitely expends a great deal of Primordial Energy. All we need to do is use a tag-team strategy and expend his Primordial Energy. That way, it will be useless even if he has the fan."


    John hurriedly shook his head and said, "This method won''t work. When we were fighting him previously, he used it six times during the battle. However, he still had plenty of Primordial Energy to use other Primordial Energy Skills. I believe he has some treasure that can rapidly recover his Primordial Energy."


    "In that case, it''s really a big problem." Dugu Chuan frowned.


    "It''s not much trouble. Leave that fan to me," Xia Bing said.


    "Xia Bing, are you confident? We can''t fail again. Otherwise, the six hero families will become laughing stocks," Dugu Chuan said.


    "It''s not convenient for me to elaborate on the details, but don''t worry. As long as I confirm that the fan is a manifestation of the wind-elemental Companion Beast, I have a hundred percent chance of making it useless." Xia Bing was confident.


    "Alright, I''ll leave the fan problem to you. Let''s find Zhou Wen now," said Dugu Chuan as he stood up.


    "Wait," John called out to him.


    "Is there anything else?" Dugu Chuan frowned.


    John coughed lightly and said, "Besides possessing that fan, Zhou Wen is also very skilled in flight. Without using any flying Companion Beasts or mounts, he is able to move freely in the sky, almost like Superman. I wonder what Primordial Energy Skill he cultivates in or what kind of flying treasure he possesses. You have to be constantly on guard when you head over. Don''t let him use his flying abilities to escape."


    "Is it a wind-elemental flying skill?" Xia Bing asked.


    "I don''t think so. I didn''t sense the power of the wind on him." John shook his head.


    "This is a little troublesome. If it''s not a wind-elemental flying skill, I won''t be able to do anything to him," Xia Bing said with a frown.


    "Leave this problem to me. I promise I won''t let him escape," said a blonde youth.


    When Xia Bing and Dugu Chuan saw that the person who spoke was Pros, they all nodded slightly. They fully trusted his abilities and didn''t say anything else other than prepare to set off.


    "Wait," John called out to them again.


    "What else is there?" Xia Bing was getting impatient.


    "Zhou Wen still has a saber. It''s extremely sharp. My Legendary Snake of Brilliance was easily chopped apart by it. Also, the flying mounts we used previously were also split into two with a single strike. You have to be careful," John added.


    "What else do you know? Say it all at once." Dugu Chuan already had a headache.


    A terrifying pet, a powerful flying skill, and an extremely sharp weapon. Any one of these items was enough to make an ordinary person world famous. Yet, Zhou Wen actually had all three at the same time. It was no wonder that even John had been defeated by him. It wasn''t simply because of his incompetence.


    "There''s nothing else. By the way, Zhou Wen still has a Companion Beast. Its defensive strength is extremely high, making it difficult for ordinary Legendary weapons to injure it. There''s also a knight pet that has a powerful offensive and destructive power¡­" John added after some thought.


    Dugu Chuan, Xia Bing, and company looked at John as a thought arose in their minds. Who''s the real scion? Aren''t our six hero families the most powerful and rich families in the alliance? Why does it seem like Zhou Wen is richer than us?

 207 Battle in Front of the Temple

    When Zhou Wen and Li Xuan arrived at Sun God Temple, they were somewhat surprised to discover that there wasn''t a single person in front of it. Furthermore, the temple''s main door was open, proving that no one was undergoing a test.


    "That''s odd. Is the Sun God Temple that unpopular? Why isn''t anyone here undergoing the test?" Li Xuan looked around in puzzlement. Indeed, there was no one.


    "We came rather late after being caught up with matters. Perhaps the people who came here to take the test have already left." Zhou Wen walked towards the Sun God Temple''s interior, intending to give it a try. He wanted to know if the Sun God Temple really ostracized the special physiques.


    After Zhou Wen entered the temple, the door automatically closed. Li Xuan sat on the stone steps outside and waited for him.


    However, just as he sat down, he saw a group of people walk over. When Li Xuan took a glance, his expression changed drastically. His lackadaisical appearance instantly vanished as his expression turned solemn.


    The people who approached were all members of the six hero families, so it was obviously not a coincidence that they were here together.


    "You are Li Xuan from Luoyang''s Li family?" Nearly fifty people surrounded the temple as Xia Bing sized up Li Xuan.


    "I''m Li Xuan. Hello, Miss Xia." Li Xuan bowed slightly at Xia Bing.


    Li Xuan recognized Xia Bing. Among the six great hero families, the Xia family had its roots in the East District. It was the biggest and wealthiest family there. Even though the Li family was considered a wealthy family in Luoyang, it was nothing compared to the Xia family.


    Furthermore, the Li family and the Xia family had business dealings and had many connections. Even the Li family''s Invincible Connate Divine Art was obtained from the Xia family.


    "Since you addressed me as Miss Xia, I''ll let you leave on account of your father and second brother. Don''t interact with people like Zhou Wen again. It won''t do you any good," Xia Bing said as she walked towards the main door.


    "Miss Xia, Zhou Wen is undergoing a test inside. You can''t enter now," Li Xuan said with a smile, but he didn''t make way.


    "We are precisely waiting for him to take the test. Does he really think he can obtain the Sun God Body? An Tianzuo failed to obtain it. It will be the same for him. Furthermore, he has to pay the price," said Pros disdainfully.


    "What do you mean?" Li Xuan''s smile deepened, but he realized that something was amiss.


    Although Li Xuan didn''t know what they had done, things were definitely not that simple. Logically speaking, outsiders wouldn''t be able to enter the temple during someone''s test, nor would they be able to disturb the people inside.


    However, from the way Pros spoke, they clearly had a way of influencing Zhou Wen who was undergoing the trial. They might even be able to deal him some form of damage.


    "Cut the crap and get out of my way." Xia Bing was already impatient. She was infuriated that her brother had his Primordial Energy sea crippled by Zhou Wen. She couldn''t wait to personally destroy Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy sea.


    "Miss Xia, what are you planning to do?" Li Xuan didn''t move as he continued to block her way.


    Xia Bing frowned slightly as she stared at Li Xuan and said, "Li Xuan, do you have a death wish?"


    Seeing that he couldn''t get anything out of her, Li Xuan wiped away his smile and looked at Xia Bing. "Miss Xia, I really don''t wish to be enemies with you. However, the person undergoing the test is my friend. I haven''t had friends since I was young, and two of my friends died not long ago. It greatly upset me, so I really do not wish to see my friend get hurt. Can you tell me what you wish to do to Zhou Wen?"


    "To have the courage to say such things, Luoyang''s Li family can be considered quite impressive. However, you have to understand your limits, or you might not be able to bear the consequences," Xia Bing said.


    "Cut the crap with him. I''ll finish him off first before destroying Zhou Wen''s trial." Without Xia Bing''s patience, Pros threw a punch at Li Xuan. The fist flashed with terrifying lightning, bringing about horrifying beams of light.


    Li Xuan raised his fist to receive the punch. When the fists collided, Li Xuan''s body immediately trembled, as though he had been electrocuted, before he was sent flying by Pros''s punch.


    Li Xuan''s body slammed into the Sun God Temple''s door and he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood. However, he stumbled to his feet and walked back to Pros with gritted teeth.


    "You are courting death." With another punch, Pros''s lightning-like punch sent Li Xuan flying once again. It looked like Li Xuan was even more miserable than the last time.


    However, Li Xuan still stubbornly walked back. He looked like he was about to lose his footing, as though a gust of wind would topple him.


    Pros frowned and said, "Li Xuan, do you really want to die here? Is it worth it for Zhou Wen?"


    "I don''t want to see my friend get hurt again. Let him off, please?" Li Xuan muttered.


    "Pros, don''t waste any more time. Just cripple him," said Dugu Chuan.


    With a nod, Pros punched Li Xuan again, but this time, he struck Li Xuan''s abdomen.


    Typically, when a person cultivated in a Primordial Energy Art, they would need to store their Primordial Energy in one area. This area was the Primordial Energy sea, but the locations varied depending on the Primordial Energy Art.


    Most of the Primordial Energy sea was in the lower dantian, which was where the abdomen was. If the Primordial Energy sea was crippled, Primordial Energy would leak, making it impossible to store any more Primordial Energy. It was equivalent to being crippled.


    There were also some Primordial Energy Arts that had Primordial Energy seas not in the lower dantian, and that made it more difficult to find.


    Pros didn''t know where Li Xuan''s Primordial Energy sea was, so he first attacked Li Xuan''s abdomen. If his Primordial Energy sea was there, such a terrifying lightning blast could penetrate his Primordial Energy, causing his Primordial Energy to leak and turn him into a cripple.


    Bam!


    Li Xuan was sent flying once again. He looked even more miserable than before. He struggled to get up, but he staggered around, unable to even stand properly. Yet, he still attempted to get up and walk back.


    Everyone was perturbed. There were not many people in this era who would be so foolish for their friends.


    However, Xia Bing suddenly said with an odd expression, "Something''s not right. His body has a jade-like luster, and his eyes are faintly glowing. It''s a sign that he has mastered the Invincible Connate Divine Art. Such injuries are nothing to a Legendary who has cultivated the Invincible Connate Divine Art. Furthermore, his Primordial Energy sea isn''t in his lower dantian. It''s impossible for him to be in such a wretched state."


    Xia Bing''s words left everyone stunned. When Li Xuan heard Xia Bing''s words, his staggering body also straightened up. Wiping away the blood from his mouth, his entire bearing changed.


    "From the looks of it, I can''t hide it from you, Miss Xia." Li Xuan sighed slightly. He originally wanted to stall for time, but unfortunately, with Xia Bing, who was familiar with the Invincible Connate Divine Art, there was no use no matter how superb his acting was.


    When Pros saw that he had been fooled, he was immediately enraged. The lightning on his body flared as the bolts of lightning around his fist struck Li Xuan like a sun.


    Li Xuan didn''t retreat; instead, he advanced. A heavy sword that was wrapped in lightning appeared in his hand. Lightning flashed on the sword as it headed straight for Pros''s fist.


    Boom!


    Two types of lightning exploded in the sky, only to reveal Li Xuan standing proudly on the stone steps with his heavy sword in hand. As for Pros, he had taken a few steps back and spat out a mouthful of blood.

 208 Sun God Temple

    Everyone was astonished. Even among the six hero families, Pros was rather famous. It was truly shocking that he had been defeated by Li Xuan.


    "Isn''t that Thundergod General? The one he bought at the trading market actually had the Thundergod Augmentation skill. How lucky." Immediately, someone recognized the Thundergod Sword in Li Xuan''s hand.


    "He''s really lucky. He bought a Thundergod General with Thundergod Augmentation for only two million. This punk is really lucky," someone said jealously.


    Back at the trading market, Li Xuan''s spending of two million to buy a Thundergod Companion Egg had made him the target of mockery. It was a Companion Egg that could be bought for four to five hundred thousand outside; yet, he chose to spend two million here. It was an act of a fool.


    However, when they saw Thundergod General with Thundergod Augmentation, many of them turned green with envy.


    The Thundergod General was the best offensive pet among Legendaries. Even a fellow like Pros, who was adept at lightning-elemental forces, suffered quite a bit.


    "So Pros, who claims to be the son of lightning, is nothing much after all. He can''t even defeat the lightning forces of a Companion Beast. How disappointing." Li Xuan wanted to infuriate Pros and make him fight him alone. That way, he could delay things.


    "Pros, he''s deliberately trying to provoke you to stall for time," Xia Bing said.


    Pros nodded slightly as lightning flickered in his golden pupils. He stared at Li Xuan and said, "You''ve successfully provoked me, so die."


    However, he wasn''t the only one who made a move. A few members of the six hero families attacked Li Xuan in a bid to finish him off in the fastest time possible before destroying Zhou Wen''s trial.


    "I''ve been unknown for sixteen years. Today, I''m fighting the masses with one sword. I don''t seek a place in history, only an eternal name." Li Xuan held the Thundergod Sword in hand and stood proudly in front of the Sun God Temple. This was the first time he had looked this serious.


    The sword struck out like lightning, causing ripples to form as it surged towards the attacks of his assailants.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Wen walked into the temple, he originally thought of it as merely a palace, but after entering it, he realized that the inside of the temple was a void.


    In this void, there was a sun hanging high above. It emitted an extremely resplendent divine light, as though it was the center of this empty universe.


    At Zhou Wen''s feet were a stone staircase floating in the void, one that extended towards the sun.


    "Path seeker, step on the stone steps and walk towards the sun. The closer you are to the sun, the more likely it is for you to obtain the God of the Sun''s power." An ethereal voice sounded in the void.


    Zhou Wen didn''t sense any abnormal reaction from the Sigh of the King as he walked towards the stone steps ahead. After taking a few steps, he felt the temperature around him increase significantly.


    The temperature had risen quickly. After walking more than ten steps, Zhou Wen felt as though he had walked into a furnace.


    On the other hand, the chick on his shoulder looked like it was enjoying itself as if this heat made it very comfortable.


    Before Zhou Wen entered the hall, he had switched the Primordial Energy Art to the Ancient Imperial Sutra. The Ancient Imperial Sutra also seemed to have a portion of the power of fire, but it was completely different from the power of the Sun God Temple.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that Ancient Imperial Sutra''s powers of a similar trait would allow him to take advantage of the situation, but now, he realized that that wasn''t the case. Despite using all his strength to resist the sun''s mighty splendor, he was already covered in sweat after taking about twenty steps. If he continued walking another ten steps, he might end up dehydrated by the sun.


    With no other choice, Zhou Wen had no choice but to activate his Lotus Flower Buddha Body Primordial Energy Skill to resist the Sun God''s splendor. But even so, he only managed to take a few more steps; he was still a long way from the sun in the void.


    From the looks of it, ordinary people can''t withstand the power of the Sun God Temple. Unless they cultivate in a corresponding Primordial Energy Art and receive the recognition of the temple; otherwise, even an Epic expert wouldn''t be able to walk to the front of the sun. Zhou Wen already had the intention to retreat.


    He was only here to seek out a way to break through, not to risk his life. Since he knew that there was no possibility, there was no need to continue.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to retreat, the Ancient Imperial Sutra inside him automatically changed back into the Lost Immortal Sutra. The Lost Immortal Sutra slowly circulated as the originally ethereal Lost Immortal Sutra gradually turned warm.


    As the Lost Immortal Sutra heated up his Primordial Energy, the Sun God''s splendor around Zhou Wen''s body no longer seemed to be as hot as before. Zhou Wen immediately felt energized.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra has finally shown its effects. Could it be that there''s hope of advancing this time? Zhou Wen was delighted as he dispelled the thought of retreating and continued proceeding.


    After the Lost Immortal Sutra showed its effects, the effects of the Sun God''s splendor on him grew less and less. When it shone on Zhou Wen, he found it comfortably warm. It wasn''t anything like the scorching heat from before.


    If I were to cultivate in the Sun Strafe Art, the effect would probably be like this if I came to the Sun God Temple, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he walked towards the sun.


    The sun that seemed to be far away also seemed to become much closer. With every step Zhou Wen took, he could sense that he was rapidly approaching the sun.


    How is this a test? It''s clearly a selection. Those who are selected by the temple would be able to get close with a casual stroll, but those who aren''t selected will not be able to succeed no matter how hard they try. If not for the fact that the Lost Immortal Sutra is able to fool the terrifying existence here, even if I had advanced to the Epic stage, I wouldn''t have been able to reach the sun. Indeed, nothing in the world is fair. It''s the same for the miraculous Sun God Temple.


    As he pondered, Zhou Wen was getting closer and closer to the sun. The sun was no longer as blinding as before, allowing him to see it clearly.


    It turned out that it wasn''t a sun, but a golden seed. It looked like a pine nut, and its entire body was like a golden crystal.


    The seed emitted light and heat, making it look like a sun.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the chick on his shoulder and was surprised to see it still looking relaxed. It didn''t seem to be affected by the sun''s temperature at all.


    He had the Lost Immortal Sutra that played the role of confusing the Sun God Temple''s mechanism; therefore, he wasn''t suppressed by the power of the Sun God Temple. This was how he had managed to reach this point.


    However, the chick didn''t have the Lost Immortal Sutra. The fact that it relied on its body to withstand the forces made it rather terrifying.


    I wonder what level this chick''s mother is. From its appearance, it''s unlikely that its mother is as simple as an Epic creature. Zhou Wen proceeded forward step by step, approaching the seed without suffering any effects.


    Finally, when Zhou Wen was on the last stone step, the seed floated inches away from him. All he needed to do was stretch out his hand to obtain the sun-like seed.

 209 The Sun Disc

    Outside, Li Xuan had his back against the temple''s door. He brandished the Thundergod Sword crazily, blocking one attack after another.


    However, no matter how powerful he was, he couldn''t withstand all the attacks¡ªsword beams, battle aura, flames, ice, and various powers tore through the flaws in his moves, tearing apart the armor he was wearing. Even his Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Golden Silk Soft Armor was damaged from the numerous attacks.


    A terrifying sword beam directly tore through Li Xuan''s body of flesh and blood. The powerful battle aura made his bones produce cracking sounds, as all kinds of attacks left countless wounds on him.


    Li Xuan''s injuries were now in more than a hundred spots. However, he still stood in front of the hall and continued brandishing the Thundergod Sword, as though he was a tireless war machine.


    As for the injuries on his body, they healed at an unbelievable speed. Often, wounds that had just been formed would be healed a few seconds later. The wounds seemed to only flow through his body like water, disappearing from a mere flick.


    Xia Bing and the others were appalled by the rapid recovery of his injuries.


    Although the Invincible Connate Divine Art has powerful recovery abilities, he''s only at the Legendary stage. It can''t have such a powerful effect unless there''s something wrong with his Life Providence. Xia Bing had already guessed the reason, and she couldn''t help but feel envious and jealous.


    The Invincible Connate Divine Art was the first Primordial Energy Art the Xia family had obtained. It also corresponded to the Connate Holy Temple. However, the Invincible Connate Divine Art needed a virgin male to cultivate it. Once he wasn''t a virgin, he would become a cripple and it would require cultivating all over again. Therefore, the Xia family would only give up the Invincible Connate Divine Art unwillingly.


    Back then, one of the six heroes, a Xia family elder, had turned from an invincible hero to an ordinary person in order to get married and have children. In order to prevent such things from happening again, the Xia family''s elders had sought out several other Primordial Energy Arts to replace the Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    However, the Xia family had no intention of handing the Invincible Connate Divine Art over to someone else. The Li family had once helped the Xia family a great deal and suggested using the Invincible Connate Divine Art as an exchange. Although the Xia family had given it to them, it was only a simplified version. It was still far from the true Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    Furthermore, without the corresponding Connate Infinite Body, the power one was able to use with the Invincible Connate Divine Art was extremely limited.


    However, Li Xuan, who was only practicing a simplified version of the Invincible Connate Divine Art and didn''t even have a Connate Infinite Body, was able to condense a Life Providence that was in no way inferior to the Xia family''s hero. It was truly enviable.


    Li Xuan''s Life Providence was clearly different from that of the Xia family''s elders. Xia Bing only knew that of a powerful recovery ability, but she wasn''t too sure of its exact functions.


    "This fellow is an unkillable monster. There''s no point in fighting any further. If we don''t quickly enter the Sun God Temple, I''m afraid Zhou Wen will be out soon. All the work we did previously would be for nothing," said Dugu Chuan.


    "I know that too, but what can I do?" Pros pummeled Li Xuan''s chest with his punches, causing it to cave slightly. But in a blink of an eye, his chest bulged once again, as though he had never been injured.


    "I do have a Companion Beast that should be useful. Although it won''t kill him, it can control him. However, with this pet down, I''m afraid you''ll have to put in more effort when dealing with Zhou Wen later," said Dugu Chuan hesitantly.


    "Aren''t you aware of the situation? Let''s get rid of this monster first. As long as we destroy Zhou Wen''s trial, he''ll be severely injured. Will it be difficult for us to cripple him when that happens?" Pros said.


    "Alright." After some thought, Dugu Chuan agreed that it made sense. Without any hesitation, he summoned a Companion Beast.


    It was a huge, snow-white spider with blood-colored patterns on its back. The patterns looked like a woman''s face.


    In the next second, the spider transformed into a snow-white pole and landed in Dugu Chuan''s hands. Soon, he found an opportunity and struck Li Xuan with the snow-white pole.


    The weapon, that looked like a pole, instantly transformed into a huge net that bound Li Xuan''s body. Dugu Chuan pulled the net with all his might, trying to pull Li Xuan away from the door.


    Li Xuan tried using the Thundergod Sword to slice through the net, but it was stuck to the net. The more he struggled, the tighter the net became.


    However, Li Xuan was rather powerful. Dugu Chuan alone was unable to pull Li Xuan away.


    "Why aren''t you helping?" shouted Dugu Chuan. A few people beside him rushed over to help him pull the net and soon, Li Xuan''s figure was forcibly pulled out.


    After Dugu Chuan pulled Li Xuan away, he said to the nearby Pros, "Pros, we''ll hold him back for now. Quickly take action. Don''t let Zhou Wen complete the trial."


    "Alright, leave it to me. Don''t worry." Without the need for Dugu Chuan to mention it, Pros had already rushed to the door.


    Li Xuan wanted to stop him, but there was nothing he could do.


    Pros carried an item in his arms¡ªa sun disc. He searched the Sun God Temple''s main door for a while before he placed the sun disc into a groove on the door. The sun disc fitted perfectly with the door, as if they were born together.


    The sun disc was left behind by an elder of the Pros family who was also one of the six heroes of the past. The physique he obtained was the Sun God Body.


    The sun disc was also an item that the elder had taken out of the Sun God Temple. As the first-generation representative of the Sun God Temple, it gave him authority. If his descendants ever inherited the Sun God Body''s bloodline, then they could bring the sun disc back to the Sun God Temple and use the Sun God Body to activate the Sun God Body''s enhanced trial.


    An enhanced trial was specially prepared for people with the Sun God Body, and its difficulty far exceeded that of ordinary trials. Even people with the Sun God Body might not necessarily pass this trial, much less ordinary people.


    In the past, someone from the Pros family had attempted the enhanced trial at Sun God Temple with a Sun God Body, but in the end, not only was he unable to pass the trial, he was even seriously injured. He only fully recovered after three to four years of recuperation.


    It was quite a coincidence. Xia Bing and Pros knew that the An family had the Sun Strafe Art which was most compatible with the Sun God Temple. They believed that Zhou Wen must have cultivated the Sun Strafe Art and would come to Sun God Temple to take the test. This was why they set up this trap.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t cultivate in the Sun Strafe Art, it was a coincidence that he came to Sun God Temple. It could only be said that Pros and company hit the mark by fluke.


    Zhou Wen was just about to reach out to pluck the sun-like seed when he suddenly saw the seed light brighten up, turning abnormally resplendent.

 210 Getting the Seed

    As the seed''s temperature rose abnormally, the surrounding temperature also increased abruptly. Terrifying golden flames burned in the entire Sun God Temple, instantly filling the void.


    The seed was like a piece of golden glass with golden symbols shimmering within.


    Zhou Wen jumped in fright as his clothes ignited. He immediately knew that something was amiss. The Lost Immortal Sutra was only masquerading his physique after all. He didn''t really possess a Sun God Body, so if he was consumed by the flames, he would definitely be burnt to ashes.


    With the golden flames about to engulf him, Zhou Wen was just about to use his summoned banana fan when a cold sensation emanated from his neck as the flames on his body automatically extinguished.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he looked down and realized that the coolness had come from a pendant hanging around his neck. It was the ivory pendant Wang Mingyuan had given him before he left.


    The pendant that Teacher gave me isn''t an ordinary item? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed.


    Without any time to think, Zhou Wen held the banana fan and attempted to rush out of Sun God Temple. As for the seed, even though he wanted to attempt taking it, he didn''t dare to do so. The temperature on it was terrifyingly high, so even metal would melt upon contact.


    Suddenly, the chick on Zhou Wen''s shoulder opened its beak and inhaled. The golden flames surrounding Zhou Wen immediately gushed towards the chick''s mouth like a breach of a dam.


    Zhou Wen watched as the golden flames that filled the sky surged like a heavenly river into the chick''s tiny mouth. Its tiny body seemed like a bottomless abyss. All the golden flames¡ªno matter how many were there¡ªwere gone the moment they were sucked in.


    As the golden flames were swallowed, the pale yellow feathers on the chick''s body began to show a luster. Its feathers looked fuller with a faint golden glow.


    The more golden flames it absorbed, the more vibrant its feathers became. It even seemed to have grown bigger in size.


    Zhou Wen watched as the golden flames in the void were completely absorbed by the chick. The terrifying heat also vanished, leaving the seed glowing like a miniature sun.


    At that moment, the chick''s body had grown to the size of a pigeon. Its feathers were pale gold and looked like a pigeon with a somewhat special color.


    "It''s all thanks to you this time." Zhou Wen patted the chick''s head and stowed away the banana fan.


    Although the banana fan''s Grand Yin Wind could suppress the golden flames here, Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy was limited after all. With his Dao body''s recovery abilities, it was impossible for him to continuously use the Grand Yin Wind. He would have suffered no matter what.


    With the flames extinguished, Zhou Wen looked at the golden seed and frowned slightly. The golden symbol in the seed was still coruscating, allowing him to sense the extreme temperatures of the seed.


    He tried to grab it with his hand, but before his fingers could touch the seed, he felt as though he was scalded by the terrifying heat.


    Seeing that there was no way for him to obtain the seed, Zhou Wen had an idea. He took out his mysterious phone and aimed at the seed. Indeed, the camera had successfully locked onto the seed. With a snap, the seed immediately vanished and was stored into his phone.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be overjoyed. He hurriedly put away his phone and turned to leave.


    With the abrupt turn of events happening inside the Sun God Temple, Zhou Wen suspected that something had happened outside.


    Outside Sun God Temple, Pros and company were waiting for Zhou Wen to come out. Although there were others who wished for him to die there, they knew that he wouldn''t die so easily. However, it was likely that he would be severely injured.


    Facing a heavily injured Zhou Wen would most likely be a lot easier for them.


    If John hadn''t described Zhou Wen as he had, they wouldn''t have come up with such a plan. If this were any other time, they would have directly approached Zhou Wen and suppressed him with force.


    Boom!


    Finally, the door to the Sun God Temple opened. All of them hurriedly prepared their respective Companion Beasts and Primordial Energy Skills. They planned on taking Zhou Wen down when he rushed out.


    However, when they saw the situation inside the Sun God Temple''s main door, they were stunned.


    At the moment the divine palace opened, the carvings and patterns on it began to emit a holy glow. The stone palace that looked ancient was now resplendent in divine light, as though it was a palace found in myths.


    The portrait of the sun at the highest point of the palace emitted unparalleled light, as though it was announcing something to the world.


    "Why would there be a phenomenon at the Sun God Temple now? Isn''t this a phenomenon that will only happen after ten days? We are still days away before the trial ends. Why is it now¡­" The more Pros spoke, the softer his voice became and the nastier his expression became.


    He had already understood the only reason for such a situation to take place¡ªsomeone had already walked up to the sun seed and taken it away.


    However, the result of his guess was something that even Pros found unbelievable.


    Ignoring the fact that using the sun disc could enhance the difficulty of the trial, few people could walk to the sun seed and take it away in an ordinary Sun God Temple trial.


    Even in their families, only two people had done so after all these years. One of them was a first-generation hero, and the other was a person who had inherited the Sun God Body bloodline. The latter had obtained the sun seed by undergoing the ordinary trial.


    As for the enhanced trial, even if one had the Sun God Body, no one had ever obtained the sun seed. Zhou Wen naturally didn''t have the Sun God Body. Pros refused to believe that Zhou Wen was able to obtain it in the enhanced trial.


    However, no matter how much he refused to believe it, the truth was already in front of him. Zhou Wen had walked out unharmed; even the pigeon on his shoulder was unharmed.


    "Pros, what''s going on? Didn''t you say that no one can pass the enhanced trial? That without the Sun God Body, it''s unknown if one can even survive??" Seeing Zhou Wen unscathed, Dugu Chuan couldn''t help but question him.


    "How would I know!" Pros was also furious. He too wanted to know what was going on. This was completely different from what he imagined.


    "Now''s not the time to talk about this. Let''s take down Zhou Wen first and act according to plan. Even if he wasn''t injured in the temple, we can still cripple him," Xia Bing said as she drew her sword and attacked Zhou Wen.


    "You guys sure don''t know when to quit." Zhou Wen turned his gaze and saw Li Xuan bound in a white net like a fish. He immediately relaxed when he realized that he wasn''t in a terrible state.


    With Xia Bing and the others surrounding him, Zhou Wen held the banana fan and fanned them, sweeping out the Grand Yin Wind.


    However, to Zhou Wen''s surprise, Xia Bing held a calabash in her hand as she directed it at the Grand Yin Wind and sucked it in. The strong wind was sucked into the calabash, leaving nothing behind.

 211 Sun God Power Crystal

    Zhou Wen was alarmed. As for Dugu Chuan and the others, they were overjoyed. They increased the forces in their hands as all colors of light beams shot towards Zhou Wen.


    Pros was already prepared, ready to cast the Myriad Thunder Sky Dungeon at any time to prevent Zhou Wen from escaping through the sky.


    Dugu Chuan summoned a strange shield to block Zhou Wen''s sharp Bamboo Blade.


    Xia Bing also summoned three Companion Beasts, preparing to restrain Zhou Wen''s Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and Mutated Demonized General.


    The others also showcased their full range of abilities, hoping to take down Zhou Wen on the spot, leaving him no room to resist.


    However, before Zhou Wen could draw his saber, the chick on his shoulder suddenly spat out resplendent light from its mouth. Golden flames spewed out like a flood, instantly turning the square outside Sun God Temple into an inferno.


    Immediately, tragic screams sounded out as everyone was left dumbfounded. They had prepared meticulously for this for so long, having thought of several strategies to use against him. Yet, before those strategies could be used, all of them were burnt to a crisp by the chick on Zhou Wen''s shoulder.


    At once, there were endless cries of agony. Many people were screaming as they rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on them. Some even took off their clothes while running.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen drew his saber and charged in. Without throwing any caution to the wind, he mercilessly stabbed their dantians.


    Most people had their Primordial Energy sea in their dantians. So with Zhou Wen''s stab, they were practically crippled.


    The few who didn''t have Primordial Energy seas at their dantian weren''t any better when they were impaled by Zhou Wen in their abdomens. They writhed on the ground, screaming endlessly.


    Zhou Wen tried finding Xia Bing in the chaos, but she was nowhere to be seen. Even Dugu Chuan had disappeared. As for Pros, he had attempted to escape amidst the chaos but was still slashed at by Zhou Wen.


    Pros, feeling alarmed and furious, summoned his Companion Beast to block Zhou Wen. He still had full intention of escaping, having no illusions that he could put up a fight.


    The chick''s flames had frightened him out of his wits. There were many Legendary Companion Beasts that could spew fire, but to be able to instantly turn an entire square into a sea of flames was something that he had never seen before.


    What was even scarier was that those golden flames were clearly not ordinary flames. They could even burn through defensive battle auras. It was appalling.


    However, Pros wasn''t as fast as Zhou Wen no matter how fast he fled. Zhou Wen split his Companion Beast into two and slashed his saber at him.


    In this perilous situation, Pros turned around and summoned a gigantic ax to meet Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade. However, the gigantic ax was cleaved apart upon contact.


    In his shock, he didn''t dare fight anymore and retreated as fast as he could.


    With a flash, Zhou Wen pierced through Pros''s dantian, causing him to fall to the ground in pain.


    Zhou Wen withdrew his saber but didn''t look at him. He brandished his saber and stormed through the crowd. Bamboo Blade sliced through everything it met, be they Primordial Gold weapons or Companion Beast weapons. It was terrifyingly sharp.


    To have a single person chase after dozens of people, with the pursuees being members of the six hero family would probably deal a shock to the League if they saw this scene.


    Fortunately, other than the members of the six families, there were only a few descendants of powerful figures from all over the world. Not many were there to watch.


    There was only one spot for all the big shots in the world, unlike the juniors of the six hero families. As long as they were young and strong enough, they could enter the Holy Land.


    After they entered, they headed straight for the Holy Land that they had set their sights on. No one wasted time wandering around.


    Originally, Xia Bing and company believed that other than Zhou Wen, it was unlikely that descendants of other big shots would choose the Sun God Temple. Therefore, it was unlikely for anyone to see this.


    However, to their dismay, this scene was witnessed by someone who had even recorded it.


    The incident of An Tianzuo crippling the six hero families has been repeated. That guy is so strong, the person praised as he recorded.


    However, he was rather careful. He only hid in the shadows and didn''t expose himself while recording, afraid that the six families would discover him.


    By the time the battle ended, the people on the square were all lying on the ground, clutching their abdomens and screaming.


    The spider web which bound Li Xuan had been burnt through by the golden flames, protecting him as a result. After escaping, Li Xuan joined the battle without any hesitation. However, he wasn''t beating people, but plundering those who collapsed.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel regretful that he hadn''t found Xia Bing. He wanted to know what the calabash in her hand was.


    After plundering the area with Li Xuan, the two of them left, leaving behind the children from the six family clans screaming in pain.


    When they arrived in an uninhabited cave, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan sat down to divide the loot. After all, they didn''t know what breed the Companion Eggs were. Each person got half the pile, allowing Zhou Wen to obtain twenty-six Companion Eggs. They definitely wouldn''t be cheap considering who had purchased them.


    Zhou Wen planned on finding a time to use his mysterious phone to check the attributes of the Companion Eggs before choosing to hatch or fuse them.


    The worst ones were, of course, a present for the Banana Fairy.


    As Zhou Wen was making his plans, the chick flew down from his shoulder and pecked at a Companion Egg. It lowered its head and sucked all the essence in it.


    Since the chick had just helped tremendously, eating two Companion Eggs wasn''t a big deal. In a rare instance, Zhou Wen generously gave it another Companion Egg. But to his surprise, it didn''t show any appreciation. It didn''t even look at it as though it was completely uninterested.


    "You''re rather picky with food. Even the better if you aren''t eating it." Zhou Wen put away the Companion Eggs and ignored the chick.


    Compared to a Companion Egg, he was more interested in the sun seed. He wanted to know what it was.


    Previously, he had been in a hurry to come out and had taken in the sun seed into his mysterious phone, so he hadn''t had a chance to look at it again. He took out his cell phone to take a look and, seeing that the sun seed was still in the blood-colored avatar''s hand, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Using his phone to check the sun seed''s attributes, he was slightly taken aback.


    Sun God Power Crystal: A product of the Sun God''s blood essence. Absorbing it will improve one''s body.


    A choice to absorb or not appeared on the game screen. Zhou Wen didn''t sense any rejection from the Sigh of the King, so he chose to absorb it.


    The Sun God Power Crystal immediately transformed into a golden beam that fused into the blood-colored avatar''s body. This made Zhou Wen also feel a burning sensation surge into his body, causing his body to heat up.


    When everything returned to normal, Zhou Wen saw that the blood-colored avatar''s Strength stat had already changed to 21. And behind 21, there was also the word (Sun).


    What does that mean? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.

 212 Trajectory Holy Temple

    Zhou Wen attempted using his Strength, but he didn''t sense any additional attributes or burning effects. He didn''t know what the word "Sun" behind Strength meant.


    However, he had finally found a way to make a breakthrough. Zhou Wen planned on visiting the other temples. If he could succeed in obtaining Power Crystals there, he might be able to advance to the Epic stage. When that happened, learning the Mutated Fairy Skill would be a piece of cake.


    Among the six holy temples, Zhou Wen had already been to two¡ªthe Connate and Sun God Holy Temples. The nearest one to them was the Divine Emperor Holy Temple.


    However, after some consideration, Zhou Wen didn''t head to the Divine Emperor Holy Temple. Instead, he headed for one that was slightly further away.


    Zhou Wen had seen John''s Holy Emperor body before and guessed that it was likely a Strength-type physique. The Sun God Holy Temple had boosted his Strength, and the two seemed to overlap.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen planned on taking a look at the Trajectory Holy Temple first. It was said that it gave one the physique¡ªBody of Trajectory; it was the most mysterious physique among the six.


    The Dugu family, which had the Body of Trajectory, didn''t seem to offer any outstanding performance. Hence, this physique was the most controversial. Some people even claimed that the owner of the Body of Trajectory, the first-generation hero of the Dugu family, didn''t deserve to be ranked alongside the other five heroes.


    However, the Dugu family''s lineage had continued most stably amongst the six families to date. In contrast, the other five families were more famous and had more power.


    However, they would occasionally have people die for various reasons. However, up till now, no one from the Dugu line died.


    The other first-generation heroes of the five families were mostly dead, but the original hero of the Dugu family remained alive and well. Now, the power of the Dugu family was so great that it was ranked in the top three of the six families.


    Quite a number of people jested in private that having superior martial arts wasn''t as good as having a long life. The Dugu family''s hero had outlasted several young heroes of the other five families. In the future, perhaps once the members of the five families were all dead, the Dugu family would be able to rule the world.


    The name¡ªTrajectory¡ªtogether with the fact that the people from the Dugu family had long lifespans, made Zhou Wen suspect that the Body of Trajectory was a Speed-type physique. Therefore, members of the Dugu family could escape quickly. This allowed them to survive several dangers and stay alive.


    Zhou Wen was extremely interested in opportunities to augment his escaping abilities, so he planned on heading to the Trajectory Holy Temple to take a look.


    Many of the people from the six families had been crippled by Zhou Wen, so the few remaining ones didn''t dare cause him trouble. It was as though they had vanished into thin air.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan spent more than a day walking in the Holy Land without meeting a single member of the six families. Instead, they encountered the descendants of several powerful figures from other places.


    Those people had indifferent attitudes towards Zhou Wen. They neither offended him nor showed any intention of getting cozy with him. Clearly, they didn''t wish to interfere in the feud between Zhou Wen and the six families.


    When they arrived at the Trajectory Holy Temple, there was no one outside, but the door was closed. Clearly, someone was undergoing a test inside.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan could only wait outside. Zhou Wen took out his cell phone and continued gaming while Li Xuan studied them, having the intention of hatching them all.


    After waiting for a while, they suddenly heard a rumble. The door to Trajectory Holy Temple opened and a person rushed out.


    The person really sped out and ran very quickly. Furthermore, his hair was disheveled and he looked like a lunatic. His face was awash with extreme horror as though he had seen something unbelievable.


    "Don''t kill me¡­ Don''t kill me¡­ I didn''t see anything¡­ I didn''t see anything¡­"


    "Pal, what''s wrong?" Li Xuan went forward to stop the person and pressed his shoulder as he asked.


    Li Xuan wanted to ask what exactly was going on in the Trajectory Holy Temple to scare him to such an extent.


    However, the moment Li Xuan pressed down on the man''s shoulder, the man immediately turned pale from fright. What happened next shocked Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    The person reached out and stabbed his eyes until they were two bloody holes. Then, he struggled to free himself from Li Xuan''s grasp. As he ran, he shouted, "I didn''t see anything¡­ Don''t kill me¡­ Don''t kill me¡­"


    The duo was stunned as they looked at the bloodstains on the ground, wondering if they were dreaming.


    "Old Zhou, I think it''s best if we don''t enter this Holy Temple. Although we aren''t afraid of death, if we become a lunatic like that fellow, it''ll be a fate worse than death." Li Xuan gulped his saliva and turned to look at the Trajectory Holy Temple. The way he looked at it was as though it was a diabolical den.


    "Indeed." Zhou Wen felt that what Li Xuan said made sense. He didn''t wish to become a lunatic, and he was indeed afraid of death.


    The Holy Land appeared extremely safe without any dimensional creatures threatening their lives; however, the real danger was within the temples.


    Previously, the Sun God Holy Temple had nearly injured Zhou Wen. With the Trajectory Holy Temple being so bizarre, Zhou Wen felt that he didn''t necessarily have to enter.


    The two of them had a short discussion before preparing to leave. But at that moment, they saw the crazy man who had just stabbed his eyes run back again.


    His eyes were still bleeding and he looked extremely terrifying. As he ran, he shouted, "Help¡­ Help¡­"


    His eyes were blinded, so he stumbled as he ran. It took him a few stumbles before coming in front of the duo. He fell to the ground and hugged Li Xuan''s thigh. "Save me¡­ I don''t want to die¡­ Save me¡­"


    Li Xuan could sense that his body was trembling terribly, as though something extremely terrifying had affected his thoughts, causing such intense convulsions.


    "What happened? Tell me clearly first." Li Xuan felt apologetic towards the person, so he didn''t push him away and comforted him.


    Li Xuan thought that if he hadn''t stopped this person just now, this person might not have blinded his eyes.


    Even a lunatic would be happier to see things than being blind.


    The person hugged Li Xuan''s calf and said in an extremely terrified tone, "I saw a ship¡ªa very, very large ship. Someone on the ship was engaging in murder. All of them died¡­ All of them died¡­ I didn''t see anything¡­ Don''t kill me¡­ Don''t kill me¡­"


    The person said a few more words before his madness worsened. He released Li Xuan''s leg and attempted to escape again.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand to pull the person. Since he was blind, there was a chance of him running off a cliff to certain death.


    Zhou Wen grabbed the man''s arm, but the man struggled with all his might. He managed to escape with his extraordinary strength, but his sleeve was ripped off by Zhou Wen.


    When his gaze landed on the man''s arm, Zhou Wen''s pupils constricted. On the man''s arm, there was an anchor-like tattoo.

 213 Lunatic

    This was not the first time Zhou Wen had seen an image of the anchor. This was because women were typically taboo to sailors out at sea. Therefore, it was impossible for women to be engraved on an anchor, but this anchor symbol had a woman''s side profile on it. This left a deep impression on him.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t figured out what the anchor symbol meant, so he was rather curious. Now, suddenly seeing such a tattoo on the person''s arm, he really wanted to ask him about the origins of it.


    Alas, this person was another lunatic. He was running around like a madman. Despite being blind, he kept running. He stumbled and fell several times but refused to stop.


    He mentioned that he had seen a ship, and that someone was engaging in murder on it. Does that anchor symbol have any relationship to the ship he mentioned? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Looking at the ancient Trajectory Holy Temple in the distance, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that his previous guess was wrong.


    Most of the six original heroes died in the dimensional zones. Only the old hero of the Dugu family remained well and alive. Perhaps it was not because he had run the fastest.


    From the looks of it, he must have seen something terrifying in the Trajectory Holy Temple. Typically, there are two possibilities. One is that there''s really something terrifying inside which is why he is so afraid. Another possibility is that there aren''t any terrifying things inside. All he saw was an illusion. Either way, this doesn''t look like a test of Speed-type physique. As Zhou Wen was in thought, the person had slammed himself into a tree due to his blindness. He fainted as a result.


    Zhou Wen walked to the madman and checked his injuries. He realized that he had only suffered superficial wounds and there weren''t any serious problems. He had only fainted.


    "Do you know who he is?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    Those who were able to enter the Holy Land were either descendants of the six heroes or the representatives of powerful figures. Although Zhou Wen didn''t know him, a knowledgeable person like Li Xuan might.


    If he could figure out the identity of this lunatic, he might be able to figure out something about him.


    However, Li Xuan shook his head and said, "I don''t know him. However, judging from his attire, he doesn''t look like someone from the six families. He might be here to represent some big shot."


    With Li Xuan not being able to recognize him, Zhou Wen was out of ideas as he said to Li Xuan, "Is there any way to take him out? He''s a lunatic and now he''s blind. If we leave him here, he might not be able to survive."


    "I''m afraid there''s no other way now. It''s easy to enter the Holy Land, but to leave, the six temples need to make a decision regarding their successors before a path will be opened. Now, no one can leave," Li Xuan said with a shake of his head.


    Zhou Wen had the intention of taking him out and asking about his background, but if he had to wait that long, it wouldn''t be convenient to take a lunatic along the way.


    "Let''s do this. Tie him on my mount and we can bring him with us. After all, I caused him to become blind. It''s not good to leave him here," Li Xuan said with a sigh.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen happened to share the same thoughts, so he immediately agreed.


    After Li Xuan summoned a pet cow, the duo lifted the madman onto the cow''s back and used a rope to secure him on it before continuing on their journey to the other temples.


    After walking for a short distance, they heard the crazy man on the cow''s back speaking. The two of them thought that he had woken up, but when they took a closer look, they saw him lying there and muttering to himself as if he was deliriously talking in a dream.


    "Trajectory Holy Temple¡­ I must go to the Trajectory Holy Temple¡­ As long as I enter the Trajectory Holy Temple, I''ll know what exactly happened on the ship¡­ Why are they killing each other¡­ Why¡­ Don''t¡­ Don''t kill me¡­ Don''t kill me¡­ I didn''t see anything¡­" He mumbled incoherently in his dreams. Everything was fine at first, but it developed into a nightmare-like wail.


    After listening for a while, Zhou Wen suddenly had the urge to enter the Trajectory Holy Temple to take a look.


    Although this lunatic was somewhat incoherent, from what he had said, it was very possible that he had indeed been on a ship before. However, something unexpected had happened on the ship in the end. The people on the ship had been killing each other or killing someone. And this person had survived.


    However, even the person in question didn''t know what had happened on the ship back then, so he wanted to use the power of the Trajectory Holy Temple to find out.


    If this theory was valid, then the power in the Trajectory Holy Temple''s trajectory was very likely to allow people to see the past. That was why this person wanted to use its power.


    In other words, it shouldn''t be because the power in the Trajectory Holy Temple had driven him mad. It was the happenings on the ship that he had seen that left him so frightened.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the man seemed to wake up from his nightmare. He immediately straightened his body, but he couldn''t sit up after being tied down. He could only stick to the cow''s back as his body stiffened like a stick.


    "Who are you? What are you trying to do?" the lunatic shouted in horror.


    "Brother, don''t be afraid. We don''t have any ill intentions. We were afraid that you would go crazy and run around, so we tied you up on the cow''s back. When the exit is opened, we will take you out of the Holy Land. The treatment techniques these days are excellent, and with the usable powers of a Companion Beast, you can definitely have your eyes healed." Li Xuan didn''t care if he could understand and spoke quickly.


    That person seemed to sober up a little. He wasn''t as afraid as before, but he was still a little agitated. He shouted, "I don''t want to leave! Let go of me! I want to enter the Trajectory Holy Temple¡­"


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan exchanged looks and could see the shock in each other''s eyes. This person had been so afraid moments ago that he was about to commit suicide, but now, he was insisting on returning to the Trajectory Holy Temple. It was truly baffling what he was up to.


    "Brother, don''t be agitated. You just came out from the Trajectory Holy Temple. Why do you want to enter now?" Li Xuan asked curiously.


    "I want¡­ I want¡­" The madman thought for a long period of time but couldn''t come up with a reason. Then, he suddenly froze and said in a daze, "What do I want? What do I want?"


    "This person is really crazy." Li Xuan shook his head with a wry smile.


    Zhou Wen looked at the lunatic with a frown without saying a word. He really was curious about the madman''s affairs, but from the looks of it, he was unlikely to fathom anything out. This fellow''s brain was completely damaged.


    The madman suddenly used all his strength to break the rope. He jumped off the cow''s back and ran in the direction of the Trajectory Holy Temple. His speed was so surprisingly fast that Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn''t react in time.

 214 Unable to Tell the Truth

    Xia Bing, Dugu Chuan, and the others were gathered together, their expressions not looking very good.


    More than thirty people from the six families that had entered the Holy Land had been crippled by Zhou Wen. This was only thanks to some people''s Primordial Energy sea not being located at the lower dantian; otherwise, there would have been even more.


    "Zhou Wen is another An Tianzuo. If we were to let him leave the Holy Land, the reputation of our six families will be destroyed." John''s face was pale, but he was flushed red from agitation.


    "So what if you don''t let him leave? Which one of you has the means to restrain his Companion Beast?" Xia Bing said coldly.


    "I''m not afraid of that kind of flame, but I''m no match for Zhou Wen alone. This fellow''s Companion Beast is just too powerful. The An family has been in charge of the Primordial Gold mine for so many years that they are filthy rich. In terms of wealth, they aren''t much inferior to our six families put together. From the looks of it, they went all out this time to smack us in the face," Dugu Chuan said with a sigh. He imagined that Zhou Wen was a result of the An family''s arrangements.


    "If I had known this would happen, I would have made more preparations. In terms of Companion Beasts, our family won''t lose to them in terms of quantity. It''s not impossible for us to incubate a few Epic Companion Beasts. At most, we would have to pay a tiny price." Pros was feeling both angry and hateful.


    His Primordial Energy sea was not in his lower dantian, so he wasn''t crippled. However, he didn''t feel good after being stabbed in his abdomen.


    "What''s the point of all this hindsight? If I had known, I would''ve cried like a woman and thrown a tantrum. I would''ve taken the Mythical Companion Egg from my aunt and wouldn''t have allowed Zhou Wen to be so arrogant," said Dugu Chuan gloomily.


    Many of the six families'' members had special physiques, ones that allowed them to explore certain special dimensional zones. If they had a certain affinity, they would be able to obtain a Mythical Companion Egg like Zhou Wen in Small Buddha Temple.


    A few of them had previously obtained Mythical Companion Eggs. However, they were only at the Mortal stage when they hatched. They needed to be fed for growth. As for whether they could advance to the Mythical stage, it was still an unknown.


    After all these years, it was rare for one to actually raise a Companion Egg to the Mythical stage. It was rare even in the six families.


    Ever since Dugu Chuan inherited his family''s Body of Trajectory, he had a chance to incubate a Mythical pet. However, it wasn''t safe enough. Therefore, Dugu Chuan''s aunt hadn''t given him the Mythical egg she had single-handedly obtained in the dimensional zone.


    Pros glanced at Xia Bing and said, "You have foresight. That calabash should be a Mythical Companion Beast, right?"


    "Now isn''t the time to talk about this. Let''s think about how to deal with Zhou Wen first," Xia Bing said indifferently without answering the question.


    "What else is there? We don''t have any powerful Companion Beasts that can fight Zhou Wen. It''s useless no matter what ideas we come up with. In this Holy Land, only one person from our six families can defeat Zhou Wen," John said.


    "You mean Lance?" Xia Bing frowned.


    "He''s the only one." John nodded.


    "But didn''t you say earlier that Lance has already rejected the request? With his personality, he won''t do a thing," Xia Bing said.


    "Now, things are different. People from his family have also been crippled by Zhou Wen. Even if Lance doesn''t help us, is he going to ignore kinship?" John asked.


    Xia Bing and the others looked at each other, realizing that what John said made sense.


    "Although what you said is true, you know Lance''s personality too. He''s very strange and it''s not necessarily possible. Let''s go find Lance first." As Dugu Chuan spoke, he prepared to get up.


    "Hold on. Tell Lance that Zhou Wen has two Mythical pets after you find him," John suddenly said.


    Dugu Chuan and company were slightly taken aback. Although Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts were powerful, they didn''t think in the direction of the Mythical Beast. They only believed that Zhou Wen had used some special method to hatch an Epic Companion Egg.


    Due to the lack of special physiques, it was impossible for him to obtain a Mythical Companion Egg, much less incubate it. Zhou Wen didn''t have the bloodline of the six families, so it was impossible for him to have inherited a special physique. How could he have a Mythical Beast?


    Therefore, they believed that Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts only had high levels and powerful techniques.


    "Zhou Wen''s bird and fan are Mythical Companion Beasts?" asked Dugu Chuan as he stared at John.


    "Is it really that important? As long as it intrigues Lance, no?" John said with a smile.


    Dugu Chuan immediately understood and nodded slightly. "Alright then. Those two pets indeed have extraordinary qualities and look like mythical pets."


    When Dugu Chuan took his guys to look for Lance, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were sitting in front of the Trajectory Holy Temple''s entrance, waiting.


    That blind madman had actually charged into the Trajectory Holy Temple again. They wanted to wait for the lunatic to come out before reassessing the situation.


    "Old Zhou, do you think that lunatic''s words are reliable? If it''s really as he said, wouldn''t the power inside the Trajectory Holy Temple be something that can''t be seen?" Li Xuan said casually as he was bored.


    "I don''t know. You''ll need to enter to know." Zhou Wen stared at the temple''s door. He was already tempted, but he didn''t want to take the risk.


    Earlier on, he had searched the surroundings of the Trajectory Holy Temple, but he hadn''t found any sign of the tiny palm, preventing him from downloading this place into his phone.


    Strange, why don''t the dimensional zones in the Holy Land have tiny palm symbols? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. If he could download them onto his cell phone, he could enter all the Holy Land without any scruples.


    "If I must say, he''s a lunatic. He''s definitely spouting nonsense. Think about it. Although the League controls the entire Earth in name, it doesn''t dare head into the sea, nor do they dare go out to sea. That lunatic is only the same age as us. He''s definitely still a student. How can he head out to sea on a ship at such a young age? Therefore, what he said must be illusions he saw in the Trajectory Holy Temple," Li theorized.


    Li Xuan''s words reminded Zhou Wen that going on a cruise was probably something that had happened before the dimensional storms came. After the dimensional storms, even an aircraft carrier wouldn''t return once it set off, much less an ordinary cruise ship.


    It was impossible for an ordinary person to board a ship to head out into the sea. Just like them, this lunatic was a young man who was participating in the trials. At his age, even if his elders had the ability to go out to sea, they wouldn''t dare take him along.


    Could it be that the power in the Trajectory Holy Temple is just an illusion? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    The anchor symbol on the lunatic''s arm still bothered him. Moreover, that lunatic had also said that he wanted to use the power of the Trajectory Holy Temple to see what had happened in the past.


    From the looks of it, I''ll only know if that lunatic''s words are true after I enter the Trajectory Holy Temple and take a look. As Zhou Wen pondered, the temple''s door slowly opened.


    The madman was lying in front of the door with one hand on the sill, motionless. They couldn''t tell if he was dead or unconscious.

 215 Crossroads

    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan hurriedly went over and pulled the lunatic''s hand out of the door.


    When they went over, both of them had been very careful and hadn''t crossed the threshold. As long as they didn''t cross it, it wouldn''t be considered as entering the temple for a trial.


    However, just as Zhou Wen grabbed the madman''s hand, he felt a strange force from inside the Trajectory Holy Temple pull him in.


    Zhou Wen immediately sensed that something was amiss. He and Li Xuan had clearly held onto the madman''s hand at the same time without crossing the threshold. Why was Li Xuan fine, but he had been pulled into the door by some force?


    Li Xuan reached out his hand to grab Zhou Wen, but it was too late. Zhou Wen was sucked inside and with a bang, the door to the temple automatically closed and left Li Xuan outside.


    Seeing that he and the lunatic were locked inside, Zhou Wen pulled the lunatic away in a bid to head back. Typically, even if the trial had begun, he could still choose to withdraw.


    However, when Zhou Wen turned around, he was dumbfounded. There was no stone door behind him. Not only so, was nothing there, but there was only a straight road leading far into the distance. At the end of the road were blue skies and white clouds.


    Zhou Wen turned his body 360 degrees and immediately realized that he and the lunatic were standing at a crossroads. All four directions led straight to the horizon. Apart from the road, there was nothing else.


    Neither the holy temple or stone walls existed.


    "What''s happening? Is the test to get us to choose a path? But the four directions are the same. How do we choose? You need to give us some hints, right?" Zhou Wen shouted into the sky.


    There had to be some creature in the temple controlling everything; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been pulled in. However, Zhou Wen didn''t hear any response after waiting for quite a while.


    At that moment, the unconscious lunatic woke up. He rubbed his head and sat up, then sized up his surroundings. His face was filled with confusion.


    The lunatic didn''t look as crazy as before while he asked, "What is this place?"


    "Haven''t you entered the Trajectory Holy Temple twice?" Zhou Wen gave him an odd expression. He had clearly been blinded, but he was now completely fine.


    "This is the Trajectory Holy Temple? Isn''t there a ship in the Trajectory Holy Temple?" The madman looked at Zhou Wen in surprise as though he was trying to determine if what Zhou Wen said was true.


    "You saw a ship when you entered the Trajectory Holy Temple before?" Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. If that ship was really an illusion that only the lunatic could see, it would be very difficult for him to get anything out of the lunatic''s mouth.


    "That''s right, it''s a ship." When he mentioned it, the expression on his face changed again, but fortunately, he didn''t act up like before.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly changed the topic and pointed at the anchor tattoo on his arm. "This tattoo of yours is rather interesting. Is there any special meaning to it?"


    The madman seemed to be lost as he subconsciously answered, "This was tattooed by my father when I was young. He was a sailor and he said that this was the mark of their ship. When I grow up, I can become a sailor like him and work on his ship."


    "Are there still sailor professions these days?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement. From what he knew, no ship had dared to enter the sea in the past few decades. Even if someone were to enter, they would still be Epic experts steering a Companion Beast. A ship wouldn''t be required, much less a sailor.


    "Yes, why not? Our hometown has many fishing boats that go out to sea every day to fish. It''s just that my dad''s ship is different. It''s a ship that travels across many countries and sells different goods to different countries." The lunatic looked much more awake.


    "Wait, you mentioned countries?" Zhou Wen stared at the madman with an odd expression, trying to determine if he was being fooled.


    Countries were a concept before the dimensional storms. After the dimensional storms, there was only the League and no countries. Humans had united together to survive that calamity.


    "That''s right. Is there something wrong?" The madman looked at Zhou Wen in astonishment as though whatever he said could only be right.


    "Brother, how old are you?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Seventeen, why are you asking this?" the madman asked, puzzled.


    "Then are you joking with me? After the dimensional storms, how can there be any countries? There are dimensional zones everywhere over the sea. No one in the League dares to enter the sea now, much less fish. It would be pretty good if they weren''t eaten by fish," Zhou Wen said.


    "What do you mean? What League? What dimensional storm?" The madman looked at Zhou Wen like he was looking at a lunatic.


    "Alright, don''t tell me that you were born before the dimensional storms." Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the lunatic. He felt that this person was messing with him. Perhaps he hadn''t gone mad from the beginning.


    The madman looked at Zhou Wen seriously and said, "I don''t know what you mean by that. My name is Ah Lai. I was born in a town not far from the seaside named Langya Town. I came here for¡­ to¡­"


    At this point, Ah Lai was stunned, as if he couldn''t recall why he had come here.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if this person was mad or faking it, so he asked, "How did you know about the Holy Land and how did you come here?"


    "What Holy Land? Isn''t this the Six Path Temples?" asked Ah Lai in puzzlement.


    "The Six Path Temples?" Zhou Wen was also dumbfounded. He felt like he was communicating with an alien, completely at a loss as to what the man was talking about.


    "That''s right. It''s the Six Path Temples. This is¡­" Ah Lai realized that he couldn''t recall anything. He rubbed his head, but he still couldn''t think of it.


    "You know that this is the Trajectory Holy Temple, right?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "That''s right. This is one of the Six Path Temples, the Trajectory Holy Temple," Ah Lai answered with certainty.


    "Do you still remember why you came here?" Zhou Wen continued asking.


    Ah Lai thought about it, and his expression gradually turned ugly. "I seem to remember that I followed Dad onto his ship, then¡­ then¡­ we encountered a storm¡­ After that¡­ After that¡­"


    At this point, Ah Lai suddenly hugged his head and screamed out in pain. Soon, he fell to the ground and twitched continuously. He passed out shortly after.


    Zhou Wen checked his body and realized that he wasn''t faking it. Zhou Wen was confused.


    What''s wrong with this fellow? Is he really¡­ Impossible¡­ He''s only seventeen¡­ Impossible¡­ Zhou Wen looked at Ah Lai as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.


    Since Ah Lai didn''t wake up, Zhou Wen had no choice but to think of a way out. However, all he could see was four straight roads.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, made it carry Ah Lai, and chose a direction to walk in.

 216 Trajectory Crystal

    There was no concept of north or south, east or west here. Zhou Wen carefully observed his surroundings for a long time, but he failed to discover any differences. All he could do was choose one.


    It was no longer within Zhou Wen''s consideration whether he could pass the trial. All he wanted was to leave quickly and leave the Holy Land before getting the League''s authorities to investigate Ah Lai''s origins.


    Every person who entered the Holy Land had their information recorded. If he had entered with the rest of them, information about him was definitely available.


    If there''s no information about him¡­ The corners of Zhou Wen''s eyes twitched when he thought of this.


    The road seemed endless as it extended to the end of the horizon. After more than an hour of walking, the surrounding scenery remained unchanged.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized that there was something different in front of him. He quickened his pace and continued proceeding. He discovered that there was another crossroad ahead of him¡ªit didn''t seem different from the one he had set off from. The only difference was that there was another stone statue in the middle of the crossroad.


    The stone statue was a three to four meter tall root. The four sides of the stone statue were faces. The face that faced Zhou Wen said, "Congratulations, Human. You have completed the test and can become the representative of the Trajectory Holy Temple in the mortal world."


    The moment the stone statue said that, Zhou Wen felt a strong sense of aversion from the Sigh of the King. Even his emotions were affected.


    Zhou Wen suppressed his emotions and looked at the stone face, saying, "Sorry, I don''t plan on becoming the representative of the Trajectory Holy Temple. I only wanted to get my friend out and accidentally entered."


    Zhou Wen secretly cursed inwardly. It''s clearly you who forcefully pulled me in. Besides, how is this a trial? It''s a forced selection.


    "Since you are already here, why don''t you consider it? As the representative of my Trajectory Holy Temple in the mortal world, not only will you obtain a Trajectory Holy Body, you will also obtain a Mythical Companion Beast that''s compatible with it," added the stone face.


    "Thank you for the offer, but I already have my own goals. The Trajectory Holy Temple isn''t my choice. Please open the door and let us leave this place." Zhou Wen increasingly felt that this fellow was up to no good. One who was unreasonably solicitous was definitely hiding evil intentions.


    The stone face didn''t say anything else. Its originally expressionless face slowly turned stiff, turning into a lifeless stone statue.


    Zhou Wen shouted a few more times, but the stone statue didn''t react at all as though it was just an ordinary stone statue.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before circling around the stone statue and continuing forward. After walking for some time, another crossroad appeared in front of him. In the middle of the crossroad was the four-faced stone pillar.


    Zhou Wen surveyed his surroundings and felt that this was the crossroad that he had previously arrived at. He couldn''t help but frown slightly, but the stone statue remained silent. All he could do was switch directions before continuing forward.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that no matter where he went, he would ultimately return to the four-faced stone pillar, as though this place was an endless cycle.


    "Why are we still here?" Ah Lai, who was on the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s back, woke up as he rubbed his eyes.


    Zhou Wen looked at Ah Lai and suddenly had a thought. "You previously said that there was a ship inside the Trajectory Holy Temple when you entered?"


    "Yes, a ship, one identical to the one my father worked on," Ah Lai answered.


    "Did you board your father''s ship before?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "I did. On the first day after graduation from high school, my dad took me onto the ship," answered Ah Lui.


    "Then take a careful look. Have you been here before? Have you seen it before?" Zhou Wen pointed at the four-faced stone pillar.


    Ah Lai looked at it for a while before answering with certainty, "No, I''ve never seen it."


    After Zhou Wen heard that, he seemed to understand something as he secretly frowned in thought. Based on Ah Lai''s situation, the people who entered the Trajectory Holy Temple will be trapped in their memories. However, since Ah Lai has never been here before and has never seen the four-faced stone pillars, this might be my memory. However, I''ve never been to such a place before, right?


    Guide City, where Zhou Wen was born, was a flat plain. Even if there were large swaths of flat land, they were farmland. It was impossible for there to be such a large grassland. Zhou Wen was certain that he had never been here before.


    After a moment of silence, Zhou Wen suddenly drew his Bamboo Blade and slashed at the four-faced stone statue.


    The Bamboo Blade was extremely sharp, splitting the stone statue into two upon contact. The broken stone statue vanished with a poof.


    The roads and plains around him vanished as well. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but break out into cold sweat when he saw the scene in front of him.


    He was indeed standing at a crossroads, but this crossroad was not built on grasslands, but built on a volcano lava pool.


    If Zhou Wen hadn''t walked along the path and stepped onto the plains, he would probably have fallen into the lava pool.


    In the middle of the crossroads, there was a stone platform with a black seed floating above it. It was like the condensation of night, emitting a strange and mysterious aura.


    This aura was similar to the Sun God Crystal he had previously obtained, but there were differences.


    Zhou Wen attempted to grab the seed with his hand, but nothing special happened. He easily removed the black seed.


    Boom!


    The moment the black seed was removed by Zhou Wen, the entire temple quaked as the door opened once again. Zhou Wen saw Li Xuan standing outside.


    He quickly took Ah Lu out of the temple with him. As expected, a bright light was shining from the Trajectory Holy Temple. The various engravings emitted a strange black fog, a sign that the Trajectory Holy Temple had selected an heir.


    From then on, the Trajectory Holy Temple would shut its doors until the Holy Land opened again.


    "Old Zhou, don''t you have a body that matches the Sun God Temple? How did you pass the Trajectory Holy Temple''s trial?" Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in astonishment.


    "I don''t know what''s going on either. I find it a little baffling." Zhou Wen looked at the black seed in his hand and felt that something was amiss.


    He felt that the black seed had been given to him by the temple itself and not something he had obtained from a real trial. At least, he was not trapped in his memories.


    Zhou Wen even suspected that what the four-faced stone statue had said wasn''t a test or an illusion, but to genuinely rope him in.


    "Why bother? It''s better to have something than nothing. If the six families learn that you have actually obtained the recognition of two temples, their expressions will be very interesting." Li Xuan chuckled.


    "There''s nothing to show off about." Zhou Wen made Li Xuan watch over Ah Lai as he secretly snapped a picture of the black seed on his cell phone, sending it into the game.


    He had a strange feeling that the Trajectory Holy Temple was odd, so he didn''t dare absorb the black seed directly.

 217 Its You?

    Trajectory God Power Crystal: A product of the God of Trajectory''s blood essence. Absorbing it will enhance one''s bloodline.


    Seeing that there was no problem with the game''s judgment, Zhou Wen allowed the blood-colored avatar to absorb the Trajectory God Power Crystal.


    As the black power was absorbed by the blood-colored avatar, its stats changed once again. His Speed stat also increased to 21 points, and in the end, it revealed the word "Trajectory."


    The Trajectory Holy Temple really increases Speed. It''s quite a coincidence. Zhou Wen was secretly amused. Although he had previously believed that the Trajectory Holy Temple corresponded to Speed, the situation inside the temple was completely different from what he had imagined. Therefore, Zhou Wen was surprised that the Trajectory God Power Crystal could increase Speed.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan asked Ah Lai more questions, but the latter really seemed to have forgotten many things. He only remembered that he had come from Langya Town, his father was a sailor, and that he had followed his father onto the ship after he graduated from high school. Later, he encountered a storm at sea, and he couldn''t remember what happened after that.


    Zhou Wen had some doubts about Ah Lai and planned on figuring out his origins after taking him out.


    However, before that, he had to wait until the end of the Holy Land''s trials.


    Zhou Wen had originally wanted to head to the other temples to obtain their God Power Crystals to raise his four stats to 21 points.


    But when they arrived at a few other temples, they realized that they had already completely closed. Clearly, the God Power Crystal had been taken away by someone else.


    There are indeed hidden dragons and crouching tigers in the League. In just a few days, the God Power Crystals have been snatched away. Zhou Wen was somewhat worried about Li Xuan.


    If the Connate Infinite physique was taken away, Li Xuan would have zero hope left.


    As he was deep in thought, he suddenly heard the sound of thunder coming from the sky. The wind and clouds stirred as if a hole had collapsed in the sky, forming a huge vortex.


    Zhou Wen''s body involuntarily flew towards the vortex. He could see other people flying around the Holy Land and being sucked into the vortex.


    Zhou Wen didn''t resist the suction force of the vortex as he allowed himself to fly into it. He even patted Li Xuan''s shoulder.


    There was only one possibility of such a situation. The God Power Crystals of the six holy temples had been taken away by others. It was why everything had ended ahead of time, opening up a passageway to leave the Holy Land.


    However, Li Xuan didn''t mind. "Since I couldn''t obtain it, it means that I wasn''t destined to get it. It''s no big deal even if I don''t have any special physiques. With my Immortal God of Combat Life Providence, I can still forge my own path. The world is my oyster."


    "You''re right. It might not be a bad thing not having a special physique." Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that the six holy temples were somewhat odd.


    "Alright, don''t console me. I''ve suffered too much since I was young. Such a trivial matter isn''t enough to make me depressed." Li Xuan believed Zhou Wen was consoling him.


    Zhou Wen didn''t explain. After all, everyone wanted a special physique, and he didn''t have any evidence and was speculating without any grounds. It was pointless explaining.


    Together with Ah Lai, the trio flew towards the vortex and arrived near it. They happened to see Pros being sucked up as well. In turn, he glared at Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen, don''t be too happy. This matter isn''t over yet." As he spoke, he was sucked into the vortex.


    Zhou Wen and company were also sucked in. Soon, they returned to the stone altar from before.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to take Ah Lai elsewhere to check his identity, but he discovered that many young people had yet to leave the altar. Instead, they surrounded it, clearly targeting him and Li Xuan.


    "Why are you crowding here? Hurry up and move aside. Do you want to fight here?" Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    They could do whatever they wanted in the Holy Land, but now that they were out, they would be bound by the League''s laws.


    Although the six families enjoyed special privileges, they did not have the privilege to openly challenge a representative of the An family here.


    "Lance, it''s him." No one bothered with Li Xuan. John pointed at Zhou Wen and said to Lance.


    "You are Zhou Wen?" Lance looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    "Your name is Lance?" Zhou Wen was surprised as well. Before coming, Jiang Yan had warned him that the only person he needed to be afraid of was someone named Lance.


    "Did you cripple their Primordial Energy seas?" Lance asked Zhou Wen.


    "Yes, but they were the ones who initiated it." Zhou Wen originally didn''t plan on explaining, but after taking a glance at Lance, he still decided to explain.


    Lance nodded. "Actually, that''s not important. I want to fight with you. Choose the venue and time."


    "Because I''m the representative of the An family?" Zhou Wen knew that Lance cultivated because of his goal of defeating An Tianzuo.


    "Not for anyone else. Just because you are Zhou Wen. Apart from An Tianzuo, you are the second person that has intrigued me. I didn''t plan on taking action back when they asked for my help, but since you are Zhou Wen, I''m interested in fighting you," said Lance.


    "But I don''t wish to fight with you. Fighting is troublesome," Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    He wasn''t a battle maniac like Feng Qiuyan. He wasn''t interested in a meaningless fight. It was time that Zhou Wen could use to game.


    "Fight me. No matter who wins or loses, I''ll ensure that you leave the Holy City safely. If not, you will ultimately be in trouble. Those guys won''t let you off easily. Compared to fighting me, those guys will delay your gaming time more, right?" Lance suddenly came close to Zhou Wen and whispered in his ear with a voice that only he could hear.


    "It looks like I can''t reject it, but the time and place is up to me to choose," Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    Lance''s words were half-truths, but there was one thing he was right about. Those from the six families definitely wouldn''t let this matter rest. Their best chance was in Holy City, so it was impossible for them to allow Zhou Wen to leave so easily.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t expect Lance to really allow him to leave, stalling for time gave Ah Sheng time to prepare.


    "You can choose any time and place in the next two days," said Lance.


    "Lance, two days is way too long¡­" John turned anxious as he was afraid Zhou Wen would take the opportunity to escape.


    However, Lance only smiled and said, "He won''t run, so don''t worry."


    "There''s no need for two days. Let''s do it tomorrow afternoon. I still want to make an early return after the fight," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright, where will it be?" Lance asked.


    "I''ll inform you when the time comes." Zhou Wen didn''t answer directly. He planned on getting Ah Sheng to choose the location. With Ah Sheng''s abilities, he would definitely be able to choose a suitable spot.

 218 Soundless

    In the hotel room, Ah Sheng looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression.


    "That''s what happened. Is there a problem?" Zhou Wen recounted his experience in the Holy Land.


    "Not at all. Don''t worry, leave the rest to me," Ah Sheng said without any hesitation.


    "Alright then. I''ll go back and prepare." As Zhou Wen spoke, he prepared to return to his room and absorb the Mutated Fairy''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    Due to the earlier stat requirements, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to master it. Now that his Speed had increased to 21, he had reached the requirement. He could then battle Lance after practicing it.


    "Young Master Wen, you have to be careful of Lance. Although he''s not as famous as John, those who truly are in the know of the six families know that Lance is the most terrifying person of this generation," Ah Sheng said.


    "I know." Even if Ah Sheng hadn''t said anything, Zhou Wen could sense it.


    "He also has a nickname, Soundless." Ah Sheng continued.


    "Why Soundless? Is the Primordial Energy Art he cultivates related to sound?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    Ah Sheng said, "There are all kinds of sounds in this world. Every sound has its own unique rhythm and charm. Every life has the right to make its own voice, proving that they are part of this world. However, there are some voices that are loud enough and some sound softer."


    Ah Sheng didn''t directly mention the reason behind Lance''s nickname, but Zhou Wen already understood why. The meaning behind it was that when Lance made a sound, the entire world would quieten down. There wouldn''t be any other noise except for his sounds.


    Returning to his room, Zhou Wen took out the Mutated Fairy Primordial Energy Skill Crystal and took a picture and took it in-game.


    The blood-colored avatar held the Mutated Fairy Crystal and chose to absorb it, but Zhou Wen was notified that it couldn''t absorb it.


    Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra before the notification was removed. The crystal immediately transformed into strands of black and white auras that fused into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Zhou Wen felt as though there was a faint immortal aura flowing within him, making his body float up like a hydrogen balloon.


    After a while, the feeling gradually disappeared until it returned to normal. Only then did the system in the game give a new hint.


    ''Absorbed the Mutated Fairy Crystal. Attained Transcendent Flying Immortal.''


    Zhou Wen took a look at the blood-colored avatar''s information. Indeed, there was an additional skill, Transcendent Flying Immortal, not the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal technique that Zhou Wen knew of.


    Is this Transcendent Flying Immortal a Primordial Energy Skill that only Mutated Fairies possess? Could it be a mutated version of the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill? Zhou Wen hurriedly took a look at the introduction of Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Although the other techniques of a Mutated Fairy were powerful, what Zhou Wen wanted the most was the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill. There were countless Primordial Energy Skills in the world, and there were countless powerful Primordial Energy Skills, but they only had one effect¡ªto defeat or kill the enemy.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t like to kill, and he cherished his life greatly. The Dragon Gate''s Flying Immortal Skill was undoubtedly the best life-saving technique. If he couldn''t beat his adversary, he could run, preventing them from catching up to him. It was useless even if his opponent was strong.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal: Ascension Technique for Other Realm Immortals


    The information was very vague, but it was likely a Primordial Energy Skill similar to the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. When Zhou Wen carefully sensed the information he had obtained from the Transcendent Flying Immortal, he looked even more pleasantly surprised.


    The next morning when he woke up for breakfast, Zhou Wen saw Li Xuan and Ah Lai sitting at the table chatting.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to investigate Ah Lai''s origins, but with the hoo-ha caused by the six families yesterday, he had ended up delaying the matter. Ah Lai had also followed them back to the hotel.


    Zhou Wen had recalled the matter on the way back. He originally wanted to take Ah Lai to the officials to investigate the identity the latter had used to enter, but after informing Ah Sheng, Ah Sheng told him that there was no need for him to go. There was no such person on the Holy Land list. Ah Sheng was very certain¡ªif it was a person on the name list, there was no way he had never seen him before.


    This left Zhou Wen very puzzled. If Ah Lai wasn''t part of the batch of people who had entered the Holy Land, where did he come from? How did he end up within the Trajectory Holy Temple?


    "Ah Lai, what plans do you have for the future? Are you interested in hanging out with us? There''s absolutely nothing wrong with following me. I guarantee you that you''ll live in the lap of luxury. There will be endless beautiful girls." Li Xuan seemed to be trying to seduce him.


    Ah Lai said with an odd expression, "How did the world become like this?"


    "It doesn''t matter what the world turns into. A good man treats the four corners of the world as his home. What difference does the place make? If you follow me in the future, I guarantee you that you will have a brighter future than being a sailor," Li Xuan said as he patted Ah Lai on the shoulder.


    Zhou Wen found it odd. Although Li Xuan wasn''t a bad person, he wasn''t that good enough to be a philanthropist. It didn''t seem like his personality at all.


    Ah Lai didn''t reply. When he saw Zhou Wen walk over, he said, "Zhou Wen, you said that I came from inside the Trajectory Holy Temple and you also entered the Trajectory Holy Temple. Do you know why I was there?"


    "It seems like you entered the Trajectory Holy Temple because you wanted to investigate what happened to your father''s ship. I don''t know anything else, have you completely forgotten?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Ah Lai shook his head. "I only remember that my father''s ship encountered a storm. I can''t remember what happened afterward."


    "There''s no rush. You can think about it slowly. Li Xuan isn''t a bad person. If you have nowhere to go, why don''t you bunk with him for now? After all, he''s rich. He''s not afraid of being bankrupted," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s right, that''s right. I''ll definitely make sure everything is the best." Li Xuan did not retort at all, making Zhou Wen find it even odder.


    After breakfast, Ah Lai went out for a walk, claiming he wanted to know what the world looked like; hence, he went out alone.


    When Zhou Wen saw Ah Lai leave, he asked Li Xuan, "Why are you so enthusiastic and nice? This isn''t like you. Tell me honestly, what are you planning?"


    "Heavens, haven''t you noticed?" Li Xuan said in an exaggerated manner.


    "What?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Ah Lai is very strong." Li Xuan seemed to find this description insufficient as he added, "He''s especially strong. At least he''s stronger than us."


    "Why do you say that?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement. Ah Lai didn''t seem to show any special combat ability.


    "Didn''t I use a rope to tie him to my Companion Beast''s back? That rope was formed from a legendary nine-scaled serpent. If I were tied up by it, there''s no way I could break free. As for Ah Lai, he easily broke through it in a seemingly trivial manner."


    Li Xuan said, "Now that this fellow has lost his memory and there''s nowhere for him to go, isn''t it a perfect win-win situation for me to take him in while he helps me with certain matters?"

 219 Battling Lance

    Little Lin''s Pet Combat Arena was Ah Sheng''s chosen venue for the match.


    Many of the younger generation of the six families had come to the arena, including some who were in their twenties or thirties.


    Back then, An Tianzuo had suppressed and crippled that generation. Now, another, Zhou Wen had appeared; he had crippled more than thirty members of the six families. This was an absolute humiliation to them.


    Xia Bing glanced at Lance who was sitting in the resting area as she said with a complicated expression, "Thankfully, this generation of the six families produced Lance. Otherwise, they would have to swallow their anger as they did back then."


    She had always wanted to chase up to Lance or even surpass him, but no matter how hard she tried, the distance between her and Lance just grew further and further; so much so that she couldn''t see his back anymore.


    Despite Lance not having inherited a hero''s physique and not cultivating his family''s Primordial Energy Art, he was able to steam ahead, making it impossible for others to even have the thought of chasing up to him.


    Fortunately, there''s only one Lance in this world. Xia Bing sighed inwardly, unsure if she was feeling happy or sad for herself.


    "Here he comes," Dugu Chuan suddenly said.


    Xia Bing looked over and indeed saw Zhou Wen arrive in the arena with Ah Sheng and Li Xuan. The latter two remained in the spectator stands while Zhou Wen walked into the arena alone.


    When Lance saw Zhou Wen, he stood up from the bench in the resting area and walked into the arena.


    The members of the six families were rather calm. Others might think that Zhou Wen had a chance, but they knew better¡ªZhou Wen had no chance at all. No one under the Epic stage was Lance''s match. Even someone at the Epic stage might not be his match.


    In a corner of the spectator stands sat a man and a woman. Both of them wore hats and sunglasses that covered most of their faces. However, anyone familiar with them would be able to recognize them¡ªLiz and Qiao Siyuan.


    "What do you think?" Qiao Siyuan asked as he looked at Zhou Wen and Lance.


    Liz replied with a dark expression, "Lance is a talented genius. No peer of his is more outstanding than him. It''s impossible for Zhou Wen to win."


    Qiao Siyuan said nonchalantly, "Don''t forget that Zhou Wen is someone who has come into contact with Jing Daoxian. If he was really fancied by Jing Daoxian, do you still think that Lance will certainly win?"


    "Yes." Liz said with certainty, "Minister, you are not from the six families. Perhaps you don''t understand Lance very well. His talent is unparalleled. Unless one has absolute power to crush him, no one can defeat him."


    Qiao Siyuan only smiled and did not refute Liz''s words. Instead, he asked, "Make another confirmation. Is everyone in place?"


    Liz nodded slightly and contacted the personnel of the Special Investigation Bureau around the arena to confirm that they had arrived.


    "Minister, everything is in place. Zhou Wen won''t be able to escape today," Liz said to Qiao Siyuan.


    Qiao Siyuan didn''t say a word. He only looked at Ah Sheng, who was sitting in the spectator stands. Ah Sheng was wearing a trench coat and a hat. He was seriously observing the situation in the arena and had seemingly not placed any attention elsewhere.


    With that person around, I''m afraid it won''t be easy to complete this mission. If I had a few people like Ah Sheng aiding me instead of Liz, I wouldn''t need to go through all this trouble. Qiao Siyuan sighed inwardly.


    There were too many personnel in the Special Investigation Bureau that entered thanks to nepotism. Everyone in the six families wanted to have their own people in it, but it was hard to determine how capable those people were.


    Although the six families did have many outstanding people, their background made many of them overly proud to the point of arrogance. Sometimes, it was difficult for them to truly become good inspectors.


    A good inspector isn''t as simple as being strong. However, it can be considered as having pros and cons. Without these people in the bureau, the bureau wouldn''t have obtained such a huge privilege. Qiao Siyuan turned to look at Liz and said, "Get someone to keep an eye on An Sheng at all times. If he shows any abnormality, report it immediately. Even the smallest details have to be reported."


    In fact, Qiao Siyuan was also looking forward to seeing the people from the six families learn to give up their pride and dignity under his guidance. When that day happened, they might turn out to become the most terrifying. On that day, they might be the most terrifying inspectors.


    However, Liz didn''t think much of it. "He''s just An Tianzuo''s adjutant. What else can he do when we''re watching him?"


    Qiao Siyuan could only patiently explain, "Don''t underestimate An Sheng. He has been in charge of the An family''s security for the past few years. Every year, countless people set their sights on the An family, but there have never been any problems with the An family. Such a person cannot be underestimated. Do you know another nickname he has in Luoyang''s military? Devil''s Adjutant. His name is a lot more useful in the military than An Tianzuo."


    Although Liz felt that the Holy City was their territory and an adjutant that was being watched couldn''t do anything, Qiao Siyuan was her superior after all. Thus, Liz immediately contacted the people responsible for watching An Sheng and exhorted them.


    In the arena, Zhou Wen came in front of Lance. He didn''t wield any weapons as he had stowed away the Bamboo Blade in the Chaos space. He had no intention of using it.


    Bamboo Blade needed to see blood once it was drawn or it would deal a backlash to its owner. Although Zhou Wen didn''t believe in such things, he didn''t think that there was a need for him to draw his saber because he wasn''t skilled with it. It was fine using the sharp Bamboo Blade to chop up some vegetables, but fighting with Lance would instead become a flaw.


    "They said that you have two Mythical pets. Is that true?" Lance asked Zhou Wen.


    "Does it matter? I don''t plan on using pets," Zhou Wen said.


    Lance smiled brightly, revealing two rows of snow-white teeth. "I''m starting to look forward to it now."


    "In that case, hurry up. I''m still planning on returning home to game." Zhou Wen took a step forward and struck out with the first stance of the Seven Distribution Palm¡ªCompunction Free¡ªat Lance.


    Compunction Free was a masculine move that was extremely direct and open. This stance was actually somewhat incompatible with the Ashen Palm''s forces that Zhou Wen had trained in. However, Zhou Wen still managed to fuse the power of the Ashen Palm into this move.


    Lance didn''t dodge either. He also struck out with his palm to meet Zhou Wen''s. His palm turned purplish-red, looking like a special Primordial Energy Skill.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen felt a pricking pain in his palm and couldn''t help but retract his palm. However, Lance''s chest quivered violently as he took two steps back.


    Zhou Wen glanced at his palm and saw that it was covered with bloody holes that seemed to be a result of countless needles. He couldn''t help but say, "What a vicious Primordial Energy Skill."


    "Likewise. Your Primordial Energy Skill is also very vicious," said Lance with a smile.

 220 A Person That Fights As Though In A Game

    Zhou Wen used the seven stances of the Seven Distribution Palm one by one. They were disjointed with completely different styles. Zhou Wen''s continuous usage made it difficult for his opponent to adapt to such changes in style.


    However, Lance acted as though he didn''t feel anything. He blocked and parried all of Zhou Wen''s seven strikes. Furthermore, apart from the first palm, the Ashen Palm''s forces that were secretly included in the Seven Distribution Palm, none of them were able to injure Lance.


    When the mild concealed force touched Lance''s palm, it immediately dissipated, unable to enter his body.


    After striking seven times, Zhou Wen immediately retracted his hands and said to Lance, "I only know these seven strikes. Since all seven of them were countered by you, I have no choice but to admit defeat."


    "It''s fine if you want to admit defeat, but you have to satisfy me first." Lance didn''t care what Zhou Wen said as he charged forward and struck out with a Wind Lightning Fist.


    The Wind Lightning Fist was a relatively common fist-type Primordial Energy Skill in the district where Lance lived in. The punch contained the power of wind and lightning. There was no need for any powerful technique as it used brute strength to subdue the enemy.


    Zhou Wen also knew that it was impossible for Lance to let him off so easily. When he saw Lance deliver the punch, he used the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and circled around him.


    After Zhou Wen learned the Transcendent Flying Immortal, the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill hadn''t been replaced. Clearly, the former wasn''t a Primordial Energy Skill. There was still a difference between the two.


    Zhou Wen really only knew the seven palm strikes and had no time to learn other techniques.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen dodge, Liz sneered. "Zhou Wen is finished. In front of Lance, retreating is equivalent to losing."


    It wasn''t just Liz. Everyone who had sparred with Lance, including Xia Bing and Dugu Chuan, knew how scary it was to let Lance take the initiative to attack. No one could remain undefeated under his relentless attacks.


    Dugu Chuan''s movement techniques were considered top-notch among his peers, but he managed fewer than twenty of Lance''s strikes.


    With just two punches, Zhou Wen could sense the pressure that Lance was exerting on him. His attacks were unique, something that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Although a fist combo was common as a combat technique, when it came to actual combat, the fist combo was actually of not much use. Unless one could hit the opponent with the first punch and leave the opponent open for more attacks, the subsequent chaining of the fist combos wouldn''t be possible.


    However, if the first punch was enough to hit the target, then one should strive to take down one''s opponent with that one punch. What was the point with the remaining punches?


    Therefore, the fist combo was just a supplementary measure. What was really effective was the first punch that hit the opponent. How could one connect the first punch? This was the answer everyone wanted to know.


    However, Lance''s fist combo was different. He was like a character in a fighting game. His moves were connected without any gaps, giving Zhou Wen no chance to counterattack.


    It even made Zhou Wen have the illusion that if he revealed any flaws and allowed him to connect the first strike, then the subsequent attacks from Lance would be like a raging storm that would directly KO him without giving him any chance to react.


    The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill had been pushed to the extreme by Zhou Wen as he constantly dodged. His arms and legs were also fending off the attacks from Lance. Every clash of their limbs made Zhou Wen feel a terrifying force surge at him, causing his bones to protest in pain.


    What looked like ordinary punches and kicks produced an effect that resembled an extremely explosive Primordial Energy Skill. It left Zhou Wen very surprised.


    Soon, he realized that Lance''s seemingly ordinary punches and kicks were everything but ordinary. It was really some kind of Primordial Energy Art that greatly augmented him in his Strength and in all other aspects.


    Every action of Lance''s was supported by different Primordial Energy Skills. This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen someone fight like that.


    Zhou Wen had only practiced Primordial Energy Skills with his fists and palms, he had never trained his other parts. All he could do was use the Lotus Flower Buddha Body to protect himself. However, the defensive strength of the Lotus Flower Buddha Body wasn''t enough for Zhou Wen to fight Lance head-on. Every clash of their bodies made Zhou Wen feel like his bones were about to break apart. All he could do was dodge with his movement techniques.


    However, there was no way to completely dodge Lance''s crazy attack. Just a dozen punches placed Zhou Wen at an absolute disadvantage.


    When Dugu Chuan saw this, he laughed. "Do you want to use your movement technique to dodge the attacks of Lance and hope for him to expend all his Primordial Energy? You''re too naive. This strategy might work on others, but against a person like Lance, it''s useless. That was what I thought back then, but I ended up being pummeled."


    Xia Bing said faintly, "Back then, in order to act as a character in a combat game, Lance had specially learned a Primordial Energy Art that allows rapid Primordial Energy recovery. Furthermore, in order to reduce the Primordial Energy expenditure, he had found dozens of the most basic Primordial Energy Skill Crystals. Those Primordial Energy Skills themselves used up very little Primordial Energy to begin with. After he learned them, he raised dozens of Mortal stage Primordial Energy Skills from Rank 1 all the way to Legendary Rank 10. Not only are they extremely powerful, but they also consume very little Primordial Energy. Lance completed something so unthinkable to the average person in just four months."


    "If I had the talent of Lance, I could be as willful as him. I could also abandon my hero physique and not learn the family''s Primordial Energy Art. I could also play games all day like him," John said through gritted teeth.


    Although he was known as a saint at Covenant College, he knew very well that he was far inferior to the fellow who gamed all day in school. No matter how hard he worked, he was not even qualified to be his opponent.


    Bam!


    When the fists collided, Zhou Wen felt a surge of power penetrate his body. It ran up his arm, making his organs feel like they had suffered a heavy blow. He couldn''t help but take a few steps back.


    Lance could actually use concealed forces, but they were just not as strong as Zhou Wen''s Ashen Palm.


    The look in Zhou Wen''s eyes gradually turned serious. He had never encountered such an opponent before. Among his peers, no one had ever given him such pressure.


    Although An Jing had defeated him with one strike back then, that was an absolute difference in Speed and Strength due to their difference in level. That kind of battle had nothing to do with Zhou Wen''s abilities. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had never learned any combat techniques back then.


    This time, it was different. In terms of physical strength at the same level, Zhou Wen felt immense pressure. This was something he had never experienced before.


    Jiang Yan is right. Lance is much more terrifying than John. Zhou Wen''s heart gradually burned with passion. Although he knew that beating Lance was not beneficial to him, he still wanted to win; he didn''t want to lose.


    After all, Zhou Wen was a seventeen-year-old. He was unable to completely control his young and competitive heart, especially when facing a peer like Lance.


    However, Zhou Wen had spent too much time practicing his Primordial Energy Art in the past. He had an excessively low starting point and had spent his golden years cultivating Ascetic Meditation which ended up being useless. Eventually, it was replaced by the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    After that, he continued gaming and grinding instance dungeons. His level and physique had been enhanced, and he had obtained quite a number of Primordial Energy Skills. Fighting ordinary people with these was enough, but against someone like Lance, he was still greatly lacking.

 221 Flying Immortal Skill

    Zhou Wen calmed down. The more he was placed in such situations, the calmer he became.


    He had pushed the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to its limits as he dodged like a ghost and attacked Lance from time to time.


    It''s still not enough. If my movement technique could be a little faster, and if this transition move of mine in midair could be a little more sudden, and the angle a little smaller¡­ Zhou Wen constantly gained insight into the battle, and his Raising a Weighted Feather realm had become increasingly proficient as he used it.


    "Fifteen punches, and he still isn''t using a Companion Beast?" Dugu Chuan was somewhat astonished. Zhou Wen''s dodging and ducking had allowed him to withstand fifteen of Lance''s punches.


    "It should be soon. In less than ten punches, Zhou Wen will definitely use his Companion Beast. Otherwise, defeat is the only outcome for him." Xia Bing could tell that Zhou Wen was about to reach his limit.


    Lance''s attacks became more and more incisive, making Zhou Wen feel like he wasn''t facing a single person, but a massive tsunami. He had the feeling that he was powerless to resist.


    Under such terrifying attacks, Zhou Wen could keep pushing himself and make his every move simpler and more efficient, just as Lance had done.


    It was impossible for him to be able to use all sorts of Primordial Energy Skills like Lance. Therefore, he could only bet everything on his movement technique¡ªto make it faster, stronger, and more efficient.


    Even if it was just a millimeter, he had to try his best to shave as much as he could, so that his body wouldn''t produce any additional movements to squeeze out every bit of potential and possibility.


    The countless deaths he had experienced in-game now played a tremendous role. This was because Zhou Wen experienced the same thing when the blood-colored avatar faced death. Therefore, even in such a disadvantageous situation, he could still maintain his clarity of mind and focus, allowing him to devote himself to battle without any distractions. It was a talent of his.


    Gradually, Zhou Wen''s movement technique exceeded the limits of Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and fused with his unique style.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt that Lance''s attack wasn''t as difficult to resist as his motion trajectories seemed to be able to keep up with Lance''s attack. Even if he didn''t use his palm to block, just using his movement techniques allowed him to slowly dodge Lance''s continuous attacks.


    How can that be! Dugu Chuan widened his eyes as he looked at Zhou Wen. As a person who was proficient in all kinds of movement techniques, he had naturally studied a famous Primordial Energy Skill like the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. He even knew it himself. Furthermore, his Dragon Gate Fairy Skill was not inferior to Zhou Wen''s in terms of ranks.


    However, Dugu Chuan had better movement techniques, so he rarely used Dragon Gate Fairy Skill.


    Back when Zhou Wen used Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, and the way he kept switching between styles left Dugu Chuan somewhat impressed. However, it was only praise attributing to Zhou Wen''s ingenious way of using such a method to push the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to Rank 10.


    However, it was just a compliment. He also had Rank 10 movement skills that were even more outstanding than Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. However, he hadn''t lasted more than twenty blows under Lance''s barrage of attacks.


    Zhou Wen''s current movement technique clearly exceeded the realm of Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, but it had the foundation of the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. Dugu Chuan had also seen similar movement techniques¡ªthe Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill possessed by the Epic dimensional creature, Fairy.


    Although the difference between the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill seemed to be just in its name, the two were worlds apart.


    The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill came from a Fairy Monkey, but the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill came from a real branch of the Fairy. There was an insurmountable difference in quality between the two.


    Zhou Wen was at the Legendary stage, so it was impossible for him to master the Dragon Gate''s Flying Immortal Skill now. Furthermore, Zhou Wen''s movement technique previously indicated that he had indeed never learned it before.


    However, Zhou Wen''s movement technique had hints of the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill.


    Did he raise the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to the Epic stage without using Primordial Energy Crystals, having only relied on his battle experience and insight? Dugu Chuan''s expression was capricious.


    If one''s comprehension of a Primordial Energy Skill reached Rank 10, it was something only a genius was capable of. But to directly raise the Primordial Energy Skill to a whole new level, especially if one hadn''t reached that level, would be too terrifying.


    Although Dugu Chuan didn''t wish to believe that Zhou Wen could reach such a level, his movement techniques were becoming more and more pronounced with the bearing of the Dragon Gate''s Flying Immortal Skill. That poise and elegance was something the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill didn''t possess.


    This person seems a little scary. Dugu Chuan suddenly had such a feeling.


    Xia Bing also looked at Zhou Wen in astonishment. She wasn''t an expert with movement techniques like Dugu Chuan, but she could tell that Zhou Wen was dodging more easily. It was as though Lance''s attacks were increasingly unable to force him to block with his body.


    Zhou Wen''s body was like a flying immortal. When Lance threw a punch, his fist remained three inches away from Zhou Wen''s body, preventing him from hitting him.


    It felt like Zhou Wen was using the wind generated by the first to gracefully float back in the air.


    Although Dugu Chuan was right, he wasn''t completely right. Zhou Wen''s movement technique had indeed imitated the Fairy''s movement technique, but it wasn''t an ordinary Fairy''s movement technique, but a mutated Fairy''s.


    He had infused the Mutated Fairy''s movement technique he had seen into the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, causing it to gradually transform, forming a brand new movement technique.


    "Old Zhou''s movement skills are getting more and more impressive, but why does this fellow like movement techniques so much? Isn''t it better to fight head-on? Don''t you think so?" Li Xuan clearly didn''t appreciate Zhou Wen''s style; he still preferred to attack directly.


    An Sheng, who was sitting beside Li Xuan, remained silent as he continued watching the battle.


    Qiao Siyuan would occasionally look at the duo, and when he saw this scene, he couldn''t help but frown slightly.


    After some thought, Qiao Siyuan asked Liz beside him, "Ask the guy monitoring Ah Sheng. Is there anything abnormal there?"


    Liz was in a bad mood when she saw that Zhou Wen had managed to dodge Lance''s attack. She said, "It should be fine. If there''s anything, they should report it."


    "So should I hand over the post of minister to you then?" Qiao Siyuan''s voice turned cold.


    When Liz met Qiao Siyuan''s cold gaze, her heart turned cold and she hurriedly said, "I''m sorry, Minister. I''ll ask immediately."


    Liz didn''t dare to be negligent. She immediately contacted the surveillance personnel and only after confirming it repeatedly did she tell Qiao Siyuan, "An Sheng hasn''t done anything out of the ordinary. He''s been watching the competition the entire time."


    "Something''s wrong¡­ But what¡­" Qiao Siyuan''s expression did not change because of what Liz had said.


    Just as Liz was about to say something, Qiao Siyuan suddenly stood up, quickly left his spot, and walked to the other side of the spectator stand. It was right across from Li Xuan and Ah Sheng.


    Qiao Siyuan stared at An Sheng like an eagle. He kept sizing up his face, and the more he looked at him, the worse his expression became.


    An Sheng was wearing a trench coat and a hat, but he didn''t deliberately lower his hat or wear sunglasses. He looked like Ah Sheng, but Qiao Siyuan was certain that it wasn''t him.


    Qiao Siyuan''s heart turned cold immediately.

 222 A Battle Without Limits

    "Minister, what happened?" Liz walked over as well. She followed Qiao Siyuan''s gaze and also recognized An Sheng. She took a look but didn''t notice anything abnormal.


    "I was too careless. That guy was only wearing a hat. He didn''t lower his cap or wear glasses, he even revealed his entire face so as not to arouse my suspicion. I should have known that An Sheng wouldn''t sit here and watch the competition without doing anything¡­ All personnel is to immediately report their locations¡­" Qiao Siyuan was no longer in the mood to teach Liz. He directly issued the order to everyone through the comms.


    Everyone reported their positions one by one, and Liz could hear them clearly from her earpiece. After all the personnel had finished reporting, she said, "Minister, everyone is at their designated spots. Everything is normal and there''s nothing out of the ordinary. What''s wrong with you?"


    Qiao Siyuan''s expression was as cold as ice. Ignoring Liz, Qiao Siyuan directly said on the channel, "An Sheng, I know you''re listening. Answer me."


    In the monitoring room of the Little Lin''s Pet Combat Arena, An Sheng was sitting on a chair. He was looking at Qiao Siyuan through the surveillance footage. The two inspectors beside him were like puppets sitting there mechanically.


    Hearing the voice from the walkie-talkie, An Sheng said calmly, "Go ahead."


    Liz thought that Qiao Siyuan had gone crazy, but when she heard the voice coming over the comms, her expression immediately turned ugly and she wore a look of incredulity.


    Qiao Siyuan took a deep breath and said, "Don''t hurt my people. During this period of time in the Holy Land, the bureau will not do anything."


    Killing an inspector in Holy City was an extremely serious offense. Most people wouldn''t dare do so, but Qiao Siyuan could not forget An Tianzuo''s words. He also couldn''t forget how An Sheng had crippled Liz without any thought.


    The title of Devil''s Adjutant was not just a simple name. As long as An Tianzuo gave the order, An Sheng would do anything. He was a lunatic.


    "Calm down. Sit down and drink some water. This match is very exciting. Don''t you want to finish watching it?" An Sheng said as he watched the surveillance camera footage.


    "An Sheng, if you dare to harm even a strand of their hair, I will make sure none of you can leave the Holy Land¡­" Liz said angrily.


    "Shut up." Qiao Siyuan suppressed his voice and stopped Liz. Then, he sat back down on the spectator stands and surveyed the entire Little Lin''s Pet Combat Arena.


    If he found An Sheng''s location before the competition ended, there was still a chance of a comeback.


    Suddenly, when he saw a camera in the arena, Qiao Siyuan''s eyes lit up. He got up and prepared to leave his seat, but An Sheng''s voice came through the earpiece again. "Minister Qiao, you better sit there and not move. From now on, one of your inspectors will die with every step you take. I wonder if the lives of these inspectors are enough for you to reach the monitoring room? If there''s enough, you can take your time walking. I''ll be sitting here waiting for you to send me to jail. This is Holy City, so it''s not like I can run, right?"


    Qiao Siyuan gritted his teeth and returned to his seat. He said dejectedly, "You won. Don''t hurt them."


    "Enjoy this match. It looks like it will be really exciting," An Sheng said calmly.


    In the arena, Lance''s eyes shone as if he had seen a classic game he had long wanted. He couldn''t hide his smile.


    "How interesting. It''s indeed interesting to have an opponent in a fighting game," said Lance as he stopped his attacks.


    "Sorry, I''ve already said that I don''t like to play fighting games. I don''t understand what that feeling is," Zhou Wen said.


    However, Lance ignored Zhou Wen''s words as he continued, "Do you know why I like to play games? It''s because, in reality, I can''t find a match, so I can only find joy in games. The rules and skills in the game restrict my performance, which makes me feel a sense of difficulty. Unfortunately, a game is still a game after all. There are still rules that can be found. No matter how the mechanism is adjusted, once one knows the rules, after playing for some time, one can easily defeat them. This is also why I do not wish to know anything about An Tianzuo before meeting him. I''m afraid that I will discover a pattern. That will make defeating him boring."


    "Then you can try leveling up games. There will always be a stronger boss waiting for you," Zhou Wen said.


    "So what if it''s an even stronger boss? It''s just tweaked strength and skills to make it stronger. In essence, it''s no different from those ordinary monsters. Powerful bosses are identical in every way, but an interesting soul has a different charm to it." Lance stared at Zhou Wen with a fervent gaze. "It''s been a long time since I had such a great battle. You are the one who has made me reacquire the joy of combat. I originally imagined I would find it again on the day I meet An Tianzuo."


    "To be honest, I prefer to hunt those soulless bosses," Zhou Wen said as he shrugged.


    "No, you aren''t that kind of person. You are just like me deep down. You thirst for battle," said Lance as he relaxed his body. As he walked towards Zhou Wen, he said, "Let me see what your limit is."


    With that said, Lance suddenly moved. However, this time, he didn''t use his continuous combo attacks like a game. At the instant he moved, his speed left behind images that instantly appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen tapped his toes on the ground as he rapidly retreated. However, in the next second, the Lance in front of him turned blurry. The real Lance appeared above Zhou Wen''s head like a god that had descended to the mortal world. Along with it came his fist that crashed down with a terrifying battle aura.


    Even the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, after its evolution, couldn''t dodge the punch. Zhou Wen gathered strength for Golden Palm and used the Seven Distribution Palm''s Sky-Supporting Pillar to meet Lance''s fist.


    Boom!


    The battle aura blasted out as terrifying forces caused Zhou Wen''s legs to sink into the specially-made rubber ground.


    With the clash of powers, Lance''s figure strangely used the force in the air as leverage. He turned blurry once again, leaving behind an afterimage. His true body had already plummeted to the ground like a meteor, shattering the ground through the quaking. At the same time, he sent another punch straight at Zhou Wen.


    With Zhou Wen''s legs sinking into the ground, it was already impossible for him to dodge. He switched the Primordial Energy Art to a Dao Body and used Astral Suction Palm at the same time. He sucked and guided Lance''s fist, causing it to tilt to the side as his body brushed past Zhou Wen.


    However, Lance''s reaction was too fast. In the split second, he passed him by, he leveraged the momentum from the charge to twist his body and kicked Zhou Wen like a sweeping blade.


    His actions happened in one swift motion. It was unworldly.


    His Primordial Energy Skill¡­ seems to have broken through the rules of a Legendary stage''s rank¡­ Xia Bing looked at Lance as she felt mixed feelings.


    Dugu Chuan also smiled bitterly to himself. Lance had gone even further than they had imagined. He had never been serious in their previous battles.

 223 Transcendent Flying Immortal

    Lance had trained his combat skills to the extreme. If Zhou Wen were to focus on training his combat skills for a few years, he might still have a chance to match Lance. But now, Zhou Wen was unable to fight Lance with pure combat skills.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t waste his time. His combat skills were indeed inferior to Lance''s, but he also had his strengths and unique traits.


    Seeing that there was no way to dodge, Zhou Wen suddenly released a stream of power that shot up from his legs that had sunk to the ground. Almost instantly, he shot up into the sky, dodging Lance''s foot.


    Lance''s actions weren''t slow either. A terrifying power erupted beneath his feet as he charged towards Zhou Wen, bringing with him numerous afterimages. His entire body was burning with a raging battle aura like a volcano eruption.


    "This Lance¡­ is so powerful¡­" Even Li Xuan had to admit it. Li Xuan would only qualify to be beaten if he went up alone.


    Xia Bing, Dugu Chuan, and the others all had smiles on their faces as they waited for the moment Lance won.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t dodge Lance''s attack on the ground, much less dodge in the air.


    Indeed, there''s no one at the same level who can fight Lance. If Zhou Wen were to use a Companion Beast, he might be able to hold out for a little while longer. To think he wants to engage in melee combat with Lance shows how naive he is. However, Zhou Wen can hold his head high after fighting so well with him, thought Dugu Chuan.


    Liz was also feeling delighted. Their operation had completely failed, and they were being threatened. She felt aggrieved, but now that Lance could defeat Zhou Wen, it was the only thing that would cheer her up today. Now, all she wished for was for Lance to cripple Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy sea, giving him the taste of being crippled.


    But in the next second, everyone''s jaws dropped in disbelief.


    In the air, Zhou Wen''s figure seemed to be completely free from the limitations of gravity, as though he had transformed into lightning. He streaked across the sky in a zigzag manner and quickly charged forward. His target was Lance who had rushed into the air.


    The fighting spirit burned in his eyes as his battle aura flared wantonly. His bodily functions were also pushed to the limit as he twisted his body. He threw a barrage of quick punches to block Zhou Wen''s attacks that appeared like lightning bolts. Due to his actions being too fast, he left behind afterimages, making it seem like he had multiple limbs that could block the lightning-fast phantoms.


    However, no matter how fast Lance''s actions were, he was still inferior to Zhou Wen''s lightning-like attacks that criss-crossed like a net. Even with his multi-limbed form, he failed to withstand the unparalleled barrage of attacks. In the end, he was unable to withstand it. After being struck in the chest by a beam of light, his defensive stance instantly crumbled as the criss-crossed figures struck Lance''s body like bolts of lightning that passed through his body.


    The final figure fused together to reveal Zhou Wen''s body as he struck Lance''s chest and immediately sent him flying.


    Bam!


    Lance fell to the ground and cracked the ground while blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.


    The spectator stands fell completely silent. The members of the six families, including Dugu Chuan and Xia Bing, were all in disbelief. They couldn''t believe that Lance would be beaten by someone and even bleed. They had never imagined such a scene.


    Furthermore, the person who had defeated Lance was a youth about the same age. The scene of the criss-crossing of lightning bolts left them extremely shocked.


    Liz was so infuriated that she nearly vomited blood. She yearned to mobilize the troops to immediately tear Zhou Wen into pieces.


    Lance stood up from the ground, ignored the blood trickling down the corner of his mouth, and stared at Zhou Wen. "What was that move called?"


    "Transcendent Flying Immortal," Zhou Wen replied.


    "Transcendent Flying Immortal? I''ll remember that. I''m very happy that I''ve finally found a path for me to continue advancing. I hope that you can give me more surprises the next time we fight." With that, Lance collapsed to the ground.


    His injuries were too severe and he was suffering from internal injuries. To be able to stand up and persist to the end of the conversation with Zhou Wen showed how unparalleled his willpower was.


    The medical staff immediately rushed into the arena to save him. Fortunately, Lance had only fainted. Although he was heavily injured, his life wasn''t in danger. With his physical condition, he would make a quick recovery.


    Zhou Wen left the battlefield and left Little Lin''s Pet Combat Arena with Li Xuan.


    Xia Bing and company watched Zhou Wen leave, but no one stopped them. Their expressions were extremely complicated.


    They hadn''t witnessed An Tianzuo''s incident with their own eyes, back then, but now, they had personally experienced everything. The Transcendent Flying Immortal''s name was like that person. It would probably stay on their minds for a very long period of time.


    After leaving the arena, Zhou Wen and company boarded a car and drove out of the Holy City.


    The driver was none other than An Sheng. As for the An Sheng sitting beside Zhou Wen, he took off his hat and wiped the disguise from his face. It was Ah Lai.


    "Young Master Wen, I''m afraid that your name will be marked by the six families in the future. You must be more careful of where you go," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen nodded and didn''t say a word. He thought about his battle with Lance. If he didn''t have Transcendent Flying Immortal, he would definitely have lost. If Lance had learned a Primordial Energy Skill that matched Transcendent Flying Immortal, he would have equally lost.


    From the looks of it, although level and Primordial Energy Skills are important, combat techniques can''t be neglected. I''ll have to continue learning from Teacher when I return. Zhou Wen secretly made up his mind. He had to make up for his lacking combat techniques when he returned.


    An Sheng originally thought that they would encounter a lot of trouble on their way out of Holy City, but he was puzzled that nothing happened. As a result, many of his preparations were useless.


    In the medical ward, Lance was sitting by the bed. Beside him was a long-haired girl peeling an apple.


    "Has Zhou Wen and the rest left Holy City?" asked Lance.


    "Don''t worry, everything has been done. The ones from the other families have been stopped." The girl passed the peeled apple to Lance.


    "That''s good. I''ll definitely beat him next time." Lance took the apple and took a bite.


    "If you wanted to win, why didn''t you use your Life Providence?" The girl seemed to think that as long as Lance used his Life Providence, he would definitely have won.


    "That would be boring," said Lance in excitement. "Although I lost this battle, it made me understand something. Previously, I only pursued combat techniques, but I neglected the ultimate attacks found in games. In the past, I could defeat my opponents with ordinary offensive techniques, but a fellow like Zhou Wen couldn''t be defeated so easily by me. Likewise for An Tianzuo, so if I can learn several Primordial Energy Skills like Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal, mixing it with my combat techniques, that would be even more interesting¡­"


    Looking at Lance''s focused and excited expression, the girl by his side listened quietly with a gentle smile.

 224 Boundary Stone

    Zhou Wen was somewhat vexed. His Strength and Speed had been enhanced by the God Power Crystals, making him break through to 21 points.


    However, his Primordial Energy and Constitution were still unable to break through. Now, he had no God Power Crystals to obtain unless he waited another ten years for the Holy Land to open again to head to the temples once more.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait another ten years. Even if he could, the An family probably wouldn''t give him the spot.


    How do I get my Constitution and Primordial Energy to break through to 21 points? Zhou Wen had no idea what to do.


    Since there are God Power Crystals in the Holy Land, they might exist in other dimensional zones as well. I can only look around in the game dungeons. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall the Golden Flying Ant and the white cocoon.


    Now that his Dragon Gate Fairy Skill had improved and he had mastered Transcendent Flying Immortal, he might have a chance of obtaining that white cocoon.


    "I was planning on taking you to the dimensional zones that we didn''t have a chance to visit when we returned, but I think we can forget about it now. We''ll go again when we have the chance," said An Sheng as he drove.


    No one objected. Zhou Wen had offended the six families terribly, so it wasn''t appropriate for them to continue wandering outside. It was best they returned to Luoyang as soon as possible.


    As he was afraid that something would go wrong, An Sheng didn''t choose to take the plane back. He drove all the way until they arrived at a mountain road where they saw a girl waving at them in the middle of the road.


    The car stopped and they saw that the girl''s ankle was severely injured as if she had been bitten by something. The wound was very deep and her bones were injured.


    "I was attacked by a dimensional creature nearby. All my Companion Beasts died in battle and I couldn''t walk due to my injuries. Can you take me to a nearby city?" the girl requested.


    "You were injured in this area? There shouldn''t be any dimensional zones nearby, right?" Li Xuan asked the girl.


    "I thought that too, but a dimensional creature appeared here. I nearly died because of it," the girl said.


    "Where did you encounter dimensional creatures? What kind of dimensional creatures were they?" An Sheng stared at the girl and asked.


    "It was on a mountain road about a kilometer ahead. It''s a snow-white ape-shaped dimensional creature¡­" The girl recounted what had happened.


    After An Sheng heard this, he agreed to let the girl hitch a ride.


    Li Xuan found an opportunity while An Sheng was checking the car and whispered to him, "Brother Sheng, is there a problem with this woman? We just offended the six families and ended up meeting an injured woman in the wilderness. Isn''t this too much of a coincidence?"


    "If she has a problem, then all the more reason I should take her with me. I''d rather keep the enemy in my hands," An Sheng said.


    Li Xuan felt that it made sense and stopped talking.


    As the car continued its journey, Zhou Wen saw that there were many signs of a battle. There was quite a lot of rubble and terrifying claw marks on the road. This woman didn''t seem to be completely lying. At the very least, there had been a fight here. As for whether her opponent was a dimensional creature or a human, it was hard to tell.


    Li Xuan was very good at talking with women, so he quickly started chatting with her.


    The woman said her last name was Zhang, Zhang Yuzhi¡ªfrom the Eastern capital. She was a dimensional creature hunter who was a freelancer.


    Typically, even if one entered a dimensional zone to adventure or kill dimensional creatures, they would join large organizations or the League''s organizations.


    Only a small number of people chose to become a freelancing hunter. They would enter dimensional zones to hunt dimensional creatures alone or with a few friends.


    This woman was only in her early twenties. According to the current education system, most people went to university at the age of 16. After four years of college, they would only be in their early twenties. It was surprising that a newly graduated woman would choose to become a freelance hunter.


    There was also something that left Zhou Wen and company very concerned. The Eastern Capital was very close to Luoyang, and it was now under Luoyang''s jurisdiction. This woman was from the Eastern Capital, so she happened to be on the same path as them.


    While Li Xuan and Zhang Yuzhi were chatting, he deliberately asked a lot of questions about the Eastern Capital. Zhang Yuzhi answered them proficiently like she was a native. She even knew some of the tinier shops in the old alleys.


    When they arrived at the place Zhang Yuzhi mentioned that she had encountered the dimensional creature, they didn''t see white ape. Instead, there were many fallen stones on the road ahead that blocked the way.


    Li Xuan went down to clean up the road and swept the rubble to the bottom of the mountain. However, after moving the rubble away, he realized that there was a corpse beneath it.


    The corpse was a white ape, similar to Zhang Yuzhi''s description. It was undoubtedly the same one she had seen before.


    "You killed it?" An Sheng looked at the white ape''s corpse and asked Zhang Yuzhi.


    "No. It nearly killed me. It killed all my Companion Beasts, so how could I have the ability to kill it?" Zhang Yuzhi shook her head with certainty.


    "That''s strange. If you didn''t kill it, why would it die here?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I don''t know about that. Maybe there''s someone else here." Zhang Yuzhi scanned her surroundings, but this was one of the curvy mountain roads. There was no one here. One side of the mountain road was a cliff, while the other side was a straight mountain wall. It was impossible to hide anyone.


    Zhou Wen was also looking at the corpse and saw a bloody hole in the white ape''s chest. It was as though someone had dug its heart out and it had died a tragic death.


    "Get in the car. Let''s continue moving." An Sheng moved the white ape''s corpse to the side and got into the car.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to get into the car, he glanced to the side in passing and realized that there was a Boundary Stone erected by the roadside.


    Boundary Stones weren''t rare. In the past, they were used to divide the boundaries between regions, cities, and countries. Some even demarcated the borders between villages. Boundary Stones were used to separate territories.


    After the dimensional storms, no one really used the Boundary Stones anymore. This was because most regions had dimensional zones, making it difficult to divide them.


    There were still some Boundary Stones remaining that were often seen. However, they were of no use now.


    It wasn''t a rare sight to see one here, but what was rare was the tiny palm symbol on it.


    Zhou Wen was very familiar with the palm symbol. Although it looked inconspicuous in the corner of the Boundary Stone, he saw it at a glance.


    In the strange palm symbol was a skull. It looked even eerier.


    And the four words carved on the Boundary Stone didn''t look like a location''s name. The four words were actually "Yin Yang Boundary Stone."

 225 Red Clothes

    Zhou Wen took out his cell phone and snapped a picture of the Boundary Stone. Indeed, it was downloaded into his interface.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing? Get in the car!" Li Xuan shouted at Zhou Wen from inside the car.


    "Look at this Boundary Stone. There seems to be a problem," Zhou Wen said as he pointed at it.


    Li Xuan and company alighted from the car and walked to the Boundary Stone. Li Xuan said with a glance, "Is this a prank?"


    An Sheng walked to the stone monolith and touched it. He dug the soil under the stone monolith with his hands before he frowned and said, "This stone monolith wasn''t buried recently. It has existed here for a long time. It doesn''t seem like a prank."


    "It''s not a prank? Why would there be such a thing as a Yin Yang Boundary Stone? Could it be that after crossing the Yin Yang boundary, one will reach the netherworld?" Li Xuan joked.


    "I don''t know if we will enter the netherworld, but there''s nothing wrong with being careful. All of you, be on your guard." An Sheng carefully looked around but didn''t find anything unusual.


    There was only one path on the mountain. Furthermore, there were no dimensional zones nearby. An Sheng couldn''t directly turn back just because of the appearance of such a Boundary Stone.


    Zhou Wen said, "Ah Sheng, let''s switch paths. I think there''s something off about the area up ahead. Could it be a newly appeared dimensional zone?"


    "Not a bad idea." An Sheng nodded slightly. He also felt that something was amiss. However, if he had to take a detour, they would have to travel another additional ten hours or more.


    He turned the car around and drove back the way they came. He drove to a fork at the foot of the mountain and made his way to another mountain road. He continued driving along another path that was a huge detour. Furthermore, it wasn''t easy to drive on, limiting the car''s speed.


    The path was riddled with potholes and it was extremely difficult to drive across it. The car was shaking violently as Zhou Wen looked at his phone. The download had been completed, and the Yin Yang World icon had appeared on the phone''s home screen.


    However, Zhou Wen usually only played the Ant Nest dungeon in front of others. Now that there were so many people, it was not appropriate for him to open the Yin Yang World''s instance dungeon.


    After driving for half a day, the tremors were so intense that Zhou Wen felt like his bones were about to fall apart. Li Xuan and Ah Lai felt a little uncomfortable as well, and the three nearly fainted.


    Screech!


    A sudden slamming of the brakes woke the three of them up. Their heads almost squeezed against the back of the front row.


    "Brother Sheng, what happened?" Li Xuan asked.


    "There''s another Boundary Stone in front of us," said An Sheng before he opened the door and got out.


    Zhou Wen and company followed. Indeed, there was a Boundary Stone by the side of the mountain. On it were the same words: ''Yin Yang World.'' However, Zhou Wen didn''t see the tiny palm symbol.


    "Must it be that creepy?" Li Xuan looked around. It was almost getting dark, so there was a limit to what he could see.


    "Ah Sheng, is there another way?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "That''s it. Now, most of the dimensional zones have cut off the routes available. If we want to take another detour, we will have to leave this mountainous area, but it would take too long." An Sheng thought for a moment before saying, "How about this? It''s getting dark and there aren''t any street lamps. It won''t be convenient for us to go back. Let''s find a place to camp. After daybreak, we can return to the airport and take a plane back."


    "Alright, let''s do that then." Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to risk crossing the Yin Yang World''s stone monolith.


    An Sheng took out a simple tent and other tools from his car and found an empty space by the side of the road. He set up a tent and placed a few warning pins to prevent any other vehicles from crashing into their tents while driving past.


    Although there was a small possibility of cars passing through, An Sheng still managed to consider everything.


    Li Xuan and Zhang Yuzhi were chatting while Ah Lai started a fire to prepare some food.


    Zhou Wen sat in the car and was about to open the Yin Yang World instance dungeon to see what was inside when he suddenly heard Li Xuan''s surprised voice. "What is that?"


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got out of the car and looked over. He saw Li Xuan pointing in the direction of the Yin Yang Boundary Stone with a look of shock.


    He looked over and saw a woman in red standing on the other side of the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    To be precise, it was likely a woman wearing a red wedding dress. Zhou Wen had seen such clothes when he was watching television when he was young. It was said to be a rather ancient tradition.


    Women nowadays wore white wedding gowns when they got married. In the East District''s ancient times, white was something only when there was a death in the family. People wore red for marriage.


    The daughters of rich families all wore embroidered red silk wedding gowns, with a red veil covering their heads. The groom would only be able to remove the bride''s red veil on their wedding night.


    The woman standing on the other side of the Yin Yang Boundary Stone was like a bride dressed in red from a television drama. She had a red veil over her head and was standing behind the stone monolith, seemingly looking at them.


    "Who''s trying to act mysterious there?" Perhaps the trembling Zhang Yuzhi had triggered Li Xuan''s male hormones. At that moment, Li Xuan was shockingly bold as he shouted at the woman in red behind the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    The woman in red didn''t respond and stood there motionless. Although the red cloth covered her head, it didn''t deter Zhou Wen and company from feeling as though she was staring at them.


    Without any response from the woman in red, Li Xuan became somewhat angry. He summoned a Legendary black-eyed leopard and ordered it to pounce at the woman.


    An Sheng, Zhou Wen, and company stared at the black-eyed leopard. It quickly passed the stone monolith and leaped into the air, bearing its sharp claws as it pounced at the red-dressed woman.


    The next scene caused the five of them to widen their eyes as their scalps tingled.


    The black-eyed leopard actually passed through the woman''s body, as though her body was just an illusion.


    "Don''t tell me we''ve really run into ghosts?" When Li Xuan saw this scene, he felt a little nervous.


    He wasn''t afraid of guns or bullets, but a ghost would still make him feel uneasy even if he was strong.


    Li Xuan was just about to order the black-eyed leopard to continue attacking when he saw the woman''s body move. Only then did everyone notice that the woman''s feet were not touching the ground. She had always been levitating in midair, so they could clearly see the red floral embroidered shoes on her feet.


    Due to the Boundary Stone''s obstruction, everyone had imagined that she was standing there. Upon seeing this scene, they had the urge to flee. Even Zhou Wen was no exception.


    When he was young, he had heard many ghost stories from his grandfather. One of them was the story of the ghost bride. He thought to himself, Did I really encounter a ghost bride?


    When his grandfather told the story of the ghost bride when he was young, it scared Zhou Wen so much that he didn''t dare sleep the entire night. The moment he fell asleep, a red-dressed female ghost came looking for him, determined to kill him. It was a childhood nightmare.

 226 Breaking Out of the Seal

    However, Zhou Wen only felt a little creeped out. He didn''t really turn around to run. He knew that even if she was a ghost bride, she was only a dimensional creature.


    He now possessed the strength of a Legendary stage, so there was no need for him to be afraid of any ghost brides.


    Li Xuan seemed to have shared the same thoughts as he grew bolder. He ordered his black-eyed leopard to once again pounce at the ghost bride.


    The ghost bride also rushed towards the black-eyed leopard. Their bodies met in mid-air, and the black-eyed leopard once again passed through the ghost bride''s body, unable to hurt her at all.


    However, when the black-eyed leopard landed, it let out a tragic whimper as it staggered to the ground. There was a bloody hole in its chest, as though someone had dug its heart out.


    Companion Beasts were manifestations of life crystals, so they naturally didn''t have a real heart. However, such an injury caused the black-eyed leopard''s body to collapse. A Legendary pet was gone just like that.


    From the way the black-eyed leopard died, it looked almost identical to the white ape from before.


    After the ghost bride killed the black-eyed leopard, she stood behind the Boundary Stone and looked at Zhou Wen and company without any intention of rushing over.


    "She doesn''t dare to cross the Boundary Stone!" Upon realizing this, Li Xuan immediately became emboldened. He summoned another Legendary pet and had it charge at the ghost bride.


    Previously, he and Zhou Wen had robbed quite a number of Legendary Companion Eggs in the Holy Land. He had obtained quite a number from the splitting of the spoils, so he had hatched a few out of boredom on the way. Now, it was a good opportunity to use them.


    A snake-shaped Legendary pet rushed in front of the ghost bride and spat out a mouthful of venom. However, the venom didn''t manage to touch the ghost bride''s body. After passing through it, it landed on the ground.


    The snake lunged at her and attempted to coil itself around her. However, it was useless. The ghost bride was a ghost that couldn''t be touched.


    In turn, the snake pet''s body had an additional five claw holes that caused it to die.


    Li Xuan was enraged. He was just about to summon another Companion Beast to fight the ghost bride but was stopped by An Sheng.


    "Don''t waste your Companion Beasts. That should be a dimensional creature that''s a ghost type. Ordinary physical attacks are ineffective against ghost-type dimensional creatures," said An Sheng as he summoned a Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen and company didn''t even see what the Companion Beast looked like as it transformed into a wooden fish¡ªone that a monk often used¡ªthat fell into An Sheng''s hands.


    An Sheng struck the wooden fish a few times. Zhou Wen and company didn''t find anything special about the sound it produced, but the ghost bride''s body trembled as though her body had been punched.


    An Sheng kept striking the wooden fish, but the ghost bride''s body stopped trembling. The sound of the wooden fish seemed to have lost its effect on her.


    An Sheng frowned slightly. "This Buddhist wooden fish is considered an excellent-grade item among the Legendary stage. It is effective against ghost-type dimensional creatures; yet, it can''t injure this ghost bride. From the looks of it, her level isn''t low."


    "Then, do you have any other Companion Beasts that are effective against her?" asked Li Xuan.


    "I don''t have any. Not all Buddhist Companion Beasts can restrain ghosts. I only obtained this Buddhist wooden fish by chance. I''ve never used it before." With a pause, An Sheng added, "From the looks of it, this place has indeed formed a new dimensional zone. Furthermore, it''s a dimensional zone that is filled with ghost-type dimensional creatures. Thankfully, Young Master Wen was meticulous and discovered the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. If we had rushed in, we could have died inside without any Companion Beasts that are effective against ghost-type dimensional creatures."


    Zhou Wen secretly felt ashamed. If he hadn''t seen the palm symbol, he wouldn''t have noticed that there was something amiss with the Boundary Stone.


    "I don''t believe it. I don''t believe that there''s no Companion Beast that can deal with her." Li Xuan refused to believe it as he summoned a few more Companion Beasts. However, all of them were killed by the ghost bride without exception. Furthermore, they couldn''t even touch the ghost bride''s body. Li Xuan was so infuriated that he nearly vomited blood.


    However, Li Xuan only relied on his numerous Companion Beasts. He wouldn''t dare fight the ghost bride himself.


    Humans usually relied on their Companion Beasts to open up a path in new dimensional zones. Even so, deaths were frequent. For example, if Zhou Wen and company had entered the Yin Yang World by mistake, it would have been very easy for them to be killed by ghosts even if they had many Companion Beasts.


    The few Companion Beasts that Li Xuan had hatched had been killed by the ghost bride. He still had a few other Companion Beasts, but they were all excellent-grade ones he had specially selected. He couldn''t bear to use the Companion Beasts like the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and Thundergod General. If they were to be killed by the ghost bride, his heart would ache terribly.


    Although Li Xuan couldn''t accept this outcome, he gave up on attacking her.


    But at this moment, the ghost bride drifted out from behind the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    "No good, she''s a creature that has broken out. Get in the car and leave immediately." An Sheng''s expression changed. He rushed in front of everyone and shouted at the same time.


    They didn''t dare to delay any further. They ignored the tent and went straight into the car. However, they realized that the car couldn''t be started.


    The color of the bonfire lit turned from yellow to blood red. It made them reel with anxiety.


    The ghost bride ignored An Sheng, who was standing in front of her, and floated over to Zhou Wen and company. A cold glint flashed in An Sheng''s eyes as he struck the ghost bride''s body with his palm that had produced lightning. Instantly, the ghost bride retreated dozens of feet and floated far away.


    "Brother Sheng, why didn''t you say earlier that lightning is effective against ghosts? Let me help you." Li Xuan was delighted when he saw this. He hurriedly summoned his Thundergod General and transformed him into the Thundergod Sword. As he held it in his hand, he slashed at the ghost bride.


    When the Thundergod Sword slashed at the ghost bride with lightning bolts, the ghost bride stretched out a pale hand and grabbed the Thundergod Sword. Then, with a strong swing, she threw Li Xuan and the sword out together.


    Bam!


    Li Xuan''s body slammed into the mountain wall and immediately, his face was swollen. Even his bridge of his nose was fractured.


    "The power of the lightning element deals a certain level of damage to ghosts, but the effects are still greatly reduced. When I used the power of an Epic-stage lightning bolt to hit her, it only achieved about 10¨C20% of its effect. What''s the use of that bit of lightning power of yours?" As An Sheng spoke, he struck out with another palm of lightning, sending the ghost bride flying again.


    However, it was only enough to send her flying. He was still unable to seriously injure the ghost bride.


    The ghost bride was forced back by An Sheng time and time again, but she pounced forward again and again. The situation was tense.


    "We don''t have the strength or Companion Beasts that are effective against ghosts. It''s very difficult to kill her. I''ll hold her back. You guys leave first. We''ll rendezvous at Dadong Town," said An Sheng.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred when he heard An Sheng''s words. He summoned Truth Listener. This fellow was a Mythical pet from Small Buddha Temple. Furthermore, the legendary Truth Listener was a soul-suppressing beast of hell. Perhaps it was possible that it had the ability to counter ghosts.


    Just as Truth Listener was summoned, its eyes flashed with golden light as it stared intently at the ghost bride. In the next second, Truth Listener transformed into a golden beam of light that tore towards the ghost bride.

 227 Jinxes Husband

    Truth Listener transformed into a golden beam of light and instantly appeared in front of the ghost bride. The ghost bride''s body trembled as a result. Facing the Epic-stage An Sheng, the ghost bride hadn''t shown any fear, but now, she turned around and attempted to escape.


    However, Truth Listener clearly wasn''t letting her go. It pressed its claw on her back and it seemed to resemble a golden seal that left a mysterious golden branding on the ghost bride''s back.


    No matter how far she ran, her body shimmered with golden light. Soon, her soul dissipated amidst the golden light, dropping a red crystal.


    Truth Listener''s tiny claw grabbed the red crystal and leaped back with a whoosh, landing in Zhou Wen''s palm. It then placed the red crystal in his hand.


    Li Xuan widened his eyes as he looked at Truth Listener, who resembled a golden-silk monkey in Zhou Wen''s palm. He asked in surprise, "Old Zhou, what kind of pet is that? Why is it so awesome?"


    An Sheng also sized up Truth Listener in surprise, clearly very curious.


    "A Legendary Companion Beast. However, it has Buddhist attributes, so it should be effective against ghosts. Probably the reason why it killed the ghost bride so easily." Zhou Wen unsummoned Truth Listener and carefully looked at the red crystal in his hand before realizing that it was a Companion Egg.


    "Ghost-type Companion Beasts are very rare at the moment. Typically, a ghost-type Companion Beast can avoid physical attacks and most of its attribute attacks. However, typically speaking, a ghost-type Companion Beast''s attack strength is relatively weaker. They are more adept at curses. This ghost bride''s offensive strength was very powerful, so it''s relatively rare among ghost-type pets. Although she''s only at the Legendary stage, she will be very useful when exploring new dimensional zones due to her characteristics. Even if she were to encounter an Epic creature, she probably wouldn''t be killed unless the opponent is of a counter attribute," An Sheng said as he looked at the Companion Egg in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    Zhou Wen threw the ghost bride Companion Egg at An Sheng, who was slightly taken aback when he caught it. "Young Master Wen, what are you doing?"


    "I''m still a student, so I naturally don''t have the chance to explore new dimensional zones. It''s useless keeping her around. Take this with you to the military. Perhaps it can reduce the number of military sacrifices." An Sheng had spent a lot of effort taking care of them along the way. It could even be said that he had risked his life. All Zhou Wen wanted was to do something in return.


    Although ghost bride Companion Beasts were rare, Zhou Wen had already downloaded the Yin Yang World''s instance dungeon and had Truth Listener who was effective against the ghost bride. It wouldn''t be difficult for him to obtain ghost bride Companion Beasts in the future.


    "A Companion Egg can''t solve the military''s problem. It will be of great use if there''s a large number of ghost brides." As An Sheng spoke, he returned the ghost bride Companion Egg to Zhou Wen. "Young Master Wen, if you really wish to help the military, you can join after graduation. You will definitely be of help with your capabilities."


    "We''ll see when the time comes," Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head. Even if he wanted to join the military, he had no plans of joining An Tianzuo''s unit.


    As though he had seen through Zhou Wen''s thoughts, An Sheng shook his head slightly and said nothing more.


    They packed their things and followed the path back. Even with an Epic expert like An Sheng around, they couldn''t randomly enter an unknown dimensional zone and risk their lives. Furthermore, this dimensional zone had the most bizarre ghost-like creatures.


    "Old Zhou, quickly hatch that ghost bride and take a look. I want to see what she looks like. After you hatch her, get her to remove the red veil for us to take a look," Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen when they got into the car. He was curious.


    Zhou Wen also wished to see the ghost bride''s stats, but it wasn''t convenient for him to use his cell phone in front of Li Xuan and company. He listened to Li Xuan and took out the ghost bride Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen seldom hatched Companion Eggs himself as he typically hatched them in-game.


    With the Companion Egg in hand, he injected his Primordial Energy into it. Immediately, he felt his Primordial Energy flow into the Companion Egg like it overflowed a dam. Soon, all the drops that flowed out were gone. There was even a feeling that he had provided an insufficient amount.


    This left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback. Although his Primordial Energy had yet to reach 21 points, he still had 20 points. Typical Legendary Companion Eggs that could be hatched with 18 or 19 Primordial Energy were already considered excellent-grade. Yet, the ghost bride found 20 Primordial Energy points insufficient. This made it rather impressive.


    She sure is a powerful creature that dared to walk out of the dimensional zone. She really seems different. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and forcefully survived the pressure the Companion Egg exerted on him. Thankfully, he had a Dao Body and his Primordial Energy recovered quickly. It wasn''t difficult for him to last through the ordeal.


    The Companion Egg was finally hatched as it transformed into a red glow that imprinted onto Zhou Wen''s forehead. It transformed into a red dotted tattoo that resembled a red birthmark on his forehead.


    "Quickly summon her and take a look," Li Xuan said eagerly.


    "It''s so crowded in the car. How do I summon her?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Your intelligence sure is lacking. She has a ghost body. Nothing in the car can touch her," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen shook his head. "Let''s wait until we arrive at a rest area."


    He found an opportunity when no one was watching to glance at the ghost bride''s stats and never expected her name to really be Ghost Bride.


    Ghost Bride: Legendary


    Life Providence: Wife of the Ghost King


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 20


    Constitution: 19


    Primordial Energy: 21


    Talent Skills: Ghost, Spirit Suction, Yin Wind Claw, Jinxes Husband.


    Companion Form: Ghost Eyes.


    Her Primordial Energy is actually at 21 points. Isn''t this a stat point that only Mythical Creatures have? How can ordinary Legendary creatures reach such a level? Zhou Wen was alarmed. Seeing her talent skills, his expression turned even odder. How is jinxing a husband considered a skill?


    Looking at her companion form, he had no idea what Ghost Eyes meant. He could only guess that the Ghost Bride could become an eye.


    Zhou Wen was studying the Ghost Bride''s stats when he suddenly felt An Sheng brake. The tires screeched as it dragged across the road, producing ear-piercing sounds.


    Li Xuan was about to doze off, so without sitting properly, he slammed into the back of the seat in front of him. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Zhang Yuzhi, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, let out an extremely sharp scream. "In front¡­ there are ghosts in front¡­"


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan looked ahead where the car lights shone. Immediately, their expressions changed. A group of white-robed ghosts appeared on the main road ahead of them. They walked over in a daunting manner, and amongst them, there were even ghosts carrying a red-painted coffin. When they walked over, the entire sky seemed to be enveloped by a terrifying ghostly aura. Instantly, the surroundings became a place filled with ghosts.


    The white-robed ghosts had long green fangs that didn''t resemble human teeth. As for the red coffin, there was a strange black gas emitting from it. It looked ghastly and terrifying.

 228 Ghost Tide

    Zhou Wen and company''s faces turned grim. There were countless ghosts in front of the mountain path. They were carrying a coffin, like a funeral procession.


    When they were about a hundred meters away from Zhou Wen and company, the ghosts that carried the coffin stopped. However, it was a momentary pause. In the next second, the ghosts roared and charged forward like a tidal wave.


    "There''s no other way. We can only storm through." An Sheng summoned a dagger and opened the door to get down.


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, Ah Lai, and Zhang Yuzhi got out of the car. Zhang Yuzhi''s face was pale, but she was already prepared for battle. Clearly, she knew that it was useless no matter how afraid she was. She had to storm through.


    "You guys follow behind me." An Sheng took charge and stared at the approaching ghosts. When they were about five meters away from him, the dagger in his hand finally moved.


    The dagger brought with it a beam of light that resembled a blade. The blade beam slashed at the surging ghosts, instantly cleaving through the first row of ghosts that were leading the charge. The few ghosts behind were struck by the impact, and their bodies were sent flying backward.


    Although the might of one strike appeared powerful, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown. If An Sheng''s blade beam was facing ordinary Legendary creatures, it would probably have killed a large number of them.


    However, this strike only managed to kill the first four ghosts, and they were only ordinary Legendary ghosts. Clearly, the effect of An Sheng''s strength was limited when dealing damage to a ghost.


    In an instant, the legion of ghosts inundated Zhou Wen and company as they attacked from all directions.


    An Sheng was in charge of leading the charge while Ah Lai and Li Xuan defended the flanks. Zhou Wen stood at the back while the injured Zhang Yuzhi, who had lost all her pets, remained in the middle to guard against the occasional one that slipped through their defenses.


    An Sheng''s gaze was cold as he constantly brandished his dagger. Wherever the blade beam hit, even ghosts were forcibly cut through. A path of destruction emerged from the sea of ghosts as he charged forward with Zhou Wen and company.


    Although the Thundergod Sword in Li Xuan''s hand was limited in effect against the Ghost Bride, it was still effective against ordinary ghosts.


    Furthermore, his Invincible Connate Divine Art seemed to have a certain effect on them. Although he wasn''t capable of slaying the ghosts like An Sheng, he still caused the ghosts beside him to howl in pain.


    Ah Lai''s situation was somewhat odd. He was clearly a little afraid and had apparently not cultivated any specialized combat techniques. It did not seem like he had been augmented by any Primordial Energy Skills, but when his fists struck the ghosts, he was able to send them flying. A few ghosts were nearly blasted apart by him.


    "Li Xuan is right. Ah Lai does indeed possess immense power." Zhou Wen was relatively relaxed. Truth Listener was right in front of him. When ghosts charged at him, Truth Listener would charge out like a stream of light, dissipating a ghost with a single swipe of its paw.


    Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The ghosts that slipped through the cracks would suffer a strike of his palm. He discovered that with the augmentation of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, hitting a ghost was no different from hitting a living creature. It directly shattered the ghost''s head.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra does have the ability to restrain ghosts. Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease. According to their current situation, if they were only blocked by this legion of ghosts, they should be able to tear through the obstacle.


    However, Zhou Wen had an ominous feeling when his gaze landed on the red-painted coffin that emitted black gas.


    An Sheng led the group all the way forward, killing countless ghosts along the way. There were many ghost crystals that dropped on the ground, but none of them had the time to pick them up.


    Truth Listener seemed to enjoy the crystals of these ghosts as it charged forward like lightning and devoured them. It reveled in the killing and, without waiting for Zhou Wen''s instructions, he took the initiative to kill the nearby ghosts.


    It was very effective against ghosts. Legendary ghosts basically just needed one swipe of its claw. Those ghosts had no ability to resist it at all.


    The five of them continued their relentless assaults in the midst of the ghost tide, almost closing in on the coffin.


    Perhaps due to the agitation caused by the group''s slaying of ghosts, the red-painted coffin that emitted black gas began to shake violently. Just as Zhou Wen and company were less than ten meters away from it, the lid suddenly opened and a hand extended out, pressing it to the side of the coffin.


    It was as pale as snow with long, slender fingers. They looked like bones wrapped in skin, but the nails were silver, long and sharp, like sharp blades.


    And there seemed to be a faint black gas emitting from that hand.


    Zhou Wen''s heart sank as An Sheng''s expression turned solemn. They continued charging forward without a word.


    The ghost hand pressed down hard on the coffin, and a figure slowly stood up. It was a person with white hair and black armor. There was even a ferocious ghost mask on its face and a faint black gas emitted from its body¡ªone that exuded a sinister charm.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost slowly floated up from the coffin as it stared at Truth Listener and An Sheng. The next moment, it seemed to teleport and appeared in front of An Sheng. It thrust its silver fingernails at An Sheng''s head like five sharp daggers.


    An Sheng quickly reacted as he whipped his dagger upwards and slashed at the ghost''s hand like a streak of light, giving it a great impulse.


    "Retreat," An Sheng said with a solemn expression.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan knew that something was amiss. Behind them was the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. If they retreated, they would retreat into the Yin Yang world.


    An Sheng clearly knew that this was the case; yet, he still got them to retreat. Clearly, they had encountered a very serious problem. Even he was not confident about defeating the black-armored, white-haired ghost.


    Without another word, Zhou Wen charged back with Truth Listener. Li Xuan, Ah Lai, and Zhang Yuzhi followed closely behind.


    However, An Sheng didn''t retreat. He held onto the dagger and stared at the black-armored, white-haired ghost intently.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost also looked at An Sheng as the black aura around it became more obvious. As for the other ghosts, they appeared to not see An Sheng at all. They no longer attacked him and instead charged at the escaping Zhou Wen and company.


    An Sheng''s aura grew stronger as a strange light rose up from his body as if a demon had possessed him. The purple light seemed to dye his body purple.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen only heard a terrifying explosion from An Sheng when he saw ghostly auras rise up. It was mixed with a strange purple hue. Countless ghosts had been dispersed.


    However, there were just too many ghosts, and countless ghosts were still rushing at them. Without An Sheng holding back most of the ghosts, their situation immediately became dire.


    Although Truth Listener was effective against ghosts, it was a Legendary pet after all. It could only kill one ghost at a time without a mass attack. With it only killing one ghost, more ghosts would lunge at them.

 229 Yin Yang World

    Zhou Wen charged forward as he constantly punched out with his fists, but he could only send two or three ghosts retreating.


    Seeing more and more ghosts surrounding them, Zhou Wen and company were unable to move far. They were trapped in their spots. Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy and sent a gust of Grand Yin Wind at the ghosts ahead of them.


    A strong gust of wind blew past, instantly blowing away the large group of ghosts ahead. However, after the ghosts were blown away, they quickly lunged forward again, not suffering too much damage.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the power of the Grand Yin Wind was an Yin-elemental wind. As for ghosts, they were of an extreme Yin nature. The wind attribute of the Grand Yin Wind was effective against them, but the Yin attribute wasn''t of much use. All he could do was send them flying, but he couldn''t freeze them.


    It''s good enough to send them flying. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as he charged forward. His Dao body quickly recovered his Primordial Energy, and once he did that, he would fan the back.


    Li Xuan blocked most of the ghosts in the rear, but the wounds on his body kept increasing. With Zhou Wen''s fanning, a large number of the ghosts behind them were sent flying, giving Li Xuan some breathing space.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, the Saber Shield Knight, Demonized General, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant, and the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, but the effects weren''t that great.


    Among them, only the Golden Warrior''s Golden Palm did significant damage to the ghosts. The damage dealt to the ghosts by the other pets'' attacks was very limited and was of not much use.


    Soon, Zhou Wen unsummoned them. This was the real world. They died permanently here with no way to revive them. These were excellent-grade Companion Beasts that Zhou Wen had; he couldn''t bear to send them to their deaths.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Ghost Bride and saw her figure move erratically. Wherever the pale-white hands with red nails touched, a ghost''s head would be pierced through by her claws. Then, the ghost would be absorbed by her palm, turning her nails even redder like blood.


    The Ghost Bride''s wanton killing was much more efficient than Zhou Wen''s. She shared the burden for the four of them.


    With the aid of the Banana Fairy, Truth Listener, and Ghost Bride, Zhou Wen and company finally arrived at a spot not far from the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    From time to time, earth-shattering explosions could be heard from afar, making Zhou Wen and company feel much more at ease. At least they knew that An Sheng was still battling the black-armored, white-haired ghost¡ªhe hadn''t been killed.


    However, they were also in a daze. An Sheng only wanted them to rush back, but he didn''t tell them what to do. Now that they were about to reach the Yin Yang Boundary Stone, were they to cross it?


    There was no way out after being chased by ghosts. If they entered the netherworld again, it could only be worse.


    Zhou Wen, who was at the forefront, couldn''t help but look in the direction of the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. When he saw it, his pupils immediately constricted as though he had seen an extremely terrifying scene.


    "Holy sh*t!" Li Xuan also looked in the direction of the Boundary Stone and immediately exclaimed when he saw it.


    Behind the Boundary Stone was a group of red-dressed female ghosts. Their numbers were in no way lesser than the white-robed ghosts they were facing. At that moment, they were behind the Boundary Stone like a sea of red flowers.


    However, the red-dressed female ghosts were somewhat different from Zhou Wen''s Ghost Bride. Although they were dressed in red, they were only dressed in ordinary red robes. They weren''t bridal gowns, nor were there red veils that covered their faces. Their faces could be seen.


    The female ghosts didn''t look ugly and were actually rather pretty. However, their faces were pale and looked ghastly. Their fingernails were long and sharp. Although they didn''t look ugly, they appeared extremely frightening.


    "Out of the frying pan and into the fire. We are really in big trouble this time," Li Xuan cried out loudly. His Immortal God of Combat Life Providence and the Invincible Connate Divine Art made him nearly immortal as long as he wasn''t immediately slain. But even so, such a crazy battle was a huge burden on him.


    Zhou Wen was also secretly lamenting. The white-robed ghosts had the black-armored, white-haired ghost that even An Sheng was not necessarily able to beat. They definitely couldn''t escape in that direction.


    However, the red-dressed female ghosts weren''t to be trifled with either. Furthermore, after entering the dimensional zone, who knew what else was there. Perhaps, there was a large number of black-armored, white-haired ghosts inside. If they charged in, they would only end up dead.


    Instantly, the four fell into a dilemma. They could neither advance nor retreat, and could only fight the white-robed ghosts with all their might.


    However, there was no way to continue fighting like this. Humans didn''t have inexhaustible stamina. The Dao Body could recover Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy, but it was impossible for it to completely recover his stamina. Zhou Wen was already beginning to feel exhausted, and he had no idea how long he could last.


    Li Xuan''s and Ah Lai''s situation wasn''t any better. The depletion of their stamina wasn''t any less than Zhou Wen''s. Zhang Yuzhi was the worst. She limped as she barely managed to fight. She had already suffered quite a few injuries.


    If not for Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Ah Lai taking care of her occasionally, she would have long been killed by the ghosts.


    "It''s not a solution if this goes on. Instead of dying so pathetically, why don''t we charge back and kill the black-armored, white-haired ghost with Brother Sheng? If we succeed, we can successfully escape. Even if we don''t succeed, we''ll just die gloriously in battle. It''s better than dying here because of being overwhelmed," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen scanned his surroundings and suddenly said, "Don''t go back yet. Let''s approach the Yin Yang Boundary Stone a little closer."


    With that said, Zhou Wen had already used the Grand Yin Wind to lead the way as he charged towards the red-dressed female ghosts. However, his Grand Yin Wind was only used to fan the white-robed ghosts away; he didn''t attack the red-dressed female ghosts.


    Although they did not know what Zhou Wen was up to, Li Xuan and Ah Lai followed without any hesitation. Soon, they arrived in front of the Boundary Stone.


    At that moment, they discovered a strange scene. None of the red-dressed female ghosts standing behind the Boundary Stone charged over.


    As for the white-robed ghosts, none of them came close to the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. They gathered on the other side of the Boundary Stone as they bared their fangs and brandished their claws at Zhou Wen and company.


    The white-robed ghosts and the red-dressed female ghosts looked at each other across the Boundary Stone. The ghosts on both sides were eyeing Zhou Wen and company covetously, but none of them charged forward. It made the four who were trapped around the Boundary Stone feel alarmed yet relieved.


    After fighting for so long, the four of them were exhausted. They leaned close towards the Yin Yang Boundary Stone but were unable to rest. The white-robed ghosts and red-dressed female ghosts on both sides were less than a meter away from them. The terrifying ghastly claws that were waving around seemed to be able to pierce a few holes into their bodies at any moment.


    "Old Zhou, are we saved now?" Li Xuan said with a sullen expression as he looked at the ghastly claw waving in front of him.


    "The food and drinks are all in the car. We are trapped here. Even if these ghosts don''t harm us, we won''t be able to live for long. Do you think we are saved?" Zhou Wen sized up the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. He hoped that he could find a way out.


    However, beyond that was ghastly and terrifying. Fog was everywhere, making it impossible to see what was inside.


    Suddenly, the potent collisions in the distance vanished as the night turned silent. It made Zhou Wen and company feel their hearts in their throats.


    "Did Brother Sheng win?" Li Xuan swallowed his saliva with great difficulty. If An Sheng didn''t win, he probably had been harmed by the black-armored, white-haired ghost. This also spelled doom for them.


    Their gazes were fixed on the road. Soon, Zhou Wen and company''s expressions became extremely nasty. They saw the black-armored, white-haired ghost fly over in the sky, its head of white hair fluttering in the wind, like a devil coming into this world.

 230 Ghost King

    "Let''s charge in." Zhou Wen gritted his teeth when he saw the black-armored, white-haired ghost charging at them. He got up and charged towards the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    With the Grand Yin Wind clearing the path, the red-dressed female ghosts were sent flying dozens of meters away.


    Li Xuan and company also knew that facing the black-armored, white-haired ghost would only lead to death. Without any hesitation, they followed Zhou Wen past the Yin Yang Boundary Stone.


    Despite the Grand Yin Wind sending many female ghosts flying dozens of meters away, there were just too many red-dressed female ghosts. Soon, more red-dressed female ghosts surrounded them.


    Zhou Wen fanned again, blowing away the female ghost in front of him as he ran desperately inside with the trio.


    Not long after the four of them ran in, the black-armored, white-haired ghost charged to the Yin Yang Boundary Stone. However, he didn''t hesitate like the white-robed ghosts and rushed straight in.


    The moment he entered, the red-dressed female ghosts seemed to break into a frenzy. All of them began screaming as their hair stood on end. They charged at the black-armored, white-haired ghost fearlessly.


    Zhou Wen and company were pleasantly surprised when they saw this.


    "Holy sh*t, all hell''s breaking loose!" Li Xuan cried out in pleasant surprise.


    However, their pleasant surprise didn''t last long. When the group of red-dressed female ghosts pounced at the black-armored, white-haired ghost, the black gas emitting from the latter suddenly blasted outwards, producing a shockwave. It instantly obliterated all the red-dressed female ghosts within a twenty-meter radius.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost ignored the red-dressed female ghosts and flew towards Zhou Wen and company.


    The four of them felt their hearts turn cold. The black-armored, white-haired ghost could kill a group of red-dressed female ghosts without even laying his finger on them. Such strength was a calamity for them.


    Although the red-dressed female ghosts continued charging forward fearlessly, they had no effect on the black-armored, white-haired ghost. Just a surge of his black gas evaporated and dissipated them, leaving only a few ghost crystals falling to the ground.


    The four of them only managed to run for about a hundred meters before the black-armored, white-haired ghost caught up to them. He extended his ghastly claws and grabbed at Zhou Wen.


    The black gas condensed into the shape of a ghastly claw and, despite being more than ten meters away, appeared in front of Zhou Wen instantly and was about to hoist him up.


    Zhou Wen held the banana fan and fanned it at the black gaseous claw. The Grand Yin Wind swept over, blowing away all the black gas.


    However, before Zhou Wen and company could rejoice, the black-armored, white-haired ghost released another claw. A gigantic ghastly hand, formed from black gases grabbed at Zhou Wen, its speed so fast that it was almost impossible to dodge.


    The Grand Yin Wind had just been used and Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy had yet to recover. Unable to use it again, all he could do was pull out his Bamboo Blade and slash at the black gaseous claw.


    Ghost Bride and Truth Listener attacked the black gaseous hand at the same time. The Yin Wind Claw and the golden beam of Truth Listener''s claws almost struck the black gaseous claw simultaneously.


    Bam!


    The black gaseous claw was shattered by the two pets, but Zhou Wen felt his hands go numb as his Primordial Energy was nearly drained.


    "Run separately!" Zhou Wen could tell that he was the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s target. He immediately ran in another direction.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost indeed chased after him without any hesitation. The red-dressed female ghosts that approached him were dissipated as though he was a demon king in the flesh.


    Zhou Wen felt worse than the black-armored white-haired ghost. By using the Great Yin Wind to rid the red-dressed female ghosts in front of him, there was no way to deal with his pursuer. Furthermore, the black-armored, white-haired ghost was obviously much faster than him. In a blink of an eye, he had caught up to him.


    As though he knew that the black gaseous claw was useless against Zhou Wen, the black-armored, white-haired ghost grabbed at him with his hand. It was as fast as an illusion.


    Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and used the Bamboo Blade to produce Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Instantly, the sky lit up as Zhou Wen''s speed suddenly increased. Like lightning, he slashed at the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s body.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sounds of metal ringing sounded incessantly as the extremely sharp Bamboo Blade struck the black armor of the white-haired ghost. It was unknown what the armor was made of, but it looked like black jade. When the Bamboo Blade struck it, only white scuff marks were left behind, failing to split the armor apart.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost floated in the air, blocking Zhou Wen''s attack without even lifting his palm.


    The instant Transcendent Flying Immortal ended, the black-armored, white-haired ghost extended his hand and instantly appeared in front of Zhou Wen, moments from grabbing his neck.


    The difference in speed was too great, so Zhou Wen didn''t even have a chance to dodge.


    Truth Listener appeared on Zhou Wen''s shoulder as a golden light flashed across its claws. It was as though it was wearing a mysterious hex seal as it moved towards the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s palm.


    Bam!


    Its palm was branded with a golden mark that made him retract his hand as if he had been pricked by a needle. As for Truth Listener, it was sent flying. It tumbled in the air a few times before landing on the head of a red-dressed female ghost. She was so frightened that she didn''t dare move.


    Truth Listener didn''t look injured. After baring its teeth and crying out loud, it leaped up once again, rushing towards the black-armored, white-haired ghost.


    The ghost shook his hand and immediately, the golden flame-like branding on his palm was drowned by the black gas. Then, he shot out a plume of black gas, immediately sending Truth Listener flying.


    Truth Listener was only at the Legendary stage. Despite being struck by the black-armored, white-haired ghost twice, it remained unharmed. However, there was nothing it could do about the black-armored, white-haired ghost. Before it could reach him, it was sent flying by the hand formed by the black gas.


    Zhou Wen felt a little depressed. If Truth Listener could advance to the Epic stage, it would probably be able to fight the black-armored, white-haired ghost or even suppress it. Now, it could only be trounced.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost seemed to know that Truth Listener was a nemesis of ghosts, making it difficult to kill. Therefore, he only sent Truth Listener flying before ignoring it. With his body phasing away, he appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared as he fanned at him, sending the black-armored, white-haired ghost flying back more than a hundred feet.


    However, just as he retreated, the white-haired ghost''s figure blinked again. It was so fast that Zhou Wen had no time to recover his Primordial Energy.


    It was already too late for Truth Listener and Banana Fairy to save him. Zhou Wen could only use Ghost Bride to ward off his assailant, but Ghost Bride appeared to be extremely afraid of the black-armored, white-haired ghost. She didn''t dare rush forward to help Zhou Wen ward off the disaster.


    Zhou Wen immediately cursed inwardly. Typical Companion Beasts were absolutely obedient. They wouldn''t hesitate even if they were ordered to commit suicide.


    Only a Mythical pet like Truth Listener and Banana Fairy had a certain level of self-awareness. He never expected Ghost Bride to have her own consciousness and even know fear.


    However, with the Ghost Bride''s hesitation, Zhou Wen immediately fell into peril. He watched as the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s palm grabbed at his neck.

 231 Fight to the Death

    The chick that had been standing on Zhou Wen''s shoulder suddenly spat out a golden flame that sprayed onto the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s palm.


    When the golden flame touched the white-haired ghost''s palm, it was as if a spark had encountered gasoline. It immediately ignited and the ghastly hand caught fire.


    Good bird. Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he turned around and continued fleeing.


    Although the chick was magical, it had not long been born. Its level was too low now, so no matter how powerful its flames were, it would probably not be able to burn the black-armored, white-haired ghost to death.


    Indeed, the black gas emitted by the black-armored, white-haired ghost surged out, extinguishing the golden flames that engulfed his palm. His charred palm also rapidly recovered amidst the black gases, and his eyes showed anger as he chased again.


    What a haunting presence! Zhou Wen suddenly felt that at times, people really couldn''t believe in superstitions. Ever since he had the Bamboo Blade, his luck had really deteriorated significantly.


    On this return trip, a new dimensional zone had appeared out of nowhere. There were even creatures that had broken out of containment and they were unlucky enough to encounter them.


    Truth Listener and Banana Fairy rushed over to help Zhou Wen fend off the black-armored, white-haired ghost. Zhou Wen had also pushed Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to its limits, hoping to escape the calamity.


    However, the black-armored, white-haired ghost had extremely high intelligence. He already knew that Truth Listener''s and Banana Fairy''s weakness was that their levels weren''t high, so he ignored them. He sent them flying and continued targeting Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen kept ordering Ghost Bride to fight, but all she did was tremble as she slowly floated towards the black-armored, white-haired ghost. Clearly, she was horrified.


    Zhou Wen dodged in the air like an eagle several times, but he failed to completely dodge the black-armored, white-haired ghost''s palm attacks. He was just seconds from having his neck grabbed.


    Seeing his furious gaze, Zhou Wen had no doubt that he would snap his neck.


    After I return, I''ll definitely stay at home and game in peace. I won''t come out again no matter what, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he prepared to activate his Sigh of the King.


    Although the Sigh of the King was potent, his body couldn''t withstand such immense power. Furthermore, it was unknown if it was effective against the black-armored, white-haired ghost, but now, using it meant a last-ditch effort. If his attack failed, death was certain for him.


    The white-haired ghost dodged the flames spewed out by the chick. Just as it was about to grab Zhou Wen, a bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky and struck the white-haired ghost''s head. It was Li Xuan who cleaved down with the Thundergod Sword.


    The white-haired ghost frowned slightly. He moved his body sideways and flipped his hand, sending the ghastly gases to blast Li Xuan and his sword away.


    Bam!


    Li Xuan''s body slammed into the ground paved with stones, shattering the area.


    "Li Xuan!" Zhou Wen cleaved at the white-haired ghost while shouting.


    Li Xuan did a backflip from the rubble and charged at the white-haired ghost again, his Thundergod Sword weighing him down.


    The white-haired ghost''s figure flashed as he grabbed the Bamboo Blade with one hand and grabbed the Thundergod Sword with the other. He violently flung Zhou Wen and Li Xuan to the ground.


    As gravel flew, Zhou Wen felt his face deform from being smashed. It was possible that his bones were fractured as blood gushed out from his nose.


    Li Xuan''s condition wasn''t any better as he crashed into the stony earth.


    The white-haired ghost''s body descended and its feet were just about to step on both of their heads.


    Bam!


    Ah Lai rushed over and kicked the white-haired ghost in the chest, sending him flying backward.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate any further as he channeled the Sigh of the King. Instantly, the strange power blasted out like a volcanic eruption.


    A beam of light descended on Zhou Wen. Li Xuan and company couldn''t see the shadow, but Zhou Wen could sense that it was a woman, but he couldn''t see her clearly.


    Terrifying power instantly filled Zhou Wen''s entire body, making him feel like he could blast through everything.


    He was unwilling to waste any more time since the Sigh of the King''s power only grew stronger. If too much time passed, the power might explode his body. Zhou Wen had to finish off the Ghost King before his body crumbled.


    Seeing the Ghost King charge at him again, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate to use Transcendent Flying Immortal. His body transformed into a lightning flash as he faced the black-armored, white-haired ghost.


    Crack!


    The Bamboo Blade slashed at the Ghost King''s black armor once again, tearing open a deep rift. The black gas in it immediately surged out like a fountain.


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost''s expression changed. His figure flashed like a ghost and disappeared into thin air. The subsequent attacks of Transcendent Flying Immortal missed due to the target suddenly disappearing.


    When the black-armored, white-haired ghost appeared again, it was already tens of meters away. Its trajectory didn''t show, as though it had teleported over.


    Zhou Wen felt the power in his body turn increasingly violent. Without any hesitation, he used Transcendent Flying Immortal again.


    Originally, with his Primordial Energy, he could only use Transcendent Flying Immortal once before being enervated. However, with the Sigh of the King, Zhou Wen felt that he could use Transcendent Flying Immortal countless times. He didn''t need to worry about over-exerting his Primordial Energy, as though his body had infinite Primordial Energy.


    This feeling made Zhou Wen excited and extremely worried. He was like a baby swinging a sledgehammer¡ªhe could hurt himself at any moment due to his lack of power. His body''s strength was insufficient to control the Sigh of the King.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal streaked across the sky instantly and appeared in front of the black-armored, white-haired ghost. However, his figure phased away and vanished once again. It made Zhou Wen unable to sense his aura, preventing him from locking onto it. This Transcendent Flying Immortal missed again.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly as his body showed signs of overexertion. If he couldn''t quickly finish off the white-haired ghost soon, he would probably implode.


    However, the white-haired ghost possessed a technique that was similar to teleportation. No matter how strong or fast he was, it was useless if he couldn''t touch the white-haired ghost.


    When the white-haired ghost appeared again, Li Xuan charged forward and slashed at its head with the Thundergod Sword.


    The white-haired ghost was somewhat afraid of Zhou Wen''s strength, but he thought nothing of Li Xuan. With a slight blink, he dodged Li Xuan''s Thundergod Sword and pressed Li Xuan''s head to the ground with one hand.


    Bam!


    Rocks flew everywhere as Li Xuan''s head crashed into a huge crater on the ground. Blood splattered out along with the rubble.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. This strike had probably crushed Li Xuan''s head.


    However, just as the white-haired ghost was about to retract his hand, Li Xuan suddenly grabbed his arm with both hands and leaped up. He clung tightly to the white-haired ghost and shouted at Zhou Wen, "Kill him!"

 232 Slaying Ghost King

    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, he traversed more than ten meters in an instant and slashed his Bamboo Blade at the white-haired ghost like a bolt of lightning.


    The black gas exploded from the white-haired ghost''s body, causing Li Xuan''s blood to spray. He didn''t know how many bones had been broken, but he refused to release his tight grip.


    Realizing that he couldn''t shake Li Xuan off, the white-haired ghost tried to teleport with Li Xuan. However, Ah Lai, who had rushed over, hugged his other leg. The ghost was clearly much slower attempting to teleport with the two of them, allowing Zhou Wen to discover the secret of his teleportation.


    It wasn''t teleportation at all; it was just a fast-moving art, but because it was so fast, it looked like it was an instant transmission.


    Li Xuan risked his life to hold him back, and with Ah Lai joining, his speed immediately slowed down, allowing Zhou Wen to see the white-haired ghost''s trajectory clearly.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal moved like lightning as they intertwined and slashed at the black-armored, white-haired ghost.


    The extremely hard armor was cleaved apart by Zhou Wen''s redoubtable strength as if it was tofu as cracks appeared one after another.


    Large amounts of black smoke spewed out from the cracks in his armor, and soon, his body appeared close to tearing apart.


    However, a strange scene happened at that moment. The black-armored, white-haired ghost gave a long roar as it enveloped the entire land that was the nether realm. The white-robed ghosts and red-dressed female ghosts turned into streams of ghost aura that surged towards him.


    As there were too many ghosts around him, large amounts of ghostly aura surged into his body, quickly restoring the damage to his body. The armor that was on the brink of collapse was stabilized.


    Zhou Wen knew that this wasn''t going well. His body was almost at its limits. If this strike couldn''t kill the black-armored, white-haired ghost, he still had a high chance of killing him by using Transcendent Flying Immortal again. However, his body would probably not be able to withstand it either. He would probably implode while using Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Just as Zhou Wen was lamenting the turn of events, Ghost Bride beside him let out a scream as she emitted a red glow.


    In the domain of the black-armored, white-haired ghost, her ghostly aura was also sucked away, preventing her from escaping. Finally, she unleashed all her potential.


    Although it was said to be all her potential, there was only one talent skill that she had never used. It was also the Jinxes Husband skill that he had no idea how to use.


    When the red glow radiated outwards, Zhou Wen and company didn''t feel anything, despite being illuminated by the red light. The black-armored, white-haired ghost was also illuminated by the red light. Immediately, the ghostly aura in his body was thrown into chaos. The ghostly aura that had been sucked into his body to heal it turned chaotic. Not only did it not repair his body, it even affected his own ghostly aura.


    "Die!" Zhou Wen released all his strength as the remaining half of Transcendent Flying Immortal was unleashed with even more terrifying might. It transformed into bolts of lightning that meshed together, striking the black-armored, white-haired ghost.


    Bam!


    The black-armored, white-haired ghost''s body was shattered as the black armor was scattered everywhere. The ghostly aura in his body also exploded, sending Li Xuan and Ah Lai flying.


    Zhou Wen retracted the power of Sigh of the King and landed back on the ground. He lost his balance and fell to the ground. His skin was crimson red¡ªa result of his blood vessels and meridians bursting. Under such immense pressure, all his bones would have fractured. If he had delayed a little while longer, he would have been killed by his Life Providence without needing the black-armored, white-haired ghost to do the honors.


    "Li Xuan, Ah Lai, are you alright?" Zhou Wen struggled to stand up, but it was to no avail no matter how hard he tried. His bones were fractured and he couldn''t stand the pain even if he didn''t move. Any movement made it excruciating.


    Meanwhile, Ah Lai helped Li Xuan up from the rubble. "I''m fine. Li Xuan''s condition isn''t too good."


    "I won''t die." Li Xuan was covered in blood¡ªeven his face was indiscernible, making him look extremely terrifying. With his powerful recovery abilities, he still didn''t show any signs of improvement, proof of his serious injuries.


    They had just said a few words when their expressions turned nasty. They were already unable to continue fighting, but the red-dressed female ghosts suddenly surrounded them. They bared their fangs and brandished their claws as if they wanted to skin them alive.


    If this were in the past, Zhou Wen and company wouldn''t have been afraid of the red-dressed female ghosts. No matter how many of them blocked their path, they could still charge out.


    But now, three and a half of the four were equivalent to trash. They were not combat-fit. More critically, they didn''t even have the ability to escape. They could only stand their ground and await death.


    "I never expected that I, Li Xuan, would die in the hands of a female ghost. Alright, dying in the hands of a beautiful female ghost is better than being eaten by those ugly beasts." Li Xuan also knew that he was unlikely to survive today, but he didn''t feel any fear. He looked up and said to Zhou Wen, "Old Zhou, I''m afraid you and I are both going to hell. When we go to hell, remember me. Don''t forget me. When the time comes, let''s wreak havoc in hell."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen also knew that there was no way they could survive this ordeal as he nodded in response.


    Ah Lai sighed softly. "It''s a pity I still haven''t remembered what happened in the past."


    Zhang Yuzhi hobbled towards Zhou Wen and company with her injured legs, but she collapsed to the ground. Only Zhou Wen''s pets were still fighting, but the red-dressed female ghosts were like an unending tidal wave. With the opening the red-dressed female ghosts detected, they lunged over and threw the four into despair.


    Suddenly!


    A beam of light flashed as the heads of the red-dressed female ghosts flew into the air. At the same time, a figure appeared in front of them.


    "Brother Sheng, you aren''t dead?" Li Xuan was overjoyed when he saw the person. It was An Sheng.


    However, when he saw An Sheng''s appearance, Li Xuan''s expression turned odd. He saw that An Sheng''s clothes were ironed and his shirt was clean and white. Even his hair was neat and tidy. There was no messy hair and there was a smile on his face. He did not look like he had gone through an intense battle.


    Furthermore, it was clearly very strenuous for him to kill the ghosts previously, but, this time, this strike had managed to behead dozens of red-dressed female ghosts. This was clearly different from his previous performance.


    "Don''t tell me you''re bluffing?" Li Xuan asked with widened eyes.


    The others looked at An Sheng as well, but An Sheng said with a smile, "Didn''t I mention that I would take you to a few dimensional zones for training? This Yin Yang Ghost World that just appeared is one of them. I originally thought that I would save you when you were on the brink of death, but I never expected that you could actually kill Ghost King. You did pretty well. Don''t you feel a sense of achievement?"


    Li Xuan did not say a word as he showed An Sheng his middle finger. He suddenly understood why many people in Luoyang called An Sheng the Devil''s Adjutant.


    An Sheng wasn''t angry either. He played with the dagger in his hand and casually killed the red-dressed female ghosts until they fled in fear, no longer daring to lunge forward again.


    He walked to the spot where Ghost King had died and picked up something before stuffing it into Zhou Wen''s hand. "Young Master Wen, this is your spoils of war. It''s very meaningful. The experience gained from life and death is something that no amount of wealth can compare with."


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the strength to speak. He received the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal that emitted black gas and flipped An Sheng off as well.

 233 Afraid Youll Be Unhappy

    I should have realized it long ago. With Ah Sheng''s meticulousness, why would he take us on such a dangerous path? Besides, he''s the one who led us here. Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. He was glad that Ah Sheng wasn''t an enemy while also warning himself.


    This time, An Sheng was not their enemy. But if their enemy treated them this way, how would they deal with it?


    Zhou Wen could only warn himself that he had to be more careful in the future.


    However, he didn''t lose trust in anyone because of this matter. At the very least, Li Xuan and Ah Lai had chosen to fight alongside him in the life-and-death situation, instead of running for their lives.


    Between trust and distrust, Zhou Wen knew that he needed to find a balance.


    There was one thing An Sheng was right about. A battle that threatened his life was far more memorable than Zhou Wen gaming. Some things were difficult to understand unless it was a life-and-death situation. The penalty of death in-game ultimately failed to reach the bottom of his heart.


    On his way back, Zhou Wen was fiddling with the Ghost King''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal in his hand. An Sheng told Zhou Wen that the Yin Yang World had only appeared recently, and it was difficult to kill a Ghost King. In fact, a Ghost King was very rare as well, not something that would be encountered every time. Therefore, up to now, very few Primordial Energy Skill Crystal had dropped. The one in Zhou Wen''s hand was the first. Even An Sheng didn''t know what Primordial Energy Skill the Ghost King would drop.


    An Sheng also said that he had watched Zhou Wen and company''s entire battle process. If it wasn''t for the strange powers of Ghost Bride restraining the Ghost King, the outcome would have been completely different. The restrictions Ghost Bride had on the Ghost King were too great. It was a very effective weapon against him.


    If Zhou Wen was interested and had the time, he could use Ghost Bride to earn money here in the future. There would definitely be people who would hire Zhou Wen''s Ghost Bride.


    It was also An Sheng''s first time finding out the abilities of Ghost Bride. In fact, he had never seen a Ghost Bride before, and this was also his first time seeing her.


    Not long after the Yin Yang World was discovered, all An Sheng knew about were the red-dressed female ghosts, white-robed female ghosts, and the Ghost King.


    However, An Sheng had the ability to control dimensional creatures like ghosts. Therefore, even if two Ghost Kings appeared at the same time, he was confident that he could protect Zhou Wen and company. That was why he brought them here to experience the sensation of life and death. At the same time, he wanted Zhou Wen to experience the dimensional creatures of the ghost type. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be mentally prepared when facing them in the future.


    What kind of Primordial Energy Skill is it? Zhou Wen didn''t directly absorb it. It was an Epic Primordial Energy Skill Crystal, so directly absorbing it was too dangerous. Zhou Wen planned on absorbing it in-game after returning to the college.


    Nothing happened on the way back, as An Sheng successfully got them to Luoyang. When they passed by Eastern Capital, Zhang Yuzhi got out of the car and thanked them. She even added them as friends on social media.


    "Did everything go well on the way?" An Tianzuo asked casually as he read the documents in the military camp.


    "It went well," An Sheng answered.


    "That''s good." An Tianzuo frowned slightly as he continued reading the documents.


    However, after waiting for a while, he still didn''t hear An Sheng speak. An Tianzuo looked up at An Sheng, who was standing by the side, and asked, "Don''t you have anything to say?"


    "Overseer, do you want to know about my matters? Or do you want to know about Zhou Wen''s matters? If it''s the former, you can feel at ease. I was very safe the entire journey," An Sheng said with a smile.


    "Humph, you are becoming more and more presumptuous." An Tianzuo''s face sank as he reprimanded An Sheng before continuing, "I heard that he caused quite a stir in Holy City. I''m afraid he will bring trouble to our An family."


    "In terms of the ability to stir up trouble, he definitely can''t compare to you, Overseer. Besides, even if he were to cause trouble, the An family would be the one causing trouble for him, don''t you think so?" An Sheng blinked as he spoke.


    "Ah Sheng, have you been living too comfortably recently? Do you want to go on a training expedition at the front lines?" An Tianzuo put down the documents in his hand and glared at An Sheng.


    "Overseer, calm down. I''m just afraid that you won''t be happy if I say something that I shouldn''t say," An Sheng said meekly.


    "I''m very unhappy right now," said An Tianzuo with a cold expression.


    An Sheng wasn''t afraid as he blinked and said, "Alright, I''ll tell you then. If you hear something you don''t like, don''t be angry."


    "Do you believe that I''ll throw you to the Chess Mountain to guard it?" An Tianzuo said.


    "If I were to guard the mountain pass, who else would know your preferences? They wouldn''t even know what tea you like to drink or the ratio of warm water to use. I''m afraid you wouldn''t be able to get used to it." An Sheng smiled as he made tea for An Tianzuo.


    "Do you think I''m apprehensive about dealing with you just because of this? Do you believe that I can find a more capable adjutant to replace you tomorrow and throw you to guard the mountain pass?" With that said, An Tianzuo laughed.


    "Yes." An Sheng placed the teacup in front of An Tianzuo before saying seriously, "You should already know about Zhou Wen''s situation in Holy City. So what are you asking about?"


    "Your evaluation of him." An Tianzuo took a sip of tea and slowly said.


    "Like I said, I was afraid you would be unhappy," An Sheng said.


    "Speak." An Tianzuo only said one word.


    "I think he''s even stronger than you were back then," An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo immediately put down his teacup and glared fiercely at An Sheng. "Don''t use those exaggerated words. No matter how well you praise him, he will not catch my eye."


    An Sheng said, "You said that you wouldn''t be angry. If you want to hear lies, I''ll just do as you wish. That punk Zhou Wen is extremely weak. He was capable of defeating six families and Lance not because he''s strong, but because the children of the six families are too disappointing. Zhou Wen merely enjoys undeserved fame. The reason he could kill the Ghost King is because of his sheer luck¡­"


    "Ah Sheng, you seem to think highly of him?" An Tianzuo narrowed his eyes and asked An Sheng.


    "I just feel that Zhou Wen is just what Mr. Ouyang said. He''s someone that can be trusted," An Sheng said seriously.


    "Is that so? I don''t think so," said An Tianzuo indifferently as he picked up the document and read it again.


    An Sheng knew An Tianzuo''s habits, so when he saw him pick up the document, he didn''t say another word. All he could do was sigh inwardly. An Tianzuo''s temper was the same as Zhou Wen''s. It was useless for anyone to say anything once he had made up his mind.


    Now, An Sheng only hoped that the two of them wouldn''t become enemies in the future. Otherwise, it would be a disaster.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he took the mysterious phone to snap the Ghost King''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. However, he received the notification that his stats were inadequate.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that the Ghost King Crystal was the same as the Mutated Fairy Crystal from before. They both had stat and Primordial Energy Art requirements.


    The stat requirement was the same as Transcendent Flying Immortal¡ª21 points of Speed. As for the Primordial Energy Art, it required Yin-type Primordial Energy Art.


    The few Primordial Energy Arts that Zhou Wen was proficient in now were more neutral. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra was clearly more inclined to Yang, and a Buddhist-type Primordial Energy Art like the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was definitely not Yin-type. As for the First Order of Chaos, it had yet to advance to the Legendary stage. The only one left was the Godfiend Era.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have much confidence while switching his Primordial Energy Art to the Godfiend Era All he wanted to do was give it a try. After all, the Godfiend Era hadn''t appeared to be Yin-type in nature. At best, it could only be considered a little more feminine.


    To his surprise, the mysterious phone successfully captured the Ghost King''s crystal into the game and successfully absorbed it once he switched to Godfiend Era.


    ''Absorbed Ghost King Crystal. Attained Primordial Energy Skill: Ghost Steps.''

 234 Ghost Steps

    Ghost Steps: A moving technique of a ghost with a mysterious, unpredictable effect.


    Zhou Wen tested Ghost Steps and discovered that it was a movement technique that resembled the Ghost King''s instant transmission. Ghost Steps wasn''t true teleportation, but an instant burst of extraordinary speed. Due to the sudden burst of speed and suddenness, it looked like one vanished.


    Previously, with Li Xuan and Ah Lai holding back the Ghost King, Zhou Wen had seen his trajectory due to the lowering of his speed.


    Although it wasn''t true teleportation, it was already enough to pleasantly surprise him. The speed at which the Ghost Steps erupted in an instant was too astonishing. Now, Zhou Wen was only at the Legendary stage, so the speed attained from using Ghost Steps exceeded some at the Epic stage.


    However, Ghost Steps was similar to that of Transcendent Flying Immortal. They had higher Primordial Energy requirements, so even Ghost King himself was unable to continuously use Ghost Steps. Zhou Wen was the same, although he could switch to the Dao body to increase his frequency. Typical Primordial Energy was impossible to support Ghost Steps'' consumption.


    If I were to maintain the Sigh of the King state, with infinite Ghost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal, I''m afraid no one at the same level as me could withstand such terrifying attacks. What a pity. Although Zhou Wen had such thoughts, he knew that it was unlikely he could accomplish that in a short period of time.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen took some gifts to meet Wang Mingyuan and his seniors. He also asked Wang Mingyuan about the ivory pendant.


    The ivory pendant emitting a chill to resist the flames of the sun in the Sun God Temple had clearly made it extraordinary.


    Wang Mingyuan casually said, "That''s not ivory. It''s a type of tooth I found in Dragon''s Well. As for what kind of creature it is, it''s hard to say for now. I''ve carved a total of four pendants. One for each one of you. Consider it a memento."


    Wang Mingyuan didn''t care about such worldly possessions. Although he knew that these teeth pendants had magical uses, he did not take them to heart.


    Zhou Wen asked him some questions regarding combat techniques, and Wang Mingyuan answered them casually.


    After Zhou Wen consulted him on Lance''s combat tactics, Wang Mingyuan told him, "It''s not that combat tactics can''t be used, but the average person''s reaction can''t reach that level of thinking in battle. Therefore, most combat tactics are inflexible. It doesn''t change on the spot in a targeted manner. A completely inflexible combat tactic is easily seen through by others, so it has to be used appropriately unless one''s thoughts can reach the standard of a supercomputer, allowing one to react in almost every way possible. Otherwise, it can only be used as support. Don''t deliberately seek out such tactics."


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn''t reach such a level, so he chose a more normal path, a path that could match both reality and virtuality together in a versatile manner.


    By being versatile, faking out the enemy was a competition with the enemy on a psychological and physical level. Although this gave the enemy some time to think, he too would have the time to think and see who was better.


    Zhou Wen learned from Wang Mingyuan. Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan were in the lab every day while Hui Haifeng often went out. He was considered the most active one of Wang Mingyuan''s disciples.


    The more Zhou Wen learned from Wang Mingyuan, the more he found Wang Mingyuan''s knowledge unfathomably deep. Furthermore, he had a mild personality and wouldn''t force him to learn anything, nor would he assign him to take a particular path. He was like a lamp that illuminated the world ahead of him. As for the path an individual wanted to take, they could choose it themselves.


    The sun was scorching, and the familiar cries of cicadas made the summer feel even hotter.


    It was rare for Wang Mingyuan to take the four of them to a classroom. He borrowed a projector and explained some relatively advanced theoretical knowledge and equipment to Zhou Wen and company.


    Wang Mingyuan was not only a researcher of dimensional forces, but he was also very accomplished in science.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too interested in technology, so he sat quietly at the back and played games.


    Hui Haifeng listened attentively, but it wasn''t clear if he was really interested or had other plans.


    Zhong Ziya was lying on the table sleeping, but the cicadas'' chirping irritated him so much that he couldn''t fall asleep no matter what. He lay there weakly, his eyes staring blankly at the blackboard.


    Jiang Yan supported his face with one hand and looked out of the window, as if he was looking at the cicadas on the tree outside and with great interest.


    Wang Fei walked to the door and peeked inside the classroom through the gap. She wanted to know how Zhou Wen''s progress under Wang Mingyuan''s teachings.


    Upon seeing this, she couldn''t help but feel a little depressed. She thought to herself, Uncle Mingyuan''s personality is just too nice. He spoiled these guys. How can he let them off like this?


    Although she had such thoughts, Wang Fei didn''t enter the room to say anything. Firstly, this was Wang Mingyuan''s class, so she had to respect him. Secondly, Wang Fei knew that reprimanding a person like Zhou Wen was useless.


    Furthermore, Wang Fei had also heard what Zhou Wen had done in Holy City. Although the six families had started a news lockdown, the news couldn''t be kept under wraps forever.


    Wang Fei was Ouyang Lan''s best friend. She had long known from Ouyang Lan, and the tone she used to flaunt him made Wang Fei feel contempt.


    Forget it. It''s already very difficult for this fellow to find an opponent among his peers. It''s unlikely that I can come up with very good ideas to encourage him to continue working hard for the time being. I''ll let him be smug for now. After some thought, Wang Fei decided to ignore Zhou Wen for the time being. After all, Zhou Wen was only a first-year freshman. Compared to the other students, Zhou Wen''s improvement was extremely fast.


    However, after Wang Fei returned, she still raised the difficulty of her homework missions. This led her students crying foul.


    The students never expected that their homework missions became harder because of Zhou Wen.


    Wang Lu walked out of the building with the baby tiger and, when she saw Zhou Wen return after class, she went forward to greet him. "Zhou Wen, are you interested in heading to Dragon Gate Grotto to hunt dimensional creatures?"


    "I''m actually caught up with something. I''m afraid I don''t have time," Zhou Wen said.


    "What else do you do? Isn''t it just gaming?" Wang Lu curled her lips, displeased with Zhou Wen''s perfunctory answer.


    "That''s right. There''s a part of the game I can''t get past. I wish to make a breakthrough as soon as possible," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    With Ghost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen planned on attempting to kill the Golden Flying Ant again or see what was inside the white cocoon.


    He had not been able to raise his Primordial Energy and Constitution to 21 all this time, so all he could do was place his target on something tangible first.


    "Gaming nerd." Wang Lu puffed up her cheeks and left.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and switched on his phone. He chose to enter the Ant Nest and headed straight for Ant City.

 235 Setting Up a Stall

    When the blood-colored avatar arrived in Ant City again, it no longer acted as cowardly as before. Zhou Wen''s pets could easily resolve the ant horde without him needing to do anything.


    After clearing all the ordinary ants, Zhou Wen took his pet to the ant nest at the apex.


    The Golden Flying Ant charged straight out. Its speed was extremely fast, even faster than the Ghost King when not using Ghost Steps. Its feet shot out a terrifying golden beam like a blade.


    Zhou Wen had allowed the Saber Shield Knight to lead the charge, using his shield to block the golden beam. However, he could only block once. Although he had used a shield Primordial Energy Skill, the shield cracked from the strikes. If another blow landed, the shield would definitely be destroyed.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant attacked from the side but was instantly killed by the beam shot from the Golden Flying Ant''s eyes. Its wings and body were penetrated.


    Truth Listener attacked from the flank but was taken down by the golden beam. Immediately, it retreated with a tragic cry.


    Its stats couldn''t resist the Golden Flying Ant''s strength. It was not as powerful as when it faced the Ghost King. Even its fur revealed a wound.


    However, this was already considered very strong. Ordinary Legendary creatures would have been killed instantly.


    With the banana fan in hand, Zhou Wen fanned at the Golden Flying Ant and instantly sent it flying backward.


    Taking this opportunity, Zhou Wen used the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and charged towards the white cocoon. It was still difficult for him to kill the Golden Flying Ant alone, so he decided to first see what was inside the cocoon.


    The Golden Flying Ant''s speed was extremely fast as it instantly charged back. A golden beam shot out of its eyes, trying to kill Zhou Wen on the spot.


    Zhou Wen stepped on the nest''s wall and suddenly vanished, leaving the Golden Flying Ant stunned.


    By the time Zhou Wen appeared again, he was already in front of the white cocoon. His palm struck the white cocoon in a bid to blast it apart.


    However, the strike that was powered by Golden Palm made Zhou Wen feel as though his palm had struck a spring. After the cocoon slightly caved in, it immediately bounced up, sending Zhou Wen flying.


    The Golden Flying Ant flashed over to him and the blood-colored avatar that was sent flying back was instantly killed by the golden beam. The game screen turned black.


    My full-strength strike failed to deal any damage to the white cocoon? Zhou Wen was slightly surprised as his curiosity towards the white cocoon increased.


    Unfortunately, there''s no way to bring the Bamboo Blade in-game. Otherwise, it would be much easier to use Bamboo Blade in-game to split open the cocoon. Zhou Wen wanted to try it again, but the antelope was displeased. It ran over and bit Zhou Wen''s clothes as it pulled him out.


    "Alright, I got it." Zhou Wen helplessly put away his cell phone and took the antelope out to eat.


    During the period Zhou Wen wasn''t around, he had requested Wang Lu to take care of the antelope. Zhou Wen had originally planned on getting Wang Lu to give it some fresh vegetables.


    However, who knew that after Zhou Wen returned, this fellow insisted on heading to the school''s cafeteria to eat steak every day.


    You are an antelope. You eat grass, alright? Zhou Wen cursed inwardly as he felt a little depressed. He could have just fed it some vegetables without spending much money like in the beginning, but after Wang Lu''s feeding for a few days, the fellow insisted on eating steak daily. If it wasn''t for Zhou Wen''s robbery of many Companion Eggs on his trip and his plans on selling them for a good price, it was unlikely that he could afford to rear it.


    It''s true that one is marked by the company one keeps. I definitely can''t let my pets have anything to do with Wang Lu in the future. Zhou Wen subconsciously touched the chick on his shoulder.


    After the meal, Zhou Wen planned on selling all the Companion Eggs he had on hand. The money he obtained could be invested in Huang Ji''s game. It wasn''t likely to be a problem to sell so many Companion Eggs for one or two million. He definitely would have some money for the investment.


    There was a trading market in the school, so students could purchase or sell the Companion Eggs they obtained there. Zhou Wen scanned the Companion Eggs he had obtained with his mysterious phone and after seeing their types and attributes, he labeled them. Each Companion Egg was labeled with its species and price and nothing else. Zhou Wen began setting up a stall for the first time.


    When he arrived at the market, the place was bleak. There was almost no one there, other than two people.


    As most of the students were at the Mortal stage, they were unable to use Legendary Companion Eggs. Furthermore, Mortal Companion Eggs were extremely rare. Therefore, typical students would never come here. Those who came were basically the top students of the school.


    Typically, students who could advance to the Legendary stage by now were students with good family backgrounds. They didn''t usually lack Companion Eggs, so they wouldn''t go through the trouble of selling the Companion Eggs they obtained.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen looked at the empty market and began suspecting if his Companion Eggs could be sold.


    "Isn''t this Zhou Wen? Are you here to buy a Companion Egg? Come and see my Companion Eggs. They are all excellent-grade¡­" After the only two stall owners in the market saw Zhou Wen, one of them, a senior named Li Yu, immediately had his eyes light up as though he was a wolf seeing its prey. He nearly pounced at him.


    The other person who had set up a stall was actually Huang Ji.


    "Senior, why are you setting up a stall here?" Zhou Wen asked Huang Ji.


    "My lack of money. What else can it be?" Huang Ji said embarrassedly.


    "By the way, Senior, didn''t you say you were going to the Holy Land? Why didn''t I see you?" Zhou Wen recalled how Huang Ji had mentioned that he was going to the Holy Land, but when Zhou Wen was there, he didn''t manage to see Huang Ji, despite especially looking out for him.


    "You didn''t see me, but I saw you. You were impressive." Huang Ji gave a thumbs up.


    "I was compelled. Did you obtain anything from your trip to the Holy Land?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "I did gain something. I obtained a God Power Crystal, but that item can''t be exchanged for money, so I''m still short of cash," Huang Ji said as he sized up Zhou Wen and said with a smile, "You seem to have obtained quite a number of Companion Eggs in the Holy Land. You should be able to sell them for quite a bit, right? Do you plan on investing in my game?"


    "Once I sell them for money, I''ll immediately invest in your game," Zhou Wen said with certainty.


    However, he was somewhat puzzled. Huang Ji had actually said that he had obtained a God Power Crystal and knew that Zhou Wen had robbed many Companion Eggs. That meant that he had likely gone to the Holy Land, but Zhou Wen was puzzled why he hadn''t seen him.


    "Then what are you waiting for? Hurry up and set up the stall." Huang Ji''s eyes lit up.


    Zhou Wen set up the stall beside Huang Ji, but other than the three of them sitting in a row, there was no one to be seen.


    The trio looked at each other without saying a word.


    Having nothing to do, Li Yu was given a fright when he saw the four Companion Eggs Zhou Wen had placed out for sale. "Zhou Wen, isn''t your label fake? Isn''t a Companion Beast like the Broken-Winged Angel something only found in the West district? Also, this Cyclops Behemoth is unique to the West District, isn''t it? This Ice Frost Bear is something from the North district, right? We don''t typically get to see any of this over here."

 236 Selling on Behalf

    The Companion Eggs Zhou Wen had snatched were Legendary Companion Eggs which were specially prepared for sale by the various major merchants. Most of them were unique to certain regions and were very few in number. They were considered rather rare types that were scattered all across the globe.


    Even if one went to a large Companion Egg store in Holy City, it would be very difficult to see so many different types from so many different regions.


    "You''ll know if it''s true if you buy one," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s fine, but isn''t your price too high?" Li Yu glanced at Zhou Wen''s bid. The Broken-Winged Angel was worth 188,000. Typical Legendary Companion Eggs could be bought at 10¨C20,000. The rare ones went for about 70¨C80,000. Only excellent-grade Eggs could exceed 100,000.


    "I referenced the price on the Internet. It''s non-negotiable," Zhou Wen said.


    He had checked the prices on the Internet, but due to the frequent appearance of dimensional zones across the world, traffic was greatly obstructed. The supply chain had become slow and unsafe, and there were often severe losses of goods. Therefore, the scale of Internet transactions was gradually shrinking.


    If he couldn''t sell it in the college, Zhou Wen could only try his luck at Luoyang''s market. If he still couldn''t get a buyer, he could only sell it to merchants. If that happened, the price would be very low.


    Li Yu smacked his lips. "Zhou Wen, I don''t have the money to buy such things. However, if you try here, I''m afraid you won''t be able to sell it either. Why don''t we do it this way? Why don''t you hand over your Companion Eggs to me for selling. I''ll take a ten percent commission for my hard work?"


    "Why will you be able to sell it if I can''t sell it here?" Zhou Wen looked at Li Yu with interest.


    Li Yu handed a business card to Zhou Wen. "To be honest, I''ve already been accepted by the Royal Pet Store. Although I haven''t graduated yet, I''m already an official employee there. As you can see, there''s no one here. I''m only setting up a stall here due to the company''s requirements. If your Companion Eggs are real, I can help you sell them through the company''s channels. The prices will definitely be high, on the premise that these Companion Eggs are definitely real."


    Unfortunately, most people didn''t know of the battle in the Holy Land, nor did they know what Zhou Wen had done in Holy City. Otherwise, Li Yu wouldn''t have suspected the authenticity of these Companion Eggs.


    "There''s no need. I''ll just sell them by myself. After all, I have nothing to do." Zhou Wen knew that Li Yu was planning on doing a lossless business. The risk was all Zhou Wen''s, but the profits had to be shared with Li Yu. Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn''t know how much Li Yu would sell them for.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that the fellow wasn''t reliable based on the name of the Royal Pet Store. Together with three other pet stores, it was known as one of the top four scammers in the League. They were well-known to purchase at low prices and sell at high prices, and they liked to play cheap tricks.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too busy himself. He could game while running a stall, so there was no rush.


    "Let''s do this. Since it''s not easy to sell these Companion Eggs, why don''t you sell them to me as a package deal? As long as you can guarantee their authenticity, I''ll give you 80,000 each. Four of them makes it 320,000. Let''s round it off to 300,000. How about that?" Li Yu added.


    "Non-negotiable," Zhou Wen said as he gamed.


    "This Ice Frost Bear is clearly too expensive. An ordinary Ice Frost Bear Companion Egg is only 70¨C80,000. Why are you pricing it at nearly 200,000?" Li Yu pointed at the Frost Bear Companion Egg.


    "It''s worth every penny." Zhou Wen''s Ice Frost Bear was indeed priced very high, but that was because he had seen its stats and knew that it was worth the price.


    "If you do business like this, you won''t even be able to sell it in the Luoyang market, much less here." Li Yu had never seen Zhou Wen''s sales tactics before. He decided to wait and see; he believed he could buy Zhou Wen''s Companion Eggs at low prices after Zhou Wen realized the cruel reality of the world.


    There were very few people in the market. Occasionally, students would come for Li Yu. From the looks of it, his identity as a Royal Pet Store employee wasn''t fake. Occasionally, the student council would entrust him to sell the Companion Eggs they obtained from the dimensional zone.


    Although he didn''t offer a high price, the benefit was that money could be directly received without going through the trouble of selling it themselves.


    However, the ones that were sold to Li Yu were mostly common Companion Eggs that were nothing spectacular.


    "How about it? Did you see that? The students acknowledge me. The price is fair and honest. The price I gave you isn''t low." Li Yu took another Companion Egg and flaunted it at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen ignored him as he continued gaming. By the side, Huang Ji was also doing something on his laptop. His fingers were rapidly tapping on the keyboard, having no time to chat with Zhou Wen.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen was ignoring him, Li Yu couldn''t help but mumble, "That''s not the way to do business. You definitely won''t make any sales."


    As he spoke, another person walked over. When Li Yu saw that person, his eyes lit up.


    "Gu Dian, you got another Companion Egg?" Li Yu hurriedly went forward to welcome him warmly.


    When Zhou Wen heard Gu Dian''s name, he looked up and indeed saw the devilish-looking man walk in.


    "How much can these Companion Eggs be exchanged for?" Gu Dian threw a bag in front of Li Yu.


    Li Yu hurriedly opened the bag and was overjoyed when he saw more than ten Companion Eggs inside. As he appraised them, he said in delight, "This should be a Golden Warrior Companion Egg. Others will pay at most 5,000 to buy them out. On account of us being old friends, I''ll give you 5,500 for it¡­"


    Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Eggs with his cell phone and couldn''t help but be astonished. Li Yu was indeed quite capable. His appraisal of the Companion Egg''s species was right on the money.


    However, the price he offered was nothing but a scam. It was basically less than a third of the market price.


    A Golden Warrior Companion Egg might only be an ordinary Legendary, but it was an excellent pet for tanking. They were sold for rather high prices on the market. However, the price Li Yu offered was much lower than that of a typical Legendary Companion Egg. He was truly unscrupulous.


    "Gu Dian, are you selling these Companion Eggs?" Zhou Wen asked Gu Dian.


    Gu Dian was ultimately a member of the Xuanwen Club despite only being recruited to make up the numbers. Zhou Wen didn''t wish for him to be cheated right under his nose.


    A person like Gu Dian spent all day in the dimensional zones without even having a friend. He definitely wouldn''t know the market prices, so Zhou Wen reckoned that he had been scammed by Li Yu in the past.


    "Yes," replied Gu Dian.


    "Since I''m also selling Companion Eggs, I''ll sell it for you if you trust me," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright." Gu Dian grabbed his bag and placed it in front of Zhou Wen before turning to leave without a word.


    Li Yu was somewhat infuriated as he said to Zhou Wen with a cold expression, "Zhou Wen, that''s quite an a**hole thing to do. Don''t you know the rules of doing business?"


    "I don''t know much about business, but Gu Dian is a member of our club. I''m not breaking the rules by helping him sell them, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright, let me watch you sell them here." Li Yu was in no hurry. He had to sell the Companion Eggs through the Royal Pet Store''s channels. It was practically impossible to sell them here.

 237 Rich

    Zhou Wen ignored Li Yu and wrote the name and price on Gu Dian''s Companion Eggs before sitting behind his stall to continue gaming.


    Li Yu glanced at Zhou Wen''s prices, one of the eggs was extremely expensive.


    How dare you price a Gatekeeper Lion Companion Egg at 100,000? It''s ridiculously high even for a retail price. It will be a miracle if you can sell it, thought Li Yu.


    Just as he was thinking about it, another person came to the market. This time, it was a young student who looked extremely handsome, like a movie star.


    When Li Yu saw this person, his eyes lit up as he went forward again. "Brother Luo Xuan, are you here to buy Companion Eggs? I recently obtained quite a number of good items¡­"


    Luo Xuan went over to Li Yu''s stall to take a look at the Companion Eggs, but when he saw Zhou Wen''s stall, he couldn''t help but take a look. He was immediately interested.


    "I''ll take all four of them," Luo Xuan said as he pointed at the four Companion Eggs Zhou Wen had placed for sale.


    "Brother Luo, don''t just look at the name. How high are the chances of us obtaining a Companion Egg like the Broken-Winged Angel or the Ice Frost Bear?" Although Li Yu didn''t say that Zhou Wen''s Companion Eggs were fake, it was obvious from his tone.


    Luo Xuan smiled and said, "A person like Zhou Wen wouldn''t lie on such matters."


    "Even if they''re not fake, aren''t they too expensive? If you really want them, I''ll get the company to transfer some over for you in a few days. The Ice Frost Bear is at most 100,000." Zhou Wen had ruined his business plans, so Li Yu didn''t want Zhou Wen to have an easy life.


    Luo Xuan smiled at Zhou Wen and said, "Zhou Wen, can your Companion Eggs be cheaper?"


    "No, they''re worth every penny. You can buy them for 100,000 elsewhere, but that''s the price for mine," Zhou Wen said without looking up.


    "Brother Luo, look at his attitude. He''s clearly trying to scam you," Li Yu said.


    Luo Xuan thought nothing of it as he directly transferred the money to Zhou Wen. "Alright, I''ll take all four of them. Help me wrap them up."


    "Sorry, I forgot to bring any bags. You''ll have to hold them yourself." After receiving the payment, Zhou Wen realized that he didn''t even have a plastic bag.


    Li Yu''s face turned livid as he watched from the side. He thought to himself, Luo Xuan sure is silly and rich. He''s buying those things just like that? This is really letting Zhou Wen luck out.


    Luo Xuan didn''t mind. He opened his backpack and stuffed the four Companion Eggs inside. Then, he looked at the Companion Eggs placed on Zhou Wen''s counter and asked in surprise, "Why is this Gatekeeper Lion Companion Egg so expensive? The market price should be around 20,000, right?"


    "This is a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion egg. It''s no ordinary Gatekeeper Lion," Zhou Wen said.


    "Mutated Gatekeeper Lion?" Li Yu was slightly taken aback as he carefully looked at the Companion Egg, but he failed to notice anything amiss. It was identical to an ordinary Gatekeeper Lion egg. He couldn''t help but sneer inwardly. It''s true that Zhou Wen is very talented, and I admit that I''m inferior to you, but when it comes to the appraisal of Companion Eggs, it''s my specialty. What I studied for three years wasn''t for nothing. Even I can''t tell the difference, but you can? What a joke.


    "This is the first time I''ve heard of a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion. What difference does it have from ordinary ones?" Luo Xuan''s interest was piqued.


    Zhou Wen said, "Mutated Gatekeeper Lions are quite rare. It''s normal that you haven''t heard of them. They have higher stats than the typical Gatekeeper Lion, and they have an additional Lion Roar as a skill. It''s a relatively rare sonar wave attack. Just having this technique alone makes it worth more than 100,000."


    "I never knew that. I''ll buy it." Luo Xuan said extravagantly as he waved his hand, wanting to transfer the money.


    "Brother Luo, I''ve heard of Mutated Gatekeeper Lions, but they are very rarely produced. None of us have seen them before. However, I''ve heard that not every Mutated Gatekeeper Lion has Lion Roar so it''s still probabilistic. Without the ability of a Lion Roar, there''s almost no difference between a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion and a normal one. No one knows if it''s really mutated." Li Yu was speaking the truth, but he was also suspecting that Zhou Wen was selling an ordinary Gatekeeper Lion as a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion.


    Luo Xuan looked at Zhou Wen who said indifferently, "I can only guarantee that this is a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion egg. I can''t guarantee anything else."


    When Li Yu heard Zhou Wen say that, he immediately beamed with joy. Only a fool would buy something like that with you saying that.


    "I''ll buy it." However, Luo Xuan waved his hand, causing Li Yu to be dumbfounded. His mouth was agape for a long time.


    He knew that Luo Xuan was rich, but he never expected him to be so rich. He was secretly depressed. If I had known that Luo Xuan was such a fool, I would have asked for higher prices in the past.


    Seeing that Luo Xuan no longer had any interest in the other Companion Eggs on Zhou Wen''s counter, Li Yu hurriedly took out the few valuable Companion Eggs he had. Although they couldn''t compare to Zhou Wen''s Ice Frost Bear and the rest, they were rare ones produced at the college.


    "Brother Luo, this is a rare White-Winged Red-Tail Crane. Its skill is extremely rare and it is very rarely produced. I was lucky to acquire one. I spent 98,000 on it. For you, I''ll charge you 110,000." After witnessing Luo Xuan''s wealth, Li Yu automatically increased the price to a whole new level.


    "Yes, not bad." Luo Xuan nodded slightly.


    "It''s good that you like it, Brother. Do you want to pay by card or bank transfer?" Li Yu was secretly delighted.


    "I only brought so much money today. It''s all spent. Perhaps next time," said Luo Xuan with a smile.


    Li Yu was somewhat dumbfounded. He felt depressed. D*mn it, you can just swipe your card and not use your wallet. What do you mean by not bringing that much money today?


    Luo Xuan ignored Li Yu and took out the Mutated Gatekeeper Lion egg. He directly injected his Primordial Energy and hatched it.


    When Li Yu saw Luo Xuan doing so, he couldn''t help but nod inwardly. From the looks of it, Luo Xuan isn''t really silly. By hatching the Gatekeeper Lion on the spot, he will definitely settle scores with Zhou Wen once he discovers that he has been fooled. Zhou Wen can''t deny it even if he wants to.


    Li Yu folded his arms and waited for the development to play out. Gu Dian was the one who had brought the Gatekeeper Lion egg here. Even Gu Dian himself didn''t mention anything about a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion and Li Yu couldn''t tell; therefore, he refused to believe that Zhou Wen would be able to recognize a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion. He believed that Zhou Wen was likely deliberately scamming Luo Xuan in a bid to earn more.


    Soon, Luo Xuan hatched the Gatekeeper Lion. A majestic stone lion appeared in front of him. Li Yu took a look and saw that it looked identical to an ordinary Gatekeeper Lion. It looked nothing like a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion.


    Just as he was waiting to see Luo Xuan and Zhou Wen fall out, he suddenly heard Luo Xuan say, "It''s indeed a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion. Apart from its Speed, all its attributes are no less than 17. Lion Roar is indeed excellent. Zhou Wen, if you have such good stuff in the future, contact me directly."


    Li Yu felt as if he was dreaming as he watched with his mouth agape as Luo Xuan and Zhou Wen added each other as friends.

 238 Ever-Victorious

    "To be honest, my family owns a pet store, but it naturally can''t compare to a chain store like Royal Pet Store that covers the entire League. Our store is a small shop in Luoyang. In the future, if a Companion Egg is sold or if you want to buy a Companion Egg, you can look for me directly." Luo Xuan sent Zhou Wen a message.


    "I still have some rare Legendary Companion Eggs that are about the same as those four rare ones. What kind of prices would you pay for them?" Zhou Wen replied to Luo Xuan.


    The two exchanged a few words with information and after confirming the price, Zhou Wen immediately packed up and prepared to leave.


    The price Luo Xuan offered was rather fair and was close to the true value; therefore, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to waste time here. He planned on selling Gu Dian''s and his Companion Eggs to Luo Xuan.


    "Zhou Wen." Just as Zhou Wen was about to pack up and leave, Li Yu called out to him.


    He turned to look at Li Yu. Li Yu hesitated for a moment before saying, "How could you tell that it was a Mutated Gatekeeper Lion?"


    "Is that very difficult?" Zhou Wen asked in return before bidding farewell to Huang Ji. He carried the bag half-filled with Companion Eggs and left the market.


    Li Yu was stunned for a while before he came back to his senses. He couldn''t help but smile bitterly and say, "If that isn''t considered difficult, then what''s the point of me studying for three years?"


    Zhou Wen arrived at the spot he had agreed on with Luo Xuan and gave Gu Dian and his Companion Eggs to him. And without any bargaining, Luo Xuan transferred the money to Zhou Wen at the agreed price.


    Ignoring Gu Dian''s portion, Zhou Wen had obtained more than two million. This was the first time he had received so much money. He felt like a nouveau riche.


    "Are you interested in becoming an appraiser at my pet store after graduation? I can give you some shares," said Luo Xuan.


    "I''m not interested in the appraising business." Zhou Wen thought for a moment before asking, "Do you have any Legendary weapon-type Companion Beasts? The ones with extremely powerful destructive power, it''s best if their destructive power can reach the Epic stage."


    "If someone were to ask that, I would definitely say no. In fact, I would even look down on him. However, since that''s what you asked, I''ll tell you that they exist, but they are very expensive," said Luo Xuan.


    "How expensive?" Zhou Wen was in desperate need of a weapon that could break through the white cocoon.


    The power of the banana fan was the wind. If it evolved to its limits, it could blow an entire mountain away.


    However, its power was not concentrated enough and its destructive power wasn''t potent enough. This was incomparable to a single-target skill. If one wanted to destroy something, heavy weapons were more practical. At the very least, they needed to be weapons like swords and sabers.


    Luo Xuan muttered to himself, "I wonder if you have heard of a Companion Beast like Overlord Snake? It''s a very rare Companion Beast and it has immense strength. It can be considered a top Strength-type Companion Beast at the Legendary stage. Its companion form is a spear, and we give it a nickname¡ªOverlord Spear."


    After pausing for a moment, Luo Xuan continued, "The Overlord Spear is considered top-notch among Legendary weapons. However, if it''s compared to an Epic-stage weapon, it''s definitely far inferior. However, there are always exceptions. Just like the best offensive pet, Thundergod General, if it possesses the ability of Thundergod Augmentation, the lightning power it produces will be able to stand head and shoulders above its peers. It''s the same with Overlord Snake. The typical Overlord Snake isn''t strong, but if you have a Mutated Overlord Snake, there is a possibility of it having the talent skill¡ªEver-Victorious. With this skill, Overlord Spear will be able to penetrate most objects. Even the typical Epic creature can''t withstand its sharpness.


    "It''s a pity that Mutated Overlord Snakes are very rare, and the Mutated Overlord Snakes with Ever-Victorious are even rarer. Our family had hired people to grind in the Snake Cavern for six months before we obtained an Overlord Snake with Ever-Victorious. And that''s under the circumstances of having excellent luck. Now, that Mutated Overlord Snake is one of our store''s crown jewels. It''s not for sale, but if you want it, I can make the decision to sell it to you. But I must warn you, it''s very expensive."


    "How much is it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "10 million." Luo Xuan named the price.


    "It''s indeed very expensive. I can''t afford it." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "There''s nothing we can do about it. An Overlord Snake''s level isn''t considered high, but it''s very rare for it to have Ever-Victorious. Furthermore, we got someone to specially incubate it. If you want it, the person needs to sacrifice his own cultivation level and damage his body to transfer Overlord Snake. That will require a huge sum of money as well," said Luo Xuan.


    Zhou Wen nodded. Everyone wanted the good stuff. Although their levels were about the same, the high price was understandable.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t afford Overlord Snake, but Luo Xuan''s words reminded him that even though he couldn''t afford it, he could try to grind one at Snake Cavern.


    Snake Cavern was near Old Dragon Cave. Zhou Wen had heard Zhong Ziya mention it before, but he hadn''t paid much attention to it back then. Besides, Zhong Ziya didn''t know that Mutated Overlord Snake had the Ever-Victorious skill.


    After separating from Luo Xuan, Zhou Wen transferred Gu Dian''s money to him. Zhou Wen had already added him as a friend when he entered the Xuanwen Club.


    After Gu Dian received the money, he only replied with two words: "Got it."


    Zhou Wen contacted Huang Ji again and confirmed some matters regarding the game. In the end, he confirmed his investment of 1.5 million. This investment was split into two tranches. The initial investment was 500,000. After Huang Ji completed a demo, he would fund him with the remaining 1,000,000 investment.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen took out his mysterious phone and went to Snake Cavern. There were python-like snakes everywhere. Legendary Overlord Snakes had peerless strength and were considered top-notch Legendary creatures. Furthermore, they lived in groups with numerous numbers. Typical Legendary students wouldn''t dare enter Snake Cavern.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t have any qualms. He summoned his group of Companion Beasts and wreaked havoc in Snake Cavern.


    Soon, Zhou Wen understood why Overlord Snakes were so expensive. He had killed nearly a hundred of them, but not a single Overlord Snake egg dropped, much less a mutated one.


    In the next few days, other than studying at Wang Mingyuan''s place, Zhou Wen spent the rest of his time grinding the Overlord Snakes. However, he had nothing to show for. Over the past few days, he had only obtained an ordinary Overlord Snake egg. He managed to encounter a Mutated Overlord Snake, but nothing dropped.


    It''s no wonder Luo Xuan said that they were extremely lucky to have a Mutated Overlord Snake egg drop after six months. Zhou Wen thought of the matter of luck and thought of Wang Lu.


    With Wang Lu''s luck, if she were to be taken to the Snake Cavern, she might be able to have a Mutated Overlord Snake egg drop. However, Zhou Wen had no intention of seeking help, so all he could do was continue grinding. After repeatedly grinding, Zhou Wen nearly vomited when he saw the snake.


    Ding! Zhou Wen killed another Mutated Overlord Snake. Suddenly, he heard a crisp sound as a black snake egg dropped and landed on the ground.


    Mutated Overlord Snake egg! Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly got the blood-colored avatar to pick it up. Then, he prayed inwardly, Please let it have the Ever-Victorious skill. If I keep grinding, I''ll go hissterical!

 239 Sky Spider

    Mutated Overlord Snake: Legendary


    Life Providence: Born Overlord


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 16


    Constitution: 18


    Primordial Energy: 15


    Talent Skill: Death Coil


    Companion Form: Spear


    It doesn''t have Ever-Victorious! Zhou Wen was very disappointed. Although the Mutated Overlord Snake''s stats were not bad, it was useless without the Ever-Victorious skill.


    After putting away the Mutated Overlord Snake, Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue grinding at Snake Cavern. He had to get the Mutated Overlord Snake with Ever-Victorious to drop no matter what.


    Boom! As Zhou Wen was grinding the Overlord Snake, he suddenly felt his house shake violently as though an earthquake was happening.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly exited the game and rushed out of the building to see what was happening.


    By the time he rushed out, An Jing and Wang Lu were already standing in the yard. Furthermore, the two of them were looking up into the sky as though they were looking at something.


    Wasn''t it an earthquake? Why are they looking up at the sky? Zhou Wen also looked up at the sky and was alarmed by what he saw.


    Up above, there were crystalline silk criss-crossed like a huge net that covered the entire sky. Perhaps not just Sunset College, but all of Luoyang.


    And on the net, there was a spider with eight eyes that resembled jade. It kept spewing out spiderwebs.


    A break-out creature? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    The spider was so huge that the web it spewed out nearly covered the whole of Luoyang. Just its aura alone meant that its level was definitely not low.


    At this moment, an attack aircraft appeared in the sky and launched an assault on the spider and spiderweb. However, the web moved and wrapped around the attack aircraft. The attack aircraft immediately stuck to the web and exploded very quickly.


    The flames created by the explosion failed to destroy the spider''s web.


    The bullets and shells fired by the plane were also stuck to the spiderweb, making them seem completely useless.


    The spider in the sky let out a silent roar, but Truth Listener''s ability allowed Zhou Wen to hear the strange shriek.


    Then, many ventilation holes in the spider''s abdomen opened up. When they opened and closed, white spheres were spat out which landed in various locations.


    Two of them landed in the direction of Sunset College. Zhou Wen focused his gaze and only when the sphere was close did he realize that it wasn''t a sphere. Instead, there were countless white spiders entangled together, making them look like a sphere.


    Just as they were about to land on the ground, the sphere exploded, causing a sea of spiders to land everywhere in Sunset College. Instantly, the entire school was filled with spiders.


    "All teachers and students, may I have your attention. Please eradicate the invading spiders. This is not a drill¡­ I repeat, this is not a drill¡­" The school''s announcement system urgently sounded.


    Epic-stage tutors had already streaked across the air, killing many spiders that had yet to land.


    However, there were too many spiders and there were still many that landed throughout the school.


    Quite a number of spiders had fallen into Four Seasons Garden. There was one not far from Zhou Wen and company, the spider was snow-white in color and its hair was white. Its claws looked like translucent jade, and it was bigger than a human, but it didn''t look terrifying. Instead, it looked like a furry toy.


    An Jing and Wang Lu were still sizing up the spider out of curiosity when Zhou Wen summoned the Overlord Snake and thrust forward with Penetrating Pierce.


    After the battle in the Yin Yang world, Zhou Wen was instinctively wary of dimensional creatures. Regardless of their looks, he had to first ensure that he wasn''t being threatened.


    Zhou Wen''s Penetrating Pierce only managed to cover half the distance when the spider spat out a strand of web that wrapped around the Overlord Spear. Then, with a flick of its head, Zhou Wen felt a powerful force surge towards him, making him feel like he couldn''t hold the spear.


    He hurriedly tightened his grip on his spear as the man and spider were locked in a stalemate. Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to pull the spider over.


    An Jing quietly summoned a long sword that dazzled with divine light. She then slashed at the spider.


    The spider spat out another strand of silk. When the sharp sword beam touched the silk, it ended up stuck as well. It left the three of them shocked.


    To have a power that allowed a spiderweb silk to cling to a sword beam was somewhat terrifying.


    The crux of the matter was that Zhou Wen and company didn''t know if the spider was a dimensional creature or a puppet summoned by the spider in the sky. They felt a headache coming on.


    The spider''s mouth kept spewing webs, trying to immobilize the trio. Soon, the webs covered a large area.


    Wang Lu summoned a whip, but just as she lashed it out, it was stuck in the spider''s web. She couldn''t pull it back no matter how hard she tried.


    In the sky, an Epic expert had already flown over on a flying bird. He slashed a stunning sword beam at the spider, but despite having the power to slice through a mountain, it ended up stuck to the spider''s web the moment it made contact with it. It was unable to move forward, and vanished without a trace moments later.


    After the spider''s silk bound the flying bird, it strangled the bird into two like blade-like steel silk.


    There were already five Epic experts from the military, but despite using all sorts of abilities, they were unable to do anything to the huge spider in the sky.


    From time to time, it would spit out spider spheres that scattered across the city, causing the entire city to fall into a panic.


    Wang Lu and An Jing were also attempting to fight the spider but to no avail. Their attacks were blocked by spiderwebs, making it impossible to pose a threat to the spider.


    Zhou Wen snapped a picture of the spider with his phone, hoping to see if he could obtain its information so as to find a way to kill it.


    However, the information he obtained left him somewhat disappointed. The information only mentioned that it was a Sky Spider puppet, so it didn''t look like a dimensional creature, but a puppet formed from the spider''s powers.


    Zhou Wen summoned the banana fan and fanned a Grand Yin Wind at the spider. The cold wind tore through the spiderweb and swept it over the spider''s body. Instantly, the spider flew up and slammed into a tiny building in front, causing the walls to crack.


    An icy glint flashed in An Jing''s eyes as she grabbed the opportunity to pierce the spider''s body with her sword beam.


    Boom!


    The spider''s body exploded and it immediately perished.


    "Zhou Wen, your fan is very useful. Let''s quickly finish off the other spiders to prevent the other students from being harmed," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen, overjoyed.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t as optimistic as Wang Lu. The number of spiders that came raining down was just too many. It was already difficult for them to deal with them, so how would ordinary citizens cope? It was likely that Luoyang City was already facing an apocalyptic scene.


    Before the trio could rush out of Four Seasons Garden, they saw other special admissions students battling the spiders. They weren''t much different from Zhou Wen and company. The attacks were of little use against the spider puppets, so it was extremely difficult to fight them.

 240 Chaos of the Sky Spider

    None of the special admissions students of Sunset College were weak. Although they were unable to kill the spider, they still used various methods and abilities to deal with the spider. They were not in danger at all.


    However, with the increasing number of spiderwebs surrounding them, the amount of space they and their Companion Beasts could move in became restricted. The battle became somewhat difficult.


    Four or five spiders spewed out spider silk in Four Seasons Garden. Bright, crystalline spiderwebs could be seen everywhere. A Companion Beast had already been stuck to one, preventing it from struggling.


    Having already discovered the spider''s weakness from her previous battle, An Jing stabbed forward like a bolt of lightning, instantly pinning a spider to the ground.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen An Jing fight seriously. Her swordplay was extremely intense, and each strike carried a dazzling glow, as though the void had been penetrated as well.


    Zhou Wen immediately recognized the Primordial Energy Art that An Jing used. It was no doubt the Sun Strafe Art. Her sword techniques were somewhat extraordinary and although they looked simple, each strike made them look extremely gorgeous. The sword flashes were like dazzling divine beams.


    She was so powerful that she looked as good as Lance. It was just that she and Lance used two completely different styles.


    Lance''s technique was unparalleled, but An Jing''s every strike was like a bolt of lightning. If she could kill her opponent with one strike, she definitely wouldn''t require a second attack.


    I deserved losing back then. With An Jing''s strength, Zhou Wen was indeed no match for her back then.


    Seeing that An Jing could deal with the spiders in Four Seasons Garden, Zhou Wen immediately rushed out and saw that there were indeed spiders spewing out spider silk outside. A student was stuck to the spiderweb as the spider crawled towards him.


    Zhou Wen raised his left hand and chopped down with Astral Slash Blade. The blade aura transformed into thin threads that sliced through the spiderweb. The remnant forces continued on and sliced the spider into two.


    The schoolmate was still in shock. Before he could thank him, Zhou Wen had already rushed elsewhere.


    There were many experts on campus. Besides the Epic tutors, there were also quite a number of students who could kill the spiders. The spiders in the school were quickly subdued.


    "All students, may I have your attention¡­ All students who have the ability to kill spiders¡­ please enter the city immediately to aid the military¡­ This is not a drill¡­ I repeat, this is not a drill¡­ All students who participate in the hunting of spiders will be rewarded with credits¡­" The broadcast rang again.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had already run to the school''s entrance and ridden the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant out of the school.


    The situation in the city was indeed much worse than the school. From afar, Zhou Wen could see the intertwined spiderwebs in the middle of buildings. The city looked like a spider forest with webs everywhere.


    Many citizens had already been stuck to the spiderwebs. Quite a number of people had already been killed. The military were firing with their assault rifles in all directions. However, the effects looked limited. It was only possible for them to kill a spider after several consecutive shots hit the target.


    Moreover, the spiders moved very agilely and they were protected by the webs. When a bullet hit the web, it was stuck and had its effects limited.


    A mother carrying a child was bound by a spiderweb and was left hanging in the air, suspended in the middle of the building. They were just seconds from having the spider pounce at them.


    The eyes of the soldiers below were bloodshot, but they didn''t dare fire. It was too close to the mother and son. If they shot, they might accidentally hit the innocent.


    Just as the spider was about to bite the mother and son, a figure flashed across the sky. The spiderweb and the spider were split into two. The duo who fell were grabbed by the figure before landing safely on the ground.


    The soldiers came over to rescue the mother and son, leading them to seek refuge. A soldier asked Zhou Wen, "Are you a student at Sunset College?"


    "Yes." Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    "Please provide assistance to the Duke of Zhou Temple. That area has become a spider disaster zone and is spreading outwards," the soldier said to Zhou Wen.


    "Alright," Zhou Wen replied before riding the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant towards the Duke of Zhou Temple.


    The person that worshiped at Duke of Zhou Temple was Ji Dan. He was King Wu of Zhou''s younger brother, had been regent twice, and helped King Wu of Zhou in clinching victory at the Battle of Muye. He was also involved in the establishment of rites and creation of music, earning him a consecration from future descendants.


    Zhou Wen stormed through and killed several spiders on the way and rescued some citizens.


    However, along the way, many citizens had already turned into corpses. They looked as if they had been sucked dry as they hung on a spider web attached to skyscrapers.


    Just one break-out creature can cause such a disaster. If the various dimensional zones are unable to trap those dimensional creatures, what will the world become? Zhou Wen felt that his strength was minute.


    The battle in the sky continued as a few Epic stage experts rushed over. In the sky, they were fighting the Sky Spider, but the situation didn''t look good. No one could pose a threat to the Sky Spiders. Instead, their Companion Beasts were stuck to the spiderwebs. No matter how much they struggled, they were unable to escape.


    "Zhou Wen, are you going to the Duke of Zhou Temple as well?" Zhong Ziya charged over from another direction and happened to meet Zhou Wen.


    The thin sword in his hand was unbelievably fast. Wherever the sword passed, the spiders would have their foreheads instantly penetrated by a sword beam, leaving only a wound that resembled a needle hole, accentuating their deaths.


    "There was a soldier who said that it needs reinforcements," Zhou Wen said as he tore open the spider webs.


    "Me too. Let''s go together." Zhong Ziya rushed over with his sword in hand.


    Zhou Wen followed. Soon, he met a few other students who had been invited by the military to reinforce the Duke of Zhou Temple.


    The military''s Epic powerhouses were rushing into the sky to fight the Sky Spider. If they didn''t get rid of the Sky Spider as quickly as possible, the spiders that it spat out would be endless. All they could do was leave the spiders below to ordinary soldiers and some Legendary military officers.


    Zhou Wen and the other students from Sunset College would become officers if they chose to join the army after graduation. There was no need for them to start off as enlistees.


    Usually, when the students were together, it was difficult to tell who was truly strong, but when it came to real battles, everything became obvious. Zhou Wen had never seen some of the powerful students in the school rankings before.


    A person like Zhong Ziya was definitely not weaker than Wei Ge, the president of the student council. He could even be stronger; however, he didn''t have a ranking.


    The pair of siblings from the Wu family were terrifying as well. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but marvel at how many hidden dragons and crouching tigers there were at Sunset College.


    Just as they were about to arrive at Duke of Zhou Temple, Zhou Wen saw Hui Haifeng leading a group of people in a battle with the spiders. The surrounding soldiers were also watching the front lines as they fired crazily.


    They had yet to see the Duke of Zhou Temple, but the number of spiders ahead of them was uncountable. It was unknown how many of them were crawling out.


    "This city has become a spider''s nest," Zhong Ziya said.


    "Cut the crap. Hurry up and provide reinforcements. We can''t hold out any longer!" Hui Haifeng shouted.


    Zhou Wen, Zhong Ziya, and the rest of the students rushed forward and blocked the swarm of spiders. It was a chaotic scene where they killed countless spiders. Yet, the number of spiders that charged out from the Duke of Zhou Temple remained constant.

 241 Entering the Temple

    Zhou Wen rushed in front of a military officer and asked, "How long have you been here? How many spider balls have landed here?"


    "We''ve been here for nearly an hour. We saw a total of three spider balls landing near the Duke of Zhou Temple," the officer answered.


    "The three spider balls can''t have that many spiders. Have you sent someone to charge in to take a look?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    As the officer fired, he shouted, "We also suspect that there''s something wrong inside, but there are too many spiders. We can''t charge in. We''ve tried, but suffered heavy casualties."


    "There''s no point in this endless killing. Zhou Wen and Ziya, charge in with me to take a look," Hui Haifeng said as he charged towards the group of spiders with his shield.


    His charge was extremely ferocious, but he was quickly stuck by a spiderweb and could no longer break through.


    Zhou Wen and Zhong Ziya charged over and sliced the spiderweb in front of them with their saber and sword.


    There were a few students standing behind them. They huddled into a group as they charged in, fighting ceaselessly against the tidal wave of spiders.


    A few drops of blood landed on Zhou Wen''s face. They were from Hui Haifeng. A strand of spider silk had swept across his face, leaving a bloody mark.


    The temple was in front of them, but they couldn''t see the main body of the temple at all. It was completely covered by the spiderwebs as if it was covered in snow.


    Zhou Wen and company could see large numbers of spiders crawling out of the spiderwebs without stopping.


    "There must be something wrong with the temple. Otherwise, how can there be so many spiders crawling out from such a tiny place?" Zhong Ziya said.


    "The webs have sealed off the area. If we head in, just making contact with a few spiderwebs will trap us. When that happens, we won''t even have a chance to hide," a student said.


    "Let us rush in and take a look. Help us watch our backs." Two military officers rushed into the temple.


    Zhou Wen and company tried their best to block the surrounding spiders as the two officers entered one after another. Not long after they entered, they heard a scream as another officer flew out.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen caught the officer and asked anxiously.


    "There are too many webs in there. There''s no room for movement at all. You''ll get stuck with any slight movement. The third platoon commander¡­" The officer''s eyes were red and he couldn''t continue speaking. He got up and wanted to rush towards the temple again.


    "Don''t go, it''s useless even if you go. The spiderwebs are like a lair. Anyone who goes in will die unless it''s an Epic expert who forcefully tears through those webs." Zhong Ziya held the officer down and prevented him from entering.


    "If we don''t resolve the problem here, the spiders will rush out like a tidal wave. There''s no way we can defend our ground. When the time comes, the entire Luoyang City will be finished." The red-eyed officer struggled out of Zhong Ziya''s grasp as he tried to charge inside.


    Everyone fell silent. They naturally knew that it was impossible for such a small group of people to fend off so many spiders unless an Epic expert came.


    But right now, the Epic experts were attacking the Sky Spider, so how could they come here to support them?


    "I hate these fellows who risk their lives for no good reason. It''s as if everything can be resolved as long as they are willing to risk their lives." Zhong Ziya pursed his lips disdainfully and continued, "Please help me watch the area outside. I''ll go in and take a look."


    As he spoke, Zhong Ziya raised his sword and leaped over the officer, before entering the opening.


    "Ziya, I''ll go in with you." Hui Haifeng pushed away the spider in front of him and entered the lair-like temple.


    "Stay outside for now. Before we come out, you must hold the ground no matter what. Don''t let the spider swarm spread out," Zhou Wen said to the officer as he rushed into the temple.


    The spiderweb wrapped around the doors and walls like yarn. Mere contact would cause the spider silk to cling onto them like death''s grip. When the time came, they wouldn''t be able to break free, making dodging the spiders'' attack extremely difficult. They would then be like a fly caught in a spider''s web.


    When Zhou Wen rushed in, he saw that the ground was covered in spiderwebs and that if his feet were to touch the ground, he would likely be stuck to it.


    However, he wasn''t flustered. He circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and slashed out with his Primordial Energy. Immediately, he tore open the spiderweb in front of him and his legs landed on the ground. The moment his feet touched the spider silk, it immediately melted like snow meeting embers. It failed to stick to Zhou Wen''s body.


    When Zhou Wen was outside, he had already tried all sorts of Primordial Energy Arts and discovered that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was highly effective against spider silk. When they encountered the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s Primordial Energy, they would immediately melt. This was why he dared to barge in.


    He hadn''t gone far before he saw Hui Haifeng''s body covered with spiderwebs. He resembled a dumpling wrapped in white silk. However, he could still charge forward. The nearby spiders who had crawled out failed to hurt him due to the spider silk that formed a protective net.


    Zhou Wen scrutinized Hui Haifeng and realized that the spider silk on him had clearly been put on by him. It wasn''t connected to the spider silk outside. Although he looked terrifying, he was still able to move freely.


    "That''s a good move. How did you think of that?" Zhou Wen charged over and rendezvoused with Hui Haifeng, killing all the incoming spiders.


    Hui Haifeng said, "These spider silk threads look scary, but if you take a closer look, you''ll see that there are actually two types. One is a sticky kind of spider silk, the other is a type that doesn''t stick. Those spiders are also walking on the non-sticky spider silk, so I used those as a form of protection. The non-stick spider silk helps against the other kind of spider silk, so it prevents me from being stuck."


    With that said, Hui Haifeng sized up Zhou Wen from head to toe. "Dude, how did you get in? You weren''t stuck by the spider webs?"


    "My strength perfectly counters these spider silk threads. They can''t stick to me." Zhou Wen asked again, "Where''s Ziya?"


    "He rushed to the front. He''s too fast and I can''t catch up with him. I reckon he should already be in the main hall of the Temple by now," Hui Haifeng said.


    "Then take your time. I''ll head in and take a look as well." As Zhou Wen spoke, he used his Bamboo Blade to storm open a bloody path and charged into the Duke of Zhou Temple.


    "Wait for me." Hui Haifeng rushed in with Zhou Wen. However, because he was covered in spider webs that made him look like a snowman, his actions appeared somewhat clumsy.


    The Bamboo Blade was extremely sharp, and with Zhou Wen''s Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s Primordial Energy, it was the nemesis of the spiders. Wherever the blade passed, the spiderwebs and spiders were sliced apart.


    The two of them charged forward and killed countless spiders.


    An intense battle sounded in front of him as Zhou Wen hurriedly called out to Ziya. He immediately heard Zhong Ziya''s voice: "I''m here. Quick, help me. This fellow is a tough one."

 242 The Team for Putting Out Fires

    Zhou Wen heard the sound coming from the backyard, but it was already covered in beads of silk, like a snow cave.


    Truth Listener''s ability allowed Zhou Wen to see what was happening inside. Zhong Ziya was fighting a group of spiders, and in the yard, there was something like a well. Spiders were pouring out of it and, clearly, that was the problem.


    "I''ll be right there." As Zhou Wen spoke, he circled around to the backyard. Indeed, he saw Zhong Ziya embroiled in a battle with a horde of spiders.


    He didn''t have any spiderwebs on him, and his powers were clearly unable to restrain the spider silk like Zhou Wen''s. However, his movement technique was extremely odd. He was like a boneless snake as he swam through the silk, preventing it from sticking to him.


    Zhou Wen took a closer look and realized that when Zhong Ziya''s body touched a strand of silk, he would land on the non-sticky spider silk. The spiders could do nothing about him.


    However, Zhong Ziya wasn''t in the best of conditions. Although normal spiders couldn''t do anything to him, there was a very strange spider that left him in peril.


    The spider was also snow-white in color, but on its back was a unique blood-red pattern. The pattern looked like a human face, making it stand out among a group of snow-white spiders.


    The blood-patterned spider kept darting through the horde of spiders to avoid being attacked by Zhong Ziya. Zhong Ziya had been pursuing it the entire time, but there was something that left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    When the blood-patterned spider burrowed into the pile of spiders, Zhong Ziya would lose his target. When he saw it again, he failed to recognize it immediately.


    "Ziya, what''s the situation now?" Hui Haifeng noticed something amiss as well and hurriedly asked.


    "That spider is the problem. Quickly kill it," Zhong Ziya said.


    "I see, but why does it look like you don''t want to kill it?" Hui Haifeng said as he rushed over.


    "If I could recognize it, I would have killed it long ago. It''s very cunning. It''s always burrowing into the spider horde and mixing with other spiders. It takes me a while to determine which one it is," Zhong Ziya said.


    "It can''t be, can''t you see the blood-colored patterns on its back?" Hui Haifeng asked, puzzled.


    "I''m colorblind, and particularly can''t identify red." Zhong Ziya''s answer nearly caused Zhou Wen and Hui Haifeng''s jaws to drop to the ground. If it weren''t for this critical moment, they would never have believed that such a strange illness existed in this world.


    Hui Haifeng charged forward and punched the blood-patterned spider. It moved at rapid speed, allowing it to easily dodge Hui Haifeng''s attack. Speed wasn''t Hui Haifeng''s forte to begin with, so now that he was wrapped in spider silk, he became even clumsier. He ultimately failed to catch up to the blood-patterned spider, but he did kill several ordinary spiders.


    Without another word, Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps and charged forward as though he had teleported. The Bamboo Blade cleaved the blood-patterned spider into two.


    Unlike the other spiders, once the blood-patterned spider died, it didn''t reduce to dust. It was actually a true body of flesh and blood.


    What''s going on? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He thought that all the spiders were puppets, but this one was clearly not.


    The moment the blood-patterned spider died, the underground well exploded and large amounts of white liquid spewed out. After that, no spiders crawled out.


    When Zhou Wen and company had slaughtered all the spiders, he walked to the well and saw that it was only a few meters deep. It resembled a huge pot, so he couldn''t work out how that many spiders managed to crawl out of it.


    The military was firing wildly outside and killing the spiders that crawled out earlier. However, the effects were getting worse. Quite a number of soldiers were hung up by the spider silk and some of them even had their bodies snapped into two by it.


    Despite almost failing to hold the defensive line, the significant drop in spiders that crawled out of the temple allowed them to gradually stabilize the situation.


    "They succeeded!" The officer in charge was surprised and delighted. He ordered the soldiers to increase their firepower and quickly eliminate all the spiders.


    By the time Zhou Wen and company came out, most of the spiders outside had already been killed by the troops and other students who had rushed over to reinforce them.


    "Students, thank you for everything you''ve done¡­" The officer was about to say something when he suddenly received an urgent notification. There was another spot in the city where another spider horde had gathered. The troops there were asking for reinforcements.


    "Students, if it''s possible, can I ask you to come with us?" the officer said in embarrassment.


    "How troublesome. Where is it?" Zhong Ziya asked.


    Hence, Zhou Wen and company became an emergency team that was made to put out fires. They constantly shuttled through the city, in charge of clearing locations that constantly produced spiders.


    There were more than ten places like this in Luoyang City. And these were the discovered ones. It was unknown how many in the suburbs had yet to be discovered.


    The three of them should have split up and gone to different locations, but Hui Haifeng couldn''t catch up with the blood-patterned spider and Zhong Ziya was colorblind, so they had no choice but to rush over together.


    Thankfully, with the two of them opening up a path, all Zhou Wen needed to do was focus on killing the blood-patterned spider. The effects had increased significantly.


    After killing a few blood-patterned spiders, Zhou Wen discovered a Companion Egg inside a blood-patterned spider''s body. Zhou Wen glanced at it with his mysterious phone.


    Sky Spider Larva: Legendary (Youngling)


    Life Providence: Son of the Sky


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 20


    Constitution: 17


    Primordial Energy: 20


    Talent Skill: Sky Spider Silk, Sky Spider Sanguine Venom.


    Companion Form: Sky Spider Glove


    Zhou Wen knew what was going on when he saw the annotation of a youngling. Typical Companion Beasts didn''t have any room for growth. Legendaries were Legendaries; impossible for them to further evolve.


    However, with the youngling annotation, it meant that there was still room for growth. As for the level of advancement after becoming an adult, that depended on its bloodline.


    Since it was a youngling of a Sky Spider, it would probably grow into existence like the Sky Spider in the sky.


    The three of them continuously moved to help the military kill the Sky Spider younglings. Many officers recognized them, but they didn''t know their names.


    Zhou Wen and company had killed another Sky Spider youngling and were rushing to the next location when they suddenly saw the sky light up.


    It was daytime with the blazing sun high in the sky, but the radiance was even more dazzling than the sun.


    The trio couldn''t help but look up. They saw a brilliant sword flash sweep across the sky, as though it had swept across the entire horizon. The gigantic Sky Spider was instantly killed.


    The Sky Spider had been sliced in half and fell from the sky. It was unknown where it landed, but it caused the entire city to experience tremors for a moment like an earthquake.


    Zhou Wen looked up into the sky. At the spot where the sword beam disappeared, a man in an officer''s uniform and trench coat stood in midair like a god of war.


    An Tianzuo? Although he couldn''t see An Tianzuo''s face due to the distance, the latter''s figure immediately made him recall An Tianzuo.

 243 Deserving of a Commendation

    The calamity of the Sky Spider was finally over. The damaged city could be repaired, but the dead would never come back to life.


    "Bury our brothers who died properly. Arrange to disburse the bereavement money as quickly as possible. Make sure that not a single cent goes astray. Also, if they have any problems at home, do your best to take care of them. We can''t let their family cry while our brothers are bleeding." An Tianzuo sat behind his desk as he looked at the list of casualties An Sheng had brought over. His expression wasn''t the best.


    He had said that he wanted to protect Luoyang, but today, Luoyang City nearly became a ruin.


    "Everything has been arranged. Do you want to attend their funeral personally?" An Sheng asked.


    "Yes." An Tianzuo nodded with a heavy expression.


    "Also, this is the list of those who contributed from below. Most of them are fine, but since many students from Sunset College had participated in the battle, our subordinates have also submitted their names. Three of them were personally added by Deputy Governor Qin, but¡­" An Sheng paused for a moment.


    "But what?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "Those three students didn''t report to the military headquarters for registration, so they don''t know their names. Deputy Governor Qin only mentioned three students, but didn''t write their names," An Sheng said.


    "Since they didn''t head for the military headquarters, it means that they don''t care about the rewards. They likely come from the big and powerful families. It''s fine if they didn''t register, but why would Uncle Qin especially highlight them? There should be some reason for this, right?" An Tianzuo said thoughtfully.


    "Overseer, you''re wise. These three students helped our troops destroy sixteen spider wells, significantly reducing our casualties. The officers below wish to report their names, but they don''t know them. Deputy Governor Qin especially highlighted them after learning of the matter. I believe he hopes we can find out who they are and give them the commendations that they deserve," An Sheng said.


    "There aren''t many youths these days who are so responsible. Such acts are indeed worthy of commendation. Find them and hold a commendation ceremony at Sunset College. I want to personally award them a reward and set them as a classic example." An Tianzuo nodded slightly when he heard that.


    "Yes, Overseer," An Sheng replied. He took note of this matter and went to settle it after he was done with his other more pressing issues.


    The two clearly didn''t realize that Zhou Wen was one of the three. This was because, from their understanding of him, Zhou Wen was clearly not someone who was willing to take risks.


    To be able to do such a thing as venturing deep into the spider''s lair was definitely an action a hot-blooded youth would take. And Zhou Wen''s character was clearly not one.


    When Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, the shocking sword beam from An Tianzuo still appeared in his mind from time to time.


    From the looks of it, I''m still very far from An Tianzuo. It''s no wonder Lance said that he wants to advance to the peak of the Epic stage before challenging An Tianzuo. That does make sense. Zhou Wen also hoped that he could reach that level one day.


    Of course, thinking about it was useless. Therefore, Zhou Wen took out his mysterious phone and planned on continuing to enter the game to hunt monsters so that he could quickly increase his strength.


    Before Zhou Wen could enter the instance dungeon, the antelope came over to tug at his clothes. Zhou Wen knew that it wanted to eat again, so he took out the soy sauce beef he had placed in the chaos space.


    When he picked up the soy sauce beef, Zhou Wen saw a necklace beside it. Only then did he recall that he had snatched the necklace from John.


    John was immune to the Grand Yin Wind from Banana Fairy because he was wearing the necklace. Although it was because the level of the Banana Fairy was still low, it was undeniable that the power of the necklace gave him a strong resistance against the wind element.


    However, Luoyang basically didn''t have any wind-elemental dimensional creatures. It hadn''t come in handy after Zhou Wen had received the necklace.


    He took it out and saw that the gems embedded in it seemed to have a swirling vortex within. It was rather magical.


    Banana Fairy, who was flying around on a banana leaf, flew over when she saw the Goddess of Wind''s protection. She landed on Zhou Wen''s hand that was holding the necklace. She looked pitifully at Zhou Wen with her large eyes, her mouth producing a voice that Zhou Wen couldn''t understand. It was unknown what she wanted to say.


    "You want this necklace?" Zhou Wen asked Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy hurriedly nodded as she looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation.


    "What do you want it for? You can''t wear such a huge necklace. You can''t treat it like a snack, right?" Zhou Wen casually asked.


    However, just as Zhou Wen finished his sentence, Banana Fairy grabbed the gem on the necklace and bit down. The stone that seemed to have wind flowing within was devoured by her.


    "Hey, hey¡­ I was just making a remark¡­ Why did you really eat it¡­" Zhou Wen''s heart ached. This item was a treasure that could make him immune to wind-based attacks. Zhou Wen was prepared to take it to Sky City.


    Sky City was mostly filled with wind-elemental creatures. With this necklace, Zhou Wen could kill dimensional creatures there without any worries.


    Now that Banana Fairy had swallowed the gem, he didn''t know if the necklace had any effect.


    However, the Banana Fairy looked at Zhou Wen with a puzzled expression. She didn''t quite understand why Zhou Wen was acting so sad even though he was the one who had asked her to eat it.


    However, this expression didn''t last long. After swallowing the gem, wisps of wind gushed out from Banana Fairy''s body. The wind turned into something visible to the naked eye as it spun around Banana Fairy and the banana leaf. Furthermore, the wind was getting stronger and stronger as it gradually formed a storm.


    The tables and chairs in the room were all swept up. If this continued, the entire building would probably be swept up by her.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly stowed away Banana Fairy into the chaos space as he wondered in surprise, Could it be that Banana Fairy is going to evolve? She''s already at the Legendary stage. If she continues to evolve, wouldn''t she be at the Epic stage?


    The hurricane in the chaos space continued as Zhou Wen''s consciousness entered. All he saw was a heavenly pillar-like hurricane swirling, preventing him from seeing Banana Fairy''s figure.


    The storm was getting more intense, and it didn''t seem like it would stop anytime soon.


    Seeing the mess in the room, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but shake his head slightly. He began packing up the items on the ground and just as he was done packing, he heard his cell phone ring.


    "Little Wen, let me ask you something. Did my father ever give you anything special?" Ouyang Lan''s voice came through the phone.


    "I used to eat at the former principal''s place often, but it seems like he never gave me anything. Sis Lan, has something happened?" Zhou Wen noticed that Ouyang Lan''s tone was somewhat odd.


    "We''ve established contact with the expedition team and they said that they lost contact with my father. I plan on making a trip to Zhuolu myself to figure out the situation. During my absence, you have to take good care of yourself. If there''s anything you need, find An Sheng. He will help you," Ouyang Lan said a few simple words and hung up before Zhou Wen could ask about the situation.

 244 Movement Technique

    Zhou Wen hurriedly called back, wanting to meet Ouyang Lan and tell her about the name card and number. However, it wasn''t convenient to call her over the phone. It could be troublesome if the call was monitored.


    However, when Zhou Wen called, he heard the notification that the person he had just called had switched off their phone.


    He thought for a moment before calling An Sheng. Thankfully, An Sheng''s call went through successfully.


    "An Sheng, I called Sis Lan just now. Why is her phone switched off?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Madam has already set off. She left in a hurry, so she didn''t take any detours. She''s flying straight to Zhuolu County. On the way, she will pass through many areas with abnormal magnetic fields. It''ll probably be very difficult to contact her on her phone," An Sheng said.


    What happened? Why did Sis Lan leave in such a hurry? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    "We aren''t sure of the actual situation. All we know now is that one of the people who went to the dimensional zone for research with Mr. Ouyang has returned. He said that some accidents happened in the dimensional zones. They were separated from Mr. Ouyang, and many of them died. Only he escaped alive. Later, they sent a few more groups of people in, but the outcome was terrible¡ªmany people died. Madam was really worried, so she went alone. Overseer couldn''t stop her, so he rushed people over. You don''t have to be worried."


    "An Sheng, can you take me along? I also want to go to Zhuolu," Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    There weren''t many people in this world who didn''t ask for anything in return. The former principal was one of them. Although Zhou Wen was a rather cold and aloof person, he wished to do something for the former principal.


    Zhou Wen knew that he was lacking, so it was useless entering the dimensional zone. However, he had the mysterious phone. If he could find the tiny palm symbol there, he could explore the dimensional zone in the game''s instance dungeon and learn of the dangers ahead of time. It might be of help to the former principal.


    "That ancient battlefield is extremely terrifying. Previously, those who entered with the principal were all experts at the Epic stage. Even so, only one of them survived. It''s useless for the average person to go. Don''t worry, we will do our best to save Old Mr Ouyang," An Sheng said.


    "I don''t feel at ease staying here either. I wish to wait at Zhuolu so that I can immediately learn the latest news about the former principal and Sis Lan," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng hesitated for a moment before saying, "The first group of people has already set off for Zhuolur. I''m afraid we won''t be able to catch up. Wait another two days first. The people that Overseer has hired will arrive then. When the time comes, you can follow them."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen had no other choice but to agree.


    This world is changing too quickly, but my growth in strength is just too slow. Zhou Wen recently had an increasing feeling that his improvement was too slow.


    However, he didn''t realize that typical college students who advanced to the Legendary stage before they graduated from university were considered fast growers. He had already advanced to the Legendary stage in his first year of university, so he was indeed a little too impatient at wanting to advance to the Epic stage.


    Even with a background like the six families, with virtually unlimited resources supporting them, it would be difficult for students to advance to the Epic stage in just a few years.


    I wish to slowly advance too, but this world isn''t waiting for anyone. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    He went to the Golden Flying Ant once again. This time, Zhou Wen used Ghost Bride, hoping to use her ability to be immune to physical attacks. He wanted to see if she could pass through the white cocoon to see what was inside them.


    When he arrived, Ghost Bride was actually able to ignore the Golden Flying Ant''s attack. This delighted Zhou Wen greatly, but just as she was about to pass through the white cocoon, she was repelled by the cocoon.


    Is it still impossible? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. All he could do was continue grinding Overlord Snakes, hoping that he could get one with Overlord Spear as soon as possible.


    "Zhou Wen, can you do me a favor?" Hui Haifeng suddenly asked while he was studying at Wang Mingyuan''s place.


    "What is it?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "Can you practice movement techniques with me? In the past, I''ve been too focused on strength and techniques, but I neglected my movement techniques. When we went to kill the spider, Ziya and you showed me the importance of movement techniques. I want to practice them, but it''s not an ordinary technique. I developed a technique that''s most suitable for me, so I need someone to help me," Hui Haifeng said.


    "I can do it in the next two days. However, I might have something to attend to in two days and have to leave the school," Zhou Wen said.


    "It should be done in two days. I don''t have any clue, so I need to find a direction in actual combat. It shouldn''t take too long," Hui Haifeng said.


    "Alright, let''s begin now," Zhou Wen agreed.


    When he got to the training field with Hui Haifeng, Hui Haifeng had Zhou Wen attack him with all his might, but all he did was block or dodge.


    Hui Haifeng was rather well-rounded. He was a person with a relatively balanced development, but in terms of movement techniques, he was weaker than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen pushed Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to its limits and constantly attacked Hui Haifeng.


    Hui Haifeng seemed to have learned a few movement techniques that constantly swapped. Yet, he was still constantly struck by Zhou Wen.


    However, Hui Haifeng had improved very quickly. After familiarizing himself with Zhou Wen''s movement techniques, the number of times he was hit began to decrease.


    The progress was extremely smooth, but after reaching a certain level, Hui Haifeng could no longer dodge Zhou Wen''s attacks. No matter how hard he tried, there was no progress.


    "The pressure on me isn''t enough. Faster," Hui Haifeng said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen switched to Godfiend Era and used his levitation ability to push his Dragon Gate Fairy Skill to an even higher level. He flew across the sky and attacked Hui Haifeng from all directions, making it even harder for Hui Haifeng to dodge. The number of times he was hit increased.


    Hui Haifeng gritted his teeth as he constantly changed his movement techniques. The number of palm imprints on his body increased, but he had no intention of giving up. He continued to persist, hoping to find a path that was most suitable for him to break through while under heavy pressure.


    It''s useless¡­ It''s still useless¡­ My speed isn''t as fast as Zhou Wen''s¡­ Nor do I have such powerful aerial combat capabilities as Zhou Wen¡­ What can I do? Hui Haifeng didn''t feel vexed over his flaws. Instead, he was searching for a chance to resolve the problem with his own abilities.


    Under Zhou Wen''s relentless assault, Hui Haifeng gradually found a path that belonged to him.


    Suddenly, Hui Haifeng seemed to come to a realization. His movement technique changed drastically, one completely different from the movement technique he had used earlier. It was quite a bizarre change.


    Rather than saying that it was a movement technique, it was more accurate to say that it was a variation in the footwork in a fist technique. Hui Haifeng''s movements were very tiny, but such tiny movements were very fast like an explosive impulse.


    This kind of movement couldn''t be maintained at high speeds, but the continuous impulse movement caused Hui Haifeng''s trajectory to become unpredictable.

 245 Movement Technique 2

    "Haha, I''ve finally found a suitable movement technique for myself. No matter how fast I am, I can''t compare to you and Ziya. I can''t maintain a high speed like the two of you, but I can use my explosive impulse to accelerate myself to a speed faster than the two of you for a moment. And I have good endurance and can sustain such continuous impulses. This is the most suitable movement technique for me." Hui Haifeng laughed heartily.


    "It''s indeed a pretty good movement technique," Zhou Wen praised.


    Hui Haifeng wrapped his arm around Zhou Wen''s shoulder and said, "This movement technique was completed with your help. Half the credit goes to you. I''ll give you half of the naming rights. You and I can think of one word and we''ll use it as the name of this movement technique. In the future, when it becomes famous, your name will definitely be recorded in history."


    "There''s no need. I''m just a sparring partner," Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    "It''s different. My movement technique was inspired by your movement technique. Half its name has to come from you. Come, quickly think of a name for it. I can''t wait to perfect it." Hui Haifeng took out a piece of paper and a pen and handed them to Zhou Wen. He asked him to have a think before he wrote a single word.


    Although Zhou Wen found Hui Haifeng''s method of naming rather ridiculous, he thought for a moment under Hui Haifeng''s insistence and wrote the word "True" on the piece of paper.


    After the two of them finished writing, they unfolded the pieces of paper together and saw that there was also the word "True" on Hui Haifeng''s paper. When they saw the words on the paper, they couldn''t help but be slightly stunned.


    Hui Haifeng laughed. "It looks like we''re both like-minded and thought of the same thing. Let''s do it this way. It won''t be interesting to write another name. This movement technique shall be called Double True."


    "Double True¡­ Double True¡­ True Double¡­ This name sounds a little¡­" Zhou Wen repeated it a few times before he realized[1] that something was amiss.


    After Hui Haifeng said it out loud, he clearly realized this problem. However, he didn''t mind it and said with a smile, "Double True movement technique doesn''t sound nice, but since it''s decided by fate, let''s call it Double True."


    With that said, Hui Haifeng ran off. He couldn''t wait to head back and continue researching and perfecting the Double True movement technique.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "Wang Mingyuan''s disciples are all talented geniuses, but their personalities are weird. I originally thought Hui Haifeng was a normal person, but from the looks of it, he isn''t very normal."


    An Sheng needed to do a lot of work. Not only was he An Tianzuo''s adjutant, but he was also the An family''s butler. He had to handle the matters of the military and the An family. Therefore, An Sheng had to organize people to handle many matters.


    When he received a name list, his expression turned extremely odd.


    There were three names written on the list¡ªone of them was Zhou Wen. These three names were specially written by Qin Wufu. An Tianzuo had also mentioned that he wanted to personally reward the three.


    None of that was a problem, but one of the three names was Zhou Wen.


    "Are you sure this list is correct?" An Sheng looked at the intelligence officer in front of him and asked. He had to be sure of this matter, or else there would be a huge problem.


    "Yes, many officers have seen the three of them before. We have also checked the surveillance footage of some shops nearby and compared them to the school''s database. We have confirmed that it''s the three of them. Furthermore, we have also brought a photo to show those officers. It''s confirmed without a doubt that it''s the three of them," the intelligence officer said with certainty.


    "Very good. You did well. Go ahead and busy yourself." An Sheng looked at the name on the list and a strange smile appeared on his lips. He took some documents and got up to head to An Tianzuo''s office.


    "Come in." An Tianzuo was handling some documents, clearly in a bad mood.


    He already had a headache over the various break-out creatures from the dimensional zones. Now that Ouyang Lan had gone to such a dangerous place, he was very worried.


    If it wasn''t because there were too many problems in Luoyang and he couldn''t split himself, he yearned to fly to Zhuolu immediately and get Ouyang Lan back.


    However, he knew Ouyang Lan''s temper very well. Even if he went, it would be impossible for her to return because his temper was inherited from her. He knew very well that no one could stop her once she made up her mind.


    "Overseer, the list of students who have rendered meritorious services has been compiled. The three students who helped us destroy the spider wells have also been found. The commendation ceremony has already been prepared. Should we start as planned?" An Sheng walked over and handed the document to An Tianzuo.


    "Act according to the plan. Go ahead and do it." An Tianzuo didn''t look at the documents. Usually, such matters were handled by An Sheng. He didn''t think there would be any problems with such trivial matters.


    "Yes." An Sheng took back the document and left An Tianzuo''s office.


    Zhou Wen was constantly grinding at Snake Cavern, but he hadn''t had a Mutated Overlord Snake drop with Ever-Victorious. Therefore, he planned on inviting Wang Lu to try it out at Snake Cavern.


    Wang Lu was listening to music in the living room when she heard the doorbell ring. When she opened the door, she couldn''t help but be surprised that Zhou Wen had actually knocked on her door. It was unbelievable.


    "Wang Lu, how much money do I need to hire you to accompany me to the Snake Cavern to hunt dimensional creatures?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    "You want to hire me?" Wang Lu was stunned before looking at Zhou Wen with interest.


    "Yes, if it''s possible, we can head to the Snake Cavern now." Zhou Wen nodded with certainty.


    "You should know that I don''t lack money, right?" Wang Lu said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was slightly disappointed. "Sorry for disturbing you."


    With that said, Zhou Wen prepared to leave when Wang Lu hurriedly said, "Hold on. It''s not impossible for you to hire me, but I don''t want money. I have one condition."


    "What condition?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I want to go shopping tonight. Be my lackey and help me carry things," Wang Lu said.


    "No problem, I''m going to the Snake Cavern to kill the Mutated Overlord Snakes. I wish to use your luck to have a Mutated Overlord Snake egg drop." Zhou Wen shared his motives.


    "It shouldn''t be a big problem, as long as there''s a Mutated Overlord Snake there," said Wang Lu with a smile.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu headed to Dragon Gate Grotto where Snake Cavern was. Zhou Wen was already very familiar with the place, so killing Overlord Snakes was very simple for him. He only wished to meet a Mutated Overlord Snake. After all, it wasn''t something that could be found at any time. If there wasn''t a Mutated Overlord Snake, it wouldn''t matter how lucky Wang Lu was.


    However, Zhou Wen had clearly underestimated Wang Lu''s luck. Not long after they entered Snake Cavern, they saw an Overlord Snake that resembled black jade. It was a Mutated Overlord Snake.


    [1] Double in Chinese lingo can mean clueless/idiot. So flipping the name becomes True Idiot.

 246 Cracking the Cocoon

    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the Mutated Overlord Snake as he ordered the Saber Shield Knight to charge forward.


    The Saber Shield Knight had a Life Providence of Offense and Defense. Furthermore, his shield skills, saber skills, and battle aura skills were very powerful, making him the best at restraining Overlord Snakes.


    The Mutated Overlord Snake charged over as the Saber Shield Knight activated the Everlasting Shield. The cross symbol on his shield immediately lit up with a holy radiance, as though it was a holy light that enveloped his entire body and his mount.


    He used the shield technique to block the Mutated Overlord Snake''s attack before chopping down with the saber in his right hand with Cross Sword''s sword beam to kill it. This was what the Saber Shield Knight had always done.


    However, this time, the Mutated Overlord Snake slammed into the shield, tearing it apart. It opened its mouth and bit down on the Saber Shield Knight''s head.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got the Demonized General to charge forward as he struck out with Astral Fist, sending the Mutated Overlord Snake''s body flying out.


    The Demonized General and the Saber Shield Knight attacked the Overlord Snake together, but they were still at a tiny disadvantage. When its tail swept, whatever was in its way, directly shattered.


    Could it be that this is the Ever-Victorious skill? Zhou Wen was delighted instead of shocked. The Mutated Overlord Snakes he had encountered in the game weren''t that powerful.


    "Baby Tiger, attack, bite it." Wang Lu let her Lucky Baby Tiger help.


    The abilities of Lucky Baby Tiger were considered inferior amongst the Epic stage, but it was naturally much stronger than the Legendary stage. It was very agile as it dodged the attack from the Overlord Snake. It pounced forward and bit down on the Overlord Snake''s neck, splitting it into two pieces.


    Zhou Wen allowed his pet to withstand the attacks of the other Overlord Snakes while he took Bamboo Blade and peeled off the Overlord Snake''s head. Immediately, he saw two crystals inside.


    One crystal was obviously a stats crystal, while the other was a black metal egg. It was none other than the Mutated Overlord Snake egg.


    "Mission accomplished. Remember to be my lackey tonight," said Wang Lu with a cheeky smile.


    "Alright, I''ll definitely be there on time." Zhou Wen put away his Companion Egg and rushed out of Snake Cavern with Wang Lu.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen hurriedly used his cell phone to snap the Mutated Overlord Snake Companion Egg.


    Mutated Overlord Snake: Legendary


    Life Providence: Born Overlord


    Strength: 20


    Speed: 19


    Constitution: 20


    Primordial Energy: 16


    Talent Skill: Death Wrap, Devourer, Ever-Victorious.


    Companion Form: Spear


    Zhou Wen was delighted to see this. Indeed, it was an excellent-grade Mutated Overlord Snake. Not only did it possess the Ever-Victorious skill, but it also had another skill, Devourer. It was much better than the one which dropped for him previously.


    Luck is indeed useful. From the looks of it, I have to think of a way to have a Lucky Baby Tiger drop. Zhou Wen already had the urge to head to the Binyang Cave to grind for one.


    He now had the two Epic skills¡ªGhost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal. He also had the Overlord Spear with Ever-Victorious. There was likely a chance for him to kill the weakest Epic tiger alone.


    However, what was most pressing for Zhou Wen was still the white cocoon protected by the Golden Flying Ant; therefore, he headed to Ant City to try it out first.


    After hatching the Mutated Overlord Snake, it didn''t take long for a black metal spear that was about twelve feet long to appear in Zhou Wen''s hand. Its entire body was made of black metal and the two blades on the spear emitted a cold glow that sent shivers down one''s spine.


    Zhou Wen had never practiced with spears before, but he had a Legendary Primordial Energy Skill¡ªPenetrating Pierce. It possessed decent armor-piercing strength which suited Zhou Wen''s current use.


    He waved his Overlord Spear a few times to familiarize himself with its weight and center of mass before putting it away and opening the Ant Nest instance dungeon.


    After storming all the way to Ant City, Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered clearing the ordinary flying ants and armored ants. He allowed his pets to battle the ant horde before taking Truth Listener and Ghost Bride to the Golden Flying Ant''s nest at the top.


    The Golden Flying Ant lunged forward at an astonishing speed. Zhou Wen used Ghost Bride to lure the Golden Flying Ant, while he used Ghost Steps to instantly charge to the side of the white cocoon.


    With the Golden Flying Ant being led to the other side by Ghost Bride and how Zhou Wen''s Ghost Steps were ridiculously fast, making him no way slower than the Golden Flying Ant, it was already too late for it to rush back.


    Zhou Wen held the Overlord Spear and used Penetrating Pierce. At the same time, he unleashed all his strength and stabbed the white cocoon.


    The spear''s blade chafed against the white cocoon, making metal-grinding sounds. It was harsh to the ears.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. The Overlord Spear''s tip had only stabbed a few inches in, failing to completely penetrate the cocoon.


    The Golden Flying Ant had already flashed over. It released golden beams at the blood-colored avatar furiously.


    The silver wings on the back of the blood-colored avatar flapped as Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps again and charged out of the nest. At the same time, he ordered Ghost Bride to attack the white cocoon to attract the Golden Flying Ant''s attention.


    The Golden Flying Ant was fooled as expected. It stopped chasing after Zhou Wen and charged at Ghost Bride.


    Golden beams of light shot through Ghost Bride''s body, but they didn''t injure her.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but sigh. The strength of a dimensional creature isn''t absolute. If one''s attributes and skills are restrained, even an inferior Companion Beast might not necessarily be useless.


    Using Dao Body to keep replenishing his Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen charged into the nest and stabbed the same spot again. However, he failed to completely pierce through the white cocoon and only broke a portion of it.


    Zhou Wen''s attack was augmented by Ever-Victorious and the armor-piercing strength of Penetrating Pierce, making the destructive power extremely terrifying. Yet, the cocoon remained resilient in a shocking manner.


    After exiting the nest once again, Zhou Wen used the same trick to constantly entice the Golden Flying Ant and repeatedly attack the white cocoon. He repeated it dozens of times until Zhou Wen struck the same spot on the white cocoon again and felt the tip of the spear lighten as though he had penetrated half the spear into it.


    It penetrated! Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly pulled out his spear.


    When Zhou Wen pulled out the Overlord Spear, he saw a beam shoot out from the hole. It was orange-red in color and looked extremely bizarre, but it didn''t seem to have any lethal force. It was like the light of an electric lamp.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the white cocoon''s hole and saw that it was entirely orange inside. And the source of the orange-red light was actually a curled creature.


    The creature looked a little like a human. Its body was curled up and its hands hugged its legs as it curled into a ball. Its orange long hair covered most of its body.


    On his head, there was a pair of strange feelers and on his back, there was a layer of translucent thin wings. The thin wings were very soft and looked like they hadn''t fully matured.


    Inside the white cocoon is indeed a dimensional creature, but it doesn''t look anything like an ant. Zhou Wen dodged the Golden Flying Ant''s angry attack as he thought to himself.

 247 Taboo

    Zhou Wen timed his opportunity and once again charged to the side of the white cocoon. He thrust the spear in again, but this time, he stabbed straight at the strange creature inside the cocoon.


    Ding!


    Zhou Wen heard a crisp sound like the sound of jade colliding. The spear tip failed to stab into the supple-looking skin. Instead, it felt like it had collided with a metal wall.


    So hard? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he began to suspect the level of the dimensional creature within the white cocoon.


    However, at this point, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to give up. All he could do was try, again and again, hoping to use repeated attacks to tear through the creature''s skin.


    Unfortunately, it was clearly futile. The continuous attacks failed to break through the creature''s skin, it was as if it was an indestructible piece of rock.


    At this point, how could Zhou Wen be willing to give up? He gritted his teeth and activated the power of Sigh of the King.


    The strength, Primordial Energy Skills, Primordial Energy Art of a Life Providence was different. To the typical person, it was a different kind of strength mode. However, to Zhou Wen, be it in-game or in reality, using the Sigh of the King was a very dangerous matter.


    Once Life Providence was activated, not only would the blood-colored avatar in the game be affected, he would even be affected by the power of the Sigh of the King in reality.


    If it wasn''t used properly, Zhou Wen would end up exploding to his death.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to use the Sigh of the King if he didn''t have a reason to do so. Even if he could stop in time, he needed to lie in bed for a few days before his body and bones would slowly heal. The pain and itchiness he ended up suffering was unimaginable to others.


    Having used the Sigh of the King twice, Zhou Wen already had a taste of the feeling. If it was possible, he was unwilling to attempt it a third time.


    But now, he had no choice but to use it again. With Overlord Spear with Ever-Victorious unable to injure the creature within the white cocoon, it was unknown when he would have the ability to kill the creature inside.


    A terrifying force instantly descended upon Zhou Wen, causing the blood-colored avatar''s strength to surge.


    He didn''t dare to delay at all. With Ghost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal, the Overlord Spear in his hand brought with it the terrifying power that tore through space. Instantly, it stabbed into the white cocoon once again.


    When the spear beam struck the creature''s skin, it shattered and scattered like glass shards. When the spear tip stabbed into the skin, it finally broke through its fair skin and stabbed a little deeper.


    However, it was just a little. It was probably less than a centimeter from the tip of the spear. This left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    Although the Sigh of the King''s power had only just been activated, it was enough to kill an existence like the Ghost King back in the Yin Yang world.


    And with such strength, coupled with the fact that he had attacked with Overlord Spear''s Ever-Victorious, he had only barely torn open the creature''s flesh. This made Zhou Wen suspect that the dimensional creature in the cocoon might very well be at the true Mythical stage as spoken of in legends.


    Although Banana Fairy and Truth Listener were also at the Mythical stage, they were only considered half-Mythicals. They might be able to advance to the Mythical stage in the future, but that was not the case now.


    At the instant the tip of the spear stabbed into the flesh, the life form in the cocoon twitched. His head slowly turned, revealing part of his side profile. He looked flawless like a figure that had walked out of a painting. An orange-red eye also revealed itself as it stared at the blood-colored avatar through the hole bored through by the spear.


    The eye exuded an indescribable diabolical feeling. Its pupil was like an orange gem, without any impurities. However, with that gaze, even Zhou Wen, who was outside the game, had goosebumps.


    Bam!


    Almost at the same time, a force blasted out of the cocoon, instantly sending the Overlord Spear and the blood-colored avatar flying.


    The blood-colored avatar flew right across Ant City''s sky like a cannonball before slamming into a stone wall.


    Although the blood-colored avatar didn''t die immediately, Zhou Wen could sense that all the bones in its body had broken. The pain inundated Zhou Wen''s nerves, but this time, the bones weren''t broken by Sigh of the King, but by the terrifying force.


    That must be a Mythical creature! A mere glance without any physical activity was enough to quake the blood-colored avatar that had activated the Sigh of the King to the brink of death. Such power was just too terrifying.


    Clang!


    The Overlord Spear that had been snapped into several pieces slammed into the stone wall. The outcome of the Overlord Spear was worse than Zhou Wen''s. After it snapped, it immediately vanished and dissipated like ash. It left Zhou Wen heartbroken.


    It hadn''t been easy for him to obtain the Overlord Spear with Ever-Victorious, but it was destroyed just like that.


    Although this was a game where a Companion Beast could be revived, Zhou Wen''s first reaction when he saw the Overlord Spear destroyed was a heartache.


    But as the Overlord Spear disappeared, a drop of sparkling orange blood dripped down from the tip of the spear. It was a gem the size of a grain of rice. It just remained suspended in midair.


    ''Discovered Mythical Blood Essence. Absorb it?''


    With the notification popping in-game, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate and hurriedly chose to absorb it.


    The blood-colored avatar stretched out its hand with great difficulty. The Sigh of the King had already been deactivated, and the blood-colored avatar''s bones were almost completely fractured. Both his arms and fingers were bent as he stretched out with great difficulty to touch that drop of blood. At the same time, the game screen suddenly turned black.


    Zhou Wen immediately had the urge to curse. The blood-colored avatar had failed to hold on and died right at that moment. If the blood was gone from the respawn, Zhou Wen''s efforts and hard work would have all been in vain.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to drip his blood and revive the blood-colored avatar, he suddenly felt a strange power flow out of the mysterious phone, instantly filling his entire body.


    Due to the heavy burden of using the Sigh of the King, he had already shown signs of internal bleeding in several spots. Under the nourishment of the strange energy, he gradually snapped to his senses and recovered at an extremely fast speed.


    In just a few seconds, Zhou Wen''s damaged body returned to normal. As for the strange power, it remained fused into his body, giving him an indescribable sense of comfort. He felt as though all his cells had been revived, as though he had been given a new lease of life.


    After a long while, this feeling gradually disappeared.


    After everything returned to normal, Zhou Wen hurriedly dripped a drop of blood onto the mysterious phone, allowing the blood-colored avatar to revive as he carefully read the blood-colored avatar''s information.


    With this look, Zhou Wen immediately realized that his Primordial Energy stat had reached 21 points.


    Just like before, there was an additional word behind his Primordial Energy value.


    Taboo. Zhou Wen looked at the word, but he didn''t understand what it meant. He thought to himself, Strength has the postfix of Sun because it absorbed the God Power Crystal of the Sun God. Speed has Trajectory as its postfix because it absorbed the God Power Crystal of the God of Trajectory. Could it be that there''s also a god in the cocoon? Is his name the God of Taboos?


    Zhou Wen could only make this guess, but he was unable to confirm it.

 248 The Hope of Advancing to Epic

    The blood he obtained from the cocoon allowed Zhou Wen to see the hope of advancing to the Epic stage, he was just short of his Constitution reaching 21 points.


    Now, Zhou Wen was aware of two locations where white cocoons could be found. One of them was at the nest of the chick''s mother. Zhou Wen didn''t dare go there. Even Ah Sheng didn''t dare put up any resistance. Even if he were to activate Sigh of the King, he would probably only be courting death.


    Besides, now that the chick was with Zhou Wen and had helped him before, Zhou Wen couldn''t bring himself to touch the white cocoon that the giant bird was protecting.


    Then the only one left is the white cocoon that''s protected by the wyrm under the Old Dragon Cave. Zhou Wen felt a headache coming on when he thought of the wyrm.


    The wyrm was obviously much more powerful than the Golden Flying Ant. Perhaps the wyrm itself was a Mythical creature to begin with. If he wanted to tear through the cocoon and obtain the blood of the living creature within, he might as well have a fight with the wyrm and die a faster death.


    Although he knew that there was no chance, Zhou Wen was bent on trying. As expected, before he even reached the stone pillar, the wyrm was jolted awake as it opened its mouth and roared, instantly killing the blood-colored avatar.


    Even Ghost Bride''s soul body wasn''t spared. Her soul was shattered by the dragon''s roar.


    How can this be obtained? It''s impossible. Unless my body can withstand the power of the Sigh of the King and allow its full powers to manifest, only then might there still be a sliver of a chance. Zhou Wen put down his phone, having no intention of trying it a second time. It was useless even if he tried. They were not at the same level. In front of absolute strength, everything was in vain.


    "Zhou Wen, where are you? I''ve been waiting for you all day." Wang Lu called, her voice sounding rather angry.


    "Sorry, I''ll be there soon." Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he still needed to be Wang Lu''s lackey that evening. He hurriedly washed his face and left the building.


    "What''s wrong with you? You''re a man, and you''re late. You are in no way a gentleman," Wang Lu said angrily.


    "I''m sorry. My bad." Zhou Wen felt that there was no way of explaining himself because he had indeed done something wrong. All he could do was lower his head and admit his mistake.


    "Since it''s your fault, you have to accept punishment. Do you have any objections?" Wang Lu said.


    "No." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "That''s what you said. You are not to go back on your word." Wang Lu narrowed her eyes.


    "Apart from committing murder, arson, and immoral acts, you can punish me for anything." Zhou Wen could only accept it.


    "It''s not that serious. Follow me." Wang Lu beamed even more, happy as she led Zhou Wen out of the school.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that randomly leaving Sunset College was a privilege of people like An Sheng. Even Li Xuan couldn''t casually leave the school, but Wang Lu had easily led Zhou Wen out.


    It''s still good to be privileged. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    There was already a car waiting outside the school. Wang Lu led Zhou Wen to the car and they headed for the biggest commercial street in Luoyang. Qin Xiyuan''s Xiyuan Crystal Shop was also on the street.


    Wang Lu did not go to the crystal shop. She went to a store selling all kinds of cosmetics and clothes.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t understand why Wang Lu was buying these things.


    Sunset College was a partially militaristic school. Back on campus, students were only allowed to wear uniforms. The school uniforms were basically simple military uniforms.


    Moreover, the college didn''t allow students to put on makeup. It was alright to secretly put on some light makeup, but if it was a little more obvious, the student council would find out and carry out disciplinary action.


    Although Wang Lu was one of the elites of the college, Zhou Wen hadn''t seen her wear make-up when he saw her in school. He really didn''t know what those things were bought for.


    However, Wang Lu was very happy as she flitted through the various shops. Soon, Zhou Wen became a humanoid rack with various bags hanging over his body. They were all things Wang Lu had bought.


    "Does it look good?" Wang Lu walked out of the fitting room and walked around Zhou Wen in a lovely dress. She posed in a beautiful way as she asked Zhou Wen.


    "Such clothes aren''t suitable for practice or battle, right?" Zhou Wen said as he looked at the various cloth decorations hanging from the clothes.


    Wang Lu glared at Zhou Wen fiercely. "I''m happy and it''s all out of my own free will. This, this, and this. Give me one of the same color."


    Hence, Zhou Wen had a lot more bags on him. Although with his physique, it wasn''t a problem for him to carry more, he just couldn''t understand the point of buying them. The clothes looked identical, just in different colors.


    After shopping for nearly four hours, and having two sumptuous meals in the middle, Wang Lu was finally satisfied. She went back to school with bags of all shapes and sizes.


    Zhou Wen took the items into Wang Lu''s building and was about to leave when Wang Lu stopped him.


    "Are you leaving just like that?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen.


    "Didn''t I already fulfill my promise?" Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu in puzzlement.


    "The promise is fulfilled, but the punishment for being late hasn''t been done yet. Don''t tell me you want to go back on your word?" Wang Lu''s eyes were filled with doubt about Zhou Wen''s character.


    "Of course not. Tell me how you would like to punish me," Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    "Actually, it''s very simple. I only bought the cosmetics looking at the color palette. I can''t see the real effects. Help me try them," Wang Lu said with a cheeky smile as she took out a lipstick.


    "You¡­ want me to try this?" Zhou Wen immediately widened his eyes.


    "You want to go back on your word?" Wang Lu''s questioning eyes became more obvious.


    "No." Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as the word seemed to be squeezed out through his teeth.


    "That''s good. Sit tight. Don''t move." Wang Lu was immediately delighted as she took out all the new cosmetics she had bought and swept them across Zhou Wen''s face.


    Zhou Wen sat there motionless, feeling as though he was sitting on pins and needles.


    Always angering me? Today, I''ll let you know what happens when you anger me. A devilish tail seemed to grow behind Wang Lu.


    When it was almost midnight, An Jing returned from the device room. When she passed by Zhou Wen''s building, she subconsciously took a glance and saw that it wasn''t lit.


    Just as she was about to return to her own building, she heard the door open to the building beside hers. A figure walked out.


    An Jing originally thought nothing of it, imagining it was Wang Lu, but to her surprise, the figure walked to Zhou Wen''s building and entered the yard''s door.


    Zhou Wen? An Jing couldn''t help but be taken aback when she saw that it was Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen also saw An Jing, but his relationship with her was never that great. He nodded slightly as a form of greeting before opening the door and entering his building.


    Just a few results to show for and he''s already so brazen. Not only does he game every day, but he''s also fooling around in the dorm of a girl in the middle of the night. I really wonder what Grandpa and Mom see in him. An Jing felt extremely unhappy as her good mood instantly vanished.

 249 Assembly

    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen entered Dragon Gate Grotto''s instance dungeon and prepared to grind for the lucky tiger.


    Wang Lu had allowed Zhou Wen to realize the magic of the Luck stat. Therefore, he wished to grind for a Lucky Baby Tiger to increase his Luck stat. It would be easier to take the Lucky Baby Tiger along with him if he wanted any Companion Egg to drop in the future.


    The only problem now was that Zhou Wen needed to hatch an Epic Companion Egg at the Legendary stage. It would be somewhat difficult.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know how Wang Lu had managed it. He planned on trying to use the Dao Body''s rapid recovery of Primordial Energy. The tiger was relatively weak to begin with, so the amount of Primordial Energy he needed probably would be reduced. Perhaps, he could give it a try.


    In reality, the tiger was in high demand, but there was no one in-game to vie for it besides Zhou Wen. After Zhou Wen arrived at Binyang Cave, he quickly found the tiger.


    Without another word, he summoned his Overlord Spear and circled to the back of the tiger with Ghost Steps and stabbed it in the rectum.


    The tiger''s reaction wasn''t slow. With a flying pounce, it dodged the fate of having its rectum torn through. In return, its tail lashed out like a steel whip.


    Zhou Wen had already studied it thoroughly. As he dodged sideways, he thrust out again, stabbing the tiger''s thin waist.


    The Overlord Spear finally stabbed into the tiger''s waist. With Ever-Victorious showing its effect, the tiger let out a tragic cry when the spear stabbed through its skin. A blood hole opened up and its pelvis was damaged. With its movements greatly restricted, Zhou Wen quickly finished it off.


    This was the first time he had killed an Epic creature alone in-game. Although it was the weakest Epic, it gave Zhou Wen a sense of accomplishment. However, it was very unlikely that the tiger would drop a Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen didn''t expect to have the Lucky Baby Tiger drop on his first try, he could only try in passing. It wasn''t something he could keep respawning.


    This was because there was only one tiger in-game every time, just like reality. After Zhou Wen killed it, he had to drip his blood to respawn, allowing the game''s instance dungeon to be refreshed before he could kill the tiger again. It would be such a waste.


    Zhou Wen would kill the baby tiger every time he dripped his blood for respawning. Then, he would go elsewhere to grind for Companion Eggs or explore new instance dungeons. He waited until he died before respawning to have a chance of killing the baby tiger again.


    I wonder if there are any other Companion Beasts that can add to my Luck stat? When Zhou Wen was free, he went online to search for more information. He discovered that Luck stat was indeed rare. Although other Companion Beasts had similar effects, just like Little Tiger, they were targets that were vied for by many. It was difficult to obtain them.


    Besides the baby tiger, the other known Companion Beasts with a Luck stat were extremely powerful Epic creatures. Their combat strength was many times stronger than the Lucky Baby Tiger''s.


    While checking on the information, Zhou Wen also saw another Companion Beast with the opposite Luck stat. It was born with bad luck or, in other words, filled with misfortune.


    One of the most famous ones in the East district was Tai Sui. If one had this Companion Beast, not only would it be the case of not having any luck with drops, but even buying a packet of instant noodles would come without any seasoning packets. Entering a dimensional zone would definitely result in trouble. It was an essential pet if one wanted to have a death wish.


    The last Epic expert who had obtained Tai Sui originally believed that he had obtained a powerful Companion Beast. He had even shared the information he gained on his WeChat Moments to flaunt it, but he ended up dying in a dimensional zone the next day.


    Who the hell would hatch such a Companion Beast? Zhou Wen carefully read the description of Tai Sui and remembered its appearance. It would be truly troublesome if he were to accidentally hatch it in the future.


    Just as they were about to continue grinding instance dungeons, the school sent a notice to all the students, requesting that they gather at the field. It was unknown what had happened.


    When he arrived at the field, he saw Wang Fei and his classmates already lined up. Li Xuan was waving at him.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly walked over and stood behind Li Xuan as he asked, "Li Xuan, what happened at the school? Why are all the students suddenly gathered?"


    Such situations were rare in Sunset College. It focused more on pragmatic education, so it was rare for it to organize any student assemblies.


    "I have no idea. I was sleeping soundly when I was awoken by a message. I don''t know what happened either," Li Xuan said as he spread out his hands.


    Soon, all the teachers and students gathered. Zhou Wen found it odd that there were even rows of soldiers on the field.


    Although there were troops stationed on campus, they only guarded the school''s entrance or special places like the dimensional zones'' entrances. They rarely interacted with students.


    Yet, the soldiers were participating in the student assembly held by the college. Moreover, the soldiers'' uniforms seemed different from those of the ordinary soldiers. It seemed like they were not the usual soldiers in the college.


    After the managing vice-chancellor went on stage to say a few words, Zhou Wen and the rest of the students realized that the student assembly was to commend the students who had contributed when the Sky Spider wreaked havoc.


    Zhou Wen didn''t pay much attention to this because he, Hui Haifeng, and Zhong Ziya hadn''t reported their names. The school didn''t include them, so even the rewards had nothing to do with them.


    It wasn''t that Zhou Wen and company weren''t willing to accept the rewards, but that they originally believed that the credits given weren''t much. The trio weren''t people who lacked credits, so they were too lazy to report it. When the time came, the military would have to verify it and it would be extremely troublesome.


    Since Zhong Ziya and Hui Haifeng found it troublesome, and Zhou Wen didn''t have any strong desire for credits, the three of them hadn''t bothered reporting.


    If he had known that there would be actual material rewards, Zhou Wen would have reported his name no matter what. But now, it was too late for regrets.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking about this, he saw a few military officers arrive in the field. They were being escorted by soldiers. The managing vice-chancellor and the school''s upper management hurriedly stood up to welcome them, inviting the leading officer to the main seat.


    "Wow, it''s Overseer An. He''s so handsome!"


    "I''ve been in school for three years, but this is the first time I''ve seen the Overseer in person. He''s even more valiant and imposing than the legends."


    "It''s nothing to get excited about. We Luoyang locals often get to see him."


    Instantly, there was a commotion among the students. An Tianzuo was like a god of war in Luoyang. Many of the students believed that he was a target and an idol to aim for in cultivation.


    In fact, a large part of the reason many outstanding students chose Sunset College was because it was the An family''s school and An Tianzuo had also graduated here.


    Zhou Wen didn''t feel anything special when he saw An Tianzuo. He treated him like a passerby.


    An Tianzuo had acute senses. Even among the thousands of students, he immediately sensed Zhou Wen''s spot. However, he didn''t even look at him, as though Zhou Wen didn''t exist in his books.


    An Sheng nodded at Zhou Wen with a smile, but the smile seemed to carry a deeper meaning.

 250 We Are Honored By Them

    The process of the assembly was very simple. There weren''t many bigwigs speaking. Only An Tianzuo spoke a few words. Although he didn''t say a lot, his oomph left many students boiling with excitement. They wished they could join the army and fight to protect their homeland.


    Many girls even had the urge to follow An Tianzuo to battle on the battlefield, even if they died for him.


    Even Zhou Wen had to admit that An Tianzuo was the kind of person who was born with the charisma of a leader. If someone else were to say the same words, it would only appear awkward and pretentious.


    However, An Tianzuo''s delivery was infectious. He had a convincing charm, but Zhou Wen found it odd regardless.


    Following that, it was the award ceremony for the students who had helped the army. All of them were named and invited on stage to receive their awards and military honors. Zhou Wen listened for quite a while but didn''t hear his name. It wasn''t unexpected.


    An Tianzuo was in a rather good mood today. Although he had had many troubles to deal with recently, he was in a better mood after seeing so many outstanding students at Sunset College. These people would imbue the army with fresh blood in the future.


    An Tianzuo was waiting for the three most outstanding students'' turn and was prepared to personally decorate them with the medals.


    "Overseer, the rewards for the other students have been distributed. Only the three students with outstanding contributions are left. Do you want to personally announce them?" An Sheng came to An Tianzuo''s side and handed a script to him.


    "Alright." An Tianzuo received the script and stood up from his chair before walking to the stage.


    This was a very good opportunity to promote the military. An Tianzuo hoped that more students would be inclined to join the military in the future. This was one of the reasons why he had personally come to hand out the awards.


    "I''m very relieved that there are so many outstanding students in my alma mater. While the students from other colleges are still studying hard, you have already grown to become a cornerstone of the League. On the battlefield, you poured your blood, using your bodies to create a steel wall for our siblings, parents, and elders. You have not let down the name of Sunset College." An Tianzuo read the script written by An Sheng and found it somewhat odd. It didn''t seem to be his normal style.


    This fellow has been lazing off again. He must have gotten a subordinate to pen it. With this thought in mind, An Tianzuo took a glance at the script before continuing.


    He had a photographic memory. Just one glance was enough for him to memorize the entire contents of the piece of paper in his head. There was no need for him to continue reading from the script.


    "Among excellent students like you, three of you have made me proud. They aren''t afraid of death, nor are they afraid of danger. They went deep into the spiders'' nest and destroyed the source of the disaster, saving the lives of countless citizens. They used actions to prove their excellence and, as a man, I''m glad that Sunset College has such students. I''m also proud that there are such men among humanity. Seeing them makes me see the League''s future. It''s a bright and glorious future¡­" An Tianzuo was almost done reading the contents of the first page, so he flipped to the second page and took another look.


    The content on the second page was very simple. There were only three names.


    An Tianzuo continued, "Let me invite these three outstanding students up on stage. I want to personally decorate them with a medal. Everyone, please remember their names. All of us should be proud of them. These three students are: Hui Haifeng¡­ Zhong Ziya¡­ Zhou¡­ Wen¡­"


    When he said the last name, An Tianzuo''s eyes glared at An Sheng as if he was shooting daggers at him with an extremely fierce killing intent.


    If looks could kill, An Sheng would have been torn apart.


    However, An Sheng lowered his head as if he had not seen anything as he concentrated on taking notes.


    When Zhou Wen heard his name, he was slightly taken aback before his expression turned extremely odd. The words that had just been said left him feeling a little odd. Furthermore, it came from An Tianzuo''s mouth, making him find it even stranger.


    An Jing was stunned when she heard Zhou Wen''s name. She couldn''t believe that An Tianzuo would use such words to describe Zhou Wen, much less believe that he was one of the three.


    "Was the person that the Overseer mentioned really Zhou Wen? Could it be someone sharing the same name?" It wasn''t only An Jing who didn''t believe it, even Wang Fei found it unbelievable. She had no way of connecting the selfish and indifferent Zhou Wen, who was engrossed in games, with the outstanding student An Tianzuo mentioned.


    However, Wang Fei soon realized that the school only had one student named Zhou Wen, so it was impossible for it to be someone else who shared the same name.


    "Why are you still standing there in a daze? Hurry up and go onstage to accept the medal. This is a medal, not something meaningless like a commendation certificate. Furthermore, it''s personally given out by Overseer An. I''m so envious. If I were to obtain such an honor, I could brag about it for three years¡­" Li Xuan said as he nudged the dazed Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment. He didn''t wish to have any interaction with An Tianzuo. Furthermore, with their past, it made him feel uncomfortable standing in front of An Tianzuo and letting him decorate him with a medal.


    "What are you waiting for?" Wang Fei came over and gave Zhou Wen a nudge.


    She felt gratified that she had taken Zhou Wen to Wang Mingyuan. Not long after, Zhou Wen had become so responsible and reliable.


    Although she found it a little unreal, this was her initial wish for Zhou Wen¡ªto go onstage to receive a medal. It was also a form of affirmation of her educational methods. It left her feeling honored.


    Seeing that Hui Haifeng and Zhong Ziya were already onstage and how everyone was looking at him, Zhou Wen had no choice but to walk up to the podium.


    An Sheng walked over with a tray in hand. An Tianzuo expressionlessly helped Hui Haifeng and Zhong Ziya wear the medals before rewarding each of them with a Companion Egg.


    When it was Zhou Wen''s turn, An Tianzuo walked over with a deadpan expression. His eyes met Zhou Wen''s for a second before they repelled like magnets of the same polarity. Their eyes subconsciously darted to the side.


    An Tianzuo instantly returned to normal as he expressionlessly put on Zhou Wen''s medal. However, his actions were clearly much faster than when he decorated Hui Haifeng and Zhong Ziya.


    "Let us applaud Hui Haifeng, Zhong Ziya, and Zhou Wen for their sheer fervor, bravery, and responsibility," An Sheng said.


    The applause below the stage boomed like thunder. Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo felt uncomfortable standing together, and their expressions were extremely stiff.


    An Sheng took a photo of the two of them and recorded this moment.


    After Zhou Wen left the venue, he immediately took off the medal and threw it into the chaos space. Then, he felt discomfort in his chest as he patted it, as though he was swatting away something.


    An Tianzuo got into the car and took off his white gloves, throwing them at An Sheng. With a cold expression, he said, "Drive."

 251 All Three Skills

    Zhou Wen waited for An Sheng''s notice as he made preparations for heading to Zhuolu.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t plan on truly entering the dimensional zone and only wanted to search for the tiny palm symbol, there was nowhere that was safe and peaceful now. Even Luoyang City had been attacked by a break-out creature. No one knew what would happen in uninhabited places.


    The Gold-Armored Beast that Ouyang Lan had given him had been hatched. The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was also on him at all times. Once he left Luoyang, Zhou Wen planned on transforming the two Companion Beasts into their companion forms and wearing them¡ªGolden Silk Soft Armor within and the full-body armor on the outside as double protection.


    The Companion Beast reward at the assembly was a Legendary Bronze Figurine. It was a Legendary-grade Companion Beast without a companion form, but its combat strength was one of the best among Legendaries. It had a Life Providence of Undying Soldier, which greatly enhanced the Bronze Figurine''s survivability. It was very suitable for being a scout and vanguard.


    This was what Zhou Wen deserved. He wouldn''t reject it just because of his relationship with An Tianzuo, so he also hatched it.


    However, all of these were just support. The Companion Beasts that Zhou Wen could truly rely on were Truth Listener and Banana Fairy. There was naturally no need to elaborate on Truth Listener''s support abilities. It supported him in all kinds of situations.


    Banana Fairy was currently undergoing evolution. If it succeeded in evolving to the Epic stage, it would definitely be a tremendous boon for Zhou Wen.


    The effects of Ghost Bride couldn''t be neglected. Instead, the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Mutated Lotus Flower Ant that Zhou Wen had used often in the past, now appeared somewhat useless.


    The Silver-Winged Flying Ant''s flight ability was dispensable to the present Zhou Wen. The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant''s combat strength was only considered average.


    Zhou Wen wished to fuse the two together, but despite both being ants, their compatibility was astonishingly low, making it impossible for a fusion to succeed.


    After sorting out his pets, he did another careful look. He was surprised to find that the Sky Spider youngling he had obtained recently was surprisingly compatible with the Silver-Winged Flying Ant. It had a compatibility of more than 80%.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen chose to fuse the two together.


    The fusion compatibility of that number didn''t disappoint him. The fusion was successful and, because both of them had been hatched, there was no distinction between main and supplement. The outcome of the fusion left Zhou Wen slightly stunned though.


    After the fusion, the Companion Beast looked like it was mainly a Sky Spider. It still maintained the snow-white spider body, but it had four silver wings on its back. At the end of its tail, there was a stinger like a bee''s. It looked beautiful, and its silver-colored appearance made it look like a silvery-white plush toy.


    Silver-Winged Sky Spider Youngling: Legendary (Youngling)


    Life Providence: King of the Sky


    Strength: 19


    Speed: 20


    Constitution: 19


    Primordial Energy: 20


    Talent Skill: Silver Wing Flash, Magical Needle, Sky Spider Silk, Sky Spider Sanguine Venom.


    Companion Form: Sky Spider Silver-Silk Glove


    Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. This fusion could be said to have been unprecedentedly successful. Not only had its stats increased, but it had also inherited all of the talent skills of the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Sky Spider youngling. Furthermore, its Life Providence had also changed.


    Previously, the Sky Spider Child was the Son of the Sky, while the Silver-Winged Flying Ant was a King of Low Altitudes. Now that the two had fused, it became the King of the Sky. Zhou Wen took a look and realized that the Life Providence had increased its flying abilities. It wasn''t like it had been in the past where it could only fly at low altitudes.


    What was even more valuable was that the Silver-Winged Sky Spider was still a youngling. There was still room for future growth, so it would definitely be able to advance to the Epic stage in the future. However, it was unknown how long it had to be fed before it could advance to the Epic stage.


    Summoning the Silver-Winged Sky Spider in its companion form, a translucent silver-silked glove immediately appeared on Zhou Wen''s left hand. The glove clung tightly to his skin as though it was weightless. It was difficult to sense its existence as though it was a layer of skin.


    Zhou Wen tested the glove''s ability and found that it was rather interesting. Apart from its excellent defensive powers, the Sky Spider Silver-Silk Glove also possessed a type of stickiness. As long as Zhou Wen was willing, the Sky Spider Silver-Silk Glove could stick to anything. Furthermore, if Zhou Wen didn''t deliberately separate, it would be difficult to pull him away from the adhered surface.


    It''s an interesting companion form gear. If I use it well, it might be of great use in the future. Zhou Wen retracted the Sky Spider glove.


    After organizing his gear, Zhou Wen refreshed the instance dungeon once again. To his pleasant surprise, he finally gathered the three Mutated Demonized Generals'' abilities and had Astral Fist, which he had always wanted, drop.


    He directly learned Astral Fist and focused all three Demonized Generals'' skills on him, but Zhou Wen didn''t feel any qualitative changes in his strength. The might of the three Demonized General techniques was no different from the typical Demonized General.


    From the looks of it, what the Wu siblings said was a lie. Nothing impressive happens when all three Demonized General skills are gathered. How is it possible to catch the arrow shot out from Tiger Cage Pass? Although he had already obtained confirmation by using his Mutated Demonized General, he was still somewhat disappointed.


    However, with this in mind, Zhou Wen suddenly had a thought. Would there be any changes if I were to use three Demonic General techniques at the same time?


    But I only have two hands. I can use the Astral Slash Blade with one hand and the other with the Astral Suction Palm. What other free hand do I have to use Astral Fist? Zhou Wen carefully sensed the information regarding Astral Fist, only to have his expression turn odd.


    Although the Astral Fist was called a fist, it was a Primordial Energy Skill that condensed all of one''s strength. When using the Astral Fist, one''s body would produce an effect similar to a Dominance Body. It wasn''t really necessary to deliver an actual punch.


    In that case, I can try using all three skills at once. Zhou Wen tried once in the game and used the three demonized skills at the same time, but he encountered difficulties again.


    The three demonized skills were all unranked Primordial Energy Skills. When used, the amount of Primordial Energy allocated determined their might. Basically, Zhou Wen had to use all his Primordial Energy at once to produce the greatest strength of Astral Slash Blade.


    Now that the three skills were used together, it was impossible for him to use his Primordial Energy in such a manner. All he could do was distribute his Primordial Energy equally among the three Primordial Energy Skills.


    When Zhou Wen''s three Primordial Energy Skills were activated, his body experienced a strange change.


    The three Primordial Energy Skills resonated with one another, attracting and repelling each other. They formed a very subtle balance that caused the blood-colored avatar''s body to emit a strange sanguine glow. It was as though it was enveloped by a sanguine light.


    If one looked closely, they would discover that the sanguine light was rapidly revolving around the blood-colored avatar''s body. Zhou Wen had no idea how to use this force, so all he could do was attempt to strike forward.


    Immediately, a blood-colored wheel of light flew out of his body, striking the battlefield in front of him. It immediately minced an ancient war chariot into pieces.


    That''s right, it wasn''t cleaving, but mincing. It was as though the chariot had been stuffed into a meat grinder and had instantly been minced into pieces.


    What terrifying strength! Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be alarmed as he looked at his palm.

 252 Demonic Astral Wheel

    ''Acquired Comb Skill: Demonic Astral Wheel''


    A notification appeared on his cell phone screen. Then, Zhou Wen saw that in the blood-colored avatar''s skill column, there was indeed an additional Demonic Astral Wheel. And the three Demonized General techniques from before had vanished.


    Soon, Zhou Wen came to a realization that the Demonic Astral Wheel combined the effects of all three Demonized General skills. It combined offense and defense into one system, making it far more powerful than any of the original skills individually.


    Why am I able to acquire the Demonic Astral Wheel while the Mutated Demonized General who has all three skills is not able to obtain the Demonic Astral Wheel? Do I need him to use all three skills simultaneously to acquire it? Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Demonized General and attempted to command it to use all three skills simultaneously.


    However, the Mutated Demonized General''s control over Primordial Energy was clearly not as strong as Zhou Wen''s. It was very difficult to achieve that intricate balance of using the three Primordial Energy Skills at the same time.


    From the looks of it, it''s not an easy task to make the Demonized General acquire the Demonic Astral Wheel. Zhou Wen gave up temporarily and left for a future endeavor.


    Now, all Zhou Wen wanted to do was give it a try to see if the Demonic Astral Wheel could catch the arrow shot from Tiger Cage Pass.


    In fact, even if Zhou Wen didn''t use the Demonic Astral Wheel, he could still dodge the arrow by relying on Ghost Steps. He just hadn''t attempted to rush into Tiger Cage Pass.


    The blood-colored avatar came in front of Tiger Cage Pass and directly stepped over the threshold. Indeed, just like before, an arrow tore through the air and instantly traversed the battlefield, shooting right at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen didn''t make the blood-colored avatar retreat. Instead, he used the Demonic Astral Wheel. The spinning wheel like sanguine light slammed into the arrow''s tip.


    Zhou Wen immediately saw a strange scene. The revolving Demonic Astral Wheel spun together with the arrow. However, the direction of their spin was different.


    The Demonic Astral Wheel spun forward like a car wheel, while the arrow spun like an electric drill. The moment the two collided, the arrow changed direction and landed on the ground in front of the blood-colored avatar. Furthermore, the strength left in the Demonic Astral Wheel wasn''t significantly expended.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood why the Wu siblings said that the fusion of the three skills allowed one to counter the arrow. The arrow''s power mode was very similar to the fusion of the three skills. When both powers were simultaneously in effect, the arrow would automatically deviate from its trajectory; thus, not causing any damage to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred. He no longer produced Demonic Astral Wheel, but instead allowed it to continue spinning like a shield as he walked towards Tiger Cage Pass.


    Another arrow shot out from Tiger Cage Pass. However, the moment the arrow touched the Demonic Astral Wheel, it was automatically diverted to the ground, blasting a huge crater into the ground.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. With the Demonic Astral Wheel''s protection, he quickly charged into Tiger Cage Pass.


    Boom!


    Tens of thousands of arrows shot out from Tiger Cage Pass and rained down like a heavy storm.


    However, the arrows that landed on Zhou Wen''s body deviated from their trajectories due to the Demonic Astral Wheel. They shot into Zhou Wen''s side without even damaging his clothes.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling smug, he saw the Demonic Astral Wheel suddenly vanish. In the next second, the blood-colored avatar was pierced by thousands of arrows and shot to death on the spot. The phone''s screen turned black.


    I forgot that this Demonic Astral Wheel expends plenty of Primordial Energy. Even with Dao Body activated, there''s no way for me to sustain it for long. Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged. The Demonic Astral Wheel was already strong enough and what he lacked was only Primordial Energy. In the future, when he advanced to the Epic stage, his Primordial Energy would increase and the Demonic Astral Wheel would only grow stronger.


    However, storming past Tiger Cage Pass sure is a little troublesome. I wonder what kind of figures are inside. The legendary Tiger Cage Pass in Romance of the Three Kingdoms does have a very famous general. Could the person shooting arrows at the city gate be him? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He really wanted to see who the person inside Tiger Cage Pass was. Zhou Wen dripped his blood to respawn and entered the game once again. However, he first went to Binyang Cave to kill the tiger before heading to other spots to grind. Only after all of that was done, did he come to Tiger Cage Pass.


    He switched his Primordial Energy Art to Dao Body, the Primordial Energy Art that Zhou Wen used the most frequently. Quickly recovering his Primordial Energy was just so useful. Zhou Wen only found it regretful that it wasn''t fast enough; otherwise, he could use all sorts of Primordial Energy Skills indefinitely.


    If I were to advance to the Epic stage, I wonder if Dao Body would be able to produce a Life Soul. If Dao Body also had a Life Soul, I might really be able to recover Primordial Energy without end. Zhou Wen was only secretly fantasizing.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior transformed into Golden Silk Soft Armor while the Gold-Armored Beast transformed into armor that covered the former. Then, Zhou Wen sent the blood-colored avatar rushing towards Tiger Cage Pass.


    As the arrow flew like the wind, the blood-colored avatar directly activated the Demonic Astral Wheel and fended off the arrow. The Demonic Astral Wheel was only activated in momentary bursts, to conserve Primordial Energy to its fullest extent.


    Just like before, after the blood-colored avatar closed in, the rain of arrows once again launched a dense attack.


    However, these arrows were not as terrifying as the previous arrows. Most of the arrows'' strength was only at the ordinary Legendary stage. Only one of the arrows could instantly kill a Legendary.


    However, with so many Legendary arrows, it was impossible for ordinary Legendary creatures to withstand them. Zhou Wen didn''t wish to use his body to experiment. At the instant the arrows rained down, the blood-colored avatar''s figure vanished. When it appeared again, it had already left the volley of arrows behind as it continued heading for Tiger Cage Pass.


    As he approached the city walls of Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen could roughly see that there were many guards on it.


    Unlike the bedraggled soldiers before reaching the threshold of Tiger Cage Pass, these soldiers were all dressed in bright armor and looked majestic. They looked extraordinary at a glance.


    On the steps of the city gate was a powerful and domineering general dressed in black armor. There was wine on the table in front of him, and beside him was a halberd. He was also holding a longbow in his hands, and the person who shot the arrows was undoubtedly him.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had already rushed to the gates of Tiger Cage Pass and was about to leap up to the city gates, the black-armored general threw the wine glass in his hand and suddenly rose up. He grabbed the nearby halberd and thrust it at the blood-colored avatar that came whooshing through the sky.


    The black-armored general''s aura seemed to transform into a black ferocious beast''s shadow. The shadow was like a tiger or lion, but it had three heads, like a three-headed hell hound.


    In the next second, terrifying power erupted from the halberd. It shattered the Demonic Astral Wheel and two layers of armor on the blood-colored avatar and killed it on the spot as it exploded into a bloody mist.


    Epic stage! Zhou Wen wasn''t surprised. He didn''t choose to dodge with Ghost Steps, but instead forcefully received the strike. He wanted to know how powerful the black-armored general was, and as expected, it was a top-ranked Epic creature who wasn''t any weaker than the Golden Flying Ant. He might even be stronger.

 253 Introspection Silence

    "Overseer, the people you invited have arrived. Would you like them to immediately head to Zhuolu County?" An Sheng came to An Tianzuo''s office and asked.


    "Let them rest at the villa first. After I''m done with my work, I''ll head to Zhuolu with them," said An Tianzuo.


    "Overseer, are you really heading to Zhuolu personally?" An Sheng asked.


    "My mom is there. If I don''t go, how can I feel at ease?" An Tianzuo said.


    "Overseer, please consider it carefully. Even if you were to go, Madam won''t change her mind because of your request. When that happens, it will be hard to deal with the situation on both ends. Neither will Madam be invited back, nor will Chess Mountain have you around. There will be no way to resolve problems that happen. When the time comes, the An family''s business and the Luoyang City that you swore to protect will be destroyed. If that happens, Miss Luo won''t be happy if she learns of it," An Sheng said.


    Upon hearing the words "Miss Luo," An Tianzuo''s eyes revealed a strange look. However, he said coldly, "Don''t mention it to Little Luo. It won''t work this time. Filial piety is most important of all the virtues. My mom is in such a dangerous place with her life possibly at risk at any moment; how can I sit at home?"


    "Then let me ask you. Will Madam return if you go?" An Sheng asked.


    "No, but I can accompany her to the ancient battlefield," said An Tianzuo.


    "You can indeed do that, but what about Luoyang? It can''t run without someone watching it for even a single day. This place needs you. Besides, even if you accompany Madam to the ancient battlefield, won''t she still be in danger? You can''t guarantee that she will be safe and sound," An Sheng said.


    "If I don''t go, she will be in even greater danger." An Tianzuo was adamant.


    "The safest way is to persuade Madam back. Actually, there''s a way to get her back," An Sheng said with narrowed eyes.


    "And what do you plan on doing? How are you going to persuade her?" An Tianzuo curled his lips. He knew Ouyang Lan''s character very well. Since she had decided to go, no one could persuade her to return.


    "I''m definitely not capable of doing so, but there''s someone who can," An Sheng said.


    "Who? Uncle Feng? I''m afraid he can''t do it either. If he could, my mother wouldn''t have gone to Zhuolu." An Tianzuo shook his head slightly. Ouyang Lan wouldn''t give up on her thoughts and principles for Zhou Lingfeng.


    The reason she chose Zhou Lingfeng was partly because he was a man who knew how to respect her.


    "Uncle Feng naturally can''t, but there''s someone who can," An Sheng said confidently.


    "Who else?" An Tianzuo frowned slightly, but he couldn''t figure out who An Sheng was referring to.


    "Overseer, how could you forget that there''s still Zhou Wen? Madam wanted Zhou Wen to take the risk in the Holy Land in An Jing''s stead. Although Zhou Wen returned safely and even benefited from it, he has offended the six families because of this. With Madam''s personality, she definitely feels that she owes him. With Zhou Wen''s relationship with the former principal, if Zhou Wen were willing to persuade her, Madam might have a change of heart. No offense, but letting Zhou Wen go will be more effective than both you and Miss Jing," An Sheng said.


    "No way. There''s no need for an outsider like him to interfere with the An family''s matters. Besides, he''s only a Legendary student. Going to a place like Zhuolu would only add trouble to the mix. Who knows what trouble he will cause." An Tianzuo immediately objected.


    "I''m afraid that to Old Mr. Ouyang, you are an outsider. He treats Zhou Wen better than he treats you. This time, Zhou Wen has taken the initiative to request to go to Zhuolu, so we can get him to persuade Madam. I think it''s rather suitable. It''s more useful than you going," said An Sheng.


    An Tianzuo frowned and thought for a moment before saying, "Watch him well. Don''t let him cause any trouble. Also, if he wants to go, it has nothing to do with our An family. He can''t blame others even if he dies there."


    "Overseer, don''t worry. I will watch over him and not let him cause any trouble," said An Sheng hurriedly.


    Zhou Wen received An Sheng''s notification that he would be setting off for Zhuolu tomorrow. Therefore, he had no choice but to head to Wang Mingyuan''s place at night to bid farewell.


    "You are going to Zhuolu?" Wang Mingyuan frowned slightly when he heard Zhou Wen say that.


    "Yes, the former principal treated me like family. If I don''t go, I will never be able to feel at peace," Zhou Wen said.


    "Zhuolu is an inauspicious land. It''s fine if you don''t enter, but if you enter, it will be very difficult for you to escape unscathed," said Wang Mingyuan after some thought.


    "I know my strength is limited, so I''ll only wait outside. I won''t enter the dimensional zone," Zhou Wen said.


    When Wang Mingyuan heard that, he only smiled and patted Zhou Wen on the head. "Although you haven''t been with me for long, I know your personality quite well. If you don''t wish to do something, why would you travel so far?"


    Zhou Wen opened his mouth to explain, but Wang Mingyuan waved his hand, gesturing for him to not say any more.


    "Wait a moment," Wang Mingyuan said. He walked to his desk, took a piece of paper and pen, and wrote a few words. Then, he folded the paper into a small square and placed it into a metal box the size of a matchbox.


    "Take this. If you really find yourself trapped in that inauspicious land, open the box and read the words on it. It might be beneficial to your situation." As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he stuffed the tiny metal box into Zhou Wen''s hand.


    "Thank you, Teacher." Although Zhou Wen felt that it was useless, he respectfully received it with both hands and bowed in thanks.


    "How many times have I told you that there''s no need for all these proprietaries with me? Look, when did Ziya ever say ''thanks'' when he took something from me?" Wang Mingyuan smiled.


    "I''m different from him, but I respect you the same way." Zhou Wen shook his head and said. He really couldn''t be like Zhong Ziya.


    However, Zhou Wen had an indescribable sense of familiarity towards Wang Mingyuan. It was as though his fate with him was like the former principal. With his cold personality, he couldn''t help but get close to him.


    Wang Mingyuan thought nothing of it. He took a book from his desk and handed it to Zhou Wen. "You should have plenty of free time on your way there. You can''t forget your homework. Take this book and tell me your understanding and thoughts when you''re back."


    Zhou Wen took the book and agreed. Wang Mingyuan didn''t keep him any longer and told him to return to do some packing. After Zhou Wen exchanged a few more words with the reading Jiang Yan, he saw that Zhong Ziya and Hui Haifeng weren''t around. Since it was late, they probably wouldn''t be coming, so he bade everyone farewell and left.


    After informing Li Xuan and company, he asked Wang Lu to take care of the antelope. Zhou Wen went to the supermarket again and bought large quantities of food and water, placing them in the chaos space to prepare for emergencies.


    The tiny metal box that Wang Mingyuan had given him had also been placed into the chaos space. He had no intention of entering the dimensional zone, so it definitely had no use.


    He picked up the book that Wang Mingyuan had given him and flipped through it. He realized that it wasn''t about palm techniques, but was a book named "Introspection Silence." It was filled with Wang Mingyuan''s experience and insights. However, it wasn''t about his experience in experimenting, but his experience in cultivating the various realms.


    Although the book didn''t have any cultivation methods or techniques, Zhou Wen read with relish as though he had obtained a treasure.

 254 Bells

    An Sheng came to pick Zhou Wen up and set off with more than ten people. However, other than Zhou Wen, they were basically experts at the Epic stage.


    Although most of them were older than An Sheng, they were still respectful towards him. None of them dared to put on any airs with him.


    However, most of those people didn''t look like soldiers. There were men and women, old and young. They looked very strange, a mystery where they had come from.


    They weren''t interested in Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen wasn''t interested in them either. Therefore, he was happy to be at peace and game in the vehicle.


    With the black-armored general guarding Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to make any progress. However, he recalled what the Wu siblings had said. There was apparently a secret passage that allowed one to enter Tiger Cage City. However, despite repeatedly searching in-game, he failed to find the secret passage.


    Could it be that there''s no secret passage in the game? Or could there be some mechanism to the secret passage? Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to guess.


    "Lad, is the game fun?" asked a man sitting opposite Zhou Wen. He had graying hair, but he looked like a middle-aged man.


    They were on a military-sized truck. It had very powerful cross-terrain capabilities, but it was a little shaky. It was not too crowded even with more than ten people sitting in it.


    "It''s fun," Zhou Wen answered casually.


    "It''s very rare to see young people enjoy gaming like you these days. Back when I was your age, everyone played games and there were all sorts of gaming competitions. After the dimensional storms, not many people play anymore. How nostalgic," the man said.


    "You experienced the dimensional storms?" Zhou Wen looked at the man in surprise. He didn''t look old.


    Before the man could say anything, a middle-aged man beside him pursed his lips and said, "You don''t even know the name Lord Alcohol? Young man, you still have a lot to learn. Take your time to learn."


    However, Lord Alcohol laughed and said, "I was originally the ninth child in the family and people used to call me Old Nine. However, with age, I began to enjoy alcohol. Gradually, I became Lord Alcohol. It''s just a nickname. How should I address you, young man?"


    "My name is Zhou Wen," Zhou Wen answered. Clearly, these people didn''t know of his background and only knew that he was brought here by An Sheng.


    "Zhou Wen." Lord Alcohol repeated it twice as though he was recalling information related to the name. Unfortunately, he didn''t find anything. Hence, he added, "Are you going to the ancient battlefield in Zhuolu?"


    "I''m still a student. How can I have the guts to go to such a place?" Zhou Wen said.


    "Oh, then why are you going to Zhuolu?" pressed the middle-aged man.


    "To study and broaden my horizons," Zhou Wen answered. He wasn''t familiar with these people, so he was perfunctory with his answers.


    "Reading ten thousand books isn''t as good as walking ten thousand miles; even more so in this era. It''s not bad for young people to come out and broaden their horizons," said Lord Alcohol with a smile.


    "What''s terrible if he dies before he learns anything," a woman in her thirties suddenly said.


    "That''s right. A place like Zhuolu isn''t a place you can visit at a whim. Even the League''s scouts get trapped inside. It''s practically a land of death. Lord Alcohol, how confident are you in our trip?" The middle-aged man wasn''t interested in Zhou Wen. After saying a few words, he directed his words at Lord Alcohol.


    "It''s hard to say. The situation in the ancient battlefield is unclear. Just based on the information we have now, it''s hard to tell. I can only assess the place after I get there," said Lord Alcohol calmly.


    As they were talking, the truck suddenly came to a halt.


    "What happened?" Lord Alcohol looked at the driver''s seat and asked.


    "There''s something blocking the way." An Sheng, who was sitting in the front passenger seat, had already opened the door and jumped out.


    The group of people came out from the back of the truck and saw that the road ahead was, indeed, blocked by something. However, it wasn''t anything like a rock. Instead, vines had grown on the road, circling the trees on both sides of the road and blockading the road.


    Everyone could tell that the vines were somewhat strange¡ªpurple vines, dark green leaves, and a few fruits on them.


    However, the purple fruits were a little strange as they were not circular. Instead, they looked like miniature, copper bells. When the wind blew, the purple copper bells shook on the vines and produced metallic tinkling.


    But everyone could clearly see that the bell was clearly grown on the vines. How could it be metal?


    "Adjutant An, let me lead the way," said a muscular middle-aged man as he walked out.


    "Be careful." An Sheng nodded slightly.


    The middle-aged man responded and summoned a dimensional creature that looked like an elephant. He immediately made the elephant charge towards the vines. Flames began to burn from the elephant''s body, making it appear like a hurtling meteor that targeted the vines.


    With the Flaming Elephant''s mass and speed, it should have been easy to smash through the vines. What''s more, there were terrifying flames on its body.


    But when the Flaming Elephant slammed into the vines, it seemed to fall into a quagmire. It was trapped by the vines and was unable to make any progress.


    It released all its strength, hoping to use its flames to burn through the vines that had entangled its body. The flames spread over the vines, and soon, the entire vine began to burn.


    However, the vine wasn''t damaged. Instead, the Flaming Elephant''s body rapidly dried up, as if it had been sucked dry by a vampire.


    Bam!


    In just a short time, the Flaming Elephant''s body was reduced to ash.


    Everyone wore a heavy expression as the stout man was perturbed. Although the Flaming Elephant was only a Legendary Companion Beast which he used to scout, for it to be so easily killed by the vines meant that they were probably not so simple.


    The flames on the vines gradually extinguished. The muscular man was just about to make another move when he saw the bells suddenly shake violently.


    In the next second, a few purple copper bells spewed out large amounts of flames as they swept towards the group.


    The cold woman summoned a white fox. The fox opened its mouth and spat out a cold white mist that shot towards the flames. Immediately, the flames were extinguished as the white mist continued floating towards the vines.


    Soon, the cold mist enveloped the vines, causing frost to appear on them as if they had been frozen.


    "Snow Fox lives up to its name," praised the muscular man.


    But just as he said that the frost on the vines rapidly melted. The purple copper bells shook a few times, and they also spat out a large amount of white mist that swept towards the crowd.

 255 Three Flying Sabers

    Everyone''s faces changed.


    It was fine if the Legendary Flaming Elephant was sucked dry by the vines, but the Snow Fox was an Epic creature. The frost mist it spewed out could freeze an Epic creature.


    Ignoring the fact that the vines weren''t affected, it could even spew out frost snow mist. Furthermore, the frost snow mist it spewed out was even greater in quantity than the amount Snow Fox had spat out. This was quite frightening.


    The woman frowned slightly, causing the Snow Fox to spit out another mouthful of frost. It mixed with the white mist that spewed out of the bells before both sides dispersed simultaneously. Neither side had the upper hand.


    The woman wanted to continue but heard Lord Alcohol say, "Director Lu, don''t be in a hurry to make a move. Let me take a look first."


    Lu Ning nodded slightly. She unsummoned the Snow Fox and retreated to the side.


    The muscular man looked at him and asked, "Lord Alcohol, do you know what it is?"


    Everyone looked at Lord Alcohol. They, too, wanted to know what the vines were.


    Lord Alcohol sized up the vines and said, "I''ve seen a similar vine in Changbai Mountain before. It wasn''t growing bells, but three flying sabers. Back then, the people I went with wanted to cut the vines, but they were killed by the saber flashes. Many ideas were proposed until the flying sabers were plucked from the vines."


    At this point, Lord Alcohol paused as he swept his gaze across everyone''s faces before continuing, "To everyone''s surprise, the flying sabers were a fascinating Companion Beast. Whoever plucked the flying sabers would be automatically recognized as their masters and belong to them. Back then, three people were delighted to obtain the flying sabers. The flying sabers were extremely powerful, and they were considered top-notch at the Epic stage. And it was true they were extraordinary. From what I''m seeing, these vines are somewhat similar to the one at Changbai Mountain. But it''s not completely the same. Perhaps they share some similarities."


    When everyone heard what Lord Alcohol said, their desire for the bell heated up¡ªit was evident from their eyes.


    They had already seen the might of the bell. If they could obtain one as their Companion Beast, it would undoubtedly be a powerful aid.


    "Lord Alcohol, how did you pluck the flying sabers back then?" the muscular man, Zhao Xin, hurriedly asked.


    Lord Alcohol recalled and said, "Back then, that vine was the same as this one. It was invulnerable and had the saber flashes of the flying sabers protecting it. It was really tricky."


    Everyone looked at Lord Alcohol, hoping that he could quickly tell them the solution, so that they could try it on the bells.


    However, Lord Alcohol shook his head and said, "I don''t know how they managed to pluck the flying sabers in the end."


    "Lord Alcohol, are you kidding us? Weren''t you at the scene? How could you not know?" Zhao Xin said in disbelief.


    Lord Alcohol gave a bitter smile and said, "I was indeed present at that time and saw how they plucked the flying sabers. However, despite watching with my own eyes, I still can''t fathom how they did it."


    "What? Who were the people who plucked the flying sabers?" Lu Ning was curious and couldn''t help but ask.


    Zhou Wen was also very curious. The places he had visited were limited and his knowledge was limited. To be able to hear such a secret would probably aid him in the future.


    Lord Alcohol said, "You must all have heard the names of the three people who plucked the flying sabers. Even if you haven''t met them, you definitely know them. One of them is called Jing Daoxian."


    "That devil, Jing Daoxian?" Everyone trembled when they heard that.


    Jing Daoxian''s name had made the League tremble for decades. Few people who knew of his deeds were unafraid of him.


    Lord Alcohol continued, "I really have no idea how Jing Daoxian managed to pluck the flying sabers. When the others approached the vines, they were slain by the saber flash. However, Jing Daoxian actually walked in front of the vines and reached out to pluck one of the flying sabers. The flying sabers didn''t react at all. I opened my eyes wide and watched him pluck them, but to this day, I have no idea how he managed to do it."


    Although what Lord Alcohol said sounded like a fantasy, no one found it amiss. It was as though no matter how bizarre it was, it was not surprising when it involved Jing Daoxian.


    "Lord Alcohol, who were the other two people who plucked the flying sabers?" An Sheng seemed interested as he looked at Lord Alcohol and asked.


    "The other two people were Zhang Daotian and Wan Yiqi." When Lord Alcohol said these two names, everyone except Zhou Wen gaped.


    "Impossible¡­ How could the strongest of the six heroes, Zhang Daotian, and his wife, Wan Yiqi, be together with that devil, Jing Daoxian? Aren''t they arch-enemies? Why would they go to Changbai Mountain together and pluck the flying sabers together?" Zhao Xin immediately voiced the puzzlement in his heart. This was also a question on everyone else''s minds.


    Only then did Zhou Wen recall that the strongest of the six heroes was Zhang Daotian. In closed circles, people even gave him the title of Hero King. However, the Zhang family didn''t send anyone to participate in the battle at the Holy Land. It wasn''t because they had declined, but because the Zhang family didn''t believe in vying for such qualifications.


    The discussion forum that Zhou Wen had posted his strategy was under the Zhang family. The other five families found it difficult to obtain information about the Zhang family. Even most of the League''s currency system was in the hands of the Zhang family. Although the Zhang family didn''t have military power, its influence on the Senate and the League could be said to be the strongest among the six families.


    Zhou Wen had also heard some of Zhang Daotian''s stories. Basically, it was known to all in the League.


    Back then, Jing Daoxian had stormed into the League government office and slaughtered countless League experts. He was almost unstoppable. In the end, Zhang Daoxian had defeated him. Only then did Jing Daoxian escape with injuries, failing to wipe out the upper echelons.


    "Back then, they were still young. Jing Daoxian wasn''t yet the legendary devil. Zhang Daotian wasn''t a Hero King and Wan Yiqi hadn''t married Zhang Daotian either," said Lord Alcohol with a smile.


    "I see. Then how did Zhang Daotian and Wan Yiqi pluck the flying sabers?" Lu Ning asked curiously.


    Lord Alcohol chuckled. "Zhang Daotian and Jing Daoxian both walked over and plucked the flying sabers. They didn''t suffer any attacks from the flying sabers. As for Wan Yiqi, you might not believe her method of plucking the flying saber."


    "Don''t tell me she bit it off with her mouth?" Zhao Xin joked.


    Lord Alcohol glanced at Zhao Xin and said indifferently, "If you were to let Jing Daoxian hear that, you would probably be dead."


    Zhao Xin''s heart chilled as he forced a smile. "Even if there''s any anger, it should be from Zhang Daotian. It has nothing to do with Jing Daoxian, right?"


    Lord Alcohol ignored Zhao Xin and continued, "Wan Yiqi had the title of a Beauty across the Seven Continents. She was definitely the most beautiful back then. Even the flying sabers were mesmerized by her. Before she even reached the flying saber, it automatically dropped and fell into her hands."


    Everyone found it unbelievable when they heard that. They felt that Lord Alcohol was bullsh*tting. No matter how beautiful a woman was, it was impossible for her to affect dimensional creatures. Furthermore, it was a flying saber, so how could it understand the aesthetic preferences of humans?

 256 Plucking Bells

    Although Lord Alcohol''s story sounded interesting, they still had no clue how to pluck the purple copper bells from the vines.


    To follow what Lord Alcohol had said and walk over directly to pluck it? Not only did Zhou Wen find it unreliable, but Zhao Xin, Lu Ning, and company also found it unreliable. The stories that Lord Alcohol told could be treated as a fairytale, but it was impossible for them to act on it. No one would use their lives to verify the authenticity of the story.


    Seeing that Lord Alcohol couldn''t come up with any ideas, Zhao Xin summoned a long saber and slashed out a saber beam, hoping to slice through the vines.


    However, when the saber beam struck the vines, the vines remained intact as the saber beam shattered.


    The few bells shook as they sucked in the broken saber flashes. Soon, they spat them out again. However, when they spat out again, the saber beams poured out like a torrential storm. Everyone quickly used their own abilities to block the saber beams that filled the sky.


    An Sheng stood in front of Zhou Wen as he brandished his dagger a few times, shattering the incoming saber beams.


    Although no one was injured, everyone''s hearts were shrouded in gloom. The vines and bells were so bizarre that not only could they devour all kinds of powers, the strength of the objects they spat out was even stronger than before. It was truly terrifying.


    Instantly, no one dared to attack the vines again. They still had stronger powers up their sleeves, but if the power was absorbed by the vines and spewed back, they were not confident that they could withstand it.


    Zhou Wen sized up the vines from behind as he took a picture of it with his cell phone. Although a living dimensional creature couldn''t be acquired through the phone, he wanted to see if he could see its information.


    The phone''s screen locked onto the vines. There was actually some information on the vines.


    Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell Companion Egg: Epic


    Life Providence: Mountain River Absorption


    Life Soul: Purple Light Bell


    Strength: 38


    Speed: 0


    Constitution: 39


    Primordial Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Yin and Yang Reversal


    Companion Form: None


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he saw it. This was clearly the stats of one of the Purple Air Bells. He looked at the other bells and realized that other than the four fundamentals, the rest were the same. There was basically no difference between the four bells.


    It''s really a Companion Egg. However, will plucking them really be considered as incubating them? Zhou Wen wasn''t certain. He took out his cell phone to take a picture of the purple vines, but he couldn''t see its stats.


    The mysterious phone seemed to only be able to snap Companion Eggs and not dimensional creatures, so there was nothing Zhou Wen could do about it.


    After studying the four bells'' Life Providence, Life Soul, and talent skill, Zhou Wen gained something unexpected.


    Mountain River Absorption allowed the Purple Air Bells to be unafraid of Primordial Energy Skills. No matter how powerful a Primordial Energy Skill was, it would be useless if it landed on it. Instead, it would be absorbed.


    As for Yin-Yang Reversal, it could release whatever Primordial Energy it absorbed multifold. Apart from not being able to move, the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell was indeed an extremely powerful Companion Beast.


    However, plant-type Companion Beasts were somewhat odd. Even without hatching them, they could still release their powers. Furthermore, as long as they were plucked, one didn''t need to use their Primordial Energy to especially hatch them even if they had already been incubated.


    However, the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell also had its weakness. It was not afraid of Primordial Energy Skills, but it was afraid of physical attacks. It was completely opposite from the characteristics of Ghost Bride.


    Furthermore, it didn''t have any destructive power. It needed to absorb energy from the outside world to produce a backlash. It was a very passive Companion Beast.


    In that case, as long as I walk over and don''t use any Primordial Energy Skills to attack it, I should be able to pluck it? Zhou Wen felt that it was feasible, but his only concern was the Purple Vine.


    The bells themselves didn''t have any offensive properties, but it wasn''t necessarily the case for the purple vine. It had easily squeezed the Flaming Elephant to death.


    Lord Alcohol and the others were still discussing. It wasn''t that they were lacking in intelligence, but that they had never seen the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell before. They didn''t know what abilities this thing had. It was akin to an ancient person who had just come into contact with a smartphone. No one taught them nor was there any manual, so it was impossible for him to immediately know how to use it.


    However, Zhou Wen was different. He had the Purple Air Bell''s manual and knew how to restrain it.


    It was a rare opportunity. These four Purple Air Bells would be of great use in the future, but Zhou Wen didn''t want to risk it himself. Hence, after some thought, he said to An Sheng, "Ah Sheng, I''ve thought of a way to pluck the bells. When you pluck all four of them, how about giving me two?"


    Zhou Wen spoke very softly, but Lord Alcohol and the others were Epic experts. They had sharp senses and heard Zhou Wen''s words.


    Zhao Xin looked at Zhou Wen and said, "This isn''t a game. Don''t harm Adjutant An with your speculations."


    Lord Alcohol added, "Zhou Wen, tell us what method you have and let us study it. If it''s really valuable, we naturally won''t hold back what you deserve after plucking the bells."


    Some people felt that Zhou Wen was young and naive, while others wished that Zhou Wen could share his thoughts.


    "Young Master Wen, tell me what needs to be done. I''ll do as you say and pluck the bells. We''ll split them two-two." An Sheng seemed to believe in Zhou Wen without any hint of doubt.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should reveal his thoughts in front of Lord Alcohol and company.


    "Young Master Wen, please speak your mind. Even if someone else uses your method, they will still have to give you the bell after plucking it. No one can take that bell," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen nodded and handed his Bamboo Blade to An Sheng. "Just walk over and chop off the bells. However, you have to be careful. Don''t be entangled by the vines or use Primordial Energy Skills. Just slice off the bells with the blade."


    Zhou Wen had seen An Sheng''s capabilities and knew that his movement techniques were extremely strange. Even Ghost King''s movement technique wasn''t as strange as his. With his ability and reaction, it was difficult for an Epic creature to injure him.


    "I thought you had some good ideas. Aren''t you asking Adjutant An to send himself to his death?" Zhao Xin turned to look at An Sheng and said, "Adjutant An, don''t listen to the young man''s nonsense. Let''s quickly discuss something else and remove these vines."


    When An Sheng pushed the Bamboo Blade back, Zhou Wen imagined that he hadn''t believed him. Just as he was about to explain, An Sheng pulled out his dagger and walked towards the vines.


    "Adjutant An, are you really going?" Zhao Xin and the others were shocked.


    An Sheng said calmly, "If Young Master Wen says it will work, then it will definitely work."


    With that said, An Sheng had already approached the vines. Indeed, the purple vines moved, wanting to bind him. However, An Sheng was just too fast. He easily avoided the vines'' entanglement and came in front of the bells. With a swift slash, his dagger sliced at the roots of a bell.


    The previously imposing Purple Air Bells remained motionless. An Sheng''s dagger had directly cut off a bell.


    An Sheng reached out to catch the bell. The moment the bell touched his skin, it transformed into a purple gas and melted into a tattoo that resembled a morning glory flower.

 257 Blood Storm

    Without any hesitation, An Sheng dodged the purple vines'' attacks while cutting off another Purple Air Bell. However, An Sheng didn''t take it for himself this time. Instead, he used his dagger to lift the Purple Air Bell.


    The Purple Air Bell flew straight at Zhou Wen. He reached out to receive it, and the Purple Air Bell turned into a purple gas that seeped into his skin. Without needing to expend any energy to incubate it, it had already become a tattoo that resembled a morning glory flower. It left Zhou Wen overjoyed.


    It was difficult for Zhou Wen to incubate ordinary Epic stage Companion Eggs, but the Purple Air Bell was unique. There was no need for any incubation, allowing him to obtain an Epic Companion Beast.


    Soon, An Sheng picked another bell and Zhou Wen caught it once again. He obtained another Epic Companion Beast.


    The last bell was caught by An Sheng after he sliced it off. He also had two Purple Air Bells.


    With all four Purple Air Bells cut off, the purple vine suddenly seemed to have lost its soul as it froze.


    A gust of wind blew and the purple vines dissipated into dust. The perfectly fine purple vine was gone.


    Zhao Xin and company looked at Zhou Wen oddly. An Sheng got everyone to return to the vehicle and they continued on their journey.


    "Pal, how did you know that those bells fear physical attacks?" Lord Alcohol asked once they were on board.


    The others also looked at Zhou Wen. To be able to tell the crux of the problem in such a short period of time wasn''t an easy task.


    "I only gained inspiration from listening to your story," Zhou Wen said.


    "My story?" Lord Alcohol was a little stunned.


    Zhou Wen continued, "That''s right, your story. Didn''t you say that those flying sabers didn''t harm the three of them? I was wondering why they didn''t harm Jing Daoxian and company. Although I couldn''t think of the reason, I thought of the problems with these bells. They only counterattacked when we attacked, and they didn''t have the consciousness to take the initiative to attack. Furthermore, their counterattacks were using our powers. I then wondered if it was the same reason as those flying sabers not causing any harm. Hence, I thought about it and surmised that since they do not have any offensive abilities, I could get Adjutant An to give it a try. I never expected him to succeed."


    "As expected of a young man. They are so quick to think. It''s no wonder Adjutant An thinks highly of you. I''m really getting old. Even if I made the connection, I wouldn''t have dared to try it," praised Lord Alcohol.


    "Even a broken clock is right twice a day. He made Adjutant An take a risk on a mere guess. He was right this time, but if he was wrong, wouldn''t he have harmed Adjutant An?" Zhao Xin said with a twitch of his lips. Clearly, he was against Zhou Wen''s actions.


    Zhou Wen didn''t refute Zhao Xian and Lord Alcohol because they weren''t wrong. If it was only a guess, Zhou Wen would have been extremely irresponsible to have An Sheng take such a risk.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t making a guess. He had crucial information and knew that Ansheng would be fine. That was why he had sent him over. However, there was no need for Zhou Wen to explain to others.


    On the way, they encountered many problems. However, these people were experts at the Epic stage. They each had their own unique traits, so they resolved the problems without needing Zhou Wen to do anything.


    Zhou Wen kept playing games. After respawning the tiger a few times, he still failed to have a Companion Egg drop.


    When can I be like Wang Lu and run around with the baby tiger to have Companion Eggs rain? Zhou Wen yearned for a Lucky Baby Tiger, but he just couldn''t get one to drop.


    Originally, driving from Luoyang to Zhuolu didn''t take more than a day. However, there were many dimensional zones everywhere in this day and age. They were unable to proceed in a straight line, and highways didn''t allow easy passage. They also encountered problems along the way, so it took them until the evening of the fourth day before they finally arrived at Zhuolu County.


    There weren''t many ordinary people in Zhuolu County anymore. Most of the humans had already fled to larger cities, leaving only a small number of independent hunters and some military organizations behind.


    An Sheng drove straight into a yard that looked like some unit. There were many soldiers inside.


    "Adjutant An." An officer immediately came forward to greet An Sheng.


    "How''s the situation over here? Where''s Madam?" Ansheng asked.


    "Madam has already entered the ancient battlefield with the rest." The officer smiled bitterly.


    "What happened? Didn''t I tell you to calm Madam down first and let her wait two days before entering?" An Sheng''s expression changed immediately.


    Although he was not a biological son of the An family, An Tianzuo and Ouyang Lan treated him like family. An Sheng had long treated them like family too.


    "We did what you instructed. Madam had already agreed to it, but two days ago, an anomaly happened in the ancient battlefield. Madam couldn''t wait any longer, so she led people inside," the officer said.


    "What anomaly?" An Sheng''s expression turned even nastier. If there was an anomaly, it meant that it was even more dangerous.


    "It began raining on the ancient battlefield. It was very heavy rain and the color of the rain was red. Anyone who came into contact with that blood-like rain would act up like a rabid dog. They would bite any living thing they saw. When the blood started to rain, a few soldiers didn''t notice it and were drenched by the blood rain. In the end, when we saw those soldiers, they had already ripped each other up into an unrecognizable mess." The officer couldn''t help but shiver at the mere recall.


    "Young Master Wen, stay at the base and wait for me. I''ll go to the battlefield to take a look." As An Sheng spoke, he prepared to lead his men to the ancient battlefield.


    "Ah Sheng, take me along. I''ll just stay outside the battlefield to watch. I won''t cause you any trouble," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright. However, you have to promise me that you will definitely not enter." An Sheng knew that Zhou Wen''s personality was too similar to the An family''s members. Even if he didn''t allow Zhou Wen to go, he would definitely do so by himself. Therefore, he might as well take him along and watch over him.


    "I won''t enter as said. Don''t worry. I know that my powers are limited, so I won''t cause you any trouble." Zhou Wen was telling the truth. He had no intention of entering since it wasn''t a place he could step into.


    An Sheng got someone to bring over the latest information. He then gave Lord Alcohol and the rest a copy each and let them take a look while they were on the way.


    Zhou Wen also received a copy. After getting into the vehicle, he carefully read through it.


    The situation at the battlefield was indeed terrible. When the expedition team first arrived, the dimensional zones there weren''t that strange, without much danger inside. Having only found some ancient ruins, they invited many experts to conduct some studies. Among them was an authority in the field of history, Ouyang Ting¡ªthe former principal.


    However, with the passage of time, the ancient battlefield grew stranger and stranger. More than a month ago, the old principal, a group of experts, and the people protecting them were trapped in there and were nowhere to be found. Only one soldier in charge of watching over the equipment escaped.

 258 Ancient Battlefield

    The League had already sent a few groups of people in to search for their whereabouts. However, the changes in the ancient battlefield were too intense. Many people died there, but no one was found. In the end, the League basically gave up.


    When Ouyang Lan came, the League''s army was only guarding the ancient battlefield and was no longer sending anyone in.


    Ouyang Lan had originally wanted to wait for An Sheng to come, but after the sudden blood storm in the ancient battlefield, Ouyang Lan was afraid that her father wouldn''t be able to hold on any longer. Without having the luxury of time to wait, she decided to lead her men into the ancient battlefield.


    Based on the current information, as long as the blood rain didn''t hit the skin, there shouldn''t be too much of a problem. However, the strangeness of the ancient battlefield was far from that.


    The old principal and the others were stationed in some ancient ruins as their research targets. However, when the soldiers of the military rushed over, many of them ended up dying in the ruins. Even the cause of death remained unknown.


    If Ouyang Lan wanted to find her father, she would definitely head there first. An Sheng was afraid that Ouyang Lan would die there, a result that he had no way of telling An Tianzuo and An Jing when he returned.


    The vehicle quickly arrived at the entrance of the ancient battlefield. The scene in front of them made Lord Alcohol and the others wear even graver looks.


    A river surged down. On their side of the river there was blue sky, and opposite the river was a storm cloud blanketing the river with blood rain. The two banks of the river were like two completely different worlds.


    The river was as red as blood. It roared as it flowed downwards; its ultimate destination unknown.


    "There wasn''t such a river in the past, right?" An Sheng took out the map in the documents and said.


    "This was formed after the blood storm. The blood storm was especially violent previously, so it''s already considered a lot smaller now," the officer from before said.


    "Prepare to cross the river and enter the ancient battlefield." An Sheng instructed his men to distribute the rainproof equipment to Lord Alcohol and the others.


    As Lord Alcohol wore a custom raincoat, he looked at the boundless torrential rain and muttered to himself, "Legend has it that during ancient times when the Yellow Emperor fought Chiyou, Chiyou summoned the Count of the Wind and the Lord of the Rain to aid him in battle when he realized he was no match for Yellow Emperor. This caused a storm to sweep through the enemy, causing the Yellow Emperor to drop his armor and flee. This rain is blood-red and is an ominous omen."


    Zhou Wen also knew that this was an ancient battlefield. However, that was a time from eons ago. He had only heard some legends and didn''t know exactly what had happened.


    However, he had heard of the Lord of the Rain before. Some said that the Lord of the Rain was an orthodox god sealed by the Heavens and Earth, while others said that the Lord of the Rain was actually a manifestation of a crimson dragon. Anyway, there were many legends, and nothing to be treated seriously. It couldn''t be treated seriously.


    "Young Master Wen, I will bring Madam back. Before that, you cannot enter the ancient battlefield no matter what." Before An Sheng left with the rest, he had especially told Zhou Wen not to enter.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll wait for you to bring Sis Lan back." Zhou Wen was in a rush to find the tiny palm symbol. There were no city gates or stone monuments here, so he was afraid that he wouldn''t be able to find the tiny palm symbol.


    "Battalion Commander Lu, protect Young Master Wen well. No matter what happens, Young Master Wen has to live. Also, don''t let him cross the river," An Sheng said to the officer.


    "I guarantee that I will complete the mission." Lu Yun gave a military salute and loudly promised.


    Only then did An Sheng cross the blood river with the others. Soon, they disappeared into the blood rain. The group appeared so puny in under the wrath of heaven and earth.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to be in a daze. He turned around and walked along the river of blood. He needed to find the tiny palm symbol so that he could provide a little help.


    "Principal, Sis Lan, please don''t let anything happen to you." Zhou Wen quickly walked along the river.


    "Young Master Wen, where are you going?" Battalion Commander Lu Yunxian rushed forward to stop Zhou Wen.


    From his point of view, Zhou Wen shouldn''t have come to such a place. For a student to come here, other than causing trouble and wasting manpower, he really didn''t know what else he could do.


    "I want to tour the vicinity," Zhou Wen said.


    "No, I''m afraid not. Adjutant An told me to protect you. Nothing must happen to you. Please return to the encampment with me immediately," Lu Yunxian said.


    "Adjutant An told you to ensure my safety and not restrict my freedom. If you can''t do it, you can get someone else to do it," Zhou Wen said as he circled around Lu Yunxian and followed the blood river upstream.


    Lu Yunxian frowned slightly, but he still followed him with his guards. Although he disliked Zhou Wen very much, he had to abide by An Sheng''s orders no matter what.


    Zhou Wen walked in front while Lu Yunxian led his guards to a spot not far from him. Zhou Wen stopped walking to take photos with his cell phone, as though he was here on a tour.


    As such, not only did Lu Yunxian dislike Zhou Wen, even the guards couldn''t hold back their displeasure. If An Sheng hadn''t ordered them to protect a person like him, they wouldn''t have wanted to.


    "Things have already come to this stage and everyone is working hard. But what is he doing? He has the mood to come here to have fun and take pictures," a guard said unhappily.


    Another guard added, "If I had known this would happen, I''d rather have followed Adjutant An across the river to the ancient battlefield and try my best to save lives. I wouldn''t have to suffer this bullsh*t."


    "Cut it out." Lu Yunxian stopped them.


    Although he couldn''t stand Zhou Wen, he was a soldier after all. His profession required obeying orders.


    Zhou Wen naturally heard the discussions of the soldiers, but he couldn''t explain it.


    He walked along the river and walked for more than five kilometers, but he didn''t find any sign of the tiny palm print, nor did his phone respond.


    They had arrived in an area that was mountainous up ahead. According to the information provided, the mountainous region was also within the dimensional zone. Furthermore, there were the dark clouds of the blood rain blanketing it. Zhou Wen couldn''t find the palm symbol, so he could only head back downstream.


    Lu Yunxian and company originally believed that this scion was finally returning, but to their surprise, Zhou Wen continued walking downstream without any intention of returning to his origin.


    "Young Master Wen, it''s getting late. The sky is about to turn dark. We should go back. If you are interested, you can come back in the day tomorrow," said Lu Yunxian.


    "The sky isn''t dark yet. Let''s continue walking." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to wait another day. If he found the tiny palm symbol earlier, he could help the efforts. Perhaps this would lead to a greater chance of rescuing the former principal.


    Lu Yunxian couldn''t help but frown, but since Zhou Wen had already begun walking away, he had no choice but to follow him. However, his expression didn''t look too good as he remained silent with a cold expression.


    Zhou Wen knew that Lu Yunxian and the rest were unhappy, but he could only feign ignorance. He continued searching along the river and couldn''t help but pray inwardly. Please let there be the tiny palm symbol!


    However, with the passage of time, Zhou Wen''s heart grew heavier. The sun had already set, but he had still failed to find the tiny palm symbol.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering if there even was a tiny palm symbol here, his phone suddenly vibrated. Zhou Wen was immediately delighted as he hurriedly took it out and scanned his surroundings.


    There it is! When Zhou Wen saw the tiny palm symbol on an ancient monument, he nearly teared up with excitement.

 259 First Battle With An Ancient Creature

    Zhou Wen hurriedly scanned the tiny palm symbol. He finally relaxed when the phone showed that it was downloading.


    I hope I''m not too late. Zhou Wen looked at the blood rain that covered the opposite side of the river like a fog. He wondered how the former principal, Ouyang Lan, and An Sheng were doing.


    Just as Zhou Wen scanned the tiny palm symbol on the stone monument, a shadow suddenly appeared behind it¡ªa huge blood frog. It spat out a mouthful of bloody liquid at Zhou Wen.


    Lu Yunxian rushed to Zhou Wen''s side and grabbed his shoulder with one hand, throwing him to the back. At the same time, he raised a shield with his other hand to block the bloody liquid.


    The metal shield was corroded, leaving pockmarks. It had nearly melted through.


    Lu Yunxian held a saber in his other hand and slashed with a blade beam, splitting the blood frog into two.


    "Young Master Wen, can we return now?" Lu Yunxian turned to Zhou Wen and asked.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen stood up and patted the dust off his body.


    He then followed Lu Yunxian back to the garrison. The game had finished downloading. On the cell phone''s home screen, there was an icon of a Boundary Stone. On it was the word, Zhuolu.


    He clicked and entered the Zhuolu instance dungeon and soon, the blood-colored avatar appeared on the ancient battlefield that was covered in blood rain. However, before Zhou Wen could control it, he saw the blood-colored avatar charge out maniacally and fall into the river of blood. Then, the screen went black.


    Zhou Wen felt a little depressed. He had died the moment he spawned. This was clearly not a good sign.


    How do I defend against the blood rain? Zhou Wen lowered his head in thought. In reality, he could use custom raincoats. Not only were they waterproof, but they had pretty good defensive capabilities.


    However, there were no raincoats in-game. All Zhou Wen could do was attempt to wear the soft armor manifested by the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and the armor from the Gold-Armored Beast. However, neither of them could completely cover his body, so it was unknown if it would work.


    The results proved that it was useless. As long as his skin was stained with the bloody rain¡ªeven a drop of it¡ªhe would lose control of his blood-colored avatar as it ran like it had rabies, eventually dying tragically in the blood rain.


    Zhou Wen attempted to activate the Lotus Flower Buddha Body to see if he could withstand the corrosive effects of the blood rain. Only by doing so did he survive in the ancient battlefield.


    However, the Lotus Flower Buddha Body constantly expended his Primordial Energy. Zhou Wen had to switch his Primordial Energy Art to a Dao Body to sustain the continuous expenditure of the Lotus Flower Buddha Body.


    As he proceeded through the blood storm, his vision was seriously hampered. The visibility was reduced to less than three meters, but thankfully, Zhou Wen had the Truth Listener earring. It allowed him to possess senses similar to radar.


    Trudging through the muddy land, Zhou Wen proceeded towards the location indicated by the military map. The place he was heading to was the ruins that the former principal and the others had researched. It was also where they had vanished. It was definitely the place where Ouyang Lan and An Sheng were headed for.


    After a short walk, Zhou Wen heard a figure walking towards him.


    It was a creature that looked like a human. Its hair reached to the ground and covered its face. Its limbs were long and slender, and its entire body was drenched in blood. Its movements were very strange, like a zombie.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare lower his guard. He summoned the Saber Shield Knight and Demonized General and got them to charge forward first. No matter what it was, it was a creature inside the ancient battlefield. It was definitely not to be underestimated.


    However, the Saber Shield Knight and Demonized General were unable to withstand the blood rain''s poison. They lost control of themselves and began killing each other.


    Does the blood rain have the same effect on a Companion Beast? Zhou Wen''s mood worsened. Without being able to use a Companion Beast and having to constantly activate Lotus Flower Buddha Body to expend his Primordial Energy, this greatly reduced his combat strength.


    Crack!


    The strange creature suddenly moved at an incredible speed in the rain. Instantly, it appeared in front of the crazy Demonized General. It grabbed his head with both hands and twisted it off. Then, it casually threw the head to the ground and ripped off the Saber Shield Knight''s head.


    This is indeed not a place for people. Zhou Wen could tell from his opponent''s speed that it was definitely an existence at the Epic stage.


    He had encountered an Epic creature the moment he entered the ancient battlefield. It was even more terrifying than Zhou Wen imagined.


    Initially, he thought that even if it was the battlefield found in myths, there should be some lesser soldiers and generals. It was impossible for them to all be high-level creatures. But now, it seemed as if his wishes had been too ideal.


    Zhou Wen decided to summon all his Companion Beasts to see if they could withstand the blood rain, so as to gauge how much combat strength he had left.


    Ghost Bride was unafraid of the blood rain as she floated beside Zhou Wen.


    The Mutated Overlord Snake in the Overlord Spear form wasn''t affected either. It could be used in the blood rain.


    The Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and the Golden-Armored Beasts were unaffected in their companion form. However, the Silver-Winged Sky Spider was unable to withstand the power of the blood rain, as it went into a frenzy.


    The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant was fine and even Doctor Darkness wasn''t affected. Truth Listener and the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell could also be used.


    The number of pets that Zhou Wen could use in the blood rain was much better than he had expected.


    As he watched the monster charge at him, Zhou Wen tightened his grip on the Overlord Spear. At the instant the monster reached him, he used Ghost Steps and circled behind the monster. Augmented by Ever-Victorious, the Overlord Spear pierced through the monster''s back.


    Ever-Victorious was indeed useful. The tip of the spear pierced straight through the monster''s body and stabbed into its back and out of its chest.


    Zhou Wen was delighted, but he suddenly saw the monster''s body explode like a water ball, splattering black liquid all over the blood-colored avatar.


    The black liquid quickly flowed through the blood rain, as if it had a life of its own. It gathered together again, distorting into the monster''s appearance.


    What is this fellow? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed. Just as he was about to launch another attack, he saw the screen turn black. The blood-colored avatar had died again.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown. After some thought, he understood how the blood-colored avatar had died.


    It must be because the black liquid came into contact with my body. From the looks of it, that monster has a toxicity that''s stronger than the bloody liquid. Zhou Wen was at a loss.


    Although he knew that the monster possessed such power, he still couldn''t find a way to resolve it.


    The monsters appeared to be water-elemental, so Overlord Spear''s attack with Ever-Victorious didn''t have much effect on it. Furthermore, he possessed a powerful corruptive ability, one that Lotus Flower Buddha Body was unable to withstand. An Epic stage dimensional creature was just too strong. Before Zhou Wen advanced to the Epic stage, he would always find it difficult to fight any Epic creature.


    I have to find a way to counter it. Zhou Wen knew very well that experience was the best teacher. He entered the game once again and continued to seek out the monster''s weakness in battle.

 260 Finding Weakness

    Lu Yunxian was extremely displeased with Zhou Wen. He just couldn''t understand why An Sheng would bring him to such a place.


    Ignoring the reckless touring of the area, he spent all his time gaming after he returned to the garrison. He truly was an eyesore.


    However, Lu Yunxian was relieved that Zhou Wen didn''t cause any trouble for them.


    It wasn''t their fault they were irritated by Zhou Wen. The way he acted was just detestable. If Zhou Wen were in Lu Yunxian''s shoes, he probably wouldn''t have liked such a person either.


    However, Zhou Wen had his reasons. Even though he knew it incurred the displeasure of others, he could only continue doing so.


    Through repeated battles and repeated deaths, Zhou Wen''s physical condition and blood regeneration abilities began to find it difficult to keep up with the expenditure, despite it only being one drop of blood each time.


    Usually when gaming, Zhou Wen would switch to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, significantly improving his ability to recover. However, when he died too frequently, he would still suffer from anemia. He didn''t know if it would cause any latent risks to his body.


    Zhou Wen had also thought of getting a blood transfusion to make up for the loss. Although the blood transfusion required some troublesome paperwork, he should be able to obtain it if he thought of a way.


    Zhou Wen ultimately gave up on the idea of a blood transfusion. He didn''t know if the blood that was transfused into his body would count as his or the other person when dripped onto the mysterious phone.


    He took out the blood supplements he had brought from the chaos space. Although he didn''t know if they were of any use, it was better than nothing. Even a placebo was useful.


    As he had earned a huge sum of money from selling Companion Eggs the last time, the supplementary medicine Zhou Wen had bought was clearly a lot more high-end. There was also good stuff like American ginseng and donkey-hide gelatin.


    However, Zhou Wen searched everywhere, but he didn''t find any ingredients like an electric pot. He didn''t even have a hot water flask, so he could only call Lu Yunxian.


    Lu Yunxian was discussing the latest intelligence with his colleagues. The changes in the ancient battlefield were getting more and more serious. Besides the blood river, dimensional creatures would occasionally appear.


    Now, the garrison troops of the League were constantly clearing the monsters and, although they came under the jurisdiction of Luoyang''s An family, the situation was so terrible that An Sheng and company would definitely be affected while inside.


    Suddenly, Lu Yunxian heard his phone ring. He took a look and realized it was Zhou Wen. He frowned and answered the call.


    "Zhou Wen, what''s the matter?" Lu Yunxian asked.


    "Is there anything like a rice cooker or an electric kettle? I need to cook something," Zhou Wen said as he gamed.


    "This is a military encampment, not a college dormitory. There are no such things," Lu Yunxian said.


    "Then, is there any way to boil stuff here?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "I''ll send someone over. If there''s anything you need, tell her. I''m currently in a meeting." Lu Yunxian said before hanging up.


    Zhou Wen didn''t take it to heart. He was only asking and it was fine if he couldn''t boil the supplement. He planned on buying the utensils needed to boil the blood replenishing supplement the next time before coming out and placing them into the chaos space.


    In-game, Zhou Wen was fighting a monster. So many deaths weren''t without any rewards. He had mostly figured out the monster.


    The monster was like a water ghost. It possessed water-elemental strength and ordinary physical attacks were useless against it. Furthermore, its body had a powerful virus. Any contact with its body would result in infection, even if it were a drop of water.


    If one was physically resistant enough, they could still last for a period of time. Otherwise, an instant death was possible.


    Zhou Wen was only at the Legendary stage. Relatively speaking, his physical qualities were relatively weak. He could use the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to withstand the virus for a little while longer, but it wasn''t of much use.


    What was even more frightening was that the monster could mix its poison into the blood rain. It was completely impossible to defend against, and if one weren''t careful, one would succumb to it.


    When Zhou Wen used the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, it had a certain effect that restrained it, allowing him to injure its body. However, to kill it, just the augmentation of Primordial Energy was clearly insufficient.


    If I could advance to the Epic stage, I could blast it apart with a punch with the augmentation of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Unfortunately, I''m still a Legendary. Zhou Wen sighed slightly as he continued sacrificing the blood-colored avatar''s life to study his opponent and think of means to kill it.


    Zhou Wen had also thought of circling around it, but after doing so, he ended up encountering another one. Clearly, there were more than one or two such monsters on the battlefield. If he couldn''t think of a way to kill them now, he would definitely be unable to inch his way through the ancient battlefield.


    While he was fighting the monster, there was a knock on the door.


    "Come in," Zhou Wen said without looking up as he gamed.


    Xu Wen walked in and frowned when she saw Zhou Wen gaming on his phone. However, she still said, "I''m Xu Wen from the medical corp. Battalion Commander Lu wanted me to come over to see if you need anything. If you need anything in the future, just let me know."


    "Please cook the bag of medicine on the table for me." Zhou Wen was fighting the monster, so he was unable to divert his attention to speak to Xu Wen.


    "You''re injured?" Xu Wen asked with a frown.


    Lu Yunxian wanted her to take good care of Zhou Wen. If Zhou Wen was injured, she had to do something immediately.


    "No, it''s just some supplements for blood replenishment. If it''s convenient, can you boil it? If it''s not convenient, just leave it there," Zhou Wen said.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Xu Wen bit her lip and left Zhou Wen''s room without a word.


    For Zhou Wen, who had been gaming all day in the dorm and doing nothing, to still drink such supplementary tonics left Xu Wen stupefied.


    I really don''t know why Adjutant An brought such a good-for-nothing wastrel here. Although Xu Wen was displeased, she still found a female soldier from the medical corp to boil the medicine for Zhou Wen.


    Xu Wen glanced at the medicine¡ªthey were all rather good supplementary tonics, and she couldn''t help but curse him for being such a wastrel.


    When She took the medicine over, Zhou Wen was still gaming. She wasn''t in the mood to bother with him, so she just left the medicine and returned to take care of the injured.


    Recently, a large number of dimensional creatures had appeared beyond the blood river and many soldiers had been injured in battle. Xu Wen felt that it was a waste for Zhou Wen to be drinking such tonics. She believed that it should be given to the injured soldiers.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t know what Xu Wen was thinking. As he drank the medicine and gamed, he was once again tragically killed in the ancient battlefield.


    I wonder when Banana Fairy will finish evolving? Zhou Wen glanced at the hurricane in the chaos space. It was still spinning without any signs of stopping.


    Once again, he dripped his blood and entered the ancient battlefield. When he met the monster again, he took a deep breath and charged forward once more.

 261 Fight Poison With Poison

    When Zhou Wen stabbed the monster, it burst into a mass of black liquid once again. Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned his pet to block it. With most of his other pets killed in action, Zhou Wen summoned the weak Doctor Darkness to block the black liquid.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Doctor Darkness would be killed instantly, but to his surprise, Doctor Darkness''s body turned black due to the virus but didn''t immediately die.


    Doctor Darkness used a certain technique and a syringe appeared in one hand. He aimed the syringe at his arm and stabbed it in.


    Zhou Wen only saw the liquid in the syringe being pushed into his body before he lost the luxury of time to look further. The monster had taken form and attacked again.


    After dealing with him for a while, Zhou Wen was gradually left at the disadvantage. At that moment, he realized that the Doctor Darkness had rushed over to help him in combat. The scalpel in his hand shimmered with a thin blade beam. Although it was useless, it left Zhou Wen somewhat astonished.


    Even the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and the Golden-Armored Beast couldn''t withstand the terrifying poison after they made contact with the black liquid. Even if they turned into armor, they would still be corroded.


    Doctor Darkness''s body wasn''t as strong as the Golden Warrior and Gold-Armored Beast; yet, he still survived after making contact with the black liquid. Furthermore, after a short period of time, he became energetic and lively. It was as if he had never been injured.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t a match for the monster, so he was quickly forced to block the black liquid that splattered out from the monster''s body. This time, Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness to help him block it. To his surprise, Doctor Darkness became even stronger this time. His body was stained with the black liquid, only to turn black from contact and then quickly recover their rosy colors.


    Apart from the corrosion of his flesh, he didn''t suffer any damage from the virus.


    This left Zhou Wen very surprised. Although the black liquid on the monster''s body was highly corrosive, it wasn''t lethal enough. Zhou Wen still had a way to deal with it.


    However, the virus in the black liquid was something Zhou Wen was unable to defend against. He was basically killed by the virus every time.


    Yet, Doctor Darkness was immune to it and seemed to have adequate resistance against the corrosive forces of the black liquid.


    As Zhou Wen was so surprised, that moment of distraction allowed one drop of the monster''s black liquid to splatter onto him.


    Black gas immediately arose from the blood-colored avatar''s body as it rapidly expanded. Zhou Wen knew something was amiss as he suddenly recalled the scene of Doctor Darkness stabbing himself with a syringe. He immediately thought of something.


    "Doctor Darkness, use Fight Poison With Poison." Zhou Wen gave the order. Without any hesitation, Doctor Darkness carried out Zhou Wen''s order. A syringe appeared in his hand and stabbed the blood-colored avatar''s body, injecting the poison into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt a spasming pain spread throughout his body, but the pain slowed the spreading speed of the monster''s virus, preventing him from dying as quickly as before.


    It actually works! Zhou Wen was only giving it a try, he never expected it to be that effective. Although the pain was intense, he didn''t die.


    However, the poison could only temporarily withstand the virus and prevent the virus from spreading within his body. It had not been eliminated.


    From the looks of it, Doctor Darkness isn''t afraid of the virus solely because of Fight Poison With Poison. It has a lot to do with his own physique and Life Providence. Zhou Wen persisted for a while longer before being sprayed by the black liquid once again. The virus in his body exceeded the poison that Doctor Darkness had injected into him, and the virus began to spread again.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got Doctor Darkness to inject him with more poison using Fight Poison With Poison.


    After injecting two batches of poison, the virus in Zhou Wen''s body was stabilized again. However, the poison that Doctor Darkness had injected was extremely stimulating for his body. It made Zhou Wen feel pain as if he was being pricked by needles and he nearly stumbled to the ground.


    The blood-colored avatar was ultimately killed. It was not that the monster had ripped off his head, but that he had made contact with some more of the black liquid. After injecting the poison again, the blood-colored avatar could no longer take it physically.


    From the looks of it, Fight Poison With Poison cannot be used constantly. After injecting more than a certain amount of poison, it will cause tremendous damage to the body. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he originally imagined that he had found a way to deal with the monster. From the looks of it, it was only temporary.


    On the other hand, Doctor Darkness''s resistance to the virus was getting higher and higher. He could actually ignore the virus of the blood rain and the monster.


    Unfortunately, he was still at the Legendary stage and had few combat skills. The monster could easily rip its head off. Otherwise, with his abilities, he would have perfectly countered such monsters.


    Doctor Darkness was an Epic in the first place. It was only because Zhou Wen had insufficient Primordial Energy in his incubation that he had fallen to the Legendary stage. When he evolved into a mature body, he might be able to restrain that monster.


    Although he had such thoughts, Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for Doctor Darkness to evolve into his mature form in such a short period of time.


    The abilities of Doctor Darkness allowed Zhou Wen to gain the ability to circle around the monster a little more. However, Fight Poison With Poison was just too painful. His organs felt like they were being pricked by needles, something ordinary people would find difficult to tolerate.


    After injecting the poison a few times, Zhou Wen discovered something strange. Doctor Darkness''s Fight Poison With Poison seemed to have more resistant traits against the virus.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen had needed an injection after making contact with one or two drops of black liquid. However, after a few times, Zhou Wen discovered that Doctor Darkness needed very little poison to put the virus at bay. Furthermore, its restraining effects were improving.


    He''s growing? The virus here has made Doctor Darkness rapidly grow? Zhou Wen immediately understood what was happening.


    When Zhou Wen realized this, he consciously allowed Doctor Darkness to come into contact with even more poison. The blood rain which was everywhere and the black liquid on the monster''s body were all candidates to be his nutrients.


    As the poison that Doctor Darkness came into contact with increased, his resistance towards the virus increased. Apart from his physical traits being inferior to the monster, he eventually became immune to the monster''s virus.


    Furthermore, his usage of Fight Poison With Poison became more and more effective. As a result, one injection from Doctor Darkness after the blood-colored avatar made contact with a few drops of black liquid ended up being an overdose, causing the blood-colored avatar to be poisoned to death.


    Zhou Wen once again came in front of the monster. When Doctor Darkness helped him block the black liquid, the system suddenly produced a notification: ''Doctor Darkness has reached the growth requirement and evolved into a mature body.''


    Following the system''s notification, a strange change occurred to Doctor Darkness''s body. White streams of light emitted from his body. The white doctor robe flared up with the streams of light as a terrifying aura erupted from him.

 262 Returning to the Epic Stage

    Light arose from Doctor Darkness''s body, forming a shadow projection of a doctor over his head. It was none other than the Dr. Soul Life Soul which Zhou Wen had seen before.


    Seeing the monster charge at him again, Doctor Darkness raised the scalpel in his hand while Dr. Soul moved as well. He held the scalpel formed from light and stabbed it into the monster.


    The monster''s originally running body seemed to be nailed to the ground as it stopped moving.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. He knew that Doctor Darkness had returned to the Epic stage. He finally had a powerful fighter who could be used.


    Bam!


    However, the monster''s body turned into black liquid and exploded. Dr. Soul pinning him down with the scalpel shadow had instantly lost its effect.


    However, the black liquid of the monster was useless against Doctor Darkness. It once again condensed into a monster and in an instant, it was behind Doctor Darkness. It wanted to twist Doctor Darkness''s head off with its advantage of speed.


    But now, Doctor Darkness had evolved to the Epic stage and he could keep up. With a slight flash of his body, he managed to dodge its hands. At the same time, the scalpel in his left hand flashed rapidly, slicing across the monster''s body continuously.


    In the blink of an eye, the scalpel diced the monster''s body into several pieces.


    However, the monster''s body was not affected at all. It quickly merged into one and pounced towards Doctor Darkness once again.


    Zhou Wen became a bystander in the battle between the two Epic creatures. Taking this opportunity, he glanced at the information of Doctor Darkness after his evolution.


    Doctor Darkness: Epic


    Life Providence: Golden Left Hand


    Life Soul: Dr. Soul


    Strength: 27


    Speed: 40


    Constitution: 29


    Primordial Energy: 39


    Talent Skill: Scalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, Light of Penetration


    Companion Form: Soul


    It was somewhat different from the original Epic Doctor Darkness''s attributes. The four basic stats had increased, but they were still mainly concentrated on Speed and Primordial Energy. This was not much of a change.


    The biggest transformation was his companion form. Doctor Darkness didn''t have a companion form previously, but he did now. Zhou Wen didn''t quite understand what a soul companion form was.


    While Zhou Wen was thinking about this, he suddenly saw a strange light shoot out from Doctor Darkness''s eyes. Dr. Soul''s eyes lit up as well. With that, four beams shone on the monster''s body, overlapping each other like a spotlight, illuminating the monster''s body.


    The beam of light didn''t have any lethality. Zhou Wen knew that it was likely the Light of Penetration skill of Doctor Darkness, but he didn''t know how effective it was.


    In the next second, Doctor Darkness moved. He held the scalpel in his left hand and disappeared like a magic trick. He was incredibly fast as he moved the scalpel with almost indiscernible trajectories.


    The monster that flew towards him was stabbed in the waist.


    This time, the monster didn''t explode into black liquid. Zhou Wen thought he heard something shatter inside its body. In the next second, the monster took a few steps back and exploded, turning into a pool of black liquid. However, this time, he wasn''t reborn again. Instead, he slowly merged into the mud, leaving only a crystal behind.


    A notification popped up in the game: ''Killed Epic creature, Wangliang. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    However, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be taken aback when he saw the crystal''s name clearly. The dimensional crystal was different from what he had seen before.


    The small black crystal''s size wasn''t obvious in-game. He estimated it to be about the size of a quail egg, but its name was a little odd.


    Poison Crystal: 7


    Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the virus crystal, and the game system immediately asked if he wanted to absorb it.


    Zhou Wen chose to absorb it and soon, a strange force fused into his body. Then, he looked at the blood-colored avatar''s attributes and realized that its stats had changed from four different types to five. The new attribute was Poison, and its value was seven.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know much about Epic matters, he didn''t know what the Poison stat was for either.


    However, he soon discovered that he had obtained quite a lot of benefits after obtaining a seven-valued Poison stat. This was because he could directly withstand the blood rain and not be reduced to a lunatic by the poison.


    From the looks of it, the Poison stat gives me quite a good viral immunity. However, I still need to further test how strong this resistance is. Zhou Wen was in a good mood as he continued walking forward with Doctor Darkness.


    He had already wasted too much time here. He had to rush to the ruins as soon as possible.


    After walking for more than half a kilometer, a monster appeared in front of him. Zhou Wen originally imagined that it was a Wangliang, but upon careful inspection, something was amiss.


    The monster that appeared wasn''t a Wangliang, but rather, a very strange creature. The creature''s head looked like a wyrm with no horns on its head. Its body was like a lion''s, its tail like a crocodile''s. Its body was also covered in crocodile-like skin.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred. The one I killed previously was a Wangliang. Could this be the Chi from ChiMeiWangliang?


    It was common to use the term ChiMeiWangliang to describe monsters of the mountains and rivers in the East District. Even if one didn''t recognize the word, most people in the East District could guess that this phrase was used to describe all kinds of bad people. And with these four words all having the "ghost" radical in their characters, it meant a kind of ghost or monster.


    Based on what Zhou Wen knew, the term "ChiMeiWangliang" represented three types of monsters. Wangliang referred to the ghost of plagues according to legend. There were also tales that he was one of the legendary Five Emperors of ancient times¡ªZhuan Xu''s third son that had drowned to death.


    Although it was a tale and couldn''t be taken seriously, since a Wangliang had appeared, such a strange creature in front of him might just be the Chi of ChiMeiWangliang.


    This was because the legendary Mei, or succubus, was a ghost found in mountains and forests. It was a wood spirit that didn''t match the monster''s image in front of him. On the other hand, it was a beast-like ghost. There were also tales that it was one of the nine sons of the dragon. It did resemble the monster in front of him.


    However, these were tales. They might not be the same as the dimensional creature in front of him.


    Seeing the monster rushing over, Zhou Wen ordered Doctor Darkness to charge forward. Dr. Soul also condensed a scalpel made of light as he stabbed the glimmering weapon at the monster.


    "Roar!" The monster let out a roar as black flames burst out from its body, transforming it into a Life Soul that was in the form of a black dragon. Without waiting for Dr. Soul to react, it swallowed him in one bite.


    "Ah!" Doctor Darkness cried out in pain. A powerhouse''s pain of having a Life Soul devoured was an excruciating pain that was akin to having his heart dug out.


    While Doctor Darkness was in pain, the monster pounced on him and swallowed him.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and circled to the back of the monster with Ghost Steps, stabbing its soft waist with his Overlord Spear.


    However, before Overlord Spear could stab into the monster''s waist, the black dragon-resembling Life Soul spewed out black smoke at the blood-colored avatar. This resembled a volcanic eruption as it enveloped the blood-colored avatar''s body.

 263 Battlefield Ruins

    Without a word, Zhou Wen summoned his Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell and aimed it at the black smoke.


    The black smoke seemed to be sucked away as it surged into the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell. In the blink of an eye, it was sucked clean.


    The monster seemed somewhat puzzled as it stared at the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell with its strange eyes. Zhou Wen held the bell and shook it at the monster.


    Black smoke immediately gushed out from the bell, enveloping the monster''s body. When the black smoke touched its scales, it immediately seeped in. The monster''s eyes rolled back as it collapsed to the ground.


    Holy sh*t, is this black smoke that powerful? It even poisoned the monster to death? Zhou Wen was alarmed but upon closer inspection, he realized that the monster hadn''t died. It had only fallen asleep.


    The monster had fallen asleep and its Life Soul seemed to lose control. It floated above its head motionlessly.


    How could Zhou Wen miss such a good opportunity? He charged forward with the Overlord Spear in hand and stabbed the monster in the abdomen.


    Ever-Victorious showed its effects as the tip of the spear stabbed into the monster''s abdomen. A hole was torn open in the monster''s abdomen and black blood immediately flowed out.


    It was unknown what the black smoke''s strength was, but after having such a huge hole stabbed through, the monster didn''t react at all despite bleeding excessively. It continued sleeping soundly, leaving Zhou Wen astonished.


    Zhou Wen naturally wasn''t going to be merciful with it. He stabbed it again and again, stabbing at it for a total of 18 times before the monster was finally dead. The black dragon-like Life Soul also shattered.


    A notification popped up in-game: ''Killed the Epic creature, Chi. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen saw that the dimensional crystal that dropped was a Strength Crystal with 32 points. Although its value was very high to him, Zhou Wen''s limit was at 21. It was useless no matter how good it was.


    After absorbing the 32-valued Strength Crystal, Zhou Wen felt that he was brimming with strength. His earlier fatigue was wiped clean, but his Strength stat didn''t increase. It remained at 21 points.


    Since the Wangliang and Chi have appeared, there should be a Mei. I wonder what kind of creature the Mei is. Zhou Wen was filled with curiosity.


    However, he was not that bored to the point of deliberately searching for the Mei. He headed for the ruins through the blood rain before he encountered another Wangliang.


    With a Dark Doctor to restrain it, it was rather easy to kill it. However, it didn''t drop any Poison Crystals and only dropped an ordinary Speed crystal. It was useless for Zhou Wen now.


    As he charged towards the ruins, he encountered several Wangliang and Chi. However, he didn''t see the Mei, nor did anything useful drop.


    After battling the entire night, Zhou Wen finally arrived at the spot where the map marked the ruins.


    He wasn''t in a rush to get the blood-colored avatar to walk over when he saw the broken stone pillars and the stone walls that stood in the middle of the blood rain not far away. Instead, he took the information An Sheng had handed out before leaving and carefully read it again. According to the information, the League had sent a few more groups of people to the ruins to find Ouyang Ting and the others.


    However, when they entered the ruins, they died for no explicable reason. Even Epic experts were no exception. Until now, they had not found the reason.


    It was also because of this that they felt that the former principal and the others were already dead inside. Hence, they didn''t send any more search and rescue teams. Help came only when the An family received the news.


    Zhou Wen observed the ruins from afar, hoping to find any clues no matter how minute. However, there were ancient symbols on them that he couldn''t decipher. No matter how he looked at them, he couldn''t tell anything.


    I''ll still have to risk my life to scout the way. Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness and Ghost Bride. Together with Three-Eyed Golden Warrior and Gold-Armored Beast, they entered the ruins as the blood-colored avatar remained outside.


    Golden Warrior and Gold-Armored Beast were pets with powerful bodies, while Ghost Bride had the body of a ghost. Doctor Darkness was an Epic pet, so Zhou Wen wanted to see who would die among them. Through this, he could determine how terrifying the powers were inside.


    The four pets carefully walked into the ruins and slowly explored.


    After walking for a short distance, a cracking sound was heard as the Golden Warrior''s head flew up from his neck as he died instantly.


    Just like what was written in the information. Dying from a beheading. Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Although he had read it very carefully, he didn''t see any creatures appear. Nor did he notice any power fluctuations. It was as though an invisible executioner had cleaved off the Golden Warrior''s head.


    Crack!


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, Doctor Darkness''s head fell to the ground and he died on the spot. He didn''t put up any resistance just because he was an Epic creature. His death was equally clean.


    Zhou Wen still couldn''t see what was in the ruin. He couldn''t even tell how Doctor Darkness died.


    Not long later, Gold-Armored Beast suffered the same fate. Similarly, it had no chance to react. It died quickly, and in less than thirty minutes, Zhou Wen''s three Companion Beasts, including the Epic Doctor Darkness, had been killed silently. Only Ghost Bride remained floating forward.


    Ghost Bride continued forward for a while, but her head wasn''t chopped off. This delighted Zhou Wen. It looks like that power is ineffective against ghosts.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare enter, but with Ghost Bride around, she could scout the path for him.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate any further as he sped her up. He began his carpet search of the ruins, hoping to discover something.


    Perhaps it was because the power in the ruins was too terrifying that even ChiMeiWangliang didn''t appear. There was only a dead silence. Apart from the blood rain outside, all that was left were those decrepit ancient buildings.


    Zhou Wen controlled Ghost Bride to get her to search for clues in all sorts of rundown buildings.


    This was a game, so he definitely couldn''t find the former principal and company here. However, it was impossible for them to vanish into thin air. They must have gone somewhere. All Zhou Wen wanted to do was find the place.


    At the encampment, the soldiers guarding the door suddenly saw someone in front of them rushing over like madmen. They hurriedly raised their rifles.


    "Halt. Don''t move any further, or else we''ll shoot." A soldier hurriedly warned when he saw that the person was charging over.


    However, that person didn''t stop and continued running like a madman.


    Just as the soldier was about to deliver a warning shot, he suddenly realized that the person was wearing the same military uniform as them. However, because he was covered in blood, most of the parts of his military uniform had turned dark red.


    "It''s Liu Chengzhi¡­ Didn''t he follow Madam Lan to the ancient battlefield? Why is he running back alone? Where''s Madam Lan and the rest?" One of the soldiers took a closer look and instantly recognized who that person was. He was shocked and quickly went forward to welcome him.


    Liu Chengzhi, who was covered in blood, pounced over when he saw the two of them. The two soldiers quickly held him up.


    "Quick¡­ Quick, tell Adjutant An¡­ Madam is in danger¡­ Save her immediately¡­ If there''s any delay, it''ll be too late¡­" Liu Chengzhi said anxiously as he coughed out blood.

 264 Tunnel Ruins

    "Liu Chengzhi, what happened?" Lu Yunxian asked as he looked at Liu Chengzhi, who was being treated on a sickbed.


    Liu Chengzhi''s injuries were horrifying. Under the treatment of a Companion Beast with healing abilities, his life was saved. However, his injuries still required a longer period of treatment.


    "Commander, quickly tell Adjutant An that Madam Lan is trapped in the ruins. Quickly send someone to help her. It will be too late if we delay any longer," Liu Chengzhi said anxiously.


    "Adjutant An entered the ancient ruins two days ago. Didn''t you encounter them?" Xu Wen asked.


    Liu Chengzhi was stunned when he heard that. He shook his head and said, "Adjutant An has already entered the ruins? Why didn''t I see them? I escaped from the ruins and rushed back with all my might, but I didn''t see anyone."


    "That''s strange. Tell me clearly what happened to Madam Lan," Lu Yun asked first.


    Liu Chengzhi hurriedly said, "We entered the ancient battlefield with Madam Lan and encountered many strange things. However, under Madam Lan''s lead, we managed to arrive at the ruins where Old Mr. Ouyang and the rest studied without any mishaps. That place had already become extremely bizarre. Many of our Companion Beasts were beheaded there. Finally, Madam Lan came up with a way to safely enter the ruins."


    Due to the excessive loss of blood, Liu Chengzhi felt a little thirsty as he swallowed his saliva before continuing, "In the ruins, we found an entrance that leads underground. There was also a mark left behind by Old Mr. Ouyang. In the beginning, we used many of our Companion Beasts to scout the area, but nothing happened. However, when Madam Lan led the group down, the entrance to the passageway was sealed. The few of us who stayed outside did all we could to open the stone door."


    "And then?" Xu Wen pressed.


    Liu Chengzhi panted a few times before continuing, "Three hours later, the stone door at the entrance opened automatically and Old Qiu rushed out. By then, Old Qiu was covered in blood and I almost couldn''t see the color of his military uniform. He rushed over and directly handed me a strange stone artifact. In a very urgent tone, he told me to pass the stone artifact to Adjutant An and get Adjutant An to lead men into the ruins to save Madam Lan or it would be too late. He was in such a hurry that he spoke in a delirious manner. He said that the stone artifact is a key that opens some doors. The stone artifact needs to be returned before the door can be opened to save Madam Lan. We have to be fast, or it will be too late. He kept repeating himself, and the few people we left guarding the spot couldn''t say a word. Just as they were about to ask questions, Old Qiu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and passed away."


    "What about the stone artifact?" Lu Yunxian asked.


    Liu Chengzhi wore a look of guilt. "Even people like Madam Lan and Old Qiu were unable to deal with the situation in the stone passageway, so it would be impossible for us to do so. After our discussion, we planned on returning with the stone artifact and report the situation. However, the ancient battlefield is simply too terrifying. A few of our brothers died while I barely survived. The stone artifact was swallowed by a dimensional creature with a wyrm''s head and a lion''s body along the way. It''s all my fault for not being able to hold onto it¡­"


    "Do you still remember where that dimensional creature is?" Lu Yunxian asked after some thought.


    "I roughly know the location, but I wonder if the dimensional creature is still there," Liu Chengzhi said.


    "Alright, Xu Wen, do your best to treat Liu Chengzhi''s injuries. Everyone else, prepare to be on standby. Prepare to set off anytime," Lu Yunxian said.


    "Commander Lu, since Adjutant An has already gone, it probably won''t be of much use for us to enter, right?" a middle-aged officer asked.


    Lu Yunxian said, "When Liu Chengzhi and company returned, they didn''t encounter Adjutant An. Therefore, even if Adjutant An reached the ruins, he wouldn''t know of the stone artifact''s existence, much less know that it has been swallowed by a dimensional creature. We have to deliver it to him."


    "We can''t do much, but killing a dimensional creature shouldn''t be difficult. Furthermore, Liu Chengzhi is still familiar with the situation. There shouldn''t be any major problems. Go and prepare," said Lu Yunxian in a tone that didn''t allow for doubts.


    Right now, Lu Yunxian was the highest-ranking officer. Since he had already decided, no one doubted him. They went back to prepare to enter the ancient battlefield.


    Xu Wen also wanted to go, but Lu Yunxian rejected her request. Lu Yunxian wanted her to stay behind to take care of Zhou Wen, to ensure that nothing happened to him.


    "Commander, just let me go. My healing abilities can reduce the number of casualties. Zhou Wen can just be taken off by the female soldiers at the medical corp," Xu Wen requested once again.


    "Stay behind to take care of Zhou Wen. That''s an order. If anything happens to him, you will be court-martialed. There''s absolutely no room for negotiation," Lu Yunxian said firmly.


    He had said it in a relaxed manner earlier, but he knew that the ancient battlefield was very dangerous. They would be placed in grave danger by heading in, and he didn''t want Xu Wen to take the risk.


    Xu Wen opened her mouth but was at a loss for words. She was a soldier, so she could only obey Lu Yunxian''s orders. However, she felt extremely indignant.


    Zhou Wen was gaming in his room, but he wore the Truth Listener earring at all times, so he could clearly hear the sounds nearby.


    When Liu Chengzhi returned, the place was a little far from where Zhou Wen bunked. Zhou Wen didn''t hear it, but when Lu Yunxian and the others prepared to set off, he heard the commotion.


    When he came out to take a look, Lu Yunxian and the rest had already boarded their vehicles and set off. Two jeeps and a huge truck were driving out of the camp.


    Zhou Wen realized what had happened. Seeing Xu Wen standing at the entrance of the camp, he walked over and asked, "Head Nurse Xu, what happened? Where are Commander Lu and the rest going?"


    "Why are you asking so much? Do you dare to go to the ancient battlefield to rescue lives? Go back and play your game," Xu Wen snapped.


    Xu Wen believed that if it wasn''t for Zhou Wen, she wouldn''t have been left behind.


    "Rescue lives in the ancient battlefield? Who are they going to rescue? Ouyang Lan or An Sheng?" Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly asked.


    "It''s none of your business who''s being rescued." Xu Wen didn''t wish to say much to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He knew how dangerous the ancient battlefield was, which was why the An family had invited so many Epic experts from outside. However, if Commander Lu and those low-ranking officers were to enter the ancient battlefield, it was basically equivalent to sending themselves to their deaths.


    "Head Nurse Xu, I believe you still don''t know that Ouyang Lan is actually my mother, right? I hope you can understand my feelings and tell me what happened," Zhou Wen said when he saw that Xu Wen wasn''t willing to tell him what had happened.


    "Who are you lying to? Madam Lan only has two children¡ªOverseer and Miss An Jing. Do you think you''re the Overseer? Or Miss An Jing?" Xu Wen said with a pout.


    "You should know about Ouyang Lan''s remarriage, right? I''m her new husband''s son. Who do you think I am to her?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Xu Wen looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.

 265 Heading to the Ruins

    "If it wasn''t for my identity, why do you think An Sheng wants all of you to take care of me?" Seeing Xu Wen''s hesitation, Zhou Wen went against his conscience and said, "My relationship with Ouyang Lan is very good, just like a biological mother and son. My concern for her is definitely no less than the An siblings. Can you tell me what happened?"


    Xu Wen hesitated for a moment. Believing that it wasn''t much of a secret, she recounted the entire incident to Zhou Wen.


    After Zhou Wen heard that, he turned and walked out of the camp.


    Although Lu Yunxian was an Epic expert, he didn''t have many capable people under him. The low-level officers he had taken were basically at the Legendary stage. With their abilities, it was too difficult to deal with the dimensional creatures on the ancient battlefield.


    Their survival had nothing to do with Zhou Wen, but if they couldn''t retrieve the stone artifact, Ouyang Lan might very well die. It might even be possible that the former principal was also in the underground stone passageway, so Zhou Wen had no choice but to retrieve it.


    "Hey, where are you going?" Xu Wen hurriedly chased after Zhou Wen when she saw him heading outside the camp.


    "I''ll help Commander Lu and the rest retrieve the stone artifact," Zhou Wen said.


    "Stop fooling around. You''re just a student. Why are you messing around?" Xu Wen hurriedly stopped Zhou Wen. Lu Yunxian wanted her to watch over Zhou Wen, so she couldn''t let him do anything rash.


    "Head Nurse Xu, you are the highest commander of the medical corp and also the best doctor. Why didn''t you participate in this operation?" Zhou Wen asked Xu Wen.


    Xu Wen snorted and said, "It''s all because of you. If it wasn''t for the fact that I had to stay and take care of you, I would have definitely gone. So you should stay here obediently and stop causing trouble."


    "Then are you really not going? The ancient battlefield is fraught with danger. As the best medical personnel here, how can you stay behind and watch helplessly as your comrades die without doing anything? Comrades who can clearly live but will have to die because you weren''t there. Can you really be at ease?" Zhou Wen stared at Xu Wen as he clearly enunciated each word.


    Xu Wen''s expression changed slightly, but she still said, "Whatever you say is useless. We must stay in the camp and not go anywhere. Otherwise, I won''t be able to answer to Commander Lu, Adjutant An, and Madam Lan."


    "Commander Lu got you to protect me, right?" Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "That''s right." Xu Wen nodded.


    "He didn''t say that I can''t leave the military camp, right?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Well¡­" Xu Wen hesitated.


    "Since he didn''t say that I''m not allowed to go, and he wants you to protect me, that means that you will be going wherever I go, right?" Zhou Wen added.


    Xu Wen was slightly taken aback.


    "Then, do you want to go or not?" Zhou Wen stared at Xu Wen with a burning gaze.


    "No, I can''t let you take the risk¡­" Xu Wen struggled internally.


    "Let''s go to the blood river to take a look. We won''t cross it. Waiting here is just too torturous. You wish to wait somewhere nearby, right?" Zhou Wen said with a sincere look.


    "Well¡­" Xu Wen was still very hesitant.


    "Anyway, I have to take a look. It''s up to you to decide if you want to go." Zhou Wen walked around Xu Wen and walked towards the camp''s entrance.


    Xu Wen gritted her teeth but didn''t stop Zhou Wen as she chased him out of the camp.


    Xu Wen felt that a spoiled fellow like Zhou Wen, who stayed cooped up inside the encampment and ate supplementary tonics, definitely didn''t have the guts to enter the ancient battlefield.


    The main reason she agreed was that she was also feeling anxious. If she were to continue waiting in the encampment, she would feel too uneasy. In fact, she wanted to go more than Zhou Wen. His words had already shaken her resolve.


    "How long do you think walking will take? Come on up." Xu Wen summoned a white lion. It was extremely majestic and was even taller than a horse.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to summon his mount, but his mount wasn''t very fast. It wasn''t as fast as he ran, so it was useless.


    Seeing Xu Wen''s white lion running quite quickly, Zhou Wen jumped up and sat behind her.


    Xu Wen ordered the white lion to run at full speed and chased in the direction that Commander Lu and the rest had gone.


    "Don''t go too fast," Zhou Wen suddenly said to Xu Wen.


    Xu Wen was slightly taken aback before she understood what Zhou Wen meant. If they ran too quickly and ended up catching up with Commander Lu and company, they would definitely be chased back.


    Xu Wen grunted. When she saw the troops from afar, she slowed down a little.


    Xu Wen steered the white lion in front while Zhou Wen continued gaming. Ghost Bride had found the tunnel and stone steps in the ruins.


    However, there seemed to be some terrifying power inside that made Ghost Bride hesitate.


    Zhou Wen knew that Ghost Bride must have sensed something, but unfortunately, she couldn''t express it. Zhou Wen could only vaguely sense that she was afraid of something and didn''t dare enter the passageway.


    Since Ghost Bride didn''t dare enter, Zhou Wen had no choice but to think of a way to enter. Ouyang Lan and the former principal might be trapped inside. Even if he didn''t enter in the future, he knew that An Sheng would definitely enter. If he could find out ahead of time what danger was inside, he could warn An Sheng so reducing their sacrifices and giving them a greater chance of rescuing Ouyang Lan and the former principal.


    What kind of power does the beheading in the ruins? Zhou Wen had already restarted the game a few times and had thought of many methods, but he still couldn''t figure out what kind of power it was.


    Even Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration couldn''t detect any problems in the ruins.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before turning Doctor Darkness into his companion form. He saw that Doctor Darkness''s body transformed into a beam of light that clung onto the blood-colored avatar like an illusion.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he realized that in the blood-colored avatar''s skill column, there were skills¡ªScalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, and Light of Penetration.


    Doctor Darkness''s soul state actually imbued his powers on the master, allowing the master to use them.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to head to the ruins again. Soon, he encountered a Wangliang.


    Zhou Wen knew how Doctor Darkness killed Wangliangs, so he activated Light of Penetration and shot a beam at it.


    Under the Light of Penetration, the Wangliang'' body seemed to turn transparent¡ªall the meridians and organs within could be seen clearly. Zhou Wen immediately saw a tiny black bead rapidly flowing within the Wangliang. The bead was only the size of a rice grain and was extremely inconspicuous. It moved at an extremely fast speed, like a cardiograph. Furthermore, it didn''t have any pattern, making it difficult to capture its trajectory.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood how to kill the Wangliang.


    With the Ghost Steps activated, Zhou Wen instantly appeared behind the Wangliang. With Scalpel, a white beam of light condensed into a scalpel and instantly pierced through the Wangliang''s body and struck the beating bead.


    Bam!


    As soon as the bead broke apart, the Wangliang''s body collapsed into a pool of black liquid that sprayed onto the ground. The game also gave the notification that he had killed an Epic Wangliang.


    As long as I can understand the abilities and weaknesses of an Epic creature, it''s not impossible for me to kill them with my present strength. Zhou Wen increasingly felt the importance of knowing himself as well as the enemy.

 266 Are You Nuts?

    Both banks of the blood river were two completely different worlds. On one side, the weather was perfect while on the other side, there was a bloody storm that stretched for thousands of kilometers. Mountains and rivers were dyed with blood, as though they were in hell.


    When Zhou Wen and Xu Wen arrived at the blood riverbank, Lu Yunxian had already led the officers across the river.


    "Head Nurse Xu, why are you here?" A low-ranking officer who was staying behind quickly greeted Xu Wen when he saw her.


    "It''s a little unsettling to stay in the garrison. Let''s just wait here for Commander Lu and the rest to return," Xu Wen said as she sized up the interior of the vehicle.


    Although she felt that she shouldn''t cross the river and had to obey orders and take care of Zhou Wen, she couldn''t help but look inside the car, hoping to find the remaining custom raincoats.


    Without the custom raincoat, one wasn''t able to move an inch in the blood rain. Upon contact with the raindrops, they would become lunatics. Entering would be suicide.


    Unfortunately, the number of custom raincoats was limited. Ouyang Lan and An Sheng had taken two batches away one after another. There weren''t many left after that. Lu Yunxian and the others had only obtained about ten sets, so only about ten people had crossed the river. The others could only wait here to receive them.


    Without any custom raincoat left, Xu Wen felt extremely disappointed. It was impossible for her to even think about crossing the river now.


    Zhou Wen stood by the blood river and looked at the blood rain with mixed emotions. Before he came to Zhuolu, he believed that he definitely wouldn''t enter the ancient battlefield. All he needed to do was game outside and provide some help.


    But now, he had to cross the river and enter that terrifying place personally.


    I hope there''s no need to use the words left behind by Teacher. Zhou Wen didn''t think it would be too dangerous. He had already gained a better understanding of the ancient battlefield in-game. As long as he didn''t enter the ruins, there wouldn''t be too much danger.


    "Do you have any more raincoats left?" Zhou Wen asked the officer.


    Xu Wen said, "The number of raincoats we have is too limited. There wasn''t enough for Commander Lu and the rest, so how can there be any left? Don''t think too much. Just wait here for Commander Lu and the rest to return. With Commander Lu and Adjutant An''s abilities, they will definitely be able to save Madam Lan and Old Mr. Ouyang and return safely with them."


    Zhou Wen stood by the blood river and looked at the other side of the river before saying slowly, "You''re right. Ah Sheng and company are both excellent. Perhaps they can return safely."


    With that said, Zhou Wen paused for a moment as the luster in his eyes gradually turned sharp. Then, he said, "Unfortunately, I''m a person who doesn''t like gambling. I can''t sit here and wait for the needle of a wheel of fortune to stop. I can''t watch the needle waver between luckiness and unluckiness. I want to control the needle and wheel and make them stop at the position I want."


    The more Xu Wen processed what he said, the more she felt that something was amiss. Just as her expression changed slightly and she was about to say something, she saw Zhou Wen run towards the blood river, his body wrapped in black armor. In a few steps, he reached the edge of the river bank and leaped up, flitting across the river.


    Xu Wen and company were shocked. Without any hesitation, Xu Wen reached out and grabbed an umbrella beside her. At the same time, she summoned a strange bird that was shimmering with lightning. The strange lightning bird transformed into a pair of wings and landed behind her.


    Although Zhou Wen was wearing armor, the armor couldn''t protect his entire body, so there would still be blood rain touching him. To Xu Wen, Zhou Wen''s actions were akin to having a death wish.


    The lightning wings on Xu Wen''s back flapped as she instantly streaked across the sky like a bolt of lightning. She caught up with Zhou Wen who was about to enter the blood rain. She grabbed his shoulder and opened the umbrella to block the falling rain.


    "Are you nuts?" Zhou Wen looked at Xu Wen in puzzlement.


    It was impossible for the umbrella to block all the blood rain. Furthermore, Xu Wen was mainly using the umbrella to cover Zhou Wen''s body, so many blood rain droplets splattered onto her body.


    Although she had already summoned her armor-type Companion Beast to protect her, she was unable to envelop her entire body with it. A few raindrops of blood splattered onto her cheeks.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t understand why Xu Wen would do that. She had nothing to do with him, and she didn''t even seem to like him. Yet, she had risked her life to rush over. This was something Zhou Wen couldn''t understand.


    "You are the one who''s nuts. Go back with me." Xu Wen grabbed Zhou Wen and exerted her strength with her wings, trying to fly back to the other side.


    However, she still underestimated the blood rain''s infectious ability. In an instant, her eyes turned red, as though they were about to drip blood. Her consciousness suddenly blurred as she nearly caused Xu Wen to fall into the blood river.


    With just a tiny bit of rationality left, Xu Wen threw Zhou Wen across the river as she landed by the side of the river of blood. She stood motionless in the rain with an umbrella in hand, knowing that she couldn''t return.


    "Just wait patiently for Commander Lu and the rest to come back. You''re not a child anymore. Don''t always give others trouble. No one can keep protecting you." Xu Wen''s voice gradually turned hoarse, and her eyes gradually turned ferocious. Blood had already begun to flow out of them.


    "B*stard¡­ You b*stard¡­" When the officer on the other side saw this scene, he felt like tearing Zhou Wen apart as he roared angrily.


    Zhou Wen was in the air as he looked at Xu Wen with an odd expression. He was an emotionally indifferent person, so he couldn''t understand why Xu Wen would do such a thing for a stranger she didn''t like. But at that moment, he didn''t want her to die.


    As though stepping on empty space, his body circled around like a bird. In midair, he charged towards the opposite bank like an arrow, shooting towards Xu Wen, who was holding an umbrella.


    When Xu Wen saw Zhou Wen returning in midair again, she wanted to say something, but her consciousness turned blurry as violent emotions filled her mind.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Xu Wen only wanted to kill and see blood. Any living thing in her eyes appeared filthy to her. It was as if only killing and blood could make her feel comfortable.


    Boom!


    She threw the umbrella in her hand and allowed it to fall to the ground. Pressing her palms together as the pair of wings behind her crackled with lightning, she struck out with both her hands as though she was enveloped by lightning. A lightning beam then shot towards Zhou Wen.


    The officers on the other side watched as this scene unfolded, but they could not do anything. The distress drove them nuts.


    From their point of view, Zhou Wen was definitely doomed facing such an attack from Xu Wen in midair. Even if he was lucky to not die from the attack, he would end up like Xu Wen the moment he landed in the blood river.


    The azure lightning snaked at Zhou Wen as if it was about to swallow him.


    However, in everyone''s line of sight, Zhou Wen''s figure suddenly blurred as he vanished into thin air, leaving the officers stunned.


    By the time they saw Zhou Wen again, they realized that he was already standing on the other side of the river. He was standing behind Xu Wen, emitting a faint white light. He held onto the umbrella that was about to fall to the ground with one hand and holding something in his other hand. He then stabbed Xu Wen directly in the neck.


    The red-eyed Xu Wen immediately turned limp as Zhou Wen held an umbrella in one hand and held Xu Wen in the other. He leaped into the air and returned to the opposite shore like a hawk.

 267 Strange Person in the Rain

    "Don''t come over." Zhou Wen shouted coldly as he stopped the officers who were rushing over. He placed Xu Wen, who was moaning in pain, on the ground and said, "Do you have water? Bring me some water."


    The officers looked at Zhou Wen, who was covered in blood, and their eyes looked odd and complicated. They had no way of connecting him to the former prodigal student.


    "Yes." One of the officers answered and quickly brought a water bottle over.


    "Just throw it over and bring some more," Zhou Wen said.


    The officer quickly threw the water bottle over and the other officers quickly went to get more water too.


    Xu Wen felt as though her entire body was being stabbed by needles. She was so uncomfortable that she couldn''t say a word. However, her mind was a lot clearer. She watched as Zhou Wen used water to wash the blood rain from her face and hair before finally washing the blood rain from her armor. Then, he lifted her up and placed her on a clean patch of grass.


    "She will recover in a while. Take good care of her." Zhou Wen glanced at Xu Wen before standing up and flying across the river again.


    Xu Wen endured the pain as she pressed her hands against the ground to support her upper body. Seeing Zhou Wen''s figure disappear into the blood rain, an inexplicable expression appeared on her face.


    The officers surrounded her and asked, "Head Nurse Xu, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine." Xu Wen was still in great pain, but she could feel that her condition was improving.


    She didn''t know how Zhou Wen had done it. Up to this point, they had yet to come up with a method to effectively resist the blood rain. One could withstand the blood rain only if their physique was strong enough¡ªat the Epic stage¡ªcoupled with some protective Primordial Energy Skills.


    Once someone was infected by the blood rain, there was no proper treatment. As the head nurse, Xu Wen knew how terrifying the blood rain was.


    However, not only was Zhou Wen able to ignore the virus in the blood rain, but he was also able to remove the blood rain''s virus from her body. This left her feeling incredulous. There was no way to connect Zhou Wen with the prodigal student who stayed cooped up all day gaming and consuming tonics.


    Could it be that as long as one enters the An family, those who aren''t surnamed An will become strange? Another figure appeared in Xu Wen''s mind. It was a harmless-looking man who always wore a smile. Zhou Wen was extremely similar to the man she had met back then.


    Zhou Wen quickly proceeded through the blood rain. He had to quickly catch up with Lu Yunxian and company and track them down to find that Chi. After hearing Xu Wen''s description, Zhou Wen knew that the entity that swallowed the stone artifact was definitely a Chi.


    They were unable to see anything in the blood rain, but Zhou Wen could use Truth Listener''s powers to grasp his surroundings. Soon, he found Commander Lu and company.


    However, to Zhou Wen''s surprise, Commander Lu and company hadn''t gone far. They were proceeding forward very slowly.


    Although they were wearing custom raincoats, the blood rain had affected their visibility. They didn''t dare move too quickly, afraid that they might bump into dimensional creatures. Once their raincoats were torn, they would die.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know where the Chi was, so he could only follow them patiently. Thankfully, there was the blood rain. Zhou Wen didn''t need to stay too far from them, nor did he need to hide himself too much. All he needed to do was follow them since no one could discover him in the blood rain.


    With an umbrella in hand, Zhou Wen slowly proceeded through the blood rain while observing the situation ahead. If they encountered other dimensional creatures, Zhou Wen had to ensure their safety, to ensure that they could find the Chi that had swallowed the stone artifact.


    Lu Yunxian wore a heavy expression as he proceeded through the blood rain. Even at the Epic stage, he only had a visibility range of ten meters. He was blind to anything further.


    Under such circumstances, it was as if they were in a dangerous forest. The blood rain around them was like a dense bush, and it was possible for a venomous snake to jump out of it at any time.


    Even Lu Yunxian himself was terrified, let alone those Legendary officers.


    Suddenly, Lu Yunxian felt a chill run down his spine as an ominous feeling arose in his heart. He immediately shouted, "Be careful. There might be an enemy attack."


    Lu Yunxian believed in his intuition. This was something forged over the years while on the battlefield. Although it wasn''t necessarily accurate, it had saved his life many times.


    The group looked around, but it was useless. The blood rain affected their vision, preventing them from seeing anything.


    Lu Yunxian tried his best to look forward, but no matter how he tried, the raindrops quickly blurred the scenes. He vaguely made out a figure walking in front of him. He took a careful look, but he couldn''t confirm the figure.


    "Who''s that in front? Say something if you are human." Lu Yunxian shouted, but no one answered him except for the sound of rain.


    However, as the figure approached, Lu Yun finally saw it clearly. It was a strange person with black hair hanging low. He was drenched in the blood rain and his skin was stained with blood. It was certain that even if he was human, he was probably a monster now.


    "That''s a ghost¡­ a ghost¡­" Liu Chengzhi immediately shouted as he saw the figure, his voice filled with fear.


    "Vanguard team, attack." Lu Yunxian summoned his Companion Beast. It was a stone golem that could withstand the power of the blood rain.


    The other officers also summoned the few Companion Beasts that could withstand the blood rain as they charged alongside the stone golem.


    The few Companion Beasts used their various abilities to attack the strange person that was slowly walking through the blood rain. The Epic stone golem, in particular, struck the strange person''s head with a terrifying punch.


    Bam!


    The strange person''s head exploded before his entire body exploded, splattering into black liquid.


    The group of officers cheered, but halfway through their cheers, their faces froze. This was because the Companion Beasts that were stained with the black liquid appeared to be snow that made contact with burning charcoal as they emitted large amounts of white gas.


    A few Legendary Companion Beasts instantly melted into a pool of liquid. The stone golem''s body was riddled with holes from the corrosion, and its arms were cracked apart. One of its legs corroded and broke off as it fell into the pool of blood.


    Under the horrified gazes of the group, the black liquid once again coagulated into the black-haired person, who had half his face covered by black hair. He opened his mouth and gave them a silent and eerie laugh. It left everyone''s scalp tingling as they suffered goosebumps. They wished they could immediately turn around and flee.


    However, as soldiers, although they were terrified, they still raised their weapons and launched their most intense attack on the strange person the moment they heard Lu Yunxian''s order.


    The sword and saber beams criss-crossed as Lu Yunxian''s punch was as violent as a volcanic eruption. It was the most domineering strike under his Life Soul Fire General''s augmentation. It could even melt solid gold.

 268 The Person Under the Umbrella

    The strange person''s figure rapidly moved like a wandering spirit amidst the attack. He appeared and disappeared randomly like a ghost, causing all the attacks to miss.


    Lu Yunxian''s domineering explosive punch created a ravine that was more than ten meters long, evaporating large amounts of blood, but it didn''t damage the strange person at all.


    "Ah!" One of the officers retreated in shock. The strange person had appeared in front of him and his eyes were completely black without any white. He looked at him through his hair and left him horrified. He couldn''t help but scream and retreat.


    However, the strange person''s hand had already grabbed at his neck, his hand like a ghastly claw.


    "How dare you!" Lu Yunxian threw out a tempestuous punch as the flames roared out like a tiger.


    However, the strange person''s figure disappeared in the blood rain. When he appeared again, he was behind the officer. His ghastly claws were just moments from grabbing the officer''s head.


    Instantly, everyone felt a chill rise in their hearts. They knew very well that with one death, it would only be a matter of time before all of them were wiped out.


    If one couldn''t find a way to defeat the dimensional creature, they would easily be wiped out. The only way out was to escape.


    Lu Yunxian also knew this very well. Therefore, he had already prepared to give the order to retreat, hoping that as many of them could escape as possible. He would then hold back this terrifying dimensional creature alone. He was willing to sacrifice his life.


    Just as the strange person''s claws were about to grab the young officer''s head, a bright beam of light shone from afar and landed on the strange person.


    Under the light, the strange person subconsciously raised his hands to block his face. Then, he looked in the direction of the bright light.


    "All of you, move back." When a voice sounded, the officer finally reacted and rushed out of the strange person''s range.


    The other officers, including Lu Yunxian, subconsciously retreated a distance.


    Hum!


    With a resonating hum, a Bamboo Blade streaked through the sky, tearing through the blood rain and stabbing straight into the strange person''s body. Then, the strange person''s body transformed into a pool of black liquid that scattered to the ground. The Bamboo Blade was left diagonally embedded in the land that was covered by the blood rain.


    However, unlike before, the strange person didn''t revive again. Instead, he gradually mixed with the blood rain and seeped into the mud.


    Lu Yunxian and company looked in the direction of the Bamboo Blade. They didn''t know who had saved them. However, Lu Yun found the voice rather familiar. He also seemed to have seen this strange Bamboo Blade somewhere before, but he couldn''t recall where.


    Soon, they saw a figure walking across the pool of blood. That person was holding an umbrella in his hand, but he wasn''t wearing the heavy and bulky custom raincoat they were wearing. That person was only wearing ordinary black armor as he walked through the blood. His body had made contact with the blood, but he wasn''t infected by the blood rain''s virus. Lu Yunxian couldn''t help but sigh in amazement, thinking that the person holding the umbrella in front of him must be an extremely powerful Epic expert.


    Lu Yunxian noticed that the umbrella looked familiar. After some careful thought, he realized that he also had one. However, he had left it in the jeep and not brought it along. It would be useless in a place like this.


    The person with the umbrella walked to the Bamboo Blade that was diagonally planted into the ground. He reached out to pull it out and sheathed it.


    As his face was obscured by the umbrella, Lu Yunxian couldn''t see his face clearly. He gave a standard military salute and said, "Thank you for saving us, my friend. I wonder if you can leave a name. I, Lu Yunxian, from the Sunset Army''s Seventh Brigade, Third Battalion, am eternally grateful. I will definitely repay you someday¡­"


    Upon hearing Lu Yunxian speak, the person looked up at him. The umbrella slightly tilted up, and Lu Yunxian finally saw the person''s face clearly. Then, he was completely stunned. His mouth was wide open, at a loss for words.


    Not only Lu Yunxian, but all the officers from the three camps widened their eyes in disbelief as they looked at the face that was revealed under the umbrella. They were all dumbfounded.


    The blood rain continued to fall, but apart from that, there was a dead silence.


    "Commander Lu, there''s not much time left. Let''s hurry up and find the dimensional creature that swallowed the stone artifact." Zhou Wen walked forward with the Bamboo Blade in hand.


    He originally didn''t want to show his face, but Lu Yunxian and the others were clearly no match against the Wangliang. In fact, Lu Yunxian''s strength wasn''t inferior to that of the Wangliang, especially with his fire powers being effective against it. However, in this boundless blood rain, his fire-elemental powers were greatly suppressed, while the Wangliang was greatly augmented. Just its ability to travel through liquid greatly increased its speed, preventing Lu Yunxian''s attack from being able to touch it.


    "Young Master Wen, Adjutant An ordered me to take good care of you, and absolutely not allow you to step into the ancient battlefield." The way Lu Yunxian addressed Zhou Wen was the same as before, but be it his tone or attitude, they were now completely different.


    Soldiers obeyed orders and respected experts. In the past, they viewed Zhou Wen as a prodigal scion. Therefore, no matter how honorable Zhou Wen''s identity was, they didn''t treat him with any respect.


    However, Zhou Wen had come to the ancient battlefield alone and killed the dimensional creature that they were helpless against. He had even saved one of their comrade''s lives. These feats immediately earned their respect.


    "But I''m already here, right?" Zhou Wen looked at Liu Chengzhi and asked, "How far is it from where you encountered that dimensional creature?"


    "There''s still about five kilometers left," Liu Chengzhi answered subconsciously.


    "Commander Lu, if it''s possible, let your subordinates return to the other side of the blood river. You, Liu Chengzhi, and I can then travel light and proceed at full speed. We have to use the shortest time to retrieve the stone artifact," Zhou Wen said to Lu Yunxian.


    Being in a place like this was no different from suicide for these Legendary officers.


    "Young Master Wen, take us along. We are not afraid of death. We can scout the path for you."


    "Young Master Wen, take us along. We can help."


    Before Lu Yunxian could say anything, the officers immediately cried out, showing their extreme agitation.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He really didn''t understand what was going through these people''s minds. It was as if it was a glorious thing to send themselves to their deaths.


    Perhaps the saying is right. The kind of leadership determines the type of followers. Judging from how Xu Wen, Lu Yunxian, and the rest act, I can imagine what kind of leader they have. Zhou Wen suddenly felt that the man he never took seriously might be more terrifying than he imagined.


    Zhou Wen had no idea how a leader could make a soldier be willing to die. At the very least, he couldn''t, nor did he want to do it.


    "Immediately return to the blood river and make preparations for any rescued casualties. That''s an order." Lu Yunxian knew that he had been too idealistic previously. Legendary officers and their Companion Beasts were useless here. The Primordial Gold firearms were almost useless. Letting them stay behind would be no different from sending them to their deaths.


    He strictly ordered the officers to return the way they had come, leaving Liu Chengzhi and Zhou Wen behind. Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Young Master Wen, I have a question for you. Please answer me truthfully."

 269 Stone Chi

    "What?" Zhou Wen frowned.


    "Did you plan on entering the ancient battlefield before you came to Zhuzhuo? Or did you decide on it at the last minute?" Lu Yunxian asked.


    "Is there a difference if I already had a plan?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Yes. If you had already made a plan, you would naturally have made a lot of preparations. It wouldn''t be as easy to die here. If it''s just a spur of the moment, I will send you back no matter what," said Lu Yunxian.


    "I have indeed made a lot of preparations. It shouldn''t be that easy to die. Let''s go. We don''t have time to waste. We need to find the stone artifact and take it to the ruins as soon as possible." Zhou Wen looked at Liu Chengzhi and said, "Lead the way. Just walk forward. If I don''t say stop, continue walking."


    Liu Chengzhi nodded. Due to Zhou Wen''s arrival, the fear in his heart lessened significantly.


    They had previously encountered the Wangliang, and many had died. However, Zhou Wen had easily killed one. This did plenty to assuage his fear.


    The trio continued on. Although they were fewer in number, the atmosphere was not as oppressive as before.


    Lu Yunxian watched as Zhou Wen walked ahead with the umbrella open. He found it somewhat odd, having no way of connecting this Zhou Wen to the one he had known previously.


    "Stop." Lu Yunxian suddenly heard Zhou Wen''s voice and hurriedly stopped to look at him. Seeing Zhou Wen staring ahead, he traced Zhou Wen''s gaze and saw nothing but the blood rain.


    "Liu Chengzhi, retreat now." Zhou Wen walked in front of Liu Chengzhi and pulled out his Bamboo Blade.


    When the rain hit the blade, not a drop remained on it as they streaked straight down. Even in the rain, the Bamboo Blade remained untainted as it shimmered with a cold glint.


    After a while, Lu Yunxian saw another strange person walk through the rain and approach them. It looked identical to the strange person they had met earlier. He couldn''t help but be put on alert as he gathered his strength to prepare for battle.


    Zhou Wen immediately moved as his eyes shot out a light beam that shone down on the strange person''s body. In the next second, Zhou Wen''s figure had vanished. When he appeared again, the Bamboo Blade pierced through the strange person''s body, causing it to explode into a mass of black liquid. A dimensional crystal dropped as a result.


    Lu Yunxian glanced at Zhou Wen as he found it increasingly bizarre. He wondered if Zhou Wen really was a student at the Legendary stage. In this terrifying place where even an Epic stage expert was treading on thin ice, he seemed to be in control of everything. He could easily kill a dimensional creature, that even he was helpless against, with a swing of his saber.


    "Let''s continue," Zhou Wen said to Liu Chengzhi as he picked up the dimensional crystal.


    "Yes, Young Master Wen." Liu Chengzhi was a lot more spirited. After responding, he took large strides forward, the fear in his heart seemingly lessened.


    During the rest of the journey, Zhou Wen and company didn''t encounter any dimensional creatures. There weren''t many dimensional creatures on the ancient battlefield to begin with, but every one of them was terrifying and had their own unique traits.


    If it wasn''t for Zhou Wen''s deep understanding of them that he gleaned from the game as well as knowing the method to counter these dimensional creatures, the three of them would have long died.


    After walking for more than five kilometers, they still didn''t see any signs of the Chi which Liu Chengzhi had mentioned. It was unknown if Liu Chengzhi had led them in the wrong direction or if that Chi had already gone somewhere else.


    "Old Liu, how much farther do we have to go?" Lu Yunxian also felt that they had gone too far and asked.


    Liu Chengzhi scratched his head and said, "We should have already reached the area where we encountered it, but for some reason, we didn''t see any traces of it."


    When Liu Chengzhi said that, Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian felt that something was amiss. If that Chi had really left this area, where could they find it when the ancient battlefield was so huge?


    Besides, there wasn''t only one Chi on the battlefield. How would they know which one was the one that swallowed the stone artifact?


    "Don''t walk any further. Let''s try to search the vicinity." The ChiMeiWangliang that Zhou Wen encountered in the game all loitered in a fixed area. They didn''t wander off too far.


    However, this was reality and not a game. No one knew if the Chi would remain here.


    The three of them adjusted their direction slightly and searched the surrounding ruins. After searching in trepidation for a while, Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised to find a Chi.


    However, after seeing the Chi, Zhou Wen frowned and said to Liu Chengzhi, "Confirm if it''s that monster who swallowed the stone artifact you brought back."


    Zhou Wen had seen many Chi in-game. They were mostly identical in appearance, so there was no difference.


    However, this Chi was clearly different from the ones Zhou Wen had seen. Typically, they were all in black-scaled armor. Although they looked strange, they looked like living beings.


    The Chi in front of him was different. Its body was grayish-white and it looked like a stone sculpture. If it hadn''t slowly walked over, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t have believed it to be a living thing.


    Liu Chengzhi couldn''t see it at first. Only when the Chi came closer did he finally see it clearly. His face was filled with puzzlement. "From the looks of it, it doesn''t seem wrong, but the one we saw looked like a living thing. Why does this one look like a stone statue?"


    The moment Liu Chengzhi said that, the Chi roared as a gray flame rose from its body. Then, Zhou Wen and company felt the ground quake violently.


    "No good. Quick, dodge." Zhou Wen flew up and, at the instant his feet left the ground, stone spears pierced out from the ground.


    Lu Yunxian and Liu Chengzhi jumped up as well, dodging the sharp stone spears.


    They did not have the ability to withstand the blood rain. If they were stabbed by the spears, even if they survived it, they would probably still be dead if their custom raincoats were damaged.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled. This Chi was somewhat different from what he had seen in the game. It even had different skills.


    The Chi roared as it charged forward. As he didn''t know anything about it, Zhou Wen didn''t dare to forcefully fight it. He summoned the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, hoping to test the strange Chi''s powers.


    Although the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was only at the Legendary stage, it had the Life Providence of Golden Body and the Invulnerable Golden Power skill. Previously, it had been able to withstand two to three blows from a Chi in-game without dying.


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior standing in its way, the Chi rolled its eyes and shot out two blurry gray beams of light that shot straight at it.


    Seeing another skill he had never seen before, Zhou Wen immediately felt ominous. However, it was already too late for him to dismiss the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. When the light landed, its body cracked like tempered glass. In the next second, it was reduced to fragments that fell all over the ground. It had been killed.

 270 The Strange Chi

    Zhou Wen felt his heart wince in pain. Although the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior was only a Legendary pet, it was extremely rare. Furthermore, it was a tank. Zhou Wen had always used it to scout in-game, so with him dead, it was impossible for him to revive like in-game.


    Zhou Wen''s tattoo that represented the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior also vanished. It made Zhou Wen realize that this wasn''t a game, and he only had one life. If he died, that was it.


    Lu Yunxian let out a roar and struck out with an explosive flaming fist. The terrifying flames charged towards the Stone Chi like a ferocious tiger.


    A light beam shot out from the Stone Chi''s eyes once again and collided with the flaming tiger. A violent explosion occurred in the air and the flaming tiger and light beam dissipated together.


    Flames burst out from Lu Yunxian''s body, as though a flaming general had possessed him. He continuously released flames with his fists, each punch like a ferocious tiger pounce as they rushed towards the Stone Chi.


    Although the light beam the Stone Chi shot out was powerful, the speed at which it shot was relatively slow. The time gap between shots was a little long, so it was unable to withstand the numerous flaming tiger punches.


    Seeing that more than ten flaming tigers were about to hit it, it roared and the gray gas over its body condensed into a grayish-white stone dragon.


    The stone dragon opened its mouth and took a deep breath before swallowing the flaming tigers. It didn''t even make a sound, as though its stomach was a bottomless abyss.


    Although the power of the stone dragon Life Soul was terrifying, Zhou Wen had already seen it in-game. He wasn''t surprised, but instead glad to see something he knew.


    At the very least, this strange Stone Chi still retained some of its powers and characteristics. It was not completely different.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have any intention of helping Lu Yunxian in the battle against the Stone Chi. Instead, all he did was watch from the side.


    After all, he was only at the Legendary stage. Before he figured out the Stone Chi''s strengths and weaknesses, even if he went up to help, it would not be of much use. It might even affect Lu Yunxian''s performance.


    Sometimes, appropriate observation could be more efficient than direct combat. Zhou Wen waited patiently by the side for an opportunity.


    Lu Yunxian was indeed the commander of a battalion. His flaming powers were extremely tempestuous. Other than being a little slow, the other aspects were considered quite impressive amongst those at the Epic stage.


    Furthermore, with the augmentation of the Flaming General Life Soul, Lu Yunxian kept striking out with the Flaming Tiger Fist without any signs of Primordial Energy depletion.


    The man and Chi fought an intense battle, but the Stone Chi clearly held the upper hand. The stone dragon Life Soul on its body could devour all of Lu Yunxian''s flaming tiger punches with a single inhale. It looked like it was completely effortless.


    Fortunately, the stone dragon wasn''t able to redirect the attacks like the Purple Air Bells. It just swallowed the attack; otherwise, it would have been even more terrifying.


    The Stone Chi was unable to break through Lu Yunxian''s Flaming Tiger Fist and became a little irritable. It actually tried to charge at Lu Yunxian, slamming straight into the Flaming Tiger Fist. It ended up retreating from the blow, but its body didn''t suffer any damage. With a roar, it rushed over again.


    The stone dragon swallowed and the light in the Stone Chi''s eyes shone out gray rays. It forcefully broke through the airtightness of the Flaming Tiger Fist and slammed into Lu Yunxian.


    Lu Yunxian hurriedly summoned a few Companion Beasts because his best stone golem had already died in the previous battle. Although the few that he could use weren''t bad, they weren''t as good as the stone golem.


    The Stone Chi wreaked havoc as its gigantic claws ripped at him while sweeping its eye rays across. In moments, all the Companion Beasts that Lu Yunxian summoned were killed.


    Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed when he saw this. The Stone Chi hadn''t used the black smoke skill of ordinary Chi. This left Zhou Wen somewhat helpless.


    When in-game, Zhou Wen used the Purple Air Bells to absorb the black smoke from the Chi before letting it have a taste of its own medicine.


    The black smoke possessed powerful hypnotic powers that even the Chi couldn''t withstand. Therefore, Zhou Wen was able to easily kill the Chi.


    However, this Stone Chi hadn''t released any black smoke skills the entire time. Zhou Wen had no way of absorbing it even if he wanted to.


    Now, all I can do is absorb the Stone Chi''s gray ray. Seeing that Lu Yunxian was no longer able to put up a fight, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait any longer. He summoned the Purple Air Bell and, with a flash, arrived beside Lu Yunxian.


    The Stone Chi''s ray was directed at Lu Yunxian, so when Zhou Wen appeared in front of him, he raised the Purple Air Bell to meet the incoming gray ray.


    Immediately, he saw a blurry light shoot into the interior of the bell as though it had been slurped up like noodles.


    Then, Zhou Wen held the bell and shook it at the Stone Chi. A thick gray pillar of light spewed out from the bell''s mouth as it shot towards the Stone Chi.


    Bam!


    The ray shot out from the Stone Chi''s eyes clashed with the pillar of light from the bell. However, it was shattered. Just as the light pillar was about to land on its body¡ª


    The stone dragon Life Soul let out a roar as it opened its mouth and inhaled. It swallowed the pillar of light, averting any harm to the Stone Chi.


    Indeed, it doesn''t work. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    Previously, when he used black smoke to deal with the Chi, if the black dragon Life Soul were to suck the black smoke, it too would fall into a slumber. Now, there were none of the benefits.


    Lu Yunxian took the opportunity to attack the Stone Chi, but his attacks failed to be effective.


    Zhou Wen relied on his Purple Air Bell''s powers to absorb the Stone Chi''s rays as he joined forces with Lu Yunxian. All he could do was hold back the Stone Chi, but killing it was nearly impossible.


    Before long, Lu Yunxian''s punches began to weaken. Although he was augmented by Flaming General, his Primordial Energy consumption was just too high. He could not hold on much longer.


    Zhou Wen allowed Doctor Darkness to possess him as he used Light of Penetration to illuminate the Stone Chi, but the result left Zhou Wen alarmed. Under Light of Penetration, the Stone Chi''s body was covered in a gray blur that prevented him from seeing through anything.


    What''s going on? Why can''t I see through it? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled.


    Previously, when he was fighting Wangliangs and Chis, he could use the Light of Penetration to observe their bodies'' interior. But now, it was completely ineffective. It could only mean that this Stone Chi was extraordinary.


    Could it be that this Stone Chi is the Chi that devoured the stone artifact? The stone artifact affected it, making it undergo such a strange mutation? Zhou Wen secretly guessed.


    At that moment, the Stone Chi''s patience seemed to be completely worn out by the duo. It roared as the stone dragon emitted a dragon roar before spewing out a mouthful of gray smoke.


    The gray smoke looked like the normal black dragon''s black smoke, but the color was a little different.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the luxury of time to think. He raised the Purple Air Bell and sucked in the gray smoke as he saw it surge into the Purple Air Bell''s interior.

 271 Stone Artifac

    When the gray smoke was sucked into the Purple Air Bell, Zhou Wen''s expression changed drastically.


    The metallic purple bell began to turn grayish-white as though its surface was covered in a layer of ash. Furthermore, it was rapidly petrifying and seemed moments from becoming a rock.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare hesitate. He hurriedly shook the Purple Air Bell and spat out the gray smoke inside.


    The gray smoke swept towards the Stone Chi, only to be sucked in by the stone dragon.


    Unlike before, the gray smoke was ineffective against the stone dragon Life Soul. The stone dragon remained brimming with energy, but the Purple Air Bell in Zhou Wen''s hand was still gray. It didn''t recover from its original appearance after releasing the gray smoke.


    There''s definitely something wrong with this Stone Chi. If it really turned into this because it swallowed the stone artifact, what is that stone object? How can it have such terrifying power? What did Ouyang Lan and company encounter in that stone cave? Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    The Stone Chi let out a ferocious roar as it charged after Zhou Wen. Rays shot out from its eyes and thankfully, Zhou Wen''s movement technique was as fast as lightning, allowing him to duck the Stone Chi''s attack.


    Lu Yunxian hurriedly struck out his Flaming Tiger Fist to remedy the situation, but it was devoured by the stone dragon Life Soul. This resulted in the Stone Chi changing its target as it pounced towards Lu Yunxian.


    Lu Yunxian was wearing the raincoat, so he couldn''t use his body to block the attacks of the Stone Chi. If he did, his raincoat would definitely tear and that would spell certain doom for him.


    Seeing that Lu Yunxian had nowhere to retreat to, Zhou Wen hurriedly used Ghost Steps to appear behind the Stone Chi as he slashed at its neck with Bamboo Blade.


    The stone dragon Life Soul that was wrapped around the Stone Chi''s body roared and spat out the gray smoke at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen could only retreat. The Purple Air Bell couldn''t withstand the gray smoke, much less him. He naturally didn''t dare to clash head-on with it.


    Lu Yunxian rolled on the ground in a sorry state before dodging the ray shot from the Stone Chi''s eyes. Instantly, the Stone Chi broke out into a frenzy, forcing Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian to flee.


    Liu Chengzhi had not fully recovered from his injuries, and his Companion Beast had already been sacrificed. He didn''t have any combat strength, so all he could do was use his machine gun to shoot at the Stone Chi.


    However, when the bullets mixed with Primordial Gold hit the Stone Chi, there was no effect at all. They bounced off it like billiard balls.


    Seeing that Lu Yunxian could not hold on any longer and the Stone Chi was about to catch up with him, Zhou Wen summoned Ghost Bride and sent her over to release Yin Wind Claw at the Stone Chi''s back.


    However, the effects of the Yin Wind Claw were very limited. Basically, they amounted to a mere scratch of an itch.


    The Chi turned its head and shot a glance at Ghost Bride. A gray ray through Ghost Bride''s body, but it failed to cause any damage. However, Zhou Wen noticed Ghost Bride''s body trembling clearly. It was as though she had been struck by lightning and her aura had clearly weakened.


    This Stone Chi is ridiculous! Zhou Wen was appalled when he saw that the Stone Chi could actually injure a ghost''s body.


    Knowing that this battle only had two outcomes¡ªlife or death, Zhou Wen could no longer hesitate. He held the Bamboo Blade as a mysterious and powerful aura surged out of him. Sigh of the King descended upon him, and the immense power made his body float in midair. He could levitate without needing any external help.


    Lu Yunxian dodged the Stone Chi''s attack in a sorry state when he saw a bolt of lightning flash from the sky and shoot straight for the Stone Chi''s body. Then, he saw streaks of lightning interweave against each other as they shuttled back and forth through the Stone Chi''s body. It was unbelievably fast.


    As it was too fast, even the Stone Chi failed to react. By the time it reacted, by having the stone dragon Life Soul spew out the gray smoke, Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal had already ended.


    After Transcendent Flying Immortal was done, Zhou Wen immediately widened his distance with Ghost Steps to dodge the rolling gray smoke. As his feet touched the ground, he quickly suppressed the Sigh of the King''s power once again.


    Just that split moment of usage was enough to make Zhou Wen feel as though all his muscles had been ripped apart in excruciating pain.


    Crack!


    The Stone Chi''s body shattered piece by piece, turning into a pile of rocks that scattered on the ground. Its body had actually been diced into a pile of rocks with Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Before Zhou Wen and company could rejoice, the rocks began moving again as though an invisible hand was building up toy blocks. They then pieced the rocks back together, restoring the lively and energetic Stone Chi.


    Lu Yunxian and Liu Chengzhi instantly felt despair. The Stone Chi was incomprehensibly strong. There was almost no loophole to speak of.


    Zhou Wen''s eyes flashed like lightning as they shimmered with a calm luster.


    When the Stone Chi was cleaved apart by Transcendent Flying Immortal, Truth Listener''s powers allowed him to piece together a projection of whatever he heard in his mind. At that time, Zhou Wen realized that there was a strange triangular stone in the Stone Chi when it was being diced up.


    The stone was different from the rocks that made up the Stone Chi. Although it was triangular in shape, there was a curve at the edge. In the middle, there was a circular hole that looked ancient and mysterious.


    Furthermore, when the Stone Chi was resurrected, it seemed like it had once again gathered the rubble with it at the center.


    "Liu Chengzhi, is the stone artifact you brought back a triangular piece of rock with a circular hole in the middle?" Zhou Wen shouted as he dodged the Stone Chi''s attacks.


    "How did you know?" Liu Chengzhi was stunned.


    Zhou Wen was now certain that the Stone Chi had mutated into this strange abomination thanks to the stone artifact.


    Without any hesitation, he used Sigh of the King once more, risking the damage to his body. As the terrifying power descended upon him, Zhou Wen felt his bones groan in pain as though they would suddenly break at any moment. His already tearing muscles even began to crack into bloody patterns.


    Zhou Wen endured the pain and once again used Ghost Steps, appearing beside the Stone Chi like a ghost.


    However, this time, the Stone Chi was prepared¡­ The moment Zhou Wen appeared, the stone dragon Life Soul spewed out a mouthful of gray smoke at him.


    Zhou Wen held the Purple Air Bell that seemed to be covered in dust as he sucked the gray smoke into it. However, this completely petrified the bell. Before Zhou Wen could shake it, cracks began to appear on its body as it shattered and was completely destroyed.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal! Releasing the bell, Zhou Wen drew his saber and used Transcendent Flying Immortal, transforming into a blur that criss-crossed around the Stone Chi as he constantly struck it.


    With the sharpness of Bamboo Blade, the terrifying power of the Sigh of the King, and the dominance of Transcendent Flying Immortal, he once again split apart the Stone Chi''s body.


    At the instant the Stone Chi''s body shattered, a cold glint flashed in Zhou Wen''s eyes as he threw out the Bamboo Blade in his hand. It manifested into a cold beam as it tore through the rubble and struck away a stone piece.


    Zhou Wen''s figure flashed with the use of Ghost Steps, arriving in front of the Bamboo Blade instantaneously. As he grabbed the Bamboo Blade, he pressed down on the stone piece.

 272 Killing the Stone Chi

    "Pfft!" When Zhou Wen pressed down on the stone, he couldn''t help but spit out a mouthful of blood. He had used the Sigh of the King for too long and his internal organs had been torn apart. He was already suffering from severe internal bleeding.


    If it were any ordinary person, they would have been dead, but Zhou Wen held on. He looked at the shattered stone that manifested the Stone Chi. If the Stone Chi wasn''t dead, the three of them would be doomed. Zhou Wen was powerless to continue fighting.


    Lu Yunxian and Liu Chengzhi stared intently at the pile of rubble. The entire world seemed to quieten down at that moment as the three of them could almost hear their rapidly-beating hearts.


    After the silence continued for a while, Liu Chengzhi was a little unsure, but he said hopefully, "It''s not¡­ It''s not moving¡­ It really seems to be dead¡­"


    Zhou Wen exhaled as he felt the pain in his body. It made him feel like his skin was being ripped off, but he still held onto the stone with one hand.


    When he first pressed down on the piece of stone, Zhou Wen could still sense it throbbing and struggling a few times. However, it quickly calmed down, as though it was a lifeless object.


    "Commander Lu, your raincoat¡­" Zhou Wen had just heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Liu Chengzhi exclaim.


    Zhou Wen looked at Liu Chengzhi and saw his horrified expression. He had his finger pointed at Lu Yunxian as his fingers trembled nonstop.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction of his finger and saw that Lu Yunxian''s custom raincoat had torn at his waist. Although the opening wasn''t large, the blood rain was already dripping in.


    Lu Yunxian didn''t know when the raincoat had been torn apart during the intense battle. The color in his face drained as his pupils gradually turned red.


    "Young Master Wen, I''m afraid I can''t accompany you any further. I have let down Adjutant An and failed to complete the mission he assigned me. I even brought you into the ancient battlefield. However, I beg you to take the stone artifact to the ruins and hand it over to Adjutant An. I''m sure you can do it." As Lu Yunxian spoke, his eyes became increasingly bloodshot. His breath also became heavier.


    "Young Master Wen, I''ll make a move now. I hope I can still be a member of the Sunset army in my next life." Chaos began to rule Lu Yunxian''s consciousness as bloodthirst overwhelmed his intelligence. He knew that he didn''t have much time left. Unwilling to become a rabid monster, he raised his fist that had gathered flames and was about to smash himself in the head.


    "Stop!" Zhou Wen endured his pain as he ordered Doctor Darkness to leave his body and charge at Lu Yunxian. At the same time, he activated his surgical skills.


    Lu Yunxian did not listen to Zhou Wen. He did not wish to die like a rabid dog.


    However, his fist did not land on his head. Dr. Soul''s scalpel was faster as it stabbed into his neck, causing his body to stiffen and become motionless.


    At the same time, Doctor Darkness came in front of Lu Yunxian. A syringe appeared in his hand as he stabbed into his blood vessel, injecting the poison into his body.


    Lu Yunxian felt the excruciating pain in his body. He could not help but let out a cry, but the blood color in his eyes gradually faded away as he slowly returned to normal.


    Zhou Wen propped himself up. With the stone artifact in one hand, he picked up the umbrella that he had thrown into the rain with the other. After shaking away the blood rain on it, he opened it. He then stood in front of Lu Yunxian and sheltered him with the umbrella.


    "Do you still have any armor-type Companion Beasts? Can they first block the damage from the rain?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Yunxian as he unsummoned Doctor Darkness.


    Lu Yunxian''s consciousness had mostly recovered. He could feel that the virus that had invaded his body was being expelled by the pain.


    "There isn''t any armor left, but I still have a Companion Beast that should be able to remedy the situation." Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression.


    Back when An Sheng ordered him to protect Zhou Wen, he had never imagined such a day would come. He never expected so many things to happen between him and Zhou Wen, making him feel as if he was in a dream.


    "Then quickly fix it. My body is very weak, so I''m afraid there''s no way for me to fight again. If we encounter a dimensional creature again, I''ll be relying on you," Zhou Wen said.


    Lu Yunxian gritted his teeth and nodded at Zhou Wen. Then, he summoned a Companion Beast. It was a snake that transformed into a strange leather belt. He wrapped it around his waist, perfectly blocking the hole on his raincoat.


    Zhou Wen staggered before he collapsed into the muddy ground that was covered in blood. The damage to his body was too serious. Despite switching to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, it was still difficult to completely recover in such a short period of time.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra''s restoration is still lacking. If only I could have Li Xuan''s Immortal God of Combat body, that would allow me to quickly recover from this injury. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    "Young Master Wen, are you alright?" Liu Chengzhi hurriedly came forward to help Zhou Wen.


    "Let him rest for a while." Lu Yunxian spoke, but his pupils suddenly constricted as his eyes widened.


    Liu Chengzhi struck Zhou Wen''s head with his palm, and the purple light from his palm flashed with a ghastly glow. His aura was not inferior to Lu Yunxian''s, and it was even more demonic and powerful.


    Lu Yunxian couldn''t figure out how Liu Chengzhi, who had yet to recover from his injuries, could produce such terrifying strength. Even in perfectly good condition, he wouldn''t have such strength, let alone when he was seriously injured.


    Furthermore, Lu Yunxian knew that Liu Chengzhi likely cultivated a wind-elemental Primordial Energy Art, but his palm was clearly not wind-elemental.


    There was no time for Lu Yunxian to think further. Liu Chengzhi was too close to Zhou Wen, so there was no way for him to dodge the strike. Furthermore, Zhou Wen''s body was too weak.


    Without thinking, Lu Yunxian extended his hand, hoping to use his arm to block Zhou Wen''s strike.


    However, Zhou Wen was faster than Lu Yunxian. He raised the stone artifact in his hand and parried Lu Yunxian''s arm, causing Liu Chengzhi''s palm to land on the stone artifact.


    Bam!


    A blurry light emitted from the stone artifact. The purple light on Liu Chengzhi''s palm shattered as he retreated a few steps due to the recoil. Standing amid the rain of blood, he stared at Zhou Wen with an odd expression.


    The raincoat covering his palm had torn, and his unshielded palm was exposed to the blood rain. However, the blood rain had failed to penetrate his body.


    "You are not Liu Chengzhi, who exactly are you?" Lu Yunxian stared at Liu Chengzhi and asked.


    Although Liu Chengzhi was also an Epic, he was only considered average among them. Even Lu Yunxian couldn''t fend off the blood rain with his bare body, much less Liu Chengzhi.


    "Hehe¡­ I''m Liu Chengzhi¡­" Liu Chengzhi''s expression and voice became strange. It was clearly a man''s body, but his demeanor and voice were that of a woman''s.

 273 Paper Slip

    "You are the Mei, the succubus." Sitting in the rain of blood, Zhou Wen suddenly stared at Liu Chengzhi after some thought.


    There were three types of monsters among the ChiMeiWangliang, but despite seeing the Wangliang and Chi, Zhou Wen hadn''t seen the Mei. Now, Liu Chengzhi didn''t look like a normal human in any way.


    "Hehe¡­ You''re really smart¡­ You actually saw through my identity. What a pity that I failed to kill you despite having such a good opportunity." As Liu Chengzhi spoke, his body trembled strangely. A strange purple smoke drifted out of his seven orifices.


    The purple smoke gradually gathered together, transforming into a blurry purple figure. However, the figure was enveloped by the purple smoke. Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian could only see a woman''s figure, but they couldn''t see what she looked like.


    After the purple smoke completely wafted out, Liu Chengzhi''s body collapsed. He no longer had an aura that a living person should have. He was obviously a dead person, and his body was rapidly rotting.


    "I didn''t see through your identity previously, but I found it a little strange. Why was it only you who managed to escape? From my point of view, you weren''t equipped with the possibility of escaping. Besides, I''m born with a cold personality, so it''s hard for me to trust anyone. I''m wary of anyone," Zhou Wen said.


    "I see. I imagined that you had long seen through me considering how you could call out my name," the purple figure said with a giggle.


    "Why did you possess Liu Chengzhi''s body and trick us here?" Zhou Wen only wanted to stall for time so that his body could recover a little more.


    The Mei in front of him might be more difficult to deal with than Stone Chi. Although the Stone Chi was strong, its intelligence wasn''t high. In contrast, the purple figure was full of tricks.


    "That Chi was lucky to have swallowed the stone artifact that Liu Chengzhi and the others had brought out. By the time I discovered it and rushed here, it had already begun to evolve and I was no longer its match. Therefore, I could only think of a way to lure you humans here and hope that both of you would suffer a deadly outcome. However, I didn''t expect that you humans only had such a pittance of strength left. I was originally a little disappointed, believing that my chances were null. I never expected a human like you to appear. It was quite a pleasant surprise."


    As the Mei spoke, she gave a coquettish laugh and said to Zhou Wen charmingly, "I still have to thank you for helping me kill the Stone Chi and retrieve the stone artifact. The power in your body sure is potent. It even makes me feel fear. It''s truly amazing. Unfortunately, your body is too weak. It''s impossible for you to withstand such a potent force. If you still wish to use it, your body will explode from that force even without me raising a finger. Your body is on the edge of breaking down. You can no longer fight me. If you were to offer the stone artifact to me with both hands, I will spare your lives and allow the two of you to leave Zhuolu alive."


    "Young Master Wen, leave now. I''ll stop her," Lu Yunxian stood in front of Zhou Wen and said with a burning gaze.


    The Mei curled her lips disdainfully. "The potency of your flames have been reduced to less than 70% of its original might in the Lord of the Rain''s Baneful Blood Rain. Furthermore, you''ve just been injured and you don''t even have half your full combat strength. I only need a moment to kill you. Where can a person whose body is about to collapse run?"


    "It looks like you''ve planned everything," Zhou Wen said as he looked at her. Although he believed that one could change their destiny, he had to admit that ever since he obtained the Bamboo Blade, his luck had really changed drastically. He had been in danger several times.


    "I was luckier than my plan called for. Since you aren''t willing to hand over the stone artifact, I have no choice but to pull it out from your fingers when you are dead." The Mei saw through Zhou Wen''s thoughts as a purple light suffused her body and she walked towards him.


    Lu Yunxian gathered his strength and punched out with Flaming Tiger Fist. However, the Mei extended her hand and pressed the top of the flaming tiger''s head with her slender palm. The flaming tiger instantly extinguished as though it was a pricked bubble.


    "As I said, your combat strength is less than 50%. Killing you will be too easy," said the Mei as she walked.


    "It won''t be difficult for you to obtain this stone artifact, but can you tell me what it is before I give it to you?" Zhou Wen asked as he held the stone artifact.


    "There''s no harm in telling you. In the Zhuolu battle years ago, there was a clash between two dimensional life-forms. The stone artifact was the holy object of one side," said the Mei.


    "Wasn''t the Zhuolu battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou? They are all humans. How did they involve dimensional life-forms?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "They are human, but what they represent aren''t just humans. Otherwise, how could two mere humans invite so many terrifying dimensional creatures to participate in the battle?" said the Mei indifferently. "The two of them are merely representatives of different dimensional life-form factions in the mortal world. The dimensional life-form represented by the Yellow Emperor is a race that treats stones as holy. And the dimensional creature represented by Chiyou treats metal as holy. The stone artifact you have is one of the holy artifacts that Yellow Emperor obtained from the stone-elemental dimensional life-forms.


    "According to what I know from legends, ChiMeiWangliang were creatures that stood on Chiyou''s side. If the legend is right, what use does the Yellow Emperor''s stone artifact have on you?" Zhou Wen tried to stall for time, but his injuries were too serious. It was impossible for him to recover so quickly.


    As he spoke to the Mei, his mind raced in search of a chance for survival.


    However, no matter how he racked his brains, the situation was just as the Mei had said. He was already in a hopeless situation and there was no possibility of him defeating her.


    He no longer had the ability to fight, and Lu Yunxian was no match for her. The only useful combat strength he had left was Doctor Darkness. However, his combat abilities were not strong to begin with. He was more geared towards functionality than combat.


    The Mei had also witnessed the abilities of Doctor Darkness. If she lacked confidence dealing with Doctor Darkness, she wouldn''t have taken action.


    "It''s useless to stall for time. However, there''s no harm in telling you. That stone artifact is extremely beneficial to any dimensional life-form." As the Mei spoke, she walked over and grabbed Zhou Wen''s head with her hand that had a purple halo.


    Lu Yunxian immediately took action while Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness. He wanted to use the scalpel to fix the Mei in place.


    However, when Dr. Soul''s scalpel stabbed into her body, it pierced straight through. It did not work on her. Instead, Lu Yunxian was sent flying by the Mei''s purple halo as he fell into a pool of blood. The situation looked extremely bad.


    Teacher! I can only rely on you to save me now. Zhou Wen was already at the end of his rope. Apart from using the Sigh of the King to risk his life again, he couldn''t think of any other solution. He couldn''t help but think of the tiny box Wang Mingyuan had given him before he left.


    Zhou Wen remembered that there was a paper slip written by Wang Mingyuan in it. He didn''t know what was written on it, but hoping to make a Hail Mary effort, Zhou Wen hurriedly pulled out the box from the chaos space and opened it. He took out the slip and saw the words written on it.


    "Kneel and beg for mercy!" Zhou Wen nearly spewed a mouthful of blood when he read the words.

 274 Kneel and Beg for Mercy

    Teacher, this joke isn''t funny at all. You are killing me. Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry nor did he feel angry. He never expected Wang Mingyuan to pull his leg, so he was momentarily at a loss.


    If kneeling to beg for mercy was useful, humans wouldn''t die in dimensional zones. After all, there were more people who cherished their lives than people who cherished their pride.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen felt as though he had reached the end of his rope. Although he had the stone artifact in hand, it didn''t have the ability to initiate an attack. Even if he were to feed it to a Companion Beast, it wouldn''t be effective. If there was an effect, it would require an evolutionary process that wasn''t instantaneous.


    In his current situation, he was probably minutes away from being killed by the Mei. He didn''t have the luxury of time.


    Why don''t¡­ I kneel down and beg for mercy¡­ Teacher wouldn''t be pulling my leg, right? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but have this thought come in his mind. Wang Mingyuan didn''t seem to have any reason to prank his student. Perhaps, it might really work.


    However, the Mei didn''t give Zhou Wen time to finish his thoughts. She had already attacked with the strange purple halo. Zhou Wen hurriedly blocked with the stone artifact.


    The stone artifact was tiny, while the strange purple halo seemed to blot out the sky. It was impossible for it to be effective at blocking.


    When the purple halo dawned on him, he saw a blinding blur in front of him. He could even see the Mei within the purple halo reaching out to grab his head. The palm was inches away.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought he was doomed, he suddenly saw the purple halo in front of him converge. And the Mei in front of him seemed to come under the influence of a powerful magnet on the ground. Her body sank down as she knelt on the ground with a thud, sending blood splattering everywhere.


    Zhou Wen stared blankly at the Mei kneeling in front of him, at a loss.


    The Mei knelt on the ground with both hands pressing down on the ground. Her knees and hands sank into the mud as her body trembled. She seemed to be using all her strength to prop herself up, but she just couldn''t.


    Her head seemed to be attracted by an invisible magnetic force as she slowly sank into the ground. No matter how hard she struggled, she could not lift her head up.


    The Mei let out a terrifying scream as purple gases rose from her body. She struggled to get up, but she was unable to move. The invisible force was so strong that she could only bow her head.


    Did the stone artifact show its powers? This was the first thought in Zhou Wen''s mind, but he immediately rejected the idea.


    The stone artifact was still the same as before. It did not produce any energy fluctuations at all. Unless an attack was directed onto it, it wouldn''t have any reaction. The Mei''s attack had yet to touch it, so how could it have unleashed such a powerful force?


    If it could really produce such powerful strength to protect others, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have been able to kill the Stone Chi so easily.


    But if it''s not the stone artifact¡­ that leaves only¡­ No way¡­ Zhou Wen turned his gaze to the paper slip in his hand.


    It was an ordinary piece of white paper with the words "kneel and beg for mercy" written on it. As Wang Mingyuan liked calligraphy, the words were written with a brush. They were elegant with quite a flair. Each stroke contained a charm, making it a rare piece of excellent calligraphy that was in no way inferior to famous calligraphers. Even Zhou Wen, who didn''t know much, could tell that the calligraphy was beautiful.


    However, no matter how beautiful the words were, they were just words written on ordinary paper with normal ink.


    Zhou Wen looked at the piece of paper in his hand and immediately discovered something strange. Although it was ordinary and without any luster to it, none of the blood that rained down stained the piece of white paper at all. It was as though the raindrops automatically avoided it.


    It can''t be¡­ Teacher¡­ He wasn''t pulling my leg? Zhou Wen instantly felt like he had gone from hell back to heaven. He turned the piece of paper in his hand to read the words on it, hoping to see if they emitted supreme radiance to suppress the Mei in front of him.


    Zhou Wen turned the paper around and realized that the words on the paper were still the same. There was nothing special about it.


    However, when he pointed the four words at him, the Mei immediately lost her restraints. She leaped up from the ground, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    The Mei didn''t expect the invisible force on her body to suddenly vanish. Her struggles immediately bore fruit as she flew into the air.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly aimed the words ''kneel and beg for mercy'' at the Mei in the sky. Immediately, he saw the airborne Mei attracted to the ground by a powerful magnetic field. With a loud thud, she fell to the ground and landed on her knees with her hands pressed to the ground. She sprawled across the mud that was covered in blood and took on the kneeling posture.


    Teacher, I love you! Zhou Wen wished he could hug the paper slip and kiss it a few times. He never expected Wang Mingyuan''s words to have such an effect.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen shouted at Lu Yunxian, "Commander Lu, what are you waiting for? Quickly kill her!"


    Lu Yunxian was also stunned by what had just happened. He widened his eyes as he looked at the Mei kneeling in the pool of blood. With Zhou Wen''s shout, he immediately snapped out of his daze and gathered all of his strength. The Flaming General Life Soul erupted as he struck out with his Flaming Tiger Fist, slamming it at the kneeling and powerless Mei.


    The Mei was unable to defend herself and, just as the Flaming Tiger Fist was about to strike her, a trace of panic flashed in her eye. She slammed her head into the blood and shouted, "Spare me, great lord!"


    In the next second, the invisible force field that was suppressing the Mei seemed to disappear. The Mei''s figure charged into the sky and avoided Lu Yunxian''s Flaming Tiger Fist.


    Holy sh*t! When Zhou Wen saw this, he couldn''t help but curse. He wondered about his teacher''s reliability. He could dish out a suppression, but the enemy would be fine once they begged for mercy? What was the point?


    With the Mei liberated, wouldn''t he be in a hopeless situation again? Zhou Wen felt like he was about to go crazy from Wang Mingyuan''s antics.


    "Hehe, how dare you receive my kowtow? You are dead." The Mei laughed weirdly in midair, her voice filled with bone-chilling hatred.


    Having reigned supreme in the dimensions for so many years, she had kowtowed before, but that was to supreme rulers. How could she bow to a weak human like Zhou Wen? From her point of view, it was the worst insult she had ever experienced.


    With a terrifying purple halo, the Mei streaked across the void like a demonic purple beam, lunging straight at Zhou Wen.


    However, when the purple halo arrived in front of Zhou Wen, there was another loud thud. The Mei''s figure emerged from the purple beam as she found herself kneeling in the blood.


    "I¡­" Zhou Wen had no idea how to describe his feelings.

 275 Another Companion Egg

    Lu Yunxian made a prompt decision and immediately attacked the kneeling Mei.


    The Mei''s eyes were filled with indignation and humiliation, but she had no choice but to kowtow once more and shout, "Spare me, great lord!"


    With a shout, the Mei lost her restraints and flew into a retreat once again, turning into a purple mist; thus, avoiding Lu Yunxian''s Flaming Tiger Fist.


    This time, the Mei didn''t charge over as anger, resentment, indignation, and other emotions mixed together. She glared fiercely at Zhou Wen before quickly escaping amid the blood rain. Soon, she disappeared.


    "Just you wait, I''ll be back." A charming voice drifted from the blood rain, gradually becoming indiscernible.


    Zhou Wen sat in the pool of blood as he gasped for air. What had happened moments ago had been too intense. It made his heart palpitate and relax repeatedly. He felt his blood pressure was so bad that his blood vessels were about to burst.


    "Young Master Wen, what kind of treasure is that? Why is it so strange?" Lu Yunxian looked at the piece of paper in Zhou Wen''s hand and the words on it with an odd expression.


    "How would I know?" Zhou Wen folded the piece of paper and placed it back into the box.


    He did not tell Lu Yunxian that the piece of paper was given to him by Wang Mingyuan. According to what he knew, although Wang Mingyuan''s theoretical knowledge could be said to be a grandmaster of a generation, his cultivation level only placed him as an ordinary Epic.


    Yet, by just writing those words, he was able to suppress such a terrifying Epic creature. It made the Mei have no choice but to kowtow and beg for mercy. How was this an ordinary Epic level? It was simply terrifying.


    Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to let others know of this matter. Furthermore, he had no idea why Wang Mingyuan''s words possessed such extraordinary power.


    As for why Wang Mingyuan only restrained without killing, leaving the opponent a chance of survival, Zhou Wen could only guess that Wang Mingyuan probably didn''t want him to abuse the power in those words. Therefore, he left the words "beg for mercy," allowing a restrained creature to have a chance of survival.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know how powerful the words were, but against an ordinary Epic creature, it could be considered another life-saving charm. It was extremely important to Zhou Wen.


    "Commander Lu, let''s go." Zhou Wen endured the pain and stood up from the mud.


    "Can you still walk?" Lu Yunxian rushed forward to support Zhou Wen.


    "I have to. The principal is still waiting for the stone artifact to save his life. I have to take it over." Zhou Wen got Doctor Darkness to carry him.


    "The principal?" Lu Yunxian was first taken aback, momentarily unable to figure out who Zhou Wen was referring to.


    "The missing Old Mr. Ouyang. I believe Madam Lan should be trapped with him." Zhou Wen couldn''t forget saving the former principal. Others were secondary, so he blurted it out without paying attention.


    Lu Yunxian did not think too much about it as he nodded and said, "Madam Lan and Old Master Ouyang might be trapped in the passageway. Let''s rush over now."


    Zhou Wen had little combat strength and was weak, but he wasn''t too worried. At present, there were only three dimensional creatures¡ªChi, Mei, and Wangliang¡ªon the battlefield.


    Doctor Darkness had an effective advantage over Wangliang, and he still had a Purple Air Bell that was effective against Chi. With that paper slip on him, he wasn''t afraid of the Mei.


    At least they would not be in too much danger before they arrived at the ruins.


    What Zhou Wen was most worried about was not finding An Sheng and company at the ruins. If An Sheng and company had entered the ruins, it would be useless even if he held the stone artifact. He would probably have to enter by himself.


    "Hold on." Zhou Wen called out to Lu Yunxian and got Doctor Darkness to carry him towards the dead Stone Chi.


    Due to the intense battle just now, Zhou Wen hadn''t checked to see if the Stone Chi had dropped anything.


    Lu Yunxian had forgotten about the matter. Seeing how Zhou Wen wasn''t able to take action, he hurriedly walked over and moved the rocks aside to see if there were any crystal-like objects inside.


    Suddenly, Lu Yunxian''s eyes lit up. Beneath a rock was a gray stone egg. It was about the size of a fist, like a gray frosted cobblestone.


    "A Companion Egg?" Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian were delighted.


    With the Stone Chi so powerful, the Companion Egg it dropped wouldn''t be weak as long as Zhou Wen''s luck wasn''t too bad.


    "Young Master Wen, keep the Companion Egg well. This Companion Egg is no trifling matter. In the future, it will definitely be of great help when you hatch it after advancing to the Epic stage." Lu Yunxian had seen the might of the Stone Chi and knew that the Companion Beast was no trifling matter.


    Zhou Wen nodded and took the Companion Egg before letting Doctor Darkness carry him on their journey.


    It was dark, and in the midst of a rain of blood, Lu Yunxian walked ahead while Doctor Darkness followed behind with an umbrella in one hand to shield Zhou Wen from the rain.


    Zhou Wen held his cell phone and looked at the Stone Chi egg. Indeed, there was information about it.


    Mutated Stone Chi: Epic


    Life Providence: Stone Beast Ghost


    Life Soul: Petrified Dragon''s Son


    Strength: 40


    Speed: 34


    Constitution: 40


    Primordial Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Stone Laser, Earthly Spear Formation.


    Companion Form: Stone Armor


    It was a powerful Companion Beast with three of its stats reaching the limit of the Epic stage at 40 points. It also possessed two offensive skills. Furthermore, with its Life Providence and Life Soul, unless one encountered a nemesis, they were considered top-grade Companion Beasts at the Epic stage.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen''s current Primordial Energy was insufficient for him to incubate such a top-grade Epic Companion Beast. All he could do was put it into the chaos space.


    Zhou Wen lay on the back of Doctor Darkness and took out his cell phone to continue gaming. With Doctor Darkness shielding him from the elements, he was rather comfortable.


    With his attention focused on the game, the pain was greatly alleviated for him.


    What Zhou Wen wanted to do now was to find the source of the beheading power in the ruins and come up with a solution to resolve the problem.


    If An Sheng and company had really entered the ruins, he could only take the stone artifact in. If he couldn''t find the source of the beheading power, he wouldn''t be able to enter at all. Even if he rushed in recklessly, he would only be sending himself to his death. It was meaningless.


    Lu Yunxian walked for quite a while and, noticing that Zhou Wen wasn''t speaking, he turned to look at him. He realized that Zhou Wen was being carried on Doctor Darkness''s back while he gamed fanatically. He couldn''t help but marvel inwardly, As expected of Young Master Wen. I would never be able to game with such a relaxed mindset in such a place. It''s no wonder he has such achievements at such a young age.


    The human psyche was a very strange thing. When one decided that someone wasn''t good, then, no matter what he did, it was not good. However, once one had decided that the person was outstanding, one would feel that whatever he did was good and would come up with thousands of explanations.


    The present Lu Yunxian was a perfect example. No matter what Zhou Wen did, he found it extremely sublime and profound.


    I hope Ah Sheng hasn''t entered the ruins yet. Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.

 276 Realmwind

    Since Ghost Bride didn''t dare enter the underground tunnel, Zhou Wen could only let her circle the interior of the ruins.


    The entire ruin consisted mainly of broken stone walls and pillars in an area spanning a radius of more than ten kilometers. There was no dimensional creature to be seen. Even the blood rain''s scale reduced significantly.


    Ghost Bride had already searched the ruins several times, but Zhou Wen still failed to discover the root of the problem. When he sent Companion Beasts in, all of them were beheaded apart from Ghost Bride.


    It''s impossible that there aren''t any clues. Since Ouyang Lan and Ah Sheng can enter, it means that they must have discovered the source of the beheading power. Zhou Wen repeated, again and again, allowing his Companion Beasts to enter one after another. Then, he scrutinized how they were beheaded, hoping to find clues.


    It was true that nothing could be seen with his eyes, but after repeatedly listening with Truth Listener, Zhou Wen finally discovered the root of the problem.


    Every time Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast was beheaded, he would hear a faint sound.


    The sound was not produced from the severing of flesh and bone during the beheading. Instead, it was an extremely concealed sound that sounded like a breeze.


    However, it would be strange if that was the wind. As the ruins were very strange, even the blood rain outside suddenly stopped wafting in. Blood rain descended slowly like snowflakes, with no signs of a wind blowing.


    However, when the pets were beheaded, Zhou Wen heard the sound of the wind.


    After letting the Gold-Armored Beast enter the ruins again, Zhou Wen closed his eyes and listened attentively with Truth Listener''s powers.


    As the Gold-Armored Beast walked, something suddenly lopped off its head, but there was nothing there.


    Wind¡­ It''s indeed a wind¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly widened his eyes as the blood-colored avatar looked at the Gold-Armored Beast''s corpse in the ruins.


    At the instant the Gold-Armored Beast was beheaded, Truth Listener''s abilities had allowed him to capture traces of the wind. However, the wind that appeared out of nowhere did not come from the outside world. It was as if it had suddenly appeared beside the Gold-Armored Beast''s neck, chopping off its head.


    Wind can''t be generated for no reason, but no wind blew from the outside towards the Gold-Armored Beast. Where did the wind come from? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    "Commander Lu, do you know how winds are formed?" Zhou Wen suddenly looked up and asked Lu Yunxian who was ahead of him.


    Lu Yunxian thought for a moment and said, "According to the scientific explanations from the past, wind is a natural phenomenon caused by the flow of air. Under normal circumstances, the movement of the wind is facilitated by the heat of the sun. The temperature on the surface rises due to the sun''s rays, causing the temperature of the air above the surface to expand and rise¡­"


    After explaining how winds were formed, Lu Yunxian said, "I wasn''t a stellar student in school, so I only remember this. Young Master Wen, is what I said correct?"


    "I''m a lousier student." Zhou Wen fell into deep thought after hearing Lu Yunxian''s words.


    Zhou Wen didn''t sense any abnormality in temperature while inside the ruins. Furthermore, the blood rain poured straight down, so there weren''t any signs of airflow. He really couldn''t figure out how the wind could appear out of thin air.


    Battalion Commander Lu continued, "But in this era, there are many things that cannot be explained by science. Speaking of the wind, I do recall something. When Madam Lan was watching the blood rain, she said that the blood rain might be the Baneful Blood Rain produced by Chiyou''s subordinate, Lord of the Rain. And equal to him, is another mighty god also subordinate to Chiyou named Wind God. He was proficient in the wind. Madam Lan said that he possesses a wind force known as Realmwind."


    "What''s Realmwind?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked as he realized something.


    Battalion Commander Lu''s words reminded him that Wind God and Lord of the Rain were of equal ranks. The entire ancient battlefield was enveloped by the blood rain, but he did not feel the power of the wind.


    The wind that appeared out of nowhere in the ruin might have something to do with Wind God.


    "Actually, I''m not too sure either. I''ve only heard Madam Lan''s comments." After a pause, Battalion Commander Lu continued, "Wind is the result of the flow of air. However, this is in regards to one world. If two different worlds have a passageway open up, then the air in the two worlds will flow as well. Wind God possesses this ability that''s known as Realmwind. As for how Wind God does it, or if he and Realmwind even exist, it eludes me."


    Zhou Wen was in thought as he felt that Commander Lu''s words had inspired him greatly.


    The wind couldn''t have been generated out of thin air, but in the ruins, wind had appeared out of thin air. It could be explained if the wind was generated from the connection between different worlds.


    Could it be that the beheading in the ruins is secretly done by Wind God? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss when he thought about it. For a legendary figure like Wind God, there was no need for him to resort to such tiny tricks. Just a casual blow from him would probably be enough to kill countless Epic experts.


    If it isn''t Wind God, it would have to be a dimensional creature with similar Realmwind powers. It would definitely be hidden in the ruins. As long as I can find it and kill it, I can safely enter the ruins. But how can I find it? Zhou Wen felt a headache coming on.


    Ghost Bride had already searched the ruins several times, but she had not found anything. It was very likely that the wind-elemental creature hid in the dark, making it difficult to find its location.


    If only Banana Fairy were here. She''s also of the wind element. She should be able to achieve a certain effect. Zhou Wen glanced at the chaos space and saw that the tornado was still swirling.


    As for the Goddess of Wind''s Protection, the necklace was no longer effective after Banana Fairy ate the gem. In fact, it did not even have the ability to imbue immunity to wind-elemental powers.


    Zhou Wen experimented the entire way and encountered two Wangliang en route. They were killed by Doctor Darkness, so they didn''t encounter any more trouble. The Mei had vanished as though she had really escaped.


    When the two arrived in front of the ruins, they saw several tents, as well as people in custom raincoats patrolling.


    The prowler was first taken aback when he saw Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian. Then, he walked over and asked, "Zhou Wen, why are you here?"


    "Zhao Xin, where''s An Sheng?" Zhou Wen recognized Zhao Xin and couldn''t help but feel delighted. Since Zhao Xin was still here, An Sheng and company might not have entered the ruins yet.


    "Adjutant An has gone into the ruins with the rest. They have been in there for almost a day. Young Master Wen, it''s best you go back quickly. It''s too dangerous here," Zhao Xin said.


    Zhou Wen frowned and continued asking, "Isn''t there a terrifying beheading power in the ruins? How did An Sheng and company enter?"

 277 Testing

    "It''s indeed very strange. In the beginning, we sent quite a number of Companion Beasts in, but every one of them had their heads beheaded. Only two of them managed to survive. Adjutant An said that it''s called Wind of Space, and it''s a powerful wind generated by the exchange of air between two different spaces. As it comes and goes without a trace, one will find it difficult to withstand it unless they are completely without flaw."


    Zhao Xin paused for a moment before continuing, "Adjutant An finally thought of a way and got two Epic experts, who are proficient in spatial powers, to be responsible for disrupting the spatial order, so that the Wind of Space cannot be formed quickly. After trying it out, we realized that this method is indeed effective. It''s just that the two of them can only protect limited areas, so we can''t send everyone in. Me and two others could only stay guard here and await Adjutant An''s return."


    "Did An Sheng say which part of the ruins he''s taking the rest to?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I don''t know. Adjutant An didn''t say anything. He only said that he wanted to search for Madam Lan and Old Master Ouyang in the ruins. He didn''t tell us exactly where he went." Zhao Xin shook his head.


    Zhou Wen looked at the distant ruins and felt a little worried. Although he knew that there was indeed a power similar to Realmwind in the ruins, Zhou Wen didn''t have spatial powers, nor did he have the ability to stop the Realmwind. Even if he knew its traits, he was still unable to withstand them.


    "What are you doing here?" asked Zhao Xin.


    "I have something here that needs to be given to An Sheng. It might be of help towards rescuing Madam Lan. Do you have any way of contacting him?" Zhou Wen asked vaguely when he saw the other two Epic experts who had stayed behind come out. However, he didn''t mention the stone artifact and made a vague comment.


    "There''s too much interference here. Communication devices are useless. Unless they come out, I''m afraid there''s no way to contact them," said Zhao Xin.


    When the other two saw Zhou Wen, they were immediately alarmed. They pointed at him and said, "You aren''t wearing a raincoat. How are you not infected by the virus?"


    Zhao Xin was taken aback when he heard that. Only then did he realize that Zhou Wen was only wearing ordinary armor without a raincoat.


    Looking at the shape of his armor, it was impossible to cover all his body parts. He would definitely be tainted by the blood.


    "I have a way to counter the blood rain, so don''t worry about me. Leave a tent for me. I need some rest," Zhou Wen said. He needed to wait for his injuries to recover and be combat-fit before he could think of a way to deal with the Realmwind. If not, he would be sending himself to his death.


    Zhao Xin pointed at one of the tents and said, "That''s Adjutant An''s tent. Just stay in his."


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony as he entered immediately.


    The tent was clean and tidy, and there was even a small battery-powered lamp. Beside it were some books and a small incense burner.


    An Sheng actually hadn''t minded taking so many things to such a place. Zhou Wen found a spot to sit down as he circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to heal his injured body before he continued gaming.


    Zhao Xin and company led Lu Yunxian into another tent and said with a smile, "Commander Lu, it must have been hard on you to bring Zhou Wen to such a dangerous place. You must have suffered a lot on the way, right?"


    Lu Yunxian glanced at Zhao Xin and company and said coldly, "This is my duty. And without Young Master Wen, I wouldn''t be here."


    The three of them were taken aback. Zhao Xin looked at Lu Yunxian and asked, "What do you mean?"


    However, Lu Yunxian did not answer and only said, "All of you, get ready. When Young Master Wen recovers, we will follow him into the ruins to look for Adjutant An."


    The three of them looked at Lu Yunxian as though they were looking at a lunatic. Zhao Xin licked his lips and said, "I know that you members of the Sunset army are famous for being fearless even in the face of death, but do you know how terrifying the spatial wind in the ruin is? Do you know how many powerful Companion Beasts died when we first probed the area? That''s not a place anyone can enter as they please."


    "Young Master Wen will think of a way," Lu Yunxian said indifferently.


    Zhao Xin and company exchanged looks. They felt that Lu Yunxian must have a screw loose. What kind of solution could one come up with for such a place? Without the ability to control the Wind of Space, entering meant having a death wish. There was no other way.


    No matter how smart Zhou Wen was, he didn''t have spatial powers. Furthermore, he was at the Legendary stage. How could he safely enter the ruin?


    Due to the difference in opinion, Zhao Xin and company decided to ignore Lu Yunxian and minded their own business.


    Zhou Wen didn''t manage to come up with any solutions either. Despite knowing the traits of Realmwind, the knowledge didn''t help in restraining it.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen only came up with the solution of using Ghost Steps to dodge at the instant the Realmwind was generated, preventing them from hitting him.


    However, Zhou Wen had tried several times in-game and the difficulty was extremely high. The spot where the Realmwind appeared almost clung to his skin, and a 0.01 second delay in his reaction time meant him dying. He barely managed to dodge once or twice every ten times. Even so, luck played a factor.


    Ghost Steps was very fast, but that was referring to speed. Zhou Wen''s reaction speed wouldn''t increase because of the Ghost Steps, so his reaction speed was clearly insufficient against the sudden Realmwind.


    I have to be able to dodge the Realmwind. How can I react faster and avoid the Realmwind safely? Zhou Wen constantly experimented in-game.


    Zhou Wen was fully focused on his experiments in-game. When Zhao Xin and company delivered his meal, they smiled without saying a word when they saw Zhou Wen sitting there gaming on his phone.


    Zhou Wen''s usage of his phone was nothing out of the blue to them, nor did they find it amiss. However, they found it amusing when they connected such actions to Lu Yunxian''s words.


    When they returned to the tent that the four of them shared, they saw that Lu Yunxian was still making preparations, as though he really was prepared to set off for the ruins.


    Zhao Xin couldn''t help but laugh, "I say, Commander Lu, Zhou Wen is still gaming. I don''t think he will be able to head to the ruins anytime soon. You should rest for a while."


    "We will be going," Lu Yunxian said calmly.


    Zhao Xin didn''t say anything further in response to Lu Yunxian''s stubbornness. He lay on the mat and took out his cell phone. He also found a game to play.


    It wasn''t that he really liked gaming, but that he was under too much pressure in such a place. If he didn''t find something to do, he was afraid that he would go crazy.


    Zhou Wen constantly honed his ability to react at the precipice of life and death. He needed to make a perfect plan to enter the ruins. Not a single mistake could be made.


    In the game, he could afford death if he made a mistake. He could respawn with a drop of blood, but in reality, he only had one life. If he died, that was it¡ªthere were no second chances.


    What can I do to ensure perfection and make zero mistakes? Zhou Wen soon discovered that with his own reaction, it was impossible for him to make no mistakes even if he practiced to the extreme.


    There would always be one or two mistakes every ten attempts because the speed of the Realmwind had exceeded the reaction limits. No matter how well Zhou Wen did, it was impossible for him to always exceed his usual limits and avoid the Realmwind''s attack.

 278 Banana Fairy Evolution

    If my reaction can''t be perfect, then I have to think of a way to predict when the Realmwind will appear. Zhou Wen knew that unless he advanced to the Epic stage, it would be impossible for him to completely avoid all the Realmwind attacks.


    It''s already too late for me to react when Truth Listener hears the sound of the Realmwind. But what can I do to discover where it comes from? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Eyes were definitely out of the question. It was impossible to see the Realmwind. Using one''s body to feel it would be even more ridiculous. When the Realmwind touched his body, it was the moment he was beheaded.


    What should I do? How do I predict the moment when the Realmwind appears? Zhou Wen repeatedly tried, but the outcome wasn''t ideal.


    Hence, he removed Truth Listener''s companion form and allowed it to play in the tent. He was accustomed to the convenience that Truth Listener had given him. The sudden loss made Zhou Wen feel like he was blind. Although he could still see with his eyes and hear with ears, he still found it awkward, as though something was missing.


    Indeed, I can''t rely too much on a Companion Beast. Otherwise, it will greatly affect my own powers. Zhou Wen took a deep breath and calmed his mind before he once again controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter the ruins.


    Truth Listener climbed onto Zhou Wen''s shoulder and scanned its surroundings. When its gaze landed on Zhou Wen''s pocket, its eyes suddenly lit up. With a leap, he jumped into the pocket like a diving athlete.


    The pocket contained the stone artifact that Zhou Wen had retrieved.


    The monkey-like Truth Listener landed on the stone artifact and used its claws to touch the stone artifact a few times before sticking out its tongue to lick it. As though it wasn''t satisfied, it opened its mouth wide and swallowed the stone artifact.


    Its petite body wasn''t even as large as the stone artifact, but it managed to swallow the entire stone artifact with the only clue of its actions: the tiny bump on its abdomen. It was unknown how it managed to do it.


    Zhou Wen was now completely immersed in the game. Furthermore, he had just lost Truth Listener''s listening ability and Doctor Darkness and Truth Listener were guarding the tent. He would know immediately if there was any commotion, so he didn''t think too much about it.


    However, Zhou Wen never expected Truth Listener to actually commit embezzlement by swallowing the stone artifact that he had painstakingly retrieved. Then, with four legs raised, Truth Listener collapsed into Zhou Wen''s pocket.


    The golden fur on its body gradually turned into a grayish-white stone color that resembled stone. Its entire body rapidly petrified. In a few seconds, it turned into a mini monkey stone sculpture.


    However, the change to Truth Listener''s body did not end. It produced a substance similar to a stone pulp from its body. The liquid gradually wrapped around its body and soon, Truth Listener turned into an egg-shaped rock.


    Zhou Wen had no idea of the astonishing changes happening in his pocket. Otherwise, he would definitely have stopped Truth Listener. After all, the stone artifact was key to saving Ouyang Lan and the former principal. He simply couldn''t afford to lose it.


    Zhou Wen constantly battled as he sensed the impact of the Realmwind on his life. Without Truth Listener''s ability to support him, the blood-colored avatar''s death rate soared once again. Sometimes, it wouldn''t even survive once in ten times.


    However, under the stimulation of death, Zhou Wen, without Truth Listener''s support, seemed to vaguely grasp something, but he was unable to confirm it.


    As the drops of blood vanished, Zhou Wen''s senses became sharper and sharper. It wasn''t like Truth Listener''s pure sense of hearing. His eyes, nose, ears, and even his skin became more sensitive under the pressure of death. His overall senses were greatly enhanced.


    Finally, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to take a step forward. And at the spot where he stood, a stone pillar was sliced off by an invisible Realmwind that appeared out of thin air before it collapsed to the ground.


    I succeeded! Zhou Wen was delighted. He seemed to have figured out something, but he still needed to prove it with repeated successes.


    Over and over again, Zhou Wen constantly dodged the wind. The chances of him being injured by the Realmwind decreased as he finally grasped the key to dodging it.


    I''ve finally done it. Zhou Wen was delighted. He wanted to summon Truth Listener back and try to see if he could better predict the appearance of the Realmwind with it.


    However, after two summonings, he failed to sense Truth Listener returning to his ears. He could not help but look around. All he saw was Doctor Darkness standing silently in a dark corner, but there was no sign of Truth Listener, nor could he sense where it was.


    Just as he was feeling puzzled, Zhou Wen''s expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly reached into his pocket and touched it, his expression turning ashen.


    The stone artifact was triangular in shape, and the stone that he was touching was clearly shaped like an egg.


    He hurriedly took out the stone in his pocket. Indeed, it was a stone egg the size of a fist. However, it emitted the aura of Truth Listener.


    I was careless. Why didn''t I guard against this thief!? Zhou Wen regretted his decision.


    The situation was very obvious. Truth Listener must have swallowed the stone artifact to cause such a change. Perhaps, it was evolving.


    If it was only an ordinary treasure, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have been unwilling to part with it no matter how precious it was. He wouldn''t have minded Truth Listener swallowing it since it was his main combat pet.


    However, this item might very well be used to save the former principal and Ouyang Lan''s lives. Now that Truth Listener had devoured it, Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss.


    Smashing the stone egg and see if the stone artifact remains inside? It was naturally infeasible.


    I can only take the stone egg in to give it a try. The stone egg should possess the power of a stone artifact. It might be able to replace the stone artifact''s effects. Zhou Wen had no choice but to rely on a last-ditch effort.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t dare be careless. He directly placed the stone egg into the chaos space, but when he saw the scene in the chaos space, he couldn''t help but feel delighted.


    The hurricane that had been spinning around had already weakened. It was getting thinner and thinner as though a wind egg was suspended in the air.


    Crack!


    A green light emitted from a crack in the wind egg. Wearing a green robe, Banana Fairy flew out and floated through the air like a fairy in the wind.


    She had grown a lot taller, and her every move seemed to have an invisible wind supporting her. It made her clothes dance in the wind, as though a hairdryer was blowing her at all times.


    Banana Fairy has finished evolving? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. This was considered the best news in recent times.

 279 Divine Wind Immortal

    Previously, the banana leaf was only the size of a palm but now it was the size of a normal fan. Banana Fairy had also grown to the size of a doll as she sat on the banana leaf. She fluttered about like a little princess in the wind.


    After Zhou Wen released her from the chaos space, Banana Fairy flew around him looking very happy.


    "Finally." Zhou Wen extended his hand and Banana Fairy flew over from the banana leaf and landed on Zhou Wen. He immediately felt a breeze surround him, making him cold.


    After rubbing Banana Fairy''s head, she transformed into a green stream of light and fused with Zhou Wen''s body, turning back into a banana leaf tattoo.


    Zhou Wen dripped a drop of blood on his phone and respawned the blood-colored avatar. He looked at Banana Fairy''s new attributes.


    Banana Fairy: Epic (Evolvable)


    Life State: Great Yin Spirit Root.


    Life Soul: Divine Wind Immortal


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Primordial Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Grand Yin Wind


    Companion Form: Fan


    The attributes were as Zhou Wen expected. They were twice the value of 20 plus 1. Zhou Wen didn''t know what the extra 1 point was for, but he had a nagging feeling that this additional one point wasn''t simple.


    The skill was still the single Grand Yin Wind, making Zhou Wen feel a little disappointed. He originally wondered if a new kill would be learned after she evolved, but in the end, she remained with a single skill.


    The Great Yin Spirit Root Life Providence didn''t change, but the greatest change to Banana Fairy''s transformation was the addition of a Life Soul. The Divine Wind Immortal undoubtedly had strong effects on the wind element. As for the actual effects, he had to test it.


    Zhou Wen opened the Zhuolu instance dungeon, hoping to test the power of the Banana Fairy after it evolved.


    Soon, he encountered a Wangliang. With a wave of his hand, Banana Fairy appeared in front of him while sitting on a banana leaf. When she saw the Wangliang charging at them, she immediately puffed up her cheeks and pouted her mouth, blowing right at the Wangliang.


    An invisible cold wind suddenly blew as the Wangliang''s body was sent flying by the wind. It tumbled far away in the air, and at the same time, its body rapidly froze into an ice sculpture.


    Crack!


    The Wangliang''s body flew for an unknown distance before shattering in the air, raining down ice shards. Even the Wangliang bead inside its body shattered, causing it to die. A dimensional crystal dropped on the ground.


    She''s amazing. Is this the suppression that absolute strength brings? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. Having such wind powers made her the strongest Epic creature Zhou Wen had ever seen. Few creatures of the same level could withstand one fanning of hers.


    On Banana Fairy''s body, there was an indiscernible wind that flowed. As the wind flowed, Zhou Wen could vaguely see a transparent woman''s figure. She looked like a deity and was likely Banana Fairy''s Life Soul, Divine Wind Immortal.


    Originally, Banana Fairy could only use the Grand Yin Wind once and her Primordial Energy would be depleted. However, with the Divine Wind Immortal, Zhou Wen discovered that Banana Fairy''s Primordial Energy was rapidly recovering. It didn''t take long before she could use Grand Yin Wind again.


    In that case, Banana Fairy will have a chance of continuously doing battle. Zhou Wen was delighted. Now that Banana Fairy was his strongest combat power, it was much safer to traverse the ancient battlefield with her.


    He extended his hand and Banana Fairy transformed into a jade-like fan that landed in his hand. The fan was about the size of a normal fan, unlike the mini-fan from before. It fit perfectly in his hand.


    Zhou Wen examined the banana fan formed by Banana Fairy. It was entirely jade-like and cool to the touch. On the surface of the fan, there was a lady''s portrait. It looked different from the previous banana fan.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if the banana fan would have the same potent effects as Banana Fairy. After all, Banana Fairy had 41 Primordial Energy points, and he only had 21. If he used the Grand Yin Wind skill, there would definitely be a difference in strength.


    As he continued forward, he soon ran into a Chi. Zhou Wen used it as an experiment and saw the black dragon Life Soul spew out black smoke. This time, Zhou Wen didn''t use the Purple Air Bell.


    Wherever the wind reached, the black smoke was blown back, striking the Chi. Then, it was swept away by the wind.


    The black smoke immediately made the Chi fall into a deep slumber. The Grand Yin Wind from the banana fan also caused layers of ice to form outside its body.


    However, when Zhou Wen used it, his Grand Yin Wind was indeed much weaker than the Banana Fairy''s. It wasn''t able to directly freeze and shatter the Chi''s body, only managing to send it flying far into the distance.


    But even so, Zhou Wen was satisfied. He was only at the Legendary stage. To send an Epic creature like the Chi flying hundreds of feet away using the Grand Yin Wind and freezing it into an ice sculpture was already remarkable.


    Now, let''s see if Banana Fairy can resist the Realmwind in the ruins. Zhou Wen rushed to the ruins at full speed. He encountered another Chi on the way and easily slew it. It was effortless.


    After arriving outside the ruins once again, Zhou Wen got Banana Fairy to take her original form and enter the ruins with the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen kept observing his surroundings. He was already very sensitive to the Realmwind. Even without Banana Fairy by his side, he was confident that he could dodge Realmwind''s attacks.


    However, Zhou Wen still wanted to see how Banana Fairy would respond to it.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly felt a minute spatial fluctuation. He knew that it was a sign that a Realmwind was about to appear. Without any hesitation, he dodged, but he didn''t pull Banana Fairy along.


    The wind was like a blade as it slashed at Banana Fairy''s neck. However, she didn''t seem to notice it as she sat on the banana leaf and swayed.


    It can''t be? How can the wind-elemental Banana Fairy have such a slow reaction towards the Realmwind? Zhou Wen found it strange, but in the next second, his mouth gaped open.


    The Realmwind that approached Banana Fairy suddenly spun like an invisible wind blade as it swirled around Banana Fairy''s body, causing the surrounding space to ripple.


    With a wave of Banana Fairy''s hand, the Realmwind automatically landed in her palm as though it was a whirling blade that was being controlled by her. It kept spinning until Banana Fairy flicked it, sending it flying off.


    Kacha!


    A distant stone pillar was sliced apart by the Realmwind. Blood spewed out from it while a strange scream sounded.


    "Little Banana, you''re really awesome." Zhou Wen wished he could summon Banana Fairy over and hug her, planting a deep kiss onto her cheeks.


    With Banana Fairy by his side, he was free to enter the ruins. He no longer needed to worry about the terrifying Realmwind.

 280 Realmwind Insec

    A notification of him killing an Epic Realmwind Insect popped up in-game. Zhou Wen walked towards the stone pillar that had been sliced apart by the Realmwind and saw a hole in the middle. Hidden in it was something that resembled a cricket, but it was more than a foot long. However, it had been halved just like the stone pillar.


    So this is what''s causing all the problems inside the ruins. Zhou Wen didn''t expect that an insect like this would have such destructive power.


    Thankfully, I have Banana Fairy. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be easy to find it. Zhou Wen got Banana Fairy to continue searching for the Realmwind Insects in the ruins. He planned on killing a few more to confirm whether Banana Fairy could completely repress the Realmwind Insects.


    However, Banana Fairy''s performance was better than Zhou Wen had imagined. As long as the Realmwind appeared and wasn''t too far from her, it would be controlled by her and become her weapon. She easily found the Realmwind Insects that were hiding in stone columns or walls while releasing Realmwind. All of them were slain.


    Ding!


    When he killed the sixth Realmwind Insect, Zhou Wen heard a familiar chime and a crystal dropped.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the crystal. It resembled an ant''s egg and was the size of a chicken''s egg. There was the shadow of a Realmwind Insect inside. It was clearly a Primordial Energy Crystal with the name Realmwind Insect Crystal.


    I wonder what the Realmwind Insect''s Primordial Energy skill is? It can''t be Realmwind, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Realmwind Insect Crystal, hoping to see what skill he would receive.


    However, the system popped up a notification: ''Requires 21 Strength and 9 Wind stats to absorb the Realmwind Insect Crystal. Insufficient Wind stats. Cannot be refined and absorbed.''


    It actually needs a Wind stat? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He had an inkling what it was¡ªit was probably similar to the Poison stat he had obtained from his previous absorption.


    Epic Primordial Energy Skills seemed to have all sorts of requirements, unlike in the past where he could just master one if he so wished.


    Zhou Wen had killed quite a number of Wangliang, but he only had one Poison crystal drop. The later ones were all four basic stat crystals. It was obvious that special stat crystals didn''t have high drop rates, likewise for the Wind stat crystal. It wasn''t easy to have one drop.


    Zhou Wen held the Realmwind Insect Crystal and felt dismayed. If he left it on the ground, it might be gone in a respawn, but he couldn''t absorb it even if he held it in his hand. There was no inventory in the game.


    If only there was a Chaos Bead in the game. Zhou Wen had no choice but to hold onto the Realmwind Insect Crystal and wander the ruins killing all the Realmwind Insects.


    Just as Zhou Wen expected, a few basic stat crystals dropped, but not a single Wind stat crystal dropped. The drop rate was rather low.


    However, this also had to do with the rarity of Realmwind Insects. Zhou Wen and Banana Fairy toured the ruins and only found 17 Realmwind Insects. They couldn''t find any more Realmwind Insects no matter how hard they tried.


    However, once the instance dungeon was refreshed, the Realmwind Insect Crystal in the blood-colored avatar''s hand disappeared along with the refresh. Its drop rate was similarly low, making Zhou Wen reluctant to waste such an opportunity.


    It''s such a waste letting it be deleted in the refresh. I''ll make a trip to the ruins in real life and kill the Realmwind Insects to see if they can drop Wind stat crystals. Zhou Wen made up his mind¡ªhe was going to hunt Realmwind Insects in real life.


    With Banana Fairy around, as long as he didn''t enter the underground tunnel, there shouldn''t be any danger. He could also take a look and see if An Sheng and the rest were still inside the ruins.


    If they hadn''t entered the tunnel, he could meet up with them.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that they had already entered the underground tunnel. It was highly likely that he had to go down the tunnel as well.


    After packing his things, Zhou Wen left the tent. He planned on informing Lu Yunxian and the others to remain while he made a trip to the ruins.


    Zhao Xin and company were chatting when they saw Zhou Wen coming over. Zhao Xin asked casually, "With your serious injuries, why aren''t you resting in the tent? Just shout if you need anything."


    "My injuries are much better. I want to go into the ruins to take a look. Stay here. If An Sheng comes back, tell him not to enter the ruins again. Wait here for me." Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    Zhao Xin and company widened their eyes. Previously, Lu Yunxian had mentioned that Zhou Wen would definitely head to the ruins, but they didn''t believe him. Now, they had no choice but to believe him.


    "Zhou Wen, there''s the strange spatial wind in the ruins. It''s useless even if you go. You will just suffer a pointless death," said Zhao Xin.


    "I''ve already thought of a way to deal with spatial winds. You don''t have to worry about me." Zhou Wen didn''t plan on letting them go, so he didn''t stay any longer and walked away.


    "Young Master Wen, I''ll go with you." Lu Yunxian was already prepared, so he chased after him.


    The remaining three looked at each other. Finally, it was Zhao Xin who said, "Let''s go and take a look outside the ruins. If they die in the ruins, we might be able to find a way to collect their corpses."


    "Brother Zhao, do you think Zhou Wen has really thought of a way to crack the spatial wind?" asked another person.


    "How is that possible? Adjutant An couldn''t even crack it, and Zhou Wen doesn''t cultivate in wind-elemental Primordial Energy Arts, and he''s only at the Legendary stage. How can he possibly succeed?" Zhao Xin wasn''t convinced.


    "If Zhou Wen really cracked it, should we follow him in?" the person asked.


    "It''s not going to happen, so why are you thinking so much? Let''s go take a look first." Zhao Xin then put on his raincoat and the three of them left the tent together.


    When they arrived at the ruins, Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian had already entered. Thankfully, the blood rain inside the ruins was lighter, allowing them to see their figures clearly.


    "Zhou Wen, Battalion Commander Lu, we''re here to receive you. Call for help if you need anything." Zhao Xin didn''t dare enter the ruins as he shouted to Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian.


    Zhou Wen ignored him. He had persuaded Lu Yunxian against following him, but Lu Yunxian refused to return. All Zhou Wen could do was let follow him into the ruins.


    I wonder if the Realmwind Insects are located in the same spots as in-game? Zhou Wen looked at a stone pillar. If the location was the same, he could directly go up to kill the Realmwind Insects without waiting for them to release the Realmwind.


    With this thought in mind, Zhou Wen clenched the hilt of his Bamboo Blade and slowly approached the stone pillar. Regardless of whether they were in the same position as the game, there was no harm in trying.

 281 Young Overseer

    When Lu Yunxian saw Zhou Wen grip his hilt, he believed that Zhou Wen had discovered an enemy. He hurriedly circulated his Primordial Energy Art and looked around warily.


    Zhao Xin and company tensed up as well. Although Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian entered on their own accord, absolving them of any fault if they ended up dying, no one was willing to see their own kind beheaded in such a strange place.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen''s figure vanished as he appeared in front of a broken stone pillar like a ghost. With sabers tightly gripped with both hands, he slashed at the stone pillar in front of him as a sanguine arc beam slashed out.


    Crack!


    The stone pillar was split into two by Zhou Wen''s saber. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, but blood spewed out from the cut. Lu Yunxian and the other three were stunned.


    "Young Master Wen, is this the source of the strange spatial wind in the ruins?" Lu Yunxian asked as he walked up to take a look at the Realmwind Insect''s corpse.


    As Zhou Wen rummaged through the corpse of the Realmwind Insect, he nodded. "That''s right. There should be more than one. Don''t go too far away from me, lest something happens."


    Unfortunately, the Realmwind Insect did not drop a crystal or a Companion Egg.


    While Zhou Wen led Lu Yunxian forward, Zhao Xin and company wore odd expressions outside.


    "Brother Zhao, that punk, Zhou Wen, wasn''t bullsh*ting. Even Adjutant An failed to find the dimensional creatures in the ruins. Yet, he managed to find them. It looks like he''s really capable. Should we go in?" one of them asked Zhao Xin.


    "What are we going in for? To send ourselves to our deaths? If there''s one, who knows how many of them there are? If they make a mistake, they''ll still die in there. Since Adjutant An got us to stand guard here, we''ll wait here for them. Why should we risk our lives?" Zhao Xin said as he walked back. However, Zhou Wen''s slash kept surfacing in his mind. He couldn''t help but mumble, "That punk is a little odd."


    Zhou Wen didn''t expect the location of the Realmwind Insects to be identical to the ones in the game. He didn''t give the Realmwind Insects a chance to use Realmwind, killing them within their stone crevices.


    Lu Yunxian followed Zhou Wen and watched as he charged forward as though he was a prescient god. The Bamboo Blade saw blood every time it was unsheathed. It killed the strange insects hidden in the rocks. The way he looked at Zhou Wen became odder.


    He had also seriously observed his surroundings, but he didn''t notice anything abnormal. It was impossible for him to know where the Realmwind Insects were hidden. Yet, Zhou Wen struck with his saber with zero hesitation, decisively killing every Realmwind Insect.


    The ruin, that was originally enveloped in horror, seemed to become less terrifying because of the youth in front of him. In Lu Yunxian''s eyes, Zhou Wen seemed to emit light and warmth, illuminating this land of terror.


    This feeling¡­ is so familiar¡­ I''ve experienced it before¡­ Lu Yunxian couldn''t help but be reminded of the past when he charged into a dimensional zone with An Tianzuo.


    At that time, An Tianzuo was probably a little older than Zhou Wen. He was almost twenty. Back then, An Tianzuo had already been the head of the An family for several years and was known by everyone in Luoyang. They addressed him as "young overseer."


    However, An Tianzuo back then wasn''t as accepted as he was now. Even the An family had many members against him.


    Once, a new dimensional zone appeared in Luoyang''s south district, causing a large group of citizens to suffer a calamity. An Tianzuo wanted to send men to suppress the dimensional zone in the south, but because of the clan''s obstruction, only a small number of soldiers were sent.


    An Tianzuo had no choice but to personally lead the troops into the dimensional zone. Back then, Lu Yunxian was not a battalion commander, but a mere section commander. They had four sections that followed An Tianzuo into the perilous dimensional zone where they encountered many bizarre dimensional creatures.


    The reinforcements that should have arrived didn''t get there on time.


    Back then, many soldiers had already given up hope. They thought that they would definitely die in battle. Even Lu Yunxian had thought the same.


    However, it was that young man who held a revolver in one hand and a large sword in the other; he led them through the dimensional zone, storming a bloody path through the dimensional beast horde and led them out.


    At that time, An Tianzuo was like the youth in front of him, emitting light and heat like the sun.


    After that battle, many of the surviving soldiers and low-ranking officers, like Lu Yunxian, later became the bedrock of the Sunset army. They were also very loyal to An Tianzuo.


    The first thing An Tianzuo did when he returned to Luoyang was to rush to the residence of the An family''s elder, An Huaishan, who had violated the military order. He then personally slew all the men who were above sixteen years of age.


    That night, the An family''s blood flowed like a river. The man who used to be like the sun had his military uniform covered in blood. He was like the devil that made it impossible for anyone to approach him. Only a handsome youth followed behind him, carrying a gunny sack on his back walking to the martyrs'' cemetery.


    They walked all the way, blood dripping from the gunny sack. When they arrived at the warriors'' tomb in the dimensional zone, the handsome youth opened the cloth bag and bloody heads rolled out, stunning everyone.


    An Huaishan''s family¡ªfrom An Huaishan to his 16-year-old grandson¡ªand all the men who had been part of the military were beheaded. All their heads were here, and they were hung in front of the mass grave to honor the deceased warriors.


    After that, An Tianzuo took control of the An family''s power one step at a time. The Sunset army also gradually became synonymous with An Tianzuo.


    It''s been so many years¡­ I''ve never seen anyone like him again¡­ Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen with mixed emotions.


    Perhaps due to the environment they had grown up in, this youth and An Tianzuo had completely different personalities, but when they put their mind to doing something, they were surprisingly similar. It was as if they could do anything they wanted. They exuded a blinding radiance that was fatally attractive to others.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen slashed open the stone pillar with his saber. A Realmwind Insect had its body cleaved apart, causing a rhombic crystal to roll out.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the crystal. The crystal was transparent and flawless, and there seemed to be wind swirling within it. It was obvious that it was different from an ordinary crystal.


    Could this be a wind stat crystal? Zhou Wen hurriedly picked it up before secretly snapping it with his phone.


    ''Wind Crystal: 11.''


    The information displayed on the phone delighted Zhou Wen as he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.


    If there were only 17 Realmwind Insects in real life, with him already killing 13, he would have to give up on the Realmwind Insect Crystal in-game if the wind stat crystal didn''t drop.


    Without any hesitation, he immediately absorbed the Wind Crystal. He felt a faint breeze enter his body, and his attributes had an additional wind element with a value of 11.


    Having reached the requirements needed to absorb the Realmwind Insect Crystal, Zhou Wen chose to absorb it. The crystal immediately turned into transparent wind that permeated the blood-colored avatar''s body, forming a new Primordial Energy path and circulation in his body.

 282 Boomerang Wind

    ''Absorbed Realmwind Insect Crystal. Attained wind-elemental Primordial Energy Skill: Boomerang Wind.''


    It''s not Realmwind? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. He had already seen how powerful it was, so he had been hoping that it would be Realmwind, but to his dismay, it wasn''t.


    Scrutinizing the Boomerang Wind''s information, he found that it was a passive wind-elemental Primordial Energy Skill that couldn''t be used actively. It had to meet certain conditions before it could be used.


    Boomerang Wind: Requires saber aura-type Primordial Energy Skill to trigger, creating a wind with a boomerang effect.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what the Boomerang Wind effect was, but thankfully, he knew a saber aura-type Primordial Energy Skill. It was the Astral Slash Blade that he had obtained from the Mutated Demonized General. He had fused it with two other skills to form the Demonic Astral Wheel. Now, Zhou Wen wasn''t sure if it could still be considered a saber aura-type Primordial Energy Skill.


    Since I''ve learned it, I might as well give it a try. Zhou Wen continued walking forward until he reached a Realmwind Insect''s hiding spot. As he drew his saber, he used Demonic Astral Wheel. A sanguine arc slashed out from the Bamboo Blade like a razor blade, slicing the stone pillar into two and killing the Realmwind Insect inside.


    Zhou Wen sheathed his saber and was about to head over to check the corpse of the Realmwind Insect to see if there were any crystals inside when he saw a sanguine beam flash. The Astral Slash Blade he had slashed out had flown back, but thankfully, Zhou Wen reacted fast enough and ducked in time. Otherwise, he might have been hit by his own Primordial Energy Skill.


    Crack!


    The Demonic Astral Wheel slashed at the stone wall behind Zhou Wen, splitting the stone wall in half before it vanished.


    So this is the boomerang effect? That''s quite interesting. Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. Typical Primordial Energy Skills were uncontrollable once they were slashed out.


    But with Boomerang Wind, it gave him the possibility of controlling the Demonic Astral Wheel he had slashed out.


    "Young Master Wen, your saber aura is so strange. It''s similar to the legendary Cyclic Saber Aura, but it''s also different. Cyclic Saber Aura achieves victory through artifice. The saber aura is elusive because of the curved trajectory it takes, but the destructive force is lacking. But for yours, it''s extremely domineering while being bizarre. It really catches one off guard. If I hadn''t seen it, I would never expect the saber aura to return. There''s a high chance of me being heavily injured or even dying," Lu Yunxian said.


    "I''ve only just learned it and haven''t mastered it well. Sorry for making a fool of myself," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then you have to practice properly. Such a technique is often very effective on the battlefield." Lu Yunxian said seriously, "Combat on the battlefield emphasizes a one-hit kill. Everyone will fight with all their might, but to have a slash suddenly appearing behind them is not something many will be able to dodge."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded. "We''ll talk about it later. It''s more important to find An Sheng and the rest now."


    Zhou Wen was rather familiar with the interior of the ruins and had deliberately taken a detour to kill the Realmwind Insects. Now that he had obtained the Wind Crystal, he stopped taking the detour and headed straight for the entrance to the passageway.


    "Young Master Wen, could that be the underground entrance Liu Chengzhi¡­ no¡­ the Mei mentioned¡­" Lu Yunxian said as he pointed at a dilapidated building.


    The structure was squarish like a stone box with only one empty side. From there, they could see a stone staircase leading underground.


    On both sides of the stone steps, there were two strange stone statues. The statue on the left had a tiger-like body, but on its back was a pair of wings. On the right was a bird-like statue, but on its head were two ox-like horns.


    "It should be here." Zhou Wen obviously knew that this was the entrance to the underground tunnel. He had been here many times in-game, but he just never entered.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed that he didn''t see An Sheng and company. As such, he had no choice but to enter the passageway to find them.


    I wonder if this item can be used as a replacement for the stone artifact? Zhou Wen looked at the stone egg in the chaos space and felt somewhat depressed.


    "Young Master Wen, I''ll go in and take a look." Lu Yun said first.


    "Don''t go in now. It''s dangerous here. It doesn''t matter if we fall in, but if we lose the stone artifact, it won''t be worth it," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then what should we do?" Lu Yunxian asked.


    "Let''s wait for a day or two. If An Sheng doesn''t come out, we''ll enter." Zhou Wen needed time to understand the situation in the underground tunnel, or he would be courting death.


    After all, he was only at the Legendary stage and his cultivation level wasn''t strong enough. He could not barge in forcefully like An Sheng and Ouyang Lan. If an accident happened, he might not be able to handle any unexpected situations.


    Lu Yunxian followed Zhou Wen''s lead. Since Zhou Wen had said so, he had no objections.


    "Stay guard here and wait for An Sheng and the rest to come out. I''ll clean up the rest of the insects in the ruins to prevent them from encountering any trouble after they come out," Zhou Wen said as he prepared to leave. However, he suddenly heard a strange noise from the underground tunnel.


    Zhou Wen cocked his head to the side to listen. The sound was like a train moving on steel tracks. It sounded rhythmic, as though a train was running underground. The sound grew louder, giving the feeling that a train might rush up the pitch-black stone steps at any moment.


    It''s a pity that Truth Listener is evolving. Otherwise, with its abilities, I could tell what was going on inside. Zhou Wen was already beginning to miss Truth Listener''s ability. It could resolve many problems.


    "If I remember correctly, this place doesn''t have any train networks. There shouldn''t be any trains here. Could there be something similar to a train in the myths?" Lu Yunxian listened for a while and also heard the sound resembling a train.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and didn''t say a word. In this era, he wouldn''t find it unbelievable to have a spaceship fly out from underground.


    The two of them stared at the stone steps warily. It was pitch-black inside, like the mouth to a hell fiend. They could not see anything except the rumbling noises that grew in intensity. It was as if a train was coming out.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian looked at each other before they retreated to the side. They stood on both sides of the passageway¡ªat least they wouldn''t be hit by a train if it really rushed out.


    As the sound approached, Zhou Wen was almost convinced that a train was about to rush out. He could even see the flickering lights of a train in the darkness.


    "Is there really a train down there?" Lu Yunxian saw the light as well and couldn''t help but be surprised.


    "I don''t know if it''s a train, but it''s coming out soon. Be careful." Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness and got him to possess him. Then using Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration, he looked into the dark passageway.

 283 Strange Underground Vehicle

    Zhou Wen''s eyes illuminated like two miniature floodlights, shooting out two light beams into the dark tunnel. Although the main purpose of this skill was to see through things, viewing things in the darkness wasn''t too difficult either. The only limitation was that it could only view things that were close by, not something too far away.


    The sound of a train in the darkness wasn''t far from the exit. With a glance, Zhou Wen''s expression immediately changed.


    There was actually a vehicle in the dark tunnel. It came up from the bottom, it wasn''t a train but a strange vehicle made of stone and wood.


    The design of the vehicle looked ancient. It was a square-shaped horse-drawn carriage. However, the vehicle didn''t have any horses or other creatures pulling it. At the front of the carriage was a human-shaped puppet. It stood at a stand at the front of the vehicle, both hands holding onto a crank. Its body moved up and down as it rhythmically rotated the stone crank.


    With the rotation of the stone crank, the strange vehicle moved up the stone steps. The stone wheels collided with the edge of the stone steps, producing loud thuds. It moved at a rather slow speed.


    Beside the puppet was a wooden rod with a stone lamp hanging from it. The light that Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian saw earlier was emitted from the stone lamp.


    Apart from the puppet, there were no other creatures to be seen. It was as if the puppet was driving the vehicle.


    The puppet was strange. It looked human, but its face was flat without any facial features, making it look very bizarre.


    Zhou Wen only took a few looks before the strange stone carriage reached the mouth of the entrance. It then slowly came to a stop.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian sized up the strange vehicle warily, but after the carriage left the stone path, it stopped moving. The puppet on it seemed to have used up all its energy. It stopped there and kept the pose of rotating the crank.


    Lu Yunxian leaped up, but he didn''t approach the vehicle. He only wanted to jump up to see what was inside the vehicle.


    "Lu Ning!" After Lu Yunxian reached a certain height, his gaze fell on the back of the vehicle and he screamed.


    Zhou Wen also flew up to look inside. He saw that there was only a woman lying there. She looked like she had passed out. Apart from that, there was nothing else. It was empty inside the vehicle.


    Zhou Wen kind of knew the woman¡ªLu Ning who had come with An Sheng. Zhou Wen had a deep impression of her, especially her Snow Fox. It had powerful ice elemental powers, making Zhou Wen envious.


    "I''ll go see if she''s dead." Lu Yunxian said as he prepared to jump onto the strange vehicle.


    "Don''t go yet." Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that the vehicle was a little strange. He stopped Lu Yunxian and used Demonic Astral Wheel to suck at the vehicle.


    The unconscious Lu Ning was immediately sucked out by him and she flew towards Zhou Wen''s palm.


    With Liu Chengzhi having served his lesson, Zhou Wen was a lot warier. He didn''t touch Lu Ning; instead, he retracted his strength, causing Lu Ning to fall to the ground.


    He didn''t know if she was dead or not, but she did not react at all when she fell to the ground. She just lay there motionless.


    Zhou Wen first used the Light of Penetration to look at Lu Ning and discovered that her heart was still beating. Her bodily functions seemed normal.


    However, the strange thing was that inside her body, there were many extremely slender worms that looked like snakes squirming along her veins. It looked abnormally terrifying.


    Zhou Wen had an inkling that the reason Lu Ning was unconscious was probably because of these worms.


    The worms were like strands of hair that squirmed through the blood vessels. Even her heart and organs were filled with them.


    "She''s still alive and doesn''t seem to be injured. Her heart is also beating. For some reason, she''s unconscious," Lu Yunxian said as he checked Lu Ning''s body.


    "Her raincoat has been torn, so she can''t avoid the blood rain here. It''s not convenient to treat her here. Take her back to the tent first. We can ask her what happened inside when she''s awake." Seeing that there were no signs of the hair-like worms drilling out of her body, Zhou Wen got Lu Yunxian to wrap Lu Ning in a rainproof cloth he had brought along. Lu Yunxian then piggybacked her out of the ruins.


    When Zhao Xin and company saw Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian coming out unscathed and bringing someone back, they were quite surprised.


    "Lu Ning! What happened to her?" Zhao Xin was shocked when he saw Lu Ning.


    He knew Lu Ning''s might. Her ice-elemental Primordial Energy Art was considered top-notch at the Epic stage. With the help of many excellent-grade Companion Beasts, not many people could defeat her.


    Now that Lu Ning had been brought back by Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian in a coma, it meant that the situation below wasn''t looking good.


    "What happened? How''s Adjutant An and the rest?" Zhao Xin asked.


    "I don''t know. When we arrived at the entrance of the underground tunnel, we happened to see her come out. We will have to wake her up before we can figure out what happened underground," Zhou Wen said.


    "Let me try. I have an Ivy Companion Beast with good healing abilities." As Zhao Xin spoke, he summoned a plant-type Companion Beast.


    The green vine wrapped around Lu Ning''s body like a snake, its sprouts crawled across Ning''s face and reached into her nostrils, mouth, and ears, producing some liquid that resembled water.


    The liquid had decent healing properties. Even a severely injured person would be able to temporarily awaken.


    However, despite Zhao Xi making the green vines produce the liquid, he failed to wake Lu Ning.


    "Strange¡­ If she''s only injured, the Rejuvenation Juice would still be effective even if her brain has been injured. Why isn''t she reacting at all? Could she have been hypnotized?" Zhao Xin asked, puzzled.


    The others did not have any treatment abilities. They looked at each other, but there was nothing they could come up with.


    "Don''t let your Companion Beast waste its energy. Let it rest for a while. It might be needed later," Zhou Wen said to Zhao Xin.


    "Young Master Wen, do you have a solution?" Zhao Xin had changed his mind and called him Young Master Wen like Lu Yunxian.


    "I''ll give it a try. It''s a last-ditch effort." As Zhou Wen spoke, he flicked his wrist. A strange energy condensed in his hand, forming a metal syringe.


    Walking to Lu Ning''s side, Zhou Wen''s eyes stared at Lu Ning like a floodlight. At the same time, he injected the syringe into Lu Ning''s arm.


    When he was in school, he had learned about injections, but it was limited to the basics. Furthermore, it was only theory with no practicals. Zhou Wen was only trying to see if Doctor Darkness''s poison could kill the strange worms inside Lu Ning''s body.

 284 Operation

    Zhou Wen pushed the syringe in very slowly because he didn''t know how much poison was needed to kill the worms. If the dosage was too high, he might poison Lu Ning to death. He couldn''t be too reckless.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had experienced the poison himself in-game, so he knew at what concentration it would be fatal. Although it was by his own standards, Lu Ning was at the Epic stage, so she likely could endure more than he could.


    As the poison slowly entered Lu Ning''s body, Zhou Wen carefully observed her reaction to see if there was any change in the strange worms due to the poison.


    If they struggled too hard, he feared that they might damage Lu Ning''s body. When that happened, Lu Ning''s body would be riddled with holes. Even if the worms were poisoned to death, it would be useless.


    However, with how serious Lu Ning''s situation was, he could only take the risk and give it a try. If he didn''t get rid of the worms, she would die sooner or later anyway.


    Fortunately, the worst situation that worried everyone didn''t happen. After the poison was injected into Lu Ning, her body started to twitch violently, but it did not wake her up.


    Zhao Xin and company looked at Lu Ning worriedly, but Zhou Wen continued to inject more of the poison without any expression. He carefully controlled the amount.


    It looked like Lu Ning was in great pain, but it was the result of the poison acting up, not because of the strange worms.


    The poison flowed through her bloodstream. It was excruciating, but very effective. After absorbing the poisoned blood or being corroded by the poison, the worms quickly stopped squirming.


    Before long, all the worms in Lu Ning''s body had been killed, but it didn''t ease Zhou Wen''s furrowed brows. After the worms died, their corpses remained in Lu Ning''s body. This might lead to a blockage, causing problems.


    If he couldn''t remove the hair-like worms, death was a certainty for Lu Ning. It was obvious that she had not fully recovered from her persistent coma.


    But to extract such thin worms from so many tiny blood vessels, and with so many of them in her organs, even the best surgeon in the world wouldn''t be able to cut open her blood vessels and organs to extract the worms, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    As though sensing Zhou Wen''s thoughts, Doctor Darkness informed him with a strong thought, as though telling him that he could do it.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat astonished. Although every Companion Beast had their own will, most of them didn''t have much of a mind of their own. Up to now, Zhou Wen only had four Companion Beasts that could clearly express their thoughts:


    Truth Listener, Banana Fairy, Ghost Bride, and Doctor Darkness.


    Doctor Darkness was born from the Dead Man Tree. It might be extraordinary. Zhou Wen was a little worried. If Doctor Darkness really gained complete sentience in the future, would he turn back into that crazy doctor?


    He summoned Doctor Darkness and he walked to Lu Ning, his slender fingers holding a scalpel.


    Zhao Xin and company looked at Doctor Darkness who was holding the scalpel like a puppet. They knew that it was Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast, but they didn''t know why he had summoned one.


    To have a Companion Beast operate on humans? This was not something they would have come up with even in their wildest dreams.


    Indeed, many Companion Beasts possessed powerful healing abilities that could even revive those on the brink of death. However, they were manifestations of dimensional power, and surgery was a professional technique that was completely different from simple powers.


    In the next second, Doctor Darkness completely overturned their understanding of Companion Beasts. The scalpel in Doctor Darkness''s hand flashed as it sliced through Lu Ning''s blood vessels. Then, with a syringe in hand, he injected the poison into her blood vessels. The entire process was so fluid that it was harrowing.


    If not for the fact that there were no medical equipment, they might even feel like they were watching the most outstanding doctor in an operation theater.


    As the poison entered her body, Lu Ning''s body convulsed once more. Then, at the spots where the blood vessels had been cut open, blood slowly flowed out. The hair-like strange worms flowed out with them.


    Zhao Xin and the rest were shocked when they saw the strange worms. They could not help but exclaim, "What the heck are those?"


    After Doctor Darkness was done, he returned to Zhou Wen''s side. Zhou Wen was depressed as he thought, You are just leaving it like that? If she continues bleeding, she will die from excessive blood loss despite your removal of the strange worms.


    "I want her alive," Zhou Wen said to Doctor Darkness.


    Doctor Darkness didn''t have the ability to answer. All he did was send a thought to Zhou Wen, as though he was saying that he was only responsible for extracting the strange worms.


    He''s still so toxic after becoming a Companion Beast. It''s no wonder he''s called Doctor Darkness. Zhou Wen had no choice but to say to Zhao Xin, "Use your Ivy to help Lu Ning. Don''t let her bleed out."


    When Zhao Xin heard this, he summoned the Ivy again, letting it secrete the Rejuvenation Juice to nourish Lu Ning''s injured body.


    The Rejuvenation Juice was rather effective. When all the strange worms had finally flowed out of the wounds, Lu Ning didn''t die from excessive blood loss. Instead, she woke up.


    "Alright, stop her bleeding." Zhou Wen had used Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration to keep an eye on her the entire process. Seeing that all the strange worms had flowed out, he immediately got Zhao Xin and the rest to stop her bleeding.


    The openings that Doctor Darkness had sliced were tiny. At first, it was the effects of the venom that caused the blood to flow out. When the effects of the poisons reduced, the blood would stop flowing once all the strange worms were purged. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but marvel at Doctor Darkness''s control over the poison.


    "Lu Ning, how do you feel? Can you speak?" Zhou Wen asked when he saw Lu Ning open her eyes.


    Lu Ning''s eyes couldn''t focus in the beginning. It took her a while to recover. After identifying Zhou Wen and company, her face revealed a look of puzzlement as she struggled to sit up and asked hoarsely, "Why am I here?"


    "It was Young Master Wen who rescued you. You aren''t aware, but you were unconscious when you were brought back. Young Master Wen''s Companion Beast showed its prowess and extracted the strange worms from your body¡­" Zhao Xin said as he looked at the strange, hair-like worms that coiled together on the ground. He couldn''t help but shiver.


    The thought of so many worms entering a body made him shudder.


    Lu Ning''s expression changed when she saw the strange worms. She seemed to finally regain complete consciousness and became angry. "Lord Alcohol and those b*stards didn''t come to help Adjutant An in a search and rescue operation. After we arrived at the underground battlefield, they suddenly revealed their true colors. They attacked us, sending us down a fault."

 285 Underground Tunnel

    Zhou Wen and company were shocked when they heard that. Lu Yunxian hurriedly asked, "Lu Ning, make yourself clear. What happened?"


    Lu Ning recounted everything that had happened. After following the marks left behind by Ouyang Lan, they found the entrance to the underground tunnel. Then, An Sheng led the rest in.


    However, not long after they entered, the entrance to the passageway suddenly closed. A large amount of black liquid seeped out from the crevices in the rocks.


    When they took a closer look, it wasn''t a liquid but worms that resembled strands of hair. The number of worms was immeasurable like a tidal wave. The moment the worms touched their bodies, they entered through their pores, quickly knocking them unconscious.


    If one had too many worms in one''s body, it would be fatal.


    The passageway couldn''t be opened, and they still needed to rescue Ouyang Lan. An Sheng could only order them to retreat deeper underground. After traveling for some time, they finally escaped the worm tide and found a strange underground temple.


    Just as An Sheng gave the order to explore the temple, Lord Alcohol and the rest suddenly launched a sneak attack on An Sheng and Lu Ning. An Sheng was caught off guard and was thrown down the fault where the worm tide was everywhere. Although Lu Ning put up a resistance, she was outnumbered. She too was thrown down the fault.


    Lu Ning only remembered that she had fallen into the worm tide and fainted. She thought she was dead for sure, so she never expected to see Zhou Wen and company when she opened her eyes.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian frowned after hearing that. "Don''t you know that when you came out, you were in a strange vehicle?"


    "What vehicle?" Lu Ning frowned.


    With Lu Ning truly unaware of this, Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian were puzzled. From what Lu Ning said, it was naturally impossible for Lord Alcohol and the rest to be magnanimous and rescue her. There was something fishy about all of this.


    "Lu Ning, can you draw a map for me of places you walked past and the things you encountered?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Yes, but we were constantly on the run back then. I can remember the general direction, but not the path. I do remember some special landmarks." Lu Ning took a pen and paper and wrote some fragmented information.


    "Have a good rest. We''ll think of a way to rescue them." Zhou Wen took the information and prepared to return to game. He planned on following Lu Ning''s route first.


    Lu Ning shook her head and did not say anything. They only had a few people left, so how could they go in to rescue the rest? Furthermore, An Sheng had already fallen into the sea of worms. The chances of survival were slim.


    Zhou Wen didn''t believe that a person like An Sheng would die so easily. Furthermore, the former principal was probably inside. He had to go in, no matter what.


    After returning to his tent, Zhou Wen switched on the mysterious phone and entered the Zhuolu instance dungeon, arriving at the entrance to the underground tunnel.


    The game didn''t have the strange vehicle. Zhou Wen looked at the information Lu Ning wrote and directly controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter the tunnel.


    The tunnel was dark and damp, and the stone steps were covered with moss. On both sides of the tunnel were partially dug out artificial stone walls. He could tell that this was supposed to be an underground cave, but it was slightly widened.


    Not long after he entered the passageway, he heard a loud bang. The passageway''s entrance was blocked by a stone door, and the passageway turned dark.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat unused to the darkness. Without Truth Listener''s ability, just his vision alone was insufficient. He couldn''t see anything in the darkness.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen still had Doctor Darkness to rely on. He activated Light of Penetration, and immediately Zhou Wen''s eyes shot out light beams, allowing him to see everything within ten meters.


    This glance made Zhou Wen''s scalp tingle. He saw that there were many cracks on the stone walls. Countless strands of the strange hair-like worms were gushing out from the cracks, just as Lu Ning had described¡ªthey resembled black liquid.


    Zhou Wen summoned the banana fan and fanned at the surrounding hair-like worms. Wherever the wind passed, the worms were immediately blown away. Slamming into the mountain wall, they turned to crushed ice and died.


    ''Killed Legendary creature, Blood Threadworm¡­ Killed Legendary creature, Blood Threadworm¡­ Killed Legendary creature, Blood Threadworm¡­'' With one flap of the fan, the system''s notification flooded the screen.


    They are only at the Legendary level? Zhou Wen was slightly disappointed. He didn''t expect such strange worms to only be at the Legendary stage. However, they were still very impressive for drilling into the body of an Epic expert and causing her to enter a coma.


    From the looks of it, level suppression isn''t absolute. The power of these Blood Threadworms is rather special and with such copious numbers of them, it''s no wonder even Epic experts have to avoid them. When Zhou Wen saw that the Blood Threadworms were surging over at him like a tidal wave, he didn''t waste his Primordial Energy any further. He immediately ran deeper into the passageway.


    Lu Ning slept for more than ten hours and used some Primordial Energy Crystals. When she woke up again, she looked much better.


    When Lu Yunxian saw Lu Ning sit up, he suddenly asked her, "Lu Ning, would you dare to enter the underground tunnel again?"


    "If Adjutant An is already dead, what''s the point of us entering again?" Lu Ning sighed. "Now that I think of it, we were desperately running for our lives after we entered the tunnel. I didn''t realize it back then, but on second thought, we were led by Lord Alcohol and the rest the entire time. They were familiar with the underground world from the very beginning. They aren''t here to save Madam Lan. They have hatched a plot."


    "No matter what motives they have, I don''t believe Adjutant An will die so easily. Furthermore, Young Master Wen will definitely go in to reinforce Adjutant An. But we don''t understand the situation inside too well. If it''s possible, I hope that you can follow us into the underground tunnel," Lu Yunxian said. There were certain things that Zhou Wen didn''t need to do, but he needed to make plans.


    "Young Master Wen? Do you mean Zhou Wen? I know he has great potential, but he''s only at the Legendary stage. In such a terrifying place, even we can''t protect ourselves. What can he do?"


    Lu Yunxian didn''t elaborate. He looked at Lu Ning and asked, "Then are you still willing to enter the underground tunnel again? Just think of it as doing it for Adjutant An."


    Lu Ning gaped and was about to say something when she suddenly heard a clunking sound coming from the ruins. It sounded like a bell, but it did not sound like it was a result of metal colliding. It was more like the sound of stones colliding.


    Zhou Wen also heard the noise and immediately connected it to the strange vehicle. Furthermore, from the direction of the sound, it seemed to be coming from the entrance to the underground tunnel.

 286 The Strange Vehicle Sets Off

    When Zhou Wen came out, Lu Yunxian and company had already walked out of the tent and were looking in the direction of the ruins.


    "Young Master Wen, should we go take a look?" Lu Yunxian asked Zhou Wen. Clearly, he had also determined that the noises came from the strange vehicle.


    Zhou Wen nodded. "It''d be good to take a look."


    He was very curious about the strange vehicle too. In the game, he didn''t see the vehicle, despite entering the tunnel.


    Zhou Wen was very curious as to where the strange vehicle had come from. Was it brought in by someone or something that was originally from the underground tunnel?


    Seeing Lu Yunxian follow Zhou Wen into the ruins, Lu Ning, who hadn''t recuperated from her injuries, hesitated for a moment before following them.


    "How did you resolve the spatial winds?" Lu Ning rode a huge Snow Fox behind them. She didn''t see Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian use any means to interfere with the spatial wind, so she couldn''t help feeling puzzled.


    When she had entered with the others previously, they had sacrificed quite a number of Companion Beasts to find a way to interfere with the spatial wind. However, it was only a stopgap measure; the spatial winds still appeared.


    "Young Master Wen has already killed the dimensional creature that uses the spatial winds. There shouldn''t be any spatial winds anytime soon," said Lu Yunxian.


    Lu Ning found it unbelievable. She looked suspiciously at Zhou Wen, finding it hard to believe that this youth could do something so unbelievable.


    However, the reality forced her to believe it. She didn''t encounter the spatial wind again despite having been inside the ruins for some time.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as he walked forward silently. Soon, the three of them arrived in front of the underground tunnel.


    As expected, the strange vehicle that emitted the sounds was parked in the tunnel. However, it suddenly started moving again when they approached. The wooden puppet standing in front of the vehicle started to move its arms, turning the crank. The strange vehicle began to creak, producing a loud clang with every revolution of the crank.


    The wheels of the strange vehicle moved slowly, but this time, it didn''t move forward, but backward as though it was returning to the ruins.


    "This is the strange vehicle you were talking about? Did I come out lying on it?" Lu Ning asked as she looked at the strange vehicle that was slowly retreating.


    "Yes." Lu Yunxian said, "You came out on it. You were the only one."


    "What power is driving it?" Lu Ning looked at the puppet on the strange vehicle, as if she wanted to know if it were alive.


    "Young Master Wen and I had checked before. The vehicle is a dead object. There are no signs of living creatures on the puppet, but we didn''t discover any fuel or similar items. We have no idea what principle is behind the driving force. We originally imagined that it had expended its energy source, but from the looks of it, that isn''t the case," Lu Yunxian said.


    Seeing that the strange vehicle was slowly retreating and about to enter the underground tunnel, Zhou Wen looked at Lu Ning and asked, "Lu Ning, you were brought out by the vehicle while unconscious. Then, could you have fallen into the strange vehicle?"


    "I really don''t know. I was struck off the fault by Lord Alcohol and the rest and fell into the tide of Blood Threadworms. I lost consciousness very quickly. I really don''t know what happened next." Lu Ning shook her head.


    Zhou Wen looked at the strange vehicle that was about to retreat into the tunnel with a frown.


    In the game, he had already entered deep underground with the information given by Lu Ning. However, Lu Ning''s information only had a few landmarks and didn''t come with detailed directions or path identifiers. Hence, Zhou Wen had no choice but to find a path himself.


    However, the underground world was massive. He had spent more than ten hours in it without finding the temple that Lu Ning mentioned.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the opinion that Lu Ning was lying to him because the roads inside were complicated, as though they had been changed artificially. He walked for a long time and realized that there were many instances when he would circle back to a spot he had passed previously. This spot wasn''t fixed, but despite walking for more than ten hours in-game, Zhou Wen still failed to walk past it.


    "I remember you mentioning that you fell to a fault layer underground. That was inside the temple, right?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Ning.


    "That''s right. As soon as we entered the temple, we were ambushed by Lord Alcohol and the others, and we were struck down the fault layer," Lu Ning said.


    "If I were to deduce that you fell into this strange vehicle and triggered some mechanism, allowing it to take you out, then if we were to ride this vehicle, would it take us back to the fault layer where you dropped?"


    "I really don''t know, but it''s too dangerous," Lu Ning smiled bitterly.


    "Yes, that''s too dangerous." Lu Yunxian said.


    "Although it''s very dangerous, this might be the best solution. Lu Ning also said that she was led by Lord Alcohol and the rest. Since they know the path and we don''t, we might not be able to find the temple if we just head down. Lu Ning came out on this strange vehicle, and since she was able to come out safely, it implies that the strange vehicle''s interior is safe. Our only way of going straight to the temple is by taking the strange vehicle in," Zhou Wen said.


    Of course, there was another sentence that Zhou Wen didn''t say. He had played the game for more than ten hours and was quite familiar with the underground world. He had a way to deal with the few dimensional creatures inside. What was most troublesome was that he couldn''t get out of the maze-like area. The strange vehicle in front of them seemed to be the only hope.


    "But that''s just speculation. What if the strange vehicle takes us to a more dangerous place?" Lu Yunxian said.


    "We know nothing about the interior, so everything inside is dangerous for us." Zhou Wen saw that half of the vehicle had entered the tunnel and didn''t hesitate anymore. He walked over briskly and jumped into the carriage and said to Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning, "Head back to the camp and wait for me. I''ll head on to take a look."


    Although Zhou Wen could continue waiting and find a way out in the game, he didn''t know how long that would take. Perhaps a day or two, maybe a week or so, or even a month or two. He was afraid the former principal couldn''t afford to wait for him.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t worried that he would be trapped inside. With his understanding of the underground world, he knew that there were a few relatively safe spots inside. Furthermore, his chaos space also had plenty of daily necessities. He wouldn''t be in danger even if he was trapped for a year.


    Furthermore, he had his phone. After entering the tunnel, he could have the blood-colored avatar follow the path. If any accidents were to happen, he could find a safe place to continue exploring in game.

 287 Underground Starry Sky

    "Young Master Wen, I''ll go with you." Lu Yunxian rushed over and jumped onto the vehicle.


    Lu Ning was still hesitating, but when she saw that the strange vehicle had already tilted and was about to slide into the underground tunnel, she gritted her teeth and let the Snow Fox rush her to the strange vehicle.


    Lu Ning jumped onto the strange vehicle just as it slid down.


    Cha-chuff¡­ Cha-chuff¡­ Cha-chuff¡­


    The strange vehicle entered the tunnel, and like a roller coaster, it suddenly sped up and dived deeper underground.


    Zhou Wen and company hurriedly grabbed the edge of the carriage and saw the scenery behind them rapidly retreating. The strange vehicle charged forward as though it was charging through the criss-crossing caves, but it seemed to have a fixed trajectory.


    The puppet moved its arms, pushing the crank wildly; its body moving up and down like a sewing machine at full speed.


    "Hold tight. Don''t get thrown out." The strange vehicle was too fast, and it didn''t slow down when it made turns. Zhou Wen and company nearly flew out due to the shift in their center of gravity.


    The three of them grabbed onto the edge of the carriage as their bodies floated up. They waited for the bend to pass before slamming into the back of the carriage. Before they could heave a sigh of relief, the next bend was up.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian were fine, but Lu Ning had yet to recover. These jolts made her expression change.


    Fortunately, Lu Ning was not a pampered child. She had traveled across the League as a mercenary hunter, hunting countless dimensional creatures. She had experienced many battles and had encountered situations many times more difficult than she was in now. This wasn''t enough to throw her into a panic.


    After a while, the slope of the cave slowed down and the speed of the strange vehicle slowed down.


    Zhou Wen and company could finally sit safely in the carriage without being flung around.


    Lu Yunxian held onto the edge of the carriage and stood up. He looked outside and saw stone walls and tunnels. Looking around, he soon realized that he couldn''t even tell which direction they were facing.


    "Young Master Wen, I don''t even know where I''m heading to now." Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen helplessly.


    "Lu Ning, look around. Do you remember this place?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Ning.


    He knew the direction and had even memorized the route of the strange vehicle. His focus allowed him to remember everything even under harsh conditions. This was not something the average person could do.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t say this out loud. Instead, he asked Lu Ning.


    Lu Ning''s face was pale. She stood up, with the help of the carriage''s sides, and looked around. After a while, she said, "There are no obvious landmarks here. It''s the same as the average cave. I don''t know if I''ve been here before."


    After some thought, Zhou Wen agreed. There weren''t any special characteristics here other than stone walls and forks everywhere. Furthermore, with their poor eyesight, they only had a visibility of less than twenty meters from the illumination of the stone lamp at the front of the vehicle.


    Suddenly, their eyes lit up. They saw a starry sky appear in the darkness in front of them. In the pitch-black night sky, countless stars shimmered.


    Zhou Wen and company quickly discovered that it wasn''t the night sky but a type of ore on the dark stone walls. It was similar to mica which gave off fascinating lights.


    The vehicle traveled in the dark cave, and with the scattered ores looking like stars, it felt like they were flying in the starry sky. It was so beautiful that it made one''s soul feel liberated.


    "Not good. When we came here, we passed similar places. Beside those strange light-emitting ores are strange Epic creatures. They resemble bats but do not have sonar skills. Their eyes will shoot out light beams. Once contact is made, the body will melt like snow. It''s extremely terrifying," Lu Ning said.


    "How many did you meet earlier?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the top of the stone tunnel.


    "We met three in total, but we didn''t encounter them together. Otherwise, there might have been casualties," Lu Ning said.


    "Then you might want to be mentally prepared now," Zhou Wen said with a strange expression.


    Lu Ning and Lu Yunxian couldn''t see clearly, but Zhou Wen could see using Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration. There were white bat-shaped dimensional creatures hanging from the ceiling. He had no idea how many there were since he couldn''t count them all.


    Just as Lu Ning was about to ask him what he meant, she heard the flapping of her wings. A large swath of white bats swooped down from the ceiling like a thick layer of white cloud. Countless bats had flown over.


    When Lu Ning saw this, the last of the color in her face drained. Just the number of bats flying over numbered at least a hundred. And this was limited to what she could see. She had no idea how many more she couldn''t see in the darkness.


    When they first came, they had taken quite a lot of effort to kill a white bat. Now, to have so many bats charging at them, it could be said that they had just been passed the death sentence.


    Lu Yunxian and Zhou Wen prepared for combat. Lu Yunxian didn''t know how powerful the white bats were, but Zhou Wen did. However, he wasn''t afraid. He had already seen these white bats in-game.


    The light beams produced by the white bats'' eyes were indeed powerful, but Zhou Wen had his ways of dealing with them.


    Seeing large swaths of bats fly over, Zhou Wen held the banana fan and waved it at the bats. An invisible Grand Yin Wind gushed out, sending the white bats flying.


    Lu Ning summoned the Snow Fox and was about to fight to the death when she saw Zhou Wen standing in front of the vehicle, holding an extremely beautiful fan in his hand. He gently fanned the white cloud-like bats.


    The white bats suddenly seemed to be swept away by an invisible force. They flew out and slammed into the stone ceiling, their bodies shattering from the impact. One by one, they smashed loudly into the surrounding stone walls and stone steps around them.


    Lu Ning looked at Zhou Wen in a daze, unable to believe her eyes. The might of the fan had actually killed nearly a hundred white bats. It was truly astounding. She found it unbelievable that it was the work of a Legendary student like Zhou Wen.


    She could accept it if that had been done by a top-notch Epic expert. Yet, Zhou Wen, a Legendary, was able to produce such might. She found it surreal.


    Zhou Wen didn''t find it strange. The banana fan was a top-notch Epic and the white bats also had their weaknesses. They were extremely fast and most Epic experts would find it difficult to injure them. Together with their terrifying eye beam skills, they were indeed tough to deal with.


    However, the white bat''s weakness was that its Constitution was too low. It was the weakest among Epic creatures with about 20 points. It was not much stronger than a Legendary. It couldn''t withstand the Grand Yin Wind and could not avoid its huge area-of-effect attack. It could be said that the banana fan was its nemesis.

 288 Strange Vehicle Adventure

    Zhou Wen watched as large numbers of white bats landed in the tunnel in fragments behind him. There were also some crystals, and he couldn''t help but feel wistful.


    The strange vehicle continued to move forward. He didn''t know what the consequences would be if he left it, so he didn''t attempt to pick up the crystals. He could only watch as the strange vehicle left the spoils untouched.


    Despite him killing a large group of bats, there were still large numbers that didn''t fear death as they charged forward. Looking at the white shadows flying above them, it made one''s scalp tingle.


    Zhou Wen had just used the Grand Yin Wind and his Yuan Qi hadn''t recovered when he saw large swaths of white bats rush down. His expression changed slightly as he clenched his Bamboo Blade and prepared to engage the white bats in melee combat.


    Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning summoned their Companion Beasts to prepare for battle. The carriage was too small, so they could only summon Companion Beasts in their companion form¡ªas armor or weapons¡ªto aid them in battle.


    When a large horde of white bats charged down, Zhou Wen was just about to draw his saber when there was a humming sound. All the white bats above retreated. None of them continued charging as they circled the ceiling of the cave.


    Zhou Wen and company were stunned as they looked ahead. They didn''t know when the puppet began holding a strange musical instrument. It was likely made of stone; flat with a few holes on it. It was rather crudely made.


    However, just as the white bat was about to charge down, the puppet placed the stone musical instrument in front of its face. Its face was a wooden board without any facial features. It was unknown how it blew, but it produced a humming sound.


    The moment the sound emitted, the white bats immediately retreated again. They hovered above them, but none had the courage to swoop down again.


    The strange vehicle moved through the bats, but they didn''t encounter any more attacks from them. They safely moved forward.


    "Young Master Wen¡­ Don''t tell me that the puppet is alive¡­?" Lu Yunxian looked at the puppet with his mouth agape. He thought it was a mechanical object. Who knew that there would be such a development?


    Zhou Wen looked at the puppet as well. The puppet stood in front, no longer moving its arm. However, the strange vehicle continued to move forward at a constant speed. The crank was also spinning autonomously.


    The puppet stood there, holding the stone musical instrument as it looked forward into the distance. However, without any facial features and eyes, what was it using? It was extremely bizarre.


    Zhou Wen found it odd, but since it was beneficial to them, he didn''t have any intention of attacking the puppet. He was just worried about where the strange carriage would take them.


    The scenery in front of them suddenly broadened as the white bats that filled the sky scattered. Zhou Wen and company looked past the scattered white bats and saw a blue sky.


    Unlike the cave from before, this place was actually a huge and boundless space. It was impossible to see the end of this space at a glance. In the distance, one could even see the sea and islands. Above them was a blue sky.


    However, the blue sky was a little too blue. It was like a sapphire. Zhou Wen looked carefully and realized that it really was a sapphire.


    A gigantic sapphire formed the sky of the underground space by occupying the entire area above.


    There were no suns or stars. The sapphire emitted a faint blue light that illuminated the entire underground space. At the same time, everything in the underground space had a blue hue.


    In the next second, the strange vehicle landed on the blue ocean. Zhou Wen didn''t know if it was an ocean, but he just couldn''t see the water body''s end. All he saw was deep blue seawater.


    The strange vehicle cruised over the sea surface. Its stone wheels were rolling across the surface as though it was traveling on flat ground. They dragged out two white waves on the surface of the sea in its wake.


    "What''s that underneath?" Lu Yunxian pointed at the seawater beside him in horror.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Ning looked at the surface of the sea and saw a huge shadow, as though a behemoth was swimming under the strange vehicle.


    All they could see was a gigantic shadow, nothing else. Furthermore, the shadow was gradually expanding.


    Splash!


    The seawater erupted like a volcanic eruption as it sprayed hundreds of feet into the sky. Huge waves formed as the seawater struck the strange vehicle. However, the strange vehicle appeared imperturbable. This didn''t stop the seawater from pouring into the carriage, drenching them.


    However, Zhou Wen and company weren''t in the mood to care about the seawater. The three of them widened their eyes as they stared at the sea by the side of the war wagon.


    A huge creature that looked like it was carved from obsidian extended half its body from the sea. Its body was perfect and gorgeous. Its black obsidian-like scales shimmered and every inch of its body seemed to be exquisitely carved. Even if one were to observe the titanic body with a magnifying glass, one wouldn''t be able to find any crudeness or flaws.


    The huge body that was like a hill exuded an exquisite and majestic feeling.


    "Dragon¡­ That''s a dragon¡­ a dragon carved from obsidian¡­" Lu Yunxian stammered as he pointed at the creature that had stretched half its body out of the sea.


    Zhou Wen didn''t look too good either. The development seemed to exceed his expectations. Regardless of whether the terrifying creature in the sea was a dragon or not, he could tell from its aura that it was a terrifying existence. It might even be stronger than the white dragon in Dragon''s Well.


    Boom! Boom!


    A series of crashing waves sounded as the seawater around the strange vehicle churned. Copious amounts of seawater surged over, knocking Zhou Wen and company off their feet.


    However, their gazes were never on the strange vehicle''s interior, but outside. Black dragon heads emerged one after another. One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­


    When Zhou Wen saw the ninth black dragon extend its head out of the sea, he felt numb.


    "Roar!" The nine creatures carved from obsidian roared at the strange vehicle, sending sonar waves at them. Even the seawater turned into tumultuous waves as a result of the sonar waves. They surged at the puny strange vehicle from every direction.


    "We''re doomed!" Lu Yunxian''s expression changed drastically. Such terrifying creatures and such terrifying sound waves implied that they had no way of escaping the calamity.


    Zhou Wen held the banana fan tightly as he prepared for death. Even though he knew he wasn''t a match for these entities, he couldn''t just sit back and do nothing.


    "Hum!" The strange sound from the stone musical instrument echoed in front of the carriage. The sound wave dispersed the churning sonar waves and tsunamis at the same time, preventing them from getting close to the strange vehicle.


    The nine black dragons stared at the strange vehicle covetously, but none of them lunged forward. They only watched as the strange vehicle slowly drove towards the other side of the sea.


    Zhou Wen and company''s hearts raced. After the strange vehicle left the nine black dragons, Zhou Wen looked back and saw the nine obsidian-like dragons roaring at the sky as though they were venting their anger.


    And beneath the sea, Zhou Wen discovered that the lower half of their bodies were connected, like a black mountain that had sunken into the sea. Only then did he realize that it wasn''t nine dragons, but a monster with nine heads.

 289 Returning to the Bat Cave

    The strange vehicle raced across the sea while the puppet remained in front, staring into the distance, motionless like a statue.


    "Is this how I came back?" Lu Ning asked. Her face looked puzzled. She couldn''t imagine what she had experienced while she was unconscious.


    Zhou Wen leaned against the back of the strange vehicle, playing games on his phone.


    He wanted to see if he could control the blood-colored avatar to take the same path.


    Although he knew that it was useless even if the blood-colored avatar walked over, successfully passing the cave of white bats, it was impossible for him to cross the underground sea with the nine-headed dragon guarding it.


    However, there wasn''t much to do in the strange vehicle. Lu Ning was resting while Lu Yunxian was observing the situation ahead. Since he had nothing else to do, Zhou Wen began grinding the instance dungeon.


    Zhou Wen sat at the back, and there was only the sea behind him. In front, Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning couldn''t see what he was playing.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to move forward at full speed. Soon, large groups of Blood Threadworms surrounded him. Zhou Wen didn''t have the patience to deal with them. He ignored them and ran at full speed. When his Primordial Energy filled up, he killed all of them, letting them rain crystals. However, he no longer had any use for Legendary crystals.


    As for the Blood Threadworm eggs that dropped, Zhou Wen would pick them up and incubate them.


    The Blood Threadworms were not strong, but if there were a lot of them, things were different. Even Epic stage experts had to avoid them.


    Zhou Wen had hatched quite a number of Blood Threadworms. He planned on trying to see if they were of any use. If they were useful, he would keep them and not feed them to his pets.


    Where can I find a speed-type mount? I run with my legs all the time and it expends my Primordial Energy, but I can''t do anything about it. Zhou Wen used his Primordial Energy to increase his speed and ran for a while before having to recover his Primordial Energy. This was quite tiring, so he thought of how he needed a mount.


    Zhou Wen naturally had something extraordinary about him, being called a genius among geniuses by the former principal. His divergent thinking abilities and memory far exceeded that of ordinary people. He remembered the complicated routes that the strange vehicle took, despite its fast speed and quickly arrived at the cave of white bats.


    Looking at the ores that looked like stars in the cave, Zhou Wen suddenly wondered if he could dig out these ores in-game.


    Thinking about it, he gave it a try. It was not difficult to dig the ores. The blood-colored avatar shattered the rocks beside the ore, digging out a translucent milky-white crystal.


    ''Obtained Primordial Crystal. Weight: 21 grams, Primordial Crystal Purity: 0.12''


    This crystal is actually something that the game acknowledges. But what''s the use of Primordial Crystals? It can''t be used to make weapons that can kill dimensional creatures like Primordial Gold, right? Zhou Wen was astonished.


    Unfortunately, there was no storage space in-game. Even if he knew that the Primordial Crystals were useful, he couldn''t take them away.


    I wonder if there are any storage-type Companion Beasts. If they exist, I have to get one. Otherwise, it''s such a pity to waste so much good stuff. Zhou Wen had heard of such a Companion Beast, but he had never seen it. He also had no idea where they dropped.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wait for the white bats to attack after entering the bat cave. He attracted the attention of the nearby white bats over.


    There wasn''t any strange vehicle in the game, so if he were to be surrounded by the bats, he would definitely die. Therefore, Zhou Wen planned on killing them along the way and let them drop their items.


    If he was lucky, he might even have a white bat drop as a mount. They flew at extremely fast speeds and were rare flying pets. Zhou Wen was very interested in getting one.


    The only worry was he couldn''t hatch an Epic Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen lured a horde of white bats and with the fan, he sent them flying. Their bodies turned into ice sculptures in midair, shattering upon collision with the stone walls.


    Seeing dozens of white bats being destroyed by a single attack and having plenty of crystals drop excited Zhou Wen greatly.


    It would be great if all Epic creatures can be killed as easily as these white bats, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    It was a pity that it was not easy to find such weak Epic creatures. Furthermore, there were few places with Epic creatures appearing in huge hordes. In some smaller dimensional zones, Epic creatures usually appeared alone. Even in a super dungeon, like Zhuolu, it was rare to encounter one.


    After scanning the battlefield, he discovered that the crystals produced by the white bat were mostly Speed Crystals. Epic crystals were very useful, but Zhou Wen''s absorbing was useless, nor could he take them away. He felt as if he had lost a winning lottery ticket as he looked at the floor of crystals.


    A storage Companion Beast. I must get a storage Companion Beast, Zhou Wen screamed inwardly.


    Zhou Wen lured and killed countless white bats along the way. Although he didn''t keep a careful count, he estimated he killed at least 400¨C500 of them. The crystals that dropped were all basic stat crystals.


    Ding!


    Upon hearing a rather unique chime, Zhou Wen looked at the pile of white bat corpses and his eyes lit up.


    Among a few crystals, there was a crystal that glowed blue. The words on it were different from the rest.


    Poison: 13¡­ Overjoyed, Zhou Wen he hurriedly got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Poison Crystal. After absorbing it, his Poison stat reached 13 points.


    A Poison stat allowed Zhou Wen to have a decent poison resistance. Furthermore, some special Epic Primordial Energy Skills had special requirements towards his stats.


    Zhou Wen thought that if he could obtain a Primordial Energy Skill that came with the Poison element in the future, the Poison stat would definitely be useful.


    Seeing that the white bats dropped Poison Crystals, Zhou Wen felt energized and continued charging forward. He kept luring and culling large numbers of them.


    When he was less than halfway through the bat cave, Zhou Wen lured a large group of white bats and fanned them, sending them all to their deaths.


    However, one of the bats flickered and vanished as though it had teleported. When it appeared again, it had passed the Grand Yin Wind and appeared in front of the blood-colored avatar.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the white bat was different from the others. It was bigger and its color was different from the whiteness of the normal white bats. It looked as though it was carved from milk-white jade, and its eyes were like two shining diamonds.


    In the next second, a beam shot out from the white jade-like bat''s eyes and headed straight for the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used Ghost Steps to dodge its attack and began engaging in combat with it.

 290 White Shadow of Poison

    The white bats'' speed was already surprisingly fast, but the jade-white bat was ludicrously fast. It wasn''t inferior to the Ghost King. Furthermore, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t just purely a difference in speed because it could now use the skill to pass through Great Yin Wind without suffering any damage.


    Could this jade-white bat really be capable of spatial teleportation? Or is it the legendary instantaneous transmission? Zhou Wen was astonished as he constantly controlled the blood-colored avatar to circle around the jade-white bat.


    Doctor Darkness and Ghost Bride helped by the side, but the jade-white bat was too fast. They were unable to injure it.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen''s heart stirred. He saw the jade-white bat phase into existence on a spot before him. After deducing its location, he suddenly raised his palm and chopped down the Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The sanguine wheel of light spun furiously as it slashed at the jade-white bat.


    The jade-white bat flapped its wings and easily dodged the Demonic Astral Wheel. However, when it continued charging at Zhou Wen, it grunted.


    The Demonic Astral Wheel boomeranged back and landed on the jade-white bat''s back at an even faster speed.


    Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy wasn''t enough to severely injure an Epic creature, but the jade-white bat was the type of Epic creature with high Speed but weak Constitution.


    With the Demonic Astral Wheel hitting its back, the spinning blade beams immediately left a long gash on its back as blood splattered.


    This attack caught the jade-white bat by surprise. Its body deviated from its trajectory and lost control for a moment.


    Doctor Darkness stabbed out with the scalpel in his hand. The scalpel in the Life Soul''s hand almost overlapped with his scalpel, stabbing into the bat''s chest, staggering it in midair.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate and made Banana Fairy take her true form. She puffed up her cheeks, turning her face chubby. Then, she blew at the jade-white bat.


    The jade-white bat was frozen in place by the scalpel and couldn''t move. It was sent flying by the Great Yin Wind. Its body rapidly turned into an ice sculpture in the air before smashing into the wall and shattering to pieces.


    Ding! Zhou Wen heard another special chime of something dropping. He hurriedly looked over and saw a milky-white egg drop on the ground.


    Zhou Wen was instantly overjoyed. I''m really lucky today. I''m getting whatever I''ve been wishing for.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen felt a little nervous. He didn''t know if he could hatch a complete Epic Companion Egg.


    Regardless, Zhou Wen first got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Companion Egg and checked its attributes.


    White Shadow of Poison: Epic


    Life Providence: Bone Corroding


    Life Soul: Shadow of Darkness


    Strength: 27


    Speed: 40


    Constitution: 24


    Primordial Energy: 32


    Primordial Energy Skill: Flash, Poison Ray, Claw of Poison


    Companion Form: Arm Wings


    After seeing the White Shadow of Poison''s attributes, Zhou Wen finally understood why this fellow was able to pass through the Grand Yin Wind. It didn''t teleport, but its Shadow of Darkness Life Soul could temporarily let it take on a shadow form.


    No matter how strong the wind was, it was impossible for it to blow away the shadow. The White Shadow of Poison in an incorporeal shadow form was nearly invulnerable.


    However, White Shadow of Poison could only enter a shadow state for a short period of time. Coupled with the speed-boosting Flash skill, it appeared as if it had completed teleportation.


    Zhou Wen gained a rough idea of its three skills, but White Shadow of Poison''s Companion Form left him somewhat puzzled.


    Flying-type Companion Beasts were mostly winged Companion Beasts, and most of them had wings as their companion form. However, this was the first time Zhou Wen had heard of arm wings.


    Looking at the White Shadow of Poison''s information, especially the information on the companion form, he saw a pair of white bat wings appear on the phone screen.


    However, unlike ordinary wings, the upper part of the wings was not an ordinary skeleton frame, but a bat''s claws.


    The arm wings could be considered wings and could also be considered a pair of arms. It was indeed very strange.


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at the White Shadow of Poison''s wings and discovered that they were indeed very ordinary, but extremely useful. They could be used as wings, allowing it to fly faster, and it could also be used as a pair of arms that were rather agile. When in combat, they could launch an attack that caught the enemy by surprise.


    Good stuff. I just don''t know if it can be fully hatched. Zhou Wen couldn''t bear to use such a high-leveled Companion Egg as food. He gritted his teeth and prepared to hatch it.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t incubate it blindly. He first held onto the Companion Egg to grind a few white bats and picked up a few Primordial Energy Crystals. Placing them beside the blood-colored avatar, he made the blood-colored avatar sit on some and held two Primordial Energy Crystals in hand. Only then did he choose to hatch the egg.


    In an instant, Zhou Wen felt his Primordial Energy drain out of his body. He couldn''t even replenish his Primordial Energy with Dao Body. At this moment, the two Primordial Energy Crystals in the blood-colored avatar''s hands showed their effects. They kept injecting the blood-colored avatar with Primordial Energy. Likewise with the Primordial Energy Crystals under him. However, they were not absorbed as quickly as the Primordial Energy Crystals in his hand.


    Although he had the dual replenishment stemming from his Dao Body and Primordial Energy Crystals, hatching a Companion Egg required too much Primordial Energy in a short period of time. The expenditure couldn''t keep up with the supply provided, making Zhou Wen feel physically drained.


    After enduring for more than twenty seconds, just as Zhou Wen thought the blood-colored avatar was about to explode, the Companion Egg finally turned into a white beam and fused into the blood-colored avatar.


    At the same time, a white bat tattoo appeared on Zhou Wen''s back. Clearly, the incubation had been successful.


    I succeeded! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly looked at the White Shadow of Poison''s attributes. They were still the same. It remained at the Epic stage and didn''t drop in level. Its attributes were exactly the same as before.


    Zhou Wen anxiously summoned the White Shadow of Poison before riding on its back and rode it deeper into the bat cave. Indeed, he was traveling much faster this way.


    With the help of the White Shadow of Poison, Zhou Wen''s grinding speed increased. Along the way, he had another Poison Crystal and a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal drop.


    The Poison Crystal only had 9 points, so it was useless for Zhou Wen with his 13 Poison stat. However, Zhou Wen loved the Flash Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. He absorbed it immediately, learning Flash at the Rank 6. It was a wing-required flying skill that greatly augmented his flight speed.


    Zhou Wen had the White Shadow of Poison, so he used it with great skill and verve.


    If he wasn''t in a rush to scout ahead, Zhou Wen would have spent a few months here grinding and having more good stuff drop.


    After passing the bat cave, Zhou Wen finally saw the endless underground sea. He couldn''t help but look deep into the sea, searching for signs of the nine-headed dragon.

 291 Totem?

    Zhou Wen summoned the White Shadow of Poison, getting it to fly higher and cling towards the sapphire sky. He hoped to avoid the nine-headed dragon and successfully pass through the underground sea.


    Zhou Wen kept staring at the surface of the sea but didn''t discover the terrifying shadow. Suddenly, a blue light flashed on the screen and the screen turned black. The blood-colored avatar died mysteriously.


    What was that? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at his phone. He only knew that the item wasn''t from the nine-headed dragon but from the sapphire sky.


    Thankfully, we came on the strange vehicle. Otherwise, crossing the underground sea would have been extremely difficult. Just as Zhou Wen was about to restart the game, he heard Lu Yunxian, who was in charge of observing upfront, shout, "Land ahoy!"


    Zhou Wen and Lu Ning stood up and saw that in the direction the strange vehicle was heading, a silver beach had indeed appeared. The sand there was whiter than any sand that Zhou Wen had seen before, like snow.


    The strange vehicle touched shore and the wheels left two deep tracks on the beach as it continued forward.


    As soon as they crossed the sea, a white desert appeared in front of him. It was as white as snow.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the strange vehicle would continue on for a little while¡ªat least an hour or two¡ªjust like how it was in the underground sea.


    However, just as Zhou Wen sat down and was about to take out his phone to continue challenging the instance dungeons, he heard Lu Yunxian''s voice. "Young Master Wen, what do you think is that?"


    Zhou Wen, who hadn''t even gotten comfortable, had no choice but to get up again. He looked deep into the desert and saw a flag-like object sticking out from the sand in the distance.


    The reason it only looked like a flag was that the flag shaft was bent. It looked like a snake that had not lifted its body up straight. There was a piece of animal hide hanging on the top, black and tattered. Its shape resembled enlarged pants, ones that hadn''t been washed for centuries.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze and vaguely saw a symbol on the thing that looked like a pair of pants. However, without Truth Listener, his vision was clearly inferior to Lu Yunxian''s and Lu Ning''s.


    Lu Ning''s expression changed slightly as she said in a strange voice, "I think I''ve seen the symbol on the flag before when Lord Alcohol took me into that stone temple."


    "What kind of symbol is it? Are you sure it''s the same?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Lu Ning looked at it for a while longer, and when the vehicle got closer, she said, "There''s no mistake about that. It''s that symbol. It''s a triangular anchor. There''s also a long-haired woman''s side profile drawn on it. As the symbol looks very weird, I took a few more glances back then. It left quite a deep impression on me."


    A ship anchor with a woman''s side profile? Alarmed, Zhou Wen never expected to see it in such a place, having seen them before.


    "Yes, although I don''t know who invented ship anchors or who the inventor is, according to history, it can''t have appeared recently. There must be large ships built before an anchor is needed. In Zhuolu myth, there are no stories with huge shops. So to have an anchor appear there naturally left a deep impression on me," Lu Ning added.


    "Could it have been carved after someone went in?" Lu Yunxian pondered.


    "I had such thoughts too, but the pattern was specially engraved on a stone monument. Furthermore, the stone looked like it has been ravaged by thousands of years of history. It was rather indiscernible, so I doubt it was newly carved onto it. On second thought, it hasn''t been a century since the dimensional storms happened. The Zhuolu battlefield only appeared in recent years, so who could have entered the stone monument so early? Besides, it has to share the same architectural style as the stone temple. Even the materials and dating have to be uniform. That''s quite impossible," Lu Ning said.


    "It''s really quite impossible." Zhou Wen nodded slightly, but his eyes remained fixed on the fluttering ragged pants. At that moment, he could tell that it was a piece of very tattered animal skin, but the anchor symbol was rather complete. Other than the difference in size, the anchor and the woman with the side profile were identical.


    What''s the meaning of this woman anchor symbol? If this pattern existed in ancient times, then who''s its owner? The woman on the anchor? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly, but he had no answers.


    The bent flag shaft was not a snake but a black ancient vine that looked curled.


    "What''s that under the flag?" Lu Yunxian said while staring at the bottom of the vine flag.


    Zhou Wen could only see a blob of grayish-black shadows, as though it was someone sitting there with a cloak draped over him.


    When the strange vehicle got closer to the flag, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t a cloak. It was just a strange robe made of animal hide. It looked like a cloak due to the covering of the head.


    As for the creature in the beast-hide robes, it was unknown what it was. All that was left were bones. The bones were crystalline and had a clear and flawless look. It formed a stark contrast to the crude hide.


    Creak!


    When they were less than ten meters away from the flag, the strange vehicle screeched to a halt. The puppet turned around and turned its face at the skeleton in the animal hide. It bent its back slightly as if it was giving a bow.


    Why did it stop just like that? Zhou Wen looked around in puzzlement. There was a white desert around him. He didn''t see any stone temple, nor was there a fault cliff or Blood Threadworms. It didn''t look like the place Lu Ning had mentioned.


    Lu Ning was also confused. The three of them waited for a while. When they realized that the vehicle had no intention of continuing and the puppet had stopped moving, they jumped out from the back of the vehicle. They approached the skeleton and looked at it and the vine flag.


    There were no words on the ragged vine flag. The only thing there was the anchor symbol. There was nothing special about it.


    "This is the Zhuolu battlefield. Do you think this vine flag is the flag of a particular race during the war?" Lu Yunxian asked.


    Lu Ning shook her head slightly. "Although there are many different versions of the myth, some say that the Yellow Emperor race''s totem is that of a bear or dragon. The Chiyou race was said to be insects, bulls, or birds. Regardless of the version of the myth you subscribe to, their totems shared something in common. They were basically living beings, nothing dead, much less an anchor."


    "What you said makes sense. At that time, it should have been a period of nature worship. There shouldn''t be any artificial totems like anchors." Lu Yunxian found his thoughts ridiculous.


    As they were studying the area, the skeleton, that was motionless like an inanimate object, suddenly stood up. It gave the three of them a fright as they quickly retreated to summon their Companion Beasts and warily stared at it.

 292 Dont Speak

    "Are you willing to become my race''s representative? My race will bestow you with supreme brilliance, an eternal brilliance, turning you into an immortal existence." The skeleton held the vine flag in one hand and stood above the white sand. Although it was only a skeleton, its supercilious stance left one reeling. It was as though it had millions of formidable soldiers under its command, all capable of flattening the world once the order was given.


    Two white flames burned in the skeleton''s eye sockets, resembling eyes as they stared straight at Zhou Wen, who was standing between Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning.


    Once the skeleton spoke, Zhou Wen felt a sense of disgust and contempt rise up from his body. It was none other than the Sigh of the King.


    Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning looked at Zhou Wen and the skeleton in shock. They didn''t know what was going on. Despite all their knowledge, they had no idea what a representative implied.


    However, the brilliance that ignited over the skeleton resembled a god''s descent into the world. The ordinary flag burst into a blinding radiance. It was like a blinding sun.


    "Young Master Wen, I once heard that the six heroes became heroes after obtaining the heritage of powerful creatures. Could it be that there are similar opportunities here?" Lu Yunxian said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen knew that this place was likely the same as the Holy Temple in the Holy Land. It could inherit the bloodline powers of a race, but the Sigh of the King didn''t give him a good feeling, so he didn''t plan on accepting the offer.


    "What race are you from?" Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to refuse as he asked the skeleton.


    This rare chance of seeing the anchor symbol and learning that it belonged to some race made Zhou Wen want to ask the skeleton which race the symbol belonged to.


    "Your soul tells me that you''re not willing to become my race''s representative. What a pity¡­ A pity¡­" As the skeleton spoke, the light on its body and flag faded.


    The skeleton slowly sat back on the ground just like in the beginning. It leaned against the vine flag and lowered its head, returning to its lifeless state.


    Can you not be so straightforward? Can you at least answer a few of my questions? Zhou Wen felt depressed. The answer was right in front of him, but he couldn''t crack the mystery. He had the urge to agree to the skeleton to get the answer.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As the skeleton returned to its dead silence, the strange vehicle chugged on again. The puppet moved the crank, causing the strange vehicle to move again.


    Zhou Wen and company hurriedly jumped onto the strange vehicle. They didn''t know where they were, so they had to rely on the strange vehicle to find their way.


    Lu Yunxian worried that the strange vehicle would leave the ruins, but it didn''t retreat. It continued to drive deeper into the desert.


    The desert wasn''t as big as they imagined. In less than half an hour, it had already driven out of the desert and entered an endless mountain range.


    The underground mountains were not very tall. The highest was only a few hundred meters, its peak almost reaching the sapphire sky.


    As the strange vehicle entered the mountainous region, Blood Threadworms reappeared. Moreover, there were more than had previously been seen in the tunnel. There were patches of rocks seemingly covered in black blood everywhere. In fact, they were crawling with Blood Threadworms.


    When the Blood Threadworms discovered them, they crawled over but the puppet didn''t even need to play the stone musical instrument to scare them from approaching any further. They gathered on both sides of the vehicle like spectators watching a motorcade, parting a path for the strange vehicle to pass.


    The terrain on the mountain became more and more complicated. The vehicle even drove into the belly of a mountain. With the changes in the strata, Zhou Wen felt that the vehicle was still moving down.


    Lu Ning observed the cliffs and tidal-like Blood Threadworms and said with some hesitation, "I think I have some memory of this place. It''s like I''ve been here before. However, I didn''t pay too much attention to the situation down there since we were walking on the cliff up above, so I can''t be certain."


    Just as she said that, Lu Ning''s eyes lit up and she pointed ahead. "No mistake about it. This is it. This is the valley of the fault before entering the temple. That stone pillar is the path to the stone temple. On the other side is the stone temple."


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian looked over and indeed saw a stone pillar on the cliff ahead. The stone pillar wasn''t the same as the stone walls beside it. It was grayish-white and eye-catching. Its shape was angular, making it obvious that it had been carved.


    "If this strange vehicle doesn''t stop when we pass by the stone pillar, should we get off? We have to make a choice now," Lu Yunxian said to Zhou Wen and Lu Ning.


    "If we get off here, we can enter the temple directly. We can find the fault that Adjutant An fell into." Lu Ning obviously agreed to get out of the vehicle.


    Lu Yunxian looked at Zhou Wen who said after some thought, "Finding An Sheng is more important. Let''s get off here."


    Since their original target was the fault inside the temple, they could get there directly from here. There was no need for them to continue riding the vehicle.


    Seeing both of them agree to alight, Lu Yunxian nodded slightly. When he reached the stone pillar, he used flames to open a path, burning the Blood Threadworms on a nearby mountain wall. Then, the three of them climbed up the pillar and soon arrived at the top.


    Indeed, they saw a stone temple built against a mountain. It was like half a temple growing from the mountain wall. Zhou Wen saw an anchor sculpture at the top of the temple. The woman with the side profile was carved on the front of the anchor.


    However, he didn''t have the time to carefully examine the ship''s anchor sculpture because, in front of the stone temple, Lord Alcohol and about a dozen people had summoned all sorts of Companion Beasts. They appeared to be preparing for battle, staring at something beyond the temple doors.


    As they didn''t move or make any noise, Zhou Wen and company hadn''t noticed them until they arrived at the top.


    After Zhou Wen and company charged up the stone pillar, Lord Alcohol and company immediately looked in their direction. Instantly, the atmosphere turned tense.


    Lu Ning stared at them and said coldly, "Lord Alcohol, you heartless bast*rd. You betrayed and plotted to harm Adjutant An despite all the benefits he gave you. Aren''t you being too ruthless?"


    When Lu Ning said that, the expression of Lord Alcohol and company changed drastically as they gaped their mouths, as though they were saying something. However, Zhou Wen wondered if there was something wrong with his ears¡ªhe couldn''t hear anything. They kept opening and closing their mouths, and from the shapes of their mouths, it felt like they were repeating two words.


    Don''t speak! Zhou Wen lip-read and connected it to the anxious looks written all over the faces of Lord Alcohol and company. He immediately had an ominous feeling as he hurriedly pulled Lu Ning to stop her from speaking.


    Lu Ning also realized that something was not right. She had long shut her mouth and stopped talking, but she heard a loud rumbling coming from the temple as if it was thunder.

 293 Echo

    The voice grew louder, as if lightning was approaching rapidly.


    Boom!


    When the sound came out of the stone temple, it was like a thunderclap exploding above everyone''s heads. Zhou Wen felt his ears buzz as though his head was about to split open. His eyes, nose, ears, and mouth bled. He couldn''t hear anything for a moment.


    The other people were in no better situation than Zhou Wen. Some of them had already spewed out blood. Even their Companion Beasts were affected. Their expressions turned ghastly as some of them were clearly injured.


    However, Lord Alcohol and company covered their ears and remained motionless.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare move when he saw the situation. The sound was odd, but the thunderclap that happened above him nearly knocked him unconscious. Who knew what the consequences would be if he continued talking.


    Zhou Wen thought of retreating to the other side of the stone pillar. If he did, he could shout and use that terrifying sound to easily finish off Lord Alcohol and the rest.


    Lord Alcohol kept staring at Zhou Wen and company. Seeing the change in Zhou Wen''s eyes, he seemed to have guessed something. He opened his mouth and said something to Zhou Wen, but he didn''t make a sound.


    Zhou Wen carefully tried to lip-read and realized that he was saying: "Don''t move. Airflow can also cause echoes. When that happens, all of us will die. If we could run, we''d have run."


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if what he said was true, but seeing how they had no intention to move, he guessed it was true. They would probably have run if they could.


    "You can''t stay here forever, right?" Zhou Wen mouthed to Lord Alcohol.


    "Wait, in another hour, the echo will disappear," Lord Alcohol said.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred when he heard that. Since they Lord Alcohol and company didn''t dare to move, they could still maintain peace. However, once the restriction on them disappeared, Zhou Wen and company might not be their match.


    Although Zhou Wen had the banana fan, Lord Alcohol and the rest clearly weren''t weaklings. Even a person like An Sheng had been thrown down the fault. This group couldn''t be underestimated.


    Especially a person like Lord Alcohol. He had experienced the dimensional storms before. He was even associated with people like Jing Daoxian and Zhang Daotian. He was definitely not as simple as a haggard old man.


    If I don''t teach them a lesson now, the three of us will be at a disadvantage later, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, the three of them weren''t immune to the damage from the echo. Finishing off Lord Alcohol and the rest now was equivalent to dooming themselves.


    Unfortunately, Truth Listener is still in the midst of its evolution. Otherwise, it would probably have some effect on the echoes. Zhou Wen thought of Truth Listener and looked at the chaos space. It was still in a stone egg form; the completion of its evolution unknown.


    Other than Truth Listener, is there no other way? Zhou Wen racked his brains for a way to deal with the echo.


    Banana Fairy was definitely not up to the mark. She was an offensive-type Companion Beast, so she didn''t have good defense. Now that they were facing an invisible enemy, it was impossible counterattacking.


    Under such circumstances, Doctor Darkness was even more useless. Without an opponent, his ability could not be used.


    Ghost Bride might be of some use. As a ghost, she''s probably not afraid of the sonar attack, Zhou Wen thought. Although Ghost Bride wasn''t afraid of the echo, it wasn''t of much help to Zhou Wen. She couldn''t block the echo for them.


    Unless the echo is directional. Zhou Wen carefully recalled the details of the echo blast. He felt that although they were relatively far from the stone temple, they didn''t hold any advantage.


    The further they went, the louder the echo. They were no different from Lord Alcohol and the rest who were standing in front of the stone temple.


    While Zhou Wen was contemplating the matter, he saw Lu Yunxian wink at him and mouth something to him. However, Zhou Wen had been looking at Lord Alcohol and company, so he hadn''t noticed before.


    Now that he noticed Lu Yunxian, he could tell from his mouth that he seemed to be saying: "I have a way to withstand the echoes."


    "You can withstand the echoes?" Zhou Wen also mouthed in response to Lu Yunxian. Unfortunately, Lu Yunxian didn''t have the ability to read lips. He kept repeating his words.


    Zhou Wen thought about it. Lu Yunxian was quite reliable, so it was unlikely he would lie.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before attempting to walk towards Lu Yunxian. He was only two or three steps away when he immediately heard the rumbling of thunder in the stone temple.


    Boom!


    A thunderclap boomed, causing Lord Alcohol and company to bleed from their seven orifices. Even the Companion Beasts were no exception.


    As for Zhou Wen and company, they were fine. In front of them was a strange pet that looked like a headless pig. Its body was curvy and oval without a head or tail. It had four hooves growing on it. It looked very strange.


    However, such a silly-looking Companion Beast had actually used a strange energy fluctuation to withstand the terrifying sonar blast, preventing the trio from being hit by it.


    Zhou Wen''s eyes immediately narrowed as he looked in the direction of Lord Alcohol. The latter wasn''t in a good state to begin with, so when he saw what had happened, his face became even paler.


    "Young Master Wen, how about we make a deal?" Lord Alcohol mouthed a request.


    "What kind of deal?" Zhou Wen directly asked, immediately causing thunder to rumble from the stone temple. It turned back into an echo that boomed above the stone temple.


    Boom! Boom!


    Some of the Companion Beasts dropped to the ground. The dozen or so people bled from their seven orifices. The weaker ones had already collapsed to the ground.


    These sounds triggered even more echoes. Thunder rumbled outside the stone temple, as if an enraged thunder god kept attacking with echoes.


    There were already a few people on Lord Alcohol''s side who were badly bleeding, who knew if they could survive this ordeal. Zhou Wen''s situation wasn''t looking good either. The echo''s powers were too strong, and the strange Companion Beast was trembling. It didn''t seem as if it could last much longer.


    Zhou Wen''s eyes darted askew and saw that, instead of retreating, the old fellow chose to charge into the stone temple in spite of the thunderous booms.


    "Let''s enter the stone temple." Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he made Lu Yunxian control the Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the sound would be even more terrifying when they were nearer the stone temple. However, he realized that the further away he was, the louder the sound was. Although the echo remained terrifying in the stone temple, it wasn''t as terrifying as outside.


    Zhou Wen sized up the stone hall and saw that there were many crudely-made stone objects inside. Lord Alcohol continued running for the back door of the stone temple. The echoes left him vomiting blood, but were unable to kill him.

 294 Longevity Frui

    "Where did An Sheng fall from?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Ning.


    "The fault at the back of the temple," Lu Ning replied.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got Lu Yunxian to control his Companion Beast as the trio rushed into the back hall.


    If the front of the temple was considered a building, then the back of the temple was a huge cavern. 80% of it maintained its original appearance with only a few places showing signs of artificial excavation.


    A stone drum stood on the left side of the cavern, emitting thumping sounds. The terrifying sonar waves came from it.


    However, now that Zhou Wen and company were close to the stone drum, they couldn''t sense the powerful might of the echo. The power of the sonar wave was only equivalent to a Legendary sonar wave attack.


    A huge rift spanning a few hundred meters covered the other side of the cave, and at the back was a strange fruit tree.


    The fruit tree was twenty to thirty meters tall, its crown resembling a large umbrella. The tree had dense leaves and its body was black as ink. Only the leaves had a few fine white veins.


    Many fruits peppered the areas between the black leaves. However, looking carefully, one couldn''t help but be alarmed.


    This was because the fruits looked like babies that were sitting cross-legged with their eyes closed. It exuded an indescribable horror.


    No matter how he looked at it, Zhou Wen found the strange tree resembled the Dead Man Tree in his mysterious phone, but there were slight differences.


    Lord Alcohol had already run up to the tree. He leaped up to pick the infant-like fruit.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if it was an illusion, but he saw the fruit move by itself, taking the initiative to make contact with Lord Alcohol''s palm. Soon, it was in his hand.


    "I originally planned on letting them give it a try, but now there''s nothing I can do." Lord Alcohol''s red eyes stared at the strange fruit that resembled a jade doll and swallowed it.


    "What''s that fruit?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Ning.


    Lu Ning looked confused. "When we first entered, this was all there was at the back of the temple. There was no stone drum or fruit trees."


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen pulled out his Bamboo Blade and cleaved at Lord Alcohol, who had just swallowed the fruit, with the Demonic Astral Wheel. Since he had become an archenemy, he had to try with all his might to kill his enemy.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what changes would happen after Lord Alcohol swallowed the fruit. Although he wanted to know, he wasn''t willing to wait for the outcome.


    Lu Ning and Lu Yunxian shared the same thoughts. Two forces of ice and fire joined Zhou Wen''s Demonic Astral Wheel in the assault on Lord Alcohol.


    After Lord Alcohol swallowed the fruit, he seemed to be in a daze. He stood there motionless with his head lowered and his body bent. He looked extremely strange.


    Just as the three forces were about to hit him, Lord Alcohol raised his head and spread open his arms. He leaned back and let out a painful roar.


    A terrifying power erupted from his body as a powerful shockwave shattered Zhou Wen and company''s attacks. This terrifying power wasn''t directed at the three of them.


    Their expressions instantly turned nasty as Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy. Banana Fairy opened her mouth and blew a gust of cold wind at the roaring Lord Alcohol.


    The cold wind blew Lord Alcohol away, slamming him into the stone wall at the back of the cave, creating a huge pit.


    Lord Alcohol''s body leaned against the pit in the stone wall, his body twisted. Covered in frost, his eyes were closed.


    However, the ominous feeling in Zhou Wen''s heart intensified. With the Bamboo Blade in hand, he used Ghost Steps to instantly appear in front of Lord Alcohol, delivering Transcendent Flying Immortal right into Lord Alcohol''s chest.


    At that moment, Lord Alcohol''s hand suddenly moved. The veins on his hand protruded like tiny purple snakes wrapping around his arm. Furthermore, his arm was emitting a strange blood-colored glow.


    At such a close distance, Lord Alcohol held the Bamboo Blade that had stabbed at him like a bolt of lightning. It had failed to slice off his palm but had managed to slice it open.


    Blood flowed out, but he seemed to feel nothing. Holding the blade, he opened his eyes and slowly stood up from the pit.


    As he stood up, his body underwent a tremendous change. His fractured bones automatically healed, and his white hair turned black. His hunched and thin figure also gradually straightened up as he bulked up. His entire silhouette and overall bearing seemed to undergo a miraculous change.


    Lord Alcohol, who looked like an old man, had turned into a middle-aged man as he slowly stood up. There were no signs of aging on him at all. It was hard to imagine that the previous Lord Alcohol was the same person.


    Doctor Darkness silently crept behind him and stabbed him in the waist with his scalpel.


    Crack!


    Without even looking back, Lord Alcohol threw out his palm, sending Doctor Darkness and his Life Soul flying out. Doctor Darkness slammed into the mountain wall, his bones seemingly fractured. He fell to the ground with a twisted expression. It was unknown if he could survive.


    "Jing Daoxian didn''t lie to me. The fruit of the Longevity Tree can really restore one''s youth. It feels great being young¡­" Lord Alcohol wore a look of delight. In his glee, he exerted strength in his palm, throwing Zhou Wen and his saber flying.


    Zhou Wen switched to the Godfiend Life Providence in midair and used its power to counter the terrifying momentum that Lord Alcohol transferred into him. He landed safely on the ground, not suffering a tragic fate like Doctor Darkness.


    "What''s that fruit? How did it make Lord Alcohol become so terrifying?" Lu Yunxian said as he looked at the young and powerful Lord Alcohol.


    "I don''t know." Zhou Wen''s expression didn''t look too good. The aura emanating from Lord Alcohol was terrifying. Zhou Wen could even faintly feel an invisible gas rising from his body like an invisible devil.


    What made Zhou Wen most worried was that the current Lord Alcohol had already reached an unimaginable level. Even Banana Fairy couldn''t kill him. The three of them probably didn''t have the strength to resist him anymore.


    Lord Alcohol had transformed into a twenty-year-old youth. His black hair was hanging down due to his nature-defying growth, and his muscles were filled with elasticity and strength. He had been a grizzled old man just moments ago.


    "Let''s leave, now." Zhou Wen cried out to Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning, before turning to run towards the front temple.


    Since they were no match for him, death was the only outcome.


    Lord Alcohol glanced coldly at them and reached out his hand to grab at them. Zhou Wen and company immediately felt an irresistible suction force pulling them towards him.

 295 Devil

    Zhou Wen held the banana fan and sent out a gust of Grand Yin Wind.


    Crack!


    Lord Alcohol''s body was blown away once again and he slammed into the wall. However, he stood up even faster this time and he recovered from his injuries more quickly. He stared at the banana fan in Zhou Wen''s hand with a sharp gaze. "An Epic Companion Beast can''t have such potent wind-elemental powers. That''s a Mythical Companion Beast. Which race do you represent?"


    "So you''re also a representative?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Pfft, I''m not a lackey. I''m myself. I''m a lord no matter where I go, not anyone''s dog. It doesn''t matter which race you represent. You''ll all die today," Lord Alcohol said as he stared coldly at Zhou Wen.


    With that said, Lord Alcohol''s majestic figure took a step forward and arrived in front of Zhou Wen. He grabbed his head.


    Zhou Wen''s body phased away as he spread his wings behind him. His figure flashed like a shadow as he dodged Lord Alcohol''s grasp.


    Boom!


    The force exerted by Lord Alcohol''s fingers left five finger marks that were more than a meter long on the mountain wall over a hundred meters away. It alarmed Zhou Wen.


    Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning attacked at the same time. Two completely different forces, one ice and one fire, attacked Lord Alcohol''s back.


    With a wave of his hand, Lu Yunxian''s flaming tiger and Lu Ning''s Ice Snake''s powers shattered. The two of them were sent flying as they spat out blood and fell into the distance; their outcomes unknown.


    Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. Indeed, I should just stay at home and play games. Why did I have to risk my life? But there are some things that I have to do.


    Zhou Wen tightened his grip on the banana fan as Lord Alcohol walked towards him. The only thing that could restrain Lord Alcohol was this banana fan, but the Grand Yin Wind consumed too much Primordial Energy, preventing him from constantly using it. It was a huge weakness.


    If Zhou Wen took a step further and advanced to the Epic stage, he might still be able to use his Life Soul to resolve the problem of his Primordial Energy consumption, but he didn''t have a good solution at the moment.


    "Lord Alcohol, it looks like I won''t be able to escape death today. Before I die, can you tell me what those fruits are? Why do they have the mystical powers of rejuvenation?" Zhou Wen wanted to stall for time.


    Lord Alcohol was clearly very excited. He had finally gotten what he wanted after so many years. At that moment, he had a lot of glee and emotions that he wanted to vent.


    "This is a Longevity Fruit. Its effect isn''t as simple as rejuvenation, turning one young again. In the words used in ancient times, consuming this fruit can allow one to ascend and transform." Lord Alcohol''s face was filled with excitement.


    "I heard you say that Jing Daoxian told you about the Longevity Tree?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "That''s right. Jing Daoxian, Zhang Daotian, and I were playmates who grew up together. However, I wasn''t as blessed as Zhang Daotian or as talented as Jing Daoxian. Neither was my luck comparable to theirs. Thankfully, I''ve had a relatively good life and managed to live to old age."


    "I met Jing Daoxian a few months ago. Jing Daoxian had white hair and looked older than the past you. If the Longevity Fruit was really that good without any side effects, why didn''t he pluck one and eat it himself, so as to restore his youth?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I''ve naturally thought of this question. I wanted those fellows to test it out, but unfortunately, you ruined my plans. But now, it looks like Jing Daoxian didn''t lie to me. He probably feels that it''s beneath him to use the Longevity Fruit."


    "Lord Alcohol, isn''t what you just said a little too naive? You''ve lived to this age. Just think about it. Who wouldn''t want to stay youthful forever?" Zhou Wen retorted.


    However, Lord Alcohol sneered. "It''s naturally impossible for anyone else, but Jing Daoxian is different. He''s a natural devil. Common sense doesn''t apply to him. Things that people spend their whole lives pursuing is nothing to him. If he puts his mind to it, he can obtain anything."


    Seeing how Lord Alcohol seemed to think highly of Jing Daoxian, Zhou Wen deliberately retorted, "No matter how powerful Jing Daoxian is, didn''t he still lose to the Hero King, Zhang Daotian? Isn''t the claim that he can obtain anything a little too devoid of reality?"


    Lord Alcohol immediately revealed a look of disdain. "Zhang Daotian may be a stunning genius, but he''s still much worse than Jing Daoxian. Everyone thinks that Zhang Daotian defeated Jing Daoxian, but unbeknownst to them, the only time Zhang Daotian beat Jing Daoxian was in his marriage to Wan Yiqi."


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen was somewhat curious, and not purely because he was just trying to stall for time.


    "Back then, Jing Daoxian and Zhang Daotian fell in love with Wan Yiqi, but because Jing Daoxian was extremely tyrannical and malicious as he acted according to his whims, he gradually gained the title of a devil. As for Zhang Daotian, he became the Hero King. It''s also why Wan Yiqi eventually chose Zhang Daotian who represented justice and kindness. What a pity that she never expected¡­" At this point, Lord Alcohol sneered.


    "What didn''t she expect?" Zhou Wen pressed.


    "She never expected that she herself was the stumbling block of justice," Lord Alcohol mocked. "On the second day after Wan Yiqi and Zhang Daotian got engaged, Wan Yiqi advanced to the Epic stage and obtained her Life Soul. Guess what its name was?"


    "What was it?" Zhou Wen knew that Lord Alcohol just wanted someone to respond to his words.


    "Haha, her Life Soul was actually the Culling Empress. If Wan Yiqi wanted to live, she had to kill someone every day to rear Culling Empress; otherwise, Culling Empress would turn itself against her. And as time went by, Culling Empress would become stronger, forcing her to take more lives. Hence, she passively became the most evil devil in the world. Regardless of her willingness, she had become a stumbling block of justice, becoming the person she hated the most."


    "Couldn''t killing dimensional creatures work?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "No, she could only kill humans. That was what the Culling Empress demanded. Wan Yiqi told Zhang Daotian about her Life Soul, imagining that he could help her. Unfortunately, no one can change their Life Souls. Wan Yiqi still committed murder under the influence of Culling Empress, and Zhang Daotian chose to let her be punished by the League''s laws."


    "There''s such a thing? Why haven''t I heard of it before?" Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    "You obviously won''t read about it in the history books. When Wan Yiqi was about to be sentenced to death, Jing Daoxian stormed the League building and slaughtered almost everyone, producing a river of blood. Only a few survived. By the time Zhang Daotian arrived, he saw corpses everywhere, while Wan Yiqi stood there completely unharmed. On the snow-white wall behind her were words written in blood."


    The League shall live with her alive. The League shall perish with her dead.

 296 Begging for Mercy

    "For the sake of pride, the League could only say that Zhang Daotian had sent Jing Daoxian scurrying. In fact, it wasn''t too far from the truth. In that battle, Jing Daoxian really suffered severe injuries. It would be hard to say who would have won if they had fought. Since then, the League has been trying all means to have Jing Daoxian killed. They tried all kinds of despicable means, but even so, they failed to kill him," Lord Alcohol said.


    "Why didn''t Jing Daoxian take Wan Yiqi away? Why did he leave her there?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "I don''t know what others would choose, but with Jing Daoxian''s pride, he definitely wouldn''t take her away no matter what happened since she hadn''t chosen him in the past."


    "What a strange person. Did Zhang Daotian kill Wan Yiqi in the end?" Zhou Wen had already forgotten that he was stalling for time. He couldn''t help but ask again after being completely attracted by the story.


    "Who would dare to kill Wan Yiqi if Jing Daoxian was alive? Back then, Jing Daoxian really had the ability to slaughter Congress." Lord Alcohol shot Zhou Wen a look and said, "Don''t ask me how Wan Yiqi survived. I have no idea either. There are so many people in the League, so there''s always a way to deal with the problem regarding Wan Yiqi''s Life Soul. But ever since then, Wan Yiqi has never appeared in public."


    "Alright, now that the story is over, you should be on your way. Life is seeping away from you, but you are still able to listen to the stories of others with such relish. You''re an interesting person. If you weren''t a representative, I could have spared your life. Pity," Lord Alcohol said as he walked towards Zhou Wen.


    "Would you believe me if I said I''m not a representative?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "How can one have a Mythical Companion Beast without being a representative?" Lord Alcohol said disdainfully as he curled his lips.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew what his situation was, but he couldn''t think of a good solution. In front of the disparity in strength, it was difficult for him to think of a plan to defy the heavens and change fate.


    The only more reliable method was probably to pluck a fruit from the tree, like Lord Alcohol, and eat it. Perhaps he could become as strong as him.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that there was something sinister about the Longevity Fruit. He hadn''t eaten it, afraid that there would be side effects.


    Besides, even if Zhou Wen wanted to eat it, Lord Alcohol wasn''t blind. How could he give him such a chance?


    "I can only give it a try." Zhou Wen tightened his grip on the Bamboo Blade, and with Demonic Astral Wheel, he slashed at Lord Alcohol once again.


    Lord Alcohol''s fingers pressed on the Demonic Astral Wheel. The spinning blade arc was stopped by his fingers and with a loud bang, it dissipated into light wisps.


    Banana Fairy blew a gust of Grand Yin Wind, and almost simultaneously, Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps and seemingly teleported to the Longevity Tree.


    Bam!


    Lord Alcohol suddenly vanished, avoiding the Grand Yin Wind as well as sending a palm strike down at Zhou Wen. He was actually able to keep up with the speed of Ghost Steps.


    Zhou Wen used the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and Godfiend Life Providence''s powers to reduce the force, but it remained too powerful. He slammed into the mountain wall and cracked it, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.


    What a waste. This amount of blood is enough for me to play several rounds of games. Zhou Wen knew he had no choice but to risk his life. He gripped his Bamboo Blade tightly and activated the Sigh of the King.


    The saber beam streaked across the void like lightning. Saber flashes intercrossed on Lord Alcohol''s body, and augmented by the mighty power of the Sigh of the King, Zhou Wen pushed the Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits.


    However, all he heard was the sound of metal clashing. Lord Alcohol blocked all his Transcendent Flying Immortal attacks with his finger acting as a sword.


    Zhou Wen failed to injure Lord Alcohol despite delivering Transcendent Flying Immortal. He gritted his teeth and made a second attempt with Transcendent Flying Immortal, but halfway through, he was struck in the chest by a sword beam which sent him flying backward.


    After crashing to the ground, Zhou Wen struggled to sit up. The wound on his chest continued to bleed. If it wasn''t for the fact that he had dodged two centimeters at the critical moment, the sword beam would have pierced through his heart.


    "You''re really not bad. Back when Jing Daoxian was your age, he wasn''t as powerful as you. However, the better you are, the more reason there is for you to die," Lord Alcohol said as he raised his palm again, as though he was about to execute Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and took out something from the chaos space. It was the small metal box with Wang Mingyuan''s note on it. Although he had no idea if it would be effective against a terrifying existence like Lord Alcohol, he had to try given the circumstances.


    Teacher, please bless me! Seeing that Lord Alcohol was about to reach him, Zhou Wen took out the slip of paper and opened it. He aimed the words "kneel and beg for mercy" at Lord Alcohol.


    Lord Alcohol''s body swayed for a moment as his knees bent slightly. However, before Zhou Wen could rejoice, Lord Alcohol straightened his legs again. He didn''t kneel down.


    It''s over. Even Teacher''s item doesn''t work. Zhou Wen''s heart chilled. He knew that he was doomed this time.


    "Just those few words can suppress the power of a peak Epic. Who wrote this? Zhang Daotian? No, his words aren''t like that. Besides him, who else in the League possesses such power?" Lord Alcohol looked at the words and couldn''t help but sneer. "Regardless of who you are, you aren''t qualified to use those words on me. Lord Alcohol is forever a lord."


    As he spoke, he struck his palm out, sending Zhou Wen and the paper flying.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen slammed into the stone wall once again, creating a huge pit. Many of the bones in his body fractured, and his organs were burning with pain. Now, he and Lord Alcohol had swapped spots.


    The piece of white paper didn''t tear as it floated to Zhou Wen''s side.


    From the looks of it, there''s really no hope this time. Zhou Wen looked at the words on the piece of paper, but he realized that there were another few more words on the piece of paper.


    These words were much smaller than the original words, but no matter how small they were, it was impossible that he had only seen them now. It was as if they had appeared out of thin air. Besides the small font, they were still in Wang Mingyuan''s handwriting. The writing style wasn''t something others could mimic.


    "My dear disciple¡­ Kneel and beg for mercy¡­" Zhou Wen read the first three words together with the original words and his expression changed.


    Teacher, are you kidding me? What''s the point of me kneeling down and begging for mercy now? People like Lord Alcohol won''t let me off just because I beg for mercy, right? Zhou Wen thought this, but he felt that the reason for Wang Mingyuan''s suggestion went deeper. It was impossible for him to make him do something for no reason.


    Seeing that Lord Alcohol was approaching again, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and prepared to try out Wang Mingyuan''s method to see if it would help him survive.


    Zhou Wen forced himself to stand up and as he prepared to genuflect, said, "Spare me¡­"

 297 Rescued

    Just as Zhou Wen''s legs bent, he suddenly felt a violent rage erupt from his body like a volcano. Following that, a terrifying power erupted, instantly making Zhou Wen''s legs straighten.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Lord Alcohol was about to say something in a mocking tone when his expression abruptly changed. All his strength erupted as he slammed his palms forward.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen''s body flew into the air and he remained suspended in midair. His hair stood up as his entire body emitted a demonic and tyrannical halo. When the halo blasted out, Lord Alcohol used both his hands to defend, but his powerful strength from the Longevity Tree was instantly destroyed. His body flew away like a runaway kite.


    Seeing Lord Alcohol collapse to the ground and struggling to get up, Zhou Wen wore a look of disbelief. He almost couldn''t believe his eyes.


    Holy sh*t, the Sigh of the King doesn''t need my body as a medium for activation? Zhou Wen finally reacted. The eruption of the Sigh of the King''s power didn''t pass through his body, but directly blasted out.


    When Zhou Wen first used the Sigh of the King, he felt as though he was holding a heavy saber and needed to swing it with all his strength. However, when the Sigh of the King erupted this time, it was as though he was using a revolver. Pulling the trigger was enough to release the might. He didn''t need to use his own strength or have his body withstand that formidable force.


    "Impossible¡­ Such strength¡­ already doesn''t belong to the Epic stage¡­" Lord Alcohol struggled to stand up as he glared at Zhou Wen intently as though he was looking at a monster.


    However, his current situation wasn''t much better than Zhou Wen''s. He was staggering as he walked, and he didn''t have the ability to fight anymore.


    Zhou Wen was severely injured, and with the damage to his body caused by the Sigh of the King, he couldn''t even stand up.


    Fortunately, I have Banana Fairy. Zhou Wen ordered Banana Fairy to attack Lord Alcohol, and she immediately flew towards him.


    Lord Alcohol''s expression changed slightly as he forcefully gathered his strength and charged towards the Longevity Tree. He wanted to climb up the tree and pluck another Longevity Fruit.


    However, just as he touched the Longevity Tree, he saw tree roots that were like poisonous dragons rising from the tree and wrapping around his body. The tip of the tree''s roots stabbed into his body, sucking him dry in an instant.


    "Save¡­" Lord Alcohol widened his eyes in horror as he extended his hand with great difficulty. He wanted to cry for help, but just as he said the first syllable, he was pulled down into the ground by the roots and disappeared.


    Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his back, and he was even more certain that the Longevity Tree wasn''t a benevolent entity.


    After a while, Zhou Wen saw a white flower bloom on the tree. The flower bloomed quickly and wilted equally quickly. It formed a fruit that resembled a baby that sat cross-legged. It emitted a refreshing and charming fragrance.


    Zhou Wen stared at the fruit in a daze. For some reason, he felt disgusted and nauseous.


    As the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra kept healing Zhou Wen''s injured body, he summoned an ordinary Golden Warrior and made the Golden Warrior carry him to Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning to check on their injuries. Although they had suffered quite serious injuries, they weren''t dead. They were just unconscious.


    However, they didn''t have the ability to heal themselves. With such severe injuries, it would be very difficult for them to survive if they were not treated quickly¡ªthey could die at any moment.


    Doctor Darkness''s injuries are also very serious. Furthermore, even if he isn''t injured, that fellow can only use Fight Poison With Poison. He doesn''t know how to rescue people with medical skills. Zhou Wen couldn''t think of a way to rescue them.


    Just as he sighed, he heard rustling sounds coming from the direction of the tree. Zhou Wen immediately cursed under his breath, knowing that something wasn''t right. He turned his head and saw tree roots drilling out like strange snakes. They began sweeping towards him.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned the Demonized General and the Saber Shield Knight, letting each of them carry Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning to run to the front of the temple.


    Zhou Wen himself sat on the White Shadow of Poison''s back and allowed it to fly him out.


    However, before they could run out, the tree roots had climbed up to the exit of the temple at the back. They were like interweaving spider webs that sealed the exit.


    I''m doomed¡­ I wonder if kneeling down is of any use now? Zhou Wen knew that the situation was bad. Seeing the roots sweep over, he could only grit his teeth and rush towards the fault.


    There was a patch of dark red below the fault. There were Blood Threadworms everywhere, but Zhou Wen didn''t have a choice. He jumped down, along with Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning.


    Reaching the fault, the tree root became apprehensive and stopped chasing after them.


    After Zhou Wen and company landed, he had to rely on his Companion Beasts to kill the hordes of Blood Threadworms. However, there were too many of them. The three of them weren''t combat-ready as two of them were still unconscious. A few Blood Threadworms had already crawled onto Lu Yunxian''s and Lu Ning''s bodies.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Just as Zhou Wen started to feel helpless, he heard a familiar sound.


    The strange vehicle¡­ It came all the way here¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly controlled his Companion Beasts to fight the Blood Threadworms. As long as he lasted until the strange vehicle arrived, the three of them would be saved.


    Sure enough, it didn''t take long before the strange vehicle drove out of a cave. Zhou Wen looked at it and was surprised to find that there was another person on it.


    "Young Master Wen, why are you here? Didn''t I ask Lu Yunxian to look after you and forbid you from entering the ancient battlefield?" The person on the vehicle surprisingly was An Sheng.


    "Let''s not talk about this for now. Get Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning into the vehicle first. They''re about to die." Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to answer An Sheng''s question.


    An Sheng jumped out of the strange vehicle and Zhou Wen saw that his clothes were neat and his hair wasn''t messy at all. It was obviously not as tragic as Lu Ning imagined.


    An Sheng carried Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning into the vehicle while Zhou Wen jumped in. He sat in the vehicle, panting.


    "Didn''t I tell you not to enter? Why are you here?" An Sheng said as he looked at Zhou Wen with a reproachful look.


    "Do you think I wanted to come? If it wasn''t because of that darn stone artifact I needed to pass to you, I wouldn''t have come to such a wretched place." Zhou Wen recounted the situation.


    After An Sheng heard that, he said in surprise, "The stone artifact is actually on you. Well done. Give it to me. Without it, I won''t be able to open the ancient divine temple to save Madam."


    "Well¡­ The stone artifact is with me, but there''s just this tiny problem," Zhou Wen said with a light cough.


    "Don''t tell me you lost the stone artifact?" An Sheng asked Zhou Wen.

 298 Dragon Pearl

    "It''s not that I lost it, but one of my Companion Beasts has eaten it. It has now transformed into a stone egg and is evolving." Zhou Wen took out Truth Listener''s stone egg. "I wonder if this can be used as a substitute?"


    "That¡­ I don''t know¡­ Let''s give it a try¡­" An Sheng wasn''t sure either. After some thought, he said, "Give me the stone egg and take this chariot out. It will take you all the way out of the ruins without bringing much danger. The injuries on Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning need treatment. There aren''t any healing Companion Beasts here."


    "Were you the one who sent Lu Ning out?" Zhou Wen handed the stone egg to An Sheng as he asked.


    "The Blood Threadworms in her body weren''t easy to deal with, so I had no choice but to send her out first," An Sheng said as he took the stone egg.


    "What''s going on with you, Lord Alcohol and the others?" Zhou Wen didn''t believe that An Sheng would be so careless as to bring a group of people with ulterior motives.


    "Let''s just say that we were making use of each other. Lord Alcohol had his ploy, and I also needed someone to attract the attention of the Longevity Tree in the Longevity Hall." An Sheng carefully put away the stone egg.


    "Have Sis Lan and the former principal been found? Are they alright?" Zhou Wen asked the question he wanted to know the most.


    "They should be inside the temple. However, with the stone artifact missing, the temple couldn''t be opened. If there are no mishaps, I should be able to rescue them. Head back now. Let''s talk when I''m back." An Sheng said as he jumped out of the strange vehicle, heading towards the cave where the strange vehicle had come from. In a blink of an eye, he vanished.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and leaned against the back of the chariot''s hold. He felt his body aching terribly.


    If I knew I could meet Ah Sheng by riding the chariot all the way to the temple, I wouldn''t have gone through so much trouble. I almost died. Zhou Wen looked at Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning. They were in terrible conditions, and he had no idea if they could survive the journey back to the encampment.


    On the chariot''s return trip, the route it took was identical to the previous one. After passing through the desert and sea, the chariot drove out of the ruins'' underground tunnel.


    Zhou Wen took Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning back to the camp. Zhao Xin treated their wounds and managed to keep them alive. The Blood Threadworms that had entered their bodies were not fatal, but he was unable to rid the Blood Threadworms for them as Doctor Darkness was seriously injured.


    Zhou Wen''s injuries were also very serious, but the energies of the Ivy Companion Beast were limited. He got Zhao Xin to take care of Lu Yunxian and Lu Ning first while he slowly recovered using the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    He laid in bed and grinded the bat cave instance dungeon once again. Although the bat cave''s drop rate wasn''t high, it had many bats, allowing for quite a number of items to drop. However, none of them were good.


    When can I have a baby tiger drop? If I take it to the bat cave, I''ll definitely enjoy a much bigger harvest. Zhou Wen didn''t manage to obtain a baby tiger the entire time, so he was extremely unhappy.


    When he arrived at the underground sea again, Zhou Wen carefully looked at the sapphire sky but didn''t discover anything inside.


    Why isn''t there the chariot in-game? With no way to travel by air, Zhou Wen had no choice but to travel over the surface of the sea. He flew one White Shadow of Poison at low altitudes, not daring to fly too high.


    After flying for a short while, the seawater sprayed out as an obsidian-like sea dragon tore out from the sea''s surface. It opened its mouth in a bid to swallow Zhou Wen and White Shadow of Poison.


    Its mouth seemed to be a black hole with a terrifying suction force, sucking the White Shadow of Poison. It had no ability to resist at all and couldn''t even escape.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got White Shadow of Poison to use its Shadow of Darkness skill. It was effective, turning both itself and the blood-colored avatar into a shadow. Then, sneaking away, they escaped the dragon''s jaws.


    But very quickly, a few heads of the black dragon popped out from different directions and sucked at White Shadow of Poison.


    Zhou Wen''s heart was unperturbed as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to jump down from White Shadow of Poison''s back using Ghost Steps as he plunged into the sea.


    The dragon heads bit White Shadow of Poison, practically dooming it. After the blood-colored avatar jumped into the sea, Zhou Wen controlled him to rapidly dive down as he looked at the body of the sea dragons.


    Zhou Wen had previously seen them twice and realized that their bodies were connected together under the sea. Now that there was a chance, he naturally had to take a closer look.


    He was astonished to discover that it wasn''t a nine-headed dragon. The nine black dragons'' bodies beneath the sea were actually chained together.


    Black chains pierced through their spines, connecting their bodies to a black war wagon. The war wagon looked like it was made of metal, and was completely sealed with four walls with a ceiling. It was impossible to see what was inside.


    When the nine black dragons moved, they would pull the huge metal war wagon slowly. Therefore, the speed of these black dragons was greatly restricted. Otherwise, they would have traveled even faster.


    Who has the right to sit on a war wagon pulled by the nine black dragons? Zhou Wen didn''t know if there were any creatures inside the war wagon. If there were, it would be extremely terrifying.


    However, looking at the war wagon, it seemed to have been abandoned for a long time. Seaweed wrapped around it, with seashells and coral taking root on the war wagon, making it look very strange.


    Wait¡­ What''s that? Zhou Wen''s gaze landed on the corals on the war wagon, and his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Among the coral, there was an obsidian-like pearl wrapped in seaweed. Zhou Wen suspected that the pearl was a dragon pearl as spoken in legend. It could also be an egg of a dragon.


    If I can get that dragon pearl, I wonder if I can borrow its power to raise my last stat to 21 points? Just as Zhou Wen thought of this, the game screen turned black.


    A black dragon had devoured the blood-colored avatar, ending Zhou Wen''s game.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t depressed. On the contrary, he was extremely excited. He seemed to see the hope at advancing to the Epic stage.


    The black dragons were very likely Mythical creatures, and the dragon pearl in the corals might be their descendant. Consuming one would likely be a good substitute for the divine blood.


    More importantly, the nine black dragons were chained and connected to the black war wagon. The war wagon''s weight greatly affected the nine black dragons'' mobility. This gave Zhou Wen a chance to steal the dragon pearl or he wouldn''t survive in front of these Mythical creatures.


    How can I obtain that dragon pearl? Zhou Wen kept the question on his mind.


    Although he found it promising, Zhou Wen failed to approach the war wagon the next few times he tried before being devoured by the black dragons.


    From the looks of it, I have to come up with a detailed plan. I wonder if kneeling will be of any use¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself.

 299 Missing

    Zhou Wen didn''t know if kneeling down was of any use in real life, but it proved useless in-game. Don''t ask Zhou Wen how he knew. It would only bring him to tears.


    After a few days of grinding in the camp, he had failed to obtain the Dragon Pearl. He did manage to kill plenty of poisonous bats and he managed to raise his Poison stat to 15. A few poisonous bat Companion Eggs dropped, but their stats were far inferior to the White Shadow of Poison. They were all fed to his pets as food.


    On the fourth day, An Sheng brought Ouyang Lan and a few others back. Zhou Wen had an ominous feeling when he saw that the former principal wasn''t among them.


    "Sis Lan." Zhou Wen went forward to ask about the former principal.


    Ouyang Lan looked a little tired as she forced a smile and said, "Little Wen, An Sheng told me of the tremendous help you provided him. However, don''t take such risks again. This is beyond your abilities. Luck won''t stand on your side forever."


    "Got it, Sis Lan. Where''s the former principal?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    Ouyang Lan''s expression fell. "I couldn''t find him. We found some things that belonged to my father and the other experts in the temple, but we couldn''t find any traces of them."


    Upon hearing that the former principal hadn''t been found, Zhou Wen''s mood improved ironically¡ªnot finding them meant that there was still hope. Hence, Zhou Wen asked, "Could they be trapped somewhere else?"


    "I don''t think so. It''s easy to enter the temple but it''s hard to get out. The people inside can''t come out without someone opening it from the outside. My dad and the rest have clearly ventured deep inside the temple. It''s unlikely they can come out without any rescue," Ouyang Lan said as she shook her head.


    Zhou Wen was stunned when he heard that. He was about to ask something when An Sheng said, "Madam didn''t manage to rest while inside. Let her rest."


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to swallow the words he was about to say. He planned on asking An Sheng later.


    Everyone returned to the encampment. Without waiting for Zhou Wen to visit him, An Sheng went to Zhou Wen''s tent and explained the situation inside.


    Ouyang Lan and An Sheng had followed the markings left by the former principal and found the temple. They did not find any markings left behind by the former principal elsewhere. They could confirm that he had been inside the temple but they could not find him, despite searching the entire area for him.


    The former principal''s last marking was on an altar. It meant that something had happened after they arrived. However, it was already the inner sanctum of the temple and there was no other way out, nor did they find any mechanism that made people disappear. The former principal and the others appeared to have disappeared into thin air.


    After Zhou Wen heard that, he frowned and didn''t say a word. There must be a problem with the temple, but it wouldn''t be of any use even if he were to go, considering how An Sheng and Ouyang Lan had failed to find any clues, despite being such knowledgeable people.


    "Don''t worry, we''ve already explored a portion of the battlefield ruin''s interior. With the chariot, it''s safe when heading to the temple. We''ll get professionals to investigate and seek out every possibility." An Sheng paused and added, "But based on the present circumstances, trying to find Old Mister Ouyang won''t take a day or two. Madam wants you to return to school and stop wasting time here."


    "Alright, I''ll head back. But before I leave, can you take me to the temple? I want to take a look too." Although he knew that there was no point in going, Zhou Wen refused to give up unless he managed to see it with his own eyes.


    An Sheng seemed to have guessed that Zhou Wen would have such a request, so he nodded in agreement.


    The route to the temple was indeed very safe. The chariot was a direct route to the temple, and it would automatically stop when it reached it. It would only be sent to the entrance if someone activated it.


    An Sheng led Zhou Wen into the temple. Since he had already figured out the dangers inside, Zhou Wen didn''t sense any danger when An Sheng took him in, until he arrived at the innermost sanctum of the temple.


    An Sheng showed him the former principal''s markings. Zhou Wen looked around the temple for a long time but didn''t find any clues.


    Although he couldn''t accept this result, Zhou Wen had no choice but to return. There was no point in staying there. He could use his phone to continue exploring the temple when he returned. Perhaps he could find some clues.


    However, the chariot didn''t exist in the game, so if Zhou Wen wanted to reach the temple, he had to pass through the underground sea first. This was also a problem.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the chariot in-game was most likely parked in front of the temple. As no one had activated it, it didn''t appear at the entrance.


    It was obvious that the chariot''s purpose was to send people out and not bring them in.


    An Sheng sent someone to take Zhou Wen back to Luoyang. After Zhou Wen returned to school, he felt a sense of familiarity. He hadn''t left for many days, but he felt uncomfortable. Perhaps the great contrast between the safe days at school and the dangerous days in the Zhuolu battlefield had gotten to him.


    The most pressing matter at hand is to quickly advance to the Epic stage. Otherwise, if something were to happen, it would be difficult to handle it with my lack of strength. Zhou Wen thought about how he could obtain the Dragon Pearl.


    Aerial movement techniques like Dragon Gate Fairy Skill were less effective underwater. The water resistance also weakened Ghost Steps. Therefore, the fact that the Dragon Pearl was underwater left Zhou Wen vexed.


    Unable to think of a good solution, Zhou Wen went to Wang Mingyuan''s place. Since he knew that Wang Mingyuan loved drinking tea, he even got An Sheng to buy him some high-quality tea that he obviously paid for himself.


    "Teacher, this piece of paper was a life-saver. But I tried it again and it doesn''t work anymore, why is that so?" Zhou Wen took out the paper slip and respectfully returned it to Wang Mingyuan.


    He later tested it a few more times and discovered that ever since the slip of paper had been used on Lord Alcohol, it had no effect on other dimensional creatures. It was just like an ordinary piece of paper.


    "Have you ever seen a bowl of rice that can''t be finished no matter what?" Wang Mingyuan asked with a smile as he took back the note.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the power on the note had been exhausted.


    "Teacher, how did you know that my Life Providence would react if I knelt down to beg for mercy?" Zhou Wen voiced out his doubts again. He had never told Wang Mingyuan what his Life Providence was.


    Wang Mingyuan smiled and said, "My research includes the reading of people, and you can say I have some success in it. Therefore, I was able to figure out something about your Life Providence. There''s some pride in your Life Providence, something I''ve never seen before. I knew it was extraordinary, and it wouldn''t tolerate such humiliation, so it might have been of some use. That''s why I got you to test it out to see if it worked. From the looks of it, it really did."


    "Test it out¡­" Zhou Wen was instantly rendered speechless.


    "Then can I still use this move in the future?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked. Since this move was so useful, and there was no real need for him to kneel, it was a waste not to use it.


    "Have you ever heard of the saying that one would rather die than be humiliated? A single instance might make your Life Providence erupt due to anger, but I''m afraid a repeat of that will cause that anger to be vented on you. I''m not sure if you can withstand that. If it''s possible, you can test it out," Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but shudder when he thought of Lord Alcohol''s outcome. He quickly replied in all seriousness, "A man should have dignity and not kneel. I''ve never considered it and was just asking."

 300 Poison Wyrm

    Zhou Wen took back the antelope and chick that he had entrusted with Wang Lu. It wasn''t good to trouble Wang Lu, and this debt had to be returned. It would be even more troublesome when the time came.


    The chick had clearly gained a lot of weight from eating. Although it looked like it had grown up a little, Zhou Wen felt that it had merely gained weight, not because it had grown up.


    The antelope was still as lifeless as ever. It slept lazily on the sofa all day. Apart from its interest in food, it didn''t move much.


    After consulting Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen learned that the campus had a dimensional zone known as Poison Wyrm Pool, which had a type of Epic creature known as Poison Wyrm. The Poison Wyrm had an opportunity to drop a Primordial Energy Skill known as Dragon Transformation Art. It was a movement technique that allowed movement in water, greatly enhancing one''s Speed while in water.


    Zhou Wen''s current goal was the Dragon Transformation Art, but the Poison Wyrm occasionally appeared in Poison Wyrm Pool. Once one was discovered, it would be finished by the military quickly. And the Poison Wyrm Pool dimensional zone was under the military''s jurisdiction. Students who wanted to enter had to request permission from the military.


    Even if Zhou Wen had a phone that could download instance dungeons, he had to enter the dimensional zone and find the tiny palm symbol.


    It was definitely possible to gain permission through An Sheng, but going through him was equivalent to using the An family. Zhou Wen didn''t want to do that.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen called Li Xuan to see if he had any means to obtain an entry pass.


    Li Xuan didn''t know much about such matters but said that he would ask around using his connections. If he could get it, he could give Zhou Wen a price to see if he found it acceptable.


    Finally, Zhou Wen spent 30,000 for the pass. It was a one-time pass, and he couldn''t stay inside for more than 48 hours.


    "Old Zhou, why are you going to the underground Pool City? Although there are many rare dimensional creatures there, they are all Epic creatures. It''ll be difficult to kill them now, and it''s unsafe. Typically only tutors will request permission to enter when they need some special Companion Beast," Li Xuan said as he handed the entry pass to Zhou Wen.


    "I wish to pay Poison Wyrm Pool a visit. I heard that there''s a Poison Wyrm there that drops an underwater movement technique. I''m very interested in that," Zhou Wen said.


    When Li Xuan heard that, he immediately waved his hands. "When you mentioned the entry pass, I investigated the situation inside. The Poison Wyrm you just mention isn''t something that Legendaries can kill. And even it can be done, you have no chance of that happening. Legend has it that snakes evolve into wyrms over a thousand years, and a wyrm evolves into a dragon after a thousand years. Although a Poison Wyrm hasn''t evolved into a dragon, they are top-notch existences at the Epic stage. Furthermore, they are covered in poison. Even the Poison Wyrm Pool''s water is lethally poisonous. The typical Epic can''t even enter the Poison Wyrm Pool, much less kill a Poison Wyrm. Let alone us!"


    "I''m just going to take a look. If it works, so be it. It doesn''t matter if it doesn''t. I''ll just treat it as broadening my horizons." After sending Li Xuan off, Zhou Wen took his pass and headed to the underground Pool City.


    When the soldiers guarding the underground Pool City saw that Zhou Wen was about to enter, they kindly reminded him, "Student, although there aren''t many dimensional creatures in Pool City, they are all at the Epic stage and have unique traits. Unless necessary, it''s best you don''t enter."


    "Thank you for the warning. I''m heading in to take a look and won''t venture far." Zhou Wen thanked him.


    After handing over the pass, Zhou Wen passed the checkpoint and arrived in front of the underground Pool City.


    Pool City was submerged by water everywhere, but it wasn''t deep. The deepest part measured about a meter. There were many plants growing in the water, especially reeds that looked like forests.


    From afar, one could see an underground ancient city. The city walls were already mottled as if they had experienced the merciless destruction of time.


    Zhou Wen heard that there were many water monsters in Pool City. Other than the Poison Wyrm, there were often other water-elemental dimensional creatures lurking in there. However, it was fine in the city''s periphery. The most powerful dimensional creatures were inside the city.


    People had built a cement bridge in the periphery that connected all the way to the entrance of Pool City. Just as Zhou Wen stepped onto the bridge, he heard someone else enter. He was slightly taken aback when he turned to take a look.


    The person who was walking towards him was his tutor, Wang Fei.


    Although Wang Fei had introduced Zhou Wen to study under Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen was still her student under the school''s system.


    Wang Fei was clearly surprised to see Zhou Wen. After settling the procedures, she walked to the bridge and asked Zhou Wen, "Why are you here? This place is too dangerous for students."


    "Teacher Wang Mingyuan told me to visit this place as an observational practice. I''ll just be wandering the periphery and not entering," Zhou Wen used Wang Mingyuan as an excuse, afraid that Wang Fei would speak further.


    "Since it''s an observational practice, come with me. After all, I''m your tutor. I can''t just let Uncle Mingyuan be the one always teaching you. Just take it as me giving you the lesson today," Wang Fei said as she walked towards the city gates via the bridge.


    I¡­ I''m really just here to take a look at the gates¡­ I don''t want to go in¡­ Zhou Wen was depressed, but he couldn''t say it out loud. All he could do was follow behind Wang Fei.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen sized up the city gate of Pool City, hoping to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    This time, Zhou Wen''s luck was pretty good. He immediately saw a tiny palm symbol on the plaque above the city gate. Engraved in the middle of the palm was an ancient Chinese character for "water."


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol above the city gate. Upon seeing this, Wang Fei said, "Why are you taking pictures of the city gate? It''s best to capture images later when we encounter dimensional creatures. It''s best if they are video. You can slowly study them when you''re back. Water-type dimensional creatures are subjects of study in the various universities in the League. It will be very helpful in future conquest battles at sea."


    Zhou Wen also knew that the League had always wanted to conquer the seas. However, because the situation at sea was different from land, there weren''t many people who could really go out to sea. However, experts had predicted that the era would soon arrive.


    Due to this prediction, the price of Companion Eggs associated with water had increased greatly. Some of them had increased by more than ten times, but it had already been twenty to thirty years since the prediction, and there were still no signs of the so-called era of seafaring. It was still dangerous for normal people to head out to sea. Even Epic humans didn''t dare do so easily.


    After he downloaded Pool City''s instance dungeon, Zhou Wen felt a lot more relaxed. He wasn''t afraid of the Epic creatures, believing that it wasn''t a bad thing to follow Wang Fei in to take a look. He could gain an understanding of how water-type dimensional creatures fought. It might help him too.


    After entering Pool City, they discovered that the streets here were more flooded. Most of the houses were half-filled with water. It was a waterlogged city.


    Splash!


    The two of them had just Pool City when they saw a wave appear not far from them. Something in the water was rapidly approaching them.

 301 Demonstrating

    "There are two types of water-type dimensional creatures commonly found in Pool City. Take note of the waves. If the angle of the waves is around 30¡ã, you have to be careful. They are Epic Electric Eels. They have extremely powerful electric powers. Electricity easily conducts in water. The best way to deal with a Electric Eel is to stay out of the water. Having the ability to fly is the best. Otherwise, choose to jump onto a building. In short, make sure not to stay in the water unless you have the confidence of withstanding the electrocution at the Epic stage with your body. If the waves are at 50¡ã, it''s an Epic Sword Fang Fish. Their offensive strength is extremely high, but they have low intelligence. To Epic experts, they are pretty much a bonus¡­" Wang Fei patiently explained to Zhou Wen.


    She had already learned of Zhou Wen''s actions in the Zhuolu battlefield from Ouyang Lan. Although Ouyang Lan was very worried about the former principal, she still mentioned Zhou Wen several times and urged her to take good care of him.


    Wang Fei admitted that she didn''t have the ability to teach a special genius like Zhou Wen, but teaching him some practical experience wasn''t a problem. After all, Wang Fei had once been a soldier and participated in many battles.


    "Dealing with the Sword Fang Fish is very simple. As it''s quite brainless, only having high offensive strength, you just have to dodge its attack and then stab it." As Wang Fei spoke, the Razortooth Fish flew forward, arriving in front of her with astounding speed.


    Wang Fei''s figure flashed slightly before she drew her sword and slashed upwards. After crossing the Sword Fang Fish, waves of blood splashed out from behind her. Soon, a thin, two-meter-long strange fish floated with its white belly facing up. It was obviously dead.


    It was the first time Zhou Wen had seen Wang Fei in combat. Her technique was swift, accurate, and elegant. It exuded the feeling of being fully composed while striding between life and death. She was truly an expert amongst those at the Epic stage.


    Wang Fei sheathed her sword and turned to Zhou Wen. "However, if you do that, you have to wait until it''s one meter away from you before dodging and attacking. You mustn''t give it any time to react. If you lack the confidence to dodge at such close proximity, it''s best you jump onto a wall and not face it directly in battle. Do you understand?"


    "Got it." Zhou Wen nodded in response.


    Wang Fei''s experience was obtained from actual combat. Ordinary people had to earn these experiences with their lives.


    Now that Zhou Wen had Banana Fairy, ordinary Epic creatures couldn''t do anything to him. As long as he didn''t have a death wish, there wasn''t much danger in Pool City.


    "Ms. Wang, where are you going?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Fei who was walking ahead. Although he had Banana Fairy, he didn''t want to take too many risks.


    "Don''t worry. I''m just taking a stroll nearby. I heard that a Electric Eel was spotted here recently. I happen to want a Electric Eel Companion Beast, so I came to try my luck," said Wang Fei.


    Only then did Zhou Wen relax. As long as she didn''t go to places like the Poison Wyrm Pool, nothing would happen.


    Wang Fei led Zhou Wen onto the roof of the buildings, but her gaze remained fixed on the water beneath as she searched for traces of the Electric Eel.


    She didn''t find the Electric Eel, but she found another Sword Fang Fish. Wang Fei looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "Do you want to give it a try? I heard you already have the ability to kill Epic creatures."


    "There''s no need. I''m not good at fighting in water." Zhou Wen shook his head. Although Wang Fei had already demonstrated the technique to slaying Sword Fang Fish, Zhou Wen still felt that there was no need to gain experience by risking his life. After all, he could do the same safely in-game.


    Wang Fei didn''t say anything when Zhou Wen declined the proposal. After all, she had heard about his escapades from Ouyang Lan. An Sheng had told her and he had heard it from Lu Yunxian; therefore, Wang Fei felt that there was likely some level of exaggeration. After all, Ouyang Lan thought highly of Zhou Wen to begin with. After the trip to the battlefield ruins, she thought even better of him. It was quite understandable that she had embellished it a little.


    "It''s right for you to choose not to try. Killing a Sword Fang Fish requires experience too. Watch from the side and I''ll demonstrate again." As Wang Fei said that, she jumped into the water, but stood on the water surface without sinking. Apparently, she had quite good skills in alacrity.


    Sensing the fluctuations in the water''s surface, the ripples in the water immediately rushed towards Wang Fei. It looked extremely fast and potent, making it seem as if something was a little off.


    Wang Fei frowned slightly as she seemed to notice something.


    Splash!


    As the water splashed, a four-meter-long golden Sword Fang Fish leaped up from the water, stabbing at Wang Fei like a sharp sword.


    On the golden Sword Fang Fish''s body, there was a golden glow.


    "It''s a Mutated Sword Fang Fish?" Wang Fei''s eyes focused as she drew her sword and slashed out a beam at the Mutated Sword Fang Fish.


    Clang!


    When the sword flashes clashed, several sword flashes appeared on the golden Sword Fang Fish''s body. They split like gears, grinding Wang Fei''s sword beams to pieces.


    Wang Fei tapped the surface of the water with her toe and dodged the Sword Fang Fish''s attack before engaging in battle with it.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side and realized that the golden Sword Fang Fish was much stronger than the average Sword Fang Fish. Its sword flashes were able to grind all sorts of Primordial Energy Skills to pieces. Despite Wang Fei''s sword techniques being highly ingenious, her sword flashes would shatter upon contact with the Sword Fang Fish''s body. She couldn''t injure it in any way.


    However, Wang Fei''s movement techniques were lithe and swift. Although the Sword Fang Fish''s sword flashes were fast, they couldn''t injure her. The situation was in a stalemate.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen roughly knew the weakness of the golden Sword Fang Fish. Although Wang Fei wasn''t weaker than it and had very high-quality Companion Beasts, she didn''t have the ability to overwhelm the golden Sword Fang Fish.


    However, Wang Fei''s standard was clearly much better than the golden Sword Fang Fish. She was definitely able to slay it given enough time.


    Seeing that she couldn''t finish the battle anytime soon, Zhou Wen sat on the rooftop and took out his phone. As he gamed, he waited for Wang Fei to kill the golden Sword Fang Fish.


    When Wang Fei noticed that Zhou Wen was sitting there playing games, it was a miracle that she wasn''t angered to death by him. All she could do was vent her anger on the golden Sword Fang Fish. However, it was quite a handful, something she couldn''t finish instantly.


    Just as Wang Fei was feeling depressed, she suddenly saw a wave of water appear in the street a distance away. The angle of the wave was extremely small, and it was like an arrow that was approaching her.


    "Electric Eel?" Wang Fei was immediately alarmed. She still had the energy to deal with a golden Sword Fang Fish, but adding on a Electric Eel made it a challenge.

 302 Two Mutated Creatures

    However, on second thought, Wang Fei felt that it was also a good opportunity to educate Zhou Wen. She wanted him to learn how to fight in a disadvantaged situation, and how to eventually win despite being outnumbered two to one.


    Zhou Wen also saw the new wave. Based on the knowledge taught by Wang Fei, he recognized it as the Electric Eel and hurriedly got up to help.


    However, he heard Wang Fei say loudly, "During actual combat in dimensional zones, we often encounter situations that can put us at a great disadvantage. This is especially so when we are attacked by a group of dimensional creatures. Learning how to deal with such a disadvantageous situation is very important when you explore dimensional zones in the future. Watch well. I''ll now demonstrate to you how positioning and kiting can be used to deal with two or more dimensional creatures."


    Hearing what Wang Fei said, Zhou Wen sat down again. He didn''t game, but stared at the battle which Wang Fei was engaging in.


    Child, let me, your tutor, blow you away with my performance. Wang Fei took a deep breath inwardly and tapped the water surface with her toe. Like a graceful fairy, she dodged the Sword Fang Fish''s sword flash and slashed at the Electric Eel that was rushing towards her.


    The Electric Eel leaped up from the water and revealed itself to be a five-meter-long eel. Its body shimmered with silver light as though silver electric bolts were dancing on its scales.


    Wang Fei''s heart skipped a beat when she saw this. Normal Electric Eels were blue in color, but this Electric Eel was silver. Furthermore, the electric bolts were also a strange silver color, not the common blue. It was obviously a mutated creature.


    What''s going on? Wang Fei felt something amiss.


    It wasn''t easy to find a mutated dimensional creature, but now there were two of them. It was way too odd. The key point was that Wang Fei had never encountered Mutated Electric Eels before. She didn''t know much about them either. She had no idea if she could simultaneously deal with two Epic mutated creatures.


    Boom!


    The silver lightning on the Mutated Electric Eel blasted out and clashed with Wang Fei''s sword flash. The sword flash instantly shattered as she saw silver bolts of lightning smite down from the sky.


    Zhou Wen watched as Wang Fei engaged in a battle with the two mutated creatures. He watched as she moved like a fairy, constantly dodging and ducking above the water surface, every instant in a harrowing manner. He couldn''t help but marvel inwardly. As expected of a tutor. She''s indeed extraordinary. These kinds of movement techniques are already better than my Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. It looks like I still need to work harder.


    Zhou Wen had never seen the Electric Eel before, nor did he know that it was a Mutated Electric Eel. He thought that Wang Fei was deliberately showing him her movement techniques and ingenious positioning.


    Wang Fei was in a dilemma, unable to voice her suffering. The Mutated Electric Eel was much harder to deal with than she had imagined. The silver electric bolts were extraordinary and could spread across large areas in the water. Coupled with its incredible speed, she was unable to catch up to the Mutated Electric Eel.


    She could not kill one, nor catch up to the other. Although Wang Fei was capable, she was unable to use her abilities to their fullest. All she could do was dodge the attacks of large swaths of lightning and sword flashes, without being given any chance of retaliation.


    Having had the intention of retreating temporarily, she recalled the words she had said to Zhou Wen. It was too embarrassing to retreat now.


    Wang Fei originally wanted to rely on her own abilities to find a way to kill two mutated creatures, but she soon realized that it was almost impossible.


    The Mutated Sword Fang Fish''s sword flashes could be torn apart through repeated attacks, but the Mutated Electric Eel had an escape technique with dual water-electric traits. With the two combined, along with the environment of Pool City, it only took an instant to travel nearly a thousand meters. Wang Fei had no way to keep up with its speed.


    She wanted to set up an array of sword flashes to stop the Electric Eel, but the Mutated Sword Fang Fish would rip apart whatever she set up. It couldn''t be turned into something effective.


    Instead, the Mutated Electric Eel''s attack caused a lot of trouble for Wang Fei. Electric bolts flashed in the water, making it impossible for her to touch it. Lightning also struck down from the sky, making it difficult for her to dodge.


    If she was on land, she could still summon a Companion Beast to help, but now, other than flying Companion Beasts, the other Companion Beasts would be electrocuted the moment they entered the water. It was useless to summon them.


    For a moment, Wang Fei was in an extremely awkward situation. She was at a loss of whether to fight or retreat. This dilemma troubled her.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t quite understand Wang Fei''s complicated feelings, his talent in combat was still quite good. He quickly noticed that her situation wasn''t looking good.


    It could no longer be described as a disadvantageous situation. If this continued, Wang Fei''s life would be in danger.


    Without having second thoughts, he summoned the banana fan and timed it just as the Mutated Sword Fang Fish leaped out of the water before fanning it.


    Wang Fei was just about to dodge when she saw the Mutated Sword Fang Fish charging at her with sword flashes that resembled glowing wheels when a strong gust of wind suddenly swept over.


    The water''s surface stirred up a wave several meters high. If it wasn''t because all the water had been used, the waves might have been higher.


    The wind swept the water wave onto the Mutated Sword Fang Fish''s body, instantly sending it flying. It flew into the sky along with some of the water like a column that reached to the heavens.


    What was even more amazing was that the water column had frozen into ice, freezing in midair. Even the Mutated Sword Fang Fish was frozen in the water column. It was a very strange sight.


    Wang Fei was slightly taken aback as she turned to look in the direction where the cold wind came from. She saw Zhou Wen standing at the top with a green fan in his hand. When she looked over, Zhou Wen had just put the fan to his chest, looking somewhat refined.


    Zhou Wen really has the ability to kill Epic creatures. Isn''t this the power of this fanning way too ridiculous? Even among Epic creatures, there aren''t many who can use such a level of attack. Wang Fei''s expression looked confused.


    However, Wang Fei was one who had been through a lot. After being startled for a moment, she immediately snapped out of her daze and dodged the Mutated Electric Eel''s attack.


    Without the Mutated Sword Fang Fish holding her back, Wang Fei felt much more relaxed dealing with the Mutated Electric Eel.


    Zhou Wen didn''t offer any more help, but Wang Fei had already lost the mood to demonstrate to him. All she wanted was to quickly finish this Mutated Electric Eel.


    It wasn''t that Zhou Wen didn''t want to help, but the usage of Grand Yin Wind had already expended all his Primordial Energy. He needed some rest to use it a second time.


    However, even if it was used a second time, it would probably be useless. The Mutated Electric Eel''s dual water-electric escape technique was too fast. The Grand Yin Wind might not be able to catch up with it.


    Wang Fei vented all her frustration on the Mutated Electric Eel as she slashed out one sword flash after another, forming afterimages in the air. Soon, Zhou Wen discovered that the afterimages were not real afterimages, but remnant sword flashes in the air.


    The sword flashes had failed to stay in place due to the Mutated Sword Fang Fish''s sword flashes destroying them, but now that there was no Mutated Sword Fang Fish left, the sword flashes formed a sword net in the air. When the Electric Eel slammed into it, it ended up being covered in blood.


    Despite finishing off the Mutated Sword Fang Fish, Wang Fei just didn''t feel happy about it.

 303 One-on-One

    "Ms. Wang, your movement technique and swordplay are truly exquisite. Can I learn from you?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Fei sincerely.


    Wang Fei frowned at Zhou Wen, unsure if he was mocking her.


    Although Zhou Wen''s EQ wasn''t high, he could tell that there was something wrong with the way she was looking at him. He hurriedly explained, "I mainly focus on movement techniques, but I''m so inferior to you. I wonder if you can tell me the name of the movement technique you used, or which dimensional creatures drop it?"


    Wang Fei didn''t know whether to laugh or cry when she saw how sincere Zhou Wen was, a clear act that he wasn''t being sarcastic.


    She had thought of so many methods in the past, hoping that Zhou Wen would learn from her, but to no avail. To her surprise, Zhou Wen ended up wanting to learn from her because of the embarrassing circumstance.


    "This movement technique is unique to my family, so it''s hard for outsiders to learn it." When Wang Fei learned that Zhou Wen wanted to learn it from her, she was thrown into a difficult position.


    This movement technique was a secret technique of the Wang family. It required the combination of three different movement technique-type Primordial Energy Skills to acquire mastery. Furthermore, the three Primordial Energy Skill Crystals were proprietary to the Wang family''s dimensional zones. Outsiders could not obtain them.


    "I see. Then I''ll look at other movement techniques." Zhou Wen was slightly disappointed. Wang Fei''s movement technique was indeed better than his Dragon Gate Fairy Technique, and it was more practical.


    However, since it was the Wang family''s secret technique, Zhou Wen had to give up.


    Seeing Zhou Wen''s disappointed expression, Wang Fei had mixed feelings. She previously wanted Zhou Wen to study under her, but now that he wanted to do so, she couldn''t teach him.


    "You''re my student and also Uncle Mingyuan''s disciple. You can''t be considered an outsider. How about this? I''ll go back and discuss it with my family elders. Perhaps there''s a chance," Wang Fei said after some thought. She really didn''t wish to miss an opportunity to teach Zhou Wen.


    "Thank you, Ms. Wang. If it''s too troublesome, forget it." Zhou Wen didn''t really want to trouble Wang Fei.


    "We''ll talk about it when the time comes. I may not succeed." Wang Fei didn''t say much because she really wasn''t sure if she would succeed.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the person who wanted to learn it was Zhou Wen, Wang Fei wouldn''t even attempt to win him an opportunity.


    After hoisting up the Mutated Sword Fang Fish and Mutated Electric Eel, she discovered that they each had a Companion Egg inside their bodies. Two Companion Eggs had dropped at once.


    "This is yours." Wang Fei handed Zhou Wen the Mutated Sword Fang Fish''s Companion Egg and put away the Mutated Electric Eel Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony when he considered how he had indeed put in the effort. He put away the Mutated Sword Fang Fish Companion Egg and planned to hatch it when he returned. It might come in handy later when he went to slay the Poison Wyrm at Poison Wyrm Pool.


    ¡­


    In Bright Prospects College''s canteen, a man with short black hair was quietly eating his meal. A girl walked over and sat opposite him, speaking to him excitedly, "Ming Xiu, I got accepted to be an exchange student at Sunset College. I can head over to Sunset College with you."


    "Is it worth being so happy to go to Sunset College?" The boy looked up at the girl, confused.


    "Of course, it''s something worth celebrating. It''s Sunset College! The best school in Luoyang! It''s not even just Luoyang, there are many outstanding geniuses in the entire League who wish to study at Sunset College. Being able to attend school there is the dream of many students, right?"


    Saying that, the girl blinked and said, "Of course, I''m so happy not because I can study at Sunset College, but it''s that I can go to Sunset College with you. I want to see you defeat the high and mighty geniuses there. I want to let them know who the strongest genius is."


    "There are many geniuses, but I''ve never been a genius," said Ming Xiu indifferently.


    "I know; you relied on your own hard work, but it''s undeniable that you''re a true genius and the strongest genius in Bright Prospects College''s history. If your father weren''t the chancellor of Bright Prospects College, you wouldn''t have attended this school. Famous schools like Sunset and Covenant Colleges are where you should''ve gone. You are not inferior to any of those students. You are even more outstanding." The girl looked at Ming Xiu, speaking with agitation.


    "Outstanding?" Ming Xiu shook his head slightly and reached out to stroke the girl''s head. "Compared to going to Sunset College, I prefer eating the lunch boxes you prepare for me in the sun."


    "Got it, got it. You''ve said it many times. Wasn''t I training hard recently to get a spot to go to Sunset College with you? I obviously didn''t have the time to make lunch boxes for you. Now that I''ve already obtained the qualification, I''ll make it for lunch tomorrow. You greedy cat," the girl said in exasperation.


    ¡­


    At the same time, Sunset College was also discussing the exchange students between Bright Prospects College and Sunset College. The two colleges had a deep relationship, so there would be certain spots reserved for students from Bright Prospects College to study for one semester which lasted three months.


    Although it was an exchange, it was to let them learn advanced knowledge and theory. The teachers from Sunset College would send their students to tutor them on a one-on-one basis.


    "These are the nominations for the student tutors this year. Look and see if you have any objections," the vice-chancellor said as he pointed to the documents in front of the teachers.


    Wang Fei picked up the name list and looked at it. She asked in surprise, "Why is Zhou Wen''s name on it? Aren''t the student tutors always third years and above? Zhou Wen is just a freshman. He shouldn''t need to do this, right?"


    The managing vice-chancellor smiled and said, "Zhou Wen is in the top ten of our school''s comprehensive test, and he once defeated John and won honor for our school. If he doesn''t qualify, few of our students qualify."


    Wang Fei didn''t want Zhou Wen to waste his time and energy on being a student tutor. She wanted to change the vice-chancellor''s mind, but before she could say anything, the vice-chancellor waved his hand and said, "This matter is decided. There is no room for discussion."


    Seeing how determined the chancellor was, Wang Fei had no choice but to swallow her words. After the meeting, before Wang Fei went to look for the managing vice-chancellor, he asked her to stay behind.


    "Madam personally called to request this," the managing vice-chancellor said to Wang Fei.


    "Sis Lan?" Wang Fei was slightly taken aback. However, since it was Ouyang Lan''s request, she had nothing to say. She was only Zhou Wen''s teacher, but Ouyang Lan was, in name, his mother.


    Wang Fei picked up the name list again and glanced at the person Zhou Wen would be tutoring. On it were two words: Ming Xiu.


    "Ming Xiu, could it be the one from the Ming family? What is Sis Lan trying to do?" Wang Fei looked at the name with an uncertain expression.

 304 Poison Wyrm

    In the underground Pool City instance dungeon, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and ran towards Poison Wyrm Pool.


    There were few dimensional creatures in Pool City, so he only encountered two Sword Fang Fish along the way. However, they were only ordinary ones that he easily slew.


    Using the characteristics of the Overlord Spear''s Ever-Victorious, he was able to dish out death with one strike, but nothing dropped.


    The Poison Wyrm Pool was originally a lake built in the city. After the city was flooded, the pool wasn''t fully submerged due to its higher height. The square and stone columns by the side remained above the water surface.


    With the blood-colored avatar standing in front of the stone column, Zhou Wen looked down and couldn''t help but frown. The water in the Poison Wyrm Pool was black. Even if he jumped in, there was a chance that he wouldn''t be able to see anything.


    He first summoned an ordinary Golden Warrior, letting it enter the Poison Wyrm Pool to test things out. He wanted to see if he could lure the Poison Wyrm out.


    The Golden Warrior fell into the water and sank with a bloop. After a while, there was no reaction from the pool. However, the game indicated that the Golden Warrior had died. The Poison Wyrm didn''t appear.


    Zhou Wen summoned a few more Companion Beasts and sent them into the water, but the results were all the same. They caused quite a commotion when they sank, but they soon fell silent. However, the Poison Wyrm just didn''t appear.


    With no other choice, Zhou Wen let Ghost Bride give it a try. She had a ghostly body and wasn''t affected by the poisonous liquid. She floated straight into the lake.


    Although Ghost Bride was unaffected, she couldn''t see anything in the pitch-black pool and didn''t know how deep the pool went. Despite diving several hundred meters, Ghost Bride still failed to reach the bottom, nor did she find the Poison Wyrm.


    Ghost Bride kept diving for nearly a thousand meters before she finally reached the bottom. The bottom wasn''t very spacious, and she didn''t encounter the Poison Wyrm after circling the area.


    Strange, where did the Poison Wyrm go? Has it not spawned? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    This was a game, and Zhou Wen was the only gamer. That made it quite impossible for there to be spawning problems. Zhou Wen made Ghost Bride make another circle of the area but ultimately didn''t discover anything.


    Strange! Zhou Wen had no choice but to go to the school''s database.


    There was quite a lot of information regarding the Poison Wyrm. After all, it was a dragon-like existence. Many tutors had attempted to obtain a Poison Wyrm Companion Beast.


    However, there were very few people who could kill it. The Poison Wyrm was also known as a Diving Wyrm. It remained within the Poison Wyrm Pool, and wouldn''t easily be tempted by external objects.


    As for the Poison Wyrm Pool, it was extremely toxic. Not only humans, but even some of the venomous Companion Beasts also found it difficult to survive in it.


    A tutor had specifically written a guide to lure the Poison Wyrm out. The most important point mentioned was that although the Poison Wyrm was an aquatic creature, it enjoyed eating birds, especially bird eggs.


    As long as one applied some beaten eggs to the stone railings, one could lure the Poison Wyrm out. If one couldn''t find any bird eggs, chicken eggs could be used too. However, the amount of chicken eggs required was around four kilograms.


    Drawing out the Poison Wyrm was only the first step. This was because an ordinary Epic expert would not be able to withstand the toxicity of the Poison Wyrm. If they were to be sprayed with poisonous gas, they would most likely die on the spot.


    Are there bird eggs in the game? I don''t have any bird eggs, but I have one stone egg. I wonder how long it will take before Truth Listener evolves. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Only objects like Companion Eggs could be brought from real life into the game. Ordinary objects couldn''t enter.


    If I were to go to the Poison Wyrm Pool in reality, I could take the chick over and tie it up as bait. But in this game, where can I find birds and eggs? As Zhou Wen was thinking about how to get eggs, he heard a commotion outside.


    Originally, he didn''t want to pay attention to what was happening outside, but when he heard Li Xuan call his name, he opened the door. He immediately saw Li Xuan standing outside the courtyard with many people surrounding him. Most of them were special admissions students that lived in the Four Seasons Garden. Even Wang Lu was amongst them.


    They surrounded Li Xuan and said something, while Li Xuan had a smug look on his face. Beside him was a beautiful Companion Beast in a leafed robe with a wooden bow in hand. It had pointy ears and a pair of wings growing on its back.


    "Zhou Wen, what do you think of my newly acquired Elf Companion Beast? It''s an authentic Elf Archer from the West District''s Life Forest. Although it''s only at the Legendary stage, it''s much more expensive than the typical Epic. Furthermore, due to their rarity, it''s not something that can be bought with just money," Li Xuan flaunted.


    The special admissions students by his side had looks of envy, as though they agreed with Li Xuan''s words.


    "What special abilities does she have?" Zhou Wen felt that ordinary Legendary Companion Beasts were useless to him unless they had special abilities.


    "Such a pet doesn''t need any ability. It just needs to stay by my side," Li Xuan said.


    Many students beside him nodded in agreement, feeling that Li Xuan was right.


    "If there''s nothing else, I''ll go back and play games." Zhou Wen didn''t see the point of having such a Companion Beast tag along.


    Li Xuan hurriedly followed Zhou Wen into the building.


    "Old Zhou, this item is just a decoration. It''s indeed useless. However, a batch of excellent-grade Companion Eggs has recently been sent to Luoyang. This Elf Archer is just one of them. Someone gave it to me as a gift. They invited my Li family to participate in the Companion Egg auction. Are you interested in joining me?"


    "I don''t have money anyway. What can I do if I go? I''ll just play games at home," Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    "Come on man. Join me. Just treat it as broadening your knowledge. After all, it''s rare seeing Companion Eggs from the West District. I heard there are dragons, angels, devils, and some other elemental Companion Beasts." Li Xuan added.


    "I''m not going," Zhou Wen rejected.


    "Don''t be so heartless. At most, I''ll pay you to attend." Li Xuan knew that Zhou Wen lacked money, so he tempted him.


    However, that was in the past when Zhou Wen lacked money. He had invested enough money now, so his need wasn''t that high.


    "Why must you drag me along?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Xuan chuckled in embarrassment. "The last time I bought the Thundergod General was when you were with me. You helped me make up my mind, resulting in my good luck. I will definitely get a few more Companion Beasts this time, so if you join me, I''ll feel a lot more at ease."


    "Do you think I''m some kind of lucky mascot? I don''t have that ability. If you really want to get lucky, why don''t you invite Wang Lu along?" Zhou Wen rolled his eyes at him.


    Upon hearing Wang Lu''s name, Li Xuan said depressingly, "Wang Lu will participate too, but she is buying a Companion Egg for herself. We will be competitors. Come with me. I won''t let you do it for free." If any Companion Beast catches your fancy, I''ll buy it for you as payment as long as it''s not too expensive."

 305 Poison Wyrm Crystal

    Zhou Wen didn''t accept the payment, but he still agreed to participate in the auction with Li Xuan. The venue of the Companion Egg auction happened to be at the Xiyuan Crystal Shop.


    Qin Xiyuan''s shop? When Zhou Wen recalled the store, he immediately thought of the mysterious numbers and the locked Companion Beast.


    He thought that he could get the answer after saving the former principal, but to his dismay, he failed to find the former principal in the ruins.


    The An family had sent many experts into the temple to search. An Sheng would occasionally inform him of the progress. The latest update from An Sheng was that there seemed to be a problem with the temple.


    According to the analysis of an expert in ancient architecture, following the layout of the temple, they should have only arrived at the outer sanctum of the temple and there should be an inner sanctum further in. The former principal was probably trapped inside the inner sanctum.


    However, they had yet to find a way to enter the inner sanctum. The research was still ongoing.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to enter the temple in-game. Unfortunately, he couldn''t pass the underground sea, so he couldn''t reach the temple.


    I should focus on advancing to the Epic stage first. Zhou Wen couldn''t find any bird eggs in-game¡ªnot even chicken eggs. He had no choice but to think of other solutions.


    In the patch of reeds outside Pool City, there were some low-level avian dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen grabbed a few of them and hung them above the Poison Wyrm Pool''s stone railing and drained their blood.


    This actually worked. It didn''t take long before bubbles popped out of the Poison Wyrm Pool. The few avian dimensional creatures trembled in extreme fear.


    Splash!


    The surface of the water suddenly exploded. A dimensional creature that looked a little like a snake or dragon extended half of its body from the toxic pool. It opened its mouth and sucked at the bleeding birds, sucking them into its mouth.


    It didn''t appear like a snake since it had claws, but it was not a dragon since it lacked horns. It looked very strange.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to appreciate its appearance. He made Banana Fairy blow a gust of cold, raging Grand Yin Wind at the Poison Wyrm, sweeping it up along with large amounts of poison water before it was frozen in midair.


    Bam!


    Frozen in a block of ice, the Poison Wyrm landed on the square. Any ordinary Epic creature would have been frozen to death, but the Poison Wyrm didn''t die. Thankfully, the freeze remained in effect as it lay motionless when it fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen held the Overlord Spear and thrust out several times, stabbing the Poison Wyrm to death.


    It''s not as powerful as the rumors say! Zhou Wen felt that those strategies were a little exaggerated. Killing a Poison Wyrm was quite easy.


    However, it had eluded him that few people in the world possessed the Mythical Banana Fairy. Without her, how could he have so easily killed a Poison Wyrm?


    Ding!


    The Poison Wyrm''s body exploded as a crystal dropped. Zhou Wen took a look and saw that it was a crystal with a Poison Wyrm''s figure inside. It was obviously a skill crystal.


    My luck is in here. Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the crystal.


    ''Poison Wyrm Crystal: Requires 21 Strength and 14 Poison stats to absorb.''


    The system gave him a notification, and it was something that Zhou Wen''s stats matched perfectly. He even had a slightly higher Poison stat; hence, he directly chose to absorb it.


    The Poison Wyrm crystal transformed into wisps of black gas and fused into the blood-colored avatar''s body. At the same time, Zhou Wen felt a numbing pain aura circulate in his body as he cried out in pain.


    After a while, the feeling gradually disappeared as a new Primordial Energy circulation formed in his body.


    ''Absorbed Poison Wyrm Crystal. Attained Epic Primordial Energy Skill: Poison Dragon Finger.''


    It''s not the Dragon Transformation Art? Zhou Wen felt depressed. It wasn''t what he needed. He hadn''t heard of the Poison Dragon Finger before, and on second look, he realized it was just Rank 1.


    Zhou Wen tested the Poison Dragon Finger and when he used it, his left middle finger turned black. Other than that, there didn''t seem to be any other changes.


    There weren''t any strong finger beams or explosive powers. It looked ordinary and unremarkable. It was unbelievable that it was an Epic Primordial Energy Skill.


    Isn''t this too weak? Do I even have to touch my opponent with my finger? It''s already an Epic Primordial Energy Skill, yet it''s still so low-end? Zhou Wen pointed at the stone column and discovered that not only was it ordinary, nothing about its effects stood out. The augmentation in Strength was very lacking, making it not much stronger than the Mortal-stage Golden Finger. It really didn''t live up to its status as an Epic skill.


    Since the Poison Dragon Finger has the word "poison," it likely clinches victory using poison, right? I''ll try testing it on a living creature later. Zhou Wen had no choice but to console himself and leave the Underground Pool City dungeon before switching to the Zhuolu battlefield.


    Not long after, he encountered a Chi. This time, Zhou Wen specifically used the Poison Dragon Finger to deal with it. However, when he tapped at the Chi, it wasn''t damaged at all. He only left a black dot the size of a fingertip on its body.


    Zhou Wen originally hoped for the black dot to show its special effects such as directly rotting it and poisoning the Chi to death, so he kept staring at the Chi''s black dot.


    However, not long after, the black dot disappeared. With it disappearing without a trace, the Chi remained brimming with energy as though it was completely fine.


    I actually believed this nonsense! Zhou Wen was rendered completely speechless. To call this Primordial Energy Skill an Epic was an insult to the word "Epic."


    Without a solution, Zhou Wen first tried his luck at the baby tiger and once again tried the underground sea. After successfully killing himself, he headed for the underground Pool City to grind the Poison Wyrm. He refused to stop until he obtained the Dragon Transformation Art.


    Now experienced, it was easier for him to lure the Poison Wyrm out and kill it. There were no absolutely invincible dimensional creatures in this world. Even a Companion Beast like Banana Fairy with a Mythical foundation could be resolved as long as he knew her characteristics.


    The principle of mutual promotion and restraint was very useful in battles between Companion Beasts and dimensional creatures.


    It was unknown if Zhou Wen''s luck had really changed for the better recently. After killing the Poison Wyrm once again, he had another Primordial Energy Skill Crystal drop. It left him in disbelief.


    May the heavens bless me. It should be the Dragon Transformation Art this time, right? Zhou Wen hurriedly got the blood-colored avatar to pick up the Poison Wyrm Crystal.


    The absorption conditions were the same as before¡ªStrength and Poison stat requirements. After the blood-colored avatar absorbed the Poison Wyrm Crystal, the system gave another notification.


    ''Absorbed Poison Wyrm Crystal. Attained Poison Dragon Finger 2.''


    D*mn, there''s a sequel? Zhou Wen felt like he was about to explode. He actually had two weak Primordial Energy Skills drop in consecutive fashion. He didn''t know if he was lucky or unlucky.


    At this point, Zhou Wen didn''t have a solution. He killed the baby tiger with nothing to speak of, before diving into the underground sea to steal the Dragon Pearl. After succeeding in dying, he returned to kill the Poison Wyrm.


    Ding!


    A crisp sound rang out as another Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropped.

 306 Stone Armor

    ''Absorbed Poison Wyrm Crystal. Attained Poison Dragon Finger 4.''


    Zhou Wen felt a little uncomfortable when he saw the game notification pop out. The Poison Wyrm was simply exasperating; it just kept dropping Poison Dragon Finger.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen had no choice but to treat the Poison Dragon Finger seriously.


    To have the Poison Dragon Finger Primordial Energy skill drop three times in a row, Zhou Wen didn''t think it was a mere coincidence. After studying the skill carefully, he realized that the Poison Dragon Finger''s 1, 2, 4 weren''t the same. They were three separate skills.


    Zhou Wen believed that the first unlabeled Poison Dragon Finger was 1. When he used it, the middle finger on his left hand turned black, Using 2 and 4 turned his index finger and ring finger black.


    Could it be that there are five types of Poison Dragon Finger that correspond to each of the five fingers? However, the effects of the Poison Dragon Fingers are so weak. Even if they''re used at the same time, it wouldn''t be of much use, right? Zhou Wen was rather intrigued. He wanted to know the might of the Poison Dragon Finger when he gathered all five.


    After all, the Poison Dragon Finger in its present state didn''t live up to being an Epic skill. Zhou Wen now felt that the Poison Dragon Finger wasn''t that simple.


    He checked the Poison Wyrm''s information on the school''s database mainly to see what it could drop. There was little information on such matters. Only the tutor who had previously written the method to lure the Poison Wyrm had mentioned that Poison Dragon Finger would drop. However, he claimed that it was very weak and weaker than the typical Legendary skill. It wasn''t worth practicing.


    Zhou Wen didn''t manage to find any information on the Dragon Transformation Art, so he could only continue grinding. However, after killing the Poison Wyrm three times, he only had a Strength Crystal drop. No other skill dropped, much less a Companion Egg.


    It''s so difficult to have the Dragon Transformation Art drop. I wonder who''s managed to have it drop in the past. Zhou Wen had no choice but to patiently grind the instance dungeons.


    The bat cave dropped the most items, but few of them were useful. The best was naturally the White Shadow of Poison Companion Egg. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen only had one drop. The ones he subsequently killed didn''t produce any Companion Eggs.


    Next were the Primordial Energy Skill Crystals, followed by the Poison Crystals.


    In addition, the bat cave had another special use¡ªhelp Zhou Wen hatch Epic Companion Eggs.


    Due to Zhou Wen''s lack of Primordial Energy, he wasn''t able to hatch Epic Companion Eggs. But thanks to the large number of bats, killing them all dropped at least seven Primordial Energy Crystals each time he cleared the bat cave. These were valued between 21 and 36.


    With the help of these high-valued Primordial Energy Crystals and the Primordial Energy recovery of his Dao body, Zhou Wen could barely hatch an Epic Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen had used this method to hatch the Mutated Stone Chi. Now, the Mutated Stone Chi had transformed into a grayish-white stone armor that the blood-colored avatar wore.


    The armor was unique. It was a full-body armor. The grayish-white stone covered the blood-colored avatar from head to toe. It was different from the crudeness that Zhou Wen imagined. The Mutated Stone Chi in its armor form was exquisite and refined. It was on par with exquisitely forged steel armor. It even had quite an artistic feel to it.


    After the blood-colored avatar put on the stone armor, it looked like a stone statue. However, its face was covered with a ferocious beast helm. It looked extremely ferocious and ruthless.


    On the back of the armor, there was a black dragon pattern. The dragon appeared more abstract, preventing anyone from seeing its full appearance. However, the dragon''s domineering aura seemed to leap out of the armor as though it would come to life at any moment.


    After testing the defense of the Stone Chi''s armor, it wasn''t only strong, the armor had powerful self-healing abilities. It could instantly repair itself if it was not completely destroyed. The poisonous rays from ordinary Epic poisonous bats were unable to scuff the armor. Even the White Shadow of Poison''s poisonous rays and poisonous claws only left a few marks that weren''t too deep. They failed to penetrate the armor.


    This is good stuff. Zhou Wen thought that, with such good armor, he might be able to withstand the black dragon''s attack, but once he entered the underground sea, the stone armor and the blood-colored avatar were swallowed whole. It didn''t mean anything to the black dragon. The only thing was that it was a little hard to chew.


    It wasn''t of much use to deal with those terrifying true dragons, but the armor was an excellent-grade defensive object at the Epic stage. Zhou Wen liked it a lot.


    When the Mutated Stone Chi fought alone in battle, it was rather powerful. It had the strength similar to the Mutated Stone Chi which Zhou Wen had killed. It was an excellent-grade pet that was good both in the offensive and defensive.


    After hatching the Mutated Stone Chi, Zhou Wen took out the Mutated Sword Fang Companion Egg and hatched it using the same method.


    Mutated Sword Fang Fish: Epic


    Life Providence: Fish of Sword Comprehension


    Life Soul: Sword Flash Fish


    Strength: 39


    Speed: 37


    Constitution: 38


    Primordial Energy: 35


    Talent Skill: Fangwheel Sword Flash


    Companion Form: Sword


    Although it only had one skill, the Mutated Sword Fang Fish''s stats were excellent. It was all-rounded, with none of its stats lower than 35. It could be considered a pretty good excellent-grade Epic Companion Beast.


    The only regret was that the Mutated Sword Fang Fish was an aquatic-type creature. It could only move freely in the water, so its mobility on land suffered greatly. It was basically useless.


    However, that didn''t matter. Usually, Zhou Wen could just use it as a sword in a place without water. The sword formed by the Sword Fang Fish, along with its sword flashes, was much more convenient than the Overlord Spear. It was even mightier, it just lacked the Ever-Victorious trait.


    He brought the Mutated Sword Fang Fish to the underground sea and wanted to use its speed to snatch the Dragon Pearl, but it was still swallowed by the black dragon. It failed to put up any resistance.


    From the looks of it, I can''t just rely on pets. I still have to increase my strength as soon as possible. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and continued grinding the Poison Wyrm, hoping to have the Dragon Transformation Art drop.


    When it was time to meet Li Xuan, Zhou Wen applied for leave and attended the auction with Li Xuan.


    Zhou Wen was rather familiar with the Xiyuan Crystal Shop, but when he got there with Li Xuan today, there were more people here than the previous few times.


    The people were mostly middle-aged. There were young people, but not many. Apart from Li Xuan, Zhou Wen didn''t see any familiar faces. Wang Lu didn''t seem to be there either.


    "Brother, aren''t you going to introduce me to your friend?" Just as the duo arrived at the venue, they saw a young man walk over.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t recognize the young man, he could guess that he was Li Xuan''s second brother, the man who had tried to kill him several times.

 307 Tyrant Behemoth

    When one wore clothing in the form of a western suit and white shirt, it made them feel formal. However, the young man wearing such attire in front of them looked natural and desultory, as if wearing those clothes was nothing but natural. He exuded a unique, indescribable charm.


    Zhou Wen sized him up. He was a man in his twenties, with looks that made one jealous. His every move was filled with charm, enough to move any woman''s heart.


    Seeing that Li Xuan was merely looking at him coldly without any intention of introducing him, the man smiled and offered Zhou Wen his hand. "Hello, my name is Li Xiubai. My close friends call me Mobai. Since you are my brother''s friend, call me Mobai as well."


    "Zhou Wen, Li Xuan''s friend." Zhou Wen extended his hand and shook it before answering tersely. Those few words directly told Li Xiubai that he was on the same side as Li Xuan, and there was no way he would be friends with him.


    Li Xiubai didn''t mind. He smiled and said, "Brother''s friend is naturally my friend. If we have a chance to get to know each other in the future, you''ll start to understand me. Don''t rush to conclusions. I have friends over there, so pardon me."


    Seeing Li Xiubai leave, Li Xuan pursed his lips and said, "He always looks like a gentleman when he''s in front of others, but he uses all possible means behind their backs."


    Zhou Wen glanced at Li Xiubai and felt that Li Xuan''s second brother was rather terrifying. He had plotted to kill Li Xuan, but he was still able to show his good brother image in front of others without his expressions betraying him. If it wasn''t because Zhou Wen knew the situation well, he would probably have believed that Li Xuan had a good relationship with his brother.


    "Li Xiubai is really scary. It''s no wonder you can''t beat him," Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    "What do you mean I can''t beat him? I just didn''t want to compete with him in the past, but things are different now. He can forget about taking advantage of me in the future," Li Xuan said with a pout.


    Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. Li Xuan''s words had already exposed his weakness. Despite how Li Xiubai had treated him, all Li Xuan wanted was to prevent his brother from taking advantage of him.


    Such a harmless personality might be Li Xuan''s weakness, but it was precisely because of this personality that Zhou Wen was willing to get close to him and become friends.


    There were many Companion Eggs placed in the glass cabinets on display in the exhibition hall. They were all to be auctioned, so anyone could take a careful look at them to better inform their decision on the bidding in the evening.


    However, it was difficult to tell if Companion Eggs were good or bad. Furthermore, with the tempered glass shield in the way, it blocked the aura of the Companion Eggs, making it even harder to make informed decisions.


    "Have you shortlisted your targets?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    "Yes, I''d like to bid for No. 47 Holy Sword Angel. What do you think of it?" Li Xuan brought Zhou Wen to the glass cabinet with the number 47 and pointed at a Companion Egg inside.


    As Zhou Wen used his phone to take a picture of the Companion Egg, he asked, "What are the characteristics of Holy Sword Angel?"


    Li Xuan described the details of Holy Sword Angel to Zhou Wen before asking, "How''s two million? I plan on paying two million to buy this one during the auction. What do you think?"


    "I don''t think this one is too good. You should consider something else," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    He saw that the Holy Sword Angel''s attributes were only average. Although they weren''t bad, they weren''t considered good. Its skills were also incomplete, so it was far from an excellent-grade Companion Beast.


    "Then which one do you think is good? I want the kind that looks good. Can you help me choose one from those?" Li Xuan pointed at the few Companion Eggs in the catalog.


    The few Companion Eggs in the catalog hatched angels, fairies, and demonesses. Furthermore, the prices were ridiculously high. Yet, their abilities were only average. It was unknown why Li Xuan was buying them.


    However, since Li Xuan wanted one, Zhou Wen decided to help him take a look. There were indeed a few which had relatively good attributes, especially an Epic Companion Egg named Spirit Drawing Demoness. The four basic stats exceeded the limits listed on the catalog''s range, and it had all four skills. It could be said to be an excellent-grade Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen secretly told Li Xuan that he should spend all his funds bidding for the Spirit Drawing Demoness.


    Li Xuan trusted Zhou Wen greatly. Since Zhou Wen told him to buy the Spirit Drawing Demoness, he didn''t look at the other Companion Eggs.


    "Zhou Wen, we agreed that you could pick one for yourself. It''ll be your payment for your help," Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen.


    "Cut that out. Since what needs to be done has been done, I''ll look around. Go around by yourself and take a look." Zhou Wen wanted to go to the fourth level and look at the locked Companion Beast. He felt that it likely had something to do with the passcode that the former principal had given him.


    "What''s your problem? Just choose one. You can walk around after picking one." Li Xuan forcefully pulled Zhou Wen back. As he walked, he said, "How''s this Nightmare Succubus? Her figure is hot."


    Zhou Wen had no idea what Li Xuan was thinking. He remembered that the Invincible Connate Divine Art Li Xuan cultivated prevented him from losing his virginity. Losing his virginity would only make him lose his cultivation. What was the point looking at these all day? Wasn''t he afraid of losing his cultivation?


    Since Li Xuan insisted on giving him one, Zhou Wen decided to choose a relatively cheaper one and be done with it. After flipping through the catalog, he realized that the cheapest cost at least 100,000. Furthermore, it was some boring Legendary Companion Egg, for example, goblins or swamp monsters.


    These kinds of Legendary Companion Eggs, that could only be considered ordinary in the West District, sold for more than 100,000, alluding to the saying that what is rare is dear. After all, the East District didn''t have any of these Companion Beasts.


    He walked around and occasionally used his phone to take a look. As others were using phones to take photos, Zhou Wen''s actions weren''t too out of place.


    As Zhou Wen was looking, he suddenly froze. He looked at the display cabinet beside him. Inside it was a Companion Egg with the name "Minotaur" written on the card. However, the phone''s information was different.


    Zhou Wen took a closer look at the information on the card. It wrote that it was a Legendary Minotaur which dropped from a dimensional zone called the Underground Maze in West District. It was good at using axes, having pretty good Constitution and Strength.


    However, the information Zhou Wen saw on the phone was completely different from the card. This Companion Egg with the Minotaur label was listed as Tyrant Behemoth on the phone. Furthermore, it was only at the Mortal stage. However, behind those words the phrase "Evolvable."


    That can''t be? Could this be a Mythical Companion Beast that''s comparable to Banana Fairy? That shouldn''t be possible. Those who are in the Companion Egg business are experts, especially at such a large auction. They must have been appraised by many experts. Why would they make a mistake between a Minotaur and a Tyrant Behemoth? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable, but the phone''s information was clear. This was a Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg.

 308 Exchange

    The procedures were strict, so how could there be any room for mistakes? Mythical Companion Eggs were just too rare. Would anyone mistake it for other Companion Eggs after obtaining it?


    Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t be mistaken.


    Regardless of the reason for the screw-up, there''s no reason not to get something this good. Zhou Wen pointed at the Companion Egg with the Minotaur label and said to Li Xuan, "I''ll take this."


    "Minotaur? I say, Old Zhou, you sure are a little hardcore! There are so many Companion Eggs to choose from, but you have to choose something this ugly. Even if you want to save me money, that''s not how you do it, right? Let''s do it this way. I''ll decide, and I''ll get you that Nightmare Succubus tonight. I guarantee you that you won''t regret it," Li Xuan looked at the introduction on the card as he said.


    "No, I want this. If you aren''t going to bid for it, I''ll do it myself," Zhou Wen said.


    "You''re really odd. There are so many beautiful Companion Beasts, but you want none of that. Instead, you insist on something so ugly. Forget it, it''s fine as long as you like it," Li Xuan said helplessly. After all, Zhou Wen had been a weirdo from the beginning. He wasn''t too surprised.


    "Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, you two sure came early?" Wang Lu walked over and stood in front of them.


    "Wang Lu, do you think Zhou Wen is odd? He doesn''t want all these beautiful Companion Beasts and insists on having an ugly Minotaur," Li Xuan said with a smile.


    "What Minotaur?" Wang Lu asked.


    Li Xuan pointed at the display cabinet beside him. Wang Lu looked over and saw that the serial number was 107. She looked at Zhou Wen in surprise and asked, "You wish to buy this Companion Egg?"


    "Yes." Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat as he felt something amiss.


    "What a coincidence." Wang Lu took out a note from her pocket and handed it to Zhou Wen.


    "What''s this?" Li Xuan craned his head to look at the note with great curiosity. He saw the number, "107," written on it.


    Wang Lu said with a smile, "I originally didn''t want to come, but the organizer of this auction is a good friend of my family''s elders, and I''m the only one in Luoyang, so I had to attend. I never thought of buying any Companion Beasts, and couldn''t be bothered perusing the catalog, so I randomly wrote a number. I planned on bidding for the Companion Beast with that number this evening as a way to please the auction organizer."


    Li Xuan found it rather coincidental when he heard that, but Zhou Wen was alarmed. Wang Lu''s luck was just too good. To be able to randomly select a Mythical Companion Beast made her a humanoid mascot.


    "Don''t tell me the two of you plan on bidding for this Minotaur?" Li Xuan looked at the two of them and asked.


    Since the two of them had chosen the Minotaur, they would only benefit the seller if they got into a bidding war. Since they were all fellow students with a good relationship, there was no need for that.


    Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen and said, "I don''t plan on giving up. What about you?"


    "Same here," Zhou Wen said.


    "I really don''t understand you. There''s no need to fight for a Minotaur. There are plenty of them in the West District. If you really want one, I''ll get someone to get you a few. There''s no need to strain your friendship," Li Xuan tried to mediate.


    "My decision never changes once I''ve made up my mind, but what Li Xuan said is right. There''s no need to strain our friendship for a Companion Egg. How about this, I''ll bid for this Companion Egg, and you''ll bid for another Companion Egg. After the auction is over, we can exchange them as a gift exchange. That way, I wouldn''t have changed my mind, and you will obtain the Companion Egg you want. Isn''t that fair?" Wang Lu said after some thought.


    "Fair enough." Zhou Wen nodded in agreement. He felt that if he really engaged in a bidding war with Wang Lu, there was almost no way he could beat her. Her suggestion would be for the best.


    Be it money or luck, Zhou Wen was no match for Wang Lu.


    "I''m going to the organizer to say hello. I''ll see you at the auction tonight." When an attendant came to invite Wang Lu over, she had no choice but to leave.


    Zhou Wen continued surveying the Companion Eggs in the exhibition hall. Although Wang Lu had willingly made the exchange, Zhou Wen still felt a little uncomfortable. He couldn''t give up on a Mythical Companion Beast, but he should try his best to find a good Companion Beast for Wang Lu.


    In a private room on the top floor of Xiyuan''s shop, a middle-aged man knocked on the door carefully. When the door opened a sliver, he immediately entered the room.


    In the private room, an old man sat on the sofa, smoking as he asked, "Have you done what I told you to do?"


    "Sir, it''s done. I''ve already switched the Companion Egg. As long as you bid for the Companion Egg at the auction, you can take it away without anyone noticing. The Zhang family definitely won''t be able to notice it in such a short amount of time," said the middle-aged man nervously.


    "Well done. What''s the serial number of the Companion Egg?" The old man put down the cigarette as his eyes shone with a fiery light.


    "Sir, you promised me that as long as I settle this matter, you''ll let me regain my freedom and send me back to the sea¡ªmy home," the middle-aged man said to the old man, his tone slightly anxious.


    "I''ll naturally do what I promised you," the old man said with a frown.


    "I''ve worked for the Zhang family for so many years and finally managed to achieve my current position today. If what I did was discovered by them, there''s no way I can survive. It''s all because of your order, so you must keep your promise. Please send me home." The middle-aged man''s eyes were bloodshot, his hands clenched tightly.


    "I said that I will definitely fulfill my promise. Don''t worry, what''s the serial number of the Companion Egg?" The old man stared coldly at him and asked again.


    "107¡­ 107¡­ That Companion Egg greatly resembles a Minotaur Companion Egg. I did something to the Companion Egg, so even expert appraisers wouldn''t notice any problems ahead of time. Besides, no one will pay attention to a Minotaur Companion Egg¡­"


    As soon as the middle-aged man finished speaking, a shadow that looked like a devil appeared behind the old man. The shadow spewed out smoke at the middle-aged man, engulfing him before he could react.


    Very soon, the smoke swirled back. When it landed on the old man''s fingers, it had transformed into a cigarette.


    The old man struck a match and lit the cigarette. He sucked it deeply before exhaling a mouthful of smoke. He said calmly, "Don''t worry, I''ll scatter your cigarette ashes into the sea. It can be considered as returning home."


    Zhou Wen walked around the exhibition hall for quite a while, but he couldn''t find a satisfactory Companion Beast. They were either too expensive or too inferior. He couldn''t afford the expensive ones, and he felt a little guilty buying the inferior ones.


    He was almost done checking out all the Companion Eggs except for one. Zhou Wen took one final snap. However, he couldn''t help but be taken aback when he saw the results.

 309 Four-Leaf Clover

    Four-Leaf Clover: Legendary


    Life Providence: Lucky Grass.


    Strength: 0


    Speed: 0


    Constitution: 3


    Primordial Energy: 20


    Talent Skill: Exorcism


    Companion Form: Hair Clip.


    This was the information that Zhou Wen saw, and the name on the card was a Three-Leaf Clover. It was said to be a plant-type companion pet that could soothe one''s mind.


    However, according to the information Zhou Wen saw on his phone, it was a Four-Leaf Clover. Its attributes were extremely weak¡ªvirtually trash among those at the Legendary stage¡ªand Exorcism was a common skill in the West District. Furthermore, it was a passive skill, so it wasn''t of much use.


    The Four-Leaf Clover looked ordinary, with nothing noteworthy. However, its Lucky Grass Life Providence astonished Zhou Wen.


    Lucky Grass Life Providence: Luck +3


    It was a simple and direct introduction. Zhou Wen had seen this back when Wang Lu''s Lucky Baby Tiger hadn''t hatched. However, the Lucky Baby Tiger added 5 Luck, 2 points higher than Lucky Grass.


    This was understandable. After all, the baby tiger was at the Epic stage while this Four-Leaf Clover was only at the Legendary stage.


    Wang Lu''s luck is amazing. This is the one. Zhou Wen decided to bid for the Four-Leaf Clover Companion Egg. Having a Luck stat was just too rare. Many people wanted it, and Zhou Wen was no exception. However, recognizing it as Wang Lu''s luck, he believed Wang Lu deserved getting the Four-Leaf Clover since he was getting a Tyrant Behemoth. He couldn''t have his cake and eat it.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that wearing a hair clip didn''t suit him.


    There were many people who knew Li Xuan, so Li Xuan had to entertain them. Zhou Wen didn''t like such socializing events, so he went to the fourth level to see the locked Companion Beast.


    However, Zhou Wen soon discovered that other than the independent elevator he had taken before, there weren''t any other ways to take him to basement four. And the elevator he had taken previously was closed, with no way to open it.


    Zhou Wen was puzzled. With so many tycoons from Luoyang and the surrounding cities here, as well as wealthy foreigners especially coming to participate in the auction, shouldn''t the shop open up basement four and sell the pets inside? Instead, it had been sealed. Qin Xiyuan''s actions puzzled him.


    After he made an inquiry, an attendant told him that basement four required the boss to escort someone down. Even they couldn''t take Zhou Wen down there.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up the thought. After he visited the other floors of the store, he realized that the Xiyuan Crystal Shop was indeed a well-established shop in Luoyang. It had plenty of crystals and Companion Eggs. It had also launched several new products, testimony that the Xiyuan Crystal Shop had a very broad supply chain.


    When the auction was about to begin, Li Xuan took Zhou Wen to a private room on the second floor. Wang Lu was already waiting inside.


    "It''s all thanks to Wang Lu this time. Otherwise, young people like us wouldn''t be able to touch a private room at all." Li Xuan grinned and sat on the sofa.


    Wang Lu smiled and said, "This room isn''t prepared for me either. It''s only because they are taking my family''s elders into account. I''m just a representative."


    The three of them chatted for a while before the auction began. The first auction was for Legendary Companion Eggs. They were considered desserts before the main courses. The final Epic-stage Companion Eggs were the main course.


    Legendary Companion Beasts were sold with a starting bid of 100,000. Their quality was much lower than the batch Zhou Wen obtained last time. However, those who could participate in the auction didn''t care about the chump change. All they did was buy something they liked. Every item had a bid, but most of them weren''t high. The highest closed at 230,000.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that serial numbers were sold in reverse order. The larger the number, the earlier they were auctioned. The thirteenth item was the Minotaur numbered 107, and it also had a starting bid of 100,000.


    Wang Lu very calmly pressed the button to raise the bid to 110,000.


    The room was sealed and isolated, equipped with one-way mirrors, so it was unlike the people in the hall below. They needed to use a bidding device instead of raising their hands; otherwise, the auctioneer wouldn''t be aware of bids from the private rooms.


    There were two people interested in the Minotaur. Soon, the bid raised to 160,000. Then, Wang Lu raised it to 170,000.


    The two bidders on the first floor had already given up. Wang Lu originally thought that she could be the winning bidder, but someone else suddenly increased the bid to 200,000.


    200,000 for a Minotaur was an astronomical price. It appeared that the other party was determined to win the Minotaur.


    "Looks like someone wants to compete with you. You don''t have any enemies in Luoyang, right?" Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Wang Lu shook her head and raised the price to 210,000.


    "Isn''t it tiring adding 10,000 each time? Just raise it to 300,000 and see if he wants to carry on bidding," Li Xuan said like the rich man he was.


    "Money still needs to be conserved. Every bit counts," Wang Lu said with a smile.


    At that moment in another room, an old man who was smoking frowned. He originally believed that it wouldn''t be a problem winning the Companion Egg with 200,000, he never expected someone to engage in a bidding war with him.


    Could it be that the news was leaked? Or did that guy leave a backup plan? The old man pondered for a moment. He felt that both cases were possible, but it didn''t seem like it.


    Unable to figure out the reason instantaneously and seeing how no one was bidding, with the auctioneer already calling 210,000 once, the old man decided to bid. The money spent was trivial as long as he could get it.


    He didn''t wish to attract too much attention, so he planned to add 10,000 to test the other party''s reaction.


    However, when his finger pressed on the bidding device, there was no reaction. It seemed to have broken.


    The old man was stunned. He quickly reached out his fingers and pressed it several times, but there was no reaction at all. It was as if it had really broken. Sweat seeped out from his forehead and he pressed continuously, but there was no reaction.


    "Calling thrice¡­ 210,000, sold!" The Minotaur was sold for 210,000. The auctioneer was satisfied with the number and had called out very quickly.


    The old man in the room fumed with anger. He had considered everything, making all the necessary arrangements, only to fail because of a damaged bidding device. He could not help but be enraged.


    He called the staff over and launched a tirade. However, when the staff checked the bidding device, they found that all the buttons were working normally. There were no problems at all during the subsequent attempts.


    "Sir, were you too excited just now? Could it be a mishandling of the controls?" the staff member asked in an extremely polite manner.


    The old man hated that he couldn''t immediately turn the staff in front of him into smoke, but this was Luoyang. If he did that, he would definitely be targeted, and this wouldn''t solve any problems.


    "Who won 107?" the old man could only suppress his anger and ask.


    "Sir, I''m sorry. Unless the client is willing to make it public, we need to keep our clients'' information confidential," the staff member said as he bowed slightly.


    The old man held back his anger and let the staff leave. His expression darkened.


    He did not know if it was a coincidence or if he had already been targeted. If someone had targeted him, he would be in danger.

 310 Tyrant Behemoth

    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw that Wang Lu had succeeded in bidding for the Tyrant Behemoth. This kind of Companion Beast that had a chance to advance to the Mythical stage was just too precious. There was nowhere in-game he could grind for them like ordinary pets which he would eventually obtain given time. To have something fall into his lap just like this, he doubted that there would be a second opportunity.


    Moments later, a staff member sent the item over. After letting Wang Lu confirm that the item was right, Wang Lu directly paid the bill with her card and obtained the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg.


    Wang Lu turned to face Zhou Wen with the Companion Egg in hand. He extended his hand to receive it, only to have Wang Lu retract her hand and hug the Companion Egg. She smiled at Zhou Wen and asked, "Since it''s a trade, where''s your Companion Egg?"


    "The Companion Egg I chose hasn''t begun the auction," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then I''ll trade with you when you get it." Wang Lu hugged the Companion Egg and sat back on the sofa.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush as he waited for the auction to continue. After a few more auction items, he finally saw the Four-Leaf Clover being auctioned.


    There weren''t many people bidding for the Four-Leaf Clover since the card''s information stated that it was a Three-Leaf Clover without any combat strength. It was basically a supplementary item that made one clear-headed. The effects were not much different from medication oil, so few people had any interest in it. Only one person started it off with the opening bid, allowing Zhou Wen to buy it for 130,000.


    "Let''s swap the goods at the same time." Wang Lu held the Companion Egg with one hand and extended her other hand in front of Zhou Wen.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen placed the Four-Leaf Clover Companion Egg in Wang Lu''s hand before taking the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg.


    I finally got it. Holding the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg, Zhou Wen felt extremely excited. This pet had the chance of advancing to the Mythical stage in the future.


    Behemoths were a type of dimensional creature that was terrifying in Western mythology. Legend had it that it ate mountains on a daily basis, and due to its huge appetite, God, who had originally created a pair of Behemoths, was afraid that their descendants would end up devouring the entire world. Hence, He killed the female Behemoth, leaving behind only the male Behemoth.


    It was ultimately a legend, but the attributes of Tyrant Behemoth made it clear that it was extraordinary.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Mountain Devouring


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    It was a classic four 11-pointer all-rounder. Like Banana Fairy, it only had one single skill. This disappointed Zhou Wen a little. The Companion Form was a boxing glove, something that he would figure out after hatching it.


    The auction continued. In the end, Li Xuan managed to win the Epic Spirit Drawing Demoness for 3,200,000. It was much more expensive than the market price, making him feel the pinch.


    However, he still insisted on winning it. Once the auction ended, he rushed back impatiently, planning to think of a way to incubate Spirit Drawing Demoness.


    "I know there''s a dessert shop nearby that has pretty good desserts. Want to try it before we head back to school?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen after leaving Xiyuan.


    "I''ll pass. I don''t really eat sweet stuff." Zhou Wen was speaking the truth. Besides, he was in a rush to hatch the Tyrant Behemoth, so he wasn''t in the mood to eat.


    Waving his hand as a farewell, Zhou Wen summoned his Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and rode it back to school.


    "He''s really not gentlemanly at all. What a dimwit. Drive," Wang Lu said angrily and ordered her driver to drive her to the dessert shop.


    After the car left, an old man walked out of a nearby alley. He looked in the direction of the car with a complicated gaze.


    Someone from the Wang family won that Companion Egg? It looks like something happened. That guy probably leaked the news¡­ The old man felt that he was in a very dangerous situation. He had to leave immediately. Otherwise, it was possible that the Wang family would silence him.


    After all, it was the Zhang family''s Mythical Companion Egg, and the Hero King''s family was not to be trifled with. In order to not provoke the Zhang family, the Wang family might have very well eliminated all those who knew about this.


    Damn the Wang family. Count it my loss this time. The old man didn''t dare to stay any longer. He sneaked into the darkness and left. Highly nervous, he constantly observed his surroundings to prevent anyone from the Wang family from pursuing him.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he hatched the Tyrant Behemoth. After all, it was still at the Mortal stage. With the amount of Primordial Energy Zhou Wen currently had, it was rather easy to hatch it.


    Before long, a tattoo that looked like a bull''s head appeared on the back of Zhou Wen''s hand. It was completely black, resembling the silhouette of a bull''s head.


    He summoned Tyrant Behemoth. He originally imagined that it would be massive like its namesake. After all, the Behemoth was the largest mythical creature, a terrifying existence that fed on mountains daily.


    But the tyrant in front of him was only half the height of a human. It had a bull''s head and a thick curved horn on it. Its body resembled an ape and its claws were sharp. The tail on its back curled up and its fur was black and luscious like black silk. It did look like a minotaur¡ªa miniature one.


    When Tyrant Behemoth turned into a boxing glove, a black boxing glove immediately appeared on Zhou Wen''s right hand. Strangely, there were two horns at the front of the glove. If Zhou Wen wanted to punch someone, the horns would definitely be the first to make contact.


    This fellow is still at the Mortal stage. No matter how strong he is, he can''t be that strong. I wonder how long it will take to evolve to the level of Banana Fairy, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen soon discovered that Tyrant Behemoth did indeed live up the legends about it eating mountains. Banana Fairy and Truth Listener, together with the other Companion Beasts that needed to be fed, didn''t eat as much combined.


    Not long after he fed it, the phone would notify him that Tyrant Behemoth was in a hungry state. Furthermore, it wasn''t picky. Be it Companion Eggs or Companion Beasts, it could swallow them whole. Thankfully, Zhou Wen now had the Epic poison bats that he could kill in mass numbers. After getting a few Epic poison bat Companion Eggs for it, the system''s notifications silenced.


    It can eat so much at such a young age. If it really evolves to the Epic stage, will I be able to raise it? Zhou Wen was already beginning to worry.


    Apart from the time he spent studying at Wang Mingyuan''s place, Zhou Wen kept grinding daily. What he wanted the most was Lucky Baby Tiger and the Poison Wyrm''s Dragon Transformation Art, followed by that dragon pearl.


    "Zhou Wen, come to my office." Wang Fei sent him a text.


    Zhou Wen thought that the Wang Fei had finally convinced her family to allow him to learn the Wang family''s movement techniques, but to his surprise, he learned that the school wanted him to be a student mentor. It had been arranged that he would take care of a student from Bright Prospects College. Zhou Wen would be responsible for his learning and day-to-day-living for the next three months at Sunset College.


    "Isn''t this the responsibility of a tutor?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "Don''t forget that you''re a student at Sunset College. To the students of the other colleges, you have the right to be their mentor. That''s why you are called a student mentor. Do a good job, and don''t disgrace our Sunset College," Wang Fei said to Zhou Wen with a solemn expression.


    Zhou Wen wanted to decline, but Wang Fei told him that this was the school management''s decision. He couldn''t decline it unless he dropped out of school.

 311 Challenge

    Dropping out of school was naturally just a joke. No one would drop out of school because of this. Furthermore, the school gave corresponding rewards for the student mentors, allowing them to obtain special permits to certain special dimensional zones.


    Instead of calling it mentoring, it was actually being a guide to allow the students of Bright Prospects College to quickly integrate into Sunset College''s curriculum and lifestyle.


    After all, they were only here for three months, unlike Zhou Wen and company who could live here for four years and could take things slowly.


    Bright Prospects students who were mentored on a one-on-one basis joined their mentors in the same class. Naturally, their homework missions were the same.


    The only compulsory thing for student mentors was to team up with their mentees and guide them in completing their homework missions.


    After Zhou Wen saw the responsibilities of a student mentor, he thought nothing much of it. After all, it was just taking another person along for his homework missions. It wasn''t anything difficult since he had to do the homework missions too.


    When Zhou Wen saw his mentee, he learned that his name was Ming Xiu, a handsome youth around his age. He didn''t know why, but Ming Xiu looked rather lazy despite looking sunny and chipper, as though he wasn''t interested in anything.


    The school had already allocated Ming Xiu and company their dorms, but Zhou Wen was needed to take them there and help them familiarize themselves with the situation on campus.


    These weren''t too troublesome for Zhou Wen. Although the school was large, students usually only had a few places to go too. They would be able to familiarize themselves with the campus in half a day. Once that was finished, Zhou Wen was done with his responsibilities until homework missions were assigned. He just needed to take Ming Xiu along when that happened.


    Although Zhou Wen was learning from Wang Mingyuan, his tutor was still Wang Fei in name, so Ming Xiu''s tutor was also Wang Fei.


    "Ming Xiu, this is your dorm key. Shall I take you to the dormitory first?" After the school management had delivered their speeches, Zhou Wen planned on taking Ming Xiu to his dorm to settle him in.


    "Thank you, just give me the key. We''re all adults. I can do such trivialities myself. There''s no need to trouble you," Ming Xiu said politely.


    "Sure, this is my phone number. Call me if you need anything." Zhou Wen handed over the dorm key and his phone number.


    "Thanks. By the way, who was first in Sunset College''s comprehensive test this year?" Ming Xiu asked after taking the key and paper slip.


    "I believe first place went to Senior Wei Ge." Zhou Wen had a good memory, but that was on matters he wanted to memorize. If he wasn''t interested, he often didn''t pay much attention. He really didn''t care who was first. He just knew that he was in the top ten.


    "Wei Ge is the current president of the student council, right?" Ming Xiu nodded as if he had heard of this person before.


    "Yes."


    "Do you know where to find him?"


    "I really don''t know. You can go to the student council''s activity room to take a look. Even if you can''t find Senior Wei Ge, you can still find the key members of the student council there." Zhou Wen then told him where the student council was located.


    "Thanks." After thanking Zhou Wen once again, Ming Xiu turned around and prepared to leave.


    Zhou Wen didn''t stop him. Seeing how independent the Bright Prospects student was, he felt gratified. Besides, Ming Xiu was right. They were already adults and didn''t need others to watch over them. Many things could be figured out if one put in the effort. There was no need to have someone to seek advice from.


    This was in line with Sunset College''s education policy. It was best not to restrict a student''s wishes and development. It only gave them guidance in particular directions and provided them with knowledge and the ability to learn. What they made out of that depended on the students themselves. Independence was what determined if a student could truly grow.


    After Ming Xiu left, Zhou Wen turned around and returned to his dormitory. He hadn''t managed to obtain the Dragon Transformation Art. He planned to continue grinding before heading to Wang Mingyuan''s place for learning.


    Ming Xiu walked to a trash can and, without looking at Zhou Wen''s paper slip, he threw the folded piece of paper into the recycle bin.


    Ming Xiu had no intention of coming to Sunset College to learn anything, nor did he need the companionship of a student mentor.


    Wei Ge had been in a rather good mood recently. He was originally worried that Zhou Wen would become the second Hui Haifeng and might even compete with him to be the next student council president. However, after some observation, he realized that Zhou Wen was not much different from the other weirdos in school. His lack of interest in such matters relieved Wei Ge.


    Zhou Wen seldom appeared and he didn''t participate in group activities. What was worse was that Zhou Wen often requested a leave of absence to leave campus.


    Wei Ge automatically defined Zhou Wen as a rich and powerful scion. With Zhou Wen''s personality, he probably wouldn''t compete with him for the position of president of the student council.


    Wei Ge was studying a dimensional zone guide when he heard the door being pushed open. He looked up at the person who had entered and couldn''t help but frown.


    His memory was very good, especially when it came to faces. However, he could not remember where he had seen this handsome boy before.


    The exchange students from Bright Prospects College arrived today. This boy should be one of them, right? Wei Ge guessed Ming Xiu''s background and thought to himself, Why is the new exchange student here at the student council instead of in his dorm?


    "Hello there, I''m the president of the student council, Wei Ge. Is there anything I can help you with?" Wei Ge said to Ming Xiu in a friendly manner, like he was a political figure greeting the poor in the countryside.


    In Wei Ge''s heart, Bright Prospects College was a third-rate college. Therefore, their students weren''t much different from the poor and needy. Permitting their entry into Sunset College was a form of charity.


    Ming Xiu looked at Wei Ge and said, "You are the president of the student council, Wei Ge?"


    "That''s me." Wei Ge nodded with a smile. He looked extraordinary and secretly he felt smug. Even a Bright Prospect student knows of me. As expected, I''m already famous elsewhere.


    "Can you spar with me in real combat? I want to know how strong the strongest student at Sunset College is." Ming Xiu directly explained his purpose for coming.


    Wei Ge smiled and said to Ming Xiu, "Are you an exchange student from Bright Prospects College?"


    Ming Xiu nodded slightly and continued, "You decide on the time and place."


    Young kid from a third-rate school, eager to prove himself. What a pity that he''s overly ambitious. He wants to challenge me, the president of the student council, the moment he''s here. He''s still too young. Wei Ge was experienced in handling such matters. While maintaining his smile, he took out a coin and placed it on the table. Then, he said to Ming Xiu, "Well, there''s no need to go through all that trouble. See this coin? I''ll do something to it. If you can do the same, you''ll be the winner."


    "Okay," Ming Xiu agreed without hesitation.

 312 Disciple Accepts the Challenge

    Wei Ge reached out his palm and casually pressed down on the coin on the table. Then, he removed his hand and smiled at Ming Xiu. "Saw that?"


    Ming Xiu''s gaze landed on the coin and saw a needle-like hole in the middle of the coin. He reached out and picked up the coin. The coin had been pierced, but the table below wasn''t damaged at all.


    "Condensing forces into a needle?" Ming Xiu said as he placed the coin on the table.


    "You have quite a keen eye. You can give it a try as well." Wei Ge was very pleased with himself. His ability to condense forces in his palm into a needle was something he was most proud of. Furthermore, he could control this technique easily and freely. It was impossible for the average person even if they worked hard for more than a decade. It had nothing to do with one''s strength because it was a manifestation of one''s control of their strength.


    Otherwise, no matter how powerful one''s force was, even if it could smash a coin, it wouldn''t just leave a hole the size of a needle.


    With this technique, Wei Ge had made many challengers retreat without a fight. He was already used to it.


    Ming Xiu didn''t say anything. He only reached out his palm and pressed it on the coin. Then, he removed his palm and said to Wei Ge, "Now can you spar with me in real combat?"


    Wei Ge looked at the coin and was shocked. He saw a hole on the coin that was smaller than the hole he had left behind.


    Picking up the coin and seeing that there was no damage to the table, Wei Ge thought to himself, It''s surprising that a third-rate school like Bright Prospects College would have such an expert at strength control. This guy looks like a handful. It''s necessary I beat him, but there''s no benefit to it. But if I were to lose, wouldn''t my reputation be ruined?


    With this thought in mind, Wei Ge suddenly had an idea. He smiled at Ming Xiu and asked, "How should I address you?"


    "Ming Xiu," Ming Xiu answered.


    "Ming Xiu, you obviously can challenge me, but I have to clarify one matter first. Are you trying to challenge me, the president of the student council, or the number one expert of our Sunset College?" Wei Ge asked.


    "Is there a difference?" Ming Xiu asked.


    "Of course there is. Although I''m the president of the student council, the publicly recognized number one expert in our school is someone else. If you want to challenge the number one expert, I''m afraid you have gotten the wrong person," Wei Ge said.


    "Who''s the strongest?" Ming Xiu asked.


    "Our school''s number one expert is Hui Haifeng who''s known as the Invincible Fist." Wei Ge directly sold Hui Haifeng out. After all, he and Hui Haifeng were rivals. Getting Ming Xiu to cause trouble for Hui Haifeng was the best option.


    "Where can I find him?" When Ming Xiu heard the impressive title of Invincible Fist, he didn''t think that Wei Ge was lying. If he wasn''t that strong, he wouldn''t dare mention "invincible" in his title.


    Furthermore, as the president of Sunset College''s student council, it was unlikely Wei Ge would spout nonsense.


    Wei Ge wasn''t spouting nonsense. Hui Haifeng had such a nickname, but it was just one used in jest. Wei Ge used to hate Hui Haifeng''s nickname, but it was a perfect opportunity to use it now.


    "Wait a minute." Wei Ge made a phone call and quickly found Hui Haifeng''s whereabouts. He then said to Ming Xiu with a smile, "He should be in Dragon Gate Grotto. It''s not difficult to find the area. Just ask around on campus or use your phone''s navigation."


    "Thank you." Ming Xiu turned around and left.


    After Ming Xiu left, Wei Ge looked at the coin again. The needle hole was not only small but also very round. It was much more intricate than Wei Ge''s.


    This guy is quite impressive. If I fought him, I might not be able to win. How did a third-rate school like Bright Prospects College produce such a freak? Wei Ge was puzzled. A student like him should have been able to enter a prestigious school.


    However, thinking about how he had brought huge trouble to Hui Haifeng, Wei Ge felt happy again. If Ming Xiu really defeated Hui Haifeng, it would be amusing.


    Zhou Wen went to Wang Mingyuan''s place to study. Just as he arrived at Dragon Gate Grotto, he saw Ming Xiu standing at the intersection, looking down at his phone as though he was hesitating on which path to take.


    "Stop looking. The GPS is useless here in Dragon Gate Grotto. Where do you want to go?" Zhou Wen walked to him and asked.


    Seeing that it was Zhou Wen, Ming Xiu asked, "I''m looking for Hui Haifeng. I heard he''s in Old Dragon Cave, right?"


    "Why are you looking for Hui Haifeng?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "Wei Ge said he''s the number one expert in Sunset College, so I wanted to see how strong the number one expert of Sunset College is," said Ming Xiu.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless when he heard that. He had sent Ming Xiu to Wei Ge, and Wei Ge ended up sending him to Hui Haifeng.


    "You know Hui Haifeng?" Ming Xiu sized up Zhou Wen and asked.


    "We''re under the same tutor, so we''re considered fellow disciples," Zhou Wen said as he considered how he could resolve the trouble that was Ming Xiu.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing here?" Hui Haifeng asked as he walked out of Dragon Gate Grotto before Zhou Wen could think of a solution.


    "This is Ming Xiu from Bright Prospects College. He wants to challenge you." Zhou Wen had no choice but to introduce Ming Xiu to Hui Haifeng.


    "Ming Xiu, why do you want to challenge me?" Hui Haifeng didn''t panic at all as he asked with a smile.


    "Someone said that you are the number one expert at Sunset College. I want to know how strong Sunset College''s number one expert is," said Ming Xiu.


    "That''s right. That person has a keen eye, but Ming Xiu, if anyone can challenge me as you do, as the number one expert of Sunset College, wouldn''t I be busy all day? Just accepting challenges would tire me to death." Hui Haifeng then changed gears and pointed at Zhou Wen. "Let''s do this. He''s my junior and ranked the lowest among our tutor''s four disciples. He''s also the weakest. Try defeating him first before I consider accepting your challenge."


    Zhou Wen nearly spat out the water he had just drunk. Hui Haifeng was too shameless.


    Ming Xiu looked at Zhou Wen and gestured for him to launch an attack. "I''ll be troubling you."


    Zhou Wen was a little depressed. He didn''t have the time to fight with Ming Xiu. He still had a few questions to ask Wang Mingyuan.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, Feng Qiuyan saw him and ran over, immediately asking, "Coach, I''ve already figured out what you taught me the last time. When is the next lesson?"


    Zhou Wen pointed at Ming Xiu and said, "Ahem. Feng Qiuyan, let me introduce you. This is Bright Prospects College''s Ming Xiu, an exchange student who''s just come to our school. He''s very strong. You can spar with him. It''s a way to test you on your recent improvement in strength."


    "Alright." Feng Qiuyan agreed immediately, his eyes filled with fighting spirit.

 313 Ming Xius Decision

    Ming Xiu revealed a look of displeasure. When he heard Feng Qiuyan call Zhou Wen "Coach," he thought that Feng Qiuyan was just a student trained by Zhou Wen. He felt that Zhou Wen was looking down on him asking him to spar with someone like that.


    "Feng Qiuyan''s strength is no weaker than mine. As long as you can beat him, you can directly challenge Senior Haifeng." Zhou Wen hurriedly directed the problem back at Hui Haifeng.


    When Ming Xiu heard that, his expression softened and he looked at Feng Qiuyan.


    This spectacular scene finally unfolded as they exchanged looks and immediately went to the arena.


    Ming Xiu originally imagined that he could easily defeat Feng Qiuyan, who wasn''t famous at all, but he failed to gain an advantage once the battle began.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques already had the inklings of a master''s. He freely struck with verve, his spirit and courage becoming stronger as he fought. His saber landed like roiling heavenly rivers that prevented his opponent from catching his breath.


    Ming Xiu could not help but become serious. He used his incredible Life Providence powers and fought with Feng Qiuyan with all his strength. But even so, it was only a draw. He found it difficult to clinch victory.


    Ming Xiu''s shock was indescribable. His Life Providence was Peerless Twins¡ªhe learned everything much faster than others. He took days to master something that others might need a year for.


    He just needed one look at concepts that eluded others to quickly understand them. Among his peers, he had never experienced the feeling of having an opponent.


    He originally believed that Sunset College was only a little more famous, and their students were nothing much. It was impossible for them to be stronger than him.


    However, he never expected that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Feng Qiuyan despite giving his all. And since Feng Qiuyan called Zhou Wen "Coach," it was obvious he had been trained by Zhou Wen. Furthermore, Hui Haifeng claimed that Zhou Wen was the weakest among the four students of their tutor.


    Sunset College is really filled with hidden talents! Ming Xiu, who had originally thought that it would be boring being an exchange student at Sunset College, suddenly changed the glint in his eyes.


    The two of them had been fighting in the arena for more than an hour, but there was no victor. Both ended up exhausted with no energy left.


    "Is that Zhou Wen really your coach?" Ming Xiu didn''t believe that a person who could fight him to a draw would be trained by someone their age.


    "Yes," Feng Qiuyan answered honestly.


    "Then, is it like what he said? Your strength is about the same as his?" Ming Xiu asked again.


    "I don''t know Coach''s strength, but it''s only because of his three pointers in the past two to three months that I have reached my current realm. Before this, I wouldn''t have been your match. I would have been defeated within ten moves."


    Feng Qiuyan believed that he was telling the truth, but even he himself didn''t know that Zhou Wen hadn''t given him any serious pointers¡ªhe had figured everything out himself.


    However, those words sounded completely different in Ming Xiu''s ears. It was unbelievable that a person who couldn''t even withstand ten of his attacks previously could now tie him with just three pointers from Zhou Wen.


    Feng Qiuyan looked like a rigid and focused person. He didn''t look like someone who would lie.


    "There''s actually such a genius in this world. I had such a narrow view of the world before. It looks like I made the right choice to come to Sunset College." Ming Xiu suddenly laughed.


    Life without an opponent and goal was too boring for him. Now with someone like Feng Qiuyan and Zhou Wen appearing, he felt as though he had come alive.


    Tian Zhenzhen had arranged for the Bright Prospects students to gather at the canteen. She would occasionally glance at the canteen''s entrance, but she didn''t see that familiar figure.


    "Zhenzhen, we''ve already asked around. Sunset College''s top student for this year''s comprehensive test is the president of the student council, Wei Ge, but he''s not the most famous one. It''s a freshman named Zhou Wen. He got into the top ten at the Mortal stage. Not long ago, he defeated John from Covenant College and helped the army defeat the Sky Spiders¡­" A Bright Prospects College student recounted Zhou Wen''s antics in Sunset College with great familiarity.


    "Although Zhou Wen is very strong and much stronger than us, he''s definitely not Ming Xiu''s match," Tian Zhenzhen said confidently.


    "Of course. No matter how strong Zhou Wen is, he''s only a slightly stronger student. How can he be comparable to Ming Xiu? He''s our Bright Prospects'' god," another Bright Prospects student said matter-of-factly.


    The other students also agreed. Ming Xiu was too dominant in Bright Prospects College. He was a god in the hearts of all the students. Even the tutors believed that Ming Xiu could have a chance at being in the top ten of the entire League.


    "Since Zhou Wen is so famous, let Ming Xiu challenge him first so that he can become famous in one battle. Let those arrogant fellows from Sunset College know what true geniuses are." Tian Zhen was brimming with confidence. She seemed to be able to foresee how all the students of Sunset College would be stunned when Ming Xiu defeated Zhou Wen.


    While they were chatting, Ming Xiu walked over.


    "Ming Xiu, why are you so late?" Tian Zhenzhen hurriedly invited Ming Xiu to sit beside her.


    "Something cropped up," Ming Xiu said.


    "Ming Xiu, we''ve already asked around. Now, Sunset College¡­" Before Tian Zhenzhen could finish her sentence, Ming Xiu interrupted her.


    "Zhenzhen, before coming, my mom must have secretly given you quite a bit of money, right?" Ming Xiu looked at Tian Zhenzhen and asked.


    "Auntie prepared it for you, just in case. It was in the event that you urgently required money," Tian Zhen said, embarrassed.


    "Give me 20,000," said Ming Xiu.


    "What do you want the money for?" Tian Zhenzhen asked as she transferred the money, puzzled.


    "I want to hire Zhou Wen to be my personal coach. I would like him to give me some pointers and cultivation guidance," Ming Xiu said excitedly.


    Having had a long chat with Feng Qiuyan, he increasingly found Zhou Wen unfathomable. It was truly worth it to be able to hire someone like Zhou Wen to teach him for twenty thousand.


    Ming Xiu was a top genius who could learn anything quickly, but this also made him lose direction. He didn''t know what he should learn. It felt like he could learn anything and everything, but he had the nagging feeling that he wasn''t good at anything. This was a horrible feeling.


    Before today''s battle, Ming Xiu still felt that it was just loneliness derived from invincibility, but after his battle with Feng Qiuyan, he realized that he had yet to find his own path.


    After Feng Qiuyan''s repeated recommendations, Ming Xiu decided to hire Zhou Wen to come up with a cultivation plan for him and to guide him out of his confusion. Feng Qiuyan had informed him that each class cost 20,000.


    Tian Zhenzhen was dumbfounded when she heard that. She stared at Ming Xiu in a daze. Her mouth was agape for a long time. She didn''t even realize that she had dropped the food she was eating.


    They had just been discussing how Ming Xiu could defeat Zhou Wen and how he could become famous in Sunset College, but in the blink of an eye, the god in their eyes actually wanted to hire Zhou Wen as a coach. He even wanted him to guide him in his cultivation. Silence fell at the table with only Ming Xiu speaking in excitement.

 314 Talent at Playing Cards

    "Ming Xiu, do you have a fever?" Tian Zhenzhen touched Ming Xiu''s head and asked curiously.


    Ming Xiu pushed Tian Zhenzhen''s hand away. "Of course not."


    "Then why do you want to hire Zhou Wen to be your coach? Shouldn''t you defeat him, thus becoming famous in Sunset College?" Tian Zhenzhen said.


    "I''ve already fought with a student he trained," said Ming Xiu.


    "Shouldn''t your opponent be him? Why would you be fighting with his student? What happened in the end?" Tian Zhenzhen asked three questions in a row.


    "It was a draw. I couldn''t beat him even when I used all my strength. That person''s saber technique is too powerful," said Ming Xiu excitedly.


    Tian Zhenzhen and the students from Bright Prospects College were alarmed. Ming Xiu was such a strong person, yet, he only managed a draw with Zhou Wen''s student. It was hard to believe how powerful Zhou Wen was.


    Ming Xiu continued, "That student only attended three of Zhou Wen''s private classes. According to him, he wouldn''t have been strong enough to take ten strikes from me about three months ago."


    "What?" Tian Zhenzhen and the rest felt that their brains were lacking.


    The person could fight Ming Xiu to a draw with just three private classes. To them, this sounded like a fairytale.


    "Ming Xiu, is what you said true?" Tian Zhen was in disbelief.


    "It can''t be wrong. A person like Feng Qiuyan wouldn''t lie. Furthermore, Zhou Wen is only ranked last amongst his tutor''s four students. He''s the weakest."


    "Is this the famous Sunset College? What kind of monsters are they!?" Tian Zhenzhen and company were dumbfounded.


    To them, the invincible Ming Xiu didn''t seem that outstanding in Sunset College.


    However, Ming Xiu was very excited. "I thought that it would be a boring trip, but I didn''t expect it to be the right choice. Sunset College lives up to its name. There are so many powerful students here. This feeling is great."


    In Wang Mingyuan''s laboratory, only Zhou Wen and Zhong Ziya were around. The two of them were playing cards facing each other, and there were several paper slips pasted on Zhou Wen''s face.


    Zhou Wen had originally come to ask Wang Mingyuan some cultivation questions, but Wang Mingyuan had yet to return from Dragon''s Well. Zhong Ziya had suggested playing cards since they had nothing to do.


    Zhou Wen refused at first since gaming was better than playing cards.


    However, Zhong Ziya said that if Zhou Wen could defeat him at cards, he would give Zhou Wen an Epic movement technique crystal.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn''t good at playing cards, he believed that card games between two people depended on 30% skill, 70% luck. Even if his skills weren''t good, he could win as long as his luck was good.


    However, he never expected that Zhong Ziya would want to play Reverse with him. As soon as he made one mistake, he lost. The three pieces of paper on Zhou Wen''s face were punishment for him throwing out the wrong card.


    Zhou Wen had seen his three seniors play Reverse before, so he had an idea how to play it. However, watching was one thing, but playing it was a whole different matter. It was very easy to throw the wrong cards in this game.


    Zhong Ziya threw out cards in the normal order while Zhou Wen threw out cards in the reverse order. For example, if Zhou Wen threw a 7, Zhong Ziya needed to throw an 8 or higher. However, Zhou Wen couldn''t throw a 9. Instead, he had to throw a card smaller than 8 to be lower than Zhong Ziya''s 8.


    Such a form of playing was very special. It was Zhou Wen''s first time playing it, and he had to play the cards in reverse. Zhong Ziya spoke to him while playing, making Zhou Wen throw out cards in the normal manner. That was how he lost all three matches. It had nothing to do with his bad cards.


    As Zhong Ziya threw his cards, he smiled and said, "Junior, Reverse isn''t that easy to play. When Jiang Yan taught me and Hui Haifeng, both of us had lots of paper slips on our faces. Just count it as tuition money."


    "I already know what to do. Again," Zhou Wen said.


    "You can play however many rounds you want," Zhong Ziya said with a grin.


    It was not easy to change habitual thinking. Having lived for more than ten years and playing cards in the normal manner, to have someone play it in reverse order made it easy for one to throw the wrong cards.


    When he started, Zhong Ziya had also spent quite a bit of time adapting to this kind of reverse thinking process. It definitely wouldn''t be easy for Zhou Wen to get used to it immediately.


    Furthermore, Zhong Ziya deliberately spoke to Zhou Wen, diverting his attention in the conversation. That made it easier for Zhou Wen to make mistakes.


    Back when Zhong Ziya started playing Reverse, he didn''t dare speak to Jiang Yan. He made mistakes the moment he was distracted.


    Only after a long period of time was he able to play cards and chat with Jiang Yan and the company. Hui Haifeng''s situation was similar to his. The only person who could play Reverse and chat with them without any mistakes was Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhong Ziya didn''t know if Wang Mingyuan had played Reverse before or if there was another reason. In short, he had never seen Wang Mingyuan make a mistake while playing Reverse.


    Zhong Ziya had never seen Jiang Yan, who had suggested Reverse, make a mistake either. However, since Jiang Yan was the one who suggested it, he reckoned that she must have been experienced, so it wasn''t strange.


    Zhong Ziya originally thought that Zhou Wen would definitely need some time to get used to it, or that he wouldn''t speak to him. He would focus on playing cards and slowly think to avoid mistakes.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t do that. He continued chatting as he played. The speed at which he threw the cards was also normal¡ªhe didn''t deliberately slow down to think.


    From the fourth round, Zhou Wen stopped making any mistakes. Although he still lost in the end, it was because his cards weren''t good as well as the lack of skill required in comparing thrown cards.


    How did he get used to it so quickly? Zhong Ziya found it unbelievable and continued playing a few more rounds with Zhou Wen. He soon realized that Zhou Wen had really gotten accustomed. No matter how much he talked to Zhou Wen or how distracting his topics were, he couldn''t make Zhou Wen commit mistakes.


    This guy''s talent in this aspect might be better than me and Hui Haifeng. Zhong Ziya was slightly surprised.


    Seeing how Zhou Wen was no longer making mistakes and how his technique was improving, Zhong Ziya was really afraid that he might fail at this simple task. Hence, he said with a laugh to get himself out of it, "I''m not playing anymore. How boring."


    "Let''s play another two rounds. I won''t take your crystal if you lose." Zhou Wen had just gotten the hang of it and found it interesting, so he naturally wouldn''t let Zhong Ziya off.


    Zhong Ziya had no choice but to agree to two more rounds.


    By the time Wang Mingyuan came out of Dragon''s Well, Zhong Ziya and Zhou Wen had a lot of paper slips on their faces. This surprised Wang Mingyuan slightly.


    From what he knew, it was probably Zhou Wen''s first time playing Reverse. Yet, he was able to play it well with Zhong Ziya¡ªit seemed like he was quite talented in this area.

 315 I Like Your Teaching Method

    "Drop, my baby tiger." Zhou Wen had killed the tigers in Binyang Cave countless times in-game, but he was once again disappointed. There was still no Companion Egg.


    Is it really that hard to get pets that add Luck? Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. He remembered that Wang Lu had gotten a Lucky Baby Tiger the first time she came. Why was it so difficult for him?


    He headed to Poison Wyrm Pool once again. Thankfully, it gave him a pleasant surprise as a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropped.


    After Zhou Wen absorbed it, the system notified him that he had learned Poison Dragon Finger 5. Now, Zhou Wen had four types of Poison Dragon Finger¡ªhe was only lacking Poison Dragon Finger 3.


    Actually, a few Poison Dragon Finger Crystals had dropped previously, but they were repeated. There were more than 1s, 4s, and 2s. 3s and 5s seemed especially rare, but he had finally managed to have a 5 drop today. Yet, there was still no sign of a 3.


    He didn''t have Dragon Transformation Art drop either. The drop rate was similarly low. Out of options, Zhou Wen could only grind slowly. After all, he had plenty of opportunities. It just took time.


    "Ding dong!" Just as Zhou Wen was about to go to the underground sea to commit suicide, the doorbell suddenly rang. He opened the door and saw Ming Xiu.


    "Why are you here? What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen looked at Ming Xiu, puzzled. This fellow was rather independent. Even if something happened, he probably wouldn''t look for his student mentor.


    "Zhou Wen, I want you to be my personal coach. One private lesson costs 20,000, right? Give me your account details and I''ll transfer it to you now," Ming Xiu said bluntly.


    He had previously thrown away Zhou Wen''s phone number and had no choice but to look for him himself. After asking around for a while, he finally found out where Zhou Wen lived.


    "Don''t listen to Feng Qiuyan''s nonsense. I''m just a student like you. How can I be qualified to be your personal coach?" Zhou Wen immediately guessed what Feng Qiuyan had said when he heard the two keywords.


    "Because I''m a Bright Prospects student?" Mingxiu misunderstood and thought that Zhou Wen didn''t want to be his personal coach because he wasn''t a student at Sunset College.


    "No, that''s not it. I really don''t have the qualifications to teach you." Zhou Wen shook his head and explained.


    Ming Xiu lowered his head and pondered for a moment. Just as Zhou Wen imagined that he was about to come to his senses, Ming Xiu looked up and said to Zhou Wen, "I remember you should be my student mentor, right? It''s also your responsibility to tutor me, right?"


    "This¡­" Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for words.


    "What''s your phone number? Add me as a friend. It''ll be easier to contact you in the future," Ming Xiu asked Zhou Wen as he took out his phone.


    "Let me make it clear. I really don''t have anything to teach you. There''s no need for the money. Let''s study together." Zhou Wen helplessly took out his phone and added Ming Xiu.


    "You don''t have to be so humble. I heard about what you''ve done from Feng Qiuyan. Your way of teaching is really unique and leaves a deep impression. I hope you can use that method to teach me." After Ming Xiu added Zhou Wen as a friend, he immediately transferred 20,000 to him.


    What did Feng Qiuyan say to him? Zhou Wen''s forehead was covered in a cold sweat. Who knew what kind of inane teaching method he had? It was not something Zhou Wen knew anyway.


    "You can do whatever you like.? I don''t have time today. Tomorrow is the day Ms. Wang will assign homework missions. Let''s complete the mission together when it''s out." Zhou Wen didn''t explain, nor did he bother to explain.


    "Teaching through actual practice. You''re just like Feng Qiuyan said." Ming Xiu nodded in satisfaction and ignored Zhou Wen''s reaction before turning to leave.


    Zhou Wen gaped at Ming Xiu''s departing figure. After a long while, he muttered to himself, "Is he nuts?"


    When he went back in, he saw an unread message on the phone. It was a message from An Sheng. They had made a new discovery in the ruins and found the inner sanctum''s entrance. However, the inner sanctum''s situation was terrible. A few groups of people had died with unknown causes. Not a single person had walked out alive to date.


    An Sheng and the rest were thinking of various ways to study the secrets of the inner sanctum, hoping to find Old Mister Ouyang as soon as possible. He would inform Zhou Wen if there was any news.


    Zhou Wen sent a text to An Sheng, but he didn''t receive any reply. He didn''t know if An Sheng had entered an area without a signal or if he was too busy to reply.


    I have to quickly think of a way to pass the underground sea and reach the temple. It''s better using the blood-colored avatar to explore the inner sanctum than letting those warriors sacrifice themselves for nothing. Zhou Wen was afraid that the former principal had already died in the inner sanctum. If that happened, whatever he did now would be meaningless.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen received a message from the class group. It was the homework mission assigned by Wang Fei.


    It''s just killing a Golden Warrior? Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw how simple the homework mission was.


    He needed plenty of time to grind. He didn''t have the time or effort to spend time doing research on other matters. It was best if he could complete his homework mission easily.


    "Coach, when are you going to do the homework missions?" Zhou Wen was just about to wash when he received a message from Ming Xiu.


    The homework mission needed to be completed in ten days. Zhou Wen originally planned on going in a few days. But it would only be more troublesome if Ming Xiu messaged him daily.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen thought about it and decided to do his homework mission today to prevent Ming Xiu from looking for him again.


    They arranged to meet at the Myriad Buddha Cave, and when he arrived, he realized that Ming Xiu was already waiting for him there.


    "Coach, what do you plan on teaching me today?" Ming Xiu asked.


    "I''ve told you that I have nothing I can teach you. Today, we are just going to do the homework missions¡ªkill a Golden Warrior," Zhou Wen said as he walked.


    Kill a Golden Warrior? Mingxiu revealed a pensive expression as if he was thinking about something.


    Golden Warriors had very high defense and their drop rates were low. Therefore, few people came here. As for the other students who received the mission to kill a Golden Warrior, they were most likely still studying the materials pertaining to the Golden Warrior and would come in a day or two.


    Therefore, when Zhou Wen and Ming Xiu entered the Myriad Buddha Cave, there was no one else there.


    "Are you confident in killing the Golden Warrior?" Zhou Wen turned to ask Ming Xiu.


    "Yes, I''ve already read up on the Golden Warrior. It''s not difficult for me," answered Ming Xiu.


    "Then you go first. I''ll do the recording for you," Zhou Wen said to Ming Xiu.


    Recording a video to hand it in to Wang Fei was the way of providing evidence that they had completed the homework mission. It couldn''t be anything else, but when Ming Xiu heard it, there was a whole other meaning.


    He wants to create a targeted cultivation plan only after understanding my abilities and traits? Ming Xiu decided to showcase his strength to let Zhou Wen understand his current situation.

 316 Your Destiny

    Zhou Wen watched Ming Xiu battling the Golden Warrior as his eyes constantly twitched.


    Ming Xiu was indeed impressive. In terms of combat skills, he wasn''t inferior to Zhou Wen. Furthermore, he was skilled and proficient in all sorts of techniques.


    However, no matter how strong he was, what was the point in thrashing up a Golden Warrior? Ming Xiu had already spent more than an hour battling with it.


    He could have easily killed a Golden Warrior, but he would always ruthlessly strike only to land it gently. It was unknown how many times the Golden Warrior had been hit by him. It was terribly beaten, but still short of being beaten to death.


    Even Zhou Wen couldn''t stand it any longer. Although it was a dimensional creature, he didn''t have to torture it in such a way. If you want to kill, kill it. Otherwise, just leave. What''s the point of torturing it for more than an hour? Are you a sadist?


    Zhou Wen didn''t have an imagination like Ming Xiu''s. He believed that Ming Xiu was flaunting his skills and abilities.


    Ming Xiu, on the other hand, was very excited. He displayed all the things he knew. However, Ming Xiu was simply too talented. The breadth of what he knew was just extensive. He showcased them one by one until he broke out into a sweat in exhaustion.


    However, Ming Xiu felt that it was necessary. Otherwise, Zhou Wen wouldn''t understand his situation well. How then was he to tailor a cultivation plan for him?


    If this were in the past, Zhou Wen would be able to locate Ming Xiu without even looking thanks to Truth Listener. If not for the need to record him, Zhou Wen would have been gaming.


    Now that Truth Listener was still incubating, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to record Ming Xiu accurately if his eyes remained peeled to the screen. Therefore, he could only patiently do the recording. However, he was already feeling a little impatient waiting. This was basically wasting his time.


    He waited until Ming Xiu finally felt that he was done with his demonstration and killed the Golden Warrior. Even Zhou Wen felt aggrieved for it.


    "It''s your turn to record," Zhou Wen said to Ming Xiu, who was wiping his sweat.


    "Alright." Ming Xiu nodded and pointed the phone at Zhou Wen before following behind him.


    Zhou Wen was feeling anxious from all the waiting. He rushed forward the moment he saw a Golden Warrior. He took out his Bamboo Blade and diced up the Golden Warrior before glancing at Ming Xiu unhappily. He then turned around and walked out.


    I can finally return to gaming, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Ming Xiu looked thoughtful when he saw Zhou Wen slice up the Golden Warrior.


    It''s a clean and straightforward saber technique, but there''s nothing special to it. It''s just that the saber is so sharp. Hold on, it''s definitely not that simple. Feng Qiuyan said that Zhou Wen loves to integrate what he wants to say in his actions. He must have been hinting at something when he looked at me with such a strange look in his eyes. There must be some secret hidden within the saber move. It''s just that I haven''t understood it yet, Ming Xiu thought.


    "Let''s end it for the day. I''ll contact you again when the next homework mission is available," Zhou Wen said to Ming Xiu as he left Myriad Buddha Cave.


    Hearing these words, Ming Xiu was even more certain of the secret behind Zhou Wen''s saber move. Otherwise, there was no way Zhou Wen wouldn''t tailor a plan for him and allowed him to leave after he paid the 20,000.


    "Coach, don''t worry. I''ll definitely gain some insights before the next homework mission," Ming Xiu said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to waste his time with him and let Ming Xiu return by himself. Instead, he went to Wang Mingyuan''s lab to listen to his especially interesting lectures. Wang Mingyuan always talked about random things that appeared useless, as though he was telling a story or a joke. However, when one encountered a particular situation, one would suddenly discover that one of those stories seemed applicable to the situation they were in. It made Zhou Wen feel that he could treat the situation from a third party''s perspective, and not be limited by his biases.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen was very willing to listen to Wang Mingyuan''s random lectures. However, Wang Mingyuan didn''t have much time. Occasionally, he would give the four of them lessons, but most of the time, he would assign them homework missions.


    Zhou Wen''s main job was still to pull the chain that had sunk into Dragon''s Well. Although Zhou Wen''s strength had improved significantly, it remained tedious pulling the chain. The coldness coming from the chain was just too overwhelming. It indirectly proved the White Dragon''s terror.


    After Ming Xiu returned to his dorm, he kept thinking about what Zhou Wen wanted to tell him, but no matter how he thought about it, he couldn''t figure out what special meaning the ordinary saber strike had. This left Ming Xiu vexed.


    After some thought, Ming Xiu began to suspect that Zhou Wen was just fooling him.


    The time came for him to meet Feng Qiuyan for sparring, as they previously arranged. Afterward, Ming Xiu shared his doubts with Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan frowned in thought when he heard that. Then, he said with a confirmatory tone, "Coach''s saber move definitely has a deeper meaning. It''s only because you''re lost to your biases that you didn''t understand."


    "You understand what that strike means?" Ming Xiu''s eyes lit up as he asked Feng Qiuyan.


    "Of course, the more I think about it, the more I feel that Coach''s strike is brilliant and exciting. Only a person like Coach can come up with such a brilliant idea to remind you," Feng Qiuyan said to Ming Xiu in all seriousness, almost slapping his thigh in amazement at his coach.


    "Tell me, what exactly does he want to tell me with that strike?" Ming Xiu clearly didn''t have as good an imagination as Feng Qiuyan, nor could he figure out any deeper meaning to the strike.


    Feng Qiuyan looked at Ming Xiu and asked, "What do you think your biggest problem is right now?"


    Ming Xiu thought for a moment and said, "I''ve learned too many things that I''m not sure what I''m truly good at. I''m puzzled about my future path."


    "That''s it." Feng Qiuyan nodded and said, "You are currently in a state of confusion over your future path. You feel that you are capable of everything and can do anything. However, you fail to really master anything. Therefore, Coach used the most ordinary saber strike to tell you that the most ordinary and direct attack that can hit a vital spot is most suitable for you."


    "What is the most ordinary and direct attack?" Ming Xiu was still confused.


    "Buddhists talk about the myriad interpretations in the world. A person''s life and energy are limited after all. It''s already a great blessing to be able to study one thing fully during one''s entire life. Coach''s strike is telling you not to be blinded by appearance. Use your own heart to feel what you need and don''t care about what others think. Even if it''s an ordinary path, that''s your choice, a path that will allow you to reach greatness. You just need to keep advancing forward without end."


    The more Feng Qiuyan spoke, the more agitated he became. "Ask yourself. You must have some most ordinary and most direct thought. Let''s use women as an example. No matter how many women stand together, no matter how your heart feels, your eyes will automatically look at the one you think is the prettiest. It''s the same with practicing martial arts. No matter how much you know, there must be one thing that you will be willing to learn first. That is your true intention. That''s your destiny."


    My true intention¡­ My destiny¡­ The first thing that I''m willing to learn¡­ Ming Xiu felt his mind explode as he thought of what had happened when he was young. It was a past that he could never forget.

 317 Metal War Wagon

    When Ming Xiu was young, a break-out creature had attacked their residence. His father fought with his sword, risking his life to kill the creature and protected the young Ming Xiu.


    In the young Ming Xiu''s heart, his father was the greatest person in the world¡ªhis sword technique was also the strongest one in the world. He yearned to learn his father''s sword technique when he grew up and become someone like his father.


    However, when he finally grew up, many people told him that his father''s sword technique was too ordinary, and there was no value in learning it. There was no chance for him to reach the pinnacle mastering it and it wasn''t on par with a genius like him. They advised him to learn more powerful sword techniques.


    Ming Xiu refused to believe the naysayers, so he continued learning his father''s sword technique. However, the truth was just as those people had said. His father''s sword technique was just something he considered very strong when he was young, but in reality, it was far inferior to the sword techniques that everyone knew. Ming Xiu was able to master his father''s sword technique easily, and he found that it really wasn''t that strong.


    Although Ming Xiu knew that his father''s sword technique wasn''t strong, he had always had a soft spot for it. Even though it was far inferior to those of the world''s best sword techniques, Ming Xiu still couldn''t forget it. However, he subconsciously didn''t use it. Deep in his heart, there was an indescribable emotion regarding this matter.


    Today, Feng Qiuyan''s words had awakened the deepest feelings Ming Xiu had. He felt as though his brain had been struck by lightning.


    That''s right, why did I give up? So what if my father''s sword technique is ordinary? In my heart, that is the strongest sword technique in the world. If it''s not strong enough, and the world doesn''t agree with that, I''ll try my best until it becomes the most powerful sword technique in the world, so that everyone will acknowledge it as the strongest sword technique¡­ Ming Xiu''s heart burned with passion.


    "Feng Qiuyan, you''re awesome. Thank you, I now understand." Ming Xiu hugged Feng Qiuyan tightly, almost as though he wanted to carry him to the heavens.


    Feng Qiuyan said calmly, "Coach is the one that''s amazing. I''m only telling you what Coach wants you to understand in words. I don''t know if that''s right or not. In fact, you should figure it out yourself."


    "That''s right. Coach is really amazing. He saw through my problems at a glance. He used such a method to remind me, but I actually failed to comprehend it. I''m really silly. I used to believe that I was a genius, but now I know that I''m a pig when compared to Coach." Having resolved the knot in his heart and feeling happy, Ming Xiu found beauty in everything and realized that Zhou Wen was just awesome.


    If Zhou Wen were to hear their conversation, he might be able to stuff a duck egg into his agape mouth. Then, he would give Feng Qiuyan a thumbs up and say, "You''re the one who''s freaking awesome!"


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t know of these matters. He was in his dorm grinding the Poison Wyrm Pool.


    He had already lost count of how many times he grinded at Poison Wyrm Pool. Zhou Wen heard a chime when he slew the Poison Wyrm again. However, he was already numb to the sound. The Poison Wyrm often dropped Primordial Energy Skill Crystals, but they were always the Poison Dragon Fingers 1, 2, and 4.


    However, when he looked at the crystal this time, he realized that there was something different about it. In the past, the Poison Wyrm inside the Poison Wyrm Crystal was black in color, but the one that dropped was red. It looked like the Poison Wyrm had been skinned, making it look extremely strange.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to pick it up before absorbing it.


    A numbing and itchy force flowed out of the phone and rushed into Zhou Wen''s body. It made him feel extremely itchy under his skin as though he was about to shed it.


    Of course, this was just an illusion. Zhou Wen didn''t shed his skin. After the feeling completely vanished, another notification popped up in the game.


    ''Absorbed Poison Dragon Crystal. Attained Epic Primordial Energy Skill: Dragon Transformation Art (Rank 7).''


    Although he wasn''t the strongest Rank 9, Rank 7 was already rather high. In fact, as long as he could have it drop, Zhou Wen would be rather satisfied. This thing had a very rare drop rate.


    Finally, I have the Dragon Transformation Art. Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he took in the information that surged into his brain, digesting all it.


    Since there was water everywhere in Pool City, Zhou Wen immediately sensed the difference after trying it in the water.


    In the past, he used to feel that water was water. This meant needing to overcome the powerful resistance when moving in it, but now, Zhou Wen felt different when he entered the water. It was as though the water was propelling his body. When he swam underwater, he moved much easier and faster.


    The Dragon Transformation Art is really good stuff! Zhou Wen realized that instead of calling it a movement technique, it was a skill that allows one to sense the water''s flow characteristics. It allowed Zhou Wen to use the water''s strength rather than resist it all the time.


    With the Dragon Transformation Art, this was only the beginning. After obtaining it, Zhou Wen''s speed in the water became much faster. However, he still needed to practice using the various movement techniques underwater for combat. Thanks to the Dragon Transformation Art, Zhou Wen''s movement technique underwent modifications. He was no longer severely restricted in underwater battles.


    After familiarizing himself with the benefits brought by the Dragon Transformation Art, Zhou Wen eagerly headed to the underground sea. He wanted to see if he could break through the black dragons'' protection and obtain the dragon pearl.


    When he reached the underground sea again, Zhou Wen acted according to his usual method. He first lured the nine dragons over from the air before using the White Shadow of Poison as bait to attract their attention. As for himself, he instantly charged into the sea with Ghost Steps.


    The moment his body entered the sea, Zhou Wen felt a little different from before. It was as though the surrounding seawater was flowing merrily around him.


    A light stroke was enough to send his body traveling a long distance. He swam faster than a fish as though he was a humanoid wyrm.


    In fact, the Dragon Transformation Art was not a movement technique, but a transformation technique before a wyrm transformed into a dragon. And since wyrms were aquatic beasts, they became kings of the water after transforming into a dragon. Thus, the Dragon Transformation Art allowed one to sense the water element and receive its help. It could greatly increase one''s speed underwater. It was not wrong to call it a water-elemental movement technique.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he swam in the direction of the metal war wagon at a speed many times faster than before, and he soon arrived in front of it.


    At that moment, a dragon finally rushed over and opened its mouth to swallow Zhou Wen. It sucked a large amount of seawater into its mouth, forming a huge maelstrom.


    If this were in the past, Zhou Wen would have been sucked in without any way to put up a fight. However, this time, Zhou Wen followed the vortex''s forces and circled around it before rushing out of the vortex to head for the war wagon below.


    The metal war wagon was already close to him. This was the first time Zhou Wen had got so close to the metallic war wagon, having previously died so many times.


    However, he was beneath the metal war wagon, the dragon pearl was on the roof of the war wagon. Zhou Wen had clung close to the war wagon''s bottom to avoid the black dragons'' line of sight. He swam towards the rear of the war wagon, planning on climbing onto the roof from behind.

 318 Movement Technique Enlightenmen

    The nine dragons had already returned to the sea and were swimming over from different directions, in an attempt to devour the blood-colored avatar below the war wagon.


    Unfortunately, their bodies were chained together, restraining their every move. Otherwise, the blood-colored avatar would have long been devoured by them.


    With the war wagon shielding him, Zhou Wen shuttled through the seaweed and coral bushes on it, dodging the attacks several times. Finally, he arrived at the back of the war wagon. With a flip, he tore towards the top of the war wagon and somersaulted over.


    Zhou Wen remembered that the dragon pearl was placed nearer to the front. Seeing that the dragon pearl was now right in front of him¡ªat a distance less than five meters away¡ªhe continued forward. The blood-colored avatar ended up being swallowed by a black dragon that rushed over from his side. The game screen immediately turned black.


    Zhou Wen took it in his stride. In fact, he was delighted. He was now able to get close to the dragon pearl, proving that he had a chance of obtaining the dragon pearl. As long as he did everything better, he would definitely be able to obtain it.


    However, he soon realized that he had counted his chickens. The black dragons were indeed true dragons. Although they were chained, inconveniencing their movement, they were still much faster than he was. Zhou Wen could somersault several times on the roof, but he ultimately failed to get close to the dragon pearl. He was always just short by a few meters.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to use the Demonic Astral Wheel to suck the dragon pearl over, but after a few attempts, all he managed to suck was seawater, seaweed, and coral. The dragon pearl remained motionless.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen had no choice but to think of a way to dodge the black dragons'' attacks to obtain the dragon pearl. He was already very close to it, but he lacked the final necessary sprint.


    Hence, Zhou Wen deliberately observed the movements of the black dragons underwater, as well as their actions and modus operandi, hoping to find a way to break through them.


    However, after staring for quite some time, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that the movement techniques of the black dragons were truly marvelous underwater. There was some kind of truth in it, one that Zhou Wen felt he could reference from.


    It was naturally impossible for an ordinary person to mimic the black dragons'' movement techniques, but Zhou Wen, who had mastered the Dragon Transformation Art, didn''t find it that difficult.


    After further study, Zhou Wen realized that the nine black dragons looked identical, but in fact, they were slightly different. Their stances were somewhat different as well. Every black dragon had its unique water stances. These stances allowed Zhou Wen, who had mastered the Dragon Transformation Art, to mimic them a little and became more agile in the water. He was like a fish in water.


    The more Zhou Wen studied it, the more he felt that the black dragons'' stance was marvelous. He listed down each of the nine black dragons'' stances and felt that he could combine them into a movement technique.


    The more he studied the black dragons'' stances, the closer he got to the dragon pearl. There had been a few instances when Zhou Wen was only an arm''s length away from it.


    Zhou Wen had a feeling that he would soon be able to obtain the dragon pearl.


    He was already extremely familiar with the stances of the nine dragons. His movement technique had also taken in all the traits of nine dragons'' stances. It could be considered perfect.


    However, Zhou Wen still felt that something was lacking. It was as though he hadn''t really gotten the essence. Once he figured out the final conundrum, he could use the movement technique he gleaned from the nine dragons'' stance to obtain the dragon pearl.


    What exactly is the difference? Zhou Wen planned on heading to Wang Mingyuan''s place to show him the movement technique he had figured out and get advice on what the movement technique lacked.


    The number of times Wang Mingyuan descended into Dragon''s Well had increased in recent times, and the time he spent inside grew longer. When Zhou Wen arrived at the laboratory again, he didn''t see him. Jiang Yan was the only one there.


    "Zhou Wen, do you remember that you still owe me a favor from when we killed the Mutated Fairy?" Jiang Yan said when he saw Zhou Wen walk over.


    "I do. What help do you need?" Zhou Wen asked. He rarely saw Jiang Yan now, so he had no idea what he was doing.


    "There''s something I need your help with. If you have the time, accompany me to Cixiang Kiln," Jiang Yan said.


    "Why are we going there? To see the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Nineteen of the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces were in Ancient Yang Cave. Only one was at Cixiang Kiln. Zhou Wen had previously gone to see it as well, but Jiang Yan was just going to look at the tablet text, there was no need for Zhou Wen to accompany him.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, Cixiang Kiln only had Legendary snake-type dimensional creatures. Although there were many of them, with Jiang Yan''s strength, it would not be difficult for him to avoid them.


    Jiang Yan said, "It''s to see the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces. I''ve already been a few times, but every time I looked at it, I was disturbed by those snakes, losing all my mood and feelings. This time, accompany me and help watch over me. Don''t let those pesky snakes disturb me."


    Zhou Wen looked at Jiang Yan with an odd expression. This fellow actually wanted someone to clear the area while he looked at the tablet text. He even used the favor Zhou Wen owed him. Zhou Wen really couldn''t understand what he was thinking.


    However, since Jiang Yan had suggested it, Zhou Wen naturally wouldn''t reject it and accompanied him to Cixiang Kiln.


    Cixiang Kiln had changed thanks to the dimensional zones. It was much bigger, and there were linked caves and stone caverns everywhere. Many snake-type dimensional creatures entered and exited here.


    However, they were different from the Overlord Snakes in Snake Cavern. These snakes were poisonous snakes. If one was bitten by them, even Epic experts would be in trouble. Hence, not many people came here.


    As there were so many venomous snakes, and they typically hid in stone grooves, it was impossible to kill them all even if one wanted. Jiang Yan ignored the venomous snakes and directly dodged their attacks, heading all the way to Dragon Gate Twenty Piece''s tablet text.


    "I''ll be reading the text here. Help watch me. No matter what, don''t let them disturb me," Jiang Yan said to Zhou Wen before standing there and focusing on the tablet text, completely ignoring everything behind him.


    The venomous snakes in Cixiang Kiln were called "Dragon-Patterned Snake." However, they did not have any dragon patterns on their bodies. They only had some patterns similar to the tablet''s inscriptions. Together with the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces'' tablet text here, this was how the snakes got their name.


    The Dragon-Patterned Snake was very poisonous, and there were quite a number of them. Soon, several Dragon-Patterned Snakes swam towards them. Moreover, there were also quite a number of Dragon-Patterned Snakes that stuck their heads out of their nooks and crannies, ready to rush out at any moment.


    Since I have nothing better to do, I''ll just practice my movement techniques. Zhou Wen didn''t use his Companion Beasts. He drew his Bamboo Blade and circled around the Dragon-Patterned Snakes with his movement technique while killing them.


    He wasn''t afraid of the venom of the Dragon-Patterned Snakes, so it didn''t matter even if he was bitten. He himself had a decent Poison stat and with Doctor Darkness''s Fight Poison With Poison, the Dragon-Patterned Snakes posed no threat to him.


    The speed of the Dragon-Patterned Snakes was very fast, especially when they jumped up for the strike. It was like a wyrm leaving its hole, fast and accurate.


    However, compared to Zhou Wen''s new movement technique, they were naturally much weaker. It wasn''t difficult for Zhou Wen to dodge their attacks, but after watching them attack, he suddenly had a strange feeling. The snake''s stances seemed a little similar to his new movement technique.

 319 Double Enlightenmen

    From Zhou Wen''s careful observations, he found that the Dragon-Patterned Snakes were only acting on instinct. They were very different from the enlightenment he got from the stances of the dragons. However, for some reason, Zhou Wen found them somewhat similar.


    As he killed the Dragon-Patterned Snake that approached Jiang Yan, he wondered why. Zhou Wen thought for a while before his eyes suddenly lit up as though he understood something.


    A snake cultivates for a thousand years and transcends the tribulations to become a wyrm and a wyrm cultivates another thousand years to transcend the tribulations to become a dragon. The Dragon Transformation Art is about transforming a snake into a dragon. That means it''s not a dragon, so it naturally still retains a snake-like nature. I had forcefully imitated a dragon''s stance with Dragon Transformation Art, so it didn''t succeed. I always felt that my movement technique was lacking something. So this is what is lacking. Zhou Wen suddenly understood the problem of his movement technique.


    Since he knew where the problem was, he now had to resolve it. It was not like before when he had no clue where to start.


    To truly remove the influence of a snake and become the stance of a true dragon, I can only touch on the fundamentals. I need to make Dragon Transformation Art shed its mortality until it reaches the Dragon Transformation realm. As Zhou Wen engaged in battle with the snakes, he constantly used Dragon Transformation Art and kept trying to figure out the truth behind it.


    There were two ways to raise a Primordial Energy Skill''s rank: One was to use Primordial Energy Skill Crystals to raise it. As long as the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal had a high rank, the absorption could directly raise the rank and reach Rank 9.


    Another method was to increase one''s familiarity and insight regarding the Primordial Energy Skill to raise the rank to a max of Rank 10. Doing so was very difficult and slow. Apart from a few people like Lance, who was extremely talented and could comprehend the truth behind a Primordial Energy Skill until it reached Rank 10, the average person needed a lot of time to study and gain insight into it. It was much slower than using Primordial Energy Skill Crystals.


    Dragon Transformation Art had a very low drop rate. To hope for a Rank 9 Dragon Transformation Art to drop would take ages. Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to wait. Furthermore, what he needed wasn''t only Rank 9, but an extraordinary Rank 10. Only by doing so could he truly match up to a dragon''s stance, allowing him to take on the stance of a true dragon.


    As Zhou Wen observed the Dragon-Patterned Snake''s actions, stance, and habits, he recalled the stances of the nine black dragons and made comparisons. Gradually, he understood the differences between dragons and snakes.


    Zhou Wen discovered that there were indeed many similarities between a dragon and a snake''s movement. It was no wonder snakes were called baby dragons in the East District. However, even though they were so similar, when humans saw a dragon, they would never mistake them for snakes. Apart from the differences in size, the most important difference between the two was the sublimity.


    Zhou Wen constantly felt the difference between the sublimity of a snake and a dragon. It was a feeling that was impossible to describe using words. It could only be sensed with the heart and soul.


    With the insight Zhou Weng gleaned, the way he moved didn''t change much. However, there was a slight difference in his movements. Every move seemed to have a flair to it.


    Jiang Yan was focused on reading the tablet text, furrowing his eyebrows from time to time as if he was confused. Other times, he would reveal a look of enlightenment, appearing exhilarated.


    However, not long after, Jiang Yan''s eyebrows furrowed deeper and tighter until they finally relaxed.


    As Jiang Yan read the tablet text, he muttered to himself, "The Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces is representative of Chinese calligraphy from the Northern Wei dynasty¡ªa classic piece of work from the Wei dynasty. It is forceful with its vertical and horizontal strokes, sharp like the edge of a blade. However, it''s not as squarish as a regular script. The words written on the top half and bottom half are in different scripts, and the sublimity in it is most difficult to grasp. Just changing the thickness of the stroke changes the script. To figure out something from the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces and turn it into a technique is just too difficult. Just missing out part of the sublimity would make it lack greatly."


    Jiang Yan thought about it but was unable to accurately grasp its sublimity.


    Feeling a little impetuous, Jiang Yan knew that he couldn''t continue. Otherwise, with this mentality, he couldn''t reach a pure state of mind even if he had gained some insights.


    Jiang Yan retracted his gaze and planned on resting for a while. He could read the tablet text again when his mind completely calmed down. If he couldn''t calm down, there was no harm in coming some other day.


    He turned around and sat on a rock beside him. He took out the tea set that he had brought along with him. There was even a small brass charcoal furnace.


    When he lit the charcoal furnace and heated the water, he brewed two cups of tea. Just as he was about to get Zhou Wen to drink it with him, his gaze landed on Zhou Wen and he couldn''t move his eyes away. He even forgot to take back his hand that was pouring tea. The tea in the teapot had overflowed the teacup, but Jiang Yan didn''t notice anything and just watched Zhou Wen''s fight with the Dragon-Patterned Snakes.


    Instead of saying that Zhou Wen was fighting the Dragon-Patterned Snakes, it was more like a solo dance. His movement technique was vigorous and extraordinary with an indescribable sublimity to it.


    Jiang Yan watched as he suddenly threw down the teapot in his hand, and ran to a stone wall. He reached out his finger and drew it across the stone wall.


    His finger was like a blade as it tore through the wall. He wrote one word after another on it; the words looked like works from the Wei dynasty, but they were different.


    Every stroke was like a knife''s slice, but they didn''t appear exceedingly sharp. They were straight and carefree.


    "A thousand-year-long path for snakes, ten thousand years for a wyrm. The moment they show themselves, they would be flying dragons in the sky." When Jiang Yan finished writing the last word, Zhou Wen happened to let out a long cry as his body flew through the air, rising to the heavens like a dragon. His entire body seemed to have undergone a certain transformation.


    The surrounding Dragon-Patterned Snakes retreated as though they were trembling. For a moment, no snake dared to attack Zhou Wen again.


    Although he didn''t take a look at the in-game information, Zhou Wen was certain that his Dragon Transformation Art had already broken through and reached Rank 10. That feeling was indescribable.


    "Junior, thanks to you, I managed to grasp something today," Jiang Yan said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw the words Jiang Yan had carved on the wall. Although he wasn''t a connoisseur of calligraphy, he found them exuding a sense of familiarity. On careful thought, he understood that the words contained the insights of the movement technique he had just figured out.


    "These words¡­" Zhou Wen asked with an odd expression as he looked at the words.


    "This was what I wrote from observing your movement technique and the words on the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces. It''s rather interesting. In the future, I''ll use it as my foundation and match it with the Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces to come up with a technique. Half the credit is yours. Why don''t you give it a name?" said Jiang Yan.


    "I''m not good with names. It''s best you name it." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "There''s the word ''dragon'' in Dragon Gate Twenty Pieces. Your movement technique has the bearing of a dragon, so it''s naturally necessary to have a dragon character. Together with our names, let''s call it ''Dragon Wenyan.''" As Jiang Yan spoke, he reached out and wiped away the characters carved on the stone wall.

 320 Door Opening

    "What are you doing? Why are you wiping away perfectly fine words?" Zhou Wen thought it a pity and hurriedly grabbed Jiang Yan''s hand.


    "Although these are the best words I have written so far, their existence will restrict my past. I only seek the future and don''t want to look back. Therefore, I won''t keep them," said Jiang Yan.


    "It''s best not to wipe them away. I''d still want to take a look, so keep it for now." Zhou Wen felt that the concepts in the words were a little too similar to his insights, but also somewhat different. Therefore, he wanted to take the time to compare the differences.


    "If you want it, I''ll let it stay for now. However, after you''re done, you should wipe it away. It''s not a good thing to leave words on the same wall as the text the ancients left behind." Jiang Yan paused before saying, "When the Dragon Wenyan is perfected, I''ll send you a copy. You can take a good look when the time comes."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen looked at the words on the stone wall. The first two lines had been wiped away by Jiang Yan, leaving "the moment they show themselves, they would be flying dragons in the sky."


    After leaving Old Dragon Cave, Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and eagerly switched on his phone before entering the Zhuolu instance dungeon.


    This time, he was in no mood to pay attention to the dimensional creatures as he flew forward on White Shadow of Poison towards the underground sea. He wanted to see if he could obtain the dragon pearl with his new movement technique.


    In the blood-colored avatar''s information column, not only did Zhou Wen''s Dragon Transformation Art advance to Rank 10, but its name had changed to Nine Dragons Art. Zhou Wen had clearly obtained the phone system''s approval after fusing the nine dragons'' stance and the Dragon Transformation Art into one.


    I should be able to obtain the dragon pearl with a Rank 10 Nine Dragons Art, right? After much difficulty, Zhou Wen finally arrived at the underground sea.


    Shortly after, the waves surged as black dragons tore out of the surface and extended their dragon heads to devour the White Shadow of Poison and Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen leaped up and dived into the sea, instantly swimming hundreds of feet. It didn''t feel like he was swimming, but like seawater was propelling him forward. His speed was much faster than before.


    He somersaulted onto the war wagon in one fell swoop and, before the black dragons could stop him in a timely manner, Zhou Wen had already arrived at the roof of the strange war wagon. He didn''t need to hide underneath it like before to avoid the attacks of the nine dragons.


    The nine black dragons finally stormed over as they roared and attempted to devour Zhou Wen. However, Zhou Wen had an extremely special feeling today. It was as though he was connected to the nine dragons'' mind. He could predict their every move in advance, allowing him to easily dodge them.


    Zhou Wen knew that this wasn''t really telepathy with the dragons. It was only because he had figured out the nine dragons'' stance and knew how they moved like the back of his hand.


    As he moved around, the seawater did not resist Zhou Wen, it even aided him. After dodging a series of attacks from the nine black dragons, he finally rushed in front of the dragon pearl and grabbed it with one hand.


    Zhou Wen was excited. He finally had the dragon pearl in his hand. It felt very heavy, but before he could think further, the nine black dragons'' second round of attacks came. He yanked it with a jerk, hoping to take the dragon pearl away.


    It was true that the dragon pearl had been pulled up by the blood-colored avatar, but when it was about a meter away, it couldn''t be pulled any further. To Zhou Wen''s surprise, there was a thin thread beneath the dragon pearl. It was like a strand of hair that was translucent. There was no way to notice it underwater without careful inspection.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly as he suddenly realized that something was amiss. He pulled a few more times, but the thread was extremely resilient. He was unable to break it with the blood-colored avatar''s strength.


    Crack!


    At that moment, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the war wagon. It was as if a sealed gear had started to spin again. Due to the lack of lubricant, the sound of metal grinding could be heard.


    What was even more bizarre was that the nine black dragons, who had been desperately attacking Zhou Wen, didn''t lunge forward again. They landed on the seabed, trembling while they prostrated onto the ground.


    Seeing that he couldn''t take the dragon pearl away, Zhou Wen hurriedly released his hand and retreated. He left the war wagon, but he didn''t go too far.


    Since the blood-colored avatar could respawn, Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of death. He wanted to see what changes the war wagon would undergo.


    As the gears in the war wagon began to move faster and faster, a metallic wall began to fall from one side, revealing a door.


    Zhou Wen looked into the war wagon and saw that it was pitch black inside. It was like a world without light. Any ray of light that reached inside seemed to be severed. Nothing could penetrate it, not even his eyes.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen was surveying the situation in the war wagon when he heard a continuous series of metal rupturing. He saw the black metal chains around the black dragons crack one by one, giving them freedom once more.


    The nine black dragons were instantly overjoyed. They soared into the sky excitedly and instantly broke through the sea. It was unbelievably fast.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the reason he was able to survive under the attack of the nine black dragons wasn''t that he was strong, but because the nine black dragons had most of their strength suppressed by the black chain. The strength they used to fight him was completely lacking.


    At this moment, the nine black dragons escaped. The power they exuded was not anything that their past could use as a reference.


    In the next second, the nine black dragons charged back into the sea and roared at Zhou Wen, widening their mouths in a clear attempt to devour him.


    How heartless. I was the one who liberated you, but you are now returning kindness with ingratitude. What a beast, Zhou Wen cursed under his breath.


    However, he also knew that his current strength was impossible for him to fend off the nine true dragons who had escaped. Gritting his teeth, he controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush to the door that opened up half the war wagon''s holdings. Before the nine dragons devoured him, he rushed into the darkness.


    Although the war wagon''s carriage was huge, it was still a carriage. Space was very limited, but when Zhou Wen rushed inside, he felt as though it was an empty darkness that stretched out endlessly.


    In that darkness, there was a white cocoon emitting a strange light.


    Another cocoon! Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback, but the next second, he was overjoyed. There was actually a cocoon here, so there was a chance for him to break through in his final stat.


    Without any hesitation, he summoned his Overlord Spear and, combining it with the augmentation of Ever-Victorious, he thrust his spear at the white cocoon in the void.


    However, this thrust turned Zhou Wen''s expression nasty.

 321 Inner Sanctum

    The white cocoon didn''t seem far, but when he thrust out the spear, it felt like there was an infinite distance between them. The tip of the spear couldn''t touch it.


    Activating Ghost Steps, he instantly traversed a hundred meters. However, the distance between the tip of the spear and the white cocoon remained as far away as before.


    What''s going on? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed, but the black dragons outside had already rushed in. Immediately, they sucked at the blood-colored avatar with a terrifying black hole-like suction force. The blood-colored avatar was sucked into a dragon''s stomach without putting up any resistance.


    The game screen went black, mirroring Zhou Wen''s expression. The cocoon was right in front of him, but for some reason, he couldn''t touch it.


    He dripped his blood and respawned again. When he reached the underground sea again, the black dragons and the war wagon had returned to their original states¡ªthe former chained, the latter closed.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that the dragon pearl was not the black dragons'' egg but a mechanism to open the war wagon.


    In a new attempt, the blood-colored avatar rushed into the carriage again, but it still failed to touch the white cocoon. It was so near yet so far.


    Zhou Wen used all sorts of abilities and Companion Beasts, but he still failed to touch the white cocoon.


    Despite being stumped for a solution to penetrate the white cocoon and obtain the blood of the creature within, at least Zhou Wen was now able to cross the underground sea. He planned on heading to the temple to take a look.


    The white cocoon in the war wagon definitely couldn''t be reached with brute force, so Zhou Wen didn''t waste any more blood on futile attempts. He had to figure out what kind of power the white cocoon possessed to crack it.


    The nine black dragons were unable to catch up to Zhou Wen when chained. After Zhou Wen charged past the underground sea, he passed the mountain and arrived at the location of the Longevity Tree. He hoped to know its situation in-game.


    But when he arrived at the stone temple, he couldn''t find the Longevity Tree. The back of the temple was empty except for a stone drum.


    The Longevity Tree isn''t here? What''s going on? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    If the game was different from reality, Zhou Wen would have to be even more careful when he entered dimensional zones in the future. Even if he had a strategy to clear the game, it didn''t mean that he could randomly enter; otherwise, something bad could easily happen.


    However, this was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered something in-game that was different from reality.


    Zhou Wen thought of a possibility. If the Longevity Tree wasn''t something that originally existed in the dimensional zone, then its nonexistence in the game became self-explanatory.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to determine the reason. It was just a guess.


    He had originally wanted to experiment with a Longevity Fruit in-game, but now, he had to give up on this idea.


    After circling the stone temple and passing through the cave at the bottom of the fault, Zhou Wen followed the map An Sheng had given him and arrived at the other end of the temple. It wasn''t much different from what Zhou Wen had seen previously.


    There were two stone statues in front of the temple''s entrance. They were identical to the stone statues at the entrance to the ruins. Zhou Wen turned the stone statue and opened the temple door.


    With the detailed method An Sheng and company used to enter the temple, the blood-colored avatar quickly arrived at the innermost sanctum. There were no dimensional creatures inside, only some special trap mechanisms. As long as one didn''t trigger any traps, there wouldn''t be any danger.


    What was truly terrifying was the inner sanctum that An Sheng and company had just discovered. When Zhou Wen arrived in front of the altar, he saw the spot where the former principal had left a marking. Of course, there wasn''t any marking on the altar in-game. However, the altar was key to opening the inner sanctum''s entrance.


    Zhou Wen looked around and found seven stone furnaces in different spots in the temple. He placed the stone furnace in front of the desk in a certain position before hearing a rumble. The innermost wall of the temple began moving as it slowly rose, revealing the space behind it.


    As the situation in the inner sanctum hadn''t been explored to date, An Sheng had provided him with very little information. All Zhou Wen knew was that there was a stone statue in the inner sanctum. No one who entered the inner sanctum and passed the stone statue had left alive. All of them had vanished.


    When the stone wall completely rose up, it revealed the stone tunnel behind it. It was squarish with a depth of about thirty to forty meters before reaching the end. Then, it split into two forks. And in this T-junction, there was indeed a stone statue.


    The stone statue was ancient and spartan. It was only about the height of a person, and it resembled a cloaked person standing there. However, the statue''s face was carved somewhat strangely. It only had a mouth, no eyes, nose, or eyebrows. Its mouth was slightly open, as if it wanted to speak, but it didn''t say anything.


    The stone statue gave off a stifling feeling. It made one have the urge to shut its mouth or open its mouth to finish what it had to say.


    Zhou Wen walked in front of the stone statue and carefully observed it. The more he looked at it, the more uncomfortable he felt. He decided not to study it and instead looked at the two forks.


    It was pitch-black inside the squarish tunnel. It led to the unknown. The An family had tried many times, but it was the same whether they chose left or right. No one who entered came out alive.


    Zhou Wen allowed Doctor Darkness to possess him as he used Light of Penetration to look at the left fork. After the Light of Penetration shone into the left tunnel, it was as though it had vanished. He couldn''t see what was inside at all.


    How odd. Could it be that the tunnel is under the influence of spatial forces? That prevents Light of Penetration from shining in? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned a few Companion Beasts to enter the left fork.


    The moment a Companion Beast stepped into the left fork, it immediately lost its connection with Zhou Wen. It was unknown if it was dead or what had happened, but it was the same as the news An Sheng had sent.


    Since no one from the An family could enter, there was naturally no news. Up until now, no one knew what was going on inside the tunnel.


    Zhou Wen summoned Ghost Bride, but she shared the same outcome. He lost contact with her the moment she entered. It was unknown if she was dead or alive.


    Even ghosts don''t work? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. There was only one method left¡ªto let the blood-colored avatar enter to take a look. Even if he died, he could still get some information out.


    Taking a deep breath, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk towards the left tunnel. He definitely wouldn''t have done so in the real world.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen really admired the soldiers. Even though they knew that there was almost no chance of survival, they still pressed forward if they were given the order.


    If he could understand the secrets in the tunnel and reduce the sacrifices of those soldiers, it would be a great help.


    The moment the blood-colored avatar stepped into the left tunnel, Zhou Wen''s body involuntarily shivered as he felt an ominous feeling.


    The originally dark tunnel lit up as soon as the blood-colored avatar stepped in.

 322 Stone Statue

    The originally squarish tunnel suddenly changed. At this moment, the tunnel became oval-shaped, and the tunnel curved. There were also many glowing horn crystals on the stone wall that resembled rows of sharp teeth.


    When he turned his head, he realized that the T-junction and the stone statue were nowhere to be seen. Behind him was the same oval-shaped tunnel embedded with many sharp crystals with no end in sight.


    Ghost Bride floated over from somewhere unknown to Zhou Wen, but the other Companion Beasts had vanished.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he suddenly felt the tunnel shake violently. Instead of calling it shaking, the entire tunnel was shrinking. The inner walls of the tunnel even spun. The sharp crystals became a terrifying weapon akin to a grinder due to the spinning.


    As the tunnel constricted, the space that the blood-colored avatar could stand on decreased. Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned the Overlord Spear, hoping to tear open a huge hole into the shrinking tunnel.


    However, when the Overlord Spear thrust out, it sunk all the way into the handle. It failed to tear open the stone wall to another space. It was unknown how thick the stone wall was.


    The spinning stone wall made Zhou Wen lose his grip of the Overlord Spear, and it was instantly swept away.


    Thrown into the air, Zhou Wen summoned the banana fan. He kept fanning the Grand Yin Wind at the tunnel, but it wasn''t of much use. The strong winds blew through the tunnel for an unknown distance without touching anything.


    The tunnel eventually tightened so much that it closed completely into itself. The blood-colored avatar was also strangulated and the game screen went black.


    Zhou Wen''s expression turned nasty. If the former principal and company had entered the tunnel and encountered the same situation, the chance of them surviving was nearly zero.


    Ghost Bride wasn''t ground to death by that strange tunnel because she''s a ghost, but she loses contact with me after entering. It''s useless to survive inside. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and opened the Zhuolu instance dungeon again. He wanted to see what happened if he took the right fork.


    If the right tunnel was the same as the left one, he could basically give up hope of rescuing the former principal.


    When Zhou Wen reached the tunnel once again, he decisively chose the right fork.


    When he stepped into the tunnel, he couldn''t help but shudder again. An extremely ominous feeling rose in his heart once more.


    The tunnel on the right was somewhat different from the left fork. This was still a squarish stone tunnel, but there were no sharp crystals.


    However, Zhou Wen discovered many strange texts on the stone walls. Some of the text looked similar to hieroglyphics, but not quite the same. All in all, Zhou Wen didn''t recognize the words.


    He turned around and realized that the crossroads from where he entered had also disappeared.


    Zhou Wen felt a little more at ease. Although he found it ominous, there wasn''t any lethal danger. If the former principal and company had chosen the right tunnel, they could still be alive.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk forward. For some reason, he had a nagging feeling that there were many pairs of eyes watching him, but he found none of them when he observed his surroundings.


    As he walked, he felt something amiss. The feeling of being spied on grew stronger.


    Is it those words? Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he stared at the strange text on the stone walls. If there was anything in the tunnel, it had to be those strange texts.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Overlord Spear and stabbed at one of the words on the stone wall. Overlord Spear''s Ever-Victorious showed its effects as it directly stabbed into the stone wall, impaling a text.


    Pfft!


    Zhou Wen felt a tearing pain in his left ear as blood spewed out from the blood-colored avatar''s ear.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen saw all the strange text transform into small monsters with tails. Their bodies were oval and text was engraved on them. However, inside the text were eyes. They bared their sharp teeth and flapped their wings like a bat, biting at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen brandished his Overlord Spear to attack the monsters, but every time his spear stabbed a monster, he suffered a rupture in his organs. After killing a few monsters, the blood-colored avatar''s body could no longer take the damage.


    Summoning the banana fan, he used the Great Yin Wind at the group of tiny monsters. It immediately blew them away and their bodies froze in pieces.


    Almost at the same time, the blood-colored avatar''s body turned into ice before shattering on the ground. The game screen also turned black.


    What strange things are they? Attacking them ends up rebounding onto me? Zhou Wen naturally noticed the strangeness of the monsters, but even though he could figure it out, he couldn''t think of a way to resolve the problem.


    No matter which path I take, it seems to lead to death. The former principal and the others are probably in grave danger. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. Based on the present situation, grim possibilities plagued the former principal''s fate.


    Zhou Wen tried a few more times, but even if he didn''t provoke the monsters formed from words, they would still pounce on him and bite him. Even if he wore the Stone Chi''s armor, he wouldn''t be able to withstand the teeth of the monsters. It was as though they could bite through anything.


    Both tunnels eat people¡­ It''s impossible to pass through them¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself as an idea suddenly flashed in his mind. Wait¡­ Eating people¡­


    He thought of the stone statue at the T-junction¡ªthe one that only had a mouth and no other facial features. It made one feel extremely uncomfortable looking at it.


    Since the outcome of entering either tunnel meant being eaten, this seemed connected to the statue to a certain extent.


    When Zhou Wen came in front of the stone statue again, he didn''t enter the two tunnels. Instead, he carefully observed the stone statue, hoping that he could tell what was amiss.


    However, he couldn''t tell what was so strange about the stone statue. Desperate, he immediately pulled out his Overlord Spear and aimed it at the stone statue''s head.


    But in the next second, Zhou Wen saw an extremely terrifying scene. The stone statue opened its mouth and swallowed the blood-colored avatar and spear together. The game''s screen instantly turned dark.


    The problem does lie with the stone statue. Zhou Wen didn''t enter the game again but gave An Sheng a call.


    The phone rang a few times until it finally got through. An Sheng''s voice sounded. "Young Master Wen, is there something wrong?"


    "Ah Sheng, have you checked the stone statue in the inner sanctum?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It has been inspected in detail, but we didn''t find any trap mechanisms," An Sheng said.


    "In whose likeness is the stone statue carved in? Did you figure that out?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "We hired some experts to study and verify it. They believe that it''s highly likely to be Aoyin¡ªa monster in mythical legends. Its body looks a little like a person''s, but it has immense strength and it enjoys eating brains¡­" An Sheng explained the conclusion from the experts'' analysis in detail.

 323 Sacrificial Items

    "Ah Sheng, no matter how I think about it, the problem lies with the statue. Get someone to examine it in detail again, but be careful. I have a nagging feeling that the stone statue''s appearance in a place like that is a little too bizarre. It might take the life of people." Zhou Wen couldn''t explain his discovery in-game, so he could only tactfully tell An Sheng.


    "Okay, I''ll send someone to check the stone statue again." An Sheng answered seriously.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen entered the game again and continued attempting to attack the stone statue in-game. This time, Zhou Wen learned his lesson and distanced himself from the stone statue before sending a gust of Great Yin Wind over.


    The Grand Yin Wind hit the stone statue, causing it to actually open its mouth and swallow the Grand Yin Wind. The terrifying Grand Yin Wind entered what seemed like a bottomless pit. And that was it.


    Even the Grand Yin Wind is useless? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He knew that to deal with the suspected Aoyin statue, he couldn''t use force. He needed to think of a way.


    I remember the ghost stories Grandpa told me when I was young. In ancient times, humans believed in ghosts and gods. Often, they held rituals to offer sacrifice to the ghosts and gods. Some ignorant and evil people would even use living people as a sacrifice. With that Aoyin statue placed there, could it be that it needs to be offered sacrificial items? Although Zhou Wen found the idea a little ridiculous, he didn''t have any other solutions and could only give it a try.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the ability to use living humans as a sacrifice. Even if he was capable of doing it, he wouldn''t. Therefore, after some thought, he decided to capture two poison bats and take them to the Aoyin statue and offer them as a sacrifice to the Aoyin.


    However, there was no reaction from the stone statue when Zhou Wen delivered the two poison bats to the stone statue''s mouth.


    Do I really need to use living people? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and smashed the head of the poison bats before delivering it to the stone statue again.


    This time, the stone statue had a reaction. It opened its mouth and sucked, swallowing the two poison bats that had their heads opened up.


    After swallowing the poison bats, Zhou Wen felt that the two forks were somewhat different. However, he couldn''t put a finger on the differences as he hurriedly ran towards the left tunnel.


    After stepping into the tunnel, he realized that it was still a square stone passageway. It didn''t turn oval, nor did the sharp crystals appear. He couldn''t help but feel delighted as he rushed deep into the tunnel.


    The tunnel wasn''t long, spanning about a hundred meters. Soon, Zhou Wen reached the end and found that there was a stone door. Pushing it open, he found a palace inside.


    Before he could carefully observe the palace, a terrifying dimensional creature lunged forward. Zhou Wen was only able to see its shadow before the blood-colored avatar was smacked to death.


    The monster resembled a tiger or wolf with two tails. It was a monster that emitted black flames all over its body. With his Ghost Steps'' speed, he wasn''t able to dodge the monster''s attack. Even if it wasn''t at the Mythical stage, it was probably close to one.


    Zhou Wen didn''t give up. He went to the stone statue again and sacrificed the two poison bats before using the right fork. Indeed, the right tunnel had become safe as well. There weren''t any strange text monsters.


    At the end of the right tunnel was another palace. The moment Zhou Wen opened the door, he saw a strange snake standing erect like a dragon as it spewed out black smoke at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned his remaining Purple Air Bell and sucked all the black smoke in. Then, he shook the bell, sending the black smoke back at the strange snake.


    Like a tide of black smoke, it instantly drowned the monster snake''s massive body. The snake opened its mouth and inhaled, and the black smoke was sucked back in. His actions failed to damage it.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw the black gas rise from the strange snake as though an ancient demon god was enveloping it.


    Zhou Wen cursed under his breath as he turned around to escape. The snake''s eyes turned into a mirror that reflected the blood-colored avatar''s figure.


    Not long after the blood-colored avatar ran out, it collapsed to the ground and died. The game screen went black again. Zhou Wen didn''t even know how it had died.


    Don''t tell me the creatures in the two palaces are at the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed. Just as he was about to probe further, he heard his phone ring.


    Zhou Wen immediately picked up the call when he saw that it was An Sheng.


    "Young Master Wen, as you expected, the stone statue is problematic," An Sheng said directly.


    "What did you discover?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "During the inspection, the stone statue was completely normal and we didn''t discover any problems with it. Later, an expert attempted to put a mechanical arm into its mouth to investigate, but it was swallowed. After that, there was a brief change in the two tunnels. Our men were able to enter the tunnel without disappearing. However, it wasn''t for long. In less than an hour, the passageway returned to normal," An Sheng said calmly.


    However, Zhou Wen could tell that plenty of sacrifices had been made.


    "From the looks of it, the stone statue needs sacrifices. Why don''t we try using dimensional creatures as sacrifices? If it''s really Aoyin, it might be interested in the brains of dimensional creatures," Zhou Wen said.


    "I''ll get someone to try it now." An Sheng paused before saying, "At the end of the two tunnels, there are doors to a palace. But I didn''t get them to open the palace. Young Master Wen, any thoughts on this?"


    "Since the Aoyin guarding the tunnels is already so terrifying, a powerful dimensional creature will definitely guard the palace''s interior. It might even be a Mythical creature. I think it''s best to be careful. Don''t open the door hastily." Zhou Wen could only provide warnings. He couldn''t possibly say that he had entered the palace in-game and that there was a terrifying existence suspected to be a Mythical creature inside, right?


    "I share the same thoughts too. If there really are Mythical creatures inside, it''s not something we can deal with. We can only seek the Overseer''s help." An Sheng thought for a moment before saying, "Young Master Wen, it''s all thanks to you that we can make progress so quickly. Unfortunately, you''re still too young. In a few years, if you can advance to the Epic stage, I might have a chance to fight alongside you."


    "I have no intention of joining the military. After I graduate, I plan on opening a crystal shop for a living," Zhou Wen said.


    "You aren''t that kind of person." An Sheng didn''t wait for Zhou Wen to say anything before saying, "I''ll hang up now and report our progress to the Overseer."


    "Ah Sheng, if you aren''t confident, make sure not to enter the palace at the end of the tunnels. I have a feeling that there will be terrifying dimensional creatures inside," Zhou Wen exhorted again.


    "Don''t worry," Ah Sheng said before hanging up. It was unknown if he would listen to Zhou Wen.

 324 Map

    Zhou Wen had been trying to figure out the dimensional creatures inside the two palaces, but they were too powerful. The blood-colored avatar could last for a very short period of time without gleaning much information.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged. He persisted and studied their abilities and habits. This wasn''t only for saving the former principal; Zhou Wen also thought about the possibility of using their blood to enhance his final stat to 21 points if he could injure the Mythical creatures.


    Therefore, he didn''t hold any hope of killing them. All he wanted was to obtain one or two drops of blood.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen''s idea. He did not know if it could work.


    He still had no way of touching the white cocoon in the war wagon. That power that caused an infinite gap between them, left Zhou Wen helpless.


    "Old Zhou, I heard that another new dimensional zone has been discovered in Luoyang City. The college plans on getting students to explore it," Li Xuan ran over and said to Zhou Wen excitedly.


    "Shouldn''t the military be exploring a new dimensional zone first? Why would they let students explore it?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Li Xuan said with a smile, "The newly discovered dimensional zone is a Town God''s Temple. Many of the ancient districts in the East District have such dimensional zones. They are basically all the same and not dangerous. It might be very beneficial."


    When Zhou Wen heard Li Xuan say that it was a Town God''s Temple, he immediately understood why the college was sending students to explore it.


    In ancient times, a Town God''s Temple was a place of worship that revered the guardian of a city. It was a place that ensured the city''s safety. After the dimensional storms, various ancient city districts had Town God''s Temple zones.


    Typical temple zones had no wild dimensional creatures, so they didn''t bring harm to anyone who entered the Town God''s Temple. However, inside one, there would usually be some special dimensional creatures that were worshiped.


    These dimensional creatures had immortal bodies. Humans could challenge them at places that they were enshrined. If they defeated them, they might receive benefits from the Town God''s Temple.


    "Has Luoyang''s Town God''s Temple only just been discovered?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    For an ancient city like Luoyang, it was almost a certainty that a Town God''s Temple existed. Logically speaking, it should have been discovered long ago.


    "The big Town God''s Temple has long been explored. It enshrined four guardians. Legend has it that they are the ancient heroes¡ªHan Xin, Pang Juan, Zhou Yu, and Luo Cheng''s embodiment. It''s currently under military control, so ordinary people won''t have a chance of entering. The newly discovered temple is the Town God''s Temple of the former county city. It''s not that famous, and rather small. Recently, it was discovered that it has become a dimensional zone."


    Li Xuan paused for a moment before saying, "How about we visit it before that it''s brought under military control?"


    Zhou Wen hadn''t made much progress in his endeavors, so he felt that it wasn''t a bad idea to take a look. Perhaps, he could download a Town God''s Temple dungeon from there.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen had just stepped out of the door when they met Wang Lu. Upon hearing about the new development, Wang Lu was also interested and quickly joined them.


    The school posted an announcement indicating that there would be a truck that would take interested students to the newly discovered Town God''s Temple. It wasn''t mandatory if one wasn''t interested.


    The three of them got into the truck and saw that there were more than ten students in it. This was just one of the trucks, a few had already set off. It looked like there were quite a number of students heading there.


    The truck drove all the way to West Luoyang. Just as it was about to leave the city, they finally saw the legendary Town God''s Temple. It was much smaller than Zhou Wen imagined. From a distance, it was nothing more than a small ancient building. It had two side halls and a main temple. At the top was a signboard with the words "Town God''s Temple" written.


    There were plenty of students outside Town God''s Temple. There were also some independent hunters and residents who were also there to join in the buzz. From the fact that even ordinary passersby dared enter the temple, it was testimony that the Town God''s Temple posed no danger.


    After the trio entered the temple, Li Xuan looked around and said in puzzlement, "That''s strange. Why aren''t there any guardians inside this Town God''s Temple?"


    Wang Lu also nodded and said, "This Town God''s Temple is really too young. Usually, they will honor a famous general in history as a guardian, but there''s none here. Only the main temple honors a generic city god. I wonder what this god''s name is."


    "If there''s no guardian, what''s the point of coming here?" Li Xuan said gloomily.


    He had originally wanted to test out his skills to see if he could defeat the incarnation of a famous general in history, but who knew that there was no consecrated target here.


    A student who had just come out of the side hall heard Li Xuan say that and added, "Although there are no consecrated generals here, the side hall enshrines the Earth Lord. It might be beneficial for you to enter and pray to him."


    "What benefits?" Li Xuan asked in interest.


    Earth temples were usually built independently. Yet, this Town God''s Temple also consecrated the Earth Lord. It was quite obvious that it wasn''t very orthodox.


    The scale of Earth temples that enshrined the Earth Lord was usually smaller. Even though he was an immortal who was in charge of land, he was considered a deity of a lower rank in the Daoist pantheon.


    In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong would stomp on the ground whenever he wanted, pulling out the Earth Lord by his beard. Even demons would bully the Earth Lord, evidence of how low his status was.


    The student said, "If you catch the Earth Lord''s fancy, he will give you a map. Dig in the spot indicated by the map and perhaps, you might be able to find treasure."


    "That''s nice!" Li Xuan was excited. He looked like he was planning on going in big and getting several treasure maps to dig out treasures.


    However, the student said, "However, Earth Lord is a local god. You have to be a local and bow to him to obtain a map. In addition, it''s only possible for you to obtain the map when paying respects to him for the first time. Zhou Wen and Wang Lu, you aren''t locals, right?"


    Li Xuan was delighted when he heard that. He said to Zhou Wen and Wang Lu with a smile, "See that? There are benefits to being a Luoyang local. I am registered as a resident of Luoyang. Tough luck for the both of you."


    To his surprise, the student said to Li Xuan, "Li Xuan, don''t count your chickens before they hatch. Although Luoyang locals obtain a map after bowing to Earth Lord, he likes to pull pranks. There might not be a treasure as indicated on the map. One student obtained a map that led to dog feces."


    "Don''t worry. I, Li Xuan, am blessed. How can I dig up dog feces? Even if I don''t get a huge treasure, I can still dig out antiques." Li Xuan was filled with confidence.


    The three of them entered the Earth temple and saw that it enshrined a rich-looking old man with white hair and beard.


    Just then, an ordinary citizen was kneeling in front of Earth Lord. The middle-aged man kowtowed and something magical happened. After the middle-aged man raised his head, there was a small wooden sign that had a simple map drawn on it.

 325 Digging Treasures

    The middle-aged man held a small wooden tablet and ran away happily. Another person ran over and bowed to the Earth Lord. Soon, he got a small wooden tablet with a map engraved on it.


    "This Earth Lord sure is magical!" Li Xuan''s eyes widened when he saw this.


    Wang Lu said with a smile, "Although Earth Lord doesn''t have a high status among immortals, he is quite capable. He knows everything about the land under his jurisdiction. He knows all the good things buried underground too. He also knows where there''s danger and the things not to be done. It can be said that he''s omniscient in a particular region. In ancient times, Earth Lord had a name¡ªKitchen God. That was a real god and he enjoyed a very high status."


    The trio wasn''t in a rush. After everyone was done paying their respects, Li Xuan walked to the statue of Earth Lord and plopped to his knees before kowtowing.


    Indeed, Li Xuan also received a small wooden token.


    "Sir and madam, how about that? Are you regretting not being born in Luoyang?" Li Xuan flaunted the wooden tablet to the duo.


    "Earth Lord is most merciful. If I beg him, he might give me a map too?" Wang Lu walked to the statue of Earth Lord and bowed to the statue before saying, "Earth Lord, how benevolent are thee. Please give me a map too."


    "If begging works, what''s the point of having a household register? Besides, you aren''t being sincere. You didn''t even kowtow. All you did was bow. What''s the use of¡­ Ah¡­" Li Xuan curled his lips. However, just as he finished speaking, he saw a small wooden tablet grow out of the ground. Instantly, his mouth dropped agape as he was at a loss for words.


    Wang Lu happily took the wooden tablet and said to Zhou Wen, "Why don''t you try too? Perhaps Earth Lord might show his benevolence and give you a map too?"


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. After all, Guide City, where he was born, wasn''t too far from Luoyang. Perhaps this Earth Lord had a greater area under his jurisdiction, so was Guide City also under his management?


    He didn''t really suffer any losses bowing even if he wasn''t given a map.


    Zhou Wen mimicked Wang Lu and stood in front of the Earth Lord statue. He pressed his palms together and bowed slightly at the statue.


    "I can ignore Wang Lu''s good luck, but I just don''t believe that you can get a map like that," Li Xuan said.


    When Zhou Wen bowed, he suddenly heard the sound of rocks grinding. He saw the statue of the Earth Lord drift horizontally three feet away.


    "What''s happening?" Li Xuan''s eyes widened as Wang Lu wore a look of surprise.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what was happening either, but when he saw a wooden plaque grow out of the ground, he reached out to pick it up.


    "It looks like Earth Lord is quite a swell guy. He gave me a map too." Zhou Wen took the wooden tablet and said to Li Xuan with a smile, "It looks like your Luoyang''s registration isn''t of much use."


    "Absurd." Li Xuan looked at the Earth Lord statue that had moved three feet to the side, feeling extremely alarmed and puzzled.


    Regardless of how one looked at it, it appeared as though the Earth Lord statue didn''t dare receive Zhou Wen''s bow. That was why it had moved away.


    Wang Lu also sized up the Earth Lord statue and Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    The three of them walked out of the temple and were about to head to the main temple hall when they saw a group of soldiers enter the Town God''s Temple. The soldiers informed them that the area had been sealed by the military and ordered them to leave in an orderly fashion.


    The trio had no choice but to leave Town God''s Temple. Li Xuan looked at the wooden token in his hand and saw that the map on it was very vague. It had the general terrain of rivers and mountains. Then, there was a red dot which labeled the treasure location.


    If it wasn''t for a Luoyang native who was well-versed with the Luoyang terrain, it wouldn''t be easy finding the location on the map.


    "You definitely won''t be able to tell where the map is pointing to. I''ll help you take a look," Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen and Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu handed their wooden tablets to him. Li Xuan was quite an expert in identifying the local terrain. He quickly helped them find the location. Furthermore, he marked it on the phone''s map app, making it convenient for them to seek out the treasure.


    "Are we going to dig for treasures together or do we do it individually?" Li Xuan asked.


    "Let''s go together. These places all require us to exit the city. It''ll be safer for us to be together," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright. Mine is the nearest, so let''s dig mine first," Li Xuan said as he summoned his Companion Beast mount.


    Zhou Wen only had the White Shadow of Poison to ride on, but it was a little odd seeing it in broad daylight. Li Xuan''s ox-type mount was rather large so there was room for Zhou Wen.


    Wang Lu summoned her tiger, sat on it, and followed behind.


    The three of them passed through the city and attracted the envy of many ordinary citizens.


    After leaving the city, Li Xuan dug for quite a while in a small forest in the suburbs. Li Xuan dug a hole that was four to five meters deep and finally found something.


    It was a ceramic container that looked rather ancient. "Could there be gold hidden inside by the ancients?" Li Xuan said in excitement as he held the jar.


    "It''s possible. Who knows, there might even be jewelry. Quick, open it and take a look." Zhou Wen was somewhat curious as he urged Li Xuan to open it.


    Li Xuan didn''t hesitate to open the jar. He saw that it was filled with copper coins that were in a badly rusted state. He took out one and pinched it, instantly shattering it from the decay.


    "How did this happen?" Li Xuan was extremely depressed.


    "Don''t ruin it. Those copper coins are likely to be antiques, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    "Antiques might be valuable in a peaceful era, but in this era, who would spend money to buy antiques? With money, one would buy dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs. Besides, these copper coins are way too inferior in quality. They are almost deformed," Li Xuan said.


    However, he had gained something after all. Li Xuan still kept the jar in his bag. It wasn''t big and fitted his backpack perfectly.


    Following that, they dug for Wang Lu''s treasure. Her treasure wasn''t too far from Li Xuan''s treasure. So with Li Xuan as an experienced local guiding them, they quickly arrived at the location.


    It was by a small stream. Wang Lu flipped through the area a few times and when she flipped open a cobblestone, she immediately discovered a gem the size of a longan. It was crystal clear, like a cat''s eye.


    "How beautiful." Wang Lu was very fond of it. She washed it in the stream and played with it in her hand.


    Zhou Wen''s map pointed to a forest beside the mountainous area. The trio traveled more than five kilometers before they reached the spot. Due to the dimensional zones nearby, the trio walked very carefully and deliberately circled and made a detour to avoid a dimensional zone.


    "This is it," Li Xuan said as he looked at the map and pointed to a bush.


    Zhou Wen saw that there were only some weeds and nothing else. He planned on digging to see what he could dig out.


    To their surprise, just as Zhou Wen approached, white smoke suddenly spewed out from the bush. It frightened the trio and they couldn''t help but retreat as they cautiously stared at the spot where the white smoke was emitting.

 326 Baby

    A cute, chubby baby jumped out of the white smoke.


    The baby''s fair and tender body was wearing a red piece of cloth that only covered his chest and belly, and there was a braid sticking upwards on his head.


    "Who abandoned this child here?" Li Xuan couldn''t help but mutter when he saw how adorable the child was.


    However, when he thought about it carefully, he felt that something was amiss. The child was only the size of a baby; yet, he could actually walk on his own. Furthermore, he was extremely agile. No baby was this amazing.


    The baby stared at them with his big eyes, seemingly furious. He seemed to be warning them not to come any closer.


    "Could this be¡­" Wang Lu''s expression changed slightly when she saw the baby.


    "Wang Lu, do you know what this baby is?" Li Xuan hurriedly asked.


    "I once entered a dimensional zone in Changbai Mountain to hunt dimensional creatures with my family''s elders. There, I saw a plant-type ginseng baby that resembled a human baby. He wore such clothes and he had a few ginseng leaves growing on his head. He does resemble this baby, but there are some differences," Wang Lu said as she sized up the baby.


    "Ginseng Baby? Isn''t that the ginseng spirit spoken in legends that is extremely nourishing?" Li Xuan''s eyes glowed as he stared at the baby.


    The baby seemed to sense the evil intentions in Li Xuan''s eyes as he glared at Li Xuan and with a turn of its body, he vanished.


    "Oh no, retreat quickly." Wang Lu''s expression changed slightly as she immediately retreated.


    Although Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn''t know what was happening, seeing Wang Lu''s seriousness they also retreated.


    However, just as Li Xuan moved, he suddenly felt as though something had tripped him and he fell down with a plop.


    The baby appeared not too far away and clapped in glee as he looked at Li Xuan. He looked extremely happy.


    "Little imp, do you think I''m powerless against you? I don''t care if you are a Ginseng Baby or something else. I''ll teach you a good lesson." Li Xuan crawled to his feet and summoned the Thundergod Sword before cleaving at the baby.


    The Thundergod Sword reached the baby in an instant, but he suddenly vanished. The lightning sword beam blasted a huge hole in the ground, but it failed to hit the baby.


    Plop!


    Li Xuan felt his legs being tripped by something again and fell to the ground with a thud once more. When he turned his head, he saw the baby extend half his body from the ground and jump out. He clapped his hands and grinned at Li Xuan, his face filled with mockery.


    Li Xuan had never experienced this before. He lunged forward to grab the baby, but no matter how fast he was, he couldn''t catch him. Instead, he kept tripping thanks to the baby. He was in a sorry state.


    "Wang Lu, is this really a Ginseng Baby?" Zhou Wen asked as he sized up the baby in surprise.


    "I don''t know, but he does resemble a Ginseng Baby. He''s proficient in escaping through the earth and can travel for thousands of miles underground. Even top Epic experts would find him difficult to catch if he escaped."


    Wang Lu paused for a moment before continuing, "Back then, my grandfather used a puppet Companion Beast to lure the playful Ginseng Baby over. Then, he used his Intrinsic Lock to catch him by surprise and lock him up before successfully capturing him."


    "We don''t have those things. Is there any way to catch him?" Zhou Wen knew that Ghost Steps would be useless catching up to him, after seeing the baby''s ability to escape through the earth.


    "Perhaps, but I don''t know." Wang Lu shook her head helplessly. "Ginseng Babies have the nickname of Little Earth Immortal. As long as he''s on the ground, I''m afraid no one will be able to catch him. This baby might be a Ginseng Baby, but from his ability to escape through the earth, he''s in no way inferior to the one I''ve seen before."


    When the two spoke, Li Xuan had already been teased into a rage, but he couldn''t touch the baby no matter what. He was like a clumsy bear as he was led by the nose by the baby.


    Li Xuan slashed with the Thundergod Sword in his hand and even summoned several Companion Beasts. Even the Spirit Drawing Demoness that he had just obtained was summoned. Yet, he still couldn''t do anything about the baby.


    The little child suddenly phased into existence like a tiny sprite that could continuously teleport. He was toying with Li Xuan and his Companion Beasts.


    "Old Zhou, Wang Lu, aren''t you going to provide some help? Quickly grab this little fellow. I have to spank him." Li Xuan had been tripped several times again, making his face turn livid with anger.


    Zhou Wen felt that the baby''s escape technique was very interesting. Furthermore, he didn''t seem to have the intention to harm others. All he did was tease Li Xuan.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen activated Ghost Steps as his figure seemed to teleport. He appeared behind the baby and reached out to grab the baby''s arm, but the baby vanished instantly.


    Wang Lu guessed the location of the baby. She flashed over to grab him, but she failed.


    The trio used all sorts of methods to grab hold of the baby but they ended up in circles. In the end, they fell to the ground, exhausted. They no longer had the strength to grab hold of the baby who kept clapping nearby as he mocked them.


    Li Xuan couldn''t take it any further and chased after him once more. However, Zhou Wen and Wang Lu were truly exhausted and they sat on the ground without getting up.


    "What''s the level of that Ginseng Baby you encountered? Is his ability to escape through the earth that powerful?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    "I don''t know what level he is." Wang Lu shook her head and said, "Just as my grandfather captured the Ginseng Baby, a terrifying creature in Changbai Mountain suddenly appeared. It almost killed us. The Ginseng Baby was taken away by the creature. I never expected the map given by Earth Lord would be something like this. Even if we find it, we don''t have the ability to take him away."


    Zhou Wen looked at the baby with a frown and didn''t say a word. He really didn''t have the ability to grab him unless he could make the baby''s body leave the ground, preventing him from burrowing through the earth.


    Zhou Wen secretly held the banana fan in his hand and waited for an opportunity.


    Li Xuan pounced here and there, but he didn''t even touch the baby''s clothes. Instead, he slashed out craters on the ground.


    After Li Xuan fell again, the baby clapped his tiny hands in delight as his chubby calves jumped up. He looked excited.


    Right now. At the instant the baby''s feet left the ground, the banana fan Zhou Wen was holding stirred up a gust of cold wind, sending the baby flying.


    "Haha, let''s see where you can flee to now." Li Xuan was overjoyed as he pounced forward, hoping to grab the flying baby in midair.

 327 Rat Rabbi

    When the baby was swept up by the Grand Yin Wind, he really couldn''t escape through the earth. White Frost formed on his body as Li Xuan rushed forward to grab his arm.


    The baby''s body was ice-cold. His eyes were closed, motionless. Even his brows were covered in white frost as if he had been frozen.


    "There''s no heartbeat; did he have to be frozen to death?" Li Xuan couldn''t help but stare at the baby when he didn''t feel his heartbeat.


    Although he was a dimensional creature, he looked like a human baby. Furthermore, he had only been teasing the trio without truly harming them. Li Xuan wasn''t really planning on killing him.


    "Don''t tell me he dies so easily?" Zhou Wen touched the baby''s neck. Indeed, there wasn''t a pulse.


    "Are the two of you dumb? If he''s really a creature of the same class as Ginseng Babies, he''s a plant. How can there be a heartbeat?" Wang Lu rolled her eyes.


    "Then take a look. Is this baby dead?" Li Xuan handed the baby to Wang Lu.


    Wang Lu was about to reach out to grab the baby when he suddenly opened his eyes. Taking advantage of the loss in grip while handing him over, the baby forcefully struggled to escape before landing on the ground and disappearing.


    When he appeared again, he was more than ten meters away. He stood on a rock and made funny faces at the three of them.


    "This baby is very scheming¡­" Li Xuan was about to rush over but was stopped by Zhou Wen.


    "Forget it. Let him go." Zhou Wen really couldn''t bear to kill such a creature. It would be useless even if he caught him.


    Li Xuan nodded and said with a smile, "At least Wang Lu and I benefited. You didn''t manage to obtain anything from this map. From the looks of it, our luck is indeed better. By the way, Wang Lu, what powers does a Ginseng Baby Companion Beast have when dropped?"


    "I heard that Ginseng Baby Companion Beasts have very strong Primordial Energy regeneration abilities. They also have healing-type Primordial Energy Skills. It enhances one''s combat strength greatly, but they are just too rare. Changbai Mountain has more Ginseng Babies, but most of them are at the Legendary stage. Their abilities are relatively weaker. Epic Ginseng Babies are very rare. According to my grandfather, if one has an Epic Ginseng Baby Companion Beast, they can basically use Primordial Energy Skills indefinitely." Wang Lu looked at the distant baby and said, "However, there should be ginseng leaves on the head of a Ginseng baby and this one doesn''t have any. I don''t think he''s a Ginseng Baby, just some kind of plant-type dimensional creature."


    "Since Ginseng Babies are of such great use, we really have to make a trip to Changbai Mountain in the future to obtain some," Li Xuan said.


    "How can it be that easy? The dimensional zones in Changbai Mountain have dimensional creatures that aren''t offensive, but there are even more terrifying dimensional creatures. Ignoring the Epic Ginseng Babies, just obtaining a Legendary Ginseng Baby isn''t an easy task. One might even lose their life. Quite a number of people risked their lives to enter Changbai Mountain to hunt for one. A Legendary Ginseng Baby Companion Egg can be sold at an astronomical price." Wang Lu clearly didn''t believe that entering Changbai Mountain was a good idea.


    "Are there any better Companion Beasts that possess healing powers other than the Ginseng Baby?" Zhou Wen had always wanted a Companion Beast with healing abilities. They were extremely rare.


    "Those with healing abilities are relatively rare to begin with, so a Ginseng Baby is already considered one of the better ones. Although there are others, it''s not that easy to obtain them. For example, Lucidum Horses are even rarer than Ginseng Babies. It''s even more difficult to hunt them. There are also some which naturally have the healing abilities. For example, some Angels from the West District and Alchemical Cauldrons in our East District. They are similarly difficult to obtain," Wang Lu said after thinking for a moment.


    The three of them spoke as they walked, intending to return to the city. When the baby saw that they were leaving, he tunneled through the ground to appear around them. Then, he made funny faces at them and clapped as if provoking them.


    However, Zhou Wen and company didn''t wish to kill him. They ignored him and continued walking ahead.


    Seeing the trio ignore him, the baby was very disappointed. Like a child that had lost his beloved toy, his face was filled with disappointment as he stared blankly as Zhou Wen and company left.


    Boom!


    As they were walking, they suddenly heard an explosion. They turned around and saw a hole in the ground where the baby was standing. A black-furred monster looking like a rat or rabbit that was about half a person''s height bit onto the baby''s arm as it dragged him into the hole.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He activated Ghost Steps and slashed out with Demonic Astral Wheel, cutting off the Rat Rabbit''s retreat into the cave.


    The Rat Rabbit reacted quickly as it exerted strength in its legs and actually dodged the Demonic Astral Wheel. It dragged the baby and ran into the bushes.


    Li Xuan also slashed with his Thundergod Sword, smiting a bolt of lightning that forced the Rat Rabbit to change its escape trajectory.


    Wang Lu''s tiger also pounced forward to stop the Rat Rabbit.


    The Rat Rabbit was abnormally fast. Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps to chase after it, but it managed to dodge him several times as though it also had a Primordial Energy Skill that enhanced its speed.


    However, after using it a few times, the Rat Rabbit''s Primordial Energy seemed to be unable to keep up with its expenditure. It was almost struck by the lightning from the Thundergod Sword. It let go of the baby and escaped into the forest.


    "Look after him. I''ll be right back." Zhou Wen chased after the Rat Rabbit.


    The Rat Rabbit was likely at the Epic stage, but its ability was a little special. It wasn''t a dimensional creature with relatively stronger offensive abilities, so there might be some special rewards capturing it.


    Furthermore, this wasn''t a dimensional zone yet. Its appearance here made it a break-out creature, so it was best to eliminate it.


    The Rat Rabbit ran very quickly, but its lacking Primordial Energy eventually gave Zhou Wen a chance to kill it when it ran into a mountain valley.


    When he saw a crystal inside its body and took it out, he realized that it was a skill crystal.


    Zhou Wen picked up the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal and was about to leave when he saw a figure flash across the ground¡ªthe baby had appeared. His arm that had been bitten by the Rat Rabbit had healed. He was fine.


    The baby looked at the dead Rat Rabbit and then at Zhou Wen. He seemed to hesitate before running in front of Zhou Wen and pulling at Zhou Wen''s trousers with his tiny hands.


    "Be careful in the future. No one will save you next time." Although Zhou Wen wouldn''t be fooled by his adorable appearance, this fellow looked too much like a human child. He really couldn''t bring himself to killing him.


    The baby didn''t let go as he tugged at Zhou Wen''s trousers. He made sounds like he was trying to say something as he pointed into the valley with his tiny finger.


    "Don''t tell me you want to trick me?" Zhou Wen naturally understood what the baby meant. He was trying to get him to walk into the valley.


    "Yiyi¡­" It was unknown if the baby understood him, but he kept pulling Zhou Wen''s trousers and pointed at the valley while speaking.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen saw that the valley wasn''t a dimensional zone. Furthermore, the valley had just a one-way path, so there shouldn''t be too much danger. After some thought, he walked in, hoping to see what the baby was up to.

 328 Babys Gif

    When the baby saw Zhou Wen walk into the valley, he loosened his grip on Zhou Wen''s trousers and skipped ahead.


    The valley wasn''t deep. After walking less than half a kilometer, they reached the end. The baby pushed aside the grass in front of the mountain wall and revealed a hole half the height of a person.


    If you want me to enter, I definitely won''t burrow in it, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he watched the baby vanish before him.


    Zhou Wen waited for a while but the baby didn''t appear. Instead, he heard Li Xuan and Wang Lu who had followed his tracks.


    "Zhou Wen, that baby ran away on its own. What are you doing here?" Li Xuan asked curiously when he saw Zhou Wen standing in front of a mountain wall, not fighting any dimensional creatures.


    "I met the baby. He led me here and then burrowed into the hole himself," Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the hole in the grass.


    Just as Li Xuan was about to say something, he saw the baby poke his head out of the hole. He seemed to be dragging something with both hands, his face flushed red from the strenuous activity.


    After pulling a few times, the baby finally dragged something out of the hole.


    The three of them stared at the thing that the baby held onto. They saw a vine or root of some unknown plant. The baby pulled the vine out with all his might. It was taut as if there was something very heavy attached to it.


    Seeing this, Zhou Wen reached and helped the baby pull the vine out. He was immediately alarmed. He originally imagined that it was because the baby had limited strength which made the pulling difficult. However, when he tried, he realized that it was very heavy. Despite using all his strength, he was barely able to move it forward.


    They pulled the vine out by more than a meter but still failed to see what was inside. Wang Lu and Li Xuan came forward to help, and the four of them finally pulled the vine out. They saw something tied to the other end of it.


    "What''s this?" Li Xuan looked at the item they had pulled, but he couldn''t tell what it was. He turned to look at the baby.


    The baby gestured as it made all kinds of utterances, but the trio still didn''t understand what he meant.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the thing tied to the vine. It looked like a huge walnut that was about the size of a soccer ball. Its exterior looked like a walnut, but it seemed as though it was made of dark gray metal.


    "Is this thing a walnut?" Li Xuan tapped the hilt of the Thundergod Sword on the item twice. When he heard a metallic sound, he looked at Wang Lu and asked, "Wang Lu, do you know what this is?"


    Wang Lu also shook her head. "It looks like a walnut to me as well, but I''ve never heard of metal that looks like a walnut."


    As the three of them were studying the object, the baby pointed at Zhou Wen and then at the walnut as it garbled.


    "Do you want to give me this?" Zhou Wen asked the baby with a guess.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen finally understood, the baby hurriedly nodded.


    "Alright." Although Zhou Wen didn''t know what it was, it appeared to be quite important. Since it was a free gift, it was a waste not to accept it.


    However, the thing was just too heavy. Zhou Wen summoned the Mutated Stone Chi. The few of them worked together to move the metal walnut onto its back before letting the Mutated Stone Chi carry it back.


    After the trio walked out of the valley, the baby looked at them from afar with no intention of following them.


    "This little fellow is rather interesting but too bad it''s a dimensional creature." Li Xuan shook his head.


    Although there were people who raised dimensional creatures, dimensional creatures were different from Companion Beasts. They weren''t able to completely control their actions. Once they were allowed to enter human society, any problems would result in serious consequences.


    Therefore, the League maintained an opposing attitude towards rearing them. There was just no clear rule that forbade their rearing.


    Zhou Wen had reared the antelope and chick secretly. Thankfully, the other students and teachers always believed that the antelope had been brought out from Mount Laojun and wasn''t aggressive, so they ignored it.


    As for the chick, most people believed it was Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast.


    When the trio returned to school, the sky was already dark. Mainly because the walnut was so heavy that the Stone Chi couldn''t run fast while carrying it. All they could do was walk slowly.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen carefully took the walnut down and placed it in the living room. Then, he took out his mysterious phone and snapped a picture of it. He wanted to know if the mysterious phone could tell what it was.


    However, he was quickly disappointed. The mysterious phone didn''t respond, indicating that it wasn''t a dimensional creature. It was likely a native product of Earth.


    "What is this thing?" Zhou Wen took a few photos and sent them to Wang Mingyuan who was extremely knowledgeable. Perhaps, he knew what it was.


    Wang Mingyuan was surprisingly free. After a while, he replied Zhou Wen with a message.


    "You can''t confirm it just by looking at photos. Once I''m done with the research on hand, you can bring it over. I''ll help you to study it."


    "Teacher, how''s your research progressing?" All this while, Zhou Wen wasn''t very clear what Wang Mingyuan''s research was. All he knew was that he was studying what lay below Dragon''s Well and that it was likely a study of the white dragon.


    Zhou Wen was originally worried that White Dragon would kill Wang Mingyuan if he angered it.


    However, after experiencing the might of the paper slip, Zhou Wen felt that his worry was unnecessary. A person like Wang Mingyuan wouldn''t easily put himself in danger.


    "The progress is going quite well, but I''ve encountered some snags. At the moment, I''m trying to think of a solution." Wang Mingyuan sighed and said, "Currently, there are signs from other parts of the League that the chance of dimensional creatures breaking out is rapidly increasing. If it continues at this rate, it might only take another few years before the dimensional zones no longer have any restrictions on dimensional creatures, or rather, they will be very weak. When the time comes, humanity''s situation will be much worse than when the dimensional storms first happened."


    This wasn''t the first time Zhou Wen had heard such words. In the past, An Sheng had also mentioned this to him, but he didn''t make it as clear as Wang Mingyuan.


    "Teacher, will the dimensional zones'' restrictions really fail in a few years?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It won''t exceed ten years. When the time comes, the restrictions on the dimensional zones will definitely fail," Wang Mingyuan answered with certainty.


    "Only ten years?" Zhou Wen felt that Wang Mingyuan wasn''t someone who would randomly say things. If he said ten years, the chances were very high that it was the case.


    "In fact, ten years refers to the point when the restrictions on the dimensional zones are completely lost. And during this period, the restrictions of the dimensional zones will constantly decrease. Humanity doesn''t have ten years." Wang Mingyuan paused before suddenly asking Zhou Wen, "Little Wen, if you are made to choose between pain and death, which would you choose?"

 329 Failed Fusion

    "It depends on how painful it is," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "Worse than death." Wang Mingyuan said tersely.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for an answer. This was because the words "worse than death" were too vague. He didn''t know what kind of concept it was because he hadn''t experienced such pain.


    Zhou Wen felt that physical pain could sometimes be endured for a moment, but a psychological blow might very well result in a pain worse than physical pain.


    Seemingly sensing that he had been too vague, Wang Mingyuan thought for a while and said, "Let''s use a more common analogy. If there''s a woman you love very much, and she''s raped in front of you, but you don''t have the ability to save her. You have two choices. One is to fight to the death. Even though you know you can''t save her, you insist on dying to protect her. You will have a clear conscience. The second option is to collude with those people and think of ways to preserve her life. After that, you try to rescue her out of her misery before killing those people to avenge her. If it were you, what would you choose?"


    "This is really a difficult question. Reason tells me that I should choose the second option, but I''m ultimately only one person. I''m afraid I wouldn''t have the mental fortitude to complete the second choice. Therefore, I believe that if I were to encounter something like this, I would choose the first option," Zhou Wen said after seriously considering it.


    "Is that so?" Wang Mingyuan''s tone was odd as though it was both a question and answer. It was unknown if he was asking Zhou Wen or himself.


    "Teacher, what is the answer to this question?" Zhou Wen knew that some problems weren''t limited to the question itself. If he was smart enough, he could think of other answers.


    Wang Mingyuan smiled and said, "There''s no answer. I''ve asked Jiang Yan and the others this question too. Haifeng''s answer is identical to yours. Ziya said he would kill that woman first and Jiang Yan chose the second option."


    "Then what''s your answer, Teacher?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "I don''t have an answer." Wang Mingyuan changed the topic. "How''s the situation at the Zhuolu battlefield? Have they found your former principal?"


    "Not yet. An Sheng called me a few times, but he didn''t say anything. However, I can tell that it isn''t going well. Perhaps many sacrifices have been made." Zhou Wen fell silent after saying that.


    An Sheng seldom contacted him recently, but Zhou Wen knew that the An family definitely wouldn''t give up. They would definitely get someone to open the doors of the two palaces. When the time came, they would definitely suffer losses. After all, the An family didn''t have Mythical experts. What they could do wouldn''t be much better than Zhou Wen''s.


    "I recently learned some divination arts. Although I''m not very proficient in them, they seem to be effective to some extent. I did read your former principal''s fortune, and the results are that there''s a silver lining. He should be fine for the time being," Wang Mingyuan said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if Wang Mingyuan was comforting him or if he really had learned divination, but he felt better after hearing that.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen continued grinding. However, he didn''t make much progress. Be it the white cocoon in the war wagon or the two palaces in the temple, he was at an impasse.


    Zhou Wen''s strength had seemingly reached a bottleneck. No matter how many Primordial Energy Skills he learned or cultivated any other Primordial Energy Arts, they weren''t of much use.


    He felt that he couldn''t continue grinding aimlessly. Therefore, he planned on organizing his thoughts.


    Zhou Wen: Legendary


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 20


    Primordial Energy: 21


    Primordial Energy Skill: Demonic Astral Wheel, Nine Dragons Art, Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill, Ghost Steps, Transcendent Flying Immortal, Ashen Palm, etc.


    Companion Beast: Truth Listener, Banana Fairy, Tyrant Behemoth, Mutated Stone Chi, Mutated Sword Fang Fish, Mutated Lotus Flower Ant, Silver-Winged Sky Spider Youngling, Ghost Bride, White Shadow of Poison, Mutated Overlord Snake, Doctor Darkness, Mutated Demonized General, Saber Shield Knight, etc.


    In terms of Primordial Energy Skills, they were mainly focused on Speed and movement techniques. There wasn''t much of a problem in this area. With sufficiently fast Speed, one was better at attacking and escaping than the average person.


    Among Companion Beasts, there were only a few that were frequently used. The Mutated Lotus Flower Ant was clearly unable to keep up with the current battles.


    However, the real deciding factor was still the Mythical Banana Fairy. Truth Listener had yet to finish its incubation, so it was unknown what changes it would undergo in the future.


    Typical Companion Beasts have all kinds of problems. It''s not that their stats are bad, but that their Life Providences are bad or their Primordial Energy Skills are lacking. In short, they have all kinds of flaws. Just like Overlord Spear, Ever-Victorious is indeed a good skill, but the Mutated Overlord Snake''s level is too low. Its stats are only considered average. Even with Ever-Victorious''s skill, it''s difficult to use it to the fullest. After some thought, Zhou Wen still had a route to take. That was to use his phone''s pet fusion capabilities to fuse the pets so as to get the Life Providences, Primordial Energy Skills, and stats he wanted on one pet.


    First, it''s the Ever-Victorious skill. I have to think of a way to raise the Overlord Snake''s level or fuse this skill with other pets. Zhou Wen matched the Mutated Overlord Snake with his other pets and looked at their compatibility score.


    Mutated Overlord Snake and other pets had a relatively low compatibility score. It didn''t exceed 30% at best. It only had a slightly higher compatibility score with the Mutated Sword Fang Fish.


    He didn''t have any better options, and keeping them didn''t seem to be of much use. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment but couldn''t bear to risk it.


    It was still a low chance of success that didn''t exceed 50%¡ªjust too low. If he failed, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to grind the Mutated Overlord Snake again. It would be a waste of time, something about the thought of grinding it made him retch.


    The success rate of Doctor Darkness and other Companion Beasts'' fusion chance was even lower. Basically, there wasn''t one that exceeded a compatibility score of 10%. It was about the same for Ghost Bride.


    The Mutated Demonized General and Saber Shield Knight had a compatibility score of nearly 50%. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and chose to fuse them. The two weren''t very useful now, and if they couldn''t progress further, keeping them wouldn''t be of much use.


    Boom!


    With the sound of the explosion, there was nothing on the phone. The Mutated Demonized General and the Saber Shield Knight vanished as the words "Fusion failed" appeared.


    Zhou Wen was instantly depressed. The Mutated Demonized General could still be grinded, but it wouldn''t be easy to obtain the Saber Shield Knight.


    Unwilling to give up just like that, Zhou Wen fused the Mutated Lotus Flower Ant and a Mutated Buddha Heart Lotus, hoping to increase its stats a little.


    The compatibility score was nearly 70%. Zhou Wen originally believed that it would definitely succeed, but to his surprise, with a bang, they vanished once again.


    That actually failed? Zhou Wen was extremely depressed. He wasn''t willing to give up, so he decided to place the Mutated Overlord Snake and Mutated Sword Fang Fish together and risk it again.

 330 Overlord Sword

    I can''t fail three consecutive times, right? Heavens, please bless me with success! Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as he clicked on the fusion. He saw the sparkling light on the two Companion Beasts slowly fuse together.


    Amidst Zhou Wen''s uneasy feelings, all he heard was a chime. The phone emitted a light as a new Companion Beast appeared on screen.


    I succeeded. Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly checked the new pet.


    The new pet looked somewhat different from the Overlord Snake and the Sword Fang Fish. The Overlord Snake was black, while the Sword Fang Fish was golden; the new pet was a dark gold color. It wasn''t as dark as black, nor was it as bright as gold. It looked quite pleasing to the eye.


    Mutated Overlord Sword Snake¡­ Epic stage¡­ Zhou Wen saw its name and saw that it looked like a sea serpent. He didn''t waste his time looking carefully and directly checked its stats.


    Now, what Zhou Wen was most concerned about was whether the Ever-Victorious skill was still around.


    Mutated Overlord Sword Snake: Epic


    Life Providence: Overlord of Swords


    Life Soul: Sword Flash Snake


    Strength: 40


    Speed: 39


    Constitution: 27


    Primordial Energy: 36


    Talent Skill: Ever-Victorious, Fangwheel Sword Flash


    Companion Form: Sword


    Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed when he saw this. Although the Overlord Snake''s Death Wrap and the Devourer techniques couldn''t be inherited, the strongest Ever-Victorious had been inherited. Fangwheel Sword Flash was also a very potent skill, so with both present, they could be considered excellent-grade.


    The other stats were all pretty good. The Life Providence of Overlord of Swords could raise the might of the user when using sword techniques, so it had a certain suppressive effect on typical sword-type Companion Beasts. It was a very good Life Providence.


    Sword Flash Snake was basically the same as the Sword Fang Fish''s Sword Flash Fish Life Soul. When it used Fangwheel Sword Flash, the Life Soul would enhance the might of the sword flash, allowing more sword flashes to appear.


    If there was anything about the Mutated Overlord Sword Snake that wasn''t perfect, it was its Constitution¡ª27 points. Even before the fusion, the Sword Fang Fish''s Constitution wasn''t this low. It was quite a mystery why the RNG gave such a low Constitution.


    With a poor Constitution, it meant that the Mutated Overlord Sword Snake would be easily injured. And when transformed into its sword form, it could easily be damaged or be cleaved apart.


    The Overload Sword Snake in its sword form was a dark gold greatsword, and the sword''s edge radiated a cold glint. There was a black, snake-like pattern on the sword''s spine.


    If one looked carefully, they would realize that the sword had dark fish scale patterns that resembled a pattern that had been tempered and forged countless times. The entire sword was extremely domineering. It was five feet long and with Zhou Wen''s strength, he could only barely lift it. If he were to strike with it, he probably wouldn''t have any strength left after swinging it around.


    He tried out the might of the Overlord Sword in-game and slashed out with his sword. The sword flash transformed into a circular blade that slashed forward. Ever-Victorious also augmented the sword flash, splitting a Chi into two.


    What a powerful sword flash! Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be overjoyed. The might of the Overlord Sword was no weaker than Li Xuan''s Thundergod Sword. It might even be stronger.


    Ever-Victorious was even more powerful than a sword flash augmented with lightning attributes. In a comparison between the two swords, Thundergod Sword might probably lose its accolade as the best offensive pet.


    The only flaw of the Overlord Sword was that its Constitution was poor. It was alright slashing out a sword flash, but if the sword were to clash directly with the Thundergod Sword, it would likely crack open a notch. Repeats of this might snap it.


    How can I raise Overlord Sword''s Constitution? Otherwise, it won''t live up to its name. Zhou Wen quickly came up with an idea.


    If a Companion Beast were to fuse with a Companion Egg, it would mainly be the Companion Beast taking center stage while the Companion Eggs became supplements. The Overlord Snake''s basic appearance and abilities wouldn''t change much other than become stronger.


    As long as he found a Companion Egg with a high Constitution that had a high compatibility with Overlord Sword Snake, he could increase its Constitution.


    Of course, after experiencing the previous failure, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t risk it with the Overlord Sword Snake with anything less than 80%. It would be best if the compatibility was above 90% before he made an attempt.


    However, after a few matches, he realized that the compatibility between the other pets and the Overlord Sword Snake wasn''t very high. The highest was less than 50%. Even the compatibility between the Overlord Snake and the Overlord Sword Snake was only 49%.


    Zhou Wen planned on making a trip to a shop selling Companion Eggs when he had the time. By matching them together, he might be able to find a Companion Egg with a higher compatibility score with the Overlord Sword Snake.


    As for the remaining Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen looked at them and couldn''t bear to fuse them. He had no choice but to leave it at that. He took the Overlord Sword into the underground sea, hoping to see if the Overlord Sword''s sword flash could approach the white cocoon.


    He once again came into the war wagon and looked at the white cocoon in the darkness. Zhou Wen pulled out his Overlord Sword and slashed at the white cocoon. Immediately, the sword flash of Overlord Sword spun like a circular blade as it headed for the white cocoon.


    Intense ripples appeared in the air. It was as if a calm water surface had been torn apart as the sword flash approached the white cocoon at a discernible pace.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw this. He watched as the sword flash tore through the invisible force outside the white cocoon and hit it, tearing open a hole.


    However, before he could make the next move, the black dragon rushed in and swallowed the blood-colored avatar. The game screen went black.


    A sword flash with Ever-Victorious is really useful! Even Zhou Wen was surprised. After all, he couldn''t touch the white cocoon back when he used the Overlord Snake.


    This made Zhou Wen see hope again. Now that he was able to rupture the white cocoon, the only thing he needed to consider was how to damage the white cocoon before the black dragons charged in. He also needed to obtain a drop of blood from the creature inside.


    The Overlord Sword together with Transcendent Flying Immortal was already fast enough. Together with Ghost Steps'' Speed, it was difficult to find someone faster than Zhou Wen at the same level. However, he still wasn''t able to complete his goal before the black dragons charged in.


    Zhou Wen had already done the math. He needed to slash at least three times before he could produce a gap that allowed the blood-colored avatar to charge in. After several attempts, he was swallowed by the black dragon that rushed in before he could finish the three strikes.


    From the looks of it, my Transcendent Flying Immortal still isn''t fast enough. Other than the three strikes, I still need one more strike to damage the creature inside the white cocoon to obtain its blood. My sword needs to be even faster. Zhou Wen planned on honing his Transcendent Flying Immortal to raise it to Rank 10.


    The thought of raising his sword''s speed reminded Zhou Wen of Feng Qiuyan. Hence, he called Feng Qiuyan and asked him if he had the time to be his sparring partner.


    In terms of speed, Feng Qiuyan was definitely one of his fastest peers. Furthermore, with his Swift Saber Heavenly King Life Providence and talent, Zhou Wen really couldn''t figure out who could be faster than him among his schoolmates.

 331 Who Is the Coach

    "I''m free! Where do we meet?" Feng Qiuyan agreed readily.


    "Let''s go to the training grounds," Zhou Wen said.


    "Ming Xiu is here as well. He wants to join. Can I bring him along?" Feng Qiuyan asked.


    "It''s just practice. He can come if he wants to." Zhou Wen felt that it didn''t matter. After all, Transcendent Flying Immortal was no secret.


    "Ten minutes." Feng Qiuyan hung up after saying that.


    Ming Xiu really wanted to know how strong Zhou Wen was. Feng Qiuyan, who he had trained, was already so powerful, so Zhou Wen''s strength must definitely be stronger.


    Just as the two left the house, they met Tian Zhenzhen, who had come to deliver some items to Ming Xiu. Upon hearing that they were going to train with Zhou Wen, Tian Zhenzhen requested to tag along.


    Since Zhou Wen didn''t mind anyone watching, Feng Qiuyan didn''t reject her. The three of them headed for the training grounds.


    As Tian Zhenzhen walked, she thought to herself, I don''t believe that a student can be stronger than Ming Xiu. I have to personally see if Zhou Wen is a cheat.


    When the trio arrived at the training grounds, Zhou Wen was already waiting inside. He was practicing the simplest drawing of a sword and striking, unwilling to miss out on any possibility of raising his sword''s speed.


    Is that Zhou Wen? He looks very ordinary. Although he''s rather good-looking and has a good figure, why does he look a little pale and seem to be very weak? Is such a person really as good as Ming Xiu says? Tian Zhenzhen was even more suspicious when she saw Zhou Wen.


    It wasn''t her fault. Zhou Wen usually expended plenty of his blood. He had also previously suffered a serious injury, and recently, he had been grinding the underground sea and temple. He had died too many times, so his body''s ability to regenerate blood could hardly keep up with his expenditure.


    Zhou Wen had been checking on the information recently. He wanted to see if there were any Companion Beasts that could enhance his liver and organs, or even Companion Beasts that could enhance his marrow.


    Unfortunately, they were very rare. Zhou Wen hadn''t discovered any for the time being.


    After the trio entered the training grounds. Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen sat on a bench beside the grounds as Feng Qiuyan walked over and asked, "Coach, I''m here. How shall I help you in the sparring?"


    "I want to raise my sword''s speed. You are an expert in this area. Give me some suggestions," Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan.


    "Although I use sabers, striking out with a sword or saber is almost the same. A saber strike''s speed is different from a body''s speed. Typically, a saber''s speed is faster than body movement speed. Firstly, a saber is lighter, and a saber''s shape is easier to deal with piercing any air resistance. The human body is far lacking. It''s heavy and there''s more surface area; therefore, there are fewer things to consider when striking out with a saber. Other than unleashing one''s strength, technique is also very important. The correct saber-wielding posture and way to release your strength allow one to increase the speed of the saber. However, to greatly improve speed, one can only focus on the technique when striking. Just like using a gun. A bullet''s speed is all the same, but what''s key is the instant when the gun is drawn. Whoever draws first can pull the trigger faster; thus, determining the victor. Striking with a saber follows the same principle¡­" Feng Qiuyan explained certain key points to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen tried the techniques and key points that Feng Qiuyan had explained to him and found them especially useful. Indeed, his strikes were much faster, but such speed still failed to meet his requirements.


    The freed black dragons are just too powerful. I have limited time after I charge into the war wagon. Such a fast sword speed is still insufficient, Zhou Wen thought.


    Tian Zhenzhen was watching from the sidelines with Ming Xiu. After watching for a while, she curled her lips and said, "Ming Xiu, how is this Zhou Wen impressive? He''s Feng Qiuyan''s personal coach, so why is he trying to get Feng Qiuyan to teach him? Who''s the coach here? Don''t tell me you''ve mixed things up?"


    "Perhaps there''s a deeper meaning to Zhou Wen''s actions?" Ming Xiu said uncertainly.


    Although from the looks of it, Zhou Wen was indeed seeking advice from Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu had a deep impression of Zhou Wen''s potency. Therefore, he didn''t think as much as Tian Zhenzhen, believing that Zhou Wen had plans.


    "It''s obvious. Zhou Wen is learning from Feng Qiuyan. What kind of deeper meaning can there be?" Tian Zhenzhen increasingly felt that Ming Xiu had been brainwashed by Zhou Wen.


    "Watch and see. Zhou Wen likes to do the unexpected. Perhaps this is also a teaching method," Ming Xiu said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen had already grasped the method Feng Qiuyan was talking about. All he needed was time to practice. However, even if he reached true mastery, the improvement in his speed would still be insufficient.


    "Use your swift saber to attack me," Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan after some thought. He wanted to observe Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques in actual combat to see if there was anything he could use as a reference to raise his sword''s speed.


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t waste any time. He picked up a practice wooden saber from the rack, but he glanced at the practice greatsword in Zhou Wen''s hand and said, "Coach, if you want to be swift with the sword, this type of greatsword isn''t suitable. It''s best if you use a thinner and lighter one."


    It wasn''t like Zhou Wen didn''t want to change it, but only the Overlord Sword could break through the white cocoon. As for the Overlord Sword, it was a greatsword, and its weight was heavier than the practice sword in his hand. Therefore he had to use the greatsword to practice. It would be useless to master it using the thin sword.


    If it weren''t for the fact that the Overlord Sword was too heavy, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have needed training. Just the technique and speed of Transcendent Flying Immortal were fast enough.


    "I know. I just want to use the greatsword to practice my swift sword," Zhou Wen said.


    When Tian Zhenzhen heard that, she became more convinced that Zhou Wen wasn''t a proper coach. No one would use a greatsword to hone their speed. Anyone who practiced swords knew that such a heavy weapon wasn''t suited for ordinary sword techniques at all, much less fast ones. Even someone who didn''t know how to wield a sword would definitely know that such a heavy weapon couldn''t allow one to take the path of the quick sword.


    Feng Qiuyan only nodded as he drew his saber and slashed at Zhou Wen.


    It was unknown how Feng Qiuyan had been training recently, but Zhou Wen realized that his saber techniques had become even faster and stronger. Furthermore, they weren''t as impetuous as before. He already had the aura of a saber expert.


    Zhou Wen raised his greatsword to block Feng Qiuyan''s saber, finding each strike of Feng Qiuyan''s saber becoming faster than the last, but it was unusually stable. It was like a flowing river that flowed without end.


    After Zhou Wen blocked the first strike, he realized that he couldn''t find a chance to strike back. Under the relentless inundation of the saber techniques, all he could do was retreat and block.


    What impressive saber techniques. This fellow''s improvement is just too fast. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be surprised at Feng Qiuyan''s rate of improvement. He seemed to exude a completely different feeling every time he met him.


    "Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques are really impressive. Although I can learn the same saber techniques and reach a certain mastery as well. However, no matter how I use them, I can''t give off the feeling that he does. It''s like there''s always something lacking," Ming Xiu said in thought.


    "Feng Qiuyan is indeed very strong, but Zhou Wen isn''t able to counterattack from Feng Qiuyan''s strikes. How is he as strong as you say?" Tian Zhenzhen was almost certain that Ming Xiu had been hoodwinked. Zhou Wen wasn''t as strong as the rumors said.

 332 Sword Training

    Feng Qiuyan''s saber slashed faster and faster. The swift and forceful posture was as though Zhou Wen would have his head chopped off if he blinked.


    Zhou Wen had switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra strengthened his Constitution, but it wasn''t as simple as that.


    There were six types of the Perfection of Wisdom according to Buddhism. The first was True Determination Perfection of Wisdom, the second was Realm Perfection of Wisdom, the third was Linguistic Perfection of Wisdom, the fourth was Enlightenment Perfection of Wisdom, and the fifth was Attendant Perfection of Wisdom. The sixth was the Diamond Perfection of Wisdom that most people were more familiar with.


    The Perfection of Wisdom was about wisdom, with the six types of Perfection of Wisdom being the wisdom of the Universe. The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was the ability to raise one''s physical body. It made one''s senses sharp enough to understand the underlying laws of the Universe.


    When using the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Zhou Wen''s body and six senses were enhanced. His perception of the outside world also became very sharp.


    He could sense the minute changes in Feng Qiuyan''s saber technique with each delivered strike. Although the saber technique looked simple, it contained an inexplicable technique. Zhou Wen was also able to sense the flaws of Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques.


    The greatsword was too heavy, and it suffered immense resistance as well. He wasn''t able to match Feng Qiuyan''s speed. All could Zhou Wen only use the flaws in Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques to barely fend off his attacks.


    However, it had to be said that Feng Qiuyan was indeed a martial arts prodigy. If Zhou Wen were to exploit any flaws he used once, Feng Qiuyan would immediately correct them, preventing him from exploiting them a second time.


    Fast! Fast! Fast!


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber was so fast that most couldn''t have a clear grasp of what was happening even without blinking. Tian Zhenzhen didn''t even blink as she watched from the side. However, all she could see were flickering saber flashes and shadows, preventing her from seeing its trajectory.


    Ming Xiu could only barely keep up with Feng Qiuyan''s saber speed and his saber techniques.


    Zhou Wen, who was directly facing Feng Qiuyan, felt this more acutely. He thought to himself, Feng Qiuyan is really incredible. If I were to fight him, I would have to use all my strength and defeat him with the first few strikes. The longer one delays, the less chance there is of defeating him. After a hundred strikes, I''m afraid he''d be truly invincible against all his peers of the same level. No one could stop such a swift saber. It''s no wonder his Life Providence is Swift Saber Heavenly King. He really has the potential to be a King of the Sabers.


    Zhou Wen had reaped immense benefits from facing Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques. The way Feng Qiuyan struck out and withdrew his saber was like a textbook example. It allowed Zhou Wen to realize what he needed to do to be the fastest.


    If the greatsword in his hand wasn''t as heavy, he might have been able to keep up with Feng Qiuyan''s speed.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t have the talent of Swift Saber Heavenly King, so if he allowed the situation to continue, Feng Qiuyan would definitely be faster than him. It wasn''t wrong to say that he was invincible after a hundred saber strikes. Even Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to fight Feng Qiuyan after he delivered a hundred saber strikes.


    However, Zhou Wen was now learning, so he naturally didn''t stop Feng Qiuyan from continuing his slashes. Only through such a swift saber could Zhou Wen more accurately sense how Feng Qiuyan managed to strike and withdraw with his saber.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that Feng Qiuyan was indeed different from the typical person. The average person was quick at striking out but much slower at retracting.


    However, Feng Qiuyan''s retracting was faster than his slashing, so this resulted in him being able to deliver three strikes in a time frame which most could only deliver two.


    This technique was naturally learned by Zhou Wen. At the same time, he realized that Feng Qiuyan would shake his wrist habitually every time he struck.


    Although this action had benefits in raising the saber''s speed, it also made his saber move an additional distance. This distance was already considered a flaw by Zhou Wen.


    Using this flaw, Zhou Wen dealt a blow with the hilt of his sword and struck Feng Qiuyan''s wrist. Indeed, Feng Qiuyan failed to defend against it. His attack instantly slowed down as he ducked Zhou Wen''s strike.


    However, Feng Qiuyan''s attack had no intention of stopping. His saber stance didn''t stop as he slashed forward once more, but his wrist movement had already vanished.


    At that moment, Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques were nearly inconceivably fast. Even though he was only using a rubber saber, its slashes emitted a cold, sinister aura, as though they would dice up Zhou Wen.


    Even Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen, who were sitting by the side, felt a chill in their hearts. It was as though the saber beams could slash at their necks at any moment.


    This Feng Qiuyan is really incredible. He probably doesn''t pale in comparison to Ming Xiu. Although Tian Zhenzhen had always felt that Ming Xiu was invincible among peers of the same level, she had no choice but to rank him equal to Ming Xiu after seeing Feng Qiuyan''s powerful saber moves. She didn''t dare underestimate him in the slightest.


    However, when she saw Zhou Wen, who had been suppressed by Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques, she was even more certain that Ming Xiu had definitely been duped.


    Although this Zhou Wen''s strength isn''t bad and he''s able to withstand Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber for so long, it''s impossible for such strength to be enough to be Feng Qiuyan''s personal coach. I''ll have to talk to Ming Xiu about it later, Tian Zhenzhen thought to herself.


    Ming Xiu had experienced Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber moves many times. Since he had started the exchange, he had sparred with Feng Qiuyan daily, so he was extremely familiar with his saber speed. However, today, Feng Qiuyan seemed exceptionally strong. Ming Xiu felt that if he was Feng Qiuyan''s opponent, the outcome would have been decided long ago. It was impossible for him to continue allowing Feng Qiuyan to slash out; otherwise, he would definitely lose.


    However, Zhou Wen clearly didn''t have any intention of winning. He continued letting Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber accelerate even faster.


    What does Coach want? Ming Xiu was puzzled as he frowned in thought.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen had managed to simplify his striking and withdrawal to the extreme. However, he still felt that he couldn''t match Feng Qiuyan''s saber speed.


    The saber was so fast that it was almost invisible. Even Feng Qiuyan himself was beginning to lose control of such speed. Veins protruded from his fingers as his hand, which held the saber, trembled. It was as though the saber might lose control at any moment.


    "Feng Qiuyan, be careful. I''m about to strike." Zhou Wen was unable to withstand the pressure. He suddenly shouted and dragged the greatsword in his hand as he slashed upwards. He had used Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal had been simplified and improved by Zhou Wen. Although he couldn''t reach the level of Feng Qiuyan''s saber retraction being faster than his saber striking, he was able to reach near parity. All sorts of tiny actions were simplified to the extreme. Nothing was superfluous or redundant.


    Compared to the past, Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal was more domineering and direct. It lacked some lithe and grace, but it was incomparably domineering.


    Tian Zhenzhen originally imagined that Zhou Wen was about to be cleaved down by that unbelievable fast saber, but to her surprise, Zhou Wen''s aura changed. Instantly, he resembled a powerful demon that had descended into the world. He became one with the sword and streaked across the sky at lightning speed. Sword shadows intersected with Feng Qiuyan at the center, forming an arc with the sounds of swords and sabers clashing. It was impossible to tell how many times their weapons clashed.


    Despite Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber, he couldn''t keep up with the domineering swordplay. After the sword shadows that filled the sky dissipated, Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan stood facing each other.


    The saber in Feng Qiuyan''s hand hung to the ground as Zhou Wen''s greatsword rested on his neck.


    This person¡­ is too terrifying¡­ Tian Zhenzhen was alarmed. She felt that Zhou Wen''s strike was the most domineering and grandest sword technique she had ever seen in her entire life.

 333 People of Different Realms

    Zhou Wen was delighted by the improvement in Transcendent Flying Immortal. He wanted to thank Feng Qiuyan for sparring with him; otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to make such progress in such a short period of time.


    However, before Zhou Wen could say a word, Feng Qiuyan said, "Coach, thank you for your guidance. I''ve learned something."


    "What did you learn?" Zhou Wen was somewhat confused, unsure what Feng Qiuyan meant.


    Feng Qiuyan said solemnly, "Coach, you specifically came to point out the flaws in my saber techniques. You truly care about me, and I will definitely not disappoint you. I will definitely be accomplished in the future. Coach, don''t worry."


    Who the hell has expectations for you? Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan with a mixed expression. Seeing Feng Qiuyan''s sincere and serious expression, he couldn''t bring himself to thank him. All he could do was say helplessly, "Train well. I have something to tend to. I''ll be leaving now."


    "Coach, don''t worry. I''ll definitely work hard," Feng Qiuyan shouted as Zhou Wen walked away.


    Zhou Wen didn''t turn his head as he waved his hand. He really didn''t know what to say. He clearly hadn''t taught anything, but Feng Qiuyan always made rapid progress. This left Zhou Wen puzzled.


    "Coach''s swordsmanship is really amazing!" Ming Xiu walked over and said with a fiery gaze.


    He had been researching the sword technique his father had passed down. He wanted to modify it so that it could truly join the ranks of formidable sword techniques. Initially, he had no clue how to proceed, but after seeing Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal, he had a vague idea.


    Tian Zhenzhen said from the side, "Zhou Wen''s sword technique is indeed quite good, but he only defeated Feng Qiuyan once."


    Tian Zhenzhen was already convinced that Zhou Wen was very strong. The strike was indeed domineering and it left a deep impression on her. However, from the beginning to the end, Zhou Wen had been constantly suppressed by Feng Qiuyan. At the end of it, he only had a one-strike advantage. From her point of view, the two of them were evenly matched, and Zhou Wen had only won by a narrow margin.


    However, Feng Qiuyan shook his head and said, "That''s just what you see on the surface. Actually, Coach wasn''t asking me to teach him the technique of a swift sword, but to point out the flaws in my saber techniques."


    "Is that so?" Tian Zhenzhen was quite doubtful of Feng Qiuyan''s words.


    Feng Qiuyan asked, "Didn''t you realize that Coach rarely counterattacked?"


    "Isn''t it because he was suppressed by your swift saber?" Tian Zhenzhen asked.


    Feng Qiuyan said in all seriousness, "Of course not. The reason Coach didn''t counterattack is that he wanted me to demonstrate my saber techniques to the fullest extent so that he could find the flaws in them. He didn''t counterattack much, but every time he did, he hit the flaws in my saber technique, making me realize my weaknesses so that I can correct them in time."


    "Is that so?" Tian Zhenzhen''s eyes widened in disbelief. However, this came from the horse''s mouth. She just couldn''t doubt him.


    Ming Xiu also said, "That''s true. Every time Coach made a move, he did strike at the flaws in the saber technique. To be able to see through the flaws in an opponent''s saber technique so quickly in a battle, his martial arts attainments are indeed much better than ours."


    With even Ming Xiu saying that. Tian Zhenzhen couldn''t keep up her doubts.


    However, Ming Xiu didn''t know that Zhou Wen''s powers weren''t purely because of his martial arts attainments. It was an ability that came with the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    Feng Qiuyan nodded in agreement. "Indeed. Coach is caring. He knew that my saber techniques were flawed, so he came specially to point them out to me. Only after I corrected all the flaws in my saber techniques did he defeat me with one strike. If he had gone all out from the beginning, I wouldn''t have been able to withstand that strike of his, so how could I deliver a hundred strikes at Coach?"


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t know that Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal wasn''t that strong in the beginning. It was only because he learned the beneficial traits of a hundred saber strikes did he evolve it into something so terrifying.


    That''s what happened? Tian Zhenzhen was alarmed. On careful thought, it did seem to be the case. If Zhou Wen were to directly use that extremely domineering strike, wouldn''t Feng Qiuyan have lost in one strike?


    With this in mind, Tian Zhenzhen couldn''t help but sigh. "Sunset College indeed lives up to its reputation as the best college in this district. To think a student could be this strong. My horizons have been too stilted in the past."


    "That''s very normal. You guys haven''t been here for too long. As time goes by, you will understand Coach''s true strength. In the past, when Coach played games on his cell phone while competing with me. He didn''t even spare me a glance. I wasn''t his match either. Furthermore, I was completely defeated." The competition Feng Qiuyan mentioned was actually back during their first encounter at the ball launcher. It wasn''t a real battle.


    However, when Tian Zhenzhen and Ming Xiu heard this, it left them shocked beyond words. An expert like Feng Qiuyan who could fight Ming Xiu to a draw could actually be defeated by Zhou Wen with one hand. Furthermore, he was gaming on his phone. This was unbelievable.


    "Coach¡­ Is he really that powerful?" Tian Zhenzhen changed the way she addressed Zhou Wen, no longer calling Zhou Wen by his name.


    "I wouldn''t call him strong, but that he''s on a completely different realm from us. Alright, it''s time for me to train. After Coach''s guidance, not only did he make me correct the flaws of my saber techniques, he even made me realize something new. His final strike was to tell me that no one would foolishly wait for me to deliver more than a hundred strikes. If I can''t resolve this problem, my saber techniques can only be considered inferior. Now, I''m going to practice my saber techniques and resolve this problem." After saying that, Feng Qiuyan turned and left.


    "I''m also going to practice my swordplay. Coach''s strike has inspired me greatly. I think I have a direction in my research of my own sword technique." Ming Xiu also left hurriedly.


    Tian Zhenzhen followed Ming Xiu with a complicated expression. She turned back and looked in the direction in which Zhou Wen had left. I thought Ming Xiu was invincible among his peers. I never expected there to be such a strong peer in the world. It''s truly terrifying.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t know what they were thinking. Now, his Transcendent Flying Immortal had improved significantly. All he needed to do was train for a period of time to hone his striking and retracting, allowing him to advance to Rank 10 quickly.


    Zhou Wen didn''t do anything significant for the next few days. He just trained his Transcendent Flying Immortal in-game. He wanted to push it to the limit and slice through the white cocoon in a perfect manner to obtain a drop of blood from the terrifying creature within to see if he could advance to the Epic stage.


    Although he already had quite a number of Epic pets, such as the Mutated Stone Chi, the Purple Air Bell, and the White Shadow of Poison¡ªwhich were all very strong¡ªhe would ultimately suffer if his strength was too weak. It didn''t matter how powerful his pets were if he were to be killed. All of them would vanish and be of no use.

 334 Something Happened

    "Zhou Wen, something happened. Come to Old Dragon Cave quickly." Early in the morning, Zhou Wen was still sleeping when his phone rang. When the call connected, he heard Zhong Ziya''s anxious voice.


    Zhong Ziya was usually an indifferent person who didn''t take anything to heart. Zhou Wen had never heard him speak in such a panicked tone before and had an ominous feeling in his heart.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    "The League''s Special Inspector Bureau sealed the laboratory, saying that Teacher is a spy from overseas and has arrested him. The school is negotiating with the Special Inspector Bureau," Zhong Ziya hurriedly explained the situation.


    "What?" Zhou Wen was immediately stunned when he heard that. He couldn''t connect Wang Mingyuan to being an overseas spy.


    "Wait for me. I''ll be right there." Zhou Wen didn''t believe that Wang Mingyuan was a spy. Furthermore, with his understanding of the Special Inspector Bureau, he knew their modus operandi. They would place a groundless, trumped-up crime on their target. He was a living example.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the scene, he realized that the entire Dragon Gate Grotto was sealed off. The uniformed inspectors from the Special Inspector Bureau probably numbered about a thousand. Many of them had high-ranking epaulets on their shoulders.


    Zhou Wen recognized Liz from before, but from the looks of it, she was only qualified to stand guard at the entrance.


    There were also Luoyang military, college management, and students outside, making the scene look extremely chaotic.


    Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, and Jiang Yan were outside, their expressions grave.


    "What''s the situation now? Is he alright?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    "It must be a mistake by the bureau. How could Teacher be a spy?" Zhong Ziya said.


    Hui Haifeng comforted, "It should be fine. This is Luoyang, and Tutor is from Luoyang''s Wang family. If there''s no concrete evidence, even the Director-General of the League''s Special Inspector Bureau being here in person wouldn''t be able to take him away so easily. Ms. Wang Fei and the school''s management, and Deputy Governor Qin are inside. It won''t be that easy for the bureau to frame Tutor."


    Zhou Wen felt better hearing Hui Haifeng''s words, but on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    "The Deputy-General of the Special Inspector Bureau is here?" Zhou Wen asked Hui Haifeng.


    Hui Haifeng nodded slightly. It was obvious that he was very worried about this.


    If only they were ordinary inspectors, even if they were ministers of a particular ministry, everything could be easily resolved. It was almost impossible to take someone away from Sunset College.


    However, it wasn''t an easily resolvable task if the Special Inspector Bureau''s Deputy-General was here personally. There was only one reason for him to come personally. The six hero families had already reached a consensus on the matter. This might be extremely disadvantageous for Wang Mingyuan.


    The four of them no longer had any desire to speak. They looked at Dragon Gate Grotto eagerly, hoping to see anything or hear good news.


    Not long after, they saw a group of people approaching them from the stone staircase. Many of them were part of the school management, including Wang Fei and Deputy Governor Qin, but their expressions were sour.


    However, when they saw Wang Mingyuan, their bodies trembled. Wang Mingyuan was held by two inspectors at gunpoint. He was handcuffed.


    Zhou Wen and company knew very well what this meant. Even Deputy Governor Qin had been unable to stop Wang Mingyuan from being arrested. The situation was already at a terrible level.


    "Teacher," Zhong Ziya called and wanted to charge forward, but he was stopped by two inspectors.


    Zhong Ziya had a fearless personality. He tried to force his way in as though he would stab anyone who dared touch Wang Mingyuan even if they were a god.


    "Ziya, stop it." Wang Fei came over to stop Zhong Ziya. Zhong Ziya knew of Wang Fei and Wang Mingyuan''s relationship, so he didn''t charge madly when she stopped. However, his eyes remained glaring at the inspectors.


    "They''re Wang Mingyuan''s students, right? Bring them in for interrogation." A brawny, elderly man in a military uniform and jacket said as he glanced at Zhong Ziya and company.


    "Yes, Deputy-General." Some of the inspectors immediately took the order and wanted to arrest the rest.


    "Deputy-General, they are only ordinary students. They only have an ordinary student-teacher relationship with Wang Mingyuan. As to them having any problems, we will conduct a thorough investigation. There''s no need to trouble your bureau." Deputy Governor Qin extended his hand as a gesture. The troops beside him immediately protected Zhou Wen and company, forming a confrontation with the inspectors.


    "Governor Qin, there is concrete evidence that Wang Mingyuan is an overseas spy. Can you guarantee that his students weren''t brainwashed by him and have been made downlines?" the elder said coldly as he stared at Qin Wufu.


    "No, which is why I''ll take them in for proper investigation. Our Sunset army will not spare a bad person, but we won''t malign a good person either," Qin Wufu said.


    With Qin Wufu not backing down, the elder frowned slightly. Qiao Siyuan walked over and whispered something into the elder''s ear before looking at Zhou Wen.


    The elder''s gaze landed on Zhou Wen and he said indifferently, "So he''s from the An family. It''s no wonder that Governor Qin is protecting him so flagrantly. Forget it, I''ll let him off on account of the An family. However, if our investigations show that he''s involved, I''m afraid the An family won''t be able to shirk their ties with him, even if they want to."


    Then, he ignored Qin Wufu''s reaction and led the inspectors outside.


    Wang Mingyuan appeared very calm while he was being escorted out. He nodded at Zhou Wen and company with a smile, but he didn''t say a word.


    "Ms. Wang Fei, did they frame him? Think of something; we can''t let them take him away. The Special Inspector Bureau is a place where even the innocent will come out half-dead. We mustn''t let Teacher enter a place like that," Zhong Ziya said as he tugged at Wang Fei.


    He knew that with his own strength, there was no way he could save Wang Mingyuan even if he were to risk his life with the Deputy-General present.


    Wang Fei held back Zhong Ziya as she said with a heavy expression, "We''ll talk when we get back."


    Everyone watched helplessly as Wang Mingyuan was escorted away. However, there was nothing they could do.


    "Ms. Wang, can you explain the situation?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Wang Fei sighed softly. "Although I don''t believe that Uncle Mingyuan would be that kind of person, the evidence is conclusive."


    The four of them were stunned when they heard that. Zhong Ziya said, "Impossible! How can Teacher be that kind of person? It must be the Special Inspector Bureau wronging Teacher. They are a bunch of mad dogs that bite anyone they see."


    Wang Fei shook her head slightly and said with a wry smile, "Those documents have Uncle Mingyuan''s signatures. Many of the things were gathered by Uncle Mingyuan himself. Those things can''t be faked."


    Zhou Wen and company were taken aback, momentarily at a loss for words.

 335 Meeting

    "I don''t care if Teacher is an overseas spy. I absolutely cannot let them take him away. Death is inevitable in a place like the Special Investigation Bureau. Ms. Wang, think of a way to snatch him back before they leave Luoyang and destroy the evidence. Then, we can just let Teacher escape into dimensional zones," Zhong Ziya said.


    Wang Fei shook her head and said, "Don''t spout nonsense. You can''t do that kind of thing. There''s no way for him to be a barbarian forever in the dimensional zone, right? Besides, the Director-General of the Special Inspector Bureau brought a Mythical Companion Beast with him. Who could snatch him under his nose?"


    Upon hearing this, Zhong Ziya felt deflated. He frowned and said, "Is there no other solution?"


    Wang Fei remained silent. If she had had a choice, the Wang family and Luoyang military wouldn''t have allowed the bureau to take him away from the school.


    Jiang Yan suddenly said, "Perhaps, Tutor has been expecting this. Since he didn''t escape, it means that he doesn''t plan on escaping."


    "What do you mean?" Zhong Ziya asked with a glare.


    Jiang Yan pondered for a moment before continuing, "Think about it. Wouldn''t there always be someone in the laboratory amongst the four of us? Yet for some reason, none of us were in the laboratory out of coincidence. No one was there."


    "Isn''t that a coincidence? If Teacher had really predicted this, why didn''t he destroy the evidence beforehand? Without the evidence, he wouldn''t have been caught red-handed, and the bureau shouldn''t be able to take him away, right?" Zhong Ziya said.


    Jiang Yan shook his head slightly. "Let''s not talk about Zhou Wen. Hui Haifeng often goes out too. The two of them can''t be counted. But the two of us spend our days in the laboratory, and we seldom head out at the same time. Even if something happens, someone will usually be left behind in the laboratory. I left because Teacher asked me to go to the Myriad Buddha Cave to hunt Golden Warriors. What''s the reason for you not being in the laboratory?"


    "Teacher got me to buy something outside campus for him." Zhong Ziya also felt that something was amiss. It seemed as though Wang Mingyuan had deliberately sent them away.


    Hui Haifeng added, "I was planning to go to the lab today, but yesterday, Tutor told me of a new fist technique that led me to practice late into the night, so I didn''t go in."


    The four of them increasingly felt that Wang Mingyuan had really expected that something would happen today before he sent them away.


    "Let''s leave the talking until we are back in the military camp. Before the bureau leaves, don''t go back to the dorms. Besides, there are some questions that you need answering." Qin Wufu got the soldiers to take Zhou Wen and company back.


    Firstly, it was to protect them. Secondly, they also needed to be investigated thoroughly. If Wang Mingyuan was really an overseas spy, they needed to eliminate the quartet''s suspicion; otherwise, any further problems would pose a threat to Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen had no idea what was up with the overseas spy. When he was questioned privately, he only recounted the details of his interaction with Wang Mingyuan.


    After that, the four of them were detained in the military camp and were not released. However, the treatment they received wasn''t bad; each of them had a single room.


    "Ms. Wang, what''s up with being an overseas spy?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement when Wang Fei came to see him.


    Wang Fei sighed and said, "The overseas factions were established during the early stages of the League. They were a few devils who escaped overseas to create a human faction. Before the appearance of the six heroes, they did whatever they wanted and committed countless crimes. Every one of them was an evil fiend. Their hands were stained with the blood of the innocent. The most famous Jing Daoxian was one of them, but for some reason, Jing Daoxian remained in the League all year round and seldom returned overseas."


    "You mean that Teacher is one of those devils?" Zhou Wen really couldn''t believe that the gentle Wang Mingyuan was a vile devil.


    "Although I don''t believe it either, the evidence is just concrete. Furthermore, he was caught red-handed. Even Uncle Mingyuan didn''t provide an explanation and tacitly admitted it." Despite having her doubts, Wang Fei had no choice but to believe the truth.


    Although that was what was said, Zhou Wen still couldn''t believe that Wang Mingyuan would be such a heinous devil.


    The military camp had its rules. Zhou Wen''s phone and whatever he had on him had been temporarily confiscated by the military. Without his phone to game, Zhou Wen could only wait in a single room.


    This didn''t last long. The next day, Qin Wufu ordered his subordinates to release the four. He also told Zhou Wen that the bureau had already escorted Wang Mingyuan back to Holy City yesterday.


    Zhou Wen got back his phone and items¡ªall of them untouched. Only then was he slightly relieved.


    The four returned to the lab at Old Dragon Cave and found it in a mess. Not only was all the furniture and equipment damaged, but there were also holes dug into the walls.


    The quartet exchanged looks. None of them spoke for a moment. They were unable to accept the fact that Wang Mingyuan was an overseas spy.


    "Jiang Yan, you have the best solutions. Tell me, is there any way to save Teacher?" Zhong Ziya asked while gritting his teeth.


    Jiang Yan shook his head slightly. "Unless we can advance to the Mythical stage, no one can save Tutor in this situation."


    "Then, how will they deal with him?" Zhong Ziya asked again.


    Jiang Yan thought for a moment and said, "If Tutor really is an overseas spy, and even the Director-General of the bureau was activated, then his status can''t be low. Or perhaps he has some secret that even the Senate wants. That''s why he was forcefully arrested. In that case, it''s possible that they won''t kill Tutor for now, or if he is willing to give them what they want, he might still have a chance of surviving. Other than that, we can''t do anything."


    Although Zhou Wen knew that it was useless, he still made a phone call to An Sheng and asked his opinion of Wang Mingyuan.


    Although he wanted to know his thoughts, he actually wanted to know if An Sheng had any way to save Wang Mingyuan.


    If it was for himself, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t have asked An Sheng. However, Wang Mingyuan''s position in his heart was different.


    Unfortunately, An Sheng told Zhou Wen with sure certainty that since Wang Mingyuan was caught red-handed, there was no room for negotiation unless Wang Mingyuan could produce something that was satisfactory to the League. Only then did he have a chance of survival.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the matter would end there, but to his surprise, he, Hui Haifeng, and company received a notification from the League that Wang Mingyuan wanted to see them a few days later. However, Wang Mingyuan didn''t insist that they come. He said that they could come if they wanted. They could likewise stay.


    After that, the four of them even had a video call with Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan only said that he wanted to meet them as he had some things he wanted to say to them in person without any elaboration.


    Zhou Wen could sense that Wang Mingyuan appeared to have something he needed to tell them.

 336 Holy Tower

    Although it was very dangerous to head to Holy City like this, Zhou Wen and company ultimately chose to head there.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know why Hui Haifeng and company had chosen to go, but although Zhou Wen hadn''t spent much time with Wang Mingyuan, he had provided him plenty of help. He had even saved his life.


    This meeting might very well be his last meeting with Wang Mingyuan, so Zhou Wen insisted on going.


    Wang Fei and Qin Wufu had persuaded them not to go, but no one was willing to give up the last chance to see Wang Mingyuan and resolutely boarded the plane that the League had sent to pick them up.


    Qin Wufu wanted to attach his personal guards to Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen rejected his offer. This was because bringing two top Epic experts was useless in the Special Inspector Bureau''s territory.


    The Special Inspector Bureau inspectors were very polite to them. They didn''t look as arrogant as they usually did. They tried their best to satisfy their needs along the way. After arriving in Holy City, they politely got them to stay in a guest house under the jurisdiction of the bureau.


    Originally, they thought that the bureau would fall out with them the moment they arrived, but none of that happened. The bureau continued to feed them delicious food, as though they were afraid of ill-treating them.


    "When can we meet Teacher?" Zhong Ziya asked an inspector impatiently.


    "That will depend on the arrangements of the top brass. I''m just an ordinary inspector. I only listen to orders from above," the officer said with a smile.


    Originally believing that they could quickly see Wang Mingyuan, it took them until the third day before an inspector actually got them to prepare to meet Wang Mingyuan.


    After passing through multiple layers of security, Zhou Wen and company entered a secret base located in Holy City. They met Wang Mingyuan in a heavily guarded room.


    Wang Mingyuan''s condition didn''t seem too bad. He hadn''t been subjected to inhuman treatment as they had imagined. He didn''t look injured, and he still wore a warm smile on his face.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that Wang Mingyuan was still somewhat different. Yet, there was a sense of familiarity which he couldn''t put a finger on. The feeling was very subtle.


    "You guys came." Wang Mingyuan smiled at the four of them.


    "Teacher, are you alright?" Zhong Ziya asked worriedly.


    Wang Mingyuan shook his head slightly and asked with a smile, "Do you still remember the question I asked you previously?"


    The four of them were slightly taken aback as Zhou Wen immediately recalled the question Wang Mingyuan had asked him about pain and death. He asked curiously, "Is it the choice between death and pain?"


    Wang Mingyuan nodded and said, "Yes. I''ve asked all of you before, and all of you gave your answers. Later on, all of you asked me how I would choose. At the time, I hadn''t decided, but I now have an answer."


    The four of them looked at Wang Mingyuan in confusion. They didn''t know why he would still care about that question at this juncture.


    However, they all understood Wang Mingyuan''s character. They knew that he wasn''t someone who would do things without a reason. Now that he raised that question, perhaps there was some deeper meaning behind it.


    Zhou Wen was also pondering over the matter, wondering if Wang Mingyuan was hinting to them about something.


    However, Zhou Wen recalled every word Wang Mingyuan said and compared it to every word he was now saying. He couldn''t think of any other underlying meanings.


    In another room separated by a wall, the Director-General of the bureau, Shen Yuchi, Qiao Siyuan, and the other important personnel of the bureau were all watching the conversation between Wang Mingyuan and company through a one-way mirror.


    "Director-General. Wang Mingyuan is part of Luoyang''s Wang family. He has so much family, including his blood-related brothers. Yet, he didn''t choose to meet them and instead chose to meet his four students. Why do I feel that something''s amiss?" Qiao Siyuan said.


    "This is our bureau''s headquarters. Are you afraid that he can escape? Who cares who he wants to see? Once he''s done with the meeting, Wang Mingyuan will be able to help us do what we want," said a director of the bureau.


    Qiao Siyuan frowned slightly. What he hated the most were these people who spent their days in offices without doing anything, just causing trouble for them all day.


    "Listen to them. When we send them away later, separate them and ask them what Wang Mingyuan''s question was," Shen Yuchi said.


    "Yes sir," Qiao Siyuan replied.


    In the room next door, Wang Mingyuan''s gaze swept across Zhou Wen and company''s faces before he said with a smile, "My answer is that, like Jiang Yan, I''ll choose the second option."


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan stood up without waiting for them to react. He faced the mirror and said, "Alright. I''ve said what I wanted to say. Now, you can do what you want to do. However, I have a condition. I need the four of them to follow me."


    Zhou Wen and company wore looks of astonishment. Clearly, Wang Mingyuan''s words weren''t directed at them. They didn''t know what was happening, nor did they know what Wang Mingyuan was up to.


    "Sir, Wang Mingyuan can''t be trusted in the police station. He must have some plans for taking Zhou Wen and company with him. We can''t agree," Qiao Siyuan said.


    "It''s just four students. Even if we let him take them, what trouble will there be?" The director was always at loggerheads with Qiao Siyuan.


    Shen Yuchi frowned slightly and pondered for a moment before saying into the microphone, "Wang Mingyuan, you have too many requests."


    "As the only person who can open the Holy Tower, I don''t think I have a lot of requests, right?" Wang Mingyuan smiled as if he was certain that Shen Yuchi would agree to his request.


    Shen Yuchi''s gaze passed through the glass and met Wang Mingyuan''s eyes. After a while, he said coldly, "This is your last request. If I hear any requests from you again, I''ll kill one of your students with every new request."


    "Deal." Wang Mingyuan nodded slightly.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly, unsure what Wang Mingyuan meant. However, Jiang Yan muttered to himself, "Didn''t the Holy Tower shut down long ago? Can Tutor open the closed Holy Tower?"


    Zhou Wen heard Jiang Yan and was about to ask something when an inspector came over and led Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen, and company out.


    Very soon, they were escorted to a car. There seemed to be a special design in the car that prevented them from hearing or sensing anything outside. They didn''t even know whether the car was driving or not.


    "Teacher, what''s going on?" Although there were still inspectors monitoring them, Zhong Ziya couldn''t help but ask Wang Mingyuan.


    "I''ve already told you the answer. Now, I just want you to accompany me along my final journey," Wang Mingyuan said calmly, his gaze complicated.


    Jiang Yan said, "From what I know, the Holy Tower is likely the defensive hub of the entire Holy City, and it''s also the hub of Holy City and Holy Land. Originally, the six hero families could use the connection between the Holy Tower and the six Holy Temples in the Holy Land to form a defensive net with the strength of the six Holy Temples. The strength of the defensive net was so strong that it could even stop a Mythical creature''s attack. However, Jing Daoxian used some unknown method to shut down the Holy Tower, causing the defensive net in the Holy City to vanish as well. As a result, Jing Daoxian was able to storm the League building and launch a killing spree. Although the League has been researching this matter all this while, no one has been able to reactivate the Holy Tower to this day."

 337 Blast of Ligh

    "Teacher, can you activate the Holy Tower?" Jiang Yan asked Wang Mingyuan.


    Wang Mingyuan nodded slightly but didn''t say a word. Instantly, the vehicle fell silent.


    The Holy Tower was not actually a tower in the ordinary sense of the word. It was a divine statue that was over a hundred meters tall. It was snow-white like jade, as if a person had spread open his arms towards the heavens and was praying for something.


    Legend had it that before Jing Daoxian stormed into the League building and started his massacre, the statue emitted infinite holy light that enveloped the entire Holy City. No matter how many powerful dimensional creatures there were, they were unable to tear through the holy light.


    However, even though the statue remained white and clean, it didn''t have any of its godly radiance. It was just a majestic statue.


    In front of the statue, there were many military officers and inspectors. Among them were six eye-catching figures¡ªfour men and two women. If anyone knew them, they would be shocked to see all six appear at the same time.


    These four men and two women were the heads of the six families right now. They were Senators from the Senate. When the six of them stood together, they had even more authority than the League President.


    After all, the League President''s bills had to be approved by the Senate.


    "Sir, Wang Mingyuan is here." Even the powerful Shen Yuchi had to be respectful in front of the six of them. He did not dare commit a faux pas.


    One of the six¡ªa noble, goddess-like lady¡ªasked calmly, "Is everything ready?"


    "Everything is ready. Wang Mingyuan has already agreed to activate the Holy Tower," Shen Yuchi said.


    "Very good. We have been waiting for this day for too long. If Wang Mingyuan can really reactivate the Holy Tower, he would be the greatest contributor to the League. It''s just a pity¡­" Another elegant middle-aged man said calmly, but he didn''t finish his sentence.


    "Based on the information obtained from him, it''s indeed feasible. However, there are one or two key points that our researcher can''t figure out. We need Wang Mingyuan to do it personally," a secretary-looking person said.


    "Then let him go," the woman said calmly.


    "Yes." Shen Yuchi responded and got someone to bring Wang Mingyuan over.


    When Wang Mingyuan walked past the six of them, the elegant man looked down at him superciliously and said, "Wang Mingyuan, after the Holy Tower is reactivated, we will pardon all your crimes and give you the chance to redo things. You must seize this opportunity and not waste our kindness."


    "I will grab hold of the opportunity." Wang Mingyuan wore shackles¡ªa manifestation of a special Companion Beast. Even a Mythical creature would find it difficult to escape if it was bound by the shackles.


    With the inspectors escorting them, Zhou Wen and company followed Wang Mingyuan to the statue.


    "Are the four youths Wang Mingyuan''s students?" the elegant middle-aged man asked as he looked at Zhou Wen and company.


    "Yes, one of them is related to the An family," Shen Yuchi said.


    "In extraordinary times, even the Ans are no exception. To be able to sacrifice for the League is considered priceless. I believe the Ans can understand," the elegant middle-aged man said ethereally as though he had determined Zhou Wen and company''s fate.


    Wang Mingyuan stopped in front of the Holy Tower. In front of him stood a stone cauldron which was in front of the statue. Everyone''s attention was drawn to him. Even the six people standing at the top of the League couldn''t help but stare at Wang Mingyuan, anticipating his actions.


    Wang Mingyuan turned to look at the League official beside him and said, "The sacrificial ceremony can begin. Let''s go according to procedure. If anything goes wrong, it won''t be my fault."


    "If something goes wrong, you''ll be the first to die." That official gave a cold snort before looking at where Shen Yuchi was.


    Seeing Shen Yuchi nod slightly, the official gave the order. A group of soldiers walked up and lined up before the stone cauldron. Then, they cut their fingers and dripped a drop of blood into the stone cauldron.


    As more and more blood dripped into the stone cauldron, it suddenly ignited. It was as if the blood was gasoline. The more blood dripped into the cauldron, the stronger the flames inside the cauldron became.


    Glee appeared on the four men and two women''s faces. If the Holy Tower could really be reactivated, the safety of Holy City would be greatly increased. Even if all the dimensional zones in the future were to lose their binding forces, the Holy Land would remain the last bastion of humanity. No dimensional creatures could storm in.


    But as more and more soldiers offered up their blood, the flames in the stone cauldron rose higher and higher; yet, there were no other changes. The statue did not emit any holy light.


    Seeing that the last soldier had left the altar after sacrificing his blood, the official frowned and asked, "Wang Mingyuan, what do we do next?"


    "Next requires a sincere prayer," Wang Mingyuan said.


    The official was slightly taken aback as he asked in puzzlement, "Is praying useful?"


    "If prayers were useful, there wouldn''t be so many poor people in the world," Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    "Are you messing with me?" The official was enraged. He pointed at Wang Mingyuan and said, "You''d better activate the Holy Tower or I''ll make you regret that you were ever born."


    Wang Mingyuan suddenly moved and slammed into the official. The official''s strength was average to begin and held a deskbound job. His combat skills were almost nil. Caught off guard by Wang Mingyuan''s collision, he involuntarily retreated and slammed into the stone tripod cauldron. Immediately, he fell into the burning stone cauldron.


    The official''s entire body burst into flame. He screamed and tried to climb out, but it was as though a pair of hands were pulling him from inside the stone cauldron, preventing him from climbing up no matter how hard he tried.


    "Wang Mingyuan¡­ What are you doing?" Shen Yuchi was furious. All the soldiers and inspectors aimed their firearms at Wang Mingyuan. With just an order from him, they would immediately riddle Wang Mingyuan with holes.


    Wang Mingyuan ignored him and turned to face the statue.


    Shen Yuchi frowned and shouted a few more questions, but Wang Mingyuan ignored them. He just stood there and looked up at the statue.


    The noble woman stopped Shen Yuchi, who was about to personally deal with Wang Mingyuan. She pointed to the statue and said, "Hold on, look at the statue."


    All they could see was a bright glow on the hands of the divine Statue. Even though it wasn''t very bright, it was something that had never happened before in their years of research on the Holy Tower. It left them ecstatic.


    The tragic cries of the official in the flames began to weaken, but the glow on the statue grew stronger and stronger. Not only its hands, but the entire statue emitted a holy glow, as though it was really manifesting its divine powers.


    "In a sacrificial ritual, a sacrifice is obviously needed." Wang Mingyuan wore an odd expression and muttered as he watched the holy brilliance rise up.


    Zhou Wen and company were inches away. As they looked at Wang Mingyuan''s expression, they felt that he looked extremely unfamiliar at that very moment. He didn''t seem like the same person in their memories.


    Shen Yuchi and the other six high and mighty existences were all filled with excitement. They saw that the light above the two hands of the statue shot up into the sky, turning into a halo that spread out in all directions, as if it wanted to turn the entire sky into a holy resplendence.


    All the residents of the Holy City saw this strange scene. Some of the older elders couldn''t help but cheer. They still remembered the time when the Holy City was enveloped by the holy light. Those were the safest periods of their lives.

 338 A Farewell Gif

    The divine statue''s radiance was dazzling like a divine tower that reached the sky.


    A godly glow spread out across the sky, bathing the entire Holy City. Those who knew of the radiance of the Holy Tower were overjoyed.


    The six Senators were also overjoyed. After decades, the Holy City''s brilliance finally appeared in front of everyone once again.


    "This is the real Holy City. This is the Holy Brilliance that can stir the souls of everyone. With the Holy City around, the League is eternal¡­" a Senator said feverishly, his eyes burning with excitement.


    Shen Yuchi was also excited. To be able to accomplish such a great thing was undoubtedly a great contribution all thanks to the Special Inspector Bureau.


    In front of the Holy Tower, the entire altar was lit up with a bright Holy Brilliance. The humans inside seemed to melt like snow.


    Shen Yuchi and the six Senators were not surprised because they already knew that such a thing would happen. Back when the six families first activated the Holy Tower, something similar had happened. How could a human be able to taint the holiness of God? Once the Holy Tower was activated, everything on the altar would be purified. This was something that couldn''t be avoided.


    No human could survive on the altar, including the six heroes of the past. They knew very well how terrifying the power of the Holy Tower was. It was a power that came from the six Holy Temples. Other than the mighty existences within the Holy Temples, no human could withstand it.


    Zhou Wen felt his body being corroded by the intense Holy Brilliance. He hurriedly summoned the Stone Chi and transformed into a stone armor to protect his body. However, the armor rapidly melted under the terrifying Holy Brilliance as though it was being eaten by termites.


    Jiang Yan and the others were in similar circumstances, looking extremely uneasy.


    "Teacher, let''s escape now," Zhong Ziya said as he slashed at the brilliance before him. However, his sword ended up being melted. He failed to deal any damage to it.


    "Escape? Why would I escape? I came here to wait for this moment." Wang Mingyuan looked at the resplendent statue in front of him with a determined gaze.


    "Teacher, what are you trying to do?" Although Zhou Wen had always felt that Wang Mingyuan wouldn''t harm them, everything Wang Mingyuan was doing now was beyond his imagination.


    Wang Mingyuan turned his head and said to Zhou Wen and company, "We''re master and disciple after all. There are some things I need to give to you. Just treat it as Wang Mingyuan''s final inheritance in this world. Keep it as a memento."


    Crack!


    The shackles on Wang Mingyuan''s body split apart automatically and fell to the ground like garbage. Before they landed on the ground, they were melted by the Holy Brilliance.


    Wang Mingyuan exuded a strange power that blocked the Holy Brilliance, preventing his four students from suffering any more damage from it.


    Zhou Wen looked at the power emitted by Wang Mingyuan and felt that it was somewhat familiar. However, he couldn''t figure out the reason for its familiarity.


    Wang Mingyuan had been held for many days. He was probably only left with his prison uniform. However, when he extended his palm into the void, he seemed to tear through it as he grabbed something out of thin air.


    It was a thick diary that looked old, but it was very well-preserved. Zhou Wen had seen it in the past. It was a diary that Wang Mingyuan had always carried with him. Whenever he had any ideas and inspiration, he would jot them down in the diary.


    "Jiang Yan, your personality is the most similar to mine and you like research. This contains my years of experience and thoughts. I''ll give it to you," Wang Mingyuan said as he handed the diary to Jiang Yan.


    Jiang Yan took the diary with both hands, saying nothing.


    Wang Mingyuan didn''t say anything further. The power around him grew stronger, his body seemed to be affected by it. It was as though he was gently trembling. Zhou Wen could even see the rippling power flowing around him.


    Wang Mingyuan took out another sheathed sword and handed it to Zhong Ziya. "You''re too extreme, so it''s inevitable that there will be some deviation in what you do. Perhaps giving this sword to you will be of some help to you."


    Zhong Ziya remained silent as he received the sword and stared straight at Wang Mingyuan.


    Wang Mingyuan knew what Zhong Ziya wanted to hear, but he didn''t tell him anything. Instead, he took out something else and handed it to Hui Haifeng. "You have great ambitions and will definitely accomplish much in the future. These are the savings that I''ve saved over the years. They''re useless now. Take them."


    "Yes, Tutor." Hui Haifeng didn''t decline it. He respectfully received the small box, unsure what it contained.


    Finally, Wang Mingyuan''s gaze landed on Zhou Wen as he said with a smile, "You are the simplest of the four of them. You don''t have as many thoughts and desires as the three of them, but you''re also the most difficult to understand. Although I know what you want, I can''t do it now. Apart from that matter, what other wishes do you have? There''s no harm in telling me."


    At this moment, the power on Wang Mingyuan''s body was almost tangible, transforming into streams of light that constantly circulated around his body. The familiar aura Zhou Wen sensed intensified.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally remembered where he had felt such an aura.


    Beneath the Dragon''s Well, the white cocoon protected by the White Dragon contained the same aura. However, the white cocoon''s aura was very weak, so weak that it was almost undetectable. This left a very vague impression on Zhou Wen.


    However, Wang Mingyuan''s aura was very strong. It was so strong that it left Zhou Wen stifled.


    Could it be that Teacher¡­ Zhou Wen had an extremely nasty thought as he looked at Wang Mingyuan.


    "I don''t have much time. Answer me. What do you want?" Wang Mingyuan had a strange expression as his entire body trembled. His voice seemed to be suppressed.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan with some bitterness. After a moment, he said, "Teacher, can you give me a drop of your blood?"


    Zhou Wen''s words stunned Wang Mingyuan, Zhong Ziya, and company. Wang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Wen and smiled. "You''re indeed the most difficult person to understand."


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan ignored Zhou Wen. He slowly turned around and back faced the four of them as he gazed at the resplendent statue.


    "I''m really very happy to spend time with you guys. Unfortunately, things must always come to an end. Today, we shall bid each other farewell. From now on, we will be unrelated. As a final farewell, I''ll give you another tiny gift." With Wang Mingyuan''s trembling words, the power in his body exploded, spewing out like an erupting volcano as his body changed.


    The black hair on his head instantly turned white and quickly grew. It almost reached the ground, and a pair of crystal-like horns grew on his head. His entire body was undergoing an unusual transformation.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen and company couldn''t see Wang Mingyuan''s face; otherwise, they would definitely discover that his face had turned handsome and strange. His eyes emitted an indescribable odd glow.


    That terrifying power rose up from his body like countless divine beams of light that surrounded him. His clothes moved without any help from the wind as his body floated up to the statue.

 339 A Drop of Blood

    "What is that?" The six excited Senators suddenly saw a figure appear within the resplendent Holy Brilliance¡ªit was right in front of the statue.


    The noble woman stared at Wang Mingyuan who was before the holy statue and said in surprise, "That''s¡­ Wang Mingyuan¡­ No¡­ That aura¡­ Why does it feel like a dimensional creature¡­"


    "What is he trying to do?" The middle-aged man frowned, feeling a little uncomfortable.


    Naturally, no one could answer his question. They didn''t know what Wang Mingyuan wanted to do. They even believed that Wang Mingyuan should already be dead. No human could survive the Holy Brilliance¡ªhe should have been purified a long time ago.


    Shen Yuchi''s expression was also changing at the same time. He had an extremely ominous feeling, as if something terrible was about to happen.


    Although all of them wanted to stop Wang Mingyuan, no one moved, they didn''t dare enter the statue''s confines. The Holy Brilliance came from the power of the six Holy Temples, so entering the altar was equivalent to fighting the six Holy Temples. Even a Mythical Companion Beast wouldn''t be able to withstand it and would be purified in the Holy Brilliance.


    Levitating in front of the statue, Wang Mingyuan stared at the statue and muttered to himself, "If there is an unforgivable crime in this world, then let me be the one to bear it."


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan slowly raised his arm high like a blade. His fingers pointed into the sky as the strange powers on his arm condensed into something corporeal.


    "What¡­ is he trying to do¡­" Shen Yuchi''s voice was already trembling. He seemed to have guessed what Wang Mingyuan was up to, but he couldn''t believe that something like that would happen.


    "Wang Mingyuan¡­" The six Senators roared in unison, but it was of no use.


    Boom!


    Wang Mingyuan slashed down with his arm. The terrifying power was like the Heaven''s blade, forcibly slicing the giant statue into two. The split statue slowly collapsed to the sides.


    The whole of Holy City fell into a state of panic. Everyone stared blankly at the god-like figure floating in the air, as well as the two halves of the collapsing holy statue. Their hearts seemed to crumble along with it.


    Boom!


    Holy City seemed to quake due to the collapse of the holy statue. It shattered into pieces, but the Holy Brilliance coming from the sky didn''t come to an end. Beams of Holy Brilliance descended from the sky like God''s punishment. It was akin to the apocalypse.


    Without the holy statue that prayed to the heavens, Holy City directly crumbled to the ground. No one could predict what the consequences would be. Perhaps the whole of Holy City would be reduced to rubble.


    Instantly, everyone was stunned. Even the powerful Senators, who possessed Mythical Companion Beasts, felt their scalps tingle as they quickly retreated, hoping to escape this area.


    Boom!


    The bombardment of the Holy Brilliance did not hit the ground. In the air, the godlike Wang Mingyuan suffered the brunt of the terrifying Holy Brilliance.


    The boundless Holy Brilliance inundated him, bathing his body in it. But he didn''t seem to be injured at all. Instead, a terrifying power gathered in him, causing his body to continue to undergo a strange change.


    Boom!


    Amidst the Holy Brilliance, six pairs of butterfly-shaped wings of light appeared behind Wang Mingyuan as a halo that represented godhood appeared behind him. It was as though a true god had descended.


    On the altar, Zhou Wen and company were already stunned. Wang Mingyuan exuded an extremely terrifying aura. They had never seen such a terrifying existence.


    Even though Zhou Wen had seen the white dragon at the bottom of Dragon''s Well and had seen the nine black dragons in the underground sea before, none of them were as terrifying as the present Wang Mingyuan. Compared to them, the difference was like night and day.


    Wang Mingyuan emitted an indescribable god-like halo. When the halo landed on Zhou Wen and company, it made them feel as though their bodies had been baptized by holy water. Their bodies, flesh, and bones¡ªevery cell¡ªwere transformed. It was as though they had been reborn.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally knew what the last gift Wang Mingyuan mentioned was.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t delighted when he saw the godlike Wang Mingyuan in midair. Instead, he felt strangely upset.


    Wang Mingyuan''s aura transformed into a dimensional aura. Zhou Wen could no longer sense a human aura from him. It was as though he was no longer a human, but a dimensional creature that was an enemy of humanity.


    "Little Wen, what will you choose¡ªpain or death?" Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall the question Wang Mingyuan had asked him.


    Now, Zhou Wen seemed to understand something. Wang Mingyuan had been doing research all these years, hoping to find a way out to deal with the situation after the restrictive forces in the dimensional zones vanished.


    However, he didn''t see any hope, so he chose another path. Just like the question he asked, he chose to live in pain. The pain he endured might not be physical, but mental pain and anguish¡ªone far more tortuous than physical pain.


    In the sky, the godlike Wang Mingyuan looked up with a cold expression. He said calmly, "Since this world lacks the power to eliminate demons, I''ll devolve to become a demon and become a demon among demons."


    As soon as he said that, the terrifying power in him surged into the sky. Even the Holy Brilliance was dispersed by his power, piercing into the void and tearing apart a huge black hole.


    Countless illusions appeared within the black hole. There were flying fairies, terrifying dragons, roaring behemoths, holy angels, and savage demons.


    Everyone stared at the black hole in the sky in a daze. Before they could react, countless roars could be heard coming from the black hole. A hundred-meter-long black centipede rushed out as it flapped its six wings.


    In the next second, all sorts of terrifying dimensional creatures rushed out of the black hole, instantly blotting out the sky. It was as though the apocalypse had dawned.


    Wang Mingyuan looked down at Zhou Wen and company before decisively turning around to walk on air. He slowly walked towards the black hole in the sky.


    Despite the countless powerful dimensional creatures present, none of them dared approach him. They automatically made way for him, as though he was the king of this world. Any creature that stood in front of him could not afford to withstand his rage.


    "Teacher!" Zhou Wen felt an indescribable pain in his heart as though he had lost something. He couldn''t help but cry out.


    However, no one responded to him. Wang Mingyuan had already entered the black hole and his body gradually vanished. However, a drop of red blood flew across space and floated in front of Zhou Wen like a drop of crystallized blood.


    The drop of blood was bright red, giving off a warm feeling. It was holy and without any evil.

 340 Disaster

    Holy City was in pandemonium as terrifying dimensional creatures endlessly rushed out of the black hole like locusts that blotted out the sky. They charged into Holy City and wreaked havoc.


    The clashing of forces and human cries were everywhere. Many innocent humans died and countless families had been destroyed.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if Wang Mingyuan''s choice was right or wrong. That wasn''t something he could figure out yet.


    He extended his hand to grab the crystalline blood and the Lost Immortal Sutra immediately circulated crazily and absorbed it. Zhou Wen immediately felt a strange force spread across his body.


    "What are you waiting for? Take the opportunity of the chaos to storm out of Holy City! Do you want to wait to be caught?" Zhong Ziya pushed Zhou Wen.


    He wasn''t sad anymore. No matter what Wang Mingyuan had become, Zhong Ziya felt that it was enough as long as Wang Mingyuan was alive.


    Jiang Yan and Hui Haifeng ran out. Holy City was in a mess¡ªhumans were fighting the dimensional creatures everywhere, so no one had the time to pay attention to them.


    The four of them retreated as they fought. They saw powerful humans riding gigantic dragons and streaking across the sky to fight the dimensional creatures. There were also people wielding flying swords. The sword beams shot out like thousands of shooting stars, instantly wiping out a large number of dimensional creatures.


    Various terrifying experts tore through the air to engage in combat, but they were unable to kill all the dimensional creatures that had invaded Holy City. Furthermore, the black hole was constantly open, allowing dimensional creatures to constantly charge in. The flames of war raged nonstop.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen and company were fleeing as a tyrannous eight-headed snake landed in front of them. The eight heads spewed various powers of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, instantly turning the area into a doomsday battlefield. Many ordinary people who were escaping died due to the various terrifying forces.


    With the four of them cornered, all they could do was retreat. Zhou Wen''s figure flashed using Ghost Steps, as he dodged the venom that spewed at him.


    But just as he was about to get his footing, the winged scorpion descended from the sky, its tail radiating a cold light as it shot towards him.


    Zhou Wen drew his saber and slashed the scorpion in half. However, more flying scorpions rushed over like locusts.


    Hui Haifeng, Jiang Yan, and Zhong Ziya were also engaged in tough fights. All of Holy City was filled with dimensional creatures, so it was really difficult for them to storm a path to freedom.


    When everyone was scattered, Hui Haifeng shouted, "Find your own opportunity to charge out. Leave if there''s a chance. Rendezvous in school."


    Zhou Wen knew that their strength was minute in such a battlefield. Just barging out was impossible. All he could do was seek out an opportunity to escape without any other considerations.


    He believed that with Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, and Hui Haifeng''s abilities, they wouldn''t die so easily.


    Boom!


    A mountain-like monster landed several hundred meters in front of Zhou Wen, but with it punching the ground, the streets and buildings that spanned thousands of meters were instantly reduced to fragments. The fragments collided with other objects, killing all the humans caught in between.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly brandished his Bamboo Blade and slashed apart the fragments that were flying towards him. He was still wearing the stone armor for defense, but many spots on his body had been pierced through by the fragments. He was already injured.


    He gritted his teeth and ran in another direction. The Lost Immortal Sutra in him continued circulating rapidly, as though it had reached a critical point and was about to break through.


    Boom!


    The mountain-like monster once again slammed the ground, but this time, the ground didn''t shatter. Instead, it created a powerful suction force that sucked in everything around it.


    Zhou Wen stabbed his Bamboo Blade into the ground, but his entire body was dragged towards the mountain. Despite leaving a deep mark on the ground, the Bamboo Blade failed to stop him from flying towards the mountain-like monster.


    Zhou Wen turned his head to look and saw countless gaping mouths on the mountain-like monster. The humans that had been sucked in had been devoured. He had no idea what their outcomes were.


    With a thought, he activated the Demonic Astral Wheel, using its suction force to keep him firmly on the ground and resist the mountain''s suction force. This prevented him from flying towards it.


    However, the strange mountain''s suction force was just too potent. Zhou Wen was ultimately unable to escape the suction force. He could only barely stop himself from being sucked in.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering how he could escape the suction range of the mountain, he saw a figure tear through the air. It was a woman dressed in black. She had appeared on an ancient bronze sword and entered the region of the strange mountain, but she wasn''t pulled in by it. All she did was float in front of the strange mountain.


    With a pull of her hands, a sword flash immediately condensed between her hands. With a nudge, the sword beam flew towards the mountain.


    As the sword beam flew, the surrounding void trembled as the sword beam split into two, then two to four, four to eight, and eight to sixteen. By the time the sword beam reached the strange mountain, it was already a cloud of swords.


    The strange mountain opened its mouth. After all, it was covered with mouths. It swallowed the cloud-like sword beams.


    The black-robed woman frowned slightly. As she landed on the ancient bronze sword, the sound of the ancient greenish-bronze sword reverberated. She flew back into the air and charged towards the strange mountain.


    The strange mountain didn''t hesitate. It opened its mouth and sucked at the ancient bronze sword. However, a moment later, rays of sword light emerged from the strange mountain, piercing through its body like sharp swords, and soon, the strange mountain resembled a porcupine.


    Boom!


    The strange mountain suddenly crumbled as the ancient sword returned to under the woman''s feet. She didn''t stop and flew towards other terrifying dimensional creatures on her sword. Wherever she went, the sword beam was like a turbulent river that slew countless dimensional creatures.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to watch further. Once the mountain was dead, the suction force would naturally vanish. He chose a direction and charged out of Holy City.


    However, there were too many dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen killed many as he ran, but he only reached the third ring road of Holy City.


    Jiang Yan and company were nowhere to be seen. Apart from the dimensional creatures, he could only see humans fighting for their lives. The majority of them were soldiers, as most ordinary people had turned into corpses.


    A little girl was crying in the ruins, and a centipede that was several meters long was crawling towards her.


    Zhou Wen''s rationality told him that it wasn''t the time to be nosy. Escaping Holy City was imperative, but he couldn''t help but slash out a saber beam, cleaving the centipede into two.


    "Follow me now." Zhou Wen saw that there was nothing around her, except for corpses. Even if the girl''s parents and family weren''t dead, they probably weren''t nearby. All he could do was take her out of Holy City before making plans.

 341 Condensing a Life Soul

    The girl was rather obedient as she reached out and hugged Zhou Wen''s neck. Although she still had tears on her face, she had stopped crying.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate as he slashed at the girl in his arms. At the same time, he pushed her away with his other hand. The girl instantly retreated more than ten meters. Blood was left on the corner of her mouth as she stuck out her tongue to lick it. Her face was filled with a look of greed.


    Zhou Wen touched his neck and his hand was immediately covered with blood. There were two rows of teeth marks on his neck. If he had been any slower, his neck would have been bitten off.


    "Are you a human or a dimensional creature?" Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade as he calmly sized up the girl. Up to this point in time, he still had not realized that the girl had the aura of a dimensional creature. She looked like a two or three-year-old human girl no matter how he looked at her.


    However, her actions and ability proved that she was no ordinary human girl.


    The girl ignored him. Her figure flashed as she pounced at Zhou Wen, so fast that she left blurry shadows in her wake.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used his Bamboo Blade coupled with Transcendent Flying Immortal. Instantly, blade beams flashed as they slashed at the girl.


    However, the girl was surprisingly fast. Zhou Wen''s lightning-like saber technique had actually been dodged by her. She was even faster and more bizarre than Ghost King''s movement technique.


    The girl charged through the gaps in the saber strikes and lunged forward, wanting to bite Zhou Wen''s neck.


    The banana fan appeared in Zhou Wen''s other hand. It fanned at the little girl who came at him, sending her body flying into the air.


    Zhou Wen followed with Ghost Steps and slashed out Demonic Astral Wheel in midair. The blood-red saber beam slashed out, slashing at the girl like a blood wheel. It ripped through her clothes, but the Demonic Astral Wheel failed to slice through her tender-looking, fair skin.


    It was as if the skin was not made of flesh and blood but extremely tough steel.


    Zhou Wen could still understand the failure of Demonic Astral Wheel, but when the sharp Bamboo Blade slashed at her, it actually failed to rip her skin apart. It left him alarmed.


    Bamboo Blade was sharp; even an Epic creature with a relatively stronger physical defense couldn''t completely withstand it. However, this slash didn''t even manage to pierce through her skin. It merely sent her flying. All of this was quite frightening.


    The little girl landed on the ground as if she wasn''t injured at all. She was only slightly angry as she pounced forward again.


    Zhou Wen retreated as he fought. Despite using all sorts of means, he was unable to injure the little girl.


    The girl was odd. She didn''t have the aura of a dimensional creature, but her actions were like one.


    What was even stranger was that she didn''t have any special powers. Other than having tremendous strength and extreme speed, as well as unimaginably tough skin, Zhou Wen wasn''t even able to injure her when using Ashen Palm to inject a devastating force into her.


    Unable to kill her, Zhou Wen wanted to escape from her, but she had a deep hatred for him. She was constantly in hot pursuit. He had tried using Ghost Steps several times to escape, but she quickly caught up to him every single time.


    The girl was like a vengeful ghost that would not stop unless she had him dead. She kept chasing and attacking him, seemingly hoping to devour him alive.


    Zhou Wen could neither kill her, nor escape. All he could do was retreat as he battled.


    The black hole in the sky slowly shrank, significantly reducing the number of dimensional creatures that rushed in. The six hero families had used everything they had in Holy City, cooperating with the military to slay the invading dimensional creatures.


    Although the situation was gradually brought under control, the losses this time were unprecedented since the establishment of Holy City.


    Back then, Jing Daoxian had only rushed into the League building and killed some League officials. Now, the disaster had embroiled all the ordinary citizens of the Holy Land. Countless people had died.


    Zhou Wen was certain that after today, his teacher would likely replace Jing Daoxian and become the devil that everyone despised. He would probably become even more infamous than Jing Daoxian.


    Teacher, is this really worth it? Zhou Wen didn''t know if Wang Mingyuan''s choice was right.


    Just like Wang Mingyuan had said, risking his life to save that woman or choosing to join the villains before thinking of a way to save her was a difficult question to begin with.


    Without any further time to think, Zhou Wen had already rushed out of Holy City''s vicinity. There were fewer dimensional creatures around him, but the girl continued pestering him.


    Zhou Wen even struck her using Overlord Sword with Ever-Victorious, but no matter how many times he did so, the girl didn''t suffer any injuries as she continued pestering him.


    What in the world is this thing? Zhou Wen had a hard time battling her. If not for his Companion Beasts'' help giving him a chance for a breather to recover his Primordial Energy, he would have been bitten to death by the girl a while ago.


    Zhou Wen felt the Lost Immortal Sutra in him circulated faster and faster. His entire body seemed to be undergoing a tumultuous change as a kind of force was growing inside him.


    The origin of that force was his Life Providence, but it was connected to his blood and soul. It was an indescribable feeling.


    If he had to describe it, Zhou Wen felt as though his soul was being split.


    Of course, this was just what he felt.


    Am I about to condense a Life Soul? What is my Life Soul? As Zhou Wen retreated, he thought about it. Could it be a Life Soul in the form of a woman? Or could it be an artifact?


    The reason Zhou Wen thought of a woman first was because of his Sigh of the King Life Providence. He vaguely felt that it had the appearance of a woman.


    Typically, a Life Soul would be tremendously influenced by a Life Providence. For example, a person with a Buddhist Child Life Providence would likely have a revered Buddha shadow or Buddha statue as their Life Soul.


    For someone like Feng Qiuyan who had the Life Providence of Swift Saber Heavenly King, it was a certainty that his Life Soul would definitely be related to a saber in the future.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen believed that his Life Soul was likely in the form of a woman, but this was just a guess.


    Crap! Zhou Wen''s Life Soul formation reached a critical moment. His entire body was undergoing sublimation, and his soul had seemingly left his body. This temporarily stopped him from moving.


    To his chagrin, the girl was still chasing after him. Zhou Wen stood motionless as the girl immediately lunged forward and opened her mouth in a bid to bite his neck.


    Damn it, why has it got to happen at this moment! Zhou Wen was so depressed that he nearly vomited blood. Unfortunately, the Lost Immortal Sutra wasn''t under his control. After absorbing Wang Mingyuan''s drop of blood, it automatically activated an evolution.

 342 Epic Advancemen

    The Stone Chi and Overlord Snake were still in armor and sword form. Without Zhou Wen''s order, it was impossible for them to turn into pets and fight the enemy.


    Although White Shadow of Poison charged towards the little girl, it did not have much effect on her. The little girl''s speed was above it, and its poison couldn''t hurt her.


    Doctor Darkness''s scalpel was unable to immobilize the little girl. The syringe was unable to penetrate her skin. So he was utterly useless.


    The other Companion Beasts like Tyrant Behemoth were too low-leveled to be useful, so Zhou Wen didn''t even summon them.


    With the girl already charging at him, Zhou Wen''s consciousness was completely drawn by the power in his body. Unable to care about the outside world, he appeared to be in mortal danger.


    With a bang, Banana Fairy automatically got out of her companion form without any orders. She recovered her original form and sat on the banana leaf, putting herself between Zhou Wen and the girl as she exhaled.


    The Grand Yin Wind immediately blew the little girl hundreds of meters away. The little girl knocked into a forest, slamming through many thick trees that spanned two arm widths. She left a long ditch in the forest.


    But very quickly, the little girl rushed out of the forest. There was still frost on her clothing, but her body wasn''t injured.


    Seeing the little girl rushing back, Banana Fairy gritted her teeth and blew out another Grand Yin Wind, blowing the little girl away.


    However, this time, the Grand Yin Wind was clearly much weaker than the first. The distance the girl traveled wasn''t as great as before. She only fell into the forest and slammed through two trees.


    The Grand Yin Wind expended plenty of Primordial Energy. The short interval limited the amount of Primordial Energy that Banana Fairy could restore; thus, the Grand Yin Wind she blew out naturally weakened.


    The girl was too obstinate, as though she wanted to fight to the death. She charged over and pounced at Zhou Wen again.


    Banana Fairy blew another mouthful of Grand Yin Wind, sending her flying again. She repeatedly prevented the girl from rushing towards Zhou Wen who was condensing his Life Soul to advance to the Epic stage.


    However, the Grand Yin Wind that Banana Fairy blew out was weaker with each instance. It started with sending her flying a few hundred meters and leaving a long ditch in the ground.


    However, after ten instances, the Grand Yin Wind could only blow her a few meters away. After the girl landed, she dashed towards Banana Fairy quickly again, not giving her a chance to catch her breath.


    Banana Fairy''s face was pale. The Grand Yin Wind that she could produce had weakened drastically, but she remained in front of Zhou Wen without any intention of backing off.


    A gust of Grand Yin Wind blew out again, but the girl wasn''t sent flying. She continued walking towards Zhou Wen against the strong wind.


    At the instant the Grand Yin Wind stopped, the little girl flew up and grabbed Banana Fairy''s neck. She yanked her off the banana leaf and pressed her to the ground.


    The girl''s eyes were ice-cold as her palm was about to snap Banana Fairy''s neck when she suddenly felt a force blast out from Zhou Wen. She couldn''t help but look up.


    An invisible force surged from Zhou Wen''s body, making his body float up uncontrollably. His body emitted a strange force that enveloped his entire body.


    The girl stared at Zhou Wen in midair as her eyes shimmered. It was as though she had seen something that surprised her. She was momentarily stunned.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen finally opened his eyes. Simultaneously, wisps of invisible flames rose up from him, a kind of indescribable force.


    It contained Zhou Wen''s Primordial Energy, or even his essence, vitality, and spirit. However, it was different from ordinary Primordial Energy. It was not a pure energy body like a Companion Beast. It was a magical power that resembled a form of energy but also a form of life.


    The energy kept rising in Zhou Wen''s body as it slowly gathered behind him, as though it had formed the legendary entity known as a Life Soul. Zhou Wen could sense the existence of his Life Soul and could sense the terrifying power that came with it. However, he couldn''t see it, as though it was transparent and invisible.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to figure out why he couldn''t see his Life Soul. When he saw the little girl pressing Banana Fairy''s neck to the ground, he was already raging inside.


    He drew his Bamboo Blade and slashed it at the girl.


    However, with this slash, Zhou Wen felt that it was somewhat different from usual. Usually, when he slashed out, how much strength the blade had was limited by his own strength.


    But now, with this slash, Zhou Wen felt an additional force that exceeded his limits, being injected into his saber.


    More accurately speaking, his entire body seemed to be enveloped by a strange force. When he swung his saber, it was as if someone was holding his hand before swinging the saber with him.


    The slash completely exceeded Zhou Wen''s expectations both in speed and strength. The blade seemed to teleport as it vanished briefly before appearing in front of the girl.


    The girl revealed a look of surprise as she extended her arms to block the blade.


    Immediately, blood splattered as the girl''s arm was sliced open. Through the wound, he could see the flesh and bones inside. Her body was also sent flying and, when she fell to the ground, she created a hundred-meter-long ditch in the ground that had roots entrenched in it.


    Zhou Wen looked at the saber in his hand in a slight daze. The strength of the saber had far exceeded his expectations. Logically speaking, although he had advanced to the Epic stage, his physical stats hadn''t been raised. It was unlikely he had suddenly become this strong.


    Even if he could become stronger, that would be when he absorbed stats crystals and increased his stats to a higher level.


    But now, he had not done anything; yet, he was already so strong.


    Is this the power of a Life Soul? Zhou Wen inspected himself, but he didn''t see anything. He clearly felt that there was a Life Soul outside his body, but he couldn''t see it.


    Banana Fairy flew back and rubbed her neck, looking very uncomfortable.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the girl and saw her get back on her feet. He couldn''t help but frown slightly as he clenched the saber in his hand, preparing to completely finish her.


    He absolutely couldn''t let such a vicious creature live in this world. Otherwise, there would be endless trouble.


    With her vengeful personality, she definitely wouldn''t stop until Zhou Wen was killed.


    Zhou Wen drew his saber and was about to head towards the little girl who had just gotten up when he suddenly saw a sword flash in the sky. A black figure appeared on a flying sword, blocking him.


    After Zhou Wen saw who it was, he couldn''t help but frown slightly. The person riding the sword in front of him was the one who had killed the strange mountain back in Holy City.

 343 Sword Snatching

    "Why are you killing a child?" The woman in black was clearly the same as Zhou Wen. She only believed that the girl was a human child. She had passed by and seen Zhou Wen slashing at the girl from midair. She didn''t know of the development prior to that.


    After confirming that the little girl was not a dimensional creature but a human, the woman in black stood in front of the little girl on her flying sword. However, she had no intention of taking action. She just wanted to figure out the situation.


    "She''s not human," Zhou Wen said to the woman in black.


    "How can she not be¡­ Ah¡­" Before the woman in black could finish her sentence, she felt a searing pain in her calf.


    The little girl had lunged forward and hugged her leg. She had imagined that the little girl had done so out of fear, but the little girl ended up biting her calf. Her white teeth pierced into her flesh, almost snapping off her calf.


    The woman in black was at the peak Epic stage with high hopes of stepping into the Mythical stage, but her ancient sword was already a Mythical Companion Beast.


    With the toughness of her body, it naturally wasn''t something a human child could injure. It immediately made her realize that what Zhou Wen was saying was the truth. This was indeed not a human child.


    Bam!


    The woman in black instinctively raised her leg and kicked the little girl away. Then, just as she was about to attack, her body suddenly shook and she almost fell to the ground. Her vision blurred, and she immediately felt something was amiss.


    She barely ordered the ancient bronze sword to attack the little girl, wanting to kill her now. However, as the ancient bronze sword flew out, she had already fallen to the ground. It was unknown if she was dead or alive.


    Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed as he subconsciously touched the wound on his neck. The woman was so strong, but with just one bite from the girl, in moments, her fate was in question. He had been bitten by her too, but he was fine. He considered it extreme luck.


    The ancient bronze sword continued flying towards the girl and penetrated her body. It then flew back and automatically floated above the woman in black. Zhou Wen knew that the woman wasn''t dead; otherwise, the Companion Beast would have dissipated after her death.


    Since the ancient bronze sword remained, it implied that the woman in black was still alive.


    Zhou Wen ignored her and charged at the girl who had fallen onto a grass patch. Although her heart had been pierced through by the ancient bronze sword, Zhou Wen doubted that she was truly dead.


    When he rushed to the grass where the girl had fallen. There were some bloodstains on the grass, but there was no sign of the girl.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen heard a noise coming from the direction of the woman in black. He hurriedly turned around and saw the girl grabbing onto the hilt of the ancient bronze sword. Blood covered the sword as it trembled without killing the girl.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t know that the ancient bronze sword was a Mythical existence, he had seen the might of the bronze sword killing the strange mountain. Such might was something that the Epic Banana Fairy couldn''t match up to. Even after its master stopped directing it, it wasn''t likely to be seized by someone else.


    However, the girl held onto the ancient bronze sword. All it did was tremble without releasing any sword beams as an offensive. This left Zhou Wen very puzzled.


    Soon, he realized that something was amiss. The ancient bronze sword was covered with blood¡ªthe girl''s blood.


    The blood was slowly seeping into the ancient bronze sword. The latter wasn''t simply stained with blood, but rather, the quality of the ancient bronze sword was undergoing changes itself. The originally bronze material had turned to the color of purple copper after being soaked in blood. It looked extremely bizarre.


    Furthermore, as the blood seeped into the ancient bronze sword, the resistance it put up increasingly weakened.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He didn''t dare hesitate. He slashed his saber over, hoping to kill her.


    Clang!


    The girl brandished the ancient bronze sword in her hand and clashed with the Bamboo Blade. Although she wasn''t able to stimulate the power of the ancient bronze sword, Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade wasn''t able to slice through the sword. All it did was send the girl and the sword flying.


    Before the girl landed, Zhou Wen had already closed the distance with Ghost Steps. He delivered Transcendent Flying Immortal once again as saber beams criss-crossed in a bid to slay the girl.


    The girl brandished the ancient bronze sword to block Transcendent Flying Immortal, but she was unable to completely block its saber forces. With the augmentation of a Life Soul, Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal was even faster and more ruthless than before. He forcefully slashed across her, producing a bone-deep wound.


    The little girl flew as the ancient bronze sword landed beside her.


    Having been stabbed through the heart by the ancient bronze sword, Zhou Wen didn''t dare hope that one strike was enough to kill her. He immediately rushed to her.


    Indeed, she wasn''t dead. She even glared fiercely at Zhou Wen as he slashed down with the Bamboo Blade in hand.


    Hum!


    With a sword hum, Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. He instantly activated Ghost Steps. When he appeared dozens of meters away, he saw a sword beam sweep past the spot he had been standing on. It left behind a deep rift spanning hundreds of meters.


    The Companion Beast that had turned into a purple-copper ancient sword floated beside the girl. Purple sword flashes shimmered, like a venomous snake flicking its forked tongue, one that could devour at any moment.


    How can this be? Zhou Wen wore a strange expression. It was almost impossible for a Companion Beast to betray its owner the moment it signed a contract. A Companion Beast''s life was intrinsically tied to its owner.


    Although there were some methods that could "tear up" a Companion Beast contract, it was done at a huge price. Even so, the owner had to give permission. It was unheard of for Companion Beasts to betray on their own accord, nor had he ever heard of Companion Beasts being snatched away and used by others.


    Where exactly is this girl from? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen''s first thought was to turn around and flee. He had seen the might of the ancient bronze sword before¡ªit could kill a suspected Mythical creature like the strange mountain. Although he had advanced to the Epic stage, he was still no match for it.


    Now that the ancient bronze sword was under the girl''s control, there was a high chance that she would launch a terrifying offensive against him.


    As expected, the girl grabbed the ancient sword''s handle and swung the sword at Zhou Wen. Purple sword beams immediately tore out of the sword in an indomitable fashion, halving everything that stood in front of her. Zhou Wen was next.


    The sword beam was just too fast. Zhou Wen barely dodged with Ghost Steps, partly thanks to his Life Soul''s augmentation.


    The sword beam shot out thousands of meters into the forest. Everything that stood in its way was severed, including the hard mountain rocks. It was like slicing through tofu.

 344 Pursui

    The girl had an indescribable ferocity. She brandished the ancient purple-copper sword and charged over again. The injuries on her body were almost fully recovered. Her recovery speed was not inferior to Li Xuan''s Immortal God of Combat, and was perhaps superior.


    Zhou Wen didn''t escape again when he saw the staggering sword beam brought about by the ancient purple-copper sword. He advanced instead of retreating, pushing Ghost Steps to the limit as he dodged the sword beam. This allowed him to approach the girl as he slashed at her neck with Bamboo Blade.


    If the ancient purple-copper sword had been fighting autonomously, Zhou Wen would have fled as far as he could. However, he realized that the girl held the purple-copper sword in her hand as she fought. This made him feel as though he had a chance.


    The girl was very strong, and her speed was very fast. Coupled with the indomitable sword beam from the purple-copper sword, she looked terrifying.


    However, she clearly didn''t know any combat techniques or sword techniques. All she did was fight based on instinct. Her fighting with the sword was inferior to having the sword fight alone. This allowed Zhou Wen to see an opportunity.


    He was like a ghost as he pushed the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, Nine Dragons Art, and Ghost Steps to its limits. The limited Primordial Energy problem that he had before, was now gone.


    With his Life Soul, he felt as though he had infinite Primordial Energy. He could continuously use Ghost Steps, Transcendent Flying Immortal, and many other Primordial Energy-expensive Primordial Energy Skills, but he could not sense any signs of his Primordial Energy weakening.


    With his Life Soul, Zhou Wen felt as if he had activated a cheat that gave him unlimited skills. All sorts of Primordial Energy Skills could be used without considering the Primordial Energy consumption.


    Although he was facing a huge crisis, Zhou Wen felt extremely carefree right now. The feeling of being able to use any Primordial Energy Skill as he wished was just too good.


    In the past, he needed to do all kinds of calculations and conservation. Even with the augmentation of his Dao Body, he could only use Primordial Energy Skills intermittently. But now, the exhilaration of using one skill after another ad infinitum was something he had never experienced before.


    Now, Zhou Wen felt as though he had become an enhanced version of Lance. Lance could deliver an infinite Primordial Energy Skill combo because he chose Primordial Energy Skills that expended very little Primordial Energy. In contrast, Zhou Wen could now use all sorts of devastating, expensive Primordial Energy Skills repeatedly.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen''s every move seemed to be equipped with a booster. His Strength and Speed increased greatly as every step he took seemed to have him pushed forward by a booster rocket.


    Now, Zhou Wen really wanted to check his in-game stats and know what his Life Soul was. Although he enjoyed the benefits brought about by his Life Soul, he couldn''t see what it was.


    Zhou Wen''s figure kept flashing around the girl. Although he couldn''t clash with the ancient purple-copper sword''s beam, the girl''s brandishing was insufficient to hit him. Instead, Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade would slice through the girl''s body from time to time, producing cuts on her skin.


    If it wasn''t for the ancient purple-copper sword''s immense strength and how annihilative the sword beam was, forcing Zhou Wen to retreat at times, the girl would have long been slain by him.


    The girl also felt that she was in extreme danger. No matter how she brandished the purple-copper sword in her hand, it couldn''t touch Zhou Wen''s body. This infuriated her.


    The girl gritted her teeth and dragged the purple-copper sword as she fled.


    How could Zhou Wen allow her to escape? He held the Bamboo Blade and pursued her.


    This girl was so vicious and terrifying. If she wasn''t killed today, she might become greater trouble after she grew up and learned some techniques. She might even become another terrifying demoness in the history of the League.


    Zhou Wen wished for nothing more than to slay the girl under his blade. However, the ancient purple-copper sword''s beam was too powerful, making it difficult for him to directly slay her. It was also because the girl held it and limited its strength that Zhou Wen could chase after her.


    If the girl were to throw it out and let the ancient sword attack autonomously, the one running would probably be Zhou Wen.


    The girl clearly didn''t understand this logic as she kept slashing with the purple-copper sword, but it failed to hurt Zhou Wen. Instead, Zhou Wen left deep wounds on her body, ones so deep that her bones could be seen.


    The two engaged in combat as the pursuit continued. Soon, they rushed into the mountains. The purple-copper sword''s staggering sword beam sliced through some of the hills, testimony of the sword beam''s shocking prowess.


    What was even more shocking was that the girl had gradually begun imitating Zhou Wen''s movement technique and various techniques in battle. Although she was far inferior to Zhou Wen and could hardly cause trouble for him, she was improving rather quickly.


    What kind of origins does this fellow have? If she''s human, how can she have such a terrifying physique and capabilities? A powerful existence like the woman in black had been bitten by her, and her outcome is now unknown. Even the ancient bronze sword has been forcefully snatched away. Such an ability is too terrifying. It''s impossible for a human child to possess such powers. But if she''s a dimensional creature, why doesn''t she have the aura of other species on her? She looks human in every single way. Zhou Wen recalled the dimensional black hole that Wang Mingyuan had opened. If this girl had really come from the dimensional black hole, her origins were definitely extraordinary.


    Unfortunately, all this was just speculation. Zhou Wen didn''t plan on figuring out her origins. He only wanted to quickly kill her so that she wouldn''t grow stronger.


    There were already many wounds on the girl''s body. Many of the wounds would have been fatal to ordinary people, but she had managed to survive them. Furthermore, she could continue fighting. The wounds on her body also healed quickly in battle.


    Now, other than beheading her, Zhou Wen had no idea how he could kill her.


    As the pursuit continued deep into the mountains. The girl suffered another strike from Zhou Wen, sending her flying as she landed beyond a cliff.


    Zhou Wen immediately rushed over and slashed his saber at the girl''s neck, giving her no chance to land on the ground.


    The girl was in midair when she forcefully produced a sword beam, forcing Zhou Wen to dodge. He circled in the air like an eagle to dodge the sword beam before lunging at the girl who had fallen to the bottom of the cliff.


    The girl clearly didn''t have the ability to fly. Without any place to land her feet to propel her elsewhere, she was unable to dodge. Her face finally revealed a look of panic as she desperately swung the purple-copper sword furiously.


    Zhou Wen flew through the air like a fairy, dodging the shocking sword beams. Finally, he approached the girl and slashed at her neck.


    Fresh blood splattered. Although the girl had tried her best to twist her neck, she suffered a horrendous wound. Zhou Wen had sliced a fifth into her neck.


    Zhou Wen was just about to continue striking the wound when he suddenly felt a terrifying force spew out from beneath the cliff.

 345 Death

    A large number of strange vines extended from the bottom of the cliff. A few of them managed to bind the girl while the other vines swept towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen slashed with the Bamboo Blade, he managed to damage them but was unable to sever them. Seeing that the vines were still sweeping towards him, he had no choice but to use Fairy Skill to dodge their attack.


    The girl had already been pulled to the bottom of the cliff by the vines. Zhou Wen summoned White Shadow of Poison. With a flap of its wings, it chased the vines down the cliff.


    He wasn''t sure what the vines were, but he knew that he couldn''t let the little girl live. Otherwise, it would only spell doom in the future.


    Vines swept towards Zhou Wen, but thankfully, with the White Shadow of Poison and his movement techniques, he dodged the vines'' attack and chased the girl to the bottom of the cliff.


    The scene below left Zhou Wen alarmed. Beneath the cliff was a gigantic mushroom about two to three stories tall. Or, perhaps, it was a Ganoderma lucidum or something similar. Either way, it was a fungus.


    The huge mushroom cap was black. Whiskers that looked like vines extended out from under the cap. They wrapped around the girl and the purple-copper sword in her hand as they attacked Zhou Wen.


    The girl was entangled by the mushroom whiskers and looked to be in extreme pain. The whiskers were like blood-sucking leeches, clinging onto her and piercing into her skin to extract her blood.


    The purple copper sword was bound by the mushroom whiskers and couldn''t break free.


    A plant-type dimensional creature can actually hold back that ancient purple-copper sword so that it can''t break free. What in the world is this place? It has such a terrifying plant-type dimensional creature! Zhou Wen looked around, completely unaware of where he was. He had pursued the girl in too deep, so he had no idea where he was.


    Mushroom whiskers swept over like an inescapable net. Zhou Wen slashed with the Bamboo Blade, his body constantly moving as he barely managed to dodge the sweep from the mushroom whiskers. However, he was unable to do anything to the gigantic mushroom or even approach it.


    Just as the little girl was about to be sucked dry, she let out a painful scream. Her body withered rapidly. Her face contorted into an excruciating grimace.


    "Get reborn in a good family for your next life." Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he summoned the Overlord Sword. His body rapidly flashed as he found an opportunity to strike out and stab through her body.


    Although the girl was doomed, and Zhou Wen didn''t need to add this additional strike, her death meant the wiping out of the grudge between them. There was no need for him to see her die in pain. It was better to let her rest in peace early.


    Zhou Wen stabbed through the girl''s body with his sword. At that moment, the girl might have been drained of too much blood by the mushroom and was on the brink of death. She was slain immediately upon being struck by Overlord Sword''s beam.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to turn and leave, he suddenly felt the mysterious phone vibrate before flying out of his pocket.


    The phone screen automatically lit up. This was something that had never happened before.


    The last time Zhou Wen''s phone was taken away by the military, they had checked it, however, it couldn''t be switched on as though its battery was flat or damaged.


    But now, the phone actually moved on its own. The screen showed the Dead Man Tree''s interface, and at the same time, the camera on the phone focused on the slain girl and automatically snapped a picture.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw the girl''s corpse and the purple-copper sword vanish together. And on the Dead Man Tree, there was a tiny sprout.


    The huge mushroom immediately went crazy when it lost its target. Countless mushroom whiskers extended out from beneath the mushroom cap and swept towards Zhou Wen like a tidal wave.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare hesitate. He grabbed the phone floating in front of him and flew up, heading for the cliff.


    However, the whiskers flew even faster than Zhou Wen, instantly catching up to him.


    The Great Yin Wind from the banana fan only blew some of the mushroom''s whiskers askew while even more mushroom whiskers swept over.


    All Zhou Wen could do was make a sacrifice. He summoned several Companion Beasts that he didn''t usually use, throwing them at the mushroom whiskers.


    Taking the opportunity while the mushroom whiskers bound his Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen flashed away and dodged the attack from the other mushroom whiskers before finally rushing out of the cliff.


    He turned back and saw the Golden Warriors and Stone Qilin being caught by the mushroom whiskers. In a blink of an eye, they were reduced to dust that scattered everywhere.


    What a terrifying plant-type dimensional creature! Zhou Wen didn''t dare stay any longer as he charged into the sky. He saw the mushroom whiskers soar up like a volcanic eruption, but they failed to catch up to him.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare fly randomly in midair. After leaving the cliff, he retraced his steps. The mushroom whiskers had limited length, so there was no way they could chase after him. This relieved Zhou Wen.


    After running for some distance, with no dimensional creatures appearing anywhere, Zhou Wen finally heaved a sigh of relief as he hurriedly checked the information on his phone.


    The blood-colored avatar''s information had undergone a huge change, somewhat different from the one he had undergone during the Legendary stage.


    Zhou Wen: Epic


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Life Soul: Slaughterer (Primordial Body)


    Strength: 22 (Sun)


    Speed: 22 (Trajectory)


    Constitution: 22 (Guilt)


    Primordial Energy: 22 (Taboo)


    Poison: 17


    Wind: 11


    His Primordial Energy Skills and Companion Beasts were still the same. The four basic stats were now 22. Behind Constitution was the word "Guilt." Zhou Wen didn''t know what it meant, but from the looks of it, the postfix was similar to the other three stats after he broke through each limit. He just didn''t know why using his teacher''s blood to break through would be "Guilt."


    His Life Soul''s name was Slaughterer, but when he looked for the information on the Life Soul, he realized that it was blank. He didn''t know why his Life Soul had the name of a Slaughterer. He was clearly a pacifist and didn''t like slaughters.


    As for the postfix of the Primordial Body, Zhou Wen had already learned that the Life Soul of humans was different from the Life Soul of dimensional creatures.


    A dimensional creature''s Life Soul was fixed¡ªremaining the same after birth. However, a human''s Life Soul could grow.


    In the beginning, it was a Primordial Body, and after a single evolution, it would be an Evolved Body. A second evolution was a Perfect Body. Currently, the most powerful Epic stage Life Soul for humans was a Perfect Body.


    Legend said if a Perfect Body further improved, one would reach the Mythical stage.


    Of course, this was only a legend. Zhou Wen had never heard of any human having evolved to the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to stay in the wilderness for too long. Thankfully, his memory was outstanding. He still remembered how he came. He rode the Mutated Stone Chi and ran towards a small city nearby.


    When he arrived at the location with the signal, Zhou Wen gave An Sheng a call and asked him about the situation.

 346 Return

    "Young Master Wen, you shouldn''t have gone to Holy City. Holy City suffered casualties this time. Wang Mingyuan''s crime has implicated the Wang family. If it wasn''t for the fact that they have some influence in the League, the entire Wang family would have been doomed. Even so, the Wang family is still in a terrible fix and they won''t have it easy. As for the four of you being Wang Mingyuan''s students, I''m afraid no one in the League will dare to hire you in the future," An Sheng clearly knew of what had happened at Holy City as he spoke to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen fell silent. He didn''t mind if no one dared to hire him, but with Wang Mingyuan''s infamy that would last generations, there was probably no way to whitewash him.


    Many lives were lost because of his actions. There was no way he could be rid of the guilt.


    "Young Master Wen, where are you? I''ll send someone to pick you up. As long as you return to Luoyang, no one in the League will touch you," An Sheng said.


    "There''s no need. I remember the way. I can head back myself." Zhou Wen rejected An Sheng. As the path An Sheng had taken previously wasn''t too dangerous, he could return to Luoyang safely with his present strength.


    "Alright, be quick. Now that Holy City is in a mess, the six families and the Special Inspector Bureau don''t have the time or manpower to do anything to you. However, things will be different after a while. You have to return to Luoyang as soon as possible," said An Sheng.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen rode the Stone Chi and headed for Luoyang. An Sheng was right. He needed to return quickly.


    In the past, the bureau had tried to arrest him simply because of a tiny bit of suspicion. Now, his teacher, Wang Mingyuan, had committed such a huge crime, and they had been right beside him when things went down; therefore, Zhou Wen refused to believe that the six families would ignore them. Therefore, he had to return to Luoyang as quickly as possible. If there was no other choice, he could only escape into a dimensional zone.


    He didn''t encounter any danger along the way. Zhou Wen rode on the Mutated Stone Chi that moved faster than a car. However, it was too bumpy, making it very uncomfortable for gaming.


    Zhou Wen observed the Dead Man Tree on his cell phone every day and saw the flower sprout growing bigger by the day. It was very similar to the situation after Yan Zhen''s death.


    From the looks of it, after Yan Zhen died the last time, he was sucked in by the Dead Man Tree. That''s why no one saw his corpse. Zhou Wen roughly gained an understanding of what was going on, but he still wasn''t sure if this was a good or bad thing.


    The Dead Man Tree was an unknown and terrifying existence. Previously, everything on the phone had been under Zhou Wen''s control, but now, the Dead Man Tree seemed to exceed his control.


    However, it was useless to worry about these things now. He couldn''t throw away his phone just because of the Dead Man Tree''s existence.


    ¡­


    "Xia Xuanyue, can you tell me exactly what happened?" Xia Dongyue stared at Xia Xuanyue, his eyes filled with rage.


    Xia Xuanyue was one of the geniuses that the Xia family had. She had the greatest hope of advancing to the Mythical stage. Her Life Soul had reached the Perfect stage and the Mythical Companion Egg the Xia family had obtained from a dimensional zone was given to her because of her outstanding performance.


    Xia Xuanyue lived up to everyone''s expectations. With the Xia family''s resources, she had advanced the ancient sword to the Mythical stage in less than six years.


    It could be said that Xia Xuanyue was the main pillar of the Xia family, but she ended up heavily injured while in the wild. The Xia family found her and managed to save her life, but she claimed that the ancient sword was gone.


    Xia Yunyue was extremely calm as she recounted what happened that day.


    "Are you telling me that you fainted after being bitten by a three-year-old child. After you woke up, that ancient sword Companion Beast was gone?" Xia Dongyue found it unbelievable.


    After a moment of silence, Xia Xuanyue said, "Now that I think about it, the young man was right. That child really wasn''t human."


    "What''s that young man''s name? What does he look like? Find him. As long as he''s not dead, we must figure out the truth." Xia Dongyue held back his anger as he spoke.


    That was a Mythical Companion Beast; the Xia family didn''t have many Mythical Companion Beasts. With one gone just like that, how could he not be angry?


    Xia Xuanyue knew what Xia Dongyue was suspicious of, but when she thought of the youth''s appearance, Xia Xuanyue said, "I didn''t take a careful look at that young man back then. I fainted after I was bitten. Now, I can''t remember his face anymore. I just found him very ordinary looking, without any obvious characteristics."


    Xia Dongyue was even more furious, but there was nothing he could do about it. After venting his anger, he allowed Xia Yunyue to leave his office.


    That young man must be one of Wang Mingyuan''s four students. I just don''t know his name. Xia Xuanyue was also in front of the Holy Tower back then, so she naturally recognized Zhou Wen, but she just didn''t know his name.


    After she returned, Xia Yunyue found information from the bureau and quickly confirmed that the young man she had met was Wang Mingyuan''s disciple, Zhou Wen.


    Forget it. If I hadn''t stopped him from killing that girl, such a thing wouldn''t have happened. It has nothing to do with him. He''s already in enough trouble, so why should I heap more on him? Xia Xuanyue closed the window containing Zhou Wen''s information, having no intention of pursuing the matter.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Wen successfully returned to Luoyang, An Sheng and Ouyang Lan had also rushed back from Zhuolu. He was taken to Ouyang Lan before he even entered the city.


    "Punk, why are you so unlucky? It doesn''t matter now that Wang Mingyuan''s dead, but he sure brought hellfire on the Wang family and his students," Ouyang Lan sighed as she held Zhou Wen.


    "How are Hui Haifeng, Zhong Ziya, and Jiang Yan?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked. He hadn''t encountered them the entire way back.


    "Hui Haifeng''s family background is clean. There shouldn''t be any problems. He should be at home now. If there aren''t any problems, he should return to school for lessons shortly," Ouyang Lan said.


    "What about Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan?" Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss.


    Ouyang Lan shook her head and said, "No one knows. There hasn''t been any news about them to date. I wonder if they died at the mouths of those dimensional creatures or if they managed to escape and have hidden themselves."


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. He believed that it was unlikely for the two of them to die so easily. As long as they didn''t fall into the hands of the Special Inspector Bureau and the six families, they still had a chance of meeting in the future.


    "Sis Lan, how''s the situation at Zhuolu?" Only then did Zhou Wen recall that if Ouyang Lan and An Sheng had returned, did that mean that there had been some new developments?


    "There''s no progress. The inner sanctum is guarded by Mythical creatures. Our men cannot enter unless Tianzuo brings his Companion Beasts over, but Luoyang isn''t stable either. It''s impossible for him to leave for so long. Otherwise, Luoyang might be the next Holy City," Ouyang Lan said with a sigh. Clearly, she was helpless on this matter.


    From the looks of it, I can only rely on myself. Zhou Wen knew that the An family couldn''t be counted on. He had to think of a way to crack the inner sanctum and find the former principal.


    Although he knew that the odds were against the former principal, Zhou Wen refused to give up until the time he saw his corpse.

 347 Slaughterer

    After returning to the school''s dorm, Zhou Wen continued studying his Life Soul.


    When an ordinary person advanced to the Epic stage and condensed a Life Soul, they would sense their Life Soul to a certain extent and would know its approximate powers.


    However, Zhou Wen was very puzzled about his Life Soul. He could sense the existence of Slaughterer and sense its close relationship with him, but he was unable to communicate with it.


    It felt like Zhou Wen''s Life Soul was a lifeless robot. All it knew was to follow a program.


    In any case, this feeling was extremely odd. Zhou Wen didn''t discover anything after looking through the college''s records regarding the Epic stage.


    Why are my Life Providence and Life Soul so strange? It''s fine if I can''t read the information about the Life Soul, but I can''t even see it. What''s going on? Zhou Wen had tried many times in-game¡ªhis Life Soul didn''t seem to have a corporeal body.


    When attacked, Zhou Wen could sense the Life Soul on him, but it didn''t stop any attacks. Any force would penetrate it and affect Zhou Wen as though it didn''t exist.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t command Slaughterer to take the initiative to attack, nor could he allow Slaughterer to use any skills. It was as though Slaughterer''s effect was to passively increase Zhou Wen''s Strength and Speed, as well as provide an infinite reservoir of Primordial Energy.


    Why does my Life Soul and Life Providence seem to be swapped when compared to others? Others have a Life Providence that provides passive abilities, while their Life Soul has active skills. Why is my Life Soul a passive ability? Zhou Wen found it very strange.


    Zhou Wen wished that his Life Soul was like Dr. Soul''s. It could aid Doctor Darkness and could also attack independently. That was Zhou Wen''s ideal Life Soul.


    In fact, most Life Souls were like that. The Life Soul of the Mutated Stone Chi was in an offensive and defensive state. At the very least, even Wang Mingyuan''s Life Soul was a bottle with a healing ability.


    However, Zhou Wen''s Life Soul had no ability to attack on its own. It could only attach to him to provide support.


    Zhou Wen wanted to test out Slaughterer''s support, so he planned on heading to a test venue. After all, he had advanced to the Epic stage and the ordinary testing apparatus in his dorm didn''t have such a high upper limit. He couldn''t accurately make measurements with them.


    Just as he walked out of Four Seasons Garden, he saw Wang Fei walk over.


    "Zhou Wen, do you have time? Can we have a chat?" Wang Fei walked over and asked.


    "Ms. Wang, what''s the matter?" Zhou Wen guessed that Wang Fei was probably going to tell him about Wang Mingyuan.


    Indeed, Wang Fei sighed and said, "I shouldn''t have introduced you to Uncle Mingyuan. I originally wanted you to study well, but I ended up bringing you to harm instead."


    "Ms. Wang, it''s nothing like that. I don''t regret learning from Teacher. No matter how others see him, he will always be my teacher," Zhou Wen said with a serious expression.


    Wang Fei stared blankly at Zhou Wen for quite some time. After confirming that he wasn''t joking, she shook her head and said with a bitter smile, "Even those who share the same blood can''t compare to a student. This world is really different."


    "Ms. Wang, has something happened?" Zhou Wen felt that the Wang Fei today was a little different from the Tutor Wang Fei he had known before.


    Wang Fei shook her head. "It''s nothing. From tomorrow onwards, I won''t be your tutor anymore. I came to see you before I leave the school. I originally wanted to apologize, but since you don''t mind being Uncle Mingyuan''s disciple, there''s no need for me to say sorry."


    "Ms. Wang, you are leaving the school?" Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    Although he wasn''t quite studious usually, this didn''t stop him from believing that Wang Fei was a good tutor.


    "After Uncle Mingyuan''s incident, I can no longer remain in the school as a tutor. I''m a family member of a monster who betrayed all of humanity. No one can tolerate such a person to continue teaching. The League can''t tolerate it; nor the parents of the students, so I, as a relative of a sinner, can only resign," Wang Fei said self-deprecatingly.


    Zhou Wen was at a loss for words. Wang Mingyuan''s incident was terrible and there were far-reaching influences. This was something expected.


    Anyone could be willful and say that one had to be responsible for their own actions. However, if something were to really happen, certain influences couldn''t be avoided.


    "That''s good too. I''ve always felt that I''m unsuitable being a tutor. Perhaps the battlefield is where I belong." Wang Fei looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Zhou Wen, study hard. Don''t let others look down on you. After all, Uncle Mingyuan and I have taught you before."


    With that said, Wang Fei waved her hand, indicating that Zhou Wen need not say another word. Then, she turned and left.


    Zhou Wen felt somewhat uncomfortable as he watched Wang Fei leave. He ultimately believed that she was a good tutor.


    "No one''s more suitable as a tutor than you," Zhou Wen said to Wang Fei''s back. Unfortunately, Wang Fei had already gone too far and couldn''t hear him.


    Before Zhou Wen could enter the testing hall, Li Xuan called him on the phone, requesting he head to the activity room of the Xuanwen Club.


    "Old Zhou, are you alright?" Li Xuan asked as he sized up Zhou Wen.


    "Why wouldn''t I be? I''m more curious about why you''re looking for me," Zhou Wen said casually.


    "Our Xuanwen Club has been established for quite some time now, but we haven''t organized many activities. Now that you''re finally back, I plan on inviting all the members over for an event," Li Xuan said with a smile.


    "It''s not a good time now, right?" Wang Mingyuan''s matter had just happened, and all of the League citizens all knew about it. As for being Wang Mingyuan''s disciple, although there wasn''t any news about this spreading, many people on campus, especially the members of the Xuanwen Club, knew that Zhou Wen was studying under Wang Mingyuan.


    "This is the best time to run one. Only then will we be able to tell who truly is a trustworthy partner," Li Xuan said with a smile. "I''ve informed all members and also told them that you will be coming. As for how many will eventually come, I don''t know."


    "There''s no need, right? It''s just a school club, and we aren''t real companions. Why do you need to know so clearly?" Zhou Wen said disapprovingly.


    Li Xuan played it off with a laugh and said, "We recently recruited quite a number of people and it feels quite troublesome. We can take this opportunity to kick a portion away, so that it will save us the trouble."


    Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else. After some time, people slowly straggled in, but most members didn''t come. Some gave excuses while others didn''t even reply, nor were they seen.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that Gu Dian was here. Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong had also come.


    Then, there were Feng Qiuyan and Wang Lu. The Xuanwen Club which had reached a membership of almost thirty people had now been reduced to the few of them.


    "Those who came today are all true friends of our Xuanwen Club. Okay, let''s cut the chatter. In the future, none of you will be left out when there are special activities. This is some bonus from the club. I know no one will be impressed by it, but just treat it as a little token from Zhou Wen and me." Li Xuan distributed the special passes he had prepared. They were passes to dimensional zones that students usually couldn''t enter.


    "Never expected such a bonus. Can you count me in as well?" Someone pushed the door open and walked in.

 348 Storming Through Tiger Cage Pass

    When Zhou Wen saw that it was Huang Ji, he said with a smile, "Senior, are you using us for amusement?"


    Zhou Wen knew that Huang Ji had an extremely odd personality. Although he had a terrifying cultivation, he never participated in any school activities. He hadn''t joined the student council when they invited him to be its vice president.


    "Do I look like I''m joking? If you don''t find me a hindrance, then help me with the sign-up procedures," Huang Ji said.


    "Nothing of that sort, Senior Huang! We fully welcome you joining our Xuanwen Club. I''ll do the paperwork for you." Li Xuan was very happy. He originally thought that he would be purging members today, but he never expected to have one join. Furthermore, it was the famous Huang Ji. It was truly a pleasant surprise.


    "I''ll leave the administrative procedures to you. Zhou Wen, we''ve already finished the game''s alpha version. Try it out." Huang Ji unlocked his phone and handed it to Zhou Wen.


    It''s been made? Zhou Wen was delighted. He never expected that the game could be made in such a short span of time.


    "It''s just an alpha. The map uses Tiger Cage Pass. Try it and give me some feedback," Huang Ji urged Zhou Wen, clearly looking forward to his evaluation.


    Under Huang Ji''s guidance, Zhou Wen tapped an icon and soon entered the game interface.


    "How is it?" Huang Ji asked eagerly.


    Zhou Wen looked at the game interface and gaming characters as his expression turned odd. No matter how he looked at it, it resembled a 2D side-scrolling game from the past.


    Zhou Wen could only describe this game interface using one word¡ªcrude.


    After all, it''s just an alpha. I think it will get better in the future? Zhou Wen could only console himself.


    Li Xuan and company crowded over to take a look at the game Zhou Wen and Huang Ji had come up with. Zhou Wen had no choice but to control the character and try out the controls. The controls were very smooth and the character design included four skills, ones that were common on campus. One typically could obtain them easily.


    The controls were pretty alright, but the in-game monsters were Demonized Soldiers from Tiger Cage Pass. Although their styles were a little crude, one could tell that they were Demonized Soldiers.


    However, the Demonized Soldiers in-game were a little stupid. Although their attack patterns were the same as real ones, they weren''t as intelligent.


    He easily killed a few Demonized Soldiers. After walking a short distance, he realized that there was no path ahead.


    "Where should I go?" Zhou Wen looked at Huang Ji.


    "This is just an alpha. The map is only that big. What do you think?" Huang Ji asked Zhou Wen with an expectant look.


    I invested 1.5 million, and you are giving me this!? Zhou Wen really wanted to point at Huang Ji''s nose and question him. In what universe did such a game look like it was worth 1.5 million?


    However, seeing Li Xuan and company looking at him, Zhou Wen could only grit his teeth and say, "Not bad. Keep up the good work. I look forward to the day the game truly launches."


    Having already made the investment, it was too late to say anything now. In order to accentuate his persona of a gaming fanatic, he had no choice but to suffer in silence.


    Huang Ji imagined that Zhou Wen was really looking forward to seeing his game, so he said excitedly, "I knew you would like it. Don''t worry, I''ll speed up the progress. The first map I''m preparing to do is Tiger Cage Pass. After it''s created, I will add more common Primordial Energy Skills that are readily available in our school, allowing the students to choose their own Primordial Energy Skills to game. I''ll also add a Demonized General as a Boss and add all the skills and behavior of it. As long as other students play our game, they will have a more comprehensive understanding of the Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals¡­


    Zhou Wen no longer had much hope for Huang Ji. It seemed like the quality of the game he developed wasn''t as high as his cultivation.


    However, since he had already spent the money, and Zhou Wen wasn''t really hoping to play the game, all he could do was grit his teeth and agree, expressing his anticipation.


    Huang Ji was delighted, his enthusiasm boundless. After settling the sign-up procedures, he went back to work on the game development.


    "Old Zhou, I think that game seems a little too simple." Although Li Xuan usually only played simple games to kill time, he could tell that the game''s interface was truly terrible.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to speak up for Huang Ji. "What''s important isn''t the game''s graphics but the content of the game. In the future, the game will add all the dimensional zones on campus as dungeons. When the time comes, one will be able to understand the behavior and various skills of dimensional creatures by gaming, so it will be very beneficial."


    "Is that so?" Li Xuan and the others expressed their doubts.


    Although the current level of technology wasn''t much better than it was more than a decade ago, the standards of a 3D game were already rather mature. In terms of side-scrolling games like Huang Ji''s, it just didn''t seem right.


    However, they didn''t really play games, so they didn''t have much of an opinion about it.


    On the contrary, Wang Lu seemed somewhat interested in this. She got Zhou Wen to let her have a spin after the game was done.


    ¡­


    After Wang Fei left, the school assigned another tutor to their class. However, Zhou Wen had already advanced to the Epic stage and was on the same level as his tutor. The teaching content used to teach ordinary students was useless to him.


    The school was most useful to Zhou Wen because of that massive database and those dimensional zones. Therefore, when he had nothing to do, Zhou Wen would crazily grind the dungeons.


    After entering Tiger Cage Pass, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush for the city gates. Sitting on the Mutated Stone Chi made him look domineering. All the Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals that approached were killed by the beam of light that shot out from its eyes. Otherwise, it would summon large swaths of spears that erupted from the land, piercing to death hordes of Demonized Soldiers.


    When the arrow flew over, the Mutated Stone Chi''s eyes blasted out a beam that collided with it and exploded. The beam dissipated and the arrow shattered.


    The blood-colored avatar continued charging forward as huge amounts of arrows rained down. A grayish-white stone dragon appeared above the Stone Chi''s head. It spewed out large amounts of grayish-white smoke that immediately petrified the arrows as they crumbled to the ground.


    The blood-colored avatar didn''t do anything as the Mutated Stone Chi leaped up and jumped onto the city gates.


    The black-armored general at the pass, pulled out his halberd and smashed it at the blood-colored avatar on the Mutated Stone Chi''s back with terrifying demonic flames.


    Zhou Wen summoned his Overlord Sword as his greatsword clashed with the halberd. With a clang, the halberd was flung away as Overlord Sword deviated from its trajectory. Neither side gained the upper hand.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen used Transcendent Flying Immortal. He became one with the sword as he transformed into sword shadows that slashed at the black-armored general.


    The black-armored general''s demonic flames surged into the sky as he brandished his halberd and blocked the attacks. It was as though he had three heads and six arms as he successfully blocked the Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    What a powerful Demonized General! Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.

 349 Tiger Cage Pass Boss

    Although his attributes hadn''t increased much after he advanced to the Epic stage, with the addition of Transcendent Flying Immortal, and the augmentation of the Slaughterer Life Soul, ordinary Epic creatures couldn''t withstand a single strike from Zhou Wen.


    Yet, the black-armored Demonized General was actually able to block his Transcendent Flying Immortal. Furthermore, the strange weapon didn''t snap from the blow. It left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised.


    However, Zhou Wen''s strongest strength now wasn''t one Transcendent Flying Immortal strike, but infinite Transcendent Flying Immortal strikes.


    The Mutated Stone Chi pounced at the Demonized Soldiers that came charging forward. The blood-colored avatar''s figure flashed as it pulled the distance with Ghost Steps, delivering wave after wave of Transcendent Flying Immortal. Sword shadows danced wildly as they constantly struck the black-armored general.


    Although the black-armored general''s combat strength was extraordinary, and he was able to block Transcendent Flying Immortal, he couldn''t use his Primordial Energy Skills repeatedly like Zhou Wen. In the gaps of his skills, Zhou Wen slashed at the joint between the helmet and armor.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that even if this strike couldn''t kill the black-armored general, it would still be able to severely injure him. However, to his surprise, the demonic flames on the general''s body turned into a three-headed, six-armed devil. Among the devil''s six arms, he held a halberd condensed from three demonic flames. One of the halberds had blocked Overlord Sword.


    Although the halberd condensed from the demonic flames was shattered, the black-armored general managed to escape the certain doom. Furthermore, the shattered halberd quickly reformed.


    The blood-colored avatar''s fight with the black-armored general was like facing the black-armored general and his three-headed, six-armed Life Soul. It was unable to take him down quickly.


    However, infinite Ghost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal were just insane. Even with the help of his Life Soul, the black-armored general was only able to withstand less than twenty consecutive Transcendent Flying Immortal strikes before being killed by Zhou Wen.


    ''Killed Epic creature, Tiger Cage Demonized General. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen saw a crystal drop out of the black-armored general''s body. Picking it up, he saw that it was a Strength Crystal with a value of 31. He immediately absorbed it and raised his Strength stat to 31 points.


    The Mutated Stone Chi was still engaging in a slaughter amidst the Demonized Soldier horde. Zhou Wen ignored it and charged straight into Tiger Cage Pass to see what was inside.


    However, despite killing everything in the pass, he failed to discover any other dimensional creatures of notice, other than the Tiger Cage Demonized General.


    Strange, is that all Tiger Cage Pass has? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    Although the Tiger Cage Demonized General was indeed very powerful and should be a top-notch Epic creature, there was no reason why the college couldn''t crack Tiger Cage Pass if that were the case.


    No matter how powerful the Tiger Cage Demonized General was, it would be impossible for him to withstand the siege of numerous Epic experts.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. Ever since he had entered the city, he had killed countless Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals, but none of them dropped dimensional crystals. It was rather abnormal.


    Zhou Wen took a look at the in-game notification, but he didn''t discover anything special. It kept notifying him that he had killed Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals, but nothing dropped.


    After storming through the city a little bit more, his suspicions were confirmed. No matter how many he killed, the number of Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals in the city didn''t seem to lessen.


    Zhou Wen had deliberately summoned Banana Fairy to get her to engage in a mass slaughter with the Mutated Stone Chi, but a large number of Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals continued to surge over.


    Thanks to having unlimited Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen could continue. Any other Epic expert would probably be exhausted from handling the endless horde.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed and discovered that the Demonized Generals and Demonized Soldiers surged out from the city gate''s entrance.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and charged towards the city gates.


    When he saw the city gates closing from afar, he saw someone standing above them. He had not seen this person when he stormed in, nor when he was on the city gates.


    Zhou Wen did not believe that he was seeing things. This was because the person was completely different from ordinary Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals. He wasn''t wearing any armor or equipment. Instead, he wore a cotton shirt¡ªone that looked odd. It resembled a Daoist robe, but there were differences.


    That person stood on the city gates, wearing a devil mask on his face. It was impossible to tell what he really looked like. He reached into his pocket and dug out something before scattering it into the city.


    Finally, Zhou Wen got a clear look. What the person scattered were black beans. When the beans hit the ground, they turned into Demonized Soldiers. Some of the more special beans became Demonized Generals.


    Is this the legendary Cast Beans for Soldiers? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded when he saw that. Then, he was delighted. If he were to kill the strange person, he might be able to have the Cast Beans for Soldiers Primordial Energy Skill drop.


    Since ordinary Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals were no match for Zhou Wen, he stormed a bloody path and charged towards the city gates.


    The devil-masked man sprinkled a few more beans. Upon seeing that the Demonized Soldiers and the Demonized Generals weren''t able to withstand the blood-colored avatar, he stopped. He then took out two items¡ªa pair of scissors and a stack of yellow paper.


    The strange person held the pair of scissors in one hand and a piece of yellow paper in the other. With a few crunching sounds, he cut the yellow paper into a human shape and threw it into the sky.


    The sky was filled with yellow paper and when the yellow paper landed, it transformed into a Tiger Cage Demonized General.


    More than ten Tiger Cage Demonized General instantly surrounded Zhou Wen as they charged at him from all directions.


    Zhou Wen sidestepped and dodged a few halberds. At the same time, he slashed out with Overlord Sword, clashing with a Tiger Cage Demonized General''s halberd. Then, he was astonished to discover that the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals which were cut from the yellow paper were actually comparable to a true Tiger Cage Demonized General in terms of Strength and Speed.


    What was even more unbelievable was that all the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals produced a three-headed, six-armed devil Life Soul.


    Holy sh*t, who''s that strange person? This is way too sick! Zhou Wen was alarmed. This was the first time he had seen such a Primordial Energy Skill.


    It was unimaginable that just a paper figurine would be able to reach the standards of a Tiger Cage Demonized General.


    Could it be that the strange person is at the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly. At the same time, he also knew why no one could leave alive after entering Tiger Cage Pass. It was really difficult to stay alive with someone like that guarding Tiger Cage Pass.


    Shoot the horse before shooting the rider; capture the leader before capturing the looting throng. It''s useless for me to kill these Tiger Cage Demonized Generals that are made from paper figurines. I might as well charge over to kill that strange person. Zhou Wen exerted strength under his feet as he unleashed his full speed with Ghost Steps, dodging the Tiger Cage Demonized General''s encirclement. He soared into the sky and attempted to fly up to the city gates.


    However, the strange person held a tiny triangular flag and waved it at the sky. Instantly, dark clouds gathered as lightning bolts struck down and hit the blood-colored avatar. The blood-colored avatar immediately went numb as it fell from the sky.

 350 Magic

    More than ten Tiger Cage Demonized Generals immediately charged forward, bent on slashing the blood-colored avatar to death.


    The Mutated Stone Chi roared and the stone dragon Life Soul spewed out large amounts of grayish-white smoke. It made several Tiger Cage Demonized Generals have no choice but to brandish their halberds to fend off the gray smoke. Meanwhile, Banana Fairy spat out a mouthful of Grand Yin Wind. Instantly, a Tiger Cage Demonized General beside her was blown away before slamming into the city wall, causing bricks to fly everywhere.


    The blood-colored avatar thankfully didn''t die after being struck by lightning. It immediately used Ghost Steps to dodge the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals'' attacks.


    The devil-masked man on the city gates took out another stack of yellow paper and cut it into a human shape. Scattering it again, more than ten Tiger Cage Demonized Generals descended.


    Who could withstand that? A Tiger Cage Demonized General was already a top Epic creature. Now, there were about thirty of them. Zhou Wen had to fight one against thirty. If it wasn''t for the fact that his Life Soul was empowering, and he had two powerful Companion Beasts helping him, he would have died long ago.


    "Banana Fairy¡­ Come¡­" Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to beckon at her, summoning the Banana Fairy into his hand. He shook the fan and fanned a few times.


    In the past, due to his limited Primordial Energy, he had to rest once he fanned. He would wait until his Primordial Energy recovered before doing it a second time, but now, he was frantically fanning. He didn''t have to worry about the Primordial Energy expenditure.


    Although the Grand Yin Wind produced by Zhou Wen wasn''t as strong as Banana Fairy''s use of it, he could do it as many times as he wanted. As the fan fanned in every direction, gust after gust of Grand Yin Wind swept out, sending the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals flying into disarray. They slammed into one another or crashed into buildings, causing many of the buildings to collapse.


    With the Overlord Sword in Zhou Wen''s other hand, he slashed out without any hesitation, beheading the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals in midair.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    White smoke spewed out from the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals'' heads, reducing them to paper figurines. They floated to the ground, but nothing dropped.


    Clearly, the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals transformed from paper figurines weren''t real dimensional creatures; they were just the strange person''s Primordial Energy Skill.


    Seeing so many Tiger Cage Demonized Generals killed, the strange person began cutting paper again. Zhou Wen didn''t give him the chance to do so. The two wings on his back which were formed from White Shadow of Poison, flapped as he activated Flash to instantly close in on the city gates. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, he wanted to slay the strange person under his sword.


    However, the strange person reached out and threw a rope that shot into the sky like a rod. Dark clouds appeared above his head.


    The strange person held the end of the rope, pulling it into the dark clouds. When Zhou Wen''s Overlord Sword hit the clouds, the terrifying sword beam sliced apart the dark clouds, but the strange person was nowhere to be seen.


    In the next second, he saw a strange figure appear on the roof of a small building in the city. The strange person scattered the yellow paper in his hand as more than a dozen cut Tiger Cage Demonized Generals landed and relentlessly charged at Zhou Wen.


    Who is this fellow? He has terrifying and bizarre powers. Zhou Wen charged forward with Banana Fairy as he kept fanning the banana fan, sending the charging Tiger Cage Demonized Generals flying.


    This time, Zhou Wen was too lazy to kill the paper-created Tiger Cage Demonized Generals. Killing them was useless. Nothing dropped from a piece of paper.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen rushed straight for the strange person on the roof as he slashed out Demonic Astral Wheel with Overlord Sword. The strange person dodged Demonic Astral Wheel but didn''t expect it to boomerang as it immediately struck his back.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the strange person sliced in half. However, white smoke emitted from the strange person''s body as two halves of a yellow piece of paper fluttered down.


    On the other end of the city gates, the strange person appeared again. He casually threw out yellow pieces of paper that transformed into Tiger Cage Demonized Generals.


    Zhou Wen battled the strange person in Tiger Cage Pass, but all he killed were either bean soldiers or paper generals without any benefit.


    He wanted to kill the strange person, but the strange person''s extremely arcane Primordial Energy Skill made it seem like a magic trick. Even if Zhou Wen''s sword managed to behead him, the strange person would turn into yellow paper the very next second, and his real body would appear someplace else.


    I can''t take it anymore. If I continue, my Primordial Energy might remain full, but my body won''t be able to take it. Zhou Wen was extremely exhausted. His muscles were aching.


    Although he had sufficient Primordial Energy, he had maintained such a high-intensity use of Primordial Energy Skills that his muscles were about to tear.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to leave Tiger Cage Pass. Killing the final Boss of Tiger Cage Pass didn''t seem like it would happen any time soon unless he found his weakness. Killing him with brute force alone was impossible.


    Although he didn''t have the ability to kill the devil-masked man, Zhou Wen could rush out of Tiger Cage Pass alive. He was already a rare, powerful existence at the Epic stage. Any ordinary Epic might not survive in there.


    After quitting the game, Zhou Wen went online to search for information.


    The school''s database did not have any records of the strange person. Zhou Wen also checked the history of Tiger Cage Pass and discovered that section of history was rather vague, with only a few recorded folklore tales in the Three Kingdoms.


    However, the Three Kingdoms'' records basically pointed to military generals who appeared at Tiger Cage Pass. There was no one who was proficient in Daoist spells.


    However, there were indeed some legendary characters in the Three Kingdoms¡ªYu Ji, Zuo Ci, Immortal Nanhua, as well as the latter''s two disciples¡ªwho seemed to have such abilities. All of them seemed to be possible candidates.


    However, such information wasn''t of much help for Zhou Wen''s slaying of the devil-masked man. After all, the books didn''t provide any methods to crack their Daoist spells.


    Zhou Wen roughly compared it and felt that the strange person was either Zuo Ci or Immortal Nanhua and his lineage. Zuo Ci was adept at all kinds of magical arts and was best at various bizarre spells.


    Immortal Nanhua''s lineage was represented in the Three Kingdoms as using spells related to talisman soldiers.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a while and found several ways to deal with paper generals online. The most direct way was to attack with water. Paper figurines were the most afraid of water. Legend had it that once it rained, those paper generals would be useless.


    However, how could it rain in-game? The more realistic method was to find a Companion Beast that could spray water. As long as he could crack the strange person''s paper figurines, there was a higher chance of killing him.


    Apart from the paper figurine avatar, the strange person also had a skill that allowed him to crawl into the clouds with the rope before vanishing. After Zhou Wen checked the Internet, he found that there actually were such techniques recorded. Legend had it that these techniques were known as the Immortal Chains, but they had long been lost. There was no way to crack them yet.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen ultimately decided to leave the Tiger Cage Pass''s Boss for the future. This fellow was too difficult to kill. He would try again when he obtained a Companion Beast that could spray water. Zhou Wen decided on going to Ant Nest to kill the Golden Flying Ant.

 351 Slaying the Golden Flying An

    Zhou Wen was already very familiar with Ant City. He didn''t need to do anything as his mount, the Mutated Stone Chi, could finish off a large horde of black-winged flying ants and the flightless ants.


    The low-valued crystals that dropped were of little use. The Companion Eggs that dropped were fed to his few pets as snacks.


    Tyrant Behemoth was simply too gluttonous. Its appetite alone was comparable to Banana Fairy and Silver-Winged Sky Spider. Furthermore, it was only at the Mortal stage, but the phone often popped up a notification that it was hungry. This gave Zhou Wen a headache.


    If it''s such a glutton at the Mortal stage, won''t it really be able to swallow a thousand mountains when it truly advances to the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen was worried if he could afford to rear this fellow.


    When he saw his old friend, the Golden Flying Ant, again, it hadn''t changed at all; however, Zhou Wen was no longer the same Zhou Wen who waited to be butchered by it.


    Using Ghost Steps, he was able to instantly dice up the Golden Flying Ant with Transcendent Flying Immortal. The previously mighty Golden Flying Ant couldn''t even withstand a single strike from Zhou Wen. The speed it relied upon for survival was useless in the face of Ghost Steps and Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    ''Killed Epic creature, Golden Ant. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    A golden crystal dropped from the body of the dead Golden Ant which Zhou Wen grabbed before it landed in the honey pool.


    It was a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. Inside the golden dimensional crystal was the shadow of a Golden Flying Ant. However, it was unknown which of the Golden Flying Ant''s Primordial Energy Skill it was.


    He reached out into the pool and scooped up some ant honey before trying it. It tasted pretty good and at the same time, a warm current entered his body. However, the ant honey was no longer of any use to Zhou Wen; it couldn''t increase his Primordial Energy.


    After getting Banana Fairy to eat a little, Zhou Wen''s heart stirred when he saw that Banana Fairy seemed to like it. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to eat the ant honey.


    Tyrant Behemoth didn''t stand on ceremony. It buried its head in the honey pool to drink, quickly dropping the honey level in the pool. After it was halfway done, Tyrant Behemoth was surprisingly satiated and stopped devouring the honey.


    This was a rare situation. Even a glutton like Tyrant Behemoth had times when it was satiated.


    It''s quite good to use this ant honey to feed my Companion Beasts. I''ve finally found a source of food for the future. Zhou Wen was delighted. In the future, as long as he killed the Golden Flying Ant, he wouldn''t have to worry about not having any food to feed Tyrant Behemoth. He had solved a huge problem.


    He chose to absorb the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal that was dropped by the Golden Ant; however, a notification indicated that he lacked 7 points of Light stats.


    Zhou Wen obviously didn''t have a Light stat. He was instantly depressed. Many Epic Primordial Energy Skills had stat requirements, and even Primordial Energy Arts had requirements. It wasn''t like the past when he could freely absorb them.


    Looking at the white cocoon suspended in midair, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as he unsheathed his sword and slashed at it. After cutting it open, he indeed saw the creature inside.


    She was the same as before. She was curled inside the white cocoon, but when Zhou Wen saw her, he was alarmed. This was because he felt that the creature inside the cocoon seemed to have grown significantly. Even the wings on her back seemed to have expanded significantly, making her look less tender than before.


    She''s growing up? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    The dimensional creatures in the game were like NPCs. No matter how many times Zhou Wen visited, their behavior and levels were the same. There wouldn''t be any changes.


    However, the creature inside the cocoon actually grew. This was quite terrifying.


    Zhou Wen was about to use Overlord Sword to slash at the creature inside the cocoon when she opened her eyes. She was originally hugging her knees with her face buried in her arms, but she tilted her head, revealing her side profile and an eye. She then glanced at the blood-colored avatar.


    Boom!


    The blood-colored avatar''s body exploded as the game screen went black.


    How is this fellow so powerful? With my present strength, I can''t even withstand a glance from her? Zhou Wen was alarmed. This was probably the most terrifying dimensional creature he had ever seen.


    Whether it was the nine black dragons, the white dragon under Dragon''s Well, or even the two mythical creatures in the temple, they couldn''t be compared to the creature inside the white cocoon.


    At the very least, the other Mythical creatures couldn''t instantly kill the blood-colored avatar with just a mere glance.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn''t expect to kill the creature inside the white cocoon himself. After all, the Golden Ant and the honey pool were his main targets, so he had completed his mission.


    As the blood-colored avatar died, the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropped by the Golden Ant had been erased.


    Zhou Wen didn''t mind. After some hesitation, he dripped his blood to revive. He started the Dragon Gate Grotto instance dungeon and went to Old Dragon Cave.


    The creature inside the white cocoon was terrifying, and when Wang Mingyuan transformed into a dimensional creature, he clearly had the aura of the white cocoon which was protected by the white dragon. Zhou Wen didn''t know what Wang Mingyuan had done to the white cocoon, so he wanted to head down to take a look.


    Given his current strength, as long as he wasn''t too close to the white dragon, there shouldn''t be too much danger.


    Zhou Wen kept his stealth when he went down Dragon''s Well until he arrived at the white dragon''s stone pillar. However, what he saw left him somewhat astonished.


    The white dragon was still coiled around the stone pillar, but the white cocoon above the stone pillar was gone.


    How did it disappear? Could it be that Teacher really took away the white cocoon or killed the creature inside? However, even if he took away the white cocoon, it should still be in-game. Could it be that the white cocoon has a unique attribute? Be it in-game or in real life, as long as one takes the white cocoon away or the creature inside the white cocoon is killed, it will no longer exist? Zhou Wen thought about it and felt that it was a more reasonable conjecture or there was no explaining the disappearance of the white cocoon.


    Teacher, what have you done to the white cocoon? Zhou Wen still had some doubts, unsure how Wang Mingyuan had used the white cocoon to become a dimensional creature.


    Not daring to alarm the white dragon, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to secretly leave Dragon''s Well.


    Ant Nest has already been cleared. Tiger Cage Pass only has that one Boss left. Now, I should head to Zhuolu''s bat cave. I''ll grind more stats crystals there and raise my four basic stats. Then, I can head to the temple to give it a try. Although I doubt I can kill the two Mythical creatures, I can try to find their weaknesses. As long as I can find their weaknesses, there might be a chance to kill them, even if they are Mythical. Zhou Wen entered the Zhuolu instance dungeon and began grinding crazily.


    Epic creatures had stats that ranged from 21 to 41 points, but in fact, only Mythical creatures could reach 41. The highest attribute a typical Epic creature had was 40 points. And this was even with a certain Overdrive mutation. In fact, most Epic creatures'' stats only reached 36¨C37 points. That was already considered pretty good.


    Apart from dropping 36-valued Speed Crystals, the ordinary bats dropped relatively low-valued stat crystals. Only the White Shadow of Poison dropped a 40-valued Speed Crystal. This was Zhou Wen''s main goal.

 352 See You

    Grinding was boring. Spending at least ten hours a day to grind the same monster was even more boring. Someone else would have vomited from this mindless grinding, but Zhou Wen kept on going. He only stopped to sleep. He didn''t even waste time while brushing his teeth or using the toilet.


    Over the next few days, Zhou Wen rarely left his residence. He was like a daughter of an aristocratic family in ancient times, never taking a step out of the house.


    His stats slowly increased, but the Slaughterer Life Soul showed no signs of evolution.


    There were a myriad of ways for a Life Soul to evolve. Everyone needed to find their own way. Some Life Souls would only be able to evolve after absorbing stat crystals, while others needed to be evolved in battle. There were some that needed special supplementary materials to evolve.


    In short, there were no two Life Souls that were completely identical in the world; likewise, there was no completely identical evolutionary method.


    Zhou Wen had tried using stat crystals or engaging in combat with Slaughterer tagging along, but nothing worked. Slaughterer remained a Primordial Body.


    I''m just too anxious. To be able to advance to the Epic stage at seventeen years of age is already staggeringly fast. The average person would probably exceed thirty years of age by the time they advanced to the Epic stage. Geniuses would usually have to finish university before they advanced to the Epic stage in their twenties. Compared to them, my advancement speed is sick, Zhou Wen consoled himself.


    However, he also knew that although his advancement was fast, it was still insufficient. He still didn''t have the ability to storm into the Zhuolu battlefield and find his former principal.


    Furthermore, dimensional zones could lose their binding restrictions at any moment. When that happened, having Epic combat strength might not be considered weak, but it was definitely not strong.


    While grinding the stat crystals, Zhou Wen attempted to switch to other Life Providences. He realized that when he switched to other Life Providences, he was unable to summon the Slaughterer Life Soul, nor could he use it. Clearly, the Slaughterer Life Soul could only match with the Sigh of the King Life Providence.


    When he used other Primordial Energy Arts, he only had a Life Providence and no Life Soul.


    Zhou Wen still remembered the last time he had read the tablet text and condensed a Life Providence. Therefore, he went to the Fire God Platform to check on the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, but he was greatly disappointed. Nothing happened when he looked at the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s stone monument.


    Zhou Wen didn''t give up and went to Mount Laojun to look at the Wordless Monument. He also went to Small Buddha Temple to read the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the bronze lamp''s Godfiend Era. The outcome was the same¡ªnothing.


    Could it be that the Primordial Energy Art simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra isn''t able to produce a Life Soul? Zhou Wen found it very likely. After all, it was only a simulation and not a Primordial Energy Art that he had truly mastered. It was like a building in the sky. Without a foundation, it was normal for him not to be able to condense a Life Soul.


    Although he had expected it, he couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed. He felt that it would be a pity to just let the four Life Providences go to waste. After all, all four Life Providences had their own unique characteristics. If he could condense a Life Soul, it would definitely be a very unique one.


    However, since he couldn''t condense a Life Soul, Zhou Wen didn''t think too much about it. He continued grinding stat crystals daily, trying his best to raise his stats before finding a way to evolve Slaughterer.


    One day, while Zhou Wen was grinding, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the screen and saw an unknown number.


    When the call connected, a rather charming man''s voice sounded. "Is this Zhou Wen?"


    "I''m Zhou Wen. Who are you?" Zhou Wen had a vague impression of the voice, but he couldn''t recall where he had heard it before.


    "I''m Li Xuan''s second brother, Li Mobai. We met previously at the auction," Li Mobai said.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly, unsure what Li Mobai was up to by contacting him.


    "Are you free soon? I want to have a chat with you," Li Mobai said.


    "Sorry, I''m very busy with my studies. I don''t have much time." With that said, Zhou Wen hung up.


    Li Mobai and Li Xuan were enemies. Since Zhou Wen treated Li Xuan as a friend, he naturally couldn''t have anything to do with him.


    Although Zhou Wen had never dealt with Li Mobai, the methods the latter employed allowed him to know that he was terrifying. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for Li Xuan''s two childhood friends to betray him.


    Zhou Wen was a very lazy person to begin with, so he didn''t wish to waste his time dealing with such a person.


    However, his phone quickly rang again. Zhou Wen glanced at it¡ªit was still the same number.


    Zhou Wen didn''t pick up the first time, but Li Mobai called again. After some thought, Zhou Wen answered the call and planned on telling Li Mobai not to call again.


    However, before Zhou Wen could say a word, Li Mobai said, "Do you want to know what the experts like Old Mister Ouyang and the rest studied at the Zhuolu battlefield?"


    Zhou Wen was rendered speechless when he heard that. He asked with a frown, "What do you mean?"


    Li Mobai continued, "The League has invited many experts to go to Zhuolu for research. Besides Old Mister Ouyang, there are also people of his caliber. Having spent so much money, don''t tell me you think that the League''s brass doesn''t have any requests?"


    "Regardless of their goal, there''s no need to pursue it now," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s where you are wrong. In fact, the research of Old Mister Ouyang and the rest had borne fruit long ago. They dug out quite a number of things from the Zhuolu battlefield and also made some inferences. The garrison stationed at Zhuolu didn''t tell you these things, right?" Li Mobai said.


    "Are you done? If you are done, let''s leave it at that? Don''t call me again." With that said, Zhou Wen prepared to hang up.


    Even if what Li Mobai said was true, Zhou Wen could have An Sheng investigate. There was no need to establish ties with Li Mobai.


    "Do you know that there''s a locked Companion Beast in basement four of the Xiyuan Crystal Shop?" Li Mobai suddenly said.


    "What?" Zhou Wen asked in feigned ignorance.


    "Do you want to know the origins of that Companion Beast? Do you want to know its relationship with Old Mister Ouyang? I''ll wait for you at the west entrance of your college at 8 p.m. tonight. See you." Li Mobai hung up after saying that.


    Zhou Wen looked at the phone as several thoughts ran through his mind. What exactly is Li Mobai up to? Did he throw out so much bait just to meet me?


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before making a phone call to Li Xuan. Then, he recounted what Li Mobai had said to him.


    "You want to go?" Li Xuan fell silent for a moment before saying.


    "I do want to know the answers to those questions," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then go. However, you have to be careful. My brother is truly terrifying," Li Xuan said.


    "I know." Zhou Wen knew what Li Xuan was worried about, but it was impossible for him to hide from Li Mobai his entire life. It was better to meet him openly and see what he was up to.

 353 Stone Artifact Pill

    It was late summer, and daylight didn''t last long. By eight in the evening, the sky had already darkened, and the street lamps outside the college''s walls that were modeled as wrought iron lamps had already lit up.


    The west gate was a side gate of Sunset College. It wasn''t as grand as the main entrance, but it wasn''t small either. After Zhou Wen showed his pass to the soldiers guarding the gate, he walked past the west gate and saw a garden trail that was about three meters wide. Li Mobai was standing under a street lamp and holding his phone in his hand as he browsed through something.


    "Li Mobai, why are you looking for me?" Zhou Wen walked in front of Li Mobai and asked directly.


    Li Mobai lowered his phone and looked at Zhou Wen. "Wang Mingyuan betrayed humanity and entered a dimensional zone. Although it was his choice, it implicated the Wang family and his few students. It''s fine if the An family protects you in Luoyang, but it''s impossible for you to stay in Luoyang forever. It''s also impossible for you to be taken under the wing of others forever. Once you leave Luoyang, the road ahead of you will be thorny. No matter what you do, you will be labeled as a traitor''s student. Everyone will look at you as a horse of another color. No matter what you do, it''ll be harder than others."


    "Can''t I always stay in Luoyang?" Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Although he indeed planned on leaving Luoyang after graduation, he naturally wouldn''t say this to Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai smiled and said, "If you were such a person, you wouldn''t be my brother''s friend. My brother''s ability to read people is terrible, and he''s always muddle-headed in whatever he does. He thinks he''s free and easy, but in reality, he''s just avoiding problems. There are only two kinds of people who are willing to be friends with him. One is someone who covets his identity as the third scion of the Li family and wants to take advantage of him. The other is the kind who really doesn''t care about anything and just wants to make friends with him.


    "If you wanted to take advantage of him, you should have taken advantage of the An family. However, you didn''t do so. Although I''m not willing to believe that Brother could have such good luck, you are indeed the latter kind of person. How could a person who doesn''t want to take advantage of others stay in Luoyang?" Li Mobai asked.


    "That''s equivalent to not saying anything. Typical friends only have those two outcomes. It''s binary," Zhou Wen said.


    Li Mobai shook his head and said, "It looks like you are as simple and pure as Li Xuan. It''s no wonder you can be friends. In fact, other than childhood playmates, any friend you encounter after stepping into society is centered on interests. That also means that you have to be valued by others before others will choose to approach you and slowly establish a so-called friendship. Brother has always been muddle-headed and believes himself to be smart, but in fact, he is just burying his head in the sand. If he continues on like this, truly powerful experts will not be willing to interact with him. They naturally won''t be friends. Those who are willing to approach him are mostly only eyeing his wealth."


    "Can''t he have a friend that shares common hobbies and interests with him?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Of course. If you''re a soccer mate, you have to be able to kick a ball first before others come looking for you. This is your value. If it''s the antique collectors'' circle, you have to understand what''s valuable or have a collection before entering that circle. This is also your value. If you don''t have any value, why would others get you to play soccer? Why would they discuss collectibles with you?" Li Mobai said.


    "What are you trying to get at?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Li Mobai was right, but Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that something was amiss and couldn''t completely agree with him.


    "I''m just having a casual chat. I invited you here today because I want to make a deal with you," Li Mobai said.


    "What deal?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "My Li family has some connections with the League''s brass, and happens to know some information about the Zhuolu battlefield. If you are interested in the news, I would like to ask you for a favor," Li Mobai said with a smile.


    "What do you want me to do?" Zhou Wen didn''t ask Li Mobai about the news.


    However, Li Mobai said with a smile, "Let me give you the general outline. Back when the dimensional zone in the Zhuolu battlefield hadn''t opened, someone found a stone artifact on the Zhuolu battlefield. There was a pill inside the stone artifact. The League''s brass experimented on it. Only a small amount of powder could advance a Mortal Companion Beast to the Legendary stage."


    After pausing for a moment, Li Mobai continued, "I believe you''ve heard some of the methods used by the League''s brass. Soon after, someone called for so-called volunteers and did human trials. The result was exaggerated. An old man who had never cultivated seemed to turn young again after using a small amount of the powder. His hair turned black, and his skin became taut. After testing, his bones were akin to a man in his thirties or forties. His various vitals had improved tremendously, reaching the level of a peak Mortal. The powder that he used was almost negligible. Don''t you think people would feel tempted knowing that something like that exists? But at that time, the Zhuolu battlefield had yet to become a dimensional zone. The brass sent people over to find the location of the stone artifact. They wanted to see if there were any more. However, Zhuolu was huge, and they couldn''t dig up the entire place. That''s why a team of experts comprising Old Mister Ouyang was formed."


    Zhou Wen only listened silently. The fact that Li Mobai could tell him meant that it likely wasn''t a secret.


    Indeed, Li Mobai paused for a moment before continuing, "The expedition team has actually been in Zhuolu for a long period of time. They did get something. Old Mister Ouyang once returned to Luoyang midway. According to my investigations, after he returned to Luoyang, he didn''t even go to the An family. He only went to one place."


    "Xiyuan Crystal Shop?" Zhou Wen stared at Li Mobai and asked.


    Li Mobai nodded. "Yes, that''s why I''ve investigated the Xiyuan Crystal Shop and discovered some interesting things. It''s regarding Old Mister Ouyang and the Companion Beast locked at basement four. If you are interested, you only need to do me a little favor. I''ll tell you everything I know, and I guarantee you''ll be interested. You can also ask the An family to help you investigate, but a lot of clues were deliberately erased when I was doing the investigation. And I did the same thing. Even the An family won''t be able to easily figure out anything via an investigation."


    "What do you want me to do?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Very simple. Sever ties with Li Xuan. The relationship between the two of you shall be limited to being schoolmates," Li Mobai said.


    "From the looks of it, there''s no need for us to continue the conversation. Goodbye." Zhou Wen turned around and walked towards the college''s west gate. Although he was very interested in the secret of the Companion Beast in basement four, he didn''t wish to be manipulated by Li Mobai.


    Even if it wasn''t for Li Xuan, Li Mobai''s schemes had nearly killed him as well. If it wasn''t for him being careful and having certain strength, he might have long died with Li Xuan.


    "Old Mister Ouyang had been to Zhuolu a long time ago. The Companion Beast in basement four of the Xiyuan shop might have been brought back from Zhuolu," Li Mobai suddenly said.

 354 Condensing a Life Soul

    "How early was early?" Zhou Wen turned to look at Li Mobai and asked. After all, he hadn''t agreed to his conditions. He didn''t mind hearing it if Li Mobai was willing to tell him.


    "Anyway, it''s much earlier than the League''s investigations on Zhuolu. It should have been when Old Mister Ouyang was still young," Li Mobai said with a smile, "If you''re still interested and want to carry on listening, we can discuss conditions again."


    "I don''t think there''s any need to continue the discussion." Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    This time, Li Mobai didn''t say another word. All he did was watch Zhou Wen enter the college''s west gate, still wearing that smile as though nothing had changed.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen kept thinking about what Li Mobai had said. Ouyang Lan had indeed told him that Principal Ouyang used to take her to see the Companion Beast when she was young. What Li Mobai said wasn''t impossible.


    It was only recently that the Zhuolu battlefield had a dimensional zone appear. When Principal Ouyang was young, Zhuolu didn''t have any dimensional zones. Where did he get the Companion Beast? Zhou Wen couldn''t figure it out.


    Since he couldn''t figure it out, Zhou Wen didn''t think about it any longer. As long as he could find the former principal from the Zhuolu battlefield, all his doubts would be resolved.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen only wanted to quickly raise his stats and find a way to advance his Life Soul. Then, he would head to the two temples and attempt to find the weaknesses of the Mythical Creatures.


    "How was it? What did my brother say to you?" When Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, Li Xuan was waiting for him at the entrance.


    Zhou Wen recounted the encounter between them and Li Xuan heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. "I never expected him to do this much investigation. However, why don''t you directly ask Qin Xiyuan? Since the former principal stored his pet with him, he should know something?"


    Zhou Wen shook his head. "I''ve seen Qin Xiyuan before, and always have a bad feeling about this person. Later on, after careful thought, I realized that he might have appeared too warm. It made me feel a little uncomfortable."


    The next morning, Zhou Wen woke up as usual and took out his phone to game. However, he heard hurried knocks on the door. When he opened it, he saw Feng Qiuyan standing outside the door, looking delighted.


    "Coach, I''ve figured it out," Feng Qiuyan said excitedly as he grabbed Zhou Wen''s shoulder.


    "What did you figure out?" Zhou Wen asked in a daze. He was completely helpless against Feng Qiuyan, feeling that it was fine as long as he was happy. Nothing else mattered.


    "I seem to have figured out One Saber Art that I''ve been practicing. I think I might be advancing to the Epic stage, but I''m not sure," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "You''re about to advance to the Epic stage?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    Feng Qiuyan nodded and shook his head again as he said incoherently, "I''m not too sure either. I feel like I''m about to break through, but the old man who taught me the One Saber Art said that it would take at least five to six years for me to advance to the Epic stage from the Legendary stage, and to figure out the true meaning of the One Saber Art. From that, I would condense a Life Soul and advance to the Epic stage. However, I''ve only been at the Legendary stage for just over a year now, so I shouldn''t have advanced so quickly¡­ But I feel like I''m about to break through."


    "In what way do you feel like you are about to have a breakthrough?" Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he asked Feng Qiuyan.


    "I don''t know either. I just kept practicing. By the way, didn''t you specially instruct me in the past? I''ve been practicing my saber techniques recently, trying to resolve the problems with it. I finally came up with a solution. It was at that moment that I felt like I was about to break through. That feeling was very clear to me, that if I continued practicing, I would be able to break through a critical point. I believe it''s about breaking past the Legendary stage, but it seems too fast. I''m only 17 years old. Can I really advance to the Epic stage?" Feng Qiuyan seemed somewhat lacking in confidence.


    "Then give it a try. Since it''s a breakthrough, there shouldn''t be any harm if you do not advance to the Epic stage, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    "You''re right. I''ll try now." Feng Qiuyan was too excited just now, so when Zhou Wen said that, he immediately snapped to his senses and slashed with his saber.


    This is my living room! Why are you practicing here? Shouldn''t you be at the training field at the very least? Zhou Wen immediately felt depressed. Feng Qiuyan was a martial arts fanatic. He lacked common sense in a way worse than Zhou Wen, or rather, his mind was focused on his saber practice. He could not think about anything else.


    Only such a person can obtain such achievements. Success indeed doesn''t have any shortcuts. How much you put in is how much you gain in return. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    However, Feng Qiuyan didn''t give a d*mn about anything. He slashed out repeatedly with his saber in Zhou Wen''s living room without releasing any saber aura. However, Zhou Wen could sense that the force from the saber was becoming stronger and stronger.


    Feng Qiuyan slashed out ten times on just an ordinary slashing stance; yet, the saber force was already unbelievably powerful. It was as though Feng Qiuyan could split a mountain in front of him with one cleave.


    Zhou Wen felt that his essence, vitality, and spirit were somewhat different. It was as though something was spewing out from him. The present Feng Qiuyan was like a volcano about to erupt.


    Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan and suddenly had a thought. The Lost Immortal Sutra is different from ordinary Primordial Energy Arts. It can automatically circulate, so much so that one doesn''t need to gain any insights for a breakthrough. As long as my stats reach a certain level, I can advance immediately. However, ordinary people need to cultivate in Primordial Energy Arts and understand the true meaning in it before they can push their bodies, essence, vitality, and spirit to the limits and break through to produce a Life Soul. If I were to do it according to how ordinary people advance to the Epic stage, can I also condense several other Life Souls?


    Zhou Wen was unable to confirm if this was possible because his few Primordial Energy Arts were apparently simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra. It wasn''t something he had mastered himself, so he wasn''t sure if he could condense a Life Soul like an ordinary Primordial Energy Art. All he could do was give it a try in the future.


    While Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Feng Qiuyan seemed to have unlocked a particular shackle. An unparalleled saber intent erupted from his body. This caused an indomitable terrifying power to erupt from him. The power grew stronger and stronger, condensing above Feng Qiuyan''s head, transforming into a corporeal saber.


    The blade was very pure and the design was the simplest saber often seen in the Tang dynasty. It didn''t look fancy, but it was sharp. It looked as if no one in the world could block its sharpness once it moved.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t surprised when he saw that Feng Qiuyan''s Life Soul was a saber. This person probably only had his heart occupied by sabers. It couldn''t be any more normal to have a saber for his Life Soul. It would be odd otherwise.

 355 Regicide

    I''ve really advanced to the Epic stage? With a thought, the saber flew to Feng Qiuyan. He reached out to grab the hilt, and once he held the saber in his hand, he was certain that he had advanced to the Epic stage.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt envious. It would be great if his Life Soul was so obedient.


    "Congratulations on advancing to the Epic stage." Zhou Wen was genuinely happy for Feng Qiuyan. He believed that now that Feng Qiuyan had advanced to the Epic stage, there was probably no reason for him to disturb him while he was gaming again, right?


    As Feng Qiuyan held the Life Soul Saber, his eyes gradually became resolute. He looked up at Zhou Wen and said, "Thanks to you, Coach, I was able to advance to the Epic stage at 17 years old. It''s almost three years ahead of my plan. Please continue guiding me in the future."


    "I didn''t guide you at all. It''s all because of your talent. It has nothing to do with me. There''s nothing I can teach you in the future," Zhou Wen hurriedly said with a shake of his head.


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t argue with Zhou Wen. Instead, he held his Life Soul Saber and said, "Coach, I''ve just advanced to the Epic stage. I''m still unfamiliar with the power of my Life Soul. Can you spar with me?"


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to refuse, but on second thought, he agreed and went to the training grounds with Feng Qiuyan.


    Although he wasn''t interested in fighting Feng Qiuyan, Zhou Wen was thinking about the other four Primordial Energy Arts he had. If he could use the typical methods used to advance to the Epic stage, he needed to comprehend the true meaning behind the Primordial Energy Art. It would be a win-win situation to spar with Feng Qiuyan.


    When they arrived at the training grounds, Zhou Wen thought for a moment and switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Godfiend Era. Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques were fast, and he had advanced to the Epic stage. Although his stats hadn''t increased, his saber speed would definitely become even faster with the augmentation of his Life Soul.


    Zhou Wen''s other three Primordial Energy Arts didn''t significantly increase his Speed. Now, Zhou Wen''s highest stat was Speed. With the Godfiend Era Life Providence that increased his Speed and gave him levitation abilities, he believed he could probably battle Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan''s Life Soul belonged to a combat type, so it could be used as a weapon. Feng Qiuyan held his Life Soul Saber and slashed forward.


    This strike was completely different from the last time Feng Qiuyan sparred with Zhou Wen. Back then, Feng Qiuyan needed to slowly increase the saber''s speed with every strike, but this strike was so fast that it was almost indiscernible. It was as though it had vanished from his sights.


    If he hadn''t advanced to the Epic stage and raised his Speed stat, he probably could only have a chance at dodging the strike with Ghost Steps.


    However, things were different now. Zhou Wen''s Speed stat had increased to 36 points. Feng Qiuyan had just advanced to the Epic stage and was likely only at 21 points of Speed. The difference was still huge.


    Without using Ghost Steps, Zhou Wen took a step forward and his speed soared to an extreme. He followed up with Dragon Gate Fairy Skill, dodging Feng Qiuyan''s attack in an unfazed manner.


    "Coach, you have to be careful. My soul is known as the Regicide, and what I''m sensing is that it''s unmatchable." Feng Qiuyan didn''t guard against Zhou Wen at all as he shared his Life Soul''s name and ability.


    The Life Providence and Life Soul were the greatest dependence a person had, so most people wouldn''t easily let others know about their Life Providence''s and Life Soul''s ability.


    Regicide? Why does it sound a little inauspicious? My Life Providence has the word ''King.'' Doesn''t regicide mean killing a king? Zhou Wen made connections.


    Feng Qiuyan had mastered his saber techniques, and he had showcased the standards with his first strike. It exceeded the speed his body could control¡ªthe standard back when he delivered more than a hundred strikes.


    If he continued slashing, his strikes would become faster. Having already exceeded his physical limits, Feng Qiuyan shouldn''t have been able to control such speeds. However, he was using the Life Soul Saber. It was almost one with him, greatly enhancing his control. This allowed each strike to exceed his limits, thus becoming stronger and faster without losing control.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen''s Speed stat was much higher than Feng Qiuyan''s. With the Godfiend Era as his foundation, it wasn''t difficult for him to dodge Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but praise Feng Qiuyan. If Feng Qiuyan didn''t die because of a mishap, he would definitely be a great saber expert in the future.


    His Life Providence as Swift Saber Heavenly King allowed him to have a talent of having no upper limit when it came to saber speed. Now that he had the Regicide Life Soul, it gave him a saber that was most suitable for him. In addition, with his innate concentration and perceptivity towards sabers, no one could stop him from advancing as long as he didn''t die. Perhaps he might one day really advance to the Mythical stage.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber was getting faster and faster, and becoming more and more dangerous. His saber techniques were no longer like the past, deliberately seeking out perfection. One could see many flaws in his saber techniques, but all of them were concealed under his swift saber''s speed. Even though Zhou Wen could see through the flaws, Feng Qiuyan was too fast. Seeing it but not being able to act on it was equivalent to not having any flaws.


    In the past, Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques had some commonplace triteness, and he had deliberately pursued the limits. Although he wasn''t as perfect now, he had some of the traits of it being all so natural. The triteness was gone, and there was some finesse.


    At first, Zhou Wen didn''t feel any pressure. After all, his Speed was much higher. However, slowly, Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques made him feel pressured.


    It was a saber technique that exceeded the limits. It had infinite possibilities, but it also required Zhou Wen to give him an opportunity to showcase it. Otherwise, Feng Qiuyan wouldn''t have any infinite possibilities if he was defeated in the first strike.


    Under the swift saber that could kill in the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen was as graceful as an immortal, dodging the saber strikes repeatedly with his feet not touching the ground. While fighting Feng Qiuyan, he also sensed the characteristics of the Godfiend Era and Godfiend Life Providence.


    The Godfiend Era Primordial Energy Art was unpredictable. The Godfiend Life Providence gave Zhou Wen the ability to control space. With the Godfiend Life Providence, Zhou Wen could treat the sky as flat ground. To him, there was no such thing as direction. Wherever he stood, the infinite worlds were beneath his feet as the ground.


    With such an ability, Zhou Wen had a lot more choices than the average person when using movement techniques. Zhou Wen could easily do something that many others could not.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had only used the Godfiend Life Providence to provide him with the ability to control space, and he didn''t think too much about it. However, after carefully sensing the Godfiend Life Providence, he realized that what he could do was far more than he imagined.


    Just like the Dragon Gate Fairy Skill. With the Godfiend Life Providence, there were many moves that required him to leverage himself on some other object to continue. However, he could exclude all of that because he didn''t need any leverage to directly fly through the air, saving him a lot of time and Primordial Energy.


    He did not need to take a breath in places that usually required it.


    It was just like how humans swam under the water. They would need to surface to take another breath after some time. However, if humans could breathe underwater, why would they need to waste time to surface and get another mouthful of breath?

 356 Contemplating Godfiend

    The Godfiend Life Providence made Zhou Wen the lord of the skies, making him freer than a bird. After gaining a deeper understanding, he realized that under such circumstances, he could do things no one could imagine.


    Feng Qiuyan had restrained himself in the beginning, afraid that he would injure Zhou Wen with his saber. However, the more he battled, the more he realized that Zhou Wen''s movement techniques were unique and unbelievable.


    He had never seen a person actually have the ability to float upside down in the air and fight in battle. It was as though the laws of science didn''t rule over Zhou Wen at all. It completely crushed all the experience he had gained in his previous battles with humans.


    The many movement techniques Zhou Wen displayed were things he had never imagined before. They practically exceeded humanity''s imagination.


    As expected of Coach! This left Feng Qiuyan excited. He brandished his saber and fought Zhou Wen to his heart''s content so that he could see more of Zhou Wen''s strange movement techniques.


    Zhou Wen''s movement techniques became stranger and more bizarre as time passed. As for Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques, they were becoming calmer, using permanence to counter impermanence. It was as though Feng Qiuyan was truly comprehending the profoundness of countering movement with stillness.


    With the Godfiend Life Providence, Zhou Wen began to gain an advantage. However, he gradually realized that every strike from Feng Qiuyan made him feel extremely uncomfortable. It was as though he had sealed off all the changes in his movement techniques, giving him a feeling of returning to the basics.


    Zhou Wen was already immersed and focused on the battle. As he fought, he pondered how to escape the present predicament.


    However, no matter what kind of changes Zhou Wen''s movement technique did¡ªno matter how unique it was¡ªit was difficult to waver Feng Qiuyan''s saber. Every strike from Feng Qiuyan had turned simple. He had seen through the myriad of changes to finally decide on one saber strike.


    In between each strike was without bound or limit and turned sublime. Feng Qiuyan had finally mastered his saber techniques.


    Zhou Wen''s movement technique kept changing, only barely managing to dodge Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques. However, the space he could move about decreased, being constantly suppressed by Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques.


    This strong and oppressive pressure did not cause Zhou Wen to panic. Instead, he felt a little excited. His brain was calmer and clearer than any other time.


    Zhou Wen constantly sought the possibility of cracking Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques. He squeezed out every ounce of possibility from his body to turn the impossible possible.


    The Godfiend Life Providence and Godfiend Era Primordial Energy circulation were similarly squeezed dry, allowing Zhou Wen to deeply feel their existence and effects. Only by doing so could Zhou Wen better make use of them.


    Gradually, Zhou Wen realized that the Godfiend Era and Godfiend Life Providence were somewhat different from what he had previously understood.


    It was true that they provided powerful augmentation to speed and flight, but their true power wasn''t just that. This Primordial Energy Art that came from a different realm seemed to have even more profound meanings.


    ¡­


    As usual, Wei Ge came to the training ground early in the morning. He came here not to train but to wait for someone.


    The vice-chancellor was in charge of managing the training grounds. He was just a vice-chancellor who didn''t have much authority in school, he usually didn''t care about anything.


    In fact, Wei Ge knew that this vice-chancellor, who looked like he didn''t have any actual power, had a very deep background. According to Wei Ge''s intelligence, a president of the student council had been able to stay in the school as a staff member. It was arranged by the vice-chancellor.


    One had to know that keeping a student as a staff member wasn''t something the managing vice-chancellor had the authority to do, but he succeeded.


    Therefore, when Wei Ge heard that the vice-chancellor came to the training grounds in the morning, he would come here every morning to pretend to train, hoping to leave a good impression on him. He even wanted close ties with the vice-chancellor, to provide him with some help in the future when the problem about being retained as staff cropped up.


    Wei Ge knew how important it was to be retained as staff. An Jing couldn''t be bothered with the position of student council president. Li Xuan could also disregard staying in the school, but he couldn''t.


    He wasn''t an elite like An Jing, nor did he have Li Xuan''s family background. To help him and his family have a future, staying on campus was undoubtedly the best option.


    In this era where danger was everywhere, the school was undoubtedly one of the safest places. To stay in Sunset College and bring his parents to settle here was always Wei Ge''s goal. Furthermore, he had been working hard for it, unscrupulously even.


    However, it was just too difficult to be retained at Sunset College. It was so difficult that Wei Ge didn''t wish to give up any sliver of hope.


    When Wei Ge arrived at the training grounds, it was still early. Only a few students were training with the various equipment in the hall, and he didn''t see the vice-chancellor.


    Wei Ge was very satisfied with this. He entered the changing room and changed into his training kit, preparing to find a relatively conspicuous spot to train while waiting for the vice-chancellor''s arrival.


    However, when Wei Ge passed a training room, he heard a faint sound coming from inside. It sounded like the sound of blades tearing through the air.


    Someone''s using the training room so early? Wei Ge was somewhat curious. He walked to the training room''s door and pushed it open. Realizing that the door wasn''t locked, he pushed it open and looked inside.


    What he saw immediately widened his eyes as he saw the two figures fighting in the training room. One of them was using a saber, and the saber was enough to send chills down his spine. Just looking from outside made Wei Ge feel like he was about to be slain by the saber aura.


    The other person didn''t use any weapons. He only used his movement techniques to dodge the terrifying strikes. Despite the terrifying saber techniques, his body was still as graceful as an immortal.


    Wei Ge had also seen many tutors use their saber techniques and movement techniques. As the president of the student council, he had more opportunities to interact with tutors than ordinary students. He had also seen many tutor battles, but the saber techniques and movement techniques in front of him gave him an unprecedented feeling. It was as if they were even stronger than the tutors he had seen before.


    Zhou Wen¡­ Feng Qiuyan¡­ Wei Ge recognized the two of them as he stood there stunned. It was as though he couldn''t believe that the two people fighting here weren''t tutors, but students like him¡ªjuniors that were of a lower grade than him.


    Wei Ge stood outside the door, watching the two battle in a daze as he kept the door open without entering or backing out. He looked somewhat stunned.


    Boom!


    At this moment, Zhou Wen''s aura exploded as an indescribable force surged out of his body as though a transparent flame was burning.


    He''s condensing a Life Soul¡­ Wei Ge''s pupils constricted as he stared intently at Zhou Wen in midair, as though he was petrified.

 357 Lost Country

    It''s not speed¡­ It''s not space control¡­ It''s the trajectory of space¡­ Zhou Wen seemed to realize something as a force burst out from his body. The force contained the power of the Godfiend Life Providence, as well as Zhou Wen''s essence, vitality, and spirit. The strange power warped space and burned like a transparent flame.


    The transparent flames eventually condensed into Zhou Wen''s left middle finger, forming a strange ring on his finger.


    The ring looked very strange. It appeared to be forged from black iron and had no luster at all. It didn''t look gorgeous, not even exquisite.


    A simple metal ring had a ghostly face appear on it. However, the ghostly face was very strange. Half of its face looked extremely ugly, like a devil''s, while the other half looked beautiful.


    While Zhou Wen looked at the strange ring on his left finger, information seemed to enter his mind. He immediately knew the name and use of the ring.


    Lost Country? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Why was the Life Soul condensed by the Godfiend Era a ring? Furthermore, its name was Lost Country. It had absolutely nothing to do with the Godfiend Era Primordial Energy Art, nor the Godfiend Life Providence.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber did not give him time to think carefully. The swift saber had already slashed in front of him.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily distracted looking at the Life Soul ring, Lost Country, that he had condensed. By the time he snapped to his senses, the saber was already in front of him.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had not dodged, Feng Qiuyan was also taken aback. He wanted to retract his saber, but he had struck out too quickly. It was almost reaching Zhou Wen''s clothes, and there was no space for him to retract the saber at such a short distance.


    Wei Ge, who was standing by the door, was alarmed as well, believing that Zhou Wen was about to bleed.


    However, in the next second, they saw Zhou Wen vanish into thin air in front of Feng Qiuyan. When the latter slashed down, he touched nothing.


    Feng Qiuyan couldn''t help but be taken aback. Zhou Wen had really vanished. It wasn''t just a false impression due to excessive speed. No matter how fast one was, one would still leave trajectory, but he didn''t see Zhou Wen''s trajectory. He had no idea where Zhou Wen had gone.


    Feng Qiuyan stopped and looked around, only to see Zhou Wen standing less than a meter behind him. He had no idea how or when Zhou Wen had arrived there.


    "Coach, you also condensed a Life Soul to advance to the Epic stage?" Feng Qiuyan asked in delight. From his point of view, it was only natural for Zhou Wen to advance to the Epic stage by condensing a Life Soul. However, he had forgotten that Zhou Wen was actually around his age. It was indeed rather astonishing to be able to condense a Life Soul at this age.


    Outside the training room, Wei Ge had already closed the door. He stood with his back against the wall and his eyes closed. His breathing was heavy like a beast''s panting.


    17 years old¡­ They should only be 17 years old¡­ They actually condensed a Life Soul¡­ The scenes of Zhou Wen condensing a Life Soul kept repeating in Wei Ge''s mind. He couldn''t wipe them from his mind.


    Wei Ge suddenly felt that all the efforts he had spent in the past were for naught. He questioned the meaning of his hard work.


    If he could condense a Life Soul when he was seventeen, no¡ªeven if he could do it now, there was no need for him to do so many things. A student like him who could condense a Life Soul to advance to the Epic stage during his university days would be a hot commodity. The school would even take the initiative to request that he remain in school.


    If they can do it, I can do it as well. Wei Ge clenched his fists as he opened his eyes, his eyes shined.


    He suddenly came to a realization. Over the past two years, he had spent too much effort on managing his social connections, but he had forgotten how he had managed to get admitted to Sunset College or what he had relied on to become the president of the student council.


    Genius¡­ I''m also a genius¡­ Wei Ge recalled the time when he had just enrolled in Sunset College by being first in his city. In just a year, he had relied on his passion and drive to defeat many competitors before becoming the president of the student council.


    However, after he became the president of the student council and came into contact with things that he had not been able to interact with before, he learned a lot of new things.


    Power and wealth had a strong influence on the world, making him feel lost for a period of time. He yearned to get close to power and wealth, and gradually forgot his roots.


    But today, after seeing Zhou Wen condense his Life Soul to advance to the Epic stage as well as Feng Qiuyan having similarly advanced to the Epic stage, he suddenly woke up.


    Without a foundation, no matter how hard I work, I can''t enter the center seat of power and wealth. I don''t have a background like Li Xuan and An Jing. All I can rely on is myself. But what have I done in the past two years? I''ve actually wasted my most precious things in exchange for a tiny bit of pity from those people high above¡­ Wei Ge''s fists clenched tighter and his gaze became sharper.


    After some time, Wei Ge''s eyes gradually calmed down. He turned around and took a deep look at Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan, who were once again sparring in the training room. Then, he calmly turned and left.


    Wei Ge was still as relaxed and confident as before, but he seemed to be somewhat different from before. There seemed to be something additional in his eyes.


    Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan, the next time I push open the door and stand in front of you, that person will definitely not be the present me. Wei Ge walked to the entrance of the training grounds and happened to see the vice-chancellor enter. He greeted him politely like usual, but he didn''t stay long. After greeting him, he walked out of the training grounds.


    Zhou Wen was in a good mood after condensing the Godfiend Era''s Life Soul. After practicing the entire morning with Feng Qiuyan, he had already figured out the Lost Country''s powers. Furthermore, Lost Country''s introduction in-game was much clearer than Slaughterer.


    Lost Country (Primordial Body): The condensation of spatial energy, the ability to change spatial trajectories.


    Simply put, the Lost Country''s ability was achieving true instant transmission. Zhou Wen could use Lost Country to teleport to any spot within a ten-meter radius. However, he could only use Lost Country''s teleportation ability once every twenty-four hours.


    However, this wasn''t the main point. Zhou Wen believed that as the Lost Country grew, the distance of teleportation would increase, and the interval between uses would also become shorter.


    Zhou Wen, who was already extremely interested in escaping skills, was very satisfied with the Lost Country''s ability. However, this was only a manifestation of Lost Country''s powers. The other powers needed Zhou Wen to develop them himself.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that behind his Speed stat, the "Trajectory" had gone missing while the remaining three postfixes were still there.

 358 Magma River

    From the looks of it, it''s because of Lost Country''s appearance that "Trajectory" vanished. Since the Godfiend Era can produce a Life Soul, the other three Primordial Energy Arts should be able to condense a Life Soul as well. Zhou Wen planned on spending some time to condense the remaining three Primordial Energy Arts'' Life Souls.


    Lost Country can truly teleport. I wonder what the remaining three Life Souls will be capable of? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and planned on starting with the Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    Why did he decide on starting with the Ancient Sovereign Sutra? That was because Zhou Wen was still unable to figure out the other two Primordial Energy Arts.


    It was difficult to understand the profundity of Dao Sutra. Apart from recovering his Primordial Energy, Zhou Wen had yet to discover anything special. It was probably not simple for him to gain insights into its true underlying principles.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was related to the body and six senses¡ªsight, hearing, smell, touch, taste, and mind. Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to think of a good way to raise it.


    Comparatively speaking, the Ancient Sovereign Sutra seemed to be a little more direct. It greatly augmented his strength and it also had fire-elemental attributes. Zhou Wen felt that it wouldn''t be difficult for him to figure out some fire-elemental powers.


    He looked at the current game dungeons he had in possession, and there weren''t many dungeons with fire-elemental dimensional creatures. Only the Fire God Platform had them.


    However, he had already tried many times with the firebirds. He failed to gain any new insight, so he planned on changing locations.


    Dragon Gate Grotto didn''t have any particularly powerful fire-elemental dimensional creatures. Mount Laojun and Ant Nest were places without fire. Similarly, Tiger Cage Pass had none, while Pool City was practically an ocean.


    The majority of Zhuolu battlefield creatures were poison-type creatures¡ªthere weren''t any fire creatures there either.


    There aren''t fire-elemental creatures in the game instance dungeons I have! Zhou Wen had no choice but to try getting a new one. He searched for the dungeon information available to Sunset College on the Intranet, hoping to find a dimensional zone with fire-elemental creatures.


    If he really couldn''t find it, Zhou Wen planned on experimenting with the chick. After all, it was fire-elemental too, so it would likely be of some use. Teasing it and letting it spew out fire probably wouldn''t be difficult.


    However, the chick''s flames were a little terrifying. He had no plans on touching it unless he had no choice.


    It wasn''t difficult to find a fire-elemental dungeon, so Zhou Wen soon found one. Furthermore, it didn''t need any special entry passes. Zhou Wen immediately got up and planned to visit it. He would first seek out the tiny palm symbol and download the new dungeon.


    The place Zhou Wen was going to was called Magma River and it was underground. However, it was different from dungeons like Pool City. There was no city there, only an underground magma river. There were several fire-elemental dimensional creatures nearby.


    As the Magma River''s value wasn''t high, most fire-elemental dimensional creatures possessed the ability to survive in magma. Hunting them was relatively difficult and nothing much was to be gained. Apart from students and tutors who needed fire-elemental Primordial Energy Skills, the typical person seldom went there. Naturally, no one monitored the area.


    Zhou Wen encountered several students on the way, but they were all heading to other dungeons. When he got near the Magma River, he didn''t see anyone.


    From afar, he felt heat waves hit him. Thankfully, Zhou Wen''s physique was already extremely strong. If it were any other ordinary person, they would be covered in sweat. If they stayed here for an extended period without any water, they would easily get dehydrated.


    Red magma slowly flowed out from an underground cave. The scarlet glow formed a stark contrast with the nearby black rocks. They illuminated the underground cavern, so it wasn''t dark at all.


    Before Zhou Wen could approach the Magma River, he saw a person squatting by it. The clothes were probably the school''s uniform.


    "Gu Dian, what are you doing here?" Zhou Wen walked closer and took a look. Although he could only see his back, he recognized the person.


    It was inevitable as Gu Dian''s figure was huge and stocky. It was difficult not to recognize him.


    "Fishing." Gu Dian turned his head to glance at Zhou Wen and only said one word. Then, he turned his head and continued staring at the magma river.


    "Fishing? Here? What fish are you trying to catch?" Zhou Wen walked to Gu Dian''s side and looked down. Gu Dian held a rope that was as thick as a thumb. It was snow-white and crystalline, looking like it was woven from silk. The rope drooped to the magma below but it wasn''t burned by the magma. It likely wasn''t ordinary silk.


    This place was about three to four meters from the magma, but the heat was intense. Yet, Gu Dian didn''t break a sweat as he stared expressionlessly at the magma river.


    "Goldfish." Gu Dian spat out one word again as though his words were very valuable. It was as though he was afraid of losing out if he said too much.


    "There are goldfish in such a place?" Zhou Wen didn''t believe that there were any goldfish here. He had only heard sightings of Fire-Armored Crocodiles and Magma Worms here.


    If a crocodile was considered a fish, it could be said that there were fish here. However, the Fire-Armored Crocodile was black and had fiery patterns that resembled magma. It wasn''t golden.


    "Yes," Gu Dian replied with certainty.


    "Then take your time. I''ll head elsewhere to see if there are Fire-Armored Crocodiles." Zhou Wen was about to follow the magma river to see if there were any tiny palm symbols nearby when he suddenly saw the rope in Gu Dian''s hand shake violently.


    Gu Dian''s hands gripped the rope tightly as his legs stood rooted to the rock. The rope was taut and extended straight into the other end of the magma, but it kept moving as though something was pulling at it from inside the magma.


    Zhou Wen was attracted by Gu Dian''s situation and couldn''t help but stop walking to observe.


    Crack!


    The rock beneath Gu Dian''s feet shattered as his legs sank deep into the rock. His entire calf sank in.


    What immense strength. This fellow should be at the peak of the Legendary stage, right? Zhou Wen had always been curious about Gu Dian''s strength.


    He had once defeated Gu Dian, but later, he realized that Gu Dian''s strength wasn''t only limited to the level back when he defeated him. However, as the two hadn''t had another chance to fight, Zhou Wen didn''t know Gu Dian''s true strength either.


    From the looks of it, it definitely isn''t just the tiny bit that he had shown back then. Gu Dian had probably held back. At the very least, his Strength is at around 20 points.


    Despite Gu Dian''s strength, he still couldn''t hold onto the rope. This was because the force from the rope was too strong. Gu Dian''s legs were like plowing the ground as he created two ditches. He was on the verge of being pulled down into the magma river.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly moved to Gu Dian''s side and grabbed the rope with both hands, helping Gu Dian pull it up.


    Although his Strength wasn''t as high as his Speed, it was at 32 points. With his pull, he instantly stopped the rope from being pulled downwards. However, when Zhou Wen tried pulling the rope up again, he found it abnormally heavy. It was as though he was facing a heavyweight candidate in a game of tug-of-war. He couldn''t budge it.


    "Relax when I relax, pull when I pull," Gu Dian suddenly said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen kept track of Gu Dian''s use of force. When Gu Dian exerted his strength, he exerted all his strength. When Gu Dian relaxed, he also relaxed.


    After about half an hour, Zhou Wen felt the strength on the other end of the rope weaken. Gu Dian suddenly roared, "Pull!"


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used all his strength and pulled the rope with Gu Dian. The rope was pulled out of the magma, and on the other end was a golden-scaled fish, with a tail resembling chiffon, jumping out of the magma. Its body was still burning with golden flames.

 359 Fire-Armored Crocodile

    Plop!


    After the goldfish leaped out of the magma, it violently flicked its tail and landed back into the magma, nearly dragging Zhou Wen and Gu Dian in.


    The two of them used their strength together. But with a snap, the rope, that was made of white silk, broke.


    Gu Dian pulled the remaining white-silk rope up. As for the magma river, there was no trace of the goldfish. The magma gradually returned to normal.


    "What level is the goldfish? Why is it so strong?" Zhou Wen asked.


    They had failed to pull the goldfish up despite their combined strength. It had to be at least a top Epic creature, but if it was really an Epic creature, how could it leave without counterattacking?


    "Epic." Gu Dian put away the rope and got up to leave.


    "Are you just leaving like that? Aren''t you going to continue fishing?" Zhou Wen asked, puzzled.


    "The rope''s broken. There''s no bait." Although Gu Dian was a man of few words, he was thankfully able to express himself clearly.


    "What bait is needed to fish for this goldfish?" Zhou Wen planned on trying to catch such a goldfish when he downloaded the dungeon later.


    "Ice Silkworm." Gu Dian left after saying that.


    Zhou Wen had never heard of Ice Silkworm, but it sounded like a dimensional creature.


    "Is there any special use for fishing this thing?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Cat food." Gu Dian''s voice drifted over from afar, stunning Zhou Wen.


    Catching an Epic creature to feed to cats? Zhou Wen really didn''t understand what was on Gu Dian''s mind.


    After Gu Dian left, Zhou Wen followed the magma river, but he didn''t find the tiny palm symbol. Instead, he saw a Fire-Armored Crocodile lying on the bank.


    The Fire-Armored Crocodile was nearly four meters long. The magma-like scales were covered with dark red magma patterns. Although it was only a Legendary creature, it could spit out scorching flames. Furthermore, it was very powerful, making it a top Legendary creature.


    The Fire-Armored Crocodile discovered Zhou Wen before he could even get close. It opened its mouth and spat out a flame, spraying it several meters away like a flamethrower.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dodge a flame at this level. Wearing the armor manifested by the Stone Chi, he circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and threw a punch at the flames.


    Boom!


    The flames were immediately blasted apart as magma at its core splattered in every direction. Such flames were unable to injure Zhou Wen at all.


    The Fire-Armored Crocodile spewed out flames once again. Since Zhou Wen didn''t kill it, it kept spewing fire, allowing Zhou Wen to use the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s powers to blast through the flames. This allowed him to sense the profundity in the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s fire-elemental powers.


    But soon, Zhou Wen realized that apart from the heat, he couldn''t sense any profundity in the flame. It only had a high temperature.


    After this continued for some time, Zhou Wen didn''t feel anything, but the Fire-Armored Crocodile was so exhausted that it couldn''t spit out any flames. It turned around and fled into the magma river, swimming into the distance.


    Perhaps the flame isn''t strong enough. Let''s see if I can encounter a Magma Worm. It''s an Epic fire-elemental creature. Its flames should be much stronger than a Fire-Armored Crocodile. Zhou Wen didn''t chase after the Fire-Armored Crocodile. Killing a Legendary creature was now meaningless to him, so he couldn''t be bothered to.


    He walked as he looked for the tiny palm symbol, but to no avail. Instead, he encountered a group of Fire-Armored Crocodiles on the banks.


    A Fire-Armored Crocodile''s flames aren''t strong enough. Perhaps a dozen of them is enough? With this in mind, Zhou Wen rushed into the group of Fire-Armored Crocodiles.


    ¡­


    Li Weiyang wasn''t in a good mood right now. She had planned on inviting a few of her friends from the Weiyang Club for an activity, but to her surprise, one of them had brought her boyfriend.


    It wasn''t a big deal bringing a boyfriend, but the person was somewhat annoying. Li Weiyang originally planned on hunting some Mortal-stage Demonized Soldiers, but this person insisted on coming to Magma River.


    The members of the Weiyang Club were basically at the Mortal stage. Li Weiyang had recently advanced to the Legendary stage and her stats had not been raised.


    It was meaningless to take them to Magma River. The lowest level dimensional creature here was the Fire-Armored Crocodile. It was a very strong Legendary creature, one that even Li Weiyang found it difficult to fight, much less her friends who had yet to advance to the Legendary stage.


    However, the man did his best to suggest that they go to Magma River. Together with his girlfriend helping, Li Weiyang and company didn''t want to embarrass her, so they reluctantly went to Magma River.


    Thankfully, the dimensional creatures never strayed too far from the magma river. Although they were no match for the creatures, as long as they didn''t approach the magma river, they wouldn''t be in any danger.


    Although they didn''t need to worry about safety, Li Weiyang had originally organized a hunt. Now, all they could do was watch the man fight the Fire-Armored Crocodile. Apart from his girlfriend, Sulli, who was constantly praising her boyfriend, the others felt bored.


    Zheng Tianlun killed a Fire-Armored Crocodile and was lucky to have a Strength Crystal drop. He returned to the girls'' side and handed the Strength Crystal to his girlfriend, Sulli. He said, "Sulli, this Strength Crystal is for you."


    "That''s inappropriate, right? I''m still at the Mortal stage. Isn''t using a Legendary crystal a waste?" Although Sulli said that, she couldn''t hide her delight.


    "Take it. Killing Legendary creatures isn''t difficult for me. It''s very easy to obtain Legendary crystals. Today, I''m just here to have fun with you. Anything that drops is yours." Zheng Tianlun stuffed the Strength Crystal into Sulli''s hand, but he couldn''t help but feel his heart ache.


    Zheng Tianlun had only advanced to the Legendary stage in recent months, so killing a Legendary creature wasn''t as easy as he claimed. The reason he had brought Sulli and company to Magma River instead of somewhere else was that it was relatively safe here. Furthermore, he had a Snow Snake Companion Beast. The Snow Snake Saber it manifested was the nemesis of fire-elemental creatures, so killing a Fire-Armored Crocodile was easier than killing other Legendary creatures.


    Li Weiyang found it very boring. She wasn''t a beggar who needed others to provide her alms. Besides, this didn''t meet the objective of training. If it wasn''t for the sake of her friends, she would have turned around and left.


    Zheng Tianlun led them forward, but for some reason, the Fire-Armored Crocodiles, which were commonly seen on the shore, were almost nowhere in sight today.


    There was one in the magma river, but Zheng Tianlun didn''t have the ability to enter the magma river to kill it.


    Zheng Tianlun led them for a few miles without finding any Fire-Armored Crocodiles by the bank. He muttered to himself awkwardly. That''s strange. Why are all the Fire-Armored Crocodiles in the river today?


    "They probably ran into the river after knowing that you came to kill them," Sulli said, in consideration of his feelings.


    Zheng Tianlun laughed out loud when he heard that. "Then they are really smart."


    "There seems to be something up ahead," a girl suddenly pointed ahead.


    Li Weiyang could no longer continue to listen to the couple. When she heard that, she looked ahead. Indeed, she saw a figure walking by the magma river. She could vaguely tell that the person was wearing their school uniform.

 360 Escape

    "He should be a student from our college. Let''s head over to take a look." Li Weiyang felt bored. Upon seeing a schoolmate here, she suggested that they head over.


    Everyone agreed. Zheng Tianlun was a little unhappy. He had been the only blade of grass amidst a bed of roses; if the person up ahead was male, wouldn''t there be an additional blade of grass that would share in his glory? However, they were bound to meet if they wanted to continue moving forward; therefore, he didn''t object to it.


    Li Weiyang sped up as she led everyone over. Soon, she recognized the person who was walking slowly along the river bank to be Zhou Wen.


    Li Weiyang was delighted as she shouted at Zhou Wen, "Zhou Wen, what are you doing here alone?"


    Zhou Wen had long heard their footsteps, but he couldn''t be bothered about them at all. Therefore, he didn''t look back. Only when he heard Li Weiyang''s scream did he stop and turn around. "What else can you do here?"


    Li Weiyang came in front of Zhou Wen and said, "I was wondering why I haven''t seen Fire-Armored Crocodiles on the bank. You killed them all, right?"


    "No, I haven''t killed any Fire-Armored Crocodiles." Zhou Wen shook his head. He really hadn''t killed a single one.


    Zheng Tianlun heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. He smiled and said, "See? What did I say? For some reason, the Fire-Armored Crocodiles have all run into the river and aren''t coming out."


    "Zhou Wen, let''s go together?" Li Weiyang invited him.


    "I still have something on. You guys can go ahead." Zhou Wen still needed to find the tiny palm symbol, so it wasn''t convenient for him to go with them.


    Li Weiyang was helpless against Zhou Wen. This fellow was completely different from her brother, Li Xuan. She did not know how they had become friends.


    "Since Zhou Wen is very busy, let''s not disturb him." Zheng Tianlun was overjoyed when he heard that.


    Although something had happened to Zhou Wen recently, Zheng Tianlun didn''t believe that he could steal the limelight from him. Since Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to go with them, it was naturally a boon for him.


    Li Weiyang had no choice but to leave with Zheng Tianlun and the rest. She turned her head and saw Zhou Wen walking slowly down the riverbank, glancing into the magma river from time to time. It was unknown what he was looking for.


    This fellow has been hanging out with Li Xuan for so long, yet he still lacks sense. What a weirdo, Li Weiyang thought to herself. However, it''s good this way. If he was as glib-tongued as Li Xuan, he would be very boring.


    As they continued walking, Zheng Tianlun deliberately sped up in order to get further away from Zhou Wen.


    Firstly, he didn''t wish for Zhou Wen to steal his limelight. Secondly, he didn''t wish to have anything to do with Zhou Wen. After all, Zhou Wen was Wang Mingyuan''s disciple. This wasn''t anything honorable. It would be bad if people misunderstood him for getting too close to Zhou Wen.


    After walking for a short distance, Sulli pointed at the bank ahead and said, "There are Fire-Armored Crocodiles there."


    Zheng Tianlun was delighted. He thought that it was time for him to perform again, but upon closer inspection, there were more than ten Fire-Armored Crocodiles lying on the shore. He instantly reeled in shock.


    His Snow Snake Saber had no problem dealing with a single Fire-Armored Crocodile. But with so many Fire-Armored Crocodiles, he would probably die if he really charged forward.


    "There are too many fire armored crocodiles here. I''m afraid I won''t be able to take care of y''all if I fight here. Let''s switch areas," said Zheng Tianlun.


    Li Weiyang naturally knew that he was no match for the crocodiles, but there was no need to expose him. Just as Zheng Tianlun had said, they circled around the crocodiles.


    After they circled around the crocodiles, Li Weiyang realized that Zhou Wen was still behind. She wanted to head back to warn him not to step into the Fire-Armored Crocodile infested area.


    However, when she looked back, she saw that Zhou Wen had already walked into the Fire-Armored Crocodiles'' range. The dozen or so crocodiles instantly looked up in Zhou Wen''s direction.


    "Ah, Zhou Wen has alarmed those Fire-Armored Crocodiles!" a girl exclaimed.


    "Zheng Tianlun, help him," Li Weiyang said as she summoned her Companion Beast. She wanted to head over and help, but she also called for Zheng Tianlun.


    Zheng Tianlun fell into a dilemma. He didn''t think that the three of them could deal with the group of Fire-Armored Crocodiles. He could only pretend that he hadn''t heard her and stood there without moving.


    When Li Weiyang charged ten meters forward, she saw the Fire-Armored Crocodiles move, but they didn''t rush at Zhou Wen. Instead, they looked like they had seen a ghost as they scrambled for the magma river.


    There were loud splashing sounds as the crocodiles jumped into the magma river and swam desperately towards the other bank of the magma river.


    Li Weiyang couldn''t help but stop as she watched in astonishment.


    Fire-Armored Crocodiles were famous for their fiery temper. They would even spit a mouthful of flaming magma at dimensional creatures that were stronger than them, much less a human.


    Li Weiyang had never seen such a scene before.


    Zheng Tianlun and company were dumbfounded as well. Wherever Zhou Wen went, the Fire-Armored Crocodiles would try their best to escape as though they were horrified.


    As the Fire-Armored Crocodiles were densely packed, one of them failed to scramble away in time, allowing Zhou Wen to step on its tail.


    The Fire-Armored Crocodile seemed to turn into stone as it lay there motionless, its body still trembling.


    Zhou Wen reached out and slapped the Fire-Armored Crocodile''s head a few times, hoping to anger it to spew fire. However, the Fire-Armored Crocodile had a backbone. It remained motionless. It didn''t even open its mouth, much less spew out fire.


    From the looks of it, these Fire-Armored Crocodiles were the batch that had fled previously. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel a little depressed. Back when he fought with the group of them, he got them to spit fire to allow him to comprehend the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. However, this time he failed to figure out anything even when they were out of fire.


    Later on, the Fire-Armored Crocodiles ran away. He didn''t expect that these would be the same ones he had encountered before.


    "Go." Zhou Wen released his foot gloomily. The Fire-Armored Crocodile acted as though it had been pardoned and quickly scrambled towards the magma river before jumping straight in.


    Li Weiyang and company were dumbfounded. They found it somewhat unbelievable. The ferocious dimensional creatures, the Fire-Armored Crocodiles, were like mice encountering a cat.


    After Zhou Wen passed through the area, he arrived near Li Weiyang and company. Without saying a word, he walked past them and continued following the magma river upstream.


    "He''s so cool! Does Zhou Wen have a girlfriend?" a girl said with hearts filling her eyes.


    "Of course not. I heard he''s a famous gaming nerd," another girl said.


    "What gaming nerd? It should be a gaming god. Didn''t you see that? That Legendary Fire-Armored Crocodile actually didn''t even dare to move in front of him. He''s so godly." The girl from before retorted.


    What a pity. If he wasn''t Wang Mingyuan''s disciple, he would definitely become a powerful figure known throughout the League, Li Weiyang sighed inwardly.


    She knew very well how terrible the matter regarding Wang Mingyuan was. Even the Luoyang''s Wang family, which had plenty of say, was almost in ruins. It would be difficult for them to enter the core power in the League in the future.


    As Wang Mingyuan''s student, Zhou Wen was already on the League''s blacklist. If it wasn''t for the An family protecting him, the Special Inspector Bureau would have long taken him back for interrogation.

 361 Magma Worm

    Zhou Wen ignored them as he continued walking along the riverbank.


    "Weiyang, why don''t we follow Zhou Wen to take a look at what he''s doing?" a girl suggested.


    "That''s not too nice, right?" Li Weiyang was somewhat hesitant.


    Since Zhou Wen hadn''t killed the Fire-Armored Crocodile, he clearly wasn''t here for it. Li Weiyang was also somewhat curious about Zhou Wen''s actions, but it seemed a little inappropriate to follow him like this.


    "Magma River is huge. It''s not like only one person is allowed to hunt at a time. Zhou Wen didn''t say that he was going to book the entire place. He didn''t chase us away either. It shouldn''t be a problem, right?" the girl from before added.


    "That''s right, President. We''ll walk slowly behind him. It won''t affect him," another girl said.


    Apart from Zheng Tianlun, all the girls were interested in following Zhou Wen. Li Weiyang thought for a moment and said, "Alright then. Let''s continue walking."


    Although Zheng Tianlun was a little unhappy, it wasn''t his place to object with everyone so enthusiastic. All he could do was follow them.


    However, this time, they walked slower than Zhou Wen and stayed behind him.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to wait for them to overtake him before slowly finding the tiny palm symbol, but he quickly realized that they moved when he moved, stopping when he stopped, so he decided to ignore them and slowly walked along the magma river.


    He hadn''t found the tiny palm symbol and the Fire-Armored Crocodiles nearby were afraid of him. The sight of him made them escape into the magma river, boring him greatly.


    After walking for a while, he suddenly saw a two-to-three meter tall magma fountain.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the magma fountain. He had carefully studied the information regarding Magma River before coming here. Such a phenomenon usually indicated the breathing of a Magma Worm beneath the magma surface.


    Magma Worms were Epic creatures that lived in magma, but they didn''t have the ability to breathe in magma. Every once in a while, they would float up to take a breath like a whale.


    Li Weiyang and company also saw the fountain from behind and guessed that there were Magma Worms there. However, they soon saw Zhou Wen walking towards it.


    "Zhou Wen, be careful. There are Magma Worms there," a girl warned Zhou Wen.


    "I know," Zhou Wen answered. He had already walked to the bank and was looking at the magma fountain in the center of the river.


    "Don''t tell me Zhou Wen is here to hunt Magma Worms?" The girl guessed.


    "No way. Magma Worms are Epic creatures. Although Zhou Wen is very strong, there''s a huge difference between the Legendary stage and the Epic stage. Furthermore, Magma Worms are in the magma river, holding a terrain advantage; how can they be killed?" another girl said.


    "I think he''s just taking a gander. Let''s not talk about students, even tutors will not easily provoke Magma Worms." Zheng Tianlun was telling the truth. In a place like Magma River, the chances of winning were slim. If one accidentally fell into the magma river, they would definitely die. Without being fully prepared, even Epic experts wouldn''t risk coming here to kill Magma Worms.


    As they conversed, they saw Zhou Wen summon a huge sword, one that looked hideous and terrifying. They had no idea which Companion Beast''s manifestation it was.


    "Look, Zhou Wen is about to attack. He''s indeed here to kill Magma Worms," a girl said in excitement.


    As she spoke, Zhou Wen had already slashed at the fountain with his sword. A sword beam grew out from the sword as it spun like a rotary blade of light that slashed at the fountain.


    Boom!


    A crack immediately appeared on the magma fountain. In the next second, the magma churned and a section of the magma river that was tens of meters long began to churn. In the middle of the magma river, something suddenly rose up and magma flowed to both sides. A giant creature lifted its body from the magma river.


    The monster was covered in magma. The body that extended out from the magma river was more than ten meters long. It looked like a gigantic magma snake.


    "This Magma Worm is huge. Just what it shows is more than ten meters long. I wonder how long the rest of its body is. Its strength must be terrifying. Will Zhou Wen be ok?" a girl said worriedly.


    Li Weiyang was equally worried. The bigger the Magma Worm, the stronger it was. A typical Magma Worm could reach ten meters, and their strength would be considered pretty good at the Epic stage. Yet, the body exposed by the Magma Worm was already more than ten meters long. Its strength was definitely unimaginable.


    The growth of the Magma Worms was different from ordinary dimensional creatures. They were especially weak at birth and were real worms that were just the length of a finger.


    After the Magma Worms were born, they would absorb micro materials in the magma, allowing these materials to attach to them. This way, their bodies would gradually grow bigger. These micro materials could not only become its armor, but it could also provide the worm with powerful fire-elemental energy.


    Thus, the larger the size of the Magma Worm, the more terrifying their strength would be. The fire-elemental energy that they could release would also be stronger.


    This Magma Worm was probably about 30 meters in size. It was definitely an overlord existence among the Magma Worms. The fire-elemental power it could unleash was something even Epic experts wouldn''t dare underestimate.


    Boom!


    The gigantic Magma Worm spat out a mouthful of golden-red flames at Zhou Wen that resembled boiling magma.


    The girls'' hearts were in their throats, but Zheng Tianlun thought to himself, You stole my limelight. Serves you right to be burned to death by the Magma Worm.


    Zheng Tianlun didn''t like Zhou Wen, but the feud between them hadn''t just happened today. Back at the comprehensive test, Zheng Tianlun had prepared to cheat, but he ended up not being able to use it and ended up benefiting Zhou Wen. Although it wasn''t Zhou Wen who had forced him, he did not have a good impression of him. Now that he saw Zhou Wen provoke such a sick Magma Worm, he hoped that Zhou Wen would be killed by it.


    Just as the terrifying flames were about to land on Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen raised the sword above his head. He circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and injected Primordial Energy into the sword as he slashed out at the flames that filled the sky.


    A sword beam tore out of his sword, striking the terrifying flames.


    It can''t be. Does Zhou Wen want to forcibly withstand the flames of the Magma Worm? Li Weiyang was alarmed. After all, it was an Epic creature. She originally imagined that Zhou Wen would think of a way to dodge, but she never expected him to face the attack head-on.


    She didn''t know that Zhou Wen had advanced to the Epic stage and felt that it was too rash for him to confront the Epic Magma Worm as a Legendary.


    The other girls were also alarmed by what they saw, but the sword beam had already struck the flame.


    In the next second, they saw a dazzling scene. The rotary-like sword beam sliced the sea of flames into two. It did not stop as it slashed at the body of the Magma Worm.

 362 Slaying the Worm with One Strike

    The rotary-like sword beam struck the Magma Worm''s body like an electric saw cutting through steel, sparks flew everywhere.


    The golden crystal-like body was sliced apart by the sword beam, splitting into two before falling into the magma river.


    Boom!


    The carapace of the Magma Worm landed in the magma river, stirring up magma waves that were several feet high. Li Weiyang and company were already dumbfounded when they saw this. They felt like Zhou Wen, who was standing by the riverbank with his sword, was a god.


    "He¡­ He''s so strong¡­ He killed the Magma Worm with one strike¡­ He doesn''t seem like a student at all¡­" A girl stared at Zhou Wen with her eyes glowing as she muttered to herself.


    "He''s indeed not a student. Don''t forget who his teacher is," Zheng Tianlun added coldly. Seeing the girls staring at Zhou Wen like they were infatuated with him, his girlfriend, Sulli, being no exception, Zheng Tianlun was extremely displeased.


    When Li Weiyang heard Zheng Tianlun say that, her expression immediately sank. "Zheng Tianlun, don''t spout nonsense. Zhou Wen is Zhou Wen. He has nothing to do with what kind of teacher he has."


    "That''s right. Zhou Wen is so handsome. He definitely has nothing to do with those terrifying people." The girls began speaking up for him.


    When Zhou Wen slashed open the body of the Magma Worm, he saw a white baby silkworm-like worm drop near the carapace''s head.


    Although Zhou Wen was taught by his teachers in school that silkworm babies were adorable, he had never found them adorable. Instead, he found them rather frightening.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate to strike out with his sword, onto the main body of the Magma Worm.


    However, before Zhou Wen''s sword beam could land, the magma river suddenly exploded into a pillar of magma. A golden figure leaped out of the waves.


    It had golden scales, with a tail resembling chiffon. It looked exceptionally enchanting.


    Goldfish! Zhou Wen immediately recognized what it was. It was the goldfish that Gu Dian had been trying to fish, but he didn''t know if it was the same fish.


    The goldfish leaped up from the magma river and swallowed the Magma Worm in one mouthful. Then, it fell into the magma and with a flick of its tail, it was gone.


    Holy sh*t, it actually stole my prey! Zhou Wen widened his eyes. He never expected that the Magma Worm he was about to kill would be snatched away by a goldfish.


    With a thought, he made the White Shadow of Poison transform into an arm wing and brought him flying over the magma river, slashing at the place where the goldfish had landed.


    Boom!


    Deep rifts more than ten meters long were carved out in the magma when the goldfish leaped up and landed elsewhere in the magma river.


    Zhou Wen chased after it and slashed, but the goldfish had switched locations.


    Zhou Wen chased the goldfish via air as he slashed out his sword beams, but the goldfish was extremely slippery and crafty. Despite several slashes, Zhou Wen failed to hit it. Instead, it continued swimming upstream.


    Li Weiyang and company chased after Zhou Wen from the bank as they moved upstream. However, Zhou Wen was flying much faster than them. Soon, he had left them far behind them, preventing them from seeing him again. Realizing that they couldn''t catch up, they stopped.


    "We are all students of Sunset College and Zhou Wen is only a first-year student. How is he so strong?" A girl sighed.


    "That''s right. He''s really too strong. He''s even stronger than President Wei Ge. Killing a thirty-meter-long Magma Worm with one strike is godly," another girl said from the bottom of her heart.


    Zheng Tianlun said coldly, "I don''t think it''s anything special. Although he''s indeed very strong, he''s still far inferior to President Wei. President Wei relied on his own efforts to obtain his present results. Zhou Wen just has a good family background and has many powerful Companion Beasts."


    "Family? What family background? I heard Zhou Wen came from a small city. What family background does he have?" Most students weren''t very aware of Zhou Wen''s situation, so the girls looked at Zheng Tianlun curiously.


    Zheng Tianlun curled his lips and said, "You probably don''t know yet, right? Zhou Wen was originally from a single-parent family, and his father remarried not long ago. Do you know who his stepmother is?"


    "Who is it?" The girls were indeed curious.


    "His stepmother is Overseer An''s mother, the First Lady of Luoyang City, Ouyang Lan," Zheng Tianlun said.


    "Ah, I never expected that. Doesn''t that make him Overseer An''s younger brother?" The girl covered her mouth with a look of disbelief.


    "That''s why it''s easy for Zhou Wen to get whatever resources he wants. I heard that Ouyang Lan dotes on him a lot, far more than An Jing. He gets whatever he needs. Otherwise, where do you think he got so many powerful pets from? What student could have the ability to obtain such powerful Companion Beasts? You saw his sword earlier; he was able to kill such a powerful Magma Worm, which makes it without a doubt that it''s an excellent-grade Epic Companion Beast. Do you think a Legendary student could incubate such Companion Beasts? It must be Ouyang Lan who got a certain Epic expert to sacrifice himself and transfer the Companion Beast to Zhou Wen." Zheng Tianlun knew something about Zhou Wen, but he wasn''t too familiar with the details. Half of it was hearsay, and the other half were guesses.


    "I never expected it to be like this. It turns out Zhou Wen has such a powerful background. It''s no wonder Wang Mingyuan''s matter didn''t implicate him." The girls wore enlightened expressions.


    "Now you know. It''s not that Zhou Wen is strong, but it''s his background that''s strong." Zheng Tianlun struck while the iron was hot and continued smearing Zhou Wen.


    However, a girl held her cheek and said, "I find Zhou Wen so pitiful. As a stepson, he must have suffered a lot with his father marrying into such a large family clan. I wonder how many hardships and grievances he suffered before he gained the An family''s and Ouyang Lan''s acknowledgment."


    "That''s right. It''s no wonder Zhou Wen is so solitary. So it''s because of this. We should give him more love and care."


    "President, isn''t your younger brother the president of the Xuanwen Club? He has a good relationship with Zhou Wen, right? Why don''t you discuss it with your younger brother? Our clubs should hold more joint activities. We can provide Zhou Wen more love and concern or he will be too pitiful," another girl said.


    "That''s right, the children of the stepmother''s family are all so outstanding. He must have put in an unimaginable effort to be able to achieve his current achievements. This is so touching. President, we must protect him even more. Please allow us to have a joint social event with the Xuanwen Club¡­ No¡­ I mean a joint event¡­"


    Zheng Tianlun opened his mouth wide and stared at the girls in a daze. He really couldn''t understand what kind of logic these girls had.

 364 Luck

    Grand explosions of drops, stat crystals littering the ground, making him pick up Companion Eggs until his hands went soft, and so many Primordial Energy Skill Crystals that he couldn''t be bothered to pick up.


    These scenes Zhou Wen imagined didn''t happen. Not only didn''t they happen, Zhou Wen even felt as if his drop rate had lowered.


    Usually, when he grinded at the bat cave, he would get a dozen stat crystals to drop. Occasionally, a Companion Egg or rare Poison Crystal would drop.


    However, after he cleared the bat cave today, only three stat crystals dropped. Furthermore, none of them exceeded a value of 25.


    What crappy luck is this? It''s a lie, right? Is the Luck stat so useless? Zhou Wen couldn''t accept this outcome. He felt that his intelligence and character had been insulted and had even begun to doubt life.


    Ignoring the fact that Luck +6 is useless, my luck has even become worse. From the looks of it, the Luck stat has been exaggerated by others. If I had known earlier, I shouldn''t have wasted my time grinding that baby tiger. All that time spent was such a waste. Zhou Wen felt depressed as he glanced at the Fortune Goldfish''s stats.


    What he saw left him dumbfounded. After he snapped to his senses, he nearly spewed out a mouthful of blood.


    The other attributes of the Fortune Goldfish didn''t change, but in postfix behind the Life Providence, the annotation was different from the one he had seen previously.


    Zhou Wen had previously seen Luck +6, but now it was Bad Luck +8 as the annotation.


    No way. I must be seeing things. I clearly saw Luck +6; it''s impossible for me to be mistaken. Zhou Wen rubbed his eyes again, but he still saw Bad Luck +8.


    What the f**k. Could it be that I''ve been dreaming of a lucky pet for too long that I mistook bad luck for luck? That''s not right. How can I be mistaken? Previously, it was clearly Luck +6. No matter how wrong I am, it''s impossible that I missed out the additional "bad." Zhou Wen thought for a moment and left the game dungeon before looking at it in his dorm.


    When he did this, Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd. The Fortune Goldfish''s Life Providence had a postfix of Luck +6.


    Zhou Wen seemed to figure something out as he entered the bat cave and summoned the Fortune Goldfish again. However, this time, it was Bad Luck +7. Compared to before, his bad luck wasn''t any worse, but he was still very unlucky and had no luck.


    After taking two steps with the Fortune Goldfish, Zhou Wen realized that his bad luck had changed from +7 to +8.


    Holy sh*t, this fellow doesn''t just add Luck. It adds Bad Luck in different places! Zhou Wen walked around the bat cave with the goldfish and realized that the Bad Luck value constantly changed between 3 to 9. Only in a special place would Bad Luck disappear, turning into Luck +1.


    Zhou Wen stood on the stone that only allowed his feet to step on. He was momentarily rendered speechless. In such a crappy tiny area, all he got was one additional point in Luck. Furthermore, he couldn''t move. Just moving a tiny bit caused his Luck to immediately turn into Bad Luck.


    Zhou Wen left the bat cave and went to the other instant dungeons with the goldfish to test them out. Soon, he realized that the goldfish was stranger than he had imagined.


    In Dragon Gate Grotto, the goldfish added Monetary Luck most of the time. Although it wasn''t high and it fluctuated between 1 and 3, the stat alone surprised Zhou Wen.


    And when he arrived at Tiger Cage Pass, he gained Bad Luck as well. It typically jumped between 1 to 7. Zhou Wen didn''t walk through the entire Tiger Cage Pass, so he was unsure if there was a spot that gave him Luck.


    Zhou Wen tried a few dungeons and discovered that most of the dungeons gave Bad Luck. Only in the Ancient Sovereign City dungeon would the goldfish''s Life Providence increase Luck. Furthermore, it gave plenty of Luck, basically fluctuating between 4 to 10.


    Zhou Wen tried grinding monsters with the help of higher luck and it was truly satisfying. Just killing a few monsters was enough to have stats crystals rain. With a little bit of effort, Companion Eggs and Primordial Energy Skill Crystals weren''t difficult either.


    Ancient Sovereign City was famous for its low drop rate. However, with the augmentation of high Luck, Zhou Wen had Companion Eggs and crystals drop.


    However, this godforsaken place didn''t have any dimensional creatures worth killing. Even if more Companion Eggs and stats crystals dropped, it was useless. There were no Epic dimensional creatures here. The strongest was at the Legendary stage.


    "Goldfish Bro, are you messing with me? Even if the bat cave is too close to the underground sea, and it''s understandable that you don''t like water so you don''t add Luck. But why did you give me Monetary Luck at Dragon Gate Grotto? Can''t you give me Luck?" Zhou Wen''s words clearly had no effect on the goldfish.


    When he arrived at Dragon Gate Grotto, the goldfish still added Monetary Luck. Zhou Wen didn''t know what it was for. Instead, he spent some time grinding Overlord Snakes in Dragon Gate Grotto and didn''t see any increase in his drop rates. It was about the same as usual.


    Where can I find a place to use the goldfish? Zhou Wen had a headache. He felt that the Fortune Goldfish was a scam. The baby tiger was more reliable.


    For the moment, he couldn''t find a dungeon that could allow the goldfish to be of use. All he could do was temporarily give up on the goldfish''s functions. He found a spot in-game and got the goldfish to constantly release its fire-elemental powers. Zhou Wen tried to gain insights into the profundity of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    The golden flames on the goldfish''s body belonged to its Life Soul, Soul of Magma. It was a kind of fire of a piece of golden rock that could easily melt rocks or metal.


    Its Primordial Energy Skill, Magma Bubbles, was also a similar type of fire. It spat out a magma fireball, possessing a powerful explosive power, similar to a powerful missile.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t gain any insights from it.


    Strange, could it be that I''m wrong? Although the Ancient Sovereign Sutra has fire attributes, the true profoundness behind it isn''t fire, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    "Zhou Wen, quickly come to our activity room. Something serious has happened." Li Xuan called, sounding alarmed.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    "It''s difficult to say over the phone. Come to the forest on the old campus. There''s too many of them¡­ I can''t handle them¡­ Come quickly¡­" With that said, Li Xuan hung up.


    Is Li Mobai here to stir trouble again? But what can he do on campus? Is someone willing to help him kill in school? I heard from Li Xuan that there are quite a number of people. Zhou Wen felt that the situation was a little serious as he rushed over.


    Li Mobai had recently looked for him. Now that something had happened, there was a high chance that these two matters were related.


    Zhou Wen anxiously rushed over to Li Xuan, but the sight before him nearly angered him to death. He saw Li Xuan and the few members of the Xuanwen Club eating barbecue with a group of girls. Li Xuan was surrounded by many girls, and it did seem as though he couldn''t handle them.

 365 Joint Activity

    "Zhou Wen, what took you so long? The meat is almost done. Come over quickly." Li Xuan waved at Zhou Wen.


    "What the hell are you doing? Didn''t you say something serious happened? Is this what you call serious?" Zhou Wen walked to Li Xuan''s side and looked at the roasted meat in his hand.


    "Would you have come if I didn''t say so? Today is a joint activity between our Xuanwen Club and the Weiyang Club. All these things are provided by the Weiyang Club. Since they sincerely invited us, it wouldn''t be nice for us to reject their kind intentions, right?" Li Xuan got up and pointed to the girls beside him. "My sister, Li Weiyang, you know her. She''s a tigress, so ignore her."


    "Do you have a death wish?" Li Weiyang glared at him.


    "My sister is a little fierce, but she''s pretty enough. Just based on her looks, I''ve tolerated her for more than ten years. If not, I would have fallen out with her." Li Xuan pointed at the girl beside and said, "This is Zhang Miaomiao. She''s the vice president of the Weiyang Club. Just now, she told me that she wants you to give her some pointers in swordplay. Teach her when you have the time."


    "Hello, I''m Zhang Miaomiao. I''m good at finance and management." The girl had quite a swell nature as she stood up and extended her hand.


    "Zhou Wen." Zhou Wen reached out and shook her hand.


    "Our Weiyang Club welcomes you at all times. I have to learn some sword techniques from you, but if you need any help in finance and investments, come look for me. I guarantee that I won''t disappoint you," Zhang Miaomiao continued as she held Zhou Wen''s hand without letting it go.


    "I don''t have much spare money to invest." Zhou Wen pulled his hand back.


    Li Xuan shook his head, thinking, Zhou Wen is really a born virgin. I should let him cultivate my Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    However, Zhang Miaomiao didn''t seem to mind at all. She smiled and said, "It''s alright. You can look for me whenever you have the money in the future."


    Li Xuan was taken aback as he wondered what was happening. Since when did these women become so good-tempered?


    Following that, he introduced the other Weiyang Club members to Zhou Wen. All of them were female students. Furthermore, they all expressed their goodwill towards him.


    "Sis, what''s the situation? Tell me honestly, did your Weiyang Club take the initiative to hold a joint activity with us because you have your sights on Zhou Wen? Are you thinking of poaching him from me?" Li Xuan couldn''t help but secretly ask Li Weiyang when he saw the girls surrounding Zhou Wen and asking questions. Even Zhou Wen, who was so insensitive and impervious to the questions, didn''t scare them away.


    "It''s none of my business. They were the ones who said that Zhou Wen is too pitiful. He must have suffered terribly at his stepmother''s house and ended up having such a teacher. Therefore, they want to show Zhou Wen some love and concern and let him know that there''s still human warmth present in the world," Li Weiyang said as she shrugged.


    Pitiful? Suffered? Li Xuan found his brain lacking. He looked at Zhou Wen who was surrounded by all the ladies and thought, What do you mean pitiful? What suffering? You have no idea how nice Ouyang Lan is to him. Whatever dimensional crystals he needs can be given to him, but he doesn''t want them. Also, Wang Mingyuan, although he really is a great devil, he was really nice to his students. I heard from Zhou Wen that he was able to advance to the Epic stage thanks to Wang Mingyuan''s help.


    Of course, Li Xuan didn''t tell Li Weiyang that. Another thought ran through his mind and he said, "That''s good. Otherwise, with Zhou Wen''s character, which woman would be able to take it? He would probably spend his entire life alone. It''s just nice now. If someone is willing to take the initiative to accommodate him, who knows, he might hook up with someone?"


    However, Li Xuan clearly underestimated Zhou Wen''s lethality. Zhou Wen sat there, barbecuing meat, while several girls sat beside him to chat with him. However, Zhou Wen only responded with a grunt and kept twirling the metal skewer in his hand as he focused on barbecuing the meat over the charcoal fire, as though his interest in barbecued meat was far greater than a conversation with the girls.


    In the beginning, the girls didn''t mind. They imagined that the topic might not have interested him, so they changed the topic to matters like games and Companion Beasts.


    They had clearly come prepared. They mentioned some of the recently popular games, but it wasn''t as though Zhou Wen really enjoyed gaming. He had never played those games before, nor had he heard of them. All he could do was directly tell them that he had never played those games before, causing the chatty girls to be at a loss. The scene turned awkward as the girls could only chat with each other.


    "Your friend is truly one of a kind. If he can find a girlfriend, I''ll take your surname," Li Weiyang said to Li Xuan with a smile when she saw the situation.


    "Stop kidding. We have the same surname, to begin with, so what''s the point in taking my surname?" Li Xuan shook his head and said, "There''s nothing we can do about it. Zhou Wen''s personality is a little introverted. He''s also quite insensitive. In a peaceful era, he would definitely be a homebody."


    "I''m a little curious. How did you become friends with him? The two of you have such different personalities," Li Weiyang asked curiously.


    Li Xuan smiled and said, "Actually, making friends has nothing to do with personalities. It''s just like finding a girlfriend. As long as one catches the eye at a particular moment, it doesn''t matter what flaws they have. One will just feel that they can be friends."


    "So that''s how you make friends? It''s no wonder you got cheated." Li Weiyang rolled her eyes at him.


    The girls on the other side no longer came up to Zhou Wen to chat. It wasn''t because they didn''t wish to talk, but because there was no way they could continue the conversation. Zhou Wen was a topic terminator. Any topic that was raised with him would come to an end, as though sucked into a black hole.


    With no one speaking to him again, Zhou Wen was happy to be free. He continued roasting meat with the metal skewers while pondering over his next step into gaining insight into the Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra does have fire-elemental augmentation. Why can''t I figure out anything related to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra from fire? Is my knowledge of fire not deep enough? Or is the true power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra not fire-elemental? Zhou Wen roasted the meat as he pondered.


    In fact, Zhou Wen was a little too anxious. How could it be easy to gain insight into the profundity of a Primordial Energy Art?


    The average person began cultivating Primordial Energy Arts from the moment they started schooling until their college graduation. Then, they would enter society to learn. In their thirties, those with good talent would be able to comprehend the true meaning of their Primordial Energy Arts.


    Children of large families, like Feng Qiuyan, began training their Primordial Energy Arts from a young age. Their families invested massive amounts of manpower and resources in them, and there were also seniors who had cultivated the same Primordial Energy Arts to pass on their insights. Typically, they would only comprehend the true meaning of the Primordial Energy Arts after they were twenty.


    And someone like Feng Qiuyan who could comprehend it so quickly could be said to be a genius among geniuses. However, Feng Qiuyan had trained his saber techniques since he was young. This was the result of all his efforts culminating together.


    Zhou Wen had previously cultivated Ascetic Meditation, but it was replaced by the Lost Immortal Sutra. He hadn''t cultivated it for less than a year before he advanced to the Epic stage. It could be said to be a heaven-defying advancement speed.


    As for the Primordial Energy Art like the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and the Godfiend Era, he had never cultivated it before. They were only simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra. Under normal circumstances, it would take Zhou Wen at least a few years to slowly familiarize himself with them and ponder over them before he could understand their true meaning.


    Figuring out the true meaning of the Godfiend Era in his battle with Feng Qiuyan was already considered lucky. It was part talent and part luck. So, how could it be so easy to figure out the Ancient Sovereign Sutra?

 366 Fire of Life

    "That''s not how you roast meat. Look at you; you''ve burnt it." As Zhou Wen was in thought, he was jolted awake by a woman''s voice.


    Looking up, he saw that it was Li Weiyang sitting down on a chair beside him. The girls from before had already gone elsewhere to play with Li Xuan and company, leaving him and Li Weiyang behind.


    "Give it to me." Li Weiyang extended her hand in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was engrossed in his thoughts and forgot that he was still holding a skewer. The meat had been roasted for too long and the outside was charred black.


    Zhou Wen handed the skewers to Li Weiyang in embarrassment. Li Weiyang placed the charred meat to the side and took a few fresh skewers before placing them over the charcoal fire.


    "One look and I know you''re a scion who hasn''t experienced much hardship. You don''t even know how to roast meat. Although this isn''t considered a skill, food is the foundation of human survival. Without food, even Epic experts would starve to death. Large swaths of land are now occupied by dimensional zones. The area where humans can harvest food has been greatly reduced. There''s still a need to avoid unnecessary waste."


    As Li Weiyang roasted the meat, she said, "Let me teach you how to roast meat. In the future, when you leave school and really enter the dimensional zones in the wilderness, the food you receive will probably mostly be raw meat. Roasting meat is also an essential skill, so at the very least, it can make you have a better time eating while outside. The most important thing about roasting meat is the control of the heat¡­"


    Zhou Wen actually knew how to roast meat, but he had been preoccupied and had forgotten about the meat skewer in his hands. This resulted in the current situation.


    He didn''t refute Li Weiyang''s words, but as he listened, an idea flashed in his mind as he stared intently at the meat she was roasting.


    The muscles and fat were sizzling over the fire, giving off an aroma that whet his appetite.


    I remember that when humans first used fire, they used fire to fend off wild beasts and cook food. One of the Three Sovereigns, Suiren-shi, had made great contributions to the human race because he had brought the fire. He was praised as the leader of the Three Sovereigns. Could it be that the fire-elemental power in the Ancient Sovereign Sutra is not the destructive power of fire but the vitality of fire?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he found it correct. He had been trying to find an inkling of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra through the power of fires, but its fire-elemental powers didn''t lean towards lethal power.


    Typical fire-elemental Primordial Energy Arts could achieve a projection effect of fire-elemental power when advancing to the Legendary stage.


    However, the Ancient Sovereign Sutra didn''t have such an effect. Its fire-elemental power was converged and restrained.


    People say that water is the source of life, but they don''t know that fire is the source of civilization. Without fire, perhaps the cold world wouldn''t give birth to life¡­ Without fire, humans wouldn''t be able to eat cooked food or kill most of the parasites in it¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the charcoal fire burning as more and more thoughts flashed through his mind. They were scattered, and he wasn''t able to find the main point.


    "Hey, I''m talking to you. Can you hear me? Don''t burn the meat when you roast it in the future," Li Weiyang said as she roasted the meat.


    "It''s just too beautiful," Zhou Wen said as he looked at the flames. At that moment, he felt that the flames were somewhat different from usual as they emitted a moving radiance.


    Usually, when Zhou Wen looked at flames, he would only sense their heat and lethality. But now, when he looked at the flames again, he felt that there was a rhythm to life in them.


    Although Zhou Wen was still unable to grasp the essence of the flames'' influence on life, the flames in his eyes were no longer as simple as lethal force.


    "What did you say?" Li Weiyang was slightly taken aback as she turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    "It''s just too beautiful. I never noticed that something that usually looks so hot inside can have such a beautiful and touching side," Zhou Wen said as he stared at the roasted meat. He was naturally referring to the flames.


    Li Weiyang wasn''t an immortal, so she naturally couldn''t read Zhou Wen''s mind. She imagined that Zhou Wen was referring to her when she heard him say that. Her face blushed slightly as she said in embarrassment, "It''s just roasting meat. It''s nothing serious. It''s not as grand as you put it."


    "No, to me, this is the most important thing. It''s just too beautiful," Zhou Wen said as he stared at the flames. His body and mind had already been attracted by the dancing flames.


    "You¡­ Stop talking nonsense¡­ Eat your barbecue meat¡­" Li Weiyang handed the barbecue meat to Zhou Wen. She was a little shy after being praised like that, especially by a man. Even she felt embarrassed, despite her usually fiery-tempered self.


    "I finally understand. So the true characteristic of fire isn''t destruction. It''s life. The fire of life is what makes it moving and beautiful. I finally get it." Zhou Wen stood up and walked back. He finally understood why he had never been able to figure out the true meaning of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He had been wrong from the beginning.


    Now, all Zhou Wen wanted to do was return immediately and meditate on the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He almost couldn''t contain his excitement.


    Li Weiyang held the barbecued meat as she stood there in a daze. As she watched Zhou Wen run off, her mind was filled with question marks. Fire? Beautiful? Moving? What the hell?


    "What happened to Zhou Wen?" Li Xuan walked over and asked Li Weiyang.


    "How would I know what''s wrong with that lunatic? I''m not a lunatic." Li Weiyang angrily stuffed the meat into Li Xuan''s mouth before leaving.


    What happened? What''s wrong with both of them? Li Xuan looked puzzled, unsure why Li Weiyang was so angry.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he began meditating over the Ancient Sovereign Sutra in the training room. He quickly realized why the fire-elemental powers that came with the Ancient Sovereign Sutra were so weak.


    It wasn''t that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was not strong, but because excess was just as bad as a deficiency. The true essence of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was life. If the power of fire was too strong, it would destroy everything, including life.


    Therefore, the power of fire was necessary, but it couldn''t cross a certain boundary.


    It was akin to the sun''s effect on humans. With the sun, there was the night and day, the four seasons. It was only with the sun that life was possible.


    However, if the ground was too close to the sun, all the plants and animals on the ground would be burnt to death. No life could withstand it.


    This is the same as barbecuing. It will be inedible if it''s too raw but it can''t be eaten if it''s charred. The most touching thing about life is that tiny bit of spark. Zhou Wen vaguely felt as though he had grasped something, but he was momentarily unable to grasp it accurately.


    Over the next few days, Zhou Wen spent all his time in the training room studying the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He began to understand more and more of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s true meaning.

 367 Condensing a Life Soul Again

    An Jing had been practicing the Sun Strafe Art recently. Although she had improved greatly, she still failed to grasp the true meaning of the Sun Strafe Art required to advance to the Epic stage.


    With her talent, it shouldn''t have been difficult for her to advance to the Epic stage. However, due to her body''s chronic ailment, she was unable to sense the underlying sublimity of the Sun Strafe Art.


    An Jing wasn''t afraid of hardship. Every time she cultivated the Sun Strafe Art, she could endure the inhuman pain caused by the chronic ailment.


    However, gaining insight into something like this couldn''t be resolved just by suffering. The untalented might not even be able to match a day''s enlightenment of someone even after ten years of training.


    An Jing had talent, perceptivity, and diligence. She could be said to be a rare genius in the world, but her body wasn''t suitable for practicing the Sun Strafe Art. It made her feel as though she was separated by something as she ultimately failed to grasp its true meaning.


    After her second attempt at enlightenment, An Jing curled up in a corner of the room in pain. Every time she cultivated the Sun Strafe Art, she suffered such pain.


    Her phone rang and An Jing struggled to stand up. She walked to the table and picked up the call.


    "My Little Jing, it''s been a while since I''ve met you. Mommy wants to have a meal with you. Are you free tonight?" Ouyang Lan''s voice came through the phone.


    "Tonight¡­" An Jing had just cultivated the Sun Strafe Art and the pain in her body hadn''t subsided that quickly. Now, she really didn''t want to move a step.


    "Mommy only has you and Tianzuo as my two precious treasures. Tianzuo is busy with military matters and I haven''t seen him for days. You have to stay on campus, leaving me all alone at home every day. I am so lonely¡­" As Ouyang Lan spoke, she gave off the feeling like she was on the brink of tears. It was sad and tear-inducing hearing her.


    "Got it. I''ll head back tonight," An Jing said helplessly.


    Ouyang Lan immediately brightened up and said happily, "Then I''ll wait for you at MG Restaurant. By the way, remember to bring Little Wen along and have him eat dinner with me. I haven''t seen him in a long time. I''ll get Ah Sheng to come to the school gates to pick you up."


    "Can''t you¡­" Before An Jing could finish her sentence, Ouyang Lan hung up.


    An Jing frowned slightly. Although she had gotten Zhou Wen to take her place in the Holy Land and was over the nomination, she still wasn''t willing to face him. She still had a knot in her heart when she saw him.


    She had always felt that if her body wasn''t problematic, she would be the most suitable candidate.


    She thought about not calling Zhou Wen, but Ouyang Lan had already mentioned it. An Jing hesitated for a moment, washed up, changed her clothes, walked out of her building, and over to Zhou Wen''s building.


    She pressed the doorbell but didn''t see Zhou Wen come out.


    "It''s not that I didn''t get him; he''s not around." An Jing pressed three times, but no one answered. Thus, she turned to leave.


    Bang!


    At that moment, An Jing suddenly heard something from Zhou Wen''s building. It sounded odd as though something had been smashed.


    Could something have happened? She glanced at Zhou Wen''s building, but she had second thoughts. What has he got to do with me? He can die for all I care.


    She turned around and walked a few steps. When she was about to return to her yard, An Jing turned her head and walked to Zhou Wen''s door again. She pressed the doorbell again as she mumbled to herself, as though trying to convince herself, He lives next door. It''s just a wall separating us. What if he implicates me because of something he does? I have to figure it out.


    But after pressing the doorbell a few times, there was still no response. Instead, there was the sound of something shattering coming from inside the house.


    An Jing looked up and saw that the balcony door on the second floor wasn''t locked. She leaped up and landed on the balcony before pushing the door open and entering.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing?" An Jing walked inside as she spoke.


    No one answered her, but there was another loud bang. An Jing heard it clearly this time. The sound came from the training room.


    There''s soundproofing in the training room. Even boxing sandbags wouldn''t leak any sound. What''s he doing? Had something really happened? An Jing thought to herself as she looked around. Suddenly, she saw a spot in the ground that had signs of heat warping. It seemed to have solidified after melting. Immediately feeling something amiss, she was certain that something had happened.


    An Jing naturally didn''t know that the floor was damaged due to Zhou Wen''s summoning of the goldfish. She had imagined that Zhou Wen had been attacked.


    Don''t tell me the League''s Special Inspector Bureau attacked him? She quickly rushed to the training room and pushed the door. It was locked from the inside and didn''t budge.


    An Jing knocked on the door and called out Zhou Wen''s name a few times, but no one answered. She was even more certain that something had happened to him.


    Without any hesitation, she summoned a sword and sliced through the training room''s steel door and rushed in.


    The scene she saw when she entered left her slightly taken aback.


    The scene in the training room wasn''t as she had imagined. There were no men from the bureau, no signs of fighting, nor were there any signs of items shattering.


    The only thing she could see was Zhou Wen floating in midair, his entire body emitting light and heat like a sun.


    Although the light was a little blinding, it didn''t cause any harm. The temperature made her feel hot, but it wasn''t unbearable. Instead, it was comfortable, akin to sunbathing.


    He''s condensing a Life Soul¡­ An Jing stared at Zhou Wen as her pupils constricted.


    Back when she had defeated Zhou Wen with one strike, he was only at the Mortal stage¡ªworthless. In less than a year, Zhou Wen was already condensing a Life Soul to advance to the Epic stage. Such a speed was too fast, so fast that it left An Jing jealous.


    If it weren''t for my chronic ailment, I would have advanced to the Epic stage a long time ago. If not for the fact that I can''t go to the Holy Land, his Sun God bloodline would have belonged to me. An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and thought to herself.


    But soon, An Jing realized that something was amiss with Zhou Wen''s situation.


    Zhou Wen''s strength looked like it was a result of the Sun God bloodline being suitable with the Sun Strafe Art, but upon careful inspection, she realized that it wasn''t the case. It looked a little different.


    What''s happening? Did he not cultivate the Sun Strafe Art? Then what did he cultivate in? How did he obtain the Sun God bloodline? An Jing was puzzled. She stared at Zhou Wen who was condensing his Life Soul and carefully observed him.


    Bang! Bang!


    An Jing heard the sound again, but she realized that the sound came from Zhou Wen''s body¡ªfrom his chest. The sound seemed to be his heartbeat.

 368 Healing

    In prehistoric times when humans lived out in the open, with the land as their mat, the sky as their blankets. They fought against countless terrifying creatures, using their bodies to resist the assault of the elements.


    There came a day when humanity would grasp the power of fire and draw the curtains of an era of blood and fire¡ªthe dawn of civilization.


    Fire represented destruction and also hope.


    Countless scenes flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind. In that glacier world, groups of humans were huddled inside caves, bunched up with each other, but they were still trembling in the cold wind. Some of them closed their eyes, never to open them again.


    A person walked over with a torch and lit a fire. It was so warm that it filled the entire cave, and countless humans worshiped it.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen''s body and saw the sun-like glow around him grow more intense. It wasn''t only light and heat, but there was also an indescribable power that made one prostrate down in fear.


    This kind of worship was not the fear of gods, nor was it faith, but pure adoration.


    Bang! Bang!


    Zhou Wen''s heart beat more and more intensely. His chest was heaving visibly, as though the heart in it was about to tear out.


    An infinite vitality erupted from Zhou Wen''s body. Even An Jing, who was standing at the door, could sense the vigorous vitality.


    This isn''t the Sun Strafe Art. It''s definitely not the Sun Strafe Art. Although it has the power of light and heat, and although it looks similar to the Sun Strafe Art, the Sun Strafe Art doesn''t have such vitality. It doesn''t have the aura of a sovereign who encompasses everything¡­ An Jing stared intently at Zhou Wen as she was extremely alarmed.


    She originally believed that Zhou Wen only had the chance of obtaining the Sun God Body in the Holy Land after cultivating the Sun Strafe Art.


    However, Zhou Wen was now telling her that he could obtain the Sun God Body even if he didn''t cultivate the Sun Strafe Art.


    Zhou Wen''s life force had almost materialized as it illuminated the entire room like sunlight. An Jing, who was standing at the door, was also illuminated by it.


    She immediately felt a warm force enter her body, quickly warming her entire body. Her body, which was still in pain due to the relapse, felt much better. The pain was rapidly dissipating.


    How is this happening? An Jing found it unbelievable. The similarly vigorous Sun Strafe Art inflicted extreme pain on her, only causing her chronic ailments to worsen. However, Zhou Wen''s power could reduce her pain and even slow down her ailment.


    An Jing could clearly feel the icy ailment in her body slowly melting under the illumination of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen''s heart beat more and more intensely as the light and heat on his body grew stronger. All the blood vessels in his body were throbbing and swelling up due to the intense beating of his heart. They surfaced on his skin like purplish-red wyrms. All his muscles tightened as though they were filled with infinite explosive power.


    The potent power and vigorous vitality made Zhou Wen feel as though his body possessed an infinite amount of energy. Even if he clashed with the heavens, he could still bore a huge hole through the sky.


    Zhou Wen felt that the current him could be described by an idiom, "bursting with energy." Ever since he had needed blood to game, his physique and strength had kept improving, but it had been a long while since he had experienced this kind of vigorous vitality.


    Now, Zhou Wen wished he could deliver a punch that could flatten the entire dorm. Whatever house, whatever blanket, my body temperature can melt ice and snow and illuminate the entire world. Let the tempest come strike harder!


    The gushing Primordial Energy, essence, vitality, and spirit constantly condensed over Zhou Wen''s body before flowing towards his heart. It made his entire chest emit light and heat as though there was a sun in it.


    An Jing stared blankly at the floating Zhou Wen. The intense light illuminated her body, rapidly melting the ice, as warmth spread across her body.


    An Jing had an urge to cry. From the moment she came of age, she had never felt warmth. It was as if ice had frozen in her body. Even when it was summer, while everyone was drenched in sweat due to the heat, she would only feel the coldness lessen a little. She didn''t feel warm at all.


    But now, the ice in her body was melting. An unprecedented warmth spread throughout her body.


    Boom! Boom¡­ Boom! Boom¡­ Zhou Wen felt as though a strange object had condensed in his heart. The item fused with his heart as it spread across his body, forming a strange physical system.


    Zhou Wen felt as though the physical system with the heart as the center was an engine that gave him infinite motivation.


    I¡­ I have to leave immediately¡­ Even if I suffer a lifetime of chronic ailments¡­ I will not accept Zhou Wen''s powers to heal my body¡­ An Jing turned around and left.


    Although she knew that staying behind would rid her of the ailment that had troubled her for years, An Jing''s pride prevented her from accepting Zhou Wen''s treatment.


    It would be fine if it were anyone else. Just not Zhou Wen.


    She was An Jing, the An family''s An Jing. Even if Zhou Wen took away her nomination to enter the Holy Land, she could proudly tell everyone that she was better than Zhou Wen and could defeat him.


    However, if she were to accept Zhou Wen''s powers, how was she to deal with herself in the future even if her ailments were cured?


    She would never be able to look up at Zhou Wen again, forever unable to confidently tell everyone that she was better than Zhou Wen¡ªthat as long as she wished, she could defeat him.


    There was no way she could live such a proud life again. This was more intolerable than the chronic ailment.


    Without any hesitation, An Jing turned around and left. Although her body yearned for sunlight, she would rather walk into the darkness to preserve her pride.


    However, at the instant An Jing turned around, Zhou Wen''s strength completely erupted. The light on his chest spewed out like a blazing sun. Instantly, the resplendent light seemed to melt the entire room as An Jing''s body was devoured by the light.


    An Jing felt a scorching force instantly fill her entire body. The coldness in her body was like a ball of snow that had been thrown into a furnace. It instantly melted, as though some chains had melted off her body. Her body turned limp and she collapsed to the ground.


    Zhou Wen became completely conscious as he saw a humanoid glow floating in front of him like a sun. He knew that it was the Life Soul that he condensed from the Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    But other than the condensed Life Soul, there was also a woman sitting paralyzed by the door. She was struggling to stand up with her hands against the door frame.


    An Jing! Zhou Wen immediately recognized the person when their eyes met.

 369 Ancient Sovereign

    "An Jing, why are you here?" Zhou Wen felt puzzled when he looked at An Jing. He didn''t know what was happening. While condensing the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s Life Soul, he had been immersed in it completely, without knowing what was happening around him.


    An Jing''s body felt warm and weak. She had never experienced such a feeling before. She could no longer feel the cold energy in her body.


    An Jing''s pride had never been dealt such a blow before, so she felt extremely embarrassed and furious. She forced herself to stand up with the help of the door frame, trying to make herself look as cold as she usually was. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I''m here to foil your Life Soul condensation; otherwise, why do you think I''d be here?"


    With that said, she ignored Zhou Wen''s reaction and turned to leave.


    Zhou Wen watched An Jing leave in a daze. He didn''t quite believe her, but he couldn''t figure out what she was here for.


    His phone suddenly rang. Zhou Wen picked up his phone and glanced at it. It was An Sheng, so he chose to answer.


    "Young Master Wen, are you ready? I''m waiting outside the school''s main gate." Having waited for some time without Zhou Wen or An Jing appearing, An Sheng called Zhou Wen.


    "What are you waiting for?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "Madam invited you and Miss Jing to dinner. Didn''t Miss Jing inform you?" An Sheng asked.


    "Oh, yes. I was informed. Wait for me, I''ll be right there." Zhou Wen was in a good mood right now. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra had finally condensed a Life Soul which was a great thing for him. Therefore, he didn''t reject Ouyang Lan''s invitation. He could have a good meal to reward himself.


    Zhou Wen first dripped his blood to revive and read the game''s information. Indeed, when he used the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, his Life Soul became a new one.


    Ancient Sovereign (Primordial Body): Ancient life born from blood and fire, the sovereign who fights against the heavens.


    Roughly knowing the Ancient Sovereign''s abilities, Zhou Wen didn''t immediately study it. He quickly took a shower and changed his clothes before heading for the school''s entrance.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the school''s entrance, he saw An Sheng''s car parked not far away.


    He walked over to the car and saw An Jing sitting in the back with a deadpan expression. He pulled open the front door and sat in the front passenger seat.


    An Sheng sized up Zhou Wen and revealed a look of surprise. "Zhou Wen, you condensed a Life Soul?"


    "How do you know?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Typically, as long as someone didn''t summon a Life Soul, no one would be able to tell who was at the Epic stage and who was at the Legendary stage. It was rather odd that An Sheng could tell at a glance that he had a Life Soul.


    An Sheng smiled and explained, "Didn''t I tell you before that I''m especially sensitive to things like souls? However, if it''s some time after a person condenses a Life Soul, their Life Soul would be more restrained, so I wouldn''t be able to sense it. The Life Soul aura on you is still very strong, so it shouldn''t have been long since you condensed it, right?"


    "I see. I just succeeded before coming here," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s really great news. Madam sure chose a good time to invite you to a meal. She can celebrate for you." An Sheng paused before continuing, "For you to be able to condense a Life Soul so quickly, it''s obvious that your talent is just like Old Mister Ouyang said. You are extremely outstanding."


    "To condense a Life Soul after so many years of cultivation is already considered very slow," Zhou Wen said.


    "Pretentious," An Jing said from the back without looking at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was already used to An Jing''s snide remarks, so he simply ignored her. An Sheng didn''t respond and continued asking, "Tell me what Life Soul you condensed if you don''t mind. I can report this good news to Madam later."


    "It''s nothing special. Previously, our Xuanwen Club was organizing a joint activity with the Weiyang Club. Li Xuan got me to join in the barbecue. While observing the charcoal fire, something struck me. When I returned and thought it through, I finally understood the true meaning to fire due to my good luck. I broke through my bottleneck and condensed a Life Soul," Zhou Wen explained simply.


    He definitely couldn''t hide his advancement to the Epic stage, so he might as well just tell them straight away. Furthermore, he could make the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s Life Soul public while concealing the other Life Souls, especially Slaughterer. Zhou Wen didn''t want anyone to know of the existence of this Life Soul. He had a nagging feeling that it was too bizarre.


    Figuring out a Life Soul from eating barbecue? An Jing didn''t say a word, but the corners of her eyes twitched as she felt a huge blow to her heart.


    "Principal Ouyang was right. You are indeed an extremely focused person. Such a person will succeed easily. No matter what you do, you can gain inspiration from it," An Sheng said.


    "You are referring to Feng Qiuyan. He''s that kind of person." However Zhou Wen looked at it, he felt that An Sheng''s words described Feng Qiuyan.


    "Feng Qiuyan from the Feng family? I really don''t know about that. However, I''ll pay attention to him in the future." An Sheng paused before saying to Zhou Wen, "Young Master Wen, what plans do you have after graduation? With your talent, you will succeed no matter what you do. However, in this era, nothing you do will be stable. Do you want to consider joining the military?"


    "We''ll talk again in the future." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to continue the topic.


    An Sheng didn''t mention it again. He drove the duo to MG Restaurant. Ouyang Lan was already waiting for them in a private room.


    The present Ouyang Lan looked a lot thinner than when Zhou Wen first visited the An family. However, she still wore a warm smile as she pulled An Jing and Zhou Wen to sit beside her.


    "Ah Sheng, sit down too. We are all family and there are no outsiders," Ouyang Lan said when she saw An Sheng standing by the side.


    An Sheng didn''t stand on ceremony either. He pulled a chair and sat beside Zhou Wen. He said to Ouyang Lan, "Madam, Young Master Wen condensed his Life Soul today and advanced to the Epic stage."


    "Is that so? Little Wen, you''re really a genius." Ouyang Lan was delighted as she pinched Zhou Wen''s cheeks with both hands. She tugged a few times with all her might, causing his face to distort.


    Zhou Wen looked at Ouyang Lan in a daze, momentarily at a loss for a response.


    Ouyang Lan seemed to realize that she had been too excited. She released her hands and said, "Sorry, it''s a habit of mine pinching Little Jing. I couldn''t help it."


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. At the same time, he imagined what An Jing would look like if she was pinched like that.


    However, he found it quite unimaginable. An Jing''s cold expression made it difficult for him to imagine how she would look after being pinched.


    Apart from An Jing, everyone enjoyed the meal. Only An Jing felt extremely conflicted. She didn''t know how she finished the meal because she had no idea how she could face Zhou Wen in the future.

 363 Goldfish

    Zhou Wen chased after the goldfish as he slashed, but the goldfish was very agile. It scurried in the magma repeatedly. Zhou Wen lost sight of it several times, but it jumped out of the magma itself, as though it was provoking him.


    Zhou Wen found it odd. The goldfish was undoubtedly a top-notch Epic creature, but it never counterattacked. It only swam through the magma without spewing flames like the Magma Worm or Fire-Armored Crocodiles.


    Zhou Wen didn''t believe the notion that it couldn''t breathe fire. This was because the fellow''s body was burning with terrifying golden flames. Molten rock that touched its body would directly melt. How could it not possess fire attacks?


    Back when Gu Dian was fishing for it, the goldfish hadn''t counterattacked. That had already puzzled Zhou Wen, so he was even more puzzled now.


    Could it be that this is a dimensional creature that can''t attack? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss when he thought about it. This fellow wasn''t a vegetarian, having swallowed the Magma Worm as food. It also ate something known as Ice Silkworm.


    When he thought of Ice Silkworm, Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up. Could it be that the goldfish lost its ability to spew fire because it ate Gu Dian''s Ice Silkworm?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he was convinced of his conjecture. Although Gu Dian was powerful, he had yet to advance to the Epic stage. He would definitely have made some special preparations to fish an Epic goldfish. Perhaps the Ice Silkworm was its nemesis, making the goldfish temporarily lose the ability to control fire.


    From the looks of it, this goldfish is very likely the one Gu Dian caught. Zhou Wen once again lost sight of the goldfish, but shortly after, the fish jumped out of the nearby magma provocatively. When it jumped into the magma, it deliberately shook its chiffon-like tail and sent magma splattering in all directions.


    I originally wanted to use you to gain insights into the profundity of fire-elemental powers. Since you are courting death, don''t blame me. With a thought, Zhou Wen switched his Primordial Energy Art to Godfiend Era. A Godfiend Life Providence appeared and he summoned the Lost Country Life Soul. A strange ring appeared on Zhou Wen''s finger.


    Zhou Wen stared at the magma surface and, indeed, it didn''t take long before the goldfish jumped out again.


    A strange glint flashed in the eyes of the half-ghostly, half-beauty Lost Country ring as Zhou Wen''s figure suddenly vanished. Almost immediately, he appeared beside the goldfish. The sword beam from Overlord Sword penetrated the goldfish''s body at almost the same time.


    Looking at the goldfish stuck to the Overlord Sword like a grilled fish and completely dead with no chance of being mischievous, Zhou Wen dragged it to the bank.


    After ordinary dimensional creatures were killed, their corpses decayed faster than ordinary creatures. Zhou Wen didn''t want corpses either. However, after hearing that Gu Dian wanted to feed it to the cats, he decided to summon the Mutated Stone Chi and transport the goldfish''s corpse back.


    On his way back, he didn''t see Li Weiyang and company. He presumed that they had left.


    After leaving the dimensional zone, Zhou Wen contacted Gu Dian and asked if he wanted the goldfish''s corpse.


    "Yes." Gu Dian was always so succinct.


    Before sending the goldfish''s corpse to him, Zhou Wen split open the fish''s belly and found a Companion Egg inside. This left Zhou Wen extremely surprised.


    However, other than being fast and able to travel through magma, this goldfish didn''t seem to have any special abilities.


    After transporting the corpse to Gu Dian, Zhou Wen asked him for more details.


    Indeed, Gu Dian told him that the Goldfish was unable to use its fire powers for a limited period after it devoured an Ice Silkworm.


    Gu Dian hadn''t lied to him. He really fed the goldfish''s corpse to the cats. Furthermore, it was the same litter that Zhou Wen had seen previously. However, the kittens had grown quite large over the past few months and they were almost the size of an adult cat. The adult cat ate with the kittens the pieces of fish that Gu Dian sliced off for them. They looked rather blissful.


    Gu Dian now seemed to have transformed into a three-star chef. He was meticulous while having extraordinary patience. Even his ferocious appearance did not seem that frightening. Instead, he looked gentler.


    Zhou Wen turned around and prepared to leave when Gu Dian suddenly said, "I owe you one for the goldfish. Call me if you need anything from me."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded and left the abandoned old campus.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to incubate the goldfish Companion Egg. The fellow needed plenty of Primordial Energy. Zhou Wen originally imagined that it wouldn''t be difficult incubating it, so he only used his body''s Primordial Energy to supply it to the Companion Egg. However, it only took an instant for nearly 30 Primordial Energy points to be drained from him. It gave him a fright. He hurriedly summoned the Slaughterer Life Soul that gave him unlimited Primordial Energy to stabilize the situation.


    The Companion Egg transformed into a golden stream of light that landed on Zhou Wen''s arm, forming a goldfish tattoo that seemed to be swaying its tail.


    Zhou Wen summoned it out and it looked like the goldfish from before. Its body burned with golden flames, but the moment it landed, it immediately melted the ground, so Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned it back.


    This goldfish doesn''t know how to fly. It can only survive in magma. It probably won''t be easy to use it in combat, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he looked at the stats of the goldfish in-game. He was immediately overjoyed.


    Fortune Goldfish: Epic


    Life Providence: Luck (Luck +6)


    Life Soul: Soul of Magma


    Strength: 34


    Speed: 39


    Constitution: 28


    Primordial Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Magma Bubbles


    Companion Form: None


    After seeing the stats of the Fortune Goldfish, Zhou Wen only wanted to laugh out loud. This day has finally come! So you want me to fail with the baby tiger? Ha! Now I have an even better Fortune Goldfish! It''s better than the baby tiger. The baby tiger only adds 5 to Luck, while this is 6! It''s better than Wang Lu''s!


    Zhou Wen felt great. He had been a little depressed having not obtained the baby tiger after all his grinding. Now, he was in an extremely good mood.


    He had originally planned on gaining insights from the goldfish''s flames, but now he put it aside. He logged into the game before heading to the bat cave. He wanted to give it a try and see how much better the drop rate would be after obtaining Luck +6.


    After summoning the Fortune Goldfish, it instantly appeared with its golden flames and plopped to the ground. In a short time, the ground was melted into a pool of magma that was about a meter in diameter. The goldfish swam inside and the Soul of Magma on it would melt the rocks into magma, in whichever direction it swam. However, no matter how fast it was, there was still a process. Thus, Fortune Goldfish''s speed was extremely slow.


    Unless there was a place like Magma River, this fellow could only engage in trench warfare with no way to pursue an enemy.


    It''s time to show my true skills. Companion Eggs, Primordial Energy Skill Crystals, Poison Crystals, and high-level stat crystals. All of them are to come to me. Zhou Wen summoned his sword and stormed towards the horde of poison bats.

 370 Inside the Temple

    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen carefully studied the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul and discovered that the "Sun" postfix of the Strength stat also vanished like before.


    The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul could fuse with Zhou Wen''s body and give him a powerful driving force. This was somewhat different from a traditional Strength-type Life Soul.


    When possessed by a traditional Strength-type Life Soul, Strength was directly multiplied.


    For example, if the Strength of an Epic expert was at 40. If his Life Soul was to multiply his Strength, it was possible that his Strength would be raised to 60, 70, or even 80.


    However, it didn''t mean that one could unleash 80 Strength when one''s Strength reached 80. In reality, the power that a person could produce was largely related to their skills, stamina, and other factors. Without any training, even if they possessed 80 Strength, the power that they could truly wield from throwing a punch was less than 60 or even less than half.


    Even a well-trained fighter couldn''t unleash their peak combat power for prolonged periods. Usually, he would be able to maintain his peak strength output for two to three minutes. Those that didn''t drop below 90% of their Strength would be considered an extremely powerful individual. If this continued, their bodily functions would weaken and they would need some buffer time to continue such explosive strength.


    However, that wasn''t the case with the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul provided a powerful driving force system. Now, Zhou Wen''s Strength was 32. When he had the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul possess him, he could maintain his Strength at peak condition constantly. He wouldn''t suffer a decline in stamina or a decrease in strength. He was practically a combat machine.


    And now, the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was still at its lowest Primordial stage. If he could continue growing, he didn''t know what powers he would have in the future. Perhaps it would allow him to break through the limits of his strength and produce extraordinary powers.


    Furthermore, the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul also had combat powers. His combat strength was equivalent to Zhou Wen''s attributes and could be considered Zhou Wen''s avatar. This was somewhat similar to Doctor Darkness''s Dr. Soul. Zhou Wen was very satisfied.


    Looking at the glow that resembled a sun god, Zhou Wen felt a little depressed. The glow from the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was too intense and it was like a humanoid creature condensed from light. He couldn''t see what he looked like at all.


    Now, there''s the Wordless Monument''s Dao Sutra and Small Buddha Temple''s Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Which one do I start with? Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra could still be connected to fire, but Zhou Wen didn''t know where to begin with these two Primordial Energy Arts. All he could do was find information related to Buddhism and Daoism in the school''s database.


    However, the knowledge of these two categories was just too broad and profound. Even if one spent the rest of their lives studying them, they might not be able to cover everything. Having no clue at all, Zhou Wen didn''t know where to begin.


    The flower bud on the Dead Man Tree had already withered over the past few days and had grown a purple fruit. It looked like it was cast from purple-copper, and its shape resembled an egg.


    In the past, Doctor Darkness''s fruit ripened after seven days. Zhou Wen estimated that this would take at least seven days, so all he could do was patiently wait. He looked forward to seeing the type of Companion Beast that would appear from the fruit.


    He started up the game and tried to enter the temple under the ruins to use the Lost Country''s teleportation ability to enter the temple.


    Passing the Aoyin stone statue with the sacrificial offerings, he arrived at the door to the left side of the palace. The moment the blood-colored avatar opened the door to the palace, he saw a creature resembling a wolf and tiger. It was entirely black in color and had two tails. With wings on its back, it lunged over at an incredulous speed. Even Ghost Steps'' speed couldn''t match it.


    Zhou Wen pressed down on the ring transformed by Lost Country. The ghostly face''s eyes flashed as the blood-colored avatar''s body instantly vanished. When it appeared again, it was behind the monster.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly sized up the environment in front of him. He was likely inside the temple, but he saw that it was ancient and spartan. It didn''t have exquisite decorations or any kinds of calligraphy works. In the hall, there was only a stone altar and a stone offering table. There weren''t any statues on the altar other than a rock.


    Zhou Wen only had the chance to glance at the stone before the game screen went black. The blood-colored avatar had clearly been killed by the terrifying dimensional creature.


    Even if the temple doesn''t consecrate gods, they should consecrate some demons. Why would they consecrate a stone? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    He had only taken one look at the rock and felt that it looked like a boulder. It was about three meters tall and it was shaped like a mountain. It didn''t look anything special.


    After waiting for twenty-four hours, Zhou Wen went to the temple on the right. The temple on the right was somewhat special. Zhou Wen used teleportation, but he also only managed one glance.


    The palace''s interior was filled with metal. Even the walls and pillars were made of metal. It also had altars and offerings, but they were made of metal as well.


    On the metal altar, the thing that was consecrated was a huge metal ax. The ax was double-edged, and it looked dark and sinister. It was even bigger than a door. The handle of the ax was like a metal pillar, and it looked heavy. There was probably no human who could use such a heavy weapon.


    Although he could enter the temple, he died upon entry. Apart from teleporting, even Ghost Steps couldn''t dodge the attacks of the two Mythical creatures. Zhou Wen couldn''t think of a way to fend them off.


    However, there were no hiding spots within the temple. If the former principal and the others had really entered the temple, they were likely doomed.


    Zhou Wen grinded the dungeons daily and read some relevant articles to study how to condense a Life Soul and level up one''s Life Soul. A few days had unknowingly passed.


    One day, Zhou Wen was grinding the tiger dungeon when his phone suddenly rang. He answered the call while grinding.


    "Zhou Wen, are you alright?" A familiar voice sounded. It was Zhong Ziya.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered with grinding. He threw down the game and gripped his phone tightly. "I''m fine. I''ve returned to school. How are you?"


    After a moment of silence, Zhong Ziya said, "I won''t be able to return to school. If there''s a chance, we''ll meet again in the future."


    "What plans do you have?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    Although they hadn''t spent much time with each other, he felt that Wang Mingyuan''s students matched his personality. He had unknowingly become closer to them.


    "With the world so huge, it naturally has a place for me. For Teacher to do something so earth-shattering, I can''t embarrass him as his student. Naturally, I have to do something big as well," Zhong Ziya said.


    "What are you going to do?" Zhou Wen was a little worried. Zhong Ziya had a strange temper, but he possessed an extraordinary talent. He was probably going to cause havoc if he really turned evil.


    "Let''s talk about it when we meet in the future. I have something on campus. I won''t be going back in the future. There''s no point in keeping those things there. I''ll give them to you. That item is at¡­" Zhong Ziya told Zhou Wen a place.


    "I''ll get it and send it to you," Zhou Wen said.


    "There''s no need. Just treat it as a memento." Zhong Ziya hung up after saying that.


    When Zhou Wen called again, he heard the notification that the person he had just called had switched off their phone.

 371 Spirit Casting

    Zhou Wen helplessly put away his phone and thought for a moment. He planned on heading to the location Zhong Ziya mentioned to take a look.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t sure if the item was still there because Zhong Ziya''s belongings were hidden in Dragon''s Well. Back then, the Special Inspector Bureau''s Director-General had personally led a search and investigation, so it was very likely that they had already found the item.


    As for what it was, Zhong Ziya didn''t say, and Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to ask.


    When he came to Old Dragon Cave again, Zhou Wen felt mixed feelings. He still remembered Wang Mingyuan cooking for the four of them while wearing an apron. But now, it was a mess.


    He wanted to clean up the lab and make it return to its original appearance, but he felt uncomfortable. He picked up a few pieces of broken apparatus and put them down again.


    They''re gone. So what if I tidy the place? Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. After putting down the item, he headed straight for Dragon''s Well.


    The platform made of stone beside Dragon''s Well had been dismantled, and the chain had long disappeared. This served to make Zhou Wen feel even more uncomfortable.


    Back then, he had pulled the chain quite a few times. The few of them had joked that they were fishing for dragons, but they had never really caught anything. They didn''t even catch a single snake, much less a dragon. It was all a form of self-consolation.


    He switched to the Godfiend Life Providence and flew down the shaft, stopping about twenty meters from the mouth of the well.


    The cold fog here was already thick and it was so dark that he couldn''t see his fingers. Zhou Wen approached the wall and reached his hand out to feel his way. It was biting cold to the touch as though it was ice.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t worried about encountering danger. He had entered Dragon''s Well several times in-game, so he knew that this place was still far from the White Dragon''s location so he wouldn''t alarm it.


    After some searching, he only found cold rocks. Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt a soft spot as though he had touched a sponge. He couldn''t help but feel delighted.


    After carefully feeling around the area, he discovered the wooden plank that Zhong Ziya had mentioned. He opened it and revealed a hole that allowed an arm to extend in. Zhou Wen extended his hand and groped for a while before taking out a bamboo tube.


    The hole wasn''t deep. After some groping around and realizing that there was nothing else, Zhou Wen took the bamboo tube and flew out of Dragon''s Well.


    After leaving Dragon''s Well, he carefully examined the bamboo tube, only to discover that it was emerald-green in color, like fresh bamboo that had just been chopped off. The opening was stuffed with cloth.


    Zhou Wen removed the seal and looked into the bamboo tube. He saw that there was something rolled up. It looked like paper.


    After pouring the thing out, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t paper, but an animal hide of unknown species. After some processing, it turned into a leather scroll.


    The workmanship of the scroll wasn''t bad. It was just that it had been through a lot, so it was a little worn out.


    What did Zhong Ziya leave here? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he unfolded the leather scroll. He saw that there were many words written on it. Although the words looked a little faded, time had failed to completely erase them.


    Zhong Ziya doesn''t usually like to study. Why would he have such a thing hidden here? It''s relatively easy to believe that this item was hidden by Jiang Yan. Zhou Wen was somewhat curious as he carefully read the contents on the scroll.


    This left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    The leather scroll recorded witchcraft called Spirit Casting. It was said that humans were unable to fuse with other living beings, but the method described was too alarming. It didn''t adhere to human common sense. If Zhou Wen had seen it in the past, he would only treat it as something fabricated by a delusional person. It was impossible for it to be realized.


    However, Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd when he thought of Wang Mingyuan, who had transformed into a dimensional creature.


    Don''t tell me Teacher used this Spirit Casting technique to fuse with the creature inside the white cocoon? Zhou Wen thought to himself. But why does Zhong Ziya have this? Where did he get it from? Did Teacher give it to him?


    Zhou Wen couldn''t figure it out. After hesitating for a moment, he placed the leather scroll back into the bamboo tube before storing it in the Chaos Bead''s chaos space.


    This item was definitely taboo for humans. Zhou Wen didn''t want others to see it, nor did he have plans to learn it.


    If Zhong Ziya didn''t come to retrieve it in the future, he planned on permanently sealing it within the chaos bead, preventing it from ever seeing the light of day again.


    After doing all this, Zhou Wen walked out of Old Dragon Cave.


    The bustle outside Dragon Gate Grotto had returned to normal. There were even more people. Many people had set up stalls outside selling their loot. The most popular ones were all kinds of stat crystals. Although everyone wanted Companion Eggs, the prices were too high so transactions were relatively few.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing here?" someone stopped him.


    Zhou Wen turned around and saw that the person who called out to him was Huang Ji. This fellow had actually set up a stall here.


    "Senior, why are you running a stall when you should be developing the game?" Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. To not work on the game and run a stall here only seemed to imply that his investment was for nothing.


    Huang Ji mysteriously pulled Zhou Wen to the side and whispered, "I''m working on the game. Some unimportant parts have already been outsourced. In two months, we should have the results. That''s not urgent. Something big will happen today, and benefits might be in store. Why don''t you wait with me?"


    "What can happen here?" Zhou Wen looked around him. Although Dragon Gate Grotto had many dimensional zones, they were all inside the grottos. What could happen outside?


    "Junior, you have no idea. All the dimensional zones in Dragon Gate Grotto are different, but in fact, Dragon Gate Grotto is an entire dimensional zone, including the spot where we are now," Huang Ji said as he pointed at the stone steps beneath him.


    "Of course I know that." Zhou Wen didn''t know what Huang Ji was getting at.


    "Then aren''t you curious why there are dimensional creatures in those grottos with magical things happening inside but there aren''t any outside?" asked Huang Ji.


    "Is a reason needed?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Huang Ji covered his forehead and pursed his lips. "There is definitely a reason for everything. If there is no reason, then it just means that we haven''t figured it out. There is actually something mysterious outside Dragon Gate Grotto. It''s just that it won''t appear normally, but tonight is when that magical moment happens. Otherwise, why do you think there are so many people here? There will be more people coming later. Many people who know of this will probably come tonight."


    "What magical thing is it?" Zhou Wen was somewhat intrigued. He believed there definitely would be something good. Otherwise, why would people choose to come here instead of other places where there were so many magical things happening in other dimensional zones?


    "This magical thing in Dragon Gate Grotto is called Buddha Eye Opening¡­" Huang Ji said excitedly.

 372 Buddha Eye-Opening

    Legend had it that in ancient times, Dragon Gate Grotto often suffered floods, wiping out cities and fields.


    One year, due to a prolonged rain upstream, the water level kept rising. The experienced elders knew that there was going to be a flood and began moving higher up the mountain.


    In the story, a child was playing on the shore when he heard a strange sound coming from the water. It sounded like someone was saying, "Open or not¡­ Open or not¡­"


    The child thought nothing of it. Two days later, a major flood really began upstream. The commoners watched their fields and city flooding and felt extremely miserable.


    Although they had brought everything that they could bring with them, once the disaster was over, the fields would be ruined. There would be nothing to eat in the coming year, resulting in a definite famine.


    Moreover, after the flood, there would definitely be plagues. At that time, medical technology was not good enough to control plagues. They could only survive it with numbers, which meant that in larger areas not everyone would die from the contagion.


    While everyone was filled with grief, the child heard that strange voice coming from the water again. It sounded like it was asking, "Open or not¡­ Open or not¡­"


    The child was very curious and explained the matter to his parents. When his parents heard that, they were overjoyed and told the child that if he heard the voice again, he should answer "open".


    Not long after, the child heard that voice again. This time, he followed his parents'' instructions and said, "open."


    Then, the churning river split apart. The floodwater that flowed down from upstream actually split into two paths. One circled around the fields and city from the left, and the other circled around it from the right. A serious flood didn''t happen.


    And in the area where the river split apart, the mountain walls that were beneath the river surfaced. Numerous Buddha statues and grottos of different sizes appeared. One of them was a Buddha statue with eyes staring straight at the sky. The river split into two with his eyes being the central axis.


    After the flood passed, the commoners realized that the Buddha statue''s eyes had closed. Only then did they realize that the Buddha statue had saved their entire city.


    Ever since then, the Buddha statues and grottos appeared out of the water¡ªthe present Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Of course, this was just a legend that couldn''t be taken seriously. However, the story of Buddha opening his eyes had spread around the area.


    Huang Ji told Zhou Wen that he didn''t know if Buddha had really opened his eyes to save all those lives, but he was certain that after the dimensional storms, every time the river beside Dragon Gate Grotto exceeded a certain range, a Buddha statue would open its eyes. If one were to be looked at by the Buddha statue, there might be a huge fortuitous opportunity befalling them.


    "What huge fortuitous opportunity?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    Huang Ji shook his head and said, "I don''t know. I heard that there were several instances in Dragon Gate Grotto that had the Buddha open his eyes. Every time someone was glanced at by the Buddha statue, it was as though a Buddha''s light had descended upon them. However, I don''t know what benefits those people gained later on. It''s just that I heard about a student with an average aptitude, who had the lowest grades in school and always ranked in the bottom three in the comprehensive test. He was lucky enough to be looked at when the Buddha opened his eyes. From then on, it was as though he had cheated as his results shot up rapidly. He advanced to the Legendary stage in just a few months. I heard that he advanced to the Epic stage shortly after graduation."


    "That godly?" Zhou Wen was somewhat in disbelief.


    "I don''t believe it either. But that''s the legend that''s spreading. I''ve only heard people mention it. Recently, there''s been a lot of rain, and the water level has already exceeded the legendary mark. Perhaps today will be the day the Buddha opens his eyes. If there''s nothing else you need to do, just wait here. Who knows, if Buddha takes a look at you, you''ll be in for a swell time," Huang Ji said.


    Upon hearing Huang Ji, Zhou Wen felt that he should stay behind to take a look. Even if the Buddha statue didn''t fancy him, it was better to broaden his knowledge.


    Zhou Wen sat down beside Huang Ji, waiting for the so-called Buddha Eye-Opening to happen.


    "Which is the Buddha statue with the closed eyes as mentioned in the legend?" Zhou Wen looked around him but didn''t see any Buddha statue with closed eyes.


    "That one." Huang Ji pointed up.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen''s eyes were especially good; otherwise, he really wouldn''t be able to see that Buddha statue. It was because the Buddha statue that Huang Ji pointed to was so inconspicuous.


    The more important Buddha statues were all full-body sculptures, but the Buddha statue in question was just a carving. Furthermore, it was only one-foot-tall and was carved on a stone wall. The Buddha statues around it were several meters tall or even more than ten meters tall. This made it extremely inconspicuous. If one didn''t pay attention, they would miss it.


    Zhou Wen scrutinized it and realized that the Buddha statue did have its eyes closed, but after sizing it up for a while, he failed to discover anything magical about the stone statue.


    Li Xuan and Li Weiyang walked over with a group of people. From afar, he saw Zhou Wen, ran over, and grumbled, "Old Zhou, so you''re here. That makes it easy for me. Why didn''t you answer all my calls?"


    Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he hadn''t brought his ordinary phone when he came out.


    "Why are you all here?" Zhou Wen looked and realized that almost everyone from the Xuanwen Club and the Weiyang Club was here. Even Gu Dian.


    "Why else would we be here? Aren''t you here for that Buddha Eye-Opening as well?" Li Xuan curled his lips as though he was very displeased with Zhou Wen for coming alone without informing him.


    "I only learned about the Buddha Eye-Opening from Senior Huang Ji a moment ago. I went to Old Dragon Cave to pack some things," Zhou Wen explained.


    "Then you came at the right time. If the Buddha statue really opens its eyes later, it might be able to take a fancy to us. That will be sweet," Li Xuan said.


    As the two spoke, more and more people came. Zhou Wen saw that Wei Ge had brought quite a number of the student council''s leaders, including Zheng Tianlun.


    Zheng Tianlun wasn''t very fond of Zhou Wen and only gave him a glance. Wei Ge nodded at him with a smile, appearing to be somewhat friendly.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly in response, but he had a nagging feeling that Wei Ge was a little different from before, but he couldn''t put a finger on the difference.


    The sky grew darker and, when the sun was setting, more and more people came. Not only were there people from the college, but there were also some from outside the college. After all, not all of Dragon Gate Grotto belonged to Sunset College.


    As more and more people appeared, the Buddha statue remained motionless. Ignoring the hope of having its eyes opened. It was so dark that it was almost out of sight.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard splashing sounds as though something was churning in the river, causing it to constantly bubble.

 373 Enjoying the Flowers

    Everyone''s eyes were attracted by the churning water, including Zhou Wen.


    With a loud splash, green lotus leaves emerged from the water. After extending out from the water surface, many water droplets swirled on the lotus leaves, making them wobble.


    The splashing sounds continued to echo. More and more lotus leaves appeared on the surface of the river like bamboo shoots after the rain. They kept appearing, and not long after, the river was almost completely covered by the lotus leaves. At a glance, it was as if it had turned into a green river of jadeite. In the darkness, the lotus leaves even emitted a faint light.


    "Did such a phenomenon happen in the past Buddha Eye-Opening?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan shook his head and said, "I''m not very sure about that. However, I heard that there was indeed a phenomenon before the Buddha Eye-Opening. However, I''ve only heard of birds flying over from all directions, nothing about the river giving rise to lotus leaves.


    As the two conversed, there was another change on the river surface. Lotus flowers extended out from the water and slowly bloomed between the lotus leaves, making the scenery on the river even more pleasant.


    Those lotus flowers seemed to be lamps that illuminated the surface of the river. It was truly a magical sight.


    Zhou Wen was watching the scene of the lotus flower blooming when he suddenly heard someone shout, "The Buddha has opened his eyes¡­ The Buddha has opened his eyes¡­"


    Zhou Wen and company turned their heads and looked at the statue on the stone wall. Its closed eyes seemed to have a golden line drawn. Light shimmered from within as though it was about to open its eyes.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. He thought, The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is also a Buddhist Primordial Energy Art. It might be of some use. Since it shares the same religion, the Buddha statue might even glance at me.


    Many students and cultivators moved in front of the Buddha statue, hoping to obtain the Buddha statue''s favor.


    Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Tian Zhenzhen also came to Zhou Wen''s side. Tian Zhenzhen looked at the Buddha statue curiously and asked, "Could it be that only those with Buddhist physiques or people with Buddha-related Life Providences can obtain the fortuitous opportunity during the Buddha Eye-Opening?"


    "Who knows? The last people who got chosen by the Buddha statues apparently didn''t have any Buddhist physiques," Li Xuan said after some thought.


    "Could there be no standard?" Tian Zhenzhen asked again.


    "Even if there are standards, no one knows what it is," Li Weiyang said.


    As they spoke, the Buddha statue''s eyes had already completely opened, its eyes sparkling with a Buddhistic glow. However, the direction it was looking at was not the humans on the shore, but the lotus leaves and lotus flowers over the river.


    "Is he enjoying the flowers?" Ming Xiu looked at the Buddha statue in deep thought.


    "From the looks of it, enjoying the flowers is his main goal. Choosing someone might just be done in passing," Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Dragon Gate Grotto had thousands of people along the riverbank as they helplessly watched the Buddha statue enjoy the flowers. The Buddha statue did nothing but admire the flowers, with zero intention of looking at the humans by the shore.


    Seeing that the Buddha statue wasn''t looking at him, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel somewhat disappointed. It looks like the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra isn''t of much use.


    Suddenly, not far away, a figure ran to the river bank and jumped into the river. After that, the figure separated the lotus leaves and swam towards a spot where the Buddha statue was looking at.


    "Holy f*ck! This bro sure has ideas!"


    "You want to get a Buddhist affinity this way? Is that person''s brain damaged?"


    "I guess that person must have gone crazy thinking of getting a Buddhist affinity? If you can obtain a Buddhist affinity using such a trick, what kind of affinity is that?"


    "The person destroyed so many lotus leaves and flowers and disrupted the Buddha statue''s enjoyment of the flowers, spoiling its mood. I won''t be surprised if there''s a punishment, so to get a Buddhist affinity? Stop dreaming."


    Everyone reacted and immediately understood what that person was trying to do. There were people who were amazed, but most people were mocking the person.


    "That person is rather interesting! Is it a student from our school?" Zhou Wen looked at the person who was swimming with piqued interest. Earlier, they had all had their eyes on the Buddha statue and hadn''t seen who had jumped into the river.


    Although this method seemed unreliable, this person dared to act on their ideas. It wasn''t comparable to the people on the shore who could only mock.


    "Probably." Li Xuan was somewhat unsure. The person was swimming amongst lotus leaves so they were blocked from view. Furthermore, the river''s water had drenched the person''s clothes, so it was impossible to tell if they were wearing the school uniform.


    Boom!


    The person was trying their best to swim when a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down from the sky. It hit the person who was swimming in the water. The surrounding river water rose a foot high because of the impact, and the lotus flowers nearby also suffered damage. An area was charred black after the lightning strike.


    "I knew it. How dare you use such a trick before Buddha? You deserve to be struck by lightning."


    "Some people only want to take shortcuts. Have you learned your lesson?"


    "You even dare to fool Buddha? Who else should be struck by lightning if not you?"


    Many people who were watching were gloating. Even though there were people who were concerned about whether that person had died from the lightning strike, no one dared to save the person. They were afraid that they would also be struck by lightning once they entered the river.


    Zhou Wen felt that the person was rather interesting. He had seen the might of the lightning, and it wasn''t enough to hurt him. He said to Li Xuan, "Wait here for me. I''ll see if he''s dead."


    Zhou Wen didn''t summon his arm wing, but he used Dragon Gate''s Flying Immortal Skill. He stepped on the lotus leaves and headed for the lightning-strike victim.


    As he stepped on the lotus leaves and landed on the spot where the person had been struck, he reached out to grab the person who was floating faced down. Upon closer inspection, he was surprised.


    This person''s hair and clothes had been charred black, but the person wasn''t dead. The person had only fainted.


    That wasn''t the main point. The main point was that Zhou Wen actually knew this person. She was none other than Fang Ruoxi, who had graduated from Guide High School with him.


    It''s no wonder you jumped down from our side. It''s her! Zhou Wen was looking at the Buddha statue just now, just like the others. He really didn''t notice that Fang Ruoxi had disappeared.


    Just as he was about to bring Fang Ruoxi back to the shore, he suddenly saw a bolt of lightning appear out of nowhere. It descended from the void and struck Zhou Wen and Fang Ruoxi.


    "Zhou Wen, be careful!" Li Xuan and company shouted.


    And among the other spectators, many gloated over Zhou Wen''s predicament. They felt that he deserved being hit for his rash act.


    Zhou Wen naturally saw the lightning smite down as well. The lightning came quickly, preventing him from having any time to think. Zhou Wen summoned his Overlord Sword and slashed out the Demonic Astral Wheel at the lightning.


    The blood-colored light wheel tore out and collided with the lightning. Immediately, a streak of blood-red light exploded.


    As the Demonic Astral Wheel shattered, the lightning also shattered. It transformed into electric wisps that scattered across the river surface, charring the lotus leaves and lotus flowers.


    Boom!


    Before Zhou Wen could retract the sword in his hand, another bolt of lightning came smiting down, preventing him from having a chance to return to the bank.

 374 Who Ended Up With It?

    Zhou Wen held Fang Ruoxi in one hand and raised his Overlord Sword in the other as he prepared to slash out a sword beam to shatter the incoming lightning.


    However, he had only raised his sword halfway when he suddenly felt his ears heat up. A golden earring appeared on his ear, producing a strange power.


    Truth Listener! Zhou Wen was delighted. He knew that Truth Listener had finished its incubation and had automatically returned to his ears. At the same time, it unleashed a strange power.


    This power extended all over Zhou Wen''s body. Even the Overlord Sword in his hand was enveloped by Truth Listener''s power. The lightning struck the Overlord Sword, but it didn''t produce any terrifying power. Instead, it transformed into a strange energy that was transmitted into Zhou Wen''s body, giving him an indescribable sense of comfort. Not only did the lightning not harm him, it even seemed to replenish his energy.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Lightning Bolts fell from the sky one after another as they struck the Overlord Sword that Zhou Wen raised.


    "It''s over. Old Zhou is about to be charred to a crisp!" Li Xuan felt his heart chill when he saw the blinding lightning blast on Zhou Wen''s body.


    Anyone would imagine that Zhou Wen would be electrocuted to death with such a terrifying electric blast.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t feel the pain of being struck by lightning. Instead, he felt his Primordial Energy fill. Every bolt of lightning that struck him added a little to his Primordial Energy. The excess Primordial Energy that his body couldn''t contain seeped out from his pores.


    Almost instantly, nine bolts of lightning fell. When the light from the lightning dimmed, the spectating students and crowd realized that Zhou Wen was still standing there with his sword raised. He hadn''t been reduced to ashes as they had expected. Even his clothes weren''t damaged at all.


    Zhou Wen, who was standing on a lotus leaf, held Fang Ruoxi in one hand and raised the Overlord Sword in the other. He even emitted a faint golden luster. The visual effect was perfect, alarming and puzzling many students.


    "The nine golden lightning bolts were so terrifying. Why isn''t Zhou Wen injured at all?" Zheng Tianlun widened his eyes in disbelief.


    Wei Ge said indifferently, "You underestimate Zhou Wen. How can such lightning hurt him?"


    Zhou Wen walked towards the bank with Fang Ruoxi, but the lightning didn''t descend from the void again.


    Zhou Wen landed on the shore and just as he put Fang Ruoxi down, two golden beams shot out of the Buddha statue''s eyes and headed straight for him.


    Is it finally coming? Zhou Wen felt a little excited. He didn''t know what the Buddha Eye-Opening''s power would bring him.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen was stunned. The golden beam from the Buddha''s eyes didn''t shine on him but on Fang Ruoxi who was on the ground.


    Fang Ruoxi''s hair and skin that had been charred from the lightning strike rapidly healed under the golden light. Not only did she recover from her own injuries, but she also became even more crystalline. Amidst her black hair was a faint golden luster.


    From the looks of it, the Buddha statue chose Fang Ruoxi from the beginning. After all, she was the first person to enter the river. Zhou Wen guessed the reason why the Buddha statue had chosen Fang Ruoxi. He wasn''t envious at all. Fang Ruoxi had such an opportunity because she had pursued it with all her might.


    Fang Ruoxi opened her eyes. Even her pupils seemed to glow with a faint golden luster. It made her seem a little different from before.


    "Why am I here? Didn''t I get struck by lightning?" Fang Ruoxi sat up and looked around in a daze.


    "It was Old Zhou who saved you. Furthermore, you were lucky to have received the Buddha statue''s gaze. However, you need to thank Old Zhou. If he hadn''t helped you block eight bolts of lightning, you would probably have lost your life instead of enjoying the Buddha affinity," Li Xuan said jealously.


    "Thank you, Zhou Wen," Fang Ruoxi stood up and stood in front of him.


    "It''s nothing. It''s nothing." Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and turned to look at the Buddha statue on the stone wall. However, the Buddha statue had already closed its eyes and returned to its normal appearance.


    The lotus flowers and leaves in the river also withered in an instant. In the end, they all melted into the river, leaving nothing behind.


    When the crowd of onlookers saw that the Buddha statue had lost its divine glow and the surface of the river had returned to normal, they knew that they had missed the Buddha Eye-Opening this time and could not help but feel regret. Previously, they had not jumped into the river like Fang Ruoxi''s search for a Buddhist affinity. Otherwise, they might have gotten it instead.


    A number of people left in disappointment, but there were also quite a number of people who looked over. Apart from asking about who had obtained the Buddhist affinity, they were mostly asking about Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had managed to withstand eight golden lightning bolts with a single sword without being injured at all. It was as though he was a God of Combat embodied. It left people somewhat shocked.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to stay any longer. He informed Li Xuan, Huang Ji, and company that he had something on, before returning to his dorm.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen eagerly took out the mysterious phone and checked Truth Listener''s information.


    A small golden monkey appeared on the screen. Its transformation wasn''t too great, and its body was still rather miniature. However, the golden fur on its body had turned into a dark golden color, much more restrained than before. Furthermore, it had four ears when it advanced to the Legendary stage. Now, it had six ears, three on each side. They were distributed in a triangular shape like flower petals.


    With Truth Listener looking almost the same, Zhou Wen directly looked at its stats, eager to know what power it had used.


    Truth Listener: Epic (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven''s Senses


    Life Soul: Evil Nullification


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Primordial Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Golden Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    Zhou Wen saw that Truth Listener''s attribute growth was within his expectations. There weren''t any changes in skills. However, there was an additional Life Soul¡ªEvil Nullification. It was likely the Evil Nullification Life Soul that nullified the lightning and turned it into Primordial Energy.


    However, Zhou Wen was only able to sense a thing or two when it came to a Companion Beast''s Life Soul. He had no way of completely figuring out what Evil Nullification''s exact effects were.


    When he summoned Truth Listener, he saw a tiny six-eared, golden-haired monkey appear in his palm. It looked at him with eyes that suffused a golden glow.


    "Summon your Life Soul for me to see," Zhou Wen said to Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener received Zhou Wen''s order, but it didn''t summon the Life Soul. It appeared to be scratching its ears and cheeks as though it didn''t know what to do. At the same time, Truth Listener had a thought transmitted into Zhou Wen''s mind.


    "I can''t¡­ I can''t¡­" Zhou Wen sensed that Truth Listener''s will was seemingly repeating this.

 375 Useless Evil Nullification

    Zhou Wen found it odd. Could it be that Truth Listener''s Life Soul is a passive Life Soul that can''t be summoned just like my Slaughterer?


    Truth Listener couldn''t speak and Zhou Wen had no way of asking it. All he could do was take it in-game to fight monsters, hoping to see how much it had improved.


    When he reached the poison bat cave, he summoned Truth Listener and let it kill the poison bats itself.


    Truth Listener was indeed a Mythical pet. Although it was still developing, it possessed a strange strength that was astonishing. Its movement speed was as fast as lightning, and it was as fast as Zhou Wen''s Ghost Steps. Its two claws were indomitable, easily tearing apart a poison bat that was similarly at the Epic stage.


    Even the poison bat Boss, White Shadow of Poison, was easily caught up by Truth Listener before tearing its body apart. What surprised Zhou Wen was that when the White Shadow of Poison entered its shadow state, it failed to dodge Truth Listener''s claws and was directly torn into two.


    That petite body jumped between the horde of poisonous bats. Even though it could only kill one poisonous bat every time, the speed at which it killed them was very fast. Each swipe of the claw killed one, almost as though it was not afraid of a group brawl.


    Although Truth Listener performed very well, these seemed to be skills it originally had. The reason why it had powerful Speed and Strength was that it was augmented by the Nine Extremes Primordial Energy Skill. This Primordial Energy Skill allowed Truth Listener''s Speed and Strength to exceed its limits, allowing it to produce strength that exceeded its own.


    The Indestructible Golden Body made Truth Listener hardly need to dodge attacks of the same level. It wouldn''t even be easy for dimensional creatures of a higher level to kill it.


    Truth Listener could really be used as a tanking pet despite it''s extremely small body.


    Zhou Wen had seen these powers before, but he didn''t see the effects of its Evil Nullification Life Soul.


    Seeing that the experiment was useless, Zhou Wen turned Truth Listener into an earring and went to the underground sea.


    Before Zhou Wen descended to the sea, he summoned the goldfish to give it a try. The moment it landed in the seawater, it immediately vaporized immense amounts of water, producing white steam. It was like placing red-hot metal pieces into water.


    Then, Zhou Wen hurriedly checked the goldfish''s stats and saw his Bad Luck instantly soar to +100. It frightened him so much that he hurriedly unsummoned it.


    You''re clearly a fish, alright? How can you not like water? This is your fault, Zhou Wen lampooned inwardly before he rushed into the sea.


    After switching back to the Slaughterer Life Soul, Zhou Wen used his movement technique to circle around the nine black dragons. He was ultimately no match for it and was swallowed by a black dragon.


    Apart from the enhancement in my hearing range and the details I can make out, it doesn''t seem to be of any special use. Back in Dragon Gate Grotto, it was able to turn the lightning into Primordial Energy. Why isn''t it capable of doing so now? The black dragon spewed out a few rounds of dragon breath at me, but it failed to absorb the dragon breath and convert it to Primordial Energy when it landed on me. Could it be because the black dragon is too powerful that it isn''t able to convert it in time? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he headed to Ancient Sovereign City. He wanted to see if it could absorb the flames at the Fire God Platform.


    However, when the firebirds hit the blood-colored avatar, Truth Listener didn''t react at all and didn''t absorb the flames.


    Could it be that it can only absorb the power of lightning? However, dimensional creatures with lightning-elemental attributes seem a little difficult to find, Zhou Wen thought for a moment and immediately thought of Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan had the Thundergod Sword. He just needed to try it out with him.


    He gave Li Xuan a call and asked if he was free. Since Li Xuan was free, the two of them decided to meet at the training grounds.


    "Zhou Wen, look who this is?" When Li Xuan came, he had actually brought someone over.


    "Ah Lai, why are you here?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. This was because Ah Lai wasn''t a student at the college. Logically speaking, he shouldn''t have been able to enter the school.


    Li Xuan said smugly, "I got him an identification card and got him to be admitted into an ordinary university. Then, I used some connections to get him to come to our Sunset College as an exchange student."


    "Awesome!" Zhou Wen gave him a thumbs up. This wasn''t something an ordinary person could do.


    Ah Lai was still very quiet. He didn''t speak much. Back when Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had taken him out of the Holy Land, his memory had been damaged greatly, so his memories were limited.


    Later, Ah Lai was taken back by Li Xuan and was arranged that he would stay in Li Xuan''s villa. This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen him since their farewell.


    "Ah Lai is really strong. I got him to cultivate in a Primordial Energy Art and gave him some crystals. It didn''t take long for him to advance to the Legendary stage. He''s an absolute genius. Who knows, he might be able to advance to the Epic stage in a short while," Li Xuan said excitedly.


    In a certain sense, Ah Lai''s Primordial Energy Art and Primordial Energy Skills were taught by Li Xuan. It was enough to view Ah Lai as his student, so Li Xuan was very happy with Ah Lai''s achievements.


    "If you need money, go to Li Xuan. If you want to beat up monsters or something, you can look for me," Zhou Wen said to Ah Lai with a smile.


    Li Xuan rolled his eyes at Zhou Wen speechlessly. "By the way, why were you looking for me?"


    "I want you to help me with a test. Use your Thundergod Sword to smite me with lightning," Zhou Wen said.


    "What''s the point of me smiting you? Even the void lightning in Dragon Gate Grotto wasn''t able to harm you at all. I doubt my lightning will do anything." Li Xuan curled his lips and said, "Don''t tell me you are deliberately showing off?"


    "Just smite me. Why all the chatter?" Zhou Wen said.


    "On your guard." Li Xuan suddenly unsheathed his sword and cleaved using the Thundergod Sword, slashing out a powerful lightning beam at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of being hit. All he did was hold his Overlord Sword horizontally and block the lightning sword beam.


    Bam!


    The lightning exploded on his sword, spreading lightning across Zhou Wen that his hair stood on end. Thanks to the electric current, his body convulsed for quite some time before he stopped.


    Holy sh*t, it''s useless! Zhou Wen was depressed. Why did it work previously, but not now?


    "Old Zhou, what''s wrong with you? Why didn''t you use the method you used at Dragon Gate Grotto to block my lightning?" Li Xuan felt puzzled as he looked at Zhou Wen, unsure of what he was up to.


    "Again," Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth.


    "Old Zhou, when did you gain the hobby of being tortured?" Li Xuan said with a smile. However, he didn''t idle as he struck out with another lightning sword beam.


    Zhou Wen raised his sword to block the lightning sword beam, but it was the same as the previous strike. His entire body turned numb from the lightning, and his hair resembled afro curls.


    "Haha, Zhou Wen, do you really have sadomasochistic tendencies? Do you want me to strike you a few more times?" Li Xuan was in a good mood. He was eager to continue, as though he wanted to cleave out a few more times.


    "Smite your a*s." Zhou Wen was now officially certain that Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul didn''t have the ability to convert lightning.

 376 White Immortal

    "Old Zhou, what were you trying to do?" Li Xuan asked with a smile.


    "Nothing. I''m testing my Companion Beast abilities, but it''s just a disappointment," Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    "What Companion Beast is it? Can it only show its strength after suffering abuse?" Li Xuan was even more curious.


    However, Zhou Wen wore a depressed look as he waved his hand. "Forget it. I was wrong. Let''s just leave it be. I''ll head back now."


    "Don''t, I made an appointment with Feng Qiuyan and Gu Dian. I''ll be taking all of you to somewhere nice later," Li Xuan said.


    "Where to?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Xuan took out a black entry pass and said, "Do you see this? This is the entry pass to White Immortal Temple. It''s very difficult to obtain it. Only five people can enter. You, Ah Lai, Feng Qiuyan, Gu Dian, and I will go together."


    White Immortal Temple? Is there such a dimensional zone on campus? Zhou Wen thought carefully but couldn''t think of any dimensional zone of that name on campus.


    "It''s not in our college, but it''s in Luoyang City. It''s a great place. You will see later," Li Xuan said mysteriously.


    "The White Immortal Temple doesn''t consecrate Madame White Snake, right?" Zhou Wen had heard his grandfather tell him the story of Madame White Snake when he was young, so the name "White Immortal" reminded him of the story.


    "What is on that head of yours? Madame White Snake is suppressed in a place called Leifeng Pagoda. It''s far away in West Lake," Li Xuan explained even though Feng Qiuyan and Gu Dian haven''t arrived yet. "The so-called White Immortal is one of the five immortals in folklore¡ªFox, Yellow, White, Willow, and Gray. Fox refers to Fox Immortal. You should know that foxes can cultivate to become an immortal. It''s a very common story. Yellow Immortal refers to a weasel. It''s an extremely evil thing. Willow Immortal refers to a Snake Immortal. Gray Immortal is a mouse. As for White Immortal, it is actually a Porcupine Immortal. These five immortals are more well known in the north. We have fewer than Five Immortal Temples in our area, but in Luoyang, there''s a White Immortal Temple. It has turned into a dimensional zone and has been under military control. The entry pass is hard to come by. I was lucky to get one by chance and can bring all of you to take a look."


    "By chance?" Zhou Wen stared at Li Xuan with an odd expression.


    Li Xuan knew what Zhou Wen was thinking and shook his head. "Don''t worry. This has nothing to do with my brother. Besides, death is virtually impossible in White Immortal Temple. You''ll just suffer a little."


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen had zero ideas about White Immortal Temple; he had no idea what it looked like.


    "There is a special power inside White Immortal Temple. Once you enter, every step you take will be like a needle prick. The further you go, the more intense the needle-pricking pain is. Normal people won''t go too deep, and at most, they will have many bloody holes in their soles. But if one barges in forcefully, that would be fun. I heard that an Epic expert with great movement techniques flew into the White Immortal Temple''s main hall by relying on his flying ability. However, as soon as he entered the hall, he let out a tragic cry and fell to the ground. His entire body was covered in needle holes and he was severely mangled. His blood flooded the ground and he died immediately."


    "From the sound of it, this White Immortal Temple seems very dangerous?" Zhou Wen didn''t like to go to dangerous places.


    "It''s actually not a big problem as long as we don''t force our way in. Just walk as far as you can go. If you can''t withstand the pain, just turn around and come out. As long as you turn around and walk straight, you won''t be injured. If you have a high tolerance threshold, you can walk to the incense burner in front of the hall and light a stick there. You might obtain a Companion Egg from the White Immortal," Li Xuan said.


    "What''s the level of the White Immortal Companion Egg?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The level doesn''t matter. In fact, the White Immortal Companion Egg is only at the Legendary stage. However, it has an extraordinary Life Providence. If you have a White Immortal Companion Beast, it might one day save your life. You can tell how good it is just by how much the military locks down the place." Having said that, Li Xuan deliberately stopped. Clearly, he was waiting for Zhou Wen to ask him questions.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to entertain him. "What is the White Immortal''s Life Providence?"


    "The White Immortal''s Life Providence is impressive. It''s known as Immunity to All Illnesses. With a White Immortal Companion Beast, you can basically guarantee that you won''t fall sick. You should know how terrifying illnesses are. Although cultivators have strong bodies and typically don''t fall sick, their bodies are unable to withstand the harsh environments in dimensional zones. If they fall ill, the illness can be even more fatal than the average person. When that happens, White Immortal''s value will show itself.


    Li Xuan continued, "Besides, the White Immortal Companion Beast has the ability to seek out herbs. Although it doesn''t know how to fight, it can distinguish between the strange plants in a dimensional zone. It knows which ones are poisonous and which ones are medicinal herbs. If there''s nothing to eat, one can also rely on White Immortal''s help to eat some herbs for survival. It''s better than starving to death, and there''s no need to worry about accidentally consuming poisonous plants."


    "Now that you put it this way, this White Immortal sure is a good pet." Zhou Wen felt that Li Xuan was right. Immunity to All Illnesses was indeed a good Life Providence, especially when this Life Providence could aid its master.


    Even a cultivator couldn''t guarantee that they wouldn''t fall sick. In all kinds of harsh environments, if they fell sick, it would be very troublesome. With White Immortal, there was no need to worry about it.


    After a while, Feng Qiuyan and Gu Dian came one after another. The five of them successfully left the school together as Li Xuan had already prepared a permit for them to leave. Ah Lai drove the four of them to the White Immortal Temple.


    The White Immortal Temple was much smaller than Zhou Wen had imagined. It was like a small courtyard house of an ordinary family. However, its design was slightly different. There was an old wooden plaque hanging on the dilapidated wooden door. The words "White Immortal Temple" were indeed written on it, but the paint on it was almost gone.


    After Li Xuan handed over the pass, the five of them walked to the door of White Immortal Temple. The door was already open, and they could see the tiny courtyard inside with a single glance. There were all kinds of small houses, but they looked like they were only used to store miscellaneous things, and not meant to consecrate other immortals.


    A slightly bigger building that directly faced the door was the hall that worshiped White Immortal.


    In front of the big building was a stone incense burner. The incense inside was almost completely filled.


    Li Xuan gave each of them three sticks of incense before taking three sticks of incense himself. After taking off his shoes at the door, he walked in.


    "Why are you taking off your shoes?" Feng Qiuyan asked in puzzlement.


    Li Xuan said, "Later, my feet will be pricked with bloody holes. I''m not afraid of the blood, but dirtying my shoes and socks won''t be nice."


    Zhou Wen and company found this reasonable, and they mimicked Li Xuan by taking off their shoes and socks before walking barefooted into the yard.


    Li Xuan took point. The moment he stepped in, his expression changed immediately, but he gritted his teeth and walked in. However, when he raised his leg, he could clearly see a bloody mark beneath his feet which formed footprints.

 377 Bloody Footprints

    Zhou Wen hesitated when he saw Li Xuan losing so much blood. One step took enough blood for plenty of games.


    However, this yard was relatively small and it wouldn''t take too many steps to cover the entire distance. At most, it was about ten steps. For the sake of the White Immortal Companion Egg, Zhou Wen decided to give it a try.


    Gu Dian, Feng Qiuyan, and Ah Lai followed Li Xuan inside. The expressions on everyone''s faces changed the moment they walked in. It was easy to imagine how it felt to be stabbed in the soles by needles. Feng Qiuyan and company were considered people who had a high tolerance level, but they couldn''t help but grimace.


    Gu Dian had a small disadvantage. His feet were big and the blood footprints he left behind were much larger.


    Zhou Wen was the last to step in. He was already mentally prepared to suffer the pain of the needles pricks, but when he stepped down on the ground, he didn''t feel any pain at all. Instead, a warm current rose from the soles of his feet and directly entered his body. It was actually Primordial Energy that surged into his body.


    Truth Listener! Zhou Wen felt the power coming from the earring. It was the feeling he had when resisting the lightning in Dragon Gate Grotto. He felt pleasantly surprised.


    He attempted a few more steps and indeed, he didn''t have his sole pierced like Li Xuan and company. Nor did he feel any pain. Instead, plenty of Primordial Energy seeped into his body from the soles of his feet.


    Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul is really strange. Under what kind of situations can it be used? It was lightning previously, but now it''s the power of the White Immortal Temple. The two don''t seem to match at all. What similarities do they have? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The yard was tiny, so Li Xuan and company only took about ten steps before arriving in front of the incense burner.


    However, those ten steps weren''t a breeze. Every step they took meant one bloody footprint. The further they walked in, the more bloody footprints. The pain of 10,000 needles piercing through the bottom of their feet was something that could be endured once or twice. But to take about ten steps wasn''t something ordinary people could endure.


    Li Xuan was the first to walk to the incense burner. Then, he respectfully lit the three sticks of incense. After bowing three times, he inserted the incense sticks into the incense burner.


    After doing all of this, Li Xuan looked in anticipation.


    Zhou Wen looked in from behind and saw that there wasn''t a statue inside. On the single offering table was a wooden plaque with the words "Old Madam White" written on it.


    Crack!


    The three incense sticks that Li Xuan inserted in the incense burner suddenly tilted, snapping from the middle.


    "This trip was for nothing. You guys give it a try." Li Xuan gloomily retreated to the side.


    Being able to walk in to offer incense was one thing, but to be able to obtain the White Immortal Companion Egg was another matter. The immediate snapping of the three incense sticks indicated that the Old Madam White hadn''t accepted Li Xuan''s incense offerings, so she naturally wouldn''t give a White Immortal Companion Egg to him.


    Ah Lai walked forward and mimicked Li Xuan by bowing three times before inserting the incense sticks.


    All five of them were focused on the three incense sticks, wondering if they would snap like Li Xuan''s incense.


    The three incense sticks didn''t break, but they burned very quickly. What should have taken almost an hour to finish burning took only minutes.


    The smoke from the three incense sticks didn''t dissipate. Instead, it gathered above them. After the three incense sticks were completely burned, the smoke turned into a white egg and landed in the incense burner.


    "Ah Lai, your luck is in. Quick, take the Companion Egg," Li Xuan said.


    Ah Lai picked up the Companion Egg from the ash. It was the size of a fist, crystalline-white like porcelain.


    Following that, Feng Qiuyan went to offer incense as well, but his results were the same as Li Xuan''s. The incense stick snapped just as it was inserted. Clearly, he wasn''t able to obtain Old Madam White''s favor.


    Gu Dian walked over to light the incense, but this fellow didn''t bow. Instead, he lit the incense sticks and inserted them into the incense burner. This sight left Li Xuan and company shaking their heads, believing that it would be odd if such an attitude gave him a Companion Egg.


    However, what astonished them was that the three crooked incense sticks that Gu Dian had placed in the incense burner, didn''t snap. They burned as quickly as before and before long, they were done burning. The smoke also turned into a Companion Egg.


    "I wouldn''t have bowed if I had known." Li Xuan felt even more depressed when he saw that.


    "Old Zhou, it''s your turn," Li Xuan said as he looked at Zhou Wen, who was in the rear. However, he immediately felt that something was amiss.


    Behind the three of them were two rows of bloody footprints. However, where Zhou Wen was standing, there was nothing. Li Xuan took a careful look and realized that from the entrance to the incense burner, there were only six rows of footprints. Indeed, there were no signs of Zhou Wen''s.


    Zhou Wen was just about to offer some incense when he heard Li Xuan say, "Old Zhou, what''s wrong with you?"


    "Coach hasn''t offered the incense yet. What do you mean what''s wrong?" Feng Qiuyan asked.


    Li Xuan pointed at the bloody footprints on the ground and said, "I''m not talking about the incense. I''m referring to the bloody footprints. All of us left bloody footprints. Why doesn''t Zhou Wen have any?"


    Feng Qiuyan and company hadn''t noticed Zhou Wen who was in the rear. Now that Li Xuan had said so, they looked back, and indeed, they didn''t see Zhou Wen''s bloody footprints.


    Zhou Wen said, "I happen to have a Companion Beast that can restrain the power here, so I didn''t suffer the needle-pricking."


    "Seriously? Where did you get your Companion Beast from? I''ll go get one too." Li Xuan widened his eyes. He had never heard of any Companion Beast being able to ward off the needle-pricking in White Immortal Temple.


    "Small Buddha Temple, you can try it if you want," Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan''s eyes widened. "You actually went to Small Buddha Temple. I heard that many people died there. They died for no reason after entering. You didn''t die and even got a Companion Egg from there?"


    "I read a strategy on the Internet before. The strategy guide said that as long as you cultivate in the Heart Meditation Primordial Energy Skill, you can safely enter Small Buddha Temple. However, in the main hall, you have to first learn a Primordial Energy Art on a stone monument in the monastery. Otherwise, entering means death. I tried it, and the strategy was right." Zhou Wen made it clear. If Li Xuan and company had a chance to enter, it would be best if they could obtain the Companion Egg inside. After all, Zhou Wen wasn''t able to obtain it.


    Be it in-game or in reality, he had already been there. After receiving Truth Listener, the three-faced Buddha had no reaction to him at all.


    "You dare believe in a strategy on the Internet? Count yourself lucky that you aren''t dead. I think I''ll forget it." Li Xuan shook his head. If he were to train in other Primordial Energy Arts again, it was a question whether he could master it, but if it had a conflict with the Invincible Connate Divine Art, it wouldn''t be worth the loss.


    "Coach, you cultivate multiple Primordial Energy Arts on the side?" Feng Qiuyan asked in surprise.


    "Just for fun. I still mainly cultivate my Primordial Energy Art," Zhou Wen said.


    Feng Qiuyan praised, "It''s said that a Primordial Energy Art in a dimensional zone needs special physiques to master them. Coach, you were able to gain entry on a minor cultivation even though you didn''t cultivate it deeply. Your talent is too astonishing."


    "Let''s not talk about anything else. In terms of talent, no one is better than Old Zhou. He''s still this strong despite gaming all day, if he focused on cultivation, I don''t think anyone could even come close," Li Xuan said.

 378 Explosion

    "Indeed. Coach is the rarest talent I''ve ever seen." Feng Qiuyan nodded in agreement as he looked at Zhou Wen with admiration.


    Although Zhou Wen was a little thick-skinned, he couldn''t stand it any longer. They just didn''t know how hard he worked all day, playing games with everything he had. He bled and sweat in the true sense of the word; his efforts were no less than any other.


    It was a pity that others only thought of him as gaming. It wasn''t something he could explain either.


    All he could do was pretend not to have heard them. When he turned around and walked to the incense burner, he lit the three incense sticks. Holding them in his hand, he bent down and prepared to bow like Li Xuan.


    However, just as Zhou Wen bent down slightly, there was a loud thud. The wooden plaque on the offering table shook a little and fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback as Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan and company wore looks of astonishment, unsure what was going on.


    They didn''t sense any wind. Besides, this was a dimensional zone. Even if there was wind, it was impossible to blow off a wooden tablet. Why would the wooden tablet fall?


    Zhou Wen already roughly knew what was going on and was certain that it had something to do with his Life Providence. Back in the Earth Temple, the statue of an orthodox deity like Earth Lord hadn''t even dared receive his bow by automatically moving to the side. White Immortal, who wasn''t a true deity, naturally couldn''t have her tablet take his bow.


    Earth Lord gave me a treasure map after all. You should give me something, right? Zhou Wen didn''t bow and inserted the three incense sticks into the incense burner.


    And once this happened, there was a boom as the fallen wooden tablet exploded into wooden splinters.


    "What¡­ What''s happening¡­" Li Xuan and company looked at each other, unsure what was going on.


    "Old Zhou, you are freaking awesome. You blew up Old Madam White''s tablet!" Li Xuan patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder.


    Zhou Wen was too deep for tears. All he wanted was a Companion Egg. But this f**king tablet even exploded. From the looks of it, he had zero chance of getting the Companion Egg. Zhou Wen saw that the three incense sticks were slowly burning. They didn''t snap, but they didn''t burn at an accelerated speed.


    "Let''s not talk so much. Let''s quickly leave. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome when the guards outside realize that the tablet is gone. We might get into trouble," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "Yes, let''s go." Li Xuan firmly believed so.


    Zhou Wen looked at the pile of wood splinters, feeling depressed. However, he had no choice. All he could do was follow Li Xuan and company out of the White Immortal Temple.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t injured, so he put his shoes on straight away.


    Li Xuan and Gu Dian''s recovery abilities were excellent. By the time they walked out, the injuries on their feet had healed. It was as though they had never been injured.


    Feng Qiuyan and Ah Lai didn''t have such powerful recovery abilities, so they could only use their socks to wipe off the blood on their soles.


    The five of them hurried out of the White Immortal Temple. The soldiers guarding the temple did not see what had happened inside, nor did they stop them.


    If I can''t offer incense, wouldn''t I be missing the benefits I can get from many dimensional zones? Zhou Wen felt somewhat depressed when he didn''t see the tiny palm symbol and couldn''t download the temple.


    His Life Soul was good, but it didn''t distinguish. It even exploded tablets, so how was he to obtain any benefits?


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall what had happened during the day. He couldn''t help but think. During the Buddha Eye-Opening, Fang Ruoxi jumped into the river and triggered a lightning that resembled heavenly punishment. It was reduced to Primordial Energy by Truth Listener''s power. After walking into the White Immortal Temple today, the needle-pricking power was resolved by Truth Listener''s powers. It appears they aren''t connected, but on second thought, they seem to be of the same origin. It''s as though these two powers are punishment-types. Could it be that the effects of the Evil Nullification Life Soul resist punishment-type powers?


    It doesn''t seem right. Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss again, but an idea suddenly flashed in his mind as he thought of the tunnels protected by Aoyin.


    There were two tunnels that appeared to be similar in situation to White Immortal Temple. Zhou Wen decided to try out to see if Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul was useful there.


    He directly activated the Zhuolu instance dungeon, controlled the blood-colored avatar, and stormed all the way to the ruins'' tunnels before arriving in front of the Aoyin stone statue.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t take any poison bats as sacrifice. He summoned Truth Listener to transform into an earring before Zhou Wen chose the right tunnel.


    Without a sacrifice, strange text would appear in the tunnel. Those words would turn into living beings that attacked anyone inside the tunnel. Even the armor formed by the Mutated Stone Chi could not withstand their sharp teeth.


    If he attacked those text monsters, he would be injured instead.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t see the text when he walked in. Instead, a strange strength surging around him, turned into Primordial Energy that surged into his body. It filled his Primordial Energy with the excess gushing out from all his pores.


    It really works. Zhou Wen was delighted. Truth Listener''s Life Soul seemed to be more useful than he had imagined. It even managed to convert the strange powers of the Aoyin tunnel into Primordial Energy.


    What kind of power does Evil Nullification Life Soul possess? Zhou Wen felt that the power of the Evil Nullification Life Soul seemed to have something to do with some strange powers, but he was temporarily unable to precisely define it.


    Without pushing open the door to enter the temple, Zhou Wen ran to the left passageway. Despite no sacrificial items, the left passageway never mutated. At the same time, large amounts of Primordial Energy were converted into Zhou Wen''s body through the Truth Listener earring.


    This delighted Zhou Wen. Although he could use sacrifices to pass through the passageway, the offerings had a time limit. In the future, if he really needed to enter the temple to look for the former principal, it would have been a huge problem when he came out if he had stayed inside for too long.


    Now that he had Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul, he didn''t need to worry about these problems. He could freely enter and exit the Aoyin tunnels and replenish his Primordial Energy. This ensured his safety, making Zhou Wen even more confident of entering the temple to seek out the former principal.


    Since the power of the Aoyin tunnel is restrained by Truth Listener, will the Aoyin stone statue be restrained as well? Zhou Wen''s mind became active.


    In the past, he didn''t have the ability to target the Aoyin stone statue, but things were different now.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen came in front of the Aoyin stone statue again and sized it up.


    The Aoyin stone statue was like a traveler in a cloak. It had no eyes, or ears, and a slightly open mouth as if it could devour anyone at any moment.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had tried attacking the Aoyin stone statue but ended up being swallowed by it. No attack worked.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to summon his Overlord Sword. After gesturing at the Aoyin stone statue a few times, he slashed out with the Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The blood-colored wheel of light slashed at the head of the sculpture.

 379 Slaying Aoyin

    The Aoyin stone statue''s mouth suddenly split open like a devil''s mouth, reaching almost to its earlobes. It was pitch-black inside and, like a black hole, it swallowed the Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The Demonic Astral Wheel with the Ever-Victorious trait seemed to be sucked into a bottomless abyss. Not a single ripple stirred.


    Zhou Wen constantly produced sword beams one after another with Overlord Sword, using all his strength with every strike. With the augmentation of Slaughterer, he slashed out Demonic Astral Wheel at the stone statue like it cost nothing.


    The Aoyin stone statue remained standing there without any signs of its body changing or moving. However, it strangely entered some form of translation motion. It kept opening its mouth and swallowing the sword beams.


    In the next second, the Aoyin stone statue arrived in front of the blood-colored avatar. The stone statue looked as though it had never moved. However, its large mouth was on the brink of devouring the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen was delighted by this. This was because he had previously seen the stone statue''s mouth occupy the entire phone screen and devour the blood-colored avatar, but he had no means of dodging or counterattacking.


    However, this time, he actually saw the Aoyin stone statue move, and there was no sign of the sculpture occupying the entire screen of the phone. In other words, he could now fight the Aoyin stone statue. Just this point alone deserved his joy.


    Truth Listener''s earring emitted heat the entire time, transforming a mysterious force into Primordial Energy that injected into Zhou Wen''s body.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was because Truth Listener had blocked a certain power from the Aoyin stone statue. Otherwise, the blood-colored avatar would have been swallowed by the stone statue like before.


    He instantly activated Ghost Steps, dodging the mouth of the Aoyin stone statue. At the same time, his Overlord Sword brought with it an intense sword flash that cleaved at the waist of the Aoyin stone statue.


    However, the Aoyin stone statue''s speed was even faster than Zhou Wen when he used Ghost Steps. The stone statue moved with every move the Overlord Sword made. The sword beams produced were always three inches from the stone statue, unable to catch up to it at all.


    Aoyin moved to Zhou Wen''s side and bit down again, attempting to swallow him whole.


    Zhou Wen constantly made use of Ghost Steps to move while slashing out sword beams. However, the Aoyin stone statue kept moving. Zhou Wen just couldn''t hit it; instead, the blood-colored avatar nearly got bitten by the Aoyin stone sculpture several times.


    However, without the mysterious force plaguing him, Zhou Wen had the ability to fight. He didn''t find the Aoyin stone statue that terrifying.


    Having fast speeds and powerful strength, as well as the ability to devour anything meant that Zhou Wen just needed time to figure out a solution to the problem. He was afraid of powers that he could succumb to without seeing or figuring out what they were.


    Although he was at a disadvantage, Zhou Wen gradually figured out the combat style of the Aoyin stone statue.


    It once again bit at Zhou Wen, but this time, Zhou Wen didn''t dodge with Ghost Steps. A strange ring suddenly appeared on his finger. The eyes of the ghostly face on the ring flashed as Zhou Wen''s body vanished. When he appeared again, he was by the side of the Aoyin stone statue.


    "Die!" Overlord Sword slashed at the neck of the Aoyin stone sculpture that had lowered its head for the bite.


    Crack!


    The Overlord Sword with Ever-Victorious sliced through the stone statue with an intense Fangwheel Sword Flash, causing the stone powder and sparks to fly. The stone statue''s head was chopped off.


    Once he had beheaded the stone statue, its body shattered. At the same time, a notification popped up on the phone: ''Killed Epic creature, Aoyin Stone Statue. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    The Aoyin Stone Statue is only at the Epic stage? That''s right. After all, it''s only a stone statue. It isn''t Aoyin itself. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk over and pick up a dimensional crystal from the rubble.


    It was a gray crystal with an image of Aoyin inside. It was actually a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what skills Aoyin had, and he couldn''t be bothered to think further. He directly allowed the blood-colored avatar to absorb the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    Soon, a strange energy emitted from the phone and flowed into Zhou Wen''s body like a bolt of lightning. It surged through his meridians and formed a new Primordial Energy circulation in his body. At the same time, some vague information entered his brain.


    A notification popped up on his phone: ''Absorbed Aoyin Stone Statue Crystal. Attained Primordial Energy Skill: Tongue Blade (Rank 9).''


    Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd. He had heard of Primordial Energy Skills like hand blades or arm blades, but this was the first time he had heard of tongue blades.


    Using one''s tongue as a weapon¡­ That''s really¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. However, he was overjoyed when he carefully studied what it did.


    Tongue Blades were essentially the same as Primordial Energy Skills such as hand blades and arm blades. They used part of his body as a weapon, but the tongue was just too weak. Without bones in them, using tongues as weapons was even harder.


    Aoyin Tongue Blade wasn''t really about using a tongue to lick the enemy. Instead, one released Primordial Energy from their tongue to attack the enemy. It was similar to using a finger to shoot out a sword beam. However, using a tongue to emit a sword beam was clearly more unexpected.


    I never expected the Aoyin Stone Statue to have this ability. Why didn''t I see it being used just now? Zhou Wen imagined fighting an enemy in the future in an intense battle when he would open his mouth and spit at the other party. However, it wasn''t saliva, but a sword beam. What would the other party''s expression be?


    Tongue Blade is good. This skill is great. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be happy when he thought of it.


    After killing the Aoyin Stone Statue gatekeeper, and obtaining a rather practical Primordial Energy Skill. Zhou Wen wished to grind it a few more times, but even if he was willing to bleed, he was unable to kill the Aoyin Stone Statue without Lost Country''s ability to teleport.


    Even if the blood-colored avatar were to die and be reborn, the power of the Life Soul wouldn''t refresh. It was still in sync with Zhou Wen''s true body.


    It''s a pity that the three Life Souls have to match the corresponding Primordial Energy Art and Life Providence. I''m unable to use them together. If only I could use them together, my combat strength would rise to a whole new level, Zhou Wen thought with no regrets.


    After leaving the Zhuolu battlefield, Zhou Wen didn''t grind the Bat Cave again. The poisonous bats mainly produced Speed Crystals. Zhou Wen''s current Speed Crystal was now at 40 points while the other three stats were slightly above 30. Therefore, he planned on changing his grinding spot.


    He didn''t have any hopes of reaching 41. Before heading to Zhuolu, he had to at least raise his four basic stats to 40.


    Apart from the Zhuolu battlefield, Dragon Gate Grotto and Pool City were the only dungeons that had relatively more Epic creatures. Dragon Gate Grotto''s Epic creatures were quite scattered, so it wasn''t convenient grinding the map. Therefore, Zhou Wen planned on heading to the underground Pool City.


    Zhou Wen had been grinding the Poison Wyrm Pool for a very long time, but he was still lacking one of the Poison Dragon Fingers to gather all five. He didn''t know what effects there would be if he gathered them all. Therefore, he could use this opportunity to grind them again.


    Other than the Poison Wyrm Pool, there were also many Epic creatures like the Sword Fang Fish and Electric Eel in Pool City. There was also the most common Jade Toad.

 380 A Way to Advance the Life Soul

    Although there were quite a number of Epic creatures like Jade Toad, and it could drop many good items, there were not many tutors in the college who were willing to kill one.


    The Jade Toad was poisonous. The blood and bodily fluids that spewed out were deadly poisonous if one managed to lacerate it. Just touching a little bit of it was enough to kill someone.


    Before its death, the Jade Toad would even self-destruct. Within a radius of tens of meters, the poison would spray everywhere. Touching any bit of it could result in death.


    If there wasn''t a special need, who would risk their lives to kill such a dimensional creature? Humans were still humans after all. Even if they had the ability to kill Jade Toads, who could guarantee that they wouldn''t be distracted for a moment? If they were stained with the poison, their outcome would be dire.


    Naturally, Zhou Wen didn''t have any qualms about that. His Poison stat was close to 20, so he didn''t take to heart the typical poison. Furthermore, he wasn''t afraid of death in-game.


    Jade Toads and Poison Bats were poisonous creatures, but the crystals they dropped were mainly Strength-type. Occasionally, some high-level Primordial Energy Crystals would drop, making them rather good options.


    Zhou Wen came to the underground Pool City and arrived at a region with shallow water. Indeed, there was a huge green toad sprawled on the roof.


    Although this fellow could stay in water, it didn''t usually do so.


    Without a word, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to pull out the Overlord Sword and slashed out with a sword beam from afar.


    The sword beam was as fast as lightning. The Jade Toad''s speed was too slow and it was unable to dodge in time. All it could do was spit out venom to block the sword beam, but the sword beam sliced through the venom, slicing through its body.


    Bam!


    The Jade Toad exploded, and its poisonous green blood splattered everywhere, dyeing the nearby waters a dark green color.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw a dimensional crystal drop¡ªStrength +36. He hurriedly sent the blood-colored avatar flying over to pick it up.


    There was also poisoned blood on the dimensional crystal. When the blood-colored avatar picked it up, it had dyed its hands with a little green poison. However, the poison didn''t spread. After Zhou Wen washed away the poison on the dimensional crystal, the poison on the blood-colored avatar''s finger also slowly subsided.


    The poison of this Jade Toad is even more powerful than the poison from the Poison Bat. It should also drop Poison Crystals, right? Zhou Wen was filled with anticipation when he saw this. Perhaps, he could obtain higher-valued Poison Crystals here.


    Zhou Wen spent most of his time grinding Jade Toads. Before he dripped his blood to respawn the underground Pool City, he would kill the baby tiger and grind Tiger Cage Pass.


    The Tiger Cage Demonized General was awesome. Furthermore, Zhou Wen also wanted to use the warlock at Tiger Cage Pass to hone his combat skills. The warlock was indeed powerful, making it difficult to kill him. However, using him to train his combat skills was better than using anyone else.


    Typical dimensional creatures didn''t have high intelligence, making them mostly rely on their natural talents when it came to combat technique. It was very rare to have enemies like the Tiger Cage Pass warlock.


    He had no clue about the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra or the Dao Sutra Life Soul, nor did he find a way to advance the Slaughterer Life Soul. Instead, he attempted raising the Ancient Sovereign Sutra Life Soul.


    The way to level up the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was through combat. As long as he kept fighting, the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul would gradually grow. However, ordinary battles wouldn''t have much effect on it; it had to be a high-intensity battle before it could evolve.


    Zhou Wen realized that the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul underwent some strange changes while in battle with the Tiger Cage Pass warlock. Although he hadn''t advanced it to an Evolved Body, it was indeed growing.


    In battles between dimensional creatures, most of them rely on their talent and instincts. There aren''t many truly skilled dimensional creatures. Speaking of techniques, humans are better at it¡­ Zhou Wen thought for a moment. If he wanted the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul to evolve, he would have to fight other humans.


    In school, the only opponent Zhou Wen could think of was Feng Qiuyan. Although there were other schoolmates who had talent on a par with Feng Qiuyan, they hadn''t advanced to the Epic stage yet and were unable to reach the level the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul required in battle.


    Although Feng Qiuyan is powerful, his saber techniques are too singular. His battle style is just speed. This doesn''t seem to match the Ancient Sovereign Sutra''s intent. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that he probably wouldn''t be able to spar with his schoolmates. However, other than students, there were many tutors in school who were genuine Epic experts.


    However, tutors usually wouldn''t spar with students. Even his own class''s tutor might not spar with him, let alone those tutors who were only in charge of teaching.


    After Zhou Wen studied all the tutors in the college, he felt that one tutor would probably be willing to be his opponent.


    This tutor was Wei Feng, a tutor who was responsible for imparting boxing techniques in the college. He was adept at all kinds of powerful boxing techniques. Skills such as Golden Palm and Fiend Suppression Fist were a piece of cake for Wei Feng. It was said that the fist-type Primordial Energy Skill he was most skilled at was called "Explosive Fist." The strength of a single punch was like a bomb that could blast a house into ruins. It was truly the best choice for house demolitions.


    Zhou Wen heard that Wei Feng was an old military officer who could have enjoyed life after retirement. However, he wanted to relieve his excess zeal, so he accepted the college''s offer to teach at Sunset College.


    Although Wei Feng was a tutor now, his temper didn''t change much when compared to his time in the military. He wore his heart on his sleeve and had a fiery temper. He would take action as a demonstration if there was any disagreement.


    Of course, it was only limited to a demonstration. He wouldn''t really attack students, nor would he let students be injured.


    Zhou Wen had also heard that Wei Feng was used to fighting in the military. After coming to school, with no one to fight him, he wasn''t used to it and often got other tutors to spar with him. Many tutors were already scared of him.


    Some of them really weren''t his match, while others were irritated by his pestering. As long as he couldn''t beat them, Wei Feng would continue to pester them until he defeated them. If he was in a good mood, he would want several more rounds of battles.


    Most people wouldn''t be able to tolerate this. Therefore, most of the tutors in the college changed expressions and hid far away when they saw him.


    Others couldn''t stand him, but Zhou Wen happened to be looking for such a trait. Therefore, after asking around about Wei Feng, he found some time to attend his class.


    Zhou Wen was already a famous person in school. Although he kept a low profile as he entered the lecture hall and chose an inconspicuous spot to sit down, he was still recognized by other students.


    "Why is Zhou Wen attending Tutor Wei''s class?" Many students whispered to each other when they saw him.

 381 Untitled

    Zhou Wen had recently become more accustomed to being gossiped about or discussed in private, especially after Wang Mingyuan''s incident. This situation was already very common. As long as he was recognized while he was on campus, people would point fingers at him.


    Of course, not all of them were malicious. Most of them were just discussing him.


    After Wei Feng arrived, the lively lecture hall became quiet. It seemed that the students were still rather afraid of Wei Feng.


    Zhou Wen secretly sized him up. Although he wasn''t too tall, he was very imposing. He had quite a burly build and he carried a sense of valor, one that Zhou Wen had only seen from soldiers before. Although the typical tutor was strong, they didn''t have such traits.


    "Today, let''s talk about how to use the Yin force in a fist technique." Wei Feng really liked to demonstrate in person while lecturing.


    Zhou Wen saw Wei Feng take out a transparent scarf and hang it on a rope. Then, he punched at the silk cloth and produced a hole.


    "Who wants to give it a try?" Wei Feng glanced at the students.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined the typical student wouldn''t be willing to step forward when a tutor asked for volunteers. He had attended classes from other tutors in the past, and only a few students who were more eager to learn were willing to cooperate.


    However, the students who were listening in class all eagerly raised their hands to sign up. Every one of them raised their hands high as though afraid that Wei Feng wouldn''t choose them.


    What''s going on? Is Wei Feng that popular? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    "That student who didn''t raise his hand, come up." Wei Feng swept his gaze and finally looked over at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked left and right and realized that he was the only one in the entire lecture hall who hadn''t raised his hand. As for the other students, they looked at him with a faint smile.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood why the other students eagerly raised their hands. It was obvious that they already knew Wei Feng''s character. They knew that the more they didn''t wish to volunteer, the easier it would be for Wei Feng to select them. This was why they were all so enthusiastic.


    "Stop looking around. You are the one I''m talking about," Wei Feng said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to stand up and walk up the podium.


    He had also attended a few lectures by other tutors. It was truly his first time seeing a temper like Wei Feng''s.


    To have so many students attend his class despite his way of selecting volunteers, this also meant that Wei Feng''s lectures weren''t too bad. Otherwise, no student would have attended his class. After all, Wei Feng was not the only tutor in the college who taught boxing.


    "I haven''t seen you before. Is it your first time attending my class? What''s your name?" Wei Feng asked Zhou Wen as he tied a new scarf on the rope.


    "Zhou Wen," Zhou Wen answered.


    Wei Feng didn''t seem acquainted with Zhou Wen''s name. He only nodded slightly and said to Zhou Wen, "Alright, you can throw out the punch. With the strength of a fist, I can consider giving you ten credits if you can penetrate the silk cloth."


    Most credits were distributed by a student''s tutor. A pure lecturer like Wei Feng didn''t have many credits to give, but it wasn''t that he didn''t have any. He could occasionally use them to reward students.


    "Thank you then, Tutor." Zhou Wen''s mood immediately lightened up when he heard that there were credits to be earned.


    "It''s good to be confident," said Wei Feng with a smile. Clearly, he had no idea about Zhou Wen; otherwise, he wouldn''t have suggested giving him credits.


    Apart from cultivation, Wei Feng usually read about the League news and the battle reports at the front lines. He wasn''t interested in the gossip about students and teachers, so he didn''t know anything about Zhou Wen. He did know about Wang Mingyuan''s matter, but he didn''t delve deep into it.


    In Wei Feng''s opinion, even for top Legendary students who hadn''t practiced Yin force, it was impossible for them to penetrate a scarf with their bare hands.


    The silk scarf was tough and light, and the force from a strike on it didn''t seem to hold. Without a good Yin force cultivation, no matter how strong one was, they wouldn''t be able to penetrate it. It would only cause the silk scarf to flutter.


    Zhou Wen walked to the scarf and raised his right hand, flexing his wrist and doing some wrist movements.


    In the past, when he practiced Inch Punch, he had also done similar training. However, he had used paper at that time which was easier to penetrate. It was more difficult when faced with a thin, light, and tough scarf like this.


    Of course, the present Zhou Wen wasn''t the same as before. After moving his wrists, he raised his fist to smash at the scarf tied to a rope from above.


    "Student, your posture isn''t right. Please turn your body slightly to the side and don''t deliver a straight punch when you are throwing it out. You have to move your sides¡­" Wei Feng corrected Zhou Wen''s actions.


    Seeing how serious Wei Feng was, Zhou Wen naturally couldn''t reject him. Working with him, he posed a standard stance.


    This stance did help with the delivery of strength, but Zhou Wen had already exceeded that realm. Even if he were to lie on the ground, he could still deliver a Yin force that was powerful enough.


    "Alright, you can try throwing a punch now. Remember to use the strength of your wrist and arm. Relax your arms. Don''t cramp up your muscles when you are throwing punches¡­" Wei Feng instructed from the side.


    Zhou Wen followed his instructions and threw a punch out. The punch hit the light, thin silk scarf that didn''t seem capable of holding out against any force. However, the scarf tore and a hole appeared.


    Wei Feng was stunned. He wondered inwardly, Could it be that I taught too well today that this kid can learn it in one try? That''s not right. Even if I taught him well and he completely comprehends it, he shouldn''t be able to penetrate the silk scarf without a year''s worth of practice.


    "Student, have you practiced Yin force in the past?" Wei Feng asked as he sized up Zhou Wen.


    "I practiced Inch force when I was in high school," Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    "No wonder." Wei Feng was enlightened. He smiled and said, "Not bad. Give me your student number. I won''t give you a single point less than the ten academic credits I promised you."


    "Tutor, can I request for these ten credits to be changed for something else?" Zhou Wen took the opportunity to ask.


    Wei Feng looked at Zhou Wen with interest and said, "Tell me, what request do you have?"


    "I would like you to be my sparring partner and engage in actual combat when you are free. Is that okay?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Sure, of course. I love students like you who are self-motivated the most. When I finish my lesson, you can train for as long as you want." Wei Feng narrowed his eyes, and the wrinkles on his face began to show.


    He was really very happy that a student wanted to spar with him in real combat. This was Wei Feng''s favorite pastime.


    I hope you can hold on for a little longer. Don''t try to run too soon, Wei Feng thought to himself. He wasn''t afraid of Zhou Wen''s enthusiasm for learning would rise but he was afraid that Zhou Wen would cower back quickly.

 382 Fist of Steel

    After Wei Feng finished his lesson, he led Zhou Wen to the training grounds. However, he took him to one meant especially for tutors, not students.


    Students couldn''t usually come here. Only tutors could train here.


    Wei Feng used a single training room, changed into combat attire before asking Zhou Wen, "How do you want to train?"


    "Sparring with just boxing," Zhou Wen said.


    "It''s possible to spar, but you''re only at the Legendary stage. All I can do is suppress my strength¡­" Before Wei Feng could finish his sentence, he saw a humanoid figure appear on Zhou Wen''s body. Then, the humanoid figure fused into Zhou Wen''s body, causing his entire body to emit a glow.


    "You have advanced to the Epic stage by condensing a Life Soul?" Wei Feng looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. Back when he was Zhou Wen''s age, he was only at the Mortal stage, yet Zhou Wen had already condensed a Life Soul. That was just too fast.


    Although Wei Feng had seen quite a number of geniuses in his career as a tutor in the past few years, this was the first time he had seen someone who had advanced to the Epic stage at Zhou Wen''s age.


    "Yes, so Tutor, you have to use all your strength. There''s no need to show any mercy," Zhou Wen said.


    "Don''t worry, I won''t show any mercy." Wei Feng laughed as he thought to himself. To be able to advance to the Epic stage at such a young age, you can be said to be an unparalleled genius. However, you are still too young, so your level doesn''t represent your true combat power. Let me teach you a good lesson and let you know how important combat experience is in battle.


    Wei Feng looked at Zhou Wen''s clothes and asked, "Do you have an armor-type Companion Beast?"


    "Yes."


    "Put it on. It''s inevitable that I won''t be able to hold back during actual combat. It won''t be nice if you get hurt," said Wei Feng.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen felt that there was nothing wrong with that. He summoned the Mutated Stone Chi armor and put it on to ensure his safety.


    "Then, let''s begin now." Wei Feng wasn''t like the other tutors. Without waiting for Zhou Wen to strike first, he directly threw a punch, but he didn''t use his Life Soul.


    Wei Feng''s punches were fast and powerful, but it was just boxing without the use of any Primordial Energy Skills. With the augmentation of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, Zhou Wen used his Seven Distribution Palm.


    This seven-palm technique was distilled by Wang Mingyuan from seven different palm techniques. Each move had his own unique feature. With seven different concepts, Zhou Wen had already become very adept at it and could well deliver the seven moves'' traits. However, when it came to understanding the concept, he still fell a little short.


    It wasn''t that Zhou Wen wasn''t perceptive enough and wasn''t able to grasp the concept of the Seven Distribution Palm. It was just that he usually didn''t have the chance to use palm techniques.


    With Overlord Sword and Bamboo Blade as weapons, he naturally wouldn''t go empty-handed to kill monsters with palm skills. He rarely had the chance to use palm skills against dimensional creatures.


    Wei Feng wanted to use his experience and boxing techniques to teach Zhou Wen in the beginning, but after fighting for a while, he realized that his boxing techniques didn''t have the upper hand against Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen''s palm techniques seemed to undergo a wide variety of changes, allowing him to deal with all kinds of situations. What was even more frightening was that this fellow didn''t look like a student at all. He resembled a wily old fox who had fought and survived countless battles on the battlefield. He had rich combat experience and was in no way inferior to him at all.


    Wei Feng fought Zhou Wen for more than ten minutes without finding any flaws. Not only was Zhou Wen very experienced in combat, but he was also extremely stable. There weren''t any signs of impetuousness in his palm skills. Wei Feng had attempted to set up a trap several times to lure Zhou Wen into taking the risk to attack him, but Zhou Wen was completely unfazed.


    Is this fellow really sixteen? Wei Feng found it unbelievable. Firstly, Zhou Wen had rich combat experience, and secondly, with such a calm personality, it was not something a sixteen-year-old youth should have.


    He had once "educated" other talented youths. Even though those talented youths who appeared calm and dignified on the surface would become hot-blooded in actual combat. This allowed him to seize the opportunity to teach them a good lesson.


    However, Zhou Wen was completely different. He was calm like a mountain that was extremely stable. No matter how much Wei Feng tried to entice him, he remained unmoved.


    Unbeknown to Wei Feng was that although Zhou Wen was young, he had rich combat experience in-game. One reason why he was so calm and composed was partly that his character was straightforward. However, the main reason was that he had experienced too many deaths in-game and had experienced all sorts of trials of death. It made him think more than the typical youth and gradually developed the habit of being cautious.


    Seeing Zhou Wen''s appearance, Wei Feng knew that if he continued fighting him like this, there would probably be no outcome even if the apocalypse dawned.


    I really can''t underestimate these young adults. Since he has already used his Life Soul, there''s no need for me to be too polite. After some thought, Wei Feng summoned his Life Soul.


    His Life Soul was a boxing glove that appeared on his right hand. It looked like it was made of steel, one that wrapped his entire right fist and the forearm. It looked like a mechanical arm.


    "You have to be careful. My Life Soul is called the Fist of Steel. Although it''s not very eye-catching, it has potent powers," Wei Feng said as he threw his right hand which was wrapped in the Fist of Steel at Zhou Wen.


    Wei Feng''s boxing style seemed to be open, but hidden in it were fine details. In addition to Wei Feng''s rich combat experience, Zhou Wen had to go out of his way to barely fend off his attack. He was temporarily unable to find a chance to counterattack.


    Now that Wei Feng had used a Life Soul, Zhou Wen wasn''t astonished. Instead, he was delighted. This was because the pressure Wei Feng had given him wasn''t enough. Now that he had used the Life Soul, it meant that he was going all out.


    Zhou Wen originally wondered what abilities Wei Feng''s Fist of Steel Life Soul had, but with Wei Feng''s punch coming at him, he saw a hole spewing out steam around the Fist of Steel. This boosted Wei Feng''s punch to produce unparalleled speed that instantly doubled.


    As he was sparring, Zhou Wen didn''t use his movement technique to dodge and forcefully received Wei Feng''s punch with his palm.


    Bam!


    As the fist and palm clashed, Zhou Wen felt a tremendous force that numbed his arm. His body involuntarily rose up and flew backward.


    Zhou Wen spun in midair for a few moments before he wore out the immense force. When he landed on the ground, his arm was still numb as his palm trembled slightly.


    "I told you to be careful. The Fist of Still greatly boosts my Speed and Strength. I only used 30% of my strength just now," Wei Feng said smugly.


    "Again." Zhou Wen took a step forward and attacked again. He could sense the stirring of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, and his heart was beating rapidly.

 383 Eruption

    Wei Feng''s boxing technique was stronger than Zhou Wen''s to begin with. Together with the augmentation of the Fist of Steel, Zhou Wen was instantly placed at an absolute disadvantage.


    Wei Feng didn''t keep using Fist of Steel; instead, he used it once in a while, accelerating the speed of his punches suddenly. This added some level of unexpected elements in the battle. It made his boxing techniques more varied and harder to deal with.


    Zhou Wen had already been forced to block Wei Feng''s fist many times. Each time, he felt like he was struck by a sledgehammer. His arms felt numb from the impact.


    Thankfully, he was wearing the Mutated Stone Chi armor. Otherwise, the bones in his arm might have fractured from the impact.


    Although he had armor protecting him, Zhou Wen still felt his arms burn painfully amidst the numbness.


    When Wei Feng discovered that Zhou Wen''s armor was extremely tough, to the point of being able to withstand his punches, he no longer had any qualms and freely released his might.


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen immediately lost all his ability to counterattack. He was like a sandbag and was completely suppressed by Wei Feng''s punches. All he could do was raise his arm to block Wei Feng''s barrage of attacks.


    It had been a long time since Wei Feng had felt this satisfaction. Back when he was on the battlefield, he could battle without any worries, fully unleashing his strength on the dimensional creatures.


    However, after joining the school, although he could kill dimensional creatures, it still felt somewhat different.


    The biggest difference was that he had detailed information about the dimensional creatures on campus. He only needed to attack the dimensional creatures'' weaknesses to easily clinch victory.


    However, when he was in the military, they were mostly fighting unknown dimensional creatures. The thrill of life and death and the horror and excitement when challenging the unknown was something that the college couldn''t compare with.


    In a battle with tutors, he was restrained in every way. He was unable to go all out.


    Wei Feng''s battle with Zhou Wen made it seem as though he had returned to his time in the military. Zhou Wen was like an unknown dimensional creature. Wei Feng wanted to find his weakness and completely crush him. At that moment, Wei Feng was like a ferocious beast that kept unleashing terrifying attacks.


    From the beginning until now, although Zhou Wen had been completely suppressed, he wasn''t in a fluster at all with his palm skills. He remained shockingly stable. Despite being suppressed, he blocked all of Wei Feng''s attacks, making Wei Feng even more eager to break through Zhou Wen''s defense.


    Wei Feng became more and more serious. He almost forgot that this was just a sparring match. It was as if he had completely immersed himself in it, pushing his ability to the limit.


    Bang! Bang!


    Zhou Wen''s arms and palms suffered countless punches. Wei Feng''s fists rained down like a storm, constantly bombarding him. Especially the right hand that was wearing a Fist of Steel¡ªevery time it struck Zhou Wen''s arm, an explosive force could be felt through the stone armor. It nearly fractured his arm.


    Even the stone armor formed by the Mutated Stone Chi began to crack under the continuous attacks. If this continued, it would probably be smashed to pieces.


    Under such pressure, Zhou Wen still didn''t use his movement techniques. He was still using his palm skills to fend against Wei Feng. He could vaguely sense that the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was stirring. His heart was attached to the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul and was beating rapidly. It was becoming more and more erratic, and its speed became faster and faster like a race car engine that was starting.


    Zhou Wen was filled with energy as his desire for battle intensified. Under Wei Feng''s powerful suppression, he didn''t feel fear. Instead, he became more and more excited. The excitement was mostly from the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul.


    Under the intense beating of his heart, Zhou Wen felt as though all his blood vessels had turned into a highway. His blood was flowing at an extremely fast speed as it rubbed against the blood walls, causing the temperature to rise higher and higher, as though it was about to ignite.


    Badump! Badump! Badump!


    Under the effects of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, his heart beat more and more violently. It made Zhou Wen feel as though his body had become a volcano with a force about to erupt at any time.


    Wei Feng became more and more excited. Zhou Wen''s stability and the sturdiness of the Mutated Stone Chi armor made him completely let loose himself. Apart from not using any Primordial Energy Skills, he had pushed his abilities to the limit.


    I refuse to believe that I can''t crack your defense. It was as though Wei Feng had returned to his time in a dimensional zone. His punches were becoming more and more precise, ferocious, and lethal just like when he fought powerful dimensional creatures.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen remained calm, but there seemed to be a ball of flames burning in his eyes. He constantly flailed his arms as he kept retreating. Under Wei Feng''s crazy attack, cracks had appeared on the arm of the Mutated Stone Chi armor.


    If Zhou Wen hadn''t deliberately used different spots to block Wei Feng''s Fist of Steel, allowing him to repeatedly strike, the same spot would have long shattered the Mutated Stone Chi''s bracer.


    Although Zhou Wen had already controlled the location of the blocks, there were already cracks everywhere on his bracer. If he continued suffering the attacks, the bracers on both arms would probably be shattered completely.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t dispel the Mutated Stone Chi armor and chose to continue fighting. He could sense that the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was reaching a critical point. If he retreated, all his previous efforts would have been for naught.


    Crack! Crack!


    Under Wei Feng''s attacks, a fine cracking sound appeared on his bracer. More and more of such cracking sounds were heard. There were visible cracks on his bracer, and small fragments began to be released from the cracks which spread like spider webs.


    Zhou Wen''s eyes were like fire as he quickly brandished his arms to block Wei Feng''s crazy attacks.


    Just a bit more¡­ Just a bit more¡­ Zhou Wen felt that the force in his body was like a volcano about to erupt, but it just didn''t erupt. It was as though a boulder was blocking the volcano''s mouth, preventing it from spewing out hot lava.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen''s arm blocked Wei Feng''s right fist again. A piece of armor the size of an egg crumbled from his right bracer, turning into fragments that scattered everywhere. It was like a butterfly effect. The bracer completely shattered, revealing Zhou Wen''s arm.


    Without the protection of the armor, the powerful punch landed on Zhou Wen''s arm. Immediately, Zhou Wen''s arm trembled like a bowstring, as though it was about to be snapped.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen''s eyes seemed to spew out lava, turning his pupils into scorching red lava. His entire body began to emit a terrifying hot aura as scorching heat spewed out from him, distorting the surrounding air. From afar, it was as though there was an invisible fire burning outside his body.

 384 My Life, My Blood, My Soul

    Zhou Wen''s bracer shattered. Wei Feng was alarmed as he hurriedly stopped his attack. He couldn''t help but regret it greatly. He had been too serious while sparring with a student. If Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast died because of that, Wei Feng wouldn''t know what to do.


    If news of a tutor killing his student''s Companion Beast got out, he would probably be treated as a representative of violent educators.


    Wei Feng looked at Zhou Wen and wanted to ask if he was alright. Companion Beasts were secondary. The fact that Zhou Wen wasn''t injured was of greatest importance.


    However, when Wei Feng''s gaze landed on Zhou Wen, he was alarmed. He saw that Zhou Wen''s body was emitting a scorching hot aura. The heat seemed to distort the air around his body. It was as though his body was burning with transparent flames.


    Alarm bells began to sound in Wei Feng''s heart. This was Wei Feng''s intuition gained from years on the battlefield. Only when he encountered extremely dangerous creatures would he have such a feeling. And now, Zhou Wen had made Wei Feng smell a sense of danger.


    "Tutor, please continue." Zhou Wen''s body trembled slightly, not because of his pain or fear, but because of the immense power brought about by the rapid flow of blood from his powerful heartbeats. This influenced his body in a way that he couldn''t control, and with every beat of his heart, his entire body trembled. And now, the frequency of his heart beating was as fast as a piston. That''s why it made Zhou Wen''s body appear to be trembling.


    This didn''t affect Zhou Wen''s control of himself. To be precise, he had never felt this good. His entire body was filled with explosive strength. It was as though he was revving at the starting point, his engine roaring non-stop. He was like a powerful racing car that had the slight inclination to charge forward.


    Without waiting for Wei Feng to deliver the punch, Zhou Wen clenched his fists and threw a punch at Wei Feng. This was a subconscious act. Although he knew the Seven Distribution Palm, he subconsciously felt that clenching his palm into a fist would make his blood-filled hand, at the point of explosion, feel better.


    When he threw a punch, the surrounding air seemed to be distorted by the heat, leaving a blurry and distorted afterimage¡ªZhou Wen and fist had already arrived in front of Wei Feng.


    Wei Feng''s expression turned solemn as steam spewed out from his Fist of Steel vent. It caused his fist to quickly strike out and meet Zhou Wen''s fist.


    Bam!


    When the fists collided, Zhou Wen''s figure took four to five steps back before he stopped. As for Wei Feng, he only staggered for a moment without taking half a step back.


    However, Wei Feng wore a look of surprise as he sized up Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    After fighting Zhou Wen for so long, he had a general understanding of him. He knew that Zhou Wen''s Strength wasn''t weak, with its number ranging in the thirties. This Strength was already very close to his, but with the augmentation of the Steel of Fist, his fist''s Strength increased significantly, something that Zhou Wen''s Strength was unable to withstand.


    Back when Zhou Wen was able to fight him, he had mainly relied on the defense of the Mutated Stone Chi armor. However, the fist Zhou Wen had used was from the one beneath the shattered bracer. Without the protection of his armor, Zhou Wen had only retreated four to five steps. His Strength had clearly been boosted significantly in such a short time.


    However, without using stat crystals, his Strength stat couldn''t increase unless he used a Strength-enhancing Primordial Energy Skill. However, Zhou Wen didn''t use one. It was still the same as before. All he did was use a fist technique to fight him.


    Could it be¡­ the Life Soul¡­ Wei Feng looked at Zhou Wen who seemed to be burning with an invisible flame and felt that his entire body was emitting light and heat. The warning bells in him became more obvious.


    Without giving Wei Feng time to think, Zhou Wen threw another punch. This was followed by a barrage of punches as if he had gone mad.


    Wei Feng''s fighting spirit was triggered as he clenched his fists and clashed with Zhou Wen. The Fist of Steel unleashed all its might, producing unparalleled speed and strength. It was like steel meteors that sent Zhou Wen retreating again and again.


    However, Wei Feng could sense that Zhou Wen''s strength was getting stronger and his speed was also increasing. His actions seemed more and more fluid.


    Fire!


    Wei Feng felt as though there was a flame burning in Zhou Wen''s body. It wasn''t a real flame, but Wei Feng had this feeling that as the flame burned, Zhou Wen''s body¡ªno, it should be said that his entire life¡ªwas combusting to produce light and heat. It would become more and more blinding and it made his heart tremble.


    "My life¡­ My blood¡­ My soul¡­ Live for life¡­ Born for the living¡­ Even if I spill my blood¡­ Bury all my bones¡­ I will fight for a chance for life to survive in this dark and cold land¡­" The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul seemed to be emitting an ancient will that bordered on a roar.


    His blood was boiling!


    This wasn''t an adjective. Zhou Wen really felt as though all his blood was igniting. It was as though he had infinite power. It increased his strength and his speed. Every inch of his cells seemed to emit light and heat.


    Bang! Bang!


    Zhou Wen''s fists constantly clashed with Wei Feng. From being at a disadvantage in the beginning, to slowly parrying Wei Feng, he was no longer sent into a retreat. It eventually ended up with Wei Feng''s fist without the Steel of Fist being suppressed as Zhou Wen''s might grew stronger.


    Bam!


    When the fists collided again, Zhou Wen''s bare fists seemed to emit sun-like heat and light. When he collided with the Fist of Steel, he wasn''t sent retreating. Instead, Wei Feng''s body involuntarily trembled as he took half a step back.


    This fellow¡­ This fellow¡­ Wei Feng''s eyes flickered as he looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    He had been in the military for thirty years, and had been a tutor for six years. He had seen countless experts and geniuses, but to have such strength at Zhou Wen''s age, he had only met one before. Zhou Wen was second.


    In the crazy battle, Wei Feng constantly retreated. Every step he took made him feel like Zhou Wen was growing taller. The body that emitted light and heat grew bigger and bigger in his eyes, becoming increasingly unstoppable.


    At that moment, the invisible flames on Zhou Wen''s body actually condensed into corporeal light. His entire being seemed to emit a glorious sun. The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul also propelled his body, making him break the shackles to certain limits and causing terrifying power to erupt.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen''s fist broke the speed of sound and rubbed against the air, producing light and heat. Like a blinding sun, it struck Wei Feng.


    The alarms in Wei Feng''s heart rang out as he saw the fist that appeared like the sun intermittently increase in size. Without any hesitation, he immediately used his best Primordial Energy Skill, Explosive Fist. Using the explosive power brought about by the Fist of Steel, he struck Zhou Wen''s fist.


    Boom!


    The terrifying power that centered around Zhou Wen and Wei Feng''s fists produced a tremendous explosion and shock wave. The custom forty-centimeter rubber buffer on the ground was torn apart by the explosive burst. Even the cement concrete layer beneath cratered.

 385 Inverse Ancient Sovereign

    Wei Feng only felt his Steel of Fist arm tremble and his legs turn weak. He looked at Zhou Wen, feeling an inexplicable shock.


    Despite using his Primordial Energy Skill, he had only come to a draw with Zhou Wen without gaining the upper hand. The power that exploded from Zhou Wen''s body was shocking.


    Looking at Zhou Wen who was emitting light and heat like a sun, Wei Feng suddenly felt that he had truly aged. This world was truly a world of young people. Their youth and vitality were something that he lacked now.


    Zhou Wen felt his heart boom as all his strength surged with his blood flow, pushing him to deliver another strike.


    Wei Feng could only raise his fist to meet his attack. He released his Primordial Energy Skill and clashed with Zhou Wen''s repeated punches.


    This was going to cost him his life. Zhou Wen purely relied on the power of his erupting Life Soul and didn''t need to use his Primordial Energy. However, Wei Feng had to rely on his Primordial Energy Skills to fend off Zhou Wen.


    Primordial Energy Skills were unleashed with the use of Primordial Energy. Wei Feng didn''t have a Slaughterer Life Soul that provided him infinite Primordial Energy; therefore, it was impossible for him to constantly release Primordial Energy Skills. After striking more than ten Explosive Fists, he felt that his Primordial Energy was almost depleted.


    Wei Feng originally believed that Zhou Wen''s explosive strength couldn''t be too stable or his body wouldn''t have been able to withstand it. But to his surprise, Zhou Wen remained brimming with energy despite unleashing dozens of punches. It was as though he had an endless amount of energy.


    Most terrifying of all was that the explosive strength of an ordinary person fluctuated. It was impossible for one to maintain peak strength. However, Zhou Wen''s release in strength maintained a straight line at peak strength.


    Wei Feng felt his arm go numb and he almost couldn''t lift it up. If this continued, his arm would probably fracture.


    Zhou Wen was completely immersed in the eruption of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul as he delivered punch after punch. He could sense that the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul had advanced to an Evolved Body.


    Zhou Wen threw another punch at Wei Feng excitedly when he suddenly saw Wei Feng stop. Wei Feng looked in the direction of the training room door and said in surprise, "We are using the training room. Come back later."


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but stop his punch and turn to look at the door. However, he saw that the door to the training room was still closed and there was no one there.


    Bam!


    In the next second, Zhou Wen felt a heavy blow to his face which was covered by a helm. His head warped to the side as his body flew out and he slammed into the rubber buffers on the training room''s wall.


    The punch wasn''t very heavy as Wei Feng didn''t use all his strength. Zhou Wen quickly stood up and looked at Wei Feng with a puzzled look.


    Wei Feng said in all seriousness, "Zhou Wen, it looks like you lack actual combat experience. You can''t even defend against such a simple scheme. If you were on the real battlefield, you would already be dead. I''ve given you an important lesson today. Remember, you can''t make the same mistake again. Alright, let''s end the training today."


    "Tutor, I''ll remember. Let''s continue sparring a little longer?" Zhou Wen went forward and said.


    "Let''s end it here for today. You''ve trained for so long, and I think you''re tired. Let''s continue another day," said Wei Feng as he walked.


    "Tutor, I''m not tired. Let''s continue a little while," Zhou Wen said.


    "Another day¡­ Another day¡­" Wei Feng took out his phone and placed it to his ear as he walked. "Hello¡­ Ah, my dear daughter¡­ Why are you looking for me¡­ What¡­ Something happened at home¡­ Okay, okay, okay¡­ I''ll rush back now¡­"


    "I''m sorry. Although I really want to continue sparring with you, something urgent has cropped up at home. Let''s spar again another day." As Wei Feng spoke, he quickly left the training room and disappeared without a trace.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat regretful. He hadn''t completely vented all his excessive strength, so he felt somewhat uncomfortable.


    However, since he no longer had an opponent, Zhou Wen could only get the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul to leave his body and float in front of him.


    The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was still in the form of light, but the figure became clearer, as though it was about to condense into something corporeal.


    The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was like a humanoid sun floating there. Zhou Wen no longer needed to fear the darkness no matter where he went in the future. As long as he had the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, there was light no matter how dark it was.


    He took out his mysterious phone and looked at the information after the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul evolved.


    Inverse Ancient Sovereign (Evolved Body): Ancient life born from blood and fire, the sovereign who fights against the heavens.


    The Ancient Sovereign had evolved into an Inverse Ancient Sovereign. Although the note didn''t change, Zhou Wen knew that the Ancient Sovereign''s ability had undergone a substantial change.


    The evolution of a Life Soul was extremely odd. Even a person who cultivated the same Primordial Energy Art would condense a different Life Soul because of their different physiques and insights.


    And the evolution of a Life Soul would result in further differences due to one''s personal insights and growth.


    Zhou Wen could sense that not only did the Inverse Ancient Sovereign enhance his Strength and Speed, but it could provide him with an endless stream of energy. He probably needed to test the numbers on the apparatus for the specifics.


    The game only showed basic values, but not the values after a Life Soul augmentation. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn''t know what his various attributes were like under the augmentation of the Inverse Ancient Sovereign.


    Indeed, it''s more interesting to spar with humans. I''ll find Tutor Wei next time for more sparring. Zhou Wen unsummoned the Mutated Stone Chi and discovered that one of its legs had snapped.


    Thankfully, the Mutated Stone Chi hadn''t been obliterated. The Companion Egg was a pure energy body, so as long as it had Primordial Energy Crystals to replenish its Primordial Energy, it could slowly recover in the future.


    The immense power brought about by the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Evolved Body made Zhou Wen want to advance Slaughterer even more. If Slaughterer could advance to an Evolved Body or even a Perfect Body, who knew what kind of power it would bring him.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen still didn''t have any clue of how to advance Slaughterer. He had no choice but to first evolve the Inverse Ancient Sovereign, hoping to advance it to a Perfect Body.


    However, after Zhou Wen visited Wei Feng a few times, the latter would hurriedly leave using excuses such as family matters. He didn''t give Zhou Wen any chance to spar with him.


    Apart from Wei Feng, Zhou Wen didn''t have any other opponents that he could spar with. He could only temporarily put this matter aside and spend time grinding while reading classics regarding Buddhism and Daoism. He hoped to condense a Life Soul for the other two Primordial Energy Arts.


    When Zhou Wen came to the Poison Wyrm Pool again and killed the Poison Wyrm, another Primordial Energy Skill Crystal dropped. However, Zhou Wen was already numb to this.


    The chances of a Primordial Energy Skill dropping by the Poison Wyrm was quite high, but it was almost always Poison Dragon Finger''s 1, 2, or 4. The lacking Poison Dragon Finger 3 never dropped.


    However, when Zhou Wen allowed the blood-colored avatar to absorb the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal, he was surprised to discover that the system notified him that he had comprehended Poison Dragon Finger 3. It jolted him awake.

 386 Poison Dragon Palm

    I actually got Poison Dragon Finger 3 to drop! Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed. He had been grinding Poison Wyrms for so long to the point of vomiting. This was the first time he had Poison Dragon Finger 3 drop.


    With all five Poison Dragon Fingers gathered, there weren''t any special changes to the Primordial Energy Skill column. The five Poison Dragon Fingers were listed separately, proving that they weren''t the same Primordial Energy Skill.


    Zhou Wen attempted using five Poison Dragon Fingers together and immediately saw the blood-colored avatar''s fingers turn a pitch-black color. This was no different from before. However, what happened next delighted Zhou Wen.


    The blackness on the blood-colored avatar''s fingers extended towards his palm, and moments later, the blood-colored avatar''s palm turned black.


    At the same time, a notification popped up in-game: ''Acquired Poison Dragon Palm.''


    Zhou Wen looked at his skill column and realized that the five Poison Dragon Fingers had vanished, having been replaced by an additional Poison Dragon Palm skill.


    Poison Dragon Palm (Rank 10): Epic


    Zhou Wen was truly taken aback. This was the first time he had seen a Primordial Energy Skill that naturally came as a Rank 10. According to what Zhou Wen knew, Primordial Energy Skill Crystals only appeared at Rank 9. To reach Rank 10, one had to further comprehend it themselves.


    However, the Poison Dragon Palm was at Rank 10 without any need for him to comprehend it himself. It was truly powerful.


    Zhou Wen thought of where he could test out the Poison Dragon Palm that he had painstakingly obtained. Immediately, he searched the underground Pool City for a while, hoping to find a Sword Fang Fish or a Jade Toad to test out the palm''s strength.


    However, to his surprise, he encountered a rather rare Electric Eel. Although it couldn''t compare to Wang Fei''s Mutated Electric Eel, it was enough for his test.


    As an Epic Primordial Energy Skill, when Zhou Wen condensed the Poison Dragon Palm, he didn''t sense any powerful force. It was about the same as when he used the Poison Dragon Finger. There wasn''t any special reaction, nor were there any wind forces coming from it, much less any burst of divine light. There weren''t even any poisonous gases. Apart from his palm turning black, there was nothing special about it. His strength wasn''t able to be released either.


    Don''t tell me it''s still as useless as the Poison Dragon Finger? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he used Ghost Steps to appear above the Electric Eel and struck it on the back.


    After water splashed, Zhou Wen''s palm struck the Electric Eel''s back, sinking it into the water. Zhou Wen could see that the palm didn''t even manage to damage a single scale. Instead, he was zapped by the Electric Eel, turning his body numb and almost falling into the water.


    What the heck? This is a Primordial Energy Skill that I acquired after so much grinding? Zhou Wen immediately felt depressed. The water surface surged as the Electric Eel rapidly swam into the distance.


    Zhou Wen didn''t even feel like chasing after it. After grinding it for so long, he still had some expectations. He never expected the Poison Dragon Palm to be so useless. It was basically the upgraded version of the useless Poison Dragon Finger.


    However, the escaping Electric Eel had swum for almost two hundred meters when it suddenly stopped moving underwater. Moments later, Zhou Wen saw the Electric Eel float up with its belly facing up. At the same time, a notification popped up in-game.


    ''Killed Epic creature, Electric Eel. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen immediately widened his mouth into an "O"-shape When he saw a dimensional crystal drop from the Electric Eel''s corpse, he hurriedly rushed over to pick it up before it sank to the bottom.


    This Poison Dragon Palm is rather interesting¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He had actually killed the Electric Eel with just a single palm strike. Such power was indeed interesting. Furthermore, the Poison Dragon Palm''s power was clearly related to the poison. It wasn''t a traditional palm strike.


    The crystal Zhou Wen obtained only had +3 in value, but upon careful inspection, the dimensional crystal dropped by the Electric Eel was a dimensional crystal that added +3 to his Electric stat and not basic stats.


    After making the blood-colored avatar absorb the Electric Stat crystal, electricity flowed through his body, making him involuntarily tremble.


    He saw an additional Electric attribute in his stats. Although it was only 3 points, it was enough to satisfy him. After all, the drop rate of special stat crystals was very low. His luck was pretty good for him to obtain it by simply killing a single Electric Eel.


    From the looks of it, my luck has recently risen. It''s time to farm the baby tiger again. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to head to Binyang Cave, but he returned without any success.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged. After switching dungeons, he went to the Zhuolu ruins.


    Zhou Wen''s target was the nine chained black dragons. He wanted to test out how powerful the Poison Dragon Palm was and how high its limits were.


    Being able to poison an Electric Eel to death was useless to Zhou Wen. Coupling Overlord Sword with Transcendent Flying Immortal, he could kill Electric Eels without any trouble. He didn''t need to go close, nor did he need to use his palm to directly touch the Electric Eel.


    The reason he wanted to test the palm on the nine black dragons was that he couldn''t even touch the other Mythical creatures. Only when the nine black dragons were chained up and physically restrained could he have a chance of hitting them.


    Zhou Wen had already tried using Overlord Sword and Lost Country''s teleportation to stab a black dragon, but only a tiny bit of the Overlord Sword''s tip penetrated. It couldn''t even penetrate the dragon scales, much less kill the black dragon.


    Unless Zhou Wen could continuously stab the black dragon with a thousand strikes at the same spot, there was no way he could kill it.


    However, under the combined attack of the nine black dragons, even though their actions were restrained, they were ultimately Mythical creatures; therefore, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to last too long under their siege. Delivering a few hundred swords was wishful thinking. He would be considered lucky to be able to stab several times without dying.


    However, if the Poison Dragon Palm could really poison the black dragon to death, Zhou Wen had an idea. Perhaps, this gave him a chance of killing the black dragon.


    Of course, this way, he wouldn''t be able to rely on Lost Country''s teleportation to approach the black dragons. He had to use Lost Country''s teleport after striking a black dragon with Poison Dragon Palm to flee. If the blood-colored avatar were to die, then it would be useless even if the Poison Dragon Palm could really poison the black dragon to death.


    Once the blood-colored avatar died, he would have to respawn. What was the point in killing the black dragon?


    Therefore, after Zhou Wen thought about it, all he could do was rely on his movement technique to approach the black dragon and deliver a Poison Dragon Palm. Then, he could use his Lost Country''s teleportation ability to escape. Then, he just needed to wait for the black dragon to be poisoned to death. This was the only way he could kill a Mythical creature.


    When he arrived at the underground sea again, Zhou Wen took a deep breath and switched his Life Soul to Slaughterer before jumping down and diving into the sea.


    After swimming for a short while, he saw nine black dragons pulling the war wagon from the bottom of the sea. The black dragons emitted a strange dragon''s roar, causing the seawater to quake uneasily.

 387 Dragon Gate Stone Beas

    Although the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul could provide Zhou Wen with strength that exceeded Slaughterer, the Inverse Ancient Sovereign''s strength was too potent. It was suited for frontal combat. Zhou Wen wasn''t qualified to fight the black dragons head-on and could only use tricks. Therefore, Zhou Wen chose to use the Slaughterer Life Soul.


    The strength increase provided by Slaughterer was inferior to the Inverse Ancient Sovereign, but its characteristic of infinite Primordial Energy was what Zhou Wen needed the most.


    When the nine black dragons approached, Zhou Wen chose a location at the bottom of the sea that had a complicated terrain. Relying on the cover of the sea mountain, the black dragons didn''t attack him immediately.


    When the nine black dragons pulled the war wagon around the undersea mountain peak, Zhou Wen used the Nine Dragons Art he had cultivated with Ghost Steps. He swam rapidly like a dragon beast in the sea, dodging the devouring of the black dragons in front of him. Before the nine black dragons surrounded him, he rushed to the bottom of the war wagon.


    Zhou Wen lacked the ability to directly approach the black dragons'' bodies unless he used teleportation. However, it would be different if he relied on the war wagon''s protection.


    The nine black dragons were chained and they couldn''t reach beneath the war wagon. With their mobility further weakened, Zhou Wen hid under the war wagon. When he saw a black dragon''s head extend down to him, he struck out with Poison Dragon Palm.


    The black dragon reacted very quickly. Zhou Wen was already close enough, but it still reacted in time. It let out a roar as a terrifying sound wave blasted Zhou Wen''s body and swam away. He had failed to touch it with Poison Dragon Palm.


    The blood-colored avatar''s body flew out uncontrollably along with the flow of water. Before Zhou Wen could stabilize the blood-colored avatar, a few black dragons pounced on him and surrounded him. A black dragon swallowed the blood-colored avatar amidst the scramble. The game screen went black.


    The Poison Dragon Palm requires the palm to touch the body to work. This isn''t good. If it can injure someone across a distance, things will be much easier. Zhou Wen had no choice but to drip his blood to revive.


    This time, Zhou Wen learned from his previous experience. He didn''t choose to touch the black dragons'' heads. Instead, he used the war wagon''s concealment to fend off the black dragon''s attack. He then flipped to the back of the war wagon. When a black dragon circled around to him, he turned around and charged at the black dragon''s body, striking the dragon''s scales with his Poison Dragon Palm.


    With the successful palm strike, Zhou Wen was completely exposed. The nine black dragons formed a circle, making it impossible for Zhou Wen to flee.


    Zhou Wen immediately switched to the Godfiend Era''s Primordial Energy Art and the Lost Country appeared on his finger. A black dragon had already sucked the blood-colored avatar to its mouth. When half the blood-colored avatar entered the dragon''s mouth, its body suddenly vanished, leaving the nine dragons stunned.


    However, the teleportation distance available to Lost Country was too low. The nine black dragons quickly noticed Zhou Wen who hadn''t gone far and roared as they pursued him.


    Zhou Wen swam towards the surface, but when he was in the water, Ghost Steps'' efficiency decreased significantly. Infinite Ghost Steps wasn''t able to increase his speed significantly, so before he could swim out of the sea, he was devoured by the nine black dragons.


    However, with his experience hitting the black dragon once, Zhou Wen was even more certain that he could succeed. The only thing lacking was to escape alive.


    As long as I can rush out of the water surface, I can use my flying abilities and Infinite Ghost Steps to escape. Even with Nine Dragons Art in the water, I can''t match a real dragon''s speed. Therefore, I have to think of a way to get my Poison Dragon Palm to strike the black dragon when I''m as close as possible to the water surface, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He wanted to redo it, but Lost Country''s teleportation ability had a 24-hour cooldown.


    This won''t do, Lost Country''s cooldown is too long. The teleportation distance is too short as well. How can I think of a way to raise Lost Country to an Evolved Body so as to enhance the teleportation ability? Zhou Wen began considering how to advance Lost Country.


    The Godfiend Era has a myriad of changes. After condensing the Godfiend Life Providence, I gained the ability to stay in space. After condensing Lost Country, I possess the ability to teleport. Both of them are related to space. To improve Lost Country, I''m afraid I''ll have to put in effort towards spatial matters. After some thought, Zhou Wen failed to think of a way to enhance Lost Country.


    Space was a rather special attribute regardless of the League''s four districts. Dimensional creatures with spatial powers were rare as well. Typically, there weren''t any low-grade creatures with them being at least at the Epic stage.


    Zhou Wen checked the school''s database. Although there were many dimensional zones on campus, there were no dimensional creatures with spatial abilities.


    However, Zhou Wen surprisingly discovered some useful information. The information had nothing to do with Sunset College, but about certain strange matters in Guide Ancient City.


    This included records of Fire God Platform and the stone furnace in front of the stone monument. This information was identical to what Zhou Wen had seen in-game. There was only one difference.


    The stone furnace in-game produced firebirds. It was the same in reality. There was a stone saber stuck in the stone furnace in-game and there was a stone saber in reality.


    Zhou Wen had attempted to pull out the saber in-game, but he just couldn''t touch it. He believed it to be an illusion, but in reality, someone had attempted to pull it out. Although it wasn''t pulled out, the person touched the stone saber.


    According to the records in the document, a tutor who possessed a fire-elemental Life Providence and flame-type Life Soul went to Guide Ancient City. He found Fire God Platform and scaled it. He discovered the stone saber in the furnace, but when he pulled it out, it seemed rooted. He was unable to shift the stone saber even with his Epic strength.


    This is strange. I can see it in-game, but I can''t touch it. In reality, it can be touched. What''s the reason? Zhou Wen had the urge to immediately return to Guide Ancient City to take a look and figure out the problem of the stone saber.


    However, firstly, school wasn''t on break. Secondly, entering Guide Ancient City required entry passes. Without a pass, it was useless even if he returned.


    "Zhou Wen, the new homework mission has been released. Shall we go together?" Li Xuan sent a message.


    "Alright, let''s meet outside Dragon Gate Grotto." Zhou Wen still needed to finish homework missions, so he scheduled a meeting with Li Xuan.


    The mission given by the new tutor wasn''t as strange as Wang Fei''s. They only needed to kill ten Mortal Dragon Gate Stone Beasts. This was a common Mortal stage dimensional creature in Dragon Gate Grotto. It wasn''t difficult for ordinary students, so it was pretty much a walk in the park for people like Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    The two came to Dragon Gate Grotto and randomly chose a relatively nearby grotto. Soon, they saw several Dragon Gate Stone Beasts. Li Xuan rushed forward and finished them off in no time.


    "I haven''t even started filming yet!" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "It''s fine. There are plenty of stone beasts anyway. We can just kill a few more later." Li Xuan didn''t mind.


    The two of them continued walking in. Before long, they saw a few students attacking a stone beast. However, the stone beast looked a little special and was slightly different from the other stone beasts.


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 388 Snatching a Companion Egg

    Ordinary stone beasts were only half the height of a human. They looked like Pekingese, and their bodies were grayish-white rocks.


    However, the stone beast that the students were attacking was different. The stone beast''s body was as crystalline as white jade, and it was also much taller¡ªabout the size of a racehorse.


    When the Mortal students attacked the stone beast, they unleashed Primordial Energy Skills with their fists and palms, but the strikes were almost useless against it.


    As the chances of dropping a Companion Egg at the Mortal stage were very low, these students didn''t have any Companion Beasts and could only rely on their strength to fight head-on. However, the effects were clearly not the best. A student was even injured by the stone beast.


    Seeing that they were his schoolmates, Li Xuan went over with the Thundergod Sword and cleaved the stone beast to death with one strike to prevent them from being injured by the stone beast again.


    The stone beast was cleaved into two by Li Xuan. A crystalline jade egg fell out of its body¡ªa Companion Egg.


    "Holy sh*t, I''m that lucky?" Li Xuan looked at the Companion Egg in surprise.


    Although it was a Mutated Dragon Gate Stone Beast and it was only at the Mortal stage, the chances of a Companion Egg dropping at the Mortal stage were almost identical to winning the lottery. He really had good luck to have it drop.


    The students also stared at the Companion Egg. Mortal Companion Eggs were rare to begin with. Furthermore, it was a mutated species, so its stats were definitely good. Who wouldn''t want one?


    However, the Mutated Stone Beast was killed by Li Xuan. They didn''t dare to snatch it, but they were also unwilling to give it up. After all, they had discovered the Mutated Stone Beast first.


    "Distribute the Companion Egg among yourselves." Li Xuan wasn''t too interested in the Mutated Stone Beast Companion Egg. He had only been helping out and had no intention of splitting it.


    The few students were overjoyed when they heard that. Two students were still hesitating, but the other three students scrambled for the Companion Egg.


    The three of them didn''t give in to the others, and soon it became a snatching fest. The other two students also joined the snatching competition when they snapped out of their daze.


    Who didn''t want to have a Companion Beast? Ordinary students might not be able to advance to the Legendary stage in their four years in college. Firstly, the Primordial Energy Arts they cultivated were lacking, and secondly, there was a lack of resources and thirdly, their perceptivity.


    Typical Primordial Energy Arts required one to gain insights before advancing to the next level. The Lost Immortal Sutra was quite an outlier to allow advancement simply by having the stats reaching a certain value.


    Li Xuan glanced at the students who were vying for the Companion Egg and curled his lips. He said to Zhou Wen, " Reality is just that cruel. No matter how good their relationships are usually, once it involves personal interests, schoolmates and friends are nothing. Both of us should be happy that we didn''t end up having to vie with them."


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "That''s not necessarily the case. We also need to vie for things. It''s just that the things we are fighting for are a little more advanced. There''s no difference in essence. The degree of sorrow doesn''t lessen just because of its higher level."


    "That''s true. In this world, it''s hard to tell the difference between humans and fiends," Li Xuan said with a sigh.


    Clearly, he had been reminded of his family matters. Even if they were biological brothers, he couldn''t rely on him.


    "Let''s head elsewhere to take a look." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to continue the topic. Once the dimensional zones'' restrictions failed, similar things would happen. Many people would do anything to survive.


    Just as the duo was about to leave, they suddenly heard a bird''s cry coming from above. The pale golden feathers on the chick standing on Zhou Wen''s shoulder stood on end, as though it had encountered an enemy as it looked into the sky.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he looked up and saw a golden bird swooping down from the sky like a golden cloud. Its target was them.


    "Duck!" Zhou Wen felt a sense of danger as he roared at the students. At the same time, he pulled Li Xuan back quickly.


    The few students were still vying for the Companion Egg, but no one paid attention to Zhou Wen. The golden bird descended like a golden cloud and before it arrived, a terrifying hurricane rolled down from high above, sweeping the five students flying hundreds of feet away. Some struck into stone statues while others fell to the ground. Immediately, they vomited blood and couldn''t even get up.


    The giant bird swallowed the Companion Egg in one mouthful, but its claw didn''t land. With a flap of its wings, another hurricane suddenly appeared. It instantly flew into the sky and soon vanished.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan leaned against the wall as they held onto a Buddha statue with both hands to avoid being swept away by the hurricane. The few students weren''t that lucky as they tumbled and crashed in the hurricane, leaving their bodies bloody. It was unknown if any of them were killed by the impact.


    "That bird just now¡­ It can''t be a Golden-Winged Roc, right?" Li Xuan said in surprise as he looked up into the sky.


    "It shouldn''t be. If it''s a Golden-Winged Roc, I''m afraid it will be even more terrifying." Zhou Wen shook his head. Seeing the students screaming incessantly, and although they weren''t dead, who knew how many bones had been fractured. He didn''t dare touch them and since he didn''t have any healing skills, all he could do was head out to call the college''s medical department and get the doctor to rush over to treat them.


    "Old Zhou, I think that the golden bird is on the peak of Dragon Gate Grotto. Shall we go and take a look?" Li Xuan suggested.


    Zhou Wen looked at the chick that had regained its composure and pondered for a moment before shaking his head. "I think it''s best if we don''t go. That giant bird is probably extraordinary. We aren''t its match."


    As the two spoke, a doctor and tutor came over. The first tutor to arrive was Zhou Wen''s new tutor. Upon seeing the tragic state of the five students, the new tutor couldn''t help but frown.


    "What happened?" the new tutor, Wu Yusheng, asked Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan recounted what had happened in detail. Wu Yusheng was doubtful of what he had heard. When he looked above Dragon Gate Grotto, he frowned and said, "I never heard that there are birds and dimensional creatures lurking outside Dragon Gate Grotto. Don''t run around. Leave immediately and I''ll head up to take a look."


    Wu Yusheng summoned a sword and flew on it, heading towards the top of the mountain.


    "Wow, it''s a flying sword Companion Beast. It''s just too cool. I''ve wanted it for a long time, but only a few dimensional zones drop flying sword Companion Beasts. Their numbers are very rare and they don''t drop anywhere near us," Li Xuan said in envy as he looked at the flying sword beneath Wu Yusheng''s feet.


    Speaking of the flying sword, Zhou Wen recalled the little girl and the purple-copper flying sword. He glanced at the Dead Man Tree in-game and saw that the purple-copper fruit on the Dead Man Tree had grown to the size of a soccer ball. However, it didn''t seem ripe yet.


    Suddenly, a bird cry shook the area. At the top of Dragon Gate Grotto, a golden beam of light shot into the sky.


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 389 The Demonic Organ Throne

    Zhou Wen looked up and saw that the golden beam was none other than the golden bird that had previously vanished into the horizon. At that moment, the giant bird spread its wings and charged towards Wu Yusheng, who was standing in the sky on his flying sword.


    Wu Yusheng wasn''t indecisive. He extended his hand and summoned another flying sword Companion Beast. His ancient sword slashed at the golden bird with sharp sword beams that resembled dawn.


    The golden bird dodged as well. With a flap of its wings, it tore through the sky of sword flashes and clashed with the flying sword. The flying sword split into two behind the golden bird.


    Wu Yusheng''s expression changed drastically as he turned to flee on his flying sword.


    That Heavenglow Sword was a top Epic Companion Beast he had spent a lot of effort in the Mt. Shu dimensional zone before having it drop. The Heavenglow Sword''s beam could rip apart a mountain, and its Life Soul, Skyglow Sword Soul, augmented the Heavenglow Sword''s beam. It allowed it to turn into a rain of swords with each sword beam dealing an area-of-effect attack.


    After he obtained the Heavenglow Sword, he had experienced countless battles without having the sword damaged. Now, it snapped with just a touch of the giant golden bird''s wings. He immediately knew that the golden bird was terrifying beyond imagination.


    Although the flying sword beneath Wu Yusheng''s feet was fast, it was not as fast as the giant golden bird. Without flying far, the giant golden bird had already rushed behind him like a bolt of golden lightning.


    Wu Yusheng''s face paled in fright as he hurriedly used the flying sword beneath his feet to meet the giant golden bird. He landed on a mountain wall and ran down the mountain in a sorry state.


    "Stop watching. We need to leave quickly." Zhou Wen pulled Li Xuan and ran. Even Epic tutors couldn''t defeat the golden bird, so if the golden bird were to flare up, it might end up turning Dragon Gate Grotto into a bloodbath. It would be too late to escape when that happened.


    Crack!


    The two of them had barely taken two steps before they heard a crisp sound. The sword beam that was like a rainbow was snapped by the giant bird''s wings. The snapping of the flying sword was a testament to the wings'' unimaginably sharpness.


    Wu Yusheng was still escaping, but how could he be faster than the giant golden bird? Before he could run far, he was caught up. He was just moments from being slain by the giant golden bird''s wings.


    Suddenly, a figure tore through the air. The person wore a school tutor uniform and he immediately appeared at the top of Dragon Gate Grotto as though he had teleported. With a flick of his finger, a yellow glow in the form of a talisman flew towards the golden bird.


    The giant golden bird had remained unperturbed in the face of the sharp flying sword, but when it saw the talisman glow, it became somewhat apprehensive. It flapped its wings, released Wu Yusheng, and dodged the talisman glow.


    The tutor who had appeared, flicked his fingers, sending out talisman glows that rained on the giant golden bird.


    The golden bird flapped its wings and golden rays in the shape of feathers shot out from its wings, clashing with the talisman glows. Light exploded everywhere in the sky.


    The people who had set up stalls outside Dragon Gate Grotto were already running for their lives. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were also running, but after reaching the entrance to Dragon Gate Grotto, they didn''t directly leave. They watched from afar as the tutor fought the golden bird.


    The giant golden bird was abnormally fierce and charged at his tutor with its golden feather storm. The talisman glows released by the tutor were also destroyed by the feather storm. They didn''t inflict any damage to the giant golden bird.


    Zhou Wen was worried that the tutor might also be defeated by the giant bird like Wu Yusheng, when he suddenly saw a black light gush out from his white uniform.


    The black light condensed in front of him, actually transforming into a huge black-colored organ. The organ looked like a piano, with black-and-white keys, but they were even larger. Furthermore, behind the organ were black metal pipes that were lined up like a small mountain. Furthermore, the piano keys were like stairs. There were many layers, unlike ordinary pianos with only a row of keys.


    The tutor ignored the giant golden bird that rushed over and calmly sat in front of the organ, his slender fingers pressing on the keys.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan immediately heard ancient, soothing music. It was somewhat different from the sounds produced by an ordinary piano that Zhou Wen had heard before. The sounds of a piano clearly lacked the heavy and distant vibes of the organ.


    "He appeared¡­ That''s Chancellor Leng''s Demonic Organ Throne¡­ He''s a man who has once fought with gods¡­" Li Xuan looked up at the tutor in the sky with a pleasant surprise.


    "Chancellor Leng? The chancellor of our school?" Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. He had been in Sunset College for so long, but he had never seen the chancellor before. Usually, work was done by the managing vice-chancellor who oversaw the daily operations.


    "Probably. Although I''ve never met him, his Demonic Organ Throne is too famous. It can''t be wrong. Back when Old Master An passed away, the An family was without a leader. The Senate wanted to place Sunset College under the League''s management and sent someone from Member of Parliament Dugu''s family with a Mythical Companion Beast over, but they were barred from entering by Chancellor Leng''s Demonic Organ Throne. They weren''t even able to enter the school''s main gate before they returned with their faces ashen. Even a Mythical Companion Beast wasn''t able to break through the Demonic Organ Throne. That made the Demonic Organ Throne famous across the League. Everyone knew about it," Li Xuan said in excitement.


    As Li Xuan spoke, Chancellor Leng''s slender fingers were already dancing across the organ keys. Bleak and open music sounded from the organ. The sound waves inside the metal pipe resonated and spread out like ripples.


    The giant golden bird had been charging fiercely at Chancellor Leng with its golden-feather storm. However, after hearing the music, its actions slowed down.


    By the time it flew to the organ''s side, it had already held back the golden-feather storm. The ferocity it wore on its face had disappeared, and it did not continue attacking. Instead, it retracted its wings and stood beside the organ as though it was listening to Chancellor Leng''s music.


    Zhou Wen also listened to the music and, without realizing it, tears streamed down his cheeks. By the side, Li Xuan was already awash with tears.


    The students who had yet to escape Dragon Gate Grotto also cried bitterly.


    Zhou Wen wiped his tears and focused his gaze at the giant golden bird in the sky. He saw a crystalline tear seep out from the corner of the golden bird''s eye as though it could fall at any moment.


    Chancellor Leng''s Life Soul is actually an organ. That''s really rare, but my emotions aren''t really affected by organ music, so why am I crying? Zhou Wen looked at the Demonic Organ Throne in the sky in shock and puzzlement.


    At that moment, a tear finally fell from the corner of the golden bird''s eye, like a golden gem falling from the sky.


    The chick that had been standing on Zhou Wen''s shoulder suddenly flew up and headed straight for Dragon Gate Grotto before swallowing the golden bird''s tear. It then flew back to Zhou Wen''s shoulder.


    The music in the sky stopped. Chancellor Leng looked at the chick on Zhou Wen''s shoulder and his calm gaze, which seemed to have a strength that could penetrate one''s heart, left Zhou Wen slightly alarmed.


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 390 Puzzlemen

    However, Chancellor Leng''s gaze did not linger on them for too long. He retracted his gaze after taking one look and looked at the giant golden bird beside him.


    "Go back. From now on, no one will bother you again." Chancellor Leng seemed to be speaking to the golden bird.


    The giant golden bird actually lowered its head, as though expressing its understanding before it spread its wings and flew back to Dragon Gate Grotto''s peak.


    "From today onwards, no one is to ascend to the peak of Dragon Gate Grotto." Chancellor Leng stood up and the Demonic Organ Throne vanished. With that, he soared into the sky and disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    "When can I be as powerful as Chancellor Leng? To make such a terrifying dimensional creature obey my orders with a snap of my fingers," Li Xuan said enviously.


    "Is Chancellor Leng at the Mythical stage?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "I don''t think so. I heard that he''s at the peak of the Epic stage. The Demonic Organ Throne is a Perfect Life Soul. Furthermore, people say that Chancellor Leng is likely the human that''s closest to the Mythical stage. He''s just half a step away from stepping into the Mythical stage." Li Xuan''s words were filled with admiration for Chancellor Leng.


    "I never knew there was such a strong person in Luoyang!" Zhou Wen exclaimed.


    "Definitely. Chancellor Leng is Overseer An''s tutor. How can he not be strong considering how he taught such a strong student like Overseer An?" Li Xuan said.


    "An Tianzuo''s tutor?" Zhou Wen didn''t think that it was impressive for someone to produce An Tianzuo with their teachings. However, Chancellor Leng was really strong. The music-type Demonic Organ Throne Life Soul gave Zhou Wen an eye-opener. He had never heard of making such terrifying dimensional creatures retreat without any bloodshed.


    Recalling the music from the Demonic Organ Throne, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t an emotional person. Normally, when he was listening to music, he didn''t experience many emotional upheavals. Yet, he had actually cried. This didn''t seem right.


    Is it really due to the music from the Demonic Organ Throne affecting my emotions? Zhou Wen felt that it wasn''t the case.


    "Why are you in a daze? Let''s go. We still have to complete our homework mission." Seeing Zhou Wen standing there in a daze without saying anything, Li Xuan nudged him.


    Zhou Wen followed Li Xuan back to Dragon Gate Grotto, but he kept thinking about the music that Chancellor Leng had played using the Demonic Organ Throne.


    It''s not the music that affected my emotions¡ªdefinitely not. Others might not mind the minute changes, but Zhou Wen wanted to understand the differences as he constantly mulled over the reason.


    "What are you waiting for? My homework mission is done. It''s your turn," Li Xuan said as he recorded a video of Zhou Wen on his phone.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to do the homework mission right now. He immediately drew his Bamboo Blade and charged at the Stone Beast herd. With one blade per strike, he nimbly killed ten Stone Beasts before turning around to head back.


    He planned on checking the information regarding sound-type powers, and then figure out the real reason for having the music from the Demonic Organ Throne affect his mood, or if it was some other power.


    Li Xuan was already used to Zhou Wen''s various strange actions, so he let him be and didn''t ask further.


    After leaving Dragon Gate Grotto, Zhou Wen headed to the school library. The information there was more comprehensive than the Intranet, and he soon found the section where music-related matters resided. There were bookshelves spanning dozens of meters, a total of four rows. They contained books covering music.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that most of them were books related to music theory and knowledge, or they taught one how to sing. He rarely saw information on music-type Primordial Energy Arts.


    It''s no wonder there are so few people cultivating music-type Primordial Energy Arts. With so much information just teaching people music theory, there''s nothing to do with cultivation. Zhou Wen read through the books on the bookshelves. After searching for a long time, he only found a few books related to the music-type Primordial Energy Arts.


    From the information he had, Zhou Wen realized that music-type Primordial Energy Arts were indeed very interesting, or perhaps¡ªspecial.


    The cultivation method of music-type Primordial Energy Arts was about the same as the typical Primordial Energy Art. Interestingly, the music-type Primordial Energy Arts had relatively special Primordial Energy seas.


    Typically, a Primordial Energy Art''s Primordial Energy sea was in one of the three dantians, but a music-type Primordial Energy Art used the lungs as a Primordial Energy sea. It was very rare.


    Furthermore, it was different from what the average person would imagine. There was no mention of music affecting one emotionally in the music-type information. It only mentioned music frequency and oscillation theory.


    And the destructive power of music-type powers mainly came from the pressure of sound.


    Zhou Wen read a lot, but he didn''t understand why the Demonic Organ Throne could affect the emotions of humans and even dimensional creatures. Although there were some extraordinary theories, they hadn''t been verified. Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that the theories didn''t match the Demonic Organ Throne''s powers.


    Without finding the answer he wanted, Zhou Wen had the urge to directly ask Chancellor Leng, but even tutors and the other vice-chancellors had trouble meeting him. As a student, how could he meet Chancellor Leng?


    The library reached its closing hours when the sky darkened. Zhou Wen had no choice but to return to his dorm and search for information on the music-type powers online, but he failed to find the answer he wanted.


    However, while browsing the school forum, Zhou Wen saw a thread regarding music-type Primordial Energy Arts.


    The thread name and content intrigued Zhou Wen. The thread was named "Space Dimensionality of Sound," and the person who posted it was a student''s ID. Few people paid attention to it, and there were only a few dozen clicks. There were also very few replies.


    There were very few people in Sunset College who cultivated music-type Primordial Energy Arts, so very few people were interested in this thread. However, Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up when he saw it.


    Although the content was a little strange and seemed unrealistic, it was very interesting.


    After Zhou Wen read the thread, he seemed to understand why the Demonic Organ Throne could affect his emotions. However, there were many things he couldn''t understand. The thread didn''t have the answers to his questions.


    Zhou Wen saw that the thread was posted two years ago. The author''s ID wasn''t online either. When he checked the author''s post history, he was somewhat disappointed that this was the only thread. From the looks of it, he wasn''t a person who often logged on to the forum.


    He attempted to send a private message to the other party only with the hope of giving it a try and raising a few questions that troubled him.


    Zhou Wen originally didn''t have much hope, but to his surprise, the other party replied with a message shortly after and answered his questions in detail. Zhou Wen had never heard of any of those strange explanations which were unheard of, but they answered his questions.


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 391 Leng Zongzheng

    Leng Zongzheng was fiddling with trinkets while looking at his cell phone. It had been two years since he posted an article on the forum. It received very few replies, but someone had sent him a private message on the forum today.


    Leng Zongzheng was just casually surfing the net when he realized that the private message the other party had sent was actually some questions regarding music and space. He originally wrote this message off, thinking that it was the same as the students from before. They would just hound him with questions about methods to master a music-type Primordial Energy Art, as well as how to use music-type skills or reform all beings with the use of music.


    If those were the questions, Leng Zongzheng couldn''t be bothered to answer. He didn''t believe that music had any ability to infect the emotions of all beings.


    Everyone thought that his Demonic Organ Throne could reform all beings, believing that he used the magical powers of music to touch those creatures. However, Leng Zongzheng scoffed in derision to such suggestions.


    He was never someone who could infect others¡ªno matter whether it was music or anything. He didn''t believe that he had any special influence on others.


    When he was young, Leng Zongzheng was called "Expressionless" by his classmates and friends, as well as given nicknames such as "Masked Man" or "Wooden Block" because he didn''t express any emotions. Even smiles were very difficult for him.


    Those people who asked him how to use his charm and music to infect all beings were laughable in Leng Zongzheng''s eyes.


    These few questions are rather interesting. Leng Zongzheng finished reading Zhou Wen''s questions and wrote down his reply by answering the questions.


    Soon, the other party sent another private message over and asked a few more questions.


    This time, Leng Zongzheng was a little surprised. This was because after receiving his answer, the other party had a new slew of questions.


    To be able to understand his answer so quickly and to draw inferences and come up with more questions indicated that the other party was good at active thinking.


    This piqued Leng Zongzheng''s interest. He replied to the other party''s question and even secretly included some matters at a deeper level in his answer. He wanted to see if the other party could see through the problem.


    After sending the message, he waited for a while, but there was no reply. Leng Zongzheng couldn''t help but feel a little disappointed. If the mind of the person''s activity was only at this level, it wasn''t enough to satisfy Leng Zongzheng despite it being pretty good.


    Ever since he taught An Tianzuo, Leng Zongzheng had no longer taught new students. It wasn''t that he couldn''t teach, but he felt uninterested.


    Once one taught a student who was able to understand anything in one setting and learn anything related, teaching students who were unable to understand anything quickly was exasperating. However, Leng Zongzheng had never given his patience to others because his patience was fully focused on research. If not, he wouldn''t have achieved what he had today.


    Even the six families of the League feared his Demonic Organ Throne. Everyone thought that he was talented, but little did they know about the effort he had put in.


    In this era, everyone believed that science was useless. Only dimensional crystals and Companion Beasts were the future. All of them were trying their best to hunt for dimensional items.


    However, Leng Zongzheng was different. Although he cultivated, he had never stopped scientific research. From his point of view, those god-like dimensional creatures were nothing of that sort. They were just creatures from other worlds, probably not much different from aliens.


    The mystical powers they possessed were similar to that of technology. However, the laws of those mystical powers were the laws of other worlds, completely different from those of the League.


    Therefore, he had always been studying their power systems. The one he had studied the most was space. Others might imagine that the Demonic Organ Throne had music attributes or was a music-type Life Soul, but they were terribly wrong. This was because the Demonic Organ Throne was never a music-type, but a spatial-time Life Soul.


    The music was only a form of spatial manipulation used by the Demonic Organ Throne. Neither did it have the infectious ability of music. The music he played was mainly used to change the frequency of sound and affect the brain frequency of living creatures. This was a very brilliant technique, not his talent.


    Leng Zongzheng had initially thought that the matter would end here, but to his surprise, he received another private message? It was from the same ID. There were a few more questions.


    After looking at these few questions, Leng Zongzheng was truly intrigued by this person. From these few questions, he could already confirm that the other party had already guessed that the Demonic Organ Throne was not a music-type but a spatial-type.


    To be able to think of this set of problems, this person must be one of the people who saw my battle with the Golden-Winged Roc at Dragon Gate Grotto today. Who could it be? A young man with a golden chick on his shoulder flashed across Leng Zongzheng''s mind.


    It should be him, right? Although Leng Zongzheng felt that it was likely the youth, he didn''t have the intention to verify it. Even though he could easily find out who the other party was, he didn''t do so.


    Although the other party was an excellent young man, he wasn''t at a level that made him interested in finding out who he was.


    However, it was rare for someone to be willing to learn and think. Leng Zongzheng answered Zhou Wen''s question and even gave him some tips before suggesting that he take a look at some famous works that involved spatial dimensions.


    Leng Zongzheng was aware that this knowledge was insipid. Ignoring this world filled with magical powers, very few people could sit down and learn such knowledge even before the dimensional storms appeared.


    There were a lot of things that needed to be memorized and the required knowledge was broad. If one wasn''t an expert in such matters, they probably wouldn''t be able to understand it. They would need to read up and reference a lot of information.


    However, Leng Zongzheng believed that if the other party did not even have the patience and ability to learn, there was no need to waste his time.


    Humans had thousands of ways of living, but to have outstanding achievements in certain aspects, one had to be able to treat boredom as enjoyment. One had to endure loneliness.


    There were no friends on the path to studies, only hard work and pursuits.


    After Zhou Wen read the message from Leng Zongzheng, he found the idea interesting. He sent another private message, but this time, he didn''t reply to his questions and only replied with a line of text:


    "The answers you want are all in those books."


    Zhou Wen originally only wanted to figure out the strength of the Demonic Organ Throne, but after delving deeper, he realized that the Demonic Organ Throne was actually the power of space. This discovery surprised him and piqued his interest.


    This was because his Lost Country was also a space-type power. He felt that he could indeed study knowledge about space.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen went to the library to borrow some books regarding this, but he really didn''t understand many of them. He had never heard of the terms, formulas, and laws, so all he could do was seek out references as he read.


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 392 Success

    Zhou Wen realized that he had been very busy recently. There were too many books to read, and even the amount of time he spent gaming was reduced.


    When he could use Lost Country again, Zhou Wen went to the underground sea. This time, he didn''t head directly into the sea but controlled the blood-colored avatar parallel to the water surface.


    Not long after, a huge shadow appeared beneath the sea. Nine black dragons roared as they emerged from the sea.


    After sacrificing the White Shadow of Poison, Zhou Wen dived into the sea and rapidly approached a black dragon. However, the black dragon''s tail swept up a shocking wave that sent the seawater hitting Zhou Wen''s body.


    Zhou Wen could only use the impact of the waves to distance himself from the black dragon before tearing out of the sea. However, he didn''t dare fly too high because the sapphire-like sky above was similarly fraught with danger. He could die faster if he approached it.


    One black dragon after another rushed over, their mouths spewing water like a volcanic eruption.


    Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps to charge into the sea again. This time, he identified the position of the war wagon and swam towards it. With the aid of the wagon, he blocked the black dragons'' devouring and attacks.


    Zhou Wen kept every action of the nine black dragons in his calculations. The blood-colored avatar kept circling around the black dragons while fleeing to the back of the war wagon, keeping close to it.


    A black dragon rushed over from one side as Zhou Wen charged over without any hesitation. He struck it with his palm, but when the Poison Dragon Palm touched the black dragon''s scales, Zhou Wen didn''t even look at the outcome. He switched to the Lost Country Life Soul and used teleportation to escape.


    This time, he was very close to the surface. After teleporting, he used Ghost Steps to rush straight out of the sea. The black dragons angrily charged out of the water and chased after him.


    Zhou Wen spread his arm wing behind him as he used infinite Ghost Steps to dodge the attacks of the nine black dragons, rushing towards a cave on a nearby mountain cliff.


    Thankfully, the nine black dragons weren''t able to leave the sea, allowing Zhou Wen to barely escape into the cave. From afar, the nine black dragons roared in the sea, stirring up waves. It was frightening.


    Zhou Wen stood in the cave looking for the black dragon that the Poison Dragon Palm had hit. Others couldn''t tell apart the nine black dragons as they looked identical, but after studying them for so long, Zhou Wen was extremely familiar with them. He immediately found the black dragon that had been struck by the Poison Dragon Palm.


    Around its abdomen, Zhou Wen saw a black palm print. As the dragon was black, Zhou Wen almost failed to notice the palm print. After careful inspection, he found the palm print that was only slightly different in color from the black dragon.


    I hope it works. Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for him to kill Mythical creatures at the moment. Now, he was still unable to fight real Mythical creatures. He could only attempt to kill the black dragons chained up.


    After waiting for quite a while, Zhou Wen didn''t see the black dragon die from the poison even after the nine black dragons lost their patience and dived back to the bottom of the water.


    After all, it''s a Mythical creature. Its poison resistance will definitely be higher. I''ll wait a little longer. Zhou Wen left the dungeon and planned on heading down to see if the black dragon had been poisoned to death when Lost Country''s cooldown was up tomorrow.


    Now, the blood-colored avatar couldn''t die. Once it died, it had to respawn, and all of his previous efforts would go to waste.


    Without doing anything too dangerous, Zhou Wen switched to Pool City to grind for Epic creatures to raise his stats to 40.


    He was quite lucky today. After killing a few Jade Toads, a 20-valued Poison Crystal dropped. He even had a Jade Toad Companion Egg drop. Unfortunately, it had average stats.


    Zhou Wen had actually obtained quite a number of Companion Eggs, but he mostly fed them to his Mythical pets as food. Their interest in high-level Companion Beasts was higher than ordinary food.


    Unless it was a Companion Egg with excellent stats, Zhou Wen wouldn''t keep them.


    Why isn''t this phone game equipped with autoplay? If only I had it. Zhou Wen spent quite a while grinding and inevitably felt bored. After all, repeatedly killing the same monster wasn''t challenging at all. It was just a time-grinder.


    "Zhou Wen, are you home?" Someone knocked on the door outside and Zhou Wen could tell that it was Wang Lu. When he opened the door, he found Wang Lu standing at the yard''s entrance.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen walked to the yard and opened the yard door.


    Wang Lu curled her lips and said, "Can''t I look for you if there''s nothing wrong?"


    "You can, but I''m very busy at the moment. If there''s nothing special, I''ll get back to my reading." Zhou Wen walked back as he spoke.


    "A gaming addict like you actually reads? Let me see what books you read." Wang Lu seemed to have something to say, but when she heard that Zhou Wen was reading, she became intrigued. She followed Zhou Wen into his dorm.


    Wang Lu casually flipped through the few books on Zhou Wen''s couch and said with a smile, "String Theory, Quantum Teleportation, Diamond Perfection Sutra, and Superior and Wondrous Numinous Treasure Scripture of Limitless Salvation and Most High. Your hobby sure is widespread. You go from front-line scientific theories to idealism. Are you a materialist or idealist?"


    "I am whatever that brings me benefits." As Zhou Wen flipped through the books in his hand, he used his phone to check on the references.


    "You''re quite pragmatic." Wang Lu placed the books back to their original spot before sitting beside Zhou Wen. She looked at the book in Zhou Wen''s hand and saw that it was explaining something about branes.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "I took care of those two pets for you previously. You said you would repay me the favor. Are you free? Do you want to repay me now?" Wang Lu said as she narrowed her eyes.


    "What do you want me to do?" Every time Zhou Wen went out, he would leave the antelope and chick to Wang Lu to take care of them. Back then, he had indeed said that he owed her a favor and would slowly repay her in the future.


    "Eat with me and meet someone," said Wang Lu.


    "Who?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    "Someone I don''t wish to see, but he''s someone I have to. Why are you asking so many questions? Are you trying to renege on your promise?" Wang Lu stared at Zhou Wen.


    "No, I was just asking. When is it?" Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. It was pointless asking since he had to return the favor.


    "Now, go and change your clothes. We''ll leave now and rush back before the school gates are closed," said Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen didn''t ask any further questions as he returned to his bedroom to change out of his uniform and changed into his casual clothes before leaving the school with Wang Lu.


    He was very puzzled as to why Wang Lu would bring him along for dinner with someone else. However, he didn''t pursue the matter since Wang Lu didn''t elaborate.


    After arriving at the restaurant, Wang Lu headed straight for a private room with great familiarity. Zhou Wen saw that there was already someone sitting in the private room¡ªa middle-aged man, but he didn''t recognize him.


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 393 Tes

    "Uncle, this is my classmate, Zhou Wen." Wang Lu pointed at Zhou Wen and introduced him before pointing at the middle-aged man. "This is my uncle. You can call him Uncle too."


    "Uncle," Zhou Wen greeted, but he felt somewhat puzzled. He didn''t know why Wang Lu had brought him along to meet her family member.


    "Sit down," Wang Lu''s uncle said indifferently without any intention of communicating with Zhou Wen.


    Wang Lu sat opposite him and tugged at Zhou Wen, gesturing to him to sit beside her. The two of them looked at the middle-aged man across the table.


    "Little Lu, you should have had enough fun, right? It''s time to go back and cultivate seriously. Don''t keep your parents worried," said Wang Guotao as he stared at Wang Lu.


    "Uncle, things are progressing well with my cultivation at Sunset College. Sunset College is one of the top ten colleges in the League. The tutors and teaching resources here are all very good¡­" Before Wang Lu could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by Wang Guotao.


    "I''m more familiar with Sunset College''s standards than you are. The teaching standards there are indeed excellent compared to ordinary schools, but it''s still a school that''s targeted at the masses at the end of the day. It''s impossible for it to teach according to your characteristics and abilities, much less teach you the secret techniques of our Wang family," said Wang Guotao.


    "I don''t necessarily have to learn the family''s secret techniques. I think the status quo is pretty good," Wang Lu said as she bit her lip.


    "Do you really think that learning from things catered to the masses is good? If that''s the case, the disappointment won''t be limited to your parents, Even I''m disappointed," said Wang Guotao.


    "Uncle, I wish to continue studying in school. You dote on me the most, help me," pleaded Wang Lu.


    "I can let it pass on any other matter, but not this. You''ve already wasted half a year. If you don''t return and focus on your cultivation, how can you keep up with the progress of your siblings? You''ll have to take charge of the Wang family in the future. If your strength can''t suppress those of the same generation, how will the masses submit to you in the future?" Wang Guotao said.


    "It''s not like I''m planning on taking charge of the Wang family." Wang Lu muttered softly.


    "What did you say?" Although her voice was soft, Wang Guotao still heard her. His expression turned cold.


    "Nothing. I''m saying that cultivation is the same in college. One''s cultivation progress will not be slower than at home," Wang Lu said as she pointed at Zhou Wen and said, "Zhou Wen is my schoolmate. He''s also studying in school. He''s much stronger than my siblings."


    "He''s a member of the An family, so the college naturally takes great care of him." Wang Guotao clearly knew about Zhou Wen and continued, "Besides, saying that he''s stronger than your siblings? I don''t think so."


    When Wang Lu heard this, she immediately felt delighted. She knew that Wang Guotao was acting as she had imagined. He couldn''t bear humiliation, especially when the Wang family was insulted.


    "If you don''t believe me, you can test him. If he is indeed stronger than my siblings who cultivate at home, how about letting me remain on campus and cultivate?" Wang Lu took the opportunity to say.


    "Since you brought him here, I''m afraid you won''t give up if I say no." As Wang Guotao spoke, he looked at Zhou Wen. "What are you best at?"


    "I''m not particularly good at anything," Zhou Wen answered.


    Wang Lu hurriedly added, "Uncle, Zhou Wen means that he is proficient in everything. You can test him as you please."


    Is that what I mean? Zhou Wen didn''t know whether to laugh or cry, but he couldn''t say it out loud in front of Wang Guotao.


    "Your grandfather has been cultivating an entire lifetime, and even he doesn''t dare say that he''s proficient in everything. Do you think those words are suitable for a student?" said Wang Guotao sternly.


    With that said, he ignored Wang Lu''s reaction and looked at Zhou Wen. "Since you aren''t good at anything, I''ll test you on the Wang family''s usual cultivation problem."


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu who gave him a pleading look. Her hands were clasped under the table, moving it like she was praying to a god.


    "Uncle, please speak." Zhou Wen thought for a moment. He had no choice but to help her since he owed her a favor.


    Wang Guotao poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of Zhou Wen. He said indifferently, "The most important thing about cultivation is the foundation. It''s like building. If the foundation hasn''t been built, there''s no way you can build a skyscraper. Even if it''s built forcefully, it will quickly collapse. Now, I''ll test your foundation."


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Guotao in puzzlement, unsure how he could test him with a cup of tea.


    Wang Guotao remained unperturbed. He poured himself a cup of tea and placed it on the table in front of him.


    The table was made of rosewood. It was about ten centimeters thick and was rather sturdy. With a casual press, Wang Guotao made the teacup sink into the table. The cup''s mouth became parallel to the table, as if it was embedded in it. The cup wasn''t damaged, and not a single drop of tea inside spilled.


    "Uncle, aren''t you making things difficult for him? Zhou Wen has never cultivated our family''s Heart Destroying Palm. Besides, which of my siblings can even achieve a level like yours?" Wang Lu immediately objected.


    "If you can''t do it, it means that the teachers of the academy are lacking. So, it''s best you go back home and cultivate," said Wang Guotao calmly.


    Wang Lu opened her mouth to protest, but she didn''t know how to rebut Wang Guotao.


    "I''ll give it a try," Zhou Wen said as he looked at the teacup in front of him.


    "It''s a good thing that young people are willing to try. I won''t make things difficult for you either. As long as you can sink a third of the teacup into the table without shattering the teacup, I''ll count it as a pass," Wang Guotao said.


    Zhou Wen nodded and reached out to smack the teacup.


    "Wait," Wang Lu called out to Zhou Wen nervously and looked at him pleadingly. "Be careful. Don''t shatter the teacup. Just get it in if you can."


    Wang Lu thought that if the teacup were to shatter, there was no way to protest. As long as the teacup didn''t shatter, or even if a third of the cup didn''t sink in, she could still bargain with Wang Guotao.


    Zhou Wen actually didn''t quite understand why Wang Lu insisted on studying on campus when her family had such good conditions. Wasn''t she rejecting what was near at hand and seeking what was far away?


    However, it wasn''t his place to interfere with Wang Lu''s matters. He just needed to return the favor.


    "Don''t worry," Zhou Wen said to Wang Lu before reaching out to smack the teacup in front of him.


    Wang Lu fell into despair when she heard a cracking sound.


    The table was completely fine as the teacup was smashed to pieces by Zhou Wen. Wang Lu felt the room spinning, wishing she could plant her head to the ground. She thought, Did I have a screw loose in my head? Why did I think of bringing Zhou Wen here?


    "Young man, there are many things in this world that can''t be resolved simply with great strength," Wang Guotao said before ignoring Zhou Wen. He looked at Wang Lu and said, "Little Lu, return to campus and pack up. I''ll send someone to fetch you home tomorrow."


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 394 Tea Pattern

    Wang Lu sadly hung her head low, unable to bring herself to retort. She could only blame herself for bringing a fool like Zhou Wen here. She had already told him not to shatter the cup, but great, he ended up smashing it to pieces. The water had spilled onto the table and it was an appalling sight.


    "Uncle, I''ll head back first," Wang Lu said as she stood up.


    "Hold on." Zhou Wen sat there motionless as he called out to Wang Lu.


    Wang Guotao could not help but frown slightly as he looked at Zhou Wen. "Young man, although your surname isn''t An, you are still a part of the An family. You should know your limits when doing things."


    Zhou Wen didn''t explain himself because it wasn''t worth wasting his time explaining things to irrelevant people.


    Pointing at the table, Zhou Wen said, "Uncle, it''s best if you give an evaluation. Tell me what standard this strike is for members of your Wang family''s younger generation."


    "The results are already very obvious. Do I still need to comment on it?" Wang Guotao asked.


    "In that case, Uncle, are you allowing Wang Lu to stay on campus for cultivation?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Guotao.


    Wang Guotao was amused by Zhou Wen. He looked at him and said, "It''s rare to have young people like you who can disregard their pride. However, if you are really doing this for the sake of Little Lu, you should let her return home for cultivation. Alright, both of you can leave."


    Wang Guotao''s words were clearly saying that Zhou Wen was shameless, but Zhou Wen remained unmoved. "I don''t know if going back to cultivate is a good choice for Wang Lu, but since we had an agreement, and I''ve done it already, shouldn''t you allow Wang Lu to make her choice on returning?"


    A cultured person like Wang Guotao couldn''t help but have his expression turn cold when he heard Zhou Wen''s words. He said, "I originally wanted to leave you some dignity, but since you don''t want it, don''t blame me for being blunt. A standard like yours is only about the same level as a child who has just gained some initial mastery in the Wang family. At most, it can be considered brute force, so there''s nothing to be evaluated."


    Wang Guotao also felt somewhat vexed. He was wondering why Zhou Wen was so clueless. He got up and prepared to leave, having no wish to speak to the unreasonable Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen, let''s head back," Wang Lu said as she walked to Zhou Wen. She was well aware of Wang Guotao''s temper, so it was impossible for them to fool him.


    Zhou Wen didn''t move and continued sitting in front of the table. Then, he reached out his hand and pushed the teacup fragments on the table to one side. He looked at Wang Guotao and said, "Uncle, please hold your step. Are you sure that the beginners of your family can do this? Then, please demonstrate for me so that I''ll admit defeat wholeheartedly."


    Wang Lu had wanted to stop Zhou Wen from speaking, but when her eyes met the table, she immediately let out a cry as she looked at the table in surprise.


    Wang Guotao originally didn''t want to bother with Zhou Wen. It was unbecoming for him to keep arguing with Zhou Wen, but when he heard Wang Lu''s exclamation, he couldn''t help but turn around and see her staring intently at the table. Even Wang Guotao followed her gaze.


    With a single glance, Wang Guotao''s pupils contracted, but his eyes widened as they formed a strong contrast.


    On the surface of the yellowish-brown wood grain on the table, were veins of tea leaves. On a closer look, one could see that there weren''t patterns. They were obviously the tea leaves that had been forcibly pressed into the table. The tea leaves were not damaged at all, and the leaf parts were clearly visible. They looked like the original patterns of the wooden table.


    Impossible! Wang Guotao walked to the front of the table again. He stretched out his hand to pry open the fragments of the teacups. Soon, he discovered that there were no tea leaves in the teacup fragments. There were no tea leaves in the spilled tea.


    Wang Guotao almost couldn''t believe his eyes. It was true that he was able to slam the teacup into the table using Yin forces, but the hardness of porcelain was not bad after all. However, tea leaves were brittle, and once they were soaked in water, just a slight nudge would rip them apart. How could they possibly be slammed into the wood?


    The strength of Zhou Wen''s palm shattered the cup. Yet, pieces of tea leaves were slammed into the table without any damage. Regardless, Wang Guotao found it impossible.


    Wang Guotao stretched out his hand to touch the tea leaves, and with a slight tug, the tea leaves immediately tore. He could clearly see the leaf marks on the table.


    They''re not fake? Wang Guotao was dumbfounded again as he stared blankly at the table. He really couldn''t figure out how Zhou Wen had managed to do it.


    Beside her, Wang Lu was surprised and delighted as she said, "You actually pushed the soaked tea leaves into the wooden table. Furthermore, the tea leaves aren''t damaged at all. How did you do it?"


    "It''s not difficult. I just learned a little trick from school. I wonder what standard this trick is in the Wang family?" Zhou Wen spoke to Wang Lu, but his eyes were on Wang Guotao.


    Wang Guotao looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. He wasn''t able to accomplish this. He had never seen such usage of a Yin force before.


    "Is this a technique you learned in school?" Wang Guotao took a deep breath before asking Zhou Wen.


    "Yes, I just learned it from reading a thread on the school forum a few days ago." Zhou Wen knew that even if he could do as Wang Guotao did¡ªpushing the teacup into the table¡ªWang Guotao probably wouldn''t let Wang Lu stay.


    He had to prove that the things he learned in school were better than what the Wang family had to offer. Only then would Wang Guotao consider letting Wang Lu stay.


    "Uncle, I doubt any of my siblings can do something like what Zhou Wen did, right? You aren''t allowed to go back on your word," Wang Lu said happily.


    Wang Guotao looked at the tea leaves that had sunk into the table with a complicated expression. After a while, he said to Wang Lu, "You can stay, but I will send someone to test you every month from now on. If you can''t reach the assessment standards, you need to return immediately."


    "Uncle, thank you. You''re great." Wang Lu was overjoyed as she pulled Zhou Wen to his feet and said, "Zhou Wen, let''s go."


    "Wait, Little Lu, go get the bill first. I have something to say to Zhou Wen," Wang Guotao stopped Wang Lu.


    Seeing Wang Lu look at him suspiciously, Wang Guotao said with a smile, "Don''t worry. I''m not that unreasonable. I just want to ask a few questions about you. I''m afraid Zhou Wen wouldn''t dare tell the truth in front of you."


    "Uncle, just ask me if you have anything to ask," said Wang Lu.


    "Go settle the bill." Wang Guotao spoke again.


    Wang Lu could only obediently settle the bill, but before she left, she kept winking at Zhou Wen, as though warning him to be careful with his words.


    After Wang Lu left, Wang Guotao asked, "Zhou Wen, how''s your relationship with Little Lu?"


    "Not bad," Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    Wang Guotao nodded slightly before saying to Zhou Wen, "If you really have Little Lu''s interests at heart, I hope that you can maintain a certain distance from her in the future."


    "Why?" Zhou Wen frowned.


    "Because you are Wang Mingyuan''s student," said Wang Guotao simply.


    "I understand. Uncle, don''t worry. Wang Lu and I are just ordinary friends." Zhou Wen replied calmly.


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 395 Becoming a Videographer Again

    Zhou Wen could understand Wang Guotao''s worries. In the League, Wang Mingyuan was taboo. His reputation might even be worse than the devil, Jing Daoxian.


    With the branding as Wang Mingyuan''s student on him, no one from a wealthy family in the League would dare to get too close to him to avoid being considered to be in cahoots with him.


    Wang Guotao only said one sentence, but he didn''t say anything after that. One sentence was all that was needed when speaking to smart people. For those who weren''t smart, it was useless no matter how much was said. Therefore, he only mentioned one key point.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu left the restaurant together. Wang Lu was very happy, so she didn''t return to school directly. Instead, she took Zhou Wen around the mall and bought quite a lot of things. She also bought some clothes for him to show her gratitude.


    "Zhou Wen, how did you do it? You actually slammed the tea leaves into the table. Even my uncle was dumbfounded. He definitely can''t do it," Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen said with a smile, "Actually, it''s not completely Yin force. It''s a technique I''ve been learning recently. It''s considered a trick."


    Zhou Wen was telling the truth. He was certain that he couldn''t do anything to such an extent by relying on Yin forces. The soaked tea leaves were not only soft and brittle, but they were also separated by the teacup. Even a powerful Yin force expert like Wang Guotao couldn''t send the tea leaves into the table like him.


    Zhou Wen used some of the spatial-type means, but it looked like Yin force. In fact, the Yin force played a very small role in it. It was in the same vein as Leng Zongzheng''s use of the Demonic Organ Throne. It was also the fruit of Zhou Wen''s recent reading and research.


    Although there was still no way to upgrade the Lost Country to an Evolved Body, there was finally some progress. As long as he continued his research, he would eventually gain some insight.


    "At least you''re smart. I''m really happy today. Are you free tomorrow? I need to complete my homework mission, so be my videographer," Wang Lu said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen didn''t reject it.


    He didn''t deliberately distance himself from Wang Lu due to what Wang Guotao had said. He and Wang Lu were only ordinary friends, so there was nothing to hide. Furthermore, Zhou Wen wasn''t a goody-two-shoes.


    Wang Lu was well aware of his situation. Since Wang Lu didn''t mind being friends with him, why would he push Wang Lu away?


    As for the negative effects of being Wang Mingyuan''s student, Zhou Wen believed that he could eliminate it in the future and not let it affect his family and friends.


    Of course, that was on the premise that Wang Lu didn''t mind.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen headed for the underground Pool City. However, he had killed many Epic creatures inside, so finding more of them was very troublesome. All he could do was switch dungeons.


    The blood-colored avatar couldn''t die, so Zhou Wen couldn''t respawn the dungeons either. All he could do was head to some safe places to grind. After some time, he didn''t have any monsters to grind.


    I''ll sleep early today. I''ll check the results when I head to the underground sea tomorrow. It was rare for Zhou Wen to go to sleep so early that he woke up punctually at six in the morning.


    His Lost Country cooldown time wasn''t up. After he washed up, he grabbed a book and walked to the cafeteria to eat as he read.


    The few books that Leng Zongzheng introduced him to were a little too profound. Many of them had knowledge that Zhou Wen had never read before, but he didn''t find it dull.


    Perhaps others who read these intelligible books might find them boring, but Zhou Wen read with great relish. From his point of view, the knowledge he didn''t understand gave him plenty of room to imagine. Rather than studying, it was better to say that Zhou Wen treated it as a storybook.


    Many times, after Zhou Wen figured out what it really meant and compared it to his imagination, he realized he had been ridiculously wrong.


    For someone like Zhou Wen, who was easily engrossed in everything he did, he learned everything faster than the average person.


    Of course, there were also flaws. While Zhou Wen immersed himself in multi-dimensional string theory and fantasized about a magical world, he didn''t realize that Wang Lu had been sitting opposite him for quite some time.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to leave, he realized that Wang Lu was sitting there.


    "When did you arrive?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I really have no idea what''s up with you. I can close one eye when you''re obsessed with gaming, but to be so engrossed in reading such books¡­ I''m really impressed." Wang Lu rolled her eyes at him. "Yesterday, you said you will be my videographer. Did you forget that because of your reading?"


    "I haven''t forgotten. What''s your homework mission? Where are you going to hunt dimensional creatures?" Zhou Wen put away his book and asked.


    "There''s no need to hunt dimensional creatures this time. Didn''t we go to the Town God''s Temple previously? This homework mission is also to go to a Town God''s Temple. However, it''s not the tiny one from before, but the bigger one in the city," Wang Lu said as she walked.


    "Your homework mission is to pray at Town God''s Temple?" Zhou Wen said in surprise. He had never received such a nice homework mission.


    "This is a homework mission that only special admissions students have. We need to at least defeat a guardian," Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen followed Wang Lu to the Town God''s Temple. At the same time, a person arrived in Luoyang and went to An Tianzuo''s office.


    "Sir, it''s been a long time since we last met. You are still the same." An Tianzuo stood up to welcome him, allowing the person to enter the office.


    "I''m old. The last time I saw you, I still had some black hair. But now, it''s all white." Fu Yu sighed.


    "Sir, you guard the East Sea and slay countless sea beasts to ensure our League''s safety. You are one of the cornerstones of the League. If you claim to be old, no one in the League would dare say that they are young." An Tianzuo got someone to brew tea for Fu Yu.


    "You¡­" Fu Yu could not help but laugh.


    "Sir, is there something important for you to suddenly come to me at this time?" A person like Fu Yu would never leave the East Sea if there was nothing important. His sudden appearance without even making a phone call clearly made it unusual.


    Fu Yu put down his teacup and looked at An Tianzuo as he asked, "Tianzuo, we have some relationship as master and disciple. There are some things I can''t say to others directly, but to you, I won''t beat about the bush."


    "Sir, please speak," An Tianzuo said seriously.


    "Wang Mingyuan has a student named Zhou Wen. Is he related to you?" Fu Yu asked An Tianzuo.


    "Not really. He''s my step-father''s son with his former wife, and has nothing to do with our An family," An Tianzuo said.


    "How''s your relationship with him then?" Fu Yu asked again.


    "I have nothing to do with him," said An Tianzuo without any hesitation.


    "That''s good. In that case, if the people from the Special Inspector Bureau were to take him away, just turn a blind eye," Fu Yu said.


    "Sir, what do you mean by that?" An Tianzuo frowned.


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 396 Lobbyis

    "Wang Mingyuan destroyed the Holy Tower and opened up a dimension, nearly turning Holy City into an undead city. The impact this matter brought is overly disastrous," Fu Yu said.


    "That''s Wang Mingyuan''s own fault. What has it got to do with his students? If all of Wang Mingyuan''s former students are to be punished, how many officials and generals in the League have once attended Wang Mingyuan''s lessons? Why aren''t they all to be arrested?" An Tianzuo said.


    "How is that the same? Before Wang Mingyuan broke through the dimension, he deliberately got his four students to visit him. Clearly, these four students are different. Furthermore¡­" Fu Yu wanted to say something but held back.


    "Sir, if you have something to say, just say it," said An Tianzuo.


    Fu Yu sighed and said, "If Wang Mingyuan''s matter had ended there, the League wouldn''t have their eyes peeled on his students. For your sake, let''s hope they only increase the surveillance. However, the situation now is different. Some things can''t be hidden. The dimensional passageway that Wang Mingyuan opened looks like it has closed, but in fact, it hasn''t completely closed. Or rather, it has already become extremely weak. With a certain level of strength, one can tear open the dimensional passageway."


    "A Mythical creature entered the League from there?" An Tianzuo asked with a frown.


    "It would be great if that was all. The current League has a lot of restrictions on dimensional creatures. Even if they come, the danger they pose won''t be too great. The League''s brass still has ways to deal with them." After a pause, Fu Yu said, "But I wonder what method Wang Mingyuan used. After his incident, many famous figures from the League and even some bigwigs did as Wang Mingyuan did. They entered the dimensional zone from there."


    "Perhaps they just wish to explore the dimension to gather information," said An Tianzuo.


    "Do you need to turn into a monster like Wang Mingyuan to gather information?" Fu Yu sighed.


    "How is that possible? The reason Wang Mingyuan could transform into a dimensional creature is due to the power of the Holy Tower and the six temples. Now that the Holy Tower has been destroyed, the powers of the six temples won''t surge out again. How did they turn into dimensional creatures?" An Tianzuo was astonished.


    "That''s the problem. It''s impossible for them to turn into dimensional creatures by themselves unless someone is secretly messing around."


    "Wang Mingyuan?"


    "Is there anyone else who can do such a thing apart from him?" Fu Yu continued. "The League has been investigating. What we know now is that they have a connection with the dimensionalized Wang Mingyuan. They must have been able to dimensionalize and rush into the dimensional zones with Wang Mingyuan''s help. As for what method was used, as well as how Wang Mingyuan returned from the dimensional zone, it''s still impossible to determine."


    "So does the Senate wish to seek an answer from students like Zhou Wen?" An Tianzuo understood what Fu Yu meant.


    "Before Wang Mingyuan underwent dimensionalization, he didn''t even meet his family, but he insisted on meeting the four of them. Clearly, they have some extraordinary significance to him. Perhaps they really know something. The Senators only want an answer to prevent the situation from worsening," Fu Yu said.


    "They even invited you over, which means that this matter has been confirmed, right?" An Tianzuo asked with a calm expression.


    "Tianzuo, since Zhou Wen isn''t one of yours, why do you have to interfere in this matter? Just let the bureau take him away. I believe they won''t make things difficult for Zhou Wen on account of the An family," Fu Yu said.


    "Sir, do you believe what you are saying?" An Tianzuo asked.


    Fu Yu was momentarily at a loss for words. After entering the bureau, they would definitely resort to every means possible to get whatever they wanted from Zhou Wen. They might even use soul-type Companion Beasts and abilities. They might even steal Zhou Wen''s memories away. There was no way they would treat him well as Fu Yu said.


    "If I don''t agree to you taking Zhou Wen away, will those Senators plan to forcibly abduct him?" An Tianzuo asked Fu Yu.


    Fu Yu''s expression changed slightly when she heard that. "Tianzuo, why are you doing this? You have already said it yourself. Zhou Wen has nothing to do with you¡­"


    An Tianzuo smiled and said, "Sir, remember when you taught me in school. When a human is extraordinary, they have to treat others as humans. When a human is mediocre, they have to treat themselves as human. Zhou Wen is a student of Sunset College. He didn''t commit any crimes. I have nothing to do with him, and I don''t even have a good impression of him, but as long as he hasn''t done anything wrong, no one can take him away from Luoyang."


    "Tianzuo, your personality¡­" Fu Yu looked at An Tianzuo helplessly.


    "Sir, can you return and tell those Senators who are in their ivory towers that if they want to take Zhou Wen away, they have to produce enough evidence to gain my approval or do it over my dead body. They can choose either one," An Tianzuo said without any expression.


    Fu Yu knew there was no need to continue speaking. From his previous master-disciple relationship with An Tianzuo, he knew what kind of person An Tianzuo was. Since he had said it out loud, even if a blade was placed at his neck, it was impossible to change his decision.


    After Fu Yu left, An Tianzuo glanced at the door and said with a cold expression, "Have you heard enough?"


    An Sheng pushed the door open and walked in. With a smile, he said, "Overseer, you used to look down on Zhou Wen in the past. Why are you protecting him?"


    "What do you mean by in the past? It''s the same now. I''m protecting him because I don''t want the empress dowager at home to be unhappy. Besides, how can a student of Sunset College be abducted as they wish? This is a lawful society!" An Tianzuo said.


    "Yes, yes, yes. You are the most righteous Overseer in this world," An Sheng said with a smile.


    "Why does it sound so awkward when you put it that way?" An Tianzuo put down his pen and glared at An Sheng.


    "Maybe it''s because you''re too humble, Overseer. You aren''t used to compliments. You will get used to it once you hear more of them," An Sheng said.


    "Cut it out. Don''t tell my empress dowager about this. She''s already feeling terrible about Grandfather''s matter. Don''t add to her worries any further," instructed An Tianzuo.


    "Got it. What about Zhou Wen? They''ve already gotten Mr. Fu to lobby you, so I''m afraid they won''t back down even if they don''t blatantly come and apprehend him. They''ll still secretly send people here. It''s probably unsafe for Zhou Wen to stay on campus," An Sheng said.


    "What has his safety got to do with us? He''s already an adult. If he gets captured and killed, that''s because he''s incompetent, so he deserves it. Don''t tell me you still want to be a nanny who cradles him 24 hours a day?" An Tianzuo said with a cold expression.


    "Yes, Overseer. I''ll go inform him now and leave him to his own devices." An Sheng saluted and turned to leave.


    "Come back." An Tianzuo called out to An Sheng again.


    "Overseer, do you have any orders?" An Sheng turned around and asked.


    "Because of Grandfather''s matter, my mom has been in a bad mood recently. Doesn''t she favor that punk the most? Get that punk to accompany her. At the very least, he''s a stepson. This is also something he should do. Besides, the empress dowager dotes on him so much, so he should know how to repay her kindness," An Tianzuo said with a deadpan expression.


    "Overseer, do you mean to get him to move to the An family''s compound?" An Sheng blinked as he asked.


    "Did I say that?" An Tianzuo snorted coldly.


    "No, definitely not. Then I''ll go find Zhou Wen now and get him to accompany the An family''s emperor dowager." An Sheng saluted in all seriousness before leaving the office.


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 397 Four Guardian Generals

    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu arrived at the Town God''s Temple. It was clearly much more majestic than the one Zhou Wen and company had gone to. It was also a lot bigger. It was split into three outer entrance gates, three entrances, three opera rooms, one hexagonal stone-pillared pavilion, three buildings with round ridge roofs, five temples, five back halls, and twelve rooms on each side of the stone pillars.


    The temple was the main place of worship. It consecrated the Town God, Duke Wei Ling. There were two judge statues. There were stone carvings carved on the top of the hall''s roof beam, and on the four corners of the spine, there were stone statues. Legend had it that the four infamous generals, Han Xin, Zhou Yu, Pang Juan, and Luo Cheng were punished to guard the city for their crimes.


    However, this was only a legend. The four guardian generals of the Town God''s Temple''s dimensional zone were named Four Generals of Wei Ling. As long as one challenged any of the four generals and remained undefeated for three minutes, they would be rewarded by Duke Wei Ling.


    However, to hold out for three minutes without being defeated by the four of them, one had to at least be at the Legendary stage. Most of the students in Sunset College couldn''t do it, so it was no wonder the homework mission was only given to special admissions students. Even if the typical student came, not only would they not obtain any benefits, their lives might even be in danger.


    The four guardian generals separately wielded a sword, saber, a spear, and a swordbreaker, so they were known as the Sword General, Saber General, Spear General, and Swordbreaker General.


    "Which guardian general are you choosing?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    "According to legend, the Swordbreaker General corresponds to Pang Juan, so I''ll choose him," Wang Lu said after some thought.


    "Why him?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. This was because Pang Juan''s fame was the worst of the four guardian generals. Few people usually chose him.


    Most people would choose Sword General who likely represented Han Xin or Spear General who likely represented Luo Cheng. Relatively fewer people would choose Zhou Yu who represented Saber General and Pang Juan who represented Swordbreaker General.


    "I once read some stories about Pang Juan. I always feel that the so-called crime of harming a fellow disciple is false. Back then, Pang Juan was publicly acknowledged as the number one general, and he remained victorious in all attacks. Furthermore, he and Sun Bin came from different countries, and there was quite a huge difference in age. No matter how I think about it, that story is a bit too bizarre. Just like Zhou Yu''s abhorrent name, it''s just fabricated in novels. The Battle of Red Cliffs was all thanks to Zhou Yu and the other generals. The so-called stories of borrowing the eastern wind and using boats of straw to capture arrows were merely a stylistic choice the authors had of elevating Kong Ming. It had never happened to him before. In that battle, Liu Bei didn''t obtain any credit. He only picked up the spoils when Cao Cao was defeated," Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen nodded. He didn''t know much about the history before the dimensional storms, but he also found what Wang Lu said sounded reasonable.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and recorded Wang Lu. Wang Lu entered the Wei Ling Hall and bowed at it. Then, she pulled out a summoning talisman with the word "Swordbreaker" engraved on it from the offering table.


    After the summoning talisman was pulled out, the sound of meteors striking the ground could be heard coming from within the courtyard. A general in armor appeared in the courtyard with two swordbreakers in hand.


    The general had a majestic figure. He wielded his two swordbreakers like a gigantic deity as his eyes darted over like lightning and stared at Wang Lu.


    After Wang Lu exited the main entrance of the Wei Ling Hall, the general smashed down with his swordbreaker. Although the weapon didn''t emit any light, it possessed a powerful force that was akin to a mountain crashing down.


    Wang Lu didn''t clash head-on with the swordbreaker. Instead, she used her movement technique to circle around him. She moved agilely amidst the storm-like attacks of the dual swordbreakers with great ease. It left Zhou Wen slightly surprised.


    Zhou Wen had always felt that Wang Lu was just lucky, but he never expected her movement techniques to be so exquisite. Apart from the difference in level and speed, she wasn''t at all inferior to Zhou Wen''s movement techniques.


    In three minutes, the swordbreakers had failed to injure Wang Lu at all. They didn''t even touch her clothes.


    When the time was up, the Swordbreaker General burst into a white mist and disappeared. As for the summoning talisman that Wang Lu had pulled out from the offering table, there was a strange change. It turned into a dimensional crystal. The crystal contained the Swordbreaker General''s shadow. Surprisingly, it was a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    "Do you want to give it a try?" Wang Lu asked as she blinked and put away the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    "Can I? I don''t have the homework mission," Zhou Wen asked.


    "Since the pass can bring you in, you naturally can try," said Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen nodded. Since he was already here, there was no reason to give up on the benefits.


    Zhou Wen came to the Wei Ling Hall. He didn''t dare pray this time. If he accidentally blew up Duke Wei Ling, where would he get the benefits?


    He looked at the summoning talismans that represented the four generals. Wang Lu had taken one of the tokens, but now, it had returned to four.


    Zhou Wen had limited knowledge of historical figures and had only heard of their names. Furthermore, it was difficult to say if the four generals really represented them. Therefore, after some thought, he chose the Sword General.


    He had the Overlord Sword in hand. If a sword-type Primordial Energy Skill dropped, he could use it.


    He heard a loud bang from the courtyard. A general with an ancient sword appeared in the yard.


    As soon as Zhou Wen left the courtyard, the general slashed over with his sword. However, the sword wasn''t fast. It didn''t have the domineering stance of the Swordbreaker General.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of dodging. He summoned his Overlord Sword and slashed at the Sword General. He wanted to see how strong the guardian general''s defense was.


    However, when his sword slashed over, he saw the Sword General withdraw his sword and retreat, causing Zhou Wen''s strike to miss.


    What''s going on? Does the guardian general fear me? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he suddenly saw the general wave his sword. A beam of light flashed in the yard as ten beauties with ancient swords appeared out of nowhere. All of them wore fiendish looks as they charged at Zhou Wen with swords in hand.


    Instantly, sword beams surged everywhere, transforming into a sword formation that trapped Zhou Wen inside.


    Zhou Wen was slightly surprised. The Sword General was rather interesting¡ªhe could even summon a sword formation. Seeing the layers of sword beams strike at him, Zhou Wen didn''t dodge them. Overlord Sword released a terrifying sword beam as he delivered Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    The sword glows interlaced with one another. In just a split second, the ten beautiful women with ancient swords in hand were chopped up with their swords. They turned into white mist and dissipated.


    When Zhou Wen looked at the Sword General, he saw him swing the ancient sword. Another ten ancient sword beauties had formed a sword formation again.


    Zhou Wen repeatedly slashed at the seven waves of the sword formation formed by the seven beauties, but the Sword General kept avoiding a direct battle with him. Zhou Wen used Ghost Steps to approach the Sword General to pressurize him into fighting him, but the Sword General''s movement technique was baffling. He actually dodged Zhou Wen''s attack and summoned the beauties'' sword formation again.


    Three minutes quickly passed as the Sword General turned into white mist and dissipated. However, Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He had failed to force the Sword General to fight him.


    His gaze landed on the summoning talisman and saw that it had indeed turned into a crystal. The shadow of the Sword General was inside, and it was also a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


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 398 Seal

    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to absorb the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. After putting it in his pocket, he left the Town God''s Temple with Wang Lu.


    "What are we going to do later?" Wang Lu asked as they walked.


    "Head back before reading books and playing games," Zhou Wen blurted out his thoughts.


    He still hadn''t found a way to condense a Life Soul for Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Despite him already having three Life Souls and knowing he shouldn''t be so greedy, he wanted one that he couldn''t force. He still found it a knotty problem even though condensing a single Life Soul before thirty was considered a success.


    "What''s the point of reading and gaming all day? Shall we go to the dimensional zone to hunt dimensional creatures?" Wang Lu suggested.


    "I''m not going." Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to enter a dimensional zone. Even if he were to grind, he could do it himself in-game. There was no need for him to risk his life in real life. If he accidentally died, he would truly be dead.


    Wang Lu rolled her eyes at Zhou Wen and wanted to criticize him, but her eyes darted when she suddenly said, "By the way, didn''t you plan on killing the Binyang Cave''s tiger before? Do you want to make a trip there?"


    Zhou Wen originally planned on returning to read and game, but after hearing Wang Lu''s words, his eyes lit up. "Can we?"


    "With me around, there''s nothing you can''t do. You also want a baby tiger, right?" Wang Lu said with a smile.


    "What are the conditions?" Zhou Wen asked as he cautiously looked at Wang Lu. He found it odd that Wang Lu would help him hunt the tiger for no reason.


    "We are schoolmates, so it''s too tacky to name conditions. How about this? Based on the principle of mutually helping and showing love for each other, you have to lend a helping hand to a student with difficulties. During our semester time, you will be responsible for my breakfast," Wang Lu said with a smile.


    "Sure, you can have anything that the canteen has to offer," Zhou Wen agreed without hesitation. Although breakfast over the years cost a lot of money, it was nothing compared to the baby tiger.


    "Do I look like I''m short of money?" Wang Lu rolled her eyes at him.


    "Didn''t you tell me to cover your breakfast?" Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu in puzzlement.


    Wang Lu sighed and said, "We''re all schoolmates, so I won''t lie to you. Actually, I''ve had some weird disease since I was young. Every morning, I have a relapse and I am in so much pain that I have no way of getting out of bed. Breakfast time is exactly the time when I have a relapse. It''s been a long time since I had breakfast. If you don''t mind, I hope you can deliver breakfast to me every day."


    "I see. Don''t worry. As long as I''m in school, I''ll deliver breakfast to you on time." Zhou Wen nodded. He felt a little sad for Wang Lu, having never expected her to have such a strange illness. It was no wonder he never saw her in the first half of the day.


    "Then it''s a deal. Let''s go to Binyang Cave now," Wang Lu said in satisfaction.


    Zhou Wen followed Wang Lu to Dragon Gate Grotto. Zhou Wen felt that he should be concerned about Wang Lu''s condition, so he asked, "By the way, what kind of illness do you have? Do you have a solution?"


    Wang Lu pondered for a moment before saying in all seriousness, "Every day at dawn, I''ll be possessed and sealed by a blanket monster. No matter what I do, I just can''t get up. The thought of waking up will be painful, excruciatingly painful¡­"


    "Blanket monster¡­ Seal¡­" Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu in a daze.


    "Don''t worry about me. I can still take it. I won''t admit defeat. I will resolutely fight the seal to the end. As long as you deliver breakfast on time every day, I can replenish my energy and have the strength to resist the seal." Wang Lu wore a determined expression as she clenched her fists, as though she was encouraging herself.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu, unsure of what to say.


    Before they entered the school gate, he saw An Sheng standing beside the car.


    "Zhou Wen, are you free? I have something important to discuss with you," An Sheng said.


    "You guys go ahead. I''ll be heading back now," Wang Lu said as she winked at Zhou Wen. "Don''t forget our deal. Be on time tomorrow."


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "Girlfriend?" An Sheng asked as he looked at the departing Wang Lu.


    "No, ordinary friend." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    An Sheng smiled and said, "Wang Lu is destined to become the head of the Wang family. It''s not easy to marry her. None of the Wang family will agree to you marrying into the Wang family."


    "Didn''t I just say? We are just ordinary friends." Zhou Wen was speechless.


    An Sheng''s expression turned serious as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Zhou Wen, there are new developments to Wang Mingyuan''s matter. You and the other three students are in a terrible situation. The League might send someone to take you back."


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng in puzzlement.


    An Sheng recounted what had happened to the League recently, leaving Zhou Wen dumbfounded.


    "Was Teacher behind those humans who dimensionalized themselves and entered the dimensional zones?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It appears to be the case now. Therefore, the League has tried various means to stop such incidents from happening again. They will not let go of any possibility. Therefore, you, Hui Haifeng, Jiang Yan, and Zhong Ziya have become their main focus. Although they don''t dare to brazenly arrest you in Luoyang, they will definitely send someone to secretly abduct you," An Sheng said.


    "How''s Hui Haifeng and the rest?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Hui Haifeng is protected by his family, so there shouldn''t be too much of a problem. Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan seemed to have vanished into thin air. There''s no news at the moment," An Sheng answered.


    "That puts me at rest." Zhou Wen wasn''t worried about his safety. As long as he wasn''t facing a large number of Epic experts, he believed that he had the ability to protect himself.


    "Overseer hopes that you can go to the An family to accompany Madam," An Sheng said ingeniously.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he heard that. However, he pondered for a moment before saying, "It''s better I stay on campus. After all, I''m not from the An family. It''s impossible for me to hide in the An family for the rest of my life."


    "Now isn''t the time to be impulsive. When the League sends their men, they will be top-notch Epic experts. Furthermore, they wouldn''t just appear in front of you. They will only attack in secret. It''s very likely that you would succumb without even knowing what happened," An Sheng said.


    "Ah Sheng, just as you said. A dimensional zone can lose its effectiveness at any time. When the time comes, can I still hide with the An family while all kinds of terrifying dimensional creatures are rampaging?" Zhou Wen asked.


    An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen in silence. Zhou Wen continued, "I can''t rely on others for my entire life. As you know, I''ve already condensed a Life Soul. I want to try and protect myself with my strength."


    An Sheng fell silent for a long time before saying, "I respect your decision, but you have to remember that even if you have something against Overseer and Miss Jing, don''t treat Madam as an outsider. It will sadden her."


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 399 Ják

    "Senators, I''ve already made my case. An Tianzuo is arrogant because of his talent. With the support of the An family''s business in Luoyang and the support of Leng Zongzheng, he has always thought little of the Senate. He won''t hand Zhou Wen over." The bureau''s director-general, Shen Yuchi, said to the senators present as he stood in the meeting hall.


    "Since An Tianzuo is so stubborn and disregards the safety of the League, we can only use our own methods to defend the League''s peace. Director-General Shen, I''ll leave this matter to you. We have to see Wang Mingyuan''s four students as soon as possible," said Senator Xia who represented the senators.


    "Yes." Shen Yuchi bowed slightly before leaving the meeting hall.


    In fact, they had reached an understanding before sending Fu Yu to Luoyang. If Fu Yu couldn''t succeed in persuading An Tianzuo, the Senate would tacitly allow the Special Inspector Bureau to take action.


    Shen Yuchi had even arranged for a candidate to go to Luoyang. He was just waiting for the final order. Furthermore, he had already expected An Tianzuo to turn down the request of handing Zhou Wen over.


    Shen Yuchi came to a secret prison in the Special Inspector Bureau. This place was named "Heaven" internally by the bureau not because of how beautiful this place was, but because none of the criminals who entered here could ever leave. It was as if they had entered heaven and could no longer return to the world.


    After passing through one prison door after another, Shen Yuchi came to a prison cell and produced his left fingerprint. Then, he verified with an iris scan. The heavy metal door of the cell, similar to that on a gold vault, finally opened.


    In this strange cell, there were no prisoners. The only thing was a metal box that resembled a mummy''s sarcophagus.


    Shen Yuchi looked at the metal box and said, "J¨¢k, according to our previous agreement, help me bring that person back and I''ll return you your freedom."


    If someone had heard the name J¨¢k a few decades ago, they might have suffered from insomnia due to fear.


    In the early years of the League''s establishment, J¨¢k''s name had once shaken the entire League. He had killed countless people, and he was sinister and vicious. He was a classic example of someone who didn''t treat anyone as human, and his reputation as a devil was almost in no way inferior to Jing Daoxian.


    The difference was that Jing Daoxian was an extremely arrogant person, but J¨¢k was different. He preferred hiding in the dark, playing a game of cat and mouse. He held his target in the palm of his hand, letting them die without realizing how.


    Although he had killed countless people, few people had actually seen his true colors.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Knocking sounds came from the metal box. It was J¨¢k''s answer. Even his voice was restrained¡ªthey were afraid that his voice would affect the prison guards.


    "Since that''s the case, our deal will officially begin now." Shen Yuchi opened the metal box and saw a pale, silver-haired middle-aged man locked inside. His limbs were locked onto the metal box, and even his mouth was covered with metal tools. There were many tubes attached to his body, making him look like an ICU patient.


    In fact, the equipment was to maintain J¨¢k''s life and prevent him from dying. At the same time, it was also to prevent him from interacting with the prison guard.


    After the chains were unlocked and the equipment removed, J¨¢k finally emerged from the metal box.


    "If there''s anything you need, feel free to tell me." Shen Yuchi said as he looked at J¨¢k who was walking out from the metal box with his limbs trembling.


    "Give me a glass of red wine. The kind before the dimensional storms. You know what I''m referring to," J¨¢k said as he slowly moved his muscles.


    "Sure." Shen Yuchi smiled.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he thought about how he should deal with the experts from the Special Inspector Bureau. He didn''t believe that An Sheng was being an alarmist.


    He had already experienced the working style of the bureau. As long as they were bent on doing something, they would resort to any means to achieve their goals. They were like venomous snakes that would not give up once they bit down.


    Looking at the antelope sleeping on the couch, Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease. He guessed that it might be a top Epic and even a Mythical creature.


    This was evident from the chick''s attitude in the dorm. The chick dared to do anything in the dorm. It flew everywhere; it even dared to fly onto Zhou Wen''s head and perched on it as though his hair was a bird''s nest.


    However, he had never seen the chick dare mess with the antelope. It clearly was wary of it.


    With such a powerful fighter, Zhou Wen decided that he would spend most of his time in the dorm and not head out unless absolutely necessary. If the bureau came and the antelope was angered, they might end up scurrying.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on relying on the antelope. He summoned Truth Listener and wore it as an earring twenty-four hours a day, paying attention to any activity around him.


    To prevent others from looking for him and causing unnecessary trouble, Zhou Wen even added a message to his wall. "In seclusion cultivation, not leaving the house for a month. Do not disturb."


    Li Xuan and a few classmates who were on good terms with him quickly sent messages. Zhou Wen only said that he was going into seclusion and not to look for him.


    "If you are going into seclusion, what about my breakfast?" Wang Lu sent a text.


    "I''m still buying. Are you free to head to Binyang Cave tomorrow?" Zhou Wen replied.


    Zhou Wen believed that the people from the bureau wouldn''t arrive so soon. It wouldn''t be bad if he followed Wang Lu to Binyang Cave to get a baby tiger. Who knows, he might be able to get one out?


    With the baby tiger, if he went to the game dungeon again, the drop rate would increase significantly, and the chances of high-valued crystals dropping would increase as well. There was no need to grind so hard.


    "Yes, see you tomorrow morning." Wang Lu replied.


    Zhou Wen finally waited until Lost Country''s cooldown was up. He eagerly rushed to the underground sea and took a look at the black dragon that had been hit by the Poison Dragon Palm.


    There was a palm-sized mark on the black dragon. It looked like a sore that was about to produce pus. However, it was not able to poison the black dragon to death. The black dragon looked slightly irritable.


    From the looks of it, the Poison Dragon Palm is still useful. However, the poison isn''t enough. I wonder how I can poison the black dragon with such a tiny sore? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and followed his previous method. He gave the black dragon another palm strike and escaped again.


    If one palm doesn''t work, I''ll give it a few more strikes. As long as the poison is useful, it''s only a matter of time before I can poison it to death, Zhou Wen thought hatefully.


    Since he couldn''t enter the temple and couldn''t take the risk to clear dungeons, he could only spend his time on the black dragon.

 400 Grinding For Baby Tiger With You

    In the morning, after waking up and washing, Zhou Wen headed to the cafeteria. He filled his stomach before buying a few buns and soy milk for Wang Lu.


    Thankfully, Wang Lu''s dorm was right next door, so it was still on the way.


    He pressed Wang Lu''s dorm''s doorbell several times before he saw her opening the door while rubbing her eyes.


    "Breakfast." Zhou Wen handed the buns and soy milk over.


    "Why are you so early?" Wang Lu asked as she took the bag and walked back to the living room.


    "It''s getting late. I''ve already begun gaming usually at this time," Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Lu pursed her lips and ignored him. She continued opening the bag and saw that it was filled with buns and soy milk. She said with a smile, "You''re very thrifty."


    "I don''t know what you like to eat. I bought the most common food. If you wish to eat anything in particular, tell me in advance the next time," Zhou Wen said.


    "This will do. Wait for me. I''ll go wash up first." After washing up and eating breakfast, it was already more than an hour later.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu went to Binyang Cave. When the soldier guarding it saw Wang Lu, his eyes immediately widened as he stared at her, as though he was guarding against a thief.


    "I want to spin it three times," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen.


    Wang Lu naturally wasn''t the one forking out the money. After Zhou Wen paid, he got Wang Lu to spin the wheel of fortune.


    The soldiers held their guns and stared intently at Wang Lu like searchlights. However, they could only watch helplessly as Wang Lu won the entrance requirement to Binyang Cave three times in a row.


    The officer in charge of the area stared blankly. After Zhou Wen and Wang Lu left, he checked the wheel of fortune again. However, there weren''t any problems. They spun it dozens of times, but none of them managed to hit the red line.


    "What the hell!" The officer felt that this was too odd. After the last time, they had already installed higher-grade Primordial Energy sensors. If Wang Lu used any powers, the Primordial Energy sensor would have sounded the alarm, but it showed nothing.


    The two entered Binyang Cave. Wang Lu''s luck was excellent as expected. Her luck was good to begin with but with the augmentation of the baby tiger and the Four-Leaf Clover, it was even more impressive. Not long after they entered the cave, they saw a tiger deliver itself to them, baring its teeth and pouncing over.


    "Are you going to personally kill it?" Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu and asked. He didn''t know if he needed Wang Lu to personally kill the tiger to have a chance of having a Companion Egg drop.


    "Give me your hand," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen.


    "What for?" Zhou Wen extended his right hand in front of Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen was doubtful. Wang Lu''s luck was good, but luck shouldn''t spread, right? Zhou Wen had killed the tiger countless times in-game, but only some Primordial Energy Crystals dropped. He had never seen a Companion Egg before.


    Zhou Wen doubted Wang Lu''s claim that the circle was of use.


    Although he didn''t believe it, the tiger had already pounced in front of him. Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate as he unsheathed Bamboo Blade with his right hand and slashed at the tiger with a Fangwheel Sword Flash.


    The tiger was surprisingly stronger than usual. With a twist of its waist, it dodged the Fangwheel Sword Flash. Unfortunately, it had not expected it to boomerang back and cleave it into two.


    "Killing an Epic dimensional creature with one strike. It might be the weakest, but your strength is already very powerful. What a pity," said Wang Lu.


    "Why do you say so?" Zhou Wen asked as he walked towards the tiger''s corpse.


    "Unfortunately, you''re Wang Mingyuan''s student. Other than Luoyang, no one else will dare to hire you," Wang Lu said bluntly, not deliberately avoiding the topic.


    "So what?" Zhou Wen didn''t mind. The dimensional zones were already very unstable. No one knew how long the League could last, nor had he ever thought of becoming a high official in the League.


    "It''s great to be free. It would be great if I could be like you, having the freedom to do as you wish," Wang Lu muttered.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn''t hear Wang Lu. This was because Zhou Wen''s gaze was completely attracted to the Companion Egg in the tiger''s corpse.


    A Companion Egg really dropped! Zhou Wen took out the Companion Egg, still finding it unbelievable.


    He had been grinding the tiger in-game to the brink of puking. He hadn''t been able to get a baby tiger to drop. But all it took was once this time.


    "Remember my breakfast every day. Don''t kick me to the curb when I''ve outlived my usefulness," Wang Lu said with a smile.


    "Definitely not. Just tell me whatever you want to eat and I guarantee that it will be delivered," Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    "Anything. As long as you find it delicious." Wang Lu wasn''t picky with her food.


    Zhou Wen agreed and eagerly injected his Primordial Energy. He hatched the tiger on the spot and soon, a white tiger Companion Beast appeared in front of him.


    Baby Tiger: Epic


    Life Providence: Lucky Baby Tiger (Luck +5)


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul


    Strength: 28


    Speed: 26


    Constitution: 26


    Primordial Energy: 23


    Primordial Energy Skill: Tiger Pounce


    Companion Form: None


    The attributes were indeed lousy, making it an Epic existence that was equivalent to trash. However, a unique luck-type Life Providence made such a useless Companion Beast value even rarer.


    Now that he had the Lucky Baby Tiger, Zhou Wen felt as though a boulder that was weighing down on his chest had lifted. He didn''t have to constantly think about farming the tiger every day.


    The two of them walked out of Binyang Cave with each of them having a tiger in tow. The soldiers guarding the Binyang Cave were dumbfounded.


    Although the baby tiger''s stats were very ordinary, Zhou Wen felt different riding the baby tiger. He even found its speed to be much faster.


    "Alright, my mission is complete. I need to catch up on sleep. Insufficient sleep is taboo for girls." Wang Lu went back to sleep.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he couldn''t wait to take the baby tiger to the bat cave and see the effects of the Companion Beast''s enhanced luck.


    The baby tiger didn''t disappoint Zhou Wen. The dimensional crystals that dropped were fifty percent more than usual, and their quality was significantly higher. Most of the dimensional crystals'' stats exceeded 30 points, and a 21-valued Poison Crystal dropped. The highest-valued Poison Crystal that Zhou Wen had obtained in the past was only ten-plus points. His 20-valued Poison Crystal had dropped from a Jade Toad.


    This is really good! Zhou Wen was very fond of it.

 401 Quickly Grow Up

    A few Companion Eggs dropped as well, so Zhou Wen fed them to his Companion Beasts. Tyrant Behemoth finally began to evolve after eating the two Poison Bat Companion Eggs.


    The tiny behemoth, which was originally only half a person''s height, grew its fur crazily. Its muscles swelled like balloons and soon, it grew to almost four meters tall. The muscles on its body were like steel, filled with explosive power.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Legendary (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Primordial Energy: 21


    Talent Skill: Mountain Devouring


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    Zhou Wen had been feeding it for quite some time, with plenty of Epic Companion Eggs in the mix. It took this long before Tyrant Behemoth advanced to the Legendary stage, so he had no idea when it would advance to the Epic stage.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth was indeed ferocious. It was nearly four meters tall when it was only at the Legendary stage. If it advanced to the Mythical stage, it might really be able to devour a mountain. It would be unimaginably massive.


    Little Behemoth, quickly grow up. I don''t expect you to advance to the Mythical stage. Hurry up and advance to the Epic stage. Be a happy fighter for me. Zhou Wen actually didn''t wish for Tyrant Behemoth to advance to the Mythical stage.


    The six hero families had plenty of resources; yet, it was difficult for them to nurture Mythical Companion Beasts, so it would be even harder for him. If it weren''t for the game dungeons that allowed them to grind for resources, Zhou Wen probably wouldn''t have been able to afford to rear a Mythical Companion Beast.


    ¡­


    Zheng Tianlun had been in a bad mood recently. He had imagined that he would be able to get close to the girls from the Weiyang Club after he got together with Sulli. That way, he could then hit on the other beauties.


    With his family background and position as the vice president of the student council, it didn''t seem difficult.


    However, to his surprise, those female students from the Weiyang Club didn''t participate in activities with the student council and instead regularly hung out with the people from the Xuanwen Club instead.


    Although Zheng Tianlun''s family had some connections, he was naturally far more inferior to Li Xuan. He didn''t dare to do anything about the Xuanwen Club. He originally wanted to invite Wei Ge to help him deal with the Xuanwen Club, but Wei Ge repeatedly rejected the notion. Nothing happened. This made Zheng Tianlun even more depressed.


    After leaving campus, Zheng Tianlun was heading home. When he walked to a small alley, he saw a pale-faced, middle-aged man with a sickly look walking over.


    When Zheng Tianlun saw that the man was staring at him, he couldn''t help but feel p*ssed. He glared back and wanted to ask what he was looking at. However, the moment his eyes met the middle-aged man''s gaze, he was left rooted to the spot.


    He felt as if there was a ball of mist in the middle-aged man''s eyes that was attracting him. He couldn''t help but look into those eyes, unable to think about anything else.


    J¨¢k kept looking at Zheng Tianlun and slowly walked in front of him. Then, he stretched out a hand and carefully pulled out a strand of hair from Zheng Tianlun''s head.


    Zheng Tianlun was jolted awake from the pain. Even though he did not know why he was suddenly confused, he felt a sense of fear when he looked at the middle-aged man. He couldn''t help but retreat and ask, "What are you trying to do?"


    J¨¢k ignored Zheng Tianlun and pinched the strand of hair with his fingers before taking out a palm-sized doll. The doll looked like a clown.


    J¨¢k stuck Zheng Tianlun''s hair onto the clown doll''s head. The soft strand of hair seemed to turn into a steel needle in his hands, it quickly sank into the body of the clown doll.


    At that moment, J¨¢k looked up at Zheng Tianlun with a strange, chilling smile. He pursed his slightly purple lips and said, "I have something I need your help with. There''s a student named Zhou Wen in your school. Help me get a strand of his hair or nails."


    "Are you crazy? Why would I do such things for you?" Zheng Tianlun didn''t know why, but the fear in his heart intensified as he spoke. He kept retreating, and if not for his legs going soft, he would have already turned around and escaped.


    J¨¢k didn''t say anything to Zheng Tianlun. He glanced at a stray dog who was rummaging through a trash can. He reached out in the air, pulled out the stray dog''s fur, and sucked it to his fingers.


    Under the pain, the stray dog barked at J¨¢k, but J¨¢k only gave it a look before the stray dog instantly turned around and ran off with its tail between its legs. It didn''t even dare to bark again.


    J¨¢k took out another clown doll, inserted the dog fur into the head of the clown doll, and drilled an unforgettable scene into Zheng Tianlun''s mind.


    J¨¢k''s eyes became frighteningly bright as he stared intently at the clown doll in his hand. He had a frightening smile on his face as if he was a clown smiling. That pale face looked like the white face after a clown put on clown makeup.


    In the next second, J¨¢k exerted some strength to rip off the clown doll''s arm. At the same time, the stray dog let out a tragic cry as fresh blood spewed out. One of its front legs seemed to be ripped off by an invisible hand.


    J¨¢k yanked at the doll in his hand even more crazily. Very quickly, the remaining limbs of the doll were torn off. Similarly, the stray dog lost its limbs as blood splattered everywhere.


    Under Zheng Tianlun''s horrified gaze, J¨¢k tore off the clown doll''s head. When Zheng Tianlun saw the stray dog being beheaded in front of him, he broke down mentally. He screamed and turned around to run.


    "Your hair is here too." J¨¢k''s soft words made Zheng Tianlun, who was extremely terrified, stop running. He stood there like a stone statue, without moving.


    "I''ll give you two days. I want to see Zhou Wen''s hair or nails; otherwise, you will be like that stray dog." As J¨¢k spoke, he reached out and stroked the clown doll''s head.


    Zheng Tianlun instantly felt his scalp go numb as if a huge, invisible hand was caressing his head. His body trembled and he fell to the ground, his pants soaked.


    J¨¢k frowned, seemingly unwilling to look at Zheng Tianlun again. Covering his nose, he turned around and slowly walked out of the alley.


    At the same time, Zheng Tianlun heard J¨¢k''s hoarse voice. "Remember, you only have two days."


    "How am I to find you after I get it?" Although Zheng Tianlun was extremely afraid, his desire to live compelled him to ask in a trembling voice.


    "After you get it, I will naturally appear by your side. Whether you live or die is in your hands." As J¨¢k spoke, he turned and left the alley.


    Zheng Tianlun got up and secretly chased down the alley, only to find that there was no one on the streets. There was no sign of the middle-aged man. Zheng Tianlun would have thought that he had just had a nightmare if not for the bloodstains on the ground and the stray dog''s corpse.

 402 Luck Composition

    Apart from eating at the cafeteria and bringing Wang Lu breakfast, Zhou Wen hardly left the house.


    With the baby tiger, the efficiency of grinding increased significantly. The dimensional crystals and Companion Beasts that dropped had improved significantly, be it in terms of quantity or quality.


    +5 Luck really shows an obvious improvement. If I have a few more points, wouldn''t the drop rate double? Zhou Wen thought about where to get another pet that added luck.


    Due to the Lucky Baby Tiger''s Life Providence being unique, even if he had one more baby tiger, the luck wouldn''t stack. Therefore, it was useless even if Zhou Wen went to Binyang Cave to grind for the baby tiger again.


    Wait a minute. The Lucky Baby Tiger''s Life Providence can''t be stacked, but can it be synthesized? When two different Companion Beasts combine, they might produce a different Life Providence. Just like when I fused the Silver-Winged Flying Ant and Sky Spider Youngling, the King of Low Altitudes became the King of Sky. If I were to fuse the baby tiger with some other cat or dog, would I be able to turn it into a lucky cat or something? Would it be stackable? Zhou Wen was considering the viability of this matter.


    If he could really synthesize one like this, he could completely synthesize the luck-type Life Providence with another powerful Companion Beast. It would give him a luck bonus and powerful combat ability.


    Zhou Wen was only thinking about it. He couldn''t have the blood-colored avatar die, nor could he refresh dungeons. All his thoughts were empty thoughts, making it impossible for him to farm the baby tiger.


    As he hadn''t refreshed the dungeon, Zhou Wen had nearly wiped out all the monsters he could grind in the past few days. He was about to reach a point of not having any monsters to grind on. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation since obtaining the mysterious phone.


    Although there were also instance dungeons he had never been before, such as Mount Laojun, Zhou Wen didn''t dare visit them as he was afraid the blood-colored avatar would die inside.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had many books to read, so it wasn''t that he had nothing to do. He was engrossed in an ocean of knowledge every day.


    ¡­


    Zheng Tianlun felt like crying. He originally believed that using his relationship as a fellow schoolmate, it wouldn''t be difficult to get a strand of Zhou Wen''s hair. In the beginning, he had sought out the Xuanwen Club members who were closer to Zhou Wen. He claimed that the student council wanted to host a joint activity with them, hoping that Li Xuan and Zhou Wen could participate.


    He was responsible for all the expenses. For this, he spent a large sum to get some special dimensional zones passes.


    What do I do? What do I do? Zheng Tianlun was extremely anxious. There was less than a day left. He had to obtain Zhou Wen''s hair as soon as possible. He didn''t dare imagine the outcome of failure and dared not remember the tragic state of the stray dog.


    Zheng Tianlun had thought of many methods, but they were unviable. Finally, he had no choice but to find Zhou Wen himself. He had to obtain a strand of Zhou Wen''s hair no matter what.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was reading a book near the balcony on the second floor. The sunlight shone on him, making him feel warm and comfortable.


    As he wore the Truth Listener earring in its companion form the entire time, Zhou Wen heard Zheng Tianlun''s approach before he even reached the yard''s entrance.


    Why is he here? Zhou Wen was puzzled. Zheng Tianlun was clearly walking towards his building and was about to reach his yard''s entrance.


    "I have to get his hair¡­ I have to get it¡­" Zhou Wen listened carefully and heard Zheng Tianlun muttering to himself. It was so soft that ordinary people might not be able to hear it even if they stood beside him. However, Truth Listener''s hearing was just too good. Zhou Wen heard him clearly.


    Whose hair does he want? Mine? What does he want my hair for? Zhou Wen immediately made some bad connections.


    There were many magical dimensional forces in the League. Legend had it that some people in the West District had curse-type Primordial Energy Skills that allowed them to curse a person to death remotely through mediums such as a person''s hair and nails.


    There were many similar abilities in the East District, and they were even more exaggerated. There was no need for any physical contact. Just knowing the time someone was born was enough to take their life, even from a great distance away.


    Zhou Wen currently didn''t have much knowledge regarding such Primordial Energy Skills. In a real battle, be it an Epic human or Companion Beast, he had the power to contend a fight. Instead, he was afraid of powers that he could succumb to without even seeing.


    Against such powers, even if he had the annihilative powers, it would be of no use considering how he couldn''t find or hit his target.


    For instance, many powerful Epic experts died without even seeing a dimensional creature while exploring dimensional zones. It wasn''t that they weren''t strong enough, but that their resistance against the unknown force was too weak. They were nothing but boors who were unable to use their strength.


    Of course, there were boors that succeeded. Legend had it that the Xia family''s hero had cultivated the Invincible Connate Divine Art in the past, reaching an invulnerable state. No matter how evil power it was, nothing could kill him. He was a classic example of being able to be a ramrod that could charge straight forward.


    However, he ultimately didn''t end well when he entered a dimensional zone.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen always firmly believed that knowing one''s enemy was the key to winning all battles. It was best if he didn''t take any risks; after all, he only had one life.


    While Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Zheng Tianlun had already pressed his doorbell.


    It looks like the people from the bureau have arrived. Zhou Wen had guessed what was going on. After some thought, he went down and opened the door. He wanted to find out from Zheng Tianlun about the person whom the bureau had sent.


    "Zheng Tianlun, why are you looking for me?" Zhou Wen asked Zheng Tianlun who was outside.


    "I have an important matter to discuss with you. Can I come in?" Zheng Tianlun asked carefully.


    "Come on in." Zhou Wen kept a high alert the entire time. He didn''t get too close to Zheng Tianlun, maintaining a certain distance.


    To his surprise, Zheng Tianlun slammed the door shut after entering and plopped to his knees. "Zhou Wen, please save me. If you don''t save me, I''m dead."


    "What are you doing?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    Zheng Tianlun said, "The night before yesterday, I applied for leave and went home. On the way, I bumped into a strange middle-aged man¡­"


    Zheng Tianlun recounted what had happened that night. No matter how he thought about it, he knew it was impossible to get Zhou Wen''s hair by force. He knew that Zhou Wen was from the An family, so he couldn''t afford to offend him, nor could he use force.


    "Zhou Wen, I''m begging you, save me. I really don''t want to die." Zheng Tianlun kowtowed as he spoke.


    Zhou Wen reached out to stop Zheng Tianlun. Although he didn''t have a good impression of Zheng Tianlun, he didn''t have any feud with him either. He felt uneasy hearing the pleading.


    However, just as his hand touched Zheng Tianlun''s hand, Zheng Tianlun''s flesh and bones exploded and his arms turned into a bloody mist.

 403 Battling Ják

    The two never expected such a turn of events. No matter how fast Zhou Wen retreated, his hand was quickly stained by the blood mist as Zheng Tianlun fell to the ground and screamed.


    In a forest in the suburbs, J¨¢k revealed a mocking smile. How could he place his hopes on others? He made Zheng Tianlun firmly believe that he needed Zhou Wen''s hair. Only then would Zheng Tianlun be able to fool Zhou Wen because even Zheng Tianlun himself believed that it was real. Others wouldn''t be able to see through the flaws.


    "Old pal, it''s been a while since we got some exercise. It''s time to come out and get some exercise." As J¨¢k spoke, a sanguine aura on him surged and condensed into a blood-colored clown Life Soul.


    The blood-colored clown Life Soul came in front of J¨¢k. J¨¢k pulled out the strand of Zheng Tianlun''s hair from the puppet and gave it to the clown Life Soul.


    The clown Life Soul reached out to grab the hair, and it immediately burned with a blood-colored flame and quickly burnt to ashes. It transformed into a sanguine beam that fused into the clown''s body.


    "By using your blood as the medium, I''ll use the soul as a guide, Blood Hex Clown, use your strength to make those ignorant people tremble in grief once again." J¨¢k looked excitedly at the Blood Hex Clown and growled.


    A sanguine glint flashed in the eyes of the Blood Hex Clown as a demonic blood-colored flame rose over its body.


    In his dorm, Zhou Wen looked at the blood on his hand and tried to shake it off, but it was already too late. He felt his ears heat up before a force entered his body from his palm and spread through his entire body. Large amounts of Primordial Energy surged into his body. It was massive, almost comparable to the lightning bolt he had endured at Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized that Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul had taken effect, resolving the strange power of the assailant.


    I was still too careless. Zhou Wen reflected over his faults, but after some thought, he realized that he was up against someone bent on getting him. No matter how prepared he was, it was inevitable for him to miss out certain things. The best way was to eliminate the enemy first to truly feel worry-free.


    But now, he didn''t even know where his opponent was. When he looked at Zheng Tianlun who had his arms torn apart, Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his spine.


    It was Zheng Tianlun this time, someone he didn''t care too much about. But what if the next person was Li Xuan, Wang Lu, or the rest? Could he still remain so indifferent?


    Zhou Wen called the school''s emergency number and called for a doctor to handle Zheng Tianlun.


    J¨¢k stared at the Blood Hex Clown in front of him. Seeing the sanguine light in its eyes glow with greater intensity, he believed that the blood hex''s power was in control of Zhou Wen. He ordered, "Bring him here."


    Suddenly, the Truth Listener earring seemed to be pulled by something as it floated up and pointed in one direction.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he walked outside. The moment he opened the door, he saw An Jing and Wang Lu standing outside, about to knock on the door. Zheng Tianlun''s screams had alerted them, which was why they had come over to take a look.


    "Help me look after him. Don''t let him die. I have to make a trip." Zhou Wen pointed at Zheng Tianlun who was screaming inside before walking out.


    He didn''t pity Zheng Tianlun, but if Zheng Tianlun really died in his dormitory room, he would probably have a hard time explaining himself. Without any evidence, the college would only believe that he had killed Zheng Tianlun.


    Regardless of An Jing''s and Wang Lu''s expressions, Zhou Wen headed straight for the direction the earring had pointed.


    After leaving the school, Zhou Wen headed west according to the earring. Soon, he left the city and entered the suburbs.


    A forest appeared in front of Zhou Wen, and the heat from the Truth Listener earring grew stronger. It made Zhou Wen realize that he was approaching his target.


    After slowing down his speed, Zhou Wen carefully entered the forest. Truth Listener earring''s hearing was put to its greatest use. Everything within a hundred meters around him projected into an image in his mind thanks to his hearing.


    Not long after entering the forest, the Truth Listener earring''s ability allowed him to see a man standing in the forest. In front of him floated a blood-colored clown-like Life Soul.


    Just as Zheng Tianlun had said, the man was wearing a shirt and suit with a unique hat on his head. He had a standard Caucasian look with blue eyes and carved facial features. His hair was a rare silver color.


    His skin was white to begin with, and with him looking a little pale, it looked like there was no blood in him. It was as if his face had been wiped with white powder.


    When Zhou Wen sensed J¨¢k, J¨¢k also sensed something. He frowned and looked in Zhou Wen''s direction. At the same time, surprise flashed in his eyes.


    "Did the bureau only send you here?" Zhou Wen gripped the Bamboo Blade tightly as he walked towards J¨¢k. At the same time, he used Truth Listener''s ability to constantly sweep his surroundings to make sure that there were no ambushes.


    "You are actually immune to the blood hex''s control. Furthermore, you were able to find me. Interesting." J¨¢k stared at Zhou Wen as he sized him up. His eyes were shimmering as though he was looking at some interesting toy.


    "You won''t find it interesting very soon." Zhou Wen had already confirmed that there weren''t any ambushes around him. He instantly unsheathed his Bamboo Blade and appeared in front of J¨¢k instantaneously as though he had teleported. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, he slashed at J¨¢k''s body with unparalleled speed.


    J¨¢k clearly hadn''t expected Zhou Wen to be that fast. Such strength was completely different from the information Shen Yuchi had given him. He was no ordinary student at the Legendary stage.


    "To be at the Epic stage at such a young age?" J¨¢k''s gaze froze slightly. Zhou Wen''s saber was simply too fast. Clearly, J¨¢k was weaker when it came to combat. Perhaps due to his long imprisonment and him not having fully recovered, he couldn''t dodge in time.


    The black gas in his hand struck at the Bamboo Blade, but the black gas was directly sliced apart by the Bamboo Blade. J¨¢k''s palm was sliced off.


    The Bamboo Blade did not stop and slashed right into J¨¢k''s body.


    With a ripping sound, Zhou Wen realized that the Bamboo Blade had only sliced through J¨¢k''s jacket. He was gone. All that was left was the slightly trembling hand on the ground.


    Zhou Wen scanned his surroundings and pushed the Truth Listener earring to its limits. It reflected everything around him in his mind, but he didn''t see any traces of J¨¢k.


    Just as Zhou Wen was searching for J¨¢k, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. An ant had crawled over at his feet. There were many ants in the forest, but this ant was somewhat odd. It had actually crawled straight in front of Zhou Wen''s feet.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he rapidly retreated. The ant''s tiny body exploded like a bomb, blasting apart the ground and trees nearby, forming a huge crater that was more than two meters in diameter.

 404 Stalemate

    Zhou Wen flew back and touched a leaf that exploded like a grenade. Fortunately, he was wearing the Mutated Stone Chi armor. He charged out the instant the leaf exploded using Ghost Steps, suffering minimal damage from the explosion.


    Even so, the Mutated Stone Chi''s armor was blackened from the blast. Zhou Wen was somewhat astonished. This person''s ability was so bizarre that he could actually turn an ant and a leaf into his weapons. It was impossible to guard against.


    The entire forest was filled with insects, leaves, and vegetation. Zhou Wen didn''t know which insects or leaves would become a bomb. Even the grass on the ground could become a landmine.


    Zhou Wen''s body stood in midair. He used Truth Listener''s hearing and his eyes to search for J¨¢k. If he couldn''t find him, no amount of strength was useful.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn''t find any traces of J¨¢k within the range of his senses. The entire forest only had the rustling sounds of leaves when the wind blew and the chirping of insects.


    Zhou Wen hovered in the air, using the Godfiend flying ability to prevent himself from touching anything. Then, he slowly moved in the air, in search of J¨¢k''s possible hiding locations.


    When insects, birds, or leaves approached him, he would preemptively slice them apart.


    However, there weren''t any further explosions. Zhou Wen sensed that J¨¢k was still there. He hadn''t left. The atmosphere in the woods felt very odd.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen suddenly heard an explosion. However, the explosion didn''t happen from his body. Instead, it happened above a large nearby tree. A bug exploded from the crown of a tree, scattering the leaves and branches everywhere. Even a wasp hive that was nestled in the tree flew out.


    Zhou Wen looked at the leaves and wasps that filled the sky as though he was watching a flurry of bombs. He only had one thought in mind: he absolutely couldn''t let them touch him.


    With Ghost Steps and Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill, Zhou Wen''s figure rapidly flashed. The leaves and wasps that filled the sky failed to touch him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Several trees were blasted apart as the sky filled with leaves and critters. Zhou Wen kept flying as his body twisted and turned, passing through the leaves like a ghost.


    He didn''t touch the leaves, but the nearby leaves automatically exploded as though the entire forest had turned into an explosive warehouse. Anything that approached Zhou Wen could explode.


    Zhou Wen was caught off guard. All he could do was dash out of the forest and appear in the sky above. He looked down at the forest from above and observed everything that was happening.


    Truth Listener''s power had already presented everything that was happening in the forest to his brain. No activity could escape his ears.


    This was the most terrifying opponent of the same level Zhou Wen had ever encountered since he began cultivating. Although he had fought others before, the strongest was the Mutated Stone Chi and Mei. No matter how powerful they were, they weren''t as diabolical and terrifying as this person.


    Previously, although Yan Zhen was also diabolical and terrifying, he wasn''t good at combat. He was more like a crazy scientist, but this person was like a killing machine. Although his combat ability wasn''t very strong, his abilities and means allowed him to kill someone without doing the dirty work.


    Zhou Wen moved back and forth in the air as he swept the nearby trees several times, but failed to find any traces of J¨¢k.


    That bastard Shen Yuchi. Is this his idea of an ordinary student? J¨¢k cursed inwardly as well.


    Before he was locked up, he had seen many experts. Only a handful were as terrifying as Zhou Wen. He really couldn''t believe that Zhou Wen was only a student.


    J¨¢k didn''t dare move. Although he had already made use of sorcery to disguise himself as a part of the forest, he could sense that showing any signs of abnormality would be detected by the aerial Zhou Wen.


    He didn''t know how Zhou Wen did it, but he knew that he was using a method to constantly scan the forest''s situation. He had already felt something similar to a vision sweep over him several times.


    J¨¢k closed his eyes, unwilling to let his gaze attract Zhou Wen''s attention. However, his heart was burning with zeal.


    He loved killing people. The more powerful someone was, the more excited he became. At that moment, his blood was about to boil. He yearned to kill Zhou Wen immediately to satisfy his inner desires.


    As for Shen Yuchi''s order to bring Zhou Wen back alive, J¨¢k had completely forgotten about it. He was like a venomous snake that was seeking an opportunity. Once the prey showed weakness, he would deliver the most lethal strike.


    I don''t believe that you can keep flying in the air. J¨¢k waited patiently for the opportunity.


    One of them was in the air while the other was in the forest. They were in a stalemate.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t find J¨¢k''s hiding spot, and it wasn''t convenient for him to attack the woods. That would only give J¨¢k a chance.


    As time passed, J¨¢k realized that Zhou Wen didn''t show any signs of descending despite him floating in midair. His desire to kill Zhou Wen intensified.


    Half a day passed and the sky gradually darkened.


    Here''s my chance. As he felt the sky grow darker, J¨¢k knew that his chance was here. The night was his home ground.


    Although he couldn''t find J¨¢k''s location, Zhou Wen continued waiting patiently. He was waiting for J¨¢k to strike. As long as he made a move, it was impossible for him to perfectly conceal himself. This gave him a chance of finding his true body.


    Zhou Wen really didn''t wish to let such a terrifying figure escape. Otherwise, he didn''t know who would be the next victim.


    When the sun set and the moon silently crawled up. Zhou Wen continued floating in the air, waiting for J¨¢k to reveal an opening.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt an abnormality in the woods. A snake was rapidly darting under the leaves. It was normal for snakes to move around in the grass, but Zhou Wen found something was amiss with the snake. It seemed to have a clear goal¡ªit was heading deep into the forest.


    Zhou Wen summoned his Overlord Sword and slashed out. The sword beam instantly tore through the forest and chopped down a tree. At the same time, he split the snake into two.


    Boom!


    The snake exploded, creating a huge pit in the vicinity. But on the other side, J¨¢k''s body emerged from a cave made of tree root that was the size of a fist. He dashed into the forest like a black shadow.


    However, the direction he headed in wasn''t directed at the aerial Zhou Wen, nor was it deep in the woods. Zhou Wen quickly chased after him, but he saw J¨¢k stop and reveal his snow-white teeth. He gave Zhou Wen a sinister smile.

 405 It Couldnt Be Him

    While smiling sinisterly at Zhou Wen, J¨¢k threw out a blood-colored dagger. However, the dagger wasn''t thrown at Zhou Wen but at the ground.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. He saw the blood-colored dagger fly over and immediately realized the problem.


    His shadow! J¨¢k wasn''t attacking him, but his shadow that had been projected by the moonlight.


    It was too late to dodge. He didn''t have the time to think further. Zhou Wen''s first reaction was to summon his Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul.


    The moment the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul was summoned, the blood-colored dagger had nailed Zhou Wen''s shadow. However, due to the Inverse Ancient Sovereign''s humanoid sun Life Soul appearing, the strong rays of light scattered his shadow. Most of the shadows were redirected in another direction. The shadow cast by the moon was almost invisibly faint.


    His heart palpitated slightly, but he didn''t feel any damage. Like a ghost, Zhou Wen appeared in front of J¨¢k and slashed his Overlord Sword and Bamboo Blade at him.


    J¨¢k ducked, causing Overlord Sword to miss. However, Bamboo Blade slashed across his waist. Unfortunately, all that was sliced apart was J¨¢k''s clothes. He was nowhere to be seen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    J¨¢k''s clothes exploded in front of Zhou Wen, forcing him to retreat quickly. He retreated to the air once more and switched back to his Godfiend Life Providence.


    The atmosphere became tense again. Both of them knew that they had met a terrifying opponent. They waited for each other to make the first move, waiting for the moment the other party revealed a flaw.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush. He didn''t believe that the other party could keep hiding without eating or drinking. He flew into the air and grabbed a random piece of pancake and a can of Coke from the Chaos Bead. He even brought out some spring onion to go with the pancake. He ate while monitoring the situation in the forest.


    That punk is quite a figure. He''s so tasteless. Is that even called food? J¨¢k couldn''t stand Zhou Wen''s eating preferences, but he couldn''t help but feel hungry. The fragrance of red wine and roasted meat surfaced in his mind.


    J¨¢k gulped his saliva and forced himself to stop thinking. Just like that, he continued the stalemate with Zhou Wen while silently seeking out an opportunity.


    It was not feasible to use Lunar Shadow Sorcery to control Zhou Wen, so J¨¢k had to think of other solutions.


    As J¨¢k endured the hardship below, Zhou Wen ate his fill in the sky. At first, he only filled his stomach. Later, he took out a vacuum-packed duck head and beer and sat down in the air, having a feast.


    This punk''s taste is terrible. Is that what a human will eat? J¨¢k wished he could throw the food that Zhou Wen was eating into a trash can, but he held back.


    He was well aware of the prowess of Zhou Wen''s sword beam. Although it was a little lacking compared to a few sword experts he knew, his sword beam held some special attributes to it. It had to be extraordinary, considering how he could sever his hand.


    After Zhou Wen had his fill, he said to the forest, "You won''t be able to escape no matter what. Why don''t you come out and have a chat? If you can provide enough information that satisfies me, I might spare your life."


    J¨¢k continued lurking and ignored Zhou Wen as though he hadn''t heard him.


    "Your ability is so outstanding that I believe you have some status in the bureau. Why risk your life?" Zhou Wen continued probing.


    However, no one answered him.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized that someone was approaching the forest. The person was riding a gray wolf with an astonishing speed as he quickly approached the forest.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that it was An Sheng.


    "Ah Sheng, don''t enter the forest." Zhou Wen shouted at the distant An Sheng from midair, but it was already too late. The gray wolf An Sheng was sitting on was too fast as it rushed into the forest.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen immediately saw an explosion in the woods, as leaves exploded like a bomb. The blown-up trees snapped and mud flew. It was a mess.


    Zhou Wen was feeling worried when he saw Ah Sheng rush out of the dust. Apart from his clothes being a little tattered and looking quite sorry, he didn''t look injured.


    "Sorcery¡­ Life Blast¡­ Who could it be from the West District?" Ah Sheng glared at the woods and asked.


    No one answered. The forest was still silent, with only a few critters fleeing for their lives.


    Seeing no one reply, An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "Young Master Wen, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine. He refuses to come out. I''ve been waiting for him here so that he can''t escape," Zhou Wen said.


    "You have fought him before, right? Describe his looks and abilities," said An Sheng.


    Zhou Wen recounted J¨¢k''s looks and abilities to An Sheng. While An Sheng wore an extremely odd expression, he finally couldn''t help but exclaim when he heard Zhou Wen mention the blood-colored clown Life Soul. "Blood Hex Clown¡­ Could it be that psychopath from the West District¡­ It can''t be wrong¡­ It''s definitely J¨¢k¡­ Other than J¨¢k, no one else has the ability to use Blood Hex Clown, Lunar Shadow Sorcery, and Life Blast¡­"


    "He seems very famous?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Of course he''s famous. A few decades ago, the name, J¨¢k, sent shockwaves through the entire League. He committed more sins than Jing Daoxian. At least Jing Daoxian only killed people depending on his mood. But J¨¢k kills people because he likes to kill people. An entire city''s people were once cursed to death by him. Back then, many of the League''s top-notch Epic experts died in order to arrest him. He should be imprisoned¡­ Could it be¡­" An Sheng immediately realized that the bureau had released the psychopath, J¨¢k, in order to capture Zhou Wen.


    However, upon further thought, An Sheng felt that something was amiss. He felt that it couldn''t be J¨¢k. If it was J¨¢k, how could he have been stopped by Zhou Wen?


    The bureau is truly unscrupulous. To think they would dare release a devil like J¨¢k just to capture me? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. If not for his special abilities and with the help of a Mythical Companion Beast, he would have died at J¨¢k''s hands.


    In fact, Zhou Wen should be glad that he encountered J¨¢k who had been imprisoned for decades. Most of his Companion Beasts had died in battle before his imprisonment. While fighting Zhou Wen, he mainly relied on the Perfect Blood Hex Life Soul and Primordial Energy Skills. If his previous Companion Beasts were present, he would have been even more terrifying.

 406 Blood Hex

    J¨¢k lurked in the grass, alarmed. He had been imprisoned for more than twenty years. Were young adults these days so powerful?


    Back in his day, he could kill young adults in their twenties, such as An Sheng, without wasting too much effort.


    However, between the two young adults that he met today, Zhou Wen had forced him to hide in the darkness while An Sheng, who appeared a little older, maybe in his mid-twenties, but definitely not in his thirties, had managed to escape the Life Blast that he had set up. This made him suspect that the League had experienced an explosive growth over the past few decades. However, from his journey here, he believed that humans might have improved, but they shouldn''t be that powerful.


    J¨¢k lived up to his name. The thought of escaping didn''t arise just because of Zhou Wen and An Sheng''s strength. The killing intent in his heart burned even more.


    If my previous Companion Beasts were still around, killing them would be much simpler. Unfortunately, I''ll have to think of another solution now. J¨¢k''s mind raced as he thought about how to kill Zhou Wen and An Sheng. He had no intention of escaping.


    Perhaps, even Shen Yuchi wouldn''t have expected that a great devil like J¨¢k would have to go through so much difficulty to capture a university student.


    Back when J¨¢k was pursued by the bureau and in what seemed like an inescapable net, he had even killed more than twenty Epic inspectors.


    J¨¢k even infiltrated Holy City while being pursued, a showcase of his boldness. He abducted the son of the previous director-general of the Special Inspector Bureau and killed him in front of the experts chasing him.


    Shen Yuchi had made a deal with J¨¢k because he wanted to put things right once and for all. He hoped that J¨¢k could capture Zhou Wen without anyone noticing, but little did he expect J¨¢k to end up in a predicament.


    He swept his glance across the forest, and a vicious glint flashed across J¨¢k''s eyes as he exploded the Life Blast he had set up.


    Rumble!


    The leaves exploded in the forest like bombs. In a region spanning a few hundred meters, there were explosive booms and destroyed trees everywhere.


    A large group of birds and wild beasts fled in all directions, and the forest was thrown into pandemonium.


    "No good. He wants to escape." Truth Listener''s range was only about a hundred meters. The explosions'' had already exceeded the distance that Truth Listener could monitor. There were all sorts of creatures fleeing in the forest. If J¨¢k were to be among them, it would be impossible to find him.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to fly in the sky and constantly search with Truth Listener''s powers, hoping to find something abnormal.


    Zhou Wen immediately recalled that the other party had previously wanted to pin his shadow. Clearly, he was proficient in shadow techniques, and now, he was escaping using shadows. It would be difficult to find him if he escaped successfully. There was still a chance of finding his true body next time, but even so, Zhou Wen himself wasn''t confident.


    With no mercy in his heart, Zhou Wen switched to the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, letting it fuse with him. His entire body emitted a glow as he rushed into the forest like a god of light in pursuit of the shadow.


    "Don''t chase after him!" An Sheng loudly warned Zhou Wen, but he saw Zhou Wen charge in without stopping. All he could do was rush in as well.


    The Ancient Sovereign Life Soul brought Zhou Wen powerful vital essence, one that emitted light and heat as he lit up the dark forest.


    Tree leaves fell on Zhou Wen. With one hand holding the Overlord Sword and the other holding the Bamboo Blade, he slashed out a sword and saber beam, splitting all the leaves that came close to him.


    However, when he stepped onto the grass on the ground, the grass suddenly exploded. Thankfully, Zhou Wen was wearing the Mutated Stone Chi armor. Resisting the blast, he leaped up and tapped his feet on the trunk before continuing his pursuit of the shadow.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare land on the ground as he used the trees to engage in pursuit. His glow illuminated the forest. Under the brilliance, he could clearly see a shadow moving quickly on the ground without making a single sound. Truth Listener couldn''t hear it either.


    He slashed out Fangwheel Sword Flash with the Overlord Sword, but the shadow rapidly flashed. It dodged the sword beam and circled around in a bid to escape in another direction.


    Zhou Wen chased the shadow as he kept slashing out sword beams, but the shadow dodged Zhou Wen''s sword beams again and again. It was like a ghost, making Zhou Wen almost believe that it was really just a shadow.


    However, seeing that the shadow was constantly dodging the sword light, and that it wouldn''t fade under the light he emitted, he knew that it wasn''t a real shadow.


    To be able to use a shadow escape technique to such a degree and use a large area of Life Blast, could this person really be J¨¢k? An Sheng rushed into the forest and stood on a tree branch. When he saw Zhou Wen chasing the shadow, he was alarmed and puzzled.


    He had heard many legends about J¨¢k in the past. All the different kinds of evil and powerful Primordial Energy Skills at his disposal made him extremely unpredictable. He was capable of killing people in an invisible manner.


    This legendary person was actually suppressed by Zhou Wen, forcing him to reevaluate Zhou Wen''s strength.


    Young Master Wen might end up being a second Overseer in the future, thought An Sheng. He had watched Zhou Wen develop his strength, but even he was astonished at such a growth rate.


    Just as Zhou Wen cornered the shadow with nowhere for it to escape, J¨¢k revealed his body. J¨¢k stood there, his Blood Hex Clown Life Soul in front of him as he withstood the Fangwheel Sword Flash with both hands.


    Boom!


    The Blood Hex Clown and J¨¢k behind it were sent flying as they slammed into an old tree. Blood immediately spurted out from J¨¢k''s mouth.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to give him a chance. The moment his feet landed on the ground, he exerted strength with all his might, ready to charge forward and kill J¨¢k on the spot.


    However, just as his foot touched the ground, he felt his ankle tighten. A terrifying force tugged at him, almost causing him to fall to the ground.


    Zhou Wen looked down and realized that the J¨¢k''s severed hand was grabbing his ankle. Sanguine aura surged from the severed hand arm as it clutched tightly at his ankle. The sanguine aura also surged up and quickly spread across his leg as though a blood-patterned talisman had been drawn on the stone armor.


    "No good!" An Sheng wanted to rush over, but when he saw Zhou Wen''s expression and gaze, instead of rushing over immediately, he stopped in his tracks.


    An Sheng had seen similar looks and expressions many times. It was the look and expression that a particular Overseer he knew well had when it was time to reel in the net he had carefully arranged.


    J¨¢k suppressed the excitement in his heart as he stood up. He licked the blood on his lips and looked at Zhou Wen with burning eyes. "You should feel honored to be the first person I, J¨¢k, have killed in 27 years."

 407 Slaying

    Following J¨¢k''s words, the Blood Hex Clown beside him emitted blood-colored light. The Blood Hex Clown levitated, its hands seemingly praying to Buddha while it seemed to chant something.


    As the chanting sounded, the Blood Hex Clown''s sanguine halo intensified. It actually turned into blood-colored incantations that revolved around its body.


    As for the palm gripping Zhou Wen''s ankle, it exploded from the Blood Hex Clown''s blood hex. The strange blood-colored incantation patterns crept onto Zhou Wen''s stone armor as though they were trying to wrap him in a net formed of blood-colored incantations.


    "In that case, you should feel more honored than me," Zhou Wen said to J¨¢k without showing any signs of panic despite being trapped by the blood incantation.


    J¨¢k felt a little uneasy as he stared at Zhou Wen and asked, "Why?"


    "It''s because you will be killed by me. You have lived for so many years. This should be the first time you have been killed, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    "Is that so? Then I''m really looking forward to it." J¨¢k felt that something was amiss, but with the arrow already strung, he had to release it. However, the unease made him activate it ahead of time. He didn''t wait for the Blood Hex Clown to finish the incantation.


    A red glow flashed from the Blood Hex Clown''s body as it flashed like police sirens. The Blood Hex Clown''s body suddenly exploded the next second.


    With the self-detonation of the Blood Hex Clown, the blood incantation on Zhou Wen''s body and the severed hand exploded. It was an internecine curse.


    Bang! A blood-colored blast of light rose from Zhou Wen''s body as everything almost twenty meters in diameter was destroyed by it.


    "Impossible!" J¨¢k stared at the empty area behind the blood explosion and saw Zhou Wen still flowing in holy light. He stood there like a god of light, completely unharmed.


    J¨¢k completely couldn''t believe his eyes. It was the evil self-destruct skill that the Blood Hex Clown had acquired only after it advanced to a Perfect Body. The power of its self-detonation was enough to injure even a Mythical Creature. However, it would take a long time before the Blood Hex Clown Life Soul would recover from its self-destruction. J¨¢k seldom used it even before he was locked up.


    Being cornered today, he used this power, but he never expected that it would fail to injure Zhou Wen at all. How could he remain composed?


    However, he was ultimately a person with an iron will. When he realized that something was wrong, he phased away into a shadow in a bid to escape without any hesitation.


    "Are you done playing? It''s my turn now, right?" With the Overlord Sword in hand, Zhou Wen''s sun-like radiance gradually vanished. It was replaced by a mysterious aura.


    Unlike the vital radiance from before, Zhou Wen didn''t leak any Primordial Energy as he seemed to meld into the void.


    Double Life Souls were extremely rare. This was because Primordial Energy Arts could easily produce conflicts. Typically, an ordinary person could only cultivate one. Otherwise, it was very possible that the conflict between Primordial Energy Arts would cause damage to the body, especially when advancing. Such sudden conflicting impulses happened suddenly.


    It was especially so when Life Providences between the Primordial Energy Arts clashed. Death was almost certain. Needless to say, any conflict in Life Souls would probably lead to a situation worse than death.


    An Sheng knew a person who cultivated dual Primordial Energy Arts and condensed two Life Souls. That person had peerless talent, and with immense perseverance, he condensed two Life Souls of two different Primordial Energy Arts.


    He originally thought that he was fine, but afterward, he realized that he could only control his body in the day. Once he fell asleep, his Life Soul would occupy his body and do many crazy things that he didn''t even know about. Eventually, he went mad and was sent to a mental hospital.


    The fact that Zhou Wen was able to have double Life Souls proved that his talent was indeed as excellent as the former principal had said. However, An Sheng was worried that the double Life Souls would harm Zhou Wen.


    Having double Life Souls exacerbated Zhou Wen''s advancement to the Mythical stage. There was already no clear advancement path, but now, he had added an obstacle for himself. This made An Sheng very worried; the surprise was both worrisome and pleasant.


    Zhou Wen switched his Life Providence to Godfiend and the Lost Country ring appeared on his finger. Zhou Wen remained suspended in midair as he looked at the escaping J¨¢k in shadow form, having no intention of pursuing him. All he did was touch the Lost Country ring on his finger.


    A strange glint flashed in the eyes of the ring''s ghost face. It was as if a supernatural being had opened its eyes. Furthermore, the light gradually spread outwards, causing the originally simple, ancient ring to have incantations engraved on it.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    J¨¢k fled in a frenzy, but when he charged through the woods and hit the sword marks that Zhou Wen had delivered previously, sword flashes burst out from the sword marks.


    J¨¢k ran so quickly and anxiously that he repeatedly triggered countless sword marks. Rays of sword flashes stabbed into his body and exploded, instantly blasting J¨¢k out of his shadow form.


    Covered in blood, J¨¢k suffered wounds everywhere thanks to the sword flashes. He fell to the ground, coughing blood non-stop.


    J¨¢k stared at Zhou Wen and swallowed a mouthful of blood. He asked in a hoarse voice, "You¡­ know how hex spells as well?"


    "No, but I have to thank you for giving me some inspiration. If it weren''t for you, I wouldn''t have thought of using my Life Soul in this manner." Zhou Wen wasn''t lying.


    J¨¢k''s combat method inspired Zhou Wen. It allowed him to combine the spatial and dimensional knowledge he had acquired recently and finally figured out a way to use the Lost Country. It wasn''t as simple and crude as using it for teleportation.


    Lost Country''s ability to change spatial trajectories wasn''t limited to just teleportation.


    J¨¢k looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. Although he was a genius, he had only just advanced to the Legendary stage at Zhou Wen''s age. He was far inferior to the present Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate at all as he slashed out the Demonic Astral Wheel. He planned on slaying the heavily injured J¨¢k, unwilling to give him any chance.


    J¨¢k was no longer able to dodge, but there was no trace of fear on his face. Instead, his eyes were scorching hot.


    "This is amazing! This world is amazing! There should be plenty of strong fellows like you among humans, right? It''s really thrilling," J¨¢k muttered to himself in fervor.


    Zhou Wen ignored him as he cleaved apart J¨¢k''s body with the Overlord Sword. Fresh blood spewed out as J¨¢k was split into two on the spot.


    However, when J¨¢k''s body landed, Zhou Wen was shocked to see it transform into a palm-sized doll that had been sliced into two. The doll even spoke despite being sliced in half. "Zhou Wen, you really excite me. To me, you''re a top-notch food ingredient. I''ll definitely kill you and make your flesh into a top-notch delicacy. Before that, please do protect your body and prevent anyone from tainting this priceless ingredient."

 408 An Shengs Suggestion

    In a cave, a pale-faced J¨¢k spat out a mouthful of blood. His face flushed abnormally red. He had used a puppet avatar hex to battle Zhou Wen. Although the one killed was only a puppet avatar and not his main body, the death of his avatar dealt him some severe injuries.


    Furthermore, the Blood Hex Clown Life Soul had really self-destructed. It was a very serious blow to him.


    Although I can''t wait to eat delicacies, I still need to get some Companion Beasts first. Otherwise, I might really not be his match. J¨¢k wiped the blood from his mouth as he wondered how he could obtain a Companion Beast.


    He naturally did not fancy typical Companion Beasts. With his present situation, he needed plenty of time to obtain high-level Companion Beasts.


    Since those people from the League want me to do their bidding, they should pay for it. A look of mockery flashed in J¨¢k''s eyes.


    If he had considered taking Zhou Wen to the bureau to exchange for true freedom, he no longer had that thought after today''s battle.


    J¨¢k walked out of the cave and headed for Luoyang City. He didn''t have any communication devices like phones on him, so he needed to find a place to contact Shen Yuchi.


    He didn''t plan on telling Shen Yuchi what happened today. Failure would only make them think that he was incompetent. J¨¢k planned on telling Shen Yuchi that the An family was protecting Zhou Wen. He needed some Companion Beasts to bring him back.


    Others might only need a Companion Egg, but J¨¢k was different. It would be fine even if it was a Companion Beast with an owner. He believed that Shen Yuchi wouldn''t reject his request.


    After entering Luoyang City, J¨¢k went to a shop to buy a phone and contacted Shen Yuchi. As he expected, although Shen Yuchi was a little reluctant, he still agreed to his request. He told him to wait two days for the Companion Beasts to arrive.


    After the call, he wanted to throw the phone into the trash can, but he realized that there were several different types of bins. He didn''t know what the different labels meant, so he casually threw it into one of them.


    "Sir, you''re mistaken. You just threw a phone, right? That''s recyclable. You should place it in the bin for recyclable waste¡­" a young girl said to J¨¢k when she walked over.


    J¨¢k looked at the girl coldly. When the girl and J¨¢k looked at each other, she was stunned. Then, as if she had lost her soul, she walked toward him.


    J¨¢k turned and walked into a remote area with the girl following in tow. She had no idea what she was doing.


    In an empty alley, J¨¢k looked at the girl and reached his hand out towards her neck. However, before his fingers could touch it, he stopped. There was a strange expression on his face.


    Not long after J¨¢k left, the girl woke up and looked around blankly. She didn''t know why she was here, nor did she know that she had just escaped a calamity.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen scanned the entire forest and didn''t discover any aura nor did he sense anything. He was certain that J¨¢k''s real body wasn''t here.


    "I failed to kill him despite going through all that trouble?" Zhou Wen sighed. He really wanted to kill J¨¢k. He was too terrifying.


    An Sheng walked over and said with a smile, "You''re just a student, yet you managed to force J¨¢k to such a state. I''m afraid no one will believe you if you tell others. You should be proud of yourself. What''s there to sigh about?"


    "Don''t joke around. If I can''t kill him this time, I don''t know what terrifying means he will use to deal with the people around me next time," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng nodded and said, "A devil like J¨¢k will definitely not let this matter rest. It''s indeed not appropriate for you to stay in school. You''re fine on your own. With your capabilities, it won''t be easy for J¨¢k to touch you, but it''s hard to say for the people around you."


    Zhou Wen felt a headache over this. He wasn''t afraid for himself, but if the next time the person standing in front of him was either Li Xuan or Wang Lu, Zhou Wen couldn''t imagine how he would feel if they suddenly exploded and splattered blood all over him.


    "Young Master Wen, if you don''t want to go to the An family, I have a suggestion. You can prevent the people around you from being hurt by J¨¢k, and also stay safe," An Sheng said with narrowed eyes.


    "What''s the suggestion?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Recently, Chess Mountain hasn''t been peaceful. There are frequent signs of break-out creatures. Deputy Governor Qin is building a special unit to guard Chess Mountain. Those people are not part of the army. Most of them are mercenary hunters or cultivators who have committed a crime. If you are interested, you can join this unit. Firstly, you can contribute to guarding Chess Mountain. Secondly, you can also avoid injury to the people around you. Thirdly, there are many experts in the camp, so it won''t be easy for J¨¢k to touch you," An Sheng said.


    "Aren''t you afraid that I would be killed by a break-out creature at Chess Mountain?" Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng gloomily.


    "I really didn''t dare to recommend you in the past. But after watching your battle with J¨¢k, I don''t think it makes a difference," An Sheng said.


    "How can it not make a difference?" Zhou Wen felt that what An Sheng said made no sense. There was naturally no danger if he didn''t go.


    An Sheng smiled and said, "With your present strength, if you were killed, then Chess Mountain''s encampment would definitely be lost. So even if you don''t go to Chess Mountain, the break-out creatures inside will still rush to Luoyang City. When the time comes, won''t you still have to fight them? So what difference does it make?"


    "Why do I have to fight them? Can''t I run?" Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    "You can also run on Chess Mountain. Don''t worry. You aren''t a regular soldier. Just run. You won''t be considered a deserter," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was hesitant. Life on campus was comfortable. If possible, he really didn''t want to go to a dangerous place like Chess Mountain.


    An Sheng noticed Zhou Wen''s hesitation and continued, "Tell me. If Luoyang City really falls in the future, it will definitely be the doing of dimensional creatures in Chess Mountain. If I were you, I would head to Chess Mountain to take a look. At least I would understand the creatures there ahead of time and know how to deal with them. It''s much better than others who aren''t prepared."


    "Is Chess Mountain that terrifying?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement when he saw how serious An Sheng was.


    "According to our research, the ruins of the ancient Zhaoge City might be in Chess Mountain. Don''t you think it''s terrifying?" An Sheng said sternly.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. In the history of the East District, there were two most famous battles between deities, monsters, immortals, saints, and humans. One was the battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chiyou. The other was the famous Battle of Muye. The famous novel, Investiture of the Gods, had depicted this very battle.

 409 Blood River

    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that going to Chess Mountain didn''t seem like a bad idea. He could also seek out the tiny palm symbol and try to download Chess Mountain.


    Just as An Sheng had said, the more he knew about dimensional creatures, the higher the chances of him being able to survive after a large-scale break-out.


    While the dimensional creatures in Chess Mountain had yet to rush out en masse, this was the best chance to go to Chess Mountain. The situation would only worsen in the future, so it wouldn''t be easy to head over again.


    "Just treat it as going on a vacation and touring the area. It will not be too late to return to campus after J¨¢k''s matter is resolved," An Sheng said.


    "Alright. When do we set off?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "To prevent any delays, let''s do it now." An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Don''t tell me you still wish to return to the school and inform your schoolmates? Wouldn''t that be equivalent to telling J¨¢k who matters to you so that he can threaten you with them?"


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and agreed with him. He gave up on his plans to return to the school and followed An Sheng to Chess Mountain.


    Chess Mountain was not far from Luoyang City, so it was not long before Zhou Wen arrived at the encampment with An Sheng.


    As the situation at Chess Mountain was getting worse, Qin Wufu had been transferred here and was temporarily in charge of guarding Chess Mountain.


    After An Sheng introduced Zhou Wen to Qin Wufu, Qin Wufu sized up Zhou Wen strangely and said, "Adjutant An, are you sure you want Zhou Wen to join the new unit?"


    "Yes," An Sheng answered affirmatively.


    "It''s not impossible, but you should know the unit''s situation. The members are quite rowdy¡­" Qin Wufu knew Zhou Wen and knew his relationship with the An family. That was why he was being tactful. Otherwise, he would have rejected Zhou Wen joining the unit.


    After all, Zhou Wen was only a student. The unit he had recently established was used to guard Chess Mountain, so all the members were at the Epic stage.


    An Sheng noticed Qin Wufu''s concerns, so he said, "You know Zhou Wen''s situation as well. The bureau has been looking for trouble with him over Wang Mingyuan''s matter, so Madam got him here mainly because she wants you to take care of him¡­ Actually, it''s just for a few days. Madam has other plans, so he will be sent back very soon¡­"


    Qin Wufu felt a headache coming on. Defending Chess Mountain was enough to give him a headache. Now, he had to take care of some nepotic fellow like Zhou Wen.


    However, Qin Wufu had to take into consideration Ouyang Lan and reluctantly agreed to accept Zhou Wen. However, he rejected Zhou Wen''s entry into the unit and told him to stay put for a few days. There was no need for him to do anything.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen stayed at Chess Mountain''s encampment. As he didn''t have a job scope and wasn''t a soldier, he didn''t need to be on duty. No one cared about him, so it suited Zhou Wen''s intentions.


    On the day Zhou Wen went to the Chess Mountain encampment, he headed out to take a look. There was fog in the direction of Chess Mountain, so he couldn''t see anything clearly. It was as though a beast trapped in fog had opened its mouth.


    The river flowing out of Chess Mountain was as red as blood. An Sheng told him that it had started a few months ago.


    "Which military unit are you from? Why are you wandering around here?" As Zhou Wen walked slowly along the riverbank in search of the tiny palm symbol, an officer leading a patrol stopped him.


    Zhou Wen showed his identification card that Qin Wufu had given him. The officer took it and immediately felt respect for him. After a military salute, he handed the identification documents to Zhou Wen. "So it''s Doctor Little Zhou. What are you doing here?"


    The job title Qin Wufu gave him was an intern doctor. Although he was only an intern doctor, doctors were highly respected in the military. No one could guarantee that they wouldn''t be injured on the battlefield. They would definitely need doctors to help them.


    Most people who could become military doctors had the ability to heal. This ability was extremely rare and precious on the battlefield. Even an intern doctor was a rare species.


    This officer didn''t know that Zhou Wen wasn''t even an intern doctor. His identity was something Qin Wufu had temporarily given to him in order to make it easier for him to stay in the military camp.


    "I just came to the river to take a look," Zhou Wen said casually.


    When the officer heard Zhou Wen, he imagined that Zhou Wen was investigating and collecting samples, so he sighed and said, "Doctor Little Zhou, you have to investigate carefully. There''s indeed a problem with the river''s water. Recently, many of our soldiers have suffered red rashes. The more frequently they patrol the river, the worse the rashes become. Although they don''t deal any major harm and one can recover after two days from staying away from the river, the itch is really tremendous. It''s not like we can avoid patrolling."


    Although Zhou Wen wasn''t a true doctor, he knew some basic knowledge. He asked casually, "Have you tried using a filtered face mask?"


    "We''ve tried. It''s completely useless. Even protective suits have been worn. It''s still useless. As long as we get near this river, the rashes will still break out," the officer said.


    Zhou Wen really didn''t know much. Just as he was thinking of how to send them away and continue his search for the tiny palm symbol, he saw a soldier running over from the mountain pass, panting.


    "Why are you here? Shouldn''t you be guarding the sentry post?" the officer asked immediately when he saw the soldier.


    "Liu Gui¡­ He suddenly fainted¡­ I can''t wake him up no matter what I do¡­ He has rashes all over him¡­" the soldier said as he panted heavily.


    "What¡­ Quick, find a doctor¡­ Ah, Dr. Little Zhou is here¡­ Follow us quickly. We need to take a look¡­" The officer recalled that Zhou Wen was an intern doctor so he pulled him towards the mountain pass.


    Zhou Wen''s face turned livid. He was an imposter. How could he know any medical skills? It would be a wonder if he could figure out anything.


    However, he hadn''t denied his identity as a doctor, so it wasn''t appropriate for him to say anything now. He felt that he wouldn''t say anything once he came to the soldier. He would immediately direct them to send the soldier to the medical team and be done with it.


    The sentry post was the closest outpost to Chess Mountain. Usually, there would be two soldiers standing guard and monitoring the situation nearby.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the sentry post, he realized that this was indeed close to the Chess Mountain''s pass. He could vaguely see the mountain pass''s cliff.


    There was a soldier lying in the sentry post. Zhou Wen was shocked when he saw his face. His face was covered in rashes and parts were covered in blood.


    "What''s going on? Why are his rashes so serious?" the officer glared at another soldier and asked.


    The soldier didn''t dare hide anything as he revealed the truth. "Originally, the rule was to take turns every three days, spending a maximum of three days per rotation. However, Liu Gui had some matters to attend to and had to swap shifts with his other comrades. Including today, he has been here for seven days."

 410 Imposter Doctor

    "The unit has made it clear that we can only stand guard for a maximum of three days. Furthermore, we are to stay away from the river for three subsequent days. He actually stayed here for seven days. Does he have a death wish?" The officer looked at Zhou Wen as he spoke.


    The soldier said with a bitter smile, "Liu Gui said that he had a tenacious body and wasn''t afraid. He was really fine in the beginning. He didn''t get any rashes after manning it for five days like us. On the sixth day, he only had a tiny bout of rashes, but who knew that his rashes would suddenly break out today. His entire body is covered in rashes and they are festering. Before I left, it wasn''t as serious ¡­"


    "Doctor Little Zhou, what do we do?" the officer asked Zhou Wen.


    "What else can we do? Send him back to the medical team quickly." Zhou Wen was just about to say that when he saw the soldier''s body convulse. Wherever his skin was exposed, the red rashes rapidly decayed and his hands festered.


    It was unknown if the pain had jolted him awake. He began reaching out and clawing his face. With one swipe, his skin was torn, leaving behind a few marks on his face. His cheekbones could be seen, making him look extremely frightening.


    However, the soldier did not care and continued to claw himself with all his might. His face was mangled in a few scratches, but he refused to stop and continued to claw at it with all his might.


    "Hold him down!" the officer immediately ordered. The soldiers rushed forward and pressed his hand down to stop him from grabbing his face.


    It was unknown if Liu Gui was conscious or not. He didn''t say a word as he struggled with all his might to claw his face.


    "Liu Gui, do you have a death wish¡­" the officer berated him loudly, but Liu Gui acted as though he didn''t hear anything. He struggled with all his might, his feet kicking hard as he rubbed his body across the ground. After he kicked off his boots and socks, people realized that his feet were covered in rashes.


    Suddenly, Liu Gui stopped struggling and blood seeped out from his mouth. He looked like he was about to die.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, what should we do? Hurry up and save Old Liu." A soldier who was on good terms with Liu Gui nearly cried.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, I''m not a real doctor. How would I know?


    He wanted them to send him to the medical team, but it was already too late by the looks of it. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this red rash could also be a poison. Perhaps Doctor Darkness''s Fight Poison With Poison would be useful.


    By now, Zhou Wen could only attempt a Hail Mary. He would rather have the soldier die in his hands than watch him die.


    Without any hesitation, he summoned Doctor Darkness to appear in companion form and used Fight Poison with Poison as a syringe appeared in his hand.


    After all, he was not a real doctor. Administering injections was not his forte. Fortunately, if it was only administering a tranquilizer, he could still do it.


    The few soldiers held Liu Gui down tightly as Zhou Wen stabbed the syringe in and slightly pushed the plunger, injecting bits of poison into Lin Gui''s body before stopping to watch his reaction.


    Doctor Darkness''s poison was extremely potent. He reacted quickly after being injected with it. The blood that flowed out of Liu Gui''s mouth had clearly decreased, but Zhou Wen didn''t know if it was because he was about to die or if Fight Poison With Poison was showing its effect.


    After waiting for a while longer, Liu Gui''s rashes stopped festering. Liu Gui''s convulsions also lessened in intensity.


    Seeing that the poison was effective, Zhou Wen injected a little more. Liu Gui''s body convulsed even more, but the rashes on his body were dissipating.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was truly effective. It was normal for Liu Gui''s body to convulse. It was unknown what kind of poison Doctor Darkness used, but the pain from having it injected into the body was something Zhou Wen had experienced before. It wasn''t something an ordinary person could tolerate.


    However, this also meant that Liu Gui''s condition was improving. Previously, he couldn''t feel any pain.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare to inject too much poison. Seeing the improvement, he put away the syringe and used Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration to look inside Liu Gui''s body. He didn''t discover any problems, nor did he discover what the source of the rashes was.


    "Ah! It hurts!" Liu Gui''s eyes widened as he screamed in pain. His body struggled even harder.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, what''s going on?" The officer and several soldiers looked at Zhou Wen, unsure of what was happening.


    "His condition has improved. He''s probably saved, but it''s impossible to carry out any of the subsequent treatment here. Quickly send him to the medical team," Zhou Wen said.


    The officer hurriedly summoned an ox-shaped Companion Beast which carried Liu Gui back to the encampment.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, are you heading back with us?" the officer asked Zhou Wen.


    "I still have something on. I still have to take a look by the river. Go ahead." Zhou Wen didn''t have any medical skills. It was useless even if he followed. However, since Fight Poison With Poison had been effective in saving Liu Gui''s life, the extent of his recovery depended on the true doctors.


    The officer was in a hurry to bring Liu Gui back, so he did not speak further and rushed back to the encampment.


    Zhou Wen continued walking in the direction of Chess Mountain, hoping to find the palm symbol. He didn''t dare get too close to the Chess Mountain''s mountain pass. The place was extremely unstable, and dimensional creatures could rush out at any time. Therefore, he only searched in the vicinity.


    However, there were no stone monuments or any human buildings by the river. There was no tiny palm symbol. As he approached Chess Mountain, the rocks in the mountain pass could be seen clearly.


    The rock on Chess Mountain was very unique. Most of it was black, but there were some rocks that were white in color. The contrast was obvious as if some white lines had been drawn on black cloth.


    The blood-colored river flowed out from the mouth of the mountain. If the color was any darker, it would really resemble blood.


    There''s no tiny palm symbol? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he looked in the direction of Chess Mountain, afraid to head forward. A warning sign had already been erected in front of him, indicating that it would be dangerous to head any further.


    Zhou Wen held the mysterious phone and scanned the surroundings with the camera function. There wasn''t a vibrational notification on his phone either. He didn''t know if there really wasn''t a tiny palm symbol or if his mysterious phone couldn''t detect anything due to the proximity gap.


    I''ll continue walking. If the mountain pass''s wall doesn''t have it, I''ll return. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before deciding to take a walk forward to see if there was anything on the mountain pass''s walls.


    With his present strength, as long as he didn''t encounter a Mythical creature, there shouldn''t be too much danger.


    However, Zhou Wen was still very careful and didn''t dare let his guard down. Strength wasn''t absolute, and he wasn''t omnipotent. If he encountered a dimensional creature he couldn''t subdue, even if he were of the same level or higher it could still take his life.

 411 The Little Flower on the Mountain

    Lu Su was reading some documents for her research when she suddenly received an emergency notice. She rushed over to take a look at the soldier''s condition and could not help but frown. "What happened to him?"


    "Dr. Lu, Liu Gui violated the rules. He stationed himself at the sentry post for seven days, and turned into this," the officer said.


    "He stationed himself at the sentry post for seven days straight? Does he not want his life anymore?" Lu Su was slightly taken aback when she heard that. She went forward to carefully observe Liu Gui''s injuries and asked in disbelief, "He must have scratched himself, right? There''s indeed some festering, but¡­"


    The more she looked at it, the stranger she found it. Liu Gui''s injuries seemed to have signs of rashes, but it was obvious that the rashes were no longer festering and there were signs of recovery. The situation wouldn''t have been so if the rashes had really acted up.


    "We happened to meet Doctor Little Zhou earlier on. Doctor Zhou injected some medicine into Liu Gui at the sentry post, improving his condition a little. He''s much better now¡­" the officer explained everything that had happened earlier.


    "Doctor Little Zhou? Which Doctor Little Zhou?" Lu Su found it unbelievable.


    After all her research, she had ultimately failed to find a way to treat the rashes. Once it acted up, death was a certainty. According to what they said, Liu Gui had been there for seven days without dying. That was testimony to his luck. The situation back then must have been the rashes acting up, quickly turning him into a pool of blood.


    According to their description, Liu Gui should already be a dead person. Even if she, Lu Su, had been present, there was no way she could have saved Liu Gui.


    However, the doctor they were talking about had only given one injection to significantly improve Liu Gui. She could no longer see any signs of the rashes, so she found it unbelievable.


    "It''s Dr. Zhou Wen. His identification document says that he''s an intern," the officer replied.


    Lu Su ran through all the medical team''s personnel through her mind, but they did not have such an intern doctor. There were indeed a few new interns this year, but none of them had the Zhou surname.


    "Take him in for a checkup now." Lu Su let Liu Gui in. Liu Gui could already walk on his own, but his facial injuries were rather serious.


    Lu Su checked Liu Gui and treated his wounds. But this only served to surprise her more.


    Liu Gui''s entire body was covered in festering rashes, which meant that the breakout was very severe. Liu Gui and company were probably not lying, but the rashes did not show any continual signs of decay. Instead, they were slowly improving.


    Instead, the self-inflicted wounds were more serious. It would probably take him quite some time to treat them.


    "Are you sure that the intern doctor you met is named Zhou Wen?" Lu Su asked again.


    The officer answered with certainty, "It''s Doctor Zhou Wen, alright. I made sure."


    "That''s strange." Lu Su really wanted to meet Zhou Wen and ask him what he had injected into Liu Gui, but she couldn''t recall having such a person in the medical team.


    When she returned to her office, Lu Su found the medical team''s case files and saw that none of the intern doctors were named Zhou Wen. None of them had the Zhou surname.


    How strange. Could it be that they were really lucky to meet a deity? Lu Su was secretly puzzled.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was less than two hundred meters from Chess Mountain''s mountain pass. With his eyesight, he was able to see if there were any patterns on the mountain wall, so he didn''t head forward again.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze constantly sized up the mountain wall and after a while, he failed to find the tiny palm symbol. Instead, he saw a strange flower.


    The flower was growing on the wall of Chess Mountain and was only about ten centimeters tall. The leaves were black, but the flowers were white. The contrasting colors resembled the rock colors of Chess Mountain.


    The small flower grew alone on the stone wall. There were no plants for hundreds of meters.


    There must be something wrong with things that happen out of the ordinary. Zhou Wen remembered that he had been taught in school that there was no lack of terrifying plants in dimensional zones. Perhaps the flower in front of him was a terrifying plant-type dimensional creature.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen''s nerves immediately tensed up when he saw the flower. It wasn''t because he was excited, but because he was wary.


    Plant-type powers were often rather special. Many animal-type dimensional creatures relied on brute force to achieve victory, but that wasn''t something Zhou Wen was afraid of.


    However, most plant-type dimensional creatures didn''t achieve victory through brute force. Using the knowledge he learned from school, he knew there were many flower-type dimensional creatures that killed with pollen. There were also some fungoid dimensional creatures that could give off tiny spores that could barely be seen with the naked eye. Through the respiratory tract or the gullet, or even pores, they could enter the body and parasitize humans. They treated the human body as nutrients and sucked the human to their deaths.


    Zhou Wen wore the Truth Listener earring and listened to the flow of the air, but he didn''t find any tiny particles swirling over from the side of the flower. Only then did he feel relieved.


    Although he didn''t know if the flower was a plant-type dimensional creature, Zhou Wen decided to stay far from it. There was nothing wrong with being careful. He didn''t want to die here for no reason.


    He turned around and walked in another direction, hoping to stay away from the flower. However, just as Zhou Wen walked a few steps, he heard a voice from the flower.


    "Can you hear me?" It was a woman''s voice. Although the sun hadn''t set and the sky wasn''t too dark, Zhou Wen was still alarmed.


    He turned to look at the direction of the voice and saw that there was neither human nor dimensional creature. There was only the flower growing on the mountain wall.


    "Can you hear me?" The flower sounded again. Strangely, the flower turned around and faced Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen shut his mouth and stared at the flower, but he slowly retreated.


    Zhou Wen didn''t want to know why the strange flower could speak. He only hoped that the flower wouldn''t cause any trouble for him. He wasn''t sure if he could deal with it.


    "Why do you want to leave? I just want to chat with you. Nothing else." The woman''s voice came from within the flower again.


    Call me a fool if I believe you. Such lines often appear in movies and dramas. Many men say this to women to cheat them into getting a room, Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he still retreated without answering the flower.


    Zhou Wen had heard a story from his grandfather when he was young. He said that when walking in the middle of the night, one was not to answer or turn their head to look once they heard a stranger calling their name from behind; otherwise, they would die.

 412 The Flowers Powers

    "Seven steps. If you take another seven steps, you will die. If you don''t believe me, you can continue walking," the flower''s voice sounded again.


    A cold sweat broke out on Zhou Wen''s forehead as he stood there, unsure if he should continue walking.


    Logically speaking, Truth Listener was able to nullify any evil powers, but there was no invincible power in this world. Zhou Wen still hadn''t figured out what kind of evil powers Truth Listener could nullify.


    If the flower was just making an empty threat, Zhou Wen would be fine with leaving, but what if it was speaking the truth? Zhou Wen didn''t dare gamble with his life.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to be frightened by the flower. Gritting his teeth, he continued retreating. One step, two steps, three steps. As he retreated, he looked at the flower on the mountain wall.


    The flower didn''t make another sound. This only made Zhou Wen feel uneasy.


    Four steps, five steps, six steps. Zhou Wen continued walking, but there was no reaction from the Truth Listener earring. Zhou Wen''s heart drummed. Could it really be a hoax? Why isn''t there any reaction at all?


    Despite having this in mind, he didn''t dare to take the final step.


    That''s right. Zhou Wen was indeed afraid of death, and there didn''t seem to be a need for him to risk his life.


    "Why aren''t you walking? You have one more step to go." The flower finally spoke, but its tone was filled with mockery.


    "We don''t have any feud. Why are you making things difficult for me? If you lack fertilizer, I''ll help you find it. If you lack water, I''ll water you. How about that?" Zhou Wen stood there and shouted at the flower on the mountain wall.


    "Why would I want your water and fertilizer?" The flower said coldly. "From now on, answer the questions I ask you. If you satisfy me, I''ll spare your life. Otherwise, I''ll make you beg for death. Even if you die, I''ll turn you into a candle."


    "I can''t stand being threatened by others. I''m leaving. What can you do about it?" Zhou Wen said as he raised his foot.


    However, just as he raised his foot, he felt a wave of dizziness and almost fell to the ground. Alarmed, he stopped in his tracks, not daring to lift his foot to take the step.


    Damn it, how did this happen? Zhou Wen was appalled. He knew that the flower was speaking the truth.


    "Why aren''t you leaving? Continue walking. Where did your temper go?" the flower teased.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, There''s no need to lose my life over a quarrel with a flower. Even Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul is useless. I wonder what origins this flower has.


    The flower didn''t refute him. Instead, it asked, "What''s your name?"


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat. He remembered that in myths, there was a power capable of imprisoning people with the mere calling out of a name. He was momentarily unsure if he should answer.


    "Why are you so wishy-washy? Just die," the flower said impatiently.


    "My name is Zhou Wen. What''s your name?" Zhou Wen knew that it was useless even if he used a fake name. This was because the name was actually just a representation. From his mouth, no matter if it was real or fake, it represented himself. If the other party really had that ability, it would be effective even on a fake name.


    "Call me The Thearch." The flower paused before asking, "Why are you here?"


    "Will you believe me if I say that I''m here as a tourist?" Although Zhou Wen said that, he thought to himself, To think a flower wants to be called a thearch? Is it crazy?


    The flower chuckled. "I believe you. Why not? Since you''re here to travel, I''ll do a good deed. I''ll take you to Chess Mountain for a tour."


    With that said, the wall in which the flower was rooted in, cracked. The cracks expanded slowly, causing Chess Mountain to shake slightly as if the mountain was about to split open.


    "There''s no need to trouble you. I''m afraid of heights. I hate climbing mountains the most. I''ll just watch the river scenery here." The beads of cold sweat on Zhou Wen''s forehead increased a lot.


    The swaying mountain finally calmed down. The flower mocked, "Are you really not coming in to take a look?"


    "There''s really no need." Zhou Wen hurriedly waved his hand before changing the topic. "Are there many dimensional creatures in Chess Mountain? Are there any Mythical creatures?"


    "Of course, and there''s plenty. Which would you like to see? I can get them to come out to meet you," the flower said with a smile.


    "There''s no need. I was just asking." Zhou Wen suspected that the flower was bluffing him with its inane claims.


    It was just a flower, and it grew on a mountain wall that had suffered the elements. However, its tone sounded like it was the monarch of Chess Mountain. This left him very suspicious.


    "Are there currently many humans with strength like yours?" the flower asked.


    "There should be quite a number." Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn''t a small number.


    During Jing Daoxian''s era, not long after the dimensional storms, there were very few Epic experts. Over the past few decades, Epic experts were no longer as rare as they used to be.


    "How many humans are there now?" the flower continued asking.


    "It shouldn''t be more than ten billion, I guess," Zhou Wen thought for a moment and replied. These weren''t secrets and there was nothing to hide.


    "Then, people of your standard should number a few hundred million?" the flower muttered.


    "This¡­ I don''t think there''s that many." Zhou Wen found it a little difficult to speak after hearing the flower''s words. This was because the actual situation was too different from the flower''s guesses.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t know how many Epic experts there were in the Federation, he estimated that it was difficult to even reach six digits. It was already quite good to have tens of thousands.


    "Tens of millions?" the flower guessed again.


    "A little fewer," Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    "Just a few million? Are humans so weak now? There are so few people at your level?" the flower said in a tone of disbelief.


    "Something like that. I''m basically considered relatively weak." Zhou Wen couldn''t tell the flower that it should reduce the number it guessed by a hundred times.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked, "Are you very familiar with Chess Mountain? Have you seen a symbol here? It''s a picture of a tiny palm. There might be something in the palm."


    Zhou Wen roughly described the tiny palm symbol. Since he couldn''t leave, he might as well take the opportunity to find out more. Perhaps this flower really knew.


    "There is indeed such a symbol on the top of Chess Mountain. I don''t know who carved it. It irritates me. Why are you looking for it?" the flower asked.

 413 Climbing the Mountain

    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he heard that there was the tiny palm symbol. However, when he thought of how it was at the top of Chess Mountain¡ªa place he didn''t dare head up¡ªhe couldn''t help but turn sullen.


    "I''ve seen similar symbols in other dimensional zones, but I don''t know what the symbol means. Therefore, I''ve been studying them all this time, hoping to take a picture. By the way, do you know what the tiny palm symbol represents?" Zhou Wen asked half-truthfully.


    "How would I know? I don''t know who carved it out of boredom. It''s easy if you want to see it. Once you reach the peak, you will naturally be able to see it," the flower said.


    "Forget it. It''s not necessary." Upon hearing that he was going to have to climb up the mountain, Zhou Wen rejected it without even thinking.


    There were countless terrifying creatures in Chess Mountain. Who knew if he would be able to come out after climbing up there?


    However, the little flower laughed. "So you don''t want to climb it? Then I''ll make you. If you can''t reach the peak within two hours, your eyes will go blind."


    Previously, when the flower said that he would die within seven steps, Zhou Wen didn''t pay attention. However, this time, he saw it clearly. Just as the flower''s voice faded, one of its petals wilted and scattered in the air as a point of light, as though it had vanished into thin air.


    Zhou Wen didn''t feel anything, nor did the Truth Listener earring react. However, he knew that he had probably been hit by some curse.


    What origins does this flower have? Why is its power so strange? Zhou Wen looked at the flower and asked, "You said that I would die if I took seven steps. Now, you want me to climb the mountain within two hours? Doesn''t this conflict?


    The flower said calmly, "Don''t worry. The first wish''s wish forces have been covered by the second wish. You can walk anywhere you want now without dying. However, if you don''t ascend Chess Mountain''s peak in two hours, you will definitely become blind. Even a Mythical Primordial Energy Skill that can resurrect the dead won''t be able to restore your vision. If you don''t believe me, go ahead and leave this place."


    "What are you really up to?" Zhou Wen looked up at the flower on the mountain wall and asked. If he were to go up Chess Mountain, he was afraid that he would lose his life. Being blind was better than dying.


    At the very least, he still had the Truth Listener earring. Even if he was blind, he wouldn''t be completely blind. He could use his ears as a substitute for his eyes. He just wouldn''t be able to see any colors or changes in shadows in the future.


    "Nothing. I just find it fun. If you don''t want to climb the mountain, you can leave now. However, if I''m in a bad mood one day and think about you, I might make another wish to turn you into a cripple. I believe it will be very interesting," the flower said.


    "If you wish to kill me, just do it. There''s no need to go through so much trouble," Zhou Wen said as he stared at the flower.


    "If it wasn''t for your good looks, do you think you could still stand and talk to me, a thearch?" the flower said in contempt.


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. He thought to himself, You are a flower. Why would you have any idea about human looks?


    The flower continued, "Forget it. I shall tell you another secret. There''s a treasure on the top of Chess Mountain. You shall have a chance of obtaining that treasure if you can climb up there. Based on the standards of you humans, it is a Mythical item."


    "What Mythical item is it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "You''ll know when you get up there. However, I shall give you a hint. Don''t think about flying up. You must climb up the mountain wall. Otherwise, you''ll die," the flower said.


    "Alright, I''ll climb." Zhou Wen gritted his teeth. He knew that he had provoked this flower. Even if he were to leave now, there would be endless trouble. He might as well go take a look. If there was really a tiny palm symbol, he could snap it and download it into the game. He could then understand Chess Mountain''s secret in-game and think of a way to eliminate the flower''s pestering.


    Zhou Wen walked to the stone wall and reached out to grab the cracks on the rock before climbing up. The moment he climbed up, he immediately felt that something was amiss. A powerful magnet seemed to be situated beneath Chess Mountain. It tugged at his body, making it suddenly feel heavy. He struggled to climb up, just like ordinary people when they went rock-climbing.


    "Do you find yourself heavy?" the flower''s voice sounded.


    "Why did this happen?" Zhou Wen asked as he crawled up.


    "The Chess Mountain is a sealed place. Even those true immortals don''t dare approach it. Only your human body can approach it. It won''t be injured by the power of the seal, but it will still be affected by it," said the flower.


    "A sealed place? Who sealed it?" Zhou Wen took the opportunity to gather information.


    "If you can climb up the mountain and see that Mythical item, you will naturally be able to guess who he is. If you don''t climb up, it''s useless telling you." The flower paused and said, "Since you have already climbed up, don''t think about retreating. Otherwise, you shall die. If you don''t believe me, look down."


    Zhou Wen looked down and was alarmed. He had only climbed up a few meters, but the bottom had turned into a bottomless abyss, as though it was leading straight to hell.


    Damn you flower, just you wait. Once I download Chess Mountain''s instance dungeon and find your weakness in-game, I''ll finish you, Zhou Wen thought hatefully.


    He didn''t know if it was an illusion or what was going on, but since he had come up, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on retreating. He continued climbing up.


    The more he climbed up, the heavier his body became. It was as though his body was covered in chains. Even with Zhou Wen''s strong physique, he found it exhausting just climbing a few hundred meters.


    Thankfully, Chess Mountain wasn''t tall. It was only about 700¨C800 meters. If it was a mountain that was thousands of meters high, Zhou Wen really doubted if he could scale it.


    The flower said, "I couldn''t tell. Your perseverance is not bad."


    "It''s okay. You''ve been at Chess Mountain for so long. Do you know who Chess Mountain''s original owner is?" Zhou Wen didn''t forget to fish for more information.


    "I''m the owner of Chess Mountain," the flower said with a laugh.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t believe it. According to An Sheng, Chess Mountain traced to the ancient Zhaoge City. If that was the case, there would definitely be many Mythical creatures inside. There would be no lack of famous Mythical existences. Even if this flower had powerful and strange powers, Zhou Wen definitely didn''t believe its claim of being the owner of Chess Mountain.


    Despite nearing the summit, Zhou Wen''s Truth Listener still couldn''t hear anything from the top of the mountain. It was as though there was some mysterious force blocking the sounds, preventing Zhou Wen from peeping at the mountain peak.


    Now, Zhou Wen felt as though someone was pulling him with a chain beneath him. Every step he climbed up required him to use all his strength. He had no choice but to use the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul to replenish his vital energies. This eased him greatly.


    "Eh? The aura of an ancient human sovereign. Do you cultivate the Ancient Sovereign Sutra?" The flower sensed the power of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul and immediately guessed the Primordial Energy Art Zhou Wen cultivated.

 414 Peak

    "You know about the Ancient Sovereign Sutra?" Zhou Wen asked.


    The flower laughed and said, "It''s not like it''s something impressive. Why wouldn''t I know? It''s no wonder you climbed up Chess Mountain so easily. It turns out that you''ve cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. However, after cultivating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, your future will not be too easy. It will be extremely difficult to pass the Mythical stage."


    "Why would it be difficult to cultivate the Ancient Sovereign Sutra? Aren''t other Primordial Energy Arts difficult to cultivate?" Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he tried to get the way to advance to the Mythical stage from the flower''s mouth.


    To date, Zhou Wen had never heard of humans becoming Mythical experts. If he could obtain a method to advance to the Mythical stage, he might be the first Mythical expert among humans.


    "They''re difficult too. However, ordinary Primordial Energy Arts follow the order of the world. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra works by destroying the order of the world, so naturally, the difficulty is greater. Furthermore, the founder of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, the strongest Human Sovereign of your human race, ultimately failed to change fate," the flower said.


    "Which Human Sovereign are you referring to?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    "As a human and one that cultivates the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, you don''t even know your race''s sovereign, Suiren-shi?" the flower was puzzled.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was a Primordial Energy Art left behind by Suiren-shi. It was the leader who had brought fire to humanity.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was discovered on E Bo Platform. It might have something to do with E Bo. He never expected it to be Suiren-shi''s Primordial Energy Art.


    "When you talk about changing fate, do you mean that Human Sovereign ultimately failed to advance to the Mythical stage?" Zhou Wen thought to himself that if that were the case, it would be even more difficult to advance the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to the Mythical stage in the future.


    "You can understand it as that too," the flower said rather ambiguously. It didn''t continue the topic. Instead, it said, "Once you reach the top of the mountain, you will see a stone staircase. Follow it, but do not walk around recklessly. Otherwise, don''t blame your death on me. The tiny palm symbol will be engraved on the boulder at the end of the stone steps."


    "What''s that Mythical item you mentioned?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "You''re almost there. It''s on the boulder." The flower ultimately didn''t answer his question.


    Even with the augmentation of the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, it still took his all to just climb up. When he finally reached the mountaintop, his fingers trembled as he held them to the ground.


    Zhou Wen immediately saw the tiny palm symbol on the stone and couldn''t help but be overjoyed.


    That flower didn''t lie to me. There really is a tiny palm symbol. Zhou Wen stood up and carefully approached the bun-resembling black boulder.


    As Zhou Wen took a few steps, he felt the mysterious phone vibrate in his pocket. Zhou Wen took it out and automatically opened the camera app.


    He aimed the phone at the black boulder and the camera automatically focused. It locked onto the small palm symbol on the boulder before producing a snapping sound. It turned into the downloading interface.


    "What is that in your hand?" the flower''s voice came from the mountain wall.


    "Don''t you know what a cell phone is?" Zhou Wen realized that the mountain peak wasn''t as dangerous as he had imagined it to be. It wasn''t as terrifying as the flower had said. It was barren and he felt a little more relaxed.


    Now that he had downloaded the game dungeon, he could research the flower''s weakness when he got back. After he had researched it thoroughly, he could deal with it.


    As long as he didn''t die here, he still had a chance to turn the tables even if he was blinded by the flower.


    Wait. If I''m blind, will the blood-colored avatar in-game be blind? Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a serious problem.


    He and the blood-colored avatar shared the same vantage view. If the blood-colored avatar also became blind and he couldn''t see the screen, wouldn''t that mean that he couldn''t game?


    "What is a cell phone? It doesn''t look like a treasure as it doesn''t have any Primordial Energy fluctuations," the flower said.


    "It''s not a treasure. It''s just a communication tool that we humans use to communicate across distances. There are also some functions like taking pictures. Everyone has one." Zhou Wen tried his best to describe the phone as something rather common to prevent the flower from suddenly becoming interested in the phone.


    "What does taking pictures mean?" the flower asked again.


    "It''s to record down a scene into a drawing. I can take pictures of people or scenery," Zhou Wen said as he put away the mysterious phone. It looked like the flower was interested in the phone.


    "Is that so? Take a photo and let me see," the flower said.


    Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared as he took out his ordinary phone and took a few photos with his phone.


    "This thing is rather interesting. The drawings are so realistic." the flower paused and said, "How do you speak with this thing across distances?"


    "It''s very simple. Every phone has a number. As long as you call this number, you can call another phone a distance away. However, there''s no signal here, so there''s no way to talk." Zhou Wen realized that there was no signal here.


    "What is a signal?" the flower asked again.


    "I don''t quite understand that either. It roughly entails humans establishing cell towers. Through these cell towers, we can transmit signals across distances. There''s no cell tower here, so there''s no way to use the phone to communicate." Zhou Wen wasn''t very knowledgeable on such matters so he just gave a general explanation.


    "I understand. You have two phones. Give one to me then. You don''t have any objections, right?" Although the flower was inquiring, its tone wasn''t taking no for an answer.


    "Sure, but there''s no signal here. It''s useless even if you have the phone, right? Besides, you don''t have hands. How are you going to use the phone?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s none of your business. Just place your phone on the stone steps," the flower said.


    Zhou Wen deleted his own information on the phone. Thankfully, he didn''t use it often. There wasn''t much private information inside, so he deleted it in a few seconds.


    "What''s the number of this phone and the other phone?" the flower asked.


    Zhou Wen told the flower his cell phone number before saying, "I didn''t get a number for my other phone. I''ll only get it after I return. However, there''s communication software in there that can be used for communication. It can''t be used due to a lack of signal though."


    "It''s alright. Tell me how to use it." The flower was very calm.


    Zhou Wen told the flower how to use the communication software. He still wanted to return alive, so he agreed to any of the flower''s requests.


    After Zhou Wen gave the tutorial, the flower claimed that it understood. It was unknown if it really understood or was faking it. After all, there wasn''t any signal here and there wasn''t much use for having a phone. It was the same even if it didn''t understand. Therefore, he couldn''t be bothered to say more.


    "By the way, where is the Mythical item you mentioned? Why don''t I see it?"


    "Didn''t I tell you that it''s on the boulder? You can see from its side," said the flower.

 415 Treasure Box

    The bun-shaped boulder was about a meter tall. After Zhou Wen got closer, he could see the top.


    There was a white jade box embedded in the middle of the boulder. When Zhou Wen saw that the white jade box didn''t seem particularly outstanding, he asked, "Is the Mythical item that you mentioned in this jade box?"


    "No. That jade box is the Mythical item," the flower said.


    The jade box is the Mythical item? Zhou Wen sized it up, but he couldn''t find anything special about it. It didn''t have any extraordinary luster or Mythical patterns. It looked like an ordinary box made of white jade. It was about a foot long and only about four fingers wide.


    "A real treasure is right in front of you, but you can''t recognize it. You can be considered blind. Based on my personality back then, I would have dug your eyes out to quell my anger." The flower paused before continuing. "That box is a Mythical expert''s Mythical item. It has terrifying power. Even a Mythical creature like a dragon wouldn''t be able to withstand the power of the box. This Chess Mountain''s seal remains because of its suppression."


    "You mean that if I take it away, the seal on Chess Mountain will be lifted?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    He originally thought that the flower was trying to trick him into taking the treasure here and to achieve some hidden ploy. However, the first thing the flower said was to point out the importance of the jade box. It left Zhou Wen surprised.


    The flower said disdainfully, "As such a weak human, you don''t have the right to take it away. Even a Mythical creature needs a special physique to be able to take it out. You''re still far from it."


    After pausing for a moment, the flower continued, "But if you can advance to the Mythical stage in the future, you can come over and give it a try. You cultivate in the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, so you might have a chance to take it away."


    Only when I''m mad would I take it away. Why would I allow these monsters to walk the land? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The flower seemed to see through Zhou Wen''s thoughts as it said with a laugh, "It''s only a matter of time before the dimensional zones rule the land. Even if you don''t take it, someone will take it away in the future. Even in dimensional zones, this item is a unique treasure. It has killed countless Mythical creatures. If you really are that great, just pretend that it doesn''t exist."


    Zhou Wen was tempted when he heard that. the flower''s words weren''t without reason. When that truly happened, his choice of leaving it here would only benefit someone else.


    Although he knew that the flower was tempting him, it was a lie to say that he wasn''t tempted. However, he couldn''t take it now.


    I''ll give it a try in-game. If I can take it away in-game, it shouldn''t affect the real world, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    "Up to you." The flower had no intention of stopping Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly climbed down again. It was harder to go down the mountain than up the mountain. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had cultivated for so many years, so even if he didn''t fly, he was still considered agile.


    "So¡­ I''m really leaving¡­" Zhou Wen said as he looked in the direction of the flower, afraid that something would happen again.


    "Are you planning on getting me to keep you here on Chess Mountain for a meal?" the flower said coldly.


    "There''s no need to be so polite. I''ll take my leave now. I''ll contact you when I have the time." Zhou Wen hurriedly turned around and left. The flower had an unpredictable temperament. It was best if he could leave quickly.


    When I find a loophole in-game, I''ll deal with you when I come back. After Zhou Wen left Chess Mountain, he took out the phone and saw that it had already finished downloading. There was a new game icon on the home screen.


    The icon was a black mountain with the name ''Chess Mountain.''


    Zhou Wen rode the Mutated Stone Chi back and immediately opened the Chess Mountain dungeon. After entering the game, the blood-colored avatar stood in front of Chess Mountain''s wall. There was a flower growing on it. Although the cartoon-styled flower looked a little different from the real world, he could still vaguely tell that it was the flower Zhou Wen had seen.


    Although he was in-game, Zhou Wen held back and didn''t attack the flower because he couldn''t die yet. He headed to the underground sea every twenty-four hours to deliver a Poison Dragon Palm at the black dragon to drain it to its death.


    If it dropped a Mythical Companion Beast, he would have made a killing. Even without a Mythical Companion Beast, it would be a huge gain for him to have a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal drop. After all, Zhou Wen hadn''t had the ability to kill a Mythical creature yet. It was very difficult to obtain a dimensional crystal at the Mythical stage.


    Standing in front of the mountain wall and sizing up the flower, he realized it didn''t speak like it did in real life. It just quietly grew on the mountain wall.


    Zhou Wen decided to wait until he killed the black dragon before teaching the flower a lesson. Then, he chose to leave the game dungeon.


    ¡­


    In a dark cave, a seductive woman was bound by criss-cross chains. The chains with runes pierced through her bones and chained her inside the cave. She couldn''t even move and could only sit on the mountain wall. Her neck and legs were chained and she couldn''t move at all.


    At that moment, a phone was floating in front of the seductive woman. It was the one Zhou Wen had placed on the stone steps.


    The seductive woman''s gaze landed on the phone, but there seemed to be a pair of invisible hands that grabbed the phone and quickly operated it.


    A cell phone is quite interesting. A strange smile gradually appeared on the seductive woman''s face.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen returned to the encampment and finished grinding the game dungeons. Having nothing else to do, he took out his books from the chaos space to read.


    Previously, during his battle with J¨¢k, he had gained a new understanding of Lost Country. However, it hadn''t reached the level where he could advance Lost Country to the Evolved Body stage. Now, he could use this period of time to study it and see if he could advance further, allowing Lost Country to become an Evolved Body.


    A Life Soul itself had a certain ability, but the usage of the Life Soul''s ability required the owner of the Life Soul to develop it himself. Teleportation was only the most basic usage of spatial trajectory forces.


    After receiving inspiration from J¨¢k, Zhou Wen thought of a different way of making use of spatial trajectories¡ªTrajectory Control.


    After the average person''s strength was projected out, it was equivalent to spending money. It was impossible for them to get it back and they could not repeatedly use the same money to buy things.


    However, by using the effect of spatial trajectories, he could still control the forces he sent out. They were connected to each other via the trajectory, but this connection was different from what most people thought. It was invisible and did not physically exist.


    Using this trajectory connection, Zhou Wen could be like J¨¢k. He could set up his strength as though he was burying a land mine. With a detonator in hand, he could detonate any land mines he had buried beforehand.

 416 Doctor Little Zhou

    However, in contrast, J¨¢k''s Life Blast was more sinister. This was because J¨¢k was detonating the energy of life itself. This meant that he didn''t expend his Primordial Energy. All he did was rely on the energies of others.


    Zhou Wen''s method was to expend his Primordial Energy to set up a land mine. It would be a lot more troublesome and the expenditure was even more severe.


    However, Life Blast was just too sinister. Every strike required the lives of others in exchange. The stronger the vital energy, the stronger the explosion would be.


    Zhou Wen attempted to use the spatial trajectory he had figured out. Every trajectory link formed a string on his ring. If many of the trajectories connected, it would cover the ring with all sorts of lines as though they were incantations.


    He had been studying the effects of spatial trajectories and used it as a breakthrough point in an attempt to advance the Lost Country to an Evolved Body.


    Unfortunately, the advancement of a Life Soul was clearly not that simple. After studying it the entire afternoon, Zhou Wen didn''t make much progress. However, he was more familiar with the usage of spatial trajectories.


    Zhou Wen felt uncomfortable reading in his room. Just as he got to the door with a book in hand and moved a chair to read at the door, an officer holding a washbasin saw him and immediately came up to greet him. "Doctor Little Zhou, so you''re staying here. I really have to thank you for saving Liu Gui''s life. Dr. Lu said that if you hadn''t handled it in time, Liu Gui would have died."


    "It''s nothing, it''s my duty." Zhou Wen had treated the case as a last-ditch effort. He didn''t wish to repeat it a second time.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, I''ve been to the river recently and have rashes on my body. Although they aren''t serious and will fade in two days, they are really itchy. Do you have any method to stop the itch?" the officer asked Zhou Wen.


    "Of course. A single injection can stop the itch," Zhou Wen said without any hesitation.


    Doctor Darkness''s Fight Poison With Poison could restrain the rash poison. As long as the dosage was appropriate, it was easy to eliminate the rash.


    "Really?" The officer''s eyes lit up as he looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation. "Doctor Zhou, can you give me an injection? I can''t stand it any longer. I wish I could tear my bones to pieces."


    "Alright. Come over and extend your arm." This was a trivial matter to Zhou Wen. Since it was simple, it was only right to help him.


    After all, they were stationed here and fighting dimensional creatures with their lives. This allowed the residents of the city to live in peace.


    The officer was overjoyed as he hurriedly rolled up his sleeves and stretched out his arm.


    Zhou Wen directly summoned Doctor Darkness to possess him. After using Fight Poison With Poison, a syringe appeared in his hand.


    The officer''s face was still full of excitement at the beginning. He thought that he finally didn''t have to endure the crazy itch anymore. However, in the next second, the officer''s face turned pale.


    He felt an incomparable pain that he had never experienced in his entire life. It instantly spread through his entire body, causing his entire body to spasm.


    Anyone who had a cramp in their legs would know that cramps felt terrible, but now, his entire body was cramping violently. Not only his legs, even his fingers and toes were cramping, and his organs were about to collapse.


    The officer fell onto the ground and convulsed on the ground like a lunatic. White foam spewed from his mouth as his eyes rolled back.


    At this moment, if he still had the strength, he would have slammed himself to death. This pain was much worse than the itch before.


    "I administered a little too much?" Zhou Wen looked at the officer and muttered to himself.


    He wasn''t worried that something would happen to the officer because the amount of dosage he had injected was already very minute. It wasn''t enough to cause too much damage, just a little pain.


    The nearby soldiers didn''t know what had happened, but they all came over with concern. Seeing that the officer was twitching non-stop, they wanted to send him to the medical team.


    "Don''t touch him. He will be fine soon." Zhou Wen stopped the soldiers.


    One of the soldiers seemed to understand what was going on. He said to the other soldiers, "This young man is right. This is called epilepsy. Don''t touch him when he''s spasming. Otherwise, he might die. Quickly place his head on the side and use something to block his tongue. Don''t let him bite his tongue. He should recover in a while."


    "Epilepsy, you as*!" The officer finally endured through the most painful period and sat up with a pale face.


    At this moment, he deeply regretted it. Thoughts of dying had run through his mind several times just now so that he wouldn''t have to suffer such inhuman pain. If he had known earlier that it would be so painful, he would rather have suffered the itch.


    "Thank you, Doctor Little Zhou." Although he felt regret, the officer still thanked Zhou Wen politely before leaving with a pale face.


    Zhou Wen thought nothing of the matter. It had been easy to help him.


    However, Zhou Wen never expected that this very simple help played a huge role that night.


    As usual, the officer led a group of soldiers to patrol the river. When they were patrolling a spot by the river, a strange fish suddenly stuck its head out from the river and spat out a mouthful of bloody water at the soldiers on the bank. The soldiers dodged, but the blood covered a large area like rain. Despite dodging very quickly, they were still drenched.


    The other soldiers immediately went into a coma from the poison. Their bodies began to break out into the red rashes. Only the officer was surprisingly fine, despite being drenched in blood.


    Thankfully, he hadn''t fainted and was able to bring his soldiers back to the camp in time. Otherwise, if they had all fainted, no one would have realized they were dead until some time later.


    The officer used his Companion Beast to take a group of soldiers back to the camp and send them to the medical team. When Lu Su saw that the rashes on their bodies had already festered, she shook her head in exasperation and said, "No, the poison has already spread to the blood in their bodies. There''s no way they can be saved."


    The officer was stunned when he heard that. He said in disbelief, "That''s impossible. How can there be no hope? Doctor Lu, think of another solution. There must be a way to save them."


    These soldiers had always been with him, so how could he not have any feelings for them? When he heard that they were about to die, he naturally found it unacceptable.


    "They were hit by the bloody water spewed out by the dimensional creature you mentioned. The poison spread too quickly and there''s no hope for them. Thankfully, you weren''t stained by the blood or you would suffer the same fate as them," Lu Su said.


    "No, I was also stained by it. Why am I fine? Oh right, it''s Doctor Little Zhou. Doctor Little Zhou definitely can save them. Last time, Liu Gui was in a worse state than them. He was treated by Doctor Little Zhou. Doctor Lu, quickly get Doctor Little Zhou here. He can treat him," the officer said anxiously.

 417 Hes Really A Doctor

    Lu Su frowned and said, "Our medical team doesn''t have the Doctor Zhou Wen you mentioned previously. If there is, how could we not get him to save you all?"


    "How can that be? He''s clearly from your medical team, and I''ve even seen his identification documents. Oh right, he''s not a doctor yet; he''s just an intern doctor," the officer said.


    "There''s no such person even amongst the intern doctors. There''s no one with the Zhou surname either." Lu Su felt that grief had gotten to this officer''s head that he started spouting nonsense. If he had really been hit by the blood, how could he come back alive? He even dragged his comrades back while remaining fine.


    "Impossible. He''s clearly here¡­" As the officer spoke, he seemed to think of something. He ran outside as though he had gone crazy.


    "Ah! What madness!" Lu Su sighed.


    The present era was an era that drove people crazy. Although humans possessed superpowers that they never dared to dream of, they were still burdened with unimaginable pressure. Many people couldn''t withstand the impact and this devolved into psychological problems.


    To Lu Su, this officer was someone who couldn''t withstand the blow which resulted in psychological problems.


    The officer didn''t have that many thoughts. He ran all the way to where he had met Zhou Wen. He remembered which dorm he was in. He came for Zhou Wen, not to prove his existence as Doctor Little Zhou, but to get him to save his comrades.


    Zhou Wen was reading in bed when he suddenly heard a series of urgent knocks on the door. Then, he heard someone shouting desperately outside. "Doctor Little Zhou¡­ Help¡­ Doctor Little Zhou¡­ Are you there?"


    Zhou Wen could tell that the officer was outside, so he opened the door. "Doctor Little Zhou, I''m so glad you''re here. Please save my brothers."


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen, the officer felt like crying. Without another word, he pulled Zhou Wen towards the medical team.


    As he was being pulled to the medical team, Zhou Wen asked, puzzled, "What''s the matter?"


    "My brothers were suddenly attacked by a dimensional creature while they were patrolling alongside the river. They were sprayed with blood and quickly fell unconscious. They have rashes on their bodies and they are rapidly festering. The doctors are helpless. It will be too late if you don''t do something," the officer said.


    Zhou Wen quickened his steps when he heard that. He didn''t wish to see a living person die in front of him. He would do his best.


    Soon, Zhou Wen was pulled to the medical team by the officer. He saw six soldiers lying in a special ward with two nurses and a doctor taking care of them.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, quickly save my brothers. Quickly give them the injection," the officer said anxiously as he pulled Zhou Wen along.


    "Are you the Doctor Zhou Wen they mentioned?" Lu Su sized up Zhou Wen suspiciously. She was certain that Zhou Wen wasn''t from the medical team. She knew everyone from the medical team, and there wasn''t such a character. Furthermore, Zhou Wen looked too young. He was probably less than twenty years old. It was no wonder the officer called him Doctor Little Zhou.


    Usually, one would attend university at the age of 16. After graduation, they would be 20 years old.


    "I''m a new intern doctor, Zhou Wen. I haven''t reported to the medical team yet," Zhou Wen said as he showed his identification.


    Lu Su took the document and looked at it. It was true. He was indeed an intern. This person was not a figment of imagination fabricated by those soldiers.


    "Can I take a look at their injuries?" Zhou Wen asked Lu Su.


    "Of course." Lu Su also wanted to know if Zhou Wen could treat the poison. If he could really treat it, Lu Su would be very grateful to him.


    The military wasn''t a hospital. There wasn''t any competition or selfishness that ordinary doctors had. Saving a soldier''s life was more important than anything. Furthermore, if Zhou Wen could treat the rashes, it would be a great thing for the garrison in Chess Mountain. It would resolve a huge problem.


    Seeing Lu Su agree, Zhou Wen went to an injured soldier and looked at his injuries. The two nurses beside him looked up curiously.


    Zhou Wen looked a little younger than them, but he was called a doctor by the officer. Furthermore, he seemed to have placed all his hopes on him, making them curious as to what kind of person Zhou Wen was. They were curious as to whether Zhou Wen could really treat the soldiers'' rashes.


    Zhou Wen could tell that they were indeed the same as the red rashes he had seen previously. Immediately, he summoned Doctor Darkness to possess him and used Fight Poison With Poison. A syringe appeared in his hand.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen grabbed the soldier''s wrist and stabbed it.


    Lu Su jumped in fright, but it was too late to stop him. Because Zhou Wen had delivered an injection with just one look, this made him appear somewhat unreliable.


    However, on second thought, Lu Su felt that no matter how unreliable he was, there was still hope. Even if Zhou Wen didn''t inject the soldier, the soldiers wouldn''t be able to survive, so she didn''t stop him.


    From his two previous experiences, Zhou Wen had a general idea of the dosage needed to be injected. Therefore, he stopped after a certain amount of dosage was injected and walked towards the next soldier.


    There were only six soldiers in total. In just an instant, Zhou Wen had fully administered it to them all.


    "It''s done. That''s all I can do. I''ll have to trouble the nurses to help deal with their festering injuries," Zhou Wen said.


    "Doctor Little Zhou, are they alright now?" the officer asked nervously.


    "If nothing unexpected happens, it should be like Liu Gui. They need to recuperate for some time. I still have matters to tend to, so I''ll be heading back now," Zhou Wen said as he walked out.


    The officer trusted Zhou Wen very much. Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, the weight on his heart was lifted. After thanking him, he ran to the beds to see his comrades.


    Lu Su frowned as she watched. From his attitude when he injected the patients, she could tell that Zhou Wen was extremely unprofessional. He even had problems being an intern doctor.


    For such a seriously injured patient, he had to observe their reactions after injecting a drug. Yet, he didn''t even look at them and left after the injections. He didn''t look like a doctor at all.


    Lu Su had no idea that Zhou Wen wasn''t a doctor. He didn''t know any medical skills, so it was useless staying.


    She wanted to stop Zhou Wen, but before she could speak, she heard a nurse cry out, "He¡­ He''s reacting¡­"


    Lu Su hurriedly looked at the nurse and saw her pointing at a soldier, shock filling the nurse''s face.


    She looked at the soldier and surprise colored her face as well. The soldier grunted softly and woke up. Furthermore, his rashes seemed to have stopped festering.

 418 Magical Medicinal Effects

    The six soldiers quickly woke up. It was fine even if they hadn''t woken up, but the poison that Zhou Wen had injected was so excruciatingly painful that it jolted them awake.


    Lu Su quickly did a checkup on the six soldiers and discovered that the toxins and red spots on their bodies had receded. Their spirits were slowly recovering. It was unbelievable.


    This is unbelievable. How did he do it? Lu Su was shocked, but she didn''t stay idle. She dealt with the six soldiers'' wounds with the two nurses.


    Although the toxins and red rashes had subsided, the festering wounds had not healed. They still needed treatment.


    After working for half the day, when the six soldiers were deep asleep, the surprise in Lu Su''s eyes intensified. It could be confirmed that the rashes on these soldiers had indeed subsided after a short period.


    How did he do it? Lu Su had researched the rashes for a long time, but she still couldn''t find a way to treat them. It was fine if the rash didn''t act up, but once it did, the patient would definitely die.


    However, the six soldiers today, who had already taken half a step into the jaws of death, recovered with a simple injection from Zhou Wen. It was unbelievable.


    What medicine is he using? Why is it so effective? Lu Su thought to herself.


    "Thank you, Doctor Lu," the officer said to Lu Su gratefully.


    Although Lu Su didn''t save her comrades, she had done all she could to deal with their festering wounds. This was already very precious.


    "I''m asking you, were you really splattered by the blood?" Lu Su looked at the officer and asked.


    "That''s right. If I could have reacted in time, I wouldn''t have let my comrades get soaked in the blood," the officer said.


    "Then why aren''t you infected with rashes like them?" Lu Su asked again. She naturally believed the officer''s words.


    The officer thought for a moment and said, "It should be this morning. I got Doctor Little Zhou to give me a shot. Perhaps the shot''s medicinal effect is still present in my system?"


    Now, he was very glad that Zhou Wen had given him the injection. Otherwise, they would all have been left unconscious there. By the time the other patrols discovered them, they would have been dead.


    In comparison, the little pain he suffered was nothing.


    Could it be that the medicine has lingering effects or it has created antibodies? Lu Su thought to herself. If it was the latter, the medicine Zhou Wen used would be even more precious.


    Lu Su planned on finding a time to have a good chat with Zhou Wen and see if there was any chance of mass-producing the medicine. She believed that Zhou Wen would be reporting to her very soon. Lu Su was the in-charge of the medical team, so all interns should report to her.


    However, Lu Su didn''t see Zhou Wen the next day.


    Zhou Wen didn''t report to her, but he already had a residence and identification documents. Clearly, his identity wasn''t ordinary.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen could actually treat the rashes. This made Lu Su even more convinced that he didn''t have a simple background. Therefore, Lu Su planned on visiting him personally.


    The officer often went to see his comrade, so learning where Zhou Wen stayed wasn''t difficult. But when Lu Su arrived at Zhou Wen''s dorm, she realized that the door was locked. There wasn''t anyone inside.


    However, after seeing Zhou Wen''s living quarters, Lu Su was even more certain that Zhou Wen wasn''t an ordinary intern doctor. How could an intern doctor have a single room? Even ordinary low-ranking officers didn''t receive such treatment. As the main supervisor of the medical team, she had barely managed to get herself a single room.


    Lu Su thought for a while and returned to the medical team, planning to visit again at night.


    Zhou Wen really wasn''t at the encampment, as his phone had been taken away by the flower. He couldn''t contact his schoolmates¡ªhe hadn''t requested absence of leave from Wang Lu, considering his promise to buy breakfast for her.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen asked for a travel pass from Qin Wufu''s adjutant before heading to a nearby city to buy a new phone.


    He didn''t have many requirements for his phone. He just needed it to work, so he bought a relatively cheap phone and got a new number.


    Although he could request his old number back, Zhou Wen was afraid this might cause trouble with the flower, so he decided to change his number.


    After finishing everything, Zhou Wen logged into his communications app and planned on sending a group message to inform them that he had changed his number.


    However, the moment he logged in, the messages kept ringing. When he opened them, he saw that many of them were from Wang Lu.


    "Big liar, you aren''t a man of your word."


    "You''re not sincere. You just held on for one day. You didn''t even last to the second day."


    "Miser, stingy."


    "Why didn''t you tell me that you can''t bear to pay for breakfast?"


    "Are you not daring to say a word because you know you are in the wrong?"


    "¡­"


    "Sorry, I was hunted by someone and lost my phone. I had no time to contact you. I won''t forget what I promised you. Wait for me to return," Zhou Wen replied.


    Zhou Wen also replied to Li Xuan''s and Huang Ji''s messages.


    Finally, Zhou Wen saw a system notification. When he opened it, he saw a friend request.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously wanted to swipe away the message. Typically, he wouldn''t randomly add friends unless he had agreed on a friend request ahead of time. However, Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw the ID of the requester. His hand, which was about to press the delete button, froze.


    The Thearch¡­ It can''t be¡­ It''s just a coincidence¡­ There''s no signal at Chess Mountain¡­ That flower doesn''t have hands. How does it use a phone? It even knows how to add me as a friend! Zhou Wen looked at his friend request in horror and had the urge to immediately delete it.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that escaping wasn''t a solution, so he approved his friend request to see if The Thearch was the flower or just a coincidence.


    Just as he accepted the request, The Thearch sent a message. "Why did you take so long to accept my friend request? Are you tired of living?"


    Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that a flower could use a phone, but from the person''s tone, it was identical to the flower''s.


    "Who are you?" Zhou Wen probed.


    "What''s the matter? Have you forgotten me so quickly? Do you want me to make another wish for you to deepen your memories?" A message quickly replied.


    "Ah, it''s really you, The Thearch. I never expected you to be able to use the phone. I didn''t think there was any signal there, right? How did you get on the Internet?" Zhou Wen replied.


    "It''s trivial. How can it daunt me?" The Thearch''s reply clearly contained a hint of smugness, but she didn''t say how she did it.


    "Since you know how to use a phone, I suggest that you check out books or television dramas on the Internet. I recommend Super Gene. It''s especially good. You should be interested." Zhou Wen regretted the moment he sent the message, but it was too late to recall it.


    "Alright, I''ll take a look." The Thearch had already read the message and quickly replied Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was very vexed. Perhaps the flower wasn''t really just a harmless flower that could survive thanks to the sun. However, if it read Super Gene and started becoming a glutton like the characters in the book, wouldn''t many humans be in trouble?

 419 The Thearch Has Learned How to Use the Interne

    The Thearch was like a teenager who had just learned how to chat online. Or perhaps she had been alone for too long. She kept chatting and talked about any topic under the sun. She asked Zhou Wen all sorts of questions, giving him no time to do anything else.


    After returning to the encampment, The Thearch was still asking him all sorts of questions regarding the Internet. She appeared very excited.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how he could send The Thearch along her way, he suddenly received another message: "What does it mean when the phone notifies me about a low battery?"


    "A phone is powered by a battery. If the battery''s charge is used up, the phone will automatically be switched off. Only after charging it can it be used." Zhou Wen was immediately amused as he thought to himself, I doubt your crappy place has any power cables. You definitely won''t be able to charge it. Let''s see how you can come online and bother me in the future.


    "How do I charge it? Can I strike it with lightning?" The Thearch sent another message.


    "Definitely not. A lightning bolt''s charge is unstable. It will overload the phone. You will need ordinary household power to charge a phone. You also need a specialized charger. You can look it up on the Internet," Zhou Wen said.


    Zhou Wen was secretly delighted that there was no news from The Thearch. He wondered if her phone had run out of battery and he could finally be rid of her.


    After a while, The Thearch sent another message.


    "You need to bring me a small diesel dynamo, a barrel of diesel oil, and the phone''s charger before noon tomorrow. Otherwise, I''ll make a wish for you to become a limbless cripple."


    Zhou Wen was immediately awash with sadness. His mouth opened, unable to say a word.


    "I''m being pursued by an enemy now! How can I have the time to do those things for you? Besides, I have to go to a nearby city to buy those things. Even if I were to go, I won''t be able to return before noon tomorrow. Besides, I don''t dare go since the powerful enemy is chasing me every day," Zhou Wen complained.


    "What enemy?" The Thearch sent a message.


    Zhou Wen recounted J¨¢k''s various abilities and even embellished and exaggerated them. He deliberately exaggerated J¨¢k''s strength, as though he would be killed by J¨¢k the moment he went out.


    "I thought it would be some extraordinary character. So it''s just a lowly character. How about this? Before evening tomorrow, bring me all the things I want. I''ll give you something good so you can easily kill that enemy," The Thearch said disdainfully.


    "What is it?" Zhou Wen''s heart stirred.


    "You''ll know when you arrive. Remember, you have to deliver the items before the sun sets tomorrow. Otherwise, I''ll make a wish for you to be limbless." After The Thearch sent the message, there was silence. It was unknown if she was out of battery.


    I wonder if the flower''s wishing ability can be effective from a distance? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn''t worth it to bet his limbs on a diesel dynamo and some diesel oil. Furthermore, the flower had said that it would give him something good to kill J¨¢k. Zhou Wen felt that he could make the trip.


    He then left the door and rode the Mutated Stone Chi to rush to the nearby city at full speed. He wanted to return quickly and satisfy the flower so that he could read and game in peace.


    The Mutated Stone Chi was as fast as a car. Furthermore, there wasn''t a need to take the main roads. Zhou Wen headed straight for the nearby city and quickly bought all the items needed.


    He originally imagined that he would encounter J¨¢k''s ambush on the way, so he had been very careful, but nothing happened. J¨¢k never appeared.


    It wasn''t that J¨¢k didn''t wish to ambush Zhou Wen, but that he had no time at all. Shen Yuchi had indeed given him quite a number of Companion Beasts, but they had owners. Shen Yuchi had to think of a way to transfer their Companion Beasts over.


    Those people were all criminals from Heaven prison. When Shen Yuchi sent them over, he never expected them to return alive.


    J¨¢k robbed them of their Companion Beasts one by one, spending quite a bit of time and energy. It couldn''t be done quickly, so he had no time to ambush Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took the mini diesel dynamo, a twenty-kilogram drum of diesel oil, as well as the charger to Chess Mountain and found the flower.


    "Just place the things besides the mountain wall." A familiar woman''s voice sounded from the flower.


    "The Thearch, I''ve spent more than half of my savings to buy these things. You have to use them sparingly. If they''re damaged, I won''t have the money to buy you any more later," Zhou Wen said as he lamented because he didn''t want the flower to get him to buy more items.


    "Don''t lie to me. I saw that the price is very cheap on the Internet," The Thearch said.


    "The price is very cheap, but I don''t have the time to earn money. Without an income, how would I have the money? I''ve almost used up all my savings to buy these things," Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch seemed to think that what Zhou Wen said made sense. She thought for a moment before saying, "I have something here. Take it and exchange it for money. I''ll leave it on the stone steps at the top of the mountain. Take it yourself. The thing I promised you is also there. You can use it to deal with your enemy. As long as you aren''t too stupid, he will definitely die if he comes looking for you."


    "What is it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "You will know when you see it." The Thearch didn''t tell him directly what the item was.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to climb to the peak of Chess Mountain. Indeed, there were two things on the stone steps¡ªone was a dimensional crystal, and the other was a petite bone flute.


    "If your enemy comes looking for you again, blow the bone flute. When the time comes, it will definitely be of use. You can exchange the dimensional crystal for money." The Thearch''s voice came from the mountain wall.


    Zhou Wen saw that the bone flute was very ancient and crude. He didn''t know which animal''s bone it was made of, but he didn''t see any special aura flowing from it. It looked no different from something ordinary.


    The dimensional crystal was a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. The shadow inside was in the form of a jade lute. It looked somewhat gorgeous, but he had no idea what level this Primordial Energy Skill Crystal was. He could only use his mysterious phone to check when he returned.


    He was afraid that the flower would take a fancy to his mysterious phone if he took it out.


    "How do I use this bone flute?" Zhou Wen put away the dimensional crystal and asked while holding the bone flute.


    "When you see him again, use all your Primordial Energy to blow the bone flute. When the time comes, it will naturally be of use. However, let me tell you, this bone flute can only be used once. Don''t use it randomly," The Thearch said.


    Seeing that she wasn''t willing to say more, Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the bone flute. When he reached the foot of the mountain, he saw that the diesel dynamo and diesel oil had disappeared. He did not know where they had gone.


    The flower didn''t make another sound and ignored Zhou Wen. This suited Zhou Wen''s intentions as he rode the Mutated Stone Chi out of Chess Mountain.


    After he left Chess Mountain, he hurriedly took out his mysterious phone and snapped a picture of the dimensional crystal. This shocked him. The dimensional crystal was a Mythical Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.

 420 Mythical Primordial Energy Skill

    Jade Lute Crystal: Mythical.


    These few words made Zhou Wen''s heart tremble and he nearly shouted out.


    However, just as Zhou Wen was about to put it into his phone, a notification popped up.


    ''Requires 41 Constitution. 21 Spatial stat, Spatial-type Life Providence, Spatial-type Life Soul. Insufficient stats. Unable to absorb.''


    Not only does it have a special stat requirement, but it also has a Life Providence and Life Soul requirement. I''ve never seen a spatial stat before and I have no idea where to get it, and it asks for 41 Constitution. That also means that I basically can''t master Mythical Primordial Energy Skills at the Epic stage because the highest Epic experts can only reach 40 Constitution. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel depressed when he saw this.


    The Life Providence and Life Soul requirements were likely satisfied with his Godfiend Life Providence and Lost Country, but the stats were indeed a little troublesome. The requirements were too high, but he ultimately had a chance of absorbing it. Unlike ordinary people, who didn''t even have a chance.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t plan on selling it. Since he could use it, he naturally had to keep it for himself. When he obtained enough stats, he could absorb it to gain insights into a Mythical Primordial Energy Skill. Just the thought of using a Mythical Primordial Energy Skill at the Epic stage thrilled him.


    After putting the crystal into the chaos space, Zhou Wen looked at the bone lute in his hand. The crystal that the flower randomly produced was at the Mythical stage, so it would definitely be of great use. Since she said he could only use it once, Zhou Wen didn''t attempt to try it. He used his phone to snap the lute, but his phone didn''t react.


    After putting the bone lute into the chaos space, Zhou Wen thought of something. The Chaos Bead had the First Order of Chaos in it, and he had gained a basic mastery of it. However, he didn''t continue cultivating it. However, this Primordial Energy Art was most likely spatial in nature. It was somewhat similar to the Godfiend Era.


    Zhou Wen had too many Primordial Energy Arts and he really didn''t have the energy to study the First Order of Chaos. However, now that he thought about it, having more didn''t disadvantage him. Those Mythical Primordial Energy Skills had requirements on Life Providences and Life Souls, so it might be useful in the future.


    Of course, that was just what Zhou Wen thought. He no longer had the energy to study the First Order of Chaos. He needed to condense the other Life Souls before advancing them to the Perfect Body.


    If he couldn''t break through to the Mythical stage, it wouldn''t be too late to study it again.


    Before he returned to the encampment, Zhou Wen''s phone rang. He saw that it was a message from Wang Lu.


    The message had been sent quite some time ago, but Zhou Wen hadn''t received it because he was out of reception.


    "Do you need any help?" Wang Lu''s message was very simple.


    "I can handle it. I''ll return after settling this matter." Zhou Wen replied.


    Soon, Wang Lu replied: "I''ll wait for you. You need to make up for the breakfast that you owe me."


    "How do I make up for this? Won''t I be always buying?"


    "If breakfast isn''t enough, use lunch to make up for it."


    "Alright."


    After chatting a little with Wang Lu, he realized that The Thearch had actually sent a message. It looked like her phone had been charged.


    Zhou Wen found it somewhat odd as he thought to himself, It''s just a flower. How did it use the dynamo?


    Opening the message, he saw that she had sent an emoji.


    She''s really quick to learn. She can even use emojis. Zhou Wen didn''t reply, afraid that she would just keep chatting with him. It would take away all his time from other matters.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn''t reply, The Thearch sent a series of emojis over.


    Zhou Wen naturally ignored her. After a while, The Thearch asked: "Did I use the emojis wrongly? Why aren''t you answering me?"


    "Typically, people who have nothing to do will use emojis. I didn''t think it was important seeing that you just sent emojis."


    In high school, a female classmate had added Zhou Wen as a friend and would occasionally send him an emoji. Zhou Wen never replied because he had no idea what the expression meant, nor did he know how to reply.


    "Oh, I see." The Thearch suddenly understood.


    "Now that you have an electric generator, you don''t have to worry about not having enough power. You can go online to watch television dramas or something. It''s very interesting." Zhou Wen hurriedly introduced a few classic comedies to her.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, If she watches those television dramas and gets influenced by the characters and concepts in the television dramas, it would be great to have her turn into a clowning idiot. At the very least, she wouldn''t have the thought of killing humans again. I''d have done so much good.


    "Alright, I''ll go take a look. Remember to pay for my number''s service. If they cut off my service, you''re dead."


    She even knows about service payments! Zhou Wen was exasperated.


    Fortunately, he had just received benefits from her, so he didn''t care about the amount of money. Furthermore, he had saved quite a lot of money on his phone previously. As long as she didn''t crazily make phone calls and used the Internet, he didn''t need to pay a single cent this year.


    It was unknown if The Thearch had started watching a television drama or not, but she didn''t send any more messages. It made Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief as he sped back to the encampment.


    Lu Su came to look for Zhou Wen again in the evening, but she realized that he hadn''t returned. Just as she was about to return, she saw Zhou Wen.


    "Zhou Wen," Lu Su called out.


    "Doctor Lu, are you staying here too?" Zhou Wen walked over and asked.


    "I don''t live here. I came here especially to find you," Lu Su said.


    "You are looking for me? What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen looked at Lu Su in puzzlement.


    "Why didn''t you report to the medical team?" Lu Su asked.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, "To be honest, I''m actually not an intern doctor. This identification is only for convenience."


    "That''s not important. Since you already have the identity of an intern doctor, you should do something that an intern doctor would do, right? I''ve been researching rashes all this time, hoping to solve this virus, but the progress isn''t that great. Can you tell me what medicine you used? If your medicine needs to be kept confidential, you don''t have to tell me the exact composition. I just want to know if antibodies will be formed after using your medicine. Are there any negative side effects? If it can form antibodies and it doesn''t have any negative effects, I hope you can produce some. I''ll apply for funds to buy it as a vaccine for the soldiers. This way, it will greatly reduce the casualties and it will be of great help for the combat situation in the future. Even if it doesn''t form antibodies, I hope to buy a batch for backup," Lu Su rattled off.

 421 Mythical Companion Beas

    "Dr. Lu, I''m really sorry. I didn''t use any medicine. In fact, what I used to treat those soldiers is the ability of one of my Companion Beasts. As for antibodies, I''m not sure either. I don''t know how long the effects of the Companion Beast''s skill last. Although I wish to help you, there''s not much I can do. If a soldier suffers from such injuries, you can call for me at any time," Zhou Wen said.


    Lu Su was somewhat disappointed when she heard Zhou Wen. Companion Beasts'' Primordial Energy Skills were typically temporal. They were of use at the time in question, but would not be of any use once the period was over. They also wouldn''t form any antibodies.


    "In this era, Companion Beasts are becoming more and more widespread in medicine. To have such a Companion Beast is already a good condition for becoming a doctor. Are you interested in learning some medical knowledge from me?" Lu Su felt that it would be a waste for Zhou Wen to not be a doctor with such a Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "I''m really sorry. I still have many things to do. I usually don''t have much time."


    Although Lu Su was somewhat disappointed, she didn''t say anything else. Since Zhou Wen had the ability to heal the rashes, this was already an unexpected harvest. It could reduce many casualties.


    This matter didn''t end there. After a few days, Lu Su would realize that the soldiers who had been injected with the poison had become immune. Even if they were stationed by the river, they wouldn''t get rashes again.


    Although Doctor Darkness was only at the Epic stage, he was no ordinary Companion Beast. Regardless of his background or abilities, he was very special.


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and finally had a good sleep. Once he woke up, he headed to the underground sea to deliver a palm strike to the black dragon.


    The black dragon already had several poison boils formed from palm imprints. Although the poison boils had yet to take its life, it was clear that the black dragon''s mental state was no longer right.


    If the other eight black dragons were like muscular young men, then this black dragon was like an old man in his twilight. Its movements slowed down significantly, and it looked rather muddle-headed, as if its mind was no longer clear.


    From the looks of it, the poison has had a huge impact on it. However, it''s unknown how long it will take to poison it to death. Zhou Wen was most looking forward to having a black dragon Companion Beast drop.


    This fellow had its speed and strength greatly weakened due to its chains. Once the restrictions were removed, Zhou Wen would be killed by the black dragon in less than a minute. The difference was too great.


    If he could obtain the black dragon as a Companion Beast, he might be able to have a true Mythical fighter and not need to slowly nurture his Companion Beasts like Banana Fairy.


    For two consecutive days, The Thearch didn''t send any messages. Zhou Wen could finally read and game in peace. However, Zhou Wen had almost wiped out all the Mortal monsters in the game dungeons. There was no point in continuing the grinding. All he could do was continue reading.


    Has J¨¢k given up? It''s been a few days, but why hasn''t anything happened? Zhou Wen didn''t make any progress while reading, so he began thinking of J¨¢k.


    To fight such a fellow was terrifying, but he had a faint sense of excitement. Back then, Zhou Wen felt that his train of thought had become much clearer, and his thoughts had become more lively and spirited.


    ¡­


    At that moment, J¨¢k couldn''t control his excitement. In front of him was an elderly with a head full of white hair. The old man looked like he had dementia as he sat there motionless. However, he emitted a strange sanguine glow. His eyes shimmered with a red light.


    The Blood Hex Clown possessed the old man and replaced his will to control his body. Even his memories were controlled.


    J¨¢k discovered a huge secret from the old man''s memories.


    This old prisoner actually had a Mythical Companion Beast. He had never told anyone about it and had paid a huge price to nurture it to the Epic stage.


    He originally imagined that he could become an overlord by relying on his Mythical Companion Beast in the future, but too many resources were needed to advance a Mythical Companion Beast. He couldn''t afford it, so all he could do was use his position to his advantage and get some information.


    However, just as he nurtured his Companion Beast to the Epic stage, his crimes were discovered. The Special Inspector Bureau secretly arrested him and imprisoned him in Heaven.


    Because his position was special and the object of corruption was a special item that couldn''t be handled openly, the bureau had taken custody of the case.


    As he was only a corrupt criminal, the bureau merely questioned him as per usual, without wasting too many resources. The elder hung on and didn''t reveal the matter regarding the Mythical Companion Beast.


    This time, he had been sent to J¨¢k by Shen Yuchi. Originally, it was because he had a Companion Beast that could change colors for concealment¡ªJ¨¢k had specifically asked for it.


    To his surprise, J¨¢k actually discovered the biggest secret in his memories. He couldn''t help but be overjoyed. What a fool. To be so easily caught by the bastards at the bureau despite having such a Mythical Companion Beast. He''s trash even with one.


    However, this has ended up benefiting me. J¨¢k didn''t hesitate any further as he activated the Blood Hex Clown''s ability. He controlled the elder''s body and made him pay with his life to transfer the Companion Beast to J¨¢k.


    When the man fell like a desiccated corpse, a strange tattoo appeared on J¨¢k''s arm¡ªa purple cat-shaped tattoo.


    Shen Yuchi, you might have considered all possibilities, but you probably never expected that I would be this lucky, right? With this Mythical Companion Beast, the restriction you left on me can no longer restrain me. After I enjoy the beauty feast, I will definitely go to the capital and kill every one of you in the bureau. J¨¢k looked at the purple cat symbol on his arm as the excitement on his face intensified.


    ¡­


    When J¨¢k snatched the old man''s Mythical Companion Beast, Zhou Wen also wore a look of delight. After waiting for so long, the fruit on the Dead Man Tree had finally ripened and dropped.


    The phone automatically vibrated as Zhou Wen obtained the fruit in-game.


    When the blood-colored avatar caught the fruit, a notification popped up on his phone. ''Mythical Companion Egg, do you want to incubate it?''


    Mythical Companion Egg¡­ Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised and delighted. Although he had already guessed it, seeing a real Mythical Companion Egg excited him greatly. He hurriedly checked the Mythical Companion Egg''s stats.

 422 Demonic Neonate

    Demonic Neonate: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Child of Dimension


    Life Soul: Supreme True Demon


    Wheel of Destiny: One Spin.


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Primordial Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Demonic Sword


    Companion Form: None


    What''s going on? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded, momentarily unsure of the situation. The stats of the Demonic Neonate were really strange.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he could directly hatch a Mythical Companion Beast. After all, he had Doctor Darkness as a precedent, but apparently, things didn''t turn out the way he expected.


    From its Mortal stage and Evolvable postfix, it was likely the primordial state of a Mythical Companion Beast. Even so, Mythical creatures wouldn''t possess a Life Providence and Life Soul at the Mortal stage. They had to slowly advance before condensing them.


    However, the Demonic Neonate actually had a Life Providence and Life Soul at the Mortal stage. There was also a Wheel of Destiny that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Although he had no idea what was going on, Zhou Wen still hatched her. After absorbing plenty of Primordial Energy, the purple copper Companion Egg transformed into a stream of light that fused into Zhou Wen''s body, turning into a thumb-sized, purple-haired baby girl symbol that appeared on his arm.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Demonic Neonate. It was about forty centimeters tall¡ªthe size of a doll. It had long purple hair. It wore purple armor while hugging an ancient purple copper sword.


    Zhou Wen saw that her face was no different from the fierce girl. However, her figure was much smaller, about the size of a baby.


    He sized up the girl and the girl also glared at him with widened eyes, as though she was sizing him up. It made Zhou Wen feel a little frightened.


    The Companion Eggs produced on the Dead Man Tree just grew in oddness. Doctor Darkness was already shocking enough. But this recently hatched Dead Man Tree seemed to have a mind of her own.


    With a thought, the Demonic Neonate received his order. She carried the ancient sword in her arms and walked to a table beside him. With a light leap, she landed on the table and poured Zhou Wen a cup of tea.


    Zhou Wen immediately relaxed when he saw that she was as obedient as the typical Companion Beast. He got her to do some more things and the Demonic Neonate did it according to Zhou Wen''s instructions.


    Although it''s a little strange, it shouldn''t be a problem. Zhou Wen unsummoned the Demonic Neonate and took out his phone to enter the game dungeon. After some choosing, he chose the Myriad Buddha Cave in Dragon Gate Grotto. After entering, he summoned the Demonic Neonate.


    After searching for a while, he finally found a Golden Warrior. Zhou Wen gave the order for her to kill it and waited to see if she could do it.


    The Golden Warrior was at the Legendary stage and its defense was astonishing. As for the Demonic Neonate, it was only at the Mortal stage. Logically speaking, the baby shouldn''t be a Golden Warrior''s match.


    However, a Demonic Neonate had a Life Providence and Life Soul, something ordinary Legendary creatures didn''t possess. Zhou Wen brought her here to see if her Life Providence and Life Soul could be used.


    The Demonic Neonate didn''t move after receiving Zhou Wen''s order. She stood there with the ancient sword in her arms as she looked at the Golden Warrior.


    Is she afraid? As Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly saw the ancient sword in the Demonic Neonate''s arms automatically leave the scabbard. It transformed into a purple beam that flew out. Even Zhou Wen didn''t see the sword beam clearly. The Golden Warrior was actually split into two by the sword beam. It dropped a dimensional crystal and dissipated.


    The flying sword circled around before returning to the Demonic Neonate''s scabbard.


    What a powerful Primordial Energy Skill. It''s definitely not at the level of a Mortal Primordial Energy Skill. It''s even stronger than my Transcendent Flying Immortal. Logically speaking, it should expend a lot of Primordial Energy. Primordial Energy at the Mortal stage isn''t enough to sustain such a powerful Primordial Energy Skill. How did she do it? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he constantly sized up the Demonic Neonate.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Demonic Neonate and entered the extremely vast Zhuolu battlefield. Zhou Wen ran very far in-game before finally finding a surviving Chi. He summoned the Demonic Neonate and tried to get her to kill it.


    Although the Chi wasn''t as powerful as the Mutated Stone Chi, it was still top-notch at the Epic stage.


    The Demonic Neonate continued hugging the ancient sword and coldly looked at the Chi that was rushing towards them. When the Chi was close to her, the ancient sword in her arms automatically unsheathed itself and slashed at the Chi with the purple beam.


    The Chi let out a roar as black smoke condensed into a dragon Life Soul. It spat out black smoke at the purple glow, hoping to block it.


    Zhou Wen had seen the black smoke''s might, but the purple sword beam directly split the black smoke, slicing both the Life Soul and Chi into two.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded as he watched the ancient sword return to its scabbard. The Demonic Neonate held the ancient sword, still standing there expressionlessly.


    This fellow is really impressive. Is this still a Mortal Companion Beast? If she continues advancing, what kind of changes will there be? Zhou Wen felt that the advancement of the Demonic Neonate would definitely be different from other Mythical creatures. After all, she already had a Life Providence and Life Soul, so it was hard to imagine what would happen when she evolved again.


    Will she condense a second Life Providence and Life Soul? Or will the original Life Providence and Life Soul be enhanced? Zhou Wen was stumped. Furthermore, the Wheel of Destiny gave him an odd feeling.


    It''s a pity I don''t have a true Mythical Companion Beast. I wonder if all of them will have something like that after advancing to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen wondered, but he didn''t have an answer.


    Humans had yet to advance to the Mythical stage. Only the six families had some Mythical Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen didn''t have many friends in the six families, nor did he have any place to ask around.


    However, it was now confirmed. Although the Demonic Neonate was still at the Mortal stage, her combat strength was far stronger than most Epic creatures. With just her sword, she could probably kill most Epic creatures.


    "This is for you to eat. You have to work hard in the future." Zhou Wen handed her an Epic Companion Egg that had dropped previously. Zhou Wen couldn''t bring himself to use it to feed his other Companion Beasts.


    However, he hadn''t been grinding instance dungeons recently, so there hadn''t been a chance for Companion Eggs to drop. This was one of the Companion Eggs he had left inside the dungeon without picking up.


    To his surprise, the Demonic Neonate only took one glance at the Epic Companion Egg before turning her head to the side. The cold attitude left Zhou Wen depressed.

 423 I Want a Person

    You aren''t even eating an Epic Companion Egg? Aren''t you being a little too picky with your food? Zhou Wen thought to himself. If it were Tyrant Behemoth, he would have run over like a pug. Yet, this fellow didn''t even bother with it.


    The Demonic Neonate remained standing there with a cold expression, without any reaction. It was as though she only moved when Zhou Wen gave the order.


    Forget it. You will eat when you are hungry. Zhou Wen saw that the phone didn''t give him a hungry notification and left the Companion Egg in the dungeon. He could retrieve it when the Demonic Neonate became hungry.


    It''s not a solution if this continues. I can''t grind dungeons now, but my few Companion Beasts need to eat, especially Tyrant Behemoth. If it wasn''t for the fact that I''ve hatched quite a lot of food for it and I''ve been rationing just to keep it alive, I would long be out of stock.


    Zhou Wen failed to come up with a good solution. All he could do was wait for the black dragon to die before grinding.


    ¡­


    A medical report about the soldiers shocked Lu Su.


    The soldiers who had been saved by Zhou Wen were healed in less than two days. The scars on their bodies would only disappear after some time, however, it didn''t stop them from participating in battle.


    Another break-out creature appeared the day before. A large number of soldiers had participated in the encirclement attack only to have a few soldiers splashed with the bloody water. Among them were three soldiers that Zhou Wen had saved.


    Red rashes appeared on the other soldiers as they fainted on the spot and were dragged into the river. However, the three of them were completely fine. They were lucky to have escaped the calamity.


    Lu Su had someone draw their blood for tests. The test results showed that they had a high resistance against the rashes. Even if the virus entered their bodies, it wouldn''t cause too much damage. Instead, it would slowly die, unable to proliferate.


    How did this happen? It could be said that it''s a coincidence if one or two of them are like that. But all of them are like that, so there''s only one possibility. Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast ability can really make their bodies produce antibodies. The more Lu Su thought about it, the more convinced she was.


    This discovery excited Lu Su. Although there wasn''t any medicine, Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast''s ability was more effective than medicine. If all soldiers could have such resistance, their battle at Chess Mountain would become much more proactive. At the very least, they didn''t need to worry about dropping into the blood river or fighting in it.


    They also didn''t have to worry about getting infected with rashes if they stayed on duty for too long. This way, they could send more people to strengthen surveillance. It was easier to deal with any problems that cropped up.


    This time, Lu Su wasn''t in a rush to look for Zhou Wen. Instead, she went to Qin Wufu''s office.


    Qin Wufu was handling official matters when he heard the guard say that Lu Su wanted to see him. He stopped whatever he was doing and ordered the guards to invite Lu Su in.


    Although Lu Su was only in her thirties and wasn''t of a high ranking position, the medical team determined the lives of more than ten thousand officers and soldiers. Qin Wufu didn''t dare to be negligent.


    "Susu, why are you looking for me?" Qin Wufu didn''t have any airs. Furthermore, Lu Su''s family had some ties with him. He always treated Lu Su as his junior.


    Lu Su said, "Uncle Qin, I want to ask you for someone."


    "Who would be so important to have you personally make this trip?" Qin Wufu asked Lu Su curiously.


    After Lu Su took charge of the medical team, she did not make use of his relationship to request any conditions. However, she managed the medical team well and the soldiers all acknowledged her. This made Qin Wufu very satisfied.


    Now that Lu Su suddenly requested someone, Qin Wufu was curious as to who she wanted.


    "An intern doctor," Lu Su said.


    Qin Wufu found it even more strange. He looked at Lu Su and asked, "The medical team''s personnel are all under your jurisdiction. Why are you asking for an intern doctor from me?"


    With that said, Qin Wufu was enlightened. "You want to recruit new intern doctors? It''s not that I don''t wish to help you do the recruitment, but there are just too few students studying medicine now. Ever since the dimensional storms, the number of people suffering from illnesses has decreased every year, and the number of people who study medicine is decreasing. Furthermore, being a military doctor requires medical skills¡­"


    "Uncle Qin, there''s no need to hire a new doctor. I just want an intern at the encampment," Lu Su said.


    "An intern doctor in the encampment?" Qin Wufu was slightly taken aback. He knew that Lu Su wasn''t someone who would cause trouble for nothing. Since she wanted this person, the person definitely existed in the encampment.


    He''s in the encampment, but doesn''t come under Lu Su''s management¡­ Qin Wufu immediately thought of Zhou Wen. He looked at Lu Su with an odd expression and asked, "Don''t tell me the person you want is Zhou Wen?"


    "Uncle Qin, you really know him. That''s right, I just want him. I hope that he can join the medical team as an official member," Lu Su said.


    Qin Wufu looked at Lu Su and asked, "Why do you want him?"


    Qin Wufu found it extremely odd. He knew very well that Zhou Wen was only an ordinary college student and he didn''t study medicine. He had also randomly filled up the document for Zhou Wen, making him an intern doctor. It was mainly to allow Zhou Wen to enter the encampment and not have to undergo training with the ordinary soldiers.


    "With him, we can resolve a problem that has been plaguing you all this while, Uncle Qin," Lu Su said calmly.


    "Oh, what problem?" Qin Wufu looked at Lu Su with piqued interest and asked.


    "The rashes problem. With Zhou Wen around, our soldiers won''t have to be afraid of the blood-colored river or rashes. They can always be on sentry. They don''t have to frequently switch shifts and they can fight in the blood-colored river," Lu Su enunciated each word clearly.


    "What? Are you sure?" Qin Wufu stood up in shock and asked Lu Su.


    Lu Su was right. This was indeed a problem that had been plaguing him. Due to this problem, the military had lost at least 40% of its combat strength. It also weakened the surveillance on Chess Mountain.


    In the past, with Yan Zhen around, even though his temper was a little strange, he was able to help him resolve these problems. Although Lu Su had the same excellent medical skills, she could not resolve these strange problems.


    Qin Wufu was unable to contact the missing Yan Zhen and there wasn''t any news from the coroner, so it gave him a headache.


    Now, Lu Su suddenly said that Zhou Wen could solve the problem of the blood river. It surprised Qin Wufu. He found it unbelievable.


    "The soldiers that Zhou Wen saved were all previously infected with a bout of rashes. After Zhou Wen treated them, their bodies are now immune to the blood river. This is some experimental data I gathered¡­" Lu Su handed the information she had brought over to Qin Wufu.

 424 Jáks Attack

    After Qin Wufu read the information, his expression turned odd.


    Lu Su said excitedly, "Uncle Qin, with Zhou Wen''s ability, our strategy at Chess Mountain won''t be so passive¡­"


    "I''m afraid I can''t give this person to you," Qin Wufu said.


    Lu Su couldn''t help but be taken aback and asked in puzzlement, "Why? Uncle Qin, don''t you believe me? I can guarantee you that the data is real. Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast''s ability can effectively form antibodies. It can make the soldiers immune to the blood in the river. The side effects are also very tiny¡­"


    "No, Susu, you misunderstood me. I believe in your research and information and know that Zhou Wen might have such abilities. However, I still can''t give him to you. Or rather, I don''t have the authority to give him to you," Qin Wufu said with a bitter smile.


    "You are the commander-in-chief of Chess Mountain. How can you not have the power? What background does Zhou Wen have? Could he be sent by the Federation?" Lu Su asked in puzzlement.


    "No, he should be considered a member of the Sunset army. However, his identity is a little special," said Qin Wufu.


    "Regardless of his identity, since he''s from the Sunset army, even if he''s the Overseer, he has an obligation to protect the lives of soldiers. He has the responsibility to contribute," Lu Su said sternly.


    "If he was the Overseer, that would be easy. Unfortunately, he''s not," Qin Wufu said.


    "Uncle Qin, who is he?" Lu Su could barely hold it in anymore.


    "His name is Zhou Wen. The man Madam Lan married also has the Zhou surname. What kind of status do you think he has?" Qin Wufu said.


    Lu Su''s eyes widened and she said in surprise, "Madam Lan actually found such a young husband¡­ That age gap¡­"


    "What nonsense are you talking about? Madam Lan''s husband is Zhou Wen''s father. Zhou Wen is still studying at Sunset College, and he''s a student. He used to study under Wang Mingyuan for a period of time, so the bureau is targeting him and is attempting to bring him back for interrogation. Madam Lan placed him here because she hopes that we can protect him. Now, if I were to get him to treat those soldiers, how would I answer Madam Lan if one of the soldiers comes from the bureau and something happened?" Qin Wufu berated.


    Lu Su was enlightened. "I see. However, if that''s the case, he should be more willing to help because of Madam Lan, right?"


    "Nonsense. I''m saying no. And that''s final. We mustn''t let anything happen to him." It wasn''t that Qin Wufu didn''t want Zhou Wen to help.


    An Sheng had repeatedly exhorted him not to let anything happen to Zhou Wen or interfere with his actions. If anything happened to Zhou Wen, Madam Lan would definitely pursue the matter and even the Overseer wouldn''t be able to stop her.


    Qin Wufu knew that An Tianzuo was the most filial, so there was no way he would go against his mother.


    Lu Su wasn''t willing to give up despite being rejected by Qin Wufu. She could clearly prevent so many soldiers from dying, so why couldn''t they use Zhou Wen? Lu Su felt that Zhou Wen wasn''t a foppish scion. From her observation, she found him a very gentle person who was very willing to help others. He didn''t have the temperament of a scion.


    Uncle Qin might say no, but if Zhou Wen is willing, that''s a whole other matter. Lu Su decided to convince Zhou Wen herself.


    After Lu Su left, Qin Wufu looked at the information in his hand and couldn''t help but mutter to himself, It''s such a pity for Zhou Wen. If he hadn''t been embroiled in Wang Mingyuan''s matter, his future would have been limitless. Now that he''s being targeted by the bureau, it''s hard to tell if he can live to grow.


    Lu Su walked out of Qin Wufu''s office and headed straight for Zhou Wen''s residence.


    Zhou Wen was reading a book when Lu Su came and informed him of her intentions.


    Zhou Wen waited for Lu Su to finish before looking at her and saying, "Doctor Lu, if it was in the past, I would definitely have agreed to it without question. But I probably can''t agree to it now."


    Lu Su sighed and said, "I can understand. After all, you have been targeted by the bureau. If you interact with the soldiers too much, it will give the bureau an opportunity."


    Zhou Wen shook his head. "I''m not worried about my safety. I''m just afraid that the soldiers will be implicated by me."


    Lu Su didn''t say anything else. She felt that Zhou Wen''s words were just an excuse. No matter how domineering the bureau was, it was impossible for them to bring men to charge into a military camp and kill them. So how could they endanger ordinary soldiers?


    Lu Su believed that Zhou Wen was only saying this to save her dignity.


    However, Lu Su didn''t find anything wrong with Zhou Wen''s actions. After all, everyone only had one life. It wasn''t wrong to cherish their lives. Everyone had the right to protect themselves.


    Therefore, Lu Su didn''t say a word. Although she was somewhat disappointed, she decided to return to try extracting the antibodies from the few soldiers that Zhou Wen had treated.


    Although doing so would take quite a while, Lu Su had no other choice.


    "Dr. Lu, if there''s nothing important, I hope you try not to come to my place in the future. If there is anything, it''s better to send me a message." Zhou Wen felt that if Lu Su came over often, she might be implicated as well.


    A person like J¨¢k was best at using someone''s weakness. As long as it could achieve his goal, Zhou Wen believed that J¨¢k would do anything.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t disturb you again." Lu Su couldn''t help but feel completely disappointed when she heard that.


    After leaving Zhou Wen''s dorm, Lu Su was about to return to study the antibodies when she saw a man dressed in an officer''s uniform walk over.


    The officer had his head lowered as he walked, his cap covering most of his face. Lu Su didn''t see his face, but when he got closer, the officer looked up.


    When Lu Su saw the officer, she found him odd. The officer in front of her looked to be in his thirties and his face somewhat pale.


    There were quite a number of Sunset Army officers in their thirties, but this officer clearly had the looks of someone from the West District. He was very different from the people of the East District. Although the Sunset Army also had officers from the West District, there weren''t many. Lu Su ought to know all of them, but she had never seen this officer before.


    Just as she was about to ask, the officer raised his hand and pressed it against her shoulder. Lu Su wanted to dodge, but her body refused to obey. She immediately stiffened once the hand touched her shoulder. She couldn''t move. When she opened her mouth, no sound came out.


    The officer smiled at Lu Su and asked elegantly, "You just came out of Zhou Wen''s room, right?"

 425 Whos Surrounded?

    Zhou Wen had been wearing the Truth Listener earring. Although he was still in the room, he immediately discovered a problem. He opened the door and walked out, only to see J¨¢k standing there in the officer''s uniform.


    "We meet again. Not bad. You have protected my ingredients well." J¨¢k stared at Zhou Wen''s body from head to toe as though he was examining his food.


    "Aren''t you afraid of being surrounded when entering a military camp so brazenly? You won''t be able to escape like the previous time. Or should I say, is this just another one of your avatars?" Zhou Wen also stared at J¨¢k as he sized him up.


    J¨¢k gave a sinister smile. "It''s hard to say who''s being surrounded. As for this being my main body or my avatar, you can guess. If you''re right, I can let you choose how I''ll cook you."


    Zhou Wen silently held the Bamboo Blade. He didn''t want to guess or say any nonsense like "Release Lu Su." To a person like J¨¢k, those words were meaningless. Life was probably inferior to an ant to him.


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, J¨¢k pushed Lu Su towards him.


    Zhou Wen didn''t help Lu Su up. Instead, he took a few steps back and allowed Lu Su to stagger to the ground.


    Lu Su was alarmed, puzzled about Zhou Wen''s actions. Why wasn''t he willing to even help her? She was just about to stand up when she heard Zhou Wen say, "Sit there and don''t move."


    Lu Su didn''t know what Zhou Wen meant, but she knew that the situation wasn''t right. Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, she sat on the ground and didn''t stand up. She had guessed that J¨¢k was likely a member of the Special Inspector Bureau.


    "Do we call for help?" Lu Su asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen shook his head slightly as his eyes remained peeled at J¨¢k.


    J¨¢k laughed. "There''s no need to be so nervous. I did plant a Life Blast on her, but I didn''t plan on detonating it. In fact, it''s not just her. In the entire camp, everyone except you has been planted with a Life Blast. As long as I''m willing, I can hold a fireworks party here at any time. Do you want to see it?"


    When Lu Su heard the words "Life Blast", her body trembled. She clearly knew what the words meant. She also knew why Zhou Wen hadn''t helped her up. If Zhou Wen had touched her just now, she might have already exploded.


    "Zhou Wen, don''t bother about me. Inform the Deputy Governor. We can''t let such a person leave no matter what," Lu Su said through gritted teeth.


    "It looks like you don''t believe me." J¨¢k snapped his fingers and they heard continuous explosions in the encampment.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Su watched as a soldier walked over and exploded. Such explosions rang several times in the other parts of the military camp. Zhou Wen counted silently in his heart and heard a total of five explosions.


    Lu Su looked at the blood on the ground not far away and was dumbfounded. It wasn''t as if she had never seen a dead person. Many people died fighting dimensional creatures, but this was the first time she had seen someone die like this.


    Furthermore, J¨¢k also said that all the people in the encampment, including her, had been planted with a Life Blast. Just thinking about how all the soldiers could explode in the same manner, Lu Su felt a chill down her spine and her body involuntarily trembled.


    Lu Su finally believed what Zhou Wen had said. He wasn''t afraid that someone among the soldiers would try to harm him, but that he would implicate them.


    "How did you do it?" Zhou Wen''s expression remained stoic as he asked J¨¢k.


    He had done his research on Life Blast. It was similar to his Poison Dragon Palm. It needed physical contact with a living medium to use Life Blast. Furthermore, the process was more complicated than the Poison Dragon Palm. It wasn''t as simple as a tap.


    Using ants and leaves as a medium was easy, but it wouldn''t be that easy to use humans as a medium.


    Zhou Wen didn''t believe that J¨¢k had actually planted a Life Blast on everyone in the encampment. He felt that J¨¢k was just bluffing. Perhaps only a few people had been planted with Life Blast.


    J¨¢k said with a smile, "If it were someone else asking this question, I wouldn''t bother answering. But you are different."


    With that said, J¨¢k extended his hand and a purple cat appeared in front of him. It had short, purple fur and its tail was curled up. However, its eyes were black. Furthermore, its eyes had double pupils that made it look extremely demonic.


    "A Mythical Hex Cat Demon. Although it''s still at the Epic stage and hasn''t really advanced to the Mythical stage, its abilities are extremely compatible with mine. After obtaining it, I don''t have to personally plant a Life Blast. All I need to do is add Life Blast to its curses. Everyone that''s cursed by it will be automatically planted with Life Blast," J¨¢k said excitedly.


    The Hex Cat Demon and his abilities were a perfect match, greatly boosting J¨¢k''s abilities.


    "There should be a limit to the curse, right? It''s impossible that this cat can curse whoever it wishes." Zhou Wen glanced at the chaotic military camp and continued speaking to J¨¢k.


    "Of course there are restrictions. There is no power without restrictions. Although the Hex Cat Demon is a Mythical creature, it also has restrictions. However, this limitation isn''t a problem for me. So now, everyone in this military camp, including this woman, has become my bargaining chip. If you don''t wish for all of them to turn into fireworks, follow me obediently," J¨¢k said.


    "Why don''t you curse me directly? Isn''t that more convenient?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Such a top-notch ingredient naturally can''t be tainted at all. Otherwise, it will be a huge waste. Before making you into a delicacy, I won''t let you suffer any damage." As J¨¢k spoke, he saw Qin Wufu rushing over with a group of Epic officers.


    With such strange explosions happening at the encampment, Qin Wufu immediately imagined that something had happened to Zhou Wen. If a dimensional creature from Chess Mountain had rushed out, it wouldn''t have been completely silent. He could tell at a glance that the technique used was Life Blast.


    "Governor Qin, don''t come over," Zhou Wen said to Qin Wufu.


    If it was really as J¨¢k had said, everyone would be planted with Life Blast¡ªQin Wufu and those Epic officers were terrifying bombs.


    Exploding an Epic lifeform''s energy wouldn''t be at the level of those soldiers. The entire encampment would probably be instantly flattened. Zhou Wen didn''t want to be blasted to death.


    "Is he from the Special Inspector Bureau?" Qin Wufu stopped and looked at Zhou Wen and J¨¢k, then at Lu Su sitting on the ground. Finally, his gaze landed on J¨¢k.


    Although he could only see J¨¢k''s back, he was certain that he was from the bureau. Although he was wearing a military uniform, he didn''t have the bearing of a soldier at all.

 426 Ill Leave With You

    "Long time no see, Qin Wufu." J¨¢k turned around and looked at Qin Wufu.


    Qin Wufu saw J¨¢k''s face clearly and was immediately alarmed. "Impossible¡­ J¨¢k¡­ How were you released¡­"


    Qin Wufu had participated in the encirclement operation of J¨¢k. It included many of his comrades in the Federation.


    Back then, Qin Wufu was still in his prime. Surrounded by a group of Epic experts in the Federation, he hunted the psychopath, J¨¢k. He hadn''t been afraid at all. He only had the zealous ardor of getting rid of a scourge of humanity.


    However, as the encirclement continued, more and more of his companions were silently killed by J¨¢k. They didn''t even meet J¨¢k at all. This made Qin Wufu realize that J¨¢k was a terrifying devil, a cunning fox, a venomous snake, and he had the necessary qualities of all evil people. He was a born devil.


    On Qin Wufu''s back was a scar that stretched across his entire back. It was left behind by the battle. If his Life Providence hadn''t been extraordinary, he probably would have died in that battle.


    J¨¢k''s name caused the faces of some middle-aged soldiers to change drastically. It was the name that their parents often used to scare them when they were young.


    If they made a mistake, or if they constantly pulled a tantrum, their parents would say that serial killer J¨¢k was coming for them to eat them up. It caused a childhood trauma.


    Even though they had already advanced to the Epic stage, hearing this name made them subconsciously fearful.


    An Epic officer who was about 27 years old had clearly never heard of J¨¢k''s name. He might have heard of it before, but he had no deep impression of J¨¢k.


    After all, J¨¢k had been arrested when he was born.


    "No matter who you are, you can''t do as you please," the young Epic officer said coldly. He bragged that he was a genius, advancing to the Epic stage at the age of 28. He claimed that he wasn''t inferior to the geniuses of the six families.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t know how terrifying the person in front of him was. He had also underestimated the kind of existence that left a name of ''devil'' in the history of the Federation.


    J¨¢k didn''t even look at him and merely snapped his fingers.


    Boom!


    The young officer''s body exploded and a terrifying shockwave blasted all the nearby buildings. Although the officers reacted quickly, they were too close. Many of the officers were injured from the explosion and the surroundings were in a mess.


    "From now on, all of you, shut up. I don''t have time to waste on trash like you. Whoever dares to spout nonsense will share the same end," J¨¢k said coldly.


    "You, he¡­" A hot-tempered officer was about to rush towards J¨¢k when he was stopped by Qin Wufu.


    "J¨¢k, what are you trying to do?" Qin Wufu stared at J¨¢k and asked.


    "Zhou Wen, listen to me. Leave this place immediately and let me handle it." Qin Wufu stared at J¨¢k as his body shimmered. An armor appeared on him.


    The other officers and soldiers also summoned their Companion Beasts, prepared to fight at any moment.


    "It looks like you still don''t understand what''s happening. Then I''ll let you all sober up," J¨¢k said as he raised his hand to snap his fingers.


    "J¨¢k, wait a moment," Zhou Wen said.


    J¨¢k stopped and looked at Zhou Wen with interest. "Why? Have you thought it through?"


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, "I understand. I''ll leave with you."


    Zhou Wen didn''t agree to leave with J¨¢k because of Qin Wufu and company. After all, he wasn''t afraid of J¨¢k to begin with. Besides, he needed to find J¨¢k''s real body to completely eliminate him.


    Even if he were to attack and kill J¨¢k, he didn''t know if this was J¨¢k''s second puppet.


    "Zhou Wen, you can''t. Leave here immediately," Qin Wufu ordered.


    "Governor Qin, the entire military camp has Life Blast implanted in them by J¨¢k. As the commander-in-chief of Chess Mountain, do you want everyone to die with me?" Zhou Wen only wanted to leave as quickly as possible without wasting any more time.


    When everyone heard this, their expressions changed. If everyone was implanted with a Life Blast, wouldn''t they explode at any moment like the young officer?


    "That''s impossible. Life Blast needs contact before it can be released. We haven''t seen him before," Qin Wufu said with a change in expression.


    "You should have seen it before, right?" J¨¢k pointed at the cat at his feet.


    Everyone looked at the cat and their expressions changed when they saw it. They had indeed seen the cat, but they had just noticed it in passing. However, when they paid attention again, they didn''t see it again. They thought they were seeing things.


    But now, they realized that something was amiss. Furthermore, the self-detonation of the young officer just now disheartened them.


    "Do you want me to prove it to you?" J¨¢k said coldly.


    "There''s no need. I''ll leave with you." Zhou Wen wanted to quickly escape the current situation. He had to find J¨¢k''s true body as soon as possible.


    How could such a dangerous fellow, who stood at odds with him, be allowed to live?


    This time, he dealt with soldiers who had nothing to do with him. It was hard to guarantee that the next victim wouldn''t be his family or friends.


    "Zhou Wen¡­" Qin Wufu looked at Zhou Wen with a strange expression.


    "Governor, please remember your responsibility. The person you need to protect isn''t me, Zhou Wen, but the millions of ordinary people behind you." Zhou Wen only wanted to quickly follow J¨¢k. If Qin Wufu were to stop him, he would only become an obstacle. All he could do was say something that pinned Qin Wufu in place so that he wouldn''t have the determination to fight to the death.


    However, when Qin Wufu, Lu Su, and the officers and soldiers heard this, it meant something completely different to them.


    Zhou Wen''s image instantly became lofty in their hearts. It was like a saint sacrificing himself to save the citizens.


    They had no idea that Zhou Wen yearned to stay as far away as possible from them as possible. No one wanted to be with a pile of bombs that could explode at any moment.


    "Let''s go." J¨¢k turned around and walked towards the encampment''s entrance.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate to follow him. Qin Wufu gaped, but he ultimately didn''t say anything. All he did was give Zhou Wen a military salute.


    All the officers and soldiers saluted Zhou Wen and watched him and J¨¢k leave the military camp.

 427 Slaying Ják 1

    "I''ve already come out with you. Can you release the Life Blasts in their bodies?" Zhou Wen said to J¨¢k after leaving the encampment.


    "Put this on." J¨¢k handed Zhou Wen a strange chain.


    "What''s this?" Zhou Wen looked at the item and felt that it resembled shackles, but it was much thinner. It wasn''t as simple as simply chaining his limbs.


    "This is the Primordial Trapping Lock that was invented by the bureau. It''s made with Primordial Gold. After wearing it, it can bind all 26 spots that you might have a sea of energy. When worn, even immortals will not be able to use their Primordial Energy. I was locked up in one for 28 years, but this is a simplified version. The one I wore was more complicated and inconvenient to obtain. I''ve requested this from the bureau to be specially prepared for you," J¨¢k said.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Primordial Trapping Lock and frowned. "What you are doing is equivalent to making me commit suicide."


    "Of course, you can also choose to watch a fireworks bonanza." J¨¢k pointed in the direction of the encampment.


    "Alright, I''ll wear it." Zhou Wen was actually sneering inwardly while pretending to be placed in a difficult position.


    This item might be useful on others, sealing their Primordial Energy sea, but Zhou Wen didn''t have any Primordial Energy sea. If one insisted on using the concept, his entire body was a Primordial Energy sea. Unless one directly destroyed his body, there was no way one could destroy his Primordial Energy sea.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra was one of a kind.


    After receiving the Primordial Trapping Lock, Zhou Wen put it on, it was as though he wasn''t wearing it. He saw chains envelop his body. In some special areas, there were twenty-six spots that had metal needles pierce into his body. They targeted twenty-six spots where Primordial Energy seas could be.


    Even the most top-notch experts in the Federation would no longer be able to use Primordial Energy after being bound by the Primordial Trapping Lock. Without the circulation of Primordial Energy, they couldn''t use Primordial Energy Arts, nor could they summon Companion Beasts.


    Although summoning a Companion Beast didn''t require much Primordial Energy, not having any made it impossible to activate the tattoo formed by the Companion Beast. That prevented the summoning of a Companion Beast.


    "Isn''t this what you want?" Zhou Wen looked coldly at J¨¢k.


    "Of course not. I told you before that I wanted to see the moment when your body and mind reached their limits. Only then would you be the best ingredient in the world with no substitute. Unfortunately, your mental state is too terrible. You''re extremely stupid. This greatly reduces your deliciousness," J¨¢k said.


    Zhou Wen wore an amused, yet, angered look. He stared at J¨¢k and said, "You''re such a particular person when it comes to doing evil. Should I say that you''re an artist amongst evil people? Or should I say you''re a jerk?"


    "It doesn''t matter. I''m me. My pursuit doesn''t need the understanding of others." J¨¢k glanced at Zhou Wen and said, "If I were to eat you now, it would be a waste of a delicacy. However, there''s no rush. I''ll soon push your mind to the limit."


    "What are you trying to do?" Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly.


    "Do you feel it? Your mind is beginning to stir." J¨¢k looked in the direction of the encampment and continued, "Now, I''ll get rid of that stupid trash and stop them from being a mental obstacle for you. I''ll let you recover your true self."


    "You''re a lunatic!" Zhou Wen immediately understood that J¨¢k was actually going to kill those people in the encampment to agitate him.


    "I''m just helping you search for your true self." J¨¢k''s eyes were burning with zeal.


    "You are a lunatic. Do you want me to become a lunatic like you?" Zhou Wen stared at J¨¢k expressionlessly. He wasn''t angry, but he was judging if J¨¢k was an avatar or the actual body.


    "If a lunatic can be happy, why not try going crazy?" J¨¢k said calmly as he summoned the Hex Cat Demon.


    "You said that you used the cat demon''s curse to plant a Life Blast into everyone. It''s actually fake, right?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Why do you say that?" J¨¢k stopped and asked with interest.


    "According to what I know, curses have all sorts of restrictions. To begin with, a curse requires a medium. And to add Life Blast via a curse makes it even more difficult. The conditions should be even more stringent. Even the curse powers of a Mythical Companion Beast shouldn''t be so powerful that they are able to curse someone without a medium, right?"


    J¨¢k nodded and said, "You''re right. It''s true that I can''t curse everyone. I just cursed something in the camp. Anyone who came into contact with it would be infected by the curse and have Life Blast planted in them."


    "It shouldn''t be that simple. It''s impossible to spread such a passive curse so easily and in such a widespread manner," Zhou Wen said with certainty.


    "Oh, then how do you think I infected them with the curse?" J¨¢k stopped what he was doing and asked Zhou Wen with interest.


    "You detonated a soldier before and also detonated an officer, so the item must be something touched by the soldiers and officers. Just touching it isn''t enough. You need a special ritual or medium to infect them with a curse. Previously, I said that they had all been set up with Life Blast. You showed them the Hex Cat Demon and made them believe that they were cursed by it. In fact, you had already exposed the fact that you didn''t curse everyone," Zhou Wen said.


    "Continue." J¨¢k smiled.


    "In the camp, there''s only one thing that fulfills the conditions mentioned. After much thought, it''s the logbook they sign when they hand over their duties. You put the curse on the logbook and all the officers and soldiers who signed it ended up completing the ritual and got infected with the curse. You said that you didn''t curse me because you didn''t want me to suffer any harm. In fact, it''s because I didn''t write my name on the logbook, so you can''t curse me."


    "You are indeed very smart. You are almost perfect. However, even if your name is on the logbook, I won''t let you be tainted by the curse," J¨¢k said.

 428 Slaying Ják 2

    "From the looks of it, I guessed correctly. You are probably the real body. I never expected you to be so bold to enter the military camp with your real body. If you really detonated everyone, you probably wouldn''t be able to escape, right?" Zhou Wen praised J¨¢k.


    "You even guessed that. How did you guess that?" J¨¢k was somewhat surprised as he asked Zhou Wen.


    "I wasn''t sure, but I''m certain now," Zhou Wen said.


    J¨¢k was taken aback before he laughed. "Interesting. You''re really interesting. What a pity. A smart person like you actually chose to sacrifice yourself for that trash. However, it''s fortunate that you did so. Otherwise, with your abilities and intellect, I wouldn''t have been able to capture you.


    "You are right. This is my real body. This is because I wouldn''t be able to summon a Mythical Companion Beast without my actual body. Naturally, I wouldn''t have been able to complete those means without it. Everyone believes that I''m a despicable person who only hides in the dark. Everyone believes that I won''t take risks with my real body, but I just so happen to do so. Furthermore, I came out unscathed. Isn''t that very interesting?" J¨¢k was somewhat delighted.


    "You are indeed a bold and meticulous devil. If a person like you were to live in this world, I''m afraid many people would be very uneasy." Zhou Wen sighed.


    "Others aren''t within my considerations, but you should be happy. Although you will be dead, I won''t let off those people who want to capture you. I''ll destroy the entire bureau. It can be considered as taking revenge for you in a way," J¨¢k said.


    "I''ve been poor since I was young, so I grew up with a bad habit. I like to handle my own things by myself and don''t really know how to enjoy life or enjoy being served by others. Therefore, it''s best I avenge myself," Zhou Wen said.


    "You''ve put me in a difficult position. I''m starving now, and I wish I could swallow a delicacy like you immediately. I can''t wait that long," J¨¢k said as he licked his lips.


    "So, I''ll kill you first," Zhou Wen said as he stared at J¨¢k.


    "It''s a pity that you''ve already put on the Primordial Trapping Lock, so you don''t have a chance." J¨¢k was clearly very confident in the lock. After all, this was something that had chained him for twenty-eight years. He had tried all possible means without a way of breaking free from the lock''s imprisonment.


    "Is that so?" Zhou Wen exerted strength as the shackle that bound him instantly shattered, turning into flying shards.


    J¨¢k''s expression changed as he attempted to snap his fingers to kill all the people who had been cursed. He wanted to deal a mental blow to Zhou Wen.


    However, just as he raised his hand, he saw a flash. It was unbelievably fast as it chopped off his hand. It did not stop as it continued towards J¨¢k''s body.


    J¨¢k suddenly turned into a shadow and escaped, but the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen''s hand was even faster. He slashed at the shadow.


    With a spurt of blood, a tiger-shaped Companion Beast was sliced into two by Zhou Wen. The tiger-shaped Companion Beast''s corpse and blood exploded suddenly. The strength of the explosion was much more terrifying than the full-powered attack of an Epic creature. Clearly, the tiger-shaped Companion Beast was at the Epic stage.


    "Die!" J¨¢k dodged to another spot. In his spot, more than ten Epic Companion Beasts appeared at the same time and were set off by J¨¢k.


    A terrifying force exploded within a radius of a few hundred meters, forming a huge blast of light that shot into the sky. It could be seen from tens of kilometers away.


    Inside the encampment, Qin Wufu and the others saw the terrifying blast of light. They felt the ground shake as their expressions turned nasty.


    "Something might have happened to Zhou Wen. Let''s go take a look." Qin Wufu immediately led his men in the direction of the explosion. It was in the direction where J¨¢k had taken Zhou Wen.


    As for the terrifying blast, it wasn''t something not at the Epic stage could match. Zhou Wen definitely couldn''t produce such immense power. Therefore, there was only one possibility left¡ª J¨¢k was unleashing his powers.


    Lu Su rushed in the direction of the explosion with the rest. She was extremely depressed. She still remembered that she had written Zhou Wen off as being afraid of death when he said that he didn''t wish to implicate the soldiers.


    However, in order to preserve their lives, Zhou Wen chose to leave with a serial killer like J¨¢k. His outcome was obvious.


    Lu Su knew that there was hell ahead of them. A youth who was still schooling had bravely chosen to walk towards hell for the sake of these soldiers. This made Lu Su feel ashamed and touched.


    Zhou Wen, don''t die! This was Lu Su''s heartfelt prayer, as well as the heartfelt pleas of many Chess Mountain soldiers and officers. The moment Zhou Wen left with J¨¢k, Zhou Wen was no longer an ordinary name in their hearts.


    J¨¢k glared at the spot of the blast. He was extremely conflicted; he didn''t wish for Zhou Wen to die just like that. From his point of view, this was a waste of good food.


    However, at that moment, he really felt that his life was under a serious threat. He had subconsciously used all his strength. Compared to delicacies, his life was more important.


    J¨¢k stared intently at the spot where the blast had gone off. Although more than ten Epic creatures self-destructed at the same spot and the might was enough to kill any Epic creature, J¨¢k was still worried. He couldn''t feel at ease without seeing Zhou Wen''s corpse.


    Boom!


    A figure rushed out from the blast, emitting light and heat into the air. It was like the sun. He held a huge sword in his hand and slashed down from above. The sword beam cleaved down like a wheel of sunlight. The light was unbelievably domineering.


    Is this fellow a monster? The detonation of more than ten Epic Companion Beasts failed to kill him? J¨¢k was alarmed, but his eyes burned with zeal.


    At that moment, he no longer wished to escape. Now, the thought of eating Zhou Wen burned even more. It almost devoured him. He extended his hand and the Hex Cat Demon transformed into a ring that appeared on his finger. Wearing the ring, J¨¢k didn''t escape and instead punched Zhou Wen''s sword beam.


    This was clearly not J¨¢k''s style, but Zhou Wen''s sword beam still slashed without any hesitation.


    Crack!


    J¨¢k''s cat demon ring and his arm were severed at the same time. J¨¢k was sent flying, but he wore a crazy smile on his face.


    Curse of Blood¡­ Life Change¡­Sanguine light burst out from J¨¢k''s body, transforming into blood-colored hex patterns. His Life Soul, Blood Hex Clown, appeared on Zhou Wen''s body, and immediately, Zhou Wen''s body was enveloped by sanguine light as he fell from the sky.


    Let''s see who has a more hardy life! J¨¢k''s long hair flared in the wind. The blood hex on his body rose as he was about to activate his curse.

 429 I Have to Make Them Feel The Pain

    Just as J¨¢k was about to release his curse, a purple beam slashed across his back. J¨¢k''s movement froze as his raised hand stopped in midair. A head flew into the air with the splattering blood.


    Not far behind J¨¢k was a doll-like girl wearing purple armor. She was standing there with a purple-copper scabbard in her arms.


    Thud!


    J¨¢k''s beheaded corpse fell and the ancient sword returned to the sheath in the Demonic Neonate''s arms.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t dare let his guard down. He continued staring intently at J¨¢k''s corpse, afraid that it would turn into a puppet.


    Thankfully, the thing he was worried about didn''t happen. J¨¢k''s corpse didn''t turn into a doll. Instead, his mysterious phone vibrated. Zhou Wen took out his phone and saw the Dead Man Tree automatically appear on the screen. He snapped a picture of J¨¢k''s corpse with the phone and his corpse and blood vanished. The Blood Hex Clown also transformed into a red stream of light that was sucked into the phone.


    On the crown of the Dead Man Tree, an additional sprout appeared.


    When Qin Wufu brought his men over, he saw a huge crater a few hundred meters in diameter. Zhou Wen stood in the huge crater, but there was no sign of J¨¢k.


    "Zhou Wen¡­ Are you alright¡­ Where''s J¨¢k?" Lu Su asked Zhou Wen in surprise.


    "He probably doesn''t exist in this world anymore." Zhou Wen stuffed his phone into his pocket and said casually.


    Qin Wufu, Lu Su, and the other Epic officers were shocked. What Zhou Wen said was very obvious, but they found it unbelievable.


    However, the reality was right in front of him. Even Qin Wufu found it difficult to produce the results of such an intense battle and explosive strength. In such a battle, there was naturally one survivor. Since Zhou Wen could stand here unharmed, J¨¢k''s outcome was self-evident.


    Lu Su and company were alarmed when they saw Zhou Wen standing in the crater. They found it unbelievable that an infamous, bloodthirsty murderer like J¨¢k would be killed by a college student like Zhou Wen.


    Even though they didn''t know how powerful J¨¢k had been in the past, J¨¢k had barged into the military camp alone and killed so many soldiers and officers while he chatted casually. However, they could do nothing against his ferocious might. They acutely knew how powerful he was, but he had been killed by a student like Zhou Wen. It was truly difficult to accept the truth.


    After returning to the encampment, Lu Su strongly requested Zhou Wen to have a physical checkup, but she found him completely uninjured.


    Zhou Wen''s deeds became legends in the Chess Mountain''s encampment. The soldiers discussed his achievements, his bravery, prowess, and excellent medical skills.


    In Chess Mountain''s encampment, Zhou Wen became synonymous with omnipotent. He was revered by many soldiers and officers.


    "Overseer, it''s such a waste for such a talent to stay on campus. Please make sure Zhou Wen stays in Chess Mountain. I hope he can become the captain of the special unit." Qin Wufu directly voiced his request through the video call.


    "Do you think that with his age and experience, people will acknowledge him as captain of the Special Operations Unit?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "Don''t worry, Overseer. I''ve already asked for their views. Their opinions are unanimous. They accept no one to be their captain but Zhou Wen," Qin Wufu said immediately.


    An Tianzuo''s expression became even odder. He pondered for a moment and said, "I can''t make the decision on this matter. His surname is Zhou, not An. I''m not in charge of him. Besides, your suggestion might not even be approved by my empress dowager."


    Qin Wufu sighed when he heard that. "That''s true. Madam Lan probably won''t let him take the risk, but it''s too wasteful to let such a talent stay in school. As long as he trains for a few more years, he will definitely be able to preside over a region in the future¡­"


    An Sheng stood by the side in all seriousness, but for some reason, An Tianzuo felt that he was holding back his laughter.


    Only after Qin Wufu hung up did An Tianzuo turn to glare at An Sheng. "What are you so happy about? Don''t you know how many soldiers were killed?"


    "Overseer, I''m not laughing," An Sheng said solemnly.


    "Hmph, does the bureau really think that Ans are dead? How dare they kill the An family''s soldiers inside our military camp? They have to pay for this," said An Tianzuo coldly.


    "Overseer, how do you want them to pay?" An Sheng''s eyes turned cold.


    "It''s time to nudge the nail you buried in the bureau," said An Tianzuo.


    "Yes, I understand what I need to do," An Sheng''s eyes lit up as he said in excitement.


    "Go ahead. Don''t let them wait too long. Also, clamp down the news that Zhou Wen killed J¨¢k. Don''t let any news on Chess Mountain spread," said An Tianzuo.


    "Even if word gets out, no one will believe that J¨¢k was killed by Young Master Wen, right?" An Sheng said.


    "J¨¢k naturally wasn''t killed by a student," said An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng immediately understood what An Tianzuo was getting at. "Overseer, don''t worry. J¨¢k''s death has nothing to do with Young Master Wen. He was shot dead by our An family''s army."


    "Did I say so?" An Tianzuo glared at him.


    "No, Overseer has never said anything about that. However, if others were to think that way, you can''t stop them. Anyway, this has nothing to do with Young Master Wen, and they won''t be able to pin it on him," An Sheng said in all seriousness.


    "It''s none of my business whether he''s investigated? It''s good if a troublesome fellow ends up dying," An Tianzuo said with a snort.


    "Overseer, do you mean to let him stay at Chess Mountain or let him return to school?" An Sheng asked.


    "Don''t ask me about his matters. Ask the person at home yourself," An Tianzuo said without looking up.


    ¡­


    With J¨¢k''s death, Zhou Wen felt a lot more relaxed. However, his mind didn''t stop working. The bureau had actually used people like J¨¢k to capture him; it was no different from taking his life.


    Although Zhou Wen''s present strength was insufficient to confront the bureau head-on, wouldn''t it mean that they could bully Zhou Wen as they wished if he didn''t do anything? Wouldn''t they send even more people without any scruples?


    No, I have to think of a way. I have to let the bureau feel the pain. Although I can''t face the bureau head-on, I don''t necessarily have to fight them head-on. Just like J¨¢k, I might be able to do something. Zhou Wen''s mind raced.


    Zhou Wen didn''t like arguing with others, nor did he like to hold grudges with others. He even found quarreling troublesome.


    However, he had his bottom line and temper as well.

 430 Entering Chess Mountain

    Zhou Wen had a limited understanding of the bureau. He couldn''t do anything even if he had the intention.


    Therefore, he made a phone call to An Sheng and asked him for information regarding the bureau.


    "Young Master Wen, although J¨¢k was very strong, he was locked up for so many years. His strength alone was far inferior to the bureau''s." An Sheng paused before saying, "Don''t worry about this. The An family definitely won''t let this matter rest. They will definitely make the bureau pay for it. We are already taking action."


    "I just want to know more about my enemy." Zhou Wen didn''t explain further.


    "That''s true. You will definitely have to deal with the bureau in the future. Indeed, you should have a detailed understanding of them. Why don''t you give me some time? I''ll organize the information and send you a copy. It won''t be appropriate passing some of the materials over the Internet," An Sheng said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush. He hadn''t thought of what to do either.


    "Did you really kill J¨¢k?" An Sheng asked curiously as there were no traces of J¨¢k''s corpse on the spot.


    "I don''t know what to say. In theory, he should be dead," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then does that mean there''s still a chance of survival?" An Sheng asked.


    "You don''t have to worry about J¨¢k''s problem," Zhou Wen said with certainty.


    The reason he didn''t say that J¨¢k was dead was that he had vanished in this world because the Companion Eggs produced by the Dead Man Tree were different from ordinary Companion Eggs. They carried things from their past lives, making them a type of clone.


    Zhou Wen was still very expectant of the Companion Beast transformed by J¨¢k. If he could have the ability to produce Life Blast, it would be of great help to Zhou Wen in his future battles.


    Although he could use spatial trajectories to achieve the effect of a Life Blast, it was much less practical. It wasn''t as easy or convenient as Life Blast.


    Furthermore, J¨¢k was an expert in shadow escape and various curses. The only thing Zhou Wen wasn''t sure of was the number of techniques he could retain after J¨¢k transformed into a Companion Beast.


    Beep! Beep! A message came through the phone.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone to take a look and realized that it was a message from The Thearch.


    "I need these things. Buy them for me." A long list followed the message.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that they were all equipment, instruments, and materials related to chemistry.


    "What do you want these things for?" Zhou Wen found it odd. He remembered that he hadn''t introduced television dramas related to chemistry to The Thearch.


    "For learning." The Thearch''s answer was very simple.


    Learning chemistry? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he asked, "Have you watched the television dramas I introduced?"


    "That''s impossible. Many of the things you want need to be purchased in a large city. I can''t get them in a small city at all. If I go to a big city, I''ll take half a month to return." Zhou Wen was telling the truth. It was possible to buy something like a beaker in a typical small city, but it was impossible to buy those instruments.


    The Thearch seemed to have learned a lot about the Federation from the Internet. She probably knew that Zhou Wen wasn''t lying. After some silence, she sent another message.


    "I want you to enter Chess Mountain once. Get something inside."


    "The Thearch, you also know how weak I am. If you let me enter Chess Mountain, won''t that kill me?" Zhou Wen immediately sent a message rejecting the request.


    "As long as you do as I say, absolutely nothing will happen. If you don''t go, I''ll make a wish to sever all your limbs," The Thearch said.


    "What do you want me to go in for?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly. If The Thearch wanted him to enter to break the seal, that would be a huge problem.


    "To take a treasure from inside. With that treasure, in the future, you can pass things to me directly through the treasure. There''s no need to run around again. You can save a lot of time," said The Thearch.


    "There''s actually such a treasure? What is it?" Zhou Wen was delighted when he heard that.


    From the current situation, The Thearch really needed him to do errands, so it didn''t make sense for her to harm him. If he could enter Chess Mountain to take a gander at the situation inside, it would be helpful when he had to clear the Chess Mountain dungeon in the future. Furthermore, there were treasures that he could take.


    The Thearch said, "It''s nothing special. It''s just a flower. However, that flower is growing inside Chess Mountain. You have to enter the belly of the mountain to take it out. I can''t help you take it out."


    "Is it really not dangerous?" Zhou Wen was still somewhat hesitant.


    "Chess Mountain is indeed very dangerous, but as long as you follow my instructions, there won''t be any danger. Unless you have a death wish and choose not to listen to my orders." The Thearch paused and said, "You don''t have the right to choose. Show yourself at Chess Mountain in an hour or else¡­"


    "Got it. All limbs severed, right?" Zhou Wen added.


    Although he was unwilling, Zhou Wen still had to go. He had seen The Thearch''s strength before. The wish force was too terrifying. Even Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification couldn''t resolve the problem. He really had to go.


    It''s indeed bad to take risks. I won''t randomly go to unfamiliar dimensional zones in the future. Zhou Wen packed and rushed to Chess Mountain.


    When he saw the flower again, The Thearch didn''t say anything to him. He saw that there was a crack on the mountain wall from where the flower was rooted. It could probably allow someone to squeeze in.


    "Come in." The Thearch''s voice came from within the flower.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and crawled into the crack by turning sideways.


    The crack was narrow, so all Zhou Wen could do was slowly walk sidewards. The further he went in, the darker it became. Soon, it was pitch-black. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had Truth Listener, so he knew of the surrounding situation. It wasn''t that terrifying.


    After walking for quite some time, the rift finally opened up. Zhou Wen realized that in front of him was a huge space.


    Zhou Wen was in the middle of the mountain belly. And at the bottom of it, there was a massive, strange building.


    Zhou Wen had seen quite a number of ancient architectural maps, but this was the first time he had seen such a building. It had layers that resembled stairs, but they were extremely huge. Each layer was similar to a huge square.


    At the very top was an ancient building. There was a rainbow-colored treasure halo that surged up into the sky, illuminating the interior of the mountain belly.

 431 Treasure Trove

    The seven-colored treasure glow surged up from within the ancient building, but at its foundation, blood-like liquid seeped out. The underground river flowed through the foundation and brought away the blood-like liquid, immediately turning into a blood-colored river.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally knew why the river outside was blood-colored. It was because of this strange building.


    Upon closer inspection of the foundation of the building''s "bleeding," Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly. The bottom of the foundation was actually made of countless skulls and bones. It was as if countless skeletons had been poured into cement. Just looking at it made his scalp tingle.


    "Crawl down while keeping close to the mountain wall. Remember, don''t ever leave the mountain wall or fly. You have to keep your feet on the ground." The Thearch''s voice sounded, but it wasn''t a real voice. Instead, it sounded in Zhou Wen''s mind.


    "Don''t tell me that the flower you mentioned is in that ancient building?" Zhou Wen whispered as a probe.


    As expected, The Thearch heard what he said. "That''s right. After you reach the bottom of the mountain wall, you can swim into the river. Remember not to take the staircase right in front. Swim to the left. There''s a hole there. You have to enter from there."


    "There shouldn''t be any strange creatures in the river, right?" Zhou Wen looked at the blood-colored river beneath the ancient building, feeling a little uneasy.


    "Of course there are. You haven''t used that bone flute yet, am I right? When you enter the water, bite the bone flute with your teeth and swim forward. No matter what you see or feel, don''t panic or speak. You just have to follow my instructions and swim forward."


    "What else is there to take note of? Can you finish it in one go?" Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    "That''s all. You can go now," The Thearch said straightforwardly.


    Zhou Wen took out the bone flute and bit it with his teeth before climbing down.


    Although the river was blood-colored outside, color was the only thing it had in common. There was no smell of blood. However, things were different inside. The more Zhou Wen crawled down, the stronger the smell of blood. It was almost intolerable.


    When he reached the bottom, the smell of blood almost made him want to vomit.


    After taking a look at the river that resembled blood and the skeleton foundation that was bleeding in the distance, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and jumped into the water. He had high poison resistance and had injected himself with Doctor Darkness''s poison several times, so he wasn''t afraid of being poisoned by the river.


    Even so, Zhou Wen felt his skin itch after entering the water. Although he had already put on the Mutated Stone Chi armor, the armor still had some gaps. It couldn''t stop the blood-like water from seeping in.


    As he swam, Zhou Wen suddenly felt something float up from beneath the blood-colored river and approach him.


    That thing was a massive object. Its entire body seemed to be trembling with some kind of power. Truth Listener could hear its existence, but it was affected by the tremors. It couldn''t hear its exact appearance, but it felt humongous.


    "Don''t stop, don''t speak, continue swimming. Don''t panic, unless you want to die." The Thearch''s voice sounded in his mind again.


    At this point, Zhou Wen could only continue swimming forward, but he kept his ears pricked up. He felt that the thing underwater was just beneath him. The thing was unimaginably huge spanning a probable hundred meters in length. He didn''t know what it was.


    D*mn you flower, don''t you harm me! Zhou Wen thought to himself. He felt like the thing was about to touch his body. Furthermore, many things like seaweed or tentacles had already touched his body.


    "Don''t stop, continue swimming. Ignore it." The Thearch''s voice rang again.


    Zhou Wen could only listen to her and continue swimming forward, but soon, he realized that there were many red things tearing out of the water around him. The things were the thickness of a thumb. They resembled seaweed or tentacles that crawled out from the water, occupying the hundred-meter-long river.


    When Zhou Wen''s body touched the items, he found it soft and sticky. He had no idea what it was.


    "Continue swimming and don''t worry about them. It doesn''t matter even if you touch them." The Thearch''s voice sounded in Zhou Wen''s mind again.


    Zhou Wen felt his entire body itch. He knew that it definitely wasn''t harmless as The Thearch had said. At the very least, these things were definitely poisonous. It was only because his poison resistance was high enough. If it were someone else, they would have sunk to the bottom of the river long before now.


    He swam in the red objects with the bone flute in his mouth. This wasn''t swimming anymore; he felt like he was crawling on the red objects.


    Thankfully, other than feeling itchy, the objects didn''t attack him. Zhou Wen crawled all the way to the left of the ancient building and crawled a few hundred meters, but he didn''t see the hole that The Thearch had mentioned.


    "You''re there. About three meters down. Dive in from here," The Thearch suddenly said.


    Holy sh*t, I definitely won''t come again even if I''ll get all five limbs severed. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and peeled away the red seaweed-like objects. He swam through the blood which had a smell that made him feel like vomiting.


    The red objects kept trembling, severely affecting Truth Listener''s hearing. Zhou Wen dived through the red seaweed and searched for a while before finally finding the hole that The Thearch had mentioned.


    The cave was about the same size as a dog hole. Zhou Wen''s head was just able to enter, so he barely managed to squeeze in. There was a tunnel behind him that was flooded by the river. Thankfully, the red seaweed wasn''t here. Truth Listener could probably hear the situation inside.


    "Don''t surface yet. Just swim underwater according to my instructions. You have to be careful now. You have to stick to the stone slab right below. If those things outside discover you, you''re dead."


    D*mn it! Zhou Wen had the urge to curse.


    But since things had come to this point, there was no other way. All he could do was carefully swim forward while keeping close to the stone slabs at the bottom.


    The tunnel below was connected in all directions. Zhou Wen swam forward according to The Thearch''s instructions. At the same time, he remembered the path he had taken, making it easier for his next venture here.


    He definitely wouldn''t come back in person. However, he still could continue exploring in-game.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had learned the Nine Dragons Art. His ability to hold his breath underwater was far greater than the average Epic expert. If it were an ordinary Epic human, not only would the poison in the water prevent them from swimming underwater for so long, but they would probably have already surfaced to catch their breath.


    "Alright, there''s a stone staircase up ahead. Just go up with the stone staircase." After swimming for quite some time, he passed through many flooded tunnels. Just as he needed to take a breath, he finally heard The Thearch telling him to leave the water.


    Zhou Wen rushed out of the water along the stone stairs, gasping heavily for his breath. However, while panting, he couldn''t help but hold his breath when he saw the scene in front of him.


    At the end of the stone steps was a stone platform. On it was a small mound of dimensional crystals that glittered like a mountain of treasure.

 432 Deer Terrace Pavilion

    He didn''t use his phone to take a picture, but from the terrifying fluctuations emitted by the crystals, he knew that they were definitely not ordinary.


    "Walk around the treasure platform and head behind it." The Thearch''s voice rang out in his mind again.


    "Can I take some of the crystals here? If I need to buy anything in the future, I don''t have to ask you for money again," Zhou Wen asked as he swallowed.


    Even he couldn''t help but feel his heart race as he faced the mountain of high-level crystals.


    "If you don''t want to live, go ahead and take them. If you want to stay alive, stay away from them and don''t touch them," The Thearch said.


    "Stingy," Zhou Wen muttered as he circled around the mountain of crystals. When he walked to the back of the crystal pile, he saw a strange creature sprawled on the crystal pile. Its body was curled up as though it was sleeping.


    The creature was golden in color and looked like a pangolin, but it seemed different.


    "What dimensional creature is that?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the pangolin sprawled on the crystal pile. Since The Thearch hadn''t warned him to be careful, there shouldn''t be any danger.


    "In the words of you humans, it''s a Mythical creature. It''s called a Wealth Conserver. It devours any greedy creature that tries to take its wealth," The Thearch said.


    "Mythical creature! Why didn''t you say so earlier?" Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly as his voice deepened.


    "As long as you don''t touch those crystals, it won''t wake up. Why would I talk about it?" The Thearch said matter-of-factly.


    Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed. If he hadn''t listened to The Thearch and had greedily taken the crystals, he would have been in big trouble.


    Behind the treasure platform was a stone staircase. Zhou Wen walked down the stone steps and entered a hall. He saw many strange stone sculptures of various strange beasts in the hall. They were ancient and majestic, but there was nothing special about them. However, they all had different-colored eggs in their mouths.


    "Are those are Companion Eggs?" Zhou Wen looked at the two rows of stone sculptures on both sides of the hall. Each stone statue contained a Companion Egg in their mouth.


    "That''s right. In your human words, those are Mythical Companion Eggs," said The Thearch.


    "Mythical Companion Eggs? What kind of place is this? Why are there so many treasures here?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    There were at least ten stone statues, and all of them had Mythical Companion Eggs in their mouths. This made it a little terrifying.


    "Didn''t you go to school and learn the history of the East District?" The Thearch said in disdain.


    "What does this have to do with me learning history?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Deer Terrace Pavilion? The Deer Terrace Pavilion that a tyrant built after expending all his country''s resources and oppressing the citizens?" Zhou Wen was terrible at history. He only studied to deal with the examinations, but he had also heard of Deer Terrace Pavilion because it was just so famous.


    Back when the tyrant built Deer Terrace Pavilion using the entire nation''s strength, he had hidden countless rare treasures in it. He reveled in eating, drinking, and having fun in it. It was excessive extravagance and debauchery. It even left Zhou Wen somewhat envious.


    "That''s right. This is the legendary Deer Terrace Pavilion. However, the effect of the Deer Terrace Pavilion isn''t as simple as storing treasures as you humans say."


    "Then what''s it for?" Zhou Wen asked.


    The Thearch gave a strange laugh and said, "You must have seen the movies and films regarding the Deer Terrace Pavilion, right? One of them talks about a fox demoness that invited immortals to descend to the mortal world to drink and eat at Deer Terrace Pavilion with the tyrant, right?"


    "I''ve seen that, but they weren''t actually immortals. They were all manifestations of demons that the demoness invited," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "Although the plot isn''t very realistic, it''s still slightly relevant. The Deer Terrace Pavilion''s usage is related to dimensional creatures, so it can also be considered as inviting demons," The Thearch said indifferently.


    "Can I take these Companion Eggs away?" Zhou Wen asked as he stared at the Companion Eggs. They were all Mythical Companion Eggs. Any one of them could be sold at an astronomical price. Even if he didn''t sell them, he could use them himself.


    "What do you think?" The Thearch asked.


    "Forget it, I can''t take it," Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    "Then why aren''t you speeding up? There''s a flower pot on the right side of the hall. That''s the thing you are here for," The Thearch urged.


    Zhou Wen followed the location that The Thearch had mentioned and indeed saw a flower pot in the corner. It looked very inconspicuous¡ªa shiny clay pot. There was a flower planted inside. It lazily grew two leaves and a flower. The flower looked like a morning glory flower. It drooped listlessly as though it was malnourished and was about to wither.


    "What are you waiting for? Why aren''t you taking it away?" The Thearch urged again.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to pick the flower pot up. He wasn''t in a good mood as he could only bring out the flower pot despite seeing so many high-level crystals and Mythical Companion Beasts.


    "The Thearch, it''s not easy to make a trip here. Do you have anything else for me to bring out? I don''t want to make another trip again," Zhou Wen asked, unwilling to give up.


    "There are dimensional creatures guarding the Deer Terrace Pavilion. If you have the ability, go ahead and take whatever you want. I will not stop you," The Thearch said disdainfully.


    Upon hearing that, Zhou Wen dismissed the thoughts of taking anything else. As he walked back with the flower pot, he asked, "What''s the use of this flower?"


    "Don''t underestimate it. This flower has the ability to teleport. In the future, when you buy something and put it in the flower, you can teleport it to me."


    "It''s only a fixed-point teleportation device?" Zhou Wen was immediately disappointed.


    "You don''t have to be disappointed. In the future, if I have something to give you, I can also transfer it to you through it. It''s much more convenient than your human phones. It''s probably about the same as the quantum transportation device that you humans are researching without any results," The Thearch said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen forced a smile, but he could only hope that he could obtain benefits from The Thearch in the future. Otherwise, this would be a wasted trip; he didn''t benefit other than the flower pot.


    Zhou Wen indignantly sized up his surroundings and saw that there was a strange nine-tailed fox''s portrait engraved on the wall in front of the hall. He couldn''t help but size up the portrait and said, "Is this the legendary true form of the fox demoness?"


    "That''s right. If I were you, I wouldn''t continue looking at her," The Thearch said coldly.


    "Why?" Just as Zhou Wen asked, he felt his Lost Immortal Sutra react as its circulation began to slow down.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen saw the nine-tailed fox''s eyes emit an evil light.

 433 Demon God Bloodline Catalog

    "Aren''t you going to close your eyes? Why are you, a human, staring at the Demon God Catalog for so long? Do you plan on becoming a half-demon?" The Thearch coldly shouted.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t retract his gaze because of The Thearch''s admonition. He continued to stare at the nine-tailed fox symbol on the stone wall.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra in him automatically circulated again. This feeling was too familiar to Zhou Wen. He had had the same feeling when learning the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the other Primordial Energy Arts.


    Zhou Wen watched as the nine-tailed fox statue transformed into a strange black tiger. It didn''t take long for it to transform into a winged cow. Then, Zhou Wen saw the stone statue on the stone wall constantly changing, producing many statues that Zhou Wen had never seen or heard before.


    "Stop looking. It doesn''t matter if you''re tempting fate, but who'' will buy my things?" The Thearch was very anxious.


    Although she could also talk to someone on the Internet, it wasn''t easy to trick others into coming to Chess Mountain. There was probably no one who dared to come.


    Even if someone dared to come, there would be troops stationed outside. Outsiders wouldn''t be able to get close to Chess Mountain.


    Taking another step back, even if one could get close to Chess Mountain, it would probably not be easy to find someone who could enter Chess Mountain without dying.


    After The Thearch went online, she realized that humans were much weaker than she had imagined. Zhou Wen was already considered one of the strongest humans.


    Zhou Wen ignored The Thearch and kept staring at the stone wall. The transformation on the stone wall had run through thousands of demon beast symbols. Zhou Wen felt that the demon beasts had different charms and auras, but he didn''t see anything special.


    However, the Lost Immortal Sutra kept circulating at an increasingly slower pace. When Zhou Wen couldn''t remember how many demon beast stone statue symbols he had seen, the Lost Immortal Sutra finally stopped circulating.


    In the next second, Lost Immortal Sutra circulated crazily. However, the path and mode were completely different from before. It once again became a brand new Primordial Energy Art.


    This Primordial Energy Art was extremely bizarre, giving Zhou Wen a strange feeling. When he circulated the Primordial Energy Art, his flesh trembled as though it was producing a dragon''s roar. His tendons and bones roared collectively like wolves and tigers as his hair stood up like a hedgehog''s spine. It ended up making him look like a dandelion.


    Impossible¡­ How can a human gain basic mastery of the Demon God Catalog''s legacy? This is impossible¡­ In her cave, The Thearch''s eyes widened in surprise as though she had seen something extremely unbelievable.


    However, Zhou Wen had only gained basic mastery of the Primordial Energy Art. He was still far from condensing a Life Providence.


    After Zhou Wen retracted his gaze and heard The Thearch''s voice ringing in his mind. "Strange, why isn''t there any demonization when you cultivated the Demon God Catalog? Are you not a human to begin with?"


    "It''s just a casual look; how could I become a demon like that, right?" Zhou Wen said indifferently. He hadn''t really mastered the Demon God Bloodline Catalog. It had just been simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra; therefore, he didn''t suffer the harm that The Thearch mentioned.


    The Thearch didn''t say anything else. All she did was urge Zhou Wen to leave Deer Terrace Pavilion quickly.


    Zhou Wen put the flower pot into the Chaos Bead before following the path back. He walked all the way out of Chess Mountain until he emerged from the crack, only to let out a long sigh of relief.


    "Return and buy everything I need as soon as possible. Then, send them to me through the Void Flower," The Thearch instructed.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm in camp, he heaved a sigh of relief. He decided not to risk venturing to unknown dimensional zones again.


    Should I think of a way to deal with The Thearch''s wishes? Otherwise, I''ll always be asked to do this and that. It''s really troublesome, Zhou Wen thought about it but failed to come up with a good solution.


    In the next few days, Zhou Wen went to a nearby city to buy some common chemicals and equipment. He then attempted to teleport the items to her with the Void Flower.


    The Void Flower was really useful. As long as he said "open" to the flower that resembled a morning glory, its flower would form a miniature spatial portal. All he needed to do was throw the items in.


    The Thearch was temporarily placated, but she urged Zhou Wen to hurry to a big city and buy everything she needed.


    Although Zhou Wen agreed, he wasn''t in a rush to return to school. He spent a few more days in the military camp. He let the soldiers get infected with the rashes before injecting them with the poison to give them the antibodies. Without needing to fear the blood river, their combat strength also increased significantly.


    Now, the officers and soldiers were calling Zhou Wen ''Doctor Zhou'' the moment they saw him. They didn''t even need to say "little." Clearly, they showed him deep respect.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t used to it. He clearly didn''t know any medical skills, so every time he was addressed as Doctor Zhou by the soldiers, he found it odd.


    An Sheng''s men finally came and brought with them information about the Special Inspector Bureau. Many of them were confidential documents. An Sheng repeatedly exhorted Zhou Wen to immediately destroy them after he had read them. He couldn''t let anyone else see them.


    Zhou Wen carefully studied the thick stack of information, including the detailed explanations of the bureau''s various departments. It had fine details about every department and office.


    Only after reading it did Zhou Wen realize that the Special Inspector Bureau had a very large range of authority. It was almost the same as the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a secret police that served the emperors in ancient China.


    However, the information also mentioned many of the Special Investigation Bureau''s accolades. Many vile devils had been captured by the Special Investigation Bureau. They had lost many lives in the process.


    The initial establishment of the bureau was to target those unscrupulous devils, as well as some Federation officials and local rich families who secretly carried out a variety of nefarious deeds.


    However, as times changed, its power grew without any restrictions. The bureau also gradually changed.


    There were a total of fifteen branches in the Special Investigation Bureau. They were stationed in fifteen important cities in the Federation and were responsible for the intelligence and supervision of the nearby areas.


    There were a total of fifteen ministers that handled a branch, like Qiao Siyuan, and all of them were experts at the Epic stage. Furthermore, they had their own strengths, making them incomparable to ordinary Epic experts.


    That was not all. There were even more experts in the headquarters of the bureau. There was no need to mention Shen Yuchi. Although no one had ever seen him attack, everyone who wanted to harm him had disappeared from this world. To date, there had been no known instances of anyone successfully dealing him harm.


    Back when J¨¢k killed the son of the former director-general of the Special Inspector Bureau, the former director-general nearly went mad and used excessive means to capture J¨¢k. However, due to his anger, he made a few irrational decisions and almost caused the bureau to be destroyed by J¨¢k.


    Under orders, Shen Yuchi designed a plan to capture J¨¢k and reestablish the authority of the bureau. At the same time, he also recruited many talents, such as Qiao Siyuan.


    Apart from Shen Yuchi, there were also the four Censors from the bureau. Every one of them was extremely terrifying as there were also some Epic experts.


    After carefully studying the information, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t an easy task for him to touch the bureau. Small-scale skirmishes didn''t affect the bureau at all, nor would he make them feel pain.

 434 Primordial Crystal Mine

    Zhou Wen felt that there was no need for a man to waste time on trivial matters, but once he decided on what he wanted to do, he had to be ruthless. He had to strike to kill. If death wasn''t possible, he had to drill the pain into their bones and figuratively strike fear into their bones.


    Zhou Wen found cursing, making harsh threats, smashing things, and face-slapping meaningless. Even if he were to kill two of the Special Inspector Bureau''s men¡ªeven if one was a minister¡ªit would be considered a trivial matter for the bureau. They could just hire someone else to be the branch minister.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the strength to storm the headquarters of the bureau and destroy it yet.


    Even an arrogant person like J¨¢k had been locked up by the bureau for twenty-eight years. After he came out, he didn''t immediately seek revenge on the bureau, but followed orders to capture Zhou Wen. This proved how terrifying the bureau was.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a long time before a piece of news caught his attention.


    The Special Inspection Bureau was very powerful, but it was different from typical rich families. They were only a department in the Federation and were given a salary by the Federation.


    Although it was very easy for a department like the bureau to earn money, Shen Yuchi had strictly forbidden corruption. At the moment, there were no cases of any such misdeeds. Zhou Wen really admired Shen Yuchi in this aspect.


    To be able to control such a department to this level was not something anyone could do.


    However, relying on the Federation''s funds alone was clearly insufficient for the bureau to operate. The bureau''s main income came from two sources. One was the sponsorship from various major corporations and another was a Primordial Crystal mine.


    According to the information An Sheng had given him, sixty percent of the Special Inspector Bureau''s income came from this single Primordial Crystal mine.


    Zhou Wen was no stranger to the Primordial Crystal mines. In the bat cave, there was quite a lot of Primordial Crystal Ore. As he couldn''t take it out, he didn''t pay much attention to it. He went to the bat cave mainly to hunt poison bats.


    He hadn''t respawned the instance dungeon recently, so all the poison bats inside had long been wiped out by him. He hadn''t visited the bat cave ever since.


    However, after reading the information on the Primordial Crystal mine, Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The effects of Primordial Crystals were similar to Primordial Gold. They could be used to make Primordial Crystal weapons, and they could even create laser weapons. That type of lasers had a certain level of lethality to dimensional creatures.


    Zhou Wen estimated that the production of a Primordial Crystal mine for a year was about the same as the Primordial Crystals in the bat cave.


    The Special Inspector Bureau''s Primordial Crystal mine had rich deposits. After digging for several years, the number of Primordial Crystals produced was still very stable. It would probably not be a problem to mine for another ten to twenty years.


    Due to the tight protection of the Primordial Crystal mine, there was only this little bit of information. There wasn''t any specific production or storage information, but it was estimated to be quite substantial. Every time the bureau needed money, a large number of Primordial Crystals would be sold.


    What really piqued Zhou Wen''s interest was a footnote. Some earth- or stone-type dimensional creatures treated Primordial Crystal ores as food that could catalyze their evolution.


    When Zhou Wen saw the footnote, his eyes lit up.


    Without any hesitation, he took out his phone and switched to the Zhuolu instance dungeon. He quickly arrived at the poison bat cave and looked at the Primordial Crystal ores that resembled stars. Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Standing at three to four meters tall, Tyrant Behemoth was already like a monster. When it saw the Primordial Crystal ores, its eyes lit up. It let out a roar and charged forward, clawed the stone wall, and bit down.


    Zhou Wen was stunned when he saw Tyrant Behemoth swallowing the rocks mixed with Primordial Crystals into his stomach like candy.


    Tyrant Behemoth had no intention of stopping at all. It bit down on the nearby Primordial Crystal ores without end. It even chewed and swallowed many rocks. It wasn''t picky at all.


    This fellow is indeed a monster that can eat a thousand mountains daily! Zhou Wen couldn''t help but marvel. Although they were also Mythical creatures, Banana Fairy''s and Truth Listener''s appetite was much smaller than it.


    As for Demonic Neonate, she had never eaten anything since she was born.


    Tyrant Behemoth was like a drilling machine. Wherever it went, it bit off a wall.


    He had indeed been starving Tyrant Behemoth recently because he didn''t have any dungeons to grind. In order to save food, Zhou Wen waited until it was extremely hungry before giving it some food. During this period, Tyrant Behemoth hadn''t even eaten half its fill. Needless to say, it had never been satiated.


    Now that there was food, it wasn''t willing to give up. It ate crazily across the bat cave. After half a day, it had devoured all the Primordial Crystal ores inside. Its stomach ballooned.


    This fellow¡­ I really can''t afford to raise him in the future¡­ If it wasn''t for the game dungeon and the Primordial Crystals in the bat cave, Zhou Wen would have the urge to strangle Tyrant Behemoth to death. He had to kill it before it became a glutton prodigal, lest it brought disaster to the world.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen saw Tyrant Behemoth burping from its satiation. Then, a black glow emitted from its body before it completely enveloped its body.


    Is it about to evolve into the Epic stage? Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed.


    If he had known that the Primordial Crystal ores would have such a great effect on Tyrant Behemoth, Zhou Wen would have brought it here a long time ago. What a waste of all those bat caves he grinded in the past.


    After advancing to the Epic stage, should Tyrant Behemoth be able to eat even more? Zhou Wen''s eyes flashed with excitement when he thought of the Primordial Crystal mine that the bureau owned.


    Tyrant Behemoth kept evolving. Zhou Wen didn''t know when it would finish evolving. However, the bat cave in-game was relatively safe, so he left it there.


    Zhou Wen continued studying the information regarding the bureau, especially the parts regarding the Primordial Crystal mine.


    The Primordial Crystal mine wasn''t in Holy City or the capital. Instead, it was in a dimensional zone in the wilderness. However, the bureau had already sealed off the dimensional zone, and one of the four major bureau inspectors, Cai Jin watched over it with other men. It wouldn''t be easy for him to enter the dimensional zone to find the Primordial Crystal mine.


    After Zhou Wen did some studying, he realized that there were many people who had their sights on the Primordial Crystal mine, but none of them succeeded. The main reason was that the dimensional zone itself was very odd. The bureau greatly relied on this oddity. The average person would die without knowing why as soon as they entered.


    According to the information, An Sheng and company had definitely sent people there. However, the results weren''t good. There were many people sent in, but only two made it out alive.


    Not long after the two of them came out, they also encountered problems. One of them went mad and the other committed suicide.


    The only information that the An family had on hand was provided by these two people.


    After Zhou Wen read the information, he revealed a look of delight. The place was indeed odd, but he could give it a try.

 435 Stone Saber

    Zhou Wen carefully studied the information An Sheng had brought over, believing that the power there was likely a curse. As for Truth Listener, it had very strong restraints against curses.


    However, I still have to verify the actual situation before I can be certain. It''s best if I can find a tiny palm symbol and download the dimensional zone into my phone. Zhou Wen didn''t plan on immediately heading to the Primordial Crystal mine. Tyrant Behemoth was still evolving, so it was useless even if he went there. There was no way he could dig the mine himself. Even if he were to enter now, it wouldn''t be of much use and he couldn''t take too many of the Primordial Crystals.


    According to usual practice, Zhou Wen first went to the underground sea. The black dragon now had more than ten palm imprints. Apart from the palm imprints, other parts of its body also began to produce poison boils that showed some festering.


    After Zhou Wen descended into the sea, the other eight black dragons attacked him, but the black dragon was in a stupor. It was as though it had almost lost consciousness from its groggy state.


    From the looks of it, it should be soon. Zhou Wen was delighted, hoping that something would drop after the black dragon died.


    After escaping the underground sea, Zhou Wen didn''t immediately leave the game. Instead, he observed the sapphire-like sky, but he didn''t discover anything.


    Previously, he had approached it only to suddenly die. There was probably a terrifying creature in the sapphire-like sky, but, to date, he had failed to discover its existence.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to exit the game, he suddenly saw a blue light flash across the distant sapphire sky. It was like a signal from an electrocardiogram as it flashed across the sapphire sky.


    The blue light came and disappeared quickly. He waited for a while, but he didn''t see the blue light appear again.


    I wonder what it is. It should also be a Mythical creature, right? Zhou Wen knew that it was useless even if he knew what it was. With his present strength, killing a chained black dragon was already so difficult. He had no chance of killing an unrestrained Mythical creature.


    It was unknown when Tyrant Behemoth, who was in the midst of evolving in the bat cave, would complete its evolution.


    After quitting the game, Zhou Wen received a call from An Sheng.


    "Young Master Wen, there''s a piece of good news for you. Our plan against the bureau is about to come to fruition," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen was naturally delighted to hear that the bureau was about to be in trouble, but he wanted to personally send them to hell.


    "Ah Sheng, J¨¢k is dead. I wish to leave Chess Mountain," Zhou Wen said.


    "Of course you can. The bureau likely doesn''t have time to deal with you for now. I''ll get someone to take you back to school tomorrow," An Sheng said.


    "That''s fine. Even J¨¢k isn''t your match, so it''s not going to be easy to find someone to protect you now. You can decide on your own." An Sheng paused before asking, "What are you going back to Guide City for? You don''t have any relatives there, right?"


    "There are some things at home that I want to bring back. By the way, can you obtain an entry pass to Guide Ancient City? I want to take a look when I''m back," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s easy. Just head there straight away. I''ll make a call to arrange it," An Sheng said straightforwardly.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen packed up his things and went to tell Qin Wufu about his departure. Not only did he want to return to Guide City, but he also had to head to the Special Inspector Bureau''s Primordial Crystal mine.


    The reason he wanted to head to Guide City first was that he wanted to see if there was a stone saber in the furnace on Fire God Platform in reality.


    In-game, the stone saber was just an illusion. He couldn''t touch it no matter what, so he wanted to take a look while on the way.


    "Are you really leaving? If you are willing, you can stay here. I''ll let you be the captain of the Special Operations Unit and be in charge of those people. I''ll be in charge of explaining to the Overseer." Qin Wufu wanted Zhou Wen to stay behind. He felt that it was a waste for Zhou Wen to return to school.


    "Overseer, I''m still a student after all. I should still focus on my studies," Zhou Wen said.


    "Fine then. There are indeed some impressive figures in Sunset College, especially Chancellor Leng. Calling him the strongest person beneath the Mythical stage isn''t an exaggeration. It''ll be beneficial for you to learn more from him," Qin Wufu said.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly. "Then I''ll be leaving now."


    "That fast?" Qin Wufu was a little surprised.


    "There''s no point in staying another night. I still have some matters to do," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright then. However, you have to say farewell to those guys. Otherwise, they will definitely eat me up," Qin Wufu said with a smile.


    After leaving Chess Mountain, Zhou Wen headed straight for Guide City on the Mutated Stone Chi.


    Back when he left Guide City, he was only a Mortal-stage youth. Now, in less than a year, he had advanced to the Epic stage. He was very different from before.


    When he arrived at Guide Ancient City again, Zhou Wen recalled the matter of him participating in the combat test with Li Xuan. It felt like something that had happened a long time ago.


    After entering the ancient city, he saw scattered instances of people fighting the Skeleton Soldiers. Zhou Wen circled around them and headed deeper into the ancient city.


    Although he had only visited in real life once, he had grinded the game countless times. He was very familiar with Guide Ancient City, so he arrived at Fire God Platform quickly.


    The firebirds on the Fire God Platform naturally couldn''t hurt Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen walked up the stairs and they flocked towards him. As Zhou Wen circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, the firebirds automatically flew back.


    When he arrived at the top of Fire God Platform, it wasn''t much different from the game. The layout was identical, except that it was cartoonish in-game. It looked cuter and more ancient in real life.


    There were flames burning in the mottled stone furnace, as well as a stone saber. It looked a little cruder than the one in-game. It was probably hand-made. There were pits and natural stone patterns on the blade. Only the edge of the blade looked fine and sharp. This could be considered a partially man-made stone saber.


    Zhou Wen circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and summoned the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul to attach it to him before reaching his hand into the stone furnace.


    The flames in the furnace seemed to sense something as they automatically separated. Without burning Zhou Wen''s palm, they revealed the stone saber in the furnace.


    Zhou Wen held the stone saber with his palm and immediately felt the roughness unique to stone. It was a little cold to the touch. He had clenched it firmly.


    I gripped it. The stone saber really exists in real life! Zhou Wen was alarmed.

 436 Dont Cry Valley

    The moment he gripped the stone saber, Zhou Wen immediately felt an ancient aura emitting from it. It left his mind reeling as he involuntarily clenched the hilt.


    With a gentle tug, he began to pull out the stone saber. Zhou Wen immediately felt the whole of Guide Ancient City quake. Flames spewed out from the furnace, as though countless lives were roaring inside.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly as he immediately pressed the stone saber back. Only then did the terrifying feeling vanish.


    This stone saber¡­ Don''t tell me it''s like the jade box on Chess Mountain¡­ It''s an item that seals the dimensional zone? Zhou Wen released the stone saber, afraid to touch it.


    Although he didn''t know the consequences of pulling out the stone saber, Zhou Wen chose not to touch it.


    Only when he got off the Fire God Platform did Zhou Wen realize that something was amiss. The Skeleton Soldiers had been most common in Guide Ancient City with Skeleton Generals being in the minority.


    Now, Zhou Wen saw more than ten Skeleton Generals nearby. He hadn''t seen them when he came in. Clearly, they had just appeared.


    Indeed, there are effects from my pulling the stone saber. Zhou Wen continued walking out and discovered that there were indeed many Skeleton Generals.


    It was already impressive enough to encounter one or two Skeleton Generals in Ancient City, but Zhou Wen ended up seeing more than fifty along the way. He had no idea how many he had missed.


    The appearance of so many Skeleton Generals delighted the garrison. They were only able to kill Skeleton Soldiers most of the time, but now there were so many Skeleton Generals. The increased drop rates naturally excited them.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. Based on the present situation, if the dimensional zone''s seal was removed, the situation would be worse than he imagined.


    After returning to his old residence and staying the entire night, Zhou Wen set off for the Special Inspector Bureau''s Primordial Crystal mine the next day.


    The dimensional zone where the mine was located was named "Don''t Cry Valley." Legend had it that it was a very beautiful valley with a young couple living in it. The woman planted flowers in the valley while the man went up the mountain to hunt. They led lives like an immortal couple.


    Once, the man didn''t return after heading up the mountain to hunt. The woman waited bitterly for his return, but he did not come back.


    After that, the nearby villagers continued to hear the sobbing noises coming from the mountain valley. It almost never stopped.


    Some of the villagers were bold and entered the valley in the day. Then, they realized that the woman had been dead for a long time. Her body had dried up and there was a knife in her abdomen. It looked like she had committed suicide.


    Of course, these were just legends. There was no crying inside Don''t Cry Valley, but ever since the dimensional storms, cries sounded from the valley, but it wasn''t from that woman.


    Anyone who entered the valley would involuntarily cry. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn''t control themselves. If they went too deep, they would die for no reason amidst their crying.


    The bureau had clearly grasped the secret of Don''t Cry Valley, so they could move about freely without being affected by the mysterious force.


    However, the other factions had sent quite a number of people to find out the secret of Don''t Cry Valley and snatch the Primordial Crystal mine inside. They returned without any success and many people died.


    This included the people from the An family. Only two survived Don''t Cry Valley, and it was thanks to them that the An family obtained the information.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the sobbing power was similar to the power of a curse. Truth Listener was effective against curses. Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to try entering Don''t Cry Valley.


    If he could really restrain Don''t Cry Valley''s powers he would have a chance of entering the Primordial Crystal mine.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t take the risk to enter. Firstly, Tyrant Behemoth hadn''t finished evolving. Secondly, he wanted to find the tiny palm symbol outside. If he could find it, he could give it a try in-game. That would bolster his confidence.


    ¡­


    In the An family of Luoyang, An Tianzuo frowned at An Sheng and said, "What do you mean that you lost contact with the brat?"


    "When he went to Guide Ancient City, he still remained in contact with me. However, after that, there was zero news. It''s been four days and there hasn''t been any news of him. He hasn''t returned to Luoyang or Guide City. There''s no news of him at Chess Mountain either," An Sheng said.


    "Then where is he?" An Tianzuo asked.


    An Sheng pondered for a moment before saying, "Overseer, I think he might have gone to the bureau."


    "Nonsense. What can he do in the bureau? Does he really think that he can become an enemy of the bureau just because he killed J¨¢k?" An Tianzuo placed the teacup on the table heavily.


    An Sheng said with a bitter smile, "Young Master Wen might look gentle and mild-tempered as if he doesn''t care about anything. However, he''s extremely obstinate and unyielding like you. The bureau keeps bullying him, so Young Master Wen definitely won''t let them off. He asked me for information regarding the bureau before. He must have gone to find trouble with them."


    "What nonsense. Becoming arrogant and conceited just because of a little achievement? He really has an exaggerated opinion of his abilities. Does he think he''s invincible just by killing a J¨¢k?" An Tianzuo said angrily.


    "Overseer, I don''t think Young Master Wen is a rash person. I think he has his own ideas and he might really do something," An Sheng said.


    "What can he do? Let''s not talk about Shen Yuchi whom I have to be wary of. However, none of his four Censors are weaker than J¨¢k. They are extremely difficult characters. It would be fine if he just wanted to vent his anger and kill a few of the lackeys, but if he really dares to head to the Special Inspector Bureau''s headquarters, he will definitely die." An Tianzuo paused before saying, "If he only kills a few lackeys to vent his anger, he would be a stupid pig. Doing something like that won''t help him at all. It will only make the bureau target him even more."


    "Young Master Wen isn''t a bloodthirsty person. He naturally wouldn''t kill someone to vent his anger." An Sheng thought to himself, It''s probably you who likes to kill people, right?


    "Humph, who knows what nonsense he will do? Bring him back," said An Tianzuo.


    "Overseer, didn''t you say that you don''t care about him?" An Sheng asked.


    "Of course I don''t care about him. It''s best if he''s dead. I''m just afraid that he will be arrested alive by the bureau. Wouldn''t that cause the one at home to flip?" An Tianzuo glared at An Sheng and said, "Go immediately. No matter what you do, you have to bring him back."


    "Yes, I''ll head to the capital immediately," An Sheng replied.

 437 True Blood Demon Dragon

    Shen Yuchi had been in a bad mood recently. One of the officers in the bureau had betrayed the bureau and stolen many secret files.


    The secret files contained some of the Special Inspector Bureau''s operations, but these operations were held to target certain members of the six families. The exposure of these secret files immediately made the bureau become a public target.


    The bureau was originally the watchdog for the six families. For it to attempt to bite its master, the outcome was palpable.


    Shen Yuchi was already in a terrible fix. The only thing he could rejoice about was that the inspector''s rank wasn''t high enough. The files he had stolen were only a very small part of the collective, and it did not involve any core secrets.


    Although the file only contained some of the less important members of the six families, Shen Yuchi was still being questioned and forced to explain to the six families. For this, the bureau had also paid a huge price.


    The Cape family, who Liz was part of, provided huge amounts of financial aid to the bureau every year. In fact, the six families gave the Special Inspector Bureau the same amount of funding, but this funding was cut by all six families just before the transfer was supposed to be made.


    Although the excuses used were different, Shen Yuchi knew very well that this was just a small warning from them.


    It wasn''t just that. Some of the inspectors who investigated the six families had also encountered some problems. Although no one had died, Shen Yuchi knew that it wouldn''t be so simple if something like this happened again.


    An Tianzuo, your revenge came really quickly. Shen Yuchi had already guessed who had done all this. Apart from An Tianzuo, there was no one else.


    Even J¨¢k had failed. This An family is getting more and more thorny. Just as Shen Yuchi was deep in thought about what to do next, he heard a knock on the door.


    "Director-General, Northern Ice City has already agreed to our deal. This is the schedule of prices they offered." The secretary handed a document to Shen Yuchi.


    Shen Yuchi carefully looked at the schedule of prices and frowned. "Why is it 30% more expensive than what we discussed previously?"


    "Northern Ice City said that the Aurora Pith produced on their side has been decreasing, so they want to increase the prices. This is the lowest price they can accept," the secretary said helplessly.


    "What do they mean by decreasing? It''s clear they know that we are urgently in need of Aurora Pith. It''s just an exorbitant demand." Shen Yuchi snorted coldly, but he felt somewhat helpless.


    However, the bureau''s current financial situation was terrible. They had originally been hoping for the funding from the six families, but now that the funding had been cut, it would be difficult for the bureau to operate normally, much less buy the expensive Aurora Pith.


    It looks like we can only use the Primordial Crystals in the reserves. After much thought, Shen Yuchi could only come up with this solution.


    The quantity of the Primordial Crystal mine in the Special Investigation Bureau exceeded everyone''s imagination. Even Shen Yuchi didn''t expect such a massive amount of reserves when he first started mining.


    However, Shen Yuchi was not in a hurry to cash out the Primordial Crystal mine. Every year, he only sold a few tons. As for the large number of Primordial Crystal ores, they were stored in the warehouse under the mine.


    If he were to take out all the Primordial Crystal Ores, the future bureau wouldn''t have to worry about funding for decades.


    Of course, Shen Yuchi would definitely not let anyone know that the Special Inspector Bureau had such a large sum of wealth. Even the six families thought that the Primordial Crystal mine was only an ordinary mine.


    "Continue discussing with Northern Ice City. Try to lower the price as much as possible." Shen Yuchi said to his secretary.


    Even though he had money, he definitely couldn''t waste it. Those Primordial Crystals would be of great use in the future. Unless it was a last resort, Shen Yuchi didn''t want to use a single ounce.


    "Yes, Director-General," the secretary replied.


    Shen Yuchi picked up the investigation report from Luoyang and read it for a while. He couldn''t help but frown and say, "Even J¨¢k couldn''t bring Zhou Wen back from the An family, so who should I send?"


    For a moment, Shen Yuchi was unable to think of a good candidate. It was even more difficult to get someone from the uncrowned king of Luoyang¡ªthe An family.


    He had imagined that J¨¢k would be able to resolve this matter, but J¨¢k had failed.


    "Let''s think about it carefully again." Shen Yuchi had no intention of giving up. Although J¨¢k had failed, Wang Mingyuan''s matter was very important. The six families had given him an order that had to be obeyed, so he had to investigate it thoroughly no matter what. Even if he was willing to give up, the six families wouldn''t.


    Zhou Wen slumped over a hill''s peak as he observed the valley not far away with his binoculars.


    The valley was the legendary valley¡ªDon''t Cry Valley. From the outside, the entrance wasn''t very big. It was probably enough for three to four trucks to pass.


    There were checkpoints built, and patrolling details. However, these weren''t key. The patrols were carried out by ordinary inspectors who were only at the Legendary stage. It wouldn''t be difficult for him to charge into Don''t Cry Valley.


    In fact, many people had rushed in before, but there weren''t many who left alive.


    The bureau clearly didn''t focus the defense on the outside. The Primordial Crystal mine was likely their core defense. One of the four Censors, Cai Jin, was likely stationed there.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too familiar with Cai Jin, but the information An Sheng had given him had mentioned this person in detail. He kept a very low profile, the lowest amongst the four Censors. There wasn''t much information on him other than that he was good with the saber.


    However, since Shen Yuchi was willing to hand over such an important Primordial Crystal mine to him, he could tell that this person was not simple.


    Drones flew past from time to time, so Zhou Wen had to hide in the shadows as he continued observing the situation in Don''t Cry Valley.


    The distance is still too far. I can''t see if there''s a tiny palm symbol there. I have to get closer. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned Truth Listener. He hid in the grass of the peak and let it take a look.


    Truth Listener was only the size of a finger¡ªa relatively small target that the average person couldn''t see. Ordinary radar wouldn''t discover its existence.


    Truth Listener quickly ran through the grass and forests, and soon, it approached the valley''s entrance. Zhou Wen''s order was to let it search for the tiny palm symbol. Truth Listener didn''t go anywhere near the checkpoint. Under the cover of the grass, it circled around the valley''s entrance but failed to discover anything.


    Since I can''t find the tiny palm symbol, I have to go in myself to give it a try. Just as Zhou Wen was pondering how he should enter, his phone vibrated. Taking it out to take a look, he discovered a notification popped up in-game.


    ''Killed a Mythical Creature, True Blood Dragon. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''

 438 Demon Dragon True Body

    True Blood Demon Dragon? What''s that? Zhou Wen was first stunned for a second. When he realized what was happening, he was immediately overjoyed. He hurriedly took out his phone and entered the Zhuolu battlefield dungeon, controlling the blood-colored avatar to run towards the underground sea.


    The crystal that the black dragon dropped won''t be swallowed by the other black dragons, right? Zhou Wen was slightly worried, but he realized that it was a game, not reality. It was unlikely that the black dragons were that intelligent.


    He ran to the underground sea and plunged in. Soon, he saw eight black dragons pulling the war wagon over. One of them was gone.


    I wonder where the black dragon died? Zhou Wen felt a slight headache, but it was likely nearby.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare let the blood-colored avatar die. If it died, whatever had dropped would be gone.


    He controlled the blood-colored avatar to turn around and draw the eight black dragons out of the water surface. Then, he took them on a merry chase and led them to a spot close to the coast. Only then did he use teleportation to shake them off and circle back from another direction.


    When Zhou Wen returned to the spot where he had encountered the eight dragons, he didn''t spend much time searching. He saw a treasure glow at the bottom of the sea. He dived over and saw a pearl that looked like a dragon pearl at the bottom of the sea. Inside the pearl was a black dragon''s shadow¡ªit was a Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to look carefully when he obtained the Primordial Energy Skill Crystal. He first controlled the blood-colored avatar to leave the underground sea, in case he ended being chased by the eight dragons.


    Now that he didn''t have the ability to teleport, it wouldn''t be easy for him to escape the eight dragons if he were to be entangled by them.


    After returning to the bat cave, Zhou Wen carefully sized up the True Blood Demon Dragon''s Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    True Blood Demon Dragon Crystal: Mythical


    ''Requirement: Strength 40, Poison 21, Constitution-raising Life Providence, Constitution-raising Life Soul.''


    I''ve already obtained 40 points of Strength. Although I don''t know why there''s a Poison stat requirement, it has also reached the requirement. I wonder if the Ancient Sovereign Sutra can be considered as a Constitution-raising Life Providence and Life Soul? Zhou Wen found a secluded cave and prepared to attempt it. He switched his Primordial Energy Art to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra before letting the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul fuse with him.


    When Zhou Wen attempted to absorb the True Blood Demon Dragon Crystal again, the dragon pearl-like crystal immediately emitted a blinding light. Wisps of black gas seeped out from the crystal and into the blood-colored avatar''s body.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. His muscles were expanding and his bones were growing as he grew taller in a short period of time. He was about two meters tall.


    Furthermore, there were scales growing on his body. However, the scales weren''t black. Under the reflection of the Ancient Sovereign Body, the scales looked like blood crystals.


    Zhou Wen felt his entire body ache, and the top of his head felt as though it was about to be pierced through. His spine hurt terribly as though a blade was slicing at his flesh.


    Zhou Wen endured the pain until the crystal''s energy completely melted into his body. Only then did he feel a lot better. However, using the phone''s selfie camera function to take a look at himself, he realized that he was like a humanoid dragon. Apart from the lack of a dragon''s tail, he had grown horns on his head. Dragon fins had also grown on his back. His body was covered in scales too. He didn''t look like a person at all.


    He hurriedly stopped the Primordial Energy Skill he had just acquired. Then, Zhou Wen felt his body deflate like a balloon. He immediately shrank to his original size as the dragon scales and dragon horns vanished from his body.


    Only then did Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief. He hurriedly looked at the stats in-game and saw that the game had already popped up a notification: ''Absorbed True Blood Demon Dragon Crystal. Attained Mythical Primordial Energy Skill¡ªDemon Dragon True Body.''


    Although it''s a Mythical Primordial Energy Skill, this image is a little too odd. Zhou Wen attempted to use the Demon Dragon True Body again and discovered that this Mythical Primordial Energy Skill could only be used when he used the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. He couldn''t transform when using other Primordial Energy Arts.


    After activating the Demon Dragon True Body, Zhou Wen looked at himself through the camera and couldn''t recognize that it was him. In the sun-like glow stood a blood-red humanoid dragon. As the light was too strong, he could only see a blood-colored human dragon''s silhouette. It looked odd no matter how he looked at it.


    The Demon Dragon True Body lasted for about ten seconds before Zhou Wen found his Primordial Energy depleted as he automatically returned to human form.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra doesn''t provide unlimited Primordial Energy. This Demon Dragon True Body can only last for about ten seconds. I wonder how powerful it is. Zhou Wen didn''t dare try it out in reality, so he returned to the game and first grinded some Primordial Energy Crystals to replenish his Primordial Energy before heading to the underground sea.


    As he had restarted the game dungeon while grinding Primordial Energy Crystals, he once again encountered nine black dragons when he arrived at the underground sea.


    Seeing the nine black dragons charge at him, Zhou Wen activated his Demon Dragon True Body before charging at the nine black dragons in the form of a humanoid dragon that emitted terrifying light.


    About ten seconds later, Zhou Wen felt as though he had become Superman. His body''s Strength and Speed could actually clash head-on with the black dragon. He wasn''t at a disadvantage at all. He was like a humanoid dragon.


    Ten seconds later, Zhou Wen returned to his original form. It didn''t take long before he was killed by the nine black dragons.


    What a pity. If I could use Demon Dragon True Body while in Slaughterer state, I could storm into the bureau and destroy the bureau''s headquarters, wiping out its existence. Zhou Wen felt full of regret.


    However, ten seconds was enough for Zhou Wen to do a lot of things. He just couldn''t use any other Primordial Energy Skills in that ten seconds. If his Primordial Energy was expended, the Demon Dragon True Body would automatically stop, preventing him from lasting even ten seconds.


    It''s not that I can''t use the Demon Dragon True Body for long. I can just grind some Primordial Energy Crystals in-game. After the Demon Dragon True Body ends, I''ll find a place to absorb Primordial Energy Crystals. However, in that case, I''ll still need some buffer time. Zhou Wen was quite satisfied with the Demon Dragon True Body. Mythical Strength and Speed were as true as it got. Even if he didn''t use any Primordial Energy Skills, he could easily kill an Epic creature with his Strength and Speed.


    It''s time to make that arrogant flower pay the price. Zhou Wen excitedly opened Chess Mountain''s instance dungeon and prepared to teach the flower a lesson. He wanted to find her weakness and never be bullied by her again.


    As Tyrant Behemoth hadn''t successfully evolved, Zhou Wen could only hide in a cave and wait for it to complete its evolution before heading to the Don''t Cry Valley. He had nothing else to do other than gaming.

 439 Returning to the Deer Terrace Pavilion

    The blood-colored avatar came in front of Chess Mountain''s mountain cliff. Zhou Wen had nothing to be afraid of in-game. He straightened his back and summoned Overlord Sword. With one move, he slashed out with the Demonic Astral Wheel that went against the heavens. The blood-red light wheel of light immediately tore out and slashed at the flower on the mountain wall.


    The flower petal silently fell. The Demonic Astral Wheel immediately shattered the petal upon impact.


    Zhou Wen wanted to know what tricks the flower had up its sleeve when he suddenly saw the blood-colored avatar collapse to the ground. The game screen also went black.


    Zhou Wen felt his body turn cold. Thankfully, he hadn''t had too much conflict with The Thearch; otherwise, he would already be a rotten corpse.


    How did I die? I only saw a petal drop before dying, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    It was obvious that the flower''s power of wishes didn''t share the same system as curse-related powers, but it could also kill.


    They clearly kill people the same way, so why wouldn''t the power of the wishes be restrained by the Evil Nullification Life Soul? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, he came in front of Chess Mountain cliff. Zhou Wen used every attack technique he knew, as well as all sorts of Companion Beasts, but the outcome was the same.


    As long as the flower dropped a petal, the blood-colored avatar would immediately die. There was no chance of survival.


    Zhou Wen had also tried letting the Demonic Neonate attack with her ancient sword from a distance away, but before the ancient sword arrived, the petals fell and the blood-colored avatar collapsed to the ground once again. The game was over.


    What kind of crappy flower is this? Does it give five others a chance? After Zhou Wen''s repeated deaths, he had the urge to smash his phone.


    No matter how strong the other dimensional creatures were, he could at least see some possibilities. He couldn''t kill them now only because he lacked strength. When he had enough strength in the future, he naturally would have the chance to kill them.


    However, this flower didn''t provide him any hope at all. If a petal fell, he would die no matter what.


    Zhou Wen calmed down and began considering the problem regarding the flower.


    He entered the game again and this time, Zhou Wen didn''t attack the flower. He attempted to ignore it before climbing up the mountain wall.


    However, to his surprise, when Zhou Wen didn''t attack the flower, the flower wouldn''t attack him either. It continued growing silently on the mountain wall like an ordinary wildflower.


    Zhou Wen already had experience climbing Chess Mountain, so he did the same in-game. It had an extremely powerful force that pulled at his body, making it extremely difficult to climb higher.


    After struggling to reach the peak, he found a stone staircase that led to the top of the mountain just like in reality. There was a huge boulder that looked like a steam bun.


    There was a snow-white jade box embedded in the center of the boulder. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to touch the jade box, but he failed. His palm passed through the jade box as though it was a phantom, not something real.


    As expected. This jade box is similar to that stone saber. It suppresses dimensional zones, so it''s impossible to touch in-game. It can only be obtained in real life. Although Zhou Wen was greedy, he knew that many people would be killed if a dimensional zone''s restrictions were removed. He couldn''t take it no matter what.


    When he descended the mountain, Zhou Wen saw the flower on the mountain wall. Suddenly, an idea flashed in his mind. Previously, when The Thearch got me to enter Chess Mountain, I didn''t go by the mountain pass, but a crack near the flower''s roots. Could it be that this flower is the key to entering Chess Mountain? Is this a secret tunnel?


    But how can I get the flower to open the passage to Chess Mountain for me? I wonder if begging it is useful? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he tried. After all, it didn''t take much effort.


    "Little Flower, the flower, can you help me open the path to Chess Mountain?" Zhou Wen asked the flower.


    However, the flower didn''t react at all. It didn''t seem to have any intention of bothering with him.


    It doesn''t work? Zhou Wen thought of using the Void Flower. Since the two of them were flowers and might even be connected to each other, he decided to shout at the flower in the language that The Thearch had taught him. It meant: "Open!"


    Rumble!


    As a flower petal fell, the entire Chess Mountain shook. A mountain rift opened up near the flower''s roots.


    It really works¡­ Then all those earlier deaths were for nothing. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    However, when he thought of the mountain of high-valued crystals and the dozen or so Mythical Companion Eggs in Chess Mountain, Zhou Wen stopped worrying about it. He controlled the blood-colored avatar to rush in.


    Everything was the same as when The Thearch led him in. Not long after, he arrived at the Deer Terrace Pavilion in the mountain belly.


    Zhou Wen still followed the previous method and climbed down the mountain wall before jumping into the river and swimming towards Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    After swimming for a while, he felt that something huge was approaching the blood-colored avatar. Zhou Wen was already experienced and didn''t bother with it. However, very quickly, the red tentacles or water grass wrapped around him and pulled the blood-colored avatar into the river. Before Zhou Wen could do anything, the game screen went black.


    Holy sh*t, what''s going on? Zhou Wen felt depressed. He had done everything according to the previous method. However, without the bone flute in-game, there was no way for him to get the blood-colored avatar to bite the bone flute when entering the river. This was probably where the problem was.


    Since the method doesn''t work, I have to force my way in. Zhou Wen had no way of getting the bone flute into the game, so he had no choice but to give up on his previous path.


    Summoning the stone armor, he held the Overlord Sword in his hand. He also wore the Truth Listener earring. With the banana fan in his other hand, he rode the White Shadow of Poison and flew towards Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    Before he could get close, he saw a black gas rise up from the ancient building, condensing into the image of a black nine-tailed fox. It rested above the ancient building and its tail, condensed from nine black gases, was swaying. Its pair of demonic, enchanting eyes were staring at the blood-colored avatar.

 440 Immortal

    Two beams shot out of the fox demon''s eyes and arrived in front of the blood-colored avatar in a blink of an eye. They were so unbelievably fast that Zhou Wen wasn''t given any time to react.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously used Ghost Steps and dodged to the side. However, White Shadow of Poison didn''t react quickly enough. After the beam hit it, it immediately disintegrated and vanished.


    What terrifying strength! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he saw the fox demon''s eyes constantly shoot out beams at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen was best at movement techniques, but under such speedy beams, dodging a few times quickly exhausted him. Desperate, he could only draw his sword and slash it at the fox demon''s eyes.


    However, the beam didn''t seem corporeal as Overlord Sword''s sword beam pierced through the beam as it illuminated Zhou Wen and the Overlord Sword.


    Zhou Wen watched the scene of Overlord Sword and the blood-colored avatar being disassembled into points of light before the game screen went black.


    I''m afraid the fox demon''s gaze is about to reach the speed of light. How can it be dodged? Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. No matter how good his movement technique was, it was difficult for him to dodge.


    From the looks of it, this won''t work. I can''t take the river path. The sky has the fox demon as an obstacle. I can''t afford to provoke any of them. Zhou Wen realized that he couldn''t enter Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    Is there a way to enter? Zhou Wen suddenly recalled how he had looked at the stone wall inside Deer Terrace Pavilion and simulated a Primordial Energy Art known as the Demon God Bloodline Catalog. He wondered if it was of any use.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, he entered Chess Mountain again. This time, since they were useless, Zhou Wen didn''t hold so many weapons. In fact, he decided not to take anything. All he did was switch his Primordial Energy Art to the Demon God Bloodline Catalog which he had gained basic mastery, one that didn''t even have a Life Providence.


    After he was done, Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before choosing to jump into the river.


    After all, this was a path that he had taken once. If he were to take another path, he didn''t know what other problems he would encounter. If the Demon God Bloodline Catalog really worked, he could directly reach the place where the Mythical Companion Eggs were placed.


    Just like the last time, the blood-colored avatar didn''t swim far before strange blood-colored tentacles appeared under the river. However, the blood-colored tentacles didn''t pull him into the water. They danced in the water like swaying seaweed.


    Is the Demon God Bloodline Catalog really useful? Zhou Wen was delighted as he spread apart the tentacles and continued swimming forward. Soon, he arrived beside Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    No way? That crappy hole isn''t in-game? Zhou Wen searched back and forth a few times. There was no mistake about it. There really wasn''t a hole there.


    Left with no choice, Zhou Wen could only swim to the front of Deer Terrace Pavilion and climb up the stone stairs.


    There were three levels to the foundation of Deer Terrace Pavilion. It was like a pyramid. Further up was the ancient building.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had swum underwater. According to his estimates, after entering, he was probably at the bottom of the foundation.


    There were no doors to the three levels. He could only walk up the stone stairs and reach the ancient building''s entrance.


    While carefully controlling the blood-colored avatar, he nervously walked up the stone stairs. Although he had the Demon God Bloodline Catalog protecting him, it was only at basic mastery. It didn''t even have a Life Providence.


    When Zhou Wen walked to the foundation at the bottom, he suddenly saw a mist spew out from the platform, transforming into many fairies and immortals that cast their gazes at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat. He saw that these fairies and immortals were rather beautiful, but he felt an indescribable seduction. He thought of the demoness in the legend who summoned many demon spirits who could transform their appearances. They disguised themselves as immortals to drink with the tyrant.


    Although they were only demon spirits, they were all figures in myths and legends. It wasn''t impossible for them to have strength at the Mythical stage.


    The fairies and immortals looked at the blood-colored avatar and sized him up before ignoring him. They held alcohol flasks and glasses as they focused on drinking. There were even fairies dancing as they drank. Their dancing styles were tacky.


    This Demon God Bloodline Catalog is actually so useful. Doesn''t that mean that I can freely enter dimensional zones in the future without needing to worry about being attacked? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn''t stop walking. He continued walking up the stairs.


    When he arrived at the second floor of the foundation''s platform, he saw many fairies and immortals. They were similar to the previous level¡ªthey only sized up the blood-colored avatar for a moment before ignoring him.


    Zhou Wen walked up all the way to the third level''s platform, which was also the level where the ancient building was. He saw some more fairies and immortals, but the outcome was the same. No one paid him any attention.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk towards the ancient building''s door. The door was open. He looked inside and saw six fairies and immortals drinking and enjoying themselves. However, they were different from the ones outside. They sat on both sides of the hall. Each of them had a short table in front of them. On the table were fine wine, fruits, and delicacies.


    The moment the blood-colored avatar entered the hall, a fairy sitting close to the door looked at him. With just a glance, her expression changed as she shot out a rainbow beam.


    No good! I''ve been discovered! Zhou Wen dodged and retreated, but the rainbow beam kept chasing after him like it had a life of its own. It drew an arc in the air like a rainbow.


    Zhou Wen continuously changed directions and dodged a few times, but he was ultimately caught up by the rainbow beam. Helpless, he could only draw his sword and slash at it.


    Boom!


    The Overlord Sword struck ruthlessly. The rainbow-colored beam was actually cleaved apart by the Overlord Sword. However, the blood-colored avatar''s body was sent flying as it tumbled down the stone steps.


    As such, the concealment from before had also lost its effect. The fairies and immortals on the platform charged ferociously at the blood-colored avatar.


    Realizing that he was exposed, Zhou Wen didn''t hide anything. He switched back to the Lost Immortal Sutra and took out his banana fan. He fanned at the charging assailants.


    Boom!


    The sky was filled with immortals as they were sent flying by the fan. They either slammed into the wall or fell to the ground. They spat out mouthfuls of blood and looked seriously injured. Some of them directly revealed their true bodies. Most of them were foxes, night cats, pheasants, etc.


    So these guys aren''t at the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen was relieved as he fanned the fake fairies and immortals.


    After sending them flying everywhere, some died upon hitting Deer Terrace Pavilion.

 441 Tyrants Evolution Completed

    ''Killed Epic creature, Ancient Tomb Fox Demon. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    ''Killed Epic creature, Three-Eyed Cat Demon. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    ''Killed Epic creature, Ancient Tomb Fox Demon¡­''


    Matching the banana fan with Slaughterer''s infinite Primordial Energy, his ability to kill en masse was virtually unparalleled at creatures his level. After fanning a few times, he killed many fake fairies and immortals.


    Zhou Wen saw the dimensional crystals that dropped and was about to pick them up when he saw a rainbow beam fly down. It was none other than the fairy sitting at the end of the grand hall.


    Zhou Wen struck out with a Grand Yin Wind at the fairy. With a wave of her hand, a rainbow beam met the Grand Yin Wind, diverting it aside.


    Zhou Wen immediately knew that the fairy was most likely at the Mythical stage. Although the Grand Yin Wind was strong, it wasn''t at the Mythical stage yet. He would definitely be at a disadvantage against a Mythical creature.


    Zhou Wen turned around and ran down the stairs. The fairy chased after him as she released rainbow beams with both hands. They combined into a single rainbow beam that enveloped the blood-colored avatar like thousands of rays of light. The colorful rays seemed to have a life of their own, so no matter how Zhou Wen dodged, they continued chasing him.


    The colorful light came from all directions and Zhou Wen had no room to move. He gritted his teeth and switched to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. At the same time, he used the Demon Dragon True Body to fend off the rainbow beams with his powerful physique.


    Boom!


    The rainbow beams landed on Zhou Wen, causing him to feel like he had been struck by hammers. However, the rainbow beams failed to tear through the scales on the blood-colored avatar''s body. Instead, they shattered.


    What an amazing Demon Dragon True Body! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he pounced at the fairy like a beast.


    The fairy''s body phased away, leaving behind afterimages. At the same time, it constantly emitted rainbow beams from her hands. Although the Demon Dragon True Body wasn''t afraid of the rainbow beams, he was repelled every time. He failed to approach her.


    Seeing that time for his Demon Dragon True Body was running out, Zhou Wen turned and ran downstairs.


    The fairy chased after him and constantly attacked. However, after Zhou Wen left the third level and returned to the foundation''s second level, she didn''t chase after him again and returned to the ancient building.


    The fake fairies and immortals on the second level charged forward. Although Zhou Wen''s time in his Demon Dragon True Body had run out due to having zero Primordial Energy, he wasn''t afraid of them. He switched back to Slaughterer and his Primordial Energy immediately returned to full.


    Zhou Wen realized that no matter how he killed on the second level, the dimensional creatures inside the palace didn''t come out.


    I can''t enter the palace, but it''s not a bad idea to grind these Epic creatures. Zhou Wen summoned the baby tiger and killed all the fairies and immortals on the second and first levels. A few dimensional crystals dropped, along with one Primordial Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen didn''t head back up to the third level. He couldn''t even deal with a single demoness. There were five of them inside, so it was useless even if he went up.


    Could The Thearch be one of the six demons in the hall? Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen hid in the cave and kept grinding. Although the demons who pretended to be fairies and immortals at Deer Terrace Pavilion weren''t very capable, the dimensional crystals they dropped weren''t bad. High-valued dimensional crystals would often drop, so Zhou Wen took the opportunity to raise his various stats.


    ''Tyrant Behemoth has succeeded in evolving to the Epic stage.''


    After two days of grinding, Zhou Wen suddenly saw a notification appear in-game. He couldn''t help but feel delighted.


    It''s finally done! Zhou Wen hurriedly opened the Companion Beast column. Among the Epic Companion Beasts, there was indeed Tyrant Behemoth.


    In the game, he summoned Tyrant Behemoth and saw a majestic black monster appear on the game''s screen. He couldn''t tell how big it was in-game, but when he compared to the blood-colored avatar, he realized that the blood-colored avatar was only the size of its palm. This fellow was like a small mountain.


    I wonder how much this fellow will eat in the future. Can I really afford it? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Looking at the Tyrant Behemoth''s stats, Zhou Wen immediately threw away his worries.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Epic (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength


    Life Soul: Violence Crown


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Primordial Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    It''s finally at the Epic stage. It''s time to begin operations. Zhou Wen switched off his phone and walked out of the cave. He sneaked in the direction of Don''t Cry Valley in the darkness.


    Unfortunately, J¨¢k''s Companion Egg hadn''t grown. Otherwise, with J¨¢k''s shadow escape ability, he would have been able to enter Don''t Cry Valley without a sound.


    Now, Zhou Wen had to force his way in.


    Thankfully, the bureau didn''t place its key defenses here. It wasn''t difficult to charge in. The mysterious force in Don''t Cry Valley that made people cry was the best defensive barrier.


    Zhou Wen wore the Mutated Stone Chi armor and wrapped his entire body inside. Without even showing his face, he switched to his Godfiend Life Providence and charged at a checkpoint.


    The personnel from the bureau saw a figure fly over. Before they could react, it flashed past the checkpoint and disappeared into Don''t Cry Valley. They almost thought they were seeing things.


    "I think something rushed in, right?" One of the inspectors looked at another inspector and asked with uncertainty.


    "It seems so. I didn''t see it clearly." Another inspector wasn''t too sure either.


    "Should we report it?"


    "Let''s take a look at the surveillance cameras."


    The two of them checked the surveillance footage and slowed down many times before they saw a person wearing stone armor rush into Don''t Cry Valley.


    "Quickly report to the Censor." The two quickly sent people into Don''t Cry Valley to report to Cai Jin.


    After Zhou Wen rushed into the valley, the Truth Listener earring on his ear began to heat up. At the same time, a surge of Primordial Energy surged into his body, delighting him. This meant that the Truth Listener earring had shown its effects. Don''t Cry Valley wasn''t a dangerous land for him.


    He scanned his surroundings before flying in a certain direction.


    As no one reached the Primordial Crystal mine alive, Zhou Wen didn''t know its exact location. All he could do was search the valley.


    In the large valley, there were bamboo forests everywhere. After the wind blew through the bamboo forest, there was a rustling sound. It sounded very strange.


    Although it didn''t look big from the outside, the valley''s space became huge after it had become a dimensional zone. In the endless bamboo forest, Zhou Wen rapidly moved in search of the possible location of the Primordial Crystal mine.


    The deeper he ventured into the valley, the more Primordial Energy surged into his eyes. Clearly, the mysterious force was gradually strengthening. However, to the Truth Listener earring, the mysterious force became beneficial, allowing Zhou Wen to replenish his Primordial Energy even when he used other Primordial Energy Arts.

 442 Tunneling

    The interference in Don''t Cry Valley prevented all kinds of equipment from working normally. Zhou Wen wasn''t worried about cameras here, but he still needed to pay attention to things like Companion Beasts.


    Some people liked to use worms, mosquitoes, and other Companion Beasts for reconnaissance purposes, making them harder to defend against than electronic equipment. This was because few people would notice them so they were especially useful in dimensional zones.


    Zhou Wen used the Truth Listener earring to pay attention to every movement around him, to ensure that any dimensional creatures could be discovered the moment they appeared.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen sensed the existence of a dimensional creature. It was a green bamboo viper. It was sprawled on a bamboo joint, sharing the same color as the bamboo leaves, making it difficult for ordinary people to discover its existence.


    However, the Truth Listener earring had discovered its existence from afar. Zhou Wen didn''t know if the bamboo viper was a native dimensional creature of Don''t Cry Valley or it was manually placed there.


    Regardless of which one it was, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on alerting it. He circled around it and continued deeper into the bamboo forest without letting it discover him.


    Zhou Wen found quite a number of dimensional creatures along the way. He circled around them without alerting any of them. He hoped that he was heading in the right direction.


    As he walked forward, more and more dimensional creatures appeared. There were bamboo vipers, mantises that resembled withered leaves, and a frog hiding in the fallen leaves. These Companion Beasts weren''t very powerful, but they were distributed very regularly. It was difficult for one to dodge their line of sight no matter where one went.


    Zhou Wen wasted a lot of time to circle around these dimensional creatures. After passing through the bamboo forest, he saw a building resembling a blockhouse erected on the mountain wall.


    It was obvious that the building was man-made. It was highly likely to be the entrance to the Primordial Crystal mine.


    However, there was only one entrance without any windows. It was completely sealed. If one wanted to rush in, one had to break open the door and clash with the people from the bureau.


    This was the economic lifeline of the bureau. It had one of the four Censors, Cai Jin, guarding it. According to An Sheng, Cai Jin was as strong as J¨¢k.


    With the help of other Epic experts, and with them having the terrain advantage, Zhou Wen didn''t think it was a good idea to forcefully barge in.


    After observing the surrounding terrain, Zhou Wen infiltrated from another side of the canyon and found a low depression. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    "Tyrant, can you dig diagonally down in that direction? Be careful not to make too much noise." Zhou Wen pointed in the direction of the mine.


    Tyrant Behemoth could devour extremely hard Primordial Crystal ores, so it shouldn''t be a problem for it to deal with ordinary rocks.


    Tyrant Behemoth took action after hearing the order. It lowered its head to the ground, and the two horns on its head spun like a huge drill, tearing open a huge hole.


    Zhou Wen saw mud splatter and hurriedly crawled in behind Tyrant Behemoth. Tyrant Behemoth was like a super drilling vehicle that violently drilled through rocks and kept proceeding underground.


    As there was nowhere to dispose of the rock and mud, the back of the tunnel was quickly blocked, just leaving a space slightly bigger than Tyrant Behemoth.


    The place Zhou Wen had chosen was still more than a thousand meters from the entrance to the mine. He was originally worried that Tyrant Behemoth would take too long to enter, but he had clearly underestimated Tyrant Behemoth''s strength.


    This was a fellow who was known to be able to eat a thousand mountains every day. Although it hadn''t advanced to the Mythical stage and couldn''t eat a mountain, it wasn''t difficult for it to dig a hole.


    After following Tyrant Behemoth for more than an hour, Zhou Wen guessed that he should have arrived at a stop under the mine, but he hadn''t seen any Primordial Crystal ores appear.


    Strange, why haven''t I seen any Primordial Crystal ores? Logically speaking, if there''s a mine here, I should be able to see Primordial Crystal ores nearby. Why aren''t there any? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Crack!


    As he was thinking, he heard the sound of rocks cracking above him. He looked over and saw that there were several cracks above the tunnel that Tyrant Behemoth had dug open. There was faint light passing through the cracks.


    But for some reason, Tyrant Behemoth didn''t advance further. It looked up at the cracks.


    Eh! Could it be that Tyrant Behemoth went too deep down and missed the mining area? Zhou Wen made Tyrant Behemoth stop. He stood on Tyrant Behemoth''s body and leaned close to the crack to take a look inside. There was light inside, but all he could see was the ceiling.


    Using Truth Listener''s ability, a huge warehouse appeared in Zhou Wen''s mind. Rows of metal chests were placed inside.


    The entire warehouse was around a thousand square meters. There were plenty of metal chests in there.


    This place¡­ Could it be their warehouse to store the Primordial Crystal ores? Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he carefully observed using Truth Listener''s powers. He soon discovered that there were quite a number of mini Companion Beasts hidden in the warehouse. One of them, a cricket-like Companion Beast, was staring at the crack as though it had sensed something.


    Zhou Wen knew that he couldn''t alarm them; otherwise, Cai Jin and the other inspectors would immediately be alarmed. After some thought, he summoned some Blood Threadworms.


    These Blood Threadworms were obtained from the Zhuolu battlefield. They were finer than hair. It was very difficult to notice a few of them with the naked eye.


    He let the Blood Threadworm crawl into the warehouse and carefully approach the Companion Beast in the warehouse before letting them burrow into their bodies.


    The Companion Beasts were ordered by their owners to remain motionless. This made it easier for Zhou Wen to take action. The Blood Threadworms crawled into their bodies and immediately affected their nerves. Although they wouldn''t immediately die, they fell into a state of dementia.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to drill a huge hole into the warehouse. The man and pet crawled inside.


    Zhou Wen raised his hand and chopped open a metal chest''s lock. He lifted the lid and immediately, a blinding light emitted from the box. All the boxes were filled with Primordial Crystals.


    Holy sh*t, aren''t there thousands of metal chests in this warehouse? If the items inside are all Primordial Crystals¡­ Zhou Wen didn''t dare imagine what would happen. As for Tyrant Behemoth, he was already salivating at the box of Primordial Energy Crystals that Zhou Wen had opened.

 443 Let Loose and Ea

    "Eat. Let loose and eat. Eat however much you can." Zhou Wen ordered Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth let out a roar and swallowed the chest of Primordial Crystals that Zhou Wen had opened with a single mouthful. After chewing a few times, it swallowed it. It wasn''t afraid of indigestion.


    The Tyrant Behemoth didn''t even look. It opened its mouth and bit down on the metal chests one by one, then chewed them to pieces. Its crushing bite was simply too astonishing. It ate metal and Primordial Crystal was like it was eating jelly beans.


    Zhou Wen didn''t idle either. He opened the boxes and saw that they were filled with Primordial Energy Crystals. He directly put them into his Chaos Bead, throwing chest after chest in.


    These were all worth money. Zhou Wen was used to being poor, so he had never seen so many valuables before. He just kept moving them into his Chaos Bead.


    It wasn''t that he had never seen anything good, but all the good things were in-game. He couldn''t take them out no matter how good they were. These Primordial Crystals were good stuff that could be used in the real world. He could also sell them for a good price. He didn''t have to waste time grinding for any Companion Eggs or Primordial Energy Skill Crystals.


    Now that he had money, he could buy them directly.


    Previously, Zhou Wen didn''t know that there were so many Primordial Crystals stored here. He imagined that he would need to get Tyrant Behemoth to dig for ores, but to his surprise, the bureau had already dug them out and placed them there in chests.


    If he had known this would happen, Zhou Wen would have come long ago. Why would he need to wait for Tyrant Behemoth to evolve? He could have emptied the area alone.


    Tyrant Behemoth ate one chest after another while Zhou Wen moved chests into his chaos space. Both of them were busy at work.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a famous saying from a great person, "The people of labor are the most glorious."


    Zhou Wen didn''t know how many chests he had stored in the Chaos Bead. In any case, apart from the ones he had moved into the Chaos Bead, the remaining were devoured by Tyrant Behemoth. He didn''t know what its stomach was made of, but after eating nearly a thousand boxes of Primordial Crystals, its stomach didn''t even swell up at all.


    Seeing Tyrant Behemoth looking at him longingly, Zhou Wen subconsciously tightened his grip on his Chaos Bead. Then, he looked at Tyrant Behemoth and said, "This is a Primordial Crystal mine. There must be many more unmined deposits of Primordial Crystal ores outside. Let''s head out and eat the ones outside. You can eat as much as you want."


    Tyrant Behemoth seemed to understand what Zhou Wen was getting at. His eyes were as bright as light bulbs. With a roar, he slammed his head against the ground.


    However, to his surprise, Tyrant Behemoth crashed into the ground of the warehouse. The horns on his head spun, opening a huge hole in the rock before burrowing down.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly followed it. Tyrant Behemoth drilled for some time before it suddenly widened its mouth. It began to directly bite down on the rocks. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the surrounding rocks had already shown signs of Primordial Crystal ores. They looked like sparkling stars.


    Zhou Wen had never seen Tyrant Behemoth use the Mountain Consuming skill in combat. Now, he had truly witnessed it for himself. The skill wasn''t used for fighting, but for eating.


    Tyrant Behemoth''s mouth was like a black hole as it swallowed the rocks mixed with the Primordial Crystal ores. It was like a miniature black hole.


    Zhou Wen was already satisfied with obtaining so many Primordial Crystals, so he allowed Tyrant Behemoth to devour the Primordial Crystal ores.


    Shen Yuchi was currently in Cai Jin''s office. The Primordial Crystal mine was the economic lifeline of the bureau. Shen Yuchi had told Cai Jin that no one could take a piece of the Primordial Crystals from here without him being here in person.


    In order to purchase the Aurora Pith, he had to use some of the Primordial Crystals in the reserves. It just scratched the surface of the reserves, so Shen Yuchi was not worried about any future financial problems.


    With the Primordial Crystal mine backing him, even if he couldn''t obtain any funding for ten years, the bureau could still lead a comfortable life. Furthermore, the six families definitely wouldn''t stop funding the bureau next year. After all, many descendants of the six families were working there. Even if he didn''t want their money, they would definitely give it to him in the future.


    "Cai Jin, it''s been hard on you to guard the Primordial Crystal mine for all these years." Shen Yuchi had always thought highly of Cai Jin. Although he wasn''t the most powerful of the four Censors, he was the most reliable one. He was meticulous and had been guarding the Primordial Crystal mine for so many years without any mistakes. He was very cautious and professional.


    "Director-General, you''re too polite. This is simply my job," Cai Jin said in neither a supercilious nor obsequious manner. He knew Shen Yuchi''s temper. If he acted overly proud and arrogant, it would probably earn Shen Yuchi''s displeasure.


    "Yes. Wait for another two years and the position of deputy director-general will be open. I plan to recommend you to take over the position," Shen Yuchi said.


    "Thank you for your grooming." Cai Jin was truly happy.


    The four Censors were very famous, but in fact, they were working under Shen Yuchi. However, becoming the deputy director-general was different. That put him in the ranks of having actual authority.


    Just as Shen Yuchi was about to say something, an inspector suddenly knocked on the door and entered. He reported, "Sir, there''s news from the guards at the canyon entrance that someone has infiltrated Don''t Cry Valley."


    "Do you know who it is?" Cai Jin''s expression didn''t change much. Over the years, various factions had sent many people to try to pry into the situation of the Primordial Crystal mine, but all of them failed. He had seen such situations aplenty.


    "I don''t know. That person was too fast and they weren''t able to see him clearly. However, the surveillance camera captured the person. They printed the photo and brought it here." As he spoke, the inspector handed a few photos to Cai Jin.


    After Cai Jin received them, he directly handed them to Shen Yuchi with both hands. With Shen Yuchi around, he naturally had to let him see them first.


    Shen Yuchi looked at the photos and saw that the person was covered in stone-like armor. He couldn''t see his face clearly at all. However, the stone armor looked a little familiar to him, but he couldn''t recall where he had seen it before.


    "Cai Jin, what''s your take?" Shen Yuchi pushed the photo in front of Cai Jin. He still trusted him immensely.


    After taking a look at the picture, Cai Jin couldn''t tell who the person was, but he didn''t panic either. He said with a smile, "I''ve planted a lot of Companion Beasts in the bamboo forest. Those Companion Beasts were dimensional creatures that dropped in Don''t Cry Valley. They aren''t influenced by its mysterious powers. They are also difficult for the average person to notice. Even if someone discovers a few, it''d be impossible to find all three hundred of them. As long as a Companion Beast discovers them, I''ll sense them and be able to confirm his location. Now, none of the Companion Beasts have reacted, it means that the person hasn''t gone deep into the bamboo forest. Or should I say, he might have already died under the mysterious forces of Don''t Cry Valley."

 444 Vomiting Blood

    Shen Yuchi was very satisfied with Cai Jin''s answer, but he still said calmly, "What if the enemy can pass through the bamboo forest and reach the mine?"


    "Don''t worry, Director-General. The mine also has many stone-type Companion Beasts planted. They aren''t easily discovered. Needless to say in the warehouse, the Companion Beasts that are planted there were personally selected by me. They have extremely powerful concealment and reconnaissance abilities. Furthermore, their spots are adjusted every week to prevent any problems from arising," said Cai Jin.


    "Good." Shen Yuchi was very satisfied with Cai Jin''s answer.


    The most important aspect when working for the bureau was to be meticulous. If any oversight were to happen, even a small problem might result in a chain reaction that would cause great trouble.


    Just by looking at Cai Jin''s layout of the mine cave, he knew that this person was very meticulous. He was, indeed, of good caliber.


    "Endure another two years. Then in two years, we''ll conquer the world together," Shen Yuchi patted Cai Jin on the shoulder and said.


    Cai Jin respectfully said, "Your humble servant is willing to follow you for life, Director-General."


    "Heh." Shen Yuchi did not comment. Instead, he smiled and patted Cai Jin on the shoulder. "Let''s go. Let''s go to the warehouse to get some Primordial Crystals. The purchase of the Aurora Pith is very important, so we have to use the reserves."


    Cai Jin led the way and as they walked he asked, "Director-General, can the Aurora Pith really advance the Holy Light Angel to the Mythical stage?"


    Shen Yuchi nodded and said, "Those experts have already verified it many times. As long as there''s sufficient Aurora Pith, there''s an 80% chance that the Holy Light Angel can advance to the Mythical stage."


    "It will be great if it succeeds. Our bureau will have an additional trump card. We will no longer need to take into account the whims and wants of those families," said Cai Jin.


    "Don''t speak nonsense. Our bureau is a subordinate organization under the Senate. We naturally have to obey orders from our superiors. Besides, it''s only a Mythical Companion Beast. Do you really think that it can compete with them?" Shen Yuchi said indifferently.


    "I apologize for my words, but they''re ultimately words of hope," said Cai Jin.


    "The Primordial Crystal mine is our only hope. With it, we can exchange crystals for the resources we need. In the future, we will have a chance to nurture Mythical Companion Beasts. Watch it carefully. This is our lifeblood," Shen Yuchi said seriously.


    "Don''t worry, we will prevail with the mine in existence." Cai Jin issued a military order.


    Just as Shen Yuchi was about to say something, he saw an inspector running over in a panic.


    "What are you so flustered about? What did I teach you?" Cai Jin frowned and reprimanded the inspector.


    The inspector did not calm down because of Cai Jin''s reprimand. He continued speaking in a panic. "Sir, something happened in the mine."


    "What happened?" Cai Jin''s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly had a bad feeling that something bad had happened¡ªprecisely when Shen Yuchi was here.


    "The lower levels of the mine have collapsed. The mine below is blocked. Our men can''t head down. We don''t know what''s going on below." The inspector gave a summary of the situation.


    "A large-scale collapse?" Cai Jin breathed a sigh of relief. If it was just a collapse, it wouldn''t be a serious problem. At most, he could just spend some time digging it out.


    "Get the men to fortify the mine before digging out the collapsed area to see what''s going on," Cai Jin instructed.


    Cai Jin made the necessary arrangements before turning around to speak to Shen Yuchi. "Director-General, let''s head to the warehouse first."


    Shen Yuchi nodded and continued walking towards the warehouse with Cai Jin. He was quite satisfied with Cai Jin''s way of handling things. The unexpected always happened and there was no lack of accidents. As long as he had the ability to handle it, it was fine.


    Very quickly, the two of them passed through many checkpoints and arrived outside the warehouse. The door could only be opened when both Cai Jin and Shen Yuchi were around.


    "Director-General, after you." Cai Jin opened the door and gestured for him to enter.


    However, before Shen Yuchi could enter, his gaze landed on the warehouse and his expression immediately changed.


    "Cai Jin, what''s going on?" Demanded Shen Yuchi with an extremely livid expression. He glared at Cai Jin with a ferocious gaze.


    "What do you mean?" Cai Jin looked into the warehouse and was stunned.


    The warehouse was originally full of rows of metal chests, but none of them could be seen. The huge warehouse was empty except for two huge holes on the ground.


    "Director-General¡­ I really don''t know what''s going on¡­ The Companion Beasts that are planted here are still there¡­ Why wasn''t there any reaction? I even saw them through the observation hole yesterday¡­ The Primordial Crystals were all here¡­" Cai Jin stammered.


    He knew that he was in big trouble. These Primordial Crystals could be said to be the entire assets of the Special Inspector Bureau. Now that more than a thousand chests of Primordial Crystals were gone. That was a serious fault.


    Shen Yuchi wore a sullen expression and didn''t say anything. His figure moved like a shadow as he entered the warehouse and stepped into one of the holes. A sword beam shot out from his finger, splitting apart the rubble in the hole as he rushed deep inside.


    Cai Jin reacted and followed after him. When he caught up with Shen Yuchi, the scene in front of him left him stunned.


    The massive underground Primordial Crystal mine had a huge space dug out by something. It was as if the mountain had been emptied out. Only a few rocks supported the upper layer, while the other Primordial Crystal ores were gone. This area was obviously an area that had been explored by them. It was the area with the largest deposits.


    "No¡­ Impossible¡­" Seeing that the top floor was collapsing, and how rocks kept falling from above, Cai Jin was dumbfounded. Such a massive endeavor would take at least a year to complete even if he were to poach Epic experts to be miners.


    However, if someone really went all out to dig for such a long time, it was impossible for him not to have noticed anything.


    "Director-General¡­ I¡­ I really don''t know anything¡­" Cai Jin felt his entire body turn cold. This was a terrible disaster. He didn''t know how Shen Yuchi would deal with him.


    Shen Yuchi ignored him as he stared intently at the collapsing underground hole. After a while, Shen Yuchi suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood. His face turned pale as he trembled.


    "Director-General¡­" Cai Jin became alarmed. He hurriedly went forward to support Shen Yuchi.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen had long left Don''t Cry Valley. He originally wanted Tyrant Behemoth to eat more and leave the Primordial Crystal mine with nothing. However, to his surprise, Tyrant Behemoth showed signs of evolving as he ate.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that it would evolve in the mine and, since he could dig, he would be trapped when the time came. All he could do was get Tyrant Behemoth to dig him out again.


    Not long after he entered the bamboo forest, Tyrant Behemoth began evolving. It had eaten too many Primordial Crystals and its body constantly emitted crystalline light, turning it into a Companion Egg state once again.

 445 Not That Much

    "Overseer, this matter is a little odd. Although we exposed those documents and dealt a certain blow to the bureau, the bureau seems to have gone mad recently. It''s like a rabid dog that''s biting people everywhere. Their reaction is much worse than we expected," An Sheng said as he read the latest intelligence.


    An Tianzuo was also looking at the information. He had similar views to An Sheng. It seemed odd that the bureau had gone to such great lengths.


    An Sheng was about to say something when his phone suddenly rang. An Sheng looked at the caller ID and said to An Tianzuo, "The informer I left on campus says that Zhou Wen is back."


    An Sheng had previously gone to the capital but had failed to find Zhou Wen. He was certain that Zhou Wen hadn''t been there.


    As he had no idea where Zhou Wen had gone. Without any leads, An Sheng had no choice but to return to Luoyang.


    An Tianzuo looked at An Sheng without saying a word. An Sheng understood what An Tianzuo was getting at and answered the call.


    After a while, An Sheng hung up and said to An Tianzuo, "Zhou Wen has returned. Should I call him and ask him?"


    "That''s your business," An Tianzuo said coldly.


    An Sheng called Zhou Wen. "Young Master Wen, where have you been the past few days? Madam has been very worried about you."


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, "I visited Don''t Cry Valley and got some things from there."


    He had caused too great a stir and Zhou Wen knew that he couldn''t hide it. Even if the bureau couldn''t figure out that he was the one behind it, An Sheng and company would figure out something in the future. After all, the time he went missing coincided with it.


    Rather than waiting for them to find out, he might as well say it himself.


    "Don''t Cry Valley¡­ Wait¡­ Are you talking about the Special Inspector Bureau''s Primordial Crystal mine¡­" An Sheng said in surprise.


    "The mineral deposits are a gift from the land. If the bureau can take it, I should be able to take it too, right?" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "Did you really enter Don''t Cry Valley''s Primordial Crystal mine? How much did you get?" An Sheng immediately asked.


    "Not that much. I just took some of the reserves and dug a little more," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng''s expression turned odd. Zhou Wen made it sound simple, but the recent crazy actions of the bureau made An Sheng realize that it wasn''t as simple as Zhou Wen had claimed.


    "About how much did you take?" An Sheng asked.


    "I''m not too sure of the number. There are probably a few hundred chests. One chest weighs about a ton," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng gaped in disbelief.


    After a long while, An Sheng came to his senses and exhorted Zhou Wen. "Stay on campus and don''t go anywhere. Don''t touch the Primordial Crystal ores you have. Don''t let anyone know about it." He then hung up.


    "I heard that." An Tianzuo''s expression was somewhat odd. Even he found it unbelievable that a person had snatched hundreds of tonnes of Primordial Crystal ores from the bureau.


    "It''s no wonder the Special Inspector Bureau has gone mad. A few hundred tonnes of Primordial Crystal ores. This isn''t about stealing ores, it''s about killing the bureau! Young Master Wen really is gutsy, and he actually did it. It''s hard to imagine how he managed to do it alone. It looks like he''s growing faster than we expected," An Sheng praised.


    An Tianzuo wasn''t in the mood to bicker with An Sheng as he said with a sigh, "Go deal with the aftermath and try to find out more from the Special Inspector Bureau to see what''s going on."


    "Yes." An Sheng also knew that this wasn''t the time to say these words. He had to seize every moment to wipe away the traces that Zhou Wen might have left behind. He couldn''t let the bureau know that it was Zhou Wen who had done it.


    Half a day later, a piece of information was placed in front of An Tianzuo. After he had finished reading it, his expression became more complicated.


    An Sheng also wore an odd expression as he looked at An Tianzuo and said, "According to the intelligence, Cai Jin has already been transferred back. Quite a number of experts from the Primordial Crystal mine have been transferred back as well. Very few people remain behind. Young Master Wen didn''t steal from them. He clearly uprooted the bureau''s finances."


    An Tianzuo burned the document and threw it into the trash bin. "Do what you need to do. Just take it that nothing ever happened."


    "Yes," An Sheng answered solemnly.


    That punk is really daring. When An Tianzuo was the only one left in the office, he looked at Zhou Wen''s information on the computer and muttered to himself with an odd expression.


    After Zhou Wen returned to school, he took a nap before continuing his grinding.


    With the Demon Dragon True Body, Zhou Wen could finally attempt to challenge a Mythical creature. Although he only had ten seconds, Zhou Wen no longer died so easily when he went to the temple in the ruins.


    However, against the Mythical creature guarding the temple, Zhou Wen still needed to use some Primordial Energy Skills in addition to the Demon Dragon True Body to prevent himself from being killed. In fact, he didn''t last ten seconds.


    Although switching to Slaughterer could restore his Primordial Energy, switching back to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and then using the Demon Dragon True Body required time. This was enough time for the Mythical creature to kill the blood-colored avatar.


    Although he could only last for a few seconds, Zhou Wen finally wasn''t slaughtered without any resistance. At least in these few seconds, he could face the Mythical creatures head-on, giving him a chance of discovering their weaknesses.


    Of course, this required repeated deaths. If Zhou Wen wasn''t in a hurry to enter the temple to find the former principal, there would be no need for him to be in such a rush.


    There were two temples¡ªthe left and right. The creature in one of the temples resembled a wolf or tiger. It had wings on its backs and it was unbelievably fast. Zhou Wen had to use Ghost Steps when in Demon Dragon True Body form to keep up with it. He couldn''t last long against it.


    In the other temple, the Mythical Creature resembled a huge snake that could spew out large amounts of poisonous gas, but its speed was much slower than another Mythical creature.


    Zhou Wen could barely keep up with its speed in the Demon Dragon True Body without using Ghost Steps; hence, he placed his focus on the snake.


    Zhou Wen''s Poison Resistance and the augmentation of the Demon Dragon True Body couldn''t withstand the snake''s terrifying poison. He could clearly sense the symptoms of poisoning.


    However, he would be killed before the poison could take effect. Therefore, the lethality of the poison didn''t matter for now.


    Apart from the poison, the snake still had several abilities. Some of them were alright¡ªZhou Wen could at least understand them. As long as he could understand them, he had a chance of cracking them. However, Zhou Wen didn''t understand one of the snake''s powers.


    Every time the snake''s eyes turned into a mirror, the blood-colored avatar would reflect in its eyes before dying.


    No matter how fast Zhou Wen''s movement technique was, it was impossible for him to be so fast that the snake couldn''t see the blood-colored avatar. Therefore, every time the snake used this skill, the blood-colored avatar died.


    Zhou Wen tried many times, but he failed to figure out what was going on.

 446 The Sword Needs to Kill Before Its Unsheathed

    When he woke up the next morning and had breakfast, Zhou Wen bought some breakfast for Wang Lu.


    "You''re back?" Wang Lu opened the door and asked in surprise.


    "I came back yesterday." Zhou Wen entered and placed the breakfast on the table.


    "Has the matter been resolved?" Wang Lu asked.


    "Pretty much." Zhou Wen felt his mood elevate, but he didn''t know if the bureau would back down or not.


    "That''s good. Let''s settle our scores now. You owe me a lot of breakfast. You need to make it up with lunch." Wang Lu very seriously listed down the number of breakfasts Zhou Wen owed her.


    After taking Wang Lu''s breakfast, Zhou Wen went to the Xuanwen Club.


    "Old Zhou, why are you always going missing? Can''t you let me tag along if there''s anything interesting happening?" Li Xuan said with a smile.


    "I got into some trouble, so I went into hiding. What''s so fun about that?" Zhou Wen shrugged his shoulders helplessly.


    As the two of them spoke, they saw Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and a girl walk in.


    Zhou Wen knew Ming Xiu, but didn''t know why he had come to the Xuanwen Club. He wasn''t a member of the Xuanwen Club.


    However, Zhou Wen still felt a little guilty towards Ming Xiu. After all, he was his student tutor, but he had not done anything since he had come.


    "Zhou Wen, you''re finally back. Are you free now?" Ming Xiu''s eyes lit up when he saw Zhou Wen.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen felt that if Ming Xiu had any questions, as his student tutor, he should provide some level of help.


    "I''ve recently practiced a set of sword techniques. I want you to give me some pointers," Ming Xiu said.


    Although he had asked Zhou Wen for pointers, Ming Xiu was very confident in his sword techniques. Ever since he saw Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal, Ming Xiu had gained inspiration and had been studying the sword techniques left behind by his father.


    After repeatedly improving and practicing it with Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu felt that his sword techniques were rather perfect. They were in no way inferior to Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded in agreement.


    Feng Qiuyan was also very interested. He knew that Zhou Wen had already advanced to the Epic stage. If it was a life-and-death battle, Ming Xiu was definitely no match for Zhou Wen.


    However, sparring was different from a life-or-death battle. They only fought to determine whose sword technique was better and not one''s strength and speed. Therefore, Feng Qiuyan felt that Ming Xiu probably had a chance.


    During this period of time, he had been training with Ming Xiu. He knew that Ming Xiu''s sword techniques had improved significantly. Apart from his lacking level, just his sword technique alone was as good as his saber techniques.


    Everyone went to the training ground and the two changed into combat uniforms. They held their training swords and faced each other. Tian Zhenzhen asked nervously, "Feng Qiuyan, what do you think of Ming Xiu''s chances of winning?"


    Ming Xiu''s sword techniques had improved significantly, but Tian Zhenzhen had a nagging feeling that they were too simple. It was unlike Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal which was domineering and magnificent.


    "I don''t know." Feng Qiuyan shook his head.


    If it were the sword techniques that Zhou Wen had used in the past, and with Zhou Wen''s lack of understanding of Ming Xiu''s sword techniques, Feng Qiuyan felt that Ming Xiu would have a chance of winning. However, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t stop improving while he and Ming Xiu improved. Therefore, Feng Qiuyan couldn''t determine the outcome. However, deep down, he believed that Zhou Wen would definitely win. However, Feng Qiuyan couldn''t say it without any evidence.


    "That goes without saying. No one can beat Old Zhou. We just need to see how many strikes Ming Xiu can last under Old Zhou." However, Li Xuan was confident about Zhou Wen.


    "Tch, how would you know if they haven''t fought? I think Ming Xiu will definitely win." Tian Zhenzhen immediately retorted.


    "Please guide me." Ming Xiu held the training sword and took on an elegant stance. Then, he sheathed the sword back into the scabbard.


    "Please." Zhou Wen didn''t hold a scabbard. He only held the sword in his hand as he pointed it diagonally to the ground.


    Ming Xiu''s expression didn''t change. However, his aura became increasingly calm. He seemed to fuse with the air. If one didn''t look at him with their eyes, one wouldn''t be able to feel his existence.


    A sword flash appeared, an extreme movement after extreme stillness. After the practice sword was unsheathed, an earth-shattering strike, that was fast and powerful, appeared. It looked as if it would tear through the skies and pass through the ninth firmaments.


    It was unlike Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber. Although Feng Qiuyan''s swift saber could exceed its limits, it did so with temperance. Particular attention was needed regarding control.


    However, Ming Xiu''s sword technique wasn''t the same. It was as if he would explode with all the light of his life in this single strike. It squeezed every ounce of his strength. Every cell seemed to unleash all their energy.


    There was only one survivor. The sword didn''t return once it struck.


    There was no control, no hesitation, and no way out. It was as if he had staked his entire life on this one strike. Although it wasn''t brilliant, it had the determination to destroy everything.


    Even though it was only a single strike, it went all in. It couldn''t be controlled, nor was there any need to control it. The sword lived with the person and died with the person. Either the enemy or himself fell.


    When Li Xuan saw the strike, his expression turned solemn as he muttered to himself, "Is it worth it to stake his life on this strike?"


    Zhou Wen stared at the earth-shattering strike, but he didn''t move his practice sword. He could sense Ming Xiu''s determination from the sword.


    "Ah!" Tian Zhenzhen exclaimed in shock when she saw Zhou Wen did not react to it.


    It may be a special rubber sword that was used for training, without any edge or sharpness, even to the point of being curved, but under the augmentation of Ming Xiu''s sword technique, even a practice sword could pierce through flesh and blood.


    Feng Qiuyan''s and Li Xuan''s expressions changed as well. They didn''t know what was wrong with Zhou Wen. He had failed to react.


    As the sword flew like the wind, the practice sword in Ming Xiu''s hand brushed past Zhou Wen''s neck, almost touching the skin on his neck, but, ultimately, it didn''t injure him.


    "Why didn''t you fight back?" Ming Xiu asked Zhou Wen with a frown.


    "Why should I fight back when you aren''t stabbing at me?" Zhou Wen said casually. Ever since he had sensed the power of spatial trajectories, he had a keen sense of trajectories. Others might not be able to distinguish the minute difference due to Ming Xiu''s sword being too fast, but Zhou Wen could see it clearly. That strike wouldn''t hurt him at all.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Ming Xiu was stunned. He looked at Zhou Wen in a daze and didn''t say a word.


    After a long while, Ming Xiu''s eyes gradually became resolute. He slowly retracted the sword that was sitting beside Zhou Wen''s neck and sheathed it. He bowed slightly at Zhou Wen and said seriously, "Coach, I understand. I won''t randomly strike in the future. The sword needs to kill before it''s unsheathed."


    With that said, Ming Xiu turned around and left. Zhou Wen was somewhat taken aback. He didn''t know what had gone wrong with Ming Xiu. First, he didn''t stab him, and next, he left for no reason.

 447 Continue Working Hard

    "Ming Xiu, what''s going on? Why are you leaving without fighting?" Tian Zhenzhen chased after him and asked.


    "We''re done," Ming Xiu said.


    "Done? How is that possible? Didn''t you only stab him once? Why are you done? I understand now. Zhou Wen was unable to dodge your attack, so he lost, right?" Tian Zhenzhen rattled on.


    "Of course not. I lost. Feng Qiuyan is right. Coach is no longer an existence on the same level as us. He could see through my weakness with a single glance and tell me my weakness through actual actions," said Ming Xiu.


    "What weakness?" Tian Zhenzhen didn''t understand what Ming Xiu was saying. All she saw was Zhou Wen standing there without doing anything.


    "As it was a sparring match, I deviated a little when I struck. I was afraid that I would really harm him, but Coach saw through my hesitation at a glance, so he didn''t strike at all," Ming Xiu said.


    "That''s normal. Just continue sparring. Why did you admit defeat?" Tian Zhenzhen still didn''t understand.


    Ming Xiu shook his head and said, "There''s no need to continue. If Coach had been an enemy, he would have seen through my hesitation. If he were to strike back then, I would have already been defeated. He didn''t attack to tell me that since I''ve staked my life on this strike, I should be certain that I really want to kill the person before I deliver it. If I''m not even sure myself, then I shouldn''t attack. If I have doubts in my heart, I will definitely lose when I strike out. If I can''t strike out without any hesitation, I shouldn''t draw my sword."


    "But aren''t you sparring? Isn''t it normal to show mercy?" Tian Zhenzhen asked.


    "This is where Coach is better than others. It''s obvious that he''s telling me that there are no drills in life. The past is the past. There''s no chance for a redo. Since I''ve staked my life on the sword, how can there be any sparring? I have to risk my life when I strike. There''s no chance for me to do it again. My Sword Dao cultivation is indeed not enough. To think that I actually wanted to spar with Coach. In fact, I''d already lost when I had this thought. From today onwards, unless I confirm that I want to kill my enemies, I will definitely not draw my sword again," Ming Xiu said seriously.


    "From the looks of it, coming to Sunset College was right. You''ve really grown a lot," Tian Zhenzhen said as she looked at Ming Xiu.


    "Yes, it''s my good fortune to be able to meet Coach. Unfortunately, we only have three months here. I can''t learn more from Coach." Ming Xiu nodded.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what Ming Xiu was thinking. He was somewhat puzzled. He originally wanted to see what Ming Xiu''s sword technique was like, but to his surprise, Ming Xiu ran after stabbing at him.


    However, Ming Xiu''s strike was truly stunning. The sword technique of seriously betting everything had a shocking feeling to it.


    What Ming Xiu learned from Zhou Wen was about questioning himself and not striking out. It greatly reduced the chances of him dying. Only then would this lead to Ming Xiu becoming a stunning swordsman in the future.


    Zhou Wen realized that his strength and speed were stronger than Ming Xiu''s, and his sword techniques weren''t inferior to Ming Xiu''s, but no matter how he attacked, he wasn''t as decisive as Ming Xiu.


    Even if he used all his strength, he could only maximize it. He didn''t have that kind of determination.


    Feng Qiuyan took his saber and said to Zhou Wen, "Coach, since we''re already here, why don''t you spar with me?"


    He didn''t use a practice saber because he already had absolute confidence in his saber techniques. No matter how intense the battle was, he wouldn''t accidentally injure Zhou Wen.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen felt that he had no choice. Feng Qiuyan had requested to spar with him, so he didn''t refuse and slashed down with his sword.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t really practiced his sword techniques before. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, coupled with his movement techniques, he was basically able to subdue the enemy with one strike. He didn''t need that many techniques; one strike was enough.


    This was actually the same as Ming Xiu''s. The two of them didn''t usually attack with their swords, but when they did, they would use their full strength. However, due to the difference in their personalities, their techniques split into two very different branches.


    Zhou Wen''s movement and sword techniques were so fast that even Feng Qiuyan couldn''t keep up with him. All he could do was passively slash his saber to block.


    Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen, who were outside the door, heard the sounds from the training grounds. Knowing that Zhou Wen and company were sparring, they walked in again. Upon seeing the two of them fighting, Tian Zhenzhen said in surprise, "Feng Qiuyan has been suppressed to the point of only defending?"


    She had never seen Feng Qiuyan use a defensive stance. Feng Qiuyan often sparred with Ming Xiu, so no matter how strong Ming Xiu''s sword techniques were, Feng Qiuyan would choose to attack him without losing out.


    But now, Feng Qiuyan didn''t even have the chance to counterattack under Zhou Wen''s sword techniques.


    Ming Xiu watched as he said, "Coach''s sword techniques are indeed much faster and stronger than mine. Furthermore, he still has more strength he''s holding back. It''s unlike mine. Once I strike, I use all my strength and am completely unable to control myself."


    "He hasn''t used all his strength yet?" Tian Zhenzhen was alarmed. If he had suppressed Feng Qiuyan to this extent without even using his full strength, how powerful would he be when he used all his strength?


    Zhou Wen kept using Transcendent Flying Immortal. Although it was only a single move, it created different effects due to the angle of attacks when combined with the variation in movement technique.


    However, Feng Qiuyan''s saber technique was like a turtle''s shell, completely impenetrable. Just a sword technique alone couldn''t break through his defense. Although he could suppress Feng Qiuyan, he was unable to defeat him.


    Feng Qiuyan was also suppressed to the point of not having the ability to counterattack. After exchanging more than a hundred blows, Zhou Wen felt that he couldn''t freely engage in battle as he wished. He found it boring, so he retracted his sword and retreated. "It''s boring. That''s it."


    "It''s because I''m not strong enough that Coach can''t enjoy it. Don''t worry, I''ll continue working hard," Feng Qiuyan said seriously.


    "Then continue working hard." Zhou Wen placed the sword back on the rack and left the training grounds with Li Xuan.


    "Old Zhou, you''ve already advanced to the Epic stage. What''s the point of going to school? Have you considered what you will do after graduation?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen casually as they walked through campus.


    "Something related to dimensional zones. It''s best if it''s an easy job. It''s best if I can game at work," Zhou Wen said without any thought.


    "You will only be twenty when you graduate, and an Epic stage at that. Although not everyone will dare to hire you because of Wang Mingyuan, many people in Luoyang will definitely be willing to hire you. Your request isn''t a problem, but do you really plan on spending the rest of your life like this?" Li Xuan asked as he looked at Zhou Wen calmly.

 448 Missing

    "I think it''s good this way. Why can''t I?" Zhou Wen wasn''t someone who liked to go too far. His greatest goal now was to rescue the former principal and find a safe place to live his life before raising his strength.


    Even if the dimensional zones'' seal failed in the future, he could still protect himself and his friends and family.


    "You definitely know that the occurrences of break-out creatures these days are increasing in frequency. The break-out creatures that appeared in our school previously destroyed the library. There was also the Sky Spiders that nearly destroyed Luoyang City. In the future, this world will only become more and more chaotic. What kind of job can you find to lead a peaceful life?" Li Xuan asked.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. When the world turned into a monster amusement park, there wouldn''t be jobs that could allow him such an idyllic life.


    "Then what do you want after graduation?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    "I wish to build a city myself and gather many powerful humans. I want to build an impregnable castle. The city will be filled with my friends and family. I want to be able to protect them," Li Xuan said.


    "If you have such thoughts, you are no different from me," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "How is that the same? I''m proactively attacking. You are just passively getting beaten up," Li Xuan said disdainfully as he cast a glance.


    "Alright, let''s make an agreement here. You can leave me a room when you build the city so that I have a place to stay," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then you will have to wait. It''s impossible to build a city without the standards of a top Epic. I haven''t even come close to the Epic stage. Who knows when I can become a top Epic," Li Xuan said with a smile.


    "I believe you will definitely reach it," Zhou Wen said seriously.


    "Alright. That''s an agreement. In the future, I''ll build a city and leave the best compound for you to comfortably stay in," Li Xuan said heroically.


    The two of them chatted as they walked. However, most of the time, Zhou Wen listened to Li Xuan voice out his future ideals. As for himself, he didn''t seem to have many pursuits. The only time he felt a sense of achievement was when his level increased and his abilities improved.


    "Today is my father''s birthday. Why don''t you join me? Just treat it as a free meal. It''s a waste not to eat it." Li Xuan dragged Zhou Wen out of the school.


    Although Li Xuan greatly disliked Li Mobai, it wasn''t likely he would fall out with him in front of his father.


    Apart from Li Xuan and Li Mobai, Old Master Li had also adopted many godsons and goddaughters, so the rich and famous in Luoyang came to congratulate him. Even An Tianzuo had sent someone to deliver a gift. The Li family was especially lively today.


    "What else are you going to give me? You coming is already giving me face. Now, everyone knows that you are Ouyang Lan''s favorite son. Even An Jing isn''t as doted on as you." Li Xuan pointed at the buffet table and said, "Eat anything you want, drink whatever you want. As long as you don''t get drunk and go crazy."


    "That won''t happen. I don''t drink," Zhou Wen said.


    "I''ll take a look over there. Get something to eat first. Call me if there''s anything you need," Li Xuan said as he went to the other side.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know anyone, so he didn''t need to worry. He took the food and beverages and minded his own business by eating.


    "Zhou Wen, we meet again. Have you considered the matter I told you about previously?" Li Mobai walked over and said to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    "Didn''t I already give you an answer?" Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    "Don''t you think about it anymore?" Li Mobai asked with a smile.


    "There''s no need," Zhou Wen answered with certainty.


    "That''s such a pity." Li Mobai shook his head slightly before walking away.


    After Li Mobai left, Zhou Wen didn''t take the matter to heart as he continued eating.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had agreed that the two of them would return to school after the birthday banquet ended. However, Zhou Wen never saw Li Xuan again. When the banquet was almost over, he didn''t see Li Xuan, nor did he pick up his phone.


    Could something have happened to Li Xuan? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel his heart skip a beat. However, with this being the Li family, who could touch Li Xuan?


    Even Li Mobai didn''t have the guts to touch Li Xuan in front of Old Master Li, right?


    However, Zhou Wen felt uneasy. He immediately used Truth Listener''s earring to search the Li family manor, hoping to find Li Xuan.


    At this moment, in a secret chamber, Li Xuan woke up groggily. His vision gradually cleared as he realized that he was chained up with some strange metal. His body was bound to a metal chair while Li Mobai was standing in front of him.


    "Li Mobai, what are you trying to do? Aren''t you afraid that the old man will know that you dared to attack me here?" Li Xuan glared fiercely at Li Mobai.


    "I think you''re really not fully awake. Do you want me to help you recall how you came here?" Li Mobai''s expression remained unchanged as he smiled.


    "Didn''t you¡­" As Li Xuan spoke, his expression changed.


    He gradually recalled what had happened before he came. He was supposed to be at a banquet, but Li Weiyang had called him and said that she was at the back door of the Li family residence.


    As she was an illegitimate daughter, Li Weiyang didn''t even have the right to attend the family birthday banquet. When Li Xuan went out to meet her, she said that she had a gift for Old Master Li, but since it wasn''t convenient for her to give it to him, she asked him to deliver it for her.


    Li Xuan naturally agreed, but after he received the gift from Li Weiyang, who he wasn''t wary of, he fainted and woke up to find himself here.


    "What''s wrong with you? Sis Weiyang? Li Mobai, if you dare touch her, I''ll kill you!" Li Xuan glared at Li Mobai and said fiercely.


    Li Mobai laughed and pinched Li Xuan''s face with one hand. "Li Xuan, Li Xuan, you''re still so stupid. You don''t know the dangers of this world. I originally thought you were playing the pig, but from the looks of it, you are really a pig."


    As he spoke, Li Mobai released Li Xuan and reached out to press the button on the remote control. Then, Li Xuan saw the wall in front of him gradually turn transparent.


    It turned out that it wasn''t a real wall but a mirror. After the motorized curtain lifted, he saw the room opposite.


    Li Xuan''s gaze landed on the room across him and immediately saw Li Weiyang inside.

 449 Life-Snatching Gu

    "Li Mobai, what are you trying to do?" Li Xuan gritted his teeth and asked.


    "Nothing much. After all, you are my brother. Even if you die, you have to understand why." Li Mobai picked up a walkie-talkie and said, "Li Weiyang, you did well on this matter."


    Li Weiyang clearly couldn''t see the room. Upon hearing Li Mobai''s voice, she immediately looked around in panic. She realized that the sound came from a speaker, and she said agitatedly, "I''ve already done what you asked me to do. Please remove the poisonous Gu from my body."


    Li Mobai glanced at Li Xuan and continued, "Li Xuan usually treats you so well; yet, you handed him to me. Don''t you know what happens when he falls into my hands?"


    Li Xuan had planned on speaking, but he fell silent when he heard Li Mobai''s question. He looked through the mirror on the wall at Li Weiyang.


    Li Weiyang turned pale. "I know I let Li Xuan down, but I just want to live. There''s nothing I can do."


    "He''s your younger brother," Li Mobai said mockingly.


    "There''s nothing I can do. I''m just an illegitimate daughter, but he''s the third scion of the Li family who''s high and mighty. We don''t belong to the same world to begin with. He treats me well, but it''s just a farce to show to others. It''s just pity, charity¡­"


    Li Xuan''s face turned pale when he heard that.


    He had always treated Li Weiyang as his sister, but he never expected her to say something like that.


    Although she was saying it with her life under duress, the words were still unacceptable to Li Xuan.


    Li Mobai didn''t say a word. All he did was look at Li Xuan. However, Li Weiyang grew anxious. "I''ve already done what you asked me to do. You said you will remove the poisonous Gu from my body. Quickly, remove it¡­"


    Li Weiyang slammed the table in annoyance, her voice sounding agitated with a hint of pleading.


    "Of course, I will keep my promise. However, you still have to do one last thing for me. After doing this, you can regain your freedom," Li Mobai said.


    "What else do you want me to do?" Li Weiyang asked loudly.


    "Li Weiyang, you should know that there''s no absolute secret once someone else knows it. If I release you now, one day, you will tell everyone that I killed Li Xuan," Li Mobai said calmly.


    "No, no, no. I definitely won''t say anything. I won''t say anything. You have to believe me¡­" Li Weiyang waved her hand in panic, fear written all over her face.


    "I don''t like having my fate controlled by the hands of others. It''s easy for me to let you go. You just need to personally kill Li Xuan. That''s the only way I can let you go without worries. I don''t have to worry about exposing the secret because the first one to die will be you," Li Mobai said.


    "No, no, no. I can''t do that." Li Weiyang shook her head as she retreated.


    "You can''t do this to me!" Li Weiyang''s face warped as she appeared conflicted.


    "Ah!" Suddenly, Li Weiyang held her stomach as she collapsed to the ground in pain.


    "The poison has already taken effect. You don''t have much time left," Li Mobai said expressionlessly.


    "I¡­ I¡­ I promise you¡­" Li Weiyang said in pain.


    Li Xuan felt as though he had been struck by lightning as his expression turned extremely nasty.


    "Sorry, you took too long to agree. I''ve changed my mind. Dead people are still better at keeping secrets." As Li Mobai spoke, he rubbed the ring on his finger. Li Weiyang immediately spasmed. In just a moment, she rolled her eyes and spat out white foam. She was quickly dying.


    "Stop! She has already agreed to it. Why are you still killing her?" Li Xuan shouted.


    Li Mobai said indifferently, "Because I never planned on letting her out alive. Only dead people can truly keep secrets. This world is just that cruel."


    With that said, Li Mobai extended his hand in front of Li Xuan. A strange bug was in his palm. It looked like a centipede, but it had a scorpion''s tail. It had four transparent wings on its back, and its head looked like that of a cricket. It looked very strange.


    "Do you know what this is?" Li Mobai asked with a smile.


    Seeing Li Xuan stare at him with those blood-red eyes, Li Mobai continued, "It''s a special Companion Beast. Its name is Life-Snatching Gu. However, don''t worry. It won''t really kill you. The life it snatches is your Life Providence. Then it can transfer it to me and make me have dual Life Providences."


    "You want my Life Providence? Since you want my Life Providence so badly, why don''t you cultivate the Invincible Connate Divine Art yourself?" Li Xuan stared blankly at Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai revealed a strange smile. "Because cultivating the Invincible Connate Divine Art requires one to be a virgin. If I were to cultivate it, the Li family wouldn''t have any successors. But you are different. You''ve cultivated the Invincible Divine Art, and once I snatch your Life Providence from you I don''t need to maintain my virginity. Although it''s not as impressive as cultivating the Invincible Connate Divine Art personally, it''s still enough."


    Without waiting for Li Xuan to speak, Li Mobai continued, "My talent is better than yours and I''m stronger than you. The old man made you cultivate the Invincible Connate Divine Art because he prepared you for me."


    "Impossible. You are lying," Li Xuan said loudly.


    "I''m lying? Everyone knows that once one cultivates in the Invincible Connate Divine Art, one can''t have descendants. Even the original owner of the Invincible Connate Divine Art, the Xia family, didn''t cultivate it. Yet, the old man made you cultivate it. Do you think this is something a father would do?" Li Mobai said with a smile.


    "I was the one who wanted to cultivate in the Invincible Connate Divine Art. It has nothing to do with the old man," Li Xuan said.


    "Was it really your intention? Do you remember when you were young? Who told you how powerful the Invincible Connate Divine Art was? How impressive the Xia family''s patriarch was?" Li Mobai continued with a smile. "Ever since you were young, everyone told you that the Invincible Connate Divine Art was great and awesome. It subtly influenced you into thinking that it was nothing to be a virgin your entire life just to cultivate in such a Primordial Energy Art, right?"


    Li Xuan wanted to retort, but it did seem like this had been the case when he was young. Including the old man, everyone had told him that the Invincible Connate Divine Art was powerful and invincible. Once he mastered it, he would become a hero of the world.


    Therefore, from a young age, he felt that cultivating the Invincible Connate Divine Art was an act of a hero. Now that Li Mobai had pointed it out to him, Li Xuan felt his body turn cold.


    "Impossible¡­ The old man can''t do this to me¡­ I''m his son¡­ He can''t possibly do this to me¡­" Li Xuan seemed to be trying to convince himself.


    "If you were really his son, of course he wouldn''t. Unfortunately, you aren''t. You always thought you were his biological son, but that''s not the case. You were just a tool that was prepared for me. It''s been hard on you. After all these years, your mission is completed," Li Mobai said as he placed the Life-Snatching Gu on Li Xuan''s face.


    The Life-Snatching Gu automatically crawled into Li Xuan''s nose. In its wake, Li Xuan felt as though it was slicing his body with a knife.


    Soon, the pain reached his heart. At the same time, he felt a strange force spread throughout his body.


    "My good brother, thank you for all your years of arduous cultivation. I''ll treat your Life Providence well. When my name becomes famous, your Life Providence will become famous alongside me. As my younger brother, you should be very happy, right?" Li Mobai''s finger slid across Li Xuan''s forehead, emitting a strange light as though it was stabbing into Li Xuan''s head.


    "B*stard¡­ You are a b*stard¡­" Li Xuan felt like countless steel needles were stabbing into his head, as though they were trying to suck his brain away.


    Li Xuan struggled with all his might, but the metal chains had a strange effect. They didn''t only seal his body, but it also blocked his Primordial Energy circulation.


    "Don''t use profanities. The Li family has raised you for so many years, so you should be grateful." Li Mobai continued, "By the way, you still have a very good classmate called Zhou Wen, right? You''re quite pitiful too. You can''t get close to women, so you ended up liking men. Whatever, I''ll kill him with your Life Providence in the future and get him to accompany you."


    "Li¡­ Xiu¡­ Bai¡­" Like the straw that broke the camel''s back, Li Xuan''s eyes turned blood red. All his Primordial Energy spewed out like blood flames that burned crazily. His bones and muscles swelled as his hair stood on end. A blood-colored carapace appeared over him, forming a strange armor. Four transparent blood wings spread out from his back like a supernatural being.


    On him, a red beam of light condensed, resembling a devil that came from ancient times. It attached itself to Li Xuan.


    Crack!


    The metal chain that sealed his body and Primordial Energy broke inch by inch, no longer capable of binding his body.


    "Li Xiubai, I''m going to kill you!" Li Xuan''s blood-red eyes stared at Li Mobai, roaring angrily. The blood-red projection around him roared as well, like a devil had possessed him.


    He didn''t even call out Li Mobai''s name, directly calling him by his actual name¡ªLi Xiubai.


    "Come on, let me see what capabilities you have to kill me," Li Mobai said as his eyes shimmered with zeal.


    "Die!" Li Xuan''s eyes burned with killing intent as blood-colored light exploded from his body. The devil behind him roared as he struck Li Mobai with a punch with bloody flames.


    Boom!


    The blood-red light exploded in the secret chamber, reducing the entire secret chamber to ruins.

 450 Evil King Gu

    Li Mobai''s eyes widened as he leaned against the cracked wall. Li Xuan''s fist brushed past his head, slamming into the wall. The terrifying power caused the metal walls of the chamber to shatter. Everything looked like ruins.


    Pa! Li Mobai slapped Li Xuan in the face and said in disdain, "You''re still so cowardly and useless. Even at this stage, you still don''t dare kill me?"


    "Why did you do so much? Why did you give me your Life Soul? It''s not a Life-Snatching. What you gave me was your Life Soul," Li Xuan said as he stared at Li Mobai.


    "I still failed?" Li Mobai was extremely disappointed as he leaned against the wall and slowly sat down. The luster of his body gradually faded.


    "What do you mean?" Li Xuan looked at Li Mobai and asked with gritted teeth.


    Li Mobai sighed and said, "Why are you still unable to be heartless even at this stage? Don''t tell me you''re not angry at all?"


    "Even if I were in hell, I wouldn''t become a devil. Li Mobai, what were you trying to do?" Li Xuan asked again.


    Li Mobai closed his eyes and said, "Do you still remember Big Brother?"


    "Of course I remember. Why are you mentioning him?" Li Xuan asked.


    "Brother was peerless and was far better than both of us. He was no less inferior to An Tianzuo of the An family. If he had lived to this day, our Li family would definitely be in a better state than we are now. It wouldn''t be difficult for us to become true elites," Li Mobai said.


    "He''s already been dead for so many years. Is there any point in saying all this now?" Li Xuan frowned.


    "Don''t you want to know how Brother died?" Li Mobai opened his eyes and stared at Li Xuan.


    "Wasn''t Brother killed by a dimensional creature when he went dimensional creature hunting in a dimensional zone?" Li Xuan''s heart stirred as he vaguely felt that this matter wasn''t that simple.


    "Killed by dimensional creatures? That''s technically right. Humans are the dirtiest dimensional creatures," Li Mobai mocked.


    "What do you mean? Do you mean that Brother was killed by someone? It wasn''t an accident?" Li Xuan stared at Li Mobai and said.


    "Of course not. Back then, before Brother left, he told me that he wanted to go to the Dragon Gate Grotto to hunt Fairies, and to get a Fairy Companion Egg for me as a birthday present." Li Mobai closed his eyes, his voice a little hoarse. "But when he died, he was in Old Dragon Cave. Back then, I had my suspicions about why he was in Old Dragon Cave. He shouldn''t have gone there. Brother was a man of his word. Since he agreed to get me a Fairy Companion Egg, he would definitely have gone to the Lotus Flower Cave. He wouldn''t leave before getting a Fairy Companion Egg.


    Li Mobai continued, "In order to make myself stronger, I chose to cultivate the Evil Gu Sutra. It gave me the power to control Gu, allowing me to use it as a foundation to control people. Slowly, I obtained clues. Everything pointed to a huge entity. That faction is too powerful, so powerful that it made me despair. Even if I used all my strength, I wouldn''t be able to shake that massive figure."


    "Who are they?" Li Xuan stared at Li Mobai and asked.


    "The Xia family," Li Mobai said.


    "The Xia family that gave us our Invincible Connate Divine Art?" Li Xuan looked at Li Mobai in surprise.


    "Invincible Connate Divine Art? That''s nothing but a joke. The Invincible Connate Divine Art they gave us is an incomplete version. If your talent wasn''t so outstanding, no matter how much you cultivated it, you wouldn''t have made any achievements. Thankfully, the heavens blessed you. You managed to master an incomplete Invincible Connate Divine Art and condensed a high-level Life Providence like Immortal God of Combat. But that''s not enough. Although you are very strong, you are still far inferior to Brother. Furthermore, the Invincible Connate Divine Art''s weakness is too obvious. With your personality, I''m afraid you would give up everything for a woman if you were to meet one that you loved."


    "I¡­" Li Xuan was at a loss for words. He might really do that.


    "The Xia family has no lack of women who can stir hearts," Li Mobai said in disdain.


    "So, you want me to be completely heartless? There''s no need for you to do that. All you need to do is tell me about Brother. I can do it. There''s no need for you to treat Weiyang that way," Li Xuan said through gritted teeth.


    "It''s not just because of this. To become an enemy of the Xia family and wipe it out, both of us are lacking. No matter how talented you are or how you can master an incomplete Invincible Connate Divine Art to its limits and match that hero from the Xia family back then, you still can''t touch the Xia family."


    Li Mobai opened his eyes as a cold glint flashed in his eyes. "After lots of thinking, I came up with the only method to give us a fighting chance against the Xia family. In my cultivation of the Evil Gu Sutra, there''s a way of transferring. It''s like a daughter I raise. After growing up and marrying someone else, I can transfer my Life Soul, Evil King Gu, to you and help you condense a Life Soul. After absorbing the Evil King Gu, your Life Soul will no longer be a pure Life Soul condensed by the Invincible Connate Divine Art. It will subtly influence you, causing your body and Life Providence to change. It will make you stronger, far stronger than a pure Invincible Connate Divine Art. It will not have the fatal flaw. Only then will you have the chance to deal with the Xia family.


    "However, cultivating the Evil Gu Sutra requires one to be emotionless or it will cause them to leave behind a huge latent problem. And to obtain the recognition of my Life Soul, Evil King Gu, after I completely transfer it to you, you will also need to be heartless. At the very least, at the moment of fusion, you have to be able to disown your family. Only then will Evil King Gu willingly sacrifice itself to be transferred to you." Li Mobai closed his eyes again.


    "If I really did kill you and accomplished the act of being heartless, then who will tell me about Brother? Without knowing anything, what''s the point of doing all of this?" Li Xuan felt that Li Mobai was too bigoted.


    "Me." A voice came from the room next door.


    As the secret chamber had been destroyed by the blast, the mirror wall had also shattered. "Li Weiyang," who had fallen to the ground, stood up alive.


    However, there was a strange change to her face. She didn''t look like Li Weiyang anymore. Her face was like an unfamiliar woman.


    "Her name is Butterfly. Initially, after I die, she would tell you everything and support you to continue proceeding forward until you destroy the Xia family. Now, it''s useless," Li Mobai said as he tried to stand up.


    Li Xuan subconsciously wanted to help Li Mobai up, but Li Mobai pushed him away and said indifferently, "There''s no need to help me. Since you failed, I''ll continue taking this path."


    "But you¡­" Li Xuan wanted to say that his Life Soul was gone, and the Evil Gu Sutra was crippled. How could an ordinary person without any cultivation continue the path?


    "There are no buts. Even if it''s the path to hell, I have to walk it again." Li Mobai propped himself up and staggered towards the door. He was weak but firm.


    If Li Xuan''s body was in the depths of hell as he headed for light, Li Mobai was the person who walked towards hell.

 451 Invisible Clothes

    When Zhou Wen found Li Xuan, he was sitting alone in the garden, dazed.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that Li Xuan was fine. He walked over and asked with a smile, "What''s wrong? What are you doing here alone?"


    Li Xuan turned his head and looked at Zhou Wen, his eyes somewhat different from before.


    "Zhou Wen, I want to become stronger, stronger than anyone else," Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen had never seen Li Xuan look so serious.


    Even when he was betrayed by Jiang Hao and Xu Miantu, Li Xuan had only smiled and said that he would make Li Mobai pay the price.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen felt that Li Xuan was really different.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan didn''t answer but asked Zhou Wen, "If I become a devil one day, will we still be friends?"


    "I won''t let you become a devil," Zhou Wen said seriously.


    Li Xuan laughed. "No, I won''t become a devil. I''ll use my own means to change this world."


    Zhou Wen realized that Li Xuan was really different. Ever since he had returned from the birthday celebration, Li Xuan had seriously begun cultivating.


    Li Xuan had excellent talent and although he had been very hardworking in the past, his frequent mantra was striking a balance between work and rest. But now, whenever Li Xuan had the time, he would drag Zhou Wen to train with him. Zhou Wen could clearly sense that Li Xuan was rapidly improving.


    Furthermore, Li Xuan condensed a Life Soul, something that surprised Zhou Wen. This was because Li Xuan had said that it might take him years to condense a Life Soul, but he seemed to achieve it overnight.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss with Li Xuan''s Life Soul. It was slightly different from his Invincible Connate Divine Art''s attributes.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen asked him, Li Xuan refused to say anything.


    Zhou Wen constantly grinded dungeons and sought out the weakness of Mythical creatures in the temple, but he didn''t make much progress.


    In the Special Investigation Bureau''s headquarters, Shen Yuchi was looking at a photo.


    In the photo was a person wearing stone armor. There was only a side profile and his body was covered in stone armor. He couldn''t tell what the person inside the armor looked like.


    "Director-General, he''s here." Cai Jin''s voice sounded from outside.


    "Bring him in," Shen Yuchi put down the photo in his hand and said calmly.


    Cai Jin quickly brought the person in and became even more respectful towards Shen Yuchi.


    Cai Jin had lost all of the Special Inspector Bureau''s assets. He originally imagined that he would be killed, he did not think Shen Yuchi would not even punish him. He had even transferred him back to the Special Investigation Bureau and restored him to his former position and job. This made him both grateful and uneasy.


    "I want to know who the person in the photo is." Shen Yuchi pushed the photo to the old man.


    The old man took a look at the photo before curling his lips. "Although my Life Soul can take form, you do know that it has great limitations. It''s not something that can be used casually. It will decrease my lifespan."


    "Find him and you''ll be free," said Shen Yuchi.


    The old man''s eyes immediately lit up. He stared at Shen Yuchi and asked, "Aren''t you afraid that the Cape family will cause you trouble if you let me leave Heaven?"


    "I want to know who this person is," Shen Yuchi said calmly without answering.


    "Alright, deal." The old man extended his hand.


    Shen Yuchi nodded slightly. Cai Jin went forward and opened the Primordial Trapping Lock on the elder''s body.


    The old man''s hunched body suddenly straightened, making him look much taller. He reached out to pick up the photo, his eyes filled with energy. His eyes seemed to have magical powers as a magical beam shot out from within and landed on the photo.


    As the light in the elder''s eyes shone, the figure in the photo seemed to come to life as though it was struggling to walk out of the picture.


    Shen Yuchi and Cai Jin stared intently at the photo, waiting for the figure in the photo to walk out.


    "Ah!"


    Suddenly, the old man let out a tragic cry as his eyes burst open. Blood splattered everywhere on the table. He covered his eyes and cried out in pain. Shen Yuchi and Cai Jin''s expressions changed drastically.


    On campus, Zhou Wen felt his Sigh of the King spontaneously appear, but it only lasted a split second before vanishing again.


    Strange, what happened? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled, but he had no idea what was happening.


    After waiting for a while and not sensing any further abnormalities of the Sigh of the King, Zhou Wen continued his research.


    During this period of time, he had been constantly fighting the snake in the temple. He had basically figured out the snake''s abilities. Zhou Wen still had ways to deal with its other abilities, but he was unable to do anything about the snake eye''s mirror image.


    Unless I can infinitely teleport or become invisible to prevent the snake from seeing me; otherwise, it''s impossible to dodge that gaze. It''s still impossible to teleport infinitely now, but I can think of ways to obtain an invisible Primordial Energy Skill. Zhou Wen knew that there were indeed Primordial Energy Skills that allowed for invisibility.


    However, invisible-type Primordial Energy Skills were extremely rare. Few were willing to sell them. Therefore, even if someone were to sell them, they were often sold at astronomical prices.


    Zhou Wen had plenty of Primordial Crystals on hand. He could afford them even if they had sky-high prices. More importantly, it wasn''t convenient for him to sell the Primordial Crystals at present.


    While Zhou Wen was fretting over this matter, An Sheng contacted him to express that the Sunset Army wanted to buy his Primordial Crystals.


    Puzzled, Zhou Wen asked, "Why do you want the Primordial Crystals?"


    An Sheng said, "Although Primordial Crystals and Primordial Gold have the effect of killing dimensional creatures, the characteristics are different. The problems involved are very simple. I''ll just give an imperfect analogy. If it''s only Primordial Gold, we can only make them into firearms, but if we add in Primordial Crystal, we will be able to produce laser guns. Of course, it''s not that simple, but that''s the general gist of it."


    "I can give you the Primordial Crystals. I don''t want money either, but I have a request," Zhou Wen said.


    "Speak."


    "I want a Primordial Energy Skill that can make me invisible. It needs to be at least Epic stage." Zhou Wen gave his request.


    "There are too few Primordial Energy Skills that provide invisibility. They can only be obtained by chance. If you just want an invisibility ability, a very good opportunity has recently opened up. There''s a Companion Egg in a West District auction. That Companion Beast has the ability to make one invisible. However, the price will be very high. There are many competitors as well. You have to be mentally prepared," An Sheng said.


    "What Companion Beast is that?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The Mythical Companion Beast, Invisibility Cloak," said An Sheng.

 452 Cannot be Hatched

    "Someone actually is selling a Mythical Companion Egg?" Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    An Sheng smiled and said, "No one would sell one under ordinary circumstances, but this one is a little different."


    "How is it different? Is there anything special?" Zhou Wen asked, puzzled.


    "Do you have any idea about Orphism of the West District?" An Sheng asked.


    "A little. I roughly know that in the early times, there was the god, Chronos. It later became the God of Chaos, Chaos, and then the twelve Titans. Finally, it became the more famous twelve Olympus Gods, with Zeus being the leader. These are the few representative generations of gods in Orphism." Zhou Wen knew quite a bit about this belief.


    As he had received Chaos''s heritage and it was also related to the Chaos Bead, Zhou Wen had previously read about such matters. Although he didn''t study it in-depth, he had a general understanding of it.


    "It''s not bad that you already know these things. Few people from the East District typically study the myths of the West District. They probably only know about Zeus and the other gods." An Sheng paused before continuing, "The Cape family discovered a temple left behind by the dualism god, Phanes, in the mortal realm. His status is probably the same as the Pangu of our East District''s system of gods. Although it''s a little different, you get what I mean. Anyway, according to the myths and legends in the West District, all the god-kings have to gain his approval before they become the king of gods.


    "The Cape family obtained the recognition of the temple. They chose one of the three Companion Eggs in the temple, which is this Invisibility Cloak that is being put up for auction," An Sheng said.


    "That''s not right. Since it''s being auctioned now, it means that no one has ever hatched it. How do you know that it''s Invisibility Cloak?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "The reason they know that it''s Invisibility Cloak is that the Cape family has formerly hatched that Mythical Companion Egg before. After that, they gained the ability to be invisible," An Sheng said with a faint smile. "When people obtain powers that exceed the rules, their true colors show. The person from the Cape family used his powers of invisibility to do countless dirty things. He went overboard and even dared to touch the members of the six families. In the end, he was discovered by the Zhang family and he was exposed."


    "This matter is a scandal of the six families. The Cape family has been slain by the Zhang family as well. However, when they killed him, the Zhang family used some unknown method to turn the Invisibility Cloak to a Companion Egg form. It didn''t vanish along with that person and has been kept all this while."


    "The Zhang family naturally doesn''t lack money, but the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg isn''t a real Companion Egg. It was unknown what method they used to turn the Invisibility Cloak into a Companion Egg. No one can hatch it. In the beginning, no one knew that there was a problem with the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg. The Cape family paid a huge sum of resources to get the Companion Egg back from the Zhang family. However, when they got it back, they couldn''t hatch it.


    "Later, the Invisibility Cloak exchanged a few hands a few times. Although there''s a problem, it''s a Mythical Companion Egg and has magical invisibility. Everyone wants to give it a try. Everyone thinks that they care capable of doing something others can''t, but they ultimately realize they can''t do it either. From the six families to ordinary families, it has changed multiple hands. No one has managed to hatch the Invisibility Cloak. However, don''t think of picking it up on the cheap. There are plenty of confident people, so the price will definitely be unimaginable if you want to bid on the cloak."


    "Can my Essence Crystals be used in the auction?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Of course they can, but they''re not convenient. How about this? I''ll help you bid for the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg. After I get it, you can sell me the equivalent of Essence Crystals at market price." An Sheng thought for a moment before saying, "The amount needed at the auction will definitely not be small. I don''t know if it will exceed your expectations, so you have to go with me. If you think it''s possible, I''ll bid. If you feel that it''s too expensive, we can just give it up."


    "To the West District?" Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    "Don''t worry. I have my own arrangements. There won''t be any problems. Just treat it as a vacation. There are many famous dimensional zones in the West District where the auction is held. You can also pay them a visit when the time comes." An Sheng could understand Zhou Wen''s worry.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen was rather interested in the Invisibility Cloak. Furthermore, he wanted to see if the dimensional zones in the West District had the tiny palm symbols.


    If there were any tiny palm symbols, it wouldn''t be a bad idea to download a few of them. Zhou Wen was very interested in Companion Beasts that were angels, sprites, and devils.


    As he was about to leave, Zhou Wen had no choice but to place the antelope and chick at Wang Lu''s place. Zhou Wen had previously given the antelope and chick some Essence Crystals, but they weren''t interested in them at all.


    "Your trip will make you owe me more days of breakfast, right? I''m afraid lunch won''t be enough to cover the shortfall," Wang Lu said as she looked at him.


    "Then use dinner to make up for it," Zhou Wen said.


    "I want to lose weight. I don''t eat dinner," Wang Lu said with a twitch of her lips.


    Although she said that, Wang Lu still took the chick. The antelope also consciously followed her; it even seemed somewhat eager.


    Clearly, it could eat better when with Wang Lu.


    This time, An Sheng personally brought Zhou Wen to the West District. Zhou Wen heard from An Sheng that the place they were heading to was a peninsula and it was very close to the sea. Not far from the peninsula were the Aegean Sea islands where there were many dimensional zones. They contained several terrifying existences.


    "Are there dimensional zones that drop angel or sprite Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen asked An Sheng as he sat in the car.


    An Sheng blinked and said, "Sprites are creatures that only come from the dimensional zones in the North District. Angels belong to another divine system. Do you think there will be one?"


    "Aren''t they from the same district?" Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. He had always felt that these two dimensional creatures belonged to the West District.


    "Of course not," An Sheng answered with certainty.


    "Then what Companion Beasts are available at the place we are going?" Zhou Wen had no choice but to seek An Sheng''s advice.


    "Monsters, giants, pythons, etc." An Sheng roughly explained the situation before smiling. "If you have the ability, you can kill a goddess like Athena. There might even be a Companion Egg drop. It''s said that Athena''s temple has been discovered, but it''s hard to tell if Athena is really inside."


    "Forget about Mythical creatures. Are there more pragmatic Epic Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen knew himself. The possibility of him killing a Mythical creature was just too low.


    Now, Zhou Wen was just waiting for Tyrant Behemoth to complete its evolution. After it became a Mythical creature, Zhou Wen really had the capital to fight Mythical creatures.

 453 The Only Princess of the Zhang Family

    Zhou Wen originally believed that they would head to the auction venue directly, but he soon realized that it wasn''t only the two of them going to the auction together. An Sheng had to tag along with others.


    To be precise, An Sheng and Zhou Wen were only hitching a ride on a plane. The Zhang family was going to participate in the auction too. An Tianzuo had asked if they could bring Zhou Wen and An Sheng along. This also meant that they would be under the Zhang family''s protection.


    Isn''t the An family and the six families on bad terms? Why would the Zhang family agree to take us with them? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    "Let''s not talk about us. Even the relationship between the six families is nothing much to speak of. There is even competition amongst themselves, competition that is far more intense than with others. However, when it comes to interests, that''s another matter. The Zhang family has a lot of need for Essence Gold. We also have some needs that the Zhang family can satisfy us with, so our relationship is relatively stable. However, the Zhang family originally wanted to reject our request, but for some reason, they later agreed," An Sheng said.


    When they arrived, a butler-like person welcomed An Sheng and Zhou Wen and took them to a private airport.


    "Butler, who is the person in charge of the Zhang family this time?" An Sheng asked.


    There were many experts in the Zhang family. An Sheng wanted to know who it was, lest he made any faux pax.


    "The one who''s going to the Aegean Sea this time is Third Master''s only daughter," the old butler said.


    An Sheng couldn''t help but be surprised when he heard that. In the Zhang family''s previous generation, there were three brothers who were particularly good at fathering sons. They had many sons. The first and second master had eight sons each. The third master had two sons and only one daughter.


    The entire Zhang family only had one daughter. One could imagine how doted upon this girl was.


    Legend had it that every year, all the sons of the Zhang family rushed back to celebrate her birthday. Each of them prepared a rare treasure. The scene was extremely breathtaking.


    Of course, that was only a legend. This was because the Zhang family only had one daughter. She was like a princess, so they had protected her from birth. Up until now, no one in the Zhang family knew her name, much less what she looked like.


    An Sheng wanted to ask the name of the princess of the Zhang family, but the butler clearly didn''t want to say too much and had already boarded the plane.


    An Sheng mentioned the princess of the Zhang family to Zhou Wen and said with a smile, "We are lucky today. Perhaps we might have a chance to meet her in person."


    The two of them boarded the plane, and the old butler brought them inside. There were all sorts of pink decorations inside the plane, making it look very feminine.


    However, when An Sheng and Zhou Wen saw her clearly, their eyes widened.


    "What''s wrong? You''ve forgotten about me already?" The woman looked at the two of them and smiled.


    "Zhang Yuzhi¡­ You''re from the Zhang family?" Zhou Wen obviously recognized her. Back when he was heading home with An Sheng, Li Xuan, and Ah Lai, he had met this woman on the way and allowed her to hitch a ride.


    "Isn''t what you''re saying odd?. You''ve already called me Zhang Yuzhi. If I''m not from the Zhang family, would I be from your Zhou family?" Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t eloquent. He gaped his mouth, unsure of how to explain himself.


    "Sit down. The plane is about to take off," Zhang Yuzhi said as she pointed to the seat beside her.


    "What''s that?" After the plane took off, Zhou Wen looked out the window and realized that there were actually many white birds outside the window. They looked like cranes, but they were a lot bigger. Furthermore, there were quite a number of them and they flew around the plane in groups.


    On careful look, Zhou Wen realized that there was someone sitting on each crane''s back.


    "That''s the Sky Crane Companion Beast that''s unique to the Zhang family. It''s a top Epic creature. Its flight and combat abilities are very strong," An Sheng explained.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that they were experts of the Zhang family that protected Zhang Yuzhi.


    Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi with an odd look. With her status, how could she have suffered a breakdown by herself in the wilderness?


    As though reading Zhou Wen''s mind, Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile, "I had a quarrel with my family back then, so I went out alone to calm down. I never expected anything to happen. Thankfully, I met you. Otherwise, I would really have been afraid to be alone."


    "No wonder. The Zhang family originally wanted to decline us in the beginning, but they later agreed to take us along. It was because of you, right?" An Sheng said.


    Zhang Yuzhi nodded and said, "With our family and the An family''s relationship, it''s nothing much to bring you along. However, our family doesn''t want strangers to get close to me, so they were planning to reject it."


    As they were all acquaintances, and Zhou Wen and An Sheng didn''t take into account backgrounds, they chatted very happily with Zhang Yuzhi.


    After chatting for a while, the old butler walked over and said, "Miss, it''s time for you to rest."


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng found it odd. What did he mean that it was time for her to rest? Zhang Yuzhi had been sitting comfortably in her chair, not doing anything.


    Zhang Yuzhi seemed to want to stay, but the old butler repeated that it was time for her to rest. Zhang Yuzhi could only stand up and say to the two of them, "Sorry, I need to rest for a while. If you need anything, just instruct Uncle Fu."


    Although Zhou Wen and An Sheng found it odd, they weren''t that close. It wasn''t appropriate for them to say anything else as they watched Zhang Yuzhi walk through the door in the cabin ahead of them.


    Zhou Wen was curious as he wanted to see where Zhang Yuzhi was resting.


    Legend has it that passenger planes have first class cabins. Could it be that this plane has first class cabins as well? Zhou Wen activated Truth Listener''s earring, hoping to see what Zhang Yuzhi''s resting place looked like. He didn''t have any malicious intent.


    A three-dimensional layout of the plane immediately appeared in Zhou Wen''s mind. In front of the main passenger area was a separate, single cabin. Zhang Yuzhi pushed the door open and entered.


    However, when Zhou Wen saw what was happening, his expression changed slightly.


    The cabin wasn''t big, but there were many things placed there. It was decorated extremely strangely. There were many long strips of paper hung inside. Due to Truth Listener''s ability, it couldn''t see the colors or the patterns. Therefore, Zhou Wen only knew that there were long strips of paper. He wasn''t sure if there were any drawings on the strips of paper.


    However, there weren''t any lounge chairs or beds inside. Zhou Wen only saw a strange, head-sized box that was squarish at the base and round at the top.


    The box''s shape made it look like an item used by humans in funerals before the dimensional storms.


    It can''t be a coffin, right? Could it be a new massage device? As Zhou Wen thought about it, he saw that Zhang Yuzhi had already opened the lid and lay down inside the box.


    Zhou Wen could clearly see that the box didn''t have any massage equipment, making it look like a coffin no matter how he looked at it.

 454 Why Did It Take So Long?

    The more Zhou Wen looked at it, the more he realized that something was amiss. The box was likely carved from stone. There was nothing inside but a pillow. It also seemed to be made of stone. It didn''t seem comfortable to sleep inside no matter how he looked at it.


    After Zhang Yuzhi lay inside, the old butler closed the lid again. Once the lid was in place, he couldn''t hear the situation inside with Truth Listener''s ability.


    How odd. Do rich girls have such strange temperaments? She''s sleeping in a stone box instead of a high-end couch on a plane? Zhou Wen felt that it resembled a coffin no matter how he looked at it.


    Zhou Wen retracted Truth Listener''s ability. After all, it was her privacy and he did not wish to continue intruding on her.


    They did not encounter any incidents along the way. When they passed the sky above some dimensional zones, the Sky Crane team outside intimidated all the dimensional creatures, preventing them from approaching the plane.


    Even if a few dimensional creatures, who didn''t know better, attacked, they were promptly dispatched by the Sky Crane team. The plane was not damaged at all.


    When they reached the Peninsula of Gods, they didn''t see Zhang Yuzhi again. After the plane landed, the old butler led them out of the plane. An Sheng said that he wanted to bid farewell to Zhang Yuzhi, but the butler said that there was no need. They could just leave.


    "Ah Sheng, don''t you find Zhang Yuzhi a little odd?" Zhou Wen asked An Sheng after the two of them left the airport.


    "It''s far from just odd. Although the six families are in different areas, as hero families, they place the most emphasis on etiquette. This isn''t the way to treat guests." An Sheng paused before continuing, "But this is the Zhang family''s matter. It has nothing to do with us. There are still two days before the auction begins. Where do you want to go? I''ll take you around."


    "Let''s head to the nearby dimensional zones." Zhou Wen felt that he should tour the area once. If he could find the tiny palm symbols, it would be best if he could download a few instance dungeons.


    "Most of the dimensional zones on the Peninsula of Gods have owners. We are foreigners after all. It will probably be a little troublesome if we want to enter. Why don''t we take a look at the Aegean Sea? It''s a little dangerous, but there are many ownerless dimensional zones. It''s also rather interesting," An Sheng said.


    "Is it okay going out to sea like this?" Zhou Wen knew that the dimensional zones in the ocean were more terrifying than on land.


    "It''s fine. I''ve been to those places many times in the past. I''m very familiar with them." An Sheng was confident.


    "Didn''t you say that there aren''t any sprites on the Peninsula of Gods? Then what''s this? Isn''t it a Fire Sprite?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The sprites I''m talking about are those with pointy ears who look similar to humans¡ªelves. These are elemental sprites. These are two different things. I thought you wanted those beautiful elves," An Sheng said.


    "How can such an elemental sprite be obtained?" Zhou Wen asked.


    When the person with the Fire Sprite heard Zhou Wen, he smiled and said, "This is an Epic Fire Sprite from the Forging Temple. Fire Sprites are very rare. The chances of a Companion Egg dropping is even lower. I was at the Forging Temple for two and a half years before I was lucky enough to obtain this Fire Sprite. If you are interested, you can try your luck."


    "What kind of place is Forging Temple?" Zhou Wen asked when he saw how friendly the person was.


    "That''s the temple of the god of metalworking, Hephaestus. Not only are there Fire Sprites there, but there are even higher-level Fire Sprite Kings as well. However, their numbers are even rarer. Moreover, the depths of the temple are too dangerous. Young people like you shouldn''t be so overly ambitious. You should just hunt Fire Sprites on the first level of the temple. If you venture deeper, your life will be in danger," the middle-aged man with the Fire Sprite said.


    "Thank you for your guidance." Zhou Wen had some impression of Hephaestus, but he couldn''t remember the name. He only remembered that he was Zeus''s son, an artisan, and the god of metalworking.


    The reason Zhou Wen could remember him wasn''t because of him being an artisan, but because he was the husband of the goddess of love and beauty. Furthermore, he had been cuckolded.


    Apart from that, Cupid''s bow, Apollo''s chariot, and Zeus''s lightning bolt were made by him. He could be said to be an expert at creating divine artifacts.


    An Sheng seemed to know a little about the Metalwork Temples as he said to Zhou Wen, "There aren''t only fire-elemental sprites in the Metalwork Temple. There are also all sorts of metal-type and machinery-type dimensional creatures. It''s rather interesting, but that''s private property on the Peninsula of Gods. Apart from locals being able to enter with their identity cards, outsiders are forbidden from entering."


    "Young man, you''re quite knowledgeable. You''re right. Unless you''re a citizen of the Peninsula of Gods, it''s impossible for you to enter the Metalwork Temple. It looks like it''s a pity that you don''t even have the qualifications to obtain ordinary Fire Sprites." The middle-aged man proudly led his Fire Sprite away.


    "Is there really no way to enter?" Zhou Wen asked An Sheng as he was rather interested in the Metalwork Temple.


    "There''s really no way. This is a common rule set by several families on the Peninsula of Gods. Even those few families cannot break this rule. Otherwise, they will be enemies of the entire Peninsula of Gods." An Sheng spread his hands, indicating that he had no solution.


    "Even if we can''t enter, it''ll be okay to take a look outside, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    "Of course you can, but do you really plan on just taking a look?" An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen, puzzled.


    "We can take a look if it''s on the way. Taking a few photos as a memento would be nice." Zhou Wen only wanted to find the tiny palm symbol, so he had no intention of entering.


    "I never expected you to have such boring hobbies. It is on the way. It''s just a tiny detour." An Sheng continued walking forward with Zhou Wen.


    Shortly after he left, he saw white shadows flying across the sky. The passersby all stopped to look.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng looked up and saw Sky Cranes fly past them. The Sky Cranes landed in front of them as the gray-clothed members of the Zhang family got off the Sky Cranes'' backs and walked straight towards them.


    The person in the lead looked to be about twenty-eight years old. He had a dignified air, but he wasn''t too flamboyant. He looked extremely handsome.


    "Zhang Xiao, what''s the meaning of this?" An Sheng clearly recognized the leader as he frowned at him.


    Zhang Xiao said, "I''m sorry, I have something to ask the two of you."


    "What is it?" An Sheng asked.


    "Have you seen my sister, Zhang Yuzhi, after you got off the plane?" Zhang Ye asked.


    "Didn''t she get some rest on the plane? We haven''t seen her since then. What happened? Do you need our help?" An Sheng asked.


    Zhang Xiao sized up An Sheng and Zhou Wen, as though confirming that they really hadn''t seen Zhang Yuzhi. Then, he bowed slightly and said, "Thank you. If you meet my sister, Zhang Yuzhi, please inform me as soon as possible. The Zhang family will definitely thank you."


    "Alright. If we see her, we will definitely contact you immediately," said An Sheng.


    Zhang Xiao did not hesitate. After bidding farewell, he left with the Sky Crane team. He looked extremely anxious.


    "It looks like the little princess of the Zhang family is very worrying," An Sheng said with a smile.


    As the two spoke, they headed for the Metalwork Temple, but unfortunately, there was someone guarding it. Zhou Wen could only see the door from afar, so he was unable to see any tiny palm symbol at close proximity.


    Slightly disappointed, he followed An Sheng to the port. Just as they were about to rent a ship to head out to sea, they saw a person in a suit and a hat waving at them on a ship.


    "Why did it take you so long? I''ve been waiting for you for ages." The person looked up slightly and spoke to Zhou Wen and An Sheng.


    The two of them were stunned when they saw the person''s face. The person in the male outfit was Zhang Yuzhi.

 455 Water Elemental Sprite

    "Why are you still standing there in a daze? Get on board quickly. Don''t you want to go to the Aegean archipelago?" Zhang Yuzhi greeted them from the ship.


    "How did you know?" Zhou Wen and An Sheng exchanged looks in surprise.


    They had only decided to head to the Aegean archipelago after they alighted the plane. Yet, Zhang Yuzhi knew of their plans and had waited for them here. They couldn''t figure out when Zhang Yuzhi had overheard their conversation.


    "If I want to know, I''ll naturally know. The ship is about to set off. Aren''t you getting on board?" Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    "Do you know that your brother, Zhang Xiao, is looking for you?" An Sheng asked.


    "Just ignore them. If you don''t board the ship, I''ll leave on my own." Zhang Yuzhi curled her lips and was about to start the engine.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng thought for a moment and had no choice but to board the ship.


    Zhang Yuzhi was very excited. After she started the engine, she drove the boat towards the sea and shouted excitedly, "I want to conquer the entire sea."


    "How old are you? How childish," An Sheng said with a smile.


    "I like childish stuff. You''re childish too, even if you''re not convinced!" Zhang Yuzhi retorted.


    An Sheng came to Zhang Yuzhi''s side and said, "Let me drive it. There are dangers lurking in the sea. I have to take the correct route to avoid unnecessary trouble,"


    "That''s good." Zhang Yuzhi handed the task of driving the boat to An Sheng. She walked to the bow of the boat and extended her hands. She faced the wind as though she was hugging the sea.


    Once they were out in the sea, electronic devices were affected. There were all kinds of errors. Phones could be switched on, but there was no signal. Furthermore, there were also signs of hanging.


    As the sea was dangerous, Zhou Wen didn''t grind dungeons and constantly paid attention to the sea surface.


    Not long after they headed out, they suddenly heard a strange song. The three of them looked in the direction of the song. In the distance, there was a reef. A young woman was singing on it.


    However, upon closer inspection, they realized that the woman didn''t have legs. She had a fishtail. It was the legendary mermaid.


    As if sensing the gazes of the three of them, the mermaid stopped singing and plunged into the sea before disappearing.


    "A mermaid. It was actually a mermaid. We were really lucky. I heard that mermaids in the sea are extremely rare. I didn''t expect to meet one so quickly while out at sea," Zhang Yuzhi said.


    However, An Sheng said, "The mermaids are known as sirens in certain myths. It''s ominous to encounter them at sea."


    "Why?" Zhang Yuzhi was slightly taken aback as she asked in disbelief.


    Thankfully, they weren''t the sailors in myths and legends, nor were they bewitched. The journey went very smoothly. Although they saw dimensional creatures at sea, nothing attacked them.


    When Zhou Wen saw an island, An Sheng circled the boat around the island without any intention of landing on it.


    "Why aren''t we heading for that island?" Zhang Yuzhi asked curiously.


    "That''s the legendary Crete Island. You might not be familiar with this name, but you should have heard of the Palace of Minos, right? The legendary Minotaur is inside. No one who has stepped foot inside has come out alive," An Sheng said.


    The boat left the island and headed deeper into the sea. An Sheng was indeed very familiar with the area. There wasn''t any danger on their journey. When they arrived at an inconspicuous island, An Sheng steered the boat over.


    "Is this island also a dimensional zone?" Zhang Yuzhi sized up the island, but she didn''t see anything like a palace.


    The dimensional zones in the Aegean Sea typically existed in the form of a palace. Most of the god-like existences were inside the palaces.


    "Of course, the dimensional zones out at sea aren''t as obvious as the dimensional zones on land. In fact, the entire Aegean Sea is a huge dimensional zone." An Sheng jumped onto the beach and moored the boat. He continued, "There are many Water Elemental Sprites on this island. You can try your luck and get a Water Elemental Sprite Companion Egg to drop. When you enter dimensional zones in the future, you won''t have to worry about water."


    Zhou Wen and Zhang Yuzhi knew the importance of water. If they were trapped in a dimensional zone for a long period of time, they could still last for a period of time as long as there was water to drink.


    Although Zhou Wen had stored a lot of food and water inside the Chaos Bead and didn''t have to worry about a lack of water, it was especially important for the average person to have a Water Elemental Sprite Companion Beast even if it was at the Legendary stage.


    However, Water Elemental Sprites were similarly rare. They were usually only seen out at sea, but those who could go out to sea had to at least be at the Epic stage. Furthermore, they might not be able to find Water Elemental Sprites even if they went out to sea.


    The three of them headed deeper into the island. Before long, they saw a blue blob of water bouncing around on the grass like a frozen soccer ball.


    "That''s the most ordinary Water Elemental Sprite. It''s a Legendary stage dimensional creature which usually has two talent skills¡ªWater Gun and Water Ball. They can deliver long-distance attacks," An Sheng said as he pointed at the water blob.


    "It''s just a ball of water. Its attack power shouldn''t be strong, right?" Zhang Yuzhi saw that the Water Elemental Sprite was very cute, and it made her feel like pinching and hugging it.


    "Have you never seen a high-pressure water jet cutter? Are granite and steel hard enough? Water can easily cut it apart. Don''t underestimate the power of water. It will kill you," An Sheng said solemnly.


    As the trio spoke, the Water Elemental Spirit had already discovered them and was about to bounce up from the grass. In the air, it spat out a water column that sprayed towards Zhou Wen.


    The water pillar was as thick as a finger, but its speed was shockingly fast. Zhou Wen ducked and the water pillar spewed out more than ten meters, leaving a deep dent on a rock.


    Zhou Wen pulled out his Bamboo Blade and slashed at the Water Elemental Sprite. He split the Water Elemental Sprite''s body apart, but after his blade slashed, the Water Elemental Sprite''s body returned to its original state. It wasn''t injured at all.


    "Water will flow around a blade. Striking a Water Elemental Sprite''s body is useless. It has a water-elemental crystal in its body. Shatter it to kill it," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen nodded and carefully observed the Water Elemental Sprite''s body. Indeed, there was a dark-blue bead flowing within its body. He slashed with his saber and sliced the bead apart. This time, the Water Elemental Sprite shattered along with the bead and dropped a crystal.

 456 The Strange Waterfall Pool

    "Your luck is pretty good. Your first Water Elemental Sprite produced a crystal, but unfortunately, it''s not a Companion Egg," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen kept searching for Water Elemental Sprites on the island, hoping to have a Companion Egg drop. However, Zhang Yuzhi wasn''t interested in Companion Eggs. She only took photos as though she was on a tour.


    "Why is that Water Elemental Sprite a little different?" When Zhou Wen and company came to a waterfall, they saw a strange Water Elemental Sprite.


    Typical Water Elemental Sprites were blue in color and looked spherical, but in fact, they were the shape of water droplets. However, this Water Elemental Sprite was silver in color. It didn''t look like a water droplet, but a snake.


    "This should be a high-level Water Elemental Sprite. It might be an Epic creature. Be careful," An Sheng said responsibly.


    Zhou Wen was indeed very careful. He summoned stone armor and didn''t approach the silver water snake sprite. He summoned his Overlord Sword and slashed at it from afar.


    The water snake didn''t dodge. It opened its mouth and spewed out silver water. However, the water that it spewed out was somewhat strange. It was actually in the shape of a venomous fang.


    A sword beam slashed across, shattering the water snake''s venomous fangs. The sword beam continued to slash at it.


    When the silver water snake saw that something was amiss, it turned around and slipped into the pool beneath the waterfall. Its body resembled water to begin with, so once it entered the pool, it immediately vanished. It was impossible to tell its location with the naked eye.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had Truth Listener. The Truth Listener earring''s ability ignored color, so he immediately saw the silver water snake in the pool. When Zhou Wen chased after it, he sent a sword beam into the pool.


    Boom!


    The water surface was parted by the spinning sword beam, slicing apart the silver water snake''s body. Even the water-elemental crystal in its body was shattered.


    A silver crystal-shaped Companion Egg dropped and sank to the bottom of the pool.


    A Companion Egg dropped? Zhou Wen stood by the pool and observed for a while. When he saw that there were no signs of other dimensional creatures in the pool, he jumped in and dived towards the bottom.


    Zhou Wen reached out to pick up the Companion Egg. Just as he was about to float up, he suddenly felt a tremendous suction force at the bottom of the pool. It caused his body to instantly sink as though a toilet whirlpool was sucking at him.


    Splash!


    Zhou Wen was flushed down with the flow of water and discovered that there was a huge space beneath the pool. Beneath it was churning seawater.


    Zhou Wen looked up, but he didn''t find the cave entrance that he had washed down from. There were black rocks above his head without any gaps.


    As for the destination of the underground seawater flow, there was a light that seemed to be the exit of a tunnel.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to follow the flow of the water as he headed for the exit. As long as he could get out, it wouldn''t be difficult for him to circle back to the pool again.


    Soon, Zhou Wen rushed out with the flow of water. When he exited, he realized that he was at the waterfall''s entrance.


    After Zhou Wen came out of the waterfall, he directly floated in the air, alarmed by what he saw.


    No matter how he looked at the waterfall and the pool below, it looked like the one he had fallen into. However, he had clearly fallen into the pool of water beneath, so why would he come out of the waterfall from above?


    Zhou Wen carefully observed his surroundings. Indeed, the environment was identical. It was the pool that he had fallen into, but there was no sign of An Sheng or Zhang Yuzhi.


    Don''t tell me they went into the pool to look for me? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he flew higher, hoping to confirm that they were still on the island.


    As he flew into the air, he managed to take in the entirety of the small island.


    The extremely beautiful island was filled with green grass and flowing water.


    However, when Zhou Wen''s gaze landed on a spot, his pupils constricted abruptly. There was an apple tree growing on a grass slope.


    There was only one apple on the huge apple tree, but that apple was somewhat unusual. It was as though it was made of gold and emitted a resplendent glow.


    Under the apple tree, there was a black lizard sleeping. The lizard was even bigger than an elephant.


    Soon, because lizards didn''t have wings, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn''t a lizard but a legendary West District dragon. On the dragon''s back were two fleshy wings.


    Gold apple¡­ Dragon¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled.


    This was a little similar to the myths that Zhou Wen had read. Legend had it that the human hero, Peleus, married a sea-nymph. They had invited all the gods to their wedding but chose not to invite the goddess, Eris. Unhappy about this, she produced a golden apple at the wedding and tossed it into the feast of the gods. On it were the words "to the most beautiful."


    In the end, Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite entered a dispute for the golden apple. This eventually led to a human war.


    Legend had it that the golden apple tree was in a holy garden, guarded by a hundred-headed dragon, but that was only a legend. This place didn''t look like a holy garden.


    The black dragon under the golden apple tree didn''t look like it had a hundred heads¡ªit only had one.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what the golden apple was for, nor did he wish to snatch it, lest he alarm the black dragon. Although it might not be a hundred-headed dragon, the dragon itself was a Mythical creature of legend. Zhou Wen didn''t wish to take the risk.


    However, what puzzled Zhou Wen was that before they had come onto the island, they hadn''t seen the golden apple tree or the dragon. Why did these things suddenly appear?


    Zhou Wen checked the entire island, but he didn''t find An Sheng and Zhang Yuzhi. The strangest thing was that even the boat that they had moored on the beach had vanished.


    Could it be that this isn''t the island from before? It just looks a little similar. When I passed through the hole beneath the pool, I arrived somewhere else? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he found it possible.


    Splash! Splash!


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, he heard two splashes. It was as though a stone had dropped into a pool of water. He turned his head and saw An Sheng and Zhang Yuzhi fall from the waterfall and fall into the pond, stirring up a huge splash.


    They were fine and quickly crawled out of the pool, but Zhou Wen felt something amiss. He turned to look at the black dragon under the apple tree. Indeed, it had awoken from its slumber. It slowly got up and looked towards the waterfall.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing up there?" Zhang Yuzhi shouted at Zhou Wen when she saw him in midair.

 457 Apple-Plucking Plan

    Zhang Yuzhi''s voice woke up the black dragon. It raised its head and pricked up its ears, staring straight at the waterfall.


    Zhou Wen knew that they couldn''t see the distant giant dragon or the golden apple tree, so he hurriedly gestured for them to stay silent. He also descended and pulled them into the cave.


    Boom!


    The three of them had just entered the cave when the black dragon streaked across the sky like a black bolt of lightning. It landed beside the pool as it swept its eyes around as though it was looking for something.


    After circling the pond a few times and finding nothing, it slowly returned to the apple tree.


    The three people, who had held their breath in the waterfall cave, finally dared to breathe.


    "Strange. I''ve come to this island many times. There are only some Water-Elemental Sprites. Why would there be an additional dragon?" An Sheng said with a frown.


    "It''s not just that." Zhou Wen recounted his discovery and speculation.


    Zhang Yuzhi''s eyes lit up when she heard that. "In other words, we aren''t on the original island. When we passed the tunnel beneath the pool, we entered another space. This is a dimensional zone that hasn''t been discovered. There''s a gigantic dragon here and a golden apple? Is that really the golden Apple of Discord from the legends?"


    "How would I know?" Zhou Wen shook his head.


    An Sheng said, "No Mythical creature is to be trifled with. Even if it''s a weaker existence in myths and legends, it''s not something we can deal with. Don''t even have thoughts on the golden apple. Let''s swim back from the waterfall tunnel and take a look. It''s best if we can go back. If we can''t return, we can try entering the pool again. Perhaps we''ll be sucked in once again and be able to leave this place."


    Zhou Wen agreed since he didn''t wish to take the risk. Although Zhang Yuzhi was very interested in the golden apple from the fairytale legend, she could only leave with the two of them.


    They soon realized something terrifying. There was no way back at the end of the waterfall. Furthermore, after they entered the pool, there was no strange suction force at the bottom.


    After leaving the pool, the three of them returned to the cave. Zhang Yuzhi thought for a moment and said, "I remember hearing from my elders that one can only leave certain dimensional zones by obtaining a special item after entry. Otherwise, they won''t be able to leave and they will die inside."


    "From the looks of it, this dimensional zone should be the death zone you''re talking about. After you enter, either you die or the dimensional creature dies. There''s no third option," An Sheng said.


    Zhang Yuzhi thought for a moment before saying, "If we leave this island, will we be able to leave this dimensional zone?"


    "That means we''re really trapped here. This island isn''t big either. I reckon that the black dragon or the golden apple is the dimensional zone''s special item. Killing the dragon or obtaining the golden apple is the only way of exiting," Zhang Yuzhi said excitedly, "If we kill that dragon, will we become the first dragon slayers in human history?"


    "If you aren''t afraid of becoming dragon feces, you can give it a try." Zhou Wen was rather inclined to think of a way to obtain the golden apple.


    The chance of dying when fighting a Mythical creature was too high, but plucking the apple didn''t necessarily mean fighting the dragon. They had quite a number of Companion Beasts that they could use to lure the black dragon away before plucking the golden apple. It was likely a much safer option.


    An Sheng agreed with Zhou Wen''s idea. "Yuzhi, stay here. Zhou Wen and I will give it a try and see if we can lure the dragon away and pluck the golden apple."


    "Why am I staying?" Zhang Yuzhi was puzzled.


    "Because the two of us are going to be apple-stealing thieves. If the two of us fail, it will be your turn to be the dragon-slaying heroine," An Sheng said.


    "That''s right. I can''t do such covert work." Zhang Yuzhi nodded.


    After An Sheng asked Zhou Wen about the location and details of the golden apple tree, he sneaked out of the waterfall cave with him.


    "I have a Essence Energy Skill that converges my aura. I likely won''t be discovered by the dragon even if I approach it. When I get close, I''ll summon a Companion Beast to see how strong the dragon is," An Sheng said to Zhou Wen before he crept forward.


    Zhou Wen saw him silently proceed forward like a snake. If he couldn''t see him with his naked eyes, he wouldn''t have been able to sense his existence. He couldn''t help but admire An Sheng for being a wily old fox. His abilities were much more multifaceted than his.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have any similar Essence Energy Skills and couldn''t guarantee that he wouldn''t be discovered by the dragon, so he didn''t approach. He found a relatively high spot nearby and looked at the golden apple tree and the black dragon from afar.


    Not long after, An Sheng arrived less than a thousand meters away from the golden apple tree. He pressed himself against the ground, and the armor on his body automatically changed color, making him almost fuse with the grass.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw him summon a leopard-like Companion Beast that charged in the direction of the golden apple tree as it roared.


    The black dragon hadn''t slept. It immediately stood up and saw the leopard-like Companion Beast. It flapped its wings and a black bolt of lightning streaked across the sky.


    The leopard was no match for it at all. Just as it spewed out a ball of flames, it was swallowed by the black dragon.


    What fast speed! Zhou Wen was alarmed. The dragon''s speed was almost on par with the wolf-like, tiger-like Mythical creature in the temple.


    Although it was still slightly weaker, its speed was not something Epic humans could contend with.


    The leopard was an Epic creature, but it hadn''t managed to put up any resistance in front of the black dragon.


    An Sheng lay motionless on the grass. After the dragon devoured the leopard Companion Beast, it roared violently and shuttled back and forth across the island like lightning, as though it was searching for other intruders.


    Zhou Wen was also lying in the grass, motionless. A few times, the black dragon flew close to him, making him feel his heart in his throat. This wasn''t a game. If he was discovered by the black dragon, there was a high chance of death.


    The black dragon finally quietened down and returned to the golden apple tree. After quite some time, it seemed to be exhausted. When it lay under the tree to rest, An Sheng silently retreated. He gave Zhou Wen a look and the two of them slowly retreated to the side of the waterfall.


    The sound of the waterfall could conceal their voices. Even if they made any movements here, it was unlikely to attract the dragon''s attention.


    "This island is too small. With the speed of that black dragon, no matter where we lure it to, it can immediately return to the apple tree. From the looks of it, luring it away won''t work," An Sheng said after returning to the cave.

 458 Fighting the Dragon

    To lure it away, it had to be taken sufficiently far away. If they were to approach the golden apple tree now, they would be killed by the dragon when it rushed back. This plan was clearly useless.


    "What do you think?" An Sheng asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, "We definitely can''t fight it head-on. The chances of death are too high. We must think of other solutions."


    After a pause, Zhou Wen continued, "I do have an idea. If I can hold back the black dragon for a few seconds, do you have the confidence to pluck the golden apple?"


    "How long can you last?" An Sheng asked after some thought.


    "At most ten seconds and at least five seconds. However, before that, I need to use a Companion Beast to confirm it again before I can determine the exact amount of time," Zhou Wen said after serious consideration.


    "If you can hold it back for six seconds, I can pluck the golden apple and return," An Sheng said after careful observation.


    "Then let''s give it a try." Zhou Wen planned on first figuring out the black dragon''s powers.


    "I still have quite a number of Companion Beasts on me. Let''s give it a few more tries and get a good understanding of the black dragon''s abilities before attacking it," An Sheng said.


    "Can I do something?" Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    "Please cheer us on over here," An Sheng said to her.


    "Alright, I''ll cheer you on." Zhang Yuzhi didn''t plan on really being a dragon-slaying heroine. Furthermore, she was only at the Legendary stage, inferior to Zhou Wen and An Sheng. She had only been joking.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng left the cave once again and found a hidden spot to summon their Companion Beasts. They left them in different locations. After making arrangements, the Companion Beasts attacked the black dragon from different locations.


    An Sheng had countless Companion Beasts, and Zhou Wen had quite a number as well. However, their Companion Beasts were basically useless. None of them survived.


    Zhou Wen used the Blood Threadworms to secretly drill into the black dragon''s body, but the moment the Blood Threadworms entered its skin, they automatically died.


    There was also the Epic Poison Bat. After flying over, it was swallowed by the black dragon.


    The two of them sacrificed at least thirty Companion Beasts. None of them could last five seconds in front of the black dragon, making them fully realize the horror of the black dragon.


    Of course, this was also because the two of them weren''t willing to use their beloved Companion Beasts. They only released cannon fodder Companion Beasts.


    However, the different kinds of attacks the Companion Beasts delivered made the black dragon use some of its abilities, allowing Zhou Wen and An Sheng to gain a better understanding of the black dragon.


    "Seven seconds." Zhou Wen carefully did the calculations mentally. He included all his various abilities and finally gave such a conservative number.


    "Enough. Let''s draw up our plan first. I''ll hide near the apple tree. My limit should be within 500 meters. Then, you can use your Companion Beast to lure it away and think of a way to hold it back for seven seconds. Leave the rest to me," An Sheng explained, as he drew a picture on the ground to show the entire plan clearly.


    "Remember, we only have one chance. If we fail, we will die," An Sheng said to Zhou Wen when he was prepared to leave the cave.


    "Got it." Zhou Wen nodded solemnly.


    The two of them left the cave. Following the plan, An Sheng stealthily approached the apple tree. His ability to converge his aura and his concealment were amazing. Zhou Wen watched as An Sheng proceeded and couldn''t distinguish the difference between him and the grass.


    The closer An Sheng came to the black dragon, the slower he became. He was almost acting in slow motion.


    A few hours later, An Sheng was almost 400 meters away from the apple tree when the black dragon''s ears suddenly twitched.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng''s hearts were in their throats as An Sheng lay there motionless. Zhou Wen''s heart pounded as he forgot to even breathe.


    After quite some time, the black dragon''s ears drooped again. Only then did Zhou Wen feel a little better.


    However, An Sheng was extremely bold. He continued moving forward another twenty to thirty meters, making Zhou Wen''s heart skip a beat.


    Zhou Wen knew the danger that An Sheng faced grew with every centimeter he approached the black dragon. He had originally planned on stopping 500 meters from the apple tree, but now, he was already within 400 meters. This was An Sheng taking on risk to lower the danger Zhou Wen would face.


    The closer he was to the apple tree, the faster he could reach the golden apple, making the black dragon turn around to chase after him. This would reduce Zhou Wen''s risk.


    Finally, An Sheng made the designated gesture. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and knew that it was time for him to appear.


    After he retreated to the edge of the island, Zhou Wen summoned his Companion Beast and prepared himself. Finally, he roared, "Big Lizard, I''m here. Come over and eat me."


    The black dragon, who had been resting under the golden apple tree, immediately pricked up its ears when it heard Zhou Wen''s shout. It stood up and, after confirming his location, it flapped its wings and instantly tore through the sky, rushing towards Zhou Wen.


    Black lightning streaked across the sky, instantly occupying Zhou Wen''s vision.


    Zhou Wen summoned a row of Golden Warriors to form a blockade in front of the black dragon. These were originally food meant for Tyrant Behemoth, but with Tyrant Behemoth directly eating the Essence Crystals, they were useless now.


    The black figure charged over like a bolt of lightning as the Golden Warriors were sent flying everywhere. Zhou Wen held Bamboo Blade and Overlord Sword in each hand as he slashed out with both saber and sword. The Demonic Astral Wheel and Fangwheel Sword Flash crisscrossed and slashed at the black dragon''s head.


    A black beam shot out of the black dragon''s eyes, blasting apart the Demonic Astral Wheel and Fangwheel Sword Flash. However, it didn''t stop charging at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen activated Ghost Steps and instantly moved more than ten meters away. At the same time, he counted inwardly. One second¡­


    On the other side, An Sheng had already charged at the golden apple tree like a ghost. His speed was equally terrifying.


    The black dragon was much faster than Zhou Wen''s Ghost Steps. It extended its wings and its huge body nimbly drew an L-shaped mark in the air before catching up to him. It spat out a large amount of black poison smoke that swept towards Zhou Wen like a flood.

 459 Seven-Second Battle

    A purple bell appeared in Zhou Wen''s hand as he waved it at the black dragon. The billowing black smoke was sucked into the bell.


    The black dragon was somewhat taken aback, but it immediately charged towards Zhou Wen with its mouth agape, hoping to devour him.


    Zhou Wen waved the bell in his hand. As black poison smoke spewed out from the bell, he redirected it to the black dragon. At the same time, he used Ghost Steps to rapidly move away.


    Two seconds! Zhou Wen counted inwardly.


    The black dragon entered the poisonous smoke and temporarily lost its vision. In its rage, it let out a roar that sounded like a thunderclap. The shockwave scattered the poisonous smoke and didn''t stop. The shockwave continued rushing towards Zhou Wen''s body.


    The roar was an area-of-effect attack. There was no place for him to dodge. Zhou Wen could only fend off the strike and activate the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul while using the Demon Dragon True Body. When he was done, the shockwave had already arrived in front of him.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen raised his fists to defend himself. He was thrown back by the force from the shockwave, his legs plowing deep marks that were dozens of meters long.


    The black dragon seemed to sense something and stopped pursuing Zhou Wen. It turned around and attempted to charge back.


    Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng had entered the range of the golden apple tree and had attracted the black dragon''s attention. It was returning to protect the golden apple.


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn''t let it leave, otherwise, An Sheng''s life would be in danger. Seeing that the black dragon was about to fly away, a purple beam flew over from the side and struck the black dragon''s wings.


    The purple light was a short purple-copper ancient sword. The black dragon''s scaly wing was sliced open by the purple-copper ancient sword.


    Well done. Zhou Wen saw the Demonic Neonate expressionlessly hiding in the grass with the scabbard in her arms. After the ancient sword injured the black dragon, it flew towards the grass.


    Roar! The dragon roared angrily. It had never suffered such damage before. Its wings had been injured, so it didn''t rush back in rage. It transformed into lightning and charged at Zhou Wen, planning to devour him first before returning to protect the golden apple.


    The black dragon was so fast that its massive figure couldn''t be seen. Only a black lightning bolt was seen crossing the void. It was unbelievably fast.


    However, Zhou Wen was already used to such speeds. He grinded the Mythical creature every day. Although the snake was slightly slower than the black dragon, it wasn''t that much slower. As for the other Mythical creature, it was faster than the black dragon.


    Zhou Wen remained calm as he charged into the sea with a burst of terrifying speed with his Demon Dragon True Body.


    Seeing Zhou Wen rush into the water, the black dragon hesitated for a moment and chose not to chase after him. It looked like it was about to turn around and return to the golden apple tree.


    Three seconds! As Zhou Wen counted, he tore out of the water surface and switched back to Slaughterer. He held the banana fan and fanned the black dragon three times.


    The three Grand Yin Winds stirred up huge waves as they swept towards the black dragon in the sky. One wave after another struck its body, while the Demonic Neonate hid and sent the ancient sword for another attack. They attacked the black dragon one after another.


    The black dragon had been injured by the ancient sword, so when it saw the purple beam flying towards it and the waves rushing towards it, its ferocity was triggered. The black gas around it surged as its body emitted a metallic sheen. Another two pairs of wings appeared on its back, turning it into a black six-winged dragon. Black flames burned on its body as its six wings flapped. The black flames erupted like a volcano, blocking the Grand Yin Wind as the ancient sword was sent flying.


    The black six-winged dragon, that looked like devilish, burned with black flames in its eyes as though it had come from a devilish abyss. It suddenly swooped down and its speed increased once again. It had reached an unbelievable level that Zhou Wen couldn''t even react in time.


    They didn''t manage to force the dragon to produce such change in their previous probes, but Zhou Wen had been prepared for accidents. He was mentally prepared.


    At the instant the black six-winged dragon charged into the sea, Zhou Wen had used the Lost Country to teleport away.


    Boom!


    The surface of the sea exploded with waves reaching several hundred feet high. The gigantic black six-winged dragon charged into the sea. Its black flames remained burning in the sea, completely unaffected by the seawater. Instead, large amounts of seawater evaporated.


    Lost Country''s teleportation had a limited distance range. After Zhou Wen teleported, he was sent flying by the shockwave from the black six-winged dragon''s charge into the water. Blood oozed out of his ears, eyes, mouth, and nose, and his bones almost seemed like crumbling.


    When the black six-winged dragon discovered Zhou Wen, it immediately charged over. It remained very fast, but it wasn''t as indiscernible as before. Clearly, the water''s resistance had created quite a problem for it. Behind it was surging white foam, a result from the flapping of its three pairs of wings.


    Zhou Wen knew that the more bubbles there were, the greater the resistance it experienced. Immediately, he switched back to the Inverse Ancient Sovereign state. The Demon Dragon True Body worked with the Nine Dragons Art as he constantly darted about in the water, dodging the attacks of the black six-winged dragon.


    Four seconds! Zhou Wen felt like it was an eternity. The Demon Dragon True Body had greatly increased his expenditure of Essence Energy, but in such a battle, it was impossible for him to switch back. If he slowed down, he would definitely be devoured by the black six-winged dragon.


    After failing to catch up to Zhou Wen several times, the black six-winged dragon once again flew into a rage. The scales on its body stood up as though it was an angry fowl. Suddenly, the scales bloomed like lotus flowers.


    Countless scales flew in all directions and sliced through the seawater, instantly appearing in front of Zhou Wen.


    There were just too many scales. With nowhere to dodge, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as he gripped the Overlord Sword and Bamboo Blade and forcefully slashed down.


    The Overlord Sword and Bamboo Blade slashed at the scales of light. With the strength of the Demon Dragon True Body, he managed to shatter the two scales in front of them. However, the scales behind them bombarded him like artillery.


    Zhou Wen tried his best to brandish his blades to block, but he was still unable to do so. Scales of light streaked across his body and immediately sliced through the Mutated Stone Chi''s armor. They even sliced through the flesh and bones inside as blood instantly dyed the seawater red.


    Zhou Wen flew backward, leaving a long pool of blood in the sea like a blood dragon.


    Five seconds! The Demon Dragon True Body automatically lost its effect. Zhou Wen could only switch back to Slaughterer. Although his Essence Energy instantly recovered, his injuries remained.


    And he didn''t have the chance to switch back to Demon Dragon True Body. This was because the black six-winged dragon had already torn through the seawater and charged forward like a primordial beast. If Zhou Wen switched back to the Inverse Ancient Sovereign and used the Demon Dragon True Body, his body would stiffen for an instant. It would be enough time for the black six-winged dragon to kill him several hundred times.


    Forcefully activating Sigh of the King, a powerful force filled his body, but it also made his injured body feel even more painful.


    Without fighting the black six-winged dragon, Zhou Wen used all his strength to rush out of the sea like a cannonball with Ghost Steps. He continued in midair and headed for the beach.


    The Sigh of the King lasted for a limited period of time. Zhou Wen''s body couldn''t withstand such immense strength. It wouldn''t be enough time to kill a Mythical creature in battle. If the Mythical creature didn''t die, he would explode to his death.


    The black six-winged dragon charged after him. Its speed immediately soared in midair. Despite Zhou Wen using the Sigh of the King, the gap between them rapidly shrank.


    The dragon roar sounded from behind. Zhou Wen could already hear the terrifying shockwave surge behind him.


    Zhou Wen held the Overlord Sword and slashed out with the Demonic Astral Wheel. With the augmentation of the Sigh of the King, the blood-red sword beam sliced through the shockwave and struck the black six-winged dragon''s head.


    The black six-winged dragon flapped its wings and dodged it. Even it felt apprehensive fending off the Demonic Astral Wheel that was augmented by the Sigh of the King. It didn''t use its body to withstand the blow like before.


    After dodging the Demonic Astral Wheel, the black six-winged dragon engaged in pursuit. However, to its surprise, the Demonic Astral Wheel spun back and struck the wings on its back. Immediately, a hole tore open on its wings as dragon blood immediately gushed out.


    With Ever-Victorious cooperating with the Sigh of the King, even the black six-winged dragon couldn''t remain uninjured.


    However, such a wound was nothing to the black six-winged dragon. It only served to make it crazier as it chased after Zhou Wen like a lunatic.


    Six seconds! Zhou Wen continued counting.


    Suddenly, a loud shriek sounded from the golden apple tree. Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng had succeeded. This was the signal he had succeeded.


    Zhou Wen desperately tried to escape, but the black six-winged dragon closed in.


    Zhou Wen held the banana fan in his hand and fanned at the black six-winged dragon, but all he could do was slow it down.


    In the darkness, the Demonic Neonate controlled the ancient sword to stab at the black six-winged dragon, but this time, it didn''t dodge and continued pursuing Zhou Wen crazily.


    The ancient sword stabbed into its neck, and the blade fully sank into its flesh. However, the black six-winged dragon seemed to have lost all feeling as it continued the chase.


    As for Zhou Wen''s body, he couldn''t withstand the power of the Sigh of the King. His bones nearly shattered from the pressure, and his eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and wounds kept spurting out blood.


    Damn it! Zhou Wen realized that he couldn''t escape the berserk black six-winged dragon.


    I''m going to risk it! Zhou Wen gritted his teeth. He knew that he was really going all out this time as a desperate measure. Otherwise, he would definitely die today.


    An Sheng grabbed the golden apple and rushed over frantically, but he was too far away. It was too late.


    The enraged black six-winged dragon chased after Zhou Wen when he suddenly stopped. He held the sword and saber in each hand. He unleashed the Sigh of the King''s powers completely, ignoring the possibility of blasting apart his body. He slashed his saber and sword at the black six-winged dragon.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal produced sword flashes and saber flashes that constantly flashed, transforming into streams of light that streaked across the black six-winged dragon''s body.


    The black six-winged dragon roared at the sky as its six wings flapped crazily and blocked Zhou Wen''s blade beams like a devilish blade.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen''s body flew out like a pellet and slammed into the mountain wall a thousand meters away. He left a huge hole in the wall as half the mountain wall shattered and collapsed.


    On the other side, four of the six wings of the black dragon had been severed. One and a half wings remained attached to its back¡ªonly one was intact.

 460 The Death of the Black Six-Winged Dragon

    Zhou Wen felt as though all his bones were fractured and his organs were bleeding. He failed to stand up despite struggling a few times.


    The black six-winged dragon stared at Zhou Wen, its eyes filled with anger and killing intent. In the next second, it opened its mouth and spewed out devilish flames that resembled a volcanic eruption. The flames could destroy everything. Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen was heavily injured and unable to resist, even if he wasn''t injured, it wasn''t likely that he could withstand this blow.


    Zhou Wen could only watch as the demonic flames spewed out as he remained powerless to resist them.


    An Sheng was still about a thousand meters away from Zhou Wen. He had a solemn expression as he placed the golden apple on the ground. Essence Energy erupted from his body as he made a strange pose with his hands as a glow coruscated between his brows.


    At that instant, An Sheng''s figure blurred as though he had turned into a phantom. However, that was only an instant. Soon, his figure became corporeal again, but he wasn''t An Sheng. He had turned into the heavily injured Zhou Wen.


    An Sheng appeared where Zhou Wen previously was.


    Boom!


    The black six-winged dragon''s terrifying demonic flames struck An Sheng. Even the mountain wall behind him was torn apart. Large swaths of the mountain walls cracked and dust scattered.


    "Ah Sheng!" Zhou Wen was alarmed as he struggled to stand up, but he repeatedly fell to the ground.


    The dust dissipated and An Sheng''s body was covered in blood. His armor had also shattered. He pressed his hands on the ground and wobbly stood up.


    The raging black six-winged dragon opened its mouth to spew another mouthful of flames. Zhou Wen didn''t have any combat strength, and An Sheng''s situation wasn''t any better. All he could do was grit his teeth and summon Banana Fairy, allowing her to use Great Yin Wind at the black six-winged dragon.


    The black six-winged dragon felt the Grand Yin Wind and turned its head to spit out a mouthful of demonic flames. It collided with the Grand Yin Wind and immediately scattered it. Banana Fairy was tossed in the air and was thrown far away, like a leaf dancing in the wind.


    The black six-winged dragon also turned its head and looked at Zhou Wen. Finally, its gaze locked onto Zhou Wen. Its eyes were filled with bone-chilling hatred as it dragged its broken wings and, step by step, walked towards Zhou Wen. It looked like it wanted to devour him to dispel the hatred in its heart.


    An Sheng summoned a bow and shot arrows at the six-winged dragon, but it ignored him. The arrows stabbed deep into the wound on its back.


    Ignoring everything, the black six-winged dragon continued walking towards Zhou Wen as though there was nothing else in its eyes other than Zhou Wen.


    "Gold apple, throw away the gold apple," An Sheng shouted at Zhou Wen.


    From the looks of it, there''s no escape for me today. I should have known not to enter dimensional zones in real life. Every time I enter a dimensional zone in real life, something bad happens. Could it be that I''m unlucky and there''s something the dimensional zones have against me? Zhou Wen thought in a self-deprecating manner.


    An Sheng kept attacking the black six-winged dragon to attract its attention, but it ignored his attacks because it hated Zhou Wen to the core. Although An Sheng''s attacks injured the black six-winged dragon''s body, he was unable to seriously injure it.


    Roar! The black six-winged dragon had already rushed in front of Zhou Wen and was about to devour him.


    Zhou Wen''s mind raced, but he couldn''t think of a solution. An Sheng summoned a sword and leaped onto the black six-winged dragon''s back. He stabbed into its wound, but the black six-winged dragon didn''t seem to notice. The killing intent in its eyes burned intensely. It didn''t spew out any demonic flames. Only by gnawing on his bones and chewing on his flesh could it fully vent its anger.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to be devoured, a figure appeared in front of him, blocking the mouth of the black six-winged dragon.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but cry out when he saw that Zhang Yuzhi was blocking him.


    Zhang Yuzhi stood in front of Zhou Wen, but she had no intention of retreating. She clasped her hands together and placed them on her chest as she looked at the black six-winged dragon in a pleading manner. "I beg you, don''t hurt him, alright?"


    "What''s the point of begging it? Move away quickly!" Zhou Wen thought to himself, Isn''t this courting death? Your tiny figure is only a snack for the black six-winged dragon. You''ll be devoured in a mouthful.


    However, to Zhou Wen''s surprise, the black six-winged dragon didn''t bite down at all. It looked at Zhang Yuzhi with some hesitation.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng looked at Zhang Yuzhi in shock. An Sheng also stopped driving his sword deeper, afraid that he would anger the black six-winged dragon.


    Zhang Yuzhi approached the black six-winged dragon and pressed her hand against its face. She gently said, "Please don''t be angry anymore, alright?"


    The black six-winged dragon stared at Zhang Yuzhi as it let out a low whimper. It seemed to be about to fly into a rage and devour Zhang Yuzhi who was right by its mouth. However, it didn''t move. It seemed to be hesitant.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, a blood-red light burst out from the black six-winged dragon''s chest. Blood spewed out like a fountain, bringing with it a purple beam of light. It was the Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword.


    The black six-winged dragon had ignored the ancient sword when it stabbed into its neck. However, at some point in time, the ancient sword had pierced its body and entered its heart. At this moment, it broke through its heart and heavily injured the black six-winged dragon.


    Boom!


    The black six-winged dragon''s demonic flames erupted as terrifying power instantly reduced the entire area to ruins. An Sheng''s first reaction was to flash in front of Zhou Wen and raise a shield to block the terrifying demonic flames.


    The shield instantly shattered and turned to ash. An Sheng held Zhou Wen with one hand and pressed his other hand on the ground. Together with Zhou Wen, they instantly vanished into the ground.


    However, the terrifying force reduced the ground to dust. Zhou Wen felt An Sheng heavily slam into him before the two of them flew out. In the next second, he felt a large amount of cold seawater surge in.


    When the terrifying demonic flames stopped, half the island had been destroyed, forming a crater a thousand meters in diameter. The seawater gushed in and Zhou Wen and An Sheng barely floated up. Banana Fairy had pulled them out of the sea.


    The two of them were almost half-dead. Their gazes landed on the spot where the black six-winged dragon was. Only the spot it stood on wasn''t destroyed. It stood in the middle of the crater like a stone pillar, staring at Zhang Yuzhi with a strange look in its eyes.


    Zhang Yuzhi was so close to the black six-winged dragon, but she didn''t suffer any damage. From her appearance, it was likely that despite the black six-winged dragon unleashing its power in that situation, it still avoided her.


    "I''m sorry¡­ I''m sorry¡­" Zhang Yuzhi hugged the black six-winged dragon''s chin and cried.


    Boom!


    The black six-winged dragon collapsed to the ground. The vitality in its body gradually dissipated, but it didn''t close its eyes. It stared at Zhang Yuzhi as though puzzled. There was also sorrow, anger, and indescribable complexity in its eyes.


    Banana Fairy tried her best to pull Zhou Wen and An Sheng to the platform. Both of them were covered in injuries, but after being washed by the seawater, there wasn''t much blood on their bodies. They fell to the ground without the strength to even sit up as their bodies ached terribly.

 461 Gods Arrival

    Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi, who was crying in front of the black six-winged dragon''s corpse. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly saw a golden beam rise from the seawater.


    A golden apple floated out of the water amidst the pillar of light and slowly rose into the air.


    The golden apple was clearly the one Zhou Wen had thrown out. At that moment, it seemed to be alive. It floated in the air and emitted a resplendent divine light.


    A golden beam of light descended from the sky like a god. That figure seemed to be condensed from golden light as a terrifying pressure descended. It was like a sea of death, as though it was a supreme existence in the world.


    The golden light descended from the golden beam, stopping only when it reached the golden apple. It reached out and grabbed the golden apple.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen and company heard the indescribable divine voice in their minds. "Human, you have completed the trials of my race in the human world. Leave your names behind. You will receive the rewards my race will bestow."


    "I don''t want it." Zhang Yuzhi shook her head and said, the tears on her face still remaining.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng exchanged looks before An Sheng nodded at Zhou Wen. After some thought, he said to the golden light, "Poison."


    Boom!


    Once Zhou Wen said that, the entire island trembled as though the universe''s birth was repeating as the time passed. The destroyed island rapidly recovered under the golden glow.


    The seawater retreated and the ground returned to normal. The rocks flew back and the grass sprouted again. A golden apple tree formed a golden apple.


    Under the golden apple tree, a black dragon appeared. It looked very similar to the one Zhou Wen and company had killed, but there were some differences.


    As for the black six-winged dragon corpse that Zhou Wen and company had killed, it gradually disintegrated and vanished, only leaving behind a dimensional crystal.


    There was an additional item under the apple tree. It was a golden monolith. On the top of the monument was the word: "Poison." There was nothing below.


    "I''ll bestow you a golden apple in the name of the gods." The golden light held the golden apple as the apple shimmered. Moments later, the golden light gradually faded as the luster on the golden apple converged before slowly flying towards Zhou Wen.


    When the golden light and beam vanished, the golden apple landed in Zhou Wen''s hand. Although it was still the golden apple, Zhou Wen felt that it was somewhat different.


    "How do we get out?" Zhou Wen couldn''t help but ask when he saw the golden light vanish.


    "Let''s try retracing our steps," An Sheng said.


    "Let''s go." Zhou Wen helped Zhang Yuzhi up and picked up the dimensional crystal that the black six-winged dragon left behind.


    The trio once again arrived at the pool. This time, the pool directly sucked them in. When they came out of the waterfall again, they realized that they had returned to the original island. Their boat was moored on the beach and the distant islands could be vaguely seen.


    "Do we still head for the other dimensional zones?" An Sheng asked Zhou Wen.


    "Our injuries are so heavy. I don''t know when we will recover. Why would we go?" Zhou Wen felt certain that the dimensional zones in real life had a vendetta with him. It was best if he didn''t head to any dimensional zones in reality.


    The trio boarded the boat. Zhou Wen and An Sheng were seriously injured, so it wasn''t appropriate for them to move around. Zhang Yuzhi drove the boat while An Sheng was in charge of directing her as they returned in the same way towards the Peninsula of Gods.


    "We have a total of two spoils of war. The golden apple and black six-winged dragons'' Essence Energy Skill Crystal. Yuzhi, choose one." Zhou Wen placed the two items in front of Zhang Yuzhi.


    If it wasn''t for Zhang Yuzhi, he might have already died. He wouldn''t have been able to hold on until the Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword tore out of its heart. Zhang Yuzhi really deserved it.


    "There''s no need. I don''t want to see anything related to it." Zhang Yuzhi shook her head.


    "Are you alright?" Zhou Wen asked Zhang Yuzhi.


    Zhang Yuzhi''s condition was clearly odd. She seemed completely heartbroken over a dimensional creature. Furthermore, despite the black six-winged dragon being in such a rage, its final strike didn''t injure her. It was clearly a little odd.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the Essence Energy Art which Zhang Yuzhi might have cultivated had something to do with her Life Providence. Zhou Wen had previously heard that some Life Providences could communicate with dimensional creatures, but Zhang Yuzhi''s ability was clearly not as simple as communication.


    "I''m fine. I''ll get used to it." Zhang Yuzhi forced a smile, but it was obvious that she was still in a terrible mood.


    Seeing that she really didn''t want it, to the point of finding it a little loathsome, Zhou Wen offered the two items to An Sheng.


    An Sheng took the dimensional crystal and left the golden apple to Zhou Wen. "Take this. Who knows, it might be useful in the future."


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony with An Sheng as he put away the golden apple.


    Zhang Yuzhi didn''t wish to talk about the incident on the island at all, so Zhou Wen and An Sheng didn''t ask further.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen and company saw a group of Sky Cranes tear through the air and quickly arrive in front of their boat. Zhang Xiao descended from the back of Sky Crane. When he saw Zhou Wen''s and An Sheng''s severe injuries, his expression changed drastically. He ignored them and walked straight to Zhang Yuzhi and asked anxiously, "Yuzhi, are you alright?"


    "I''m fine. Thanks to the protection from Zhou Wen and An Sheng, I wasn''t injured. They were severely injured. We have to thank them properly," Zhang Yuzhi said.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng immediately understood that Zhang Yuzhi was afraid that the Zhang family would cause trouble for them.


    "Thank you for protecting Yuzhi. If there''s anything you need in the future, feel free to inform me." Zhang Xiao said to Zhou Wen and An Sheng before getting an Epic expert from the Zhang family to use rare healing spells to treat their injuries. At the same time, the Sky Crane Team escorted Zhang Yuzhi back.


    After returning to the harbor, Zhou Wen and An Sheng had greatly recovered. The Zhang family quickly left with Zhang Yuzhi, as though they were protecting a real princess.


    "I heard that the Zhang family''s little princess is very doted upon. Originally, I thought it was because the Zhang family only has one daughter, but from the looks of it, it''s not that simple. It might be a reason, but the most important reason is probably related to her Life Providence," An Sheng said to Zhou Wen when he saw the Zhang family escort disappear with Zhang Yuzhi.


    Zhou Wen nodded. He naturally could tell that there was something wrong with Zhang Yuzhi. Recalling how she had slept in a coffin on the plane, it only implied a greater problem.


    "Don''t think too much about it. Let''s find a place to recuperate. With such serious injuries, I''m afraid it will take some time for us to recover. Fortunately, the Zhang family helped us with their healing skills. Otherwise, it''s hard to say if we would even be able to participate in the auction the day after tomorrow," An Sheng said.

 462 Resetting Life Providence

    After finding a hotel, the two injured men went back to their individual rooms to rest.


    The Zhang family''s Epic expert had very powerful healing abilities, but it was impossible for him to completely heal their damaged organs and bones. Even with their physiques and self-recovery abilities, it would be difficult for them to engage in combat in the next couple of weeks.


    Zhou Wen lay on the bed with his phone in one hand and the golden apple in the other as he took a picture of it.


    Although it was a gift from a god, this thing didn''t have a manual. The god didn''t tell Zhou Wen what it was for. All Zhou Wen could do was study it himself.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had the mysterious phone. After snapping a picture of the golden apple, he saw its information appear on his phone.


    ''Golden Apple: A treasure of the Aegeans. Randomly changes a Life Providence once.''


    Zhou Wen looked at the information and couldn''t help but be taken aback. He never expected that something in this world could change a Life Providence.


    The changing of a Life Providence was undoubtedly an opportunity for those who had a crappy Life Providence. However, Zhou Wen was rather satisfied with his Life Providence and had no intention of changing it. The Golden Apple was useless to him.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and put the Golden Apple into his chaos space. Although this item was useless to him, it was extremely valuable. It was very likely worth more than a Mythical Companion Egg.


    A Life Providence wasn''t something that could be decided by humans. It was related to the Essence Energy Art one cultivated, and at the same time, it had something to do with one''s physique and other factors. Therefore, there was huge variability.


    Even if one cultivated a top-grade Essence Energy Art and had excellent conditions, he couldn''t prevent himself from getting a relatively useless Life Providence.


    Just like a senior from the Dugu family, he naturally cultivated the best Essence Energy Art. His physique wasn''t in any way bad since he had the inheritance of the Dugu family.


    Furthermore, that person had been talented from a young age. He picked things up things quickly and was considered the future hope of the family. They had spent a lot of effort and resources to nurture him.


    However, when he condensed his Life Providence, the Life Providence he condensed was called God of No Deaths.


    At that time, everyone thought that with such an impressive name, it would definitely be amazing. However, they realized that with the Life Providence of the God of No Death, no matter what skills or weapons he used, he was unable to harm his opponent.


    His Life Providence prevented him from killing anyone; he couldn''t even injure others. If a person couldn''t even kill the weakest dimensional creature, wouldn''t that make him a cripple?


    Zhou Wen had heard from An Sheng that the Cape family once produced an unlucky Life Providence. It was truly unlucky.


    If he sold the Golden Apple to such a person, he could probably exchange it for a Mythical Companion Egg. That person would definitely agree if he had one.


    Before the auction began, Zhou Wen didn''t go anywhere. He just rested in his room and kept grinding the game''s dungeons.


    After the battle with the black six-winged dragon, the Mutated Stone Chi''s armor was shattered, so the Mutated Stone Chi naturally died. Zhou Wen had lost an important piece of defensive equipment and could only grind for an ordinary Chi. Although it didn''t have a high defense like the Mutated Stone Chi, he had no other choice. Without the stone artifact, there was probably no way for a second Mutated Stone Chi to appear.


    If it wasn''t for the defense of the Mutated Stone Chi armor, he might have died while fighting the black six-winged dragon.


    He spent two days grinding in the Zhuolu battlefield with the baby tiger, but the Chi armor didn''t drop. Instead, another White Shadow of Poison appeared.


    The baby tiger only increased a drop rate, but what dropped wasn''t within Zhou Wen''s control. He couldn''t get whatever he wanted like Wang Lu.


    "The auction is about to begin. It''s time for us to go." An Sheng called Zhou Wen regarding the auction.


    Zhou Wen followed An Sheng to the auction. When he arrived at the venue, he took out an auction booklet. Apart from the Invisibility Cloak, there were many good items for sale.


    Although there weren''t any Mythical Companion Eggs, there were plenty of Epic Companion Eggs. Many of them were exotic. Even an angel Companion Egg was sold.


    What surprised Zhou Wen the most was that there were actually constellation Companion Eggs. The one that appeared at the auction was an Equuleus Companion Egg. However, the booklet didn''t clearly state what an Equuleus Companion Egg was.


    From the looks of it, we are rather fated. I never expected to meet you again so quickly." Zhou Wen was reading the booklet in the hall when someone walked over and sat down beside him.


    "Li Mobai?" Zhou Wen turned his head and realized that it was Li Mobai.


    However, when he took a closer look at Li Mobai, he realized that something was amiss. His aura was very weak, as though he was a normal person who had never cultivated before.


    "Didn''t Li Xuan tell you? My cultivation is crippled," Li Mobai said indifferently.


    "It happened on the day of the birthday party?" Zhou Wen sized up Li Mobai in surprise and asked.


    "I originally wanted to use my own Life Soul to promote Li Xuan''s growth, but that punk was disappointing. It failed." Li Mobai briefly explained the situation of him using the Evil King Gu to help Li Xuan advance to the Epic stage.


    Zhou Wen didn''t believe Li Mobai''s words. He looked at him and said, "In that case, you were doing it for Li Xuan''s good? None of that makes sense. Li Xuan nearly died in Guide Ancient City."


    Li Mobai said indifferently, "It''s not necessarily for his own good. I just want to achieve my goals. He''s just a tool to me, but unfortunately, he''s a useless tool. Didn''t you know that Xu Miantu was also working for me back at Guide Ancient City? If they were to deal with my stupid brother together, do you think he would still be alive?"


    Zhou Wen was immediately taken aback. Li Mobai''s words seemed to make sense.


    "What about the lotus pond? If I hadn''t been there¡­" Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Li Mobai interrupted him.


    "Don''t you think that you should have been the one who died?" Li Mobai said expressionlessly.


    Zhou Wen carefully recalled the situation back then and couldn''t help but feel somewhat taken aback. He realized that it was indeed the case. From beginning to end, Xu Miantu''s target seemed to be him, not Li Xuan.


    "I originally thought that he was a member of the Li family after all. With the same blood flowing in him, he should be capable of something. I didn''t expect him to be a useless fellow. To wash a pig is to waste both water and soap, so he might as well be a pig for the rest of his life. Help me tell him when you return. In the future, no one will trouble him again. Tell him to just be his third young master of the Li family," Li Mobai said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if this matter was true or not, nor could he believe that Li Mobai was telling the truth. He had to wait until he returned to ask Li Xuan about it before he could confirm the veracity of the matter. Therefore, he didn''t wish to tell Li Mobai too much.

 463 Downloading the Temple Dungeon

    Li Mobai had no intention of saying anything to Zhou Wen. He got up and left the hall with a girl.


    The girl followed behind Li Mobai silently. From beginning to end, she hadn''t said a word, as if she was Li Mobai''s bodyguard.


    "I heard that Li Mobai from the Li family is quite a figure. Having met him today, he''s indeed extraordinary. Even though his cultivation is ruined, he doesn''t seem dispirited at all," An Sheng said.


    "Can he start all over again?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Difficult. If he were to forcefully transfer his Life Soul away, his Life Providence and foundation will definitely be destroyed, making him inferior to an ordinary person. It''s impossible for him to cultivate the same Essence Energy Art. He can''t even cultivate the same Essence Energy Art that uses the same Essence Energy sea. He needs to cultivate a Essence Energy Art in other spots to start all over. Furthermore, him restoring a Life Providence and Life Soul will probably be ten times harder than the average person. After all, when a person condenses a Life Providence for the first time, he has already used up most of his potential. To condense it again, there will be some inborn flaws. Even if he succeeds in condensing one, it will be somewhat lacking," An Sheng said.


    After pausing for a moment, An Sheng continued, "However, a person''s strength doesn''t just depend on the strength of their combat strength. No matter how weak Li Mobai''s Life Providence is, he cannot be underestimated. If you become his enemy in the future, you must be careful."


    Zhou Wen nodded. It was true that the worth of a person who could be so ruthless to himself couldn''t simply be measured by his strength.


    The An family was considered a wealthy family in the East District, but they could only sit in the hall like the others. The Zhang family likely had an individual room, so Zhou Wen didn''t see Zhang Yuzhi in the hall.


    After the auction began, Zhou Wen watched by the side, having no intention of taking action.


    The Equuleus Companion Egg was won by someone from the West District, so Zhou Wen ultimately didn''t learn what Companion Beast it was.


    In the midst of this, Zhou Wen saw Li Mobai bid a few times. Apart from some of West District Companion Eggs, he had also bid on a Essence Energy Art named "Constellation Artwork."


    The final appearance was the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg, and the competition exceeded Zhou Wen''s imagination. The average person had too few channels to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast, so even if they knew the possibility of incubating the cloak was low, many tycoons still wanted to give it a try.


    "I didn''t expect the price offered for the Invisibility Cloak to be much higher than the last time," An Sheng said helplessly.


    Zhou Wen was helpless as well. Although he had plenty of Essence Crystals on hand, he couldn''t just use them as money. Furthermore, the price was just too high.


    After the auction ended, Zhou Wen didn''t immediately leave the Peninsula of Gods. He planned on taking this opportunity to visit Athena''s temple to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol or his trip would have been for nothing.


    This time, Zhou Wen made up his mind not to enter. He would just look from the outside.


    The humans on the Peninsula of Gods had discovered a temple. The temple didn''t have a name, only a shield-shaped carving. On the shield, there was also a portrait of a beautiful goddess''s head. Many people guessed that it was the Goddess of Wisdom''s temple because her head portrait was often engraved on a shield in ancient times. It represented protection and resistance against invasion.


    However, up to now, no one had been able to prove that it was the Goddess of Wisdom''s temple. Furthermore, the temple had not been fully explored and many people had died inside.


    Now, the Peninsula of Gods allowed anyone to enter the temple to explore so as to attract more hunters.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of taking the risk to enter the temple. He purely wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol. Furthermore, his injuries hadn''t healed, so it was inconvenient for him to fight.


    An Sheng rented a car and took him to the temple. Three hours later, the two arrived in front of a massive stone palace.


    Zhou Wen saw the shield symbol on the palace door and the side profile of the woman in the middle of the shield.


    This woman''s head portrait was clearly of West District heritage. It was different from what Zhou Wen had seen on the anchor symbol.


    Apart from the shield and the woman''s portrait, there were also many ancient European-style patterns along the side. Before Zhou Wen could carefully look at the patterns, the mysterious phone automatically vibrated. Zhou Wen took out his phone and aimed it at the palace. The camera function automatically locked onto a tiny palm symbol on a pattern.


    He pressed the shutter button and the screen showed a download. It delighted Zhou Wen. From the looks of it, the dimensional zones in the West District can be downloaded as well. It will be great if I can download all the temples of the twelve Olympian gods as game dungeons. It would be best if I could download the temples of the twelve Titans, Chaos, and the five primordial deities¡­


    Zhou Wen was only musing. Ignoring the fact that most of the temples of the twelve Olympian gods'' had yet to be discovered, there were no traces of the Titans'' temple. Even those that had been discovered were likely controlled by the families of the Peninsula of Gods. Ordinary people were unable to approach them.


    Just as he was thinking about what other dimensional zones he could visit, he suddenly saw a group of people escorting a person to the temple.


    "Brother, who is that? He appears famous?" An Sheng asked a passerby and pointed at the man who appeared like a celebrity.


    "You don''t even know about Lucas? He''s the pride of our Peninsula of Gods. He advanced to the Epic stage at the age of twenty and killed the Cyclops single-handedly. At sea, he fought Leviathan¡­ He even created the world-famous Lucas Battle Aura¡­" The passerby praised him to the heavens.


    Zhou Wen realized that this man''s results were so illustrious that he was definitely an extremely powerful figure. He couldn''t help but stop for a moment.


    He imagined that the man was here to explore the temple, but to his surprise, he held a fan meeting at the entrance of the temple.


    "Lucas¡­ Lucas¡­" The fans shouted his name loudly.


    "Is this Lucas really that powerful?" After the passerby left, Zhou Wen asked An Sheng in disbelief.


    "Perhaps it''s different from common folklore. I''ve heard of his name before, but I''ve never seen him before. He''s only active around the Peninsula of Gods. He''s a famous independent hunter. He''s about thirty years old. In the past, he had quite a few impressive results. He''s quite famous here at the Peninsula of Gods. As for the Lucas Battle Aura, I''ve never heard of it before," An Sheng said.


    "The two of you¡­ That''s right¡­ I''m talking about you! Foreign fans, let The Great Lucas give you an autograph¡­"


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng were chatting by the periphery of the crowd, they didn''t know why Lucas would suddenly point at them as if he had a screw loose.

 464 The Great Lucas

    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that they were the only ones from the East District. The others looked Mediterranean. Clearly, the two fans that Lucas mentioned were likely him and An Sheng.


    Many of Lucas''s fans looked at them enviously.


    "Don''t doubt it. Don''t be excited, my friend. It''s you. I, Lucas, can''t let you return disappointed after you came all this way here. Come, my friend, take The Great Lucas''s autograph and enjoy a luxurious day tour sponsored by Lucas. Leave pleasant memories of your stay here in the beautiful Peninsula of Gods. When you return, you can tell your friends in the East District how beautiful the Peninsula of Gods is. Of course, tell people how handsome The Great Lucas is," Lucas said as he pointed at the two of them.


    "Ahem. Young Master Wen, I don''t think he has any ill intentions. I''ve heard about his style before. We should respect his enthusiasm and kind intentions. We need to be gentlemanly and polite," An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen.


    Hence, Zhou Wen and An Sheng boarded the temporary stage under the envy of many fans.


    "Come on, buddy. Where do you want The Great Lucas autograph signed? On your chest, or your butt¡­ I''m just joking¡­ I only sign on the butts of women¡­" Lucas said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen really couldn''t appreciate Lucas''s humor, much less allow him to scribble on his clothes. He took out a notebook and handed it to him. "Please sign here."


    "Friends from the East District are indeed reserved. Alright, as you wish." Lucas waved his pen rapidly and signed his name on Zhou Wen''s notebook.


    "What about you, my friend?" Lucas looked at An Sheng.


    "I''ll have to trouble you to sign here," An Sheng said as he flipped a page and pointed at a blank spot in the notebook.


    "You East District people are too strict. Young people should be more relaxed. Don''t be embarrassed to express your love. Alright, I should sign something special for you." As Lucas spoke, he signed again. This time, he did not sign a name but wrote a sentence.


    "Dedicated to my dear friend, your greatest love, Lucas." He spoke it out loud as he wrote before signing his name.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what expression An Sheng had, but he nearly burst out laughing.


    An Sheng said expressionlessly to Lucas, "Thank you for your autograph. We still have matters to attend to. I''m afraid we have to leave."


    "Don''t be in such a rush to leave. There''s still the luxurious tour that''s fully paid for. You have a chance of coming into close contact with the mighty Lucas and seeing how I hunt dimensional creatures. Whatever is received today will be yours. Today is your lucky day. Come on, young friends." He wrapped his arms around Zhou Wen and An Sheng''s shoulders. Then, he said to the fans, "Thank you for your support. Today, I''ll be entertaining my fans from the East District, so pardon me."


    "Lucas¡­ Lucas¡­" A group of fans cheered. They were clapping for the lucky Zhou Wen and An Sheng, as though encouraging them to be braver.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng looked at each other before An Sheng nodded. Then, they flipped onto the back of the Tyrannosaurus. Lucas handsomely patted it and said, "Old Pal, let''s set off."


    The Tyrannosaurus roared cooperatively, causing the young fans to cheer crazily. Then, it ran to the opposite side of the street.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng were dumbfounded. They had heard Lucas talk so much at the temple entrance and had imagined that he was going in to explore the temple. To their surprise, he didn''t enter the temple and instead rode the Tyrannosaurus down the street.


    Many youths from the Peninsula of Gods let out cheers when they saw him. Lucas also greeted them handsomely.


    Is this fellow a celebrity or an Epic expert? Zhou Wen wore an odd expression.


    After running for a while, the Tyrannosaurus came in front of a Metalwork Temple. Lucas showed his pass and took Zhou Wen and An Sheng in.


    "Didn''t you say that only residents of the Peninsula of Gods can enter the Metalwork Temple?" Zhou Wen asked An Sheng in puzzlement.


    An Sheng clearly didn''t know why Lucas was able to take them in. On the other hand, Lucas said coolly, "The Great Lucas is the image ambassador of freelance hunters in the Federation. Here at the Peninsula of Gods, I''m the only one who can bring you in here. Now, you should understand how rare this is, right?"


    "Great Lucas, can I take a few photos in front of the temple''s entrance?" Zhou Wen hurriedly said to Lucas when he saw the small palm symbol as they approached the entrance.


    "Haha, you''re really a smart little imp. Are you taking the opportunity to have a photo with me? Of course you can. You are the VIP today," said Lucas warmly as he wrapped his muscular arm around Zhou Wen.


    With no choice, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take a few pictures with Lucas before seizing the opportunity when An Sheng had a photo with Lucas to snap the tiny palm symbol with his mysterious phone.


    He had originally thought that he wouldn''t be able to enter the Metalwork Temple, but to his surprise, he was able to download it thanks to this chance. He really wanted to thank this mighty Lucas.


    After taking a group photo, Lucas led them into the Metalwork Temple.


    The temple was like a blacksmith shop. It was filled with machinery used for forging. There was a huge steel furnace, work platforms, and some tools. Zhou Wen couldn''t name them.


    However, the heat in the furnace was hot. There was actually liquid-like metal boiling in them. From time to time, one could see Fire Sprites jumping inside.


    "Are those Fire-Elemental Sprites?" Zhou Wen asked as he pointed at a scarlet ball of fire.


    "It''s about the same. However, its real name should be the Steel Cauldron Fire Sprite. It''s a type of elemental sprite. It has high temperatures and can spew out high-temperature flames. It''s a very powerful Legendary creature." As Lucas spoke, he summoned a long-handled ax. He rode on the Tyrannosaurus and slashed at it with a cool slash. He struck the Steel Cauldron Fire Sprite and destroyed it, sending sparks flying.


    Lucas raised a shield in his other hand to block the sparks, preventing Zhou Wen and An Sheng from being affected.


    Having killed the Steel Cauldron Fire Sprite, Lucas smiled at them and said, "What a pity. There weren''t any dimensional crystals or Companion Eggs. From the looks of it, your luck ain''t that good."

 465 Fire Furnace Queen

    Lucas rode on the Tyrannosaurus as they stormed through the Metalwork Temple. He killed several Steel Cauldron Fire Sprites and several robot dimensional creatures. They were instantly killed in one strike, making him look rather powerful.


    However, his luck was clearly average. After killing more than ten Legendary creatures, only one Strength dimensional crystal dropped. It was even at the Legendary stage.


    "We''ve finally gained something. From the looks of it, your luck isn''t too bad. Take it. Don''t stand on ceremony with the mighty Lucas. This is what you deserve." Lucas handed the dimensional crystal to Zhou Wen before taking out his phone. He took a selfie with Zhou Wen and himself together with the dimensional crystal.


    Zhou Wen broke out into a sweat as he thought to himself, This person is really a piece of work. There''s really no limit to this world when it comes to surprises. To think that such a person is a famous Epic expert from the Peninsula of Gods. I really didn''t expect it.


    Lucas led them through the hall''s corridor and constantly killed various dimensional creatures. However, they were all at the Legendary stage. Most of them were Steel Cauldron Fire Sprites with the occasional robot.


    Suddenly, a flaming person that resembled magma appeared in front of him. Zhou Wen immediately recognized it. It was an Epic Fire Sprite that they had seen previously.


    "You are really lucky to encounter an Epic Fire Sprite. From the looks of it, I have encountered a true opponent today. Young lads, watch the battle from the side. If the Fire Sprite drops a Companion Egg, you will really be lucky." Lucas made the two of them alight the Tyrannosaurus before charging at the Fire Sprite.


    The Fire Sprite was nearly three meters tall. When Lucas fought the Fire Sprite while riding the Tyrannosaurus, Zhou Wen frowned.


    To be honest, the Fire Sprite had quite good fire-elemental powers and it wasn''t afraid of being injured. It was indeed quite strong, but Lucas was one of the famous Epic experts in the Peninsula of Gods. He actually had a tough time defeating the Fire Sprite.


    The battle looked gaudy as the gigantic ax and shield bombarded the flames. In addition, the roars of the Tyrannosaurus and the Fire Sprite made it seem like a battle between Epic monsters.


    If this was a movie, Zhou Wen could give it 99% for the visual effects.


    However, from Zhou Wen''s point of view, Lucas was too much a noob. He had average combat talent and was quite pedestrian.


    With an Epic Tyrannosaurus, an Epic Companion Beast weapon, and Epic armor, he only managed to tie with the Fire Sprite. Apart from ''noob,'' Zhou Wen didn''t have any other words to describe him.


    "Is this really a famous Epic expert whose name resounds in the Peninsula of Gods?" Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng and asked.


    Zhou Wen naturally refused to believe that the Peninsula of Gods was only at that level. If the top Epic expert in the Peninsula of Gods was at this level, the resources here would probably have been snatched away by other factions.


    After fighting for more than half an hour, the intense battle ended with Lucas''s victory. However, the Fire Sprite also left injuries on him.


    Lucas even showed Zhou Wen and An Sheng his injuries as though he was flaunting them. He even took a few selfies as a memento.


    However, Lucas was really a generous person. When the Fire Sprite dropped a Essence Energy Skill Crystal, he actually gave it to Zhou Wen and An Sheng according to his promise. However, he still naturally took the picture to commemorate this. He did all of this with great familiarity.


    "You sure are lucky to have a Fire Sprite''s crystal drop. This is a good item that has about a 3% drop rate," said Lucas as he stuffed the crystal into An Sheng''s hands. He then asked, "Let''s add each other as friends. I''ll send you the pictures later."


    "I haven''t installed that software. Let Zhou Wen add you." An Sheng reacted quickly and directed this at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t eloquent, so he added Lucas as a friend. Then, he saw that he had sent the photo they had just taken, along with some stage lines.


    "Although I''ve suffered some injuries, it''s worth it to let fans from the East District witness Lucas''s strength and charm."


    A few of them were photos of him getting injured while fighting the Fire Sprite. There was also the picture of him giving Zhou Wen the crystal.


    The comments were filled with envy. There were all sorts of comments that claimed how awesome it was. Some even praised Lucas for his invincibility.


    It''s really a waste that this bro¡­ isn''t a celebrity¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Lucas led the two of them to continue hunting dimensional creatures in the Metalwork Temple. He was clearly very familiar with this place as he traversed the corridors that resembled a spiderweb and found quite a number of dimensional creatures.


    "Lads, it''s time to rest. As a great hunter, you have to know how to enjoy life. Work and play need to be combined to ensure that you are always in your optimum combat state." As Lucas spoke, he took out a folded chair and table from a box on the Tyrannosaurus''s back. Inside it was an umbrella.


    This fellow actually made it seem like he was drinking coffee by the sea. He set up all sorts of things in the Metalwork Temple. Even food was prepared. It looked like a sumptuous spread.


    Just as Zhou Wen and An Sheng were about to start eating, they heard snapping sounds. Lucas had taken another selfie with them before quickly posting a few words on the Internet.


    Zhou Wen saw Lucas''s message. It was the picture that had just been taken. On it was the tagline: "Hero''s mid-game break."


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng continued eating by themselves. Not to mention, the food brought by Lucas was quite good. Zhou Wen had never tried such exotic food, so he ended up eating quite a lot.


    The three of them were eating when they suddenly felt the temperature in their surroundings rise. The air that was originally extremely hot because of the huge steel furnaces was now unbearable. Their hair almost charred.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw a burning dimensional creature with a pair of butterfly-like flaming wings. On its head was a flaming crown. It was a dimensional creature that had flown out of another palace.


    "What''s that?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "No good. It''s the Fire Furnace Queen. Get up. Let''s go." Lucas was surprisingly fast. Ignoring the chairs and table, he jumped onto the Tyrannosaurus''s back and shouted to Zhou Wen and An Sheng.


    "Why are you running? Get rid of it. It would be nice if a Companion Egg dropped." Zhou Wen had heard the passerby mention that the Fire Furnace Queen was a mutated Epic creature. She possessed very powerful flaming powers and was extremely rare.


    "I can fight her alone, but you will definitely be implicated if you are here. How can the mighty Lucas allow you to be injured? I''ll fight her again after I take you out¡­" Before Lucas could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen summoned a sword and casually slashed out a sword beam.


    The sword beam shot out and cleaved apart the Fire Furnace Queen''s body. Flames splattered everywhere as a Companion Egg dropped.


    The mighty Lucas gaped in astonishment as he stared at the Overlord Sword in Zhou Wen''s hand. His jaw nearly dropped to the ground.

 466 The Invisibility Cloak Is Stolen

    What''s up with this fellow? He doesn''t seem to be even twenty years old? He should still be a student, right? How can he so easily kill the Fire Furnace Queen? Countless thoughts flashed through Lucas''s mind.


    That sword''s beam is way too powerful, isn''t it? The Fire Furnace Queen is an extremely powerful existence even among Epic creatures. Yet, she couldn''t even withstand one strike. It must be because the sword is too powerful. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have such strength at such a young age. That''s not right! Only by advancing to the Epic stage can he incubate an Epic Companion Beast. That means he''s at least at the Epic stage¡­


    Zhou Wen had already picked up the Fire Furnace Queen Companion Egg. It was still very useful. With powerful fire-elemental powers, she performed pretty well in many human fields.


    "Young lad, you''re pretty strong. You''re almost on par with me. Have you graduated from college?" Lucas laughed as he walked forward and asked. He thought to himself, This fellow might only look young and rather young. In fact, he''s already quite old. He''s probably in his thirties like. Yes, that must be the case.


    "Not yet. I''m still schooling," Zhou Wen answered.


    Lucas froze when he heard that. He forced a smile and continued asking, "What year are you in?"


    Lucas calculated inwardly. I advanced to the Epic stage at the age of twenty just as I graduated from university. The East District should be the same as our Peninsula of Gods. They are all about seventeen years old when they enter college. If he''s in his fourth year, he should be twenty. To advance to the Epic stage at the same age means the mighty Lucas didn''t lose.


    "I''m a freshman," Zhou Wen said as he put away the Companion Egg.


    "Did you attend university late?" Lucas found it unbelievable that Zhou Wen had advanced to the Epic stage at seventeen.


    "No. I attended university at a normal age."


    "Have you been retained?"


    "No."


    Lucas looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. After some time, he wrapped his arm around Zhou Wen''s shoulder and said, "To have such achievements at such a young age, from the looks of it, you will be as great as Lucas in the future."


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that this person was really thick-skinned, but he wasn''t a bad person.


    "Lucas, thank you for your hospitality today. It''s time we bid you farewell. If you have a chance of coming to the East District in the future, contact us," Zhou Wen said to Lucas.


    "Where are you going? Anyway, it''s on the way. I''ll take you there." Lucas patted his Tyrannosaurus and thought to himself. Thankfully, I have such a domineering Companion Beast mount. This isn''t something that can be easily obtained. I spent a large sum of money to obtain it.


    "Thank you for your kind intentions, but there''s no need. We can go back ourselves," An Sheng said as he summoned a mount.


    Is this an Epic Mutated Metal Tyrannosaurus? On the list of Companion Beasts released by the Federation, Lucas had seen the introduction of this Mutated Metal Tyrannosaurus. It was far stronger than the Tyrannosaurus Rex.


    After Zhou Wen and An Sheng bade farewell, they left on the Mutated Metal Tyrannosaurus. After returning to his senses, he hurriedly uploaded the photo of the Flaming Furnace Queen''s corpse on the Internet. There was even a caption.


    "Today, I hunted a very rare Fire Furnace Queen with my friends from the East District. Delightful!"


    "Your mount isn''t bad. Where did you get it from?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the Mutated Metal Tyrannosaurus.


    "I got it when I went to Dinosaur Island. There are dinosaurs everywhere there. If you''re interested, I''ll take you there in the future," An Sheng said with a smile.


    "I think we should head to the nearby temples to take a look." Zhou Wen still wanted to visit the other temples to see if there were any tiny palm symbols. It was best if he could download more dungeons.


    "Do you want to visit the other temples? Why not let The Great Lucas take you there. Otherwise, there are many dimensional zones in the Peninsula of Gods that don''t allow outsiders to enter." Lucas rode his Tyrannosaurus Rex and chased after them.


    "How can we trouble you?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "What''s there to be embarrassed about? We''re friends," Lucas said straightforwardly.


    Lucas led them to the relatively famous dimensional zones on the Peninsula of Gods, such as the God of Light Apollo''s Music Temple.


    It sounded a little odd, but the Olympian gods usually had multiple titles. Apollo was talented and took on many titles. The Music Temple was one of his many temples.


    Zhou Wen found the tiny palm symbol outside the Music Temple and downloaded it.


    After that, he went to the other temples, but Zhou Wen didn''t find the tiny palm symbol. He downloaded three dungeons that day.


    The Metalwork Temple, Music Temple, and Curse Demon Palace.


    The first dungeon Zhou Wen had downloaded was actually Curse Demon Palace. This surprised him. Athena was the Goddess of Wisdom, and in the legends, she was also the Goddess of War, but the word "curse" didn''t seem related to her. Furthermore, the word "Demon Palace" was clearly not something a god''s temple should have.


    This made Zhou Wen realize that the temple didn''t belong to the Goddess of Wisdom. If the people on the Peninsula of Gods treated it as a temple of the Goddess of Wisdom, they would likely suffer a huge loss.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to visit a few more dimensional zones, but after receiving a phone call, Lucas hurriedly left, as though he had something urgent to attend to.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng had no choice but to return to the hotel. This was because the Zhang family had already left the Peninsula of Gods. They couldn''t hitch a ride on the plane back, so they could only fly back on Federation Airlines.


    Just as they were about to book the air tickets, Zhou Wen received a call from Lucas.


    "Dear friend, if a police officer requests you to assist in their investigations, don''t panic. It''s just assisting in the investigations. I''ll rush to the police station to testify for you," said Lucas without any head or tail.


    "What happened? Why are we being taken by the police to assist in investigations?" A puzzled Zhou Wen asked.


    Lucas said, "The Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg bought by Lord Irjarr for a large sum of money has been stolen. The thief has East District features. Therefore, every East District person in the Peninsula of Gods is being investigated. For now, they can''t leave the Peninsula of Gods. However, you don''t have to worry. When the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg was stolen yesterday, you were always with The Great Lucas. I will be your witness."


    "Thank you, Lucas," Zhou Wen thanked him sincerely. Although he wasn''t afraid of being investigated, it was indeed nice of Lucas to inform them in advance.

 467 Curse Demon Palace

    "The Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg has been stolen. I wonder who did it?" Zhou Wen hung up and said to An Sheng.


    "It''s hard to tell. There are too many people who want the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg. Furthermore, the trait of looking like someone from the East District isn''t reliable. There are some rare Essence Energy Skills and Companion Beasts that can allow one to change their appearances," An Sheng said.


    As the two of them spoke, they heard a knock on the door. When they opened it, they found the local police to get them to assist in their investigations.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng cooperated and went to the police station. They saw many people from the East District there. Li Mobai was one of them.


    Most of the people who were there were people from the East District who had participated in the auction. Zhou Wen and An Sheng were separately questioned during the investigations, but they were quickly released.


    "My friends, you''re fine now. I''ve already made it clear to them. You were with me the entire time yesterday and didn''t have the chance to steal the Companion Egg. However, before the ban is removed, you are temporarily unable to leave the Peninsula of Gods." Lucas walked over and said warmly, "That''s good too. It gives me the chance to entertain you for a few more days."


    "Lucas, do you know what kind of person stole the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg?" An Sheng asked.


    Lucas said, "It''s a man from the East District. He acted the role of a Companion Egg merchant and entered Lord Irjarr''s house. After he left, the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg was gone. From the surveillance, he''s a man from the East District. However, it''s hard to tell. As you know, in our eyes, all men from the East District look rather similar. Furthermore, it''s difficult to tell his age."


    "Can we watch the surveillance footage?" An Sheng asked.


    "I''m afraid not. However, if you just want to see what that thief looks like, you can just look at this." Lucas handed An Sheng a piece of paper.


    It was a warrant of arrest with a photo on it. It was indeed a man from the East District. He looked to be in his twenties or thirties.


    "Do you know him?" Lucas asked.


    "I don''t know him." An Sheng looked carefully before shaking his head.


    Zhou Wen looked at the portrait and felt that he probably had never seen such a man before. However, for some reason, he found him somewhat familiar.


    After careful inspection, Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "Nah, I really don''t know him."


    After returning to the hotel, An Sheng said to Zhou Wen, "Perhaps this will be an opportunity. Since the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg has been stolen, it becomes an ownerless object. Perhaps we will have a chance to obtain it."


    "We don''t even know who stole the Companion Egg. What chance can we have?" Zhou Wen said.


    "I''m just afraid that he would hide in a dimensional zone with the Companion Egg before coming out a year and a half later. When that happens, we won''t be able to catch him no matter if he hatches it." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "Then let''s see how powerful the tycoons of the Peninsula of Gods like Irjarr are. Anyway, we won''t suffer any losses," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and prepared to grind the new instance dungeons. Among the three dungeons, he had already gone to the Metalwork Temple in real life once. Although he didn''t venture deep, he wasn''t in a rush to grind it.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before choosing to enter the Cursed Demon Palace.


    The unknown was interesting. Zhou Wen also wanted to see what it looked like inside the Curse Demon Palace that had been accidentally passed off as a temple of the Goddess of Wisdom.


    The blood-colored avatar appeared in a palace. It was ancient and glorious, with many exquisite sculptures and patterns, but it gave off a weird feeling.


    It looks so eerie and it''s obvious that it''s not an orthodox deity''s temple. Why would those people think that this is the temple of the Goddess of Wisdom? Zhou Wen found the cartoon-styled dungeon eerie and terrifying, so it meant that, in reality, the temple was definitely worse.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t know that many deity temples were extremely eerie and terrifying.


    He didn''t see any dimensional creatures as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk into the palace. After taking a few steps, a stone statue beside him suddenly came alive.


    The stone was like a warrior holding a sword and a shield. When Zhou Wen approached him, he came to life and struck out with the stone sword.


    Without needing Zhou Wen to take action, the Fire Furnace Queen beside the blood-colored avatar spewed out a ball of flames, blasting the stone statue to pieces.


    When Zhou Wen returned to the hotel, he had hatched the Fire Furnace Queen and the silver Water Snake Companion Egg.


    Fire Furnace Queen: Epic


    Life Providence: Fire Elemental Body


    Life Soul: Flaming Crown


    Strength: 36


    Speed: 37


    Constitution: 32


    Essence Energy: 37


    Talent Skill: Fire Bullet, Fire Furnace, Fire Elemental Affinity


    Companion Form: Flaming Crown


    The Fire Furnace Queen''s stats were considered top-notch among Epic creatures, but compared to Overlord Sword, her attack power was far inferior. Her companion form augmented fire-elemental powers, so it wasn''t of much use to Zhou Wen.


    However, the Fire Furnace Queen had an extremely great advantage. Her Fire Elemental Body Life Providence and her Fire Elemental Affinity Essence Energy Skill could last for a very long period of time when she was releasing fire-elemental Essence Energy Skills. Together with the large area-of-attack of Fire Furnace, she could transform an area spanning a hundred meters into a sea of flames. Furthermore, it could last for a long time. It was an awesome skill for grinding monsters.


    Although Banana Fairy''s Grand Yin Wind was stronger, it required Zhou Wen to keep using it. In comparison, Fire Furnace just needed to be cast, and the area within would keep burning for an hour in a sea of flames. All the monsters that entered would die.


    Of course, it was another matter for dimensional creatures that could withstand Fire Furnace.


    Zhou Wen could use her to kill the monsters, preventing him from being entangled by ordinary monsters. It was much more convenient, and it increased his grinding efficiency.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that this place would have many monsters that used curses, thanks to its name¡ªCurse Demon Palace. Truth Listener could perfectly restrain that.


    To his surprise, there were only stone monsters¡ªStone Warriors, Stone Lions, and Stone Scorpions. The entire palace was filled with stone statues, all of which were powerful dimensional creatures with resilient bodies. None of them could curse. The Truth Listener earring didn''t react either.


    Later, Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to distinguish between the rocks that were alive from the dead ones. Wherever he went, he got Fire Furnace Queen to throw a ball of Fire Furnace, turning the area into a sea of fire that burned the stone statues inside to death.


    On the phone screen, notifications of him killing dimensional creatures constantly appeared. Many dimensional crystals dropped.

 468 Medusa

    With the baby tiger, the dimensional crystals that dropped were pretty good. Many of the stat crystals exceeded 30 points.


    One of the Stone Warriors dropped a Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    As he cleared the area with Fire Furnace Queen, he came to a palace that blocked his way. The stone door of the palace was tightly shut, and on it, Zhou Wen saw the carving on the temple''s main door.


    Outside, the shield was a woman''s side profile, but there was a difference inside¡ªthe woman on the shield faced forward.


    One could tell that it was a very beautiful girl. Her eyes were as alluring as the sea. Even though it was just a carving, one could not help but take a second look.


    Zhou Wen took a look and felt his ear heat up. The Truth Listener earring emitted an intense heat. Then, he felt a terrifying Essence Energy surge into his body, filling it with Essence Energy that constantly seeped out.


    Such terrifying amounts of Essence Energy. If not for the Truth Listener earring, the blood-colored avatar would probably have died, right? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen realized that as long as the blood-colored avatar didn''t look at the beauty''s eyes on the stone door, Truth Listener wouldn''t react. This also meant that the eyes of the beautiful stone statue were the source of the problem.


    Zhou Wen closed his eyes and relied on Truth Listener''s hearing, nullifying the beauty''s eyes completely.


    When he arrived at the door, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to push it open with all his might, but the stone door didn''t budge an inch as though it had been welded shut.


    Zhou Wen used Overlord Sword to slash at the stone door a few times, but it seemed to have divine power protecting it. Despite Overlord Sword''s Ever-Victorious trait, it failed to leave a mark on the door, much less split it open.


    Since there''s a door, there must be a way in. But how do I enter? Zhou Wen groped around the door, hoping to find the mechanism to open the door.


    When Zhou Wen''s hands touched the beautiful woman''s eyes, there was a clicking sound as though some mechanism had been activated. The door automatically separated to the left and right.


    The door opened to reveal the palace. It was pitch black inside without any lighting. Zhou Wen scanned the palace with Truth Listener''s ability and saw many stone pillars and some braziers.


    As the palace was too large, Truth Listener''s hearing powers couldn''t reach the deepest depths. However, no dimensional creature was found in the vicinity, nor were there any stone statues.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to step into the palace. The door to the palace automatically closed behind him. The two rows of braziers lit up and extended all the way to the deepest depths of the palace.


    However, she was even more charming than the portrait, especially her eyes. Although they were cartoonish, they were filled with seduction, making it impossible for his eyes to move away from her.


    With just a glance, the blood-colored avatar''s body immediately underwent a special change. Its blood-colored body turned into stone like a statue before the game screen went black.


    I died! Why didn''t the Truth Listener earring work? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Previously, Truth Listener earring had shown its effects, but why was it completely useless after seeing the girl inside the palace?


    Even if the girl was at the Mythical stage, and the Truth Listener earring wasn''t strong enough to withstand such immense power, it shouldn''t have had zero reaction. This left Zhou Wen very puzzled.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen came up with only one possibility. Since there''s no reaction from the Truth Listener earring, there''s only one possibility. The girl''s eyes in the palace and the beautiful woman''s eyes on the shield aren''t the same power.


    This piqued Zhou Wen''s interest in the girl. He dripped his blood to revive as he entered the Curse Demon Palace once again and stormed straight to the girl.


    After entering, Zhou Wen made the blood-colored avatar keep his eyes closed. He didn''t even look at the girl to prevent himself from being petrified by the girl''s gaze.


    Indeed, this method was feasible. As long as he didn''t look at the girl''s eyes, he wouldn''t be petrified.


    Is this girl the legendary creature in myths? Zhou Wen had previously read a myth about the Peninsula of Gods. When he saw the girl''s petrification gaze, he thought of a famous monster in myths¡ªMedusa.


    In ancient myths, Medusa was a natural demon. Her head portrait would be engraved on a shield to ward off evil.


    There was also a myth that Medusa was a beautiful girl who tried to compete with the Goddess of Wisdom, only to be beheaded by the Goddess of Wisdom, and then embedded on a shield.


    Modern people usually believed that Medusa had a human head and a snake body, but in ancient myths, only Medusa''s hair consisted of venomous snakes. There was no other difference from humans.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know which myth matched the dimensional zones. However, if this girl was really Medusa, the latter had seemed more likely.


    The girl sat on the throne and watched every step as the blood-colored avatar approached. There was no movement and she sat there quietly.


    Zhou Wen carefully approached the girl and had already reached the throne, but he still hadn''t seen her move.


    It can''t be a dummy, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself. However, no matter how he looked at the girl in front of him, she was beautiful¡ªextremely beautiful. Worthy of note was her beautiful long hair that had an indescribable charm. She didn''t look like a dummy in any way.


    The blood-colored avatar had already walked up to the girl, but the girl remained sitting there motionless. She only looked at him with her eyes without any intention of speaking.


    Could it really be a dummy? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he reached out and pinched the girl''s face.


    It was fleshy and warm. It was clearly not a fake.


    When Zhou Wen touched the girl, her expression immediately changed. Almost instantly, her beautiful face turned as terrifying as a ferocious ghost. Her beautiful hair turned into venomous snakes, immediately turning her from a beautiful girl into a terrifying demoness.


    A pair of swan wings appeared behind her. When she opened her mouth, it was filled with fangs as it hissed at Zhou Wen strangely.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but open his eyes and glance at her. The Truth Listener earring released a scorching energy that nearly scalded Zhou Wen''s ear. At the same time, large amounts of Essence Energy surged into his body.


    Strange, why does Truth Listener work now? Zhou Wen was puzzled, but it was too late to think about it. The demoness had already attempted to devour him.

 469 The Thief Found

    The terrifying venomous snakes were difficult to count. They nearly enveloped the entire palace, making it impossible for Zhou Wen to dodge.


    Zhou Wen unsheathed his sword and slashed at the venomous snakes in front of him, but when the venomous snakes in front of him were injured, more appeared from elsewhere, swept over, and wrapped around the Overlord Sword. There were even venomous snakes that bit at the Overlord Sword, snapping it.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he switched to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, summoning the Inverse Ancient Sovereign and using the Demon Dragon True Body.


    With the augmentation of the powerful Demon Dragon True Body, the blood-colored avatar ignored the venomous snakes'' bites as he charged at Medusa. The venomous snake bit on the scales of the Demon Dragon True Body, leaving only faint teeth marks. Although the snake venom had infiltrated his body, Zhou Wen''s poison resistance was high. With the augmentation of the Demon Dragon True Body, the snake venom failed to do anything to him.


    Grabbing the venomous snakes with both hands, he tore them apart. He then charged towards Medusa and punched her in the chest.


    Medusa also refused to be outdone and fought Zhou Wen. Her speed was faster than Zhou Wen''s, but her strength wasn''t as strong as that of a Demon Dragon True Body. For a moment, there was no clear winner.


    Zhou Wen''s Demon Dragon True Body could usually only last ten seconds, but Zhou Wen kept staring at Medusa''s eyes. Medusa''s petrification ability allowed Zhou Wen to obtain large amounts of Essence Energy through the Truth Listener earring. This allowed him to use the Demon Dragon True Body for a longer period of time.


    Medusa''s strongest Eyes of Petrification was useless against Zhou Wen. Her long snake hair had little effect on him. The battle was a close match, making it impossible to determine the winner.


    Although there was a large amount of Essence Energy to replenish him, it was still insufficient for the Demon Dragon True Body to sustain the expenditure. As time passed, he couldn''t keep up the Demon Dragon True Body.


    Furthermore, even if he could keep it up, the Demon Dragon True Body was not enough to kill Medusa. At most, it could only maintain its undefeated state.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen decided that he might as well use his Essence Energy Skill, Transcendent Flying Immortal, while in Demon Dragon True Body to produce a burst of extremely potent Energy in a bid to kill Medusa.


    Lights and shadows criss-crossed and left wounds on Medusa''s body, but none of them could kill her. Instead, Zhou Wen himself showed signs of being poisoned when the blood from Medusa''s body splattered on him.


    With his Essence Energy drained and his Essence Energy lacking in supply, the Demon Dragon True Body automatically vanished as the blood-colored avatar was bitten to death by the venomous snakes.


    Before he thought of a way to kill Medusa, Zhou Wen wouldn''t go to Curse Demon Palace again. The drop rate there was too low. Even with the baby tiger''s augmentation, nothing good dropped.


    After some rest, Zhou Wen switched on his game again and went to the Music Temple.


    After entering the Music Temple, Zhou Wen immediately saw a strange and magical musical note soar in the air with wings attached to it.


    As the musical note flew, it produced a strange sound wave that released an attack power similar to a sound wave.


    However, a sonar attack at the Legendary stage was naturally useless against Zhou Wen. With one strike, Zhou Wen shattered the musical note.


    ''Killed Legendary Musical Note Sprite. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen saw a dimensional crystal drop, but it was only a 14-valued Speed Crystal. He couldn''t be bothered to pick it up and continued walking deeper into the Music Temple with the baby tiger.


    In the Music Temple, Musical Note Sprites flew over from time to time. Although they all looked the same, with wings growing on each note, each one was slightly different.


    Furthermore, their sonar attacks were somewhat different, but all of them were useless against Zhou Wen.


    After grinding for a while, many dimensional crystals dropped; there were even Essence Energy Skill Crystals. However, these Musical Note Sprites were at the Legendary stage, making them useless for Zhou Wen.


    "My dear friend, you are going to be free soon?" Lucas called and said excitedly.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen was already used to the way Lucas spoke without head or tail.


    "The thief who stole the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg has been found. The ban will be quickly lifted," said Lucas.


    "He''s been found? Who is he?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise. He found the local nobles on the Peninsula of Gods very efficient. They had actually found someone so quickly.


    "I don''t know yet, but he has already been trapped in the recently discovered Goddess of Wisdom Temple. He shouldn''t be able to escape. I believe he will be caught very soon," said Lucas.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he thought to himself, Isn''t the newly discovered Goddess Temple the Cursed Demon Palace?


    "Have people been sent in?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Yes, but they encountered some trouble. Only one of the experts who entered came out. Now, Lord Irjarr is hiring people. The culprit will definitely be captured in the next few days," said Lucas.


    "Do you know what problems they faced?" Zhou Wen already had his guesses. It was likely that they had succumbed at the stone door.


    "I''m not sure yet. According to the Epic expert who came back, he saw Epic experts turn into stone statues from afar. He didn''t know what happened," Lucas explained.


    As expected. Zhou Wen knew that something had happened to the people in front of the stone door. The Medusa on it had turned them into stone statues.


    However, the development of the matter wasn''t as smooth as what Lucas had predicted. After a few days, the ban wasn''t lifted. Zhou Wen and An Sheng had to remain on the Peninsula of Gods.


    According to Lucas, Irjarr had found many experts to enter, but most of them either died or were injured. They still failed to capture that East District person.


    They were starting to suspect that it was not the temple of the Goddess of Wisdom, but the palace of Medusa. There were many Epic experts who were petrified at the entrance.


    "This matter seems odd," An Sheng said as he frowned in thought.


    "What''s odd?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The Peninsula of Gods is their territory after all. Yet, an East District person can cause such a huge commotion. Having sent so many Epic experts, Irjarr has failed to capture him. This itself is very problematic."


    After a pause, An Sheng continued, "I think there are two possibilities. One possibility is that the person has already hatched the Invisibility Cloak to survive under such a pursuit."


    "What about the other possibility?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "There''s another possibility that''s interesting. Perhaps someone is messing around behind the scenes. They want to use the Invisibility Cloak to do something to the aristocratic families in the Peninsula of Gods," An Sheng said with a faint smile.

 470 Reward

    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    Someone suddenly knocked on the door. It was very loud.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng found it odd. The room had a doorbell, so why didn''t the person use it?


    When they opened the door, they saw that it was Lucas.


    Lucas didn''t seem to think of them as strangers. He walked straight in and headed for the couch. He poured himself a cup of water and said to Zhou Wen and An Sheng after finishing it, "My good friends, our good luck is here."


    "Could it be that the thief has been caught?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "If he''s been captured, what good luck do we have? No one can catch that thief for now. The person hasn''t even been found. Lord Irjarr suspects that he has hidden inside the palace. But as no one can open the door to the palace, Lord Irjarr has issued a reward mission. Anyone who can open the door to the palace can receive a huge reward." Lucas looked at Zhou Wen and An Sheng and asked in anticipation, "How about it? Shall we team up and open the door to the palace?"


    Zhou Wen found it odd when he heard that. The door to the palace wasn''t difficult to open. As long as one closed their eyes and walked to the door without looking at the beautiful woman''s eyes, they could grope about to press the eyes of the beauty. People have failed to open the palace despite such a simple solution. It left him somewhat astonished.


    In fact, Zhou Wen was wrong. It wasn''t difficult to avoid being petrified because it happened when looking at the eyes of the beauty''s portrait on the door. It was unlike the Medusa inside the palace. Even if one didn''t look at her eyes, one would still be petrified when she saw them.


    But even if one wouldn''t get petrified, everyone knew that the owner of the palace was likely Medusa. Who would dare touch Medusa''s eyes? Hence, this resulted in an impasse, and no one could open the door to the palace.


    "If it''s just a small matter like opening the door to a palace. Why would The Great Lucas need our help?" An Sheng joked.


    Lucas didn''t blush at all. He smiled and said, "Even great heroes need companions. Just like the Six Federation Heroes, it was through the combined efforts of the six heroes that they created the Federation''s legend. I think we can form a Federation of Legends and open the door to the palace together, leaving behind a legendary story. What do you think?"


    "How much is Irjarr paying?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Ten Epic Companion Eggs and they are all products of Pluto Temple. They are all good stuff. Ordinary people aren''t able to enter Pluto Temple. There''s also a Peninsula of Gods'' permanent entry pass that permanently allows one to enter the public dimensional zones of the Peninsula of Gods. This is a reward targeted at freelance hunters," said Lucas.


    "That sounds good. What are the Epic Companion Eggs produced by Pluto Temple?" Zhou Wen was somewhat interested.


    "How about it? Think about it. The three of us will go together. The Companion Eggs will be split equally. The pass will be yours," Lucas continued trying to persuade them.


    "Sure, but I have another condition," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "What condition?" Lucas asked in puzzlement.


    "I wish to visit Pluto Temple." I just need one chance. Zhou Wen wanted to go to Pluto Temple to see if there was a tiny palm symbol.


    Zhou Wen had heard of the Peninsula of God''s Pluto Temple. Legend had it that it was the territory of Pluto. There were many dimensional creatures of the Underworld in it, and they were very different from ordinary dimensional creatures.


    "Can''t we change the conditions? For example, add two more Companion Eggs?" said Lucas, apparent that he had been put in a difficult spot.


    "No," Zhou Wen answered with certainty.


    "Then I''ll go have a chat with Lord Irjarr. By the way, how much do you know about that palace? Are you confident about opening the door?" Although Lucas felt that Zhou Wen and An Sheng were very strong and he might have a chance of opening the door by teaming up with them, he wasn''t completely confident. He only wanted to try his luck, but if he couldn''t open the door after negotiating the conditions, it would be too embarrassing.


    "I heard that it''s likely Medusa''s palace, right? If so, I might have a way to open the door," Zhou Wen said.


    "How confident are you?" Lucas asked.


    "There''s about a 90% chance if it''s Medusa''s palace," Zhou Wen answered.


    Hearing this, Lucas was overjoyed. He patted his chest and said, "If that''s the case, wait for my good news. I will definitely be able to convince Lord Irjarr."


    After Lucas left, An Sheng asked Zhou Wen, "Are you really confident of opening the door to the palace? We haven''t healed from our injuries yet, so it''s not suitable for us to do anything too risky."


    "You know that I have a Companion Beast on me that can withstand the power of curses. Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification is actually a kind of curse that will have no effect on me. If it''s just to open the door, there wouldn''t be much risk," Zhou Wen explained.


    "That''s good. However, we still have to be careful. You can''t be careless just because you are protected by a Companion Beast. There are too many strange powers in this world, so no Companion Beast is absolutely invincible. This applies even to Mythical Companion Beasts," An Sheng said solemnly.


    Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng was afraid that he would suffer because of carelessness. He nodded and said, "Don''t worry. I''m well aware."


    These words were not exaggerated at all. He knew the Curse Demon Palace very well. As long as he did not enter Medusa''s palace, there would not be any danger.


    Lucas rushed over to Irjarr''s house, and Irjarr happened to be receiving guests.


    "Henry, let me do the introductions. This is the number one freelance hunter of the Peninsula of Gods, Lucas." Irjarr pointed at the man on the sofa and introduced him to Lucas. "Lucas, this is Henry from the Cape family. He''s a famous freelance hunter and has the title of Spear Sovereign."


    "Nice to meet you. I''m the number one freelance hunter of the Peninsula of Gods, Lucas," said Lucas as he extended his hand.


    Henry sat on the sofa, but he had no intention of reaching out his hand. He didn''t even budge. He glanced at Lucas and said with contempt, "A freelance hunter from the Peninsula of Gods, the mighty Lucas. I''ve heard of this name before."


    With that said, he looked at Irjarr and said, "Since you have the help of a great freelance hunter, why did you come looking for me? Can''t you just get this great Lucas open the door for you?"


    Irjarr coughed lightly and said, "Lucas is good at frontal assaults. It''s not his specialty to deal with such evil powers. Therefore, I need your help to open the door to the palace."


    "Of course I can do it. However, I have a condition," said Henry. He gave a faint smile and looked at Lucas who had lamely retracted his hand.

 471 Opening the Door Together

    "Why are you looking at me?" Lucas found it odd.


    "I''ve seen your recent post on social media. You have a good relationship with Zhou Wen, right?" Henry said.


    "So what?" Lucas frowned slightly.


    "Very simple. Take this first." Henry handed him a bottle.


    When Lucas took the bottle from Henry, he felt his fingers itch. He raised his hand and saw a red dot on his finger as though it had been bitten by a bug.


    Lucas thought nothing of it. He held the bottle and asked, "What is this?"


    "There''s water inside. As long as you pour the water inside into Zhou Wen''s water and let him drink it, that will do," said Henry. "Then, I''ll help you open the door to the palace for free."


    "Impossible. I won''t help you do such filthy things." Lucas placed the bottle heavily on the table before turning to Irjarr. "Lord Irjarr, we don''t need their help. I''ve already got Zhou Wen and company to head to the palace with me. I guarantee that I can open the door to the palace."


    Irjarr looked a little hesitant. Lucas continued, "My lord, please believe me. I will definitely be able to open the door to the palace to help you catch that thief."


    Irjarr looked at Lucas and then at Henry. Finally, he said to him, "If you are willing to help, what I promised previously still holds."


    Henry sat on the sofa and did not reply to Irjarr. He picked up the bottle of water that was on the table in front of Lucas and said to him, "I think you will agree, right?"


    "Of course not. What kind of person do you think the mighty Lucas is?" Lucas said angrily.


    "Is that so?" The look in Henry''s eyes became odder and odder. Something seemed to be shaking in his eyes, and his pupils became very strange. It was as if there was a mosquito or bug trapped in a glass sphere.


    "Ah!" Lucas immediately felt as though countless worms were gnawing his bones. The pain made his face turn pale as beads of sweat oozed out of his forehead.


    "Despicable¡­ Bastard¡­ You¡­ What did you do to me¡­" Lucas nearly fainted from the pain as he glared at Henry and barked.


    "Henry, you actually dare to attack my man on my territory?" Irjarrr''s expression turned cold as he stared at Henry.


    But Henry remained indifferent. He placed the bottle in front of Lucas and said calmly, "Do as I say. You won''t die, but this kind of pain will continue until you die. If you don''t believe me, you can seek out others to help you relieve your pain."


    With that said, Henry got up and bowed slightly to Irjarr. "Dear Mr. Irjarr, I believe I''ll be able to serve you very soon. I''m looking forward to our next meeting."


    "If I were you, I would immediately relieve the pain in Lucas'' body." Irjarr waved his hand and immediately, a few Epic experts surrounded him.


    Irjarr gritted his teeth. In the end, he didn''t give any order to attack Henry.


    "Lucas, you know how powerful the Cape family is. They are the uncrowned kings of West District, and we don''t have the ability to fight them yet. You¡­" After Henry left, Irjarr said to Lucas helplessly as he looked at the small bottle of water.


    Lucas wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead and reached out to grab the small bottle.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng waited in the hotel for news of Lucas. Before long, he rushed back.


    "Lucas, how''re the negotiations?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I ran back all the way. I''m dying of thirst. Let''s talk after I drink some water." As Lucas spoke, he sat on the sofa in the living room and began pouring himself a cup of water. After drinking it, he filled it up and poured Zhou Wen and An Sheng a cup.


    "I didn''t manage to get the entry pass to Pluto Temple," said Lucas as he held a teacup.


    "Is the entry pass to Pluto Temple that precious? Can''t outsiders even take a look?" Zhou Wen said, somewhat surprised.


    "Although I failed to get Pluto Temple''s entry pass, I''ve already discussed it with Lord Irjarr. You can leave the Peninsula of Gods in advance. Pack up and follow me to the airport," said Lucas.


    "I''m really grateful to you, Lucas. However, we still wish to stay here for some time. We don''t have any plans of leaving for the time being," Zhou Wen said as he drank a mouthful of water.


    Seeing Zhou Wen drink some water, Lucas heaved a sigh of relief and said, "Since you don''t plan on leaving, can you consider it again? Join me in opening the door to the palace. All the rewards that I mentioned previously will be yours. I don''t want anything. Just treat it as helping me."


    "Alright, let''s do as we said before. The Companion Eggs will be split equally. The pass will be ours." Zhou Wen nodded. Since he couldn''t obtain the entry pass of Pluto Temple, getting a few Pluto Temple Companion Eggs and entry passes to the other temples wasn''t too bad.


    Of course, Zhou Wen''s main goal was still to hope that Irjarr and the rest could find the thief. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have the chance to fish in troubled waters.


    "Haha, I knew it. Lucas''s friends are good friends." Lucas wrapped his muscular arm around Zhou Wen''s neck and laughed loudly.


    Lucas quickly led Zhou Wen and An Sheng to the Curse Demon Palace. It had been sealed off by Irjarr''s men, so no one was allowed to enter without his orders.


    Lucas was naturally an exception. After showing an identification document, he brought Zhou Wen and An Sheng into the Curse Demon Palace.


    As there had been many people rushing into the Cursed Demon Palace to look for traces of the thief, the stone statue creatures had almost been wiped clean.


    Zhou Wen and company walked all the way to a spot close to the door of the palace without encountering any dimensional creatures.


    "Right ahead is the palace''s door. Put this on. Otherwise, even if you accidentally see the girl''s eyes on the door, you will be petrified." Lucas took out the three pairs of eye masks and gave one each to Zhou Wen and An Sheng. He put on one himself.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng put on the eye masks before continuing forward.


    Zhou Wen had Truth Listener''s powers, so it wasn''t a problem without his sight. An Sheng was about the same. They remained very agile while wearing the eye masks.


    Only Lucas seemed a little clumsy after putting on the eye mask. Even his footsteps became slow.


    Zhou Wen didn''t rush him. He slowly walked to the door of the palace and groped around the door. He pressed down the girl''s eyes with both hands.


    The door to the palace automatically slid aside, immediately opening.


    "It''s open. You can remove the eye mask," Zhou Wen said.


    Lucas took off his eye mask and was overjoyed when he realized that the stone door was gone. He took out his phone and stood in front of the door, taking a picture with Zhou Wen and company. He posted it online:


    "The great Lucas and his friends opened the mysterious and terrifying palace door together."

 472 Great Lucas

    "You guys can head back to the hotel now. I''ll go to Lord Irjarr to get the reward. I''ll send it to you later." After leaving the Curse Demon Palace, Lucas rode on his Tyrannosaurus Rex.


    Just as Zhou Wen and An Sheng were about to leave, Lucas added, "The Peninsula of Gods hasn''t been peaceful recently. Don''t eat and drink things randomly. Make sure they''re checked."


    "Got it." Zhou Wen smiled as he waved goodbye and left with An Sheng.


    Lucas rode the Tyrannosaurus on the streets. Many young people would cheer when they saw him. They would wave at him, and Lucas also responded enthusiastically.


    After leaving the city, Lucas''s expression darkened. He quickly arrived at a manor in the suburbs.


    "Tell Henry that I have already done what he wants me to do," said Lucas to the guards.


    The guard seemed to have known that Lucas would be coming. He smiled and said, "Please come in, Lord Henry is waiting for you."


    Lucas followed the person into the manor and soon saw Henry. He was sunbathing in front of the pool. He was holding an exquisite antique gun in his hand as he wiped it carefully with a cloth.


    "Henry, I''ve finished what you asked me to do. Please remove the restrictions on me immediately." Lucas took out the small bottle and placed it on the table in front of him. The liquid inside had already disappeared.


    Henry looked at the bottle on the table and suddenly picked up the antique gun in his hand and pulled the trigger at Lucas.


    Lucas'' reaction wasn''t slow. He used a shield to block his body, but the bullet was very strange. It turned around and circled around the shield, passing through the gaps in his armor and shot into his muscles.


    The strange thing was that the bullet wasn''t made of metal, but grayish-white bones. After drilling into his muscles, the bone bullet actually produced tiny blood vessels. It connected with Lucas'' muscles and blood vessels, as though it was parasitizing him.


    "Ah!" Lucas felt a great pain in his body, and he felt numb. He had to kneel on one leg and press his hands down to prevent himself from falling to the ground.


    Henry stared coldly at Lucas and said in disdain, "Do you think I''m as stupid as you? Do you think I don''t know that you''ve thrown the liquid away? Since you''re so great and willing to sacrifice for your friend, I''ll fulfill your wish."


    "What a despicable person. How could the mighty Lucas betray his friends? You''ve found the wrong person." Lucas stood up abruptly and slashed at Henry with his ax in both hands.


    "What a pitiful and ignorant fellow. Do you think that just because those little brats call you the mighty Lucas, it makes you some big shot? That''s just ignorant people having fun. In the eyes of true experts, you are just a lowly worm. I can poke you to death with a finger." Henry sat there without moving.


    "You first got hit by my bone-eating worm, and now, you''ve been hit by my parasitic bullet. Do you still want to fight me? You''re truly foolish." Henry looked at the frozen Lucas and continued, "Bone-eating worms will constantly devour your bones until there''s none left. When the time comes, all that''s left is flesh, blood, and skin. You''ll be like a pile of rotten flesh. The Great Lucas, when you kneel down crying and beg for mercy and wish for me to give you death, an ignorant and pitiful worm like you will know what true greatness is."


    "The Great¡­ Lucas¡­ will never yield to anyone¡­" Lucas trembled as veins protruded from his body as though he was trying to move his body.


    However, he couldn''t move his body no matter how hard he tried. His bones emitted waves of excruciating pain, as though thousands of worms were devouring his bones.


    Blood began to seep out from Lucas''s eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.


    "Only an ignorant worm like you would dare to call yourself great. I''m afraid you haven''t seen any true power. The number one freelance hunter of the Peninsula of Gods? This title is a form of mockery. To think that you really treated it seriously. There are quite a number of experts on the Peninsula of Gods. What makes you think you have what it takes?" Henry said disdainfully.


    "I''m the number one freelance hunter on the Peninsula of Gods. I''m The Great Lucas," said Lucas through gritted teeth as his body trembled violently.


    "What an arrogant and foolish fellow," said Henry with his lips curled.


    "I''m The Great Lucas¡­ I''m the number one hunter on the Peninsula of Gods¡­ I''m the irreplaceable Lucas¡­" Lucas''s seven orifices bled, but his eyes were filled with determination.


    "Nothing but a meaningless imagination of the lowly¡­" Before Henry could finish his sentence, his expression suddenly changed.


    "I''m The Great Lucas¡­" As Lucas roared, terrifying power erupted from his body. A golden light blasted out, enveloping his body as though he was a golden god.


    In the next second, the parasitic bullet that bound Lucas''s body exploded. It was forcefully squeezed out by his muscles, and the threads that resembled vessels were completely severed.


    With his strong hands holding the gigantic ax, he slashed down with dazzling golden divine light.


    Boom!


    The massive manor was split into two by the divine light produced by the gigantic ax, leaving a huge ravine.


    Henry stood sideways at the edge of the ravine, the armor on his chest sliced off. His chest muscles showed, and there were bloody wounds on it.


    Henry''s face was extremely pale, and there were still traces of horror on his face. A portion of the tip of his nose had been sliced off and he was bleeding. If not for his quick reflexes, he would have died under that terrifying golden divine light.


    "In front of The Great Lucas, you are just worms that only know how to flee." The golden divine light on Lucas''s body dissipated, and the god-like shadow vanished as well. The gigantic ax landed on the ground as he held it with both hands. He kept standing relying on sheer willpower. However, he looked at Henry with contempt.


    As he spoke, he even took out his cell phone and took a selfie. Looking at the picture, he muttered to himself, "As expected of The Great Lucas. He''s still so handsome even when getting rid of worms."


    "Cut off this bastard''s limbs. I want him to lie in front of me like a worm." Henry was infuriated by the look in Lucas'' eyes. How dare he look at him like a bug? It was his greatest insult.


    A few Epic experts beside Henry immediately surrounded Lucas. However, they were very careful and didn''t dare to rush straight at Lucas. After all, Lucas''s attack was too terrifying. The halved manor and ravine were shocking.


    "What are you afraid of? Can''t you tell that he doesn''t have any strength left?" Henry barked angrily.


    "No, he does." A voice came from outside the manor.

 473 Break-Out Medusa

    "You¡­ Why are you here¡­" Lucas turned his head and saw Zhou Wen and An Sheng.


    "As your strength, how can we not come? It wouldn''t be right!" An Sheng said with a smile, but his eyes were a little cold.


    In fact, from the day Lucas went to look for them, An Sheng and Zhou Wen could tell that something was amiss. However, they didn''t say anything. The two of them had only observed silently without saying anything. In the end, they had secretly tailed him here. They never expected to see this happen.


    Henry spoke with a cold smile when he saw the two of them. "Zhou Wen, you came at the right time. It''s time to settle the score for Liz and John. And you are An Sheng, right? You were the one who crippled Liz''s sea of energy, right?"


    "It''s me," An Sheng said frankly. "From the looks of it, just crippling her sea of energy was too easy on her. She should have been killed."


    "Is that so? That''s really unfortunate. I''m afraid you won''t have the chance to touch a single strand of my Cape family members'' hair in the future." As Henry spoke, he raised the antique gun in his hand and aimed it at Zhou Wen. He continued, "If I were you, I would stop immediately. Otherwise, the bone-eating worm in Lucas''s body will go berserk with my gunshots and devour all his bones in a moment. You are his friends, and he has sacrificed so much for you. You don''t want to see him die in pain, right?"


    "Lucas is right. You really are a dirty worm." Zhou Wen didn''t stop as he continued walking towards Henry. He held the handle of the Bamboo Blade as his eyes flickered with killing intent.


    "I told you to stop. Didn''t you hear me? Do you want to see him die?" Henry pulled the trigger and shouted at Zhou Wen.


    "The bone-eating worm is your Companion Beast, right? If you die, your Companion Beast will naturally perish as well. Naturally, the threat to Lucas will no longer exist. I''m still about 35 meters away from you. Before your gun sounds, I''d have chopped off your head. If you don''t believe me, you can try shooting. But if I were you, I''d immediately retrieve the bone-eating worm. I''m not someone who likes to kill. Don''t give me a reason to draw my saber," Zhou Wen continued walking towards Henry.


    Henry appeared to have heard an extremely ridiculous joke as he said with a smile, "If the person who said that was An Tianzuo, I would do as he says. Don''t tell me that you think of yourself as An Tianzuo''s younger brother after your father married his mother? Even if you are An Tianzuo''s younger brother, as long as you are not An Tianzuo himself, you have no right to say that to me."


    With that said, Henry pulled the trigger.


    Slender and powerful fingers held the handle of the saber as he drew the saber smoothly.


    The saber beam appeared at an unbelievable speed. Everyone felt their vision blur as Zhou Wen and his saber seemed to vanish.


    The moment the blood dripped onto the ground, there was a crack. The antique gun in Henry''s hand split into two, and Henry''s body was halved. His face that wore fear and disbelief split apart as well.


    "Lord¡­ Henry¡­" The Epic experts who followed Henry were stunned.


    When they were with the Cape family, they knew that Zhou Wen had been protected by the An family¡ªa student sheltered by the An family.


    However, this student had managed to kill Henry with one strike. Even in the expert-filled Cape family, Henry could be considered a top-notch expert.


    Such a person wasn''t even able to block Zhou Wen''s single strike. It left them alarmed and losing all morale, they reacted by turning around and fleeing.


    An Sheng appeared like a ghost as a dagger-like knife flashed in his hand. In just a moment, he killed the Epic experts without leaving a single one behind. He felled them like he was chopping vegetables.


    Wiping away the blood on the dagger, An Sheng said nonchalantly, "You guys can leave first. Leave this to me."


    "That''s not nice, right¡­" Lucas recovered from his shock and looked at An Sheng strangely.


    "Leave it to him. He''s more professional than us." Zhou Wen pulled Lucas and walked out.


    "Lucas, that ax strike of yours was really powerful. How did you do it?" Zhou Wen and Lucas rode the Tyrannosaurus Rex towards the city as he voiced his curiosity.


    The strength Lucas used when he slashed out far exceeded his usual strength. It was like night and day.


    When Lucas heard Zhou Wen praise him, he was immediately delighted. He said smugly, "The Great Lucas isn''t a result of bragging. My Life Providence is a Hero of Glory. My Life Soul is a Combat Faith God. When I fight for glory and faith, I can produce unparalleled power¡­"


    As Zhou Wen listened, his expression changed.


    Although Lucas described himself as very powerful and his Life Providence and Life Soul were indeed very powerful, his strength was very odd. It could be said that most of the time, his Life Providence and Life Soul were useless.


    His Life Providence and Life Soul meant that he could not fight for himself. In most cases, only by fighting for others could he activate the Hero of Glory Life Providence.


    Furthermore, Lucas''s beliefs had to be firm. The more he believed in himself, the stronger his Life Soul became.


    If he had nefarious thoughts and did something that violated the glory of heroes, his Life Providence would be of zero use. Furthermore, due to his guilt, his Combat Faith God would also become very weak.


    However, under certain circumstances, Lucas could become extremely powerful. If many people acknowledged and worshiped him from the bottom of their hearts, his Life Soul would become extremely powerful.


    What a strange Life Providence and Life Soul, Zhou Wen thought.


    "By the way, don''t upload the photo you took just now on the Internet. Don''t mention this matter again. Just treat it as though you have never seen Henry," Zhou Wen said as he took out his phone to take a look. Seeing that the Dead Man Tree didn''t react at all. It didn''t absorb Henry''s corpse as it had before.


    "Of course, I''m not a fool." As Lucas spoke, he took out his cell phone and deleted the photos he had taken previously.


    The Cape family was the uncrowned king of the West District. Although Lucas was famous in the Peninsula of Gods, he was still far from being able to compete with them. If they were to pester him, there would probably be trouble.


    Just as he deleted the photo, Lucas''s phone rang. After Lucas picked up the call, his expression immediately turned ugly. He could not help but exclaim, "What? The Medusa inside the palace broke out! How did this happen?"


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed when he heard Lucas''s words. He knew very well how terrifying Medusa was. If Medusa really broke out of its confines, this city, or even the entire Peninsula of Gods, would become an infernal domain.

 474 Devastating the City

    "Sorry, I have to return immediately. Let''s talk again if there''s a chance in the future," Lucas said to Zhou Wen.


    "Let''s go together." Zhou Wen found the matter odd as well.


    Medusa was inside the palace. Someone had entered the palace. If anyone touched her, she would transform into a demoness and attack humans.


    However, after entering the palace, the door would automatically close. Medusa should not have escaped from the palace. At least she had never run out in-game.


    Could it be the thief''s doing? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss no matter how he thought about it. Perhaps it had something to do with the thief.


    "Alright." Lucas didn''t stand on ceremony with Zhou Wen as he urged the Tyrannosaurus Rex to run towards the city.


    Before reaching the city, they saw crowds running towards them. Many people saw Lucas and were pleading for help. "Lord Lucas, there''s a dimensional creature destroying the city. Quickly go and take a look."


    Lucas asked for directions and immediately rode the Tyrannosaurus Rex against the human tide.


    Not long after they entered the city, they saw that the bustling streets of the city were empty, but there were many stone statues. There were elders, children, and some animals.


    They maintained all sorts of poses. Some ran for their lives in fear, while others fell to the ground. There was also a puppy who was peeing up a pole, but it had turned into a stone.


    Many buildings had been destroyed and the city seemed to have become a world of ghosts.


    When Zhou Wen saw the stone statues, he knew that it was Medusa''s work. It was different from the stone statues on the door. Even if one didn''t look into her eyes, one would still be petrified if they were seen by Medusa''s petrifying eyes.


    Lucas''s expression changed drastically. He clearly recognized some of the petrified people.


    A helicopter flew across the sky. Lucas hurriedly chased after the helicopter.


    After turning two streets, they saw a young woman running ahead. Lucas chased after her and yelled, "Barbara, what are you doing here?"


    The young woman turned to look at Lucas and was instantly overjoyed. "Lord Lucas, quickly go and take a look. Medusa is destroying the entire city. Other than you, no one can save this city."


    "Where is she? What exactly happened? How did Medusa escape from the palace?" Lucas asked.


    "I don''t know. After you sent the news, Lord Irjarr sent someone into the palace, but not long after, Medusa ran out. All the people and creatures that are seen by her eyes turn into stone statues. Even Companion Beasts are no exception. I wasn''t petrified because of the protection given to me by a special Companion Beast," Barbara said.


    "Where is she?" Lucas asked.


    "Alright." Lucas put away the Tyrannosaurus before running in the direction that Barbara was pointing.


    Barbara also followed, but when she saw that Zhou Wen was also running in that direction, she said to him, "Why are you following us? Aren''t you afraid of being petrified by Medusa? Hurry up and hide in an underground bomb shelter."


    "I''ll go over and take a look to see if I can help." Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of Medusa. Truth Listener could perfectly restrain Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification, and the Demon Dragon True Body could barely contend with Medusa.


    Although he could not kill Medusa, he did not need to be afraid of her.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had already run over, Barbara didn''t say anything else. However, she didn''t think much of it. Zhou Wen looked like a student, one even younger than her. How could he be of any help? If Medusa were to see him, he would probably be petrified immediately.


    After running for a short distance, he heard an explosion on the street in the next block. He also saw a few helicopters shooting at the ground from the sky. Lucas directly climbed up a building.


    Zhou Wen and Barbara also climbed up. When they reached the top of the building, they ran to the other side. Looking down, they saw a three to four-meter-tall demoness, with hair that resembled venomous snakes, standing on top of a three-story building. The snake-like long hair on her head seemed to extend indefinitely as it flew into the air and wrapped around a helicopter, causing it to explode into pieces.


    An Epic expert rode a flying eagle and flew over with a spear in his hand. He wanted to attack Medusa in midair, but all Medusa did was to turn her head to glance at him. The Epic expert was petrified along with his eagle Companion Beast. They fell from the sky and shattered.


    Missiles blasted over from afar and exploded. Essence Gold shards scattered everywhere, but they did not harm Medusa.


    In a nearby building, someone was constantly shooting at Medusa with Essence Gold bullets. Many people were using Companion Beasts to attack her.


    However, it was all meaningless. Medusa swept her gaze and all the Companion Beasts she saw turned into stone statues. The dancing snake hair drilled into the buildings and bit the soldiers and policemen to death.


    Any human that was bitten by a snake''s head would instantly be reduced to blood.


    The snake hair wrapped around tanks one by one and threw them into the sky. When they fell, they cratered the nearby buildings.


    The terrifying Medusa wreaked havoc in the city but no one could stop her. Humans became powerless in front of her. Even Epic experts only dared to control their Companion Beasts to attack her from afar, not daring to be seen by her.


    Boom!


    A nearby building collapsed. Many humans who were hiding inside cried out in horror.


    Medusa glanced over and immediately, a group of humans was petrified. Their faces were filled with various expressions of fear.


    Boom!


    The crumbling floors fell, instantly smashing the petrified humans into pieces.


    "Damn it!" Lucas grabbed his ax and wanted to jump to a shorter building to the side.


    "Where are you going?" Zhou Wen pulled him and asked.


    "I''ll run behind her and chop at her head. Just like the legendary prince in the myth, I''ll behead her," said Lucas.


    "You don''t have the prince''s adamantine sword, helm of darkness, and winged sandals. Do you think you can succeed?" Zhou Wen had also heard the myth that Lucas had mentioned.


    With the help of the Goddess of Wisdom, he had used a few divine weapons to secretly chop off Medusa''s head. It would be strange if he could cut her head off with a crappy ax.


    "Where there''s a will there is a way. Some things have to be done by someone. The Great Lucas can do it." As Lucas spoke, he ran out and jumped onto the rooftop beside him. Then, he crouched down and advanced, preventing Medusa from discovering him. He continued to move towards another building and constantly approached Medusa.

 475 Fighting Medusa Again

    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Although Lucas''s words made sense, he knew very well how powerful Medusa was. Even if Lucas could unleash the power of that strike back at the manor, it would probably be very difficult to injure Medusa.


    However, even if Zhou Wen persuaded Lucas, he definitely wouldn''t listen under such circumstances. Even if he knew it meant death, he would definitely advance.


    "Little girl, you said that you have a Companion Beast that can block Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification, right? Is that true?" Zhou Wen asked Barbara.


    "Who are you calling a little girl, you kid? I''m older than you, okay?" Barbara glared at Zhou Wen.


    "Alright, Missy. You said that there''s a Companion Beast that can resist Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification, right?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at her.


    "So what if I do? Don''t get any funny ideas," Barbara said as she looked at Zhou Wen warily.


    Zhou Wen pointed at Lucas. "It''s too dangerous for Lucas to fight Medusa. Why don''t you lend him your Companion Beast?"


    "You think I don''t want to? But my Companion Beast is a piece of clothing. It''s only useful if I wear it. The clothes transformed from a Companion Beast can''t be worn by others. How can I help him?" Barbara asked.


    "Clothes? Is it an invisibility cloak?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    Unless it was an invisible cloak that Medusa couldn''t see, Zhou Wen didn''t know what other clothes could prevent someone from being petrified by the Eyes of Petrification.


    "What are you thinking about? How could I have an invisibility cloak? My Companion Beast can turn into sunshade clothes; it doesn''t have the ability to turn invisible." Barbara pointed at the cloak-like clothes on her body.


    Such clothes transformed from this Companion Beast can resist Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification? Zhou Wen sized up Barbara''s clothes.


    She wore something that looked like a large cloak that wrapped around her entire body. It was silver in color, making it very eye-catching. It really didn''t seem like it had invisible properties.


    "That''s right. I''m very sure that it can resist Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification. Back then, Medusa looked over at me, and many people around me were petrified. Only I managed to escape. I was completely fine," Barbara replied.


    "What kind of Companion Beast transforms into your sunshade clothes? What are its uses?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The sunshade clothes were obtained from a Legendary dimensional creature I killed at the beach. Its name is Silverleaf Shell. Its companion form is the sunshade clothes. It has a certain level of defense, but it''s not strong. It''s mainly used to defend against fire. After wearing it, even the flames of the Fire Sprites in the Metalwork Temple can''t hurt me."


    There were many armors that could defend against fire, but it didn''t seem like any of them could defend against Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn''t believe her, Barbara said angrily, "It''s up to you whether you believe me or not. I''m telling the truth anyway."


    Sunshade clothes¡­ Fireproof¡­ Wait¡­ Could it be because of¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly had an idea as he thought of a possibility.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, snakes didn''t have good vision. It could be said that they were extremely short-sighted. As for some snakes, they had infrared thermal detectors. They could sense the body temperature of creatures to track their prey.


    Medusa was not a snake, but if she was considered a snake and if her Eyes of Petrification also possessed infrared thermal detection functionality, it could explain many things.


    For example, why her Eyes of Petrification could only petrify creatures, not dead objects like buildings.


    For example, why was it that Barbara''s sunshade clothes were able to withstand Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification? That was because not only were the sunshade clothes fire-resistant, but they also prevented Barbara''s body temperature from dissipating. As such, Medusa couldn''t see her, so she naturally couldn''t be petrified.


    Of course, the Eyes of Petrification couldn''t be as simple as just detecting body temperatures. It was likely at a higher level. Therefore, even Companion Beasts could be petrified. However, by doing so, one could probably know the main effects of the Eyes of Petrification and figure out a way to crack it.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of the Eyes of Petrification, Lucas didn''t have such an ability.


    When he thought of Lucas, he realized that Lucas had already run to the bottom of the three-story building where Medusa was standing. He peeked his head out from behind to check on the situation, as though he wanted to rush up.


    This fool. Don''t tell me he really wants to fight Medusa head-on? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, he saw Lucas suddenly leap up with the gigantic ax in his hand. With a terrifying golden divine light, he cleaved at Medusa''s neck without any hesitation.


    "Lord Lucas, you can do it!" Barbara waved her fists excitedly as she cheered Lucas on. It was clear that Lucas held a very high position in her heart.


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat surprised by Lucas''s strength. He had clearly just expended his Essence Energy not long ago, but to be able to produce a strike that wasn''t inferior to the one he delivered in the manor was indeed surprising.


    Could it be that the saying that an idiot isn''t afraid of exhaustion is true? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Lucas''s sneak attack on Medusa from behind was not a bad idea. Unfortunately, Medusa did not only have a pair of eyes. The poisonous snakes that her hair had transformed into were all her eyes.


    Just as Lucas jumped up, he had already been discovered by Medusa. Medusa turned her head and looked at Lucas, who was in midair and cleaving down with both hands.


    It''s over! Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. Although he wanted to help Lucas, he wasn''t able to make a move in time. Furthermore, even if he did, he couldn''t deal with Medusa. All he could do was guarantee his escape.


    Something that exceeded Zhou Wen''s expectations happened. Medusa''s gaze landed on Lucas''s body, which was enveloped by the golden divine light. It failed to petrify his body. However, the god-like golden light on Lucas''s body dissipated. His body flew out like a cannonball.


    Boom!


    Lucas''s body crashed into a building, shattering the glass windows of the building.


    "Even Lord Lucas¡­" Barbara covered her mouth as her eyes widened in disbelief.


    Zhou Wen saw that Medusa was actually chasing after Lucas, so he said to Barbara before rushing out of the building, "Go and see how Lucas is doing. I''ll lure Medusa away."


    "Do you have a death wish?" Barbara reacted and went to pull Zhou Wen back, but he had already rushed out of the building. He had actually leaped into the air and slashed at Medusa with a huge sword in his hand.


    The sword beam that resembled a wheel of sunlight violently spun and slashed at Medusa. The venomous snakes on Medusa''s head welcomed the sword beam. Many of the poisonous snakes that could even tear a helicopter to pieces were actually sliced apart by the sword beam. After landing on the ground, they turned into black pieces of hair.


    Medusa didn''t pursue Lucas again as she turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    Barbara was alarmed, thinking that Zhou Wen was doomed. However, she was surprised to discover that Zhou Wen wasn''t petrified.

 476 No Way Ou

    While Barbara was feeling alarmed, Zhou Wen''s figure flashed as he ran towards the other end of the street. His speed was so fast that she couldn''t see his trajectory. He was like a ghost, appearing once in a while at an unbelievable speed.


    Medusa let out a sharp cry as though she had turned on an accelerator and chased after Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t planned on fighting Medusa head-on. The injuries on his body hadn''t healed yet, so it wasn''t suitable for him to fight a high-intensity battle. If it was a battle, perhaps an intense clash of strength would tear his organs apart once again.


    He continuously used Ghost Steps. Thanks to having infinite Essence Energy because of Slaughterer, Zhou Wen could use Ghost Steps continuously. He lured Medusa towards the sea.


    Seeing that Medusa had been led away by Zhou Wen, Barbara hurriedly jumped off the building and ran towards where Lucas had fallen.


    Lucas spat out a mouthful of blood. Some of his skin had already been petrified, but it didn''t look too serious. Before Barbara could even reach him, Lucas had already crawled out of the ruins.


    "Where''s Medusa?" Lucas looked around but did not see Medusa.


    "The youth who came with you led her over there¡­" Barbara pointed in the direction that Zhou Wen had left with a strange expression. Then, she couldn''t help but ask, "Lord Lucas, who is he? He''s actually able to ignore Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification. Furthermore, his speed is crazy fast. I''ve never seen anyone as fast as him¡­"


    Barbara wanted to say that he was faster than Lord Lucas, but she swallowed her words in the end.


    "He''s a friend of mine. He''s a stronger hero than me." As Lucas spoke, he went in the direction that Zhou Wen had lured Medusa away.


    A hero even more powerful than Lord Lucas? But he''s still so young, how is that possible? Barbara was shocked.


    Gritting her teeth, Barbara saw a motorcycle beside her. As the owner was petrified and the key was still in it, she immediately got on and turned the key. The motorbike came to life normally and she chased after Zhou Wen and Lucas.


    It wasn''t just Zhou Wen. Many Epic experts in the city had chased after them. Although they didn''t dare to go head-on against Medusa, they couldn''t just let Medusa do as she pleased.


    Unfortunately, they were much slower than Zhou Wen and Medusa. Soon, they were left behind.


    Boom!


    Medusa''s body slammed through the thick wall and directly came out of a building. The venomous snake''s head spewed venom as it rained down on Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen flashed to the back of another building. The venom splattered on the wall, causing many holes to appear on the wall made of concrete and steel.


    Despite using Ghost Steps continuously, Zhou Wen wasn''t as fast as Medusa. He had to rely on various buildings and terrain to barely ensure that Medusa wouldn''t catch up.


    Zhou Wen leaped into the air and avoided the flying rubble and various glass shards. He stepped on a piece of flying glass with his toes and used Ghost Steps to propel himself again.


    However, before Zhou Wen could land, Medusa had already rushed to the spot where he landed. A venomous snake swept over.


    Instantly, he switched to the Godfiend Life Providence. The White Shadow of Poison appeared behind him and flapped its wings. Zhou Wen''s figure charged into the sky, dodging the venomous snakes'' devouring.


    Medusa suddenly exerted strength in her feet as the hard concrete ground cracked open. She leaped into the air like cannonballs as she chased after Zhou Wen. She shot out shocking finger beams as her palm grabbed at Zhou Wen''s flying body.


    Zhou Wen''s body drew a strange arc in the air like a flying immortal. There was something elegant in the midst of a close call. He dodged Medusa''s repeated attacks and charged into a building that had over twenty floors.


    Boom!


    Medusa also crashed into the wall, causing a huge hole to appear in it. Fragments splashed out everywhere.


    Zhou Wen lured Medusa all the way to the seaside. He had originally wanted to escape from Medusa in the city, but he ultimately failed. All he could do was attempt to escape through the sea.


    As he was chased and fled, Zhou Wen tried his best but was only barely able to avoid being caught by Medusa. It was impossible for him to counterattack.


    Even if he were in his best condition, he would not be a match against Medusa.


    After running for more than an hour, he finally arrived at the beach. Zhou Wen plunged into the sea and unleashed the Nine Dragons Art, swimming deep into the sea.


    Although there were many dimensional creatures at sea, it was not easy to find a terrifying existence like Medusa in it.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized that his decision wasn''t that correct.


    After Medusa chased him into the sea, her speed wasn''t affected at all. She was still as fast as before. The head of the venomous snake became even more agile as it constantly attacked Zhou Wen like a fish in water.


    Zhou Wen immediately recalled that in legends, Medusa seemed to have an affair with Poseidon. Fighting in the sea wasn''t difficult for her.


    In the sea, it was disadvantageous for him to use Ghost Steps. All Zhou Wen could do was rush out of the sea and use the Godfiend Life Providence to charge into the sky.


    Medusa probably doesn''t have the ability to fly, right? I''ll flee to a high altitude. I don''t believe she can still catch up. Zhou Wen tore out of the water and summoned White Shadow of Poison to flap its wings again as he charged towards the sky.


    Medusa also leaped up from the sea like a ferocious sea monster. She bared her fangs and brandished her claws as she charged at Zhou Wen. Light constantly shot out from her eyes as her snake hair swept towards him.


    Zhou Wen''s body constantly changed his position as he drew a strange arc with his figure. He moved in the air as though he was on the ground. He constantly borrowed force to dodge Medusa''s repeated attacks.


    Boom!


    Gravity took over Medusa''s leap as she fell back into the sea. The waves that were dozens of feet high were stirred. She really could not fly.


    Zhou Wen was immediately delighted. Back in the game, he had been sealed in the palace. He had no chance of flying into the sky. He never expected Medusa to have such a weakness.


    However, before Zhou Wen could be happy, he saw Medusa spread a pair of swan-like wings behind her back and fly up again.


    F**k you. Why didn''t you use your wings just now? Zhou Wen could only continue fleeing, but he still couldn''t escape Medusa. He was chased to the point where he had nowhere to turn.

 477 Nowhere to Turn To

    I can''t keep running like this. How can I get rid of her? Zhou Wen wasn''t as fearless as Lucas.


    He only wanted to get rid of Medusa now. As for whether Medusa would harm the world in the future, that was not something he could control. Anyway, he did not want to die.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he flew in one direction. He headed for the island that An Sheng had taken him to.


    Zhou Wen thought that he might be able to use the magical waterfall and pool to escape Medusa. This was because he had already cleared the dimensional zone and had left his name on the golden monolith in the dimensional zone. He wouldn''t be trapped inside worrying about not being able to leave.


    As long as he could avoid Medusa''s pursuit, he would quietly hide inside for a period of time and wait for Medusa to leave before coming out.


    He didn''t have the strength to kill the black six-winged dragon again. He had previously joined forces with An Sheng and, with Zhang Yuzhi''s help, they managed to kill the black six-winged dragon. He was alone this time and had yet to recover from his serious injuries. If he really angered the black six-winged dragon, he would probably die.


    Zhou Wen lured Medusa to the island. After a while, Lucas and the group of Epic experts finally reached the beach. They discovered traces of battle on the beach, but they failed to find anyone.


    One of the trembling residents by the beach told them that they were heading towards the sea.


    Medusa was already extremely terrifying and there were even more dimensional creatures on the sea. When the other Epic experts heard that Medusa had been lured to the sea, they secretly heaved a sigh of relief. They thought with luck, "Perhaps Medusa won''t return after being lured to the sea."


    Lucas ignored everything else and jumped onto a boat, prepared to start the engine, and venture deep into the sea.


    "Master Lucas, I''ll go with you." Barbara arrived on her motorbike and threw it onto the ground before jumping onto the boat.


    "Quickly disembark it. The sea is too dangerous," said Lucas.


    "Lord Lucas, have you forgotten? I came from the sea to the Peninsula of Gods. I''m a daughter of the sea, so I can help you track your friend and Medusa at sea. You are just one person. You won''t be able to find them even if you''re on a boat." Barbara had already started the boat.


    Lucas thought about it and agreed. Looking at the boundless sea, he only knew the general direction. He had no idea how to find Zhou Wen and Medusa.


    "Then fight alongside the Great Lucas, girl," Lucas said as he stood at the bow of the boat and looked at the sea.


    After great hardship, Zhou Wen finally returned to the island where there were Water Sprites. Now, he wasn''t in the mood to kill them. He rushed to the waterfall on the island and plunged into the pool.


    Boom!


    After the pool calmed down, Zhou Wen was gone.


    Inside the cave, Zhou Wen followed the water and quickly exited the waterfall cave.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he didn''t see Medusa. He thought to himself, Medusa better not jump in here when she can''t see my corpse in the pool.


    However, his worst fears happened. Zhou Wen could only hear the splashing sound of water coming from the cave. Medusa had already rushed out of the water.


    I''m screwed! Zhou Wen hurriedly burrowed under the pool, hoping to get out again.


    However, Medusa''s snake hair had entered the pool. It was already a snakes'' nest. Countless venomous snakes were wriggling in the pool.


    This fellow''s intelligence is too high. She actually knows how to sever my retreat! Zhou Wen felt depressed, but he had no choice but to move his body to dodge Medusa''s attack.


    Boom! Boom!


    Medusa''s gaze randomly shot out in all directions, causing the surrounding rocks and grass to explode, creating a loud boom.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something bad was about to happen. It was already difficult to deal with Medusa. If she made a scene, the black six-winged dragon would definitely be awoken. If he were to face two terrifying Mythical creatures, wouldn''t he die even more tragically?


    Now, Zhou Wen wished he had an invisibility cloak and could immediately disappear in front of Medusa.


    Roar! An angry roar came from the center of the island. As expected, the dragon was awakened and turned into a black lightning bolt that rushed over.


    Please bless me. Although they are dimensional creatures, they aren''t of the same species. They might be enemies. Let them fight it out! Zhou Wen prayed inwardly.


    Unfortunately, he soon realized that he was being too naive.


    After the dragon rushed over, it ignored Medusa and opened its mouth to spit out a venomous smoke at Zhou Wen.


    This is really bad. Zhou Wen suddenly realized that he shouldn''t have come here.


    It was too late for regrets. There was a black dragon in front of him and Medusa behind him. They attacked Zhou Wen one after another, completely cutting off the possibility of him escaping.


    Even if he used Ghost Steps, it was impossible for him to be faster than two Mythical creatures. Whether he advanced or retreated, he was doomed.


    Seeing that the two Mythical creatures had surrounded him and leaving him no chance to escape, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and switched to the Godfiend Life Providence. The Lost Country ring appeared on his finger. After spinning the ring, Zhou Wen''s body immediately vanished from the middle of the pincer attack.


    Lucas and Barbara were in the sea searching for traces of Zhou Wen and Medusa. The more Barbara searched, the more depressed she became. Finally, she couldn''t help but say to Lucas, "Lord Lucas, I''m afraid that your friend is doomed. Although he''s very powerful, it''s very difficult for even a god to survive against an existence like Medusa."


    "No, Barbara, you underestimate a friend of Lucas too much. He''s just like me, a great human hero. I firmly believe that he''s safe and sound. Perhaps he has already killed Medusa. We have to find him as soon as possible. We can''t let him enjoy the glory alone." Lucas''s face was filled with determination as he stood at the bow of the boat and surveyed the surrounding sea, searching for Zhou Wen.


    That''s impossible! That''s Medusa! She''s a mythical demoness! Even the mythical human prince had to borrow many divine artifacts from the Goddess of Wisdom to defeat her! Barbara grumbled internally, but she didn''t dare to say it out.


    "There seems to be a small island over there. Let''s take a look," Lucas instructed.


    On the island, Zhou Wen''s figure appeared on the black six-winged dragon''s back after a momentary disappearance.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen wrapped one hand around the black six-winged dragon''s neck. On his palm was a silver spider web glove. After touching the scales on the black six-winged dragon''s neck, it immediately stuck firmly to it.

 478 Monster Battle

    Upon sensing Zhou Wen on its back, a terrifying black flame immediately erupted from the black six-winged dragon''s body. It wanted to shake Zhou Wen off its back.


    However, Zhou Wen was already prepared. He transformed into the Demon Dragon True Body and stuck to its body, allowing the black flames to erupt without letting go.


    Medusa was originally attacking Zhou Wen, but because he was on the black six-winged dragon''s back, her gaze immediately landed on the black six-winged dragon.


    The Eyes of Petrification landed on Zhou Wen. Through the use of the Truth Listener earring, this replenished his Essence Energy, allowing him to maintain his Demon Dragon True Body state.


    However, the black six-winged dragon did not have such an ability. The scales on its body actually began to turn into stone when Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification looked at it.


    Roar!


    The black six-winged dragon flew into a rage as demonic flames rose from its back. Two hidden pairs of wings appeared, making it live up to its name as a six-winged black dragon. The petrified scales on its body shattered like stone shells, revealing the new scales underneath.


    The six dragon wings were suddenly extended. They drew out a terrifying black flame. Black flame-like blades slashed toward Medusa.


    Medusa was unwilling to be outdone as she waved her snake hair to meet the black-flamed blade aura. Numerous blade auras collided with the snake hair. Although the blade aura was shattered, many of the poisonous snakes were also severed.


    Instantly, the two Mythical creatures were enraged as they began a battle between monsters.


    Zhou Wen firmly held onto the black six-winged dragon''s back. No matter how intense the battle was, he wasn''t thrown off its back.


    Zhou Wen''s Sky Spider Glove had very strong adhesive properties. Once he stuck on, there was no way of separating him unless he released or had his hand chopped off.


    It wasn''t easy to survive in such a terrifying battle. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had the Demon Dragon True Body. Otherwise, just the aftershocks of the battle or the black flames from the six-winged dragon''s body would have been enough to kill him.


    Furthermore, there was an extremely important point to take note of. Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification provided Zhou Wen with endless Essence Energy. If not, he wouldn''t have been able to persist either. Without the Demon Dragon True Body protecting him, he would be instantly killed in such a battle.


    Zhou Wen hugged the black six-winged dragon''s neck tightly and slumped on its back. If Medusa wanted to kill him, she would definitely attack the black six-winged dragon. As for the black six-winged dragon, how could it allow her to bully it? The more they fought, the angrier they became. Instantly, the mountain wall above the island shattered and the ground cracked.


    Zhou Wen wished he could immediately escape from the black six-winged dragon''s back. Now that it was truly infuriated with Medusa because of the battle, he believed that the two monsters probably wouldn''t stop the fight even without him.


    But now, Zhou Wen really couldn''t escape. The force field produced from their battle had pressed him firmly onto the black six-winged dragon''s back. If Zhou Wen were to forcefully rush out, he would probably be struck by a terrifying explosive force in midair and end up being embroiled in their battle.


    The pain in his organs was excruciating. It was likely that the wounds from before had been torn apart. Although he had the Demon Dragon True Body protecting him, his body still suffered a significant blow. Blood constantly seeped out from his mouth and nose.


    I''m going to die. Zhou Wen endured the pain as he hugged the black six-winged dragon''s neck tightly. He tried his best to stick his body to its scales to reduce the damage.


    The black six-winged dragon was indeed worthy of being the guardian of the golden apple. It was actually able to fight evenly with a mythical demoness like Medusa.


    Although Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification had some effect on it, it was difficult to completely petrify it. Only the scales on its surface were affected, but, after shattering, they produced new scales.


    The battle between the two monsters allowed Zhou Wen to see the abilities they didn''t use when he fought them.


    As Zhou Wen''s strength wasn''t at their level, there were many skills that they didn''t need to use when they fought him.


    Now that they had encountered an opponent that was on par with them, they had used all sorts of skills, broadening his horizons.


    Zhou Wen was secretly rejoicing. The reason they were able to kill the six-winged dragon the last time was purely because they were lucky. If it wasn''t for the six-winged dragon being infuriated by him and completely ignorant of everything else, the Demonic Neonate wouldn''t have had a chance to stab the ancient sword through its heart. In a head-on clash, he and An Sheng would probably only end up being thrashed even if they joined forces.


    Of course, Zhang Yuzhi also played a crucial role. Otherwise, Zhou Wen would have died.


    Zhou Wen had the intention to summon the Demonic Neonate and get her to do it again, but in this situation, even if he could kill one of them, the other wasn''t something Zhou Wen could handle. In the end, it would only mean death.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how he could survive, the black six-winged dragon had already pounced on Medusa and bit her head.


    The venomous snakes on Medusa''s head swept over but were mostly bitten apart by the black six-winged dragon.


    Suddenly, blood tears rolled out of Medusa''s eyes. A strange light shot out from her eyes.


    The Eyes of Petrification did not have any corporeal light. Medusa also had another ability that shot out light from her eyes. However, that was not the Eyes of Petrification. It only possessed potent destructive power without the ability to petrify.


    However, the light that shot out this time was different. When the beam from the blood teary-eyes shone on the black six-winged dragon''s body, it began petrifying it.


    This time, the petrification was different from before. Not only were the scales on the surface petrified, but the six-winged black dragon''s body was also petrified. The speed of petrification just wasn''t very fast.


    Roar! Black flames rose from the black six-winged dragon''s body as it erupted with a terrifying power. It wanted to resist the petrification of its body, but it was useless this time. Its body became more and more petrified.


    It started with its chest and face, then its forelimbs, and then finally its body and rear limbs. In just a short moment, the six-winged dragon was about to turn into a statue.


    What''s going on? Is this the true power of Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification? Was the one before just for fun? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Even worse was that the Truth Listener earring''s power was gradually unable to withstand the petrifying light. Zhou Wen''s skin began to show signs of petrification despite his dragon form.


    I can''t wait any longer. Zhou Wen knew that if he waited any longer, he might lose his life. He immediately summoned the Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy.


    He held the fan formed by Banana Fairy and waved it at Medusa below. A strong wind blew and blew away Medusa''s snake hair.


    The Demonic Neonate did not hesitate. The ancient sword tore out of its sheath and transformed into a purple glow that directly pierced toward Medusa''s head.


    The black six-winged dragon was not completely petrified. It continued to press against Medusa, preventing her from dodging. All she could do was turn her head in an attempt to avoid the ancient sword.


    However, the ancient sword was too close to her and she was unable to completely dodge it. A purple light flashed and the ancient sword actually pierced through her left eye. Immediately, blood flowed out from the socket as Medusa let out a sharp cry.

 479 A Hero Almost Akin to God

    Medusa let out a painful cry. A huge force surged out from her body, forcing the half-petrified six-winged dragon to retreat more than ten meters.


    She used her fingertips to grab the hilt of the ancient sword and, like pulling out a splinter, she pulled it out from her eye and threw it violently.


    Zhou Wen jumped off the black six-winged dragon''s back and looked at Medusa''s eyes. He saw that the eye that had been stabbed by the ancient sword was blood-red, and blood kept gushing out. It looked like a serious injury.


    Upon discovering Zhou Wen, Medusa angrily rushed over, but the petrified black dragon''s body emitted a cracking sound. Its petrified flesh and bones cracked open as it forcefully slammed Medusa.


    Medusa was hit head-on and immediately rolled over. However, a purple light flashed. The ancient sword that was thrown by Medusa had flown back. While she was embroiled with the six-winged black dragon, the sword stabbed into her other eye. The Demonic Neonate hid in the distance with a cold expression in her eyes.


    Medusa''s eyes were completely blind. She immediately became a poisonous snake that had lost its poisonous fangs. Although her combat strength remained terrifying, she was not as strong as before.


    The black six-winged dragon dragged its half petrified body and fought the blind Medusa. It was still an intense battle, but Zhou Wen was finally able to escape the crossfire. He fled the battlefield and watched them fight.


    The ground trembled as the two monsters engaged in close combat. The ground cracked and the mountains collapsed, as though the end of the world had arrived.


    Zhou Wen hid far away and saw Medusa and the black six-winged dragon slam into the sea together. The waves in the sea churned, stirring up huge waves. He couldn''t help but secretly rejoice. If they really end up with an internecine outcome, I might really luck out this time. Perhaps I might be able to kill two Mythical creatures at once.


    As he thought this, he saw the six-winged black dragon and Medusa sink into the sea. He could only see the surging waves on the surface of the sea, so he did not know what the situation below was.


    After a while, the sea calmed down, but a lot of red liquid spread out.


    Don''t tell me both parties are dead? If they die without me killing them, will they leave behind crystals and Companion Eggs? Zhou Wen was considering whether he should go into the sea to search for the corpses when he suddenly saw the seawater spew out like a volcanic eruption. Face covered in blood and body covered in wounds, a one-armed Medusa charged out of the sea.


    The ancient sword in her eye hadn''t been pulled out, but she ignored it and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Although her eyes were blind and she no longer had the ability to use the Eyes of Petrification, the snakes on her head could still allow her to see.


    Medusa chased after him with all her might as though she hated Zhou Wen to the core. However, Zhou Wen soon realized that she was much slower.


    Previously, Zhou Wen wasn''t as fast as her when he used Ghost Steps. Now, he could open up a distance with it. Medusa''s speed was indeed much slower, completely different from before.


    Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease. He rushed into the waterfall pool and returned to the island in the real world.


    Medusa rushed out as well, but Zhou Wen knew that she was slowing down. Furthermore, her body was constantly bleeding. It looked like her aura was rapidly weakening.


    She''s about to die? Zhou Wen was delighted. He watched as Medusa''s aura weakened and her body slowed down. More importantly, the Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword had completely stabbed into her eye, having likely penetrated her brain.


    Although Medusa no longer posed a threat to him, Zhou Wen still tried his best to maintain a constant distance from her. He had no idea if she would suddenly unleash a crazy attack before dying, just like when the black six-winged dragon died previously.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized that Medusa was really on the brink of death. As she chased after him, she left a pool of blood on the ground. The wounds on her body were bleeding profusely. With her physique, the wounds should have stopped bleeding. Clearly, the six-winged dragon''s powers were strange, preventing her wounds from healing.


    Medusa had already begun to stumble as she walked. She was like a staggering old woman. She no longer had her previous might.


    When Zhou Wen retreated to the beach, Medusa seemed to know that she was at the end of her rope. She unleashed her final strength and pounced at Zhou Wen with a shrill cry.


    Her pounce seemed to be strong, but her strength was spent. She no longer had the terrifying energy fluctuations from before.


    Zhou Wen summoned Overlord Sword and slashed out a sword beam at Medusa who was pouncing over.


    Lucas and Barbara had already arrived near the island on their boat. Lucas was looking around when he saw Zhou Wen standing on the beach. He was immediately overjoyed. Just as he was about to call out to him, he suddenly saw Medusa pounce at him.


    Barbara immediately let loose a cry of surprise upon seeing this.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen drew his sword and slashed at Medusa, who was pouncing over.


    The intense sword glow was like a sun halo as it slashed at Medusa''s neck. After this, Medusa''s body was sent flying under the impact of the sword beam. Under the continuous rotation of the razor-like sword flash, the flesh and bones on her neck were crushed and broken. Finally, her head was chopped off and it flew into the air.


    Barbara''s scream came to a halt as her mouth gaped open in shock. Her eyes were widened at this incredulous scene.


    The demoness, Medusa, who had wreaked havoc in the entire city and left countless Epic experts on the Peninsula of Gods helpless, had been beheaded. It was truly unbelievable.


    Lucas was also surprised. Then, he subconsciously took out his phone and, out of habit, took a photo.


    Ka-Cha!


    The image on the screen was that of a man on the beach with his back facing the camera under the setting sun. He was holding a sword askew to the ground.


    Across the young man, Medusa''s body was suspended in mid-air. Fresh blood spurted out and a head flew into the air. The entire scene looked extremely impactful and had an indescribable beauty of violence.


    The calmness of the sword-wielding man formed a strong contrast with the twisted snakes on Medusa''s head and the blood that sprayed out. It made anyone who saw the picture feel their blood boil for some reason.


    Lucas looked at the picture and had a sudden impulse. After adding a caption, he attempted to post it on his online account.


    "Medusa''s doomsday¡ªthe descent of a hero almost akin to God."


    The moment this photo appeared, it immediately caused the Internet to explode in excitement. Countless people on the Peninsula of Gods saw this photo and left a message.

 480 A Personal Hero

    Although the people who followed Lucas were basically young people from the Peninsula of Gods, it was precisely because of this that they knew how terrifying Medusa was.


    Many people had witnessed Medusa wreaking havoc in the city with their own eyes. Countless innocent citizens had been harmed, and so many Epic experts were mercilessly killed by Medusa.


    Even though no one had fought Medusa before, they knew that this legendary demoness was definitely at the Mythical stage.


    Now that Medusa had actually been killed, they were both surprised and happy.


    Many people left comments to ask Lucas if Medusa had really been killed. Many people also asked who the man that killed Medusa was and who the sword-wielding man was.


    Then, this photo and Lucas''s caption spread across the Internet at the speed of light, triggering a tsunami-like discussion.


    There were two main points to the discussion. One was the authenticity of the picture, while the other was the identity of the sword-wielding man. Lucas''s personal page was about to crash from the traffic. Everyone was waiting for Lucas''s reply.


    However, Lucas didn''t read the messages. After posting the photo, he and Barbara landed on the island together.


    "Haha, I knew you could do it. You are a great hero like me, Lucas. You saved our city." Lucas went forward and gave Zhou Wen a firm hug.


    "I''m not as great as you." Zhou Wen wasn''t mocking him, but speaking from the heart.


    Lucas knew that it was impossible, but he did what he could do. Although there was a slight accident, it hadn''t been his intention.


    "One day, you will surpass me." Lucas looked confident as he patted Zhou Wen''s shoulder and said, "Quick, go and take a look at your spoils of war. That''s the reward you deserve and also the medal of a hero."


    Zhou Wen rolled his eyes inwardly. He was clearly just digging through a corpse for treasures. Why did it sound so righteous when Lucas put it that way?


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony. This was a Mythical creature he had risked his life to kill. He naturally wouldn''t let it go.


    Soon, Zhou Wen found a dimensional crystal in Medusa''s corpse. There was Medusa''s shadow in the dimensional crystal. Clearly, it was a Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    "Old friend, you''re really lucky to have obtained Medusa''s Essence Energy Skill Crystal. Come, let me take a picture of you and upload it online with the photo from just now. Let them witness the moment of heroism." As Lucas spoke, he was about to use his phone to take a picture.


    "What did you say?" Zhou Wen hurriedly stopped Lucas and glared at him.


    "I said take a picture and upload it online. This is your heroic history," said Lucas.


    "No, what do you mean by the photo from just now?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    Zhou Wen looked at the number of replies¡ªit was already more than sixty thousand, and it was still increasing. His face immediately turned livid.


    "Quick, quickly delete the photo." Zhou Wen was truly anxious.


    The Special Inspector Bureau and six families didn''t know that he had advanced to the Epic stage. If they were to find out that he had advanced to the Epic stage and had even killed a dimensional creature like Medusa, they would only be more careful when sending people to make trouble with him in the future. The people they sent would also be more powerful. Wouldn''t that be giving him trouble?


    "Why should I delete it? Isn''t this good?" Lucas asked in puzzlement.


    "I don''t want to be a hero, much less become famous. Lucas, you mustn''t tell anyone about what happened today. Don''t let others know that I killed Medusa, alright?" Zhou Wen also knew that deleting it was useless. This picture had probably been reposted countless times.


    He took a closer look at the photo and realized that it was only a back view of him. Furthermore, because the Overlord Sword reflected the sunlight, it was almost impossible to see the blade clearly. Even his back was affected by the light, so it wasn''t easy to recognize him.


    "Although I don''t know why you have such a strange request, as your friend, I respect your decision. Do you still want me to delete this picture?" said Lucas.


    "Forget it." Zhou Wen shook his head. If he were to delete it now, it would only result in the Streisand effect.


    Zhou Wen looked at Barbara and asked, "Missy, can you help me keep this secret?"


    "No." Barbara shook her head.


    "Barbara, he''s my friend¡­" Lucas said anxiously.


    Barbara took out a notebook and pen from her chest and handed it to Zhou Wen. Blinking her eyes, she said, "It''s fine if you want me to keep it a secret for you, but you have to sign an autograph for me."


    "Why do you want my autograph?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    He still remembered J¨¢k''s matter and wouldn''t easily sign things.


    "Silly, because you are her hero," Lucas said with a laugh as he patted Zhou Wen''s back.


    Zhou Wen only realized that he was overthinking when he saw Barbara''s flushed face.


    "I can give you an autograph, but don''t tell anyone about this, okay?" Zhou Wen took the notebook and pen and signed his name on it.


    "Sure." Barbara received the notebook and carefully looked at Zhou Wen''s signature. Then, she carefully closed it and hugged it in her arms. She thought in joy, Of course I''ll keep it a secret for you. Only I know that you''re the hero who killed Medusa. Only I have your autograph. This is a secret between my personal hero and me.


    "Are you going back with us?" Lucas asked Zhou Wen.


    "It will be inevitable for people to suspect me if I go back with you." Zhou Wen didn''t choose to go back with them, not only because of the reason he gave. He still wanted to enter the island to see if the six-winged dragon was dead.


    If it was dead, there might be something like a crystal left behind. It would be best if he could obtain a Companion Egg.


    Even if nothing was left, it was not bad to pick another golden apple.


    However, Zhou Wen remembered that the golden apple had just borne previously, so it likely wasn''t ripe yet.


    After Lucas and Barbara left, Zhou Wen entered the dimensional zone through the pool and went to the apple tree to take a look. The golden apple had only just grown and was still far from being ripe. It was probably useless if he plucked it now.


    Without finding the ruins of the six-winged dragon on the island, Zhou Wen arrived near the sea where it fought Medusa. He summoned the silver water snake and made it search for it to see if he could find anything.

 481 True Mythical Companion Beas

    As soon as the silver water snake entered the ocean, it merged with the seawater, as if it had disappeared.


    Zhou Wen made it search the bottom of the sea. After a while, he saw the silver water snake crawl out of the sea with something in its mouth.


    Zhou Wen saw that it looked like a black pineapple without leaves. On careful look, he realized that it was an egg covered in scales.


    The black six-winged dragon''s egg? Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    The silver water snake handed the egg to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen looked at it using the mysterious phone. It was indeed a Mythical Companion Egg.


    Six-Winged Guardian Dragon: Mythical


    Life Providence: Guardian Dragon


    Life Soul: Wings of Black Flame


    Wheel of Destiny: The Last Guardian


    Strength: 69


    Speed: 68


    Constitution: 68


    Essence Energy: 65


    Talent Skill: Poison Breath, Dragon''s Rage, Hell Demonic Flame, Six Wing Slash.


    Companion Form: Demonic Flaming Dragon Wings


    A true Mythical Companion Beast! Zhou Wen was surprised and delighted. This was the first time he had seen a true Mythical Companion Egg.


    The Companion Beasts he had now only had the potential of being Mythical, but none had truly advanced to the Mythical stage. The one closest to the true Mythical stage was Demonic Neonate, but her stats were too low. She needed to grow again; otherwise, she could only release her flying sword from afar and not participate in any head-on combat.


    This Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was a true Mythical creature. If it could hatch, it would undoubtedly raise Zhou Wen''s strength greatly.


    With it, the chances of Zhou Wen defeating the Mythical Creature in the temple were much higher.


    The Essence Energy requirement must be very high, but my Slaughterer has the ability to have unlimited Essence Energy. I should be able to hatch it, right? Zhou Wen thought as he used the mysterious phone to snap the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon egg into his phone before letting the blood-colored avatar attempt to hatch it.


    The incubation went surprisingly smoothly. After activating Slaughterer, the blood-colored avatar easily hatched the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Its tattoo appeared on his back.


    Zhou Wen excitedly summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The feeling of seeing a black dragon appear in front of him was indescribable.


    However, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon that appeared in front of Zhou Wen only had two dragon wings. It wasn''t in its six-winged form.


    After Zhou Wen made it use its Life Soul, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon took on the six-winged form, and its strength increased greatly.


    After getting the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to use all its skills, Zhou Wen realized that the fellow''s skills weren''t complete. It had fewer skills than the real Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, but these four skills were enough.


    However, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was different. Behind the Wheel of Destiny was the "The Last Guardian," and there was also an annotation.


    The Last Guardian: Miracle of Life Ward.


    Although it had an annotation, Zhou Wen still didn''t understand what it meant. He got the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to demonstrate it, but it couldn''t.


    Regardless, having his first true Mythical Companion Beast made Zhou Wen very excited.


    Riding on the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, Zhou Wen circled the sky and realized that it wasn''t as comfortable as he had imagined. This fellow''s flying state was too violent and wasn''t stable at all. Riding it was like riding a wild, unbridled horse. The feeling wasn''t good.


    From the looks of it, it''s not that great an experience when the legendary Dragon Knights in the West District ride dragons. Zhou Wen unsummoned the dragon and glanced at the golden apple that hadn''t ripened. In the end, he gave up the thought of plucking it and left the mysterious dimensional zone.


    After returning to the Peninsula of Gods, he quickly contacted An Sheng.


    "You were the one who killed Medusa, right?" An Sheng had clearly seen the photo online and asked directly.


    Zhou Wen recounted the situation. An Sheng wasn''t as excited as Lucas and company. He said to Zhou Wen solemnly, "Young Master Wen, you only have one life. Furthermore, it doesn''t only belong to you. I hope you won''t use your life to do such dangerous things again."


    "I originally only wanted to lure Medusa away. I never expected that I couldn''t lose her no matter how hard I tried. In the end, I was forced by the circumstances," Zhou Wen explained.


    "This absolutely mustn''t happen a second time. Forget it, I''ll quickly take you back. I can''t let you stay outside any longer. It''s only been a few days, but you nearly died twice. I''ll let you return to school where you attend classes and game," An Sheng said.


    "Has the ban on the Peninsula of Gods been lifted?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "After Medusa escaped, the Peninsula of Gods was already in chaos. What''s the use of the ban? That thief has probably left the Peninsula of Gods long ago, so there''s naturally no need for them to continue the ban." An Sheng paused before saying, "Quickly come back. I''ll go book the flight tickets now."


    When Zhou Wen returned to the hotel, An Sheng didn''t say anything else. However, he booked the earliest ticket to leave the Peninsula of Gods. They could leave tomorrow morning.


    When Zhou Wen was resting, he unlocked his phone to look at Lucas''s personal page. The comments below the picture had exceeded 200,000. The latest messages were asking who the hero was.


    This was because Lucas had confirmed Medusa''s death after his return. Now, they only wanted to know who killed Medusa.


    Thankfully, there was only his back view in the photo, and because of the light, it wasn''t very clear. Even An Sheng had relied on guessing. It was impossible for him to recognize Zhou Wen with this photo. No matter how many times the Special Inspector Bureau guessed, it was probably impossible to think of him. After all, in the bureau''s eyes, he was still a student who hadn''t advanced to the Epic stage.


    This photo was not only popular on the Peninsula of Gods, but even the Federation''s brass had noticed it.


    After all, Medusa had really appeared. Such a creature was undoubtedly at the Mythical stage. They paid close attention to people who could kill Mythical creatures.


    It wasn''t impossible for someone in the Federation to kill Mythical creatures. At least, there were such people in the six families. However, that was only because they relied on Mythical pets. Furthermore, there weren''t many of them. Each family only had a few capable of such feats.


    Now that a person who could kill Mythical creatures had suddenly appeared, it naturally attracted the attention of many factions. It wasn''t just the six families. The powerful bigshots in many places were guessing who this person was and whether he was from the six families.


    However, few people knew the answer. The next morning, An Sheng took Zhou Wen to the airport.


    Zhou Wen sat in the departure hall while An Sheng went to the bathroom. As he was texting Lucas to bid him farewell, someone walked to the chair behind Zhou Wen and sat down.


    Zhou Wen didn''t notice the person, but after he sat down, he leaned against the back of the chair behind Zhou Wen. The back of his head bumped into Zhou Wen''s hair.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Just as he was about to lean his head forward and not get too close to him, he heard a voice behind him. "It looks like you''ve been doing pretty well recently."

 482 Turning Around is Easy, Meeting is Difficul

    Zhou Wen''s body trembled when he heard the voice. He was alarmed and delighted. Just as he wanted to stand up and turn his head to look at the person, he heard him say, "Sit still just like that and don''t move."


    "Zhong Ziya, where have you been recently? Why are you here?" Zhou Wen asked in a lowered voice. He could tell that the voice belonged to Zhong Ziya.


    He knew that Zhong Ziya''s situation might be worse than his. At the very least, the bureau didn''t dare openly arrest him and Hui Haifeng, but they weren''t as polite to Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan.


    "I''ve been traveling around, leading the bunch of dogs at the Special Inspector Bureau in circles." Zhong Ziya leaned against Zhou Wen and said in a relaxed tone, "As for you, your rate of growth is really surprising. You were the one to kill Medusa, right?"


    "That was an accident." Zhou Wen paused and said, "I got what you left behind. It''s with me now. I''ll hand it to you."


    "There''s no need. That was originally a souvenir for you," Zhong Ziya said lazily.


    "Is that the method Teacher used?" After a moment of silence, Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Who knows?" Zhong Ziya pursed his lips and said, "Even if you were to know what method was used, is there any meaning to it?"


    Zhou Wen thought about it and was momentarily at a loss for words.


    "Did Medusa drop a Companion Egg?" Zhong Ziya asked.


    "No, it''s just a Essence Energy Skill Crystal," Zhou Wen answered truthfully. Although the two of them hadn''t really spent much time together, Zhou Wen felt that Zhong Ziya was different from others. Perhaps it was because they were both Wang Mingyuan''s students and were in the same situation, or perhaps for some other reason. If it wasn''t necessary, he wasn''t willing to patronize Zhong Ziya.


    "Lend me the Medusa crystal and pass it to me from the left. The surveillance camera can''t see it from that corner," Zhong Ziya said.


    "What do you want it for?" Zhou Wen said as he took out Medusa''s crystal and handed it to Zhong Ziya.


    He had seen the requirements of the Medusa crystal. He couldn''t meet the requirements of 41 Constitution and 21 Cursed attributes.


    In addition, there were Life Providence and Life Soul requirements. Zhou Wen didn''t know if his few Life Providences and Life Souls would be of any use. He was still unsure.


    However, just the stat requirement was enough to ensure that Zhou Wen wouldn''t be able to use the Medusa Crystal anytime soon. Furthermore, if he needed it, he could head to the Curse Demon Palace to try his luck with Medusa.


    "I need it to do something. Don''t ask me what it is. I don''t want to say." Zhong Ziya took the dimensional crystal. After a while, he touched Zhou Wen''s hand and said, "This is for you. Take it as interest."


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when Zhong Ziya stood up. "I hope that I''ll still be me when we meet again."


    With that said, Zhong Ziya walked out of the waiting area while Zhou Wen sat there, motionless.


    Turning around wasn''t difficult, but meeting was difficult.


    When An Sheng returned, Zhong Ziya had already disappeared into the crowd. If it wasn''t for the box in his hand, Zhou Wen would have wondered if any of that had happened.


    The scene of Wang Mingyuan cooking for the four of them and him playing cards with them seemed to have happened yesterday, but today, they could not even look into each other''s eyes.


    "This darn world," Zhou Wen cursed softly as though he was venting his emotions.


    Lucas had offered to wave them off, but Zhou Wen told him that it wasn''t necessary. The reason why An Sheng didn''t get Zhou Wen to inform him in advance was because he didn''t want him there in case someone connected the person in Lucas''s photo to Zhou Wen.


    An Sheng sent Zhou Wen back to school. His stance made it obvious that he definitely wouldn''t allow any accidents to happen to him.


    In fact, Zhou Wen didn''t have the energy to stir up trouble. His injuries had been worsened from the battle, so he didn''t even want to move.


    After returning to the dormitory, he threw himself into bed and soon fell asleep. When he woke up, it was already noon.


    Since he still couldn''t feel hunger, Zhou Wen didn''t eat anything. Thinking of the box Zhong Ziya had given him previously, he took it out of the Chaos Bead and opened it to take a look.


    There''s nothing? Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be taken aback. The box was empty.


    That''s not right! Zhou Wen quickly realized that the box wasn''t empty because it was made of paper and was very light. However, he could sense that the box was rather heavy, as though there was a piece of iron inside.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen thought of something as he reached his hand into the box. Inside the empty box, something seemed to be in the way, preventing him from reaching in.


    Zhou Wen''s fingers felt as though they were touching something ice-cold. Furthermore, wherever his fingertips touched, space warped visibly, as though a transparent plastic sheet had been crumpled.


    No way! Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd. He took out the mysterious phone and aimed it at the box. Immediately, he saw a row of information appear on the phone.


    Invisibility Cloak: Mythical


    After reading the top line, many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind as he came to a realization.


    The person who stole the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg is Zhong Ziya? Zhou Wen carefully recalled and suddenly understood why he found the picture of the thief familiar.


    Now that he thought about it, the thief''s looks and figure were different from Zhong Ziya''s. However, his eyes had a unique aura like Zhong Ziya''s.


    Zhong Ziya didn''t end up trapped in the Curse Demon Palace because he stole the Invisibility Cloak, but he stole it to deal with Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification? Zhou Wen gradually considered the cause and effect of the matter.


    It was obvious that Zhong Ziya could not incubate the invisibility cloak, so he could not kill Medusa. However, he ended up using some unknown method to get Medusa out of Curse Demon Palace.


    With Zhou Wen''s understanding of his character, Zhong Ziya definitely wanted to use the experts on the Peninsula of Gods to kill Medusa. As for how many people would die as a result, Zhong Ziya probably didn''t take it to heart.


    Zhou Wen ended up killing Medusa, so he had come to see him. Otherwise, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have known that he was the one who had stolen the Invisibility Cloak. Zhou Wen probably wouldn''t have even known that he had been here before.


    Zhong Ziya, what are you doing? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. Zhong Ziya''s character was too extreme. Furthermore, he was extremely talented. If he really did something evil, he might become a devil like Jing Daoxian.


    Looking at the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg in his hand, Zhou Wen''s expression turned extremely complicated. He had originally gone to the Peninsula of Gods for the Invisibility Cloak, but he never expected the Invisibility Cloak to reach his hand in such a manner.

 483 Strange Invisibility Cloak

    Zhou Wen carefully read the information on the Invisibility Cloak, but he felt that something was amiss.


    Invisibility Cloak: Mythical


    Life Providence: Seamless


    Life Soul: Combat Cloak


    Wheel of Destiny: Deity Possession


    Strength: 54


    Speed: 71


    Constitution: 67


    Essence Energy: 72


    Talent Skill: Invisibility.


    Companion Form: Invisibility Cloak.


    There was no problem with the attributes. The Wheel of Destiny was a little strange. The annotation was that it was a miracle of a deity''s descent.


    None of these were problematic, but the Invisibility Cloak was a Companion Egg. However, it didn''t indicate that it was a Companion Egg in its information. It was as though the Companion Beast had already been hatched.


    Zhou Wen took out the transparent Companion Egg from the box. He could feel that it was the shape of an egg, about the size of a rugby ball.


    He attempted to inject his Essence Energy into it, but the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg didn''t react at all. It didn''t accept his Essence Energy, much less absorb it.


    I wonder what method the Zhang family used to reduce the Invisibility Cloak back to its Companion Egg state. Now, although the Invisibility Cloak doesn''t have an owner and looks the same as an ordinary Companion Egg, in essence, it''s already hatched. It''s no wonder no one can''t hatch it after so many years. Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared. It wasn''t strange that he couldn''t hatch it.


    With the Companion Egg in hand, Zhou Wen switched his Essence Energy Art to the First Order of Chaos before attempting to inject his Essence Energy into the Companion Egg.


    Legend had it that the Invisibility Cloak came from the temple of the dualism god, Phanes. As for the relationship between Phanes and Chaos, it was very subtle. Furthermore, they were from the same pantheon. Zhou Wen felt that the First Order of Chaos might be useful.


    However, the outcome didn''t disappoint Zhou Wen. After converting his Essence Energy Art to the First Order of Chaos, the Invisibility Cloak accepted his Essence Energy. The entire Companion Egg trembled slightly.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he increased his Essence Energy input, but the Companion Egg continued trembling gently. When Zhou Wen expended all his Essence Energy, the Invisibility Cloak remained still.


    What''s the situation now? Does it work or not? Zhou Wen tried a few more times. When he injected Essence Energy, the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg had a reaction. The moment he stopped, the Invisibility Cloak''s reaction disappeared, but it showed no signs of hatching.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the Invisibility Cloak. Even if he were to train his First Order of Chaos now, it wasn''t something that could be improved in a short period of time.


    Although I can''t use the Invisibility Cloak for the time being, I have obtained the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon Companion Beast. I can try and see if I can fight that snake in the temple. Zhou Wen took out his phone and activated the Zhuolu instance dungeon.


    Once again, he came to the temple protected by the snake. Zhou Wen summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and let it enter to fight the snake.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was slightly faster than the snake, but its strength was clearly not as strong as that of the snake. A terrifying clash erupted within the palace.


    Dragon Breath, Demonic Flame, Poison Smoke, and all sorts of powers erupted. The blood-colored avatar was nearly killed just from the remnant blasts. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had activated his Demon Dragon True Body in time, preventing him from dying.


    Although the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was at a disadvantage, the snake could not kill it in a short period of time. He could not help but be overjoyed. With the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon as the main force, he might have a chance of killing the snake. There was no need for him to get the Invisibility Cloak anymore.


    Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy. Just as he was about to rush in to help, he saw the snake''s eyes turn into mirrors. Then, it glanced at the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, immediately making it disappear. It was as though it had been projected inside the snake''s eyes. The next second, Zhou Wen saw the notification that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had died. He hurriedly turned around and ran.


    However, he ran a little too late. After being glanced at by the snake, the phone screen darkened.


    What kind of Essence Energy Skill is that? Do you have to be so shameless? Even a Mythical Six-Winged Guardian Dragon dies from a glance. Are you not giving me a way out? Zhou Wen was depressed.


    After re-entering the game, Zhou Wen tried a few more times. If the snake didn''t have that Essence Energy Skill, he might be able to defeat it by working together with the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    However, every time the snake used that skill, he and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon would be instantly killed without any chance to retaliate.


    Zhou Wen could only take the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to the other temple, but the outcome was even worse. The dimensional creature that looked like a wolf and tiger, but wasn''t any of them, killed the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon with its speed. The dimensional creature''s speed far exceeded that of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Furthermore, its claws were nearly indestructible. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was ripped apart in a few blows.


    Although they were both Mythical creatures, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was clearly much weaker than the two.


    This also had something to do with the Companion Beast''s incomplete skills. If it was the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon with its entire lineup of skills, it should be able to last a little longer.


    Even if I can''t kill these two, can''t I kill the weaker ones? Zhou Wen took the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to the underground sea, thinking of using it to crush the nine black dragons that were pulling the wagon.


    They were all at the Mythical stage. With the black dragon being chained up, their strength was greatly reduced. They were definitely not as strong as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    Zhou Wen confidently rode the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon towards the sea and prepared to start a massacre.


    However, the moment they entered the sea and saw the nine black dragons, the black dragons seemed to become enraged. The chains on their bodies began to break apart.


    Then, a tragic scene occurred. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was like a little lamb that had entered a pack of wolves, and it was torn apart by the nine ferocious black dragons.


    What''s going on? They can escape their chains even without opening the door to the war wagon? Zhou Wen looked at the black screen and felt extremely depressed.


    Zhou Wen tried going to the underground sea again. This time, he didn''t summon the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The nine black dragons did not escape their chains.


    However, when Zhou Wen summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, the nine black dragons acted like they were on steroids. They broke free from the chains and devoured the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and the blood-colored avatar once again.


    As a person, it''s best to be more pragmatic. Zhou Wen still hadn''t recovered from his injuries and he had lost a lot of blood previously, so he really didn''t wish to waste any more blood. He didn''t dare take the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to fight Mythical creatures again. Instead, he went to Tiger Cage Pass.

 484 Killing the Masked Man

    The only dimensional creature that Zhou Wen had never killed in Tiger Cage Pass was the masked man.


    The masked man''s various Essence Energy Skills were endless and extremely bizarre. Although Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of him, he couldn''t kill him.


    Now that he had the help of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, Zhou Wen felt that it was time to give it a try.


    Apart from Truth Listener, Zhou Wen summoned all of them¡ªSix-Winged Guardian Dragon, Fire Furnace Queen, Demonic Neonate, Banana Fairy, and a few other commonly used Companion Beasts.


    The Tiger Cage Demonized General was nothing. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s poisonous breath killed him instantly.


    After entering the city, the Fire Furnace Queen released Fire Furnace, turning the surroundings into a sea of fire. Any Demonized Soldiers or Demonized Generals that came died.


    The masked man used Cast Beans for Soldiers and Cut Paper as Generals. It was of little use and could not block the Fire Furnace Queen that was setting fire everywhere. Everything produced was burnt to death.


    The Fire Furnace Queen''s combat strength could only be considered average. However, when it came to farming low-level monsters, she was truly great. She was invincible and even the few Mythical pets were not as useful as her.


    Thinking back to how pathetic he had been when he first entered the city, and now looking at how he was trampling over the Ancient City, Zhou Wen felt that he was indeed improving.


    With Zhou Wen''s command, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon immediately charged at the masked man. It spewed out poisonous smoke as the demonic flames on its body burned it to ashes.


    Unfortunately, it was only a piece of yellow paper. The masked man appeared elsewhere. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon roared and charged over again, killing the masked man again, but it was still a piece of yellow paper.


    Although the masked man''s level and strength were far inferior to the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, his technique was just too bizarre. Despite the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon making several attacks, it was still unable to kill him.


    This fellow''s skill is amazing. If he can drop the skill, it will be awesome for me. Are its Immortal Chains or Yellow Paper Avatar more powerful? Although the Cast Beans for Soldiers and Cut Paper As Generals are also impressive, they don''t seem to be of much use. It''s fine dealing with low-level monsters, but it''s basically useless against high-level monsters, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon chased the masked man in a frenzy. When the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon spewed out its Dragon Breath again, the strange man threw a rope into the air and a dark cloud appeared in the sky. Then, he took a few steps and pulled the rope before rising into the clouds.


    The pair of dragon eyes scanned the city but it did not see the masked man.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was enraged. Demonic flames erupted from its body, burning all the Demonized Soldiers around it to death. However, a Demonized Soldier leaped up from the demonic flames and somersaulted onto the city wall. Its body changed from the Demonized Soldier to the masked man. He held beans and pieces of paper in each hand before scattering them into the air. Immediately, it transformed into Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon rushed over and shredded the masked man into pieces, but it was reduced to yellow paper shreds.


    This skill is too sick. Even a Mythical creature can''t do a thing to him. Who is this fellow? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    Zhou Wen had already seen quite a number of dimensional creatures. Typically, high-level creatures could crush low-level creatures. This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen an Epic creature tease a Mythical creature.


    How can I kill him? Just as Zhou Wen was pondering, he saw the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s six wings flap crazily. It shot out beams of demonic flames that resembled saber beams, sweeping away all the Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals in the city. The masked man had nowhere to hide and was forced out. He pulled the rope and attempted to escape into the dark clouds.


    Before he could enter the dark clouds, a purple beam of light suddenly flew past and severed the masked man''s head along with the rope.


    Thud!


    The masked man''s headless corpse and the rope fell to the ground. The purple light transformed into a flying sword and returned to the scabbard in the Demonic Neonate''s arms.


    However, Zhou Wen soon discovered that the corpse that had fallen to the ground had turned into a puppet. And at the spot between the puppet''s brows was a speck of red, like a drop of blood.


    "Killed Epic creature, Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet. Discovered Dimensional Crystal."


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it was all for naught, he never expected to see the notification on his phone. A dimensional crystal dropped at the same time.


    Zhou Wen saw that the dimensional crystal didn''t have the shadow of the masked man, but there was a spirit talisman. Although he found it odd, he was still overjoyed. Although it wasn''t a Companion Egg, he was already very satisfied to have a Essence Energy Skill Crystal drop.


    I wonder which skill it is? Zhou Wen picked up the Essence Energy Skill Crystal and wanted to absorb it.


    ''Life Providence incompatible. Unable to absorb.'' A notification popped up on the phone, startling Zhou Wen.


    He knew that a Mythical skill required specific types of Life Providence and Life Soul, but for an Epic Essence Energy Skill to have a Life Providence requirement was rather rare.


    Zhou Wen switched his Life Providences and attempted. The Ancient Sovereign Life Providence, Eight Perfections Wisdom, and Godfiend were useless. When Zhou Wen switched to Dao Body, he finally absorbed the Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    A strange energy surged out of the crystal and entered the blood-colored avatar''s body. It opened up a new Essence Energy circulation pathway in the blood-colored avatar''s body. An indescribable coolness spread throughout Zhou Wen''s body as strange information flowed into his brain.


    ''Absorbed Elegant Emperor Avatar''s Puppet Crystal. Attained Epic Essence Energy Skill: Substitute Talisman.''


    Zhou Wen was delighted. Is this the Substitution technique of the Elegant Emperor? It''s probably the skill which uses the paper figurines to substitute death, right? Surely with that skill, I no longer have to be afraid of death? It''s equivalent to having countless lives?


    After Zhou Wen carefully studied the Substitute Talisman''s information, his expression turned odd.


    It wasn''t like there was any other way. The Substitute Talisman was the skill of letting the paper figurine be a substitute in death. However, this skill wasn''t as simple as he thought it to be. It wasn''t something that could be used immediately if he wanted to. He had to prepare the Substitute Talisman beforehand so that he could use it during battle.


    This Essence Energy Skill wasn''t something that could be used at the last minute. It required a long period of advanced preparations, and the process was rather complicated.


    The only thing that comforted Zhou Wen was that creating a Substitute Talisman required a large amount of Essence Energy to support him. Thankfully, he had the Slaughterer Life Soul giving him virtually unlimited Essence Energy, so there was no need to worry about lacking it.


    Zhou Wen got some tools and planned on creating a Substitute Talisman.


    Creating a Substitute Talisman did not necessarily require yellow paper, wood, stone, or metal. Even a piece of tile could be used as the basic material for Substitute Talisman.


    However, generally speaking, the success rate of jade and plant materials was the highest when creating them.


    Zhou Wen took out an ordinary piece of paper. It was probably made of plant material, so the success rate wasn''t too low.


    After calming his mind, Zhou Wen used the Substitute Talisman skill. He extended his finger and condensed his Essence Energy on his fingertip. He pressed it on the white paper and drew a strange rune.

 485 Going to Mount Laojun Again

    However, before he could finish drawing the runes, the paper tore apart. It could not withstand the corrosion from the Essence Energy.


    After drawing this talisman, Zhou Wen''s Essence Energy was nearly depleted. The Substitute Talisman consumed too much Essence Energy.


    However, the Dao Body gave him extremely fast Essence Energy recovery speed. Zhou Wen didn''t have to worry about having insufficient Essence Energy. However, it would be a waste if he didn''t complete the Substitute Talisman.


    Ordinary paper didn''t seem to work. Zhou Wen found a wooden plank. It had been peeled off a box and was rather common pine wood.


    However, the wooden plank couldn''t withstand the Essence Energy either, and before Zhou Wen could finish drawing the Substitute Talisman, it shattered.


    Zhou Wen thought hard and found a steel plate. He used his Essence Energy to draw talismans on it. This time, the steel plate didn''t crack, but the Essence Energy talisman he drew dissipated immediately. It was as though he had used gasoline to write on it, and it had quickly evaporated.


    From the looks of it, it''s not a problem with the material. The success of the Substitute Talisman likely has a probability. It''s not something that can be used just by drawing it out. Zhou Wen roughly understood the reason.


    Therefore, he continued to use paper in his attempt to draw the Substitute Talisman. After drawing dozens of talismans in a row, none of them succeeded. The paper was completely shredded.


    Isn''t the success rate a little too low? If it were someone else, their Essence Energy recovery wouldn''t be able to keep up. They might not even be able to produce any Substitute Talisman in a day. This chance is almost as low as winning the lottery. Zhou Wen felt somewhat indignant as he continued drawing. However, he failed to succeed even after finishing all the paper.


    Zhou Wen was a little stubborn. If he didn''t successfully complete one, he would feel uncomfortable. However, he couldn''t find any more paper at home. He left his dorm and planned on buying a few diaries from the supermarket. He refused to believe that he couldn''t draw a Substitute Talisman.


    Just as he walked out of Four Seasons Garden, he saw Wang Lu return from outside. After seeing Zhou Wen, Wang Lu blinked and said, "When did you come back? Why didn''t you tell me? You even got me to help you rear the antelope and chick. They are gluttons, don''t you know that? Isn''t that too much?"


    "I just came back and haven''t had the time to go to your place," Zhou Wen said with a cough. He had really forgotten the two fellows.


    "You came back just in time. This is the food I bought for them. Take it back for them." Wang Lu handed the two bags in her hands to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took a look. There were all kinds of snacks in the bag, and they were all branded goods that weren''t cheap.


    "It''s not good to torture animals, right?" Wang Lu said with a smile.


    After a while, Wang Lu said, "By the way, you came back just in time. There will be a Xuanwen Club event tomorrow. You can come too."


    "What''s the event?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Li Xuan said he wants to visit Mount Laojun to see the Wordless Monument," said Wang Lu.


    "He''s visiting Mount Laojun to see the Wordless Monument?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    They had previously gone to Mount Laojun. After returning, Li Xuan swore that he would never go to that godforsaken place again. Now, he was the one suggesting to visit Mount Laojun to see the Wordless Monument?


    From the looks of it, Li Mobai''s matter really dealt him a huge blow, Zhou Wen thought.


    "Are you going?" Wang Lu asked.


    "Yes." Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Since Li Xuan was determined to cultivate hard, he naturally had to support him.


    "By the way, take the antelope with you when you go." Zhou Wen felt that this might be an opportunity to see if the antelope would return to Mount Laojun''s Golden Peak.


    When they arrived at Wang Lu''s dormitory, he saw that the antelope was still lazily sleeping on the sofa. As for the chick, it was standing on the table, watching an entertainment program that was playing on television.


    There were two dishes on the table. One was filled with melon seeds, and the other was filled with melon seed shells. It ate a melon seed very skillfully and spat the melon seed shell onto the other plate. It was done in a fluid fashion like water.


    A cloud hung over Zhou Wen''s head as he thought to himself, Indeed, I can''t leave a pet to a woman. It''s only been a few days, and it has already become like this. From the looks of it, I''ll have to leave it with Li Xuan if I go out again.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen realized that the two of them had gained weight. It wasn''t because they had grown, but because they had become fat. In the past, the chick resembled a small falcon. Its body was streamlined, but now, it was as fat as a duck as it waddled about. Zhou Wen was really worried about its flight abilities.


    No, I have to educate it well. I have to make it an outstanding phoenix. Who the hell has seen a phoenix that looks like a fat duck? Zhou Wen made up his mind to train it in the future.


    From the looks of it, I should indeed find a dimensional zone to hone it. Zhou Wen stared at the chick as he considered which dimensional zone to take it to.


    The chick shivered for some reason as it looked away from the screen. When it saw Zhou Wen, it immediately flapped its wings excitedly and flew over.


    Zhou Wen opened his arms and wanted to hug it, but to his surprise, the fellow plummeted mid-flight because it was too fat. It flapped its wings a few times before stabilizing its body¡ªit didn''t fall to the ground. However, a dark cloud hung over Zhou Wen''s head.


    This fellow really can''t fly anymore. I need to train him. He needs to undergo hell training. Zhou Wen steeled his mind.


    As for the antelope, Zhou Wen didn''t dare touch it and pretended not to see it.


    He took the antelope and chick back to his dorm. The next morning, Zhou Wen went to buy breakfast for Wang Lu. After she woke up and finished eating, the two of them went to the Xuanwen Club.


    The members of the Xuanwen Club were nearly all present. Even busy people like Gu Dian and Huang Ji had actually come.


    Feng Qiuyan had also brought Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen. Together with Fang Ruoxi, Tian Xiangdong, and the other old members, the group took the school''s bus for Mount Laojun.


    This was an event that the Xuanwen Club had applied for with the school. The driver and the tutor who took them there were from the school, so there was no need to worry too much about safety.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t worried about his safety. With the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, there were only a handful of people in the Federation who could kill him. Even if he couldn''t beat them, Zhou Wen was confident that he could survive.


    The fat chick lay on Zhou Wen''s lap. The antelope occupied two seats. Zhou Wen had brought them along.


    After the group arrived at Mount Laojun, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan familiarly led the way and soon arrived in front of Mount Laojun''s Wordless Monument.


    They met a few people when they went up the mountain. It was unknown what they were here for, but they had stopped in front of the Wordless Monument as if they were here to see it.


    "Elder Jun, your surname is Jun. This is also Mount Laojun. I think this is your blessed land," a middle-aged man said to the old man beside him in a sycophantic manner.

 486 Seeing Potential from Actions

    Zhou Wen and company arrived in front of the Wordless Monument, preparing to look at it.


    "Students, can you wait for a while before you view the Wordless Monument later?" the middle-aged man walked over and said.


    "Why?" Li Xuan asked.


    "This is our East District''s Daoist expert, Elder Jun Tingyu. He''s here to study the Wordless Monument. If you were to look at it now and be affected by its power, it''d inevitably disrupt Elder Jun''s research," said the middle-aged man.


    "It''s alright, let them take a look at it first," Jun Tingyu said.


    Since Jun Tingyu had already spoken, the middle-aged man did not say anything else and returned to the group.


    Zhou Wen and company took out the items they had brought with them before preparing to look at the Wordless Monument.


    This was because they would be affected by the Wordless Monument if they looked at it for extended periods of time. They would become hyperactive and would do things that expended stamina, so they prepared some tools to do what they wanted.


    For example, Tian Xiangdong had prepared two dumbbells. In a while, he wanted to lift the dumbbells to consume his stamina. Tian Zhenzhen had prepared a yoga mat and planned to do yoga.


    Apart from Gu Dian, everyone had brought some tools.


    Jun Tingyu looked at the things they prepared and seemed interested. He smiled as he sized them up.


    "Elder Jun, I heard that the power of the Wordless Monument can put people in a hyperactive state. Then, if one uses this stimulus for learning, can one improve their results?" asked the middle-aged man, Li Mingcan.


    Jun Tingyu smiled and said, "This idea isn''t bad, but it''s actually very difficult to implement it. Legend has it that Mount Laojun is the place where the founder of Daoism secluded himself. His thoughts are mainly about the Dao. The Dao is about nature in search of the origins of all things to obtain the Great Dao of Heaven and Man. I don''t completely understand the meaning and power of this Wordless Monument, but based on my understanding of Laojun, I guess that it must be a power that pursues nature and returns to self."


    "Elder Jun, can you speak human? We still can''t understand such profoundness," Li Mingcan said.


    "If my guess is correct, the Wordless Monument should be able to stimulate one''s innate potential, so when it plays its role, humans will act according to their own hearts. They will ignore the constraints of the mortal world and do what they want to do deep down. The things that they have prepared beforehand are things that people feel they should do. However, what they want to do deep down will not be affected by the worldly factors, so what they do after viewing the Wordless Monument is often different from what they want to do now."


    "Is there no way to solve this problem and use the power of the Wordless Monument on a specific topic that one wants to do?" Li Mingcan asked again.


    "At the beginning, when the influence is relatively low, one can still control it a little. But after looking at the Wordless Monument for a long time, the innate potential in one''s heart will become completely stimulated, making it very difficult to control. Unless it''s a Sage or Buddha, it''s difficult for anyone to control their instincts." Jun Tingyu said.


    As they spoke, Zhou Wen and company were already sitting in front of the Wordless Monument, staring at it.


    The longer one looked at the Wordless Monument, the greater the influence they would receive. However, it also depended on the degree of determination one had.


    If one''s willpower was stronger, then even if one looked at it for a long time, the impact would be smaller than that of an average person.


    But this determination might not necessarily be a good thing. Instead, it could be an obstacle.


    Due to external factors, humans would do many things that went against their conscience. For example, many people felt that work was a burden and wanted to go out without worries.


    However, due to various external factors, one could not resist the impulse. One had to do something that they were unwilling to do, and they had to think of ways to make themselves do the work.


    If one''s willpower was too strong, it was very likely that they would forget their innate pursuits and find it difficult to stimulate their innate potential.


    "In that case, won''t the items they prepared be completely useless?" Li Mingcan said as he looked at the tools Li Xuan and company had prepared.


    "Only if his original intentions are the same as his current thoughts; otherwise, they really won''t be of much use." Jun Tingyu spoke conservatively. In fact, he believed that those things were basically useless.


    "I originally wanted to bring my books over to learn something. Thankfully, I didn''t bring them," said Li Mingcan with a smile.


    Jun Tingyu said, "Actually, it''s not that you can''t read, but that''s only if you like it. From the actions that arise from looking at the Wordless Monument, you can also see a person''s potential in the future. For example, a person who would subconsciously practice his fist after looking at the Wordless Monument would definitely be extraordinary in fist arts in the future. If a person were to subconsciously practice his swordplay after looking at the Wordless Monument, then his sword art would definitely be extraordinary in the future."


    They had been chatting and had not deliberately looked at the Wordless Monument, so they were less affected.


    However, Zhou Wen and company had been looking at the Wordless Monument at a close distance. Tian Xiangdong, who had the worst willpower, was quickly affected. It didn''t take long before he couldn''t sit still. He stood up and began running in circles.


    "Elder Jun, you''re right. The things he brought are useless. But what kind of potential does he have considering how he''s running in circles? Does it mean that he will be very proficient in movement techniques in the future?" Li Mingcan asked.


    "This isn''t easy to interpret. You can also interpret it that way. It''s just a possibility." Jun Tingyu actually had another explanation, but he didn''t say it out loud.


    Running was also a manifestation of psychological evasion.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Wordless Monument for a while. He originally wished to figure out something. Perhaps, he could improve his Dao Body and condense a Life Soul.


    But to his surprise, even if he circulated the Wordless Monument''s Essence Energy Art, there was no reaction from the Wordless Monument.


    After looking at it for a while, he felt really bored. He took out his phone and started grinding dungeons.


    Zhou Wen''s actions immediately attracted the attention of Li Mingcan and company. Li Mingcan asked curiously, "Elder Jun, that student actually began gaming after seeing the Wordless Monument. What does that mean?"


    Jun Tingyu shook his head and said, "Although everyone will enjoy fun deep down, most people still subconsciously have some pursuits. To be completely immersed in a game like him, his future achievements will probably not be too high. Or rather, his achievements will be related to games."


    Jun Tingyu had minced his words. In such an era, it was obvious that a student who was engrossed in gaming would not have any achievements.

 487 Why Is The Difference So Great?

    Zhou Wen naturally heard their words, but he didn''t mind what others said, so he continued grinding.


    After the antelope arrived at Mount Laojun, it strolled around on its own. This delighted Zhou Wen, but he never expected the fat bird to follow him. This left him somewhat depressed.


    Perhaps it was because they had known each other for a long time that the two of them had become so familiar with each other. The bird and antelope looked more and more in tune with each other.


    After a short while, the others started to move.


    Tian Zhenzhen''s yoga mat didn''t serve its purpose as expected. Instead, she started practicing her swordplay. This was still quite normal; the others were a little abnormal.


    Just like Zhou Wen, Huang Ji took out his phone and began gaming crazily.


    Gu Dian took out a bunch of food from his backpack. They were basically all kinds of dried meat and drumsticks. He sat there and began eating.


    Wang Lu had prepared a canvas and a pen, and she started drawing there.


    This time, Li Xuan was completely different from the last time he came. The last time he came, he did push-ups so crazily that he couldn''t even lift his arms for two days.


    But this time, he actually sat there without doing anything. He closed his eyes as if he was resting. No one knew what he was thinking.


    "Elder Jun, what''s your take on them¡­" Li Mingcan looked at Jun Tingyu, unsure of what to say.


    Jun Tingyu shook his head and sighed. "There are indeed some problems with the potential of these students. They either eat or game. There are also those who are resting with their eyes closed. If the students of the Federation all have such thoughts, then I''m afraid the Federation has no future."


    Jun Tingyu was truly worried about the Federation''s future. The Federation was already in a state of turmoil, yet these young people were all so depraved. It was hard to imagine how the Federation would be able to survive with these young people who spent all their time gaming, eating, and drawing.


    Even though Li Mingcan did not know much about the Wordless Monument, he could tell that gaming, eating meat, drawing, and so on were definitely not good manifestations of potential.


    Finally, Jun Tingyu''s brows relaxed.


    Ming Xiu stood up, used the practice sword he had on his lap, and began practicing.


    The sword art he practiced was the same as Tian Zhenzhen''s. In fact, Tian Zhenzhen learned her sword art from him, so naturally it was identical.


    However, there was one thing that was different. Ming Xiu did not completely practice his sword art. He only constantly drew his sword and stabbed out, doing the same action repeatedly.


    Li Mingcan finally saw someone looking like he was doing something decent and asked Jun Tingyu, "Elder Jun, what does it mean for this student to repeatedly draw his sword?"


    "Elder Jun, may I ask how is he good?" Li Mingcan asked Jun Tingyu.


    "Although it''s only one move, I can tell that his foundation is very stable. He''s still when he''s calm, but as swift as a rabbit when moving. He holds his sword steadily and firmly. He thrusts out his sword fast and accurately. Despite having such a foundation, he''s still pursuing perfection. He''s not satisfied with his own achievements, and he''s also able to endure boredom and loneliness. This student''s future accomplishments in sword arts will definitely be extraordinary. If there''s no surprise, he''ll definitely become a famous person in the way of the sword." Jun Tingyu was not stingy with his praise.


    Firstly, it was because Ming Xiu was very outstanding. It wasn''t an exaggeration to praise him. Secondly, it was because after seeing Zhou Wen and the other jokers, seeing an outstanding student like Ming Xiu was simply stunning.


    "If our Federation can have a few more youngsters like this, why would we need to worry about not being able to survive in the future?" The more Jun Tingyu looked at Ming Xiu, the more he liked him. The more he looked at him, the happier he became.


    He even felt some regret that Ming Xiu wasn''t his student. He wanted to nurture him well so that he could become useful to the Federation in the future.


    Li Mingcan also said wistfully, "It looks like our Federation''s younger generation still has some talent. They''re not all people who only know how to engage in revelry."


    As they spoke, they saw Feng Qiuyan stand up and use his hand as a saber to practice his saber art.


    Li Mingcan saw that Feng Qiuyan''s moves were simple. They weren''t very ostentatious, but they had a unique aura. He felt that this student was somewhat different from the rest.


    And when Feng Qiuyan''s saber art landed in Jun Tingyu''s eyes, his eyes lit up. He said excitedly, "A genius¡­ What a genius¡­"


    "Elder Jun, what''s going on?" Li Mingcan was shocked. Jun Tingyu usually had a sage-like demeanor. He had been with him for so long, but he had never seen him lose his composure.


    Jun Tingyu stared at Feng Qiuyan without blinking, as though he was admiring a peerless treasure.


    "The student has actually managed to master this saber art at such a young age. He''s practically a natural saber user. No, it should be said that he''s a natural saber king¡­" Jun Tingyu was someone with good eyesight. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have been able to tell that Feng Qiuyan''s saber arts were good.


    Feng Qiuyan''s saber arts were indeed impressive. He had the chance to become a grandmaster in the future. How could Jun Tingyu not be surprised to see such saber arts and saber force from a teenager?


    The last time he saw such a saber art, it came from a famous saber expert in the Federation. That person had already been famous for twenty to thirty years but was declining now. It was impossible for him to advance any further.


    As for Feng Qiuyan, his future was limitless. No one knew how far he could go in the future.


    "It''s too perfect. There''s actually such a perfect genius in this world. I didn''t come to Mount Laojun for nothing. Mingcan, help me ask for his contact details later. Oh right, there''s also that student who''s practicing his swordplay. With such geniuses, there''s hope for the future of the Federation." Jun Tingyu could hardly contain his excitement.


    All he wanted to do now was to recruit these two talented young people as his students and ask which school they were from. If possible, he wanted to make them his students and mentor them as his graduate students. They could study at the college he worked at.


    "I''ll ask them now." Li Mingcan could naturally tell that Jun Tingyu really valued these two young men and was ready to go over.


    "Don''t disturb them. Let''s wait for them to finish their training before heading over. If you go over now, it''ll inevitably disrupt their train of thought. It won''t be good if it affects them." Jun Tingyu hurriedly pulled Li Mingcan to prevent him from disturbing Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu.


    Jun Tingyu watched from the side. The more he looked at them, the more he found them pleasing to the eye and realized how promising they were. When he looked at the clowns beside them, the glutton had almost finished ten kilograms of jerkies. He couldn''t help but sigh. "They''re both students, but why is the difference so great?"

 488 Fusion Idea

    Jun Tingyu was very patient. He found a spot not far away and sat down. The more he looked at Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu practice, the more he liked them.


    Zhou Wen was grinding the Metalwork Temple instance dungeon. He had already gone to the Curse Demon Palace. With the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, he was still no match for Medusa inside the Curse Demon Palace.


    The main reason was that the palace was limited in size. When Medusa''s strength swept out, there wasn''t much space to hide from it. He and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could only fight head-on with Medusa. Medusa''s terrifying Eyes of Petrification would petrify him and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Demonic Neonate did not have a place to hide either. It was very easy for her to die in the palace and she couldn''t showcase her worth.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided not to try the Curse Demon Palace for the time being. He decided to head to the Music Temple and the depths of the Metalwork Temple.


    Inside the Metalwork Temple, Zhou Wen summoned the Fire Furnace Queen, Six-Winged Guardian Dragon Guard, and the Fortune Goldfish. Then, he brought the baby tiger and charged forward.


    The Fortune Goldfish''s stats gave Luck +4 in the Metalwork Temple. Occasionally, there would be fluctuations. In addition to Lucky Baby Tiger''s Luck +5, a total of 9 Luck wasn''t a joke. The drop rate nearly doubled. When Zhou Wen was farming monsters, he felt that the drop rate was especially high. The chances of Essence Energy Skills and Companion Eggs dropping were also significantly higher.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn''t interested in ordinary Essence Energy Skills or Companion Beasts. The Companion Eggs that often appeared here were Legendary Steel Cauldron Fire Sprites. Although fire-elemental Companion Beasts were pretty good, with the Fire Furnace Queen, Steel Cauldron Fire Sprites were naturally useless.


    Fire Cannon, Metal Heavy Fist, and Flame Protection were the most commonly dropped Essence Energy Skills. Before long, Zhou Wen had mastered them and had reached Rank 9.


    However, these Essence Energy Skills had very ordinary effects. Zhou Wen didn''t usually need them.


    Fire Furnace Queen was clearly a rare monster. Zhou Wen passed through several huge palaces and corridors before finally encountering one. Unfortunately, only one Strength Crystal dropped after killing it.


    As he walked further in, he found more common dimensional creatures such as Steel Cauldron Fire Sprites, Fire Sprites, Hammer Metal Golems, and so on. If not for the fact that he wanted to see what was deep inside the Metalwork Temple, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have bothered killing them.


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    When Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to come to a large hall, he heard an extremely odd sound that sounded like the rumbling of an operating machine.


    It was more than three meters tall and five meters in diameter. There were many holes around it. When it saw the blood-colored avatar enter, the strange war vehicle began spinning. Flames spewed out from the holes. Due to the rotation, the war vehicle was like a huge metal spinning top that spewed flames.


    Boom!


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon slapped down with its claws, reducing the strange war vehicle into a pile of scrap metal.


    ''Killed an Epic creature, Inferno Tank. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Realizing that it was a 38-valued Essence Energy Crystal, Zhou Wen picked it up and held it in the blood-colored avatar''s hand as he continued walking forward.


    As he went further in, the number of such Inferno Tanks increased. After killing twenty to thirty of them, an Inferno Tank Companion Egg dropped.


    The Inferno Tank''s stats were considered pretty good at the Epic stage, but it was useless for Zhou Wen. However, one skill of the Inferno Tank attracted his attention.


    The Essence Energy Skill was called Rampage. When the Inferno Tank used this skill, it would be almost invincible, or rather, a Dominance Body. Even the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon wouldn''t be able to kill it in that period of time.


    This skill is good stuff, but the Inferno Tank is too weak. I wonder if I can fuse Rampage onto other pets¡­ Zhou Wen thought carefully and suddenly had an idea.


    Recently, he had been trying to obtain armor-type Companion Beasts. Ever since the Mutated Stone Chi died, Zhou Wen didn''t have any armor-type Companion Beasts.


    The defenses of ordinary Chi were too weak. It was useless against Mythical creatures as they were paper. That failed to meet Zhou Wen''s requirements.


    Since there aren''t any ready-made armor-type Companion Beasts, can I fuse one myself? If I combine the Life Providence, Life Soul, and skills I want onto a Companion Beast, perhaps I can create an armor-type Companion Beast that''s stronger than the Mutated Stone Chi? Let me think about it. It''s best if the Life Providence is the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Golden Body. That will enhance the defense greatly. I can also have the skill, Invulnerable Golden Body. Which Life Soul should I choose?


    Zhou Wen silently calculated. Just considering Life Providence, Life Soul, and skills was clearly insufficient. This was because there was a problem with compatibility. If the compatibility was too low, even if the two pets had Life Providences and skills that Zhou Wen needed, it would be difficult to successfully fuse them.


    Furthermore, after the two pets fused, the product''s stats would change. It might not be able to retain the Life Soul or skills that Zhou Wen wanted. Therefore, it was almost impossible to try to produce one in one or two fusions.


    Zhou Wen thought about all the pet attributes he knew. Although he had a few skills and Life Providences that he thought were good, he still felt that they weren''t perfect. Furthermore, after trying it out, he realized that the compatibility between some pets was too low. It was almost impossible to succeed through multiple fusions.


    Just as Zhou Wen was fretting over this, a dimensional creature that he had never seen appeared deep within the Metalwork Temple. It was a heavy-armored warrior that was completely made of metal.


    When the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon slapped down with its claws, a golden pattern appeared on the body of the armored warrior. It looked like he was made of raw metal. It was strange yet beautiful. It appeared on the black-gray armor, causing the originally ordinary armor to become gorgeous and resplendent.


    Clang!


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s claw struck the head of the armored warrior, but it was actually blocked by a pair of arms. The stone floor beneath its feet cracked, but the armored warrior didn''t suffer any damage at all.


    Eh! This fellow is interesting! Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon swiped down with its claws one after another, slamming heavily on the arms of the armored warrior, smashing the armored warrior into the ground like a nail. However, the armored warrior suffered several heavy blows, and only a fine crack appeared on the armor on his arm. It did not shatter.


    Clang!


    After another heavy blow, the shiny patterns on the armored warrior''s body that looked like magma shattered. As the patterns shattered, the armor was also smashed into pieces at the same time. It was just an empty shell without any creature inside.


    ''Killed an Epic creature, Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''

 489 Divine Armamen

    This fellow is an Epic creature. He''s actually able to withstand a few consecutive strikes from the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. How impressive is his defense? What''s the light pattern on his body? A skill? Life Providence? Or Life Soul? Zhou Wen''s interest was piqued as he began searching for the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior in the Metalwork Temple.


    Luckily, this type of Epic Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior was not rare. However, it was only found in the nearby area, and behind it was a square. There were quite a number of Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors on the square, and behind them was a strange building half embedded in the mountain wall.


    The building was completely made of metal. It looked like half a huge metal ship was embedded in the mountain wall. Above the building was a metal statue holding a forging tool. It must be the god of metalworking.


    These Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors were guarding the nearby temple.


    Seeing that there was no other path, Zhou Wen knew that the strange metal palace was probably the end of the Metalwork Temple. He wasn''t in a hurry to enter, so he searched outside for Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors to hunt.


    There were only about a hundred Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors in the vicinity. It wasn''t that easy to have a Companion Egg drop. Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared to grind a few more times, but with the Lucky Baby Tiger and Fortune Goldfish''s double augmentation in luck, he actually managed to get a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior Companion Egg drop.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly checked the stats of the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior and was overjoyed.


    Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior: Epic


    Life Providence: Heavy-Armored Warrior


    Life Soul: Blessed Combat Runes


    Strength: 36


    Speed: 29


    Constitution: 37


    Essence Energy: 34


    Talent Skill: Fist of War, Rampage, Heart of Enrage.


    Companion Form: Heavy Armor


    From the looks of it, those magma-like patterns should be his Life Soul, Blessed Combat Runes. Furthermore, he also has the skill, Rampage I wonder if this fellow can fuse with the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior. If he can fuse into a Companion Beast with the Golden Body Life Providence and Blessed Combat Runes Life Soul, I wonder if the defense will improve greatly when he''s in armor form? Zhou Wen didn''t have any Three-Eyed Golden Warriors at the moment, but ordinary Golden Warriors had the Golden Body Life Providence as well. He might not necessarily need to use a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior.


    He put the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior together with the Golden Warrior and checked their compatibility. He discovered that their compatibility was 76.


    Without much hesitation, he chose to fuse them. With a bang, the Companion Egg and the Golden Warrior burst into smoke. The fusion failed.


    "From the looks of it, the Goddess of Luck will occasionally have some hiccups," Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    Thankfully, Golden Warriors and Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior weren''t rare. One was at the Legendary stage while the other was at the Epic stage, so it was relatively easy to grind them. However, Zhou Wen had killed all the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior in the area. He needed to drip blood to respawn them.


    Zhou Wen didn''t respawn immediately. Instead, he walked towards the Metalwork Temple. He wanted to see what was inside.


    The metal hall''s door was very heavy. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to use all his strength before pushing open a crack.


    A warm surge rushed out from the temple. It nearly made an Epic expert like Zhou Wen feel like he was about to be roasted.


    He quickly used the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul to make himself feel better. Then, he slowly pushed open the metal door and looked into the temple.


    There was a huge furnace in the main temple. Above the furnace was a golden trident. It was indescribably majestic, as if it was a divine item from Heaven.


    Golden Trident? Zhou Wen had heard of such a weapon.


    Legend had it that the weapon of Poseidon was a trident. It was a divine armament that controlled all the seas in the world and possessed the power to destroy the world.


    Poseidon relied on the power of the trident to release a huge flood that could destroy the world in an attempt to compete with the Goddess of Wisdom for the control of the land.


    There were all sorts of legends about the origins of the trident. One legend claimed that the trident was a divine armament forged by the god of metalworking.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t know if the golden trident was Poseidon''s trident. Furthermore, in the legends of other religions, the trident represented the devil, Satan''s weapon because its prongs were one long and two short. It was very similar in characteristics and was considered a symbol of evil.


    This was the temple of the god of metalworking, so it likely didn''t have anything to do with Satan. Zhou Wen felt that the possibility of the former was higher. Even if it wasn''t Poseidon''s trident, it should be a rather good weapon.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he saw the golden trident emit a powerful golden divine light. The flames in the furnace also rose crazily, turning the entire temple into a sea of flames.


    The flames were extremely terrifying. With Zhou Wen''s physique, he was unable to withstand them and was about to be burned to death.


    The baby tiger was in an even worse shape. It died in the flames and was burned to ashes.


    The Fortune Goldfish and the Fire Furnace Queen were not afraid of flames at all, and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon Guardian appeared as if nothing had happened.


    They weren''t afraid, but Zhou Wen couldn''t afford not to be. With a thought, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon transformed into six flaming wings and appeared behind the blood-colored avatar. The flames on the dragon wings resisted the surrounding flames, giving Zhou Wen a lot of benefits.


    The silver water snake was summoned as well. It spat out a stream of water to fight against the surrounding flames. Unfortunately, its water jet was obviously weak. The moment it came into contact with the flames, it evaporated immediately. It was useless.


    Zhou Wen was just about to try pulling out the golden trident when he suddenly saw the furnace shake. The golden trident flew out of the furnace and pointed at the blood-colored avatar.


    Boom!


    A golden beam shot out from the trident, melting the entire temple into a golden beam like the sun. Zhou Wen saw that the screen was filled with golden light. He couldn''t see anything. By the time the screen recovered, it had already darkened. Clearly, the blood-colored avatar was already dead.


    What the hell? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He had been instantly killed. If he had known, he wouldn''t have made the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon transform into dragon wings. With the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon in front of him, it shouldn''t have been that easy to be instantly killed.


    Zhou Wen was just about to respawn with a drop of blood and enter the game when he heard the few people who had been resting nearby walking towards them. He couldn''t help but look up.

 490 I Only Want to Learn From Coach

    Ming Xiu stopped his practice. The influence of the Wordless Monument had disappeared from his body. Ming Xiu was just about to look at the Wordless Monument again to continue practicing when he saw Jun Tingyu walking over with his group of people.


    "Hi, can we have a chat?" Seeing Ming Xiu stop practicing, Jun Tingyu walked over impatiently.


    "Hello, what''s it about?" Ming Xiu asked Jun Tingyu doubtfully.


    Jun Tingyu looked at Li Mingcan. There were some things that he couldn''t say, but if he didn''t say them, it would be difficult to move a talent like Ming Xiu.


    Of course, Li Mingcan understood Jun Tingyu''s intentions. He lightly coughed and said to Ming Xiu, "Hi, what''s your name? Which school are you studying at?"


    "My name is Ming Xiu. I''m a first-year student at Bright Prospects College. I''m now studying at Sunset College on exchange." This wasn''t a secret, so there was no need to hide it. Ming Xiu told the truth.


    "Only a first year?" Jun Tingyu''s eyes lit up. Ming Xiu was more outstanding than he had imagined. He had originally thought that Ming Xiu was already a third or fourth-year student, but he hadn''t expected that he would still be a first-year student. He was even younger and more outstanding than he had imagined.


    Furthermore, when he heard that Ming Xiu was a student at Bright Prospects College, but was only now on exchange at Sunset College, Jun Tingyu became more confident.


    If he was really a student of Sunset College, with Ming Xiu''s excellent performance, he would definitely be heavily nurtured. However, Bright Prospects College was far from being on the same level as Sunset College.


    As for the Imperial Capital College where he hailed from, it was definitely not inferior to Sunset College. Its ranking was even higher. As long as he had enough chips and sincerity, he wasn''t afraid that Ming Xiu would be tempted.


    Should he be an exchange student at Sunset College, or should he directly go to Imperial Capital to be his graduate student? Any student with the ability to judge should know how to choose.


    "Ming Xiu, let me do the introductions. This Mr. Jun Tingyu, a tutor from Imperial Capital College and also an honorary vice-chancellor. He''s a famous Daoist expert¡­" Li Mingcan listed a lot of titles. Even without those titles, just being a tutor of Imperial Capital College was enough to make people respect him.


    "Ming Xiu, are you interested in studying at the Imperial Capital College? I happen to be short of two graduate students. I can also apply for a scholarship for you," Jun Tingyu interrupted Li Mingcan. Li Mingcan had gone overboard with the accolades.


    Ming Xiu finally understood that this old man in front of him wanted to recruit him into the Imperial Capital College.


    "Why? If you have any difficulties, you can tell me. I can think of a way to help you resolve them." Jun Tingyu was slightly taken aback. He didn''t expect Ming Xiu to directly reject him.


    "There aren''t any difficulties, but I still wish to stay at Sunset College for my studies," said Ming Xiu.


    "If I remember correctly, Bright Prospects College''s exchange students will only be studying at Sunset College for three months, right? In three months, you will be returning to Bright Prospects College, right?" Jun Tingyu looked at Ming Xiu and asked. He suspected that he had remembered wrongly.


    "That''s right. I have less than a month left in Sunset College," Ming Xiu said with a nod.


    "Then why aren''t you willing to go to the Imperial Capital College?" Jun Tingyu was even more confused.


    "Because someone here can teach me things that I can''t learn from anywhere else," Ming Xiu said seriously.


    Jun Tingyu noticed that Ming Xiu was speaking very seriously and didn''t seem to be patronizing him. He thought for a moment and said, "Sunset College is indeed a very good college. It won''t be much inferior to our Imperial Capital College. However, if one were to say that the teaching standards here are better than the Imperial Capital College''s, that''s not necessarily the case. In the entire Sunset College, I, Jun Tingyu, only admire Leng Zongzheng. Your tutor isn''t Leng Zongzheng, right?"


    "No." Ming Xiu shook his head.


    "Then who is your tutor?" Jun Tingyu asked again.


    "It doesn''t matter who my tutor is. My staying at Sunset College isn''t because of the tutor, but because there''s someone here. To me, he''s the best coach. He''s someone no one can replace. He taught me how a sword should be used," said Ming Xiu.


    "Oh, who is he?" Jun Tingyu was a little interested.


    To be able to teach such an outstanding student like Ming Xiu, Jun Tingyu believed that he must be a highly-respected tutor, or perhaps a sword arts master. Perhaps it was some special treatment the college had given Ming Xiu.


    However, Ming Xiu turned around and pointed his finger in one direction. Then he said, "That''s him. He''s my coach."


    Jun Tingyu was a little surprised. He didn''t expect Ming Xiu''s coach to be here as well. However, when he looked in the direction Ming Xiu was pointing, he was instantly shocked.


    There was only one person in the direction Ming Xiu was pointing. It was Zhou Wen, who was gaming there. At that moment, Zhou Wen had entered the dungeon and continued playing his game. It looked like the battle was extremely intense.


    "You''re saying that the student who''s playing games is your coach?" Jun Tingyu thought that Ming Xiu had made a mistake. The person who could teach such a genius student was naturally a true expert. How could it be a student, and such a student at that?


    "Yes, he''s my coach. He taught me how to use the sword, so even if there''s less than a month left, I still hope to learn from him," Ming Xiu said seriously.


    Jun Tingyu, Li Mingcan, and the others all had their mouths agape, unable to speak. From Ming Xiu''s expression, it didn''t seem like he was spouting nonsense. However, to give up the chance of going to Imperial Capital College as a graduate student with Jun Tingyu for just another month of study with another student, this was simply incomprehensible to them.


    "Ming Xiu, you should consider it again. Although that student¡­ might have something extraordinary about him, there''s definitely a gap between him and a famous tutor like Elder Jun. You''re too young, so you might not know much about him. Among the students taught by Elder Jun, many of them are already famous Epic experts in the Federation¡­" Li Mingcan said.


    "Jun Tingyu, a mentor at the Imperial Capital College, the honorary vice-chancellor, and a famous Daoist expert. He has the reputation of being a famous Daoist master, and his strength is outstanding. He even taught Li Zijian, Zhang Huayu, and other famous Epic experts of the Federation. He groomed more than 30 Epic experts for the Federation¡­" Ming Xiu recounted Jun Tingyu''s accolades as though he knew them all.


    But in the end, he bowed slightly to Jun Tingyu and said, "Thank you for your kind offer. If this was before I came to Sunset College and met Coach, I would have agreed to follow you to Imperial Capital College without any hesitation. But now, even if there''s only one day left, I still wish to learn from Coach."


    Jun Tingyu and Li Mingcan were both dumbfounded. They watched as Ming Xiu turned around and walked to the Wordless Monument. He sat down and continued to look at the monument. They were unable to regain their senses for a long time.


    Suddenly, they heard a saber hum go straight into the clouds. They turned their heads and saw Feng Qiuyan slash at the sky with his palm like it was a saber. He was like a heaven-defying dragon. His aura was terrifying, as though he could slice apart the heavens and earth.


    Life Soul! He actually condensed a Life Soul! Heavens! How old is he! Jun Tingyu''s body trembled as he widened his eyes in disbelief at Feng Qiuyan. It was as if he had seen a ghost.

 491 The Luck of a Lifetime

    As time passed, various dimensional zones were developed. More and more geniuses appeared among humans, and the age for reaching the Epic stage was declining.


    However, even the geniuses of the six families would usually only have the chance to advance to the Epic stage when they were in their twenties or thirties. These were people with extraordinary talent.


    The college student in front of him had already advanced to the Epic stage and condensed a Life Soul. Even though he was used to seeing geniuses at Imperial Capital College, he could not help but be surprised and happy.


    This is a rare genius that only appears once in a hundred years. I have to think of a way to recruit him as my disciple. I definitely can''t miss out on such a genius. Jun Tingyu only wanted to take Feng Qiuyan as his graduate student.


    Under the power of the Wordless Monument, Feng Qiuyan constantly practiced his saber, finally gaining some insight. He felt like he had yet to fully vent something in him, so he couldn''t help but unleash his true strength and slash out the saber that slashed at the heavens.


    After slashing out, Feng Qiuyan calmed down significantly. He retracted his palm and converged his Essence Energy.


    "Hello, I''m Imperial Capital College''s tutor, Jun Tingyu. What''s your name?" Jun Tingyu couldn''t wait for Li Mingcan to introduce him. He walked over impatiently, took out his name card, and handed it to Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan was puzzled and looked at Jun Tingyu, unsure why he was here for him.


    "Feng Qiuyan, are you willing to be my graduate student at the Imperial Capital College? I can apply for the best scholarship for you. Furthermore, you can directly work in my laboratory and participate in the project I''m researching. During this period of time, you can enjoy the treatment of a researcher. I will also apply for passage to all the dimensional zones in Imperial Capital College for you¡­" Jun Tingyu couldn''t wait to throw out all his chips. He really wanted Feng Qiuyan.


    It was easy to obtain a thousand soldiers, but not a general. There were many humans who could cultivate, but very few had the chance to break through to the Mythical stage. It had been so many years, and the number of people who had the ability to break through to the Mythical stage could be counted on one hand.


    From Jun Tingyu''s point of view, Feng Qiuyan was the person who could very likely break through to the Mythical stage. If he could be carefully nurtured by him, he might become a legend of the Federation in the future.


    "Sorry, I have no intention of leaving Sunset College," Feng Qiuyan said.


    After experiencing Ming Xiu''s previous experience, Jun Tingyu''s mental fortitude was much greater. After being rejected, he didn''t feel too agitated. He asked Feng Qiuyan, "Why are you refusing? Does Sunset College give you better treatment than me?"


    "Another first year¡­" Jun Tingyu looked at Feng Qiuyan with an even more fervent gaze. This was simply a gifted talent. A first-year student was only seventeen years old. A seventeen-year-old Epic was just too shocking. It was likely that not many of the six families could produce such a powerful genius.


    No, I have to think of a way to poach him away from Sunset College. From his looks, he doesn''t seem to lack money. His background must be extraordinary. If his surname is Feng, could he be a descendant of the Feng family? Jun Tingyu pondered for a moment before asking, "Although the Feng surname is the number one surname in ancient times, there aren''t many people with the surname Feng in the present world. Now, there are two famous Feng family clans. They are situated at the capital and Sea Return. Which one are you?"


    "Sea Return''s Feng family," Feng Qiuyan replied.


    Jun Tingyu was overjoyed when he heard that. "Old Master Feng Boren from the Feng family of Sea Return and I have a good relationship. I have some understanding of your Feng family''s Essence Energy Art. If you are willing to study at the Imperial Capital College with me, I can provide you with a special Wind stat crystal. It''s sufficient for your cultivation."


    A special wind-elemental crystal wasn''t something that could be bought with money. It could only be obtained by hunting wind-elemental dimensional creatures. However, wind-elemental dimensional creatures were relatively rare, and their drop rate was low.


    The Sea Return Feng family''s Essence Energy Art required a large amount of wind-elemental crystals to advance to a higher realm. As a result, the Feng family''s wind-elemental crystals were never enough. They needed to spend large amounts of resources to purchase them. Even so, it was still not enough. He had made a generous offer that even Jun Tingyu felt his heart ache.


    From his point of view, Feng Qiuyan didn''t have any reason to reject him. A wind-elemental crystal was too important to the Feng family.


    "Sorry, I don''t plan on leaving Sunset College." Feng Qiuyan didn''t hesitate as he rejected him once again.


    Jun Tingyu was somewhat stunned. He looked at Feng Qiuyan and asked, "Can you tell me why you''re unwilling to go to Imperial Capital College?"


    Li Mingcan and company also looked at Feng Qiuyan. They really couldn''t figure out why Feng Qiuyan would reject him. If Jun Tingyu gave any university student those conditions, they would usually follow Jun Tingyu to Imperial Capital College without any hesitation. Let alone poaching a first-year student, the offer was more than enough for poaching a famous researcher.


    Furthermore, Jun Tingyu was willing to offer the wind-elemental crystals from his prized collection. This was simply a blessing from the heavens. They really couldn''t understand why Feng Qiuyan would reject him. Was his brain damaged?


    Feng Qiuyan said matter-of-factly, "Because there''s Coach here, but there''s no one like him in Imperial Capital College."


    Hearing the word ''Coach'', Jun Tingyu, Li Mingcan, and the others felt their hearts skip a beat. They thought, It can''t be?


    Jun Tingyu''s expression was extremely odd. He glanced at Zhou Wen, who was gaming not far away. He then looked at Feng Qiuyan and asked, "Which coach are you referring to?"


    "He''s right there." Feng Qiuyan pointed at Zhou Wen, who was gaming.


    Although they were mentally prepared, when Feng Qiuyan pointed at Zhou Wen, Jun Tingyu and company''s expressions changed.


    Jun Tingyu''s emotions were extremely complicated as he looked at Zhou Wen with a strange gaze.


    Li Mingcan could no longer hold back his anger. He could not help but ask, "Feng Qiuyan, you said that he''s your mentor. Can you tell us who he is?"


    "His name is Zhou Wen. Just like me, he''s a first-year student at Sunset College," Feng Qiuyan answered.


    Jun Tingyu''s heart skipped a beat. "Another first-year student?"


    Li Mingcan asked in confusion, "He''s also in his first year. How can he be stronger than you?"


    Li Mingcan actually wanted to say, what right does he have to be your coach? However, he was someone who still cared about his reputation, so he was too embarrassed to say such words.


    However, in Li Mingcan''s heart, Feng Qiuyan was already an unprecedented genius. It was understandable for him to have a tutor or a famous person as his coach, but he was also a first-year student. The fellow who was addicted to gaming was actually Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu''s coach. Li Mingcan felt that it wasn''t something to be believed at all. It was likely that Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu were just patronizing them, making excuses that they didn''t want to go to the Imperial Capital College.


    Upon hearing Li Mingcan''s doubts, Feng Qiuyan immediately said seriously, "Coach is obviously stronger than me. Compared to Coach, I''m worlds apart from him. I''m less than ten-thousandth of Coach. It''s the luck of my lifetime to be able to cultivate alongside Coach."


    Jun Tingyu and Li Mingcan were dumbfounded when they heard that. They couldn''t help but look at Zhou Wen. Looking at Zhou Wen, who was engrossed in the game, they really couldn''t associate such a student with Feng Qiuyan''s description of him.

 492 Too Late

    Could it be that I''ve misjudged him? Is that student really a genius, a genius who''s stronger than Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan? Jun Tingyu began to doubt himself.


    He could tell that Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan respected Zhou Wen greatly. The feelings that came from the bottom of their hearts couldn''t be faked. It was impossible that they were just patronizing him.


    However, Jun Tingyu couldn''t believe that the fellow who was gaming was actually better than Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan had advanced to the Epic stage at such a young age. It was a rare occurrence that happened only once in a hundred years, but to Zhou Wen of the same age, he was like a student idolizing his teacher. He couldn''t imagine what kind of person Zhou Wen was.


    Is there really such a genius in this world? Jun Tingyu looked at Zhou Wen with mixed feelings.


    Li Mingcan and company looked at Zhou Wen as well. They couldn''t help but gulp. Even Feng Qiuyan admitted that he was less than ten-thousandth of him. They found it even more difficult to imagine what kind of genius he was.


    "Teacher, could there be a deeper meaning behind this act of gaming?" Li Mingcan was a little suspicious of the previous judgment. Although he knew that it was not good to doubt Jun Tingyu like this, he could not help but ask.


    Jun Tingyu was beginning to grumble inwardly. After carefully observing Zhou Wen, who was gaming, he felt that he was indeed somewhat extraordinary.


    He looked calm and had an outstanding temperament. Although he was gaming, he gave off an aura that he could not be shaken even if the sky collapsed. It seemed that he was indeed different from others.


    In fact, this was just a psychological effect on Jun Tingyu''s part. Although Zhou Wen really wasn''t just gaming, from the looks of it, he was no different from an ordinary person when gaming. To see anything from it was nothing but a joke.


    As Zhou Wen was gaming, his phone suddenly rang. It was his usual phone. Upon hearing the text message chime, Zhou Wen immediately jolted.


    This was because he had specially set up the notification sound. Only when The Thearch sent a message would he get this sound.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare delay as he hurriedly took out the other phone from his pocket. Indeed, it was a message from The Thearch.


    "After such a long time, I still haven''t seen any of the things that I want. I don''t think you''ve taken my matters to heart. I really shall mete out some punishment. Otherwise, you might think that my threats are just for fun."


    Zhou Wen immediately broke out into cold sweat when he saw the message. He was afraid of death, and he was even more afraid that The Thearch would sever his limbs. That would be terrible.


    "Too late." The Thearch only replied with two words.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly tried to explain. He was really afraid that The Thearch would make a wish to sever all his limbs. He was in the prime of his youth, so to have his limbs severed just because of a few darn instruments would be terrible.


    However, no matter how he explained, the Thearch didn''t reply. This made Zhou Wen feel extremely uneasy.


    When Jun Tingyu saw Zhou Wen using his phone to communicate with The Thearch, his eyes lit up. He shouted excitedly, "Genius¡­ This person is really a genius¡­"


    Li Mingcan and the others were shocked. Li Mingcan quickly asked, "Elder Jun, what have you seen?"


    Jun Tingyu said, "I''m getting old. Indeed, I was wrong just now. This young man is really an extraordinary genius. It''s no wonder even geniuses like Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan admire him so much."


    "Elder Jun, how did you tell? Tell us." Li Mingcan''s heart was itching to know.


    Jun Tingyu pointed at Zhou Wen, who was texting on his phone, and said, "The Wordless Monument is a power that targets the hearts of people. Even top Epic experts would surrender themselves to their inner desires after being affected by the power of the Wordless Monument. Before they are exhausted, they definitely wouldn''t be distracted, nor can they be distracted. But look at him. When he was gaming, he was actually able to use another phone to constantly send messages. This means that his mind is completely unaffected by the power of the Wordless Monument. To be able to maintain his willpower in such a situation means that his willpower is completely unheard of. Even saints pale in comparison. With such powerful willpower, he definitely isn''t an ordinary person¡­ No wonder¡­"


    The more Jun Tingyu looked at Zhou Wen, the more he felt that he stood out as though he had an outstanding bearing. This made it impossible for him to treat Zhou Wen as a junior any longer.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know all the things that Jun Tingyu had deciphered. As he had already cultivated the Wordless Monument''s Essence Energy Art, he wasn''t affected at all. He didn''t need to use his willpower to ward off the Wordless Monument''s power.


    However, there was one thing Jun Tingyu did guess correctly by sheer chance. Zhou Wen''s willpower was indeed extraordinary.


    Zhou Wen sent several messages, but The Thearch didn''t reply. He knew that this matter was likely going to blow up. He felt that it wasn''t appropriate for him to stay any longer. He needed to quickly think of a way to protect himself and resist The Thearch''s impending rage.


    In front of so many people, he couldn''t make a big fuss. He had to find a place with no one around.


    Zhou Wen put away his phone and stood up. Seeing that Li Xuan and company were still immersed in their worlds, he walked out and said to the tutor who was watching over them, "Sir, there are some matters in the school that need my attention. I''ll be returning now."


    After receiving the tutor''s approval, Zhou Wen was about to leave the mountain when Jun Tingyu stopped him.


    "I''m Jun Tingyu from the Imperial Capital College. I would like to know if you have the time to chat with me?" Jun Tingyu didn''t treat Zhou Wen as a student. He had the intention to talk to him as equals.


    "I''m really sorry. I have something urgent to attend to and need to return to school. Let''s talk again in the future," Zhou Wen said as he turned around and left.


    "Why is this person so rude?" Li Mingcan said.


    Jun Tingyu didn''t mind it at all. Instead, he felt that Zhou Wen was even more extraordinary. He pondered and said, "Geniuses have their own personalities. Zhou Wen is indeed not an ordinary person. This is understandable. I''ll go to Sunset College tomorrow to visit him."


    Li Mingcan was just about to say something when he suddenly saw an antelope and a golden eagle-like bird come down from Mount Laojun. The antelope was following behind Zhou Wen, and the bird circled above his head as though it was protecting him.


    Li Mingcan, Jun Tingyu, and company were dumbfounded. The animals on Mount Laojun weren''t ordinary creatures. With Mount Laojun''s protection, they could be described as pets in the backyard of a saint. They had actually taken the initiative to follow Zhou Wen down the mountain. They had never heard of such a thing, so they found it unbelievable.


    Zhou Wen walked all the way down Mount Laojun before heading straight to campus. He felt uneasy the entire way, unsure how The Thearch would deal with him.

 493 Punishmen

    Zhou Wen returned to school on tenterhooks the entire way. But nothing happened even when he returned to his dorm.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare be careless. He summoned all the Companion Beasts he could use and stopped sleeping in his bedroom. He stayed in the living room. With the antelope and chick by his side, he felt safer.


    It was strange. Ever since they had come back from Mount Laojun, the chick that was as fat as a duck had actually slimmed down again. It looked like it was in high spirits like before.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to study how the chick had lost weight in the blink of an eye. He sat on the sofa and placed a few notebooks to the side as he drew Substitute Talismans one by one.


    These were life-saving treasures. If he could produce one, even if The Thearch wanted to deal with him, it might be able to save his life.


    He drew one after another, but the success rate of a Substitute Talisman was really low. However, as the saying goes, ''practice makes perfect,'' Zhou Wen gradually got the gist of it after repeatedly drawing.


    Although this was a skill obtained from an Essence Energy Skill Crystal, Zhou Wen was the one who needed to draw the talisman. When he realized that if he only drew the symbols using Essence Energy, the success rate was pathetic.


    The lines of the Substitute Talisman seemed to contain some kind of profoundness. Zhou Wen sensed the strangeness of the lines and gradually figured out something.


    This Substitute Talisman needs to be drawn with my Essence Energy. The lines drawn are also imbued with some kind of mysterious power related to me. It looks like the drawing of a talisman, but it''s actually a form of understanding of oneself. At the same time, it''s also a way to communicate with external objects¡­ Zhou Wen thought as he drew.


    Zhou Wen spent the entire day and night drawing. He didn''t know how many Substitute Talismans he had drawn by the next morning. He had almost used up several thick diary books by the time he finally completed one.


    It was also thanks to Zhou Wen''s infinite Essence Energy that he could do so. If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn''t be able to draw so many times in a couple of months.


    Although the Substitute Talisman is useful, it''s too difficult to draw one. It''s really not easy to get one talisman. Zhou Wen held the Substitute Talisman that he had drawn and was somewhat excited. With this talisman, it was equivalent to having an additional life.


    Unfortunately, the Substitute Talisman could only be used by himself. This was because the Substitute Talisman that Zhou Wen drew was closely related to him, so it could only help him block calamities.


    As for what kind of calamity the Substitute Talisman could withstand, Zhou Wen didn''t know.


    The Dao models itself after nature. To condense a Life Soul from the Dao Sutra, I''ll probably have to work hard on Heaven Man Unity, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Although there were some clues, as long as there was a direction, there was a possibility. It was better than being directionless as previously.


    Now, Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to take in nature. He stored away the Substitute Talisman that he had drawn and slept.


    Drawing the Substitute Talisman consumed both his Essence Energy and energy. He was already exhausted from all the drawing. Furthermore, he hadn''t recovered from his serious injuries. Now that he had the Substitute Talisman to protect him, he could finally sleep peacefully.


    He slept soundly. Due to his exhaustion, Zhou Wen slept like a log. He only woke up when the doorbell rang.


    Who is it? Zhou Wen stretched his back and wanted to ask.


    "Meow!" However, Zhou Wen''s voice shocked him. He hurriedly covered his mouth with his hand.


    However, when he reached out his hand, Zhou Wen was instantly stunned. How was that a hand? It was a furry paw. The fingernails on the claw were like hooks. What should have been the palm now looked like a pinkish meat lump that resembled a club suit from a pack of cards.


    What¡­ What''s wrong with me¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed. He wanted to stand up and size himself up, but he soon realized that his body had become very strange. Furthermore, there was a problem with his vision. All the furniture and things around him had become very large.


    The clothes he wore yesterday were at his feet. They looked huge as though they were for giants.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt something amiss. He hurriedly ran to the mirror and looked at it.


    "Meow!" Looking at the black and white cat in the mirror, Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. He covered his mouth in horror as the cat in the mirror did the same.


    At the dormitory''s entrance, a tutor rang the doorbell a few more times, but no one opened the door. Hence, he said apologetically to the old man beside him, "Elder Jun, I''m really sorry. It looks like he''s out."


    Jun Tingyu was very disappointed. In order to visit Zhou Wen at Sunset College, he didn''t hesitate to use his connections with a friend at Sunset College, but Zhou Wen wasn''t around.


    "It''s alright, I''ll come again next time." Jun Tingyu could only return in disappointment.


    In the dormitory, Zhou Wen was about to explode from anxiety. He twisted his body and made various poses. He even tried to raise his tail. All he wanted to do was prove that the cat in the mirror wasn''t him.


    Unfortunately, no matter what he did, the cat in the mirror did the same thing.


    Even more terrifying was that when Zhou Wen attempted to use his Essence Energy Art or summon his Companion Beasts, there was no reaction.


    The Thearch¡­ It must be The Thearch''s doing¡­ Damn it¡­ I have the Substitute Talisman on me. How can there be a problem? Zhou Wen ran to his pile of clothes and used his claws to tug at it a few times. He realized that the Substitute Talisman was inside his clothes, untouched. It hadn''t done a thing.


    Don''t tell me I''m now permanently a cat? Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone. Thankfully, he didn''t need to unlock using his fingerprints. A pattern worked too. Otherwise, he wouldn''t even be able to unlock his phone.


    After unlocking his phone, he immediately sent a message to The Thearch. "The Thearch, how am I supposed to buy those instruments when you''ve made me like this?"


    Zhou Wen knew that he could only move The Thearch with benefits. It was probably useless for him to beg for mercy.


    "I have plenty of ways to get people to deliver things to me. Who said I have to let you buy them? As for you, you have to be punished." The Thearch finally replied.


    Zhou Wen sent a few more messages, hoping to move The Thearch and quickly change back into human form. However, the news was like a rock sinking into the sea. The Thearch didn''t reply to him at all, as though she was determined to have him remain a cat for the rest of his life.

 494 You Cant Be Like This, Okay~

    What should I do? Is there a way to restore my human body? Zhou Wen tried all kinds of methods, but he remained a cat. His body structure was completely different from before. He couldn''t use the Essence Energy Art or various Companion Beasts he had cultivated in the past. What else could he do?


    The antelope and chick looked at him with interest. The antelope even used its hooves to rub his head as though it was comforting him, but Zhou Wen could see the smile in its eyes.


    The chick bounced around him, sticking close to him as though it wanted to compete with him to see who was taller. However, when the chick stood, it was actually slightly taller than Zhou Wen when he was on all fours.


    No, I have to think of a way to recover my human body. Zhou Wen used his paws to hide his phone and the bracelet which had the Chaos Bead embedded before walking towards the dormitory''s door.


    Looking at this world from the perspective of a cat, his view was obviously much lower. Even the dormitory door was very large in his eyes.


    Zhou Wen leaped up and tried to grab the handle to unlock the door.


    In the past, jumping to such a height was trivial. However, even when reaching his paws to the limit, he was still quite a distance away from the door handle. His body then fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen landed on the ground and used all his strength to leap up once again. Only then did he jump up and open the door handle.


    Although he was used to walking with two legs, if other students and teachers in school saw a cat walking with two hind legs, it would probably spell trouble.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could only sprawl on the ground and walk like a cat. Although it wasn''t a problem for a cat to walk like this, Zhou Wen felt extremely uncomfortable walking in such a manner.


    After exiting, Zhou Wen planned on heading to the chancellor''s office. Most people probably wouldn''t be able to resolve his current situation. Therefore, he wanted to find the chancellor of Sunset College, Leng Zongzheng.


    He had heard that Leng Zongzheng was good at dispelling illusions, Zhou Wen felt that it was impossible for him to turn into a cat, so he suspected that it was just an illusion.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, At the very least, I''m a student at the school. I don''t think Leng Zongzheng will leave me in the lurch, right?


    However, Zhou Wen had no confidence in Leng Zongzheng''s ability to turn him back into a human. He only wanted to try his luck.


    Just as he walked to the yard, Zhou Wen heard the door to the building next door ring. He hurriedly hid in the bushes and peeked at the yard next door.


    Wang Lu walked out with two trash bags in her hands. It looked like she was going to throw the trash out.


    Zhou Wen didn''t want anyone who knew him to know that he had turned into a cat. Be it Li Xuan or Wang Lu, they would definitely mock him for a long time.


    Although Zhou Wen knew that Wang Lu probably couldn''t recognize him as a cat, it was better to be careful just in case.


    After Wang Lu left, Zhou Wen prepared to leave in another direction. He planned on taking a detour to the chancellor''s office using the old school district behind Four Seasons Garden to avoid encountering so many students and tutors.


    Although he had become a cat, Zhou Wen couldn''t tolerate having others looking at him with him being naked.


    The yard''s door was locked from the inside. Although Zhou Wen could jump up and open the door, it was too eye-catching. He looked at the wooden fence in the yard and then at his body. Zhou Wen felt that it wasn''t difficult for his body to crawl out. Although he looked a little plump, most of it was fur.


    Zhou Wen came in front of the wooden fence and chose a relatively large gap. He extended his head out, and there was a perfect outcome. Without any pressure, his head squeezed out.


    As he continued squeezing his body, his stomach ended up stuck. Something seemed to have hooked his fur. If he tried to force his way through, he would feel a little pain.


    "Poor kitty. Where did you come from? Why are you here?" Zhou Wen was about to squeeze back when he heard a familiar voice.


    Not good! Zhou Wen immediately felt uncomfortable when he heard the voice. For some reason, Wang Lu had returned.


    Zhou Wen struggled to retreat back into the yard, but he didn''t know what caught the fur on his belly. He couldn''t retreat even if he tried. His belly felt like it was about to be ripped apart.


    "Poor little guy, why are you so stupid?" Wang Lu squatted down and pressed down on Zhou Wen. Then, she reached out her other hand to help him remove a wire he had been entangled with. This allowed Zhou Wen to escape before finally squeezing out.


    Zhou Wen wanted to leave, but he was being carried by Wang Lu. "Although you look like a stray cat and aren''t an expensive breed, you look quite pretty. Wanna come back with me?"


    Zhou Wen struggled with all his might, trying to escape Wang Lu''s demonic claws. After struggling to free himself, he landed on the ground and immediately ran away.


    "Strange. That cat actually rejected me?" Wang Lu was slightly surprised. She never expected the cat to be so difficult to get along with. She had a much easier time with the stray cats she had encountered in the past.


    Zhou Wen ran out of Four Seasons Garden as though he was fleeing for his life. Only after running for a long distance did he slow down. He felt exhausted. This was the first time in his long cultivation that he had felt this exhausted.


    I have to recover my human body as soon as possible. Zhou Wen continued walking forward. Before long, he saw a few ferocious tigers blocking his way.


    No, they should be described as fierce cats blocking the way.


    At the corner of the building in front, four cats walked out and glared at Zhou Wen as though warning him not to enter their territory.


    The four cats were a lot bigger than Zhou Wen. Furthermore, Zhou Wen found them familiar. On careful look, he recalled that they were the ones that Gu Dian secretly fed.


    Zhou Wen still remembered that one of them was named Little Mei. Her body was pure white, with only an orange-red fur growing on her forehead. She looked very striking.


    However, when Zhou Wen first saw her, she was still a tiny kitten. Now, she was already about the same size as her mother, a size bigger than the present Zhou Wen.


    "I''m just passing by. I definitely have no intention of snatching your territory, nor do I have any intention of offending you." As Zhou Wen spoke, his voice turned into meowing. He slowly walked to the side, wanting to circle around them.


    "Meow!" Little Mei and company didn''t care much as they pounced forward, wanting to deal with the intruder, Zhou Wen.


    Holy sh*t, are you really treating me, a sleeping tiger, as a cat!? Zhou Wen was depressed as he prepared to fight.


    Although he was now a cat and had lost all his strength, his reaction and various techniques were still present. Under the combined attacks of the four of them, he was still as brave as ever. He used his sleek movements to restrain the four cats and then tore out of them one by one. His little paws gave them a beating, causing them to mew in pain.


    "Haha, want to fight me? Now, do you know who''s the real king here?" Zhou Wen beat the four cats up badly. He even used his paw to press down on Little Mei. Just as he was feeling smug, he suddenly felt the skin on his back being grabbed by someone. Then, he heard a familiar voice.


    "You can''t be like this, okay~"

 495 Gu Dians Secre

    Zhou Wen flailed his four paws, trying to break free from his grasp, but he failed.


    The scene in front of him changed¡ªa face. It was a ferocious and ghastly face, but the eyes on the face had an indescribable gentleness as they looked at him.


    "Were you abandoned by your master? You must be hungry after coming here, right? Have something to eat first," Gu Dian said as he placed Zhou Wen on the ground beside him. There were two saucers right there. One was filled with milk while the other had cat food.


    Zhou Wen had never seen Gu Dian so gentle to others, nor had he seen him speak to people in such a gentle manner. This was completely different from the Gu Dian he knew.


    "Hurry up and eat." Gu Dian squatted beside Zhou Wen, who was placed beside a saucer containing milk.


    The four cats looked at him covetously but didn''t dare come over. They only meowed from afar.


    "Little Mei, Little Yong, you can''t be like that. It''s the same as you¡ªpitiful and homeless. You should all love one another," Gu Dian said to the four cats.


    Zhou Wen had goosebumps all over his body when he heard that. He turned around to leave. In order to prevent Gu Dian from catching him again, he used all his strength to run.


    However, after he ran some distance, he couldn''t hear Gu Dian''s footsteps behind him. Instead, he heard an unfamiliar man''s voice coming from afar.


    "Have you done what I asked you to do? It''s been so long, yet you can''t handle such a trivial matter. Are you afraid of Zhou Wen?"


    Zhou Wen didn''t plan on stopping, but after running a few steps, he heard his name. He couldn''t help but stop and look over.


    He saw a boy in a school uniform standing opposite Gu Dian. Zhou Wen didn''t know the boy, but he looked like an upperclassman. He was slightly older than him.


    "Why do you want to do something to Zhou Wen?" Gu Dian asked the boy.


    "You don''t need to know. You just need to do as I say." The boy pursed his lips and said, "I''ll give you three more days. If you haven''t carried out my instructions, I''m afraid I won''t be able to help you keep that secret anymore. Think it through carefully."


    After that, the boy turned around and left with a cold face.


    Based on Zhou Wen''s understanding, he didn''t think Gu Dian was someone who was afraid of anything. If someone dared to threaten him like this, no matter who he was, he would probably throw a punch over, right?


    But this time, Gu Dian watched helplessly as the arrogant boy left. He didn''t show any intention of resorting to violence.


    Zhou Wen was very curious. He didn''t know who the boy was. What was he planning to get Gu Dian to do? What skeleton in Gu Dian''s closet was he aware of?


    Zhou Wen walked to Gu Dian''s side. When Gu Dian saw him, his ferocious expression turned gentle. He squatted down and placed the milk saucer in front of Zhou Wen. "Eat quickly."


    Zhou Wen was a little anxious. Gu Dian clearly wasn''t someone who liked to talk. It might be unrealistic to wait for him to mutter to himself about what had happened.


    How can I get Gu Dian to tell me the entire story? Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind, but he failed to come up with a solution.


    Ask Gu Dian after transforming back into a human? This clearly wasn''t a good idea. His relationship with Gu Dian wasn''t that close. Their relationship was only slightly better than that of an unfamiliar classmate. If he were to ask him directly, they might fall out on the spot. Even if he didn''t fall out with Gu Dian, Gu Dian probably wouldn''t tell him anything given his personality.


    As Zhou Wen pondered, Gu Dian nudged the milk towards Zhou Wen''s mouth. How could Zhou Wen drink milk meant for cats? He subconsciously turned his head to the side, indicating that he didn''t want to drink it.


    However, when Zhou Wen''s action landed in Gu Dian''s eyes, he sighed softly. "Do you also think that it''s not right? Do you think I''m wrong?"


    Zhou Wen subconsciously nodded, but just as he nodded, he regretted it. He was a cat, so how could he understand Gu Dian''s words?


    Gu Dian looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. However, his ability to accept the cat''s actions was clearly stronger than Zhou Wen had imagined. He didn''t suspect Zhou Wen at all, believing that he was a very intelligent cat.


    "I also know that this isn''t right, but if I don''t do it, they will spread the news of me possessing the bloodline of a dimensional creature. When that happens, everyone will treat me like a monster and not a person," Gu Dian said.


    Zhou Wen nearly cried out in surprise. He never expected Gu Dian to have the bloodline of a dimensional creature.


    Could it be that Gu Dian''s father or mother is a dimensional creature? Can humans and dimensional creatures mate to give birth to offspring? Countless strange thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    "But for so long, Zhou Wen and company have treated me like an ordinary person. They aren''t afraid of me because of my looks. They don''t ostracize me, and they treat me as one of theirs. How can I do something like that? Tell me, what should I do?" Gu Dian said bitterly and looked at Zhou Wen.


    Gu Dian had no chance of making friends with humans because of his own problems. Furthermore, he didn''t know how to communicate with humans. Instead, he could pour out his heartfelt feelings in front of a cat. Wasn''t this also a tragedy?


    "Beat him up and beat that turtle''s son to death. Who cares about you being human? Ignoring the fact that you have a dimensional creature bloodline, I wouldn''t mind even if you were a beast." Zhou Wen wanted to say that, but the moment he opened his mouth, it turned into a meow.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to raise one paw and point in the direction the boy had left. He forcefully pointed a few times, indicating for Gu Dian to beat him up.


    Gu Dian seemed to understand something when he saw Zhou Wen''s reaction. His eyes turned determined.


    "I know what to do," Gu Dian said to Zhou Wen before standing up and chasing after the boy.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before chasing after him. He still wanted to know why the boy was targeting him. He might be able to hear the reason why later.


    However, after becoming a cat, Zhou Wen''s Essence Energy was completely gone. His fastest speed was only the speed of a normal cat, so how could he catch up to Gu Dian? By the time he caught up, he saw that Gu Dian was already standing in front of the boy, seemingly talking to him.


    "I can''t do that to Zhou Wen. Change the condition," Zhou Wen vaguely heard Gu Dian say.


    "Change to another condition? What right do you have to bargain with me? Don''t tell me you really think Zhou Wen and company think of you as a friend? They only want to make use of you because you are foolish and powerful. If they know that you have a dimensional creature bloodline, do you think they would still be willing to let you stay in the Xuanwen Club? When that happens, they will only treat you as a monster¡ªa pig or dog. It''s like you are a beast," the boy said as he pointed at Gu Dian''s nose.

 496 Why Not?

    "This has nothing to do with you," Gu Dian said with his head lowered.


    "Why doesn''t it have anything to do with me? After all, we''re good friends, aren''t we?" The boy smiled and patted Gu Dian''s shoulder. He continued, "Have you forgotten our friendship? I''ve always remembered it."


    Gu Dian''s pupils constricted, but he remained silent.


    "Think about it carefully. The current Zhou Wen is the second me in the future." The boy narrowed his eyes and said, " Birds of a feather flock together. Your birth has already determined that you won''t have any true human friends. Other than people like me, humans won''t accept a monster like you. If you don''t touch Zhou Wen now, when he learns your true identity in the future, he will no longer hesitate to draw a line with you or even kill you."


    After a pause, the boy said, "Don''t tell me you don''t know what happened to his teacher? Do you think he''ll still admit that he''s Wang Mingyuan''s student? If Wang Mingyuan appears again, he might even kill him¡­"


    "That has nothing to do with me," Gu Dian said expressionlessly.


    "It has nothing to do with you? In that case, even if everyone knows how your mother gave birth to you, will there not be a problem?" The boy narrowed his eyes and stared at Gu Dian.


    Gu Dian''s expression changed drastically as he suddenly looked up and glared at the boy. "Lu Kaide, if you dare say a word, I''ll definitely kill you."


    "I''m just saying. How can it be leaked? We''re friends. I''ll definitely keep your matter a secret for you. I won''t let anyone know about it. However, you have to help me settle Zhou Wen''s matter. Otherwise, I won''t be able to live. Some things are hard to say¡­ Ah¡­"


    As Lu Kaide was speaking, he suddenly saw a cat leap up. Its claws scratched his face ruthlessly, leaving a few bloody marks on his face.


    After listening for a long time, Zhou Wen nearly exploded in anger. Although he didn''t hear the complete story, he could roughly guess what had happened.


    Gu Dian wasn''t a normal human, and it wasn''t his fault. It stemmed from the previous generation.


    He did not know what method Lu Kaide had used to become Gu Dian''s friend. Furthermore, he knew of his secret, so he ended up using it to threaten Gu Dian.


    Zhou Wen could understand why Gu Dian didn''t counterattack. He was the same as Gu Dian. He didn''t wish to bring anyone trouble, especially his family.


    If it was only a matter of his identity, he believed that Gu Dian wouldn''t be threatened by him. He would have beaten him to the point of his mother not even being capable of recognizing him.


    However, this involved Gu Dian''s mother''s reputation. Therefore, even though Gu Dian was extremely furious, he didn''t dare make a move on Lu Kaide.


    The more he understood Gu Dian, the more upset Zhou Wen felt. When he saw Lu Kaide''s wretched face, he couldn''t help but swipe his claw at him.


    Now, Zhou Wen only hated himself for losing his strength. If not, he would definitely have smacked Lu Kaide''s face until it bled.


    "Damn cat, Gu Dian, you bastard. Look at what you raise¡­" Lu Kaide was enraged as he attempted to grab Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen ran and jumped onto Gu Dian''s back.


    "Stop." Gu Dian blocked Lu Kaide.


    "Get out of the way. I''m going to kill this bastard," Lu Kaide said as he attempted to grab Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen leaned on Gu Dian''s shoulder and looked at him with a faint smile as though he was mocking him.


    Gu Dian didn''t make way. Instead, he reached out to stop Lu Kaide.


    Lu Kaide was extremely furious, but he was stopped by Gu Dian and couldn''t capture Zhou Wen. He didn''t give up because of this. He took two steps back and suddenly summoned a Companion Beast.


    The Companion Beast was a strange throwing dagger. After flying out, it circled around Gu Dian and stabbed at Zhou Wen''s back. It was as fast as lightning.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he cursed inwardly. He was only a cat, so it was probably difficult for him to dodge such a fast throwing dagger.


    A huge hand suddenly grabbed the throwing dagger''s blade. The throwing dagger trembled incessantly in Gu Dian''s hand, but failed to escape his grip.


    "Gu Dian, release it," Lu Kaide bellowed angrily.


    "He''s just a cat." Gu Dian held the throwing dagger without letting go. Blood dripped from between his fingers.


    "I''ll say it one last time. Let go. Otherwise, everything about you will spread throughout Luoyang tomorrow," Lu Kaide said angrily as he glared at Gu Dian.


    Gu Dian held the throwing dagger and refused to let go. He didn''t say a word and only looked at Lu Kaide.


    Lu Kaide was even more infuriated as he summoned another saber and slashed at Gu Dian. He shouted, "Get out of the way, do you hear me?"


    Gu Dian didn''t move. He was struck on the shoulder by Lu Kaide, causing blood to spray out. However, Gu Dian''s body was indeed resilient. The strike only lacerated him. It failed to reach his bones.


    Lu Kaide refused to give up. He slashed at Gu Dian''s body again and again, leaving bloody marks on Gu Dian''s body. Even his face was lacerated.


    It had to be said that Gu Dian''s body was truly resilient. Despite such strikes, he only suffered superficial injuries. When the blade struck his bones, it produced the humming sounds of metal clashing.


    The reason Lu Kaide was so furious wasn''t entirely because Zhou Wen had scratched his face. Instead, it was because Gu Dian had repeatedly disobeyed his orders. He wanted to teach him a lesson, so Zhou Wen scratching his face was just an excuse.


    Beat him up¡­ Zhou Wen was anxious when he saw Gu Dian stand motionless, allowing Lu Kaide to slash him.


    "Do you think of yourself as one of these beasts? Do you think they are more important than your life? Monsters are monsters¡­" Lu Kaide cursed as he slashed.


    When Zhou Wen saw Gu Dian motionless, he couldn''t stand it any longer. He took a chance and darted out from his shoulder. His claws flailed as he clawed at Lu Kaide''s eyes.


    "Ah!" Lu Kaide never expected a cat to pass through his series of blade attacks. At the close distance, Zhou Wen''s claw had injured his left eye. With one hand covering his eyes, blood immediately seeped out from the gaps between his fingers.


    "I''m going to kill you!" Lu Kaide covered his eye in rage as the saber in his hand transformed into a saber beam that slashed at Zhou Wen.


    This fellow''s strength wasn''t bad. Zhou Wen had never heard his name, so it was obvious that he wasn''t famous in school. However, he had top Legendary strength. Clearly, he had been hiding his strength. From this point, it was obvious that he wasn''t an ordinary person. He definitely had ulterior motives.


    Gu Dian''s eyes widened when he saw that Zhou Wen was about to be hit by the saber beam. He suddenly unleashed his strength as his powerful body charged into the saber beams. He grabbed Zhou Wen with one hand and struck out with the other.


    With an explosive sound, the sky was filled with saber beams. The long saber in Lu Kaide''s hand shattered inch by inch. His body was also sent flying by the force and he fell seven to eight meters away. The hand which had held the saber was trembling and bleeding.


    "Gu Dian, you dare attack me?" Lu Kaide widened his eyes as he stared at Gu Dian with gritted teeth as though he wanted to bite someone.


    "Why wouldn''t he dare?" A voice sounded from the corner of the building. Lu Kaide and Gu Dian trembled as they couldn''t help but turn their heads. They saw a young officer in a military uniform and white gloves walking over. He looked gentle and mild.


    He''s finally here. Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief.

 497 A Little Cold

    Zhou Wen knew that he was only a cat and had lost his strength. He definitely couldn''t handle the present situation. Thankfully, he still had the ability to text. Previously, he had contacted An Sheng when he saw Gu Dian''s phone left where he fed the cats. He told him to rush over as soon as possible.


    This matter wasn''t something that could be resolved by force. Even killing Lu Kaide was useless. Otherwise, Gu Dian would have settled it himself and wouldn''t have been threatened by Lu Kaide.


    When Lu Kaide saw An Sheng, he immediately turned around and wanted to run. He hadn''t managed to take a few steps before An Sheng placed a dagger by his neck.


    "What are you doing? I''m a student at the college," Lu Kaide calmed down and asked.


    An Sheng said indifferently, "I don''t need to know who you are, but you''re dead."


    "Gu Dian, why aren''t you saving me?" Lu Kaide shouted in Gu Dian''s direction.


    An Sheng said to Gu Dian unhurriedly, "Zhou Wen asked me to come. He has already told me about your matter. He wants me to pass on the message to believe him. Leave everything to me."


    "Gu Dian, you know what will happen if I die." Lu Kaide knew that Gu Dian was his straw to clutch at.


    He had heard of An Sheng''s name before. Having come to Luoyang to carry out a mission, how could he not know the famous An Sheng?


    Gu Dian hugged Zhou Wen and pondered for a moment before nodding slightly at An Sheng.


    The corners of An Sheng''s mouth curled up as he revealed a smile. The dagger in his hand had already pressed into Lu Kaide''s skin.


    "Just answer whatever I ask. I don''t want to hear any nonsense," An Sheng said.


    Lu Kaide opened his mouth to say something, but An Sheng continued, "If you waste my time, I don''t mind using the Memory Stripping Spell to directly obtain the information I want from your brain."


    Lu Kaide''s expression changed drastically, as if he was hesitating about something.


    "Don''t try to commit suicide. If I don''t let you die, even the King of Hell can''t take your life," An Sheng said indifferently.


    "If I tell you everything, can you give me a way out?" Lu Kaide said through gritted teeth.


    "Yes," An Sheng replied.


    "Swear on it." Lu Kaide had no other choice. He was already a piece of meat on the chopping block. He could only take a gamble. He did not want to die.


    An Sheng''s expression didn''t change. He swore that if he went against his word, he would die a horrible death. Then, he asked Lu Kaide about Gu Dian.


    Due to Gu Dian''s presence, Lu Kaide didn''t seem to lie. He explained everything clearly.


    He had a voice recording of Gu Dian. It was a conversation with Gu Dian. Back then, Gu Dian had treated him as his only good friend, so he had told him everything.


    An Sheng didn''t listen to the recording. He just deleted everything.


    "Where are the backups? Don''t tell me there aren''t any." After An Sheng deleted it, he looked at Lu Kaide and asked.


    "In an ancient Greek book on my dorm mate''s bookshelf. No one will read it," Lu Kaide answered.


    Following that, An Sheng asked about Lu Kaide''s origins. He admitted that he was a field agent nurtured by the Special Inspector Bureau. He had entered Sunset College to monitor the An family and Sunset College''s chancellor and tutors. He had recently received a mission to think of a way to bring Zhou Wen back to the headquarters, which was why he had used Gu Dian.


    After a long while, Lu Kaide said, "I''ve said everything. Can you let me go now?"


    "You have said everything, but how do I know if what you said is the truth?" An Sheng looked at Lu Kaide calmly.


    "I''m telling the truth. At this stage, there''s no need for me to lie to you," Lu Kaide said.


    "That might not be the case. It''s a very important matter. I have to verify it myself," An Sheng said as a black flame arose from his body. The flames floated towards Lu Kaide like ghosts and drilled into his brain.


    "Ah¡­ You swore to let me live¡­ Otherwise, you will die a horrible death¡­" Lu Kaide exclaimed in horror. He had roughly guessed that An Sheng was trying to strip his souls and memories from him. Despite struggling desperately, he was unable to move his body.


    "Before you came to Luoyang, you should have known that I have the nickname of Devil''s Adjutant, right? Is there a devil who abides by an agreement?" An Sheng said to Lu Kaide with a smile.


    "You¡­ You can''t do this to me¡­ You can''t¡­" Lu Kaide was shocked and furious, his eyes filled with despair, anger, and indignation.


    The pain that went straight into his soul seemed to slice his brain bit by bit. It made him want to scream in pain, but he could not make a sound despite his open mouth.


    An Sheng only looked at him coldly as the black flames on his body seeped into his brain. Lu Kaide''s eyes gradually lost focus.


    When the demonic-like flames drilled out of Lu Kaide''s brain and returned to An Sheng, Lu Kaide had already become a cold corpse. Even in death, his face was contorted with pain.


    An Sheng opened the foldable cloth bag he had brought and stored Lu Kaide''s corpse inside. After he slung it over his shoulder, he said to Gu Dian, "In the future, other than Zhou Wen and me, no one will know about your matters. Unfortunately, there''s no way to silence me and Zhou Wen. You can leave it at that."


    "Thank¡­ Thanks¡­" Gu Dian said those two words somewhat awkwardly. He had never said it before.


    "Don''t say those words. You don''t need to thank anyone because that person is your friend." After An Sheng said that, he left with Lu Kaide''s corpse.


    "Friend?" Gu Dian''s expression turned odd.


    In the past, he might have believed that there were friends. At that time, he was moved by Lu Kaide and treated him as a real friend. In the end, all he got was a betrayal. Ever since then, he preferred to be with cats than humans. He no longer believed in humans or friends.


    Although he still did not believe it, there was a slight change in his heart.


    At the very least, Gu Dian believed that once this matter was resolved, he no longer needed to be threatened and do things he didn''t wish to do.


    "I¡­ am finally free¡­" Gu Dian snapped to his senses and raised the cat in his arms. He smiled.


    In his opinion, this little cat had given him luck, allowing him to finally be himself.


    Gu Dian held the cat up in the air as he revealed a smile that came from the bottom of his heart. Although he was still as ferocious as before, it made it difficult for people to not smile with him. The tabby cat also revealed a smile.


    At that moment, Gu Dian suddenly felt the cat in his hand become heavier. Its body also changed. In a blink of an eye, the cat that Gu Dian was raising had transformed into a living man.


    Their eyes met and the air seemed to freeze at that instant. The smile on Gu Dian and Zhou Wen''s faces gradually vanished.


    A gentle breeze blew past Zhou Wen, making him feel a little cold.

 498 Torch Dragon

    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. I have to crack Chess Mountain''s dungeon!


    "Prepare everything I need in a week. Otherwise, it won''t be as simple as being a cat next time." The Thearch sent a message.


    Clearly, The Thearch hadn''t planned on permanently changing Zhou Wen into a cat. She just did it as a warning.


    Now, Zhou Wen was filled with regret. If he had known, he would have stayed in his dorm obediently. Why did he go out?


    Thinking back to the scene of his eyes meeting Gu Dian, he wished he could find a hole to hide in.


    Zhou Wen had already made up his mind to think of a way to conquer Chess Mountain and pull The Thearch out. He would also transform her into a cat and raise her up high.


    However, he had to feign civility now. He couldn''t let her notice any problems. Once he cracked Chess Mountain and found her weaknesses, he would personally go to Chess Mountain and deal with her.


    "I''ll buy it as soon as possible." Zhou Wen replied.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen sent another message: "Previously, I was chased by someone and fled into a dimensional zone. I discovered a huge snake there¡­"


    Zhou Wen described the snake''s physical characteristics and abilities. He wanted to ask if The Thearch knew what dimensional creature it was.


    Since he could not do anything to The Thearch, he might as well make use of her.


    "What snake? That''s Torch Dragon, one of the dragon species. It has powerful abilities and a pair of eyes can affect the day and night. When it opens its eyes, it will be bright. When it closes its eyes, it will be dark. It''s an extremely powerful ancient creature. Although it''s far inferior to me, it''s not something a mere human like you can match. It''s your good fortune to be able to come back alive after meeting it." The Thearch replied.


    "You sure are knowledgeable. That Torch Dragon''s eyes are indeed very powerful. It can kill many human experts with just a glance. It''s practically invincible. I wonder if you can crack its terrifying ability?" Zhou Wen sent another message.


    "That''s called the Bright Torch Vision World. It''s not a bad ability, but what''s so difficult about cracking it? I just need to use an invisibility spell to prevent it from seeing me. When that happens, I can kill it as I please." The Thearch replied.


    "Could it be that even someone as strong as you can''t fight Torch Dragon head-on?" Zhou Wen deliberately said.


    The Thearch''s solution was similar to Zhou Wen''s idea. However, although he had the Invisibility Cloak, it was still impossible to hatch it. He couldn''t be invisible.


    The Thearch was a proud person, so she immediately replied, "It''s not easy to defeat it head-on. I can kill it with a wave of my hand, making it unable to open its eyes. Or perhaps, I can use a treasure mirror to reflect its gaze and make it have a taste of its own medicine."


    If he could reflect the Bright Torch Vision World with just a mirror, then there was a chance of him killing Torch Dragon. There was no need to acquire an invisibility cloak.


    "Don''t tell me you want to kill Torch Dragon? Do you have a death wish?" The Thearch had clearly seen through him as she sent a message.


    "I''m just asking. How would I dare kill Torch Dragon?" Zhou Wen denied.


    "The mirrors that you humans create have very good reflective effects. It would be enough to reflect Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World. However, those mirrors are too brittle. They shatter when encountering external forces. Other than the Bright Torch Vision World, Torch Dragon''s body is not something a mere human can deal with. If you wish to die, you can give it a try."


    Upon hearing The Thearch''s words, Zhou Wen was truly excited. He never expected an ordinary mirror to be able to deal with Torch Dragon. This boosted his chances of killing it.


    "I''m just asking. Even if Torch Dragon invites me to kill it, I''m not free. I still have to help you buy things. By the way, I also encountered a terrifying dimensional creature. It looks like a wolf and tiger, but it''s not one¡­" Zhou Wen continued to gather information from The Thearch.


    The Thearch really knew everything. She told Zhou Wen that it was one of the four ancient ferocious beasts, Qiongqi. Not only did it possess the ability to devour everything, but it also possessed terrifying speed. It was even harder to deal with than Torch Dragon.


    Furthermore, The Thearch also told Zhou Wen something quite strange. She said that if she wanted to deal with Qiongqi, she had to find an evil person to deal with it. The possibility of killing him would then be very high. If a good person were to fight Qiongqi, even if the good person''s combat ability was the same as that evil person''s, or even stronger, there was a high chance that he wouldn''t be able to defeat Qiongqi and would end up being devoured.


    Zhou Wen was doubtful. He didn''t know if The Thearch was speaking the truth or just joking.


    Zhou Wen admitted that he wasn''t a good person, but he wasn''t a person who committed heinous crimes. Therefore, he couldn''t test it out.


    "Remember, you only have a week. If I don''t see those things again, prepare to suffer." The Thearch sent the last message and ignored Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen contacted Li Xuan and gave him the list, asking if he could help buy the items.


    After a while, Li Xuan replied that it wasn''t a problem. Zhou Wen transferred the money to him and made him use the Li family''s resources to help him purchase the items. As for him, he considered how to kill Torch Dragon.


    Although he knew that mirrors might be helpful in killing Torch Dragon, ordinary mirrors couldn''t be taken in-game. Zhou Wen had no way of testing the feasibility of this theory.


    Head straight to the Zhuolu ruins in person? Zhou Wen didn''t dare take the risk. Ignoring the fact that The Thearch might be holding back the truth, even if it was the truth, the mirror could only reflect the Bright Torch Vision World. It wasn''t of much use against Torch Dragon''s other abilities. Furthermore, it was too easy to shatter. If an accident happened, Zhou Wen would have to pay with his life.


    How can I take a mirror into the game? Zhou Wen thought for a moment before checking online to see if there were any Companion Beasts that could transform into mirrors.


    He found quite a number of them. For example, there was a Clear Jade Immortal Mirror in the Kunlun Immortal Realm that could turn into an ancient mirror. However, that thing was relatively rare. Furthermore, the Kunlun Immortal Realm was too dangerous. It was almost impossible for an Epic to leave alive, and it was too far away from Zhou Wen.


    The other places with mirror-type Companion Beasts were either too far or too dangerous. Just as Zhou Wen was fretting, he accidentally saw some introductions of Companion Beasts in the West District. His eyes lit up.


    Among those Companion Beasts, there was an Epic Companion Beast named Sun Beast. Its companion form was a mirror, and it had excellent reflective ability.


    Most importantly, the place where Sun Beasts spawned was in Zhou Wen''s game. It was called Music Temple.

 499 Musical Fountain Square

    Zhou Wen picked up his phone and started the Music Temple dungeon.


    He had come once before, but because the first part of the journey was only filled with Legendary-level Musical Note Sprites, Zhou Wen felt that it was meaningless to continue grinding.


    He never expected there to be such a good item like a Sun Beast in the Music Temple. Now, he was in urgent need of a mirror-type Companion Beasts, so he rushed in without any hesitation to grind the Sun Beast.


    According to the online information, Zhou Wen knew that a dimensional creature like a Sun Beast was actually very rare in Music Temple. Only one would occasionally appear. Basically, very few people saw two or more Sun Beasts appear in the Music Temple at the same time.


    Moreover, the Sun Beast was not the real boss of Music Temple. It was said that in the deepest part of the music hall, there was a lyre. Anyone who had seen the lyre would die.


    Zhou Wen found it very contradictory. Since the people who had seen lyre were all dead, how could anyone know that there was a lyre?


    Therefore, sometimes, legends were just legends. They couldn''t be taken at face value.


    Zhou Wen didn''t plan on finding the lyre. After entering Music Temple with his pets, he ran towards the area mentioned online. He wanted to see if there were any Sun Beasts in-game.


    Legend had it that the Sun Beast''s body was glowing like a small sun. One could see it from afar and it would usually appear at the musical fountain square in Music Temple.


    Zhou Wen ran all the way to the musical fountain square. With the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and Fire Furnace Queen leading the way, Zhou Wen killed many of the Musical Note Sprites and had many crystals and Companion Eggs drop.


    Zhou Wen realized that there were a total of seven types of Musical Note Sprites. Furthermore, each of them only had one Essence Energy Skill which were all different.


    Although they were different, the effects were similar. They were all sound blasts. They didn''t seem too different to Zhou Wen.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen didn''t mind, but as he killed them, he found it interesting.


    These sound wave attacks formed a blast through the vibrations of the medium and superimposed waves. The seven different sound waves formed different shock waves. This intrigued Zhou Wen as he hatched some Musical Note Sprites. As he rode on Six Wing''s back and constantly advanced, he was studying the sound wave attacks of the Musical Note Sprites.


    After killing countless Musical Note Sprites, he finally arrived at the musical fountain square.


    In the huge square, there were seven fountains. The fountains did not continuously spray water pillars, but seemed to follow the music. They were rhythmic jets that shot to varying heights, not even shooting upwards at times. It looked very interesting.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon roared as demonic flames erupted from its body. Instantly, a large number of Musical Note Sprites were killed. However, the musical fountain square was quite large and there were Musical Note Sprites everywhere. Very quickly, new ones rushed over.


    As he got his Companion Beast to kill the Musical Note Sprites, Zhou Wen looked around to find the Sun Beast.


    However, after scanning the entire square, he didn''t see the legendary Sun Beast that resembled a miniature sun. Instead, a strange dimensional creature attracted Zhou Wen''s attention.


    Ever since he entered Music Temple, the dimensional creatures he saw were all kinds of Musical Note Sprites. There were probably seven types.


    However, the dimensional creature he saw this time wasn''t a Musical Note Sprite. It was a Golden Harp, but it didn''t look like metal. Instead, it was carved out of wood. There were gorgeous, exquisite patterns on it.


    The last time Zhou Wen went to the Peninsula of Gods, he had learned about the various musical instruments. He had seen huge harps.


    However, the harp in front of him was very small. It was about the same size as a violin. Furthermore, it had a pair of wings like the other Musical Note Sprites. It also had a pair of resplendent golden wings.


    Sensing Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts wreaking havoc on the musical fountain square, the strings on the harp moved automatically, producing melodious sounds.


    Although its music was beautiful, it sounded a little monotonous. Zhou Wen didn''t notice any offensive sound waves. In other words, it wasn''t attacking him.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen discovered a strange scene.


    With the sound of the harp, countless Musical Note Sprites started to arrange themselves in a regular pattern on the square. They also produced sounds that seemed to respond to the playing harp.


    Hum!


    The countless Musical Note Sprites in the music square seemed to form a resonance as they emitted a massive sound wave. The power of the sound wave was able to instantly kill a powerful Epic creature like the Fire Furnace Queen and White Shadow of Poison. Their bodies were instantly obliterated by the sound wave.


    Even the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon retreated a few steps back under the impact of the sound waves. The demonic flames on its body flickered continuously.


    Roar! The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon flew into a rage and let out a furious roar. The demonic flames on its back rose and turned into four wings, making it enter the six-winged state. It spat out poisonous breath that transformed into a terrifying tidal wave in a bid to eliminate all the Musical Note Sprites.


    The strings of the harp kept sounding, and the entire musical fountain square''s Musical Note Sprites resonated with it, sending out terrifying sound waves to resist the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s Poison Breath.


    The mighty Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was actually held back by the sound wave attack. Under the vibrations of the sound waves, Poison Breath was torn apart. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s body seemed to be moving in the opposite direction, unable to move forward.


    As for the blood-colored avatar, it had already retreated out of the musical fountain square under Zhou Wen''s control and transformed into the Demon Dragon True Body. Only then could he withstand the sound wave''s attack.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t alarmed but delighted because he saw a possibility.


    There were the most Legendary dimensional creatures, so their Companion Eggs dropped the most. However, no matter how many Legendary Companion Eggs there were, even if they could form an army, their actual combat strength wasn''t high.


    This was because the suppression from absolute strength was redoubtable. Even if there were thousands of Skeleton Soldiers, they wouldn''t be able to kill an Epic human.


    Therefore, low-level Companion Beast legions were basically useless against powerful dimensional creatures.


    However, the Golden Harp and the Musical Note Sprites were actually able to combine their powers to fight against the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. This was rather impressive.


    There are so many Musical Note Sprites in Music Temple. The chances of Companion Eggs dropping aren''t low either. If I have the ability of the Golden Harp, would I be able to form an army of Musical Note Sprites? Zhou Wen thought.

 500 Golden Harp

    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was actually unable to gain the upper hand despite clashing with sound waves head-on. It was forced back by the sound waves again and again, unable to charge forward.


    However, those sound waves were unable to harm the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. They could only temporarily hold it back.


    Every time the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon launched an attack, a portion of the Musical Note Sprites would be quaked to death. As the number of Musical Note Sprites decreased, the sound wave also weakened.


    It was only a matter of time before the harp and the Musical Note Sprites were defeated.


    Zhou Wen didn''t think the Golden Harp was useless because of this. After all, the Musical Note Sprites that it had gathered were only at the Legendary stage. If a large number of Epic-level Musical Note Sprites could enter its ranks, the sound waves produced wouldn''t be that simple. As long as sufficiently strong ones were included, it might be possible to defeat a Mythical creature.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to wait for the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to defeat it. He secretly summoned Demonic Neonate and she found an opportunity to secretly release her flying sword.


    The flying sword flew through the air during the gap in the sound waves, slicing the Golden Harp in half. After all, it was only at the Epic stage. Without the resonance power of the musical notes, it was unable to block Demonic Neonate''s flying sword.


    ''Killed Epic creature, Golden Harp. Discovered Companion Egg.''


    Zhou Wen was delighted. He never expected his luck to be so good today. A Companion Egg dropped in his first try.


    After losing the conformity provided by the Golden Harp, the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites were reduced to a leaderless mob. They were no longer able to fight the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon charged forward and killed large numbers of Musical Note Sprites amid the raging demonic flames. Many crystals and Companion Eggs dropped.


    Due to the massive numbers killed, even if the drop rate wasn''t high, many Companion Eggs would drop.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and picked up the Companion Eggs of the Golden Harp and the ordinary Musical Note Sprites, choosing to hatch them.


    In a short while, Zhou Wen hatched more than a hundred Musical Note Sprites. Seven tiny musical symbols appeared on his left arm. Each of the music symbols had a saturated color.


    The same Companion Beast would have a tattoo in the same spot. It would overlap, and the more there were, the more saturated the color of the tattoo.


    The stats of the Musical Note Sprites were mostly the same. All of them only had sound wave techniques, so there wasn''t much of a difference. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn''t look at them carefully and focused on the stats of the Golden Harp.


    Golden Harp: Epic


    Life Soul: Spirit of Music


    Strength: 32


    Speed: 39


    Constitution: 31


    Essence Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: First Movement of the Symphony of Fate.


    Companion Form: None


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be delighted when he read the various information regarding the Golden Harp. Its ability wasn''t as simple as just coordinating the Musical Note Sprites. As long as it was a music-type power, it could add it to the fray.


    If Zhou Wen could obtain a large number of high-level music-type creatures, Epic or even Mythical creatures, in the future, and then combine them with the power of the Golden Harp, the amount of power he could unleash was unimaginable.


    From this point of view, although the Golden Harp was only at the Epic stage, its value was probably higher than some Mythical creatures.


    Of course, the premise was that Zhou Wen had enough music-type Companion Beasts to work with the Golden Harp. Otherwise, its strength alone was considered at the bottom of the Epic creatures. After all, the Golden Harp''s attack wasn''t strong. It could even be said to be very weak.


    After obtaining the Golden Harp, Zhou Wen was in a good mood. He got the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to continue killing the Musical Note Sprites. Now, he wasn''t in a hurry to find the Sun Beast. Hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites on the square were wantonly killed by the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Zhou Wen followed behind to pick up the spoils.


    After the musical fountain square was cleared, Zhou Wen obtained a total of more than two hundred Musical Note Sprites. The pitiful baby tiger had been killed when the Golden Harp unleashed its might. Otherwise, there would have been more.


    There''s no hurry. There''s plenty of time to grind in the future. Sooner or later, I''ll be able to form an army. Without discovering the Sun Beast, Zhou Wen led the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon forward and entered the temple behind the square.


    The moment he entered the temple, he saw a blob of light appear in the innermost hall. When the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and the blood-colored avatar were seen, the blob of light that resembled a miniature sun immediately shot out a beam of light.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon didn''t hesitate to spit out a mouthful of demonic flames. When the light met the demonic flames, it didn''t shatter. Instead, it was reflected away by the demonic flames. Rays of light shone on the walls and pillars of the palace, causing green smoke to appear from the spot that was illuminated.


    The demonic flames parted the beam and burned the Sun Beast''s body. Zhou Wen didn''t even see what the Sun Beast looked like before it was killed.


    ''Killed Epic creature, Sun Beast. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen looked over and realized that it was only a 34-valued Strength Crystal. It was completely useless.


    There were no other Sun Beasts or dimensional creatures in the temple. Zhou Wen circled around and left the temple before heading to the other buildings near musical fountain square.


    On the other hand, he had found some other Musical Note Sprites and an Epic-ranked musical frog. It was able to emit sound waves and was extremely fast, but it was still easily dispatched by the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    After circling the buildings, apart from the Music Holy Temple which he hadn''t dared enter, Zhou Wen had nearly cleared the entire Music Temple. He didn''t find the Golden Harp or Sun Beast again.


    Helpless, Zhou Wen had no choice but to leave the Music Temple dungeon and head to the Metalwork Temple to grind. He was rather lucky to obtain a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior Companion Egg which he immediately hatched.


    Now, Zhou Wen was still thinking of a way to obtain an armor-type Companion Beast.


    The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior and the Golden Warrior had a compatibility score of more than 70. The success rate was very high, so Zhou Wen wasn''t that unlucky the second time he fused them.


    With the Legendary Golden Warrior as the main pet and the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior as supplementary, he combined it into an Epic Golden Warrior.


    Golden Warrior: Epic


    Life Providence: Golden Evasion


    Life Soul: Blessed Combat Runes


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw the Life Providence and Life Soul. It was perfect¡ªexactly what he wanted.


    However, after looking at his stats, Zhou Wen frowned again. The stats of the Epic Golden Warrior were too low¡ª27, 32, 29, 34. Its skills weren''t ideal either. It only had the Golden Bell and the Fist of War.


    What should I use to fuse it again? Zhou Wen thought. The best fusion solution was naturally to obtain the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior''s Invulnerable Golden Body skill. This way, it could increase his stats and also possess a good skill.


    With the Golden Bell and Invulnerable Golden Body, its defense could be improved.


    The only problem was that the drop rate of the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg was similarly low.


    Zhou Wen had been grinding dungeons recently. Every time he entered Music Temple, he would only encounter one Sun Beast. He also grinded the Metalwork Temple for Three-Eyed Golden Warriors.


    As for the Golden Harp, he had not seen it since the first time.

 501 Peony Garden

    In the huge Music Temple, only one Sun Beast would spawn every time. This made it much more difficult for Zhou Wen to obtain a Sun Beast Companion Egg. He had no choice but to sacrifice his blood to grind for one.


    Thankfully, other than the Sun Beast, Zhou Wen could also farm rare dimensional creatures such as the baby tiger, the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet, the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior, the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior, Mutated Overlord Snake, and so on.


    Some Companion Beasts'' levels weren''t high, but their skills or Life Providences were very useful. If he farmed a few more, he might be able to use them when they were fused in the future.


    While grinding for pets, Zhou Wen found a good place.


    The place Zhou Wen found wasn''t in Sunset College, but a dimensional zone in Luoyang. It wasn''t very famous, and ordinary people seldom went there because there weren''t many dimensional creatures there. Furthermore, the drop rate was low, making it a chore.


    Most people weren''t willing to go, but Zhou Wen felt that it was a good place. The dimensional zone that he had specially applied to go to was Peony Garden.


    There was a legend in the region that the first empress of the East District had once ordered a hundred flowers to bloom after she got drunk in Chang''an to cheer her up.


    The blooming season was different for a hundred flowers. However, due to the empress''s might, they had no choice but to bloom at the same time. The empress was elated to see this. However, she realized that amongst the hundred flowers, there was a flower that had yet to bloom. It was still standing amidst the hundred flowers with withered leaves. It was a peony.


    The empress was furious and demoted the peony to Luoyang. However, who knew that the moment the peony reached Luoyang, it immediately bloomed with a beautiful rosy red color.


    The empress got even more furious when she heard of this. She ordered for the peonies to be burnt. To everyone''s surprise, the peonies became even more beautiful amidst the flames.


    It was said that this peony garden was the place where the empress demoted the peony.


    Of course, that was only a legend. No matter how powerful the empress of the human world was, she couldn''t dictate the blooming of flowers. Therefore, it was still a mystery why Peony Garden could become a dimensional zone.


    The peony flowers in the peony garden were dimensional creatures. In the past, there were people who wantonly reaped them. Unfortunately, peony flowers didn''t drop dimensional crystals or Companion Eggs. Eventually, no one came here to cut peonies.


    The reason Zhou Wen came to peony garden wasn''t to kill the bees and butterflies. It was because there were very few people here. Furthermore, it was said that there was an immortal root in Peony Garden that was the closest to nature.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to come here to game. While gaming, he could also sense the flora and fauna. It could be considered a form of intimacy with nature. Perhaps he could gain a deeper understanding of the Dao Body and condense a Life Soul.


    Condensing a Life Soul and advancing a Life Soul weren''t simple tasks. Not only did he need a lot of practice, but having perception and opportunities was also very important. He was temporarily stuck at advancing Slaughterer, the Inverse Ancient Sovereign, and Lost Country. All Zhou Wen could do was study the Dao Art and Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    He arrived at the peony garden and indeed, he saw a bunch of flowers. At a glance, there was a stretch of colorful flowers that extended for hundreds of kilometers. They were like a breathtakingly beautiful sea of flowers.


    The beauty of peony gave people a sense of oppression. Some people felt that it was too beautiful, while others felt that it was a glorious beauty. Some even said that peony was the queen of flowers.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know much about flowers. He only felt that the peony flowers were indeed beautiful. As they had transformed into dimensional creatures, the beauty of peony was even more shocking.


    Zhou Wen walked into the garden and found a stone pavilion in the sea of flowers. As he sat in the stone pavilion, he gamed while taking in the flora and fauna.


    The peony garden was indeed different from other dimensional zones. It was quiet and tranquil, and the fragrance of flowers was refreshing. Apart from the stunning beauty of the peony flowers, it was indeed a good quiet place.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t have any special insights. As he circulated the Dao Art, he gamed. He didn''t make any progress with the Dao Art, so he focused on gaming and didn''t think too much about it.


    After playing for a few hours, he heard footsteps.


    Zhou Wen originally didn''t plan on paying attention to them, but the footsteps approached his stone pavilion. He used Truth Listener''s ability to listen.


    Two people came. One was a middle-aged man and the other was a twelve-year-old youth. The two of them were dressed in odd plain clothes. A robe was worn outside, and they did not look like locals.


    The middle-aged man walked in front. The young man held a sheathed saber in his hand and followed behind the middle-aged man.


    The two of them walked all the way to the stone pavilion. They didn''t walk very fast, as if they were taking a stroll and enjoying the scenery of Peony Garden.


    To be honest, the peony was indeed beautiful, but there was a limit to being able to appreciate it. This was also why many people always found the grass greener on the other side.


    It wasn''t because the things weren''t good, but because people were prone to change. They believed that what is rare is dear, and they didn''t know how to cherish all that they had seen.


    The middle-aged man kept observing the peony flowers, but he still seemed to be in high spirits. He studied the peony flowers closely.


    The youth''s temperament was clearly not as staid as the middle-aged man''s. After watching for a while, he found it boring, but he still followed behind the middle-aged man obediently. He did not cross the line and looked like he had a good upbringing.


    "Teacher, there''s already someone inside this pavilion," the youth said in disappointment when they arrived in front of the stone pavilion.


    However, the middle-aged man did not mind. He stood outside the pavilion and asked, "Young friend, can you let us rest for a while?"


    "Of course. The stone pavilion is a common facility. You can use it as long as you want," Zhou Wen said.


    After thanking him, the middle-aged man walked into the stone pavilion with the young man.


    The youth carried a large box on his back. He put the box down and opened it before taking out a cloth and laying it on the ground. Then, he took out a small wooden table and some random items. It looked like a picnic, but the tools on the table looked like they were used for brewing tea.


    The middle-aged man and the young man sat down at the small wooden table. The young man could make tea with those complicated tea sets.


    "It''s fate that we meet. Young friend, if you don''t mind, why don''t you try our hometown tea?" the middle-aged man said to Zhou Wen.


    "Thank you for your kindness. I''m not thirsty." After saying that, Zhou Wen continued gaming.


    The middle-aged man didn''t mind either. As he drank his tea, he enjoyed the flowers. He looked rather pleased.


    "Teacher, there are so many famous dimensional zones in Luoyang. Why do we have to come to peony garden? Even dimensional creatures are rare here. Is there anything special about this place?" The youth brewed a cup of tea and sat opposite him, asking the middle-aged man.

 502 Not On The Same Level

    "Flowers are like life. The plum blossoms are proud to the core and their chrysanthemums are lofty and pure. They bloom when other flowers wilt. Therefore, the first impression you have of them is that they are extraordinary. However, the peony is different. Its blooming time is not unique. Many flowers bloom in the same period of time, but in this season when the flowers bloom, it is still able to stand out. This is a kind of temperament, a kind of fearlessness. The plum blossoms and chrysanthemums are unique, but if they can stand out among the masses, they are extraordinary in different ways, first among extraordinariness," said the middle-aged man.


    The young man did not seem to understand what he was saying. He looked up at the peony flower outside the stone pavilion. It was beautiful, but after looking at it for a long time, he got used to it.


    After some thought, the youth said, "I still like the cherry blossoms from our hometown. They aren''t that colorful, but they are still as beautiful. Furthermore, when they are at their most beautiful, they will wither. They won''t slowly wither like the flowers here which serves to remind me of heroes dying at their prime."


    "The momentary brilliance is naturally the most beautiful. However, life is not just an instance. Cherry blossoms do not only bloom for a year," the middle-aged man said after drinking a cup of tea.


    The young man quickly brewed another cup for the middle-aged man. After the middle-aged man drank it, he said, "The temperature of the tea today is still a little lacking."


    "Teacher, we have been out for so long, and you always want me to make tea. When will you teach me the way of the sword?" The youth could not help but ask.


    The middle-aged man smiled. "You''ve been with me for seventeen days since we set off. For you to endure asking until now, it''s clear that your father has brought you up rather differently."


    "Please enlighten me." The youth bowed.


    "My way of the sword is a little different from your family''s. It focuses on comprehending. I''ve already taught you for seventeen days, but you haven''t gained any insight yet. When you do figure something out, it will be time for me to teach you the moves involved," said the middle-aged man.


    "You''ve taught me for seventeen days?" The youth was slightly taken aback. He looked at the middle-aged man with some doubt and said, "But in these seventeen days, we''ve been traveling. You either get me to do some chores or make tea. When did you teach me anything?"


    "That''s why you haven''t figured it out yet." The middle-aged man smiled.


    The young man was still a young man after all. The past seventeen days had seemingly ground away all his patience. He could not help but retort, "If I knew everything, Father wouldn''t have made me acknowledge you as my master. Please teach me."


    As he spoke, the young man knelt before the middle-aged man.


    The youth was not convinced. He raised his head and said, "I''m twelve years old this year and have already advanced to Legendary. I once went to the East Heaven Academy to compete with the top ten geniuses in the way of the sword. No one in the entire East Heaven Academy was my match. If my level of insight isn''t sufficient, then who can meet the mark?"


    "Sparring is ultimately only sparring. It doesn''t mean anything. Moreover, this world is very big. The East Heaven Academy is not equal to the entire world," said the middle-aged man indifferently.


    The youth could not help but feel enraged when he realized that he was unable to move the middle-aged man no matter what he said. However, his teacher was too famous. He was disciplined from a young age to not go against his teacher excessively.


    He had nowhere to vent his pent-up anger. Just as the youth was feeling upset, he suddenly thought of Zhou Wen on the other side of the stone pavilion. He stood up and walked in front of Zhou Wen. He bowed slightly and asked, "Are you a local here?"


    "No, I study here," Zhou Wen answered.


    The youth''s eyes lit up when he heard that. He sized up Zhou Wen and asked, "Which school are you from?"


    "Sunset College," Zhou Wen casually replied when he saw that he was rather polite.


    "I''ve heard of Sunset College. It''s a college that''s in the Federation''s top ten. It should be the best school here, right?" The youth''s eyes lit up.


    "Probably," Zhou Wen said.


    When the youth heard that, he turned to the middle-aged man and asked, "Teacher, Sunset College is one of the top ten academies in the Federation. It''s ranked higher than East Heaven Academy. They don''t know who I am, so they naturally won''t give in to me. If I can defeat the best student at Sunset College, will you be able to teach me the way of the sword?"


    The middle-aged man merely smiled and did not speak. He picked up the teacup and took a sip.


    Without any reply from his teacher, the youth bowed and said, "Then I''ll take it that Teacher has agreed."


    With that said, the youth stood up and walked in front of Zhou Wen. He asked, "May I ask who is the strongest student at Sunset College?"


    "Strongest?" Zhou Wen thought carefully before replying, "I guess the publicly recognized number one person should be the president of the student council, right?"


    "What''s his name?" The youth asked.


    "Wei Ge," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Wei Ge?" The youth repeated it a few times before walking to the middle-aged man and bowing. "Teacher, I''ll go to Sunset College to challenge its strongest student. After I return victorious, you should be able to teach me the way of the sword, right?"


    "There''s a student from Sunset College here. Why do you have to seek someone so far?" the middle-aged man glanced at Zhou Wen and said with a smile.


    The youth said, "I want to defeat the strongest student of Sunset College, not an ordinary student."


    "But in my opinion, he is stronger than you," the middle-aged man said.


    The youth naturally refused to believe him. He looked at Zhou Wen and asked, "What''s your standard in Sunset College?"


    "Very weak. It''s considered mediocre. You should go to Sunset College to find Wei Ge," Zhou Wen said. He wasn''t interested in dealing with the child.


    The youth looked at the middle-aged man and said, "Teacher, it seems that you have misjudged this time."


    The middle-aged man ignored the youth and looked at Zhou Wen with a smile. "My young friend, may I ask what rank you were in the last comprehensive test at Sunset College?"


    "I barely ranked tenth," Zhou Wen answered.


    The youth sized up Zhou Wen again when he heard that. After a while, he nodded and said, "Tenth place is indeed lacking. However, since Teacher has spoken, I''ll first defeat you before challenging the best, Wei Ge."


    As he spoke, the youth made a strange hand gesture and said, "Please accept my challenge."


    "Sorry, I don''t have time," Zhou Wen said as he played games. He was completely uninterested in the youth and had no interest in bullying children.


    The youth couldn''t help but frown slightly. Zhou Wen''s attitude made him feel belittled.


    "I''m Honn Shinsakura. Please enlighten me." The young man stood as though he was about to draw his saber and held the handle of the saber as if he was about to strike at any moment.


    Zhou Wen had already rejected him, so there was no need for him to repeat himself. He ignored him and continued gaming.


    A sliver of anger flashed in Honn Shinsakura''s eyes as he suddenly unsheathed his saber. The saber beam flashed and slashed at Zhou Wen like lightning.


    Zhou Wen was still gaming. He didn''t even raise his eyelids as the saber beams slashed past him. Although it looked dangerous, it didn''t even hit his clothes.


    The middle-aged man''s expression changed slightly. He stood up and said, "Shin, step back. He is not on the same level as you."

 503 Sei Gasakai

    Honn Shinsakura was not convinced to begin with. After hearing his teacher''s evaluation, he became even more indignant. However, his teacher had already stood up. As a disciple, he had to maintain his etiquette. He could only step aside and sulk.


    "I''m Sei Gasakai. May I know your name?" the middle-aged man asked Zhou Wen.


    "There''s no need to be this polite with me. My name is Zhou Wen," Zhou Wen said as he put down his phone.


    As Zhou Wen had never heard of the name Sei Gasakai, he didn''t think much of it. However, this name was famous in another region and even the entire Federation.


    Speaking of the Sword Hero Sei Gasakai, many people who practiced the way of the sword knew that he used to be a first-rate sword master who practiced Niten Ichi-ry¨± ten years ago, and he was also famous locally for his good looks.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t know any of this.


    Seeing his teacher, Sei Gasakai, solemnly mention his name, while Zhou Wen only sat there silently, Honn Shinsakura could not help but snort coldly. He felt that Zhou Wen didn''t respect his teacher, Sei Gasakai.


    Sei Gasakai didn''t mind as he said with a smile, "Zhou Wen, are you familiar with Chancellor Leng Zongzheng in your studies at Sunset College?"


    "It''s very rare to see Chancellor Leng. He''s no longer teaching," Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    "Isn''t your mentor Leng Zongzheng? Then who is your mentor?" Sei Gasakai was slightly surprised.


    Zhou Wen was so young, yet he had such a cultivation realm. He believed that Zhou Wen was Leng Zongzheng''s student. His visit to Luoyang was to challenge Leng Zongzheng.


    "Wang Fei," Zhou Wen answered subconsciously.


    After Wang Fei left, many things happened to Zhou Wen. He seldom interacted with the new tutor, and he still thought of Wang Fei as his tutor. Furthermore, Wang Fei and Wang Mingyuan were both members of Luoyang''s Wang family. Zhou Wen subconsciously wanted to acknowledge Wang Fei as his tutor.


    Sei Gasakai thought for a moment. He had never heard of this name before. In fact, Sei Gasakai didn''t like the other teachers of Sunset College. He believed that the only one worthy to fight him at Sunset College was the chancellor, Leng Zongzheng. Therefore, he didn''t know much about the other teachers. He only knew a few of the more famous tutors.


    Even though the mentors were rather famous in the Federation, Sei Gasakai did not think of them as opponents.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn''t a student taught by Leng Zongzheng, since he was a student of Sunset College and had such accomplishments at such a young age, Sei Gasakai wanted to know of Zhou Wen''s accomplishments.


    Sei Gasakai originally could only tell that Zhou Wen''s cultivation level wasn''t bad. He remained unperturbed despite being in front of them. This made him find the young student pretty good.


    "If there''s nothing else, I wish to continue gaming." Zhou Wen lowered his head and continued gaming.


    Sei Gasakai didn''t make any remarks as he looked at the peony flower outside the stone pavilion. A gust of wind blew past, and a withered petal fell, blowing into the stone pavilion. He extended his slender fingers and clamped the petal between his fingers.


    "Little friend, take a look at this petal. Do you see anything different about it?" With that said, Sei Gasakai extended his index finger and middle finger towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his body tremble as he couldn''t help but look up at Sei Gasakai.


    Sei Gasakai''s finger wasn''t fast, but when it landed in Zhou Wen''s eyes, the scenery was completely different.


    The life force in the peony garden seemed to have followed Sei Gasakai''s finger. It was as if he was the lord of the peony garden, and the peony garden moved under his power.


    Zhou Wen felt that he wasn''t facing Sei Gasakai, but the billions of flowers in the peony garden. The power gathered on the petals was like a boundless sea. He immediately felt immense pressure.


    Zhou Wen wore a solemn expression as he sat on the bench. His fingers were like swords as he extended them towards the petal delivered by Sei Gasakai, clamping the other side of the petal.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen felt a strange force rush over.


    Flowers bloomed and fell. The sun rose and set. From life to death, Zhou Wen felt his body rapidly aging as time flew by.


    A strange glint flashed across Sei Gasakai''s eyes. In the past, he had cultivated Niten Ichi-ry¨±. The so-called Niten Ichi-ry¨± meant that the sky had the sun and the moon, and humans were divided into Yin and Yang. The Niten Ichi-ry¨± was also about complementing Yin and Yang.


    Niten Ichi-ry¨± warriors usually held a tachi in their right hand and a small tachi in their left hand. This Yin and Yang produced endless changes.


    Sei Gasakai was extremely talented. After being repeatedly honed by dimensional zones and gaining insights, not only did he reach the pinnacle of Niten Ichi-ry¨±, but he had also basically created a lineage using the Niten Ichi-ry¨± as a foundation, allowing his strength to improve greatly.


    This lineage not only focused on Yin and Yang, the incorporeal and corporeal, but it also had a great relationship with time and life. Sei Gasakai had yet to name this lineage. This time, he had come to Luoyang to challenge Leng Zongzheng. If he could defeat him, he planned to name the lineage he created.


    As Zhou Wen was a student of Sunset College, Sei Gasakai had originally planned on using his newly created technique to test his cultivation level and realm. He didn''t really want to fight him.


    However, when he used the Will Renewal concept in his saber art, he realized that Zhou Wen wasn''t affected at all. With that, he gradually strengthened his will in the sword.


    Zhou Wen felt as though countless flowers had bloomed before waning as time seemed to pass rapidly. It was as though the entire peony garden had turned into a flower graveyard. He had also gone from young to old as though he was about to die.


    When Sei Gasakai saw that Zhou Wen remained unmoved, he couldn''t help but be astonished. He had already thought highly of Zhou Wen to begin with, but he never expected the youth in front of him to be even stronger than he had imagined. He couldn''t help but strengthen his sword will as it changed from the Will Renewal to life and death.


    Honn Shinsakura watched from the side, but he didn''t sense anything. All he saw was Zhou Wen and Sei Gasakai each holding a petal. One of them was standing while the other was sitting, motionless.


    Honn Shinsakura was somewhat puzzled. He did not know what his teacher Sei Gasakai was doing, but he did not dare disturb him. He could only wait patiently by the side.


    But as he watched, Honn Shinsakura''s eyes widened.


    His teacher, Sei Gasakai, had his hair band snap and his long black hair flowed down. His long black hair was gradually turning white. In just moments, his long black hair had turned snow-white.


    "Teacher, what''s wrong?" Honn Shinsakura was alarmed as he hurriedly stood up. He wanted to rush over and push Zhou Wen away.


    Boom!


    However, just as he took a few steps towards Zhou Wen, he felt a terrifying force slam into him. His body involuntarily flew out and landed outside the stone pavilion. Blood oozed out of his mouth and a few of his bones were broken. He looked at Zhou Wen in the stone pavilion in horror and struggled several times but failed to get up.

 504 Dao Bodys Soul Condensation

    After Zhou Wen arrived at the Peony Garden, he had been constantly circulating the Dao Art. When Sei Gasakai''s sword will crashed down on him, it made him feel both a Will Renewal and life and death. However, this pressure didn''t cause Zhou Wen''s will to waver. Instead, he suddenly seemed to gain enlightenment.


    With Zhou Wen''s enlightenment, the Dao Sutra in his body also underwent some strange changes. His Dao Body and essence, vitality, and spirit were trembling. His entire body and mind seemed to resonate with everything in the world, causing them to constantly transform and condense within his body.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen had actually begun condensing a Dao Sutra Life Soul.


    Sei Gasakai didn''t know that his sword will was useless against Zhou Wen. Instead, it aided Zhou Wen by constantly giving him insights.


    Seeing how Zhou Wen remained motionless, Sei Gasakai was alarmed. He pushed the sword will he had comprehended to its limits. His Essence Energy had already been infused into it. It wasn''t as simple as probing anymore. It was a true sparring match. The sword''s force surged towards Zhou Wen through the flower petal that the two were holding.


    This nameless sword strike was still unable to shake Zhou Wen despite Sei Gasakai pushing his sword will to the extreme.


    His sword force, which carried the Will Renewal as well as life and death, vanished without a trace after entering Zhou Wen''s body.


    Sei Gasakai was shocked. He had relied on his comprehension of this strike to push his Life Soul to Perfect stage. He had even planned on using this strike to challenge Leng Zongzheng.


    However, who knew that this strike wouldn''t even be able to do a thing to a mere student of Sunset College? Instantly, Sei Gasakai felt despair. He felt like he had lost all hope in life. His black hair turned white in a short period of time.


    Sei Gasakai had no idea that even if his strike were to clash with Leng Zongzheng, it was impossible for it to be ineffective. However, Zhou Wen''s Dao Body and the Life Soul he was condensing were the nemeses of his strike.


    If he were to use his Life Soul to fight Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen was definitely not his match. However, just the Power of Life and Death alone was unable to do a thing to him.


    Zhou Wen felt his essence, vitality, and spirit condense towards his brain. The power of Sei Gasakai''s sword was also sucked in. A certain power in the world was flowing towards his brain, pouring into him like a river.


    Zhou Wen felt that a crystal had condensed in his mind. The crystal was very strange, as though it was in his brain, but it wasn''t anywhere in his brain. It was as though it was something that only existed in his consciousness, but Zhou Wen could clearly sense its existence.


    Sei Gasakai could not accept the fact that he was inferior to a student at Sunset College. He could not accept that the Sword Dao he had comprehended over the years was completely useless.


    When Zhou Wen''s Life Soul condensed, the fluctuations of the Life Soul''s power caused Sei Gasakai''s Life Soul to vibrate. A Sword Soul that resembled a devil or a god appeared over Sei Gasakai''s body.


    Honn Shinsakura was dumbfounded. He had never expected that his teacher, the renowned Sword Hero, Sei Gasakai, would use his Life Soul when he was competing with a student.


    That was a Perfect Life Soul, Samsara Sword Sage. Countless Epic experts were defeated by the Reincarnation Sword Sage of Sei Gasakai. It was a supreme existence with the power to determine life and death.


    In the next second, Honn Shinsakura saw Sei Gasakai''s white hair fluttering in the wind. The Samsara Sword Sage had merged with Sei Gasakai, and a tachi condensed from light and darkness appeared in his hand. The petal had already melted from the terrifying power.


    Sei Gasakai held the tachi in his hand. In his despair, he no longer had any other thoughts. All he wanted to do was prove himself and his Sword Dao as he slashed at Zhou Wen.


    Wherever the blade beam passed, the surrounding flowers were affected by it. Half of the flowers were blooming, while the other half was wilting, as though heaven and hell were separated.


    Teacher actually used this strike¡­ Honn Shinsakura was extremely shocked.


    Not only did Sei Gasakai use his Life Soul, but he also used his most powerful strike. This strike was something Honn Shinsakura had only heard from his father, but he had never seen it before.


    His father had seen this move of Sei Gasakai''s. He had originally been comparable to Sei Gasakai in strength, but in the end, he decided to hand over his beloved son, Honn Shinsakura, to Sei Gasakai for guidance. Furthermore, he held Sei Gasakai in high esteem, saying that he was the number one sword practitioner.


    Honn Shinsakura followed Sei Gasakai and wanted to learn this move the most. However, Sei Gasakai had never used it before, so he had never seen it. Today was the first time he had truly witnessed this attack.


    However, the strike that was described as an attack that could kill devils and gods alike was actually used by Sei Gasakai against a student. This made Honn Shinsakura feel incredulous.


    However, he had finally witnessed the power of the strike. It was truly an attack that wielded the power of a devil or a god. However, due to the power of the attack, the peony garden was reduced to hell. All the flowers had withered. Such power was truly awe-inspiring.


    It''s no wonder even a person like Father holds such high regard for Teacher. With such a powerful strike, who in the world can match it? Honn Shinsakura praised in his heart.


    But in the next second, Honn Shinsakura was rooted to the spot. His eyes widened to the extreme, but his pupils constricted like needles as he looked into the stone pavilion in disbelief.


    Zhou Wen was still sitting on the bench in the stone pavilion. He wasn''t moved by Sei Gasakai''s mighty strike, nor did he have any intention of standing up. All he did was grab a jade bamboo in his hand.


    There was a flash; a saber revealed itself in the bamboo.


    Honn Shinsakura had never seen such a magnificent and domineering technique before. The gorgeous saber beam sliced through the void, leaving an inextinguishable mark on his mind.


    When Honn Shinsakura looked at the saber beam clearly, he realized that the Bamboo Blade had already returned to its sheath, as though it had never moved.


    However, when he looked at Sei Gasakai again, the attack condensed from light and darkness in his hand suddenly broke apart, turning into specks of starlight before dissipating. The terrifying intent also shattered.


    "I¡­ lost¡­" Sei Gasakai stood there and stared at Zhou Wen in a daze, his eyes had already lost focus.


    Honn Shinsakura sat on the ground. He really could not accept this outcome. Sei Gasakai, the man known as the number one Sword Hero¡ªhis teacher¡ªhad actually been defeated by a student who was not much older than him.


    Looking at Zhou Wen, who was still sitting in the stone pavilion, Honn Shinsakura suddenly felt that he wasn''t a person but a devil. The earlier strike was a devil''s power.


    However, that gorgeous saber move had left an inextinguishable mark deep within his soul. He could not help but recall it repeatedly.

 505 Niten Flying Immortal-ryū

    "Teacher!" Honn Shinsakura suddenly saw a trickle of blood on Sei Gasakai''s neck. He couldn''t help but be shocked and went to rush over.


    "If I were you, I wouldn''t touch him," Zhou Wen said.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Honn Shinsakura''s body trembled. He stood outside the stone pavilion and didn''t rush in. He stared at Zhou Wen and gritted his teeth as he asked, "Your Excellency, since you have already won, why do you have to go so far as to kill him?"


    Zhou Wen pointed at Sei Gasakai and said, "I''m not a murderer. Why would I kill him? Your teacher is probably envisaging a battle in his mind. I don''t know what will happen if you disturb him."


    Doubtful, Honn Shinsakura looked at Sei Gasakai. Seeing that his teacher was standing there in a daze, his eyes empty, and the wound on his neck only a superficial wound, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "What''s the name of the strike your teacher used just now?" Zhou Wen asked as he looked at Honn Shinsakura.


    He now had comprehended the meaning of Will Renewal and life and death thanks to Sei Gasakai''s sword will. He had understood the relationship between humans and nature, which allowed the Dao Body to condense a Life Soul. From this, one could tell that Sei Gasakai''s move was indeed powerful.


    Honn Shinsakura didn''t dare belittle Zhou Wen any further. Although there wasn''t much of a difference in age between the two of them, he treated himself as a junior. He cautiously answered, "That move isn''t named. My teacher used the Niten Ichi-ry¨± as a foundation before comprehending the Four Seasons'' Will Renewal and Life-and-Death Samsara concepts. He then created this blade technique."


    "I see." Zhou Wen nodded slightly and got up to leave.


    He came to the Peony Garden because he wanted to see if he could condense a Dao Body Life Soul. Although the Peony Garden failed to help him, in a way, Sei Gasakai had helped him.


    Zero Taboo (Primordial Body): Union of Heaven and Man, Invulnerable to all Spells


    With the appearance of the Life Soul, the word "taboo" behind Essence Energy disappeared.


    This was a Life Soul condensed from a Dao Body. It was somewhat odd with being a crystal in his consciousness that seemed to have a corporeal form, but it also seemed incorporeal. It was this Life Soul that had blocked Sei Gasakai''s Will Renewal move. It nullified the powers for Zhou Wen, allowing him to defeat Sei Gasakai.


    In terms of pure strength, Sei Gasakai''s Perfect-stage Samsara Sword Sage was much stronger than Zhou Wen''s Life Soul. If he hadn''t used that move and had used ordinary Essence Energy to fight Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen''s strike wouldn''t have been able to win so easily.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen walk out of the stone pavilion, Honn Shinsakura anxiously asked, "How''s my teacher?"


    Honn Shinsakura hesitated for a moment. Seeing that Zhou Wen was about to leave, he couldn''t help but shout at Zhou Wen''s back, "What''s the name of that strike of yours?"


    "Transcendent Flying Immortal," Zhou Wen answered as he walked. Soon, he entered the flower shrubs.


    "Transcendent¡­ Flying¡­ Immortal¡­" The gorgeous saber flashed through Honn Shinsakura''s mind again. That gesture sent shockwaves into his soul, one that he could not forget.


    An old man and a young man stood in the stone pavilion in a daze while the other stood outside the stone pavilion in a daze. After a while, Honn Shinsakura suddenly heard a cry and hurriedly turned to look at Sei Gasakai.


    Sei Gasakai spat out a mouthful of blood. Honn Shinsakura hurriedly rushed to Sei Gasakai. "Teacher, what''s wrong?"


    Sei Gasakai spat out a mouthful of blood, but his expression was much better. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and revealed a smile. "So that''s how it is¡­ I see¡­ It''s no wonder I didn''t name the move. It turns out that deep in my heart, I knew that it wasn''t right. Now I finally understand where I was wrong¡­"


    With that said, Sei Gasakai looked around but didn''t see Zhou Wen. He asked, "Where''s Zhou Wen-kun?"


    "He went back," Honn Shinsakura answered.


    "Why didn''t you stop him?" Sei Gasakai blurted out.


    Honn Shinsakura thought to himself, How can I stop him when even you can''t?


    Of course, he did not say that out loud. Sei Gasakai probably realized that something was wrong with what he said, so he asked him, "Did you ask him what the name of that attack was?"


    "He said it was Transcendent Flying Immortal," Honn Shinsakura replied.


    Sei Gasakai nodded and said, "So that saber move is called Transcendent Flying Immortal. My blade technique has taken the wrong path. I''ve been blindly pursuing the path of Will Renewal and life and death, but I''ve lost the true essence of Niten Ichi-ry¨±. To think that I was so arrogant that I thought that my accomplishments had already reached the crest of perfection and even had the thoughts of challenging Leng Zongzheng. I never expected that even a student from Sunset College could nullify my sword technique. That''s good. After this battle, I''ve finally seen the path ahead clearly. I''m going back to revise my blade technique. Are you still willing to cultivate with me?"


    "You will forever be my teacher." Honn Shinsakura immediately bowed.


    "Alright, we''ll head back now. I''ll revamp my blade technique. From now on, this lineage will be called the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±," Sei Gasakai said seriously.


    "Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±?" Honn Shinsakura looked at Sei Gasakai in confusion.


    "My Sword Dao came from the Niten Ichi-ry¨± , and the strike that Zhou Wen-Kun used to give me a wake-up call is called Transcendent Flying Immortal. In order to show respect, my style shall be called the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. I hope that after you inherit my Sword Dao in the future, you will be able to advance further and use the blade technique of my Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± to defeat his Transcendent Flying Immortal," said Sei Gasakai.


    "Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±?" Honn Shinsakura muttered to himself as Zhou Wen''s gorgeous saber appeared in his mind.


    The master and disciple no longer went to find Leng Zongzheng and chose to leave Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen didn''t take this matter to heart, but he didn''t know that in the future, the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± would become a mainstream sword sect overseas. But all of this was in the future.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen began studying the Zero Taboo Life Soul. He wanted to know what use it had.


    As of now, what he knew was that it could nullify the Power of Will Renewal and Power of Death, but this was clearly not the true effect of the Zero Taboo.


    After launching the game dungeon, Zhou Wen entered the Metalwork Temple. He wanted to see if the Zero Taboo could block the power of the flames, but unfortunately, the blood-colored avatar was nearly burned to death.


    It can''t block the power of fire? Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and changed to another dungeon. He went to the Music Temple to try resisting the sound waves.


    However, it was useless. After activating the Zero Taboo, the sound wave struck the blood-colored avatar, sending it flying several meters away. It was so painful that Zhou Wen nearly convulsed.


    It can''t be? Don''t tell me that this thing can only block the Power of Will Renewal and Death? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed, he saw a Sun Beast rush out of the palace.


    Zhou Wen didn''t experiment any further. He summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and made it kill the Sun Beast. After grinding so many times, he didn''t even have a Companion Egg drop. He didn''t hold any hopes this time, but the Sun Beast ended up dropping a Companion Egg.


    It''s finally here. Zhou Wen forgot about the Zero Taboo as his emotions became complicated.


    With the Sun Beast, he could finally fight Torch Dragon.

 506 Fusion Armor

    Zhou Wen had killed plenty of Sun Beasts, but this was the first time he had seen one clearly.


    As the Sun Beast''s glare was so strong, it usually looked like a small sun. However, in reality, the Sun Beast was just a small crystal-like beast. It wasn''t too big and emitted an intense light.


    Sun Beast: Epic


    Life Providence: Son of the Sun.


    Life Soul: Solar Radiance


    Strength: 39


    Speed: 38


    Constitution: 39


    Essence Energy: 39


    Talent Skill: Sun Arc.


    Companion Form: Crystal Mirror.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Sun Beast and transformed it into a companion form. An intrinsic, sundial-like mirror appeared in his hand. The mirror clearly reflected Zhou Wen''s shadow. It wasn''t inferior to the modern-day mirrors; it was even clearer.


    Looking at the crystal mirror, Zhou Wen thought of a problem.


    This mirror was more than enough to block his face, and it was just big enough to block his chest. However, he couldn''t hide his entire body behind the mirror.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if blocking a part of his body was of any use against Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World.


    Taking the Sun Beast with him, Zhou Wen opened the game dungeon and planned on giving it a try.


    Once again, he came to the shrine and summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, allowing it to charge into the temple as a vanguard.


    Under Zhou Wen''s control, the blood-colored avatar cooperated with the six-winged Guardian Dragon and dealt with Torch Dragon. As Zhou Wen didn''t know when Torch Dragon would use the Bright Torch Vision World, he kept paying attention to Torch Dragon''s eyes.


    Torch Dragon''s eyes were usually dim. When it used Bright Torch Vision World, the eyes would first light up before turning into a mirror.


    The process in the middle was a brief instant. Zhou Wen had to summon the Sun Beast when Torch Dragon used Bright Torch Vision World. There was some skill involved.


    As the Sun Beast was only at the Epic stage, it was impossible to summon it too early or it would die under the intense combat strength. Therefore, Zhou Wen could only use this strategy.


    He was extremely familiar with Torch Dragon. When it used Bright Torch Vision World, Zhou Wen summoned the crystal mirror in front of him and blocked the blood-colored avatar''s face.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen saw a strange scene. The crystal mirror and blood-colored avatar''s faces were indeed fine, but its body vanished. Then, the game screen turned black.


    The Thearch didn''t lie to me. The mirror is indeed useful, but the crystal mirror is a little too small. Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged. He knew that the mirror could restrain Torch Dragon, so killing it was only a matter of time.


    The biggest known Companion Beast mirror was a magic mirror in the West District. However, the magic mirror was at the Mythical stage. Up to this day, the six families had yet to destroy it.


    From the looks of it, getting a big mirror won''t work. Is there any other way? Zhou Wen thought hard about how to use the smaller crystal mirror to perfectly crack Bright Torch Vision World.


    Zhou Wen constantly came up with new strategies and kept experimenting. He spent a large amount of time grinding dungeons every day.


    Zhou Wen had yet to finish Torch Dragon, but he had obtained a Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg.


    He combined it with the Epic Golden Warrior that he had previously combined. Although they were both Golden Warriors, their compatibility was only slightly more than sixty.


    After hesitating for a moment, he chose to fuse them. Then, he watched as the Golden Warrior and the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior Companion Egg were gradually devoured by the light before they merged into one.


    When the light dissipated and a Golden Warrior appeared on the game''s screen, Zhou Wen finally relaxed.


    The stats of the Golden Warrior increased significantly after being fused. All of them were above 30, and his luck was quite different. With the Three-Eyed Golden Warrior as a supplement, it retained its Invulnerable Golden Body. As such, the Golden Warrior had Golden Bell, Invulnerable Golden Body, and the Fist of War.


    Fist of War wasn''t of much use to Zhou Wen. He mainly focused on the Golden Bell and Invulnerable Golden Body, which greatly enhanced his defense.


    When he went to the temple to attack Torch Dragon again, Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Warrior to see how strong its defense was.


    However, what surprised Zhou Wen was that the Golden Bell and Invulnerable Golden Body, along with the augmentation of Blessed Combat Runes allowed it to withstand one blow of the Torch Dragon''s tail. Its body crashed into the palace wall, but it wasn''t seriously injured.


    This seemingly ordinary Golden Warrior was finally killed after withstanding Torch Dragon''s four attacks.


    This was already out of Zhou Wen''s expectations. Among Epic Companion Beasts, there weren''t many who could withstand a single strike from Torch Dragon. For a Golden Warrior to withstand four strikes was already shocking.


    Unfortunately, the Golden Warrior could not block Bright Torch Vision World.


    This Golden Warrior looks like an ordinary Golden Warrior, but its strength far exceeds that of a Golden Warrior. If an ordinary person were to treat it as a Golden Warrior, they would probably suffer terribly. That''s an advantage. Zhou Wen thought to himself if he were to find a publicly recognized weak Companion Beast in the future and combine all sorts of powerful skills with it. This way, he would be able to catch any enemy off guard.


    Upon thinking of a weak Companion Beast, Zhou Wen thought of the Lucky Baby Tiger. This fellow was indeed the weakest among Epics. Apart from its Luck stat, it was completely useless.


    I''ll try to fuse a powerful baby tiger when I get another baby tiger. Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Warrior and wore it as a golden soft armor.


    The moment he wore it, he realized something different. The soft armor that a typical Golden Warrior transformed into was made of gold threads. It was pure gold without any patterns.


    Zhou Wen''s soft armor had shimmering Blessed Combat Runes on it, making it look extremely dazzling.


    Zhou Wen didn''t like being dazzling because that would make him a striking target.


    "The Golden Warrior transforms into soft armor. I can still wear armor outside. I can use the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior as the main ingredient and a Golden Warrior Companion Egg as a supplementary ingredient to form a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior with a Golden Body Life Providence. Zhou Wen did as the idea came to him. Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors and Golden Warrior weren''t difficult to kill, but something went wrong when he fused them.


    After the two were combined, the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior did not obtain the Golden Warrior''s Life Providence. It was still his original Life Providence, but he had an additional skill.


    After a few tries, the results were all different. Sometimes, there were more skills, and sometimes there were fewer. Only on the third time, did he obtain a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior with the Golden Body Life Providence and Blessed Combat Runes Life Soul. However, that Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior did not even have a single skill.

 507 Black Cube

    While Zhou Wen was grinding the dungeons, something strange happened in Luoyang City.


    A crossroad in the city was blocked by a huge black cube. The black cube was about 50 meters long. It did not look like metal, but it did not look like stone or plastic either.


    Strangely, no one knew when the black cube appeared. An Sheng, who was in charge of investigating the matter, looked at the nearby surveillance cameras and realized that the black cube had appeared out of thin air. It didn''t exist on the video then it appeared in the next second.


    Such a strange matter was likely related to dimensional creatures. In order to prevent any accidents, An Sheng mobilized many experts from the Sunset army to research how to take away or destroy the black cube.


    However, they tried many methods to no avail. They were unable to move the black cube away, nor were they able to damage it. Even the strongest destructive weapon and Essence Energy Skill that they could muster failed to damage the black cube one bit.


    Some people dug up the concrete surface underneath the black cube and used some tools to move it away. However, they soon discovered that the black cube was actually suspended in midair. After the ground was dug open, it did not affect it at all and it still remained in position.


    Although the black cube didn''t pose any threat, An Sheng still made preparations for the worst. He evacuated the nearby residents and temporarily isolated the area. He sent troops to guard it to prevent any accidents.


    In less than two days, An Sheng received plenty of shocking updates. It wasn''t just Luoyang; many cities in the Federation''s four major districts had similar black cubes.


    Now, everyone was studying the black cube. Up to now, no one had been able to determine what it was, nor could anyone destroy or move it.


    Many people were worried like An Sheng. The black cube was like a ticking time bomb in the city. Who knew when it would cause a terrifying disaster.


    "Strange phenomena are happening rather frequently. It looks like the days ahead will become more and more unpeaceful." An Sheng sighed.


    An Tianzuo was reading the intelligence gathered from all over the world. Even the cities of the six major families had black cubes. Furthermore, the six families were helpless against them.


    The six families had sent out Mythical Companion Beasts to destroy or figure out what the black cube was, but the outcome wasn''t promising. The strength of Mythical Companion Beasts was still unable to harm the black cubes.


    An Tianzuo frowned when he read the intelligence.


    Black cubes had appeared all over the world; this was clearly unusual.


    "Did you notice that these black cubes only appear in areas where humans gather? There are no black cubes in the wilderness or dimensional zones," An Tianzuo said.


    "Although I don''t wish to see such a thing happen, the current phenomena''s analysis suggests that the black cubes are targeted at humans," An Tianzuo said with a heavy expression.


    "We shall handle it, come what may. Overseer, when have you ever been afraid of anything?" An Sheng deliberately said in a relaxed tone.


    An Tianzuo smiled and stopped talking about the matter. He then asked An Sheng, "How''s the progress at Zhuolu?"


    "There''s no progress. After a long analysis, the experts have roughly guessed that the snake is the legendary Torch Dragon. The other Mythical creature is Qiongqi, one of the four mythical ferocious beasts. Apart from that, there''s no progress. Unless a Mythical power involves itself in this matter, it''s impossible to make progress in the temple," An Sheng said.


    "How''s the mood of the person at home?" An Tianzuo paused before asking again.


    "Same as usual. She eats whatever she likes and buys whatever she likes. However, I can tell that she can''t let this matter rest," An Sheng said.


    After a long silence, An Tianzuo suddenly said, "How long will it take for a return trip to Zhuolu?"


    An Sheng''s expression changed drastically when he heard that. "Overseer, you absolutely can''t do that. You definitely can''t go to Zhuolu. The strength of Torch Dragon and Qiongqi is still unknown. We haven''t even figured out what abilities they have. It''s too dangerous for you to go like this."


    "If we don''t figure out if Grandpa is in the temple, the person at home will probably not be at ease," said An Tianzuo.


    "Overseer, if you were to perish in there, Madam wouldn''t just be sad. Furthermore, there''s the bizarre black cube. A huge problem might happen at any time. This place needs you," An Sheng said solemnly.


    An Tianzuo''s expression changed when he heard that. After a long while, he sighed and said, "Ah Sheng, in the past, we only wanted to have the An family and Luoyang completely in our control. At that time, we thought that we could no longer have any reservations and do whatever we wanted. Now that we have truly become the masters of this place, we realize that the matters to take into consideration have increased."


    An Sheng looked at An Tianzuo and said seriously, "The lesser the burden, the fewer the matters to consider. Overseer, you''re burdened by too many things."


    "Perhaps." An Tianzuo stood up and walked to the window. He looked at the black cube on the city''s streets as his expression turned more complicated.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen had fused multiple pets without obtaining a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior that he was satisfied with. All he could do was use the unskilled Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior for the time being.


    "Old Zhou, have you heard? A mysterious cube appeared on the streets in the city," Li Xuan said mysteriously when he came to Zhou Wen.


    "What mysterious cube?" Zhou Wen had been focused on grinding dungeons recently. Apart from sending breakfast to Wang Lu, he hadn''t gone out, nor had anyone told him.


    "You don''t know about it?" Li Xuan recounted the mysterious appearance of the black cube. "It''s not just our Luoyang. I heard that the same black cube has appeared all over the world. However, no one knows what it is."


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown when he heard that. He was also worried. If the black cubes contained a few Mythical creatures, the consequences would be unimaginable.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen chatted for a while before he suddenly recalled something. He said to Zhou Wen with a smile, "Gu Dian looks like a ruthless character, but he''s actually quite timid."


    "Why do you say that?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "Didn''t we organize an activity previously and got Gu Dian to come with us? Fang Ruoxi brought her pet cat over. That pet cat wasn''t afraid of Gu Dian''s ferocious appearance and even jumped onto him. When he saw the cat, the usually ferocious Gu Dian ended up sitting on the ground in fright. His legs were so weak that he couldn''t even stand up. He just sat and crawled backward as though he was afraid that the cat would eat him¡­ Don''t you think it''s funny¡­ That kid usually looks quite manly. I never expected him to be so timid¡­" Li Xuan didn''t notice Zhou Wen''s odd expression when he spoke.

 508 The Thearchs Hin

    After Li Xuan left, Zhou Wen went online to investigate the news regarding the black cube. As the matter was huge news, and the cubes had appeared in many places, it was impossible to completely conceal the matter. Therefore, many places did an expos¨¦. There were also many clear pictures of it.


    One could not tell anything from the pictures. It was just a black cube.


    What exactly is this? I wonder if The Thearch knows what it is? Zhou Wen was considering how to ask The Thearch when he suddenly received a message from her.


    "Did a black cube appear in the place where you are now?"


    Zhou Wen hurriedly replied when he saw The Thearch mention this matter herself. "Yes, a lot of them suddenly appeared in the world. I wonder what it is?"


    "If I were you, I would take my Mythical Companion Beasts to the cube," The Thearch replied.


    "How can I have Mythical Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen denied.


    "What''s on your ear? Don''t tell me that''s an earring you bought online," The Thearch said.


    "What do I do with the Mythical Companion Beast there? What is that black cube?" Zhou Wen never expected The Thearch to recognize Truth Listener. However, he wasn''t surprised. He was only curious. The Thearch clearly knew what the black cube was.


    "I don''t wish to tell you what it is, but as long as you take a Mythical Companion Beast over, there will definitely be benefits. Do you dare to go?" Before long, The Thearch sent a message.


    Zhou Wen frowned when he saw that. He didn''t know what The Thearch was up to. He didn''t trust The Thearch at all, afraid that she would scheme against him.


    "The six families have already taken their Mythical Companion Beasts over, but they didn''t receive any benefits." Zhou Wen replied without saying if he wanted to go.


    "How can those ordinary people know of its benefits? With my guidance, naturally, it''ll be different."


    The Thearch immediately sent another message. "After you find the black cube, take a Mythical Companion Beast to the top of it. In the middle of the cube, there''s a circular dot. Get your Mythical Companion Beast to stand there and release all its Essence Energy and send it inside the dot. Remember, it can only be a Mythical Companion Beast. Essence Energy must be injected into the dot, or you will bear the consequences."


    "What will happen after the cube is opened?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Why don''t you give it a try yourself? If you don''t have the guts, just wait for others to activate the cube. After all, if you don''t take the huge benefits, there are plenty of people who will." The Thearch gave one final reply before she ignored Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was immediately put in a difficult spot. The Thearch was clearly teasing him. She deliberately didn''t mention what the black cube was to make him feel conflicted.


    Zhou Wen planned on using his phone to take a picture. The black cube was definitely something from a different dimension. Perhaps the mysterious phone would react to it. It wouldn''t be too late to decide if he should try using The Thearch''s method.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare go out in the open. He took advantage of the night to sneak to the spot where he discovered the black cube. There was an army stationed there, but it was mainly to prevent any anomalies from happening to the black cube. They didn''t forbid humans from approaching, so it wasn''t difficult to get close.


    Zhou Wen arrived at the roof of a nearby building which was already very close to the black cube. Standing at the edge of the building, he was only about ten meters away from the corner of the black cube.


    Although it was night time, with Zhou Wen''s eyesight, he could see it clearly, but he couldn''t tell what material it was. It didn''t look like metal or stone, nor did it look like a horn or bone. Instead, it looked like some man-made material.


    What is this? I hope the mysterious phone can divulge something. Zhou Wen held the mysterious phone and aimed it at the black cube.


    However, it left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed. The mysterious phone didn''t do a thing or lock-on to it. It clearly wasn''t interested in the black cube.


    Zhou Wen was put in a difficult spot. The Thearch had said that there were great benefits, but what if she was lying to him? If he really did as The Thearch said, it would be bad if he released a few demon monarch-level dimensional creatures.


    However, after careful thought, Zhou Wen felt that The Thearch didn''t seem to have any reason to do so.


    If The Thearch really wanted to mess with him, she could just make a wish. There was no need to go through so much trouble to trick him into coming here.


    Furthermore, he had not sent the things that the Thearch had asked him to buy. If he were to release a few terrifying creatures and ended up dying, who would deliver the items to her?


    Although The Thearch said it so easily as though she could find someone to deliver things to her at any time, how many humans dared to go to Chess Mountain? There were even fewer who dared to enter Chess Mountain to take the Void Flower. Zhou Wen suspected that there was only one pot of Void Flower in Chess Mountain.


    After some thought, he believed that The Thearch wouldn''t let him die so easily so he decided to give it a try.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared. He wore the most ordinary heavy armor of the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. The armor could envelop his entire body. Furthermore, it was rather common in the Peninsula of Gods. Even if he was discovered, it wouldn''t be easy to find out who he was.


    The garrison troops were all around the cube, and there wasn''t anyone above. Taking advantage of the darkness, Zhou Wen pushed Ghost Steps to the extreme. He traversed more than ten meters like black smoke and landed on the black cube without anyone noticing.


    After stepping onto the black cube, nothing abnormal happened. Only then did Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief and silently walk towards the center.


    At the center, Zhou Wen indeed discovered the circle The Thearch mentioned.


    The black cube was about fifty meters in length, but the circle was only the size of a palm. Furthermore, it was only a shallow round mark. If Zhou Wen didn''t know that it was useful, he wouldn''t have noticed it.


    Which Mythical Companion Beast should I use to give it a try? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Excluding Tyrant Behemoth who was evolving, Zhou Wen still had four Mythical pets¡ªTruth Listener, Banana Fairy, Demonic Neonate, and Six-Winged.


    However, the first three hadn''t reached the Mythical stage yet. The real Mythical stage was Six-Winged.


    After sizing up his surroundings, and seeing that there wasn''t anyone above him, he believed that even if he summoned Six-Winged, no one would see him. Zhou Wen decided to summon Six-Winged.


    After all, if anything were to happen, Six-Winged was at the Mythical stage. It should be able to deal with the problem, but Truth Listener and Banana Fairy might be instantly killed.

 509 Famous in the Federation

    When Six-Winged was summoned by Zhou Wen. Its huge body stood on the cube, but it wasn''t too obvious. However, its claws were a little too big. Its claws covered the tiny circle completely when pressed against it. As it was several times bigger than the circle, Zhou Wen didn''t know if this would work.


    "I''ll give it a try." Zhou Wen was very careful. He didn''t let the six-winged dragon immediately attempt it. He only made it stand there and left. He returned to the top of the building beside him before letting the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon inject its Essence Energy into the circle.


    If anything were to happen, he could immediately retrieve the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and escape.


    Although he felt that it was unlikely that The Thearch would harm him, he still had to be careful.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon followed Zhou Wen''s orders and pressed its paw on the circle, injecting its Essence Energy into it.


    Although Zhou Wen was mentally prepared, he was still alarmed the moment the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon injected Essence Energy.


    The entire black cube instantly lit up, illuminating the surroundings. Zhou Wen was alarmed. He wanted to retrieve the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, but he realized that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon seemed to have been sucked into the black cube, preventing him from retrieving it.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed drastically when he saw the black cube''s situation.


    It was no longer a black cube. It was like a huge six-sided screen. The four sides of the screen were glowing brightly, resembling liquid crystal displays. There were even images on it.


    The images weren''t anything else but the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon that was standing on the cube. Furthermore, it was the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon after it released its Life Soul.


    One could imagine the scene. The four sides of the screen were all 50 meters long and were many times clearer than any 4K high-definition screen. Even the tiny dark lines on the scales of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could be seen clearly.


    The fifty-meter-tall screen could be seen more than ten kilometers away. Anyone who had not slept and was outside could see the image on the cube from all directions.


    Furthermore, the top of the cube was also glowing brightly, illuminating the Six-Winged Dragon like a statue. It would be impossible not to see it.


    Now, Zhou Wen was secretly glad that he wasn''t standing on top. Otherwise, he would really be famous.


    The military was alarmed, likewise for the reporters and gossip mongers. Phones rang everywhere. In just two to three minutes, the quiet night suddenly became lively.


    People rushed to the streets, or ran to the high buildings and looked in the direction of the cube.


    The Thearch tricked me again! Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded. He had been trying to retrieve the six-winged dragon, but he couldn''t.


    The army had already started advancing, and the sound of police sirens could be heard everywhere. Clearly, they were rushing over.


    Now, Six-Winged Guardian Dragon is completely famous. I''m afraid that everyone in Luoyang knows about it! Zhou Wen attempted to retrieve the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon time and time again, but he failed.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen thought about things too simply. It wasn''t just known by everyone in Luoyang. In fact, the moment the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon activated the black cube, the black cubes around the world lit up and displayed the projection of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    The high-level officials and ordinary people in the various cities of the Federation all looked at the magnificent Six-Winged Guardian Dragon from every angle.


    Even those who didn''t see the cube''s screen with their own eyes would have definitely seen all kinds of headlines. Without a doubt, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and the cube made the headlines at the same time. It just took a few minutes.


    Everyone in the world now knew that there was such a Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling anxious, he saw the cube''s screen change again. The projection of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon vanished, turning into a ranking with a ranking of 1 to 100.


    However, the other rankings were all empty. Only the name of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon appeared at first place. It gave off a feeling of invincibility.


    Everyone in the Federation looked at the lone name on the cube. No one knew what was happening or what it represented.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen was equally puzzled, but he saw that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s body seemed to have undergone some minute changes amidst the light.


    After three minutes, the military and media helicopters rushed over and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s glow disappeared.


    Zhou Wen, who had been trying to retrieve the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, finally managed to retrieve it. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon vanished, and the radiant cube dimmed, turning pure black again.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate any further as he escaped stealthily.


    Now, Luoyang was in chaos. People were everywhere on the streets and upstairs. All sorts of vehicles and helicopters were everywhere, but no one noticed Zhou Wen.


    When Zhou Wen left, he saw the car An Sheng usually drove. Clearly, he had rushed over as well, but he didn''t know if An Tianzuo was sitting inside.


    Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!


    Zhou Wen was on his way back when he heard a message from his phone. He opened it and saw that it was from The Thearch.


    "I never expected you to have a real Mythical Companion Beast. I''ve underestimated you. Not bad, not bad."


    "That''s not my Companion Beast." Zhou Wen held back his frustration and denied.


    The Thearch did not seem to believe him at all. She sent another message. "I didn''t lie to you. Take a closer look at your Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and see if it has changed. There will be a surprise."


    "I already said that it''s not my Companion Beast." Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he heard that. He sent a message to The Thearch before taking out his mysterious phone to check the information on the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    With a single glance, he discovered that the information on the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had indeed undergone a huge change. He took a closer look at the data and was pleasantly surprised.

 510 Life Protection

    Six-Winged Guardian Dragon: Mythical


    Life Providence: Life Guardian Dragon


    Life Soul: Wings of Black Flame


    Wheel of Destiny: The Last Life Guardian


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Sanctification, Poison Breath, Dragon''s Rage, Hell Demonic Flame, Six Wing Slash.


    Companion Form: Holy Flaming Dragon Wings


    Zhou Wen remembered that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s stats were around 60, but now, all of them had become 80. According to the advancement of his Companion Beasts, the top Mythical creatures likely had 81 stat points. Now that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s stats had reached 80, it could be considered top-notch.


    The Life Providence and Wheel of Destiny had slight changes. He had no idea what the word "life" meant, but he believed that it couldn''t be a bad thing.


    It gained an additional Sanctification skill, making it have five skills. It was an obvious upgrade. The Demonic Flaming Dragon Wings had been upgraded into Holy Flaming Dragon Wings as well.


    "How is it? Are you surprised?" The Thearch sent another message.


    Seeing that The Thearch had already determined that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was his Companion Beast, he tacitly acknowledged the truth. He asked, "Can a beast be strengthened as long as it''s recognized by the black cube?"


    "Dream on. This is a reward for the first Companion Beast that enters the rankings. It happens only once. You lucked out big time."


    Soon, The Thearch sent another message. "However, your Six-Winged Dragon''s potential isn''t good. You should have just used that earring to receive the enhancement. It should have been able to advance to the Mythical stage directly."


    Zhou Wen didn''t regret not listening to The Thearch. Truth Listener''s advancement to the Mythical stage was indeed good, but Truth Listener was more inclined towards support abilities. What Zhou Wen needed now was actual combat strength.


    After the enhancement of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, its strength would likely increase significantly. It could play a bigger role when fighting Torch Dragon, boosting Zhou Wen''s chances of killing Torch Dragon.


    Zhou Wen''s phone rang again, but this time, it wasn''t The Thearch, but a call from An Sheng.


    An Sheng and Zhou Wen killed the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon together. He also knew that Zhou Wen had lured Medusa to fight the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon; therefore, he immediately guessed that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was Zhou Wen''s.


    "Young Master Wen, what was the situation with the black cube?" An Sheng didn''t beat about the bush with Zhou Wen and directly got straight to the point.


    Zhou Wen recounted what he knew, but he skipped the matter regarding The Thearch.


    "From the looks of it, it''s true. However, we can''t rule out the possibility that there''s something else in the black cube. Otherwise, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon wouldn''t have been strengthened," Zhou Wen said.


    However, An Sheng''s tone became much more relaxed. "That''s good then. The Overseer has been constantly worried about the cube. From the looks of it, it shouldn''t pose a threat any time soon."


    "By the way, congratulations Young Master Wen. You are now the third person in Luoyang to possess a Mythical creature." An Sheng sighed. "Back when you first came to Luoyang, you were only at the Mortal stage. In less than a year, you even have a Mythical Companion Beast. In terms of speed, even the geniuses of the six families aren''t as fast as you."


    "Who are the other two?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Naturally, it''s Chancellor Leng and the Overseer. If they weren''t here, how could the An family of Luoyang continue standing, to the point of the six families fearing them?" An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen didn''t ask what their Companion Beasts were. They were the secrets and trump cards of everyone.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to summon the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon in its companion form. Six fiery dragon wings appeared behind him, but they weren''t black anymore. Instead, they were pure white. They looked much prettier, but he didn''t know if there were any changes to their effects.


    After dispelling the dragon wings, Zhou Wen took out his phone and entered the Zhuolu instance dungeon. He wanted to try and see if the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could fight Qiongqi.


    Torch Dragon had Bright Torch Vision World which ignored strength and speed. However, Qiongqi was a dimensional creature that relied on strength and speed. Now that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s prowess had greatly increased, it might perhaps put up a fight with Qiongqi.


    Taking the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to the temple where Qiongqi was, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s originally black body and wings turned white once it saw Qiongqi. It became a white dragon, a likely manifestation of its additional Sanctification skill.


    Even though the Six-Winged Dragon was in its Sanctification state, its speed and strength were still inferior to Qiongqi''s. However, it could still barely put up a fight. It was unlike before when it was completely thrashed with no ability to resist at all.


    The stronger the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was, the more Zhou Wen realized how terrifying Qiongqi was. Such a powerful Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was actually suppressed by Qiongqi.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was barely able to put up a fight and didn''t die instantaneously. However, the blood-colored avatar wasn''t that lucky. With Qiongqi suddenly attacking it, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to dodge twice before it was smacked to death by Qiongqi''s claw.


    Something strange happened. The blood-colored avatar was clearly hit, but it didn''t die. Instead, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s body suddenly exploded as it died for no reason.


    With the death of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, the blood-colored avatar couldn''t last much longer before being killed by Qiongqi.


    Could it be that The Last Life Guardian is the miraculous ability to take the master''s place in death? Zhou Wen guessed as he immediately restarted the dungeon and experimented a few more times.


    Just as Zhou Wen had guessed, as long as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was still alive, it could help him withstand a single death. Furthermore, this ability could also be used even while it was in its dragon wings form.


    This enhancement is just too good! Zhou Wen increasingly felt that his choice of doing the enhancement was right. This way, he would have an additional life. Even if he were to die in the future, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could still protect him once. This was even more useful than any Mythical creature.


    After all, he only had one life. No matter how many Mythical creatures he had, they would be useless once Zhou Wen died.


    While Zhou Wen was studying the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, the six families and some wealthy families were also studying the matter. People from the East and West District even began arguing.


    As the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had appeared in Luoyang, the people of the East District naturally believed that it belonged to an expert in the East District. However, the West District people said that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was clearly a Companion Beast of the West District, one that wasn''t available in the East District, so the owner of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was definitely a West District citizen who happened to be passing by Luoyang.


    The various large families were also guessing who the owner of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was. Their main suspects were naturally Leng Zongzheng and An Tianzuo.


    However, after many probes and investigations, both of them denied it.


    At the same time, the six families were not idle. They were all researching how the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had appeared on the cube and what its purpose was.


    "You mean that the Mythical Six-Winged Guardian Dragon is Zhou Wen''s?" Inside the An family, An Tianzuo''s expression changed when he heard An Sheng''s report.

 511 Fighting Torch Dragon Again

    "Yes. Back then, Young Master Wen, Zhang Yuzhi, and I killed a Six-Winged Guardian Dragon together. However, it didn''t drop a Companion Egg. Later on, Young Master Wen lured Medusa to fight with the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The outcome resulted in a Companion Egg. Now that the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon has been strengthened, its combat strength should be considered high among Mythical creatures," An Sheng said.


    "That''s not necessarily the case. Wild Mythical Companion Beasts are ultimately inferior to those you nurture," said An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng didn''t refute him and only said with a smile, "Overseer, you are right. However, no matter what, that''s a powerful Mythical creature. With it being Young Master Wen''s, he can be considered a cornerstone of our Luoyang City."


    "When did you degenerate to the point of relying on a student? When did our Luoyang City degenerate to the point of relying on a student as a cornerstone?" An Tianzuo glared at An Sheng.


    "There''s nothing I can do about that. I also want to be a cornerstone, but I don''t have a Mythical pet," An Sheng said as he threw up his hands.


    "What''s the rush? Isn''t our plan at White Cloud Mountain underway?" An Tianzuo said.


    An Sheng replied, "We still don''t know if we can kill that Mythical creature on White Cloud Mountain. Even if we can kill it, it might not drop a Companion Egg. You killed three or four Mythical creatures previously, but none of them dropped a Companion Egg."


    "That''s because we were unlucky. The chance of Mythical Creatures dropping Companion Eggs is about a third. It should drop one this time." An Tianzuo glared at him and continued, "In short, we used to rely on ourselves. We rely on ourselves now. It will be the same in the future. Don''t place your hopes on others."


    "Yes, Overseer." An Sheng paused before asking, "What if Young Master Wen wants to go to Zhuolu? Should I stop him?"


    "Does he have the guts? The Mythical creatures at Zhuolu are not something ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts can match. I don''t think he has the guts to go. To obtain a Six-Winged Guardian Dragon is only his luck. Do you really expect him to kill Mythical creatures?" said An Tianzuo.


    Zhou Wen was reading the news in his dorm. Many of the media outlets he saw on his phone listed the appearance of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and the cube''s rankings as the headlines.


    The entire Federation probably knew about the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon by now.


    I wonder what use is a Companion Beast''s ranking? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The Thearch didn''t mention what the ranking was for, and Zhou Wen didn''t figure out what it could be used for. However, he believed that it wasn''t that simple.


    Zhou Wen didn''t grind dungeons today. He was considering how he could kill Qiongqi or Torch Dragon. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could only just fight Qiongqi, but Zhou Wen wasn''t strong enough. He couldn''t dodge Qiongqi''s attack and instead became a burden. Every time Qiongqi killed the blood-colored avatar, it was useless no matter how strong the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was.


    If he wanted to kill Torch Dragon, he would have to get over the Bright Torch Vision World. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon could already face Torch Dragon head-on, but it could not block the Bright Torch Vision World.


    It''s still harder to kill Qiongqi. I can only continue to think of something regarding Torch Dragon. Zhou Wen thought for a long time before he came up with a method to kill Torch Dragon.


    Torch Dragon''s speed was much slower than Qiongqi''s. After the strengthening of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, its speed had already surpassed Torch Dragon''s by a hair''s breadth. It was only because of Bright Torch Vision World that it could not defeat Torch Dragon.


    The crystal mirror Zhou Wen had obtained could restrain Torch Dragon, but it was too small. At most, it could only block his face.


    Furthermore, Torch Dragon''s eyes were too wide, as if they were growing on both sides. It was impossible to use the crystal mirror to block his vision. The size of the crystal mirror could only block one of its eyes at most.


    After some thought, there was only one way to deal with Torch Dragon¡ªthat was to transform Six-Winged into dragon wings to boost Zhou Wen''s flying speed. Then, he could use his movement techniques and speed to dodge the Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World gaze, preventing it from seeing him.


    Of course, it was impossible to completely dodge it. After all, no matter how fast Zhou Wen was, it was impossible for Torch Dragon to completely miss him.


    However, with the crystal mirror, it shouldn''t be difficult to block one angle of its vision. In that case, it gave Zhou Wen enough space. However, it also required repeated experiments in combat. It wasn''t something he could do just by theorizing it. Plans were one thing, but there were often many problems when executing them. He needed to repeatedly test them.


    Now, the last problem is how to kill Torch Dragon. After so many battles with Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen realized that its body was even more powerful than the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s attack could only damage its scales. A small number of attacks would not be of much use. The effects of Overlord Sword''s sword beam wasn''t too obvious.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to rely on the Poison Dragon Palm or Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword to sneak an attack on Torch Dragon.


    After figuring out the steps to kill Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen entered the temple again. Before he went to Torch Dragon, he first put on the soft armor formed by the Epic Golden Warrior and the heavy armor formed by the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon appeared behind him in the form of dragon wings.


    He wore the Truth Listener earring on his ear, holding the Overlord Sword in one hand, and the banana fan in the other.


    At the same time, he summoned Demonic Neonate and got her to lie on the blood-colored avatar''s back. Her mission was to constantly search for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.


    Now, the blood-colored avatar was wearing heavy armor with black magma patterns. It had three pairs of holy dragon wings on its back. It had a huge sword in one hand and a banana fan in the other. It looked odd, but it also gave off a powerful feeling.


    However, Demonic Neonate, who was lying on its back, instantly reduced that domineering and powerful feeling to only about thirty percent. In general, it felt like a powerful male nanny.


    Taking a deep breath, Zhou Wen opened the temple and sent the blood-colored avatar charging in.


    Torch Dragon immediately saw him and spat out a mouthful of black smoke. It churned towards the blood-colored avatar like a tidal wave.


    After fanning the banana fan a few times, the Grand Yin Wind immediately sent the black smoke back. Without waiting for Torch Dragon to react, the six dragon wings on the blood-colored avatar''s back flapped. Immediately, the blood-colored avatar''s body flashed behind Torch Dragon like a phantom and slashed at Torch Dragon''s neck domineeringly. The sword beam spun violently as it slashed at Torch Dragon like a wheel of light.


    Torch Dragon''s reaction wasn''t slow either. It turned its head to look at the sword beam as a flame-like beam shot out from its eyes, shattering it. At the same time, a lash of its gigantic tail left behind afterimages as it struck the blood-colored avatar in midair. Its speed was unbelievable.


    The dragon wings flapped as he moved in midair with Ghost Steps, dodging Torch Dragon''s tail attack. At the same time, Overlord Sword slashed out once again, slashing at Torch Dragon''s vital point.

 512 The Thearchs Treasure Trove

    Zhou Wen''s figure flashed like a phantom as he dodged left and right. He kept slashing out sword beams, but they were all stopped by Torch Dragon. He ultimately failed to injure it.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush. Instead, Torch Dragon was somewhat impatient. Its body emitted waves of energy that radiated through the entire palace, leaving Zhou Wen with no room to dodge.


    Holding the Overlord Sword tightly, he unleashed Transcendent Flying Immortal in passing. Sword beams slashed violently and collided with the ripples as both sword beams and ripples shattered.


    There were just too many ripples and Transcendent Flying Immortal couldn''t dispatch all of them. When the ripples struck Zhou Wen''s body, they immediately sent him flying as he slammed into a metal pillar in the palace.


    Zhou Wen realized that there were many holes in his armor, but his body wasn''t injured. After the first layer of his heavy armor was penetrated by the ripples, the soft armor inside suffered some damage, but it wasn''t completely penetrated.


    This armor and soft armor are indeed useful. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be overjoyed. The hard and soft double armor was actually able to withstand Torch Dragon''s attack. It only caused him to receive some shock damage. This was much better than he had expected.


    When Torch Dragon saw that the blood-colored avatar wasn''t dead, its eyes immediately flashed. This was the precursor to using Bright Torch Vision World. Zhou Wen abruptly got to his feet and activated Ghost Steps once again. The six wings on his back flapped as he moved behind Torch Dragon.


    Torch Dragon quickly turned its head and looked in Zhou Wen''s direction. Its eyes had already turned mirror-like.


    No matter how fast Zhou Wen''s movement speed was, it wasn''t as fast as its head turning. It was as though Zhou Wen''s figure was about to be caught by the corner of its eye, when he threw the crystal mirror at Torch Dragon''s eye whilst moving.


    He originally imagined that the crystal mirror could block Torch Dragon''s line of sight, but to his surprise, Torch Dragon''s cognitive abilities suddenly sped up. The crystal mirror''s trajectory immediately deviated from its eye. The blood-colored avatar was immediately reflected in its eye, and the game screen turned black.


    Even the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s Life Guardian Protection was useless. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon exploded first before the blood-colored avatar died.


    Life Guardian Protection was only a transfer of damage. If Zhou Wen was injured, it would be transferred to it, but there was no way for him to leave the Bright Torch Vision World.


    From the looks of it, I still need more practice to block Bright Torch Vision World. Zhou Wen wasn''t discouraged as he continued grinding by dripping his blood and respawning.


    Without sufficient confidence, Zhou Wen wouldn''t go to the temple in reality. That would be harming himself and others.


    Before fighting Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen would first grind the rare dimensional creatures¡ªSun Beast, Baby Tiger, Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet, and so on. If a Companion Egg dropped, it would definitely be useful for future fusion.


    Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that if he could combine rare Life Providences, Life Souls, and skills together, he might be able to form a pet that was even crazier than a Mythical pet. However, the difficulty of fusion wasn''t any easier than having a Mythical pet drop. He would need countless attempts.


    On the Dead Man Tree, the flower that J¨¢k bloomed after his death finally withered and produced a tiny fruit. It was unknown how long it would take to ripen.


    Tyrant Behemoth remained in evolution. It looked like it needed more time to evolve to the Mythical stage than it did when advancing to the Epic stage.


    This fellow won''t really become as big as a mountain after advancing to the Mythical stage, right? Zhou Wen was secretly worried. If it was really that big, it wouldn''t be able to enter many dimensional zones.


    Zhou Wen was still grinding dungeons one day when Li Xuan sent the items that he had previously requested. Apart from one chemical, he had bought everything on the list.


    There wasn''t much time left until The Thearch''s deadline. After Li Xuan left, Zhou Wen used the Void Flower to teleport the items over. Then, he sent The Thearch a message saying that the material she wanted wasn''t easy to obtain and couldn''t be bought in the nearby cities. If she really wanted it, she would have to wait for some time.


    "A month should be enough, right? You must obtain that material." The Thearch replied.


    "I spent a lot of money buying materials. I''m almost running out of money." Zhou Wen continued complaining. He wasn''t trying to extort her, but he was afraid that The Thearch would think that it was easy for him to obtain these items. That would only serve to her asking him for items every now and then. He didn''t have the time to buy things for her.


    "Are you planning on turning into a cat again? The Skill Crystal I gave you is a Mythical Skill Crystal. There aren''t many of those amongst you humans, right? You only bought those few items and you are telling me that you have no money? Do you think I don''t know the price?" The Thearch''s message quickly returned.


    Oh no! Zhou Wen still imagined that The Thearch was as easy to fool as before. He had forgotten that she could surf the Internet. She probably had a better understanding of humans than Zhou Wen himself.


    "Although a Mythical Skill Crystal is precious, you know the situation of humans now. No one can use it, and there''s no way to price it. It''s really not easy to sell. The crystal is still in my hands. The money to buy these things came from my savings. I really don''t have much left." Zhou Wen was certain that he wasn''t wrong to say that there was no way to find the price of the Mythical Crystal online.


    "That''s true. You humans are too weak and can''t use good stuff. But the worst things I have here are those. There''s no lower level trash."


    The Thearch''s reply nearly made Zhou Wen, who was drinking water, choke.


    How many treasures are there in Chess Mountain? Mythic Essence Energy Skill Crystals are only trash? No, I have to think of a way to crack Chess Mountain in the future. Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    After obtaining Six-Winged, Zhou Wen did indeed have the right to challenge Chess Mountain in the game. Now, he likely had the strength to deal with the fake fairy in Deer Terrace Pavilion, but there wasn''t just one fake fairy inside. If the six of them were to attack together, Zhou Wen didn''t know if he could handle them.


    Now that he was focusing on Torch Dragon, he didn''t plan on going just now.


    "If it''s not convenient for you to provide payment now, I''ll just sell everything I have. I''ll put it on the tab." Zhou Wen sent a message.


    "There''s no need. Aren''t you in the city not far from Chess Mountain? I''ll tell you a place. Go and look for it. You should be able to find something valuable." The Thearch was clearly not as petty as Zhou Wen.

 513 White Cloud Mountain

    "Where is it? It can''t be inside Chess Mountain, right?" Zhou Wen asked warily.


    If The Thearch wanted him to enter Chess Mountain in reality, Zhou Wen wouldn''t go no matter what. That place was a huge trap. Zhou Wen guessed that even if the six families took all their Mythical Companion Beasts with them, they might not be able to conquer it.


    According to legend, Chaoge was a place with numerous mythical creatures in ancient times. No one knew if those Mythical creatures that had helped Chaoge fight in the war remained inside.


    The Seven Saints of Mount Mei, the Four Generals of the Mo family, and so on were extremely terrifying existences even among Mythical creatures. Killing a dragon was too easy.


    Zhou Wen guessed that if he encountered them, even with the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, he would probably be killed instantly.


    "Don''t worry. It''s not in Chess Mountain. I''ve seen your present map. That place is in Funiu Mountain. Now, it should be called White Cloud Mountain." The Thearch seemed to have seen through Zhou Wen''s thoughts.


    "White Cloud Mountain is also a dimensional zone, right?" Zhou Wen had heard of White Cloud Mountain before.


    White Cloud Mountain and Mount Laojun were part of the Funiu Mountain range, but their positions were somewhat different. Also, the nature of the two was completely different.


    Mount Laojun was safer. As long as one didn''t kill or step on any plants, one''s life wouldn''t be in danger.


    However, White Cloud Mountain was different. Ever since it transformed into a dimensional zone, the mountain range had been enveloped by clouds. It was faintly discernible like a divine mountain.


    Zhou Wen heard that only a few people who entered White Cloud Mountain were able to survive. Occasionally, there would be people who could survive, but they would die for no reason a few days later.


    According to the people who came out alive, it was very difficult to tell their bearings inside White Cloud Mountain''s fog. Even companions that were inches away would disappear as they walked, never to be seen again alive. Not even their corpses were found.


    According to them, they also saw an immortal palace on White Cloud Mountain. That immortal palace wasn''t built on the mountain, but in the clouds. Jade stones were the foundation, and golden stones were on top. There were fairies dancing in the air.


    Without exception, those who saw the immortal palace all died in the end. No one survived. Furthermore, when they died, their faces were filled with joy.


    Therefore, White Cloud Mountain was also nicknamed the Immortal Ascension Mountain. Anyone who went there would have their lives taken away by an immortal, and they would ascend to the immortal palace to enjoy life.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if they managed to enjoy life, but he didn''t want to die.


    "I heard that White Cloud Mountain is really terrifying. Everyone who goes there dies. I''m afraid that I won''t be able to bring anything back alive," Zhou Wen said.


    "Anyway, I''ve already told you where the item is. It''s up to you whether you want to go or not. No matter whether you want to go or not, don''t tell me that you lack money in the future," The Thearch said.


    "Do you have a way to enter White Cloud Mountain?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Close your eyes and enter without looking at anything. That way, nothing will happen," The Thearch said.


    "But how can I find that mysterious rock with my eyes closed?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Is that thing on your ear just for show? Whether you want to go or not, don''t bother me. I''m busy," The Thearch replied disdainfully.


    Zhou Wen was depressed. The Thearch even knew Truth Listener''s ability. It looked like he couldn''t fool her.


    Zhou Wen checked White Cloud Mountain''s information online and found the place The Thearch had mentioned. That place was rather famous on White Cloud Mountain. When there wasn''t any dimensionalization in the past, it was a scenic spot named Jade Rabbit''s Lunar Prayer.


    Legend had it that Jade Rabbit had descended to the mortal world and gone to White Cloud Mountain to have fun. Due to the stunning scenery at White Cloud Mountain, Jade Rabbit forgot the time and missed its opportunity to return to the Moon Palace. It could only watch helplessly as the moon rose from the east, with it never returning. Thus, Jade Rabbit laid on the mountain peak and prayed to the east day after day, hoping that the Moon Palace Fairy would come to take it back to the Moon Palace.


    It was only a legend. After the dimensionalization, no one knew what it had become, nor was it known if the Moon Rabbit stone was still there.


    The Thearch said that I''ll be fine as long as I don''t open my eyes. This is very beneficial to me. Zhou Wen considered visiting White Cloud Mountain.


    The Thearch had casually produced a Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystal. Zhou Wen felt that it definitely wasn''t an ordinary item if it managed to catch her eye and let her remember it.


    In any case, as he had nothing to do on campus, Zhou Wen decided to pay White Cloud Mountain a visit. After all, he could still game and grind dungeons along the way. It wouldn''t affect anything.


    The chick and antelope had to be placed in Wang Lu''s care once again. Although Zhou Wen wanted Li Xuan to raise them, the fellow was cultivating so seriously that he far exceeded Zhou Wen''s intensity. He had no time to take care of the two creatures.


    As for taking them to White Cloud Mountain, that was impossible. If the chick were to open its eyes and see the immortal palace, it would be dead.


    Zhou Wen was counting on it to become a fighter when it grew up. He couldn''t let it take the risk so easily.


    "How did Little Feifei lose so much weight after you took care of it for two days? Did you torture it?" Wang Lu rolled her eyes at Zhou Wen when she saw the thin chick.


    "How would I dare mistreat it? I serve delicious food and drinks all day long. It''s better than what I eat." Zhou Wen actually found it odd.


    The chick was magically thin. After making a trip to Mount Laojun, it lost weight the moment it returned. Zhou Wen suspected that the antelope was up to no good. Back when he was gaming in front of the Wordless Monument, the antelope had taken it to the top of Mount Laojun. It seemed to have lost weight after coming down. He had no idea what they did up there.


    "You owe me a lot of lunches and dinners. If this continues, I''m afraid you won''t be able to pay me back even after I graduate." Wang Lu seriously wrote down the foster care that Zhou Wen required from her in her diary so that she could settle scores with him.


    "I''ll pay you back slowly. I''ll be able to pay it all back eventually." Zhou Wen had no choice. The two of them were dimensional creatures. He was worried that they might cause trouble if he let any ordinary person rear them.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen called An Sheng, asking him to help him apply for a leave of absence for a few days. If he left the school for a longer period of time, the procedures would be more complicated.


    Although White Cloud Mountain wasn''t far away, he didn''t know when he would come out once he entered the dimensional zone.


    "No problem. I''ll give you a pass. When you return, you can enter and leave the school freely. There''s no need to go to the trouble of applying for a leave of absence every time," An Sheng said.


    "There''s such a pass?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    "Generally, it''s for postgraduate students. According to the rules, ordinary university students aren''t allowed to have a pass. However, you are naturally an exception. By the way, Young Master Wen, where are you planning to go this time?" An Sheng asked.


    "I want to visit White Cloud Mountain." Zhou Wen and An Sheng had experienced life-and-death situations, so there was naturally no need to hide it.

 514 Spatial Crystal

    "Why are you going to White Cloud Mountain?" An Sheng was somewhat surprised.


    "I heard that the dimensional zone there is quite interesting. I would like to pay a visit." Zhou Wen naturally couldn''t say that he was going there to dig for treasure after hearing what The Thearch had to say.


    "White Cloud Mountain is too dangerous. We''ve already been stationed there for a few years, but we still haven''t been able to ascend the Jade Emperor Peak. If you really want to go to White Cloud Mountain, you have to remember that you mustn''t open your eyes after entering. Otherwise, once you see a mirage like the immortal palace, even a Mythical Companion Beast might not be able to save you," An Sheng said solemnly.


    "Why can''t I open my eyes?" Zhou Wen already knew of this taboo, but he never expected An Sheng and company to know about it.


    "I don''t know. It''s just like Small Buddha Temple. They have all kinds of unreasonable things. As long as you open your eyes and see it, you will definitely die. There''s no reason at all."


    An Sheng paused for a moment before saying, "You must not go to Jade Emperor Peak either. Even if you close your eyes, you will still be injured by the strange forbidden power there. There will be no way out."


    "I understand. I''m just paying a visit. I might not even enter the mountain." Zhou Wen asked for more details before realizing that An Sheng and company had a deep understanding of White Cloud Mountain. Apart from Jade Emperor Peak, they had basically figured everything out.


    Zhou Wen knew that sacrifices were inevitable to gain such a deep understanding of White Cloud Mountain. They weren''t like Zhou Wen, who had the mysterious phone to explore without any scruples. Even if they were all Epic experts, the strangeness of the dimensional zones was impossible to guard against. Once an unforeseen accident happened, Epic experts would easily die as well.


    Zhou Wen planned on taking a look first. If he could find the tiny palm symbol, he wouldn''t go up the mountain first. He could download White Cloud Mountain with the tiny palm symbol and use his phone to figure it out before heading up.


    With that said, Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before asking, "How''s the progress on Zhuolu?"


    "I knew that you would definitely have your sights on it after you obtained the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. I can tell you with complete certainty that you can only die if you take the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon there." An Sheng told Zhou Wen some of the things they had recently discovered.


    The experts were actually able to determine that the Mythical creatures in the temple were Torch Dragon and Qiongqi. This surprised Zhou Wen.


    From the looks of it, I can only rely on myself on this trip to the temple, Zhou Wen thought.


    "Since you want to go to White Cloud Mountain, wait another two days. I''ll be going to White Cloud Mountain then. I''ll take you along," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a hurry to go. He felt that going with An Sheng was a good idea. After all, they had already explored the Jade Rabbit''s Lunar Prayer. If he couldn''t find the tiny palm symbol, it would be better for An Sheng to take him up. It was much better than him going up alone and running around blindly.


    After making the arrangements with An Sheng, the two ended the call. Zhou Wen picked up his phone and continued grinding the dungeons. They were leaving in two days, so he couldn''t be bothered to collect the chick and antelope. After all, they were happy to be with Wang Lu. The food and drinks there were better than with Zhou Wen.


    After repeatedly grinding dungeons, Zhou Wen killed a large number of Musical Note Sprites. Now, there were more than a thousand of the seven different Musical Note Sprites. When summoned together, and under the command of the Golden Harp, the sound waves produced from their combined attacks could break through the defenses of the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior, but they were still far from being able to fight a Mythical creature.


    Zhou Wen estimated that he needed at least tens of thousands of Musical Note Sprites. Only then could the sound wave attacks produced be comparable to the strengthened Six-Winged.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a hurry. After all, he was here to grind the Sun Beast, so he could also grind the Musical Note Sprites along the way. He obtained a few Musical Note Sprite Companion Eggs on each trip.


    Unfortunately, in the Music Temple, the Goldfish didn''t have the Luck attribute, so he could only have his Luck boosted by the baby tiger.


    As usual, Zhou Wen came to the musical fountain square. To his surprise, he saw the Golden Harp again.


    He had been to the musical fountain square many times, but apart from the first time, he hadn''t discovered the Golden Harp. Zhou Wen imagined that the Golden Harp wouldn''t appear again, so he was quite surprised to see it again.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He immediately ordered the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to charge forward. The Golden Harp used its powers to make the hundred thousand Musical Note Sprites release a sonic wave, forming a huge sound blast.


    However, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was no longer the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon from before. It unleashed its full strength. Its six wings appeared at the same time and its body turned white. Its body forcefully broke through the sound blast and arrived in front of the Golden Harp. With a single slap, it shattered the Golden Harp.


    Six-Winged has indeed become much stronger. Zhou Wen wasn''t very happy. Even with more than a hundred thousand Musical Note Sprites joining forces, they couldn''t stop the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. If he wanted to form the army of the Musical Note Sprites, he would probably have to obtain at least hundreds of thousands of them before they could play a decisive role in the battle with Mythical creatures.


    The Golden Harp didn''t drop a Companion Egg, but a rare spatial stat crystal appeared. It had a Space attribute +3.


    This added another rare attribute to Zhou Wen. It was just that three points were not enough.


    In the next two days, Zhou Wen spent two days grinding dungeons at home. He had obtained quite a lot of Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior and Golden Warriors, but the Companion Eggs of the baby tiger and the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet never dropped.


    Zhou Wen could understand that it was rare for the baby tiger''s Companion Egg to drop, but he never expected the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet Companion Egg to be that difficult as well. Furthermore, skill crystals seldom dropped as well.


    Apart from Zhou Wen obtaining the Substitute Talisman Skill for the first time, no other skill crystal dropped.


    Early in the morning, An Sheng called to inform Zhou Wen that they would be heading to White Cloud Mountain. Zhou Wen packed his things, including the Substitute Talisman he had drawn.


    When he arrived outside the school and saw An Sheng''s car, he walked to the window and realized that An Tianzuo was sitting in the back seat. He couldn''t help but be slightly taken aback.


    Why didn''t Ah Sheng tell me that An Tianzuo would be coming? Zhou Wen found it a little odd, but he couldn''t say anything. All he could do was open the door to the front passenger seat and get in.


    Zhou Wen had sat in this car many times in the past, but today, he found it odd. The atmosphere in the car just wasn''t right.


    An Tianzuo''s eyes were somewhat odd as well. Clearly, he didn''t know that Zhou Wen was going to White Cloud Mountain as well.

 515 Birth of the Game

    "Young Master Wen, we are going to White Cloud Mountain''s Red Birch Forest to hunt a Mythical creature. Are you interested in joining us?" An Sheng asked as he drove.


    "Hunt a Mythical creature?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. This was the first time he had heard of anyone hunting Mythical creatures.


    An Sheng said, "That''s right. There''s a strange Mythical creature in Red Birch Forest. We''ve been investigating it for several years. We''ve already done most of the groundwork. We are quite confident this time. Since you''re going to White Cloud Mountain, why don''t you join us? Take it as gaining some experience."


    "I''m fine with that." Zhou Wen trusted An Sheng very much.


    After all, they were hunting Mythical creatures in real life. It was more dangerous, so they would definitely have done more preparatory work. They definitely wouldn''t risk their lives.


    Furthermore, even An Tianzuo was taking action this time, so there shouldn''t be much of a problem.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to have too much contact with An Tianzuo. He felt that he and An Tianzuo weren''t the same types of people.


    An Sheng continued, "I still don''t know what that Mythical creature in Red Birch Forest is called. We named it Love Letter. It''s rather interesting. Overseer said that if a Companion Egg drops this time, it will belong to me. Perhaps, I will have a Mythical Companion Beast in the future."


    "Love letter? How can there be such a name?" Zhou Wen was somewhat astonished.


    "There''s a story behind it. Legend has it that the bark of the red birch tree is very thin and easily removed. Furthermore, it''s very beautiful. Some people will use the bark of the red birch tree to write love letters to their lover. Although the dimensional creature in Red Birch Forest doesn''t look like a book, the skills it uses are related to words. It''s rather difficult to deal with. It''s unknown how many Companion Beasts have died in Red Birch Forest in the past few years just to roughly understand its various skills¡­"


    An Sheng explained quite a bit of the Mythical creature''s abilities before saying, "However, even if we know its abilities, it''s impossible to kill a Mythical creature without the same powers at the Mythical stage. Therefore, Overseer has to personally take action this time. Otherwise, I won''t be able to handle it myself. If you go with me, I''ll be even more at ease. It''s a good thing that both experts from Luoyang will be helping me kill a dimensional creature."


    Zhou Wen really didn''t wish to have any nice stories of him and An Tianzuo, but he couldn''t say anything uncultured. All he could do was remain silent.


    "The mountain road is dangerous. Drive carefully," An Tianzuo, who was sitting behind with his eyes closed, said coldly.


    "Yes," An Sheng replied. Indeed, he didn''t dare say another word. He secretly winked at Zhou Wen before focusing on driving.


    Seeing that it was Huang Ji who called, Zhou Wen answered the call.


    "Zhou Wen, our game is done." Huang Ji''s excited voice sounded. Even An Sheng and An Tianzuo heard it.


    After the trial run the previous time, Zhou Wen didn''t have much anticipation for Huang Ji''s game. However, he still acted interested and said, "That''s great. Can you send me a copy? I can''t wait to try it."


    "Of course. I''ve already posted it online to begin the closed beta test. Go download this website and give me some suggestions after you''re done playing." Huang Ji quickly sent a website address to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen opened the page and saw that it was a gaming website. It was filled with closed and open beta games. Their game was called "Dimension." Zhou Wen saw the game at the top.


    It was not because Huang Ji spent money that pushed his ranking so high, but because Huang Ji had just uploaded it. That made it appear at the top.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly downloaded the game. Thankfully, this wasn''t a dimensional zone, or there might not be a signal. They had just arrived in the suburbs, so the signal was pretty good.


    After a while, Zhou Wen finished downloading the game and launched it. He realized that although the login interface was very simple, it wasn''t bad. It looked rather good.


    After entering the game, Zhou Wen chose Tiger Cage Pass which was the only option. When he entered the game, he couldn''t help but be surprised.


    He had originally thought that the game Huang Ji had created was the standard 2D side-scrolling game. But now, it was completely different from when he trialed it.


    Even though it was a 2D side-scrolling game, both the NPCs and the details of the scenery had greatly improved. However, there were only two choices for characters¡ªman or woman. After choosing a man, there was no skill selection interface like before. Instead, he entered a game tutorial interface.


    The tutorial introduced the game''s operations and skill usage. Apart from the direction key, there were also five buttons in-game. Then, the direction key and the other five buttons could be used in different key combinations for different skills. There were ten skills available in-game. After remembering the method to deliver an attack, he could use the skills he needed.


    It''s done pretty well! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. He tried the maneuvering, and it was surprisingly fluid. It was similar to the popular fighting games in the past. The controls and feedback were a rather good experience.


    After entering the game, Tiger Cage Pass became a black-and-white ink style. Demonic Soldiers were the same style as well. It looked surprisingly immersive. Zhou Wen controlled the game character to kill the Demonic Soldiers in Tiger Cage Pass and discovered that the various techniques and attacks of Demonic Soldiers were very similar to real ones. They were much more agile than when he tried the alpha. There was some difficulty.


    This¡­ It''s really not bad¡­ Zhou Wen played for a while before becoming more and more surprised. This was far from what he had imagined. It was surprisingly good.


    Although playing games might not necessarily mean one could kill Demonized Soldiers, one could familiarize themselves with the various means of attack by the Demonized Soldiers in-game. They could learn how to deal with them when encountering them in real life. To rookies who had not entered Tiger Cage Pass, it was quite helpful. It was much better than learning from videos.


    Zhou Wen stormed through the game and killed quite a number of Demonized Soldiers. The controls weren''t a problem for him. He only took a brief look at them before he was able to cast all sorts of skills smoothly. Killing Demonized Soldiers was very easy.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered the mini-boss, Demonized General. After engaging in an intense battle with the Demonized General, he found the game pretty good. The Demonized General''s behavior and skills were replicated very well, similar to the real Demonized General.


    Zhou Wen gamed the entire time. Behind him, An Tianzuo had been resting with his eyes closed. When he heard Zhou Wen gaming, he couldn''t help but open his eyes and frown.


    An Tianzuo clearly didn''t like Zhou Wen playing games all day. From his point of view, this was a form of obsession.


    An Sheng was an extremely clever person. When he saw An Tianzuo frown through the rearview mirror, he knew that things were bad. Hence, he said, "Young Master Wen, I heard that you and your classmates worked together to create a game that can be used to teach people about the various abilities of dimensional creatures. Is that it?"


    "Yes, production was just completed. It''s my first time playing the closed beta. Currently, there''s only a Tiger Cage Pass dungeon. In-game, there are Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals as monsters and one can learn their behaviors and various skills through gaming. Through learning about how to deal with them in-game, it will be useful in real life, but games are games after all; one still needs to practice the combination of various skills in combat," Zhou Wen introduced.


    "That''s pretty good. Overseer, why don''t you play the game that Zhou Wen and company created? If it''s feasible, it''ll be helpful in understanding dimensional creatures. Perhaps it can be promoted," An Sheng said.


    "A game is just a game after all. If you have the time to play games, why don''t you just spend time watching a video about it?" An Tianzuo closed his eyes again and continued resting.

 516 Blood Text Scorpion

    After arriving at White Cloud Mountain''s encampment, the person-in-charge took An Tianzuo, An Sheng, and Zhou Wen to White Cloud Mountain. An Tianzuo didn''t have much time, so he had to rush back regardless of whether they killed the Mythical creature today.


    Zhou Wen looked at White Cloud Mountain from afar and saw clouds lingering over it. The mountain was partially visible. It was indeed like a legendary immortal mountain.


    There were many red birch forests. The Mythical creature was at the foot of White Cloud Mountain, so there was no need to ascend the mountain.


    However, it was also within the range of Baiyun Mountain. There was also a chance to see the unusual sight of the immortal palace in the clouds.


    "If we continue moving forward, we might end up in an immortal palace illusion. Put this on." An Sheng handed Zhou Wen a balaclava.


    The balaclava was made of chemical fibers mixed with metal wires. After wearing it, it wouldn''t affect one''s breathing, but one''s vision was blocked and it was impossible to see anything outside.


    "No matter what you hear or what happens, make sure not to take off the balaclava." An Sheng put his balaclava on after giving Zhou Wen the rules.


    An Tianzuo and the officers from the other encampments also wore balaclavas. They had their own methods. Some relied on their special Companion Beasts for visual, while some relied on their hearing. Some rode their mounts directly, allowing them to replace their eyes.


    An Sheng summoned a strange Companion Beast. The Companion Beast looked like a large eye with wings. It flew beside An Sheng and seemingly allowed him to see his surroundings. It was no different from normal.


    As for An Tianzuo, he didn''t summon a Companion Beast, nor was it clear what he had used. However, the balaclava didn''t seem to affect his vision. He still moved as freely.


    Zhou Wen had Truth Listener, so he wasn''t affected.


    The group followed an officer riding a Companion Beast into the depths of the red birch Forest.


    White Cloud Mountain was mysterious, but there weren''t many dimensional creatures here. However, every dimensional creature that appeared here was extremely terrifying. At the very least, they were Epic creatures.


    Rumor had it that the red birch forest was very beautiful, but since Zhou Wen could only listen and not see color, he did not think it looked beautiful.


    "Overseer, the Earth Listener Beast has reacted. Love Letter should be somewhere not far ahead," an officer riding on a Companion Beast suddenly said.


    "Prepare for battle." An Tianzuo gave the order.


    Apart from Zhou Wen, everyone began preparing for battle. After advancing for a short while, Zhou Wen heard a dimensional creature appear in front of him.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen could only hear and couldn''t see its color. Otherwise, he would have discovered many strange things.


    The large scorpion was snow-white, but there were many blood-colored patterns on its body. If one looked carefully, they would see that those blood-colored patterns formed strange characters.


    When Zhou Wen and company discovered the strange scorpion, it had also discovered them. With a flick of its tail, a blood-colored glow immediately appeared on the stinger, forming a strange blood-colored incantation pattern. The incantation pattern was completely condensed from light and looked very magical.


    Zhou Wen had heard from An Sheng that this fellow had the ability to produce many things that resembled words. This was likely one of them, but Zhou Wen didn''t know which one it was.


    While Zhou Wen was pondering, An Sheng and company had already begun preparing for battle. However, contrary to Zhou Wen''s expectations, the blood text on the scorpion''s tail didn''t shoot at Zhou Wen and company. All he saw was its tail stabbing into the ground as the blood text fused into the ground before disappearing.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen saw the ground around him suffuse a blood-colored glow. The soil seemed to have been penetrated by the sanguine light as it emitted a lustrous red glow.


    The red beams varied in intensity, making Zhou Wen believe that he was in a huge light formation.


    The officers were clearly prepared. A Companion Beast beneath an officer raised its legs and condensed a holy white light. Then, it stomped on the ground. The holy light immediately spread out and covered the red light below, preventing the area where Zhou Wen and company were standing from being affected.


    A strange phenomenon happened in the area that was affected by the red light. It was as if everything had slowed down. When the wind blew past the red birch forest, the forest that should have been rustling seemed to be a recording that played slowly. As the leaves swayed, it became extremely slow.


    "This is its Slow Text. If we don''t have the corresponding counterforce, our speed will drop drastically. When the time comes, we won''t be able to dodge its attack, much less kill it. We will be killed," An Sheng said.


    As though he had discovered that the Slow Text was useless against them, a blood pattern flickered on the scorpion-like Mythical Creature''s back as a blood-colored text rushed out. The blood-colored text wasn''t directed at Zhou Wen and company but towards a red birch tree.


    The blood-red text hit the red birch tree and disappeared in a flash. It was as though it had drilled into the tree. In the next second, the tree withered rapidly and died. The blood-red text flew out from the withered tree. However, the blood-red text had clearly changed. Its shape had changed, and the blood-colored light had also become more intense.


    The blood-colored text floated above the scorpion and emitted a red light. Wherever the red light shone, all the red birch trees seemed to come alive. The roots broke out of the ground and the branches swayed as they swept towards Zhou Wen and company like tree demons.


    A cold light flickered on the back of an officer, and an Ice Fox-like Life Soul appeared. An icy beam erupted from the Life Soul, freezing the nearby demonized red birch trees.


    An Sheng no longer had the time to explain to Zhou Wen. The scorpion''s body emitted a sanguine light as red words flew out from its body, transforming into streaks of blood that attacked Zhou Wen and company.


    An Sheng and a few officers collectively resisted the blood beams. An Tianzuo watched from the side, having no intention of attacking from beginning to end.


    Zhou Wen could roughly tell that the scorpion''s strength was about the same as Six-Winged before it was strengthened, but its abilities were rather strange.


    Its blood-red text had many functions. Other than the few that he had seen, it could also transform into the power of wind, fire, lightning, and so on.


    If one were to encounter it the first time, or if they were not strong enough, they would easily be killed by it.


    However, An Sheng and company had studied it for years. They had already thought of ways to counter its various powers. No matter how it changed its abilities, they could barely contain them.


    However, they had just managed to resolve it. Up to now, Zhou Wen had yet to see how they could kill the scorpion.

 517 Failure

    An Sheng''s personal abilities were definitely top-notch at the Epic stage. However, even he couldn''t approach the scorpion. The scorpion''s speed was too fast. With a flap of its wings, it could easily fly hundreds of meters away. Even Zhou Wen probably couldn''t catch up to it easily with Ghost Steps.


    After repeatedly resolving the blood-colored text of wind, fire, and lightning, An Sheng and company seemed to have found an opportunity to counterattack. With An Sheng''s command, the officers unleashed their strongest attack as terrifying forces struck the scorpion.


    There was a sanguine flash on the scorpion''s back as a huge blood-red text appeared. It was like a shield that blocked their attacks.


    With a series of crashing sounds, their forces were shattered, but the blood-colored barrier remained completely fine.


    An Tianzuo, who had remained motionless all this while, finally made a move. Flames rose over his body, turning into a strange Life Soul.


    The Life Soul''s entire body was covered in white armor. The armor was neither gold nor jade. It looked more like it was carved from bones.


    Behind him was a blood-red cape. In his left hand was a slender bone saber covered in blood patterns. In his other hand was a gun made of bones.


    That thing¡­ It can''t be a Gatling, right¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the weapon in the Life Soul''s hand. The bone gun barrel was connected to the recoil mechanism. It looked like an ancient hot weapon that was often seen in movies.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he heard a terrifying boom. He saw the bone gun barrel shoot out blood-colored bullets like a storm.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Bullets rained down on the scorpion''s blood-red text barrier, causing it to flicker as though it could shatter at any moment.


    Buzzing sounds could be heard as the bullets poured freely. The bloody text barrier of the scorpion shattered.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen someone''s Life Soul produce a hot weapon. Furthermore, its attack was crazy powerful. It could actually break through a Mythical-stage barrier.


    Although it was only a rather weak Mythical creature, Zhou Wen had relied on Ever-Victorious''s characteristic to kill Medusa. His Life Soul alone wasn''t that powerful.


    The bullet hit the scorpion''s body, instantly infuriating it. The wings on its back spread open, and there was a blood-red glow on its wings. Its entire body was covered in blood-red light, and the blood-red symbol at the tip of its tail appeared especially terrifying.


    The blood text circled around the scorpion''s body and kept spinning, blocking the rain of bullets.


    When the bullets struck the blood text, they created a terrifying explosive shockwave that blasted the surrounding forest into pieces.


    "Activate the halo," An Sheng instructed the officers.


    "Activate the curse." An Sheng also used an Essence Energy Skill when he issued the order. He produced a strange gray smoke that enveloped the scorpion.


    The other officers also used various powers. Those powers did not have any lethality, but they had a slight effect on the scorpion.


    Boom!


    The scorpion was furious after being bombarded by the Gatling''s attacks. The blood-red text surrounding it exploded with a terrifying sanguine light. Almost instantly, it engulfed everything nearby.


    "Retreat." An Sheng issued an order before the blood text exploded.


    All the officers retreated with An Sheng in a great display of teamwork. Zhou Wen followed them and retreated, but he realized that An Tianzuo didn''t retreat.


    The expanding sanguine light resembled a blood-colored black hole, devouring everything nearby. An Tianzuo was already standing at the edge of the blood hole, about to be devoured.


    Zhou Wen was frowning when he suddenly saw An Tianzuo''s Life Soul vanish. As for An Tianzuo, he had a white bone armor and a blood cape. He held a bone saber in one hand and a bone Gatling in the other.


    Just when the sanguine light was about to devour him, a black figure flew out from his body and landed on the bone blade. Instantly, a demonic black flame rose on the bone blade.


    An Tianzuo raised his bone saber and slashed at the sanguine light in front of him. He managed to cleave open a rift as he charged in.


    Gunfire roared and saber flames flashed. An Tianzuo fought the scorpion crazily. The madness was completely different from the usual An Tianzuo.


    As for An Sheng and company, they constantly used various Essence Energy Skills from behind. They either aimed at An Tianzuo or at the scorpion. The only officer with the Ice Fox Life Soul and the ability to restrain the Slow Text was the busiest. They needed to constantly pump out damage to ensure that An Tianzuo''s region wasn''t affected by the power of the Slow Text.


    Boom!


    The scorpion''s body was sent flying by a backslash from An Tianzuo''s bone saber. An Tianzuo raised the Gatling with his hand. The black flames on the bone saber instantly shifted to the bone Gatling before enveloping it.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Bullets with black flames roared towards the scorpion in midair, causing its body to constantly distort and rise in the air. In the end, its carapace was cracked by the bullets, and more and more bullets shot into its flesh and blood. The black flames also burned its flesh and bones.


    Boom!


    The blood patterns on the scorpion shattered and fell like glass.


    "Success!" An Sheng was overjoyed.


    Without the protection of the blood patterns, the storm-like bullets bombarded the scorpion wantonly. The carapace of the scorpion was completely shattered and blood spurted out.


    Just as the scorpion''s body was about to explode, a blood-red light suddenly erupted from its abdomen. A strange blood text surfaced, and the blood quickly spread over the scorpion''s body.


    Boom!


    The sanguine light exploded as its carapace and flesh transformed into a terrifying energy blast. An Tianzuo had no choice but to retreat.


    At the same time the explosion occurred, a sanguine light from the scorpion''s body flew toward White Cloud Mountain at an unbelievable speed.


    An Tianzuo''s body flashed as he chased in the direction of White Cloud Mountain.


    "Damn it, that fellow actually has such a move!" An Sheng cursed under his breath as he chased with his men.


    Zhou Wen chased after him as well. When they caught up to An Tianzuo, they realized that he was standing in front of the mountain entrance. The scorpion that had self-destructed was nowhere to be seen.


    "Love Letter escaped into Jade Emperor Peak?" An Sheng had already guessed what was going on.


    An Tianzuo nodded slightly. "We have failed. Let''s head back."


    They knew that the scorpion was no longer able to survive; it was definitely on its last legs. As long as they could find it, even without An Tianzuo''s help, An Sheng could kill it himself.


    However, no one dared to enter Jade Emperor Peak. No matter how strong a person was, entering would only lead to death. Even An Tianzuo could only return empty-handed.


    Mythical creatures were precious, but they couldn''t trade for one with their lives.

 518 Companion Egg Inside

    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to listen to the area beyond the mountain entrance. He found it dead silent. Unable to hear a thing, it was as though the particles inside were motionless, having not generated any vibrations.


    Jade Emperor Peak is indeed terrifying. It''s such a pity. They prepared for so long, but all their efforts were in vain at the final moment. Zhou Wen felt sorry for An Sheng. If a Mythical Companion Egg dropped, An Sheng''s strength would definitely improve greatly. It would be much safer for him to carry out missions in the future.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen didn''t find the tiny palm symbol. Although Truth Listener''s ability couldn''t hear the scene around him, he could hear the traces of carvings. If there was a tiny palm symbol, he should have heard it.


    An Tianzuo was a decisive person. Since all hope was lost, he did not hesitate to order An Sheng and the officers to leave White Cloud Mountain with him.


    Just as they were about to leave, they suddenly heard a miserable scream coming from Jade Emperor Peak. It sounded like a creature''s death cry.


    "It''s Love Letter. It died less than twenty meters away from Jade Emperor Peak. It even dropped a Companion Egg," an officer suddenly shouted.


    "How do you know?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "I can''t hear it, but I can see it with my eyes. It''s inside. It''s a Companion Egg the size of a football and it resembles white jade. It has blood-colored text on it." The officer had used his hearing, but he couldn''t hear anything. As he was unwilling to give up, he thought that it would be fine if he stole a glance. He removed his balaclava and had looked inside¡ªseeing the Companion Egg.


    "An Sheng?" An Tianzuo had also used his hearing ability but he couldn''t see the situation inside.


    This was because An Sheng''s large-eyed Companion Beast gave him the ability of sight. If anyone could see it, An Sheng would be the first, but An Sheng hadn''t said anything.


    "Even if it''s twenty meters, it''s within the confines of Jade Emperor Peak. It''s no different from two hundred meters or two thousand meters," An Sheng answered.


    He was obviously the first person to discover the blood scorpion, but he did not say anything. Even though it was right in front of him, he still chose to give up.


    With that said, An Sheng said to the officer, "Old He, put on the balaclava. Are you tired of living?"


    "Overseer, Adjutant, why don''t we make an attempt? It''s less than twenty meters inside. Perhaps there''s a way to get the Companion Egg out. That''s a Mythical Companion Egg." The officer put on the balaclava and said to An Tianzuo and An Sheng, unwilling to give up.


    "Ah Sheng is right. It doesn''t matter even if it''s two centimeters within Jade Emperor Peak, much less twenty meters," said An Tianzuo.


    "There''s no need to try. Haven''t we done enough experiments in the past? You can''t enter the Jade Emperor Peak, regardless if they are humans or Companion Beasts. The outcome is the same," Ah Sheng objected firmly.


    "Overseer, I have a Companion Beast that I obtained in a dimensional zone previously. It''s called Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros. It has the ability to resist evil powers, so why not let it try? If Adjutant An can obtain a Mythical pet, it''ll be a boon for our Sunset Army. In the future, fewer of our brothers will die when we carry out missions¡­" one of the officers said.


    "Then give it a try," said An Tianzuo.


    "Thank you, Overseer." The officer was instantly overjoyed.


    "Overseer¡­" An Sheng wanted to stop him.


    "If we don''t let them try, they won''t be willing to give up. Just remember this." An Tianzuo stopped An Sheng from continuing.


    As they were speaking, Zhou Wen circled around the mountain entrance. He wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol nearby. He didn''t have much hope because the tiny palm symbol was typically engraved on a more conspicuous spot. It wasn''t on the mountain entrance, so the chances of there being one were rather low.


    But he didn''t expect to find the tiny palm symbol on a mountain rock to the east of the mountain entrance.


    The tiny palm symbol was engraved on a mountain rock that was about the height of a person. It was unknown what color the mountain rock was, but its shape was nothing special. The tiny palm symbol engraved on it was a small hand holding a small mountain-shaped rock.


    He took out his phone and took a picture of the small palm symbol.


    The phone quickly locked onto the picture and entered the download interface.


    Elsewhere, the officer had already summoned a moon-white rhinoceros. The rhinoceros looked very mighty, and it was much bigger than an ordinary rhinoceros. It was even bigger than an adult elephant. Its body was glowing with a jade glow, as though its body was enveloped by moonlight.


    "Old He, don''t bother. It''s a pity to lose a precious Companion Beast like the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros," An Sheng said with a sigh.


    "It''s fine. It''s less than twenty meters away. It''s just one step of the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros." Old He was determined. When the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros stood in front of the stone entrance, Old He gave the order and the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros moved like a tank charging through the entrance. It headed straight for the spot where the Companion Egg had dropped.


    After it entered, Zhou Wen couldn''t hear the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros. He thought that since there wasn''t any immortal palace phenomenon, he could take a look at the situation without looking up into the fog.


    He lifted the balaclava a little so that he could see the situation at the mountain entrance. He saw the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros''s body four to five meters away from the mountain entrance. Furthermore, it was still charging at high speed. With such a speed, it would only take a few seconds to traverse twenty meters.


    Zhou Wen also saw the Companion Egg. Indeed, it was less than twenty meters away from the mountain entrance. Just as Old He had said, there were blood-colored patterns on the jade-white egg. There was a pile of blood-colored powder on the ground. It was likely formed after the Blood Scorpion died.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros, he saw a terrifying scene. After the huge rhinoceros rushed past the mountain entrance, its body turned into a piece of jade. It didn''t get far¡ªperhaps ten meters¡ªbefore the entire rhinoceros turned into a lifeless jade statue and fell to the ground.


    Boom!


    After a loud bang, the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros shattered into pieces of jade. Furthermore, the pieces of jade that landed on the ground kept disintegrating, becoming smaller and smaller. Like sand, they split apart and finally turned to dust.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but shiver. He finally knew what was going on with the pile of blood-colored powder beneath the Companion Egg. Even the Blood Scorpion couldn''t withstand the terrifying power from Jade Emperor Peak. It had ended up in the same state as the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros.


    However, the Companion Egg wasn''t affected by the terrifying force.


    Ding! Zhou Wen''s phone notified the completion of the download. He looked down and saw a black mountain icon on the screen. However, it wasn''t White Cloud Mountain but Demon Suppression Mountain.

 519 Zero Taboo

    After tapping open the Demon Suppression Mountain dungeon, he realized that the blood-colored avatar had appeared in front of the black stone. Beside it was White Cloud Mountain''s entrance. Other than the cartoon image, the layout was identical to the real White Cloud Mountain.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and attempted to let the blood-colored avatar enter the mountain entrance. He wanted to see if Truth Listener''s ability could withstand the terrifying power of Jade Emperor Peak.


    However, it was useless. The power on Jade Emperor Peak wasn''t an evil force like a curse. After a few steps, the blood-colored avatar turned to dust.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and dripped his blood to revive. He walked into Jade Emperor Peak once again, but this time, he switched his Essence Energy Art to a Dao Art.


    His Life Providence had naturally transformed into a Dao Body and Zero Taboo.


    The moment the blood-colored avatar took half a step in, the Zero Taboo crystal in his consciousness lit up like a light bulb.


    It works! Zhou Wen was delighted as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to continue walking forward. After taking a few steps, his body was fine. Cracks began to appear on the Zero Taboo crystal, as though it was about to shatter.


    ¡­


    It really can''t be taken out. In front of the mountain entrance, Old He wore a look of disappointment. He wasn''t sad for the death of his Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros, but because he couldn''t retrieve the Companion Egg for An Sheng.


    "Old He, with the Overseer around, we will have plenty of chances to kill Mythical creatures in the future. It''s just a matter of time," An Sheng said. He found it a pity that the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros died. It was one of the few Epic Companion Beasts that could ward off evil. It was a pity to lose it.


    "Let''s go." An Tianzuo gave another order. This time, no one said a word. Although they were unwilling to give up on the Mythical Companion Egg in front of them, they had no choice but to leave.


    "Ah Sheng, let me give it a try. Perhaps I can take it out," Zhou Wen said as he walked over.


    If the Companion Egg was An Tianzuo''s, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have stepped forward. He might even have waited for them to leave before secretly returning to retrieve the Companion Egg.


    However, the Companion Egg was for An Sheng, so Zhou Wen felt that he should help.


    An Sheng had given him plenty of help and had risked his life with him. He had plenty of chances to obtain Mythical Companion Eggs in the future, but it was unlikely to have someone willing to risk his life for him at critical moments.


    "Young Master Wen, if you wish to use a Mythical Companion Beast to take the Companion Egg, there''s no need to bother. Love Letter is also at the Mythical stage. It also failed to withstand the power of Jade Emperor Peak," An Sheng said.


    This was because he knew very well that if he said that he was the one entering, An Sheng would have definitely stopped him. It was impossible that he would let him take the risk.


    "Young Master Wen, what solution do you have?" An Sheng asked.


    An Tianzuo and the officers looked at Zhou Wen. They also wanted to know if he really had a way to bring out the Companion Egg.


    Old He looked at Zhou Wen and said, "Young Master Wen, if you have a way to bring out the Companion Egg, just let me know if there''s anything I can do in the future. I''ll be at your beck and call."


    An Sheng had saved the lives of Old He''s family. Old He had always treated An Sheng''s matters as his own.


    "I''ll remember that." As Zhou Wen spoke, he looked past the mountain entrance. An Tianzuo and company believed that he would summon a Companion Beast, but to their surprise, Zhou Wen suddenly took a step forward and walked through the mountain pass.


    "No¡­" An Sheng turned pale with fright as he rushed towards the mountain entrance.


    Someone was faster than him as he appeared in front of the mountain entrance in a flash. He extended his hand to grab Zhou Wen, but he was still a step slower. Zhou Wen had already rushed past the mountain entrance.


    When An Sheng rushed to the mountain entrance, he was held back by An Tianzuo, who had arrived a step earlier. He didn''t let him chase after Zhou Wen.


    "Look carefully. His body isn''t affected," An Tianzuo said to An Sheng in a deep voice as he took off his balaclava.


    Old He and company were also alarmed. They originally imagined that Zhou Wen would use a special Companion Beast to make the attempt, they never expected him to walk in by himself.


    An Sheng stood outside the stone door and looked at Zhou Wen inside. He quickly walked towards the Companion Egg. His speed was astonishing. More importantly, his body didn''t disintegrate like the Evil Warding Spirit Rhinoceros.


    Zhou Wen''s body landed in front of the Companion Egg like a wisp of smoke. He reached out and scooped the Companion Egg into his hand before turning around and retreating.


    This back-and-forth was swift and elegant, like a swift saber that had been unsheathed. With a flash, the saber had already returned into the sheath before one could see what the blade looked like.


    When Zhou Wen returned to the mountain entrance with the Blood Scorpion Companion Egg in hand, Old He and company jolted to attention as though they had been in a dream. They speechlessly looked at Zhou Wen who was standing in front of them in perfect condition.


    "Young Master Wen, you are really too rash." An Sheng sized up Zhou Wen''s body and only heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that there wasn''t anything wrong with his body.


    "Don''t worry. I won''t do anything that I''m not confident of." Zhou Wen threw the Companion Egg to An Sheng.


    "Young Master Wen, thank you," An Sheng received the Companion Egg and said with a smile.


    "Not considering the consequences of your actions will one day make you pay the price. Put on your balaclavas and we will head down the mountain," An Tianzuo said coldly. He put his balaclava on and turned to head down the mountain.


    Everyone hurriedly put on their balaclavas and followed An Tianzuo down the mountain.


    When they reached a fork on the mountainside, Zhou Wen asked An Sheng, "Ah Sheng, is Jade Rabbit''s Lunar Prayer on the mountain over there?"


    "It''s there alright. I''ll take you there," An Sheng said.


    Old He also said, "Young Master Wen, if you want to pay a visit, I''ll take you there. However, it''s just a stone. There''s nothing to see."


    "There''s no need. There''s no danger there anyway. I just want to take a look myself. You guys can go back now," Zhou Wen said as he walked up the mountain path.


    An Sheng didn''t insist on going with him. Since Zhou Wen could remain unharmed in Jade Emperor Peak, nothing outside posed a danger to him.


    "Adjutant An, this Young Master Wen is amazing. He actually managed to enter and exit Jade Emperor Peak safely. He''s really strong. Is he still in school?" Old He asked An Sheng as he watched Zhou Wen disappear on the mountain path.


    "Don''t you know whose family Young Master Wen is from? How can a person who can be doted on so much by Madam not be strong?" As An Sheng spoke, he used his large eyes to glance at An Tianzuo, but unfortunately, he couldn''t see An Tianzuo''s expression through the balaclava.


    "You''re right. Young Master Wen is Madam Lan''s son. It''s only right for him to be strong." Old He smiled.

 520 One Takes on the Color of Ones Company

    Zhou Wen walked all the way up to the mountain where Jade Rabbit''s Lunar Prayer was. Although Zero Taboo seemed to have the ability to counter White Cloud Mountain''s taboo powers, Zhou Wen still wore the balaclava and used Truth Listener''s ability to scout the way.


    If he were to see the immortal palace phenomenon, it would be quite an unjust death in the event Zero Taboo failed to work.


    There were indeed very few dimensional creatures on White Cloud Mountain. Zhou Wen walked all the way to the peak, but he didn''t even encounter a single one.


    After reaching the top of the mountain, Zhou Wen finally saw the legendary jade rabbit''s lunar prayer stone. Perhaps it was because Zhou Wen''s imagination wasn''t good, but no matter how he looked at it, it didn''t resemble a rabbit.


    The Thearch said that the item is beneath this stone, but this stone seems to be connected to the mountain? Should I dig it up? Zhou Wen circled the Moon Rabbit stone but didn''t find the good stuff that The Thearch had mentioned.


    Although it wasn''t nice to destroy a natural landscape, Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered anymore. He summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and made it push the Moon Rabbit stone to see if there was anything below.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had 80 Strength after all. With the augmentation of an Essence Energy Skill, it could snap the mountain, much less a mere rock.


    However, it was unable to move the Moon Rabbit stone at all despite using all its might.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be surprised. With the strength of Six-Winged, even a piece of titanium alloy should have snapped, much less a rock.


    Indeed, there''s something here! Zhou Wen made Six-Winged stop. He probably couldn''t move the Moon Rabbit stone with brute force.


    Zhou Wen studied how to deal with the Moon Rabbit stone, but he failed to budge it despite exhausting all the methods he could think of. All he could do was leave White Cloud Mountain and return to the encampment. He planned on contacting The Thearch and asking her how to take the item under the Moon Rabbit Stone.


    After Zhou Wen returned to the encampment, Old He warmly welcomed him back. He also told him that An Sheng and An Tianzuo had already left because they were needed in Luoyang. They had left a message, saying that if Zhou Wen wanted to return, he could get Old He to drive him back.


    On the rugged mountain road, An Sheng was fiddling with his phone while driving.


    To him, multitasking was not a difficult task. There was no conflict between driving and playing games. Ordinary people were forbidden from doing this as it was very easy for accidents to happen, bringing harm to themselves and others.


    The game character used all sorts of odd positioning and releasing of skills to beat the Demonized Soldiers and Generals.


    "Why aren''t you driving properly? What are you doing there?" An Tianzuo, who was sitting behind with his eyes closed, suddenly asked.


    "I downloaded the game that Zhou Wen and company made. Now that I''m trying it, it''s really not bad. The feedback from attacking and the usage of skills are very good. The parameters are also very similar to reality, especially those Demonized Soldiers and Generals. Their behavior and skills are identical to reality. After playing this game, if one were to encounter Demonized Soldiers and Generals, one would know how to deal with them. This game is really not bad. From the looks of it, Young Master Wen isn''t just playing games," An Sheng said as he played.


    "He''s just trying to play to the gallery. Watching a video allows one to understand dimensional creatures better than gaming. It''s not like I see him doing any research. All he does is game. The so-called understanding of dimensional creatures is just an excuse to game," said An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng defended Zhou Wen. "It''s still a little different. From watching the video, one can only know what kind of abilities a dimensional creature has. Ordinary people can''t tell what skills they can use to deal with it just by watching a video. However, in-game, they can attempt to use various skills to attack dimensional creatures. They can then know which skills are effective against them. Furthermore, through in-game combat, it''s easier to remember the timing of the various skills used by dimensional creatures. This game is a high-level strategy guide. It would be even better if we could turn it into a holographic game"


    "I realize that ever since you and Zhou Wen went out a few times, you are getting better at clever, but false, arguments," An Tianzuo said with a cold expression.


    "Overseer, you''re right. It''s my fault. Games only make people lose their aspirations. It''s useless," An Sheng hurriedly said.


    "You''ve even learned how to agree overtly despite your private opposition. Indeed, one takes on the color of one''s company. Hand over the phone," An Tianzuo said coldly when he saw that An Sheng was still playing.


    "I was wrong, alright?" An Sheng hurriedly put away his phone.


    "I told you to hand me the phone," An Tianzuo said with a deadpan expression as he stared at An Sheng through the rearview mirror.


    An Sheng helplessly handed his phone to An Tianzuo, who was sitting behind him. An Tianzuo reached out and took it. He glared at An Sheng and said, "Drive properly. If you continue with such nonsense, you''ll be punished to guard Chess Mountain."


    An Sheng tersely responded and continued driving. He didn''t dare do anything else.


    An Tianzuo closed his eyes to rest for a while, but he had a nagging feeling. After a while, An Tianzuo opened his eyes again and picked up the phone beside him. After unlocking it, his gaze landed on the app icon named Dimension.


    The corners of An Tianzuo''s eyes twitched slightly. He reached out and pulled the curtains to give himself privacy from An Sheng. Then, he said to him, "I''ll rest for a while. Don''t disturb me."


    "Got it, Overseer," An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo held his phone and turned off the sound. Then, he tapped on the icon. Soon, an ink-styled interface appeared on his phone.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen rested in the encampment. As there was a signal in the encampment, he sent a message to The Thearch, but after waiting for several hours, he still didn''t receive a reply.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought that The Thearch wasn''t replying to him on purpose, he finally received a message. He opened it and saw that it was from The Thearch.


    "To learn the divine art, one must self-castrate."


    Zhou Wen read the message clearly and countless question marks appeared in his mind. Then, he sent a row of question marks.


    "It was sent wrongly. It was for someone else. If you want the treasure, you must wait for the moon to rise." The Thearch replied very quickly this time.


    So I have to wait until the moon rises before I can obtain the treasure under the Moon Rabbit stone. Zhou Wen was enlightened, but he suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    "The Thearch, you said that you sent the message wrongly. Then who were you planning on sending that sentence to?" Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd.


    Since The Thearch could use her phone to go online, it was not surprising that she could add friends on the Internet. The strange thing was, why did she send such a message to the other party?


    "It''s a guy who wants to learn divine arts. His name seems to be John Cape," The Thearch replied.


    "John¡­ Cape¡­" Zhou Wen naturally wouldn''t forget this fellow. After all, it was because of Liz and John that he and the Cape family had become enemies.

 521 Immortal Palace Phenomenon

    Zhou Wen originally wanted to ask what The Thearch was doing, but The Thearch didn''t reply to him. Zhou Wen had to temporarily put the matter aside.


    In the afternoon, Zhou Wen arrived in front of the Jade Rabbit''s Lunar Prayer stone again. There, he waited for the moon to rise from the east.


    However, there was a problem. The Thearch said that he had to push the Moon Rabbit stone the moment the moon rose. Although Truth Listener was very powerful and could hear very minute sounds, it was still unknown if he could tell that the moon had risen.


    If Truth Listener were to advance further in the future and advance to the Mythical stage, it might be able to hear something even deeper such as the rotations of electrons or the flowing sound of photons. When that happened, it was possible to use one''s hearing to determine if the moon had risen.


    However, he definitely couldn''t do it now. After some hesitation, Zhou Wen switched his Essence Energy Art to a Dao Art before removing the balaclava.


    Zhou Wen estimated the time. The moon was about to rise. If he were to use his eyes, he wouldn''t be so unlucky to chance upon the immortal palace phenomenon, right?


    However, even if he were to see the immortal palace phenomenon, he had the Zero Taboo Life Soul. It was unlikely he would die so easily.


    While waiting for the sun to set at the garrison, Zhou Wen studied his Zero Taboo Life Soul. After entering White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak and other dimensional zones, he discovered something.


    Zero Taboo and Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification were somewhat different. When Evil Nullification was in effect, it could deal with man-made curses. Zero Taboo did little against them. According to Zhou Wen''s judgment, it worked against powers that came from the laws of nature.


    For example, White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak, Small Buddha Temple, or Sei Gasakai''s Will Renewal. They were all unreasonable powers. That was just how the laws of nature worked.


    Zero Taboo was very useful in this aspect. However, its effects were difficult to distinguish from Evil Nullification. There was some overlap between the two, and Zhou Wen was still studying them. His understanding of Zero Taboo wasn''t thorough enough, so he was still in the guessing phase.


    However, Zero Taboo was not truly without any restrictions. It could last for about ten seconds inside White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak. Any longer, the Zero Taboo Life Soul would explode from the pressure.


    In Small Buddha Temple, as long as he did not enter the temple hall, Zero Taboo was fine. However, once he entered the temple hall, it could only last for ten seconds.


    Although the immortal palace phenomenon was terrifying, Zhou Wen guessed that it wouldn''t have much of an effect on him. Zero Taboo and Evil Nullification were of some use.


    As he looked over, he saw a sea of white clouds. Occasionally, a few mountain peaks would appear out of the sea of clouds, like a few black islands in a white sea. The scene was indeed as beautiful as a fairyland.


    It''s a pity that no one has the chance to enjoy such beautiful scenery. If it was before the dimensional storms, I''m afraid this place would have been filled with tourists. Zhou Wen suddenly felt that the dimensional storms might not be a bad thing. If there were tourists crowding the place, no matter how beautiful it was, it would be greatly affected.


    The immortal palace didn''t appear. Zhou Wen kept track of time and knew that the moon would rise at any moment. He didn''t wear the balaclava and sat there to watch the sea of clouds.


    On the mountains above the sea of clouds, he could see some ancient buildings. However, they weren''t places he could go carelessly. Zhou Wen only admired them for the time being.


    After waiting for less than two minutes, a crescent moon slowly floated out from the sea of clouds'' horizon. The moonlight was not strong and it was not bright. It was very mild.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to push the Moon Rabbit stone again, a white jade-like immortal palace appeared where the crescent moon rose.


    There were pavilions and pagodas, as well as jade halls and shrines. Beautiful and elegant immortal palaces appeared in the clouds, and he could even see fairies flitting about. Faintly, he could even hear singing coming from those immortal palaces.


    Immortal palace phenomenon! Zhou Wen was alarmed. The Zero Taboo Life Soul had already lit up his mind. Clearly, it had a reaction to the immortal palace phenomenon.


    The intensity of the Zero Taboo''s reaction wasn''t inferior to the Jade Emperor Peak. Zhou Wen took a careful look before closing his eyes and pulling down the balaclava.


    The brightened Zero Taboo Life Soul also dimmed.


    Thankfully, my theory is correct. Zero Taboo seems to be useful against all taboo powers in a dimensional zone. Zhou Wen recalled the scene of the immortal palace in his mind.


    The immortal palace was extremely magnificent, but it didn''t have much value to Zhou Wen. Instead, it was the dancing fairies that gave him some insight.


    The Fairy in Dragon Gate Grotto was only at the Epic stage after all. Transcendent Flying Immortal''s attack was only an Epic Essence Energy Skill. Although through Zhou Wen''s constant insight and creativity, it had reached an outstanding level at the Epic stage, it was still inferior to a true godlike skill.


    Having seen the figures of the fairies in the immortal palace, Zhou Wen immediately gained new insights.


    Without a doubt, if those fairies really existed, they would all be true Mythical creatures.


    Ignoring the fairies'' stances, Zhou Wen extended his hand to push the Moon Rabbit stone just as the moon rose. Although it was still very heavy, it moved slightly with his strength.


    Overjoyed, Zhou Wen pushed harder and shoved the Moon Rabbit stone to the side bit by bit. Then, he realized that beneath it was a jade box embedded in the stone''s indentation.


    Zhou Wen reached out to take out the jade box, only to find it cold to the touch.


    After touching the indentation and confirming that there was nothing else, Zhou Wen pushed the Moon Rabbit stone back.


    With the jade box in his arms, Zhou Wen planned on looking at what was inside the box when he returned home. Since he had already obtained it, he wasn''t in a hurry.


    As he thought about leaving the mountain, he couldn''t bear it. After some thought, Zhou Wen pulled up the balaclava slightly and looked at the rising moon in the east.


    The phenomenon of the immortal palace was still there. Numerous immortal palaces floated above the sea of clouds, looking extremely realistic. It was not something ethereal like a mirage.


    The fairies danced among the immortal palaces. All of them had elegant and graceful postures. They seemed much more profound than the Fairies in Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Zero Taboo kept emitting light. It felt like it would shatter in a few more seconds.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare take another look. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he suddenly saw a beautiful fairy fly out from a palace. The moment she appeared, the other fairies immediately paled in comparison. It was as though the halo around them had vanished as they became mere mortal beauties.


    Only the fairy who had just appeared deserved being described as an "immortal fairy."


    Zhou Wen only took a glance and saw numerous crisscrossing cracks appear on the Zero Taboo crystal. Just as it was about to explode, Zhou Wen hurriedly closed his eyes in fright.

 522 Change in Ranking

    This time, when he closed his eyes, the Zero Taboo crystal didn''t immediately extinguish. It continued emitting light. The cracks on the crystal were still spreading, and it was about to shatter. It left Zhou Wen shuddering in fear.


    Thankfully, the crystal didn''t shatter and the light gradually dimmed.


    Now, the Zero Taboo crystal was like a glass bead that had been doused in cold water after being heated over a flame. It was full of cracks, looking as if it would shatter at any moment.


    Amazing. I only took a glance at her and she nearly blasted apart my Life Soul. If she really exists, I wonder what status she has among Mythical creatures? Zhou Wen could still recall the scene of the fairy dancing in the air. Her figure seemed to contain some profound charms. It was indescribably beautiful and shocking.


    Zhou Wen closed his eyes and sat on the Moon Rabbit stone. He carefully recalled the details of the fairy''s figure, hoping to figure out the true secret of Flying Immortal.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the fairy''s figure was extremely valuable to his Transcendent Flying Immortal, but after thinking for a long time, he felt that there was something in the way between the two. It made him feel like he was looking at a beauty through a layer of frosted glass. He could see her, but not clearly. He couldn''t help but feel vexed.


    He stood up and walked down the mountain. He wanted to have a change of environment and mood; perhaps that way, he might be able to understand what was happening. He would never dare to look at that immortal palace phenomenon again.


    After returning to the encampment, Zhou Wen took out the jade box and placed it on the table. After studying it for a while, he opened the lid.


    Inside the jade box were dozens of crystals the size of cat eyes. They were of different colors and shapes.


    I wonder what attributes these dimensional crystals have? Zhou Wen took out his mysterious phone and snapped them.


    It turned out that they were all Epic dimensional crystals. Most of them were crystals of the four basic stats. Only two were Essence Energy Skill Crystals. This left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    He originally believed that The Thearch''s mention of something would be no trifling matter. Although Epic crystals were not bad, they were far inferior to the Mythical crystal from before.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. The Thearch told him about these so that he could exchange them for money, so why would she get him to retrieve Mythical crystals that weren''t easily sold?


    Epic crystals were the easiest to produce at present. Furthermore, there was a relatively high demand for them. There were at least ten crystals and they all had different attributes. Some were bad, while others were not bad. The best one was a Speed Crystal with 38 stats. It was likely worth quite a bit of money.


    He placed the crystals back into the jade box and picked it up to put into the chaos space.


    The dimensional crystals weren''t very warm, but the jade box was as cold as ice. It didn''t seem ordinary.


    Is it possible that this jade box is something good? Zhou Wen held the jade box and began studying it.


    The jade box was the color of the moon. It was translucent and he almost could see through it, but it also appeared opaque. It was as if there were clouds within the jade.


    After Zhou Wen carefully studied the jade box, he found something amiss.


    There were many cloud patterns engraved on the jade box. The patterns were of different shapes and sizes. If one were to look at them with the eyes of an ordinary person, they would be clouds of different shapes and sizes. One would write it off as nothing special.


    Even though some people felt that the cloud patterns were special, it was difficult to see the true meaning behind them.


    However, after Zhou Wen carefully observed them, he realized that the different types of clouds contained the beauty of a fairy''s figure. Every cloud pattern looked like a fairy. If he hadn''t seen the fairies flying, it would probably be difficult for him to tell the charms of these cloud patterns.


    This is really something good. Zhou Wen picked up the jade box and continued studying the cloud patterns. As he looked at them, he compared them with the fairy poses he had seen. His understanding deepened.


    While Zhou Wen was studying the cloud patterns, another shocking event happened. The black cube lit up again before another Companion Beast appeared on the ranking.


    The second Companion Beast on the ranking was actually the publicly acknowledged number one Companion Beast, Verbis Diablo Holy Angel.


    The Verbis Diablo Holy Angel''s ranking had been ranked by a big organization in the Federation. It was known as the number one pet at the Epic stage. Now that it had taken its place on the cube''s ranking, it actually failed to surpass the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. It was only ranked second.


    No one could help but speculate how powerful the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was to be able to suppress the Verbis Diablo Holy Angel. This was truly quite a shock.


    In the past few days, there had been no movement. Only Six-Winged had been placed on the list. When the Verbis Diablo Holy Angel entered the rankings, many Companion Beasts sprouted like mushrooms after a rain. They were listed one after another.


    On the cube''s screen, various pet creatures constantly appeared. Apart from the angel and dragon, there were also sprites, magical beasts, and other Companion Beasts.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, which was originally in first place, dropped to third place in a day. Eight others ranked after it. A total of eleven Companion Beasts were listed.


    Two Companion Beasts ranked ahead of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The first was Death of the Underworld, while the second was Frost Giant. They were Companion Beasts no one had heard of before.


    As for the famous Verbis Diablo Holy Angel, it was ranked dead last among all the Companion Beasts on the list.


    This caused a huge wave of discussion across the entire Federation. Only then did many ordinary people realize that the so-called strongest Verbis Diablo Holy Angel was just a bottom-tier existence in the world of truly powerful pets.


    The powerful Companion Beasts were enough to make one gasp in excitement. However, at the same time, people were guessing who the extremely powerful Companion Beasts belonged to.


    Including Zhou Wen''s Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, there were a total of three dragons that entered the rankings. It could be said that among all the Mythical creatures, they were the most common species.


    However, one tidbit was very surprising. All the Companion Beasts that entered the rankings¡ªbe they angels, dragons, elemental sprites, or Death¡ªwere Companion Beasts from the West and North Districts. They didn''t see any special Companion Beasts from East District and South District on the list.


    In fact, all the families that made a move this time came from the West and North Districts. Among them, the Cape family of the West District put in the most work and managed to occupy four ranks in one go.


    The East District''s Xia family and Zhang family, and the South District''s Dugu family didn''t have any Companion Beasts appear on the ranking. The four districts seemed to have a completely different attitude towards the rankings.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know anything about the change in ranking. Although Zhou Wen declined Old He''s offer to take him back, Old He insisted.

 523 Flying Immortal Stance

    After returning to school, Zhou Wen heard the students discussing the Companion Beasts on the rankings. Ordinary students suspected that they were Mythical Companion Beasts, but no one had ever seen one.


    Zhou Wen also went online to take a look. Many media outlets and individuals had captured the pictures of the Companion Beasts on the cube.


    Death of the Underworld looked very strange. He was wearing a gray cloak. Black and blue light filled its insides. He did not have a physical body and looked a little like the legendary Death. However, he did not have a scythe in his hands.


    Frost Giant was a giant with a deep blue body. Wherever he went, ice would form on the ground.


    The other Companion Beasts were also unique. Angels were holy, sprites were beautiful, and dragons looked about the same. However, for a Companion Beast to be ranked, one could tell that they were extraordinary just from their aura alone.


    Unfortunately, only the images of the Companion Beasts were shown on the cube. Their skills weren''t listed.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what the ranking was for, but he quickly lost interest. He picked up his phone and continued grinding Torch Dragon. After his battle with Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen gradually started to use his speed and crystal mirror to block Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World.


    Unfortunately, a Sun Beast Companion Egg was a rare drop. If there were two or more crystal mirrors, the success rate of killing Torch Dragon would be much higher.


    Zhou Wen thought of many solutions. For example, using a large number of Companion Beasts to shield him, but it was useless. The blood-colored avatar and all the Companion Beasts in front of him were reflected into the vision world.


    Apart from the crystal mirror that could reflect, the other Companion Beasts weren''t of much use.


    As for using the crystal mirror to block Torch Dragon''s gaze, he needed to grasp the timing and position perfectly, or it would be very difficult to block.


    The problem was that Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World wasn''t a skill that could only be used once. Therefore, Zhou Wen needed to defend against it many times in battle. Otherwise, he would die.


    As for Demonic Neonate that remained on the blood-colored avatar''s back, she constantly tried to find Torch Dragon''s flaws to attack it. There were a few times when she really found an opportunity. The ancient sword stabbed at Torch Dragon, but it only managed to penetrate a tiny length of the blade. It did not pose much of a threat to Torch Dragon.


    As for the blood-colored avatar, it couldn''t survive until Demonic Neonate killed Torch Dragon.


    According to Zhou Wen''s calculations, he needed to survive at least three hours in front of Torch Dragon before Demonic Neonate could kill it.


    Zhou Wen''s most pressing problem was to 100% block the Bright Torch Vision World for those few hours. Just one mistake meant immediate death. All his efforts would be in vain.


    After a bitter battle for an hour, the blood-colored avatar was once again killed by Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World. This was the longest time Zhou Wen had lasted.


    I can''t make any mistakes, and I have to be absolutely precise. In a high-intensity battle, I have to ensure that I can throw out the crystal mirror with perfect timing and positioning while facing a powerful creature like Torch Dragon. Furthermore, it''s really difficult to judge Torch Dragon''s actions accurately.


    Zhou Wen thought about it and realized that it was very difficult for him to boost his success rate. After all, the other party was a Mythical creature stronger than him. It wasn''t that easy to determine its actions and motions.


    Since it''s very difficult to improve my judgment, I can only increase my speed and ability to adjust my position. I''ll try my best to prevent Torch Dragon from seeing me.


    Therefore, in the following battles, Zhou Wen consciously fused Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill and Transcendent Flying Immortal into the fairy stance he had comprehended, hoping to improve his movement technique to another level.


    This wasn''t an easy task. Zhou Wen felt that there was a barrier between the fairy''s stances and his movement techniques. It was very difficult to achieve perfection, and there would be problems when fusing them.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t someone who would give up in the face of adversity. He continued researching and improving, especially the beautiful fairy''s stance. Zhou Wen spent a great deal of time comprehending and researching.


    At the bureau''s headquarters, there was a lot of information placed in front of Shen Yuchi. It was all about the black cubes and the Companion Beasts on the ranking.


    "Director-General, other than the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, the origins of the other Companion Beasts are almost confirmed," Qiao Siyuan said.


    Shen Yuchi nodded slightly. "Why did those families in the West and North District put their Mythical pets on the rankings? Have you investigated?"


    In fact, Shen Yuchi didn''t need to investigate to know which families these Companion Beasts came from. The key was why they wanted to expose their Mythical Companion Beasts to the public.


    Before this, every family clan hid their Mythical Companion Beasts, afraid that others would know how many they had. But this time, they actually revealed a portion of them.


    Although a number were already known to outsiders, it still felt puzzling.


    "According to our investigations, those few families seem to have figured out some of the secrets of the black cube. They know that there would be benefits if they were to be ranked, which is why they made such a move. However, this information has not been verified yet, so we don''t know of its veracity," Qiao Siyuan answered very conservatively.


    "What kind of benefits?" Shen Yuchi knew what Qiao Siyuan was getting at. This news should have come from within those few families, but he couldn''t guarantee that they were using it as a smokescreen.


    "From what they say, the Companion Beasts on the ranking might be fancied by terrifying existences in the dimensional zones. There might be benefits, but they aren''t sure if the news is real or not, nor do they know what benefits there will be." Qiao Siyuan explained the information he gathered in detail.


    After Shen Yuchi heard that, he remained silent.


    "Director-General, what should we do?" Qiao Siyuan asked.


    "The Zhang family, the Xia family, and the Dugu family didn''t make a move. The West and North Districts only sent some Companion Beasts as a test. It''s not time for us to step forward. Let''s just wait and see for now."


    After a pause, Shen Yuchi asked again, "How''s the progress of Wang Mingyuan''s students?"


    "It''s not going well. Zhou Wen and Hui Haifeng are protected by their families, so it''s very difficult to bring them back. Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya''s whereabouts are unknown. We''ve been tracking them for so long, but we haven''t been able to catch them. None of Wang Mingyuan''s four students are simple. I think Wang Mingyuan might have other motives for taking them in as his students. It''s not just a coincidence."


    Qiao Siyuan paused and said, "Besides, the six families aren''t too concerned about this matter now. For some reason, even the Cape family that wanted to capture Zhou Wen the most seem to have forgotten about it. They''re all focused on the rankings."


    "That''s strange." Shen Yuchi pondered over the cause and effect of everything.

 524 In the Name of an Angel

    In a mysterious land of the West District, in front of an ancient, glorious cathedral, John advanced step by step. Every step he took felt as if he was going against the flow. It drained all his strength.


    Within the cathedral, a holy light shone out, causing people to involuntarily lower their heads, not daring to look at the light.


    When John walked to the door of the cathedral and pushed open the door with all his strength, the holy light instantly illuminated the entire world. John saw a huge angel mural inside the cathedral.


    The portrait of the angel drew a holy six-winged seraphim. Strangely, there was a drop of blood at the corner of the six-winged seraphim''s eye. Its eyes seemed to contain endless sorrow.


    John''s gaze was only slightly shocked by the six-winged seraphim''s portrait before he was attracted by something in it.


    Between the six-winged seraphim''s hands was a strange white cocoon-like object. It was clearly a portrait, but the white cocoon in the picture seemed to exist.


    "The Thearch didn''t lie to me¡­ There''s really such a thing¡­ It really exists¡­" John looked excited as he stared at the white cocoon in the painting. His eyes gradually turned strange.


    Gritting his teeth, John walked to the portrait of the six-winged seraphim and cut his palm with a knife, letting his blood drip onto the white cocoon.


    It was clearly a mural, but when John''s blood dripped onto the white cocoon, it strangely slid to the side. Not a single drop of blood touched the white cocoon.


    Do I really have to do that to hatch it? John''s eyes gradually wore a crazed look as he watched his blood drop to the ground.


    No matter what price I have to pay¡­ I must defeat that person¡­ I must¡­ Just as the madness in John''s eyes reached its apex, he suddenly held the knife and slashed at his lower body.


    Blood splattered as something fell to the ground.


    The blood which flowed from John''s palm was unable to touch the white cocoon in the beginning. It was as though there was a force that kept the blood away from it. But now, the white cocoon no longer rejected John''s blood. Drops of blood landed on it and seeped in. Soon, it dyed the white cocoon red.


    As the white cocoon absorbed the blood, it emitted a holy light. John''s body bathed in the holy light as his wounds healed rapidly.


    At the same time, his damaged Essence Energy sea was restored. Furthermore, his entire body had undergone a strange transformation.


    John felt a pure and holy power flowing through his body. It was stronger and purer than before he was injured.


    Under the support of that power, his Holy Emperor Body also underwent an unpredictable change.


    John felt his body hurt and itch all over as though he was undergoing puberty again. He felt the strength in his body constantly increasing. John almost couldn''t feel the pain and only felt extremely excited.


    The strength within John''s body burst out uncontrollably. His limbs flailed in the air in an exaggerated manner. His skin was milk-like and he emitted a holy radiance. And behind him, a pair of snow-white angel wings appeared.


    However, this pair of angel wings was only an illusion and not a real existence.


    John was already handsome to begin with, but now he looked even more handsome. He was like an angel from heaven, as though he was from another world.


    Compared to John from the past, this John was less masculine and more feminine.


    This wasn''t strange, because angels had no gender.


    Crack! Crack!


    When John''s body completed the transformation from a human to an angel, the white cocoon cracked and gradually revealed a figure in the cocoon.


    It was an angel who was even more handsome than John. He had six angel wings on his back, and his blonde hair emitted a sun-like radiance. His entire body seemed to be enveloped by holy light.


    When he walked out of the white cocoon, the entire world seemed to be subdued by his radiance and turned dim.


    John looked at the six-winged seraphim in front of him with a fervent gaze. He felt that the power in his body was getting stronger and stronger, as if it was affected by the six-winged seraphim.


    He looked down at John like a god. He extended a hand and pressed it on John''s head. He said calmly, "In the name of an angel, I''ll bestow you the power to be protected¡­"


    With that holy voice, a terrifying holy light erupted from the palm of the six-winged seraphim, enveloping John''s body completely in holy light. Finally, even the six-winged seraphim''s body was devoured by the holy light.


    After the holy light dissipated, only John was left in front of the portrait of the cathedral. However, he had an additional snow-white angel armor and six snow-white angel wings on his back. His entire body emitted terrifying holy light.


    Did it succeed? How interesting. I wonder if this is the first guardian to appear. Far away in Chess Mountain''s cave, a seductive woman who was chained up suddenly had a strange look in her eyes as though she had sensed something.


    However, the strange expression disappeared very quickly. She looked at the cell phone floating in front of her. There were photos on the cell phone interface. The content was actually a picture of Wang Mingyuan breaking into the alternate dimension.


    I didn''t expect that there would be such a powerful person among the humans today. He actually devoured the guardian of the dragons? It seems that the human world isn''t as boring as I thought. The seductive woman retracted her gaze and suddenly revealed a strange smile. She opened the chat app and clicked on a friend profile picture to send a message.


    In the seductive woman''s friend list, there were only two groups. One group had more friends, while the other group only had one person. Now, she had sent the message to the friend in that one group.


    Zhou Wen was studying the Flying Immortal pose when he suddenly heard his phone ring. He knew that it was a message from The Thearch. He opened it and couldn''t help but frown slightly.


    "You have big trouble awaiting you." There were only six simple words on the message.


    "The Thearch, I haven''t offended you recently, right?" Zhou Wen replied.


    "Since when did I say you offended me?" The Thearch replied.


    "Then why are you giving me trouble?"


    "Other than me, can''t anyone else give you trouble?"


    "Apart from you, should there be anyone else? " Zhou Wen asked.


    "That might not be the case." The Thearch then sent another message. "I''ll give you a chance. Be good and come to Chess Mountain to swear loyalty to me. I can help you tide through this calamity."


    "I appreciate your kindness," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright, I''ll wait for you to come to Chess Mountain to beg me." The Thearch seemed very confident.

 525 Official Challenge

    Zhou Wen knew that if The Thearch said that there was trouble, there was a high chance that it was real trouble. However, if he always remained subservient to her, there was no room for negotiation in the future.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to be a puppet that was at the mercy of others. Furthermore, he also wanted to know if his Zero Taboo could withstand The Thearch''s wish powers.


    While Zhou Wen became extra careful, he constantly studied the Flying Immortal stance. The Rank 10 Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill and Transcendent Flying Immortal had some improvement, but they had yet to take the final step needed for a breakthrough.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what breaking through an Epic Rank 10 Essence Energy Skill would become. It would be best if he could break through to the Mythical stage, but it clearly wasn''t that easy.


    Through his battle with Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen constantly honed himself. It could be said that his posture was very similar to that of a flying immortal, but he was still lacking something. He had yet to reach that realm.


    Sometimes, many inventions that shocked the world needed a flash of insight other than continuous experiments. What Zhou Wen lacked now was that glimmer of light in the darkness.


    Zhou Wen could now last for more than two hours in the battle with Torch Dragon, but it was useless. Even if he lasted 99% of the time, everything was useless if he didn''t kill Torch Dragon.


    Zhou Wen was gaming one day when he suddenly received a call from An Sheng.


    "Young Master Wen, there''s something I have to tell you. This matter can only be decided by you." An Sheng''s voice was a little solemn. It was different from the usual An Sheng.


    "What''s the matter?" Zhou Wen knew that something that could make An Sheng so serious was definitely not simple. He recalled the trouble The Thearch had mentioned.


    "John of the Cape family, do you still remember this person?" An Sheng asked after some thought.


    "I remember. He once came to our school," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Yes, it''s because he lost to you and had his Essence Energy sea crippled that he made a request to our An family to have a fair battle with you. Furthermore, he took the initiative to propose a duel in Luoyang," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat. He knew that the trouble The Thearch mentioned was most likely John. He remembered that The Thearch had previously chatted with John online.


    "Because the other party has officially proposed a duel and is willing to come to Luoyang alone to challenge you, it''s not appropriate for us to reject him on your behalf. You have to decide on this matter yourself. If you aren''t willing, Young Master Wen, you can reject it," An Sheng said.


    "John''s Essence Energy sea should have been destroyed, right? How did he recover so quickly?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "You think I''ll lose?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. An Sheng should know that he had a Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. It was clearly unusual for him to persuade him not to accept the challenge under such circumstances.


    "The Cape family has Mythical creatures as well. On the cube''s ranking, there are four Mythical pets from the Cape family. I suspect that John will be bringing a Mythical Companion Beast with him this time." An Sheng shared his thoughts.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as An Sheng continued, "Mythical Companion Beasts have their own specialties. It''s very dangerous to rashly accept challenges without knowing what abilities they have. I''ve seen some Mythical creatures before. Their abilities are extremely unreasonable. As long as you get hit, death is certain. There''s nothing you can do about that even if you''re stronger than him. Just like Love Letter, we studied it for years and only attacked it after knowing its various abilities. Otherwise, we would definitely suffer heavy losses."


    "I understand what you mean, but I want to accept this challenge," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    From Zhou Wen''s point of view, this wasn''t a battle between him and John, but a secret battle between him and The Thearch.


    The Thearch seemed to play both sides, seemingly purposefully but also inadvertently making Zhou Wen rely on her more and more.


    Just like the previous few times when she showed her might to him or gave him benefits, she would intentionally or unintentionally show Zhou Wen her strength and invincibility. She would inadvertently create a lofty image, as though Zhou Wen would enjoy endless benefits as long as he remained subservient to her. And if he disobeyed her, he would suffer an irresistible blow.


    Although The Thearch hadn''t really harmed Zhou Wen from beginning to end, Zhou Wen could sense that this wasn''t a good thing.


    In the past, the former principal had once said to Zhou Wen that one needed to respect everyone, but one couldn''t let respect turn into reliance. Otherwise, one would lose the possibility of reaching the pinnacle because the person you relied on was your end.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen wanted to accept this challenge not because he wanted to defeat John, but because he wanted to break the net that The Thearch had weaved over him. He wanted The Thearch to fail once.


    "Alright, since you''ve already decided, I know what to do. I''ll help you choose the location and time. In Luoyang, you won''t be at a disadvantage. No one can use external forces to affect you, but you have to be careful. Don''t underestimate John just because he has lost to you before," An Sheng said seriously.


    "Thank you." Zhou Wen felt a sense of warmth in his heart. An Sheng was truly concerned about him. It had been a long time since someone cared for him.


    An Sheng hung up the phone and turned to say to An Tianzuo, who was sitting behind his desk, "Overseer, Young Master Wen has decided to accept the challenge."


    "Indeed, he''s still too young. Since John dares to come to Luoyang alone, he must have made all the necessary preparations. The battle is extremely dangerous, so there''s no need for him to take the risk," said An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng smiled and asked, "Overseer, if it''s you, would you accept or refuse?"


    "If I accepted it, that''d be because I have the strength to deal with any situation." Although An Tianzuo didn''t give a direct answer, anyone could tell that he would accept it if it were him.


    "I believe Young Master Wen can handle it as well," An Sheng said.


    "I''m just afraid that he will be arrogant and think that he''s invincible after obtaining a Mythical Companion Beast. When that happens, he won''t even know how he died," sneered An Tianzuo.


    It wasn''t An Sheng''s place to say anything else. An Tianzuo paused before saying, "Go and set up the venue. If the empress dowager finds out that he suffered, she''ll probably launch a tirade at me again."


    "Yes." An Sheng accepted the order and left.


    Few people knew that John was going to Luoyang to challenge Zhou Wen, but it spread among the six families. The other families found it odd.


    It hadn''t been long since John''s Essence Energy sea was crippled, but he had recovered so quickly. He even dared to challenge Zhou Wen in Luoyang. Clearly, this was something unusual. Many families were secretly observing the matter.

 526 Figuring Out Flying Immortal

    Strangely, the Cape family seemed to have a rather strange reaction towards John challenging Zhou Wen.


    After some inquiries from the other families, even they didn''t know why John had challenged Zhou Wen.


    "This matter is indeed a little strange. Xuan Yue, spectate the battle." Xia Dongyue said to Xia Xuanyue.


    "Is it necessary?" Xia Xuanyue asked in doubt.


    "Just take it as a vacation." Xia Dongyue smiled.


    The reactions of the families were somewhat different. After investigations, they discovered that John wasn''t challenging Zhou Wen because of the Cape family''s ploy. It was just John acting as an individual. This reduced the attention on the matter.


    Xia Xuanyue packed her stuff and headed to Luoyang.


    Ever since she lost her Mythical Companion Beast, Xia Xuanyue hadn''t been doing well. The Xia family had a higher chance of obtaining a Mythical Companion Beast than the average person thanks to the possession of a Mythical Companion Beast.


    However, it still wasn''t easy to obtain another Mythical Companion Beast. Even the Xia family needed a lot of investigation time before killing a Mythical creature. They needed to be fully prepared before sending their experts out with their Mythical pets. This typically took months.


    And it was uncertain if a Mythical Companion Egg would drop. Even if they obtained a Mythical Companion Egg, with so many people in the Xia family in line for one, it was hard to say when it would be Xia Xuanyue''s turn again.


    The incubation of Mythical Companion Beasts was also a huge problem. Wild Mythical Companion Eggs required too much Essence Energy to incubate. Typical Epic humans wouldn''t be able to withstand it. They needed to use some special methods, and the cost was similarly large.


    After arriving in Luoyang, before the date of the duel, Xia Xuanyue went to a few famous dimensional zones in Luoyang to take a look. One of them was the famous Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Xia Xuanyue proceeded to explore the caves that she could enter. When she arrived at the Lotus Flower Cave, she saw a familiar person battling with the Fairies inside.


    It''s him! Xia Xuanyue instantly recognized that the person battling the Fairies was Zhou Wen.


    She had a deep impression of Zhou Wen. After all, she had previously stopped Zhou Wen from killing the girl. Her Mythical Companion Beast had mysteriously disappeared after that.


    Furthermore, she had come to Luoyang to watch Zhou Wen and John''s duel.


    After watching from the side for a while, Xia Xuanyue realized that rather than a battle, Zhou Wen was imitating the Fairy''s actions.


    It was obvious that Zhou Wen was much stronger than the Fairy. It wouldn''t be difficult for him to kill her, but he didn''t do so. All he did was use a movement technique similar to the Fairy as he constantly circled around her.


    Others became better from imitating and practicing. However, Zhou Wen seemed to become worse. His originally elegant movement technique had turned stiffer and stiffer.


    Xia Xuanyue had seen too many geniuses who improved from learning, but this was the first time she was seeing someone like Zhou Wen who became worse.


    Zhou Wen''s Flying Immortal Stance had always lacked meaning. Since he couldn''t see the scenery of the immortal palace in-game, Zhou Wen decided to come to Lotus Flower Cave to fight the Fairy and directly compare the difference between the Fairy and the Flying Immortal. He wanted to see if he could figure out the reason he couldn''t keep up with it.


    Through actual combat, he could see some differences.


    The Fairy''s movement techniques were the same as the Flying Immortals Zhou Wen saw. They were both elegant and peerless, like fairies dancing in the clouds. Their stances were also very similar.


    The only difference was the intent.


    They were both fairies that flew, and Fairies originated from Buddhism. As for Flying Immortals, they were from Daoism. There was a huge gap between their auras, and it could even be said that they were completely different.


    When Zhou Wen understood this, he immediately felt enlightened. He knew why he felt that something was amiss. It was normal for him to have a barrier when learning the Daoist''s Flying Immortal stance with a Buddhist foundation.


    During his battle with the Fairy, Zhou Wen constantly considered how he could resolve this problem. The more he practiced, the more he realized that the concept of Fairy was completely different from that of a Flying Immortal, maybe even the opposite. If he wanted to master the Flying Immortal Stance, he had to completely change the concept of his movement technique before he could truly master the Flying Immortal stance of Daoism.


    Therefore, while fighting the Fairy, Zhou Wen constantly weakened the similarities between his movement techniques from the Fairy''s, slowly wiping away the concept of the Fairy.


    He planned to first master the Flying Immortal Stance before trying to see if he could fuse the two together.


    This resulted in the situation that Xia Xuanyue saw. Zhou Wen''s movement technique seemed to be getting worse as he practiced. It left Xia Xuanyue puzzled as to what Zhou Wen was doing.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen''s movement technique had become terrible. From Xia Xuanyue''s point of view, the movement technique looked showy, but it lacked charm.


    However, Xia Xuanyue soon realized that Zhou Wen''s movement technique had changed again. His originally stiff movement technique seemed to become elegant again. However, this grace was different from that of a Fairy.


    Strange? It seems to be a Fairy''s movement technique, but why does it feel like the two movement techniques are completely different? Xia Xuanyue could sense a problem.


    It was also an extremely elegant movement technique. The movement techniques of a Fairy had a dancing aura, but Zhou Wen''s movement technique looked even more transcendent. It didn''t have the feeling of decadence.


    Zhou Wen was also pleasantly surprised. After completely erasing the concept of the Fairy movement technique, he realized that the barrier he had previously felt seemed to have vanished. His movement technique became more and more fluid.


    Xia Xuanyue could not help but feel a little surprised. Despite Zhou Wen clearly imitating the Fairy''s movement technique, he was able to cultivate something that was completely different. It was her first time seeing such a person.


    This Zhou Wen is indeed different from the rest. It''s no wonder even a peer like Lance was defeated by him. Xia Xuanyue nodded inwardly.


    Ka-Cha!


    Zhou Wen didn''t plan on killing the Fairy, all he did was pass by the Fairy and the force from his clothes sliced through her body, causing her to die.


    Having lost his opponent, Zhou Wen felt somewhat at a loss. At that moment, he was filled with inspiration and was just about to take another step forward when he suddenly lost his opponent. The inability to unleash his powers made him unable to vent his frustration.


    Just as he was about to head to the depths of the cave to look for another Fairy, even if it was a few Fairy Beasts, he suddenly felt a sharp sword intent piercing through the air.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had been using the Truth Listener earring all this while, but he hadn''t discovered that a person was here. Although this had something to do with his focus while practicing the Flying Immortal Stance, it also meant that the person was not one to be trifled with.


    The sword intent was like a tidal wave. A black-clothed woman used her finger as a sword as she cut through the air. Her figure was like a long beam of light as a cold wind blew.

 527 Path to Snatching Heaven

    Zhou Wen was surprised to see that it was Xia Xuanyue.


    The shocking scene of Xia Xuanyue having her ancient sword forcefully snatched by Demonic Neonate remained fresh in his mind.


    Could it be that Xia Xuanyue knows that I snatched the ancient sword and specially came to settle scores with me? Zhou Wen originally wanted to explain, but Xia Xuanyue''s sword intent was just too powerful and her movement techniques were too fast. He didn''t even have the chance to explain.


    Whether I''m right or wrong, I''ll beat her first. The one with the biggest fist has the final say. Zhou Wen understood the logic and didn''t wish to explain further. He used his newly learned Flying Immortal Stance to fight Xia Xuanyue.


    Xia Xuanyue was many times more powerful than the Fairy. She immediately put immense pressure on Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen wasn''t satisfied to begin with. So the pressure made him feel an indescribable joy as he displayed the Flying Immortal Stance he had learned.


    Xia Xuanyue''s movement technique was a secret art of the Xia family, named "Path to Snatching Heaven." Originally there was no path in the world. Living beings in this world needed to snatch a path from heaven to survive. That was why it had such a strange name as the Path to Snatching Heaven.


    "Fighting all living beings for the space for survival means that only one can survive." This was the first sentence of the Path to Snatching Heaven. Hence, the Xia family''s Path to Snatching Heaven could be said to be a battle for every inch of land. I''ll walk the path you take, leaving you nowhere to go. Thus, the Path to Snatching Heaven''s "snatching" was fully displayed.


    Zhou Wen was initially delighted, but not long after, the carefree feeling vanished without a trace. He felt even more stifled than before.


    Xia Xuanyue''s movement techniques were just too domineering. Zhou Wen could only use half his movement techniques most of the time before the subsequent variations were made impossible by Xia Xuanyue. Therefore Zhou Wen had to use another move.


    And this was only the beginning. Xia Xuanyue''s movement technique was like a fearless bandit that constantly repressed Zhou Wen, preventing him from completing a single move. Typically, he had no choice but to change his stance midway.


    There was no trace of an immortal air in the Flying Immortal''s stance at all. Even that elegant feeling disappeared. The decadence made one uncomfortable just watching it.


    If others could feel aggrieved seeing this, Zhou Wen felt even worse.


    However, Zhou Wen was the type of person who would take the risk. The more pressure Xia Xuanyue gave him, the more spirited he became. He had to resolve the problem.


    If it were someone with a weak will, they would probably give up on such a battle and fight Xia Xuanyue with brute force.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t do that. He continued searching for a way to break through Xia Xuanyue''s suppression.


    Xia Xuanyue became more and more surprised. Zhou Wen was much younger than her¡ªabout ten years. He was about the same age as Xia Bing and company.


    However, Zhou Wen''s determination was far beyond what Xia Bing and company could compare with.


    Under her movement technique, even Xia Bing who was well-versed in the Path to Snatching Heaven could only last for a few minutes at most, and her mental fortitude would waver.


    However, despite having fought her for so long, Zhou Wen remained highly focused. He constantly tried various methods to compete with her. He didn''t shrink back or risk his life irresponsibly. To be able to maintain such a firm attitude despite being constantly suppressed left Xia Xuanyue somewhat astonished.


    It''s no wonder the An family thinks so highly of him. Just this firm willpower alone isn''t something an ordinary person can compare with. Resources can be obtained slowly. Essence Energy Arts, Companion Beasts, and so on can be slowly obtained. However, if a person''s willpower isn''t firm, no matter how many resources they have, it will be very difficult for them to achieve anything. If Zhou Wen doesn''t perish, he will definitely be a candidate to become a Mythical. Xia Xuanyue marveled inwardly.


    Under Xia Xuanyue''s suppression, Zhou Wen''s Flying Immortal Stance constantly improved, becoming more and more otherworldly.


    His heart calmed down as the pressure Xia Xuanyue exerted on him decreased.


    When Xia Xuanyue saw that her Path to Snatching Heaven''s pressure on Zhou Wen was reducing, she raised the strength of her sword technique, instantly pressurizing Zhou Wen.


    However, this pressure didn''t last long. Zhou Wen gradually stabilized the situation. His movement technique was becoming more and more extraordinary. It had the feeling of him ascending to the heavens, completely different from the previous Fairy movement technique.


    Xia Xuanyue''s expression turned serious too. Xia Xuanyue, who had not used her Life Soul, started using her Life Soul.


    A vertical eye appeared between her eyebrows. The eye did not have a pupil, but it was as clean as a mirror.


    The moment Xia Xuanyue''s Life Soul appeared, Zhou Wen, who had stabilized the situation, was at a disadvantage.


    This time, Zhou Wen felt like he was lacking in strength. No matter how he changed his movement technique or how perfectly he used the Flying Immortal Stance, he was still firmly suppressed by Xia Xuanyue.


    The sword and person sent Zhou Wen into a repeated retreat. Even his path of retreat was sealed. It made Zhou Wen feel like he was trapped in a battle of beasts.


    No¡­ It still doesn''t work¡­ Zhou Wen realized that no matter how he changed his movement technique, Xia Xuanyue seemed to be able to predict his movements and seal off all possibilities. It made Zhou Wen feel like a bird in a cage, or like a monkey in Buddha''s palm. He couldn''t escape no matter what.


    This pressure was different from fighting a powerful Mythical creature. In his battle against a Mythical creature, he knew he was no match for it, so he could only do his best.


    However, when facing Xia Xuanyue, he clearly felt that his strength was not any weaker than hers, but he felt as though he was restricted in every manner. It was as though countless invisible threads bound him, making it impossible for him to unleash his strength.


    This sort of stifling feeling was worse than not having the ability to fight.


    The Slaughterer Life Soul boosted Zhou Wen''s strength and speed, but it still wasn''t enough to break through Xia Xuanyue''s attacks. After repeatedly retreating, Zhou Wen was forced deep into the cave. Behind him was a stone wall, and there was more room for retreat.


    Xia Xuanyue''s suppression continued. Even Xia Xuanyue had no choice but to admit that even among her peers, there weren''t many who could last so long under her sword.


    This wasn''t a matter of strength, but the pressure one felt. It was very easy for others to give up on themselves and put their lives on the line.


    And in a true battle between experts, every single move needed to be calculated. The so-called burst of strength and desperation never existed. The more impulsive one was, the more flaws one revealed¡ªit made it easier to die.


    Under extreme circumstances, the best solution was not to risk his life but to calm themselves down. Even when one was bleeding and injured, one had to constantly keep calm and think of a way to solve the problem. That was the only way out.


    Under such pressure, Zhou Wen had already pushed the Flying Immortal Stance to its limits, but he was still unable to match up to Xia Xuanyue. This made him involuntarily think of the female immortal who had torn out of the door.


    Perhaps only such a movement technique can break through the opponent''s suppression. Zhou Wen''s eyes burned as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.

 528 Wanting to Win

    The image of the Fairy tearing out of the entrance had been replayed countless times in Zhou Wen''s mind. It wasn''t difficult to imitate the Fairy''s stance, but it was difficult for him to understand the insights and profundity within.


    Through his understanding of the Flying Immortal Stance, Zhou Wen had gained some understanding of the fairy who tore out of the entrance. However, he didn''t know what effects these insights might have.


    However, he was already in a desperate situation. Zhou Wen couldn''t care less. At the instant Xia Xuanyue''s Sword Technique sealed off all his escape routes, he used Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    This Transcendent Flying Immortal technique was completely different from the previous Transcendent Flying Immortal. Although the moves were the same, the concept was completely different.


    In the past, Transcendent Flying Immortal was extremely domineering, but now, it had a free and unrestrained feeling that transcended the mortal world. If one had to use a single word to describe it, Zhou Wen felt that this was what a true "immortal" was. Immortals in the traditional view of East District definitely weren''t overbearing in a peerless manner.


    Immortals and deities were two completely different concepts. The power represented by deities made them revered by others because of the authority they had in certain aspects; therefore, deities were rulers.


    The Chinese character for ''immortal'' was the word ''human'' and ''mountain'' combined. The original meaning was about people seeking transcendence in the mortals. Immortality was simply a pursuit, a form of growth. From a certain perspective, one could even say that they were completely different from the deities who represented power.


    Previously, Transcendent Flying Immortal was overly domineering and was closer to a deity. Now, the Transcendent Flying Immortal that Zhou Wen was using had the air of an immortal.


    Xia Xuanyue''s Life Soul was known as Catoptric Eyes. It could allow her to enter an extraordinary ethereal state. Under that ethereal state, not only could she strengthen her physique, but it could also allow her to possess the power of clairvoyance. Although she could not really see the future, she could foresee her opponent''s actions, but it was not 100% accurate.


    Relying on the power of the Catoptric Eyes and the Path to Snatching Heaven, coupled with her outstanding sword techniques, Xia Xuanyue was a rather terrifying person in her generation. Some even believed that she could be compared to An Tianzuo, who was about the same age.


    In fact, even amongst the older generation, there weren''t many who could match Xia Xuanyue, let alone her peers.


    Zhou Wen''s performance had already surprised her. His movement technique was already comparable to the top movement techniques of the six families, but that was all.


    Being able to match a top-notch movement technique didn''t mean that he could match a top-notch person. In fact, Zhou Wen''s movement technique wasn''t her match.


    Just as she was about to stop, Xia Xuanyue''s pupils constricted. This was because her Catoptric Eyes suddenly seemed to lose their effect, preventing her from deducing Zhou Wen''s trajectory.


    The Catoptric Eyes weren''t just having bouts of clairvoyance for no reason. An illusion that reflected in her eye constantly predicted her opponent''s reactions, allowing Xia Xuanyue to know what the opponent might do next so that she could be prepared in advance or deal with them in a targeted manner.


    The deduction was extremely fast, just like a computer processing data. Feedback would appear in Xia Xuanyue''s mind in an instant. There was no need for complicated thoughts, as they could be synchronized with the battle.


    However, the present situation was different. The Catoptric Eyes were unable to deduce Zhou Wen''s subsequent reactions. Or rather, there were too many subsequent reactions, so they were pointless as a reference.


    Just like a person walking on a three-pronged road without considering the path they came from, Xia Xuanyue could easily determine which path the person would choose from the two paths. The chance of determining the correct path was very high, and it was also very easy to prepare for it. At most, she could make preparations for both paths.


    But now, Zhou Wen seemed to be standing at a bustling fork with at least a hundred forks. Even if her Catoptric Eyes could deduce all the possibilities, it was meaningless. It would be impossible for Xia Xuanyue to seal off so many subsequent challenges.


    The present Zhou Wen gave Xia Xuanyue such a feeling. His movement techniques appeared unpredictable, and even Xia Xuanyue couldn''t predict his trajectory.


    At that moment, the boundary between the Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Art and the Transcendent Flying Immortal began to blur. There was no longer any difference between movement techniques and attack moves. It could be unleashed as he wished, but it possessed an unfathomable profundity.


    Elegant!


    Xia Xuanyue could only use that word to describe Zhou Wen''s movement technique. Regardless of how domineering her sword techniques and Path to Snatching Heaven were, they didn''t seem to pose a threat to him.


    And Zhou Wen''s casual actions made Xia Xuanyue feel immense pressure. Wherever his clothes passed, cracks would appear in the void.


    Xia Xuanyue realized that she couldn''t keep up with Zhou Wen''s speed.


    She couldn''t help but turn serious. She treated Zhou Wen as an equal, not like before when she only wanted to see what Zhou Wen could accomplish.


    Xia Xuanyue''s movement technique was domineering and Zhou Wen''s movement technique was elegant. The two completely different movement techniques constantly clashed, benefiting Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue greatly.


    In terms of talent, Xia Xuanyue was not weaker than anyone else. Not many people in the Xia Clan could master the Path to Snatching Heaven, and Xia Xuanyue had gained basic mastery when she was just twelve.


    But at her current level, be it her Path to Snatching Heaven movement technique or her own level or realm, she had reached a bottleneck.


    To advance to the Mythical stage from the Epic stage was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. It was already difficult enough to nurture a Mythical pet. It required large amounts of resources, but for humans to advance to the Mythical stage on their own, it was hundreds or thousands of times more difficult than nurturing a Mythical pet.


    There were many members of the six families with resources and talent, but in all these years, how many people could truly advance to the Mythical stage?


    With a perfect Life Soul, unparalleled movement and sword techniques, and a Mythical pet, Xia Xuanyue, who wasn''t even thirty years old, was already standing at the pinnacle of the human race.


    It''s lonely at the top. In Xia Xuanyue''s eyes, it was not a compliment, but a sense of sorrow. She had no path to herself.


    Therefore, even when she lost her Mythical Companion Beast, Xia Xuanyue didn''t think too much about it. This was because she was always stuck. Even if she waited for a few years for a Mythical Companion Beast, things would still be the same. It didn''t make much of a difference to her.


    However, today''s battle with Zhou Wen had stirred up her long-awaited desire for victory and a breakthrough. Even her long-tired thoughts seemed to become active.


    Victory had become a matter of course in the past few years, not a pursuit. However, Xia Xuanyue was trying to win now.

 529 Johns Arrival

    With the sword and body combined, Xia Xuanyue fused her sword techniques and movement techniques into one, no longer separating them from each other. The body was the sword, and the sword was the body. Only then could she resist Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    The two of them gradually realized that although their movement techniques looked completely different and were even diametrically opposite, they also seemed to complement each other.


    The Path to Snatching Heaven was created on the principle of human strength and the concept of taking fate into one''s hands. As for Zhou Wen''s concept of immortal, it was also a product of human pursuit for transcendence.


    However, one was to conquer nature while the other was to return to nature. It could be said that the same pursuit had led to two completely different paths.


    In a battle between two techniques, it was difficult to determine who was better. No one could gain the upper hand.


    Both of them were pursuing a breakthrough and wanted to suppress each other. However, with every bit of insight they gained, they found their opponents were stronger than before. No matter how hard they tried, they could not defeat the other.


    This was the first time they had encountered such a tenacious opponent. Each of them racked their brains, pushed themselves to the limits, and constantly gained revelations and countermeasures.


    The two figures in the Lotus Flower Cave constantly intersected like two streams of light. Wherever the streams of light went, forces such as saber beams and sword beams followed. Just the force produced by the fluttering of clothes could easily cut through rocks, leaving behind marks like sword slashes.


    Wherever the two of them went, the Fairy Beasts and Fairies were torn apart by the blade beams. The surrounding rocks also shattered, and the Lotus Flower Cave was battle-scarred.


    Zhou Wen had already grasped the concept of the fairy who tore through the entrance. He could perfectly match it with Transcendent Flying Immortal, but he had ultimately failed to defeat Xia Xuanyue. He couldn''t help but wonder¡­


    I wonder if it''ll work if I fuse the two different concepts of Fairy and Flying Immortal into Transcendent Flying Immortal! Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    This was definitely a crazy and bold idea. The moves were the same, but the concepts were different. It might not be impossible.


    Zhou Wen''s mind was constantly bubbling as he waited for the opportunity.


    Xia Xuanyue was also pondering. The Xia family was originally an ancient family in the East District. Before the dimensional storms, they had a deep cultural heritage.


    Therefore, after the dimensional storms, the Xia family received Essence Energy Arts early. There were even many Essence Energy Arts and techniques that the Xia family had learned from ancient culture.


    However, they didn''t know that even without the Xia family''s hero, they wouldn''t be any weaker.


    Therefore, the Xia family had the confidence to abandon the famous Invincible Connate Divine Art. This was because even without the Invincible Connate Divine Art, the Essence Energy Art that the Xia family possessed was enough to make them stand tall in the world of experts.


    The Essence Energy Art that Xia Xuanyue cultivated was one of the Essence Energy Arts that the Xia family had learned in ancient culture. It was called the "Great Emperor Sutra."


    However, as it was derived from ancient culture, it wasn''t as complete as a ready-made Essence Energy Art. After generations of the Xia family researched and improved it, the Great Emperor Sutra was completed in Xia Xuanyue''s generation, with the Mortal, Legendary, and Epic stage done.


    However, after reaching the Epic stage, no one knew how to proceed. The Great Emperor Sutra did not have any subsequent followup, so they had to rely on themselves to figure things out.


    Xia Xuanyue had been studying the Great Emperor Sutra, but her improvement was limited. In the past couple of years, she had completely stopped progressing. Even though she had read a lot of ancient books, trying to find a direction for a breakthrough through was minuscule.


    However, the battle with Zhou Wen gave Xia Xuanyue new ideas.


    How difficult is it to snatch paths from the Heavens? As the leader of the human race, the Emperor is the one who will face Heaven''s Path most directly¡­ A thought was sprouting in Xia Xuanyue''s mind.


    The two figures continued to clash. Suddenly, the two of them seemed to come to a tacit understanding and simultaneously withdrew from the battle. Both of them stood at the end of the cave and stared at their opponent. There seemed to be a strange energy brewing within their bodies, like the calm before the storm.


    They were in one of the dimensionalized Lotus Flower Caves. On top of the cave was an intricate lotus flower pattern, and there was even a Fairy flying around it.


    As the two of them stood in silence, a distorted space suddenly appeared in the middle of the lotus flower pattern. A creature emerged from the lotus flower, appearing right in the middle of the two of them.


    It was a Fairy. When the Fairy appeared, a terrifying power suddenly erupted from within the cave.


    In an instant, the Fairy seemed to be sliced apart by countless sword beams, turning into fragments. Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue''s auras were also stirred as they moved involuntarily.


    Zhou Wen''s body went from extreme stillness to extreme movement as he instantly streaked across the void. He looked elegant and graceful, but it made it impossible for anyone to react.


    Despite being visible to the naked eye, one''s brain was unable to fire the order to react. One could only watch as the figure flitted away. The despair was enough to destroy a person''s soul.


    However, not only did Xia Xuanyue react, but she also took a step forward. The sword intent on her seemed to shatter the heavens. With unparalleled conviction, she faced Zhou Wen''s terrifying strike.


    Blood bloomed like flowers!


    Xia Xuanyue''s finger stopped at Zhou Wen''s glabella. As for Zhou Wen''s finger, it was stuck to Xia Xuanyue''s swan-like neck. Drops of blood slid down their fingers.


    ¡­


    John had come to Luoyang again. This was not his first time here, but his mood was completely different from the last time he came.


    Zhou Wen, it''s time for you to pay the price for your actions. John walked on Luoyang''s streets. His handsome angel-like face attracted the attention of the passers-by.


    There were many handsome men, but they had never seen anyone as handsome as John.


    However, John was completely different from the princely gentleman he used to be. There was no expression on his face, and he was as perfect as a sculpture. His every move was elegant and dignified.


    "Mr. John, welcome to Luoyang." An Sheng stood in front of the car and greeted John with a smile.


    Although he wasn''t as handsome as John, for some reason he didn''t seem to pale in comparison when standing in front of him.


    Two girls who stood on the street opposite them were momentarily lost as to who was more charming.


    "Where''s Zhou Wen?" John looked at An Sheng and asked coldly. It was as though he held zero concern about anyone apart from Zhou Wen.

 530 Divine Skill

    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and looked at the blood-colored avatar''s information with his mysterious phone. He had a smile that appeared as though he had hit the lottery.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal: Mythical


    Just one word made Zhou Wen feel sweet inside and out. The Dragon Gate Fairy Skill and Dragon Gate Flying Immortal Skill he had learned previously had vanished, leaving behind only one Transcendent Flying Immortal skill.


    Furthermore, this skill didn''t have any rank. What was even more strange was that there wasn''t any Essence Energy consumption.


    However, Zhou Wen soon understood why Transcendent Flying Immortal didn''t have any Essence Energy expenditure. This was because he could use it as he wished. He could freely control how much Essence Energy he expended, so there was naturally no limit to it.


    If only advancing to the Mythical stage could be as simple as that, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    Unfortunately, his Life Soul hadn''t advanced to the Perfect stage yet. It was too early to think about the Mythical stage. His most important Life Soul, Slaughterer, was still in its Primordial Body form and had yet to advance.


    Regardless, having a divine skill raises my strength greatly. If I can train all my skills to a divine level, I''ll be really impressive. Zhou Wen tried some other skills and realized that it would be difficult for him to train his skills to Rank 10, much less advance to a Mythical level.


    In fact, although a divine skill was much easier than advancing to the Mythical stage, not everyone could comprehend a divine skill at the Epic stage.


    The reason Zhou Wen was able to comprehend it was partly because of his talent and partly because he had sufficient resources. If he didn''t have so many foundation skills or hadn''t watched the phenomenon of the fairy tearing out of the entrance, it would be impossible for him to advance to the Mythical level.


    Another important reason was that his opponent was powerful enough. Moreover, his opponent''s technique was a perfect match for his Transcendent Flying Immortal. Both sides had gained new insights before he advanced to the Mythical level.


    Zhou Wen guessed that Xia Xuanyue''s move had probably advanced to the Mythical level as well. However, she didn''t have the mysterious phone to read the information about herself. Even so, she likely knew deep down what had happened.


    The heritage of the six families is truly terrifying. Just any random woman has such capabilities. Zhou Wen increasingly felt that the six families had a strong foundation.


    However, he was thinking too much. Xia Xuanyue was a top expert among the six families. They weren''t as common as Zhou Wen imagined.


    Just as he was admiring his divine skill, his phone suddenly rang. It was An Sheng.


    Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng meant that since John had dared to come to Luoyang alone, he definitely wasn''t completely unprepared. He was also reminding Zhou Wen to be careful.


    How could An Sheng know that Zhou Wen was more careful than he imagined? This was because Zhou Wen knew that he wasn''t only facing John, but also the terrifying Thearch.


    "Where''s the battle location? What time is it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Tomorrow. It''ll be held in the city''s arena. The venue has been set up. We definitely won''t let any external forces affect your battle with John. You can rest assured about this. We''ve even invited the Zhang family and the Xia family to watch the battle as witnesses to prevent the Cape family from making an issue afterward. People from the Dugu family will also come, but they haven''t arrived yet. They may appear tomorrow." An Sheng explained the general situation.


    "Ah Sheng, have you met John? Do you feel that he''s different from before?" When Zhou Wen asked this question, he was thinking about the words The Thearch had accidentally sent him.


    "He''s indeed a little different. He looks very confident and his aura is very strong. It''s far from the standard of a Legendary. This person is definitely not simple," An Sheng said.


    "Nothing else?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "What else?" An Sheng didn''t know what Zhou Wen was referring to.


    "Do you feel that John''s looks, temper, or voice are different from before?" Zhou Wen didn''t know how to put it.


    "His temper could be a little different from before. He looks cold, as though he doesn''t care about anything. He''s like a high and mighty god. The way he looks at us is like looking at ants," An Sheng said after some thought.


    "It''s not that. Let''s put it this way. Don''t you feel that he''s a little effeminate?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Not really," An Sheng said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen thought, Could it be that The Thearch''s message wasn''t sent to John?


    An Sheng said that he would pick Zhou Wen up tomorrow. He told him to make preparations for battle.


    ¡­


    The biggest arena in Luoyang was mainly used for Companion Beasts to battle. It was mostly a performance-type battle, but the military had sealed the arena today. Only a few people who were invited could enter the arena.


    Xia Xuanyue was among the crowd. As soon as she entered the arena, she saw a man with a sword on his back standing in front of the guardrail of the arena.


    Dugu Ge? Xia Xuanyue was slightly surprised to see the man. She never expected him to come to Luoyang.


    Dugu Ge was slightly older than Xia Xuanyue and An Tianzuo by a few years. He had just reached his thirties and Xia Xuanyue had always heard about this legend.


    Among the six families, Dugu Ge had a very special nickname: "The only man in the Dugu family who doesn''t cower."


    It wasn''t that the men of the Dugu family were really cowardly. However, they specialized in movement techniques, so when others fought with the Dugu family, they couldn''t even touch their bodies. It was extremely depressing and humbling, which was why they mocked the Dugu family for being cowardly.


    In such a family clan, Dugu Ge was quite different. He didn''t use his movement techniques to win battles. When he was out traveling, he had defeated the six families and made them accept the loss wholeheartedly. Among those around the same age as Dugu Ge, no one could beat him.


    Unfortunately, Dugu Ge was a little older than them and didn''t join the battle between An Tianzuo and the six families'' younger generation. The six families believed that Dugu Ge was definitely no weaker than An Tianzuo and might even be stronger.


    Back when Dugu Ge went to the Xia family to challenge them, Xia Xuanyue was only ten years old. However, she had a deep impression of him because even her cousin, whom she had idolized since she was young, was unable to defeat Dugu Ge.


    In recent years, she had rarely heard of Dugu Ge. She heard that he spent time conquering a large dimensional zone in the South District. She never expected to see him here.


    "I remember you. You''re Loser''s sister, right?" Dugu Ge looked at Xia Xuanyue and recalled.


    "My brother''s name is Xia Liuchuan, not Loser." Xia Xuanyue said in a depressed tone.


    "It''s all the same." Dugu Ge said that and turned to look at the arena. He saw a handsome man standing in the arena.


    "That young man from the Cape''s family is very scary," Dugu Ge said to Xia Xuanyue.


    Xia Xuanyue was slightly surprised. She didn''t expect Dugu Ge to have such a high opinion of John. It was truly terrifying for Dugu Ge to say the word ''scary''.

 531 Inside the Cocoon

    Xia Xuanyue could not help but look at John. Although he used to have the title of Saint, titles were just a joke in the six families.


    Ignoring Xia Xuanyue''s generation, even amongst John''s peers, there was also a freak like Lance. John paled in comparison.


    Now that John had actually been praised by Dugu Ge, Xia Xuanyue could not help but take a closer look at him.


    John stood in the arena like an ancient Greek statue. Despite just standing there, he gave off a beautiful, holy feeling. His aura was indeed very strong, making him likely to be at the Epic stage. However, Xia Xuanyue did not know what horror Dugu Ge was referring to.


    "Why do you say that?" Xia Xuanyue walked up to Dugu Ge and asked curiously.


    "He has a special power," Dugu Ge said as he looked at John.


    "Special?" Xia Xuanyue did not understand what Dugu Ge meant by special.


    Many Essence Energy Arts, Essence Energy Skills, Pets, Life Providences, and Life Souls could be called special powers. This description was just too general.


    Dugu Ge said, "I entered a dimensional zone with Loser. In that dimensional zone, I found a black cocoon. Did he tell you about it?"


    "No, but I''ve heard of such cocoons. The six families have similar records. There will be similar cocoons in certain mysterious dimensional zones. However, there will be powerful Mythical creatures nearby. No one knows what''s inside the cocoons. Most people have guessed that they might be the descendants of Mythical creatures," said Xia Xuanyue.


    "No, they are definitely not the descendants of ordinary Mythical creatures. Back then, Loser and I cracked a black cocoon and saw the creature inside. It was completely different from the Mythical creature that protected it. It was an even more terrifying existence," Dugu Ge said as his gaze landed on John. He said affirmatively, "There''s a similar aura on John, but it''s not quite the same."


    "What kind of creature is it? Why has my brother never mentioned it?" Xia Xuanyue asked.


    "I don''t know. We originally thought that with our strength and Mythical pets, it wouldn''t be difficult for us to take the black cocoon even if we couldn''t defeat the Mythical creature guarding it. In the end, we used all our strength and only managed to crack open a tiny hole. We were nearly killed by the creature outside the black cocoon. As for the creature inside the black cocoon, it just waved its hand," Dugu Ge paused before continuing, "and Loser suffered serious injuries. You can say that we barely escaped death. He recuperated at my house for nearly six months before he recovered."


    "It was probably then. Anyone who has seen such a terrifying creature would not be indifferent. However, it was too dangerous. He probably didn''t want you to worry and was afraid that you would stop him from going again. That''s why he didn''t tell you," said Dugu Ge.


    "You''re saying that John has the aura of that kind of creature?" Xia Xuanyue looked at John with a strange expression.


    "Yes, but it''s different. I''m not sure if it''s the same aura," Dugu Ge said.


    "What are you talking about?" A voice came from behind. A long-haired man in a robe walked over.


    The man looked ordinary, but his eyes were exceptionally good-looking. They weren''t considered big, nor were they double eyelids, but the contours were especially aesthetic.


    "Zhang Chunqiu, why are you willing to come out?" Dugu Ge looked at the man in surprise.


    Dugu Ge hadn''t lost when he challenged the young scions of the six families years ago. However, there were also people who could fight him to a draw. Zhang Chunqiu was one of them.


    In that era, the geniuses of the six families were numerous. They were known as the Golden Generation. Perhaps that generation had used up all the luck of the six families, and with four to five years as a demarcation line, the number of outstanding people who were born after that was few and far between. When it came to John''s generation, only Lance was outstanding, while the others were lacking.


    On the contrary, amazing geniuses outside of the six great family clans appeared.


    "The An family requested our Zhang family to bear witness, so I came." Zhang Chunqiu walked to Dugu Ge''s side and sat down in the spectator stand.


    "Over such a small event, you came instead of Zhang Xiao?" Dugu Ge didn''t believe it.


    "The world hasn''t been peaceful recently, and the Fiend Tomb has been stirring. With the appearance of the black cubes, I feel like something big is about to happen, so I came out to take a look," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    "Something happened with the Fiend Tomb?" Dugu Ge and Xia Xuanyue were shocked.


    They knew that the Zhang family had been guarding the Fiend Tomb for years. Many generations of people had ended up being buried there, which was why the creatures in the Fiend Tomb were unable to cause trouble in the human world.


    If something really happened to the Fiend Tomb, the Zhang family would definitely be affected.


    "It''s temporarily stabilized, so I can come out for a walk." Zhang Chunqiu''s gaze landed on John, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "This John has something interesting about him."


    "You can tell, too?" Dugu Ge sat down beside Zhang Chunqiu.


    Xia Xuanyue also sat down. Compared to Zhang Chunqiu and Dugu Ge''s generation, her talent and strength were not inferior. However, she lacked their experience.


    Years ago, there were very few Mythical Companion Eggs amongst the six families. It was unlike now where they could just give Xia Xuanyue a Mythical Companion Egg.


    Back then, if they wanted a Mythical Companion Egg, they had to take the risk in the dimensional zones. This resulted in a difference in experience.


    However, their generation was also the most tragic generation when it came to deaths. Very few managed to retrieve Mythical Creatures alive.


    "I just came to take a look since it''s along the way. I didn''t expect to see anything so interesting. However, his opponent is a little weak. I wonder if he can force that thing out," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    "Not necessarily. Although I don''t know how terrifying that thing is, John''s opponent is definitely not weak," Xia Xuanyue said.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled. "Zhou Wen should be Wang Mingyuan''s student, right? Speaking of which, I really wanted to meet Wang Mingyuan. Unfortunately, I missed the opportunity."


    Dugu Ge said, "To be able to defeat Lance, he can''t be weak. However, he hasn''t had much time to grow. I wonder how far he has progressed."


    As the trio spoke, Zhou Wen entered the venue. Everyone couldn''t help but look over.

 532 The Appearance of the Six-Winged Seraphim

    "Tsk, look at his Life Providence. He''s indeed extraordinary. It''s not easy to have one even among the six families," Zhang Chunqiu said with narrowed eyes as he sized up Zhou Wen.


    "This person''s aura is deep and reserved, and his eyes are resolute. If he doesn''t die, he will definitely be able to achieve something in the future." Dugu Ge nodded.


    "In recent years, outstanding talents have appeared from all over the world. On the contrary, although there are many talented people born in our six families, they lack the light from providence and perseverance," Zhang Chunqiu sighed.


    Xia Xuanyue and Dugu Ge remained silent. What Zhang Chunqiu said was something that they were all worried about. The six families seemed to be getting worse with each generation, and they no longer seemed favored by providence.


    However, this was a problem that no one could solve. If one''s son was lacking, the father could only worry.


    "Zhou Wen, we finally meet again." John was standing quietly in the square with his eyes closed. The moment Zhou Wen stepped into the venue, he opened his eyes and stared intently at him.


    "I don''t want to see you that much." As Zhou Wen spoke, he couldn''t help but glance at John''s crotch.


    Fortunately, he couldn''t see anything through his clothes. Of course, Zhou Wen only subconsciously took a glance. He didn''t really want to see anything that burned his eyes, so he didn''t use Truth Listener''s hearing ability to take a gander at that spot.


    "From today onwards, you probably won''t have the chance to see me again. Today, I''m going to make you repay what you owe me and my sister, along with the interest. I''ll let you have a taste of having your Essence Energy sea crippled. That feeling of living a life worse than death," John said coldly.


    "I''m afraid I''ll disappoint you," Zhou Wen said firmly.


    It was easy to kill Zhou Wen, but it was impossible to cripple his Essence Energy sea because he didn''t have any.


    John didn''t say a word as he walked towards Zhou Wen.


    An Sheng led many soldiers to guard the stands and he watched every action.


    In the An family''s study, An Tianzuo was watching the battle through the surveillance footage from his phone.


    In the cave in Chess Mountain, The Thearch was also looking at her phone. The scene was the same as An Tianzuo''s phone.


    "You won''t be able to escape from my palm." Upon seeing Zhou Wen on the screen, The Thearch''s seductive eyes narrowed slightly.


    "Zhou Wen, accept the judgment of God," John said as he raised his hand up high. Holy light spewed out from his hand and transformed into a towering Blade of Holy Light that slashed down at Zhou Wen. It was the famous Holy Light Judgment of the Cape family. One had to possess the hero bloodline of the Cape family to cultivate this terrifying Essence Energy Skill.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of retreating. He also raised his arm and slashed out a blood-colored wheel. It was none other than the Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The blood-red wheel of light collided with the Blade of Holy Light and shattered with a terrifying explosion. The light blade and the light wheel tore apart, forming a shock wave that directly lifted the ground of the arena. The surface of the steel-concrete structure ebbed like a wave.


    With just one strike, the ground was destroyed.


    "Not bad. At this age, he has already reached the Epic stage. He''s much stronger than we were back then," said Zhang Chunqiu with a smile.


    Dugu Ge nodded slightly. "He''s indeed very strong. I wonder if he has a Mythical Companion Beast?"


    "It''s hard to say. An Tianzuo is a little terrifying. Perhaps he can get a Mythical Companion Egg for Zhou Wen," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    In the arena, John waved his arms. He repeatedly cast Holy Light Judgment attacks at him. Such a terrifying power seemed to be casually unleashed.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of drawing his saber. At the same time, he brandished the Demonic Astral Wheel to fight John, shattering all the Holy Light Judgment attacks.


    Dugu Ge and the others originally thought that such a battle would not last for long because the Holy Light Judgment consumed a huge amount of Essence Energy. Even with the hero bloodline and constitution of the Cape family, it was impossible to use it multiple times.


    Although they had never seen Zhou Wen''s Essence Energy Skill before, it was clearly an extremely draining Essence Energy Skill for it to be able to resist the Holy Light Judgment. It also couldn''t be delivered forever.


    But soon, they were surprised to discover that both John and Zhou Wen were able to continuously slash out Essence Energy Skills without any signs of exhaustion. In a blink of an eye, more than ten Holy Light Judgment attacks and Demonic Astral Wheels were slashed out.


    The entire arena was a mess. The terrifying collision created huge craters in the ground.


    Seeing that Holy Light Judgment couldn''t gain the upper hand, John didn''t plan on continuing. He stopped and stared at Zhou Wen. "I never expected you to come this far. It looks like I''ve underestimated you."


    "Your improvement isn''t slow either, but is that all?" Zhou Wen stared at John.


    Although repeated unleashing of such Essence Energy attacks was indeed very powerful, it was nothing to Zhou Wen.


    If John had really contacted The Thearch, his strength wouldn''t be that simple. After all, The Thearch knew that Zhou Wen had two Mythical pets¡ªSix-Winged and Truth Listener.


    Under such circumstances, The Thearch still believed that he was no match for John and even wanted him to beg for mercy at Chess Mountain. No matter how he thought about it, it was impossible for John''s strength to be limited to this.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen also sensed a familiar yet unfamiliar aura from John.


    John didn''t fly into a rage because of Zhou Wen''s provocation. His expression didn''t change as he looked up at the sky and said, "Zhou Wen, you were indeed stronger than me in the past. You are indeed a genius. Even I have to admire you for reaching such a level in such a short period of time."


    "What you said is rather pertinent," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    John continued expressionlessly, "But it''s different now. No matter how talented you are and how hard you work, you''re ultimately a mere mortal."


    "As for me, I''m the one chosen by God. I''ll become God." John''s eyes turned fervent as a terrifying holy light rose from his body. White holy light illuminated the entire arena. The ordinary soldiers could not even open their eyes.


    "What''s that? A Mythical Companion Beast?" When the light weakened, everyone stared at the spot behind John in shock.


    A six-winged seraphim with holy light was floating behind him.


    When the ordinary soldiers saw the six-winged seraphim, they actually had the urge to kneel and worship it.


    Dugu Ge and Zhang Chunqiu looked at each other and saw the surprise and excitement in each other''s eyes. They had clearly realized something.


    Zhou Wen also stared at the six-winged seraphim. He also sensed that there was something amiss with the six-winged seraphim''s aura. It wasn''t an ordinary Companion Beast, but it was somewhat similar to the creatures inside the white cocoons.


    "What a terrifying aura. Is it a Mythical Companion Beast?" Xia Xuanyue had never seen the creatures inside the cocoons, so she naturally didn''t know what it was.


    "No, that''s an existence even more terrifying than a Mythical Companion Beast," said Dugu Ge.


    "Could it be¡­" Xia Xuanyue immediately guessed what it was.

 533 Mythical Power

    John opened his arms as though he was hugging the sky. The six-winged seraphim transformed into feathers that flew towards his body, turning into an angel armor that enveloped John''s body.


    However, that angelic armor seemed to grow on John''s body and had already become a part of him. The six wings of the seraphim angel unfurled behind him, exuding a holy glow. Together with the holy armor and his handsome face, he really looked like a god.


    Everyone''s eyes were focused on John. Even a blind man could sense the terrifying energy fluctuations emanating from him.


    "Is that the creature inside the cocoon? It doesn''t look like a Companion Beast, but it seems different from ordinary dimensional creatures." Xia Xuanyue frowned as she pondered.


    Dugu Ge and Zhang Chunqiu looked at John without saying a word, but the look in their eyes was a little strange.


    An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen worriedly. John''s situation was indeed a little odd. He wasn''t sure if Zhou Wen could handle it.


    An Tianzuo looked at the surveillance footage on his phone and frowned.


    The six angelic wings on John''s back flapped slightly as his body floated in midair. He looked coldly at Zhou Wen and said, "Zhou Wen, I''ll tell you now what the difference between a god and a human is."


    With that said, John extended his hand and aimed his palm at Zhou Wen.


    John shot out a beam of light from his palm. It was unbelievably fast, as though it was holy light that could destroy everything.


    Boom!


    The entire arena exploded like a volcanic eruption. The protective shield shattered and the arena shook.


    "Mythical power," Dugu Ge said with a serious expression.


    "It''s indeed power at the Mythical stage." Zhang Chunqiu nodded slightly.


    Xia Xuanyue had had a Mythical Companion Beast before and knew that John''s strike was definitely at the Mythical stage. She couldn''t help but be alarmed.


    The strength at the Mythical stage wasn''t new, but typically speaking, it was released from a Mythical Companion Beast. However, John released the strike himself; it wasn''t a Companion Beast''s strength.


    There was a huge difference. No matter how powerful a Companion Beast was, it was only a tool. It was like a firearm. The person who used the firearm didn''t become stronger.


    But now, John displayed strength that showed that he had become much stronger. Not only did he improve his destructive power, but his physical constitution had also increased to another level.


    The explosion dimmed and everyone immediately realized that Zhou Wen hadn''t been injured by the terrifying force. A gigantic white six-winged dragon appeared in front of him. It was the dragon that had blocked John''s attack.


    "Six-Winged Guardian Dragon? So that''s Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast!" Dugu Ge said in surprise.


    Inside Chess Mountain, The Thearch saw Zhou Wen''s Six-Winged Guardian Dragon through the video on her phone. She curled her lips and said, "Isn''t it a little too naive to use a Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to fight a Guardian?"


    John looked at the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and said coldly, "So that Six-Winged Guardian Dragon belongs to you. Unfortunately, even if you have a powerful Mythical pet, it''s impossible to change the fate of defeat."


    With that said, John made the sign of the cross on the front of his chest. The six wings on his back glowed brightly as terrifying energy fluctuations condensed once again, bursting forth with even more terrifying light waves than before.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon roared as the sanctified body burst forth with a blazing-white flame, colliding with John''s beam.


    Boom!


    The two forces collided and exploded. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s huge body tore open a deep ditch on the ground. It retreated more than ten meters before finally stopping.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon roared angrily. It flapped its six wings and charged towards John.


    John''s expression did not change, but his body disappeared as if he had teleported. When he reappeared, he was already in front of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Using terrifying holy light, his fist struck the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s chin.


    The massive body of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was thrown in the air by the uppercut.


    John''s figure flashed again and he arrived in front of the Six-Winged Dragon that was rising up like a ray of light. He punched out expressionlessly, causing the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to sway left and right. Dragon blood spewed wildly from its mouth, and finally, John punched its head and sent it flying.


    Boom!


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon crashed into the spectator stands, causing half of the arena to collapse.


    The thing An Sheng was worried about happened in the end. Even the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon couldn''t match John. John, who was floating in the air, was now like a saint that had descended upon the world to represent God.


    "What are your thoughts on this?" Dugu Ge asked Zhang Chunqiu.


    "Very strong, but it''s still within the scope of a Mythical stage," Zhang Chunqiu said after some thought.


    Dugu Ge nodded in agreement before saying, "Unfortunately, Zhou Wen''s Mythical Companion Beast has been defeated. He shouldn''t be able to continue fighting. It will be difficult for him to force out the full strength of that thing."


    "It''s indeed a pity." Zhang Chunqiu also felt that the duel would come to an end.


    "I don''t think Zhou Wen will admit defeat so easily," Xia Xuanyue suddenly said.


    "Although that Six-Winged Guardian Dragon still has the ability to fight, there''s no point in continuing the battle. It will ultimately lose," Dugu Ge said.


    He was mistaken. Xia Xuanyue''s comment about Zhou Wen not admitting defeat wasn''t because the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon still had the ability to do combat. She was referring to Zhou Wen himself.


    However, Xia Xuanyue knew that there was no point in explaining, so she decided not to say anything, and continued watching patiently.


    "Zhou Wen, do you now know the difference between a god and a human? Even if you can advance to the Epic stage and possess a Mythical pet, you are still an ant in front of God." John wasn''t in a hurry to cripple Zhou Wen. He wanted Zhou Wen to completely collapse in despair.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon crawled up from the collapsed pit and roared as it charged forward. However, Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned for it. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon transformed into six Holy Flaming Dragon Wings that appeared behind him.


    Although the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon still had the ability to fight, its Strength, Speed, and other aspects were inferior to John''s. There was no point in continuing the battle.


    "I don''t see a god. I only see a lunatic with greater strength," Zhou Wen said indifferently as he looked at John.


    His words made Dugu Ge laugh. "This Zhou Wen is rather interesting. I''m beginning to like him."


    Zhang Chunqiu also said with a smile, "He''s right. John''s strength has only reached the peak of a divine level, but his realm and technique haven''t reached that stage. It''s indeed a little too arrogant to say that he''s God. However, sometimes, when the difference in strength reaches a certain level, even if the opponent is stupid, it''s still very difficult to win."

 534 Holy Angels Redemption

    Zhou Wen''s words didn''t anger John. John only sneered and said, "Then, let''s give it a try and see how strong the lunatic you''re talking about is."


    With that said, John''s figure instantly appeared in front of Zhou Wen with a flash of light. His palm, brimming with holy light, grabbed at Zhou Wen''s neck at an unbelievable speed.


    The dragon wings on Zhou Wen''s back flapped as he used his movement technique to dodge John''s palm. However, he didn''t have any intention of retaliating. All he did was smile at John.


    "Why don''t you draw your saber?" John asked as he stared at the Bamboo Blade at Zhou Wen''s waist.


    "If I use my saber, you would have already been defeated. What''s the point?" Zhou Wen said seriously.


    "Even I like him a little now. I thought that only people from our Zhang family would be so good at bragging." Zhang Chunqiu laughed.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, An Sheng''s heart relaxed, but he was still worried for him.


    An Tianzuo frowned and muttered to himself, "What an arrogant brat."


    John''s pupils constricted when he heard that, but he didn''t fly into a rage. He just stared coldly at Zhou Wen and said, "I hope you still have the courage to say those words later."


    With that said, without waiting for Zhou Wen to react, holy light erupted from his body. Six angelic wings extended horizontally as his body suspended in the air like a javelin. He looked like a humanoid cross as his whole body emitted a terrifying glow.


    Beams of light erupted from his body, enveloping the entire fighting arena like a storm. Each sword beam contained an unmatchable amount of power of holy.


    Zhou Wen''s expression didn''t change as he flapped his six wings behind him. His body fluttered gracefully amidst the rain of light swords. It didn''t seem as though he was fast, but he managed to dodge the rain of light swords.


    Rumble!


    The light sword rain landed on the ground and blasted the ground. Every light sword had the power of the Mythical stage.


    Zhang Chunqiu suddenly looked at Dugu Ge and said, "Is this Zhou Wen your Dugu family''s illegitimate son?"


    "What do you mean?" Dugu Ge asked with a frown.


    "If not, why would he have such a freakish movement technique? Such a movement technique probably surpasses the other families. Only your Dugu family can compete with him in terms of movement techniques." Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Dugu Ge stared at Zhou Wen for a long while before saying, "His movement technique is indeed impressive, but it''s not our Dugu family''s style."


    "That''s right, but you and I know very well that John''s strength is immensely powerful. These techniques aren''t enough to make up for the gap between them. Under such inequality, it''d be fine even if John made a hundred mistakes. If Zhou Wen makes one mistake, he might die," Dugu Ge said seriously.


    "Let''s wait and see. I just find this Zhou Wen more and more interesting. It''s no wonder he can become friends with my sister," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    "Huh? Your little princess actually has a friend?" Dugu Ge and Xia Xuanyue widened their eyes as if they had heard something unbelievable.


    Zhang Chunqiu seemed to know that he had said something wrong and could only say, "They only met a few times by chance, but their relationship isn''t bad. I came to see what kind of person Zhou Wen is."


    "You were worried that Zhou Wen would get close to your family''s little princess and are afraid that he has other motives, so you came to investigate, right?" Dugu Ge said with a twitch of his lips.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, "Don''t make it sound so bad. I just came to take a look."


    Seeing that the light sword rain wasn''t able to injure Zhou Wen, the angelic wings on John''s back spewed out terrifying flames, propelling his body to move at high speed as he slashed at Zhou Wen with terrifying power.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of retaliating. All he did was constantly use his movement technique to dodge John''s barrage of attacks.


    John''s every strike was extremely terrifying, reducing the arena into pieces. The ordinary soldiers guarding here had already retreated from the arena under An Sheng''s orders. They waited outside the arena while only An Sheng and a few Epic experts remained inside to guard the arena.


    Xia Xuanyue and the rest had no choice but to retreat a little, before reaching the wall at the back of the arena to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the terrifying battle.


    "What a powerful force. The power the six-winged seraphim gave John really makes me envious," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    "No matter how strong the power is, it depends on who''s using it. John clearly doesn''t have the ability to use such power. It''s a complete waste. If it were me, I would have long beaten Zhou Wen to the ground," said Dugu Ge.


    "Not necessarily." Xia Xuanyue unhappily disagreed.


    Zhou Wen''s movement technique had been upgraded alongside her. If Dugu Ge said that Zhou Wen was lacking, wouldn''t it also mean she was lacking?


    Zhang Chunqiu praised, "Zhou Wen''s movement technique is truly powerful. Under such a huge disparity in strength, he hasn''t been injured at all. I''ve only seen such movement techniques in your Dugu family before."


    Under John''s storm-like attacks, Zhou Wen''s body flew up. He didn''t seem to be fast, but John didn''t even touch his clothes.


    John was very calm in the beginning. He wanted to use various techniques and Essence Energy Skills to hit Zhou Wen, but no matter what technique or Essence Energy Skill he used, he failed to injure him at all.


    "Zhou Wen, you should be proud to be able to let me use the power that truly belongs to God." John stopped his attack as his eyes shimmered. The six angelic wings unfurled behind him like a blooming flower.


    "Is it finally coming?" Zhang Chunqiu stopped smiling and stared at John solemnly.


    Dugu Ge''s expression turned serious as he stared at John without a word.


    Xia Xuanyue did the same. They knew very well that physical constitution was only one aspect of the difference between the Mythical stage and the Epic stage. It wasn''t a very important aspect.


    The true gap between the Mythical stage and the Epic stage was the miraculous power of the Wheel of Destiny.


    Although the Wheel of Destiny of every Mythical creature was different, there was a commonality. The miraculous power was something that no living creature under the Mythical stage could withstand.


    The holy light that erupted from John''s body intensified. The six angelic wings on his back turned into an ancient door of light.


    "A miracle¡­ Holy Angel''s Redemption¡­" With John''s mighty voice, the door of light behind him slowly opened, and a brilliant holy light shot out from it.

 535 Are There Conditions?

    The light shone on Zhou Wen as his strength erupted. He wore his heavy armor and soft armor as he attempted to forcefully tank the light.


    However, the resplendent light didn''t harm his body. It only made Zhou Wen feel an irresistible force pulling him towards the door of light.


    Others only saw Zhou Wen being illuminated by the door''s light before flying towards it.


    An Sheng''s expression changed. Although he didn''t know what was inside the door of light, he knew that he couldn''t let Zhou Wen take the risk. He flew into the arena.


    A few Epic officers in charge of managing the situation rushed over with An Sheng.


    "Please stop. I admit defeat for Zhou Wen." As An Sheng charged at Zhou Wen, he shouted at John.


    A cold glint flashed in John''s eyes as the door of light opened. The light shot towards An Sheng and company.


    An Sheng''s gaze focused. At the instant the light scattered, he reached out and pressed down on the ground. His body instantly drilled underground, but the few Epic officers were illuminated by the light. They couldn''t help but fly into the door of light. No matter how they struggled, it was useless.


    An Sheng, who had drilled underground, appeared from another side. The light from the door scattered down again, sucking him up.


    "It''s over. John is indeed at the true Mythical stage. That should be the power of the Wheel of Destiny," Zhao Chunqiu said.


    "It''s truly shocking that the creature inside a cocoon is able to make a person who recently had his Essence Energy sea crippled become a Mythical expert," said Dugu Ge after some thought.


    Xia Xuanyue was hesitant, unsure if she should help Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen tried several methods, but he failed to escape the power of the light. He slowly flew towards the door of light.


    There was a bright divine light inside the door of light. Although he couldn''t see what was inside, he was certain that there would definitely be a great horror there. If he was pulled into it, he would probably die.


    Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification Life Soul didn''t work. Zhou Wen switched his Essence Energy Art to Dao Body, and Zero Taboo immediately lit up like a light bulb.


    Almost at the same time, the irresistible suction force from the light disappeared.


    However, Zhou Wen remained unperturbed as he continued slowly flying towards the door of light.


    "John, do you really want to kill me?" Zhou Wen asked John.


    "You will get off lightly if you just die," John said coldly.


    "If you want to kill me, do it. They have nothing to do with this. Let them go," Zhou Wen added.


    "In that case, it''s either you die or I die today!" Zhou Wen gripped the Bamboo Blade tightly.


    "There''s only your death. I will not die. You don''t have the right to talk about life and death with God. Go to heaven in peace. That''s your final escape." John stood in front of the door of light and stretched out his hand like a messenger welcoming a soul into heaven.


    "I don''t plan on going to a place like heaven. Can you pass the message to the owner of Heaven? Tell him to visit me in the mortal world when he has the time." As Zhou Wen spoke, he had already arrived in front of the door of light. With the Bamboo Blade in hand, he pulled out his saber.


    With all his Strength, Speed, and Essence Energy erupting, he delivered a full-powered strike. Zhou Wen''s figure streaked across the void.


    John''s eyes widened as though he couldn''t believe that Zhou Wen could still launch an attack despite the Holy Angel''s Redemption. He wanted to move and resist the strike.


    However, he realized that although he had seen the saber, his brain''s reaction speed was unable to keep up with it. He could only watch helplessly as the saber sliced at his neck, but he could not move. His face was twisted with horror.


    Almost at the same time Zhou Wen attacked, a white figure with a blood beam behind him tore through the air and landed on the outer wall of the arena. It was none other than An Tianzuo, who had fused with his Life Soul.


    Xia Xuanyue, Dugu Ge, and Zhang Chunqiu also looked at Zhou Wen''s strike in shock. According to what they knew, a creature that wasn''t a Mythical existence should not have the ability to resist a Wheel of Destiny''s miracle. They found it unbelievable that Zhou Wen could actually swing his saber amidst the miracle.


    Furthermore, the strike was so fast and stunning. It seemed to exceed the speed of the Epic stage. Only Xia Xuanyue understood that Zhou Wen''s move had reached the level of a Mythical technique.


    John was too close to Zhou Wen. Even though he had divine-level speed, he still couldn''t dodge Zhou Wen''s strike.


    However, she was also astonished. Even if it was a divine technique, it was impossible for it to violate the miraculous power of the Wheel of Destiny. There had to be other reasons why Zhou Wen could slash out with his saber in the Holy Angel''s Redemption. Even Xia Xuanyue couldn''t guess the reason.


    Wherever the blade beam passed, red blood bloomed like flowers on the parts of John''s neck that weren''t protected by the angel armor.


    John covered his neck with his hand as he stared at Zhou Wen in disbelief. The six angelic wings on his back had stopped circulating as the door of light shattered and dissipated.


    An Sheng and the others who had been sucked up by the light recovered their control and landed in the ruined arena. They looked at Zhou Wen and John in shock.


    John held his neck, but blood continued gushing out. He wanted to say something and opened his mouth but did not make a sound. Blood gushed out.


    The ferocious-looking John suddenly released the hand that was covering his neck and pounced at Zhou Wen, as though he wanted to fight him to the death.


    However, when he pounced at Zhou Wen, the angelic armor on his body automatically dispelled and returned to the six-winged seraphim form as it floated in the air.


    Having lost the power of the six-winged seraphim, John, who was already badly injured, fell from the sky before he could reach Zhou Wen.


    Boom!


    John slammed heavily onto the ground and struggled to get up. His eyes stared intently at the six-winged seraphim who floated in the air. He was filled with confusion, puzzlement, anger, indignation, and many other emotions.


    The six-winged seraphim that he had relied on, had betrayed him at the last moment.


    "In the name of an angel, I bestow upon you the right to be protected. Human, are you willing to fight me and make me your guardian?"


    John spat out a few mouthfuls of blood when he heard the six-winged seraphim''s words. He never expected such a thing to happen. He had abandoned everything to gain the six-winged seraphim as his guardian. Now, it had abandoned him to pledge its allegiance with Zhou Wen.


    "Are there conditions for you to become my guardian?" Zhou Wen''s mind flashed with The Thearch''s words as he subconsciously asked.


    "There are no conditions. As long as you are willing, I will become your guardian and bestow you with the power of God," the six-winged seraphim replied without hesitation.


    Pfft!


    When John heard this, he could no longer hold it in. He stood up abruptly and widened his eyes. He stretched out his trembling fingers and pointed at the six-winged seraphim in the sky. He opened his mouth as though he wanted to curse, but when he opened it again, blood spewed out and splattered everywhere.

 536 Guardian

    "Guardians are born to fight. If you lose in battle, what''s the point of me staying with you? As long as you have the ability to fight again, I will always protect you," the six-winged seraphim said.


    "What you said makes sense. Then what should I do to make you my guardian?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "It''s very simple. All you need to do is drip a drop of blood into my palm and then let me complete the ritual," the six-winged seraphim said as he extended his palm.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen cut his finger and extended his hand towards the six-winged seraphim''s palm. Seeing the drop of blood on his finger about to land on the six-winged seraphim''s palm, the Bamboo Blade in his left hand slashed at the six-winged angel''s neck like a bolt of lightning.


    Clang!


    The wings behind the six-winged seraphim protected his body like an umbrella, blocking Zhou Wen''s strike. At the same time, he rapidly retreated.


    "Human, you are too emotional." The six-winged seraphim moved backward.


    Zhou Wen slashed at the six-winged seraphim again and again. The six-winged seraphim was different from Companion Beasts. Companion Beasts were completely controlled by their owners, but the six-winged seraphim could abandon its master and had its own consciousness. No matter how powerful he was, Zhou Wen wouldn''t take him along with him.


    He had too many secrets. In the future, once the six-winged seraphim betrayed him, those secrets would be exposed. Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t let such a thing happen.


    Zhou Wen used Transcendent Flying Immortal in a bid to kill the six-winged seraphim, but he realized that without John''s control, the six-winged seraphim was even stronger than when John used him. His figure moved in midair, leaving behind afterimages. Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal could only slash at his phantom. After slashing several times, he had failed to touch the six-winged seraphim.


    "Human, you will soon learn what you have missed. When the time comes, you will regret everything you have done today." The six-winged seraphim flew backward, but his speed was terrifyingly fast. He flapped his six wings and left the arena as though he had teleported, disappearing very quickly.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he looked at John and found that he had already fainted. An Sheng''s men were checking his injuries.


    "How do you plan on disposing of him?" An Sheng walked to Zhou Wen''s side and asked.


    "What do you think?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The video of your conversation with him was recorded. Even if you kill him, it''s just self-defense. The Cape family can''t say anything. However, killing him is meaningless. If you don''t mind, I hope to let him live and obtain information about the six-winged seraphim from him," An Sheng whispered.


    On the outer wall of the arena, Zhang Chunqiu looked at An Tianzuo, who was dressed in military uniform, and said with a smile, "Overseer An, congratulations to your An family for obtaining another powerful general."


    "He''s just an ordinary student at Sunset College. He''s not worthy of Brother Zhang''s claim of general," An Tianzuo said indifferently before saying, "If the three of you don''t mind, why don''t you come to my place to have some tea?"


    "That''d be lovely, I have something to say to you," Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    Dugu Ge and Xia Xuanyue agreed to go as well. They probably knew why An Tianzuo was inviting them.


    ¡­


    As Zhou Wen was on his way back to school, The Thearch''s ringtone sounded.


    "To be able to defeat John, who has the protection of the six-winged seraphim, it seems that I have underestimated you. But why did you reject the six-winged seraphim? Do you know that you have missed a rare opportunity?"


    "What''s that six-winged seraphim? He doesn''t appear like a Companion Beast, but he''s different from ordinary dimensional creatures," Zhou Wen asked.


    "You''re right. The six-winged seraphim isn''t a Companion Beast or a pure dimensional creature. To put it simply, he''s just a tool," replied The Thearch.


    "A tool? What tool?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    "Naturally, it''s a tool for combat. It''s also a tool for humans to advance to the Mythical stage. Due to innate limitations, you humans basically don''t have the ability to advance to the Mythical stage. To advance to the Mythical stage, you have to obtain a guardian similar to the six-winged seraphim. By borrowing the guardian''s body, you can advance to the Mythical stage and continue on your path. The six-winged seraphim''s willingness to follow you is equivalent to giving you a chance to advance to the Mythical stage, but you chased him away. Aren''t you regretting it now?" The Thearch gloated.


    "You mean borrowing the guardian''s body? Don''t tell me that human bodies won''t improve any further and can only strengthen the guardian''s body in the future?" Zhou Wen acutely sensed something.


    "Didn''t I say just now? Due to the innate limitations of the bodies of you humans, it''s nearly impossible for you to advance to the Mythical stage. At most, you can only reach the peak of the Epic stage. The guardian is your way out. Don''t think that it''s that easy for a guardian to betray you. The reason the six-winged seraphim betrayed John was that John wasn''t qualified to form a contract with him. He only used a special method to temporarily form a contract. If it were you, you could truly form a contract with the six-winged seraphim. He wouldn''t betray you so easily. Do you regret rejecting him now?"


    "What''s a guardian?" Zhou Wen didn''t regret it. All he wanted to know was what it was.


    "They can be considered as the representatives of the various species on your Earth. Every species will have a guardian. They will choose a human to rely on and fight alongside humans to grow, helping you resist the invasion of dimensional creatures," said The Thearch.


    You were the ones who created the dimensional creatures to begin with. Why are you talking about helping us fend off the dimensional creatures'' invasion? Zhou Wen lampooned inwardly, but he didn''t say it out loud.


    Zhou Wen felt that the guardian wasn''t as simple as The Thearch had described.


    "How many guardians are there on Earth?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought. If he knew how many guardians there were, wouldn''t he know how many dimensional species there were?


    "I don''t know that, but you can count. Guardians are born from cocoons. Count the number of cocoons on Earth and that will be the number of guardians," The Thearch teased Zhou Wen.


    That equates to not saying anything. Zhou Wen secretly despised The Thearch. She never answered any important questions.


    However, The Thearch''s words reminded Zhou Wen that the cocoon protected by the white dragon in Old Dragon Cave was gone. However, the one in Ant Nest was still around. Perhaps he could target that.


    The Ant Nest dungeon on his phone seemed very special. The other cocoons were protected by terrifying Mythical creatures, but there was only a Golden Flying Ant guarding the Ant Nest. The difference was extraordinary.

 537 Fighting the Golden Trident Again

    "Different species naturally have differences in strength. Why? Are you interested in guardians? As long as you beg me, I can help you contract a powerful guardian," The Thearch replied.


    "I appreciate your kindness." Zhou Wen thought of John''s fate and didn''t dare get The Thearch to help him.


    Is it really impossible for humans to break through to the Mythical stage by themselves? Zhou Wen didn''t believe The Thearch''s words, but he had never heard of anyone advancing to the Mythical stage.


    After returning to the college, Zhou Wen began grinding Torch Dragon again. A Mythical Transcendent Flying Immortal had greatly increased his speed. Although his Speed stat was only 40, with the augmentation of Transcendent Flying Immortal, his speed was much faster than the dragon wings formed by Sixed-Winged when he used Transcendent Flying Immortal with all his might.


    However, that burst of power could only last for a short period of time. It couldn''t last forever under that speed.


    It wasn''t because his Essence Energy supply couldn''t keep up, but because his body couldn''t withstand such a huge burden. The burden of a divine skill on his body was too great for any Epic expert.


    After grinding Torch Dragon again, Zhou Wen realized that he was much more relaxed. The chances of blocking or dodging the Bright Torch Vision World were even higher. Furthermore, he wasn''t put in such a sorry state as before. He easily lasted for more than three hours, or even more than four hours. If it wasn''t for the fact that he was exhausted, he could have lasted longer.


    The problem now was that the toughness of Torch Dragon''s flesh far exceeded Zhou Wen''s imagination. Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword had stabbed it many times, but it had only left a few harmless wounds. They weren''t fatal.


    Torch Dragon had a powerful self-healing ability. The wounds on its body healed themselves in battle. Wounds did not have much effect on it.


    Zhou Wen had also attempted to use the Poison Dragon Palm to deal with Torch Dragon, but the results weren''t good. Although he left behind a poison palm print, it vanished shortly after. The poison failed to spread in Torch Dragon''s body.


    How can I kill Torch Dragon? Finally, he could block Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World, but he couldn''t kill it. He had to think of another solution.


    After some thought, it seemed like no ability was enough to kill Torch Dragon.


    There might still be a hope of killing Torch Dragon if Demonic Neonate advances, but she doesn''t eat or drink. How can I help her advance? Zhou Wen had taken quite a lot of things to feed Demonic Neonate during this period of time, but she ate nothing. Zhou Wen was really afraid that she would starve to death.


    Instead, it was the fruit of the Dead Man Tree that grew bigger by the day, but the fruit''s appearance made Zhou Wen feel that it resembled a black-gray grenade.


    It should be coming out soon. I wonder what kind of Companion Beast will appear. If it has Life Blast and curse powers, I might be able to use it against Torch Dragon. Although Zhou Wen thought this, he didn''t place all his hopes on this Companion Beast.


    Without heading to the Zhuolu battlefield again, Zhou Wen went to the Metalwork Temple. There was a golden trident there. The golden trident was definitely a Mythical creature. The Companion Egg that dropped was most likely in the form of a weapon.


    Although Overlord Sword was very powerful, it was still at the Epic stage after all. It relied on Ever-Victorious to injure Torch Dragon. Otherwise, it couldn''t even tear through Torch Dragon''s hide.


    Zhou Wen felt that he had to think of a way to obtain a Mythical weapon. With a Mythical weapon, the possibility of killing Torch Dragon was much higher. Therefore, he placed his sights on the golden trident.


    The golden trident had killed the blood-colored avatar once before, but Zhou Wen felt that there was a way to crack it. He had no other options now. As he waited for the Dead Man Tree''s fruit and Behemoth to evolve, he thought of a way to kill the golden trident.


    Once again, he arrived at the shrine. The moment the door opened, he saw the golden trident embedded in the furnace. The golden flames burned its body, but it did not cause any reaction.


    Just as Zhou Wen took a glance, he saw the golden light shine on the golden trident, as though it wanted to engulf the entire Metalwork Temple.


    The blood-colored avatar was instantly killed the last time. It didn''t even have a chance to dodge.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen summoned the strengthened Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and got it to shield him.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon directly used Sanctification. Its body turned as white as jade as it unfurled its six dragon wings. Holy flames burned on its body as it spewed out dragon breath to block the golden light in front of Zhou Wen.


    Boom!


    The terrifying collision shook the entire temple.


    Zhou Wen saw the golden trident fly out of the furnace from behind Six-Winged. It transformed into a golden beam of light that struck at Six-Winged.


    Fortunately, its speed was not very fast. However, it had a domineering aura of supremacy. The six dragon wings on the back of the Six-Winged Dragon turned into blades and slashed at the golden trident that was coming at it from above.


    Cracking sounds could be heard as the six wings collided with the golden trident. Many of the six dragon wings were broken by it.


    What astonishing destructive power! Zhou Wen wasn''t alarmed but delighted. Only with such powerful destructive power could he kill Torch Dragon.


    Under Zhou Wen''s command, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon clashed with the golden trident. However, it didn''t clash head-on with it. Its speed wasn''t as fast as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Although its attack was domineering, it couldn''t do a thing to the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon without fighting head-on.


    Clang!


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon took the opportunity and struck out with its two front claws, slamming the golden trident down from the sky and pressing it onto the ground.


    The golden trident''s body exploded with golden light. It struggled to escape, but it was held down by the Six-Winged. It could not break free no matter what.


    Although its destructive power was strong, its strength wasn''t stronger than Six-Winged. Instantly, the two Mythical creatures were in a deadlock. One burst out with golden light and the other spewed holy flames, causing the temple to tremble incessantly.


    The blood-colored avatar watched the battle from outside the temple. Although Six-Winged held a slight advantage, it couldn''t kill the trident. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and got the blood-colored avatar to charge in with the Overlord Sword. He brandished the Overlord Sword and slashed at the golden trident.


    The moment he entered the temple, the divine patterns on the blood-colored avatar''s heavy armor flickered. In a few moments, it collapsed. Thankfully, the blood-colored avatar had already rushed in front of the golden trident. Overlord Sword slashed down with a powerful sword beam.


    Clang!


    There was a deafening sound as a fine crack opened on the golden trident.

 538 Farming Mythical Creatures

    Zhou Wen hurriedly used his movement technique to dodge and hide behind Six-Winged so that he was spared from the golden beam''s attack.


    The golden light clashed with Six-Winged''s holy flames, slicing apart the holy flames and slicing through its scales, leaving deep wounds that reached to the bone.


    As expected of a Mythical creature in the form of a weapon, this destructive power is truly terrifying. Zhou Wen was alarmed. If he was struck by the golden light, even two layers of armor wouldn''t be able to protect him.


    It was a pity that no matter how powerful the golden trident''s destructive power was, it was still suppressed by the Six-Winged''s claws. It could not unleash its immense power.


    Six-Winged held onto the golden trident tightly. It did not loosen its claws no matter what. Its body was lacerated by the golden light. Fortunately, it was not fatal.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned Demonic Neonate and got her to use the ancient sword to attack the golden trident.


    Six-Winged was good at almost everything. It could fight, tank, and still survive. The only bad thing about it was that it did not have an offensive Wheel of Destiny. It was also six-winged, but the Six-Winged Seraphim had Holy Angel''s Redemption. That was truly a good weapon.


    However, there were pros and cons. The life-saving ability provided by the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was not something the Six-Winged Seraphim possessed. Otherwise, John wouldn''t have had his throat sliced by him.


    Thankfully, apart from the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, Zhou Wen still had Demonic Neonate, a pet with relatively strong offensive powers. Demonic Neonate controlled the ancient sword as she sought out an opportunity, slashing at the golden trident again and again. Furthermore, she targeted a particular spot. She hid behind the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and was even safer than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen also found all sorts of opportunities to strike at the golden trident. The two pets and the human worked together in a frenzy to slash at the golden trident, leaving it covered in wounds. The deepest impression of the trident was about to be halved.


    The golden trident had already gone berserk. Its entire body was shimmering with golden light. In particular, its tip was glowing with a dazzling divine light, as if it could pierce through everything in the world.


    Unfortunately, it couldn''t move due to Six-Winged''s pressure. The tip couldn''t touch Zhou Wen and company, so it was useless no matter how much strength it unleashed.


    After about half an hour, Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword slashed down again. With a clang, the golden trident was cut in half.


    ''Killed Mythical creature, Golden Battle God Halberd. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.''


    Zhou Wen picked up the Strength Crystal and absorbed it. Indeed, his Strength was still at 40. Unless he found a way to raise his Strength to 41 or advance to the Mythical stage, it was impossible for him to raise it any further.


    With the experience gained from killing the Golden Battle God Halberd, Zhou Wen kept grinding the Metalwork Temple instance dungeon. He didn''t believe that the Golden Battle God Halberd Companion Egg wouldn''t drop.


    After two or three battles, Zhou Wen had roughly figured out the situation with it. Its destructive power was much stronger than the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Furthermore, the miraculous power of the Wheel of Destiny was also a destructive power. If one was struck by the miraculous power, even the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon would be penetrated. Its Mythical body would be like paper.


    However, the Golden Battle God Halberd''s miraculous powers couldn''t hit its target easily. This was because the miraculous powers were actually unable to pierce through the air and injure the opponent. It was only the tip of the trident that carried a tiny blob of resplendent golden divine light. That golden divine light could almost pierce through everything. It was much more powerful than the Overlord Sword''s Ever-Victorious but the attack needed to be close range.


    Zhou Wen was confident that as long as he had the Golden Battle God Halberd drop, he had more than an eighty percent chance of killing Torch Dragon.


    The only regret was that after the Golden Battle God Halberd was killed, even if he respawned the dungeon, he would have to wait 24 hours before a new Golden Battle God Halberd appeared. He couldn''t grind it to his heart''s pleasure. He would still have to wait for some time.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t idle. Since he couldn''t grind the Golden Battle God Halberd, he ran to the Curse Demon Palace. There was still Medusa there.


    Before it was strengthened, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was not Medusa''s match, but it could still fight with her for a while.


    Now that Six-Winged had been strengthened, together with Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate, there was a chance of killing her.


    After grinding the rare Epic creatures, Zhou Wen ran to the Curse Demon Palace and charged all the way to Medusa''s hall. He gently touched the beautiful girl and she immediately turned into a terrifying demoness.


    The palace was sealed and the blood-colored avatar couldn''t leave. All it could do was fight Medusa in the palace. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon fought without a fuss as it charged forward with a roar.


    With the Sanctification ability, Medusa''s normal Eyes of Petrification was actually much less effective against the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. It could only slightly petrify its surface and cause a minimal effect to the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    Zhou Wen had the Evil Nullification ability to restrain the Eyes of Petrification, but he could only restrain the ordinary Eyes of Petrification. If he was struck by Medusa''s miraculous Eyes of Petrification, he would still be petrified.


    Thankfully, the miraculous Eyes of Petrification shot out substantial light beams from her eyes. As long as he dodged the beam, he wouldn''t be petrified. If it was like the ordinary Eyes of Petrification, he wouldn''t be able to dodge it.


    The miraculous Eyes of Petrification was truly invincible. Even the guardian dragon would be petrified upon being hit by the light beam.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was Demonic Neonate. This fellow was actually immune to the ordinary Eyes of Petrification despite not having any Evil Nullification abilities.


    The human and two pets joined forces to fight Medusa. After spending a great amount of effort, they finally killed Medusa.


    Ding!


    A crisp sound came from the phone, jolting Zhou Wen. He saw that Medusa had dropped an Essence Energy Skill dimensional crystal. Inside the crystal-like dimensional crystal was a demoness-like Medusa shadow.


    I actually have Medusa''s skill crystal drop again. Unfortunately, my stats aren''t good enough. I can''t absorb it at all. Zhou Wen was in a dilemma.


    The requirement of 41 Constitution and 21 Cursed attributes was too high for Zhou Wen.


    If he did not absorb it, the skill crystal would be gone after the dungeon respawned. However, if his stats were not enough, he would not be able to absorb it.


    In the end, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on Medusa''s skill crystal. After all, he could now kill Medusa. There was still a chance for him to grind skill crystals in the future.


    Zhou Wen heard from An Sheng that the chance of a Mythical creature dropping Companion Eggs and Skill Crystals was very high. There was about a third chance. After a few days of grinding, it shouldn''t be difficult to obtain the Companion Eggs of Medusa and the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    Zhou Wen rested for a while before considering if he should eat something. An Sheng personally came to school and sent over a document that contained John''s testimony.


    Zhou Wen had already guessed most of what had happened. John had obtained the Six-Winged Seraphim from an ancient cathedral in the West District. However, according to him, the ancient cathedral had a terrifying Mythical Creature protecting it. He had avoided the Mythical creature thanks to the advice of a mysterious person, thus obtaining the Six-Winged Seraphim inside the white cocoon. He never expected the Six-Winged Seraphim to betray him.


    When Zhou Wen saw a paragraph, his expression turned odd. When An Sheng and company treated John, they realized that John had a body part missing.

 539 Baby Tigers Fusion

    The attributes were about the same, but it didn''t matter. He never expected to have it fight. The key was that the Lucky Baby Tiger''s Life Providence was useful.


    However, it was useless bringing two baby tigers with him. Repetition of Life Providences did not stack Luck.


    What kind of Companion Beast should I fuse with the tiger? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    This fusion wasn''t easy. If he used the baby tiger as the main pet and used another Companion Beasts to fuse with it, he would still get the baby tiger. The Life Providence obtained from fusion would still be useless.


    If he used other Companion Beasts as the main pet and the baby tiger Companion Egg as a supplement, its Life Providence might be the main pet''s Life Providence. Then, there was no point in a fusion.


    Therefore, the only way to fuse them was to combine two Companion Beasts without any main or supplement. Then, the Companion Beasts that were combined would randomly combine the various attributes and skills. Even the Life Providences and Life Souls could be changed randomly, just like the Silver-Winged Sky Spider.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Beasts he currently possessed and then at their compatibility with the baby tiger.


    The baby tiger''s compatibility with other Companion Beasts was surprisingly high. It was more than 60%. Very few were below 60.


    It can even fuse with Mythical pets? Zhou Wen realized that the baby tiger had a compatibility score of 67% with the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    However, after trying out the other mythical pets, they all indicated that they could not be fused.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t fuse the baby tiger with Six-Winged. After taking a look, Zhou Wen realized that one of the Companion Beasts had a compatibility score of 98% with the baby tiger.


    However, when he saw the pet''s stats, a dark cloud hung over Zhou Wen''s head.


    The Companion Beast with such a high compatibility rate with the baby tiger was actually Ancient Sovereign City''s Skeleton General.


    Strange. One is a skeleton while the other is a beast. Why is the compatibility so high? Zhou Wen looked at the stats of the two Companion Beasts and felt somewhat hesitant.


    The Skeleton General was obtained when he went to the Fire God Platform to pluck out the stone saber. He wanted to know if there were any changes in the game''s Ancient Sovereign City. He went in to grind a few times before a Companion Egg dropped. Its stats were rather good, so he hatched it and left it for future pet fusion.


    However, no matter how good its stats were, it was ultimately a Legendary Companion Beast. It was useless to Zhou Wen.


    When these two Companion Beasts were fused, they might even form a Legendary Companion Beast. It might not even reach the Epic stage.


    However, this was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered such a high compatibility. He carefully observed the stats of the two Companion Beasts and made up his mind to give it a try.


    Anyway, what he wanted was the Luck attribute. The level and skills were not that important.


    He fused the two hatched Companion Beasts. Amidst a lustrous glow, the fusion succeeded as expected.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the screen and saw that the Companion Beast he had fused looked like the Skeleton General. However, it wasn''t riding a skeleton horse but a skeleton tiger.


    A skeleton general riding on a skeleton tiger holding a bone spear in its hand looked quite powerful.


    Tiger Soul General: Epic


    Life Providence: Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul


    Strength: 29


    Speed: 27


    Constitution: 27


    Essence Energy: 24


    Talent Skill: Armor Breaker Spear, Jinxes Master


    Companion Form: None


    Where''s my Luck Life Providence? What the hell is a Jinxes Master? Questions filled Zhou Wen''s mind.


    Zhou Wen regretted it terribly. What the hell were these stats and skills? Not only did none of its stats exceed 30 points as an Epic Companion Beast, but there was even a Jinxes Master skill. Wasn''t this going to jinx him?


    The Skeleton General and baby tiger didn''t have such a sinister skill. How did they come up with such a thing?


    Zhou Wen knew that he had really screwed up this time. Not only did he fail to have the lucky Life Providence inherit, but he had also obtained a skill that jinxed the master. He definitely couldn''t keep this pet.


    Zhou Wen had a very deep impression of the Jinxes Husband skill from before. It was a necessary skill to screw one up.


    He casually swiped a Companion Beast and placed it with the Tiger Soul General. Zhou Wen didn''t even take notice of what Companion Beast it was. All he saw was that the compatibility was rather low¡ªless than 10%.


    He was deliberately trying to make the Tiger Soul General disappear through fusion. He would rather not have it than let it harm him.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t take a careful look, he roughly knew that the compatibility score was only 7%. He felt that the outcome was doomed to fail, but with a flash of light, a new Companion Beast appeared.


    Eh, it succeeded? Zhou Wen was greatly surprised. Although he wasn''t happy, he still looked at the pet''s appearance.


    The skeleton tiger and skeleton general were both wearing heavy black armor. However, their faces were exposed. The black armor had dark tiger stripes that looked like lava. It looked domineering.


    What I used to fuse with it should be a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior, right? Zhou Wen vaguely remembered that the one he had casually selected was likely the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. He couldn''t help but look at the stats.


    Heavy-Armored Tiger Soul General: Epic


    Life Providence: Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul Runes


    Strength: 34


    Speed: 37


    Constitution: 38


    Essence Energy: 36


    Talent Skill: Rampage, Armor Break Spear, Jinxes Master.


    Companion Form: None


    These stats aren''t bad, but I really can''t keep the Jinxes Master skill. Zhou Wen searched his Companion Beasts again and found one with an even lower compatibility.


    The Steel Cauldron Fiend that dropped from the Metalwork Temple was a rare Epic Companion Beast. However, it was too slow and didn''t have any offensive means. It was just a half-fire elemental creature that guarded a steel furnace.


    Its compatibility with the Tiger Soul General was only 4%. It was impossible to find Companion Beasts from two different species to have a lower compatibility score.


    He placed the Tiger Soul General and the Steel Cauldron Fiend together and pressed the fuse button.


    That should be the end of it, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, with the shimmering light on his phone, Zhou Wen actually heard the notification of a successful fusion. Looking at the new Companion Beast on his phone screen, Zhou Wen''s mouth gaped open for a moment.


    He had no idea if it was good or bad luck from succeeding two consecutive fusions with single-digit compatibility.


    The newly fused Companion Beast still looked like the Heavy-Armored Tiger Soul General. However, within the heavy-armored tiger and the heavy-armored general''s armor was a bluish-white flame. It looked even more powerful and domineering, like a mighty being that had charged out from hell.

 540 Jinxes Master

    Life Providence: Fierce


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul Runes


    Strength: 39


    Speed: 39


    Constitution: 40


    Essence Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Armor Breaker Spear, Jinxes Master


    Companion Form: None


    These stats¡­ It''s almost a top Epic creature¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the stats and his expression changed.


    It had to be said that this guy''s attributes were really too good. If he ignored the Jinxes Master skill, its attributes were quite impressive too.


    An Epic Armor Breaker Spear was a powerful offensive skill. There was no need to mention Rampage. It was a type of charging Dominance Body.


    As for Tempered Steel Cauldron, originally it was not of much use to the Steel Cauldron Fiend as although it was a fire-elemental skill, it could not harm anyone. Instead, it burned flames within the Steel Cauldron Fiend''s body. Under the burning of the flames, its steel armor became harder and harder. It was a skill used to tank.


    However, this skill was somewhat different on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. While he was charging, he could use Tempered Steel Cauldron. It would make the fiend armor on the Tiger Soul General become harder. With Rampage''s effects as a Dominance Body and the Armor Breaker Spear ability, as well as the Tiger Soul Runes to augment him, there were probably not many opponents at the same level who could block the Runic-Armored Tiger Soul General''s charge.


    However, the Jinxes Master Skill was a sore sight. Zhou Wen took the Runic-Armored Tiger Soul General to the Metalwork Temple, hoping to see how powerful his combat abilities were.


    Seeing the few Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior loitering in the distance, Zhou Wen ordered the Runic-Armored Tiger Soul General to charge over.


    With a command, it roared as the bluish-white flames on its body burned. The lava patterns on the black heavy armor also turned into a strange orange-white color. Like a devil, he charged at the Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors.


    Boom!


    With the augmentation of the powerful Essence Energy Skill, the Runic-Armored Tiger Soul General sent the few Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors flying. The spear struck a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior and penetrated his chest with the bone spear. He slammed into a metal wall and was lifted up by the Tiger Soul General before shattering into pieces in midair.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw a shocking scene. They were both at the Epic stage, and they were mainly defense-type beasts. However, the Runic-Armored Tiger Soul General charged forward as though it had entered an invincible state. It killed the Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors one by one. It was like a mighty being that had descended into the mortal world.


    Zhou Wen made him charge the entire way as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General swept through the area. He wasn''t afraid of being ganked by many Epic creatures. Instead, he became more and more ferocious as he charged back and trampled on the dimensional creatures. It was as though he had entered an invincible state.


    Even though all of them were at the Epic stage, a single charge was enough to smash through the Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors'' armor, killing them on the spot.


    A Fire Furnace Queen appeared and threw out the fire from a furnace, turning the hall into a sea of flames.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General showed no fear. He rode on the tiger and charged into the sea of flames. The demonic runes and flames flickered on its body as he stabbed the Fire Furnace Queen to death with one strike.


    Ferocious¡­ Too ferocious¡­ Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. It wasn''t an exaggeration to say that this fellow was the strongest Epic pet. Zhou Wen had never seen such a ferocious Epic creature before.


    Even the Mutated Demonized General that combined three skills was much weaker than the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    However, as the dimensional creatures were killed, the flames on the Tempered Steel Cauldron gradually dimmed. His aura and strength seemed to weaken as he slowly returned to a normal standard.


    Zhou Wen found it strange. After trying a few times, he realized that this fellow was a war machine. He needed to constantly fight and kill in order to have unlimited Essence Energy. The more he killed, the stronger his various abilities became, especially with the augmentation of the Tempered Steel Cauldron.


    Due to its limited Essence Energy, the Steel Cauldron Fiend could only last for a short period of time when using Tempered Steel Cauldron. However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General could use it perpetually, making his heavy armor harder and harder. The Tiger Soul Runes on the heavy armor also became stronger.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a while and roughly understood that the combination of his Life Providence, Life Soul, and skills was perfect. It allowed him to become stronger the more he killed. Each one of the three was necessary.


    This is indeed a good pet, but why hasn''t the Jinxes Master been removed after so many fusions? Zhou Wen was somewhat conflicted.


    The pet was good, but Zhou Wen was still afraid about Jinxes Master rearing its head.


    The Ghost King''s lesson remained fresh in his mind. He did not want to be screwed by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General at a critical moment. By then, it would be too late to cry.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn''t bear to destroy such a powerful Companion Beast.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to fuse it again. However, this time, he didn''t deliberately choose low-success Companion Beasts. Instead, he chose a Companion Egg with a high success rate and wanted to see if he could eliminate the Jinxes Master skill.


    If it could be eliminated, he would never find Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General redundant.


    However, if he couldn''t eliminate it, Zhou Wen would rather destroy him than keep him by his side.


    What kind of pet should I use to fuse with it? Zhou Wen wasn''t so rash this time as he carefully chose.


    There were a total of six Epic Companion Eggs with a compatibility score above 60 with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Throwing aside those with inferior skills and Life Providences, Zhou Wen was left with three rather satisfactory ones.


    After some consideration, Zhou Wen finally chose a Companion Egg that dropped from Curse Demon Palace.


    Epic Petrification Beasts had attributes that were more inclined towards their Constitution and Strength. Their Speed was relatively poor, and their Life Providences and Life Souls were relatively ordinary. The only benefit was that they possessed an Essence Energy Skill that was very compatible with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    This Essence Energy Skill known as the Magic Stone Curse wasn''t considered powerful on the Petrification Beast. The Magic Stone Curse wasn''t a curse on the enemy, but on oneself.


    After using the Magic Stone Curse, one''s skin and bones would become as hard as a rock, which would strengthen one''s defense.


    Besides that, the Magic Stone Curse had another effect. Once it was used, other people would be affected by the Magic Stone Curse attacking the Petrification Beast''s body. Their bodies would also show signs of petrification.


    However, unlike the petrification of the Petrification Beast, the bodies of others would become stiff and their movements would also become slower. It was even possible that they would become stone statues just like Medusa''s Eyes of Petrification.


    Of course, the effect of the Magic Stone Curse was far inferior to the Eyes of Petrification. One would suffer complete petrification only if one was injured by the Magic Stone Curse numerous times. Furthermore, the petrification effect was not permanent. There was a time limit.


    Zhou Wen believed that if the Magic Stone Curse could replace the Jinxes Master skill, the four-skilled Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General would be invincible. Not only would he become stronger as he fought, but he could even reflect attacks and produce curse effects.

 541 Infinite Jinxes Master

    However, it was also risky for such a fusion. It was possible that the skills that he needed would end up replaced, leaving behind skills he didn''t need.


    In order to minimize the risk, Zhou Wen especially went to Curse Demon Palace to grind for Petrification Lion Companion Eggs. He obtained one before he fused it with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. He tried his best to reduce the negative consequences of having many skills.


    Feeling a little nervous, Zhou Wen added the Petrification Lion Companion Egg. Luckily, the chances of Magic Stone Curse replacing Jinxes Master was relatively low.


    The game lit up as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General successfully fused. Zhou Wen hurriedly checked his stats.


    The Life Providence and Life Soul remained unchanged. His Strength attribute had also increased to 40 points. Only his Speed attribute was still at 39. Other than the Mythical Pets, there were very few pets that could match up to such stats.


    Zhou Wen''s gaze quickly shifted down as he saw the skill column.


    Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Armor Breaker Spear, Magic Stone Curse¡­ Zhou Wen''s heart was lifted, but when he saw the words "Jinxes Master," his heart immediately plummeted.


    I''ve already fused so many times. Why is the Jinxes Master skill still here? Zhou Wen felt like crying. Four skills were already the limit of a typical Companion Beast. Although there was a chance of a fusion pet exceeding four skills, the chances weren''t high. Now, the low-probability event of five skills had happened, but Jinxes Master remained.


    I need to fuse it again¡­ I have to fuse it again¡­ Although the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General could be considered a perfect Epic pet, Zhou Wen definitely couldn''t keep it thanks to its Jinxes Master skill.


    What else can I fuse it with? Zhou Wen was in a dilemma.


    Since it had the Magic Stone Curse skill, using Petrification Lion for the fusion would likely result in Magic Stone Curse replacing Magic Stone Curse. It would be difficult to remove the Jinxes Master skill.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to choose from one of the remaining Companion Beasts with higher fusion compatibility. He didn''t care if the skills were suitable or not. He decided to fuse them first. If he could eliminate Jinxes Master, he could slowly fuse the skills again.


    This time, he used a Petrification Knight which had multiple skills for fusion. Legend had it that the warrior who defeated Medusa was eventually transformed into a puppet by Medusa after being petrified.


    He placed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General with the Petrification Knight Companion Egg and pressed the fusion button.


    The pet and egg shone brightly as they combined together.


    With a crisp sound, the light dissipated and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General appeared again. The fusion had succeeded again.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General''s stats and realized that all four stats had reached the maximum of 40 points. It didn''t have the foundation of a Mythical creature, so it couldn''t increase to 41.


    The Life Providence and Life Soul did not change. They were still Malicious Evil and Tiger Soul Runes.


    Upon reaching the skill column, Zhou Wen looked over one skill after another, feeling a little nervous.


    Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Armor Breaker Spear, Magic Stone Curse, Man-Mount As One¡­ Jinxes Master¡­ Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. Another skill had been added to it, but Jinxes Master remained.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General with mixed feelings. For a moment, he didn''t know how to react.


    This fellow''s stats and skills were already cream of the crop. Apart from Mythical pets, it would be very difficult to find a pet that was better than it.


    But this Jinxes Master¡­ Zhou Wen didn''t have the confidence.


    Perhaps a result of having fused too many times, Zhou Wen realized that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General''s compatibility score with other Companion Beasts was much lower when he checked it. It went from 60-70 compatibility to about 30-40. Most of them were below 10.


    With such compatibility continuing, the chance of failing will be too high if I continue fusing. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and found the one with the highest compatibility. He would rather have it gone than keep Jinxes Master.


    Although it was already the highest compatibility score, it was only 42. The success rate was about 40%.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to press the fusion button, he suddenly heard his phone ring.


    He picked up his phone and took a look. Seeing that it was An Sheng, he picked up the call with one hand and was about to press the fusion button with the other.


    "Young Master Wen, there''s news from Zhuolu. The experts have confirmed Qiongqi''s identity and have come up with some solutions¡­" An Sheng said.


    When Zhou Wen heard Qiongqi''s name, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He stopped his finger midway without pressing the button.


    Zhou Wen remembered hearing The Thearch say that if he wanted to defeat Qiongqi, it was best to let an evil person go. If a good person were to go, the chances of killing Qiongqi would be very low.


    Although Zhou Wen didn''t know why such a strange thing would happen, the current Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had a Malicious Evil Life Providence. Was he considered an evil person?


    With this thought in mind, he could not bring himself to press down with his finger.


    An Sheng informed Zhou Wen about the results of the experts'' research. After hearing it, Zhou Wen felt that their research was rather reasonable. They had determined some of Qiongqi''s skills.


    However, this did not have a decisive effect on killing Qiongqi. What was truly scary about Qiongqi was not just those few skills.


    The experts also mentioned Qiongqi''s penchant for bullying good, kind people. However, they believed that it was a character of the legendary Qiongqi. No one expected that this character could be exploited.


    After An Sheng hung up, Zhou Wen looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General with a thoughtful expression. In the end, he decided to not continue the fusion. He decided to take him to fight Qiongqi to see if it would be of any use.


    After entering the Zhuolu ruins, Zhou Wen didn''t go to Torch Dragon. After killing the Aoyin stone statue, he went to Qiongqi.


    The moment the temple''s door opened, Zhou Wen summoned his Companion Beasts. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon took the front, with the other Companion Beasts followed behind. One of them was the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon lunged straight at Qiongqi. Qiongqi also rushed forward like before, but something unexpected happened.


    It was as if Qiongqi had not had its fill today. Be it in terms of strength, speed, or various skills, it seemed to have weakened significantly.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, which had been suppressed by Qiongqi, was actually able to fight Qiongqi to a standstill.


    Does the Malicious Evil Life Providence really work? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.

 542 The Effect of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General

    Although Qiongqi eventually killed the blood-colored avatar, Zhou Wen saw some hope of killing it.


    I wonder if there are any other Companion Beasts with similar Life Providences? After Zhou Wen exited the game, he checked online and found a few.


    However, those Companion Beasts were too rare. Furthermore, they weren''t any better than the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. The most famous one was Tai Sui. That fellow had a Great Portent Life Providence and had the attribute of misfortune. He was even more terrifying than the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    From the looks of it, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General is still considered gentle. At the very least, Jinxes Master doesn''t appear too obvious. I haven''t seen him jinxing yet. Wasn''t there an emperor in ancient times who had a horse that jinxed its master. Whoever rode it died. However, the emperor managed to escape a calamity by riding this horse¡­ Zhou Wen was purely comforting himself.


    If he hadn''t discovered that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was actually effective against Qiongqi, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have second thoughts about fusing it away. No matter how strong he was, he couldn''t be stronger than a Mythical pet. Keeping him alive was a scourge.


    But now, Zhou Wen had the possibility of killing Qiongqi thanks to it. He had no choice but to consider leaving the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General behind.


    Zhou Wen was wondering about the possibility of the former principal and company not entering Torch Dragon''s temple, but Qiongqi''s temple. If that were the case, it would be useless even if he killed Torch Dragon. He would have to kill Qiongqi again. When that happened, he would need the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Logically speaking, a Companion Beast will only show its effects when summoned. At most, I won''t summon him. That would prevent any obstacles, right? Zhou Wen felt uneasy. He wasn''t confident, but that was the only way.


    Thankfully, it''s just a Tiger Soul General. If there''s another Tai Sui, I''ll be dead. Zhou Wen closed the webpage introducing Tai Sui.


    When the Golden Battle God Halberd respawned, Zhou Wen eagerly rushed in-game. After an intense battle with the Golden Battle God Halberd, he finally snapped it with Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword.


    Ding!


    A crystal dropped. Zhou Wen saw that it was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal. Inside the amber-like crystal was a golden trident''s shadow.


    He picked it up and took a closer look and the game immediately gave him a notification: ''Insufficient stats¡­ Unmatched Life Providence¡­ Rejected Life Soul¡­''


    The series of notifications left Zhou Wen''s head spinning.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen still couldn''t meet the 41 Strength requirement.


    Regarding the requirements of having a Constitution-type Life Providence and Life Soul, Zhou Wen attempted by switching to the Small Perfection of Wisdom. The Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence was compatible, but his lack of a Life Soul made it a mismatch.


    If that''s the case, if I can condense the Small Perfection of Wisdom''s Life Soul and raise my Strength to 41 points, wouldn''t I be able to learn the Golden Battle God Halberd skill? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that there was some hope.


    Among all the Mythical Skills that Zhou Wen had seen, this was most likely to be one he could learn.


    How can I have my Strength break through to 41 points? Zhou Wen had always been puzzled about the method to increase his stats.


    Now, Zhou Wen had an idea. His Life Soul was formed after absorbing the attributes. Therefore, Zhou Wen was wondering if his Life Soul could affect his stats if it advanced to Perfection.


    The postfix of Strength was Sun. Later on, it was absorbed by the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. If it advanced to Perfection, he wondered if it could influence the Strength attribute and increase his Strength to 41 points.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen''s speculation. However, he could give it a try. The Inverse Ancient Sovereign was already an Evolved Body. Any further and it would be able to advance to a Perfect Body.


    Now, Zhou Wen was facing a choice. If he decided to gain new insights into his Life Soul and wait to absorb the Golden Battle God Halberd Crystal, he couldn''t respawn the dungeons. Otherwise, he would lose the skill crystal.


    If he wanted to continue grinding Mythical Companion Eggs, he had to give up on the skill crystal.


    The drop rate of Mythical creatures is still rather high. I should continue grinding Companion Eggs. Zhou Wen thought for a moment before deciding to grind Companion Eggs first. After all, only with the Golden Battle God Halberd could he kill Torch Dragon. This was of paramount importance.


    After putting down the Golden Battle God Halberd Crystal, Zhou Wen went to the Curse Demon Palace again. After killing Medusa with great difficulty, he had two crystals drop. One was a Speed Crystal, while the other was a Constitution Crystal. All of them exceeded 70 points, but they were useless to Zhou Wen.


    After grinding all the rare dimensional creatures, he reserved the Companion Eggs that dropped for pet fusion. Then, he had nothing else to do. He had to wait until tomorrow for the Golden Battle God Halberd and Medusa to respawn.


    Since he had nothing to do during this period of time, Zhou Wen took the book he borrowed from the library and continued studying it.


    Since Small Perfection of Wisdom hadn''t condensed a Life Soul, Zhou Wen wanted to take this opportunity to study it and condense it so that he could absorb the Golden Battle God Halberd skill crystal.


    With the Golden Battle God Halberd and the Golden Battle God technique, he was certain he could kill Torch Dragon.


    Wisdom had different types¡ªtwo, three, and six types.


    Shared or Unshared Wisdom, True Insight Wisdom, and Wisdom of Meditative Enlightenment, Mundane Wisdom, and Supramundane wisdom¡ªall of these were Two Wisdoms.


    True Insight Wisdom, Wisdom of Meditative Enlightenment, along with Written Wisdom were the Three Wisdoms.


    The six Wisdoms were True Insight Wisdom, External World Wisdom, Written Wisdom, Wisdom of Skillful Means, Attendant Wisdom, and Wisdom of Meditative Enlightenment. These combined were also the Diamond Wisdom.


    However, Zhou Wen''s Life Providence was Eight Perfections Wisdom. There were two more types of Wisdom. Zhou Wen did plenty of research, but he couldn''t figure out what the Eight Perfections of Wisdom meant. Therefore, he hadn''t figured out the profundity of the Small Perfection of Wisdom to condense a Life Soul.


    Zhou Wen vaguely felt that this Small Perfection of Wisdom was somewhat different from the real Perfection of Wisdom. The three-faced Buddha in Small Buddha Temple was somewhat different from the Buddhas in ordinary monasteries.


    Just as he was thinking, his phone rang again. This time, it was from Wang Lu.


    "Zhou Wen, I''m hungry," Wang Lu said.


    "Isn''t it noon now?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "You owe me so many breakfasts. Didn''t you say you were going to make up with it using lunch? Are you trying to go back on your word? Quickly get me some food to eat. I''m starving," said Wang Lu.

 543 Gold Burial Ground

    "That''s how I roll, isn''t I?" Wang Lu took the food and sat in a flower bed to eat.


    Zhou Wen sat down by the side and began munching on his roujiamo¡ªmeat sandwiched in bread.


    "Zhou Wen, what plans do you have after graduation? With your relationship with the An family, you should be able to directly enter the Sunset army, right?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen as she ate her bread.


    "No, I plan on returning to my hometown." Zhou Wen had never planned on entering the Sunset army.


    Zhou Wen really planned on returning to his hometown after graduation. He had seen quite a number of dungeons. He had even cleared two of the West District''s dungeons.


    However, dimensional zones like the Ancient Sovereign City were very rare. The strongest creature in the Ancient Sovereign City was only at the Legendary stage. It looked like a very weak dimensional zone.


    However, things like stone sabers that could be seen in-game, but untouchable and very rare in dimensional zones. Chess Mountain also had a similar jade box, but everyone knew how terrifying Chess Mountain was.


    Zhou Wen felt that Ancient Sovereign City wasn''t that simple. Therefore, he wanted to return to Guide City after graduation.


    "Your hometown is Guide City, right? There aren''t any overly famous dimensional zones there, so there aren''t many opportunities for development." Wang Lu paused for a moment before she said jokingly, "Why don''t you consider going to the capital after graduation? That way, you can also repay your debts."


    Wang Lu came from the capital''s Wang family which was not the same Wang family in Luoyang.


    "It''s still early. Let''s talk about it when the time comes." Zhou Wen felt that graduation was still a long way off. Perhaps, the restrictions of the dimensional zone would fail before he graduated. He wouldn''t be at liberty to decide when that happened. All he could do was take things one step at a time.


    "Then if you have nowhere to go in the future, remember to look for me in the capital. Our Wang family welcomes talented people very much. Besides, as an old schoolmate of mine, I can still take care of you," Wang Lu said with a smile.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded.


    Not far away, a few students were resting on the grass.


    "Did you hear that someone found a Gold Burial Ground in the Dungeon?"


    "What''s Gold Burial Ground?"


    "You don''t even know what Gold Burial Ground is? It''s those you hear of in legends where a piece of gold is buried. After some time, this kind of Gold Burial Ground turns one piece of gold into two pieces of gold."


    "It must be fake. Only ignoramuses would believe such a ridiculous thing."


    "Who is it?"


    "It''s the Xia family''s hero."


    "Are you serious? Why haven''t I heard of it before? Are you making it up?"


    "What do you mean I made it up? There really was such a thing. There was more than one hero present at that time. However, that place was discovered by the Xia family''s hero. Besides, only he believed in the legend of Gold Burial Grounds. Hence, he was the only one who managed to find it."


    "What did he bury?"


    "He buried a sword and dug out two swords. Can you guess which two swords they are? You must have heard of the names of those two swords."


    "No way? Could it be the famous Twin Dragon Swords of the Xia family?"


    "Not bad. What the Xia family hero buried in the Gold Burial Ground back then was a Dragon Blood Sword Companion Egg. When he dug it out the next day, there were two Dragon Blood Sword Companion Eggs¡­"


    The students were having a good time chatting, pumped as though all of that had happened.


    "Senior, you were talking about the Gold Burial Ground being found in the Dungeon? Where is it?" Wang Lu eavesdropped for a while before running over to ask for information.


    "If someone asks, I definitely won''t tell them. However, you''re so pretty there''s no harm telling you. That place is in the underground Ancient City that we often go to. However, it''s useless for you to go there now. I heard that the Gold Burial Ground only allows one thing to be buried once. It''s useless if you bury more. According to the senior who discovered the Gold Burial Ground, he accidentally dropped a dimensional crystal when he killed a dimensional creature. When he dug up again, he found two identical dimensional crystals¡­" The senior was very talkative and explained everything clearly.


    "Thank you, Senior." Wang Lu thanked him.


    "Junior, don''t be in such a hurry to leave. Do you want me to take you there?" the senior said warmly when he saw Wang Lu''s beauty.


    "There''s no need, Senior. Thank you." As Wang Lu spoke, she had already returned to the flower bed.


    "You don''t have anything else to do this afternoon, right? Let''s go and take a look together. Perhaps there''s really a Gold Burial Ground," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen.


    "Didn''t they say that the Gold Burial Ground can only be used once? Then what''s the use of going there?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "To take a look. It''s just a legend that Gold Burial Ground only allows one burial. Perhaps it can be used again?" Wang Lu pulled Zhou Wen towards the underground Ancient City.


    The underground ancient city mentioned by the students was actually the Ancient City dimensional zone which was in the uppermost layer. Although there were many dimensional creatures there, most of them were at the Mortal stage. The strongest was at the Legendary stage. Therefore, ordinary students would usually go there to learn how to hunt dimensional creatures. This meant it was very popular.


    However, the dimensional creatures there didn''t produce anything particularly good. Therefore, students with some strength wouldn''t choose to stay there for long.


    When Wang Lu and Zhou Wen arrived at the underground Ancient City, they realized that there were many students here. They were all searching for something in the dilapidated Ancient City. They must have heard the legend of the Gold Burial Ground, so they had come here to try their luck.


    "There are so many people searching for the Gold Burial Ground. Even if there really is one, it''s already been occupied by countless people. Let''s head back." Zhou Wen was still thinking about how he could condense his Life Soul with the Small Perfection of Wisdom, so he really didn''t wish to waste time on such an iffy matter.


    "That''s not necessarily the case. How do you know there''s no chance if you don''t give it a try?" Wang Lu sized up Zhou Wen and said after looking at his feet, "Give me your shoes."


    "What for?" Zhou Wen looked at her in puzzlement.


    "Take off your right shoe and give it to me. You will know in a while," urged Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen took off his right shoe and gave it to her. Wang Lu picked it up and made a prayer-like action before throwing it into the sky.


    After the shoe landed, Wang Lu pointed in the direction of the shoe and said, "Let''s look over there."


    "Will this really work?" Zhou Wen put on his shoes and followed Wang Lu forward.


    "Let''s give it a try. Perhaps it will work." Wang Lu said.


    The two of them walked all the way into Ancient City. It was really in ruins. Many of the walls were made of clay bricks. After the passage of time, they were pockmarked and covered in dust. No matter how one looked at it, it did not look like an ancient city but more like a village.


    As they walked, one of Wang Lu''s ear studs dropped. After falling to the ground, it bounced into a fist-sized hole.

 544 Hole

    The hole was along a mud wall. It was probably dug out by something like a rat. As there weren''t any powerful dimensional creatures here, Zhou Wen didn''t activate Truth Listener. The hole wasn''t deep either. Zhou Wen extended his hand and touched it. Soon, he touched something. When he touched it, he realized that it was indeed Wang Lu''s ear stud.


    However, what was strange was that Wang Lu had dropped one ear stud, but Zhou Wen touched two identical ear studs.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He looked at Wang Lu''s other ear stud and couldn''t help but ask, "How many ear studs did you drop?"


    "One," Wang Lu replied.


    "Why are there two ear studs here? Could it be¡­" Zhou Wen looked at the hole. He couldn''t believe that it was the legendary Gold Burial Ground.


    Wang Lu took the two ear studs and carefully looked at them. Soon, she said with certainty, "These two ear studs are identical. Even the spots I accidentally scratched are identical. From the looks of it, we have really found the legendary Gold Burial Ground. Quick, take something and give it a try."


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant. Wang Lu''s luck was good enough to discover the Gold Burial Ground, but his luck wasn''t that good. Furthermore, he felt that the Gold Burial Ground was somewhat odd.


    "It isn''t easy to find a Gold Burial Ground. Don''t you want to give it a try?" Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen.


    Before Zhou Wen could answer, he saw a figure rush over. He was originally searching for the Gold Burial Ground nearby. Upon hearing Zhou Wen and Wang Lu''s conversation, he rushed over. Without waiting for Zhou Wen and Wang Lu to react, he stuffed a Companion Egg into the hole.


    "Hey, aren''t you being a little impolite?" Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    "You have to share the good stuff with everyone. We''re all schoolmates after all. Why be so petty? At most, you can use it later." The person raised his head as he spoke.


    "It''s you?" Zhou Wen exchanged looks with the person and immediately recognized him.


    This person''s name was Li Yu. Previously, Zhou Wen had set up a stall to sell Companion Eggs at the school''s trading market. Back then, there were two students who had set up stalls beside him. One was Huang Ji and the other was Li Yu.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had a tiny conflict with Li Yu because of Gu Dian. Li Yu had suffered a little, but he never expected to meet him again today.


    "So it''s you, Zhou Wen. You caused me so much pain last time. Let me use the Gold Burial Ground this time and we''re even." Li Yu grinned and asked, "How long will it take for this Gold Burial Ground to take effect?"


    Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to argue with him, so he replied, "The ear stud fell moments ago. There were two once I tried taking it out."


    After touching it a few times, Li Yu''s expression changed. His squatting body suddenly turned into a kneeling position. His face was almost pressed to the side of the hole. Most of his arm was stretched in as he groped about.


    "Where¡­ where''s my Companion Egg?" Li Yu''s expression was not not a happy one. He searched the hole several times but failed to find anything.


    "There''s nothing?" Zhou Wen activated Truth Listener and listened to the hole.


    The hole wasn''t too deep to begin with, so he could hear everything clearly.


    It was a small hole about forty centimeters deep. There were no forks or Companion Eggs inside.


    "Impossible? I just put it in there. It can''t be wrong. Why is it gone?" Li Yu reached in again and groped about anxiously. However, there was nothing inside. He could not touch it.


    Zhou Wen also found it odd. He had seen Li Yu put the Companion Egg in with his own eyes. Why was it gone?


    "Are you deliberately messing with me? That Companion Egg was from the company and not mine. Stop fooling around and return it to me. I know I was wrong. I''ll compensate you, alright?" Li Yu was anxious. Unable to find it, he stood up to bow to Zhou Wen and Wang Lu.


    "Don''t spout nonsense. We didn''t take your Companion Egg. You were the one who insisted on putting it in. Who can you blame?" Wang Lu curled her lips and said.


    Li Yu was speechless. He also knew that Zhou Wen and Wang Lu''s statuses weren''t ordinary, so he didn''t dare cause trouble with them.


    "Wang Lu, give me an ear stud." Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Wang Lu.


    Wang Lu handed him an ear stud. Zhou Wen threw the ear stud into the hole and used Truth Listener to listen. However, there was no reaction. It was just an ordinary hole.


    He reached in and touched. There was only one ear stud.


    "It''s indeed a little strange," Zhou Wen said with a frown as he looked at the ear stud in his hand.


    "This hole clearly replicated my ear studs just now. Why did it suddenly fail? It''s very strange," Wang Lu added.


    Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. "That''s not what I''m talking about. The reason this news spread is because someone discovered the Gold Burial Ground. In other words, that person used the Gold Burial Ground and knew its effects before he could spread the news. However, if it''s really effective, he should be constantly burying things inside. How can he spread such important news?"


    "What you said makes sense. Since he spread the news, it must be that Gold Burial Ground is already useless. Or rather, there''s something wrong with that Gold Burial Ground¡­" Li Yu also came to a realization. He pounded his chest and stamped his feet, regretting that he hadn''t thought of this in advance. He even took the company''s Epic Companion Egg and stuffed it in. He was truly blinded by wealth.


    "My ear studs were clearly replicated, and his Companion Eggs disappeared. Doesn''t that mean that the Gold Burial Ground exists? Furthermore, it''s indeed effective. However, there''s a problem with it?" Wang Lu said as she looked at the hole.


    "Is there any way to retrieve my Companion Egg?" Li Yu asked Wang Lu as though he was grasping at straws.


    "I don''t know. Try again." Wang Lu shook her head.


    Li Yu could not be bothered anymore. He knelt beside the cave and placed some of his trinkets inside. After a while, he took them out. However, it was useless. They were not replicated, neither had they disappeared.


    This was within Zhou Wen''s expectations. It was an ordinary hole. He had been listening for a long time. There was nothing around the hole, nor were there any energy fluctuations.


    "Wang Lu, can you search again?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    "Yes, but this will be the last time for today. Give me your shoe," said Wang Lu.


    "Can''t you use something else?" Zhou Wen had to take off his shoe and give it to Wang Lu.


    "No." Wang Lu took the shoe and threw it into the air.


    The shoe landed, but this time, it pointed in a different direction, not in the direction of the hole.

 545 The Secret of the Hole

    After walking for a while, Zhou Wen discovered a strange spot. Beneath a mud wall was a place where Truth Listener couldn''t hear. It was as though something had isolated it, preventing him from hearing anything.


    The direction the duo were heading in happened to line up with this area.


    When Zhou Wen looked, he saw that there was a hole beneath the mud wall. It was similar to the hole just now, but this hole was clearly different. Even Truth Listener couldn''t tell what was going on inside.


    Zhou Wen gave Wang Lu a look before looking in the direction of the hole. Wang Lu looked at the hole, but she couldn''t tell what was wrong with it. She only felt that the hole looked very similar to the one from before.


    "Could this hole be the legendary Gold Burial Ground? Why don''t we try using something first?" Zhou Wen deliberately said loudly to Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with the Gold Burial Ground. Not only was it able to move, but it had also swallowed Li Yu''s Companion Egg. The thing it had replicated was an ear stud with very low practical value. No matter how he thought about it, there was something amiss.


    "What if the thing that''s placed inside ends up disappearing like that person''s Companion Egg?" Wang Lu said cooperatively.


    "It''s fine. Let''s give it a try first. I remember you have a Mythical Companion Egg on you, right? Try using an unimportant Companion Egg or something first. If there''s no problem, put the Mythical Companion Egg inside," Zhou Wen said to Wang Lu while winking.


    "Is that so? Alright then." Wang Lu touched her pocket knowingly. She took out something and placed it in the hole.


    Zhou Wen kept observing the hole. After Wang Lu placed the item inside, a strange energy fluctuation immediately appeared in the hole. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen could only sense the energy fluctuation and couldn''t hear what was happening inside.


    However, as long as he could sense something unusual in the hole, he could lock onto it. He wasn''t afraid that it would escape. Zhou Wen refused to believe that it was faster than his saber.


    After a while, the energy fluctuations in the cave gradually came to a stop. As for the hole, there was still a force that screened his powers. Zhou Wen still couldn''t hear what was happening inside.


    He gave Wang Lu a look before she squatted down. As she reached out to reach into the hole, she said, "I wonder if this is the Gold Burial Ground. It should be done, right?"


    As she spoke, Wang Lu had already taken out the item from the cave. Zhou Wen had seen what she had previously placed inside. It was a very small saber.


    Now, Wang Lu took out two sabers.


    Zhou Wen pulled the tiny saber out of its sheath, and Wang Lu also unsheathed the tiny saber in her hand. The two sabers had a cold, oppressive glint, making one''s hair stand on end. They looked identical.


    Zhou Wen knew at a glance that it was a good saber, and it wasn''t an ordinary one.


    "That''s right. This place is really a Gold Burial Ground. Let''s quickly put a Mythical Companion Egg inside." As Wang Lu spoke, she gave Zhou Wen another look before looking at the tiny saber in his hand.


    "Alright, quickly put the Mythical Companion Egg in. That way, we can have two Mythical Companion Eggs. When the time comes, I''ll have one, and you can have one¡­" Zhou Wen said as though he had thought of something. He suddenly changed his words and said, "Let''s think it through. The item that was placed inside the second time disappeared. To be safe, let''s try again."


    With that said, Zhou Wen placed the tiny saber in his hand into the hole and continued observing the situation inside with Truth Listener.


    The strange energy fluctuation in the cave stirred once again, but this time, Zhou Wen clearly felt that the strange energy fluctuation was much weaker. Not only was it weaker, but it was also very unstable.


    Gradually, Zhou Wen realized that in the hole where Truth Listener originally couldn''t hear anything, he could vaguely hear some movement. It was as though something was moving inside.


    This time, the energy fluctuation clearly lasted longer than before. After a while, the strange power in the cave decreased significantly. Zhou Wen could roughly hear the situation inside.


    He realized that there was a tiny beast inside the cave. Zhou Wen couldn''t tell what it was. It looked a little like a squirrel, but it wasn''t exactly the same. It looked much better than a rat. Its body was slender, and its eyes were huge. Its tail was also very large and fluffy.


    Is this fellow a ferret? However, a ferret shouldn''t be living in a mud wall. It should be in the forest, right? Could it be a weasel? Zhou Wen had never seen a weasel before, but the more he thought about it, the more likely it was.


    At that moment, the tiny beast was holding the small saber with its two glowing paws. Its eyes were wide open like two little light bulbs staring at the empty space in front of it. From its eyes, a strange light shot out. It was like a three-dimensional printer in a science fiction movie. The light actually printed out a small sheathed saber out of nowhere.


    Although Truth Listener couldn''t hear the trajectory of the light beams, it could sense an energy fluctuation shoot out from its eyes before gradually molding the tiny saber in midair.


    The portion of the saber''s blade had been completed, but it was still short of the handle. The beast seemed to be lacking in Essence Energy. The ripples that shot out from its eyes were intermittent, as though they would disappear at any moment.


    The beast''s fur stood up as it seemed to steel itself. It tried its best to shoot out rays of light from its eyes. Finally, it finished the last portion of the saber handle.


    Clang!


    The small saber fell to the ground together with the small saber in its claws. The two small sabers were identical, with no visible difference.


    However, the beast was so tired that it sprawled in the hole with its limbs spread out. It stuck out its tiny tongue and panted. It looked like it had consumed a lot of energy.


    "It should be done, right?" Zhou Wen muttered to himself before reaching into the cave.


    The beast immediately got up and dragged its tired body to the back of the cave.


    Zhou Wen reached in and took out the two sabers. He even unsheathed them and compared them. Indeed, they were identical. It didn''t look any different.


    "It''s really identical. Quickly take out the Mythical Companion Egg and put it in." As Zhou Wen spoke, he noticed the beast''s eyes lighting up. Even its ears pricked up as it wore an excited and expectant look.


    "Isn''t the Companion Egg with you?" Wang Lu retorted.


    "No way. I thought it was you. Didn''t you bring it?" Zhou Wen feigned surprise.


    "No, I thought you brought it. What do we do now?" Wang Lu asked.


    "Then let''s try it next time," Zhou Wen said as he turned to leave. Wang Lu followed him.


    The beast in the hole was stunned for a full second before it suddenly screamed and crawled out of the hole.

 546 Revenge

    Zhou Wen didn''t attack it directly because he felt that the beast was likely to be proficient in underground escaping abilities. If it escaped underground, it would be difficult to capture it.


    Now that it had rushed out and left the ground, it was naturally the best outcome for him.


    "Forget it. Let it go. It hasn''t harmed anyone. It has only cheated people of things," said Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that killing the beast wouldn''t have a high chance of dropping a Companion Egg. After all, he had already obtained two tiny sabers. It didn''t matter if he let it go.


    The power of the Demonic Astral Wheel in Zhou Wen''s hand dissipated, and after landing on the ground, the beast immediately vanished.


    It really knows how to use Earth Escape. Zhou Wen was somewhat envious. Earth Escape was extremely practical. It was even more practical than flying. Unfortunately, it wasn''t produced in many places. If he wanted to learn it, he had to depend on luck. He couldn''t buy it even if he had the money.


    "That little beast almost died from exhaustion in order to replicate those two sabers. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been so easily caught by me. What saber is this?" Zhou Wen returned the two tiny sabers to Wang Lu.


    "You already have a Bamboo Blade, yet you don''t recognize the Orchid Blade of the Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, and Chrysanthemum Blades?" Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    "You''re telling me that this tiny saber is the Orchid Blade of the Four Gentlemen Blades?" Zhou Wen immediately knew that he had underestimated the little beast.


    Initially, he thought that it was just an ordinary Essence Gold saber. It was not surprising that the little beast could replicate it. However, he didn''t expect it to be the Orchid Blade of the Four Gentlemen Blades.


    Zhou Wen had the Bamboo Blade, so he knew that the Four Gentlemen Blades were extraordinary. Their toughness was comparable to a Mythical creature''s body, and they were extremely rare Essence Gold weapons.


    Outside the game, Zhou Wen used Bamboo Blade more than the Overlord Sword because although Overlord Sword''s sword beam was powerful, the sword''s blade was too weak. It was very likely to snap when colliding with powerful forces.


    As for Bamboo Blade, it didn''t have any problems in this aspect. Even in a battle with Mythical creatures, it had never been damaged. Just this point alone was enough to prove the value of the Four Gentlemen Blades.


    However, Zhou Wen had heard that the Four Gentlemen Blades would bring ill fate to their owners. Now, the Orchid Blade had turned into three. He didn''t know if Wang Lu''s luck could block the ominous fate brought by three Orchid Blades.


    "Two Orchid Blades were replicated. Each of us can have one." Wang Lu handed one of the Orchid Blades to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "I don''t have your luck. I''ve been unlucky enough recently. How am I supposed to survive if I hold the Orchid Blade? You should keep it yourself."


    However, Wang Lu stuffed the Orchid Blade into Zhou Wen''s hand. "Take a closer look. Although the replica looks similar to the real one, there are still some differences. This replica Orchid Blade definitely doesn''t have the ominous problems that plague the real Orchid Blade."


    Zhou Wen picked up the Orchid Blade in his hand and compared it with the real Orchid Blade that Wang Lu had mentioned. However, in terms of external superficialities, it didn''t seem any different.


    Zhou Wen tested the sharpness and toughness of the replica and realized that it was very similar to the real Four Gentlemen Blades. He couldn''t tell what was different.


    Seeing Zhou Wen look at her suspiciously, Wang Lu said with a smile, "Don''t worry about using it. I can sense that there''s no ominous power in the replica."


    Since Wang Lu was so certain, Zhou Wen accepted the replica Orchid Blade. Although it was fake, it likely wasn''t inferior to the real deal as a weapon. Furthermore, it wouldn''t be detrimental to its owner like the real one.


    The secret of the Gold Burial Ground had been cracked. There was no point in staying here any longer. Zhou Wen and Wang Lu headed for the exit of the underground Ancient City.


    After walking for a while, Zhou Wen realized that the little beast had poked its head out from a hole in the distance and was looking at them.


    They were walking ahead; yet, the fella continued following them without giving up. It was clearly waiting for an opportunity to take revenge.


    Since the little beast wasn''t very aggressive and it hadn''t harmed other students, Zhou Wen ignored it and thought that it wouldn''t be able to keep up after they exited the dimensional zone.


    However, he never expected that after leaving the underground Ancient City, the little beast would continue following him. After leaving the dimensional zone, Zhou Wen''s Truth Listener ability discovered that it had been traveling underground all this time. It had actually followed them onto campus.


    This fellow can actually break out of the seal? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. After all, there weren''t many break-out creatures nowadays.


    Zhou Wen remained unperturbed as he pretended that he didn''t notice it. He secretly sent a message to Wang Lu on his phone, telling her to be careful.


    When they separated in front of their dorms, Wang Lu made a face at Zhou Wen and sent him a message. "It''s best you be careful. I believe it will definitely seek you out."


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. With Wang Lu''s luck, even if the little beast wanted to seek revenge, it would definitely come to him instead of Wang Lu.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen realized that the little beast had indeed followed him in. It furtively hid in his building furtively, but it didn''t dare attack Zhou Wen.


    From the looks of it, it knew how powerful Zhou Wen was. It didn''t dare risk its life to fight Zhou Wen. All it did was secretly exact revenge on him.


    As it knew how to escape through the earth, it would be difficult to attack it again if he failed to take it down with a single strike. Zhou Wen pretended not to see it and waited for it to leave the ground before attacking.


    He got onto bed and gamed on his phone. He also slowly drank the herbal tea that he had brewed. Although his body was in a good condition recently and hadn''t lost much blood, he still needed to maintain his health. He had to be prepared. What if he bled heavily in the future?


    As Zhou Wen grinded the dungeons, he waited for the little beast to reveal itself. However, the little beast was very careful. It hid in a wall corner, behind the closet, and various spots. It peeked its head out from time to time without daring to come over.


    When Zhou Wen saw that it didn''t dare come over while he gamed, he locked his phone and pretended to be asleep.


    The little beast was just too careful. It only began to quietly crawl over and hide under Zhou Wen''s bed after he faked sleep.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that the little beast would attack him at once. Once it left the ground, he would grab it.


    However, to his surprise, the little beast suddenly changed its target and when it reached the bottom of Zhou Wen''s bed, it pounced at something underneath.


    Zhou Wen listened carefully. The little beast had pounced on an iron lump and hugged it with its paws. It opened its mouth and bit it, producing creaking sounds.


    Only then did Zhou Wen recall that he had obtained a treasure map from Earth Temple and had dug it up. However, Zhou Wen''s treasure map had led him to a dimensional doll. He didn''t know what kind of plant-type dimensional creature it was.


    Later, he had saved the baby. The baby had given him a metal lump that resembled a walnut. Zhou Wen studied it for a long time but failed to figure out what it was. He had thrown it under the bed.

 547 Three Heads and Six Arms

    Zhou Wen saw that its teeth were already creating sparks from gnawing on the metal, but it couldn''t tear the outer shell of the metal walnut apart.


    This fellow definitely knows something valuable when it sees it. Could it be that the metal walnut is really something good? After studying it for a period of time, Zhou Wen still couldn''t figure out what the metal walnut was. He thought it was a special metal and planned on finding an opportunity to melt it into a saber or something.


    But now, looking at how the little beast wanted to eat the metal walnut, Zhou Wen felt that the walnut wasn''t just as simple as a piece of metal.


    The tiny beast was good at replicating, and it had definitely seen a lot of treasures. Moreover, it knew how to hide underground. What kind of metal could it not find underground? It definitely didn''t want to eat the metal on the metal walnut''s surface. It was very likely that there was something inside the metal walnut which had made it forget about revenge.


    With its cautious personality, it actually dared to cause such a commotion under Zhou Wen''s bed. Clearly, the item in the metal walnut was extremely attractive to it, making it lose its rationality.


    Zhou Wen turned over and got off the bed. He lifted the bedsheets and looked inside. He saw that the tiny beast was still chewing on the metal walnut. It was as though it had been possessed. It didn''t even seem to notice that Zhou Wen was looking at it as it continued gnawing.


    Zhou Wen reached out and picked it up.


    However, the tiny beast''s four paws had the metal walnut in a firm grip. No matter how hard Zhou Wen pulled, it wouldn''t budge. When he pulled out the metal walnut, the tiny beast came out with it, its paws still on the walnut.


    From the looks of it, what''s inside this metal walnut is no trifling matter. Zhou Wen released his hand. The tiny beast didn''t run, instead, it sprawled on the metal walnut and continued gnawing.


    This fellow sure is greedy. Zhou Wen shook his head. Humans die for wealth, birds die for food. This little beast had sacrificed its life for a metal walnut. Its intelligence was truly worrying.


    Since the tiny beast couldn''t bite through it, Zhou Wen ignored it and let it slowly gnaw at it while he carefully studied the metal walnut.


    Truth Listener''s powers couldn''t hear what was inside the metal walnut. It seemed to be solid metal at its core. Doctor Darkness''s Light of Penetration couldn''t penetrate the metal either.


    Zhou Wen didn''t sense any special energy fluctuations from the metal walnut. This left him puzzled. He didn''t know what could be inside such a metal lump.


    After a while, Zhou Wen realized that the tiny beast had actually produced a shallow bite mark on the metal walnut. At this speed, he didn''t know when it would be able to bite through it.


    The tiny beast forgot about running as it greedily nibbled on it. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and placed the metal walnut and the little beast into the chaos space.


    In the chaos space, the tiny beast continued nibbling on the metal walnut as if it was possessed.


    Before the Golden Battle God Halberd respawned, Zhou Wen took out a Buddhist scripture and pondered as he read it. Could the Eight Perfections correspond to the Eight Consciousnesses?


    Six hundred volumes of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra are condensed into the Diamond Sutra. The Diamond Sutra is also condensed into the Heart Sutra. It can be said that the Heart Sutra is the essence of the Great Perfection of Wisdom. And its true meaning lies in the Eighth Consciousnesses. It''s also known as Tathagatagarbha Thought, and it''s also known as ¨¡layavij?¨¡na. However, this is the concept and essence of the Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. The Small Perfection of Wisdom I cultivate seems somewhat different. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss. He then looked at the other information.


    He failed to figure out anything new even when the Golden Battle God Halberd respawned. He went to grind the Golden Battle God Halberd and Medusa, but they only dropped stat crystals after expending all his efforts. It made Zhou Wen suspect that the Orchid Blade replica had affected the light that shone on him from providence.


    Ah Sheng said that there''s a one-third chance. It should drop next time, right? Although Zhou Wen was anxious, he didn''t have any good ideas. All he could do was wait for tomorrow.


    After grinding the rare dimensional creatures again, he was quite lucky this time. Another Three-Eyed Vajra Malla Companion Egg dropped. Zhou Wen hatched it and kept it for future fusions.


    After finishing his set of grinding, Zhou Wen began studying his Life Providence, Eight Perfections Wisdom, again. Only by condensing a Life Soul could he learn the Golden Battle God Halberd''s skill.


    "Zhou Wen, are you busy? Do you have time to come with me to Dragon Gate Grotto?" Li Xuan suddenly came to Zhou Wen.


    Li Xuan had been cultivating diligently recently and seldom came out. For him to take the initiative to look for Zhou Wen was definitely something.


    "Yes," Zhou Wen agreed.


    The two of them arranged to meet in front of Dragon Gate Grotto. When Zhou Wen arrived, he realized that apart from Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan and Gu Dian from the Xuanwen Club were present as well as Ming Xiu.


    "Now that Zhou Wen is here, I''ll make things clear first before we enter." Li Xuan recounted what had happened.


    Li Xuan had been cultivating diligently recently. He had gone to many dimensional zones to hone his combat abilities. He had discovered a strange dimensional creature in Dragon Gate Grotto''s Southernmost Cave. He had never seen it before.


    While battling the dimensional creature, Li Xuan had nearly been killed. Thankfully, he had escaped.


    The reason he had called them over was to let them take a look and see if there was a chance of killing that dimensional creature.


    According to Li Xuan''s description, the dimensional creature was somewhat different from the other dimensional creatures in Dragon Gate Grotto. The Dragon Gate Grotto''s ordinary dimensional creatures were Warriors, Vajra Mallas, Fairies, and Stone Beasts.


    However, that dimensional creature looked as ugly and terrifying as a devil.


    After arriving outside the southernmost Cave, Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen and company, "You aren''t familiar with that dimensional creature. Don''t attack first. I''ll fight it first. Watch by the side. It''s best if you can think of a way to counter it. It won''t be too late to attack then."


    Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan, Gu Dian, and Ming Xiu nodded in agreement. The five of them entered the Southernmost Cave together.


    There were some Warriors in the Southernmost Cave, but they were not as strong as the Vajra Mallas of the Myriad Buddha Cave. The five of them easily stormed their way in. When they arrived at a stone cave, they saw a three-headed, six-armed monster that looked like black iron rush out of the cave.


    Zhou Wen looked at the three heads of the dimensional creature. Each face looked more terrifying than the other. All of them looked like evil ghosts. The only difference was that the head in the middle had a single horn while the other two had either two or three horns.


    In each of his six hands was a hoop. The hoops were as thick as an infant''s arm and were shimmering with golden light. They looked like they were made of gold and there were many mysterious patterns engraved on them.

 548 Super Self-Recovery

    Li Xuan''s speed was very fast, leaving behind afterimages as he rushed in front of the monster. His body swayed left and right as he dodged the monster''s hoop attacks. He held an Epic Companion Beast saber in his hand and slashed at the monster''s body, but it was blocked by a hoop.


    The monster was indeed very powerful. The six hoops delivered strange attacks, preventing Li Xuan''s saber from touching him. All he could do was constantly shift his position.


    Li Xuan''s moves and movement techniques were exquisite. They looked extremely beautiful. It could be said to be a textbook example, without any flaws.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that this wasn''t Li Xuan. The Li Xuan he knew wasn''t someone who pursued perfection.


    If he hadn''t seen Li Xuan rush forward, Zhou Wen would have believed that the person inside the carapace was Li Mobai.


    Is it really good to have such a change? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. If a person''s goal was something he didn''t like, Zhou Wen doubted he could go far.


    "Li Xuan''s moves are very powerful. I can''t find any flaws, but I have a nagging feeling that something''s amiss," Feng Qiuyan said as he watched Li Xuan battle the monster.


    Ming Xiu nodded and said, "I also find it a little strange. It''s very strong, but it also feels a little odd. I remember seeing Li Xuan fight in the past. His style isn''t like that, right?"


    "Coach, what do you think?" Feng Qiuyan asked Zhou Wen.


    "Not everyone knows the path to take when they are born. They have to slowly experiment. Some people quickly find their own paths, but some people can walk their entire lives only to end up meandering down the wrong path. In fact, I don''t know which path is right or which path is wrong. Li Xuan''s path ultimately needs to be taken by him. I believe that no matter how difficult it is, he will definitely be able to continue down the path," Zhou Wen said.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Li Xuan''s saber constantly clashed with the monster''s golden hoop, but Li Xuan kept retreating. The monster''s strength and speed were above his. His saber was unable to penetrate the golden bangle''s defenses. Instead, he was forced to constantly retreat.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen roughly understood that the monster had Epic levels of Strength and Constitution. Its body was extremely strong, and with its immense strength, even with Zhou Wen''s Constitution, he would probably only be able to tie with him.


    Logically speaking, Li Xuan cultivated in the Invincible Connate Divine Art, so he shouldn''t have been at a disadvantage in terms of Constitution and Strength. However, he was overly focused on perfection in his moves, causing him to be constantly thrown back by the monster.


    "I''m quite aware of its abilities. Let''s go," Gu Dian said.


    "Wait a little longer. I want to watch a little longer." Zhou Wen stopped them and watched Li Xuan continue fighting.


    Gu Dian didn''t ask why. Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu also stopped as they continued watching the battle.


    "Old Zhou, it''s about time. Hurry up and attack," Li Xuan shouted at Zhou Wen as he retreated.


    "You shouldn''t need our help with such a weak dimensional creature, right?" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "Bullsh*t. If I didn''t need you, would I have called you here?" Li Xuan cursed.


    Zhou Wen said with a grin, "Didn''t you call us here to show us how amazing you are when slaying monsters? I understand."


    "Understand my ass. Hurry up and attack. I can''t hold on any longer." Li Xuan was already forced to a corner of the cave. There was no way out.


    "Are you lying to me again?" Zhou Wen stood firmly outside the cave, refusing to enter.


    With Zhou Wen not moving, Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Gu Dian didn''t move either. Li Xuan had been forced to the point of having no time to bicker with Zhou Wen.


    Ka-Cha!


    There was no room for retreat. Li Xuan, who was leaning against the stone wall, had his arm struck by the monster''s golden hoop. The carapace on his body cracked, and his bones seemed to fracture from the impact. His left arm immediately drooped down.


    Thankfully, Li Xuan''s movement technique was good enough, or the strike would have smashed on his head.


    "Old Zhou, stop fooling around. Are you trying to kill me?" Li Xuan rolled to the side in a sorry state as he yelled.


    "I''m not fooling around. The Li Xuan I know doesn''t need help when killing such a dimensional creature, right?" Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Li Xuan fell silent as he constantly changed his movement techniques. He brandished his saber with his other hand to circle around the monster, but he couldn''t put up a fight even with two hands. Now, it was even worse after he had one arm injured. The situation was becoming more and more harrowing.


    "Coach, will it be dangerous?" Ming Xiu asked worriedly.


    "It''s fine. He still has energy left." Zhou Wen knew Li Xuan too well.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what Life Soul Li Xuan had, but his Life Providence meant that he wouldn''t be killed so easily. Or rather, he wasn''t using his best strengths.


    He was escaping from his past self. He wanted to become as mature and steady as Li Mobai so that he could use his exquisite techniques and schemes to defeat his opponent.


    His talent was indeed very good, and his technique was also perfect. However, his personality was not compatible with his technique. This made his technique look powerful, but it lacked the decisiveness.


    Crack! Crack!


    More and more spots on Li Xuan''s carapace cracked as his injuries worsened.


    "Coach, are you sure things will be fine? I think Li Xuan is about to die. Let''s go," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen saw that Li Xuan was still planning on winning using techniques. He knew that if this carried on, he might really die. He nodded and prepared to rush in.


    "Stop right there. No one is to enter," Li Xuan suddenly said.


    Zhou Wen and company stopped as they watched Li Xuan battle the three-headed, six-armed monster. He was still persisting with perfecting his techniques, but his injuries were rapidly recovering.


    The broken carapace on his body was repaired automatically in just a moment, and the repair speed accelerated. Towards the end, the golden hoops sent him flying upon impact, but in the next second, he stood up again, and the broken carapace was restored to its original state in the blink of an eye.


    His recovery ability is much stronger than when he was at the Legendary stage! Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be surprised. Such a recovery ability virtually meant an undying body. Unless he was hit by a fatal blow, it was nearly impossible to kill him.


    Gradually, Zhou Wen felt that Li Xuan''s aura was a little different. His moves were still pursuing perfection, but they were becoming more and more sinister.

 549 Fated to be Beaten Up

    "It''s indeed a little strange." Zhou Wen had long discovered it.


    Every time Li Xuan''s carapace was shattered and restored, it would become even more resilient. The monster caused less damage when smashing into his self-healing carapace.


    Furthermore, this ability seemed to have no upper limit. It could be shattered repeatedly. Every self-recovery made it stronger. After a few consecutive rounds of self-recovery, the monster''s golden hoop could only cause him minimal damage.


    Why is Li Xuan learning from Li Mobai? His Life Providence and Life Soul mean he''s born to be beaten up and injured. How can he become stronger without being beaten up? It''s a waste to learn from Li Mobai! Zhou Wen thought.


    Li Xuan was clearly the first person to realize that there was something wrong with his Life Soul. This was because his Life Soul had been condensed under Li Mobai''s pressure. He had even absorbed Li Mobai''s Evil King Gu. Even he himself knew little about his Life Soul. He even believed Li Mobai''s words¡ªhis Life Soul was a failed Life Soul.


    Indeed, his Life Soul was different from Li Mobai''s expectations, it did not have the Evil King Gu as its primary core; it only absorbed a portion of the Evil King Gu''s characteristics and formed its own Life Soul.


    His Life Soul had parts of the Evil King Gu''s characteristics, but they were not completely the same.


    Previously, Li Xuan blamed himself. He felt that he needed to mature as soon as possible and become the pillar of support for his family like Li Mobai. Therefore, he deliberately trained himself, hoping to be stronger than Li Mobai.


    He wanted to surpass Li Mobai in all aspects, but in the end, he walked a path that was not suitable for him at all. He had been training his skills all this time, trying his best to avoid getting injured. Unbeknownst to him, his Life Soul only became stronger after being injured. He had taken a long detour for nothing.


    It was only today that he discovered the secrets of his Life Soul after being injured continuously. He could not help but feel overjoyed.


    "To seek victory in defeat, to rebuild a kingdom that belongs to you from ruins. Such strength is similar to a phoenix''s nirvana. It''s a very powerful Life Soul," Feng Qiuyan said seriously.


    Anyone who fought Li Xuan would be under immense pressure. If they couldn''t kill him in one fell swoop, he would become stronger the more they fought. In the end, the opponent might be the one to die.


    Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and felt that his Life Soul wasn''t just becoming strong from every shattering. Zhou Wen vaguely felt that every time the carapace shattered and healed, it would gain an additional sinister power.


    Finally, Zhou Wen knew what was amiss. Li Xuan punched out and he realized that his punch was somewhat similar to a monster''s attack. The way he used it was very similar to the three-headed, six-armed monster.


    However, if Zhou Wen didn''t remember wrongly, this move was likely the monster''s Essence Energy Skill. It wasn''t something that could be learned just from watching. One had to know the way to circulate Essence Energy.


    Li Xuan definitely didn''t know such an Essence Energy Skill in the past. Now that he had used it, there was only one possibility¡ªhe had actually learned the three-headed, six-armed monster''s Essence Energy Skill while battling it.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall something. Li Mobai once said that his Life Soul was called Evil King Gu, a Life Soul formed from cultivating a secret Essence Energy Art from the South District.


    Zhou Wen had once heard of some legends. South District''s Gu techniques placed many different kinds of poisonous worms and insects in a jar. They constantly hunted each other out of hunger, and the last poisonous worm to survive was a Gu. Not only was this Gu the strongest poisonous object, but it also possessed the ability to hunt and devour other poisonous worms.


    Li Xuan''s Life Soul wasn''t only becoming stronger as it shattered, but it could also learn the enemy''s Essence Energy Skill in battle. It was very similar to the legends of Gu.


    How much power has Li Xuan''s Life Soul inherited from Li Mobai''s Evil King Gu? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Li Xuan had already gained the upper hand. When the golden hoops struck him, there were no longer any cracks on the armor. All it could do was make Li Xuan retreat half a step.


    Li Xuan no longer dodged the monster''s golden hoops. While they smashed on his body, his saber slashed at the monster''s body. The battle between the man and monster felt like a battle between two monsters.


    Li Xuan was struck by the golden hoops and his injuries rapidly healed. As for the monster''s body, it couldn''t heal from the saber slashes. In this constant battle, the monster that was originally terrifying looked weaker and weaker. It even felt like it was trembling.


    Ming Xiu watched with a complicated expression. He wondered if death was the only option if he couldn''t kill Li Xuan with his strike.


    Feng Qiuyan frowned as he pondered. If he were to fight Li Xuan, how could he win? After thinking for a long time, there was only one solution. He had to kill him before he became stronger.


    Ka-Cha!


    Li Xuan''s strength had clearly increased by a lot. After countless slashes, he cut off one of the monster''s heads.


    The monster seemed to be a little afraid as it turned around and ran, not daring to fight Li Xuan again.


    "Trying to run after hitting me so many times? It''s too late!" Li Xuan refused to give up. With a flash, he chased after the monster like a phantom.


    The monster was truly afraid. It didn''t dare turn back to fight Li Xuan. After Li Xuan caught up with it, it took him a few slashes to slice off the remaining two heads.


    Seeing the monster collapse at Li Xuan''s feet, Zhou Wen walked over and asked Li Xuan, "Are you alright?"


    He had a nagging feeling that Li Xuan''s Life Soul was a little too strange. It gave off a sinister feeling perhaps of the absorption of the Evil King Gu''s characteristics.


    Li Xuan dispelled his Life Soul and revealed his body. He sighed softly and said, "From the looks of it, I won''t be able to be a gentleman like Li Mobai in this lifetime. After all, I''m just a foppish guy who doesn''t care about his life."


    "It''s good being foppish." Zhou Wen laughed. Since Li Xuan could say that, it meant that he was really fine.


    "Sigh, so I can be very strong just by casually practicing. I didn''t need to be so serious," Li Xuan continued sighing.


    "That''s a little overboard¡­" Zhou Wen was rendered speechless.


    Just as Li Xuan was about to say something, the three-headed, six-armed monster''s body suddenly moved. It gave Zhou Wen and company a fright as they stared warily at the monster''s corpse. They saw a bright glow in its chest, as though a blob of golden magma was churning.


    Boom!


    The corpse suddenly exploded, and a golden object emerged from the corpse.


    They took a careful look and realized that it was another dimensional creature. It was different from the three-headed, six-armed monster. It was very normal with only one head and a pair of arms.


    However, its appearance was even more terrifying than the three-headed, six-armed monster. Its entire body seemed to be made of gold, and its body did not seem human. It had two horns on its head, and there was a row of bone spurs on its spine. Its fingers were like golden hooks. Standing at half the height of a person, its body was burning with golden light.


    With a wave of its hand, the six golden hoops that landed on the ground automatically flew over and covered its limbs and neck. The remaining golden hoop landed in its hand.


    The golden hoops shrank automatically and became the size of a bracelet and a choker. Only the golden hoop in its hand remained the same size.

 550 Golden Hoop

    Li Xuan didn''t dare be careless. He produced his carapace again and slashed at it with his saber.


    Clang!


    The saber struck the golden hoop, tipping the front of the golden hoop downwards. However, the backside flipped over and wrapped around Li Xuan''s neck.


    This happened so suddenly. In addition to the force from Li Xuan''s strike, the golden hoop''s spin accelerated, preventing Li Xuan from having the time to react. The moment the golden hoop touched his neck, it suddenly contracted, wrapped around his neck, and instantly shrank.


    The little monster didn''t sit idle. It flew towards Gu Dian on the other side. Its speed was unbelievably fast, even faster than the three-headed, six-armed monster.


    Gu Dian released his strength and threw a punch at the tiny monster. The tiny monster''s claws collided with his fist, and the hook-like claws immediately left several scratch wounds on Gu Dian''s hand.


    Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan had already unsheathed their sabers and slashed at the tiny monster. Ming Xiu''s sword slashed out as well.


    The tiny monster''s legs kicked at Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu respectively. Its calf was short, so it couldn''t reach them. However, the golden hoop on its ankle flew out and expanded in size as it flew towards Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu.


    Having seen what happened to Li Xuan, Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan didn''t dare to forcefully slash the golden hoop as they retreated.


    The tiny monster''s claws met Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade. With a clang, the Bamboo Blade slashed at the tiny monster''s wrist and collided with the golden hoop. The tiny monster was sent tumbling backward as Zhou Wen took a few steps back.


    How can this fellow''s strength be so powerful? Zhou Wen was alarmed. In terms of pure strength, without the enhancement of his Essence Energy Skill, the tiny monster''s strength was stronger than his.


    Zhou Wen had 40 Strength. Apart from the Epic creatures like Truth Listener and Banana Fairy, who were stronger than him, he had never seen an Epic creature being able to defeat him in terms of Strength. At most, it was a draw.


    If the tiny monster did not have a Life Providence or Life Soul that boosted its Strength, it implied something scary.


    Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu avoided the golden hoop, but the golden hoop seemed to have a life of its own. It spun in the air and charged at them, forcing the two of them to have no choice but to constantly dodge.


    Li Xuan''s neck was bound as the golden hoop tightened. The carapace on his neck showed strangle marks as the golden hoop continued shrinking. If this continued, the carapace would be crushed and his neck would be severed.


    Gu Dian swung his fist at the tiny monster again and pincered it with Zhou Wen.


    The tiny monster''s figure rapidly flashed as it swiped its claws. The two golden hoops on its wrist flew out and wrapped themselves around Gu Dian and Zhou Wen.


    Gu Dian quickly retreated. He looked tall and big, but he wasn''t clumsy at all. He was extremely fast.


    Zhou Wen''s saber slashed at the golden hoop. The golden hoop flipped over and was about to land on Zhou Wen''s head.


    Zhou Wen dodged using Ghost Steps, escaping the fate of being latched on by the golden hoop. At the same time, he brandished his saber and slashed at the tiny monster. It reached out to remove the golden hoop around its neck and attacked Zhou Wen''s saber.


    Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal was extremely fast. The tiny monster shouldn''t have been able to withstand it, but when Zhou Wen''s saber slashed down, he suddenly felt a huge suction force just as it was about to hit the monster''s neck. The Bamboo Blade involuntarily shifted its trajectory and slammed into the golden hoop.


    The golden hoop was like a super magnet that firmly sucked the Bamboo Blade. Zhou Wen tried his best to pull the saber back, but his strength wasn''t as great as the tiny monster''s. The tiny monster screamed as it pulled the golden hoop. Zhou Wen couldn''t stabilize his body as he moved with it.


    As for the other golden hoop, it was already spinning in the air to latch onto his head. Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on dodging with the Bamboo Blade. At the same time, he took out the Orchid Blade and threw it out as a flying knife.


    The Orchid Blade transformed into a cold beam of light as it attacked the tiny monster''s abdomen. However, just as it was about to stab into the tiny monster''s abdomen, it was sucked away by the golden hoop, preventing it from harming the tiny monster''s body.


    Feng Qiuyan was already at the Epic stage and his movement techniques were fast enough. He could still dodge the golden hoop''s attacks, but Gu Dian and Ming Xiu had yet to advance to the Epic stage. It was proving difficult for them to dodge.


    Ming Xiu dodged twice before he was at his wit''s end. He could only swing his sword at the golden hoop, but then, his sword was suddenly sucked by the hoop. He could only do a flip to avoid being latched onto by the golden hoop.


    Gu Dian gripped the golden hoop as it tried to tighten around his body. However, as he resisted using his tight grip, the golden hoop sent his body flying around in the cave. Gu Dian was injured from crashing into the walls.


    Li Xuan desperately tugged at the golden hoop around his neck. His carapace had been shattered and the golden hoop had sunken in. He looked like he was about to suffocate.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have time to think. All he wanted to do was kill the tiny monster as soon as possible, or they would be in danger.


    He summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, and with a roar, it slapped the tiny monster.


    The speed of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was far faster than that of the tiny monster. Unable to dodge the attack, it raised its golden hoop to meet the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s palm.


    Boom!


    The tiny monster was slammed into the rocky ground along with the golden hoop.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon raised its claws, only to see the tiny monster jump out once again. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s claw was actually unable to smack it to death.


    What''s this fellow''s background? Zhou Wen was alarmed as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon spewed out a mouthful of Dragon Breath Holy Flames.


    Under the surge of the Dragon Breath Holy Flames, the tiny monster spun the golden hoop in its hand, absorbing the Holy Flames into the golden hoop. The golden hoop seemed to be a spatial gate. After being sucked in, the dragon breath disappeared without a trace.


    Zhou Wen was even more alarmed. He guessed that the tiny monster was likely a Mythical creature. However, its level might not have reached the Mythical stage yet. It was probably similar to Truth Listener and Banana Fairy.


    That''s not right. Its situation is more like Demonic Neonate. The six golden hoops are somewhat similar to Demonic Neonate''s ancient sword. What is this fellow? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn''t stop attacking. He summoned the Overlord Sword and slashed his sword beam at the tiny monster.


    He didn''t dare to directly slash the golden hoop with his sword again, afraid that the sword would be sucked away.


    As the tiny monster dodged the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s attack, it used the golden hoop to devour the sword beam that Zhou Wen slashed out.


    However, its stats were still too low. It was slapped by the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, causing its golden body to crack and golden blood to flow out.


    The tiny monster screamed again and again, but it was unable to withstand the power of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The golden hoop could only absorb attacks that were in energy form, but it was ineffective against physical attacks.


    Although it had the effect of sucking weapons, it wasn''t very effective against the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s claws. With a swipe of its claws, the tiny monster''s body cracked and it immediately died.

 551 Truth Listeners Chrysalis

    "Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡­ So that''s Coach''s Companion Beast¡­" Ming Xiu recognized the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon at a glance. In fact, everyone recognized the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. After all, it was the first Companion Beast on the ranking.


    "As expected of Coach. He already has a Mythical pet so quickly." However, Feng Qiuyan felt that it was only natural.


    "I''m lucky. I got lucky during a battle between two Mythical creatures." Zhou Wen was telling the truth. Then, he looked at Li Xuan and asked, "Are you alright?"


    The carapace on Li Xuan''s neck had completely shattered. A purple mark lined his neck, and his bones had almost snapped. If he had been any later, his Life Providence probably wouldn''t have been able to save his life. With his head lopped off, no matter how strong his recovery abilities were, it was unlikely he could regrow it.


    "I''m fine. I don''t know what weapon that golden hoop is. It was terrifying." Li Xuan touched his neck and gritted his teeth in pain.


    Fortunately, he had powerful recovery abilities. Without the restrictions of the golden hoop, he recovered in moments. There were no signs of injury.


    However, this also gave Li Xuan a wake-up call. Although his body and Life Soul were very strong, it didn''t make him truly invincible. Against special attacks, it was useless no matter how strong his body and Life Soul''s self-healing abilities were.


    Zhou Wen picked up the Orchid Blade, Bamboo Blade, and a golden hoop. Now that the golden hoop no longer had any magnetic force, the Orchid Blade and Bamboo Blade automatically separated from it. When Zhou Wen touched the golden hoop, there wasn''t any magnetic force.


    "Look," Ming Xiu said, pointing at the tiny monster''s corpse.


    They looked across and saw that the tiny monster''s golden body was rapidly melting, quickly turning into a pool of golden liquid. It looked like a pool of blood, but the color was different.


    Within that liquid was a crystal.


    Zhou Wen and company were somewhat surprised. Reality wasn''t a game where corpses vanished. Typically, after a dimensional creature died, it rotted quickly, but it wouldn''t be that fast. Typically, it would take at least two to three days to decompose.


    What was even more strange was that the six golden hoops didn''t disintegrate together. Logically speaking, the golden hoops were part of the dimensional creature. Once a dimensional creature died, the golden hoops should have disintegrated. However, the six golden hoops remained intact. They were still as hard as before.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and sucked the golden dimensional crystal into his palm. He wiped away the golden liquid on it before throwing it at Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan didn''t stand on ceremony as he caught the crystal and put it away with a grin.


    "Do you want these golden hoops?" Zhou Wen pointed at the other golden hoops on the ground and asked.


    "Objects on a monster would usually disintegrate. What''s the use of having them? They can''t be used as weapons," Ming Xiu said.


    "These golden hoops seem a little special. Perhaps they won''t disintegrate." Zhou Wen tried injecting his Essence Energy into a golden hoop, but there was no reaction.


    Ming Xiu shook his head and said, "Regardless of whether they disintegrate, I don''t use such ring-type weapons. They''re useless for me."


    Feng Qiuyan and Gu Dian also shook their heads, indicating their lack of interest in them. Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony. He picked up the golden hoops and planned on studying them and figuring out what they were.


    This thing was actually so powerful in the hands of an Epic creature. If it didn''t disintegrate and disappear, he could study how it could be used. What if it could be used?


    After this trip, Li Xuan returned to his former self. He felt a lot more relaxed, unlike the mentally burdened person he was before.


    However, he didn''t reduce the amount of training he did. He only changed the training method. In the past, he had been training his skills crazily. Now, he was also practicing his skills. However, he would often challenge stronger dimensional creatures, allowing his carapace to be injured before healing so as to constantly improve.


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and studied the hoops for a while, but no matter what kind of Essence Energy he injected, the golden hoops didn''t react.


    Could it be that humans really can''t use a dimensional creature''s weapon? Zhou Wen had no choice but to place the golden hoops on the table to see if they would disintegrate over time.


    Some dimensional creatures disintegrated relatively slowly. Perhaps the hoops would take several days to disintegrate and disappear.


    In the chaos space, the tiny beast was still gnawing on the metal walnut with all its might. However, it had not achieved much. There were still shallow teeth marks, and it did not seem to have made much progress.


    He released Banana Fairy, Truth Listener, Doctor Darkness, and Demonic Neonate to give them a breather. They had some self-awareness. Usually, if he didn''t release them for a long time, they would become a little irritable, especially Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy. If it wasn''t necessary, they hated being in tattoo form.


    Banana Fairy leaned on Zhou Wen''s shoulder as she curiously watched him game. She was eager to try.


    Demonic Neonate stood in a dark corner with the ancient sword in her arms. If one didn''t pay attention, one wouldn''t be able to sense her existence at all.


    Doctor Darkness stood there in a daze. It was unknown what he was thinking about.


    Previously, when Truth Listener came out, it liked to jump around in the house. This time, it was abnormally quiet. Zhou Wen didn''t hear its voice.


    After a while, Zhou Wen was suddenly blinded by a shimmering golden light in the room. He turned his head and saw the six golden hoops on the table. For some reason, they emitted a golden glow and automatically floated up.


    The six golden hoops spun. A strange power surged within them as they became smaller and smaller with every spin.


    At first, they were still the size of a necklace or bracelet. But later on, they reduced to the size of a ring; yet, continued shrinking.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling alarmed and puzzled, he saw the six golden hoops land and fly towards the table.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that Truth Listener was standing on the table. After the six golden hoops landed, they flew towards Truth Listener''s body.


    The six miniature golden hoops were caught onto Truth Listener''s six ears. They looked like six earrings, suiting it in quite a surprising manner.


    After the six golden hoops latched on, Truth Listener''s body immediately emitted a golden glow. Wisps of golden light were like silk as they gradually enveloped its body. Soon, it transformed into a golden cocoon.


    Is it evolving? Zhou Wen was surprised and delighted. He had never expected the golden hoops to allow Truth Listener to evolve. This was truly a pleasant surprise.


    After Truth Listener''s evolution, it would definitely be able to evolve to the Mythical stage. When that happened, Zhou Wen would have another super fighter.


    I wonder who will be stronger after the evolution¡ªTruth Listener or Tyrant Behemoth? Zhou Wen was delighted. He had not realized that he would be able to evolve Truth Listener from fighting a monster.

 552 Benevolence of the Battle God

    Not only wasn''t the tiny golden monster seen, but the three-headed, six-armed fellow was also missing.


    Truth Listener was put away by Zhou Wen. The process of advancing from an Epic to a Mythical stage was rather lengthy. Tyrant Behemoth had yet to complete its evolution, so Truth Listener probably would take quite some time. He wouldn''t be able to use it anytime soon.


    Without Truth Listener''s ability, it was equivalent to having a cheat that gave him an omniscient view turned off. It made Zhou Wen feel a little unaccustomed.


    I was a little too reliant on Truth Listener previously. I should take this period of time to recover. The only thing Zhou Wen was worried about was that Truth Listener had yet to complete its evolution. He needed this to happen before he went to Zhuolu otherwise he would be at a disadvantage.


    When the Golden Battle God Halberd respawned, Zhou Wen stormed into the Metalwork Temple again. With the Fire Furnace Queen and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, there was basically no need for Zhou Wen to take action.


    However, Zhou Wen still attempted to control the blood-colored avatar to fight. He switched his Essence Energy Art to the Small Perfection of Wisdom and sensed the changes that Small Perfection of Wisdom and Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence brought to his body.


    Without Truth Listener, the Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence could make Zhou Wen''s six senses extremely sharp. Apart from his hearing being much weaker than Truth Listener''s, his other senses were much stronger.


    Zhou Wen''s nose was even better than a trained police hound. He could distinguish many scents that he couldn''t identify before, and his taste buds had become extremely sensitive. When he ate, he used to only know flavors like sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. After he activated Eight Perfections Wisdom, he could easily distinguish something.


    The only bad thing was that back when he drank the seaweed egg soup from the canteen, he felt that it was fresh and delicious.


    However, ever since Zhou Wen drank the seaweed egg soup with Eight Perfections Wisdom activated, he never drank it again.


    From the soup, he actually detected the flavor of a fly. His sense of taste was just so sensitive. Zhou Wen felt that as long as he trained, it would be easy for him to tell the year of production for alcohol.


    Of course, Zhou Wen wasn''t that bored. He didn''t have the time to dabble in those things either. All he did was constantly practice using the Eight Perfections Wisdom.


    His hearing ability aside, his eyes could see further and more clearly. It was like a telescope that allowed him to see the enemy for any preemptive strikes while his sense of smell allowed him to tell the dangers of different poisonous fog.


    Some gaseous poisons could not be seen with the naked eye, so this was when his sense of smell became very important.


    However, other than that, the Eight Perfections Wisdom didn''t have any other uses. Compared to the other Life Providences, it was a little too simple. Without any outstanding abilities, it only strengthened Zhou Wen''s basic abilities.


    As Zhou Wen practiced, he grinded. When Demonic Neonate slashed at the Golden Battle God Halberd once again, there was a clang as a golden metal egg fell out.


    "An Sheng is really accurate about the one-third probability. It dropped at the first expected value." Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly checked the Companion Egg''s stats.


    Golden Battle God Halberd: Mythical


    Life Providence: Godly Weapon


    Life Soul: Golden Divine Light


    Wheel of Destiny: Benevolence of the Battle God


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 72


    Constitution: 79


    Essence Energy: 68


    Talent Skill: Battle God''s Radiance, Unstoppable


    Companion Form: Golden Trident.


    The Golden Trident''s stats were rather good¡ªmuch better than the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon before it was strengthened. However, what puzzled Zhou Wen was why its Wheel of Destiny was called Benevolence of the Battle God.


    Could it be that it''s not an offensive miracle like Six-Winged? It can''t be. This is a weapon-type Companion Beast. How can it not be an offensive-type miracle? Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the Benevolence of the Battle God''s introduction.


    Benevolence of the Battle God: Benevolence on the battlefield is to end the enemy''s life and reduce the enemy''s pain. This is the pity of God.


    When Zhou Wen saw this note, he immediately felt relieved. It looked like an attack-type miracle.


    The golden trident only had two skills. There were certainly several skills missing, but these two skills were very useful.


    Battle God''s Radiance was the skill that had instantly killed Zhou Wen. The golden trident glowed brightly as it attacked indiscriminately within a certain range. It was a large AOE attack Essence Energy Skill that was similar to Banana Fairy''s Grand Yin Wind. It consumed a lot of Essence Energy.


    Unstoppable was a passive Essence Energy Skill that was similar to Ever-Victorious. Its effects were stronger, and it was exactly what Zhou Wen needed.


    Life Providence, Life Soul, and so on needed Zhou Wen''s testing before he knew the specific effects.


    He switched back to the Slaughterer Life Soul and used his infinite Essence Energy to hatch the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    When Zhou Wen held the golden trident in his hand, he knew that the opportunity to kill Torch Dragon had finally arrived.


    He took the golden trident to grind Medusa to test its power.


    After entering the Medusa temple, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon restrained Medusa. The tip of the golden trident aimed at Medusa''s heart with Golden Divine Light.


    This strike pierced through Medusa''s heart and killed the terrifying existence that had once nearly taken Zhou Wen''s life.


    Zhou Wen could tell that the golden glow at the tip of the golden trident was likely its Life Soul, Golden Divine Light, but he didn''t see the effects of the Wheel of Destiny.


    Could it be that Medusa is too weak and doesn''t need the Benevolence of the Battle God? With this in mind, Zhou Wen made the golden trident use its miracle to kill some monsters.


    However, Zhou Wen only saw it pierce through the monster''s body and kill it without seeing it deliver any powerful move.


    How strange. What kind of miracle is the Benevolence of the Battle God? Why doesn''t it seem to have any effect? Zhou Wen still remembered how gorgeous and dazzling Holy Angel''s Redemption was when John used the miracle. The golden trident was just too disappointing.


    Despite such thoughts, Zhou Wen was still very satisfied. The golden trident fulfilled his greatest requirement. It was an excellent weapon that should be able to penetrate Torch Dragon''s body.


    Unfortunately, Medusa didn''t drop a Companion Egg. All she dropped was a Speed Crystal. It was useless for Zhou Wen as he couldn''t bring it out.


    After familiarizing himself with the Golden Battle God Halberd''s abilities and characteristics to the point of using it skillfully, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to take it, along with Six-Winged, to the Zhuolu ruins.


    With the Golden Battle God Halberd and Six-Winged, the Aoyin stone statue that was guarding the door wasn''t able to stand up to them at all. It was instantly killed by the Golden Battle God Halberd. Its ability to devour was useless against the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    Soon, Zhou Wen entered the temple.

 553 Think of a Way

    The Golden Battle God''s halberd stabbed into Torch Dragon''s scales with a glimmer of divine light. Even with such a sharp divine weapon, Zhou Wen still felt a great resistance when tearing apart the scales. It was like a blunt knife slicing through flesh. Although he could stab in, it didn''t feel clean.


    Torch Dragon let out a sharp cry after being injured. The scales on its body stood up diagonally as it raised its head to strike backward.


    Seeing that the Golden Battle God Halberd failed to stab it to death, Zhou Wen wanted to take the opportunity to strike again, but in the next second, he saw two rows of lanterns-like eyes appear on both sides of Torch Dragon''s body, from head to tail.


    Then, that was it. The blood-colored avatar was directly sucked into the Bright Torch Vision World''s world, and the game instantly turned black.


    Zhou Wen held his phone and lost interest in entering the game again.


    Torch Dragon''s entire body was filled with eyes. Unless Zhou Wen''s entire body was covered in mirrors, there was no way he could hide from the activation of the Bright Torch Vision World.


    Although the move that covered its body with eyes was only used at the final moment by Torch Dragon, and it was very likely to be greatly limited, no matter how many restrictions it had, as long as it could be used once, Zhou Wen would be doomed. There was no chance of survival.


    Suddenly, an idea lit up in Zhou Wen''s mind.


    It''s impossible for me to be covered in mirrors. Then, can I turn my armor into a mirror? Zhou Wen thought of this possibility.


    The crystal mirror formed by the Sun Beast couldn''t cover his entire body, but if he combined the crystal mirror with another armor-type Companion Beast, would it turn into a mirror-like armor that reflected light?


    Although the possibility was very small, he had to give it a try. Otherwise, he would have to find a bigger mirror to completely block his body. If not, it would be impossible for him to dodge Torch Dragon''s final eruption of the Bright Torch Vision World.


    However, Zhou Wen only had one Sun Beast on him. The drop rate was pitifully low. After grinding for so long, Zhou Wen had only had one drop.


    Zhou Wen did a study and realized that the Sun Beast and Zhou Wen''s armor-type Companion Beasts didn''t have high compatibility. They didn''t even reach 40%, so the success rate definitely wasn''t good.


    Even if he succeeded, the outcome might not become a mirror armor as Zhou Wen wanted. Who knew what would happen after the two Companion Beasts combined?


    Zhou Wen sent a message to Li Xuan, but Li Xuan didn''t know where to find such armor.


    After asking An Sheng again, An Sheng thought for a while, but he also didn''t think that there would be such an armor. According to him, the armor that was closest to the armor that Zhou Wen mentioned should be an armor made of Ice Nightmares.


    However, according to what he knew, Ice Nightmares were Mythical Companion Beasts. Only North District had one, and it belonged to Lance''s family.


    However, the armor formed by the Ice Nightmare could not be said to be a complete mirror. It was like a smooth ice surface that could reflect light to a certain extent, but it was not as clear as a real mirror.


    So at the end of the day, it''s still impossible? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    "Young Master Wen, I''ll be away soon. If there''s anything you need, you can call this number." An Sheng sent a number to Zhou Wen.


    "Where are you going?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Didn''t I obtain that Mythical Companion Egg before? However, because I don''t have enough Essence Energy, incubating a Mythical Companion Egg will put my life in danger. Therefore, I can only use some special means. I plan on going to a dimensional zone with rich Essence Energy. Then, I''ll use some special methods to successfully hatch the Mythical Companion Egg. If I''m fast, I''ll be back in a month. If I''m slow, it''ll probably take two to three months," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen thought and said, "Ah Sheng, I want to go to Zhuolu in the near future."


    "When?" An Sheng didn''t ask why. He knew that Zhou Wen would give it a try after having the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    "I haven''t decided on the time yet. I still need to make some preparations. I''ll contact you when I''m ready. It''ll probably take some time." Zhou Wen wasn''t sure when he would be able to resolve the problem of the mirror armor.


    However, even without the mirror armor, Zhou Wen had to make a trip as soon as possible. He couldn''t wait any longer.


    No matter how optimistic he was, the former principal probably didn''t have any hope of survival. Now, Zhou Wen only wanted to go in and take a look, or he wouldn''t be able to feel at ease.


    If he really couldn''t obtain the mirror armor, Zhou Wen planned on taking a huge mirror made of tempered glass in. He could place the mirror in the chaos space and use it to block Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World when it used it.


    This move could only be used in reality. Furthermore, it hadn''t been verified. He didn''t know if an ordinary mirror could block Bright Torch Vision World. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zhou Wen didn''t want to employ this step.


    "Alright, I''ll hatch the Mythical pet as soon as possible and rush back." An Sheng went offline after replying to this message.


    Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng''s trip was definitely very dangerous. It wasn''t difficult for Zhou Wen to hatch Companion Beasts that were of a higher level, but to ordinary people, it was a grave matter.


    Zhou Wen could only pray that An Sheng would return safely. It was impossible for him to stop him from hatching the Mythical pet.


    After entering the temple again, Zhou Wen once again stabbed Torch Dragon with the golden trident. Just like last time, Torch Dragon''s body had countless eyes appear as it used Bright Torch Vision World.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen switched to Lost Country and used teleportation to change his location. He wanted to see if he could dodge the Bright Torch Vision World, but it was all in vain. After he appeared from his teleportation, he was directly killed by the Bright Torch Vision World.


    From the looks of it, other than finding a sufficiently large mirror, the only way is to do it through pet fusion. Zhou Wen really couldn''t think of any other solution.


    However, he only had one Sun Beast. Zhou Wen didn''t immediately fuse with it. Instead, he continued grinding the Music Temple to see if he could get another Sun Beast.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen began researching the First Order of Chaos. He wanted to see if he could condense a Life Providence using it.


    If the First Order of Chaos could condense a Life Providence, it might allow the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg to hatch again. With the Invisibility Cloak, it might be able to crack the Bright Torch Vision World.


    The First Order of Chaos was somewhat similar to the other Essence Energy Art that Zhou Wen had cultivated¡ªDao Sutra. Zhou Wen cross-checked them and quickly gained insights into the First Order of Chaos.


    However, there were still some differences between the two. After studying it for two to three days, Zhou Wen gained insight into many profound mysteries. He vaguely felt that the First Order of Chaos was undergoing some strange changes, as though it was about to condense a Life Providence.


    In the past two or three days, Zhou Wen had farmed Medusa and the Golden Trident a few more times, but nothing good dropped. Medusa dropped a skill crystal that Zhou Wen couldn''t absorb.


    Is the one-third drop rate An Sheng mentioned true? Zhou Wen was extremely puzzled.

 554 Breaking the White Cocoon Again

    In reality, killing a Mythical creature might result in a Mythical creature of the same type taking a long time to come through the dimensional rift. It could take a year or decades. There wasn''t much chance of killing the same Mythical creature.


    Some families were rather lucky. They spent very little time researching a Mythical creature. After killing it, they would have Mythical creatures of the same type appear every year for years.


    Even after killing many Mythical creatures, the chances of a Companion Egg dropping remained very low. Only when one was extremely lucky would a second Companion Egg of the same type drop.


    This was something that only a family with a deep heritage could do. The An family had only just risen to prominence a few years ago. They had killed Mythical creatures, but up till now, they had not seen any Mythical creatures of the same type.


    In reality, they hadn''t killed many Mythical creatures. How could they have a lot of experience?


    Over time, the An family might have a Mythical Companion Egg of the same type, but the drop rate would probably be less than a third.


    This also involved the problem of uniqueness. Mythical Companion Beasts like the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon might produce Companion Beasts of the same type, but for creatures like Banana Fairy and Truth Listener, they were unique. It was impossible to have a completely identical Banana Fairy or Truth Listener appear.


    Zhou Wen still didn''t know if the Golden Battle God Halberd and Medusa were unique Mythical Companion Beasts. He could only confirm it after a long time of grinding.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen didn''t really care about this problem. He was still studying the First Order of Chaos. Legend had it that it was the Essence Energy Art of the Greek mythology''s Chaos.


    Chaos was probably equivalent to the egg that was split apart by Pangu in East District myth. It represented a chaotic world where Yin and Yang had yet to be separated. The Dao Sutra also studied nature.


    Although there were some differences between the two, it could be used for reference. It wasn''t difficult for him to understand the profundity of the First Order of Chaos. In just two days, Zhou Wen had a breakthrough.


    The Essence Energy in his body circulated continuously, gradually transforming into a strange power that merged with his body and mind.


    He couldn''t see the power, but he could sense that it was a Life Providence that Zhou Wen had plenty of experience condensing.


    After successfully condensing a Life Providence, Zhou Wen checked his stats. After switching to the First Order of Chaos, there was indeed an additional Life Providence.


    Zhou Wen gave it a try. This Chaos Body was very similar to his Dao Body. It was also extremely effective at recovering Essence Energy. It also strengthened his body, making it similar to his Dao Body.


    Zhou Wen tried to use his Chaos Body to inject Essence Energy into the Invisibility Cloak. The Invisibility Cloak vibrated even more intensely, as though it was about to break out of its shell.


    But after a long vibration, it still did not come out.


    Zhou Wen didn''t manage to get the Invisibility Cloak out after all his hard work. He knew that he was still lacking something. He probably needed to wait for the First Order of Chaos to condense a Life Soul before he could hatch it.


    It won''t be that easy to condense a Life Soul. These Essence Energy Arts are simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra, not something I really mastered. Previously, those Life Souls were condensed by absorbing a special attribute. To condense a Life Soul for the First Order of Chaos, I''m afraid I have to do something similar, right?


    Zhou Wen secretly calculated in his heart. Previously, the Dao Body absorbed the Taboo attribute and condensed a Life Soul. And the Taboo attribute was because I absorbed the blood of the creature inside the Ant Nest cocoon. Could it be that I can help the First Order of Chaos condense a Life Soul if I obtain another drop of blood?


    Due to the similarities between the First Order of Chaos and the Dao Sutra, Zhou Wen felt that it was likely easier for the First Order of Chaos to condense a Life Soul than Small Perfection of Wisdom. After all, he had had similar experiences.


    What he lacked now was a drop of blood. This was because Zhou Wen didn''t have the physique needed to cultivate the First Order of Chaos. It was purely simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra. To condense a Life Soul, he needed a foundation.


    Having figured this out, Zhou Wen opened the Ant Nest dungeon and went to Ant City.


    He hadn''t gone to Ant Nest for days. Now, he suddenly felt like he was in a dream. It was as if he had just obtained the mysterious phone and the time he had come to grind ants was just yesterday.


    However, the ants here were completely unable to harm him. Any Companion Beast beside Zhou Wen could finish them off.


    The Fire Furnace Queen threw down a ball of molten flames, burning large swaths of ants to death. The notifications of him killing dimensional creatures flooded the screen.


    To Zhou Wen, the Golden Flying Ant was something he could kill easily. Six-Winged smacked it to death with a single swipe of its claw, akin to squashing an ant.


    Apart from this white cocoon, I''ve seen two. One is protected by a white dragon while the other is protected by the chick''s mother. They are extremely terrifying Mythical creatures. In comparison, the guardian, Golden Flying Ant, is highly lacking in qualifications. Seeing nothing drop from the Golden Flying Ant, Zhou Wen flew straight for the white cocoon.


    He summoned the Golden Battle God Halberd. He held the trident in both hands while the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon stood in front to protect him.


    The last time Zhou Wen came, he had been killed instantly by the creature inside the white cocoon. Although his strength had improved greatly and he had two authentic Mythical Companion Beasts, he still felt that he was probably no match for the creature inside the cocoon.


    Attack! Zhou Wen gripped his trident tightly as he stared intently at the white cocoon.


    Upon hearing the command, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s wings transformed into streams of light and slashed at the white cocoon like six blades.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was still quite powerful. Its dragon wings sliced open the white cocoon, revealing the creature that was curled up inside.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate at all. At the instant the white cocoon was torn open, the golden trident stabbed at the creature. He used all his strength. This strike was his fastest attack to date.


    Although Zhou Wen felt that he wasn''t a match for the creature inside the cocoon, it wasn''t difficult to get a drop of blood. After all, he had succeeded before when he was weaker than he was now.


    Moreover, he had previously used the golden trident and coupled it with Lost Country''s teleportation to kill Medusa from behind with one strike. This proved the powerful destructive power of the golden trident.


    Zhou Wen thought that if the creature inside the cocoon didn''t defend in time, he might be able to luck out and kill her.


    I wonder what will drop if she dies? A thought flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind. It was only an instant.


    The Golden Divine Light at the tip of the golden trident was about to stab the creature inside the cocoon, the creature didn''t even raise her head to look at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen''s heart raced. Just as he thought he was about to succeed, the golden trident suddenly stopped. It moved from extreme motion to extreme stillness. It only took an instant.


    A snow-white hand grabbed onto the golden trident''s edge. The incomparably sharp edge was unable to slice through the fair and slender fingers.


    The creature in the cocoon finally raised its head. It turned its head and looked at the blood-colored avatar with its demonic eyes.

 555 The Terrifying Guardian

    Boom!


    The blood-colored avatar and Six-Winged felt as though they had been struck by lightning. The blood-colored avatar''s hands involuntarily released the Golden Battle God Halberd as his body flew backward. Like a cannonball, they slammed into the mountain wall, producing a large and small hole.


    Zhou Wen felt that the blood-colored avatar was seriously injured, but thankfully, it wasn''t dead. This time, it wasn''t instantly killed by the creature inside the cocoon. Just as he was about to leave the cave, he saw a golden beam flash in front of him. The Golden Battle God Halberd flew over and nailed the blood-colored avatar''s body. It penetrated its chest and the game screen instantly turned black.


    This fellow is a little too strong. The six-winged seraphim should be much weaker than her, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He only wanted to get a drop of blood, but he still ended up being killed.


    However, Zhou Wen realized something. His encounter with her this time was clearly different from before. Her body seemed to have grown quite a bit.


    When he first came, the creature in the cocoon was still sleeping. She only woke up after he had injured her.


    This time, it was obvious that she had completely woken up. Her body had also developed more perfectly. Every time he saw her, she was somewhat different. This was clearly different from the other dimensional creatures in-game.


    According to The Thearch, the creatures in the cocoons should be the guardians of the various species. Then, can I drip my blood on the cocoon like John? If I can obtain her approval, will she become my guardian? It looks like she''s clearly much stronger than the six-winged seraphim. This thought flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    However, it was only for an instant. He had many secrets. He definitely could not let an intelligent being who could betray him follow him around 24/7.


    Since I can''t do it by force, I''ll have to sneak an attack. Zhou Wen entered Ant City again, but he had learned his lesson this time. He didn''t directly face the creature inside the cocoon.


    First, he used the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon as bait. The blood-colored avatar and Demonic Neonate hid in the ant honey pool, silently waiting for an opportunity.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon blasted open the white cocoon. The creature inside the cocoon only took a glance at it before it was sent flying.


    From the perspective of the third party, it was even more shocking. The powerful Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was already considered a top-notch Mythical creature, yet its huge body was actually blasted away by her gaze.


    However, just as Zhou Wen teleported out, he saw the creature turn her head to look at him.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen''s body flew out like a cannonball. Soon, the game screen turned black again.


    Is the guardian really only at the Mythical stage? Apart from The Thearch whose strength is unknown, she''s many times stronger than any Mythical creature I''ve ever seen. Zhou Wen felt that this fellow wasn''t as simple as a Mythical creature.


    The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was considered a top-notch Mythical creature. Although it did not have any offensive miracle, it should not have been so easily killed by someone of the same level.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the guardian could break through the limits of the Mythical stage. If not, it meant that her skills, Life Soul, and other aspects were already heaven-defying.


    After dying twice, Zhou Wen didn''t head to Ant City again.


    "Thearch, how can the guardian you mentioned last time be contracted?" Zhou Wen sent a probing message to The Thearch.


    However, The Thearch didn''t reply. He didn''t know what she was doing. He hadn''t seen her appear recently.


    Before Zhou Wen headed to Ant City again, he needed to think of a perfect solution. Making blind attempts was pointless.


    I wonder if the crystal mirror transformed from a Sun Beast can reflect her gaze. Zhou Wen thought as he grinded.


    Ding!


    Suddenly, a strange sound entered Zhou Wen''s ears. He turned his head and saw a Companion Egg drop beside the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. It was a Sun Beast Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly went over to pick up the Companion Egg. After hatching it, he had another Sun Beast Companion Beast. Their stats were about the same.


    Unfortunately, the crystal mirror was too small. Even with two crystal mirrors, they couldn''t completely block Zhou Wen''s body.


    There are two crystal mirrors. I can try fusion. Zhou Wen decided to give it a try. If he could produce a full-body mirror armor, his entire body would be equivalent to a mirror. Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World would naturally be useless to him.


    However, the crystal mirror''s compatibility with armor beasts was too low. With a fusion compatibility of about 40%, failure was easy.


    Typically, armor is made of metal while the crystal mirror is crystal. Could this be the reason why the compatibility is relatively low? Zhou Wen thought for a moment before heading to the Curse Demon Palace and grinding out a Stone Armor Companion Beast.


    He placed them together, and indeed, the compatibility was much higher, reaching 61.


    Indeed, this is the case. However, the skills and Life Providence of this Stone Armor are lacking. Most importantly, this isn''t a full-body armor. There''s no way to cover my whole body. Zhou Wen searched online and discovered that there were quite a number of jade-type Companion Beasts that could become full-body armor.


    After looking through a lot of information, Zhou Wen decided to buy a jade armor-type Companion Beast to fuse.


    He still had a large number of Essence Crystals. It wasn''t difficult to buy an Epic Companion Egg. Zhou Wen decided to head to the Companion Egg shop. Whatever Companion Eggs were online might also be on sale at the local Companion Egg shops.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t go to Qin Xiyuan''s shop. He had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with Qin Xiyuan. If he could avoid him, he would rather not interact with him.


    Zhou Wen remembered that his classmate, Luo Xuan, owned a Companion Beast shop. Therefore, he contacted Luo Xuan and asked him about jade armor-type beasts.


    Luo Xuan said that his shop should have one, but he still needed to take a look at the specific ones before he could tell him in detail. He told Zhou Wen to visit his shop.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at Luo Xuan''s pet shop, Luo Xuan rushed back.


    "Jade armor-type Companion Beasts are considered quite common. Compared to metal and wood armor, the price of the jade armor is relatively cheap, but not by much. After all, you want an Epic Companion Egg." Luo Xuan personally led Zhou Wen to his store to see the jade-type Companion Beast.


    "Is there jade armor that can wrap the entire body? It''s best if there''s no gap at all." Zhou Wen asked as he looked around.


    "It''s really not easy to find. Jade armor is heavy to begin with. If it''s full-body armor, it''s inconvenient for movement." Luo Xuan thought for a moment before saying, "However, we do have an Epic Companion Egg like that in our shop, but in terms of price, it might be more expensive than the typical Epic Companion Egg."

 556 Killing Torch Dragon

    This Companion Egg was an Epic jade terracotta. It had dropped from an ancient tomb dimensional zone. There were more clay terracotta and bronze terracotta. Jade terracotta was a rare breed.


    This type of terracotta had armor as their companion forms. Because jade terracotta was rare, it was much more expensive.


    Zhou Wen used his phone to look at the stats of the jade terracotta Companion Egg. It was pretty good and could be considered quite a top-notch Epic stage.


    Spirit-Protecting Jade Terracotta: Epic


    Life Providence: Unaging Undying


    Life Soul: Guardian Spirit.


    Strength: 39


    Speed: 28


    Constitution: 40


    Essence Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Clear Jade Shield.


    Companion Form: Armor


    Apart from speed, the Spirit-Protecting Jade Terracotta was top-notch at the Epic stage. However, Zhou Wen only wanted its companion form. Speed didn''t matter.


    He had used his phone to match with the Sun Beast. The Spirit-Protecting Jade Terracotta had a compatibility of 91% with the Sun Beast, which was much higher than the Stone Armor.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to hatch the Spirit-Protecting Jade Terracotta. Then, he placed it in the same panel with the Sun Beast.


    I hope there will be a good outcome. Zhou Wen had spent all his money to buy the Spirit-Protecting Jade Terracotta.


    Although he had a lot of Essence Crystals, he could not cash them out. Naturally, he couldn''t use them for direct payment.


    Would fusing the armor and mirror together have a perfect ending¡ªa mirror-surfaced armor¡ªlike Zhou Wen''s imagination? Zhou Wen didn''t have any confidence. However, he had no choice but to give it a try.


    Seeing the two pets emit a resplendent glow and gradually fuse into one, Zhou Wen''s heart leaped to his throat.


    The fusion easily succeeded, but success wasn''t the main point. It was very difficult to fail with 91% compatibility. Whether it could become what Zhou Wen needed was the crux.


    After a while, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. Why didn''t the light dissipate? On careful look, it had already been successfully fused. However, the new pet emitted a resplendent glow like the sun, preventing Zhou Wen from seeing it clearly.


    After taking a closer look, he realized that the new pet was like a crystal and was emitting a dazzling light. It was still in the form of the jade terracotta.


    Please let it be armor¡­ Armor¡­ He was delighted and quickly checked the information about his new pet.


    Jade Crystal Spirit: Epic


    Life Providence: Unaging Undying


    Life Soul: Guardian Spirit.


    Strength: 40


    Speed: 31


    Constitution: 40


    Essence Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Jade Crystal Light Shield.


    Companion Form: Armor


    Zhou Wen looked at himself in the mirror and nearly jumped up in excitement. The armor on his body was like a crystalline mirror, clearly reflecting everything around him. At a glance, he imagined that his body had vanished.


    Zhou Wen felt as though he had eaten the Fruit of Life. All his pores effused with pleasure. He had never had such a smooth, successful fusion of pets. To Zhou Wen, it was a miracle.


    He could not wait to enter the game and go to the temple in the Jade Crystal Spirit armor. He wanted to see if such armor could block the Bright Torch Vision World.


    Just like before, Zhou Wen flew behind Torch Dragon and stabbed the Golden Battle God Halberd into its back. Amidst the pain, rows of eyes appeared on both sides of its body. Each eye had the Bright Torch Vision World ability.


    Almost instantly, the dragon wings on Zhou Wen''s back and the Golden Battle God Halberd in his hand vanished. They reflected in Torch Dragon''s eyes, but the blood-colored avatar in the Jade Crystal Spirit armor was fine.


    It really works! Zhou Wen felt relieved. He knew that he could finally kill Torch Dragon.


    As expected, Torch Dragon''s enraged state did not last for long. In just a minute, other than its pair of snake eyes, the rest of its eyes closed.


    However, that minute felt like a century to Zhou Wen.


    Without the speed augmentation of the dragon wings, Zhou Wen found it a struggle to dodge using only Transcendent Flying Immortal. He was nearly killed a few times.


    Thankfully, with Slaughterer''s infinite Essence Energy supporting him, Zhou Wen maintained his Transcendent Flying Immortal state. At the same time, he used Ghost Steps. Under the high pressure, he fused the two Essence Energy Skills and constantly shuttled through the pillars in the palace. He managed to survive until finally, the eyes on Torch Dragon''s body closed.


    After Torch Dragon closed its eyes, its aura weakened greatly. It was as if it had been drained of all energy.


    However, without the Golden Battle God Halberd, Zhou Wen couldn''t kill it. In the end, he was still killed by Torch Dragon.


    Zhou Wen didn''t feel depressed about the death. He was calm. He knew that he could finally go to the ruins to kill Torch Dragon.


    He dripped another drop of blood to revive and entered the game dungeon. Now, Zhou Wen was especially calm because he knew that Torch Dragon was no longer his obstacle.


    He came in front of Torch Dragon once again. The instant the Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen unsummoned it and the dragon wings and rapidly retreated.


    As expected, Torch Dragon''s eyes opened all across its body like before.


    Zhou Wen kept using his movement technique to circle around the metal columns. Torch Dragon, who was covered in eyes, chased after him desperately like a lantern.


    Seconds passed. After barely holding on for a minute, the eyes on Torch Dragon completely shut. Its body seemed to shrivel as its massive body seemed to shrink.


    Now¡­ it''s my turn¡­ Zhou Wen summoned the dragon wings and Golden Battle God Halberd again as his eyes burned.


    After working hard for so long, he had finally overcome this seemingly impossible mountain.


    As though sensing the change in Zhou Wen''s aura, Torch Dragon shrank back in fear.


    "It''s too late to be afraid now." Zhou Wen flapped the dragon wings on his back and instantly appeared beside Torch Dragon. The Golden Divine Light at the tip of the Golden Battle God Halberd tore through the poison fog around Torch Dragon and stabbed at its body.


    Blood splattered as the Golden Divine Light tore through Torch Dragon''s scales and flesh.


    Amidst a sharp cry, Torch Dragon spewed out poisonous smoke as black beams shot out from the scales on its body. However, it was already at the end of its rope. Its might was much weaker than before, making it impossible for him to injure Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen''s figure flashed as the Golden Battle God Halberd constantly tore apart Torch Dragon''s flesh. The palace was filled with dragon blood.


    The powerful Torch Dragon finally collapsed at Zhou Wen''s feet. When the gigantic body collapsed, the entire palace seemed to tremble.


    Looking at Torch Dragon''s corpse in the pool of blood, Zhou Wen felt an indescribable sense of joy.


    Ding!


    As Torch Dragon''s corpse slowly disappeared, a black crystal dropped.

 557 The Last Day of the Exchange

    This thing¡­ is a youngling¡­ Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be astonished. If it were an adult Torch Dragon, he wondered how strong it would be.


    Only one dimensional crystal dropped. When Zhou Wen saw the number, he thought it was just an ordinary dimensional crystal. He couldn''t help but feel somewhat disappointed. However, upon careful scrutiny, he saw that it was a 37-valued Spatial dimensional crystal.


    It''s a rare spatial stat, and it''s 37 points. Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly absorbed the Spatial Crystal.


    Strands of strange energy fused into Zhou Wen''s body, making him feel like his body had changed, but he couldn''t tell what changes had happened.


    After the Spatial Crystal was completely absorbed, Zhou Wen saw the Spatial state of his rare stats reach 37.


    Spatial stat of 37. The requirement for the Jade Lute Crystal is 41 Constitution, 21 Spatial stat, and a Spatial Life Providence and Life Soul. In other words, as long as I raise my Constitution to 41 points, I can absorb the Jade Lute Crystal skill. Zhou Wen was still eyeing the Jade Lute Crystal.


    Although no Companion Egg dropped, a special stat was still extremely valuable. Zhou Wen was satisfied and planned on doing it again. Unfortunately, Torch Dragon was the same as the Golden Battle God Halberd. It didn''t appear immediately after he respawned the dungeon. It would probably take 24 hours before the Torch Dragon youngling would appear again.


    It''s time to go to Zhuolu. Zhou Wen planned on heading to Zhuolu while waiting for the dungeon to respawn. As long as he grinded twice and confirmed that he could kill Torch Dragon safely, he would immediately enter the ruins.


    He could ignore the chick and antelope. If the two of them didn''t see Zhou Wen return, they would definitely head to Wang Lu''s place for free food and drink. They wouldn''t starve themselves.


    Zhou Wen planned on purchasing some items before heading to Zhuolu.


    Just as he walked out of Four Seasons Garden, he bumped into Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen, who were looking for him.


    "Coach, our exchange is about to end. I came to say goodbye before we leave," Ming Xiu said.


    "So fast?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He didn''t think it had been three months since Ming Xiu had arrived. His days of gaming really passed quickly.


    "The three months are up the day after tomorrow. I''m afraid that the school will have other arrangements and that I won''t be able to bid you farewell, so I came ahead of time," Ming Xiu said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what to say. He wasn''t good at words, nor did he like to make farewell speeches.


    "I can do it now," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    "Then let''s go to the training ground. I''ve improved a lot recently. Although I haven''t advanced to the Epic stage, I already have some insights," Ming Xiu said excitedly.


    The three of them arrived at the training ground and found an empty room. Tian Zhenzhen stood by the side and watched the battle. Zhou Wen and Ming Xiu took their practice weapons and stood there.


    "Coach, please give me your guidance." With the sword in hand, Ming Xiu''s temperament changed instantly. The warmth from before vanished. His being was even more terrifying and cold than the sword in his hand.


    Zhou Wen wielded the practice sword and displayed the stance of Transcendent Flying Immortal. Since Ming Xiu specially came to spar with him before leaving, Zhou Wen didn''t want to brush him off.


    Ming Xiu held his sword. At the instant his aura reached its peak, he unsheathed his sword and transformed into a stream of light that stabbed Zhou Wen.


    It was like the last ray of light on the horizon during sunset. Ming Xiu''s sword was gorgeous and resolute. It was the last ray of light, and also the final bloom.


    Although they were both focused on speed, Ming Xiu''s sword techniques and Feng Qiuyan''s saber techniques exuded a completely different feeling.


    Tian Zhenzhen watched Ming Xiu''s strike from the side. Her eyes were filled with anticipation, hoping that the strike would surprise Zhou Wen.


    She had been practicing with Ming Xiu the entire time. She knew how much hardship Ming Xiu had suffered in order to hone his sword, and she also knew how much Ming Xiu had improved in such a short time. Although she knew that Ming Xiu couldn''t defeat Zhou Wen, she also wished to see a look of surprise on Zhou Wen''s face. That was the greatest reward for Ming Xiu''s hard work.


    Tian Zhenzhen knew very well that Zhou Wen''s shocked expression was more important than any other person''s praise for Ming Xiu.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t show any expression. With a slight movement of his practice sword, he blocked Ming Xiu''s sword. Although Ming Xiu''s sword was fast and ruthless, it was still too slow for Zhou Wen.


    Ming Xiu couldn''t help but feel a little discouraged when he saw Zhou Wen easily block his sword that was infused with everything. He stood there with his sword in hand.


    "What are you waiting for? Continue," Zhou Wen said when he saw Ming Xiu pause.


    Ming Xiu''s eyes narrowed. He gripped the sword in his hand tightly and swung it again. Like before, his sword was as fast as lightning.


    However, Zhou Wen still casually brandished his sword and blocked Ming Xiu''s sword. However, this time, Ming Xiu didn''t hesitate or stop as he struck again.


    Tian Zhenzhen was filled with disappointment. Ming Xiu had clearly put in so much effort, but Zhou Wen was still able to easily block his sword art.


    Ming Xiu constantly attacked Zhou Wen from all directions. His sword technique was like meteors that streaked across the sky, but Zhou Wen didn''t use his strongest strike. He even remained in place. All he did was wave his sword and block Ming Xiu''s incoming strikes.


    Tian Zhenzhen could not help but smile bitterly. She knew that the difference between the two of them was too great. It was so great that it left one in despair.


    Looking at Ming Xiu, who constantly attacked Zhou Wen but failed to make him even take a single step, Tian Zhenzhen felt her heart almost shatter. She really didn''t wish to see Ming Xiu suffer such a blow.


    Ming Xiu had put so much effort into improving his sword techniques that when they failed she wanted to rush forward and stop him from continuing the battle. She didn''t want Ming Xiu to suffer such humiliation again.


    "If I were you, I wouldn''t disturb him." A voice sounded beside her. Tian Zhenzhen was too engrossed and hadn''t noticed someone standing beside her.


    "President Wei?" Tian Zhenzhen turned around and realized that the person was the president of the student council, Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge looked at the battle between Zhou Wen and Ming Xiu and said, "No one is born to be a winner. Every man will experience countless failures in his life. However, some men will never get up again after failing. As for some men, they will get up and continue advancing after failing, ultimately becoming geniuses in the eyes of others. Trust him. Don''t stand in front of him. Don''t block his path. Just trust him."


    Tian Zhenzhen didn''t understand him, but his words dispelled her urge to rush over.


    Ming Xiu''s sword constantly slashed out, but it was also constantly blocked by Zhou Wen.


    Wei Ge''s eyes narrowed. He could tell that Ming Xiu''s sword technique was evolving. He was searching for all possibilities. As long as he could get up and continue advancing, he would not lose.

 558 Tomorrow Sword Ar

    However, even defense alone gave Ming Xiu a lot of pressure. Just like when Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue fought, Xia Xuanyue used the Path to Snatching Heaven to pressure Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen''s movement technique wasn''t the Path to Snatching Heaven. It wasn''t that aggressive. He was only defending, but it made Ming Xiu feel as if he would be killed by Zhou Wen if he didn''t attack.


    Therefore, Ming Xiu could only continuously attack and attack. If it was an ordinary person, under such pressure, they would probably be scared out of their wits. Their willpower would soon collapse, and they would give up on resisting or end up risking their lives.


    However, Ming Xiu didn''t give up. Under such pressure, he constantly searched for an opportunity to defeat Zhou Wen. He constantly attacked with his sword.


    This won''t do¡­ Not this either¡­ Ming Xiu kept trying, but no matter how fast his sword was, no matter how gorgeous his technique was, or how brilliant his strikes were, they were perfectly parried by Zhou Wen.


    What do I have to do to break through the Coach''s defense? Ming Xiu had already tried his best. He had already tried everything he could, but he couldn''t think of any better methods.


    Ming Xiu knew that this couldn''t continue. Once his train of thought was severed, his sword''s might would weaken. When that happened, Zhou Wen would counterattack.


    This was his last battle with Zhou Wen before he left. He didn''t wish to leave it just like that.


    What should I do¡­ what should I do¡­ Countless thoughts flashed across Ming Xiu''s mind.


    Ming Xiu suddenly felt that this situation was a little familiar. He seemed to have experienced this before.


    Soon, Ming Xiu remembered why this situation was so familiar. It was because he had faced the same predicament when he was young.


    At that time, he had only been practicing his sword techniques for a short period of time. He was small and weak in strength¡ªhe was only three years old. The other students who practiced with him were already six or seven years old. Therefore, during any sparring, the difference in strength was huge and Ming Xiu was always defeated by his classmates because he was too weak.


    He lost terribly in the daily sparrings. With Ming Xiu''s temper, he naturally couldn''t accept it. At that time, he often thought that if he could grow up faster and become as strong as his classmates, he would definitely not lose.


    The predicament back then was the same as the present predicament. Zhou Wen was much stronger than him in every aspect. The difference was that even with technique, he still couldn''t beat Zhou Wen.


    When I was young, I couldn''t fulfill that fantasy. But now, it''s not impossible to realize it. I can do it in another way¡­ Ming Xiu seemed to have made a decision in his heart, and his gaze became sharper.


    "His gaze is different," Wei Ge said with narrowed eyes.


    "What do you mean his gaze is different?" Tian Zhenzhen asked doubtfully.


    "Watch his next move. Perhaps this will be a very important moment in his life," Wei Ge said without elaboration.


    Tian Zhenzhen had no choice but to stare at Ming Xiu. She wanted to know how different his next strike would be.


    Ming Xiu held his sword as sword beams flashed like meteors. From Tian Zhenzhen''s point of view, this strike was no different from many of his previous strikes. They were all so fast and furious, but such strikes couldn''t defeat Zhou Wen.


    She had already seen it countless times. Such a magnificent sword art had been easily blocked by Zhou Wen. There had been no exception.


    Indeed, Zhou Wen''s sword blocked Ming Xiu''s sword again, but at the instant the two swords clashed, everyone was astonished to realize that Zhou Wen''s sword had missed. It failed to block Ming Xiu''s sword.


    As for Ming Xiu''s sword, it acted as a late student. After Zhou Wen''s sword swept over, his sword stabbed towards Zhou Wen''s heart.


    "Alright! Zhou Wen made a mistake!" Tian Zhenzhen jumped up in excitement. She thought that it was Zhou Wen''s mistake.


    Clang!


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen''s sword hilt slumped downwards and struck Ming Xiu''s sword tip. It sent Ming Xiu''s sword to the side, preventing him from stabbing him.


    "That wasn''t Zhou Wen''s mistake, but a result of Ming Xiu''s deliberate actions. The late sword wasn''t even seen by Zhou Wen. It nearly hit him. It''s really interesting." Wei Ge revealed a teasing expression.


    Ming Xiu had already ceased his attack. He did not continue fighting and sheathed his sword.


    Zhou Wen''s sword-wielding hand drooped down as he allowed the tip of the sword to stick to the ground.


    "Nice sword art. What''s the name of that strike?" Zhou Wen asked Ming Xiu.


    "It doesn''t have a name yet. Coach, if you don''t mind, you can give it a name," Ming Xiu said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t decline. After some thought, he said, "Since it''s a late strike, let''s call it Tomorrow Sword Art."


    "Sword of Tomorrow¡­ Tomorrow Sword Art¡­ Alright¡­ I''ll call it Tomorrow Sword Art¡­" Ming Xiu seemed to like this name very much and decided to go with it.


    "Then, let me see how far your Tomorrow Sword Art can go." Zhou Wen narrowed his eyes as he stared at the sword in Ming Xiu''s hand. He felt his confidence and inspiration erupt due to Ming Xiu''s strike. His mind was at peak activity.


    "Coach, please appraise my Tomorrow Sword Art!" Ming Xiu gripped the hilt of his sword. It was as if he had entered a mysterious realm that was surreal.


    Ka-Cha!


    The practice sword and scabbard in Ming Xiu''s hand actually broke apart. Cracks spread out on the scabbard. In the blink of an eye, the scabbard shattered, along with the sword hilt that Ming Xiu was holding.


    It was not strange that the practice sword shattered. The strange thing was that after the practice sword and scabbard crumbled, he still held a sword in his hand. It was a transparent sword of light, and a terrifying sword intent radiated from it.


    "Life Soul¡­ Is that a Life Soul?" Tian Zhenzhen could not believe her judgment and asked Wei Ge.


    "Yes, that''s a Life Soul. It''s really enviable. He''s still so young, but he has already comprehended a Life Soul," said Wei Ge. He was truly envious.


    If he had met Zhou Wen earlier and come to a realization earlier, he wouldn''t have wasted so much time doing other meaningless things. Perhaps he could have been like Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu, with such shocking achievements at a young age.

 559 Peerless Duo

    This wasn''t a late strike, but a strike from the future. Ming Xiu''s sword was unbelievably fast as though it had broken through his limits. It transcended space and time as it stabbed at Zhou Wen.


    The eruption of this strike was so sudden, fast, and bizarre that Tian Zhenzhen was unable to keep up with it. She did not even see how the strike was thrust out when she heard a clang.


    The practice sword in Zhou Wen''s hand had already snapped. As for the transparent beam sword in Ming Xiu''s hand, it had been sheathed at some point in time.


    "Tomorrow after tomorrow. How many tomorrows would there be? If you have the will, why wait until tomorrow? Live in the moment, and let the Sword of Tomorrow slay all grudges. Good sword technique!" Wei Ge praised.


    Tian Zhenzhen only knew that Ming Xiu''s strike was very powerful, but she did not know how strong it was or which aspect of it was strong. She kept staring, but she couldn''t tell.


    "Thank you for your guidance, Coach. I''ll be leaving." Ming Xiu bowed seriously and then turned to leave the practice room.


    "Ming Xiu, you have finally won. Furthermore, you have condensed a Life Soul. You are only seventeen years old. It''s great that you reached the Epic stage at seventeen," Tian Zhenzhen chased after him and said excitedly.


    "No, I lost." Ming Xiu shook his head.


    "How can that be? I saw you snap Zhou Wen''s sword. You definitely won!" Tian Zhenzhen exclaimed.


    "That''s because Coach used a practice sword, while mine was a Life Soul Sword. That''s why he blocked my sword. It was only because the practice sword was too weak that it snapped. Even so, my sword still failed to injure him, nor was it able to force him to attack. Indeed, I''m still too inferior. However, I now have a direction. There will come a day when I will catch up with Coach," Ming Xiu said confidently.


    "I see. However, you are already very powerful. You are at the Epic stage at 17 years old. If your father knew, he would definitely be overjoyed," Tian Zhenzhen consoled.


    "That''s right. It''s time to go back and make the old man happy. I have to let others decide if the sword art my father passed down is weak or strong." Ming Xiu''s eyes were filled with excitement. After all, he was only a seventeen-year-old. He had the zeal of youth.


    After Ming Xiu and Tian Zhenzhen left, Zhou Wen was about to leave when Wei Ge stopped him.


    "Zhou Wen, can we have a chat?" Wei Ge asked.


    "President, what''s the matter?" Zhou Wen didn''t feel anything special about Wei Ge. He didn''t have any negative feelings towards him or a good impression of him. He was just a schoolmate he wasn''t familiar with.


    "I have a question for you," Wei Ge said.


    Wei Ge smiled and said, "Actually, it''s not a big deal. I just want to ask you. After graduating, do you plan on staying in school or going out to make a name of yourself?"


    "Everyone''s choices are different. I only wish to return to my hometown to game," Zhou Wen said.


    When Wei Ge heard Zhou Wen''s answer, he was stunned for a long while before he suddenly laughed. "Not bad, not bad. Everyone''s choices are different. I was overthinking it."


    "Zhou Wen, what game are you playing? I should have a lot of free time in the future. I want to play it too," Wei Ge asked.


    "Recently, Huang Ji and I have worked together to develop a new game. If you''re interested, you can download it to play. This is the download address." Zhou Wen sent the download address of the game, Dimensional, to Wei Ge.


    "Alright, I''ll go back and play." Wei Ge downloaded the game and waved goodbye to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen went to the supermarket to buy what he needed before storing them in the chaos space. Then, he informed Li Xuan and company before leaving the school. He headed to Zhuolu alone.


    He didn''t contact An Sheng. Firstly, An Sheng was still hatching the Companion Egg. Secondly, if he contacted An Sheng, he would definitely enter the temple with him. It would be a meaningless risk.


    Zhou Wen already had the confidence to kill Torch Dragon, so it was better for him to do it himself.


    Before he left the city, his phone suddenly rang. He took a look at the number and realized that it was from Ouyang Lan. He could not help but mutter inwardly, Don''t tell me Ouyang Lan found out so quickly?


    "Little Wen, how''s your exchange with your schoolmates at the moment?" Ouyang Lan asked out of the blue after he picked up the call.


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen was puzzled and didn''t understand what Ouyang Lan was getting at.


    "I''m talking about the exchange student from Bright Prospects College. Aren''t you his student tutor? How are you two getting along? Are you close?" Ouyang Lan asked.


    Zhou Wen was even more puzzled. Why would Ouyang Lan actually care about this?


    He had no idea that Ouyang Lan had arranged for him to become Ming Xiu''s student tutor.


    "Our relationship isn''t bad, I suppose?" Zhou Wen felt that their relationship wasn''t bad. At the very least, they hadn''t quarreled.


    "That''s good. What do you think if I let you live with Ming Xiu in the future?" Ouyang Lan asked again.


    "Wait, Sis Lan, what do you mean? What do you mean by letting me live with Ming Xiu?" Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Ouyang Lan said, "Do you know what Ming Xiu''s Life Providence is?"


    "I don''t know." Zhou Wen had never cared about this.


    "Didn''t you say that you have a good relationship with him? Why don''t you even know about his Life Providence?" Ouyang Lan didn''t wait for Zhou Wen to reply before continuing, "His Life Providence is Peerless Duo. Do you know what it means? It means that there will be two peerless geniuses in the same era."


    "And then?" Zhou Wen still didn''t understand what this had to do with him.


    "Little Wen, I think that you should read more brain-teasers in addition to your cultivation to strengthen your imagination. That''s a Peerless Duo. Of course, it requires two people to be able to be called a duo. In other words, those who practice with him will be augmented by his Life Providence. Both parties will have their cultivation speed accelerate. Don''t you think that you''ve improved faster in the past three months?" Ouyang Lan said.


    "There''s actually such a thing¡­" Zhou Wen really wasn''t aware. Furthermore, he had never cultivated with Ming Xiu. Instead, it was Feng Qiuyan who practiced with Ming Xiu all day.


    "Forget it, forget it. Your emotional quotient and reaction are too slow. My relationship with Ming Xiu''s family elders isn''t bad, so if you can get along well, I can consider letting you live together and cultivate together¡­"


    "Sis Lan¡­ Thank you for your kindness¡­ There''s really no need. I''m more used to living alone¡­" Zhou Wen finally understood why Wang Fei said that the school had designated him as a student tutor and that he couldn''t reject it. So it was Ouyang Lan''s arrangement.


    Unfortunately, he had missed Ouyang Lan''s good intentions.

 560 Unexpected Discovery

    He had been to Zhuolu before, so naturally, he still remembered the way. However, compared to the last trip, the probability of seeing people outside the city was lower.


    Many of the roads were already abandoned and lush vegetation could be seen everywhere.


    Unless there was a large convoy or a pet transport team passing by, it would be hard to see a lone traveler.


    On the way, Zhou Wen encountered some break-out creatures. Although they weren''t very strong¡ªat the Legendary stage¡ªit made him even more uneasy.


    As the level for break-out creatures dropped, it was very likely that the dimensional zones'' seals would weaken further. Wang Mingyuan had said that in another ten years, the dimensional zones would completely have their seals released. From the looks of it, it wasn''t a lie.


    The Chi''s speed was rather fast. Although it wasn''t as comfortable as sitting in a car, it could traverse complicated terrain, unlike cars that were easily restricted.


    Many roads were destroyed by dimensional creatures. It was getting harder and harder to drive outside the city.


    There were also many vines and plants that covered the roads. Other than some roads that often had cars drive through them, it was hard to guarantee smooth-flowing roads.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of exhaustion as he traveled day and night. On the third day, he set up a tent and planned on sleeping for a while.


    Although he was full of energy and had endless Essence Energy, a person''s body and mind wouldn''t feel good if they did not sleep for prolonged periods.


    The path Zhou Wen took wasn''t one visited by convoys, so there weren''t many people around. Furthermore, this was a mountain path in the mountainous area, so the chances of encountering people were even lower.


    Zhou Wen set up a tent on a platform by the side of the road. It just so happened that the area was empty. Beside it was a cliff without any obstructions. If any foreign creature appeared, it could be discovered ahead of time.


    He summoned Six-Winged, Banana Fairy, Doctor Darkness, and other Companion Beasts and got them to guard him. Only then did Zhou Wen feel at ease to fall asleep.


    At midnight, Zhou Wen was sleeping soundly when he was suddenly awoken by a pair of tiny hands.


    Opening her eyes, he saw Banana Fairy patting his face with her tiny hands. Upon seeing Zhou Wen wake up, Banana Fairy pulled his hand and pointed outside the tent.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen asked Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy spoke, but he couldn''t understand what she was saying. It left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed. After all, she was a Mythical pet. It had been so long, yet she couldn''t even learn simple human language.


    Doctor Darkness stood at the entrance of the tent without any expression, as though he was in a daze.


    These two fellows aren''t reliable when compared to Banana Fairy, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Banana Fairy flew in the air with her banana leaf and pointed at the bottom of the cliff. She made a series of sounds as though she wanted to tell Zhou Wen something.


    Zhou Wen walked to the edge of the cliff and looked down. With the help of the moonlight''s illumination, he saw something glowing in the forest below.


    The flickering light looked very regular. It didn''t look like fireflies. Firstly, fireflies weren''t that bright. Secondly, Zhou Wen had never heard of a firefly being able to emit red light.


    Looking at it from above, it felt like a red alert alarm was flashing under it.


    What''s down there? A dimensional creature? Although Zhou Wen''s eyesight was good, he couldn''t see what was glowing red from so far away.


    Banana Fairy pulled Zhou Wen and flew down as though she wanted him to follow her down.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly pulled Banana Fairy. The world was too terrifying. Many unknown things could cause people to die without knowing why. It wasn''t that Zhou Wen wasn''t curious, but he couldn''t risk his life out of curiosity.


    After grabbing Banana Fairy, Zhou Wen summoned more than ten Poison Bats and made them fly down to take a look.


    The dozen or so poison bats quickly flew to the forest below the cliff and tore apart the trees and vines, making the red light even clearer.


    Zhou Wen switched to Eight Perfections Wisdom and enhanced his vision. He could vaguely see that there seemed to be a red object glowing underground. As it was buried in the soil, only a tiny portion of it could be seen. Zhou Wen couldn''t tell what it was.


    He ordered the Poison Bats to dig up the soil near that object. They lay on the ground, their claws piercing into the soil covered by fallen leaves as they dug up the soil.


    Seeing that the object didn''t have any reaction, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. However, he didn''t dare to be careless. He kept staring at the object and the Poison Bats. Once the Poison Bats had any abnormal reaction, he could immediately react.


    Thankfully, the situation that Zhou Wen had expected didn''t happen. After digging for a short while, the Poison Bats had dug out a huge hole.


    However, from above, he could only see a red ball that was more than four meters in diameter. It was shining brightly, but he could not tell what it was.


    Before confirming what it was, Zhou Wen didn''t dare let the Poison Bat touch it. After some thought, he put away the tent and other things. Then, he got Six-Winged to fly down the cliff with him.


    Looking from the side, it was really a huge ball. It looked like a piece of jade that was half-buried in the soil. The blinking light in it was constantly changing, sometimes strong, sometimes weak. That was why from afar, it looked like it was flickering. In fact, it was constantly glowing.


    A dimensional creature? It doesn''t look like it. A Companion Egg doesn''t seem like it either. What is it? Zhou Wen sized it up but couldn''t tell what it was.


    Banana Fairy couldn''t help but fly above the red ball. Then, she jumped down from the banana leaf and landed on the red ball.


    She jumped on the red ball a few times, then with a pop, the red ball cracked.


    Zhou Wen jumped in fright. It was already too late to stop her. Thankfully, there wasn''t any danger after the red ball split open. The red ball turned into a flower.


    The jade-like outer shell was actually its petals. After peeling open layer by layer, the pink pistil inside was revealed, and the glowing object was the pistil.


    The moment the flower bloomed, Zhou Wen immediately smelled a rich floral fragrance. With the augmentation of the Eight Perfections Wisdom, he felt that the fragrance was refreshing, one that relaxed his mind.


    Banana Fairy had already landed in the pistil. Her tiny hand grabbed some pollen and placed it in her mouth, as though she was eating cotton candy. She quickly swallowed it.


    There was a lot of pollen in the flower. After Banana Fairy ate one blob, she grabbed another with both hands. She stuffed it into her mouth and stuffed her cheeks.

 561 Competition for the Pollen

    When Zhou Wen saw Banana Fairy enjoying the pollen, he wondered if he should get some flower pollen to give it a try, but that was when he suddenly heard a strange sound nearby.


    Zhou Wen looked around and his expression changed slightly. He saw that in the nearby forest, snakes, insects, rats, and ants were all approaching.


    Zhou Wen recognized rats, caterpillars, venomous snakes, and centipedes. However, there were many insects that he didn''t know at all.


    These weren''t likely to be real dimensional creatures. Most of them were ordinary creatures in the forest. Some of them were mutated creatures, but they were still a little far from the level of dimensional creatures. They could only be considered mortal.


    The snakes, insects, rats, and ants struggled to crawl over. They all rushed towards the huge red flower. As they stepped over each other, many of them either got injured or died.


    However, they still charged at the red flower as if they were possessed.


    Is it the fragrance of the red flower that attracted them? Zhou Wen thought.


    Many insects flew over, but before they could reach the red flower, even more terrifying creatures appeared. They scared the snakes, insects, rats, and ants away. However, the former were unwilling to leave. They loitered around the area.


    A caterpillar coruscating with blue light crawled out of the forest. When the ants saw it, they immediately hid far away. They would rather squeeze together and trample on each other than get near it.


    Even the temptation of the floral fragrance didn''t stop them from fearing the blue-light-emitting caterpillar.


    Another break-out creature. Is there a dimensional zone nearby? When Zhou Wen looked up, he realized that another dimensional creature had appeared. It was a butterfly that was as large as a crane. Its body and wings were golden in color. As it flew, it scattered golden specks of light and dust. It was rather eye-catching in the dark night as though it was dancing in a golden galaxy.


    However, when the golden dust landed on the snakes, insects, rats, and ants, they all died immediately. Their bodies also turned a faint golden color.


    Both the blue-light-emitting caterpillar and the gold-dust butterfly rushed toward the red flower. Clearly, their target was the same.


    Banana Fairy, who was enjoying the pollen, saw the gold-dust butterfly and blue-light-emitting caterpillar rushing over. She reached out and grabbed her banana leaf before fanning at them.


    The terrifying Grand Yin Wind immediately sent the two flying. However, they remained uninjured, so they quickly rushed over again.


    Wherever the blue-light-emitting caterpillar crawled, the leaves and soil burned, leaving a blue trail on the ground. However, the blue mark did not seem like a real flame.


    However, it shared the same outcome. Before it even approached the red flower, it was blown away by Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy''s Grand Yin Wind was extremely powerful. The two dimensional creatures were sent flying, but didn''t suffer any serious injuries. They quickly crawled back, shocking Zhou Wen.


    Banana Fairy stuffed flower pollen into her mouth as she waved the banana leaf at the two of them. She didn''t allow them to approach the red flower. Clearly, she was afraid that they would snatch the flower pollen from her.


    When Zhou Wen saw that the blue-light-emitting caterpillar and the gold-dust butterfly weren''t a threat to Banana Fairy, he didn''t take action and just watched from the side.


    Apart from those two dimensional creatures, no other dimensional creatures appeared. Instead, it was the ordinary snakes, bugs, rats, and ants. No one was willing to leave, but they didn''t dare approach. They just watched helplessly from the side.


    The butterfly and the caterpillar tried to charge forward many times, but they were blown back by the Grand Yin Wind. However, they still did not give up and continued charging forward.


    It seemed a little boring. After a while, Zhou Wen yawned, feeling a little sleepy.


    Just as he was thinking about whether he should go back and take a nap, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. Sweeping his gaze over, he saw that many of the snakes, insects, rats, and ants were lying there motionless as if they were dead.


    The insects that were flying in the air also staggered and fell from the sky.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that they weren''t really dead. They were just asleep.


    Something''s wrong¡­ Could it be the floral fragrance¡­ Zhou Wen immediately realized the problem.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly stopped breathing. Indeed, he felt much less sleepy.


    From the looks of it, there is poison in the floral fragrance. Thankfully, my Poison stat is high enough, so I didn''t fall asleep like those snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Zhou Wen saw that Banana Fairy, the butterfly, and the caterpillar weren''t affected by the floral fragrance and were still warring for the flower pollen.


    The ordinary creatures around them had all fallen to the ground and were asleep.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn''t afraid of the floral fragrance, he felt bored. He drew his saber and slashed at the blue-light-emitting caterpillar and the gold-dust butterfly, killing them.


    The gold-dust butterfly didn''t leave anything behind, but the blue-light-emitting caterpillar rolled out a sapphire-like bead. It was a Companion Egg.


    I never expected my luck to be so good. Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped at the blue-light-emitting caterpillar''s Companion Egg.


    Netherworld Caterpillar: Epic


    Life Providence: Netherworld Envoy


    Life Soul: Netherworld Poison


    Strength: 26


    Speed: 28


    Constitution: 27


    Essence Energy: 40


    Talent Skill: Myriad Poisons Augmentation


    Companion Form: Pill


    These stats are rather interesting. Zhou Wen looked at its stats. It was an Epic creature with three attributes that didn''t reach 30 points, but its Essence Energy stat was maxed out.


    Furthermore, its companion form was something he had never seen before. After some thought, Zhou Wen picked up the Companion Egg and hatched it before turning it into its companion form.


    Soon, a blue lotus seed-like pill appeared in Zhou Wen''s hand. It looked like a blue medicine pill. It looked beautiful, but Zhou Wen didn''t know what effects it would have if he ate it.


    What''s the use of this thing? I wonder if I can feed it to other dimensional creatures and poison them to death? Zhou Wen stored away the pill and planned on giving it a try when he had the chance.


    Banana Fairy was about to finish all the flower pollen. Her stomach swelled. However, she didn''t have any intention of stopping. She only stopped when she had finished all the flower pollen and then she returned to Zhou Wen''s side.


    The next morning at dawn, the morning sun shone on the red flower. The flower instantly withered at a speed visible to the naked eye. It didn''t take long before it turned into ashes on the ground and was gone, leaving behind a red crystal.

 562 Entering the Underground Ruins Again

    The red crystal melted in her mouth and was swallowed by Banana Fairy. She licked her lips as if she hadn''t had enough.


    It was only at this moment that those sleeping snakes, insects, rats, and ants woke up. They scattered and returned to the forest.


    Seeing that there was nothing else there, Zhou Wen continued on his journey and headed straight for Zhuolu.


    It had only been a few months, and this road was very different from the last time he took it. Previously, he had not seen so many break-out creatures on the way, but he could see them now.


    Although they were low-level dimensional creatures, it also indicated that the dimensional zones'' sealing powers were rapidly weakening.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at Zhuolu again, he didn''t head to the encampment. He headed straight for the battlefield and circled around the soldiers stationed there before arriving at the entrance of the ruins.


    Zhou Wen didn''t see the chariot at the entrance of the underground ruins. For some reason, there was a chariot in reality, but there wasn''t a chariot in-game.


    After grinding so many Zhuolu instance dungeons, Zhou Wen still couldn''t find the chariot.


    He entered the underground ruins which he was extremely familiar with. After passing through the maze-like underground passageway, he went to the Longevity Tree.


    There was no Longevity Tree in-game either, but the Longevity Tree in reality was still fine. The fruits on the tree were as many as Zhou Wen had seen before. No one had touched it.


    He aimed his phone at them, but there was still no reaction. He knew that it was impossible to store the Longevity Tree on his phone.


    This Longevity Tree is so similar to the Dead Man Tree, but it can''t be shown in-game. I wonder what its origins are. Zhou Wen looked at the fruits. Although he knew that eating them would give him immense strength, he wasn''t willing to try.


    Lord Alcohol''s fate made it evident. There were definitely unseen consequences of eating it.


    Since he couldn''t store away the Longevity Tree, Zhou Wen was preparing to leave when he suddenly felt a burning sensation on his tattoo. Demonic Neonate was throbbing.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he summoned Demonic Neonate. The moment Demonic Neonate landed, she ran towards the Longevity Tree. Before Zhou Wen could call out to her, she had already jumped onto it and opened her mouth to bite the fruit.


    Ka-cha! Ka-cha!


    One fruit was swallowed by Demonic Neonate in a few seconds. She continued to bite at another fruit.


    Zhou Wen was surprised. Ever since Demonic Neonate had been born, she hadn''t eaten or drunk. Even when Zhou Wen fed her the best Epic Companion Egg, she wasn''t moved. She even showed disdain.


    Back then, Lord Alcohol only ate one fruit and his body was restored to its youth. He almost broke through to the Mythical stage.


    Demonic Neonate had eaten three or four fruits, but she still looked fine. She continued crawling around the tree, looking for fruits to eat.


    The Longevity Tree was likely a terrifying Mythical creature. It easily turned Lord Alcohol into fertilizer. Demonic Neonate jumped around its body and ate many fruits, but the Longevity Tree didn''t react at all.


    Zhou Wen stared at the Longevity Tree for a long time as he thought to himself, Could this tree be waiting for Demonic Neonate to finish eating before dealing with her?


    Zhou Wen stood far away and focused. If the Longevity Tree stirred, he would immediately summon Demonic Neonate back and escape.


    It was a strange object, and it wasn''t in-game. Zhou Wen didn''t wish to take the risk to fight it.


    However, nothing Zhou Wen imagined happened. Demonic Neonate jumped around on the tree and ate many Longevity Fruits, but the tree didn''t react at all.


    Demonic Neonate finished more than ten Longevity Fruits and was about to eat more, but she suddenly fell from the tree, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    He immediately summoned her back. Demonic Neonate transformed into a stream of light and returned to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen felt that Demonic Neonate''s tattoo was burning hot, like a piece of burning iron. It was so hot that Zhou Wen nearly cried out. All he could do was summon her out again.


    When Demonic Neonate landed in front of Zhou Wen, the Longevity Tree in the distance didn''t move. It made Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief as he hurriedly checked Demonic Neonate''s body.


    Her face was flushed red, and there was even a hint of white air coming out of her body. It was like steam.


    However, Demonic Neonate''s aura was completely uniform, and she didn''t appear to have a problem. Instead, her vital energy was constantly surging, as if she was about to advance.


    Don''t tell me she''s about to advance to the Legendary stage? Zhou Wen felt that there was a high chance that he was right. However, he didn''t know what changes would happen if this happened.


    She already had a Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny. If she advanced to the Legendary stage, he didn''t know if she would condense a new Life Providence.


    The white gas on Demonic Neonate increased in amount as it enveloped her body. Her temperature was shockingly high, so Zhou Wen could only watch from the side. He could do nothing.


    If those Longevity Fruits really can make Demonic Neonate evolve, why don''t I pluck them and keep them for her? Zhou Wen looked at the Longevity Tree as many thoughts flashed through his mind.


    It was impossible for him to eat them himself, so in the past he had had no intention of doing anything to the Longevity Tree. However, since Demonic Neonate was willing to eat the fruits, he couldn''t just sit around and do nothing.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned a Poison Bat, hoping to see if it could pluck the Longevity Fruit.


    The Poison Bat flapped its wings and flew over. Before it could pluck the fruit, a tree root emerged from the ground. It wrapped around the Poison Bat''s body like a flood dragon and pulled it into the ground. Then, nothing else happened.


    From the looks of it, not anyone can pluck the fruits. Zhou Wen summoned some of his other Companion Beasts, but the outcome was the same. They were killed by the Longevity Tree the moment they approached. They couldn''t even touch the tree, much less the Longevity Fruit.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to touch the Longevity Fruit himself, nor did he wish to take the risk with a Mythical pet. All he could do was wait for Demonic Neonate to complete her evolution. If there was nothing he could do, he would get Demonic Neonate to pluck the fruit herself and take everything away. It would be her food for the future.


    After a while, the white gas on Demonic Neonate''s body gradually dissipated, and her body temperature also gradually decreased. However, it didn''t seem like her body had undergone any special changes. She was still tiny, and she was still hugging the ancient sword in her arms.


    After Demonic Neonate had fully recovered, she stood up and looked in the direction of the Longevity Tree. However, she seemed to hesitate and did not go over immediately.


    "If you can''t eat anymore, why don''t you pluck the fruits now and I''ll help you keep them?" Zhou Wen suggested.

 563 Take Everything Away

    Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly took out a huge cloth bag from his chaos space and handed it to Demonic Neonate. He patted her head and said, "Try your best to pick more fruits. I''ll store them for you. You can eat them anytime in the future."


    Demonic Neonate was too short, so she had to drag the cloth bag to the Longevity Tree. Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade and stared at the Longevity Tree. If it made any abnormal movements, he would be able to react in time.


    However, Zhou Wen''s worry was unnecessary. The Longevity Tree seemed to treat Demonic Neonate exceptionally well. It allowed Demonic Neonate to pluck the Longevity Fruit from its body without any reaction.


    Demonic Neonate was even more greedy than Zhou Wen. Regardless of its size or ripeness, she plucked all of them and stuffed them into the cloth bag.


    As expected of an existence with a Supreme True Demon Life Soul. She sure is greedy and ruthless. Zhou Wen didn''t find it strange considering how Demonic Neonate dared to bite him and Xia Xuanyue before her death.


    Zhou Wen saw Demonic Neonate pluck dozens of fruits from the tree. If the energy of a Longevity Fruit was at the peak of the Epic stage and close to the Mythical stage, these fruits would be impressive.


    Demonic Neonate finished plucking all the Longevity Fruits and stuffed them into the large cloth bag before dragging it back. She placed it in front of Zhou Wen, indicating for him to help her put it away.


    "Alright, alright. I''ll help you store it away now." Zhou Wen picked up the cloth bag and threw it into his chaos space. He glanced at the bald Longevity Tree and thought to himself, I wonder when this Longevity Tree will grow new fruits. I''ll bring Demonic Neonate to pluck the fruits when that happens.


    After putting away the items, Zhou Wen also unsummoned Demonic Neonate. At the same time, he launched the game on his phone and took a look at Demonic Neonate''s stats.


    Demonic Neonate: Legendary (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Child of Dimension


    Life Soul: Supreme True Demon


    Wheel of Destiny: One Spin.


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Essence Energy: 21


    Talent Skill: Demonic Sword


    Companion Form: None


    Demonic Neonate''s stats disappointed Zhou Wen. Apart from her stats increasing to 21, nothing else changed. It was identical to before.


    How can this be? She''s clearly so special. Why isn''t there much difference between her and an ordinary Mythical creature after advancement? Zhou Wen looked over and felt that the problem was most likely her Wheel of Destiny.


    However, Demonic Neonate''s Wheel of Destiny didn''t seem to have any miraculous abilities. The words "One Spin" didn''t explain anything.


    Demonic Neonate had a Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny from the beginning. This means that she has already evolved to the Mythical stage. However, for some reason, she has returned to the Mortal stage and needed to evolve again. According to the words of the Wheel of Destiny, would One Spin mean that she has re-evolved once? If that''s the case, what benefits does it bring her to evolve again? Her Life Providence hasn''t increased, and her stats haven''t increased. If there are any benefits, they''re likely to be on the Wheel of Destiny¡­ Zhou Wen couldn''t figure out why. He probably had to wait for her to advance to the Mythical stage before he knew what secrets her Wheel of Destiny had. All he could do was ignore it for now.


    Even without a miracle, Demonic Neonate was already quite strong by relying only on the demonic sword.


    After leaving the region where the Longevity Tree was, Zhou Wen passed through the Poison Bat Cave and arrived at the underground sea. He didn''t dare provoke the black dragon which pulled the wagon. The black dragon was bound, so it couldn''t catch up to him. Soon, Zhou Wen crossed the underground sea.


    He arrived in front of the temple without any danger. After all, Zhou Wen had made countless runs of the Zhuolu underground ruins. Unless there was something that wasn''t in-game, nothing could harm him.


    Upon arriving outside the temple, Zhou Wen saw the chariot. It was parked in front of the temple door and people were moving things.


    Some of them were wearing military uniforms, while others were wearing ordinary exploration suits or companion beast armor. Judging from their ages, they must be the experts.


    "Who''s there?" When Zhou Wen approached, they immediately discovered him. The soldiers all picked up their weapons and aimed at him.


    "Battalion Commander Lu, it''s me," Zhou Wen said when he saw someone he knew.


    Lu Yunxian heard Zhou Wen''s voice and took a closer look. He recognized Zhou Wen and immediately said in delight, "It''s Young Master Wen. Lower your weapons. He''s one of us."


    Lu Yunxian had risked his life with Zhou Wen, so their relationship naturally wasn''t ordinary. He welcomed Zhou Wen over and said warmly, "Young Master Wen, why did you come here alone? Didn''t Adjutant An come with you?"


    "No, Ah Sheng has something on and can''t come. I came by myself." Zhou Wen looked at the temple entrance and asked, "How''s the situation inside?"


    "It''s not very optimistic. The experts have studied it for a long time and determined some of Torch Dragon''s and Qiongqi''s skills. However, just knowing these skills doesn''t mean we can deal with them. We have attempted to use Companion Beasts to probe. Basically, they are instantly killed. Only some Companion Beasts that are slightly smaller than insects can live longer and obtain some information," Lu Yunxian explained the situation to Zhou Wen.


    "Battalion Commander Lu, this is?" An expert walked over and sized up Zhou Wen.


    "Professor Lei, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Wen, Madam Lan''s son. Previously, it was all thanks to Young Master Wen for finding the stone artifact that we were able to open the temple''s door¡­ Young Master Wen, this is Professor Lei Zhiguo, a folklore professor. Now, the research work of the temple is handled by Professor Lei," Lu Yunxian introduced the two of them.


    Lei Zhiguo nodded and said to Zhou Wen, "Zhou Wen, it''s too dangerous for you to walk through the cave passageway alone. Don''t go that way when you return. Go back on the chariot."


    Lei Zhiguo believed that Zhou Wen had come from the passageway Lord Alcohol and company had found, but he didn''t know that Zhou Wen had crossed the underground sea without the chariot.


    "I don''t plan on returning. I want to enter the temple to take a look," Zhou Wen said.


    "That won''t do. We haven''t researched the situation inside the temple yet. It''s too dangerous to enter the temple," Lei Zhiguo refused immediately.


    "Didn''t we already conquer the front temple? I''ll just go there and take a look. There won''t be any danger." Zhou Wen didn''t wish to create unnecessary trouble and planned on entering the temple first.


    "Crossing the Aoyin stone statue requires sacrifices to appease it. It''s not easy to make a trip back and forth here. It''s also very troublesome to transport the offerings here. There aren''t many offerings left here, and there''s only enough for one use." Lei Zhiguo still didn''t agree. He paused for a moment before saying, "If you really want to go in, just wait two more days. We''ll be doing the next round of research then. When the time comes, you can come with us."


    What Lei Zhiguo said was reasonable, but Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to wait another two days.

 564 Folklore Exper

    Before Lu Yunxian could say a word, Lei Zhiguo shook his head and said, "I''m in charge of this place. I have to ensure the safety of everyone here. If you wish to enter, you have to wait two more days. Otherwise, I will not give you permission to enter."


    Lei Zhiguo was just too stubborn. Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian couldn''t convince him at all. Furthermore, he was the one in charge here, so Zhou Wen couldn''t barge his way in.


    "Alright, I''ll wait another two days then." Zhou Wen thought that although he had already killed the Torch Dragon youngling a few times on the way, killing it two more times to familiarize himself with the process wasn''t a bad thing. Therefore, he agreed to wait two days before following them into the temple.


    Zhou Wen had recently farmed the Torch Dragon youngling, Medusa, and the Golden Battle God Halberd a few times, but the drop rate wasn''t as high as An Sheng had described. Most of the items dropped were stat crystals. Occasionally, an Essence Energy Skill Crystal would drop. Due to the limitations of his stats, Zhou Wen couldn''t use them nor take them out. All he could do was watch them disappear with each respawn.


    Up to now, the Companion Egg that had dropped was only the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    "Young Master Wen, the conditions here are rather poor. You can rest in my tent now." Lu Yunxian took Zhou Wen into his tent.


    Lu Yunxian didn''t have a tent for himself because space was limited. Typically, it was three people to a tent. Lu Yunxian''s tent originally had two people living in it, so it was perfect for Zhou Wen to stay there.


    The two of them chatted for a while about what happened after they had parted previously. It was mainly Lu Yunxian speaking. Zhou Wen mostly listened silently.


    Lu Yunxian had been stationed at the ruins all this while, having been responsible for cleaning up the dimensional creatures and protecting the experts.


    Those comrades who had been with him previously had been transferred. Most of them were promoted and were deployed to other places.


    As the two of them were chatting, a middle-aged man in his thirties walked in. Lu Yunxian introduced, "Young Master Wen, this is Professor Lei''s student, Qu Qingyun. He is also an expert in folklore. During his research on Torch Dragon and Qiongqi, he gave us quite a few valuable opinions."


    Lu Yunxian introduced Zhou Wen to Qu Qingyun. Qu Qingyun only said a few polite words before he went to bed. Clearly, he wasn''t interested in chatting with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen and Lu Yunxian didn''t wish to disturb him, so they went out of the tent for a stroll. They slept immediately after they returned.


    Qu Qingyun also walked out of the tent. When he saw someone in the logistics team, his eyes lit up. He went over with a smile. "Head Nurse Xu, why are you here alone? It''s so dangerous."


    "We got a batch of newly-made medicine which needs to be injected into the soldiers. I''m afraid that they will get the dosage wrong, so I came here myself," Xu Wen said to Qu Qingyun. When she saw Lu Yunxian, she immediately saw Zhou Wen, who was standing beside Lu Yunxian. She immediately revealed a look of delight.


    "Young Master Wen, when did you come to Zhuolu? Why didn''t I see you at the encampment?" Xu Wen quickly walked towards Zhou Wen and asked in pleasant surprise.


    "I didn''t go to the encampment because I came straight to the ruins. I only wanted to take a look and leave, but I was delayed by some matters. I still need to stay for another two days," Zhou Wen said.


    "Young Master Wen, that''s not very nice of you. Since you''re here in Zhuolu, how can you not visit us?" Xu Wen and Lu Yunxian were the same. They had been through thick and thin with Zhou Wen, so their relationship with him wasn''t something ordinary comrades could compare with.


    Qu Qingyun couldn''t help but frown when he saw how friendly Xu Wen was with Zhou Wen, but he didn''t say a word.


    "Xu Wen, deliver the injections to the soldiers first. Young Master Wen will be here for two days. It won''t be too late to catch up later," said Lu Yunxian with a smile.


    "Alright, I''ll get back to work then. Young Master Wen, let''s have a good chat later." Xu Wen returned to her work.


    "Go ahead and busy yourself." Zhou Wen''s mood improved significantly. To be able to meet such sincere friends in such a dark place made him feel better than getting a treasure.


    Two days quickly passed. Zhou Wen had grinded the Torch Dragon youngling twice in this period of time. Although it was a harrowing experience each time, Zhou Wen was confident that he could kill it safely.


    Professor Lei and company were already prepared. They brought Zhou Wen and entered the temple. Even Xu Wen followed Lu Yunxian in.


    "The dangers in the temple are unimaginable. Remember not to act on your own. You must abide by the arrangements, or you will harm others and yourself." Lei Zhiguo was a little worried about Zhou Wen as he repeatedly told him.


    "I understand." Zhou Wen agreed seriously.


    Only then did Lei Zhiguo feel a little relieved. He was afraid that Zhou Wen was the kind of scion who would disregard everything just because of his temper. He had no idea that Zhou Wen''s understanding of the temple far exceeded his.


    Under the lead of Lei Zhiguo and the other experts and professors, Zhou Wen and company finally headed for the passageway where the Aoyin stone statue was.


    "Head Nurse Xu, the Aoyin stone statue is extremely evil. If you touch it, it will hurt people. Stay by my side. If there is any danger, I can protect you," Qu Qingyun said as he walked beside Xu Wen.


    Anyone could tell that Qu Qingyun was interested in Xu Wen.


    Xu Wen shook her head slightly and said, "Mr. Qu, you must be joking. I''m a soldier. It''s my duty to protect you."


    Qu Qingyun smiled and said, "Outside, you are naturally the one protecting me. However, in such a place, many problems can''t be solved by brute force. I should be the one assuring you."


    He paused for a moment before saying, "Just like this Aoyin stone statue. Even if the Overseer personally came, I''m afraid he wouldn''t be able to do anything to it. A blood sacrifice is needed for safe passage¡­"


    Qu Qingyun kept trying to show off, but he did not know that Xu Wen was not a woman who lacked a sense of security.


    On the contrary, she was a qualified soldier. Qu Qingyun''s words were actually questioning her ability as a soldier. This naturally displeased Xu Wen. However, she didn''t say anything.


    Lu Yunxian, who was walking at the back, whispered to Zhou Wen, "Qu Qingyun was born into a rich family. His family background isn''t inferior to the An family''s, and he''s rather talented. Unfortunately, he''s too conceited. He''s not the type Xu Wen likes. I''m afraid he''s just wasting his efforts."


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly. Even someone with a low EQ like him could tell that Xu Wen didn''t have a good impression of him.


    When everyone arrived in front of the Aoyin stone statue, Lei Zhiguo got Qu Qingyun to use a living creature as an offering to the Aoyin stone statue. Zhou Wen naturally wasn''t unfamiliar with this method. He was the one who had informed An Sheng of the method.


    "It''s done. Everyone, please come this way." Qu Qingyun bowed to the Aoyin stone statue before heading towards the Qiongqi temple.

 565 No Need for Offerings Anymore

    "Let''s go with you," Xu Wen said.


    Although their conversation was very low, it still attracted Qu Qingyun''s attention.


    "Didn''t Professor Lei say that you have to follow the arrangements and not walk around randomly? Are you sick of living?" When Qu Qingyun spoke, Professor Lei and the rest turned around and looked at them.


    "What''s going on?" Professor Lei came over and asked.


    "Professor Lei, I''m here to see the Torch Dragon temple. I won''t be going to the Qiongqi temple. Now that there''s an offering, it shouldn''t be a problem to go anywhere, right?" Zhou Wen said.


    Professor Lei said, "Although that''s true in theory, the temple is very strange. Anything can happen. It''s best if we act separately. If anything happens, we can still collectively think of a solution. Why don''t we go to the Torch Dragon temple after our work is over?"


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "Those offerings just now can only last less than an hour. When you return from the Qiongqi temple, I''m afraid there won''t be much time left. I''ll go on my own. I''ll just take a look. Nothing will happen."


    "Don''t pretend to know what you don''t. The offerings we offered can last for at least two hours. If you don''t understand anything, don''t spout nonsense." Qu Qingyun laughed coldly.


    "More than two hours? Professor Lei, is that true?" Zhou Wen ignored Qu Qingyun''s sarcasm and asked Professor Lei with a frown.


    "That''s right. For safety reasons, the offerings we provide each time will be enough to last for more than two hours. And our working hours must be controlled to be within one and a half hours. Today, we can end work earlier and take you to the Torch Dragon temple to have a look," Professor Lei said.


    "Professor Lei, I think it''s best if you examine the offerings again. I''m certain that your offerings can only last for an hour at most. If you really wish to stay in there for an hour and a half, I''m afraid it''ll be very difficult for you to come out alive," Zhou Wen said seriously.


    Qu Qingyun sneered and said, "The quantity of the offerings were carefully calculated. It has never gone wrong. As a layman, how can you be so sure?"


    The offerings were personally placed by Qu Qingyun. Therefore, wasn''t Zhou Wen''s claim that there was something wrong with the offerings indirectly implying that Qu Qingyun had made a mistake?


    Xu Wen couldn''t help but speak up for Zhou Wen. "Young Master Wen isn''t someone who speaks without reason. He definitely has his reasons for saying that there''s a problem."


    "What''s the logic behind this? Could it be that the results of our expert plans are wrong?" Qu Qingyun said disdainfully.


    "Professor Lei, the blood you used was obtained from the Poison Bat, right?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    "That''s right. In the past, we used living sacrifices. Later on, we discovered that it was also possible to use fresh blood. Because it was too difficult to capture the Poison Bats alive, we switched to using blood. The amount used is calculated precisely, so mistakes usually do not happen," Professor Lei said.


    "There''s nothing wrong with the quantity, but there''s something wrong with the blood. The bat''s blood isn''t pure and has been mixed with other things. Therefore, the time it can last will be much shorter than you expected." After Zhou Wen said that, he looked at Lu Yunxian and said, "Yunxian, this shouldn''t be a coincidence. Check everyone related to this matter carefully. It might be that someone had tampered with it."


    "What gives you the right to say that there''s a problem?" Qu Qingyun still felt that Zhou Wen was being unreasonable because Professor Lei hadn''t allowed him to go to the Torch Dragon temple.


    "Zhou Wen, how did you know that there''s something else mixed in the bat''s blood? This is a very serious problem," Professor Lei asked Zhou Wen with a heavy expression.


    "Professor Lei, was it Adjutant An who told you about using a live sacrifice?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Yes." Professor Lei nodded.


    "I told Adjutant An the method," Zhou Wen said.


    "You really dare to say anything. How many times have you come to the temple? How dare you say that you discovered the method of the live sacrifices? Why don''t you just say that you have found a way to kill the Mythical creatures?" Qu Qingyun pouted.


    "This matter is of paramount importance, but the blood has already been absorbed by the Aoyin stone statue. There''s no way to test it now." Professor Lei looked at the Aoyin stone statue and pondered for a moment before saying, "Safety first. Since Zhou Wen said there''s a problem with the blood, let''s temporarily cancel the research."


    "Teacher, why do you have to listen to a layman like him spout nonsense? We have used it so many times with no problems. Why would there be a problem with the blood the moment he''s here? Isn''t this nonsense? Wasting the offerings this time and retrieving the bat''s blood again will take a few days. We can''t do a thing for the next few days." Qu Qingyun said unhappily.


    Professor Lei insisted, "Safety first. Since there are doubts, we can''t take the risk regardless of whether it''s true or not."


    Since Professor Lei had already said so, what else could Qu Qingyun say? He could only feel frustrated.


    "Since you said that the offerings can last for about an hour and we have given up our plans for today, let''s go to the Torch Dragon temple to take a look. We can return in about ten minutes. Even if there''s a problem with the blood, it won''t hinder us," Professor Lei said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, I''m going to kill Torch Dragon. If I take you along, I''m afraid Torch Dragon will be able to kill all of you in one breath.


    "Professor Lei, I think it''s best you head to the Qiongqi temple. I''ll go to the Torch Dragon temple myself," Zhou Wen said to Professor Lei.


    Qu Qingyun retorted angrily, "You were the one who said that there''s something wrong with the offerings. You are also the one who said we shouldn''t go. Now, you are also the one saying we should go. You are basically playing every possible role!"


    Professor Lei frowned and said, "If what you said is true, the offerings can only maintain the passage for less than an hour. Our preparatory work already takes half an hour. There''s no point in going."


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as he looked at the Aoyin stone statue and walked in front of it.


    No one knew what he was trying to do as they looked at him. Qu Qingyun opened his mouth to say something, but before he could say anything, he saw Zhou Wen standing in front of the Aoyin stone statue. Wielding the Bamboo Blade in hand, he suddenly unsheathed it.


    Everyone was shocked. It wasn''t that they hadn''t tried to destroy the Aoyin stone statue, but the result was a terrible loss.


    Inside the temple, the Aoyin stone statue was strengthened by some kind of power. Despite being attacked by several Epic Companion Beasts, it could devour all of them.


    If Zhou Wen were to alarm the Aoyin stone statue, they would probably die.


    Someone had already opened their mouth to stop Zhou Wen, but before they could say anything, the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen''s hand flashed and returned to its scabbard.


    Boom!


    Professor Lei was shocked. The Aoyin stone statue split into two and collapsed on both sides.


    "There''s no need for any offerings for the time being," Zhou Wen said as he took two steps back.

 566 Killing Torch Dragon

    "Yes, Young Master Wen. I''ll do it now." Lu Yunxian saluted and left.


    Professor Lei and company still hadn''t reacted. Zhou Wen''s splitting of the Aoyin stone statue had shocked them greatly.


    "Professor Lei, when Yunxian comes again, you can head to the Qiongqi Temple. Xu Wen, come with me." Zhou Wen walked towards the passageway to the Torch Dragon temple.


    Xu Wen hurriedly followed, leaving Professor Lei and the rest standing there looking at each other.


    "I''ve only heard of Zhou Wen causing trouble for the An family in the past, causing the relationship between the An family and the Federation''s upper echelons to worsen. From the looks of it, the rumors are unreliable. The An family''s protection of him does make sense. He should still be in school, right?" Professor Lei sighed as he looked at the two halves of the Aoyin stone statue.


    "I heard that he''s only in his freshman year," another professor said.


    "That makes him only seventeen or eighteen years old. To have such achievements at this age, if he were in my Lei family, we would be even more protective of him than the An family," Professor Lei said.


    Qu Qingyun snorted coldly. "He''s Wang Mingyuan''s disciple. Who knows what he has done in private? Otherwise, how could a student produce such achievements?"


    Professor Lei glanced at Qu Qingyun and said meaningfully, "Qingyun, as researchers, the greatest taboo is to let our emotions affect our judgment."


    Qu Qingyun''s expression changed slightly when he heard that, but he quickly calmed down. He said respectfully, "Teacher is right. I know what to do."


    "Everyone, let''s rest for a while. When Battalion Commander Lu brings his men over, we''ll head to the Qiongqi temple again. Now that there are no restrictions from the Aoyin stone statue, we can work for longer periods. We have to replan our working arrangements¡­" Professor Lei picked up a notebook and began studying it.


    Zhou Wen led Xu Wen into the passageway to the Torch Dragon temple. After walking for a short distance, he stopped and said to Xu Wen, "Help me guard this place. No matter what happens inside, no matter what you hear, don''t come in. Don''t let anyone pass. Do you understand?"


    "Young Master Wen, what are you going to do?" Xu Wen was alarmed. She immediately knew that Zhou Wen''s trip wasn''t as simple as taking a look at the Torch Dragon temple.


    "To kill Torch Dragon." Zhou Wen didn''t hide it from her. He couldn''t hide it either. With that said, he headed for the tunnel.


    Although he had been in the game countless times, he had a different feeling coming here in real life.


    After all, he wasn''t in-game. If he made any mistakes, he might die.


    Standing in front of the temple''s metal door, Zhou Wen took a deep breath and closed his eyes, allowing his body and mind to calm down. It wasn''t to adjust himself to an optimal state, but to make himself treat what lay ahead normally.


    If one needed to use 120% of their abilities to complete something, it would be a gamble. As for Zhou Wen, he didn''t need to gamble. As long as he completed what he needed to do like he always did, he could obtain the results he wanted.


    When he opened his eyes, Zhou Wen had already calmed down. He summoned his armor and Six-Winged and was prepared to release the other crystal mirror at any time.


    With the Golden Battle God Halberd in hand, Zhou Wen pushed open the temple''s door.


    With the creaking sound of the metal door being pushed open, Zhou Wen saw the snake-like Torch Dragon youngling inside. It was even more ferocious and terrifying than in-game. It was also bigger and more oppressive.


    Amidst the swirling poisonous smoke, Torch Dragon opened its mouth and spewed out billowing poisonous smoke.


    The six wings on its back flapped as Zhou Wen circled behind Torch Dragon at an unbelievable speed. Torch Dragon swept its tail out, but everything was within Zhou Wen''s control. His body moved in a perfect trajectory, dodging Torch Dragon''s repeated attacks before he finally approached it.


    The Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed into its scales with Golden Divine Light. Blood immediately gushed out from where the Golden Battle God Halberd hit as Torch Dragon let out a terrifying cry.


    In an instant, rows of lanterns-like eyes lit up on its body. Their eyes reflected light like mirrors, illuminating the entire metallic temple.


    The six wings on Zhou Wen''s back and the Golden Battle God Halberd in his hand were immediately unsummoned. The power of the Bright Torch Vision World shone on his armor and was reflected by the mirror, preventing him from being sucked into the vision world.


    With his experience in-game, Zhou Wen knew very well that the next minute was the most critical period. As long as he could withstand this one minute, the Torch Dragon youngling would enter a weakened state. It would be incapable of using the Bright Torch Vision World again and all its assortment of skills would be greatly weakened. That would give him the confidence to kill Torch Dragon.


    However, this one minute was difficult even in-game. He had to ensure that he didn''t make any mistakes.


    He activated Transcendent Flying Immortal not to kill the enemy, but to escape. Zhou Wen''s speed was raised to the limit as he dodged behind a metal pillar. His every move had been carefully calculated and he knew the optimum way to stall for time.


    The Torch Dragon youngling chased after him with all its might and circled around the metal pillar. The beams of monstrous lights shot out from the eyes like laser beams that crisscrossed in the temple.


    Without any pause, he constantly moved. With the help of the metal pillar in the metallic temple, Zhou Wen dodged the Torch Dragon youngling''s lethal attack time and time again.


    As time passed, Zhou Wen remained calm. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to killing the Torch Dragon youngling.


    ¡­


    Lu Yunxian quickly brought his men over and arranged for them to protect Professor Lei and company. Although it was a form of protection, it was actually a form of surveillance.


    This was because those who could tamper with the blood would likely be Professor Lei and the others after excluding the ones who obtained the blood and transported it.


    Although it didn''t seem likely for them to do that since they had to enter too, who knew if someone among them would find an excuse to leave early?


    Therefore, while protecting them, he also had to prevent any spies from harming them.


    Lu Yunxian arranged his men and ran over to see Zhou Wen.


    However, just as he reached the tunnel, he saw Xu Wen standing alone at the entrance. "Why are you here? Where''s Young Master Wen?"


    "Young Master Wen went in," Xu Wen said.


    "Why didn''t you go in with him?" Lu Yunxian felt that something was amiss.


    "Young Master Wen didn''t allow me to enter. He also said that no one is allowed in. He wants to kill Torch Dragon," Xu Wen answered truthfully.


    Lu Yunxian''s expression changed drastically. "Why didn''t you stop him? You should know how terrifying Torch Dragon is. Although Young Master Wen is very strong, his chances of survival are still very slim when facing a creature like Torch Dragon¡­"


    As Lu Yunxian spoke, he heard a sharp cry from the Torch Dragon temple.

 567 Metal Block

    "Young Master Wen said that no matter what happens, we can''t go in¡­" Xu Wen pulled Lu Yunxian back.


    "Do you have any idea what''s happening now? If Young Master Wen dies inside, how are we going to answer to Adjutant An and Overseer An? Furthermore, Young Master Wen saved our lives." Lu Yunxian shook off Xu Wen and rushed in.


    Xu Wen gritted her teeth and charged in as well. She couldn''t be bothered anymore.


    As the two of them rushed over, they heard terrifying screams and rumbling crashing. They were even more worried. From the sounds, the dragon was probably enraged.


    Terrifying sounds and collisions echoed in the tunnel. Even Professor Lei, who was setting up various equipment, heard them.


    "Oh no, it''s Torch Dragon. It has been stirred. Could Zhou Wen have opened the Torch Dragon temple''s door?" Professor Lei''s expression changed as he immediately ran over.


    Qu Qingyun gloated when he heard that. "That Zhou Wen is so arrogant. He must have thought that he''s amazing and opened the door to the Torch Dragon temple."


    As researchers, they knew very well that Torch Dragon was a true Mythical creature. It wasn''t something Aoyin could compare with. It was almost certain death. They had already sacrificed many Epic Companion Beasts in their attempts to kill it.


    When Professor Lei and company ran back to the three forks where the Aoyin stone statue was, Torch Dragon''s sharp cries suddenly stopped.


    Lu Yunxian and Xu Wen had already run to the Torch Dragon temple and saw the gigantic Torch Dragon inside. This was the first time they had seen it with their own eyes.


    Although they knew that Torch Dragon was inside, they weren''t the ones who personally saw Torch Dragon. Instead, it was the Companion Beasts they had placed inside.


    At that moment, they saw Torch Dragon''s body. Its massive body and ferocious aura gave them immense pressure.


    In front of Torch Dragon, they felt as tiny as ants.


    However, in front of Torch Dragon was a man wearing silver mirror-like armor. He had six holy white flaming dragon wings on his back. He held a golden trident in his hand as he levitated in front of Torch Dragon.


    And on Torch Dragon''s body, there were bloody wounds everywhere. The most terrifying part was that blood gushed out like a fountain from its head.


    Boom!


    In front of the god-like figure, Torch Dragon collapsed to the ground, dead. Blood flowed everywhere in the temple.


    However, the figure floating above Torch Dragon looked spotless. Its body emitted a holy glow.


    After a long pause, Lu Yunxian gulped and asked in disbelief, "Young¡­ Young Master Wen¡­ Is that you?"


    "Sorry, it''s my fault." Xu Wen hurriedly apologized.


    "It''s nothing. Since you''re here, help me look around. Is there anything in this temple left behind by the former principal and company?" Zhou Wen had searched the Torch Dragon temple in-game, but he hadn''t found any other way out. If the former principal and company really came here, they would probably leave something behind unless they were eaten clean by Torch Dragon.


    For example, paper, backpacks, or instruments. No matter how good Torch Dragon''s appetite was, it probably wouldn''t eat those things.


    As for Lu Yunxian and Xu Wen, Zhou Wen didn''t let them come in because he was afraid that they would die when Torch Dragon used the Bright Torch Vision World. Now that Torch Dragon was dead, it didn''t matter if Lu Yunxian and Xu Wen entered.


    Lu Yunxian and Xu Wen hurriedly searched the Torch Dragon temple with Zhou Wen.


    All his attention had been focused on Torch Dragon, preventing him from observing the temple. Now, Zhou Wen carefully sized up the temple and realized that the layout and decorations were the same as in-game.


    However, the game was cartoonish and this place looked even more real. There were metal pillars and metal carvings everywhere, as well as some metal statues.


    The carvings depicted monsters. For example, the ChiMeiWangliang that Zhou Wen had encountered outside had its image engraved on the metal wall.


    There were many other monsters that Zhou Wen couldn''t name.


    This wasn''t the main point of Zhou Wen''s observation. He wanted to find something, even if it was a skeleton, a piece of tattered cloth, or even a piece of paper.


    However, there was nothing in the temple. Apart from the metal items, there was nothing else.


    Zhou Wen had mixed feelings. He couldn''t see the former principal and company''s belongings. It was possible that they had been swallowed by Torch Dragon, but it was also possible that they hadn''t come here. Therefore, there was still some hope. However, this hope was even more torturous.


    "Young Master Wen, if you only look at it with your naked eye, you won''t be able to see any problems. I wish to use some equipment and the powers of our Companion Beasts to examine the area. Perhaps we can discover something." Lu Yunxian looked around the temple before saying to Zhou Wen. Clearly, he hadn''t discovered anything.


    "Alright, go and prepare." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "Xu Wen, help Young Master Wen look around and see if Torch Dragon dropped any Companion Eggs and crystals. If there are, get Young Master Wen to put them away. In a while, there will be too many people and it will inevitably be troublesome," Lu Yunxian told Xu Wen before leaving.


    Xu Wen agreed and went to investigate Torch Dragon''s corpse.


    Zhou Wen knew that the chances of Torch Dragon dropping a Companion Egg were very low, so he didn''t deliberately search for it. He just carefully observed the temple and compared it to his memories in-game.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen discovered something. It was identical to the metallic style of the temple. It seemed to be something from the temple, but Zhou Wen had never seen it in-game.


    Zhou Wen walked to the side of the temple and saw a metal artifact. It looked cubic like a metal block. It wasn''t too big and was about the size of a brick. Its color was the same as the metallic color of the palace. It was bluish-black.


    This metal piece was placed above the head of a monster statue. The metal statue looked like a lion, a tiger, but nothing like them either. However, it looked like a legendary Qilin.


    Zhou Wen had seen this statue in-game, but he had never seen the metal piece on its head.


    He reached out to push the metal block and realized that it wasn''t one with the statue. It was very easy for him to push it. Zhou Wen took it down and found it rather heavy. It was likely much heavier than a gold block of the same size.


    The surface of the metal piece was very smooth and there was nothing on it. Zhou Wen flipped to the side to take a look, but there was nothing. However, when he flipped to the bottom, he realized that there was something different. There were a few carvings on the metal surface, splitting the metal into nine parts.


    Zhou Wen seemed to have seen such a nine-part setup somewhere before. On careful thought, he immediately recalled that in Qin Xiyuan''s shop, the chained silver-haired Companion Beast was connected to a metal block. The metal block had a similar nine-number keypad.

 568 Torch Dragon Egg

    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and stored the metal piece into the chaos space. He planned on studying it when he returned.


    "Young Master Wen¡­ A Companion Egg¡­ It''s Torch Dragon''s Companion Egg¡­" Xu Wen suddenly said in pleasant surprise.


    Zhou Wen was just about to examine the temple again, to see if there was anything else that was different from the game, when he heard Xu Wen''s voice. He couldn''t help but be taken aback. He turned his head and saw Xu Wen holding a soccer-ball-sized crystal in her hand. It seemed to have billions of starlights circulating in it. It looked beautiful and surreal.


    "Young Master Wen, quickly put it away. It''s best not to let others see it." Xu Wen handed the Companion Egg to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took the Companion Egg and looked at it. He couldn''t help but sigh inwardly. I''ve grinded so many times in-game, but nothing dropped. I never expected it to drop in real life.


    ¡­


    Outside the tunnel, Professor Lei and company couldn''t hear anything anymore. They were guessing what was happening inside.


    From the looks of it, Zhou Wen should have been killed by Torch Dragon. Qu Qingyun gloated inwardly, but he said, "Teacher, Zhou Wen is probably doomed. How do we explain this to Overseer An?"


    Professor Lei was also feeling vexed. The An family definitely placed great importance on a cultivation genius like Zhou Wen. Although this matter had nothing to do with him, he was still in charge here. He ultimately had to bear some responsibility.


    "Let''s head over to take a look first." Professor Lei summoned his Companion Beast and planned on figuring out the situation to see if Zhou Wen could be saved.


    Although the chances were slim, he had to give it a try.


    "There''s really no need. Sending Companion Beasts over is just sending them to their deaths for nothing," said Qu Qingyun.


    Professor Lei was about to say something when he saw someone rush out of the tunnel. It was Lu Yunxian.


    "Commander Lu, how''s the situation inside? Zhou Wen didn''t enter the Torch Dragon temple, did he?" Professor Lei hurriedly asked when he saw Lu Yunxian come out.


    "Young Master Wen is in the temple," Lu Yunxian answered.


    "It''s over." When Professor Lei heard Lu Yunxian say that, he felt that Zhou Wen was definitely dead.


    "Professor Lei, where''s your scanning equipment? Bring it with you. Follow me to the Torch Dragon temple," Lu Yunxian said.


    "What''s the use of taking in the equipment? Those instruments can only be used to gather data, not save someone," Qu Qingyun said with a twitch of his lips.


    "What?" Professor Lei and the others thought that something was wrong with their ears.


    "Battalion Commander Lu, are you joking with us?" A professor looked at Lu Yunxian in disbelief.


    "What do you mean joking? Young Master Wen is waiting for you in the temple. Quickly bring the equipment and follow me," Lu Yunxian said.


    Professor Lei and company were doubtful, but seeing that Lu Yunxian didn''t seem to be joking, they could only gather their equipment and follow him to the Torch Dragon temple.


    When they arrived outside the Torch Dragon temple and saw the massive body lying in a pool of blood, everyone was dumbfounded.


    They had studied the area for months, but they had never seen Torch Dragon in person. Now, they had seen it with their own eyes, but Torch Dragon had already turned into a corpse.


    Qu Qingyun''s expression was even more thoughtful, as if he couldn''t believe it. He was also somewhat horrified.


    Zhou Wen looked back and forth at the temple several times. After confirming that it wasn''t different from in-game, he left the temple and handed it over to Professor Lei, Lu Yunxian, and company to deal with it. He returned to the encampment and waited for their results.


    Although many electronic devices couldn''t be used in Zhuolu, there were still some more rather practical investigative methods that could be used. For example, blood tests, fingerprint tests, etc.


    Some tiny skin tissues could be collected and tested.


    The entire team did a carpet sweep of the area. Since Zhou Wen couldn''t do anything, he had to just wait for the results.


    ¡­


    In Luoyang''s An family, An Sheng had just returned to the office. Just as he was reporting the hatching of his Companion Egg to An Tianzuo, the phone on his desk suddenly rang.


    An Tianzuo gestured slightly and An Sheng answered the call.


    "What?" An Sheng widened his eyes in shock after hearing a few words.


    An Tianzuo frowned slightly as he waited for An Sheng to put down the phone before asking him, "What happened?"


    "Young Master Wen¡­ He went to the Zhuolu ruins¡­" An Sheng put down the phone and said to An Tianzuo with a look of shock.


    "What did he do?" An Tianzuo asked with a frown. From An Sheng''s expression, he knew that it wasn''t as simple as going to the ruins. Something must have happened.


    "Young Master Wen¡­ He¡­ He¡­ entered the Torch Dragon temple¡­" An Sheng said with a pained expression.


    "Nonsense¡­ What are Lu Yunxian and Professor Lei doing? How could they let him into the temple?" An Tianzuo immediately slammed the table and asked, "How is he now? Is he dead?"


    "Dead," An Sheng whispered.


    An Tianzuo sat down on a chair and said through gritted teeth, "That bastard. How can I answer to the person at home? Does he think he''s a hero? What a bullsh*t hero. He''s just an ignorant boor. Does he think his life belongs to him? Thinking he can do whatever he wants. He doesn''t take anyone seriously and is selfish¡­"


    An Sheng hadn''t seen An Tianzuo so angry in a long time. He realized that he had gone overboard.


    "That¡­ Overseer¡­ I mean¡­ Torch Dragon is dead¡­" An Sheng carefully said when An Tianzuo finally stopped.


    An Tianzuo was taken aback. After a while, he stared at An Sheng and said, "What did you say? Say it again?"


    "It was news from Zhuolu that Young Master Wen killed Torch Dragon. They have already entered the Torch Dragon temple to begin testing. They haven''t found anything yet," An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo looked at An Sheng and his expression gradually turned cold. "Ah Sheng, it looks like you like you have become rather carefree recently."


    "Overseer, I was stunned by the news of Torch Dragon''s death. I couldn''t think straight. It really wasn''t intentional." An Sheng immediately felt that things were going south.


    "Since you are so carefree, go and guard Chess Mountain. You are not allowed to return without my orders," said An Tianzuo coldly.


    "Do I have a choice?" An Sheng said with a bitter expression.


    "What do you think?" An Tianzuo said coldly.


    "Yes, I''ll be setting off for Chess Mountain immediately." An Sheng stood straight and saluted, but he didn''t go out. He said, "Something strange happened over there as well. The blood they used to sacrifice to the Aoyin stone statue seemed to have been tampered with."


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen returned to his tent and took out the metal piece he had obtained from the temple to study it. Apart from being a little smaller, it looked very similar to the things that chained the silver-haired Companion Beast.

 569 Password Box

    Zhou Wen tried pressing the nine keys again and realized that although it didn''t sink, there seemed to be a glimmer.


    These grids can''t really be buttons, right? Zhou Wen pressed a few other keys. As long as the pressure reached a certain level, each grid would emit a flash.


    Could it be that this metal block is really a box with a code? Then what''s the code? Could it be the ten numbers the former principal gave me? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss.


    There were no numbers on the nine-key grid. Even if the ten numbers given by the former principal were really the passcode, he didn''t know which one corresponded to 1 or 9.


    Typically, numbers are arranged in order. 123 is the first row. 456 is the second row. 789 is the third row. However, the nine-key grid is a square. I don''t know which orientation is the first row. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he could give it a try.


    If it was really arranged in order, he should be able to get results from making a few tries.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen tried using the ten-digit code. 5156942730. He remembered this number very clearly, but he soon realized that something was amiss.


    As the grid only had nine buttons, and with one of the ten numbers being zero, there was no way to press this zero.


    It doesn''t work at all. From the looks of it, I''m overthinking things. Zhou Wen looked at the metal piece and suddenly recalled that he had seen a similar grid on the metal block that chained the silver-haired Companion Beast. However, there were numbers on that grid.


    Zhou Wen carefully recalled what numbers were on the grid.


    Thankfully, he had quite a good memory. Back then, he had looked at it carefully, so he quickly recalled it. He remembered that the numbers weren''t arranged according to the order, but were seemingly random.


    249¡­ 715¡­ 603¡­ I remember that the numbers on the metal block should be distributed in this way. Strange, there''s no 8 in the grid. Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he thought of the ten-digit code. Indeed, there was no number 8.


    Although this didn''t mean anything, Zhou Wen suddenly felt that he could give it a try.


    If the numbers on this small metal block are the same as the large metal block, then I should press it this way. Zhou Wen followed the numbers in his memory and pressed the ten-digit code, but the metal block didn''t react.


    Zhou Wen spun the grid clockwise ninety degrees before continuing his attempts. After he pressed the tenth button, he suddenly heard a very soft click.


    He was immediately delighted and hurriedly looked at the metal piece. Indeed, there was a crack on the side of it. With a gentle twist, the metal piece split into two.


    After the metal piece cracked, the crystal fell out and landed on the table.


    The crystal was transparent, but there were many silver spots of light inside. They resembled countless swirling galaxies. It was extremely beautiful.


    Zhou Wen picked up the crystal and took a careful look. It was slightly cold, but there weren''t any special energy fluctuations from it. On the side he saw, there was a symbol of an anchor engraved on it.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t unfamiliar with the anchor symbol. He had seen it a few times before. A similar tattoo was on the large metal piece and Gu Dian also had a similar tattoo.


    However, the symbol of the anchor was slightly different. There was no woman''s side profile on it. It was just a simple anchor symbol.


    Perhaps it''s just a coincidence? Zhou Wen thought as he flipped the crystal over to take a look. He couldn''t help but be stunned when he saw it.


    The crystal looked transparent, but when he turned around, he realized that it wasn''t the case. There was a woman''s head engraved on this side. It was her side profile and she looked extremely beautiful. It was identical to the one Zhou Wen had seen on the anchor symbol.


    It''s really related, but what''s the use of this item that looks like a commemorative coin? Why did the former principal tell me the passcode to the box? Why didn''t he give me the box or the crystal coin? If I hadn''t seen the metal block that chains the silver-haired Companion Beast, or if I didn''t come here to obtain the small metal block, it wouldn''t be of any use even if I had the passcode. Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind, but the more he thought about it, the more suspicious he became.


    From the looks of it, I won''t be able to answer these questions unless I find the former principal. I wonder what use this crystal coin has? Zhou Wen studied it for a while, but he failed to find any use for it. All he could do was put it back into the metal block.


    When the cracked metal pieces were placed together, it immediately seemed to have a powerful magnetic force that firmly sucked both parts together. Even the gap in the middle could not be seen.


    Zhou Wen used his hand to try to pry it open a few times, but it remained solid, as though there was no gap.


    This metal block sure is magical. I wonder if the large metal block that chains the silver-haired Companion Beast can be opened with the passcode. Although Zhou Wen felt that it was very likely, he didn''t plan on attempting it.


    After putting the metal piece into the chaos space, Zhou Wen was about to take out the Torch Dragon Companion Egg to try hatching it when he suddenly heard someone walk into the tent.


    "Young Master Wen, someone has arrived at the encampment. He wants to see you immediately. Adjutant An wants to talk to you," Lu Yunxian said as he entered.


    "Got it. How''s the investigation of the blood offerings?" Zhou Wen asked casually.


    "We''re still investigating. There were more than twenty people involved, but we are investigating every one of them. We haven''t found anything yet. Adjutant An said that he will personally investigate this matter. Before he comes, none of the people related to this matter can leave," Lu Yunxian said.


    Zhou Wen was relieved when he heard that An Sheng was personally investigating the matter.


    He took the chariot with Xu Wen, who was on her way back, and left the underground ruins. After returning to the encampment, Zhou Wen''s phone finally received a signal.


    Before he could call An Sheng, An Sheng had already called. "Young Master Wen, didn''t you agree to wait for me to come back? Why didn''t you wait for me? It''s such a huge contribution. It''s really sad that you took all the credit alone."


    "Weren''t you hatching the Mythical pet? I just didn''t want you to be distracted," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "Young Master Wen, you have to remember to take me with you next time if there''s something this good. Look at how hard I''ve worked for so many years. Now, I''m only an adjutant. I also want to make a contribution. I want to be promoted. The next time you go to the Qiongqi temple, you have to take me along. Now that I have Love Letter, I should be able to help you," An Sheng said.


    "Alright, I''ll definitely take you with me next time." Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng was joking. Although An Sheng was only an adjutant and his official position wasn''t high, his actual power was immense. He could be said to be a true figure of power in the Sunset army.


    An Sheng said this mainly because he didn''t wish for Zhou Wen to take the risk alone.


    "Did Torch Dragon drop anything good?" Since he got his intent across, An Sheng didn''t say anything else.


    "A Companion Egg," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Young Master Wen, you''re really lucky. Over the past few years, Overseer has also killed some Mythical creatures. However, his luck with Companion Eggs isn''t that good. When you went with us to kill Love Letter, a Companion Egg dropped. Now that you killed Torch Dragon, another Companion Egg has dropped. You''re just so lucky. If I were to kill Mythical creatures again, Young Master Wen, you have to help me," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, My luck is good? Joke''s on you. I''ve killed countless Mythical creatures in-game, but none of them dropped Companion Eggs.


    "By the way, Young Master Wen, we''ve obtained some information regarding the cube''s ranking," An Sheng said solemnly.

 570 Top Mythical

    "What do you mean by further improved? Enhanced?" Zhou Wen remembered that The Thearch had told him that only the first Companion Egg on the rankings would obtain the opportunity to be enhanced.


    "I don''t know. The rumors are all over the place right now. It''s difficult to determine their authenticity. However, the Xia, Zhang, and Dugu families already have Mythical Companion Beasts on the rankings. Furthermore, there are also some unknown Companion Beasts on the rankings. Haven''t you realized that your Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s ranking has dropped?" An Sheng asked.


    "I really didn''t notice that." Zhou Wen had no time to pay attention to those things. He had been studying how to kill Torch Dragon.


    "Your Six-Winged''s ranking has already dropped to fifth place. The number one pet is no longer the Death of the Underworld. It has been replaced by a Companion Beast named Primordial Sword Immortal. Death of the Underworld is second, Genie is third, Frost Giant is fourth, and your Six-Winged Guardian Dragon is fifth. There are already more than thirty Companion Beasts on the rankings. The number one Primordial Sword Immortal doesn''t seem to belong to the six families. We haven''t found out who it belongs to. The six families have a real headache now. The number of Companion Beasts that aren''t from the six families on the rankings has increased significantly." An Sheng explained the situation to Zhou Wen in detail.


    "Why didn''t you let Love Letter give it a try?" Zhou Wen didn''t care much about the ranking. After all, it was only a ranking for humanity''s Companion Beasts. Compared to dimensional creatures, humans were still too weak. Just thirty Mythical Companion Beasts were nothing in the massive dimensional Mythical system.


    "It doesn''t make a difference even if I put it up on the rankings. The current rankings definitely aren''t final. There are still many Companion Beasts from the six families that haven''t been placed. The truly powerful ones haven''t shown up. Furthermore, the bigwigs from all over the world might not be as rich as the six families, but they should have some Mythical pets. When the time comes, the rankings will definitely exceed a hundred entries. Even if my Love Letter gets on the rankings now, it''ll drop out sooner or later."


    After chatting with An Sheng for a while, Zhou Wen hung up and found a room to rest. He took out the Torch Dragon Companion Egg and planned on hatching it.


    No one would mind having too many Mythical Companion Beasts. More importantly, every Mythical Companion Beast had different abilities. No matter how strong a Mythical Companion Beast was, it was impossible for it to be invincible. In different situations, it was best to have Companion Beasts with different abilities.


    Just like Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World, it could instantly kill Mythical Companion Beasts of the same level, but an Epic Jade Crystal Spirit armor could restrain it.


    Zhou Wen had infinite Essence Energy, so he naturally didn''t need a special hatching method. He picked up the Torch Dragon egg and began injecting Essence Energy to incubate it.


    The moment his Essence Energy touched the Torch Dragon egg, Zhou Wen immediately felt a powerful suction force suck his Essence Energy in like a whale.


    Zhou Wen felt his Essence Energy suddenly empty. Thankfully, he quickly replenished it. If it were anyone else, they would probably be sucked dry.


    As the Essence Energy surged in, the Companion Egg gradually lit up. It was as though countless stars were swirling around it. When it finally stopped absorbing Zhou Wen''s Essence Energy, the Companion Egg transformed into a stream of starlight that flew towards Zhou Wen''s left eye and fused into his pupils.


    If one took a closer look, there was a Torch Dragon-like dark pattern in Zhou Wen''s black pupils. As the color was similar, it was very difficult for ordinary people to tell.


    Thankfully, the Torch Dragon tattoo didn''t affect Zhou Wen''s vision, so it didn''t hinder him.


    Zhou Wen switched on his phone and checked Torch Dragon''s information. This might be the strongest Companion Beast he currently had. Even the Golden Battle God Halberd would be considered inferior.


    Torch Dragon Youngling: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Son of a World King


    Life Soul: Eye of Spacetime


    Wheel of Destiny: Bright Torch Vision World


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Torch Eyes, Dragon Breath, World King Transformation


    Companion Form: Eye Mirror


    Indeed, it''s a top-notch Mythical. All its stats are 81. It''s a pleasure looking at it. It''s even stronger than the strengthened Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon in-game.


    The gigantic Torch Dragon immediately appeared in the game''s interface. It looked identical to the one in real life. Zhou Wen tried all kinds of skills.


    Apart from having a few less skills than the real Torch Dragon, there was basically no difference. The few skills that were lacking were not important skills. The core abilities were all present.


    The truly invincible ones were the Bright Torch Vision World and the World King Transformation. The Bright Torch Vision World could reflect all things. Once its gaze landed on someone, they would be sucked into the Vision World and vanish without a trace.


    The World King Transformation was Torch Dragon''s final transformation skill. With the Eye of Spacetime appearing all over his body and the Bright Torch Vision World, it was practically invincible.


    However, after using the World King Transformation, Torch Dragon would enter an overall weakened state. Its combat strength would drop drastically to the same level as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon in a short period of time. It would take a long time to recover.


    Even if it doesn''t use World King Transformation, Torch Dragon is still a top-notch combat force. I wonder if Torch Dragon will be ranked first if it enters the rankings? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly.


    Bringing Torch Dragon along, Zhou Wen headed for the temple in-game. He wanted to give it a try and see what effects Torch Dragon and the Bright Torch Vision World had against the Bright Torch Vision World. It would definitely be exciting.


    Finally, he arrived at the Torch Dragon temple. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen ordered his Torch Dragon to use the Bright Torch Vision World. Torch Dragon''s eyes immediately turned into a mirror that emitted a sun-like glow.


    As for the Torch Dragon in the temple, it seemed to sense danger. It also used the Bright Torch Vision World. In the next second, a strange scene happened. The two Torch Dragons vanished into thin air. A strange spatial vortex appeared in the temple, sweeping everything in. The game screen immediately turned black.


    The Bright Torch Vision World versus Bright Torch Vision World is an annihilative disaster! Zhou Wen realized something unusual as he had an ominous feeling. After entering the game again, Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to head to the Torch Dragon temple. Instead, he headed for the Poison Bat Cave.

 571 An Shengs Arrival

    The large number of Poison Bats in the cave vanished without a trace.


    As expected! Zhou Wen''s expression didn''t look good. This was because at least two hundred Poison Bats had been sucked into the Vision World. They were nowhere to be seen, with no corpses indicating their deaths. The key point was that the game constantly indicated that the Poison Bat had been killed, but nothing dropped.


    This was a very troublesome problem. The dimensional creatures that were sucked into the Bright Torch Vision World wouldn''t drop anything, or they might have dropped something, only to have them vanish in the Vision World.


    If it doesn''t drop, so be it. Zhou Wen didn''t feel overly conflicted. This time, he took the Torch Dragon to the Qiongqi temple.


    Qiongqi was very powerful and Zhou Wen was no match for it with the Six-Winged Golden Battle God Halberd and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General that restrained it. However, Qiongqi was no match for Torch Dragon Youngling.


    The trouble was¡ªQiongqi''s speed was too fast¡ªallowing it to constantly avoid Torch Dragon''s vision. However, by unleashing World King Transformation, Qiongqi had nowhere to run. It was directly sucked into the Vision World and instantly killed.


    Unfortunately, the Bright Torch Vision World prevented anything from dropping despite killing Qiongqi.


    From the looks of it, it won''t be a problem to use Torch Dragon to kill Qiongqi. Zhou Wen was rather satisfied with the outcome. It didn''t matter if anything dropped. As long as he could kill Qiongqi, he could enter the Qiongqi Temple.


    If they couldn''t find the former principal in the Qiongqi temple, it meant that he had most likely been killed.


    In fact, after discovering the metal piece, Zhou Wen already felt that the former principal and company had gone to the Torch Dragon temple. The chances of them heading to Qiongqi temple were relatively low.


    As for why he didn''t discover the former principal and company''s relics, Zhou Wen felt that they might have been sucked into the Bright Torch Vision World, so nothing remained.


    Only the metal piece had been left behind for some reason. Or perhaps it was originally something from the temple¡ªthe former principal and the others had merely discovered it.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to head to the Qiongqi temple. An Sheng said that he would head over in the next two days, so he planned on waiting for him.


    After all, with Torch Dragon around, killing Qiongqi wasn''t too risky. It was fine to wait for An Sheng.


    However, he wasn''t a match for Torch Dragon in the temple without using Bright Torch Vision World. He would still be killed instantly by the Bright Torch Vision World, so Zhou Wen had no choice but to use the old method to kill the Torch Dragon.


    When Torch Dragon appeared in his companion form, it gave Zhou Wen a pleasant surprise.


    Torch Dragon''s Companion Form was similar to contact lenses. It directly appeared in Zhou Wen''s left eye. Under such circumstances, Zhou Wen''s left eye could also use Bright Torch Vision World.


    Although it drained him greatly, it wasn''t a problem for Zhou Wen who had infinite Essence Energy.


    Unfortunately, this move can only be used to kill enemies, but it can''t drop dimensional crystals or Companion Eggs. Zhou Wen planned on using Torch Dragon as his trump card. He could also use it when grinding Mythical creatures, but without using the Bright Torch Vision World and World King Transformation, its combat strength was only slightly stronger than the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    An Sheng arrived very quickly. Zhou Wen didn''t even wait two days before An Sheng arrived at the encampment.


    Zhou Wen told An Sheng about hatching the Torch Dragon Youngling and found an uninhabited place. There, he demonstrated Torch Dragon''s abilities to him, telling him that he could kill Qiongqi with Torch Dragon.


    "This Torch Dragon Youngling is practically invincible. It''s very likely to be first on the rankings. However, I have to do something before we kill Qiongqi," An Sheng said.


    "Is it related to the blood offerings?" Zhou Wen guessed.


    An Sheng nodded slightly. "I''m constantly updated by the news over here. I''ve roughly guessed who it is. If I don''t deal with this fellow now, I''m afraid something will happen in the future. Let''s head to the temple and settle this matter."


    Zhou Wen entered the temple with An Sheng. Everyone related to the blood offerings was there.


    When Professor Lei saw Zhou Wen and An Sheng, he came over and said excitedly, "Young Master Wen, Adjutant An, our research has made quite a bit of progress recently. From the murals and statues inside the Torch Dragon Temple, that palace should be related to the Mythical Chiyou¡­"


    "Professor Lei, report the details to the Overseer in the future. Please gather everyone. I have something to say," An Sheng said.


    "Alright, Little Zhao, call everyone over," Professor Lei said to one of his students.


    Soon, the student called everyone over. When everyone was present, Professor Lei frowned and asked, "Where''s Qingyun?"


    "Senior Brother Qu was a little unwell yesterday and had been resting in the tent. When I called him just now, he seemed to be very sick. He was a little muddle-headed and didn''t wake up," Little Zhao said.


    "In that case, I''ll get him." An Sheng seemed to realize something as he quickly walked towards Qu Qingyun''s tent.


    Everyone followed him. An Sheng pulled open the tent and saw Qu Qingyun sleeping inside with the blanket wrapped around him. His body seemed to be trembling like a patient suffering from a severe cold.


    An Sheng walked over and reached out to pull the blanket away. He saw Qu Qingyun curled up into a ball as his body trembled.


    "Qingyun, what''s wrong?" Professor Lei saw that Qu Qingyun seemed to be seriously ill and wanted to go up to check on him.


    However, An Sheng stopped Professor Lei and pulled out a flying dagger before throwing it at Qu Qingyun.


    The flying dagger instantly stabbed into Qu Qingyun''s body. With a bang, a white fog erupted from the body. After the white fog dissipated, they saw the dagger nailing the corpse of a fox to the ground.


    "What''s going on?" Professor Lei and the others were dumbfounded.


    "Adjutant An, I''ll lead my men to chase after him." Lu Yunxian''s expression changed. Qu Qingyun slept in the same tent as him, but he had actually failed to notice anything amiss.


    "There''s no need. This person isn''t simple. Furthermore, the terrain in the ruins is too difficult. It''s easy for accidents to happen. Watch the vicinity of the temple and investigate the important areas. Don''t let him have another chance," An Sheng said.


    "Yes." Lu Yunxian went to make arrangements.


    The matter was already very clear. Even Professor Lei and the rest had guessed that there must be something wrong with Qu Qingyun''s sudden disappearance and him playing such a trick. It probably had something to do with the blood offerings.


    "Adjutant An, I really didn''t expect Qingyun to do such a thing¡­" Professor Lei said in embarrassment.


    "Professor Lei, don''t blame yourself. Everyone has cavities in their teeth. You weren''t to know." Having settled the matter, An Sheng headed to the Qiongqi temple with Zhou Wen.

 572 Killing Qiongqi

    Before the temple door opened, Zhou Wen summoned Six-Winged and Torch Dragon. At the same time, he summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    "Is this tiger-riding Companion Beast also at the Mythical stage?" An Sheng asked curiously as he sized up the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    "It''s not at the Mythical stage. It''s just an Epic Companion Beast. However, his Life Providence has some restraining effects on Qiongqi. It will make killing Qiongqi easier," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    These words were very honest. Without the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Torch Dragon could only kill Qiongqi in its World King Transformation state. And with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, there was no need to use the World King Transformation. A single Bright Torch Vision World would seal the deal.


    "There''s actually a Life Providence that can restrain Mythical creatures. Although it''s at the Epic stage, it''s sufficiently precious," An Sheng commented.


    "Yes, it wasn''t easy to obtain it. It''ll probably be difficult to find a second one," Zhou Wen said as he opened the temple door.


    Qiongqi was inside the temple. The moment the door opened, it pounced forward. However, due to the influence of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, its speed decreased significantly.


    Under Zhou Wen''s orders, Torch Dragon activated the Bright Torch Vision World to which Qiongqi dodged. Unfortunately, its speed was greatly reduced and it failed to escape. Torch Dragon immediately swept its gaze at it, making it disappear.


    "Torch Dragon is really too strong! It will be unreasonable if it can''t get first on the rankings," An Sheng praised when he saw Qiongqi being settled so easily.


    Zhou Wen also felt that Torch Dragon was very strong, but he wondered if it could defeat the guardian of a white cocoon.


    "Unfortunately, after being killed by the Bright Torch Vision World, nothing will be left. Even if dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs drop, I won''t be able to take them out. There are a lot of limitations," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s not too good, but it''s still very strong. There are some mysterious dimensional zones with many good things inside, but they are protected by terrifying Mythical creatures. It''s almost impossible to get the treasures out. Having this Torch Dragon makes things much simpler. When I''m free later, I''ll take you to those places to take a look. After a spin through them, we''ll definitely be able to obtain some good things," An Sheng said.


    The two of them carefully explored the temple several times, but they didn''t find any passageway or any clues left behind by the former principal.


    Zhou Wen didn''t discover anything different about the temple versus the in-game temple. It was completely identical.


    "Let Professor Lei and the rest come over and study it. They are the professionals in this area. If there are any clues, they will definitely discover them," An Sheng said.


    "That''s all we can do." Zhou Wen nodded helplessly.


    He now knew that the former principal and company were doomed. They had either been killed by Torch Dragon or eaten by Qiongqi. No matter what the possibility was, there was no need to investigate further.


    Zhou Wen planned on returning to school. The outcome was no longer important to him. No matter how the former principal died, it was impossible for him to come back to life.


    "Wait another two days for me. When I''m done here, we can return together. I can also take you to kill a few Mythical creatures on the way. It''s a crime not to use such a powerful Torch Dragon and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon," An Sheng said.


    "What will you be doing here?" Zhou Wen looked puzzled as he asked.


    "Of course I have to find Qu Qingyun," An Sheng said.


    "Will he still be here?" Zhou Wen felt that Qu Qingyun had definitely escaped Zhuolu.


    "According to the time, he was definitely still inside the underground ruins when we entered. The underground ruins only have one exit. I planted some Companion Beasts at the exit, but I haven''t detected his departure. That means he''s definitely still here," An Sheng said.


    "When did you set up the Companion Beasts? Why didn''t I know?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "It''s an ordinary Companion Beast. Apart from being small, it doesn''t have any special abilities. However, it''s very useful for monitoring," An Sheng said.


    "Alright, I also want to know why Qu Qingyun did that. Before I came, he hadn''t done anything. Yet, he took action after I came. This clearly isn''t a coincidence." Zhou Wen felt that Qu Qingyun was targeting him, not Professor Lei and company. Otherwise, he could have done it long ago.


    "If I want to find him, I''ll have to rely on Love Letter," An Sheng said as he summoned Love Letter.


    Although its name was Love Letter, it looked like a huge scorpion. There were many strange blood-colored texts on its body. No matter how one looked at it, it had nothing to do with a romantic love letter.


    "Does Love Letter have the ability to find people?" Back when An Tianzuo fought Love Letter, he was also present. He had never seen Love Letter display such abilities.


    "It doesn''t have the ability to find people, but its language skills will be useful." An Sheng left the temple with Love Letter.


    Zhou Wen followed beside him and saw that Love Letter would open the wall or the ground at a fixed distance every time. The words quickly fused into the rock.


    There were also some words that landed on the plants in the ruins, like grass. It was unknown what they could do.


    "Although these words don''t have any offensive power, Love Letter will naturally sense any creature that passes by. I left something in all the necessary areas. Unless Qu Qingyun doesn''t move in the ruins, we will be able to catch him sooner or later," An Sheng explained.


    "Take your time. I wish to visit the underground sea." Zhou Wen had nothing to do, so he wanted to take a look.


    Zhou Wen had already explored most of the Zhuolu underground ruins. Now, he didn''t even have a place to explore. All that was left was the underground sea.


    Ignoring the nine black dragons and the cocoon in the war wagon, there was also something strange inside the sapphire sky. Zhou Wen planned on taking this opportunity to take a look. Perhaps, in reality, he could discover something he couldn''t see in-game.


    "Alright, I still need a while. You can take your time."


    After separating from An Sheng, Zhou Wen headed for the underground sea. There weren''t many things that could threaten him in the underground ruins. Even against the nine black dragons, Zhou Wen had the strength to fight them.


    Of course, that was under the circumstances that the nine black dragons were chained. If their shackles were unlocked, Zhou Wen would have to rely on Torch Dragon.


    When he passed the white desert, Zhou Wen saw the tattered flag and the skeleton sitting under it.


    Apart from suddenly waking up the first time Zhou Wen passed by, the skeleton didn''t react.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the symbol on the animal hide flag. It was indeed the symbol of a ship''s anchor. He wanted to ask the skeleton what their flag meant, but unfortunately, the skeleton remained motionless like a dead object.

 573 Bone Sand

    After sizing up the vine flag and beast hide, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that the sand beneath the flagpole was different from the white sand elsewhere.


    When he walked over to take a closer look, he saw that the sand granules beside the flag pole were rather large. Some of them were about the size of table tennis balls, while the smaller ones were the size of glass beads. Furthermore, the shapes were irregular.


    As the graphics in-game were cartoonish, he couldn''t distinguish them clearly. However, when Zhou Wen looked carefully, he realized that the white sand wasn''t sand, but bones.


    Could it be that this white desert isn''t a real desert, but made of weathered bones? Zhou Wen looked at the endless white desert and couldn''t help but shiver.


    If the sand in the desert were really bone granules, how many creatures had to die here to form such a huge desert?


    Furthermore, it was obvious that things weren''t that simple for their bones to become sand.


    Zhou Wen grabbed a handful of sand and carefully looked at it. The more he looked at it, the more it looked like it was formed from shattered bones. However, the size and shape of the sand grains were very similar. It was unknown how it was formed.


    Could it be that this is actually the main battlefield of Zhuolu back then? The dead creatures in the battle were buried here? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the Guardian Dragon and Torch Dragon. He made the two huge monsters dig open the sand to see if there was anything underneath.


    In the Zhuolu battle back then, other than humans, any creature that participated in it was at the Mythical stage. Furthermore, they had quite a number of treasures. If he could dig up one or two, even damaged relics would have huge value.


    Six-Winged and Torch Dragon were huge, and they had immense strength. They were even more powerful than excavators. The Guardian Dragon swiped its front claws and dug out a huge hole.


    Torch Dragon plunged into the sea of sand and swam beneath it. Soon, it parted the sand, revealing a ravine.


    At the spot Torch Dragon had dug out, something was exposed. It looked like ivory¡ªa sharp horn. Zhou Wen hurriedly ordered Torch Dragon to continue digging.


    Torch Dragon and Six-Winged dug a huge pit that was more than ten meters deep. Many parts of the object were revealed. They were not teeth, but a huge skeleton. What he saw was the tip of one of the rib cages. There were two rows of such a sternum on the skeleton. There were at least twenty to thirty bones.


    The entire skeleton resembled the bones of a cow, but it was many times bigger than cow bones. Furthermore, it didn''t have a skull.


    If he could dig up a few Essence Energy Skill Crystals, he would make a killing.


    Zhou Wen got Six-Winged and Torch Dragon to constantly dig in the desert, hoping to find something.


    Not long after, he had dug out quite a number of bones under the desert. The bones had different shapes, so they likely didn''t belong to the same creature.


    However, the strange thing was that the bones were crystalline, akin to jade. They seemed to have fossilized, but they maintained a moist texture.


    Many bones shattered when Six-Winged and Torch Dragon touched them.


    Unlike ordinary bones, these bones were like tempered glass. Once they shattered, they would turn into tiny particles that scattered in the white sand, becoming a part of the white desert.


    Indeed, this white desert is a bone sand desert. Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    From the scale of the white desert, the intense battle back then far exceeded anyone''s imaginations. Many Mythical creatures had definitely died here.


    Six-Winged and Torch Dragon dug holes in the sea of sand, almost turning half the desert over.


    Unfortunately, other than some bones, everything seemed to have decayed and melted. The bones remained for some reason, but most of them had already turned into bone sand.


    Most likely, those that hadn''t turned into bone sand were terrifying Mythical creatures.


    Suddenly, Six-Winged seemed to dig out something as it roared at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen went over to take a look and saw a rhinoceros''s head in the sandpit that was split open by the six wings. However, this head was much bigger than a rhinoceros on Earth. It resembled the size of a train engine.


    Although it had turned into jade, the rhinoceros'' head remained intact. It was still very lifelike and there weren''t any scars on its head.


    Zhou Wen got Six-Winged and Torch Dragon to dig out the rhinoceros'' body. Although there were many bones here, it maintained its complete form like a giant rhinoceros. This was the first one.


    However, this gigantic rhinoceros was like a jade statue. Its body had completely transformed into jade and there was no vitality left in its body. It definitely couldn''t come back to life.


    Wait, I don''t see any injuries on its body. How did it die? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the rhinoceros and suddenly had an idea.


    Perhaps the white desert''s bone sand isn''t purely bone. Instead, the creatures here are affected by some unknown force. Their bodies are like the rhinoceros, turning into stone. Then, they shatter and become bone sand¡­ The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more convinced he was.


    What kind of terrifying power made so many creatures turn into bone sand? Which faction does the expert who used this power belong to? Yellow Emperor or Chiyou? Zhou Wen guessed.


    The rhinoceros was still intact after being fossilized. It didn''t turn into bone sand like ordinary creatures. It must have been extraordinary when it was alive.


    Even so, it still couldn''t escape the influence of the terrifying power, turning into its present state.


    Zhou Wen reached out and struck the rhinoceros a few times. With two clangs, the sound was extremely crisp as though he had struck a jade artifact or bone. The rhinoceros'' body didn''t shatter due to the external force.


    Torch Dragon and Six-Winged dug the nearby area, but apart from some weak fossilized bones, they didn''t discover anything.


    It can''t be? Could it be that only some primitive creatures participated in the battle? They only engaged in melee combat and didn''t even use divine weapons? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    Crack! Crack!


    Cracks suddenly appeared on the rhinoceros'' body. More and more cracks appeared as though it was about to shatter.


    Perhaps Torch Dragon and Six-Winged collided into it while they were excavating. What a pity. Bringing it back as a specimen would have been good. After all, it''s an ancient Mythical creature. To be able to participate in such a battle is definitely no trifling matter. Just as Zhou Wen was feeling poignant, the jade-like rhinoceros had already shattered.


    Something dropped from the rhino''s cracked abdomen. Unlike the shattered bone sand, the thing was still squirming.

 574 A Snail

    The fist-sized snail shell was crystalline and translucent.


    The snail''s body that was exposed was transparent like a flawless crystal. After the snail fell out, it slowly crawled on the sand with its shell.


    Zhou Wen retreated as though he was facing a formidable enemy. At the same time, he ordered the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and Torch Dragon to attack the snail.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know the origins of the snail, but he knew one thing very well. In such a terrifying ancient battle, even a powerful creature like the rhinoceros had fossilized. Yet, this snail had survived inside the rhinoceros'' stomach.


    No matter how it did it, it definitely wouldn''t have been easy.


    Of course, it was also possible that the fellow had crawled in later, but no matter what, Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to take the risk.


    Torch Dragon and Six-Winged simultaneously spat out dragon breath at the snail. The snail immediately shrank into its shell. Two terrifying dragon breaths sprayed on the snail''s shell, melting away the surrounding bone sand and forming a huge crater.


    However, after the dragon breaths stopped, the snail shell in the pit remained unharmed. The attacks of the two Mythical pets failed to penetrate the snail shell.


    Bright Torch Vision World. Zhou Wen increasingly found the snail terrifying. He ordered Torch Dragon to use its Wheel of Destiny powers.


    Torch Dragon''s eyes turned into a mirror as it looked at the snail in the pit, but in the blink of an eye, the snail had vanished.


    The power of the Bright Torch Vision World absorbed large amounts of bone sand. A large swath of bone sand vanished as though a huge hole had been dug out of the desert.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed his surroundings, but he didn''t find the snail.


    Was it absorbed by the Bright Torch Vision World or had it escaped? Zhou Wen didn''t dare be careless as he summoned several important Companion Beasts to prevent any mishaps.


    If this lineup still allowed it to escape, it would be terrifying.


    Torch Dragon and company stood around Zhou Wen and constantly scanned the nearby desert, but they didn''t find any traces of the snail.


    Now, Zhou Wen missed Truth Listener a little. If he had Truth Listener''s ability, he wouldn''t be at such a disadvantage. Now, he had to be more careful.


    After waiting for quite some time, the snail still didn''t appear. Zhou Wen felt that it was most likely sucked into Bright Torch Vision World with the bone sand. Otherwise, there was no reason for it not to appear.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t dare be careless. He continued watching carefully. At the same time, he didn''t dare stay in the bone sand desert any longer as he headed straight for the underground sea.


    An Sheng said that they had people who also wanted to study the sapphire sky, but the Companion Beasts they had sent would die for no reason once they approached it. After losing quite a number of Companion Beasts with no results to speak for, they had to give up exploring the sapphire sky.


    Zhou Wen looked at it for a while, but he didn''t find anything in the sapphire sky. The gem-like crystal''s body was entirely blue, looking beautiful and profound.


    He attempted to summon a Poison Bat Companion Beast and make it fly towards the sapphire sky.


    Back in-game, Zhou Wen had already done similar experiments numerous times. He would only see the Poison Bat flash a faint blue light when it approached the sapphire sky. Then, they would die. He saw nothing else.


    This time, Zhou Wen wanted to see it happen in reality, hoping to find some clues.


    Indeed, the moment the Poison Bat Companion Beast approached the sapphire sky, a blue light suddenly flashed from its body. In the next second, the Poison Bat''s body turned into a blue transparent crystal. After it exploded into powder, it fell into the underground sea.


    Zhou Wen looked carefully, but he failed to discover where the blue light had shot out from. From his point of view, the blue light appeared to come from within the Poison Bat''s body.


    He tried a few more times, but the results were the same. He couldn''t identify the problem.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt his neck itch. He reached out to scratch it, but when his fingers touched his skin, it gave him a fright.


    When his fingers touched the itchy spot, he found it extremely hard to the touch. It didn''t feel like skin, but rather like jade.


    Not good! Zhou Wen thought of something as he hurriedly summoned the crystal mirror and looked at his neck''s reflection. Upon seeing the reflection, his expression changed drastically.


    On the right side of his neck, there was a bulge the size of a fingernail. It was very strange. It was neither red nor swollen. It was translucent like jade and had spiral patterns on it. It was like the shell of a snail.


    Is this the snail being up to no good? Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen pulled out his Orchid Blade and slashed at his neck, slicing off the jade-like flesh.


    Seeing that the flesh under his skin remained tender flesh and blood, he felt a lot more at ease that it hadn''t turned to jade.


    Zhou Wen directly used the Orchid Blade to shatter the sliced piece of flesh. At the same time, he summoned the Fire Furnace Queen and burned it to ashes.


    Although the wound on his neck still hurt, it didn''t itch. Zhou Wen felt much better.


    With Zhou Wen''s current physical strength, the tiny wound quickly contracted and stopped bleeding. It wouldn''t take long to heal itself.


    However, after a while, Zhou Wen felt his wound itch again. He thought that it was the itch from the scab, but when his fingers touched it, his expression immediately turned ugly.


    He picked up the crystal mirror and took a look. The wound had completely healed, but a snail shell had protruded out.


    Zhou Wen immediately cut it off and summoned Doctor Darkness to inject large amounts of poison into his wound.


    Zhou Wen''s body''s poison resistance was already very high, so the poison couldn''t take his life. He wanted to see if it was effective on the wound or rather, be effective on the snail-like lump.


    However, he was disappointed. Despite injecting him with a large amount of poison, making him almost unable to take it, it didn''t take long for the wound to automatically heal, producing a spiral-shaped jade lump. A strange itch also triggered Zhou Wen''s nerves, making him have the urge to grab it.


    I''m in big trouble. Zhou Wen knew that things were rather serious. It was definitely the snail''s doing, but he didn''t even know where the snail was. It was unknown when the snail had attacked him.


    He switched to Zero Taboo and used all sorts of methods to deal with the jade lump, but it was to no avail. No matter how he tried, the jade lump would regrow and become itchier. It made Zhou Wen have the urge to chop off his neck.


    Damn it. Truth Listener is still evolving. Otherwise, its Evil Nullification Life Soul might be useful. Zhou Wen felt his neck itch more and more as he clenched his fists. However, he didn''t dare grab it. He was afraid that the more he scratched at it, the worse it would become.

 575 Cultivation of Small Perfection of Wisdom

    Perhaps The Thearch knows what it is. Zhou Wen wanted to leave the Zhuolu battlefield and return to the encampment to contact The Thearch to see if he could obtain any useful information regarding the snail from her.


    However, after taking a few steps, Zhou Wen felt his neck itch to the point of being unbearable. He wished he could slice off his neck.


    What was even stranger was that Zhou Wen felt his body become heavier as though an invisible boulder was pressing down on him. Every step he took felt extremely difficult. He left deep footprints on the bone sand as his calf sank into it.


    Zhou Wen knew that it wasn''t an illusion. There really was something pressing down on him. He could clearly sense the pressure, but there was nothing on him.


    Plop!


    Zhou Wen''s body was pressed into the bone sand. He struggled to stand up, but he couldn''t move.


    Not only could he not move, but his neck was getting itchier. He couldn''t even scratch it.


    I have to leave this place as soon as possible. Zhou Wen got Six-Winged and Torch Dragon to pull his body back.


    However, even with Six-Winged and Torch Dragon''s immense strength, they were unable to move him. Or rather, they didn''t dare use too much strength, afraid that they would directly snap his body.


    Indeed, I''m not suited to enter a dimensional zone in real life. Something happens every time. Zhou Wen was beginning to regret digging around.


    Perhaps it was because he had just obtained a powerful Companion Beast like Torch Dragon that it had gone to his head. He believed that with Torch Dragon around, he could deal with any unexpected situation, but he never expected to have no chance of using it.


    Zhou Wen could only endure the itch and let Torch Dragon burrow beneath the bone sand to prop him up from above.


    However, when Torch Dragon tried to prop up Zhou Wen''s body with all its might, it nearly flattened Zhou Wen. It still failed to lift his body up even a centimeter.


    However, Zhou Wen was pressed down on Torch Dragon''s back. As Torch Dragon retreated, Zhou Wen immediately fell into the sandpit, incapable of moving.


    Zhou Wen had thought of all the solutions he could, but they were useless. He was trapped there, unable to move.


    The pressure on his body was secondary. The itch on his neck was unbearable. It was so itchy that it nearly reached deep into his soul.


    All his strength was useless. All Zhou Wen could do was switch to the Small Perfection of Wisdom and circulate the Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence.


    It wasn''t that the power of the Small Perfection of Wisdom could reduce the pressure on him, nor was it that the Eight Perfections Wisdom could stop the itch. Instead, the Small Perfection of Wisdom had one benefit¡ªit had a high tolerance.


    Although Small Perfection of Wisdom was an Essence Energy Art that cultivated his constitution, it was different from the Invincible Connate Divine Art that directly strengthened one''s body. Small Perfection of Wisdom focused on the mind''s management of one''s body.


    The Six Perfections Wisdom had all sorts of wisdoms that allowed one to pursue an epiphany mentally without being limited by one''s body.


    Zhou Wen didn''t circulate the Small Perfection of Wisdom to relieve the pain on his body, but to prevent himself from focusing on his pain. He hoped to reduce the itchiness by employing this method.


    Although this method didn''t treat the root of the problem, Zhou Wen really didn''t have a better solution. If he didn''t stop the itch, he was afraid that he would go crazy.


    If I don''t have Truth Listener with me, I will not touch anything randomly in the future, Zhou Wen thought.


    After the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra circulated, the Eight Perfections Wisdom made his six senses sharp. It made the itch go deeper into his bones.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was only temporary. He had read quite a number of Buddhist scriptures, so he knew that this was an inevitable process. He needed to first experience pain before he could fully gain enlightenment and achieve the liberation of his body.


    Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva had once said that one cannot become a Buddha with hell empty. It was a form of great enlightenment and liberation.


    Resisting the almost lethal itch, Zhou Wen constantly circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom, hoping to achieve a great liberation of his mind. At the same time, he had absolute control over his body, preventing it from being limited by his six senses and circumstances.


    If it were an ordinary person, they wouldn''t be able to calm down and think about the meaning behind the scriptures when suffering from such an itch. They wouldn''t be able to fully focus on circulating the Essence Energy Art.


    However, Zhou Wen was clearly not an average person. His talent at focusing allowed him to think and gain insights without being affected.


    The scriptures he had read previously weren''t for nothing. Zhou Wen had taken the right path. With the circulation and comprehension of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, Zhou Wen''s senses became sharper. The itch on his neck still existed, but the mental effects on Zhou Wen decreased significantly. It made him feel less uncomfortable.


    This is indeed feasible! Zhou Wen continued studying from this angle, hoping to break through the Small Perfection of Wisdom''s bottleneck and condense a Life Soul.


    Unlike ordinary Essence Energy Arts that strengthened one''s constitution, the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra could not eliminate the pain in one''s body. Instead, it used one''s wisdom to understand the pain.


    Of course, being able to understand something didn''t mean that he could resolve it. However, the separation of his body and mind made Zhou Wen feel less pain.


    The pressure on him remained as the itch grew more intense. However, despite clearly sensing the pain, Zhou Wen felt that his body wasn''t his. The pain wasn''t that unbearable anymore.


    This feeling was very odd. It was clearly his body, but it didn''t feel like it belonged to him. His mind seemed to be taking on an outsider''s view.


    If this continues, will I really become a Buddha? Zhou Wen could sense that his body was emitting a treasure glow.


    And the source of this treasure glow was not from his physical body, but deeper.


    Zhou Wen didn''t wish to become a Buddha without any desires, but in this situation, he could only continue cultivating. Otherwise, just the itch would drive him crazy.


    In such an environment, Zhou Wen quickly separated his mind and body. It sounded contradictory, but it was indeed Zhou Wen''s present state.


    It could control his body while his mind wasn''t restrained by his body. The pain from the pressure and itch was already nothing to Zhou Wen.


    However, even if Zhou Wen was no longer fazed by it, nor had it affected his mind, the pressure on his body still existed. His body had already been pressed into the bone sand and was about to be flattened.


    With his body dead, it was useless no matter how powerful his mind was. Wouldn''t he just be waiting for Buddha to take him into Paradise? Zhou Wen clearly didn''t follow this belief.

 576 Hell King

    Although the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the Eight Perfections Wisdom couldn''t free Zhou Wen from the pain, it made his mind and six senses sharper. He could observe the details he couldn''t sense before.


    His neck protruded. Even without looking in the mirror, Zhou Wen could sense everything that was happening, including the details beneath his skin.


    Under the effects of the Eight Perfections Wisdom, Zhou Wen felt as though his body had turned transparent. It allowed him to see many physical details through his consciousness, or it could be said that he could sense the minute parts of his body. That wasn''t a true vision.


    This should be the seventh sense mentioned in the Buddhist scriptures, right? Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the spiral jade beneath his neck wasn''t as simple as a lump.


    Beneath the lump, there were many invisible silk objects that penetrated his blood vessels and muscles. As they were too minute, one couldn''t see them with the naked eye.


    The silk-like objects seeped into his body like a spiderweb and coiled around his flesh and bones. His entire neck was enrooted by the silk as it spread throughout his body. Even his brain was penetrated.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally knew why it was useless to slice off the lump. As the saying went, if one didn''t remove the roots when cutting grass, the grass would grow again once the spring wind blew.


    He needed to get rid of the threads inside to truly resolve the danger.


    However, the power of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the Eight Perfections of Wisdom could let him see the problem, but not resolve it.


    Such a force that directly penetrated his body made formidable powers like Torch Dragon useless. Unless Zhou Wen wanted to be killed by the Bright Torch Vision World, he could only come up with another solution.


    Doctor Darkness was the best in this area, but even his poison couldn''t destroy the fine threads. This showed how powerful this thing was.


    Thankfully, I still have the Substitute Talisman on me. Furthermore, I still have the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. If I have no choice, I''ll perish together with this strange snail. With the Substitute Talisman and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, I should be able to survive. It might not be the case for the snail, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, that was the final step. As long as there was a way, Zhou Wen didn''t want to take that final step.


    The treasure glow on his body became more and more crystalline. However, due to the immense pressure, his body was almost unable to withstand it. His bones creaked from the pressure as though they would snap at any moment.


    Zhou Wen could sense a huge snail shell pressing down on him. It couldn''t be seen with the naked eye or touched, but the pressure existed. It was extremely odd.


    Since my mind can''t control my body, why don''t I do the opposite? If I can''t even live this life, what''s the point of a future incarnation? With a thought, Zhou Wen reversed the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that reversing the Small Perfection of Wisdom would definitely damage his body, but he soon realized that after the Small Perfection of Wisdom was reversed, it could also smoothly circulate without any obstruction. It was as though it should have been that way from the start.


    Zhou Wen''s heart suddenly stirred as he thought of the three-faced Buddha in Small Buddha Temple. The three-faced Buddha had three faces, but they weren''t all smiling benevolently. They were somewhat different from ordinary Buddha statues.


    Could it be that the¡­ Small Perfection of Wisdom isn''t a pure Buddhist Essence Energy Art¡­ One body with three sides¡­ Then what''s the last side? Zhou Wen seemed to figure out something.


    As the Small Perfection of Wisdom reversed, the Eight Perfections Wisdom also changed. Zhou Wen, who was originally in a state of separating his mind and body, once again fused his mind and body.


    The extremely itchy feeling immediately returned to Zhou Wen, making him nearly go crazy.


    However, almost at the same time, this crazy itch made Zhou Wen feel like he was brimming with strength. The more painful and itchy his body was, the more mentally sharp he became. Not only did he not feel the pain, but he also felt a sense of pleasure, as though he wanted to tear apart everything.


    Humans have three sides. One side is Buddha, the other side is the devil. When Buddha arrives, I will be Buddha. When the devil arrives, I will be a devil. When Buddha and the devil are not present, I am my true self¡­


    As Zhou Wen constantly gained insights, his essence, vitality, and spirit, as well as his Life Providence, erupted with terrifying power. It made his body glow and emit a shocking treasure glow, as though an indescribable power was building up in his body.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t unfamiliar with this power. It was the condensation of a Life Soul.


    However, it was different from the previous times when he condensed a Life Soul. This Life Soul was not an incorporeal object in the consciousness like Zero Taboo, nor was it a corporeal entity like Lost Country. It also wasn''t an independent entity like the Inverse Ancient Sovereign.


    Zhou Wen''s Life Soul seemed to be his body¡ªhis body being the Life Soul. It was probably unprecedented.


    Crack! Crack!


    As his Life Soul condensed, the jade lump on Zhou Wen''s neck cracked. Wisps of invisible threads peeled out from his body.


    It was as though invisible transparent strands of hair had automatically crawled out from his body. However, it wasn''t that the silk that had crawled out by itself. It was because of a strange change in Zhou Wen''s body that prevented any external object from attaching to him. Therefore, the threads had no choice but to leave his body.


    The threads separated from Zhou Wen''s body and gathered together. Soon, they transformed into a transparent snail with a milky-white shell on its back. It was the same snail that Zhou Wen had dug out from the rhinoceros'' stomach.


    Its tiny eyes sized up the glowing Zhou Wen as though it was pondering over something. However, when it looked at Torch Dragon beside it, it ultimately bowed its head and burrowed into the bone sand. It seemed to be invisible as it disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    As for Zhou Wen''s body, it had already turned crystalline, like jade. He looked like a mighty being, as though he was nurturing an immense amount of energy. A vertical eye appeared at his glabella. At the instant the vertical eye opened, it was as though a door to the endless hell had opened. Countless vengeful and ferocious ghosts roared in it.


    Zhou Wen himself seemed to have become a demon king as he emitted a terrifying aura of death.


    Little Perfection of Wisdom had finally condensed a Life Soul, but this Life Soul looked somewhat odd.


    Zhou Wen dispelled his Life Soul and returned to his normal state. The bulge on his neck had vanished, and the pressure on him had vanished. At the same time, he came to realize something.


    "Hell King?" Zhou Wen muttered to himself as he read out the name of the Life Soul.

 577 The Thearchs Drug

    The Hell King Life Soul could only prevent the tiny threads from clinging onto his body, but if the snail unleashed its strength, it could still destroy Zhou Wen''s body.


    The snail''s retreat without fighting Zhou Wen wasn''t due to the Hell King Life Soul.


    Although the Hell King Life Soul was good at strengthening his body, even Torch Dragon and Six-Winged''s attacks couldn''t injure the snail. Zhou Wen didn''t believe that the Hell King Life Soul could really threaten it, so he was still somewhat puzzled when the snail retreated.


    However, no matter what, he had finally resolved a huge problem. Zhou Wen quickly left the bone sand desert, not daring to stay any longer.


    He used his phone to look at his information and realized that the postfix¡ªGuilt¡ªof his Constitution had vanished. The Life Soul that Small Perfection of Wisdom had condensed was also Hell King. It had the effect of strengthening his mind and body, but this wasn''t the most important ability. The strongest aspect of the Hell King Life Soul was turning the body into a Life Soul. Zhou Wen didn''t know what use it had, for now, so he could only slowly study it.


    After returning to the temple, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he didn''t see the snail appear.


    I should just game in the future. Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to give up. He lay in the tent and launched the game before heading to the bone sand desert to get Torch Dragon and Six-Winged to continue digging.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. He didn''t find the fossilized rhinoceros in-game, neither did he find the snail. He only found a few bones.


    There''s no snail in-game? Zhou Wen spent two days searching the bone sand desert, but he still failed to find the snail or encounter any other danger.


    As for treasures, he found nothing.


    ¡­


    The hidden forces An Sheng had set up, failed to capture Qu Qingyun. It was unknown if Qu Qingyun had covered his tracks well or if he had already used some method to escape the ruins.


    An Sheng didn''t have the time to be stationed here. All he could do was send someone to guard the ruins and bring Zhou Wen back to Luoyang.


    On the way, Zhou Wen used his phone to check the Internet. Indeed, just as An Sheng had said, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s ranking had dropped to fifth place. There were already 37 Companion Beasts on the rankings. There were a few more than what An Sheng had said.


    Should I get Torch Dragon on the rankings as well? Zhou Wen had been pondering over this question.


    Beep! Beep! A message was sent by The Thearch.


    "I have a gift for you. Accept it with the Void Flower." Zhou Wen immediately had an ominous feeling when he read the message.


    Zhou Wen refused to believe that The Thearch would take the initiative to deliver something good to him.


    "It''s a world-shaking invention that I came up with. You lucked out," The Thearch replied.


    What shocking invention? Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. If it was just an experimental product made of chemicals, Zhou Wen felt that it couldn''t be too dangerous.


    "You''ll know when you get back." The Thearch kept him guessing.


    After returning to school, Zhou Wen took out the Void Flower pot from the chaos space. The Void Flower couldn''t open a portal in the chaos space; therefore, when Zhou Wen took it out, a portal appeared on the flower. Something floated out.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that it was a glass bottle. It was one of the items he had bought for The Thearch. It wasn''t dangerous, so he reached out to catch it.


    Inside the glass bottle was half a bottle of purple liquid. It was unknown what it was.


    He didn''t know what the purple liquid was, but Zhou Wen definitely didn''t dare use it. Just as he was about to put it into the chaos space, he received a message from The Thearch.


    "Have you received it? Let your Companion Beast drink it. Then, it''s time to witness a miracle."


    No matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, The Thearch''s tone was like a scammer online.


    However, since it wasn''t for him to drink, Zhou Wen didn''t mind. It didn''t matter if he gave it a try. After all, he had plenty of Companion Beasts.


    After randomly summoning a Chi and letting it drink The Thearch''s medicine, Zhou Wen stared at it with widened eyes.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, ordinary chemicals didn''t have much use for Companion Beasts. Instead, they had a certain effect on dimensional creatures that could make them mutate.


    Unfortunately, Companion Beasts were pure energy bodies, so their composition was relatively stable. The possibility of mutation was very low, so chemicals were useless.


    However, after the Chi drank the medicine, its body seemed to be dyed purple¡ªthe same color as the drug. Its body also rapidly transformed as it underwent a significant change.


    After the transformation ended, its body hadn''t appeared to have undergone many changes. Even the purple color faded.


    Zhou Wen took a look at its stats and realized that its stats had greatly increased. It had gained another skill, making it one of the best at the Epic stage.


    Ignoring the increase in stats, it had actually allowed the Chi to comprehend a new skill. It went from two skills to three skills; a shocking feat.


    "Thearch, what drug did you give me?" Zhou Wen sent a message to The Thearch.


    "The Pet Skill Insights Agent I invented can stimulate the potential of a Companion Beast, allowing it to comprehend a hidden talent ability. The effects aren''t bad, right? I''m guessing you didn''t dare give it to your Six-Winged and Truth Listener. Instead, you let an ordinary Companion Beast drink it. Are you regretting it now?" The Thearch seemed to see through Zhou Wen''s thoughts. It was as though she had seen Zhou Wen''s actions with her own eyes.


    Zhou Wen knew that The Thearch was deliberately trying to see his regret by not mentioning the effects of the drug in the beginning. Zhou Wen naturally wouldn''t let her wish come true.


    "Who knows if your drug is really useful. Perhaps it''s only effective on low-level Companion Beasts and useless for high-level ones?" Zhou Wen deliberately said.


    "Goading me on is useless. You''re too old-fashioned. If you want a Pet Skill Insights Agent, you have to exchange it with something." The Thearch''s words were filled with contempt.


    "No thanks then," Zhou Wen immediately replied.


    Who knew if The Thearch''s medicine had any side effects. Zhou Wen found it unreliable no matter how he thought about it. How could ordinary chemicals allow a Companion Beast to gain insights into a skill? It was highly likely that she had added something else.


    "It''s fine if you don''t want the Pet Skill Insights Agent, but you have to return me the items." The Thearch directly sent a list.


    "How much Pet Skill Insights Agent can these items get?" Since he couldn''t reject it, he naturally had to try his best to benefit himself.


    "One bottle," The Thearch replied.


    "At least ten bottles. I was the one who bought all the ingredients you used to make the drug, right? It''s not worth that much money." Zhou Wen deliberately said this to know if The Thearch had added anything else.


    However, The Thearch didn''t answer him. "Two bottles. It''s up to you whether you want them or not, but you have to buy and deliver everything on the list in a month."

 578 Nine-Headed Pheasant Spiri

    When Zhou Wen was in Chess Mountain, many electronic devices couldn''t be switched on, much less get any reception. Occasionally, he would switch on the phone only to have it crash with a black screen.


    The Thearch clearly had a way to resolve these problems, but it was unknown how she did it.


    Now that I have Torch Dragon, I might be able to explore Deer Terrace Pavilion. Even if I can''t get anything to drop, storming my way in to see what''s inside would be good too. Zhou Wen decided to head to Deer Terrace Pavilion in-game.


    After getting Li Xuan to help get someone to buy the items on the list, Zhou Wen entered Chess Mountain''s instance dungeon and headed for Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    With the Demon God Catalog, Zhou Wen successfully ascended the Deer Terrace Pavilion. However, he didn''t sneak up this time. Instead, he summoned Six-Winged and Torch Dragon to kill all the fake fairies and immortals.


    After the fake fairies and immortals were killed, they revealed their true forms¡ªfoxes, night cats, rats, and wolves. Killing them wasn''t difficult.


    With the two pets leading the way, Zhou Wen soon arrived at the ancient building on the Deer Terrace Pavilion. He could see six male and female immortals drinking and enjoying themselves inside the ancient building.


    One of them was the fake fairy who had chased after Zhou Wen last time. When she saw Six-Winged and Torch Dragon, the six fake immortals inside were alarmed. However, Zhou Wen didn''t give them a chance. Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World opened and instantly reflected all six fake immortals into it, instantly killing them.


    The phone indicated that he had killed the Mythical Creature, Fox Demon, but unfortunately, they were all pulled into the Vision World. Even if something dropped, it would be impossible to get it out of the Vision World.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too concerned about this. After killing six Mythical fake immortals, he circled the first level without finding anything valuable.


    He headed for the second level of the ancient building through the stairs. Upon reaching the second level, he saw a colorfully dressed fairy sitting in the hall.


    The fairy looked extremely beautiful, but she wasn''t as otherworldly as an immortal. Instead, she was just extremely beautiful.


    When the fairy saw Torch Dragon and Six-Winged, her expression changed. She flicked her sleeve and flew up. At the instant she flicked her sleeve, she let out a cry as a terrifying sound wave blasted out.


    Torch Dragon and Six-Winged could still withstand her sound blasts, but the blood-colored avatar''s body wasn''t that strong. It was shattered by it.


    Indeed, I have to launch a preemptive attack. Zhou Wen entered the game again and charged up Deer Terrace Pavilion. He slew six fox demons on the first level and rushed to the second level.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t give the colorful-robed fairy any chance. He got Torch Dragon to use the Bright Torch Vision World.


    The colorful-robed fairy turned into a colorful giant bird. It looked like a colorful phoenix, but there were nine heads on its neck.


    The nine-headed phoenix flapped its wings and flew out as though it had teleported, avoiding Torch Dragon''s gaze. Its speed was much faster than Zhou Wen''s peak speed.


    Seeing the giant, nine-colored, phoenix-like bird about to cry out again, Zhou Wen ordered Torch Dragon to use World King Transformation as he charged down the second level''s exit and returned to the first level.


    Just as Zhou Wen heard a sound wave blast down from the second level, the sound came to a halt as his phone gave a notification.


    ''Killed Mythical creature, Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit.''


    The notification was very simple, and there weren''t any indications of dimensional crystals. It was probably stored in the Vision World.


    Zhou Wen sent the blood-colored avatar back up to the second level and indeed, he realized that the Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit was gone. Only the weak Torch Dragon was lying on the ground. Clearly, it was draining for it to use the World King Transformation.


    This building has a total of three levels. The second level is the Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit. Could the third level be the legendary Demon Consort? Zhou Wen really wanted to head to the third level to take a look.


    However, Torch Dragon was too weak. Without Torch Dragon, Zhou Wen couldn''t even defeat the Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit, much less the Demon Consort.


    Could The Thearch be that Demon Consort? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly.


    Instead of continuing upstairs, he logged out of the game. Zhou Wen planned on heading to the top of Deer Terrace Pavilion after Torch Dragon recovered.


    He first went to other dungeons to grind all sorts of rare dimensional creatures. Just as he was grinding Medusa, his phone suddenly rang.


    He took a look at the number and saw that it was an unknown number. It continuously rang a few times before Zhou Wen picked up the call.


    "Junior Brother, how have you been recently?" A clear and gentle voice came from the phone.


    "Jiang Yan¡­" Zhou Wen nearly jumped up.


    Ever since they separated at Holy City, Zhou Wen had not heard of Jiang Yan again. He never expected Jiang Yan to suddenly call him.


    "I''ll wait for you at the same old place," Jiang Yan said before hanging up.


    Zhou Wen knew where Jiang Yan was referring to. Unable to hold himself back, he went out and headed for Dragon Gate Grotto.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the former laboratory in Old Dragon Cave, he saw Jiang Yan sitting on a stone slab. He was looking at Zhou Wen with a harmless smile.


    Zhou Wen and company had used the stone slab as a table to eat and play cards. When he saw Jiang Yan sitting there, he couldn''t help but recall the times they had spent here.


    "Senior¡­" Zhou Wen called out, but he didn''t know what to say.


    Ask him if he was doing well? That was nonsense. How could he be living well while being pursued by the bureau?


    Ask him what he had been doing recently? Zhou Wen felt that he shouldn''t ask. That would put Jiang Yan in a difficult position.


    If Jiang Yan answered him, he would expose his past whereabouts. If he didn''t answer, it would hurt his feelings.


    However, Jiang Yan didn''t seem to mind. He sized up Zhou Wen and said with a smile, "From the looks of it, you have been doing pretty well recently. Your strength has improved greatly. It seems like you have more than one Mythical Companion Beast."


    "Can you tell?" Zhou Wen asked Jiang Yan in surprise.


    Jiang Yan probably didn''t know that he had the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and Torch Dragon; yet, he was able to tell that he had more than one Mythical pet. If everyone could tell, he wouldn''t have any secrets to speak off.


    "Don''t worry. There aren''t many humans like me who can tell that you have Mythical Companion Beasts. Besides, I can''t tell what your Mythical Companion Beasts are," Jiang Yan said with a smile as though he had seen through Zhou Wen''s thoughts.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief when he heard Jiang Yan say that.


    "I was trying to come up with a solution for a problem I have, but since you already have such strength, help me," Jiang Yan continued.

 579 Speedy Solar Lunar Shuttle

    "I''m going to a dimensional zone to do something and need help. There''s a Mythical creature guarding the area and it''s rather powerful. However, with your help, it shouldn''t be difficult to deal with it," Jiang Yan said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen agreed.


    "Aren''t you going to ask which dimensional zone I''m going to?" Jiang Yan said with a smile.


    "There''s no need. No matter which dimensional zone it is, I''ll accompany you." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    "Alright, go back and prepare. See you here tomorrow morning," Jiang Yan said.


    "I don''t have anything to prepare. I can go with you now." Zhou Wen brought everything he needed with him, so there was nothing to prepare.


    "Let''s do it tomorrow. I don''t know if I''ll be able to come back in the future. I want to stay here for the night," Jiang Yan said as he looked at the dilapidated laboratory.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen didn''t say anything else and returned to his dorm.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen arrived at Old Dragon Cave again and saw a strange beast carriage in the laboratory.


    The carriage looked ancient. Even the wheels were made of bronze. The carriage''s box wasn''t sealed with a baldachin over it. Pulling in front of it were two giant rabbits¡ªone black, one white.


    The rabbis were even bigger than an ordinary horse. They were almost the same size as an elephant. They sprawled on the ground, their bodies connected to the reins.


    Jiang Yan was already in the carriage. When he saw Zhou Wen walk over, he waved at him. "Ah Wen, get in."


    "Isn''t it too ostentatious to drive this carriage out?" Zhou Wen got into the carriage and asked uneasily.


    If they were to drive this carriage out of Old Dragon Cave, it would definitely attract the attention of countless people, even onlookers.


    "No." Jiang Yan was very certain. He held a whip and whipped the two giant rabbits.


    The two giant rabbits immediately began moving. They moved quickly, and finally, Zhou Wen understood what it meant to start a hare.


    The two giant rabbits charged forward like arrows with the carriage in tow.


    However, there was a cave wall in front of them. Just as the two giant rabbits were about to slam into the mountain wall, Zhou Wen almost jumped off the carriage to prevent himself from dying in the collision.


    However, Zhou Wen ultimately held back the urge to jump. He knew that Jiang Yan wasn''t such a rash person.


    Indeed, the black and white giant rabbits slammed into the mountain wall, but the mountain wall didn''t seem to exist. They pulled the beast carriage and charged in.


    "What carriage is this?" Zhou Wen could tell that the beast carriage was extraordinary as he looked at Jiang Yan.


    "Speedy Solar Lunar Shuttle." Jiang Yan continued when he saw that Zhou Wen was still in a daze, "The two rabbits pulling the carriage are Day, and the other is Night. When they are together, they can produce the ability to shuttle through space. Although they aren''t strong enough to reverse the flow of time, they can cross space and travel great distances in an instant. It''s best to travel with them."


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he heard that. The two rabbits were definitely at the Mythical stage. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to have such powers.


    Although Zhou Wen had long felt that Jiang Yan wasn''t a simple person, he was still somewhat surprised that he had obtained such a Speedy Solar Lunar Shuttle.


    After a while, the Speedy Solar Lunar Shuttle stopped.


    Zhou Wen looked out of the carriage and realized that he wasn''t anywhere near Dragon Gate Grotto. He wasn''t even in Luoyang. There were towering mountain peaks that pierced through the clouds everywhere. There were no signs of humans. There were primitive forests everywhere, and the air was so clean and fresh that it felt sweet.


    "We must walk on our own for the rest of the journey. Even Day and Night won''t be able to go up." Jiang Yan alighted the carriage and released the reins. The two rabbits flashed and escaped.


    "Aren''t they your Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    Jiang Yan shook his head and said, "No, I only temporarily invited them to pull the carriage. They aren''t Companion Beasts."


    Zhou Wen''s expression turned odd again. To be able to invite wild dimensional creatures to pull carriages wasn''t something an ordinary person could do.


    Jiang Yan pointed at the mountain that went straight into the clouds and said, "We have to climb to the top of this mountain. However, this mountain is extraordinary. When we climb it later, we can only advance and not retreat. Under no circumstances are you to retreat. Otherwise, you will be doomed."


    "Why is that?" Zhou Wen asked, puzzled.


    "This mountain is called Immortal Seeking. Legend has it that immortals live at the top of the mountain. Anyone who wishes to become an immortal can be reborn as an immortal if they can climb to the top of the mountain. Although this is only a legend, this mountain is indeed different. It has a terrifying taboo protecting it. Once someone steps into this mountain, they will definitely die if they take a step back. There''s no reason. That''s the rule of this mountain," Jiang Yan said.


    I wonder if my Zero Taboo can restrain the taboo of Immortal Seeking Mountain. Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn''t plan on trying. All he did was look around the foot of the mountain, hoping to see if there was a tiny palm symbol.


    Unfortunately, he didn''t see one. All he saw was a stone staircase spiraling up the mountain. It was like a heavenly staircase that pierced through the clouds, with no end in sight.


    "There are many obstacles along the way, but with your willpower, I believe there won''t be any problems. Just remember that you can''t retreat," Jiang Yan said as he stepped onto the stone steps.


    Zhou Wen followed him. Just as he stepped onto the stone steps, he immediately felt an invisible force tugging at his body. His body sank slightly as he nearly fell onto the stone steps.


    With every step Zhou Wen took to climb the stairs, he felt like he was carrying a mountain. After taking a few steps, his clothes were almost drenched in sweat.


    Jiang Yan was no different. He could see that his hair was drenched in sweat.


    The power on the stone steps was very strange. It didn''t constantly grow stronger, nor would it constantly weaken. This power was just right to reach the limits of Zhou Wen''s body.


    In other words, Zhou Wen had to use all his strength to take every step.


    After taking a few steps, Zhou Wen felt that he had expended a lot of his strength, but the power on the stone steps seemed to possess intelligence. It would also weaken relatively, but the effort Zhou Wen needed to walk was maintained at maximum.


    The first step was the limit. If it was someone with a weak will, their will would quickly collapse and they would have the intention to retreat.


    However, Jiang Yan had said that they absolutely could not retreat. Retreat meant certain death.

 580 Immortal Seeking Path

    As Jiang Yan walked in front, he said, "The ancients believe that there are immortals in the sky. Only by meeting immortals on high ground can one obtain the Great Dao''s heritage. Therefore, since ancient times, the East, West, South, and North Districts have myths regarding the Ascension. For example, in the fairy tales of the West District that we are more familiar with, a young man planted magic beans that ended up growing high into the sky. Then, he climbed up the beanstalk to a giant castle in the sky. There''s also the Foundational Tree legend of our East District."


    "Those are plants. It doesn''t seem to have anything to do with mountains, right?" Zhou Wen added.


    "There are mountains too. Don''t many deities in myths and legends live on the mountain? Like the gods of Mount Olympus, the Immortal Palace on Kunlun Mountain, and Mount Buzhou that connects the heavens and earth," Jiang Yan said as he walked.


    Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan chatted not because they wanted to conclude anything, but it was a way to kill time. The mountain was just too tall. They had to do their best with every step and they couldn''t walk fast. They did not know when they would finish climbing. It was really boring.


    Furthermore, speaking could also eliminate some negative emotions, making one feel less despair.


    "I wonder if these legendary things have corresponding dimensional zones? If there are, I really want to get a few magic beans to plant one. Then, I''ll take a visit to the giant castle in the sky. I want to know if there''s really a goose that can lay golden eggs and the beautiful girl trapped in the cage," Zhou Wen said.


    "I''m not sure if there are any magic beans, but I''ve seen the Fusang divine tree of the three divine trees overseas," Jiang Yan said.


    "Is there really a Fusang divine tree? Are there really ten Sun Golden Crows on that tree?" Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    "I don''t know if there are Sun Golden Crows, but that tree grows in the sea. It''s so high that it''s unreachable. It''s covered in sun-like fruits. Just a glance from afar is enough to blind one. No human can approach it." Jiang Yan paused before continuing, "It''s said that in ancient times, Hou Yi shot down nine suns while standing on the Fusang divine tree. If the legend is true, Hou Yi would definitely be the strongest among humans today."


    "If Hou Yi really exists, doesn''t that mean that the mighty figures in myths like Zhurong, Gonggong, and Kuafu exist as well? If we can also draw a bow and shoot down the sun in the future, drinking a river dry with a mouthful, and destroying a mountain with a single strike, that would be amazing¡­" Zhou Wen was somewhat excited when he thought of the scene.


    "It''s possible, but it''s just a tiny mountain. Even if it''s sliced off, it would be meaningless. At the very least, it should be able to split five famous peaks into two or slice off the entire Mount Everest," Zhou Wen said.


    "It''s probably impossible for an ordinary Mythical stage to reach that level," Jiang Yan said.


    As the two of them climbed up the mountain, they chatted, their stamina draining in the meantime. They panted heavily every few steps. Their clothes were drenched, as though they had just been scooped out of the water.


    "What are you going to the mountaintop for? Don''t tell me you want to become an immortal?" Zhou Wen joked.


    "I really want to seek immortality," Jiang Yan said seriously.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he asked in disbelief, "Seek immortality? Aren''t the so-called immortals dimensional creatures?"


    "Not entirely. On this mountain peak, there''s a cocoon. The creature inside the cocoon can be said to be a dimensional creature, but it''s not completely one," Jiang Yan said.


    "Guardian?" Zhou Wen exclaimed.


    "I''m surprised you know about Guardians. That makes it easy to explain things. That''s right. Although there aren''t any immortals on this mountaintop, there''s a Guardian. My goal is that Guardian, but there''s a terrifying Mythical creature guarding it. I''m not its match alone, so I have to find helpers." Jiang Yan didn''t seem surprised that Zhou Wen knew about Guardians.


    "Why are you looking for a Guardian? Kill it? Or is there another way to use it for yourself?" Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. Could Jiang Yan also know of the Spirit Casting Skill? If he knew it as well, would he be following Wang Mingyuan''s path in his search of a Guardian?


    This wasn''t impossible. Before Wang Mingyuan tore out of the realm, he had given his research information and experience to Jiang Yan. Perhaps the Spirit Casting Skill was included.


    "I''m afraid we won''t be able to kill the Guardian with our current strength. However, I''ve studied the information left behind by Teacher. As long as the method is right, we can obtain the Guardian''s loyalty. Since you know about Guardians, you should have read the information, right?" Jiang Yan said.


    "I haven''t seen information about it, but I''ve seen a living Guardian before." Zhou Wen recounted John and the six-winged seraphim to Jiang Yan.


    "Senior Brother, you have to be careful. Those Guardians are probably unreliable," Zhou Wen said.


    Jiang Yan smiled again and said, "What''s absolutely reliable in this world? It''s just like how there are plenty of people who are betrayed by their business partners. There are also quite a number of people who have conflicts. Don''t tell me that one can''t earn money by not doing business? Everyone is just acting in their self-interests. Even blood relatives like parents and brothers can turn against each other and become enemies. Don''t treat the Guardian as personal property and treat them as a partner. That way, it won''t be so difficult to accept certain developments."


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. Jiang Yan''s words weren''t without reason, but Zhou Wen didn''t plan on choosing that path because he had too many secrets he couldn''t let others know.


    Jiang Yan continued, "Since this is a path to break past the Epic stage, be it right or wrong, someone has to pass it before we know. I''ll try it first."


    The two of them chatted as they walked and exchanged some information regarding Guardians.


    According to Jiang Yan, there was indeed an azure silk cocoon on the mountaintop. The Guardian inside might be more compatible with his cultivation attributes and he might have a chance of contracting the Guardian inside.


    However, according to the information left behind by Wang Mingyuan, the most basic condition to form a contract with a Guardian was to defeat the Mythical creature guarding the cocoon. Otherwise, there was no way to approach the cocoon, much less form a contract.


    The Mythical creature guarding the azure silk cocoon on the mountaintop was a white guardian beast that resembled a horse or a sheep. It had two horns and vertical eyes. It could speak the human language. Every word it said could become reality.


    Previously, when Jiang Yan went up alone, the guardian beast only glanced at him and said "Scram." Jiang Yan rolled down from the mountain peak, unable to control his body. He nearly died.


    Jiang Yan had done a lot of research and guessed that the guardian beast was the legendary Bai Ze.

 581 Immortal Opportunity Stone

    Jiang Yan had an Epic Companion Beast known as Soundless Snake. It could block sounds from spreading within a small region. As long as they couldn''t hear Bai Ze''s voice, the power in its voice wouldn''t be effective.


    Then, Jiang Yan prepared a Mythical Dark Domain Heavenly King. It was a Mythical Companion Beast from overseas. It had the ability to transform a certain area into a region of darkness and could restrain all kinds of vision-type abilities.


    As long as Bai Ze was in the darkness, its eyes'' abilities would not be effective either.


    Without the ability to speak and see, Bai Ze''s strength would greatly decrease. It wouldn''t even be able to see what Jiang Yan was doing.


    At that moment, as long as Zhou Wen could hold back Bai Ze and attract its attention, Jiang Yan could take the opportunity to contract the Guardian in the cocoon.


    "Is it impossible to use all vision-type skills in the darkness?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Probably so. I haven''t discovered any vision-type abilities that can be used in the region of darkness," Jiang Yan said.


    I wonder if Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World can be used in the region of darkness? Zhou Wen thought.


    Their stamina consumption was immense, exhausting the duo. They stopped talking and walked forward without a word.


    Zhou Wen gave it a try and switched his Life Soul to Zero Taboo. He realized that the strange force acting on him immediately vanished without a trace, making him feel much more relaxed. He couldn''t help but be overjoyed.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw the Zero Taboo crystal emit a terrifying glow, as though it wouldn''t last long before it burned to ashes. He knew that the taboo here was no trifling matter.


    He hurriedly deactivated Zero Taboo. The strange force exerted on Zhou Wen again, tormenting him with every step he took.


    Although Zero Taboo is useful, it''s only in its Primordial Body form. It can only last for a very short period of time. If I can advance to a Perfect Body, I might really be able to use Zero Taboo. It might even be able to restrain all kinds of taboos in the world, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he wondered how he could raise Zero Taboo to a Perfect Body.


    Currently, among Zhou Wen''s Life Soul, only the Inverse Ancient Sovereign was an Evolved Body. The rest were still in their Primordial Body forms, so it was imperative to raise their levels.


    The Zero Taboo is used to restrain the taboos of various mysterious lands. Doesn''t that mean that as long as I have some understanding of those mysterious taboos, I can raise Zero Taboo? Zhou Wen didn''t know if this conjecture was right, but there was nothing wrong with trying it.


    Zhou Wen switched his Essence Energy Art to Small Perfection of Wisdom. Under the effects of the Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence, his senses became extremely sharp, allowing him to sense the taboo powers of Immortal Seeking Mountain.


    If the Eight Perfections Wisdom couldn''t resist the taboo powers, Zhou Wen only wanted to make his senses sharper to better understand the effects of the taboo power.


    The taboo power of Immortal Seeking Mountain was indeed very strange. This kind of power didn''t harm others. It matched the person''s strength. It just happened to be at the peak that one could withstand. Every step one took required them to use all their strength. One couldn''t hesitate or their legs might go limp and end up falling down the mountain.


    Although the path to becoming an immortal was difficult, as long as one''s willpower was firm, it wasn''t a dead end. However, this path seemed to have no end. Every step one took was extremely difficult. Even a person with a firm will would inevitably show signs of weakness over time. Therefore, very few people could reach the top of the mountain.


    Zhou Wen felt the changes in the power in his body and found it strange and unpredictable.


    If I take a step back, what changes will this taboo power have? Just as this thought surfaced in Zhou Wen''s mind, he immediately nipped it in the bud.


    Goods of every variety are nothing compared to the value of survival. I definitely can''t take risks. Zhou Wen hurriedly steeled his resolve and continued walking forward.


    When the sun was about to set, the two of them had only managed to climb around a thousand meters. When they looked up, they still couldn''t see the end to the path. The stone steps circled around the clouds like a coiling dragon. Just one look made them feel a little dizzy.


    Zhou Wen was just about to take out a bottle of water to hydrate himself when he heard Jiang Yan say, "We''re reaching the Immortal Opportunity Stone ahead. You have to be careful after crossing it. If you continue walking up, there will be something that will try to entice you. You have to remember that no matter what happens, you mustn''t retreat or you will die."


    Zhou Wen knew that it wasn''t easy to deal with things that Jiang Yan said with such seriousness, so he asked, "What will happen?"


    "That''s hard to say. Everyone''s situation is different. You have to experience it before you know what it is," Jiang Yan answered.


    Zhou Wen looked up and indeed, he saw a small platform beside the mountain path. On it was a huge boulder with the words "Immortal Opportunity."


    However, there was nothing special about the stone. It was exactly the same as the ordinary mountain rocks on Immortal Seeking Mountain. It just had two additional words engraved on it.


    Soon, the two of them walked past the Immortal Opportunity Stone and took a few more steps. Zhou Wen didn''t sense anything different from before.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he saw Jiang Yan suddenly turn and strike at his head. His expression was ferocious as he said coldly, "You''ve been fooled. Die!"


    The mountain path was narrow to begin with¡ªit only allowed one person to walk along. Jiang Yan''s palm emitted a resplendent divine light as though a sun had smashed down. Zhou Wen had nowhere to hide. Apart from retreating, he could only take the brunt of Jiang Yan''s palm.


    Zhou Wen''s expression didn''t change as he continued moving up the stairs. At the same time, he used his arms to shield himself from Jiang Yan''s palm.


    Zhou Wen still remembered that Jiang Yan had warned him not to retreat no matter what happened. Furthermore, he believed that Jiang Yan wasn''t such a person.


    With Jiang Yan''s character, even if he really wanted to harm him, he would have clearly explained why he was doing so. It was impossible for him to sneak an attack like this.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen continued walking forward without any intention of counterattacking. If it was just an illusion, any counterattack would strike the defenseless Jiang Yan.


    Indeed, Jiang Yan''s palm passed through his arm before Jiang Yan''s body dissipated.


    Zhou Wen looked up and saw Jiang Yan walking in front of him. He had never turned his head.


    If Zhou Wen hadn''t thought things through and allowed his body to automatically counterattack, Jiang Yan would probably have died from his strike.


    What crappy immortal opportunity is this? It''s basically luring the demon in one''s heart, Zhou Wen thought.

 582 Different Methods of Death

    The two of them drank and ate a little occasionally, almost without stopping. Even so, they took four days to reach the mountainside.


    In just four days, the two of them had lost quite a bit of weight. Their eyes and cheeks were sunken, making them look like skin and bones.


    The two rather handsome lads looked like hunched old men.


    This wasn''t their fault. They used all their strength with every step. Their bodies were exhausted and they couldn''t stop to rest. The reason they were able to last until now was because of their extraordinary physiques. If it were an ordinary Epic stage, they probably wouldn''t be able to withstand it even if they didn''t die of exhaustion on the Immortal Seeking path.


    Looking up, they still couldn''t see the mountain peak. All they saw was endless stone steps. Looking down, there was fog lingering around, and they couldn''t see anything. In this godforsaken place that prevented them from seeing the sky or the ground, the reason they knew that this was halfway up the mountain was that there was the word ''Half-Cliff'' engraved on a boulder beside them.


    "Once we cross Half-Cliff, we still have halfway more to go. However, it''s even more difficult than the first half of the journey. Can you still hold on? If you can''t hold on, you can rest for a day on Half-Cliff''s platform before turning around and leaving the mountain. You won''t be affected by the taboo of Immortal Seeking Mountain. However, once you reach Half-Cliff''s platform, you can never go up the mountain again," Jiang Yan said.


    "We''re already here. No matter what, we have to go up and take a look. It''s impossible for me to give up halfway. I can still persist. Let''s continue," Zhou Wen said.


    "After Half-Cliff, if you continue walking forward, you will see things. When the time comes, no matter what you see, don''t speak or make a sound. Just close your mouth and walk forward, or something bad will happen," Jiang Yan added.


    "No speaking. Got it." Zhou Wen nodded slightly, but he was somewhat puzzled.


    The taboos on Immortal Seeking Mountain weren''t written anywhere. If Jiang Yan knew about these taboos, someone must have tried them. Otherwise, if it was really as Jiang Yan had said, he would have died if he took a step back. Zhou Wen refused to believe that Jiang Yan wouldn''t retreat without knowing about the taboo.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t dig into it since Jiang Yan didn''t say anything more. He continued walking behind Jiang Yan.


    The stone steps on the first half of the mountain were very narrow, but after Half-Cliff, the stone steps became much wider. It was more than enough for two to three people to walk side by side.


    Every step Zhou Wen took made him feel like his legs were trembling. No matter how powerful his Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills were, they were useless in this godforsaken place. Using external forces to strengthen his body would also increase the strange power. It would still push his body to its limits.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen''s gaze accidentally swept across the stone steps in front of him. His pupils constricted as he nearly shouted.


    If Jiang Yan hadn''t warned him beforehand, he would definitely have shouted. This was because there was a corpse lying in the stone path above. The corpse''s clothes and looks were identical to Zhou Wen''s.


    Zhou Wen was puzzled, but he couldn''t say a word. All he could do was continue walking forward as he sized up the corpse by the side of the road. No matter how he looked at it, it was identical to him. However, the corpse had collapsed on the stone steps and wasn''t breathing.


    It''s definitely the same as before¡ªan illusion. Zhou Wen stopped looking at the corpse and continued walking upwards.


    After walking for a while, he circled around a mountain ridge and saw another corpse on the stone steps ahead.


    This time, he saw it even more clearly. It was Zhou Wen''s corpse. What Zhou Wen couldn''t tolerate was that it looked like his corpse but without any clothes covering it. Its limbs were spread wide open as it was nailed to the mountain wall by metal nails. It looked like it had died a tragic death.


    Everything is an illusion¡­ Everything is fake¡­ I''ll endure it¡­ Zhou Wen secretly calmed himself down. Although he knew that it was only an illusion, it still infuriated him. The crux of the matter was that the person resembled him too much. Even the marks and scars on his body were identical.


    As he walked further up, Zhou Wen saw several different ways of dying. Some were hanged to death, while others were cleaved into two. All the deaths were tragic.


    However, he became immune to it after prolonged exposure. Along the way, he saw at least hundreds or thousands of different ways of dying. He was no longer surprised.


    After walking for another seven or eight days, when the sun rose again, the two of them finally saw the top of the mountain. There were no buildings there, only a crooked tree of unknown species. The branches extended to the edge of the cliff.


    On one of the branches of the crooked tree hung a huge green cocoon. On careful look, they saw that the cocoon wasn''t in contact with the tree branch but was floating.


    Beneath the crooked tree was a white beast. It was snow-white and had two horns on its head. There was a vertical eye on its forehead, but the vertical eye was closed. It was likely the Bai Ze that Jiang Yan had speculated.


    Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan walked to the top of the mountain. Bai Ze had definitely discovered them, but it completely ignored them. It continued resting and lying there, completely ignoring them. It didn''t even spare them a glance.


    Zhou Wen had heard from Jiang Yan that the white beast wouldn''t take the initiative to attack them. This was also one of the main reasons why he had determined that the white beast was Bai Ze.


    Bai Ze was a kind-hearted auspicious beast. It was knowledgeable and capable of human speech. It could identify all kinds of supernatural beings. Legend has it that it had been entrusted by Yellow Emperor to create a map of tens of thousands of supernatural beings for humans to easily identify them and avoid danger. It was one of the ancient divine beasts that were good at exorcism.


    "Did you see those strange corpses earlier?" Jiang Yan asked Zhou Wen.


    "Yes, all the corpses looked like me," Zhou Wen answered.


    "How many were there?" Jiang Yan asked again.


    "I don''t remember. There were so many that I didn''t count them. There should be more than a thousand." Zhou Wen paused and asked Jiang Yan, "Why are you asking this? Aren''t those illusions?"


    Jiang Yan looked at Zhou Wen with a strange smile. "A thousand? That''s impressive."


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen didn''t understand what Jiang Yan was getting at.


    Jiang Yan said with a smile, "Legend has it that the path to immortality is a process of transcending one''s mortal coils. Every corpse illusion you see is a crime you once committed. Only by purging the sins you have committed can you not be killed by the Heavenly Tribulation when you become an immortal. You saw more than a thousand corpses¡ªwhich means that you have committed more than a thousand crimes."

 583 Backup Plan

    "I don''t know if it''s accurate, but I know a few people who once walked the Seeking Immortality path. One of them only saw three corpses, with the most being a hundred corpses," Jiang Yan said.


    "Then how many corpses did you see?" Zhou Wen asked Jiang Yan.


    Jiang Yan glanced at the path they came from and said indifferently, "I don''t know. I didn''t count. The mountain wall along the way was filled with corpses. It''s like a mountain of corpses. All I saw were corpses, without a single part of the mountain exposed."


    "Then it''s even more unlikely to be right. How many people can a student like us kill? How can there be so much sin?" Zhou Wen looked at Jiang Yan. He actually didn''t believe that Jiang Yan could see so many corpses.


    "Follow the plan." Jiang Yan didn''t say anything else as he walked towards the crooked tree on the mountaintop.


    As Jiang Yan walked, he summoned two Companion Beasts. The first was a black python with a mouth the size of a bowl. It was more than ten meters long and its entire body was pitch-black.


    Strangely, the snake didn''t have eyes. It kept flicking its tongue.


    The other Companion Beast was also black, but it was dressed as a warrior in black armor. It wore a black mask and had two sabers on its back. The scabbard and handle were also black. It was probably the Dark Domain Heavenly King.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare be negligent. He summoned Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd while Torch Dragon appeared in the form of an eye mirror. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on using Bright Torch Vision World.


    Firstly, Bai Ze''s reputation was too terrifying. Zhou Wen wasn''t sure if the Bright Torch Vision World was effective against it. If it didn''t work and ended up provoking it, he would ultimately be the one suffering.


    Secondly, Bai Ze didn''t take the initiative to attack others. Previously, when Jiang Yan approached the range of the crooked tree, it had only said "Scram", causing Jiang Yan to roll down the mountain without killing him.


    Only then did Bai Ze look up to glance at him. This glance left Zhou Wen alarmed. It didn''t look at Six-Winged or the Golden Battle God Halberd, but straight into Zhou Wen''s eyes.


    Could it have already discovered Torch Dragon? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen was already prepared, Jiang Yan immediately ordered the Soundless Snake and the Dark Domain Heavenly King to use their powers.


    The Soundless Snake opened its mouth. There were no venomous fangs inside, but visible ripples spread out from the mountaintop.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his vision turn pitch-black. With the augmentation of Eight Perfections Wisdom and the Hell King Life Soul, his vision remained pitch-black. He couldn''t see or hear anything.


    Unfortunately, Truth Listener is still evolving. I wonder if Truth Listener''s ability can break through the Soundless Snake''s Soundless Barrier? As Zhou Wen thought about it, he suddenly felt his eyes light up again. He could see and hear.


    However, he could see that the entire mountain was enveloped in black. Furthermore, the sound waves produced spread out like water ripples.


    "Let''s begin. Use your Companion Beast to attract Bai Ze''s attention. Don''t really fight it. Just attract its attention. It''s best if it can''t see or hear," Jiang Yan said as he dived towards the crooked tree.


    Zhou Wen ordered Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd to surround Bai Ze using a pincer movement. At the same time, he made some noise to attract its attention.


    Bai Ze continued lying on a huge rock under the tree, motionless.


    Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd lunged from the left and right. One stomped on the ground with its huge feet, leaving huge footprints on the rocks, while the tip of the Golden Battle God Halberd slashed across the ground, leaving a deep mark. Wherever the halberd tip touched the rocks, sparks flew everywhere.


    However, due to the Soundless Barrier, their actions failed to produce any sound. Only Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan could hear thanks to the Soundless Snake''s special treatment.


    Bai Ze still didn''t react and continued lying there, but Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan felt that something was amiss.


    If Bai Ze really couldn''t see or hear anything, then it shouldn''t be so calm, right?


    Indeed, when the Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd approached the crooked tree, Bai Ze suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a word. "Freeze!"


    Then, Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd froze. They stopped there as though someone had pressed a pause button in a movie.


    As for the Soundless Snake''s Soundless Barrier, it was instantly torn apart by a force and shattered. As though it had suffered a heavy blow, the Soundless Snake collapsed to the ground.


    Zhou Wen''s face darkened. The Soundless Barrier was completely useless as it was destroyed by Bai Ze.


    What was even more depressing was that the Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd were frozen there. No matter how Zhou Wen commanded them, they remained motionless.


    Six-Winged''s eyes could still move, but its expression remained ferocious with its agape mouth, and its body couldn''t move.


    The Golden Divine Light at the tip of the Golden Battle God Halberd kept flickering, but the halberd was also unable to move.


    Even worse, Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan were also frozen. The Dark Domain Heavenly King couldn''t move either. Although his dark domain remained effective, no one could move. What was the use of the dark domain?


    "Sorry, I underestimated Bai Ze''s strength. I originally thought that the Soundless Barrier would last for a while, I never expected it to break in the blink of an eye," Jiang Yan said.


    Zhou Wen made an attempt. Although he couldn''t move his body, there was no problem with speaking. "We should have expected this. A famous divine beast like Bai Ze isn''t that easily restrained."


    "Don''t worry. I still have a backup plan," Jiang Yan said.


    "What''s your backup plan? Why didn''t you tell me beforehand?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked when he heard that there was a way to turn the tables.


    "There was no need to prepare for the backup plan. You just need to execute it. If I told you in advance, I''m afraid you wouldn''t agree to it," Jiang Yan said with a strange expression.


    "We can''t move now. How do we execute it?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "We can still move if we think of a solution. I''m just not sure if my backup plan will work," Jiang Yan said.


    "What is your backup plan?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I studied many myths and legends, and I eventually came to a conclusion. Bai Ze¡­ might be a clean freak¡­" Jiang Yan''s expression turned odder.


    "So what if it''s a clean freak?" Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to what Jiang Yan was up to.

 584 Bacteria

    Zhou Wen was enlightened. "You mean to say that you want us to dirty our bodies? Then, Bai Ze won''t be willing to touch us. You should have said so earlier. This isn''t anything difficult. It would have been better for me to make preparations earlier though. I''d have got some pot-bottom soot before coming¡­"


    "That''s not the case. No matter how dirty our bodies are, it doesn''t matter to Bai Ze. This is because it doesn''t need to touch us at all. It only needs one word to finish us. If we''re dirty, it might attract its annoyance. It could chase us off the mountain, but after seeing how dirty we are, it might just throw us down the cliff to our deaths," Jiang Yan said as he shook his head.


    "Then what do you mean?" Zhou Wen really couldn''t figure out what Jiang Yan meant.


    "What I mean is that perhaps we have a way to make Bai Ze unwilling to even look at us or even say a word to us," Jiang Yan said.


    "How is this possible? No matter how dirty we are, it''s impossible for it to not even look at us, right? Even if it doesn''t wish to look at us, it just needs to close its eyes. Then, it can just say a word to make us scram down the mountain." No matter how Zhou Wen thought about it, it was impossible for something like that to happen.


    "Of course it''s possible. As long as you do as I say, you can definitely do it," Jiang Yan said confidently.


    "How?" Zhou Wen asked in disbelief.


    "You''ll know when you read this." Jiang Yan''s glabella shimmered with a purple light. His originally immobile body, like Zhou Wen''s, began moving. Then, he threw a book in front of Zhou Wen.


    This only lasted for an instant. After doing all of this, the purple light between Jiang Yan''s eyebrows vanished and his body returned to a frozen state.


    "Take a good look at the content of the comic book and you will know what to do," Jiang Yan said.


    Bai Ze clearly had absolute confidence in itself. Although it had heard Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan''s conversation and could understand what they were talking about, it didn''t mind at all. It looked at them as though they were two idiots.


    From its point of view, no matter what Zhou Wen and Jiang Yan did, it only needed one word to finish off the two idiots.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t move his body. Thankfully, his mouth could still move. He blew at the comic book on the ground and used the airflow to flip the pages.


    This was one of the volumes of a comic book. There was zero context to what was happening, and Zhou Wen didn''t understand what it meant, but after reading for a while, his expression gradually changed.


    The content of the comic book looked very normal, as though there was nothing special about it. It was just that the scene did not seem to contain any unbearable content.


    "Are you sure this will work?" Zhou Wen asked Jiang Yan with a strange expression after reading it.


    Jiang Yan said with certainty, "Definitely."


    "Will Bai Ze kill us if we do this?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Definitely not. Your blood will only make it feel that it has tainted its territory," Jiang Yan said.


    "Wait, what do you mean by saying that I''ve tainted its territory? Shouldn''t it be us?" Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    "Ah Wen, this matter can only be done by you. I can''t do it," Jiang Yan said sincerely.


    "We are all men. Why can I do it but you can''t?" Zhou Wen immediately retorted. He didn''t believe Jiang Yan''s nonsense.


    "Actually, I''m also a clean freak. The severity isn''t any better than Bai Ze''s. That''s why I need your help. Otherwise, I could do it myself. I wouldn''t have to bring you here," Jiang Yan continued sincerely. "It''s also because I''m a clean freak that I know this method will definitely succeed."


    "I don''t believe you! If you want to do it, we do it together. No way I''m doing it myself," Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth.


    "Sorry, Ah Wen. I''ll make it up to you in the future." As Jiang Yan spoke, the purple light on his glabella lit up again, allowing him to temporarily escape Bai Ze''s control.


    In the next second, Jiang Yan flicked his hand and shot out a piece of paper. It landed right above Zhou Wen''s head.


    After doing this, the purple light between Jiang Yan''s eyebrows dimmed again and he became immobile.


    "What are you doing? What''s that on my head?" Zhou Wen looked up diagonally, but he couldn''t see anything above his head.


    "This is an Epic Companion Beast named Head Paper Figurine. As long as it lands on your head, it can control your body. Then, whatever it does, your body will follow. Don''t worry. The Head Paper Figurine''s control of your body is similar to the control of a puppet. Your body is still fixed, but it doesn''t affect what you are needed to do¡­"


    As Jiang Yan explained, the Head Paper Figurine stood up. It was a paper figurine cut out of yellow paper. It didn''t have a nose or eyes. It was a human-shaped paper figurine.


    However, when it stood above Zhou Wen''s head, his originally immobile body began moving like a puppet, but it looked extremely stiff.


    "Don''t worry. I''ve already gotten someone to teach it all the actions. It will complete them in one go at the fastest speed possible. Remember to say the lines¡­" Jiang Yan closed his eyes. He didn''t even want to look at the scene or even imagine it.


    "No¡­ No¡­" Zhou Wen''s eyes widened as he looked down. He watched helplessly as his hand pulled at his pants like lightning.


    "Ah Wen, it will be hard on you. I''ll make it up to you in the future." Jiang Yan closed his eyes with an ashamed expression.


    However, all of a sudden, Jiang Yan''s expression changed drastically as he suddenly opened his eyes. His pupils darted sideways, but he didn''t see Zhou Wen.


    The purple light between Jiang Yan''s eyebrows immediately erupted again, but it was already too late. Zhou Wen appeared behind him, revealing a devil-like smile as he held the Head Paper Figurine with one hand as it constantly struggled. However, it couldn''t escape his palm.


    As for Zhou Wen''s other hand, he had already grabbed Jiang Yan''s pants and pulled them down. Then, he flew up and kicked Jiang Yan''s buttocks. Jiang Yan''s pupils immediately constricted as he rolled towards Bai Ze with a look of despair.


    "Haha, Brother Bai Ze, take a closer look at the spot that this fellow has rolled over. Those places have already been contaminated by his filthy bacteria¡­ The wind will cause the filthy bacteria to constantly spread¡­ Soon, the entire mountain peak will be covered in dirty bacteria¡­ Make sure you don''t let him scram down the mountain¡­ Wherever he rolls will be tainted by dirty bacteria¡­" Zhou Wen said smugly when he suddenly saw a purple whip wrap around his leg at some point in time.


    "Ah!" Jiang Yan, who was rolling towards Bai Ze, gritted his teeth and pulled. Zhou Wen''s pants ruptured as his body fell to the ground and also rolled towards Bai Ze.

 585 Fairy Burial

    What they really couldn''t tolerate was the psychological hint.


    Just like a clean freak who washed his hands after peeing. Turning on the faucet with his hand, he would feel that it was stained with bacteria from the balls. After washing his hands, his hands would be clean, but if he switched it off, he would be touching the balls'' bacteria on the faucet. Such repeated actions made it impossible to feel completely clean.


    Unless it was a faucet that had automatic detection, a patient with a severe obsession with cleanliness could struggle in front of the sink for a long time.


    Now, two sources of the balls'' dirty bacteria were rapidly rolling on the mountaintop. They tainted wherever they rolled with balls'' dirty bacteria.


    If Bai Ze said "scram" now, the two huge sources of infection would continue rolling down the mountain, infecting the entire mountain.


    If Zhou Wen hadn''t said the sentence, Bai Ze probably wouldn''t have thought too much into it. However, after Zhou Wen''s psychological cue, Bai Ze felt that no solution was appropriate to deal with the two dirty fellows.


    He wanted to fix the two of them in place, but for some reason, it was useless against them.


    Kill them? Bai Ze only felt that it would contaminate the entire mountain peak. Furthermore, it wasn''t a creature that could easily kill.


    Now, Bai Ze didn''t even want to look at the two dirty sources of infection. It was as if it would be infected by the balls'' dirty bacteria if it looked at them.


    Retreat! Slowly retreat!


    An existence as powerful as Bai Ze was actually retreating.


    We''re about to succeed¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw that he and Jiang Yan were about to roll to the side of the crooked tree.


    Although this move was rather despicable and shameless, it was good as long as it could achieve its goal. There was no one else here to see their sorry state, so there was no need to worry too much about it.


    The only hateful thing was that Jiang Yan could clearly use this method himself, but he had dragged him over.


    It took longer to describe, but it only took an instant for Zhou Wen to kick Jiang Yan to the point of the duo slamming into the crooked tree. The frightened Bai Ze failed to react in such a short period of time. It retreated from the mountaintop with a look of horror and contempt, as though it had all been contaminated by them.


    Jiang Yan wasn''t willing to listen to him. He was even faster than Zhou Wen. He had already summoned his armor and put it on. His first reaction wasn''t to pounce at the black cocoon but to smack away the dirt on himself.


    This fellow is really obsessed with hygiene¡­ Zhou Wen immediately rushed over when he saw Jiang Yan''s actions. He kicked him away and sent him flying towards the cocoon.


    "Senior Brother, I''ll help you¡­" Zhou Wen shouted at Jiang Yan who had flown out.


    Jiang Yan slammed into the cocoon like a cannonball. He held back the extreme discomfort in his heart and the urge to clean his body. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood on the azure silk cocoon.


    Zhou Wen watched as Jiang Yan''s blood slowly seeped into the cocoon. This was the first time he had seen someone contract a Guardian. He didn''t know if Jiang Yan''s method would succeed.


    Bai Ze stood above a sea of clouds and saw that Jiang Yan''s blood had already fused into the cocoon. The expression on its face was abnormally complicated. It didn''t move. It just stood there, looking at the azure silk cocoon.


    The azure silk cocoon absorbed Jiang Yan''s blood. There wasn''t much blood, but it quickly dyed the huge azure silk cocoon completely red before cracks began to appear on it. Pieces of the cocoon that were wrapped in silk fell off.


    Azure light shot out from the openings; they looked extremely pure.


    As the cocoon constantly shattered, Zhou Wen saw a curled body inside the cocoon. However, it was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    It was an azure-robed fairy with fluttering clothes. She didn''t share any characteristics with Bai Ze.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the creatures inside the cocoon were typically related to the dimensional creatures protecting them. Just like the one in Ant City, she had some characteristics of an ant.


    As for John''s six-winged seraphim, he had heard that the Mythical creature guarding the cathedral was an angel.


    However, he had used a trick to circle around the angel and formed a contract with the six-winged seraphim. He had never really fought the angel.


    Under that situation, John hadn''t truly obtained the six-winged seraphim''s recognition. Now that Jiang Yan had used a trick, Zhou Wen was worried that he wouldn''t be able to obtain the true recognition of the Guardian. It would be terrifying if he had to pay a certain price to contract the Guardian.


    Could this guardian also be from the Association of Eunuchs? An indescribable scene flashed across Zhou Wen''s mind as he looked at Jiang Yan with a strange expression.


    As Zhou Wen was in thought, the cocoon had completely shattered. Azure vines appeared out of thin air and circled around the azure fairy.


    When the azure vines transformed into beams of light that resembled dragons that rose into the sky, they shattered and fell, turning into flower petals that filled the sky.


    The azure-robed fairy actually turned pink amidst the petals. The petals that filled the sky danced as the fairy moved.


    The fairy''s gaze was calm as she walked to Jiang Yan with the flower petals. She extended her hand and said to him, "My name is Fairy Burial. Are you willing to let me become your Guardian and fight with you?"


    "I am," Jiang Yan answered seriously.


    "As you wish." Fairy Burial''s palm pressed on Jiang Yan''s forehead. At the point of contact, a pink light spread out.


    At that instant, Fairy Burial''s body transformed into countless petals that surged towards Jiang Yan, condensing into a floral armor that completely enveloped Jiang Yan''s body.


    As more and more petals gathered on the armor, the original pink color turned red. The red gradually turned dark red before turning purple. When all the petals fused into the floral armor, the armor turned dark purple. It looked strange, yet gorgeous.


    The floral armor looked extremely beautiful as though it was a perfect piece of art, but for some reason, Zhou Wen seemed to sense the aura of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood from the gorgeous armor. It left him horrified.


    As the floral armor fused with Jiang Yan''s body, an unimaginable power erupted from him. This power was no longer at the Epic stage. It was shocking.


    The Thearch is right. The Guardian''s power can indeed allow humans to enter the Mythical stage. However, this advancement is mainly due to the Guardian armor, not the human itself, Zhou Wen thought.

 586 Two Ways to Advance to the Mythical Stage

    Bai Ze''s eyes drooped as though it was pondering over something. A moment later, it glanced at Jiang Yan and Zhou Wen before turning around and disappearing in the blink of an eye.


    "Senior Brother, congratulations on obtaining the Guardian as you wished." Zhou Wen hurriedly went forward to congratulate him.


    "Do you think I''ll forgive you just like that? What you did to me was unforgivable¡­" Jiang Yan stared at Zhou Wen as the corners of his mouth gradually curled up.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly before turning to run down the mountain.


    However, it was already too late. Jiang Yan''s finger streaked across the void and a flower that resembled a rose appeared between his fingers. The blood-red flower was beautiful.


    "Sixth Sacrifice of the Fairy Burial!" With Jiang Yan''s voice, the flower flew out and instantly vanished.


    When the flower appeared again, it was already stuck in Zhou Wen''s hair. It stood straight as though it was a lone flower growing above a grave.


    Zhou Wen immediately found himself immobilized as though he was a dead person. Not only was his body unable to move, but even his heart and breathing came to a stop. He collapsed flat on the ground.


    Although his bodily functions had completely stopped, he was still conscious and could sense everything around him.


    Jiang Yan''s fingers moved slightly as the flower in Zhou Wen''s hair tilted slightly. Zhou Wen opened his eyes and could move his mouth, but his body remained motionless.


    "Senior Brother, stop fooling around¡­" Zhou Wen said.


    "How can you call this fooling around? I''m doing this to thank you for your help¡­" Jiang Yan said through gritted teeth as he kicked Zhou Wen''s ass.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Wen returned to school, it was already half a month since he had left campus.


    After Jiang Yan obtained a Guardian, his strength had indeed become very powerful. This strength was somewhat different from having a Companion Beast.


    Companion Beasts were ultimately external forces, preventing them from truly improving their basic stats and bodily functions.


    However, the armor transformed from a Guardian could fuse with one''s body to a certain extent. It allowed a human''s body to possess the attributes and characteristics of the Guardian. This was a fundamental improvement that directly pushed one into the Mythical stage.


    However, this improvement was limited to times when fused with the Guardian armor. After separating from the Guardian armor, Jiang Yan would still be at the Epic stage. His body hadn''t advanced to the Mythical stage.


    However, Jiang Yan was indeed very strong when he wore the Guardian armor. The Guardian had Essence Energy Skills, Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny.


    Jiang Yan used all sorts of powerful powers in a way far stronger than when John used the six-winged seraphim. It was unknown if the Fairy Burial was stronger than the six-winged seraphim, or was it because Jiang Yan was stronger than John, or perhaps both.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat tempted, but he quickly rejected this idea. Unless he was at his wits'' end, he wouldn''t be willing to take the path of contracting a Guardian.


    Even if there was really no way out, he still had the method of Spirit Casting to try. However, Spirit Casting seemed to be harder and more dangerous than contracting a Guardian.


    From what Zhou Wen knew, there were only two paths for humans to advance to the Mythical stage. He had never heard of anyone advancing to the Mythical stage purely with their bodies.


    I should first raise my Life Soul to the Perfect Body. Perhaps there will be a solution when the time comes. Unless it''s absolutely necessary, it''s best I don''t take those two paths. This trip to Immortal Seeking Mountain gave Zhou Wen some ideas.


    He could definitely use the mysterious taboo power in the dimensional zone to train his Zero Taboo Life Soul.


    However, since he couldn''t find the tiny palm symbol on the Immortal Seeking Mountain, Zhou Wen couldn''t run to Immortal Seeking Mountain himself. Therefore, he planned on giving it a try at Small Buddha Temple.


    After entering the game, he switched to the Zero Taboo Life Soul. Without using Blood Meditation, the blood-colored avatar ascended the stone steps of Small Buddha Temple.


    As expected, Zero Taboo lit up. However, it wasn''t as terrifying as the other places. It was still within the acceptable range.


    As Small Buddha Temple''s forbidden power ate into him, Zero Taboo became brighter and brighter as though it was about to ignite.


    This level of taboo power was still within the limits of Life Soul''s tolerance. It was like steel that was undergoing tempering in a furnace. Although burning could reduce the crystal''s size, it also became purer.


    It''s indeed useful¡­ Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Zero Taboo could be said to be an excellent life-saving ability. In the future, when he headed to various mysterious dimensional zones, he would definitely encounter unimaginable taboo powers. When that happened, he would have to rely on Zero Taboo to save his life.


    If Zero Taboo could be upgraded to a Perfect Body, it would undoubtedly be extremely useful to Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that it was a little too slow to raise Zero Taboo that way. Furthermore, staying in-game at Small Buddha Temple prevented him from farming monsters.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to head to Small Buddha Temple in real life to train his Zero Taboo Life Soul. At the same time, he could use his phone to farm monsters. This meant that neither action delayed the other.


    Zhou Wen was about to pack his things and head to Small Buddha Temple when he heard the doorbell ring.


    When he opened the door, he saw Wang Lu bringing the chick and antelope over. When Zhou Wen wasn''t around, the two of them would run to Wang Lu. Zhou Wen couldn''t be bothered to pick them up.


    "I''ll return Little Feifei and Little Yangyang to you. You have to take good care of them in the future. Don''t just leave them in the dorm," Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen.


    "Got it," Zhou Wen answered.


    Wang Lu bit her lip and said, "I''m leaving."


    "Where are you going?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. When he snapped to his senses, he said, "Didn''t your uncle agree to let you stay in school to study? Did he go back on his word?"


    Wang Lu shook her head and said, "That''s not the case. I''m about to advance to the Epic stage, so I have to return."


    "What does advancing to the Epic stage have to do with returning?" Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    "The Essence Energy Art I cultivate is different from others. Every advancement will result in a regression. After I advance to the Epic stage, I will return to the Mortal stage for a while. Only by cultivating back to the Epic stage can it be stable. During this period of time, my body will be prone to injury. Therefore, Father wants me to return home to advance to the Epic stage," Wang Lu said.


    "So that''s how it is. Then you really should return." Zhou Wen felt that it was too troublesome for Wang Lu to cultivate this Essence Energy Art. However, the might of such a troublesome Essence Energy Art definitely was extraordinary.


    As though it understood Wang Lu''s intention to leave, the antelope walked to her side. The chick also flew to her shoulder as though it was unwilling to part with her.


    Wang Lu hugged the chick and stroked the antelope''s head. She said with a smile, "If you can''t bear to part with me, come home with me. After all, your master doesn''t care much about you. I don''t know how much hardship you will suffer if you follow him."

 587 Little Buddha Temples Chance Encounter

    After rearing the chick and antelope for so long, how could she not know that the origins of these two dimensional creatures were extraordinary?


    However, just as Wang Lu asked that, the chick that was extremely affectionate to her flapped its wings and flew back to Zhou Wen. It turned its face to the side as though it didn''t know her.


    Although the antelope wasn''t that heartless, it had no intention of following her. It slowly walked back to Zhou Wen''s side.


    "How infuriating. The pet follows after its owner. They are all heartless cheats. They only know how to scrounge for free food and drink." Wang Lu angrily pointed at the chick and said, "I dote on you the most. I give you everything that''s good. You little cheat¡­"


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as well. The antelope following him could be reasoned away as having other motives, but he never expected the chick to be so determined.


    This fellow was usually very close to Wang Lu and despised Zhou Wen. He never expected it to stand on Zhou Wen''s side at such a critical moment.


    "When are you leaving?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    "Someone will pick me up tonight," Wang Lu said.


    "I''ll inform the students in the club to wave you off," Zhou Wen said.


    "There''s no need. I don''t like parting scenes." Wang Lu shook her head slightly before looking at Zhou Wen and saying, "You still owe me a lot of food. I''ve recorded all of it in a notebook. How are you going to repay me?"


    "Can I get a discount?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Of course not." Wang Lu glared at him.


    "Then what do you want me to do?" Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    "Just remember this debt." Wang Lu put away her notebook and turned around to walk out of Four Seasons Garden. After taking a few steps, she stopped and said to Zhou Wen with her back facing him, "If you can''t stand staying in the An family in the future, remember to look for me in the capital. You can work while paying me back."


    With that said, Wang Lu left Four Seasons Garden along the small trail.


    Zhou Wen watched her leave and was somewhat puzzled. He originally imagined that the four years in college would be relatively safe, but fate was just so unpredictable with people he was familiar with leaving one by one.


    I hope there''s still a chance to meet again. Zhou Wen really wasn''t sure if he could see Wang Lu again. Once the dimensional zones'' restrictions failed, the roads between the major cities would definitely be cut off. To go from Luoyang to the capital would probably be difficult.


    At the end of the day, without strength in the future, there was probably nothing one could do. They might not even have the chance to live, so Zhou Wen wanted to raise his strength quickly.


    Can humans definitely not advance to the Mythical stage with their bodies? Zhou Wen didn''t believe that it was set in stone. Since humans could advance to the Legendary and Epic stage, why couldn''t they advance to the Mythical stage?


    He went all the way to Small Buddha Temple. This was a restricted zone that prevented outsiders from approaching. However, Zhou Wen had An Sheng''s pass, so he wasn''t barred from entering.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, there were two Mythical Companion Eggs in Small Buddha Temple. However, no one had managed to master the Small Perfection of Wisdom, so no one had been able to take them away.


    An Tianzuo had set this place as a forbidden zone, preventing outsiders from getting close. It was also because he didn''t wish for any enemy faction to master the Small Perfection of Wisdom and obtain the benefits.


    Zhou Wen walked up the stone steps in front of Small Buddha Temple and the Zero Taboo Life Soul immediately lit up.


    Zhou Wen walked all the way to Small Buddha Temple. He originally planned on finding a place to sit down and game, but just as he entered Small Buddha Temple, he saw a person standing in the yard.


    Although he could only see her back, Zhou Wen still recognized her.


    Why is An Jing here? Zhou Wen frowned slightly when he saw her back.


    An Jing was standing in front of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra''s stone monument, reading the scriptures. When she sensed someone approaching, she turned her head and saw Zhou Wen. She also frowned slightly.


    Ever since the coldness in An Jing''s body was melted by Zhou Wen, An Jing hadn''t suffered a relapse again. Her cultivation level had also advanced by leaps and bounds.


    In terms of talent, as siblings, An Jing''s talent wasn''t inferior to An Tianzuo''s. However, her congenital ailment made her progress slow when she cultivated the Sun Strafe Art. Otherwise, her achievements would have far exceeded what it was now.


    Now that she did not have relapses, An Jing began to seek a breakthrough to the Epic stage.


    The Sun Strafe Art was extreme Yang. It was an Essence Energy Art that focused on combat. To figure out its profundity and condense a Life Soul, she had to constantly challenge herself and surpass herself.


    This challenge wasn''t only limited to the cultivation of her body, but it also required the cultivation of her mind and will. She had been in Small Buddha Temple for many days to see the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra stone monument. It wasn''t to cultivate the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra but to use it to train herself.


    This training method was very dangerous. If she didn''t control it well, it might cause irreparable damage to her body and mind. However, An Jing was confident that she could control herself.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen, An Jing felt mixed emotions. She was originally angry that Zhou Wen had taken away her qualifications. She had always believed that he was far inferior to her. She even felt that Ouyang Lan was biased, so she had thrashed him. Instead of saying that she was targeting Zhou Wen, it was better to say that she was displeased with Ouyang Lan.


    However, what happened after that exceeded An Jing''s expectations. Zhou Wen''s repeated achievements made her look at him in a different light. In just a year, he had advanced from the Mortal stage to the Epic stage, surpassing her in terms of level. He had even accidentally removed her ailment.


    Although An Jing didn''t pay much attention to the Sunset Army, she was still a member of the An family. She would still get wind of Zhou Wen''s matters, so she couldn''t help but secretly pay attention to him.


    However, many of the rumors regarding Zhou Wen left An Jing in disbelief. She couldn''t believe that Zhou Wen had done those shocking things. She felt as though she had been left behind by him.


    If it were anyone else, they might have blamed themselves. They would blame it on the qualifications that originally belonged to her, only to have them taken away by Zhou Wen.


    However, An Jing was clearly not such a person. Therefore, she worked harder to become stronger. She believed that even without the qualification, she was still better than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen and An Jing had nothing to say. Since An Jing was here, he decided to enter the temple hall. That way they wouldn''t affect each other.


    As Zhou Wen already had Truth Listener on him, he didn''t trigger the power of the three-faced Buddha when he entered the temple hall again.


    After finding a place to sit, Zhou Wen took out his phone to game.


    Although he could get the blood-colored avatar to come to Small Buddha Temple to double the cultivation effects, Zhou Wen didn''t think it was necessary. He still had to grind dungeons and farm the rare dimensional creatures daily.

 588 Ending the Grudge

    However, An Jing couldn''t ignore Zhou Wen. Although he was inside the temple hall and An Jing couldn''t see him, she had a nagging feeling that there was a pair of eyes looking at her.


    I''m not inferior to you. An Jing forced herself to focus and continued reading the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    Perhaps it was because of the catfish effect. Ever since Zhou Wen had come, An Jing felt that she could persist even more. Her improvement seemed to be faster.


    In the past, An Jing would feel that her body and mind had reached their limits after reading the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra for an hour. She could hardly withstand any longer.


    However, for some reason¡ªperhaps because she felt that Zhou Wen was watching her from inside¡ªAn Jing could now last for an hour and a half. She felt that she hadn''t reached her limit.


    Zhou Wen had no idea that he had such an effect on her. He leaned against a pillar in the temple hall and gamed.


    The blood-colored avatar entered Deer Terrace Pavilion again. The fake immortals on the first two levels had been eliminated. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to ascend to the highest third level.


    Could The Thearch be on the third level? If she''s really here, I can find her weakness in-game. Once I can defeat her, I can teach her a lesson in reality. Zhou Wen was somewhat excited. After getting the blood-colored avatar to ascend to the third level, he quickly sized up the situation inside.


    It was similar to the second level. There was only one dimensional creature on the third level. It was a cold, white-robed female immortal sitting on a throne.


    Could she be The Thearch? Zhou Wen guessed but didn''t waste any time. He directly ordered Torch Dragon to use the Bright Torch Vision World and look at the white-robed female immortal.


    Zhou Wen also stared at the white-robed female immortal. She waved her hand and a white jade lute appeared in her arms. She strummed the strings with her five fingers and immediately produced a terrifying sound wave.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was prepared by using the Demon Dragon True Body, but he was still sent flying by the sound wave. He spat out blood and slammed into the stone pillar in the hall.


    However, almost at the same time, the white-robed female immortal was pulled into Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World. A notification of the death of a Jade Lute Spirit appeared on the screen.


    So it''s a Jade Lute Spirit. It''s not Demon Consort! Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    Zhou Wen had already seen the first two of the legendary three demons of Xuan Yuan¡ªNine-Headed Pheasant Spirit, Jade Lute Spirit, and Nine-Tailed Fox, but there was no sign of the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    He made the blood-colored avatar search the third level. Logically speaking, Deer Terrace Pavilion wasn''t that simple. Furthermore, he was certain that the Jade Lute Spirit was definitely not The Thearch.


    However, Zhou Wen searched the three levels of the ancient building thoroughly several times, but he didn''t find anything. There weren''t any dimensional crystals, much less treasure.


    From the looks of it, the true secrets of Deer Terrace Pavilion should be underground, but where''s the entrance? There''s no hole in-game. How can I enter? Zhou Wen had attempted to use Torch Dragon to attack Deer Terrace Pavilion, but it seemed to have some mysterious power protecting it. Even the Bright Torch Vision World couldn''t break through it.


    Zhou Wen circled the Deer Terrace Pavilion countless times, but he failed to find the underground entrance.


    Since he couldn''t find the entrance, Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up and continue grinding other dungeons. At the same time, he trained his Zero Taboo Life Soul in Small Buddha Temple.


    For the next few days, Zhou Wen spent most of his time in Small Buddha Temple. Every time he came, he would see An Jing staring at the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra stone monument.


    One day, Zhou Wen was grinding when he suddenly saw a bright glow from the yard. The light shone in from the door of the temple hall, illuminating the interior.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly and walked out to take a look. He saw An Jing standing in front of the stone monument, emitting wisps of light. A sun-like projection condensed on her body.


    The projection looked somewhat similar to the Ancient Sovereign that Zhou Wen had condensed. They were both light-based projections with an anthropomorphic character.


    The difference was that the Ancient Sovereign was a pure human-shaped projection. As for An Jing''s projection, it looked like it was holding a bow made of light. Furthermore, the projection looked more feminine. It wasn''t as brawny as the Ancient Sovereign and was slightly slimmer.


    The Sun Strafe Art is indeed somewhat similar to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, but the difference is still there. Zhou Wen watched for a while and was about to return to the temple to continue grinding when An Jing stopped him.


    "Zhou Wen, it''s time to settle our grudge," An Jing said as she stared at him.


    "Is there anything between us that needs to be resolved?" Zhou Wen turned around and asked An Jing.


    An Jing''s eyes narrowed slightly. "I once defeated you. Don''t you want to beat me?"


    "I''ve never treated you as my opponent." Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and prepared to return to the temple hall.


    "Stop." Zhou Wen''s words stirred An Jing''s fighting spirit. Her Life Soul fused with her body, causing her body to emit a sun-like glow. A bow condensed from light appeared in her hand.


    Zhou Wen''s words could be understood as never treating An Jing as an enemy, but it could also be understood as he had never thought much of An Jing. An Jing clearly believed that Zhou Wen was referring to the latter.


    She pulled open the Light Bow in her hand and pointed at Zhou Wen''s back as she continued, "Take this arrow from me. After which, the grudge between us will be written off."


    Just as An Jing said that, she suddenly felt her vision blur. Zhou Wen''s body emitted light that was even more dazzling than the light on her body. As for him, he was already in front of her. His sun-like fist was about to strike her face.


    An Jing gritted her teeth and retreated, raising her bow to block.


    Boom!


    An Jing was sent flying with her bow and arrow by Zhou Wen''s punch. Like a cannonball, she traversed more than ten meters and slammed into the temple''s courtyard wall.


    Wah!


    She spat out a mouthful of blood as the light on her body dimmed and she fell to the ground.


    "As you wish. Don''t bother me again in the future." Zhou Wen really wasn''t in the mood to play such childish games with An Jing.


    After returning to the temple hall, Zhou Wen continued grinding. An Jing sat on the ground in a daze, motionless for quite some time.


    She still remembered that she had defeated Zhou Wen with one strike, but now, she couldn''t even withstand a single punch from him.


    After a long while, An Jing wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and stood up. Her eyes gradually turned resolute as she glanced in the direction of the temple hall before turning to head out of Small Buddha Temple.


    I have to defeat you. Although her goal was the same as before, An Jing''s attitude was completely different.

 589 Do You Want to Become a God?

    "Brother, I wish to join the military," An Jing came in front of An Tianzuo and said firmly.


    "Why?" An Tianzuo asked.


    "I''ve already advanced to the Epic stage. What I can learn in school is very limited. I need a place where I can improve faster."


    An Jing hesitated for a moment before saying, "I know this will put you in a difficult position. Mom will definitely not agree, but you will help me, right, Brother?"


    "Have you really thought it through? The military isn''t a school. Although it also deals with dimensional zones, those unknown dimensional zones will be hundreds or thousands of times more dangerous than the dimensional zones you''ve come into contact with before," An Tianzuo stared at An Jing and asked sternly.


    "I''ve thought it through," An Jing answered seriously.


    "Alright, you are my precious sister after all." An Tianzuo stood up and patted An Jing''s head. He said with a smile, "Tell me, where do you want to be deployed?"


    "Chess Mountain," An Jing answered.


    An Tianzuo''s expression changed slightly. "Why choose that?"


    "Because it''s the most dangerous place," An Jing answered.


    "You can go anywhere other than Chess Mountain." An Tianzuo firmly rejected An Jing.


    "Apart from Chess Mountain, I''m not going anywhere else." An Jing looked at An Tianzuo without backing down.


    An Tianzuo''s gaze softened. He could be ruthless to anyone, but he could do nothing to An Jing and Ouyang Lan.


    "I can let you go to Chess Mountain on one condition." An Tianzuo paused before continuing, " Little Dao must go with you. During this period of time, she needs to be by your side at all times. You can''t shake her off."


    "Alright." An Jing knew that this was An Tianzuo''s biggest compromise. If she didn''t agree, An Tianzuo definitely wouldn''t let her go to Chess Mountain.


    "How long do you plan on being there?" An Tianzuo asked again.


    "I''ll return after my Life Soul advances to a Perfect Body," An Jing said.


    After An Jing left, An Tianzuo called An Sheng over and told him about her going to Chess Mountain before getting him to make the arrangements.


    "Isn''t Chess Mountain too dangerous? Although Little Saber is following Miss Jing, no one can guarantee her safety if a large-scale break-out happens at Chess Mountain," An Sheng said worriedly.


    "Don''t underestimate my sister. Besides, Chess Mountain shouldn''t have any major problems in a short period of time. Just do as I say." An Tianzuo paused before saying, "Have you investigated the origins of the Companion Beasts that have recently been listed?"


    "The various factions of the Federation are investigating. We can roughly confirm that most of the Companion Beasts come from overseas. There''s also a few that have been secretly nurtured by various local bigshots," An Sheng replied.


    With a large number of Mythical Companion Beasts listed, Zhou Wen''s Six-Winged Guardian Dragon ranking had been demoted to seventeenth. As for the hundred ranks, it had already reached 99, leaving only one empty spot.


    The number one spot on the ranking board was still firmly occupied by the Primordial Sword Immortal. The Death of the Underworld was still second. The other top ten rankings had suffered some drops.


    Many of the Companion Beasts on the rankings had never been heard of by the Federation.


    That night, the black cubes around the world lit up again.


    As the black cubes had recently lit up more frequently, people were somewhat numb to it. Only people who passed by on the streets would pay attention to which Companion Beasts would appear on the rankings. It wasn''t like the past where many people would especially get up in the middle of the night to take a look.


    A peacock appeared on the cubes'' screens all over the world. It was gorgeous and elegant. Soon, this Companion Beast named Thousand-Eyed Peacock was ranked in the top twenty. It happened to be in front of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, pushing the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon back one spot.


    The hundred spots were completely filled. The people who were watching in front of the cube believed that it was about to end. This was what had happened in the past.


    However, the cubes didn''t turn black again. After the ranking screen disappeared, a new image appeared on the screens.


    The scene revolved like countless stars were swirling. As the "camera" zoomed in, the screen seemed to shuttle through billions of light-years before gradually turning black.


    Everyone was puzzled as they looked at the cube screen, unsure of what was happening.


    When the screen lit up again, it had already turned into an emerald-green grassland. There were colorful flowers embellishing it. All the plants emitted a gentle divine glow as though they were protected by a deity.


    On the grassland, there was a huge tree. The tree was like a divine tree, also emitting a divine glow as it produced resplendent fruits.


    Every fruit was crystalline and seemed to have billions of stars swirling inside. Through the screen, one could sense the terrifying might emitted by the fruits.


    As the camera zoomed in, the screen froze under the tree. There was a handsome man with white hair and a white robe sitting there. On his head was a pair of crystal-like dragon horns.


    He sat cross-legged under the tree with his eyes closed. He was like a deity that no one could desecrate. It was as though looking straight at his face was an act of disrespect to a deity.


    "So handsome¡­ Who''s the man under the tree? Is he human? Or a Companion Beast?" Many women''s eyes lit up when they saw the man sitting under the tree.


    However, the faces of those who knew that man changed drastically, especially the members of the six families. Their expressions were so ugly that they were about to freeze.


    An Tianzuo stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows on the top floor of a skyscraper. His gaze passed through the night sky and landed on the large square screen in the distance. An Sheng stood beside him and said with a strange expression, "Wang Mingyuan¡­ Could it be that these cubes were his work?"


    "I''m not sure if it''s his work, but it looks like something is about to happen," An Tianzuo said indifferently as he looked at the screen.


    The members of the six families began to gather in front of the cubes, including the Special Inspector Bureau.


    The originally silent night became rowdy. Countless people who were sleeping were woken up by their ringing phones. The lights that were constantly switched on illuminated the cities'' night sky.


    Shen Yuchi, Qiao Siyuan, and company were all staring at the screen. Many of the inspectors were busy with their work. This was the first time Wang Mingyuan had truly appeared since he charged into the dimensional zone.


    Although they had not seen Wang Mingyuan in person ever since that fateful night, the bureau had fought Wang Mingyuan for a long time on an intellectual level. Now, there were quite a number of high-level experts in the Federation who had secretly entered a dimensional zone after undergoing mutation. This was clearly Wang Mingyuan''s doing.


    Although the bureau had been trying their best to prevent this from happening, the results were minimal.


    The citizens around the world also began to focus on the cube''s screen. Although many people didn''t know Wang Mingyuan''s identity, they also felt that something was amiss.


    "Do you want to become a god? Then fight." Wang Mingyuan sat under the tree with his eyes closed. His expression was calm and composed as he slowly extended his right hand that emitted a divine glow. A fruit dropped from the divine tree and landed in his hand.

 590 Divine Frui

    In the next second, Wang Mingyuan flipped his palm and the fruit fell onto the grass before rolling to the side.


    Wang Mingyuan remained unmoved. He continued sitting under the tree with his eyes closed as though he was in meditation.


    And at the spot where the fruit fell, a green worm crawled over the grass and slowly crawled onto the fruit before beginning to eat it.


    The worm was very small and looked no different from a caterpillar. Its actions were very clumsy as it crawled onto the fruit with great difficulty and slowly ate it.


    The fruit was only the size of a palm, and the worm was even smaller. It was inconspicuous lying on top, but very quickly, the green worm that had only eaten a tiny bit of the fruit started to swell up like a balloon.


    When its body grew to the point where it could swallow the fruit, it swallowed it in one mouthful before its body swelled up crazily.


    The caterpillar turned into a terrifying behemoth in the blink of an eye. Its body became dozens of meters long.


    And this change didn''t stop. The worm that had turned into a giant worm emitted a terrifying divine glow. The divine glow burned like flames which enveloped the giant worm''s body and constantly emitted light.


    When the glow reached its limit, the light that it emitted almost made one unable to open their eyes. When the light gradually converged, everyone was surprised to discover that the giant worm had already transformed into a beautiful butterfly.


    What was even more shocking was that in the middle of the butterfly wings, there was something akin to a human female''s body. It was wearing green, glass-like armor and had a pair of antennae on its head. Its entire body emitted an unparalleled brilliance, like a descending goddess of light that had butterfly wings.


    All the humans were dumbfounded. They watched, stunned, as the worm turned into such a terrifying creature. The gaze they used to look at the fruits on the tree turned fervent.


    Many people were considering how such a weak worm could become so terrifying and powerful after consuming the fruit. What if they were the ones eating the fruit?


    The worm that had turned into the butterfly girl stared greedily at the divine tree''s fruits. Her butterfly wings flapped and the patterns on the wings began to spread out.


    It was brighter closer to the center. When the circular pattern lit up, it was like two suns embedded on her butterfly wings.


    Boom!


    Two terrifying beams shot out from the center of the butterfly wings, piercing through the void and striking at the divine tree. Such terrifying might made it feel as if it could even penetrate mountains, much less a tree.


    The terrifying power of the beam couldn''t even penetrate the glow emitted by Wang Mingyuan. The butterfly girl''s wings shimmered as she gritted her teeth and continued shooting beams, but it was all in vain.


    Wang Mingyuan extended his palm as though he was casually extending his finger. However, the light on the butterfly girl''s wings instantly vanished as her body involuntarily flew towards Wang Mingyuan.


    The closer she got to Wang Mingyuan, the smaller her body became. In a blink of an eye, she landed in his palm like an ordinary butterfly. No matter how she flapped her wings and struggled, she was unable to fly out of his palm.


    A strange light rose from Wang Mingyuan''s palm. The light flowed faster and faster, like streams of light circling the butterfly girl. Finally, it completely enveloped the butterfly girl''s body in the spinning light. By the time the light dissipated, Wang Mingyuan''s palm was empty.


    Boom!


    The scene on the cube changed. The images of Wang Mingyuan and the divine tree vanished, turning back into the cube itself. The butterfly girl stood on the cube, and beside her appeared her name: "Radiant Butterfly Queen."


    Perhaps it was because the ranking had already been filled with 100 names, the name of the Radiant Butterfly Queen did not appear on the rankings.


    However, everyone soon discovered that the name of the Dark Lord, who was ranked ninth, lit up. Not long after, the Dark Lord''s figure appeared on the cube, confronting the Radiant Butterfly Queen.


    When the Radiant Butterfly Queen saw the Dark Lord, the light on her wings lit up again without any hesitation. Circles of light lit up before condensing at the center of the circle. Two beams shot out like lasers, so fast that no one could dodge.


    The Dark Lord was a black-armored skeleton with black flames burning over its body. The sword representing darkness broke out of its sheath, and the sky behind it turned dark due to the unsheathed Sword of Darkness. As the Sword of Darkness slashed at the Radiant Butterfly Queen, the darkness devoured the light ahead.


    Boom!


    Two beams of light shot into the darkness. The Sword of Darkness collided with the power of light. Amidst the clash, the Dark Lord let out a tragic cry. His body and the Sword of Darkness were quickly purified by the power of light, disappearing completely a moment later.


    The battle scene disappeared. On the cube screens all over the world, a ranking appeared. The name of the Dark Lord, who was previously ranked ninth, vanished. The name of the Radiant Butterfly Queen appeared at the ninth place, replacing him.


    The people watching the battle were alarmed. Previously, when they saw Wang Mingyuan suppress the Radiant Butterfly Queen with a flip of his hand, they thought nothing of her.


    However, to their surprise, she could easily defeat the Dark Lord, who was ranked ninth. Although one could tell that she had an attribute advantage over the Dark Lord, it still meant that Radiant Butterfly Queen was ranked in the top ten.


    The scene on the cube changed and Wang Mingyuan appeared on the screen again. He continued sitting cross-legged under the divine tree with his eyes closed.


    When they saw him again, many people''s expressions changed. The divine tree and fruits behind him became the focus of human attention.


    It was just a worm. After eating one fruit, it had become a powerful existence like the Radiant Butterfly Queen, and there were many fruits on the tree.


    "The day of ripening of the next fruit will be three months from now. When that happens, the owner of the Companion Beast that ranks first will have the right to pluck a fruit."


    Wang Mingyuan''s voice traveled through the cube to every corner of the world. It also generated many complicated thoughts and ideas in the minds of all humans.


    After this sentence, the cube''s screen dimmed, turning pitch black.


    However, their enthusiasm wasn''t extinguished because of the screen shutdown. It became even more fervent. The media constantly released the video they had recorded. In the middle of the night, many people were discussing the matter of the divine tree and fruits, as well as who had the right to pluck the ripened divine fruit in three months'' time.

 591 Divine Fruit Suspicions

    "What are your thoughts on the matter?" An Tianzuo placed his finger on the teacup and rubbed it, but he had no intention of raising it.


    "Wang Mingyuan is very powerful. He displayed the magical effects of the fruit and proved the power of the Radiant Butterfly Queen. He didn''t say much, but every word he said was filled with irresistible temptation. However, if you think about it carefully, you will realize that he didn''t say a word about the key question," An Sheng answered.


    An Tianzuo raised his teacup and took a sip. After enjoying the aftertaste, he put down the teacup and said, "Tell me. What''s the key?"


    "Firstly, we don''t know where the fruit tree is. We can''t be sure if someone can really pluck the fruit. Secondly, the true use of the fruit is unknown. Although he has already shown the fruit''s abilities, we still don''t know if the Radiant Butterfly Queen is a dimensional creature, a Companion Beast, or an ordinary worm. It''s even possible that it was a creature with the strength of a Mythical creature to begin with. The fruit only stimulated it and allowed it to showcase its true strength."


    After a pause, An Sheng continued, "Let''s take a step back. Even if the fruit is really useful, will it be useful for humans? If it''s only useful for Companion Beasts, its value will be greatly reduced. As we can see, there are already a hundred Mythical Companion Beasts on the rankings. With these Mythical Companion Beasts as the foundation, humanity has the ability to kill Mythical creatures. In the future, we will only obtain more and more Mythical Companion Beasts. It doesn''t seem like there''s a need to take the risk to vie for first place."


    "Since it''s something we can figure out, Wang Mingyuan naturally has figured out the same. Yet, he deliberately didn''t say anything. What does this mean?" An Tianzuo pondered.


    "It''s not easy to guess. If Wang Mingyuan wants to trigger a battle royale, he shouldn''t have left so much suspicion. It makes people think about it too much. Under such circumstances, I''m afraid not many people will try their best to obtain first place," An Sheng said.


    "Could there be such a possibility? Wang Mingyuan doesn''t want the competition to become too intense?" An Tianzuo said after some thought.


    "That doesn''t seem to make sense. What benefits does it bring to him?" An Sheng asked.


    The various families were studying Wang Mingyuan''s actions. Most of them had the same thoughts as An Tianzuo and An Sheng.


    They were wary of Wang Mingyuan''s goal of delivering the fruit. With such a magical fruit, Wang Mingyuan could have swallowed it himself. Why did he offer it?


    Some said that Wang Mingyuan wanted to trigger a war between humans and weaken humanity''s strength. Others said that Wang Mingyuan wanted to use the fruit to lure human experts into a dimensional zone.


    In any case, there were all sorts of things to be said. The ranking remained the same. No one challenged it.


    When Zhou Wen learned of this matter, it was already the third day since the event. This was because he had spent most of his time at Small Buddha Temple. He didn''t watch the news, so he naturally didn''t know that so many things had happened.


    Only when Li Xuan sent a message to Zhou Wen did Zhou Wen realize that something like this had happened. He watched the video on the Internet.


    What''s Teacher trying to do? Zhou Wen was also guessing Wang Mingyuan''s intentions. He didn''t have a deep understanding of Wang Mingyuan, but if Wang Mingyuan''s original intentions hadn''t changed, he probably wouldn''t weaken humanity''s combat strength.


    However, people were prone to change. No one knew if Wang Mingyuan could still abide by his original intent. It was unknown if it changed with his identity.


    "Old Zhou, you are Wang Mingyuan''s student. Based on your understanding of him, do you think those fruits can really help humans advance to the Mythical stage?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I really don''t know about that. From beginning to end, Teacher never said that those fruits can allow humans to advance to the Mythical stage. I don''t think you should have too much hope," Zhou Wen said.


    "How can I have any hope? Even if I believe that the fruit is real and Wang Mingyuan isn''t lying, I don''t have any Mythical creatures that can vie for first place! Mythical pets aren''t something you can find on the street. Our Li family doesn''t even have a Mythical Companion Beast," Li Xuan said.


    "There will be. There are a hundred Mythical Companion Beasts on the ranking now. With humanity having more Mythical Companion Beasts, their commonness will only accelerate," Zhou Wen said.


    "Let''s not talk about that. Your Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s ranking has dropped so much. Do you still have the chance to vie for first place?" Li Xuan asked.


    "Probably not." Zhou Wen knew very well that Six-Winged was mainly a guardian. Compared to the powerful offensive pets, its combat strength was still lacking.


    Ignoring everything else, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon probably couldn''t defend against the terrifying beam of light from the Radiant Butterfly Queen.


    "That''s a pity. I heard from some analysis that only Companion Beasts can participate in the ranking battle. Otherwise, you might be able to give it a try." Li Xuan felt pity for Zhou Wen. He felt that if the owner of the Companion Beast could participate in the battle, Zhou Wen''s ranking might be higher.


    The two of them chatted for a while before Li Xuan went to cultivate. His improvement had been extremely fast recently. In the constant battles with dimensional creatures, the carapace formed by his Life Soul was constantly shattered before being reborn and becoming stronger. Now, he had advanced to an Evolved Body.


    However, after advancing to an Evolved Body, it was impossible for the Life Soul to continue evolving by just being injured in battle. Li Xuan was also searching for a way to advance.


    I wonder if Torch Dragon will be able to obtain first on the rankings. Zhou Wen coveted the divine tree''s fruits.


    He didn''t expect the divine tree''s fruit to advance him to the Mythical stage. As long as the fruit could allow a Companion Beast to advance to the Mythical stage, it was already very attractive to Zhou Wen.


    He had a few Companion Beasts on him. Although they weren''t at the Mythical stage, their combat strength and abilities were excellent. For example, Doctor Darkness, Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, etc.


    If they could advance to the Mythical stage, they would play a very powerful role.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t dare let a Companion Beast like the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General advance again.


    Even if they couldn''t be used, it would be good to get the Banana Fairy to advance to the Mythical stage as soon as possible. Now, Banana Fairy''s Grand Yin Wind couldn''t keep up with his needs.


    Tyrant Behemoth has been evolving for a long time. Why hasn''t it completed its evolution? Zhou Wen glanced at the chaos space and couldn''t help but frown when he saw that Tyrant Behemoth still hadn''t evolved.


    Suddenly, the mysterious phone vibrated. Zhou Wen took out his phone and saw the Dead Man Tree appear on the screen. The fruit that J¨¢k had formed after absorbing it had finally ripened.

 592 Explosive Fiend Man

    Explosive Fiend Man: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Death List, Time-Blast


    Companion Form: Self-detonation Device


    Mortal stage! Zhou Wen immediately felt a headache. The time and resources needed to nurture a Companion Beast were astonishing. It was mainly because it was useless for the time being.


    Zhou Wen carefully read the Explosive Fiend Man''s skill introductions. The more he read, the more pleasantly surprised he became.


    Although he didn''t know what Life Providence and Life Soul Explosive Fiend Man would have in the future, just these two skills alone were terrifying.


    Time-Blast was similar to a Life Blast, but it was more flexible. It could turn some life-forms into time bombs, but it needed to be prepared in advance. The stronger the lifeform''s energy was, the more powerful the blast.


    This skill was secondary. After all, using Time-Blast required the target to be still. If he used it on living creatures, he had to take down the target first. It was more troublesome.


    The truly terrifying skill was Death List. This skill had clearly fused with the Mythical Black Cat''s curse skill. As long as the target signed their name on the Death List, he could control the time of their death, turning the target into a time bomb.


    Of course, Death List wasn''t a corporeal existence. It could be cast on any piece of paper, jade, piece of wood, or even walls or floor. As long as the person signed the name, it would be effective.


    This Companion Beast was an excellent Companion Beast for assassination.


    As for the companion form of the Explosive Fiend Man, it was also terrifying. As the name implied, the self-detonation device allowed it to explode. This skill could only be used once. It would explode with all its force and perish together with the enemy.


    To others, this companion form was basically impossible to use. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn''t be willing to let the Explosive Fiend Man self-destruct.


    However, Zhou Wen was different. He wouldn''t let the Explosive Fiend Man self-destruct in real life, but he could do it in-game. Thinking of how he could advance Explosive Fiend Man to the Mythical stage before self-destructing it, the energy released would definitely be terrifying.


    This was an extreme Companion Beast. If used well, it could kill anything. If used poorly, it might be useless trash.


    I wonder what the Life Providence and Life Soul of the Explosive Fiend Man are? Without any second thoughts, Zhou Wen hatched it. He thought highly of this Companion Beast and planned on nurturing it with all his might.


    Zhou Wen tried the Explosive Fiend Man''s skills in-game. Typical dimensional creatures couldn''t sign their names, making the Death List skill practically useless.


    Time-Blast could only be used on some plant-type or immobile animals. The power needed depended on the energy contained in the creature itself. It needed to be used in a specific environment, and it wasn''t suitable to be used in combat.


    However, the self-explosion device was what surprised Zhou Wen.


    When he transformed into the self-detonation device, it was like a lock. It locked onto the target he could touch, preventing it from escaping.


    The might of self-detonation was also very powerful. A Mortal-stage Explosive Fiend Man could severely injure Legendary dimensional creatures when self-destructing.


    I have to think of a way to raise the Explosive Fiend Man to the Mythical stage. I''ll have to rely on him to kill bosses in the future. I''ll lock onto a boss and self-destruct. Perhaps I can directly blast a Mythical boss to death, Zhou Wen thought, although he felt a little worried.


    It was relatively easy to advance to the Legendary stage and the Epic stage, but advancing to the Mythical stage was extremely difficult.


    I''ll take my time to rear him. Zhou Wen attempted to feed the Explosive Fiend Man his Companion Beasts. Thankfully, the Explosive Fiend Man wasn''t picky with food. Be it Companion Beasts or Companion Eggs, he ate without scruples.


    I wonder if I can feed the Explosive Fiend Man with the fruit from the Longevity Tree¡­ Zhou Wen thought.


    After Demonic Neonate plucked many Longevity Fruits, she would ask Zhou Wen for one every day. Zhou Wen only dared to use them to feed Demonic Neonate. He didn''t dare feed them to his other pets. Who knew if the Longevity Fruit would have side effects?


    Despite Demonic Neonate being fine eating the Longevity Fruit, she was quite odd, so it didn''t mean that the other pets would be fine after eating it. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn''t dare to randomly feed the Longevity Fruit to anything else.


    This Explosive Fiend Beast was similarly terrifying. Zhou Wen felt that he could try feeding the Longevity Fruit to him. If he was willing to eat the Longevity Fruit, his evolution speed would be much faster.


    However, this seemed risky. Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen thought of something. The Longevity Fruit could allow a human to quickly evolve and also allow a Companion Beast to rapidly evolve. This function was similar to the divine fruit.


    Although the two trees looked different, their functions were very similar. However, the effects of the Longevity Fruit were not as strong as the divine tree''s fruit.


    Back then, Lord Alcohol was already at the Epic stage. He ate a Longevity Fruit, but he didn''t truly enter the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and didn''t take the risk with Explosive Fiend Man. There was only one such Companion Beast, and it was impossible for another one to drop. He would rather feed it slowly than cause any problems.


    When he arrived at Small Buddha Temple again, Zhou Wen continued cultivating Zero Taboo. After this period of training, the Zero Taboo crystal had already turned fully crystalline and resplendent like a diamond.


    The taboo power of Small Buddha Temple was no longer able to hone the crystal as before.


    As Zhou Wen walked into the temple, the Zero Taboo crystal suddenly emitted a terrifying glow.


    The crystal was like a Rubik''s Cube as it began spinning automatically. The crystal structure was spinning and reforming, making it look extremely mysterious.


    Is it evolving? Zhou Wen was delighted. After training it for so long, he had finally waited for Zero Taboo to evolve.


    As the crystal spun, a strange light emitted from it. The light was misty like clouds and fog, but it also resembled a nebula.


    As the light blob inside changed, the crystal''s body constantly shrank. Before long, the light blob expanded over the crystal''s body and enveloped the crystal within the nebula-like light blob.


    Zhou Wen also felt a mysterious power flowing out from the nebula, making his body feel more relaxed. He almost couldn''t sense the taboo power of Small Buddha Temple.


    Boom!


    Suddenly, the nebula blob shrank and when it reached its limit, it exploded.


    The huge explosion in his sea of consciousness didn''t really exist, but it left Zhou Wen momentarily dazed. When he snapped to his senses and looked into his sea of consciousness again, his mouth gaped open in surprise.

 593 Gods Retrea

    Furthermore, the infant''s appearance was very similar to Zhou Wen''s. Zhou Wen vaguely remembered that there was a picture of him when he was young back at his old place. It looked very similar to the baby in the mind space.


    Zhou Wen was in Small Buddha Temple, but he didn''t sense the taboo power of Small Buddha Temple. The infant jade statue didn''t emit any light either. Its eyes were closed as though it had fallen asleep.


    Zhou Wen opened his eyes and checked the blood-colored avatar''s information on the phone. He saw that the name and annotation had changed in the Life Soul column.


    Gods Retreat (Evolved Body): Where the Life Soul is, the Gods flee.


    This introduction is more impressive than before, but I wonder what its true effects are? Zhou Wen felt that the annotation was a little too crazy.


    It was clearly meaning that wherever the Life Soul went, even gods had to avoid it. How could an Evolved Body Life Soul be capable of this?


    Regardless, he could indeed sense the growth of his Life Soul. This was because the taboo of Small Buddha Temple was completely ineffective against the jade infant named "Gods Retreat."


    Zhou Wen knew that staying here was probably useless. He had to search for a forbidden ground that was even stronger than Small Buddha Temple. He wanted to see if he could use Gods Retreat to continue raising his strength.


    I wonder what the Perfect Body will be after Zero Taboo and Gods Retreat? Zhou Wen was more curious about the Life Soul condensed by the Dao Body.


    Unlike other Life Souls, every evolution of the Dao Body Life Soul seemed to involve a huge change.


    Where else has taboo powers that are stronger than Small Buddha Temple? Immortal Seeking Mountain? It''s too far. Besides, I don''t know the way to Immortal Seeking Mountain¡­ Zhou Wen left Small Buddha Temple and thought about where he could continue cultivating the entire way.


    After some thought, he felt that the best place to go was probably White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak. There was an extremely powerful taboo power there that might allow Gods Retreat to improve.


    Zhou Wen had already downloaded the White Cloud Mountain dungeon on his phone, but its name was Demon Suppression Mountain.


    After launching the Demon Suppression Mountain dungeon, the blood-colored avatar appeared outside the Jade Emperor Peak''s entrance. Zhou Wen still remembered that the last time he stepped into the mountain, Zero Taboo nearly exploded in less than ten seconds.


    I wonder how long I can now last? Zhou Wen activated the Gods Retreat Life Soul and controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter the Jade Emperor Peak''s entrance.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw a strange force surge towards the baby jade statue. It was not like when he had Zero Taboo. The Life Soul sucked the mysterious taboo power into his body and made it part of him.


    The taboo power of Jade Emperor Peak failed to injure the jade infant statue. Instead, it made the glow over him grow stronger as though it was protected by divine light.


    What a powerful Life Soul. If that''s the case, wouldn''t I be able to come and go freely on Jade Emperor Peak? I wouldn''t have to worry about the length of time? Zhou Wen made the blood-colored avatar walk up the stone steps, hoping to figure out what secrets White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak held.


    After walking up the stone steps, it didn''t take him long to see a huge hall. On both sides of the hall was a stone beast statue. It looked rather strange.


    The two stone statues were crouching. They looked like stone tigers, but there were curved horns on their heads. Fiery cloud patterns were engraved on their bodies.


    What was even more strange was that there was a word engraved on the foreheads of the two stone tigers. On the left side of the door was the word Suppression. On the right side of the stone tiger was the word "Demon."


    Just as Zhou Wen approached the temple, he saw the words Demon Suppression on the two stone tigers'' foreheads light up.


    As the words ''Demon Suppression'' lit up, Zhou Wen realized that the strange powers had gushed into Gods Retreat''s body like a heavenly river. The jade infant''s face revealed a look of pain, and its body also began to show signs of abnormality, as though there were faint cracks appearing.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to leave Jade Emperor Peak. Although Gods Retreat didn''t have the ability to make all gods retreat, his abilities were indeed much stronger than Zero Taboo. Furthermore, he could absorb the taboo power.


    However, the power of the words Demon Suppression was too powerful, preventing the jade infant from digesting it.


    Although I can''t enter the temple, I''ve found a way to evolve the jade infant. I''ll just cultivate on Jade Emperor Peak in the future. It''s only a matter of time before I advance to a Perfect Body. Zhou Wen was considering if he should personally make a trip to White Cloud Mountain. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be able to grind other dungeons if he stayed on White Cloud Mountain in-game.


    I should make a trip to White Cloud Mountain. I might even have a chance to see the immortal palace phenomenon. Zhou Wen thought for a long time before deciding to make a trip to White Cloud Mountain in reality.


    He told An Sheng, Li Xuan, and his friends about his trip to White Cloud Mountain. An Sheng told Zhou Wen to be careful. Other than that, there was nothing else.


    After Li Xuan heard about White Cloud Mountain, he indicated an interest in going with Zhou Wen. He had recently reached a bottleneck and hadn''t been able to continue his breakthrough. He was thinking of heading out for a spin to change his train of thought.


    That afternoon, the two of them went to White Cloud Mountain. As it was in Luoyang, the duo rode their Companion Beasts and soon arrived at White Cloud Mountain.


    "Put this on. You can''t take it off no matter what. Otherwise, don''t blame me when you see the immortal palace phenomenon." Zhou Wen threw a balaclava at Li Xuan.


    "Why aren''t you wearing one?" Li Xuan asked suspiciously when he saw Zhou Wen prepare a balaclava.


    "Let alone the immortal palace phenomenon, even if gods really descend, I wouldn''t need to close my eyes and hide," Zhou Wen said half-jokingly.


    "You''re awesome, aren''t you!" Li Xuan gloomily put on the balaclava. Zhou Wen led the way as the two of them climbed up White Cloud Mountain.


    With the Gods Retreat Life Soul, Zhou Wen was still looking forward to seeing the immortal palace phenomenon again. Previously, due to his lacking strength, he hadn''t been able to clearly see what the fairy, who tore out of the entrance, looked like. If she were to come out again, he could see her clearly.


    Unfortunately, no immortal palace phenomenon appeared along the way. Even when the two of them arrived at the entrance of Jade Emperor Peak, they did not see a single dimensional creature, much less any phenomena.


    "Old Zhou, why aren''t you walking?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen since he couldn''t see a thing.


    "Jade Emperor Peak is in front. After passing through the entrance, there''s a terrifying taboo power inside. Even Mythical creatures will die in a short period of time if they enter. I cultivate an Essence Energy Art that can withstand that forbidden power. Furthermore, I need to cultivate inside. Don''t come in," Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    "You''ve mentioned it before. I came here for Jade Emperor Peak''s taboo powers. You can enter by yourself. Don''t mind me," Li Xuan said as he summoned his Life Soul. The black carapace wrapped around his body as a black evil aura rose from the armor. It looked evil and powerful, completely different from Li Xuan''s usual demeanor.

 594 Suicidal Farming

    "I''m just afraid that it''s not strong enough," Li Xuan said as he stepped onto the stone steps on Jade Emperor Peak.


    Just as he walked in, the carapace on his body crackled. Large amounts of cracks appeared on it, and blood oozed out.


    In the next second, Li Xuan leaped out. By the time he landed, most of his carapace had shattered. Only a few remaining pieces were hanging from his body. His body was covered in blood and wounds everywhere, as though he had just been scooped out of a pool of blood.


    "Are you alright?" Zhou Wen hurriedly went over to check Li Xuan''s injuries. It was a ghastly sight. There were bone-deep wounds everywhere.


    "It''s fine. It''s really strong. This is it. This will be the best training ground for me." Li Xuan struggled to his feet. The injuries on his body were healing at a discernible pace. Even the shattered carapace was rapidly growing amidst black-gray flames.


    In moments, Li Xuan''s injuries and armor had completely recovered, as though he had never been injured.


    "Don''t worry about me. Just do what you need to do," Li Xuan said as he charged into Jade Emperor Peak. In the next second, Zhou Wen saw him thrown out again, covered in blood.


    Seeing that he was fine, Zhou Wen walked into the Jade Emperor Peak himself. With the Gods Retreat absorbing the taboo power and protecting his body, he naturally wouldn''t be as miserable as Li Xuan.


    Not daring to touch the two Demon Suppression beasts, Zhou Wen sat on the stone steps and gamed. He allowed the jade infant to absorb the taboo powers on the Jade Emperor Peak to slowly become stronger.


    "Ah¡­ Bam¡­ Ah¡­ Bam¡­" On Jade Emperor Peak, screams and sounds of falling could be heard from time to time. Even Zhou Wen was surprised by Li Xuan''s perseverance.


    Although his recovery abilities were extremely strong and injuries weren''t a big deal to him, such injuries would definitely put Li Xuan in extreme pain. To endure such pain time and time again and even seek out injuries required immense perseverance. This form of self-torture to grow stronger wasn''t something anyone could withstand.


    However, the effects of Li Xuan''s actions were obvious. Every time his body and carapace were repaired, he would last a little longer on Jade Emperor Peak. It was obvious that he was becoming stronger.


    Seeing that Li Xuan was fine, Zhou Wen began grinding.


    This time, he went straight to the Qiongqi temple. He had an idea. Perhaps he could kill Qiongqi without using the Bright Torch Vision World, but he didn''t know if it would work.


    After arriving outside the Qiongqi temple, Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to enter. Instead, he summoned Torch Dragon, Golden Battle God Halberd, and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    Explosive Fiend Man walked in front of Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and extended his palm to press on its stomach.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side as the armor on Explosive Fiend Man''s body lit up. It was as though a red stream of light was flowing through a connected tube, eventually flowing into Explosive Fiend Man''s palm.


    A red light pattern immediately appeared on the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s belly. It had lines like a circuit board that spread across its body.


    The light patterns spread very slowly. Two hours later, the red light patterns on the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon occupied one of the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s legs.


    Explosive Fiend Man is only at the Mortal stage. His Essence Energy is too limited, so he can''t quickly release a Time-Blast. I can only take things slowly. In a real battle, it would be impossible to use the Explosive Fiend Man to fight. Zhou Wen didn''t have a good solution either. All he could do was patiently wait.


    After four days, Zhou Wen really couldn''t wait any longer. Thankfully, most of the spots on the Golden Battle God Halberd and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s bodies were filled with Time-Blast''s red patterns. Zhou Wen didn''t plan on waiting any longer. He planned on giving it a try with this lineup.


    Pushing open the temple door, Zhou Wen ordered Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd to charge in. At the same time, he summoned Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to restrain Qiongqi.


    When Qiongqi saw Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd rush in, it immediately charged forward ferociously. Just as its claws were about to touch Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, Six-Winged and Golden Battle God Halberd emitted a red glow.


    Boom!


    The entire Qiongqi temple shook as dust fell everywhere. Zhou Wen and company had hidden to the side. After the explosion ended, he hurriedly looked into the temple.


    The temple was in a mess. Corpse fragments were everywhere. There wasn''t even an intact bone left of Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. The Golden Battle God Halberd had also been reduced to pieces.


    However, it could be seen that their bodies weren''t fully exploded and the energy usage was very low. This might be related to the low level of Explosive Fiend Man.


    As for Qiongqi, its head and chest were badly mangled. Its legs had snapped. Although it wasn''t dead, it had been severely injured.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got Torch Dragon to charge in and fight the seriously injured Qiongqi.


    Torch Dragon originally could not kill Qiongqi without using the Bright Torch Vision World, but now that Qiongqi was heavily injured and restrained by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Torch Dragon immediately gained the upper hand.


    After a bitter battle lasting more than an hour, Torch Dragon finally killed Qiongqi in the temple. It was mainly because Qiongqi''s speed was too fast. Even with Qiongqi having its leg injured, Torch Dragon still spent a lot of effort to force Qiongqi into a dead-end before finally killing it.


    Ding! As Qiongqi fell, a crisp sound entered Zhou Wen''s ears as a dimensional crystal dropped.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel somewhat disappointed. Most dimensional crystals were useless to him now. Even if it was a Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystal, he couldn''t absorb it due to his lacking stats. He couldn''t bring it out of the game and could only let it disappear during his respawning.


    However, when Zhou Wen took a closer look at the crystal, he was somewhat surprised. Beneath the gray crystal was the word "Evil stat 34."


    Evil stat? This was the first time Zhou Wen had heard of such an attribute. He had never seen it before.


    However, since it was a rare stat, it would definitely be useful in the future. It should be useful when learning Essence Energy Skills.


    After picking up the Evil stat crystal and absorbing it, there was indeed an additional Evil stat among his rare stats. Furthermore, it was as high as 34 points.


    Although this method can kill Qiongqi, Explosive Fiend Man''s level is too low. It''s really irritating using him. I have to raise his level. Zhou Wen had the urge to feed the Explosive Fiend Man the Longevity Fruit.


    However, on second thought, he did not. After all, Explosive Fiend Man wasn''t picky with food. It could evolve by eating anything, but Demonic Neonate didn''t eat anything other than the Longevity Fruits. There were only so many Longevity Fruits, so there would be nothing left after they were finished. Zhou Wen still planned on reserving the Longevity Fruits for Demonic Neonate to eat.


    While Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were cultivating on White Cloud Mountain, something huge happened. Finally, someone issued a Companion Beast ranking challenge.

 595 Primordial Sword Immortal

    A Companion Beast named Deep Frost Behemoth appeared on the screen of the cubes. It looked like a giant octopus. It was ice-blue in color, and its position was on a platform above a huge cube. The cube''s surroundings were empty, making it look nothing like a city.


    On the right side of the screen, a ranking appeared. Rank 16''s Frost Giant''s name kept flashing as an alarm rung.


    Behind the Frost Giant''s name was a 72-hour countdown. People guessed that this was the time given to the owner of Frost Giant to consider accepting the challenge. If the countdown ended and the owner hadn''t accepted the challenge, it would probably be determined as a loss.


    Everyone was discussing if Frost Giant would accept the challenge, but this question quickly had an answer. The alarm stopped and Frost Giant''s name was completely lit up. Then, the ranking vanished. Frost Giant also appeared on the cube where the Deep Frost Behemoth was. They stared at each other.


    Frost Giant was covered in ice-blue skin. Its head, shoulder, waist, and other parts were covered in frost metal armor. It also had an iron ax in its hand.


    Although Frost Giant was huge, it appeared a little shorter in front of the Deep Frost Behemoth.


    With a roar, Frost Giant''s ax slashed at the Deep Frost Behemoth. After all, they were all Companion Beasts, so there wasn''t any need for unnecessary communication.


    Frost powers tore out of the ax, forming a huge ice streak that spread to the Deep Frost Behemoth.


    The tentacles of the Deep Frost Behemoth danced, producing frost as they shattered the ice streaks.


    The two gigantic monsters clashed intensely on the cube''s platform. As they were both frost-type Companion Beasts and strength-based, the intense battle between the two terrifying Mythical Companion Beasts sent frost shards flying everywhere, like fireworks formed from frost.


    The two Companion Beasts were evenly matched as they used various frost-elemental skills. However, both parties had high resistance against the cold. Their bodies were extremely tough, so they were only slightly injured. Neither of them could do a thing to the other.


    The Deep Frost Behemoth finally couldn''t help but take the initiative to launch an attack. The huge tentacles on its body were raised as dark-blue suction cups lit up. Rays of freezing light shot out from them towards Frost Giant.


    Frost Giant didn''t give in either. He raised his ax over his head and cleaved down. The ice-like power roared out like an ice river and collided with the Deep Frost Behemoth''s ice beams.


    "Who won?" The spectators were puzzled.


    Now, the two Mythical creatures were frozen in ice, making it difficult to determine the victor.


    Suddenly, cracks appeared on the ice. A moment later, the huge ice block shattered and Frost Giant broke out. He held the ax in his hand and roared as he slashed at the Deep Frost Behemoth.


    Just as everyone reeled in excitement and thought that they were about to see the scene of a Mythical Companion Beast being killed, the Deep Frost Behemoth''s body suddenly transformed into a stream of light and vanished. It seemed to have teleported away from the cube platform.


    The first Companion Beast challenge ended in failure. Deep Frost Behemoth failed to win over the ranking, but this battle made many people discover something.


    It turned out that the challenge didn''t have to be fought to the end. One could even admit defeat and withdraw. This gave a variety of ideas to people.


    Many Companion Beasts might not have the qualifications to clinch first place, but they could challenge their opposing faction''s Mythical Companion Beasts to figure out their strength and come up with a counter in the future.


    This was especially so for the opposing factions in the Federation and overseas factions. There was very little information about overseas, so the Federation''s knowledge of their Companion Beasts was limited. Perhaps they could take this opportunity to understand the abilities of the Companion Beasts overseas.


    Challenges on various Companion Beasts increased after the first battle. The battles of top-notch Companion Beasts were like a visual feast for ordinary people. It allowed many people who might never come into contact with Mythical Companion Beasts in their lifetime to witness their strength and horror.


    The challenge wasn''t limited to Companion Beasts that weren''t ranked. The Companion Beasts on the ranking board could also challenge each other, but they could only challenge those ranked higher than them.


    To initiate a challenge, one only needed to find a cube and inject Essence Energy from the top. This was how they got onto the rankings. The Companion Beast would then be teleported to a black cube in the void.


    The black cube was extremely large. Fighting on it didn''t affect anyone or any city. After the battle ended, Companion Beasts would be teleported back to their respective cubes.


    During the battle, the owner could also choose to withdraw their Companion Beast. Withdrawing was equivalent to admitting defeat.


    The cube''s initial ranking was determined by the Companion Beasts'' stats, skills, Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny, but it wasn''t completely accurate, nor did it represent actual combat abilities.


    Ever since the beginning of the challenge, there had been quite a number of Companion Beasts, which were ranked at the bottom, defeating those ranked at the top.


    The overall combat strength ranking did not mean actual combat strength.


    However, the first few challenges were basically from low-ranking Companion Beasts. The top ten Companion Beasts were never challenged.


    However, it only took a few days before this changed. A Companion Beast that had never been on the rankings and had never been heard of actually challenged first place¡ªPrimordial Sword Immortal.


    This battle attracted the attention of the entire Federation and people from overseas. To be ranked first, even if it was only determined by the cubes, the strength of Primordial Sword Immortal was not to be underestimated.


    "From the looks of it, someone finally can''t hold back. They want to test Primordial Sword Immortal. Do you think that Dark Demon Snake is from the Federation or from overseas?" An Tianzuo looked at the video and asked An Sheng.


    "Both are possible, but I think the possibility of it coming from overseas is higher," An Sheng replied.


    "Why?" An Tianzuo asked An Sheng with interest.


    "Although we haven''t found out who the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal is yet, based on its appearance and other aspects, the possibility of it being a Companion Beast in the Federation is very high. Logically speaking, the overseas faction should be more eager to understand its abilities," An Sheng replied.


    "That makes sense. Let''s see how much strength that Dark Demon Snake can force out of Primordial Sword Immortal." An Tianzuo''s gaze landed on the screen again.

 596 Azure and Purple Ligh

    However, no one knew what kind of abilities Primordial Sword Immortal had for it to be given such an evaluation by the cube. It had always been ranked first; no Companion Beast could pose a threat to it.


    Even the powerful Mythical Companion Beast like Death of the Underworld could only rank beneath it.


    The Federation knew more about Death of the Underworld. It was considered one of the top Companion Beasts among the six families. Its strength was just terrifying.


    Dark Demon Snake was a huge snake. At this moment, it was coiled on the cube''s platform, waiting for Primordial Sword Immortal to accept the challenge.


    Thankfully, Primordial Sword Immortal accepted the challenge without letting the spectators wait too long. With a flash, a sheathed stone ancient sword appeared on the platform.


    Primordial Sword Immortal was actually just a stone sword. There wasn''t any immortal, so it was a question whether to call it a sword immortal or an immortal sword.


    The stone sword was grayish-white in color. The scabbard and hilt were carved from ancient gray stone. Only the guard was embedded with a ruby.


    As no one had seen it unsheathed, no one knew what the sword looked like on the inside.


    Dark Demon Snake didn''t hesitate when it saw the Primordial Sword Immortal appear. It used its strongest force.


    Dark Demon Snake''s master clearly knew that it was no match for Primordial Sword Immortal. They only wanted to force out the strength of Primordial Sword Immortal as much as possible.


    Dark Demon Snake opened its mouth and spat out a turbulent Dark Demon Tide. Like a tidal wave, it drowned the cube''s platform. Once one was stuck in it, they would be demonized by it.


    Primordial Sword Immortal remained suspended silently in midair. Just as it was about to be drowned by the Dark Demon Tide, the ruby at the guard suddenly lit up.


    A red sword beam shot out from the ruby and instantly penetrated Dark Demon Snake''s head. It killed it without giving it a chance of surrendering.


    The spectators looked at each other. Although they knew that Primordial Sword Immortal would definitely win, they never expected it to win so easily. The sword wasn''t even unsheathed.


    "Who is the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal? We have to find out no matter what." Senator Cape stared at Primordial Sword Immortal on the screen and issued the strict order.


    The other families and even those overseas gave the same order.


    On the rankings, Primordial Sword Immortal was indeed very strong. Even though people had yet to see the true strength of Primordial Sword Immortal, just that strike alone was enough to make one feel fear.


    However, things were different if they could find the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal. No matter how powerful a Companion Beast was, its owner was at most at the Epic stage. Dealing with an Epic human was naturally much easier than dealing with the terrifying Primordial Sword Immortal.


    The rules in the arena were fixed, but in reality, there were many ways to clinch victory. There was no need to defeat Primordial Sword Immortal.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were on White Cloud Mountain, so they had no idea what had happened. Over the past few days, they had been constantly training themselves.


    The jade infant had absorbed a lot of taboo power and had started undergoing some changes. The treasure glow on its body intensified, but within two days of absorbing the taboo power, not much more happened. It looked like the taboo power here was useless against the jade infant.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to use the Demon Suppression statues to stimulate the jade infant for continual evolution.


    This actually worked. However, this way, Zhou Wen joined Li Xuan in his predicament. Li Xuan suffered injuries every time he entered Jade Emperor Peak.


    Zhou Wen approached the Demon Suppression statues once and the jade infant nearly exploded. It needed half a day of rest before it could completely digest the powerful taboo power that it had absorbed.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to continue grinding while the jade infant digested the forbidden power. The time needed for Explosive Fiend Man to cast Time-Blast was just too long. With the time needed, Zhou Wen might as well farm Medusa a few more times. After grinding for so long, he still failed to get a Medusa Companion Egg. He did grind quite a number of Essence Energy Skill Crystals, but his stats were insufficient, so he couldn''t absorb them. In the end, he had to lose them with each respawn.


    Ding! When Zhou Wen was farming the Golden Battle God Halberd again, another Golden Battle God Halberd Companion Egg dropped. Its stats and skills were very similar to the first Golden Battle God Halberd.


    With the second Golden Battle God Halberd, Zhou Wen held one while the other outside of the game auto-attacked. Killing Mythical creatures became much easier and faster.


    However, he felt that having two Golden Battle God Halberds made one of them a little redundant.


    If only I could fuse it. Zhou Wen looked at it and realized that the Golden Battle God Halberd could indeed be fused. However, its compatibility with ordinary Epic Companion Beasts wasn''t very high, so he temporarily didn''t have a good candidate. He had to dispel this thought.


    After grinding the rare dimensional creatures, Zhou Wen went to Deer Terrace Pavilion. With the four Mythical Companion Beasts, he could storm his way onto Deer Terrace Pavilion even without using Bright Torch Vision World.


    Just as he was about to kill the six Mythical fox demons, he suddenly felt a glow appear in front of him. He looked up and saw the scene of Jade Immortal Palace appear above the sea of clouds.


    "The immortal palace phenomenon! Li Xuan, quickly close your eyes," Zhou Wen hurriedly reminded Li Xuan.


    As they hadn''t seen any immortal palace phenomena over the past few days, Li Xuan usually didn''t wear the balaclava.


    Thankfully, Li Xuan knew that the immortal palace phenomenon was dangerous, so he usually didn''t look into the sky. He only looked in the direction of the Jade Emperor Peak. At that moment, he was recovering from his injuries, so he had his eyes closed.


    When Li Xuan heard that, he hurriedly took out the balaclava and put it on his head to prevent himself from accidentally seeing the immortal palace phenomenon.


    Zhou Wen naturally wasn''t afraid of the phenomenon. He stared at the pavilions and buildings in the clouds; there were many fairies circling them. However, the immortal palace he saw this time seemed different from what he had seen the last time. He didn''t see the palace from before, nor did he see the fairy who had broken out of the entrance.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling disappointed, he suddenly saw a strange scene appear in the immortal palace''s phenomenon. He saw an azure and a purple beam pass through the immortal palace''s phenomenon like two rainbows, constantly circling and dancing.


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at the two beams of light, but he couldn''t see them clearly. All he could see was the streams of light dancing in the air. At the same time, two indescribable pressures made his heart tremble. He felt as though his body was about to be penetrated by the two beams of light at any moment.

 597 Absolute Strength

    Zhou Wen couldn''t see what was inside the two streams of light, but just by looking at their auras, he felt an indomitable aura. It was as though everything in the world would be mercilessly sliced apart if they stood in front of these two beams.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen''s willpower was extremely firm. Otherwise, just the aura of the purple and azure light would have left him shuddering.


    Just as he was wondering what the two beams of light were, he suddenly saw them separate. The azure light landed on the top of a jade pavilion and the purple light landed on a small building.


    Only then did Zhou Wen see that the azure light was an azure bird. The purple light was a purple bird. The two birds looked somewhat similar. They had long feathers and phoenix tails. Their bodies glowed with immortal light and they looked extremely beautiful.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what birds they were, but the moment they spread their wings and took off, Zhou Wen saw their flying stance and was immediately amazed.


    This only lasted for an instant. Zhou Wen could only see their taking-off postures. After they took off, he couldn''t see their figures again. All he could see were two streams of light¡ªone azure, one purple¡ªthat danced around the immortal palace.


    After watching for a moment, the immortal palace phenomenon vanished. However, the flying stance of the azure and purple birds was imprinted in Zhou Wen''s mind, unable to be dispelled.


    "Old Zhou, what''s in that phenomenon? Tell me about it." Unable to see it, Li Xuan was burning with curiosity as he asked Zhou Wen.


    "There''s an immortal palace in the phenomenon. There are pavilions and buildings. Fairies and immortal children dance among them. There are two birds¡ªone azure, and one purple bird¡­" Zhou Wen roughly described it.


    After the phenomenon, Zhou Wen kept pondering over the flying stance of the two birds. He had a nagging feeling that the stance was very different from the fairy''s flying stance. It was two completely different styles.


    I wonder if I can fuse the flying stances of the two birds into my movement technique. Unfortunately, I only saw their flying postures. There''s too little information I can use for reference. As he was pondering, he felt an intense idea come to mind.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he analyzed it. He hurriedly looked at the chaos space and saw that Tyrant Behemoth had finally finished evolving. It had already broken out of its shell.


    A motorcycle that Zhou Wen placed in the chaos space was as tiny as an ant in front of the behemoth. Zhou Wen couldn''t even estimate how big it was.


    Zhou Wen was naturally happy that Tyrant Behemoth had advanced to the Mythical stage, but this size put him in a difficult spot. Where could he put such a huge Companion Beast?


    It was fine in the chaos space, but if it came out, Jade Emperor Peak probably couldn''t contain its body.


    As Zhou Wen was in the middle of this dilemma, he saw Tyrant Behemoth slowly shrink. In just a moment, it changed from a mountain-like beast to about three meters tall.


    Can it actually shrink? Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth back to him and entered the game to check its information.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength


    Life Soul: Violent Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Strength


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    Tyrant Behemoth''s stats were very good. Just like Torch Dragon, every stat reached 81 points. Everything else was the same as before it evolved.


    However, after advancing to the Mythical stage, he gained the Wheel of Destiny¡ªAbsolute Strength. Zhou Wen had only learned that for every action, there was an equal and opposite reaction. He didn''t know what Absolute Strength was, but he carefully checked its description.


    Absolute Strength: A miracle that crushes everything with strength.


    Strength can crush everything. How far can it go? Zhou Wen launched a game dungeon and it happened to be in front of Deer Terrace Pavilion. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth to see how strong its Wheel of Destiny was.


    The blood-colored avatar hid outside with Six-Winged, Torch Dragon, and the two Golden Battle God Halberds by its side. However, it didn''t let them enter the ancient building and only allowed Tyrant Behemoth to charge in.


    Tyrant Behemoth entered the ancient building and immediately alarmed the six fox immortals. One of them shot out a rainbow beam that slashed at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth didn''t take action. It opened its mouth and bit down, sucking the light into its stomach as though it was drinking cold water.


    Holy sh*t, this Mythical Mountain Consuming Skill is quite powerful. It can even devour a Mythical Essence Energy Skill. Zhou Wen was delighted.


    The six fox immortals attacked Tyrant Behemoth one after another. Tyrant Behemoth opened its mouth and swallowed all sorts of Essence Energy Skills. It was insolent, violent, and unreasonable.


    The six fox immortals weren''t stupid. They attacked Tyrant Behemoth from different directions, but all Tyrant Behemoth did was open its mouth and they were immediately left helpless.


    All sorts of colorful light struck Tyrant Behemoth''s body. Tyrant Behemoth roared and a crown appeared on its head. Its physique immediately increased drastically as it forcefully used its body to tank the rainbow light. The fox immortals'' attacks could only leave a shallow wound on its body.


    However, the fox immortals specialized in movement techniques and illusions. Tyrant Behemoth''s speed and strength were much stronger than theirs, but it failed to hit them. Often, a fierce claw strike only struck their phantoms.


    In its rage, Behemoth finally used its Wheel of Destiny. A black light emitted from Tyrant Behemoth''s body as though all light had been absorbed by it.


    Boom!


    The floor beneath Behemoth''s feet collapsed, but it wasn''t just the floor. Even space seemed to be crushed by its strength, creating a spatial vortex.


    Everything around it flew towards Behemoth. It was like a black hole, sucking everything around it.


    The six fox immortals were no exception. They struggled to escape, but the powerful suction force made it difficult for them to move.


    Tyrant Behemoth charged forward and smashed the six fox immortals into pieces with one punch after another. The six fox immortals counterattacked with all their might, but their attacks left zero effect when landing on Tyrant Behemoth''s body. It was akin to scratching an itch. When Tyrant Behemoth landed a punch on them, it directly shattered their bodies. Their strengths were on completely different levels.


    How mighty! It''s thrashing them despite it being one against six. Zhou Wen was overjoyed. With Tyrant Behemoth, he didn''t need to go through so much trouble to kill Qiongqi.

 598 Theres a Demon at the Bottom of the Mountain

    With Absolute Strength, Tyrant Behemoth remained completely immune to their attacks. All sorts of aural attacks landed on Tyrant Behemoth''s body, but they didn''t hurt at all. However, they could only use their movement techniques and speed to circle around Tyrant Behemoth. Otherwise, they would have died from a single punch from it.


    What was terrifying was that Absolute Strength caused space to collapse. It produced a suction force that resembled gravity, hindering their movement and speed. They didn''t last long before they were killed by Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth alone had stormed through three levels of the ancient building. Before that, only Torch Dragon could do it.


    Zhou Wen was excited. He was just about to take Tyrant Behemoth to Zhuolu''s underground temples to see if it could kill Qiongqi when he realized that Tyrant Behemoth''s Absolute Strength couldn''t be used again.


    What the hell¡­ Does absolute Strength still have a time limit? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. This was equivalent to an invincible state. It was impossible for there to be no restrictions. Otherwise, wouldn''t Tyrant Behemoth really be invincible?


    As Zhou Wen grinded dungeons, he waited for Tyrant Behemoth''s Absolute Strength to finish the cooldown. He waited 24 hours before he could use it again.


    Charging for twenty-four hours for half an hour of usage. It is a little short, but the pro is that it''s for invincibility. Zhou Wen was satisfied. Half an hour''s invincibility should be enough for him to do many things.


    Zhou Wen led Tyrant Behemoth and the other Mythical Companion Beasts into the Zhuolu underground temple with great aplomb. When he arrived at the Aoyin stone statue, for no reason, a sudden thought came to him. He planned on getting Tyrant Behemoth to kill Torch Dragon.


    Which one is stronger? Absolute Strength or Bright Torch Vision World? Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to use Absolute Strength before charging into the Torch Dragon temple.


    However, without any room for suspense, Tyrant Behemoth was directly reflected by the vision world. Its Absolute Strength failed to protect its body.


    Tyrant Behemoth''s strength can even crush space. Can''t it distort Torch Dragon''s gaze? Zhou Wen had no choice but to use his old method to deal with Torch Dragon. It wasn''t easy for him to kill the Torch Dragon youngling, but nothing dropped.


    ¡­


    However, the Companion Beasts that challenged Primordial Sword Immortal survived. They weren''t killed like the Dark Demon Snake. Their owners were already prepared.


    It was naturally a good thing that they could survive, but to not have the qualifications to make Primordial Sword Immortal unsheath itself made many people who wanted to vie for first place, secretly frown.


    Unless one sent a top Mythical creature to fight it, it was very difficult to figure out Primordial Sword Immortal''s plethora of abilities.


    However, up till now, no one was willing to reveal their top combat strength and fight to the death with Primordial Sword Immortal. Everyone was just watching.


    During this period of time, a Companion Beast challenged the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, but because Zhou Wen was on White Cloud Mountain, he didn''t have the chance to receive the news about him being challenged. Therefore, after 72 hours, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon automatically admitted defeat and gave up its original position.


    An Sheng had also sent a message to Zhou Wen, but because there was no signal on White Cloud Mountain, Zhou Wen didn''t receive it.


    "Haha¡­ I''ve finally succeeded¡­" A couple of weeks later, on White Cloud Mountain''s Jade Emperor Peak, Li Xuan laughed out loud in excitement.


    His body stood on the stone steps as the carapace on his body shattered and healed itself. The self-healing speed was even faster than the shattering. The taboo power on Jade Emperor Peak failed to kill Li Xuan.


    "Old Li, your self-healing powers are impressive! It''s an undying body," Zhou Wen exclaimed. He was indeed envious of Li Xuan''s self-healing abilities.


    Although Small Perfection of Wisdom also had Constitution enhancement, it was very different from the typical Constitution enhancement. In terms of self-healing, it was far inferior to Li Xuan.


    "It''s indeed good, but it freaking hurts!" Li Xuan retreated out of the Jade Emperor Peak and said with gritted teeth.


    The wounds could heal, but the pain from the injuries remained.


    "Old Zhou, I have to head back now. Do you want to go back together?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen.


    "I still need to cultivate here for a period of time. You go back. By the way, remember to prepare the things I asked you to buy for me. I''ll be needing them when I return in a few days." Zhou Wen still remembered the items The Thearch wanted. They weren''t anything valuable, so there was no need to fall out with her over this.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen was very interested in The Thearch''s Pet Skill Insights Agent.


    Typically, Companion Beasts that dropped wouldn''t have all their skills, especially Mythical pets. Most Mythical creatures had plenty of skills, but Companion Eggs that dropped typically only had four skills. If the Pet Skill Insights Agent was useful, it might allow Mythical Companion Beasts to have all their skills.


    Just like the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, it lacked several skills. If it could comprehend those skills, its combat strength would increase a little.


    "I got the purchasing department to buy it. It''s almost done. I''ll go back and take a look. If there''s anything missing, I''ll get them to quickly purchase it. I''ll head back first." Li Xuan couldn''t wait to return home.


    Zhou Wen sent him off White Cloud Mountain before returning to Jade Emperor Peak. However, just as he came in front of the door to Jade Emperor Peak, he looked up and trembled.


    At the end of the Jade Emperor Peak''s stone steps stood a white-robed, white-haired man. He stood in front of the Demon Suppression statues and looked at Zhou Wen with a smile.


    "Teacher!" Zhou Wen called out, but he didn''t know what to say.


    "I''ve implicated many of you, yet you are still willing to call me teacher. It makes me feel ashamed," Wang Mingyuan sighed.


    "You taught me before. It''s only right for me to call you teacher." Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan and continued, "Teacher, can I ask you why you are using the divine fruit to initiate the ranking battles?"


    "If I tell you that I only wish to give the fruit to someone, would you believe me?" Wang Mingyuan said with a faint smile.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word, but Wang Mingyuan laughed. "You''re still the same as before. You haven''t changed at all. You''re so stubborn and don''t know how to hide your feelings."


    "Teacher, you aren''t here just to tell me this, right?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I came here to retrieve something, but I never expected to meet you. Since we are fated to meet again and you are still willing to call me teacher, I''ll tell you a secret." Wang Mingyuan pointed at his feet and said, "There''s a demon at the bottom of the mountain. It can help you break through to the Mythical stage."

 599 Demon Suppression Hall

    "It''s just a title. You can also call him Guardian," Wang Mingyuan answered.


    "Do you want me to advance to the Mythical stage like you using Spirit Casting on a Guardian?" Zhou Wen asked Wang Mingyuan. He actually wanted to know if Wang Mingyuan had advanced to the Mythical stage using Spirit Casting or not.


    "Did Ziya give you the Spirit Casting Skill?" Wang Mingyuan frowned slightly.


    "Yes." Zhou Wen nodded.


    Wang Mingyuan sighed and said, "The body of humans is innately lacking. If you wish to advance to the Mythical stage, you must have a way to make up for it. Now, there are two viable paths. First, it''s to form a contract with a Guardian to advance to the Mythical stage with the body of a Guardian. This path looks simple, but in fact, it has extremely high requirements. It''s very difficult to get a Guardian''s acknowledgment if one doesn''t have a compatible physique and talent. Even if one obtains the recognition, they will be abandoned if they fail to meet the Guardian''s requirements in their future growth and in combat. By choosing this path, it''s equivalent to boarding a train that can''t be stopped. There''s no chance of retreating. Once it fails, one will be left with nothing as they fall to the lowest point possible."


    After a pause, Wang Mingyuan continued, "The second path is Spirit Casting. By borrowing the bodies of powerful creatures to make up for your shortcomings, one can choose Mythical creatures or Guardians as targets for Spirit Casting. Both have their pros and cons, but using a Guardian will make one remain more human. After Spirit Casting, your body will still maintain most of its human form, but that''s all."


    What Wang Mingyuan said was similar to Zhou Wen''s previous guess. He couldn''t help but ask, "Can''t humans really rely on their bodies to advance to the Mythical stage?"


    "Difficult." Wang Mingyuan looked at the churning sea of clouds beyond the mountain and said, "Everything has its limits. Just like many human sports before the dimensional storms, such as a one-hundred-meter sprint. It''s relatively easy to raise the results at the beginning, but when the results reached about ten seconds, the chances of a breakthrough were minimal. This is because ten seconds was the limit of humans. What humans are facing now is the same problem. If the limits of human bodies are 10, then the requirement to advance to the Mythical stage is 100. No matter how hard humanity works, it''s impossible to reach 100. This is a limit we were born with. It''s difficult to resolve it without external help."


    Wang Mingyuan reached out and flicked a piece of paper at Zhou Wen. When Zhou Wen caught it and looked at Wang Mingyuan again, he saw him turn around and walk into a huge spatial door.


    After Wang Mingyuan walked in, the spatial door closed with a bang. Jade Emperor Peak returned to normal. There was nothing besides the two Demon Suppression statues as though no one had ever been there.


    Zhou Wen stared blankly for a moment before retracting his gaze to look at the note in his hand.


    The content on it was somewhat unbelievable. Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t believe it if it had come from someone else. However, the person who wrote this was Wang Mingyuan, so it was naturally a whole different matter.


    Should I give it a try? Zhou Wen looked at the slip of paper with a strange expression. This was because the method on the slip was rather unbelievable.


    Gods Retreat has yet to advance to a Perfect Body, so I can''t enter Demon Suppression Hall. If I wish to enter, I can only try using the method on this. Zhou Wen decided to give it a try at night. Even if he failed, he wouldn''t suffer any losses.


    There was still a long time before sunset. Zhou Wen sat on the stone steps and thought of what Wang Mingyuan had said to him.


    Is there really no way to advance to the Mythical stage with the human body? If I''m really at an impasse, which path should I choose? Spirit Casting or contracting? Zhou Wen ultimately felt that he didn''t want to choose either path.


    I''ll decide after advancing Slaughterer to a Perfect Body. It''s still too early to consider such things now. Zhou Wen thought of the divine fruit again.


    Wang Mingyuan said that he only wanted to give the divine fruit away. Although it wasn''t necessarily credible, Wang Mingyuan didn''t need to go through so much trouble to lie to him if he wanted to harm him.


    Since Wang Mingyuan said that there are only two ways to advance to the Mythical stage, that meant that the divine fruit isn''t able to advance humans to the Mythical stage. In that case, the divine fruit is only effective against Companion Beasts and dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen felt that he could give it a try to see if he could vie for the divine fruit.


    If he could really obtain the divine fruit, he could feed it to either Banana Fairy or Explosive Fiend Man¡ªespecially Explosive Fiend Man. Once he advanced to the Mythical stage, he would be of great help to Zhou Wen.


    Even if that divine fruit is a trap, Teacher probably won''t cheat me on account of our teacher-student relationship, right? After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that vying for the divine fruit had more pros than cons.


    The crux of the matter was whether he could obtain first place as well as decide which Companion Beast to vie for first place.


    I wonder if Tyrant can handle Primordial Sword Immortal.


    Time passed as Zhou Wen pondered. The sun quickly set and the sky darkened.


    I''ll give it a try and see if Teacher''s method really works. Zhou Wen looked at the sky that had completely darkened and a crescent moon emitted a faint light.


    Looking at the two Demon Suppression statues in front of the Demon Suppression Hall, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and turned his back to them. Then, he pressed his hands on the stone steps and held himself up vertically.


    With his hands as his feet, Zhou Wen moved towards the door of Demon Suppression Hall.


    Zhou Wen felt a little uneasy as he looked at the two Demon Suppression statues. He didn''t feel confident at all.


    Gods Retreat was powerful, yet it couldn''t even cross the Demon Suppression statues to enter the hall. Yet, Wang Mingyuan said that he could enter just by walking upside down. This was unbelievable.


    If Wang Mingyuan hadn''t been the one informing him of this method, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have even tried it. It sounded like a joke.


    Although Zhou Wen was making an attempt, he still found it unbelievable that he could enter the Demon Suppression Hall so easily.


    When he was close to activating the Demon Suppression statues, the two words¡ªDemon Suppression¡ªon their respective foreheads lit up again.


    Will it really work? Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat.


    However, to his surprise, although the word Demon Suppression on the two statues lit up, Zhou Wen didn''t feel the pressure on the jade infant increase.


    Is it really feasible? Zhou Wen continued moving upwards. Indeed, he didn''t feel the pressure from the Demon Suppression words. Just like that, he reached the end of the stone steps and arrived at the entrance of the Demon Suppression Hall.


    Zhou Wen still remembered the method on the slip of paper. He didn''t use his feet to kick the door, nor did he push it with his hands. Instead, he used his hands to prop himself up on the ground and slammed his head against the door of the Demon Suppression Hall.


    Clang!


    With a dull thud, Zhou Wen felt his head spin as he saw stars.

 600 The Imprisoned Guardian

    Zhou Wen suspected that there was no need for him to slam the door with all his strength as Wang Mingyuan had said. However, Zhou Wen didn''t have any evidence.


    After the door rose, Zhou Wen saw the scene in the temple. There weren''t any statues of consecrated deities or predellas. There were many stone monuments scattered in the hall.


    There were many strange lines and patterns engraved on each stone monument. He did not know what they meant.


    Zhou Wen stood outside the door and counted. Indeed, it was arranged exactly as drawn on the slip of paper.


    As he alternated his hands to move forward, Zhou Wen followed the path Wang Mingyuan had described and entered the stone monument''s formation. When he passed some stone monuments, he propped himself up with one hand and pressed the stone monument with the other.


    After circling the stone monument array for a while, he finally finished all necessary actions. The stone monument spun, revealing a stone staircase that led underground.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly entered the stone steps and finally heaved a sigh of relief. He placed his feet on the ground and returned to his normal state.


    He sized up the stone staircase and saw that the stone walls on both sides were engraved with symbols that Zhou Wen knew nothing of. Most of them were simple lines and points that were arranged in a certain way.


    He walked down the stone steps all the way. Before long, the stone steps turned a little. They continued downwards, like the stairs in a building.


    He walked all the way down. After walking for more than a hundred storeys worth of steps, he still couldn''t see the end. The patterns on the stone wall remained, but he didn''t know what they were for.


    When Zhou Wen thought that there was no end, he saw that the stone steps below were somewhat different.


    The stone steps below turned into jade and emitted a cold aura.


    After stepping onto the jade stairs, he continued walking down. Not long after, he reached the end. Beneath him was a room made of jade. Floating in the middle of the room was a black cocoon.


    There were many cracks on the cocoon''s body as black gas seeped out from the cracks. However, the black gas failed to emit as it was absorbed by the white circles on the black cocoon''s body.


    There were a total of seven circles on the black cocoon. They looked like they were made of jade and had mysterious incantations engraved on them.


    When Zhou Wen looked at the black cocoon, he suddenly realized that a black eye was staring at him through a crack.


    "No," Zhou Wen answered without any hesitation.


    He could naturally tell that there was something wrong with the Guardian inside the black cocoon.


    There was no Mythical creature guarding him here, and the black cocoon was clearly imprisoned. This was completely different from the Guardians that Zhou Wen had seen before.


    "Human, don''t you wish to obtain powerful strength? As long as you form a contract with me, you can obtain immense power and advance to the Mythical stage." The voice from the black cocoon sounded again.


    "If you were really that strong, you wouldn''t have been imprisoned here." Zhou Wen said, but he thought to himself, Who has the ability to imprison a Guardian here? Is it a human? I''m afraid humans don''t have such powerful abilities.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, the black cocoon''s Guardian seemed to turn irascible. Large amounts of black demonic aura surged out of the cracks. Due to the massive amount of demonic aura that they absorbed, even the jade hoops turned raven-black.


    "Human, I''m the strongest Guardian. No one can imprison me. I was the one who imprisoned myself." The black cocoon''s voice sounded again.


    "Then why did you imprison yourself?" Zhou Wen naturally didn''t believe him.


    "You don''t need to know the reason. All you need to know is that after signing a contract with me, you will become the most powerful human, and you will become the most powerful existence in the future. That''s enough. The power I will give you is something you humans can never imagine, even in your dreams," the voice said again.


    "I heard that signing a contract with a Guardian requires a special physique and talent. Are you sure that my physique and talent are what you need?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "You being able to come here proves that you have the qualifications to sign a contract with me," said the Guardian in the cocoon.


    "Sounds good, but isn''t it because you are just looking for any random human to contract with so you can escape?" Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    "Human, it looks like you don''t understand how great an opportunity you will miss." The Guardian continued, "Don''t tell me you don''t wish for strength? Don''t you wish to become the greatest hero of humanity? In the future, there will definitely be a terrifying battle in the human world. When that happens, no one will be spared. Those below the Mythical stage don''t even have the right to struggle for survival. Sign a contract with me and you will still have a chance of survival. Otherwise, you can only wait for death. This is your chance to live."


    "You don''t have to scare me. I don''t believe anything you say." Zhou Wen looked at the black cocoon and asked, "After talking for so long, I still don''t know your name?"


    "Grim Demon," said the voice from the black cocoon.


    "Dim Demon?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. The name sounded a little odd. Was he dim?


    Grim Demon clearly heard Zhou Wen''s pronunciation error. Demonic aura spewed out from the black cocoon as though it was furious. "A fiend born to kill, I''m the grim reaper incarnate, Grim Demon."


    "So it''s Grim Demon. This name¡­ is domineering¡­" Zhou Wen said, but due to his preconceived impression, he couldn''t forget the name "Dim Demon."


    "Human, have you thought it through? As long as you contract with me, not only will you be able to survive in the terrifying battle, you will also have the chance to defeat all the species in the universe and become the strongest existence¡­" Grim Demon continued.


    "I''ve seen many Guardians before, but they weren''t anything impressive either. They weren''t as powerful as you say." Zhou Wen wore a questioning look.


    "Guardians differ in strength too. Which Guardians have you seen?" Grim Demon didn''t believe Zhou Wen.


    "I''ve seen a seraphim with six wings. He can open the Door to Heaven. It looks rather impressive," Zhou Wen said.


    "That birdman, I can tear it apart with one hand. It''s not worth mentioning at all. After signing the contract with me, it will be easy for you to defeat him," Grim Demon said disdainfully.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Just keep bragging. After all, bragging isn''t against the law. But I can''t verify it either.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t say it out loud. He continued, "I''ve also seen a Guardian named Fairy Burial. She looked pretty impressive."

 601 Grim Demon

    "I''ve also seen a Guardian before¡­" Zhou Wen described the Guardian of Ant City.


    Grim Demon said coldly, "I''ve never heard of such a Guardian. It probably isn''t that strong. I''ll also be able to easily kill it."


    "You said you were powerful, but there''s no way to prove it. How do you want me to believe you?" Zhou Wen didn''t believe in the bragging of Grim Demon. He then asked, "How is the strength of Guardians demarcated?"


    "You will find out after contracting me." Grim Demon didn''t answer Zhou Wen''s question.


    "Forget it. The other Guardians have Mythical creatures protecting them. Only you are imprisoned here. It''s obvious that you aren''t that great. You might very well be the weakest Guardian. I think I''ll find another Guardian," Zhou Wen said, preparing to turn around and leave.


    Grim Demon nearly died from exasperation because of Zhou Wen. He gritted his teeth and said, "Human, after I leave, I can naturally prove to you that I''m powerful."


    "Forget it. I heard that a person can only contract one Guardian. I still wish to leave my contract opportunity to a stronger Guardian. Even if it''s not a top-notch Guardian, it needs to be at least average. You don''t meet my requirements." Zhou Wen shook his head.


    Zhou Wen didn''t want to contract a Guardian at all. He only entered to take a look.


    The method Wang Mingyuan had given him was to force Grim Demon to sign a special contract. Then, Grim Demon couldn''t easily betray him like the other Guardians.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that such a contract wasn''t too safe. Although the special contract prevented the Guardian from defecting, the Guardian could still regain his freedom if his master died.


    If Grim Demon really had the intention to betray him, he could plot his death before obtaining freedom.


    The demonic aura in the black cocoon surged like a tidal wave. The seven jade hoops were unable to completely block the demonic aura. The mysterious incantations and patterns on the jade room''s walls lit up.


    All sorts of patterns lit up on the stone walls of the tunnel. They suppressed the terrifying demonic aura, illuminating the entire mountain belly.


    Grim Demon was truly infuriated. He wished he could tear this human to pieces.


    He had never suffered such humiliation. If he wasn''t trapped here, even if Zhou Wen knelt down to beg him for a contract, he would have to consider Zhou Wen''s aptitude and talent before making an informed decision.


    Now that he was lowering himself and taking the initiative to form a contract with Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen was still so picky. He even said something that he needed one that was at least average. This nearly made Grim Demon go mad.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be alarmed when he saw how powerful Grim Demon was when in a rage. This fellow isn''t completely bragging. He might really be able to fight Fairy Burial.


    "Don''t be angry. If it wasn''t because you were too weak, why would you be imprisoned here by humans?" Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could obtain some secrets.


    These Guardians seemed to come from different species. It was unknown why the species of dimensional zones had created them and allowed them to contract with humans.


    "You don''t need to know. If you don''t wish to sign a contract, scram. Don''t disturb my slumber," Grim Demon said coldly.


    "Wait, I just said that you were imprisoned here by humans. You didn''t refute me. Could it be that you were really imprisoned here by us humans?" Zhou Wen suddenly realized a problem. When he spoke just now, he had said it subconsciously.


    However, from Grim Demon''s point of view, he looked down on humans. He should have retorted when he heard Zhou Wen''s words.


    Zhou Wen waited for a while, but Grim Demon didn''t say a word. There was no reaction from the black cocoon.


    It can''t be. Was this fellow really imprisoned here by humans? Look at how dim and silly he is. Could it be that he was trapped here because of a human scheme? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    However, after saying a few more words, Grim Demon didn''t react at all. From the looks of it, he planned on ignoring him.


    Zhou Wen''s hope of learning more insider stories was shattered. Seeing that there was nothing else here, all he could do was retreat and return to Jade Emperor Peak.


    Unfortunately, I have too many secrets about me. Otherwise, it would be a good choice to contract with Grim Demon. That fellow''s strength is indeed extraordinary.


    With so many secrets about him, he definitely couldn''t let a Guardian with self-awareness and independent behavior follow him.


    Zhou Wen used the Demon Suppression power on Jade Emperor Peak to raise Gods Retreat. Occasionally, when he was free, he would run down to take a look at Grim Demon and attempt to chat with him, hoping to obtain more information.


    Unfortunately, after Grim Demon realized that he wasn''t willing to contract, he ignored him. Occasionally, he would say a few words, but there were no secrets to speak of.


    During this period, Zhou Wen also discovered something. Indeed, there was no need for him to slam the door with all his might. All he needed to do was gently hit it to have it open.


    Is it fun to trick me? Zhou Wen gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally understood that neither Wang Mingyuan nor his disciples were decent and serious people. He definitely couldn''t believe their words completely.


    Zhou Wen also tried entering the Demon Suppression Hall in-game. Wang Mingyuan''s method was equally effective in-game. There was a black cocoon and Grim Demon down below in-game.


    However, Grim Demon didn''t speak in-game, so there was no way to communicate.


    "Grim Demon, have you heard of a Guardian with the word ''Thearch'' in its name?" Zhou Wen had always suspected that The Thearch might also be a Guardian.


    Typical Mythical creatures didn''t seem as intelligent as The Thearch.


    "There are naturally Guardians with Thearch in their names, but compared to me, they are far inferior," Grim Demon said coldly.


    Zhou Wen had come many times. Being bored, Grim Demon would chat with Zhou Wen indifferently at times.


    "Then are there any women among these Guardians with Thearch in their names?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Of course. However, even the strongest Netherworld Female Thearch isn''t my match," Grim Demon said.


    Zhou Wen was already used to the bragging nature of Grim Demon. He wasn''t affected at all as he continued probing, "I''ve been to Chess Mountain before and met a Guardian who calls herself The Thearch. Do you know who she is?"


    "What kind of place is Chess Mountain?" Grim Demon frowned.


    "It''s probably where ancient Chaoge is. There''s a Deer Terrace Pavilion there¡­" Zhou Wen revealed some information about Chess Mountain.

 602 Strange Response of Grim Demon

    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. He originally imagined that he would be able to obtain some information regarding The Thearch from him, but he failed to obtain anything.


    Zhou Wen attempted to use the jade infant to resist the power of the Demon Suppression statues every day. As he absorbed a large amount of Demon Suppression forces, the treasure glow on the jade infant''s body intensified. Later on, Zhou Wen could hardly see the jade infant in the treasure glow.


    Now, the jade infant was almost able to resist the Demon Suppression statues. With the jade infant''s strength, Zhou Wen could rush to the entrance of the Demon Suppression Hall.


    However, even so, the jade infant still failed to advance to the legendary Perfect Body.


    And at this moment, the power of Demon Suppression was almost negligible to the jade infant. Zhou Wen felt that there was no point in staying any longer. He planned on leaving White Cloud Mountain and returning to school.


    Before Zhou Wen left White Cloud Mountain, he went to inform Grim Demon, "Grim Demon, I''m leaving. Let''s meet again if fate allows it."


    "Are you really not considering signing a contract with me?" There was silence within the black cocoon before the voice of a Grim Demon sounded.


    "I don''t have the intention of contracting a Guardian for the time being, but I might be able to help you find someone to become your contractor." Zhou Wen felt that it was better to find a friend who was willing to contract since he wasn''t willing to do so. It was better than letting an enemy contract Grim Demon.


    Although White Cloud Mountain was mysterious and ordinary people couldn''t enter, with the passage of time, the secrets of the various dimensional zones would slowly be resolved. It was difficult to guarantee that no one would enter.


    "Do you think I will contract anyone?" Grim Demon said coldly.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll definitely help you find an outstanding human." Zhou Wen felt that he could return and ask An Sheng or Li Xuan if they wanted to contract the Guardian.


    "I''ll take a step back and form an eternal contract with you," Grim Demon said after a moment of silence. At the same time, he explained what an eternal contract was.


    Zhou Wen already knew what an eternal contract was. The contract Wang Mingyuan had wanted him to force Grim Demon to sign was an eternal contract. After signing such a contract, unless Zhou Wen died, Grim Demon wouldn''t be able to obtain freedom.


    "I''m really sorry. I just don''t plan on contracting a Guardian at the moment." Zhou Wen couldn''t accept the circumstances unless he tried advancing to the Mythical stage by himself.


    Even though Grim Demon was an excellent choice, Zhou Wen still firmly declined.


    "What favor?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I have an Essence Energy Art here. Help me take it out and find a human who can learn it to be my contractor. As a reward, I can agree to do three things for you after I''m out. As long as it''s within my abilities, I will do anything," said Grim Demon.


    "Sure." Zhou Wen agreed. It didn''t affect him much.


    "I''ll reveal my Essence Energy Art outside the cocoon. You have to remember every word." Accompanying Grim Demon''s voice, the demonic aura in the black cocoon surged and condensed into words.


    Zhou Wen memorized the words one by one, but he was also wary. As he memorized them, he kept controlling his Essence Energy to prevent any accidents.


    Grim Demon''s Essence Energy Art was just too long. It was like a sutra. Zhou Wen took two to three hours to memorize everything.


    "Recite the Essence Energy Art once and I''ll check to see if you make any mistakes," said Grim Demon.


    "There''s no need. Show me the Essence Energy Art again. I''ll just compare," Zhou Wen said.


    "Alright." Grim Demon didn''t persist and displayed his Essence Energy Art again.


    Zhou Wen read for a while. It had been too long. When it was time to feed Demonic Neonate the Longevity Fruit, he summoned her and handed her one.


    The Essence Energy Art on the black cocoon suddenly stopped scrolling. Zhou Wen asked curiously, "Why aren''t you continuing?"


    There was still no sound in the black cocoon. The demonic aura also seemed to freeze, motionless.


    "Grim Demon, what are you doing?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown, but there was no answer.


    Zhou Wen suddenly realized that something was amiss. The abnormal actions of Grim Demon seemed to have begun when he summoned Demonic Neonate.


    He glanced at Demonic Neonate who was chewing on a Longevity Fruit and then at the motionless black cocoon. Zhou Wen pulled Demonic Neonate and nudged her towards the black cocoon.


    Finally, the black cocoon reacted. Demonic aura spewed out from the black cocoon, but it didn''t spray at Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate. Instead, it seemed to lunge the black cocoon back to dodge them.


    Unfortunately, it was trapped by the seven jade hoops and the entire mountain''s Demon Suppression array. It was unable to move.


    "Don''t come over!" Grim Demon''s voice finally sounded again. However, there was a hint of horror in his voice.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Although Demonic Neonate is powerful, her strength isn''t even comparable to the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Why is Grim Demon so afraid of her?


    "Grim Demon, don''t you claim to be the strongest guardian? Why are you so afraid now?" Zhou Wen mocked.


    With Grim Demon''s temper, he would definitely retort angrily with the way Zhou Wen mocked him.


    However, this time, he didn''t retort. He fell silent again.


    Indeed, there''s something odd. Is Grim Demon actually afraid of Demonic Neonate? Is there something on Demonic Neonate that''s worth being afraid of? Zhou Wen carefully sized up Demonic Neonate.


    He didn''t allow Demonic Neonate to continue approaching the black cocoon. If Grim Demon was just pretending to be afraid, but in fact, had ulterior motives towards Demonic Neonate, wouldn''t Zhou Wen be harming her if he pushed her over?


    Demonic Neonate''s strength in every aspect isn''t enough to threaten Grim Demon. If there''s really something that can make him afraid, I''m afraid it''s only her Life Providence, Life Soul, or Wheel of Destiny. Life Providence and Life Soul Wheel seem to have nothing to do with demons. Could it be that Grim Demon fears the Supreme True Demon Life Soul? Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    The more he thought about it, the more likely it was. However, Zhou Wen had no intention of letting Demonic Neonate take the risk. He turned around and left with Demonic Neonate. He planned on letting Demonic Neonate approach the black cocoon in-game after returning.


    As Zhou Wen''s Mythical Companion Beasts had increased recently, he seldom used Demonic Neonate in battle. He hadn''t tried getting her to attack the black cocoon.


    "Wait." To his surprise, just as Zhou Wen was about to leave the jade room, the Grim Demon''s voice sounded again to stop him.


    Could it be that the Grim Demon really wants to trick Demonic Neonate into going over? Zhou Wen became even more wary as he unsummoned Demonic Neonate to prevent any accidents from happening.

 603 Master-Slave Contrac

    "What''s a master-slave contract?" Zhou Wen learned from Wang Mingyuan the two types of guardian contracts.


    One was a Guardian contract. This contract was relatively fair. Both parties could terminate the contract at any time and had the right to give up on each other.


    The second was the eternal contract that could only be terminated after one party died. Relatively speaking, it was relatively fair. However, Guardians had unlimited lifespans, so typically speaking, humans would die first before the contract could be terminated.


    "I''m willing to sign a contract as a slave. Life and death depend on Master''s will¡­" Grim Demon explained the effects and methods of the master-slave contract in detail.


    After Zhou Wen finished hearing the description, he felt that the contract was excellent. Grim Fiend''s life was at his will. Furthermore, if the master died, the Guardian would also die. It was perfect.


    With the master-slave contract, Zhou Wen no longer needed to consider his previous worries. It was just too good.


    "Since you are so sincere in your request, it wouldn''t be nice for me not to agree. Alright, I''ll agree to be your master," Zhou Wen agreed readily.


    "Who wants you to be my master? I want to invite¡­ that lady¡­ to be my master¡­" Grim Demon immediately said.


    Zhou Wen''s expression froze as he immediately understood what Grim Demon meant. Grim Demon wanted to sign a master-slave contract with Demonic Neonate, not him.


    "You want to sign a master-slave contract with my Companion Beast?" Zhou Wen asked the black cocoon.


    "Yes," Grim Demon replied with certainty.


    Could it be that Demonic Neonate really had a huge background when she was alive? Or could it be because of the Supreme True Demon Life Soul she has? Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate again and pointed at the black cocoon, asking her, "Do you know what that is?"


    Demonic Neonate looked at the black cocoon and shook her head. Her tiny face was also filled with confusion.


    "He wants to be your Guardian. Are you willing?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    Demonic Neonate shook her head with a blank expression. It was unknown if she knew what a Guardian was.


    "As you can see, she''s unwilling to accept you," Zhou Wen said to the black cocoon.


    There was no sound from the black cocoon. Zhou Wen led Demonic Neonate out of the Demon Suppression Hall, but he didn''t hear Grim Demon''s voice again.


    What''s so different about Demonic Neonate? It actually made Grim Demon so reverent to the point of even being willing to sign a master-slave contract? Zhou Wen couldn''t guess.


    Thankfully, he had the mysterious phone. He planned on bringing Demonic Neonate here in-game to see the black cocoon''s reaction.


    The black cocoon in-game wasn''t as intelligent as the Grim Demon in real life. No one spoke. Zhou Wen attempted to get Demonic Neonate to approach the black cocoon.


    Demonic Neonate held the ancient sword and slowly walked to the black cocoon. She extended a tiny hand and pressed it on the black cocoon.


    The demonic aura in the black cocoon immediately erupted and sent Demonic Neonate flying. Thankfully, Demonic Neonate seemed to have a high resistance to the demonic aura and wasn''t injured.


    That''s strange. Demonic Neonate''s strength isn''t enough to fight Grim Demon. It can''t even withstand the demonic aura he emits. Why does Grim Demon think so highly of her? He even said that he''s afraid of her? Zhou Wen couldn''t figure out the crux of the problem.


    However, Demonic Neonate was somewhat odd. After coming into contact with the black cocoon and the demonic aura, she began to take the initiative to attack the black cocoon. She even opened her mouth as though she wanted to bite the black cocoon.


    Although the demonic aura forced her back time and time again, the powerful demonic aura could not harm Demonic Neonate''s body. However, Demonic Neonate''s strength was still too weak, so she failed to break through the demonic aura''s defenses.


    There''s indeed a problem. Zhou Wen held back Demonic Neonate and summoned her in reality. He stared into her eyes and asked, "Why do you want to attack the black cocoon?"


    "Eat," Demonic Neonate answered simply. She didn''t know many words. Zhou Wen had tried to teach her how to speak for a long period of time, but she still didn''t really speak.


    It was already very rare for her to say a word.


    "You want to eat that black cocoon?" Zhou Wen confirmed again.


    Demonic Neonate didn''t say anything this time and only nodded.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood why Grim Demon restrained his demonic aura after Demonic Neonate appeared. He didn''t dare move because he was afraid of attracting Demonic Neonate''s attention.


    "What benefits do you get from eating the black cocoon?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    Demonic Neonate shook her head with a blank expression. Clearly, this was only her instinct. Even she herself didn''t know why she wanted to eat the black cocoon, or rather, what use Grim Demon had.


    "Do you know what a contract means?" Zhou Wen asked her again.


    Demonic Neonate nodded slightly. From the looks of it, she knew what the contract was about.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed constantly. There was indeed a chance in front of him, but he didn''t know what would happen if a Companion Beast had a Guardian.


    Logically speaking, Demonic Neonate is my Companion Beast. If Grim Demon is her slave guardian, it should be easy to control him, right?


    Zhou Wen asked Demonic Neonate again, "If I let you sign a master-slave contract with the creature inside the black cocoon, will it harm you?"


    Demonic Neonate thought for a moment before shaking her head.


    "If the contract''s initiative is in your hands, you can consider signing a master-slave contract with the guardian inside the black cocoon. In that case, won''t his life be in your hands? If you want to eat him, you should be able to do so at any time, right? Just treat it as a food reserve, alright?" Zhou Wen only suggested, unsure if this method was feasible.


    Upon hearing that, Demonic Neonate lowered her head as though she was deep in thought. After a while, she nodded and said, "Okay¡­ Contract¡­ Food reserve¡­"


    Although Demonic Neonate didn''t speak clearly, Zhou Wen still understood the meaning behind her words. In his delight, he led Demonic Neonate into the Demon Suppression Hall once again.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen persuaded, "Don''t be in a rush to eat him after signing the contract. There are still many fruits here. Just treat that as a food reserve. Eat him when the fruits are finished."


    Demonic Neonate thought seriously for a moment before nodding. "Food reserve¡­ No eating¡­"


    "Very good. How smart." Zhou Wen patted Demonic Neonate''s head and praised her.


    Soon, the two of them arrived at the spot where Grim Demon was suppressed. Zhou Wen went up and said to Grim Demon, "Grim Demon, it took me a long time to persuade her before she finally agreed to contract with you, but it has to be a master-slave contract."


    "Of course," Grim Demon answered quickly. From his tone, it was as though Zhou Wen was spouting nonsense. It was only natural for him to sign a master-slave contract with Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to tell Demonic Neonate how to use the master-slave contract and to warn her to be careful when contracting. If she felt something amiss, she should immediately stop the contractual process.


    However, to his surprise, Demonic Neonate seemed to be more familiar with the contract than him. She walked straight to the black cocoon and pressed one hand on it.

 604 Food Reserve

    The entire process felt like a guardian contract reversed. When the contractual process was completed, the black cocoon shattered. The seven white jade hoops that bound the black cocoon fell to the ground with tinkling sounds.


    Grim Demon escaped and was like a devil formed from black gas that swept towards Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate glared at him, and Grim Demon immediately stopped in midair, not daring to approach her.


    Demonic Neonate held the ancient sword in her arms. As though unwilling, Grim Demon eventually flew towards the ancient sword and transformed into wisps of black gas that fused into it.


    In the blink of an eye, the black gas formed by Grim Demon completely fused with the ancient sword, causing the ancient sword to undergo some strange changes. The original purple color became darker. At a glance, one would think it was black, but it was actually a dark-purple color.


    There were even more runes on the scabbard, making it look even more mysterious and strange than before.


    Zhou Wen watched, dumbfounded. He had never seen a Guardian acting so lowly and submissive. Not only had he signed a master-slave contract, but he didn''t even dare possess her. All he could do was attach himself to the ancient sword.


    Demonic Neonate carried the ancient sword and returned to Zhou Wen''s side. "Food reserve¡­ acquired."


    "Alright, save it for now." Zhou Wen calmed down Demonic Neonate before entering the game to take a look. Indeed, the black cocoon in-game was gone. From the looks of it, all the Guardians had a uniqueness.


    The seven white jade hoops on the ground were of unknown use, but Zhou Wen stored them in his chaos space.


    After leaving White Cloud Mountain, Zhou Wen rode on a Chi and headed for school while grinding the game dungeons.


    It happened to be Golden Battle God Halberd''s respawning time, so Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try. After Demonic Neonate had Grim Demon as a Guardian, how much had her strength increased?


    A Guardian''s strength was a mystery to Zhou Wen.


    Some of the guardians were very strong, just like the one in Ant City and a Guardian like Fairy Burial. They were very powerful.


    However, the six-winged seraphim he had encountered previously seemed very weak on John.


    Yet, after the six-winged seraphim left John, he seemed to become much stronger.


    Zhou Wen guessed that after the guardians fused with humans, the amount of strength they could produce depended on how strong the human was.


    He entered the Metalwork Temple where the Golden Battle God Halberd had just respawned. When it saw Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate, the tip of the trident immediately lit up.


    However, this time, the ancient sword in Demonic Neonate''s arms broke out of its scabbard. Its surging black-purple demonic aura blocked the golden beam.


    The ancient sword''s body appeared above the Golden Battle God Halberd as if it had teleported, slicing the Golden Battle God Halberd into two.


    Although Demonic Neonate''s strength hadn''t increased, her Demonic Sword was much stronger than before. It was able to slice through the Golden Battle God Halberd in one strike. Furthermore, she had won cleanly without any scruples.


    Not bad¡­ Not bad¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted. The Demonic Sword''s offensive power had greatly increased, and it also had demonic aura effects. It made it much easier for him to kill Mythical creatures in the future.


    After the fusion of the Demonic Sword and Guardian, I still have to slowly study how strong it is. Zhou Wen was in a good mood as he rushed back to school.


    Although Zhou Wen was in a good mood, Grim Demon was not in a good mood. He originally imagined that Demonic Neonate would sincerely sign a contract with him. He found it acceptable being a slave Guardian.


    However, after hearing Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate''s conversation, Grim Demon''s heart turned cold. How was he a slave? They were treating him as food reserves. Who knew when Demonic Neonate would eat him if she wasn''t happy?


    Grim Demon hated Zhou Wen to the core because he knew that Demonic Neonate definitely wouldn''t have such complicated thoughts. It had to be Zhou Wen.


    However, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was try his best to showcase himself and please Demonic Neonate. He hoped that he could obtain Demonic Neonate''s approval so that she wouldn''t eat him up for the sake of it.


    And what made Grim Demon feel uneasy was that he often found himself appearing in strange dimensional zones. He had no idea how he had entered them.


    What was even more terrifying was the fact that after he died in battle once, he imagined he was doomed. However, before long his consciousness returned to normal, it was as though the death had never happened.


    What''s going on? Grim Demon was alarmed and afraid. He was constantly on tenterhooks.


    Zhou Wen experimented several times and realized that the Grim Demon''s ability wasn''t as powerful as he had claimed. However, it also allowed the Demonic Sword to reach the level of a top-notch Mythical.


    In fact, Zhou Wen didn''t know that the ancient sword possessed by Grim Demon wasn''t strong itself and was only a supplementary tool. As the level of its master, Demonic Neonate, was too low, it limited Grim Demon''s abilities. Grim Demon''s strength wasn''t just limited to this. The result was purely because he was restricted.


    After returning to the city, Zhou Wen heard everyone discussing the ranking war.


    Most people were discussing which Companion Beast was stronger and which one was weaker. They talked about the rising of Companion Beast rankings yesterday and which Companion Beast was defeated.


    Zhou Wen had never heard of many of the Companion Beasts they discussed.


    However, the one which was discussed the most was Primordial Sword Immortal. Zhou Wen quickly learned that Primordial Sword Immortal remained at the top of the rankings. After several challenges, none of the Companion Beasts could shake its dominance.


    Zhou Wen also had the intention to vie for first place. He wanted to get a divine fruit and feed it to his Companion Beast, but he wasn''t in a rush. There were still three months before the deadline. Zhou Wen still wanted to wait a little longer to see if there were any truly powerful Mythical Companion Beasts that could challenge Primordial Sword Immortal. He wanted to understand Primordial Sword Immortal''s abilities before deciding which Companion Beast to send to fight for first place.


    When Zhou Wen returned to school, he realized that it was especially lively. It was actually a farewell party. Another class of students had graduated.


    Time really flies. Unknowingly, I''ve already been at Sunset College for a year. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but sigh.


    These days, schools didn''t have the long winter and summer vacations like in the past. Vacations were at most around ten days. New students would matriculate, and Zhou Wen and company would be promoted to second years.


    "Zhou Wen, I didn''t think I would be able to see you before I leave. I never expected you to rush back in time," Wei Ge walked over and said to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    "Senior, aren''t you staying on campus?" Zhou Wen asked Wei Ge in puzzlement.


    Wei Ge smiled and said, "The school wants me to stay, but I rejected it. Before I leave, I have a wish. I wonder if you can help me fulfill it?"

 605 Hypocritical Facade

    "It''s nothing difficult. I just want you to help me guess a riddle. Come on." Wei Ge turned around and led the way.


    "Do we still need to go to a special place for guessing riddles?" Zhou Wen asked as he followed behind.


    "It took me my entire life to think of such a riddle, so show it some respect. Let''s find a place with the correct atmosphere. It will appear a little ritualistic," Wei Ge said with a smile.


    The two of them arrived at the school''s old campus. Today was convocation. Sunset College didn''t have a commencement ceremony, but there was a convocation ceremony. Students were basically attending the convocation ceremony, leaving the old campus empty.


    When they arrived at an empty land, Wei Ge stopped and turned to look at Zhou Wen. "Alright, let''s do it here."


    "What''s your riddle?" Zhou Wen stared at Wei Ge and asked. He naturally understood that Wei Ge''s so-called riddle wasn''t a brain teaser.


    "My riddle is actually very simple. Guess which one is real? Which one is fake?" As Wei Ge spoke, he raised his right hand and held a coin between his middle finger and index finger. With a flick, the coin flew towards Zhou Wen.


    The coin''s speed was like a meteor, but it wasn''t surprising. Such speed still seemed too slow to Zhou Wen.


    However, halfway through, the coin split into two, turning into two coins that flew to Zhou Wen''s sides.


    The two coins looked identical. It was impossible to tell which one was real and which one was fake. Even the ripples of air being ripped apart were identical.


    Zhou Wen stood still and allowed the two coins to fly past him. This was because he couldn''t tell which coin was real. There was no point in swatting them down.


    After the two coins flew past him, they landed on the ground not far away. The coin on the left disappeared, leaving only the coin on the right.


    "Senior, you condensed a Life Soul and advanced to the Epic stage?" Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge in surprise.


    Wei Ge nodded and said, "My Life Soul is called Hypocritical Facade. You saw its ability just now, so please help me distinguish which one is the real me. Can you help me tear off that facade?"


    With that said, Wei Ge''s figure suddenly moved. He was clearly a single person, but the moment he moved, he split into two and attacked Zhou Wen from both sides.


    The speed and strength of the two figures felt very real. It was impossible to tell which was Wei Ge''s real body and which was an illusion.


    Zhou Wen moved his feet and dodged Wei Ge''s attack like a ghost. This was because he couldn''t tell which one was the real Wei Ge.


    However, this time, the two Wei Ges didn''t vanish. Instead, they split into four. The two Wei Ges transformed into four Wei Ges and attacked Zhou Wen from different directions.


    If it were anyone else, they would have no choice but to make a choice. However, Zhou Wen''s movement technique was just amazing, allowing him to pass through the eight Wei Ges.


    "As expected of Zhou Wen. Receive my final strike." Wei Ge''s eyes burned. When the eight figures spoke, they emitted sound waves that made it impossible to tell where the real Wei Ge was.


    In the next instant, the eight figures split apart again, transforming into sixteen figures that attacked Zhou Wen again. They sealed off every inch of space, preventing him from dodging.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn''t move because he had nowhere to go. Even with his movement technique, it was impossible for him to rush out of this blockade. It was time to make a decision.


    Without looking at the sixteen Wei Ges, Zhou Wen closed his eyes and stood rooted to the ground.


    The first figure''s fist struck Zhou Wen, but he didn''t move. The figure vanished without a trace. It was only an illusion. It happened a second, a third, and a fourth time. One figure after another struck Zhou Wen in different poses before disappearing one after another.


    The fifteen figures vanished. When the last figure charged at Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen finally opened his eyes and moved. However, he didn''t look at the figure charging at him. Instead, he turned around.


    The last figure slammed into Zhou Wen''s back before disappearing.


    However, another Wei Ge appeared opposite Zhou Wen.


    "How did you discover me?" Wei Ge asked Zhou Wen.


    "I didn''t discover you. Your illusion is real. I can''t tell if it''s real or fake," Zhou Wen said.


    "Then how did you know that the sixteen phantoms weren''t me?" Wei Ge frowned slightly. If Zhou Wen couldn''t tell the authenticity of the phantoms, how did he know that the sixteen phantoms weren''t his real body?


    Zhou Wen smiled and said, "Because I believe in your character."


    "What do you mean?" Wei Ge was slightly taken aback as he asked Zhou Wen.


    "Because you are a person who likes to play chess. How can a person who likes to play chess treat themselves as a chess piece?" Zhou Wen said seriously.


    Wei Ge looked at Zhou Wen in a daze. After a while, he laughed and leaned back, his tears almost flowing out.


    "So that''s how it is. Life is like a game of chess. What right do I, Wei Ge, have to think that I can transcend a game? I''d forgotten. If I can''t enter the game, what right do I have to influence it?" Wei Ge wiped away his smile and looked at Zhou Wen solemnly. "I''m leaving. I''m going to the capital and starting from the smallest chess piece. If there''s a day when I can change the development of the game, I hope I have the chance to ask you again to guess my riddle."


    "Are you really not staying?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Wei Ge didn''t answer. He turned around and left. As he walked, he said, "It''s a pleasure to play chess with other humans, but it will be a bitter battle playing chess with the heavens. In my lifetime, if I am lucky to barely defeat the heavens, it will be enough for me."


    Zhou Wen stood there motionless as he watched Wei Ge leave.


    As a chess piece, one can''t even control their fate. Can one really break out of this situation? Zhou Wen didn''t know the answer as he couldn''t help but feel vexed.


    Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, Wang Lu, Zhang Yuzhi, and Wei Ge were all outstanding people of the present era, but they had no choice but to head to a future they didn''t know of under the influence of fate.


    Sunset College''s convocation ceremony was more like a farewell before a warrior went to the battlefield. After leaving the school gates, the students would face the battlefield of life which had no regularity. No one could protect them. Their life and death were in their hands.

 606 Freshmen Matriculation

    Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen had just entered when he suddenly felt two heavy blows on the back of his head. He fell to the ground as his vision turned black.


    Alarmed, he didn''t know who could sneak an attack on him without him noticing.


    He forced himself to charge forward and make a counterattack.


    However, when he turned around, he realized that it was the antelope standing behind him, looking at him angrily. The chick was standing on the door frame, looking at him unhappily.


    Oh no¡­ In the past, because Wang Lu was around, I didn''t need to pay attention to the two of them when I was out. They would run to Wang Lu by themselves. Now that she''s gone, they have nowhere to go! How could I have forgotten about this¡­ Zhou Wen shivered when he saw the angry expressions on the antelope and chick. He hurriedly said with a smile, "Don''t be angry. I went out this time to especially gather delicacies for you. This is something I found for you¡­"


    As Zhou Wen spoke, he searched his body, but he obviously hadn''t prepared anything for the antelope and chick. He failed to find anything despite searching all day.


    With an idea in mind, Zhou Wen took out the beef jerky he had prepared from the Chaos Bead. This was part of his food reserves. Zhou Wen planned on eating them when he was trapped in certain places. They were all high-quality goods that were rather expensive. Now, he had no choice but to take them out.


    Seeing the antelope and chick eat the bag of dried meat, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel his heart ache. He didn''t have many savings left.


    Although he had plenty of Essence Crystals, they hadn''t been exchanged for money. Zhou Wen was still a pauper and the remaining money had been used to buy items for The Thearch.


    Zhou Wen opened the boxes and carefully checked them. Indeed, it was the items he had asked Li Xuan to buy. The quantity was right.


    He called Li Xuan and told him that he had returned and had received the items.


    The two chatted for a while before Zhou Wen realized that the antelope and chick hadn''t starved during his absence. An Sheng had been delivering food to them.


    Damned antelope. Since you aren''t hungry, why did you hit me? Zhou Wen glared at the antelope, but he didn''t dare say it out loud.


    In the past, he had believed that the antelope was an Epic creature, but he was already considered one of the best at the Epic stage. The fact that the antelope could still secretly hoove him twice meant that this fellow definitely wasn''t as simple as an Epic creature.


    When the antelope followed him, he was still weak. He really couldn''t figure out what it liked about him.


    ¡­


    The battles on the Companion Beast rankings continued, but most of them were Mythical pets that challenged each other on the rankings. The rankings just shifted and there were very few new Companion Beasts on the list.


    As Zhou Wen grinded dungeons, he studied his Life Soul and the First Order of Chaos. He lived a very fulfilling life.


    In the blink of an eye, it was time for the freshmen to matriculate. Li Xuan pulled Zhou Wen and company along and set up a stall with the other clubs to recruit new members.


    However, the other clubs'' recruitment stands were surrounded by many freshmen, but Zhou Wen and company didn''t even have a single student patronizing their stall. Even when students passed by, they quickly sped up after taking a look.


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Gu Dian sat in a row behind a table. Li Xuan leaned lazily against the chair and dug his nose. Zhou Wen lowered his head as he gamed. Gu Dian wore a serious expression as he sat there, waiting for the freshmen to make inquiries. However, with his forbidding looks, the freshmen were afraid of him. They didn''t dare come over and fled in fright when Gu Dian took a glance at them.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen and company''s bleakness formed a stark contrast with the popular clubs around them. It was as though they were a vacuum.


    "I hereby announce that from today onwards, I, Gulli, will be the king of Sunset College. If you aren''t convinced, step forward." A clear voice came from the school''s entrance, causing the noisy school gates to fall silent.


    The freshmen looked in the direction of the school''s entrance and saw a handsome, tall, brown-haired youth standing on the steps of a memorial wall. He looked like the king of the world as he raised his head and loudly announced that the world belonged to him.


    However, very quickly, most of the people''s attention was attracted to a girl beside him.


    The girl was wearing a white dress. She was tall, but her face was exquisite like an angel''s. She had long blond hair and green eyes. She looked like she had walked out of an oil painting.


    "What excellence. I never expected our school to have such an excellent junior. If we can woo her, I''m afraid others will die of envy," Li Xuan said as he looked at the girl.


    Li Xuan was only joking, but many people had already taken action. The freshmen were still very reserved, but the seniors had already mastered the ability to be shameless. This was especially so for the old foxes of the clubs. All of them held their club''s recruitment notices and ran over to the girl, inviting her to join their club. They also asked for the girl''s name and so on. If it wasn''t to maintain their images as seniors, they would have even asked for her vital statistics.


    Gulli was originally very satisfied that he had attracted the attention of all the students, but he soon realized that no one was paying any attention to him. Everyone was surrounding the girl, causing the corners of his eyes to twitch. His aura seemed to have become very strange.


    This was Sunset College. The older students were already accustomed to it, so how could they care about a freshman like Gulli? They thought nothing of him.


    "Get out of the way. We aren''t joining any clubs." Gulli had no choice but to jump down the stairs and part the crowd around the girl, pushing away the enthusiastic seniors.


    The girl''s attitude was friendly, but it was obvious that her thoughts weren''t on those people. She scanned the crowd and when she saw Zhou Wen, she immediately stared at him as though she had found her prey.


    "He''s there," the girl said to Gulli.


    Gulli traced the girl''s gaze and saw Zhou Wen. He opened up a path from the crowd of seniors and walked towards Zhou Wen and company.


    The girl followed behind Gulli and also walked towards Zhou Wen and company.


    Some of the seniors had originally planned on pestering them, but when they saw them walk towards Zhou Wen and company, they could only stop and watch from afar in dismay.

 607 Little Brother Who Came For Zhou Wen

    Li Xuan looked at Gulli with interest, but he didn''t say a word.


    Zhou Wen put down his phone and sized up Gulli. "You''ve got the wrong person."


    "The wrong person?" Gulli was taken aback when he heard that. He hurriedly took out his phone and quickly tapped on the photo to compare it with Zhou Wen before saying to Zhou Wen, "Don''t try to lie to me. The person in the photo is clearly you."


    With that said, Gulli rotated his phone to let Zhou Wen take a look at the photo.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the photo. It really was him, but it didn''t look like the photo he had taken recently. The clothes were probably the ones he wore when he went to the Holy Land.


    "You really have got the wrong person. Take a closer look. The person in the photo has longer hair than me. Furthermore, his pupils are pure black. My pupils are a little brownish-black. Take a closer look. Our facial features are somewhat different," Zhou Wen said to Gulli.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Gulli took a closer look and felt that it was indeed a little different.


    In fact, everyone''s photos were slightly different from the person. This was normal.


    "Sis, it looks like we got the wrong person," Gulli said to the beautiful girl.


    The girl rolled her eyes at him and said to Zhou Wen, "To be able to defeat a genius like Lance, I thought Zhou Wen was really an impressive figure. But he''s just a coward who doesn''t even dare recognize his name."


    "You know Lance?" Zhou Wen asked the girl.


    "My name is Sadie. This is my younger brother, Gulli. Lance is our cousin," the girl said.


    "So it''s Lance''s cousins. Welcome to Sunset College to study. If there''s anything you aren''t used to, feel free to look for me. I''ll try my best to help you within my capabilities." Although Zhou Wen and Lance were rivals before, Zhou Wen was still very impressed with Lance''s character.


    Furthermore, Lance had once helped them leave Holy City. It was only right for him to take care of his cousins.


    "Are you really Zhou Wen? Why did you lie?" Gulli stared at Zhou Wen angrily.


    Li Xuan said with a smile, "He''s Zhou Wen, but his name isn''t the strongest student at Sunset College, Zhou Wen. Therefore, he''s not lying."


    "Humph, cut the crap. I want to defeat you and avenge Lance," Gulli said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    "Even Lance lost. Do you think you are stronger than Lance?" Li Xuan asked.


    "I see. Seeing how confident you are, I believe you can defeat Zhou Wen. However, Sunset College forbids private duels. Even if you don''t care about being expelled, Zhou Wen won''t fight you," Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Gulli immediately frowned. "Why would Sunset College have such a rule? Wouldn''t that mean our special admission into Sunset College was a waste of time?"


    "That''s not the case. Seeing how confident you are, your abilities definitely can''t be bad. I also believe that you can definitely defeat Zhou Wen. To be honest, I''ve long found Zhou Wen an eyesore. Unfortunately, I''m no match for him, so I might as well help you. See this? You and your sister can fill in this application form and sign it. Then, you can join our Xuanwen Club. The Xuanwen Club is a formal club approved by the school. The club''s members are free to spar. You can use the opportunity to defeat Zhou Wen. This way, Zhou Wen and you won''t be punished. He has no way of rejecting the sparring either."


    With that said, Li Xuan stuffed the two application forms into Gulli''s hand. He patted his shoulder and said, "Junior, this is all I can do for you. Whether or not you can help Lance avenge his humiliation depends on you."


    "Are you sure I can challenge Zhou Wen this way?" Gulli asked Li Xuan in disbelief.


    "Of course. After joining the club, you''ll definitely be able to spar with Zhou Wen. If not, I''ll stand there and let you beat me until you are satisfied," Li Xuan said as he patted his chest.


    "Alright, I''ll be joining." Gulli leaned against the table and began filling in the form.


    "Junior Sadie, you also wish to challenge Zhou Wen, right? Fill it out together." Li Xuan handed the other application form to Sadie.


    Sadie glanced at Li Xuan as though she had seen through him. However, Li Xuan didn''t mind as he continued smiling at her.


    Sadie didn''t say anything. She picked up the pen on the table and filled in the application form before signing her name.


    "Congratulations to the two of you for becoming new members of our Xuanwen Club." After receiving their application forms, he extended his hand out to Sadie.


    However, Sadie ignored him and looked at Zhou Wen. "Can we challenge you now?"


    "Of course, but you can''t do it here, right? Go to your dorms and settle down first. I''ll arrange the time and venue for you. Don''t worry. With me around, I guarantee that you will have plenty of time to spar with Zhou Wen¡­" Li Xuan warmly helped Sadie take her luggage and took them to the matriculation booth.


    When members from the other clubs saw that Sadie had been pulled into the Xuanwen Club, they secretly pounded their chests and stamped their feet. Their hearts ached for such a beautiful woman. She had actually entered a beast''s nest.


    Once Li Xuan left, there was no need for Zhou Wen and Gu Dian to stay. They couldn''t recruit new members at all.


    With Li Xuan handling them, Zhou Wen didn''t pay any attention to this matter. He returned to continue grinding his game dungeons.


    ¡­


    The next morning, after Gulli and Sadie finished their matriculation procedures, they contacted Li Xuan to arrange the duel with Zhou Wen.


    Li Xuan agreed and got Gulli and Shady to wait for him at the training grounds.


    Gulli and Sadie arrived at the training grounds. After waiting for a while, they saw Li Xuan bring a boy over. He looked handsome, but he wasn''t Zhou Wen.


    "Li Xuan, where''s Zhou Wen?" Gulli asked with a frown.


    "Calm down. Let me introduce him to you. This student''s surname is Feng. He is under the tutelage of Zhou Wen and has learned a few saber techniques. I especially invited him over to let you take a look at his saber techniques so that you will have a basic understanding of Zhou Wen. This way, when you challenge him again, your chances of winning will be much higher," Li Xuan said.


    "There''s no need. Our strength is enough to defeat Zhou Wen. We don''t have to waste time on this," Gulli rejected.


    "It''s not a big deal taking a look first. I''ve long found Zhou Wen an eyesore. I sincerely hope that you can beat him. Don''t you disappoint me," Li Xuan said as he waved at Feng Qiuyan. "Little Yanyan, spar with Junior Gulli. Use everything you learned from Zhou Wen. Don''t disappoint him."


    Feng Qiuyan walked silently to the training grounds'' arena. Gulli felt that Li Xuan had good intentions and couldn''t reject him. Seeing Sadie nod, he walked into the arena.

 608 Stalking

    Feng Qiuyan didn''t stand on ceremony. He picked up a practice saber from the rack, walked to Gulli, and slashed.


    Gulli and Lance came from the same family. Among his peers, he was only impressed with Lance. He couldn''t accept the fact that Lance had been defeated by Zhou Wen. He and Sadie shared the same thoughts. They had entered Sunset College together to right Lance''s reputation.


    Gulli''s strength was not bad. He wasn''t much weaker than Lance from a year ago. He naturally didn''t take the unknown Feng Qiuyan seriously.


    However, when Feng Qiuyan''s saber was unsheathed, his aura instantly exploded as though he had changed into a different person. Gulli''s expression changed drastically as his body tensed up. He quickly moved, hoping to dodge Feng Qiuyan''s saber.


    However, just as Gulli raised his toes, Feng Qiuyan''s practice saber was already at his neck. Gulli''s expression turned extremely ugly.


    "Who are you?" Now Gulli didn''t believe that Feng Qiuyan was some nobody who had randomly learned a few saber techniques from Zhou Wen.


    "I''m Feng Qiuyan. I learned a few mediocre saber techniques from Coach Zhou Wen. I look forward to our fight," Feng Qiuyan said as he retracted his saber.


    Gulli''s gaze focused as he suddenly attacked to catch Feng Qiuyan by surprise.


    However, just as he raised his fist, Feng Qiuyan''s saber was pressed against his neck again. It was so fast that he couldn''t see the saber''s shadow.


    Gulli refused to accept it as he pushed away the practice saber and attacked again. However, Feng Qiuyan moved slightly and dodged his fist. At the same time, the practice saber was placed on his neck.


    Gulli was alarmed and furious. Feng Qiuyan was about the same age as him, but his saber techniques were so fast that he couldn''t even dodge them. If it was a true life-and-death battle, he wouldn''t have enough limbs for him to cleave off even if he had three heads and six arms.


    "Gulli, that''s enough." Sadie stopped Gulli from continuing the battle. She could tell that Gulli was obviously inferior to Feng Qiuyan. It would be impossible for him to win.


    "Your surname is Feng. Are you from the capital''s Feng family or the Sea Return''s Feng family?" Gulli retreated to the side as Sadie asked Feng Qiuyan.


    "The Sea Return''s Feng family," Feng Qiuyan answered.


    "With the Sea Return Feng family producing a saber genius like you, there''s hope for it to take back the Divine Wind Blade and become the main Feng family," said Sadie.


    "Did you really learn your saber techniques from Zhou Wen?" Sadie didn''t believe Feng Qiuyan''s words.


    He and Gulli had watched the video of Zhou Wen and Lance''s battle. Zhou Wen would probably not have been a match for Feng Qiuyan back then.


    In less than a year, no matter how fast Zhou Wen improved, it was impossible for him to be stronger than Feng Qiuyan. How could he teach Feng Qiuyan such saber techniques?


    "Yes," Feng Qiuyan answered before saying to Li Xuan, "President, I''ll be heading back now. I''ve got an appointment with Coach to do a homework mission together."


    "Little Yanyan, go back now." Li Xuan sent Feng Qiuyan away with a smile before sighing at Gulli and Sadie. "You can''t even defeat Feng Qiuyan, so how are you going to challenge Zhou Wen? From the looks of it, I can only let that fellow continue his arrogant ways. It''s really heart-wrenching!"


    Gulli was momentarily disappointed. Feng Qiuyan''s absolute suppression had already made him lose his confidence.


    "However, you don''t have to be too disheartened. Our club still has many activities. When the time comes, you will still have the chance to continue learning and growing. Zhou Wen will often participate in activities. Work hard, and there''s still a chance of defeating him. I think highly of you." As Li Xuan spoke, he picked up his phone and looked at it. "Alright, that''s all for today. I''ll inform you when the club has an activity."


    "Sis, it''s no wonder Zhou Wen defeated Lance. The disciples he taught are so strong. He must be stronger," Gulli said in disappointment.


    However, Sadie curled her lips and said, "Gulli, you are too gullible. It''s too easy for you to be deceived. Feng Qiuyan''s saber technique already has the inklings of a master saber expert. Even among the six families, there aren''t many people with such saber techniques. How can Zhou Wen teach such a person? It''s more like him teaching Zhou Wen."


    "But Feng Qiuyan said it himself¡­" Before Gulli could finish, Sadie interrupted him.


    Sadie said firmly, "The more that''s the case, the more problematic it is. If Zhou Wen is really that strong, why didn''t he accept the challenge himself? It''s clearly because he''s afraid of losing to us that he joined forces with Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan to put up such a show for us. It''s to make us give up on challenging him."


    "I see. I was almost fooled by him. Let''s go find Zhou Wen. We can''t let him run again no matter what." Gulli''s eyes gradually lit up.


    However, when he turned his head, Gulli frowned again. "But how can we find Zhou Wen? We have no idea where he lives."


    "That''s not difficult. Didn''t Feng Qiuyan say that he has an appointment with Zhou Wen? As long as we follow Feng Qiuyan, we will definitely be able to find him," Sadie said indifferently.


    "That''s right. With your Eye of Odin, it''ll be easy to keep up with Feng Qiuyan. Let''s go now," Gulli said as he walked out.


    The two of them left the training grounds. Sadie''s eyes suffused a faint blue light as she led the way. Soon, the two of them arrived at Dragon Gate Grotto. From afar, they saw Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan enter a cave together.


    "I see them. They are there. Zhou Wen is indeed here," Gulli said as he pointed to where Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan had entered.


    Sadie nodded and the two of them arrived in front of the cave. She carefully sized up the cave and said, "This should be the Lotus Flower Cave in Dragon Gate Grotto. There are Legendary Flying Beasts and Epic Fairy-type dimensional creatures inside. With Feng Qiuyan''s strength, the Flying Beasts aren''t challenging him. I reckon they are here to kill the Fairies."


    "It doesn''t matter what they kill. They just happened to enter a dimensional zone. Let''s chase after them and fight Zhou Wen. As long as we defeat him, it doesn''t matter even if we get expelled. After all, we came here to defeat him," said Gulli as he quickly walked towards Lotus Flower Cave. Sadie followed closely behind.


    Zhou Wen had been invited by Feng Qiuyan to Lotus Flower Cave. As Feng Qiuyan had discovered a Mutated Fairy there, he had invited Zhou Wen to kill it.

 609 Slaying Fairies

    "The Mutated Fairy is inside. I''ll be in charge of restraining the Flying Beasts and ordinary Fairies later. I''ll leave the Mutated Fairy to you, Coach," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    The two of them walked into one of the caves. Sadie and Gulli also arrived nearby. When they saw Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan walk into the cave, Gulli wanted to chase after them, but he was stopped by Sadie.


    "Wait a moment." After grabbing Gulli, Sadie looked in the direction of the cave that Zhou Wen had entered. An eye suddenly flew out of her eye socket and vanished as though it had teleported.


    Sadie had one eye closed, but her other opened eye shot out a light beam that formed a three-dimensional projection in front of her. It was a scene of Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan.


    In the projection, they were facing a group of Flying Beasts. There were at least a few hundred of them. There were also more than a dozen of Fairies, as well as a mutated black-and-white Fairy.


    "So many Fairies. Can the two of them deal with so many Fairies?" Gulli asked while looking at the three-dimensional projection.


    "Coach, I''ll pave the way for you," Feng Qiuyan said as he drew his saber to meet the incoming Flying Beasts.


    "There''s no need. Didn''t you invite me over to see me take action? Leave it to me." Zhou Wen knew very well.


    If Feng Qiuyan really wanted him to kill the Mutated Fairy, he would definitely try his best. It was impossible for him to seek his help. The reason he had invited him wasn''t to kill the Mutated Fairy at all.


    "As expected, nothing can escape your eyes, Coach," Feng Qiuyan said.


    "Then just watch." Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade in hand as he stared at the Flying Beasts and Fairies that rushed over like a swath of dark clouds. However, his focus wasn''t on them. Instead, he passed through the beast horde and stared at the Mutated Fairy floating in the sky.


    "What is he trying to do? To fight so many dimensional creatures alone, even an Epic wouldn''t be able to escape unscathed, right?" Gulli said.


    "Wait until everything is over," said Sadie.


    Seeing the horde of Flying Beasts and Fairies rush towards Zhou Wen and about to lunge at him, Feng Qiuyan, who was standing beside him, took two steps back as though he really didn''t plan on helping.


    Just as Gulli and Sadie were wondering how Zhou Wen was going to deal with the group of Flying Beasts and Fairies, Zhou Wen finally unsheathed his saber.


    A saber beam flashed but Gulli and Sadie only saw the flash dissipate. Before they could see the blade, it had already returned to its sheath.


    "What the hell? It''s useless," Gulli muttered.


    However, in the next second, the Flying Beasts and Fairies were split in half. Hundreds of Flying Beasts spewed out blood as their dismembered corpses fell.


    More than ten Fairies were covered in blood, their bodies beheaded. Even a hundred meters away, the Mutated Fairy who hadn''t charged over had its head chopped off.


    Instantly, blood splattered everywhere in the cave; not a single Flying Beast or Fairy survived.


    Gulli and Sadie''s expressions changed drastically as though someone had stabbed them in the heart. Their faces turned pale and a cold sweat broke out on their foreheads.


    The two of them exchanged looks before retreating. They slowly walked out of Lotus Flower Cave.


    After exiting Lotus Flower Cave, Gulli took a deep breath and wiped away the cold sweat on his forehead. He asked Sadie in bewilderment, "Sis, did you see how he slashed out just now?"


    "It was too fast. I didn''t see it clearly, but it''s alright. I have the Eye of Odin. I''ll take my time to have a look when I get back." It was unknown when the eye that flew out had returned to Sadie''s eye socket.


    When the two of them entered their dormitory, Sadie closed the door and windows. Only then did her eyes glow with blue light. The light that shot out formed a three-dimensional projection.


    The projection was the scene of Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan in the cave. The scene was like a video that was played by Sadie''s eyes.


    At the moment Zhou Wen drew his saber, Sadie slowed down the projection. The Flying Beasts'' actions slowed down, but they could only see a saber flash. Before they could see what the saber in Zhou Wen''s hand looked like, it had already returned to its scabbard.


    "Impossible¡­ How can it be so fast¡­ Even if he has advanced to the Epic stage¡­ it''s impossible for him to advance so quickly¡­" Gulli''s face was filled with disbelief.


    Sadie''s expression was solemn, but she didn''t say anything. She slowed down the speed of the projection once again. This time, after slowing down, the Flying Beasts'' movements were jittery as it reeled forward frame by frame.


    This time, they finally saw Zhou Wen''s strike clearly. The saber was like a stream of light, but in fact, it wasn''t just a saber.


    Zhou Wen''s body leaned forward as he drew his saber. Instantly, he flew up with the saber and drew an arc as he shuttled through the Fairy beast horde.


    Under such slow replay speeds, he remained so fast that it left them dazzled. The saber beam streaked across the Flying Beasts and Fairies'' bodies like lightning before finally slashing across the Mutated Fairy''s neck. After completing a circle, Zhou Wen returned to his original spot. The saber returned to its scabbard as though he had never moved.


    The entire process looked pleasing to the eye. The entire process was smooth, as though it was an agile and speedy flash of lightning.


    Gulli broke out into a cold sweat as he looked at Sadie with a stiff neck. "Sis, how slow was your Eye of Odin''s replay speed?"


    "Seven times," Sadie replied with a strange expression.


    "Impossible!" Upon hearing this answer, Gulli immediately shouted. "When your Eye of Odin lowers the speed by two times, the fastest Legendary expert will become as slow as a snail. At the speed of four times, even an Epic stage will also be like a turtle crawl. At the speed of six times, even a top Epic expert who focuses on speed will become like a super slow motion scene. How can his saber technique and movement technique be so fast at a seven times slowdown? Even if he''s already a top Epic, it''s impossible for him to have such a fast saber and movement technique."


    "Yes, it''s indeed impossible. The Eye of Odin was slowed down seven times. Only the speed of a Mythical stage expert can produce such an effect," said Sadie.


    "How can he be at the Mythical stage? Impossible. Sis, are you mistaken?" How could Gulli believe that Zhou Wen, who was less than two years older than him, be at the Mythical stage?


    "It''s impossible for my Eye of Odin to make a mistake. Of course, it''s impossible for him to be at the Mythical stage. Then, there''s only one possibility left. He trained his saber technique to become a divine technique, which is why he has such a fast speed," Sadie said with a burning gaze.


    "Divine saber technique!" Gulli was stunned. This answer was still unacceptable to him, but he knew very well that Sadie''s Eye of Odin couldn''t be wrong.


    They had originally come here to right Lance''s reputation. Although Gulli hadn''t advanced to the Epic stage, he was already very close. As for Sadie, she had advanced to the Epic stage and obtained the Life Soul, Eye of Odin, which was almost like a bug in computer programs.


    Gulli originally believed that no matter how strong Zhou Wen was, even if he could defeat him, he was definitely not Sadie''s match.


    But now, he felt endless despair. A person who had mastered a divine technique at the Epic stage, and him being only seventeen years old¡ªjust the thought of it left him dizzy.


    Even in the history of the six families, there had never been such a terrifying person.

 610 Golden Overlord Sword

    A crisp sound came from the phone. Zhou Wen saw an item drop in-game and nearly jumped out of bed.


    After returning yesterday, Zhou Wen had spent the entire night grinding dungeons. When he finally killed the Golden Battle God Halberd in the morning, a Companion Egg dropped for the third time.


    Is the drop rate for the Golden Battle God Halberd that high? Zhou Wen looked at the three identical halberds with slightly different stats and skills. He felt a little depressed.


    An additional Mythical Companion Beast was indeed able to greatly enhance Zhou Wen''s strength. However, when facing different situations, the same Companion Beast''s ability made for weaker adaptation.


    When restrained, the same Companion Beasts would be restrained together. They would be limited and prevent him from adapting to the situation.


    However, for fusion, there''s no suitable Companion Beast to fuse with the Golden Battle God Halberd. Zhou Wen matched his Companion Beasts with the Golden Battle God Halberd again.


    In the final match, the compatibility between Overlord Sword and Golden Battle God Halberd was the highest, but it was only 41%. With less than 50% fusion compatibility, the chances of a fusion success were very low.


    The only fusion plan with a high compatibility score was the Golden Battle God Halberd and the Golden Battle God Halberd. However, the most important function of the Golden Battle God Halberd was its Life Soul¡ªGolden Divine Light¡ªand Unstoppable.


    With these two abilities, the Golden Battle God Halberd''s effects could already be considered to be at its peak. Even if he could enhance its attributes or have a few more skills after fusion, the main functions of the Golden Battle God Halberd wouldn''t have any qualitative improvement. It would be better to keep two Golden Battle God Halberds so that he could be stronger in battle.


    I already have three Golden Battle God Halberds. I can take the gamble with one. With 41% compatibility, the chances of success can''t be considered very low. If the Golden Battle God Halberd can fuse with Overlord Sword''s abilities, the best outcome will be having two skills¡ªUnstoppable and Ever-Victorious¡ªat the same time. Then, releasing sword beams being augmented by these two skills, that would be really impressive. However, this is only the best outcome. Ignoring the possibility of fusion failure, even if the fusion succeeds, it might not turn out the way I wish. The skills may be retained, but the Life Providence and Life Soul can also be changed. It might not be able to retain its Mythical stage¡­ After some consideration, Zhou Wen decided to give it a try.


    Since Overlord Sword isn''t of much use anymore and I have three Golden Divine Battle Halberds, so be it if I lose one. Zhou Wen didn''t hold much hope as he placed the Golden Battle God Halberd and Overlord Sword together into the fusion column before clicking on fusion.


    I succeeded¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted as he sized up the Companion Beast.


    As the two were already incubated Companion Beasts, the newly fused Companion Beast was affected by the two Companion Beasts, causing a change in appearance.


    Zhou Wen''s first impression was that it was a tycoon with a shiny, golden blade. However, this blade was extremely odd. From its appearance, it looked like a greatsword.


    However, two short blades protruded from the two sides of the greatsword''s hilt. They were like two side blades of the trident, making it look both like a greatsword or a mutated trident.


    After pulling out the information on the new Companion Beast, Zhou Wen carefully looked at its stats.


    Golden Overlord Sword: Mythical


    Life Providence: Sword Sovereign of God


    Life Soul: Golden Sword Aura


    Wheel of Destiny: Benevolence of the Battle God


    Strength: 79


    Speed: 72


    Constitution: 79


    Essence Energy: 68


    Talent Skill: Ever-Victorious, Fangwheel Sword Flash


    Companion Form: Golden Greatsword


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. It looked like its stats weren''t bad and it seemed to have fused well in all aspects, but it lacked an important skill¡ªUnstoppable¡ªa skill that came with Golden Battle God Halberd.


    Furthermore, he did not know if the Golden Sword Aura''s effect could be compared to the Golden Divine Light.


    Zhou Wen took the golden greatsword to try it in-game and realized that the Golden Sword Aura could actually be shot out as a Fangwheel Sword Flash. Furthermore, its might wasn''t inferior to the Golden Divine Light.


    It was just that it lacked Unstoppable skill. Its destructive power was slightly weaker, but with Ever-Victorious''s augmentation, it was not too much weaker.


    Although the Golden Overlord Sword''s stats and skills were slightly inferior to the Golden Battle God Halberd, its Golden Sword Aura could be released. This was a qualitative leap, raising Zhou Wen''s combat ability. If he had to choose out of the two, Zhou Wen would still choose the Golden Overlord Sword.


    Looking at the Golden Battle God Halberd Companion Egg that hadn''t hatched, Zhou Wen matched it with the Golden Overlord Sword and realized that the compatibility was higher than before. It was as high as 69%.


    With the Golden Battle God Halberd Companion Egg as a supplementary ingredient, I can strengthen it without changing the Golden Overlord Sword''s foundation. However, I wonder how much it can increase. It would be great if I could fuse Unstoppable into it. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and placed the Golden Battle God Halberd Companion Egg on it again. He decided to fuse it again.


    Although the Golden Overlord Sword was already very powerful, Zhou Wen felt that something was missing without Unstoppable.


    It had to be said that Zhou Wen had some perfectionist inclinations.


    Seeing the light engulf the Golden Overlord Sword and Companion Egg, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but feel nervous. Although the success rate was close to 70%, Zhou Wen had previously failed at a higher success rate. Failure wasn''t impossible.


    My heart is in a mess. I need to blank my mind¡­ Just as the fusion began, his phone suddenly rang. It gave Zhou Wen a fright. He picked up his phone and saw that it was Wang Lu''s number.


    "What are you doing? Why did you take so long to answer the call?" Wang Lu''s voice sounded from the phone.


    "I''m gaming," Zhou Wen answered. He turned his head and saw that the fusion had ended. The Golden Overlord Sword was still there and hadn''t disappeared.


    "Can''t you have other activities other than gaming?" Wang Lu said unhappily.


    "I don''t want to move," Zhou Wen answered.


    Wang Lu knew that Zhou Wen wasn''t a talkative person, but she still felt indignant. After calming herself down, she continued, "I''ve successfully advanced to the Epic stage. However, due to the problem of cultivating my Essence Energy Art, I''ve degenerated to the Mortal stage. I need time to recultivate again. I won''t be able to return to school anytime soon. When I wasn''t around, the antelope and Little Feifei must have suffered quite a lot. You must have forgotten to feed them. Do you now know that it''s impossible without me?"


    "Not at all. When I wasn''t around, An Sheng would feed them. They had plenty of good food to eat," Zhou Wen answered.


    "Goodbye." Wang Lu decisively hung up. She felt that if she continued chatting, she would be infuriated by Zhou Wen.


    Why did you hang up on me? Zhou Wen put down his phone and looked at the post-fusion stats of the Golden Overlord Sword.

 611 Competition for the Top Rank

    Life Providence: Sword Sovereign of God


    Life Soul: Golden Sword Aura


    Wheel of Destiny: Benevolence of the Battle God


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 76


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 78


    Talent Skill: Ever-Victorious, Unstoppable, Fangwheel Sword Flash, Battle God''s Radiance.


    Companion Form: Golden Greatsword


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw this. Not only was Unstoppable retained, but he had also gained Golden Battle God Halberd''s Battle God''s Radiance. It was an AOE skill, and it was pretty good.


    Furthermore, its stats had increased significantly. It could be considered a top-notch Mythical Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen entered the game with the Golden Overlord Sword. Together with his divine skill, Transcendent Flying Immortal, killing dimensional creatures was simple. Even Mythical creatures couldn''t withstand its sharpness.


    I''m better with swords at the end of the day. The Golden Battle God Halberd''s Golden Divine Light couldn''t be released, so it was quite flawed. Zhou Wen compared the Golden Battle God Halberd to the Golden Overlord Sword and immediately gave up on the Golden Battle God Halberd, letting it attack in its own form.


    "Old Zhou, quick! Check out the livestream." Zhou Wen was still immersed in the joy of the success of the Golden Overlord Sword''s fusion when Li Xuan suddenly sent a message.


    "What livestream?" Zhou Wen replied.


    "It''s the cube''s ranking. The second-ranked Death of the Underworld is challenging the number one Primordial Sword Immortal. Holy sh*t, Primordial Sword Immortal has accepted the challenge. Quick, take a look," Li Xuan replied.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly opened the webpage and immediately saw all kinds of headlines. They were all live-streaming the battle. He randomly clicked on one and the scene that popped up on his phone was that of the cube''s arena. Death of the Underworld and Primordial Sword Immortal floated on both sides of the arena.


    The battle between the two Companion Beasts alarmed the entire world. It wasn''t just the Federation, but even overseas spectators were watching the battle closely.


    Death of the Underworld was first on the rankings in the beginning but was relegated to second because of Primordial Sword Immortal. Ever since then, despite many Companion Beasts joining the rankings, none shook their rankings. From this, it could be seen that these two Companion Beasts were extremely terrifying by the cube''s standards.


    Strange, how can Death of the Underworld be challenging Primordial Sword Immortal? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Typically, people liked to use the Family Clan of Gods to address the West District''s family clan. As for Lance''s family clan, it was named the Ultimate Family Clan.


    Death of the Underworld was one of the top Mythical Companion Beasts in the Family Clan of Gods. Across the six families, there weren''t many Mythical Companion Beasts of this level.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that the Family Clan of Gods would definitely leave Death of the Underworld to the end before attempting to race to the top of the rankings. He never expected them to take action so quickly.


    An Sheng had also once determined that the vile characters overseas couldn''t hold back and would end up probing Primordial Sword Immortal''s strength first. Clearly, his judgment was wrong.


    It wasn''t just Zhou Wen and An Sheng who didn''t expect it. Even the other families of the six families didn''t think that the Family Clan of Gods would let the Death of the Underworld challenge Primordial Sword Immortal so early.


    What are those fellows up to? Senator Cape watched the livestream and frowned.


    Among the six families, the Dugu family dominated the South District. The Ultimate Family Clan resided in the North District, and the East District was controlled by the Xia family and the Zhang family. The West District was the Cape family and the Family Clan of Gods.


    The relationship between the two was very complicated. Usually, the two families were in competition with each other in the West District. It could be said that they were at loggerheads with each other. However, when faced with external danger, the two families would work together to form an alliance.


    Senator Cape also believed that the Family Clan of Gods would only get Death of the Underworld to challenge Primordial Sword Immortal in the last few days. He never expected them to take action so quickly.


    In the arena, Primordial Sword Immortal launched an attack. A red sword beam shot out from the ruby on its hilt, instantly arriving in front of Death of the Underworld.


    Death of the Underworld didn''t seem to react as it remained standing there. The red sword beam stabbed into its body.


    When everyone saw the red sword beam stab into the gray cloak, they were surprised to discover that Death of the Underworld''s body was like a phantom. The red sword beam failed to injure it at all and directly penetrated its body.


    The red sword beam seemed to be alive as it automatically flew back and shuttled back and forth from Death of the Underworld''s body, but it was useless.


    Death of the Underworld''s body was like a specter. The red sword beam could not touch it.


    Death of the Underworld''s body is about the same as my Ghost Bride. Zhou Wen immediately understood what was going on.


    With the red sword beam useless, Death of the Underworld finally moved, its figure vanishing into thin air. It wasn''t because it was fast, but because it had undergone true teleportation. When Death of the Underworld appeared again, it had already arrived beside Primordial Sword Immortal. A ghostly hand formed from blue-black flames grabbed at the hilt of Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword. It was almost touching the hilt.


    A sword hum shook the surroundings. Primordial Sword Immortal, which had never been unsheathed, finally tore out of the scabbard. The stone sword automatically flew out of the scabbard and slashed at Death of the Underworld''s palm with an immortal-like sword beam.


    Death of the Underworld actually seemed to be afraid. It didn''t dare to receive the stone sword''s attack head-on like before. It flashed once again and dodged the terrifying sword beam.


    The ancient sword levitated in the air as the sword beam swirled, sweeping towards Death of the Underworld that had appeared after its teleportation. Death of the Underworld teleported several times, but it was unable to shake off the sword beam.


    Just as the sword beam was about to slash at Death of the Underworld, Death of the Underworld suddenly pulled open its gray cloak. The blue-black light in its body erupted and instantly enveloped the entire arena.


    Instantly, the screen on the phone turned blue-black. It was as though countless stars were circulating between the blue and black colors, like the universe in the night sky.


    Apart from that, there was nothing else.


    Is this an Essence Energy Skill or a Wheel of Destiny''s power? Zhou Wen looked at the screen and frowned.


    Others were as anxious as Zhou Wen. They didn''t know what had happened in the arena, so they could only stare blankly at the blue-black galaxy.


    It only took a moment before the blue-black light in the arena suddenly converged. A sword beam tore through the air. It was the stone sword.


    It''s finally out¡­ Just as everyone was feeling pleasantly surprised, they realized that Death of the Underworld had already retreated from the battlefield. After the battle ended, Death of the Underworld''s ranking didn''t change. It was still ranked second¡ªclearly, it had lost.

 612 Activity Division

    "Although we didn''t see the most important part, there''s already plenty to be seen," Zhou Wen replied.


    "What did you see?" Li Xuan asked.


    "Death of the Underworld has the power of a spatial domain. If one wants to fight Death of the Underworld, one has to be prepared to engage in an away match. Primordial Sword Immortal was able to defeat Death of the Underworld within the latter''s spatial domain, so perhaps it also has spatial powers, or perhaps its offensive strength is so powerful that it can destroy space itself. Regardless of the possibilities, the strength of Primordial Sword Immortal is already beyond imagination."


    Zhou Wen paused before saying, "The major families should have professional analysts that can provide more professional analysis. Let''s wait for them."


    "What I want to see the most is the Family Clan of Gods'' analysis report. I didn''t get a kick from this battle," Li Xuan said with a sigh.


    "It''s indeed not satisfying." Zhou Wen had the same thought. Now, the only person who knew more about Primordial Sword Immortal was the Family Clan of Gods. However, he was certain that they wouldn''t easily leak the information they had.


    Indeed, in less than two days, An Sheng received news that the Family Clan of Gods had indeed come up with a comprehensive analysis. They even publicly put the results up for sale. However, the price was just too high. Even the other large families were hesitant about buying their information.


    No one could guarantee that their analysis had any decisive use.


    It''s a pity that my pets don''t have spatial powers. In a fight, others will see everything. There''s no chance of selling information. Otherwise, I could sell it and earn a fortune. Zhou Wen had an idea, but no matter how he thought about it, there was no way to keep his information confidential.


    Beep! Beep! Beep! There was a notification from his phone. Tyrant Behemoth was hungry once again.


    After this fellow advanced to the Mythical stage, its demand for food had increased even more. If not for the Essence Crystal mines in the Poison Bat tunnel, Tyrant Behemoth would have long starved to death.


    Thankfully, the Essence Crystal mine would respawn together with the dungeon. Every time Tyrant Behemoth entered the Poison Bat Cave, it would eat the bats and Essence Crystal ores. When it finished eating, it would be 70% full. A second meal could last it two to three days.


    What a terrifying appetite. In reality, I really can''t afford to rear it. After Zhou Wen took Tyrant Behemoth to have its feast, he went to grind Torch Dragon and Qiongqi.


    Torch Dragon also dropped a rare spatial stat crystal. This was one of Zhou Wen''s motivations to farm it.


    ¡­


    Li Xuan called everyone over for a Xuanwen Club activity. Zhou Wen came into the activity room and saw Gulli and Sadie. However, today was a little odd. Gulli didn''t insist on challenging him.


    Gu Dian, Feng Qiuyan, Fang Ruoxi, and Tian Xiangdong attended the event. Only Huang Ji didn''t come.


    Zhou Wen sent a message asking Huang Ji what was going on. Huang Ji said that he had found a huge investor and was discussing some details with them.


    If the investment was successful, his "Dimensional" game could be produced by a proper team. Not only could the map be expanded, but the details of the game could also be optimized.


    Who has such poor acumen to actually invest in this game? Although Zhou Wen felt that Huang Ji''s game wasn''t bad, the dungeons were too small. Furthermore, they were dungeons that humans were familiar with, so its effects were limited.


    Unless someone provided information on new dimensional zones, the game "Dimensional" ultimately wouldn''t be of much use.


    Zhou Wen only used this game as an excuse and didn''t think of relying on it to get rich.


    However, Huang Ji revealed that not only did the investor bring in funds, but he would also bring large amounts of information regarding relatively new dimensional zones. This was also one of the reasons Huang Ji was tempted and willing to let outsiders invest.


    "Information about new dimensional zones? And large amounts of them? This isn''t something ordinary people can obtain. Is it a scam?" Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    "Don''t worry. The other party has a military background. His backer should be Deputy Governor Qin. There won''t be any problems in this area." Huang Ji had already made plans, as though he had long found out the other party''s background.


    "If it really is Deputy Governor Qin supporting this, the game might really become popular." Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected the game to attract Qin Wufu''s attention.


    "That''s right. However, they have a request. If we let them invest, the dungeon access will be split into three levels. There will be dungeons for public downloads on the Internet. College dungeons that only allow students of Sunset College to download. It will be forbidden to share with others. Another will be the military dungeons, open only to the military. All the information is confidential. Without their approval, the contents of the military dungeons cannot be released in other versions, Huang Ji said.


    "That''s reasonable." Zhou Wen felt that there was no problem.


    "Yes, we''re in the midst of a discussion. I''ll inform you of the outcome."


    "Alright." When Zhou Wen made his initial investment, he had mentioned that he didn''t care about these matters. All he did was wait for the money. These problems were to be decided by Huang Ji himself.


    Gulli and Sadie were very quiet today. Gulli, who had been so arrogant when he first entered the school, obediently followed Li Xuan''s activity arrangements. He didn''t say anything arrogant, as though he had changed into a completely different person. It surprised Li Xuan.


    He originally imagined that he would have to give these two geniuses from the Ultimate Family Clan another lesson or two to make them behave.


    "Today, our target is the Demonized Generals of Tiger Cage Pass. By killing the most Demonized Generals, you can obtain a special pass that we have prepared. As Tiger Cage Pass is relatively dangerous, we will be acting in pairs so that you can also take care of each other. The two people in the same group can''t move separately." Li Xuan paused before saying, "Gulli, you and Little Yanyan will be in the same team. Sadie, you and I are in the same team¡­"


    "President, I wish to be in the same group as Zhou Wen," Sadie suddenly said.


    Li Xuan scratched his nose and said, "That''s fine. It''s ok if you want to follow Old Zhou. Xiangdong, follow me. Ruoxi, you and Gu Dian will be in the same team."


    After the allocation was done, everyone headed for Tiger Cage Pass. As Tiger Cage Pass was very large, they split up into teams to search for Demonized Generals.


    Tiger Cage Pass didn''t have any secrets for Zhou Wen. All he did was come out to get some action. It could be considered as letting others know that he still cultivated.


    "Zhou Wen, are you interested in competing?" Sadie suddenly asked Zhou Wen.

 613 Eye of Odin

    Zhou Wen was considering how to kill Primordial Sword Immortal. He had no interest in an opponent at Sadie''s level. Even if she was a peerless genius, she was at most at the Epic stage.


    The Epic stage was already too weak for Zhou Wen. He had condensed five Life Souls which was equivalent to someone advancing to the Epic stage five times. He really didn''t find the Epic stage impressive.


    Even the six families wouldn''t randomly give a Mythical Companion Beast to such a young genius. This was because they had too little combat experience and were too young. Their minds weren''t staid enough and with mighty strength, they easily took risks. That way, they would die even faster.


    An Epic expert without a Mythical Companion Beast was no challenge for Zhou Wen.


    Sadie seemed to have expected that Zhou Wen would reject her, so she wasn''t angry. She continued, "I know you are very strong. If it were a life-and-death battle, I definitely wouldn''t be your match. However, if we compete in the acumen, I believe you aren''t my match."


    "Since you are so confident, I''ll leave the Demonized General hunting mission to you." Zhou Wen retreated a little. A group of Demonized Soldiers had already discovered them and were charging over.


    Although Sadie felt that Zhou Wen was looking down on her, she didn''t mind.


    In the past, she would definitely have thought that Zhou Wen was too arrogant. However, after seeing Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal, she felt that he had the right to be arrogant.


    A seventeen-year-old person who had already mastered a divine technique could be as arrogant as he wanted. It wasn''t excessive.


    Sadie summoned an ice sword and charged at the Demonized Soldiers. The Demonized Soldiers were naturally not her match and were easily killed by her. They weren''t even considered a warm-up.


    Seeing how Zhou Wen ignored her, Sadie tactfully didn''t say anything else. All she did was wait for an opportunity to make Zhou Wen think of her in a different light.


    She was very confident in her Eye of Odin Life Soul. In her family''s evaluation, the Eye of Odin Life Soul was S+ rank. It was even stronger than the average S rank, a Life Soul akin to a bug in games.


    Although Sadie''s Eye of Odin had only just condensed and was still a Primordial Body, its ability was already excellent.


    Previously, it had been used to record videos, but in fact, it was just a trick of the Eye of Odin. What was truly impressive about the Eye of Odin was that it could observe an opponent in battle.


    Now, Sadie''s limit was to slow things down by seven times. In battle, if she used this ability, all trajectories would appear seven times slower in her eyes.


    This multiplier was calculated according to the standards of the Eye of Odin. It wasn''t slowing down the object by seven times.


    The Eye of Odin didn''t only strengthen her vision; in fact, the real target of the Eye of Odin was to strengthen her brain. If the brain''s thinking speed and reaction couldn''t keep up, it could easily cause a situation where one couldn''t react in time despite being able to detect it.


    However, the Eye of Odin had strengthened her brain, allowing Sadie''s brain to think and react faster. This was the truly terrifying part.


    A saber technique that looked as fast as lightning looked like slow motion in Sadie''s eyes when she slowed it down by seven times. At the same time, her mind raced with all sorts of countermeasures at lightning speed.


    Now, Sadie''s only flaw was that because her eyesight and brainpower were too strong, her body couldn''t keep up with her brain''s reaction speed, causing her to have synchronization issues.


    Under normal circumstances, a speed of four to five times was her limit. Her body''s speed could keep up with her eyesight and brainpower. Any higher, her body''s movement speed wouldn''t be able to keep up even if her brain issued an order.


    In terms of combat abilities, Sadie knew that she was far from Zhou Wen''s match, but in terms of acumen, Sadie didn''t believe that she would lose to him.


    As she charged forward, the ice sword in Sadie''s hand mercilessly harvested the lives of the Demonized Soldiers. Even if she encountered Demonized Generals, she could still kill them with one strike.


    Her sword techniques didn''t have any unnecessary movements. She could always use the simplest method to kill her enemy.


    Zhou Wen followed behind Sadie without making a move. Seeing that Sadie was about to rush into the range of the Tiger Cage Demonized General, he said, "Let''s end here. Stop walking forward."


    "I heard that Tiger Cage Pass has a very powerful dimensional creature guarding it and ordinary people can''t charge in. Why don''t we have a bet? If I can charge into the city and kill the dimensional creature guarding the gates, it''ll be considered my victory. If I can''t charge in, or if I can''t kill the dimensional creature guarding the gates, count it as my loss. If I lose, I can tell you a secret about the cube ranking. If I''m lucky to win, I hope you can officially spar with me. Just the two of us. Let''s see who''s acumen is better," Sadie said.


    "What secret?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "It''s not a secret if I tell you, but I guarantee with my character that this secret is definitely worth it," Sadie said with certainty.


    "Alright, I''ll bet with you. Are you sure you want to kill the strongest dimensional creature in Tiger Cage Pass?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "That''s right. Let''s smack palms to make an oath. It''s a deal?" Sadie extended her hand.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate as he extended his palm and slapped Sadie''s palm.


    Tiger Cage Demonized General was already a top Epic creature. No matter how talented Sadie was, killing Tiger Cage Demonized General was not bad.


    However, what was truly terrifying in Tiger Cage Pass wasn''t the Tiger Cage Demonized General, but the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet. Although that fellow was only at the Epic stage, his difficulty was already close to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen didn''t think Sadie had the ability to kill the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet.


    After retracting her palm, Sadie''s lips curled up slightly. She wore a confident expression as she charged towards Tiger Cage Pass with her ice sword.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side, prepared to help at any moment. If Sadie were to fail, he couldn''t watch her die here.


    Just as Sadie stepped into the range of the Tiger Cage Demonized General''s shooting range, she saw an arrow shoot over with a strong spiral force. It was shockingly fast.


    However, Sadie didn''t panic. When the arrow reached her, she took a slight step to the side and dodged the arrow. At the same time, she slashed the ice sword in her hand, landing the arrow. She continued rushing towards Tiger Cage Pass.


    The storm-like arrows immediately shot over.


    Zhou Wen watched as Sadie moved in a small area and brandished the ice sword in her hand. She easily passed through the arrow rain and continued charging at Tiger Cage Pass.


    This Sadie really has some ability. Zhou Wen realized that when Sadie passed through the rain of arrows, she used a very small movement to dodge a large number of arrows. Every time the ice sword struck out, it struck the most critical arrow.


    The entire process was as exact as a computer''s calculated path. There was no waste of stamina through any unnecessary actions.


    Even Zhou Wen himself couldn''t do better than Sadie.

 614 Eye of Hell

    Back when Lance visited, he had only just reached the edge of Minute Subtlety. Sadie was a little younger than Lance, yet she had completely mastered Minute Subtlety. From Zhou Wen''s point of view, this was extremely shocking.


    Unbeknown to Zhou Wen, Sadie purely relied on the powers of Eye of Odin. Her true realm was inferior to Lance, so she naturally wasn''t as good as Zhou Wen.


    However, Eye of Odin was like a bug in games. To outsiders, Sadie was simply at some greater mastery of Minute Subtlety. No matter how intense the battle was, she could always calmly achieve perfection.


    Soon, Sadie rushed to the top of the city and began fighting the Tiger Cage Demonized General.


    Tiger Cage Demonized General was slightly stronger than Sadie in every aspect, but under the effects of the Eye of Odin, she could counter all his moves. He couldn''t injure Sadie at all. Instead, he was severely restrained by Sadie. It was only a matter of time before he was killed.


    There''s actually such a genius in this world? Zhou Wen looked at Sadie''s battle and was increasingly certain that she had achieved greater mastery of Minute Subtlety. Otherwise, how could she have reached such a stage?


    She should be around my age or younger than me. Since she can do it, there''s no reason I can''t do it. Zhou Wen carefully observed Sadie''s actions as he switched his Essence Energy Skill to Small Perfection of Wisdom.


    The Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence and Hell King Life Soul also worked at the same time, making his senses extremely sharp.


    Zhou Wen sat on the Chi''s back and watched the battle. At the same time, he put himself in Sadie''s shoes. He imagined a battle with the Tiger Cage Demonized General. In this battle, what was the difference between his choices and Sadie''s choices?


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that although his choice wasn''t wrong, he found them a little crude compared to Sadie. He wasn''t as meticulous as Sadie.


    What exactly am I lacking? As Zhou Wen thought, he gradually gained some insight.


    There''s a saying that goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated." The reason why gods are revered is that they have terrifying clairvoyant abilities. From this, one can see the importance of the word "know." What Minute Subtlety needs is clairvoyance. By observing the other party''s actions, one can derive information about the other party and exploit the information obtained¡­ As Zhou Wen''s mind raced, his Hell King Life Soul also expanded.


    The stronger Zhou Wen''s mind was, the stronger the feedback his body received.


    With Zhou Wen''s comprehension, the Hell King Life Soul became stronger. As for the Hell King Life Soul, it was one with Zhou Wen. The growth of the Hell King Life Soul immediately reflected back on Zhou Wen, making him feel increasingly sensitive.


    Suddenly, a vertical eye on Zhou Wen''s glabella opened. It was the Eye of Hell that belonged to the Hell King. At the instant it opened, it seemed to have countless wraiths howling in pain.


    The moment the Eye of Hell opened, the space around Zhou Wen seemed to change. It wasn''t a real eye, but a door that led to hell.


    When the Eye of Hell opened, Zhou Wen''s body experienced a strange feeling. It was as though there was another feeling beyond his senses. This feeling made his sensual organs feel extremely strange.


    So this is the Hell King''s true ability. This should be the so-called Eighth Sense, right? To break through the understanding of spatial dimension¡­ Under the effects of the Hell King Life Soul, Zhou Wen didn''t even need to look to sense the minute changes in his surroundings.


    However, he gradually realized that the feeling he had when he was Hell King didn''t seem to be as simple as an eighth sense.


    Apart from a normal feeling, he also discovered a strange phenomenon in every creature. It was an indescribable feeling.


    He seemed to see a transparent flame burning on all the creatures. Some of the transparent flames were bigger than others, burning like a bonfire.


    Some of the flames were relatively small, like fire plumes. It was as though the slightest breath could extinguish them.


    What was even stranger was that the flames were transparent and colorless. It should have been impossible to see them, but he could. Even if he closed his eyes, he could sense the existence of the flames.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen could vaguely sense that the transparent and colorless flames seemed to have some connection with the Eye of Hell at his glabella.


    Could it be that the flames I see are actually the legendary karmic sinflames? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly, but he wasn''t confident.


    Legend had it that karmic sinflames were the flames of sins. Every time someone did something evil, he would have more karmic sinflames on him. After he went to hell, he would be burned by the karmic sinflames.


    The greater the sins, the more karmic sinflames there were. This also prolonged the burning in hell. One had to wait for the karmic sinflames to burn out before they could reincarnate.


    Zhou Wen was only guessing, unsure if what he saw were karmic sinflames.


    Sadie was still fighting the Tiger Cage Demonized General. Her Eye of Odin was indeed powerful. Despite fighting someone stronger than herself, she suppressed the Tiger Cage Demonized General and eventually killed him with one strike.


    The entire process was smooth and fluid. She didn''t give the Tiger Cage Demonized General a chance. The Tiger Cage Demonized General didn''t even manage to touch her clothes. Even Sadie was very satisfied with her performance.


    Standing on the city wall, Sadie said to Zhou Wen who was outside the city with a smile, "Zhou Wen, I won."


    "See what''s behind you first," Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Sadie was slightly taken aback. She turned her head and saw a strange person wearing a mask standing on top of a tower in the city.


    Before Sadie could do anything, the strange person held a stack of yellow paper in his hand and threw it into the air. The yellow paper scattered, turning out to be paper figurines.


    However, when the paper figurines landed, they turned into Tiger Cage Demonized Generals. There were more than ten of them.


    More than ten Tiger Cage Demonized Generals charged forward and immediately surrounded Sadie.


    Sadie was alarmed. She could still deal with a single Tiger Cage Demonized General. If these Tiger Cage Demonized Generals had the same combat strength as the previous Tiger Cage Demonized Generals, she was definitely no match for them.


    She originally hoped that these Tiger Cage Demonized Generals were only paper tigers and didn''t have any true strength, but after a short battle, she realized that they were equally terrifying.


    Sadie fought many alone. Relying on the ability of Eye of Odin, she constantly dodged and moved around, ensuring that she remained safe. However, under the siege of the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals, Sadie''s physical reaction was no longer able to keep up with her acumen and brain''s reactions. All she could do was try her best to find flaws in the siege and use the time difference to dodge.


    Zhou Wen watched with relish. Sadie''s speed couldn''t be considered fast, but her ability, which was akin to Minute Subtlety, was indeed very powerful. She wasn''t injured under the siege of more than ten Tiger Cage Demonized Generals. She was indeed extraordinarily strong.

 615 Benefits of the Ranking

    So it''s not that she has reached the realm of Minute Subtlety, but she''s relying on her Life Soul. What kind of Life Soul is that? It actually allows her to possess the ability of Minute Subtlety? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Sadie was fighting many alone. Although she was in a sorry state, she wasn''t injured from the gank. This was quite shocking.


    Unfortunately, with so many Tiger Cage Demonized Generals surrounding her, Sadie couldn''t rush out of the encirclement. Her Essence Energy and stamina were very limited, so it was only a matter of time before she died.


    This proves that no matter how strong one''s ability is, it''s best to be careful. In such a world, who knows what kind of enemy one will encounter? Once restrained, no matter how strong one''s ability is, one won''t be able to deny death. However, Sadie''s ability isn''t bad. If I can obtain her Essence Energy Art, I wonder if I can use the Lost Immortal Sutra to condense the same Life Soul? Zhou Wen was just musing for a moment. Even if he had the same Essence Energy Art, he might not necessarily be able to condense the same Life Soul. The formation of a Life Soul was determined by a person''s physique and mental strength. Therefore, everyone''s Life Soul was somewhat different. There weren''t two absolutely identical Life Souls.


    It was the same for a Life Providence. The functions might be similar, but not completely identical.


    Furthermore, even with the Lost Immortal Sutra, condensing a Life Soul wasn''t easy. One needed a special energy with similar attributes as a foundation. Only then could the Lost Immortal Sutra simulate condensing a Life Soul.


    Now that I''m thinking about it, my First Order of Chaos hasn''t condensed a Life Soul. I wonder if I can use a drop of Grim Demon''s blood as a foundation to condense a Life Soul? Zhou Wen set his sights on Grim Demon.


    With Demonic Neonate as his master, he probably wouldn''t dare to object to having him release some blood.


    While Zhou Wen was considering how to condense the Life Soul of the First Order of Chaos with the blood of Grim Demon, Sadie was struggling to remain safe.


    She originally imagined that a dimensional zone like Tiger Cage Pass couldn''t have Mythical creatures. With her Eye of Odin Life Soul, it wasn''t difficult to kill Epic dimensional creatures. Even if she couldn''t beat them, she had a chance of escaping.


    Who knew that she would encounter a terrifying existence like the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet. She didn''t even have a chance to escape.


    Zhou Wen watched from outside the city. She knew that Zhou Wen definitely had the ability to help her escape, but her pride prevented her from asking him. All she could do was summon her Companion Beasts and desperately attempt to rush out of the city.


    Sadie immediately fell into despair. She was surrounded by twenty to thirty Tiger Cage Demonized Generals. Even if her Eye of Odin could see the path needed to get out, her body couldn''t keep up.


    The reason the six families didn''t let young people use Mythical Companion Beasts was because of this principle. Young people were hot-blooded, especially young geniuses. They were all arrogant and impulsive. Having powerful strength only made it easier for them to fall into danger.


    Therefore, even if they had Mythical Companion Beasts, the various families would give them to people who had some experience and had been burnished by reality. They were calm and capable.


    Although they were about the same age, Lance would definitely not make such a decision if he were here.


    Sadie''s Essence Energy was almost depleted. A Companion Beast beside her was attacked and ended up slamming into her. Immediately, her trajectory deviated. It was too late to dodge the attacks of the Tiger Cage Demonized Generals.


    Sadie gritted her teeth and prepared to risk her life. However, she suddenly saw a flash of saber light. The Tiger Cage Demonized Generals beside her suddenly stopped their attacks. With a poof, white mist emitted from them as they transformed into yellow paper figurines that landed on the ground.


    She turned her head and saw Zhou Wen standing beside the masked man. As for the masked man, his head had been chopped off.


    Zhou Wen walked to Sadie''s side and asked, "What''s the secret regarding the Companion Beast ranking you mentioned?"


    Sadie looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression before saying, "Actually, this isn''t really a secret. There should be quite a number of people in the six families who know about it. In fact, obtaining first place on the rankings isn''t the only way to get benefits."


    "What do you mean? Isn''t the one coming in first place qualified to pluck the divine fruit?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Picking the divine fruit is indeed something first place qualifies for. However, it''s still unknown if one can really pluck it. However, as long as one can enter the ranking, they''ll be able to obtain the corresponding benefits. It doesn''t matter if the ranking is high. Although, if it is high, there are more benefits," said Sadie.


    "What benefits?" Zhou Wen had never heard of such a thing.


    "I''m not sure yet. I''ll only know what benefits we can obtain after the ranking battle ends," Sadie said.


    "Where did this news come from?" Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Sadie''s words seemed unbelievable.


    The ranking had not long appeared, and it was unprecedented. Even if there was really a reward after the ranking battle, how did the six families know of that?


    "I''m not sure about the source of the news, but it shouldn''t be wrong. For the six families and overseas factions to be so eager in rushing up the rankings, it''s definitely not without reason," Sadie said.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know if Sadie really didn''t know or if she was just unwilling to say.


    "It''s about time. Let''s head back." Zhou Wen didn''t ask further.


    Sadie walked back with Zhou Wen, but her emotions were mixed. Although she was confident that her acumen was better than Zhou Wen''s, the difference in combat experience was just too great. No matter how good her acumen was, it was useless. It was no different from having psychomotor problems. She felt that there was no need to challenge Zhou Wen again.


    An opponent she had no way to fend against was easily killed by Zhou Wen. In front of absolute strength, the effects of her acumen were too minute.


    I have to become stronger than him. Sadie cursed inwardly as she stared at Zhou Wen''s back.


    Could it be that The Thearch is secretly up to no good? Zhou Wen didn''t care what Sadie was thinking. His mind was on the rankings.


    Back then, it was The Thearch who had allowed John to obtain the six-winged seraphim Guardian. It wouldn''t be surprising if she had spread the news of the ranking.


    There''s also a possibility that it''s Teacher Wang Mingyuan. The news might have come from his side as well. Zhou Wen felt that the possibility wasn''t small.


    There were many experts in the Federation who entered the dimensional zones after a mutation. No one knew if there were any people that the Federation had deliberately planted among them.


    If there was, it was not impossible to get news from them.


    From the looks of it, I have to go back and ask The Thearch. Zhou Wen decided to take the opportunity of delivering items to The Thearch to ask about the ranking.

 616 Let Out Some Blood

    "Send them over." The Thearch replied.


    Zhou Wen sent the items through the portal through the Void Flower. Although they weren''t worth much, he had still spent more than 100,000. It made his heart ache slightly.


    "The Thearch, you previously said that only the first Companion Beast on the rankings has benefits. Then, what other benefits does first place have in the future?" Zhou Wen probed.


    "Why are you asking? Your Companion Beast isn''t capable of ranking first. It''s useless even if you know," The Thearch replied.


    "Even if I can''t obtain first place, I can still try my best to vie for a higher ranking. Will the other rankings benefit me?" Zhou Wen could tell from The Thearch''s tone that it might really be as Sadie had said.


    "Yes, but if you can''t enter the top ten, the benefits are very limited. Your Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s Wheel of Destiny is virtually useless in the pet battle. From the looks of the Companion Beasts on the rankings, it''s not bad if it can eventually reach the top thirty. The one on your ear isn''t even at the Mythical stage. It''s impossible for it to enter the top hundred."


    Can''t I have other Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen said that inwardly without sending it to The Thearch. He didn''t wish to expose his true strength in front of The Thearch.


    "The Thearch, what benefits will there be for getting on the rankings?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Do you want to know?" The Thearch''s message came quickly. Unfortunately, it wasn''t an answer.


    "Yes," Zhou Wen answered.


    "All the more reason why I won''t tell you." The Thearch even sent a smug expression after the message.


    Helpless, Zhou Wen had no choice but to remain silent.


    However, he was certain that there was definitely some benefit to being able to enter the rankings. However, if the ranking was too low, the benefits wouldn''t be great.


    Just as The Thearch said, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon isn''t suitable for a one-on-one battle. Its ranking definitely won''t be high. Which Companion Beast should I use to give it a try? Zhou Wen was momentarily hesitant.


    To get on the rankings, one definitely needed to fight. In a battle, one would expose the strength of their Companion Beasts, giving others a chance to figure out a way to restrain them.


    Zhou Wen was now thinking about which Companion Beast to expose, one that wouldn''t affect him much in the future.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to make a decision. There was still plenty of time, so he didn''t need to hurry. Furthermore, the rules of the rankings were that one could only challenge high-ranking ones, not the other way round. Zhou Wen didn''t plan on challenging Primordial Sword Immortal from the beginning.


    Zhou Wen sent a message to An Sheng, but An Sheng didn''t reply. He did not know what he was busy with.


    Forget it. I''ll give it a try and see if I can use Grim Demon''s blood to advance the First Order of Chaos. Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate out.


    "Little Neonate, get Grim Demon out. I need him to do something," Zhou Wen said to Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate remained silent as she summoned Grim Demon from the ancient sword.


    After Grim Demon came out, his entire body was like a black demonic aura. He had an anthropomorphic look, but his looks were indiscernible.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen placed a washbasin in front of Grim Demon and said, "I need some of your blood. I don''t need too much. Just half a basin would do."


    Grim Demon''s expression instantly darkened. Thankfully, his body was covered in the black demonic aura, so no expression could be seen.


    "No way." Grim Demon gritted his teeth.


    "Little Neonate." Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate turned to look at Grim Demon and glared at him.


    Grim Demon immediately cowered. He gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Wen, "Our Guardian''s blood is our life essence. It''s impossible for me to give you that much. At most, I can only give you one drop."


    "One hundred drops." Zhou Wen bargained.


    "Two drops. It really can''t be more." Grim Demon''s voice was trembling as though he was trying his best to suppress the anger in his heart.


    "Ninety-nine drops. Not any less," Zhou Wen said without changing his expression.


    After a final round of negotiation, Grim Demon refused to add any more beyond five drops. No matter how threatening Zhou Wen was, it was useless.


    "Five drops? So be it then. Produce it." Zhou Wen felt that Grim Demon was already desperate enough to risk his life in defiance, so he didn''t continue forcing him. If it was really useful, one drop would be enough. Five drops would be more than enough.


    Grim Demon reluctantly extended his finger. Five drops of black liquid that resembled ink flew out and floated in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen reached out and had the five drops of Grim Demon''s blood float over his hand. Then, he said to Demonic Neonate, "Alright, store him away."


    Demonic Neonate extended the ancient sword in her arms. Grim Demon could only obediently possess the ancient sword.


    "Good girl. Go play with Banana Fairy." Zhou Wen patted Demonic Neonate''s head and carried the five drops of Grim Demon''s blood into the training room.


    He circulated the First Order of Chaos in an attempt to absorb the five drops of Grim Demon''s blood, but the First Order of Chaos seemed to reject it. He failed to absorb it.


    Can''t I absorb it? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. This proved that their stats were incompatible. Even if he could barely absorb the five drops of Grim Demon''s blood, it wouldn''t be of much use.


    Don''t tell me that I really need the blood of the Guardian in Ant City? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the five drops of Grim Demon''s blood.


    He felt that the five drops of blood couldn''t be wasted. Zhou Wen switched to the other Essence Energy Arts, hoping to see if he could fuse them with Grim Demon''s blood.


    In the end, even though there were strong and weak rejections, they were all incompatible.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed, he suddenly felt a burning sensation in his ears.


    Could it be that Truth Listener is about to hatch? Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener and saw that it was still in its Companion Egg form and hadn''t hatched.


    However, the moment Truth Listener came out, the five drops of Grim Demon blood were sucked away by it. The five drops of blood fused into the golden crystal-like Companion Egg, dyeing the flawless golden color with five black impurities.


    Isn''t Truth Listener a Buddhist divine beast? Why does it need demonic blood? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he looked at the Companion Egg that had absorbed the demonic blood.


    After Truth Listener''s Companion Egg absorbed the demonic blood, the demonic blood''s black colors gradually spread inside the Companion Egg. It was as though a jar of water had been thrown into the ink. The ink gradually spread out in the clear water and quickly dyed the entire Companion Egg black.

 617 Nirvana of Ultimate Hell

    A golden light spread out from the middle of the Companion Egg. When the black light touched the golden light, it rapidly faded. In a blink of an eye, the black color vanished completely. The entire Companion Egg turned golden again.


    However, at this moment, the golden color seemed to gain some thickness and weight. The Companion Egg gradually turned from transparent to gold.


    Crack! Crack!


    Cracks appeared on the Companion Egg as it rapidly spread across the golden-like Companion Egg. Then, it peeled off bit by bit. The falling fragments turned into golden sand in the air. When it landed on the ground, it turned into black demonic gas that dissipated.


    A golden beast jumped out of the Companion Egg. It looked no different from Truth Listener from the past. Its body was small and its fur was dark-gold. Its six ears were wearing six golden hoops, and its eyes seemed to contain golden lightning.


    Zhou Wen extended his palm and Truth Listener jumped onto it. Zhou Wen held it in front of his eyes and carefully observed it. Apart from the six earrings, it was indeed no different from before. All he could do was use his phone to look at its stats.


    Truth Listener: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven''s Senses


    Life Soul: Evil Nullification


    Wheel of Destiny: Nirvana of Ultimate Hell


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Vajra Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    With stats at 81, it was a top-notch Mythical Companion Beast. Its Life Providence, Life Soul, and Essence Energy Skills hadn''t changed. The only addition was the Mythical Wheel of Destiny.


    From the looks of it, the name sounds very powerful. I wonder what use it has? It can''t be that it''s just a supplementary ability, right? Zhou Wen put Truth Listener away and entered the game. He wanted to try out Truth Listener''s abilities in-game.


    Looking at the time, Medusa was about to respawn. Zhou Wen opened the Curse Demon Palace instance dungeon and got Truth Listener to lead as he stormed his way in.


    The stone statues were naturally not Truth Listener''s match. A casual swipe of its claw shattered them into pieces.


    However, what was strange was that even after advancing to the Mythical stage, Truth Listener didn''t seem to have the ability to release its powers. It still needed to directly touch its opponent to deal damage.


    However, because of Truth Listener''s high speed and strength, it was almost impossible to see its actions clearly. The group of stone statues shattered and turned into rubble.


    "Truth Listener, it''s time to showcase your strength. Go, let me see how strong your Wheel of Destiny is." Zhou Wen ordered Truth Listener to use its Wheel of Destiny.


    Crack!


    Just as Zhou Wen gave the order, one of the six golden hoops on Truth Listener''s ear shattered and fell. The fragments disintegrated into golden sand in the air before dissipating into a demonic gas.


    As the golden hoop shattered, a terrifying demonic aura erupted from Truth Listener''s dark golden body. It caused its body to expand with the demonic aura and undergo some strange changes.


    In a short period of time, its petite body turned into a huge beast that was several meters tall. Its dark-gold fur also turned into scales like a terrifying giant ape covered in dark-gold scales. Its body also emitted a strange demonic aura, one completely different from the demonic aura of Grim Demon. It felt more evil.


    Medusa had already used the Eyes of Petrification to look at Truth Listener, but when the beam of the Eyes of Petrification swept across Truth Listener''s body, it was useless. It was unable to petrify its body.


    However, Truth Listener''s body violently tore through space and instantly arrived in front of Medusa. Its claws grabbed Medusa''s head, its dark-gold claws stabbing into it.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen saw an extremely brutal scene. Truth Listener''s claws tore the demoness''s body into two as demonic blood flowed everywhere.


    Roar! After throwing the corpse to the ground, Truth Listener roared at the sky as though it was venting its violent desires.


    "Come back." Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener back. This was because he felt that Truth Listener''s emotions were extremely unstable, showing signs of losing control.


    The ruthless Truth Listener received Zhou Wen''s order and leaped towards the blood-colored avatar. Its monster-like body shrank in midair as a golden earring condensed out of thin air and clipped onto its ear. By the time Truth Listener reached the blood-colored avatar''s ear, it had already returned to its original size. There was a golden earring on each of its six ears.


    The violent emotions from before vanished as well. It landed on the blood-colored avatar''s ear, turning into a tiny dark-gold earring that hung from its earlobe.


    Was that Truth Listener''s Wheel of Destiny? Why is it so irritable when the Wheel of Destiny is activated? It has six earrings on its ears, and only one of them shattered. If the other five shatter as well, will there be different changes? Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try, but when he thought of Truth Listener''s ferocious and ruthless appearance, he temporarily gave up on that thought.


    As Truth Listener''s master, he could sense Truth Listener''s thoughts. Just now, Truth Listener''s emotions were extremely unstable. If it became more violent, Zhou Wen didn''t know if it would still obey his orders.


    What''s wrong with this fellow? Zhou Wen frowned inwardly.


    Tyrant Behemoth was famous for being a ferocious beast, but it wasn''t as irascible as Truth Listener.


    As for Truth Listener, it was an auspicious beast according to legend. After its Wheel of Destiny was activated, it was truly puzzling why it had become so violent.


    Zhou Wen went online to search for mythical information regarding Truth Listeners. Although there were many different versions, Truth Listener was a kind-hearted divine beast in many of the versions.


    There were two popular versions. One of them was that Truth Listener was a white dog. It followed Ksitigarbha''s incarnation and was born in the mortal world. After Ksitigarbha''s incarnation died, it loyally protected the corpse, unwilling to leave even if it had to die. Finally, it became a divine beast.


    The four Bodhisattvas'' mounts each represented a trait. Truth Listeners represented loyalty.


    However, Zhou Wen''s Truth Listener wasn''t in the form of a white dog. It wasn''t the traditional look that had the features of nine different beasts, but more like a snub-nosed monkey.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen felt that his Truth Listener was unlikely to match Truth Listener''s first legend.


    There was also a second version of the legend. In the second myth, Truth Listener was a hellspawn born in hell. It was born in the deepest depths of hell and had the responsibility to guard hell.


    Zhou Wen was more inclined towards this version''s Mythical legend, but even so, Truth Listener, who presided over hell, should be a kind divine beast. Why was it so violent?


    Could it be that the six golden hoops or Grim Demon''s blood caused Truth Listener to have a problem? Or could it be that Truth Listener was originally like that? Zhou Wen couldn''t confirm the reason as he searched for more information to no avail.

 618 Chimera

    However, Truth Listener would still carry out Zhou Wen''s orders completely. Only its unstable emotions worried Zhou Wen.


    Having activated the Wheel of Destiny, Truth Listener was extremely powerful in combat. It was able to fight Qiongqi head-on without being at a disadvantage. Qiongqi''s attacks couldn''t harm its body. It could only use its speed to circle around Truth Listener. Truth Listener''s speed wasn''t slow either. In the end, Qiongqi was killed.


    However, this was only if it activated the Wheel of Destiny. Although Truth Listener wouldn''t end up killed without it, it wasn''t Qiongqi''s match.


    Due to Truth Listener''s potent Indestructible Vajra Body, it was only slightly injured at most. Even the Eyes of Petrification that Medusa released at full strength was useless against it. Apart from Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World, there was no other power that could directly kill it.


    Since he couldn''t find any problems, Zhou Wen stopped thinking about it. After careful consideration, he decided to try his best not to let Truth Listener use its Wheel of Destiny. Most of the time, it would appear in the form of an earring as a companion form.


    After advancing to the Mythical stage, Truth Listener''s listening ability became even more impressive. Not only was it extensive, but it could also hear weaker movements.


    Although he didn''t know what the principle was, Truth Listener could actually hear colors now. Just this alone made it much stronger than before.


    ¡­


    "You want to snipe the bureau and Capes'' Mythical Companion Beasts on the rankings?" An Sheng didn''t reply, but he personally came to Zhou Wen.


    "Yes," Zhou Wen answered cleanly.


    "If you want to use Torch Dragon or Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, I suggest that you don''t do so. You''ve already exposed the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon too many times, so it''s very easy to find out that it belongs to you. Torch Dragon only exists in the Zhuolu battlefield. Now, only we are the ones studying the temples under the Zhuolu battlefield. It''s very easy to deduce who Torch Dragon''s master is. Although you are already very strong, it''s best if you don''t fall out with the six families now," An Sheng said.


    "I understand. I still have a Companion Beast that no one has seen before. I usually don''t use it. Now, I plan on letting it snipe the Capes and the bureau''s Companion Beasts," Zhou Wen said.


    The Federation''s situation was very bad. In the future, after the seal over the dimensional zones were broken, they would still need these Mythical Companion Beasts to fight to protect humans.


    They were not only the Cape family''s private property, but also the Federation''s future hope.


    "Don''t worry. I know what to do." Zhou Wen didn''t plan on wantonly killing, but he definitely had to settle the scores with the Cape family and the bureau.


    Out of the Mythical Companion Beasts that could be confirmed to be the Cape family''s, one of them was ranked 91st¡ªInferno Dragon, while the other was ranked 63rd¡ªSprite King of Thunder. It was ranked even lower than Zhou Wen''s Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    Although killing them would make the Cape family feel the pinch, alarming them would make them wary. It was impossible for Zhou Wen to have another chance.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen set his sights on the top-ranked Chimera in the Cape family. It was ranked thirteenth.


    Chimera''s appearance was very strange. It had a lion''s body, a snake as a tail, and a pair of bat wings.


    It also had three heads. One was like a lion, the other was like a goat, and the other was like a single-horned dragon.


    Up to now, no other Companion Beast had challenged Chimera, so any understanding of it was limited to its past combat achievements.


    More than ten years ago, an evil dragon broke out of the seal and wreaked havoc in the Federation''s coastal cities. It was the territory of the Cape family, so the Cape family mobilized Chimera to kill the evil dragon in that battle.


    Legend had it that the dragon had left behind a Companion Egg. It was the Inferno Dragon that had been listed.


    According to the information that leaked back then, Chimera had many attributes. Poison and flames were already proven abilities. There were also some other abilities that had not been confirmed. Most of them were just guesses.


    After Zhou Wen finished reading the few pieces of information on Chimera, he decided to start with it. He needed to strike at it in one fell swoop. As long as the Cape family dared to accept the challenge, they wouldn''t even have the chance to admit defeat.


    I''ll send Tyrant Behemoth. This fellow is clearly a Companion Beast from the West District. It''s difficult for others to suspect me, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know that although Tyrant Behemoth was a dimensional creature in the West District, the Companion Egg was obtained by the Zhang family. Few people knew about this, but the Zhang family had lost the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg. They had been searching for it.


    "Ah Sheng, is there a way to prevent others from seeing my Companion Beast in the arena?" Zhou Wen was extremely vexed about this point.


    This was because all the major media outlets had set up fixed cameras around the cube. The black cube had been tightly surrounded and was constantly being filmed 24/7. If he were to bring Tyrant Behemoth over to start the battle, he would definitely be captured by the cameras.


    If Tyrant Behemoth appeared in Luoyang, it reduced the significance of sending it.


    "You will definitely be captured by the cameras if you go to the cubes in the various cities." An Sheng thought for a moment and said, "How about this? You are already very familiar with the roads around White Cloud Mountain and Mount Laojun. In a 400-kilometer-radius, there''s an ancient town. There''s also a cube in the ancient town. As it''s too remote and there are plenty of dimensional zones around it, there''s no one living there. Very few people will pass by. I''ll draw a map for you. Go there."


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. After getting the map, he packed his things and headed for the ancient town.


    Mount Laojun and White Cloud Mountain were both part of the Funiu Mountain Range. Zhou Wen was indeed very familiar with the roads here. Alone in the mountain range, he had many Mythical creatures protecting him, so there wasn''t much danger.


    However, Zhou Wen still avoided the known dimensional zones to prevent himself from falling into unknown danger.


    He arrived at the ancient town An Sheng mentioned without any mishaps. Indeed, this place had become a ghost town. Many of the houses in the town had collapsed, and many buildings were covered in green plants.


    Zhou Wen walked into the town and walked along the stone path. This had probably been a tourist attraction in the past. Although the town wasn''t big, the architecture was pretty good. Unfortunately, it was already abandoned.


    As it was surrounded by mountains on three sides, it got dark rather early. When Zhou Wen walked through the town, the sky was already dark.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen saw a small shop with its lights on in front of him.

 619 Genies Master

    The shop was a minimart. Quite a number of the LED lights on the shop sign were not working. A small portion of them was still lit. In such an environment, it looked a little strange.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener''s hearing abilities. Although he was still very far away, the situation in the minimart had already projected itself in his mind. It was like a holographic projection that allowed him to see everything clearly. It even had color.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw a young man sitting on a wooden rocking chair in the minimart with his eyes closed.


    On the wooden table beside the rocking chair was a mess of snacks and a few opened cans of beer.


    The youth rocked in the chair as he closed his eyes in enjoyment. He gulped down beer and occasionally threw a few snacks into his mouth. He looked rather pleased.


    And on the counter beside him was an oil lamp. The style of the oil lamp was very similar to that of the Saga of Heroes oil lamp. It was obvious that it wasn''t from the East District.


    The oil lamp''s flames shone with white light. Strangely, in the white light, the lights in the minimart lit up. There was also a fan that was spinning.


    Zhou Wen had just taken a look when the oil lamp''s flame suddenly expanded. Instantly, white light surged, immediately disabling the effectiveness of Truth Listener''s ability. It couldn''t hear the situation in the minimart.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he looked at the minimart. He saw that the youth had already walked out and was looking at him.


    Beside the youth, the oil lamp floated in the air. As for the flame, it had already turned into what looked like a deity. It was somewhat similar to the mythical Aladdin''s magic lamp.


    When the youth saw Zhou Wen, his expression seemed odd. He stood there and sized him up as though he was very curious about him.


    Zhou Wen also sized up the youth. He looked 27 or 28 years old. He wasn''t handsome, but he was very stylish. He was the type that was filled with manly charm.


    Zhou Wen was certain that he had never seen him before as he looked rather unfamiliar.


    As for the lamp beside him, Zhou Wen recognized it. It was Genie which was on the ranking. It had once been ranked third, but it had now fallen to ninth place. It was still quite a respectable ranking.


    "Please don''t misunderstand. I don''t have any ill intentions. I just happened to pass by and saw some light, so I came over out of curiosity," Zhou Wen said.


    The youth curled his lips and laughed. "It''s fate that we meet. Apart from us, there''s no one else here. Why don''t you come in and have a drink with me? It will save us the loneliness of the night."


    To his surprise, the youth said with a smile, "There are mountains surrounding three sides of this area. Apart from the path you took to enter, there''s no other way out. And in such a sh*thole, the only useful thing is probably the black cube in the town square. I''m afraid you are like me. You don''t want others to see your Companion Beast on the rankings, right?"


    The youth''s guess was naturally correct. Although Zhou Wen wanted to deny it, he couldn''t find a reasonable excuse.


    "Now that you''ve seen my Genie, even if I know that your Companion Beast is on the rankings, you and I have something against each other. No one will be at a disadvantage. I''ve been here for many days and haven''t even seen a fly. I''m really bored. Just stay here and chat with me," said the youth with a smile.


    Zhou Wen didn''t move. Since he had been discovered, he decided not to let Tyrant Behemoth fight here.


    Just as he was about to bid farewell and leave, the youth continued, "It doesn''t matter if you don''t want to stay. However, you already know my secret, and I don''t have anything to use against you. It''s naturally impossible for me to let you leave alive."


    As he spoke, the Genie beside the youth had already arrived in front of him. It stared at Zhou Wen and took a deep breath. The body condensed from the flame instantly doubled in size as though a flaming vortex was flowing inside.


    "Do you want to fight my Genie or stay behind to drink with me? Make a choice." The youth leaned against the door frame and took another sip before looking at Zhou Wen with a smile.


    "I''m sorry." Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    The youth didn''t have any intention of taking action. He only said indifferently, "You know that my Companion Beast is Genie, but you aren''t moved at all. Yet, you came to this godforsaken place to make it onto the rankings. The Companion Beasts you possess are definitely extraordinary. At the very least, they are higher than my Genie. Even if you aren''t on the rankings, I can guess that any new top Companion Beast that appears on the ranking will be yours."


    Zhou Wen didn''t stop as he continued walking.


    The youth''s voice continued, "Your name is Zhou Wen, right? Everyone in the bureau has a photo of you."


    "You''re from the bureau?" Zhou Wen turned to look at the youth. If the youth was really a member of the bureau, he could use all means to kill him, despite not liking the idea of murder.


    "Don''t misunderstand. I have nothing to do with the bureau." The youth shrugged nonchalantly and said, "I''m the same as you. I''m a target of the bureau''s pursuit. I''ve seen your photo in the hands of the bureau''s people and some information. That''s why I recognize you."


    "You came here to attempt getting into the rankings and have a powerful Companion Beast. I''m guessing you are planning on doing something. However, the bureau doesn''t seem to have any Mythical Companion Beasts on the rankings. I remember now. You have quite a deep grudge with the Cape family. Are you trying to challenge the Capes'' Companion Beasts on the rankings?"


    The youth thought for a moment and laughed. "Chimera¡­ You want to challenge Chimera, right?"


    "Who are you?" Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the youth. He hadn''t said a thing, but the youth had already guessed so much. It was as though he had read his mind. It left Zhou Wen somewhat alarmed.


    "Uncrying Night. First on the bureau''s wanted list, and my bounty is the highest. Have you heard of me?" The youth drank another mouthful of beer before continuing.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know who was ranked first on the bureau''s wanted list, but the youth did indeed make him wary.


    "I already know your secret. Unless you kill me or give up on your plan, it doesn''t matter where you get to on the rankings. Why don''t you stay and have a few drinks with me? That way, you won''t be alone in this remote mountain range." The youth threw a can of beer at Zhou Wen.

 620 Strange Town

    The Genie in front of Uncrying Night spat out a blinding white flame. The golden sword beam struck the flame like a wheel, splitting it apart. At the same time, it split the Genie''s body into two and continued slashing at Uncrying Night.


    A look of surprise flashed across Uncrying Night''s eyes as he quickly dodged the golden sword beam''s slash.


    However, the sword wheel formed by the golden sword beam suddenly boomeranged and slashed at Uncrying Night''s back at an even faster speed. It was none other than the Boomerang Wind Essence Energy Skill.


    Just as the golden sword wheel was about to touch Uncrying Night''s back, he suddenly used a strange stance. As he leaned forward, he spun his left leg as he dodged the golden sword wheel in a contorted fashion.


    The Golden Overlord Sword in Zhou Wen''s hand wasn''t idle either. With Transcendent Flying Immortal activated, he fused with the sword beam as his body tore through the void and slashed at Uncrying Night like golden lightning.


    Uncrying Night wore a solemn expression as black matter condensed on his hands. It transformed into bracers that wrapped around his arms and palms as he stared intently at the Golden Overlord Sword that flashed over.


    Clang!


    Uncrying Night managed to sandwich the Golden Overlord Sword''s blade in the middle. However, the golden sword beam on the Golden Overlord Sword was too intense. It pushed Uncrying Night''s body back, causing him to slam into the building behind him, collapsing it.


    Boom!


    Uncrying Night crashed through several buildings and finally slammed into the stone wall. The stone walls behind him were in ruins before he stopped retreating.


    The Golden Overlord Sword''s blade was still firmly clamped between his hands. The black vortex produced by the bracers constantly absorbed the golden sword beam, but it was unable to completely absorb it. The sword beam sparks produced constantly exploded.


    Zhou Wen pushed the blade with all his might, slowly pressing the blade towards Uncrying Night. Just as the golden sword beam on the blade was about to touch his cheek, Uncrying Night pushed with both hands and ducked to the side. The Golden Overlord Sword left a deep mark on the mountain wall behind him.


    Zhou Wen brandished his sword and was about to slash again when Uncrying Night waved his hand. "Junior Brother, I''m joking with you. There''s no need to fight to the death!"


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he heard that. He did remember that Wang Mingyuan had such a student, but he had long graduated. He was from a graduating class many years ago.


    He had even discussed the senior brother named Liu Yun with Zhong Ziya. Furthermore, Liu Yun was rather famous in Guide City. He was publicly recognized as Guide City''s genius. Zhou Wen had heard of his name when he was there.


    "Didn''t you say that your name was Uncrying Night? Why are you now Liu Yun?" Zhou Wen stared coldly at the youth. He didn''t lower his sword as he locked onto him.


    "Uncrying Night is my nickname. My real name is Liu Yun." As the youth spoke, he took out something. "You recognize this thing, right? I believe other than Teacher''s students, no one else will have it."


    Zhou Wen saw that the youth was holding a pendant. It looked like it was carved from ivory, but it was a little green, instead of the yellow tinge that ivory had.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be taken aback when he saw the pendant. He also had one. It was given to him by Wang Mingyuan and had once helped him tide through danger.


    Later, he heard from Wang Mingyuan that the pendant had been carved from the teeth of the white dragon in Dragon''s Well. However, Wang Mingyuan said that he had carved four of them and gave them to Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, and Zhou Wen respectively. He didn''t mention anything about Liu Yun.


    "There''s no need to doubt it. When Teacher obtained the dragon teeth, I was the one who helped him steal them from beneath Dragon''s Well. Back then, Teacher carved a pendant for me and kept the rest. He said that he would give it to his favorite disciples in the future. I believe you must have one too, right?" said Liu Yun.


    "How did you know I would be here?" Although Zhou Wen already believed that he was Wang Mingyuan''s student, he didn''t relax his guard.


    Liu Yun spread out his hands and said, "How would I know that you would come here? I was pursued by the bureau and fled here to seek refuge. I didn''t expect to meet you. If it weren''t for the bureau''s constant hunting of the four of you, I wouldn''t have known that you were Teacher''s student."


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly heard hurried hooves coming from the north of the town. It was as though thousands of troops were charging towards the town.


    "Oh no, I was caught up with pulling your leg and forgot about this matter. Quickly hide. Don''t reveal yourself or make a sound. Otherwise, there will be big trouble." As Liu Yun spoke, he unsummoned Genie and charged forward. With a bound, he jumped into a water well by the side.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen leaped down with Liu Yun with the Golden Overlord Sword in hand.


    Splash! Splash!


    The duo fell into the well one after another. Liu Yun sank his body into the water, and Zhou Wen followed suit. They dived into the well together, but the Golden Overlord Sword in his hand maintained an offensive stance, guarding against Liu Yun.


    As the hooves approached, Zhou Wen used his ears to listen to the situation outside. The projection outside immediately imprinted itself into his mind, allowing him to see a strange scene.


    The ones running outside weren''t horses, but creatures that looked like deer. The deer were completely white, and there were crystal-like antlers on their heads. The herd of white deer numbered at least a hundred. Every one of them was abnormally majestic, and the crystal antlers on their heads were extremely large.


    On the back of the majestic white deer in front of the herd was a strange creature. It wore white clothes, white trousers, and a white hat. It looked like a human, but its face was also white. It had no mouth, nose, eyes, nor eyebrows¡ªlike a piece of white paper.


    The white deer carried the white-clothed man and ran through the streets, but they didn''t leave the town. Instead, they circled the streets.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Every time the herd of white deer walked a distance, the white-clothed man would strike the metal disc in his other hand with a rod. They did not know what he was doing.


    After the white deer herd and the white-clothed faceless man circled the town, they sped away and left the town.


    Only then did Liu Yun rush out of the well and chase after the white deer herd.


    "What are you doing?" Zhou Wen jumped out of the well and asked Liu Yun.


    "Flower picking," Liu Yun answered before chasing in the direction that the white deer herd had disappeared.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and followed him out of town.


    The white deer and the white-clothed man were dimensional creatures, but this town wasn''t a dimensional zone. It was indeed strange for them to appear here.


    It was mainly because Zhou Wen was afraid that the fellow who claimed to be Liu Yun would escape. He still couldn''t confirm who he really was. Even if he was Liu Yun, Zhou Wen couldn''t let him spread the news of him coming here.

 621 Treasure Snatching in the Lake

    When Zhou Wen caught up to Liu Yun outside the town, Liu Yun gestured for him to remain silent before stealthily approaching.


    Zhou Wen followed behind him to see what he was up to.


    Liu Yun seemed to be very familiar with the path here. He drilled through the forest and grasslands, and soon, he hid in a bush.


    Zhou Wen also entered the grassland and realized that there was a lake beyond it. The lake wasn''t very big, and surrounding it was the large grassland and a small portion of a forest.


    The white deer herd was on the grass beside the lake. The bright moonlight shone on the grass and the lake, blanketing them with a layer of light. It looked exceptionally beautiful, like an immortal paradise in the mortal world.


    Most of the white deer had their heads lowered as they leisurely ate the grass. Only the leading white deer was standing straight on the bank. The white-clothed man was also staring at the lake.


    Although he didn''t have eyes, he gave off the feeling that he was staring intently at the center of the lake.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    After a while, the white-clothed man used the rod in his hand to strike the metal disc. With that, the grass-eating white deer raised their heads and approached the leading white deer.


    The leading white deer walked towards the lake. Magically, it slowly walked over the water. It didn''t sink into the water. Ripples spread under its hooves. Under the moonlight, it was like a ring of light spreading across the water surface.


    The white deer behind followed. They stepped on the water surface and followed the leader to the center of the lake.


    When the white deer came to a halt, the white-clothed, faceless man''s rod struck at an even higher frequency. He kept striking the metal disc, producing clanging noises.


    Amidst the rapid clanging, the white deer herd became uneasy.


    It was unknown what kind of power was driving the white deer. One of the white deer raised its head and used its antlers to slam into the white deer beside it.


    The crystal-like antlers immediately tore through the other white deer''s stomach and blood gushed out like a fountain.


    It was as if the curtain had been drawn. The entire herd became irascible, constantly killing each other on the surface of the lake. The deer''s blood dyed the lake red in a moment, and the dead white deer''s corpses sank into the water.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious when he saw this strange scene. He wanted to know what the white-clothed man was doing.


    More and more white deer died and sank to the bottom of the lake. Soon, only the leading white deer from the original hundred remained standing on the surface of the lake.


    Bloop! Bloop!


    In the middle of the lake, tiny bubbles surfaced. It was as if the lake had been boiled, but the temperature of the lake didn''t rise.


    After a while, Zhou Wen heard a splashing sound. Then, he saw a white flower tear out of the water and float to the surface.


    The flower had six petals, blooming in a hexagonal shape, they were as white as snow. There was a circular petal in the middle, but it was bright red like blood. It looked like a Sacred Lily, but its flower pistel''s diameter exceeded a meter.


    As the flower appeared, the purplish-red color of the lake water gradually faded. As for the snow-white petals, they gradually turned red as though the petals had absorbed the blood in the lake.


    In just twenty minutes, the lake water returned to its crystal-clear state. The huge flower had completely turned blood-red, like a beautiful blood rose.


    The white-clothed, faceless man waved his hand and used it like a blade, slicing off the white deer''s head he was riding. Blood spewed out from the white deer''s severed neck like a fountain. It splashed onto the flower, making it even more beautiful.


    The deer''s corpse sank into the water, but the white-clothed figure didn''t react at all. He stood on the surface of the water with a face without any facial features. He continued facing the blood flower as though he was staring at it.


    From the looks of it, the white-clothed man''s target should be that flower. What''s the use of that flower? Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he saw a red glow shoot out from the flower. It was as though something was shimmering in the petal.


    The white-clothed man, who had been standing there motionless the entire time, finally moved. He extended a hand and grabbed the center petal.


    Liu Yun, who was lurking beside Zhou Wen, suddenly charged forward like a stream of light towards the flower. At the same time, he threw the oil lamp in his hand at the white-clothed, faceless man.


    The oil lamp spewed out flames in the air, turning into a deity-like Genie. It spewed out flames that resembled a tornado towards the white-clothed, faceless man.


    While the flames entangled the faceless man in white, Liu Yun reached out to grab the petal.


    The white-clothed, faceless man waved his sleeve and immediately extinguished all the flames that the Genie spewed out. At the same time, the white wooden stick in his other hand struck at Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun blocked the wooden stick with one hand while his other hand continued its attempt at grabbing the flower. Unfortunately, it was blocked by a metal disc.


    In an instant, Liu Yun and the white-clothed, faceless man clashed several times. Liu Yun''s hands were extremely fast, leaving behind afterimages when he attacked. It was as though he had transformed into a Thousand-Hand Guanyin. His speed wasn''t inferior to Zhou Wen''s Transcendent Flying Immortal. It was no wonder he could grab the Golden Overlord Sword with both hands.


    However, the white-clothed man was even faster. As he blocked Liu Yun, he struck the metal disc with the wooden staff.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen, who was by the riverbank, immediately felt his mind explode when he heard the sound. His soul seemed to waver from the tremors as though it would fly out of his body at any moment. He couldn''t help but be alarmed as he hurriedly switched to Gods Retreat. At the same time, he took out the Substitute Talisman and stuck it on his body. He summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and had it appear in its six-winged form behind him.


    He fully activated the Truth Listener earring''s abilities, blanketing the entire lake to clearly observe everything that happened.


    Without a doubt, the white-clothed man was definitely a Mythical dimensional creature.


    Judging by the loud sound, Liu Yun was also thrown into the lake. The situation didn''t look good.


    However, when the white-clothed, faceless man looked at the flower, he was enraged. He slammed the metal disc again, causing the surrounding lake water to explode and spray. It rose up more than ten meters.


    Zhou Wen also realized the problem. The thing that twinkled in the middle of the flower had vanished. Clearly, it had been taken by Liu Yun, but he hadn''t detected the moment when Liu Yun had taken it away.


    He was fast! Just as Zhou Wen reeled in surprise, he saw Liu Yun rush out of the lake and climb ashore. He wanted to escape in the direction of the town.


    However, the white-clothed man''s figure flashed. When he appeared again, he was already in front of Liu Yun, blocking his path.

 622 Orange Ca

    "Junior Brother, quickly help me!" Liu Yun shouted as he fought.


    Zhou Wen hid in the distance and didn''t move. He wasn''t familiar with Liu Yun, so it was naturally impossible for him to risk his life. He could take the opportunity to observe what abilities the white-clothed, faceless man had, so he could reap the benefits of the mutually destructive struggle.


    The white-clothed, faceless man didn''t seem to have any terrifying skills, but Zhou Wen felt that he was somewhat odd. The clanging sound had actually shaken his soul. Even Truth Listener''s Evil Nullification was useless. It was obvious how terrifying he was.


    Although he didn''t strike the metal disc again, Zhou Wen had to be wary.


    Seeing Zhou Wen hiding in the distance without making a sound, Liu Yun used Genie to circle around the white-clothed, faceless man, but it didn''t have much of an effect. Although Genie wasn''t afraid of many kinds of destructive power, there was nothing he could do about the white-clothed, faceless man. Its flames were extinguished by the white-clothed, faceless man with a wave of his sleeve. It wasn''t of much use.


    "Junior Brother, help me. I''ll share the benefits with you," shouted Liu Yun.


    "What benefits? What''s inside the flower?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I can''t explain it in such a short period of time. Let''s work together to kill this monster first," shouted Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as he continued hiding in the shadows.


    "Half. I''ll give you half the benefits." Li Yun shouted again.


    Zhou Wen remained unmoved. He had been observing the white-clothed, faceless man the entire time. The wooden staff in his hand didn''t seem to be anything special. Even so, Liu Yun didn''t dare let it hit him. All he dared to do was defend with his bracers.


    His pair of bracers were definitely transformed from a Mythical Companion Beast. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to fend off the Golden Overlord Sword, nor could he block the attacks of the white-clothed, faceless man.


    The Genie and the Mythical bracer could barely withstand the white-clothed, faceless man''s attacks. From this, it could be seen that although the white-clothed, faceless man looked ordinary, he was actually rather terrifying.


    Genie''s ranking was still rather high. Yet, despite fighting the white-clothed, faceless man, he didn''t show any special performance. Clearly, he was restrained.


    As Liu Yun spoke, he retreated while in combat. He ran towards Zhou Wen, clearly hoping to drag him into the fight.


    How could Zhou Wen let him have his wish? Although he had many Mythical Companion Beasts and wasn''t necessarily afraid of the white-clothed, faceless man, there was no need for him to be Liu Yun''s shield.


    Zhou Wen gradually retreated. As Liu Yun was fighting while retreating, he naturally couldn''t keep up with his speed.


    "Junior Brother, I''m sorry. I''ll make it up to you when we meet again." As Liu Yun spoke, he summoned an orange cat.


    The orange cat was like a ball, but after appearing, it was extremely agile. It pounced at Zhou Wen like lightning.


    It was strange. The white-clothed, faceless man had been chasing Liu Yun relentlessly, determined to take back the item from the flower.


    However, the moment the orange cat appeared, the white-clothed, faceless man seemed to be attracted by a magnet. He gave up attacking Liu Yun and instead chased after the orange cat.


    Zhou Wen immediately figured out what the problem was. A mysterious wave emitted from the orange cat''s body, as though it was a taunting skill. It attracted the white-clothed, faceless man to chase after it.


    Orange Cat was extremely fast as it led the white-clothed, faceless man towards Zhou Wen. Its body was as fat as a ball, but the way it positioned was extremely coquettish. It dodged the white-clothed, faceless man''s pursuit time and time again.


    Zhou Wen pulled out the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out a few sword beams at Orange Cat, but it dodged them all. It seemed to know a teleportation skill as it got closer and closer to Zhou Wen.


    There was only one way out with mountains surrounding the area. Zhou Wen had no choice but to fly up and escape using the sky.


    However, just as he charged into midair, Orange Cat burrowed into the grass and the mysterious waves from its body vanished. The white-clothed, faceless man regained his clarity of mind and happened to see Zhou Wen fly up into the air like a ghost. He instantly caught up to Zhou Wen in midair.


    "Junior Brother Zhou, I''ll thank you now. See you again if fate allows for it. I''ll treat you to a drink." Liu Yun waved at Zhou Wen from afar. It was unknown when Orange Cat had returned to his embrace.


    "Junior Brother, you have to be careful. That fellow is the legendary Mountain God. The wooden staff in his hand can directly attack the soul. Using present-day parlance, it can attack one''s mind. Once you are hit, you will become an idiot. You have to be careful." Liu Yun''s voice sounded from afar. It softened until it was almost inaudible.


    Zhou Wen guessed what the white-clothed, faceless man was after hearing Liu Yun''s words. The Mountain God mentioned in ancient times wasn''t an embodiment of a mountain, but a powerful demon spirit in the mountain. There were many types.


    One of them was extremely terrifying. It was called Ba. Legend had it that it was the ancestor of hopping zombies. Wherever it went, it could devour clouds and dragons. It was an extremely terrifying existence.


    Zhou Wen estimated that the white-clothed, faceless man was probably something similar. It wasn''t as terrifying as the legendary Ba, but it wasn''t a character to be trifled with.


    The wooden staff in the white-robed, faceless man''s hand was powerful. It was probably a manifestation of a plant-type Mythical creature. No one knew how the white-clothed, faceless man obtained it.


    The metal disc in his other hand wasn''t an ordinary object either.


    Faced with such a strange thing, Zhou Wen didn''t give it any chance. He directly summoned Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener was a divine beast that kept hell in check. It definitely had the ability to restrain all kinds of demons and ghosts. It was the perfect time to use it.


    The moment Truth Listener appeared, the white-clothed, faceless man''s body trembled. His legs seemed to go limp as he turned and ran. The awe-inspiring aura and baneful aura from before had completely vanished. He looked nervous like a lost dog.


    Truth Listener transformed into a stream of light that flashed and caught up to the white-clothed, faceless man. It smashed his head with its claw.


    With a clang, the white-clothed, faceless man fell to the ground and died. The wooden staff and metal disc in his hand dropped.


    Before Zhou Wen could walk over, Truth Listener had already dug out a crystal from his chest and swallowed it.


    Although Zhou Wen thought that Truth Listener could restrain these things, he had not expected it to be so powerful. Truth Listener didn''t even use the Wheel of Destiny to kill the white-clothed, faceless man with a swipe.


    Without any delay, Zhou Wen picked up the wooden staff and metal disc and stored them in the chaos space. He got Truth Listener to return to his ear before rushing back to the town.

 623 Pearl

    "Junior Brother should be fine, right? He won''t be killed, right?" Liu Yun looked in the direction of the lake and muttered to himself.


    However, in the blink of an eye, Liu Yun muttered to himself as though he was comforting himself, "The people that Teacher tutored shouldn''t die so easily. He even has the guts to target Chimera. The Companion Beasts on him are definitely no trifling matter. They aren''t inferior to Genie. Furthermore, with the Golden Greatsword and the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, he should be able to escape even if he can''t defeat Mountain God."


    After some thought, Liu Yun took a bottle of alcohol from his bag and placed it on the table by the door. He used his finger like a sword and etched a sentence on the wall beside him. "Junior Brother, thank you for your help. This bottle of vintage wine was stolen from the Family Clan of Gods with great difficulty. It''s been aged over a hundred years. Take it as my thanks. Don''t miss me. Let''s meet again if fate allows."


    "What a pity. I wonder if this junior brother of mine is a wine connoisseur. If he doesn''t, wouldn''t it be a waste?" Liu Yun looked at the bottle and muttered reluctantly.


    With that said, Liu Yun prepared to leave.


    "You should keep the wine for yourself. Leave the thing you took from the flower to redeem your sins." A voice sounded from the roof not far away.


    Liu Yun''s expression changed drastically as he looked up and saw Zhou Wen standing on the rooftop opposite him. He immediately smiled. "Junior Brother, you sure are outstanding. You killed that Mountain God so quickly. You''re much stronger than me. It''s no wonder Teacher thinks so highly of the four of you. He even called you to his side before he left. You are indeed the cream of the crop." Liu Yun said as he retreated to the side. It looked like he was about to escape.


    "If I were you, I would stay still," Zhou Wen said indifferently without stopping him.


    "I also wish to have a good chat with you, Junior Brother. Unfortunately, the bureau is hounding me. If I were to stay here, I''m afraid I would implicate you. That wouldn''t be nice. I''ll take my leave now." As Liu Yun spoke, he directed strength into his feet and attempted to rush out.


    However, just as he exerted strength, the ground beneath his feet exploded. It was as though he had stepped on a landmine. Liu Yun''s reaction was fast enough as he tumbled away, reducing most of the explosive force. However, wherever his body rolled on the ground exploded.


    "Ah!"


    Screams and explosions rang out. By the time Liu Yun stopped, his body was already charred black. His hair was standing up and still smoking.


    "I don''t know what skill it is either. If you are interested, why don''t you try taking another step?" Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    When Liu Yun was packing up, Zhou Wen had already directed Explosive Fiend Man to set up many Time-Blasts nearby to prevent him from escaping.


    "Junior Brother, we are fellow disciples. Why do you have to do this? Why don''t we do this? We''ll split this treasure equally." Liu Yun took out something from his pocket.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the item in Liu Yun''s hand. It was a blood-colored bead that was the size of a billiard ball. It was completely blood-red and crystalline, like an alluring red pearl. It flashed with a red glimmer as though something was flowing inside.


    "Leave your life or leave that pearl behind. You can choose either one," Zhou Wen said.


    "There''s no need to be so ruthless, right?" Liu Yun smiled bitterly.


    "If it wasn''t for Teacher, you would have died the moment you lured Mountain God to me," Zhou Wen said.


    In fact, it wasn''t entirely because of this that Zhou Wen didn''t kill Liu Yun. Firstly, Liu Yun''s abilities and Companion Beasts were rather odd. He didn''t know what other means he had, so Zhou Wen wasn''t completely confident that he could ensure retaining him while not having the red bead destroyed.


    Zhou Wen''s interest in treasures was far greater than killing someone.


    Secondly, Liu Yun had also told him about Mountain God when he left. Furthermore, there was a high chance that he was Wang Mingyuan''s student. There was no need for him to fight him to the death.


    "Forget it. You are my junior brother after all? I''ll give you this treasure." As Liu Yun spoke, he threw the red pearl at Zhou Wen.


    He summoned Genie at the same time and made it open up a path for him to escape in another direction. The direction he chose wasn''t to leave the town but to go towards the lake.


    Liu Yun thought that Zhou Wen had set up a trap to prevent him from escaping. He thought he would have set up a trap in the direction of the town''s exit so he would escape into the forest before scaling a mountain. Naturally, he would be able to escape. After all, there probably hadn''t been enough time for Zhou Wen to set up traps all around him.


    Zhou Wen reached out to grab the red pearl, but he realized that it was only a bubble. It shattered with a touch.


    "Junior Brother, you''re still too young to fight me." Liu Yun held the red pearl in his hand and quickly rushed towards the forest outside the town.


    Genie charged ahead, and there didn''t seem to be any explosions. Things had developed according to Liu Yun''s expectations. Zhou Wen hadn''t set up a trap in this direction.


    Genie charged into the grasses and was fine, but when Liu Yun rushed into the grass, the plants suddenly exploded like bombs. Immediately, a series of tragic cries and explosions sounded.


    When everything calmed down, Liu Yun was already lying on the ground covered in injuries. His handsome face had turned black, and most of his hair had been burnt.


    "Try running again." Zhou Wen came to Liu Yun''s side and took a deep breath. The red pearl was sucked out of Liu Yun''s sleeve and landed in Zhou Wen''s palm.


    "You and your schemes. There''s nothing impressive about using traps and harming others. If you really have the ability, remove the surrounding traps and fight me openly. Whoever wins the battle will have the treasure," said Liu Yun with a righteous tone.


    Zhou Wen curled his lips in disdain. This wasn''t the first time he had been hoodwinked. Once bitten, twice shy. Wang Mingyuan''s students looked young and handsome, but, including Wang Mingyuan, none of them were decent. Zhou Wen wouldn''t fight him in an open match unless he was crazy.


    "Why are you being pursued by the bureau? Is it because of Teacher?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "No." Liu Yun shook his head.


    This answer exceeded Zhou Wen''s expectations, so he continued asking, "Then what''s the reason?"


    "Because I stole something from the six families and the bureau''s headquarters." Liu Yun puffed up his chest proudly. However, because he looked as though he had been struck by lightning, he didn''t look that impressive.

 624 Signature in Hand

    Liu Yun opened his mouth, but he suddenly closed it again. He was regretting it now. He shouldn''t have been greedy for the alcohol and food. After escaping, he should have left the town.


    Liu Yun originally imagined that Zhou Wen wouldn''t return so quickly and would definitely be entangled by Mountain God for a long time. Who knew that Zhou Wen would be able to catch up so quickly and even have the time to set up so many Time-Blasts? If he had known, he wouldn''t have done all those things and would have long fled.


    "I didn''t steal anything valuable. They''re all small things." Liu Yun changed the topic and said, "Junior Brother, you have taken the treasure too. It''s time for me to leave. Can you remove your traps?"


    Liu Yun had never seen an Essence Energy Skill like Time-Blast. He had seen Life Blast in the past, and he could also see the traces of Life Blast. However, it wasn''t easy for him to see any flaws with the Explosive Fiend Man''s Time-Blast. Furthermore, it wasn''t just used on living bodies. This made him stumble and suffer.


    "Sure. Sign here and you can leave." Zhou Wen placed a piece of paper and a pen in front of Liu Yun.


    "Junior Brother, what are you doing?" Liu Yun had been through a lot, so he knew that things weren''t as simple as signing an autograph.


    "You can leave after you sign your signature," Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun forced out a smile. "It wasn''t easy for us fellow disciples to meet. As a senior brother, I should stay and accompany you more."


    "Even if you don''t want to leave, you have to sign it," Zhou Wen continued.


    Liu Yun''s expression immediately turned bitter. "Junior Brother, we share the same roots, so why torment each other? Can we negotiate this nicely?"


    "Don''t you want to know what Companion Beast I will use to challenge Chimera? Then I''ll let you experience it for yourself." Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun and was about to summon Tyrant Behemoth.


    "I''ll sign it." Before Zhou Wen could summon Tyrant Behemoth, Liu Yun quickly picked up the paper and pen and signed his name before handing it to Zhou Wen. "Junior Brother, what''s the use of this signature?"


    "As long as you don''t spout nonsense, this signature won''t be of any use. Don''t worry." Zhou Wen folded and put it away when he saw the words "Liu Yun."


    In fact, the authenticity of the name didn''t matter. As long as he signed it in person, Explosive Fiend Man''s death list would take effect.


    Now, with just a thought from the Explosive Fiend Man, he could kill Liu Yun who had signed his name.


    "Alright, you can leave now." Zhou Wen turned around and walked towards the town square.


    "Remove the traps first before you leave." Liu Yun had suffered terribly from the Time-Blast. If it wasn''t for the Time-Blast, he would have fled long ago.


    "There''s no more left. I didn''t have much time just now. I only had time to set up that many. You have already detonated them all," Zhou Wen said without turning his head.


    Liu Yun''s face looked livid when he heard that. If he had known this would happen, he would have been able to escape even if he was injured. He had been robbed of the red pearl for nothing and had even signed his name for some unknown reason.


    "Why aren''t you leaving? Why are you following me?" Zhou Wen asked when he saw Liu Yun follow him from behind.


    "Junior Brother, I don''t feel at ease until you explain what that signature is for. It''s better I follow you." Liu Yun had seen many strange Essence Energy Skills before, so he knew of some special Essence Energy Skills that just needed a name to kill someone thousands of kilometers away.


    Liu Yun didn''t know which type of Essence Energy Skill Zhou Wen had, nor did he know what use it had. How could he leave just like that?


    "Up to you." Zhou Wen continued walking towards the town square.


    "Junior Brother, why don''t we do this? I''ll tell you a secret of the Cape family. Why don''t you return the paper to me?" Liu Yun said as he walked.


    "I hate hearing secrets the most," Zhou Wen said.


    However, Liu Yun continued disapprovingly, "The secret I''m talking about isn''t an ordinary piece of news. A while back, I tried my best to sneak into the Special Inspector Bureau and the few large families and learned quite a lot of secrets. You know the Zhang family, right? The family of the Hero King, the Zhang family''s princess, Zhang Yuzhi. Do you know why the Zhang family dotes on her so much?"


    "Why?" Zhou Wen was intrigued.


    "Because she''s very special. In recent years, the Zhang family''s strength has increased tremendously. It has something to do with the little princess of the Zhang family. I accidentally discovered this secret when I sneaked into the Zhang family residence to steal something. Other than the few upper echelons of the Zhang family, I''m afraid I''m the only one who knows this secret." Liu Yun deliberately kept him in suspense.


    Zhou Wen didn''t pursue the matter. He walked all the way to the square and saw the black cube.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn''t pursue the matter, Liu Yun continued, "I''ll treat this secret as a free gift to you. The little princess of the Zhang family has a special Life Providence. With such a Life Providence, she can easily gain the favor of any dimensional creature, allowing them to treat her as one of their own. Think about it, this is such a terrifying ability. With Zhang Yuzhi, the Zhang family can easily grasp the habits and abilities of those Mythical creatures. Then, killing those Mythical creatures will be much easier. Such a person will be doted on like a princess no matter where they are. They definitely won''t let anything happen to her."


    "Zhang Yuzhi really has such a Life Providence?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "Don''t doubt me. I heard it myself. It''s definitely not fake news," Liu Yun swore.


    In fact, Zhou Wen was already convinced. This was because he had seen Zhang Yuzhi use her weak body to stop the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon in its rage. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon actually didn''t injure her.


    Back then, he felt that there was something odd about Zhang Yuzhi, but he didn''t think too deeply about it.


    Now that he thought about it, Zhang Yuzhi really must have that ability or something even stronger.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that there was still a problem with Zhang Yuzhi''s Life Providence. Back when the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was killed, Zhang Yuzhi''s sorrow was definitely not faked.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen''s heart suddenly stirred. Could Zhang Yuzhi''s Life Providence be two-way? If she can make dimensional creatures treat her as a friend or relative, she might have the same feelings. That might be more reasonable.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it was best if his guess didn''t come true. Otherwise, Zhang Yuzhi would be too pitiful.


    If his guess was true, Zhang Yuzhi had already treated the dimensional creatures as family and friends. Yet, her family wanted to use her to kill them. That was a tragedy in itself.


    As he pondered, Zhou Wen walked to the black cube and summoned Tyrant Behemoth.

 625 Behemoths First Battle

    Tyrant Behemoth''s body that seemed to be made of obsidian landed, causing the ground around it to tremble.


    This can''t be¡­ Behemoth, right? Liu Yun was knowledgeable. He had once traveled across the world, so he quickly guessed Behemoth''s identity. He was even more alarmed.


    Behemoth was a dimensional creature in the West District. Furthermore, it enjoyed a very high status in West District mythology. Many people in the West District guessed that Behemoth existed, but no one had seen it before.


    Liu Yun never expected to see a Behemoth Companion Beast in Zhou Wen''s possession. Although he didn''t know if it was a pure Behemoth, it definitely had a Behemoth bloodline.


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as he controlled Behemoth to mount the black cube. Then, it walked to the middle and injected Essence Energy into the circle.


    The black cube immediately lit up. On the cube''s four screens, the top hundred Companion Beasts appeared. Zhou Wen found the thirteenth ranked Chimera and struck its name with Essence Energy.


    It was like a touchscreen interface. Chimera''s name on the cube''s screen lit up. Then, a 72-hour countdown appeared behind the name.


    If Chimera didn''t accept the challenge within 72 hours, Tyrant Behemoth would replace Chimera''s ranking and squeeze it out of the rankings.


    Tyrant Behemoth was pulled into a dimensional combat field by a beam of light from the cube. The images of Tyrant Behemoth appeared on the cubes around the world, as well as the name and countdown of the Chimera.


    It''s really Behemoth! Liu Yun saw the name on the cube and knew that his previous guess had been correct.


    Tyrant Behemoth''s appearance immediately attracted the attention of the media around the world, especially the West District''s media. They were extremely enthusiastic about its appearance as they guessed who Tyrant Behemoth belonged to.


    The people who had the most guesses were either from the Family Clan of Gods or the Cape family, but now, the people from the Cape family were alarmed.


    It was fine that Behemoth had appeared, but it had actually challenged their Cape family''s Companion Beast. This made them suspect that the Family Clan of Gods in the West District was up to no good.


    However, they didn''t have any evidence. Chimera''s owner didn''t immediately accept the challenge. The Cape family used all sorts of channels and means to begin investigating if Tyrant Behemoth was the doing of the Family Clan of Gods or if others in the West District were secretly enemies with them.


    Another family that paid attention to Tyrant Behemoth was the Zhang family. Others didn''t know of Tyrant Behemoth''s origins, but the Zhang family knew very well that Tyrant Behemoth''s Companion Egg had originally belonged to them. It was only because of a traitor that they had lost the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg.


    There were many brothers and many geniuses in the Zhang family. Mythical Companion Eggs weren''t enough for them all. If the Behemoth Companion Egg wasn''t lost, Zhang Xiao had a great chance of becoming its master. Therefore, Zhang Xiao paid special attention to this matter.


    Zhang Chunqiu patted Zhang Xiao on the shoulder and said, "Don''t force yourself when it''s destined. There will be stronger Mythical Companion Beasts waiting for you in the future."


    "I just want to know who stole the Behemoth Companion Egg and took what belongs to our Zhang family. They must pay the price," Zhang Xiao said.


    "According to our previous investigations, it''s most likely done by the overseas faction. When I return, I''ll accompany you to sea," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhang Xiao shook his head slightly. "Brother Qiu, let me handle this matter myself. How are your preparations?"


    "Dugu Ge and Xia Liuchuan are already on their way. I hope there will be a result. If the cocoon really has a Guardian like the six-winged seraphim, we will have a new path to continue progressing," Zhang Chunqiu said.


    "Is this path really correct?" Zhang Xiao questioned.


    "Who knows? Even if it''s the wrong path, you have to walk it before you know," Zhang Chunqiu said calmly.


    Zhou Wen waited for quite some time, but he didn''t see Chimera accept the challenge. All he could do was take out his tent and other items and set them up by the side. Then, he entered the tent and lay down to game while waiting for Chimera to accept the challenge.


    With a time limit of 72 hours, it was unknown when the Cape family would accept the challenge. Zhou Wen guessed that they wouldn''t accept the challenge quickly, but they wouldn''t give up either.


    The Cape family also wanted to know what kind of power Tyrant Behemoth had. Was it as terrifying as the mythical legends?


    Looking at his size, Tyrant Behemoth was only a few meters tall. It didn''t look like a monster that could eat a thousand mountains daily. They definitely had their doubts.


    In fact, Tyrant Behemoth still couldn''t eat a thousand mountains a day. However, eating a smaller mountain wasn''t a problem. Its body could change in size freely. This was the most confusing part.


    Even if it was just a test, the Cape family wouldn''t let Chimera surrender without a fight.


    However, they would definitely be very careful and wouldn''t give Zhou Wen too many chances. Therefore, Zhou Wen had to deliver a death strike to prevent them from even having the chance to admit defeat.


    As Zhou Wen expected, Chimera finally accepted the challenge after more than twenty hours and appeared on the cube''s arena.


    The media immediately perked up as they live-streamed the battle. Behemoth and Chimera were terrifying existences in legend, but from a Mythical point of view, Chimera was definitely not as strong as Behemoth.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth was only a few meters tall. Although it looked very strong, it didn''t seem to have the advantage when compared to Chimera, who was more than ten meters tall.


    After Chimera appeared, it immediately ran quickly. However, it didn''t rush towards Tyrant Behemoth. Instead, it quickly circled around the arena and went behind Tyrant Behemoth. It suddenly leaped up and spread its wings. At the same time, its three heads roared together, condensing three different powers. It was like three light spheres were constantly expanding in their mouths.


    After the red, yellow, and cyan beams reached an extreme point, they fused together like a volcanic eruption. They transformed into a terrifying white energy beam that struck Tyrant Behemoth in the arena.


    That terrifying power appeared to blast through the entire arena.


    "The Cape family is really careful. They actually used Chimera''s Wheel of Destiny¡ªGene Disintegration Ray. Are they thinking of surrendering the moment their single strike fails?" Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    "After all, it''s Behemoth. It''s only right for them to be careful," Zhang Xiao said.


    An Tianzuo was also watching this scene inside the Luoyang An family residence.


    "Although Chimera isn''t the strongest Mythical pet, its Gene Disintegration Ray is indeed a very domineering Wheel of Destiny. If Tyrant Behemoth underestimates its enemy, I''m afraid it will suffer greatly," An Tianzuo said.


    "Young Master Wen shouldn''t be someone who underestimates his enemy," An Sheng said with a smile.


    "How do you know that the Tyrant Behemoth must be his? Since when did you become so careless?" An Tianzuo sneered.


    "Yes, Overseer. I''ve learned my mistake," An Sheng said, but his eyes remained fixed on the projection.

 626 Behemoths Migh

    Their gazes were focused on the ebony figure beneath the divine punishment. Under such a terrifying beam of light, the somewhat muscular body seemed tiny and minuscule, as though it would be drowned in a terrifying stream of light at any moment.


    However, from beginning to end, Tyrant Behemoth didn''t move at all. It didn''t raise its head to look at the beam or at Chimera. It was as though its reaction was slow and had failed to notice the terrifying beam that descended from the sky.


    Boom!


    The beam directly struck Tyrant Behemoth''s body. The streams of light constantly blasted the arena. The light exploded, drowning the entire arena in an explosion of light. Large amounts of dust rose up.


    "How arrogant." An Tianzuo frowned.


    "He''s courting death by tanking the Gene Disintegration Ray." The Cape family was overjoyed.


    The characteristics of the Gene Disintegration Ray was appraised to be impossible to withstand head-on, even for Mythical Companion Beasts. Otherwise, their bodies'' genes would collapse.


    "What a waste of a treasure. The person has such a powerful Companion Beast like Behemoth, but his usage of it is so crude. What a waste of such a powerful Companion Beast. No matter how powerful a Companion Beast is, it will still lose if one uses it recklessly," Zhang Xiao said coldly.


    "That''s not necessarily the case." Zhang Chunqiu narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself.


    Right then, in the midst of the explosion of light, a huge black mountain suddenly rose from the ground. The light blast that enveloped the arena turned into a cloud that seemed to linger around a black mountain. Although the light remained blinding, it couldn''t cause any substantial damage to the mountain.


    As for the beam that shot down, it was like a waterfall of light. The mountain peak went against the waterfall and the waterfall immediately scattered, unable to stop the mountain''s rise.


    "Not good¡­ Quickly admit defeat and take back Chimera¡­" Senator Cape''s expression changed drastically as he ordered loudly.


    However, it was already too late. The mountain-like Tyrant Behemoth opened its huge mouth and swallowed the stream of light along with Chimera. Instantly, the arena fell silent. The light vanished, leaving only a terrifying monster standing there.


    The name of Chimera on the ranking vanished¡ªreplacing it was Tyrant Behemoth.


    "It ended just like that?" Instantly, all the spectators fell silent.


    No one expected the battle to end like this. The extremely powerful Chimera, a ferocious beast that had once killed a dragon, was actually devoured in one mouthful.


    The terrifying explosion of light was like a volcanic eruption. It was as laughable as useless fireworks.


    "It''s way too invincible. That''s Chimera. Yet, it was swallowed in one mouthful."


    "How domineering. This is a truly invincible creature. What Primordial Sword Immortal? What Death of the Underworld? They are all weak. True men have to take it all in one mouthful."


    "God, that Tyrant might really be able to destroy the world."


    "I can''t believe my eyes. Tyrant Behemoth is too powerful. If I were its master, I think I would sit at home watching television before destroying the world."


    "That''s the tyrant who rules the world."


    Instantly, the Internet exploded with messages. Countless people were discussing Tyrant Behemoth.


    The faces of the Cape family members became uglier by the second. Mythical Companion Beasts were rare to begin with. Now that Chimera, one of the best Companion Beasts in the Cape family, was dead, they felt their hearts bleed as they were extremely furious.


    "Investigate. I want a full investigation. We have to find out who the owner of Tyrant Behemoth is." Senator Cape was extremely furious as he wished he could smash the television with one punch.


    Zhang Xiao''s expression was equally ugly. Seeing Tyrant Behemoth''s strength made him feel even worse. This powerful Companion Beast might very well have belonged to him.


    ¡­


    "Young Master Wen really has a good life. He already has a powerful Companion Beast like Torch Dragon, yet he has an existence like Tyrant Behemoth. Together with the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon and other Companion Beasts, I think his Companion Beasts alone can challenge a hero family," An Sheng said.


    "Aren''t you underestimating the heritage of the six families? You''re ignoring the fact that Tyrant Behemoth might not be his. Even if it is his, it''s only the Companion Beast that''s strong. With insufficient strength himself, if he really wants to challenge a hero family, it''d be useless no matter how powerful a Companion Beast is," An Tianzuo said.


    "Overseer is right," An Sheng said respectfully.


    ¡­


    "Junior Brother, this Behemoth of yours is pretty good. Where did you get it from? I''ll get one later." Liu Yun''s eyes lit up as he looked at Zhou Wen.


    "I got it at an auction." Zhou Wen took back Tyrant Behemoth and replied in a good mood.


    "An auction? Which auction would sell something like that?" Liu Yun didn''t believe Zhou Wen at all. It would be a miracle if someone was willing to sell such a powerful Companion Beast.


    "Make a guess." Zhou Wen had unknowingly been influenced by people such as The Thearch and Wang Mingyuan.


    "Junior Brother, are you interested in betting with me?" Liu Yun wasn''t interested in guessing. He didn''t believe Tyrant Behemoth was bought from an auction.


    "Not interested." Zhou Wen ignored Liu Yun and returned to his tent to game.


    Zhou Wen didn''t plan on returning for the time being. He planned on getting Tyrant Behemoth to continue making challenges, but he still needed to study the target. It wasn''t suitable for him to directly challenge Primordial Sword Immortal.


    However, the Federation and overseas faction were researching Tyrant Behemoth. Many people believed that Tyrant Behemoth''s strength wasn''t as simple as being ranked thirteenth. It was very likely that it had the strength to reach first on the rankings.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth didn''t show much. Their analysis didn''t produce many results.


    Liu Yun went out alone. After leaving Zhou Wen, he secretly went to a small forest to summon his Genie.


    Liu Yun reached out to rub the oil lamp. Soon, Genie appeared in front of him. However, the Genie that appeared this time was different from before. Its entire body emitted a strange blue glow.


    "Junior Brother, as your senior brother, let me teach you a good lesson." As Liu Yun spoke, he made a wish to the Genie. "Genie, I wish for my Life Soul''s power to be greatly enhanced."


    When the Genie heard Liu Yun''s wish, its body, which suffused a magical glow, drilled into Liu Yun''s body. Soon, Liu Yun''s entire body suffused a blue glow.


    With the help of Genie and a Life Soul, my Star Stealer can forcefully steal the Companion Beast that has already hatched. That punk will never expect me to have such an ability. Unfortunately, Star Stealer can''t lock onto a target. I can only steal something randomly. However, it doesn''t matter. That punk has so many Mythical Companion Beasts. With the help of the Genie''s wish and Life Soul''s augmentation, I can attempt a theft ten times. No matter how unlucky I am, I should be able to steal a Mythical right? It''s best if it''s Tyrant Behemoth. If not, the Golden Greatsword would do¡­ Liu Yun thought as he carefully took out something.

 627 Star Stealer

    The treasure glow turned corporeal, piercing through his consciousness, causing Zhou Wen''s body to similarly emit a crystalline glow.


    What''s going on? Why did Gods Retreat suddenly activate? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he felt a vibration coming from somewhere on his body.


    Upon closer inspection, he realized that the spot which was vibrating was actually a Musical Note Sprite tattoo. There was a Musical Note Sprite that seemed to be affected by some unknown force as it struggled to spread its wings.


    However, due to the influence of the treasure glow generated by Gods Retreat, it was unable to fly out. It was trapped by the treasure glow like a butterfly trapped in a cage.


    What''s going on? Zhou Wen attempted to control the power that Gods Retreat released, preventing the power from isolating the Musical Note Sprite tattoo.


    With the power of Gods Retreat, the Musical Note Sprite tattoo immediately vanished under Zhou Wen''s nose. It only took a blink of an eye.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had completely lost contact with the Musical Note Sprite, as though he had never had such a Companion Beast. If Zhou Wen hadn''t seen it disappear with his own eyes, he wouldn''t have realized that he had lost a Companion Beast.


    What power took away the Musical Note Sprite? Zhou Wen''s first reaction was to expand the power of the Truth Listener earring to its limit. He could hear the surrounding areas clearly. Even the falling of a strand of hair to the ground couldn''t escape his ears.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered Liu Yun, who was hiding outside the town. The fellow was squatting in the grass. At a glance, it looked like he was shitting, but upon careful inspection, the fellow hadn''t even taken off his pants as he mumbled something.


    Zhou Wen listened carefully and heard Liu Yun say, "What''s wrong with my Junior Brother? Why does he have such trashy Companion Beasts? Junior Brother, don''t worry. I''m still a gentleman. I''ll stop after stealing a Mythical Companion Beast from you."


    Indeed, this fellow is up to no good. He''s really not afraid of death. Zhou Wen took a careful look and indeed, he saw the tattoo of a Musical Note Sprite on his body. It was identical to the one he had lost.


    Zhou Wen remained unperturbed. He wanted to see what Liu Yun was up to.


    Liu Yun didn''t know that Truth Listener''s range was that large. He was already so far away; yet, Zhou Wen could still monitor him.


    Previously, the reason Liu Yun could make Truth Listener lose its effects was that he had already discovered Zhou Wen and determined that Zhou Wen was observing him. That was why he had allowed Genie to release its power to affect Truth Listener''s abilities.


    The Companion Beast that Liu Yun had set up to keep watch didn''t notice anything from Zhou Wen. He imagined that Zhou Wen hadn''t even discovered that his Companion Beast had been stolen.


    In fact, he wouldn''t have discovered the disappearance of the Musical Note Sprite if Zhou Wen didn''t habitually have Gods Retreat activated.


    "Anyway, there are still nine chances. I''m sure I can steal a Mythical Companion Beast." Liu Yun gritted his teeth and reached out to grab at the void.


    His fingertips shimmered with strange starlight as though something was burning. The starlight tore through the void, causing Liu Yun''s hand to vanish as though it was invisible.


    When the hand pulled back from the void, there was a lively Musical Note Sprite in his hand. The Musical Note Sprite circled around him and automatically landed on him, turning into a tattoo.


    Just like last time, Zhou Wen felt the tattoo of a Musical Note Sprite vibrate. He removed the power of Gods Retreat Life Soul, making the Musical Note Sprite tattoo vanish.


    This fellow actually has such an ability! Doesn''t that mean he''s invincible? He can steal any Mythical Companion Beast he likes! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he continued observing silently.


    It was better to encounter such a strange ability than to encounter it in the future. Now that he had figured out what was going on, he would have some experience for the future. He would know how to deal with it. This wasn''t a bad thing for Zhou Wen.


    "Holy sh*t, why is it still a Musical Note Sprite? Why does that punk have so many trash Companion Beasts with him?" Liu Yun felt depressed when he saw that it was another Musical Note Sprite.


    "Although they''re stolen randomly, the chances of obtaining the same Companion Beast in a row shouldn''t be high, right?" Liu Yun didn''t believe it as he reached out to steal again.


    So it turns out that the ability to steal Companion Beasts is random. Zhou Wen discovered some problems. On Liu Yun''s fingertip, there was a short strand of hair. When Liu Yun used Star Stealer, the strand of hair would burn.


    Zhou Wen knew at a glance that it was his hair.


    When did this fellow steal my hair? Zhou Wen had to admit that Liu Yun was indeed top-notch when it came to stealing. He was actually able to steal his hair without him noticing.


    Knowing that Liu Yun''s stealing of Companion Beasts was random, Zhou Wen felt relieved. He had been farming Musical Note Sprites for so long. Almost every time he respawned, he would farm the dungeon. Now, the number of Musical Note Sprites he possessed had reached more than four thousand. Altogether, Zhou Wen had more than five thousand Companion Beasts.


    The chance of stealing his Mythical Companion Beasts was about one in a thousand. This would be extremely difficult unless one had Wang Lu''s luck.


    Zhou Wen realized that he could only discover that Liu Yun had stolen something from him when the Gods Retreat Life Soul was activated. Even Truth Listener''s hearing and Evil Nullification were useless.


    If Gods Retreat wasn''t activated, the Companion Beast tattoo on his body would vanish without a trace. Unless he happened to see the tattoo disappear, it would be very difficult to discover that he had lost his Companion Beast.


    What skill is this? Where can I obtain such a skill? Zhou Wen felt that he could learn similar skills.


    In the future, anytime he saw people from the Cape family and the Special Inspector Bureau, he could try stealing from them.


    "Another Musical Note Sprite?" Liu Yun nearly jumped up in frustration when he saw the Companion Beast he had stolen.


    In his rage, Liu Yun quickly grabbed with both hands, constantly using the Star Stealer to grab Companion Beasts one after another.


    Musical Note Sprite¡­ Musical Note Sprite¡­ Musical Note Sprite¡­ Another Musical Note Sprite¡­ Liu Yun stole with both hands, but in the end, they were all Musical Note Sprites. He had already stolen seven of them in a row. He only had three chances left out of his ten attempts.


    "What the hell? How many Musical Note Sprites did that punk bring with him? How can I be only getting a Musical Note Sprite each time?" Liu Yun was so angry that he nearly vomited blood.


    Zhou Wen chuckled inwardly. More than 90% of the Companion Beasts on him were Musical Note Sprites. He wouldn''t find it strange if all Liu Yun''s thefts were Musical Note Sprites.


    However, Zhou Wen still carefully used Gods Retreat to confirm that Liu Yun didn''t steal an important Companion Beast. Only then would he release it and let him steal it.


    "No, I can''t continue like this. That punk has countless Musical Note Sprites on him. I have to think of a way." Liu Yun had no intention of giving up. The Genie''s wish had been used. Even if he didn''t continue stealing, he wouldn''t have his wish refunded. He could only continue stealing.

 628 Life Reversing Spirit Talisman

    It was a strange jade talisman that was just the size of a palm. It was jade-white in color, but there was a red symbol engraved on it. It looked strange, its meaning was unknown.


    "It wasn''t easy for me to get this Life Reversing Spirit Talisman from the Zhang family. This is the only one I have. I originally planned to try my luck after meeting the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal, but I can''t be bothered with that now." As Liu Yun spoke, he held the jade talisman in his hand and used Star Stealer again.


    Crack!


    Before Liu Yun''s palm reached into the void, the jade talisman shattered. The blood-colored runes seeped into his palm and shimmered.


    "The Zhang family''s Life Reversing Spirit Talisman can flip Yin and Yang and turn the universe on its head. Although it can''t really change fate, it can invert the probability of my Star Stealer. It will allow me to steal the Companion Beast with the lowest probability, the ones that are almost impossible to steal. Although it doesn''t mean that the chances of a Mythical Companion Beast are the lowest, typically speaking, one only has one Mythical Companion Beast. The chances are definitely not high. Therefore, the chances of stealing a Mythical Companion Beast are definitely very high for me now."


    Liu Yun muttered to himself as he suddenly pulled out his hand. At the same time, he shouted, "Come, Tyrant Behemoth. I have a feeling that it''s definitely you this time."


    Zhou Wen was given a fright when he heard Liu Yun''s words. He was really afraid that Tyrant Behemoth would really be stolen. He focused his attention and circulated Gods Retreat.


    However, when Zhou Wen''s Companion Beast tattoo trembled, his expression turned odd.


    The trembling tattoo was actually Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Ever since he had obtained the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Zhou Wen had been very careful. He didn''t dare release him easily, afraid that he would be affected by the Jinxes Master skill.


    Previously, Zhou Wen still needed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to restrain Qiongqi. Now, with Tyrant Behemoth, there was no need for him. Zhou Wen had been in a dilemma on how to deal with it.


    He never expected Liu Yun to steal the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen released the restrictions and got Liu Yun to steal the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    I can observe the effects of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General''s Jinxes Master skill on others. Will the Jinxes Master Skill only take effect when released? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    "Come on, my Tyrant Behemoth¡­" Liu Yun quickly pulled out his palm from the void.


    Liu Yun was overjoyed when he saw that it wasn''t a Musical Note Sprite that came out of his palm.


    A humanoid Companion Beast? Its aura is so domineering and ferocious. Could it be a Mythical Companion Beast? Liu Yun watched as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General transformed into a stream of light that landed on him. At the same time, some information surged into his mind.


    Unfortunately, Liu Yun didn''t have the mysterious phone. He couldn''t check the information regarding the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. All he could do was obtain some information from the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to gather some vague details.


    "Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡­ Epic¡­" Liu Yun learned the name and level of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. He could also sense the Life Providence and Life Soul a little, but it was limited to their names. He didn''t know much about it. All he could do was wait until he summoned it out to test its various abilities in combat.


    "I never expected that punk to have such a good life." Liu Yun had no choice. After much difficulty, he had only managed to steal one Life Reversing Spirit Talisman from the Zhang family. Even the Zhang family didn''t have many. It would be impossible to steal one from them again.


    Furthermore, it was too late. He only had two thefts left.


    He had once again used Star Stealer, but it was still a Musical Note Sprite.


    "This is the last time. God, Mother Mary, bless me. Let me steal a big one¡­" Liu Yun prayed before using Star Stealer again.


    When a Companion Beast appeared in his palm, Liu Yun was delighted when he saw that it wasn''t a Musical Note Sprite. However, when he pulled it out, he realized that it was only an Epic Poison Bat. He couldn''t help but be greatly disappointed.


    "It''s really a huge loss. I wasted a wish and even used the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman. I only managed to steal these crappy things¡­" Liu Yun was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood.


    He clearly knew that Zhou Wen had many Mythical Companion Beasts, but he had only managed to steal trash. It was unacceptable.


    There was nothing he could do even if he was indignant about it. He had expended a lot of energy this time, so it was impossible for him to use Star Stealer anytime soon.


    "Forget it." Liu Yun got up and prepared to return. He had already made up his mind. He would pretend to lose his Companion Beast and then accuse Zhou Wen of being a villain. It would be fine as long as Zhou Wen thought that the dimensional creatures nearby were fooling around.


    "How unlucky. How can I only steal those crappy things?" Liu Yun felt a little depressed. There was a small stone in front of him, so he kicked it.


    However, the stone remained motionless despite the kick. Liu Yun felt as though he had kicked a metal plate. He cried out in pain as he hugged his foot.


    "With my foot''s strength, even steel should be shattered. How can the stone remain motionless¡­" Liu Yun felt that something was amiss.


    Before he could take a closer look at the stone, he saw the surrounding soil split open. The flowers and trees seemed to have been lifted up by something as they rose out of the soil.


    Liu Yun felt the ground beneath his feet rise as he hurriedly retreated.


    As he retreated, he saw a huge gray object burrow out of the ground. From its appearance, it looked like a huge Horned Beetle. Its body was the size of a truck. The small stone that Liu Yun had kicked was the tip of the Horned Beetle''s horn.


    "What''s this?" Liu Yun had seen many dimensional creatures that resembled Horned Beetles, but this was the first time he had seen such a huge one.


    Not only was this Horned Beetle huge, but its body was also like a gray stone. It looked odd and there were many ancient and mysterious patterns on its back.


    The instant the Horned Beetle tore out of the ground, it charged at Liu Yun. Its speed was much faster than a real truck. It was like a fast-moving vehicle.


    Mythical creature! Liu Yun nearly cried out in surprise. Without any hesitation, he exerted his strength to leap up and dodge the attack of the Horned Beetle.


    However, when he exerted strength, he lost his footing. Not only did he fail to jump, but his legs sank in.


    Boom!


    The front end of the Horned Beetle had already slammed into Liu Yun. The powerful force blasted apart the surrounding soil and trees, forming a huge crater. It was like a meteorite hitting the ground.


    Holy sh*t, could this be the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General''s Jinxes Master skill? I didn''t think it was that powerful when I had him with me. Zhou Wen wore a look of surprise when he saw this. He couldn''t be certain that it was because of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General because Liu Yun hadn''t summoned it.

 629 Tears of Regre

    His arm was wrapped in a black bracer and surprisingly wasn''t shattered by the Horned Beetle''s terrifying slam. It was just that the other parts of his body couldn''t withstand the powerful shockwave. His armor shattered and many parts of his body were injured. It didn''t look like he was doing well.


    He actually managed to withstand such a terrifying collision. He only suffered some superficial injuries. This senior brother of mine does have some capabilities. He''s not only good at stealing things. Zhou Wen watched Liu Yun and the Horned Beetle fight without any intention of helping.


    Liu Yun''s muscles tensed up as he suffused a metallic luster. In the clash with the Horned Beetle, his body kept sinking.


    He didn''t dare to release his grip and retreat. He was afraid that if he let go, the Horned Beetle''s terrifying power would slam down like a crashing mountain, making it impossible for him to dodge.


    Genie had already flown up and spewed out flames to attack the Horned Beetle. However, the patterns on its back only shimmered as the flames failed to approach its body.


    "Fat Orange¡­" Liu Yun gritted his teeth and shouted.


    The orange cat darted out of Liu Yun''s body and ran in another direction. At the same time, it emitted a mysterious wave that could lure dimensional creatures to chase after it.


    The Horned Beetle was affected by the mysterious waves, reducing its downward pressure significantly. At the same time, it turned to look at Orange Cat.


    Liu Yun thought that he finally had a chance to escape. Just as he was about to retreat, the Horned Beetle glanced at the Orange Cat before choosing not to chase after Orange Cat. In a surprise turn of events, it quickly turned around and slammed the horn at Liu Yun.


    "Holy sh*t, what''s going on? This dimensional creature isn''t affected by Fat Orange?" Liu Yun was alarmed as he raised his arms to meet the attack.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The Horned Beetle lashed out repeatedly as terrifying forces struck Liu Yun''s arms. His body was like a wooden stake as he sank into the soil. Only his chest was exposed.


    Blood seeped out of Liu Yun''s seven orifices. Although the pair of bracers were magical and could withstand Mythical strength, his body wasn''t able to withstand such tremors. If this continued, all his bones and organs would be pulverized.


    "If a tiger doesn''t show its might, do you really think I''m a sick cat!" A terrifying power erupted from Liu Yun''s hands. A pair of black bracers crossed together, forming a black hole that looked like it was about to swallow the Horned Beetle.


    The Horned Beetle''s horn was inside the black hole, but its body was outside. It formed a stalemate with Liu Yun, with both parties unable to do anything to each other.


    Liu Yun hid some of his abilities while fighting me. This black hole-like ability should be the Wheel of Destiny ability of those bracers, right? Zhou Wen watched with relish. Such battles were rare to see. He approached the battlefield, hoping to get a better view.


    "Junior Brother, quickly save me!" Liu Yun hurriedly cried out when he saw Zhou Wen.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, weren''t you trying to steal my Companion Beasts?" Zhou Wen found a spot to sit down and asked Liu Yun with a smile.


    "Junior Brother, how could I steal your Companion Beasts? You think too highly of me. How can I have that ability? My Companion Beast has also been lost. It must have been this Horned Beetle''s doing. Quickly join forces with me and kill it. No matter what drops, it will belong to you," said Liu Yun.


    "It doesn''t matter if you don''t admit it. I''ll wait here for the two of you to decide the victor," Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Liu Yun found it increasingly difficult to persist. He gritted his teeth and said, "Junior Brother, it''s all my fault. I just wanted to pull your leg. I didn''t really want to steal your things. Otherwise, why would I only take a few of your Musical Note Sprites?"


    Zhou Wen didn''t expose him as he continued asking, "What''s the name of the skill you used to steal my Companion Beasts? Where did you get it from?"


    "That''s Star Stealer. It''s an Essence Energy Skill from an Astral Combat Beast in the Endless Sea of Stars," Liu Yun said gloomily. "Junior Brother, what''s the matter? Can we wait until we finish this first? What do you want to know? As your senior brother, I''ll definitely tell you everything I know."


    "Where''s the Endless Sea of Stars? What stage is the Astral Combat Beast? How can I find it?" Zhou Wen ignored him and continued asking.


    "The Endless Sea of Stars is actually a dimensional zone in the former Taklamakan Desert. I only saw it by accident, so I didn''t dare venture deep into it. I don''t know if there''s anything else inside. The Astral Combat Beast is a Mythical creature," Liu Yun answered.


    "Are you still lying to me?" Zhou Wen said with a cold expression.


    "Junior Brother, I''m really not lying to you." The black hole in Liu Yun''s hand was becoming weaker and weaker, as if it would collapse at any moment.


    "You said that Astral Combat Beast is at the Mythical stage, so Star Stealer is a Mythical Essence Energy Skill. How can an Epic like you absorb a Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystal?" Zhou Wen said coldly.


    "Junior Brother, you might not know, but the Essence Energy Art I cultivate is called the ''Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art''. It''s recorded on a stone monument in the Endless Sea of Stars. It''s because of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art that I can absorb that Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystal. However, I can only absorb this type of Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystal. I''ve tried other types, but it''s impossible. I''ll die a terrible death if I''ve lied to you," Liu Yun swore.


    "Junior Brother, I really can''t take it anymore. Quickly save me!" Liu Yun really couldn''t hold on any longer. The black hole in his hand disappeared, and the Horned Beetle regained its freedom. It angrily slammed forward again.


    Boom!


    Liu Yun''s hands were knocked apart. He looked exhausted and couldn''t hold on any longer.


    Seeing the Horned Beetle slam its head down again, with Genie''s flames useless against it, it seemed unstoppable. Orange Cat couldn''t help much in battle. Liu Yun believed that he was doomed.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth descended from the sky and stepped on the Horned Beetle''s back, shattering the stone shell on its back. Its hands clenched into fists as it repeatedly pounded the Horned Beetle''s head.


    After a few punches, the Horned Beetle''s head cracked. The final punch smashed through the Horned Beetle''s head, sending fragments flying everywhere.


    Exhausted, Liu Yun hurriedly turned around and crawled out of the hole. Just as he crawled out, the Horned Beetle''s broken horn shot over at a speed faster than a bullet, hitting Liu Yun''s buttocks.


    "Ah!" A shrill scream pierced through the night sky of the town.


    Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun, who was sprawled on the ground with tears of regret flowing out of his eyes. The horn was raised over him like a flag. He couldn''t help but shiver.


    I''ve had the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General for so long, but nothing major happened. I''m really lucky. I have to offer incense when I return. I have to thank all the deities for their blessings, Zhou Wen thought.

 630 Unlucky Liu Yun

    "I have a cockroach''s life. How can I die so easily¡­ Ouch¡­ Junior Brother¡­ Help me¡­ pull that thing out¡­" Liu Yun wanted to get up, but it immediately pulled his wound, causing him to cry out in pain.


    Typically, if one was injured by a weapon, one wouldn''t randomly pull it out. One needed a professional doctor to carry out the procedure. However, an Epic human''s body and vitality far exceeded the average person, so they didn''t worry too much.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and directed a suction force across space, pulling out the broken horn. It made Liu Yun cry out in pain.


    "Can you still walk? If you can walk, let''s return to the town." Zhou Wen planned on asking Liu Yun about the Endless Sea of Stars. No one would find a skill as useful as Star Stealer excessive. He also planned on making a trip to the Endless Sea of Stars to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    However, Zhou Wen had heard that many deserts were forbidden grounds for humans. The dimensional zones there were especially terrifying. If one wanted to enter the desert without a guide, one could easily be lost in one terrifying dimensional zone after another.


    Without Liu Yun leading the way, Zhou Wen guessed that it would be difficult for him to find the Endless Sea of Stars in the desert.


    "Yes." Liu Yun got up and limped in with an especially strange posture.


    After taking a few steps, he missed a step and vanished. All Zhou Wen could hear was a loud cry coming from below before a loud thud.


    Zhou Wen turned around and saw a hole in the spot where Liu Yun had been. He looked over and saw that it was originally a well. Due to the earlier battle, it had been covered by branches and soil.


    Liu Yun hadn''t noticed it, and due to his injuries, he fell the moment he stepped on it.


    By the time Liu Yun climbed up, he was really in a sorry state. Coupled with his injuries, he looked even more miserable.


    "Brother, help me up. I''m dying¡­" Liu Yun stretched out his hand, looking exhausted.


    "Walk by yourself." Zhou Wen immediately dodged far away. Who knew if Liu Yun would implicate others around him when he was being jinxed?


    "Are you still human? I''m already so injured; yet, you aren''t giving me a hand¡­" Liu Yun limped towards the town.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and walked towards the town square.


    "Junior Brother, be honest. Did you do something to me? I know I was wrong to steal your Companion Beast. I guarantee that there won''t be a next time. Look at how miserable I am. Please spare me¡­" Liu Yun said as he walked. He also felt that something was amiss with his situation. He had never been so unlucky.


    "Don''t spout nonsense. I definitely didn''t do anything to you. Sometimes, it''s a result of one''s own doing. Even God can''t sit idle," Zhou Wen said.


    When Zhou Wen saw this scene, he immediately sped up and distanced himself from him to prevent himself from being implicated.


    From the looks of it, I can''t randomly fuse the baby tiger. Otherwise, if I create another one that jinxes its master, I might harm myself, Zhou Wen thought.


    After returning to the square, Zhou Wen began studying the Companion Beasts ranked ahead of Tyrant Behemoth, and prepared for the next challenge.


    It wasn''t suitable to directly challenge first place¡ªPrimordial Immortal Sword. Neither was Death of the Underworld who came in second. Furthermore, Death of the Underworld was a spirit. Zhou Wen didn''t know if a pure Strength-type Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth could deal fatal damage to Death of the Underworld, so he didn''t consider it for now.


    No matter how powerful Tyrant Behemoth was, he still had to consider the problem of something having an advantage over it. No matter how powerful a Companion Beast was, it couldn''t defy common logic to fight a Companion Beast that had an advantage over it.


    Among the twelve Companion Beasts ranked ahead, some of them were from the six families, while the others were from overseas. Zhou Wen wasn''t too sure either.


    If possible, Zhou Wen planned on challenging an overseas Companion Beast.


    Before Zhou Wen could come to a conclusion, he saw Liu Yun walk back. However, from the looks of it, he was in a worse state than before. His nose was bruised and his face swollen. Zhou Wen did not know what he had done.


    "Junior Brother, I really know my mistake. Save me. If this continues, I will definitely die," Liu Yun said tearfully.


    He had never been so unlucky ever since he was born. The unlucky things he had encountered today numbered more than everything he had encountered in life.


    "Let me ask you. What''s that Life Reversing Spirit Talisman?" Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had fused many pets but had failed to get rid of Jinxes Master. He failed to get rid of the pet even with a fusion with single-digit probabilities.


    Back then, Zhou Wen suspected that fusion wouldn''t fail as long as it had Jinxes Master.


    However, it was useless even if he didn''t fail. As long as Jinxes Master existed, he definitely wouldn''t dare use it. Liu Yun''s miserable state strengthened his resolve.


    To have Liu Yun successfully steal the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was equivalent to the failure of Jinxes Master. The Life Reversing Spirit Talisman was indeed magical.


    "That''s a treasure I stole from the Zhang family. I heard that it was passed down from the Zhang family''s ancestors. There aren''t many of them in total. I was lucky to have stolen one," said Liu Yun.


    "It was passed down by its ancestors? Isn''t it something from a dimensional zone?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    "No, the Zhang family had a long history before the dimensional storms. Their family was already very famous in ancient times. They controlled a sect, and legend has it that they have the ability to predict the future. I''m not too sure about the details either. After all, this family is very mysterious. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have produced a figure like the Hero King," explained Liu Yun.


    The Zhang family¡­ Could it be that Ancestral Master? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and really thought of one such person.


    However, that was history from long ago. Zhou Wen didn''t study history, and he had only heard of such a person. He wasn''t sure of the exact details.


    "Junior Brother, if you want the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman, I''ll go to the Zhang family later. I''ll risk my life to steal another one for you. Help me dispel the bad luck on me first. Can you return the signed piece of paper to me?" Liu Yun believed that the reason he was so unlucky was that Zhou Wen had used the signed paper to do something to him after discovering that he had stolen his Companion Beasts.


    He had no idea that Zhou Wen hadn''t used the signed paper at all. It was purely because of Jinxes Master.


    "Return all the Companion Beasts you stole from me." Zhou Wen thought for a moment. He still wanted Liu Yun to take him to the Endless Sea of Stars. If he were to continue being so unlucky, he probably wouldn''t be able to reach the Endless Sea of Stars before Liu Yun died.


    "If you want a Companion Beast, I''ll think of a way to get a Mythical Companion Egg for you. There''s no need for me to return them, right?" said Liu Yun with a bitter expression.

 631 Being Challenged

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 632 Orochi

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 633 The Federation is Incompeten

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 634 Sandstorm

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 635 Netherworld City

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 636 Strange Stree

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 637 Reason of Death

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 638 Horror

    If Zhou Wen were to die just like that, he would likely suffer the same fate. He naturally didn''t wish for Zhou Wen to die.


    "I''m fine." Zhou Wen sheathed his Bamboo Blade and shook his head.


    At the instant he struck out to kill the black-armored warrior, Zhou Wen switched to Gods Retreat before killing it.


    The jade infant absorbed a large amount of taboo power and nearly exploded. However, it was about the same as before. There were no abnormal fluctuations. From the looks of it, killing the black-armored warrior wasn''t considered murder.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen''s guess. Perhaps the taboo power fluctuations from murder wasn''t obvious.


    Zhou Wen looked down at the black-armored warrior''s corpse. His corpse was rapidly disintegrating as a crystal dropped. It was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen extended his palm and sucked it over. The crystal reached Zhou Wen''s hand and he used his phone to snap a picture. It was indeed an Epic Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Blade Executioner Crystal: Epic


    With the Blade Executioner dead, the words on the stone slab beneath Zhou Wen''s feet vanished.


    "Do you still want to continue walking? If we encounter a Mythical creature, we will probably be doomed," said Liu Yun with a heavy expression.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was a viable possibility. He wouldn''t believe that there were no Mythical creatures in such a strange dimensional zone.


    He looked at his phone. The game was still downloading, and there wasn''t any indication of the progress. He didn''t know when it would finish downloading.


    "Let''s continue," Zhou Wen said as he bit his lip. A day was very short. If they couldn''t untie the dead knot caused by the three ironclad rules, they would probably die.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen still had Truth Listener and Demonic Neonate to use. Even if he encountered Mythical creatures, he wasn''t powerless against them.


    However, Zhou Wen was still somewhat worried. He didn''t know if Companion Beasts would be affected by the ironclad rules of Netherworld City. If they were affected as well, they would die if they weren''t summoned with their feet touching the ground. That would be tragic.


    But now that things had come to this, he had to fight for his survival. All he could do was walk forward.


    "Junior Brother, go ahead. I''ll follow behind you. Since you wish to scout the way, I can help you from behind if you encounter danger," said Liu Yun.


    There was nothing wrong with what Liu Yun said. Furthermore, Zhou Wen hadn''t pinned his hopes on him at all, so he continued walking forward. However, this time, Zhou Wen walked even slower and was even more careful.


    The only thing that worried Liu Yun was if the black-armored warrior that Zhou Wen had killed would appear when he stepped onto the same stone slab.


    Although he was worried, Liu Yun was still prepared to take the same path. He wanted to see if the black-armored warrior would appear again. That would give him a better idea for the remaining journey.


    However, before Liu Yun reached the black-armored warrior''s stone slab, something went wrong.


    He stepped on a stone slab that Zhou Wen had stepped on before. The stone slab lit up as a few words appeared.


    Cause of death: Horror


    "F*ck, what the hell is this? You clearly stepped on it just now. Wasn''t it fine?" Liu Yun tightened his nerves and looked around.


    He didn''t know what horror was. The slab that Zhou Wen had stepped on previously clearly wrote ''Death by blades.''


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw the words beneath Liu Yun''s feet. He said with a heavy expression, "From the looks of it, the problematic stone slabs aren''t in fixed spots. They randomly appear or someone is controlling them. Even if there''s a pattern, we don''t know what it is."


    "Junior Brother, I think it''s best if we don''t meet again in the future. Before meeting you, I lived a happy life. However, ever since I met you, I haven''t had a good day. I might even lose my life here. Promise me, if we can survive this time, we won''t meet again, alright?" Liu Yun said with a bitter face.


    "When you take me to the Endless Sea of Stars, we won''t meet again," Zhou Wen said.


    "You still want to go to the Endless Sea of Stars when we are already in this situation¡­ Ah¡­" As Liu Yun spoke, he suddenly felt a chill run down his neck.


    A dagger seemed to have appeared out of thin air and stuck to his neck. The blade had already touched his skin.


    Liu Yun turned pale with fright, but his reaction was really fast. Almost at the same time the blade appeared, he quickly leaned back, but his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground. He remained motionless.


    The dagger slashed across Liu Yun''s face, slicing off a portion of his hair. Liu Yun broke out into a cold sweat.


    However, the dagger vanished after the slash. If not for the fact that half of Liu Yun''s hair had been cut off and there was a faint bloody mark on his neck, he would have thought that it was just an illusion.


    Liu Yun listened attentively, but he couldn''t hear the sound of the dagger at all. There was no wind in the air.


    This is indeed horrifying. I would rather meet the black-armored warrior¡­ Liu Yun felt depressed, but he focused his mind and didn''t dare relax.


    Suddenly, the dagger appeared at Liu Yun''s waist and stabbed at his waist.


    Liu Yun immediately dodged to the side. His clothes were pierced, but he still managed to dodge.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side as the dagger constantly appeared. It was like a ghost whose trajectory he couldn''t figure out. Every time it appeared, it was as though it had teleported.


    When it vanished, Truth Listener couldn''t hear its location.


    Liu Yun''s skills were extraordinary. He managed to dodge the various attacks of the dagger time and time again. His body made all sorts of unimaginable poses. At most, he would lift one foot from the ground, never two at the same time. There were certain poses that even a professional acrobat might not be able to do.


    "Senior Brother, your movement technique is pretty good. Where did you learn it?" Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    "You''re still gloating at me despite the situation. Hurry up and help me think of a way to deal with this fellow," Liu Yun said gloomily.


    "Since you have the ability to dodge, find an opportunity to slash it. Perhaps you can slice it apart with one strike," Zhou Wen said.


    "You make it sound simple. How would I know that I would enter such a crappy place? I usually use Companion Beasts, so I don''t have any ordinary weapons," said Liu Yun.


    "You should have said so earlier. I have a weapon. I can rent it out to you," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    "Cut the crap. Give it to me quickly." Liu Yun dodged the dagger''s attack and shouted at Zhou Wen.


    "How much will you be paying for rent?" Zhou Wen said in a relaxed manner when he saw that he wasn''t in much danger.


    "You can charge however much you want. Junior Brother, can''t you be a little more humane in times like this?" Liu Yun felt like crying.


    "Tell me first, what movement technique is that?" Zhou Wen was especially interested in movement techniques. Liu Yun''s movement technique wasn''t as fast as Zhou Wen''s, but his body could make all sorts of strange poses. It was something that ordinary humans couldn''t accomplish. It was definitely a special Essence Energy Skill.

 639 Fire Burning

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 640 Death Knell

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 641 Bone Die

    He didn''t look like he was looking at humans, but more like beasts such as pigs or dogs.


    He supported his face with one hand and tilted his head to look at them. Meanwhile, the people on the street below were all ghastly pale. Their bodies involuntarily trembled as though something extremely terrifying was about to happen.


    "Who is that guy? Why is he so cocky?" Liu Yun whispered.


    The person, far away above the stone steps, seemed to have heard Liu Yun''s words. Looking at him from afar, Liu Yun''s scalp immediately went numb and cold sweat broke out on his back.


    Fortunately, that person only glanced at him and didn''t pay much attention to him.


    Zhou Wen noticed that in front of the person was a bowl made of a skull. Unfortunately, he didn''t know what was inside.


    Truth Listener''s ability had been restricted. He couldn''t sense that far away.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the person extended a hand and took some things from the bowl, clamping them between his fingers.


    Only then did Zhou Wen see that they were dice¡ªsix of them. Each one was crystalline-like jade, but they looked more like the bones of some creature.


    The dice didn''t look too special. Just like ordinary dice, there were numbers from one to six engraved on each of the six sides. The colors were red, like blood.


    When the person picked up the dice, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun were alarmed because the stone slab beneath their feet lit up.


    However, the stone slabs were extremely bright this time. A blood-colored number actually appeared on it.


    The number under Zhou Wen''s feet was 19, and the number under Liu Yun''s feet was 18. Neither of them knew what this number represented.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized what the numbers meant. This was because blood-colored numbers lit up beneath the feet of the people in front of him. Everyone''s numbers were different. From 1 to 33, this meant that there were a total of 33 people on the long street. These numbers were their serial numbers.


    Zhou Wen had already figured out what would happen next.


    That high and mighty fellow would definitely throw the dice. If the number he threw was the same as the number under someone''s feet, that person would definitely be in for a rough time.


    From the reactions of the people in front of him, he knew that they must have experienced the same thing, which was why they appeared to be so afraid.


    "I wonder what will happen if the points under our feet match the points he throws out?" Liu Yun also noticed something and swallowed his saliva.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he would throw the dice into the bowl, but to his surprise, the person threw the dice down.


    Six dice landed on the stone steps and rolled along.


    Amazingly, the six dice grew in size as they rolled. When they landed on the long street, they were more than a meter long.


    Six huge rolling dice rumbled down the long street at an extremely fast speed. Wherever they passed, the people in front would dodge to the side, not daring to come into contact with the die. They looked extremely afraid.


    "What should we do?" Liu Yun looked at the dice that were rolling. Two of the huge dice were likely to pass through the spot they were standing.


    If they wanted to dodge, they needed to move at least three stone slabs.


    "Let''s dodge it first." Zhou Wen didn''t know what the dice were, so he decided to avoid them. He would wait until he figured out the situation when he went further forward.


    Six dice rolled past them amidst rumbling, and their step counter was reduced by four steps.


    Clang!


    The dice rolled all the way to the entrance and slammed into it. Then, they bounced back and landed in the open space inside the door. After rolling for a while, they stopped.


    One two, three threes, one six, and one five¡ªa total score of 22.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun''s eyes immediately looked at the street in front of them. The person with the red number, 22, at his feet was around the middle of the long street. He looked like an extremely muscular middle-aged man. He was tall and mighty, and his muscles looked like steel.


    Everyone on the long street looked at him, and his face instantly turned pale. He looked extremely horrified as he shouted crazily, but unfortunately, his voice couldn''t be heard. All they could see was his mouth open, but no one knew what he was shouting.


    As he shouted, he ran crazily. However, no matter which stone slab he ran to, the stone slab would light up with the blood-red 22.


    Boom!


    Without any warning, the middle-aged man''s body exploded like a split watermelon. Blood flowed everywhere.


    However, the blood very quickly seeped into the cracks on the stone slabs, leaving not a single drop. It was as though the stone slabbed ground could suck blood.


    The man on the throne spread his fingers and the six huge dice flew back into the air, shrinking amidst their flight. By the time they reached his hand, they had returned to their original size.


    Holding the dice in his hand, the person looked coldly at the people on the long street. The throne slowly descended and eventually disappeared.


    "That bastard. What does he treat us as? His toys?" Liu Yun gritted his teeth.


    "From the looks of it, there''s nothing wrong with that." Zhou Wen stared at the building on the stone steps. There was no longer a throne or man there.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen said, "That fellow should be the most terrifying dimensional creature in Netherworld City. If we can kill him, we might have a chance of escaping."


    "How do we kill him? The rules of Netherworld City are set by him. We are just chess pieces on the board. How can we play chess with the chess player?" Liu Yun said with a bitter expression.


    "That depends on whether he abides by the rules or not. If he abides by the rules, we still have a chance of defeating him even if he''s a chess player," Zhou Wen said.


    "What if he doesn''t follow the rules?" Liu Yun asked.


    "Then we will have to think of a way to avoid the rules." Zhou Wen looked at the person closest to them. There was still a look of horror on the person''s face. From the looks of it, he had been frightened by the scene.


    "Let''s go and ask them what''s going on here," Zhou Wen said as he continued walking forward.


    They weren''t too far from that person. After killing a few Epic dimensional creatures, they finally arrived within ten steps of that person.

 642 Chu He

    When the old man was looking at the dice, he saw Zhou Wen and Liu Yun. He also knew that they were walking over, but he didn''t seem to have the desire to communicate with them. All he did was stand there dejectedly.


    "How should I address you?" Liu Yun asked.


    When the old man heard the voice, it was as if he had just woken up. He subconsciously answered, "My name is Chu He. I''m a professor at Imperial Capital College''s History department."


    "Peasant? Is your wife called noon[1]?" Liu Yun joked.


    "It''s not that. It''s Chu He as in the Chu River." The old man didn''t have any sense of humor. In such an environment, there was nothing that could make him laugh. Therefore, the old man explained seriously.


    Zhou Wen''s eyes widened when he heard the elder''s words. He asked in disbelief, "Chu He? How many professors in the Imperial Capital College''s History department are named Chu He?"


    "I''m the only one." Chu He seemed somewhat numb. He didn''t care why Zhou Wen would ask such a strange question.


    Zhou Wen looked at Chu He excitedly. In the entire Imperial Capital College, Zhou Wen only knew of one person named Chu He.


    The reason Zhou Wen could remember this name wasn''t because Chu He was famous. No matter how famous Chu He was in his field, Zhou Wen couldn''t care less, much less remember his name.


    However, this Chu He was different. This was because there was a history professor at Imperial Capital College. He was a member of the former principal''s expedition team.


    Zhou Wen had seen Chu He''s name and information on the list, and he had also seen the picture of the expedition team.


    However, Zhou Wen had only had a general look back then. Chu He wasn''t his target, so he didn''t pay much attention to him.


    Now that he thought about it, this Chu He was indeed somewhat similar to the Chu He in the photo. However, the Chu He in the photo was slightly plumper. He wasn''t this thin and he looked better. He had a ruddy face and black hair. He wasn''t as pale as he was now. Back then, Chu He was in high spirits.


    Is he really Professor Chu He from the expedition team? Shouldn''t he have entered the Zhuolu battlefield with the former principal and company? They went missing together, so how could he be here? Zhou Wen believed that the former principal had been killed, but for a person who had likely been killed with the former principal to appear in Netherworld City made him feel alarmed again.


    "Professor Chu, have you been to the Zhuolu battlefield for research?" Zhou Wen asked as he stared at Chu He. He hoped that Chu He was Professor Chu He from the expedition team.


    If they were really the same person, it was very likely that the former principal hadn''t been killed if Professor Chu He was still alive. After all, he hadn''t found the former principal''s corpse in Zhuolu, nor had he discovered any other relics.


    Ever since he was young, there hadn''t been many people who had treated Zhou Wen well. The former principal was one of them. Zhou Wen felt that a good person like the former principal shouldn''t have died so early. At the very least, he didn''t wish for the former principal to die so early.


    "No." Chu He shook his head.


    "How can that be? Think about it carefully. The Federation invited you to participate in the expedition team to Zhuolu. You, Professor Ouyang Ting, and a few other experts and professors went to Zhuolu together," Zhou Wen said.


    After speaking for a while, Chu He''s thoughts seemed to become more active. After hearing Zhou Wen''s words, he lowered his head and thought for a moment before saying, "I remember. There was such an incident. Back then, an organization under the Federation did invite me to Zhuolu to carry out research work. I remember that there was an old professor Ouyang Ting on the list."


    "If you went to Zhuolu with them, why are you here alone?" Zhou Wen asked in excitement. He had already taken a look at the others on the street, but he hadn''t discovered the former principal or the other members of the expedition team.


    To his surprise, Chu He shook his head and said, "No, no, no. I didn''t go to Zhuolu. I had a major discovery at that time and wanted to do research in the Taklamakan Desert, so I rejected the invitation and didn''t go to Zhuolu."


    "You rejected the invitation?" Zhou Wen looked at Chu He with disbelief.


    He had read the information on the Zhuolu expedition team. Although there was no more information after they went missing, the records were still very detailed. There were even their punch card records when they were at the encampment.


    Many people in the encampment had seen Professor Chu He before. Some had even chatted with him. Now, Chu He had actually said that he hadn''t gone to Zhuolu and had rejected the invitation from the beginning. This made many thoughts flash through Zhou Wen''s mind.


    Is this Chu He lying? Or did he really not go to Zhuolu? If he really didn''t go to Zhuolu, then who''s the Chu He in Zhuolu? Is this Chu He fake? Or is the expedition team''s Chu He fake? Or is it the same person? Did the soul enter Netherworld City after Chu He died and he has already forgotten the past? That''s not right. He still remembers his name and knows that he''s a professor at Imperial Capital College. It doesn''t look like his memories have been washed away. Zhou Wen''s mind was in a mess; he couldn''t figure out what was going on.


    "Yes, I rejected it," Chu He said bitterly. "I was in a dilemma back then. If I had chosen to go to Zhuolu, I wouldn''t have been trapped in this place that''s akin to hell."


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, If you had gone to Zhuolu back then, your outcome might not have been better than now. At the very least, you''re still alive. I''m not even sure if the former principal and company are dead or not.


    "Junior Brother, let''s chat about all of that later. We don''t have much time left. Ask the important questions," said Liu Yun anxiously.


    Zhou Wen nodded and asked, "Professor Chu, how did you enter Netherworld City? What''s the situation here?"


    Chu He said, "Back then, I was studying the ruins of the Niya civilization in the desert. Who knew that I would encounter a sandstorm? After the sandstorm passed, I saw Netherworld City. Then, there was a huge fire around me. I had no choice but to escape into Netherworld City."


    The experience of Chu He and Zhou Wen''s entering Netherworld City was similar. However, Zhou Wen thought of another important problem.


    [1] Chu He can be a homophone for a peasant. There''s a poem that says a peasant toils at noon. The toil here can be regarded as a sexual innuendo.

 643 Torture Chambers

    If this Chu He was really Professor Chu He from Imperial Capital College, then the Professor Chu He who went to Zhuolu was likely a fake.


    However, since the imposter hadn''t been discovered, this meant that Professor Chu He must have come to the desert a long time ago. That was why no one had seen him again. Otherwise, the imposter would have been discovered long ago.


    In that case, Professor Chu He should have entered Netherworld City a while ago. Otherwise, he would definitely have made contact with the outside world. Someone outside should know that he was in the desert and not Zhuolu.


    However, the truth was that no one knew of such a situation. Even Chu He''s family believed that he was in Zhuolu. This was extremely odd.


    If someone hadn''t deliberately cut off the connection between Professor Chu He and the outside world, it would have been because he had entered Netherworld City a long time ago. That was why no one knew he was here.


    However, with the three ironclad rules of Netherworld City, how did Professor Chu He survive?


    "When?" Professor Chu He looked at him strangely and said, "Just today. Didn''t you come in today when you encountered a sandstorm?"


    "Today? Didn''t you contact your family before you came in?" Zhou Wen asked in disbelief.


    "There''s no signal in the desert. How can I contact my family? It was only about a couple of weeks ago. I went to the city outside the desert to contact my family once. At that time, I was very excited to tell them that I had made a huge discovery and that I would be back soon to reunite with them. I never expected¡­" Chu He''s face was filled with sorrow.


    This left Zhou Wen completely dumbfounded. Chu He had contacted his family a couple of weeks ago, so why hadn''t his family mentioned this matter? His family had never mentioned that Chu He had gone to the Taklamakan.


    Now, Zhou Wen wished he could return immediately and ask Chu He''s family what was going on.


    From Zhou Wen''s point of view, this wasn''t a coincidence. Two Professor Chu Hes had appeared in different places. There had to be someone pulling the strings from behind.


    Who''s doing these things? If the Zhuolu expedition team''s Chu He is fake, what did the fake Chu He want to do by joining the expedition team? Could the former principal''s disappearance have something to do with him? With this in mind, Zhou Wen''s mind became active.


    If someone really abducted the former principal away, the former principal might still be alive.


    Liu Yun was somewhat anxious. Zhou Wen kept asking questions that weren''t pertinent. All he could do was ask himself, "Professor Chu, you came earlier than us. Do you know what''s going on here? What exactly is that dimensional creature that appeared up there?"


    "Wait, you said that it rings seven times a day. Doesn''t that mean you have been here for more than a day?" Zhou Wen discovered the problem in Chu He''s words.


    Chu He said with a bitter smile, "I heard it from others. As you saw, City Lord Netherworld really appeared and even took a life. Perhaps it will be my turn tomorrow. However, my worries are unnecessary. I don''t even know if I can survive today. Why should I be worried about tomorrow?"


    Liu Yun was immediately disappointed. He originally imagined that he would find someone who knew what was happening and obtain some information about Netherworld City, but to his surprise, Chu He had entered Netherworld City the same day as them, albeit a little earlier than them.


    Taking a closer look at Chu He''s feet, he realized that he still had 132 steps left. That was even fewer than Zhou Wen and company.


    "Professor Chu, have you learned anything about Netherworld City and City Lord Netherworld?" Liu Yun continued asking unwillingly.


    Liu Yun was surprised when he realized that Chu He knew much more than he had imagined.


    According to what Chu He had heard, the three ironclad rules of Netherworld City could not be violated. Otherwise, one would immediately die.


    Furthermore, the distance between the stone slabs was a number. Be it advancing or retreating, or moving left and right repeatedly, it was part of the count.


    Once the number dropped to zero, it meant death.


    Chu He saw a person self-destruct because of the number turning zero. It was identical to how the middle-aged man who had died just moments ago.


    It was said that there was only one way to leave Netherworld City alive. That was to walk to the end of the long street and step onto the stone steps to reach the Netherworld Divine Throne. Only by sounding the bronze bell on it can one leave Netherworld City.


    "That''s impossible. From here to the stone steps, there are at least two to three thousand stone slabs. With just the few steps allocated to us, we can''t even reach the stone steps, much less walk up the stone steps and strike the bell," Liu Yun said with a frown.


    "It''s not impossible to increase the number of steps. Every new hour, the doors on both sides of the long street open. When the time comes, we have a chance to obtain more steps," Chu He said as he pointed at the tightly-shut doors.


    "Are the shops selling steps? What do we use to buy them? Is it money or dimensional crystals?" Liu Yun asked as he sized up the shops on both sides of the street.


    "No, those aren''t shops, but torture chambers. You can be punished in the torture chamber in exchange for the number of steps. The punishment in each torture chamber is different. You can obtain different steps from different punishments¡­" As Chu He spoke, his eyes revealed fear.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun were dumbfounded when they heard that. According to Chu He, there were various kinds of punishments in the torture chambers.


    Getting branded by a piece of red-hot metal on the chest until the flesh scorched could exchange for five steps.


    Having needles stab the ten fingers could be exchanged for ten steps. Having a piece of flesh taken with a blade could obtain one step.


    Although these sorts of punishments wouldn''t kill, it left one shuddering in fear.


    "In that case, as long as we can endure the pain, we can obtain enough steps to walk up the stone steps?" said Liu Yun.


    "That''s not entirely the case. Every punishment only gives steps the first time," Chu He said.


    Zhou Wen immediately counted the number of torture chambers on both sides of the street. According to the information he had obtained from Chu He, one could obtain about ten steps from each torture chamber.


    "239 torture chambers. If we can obtain 10 steps from each torture chamber, we can obtain more than 2000 steps. With so many steps, can we walk up the stone steps?" Zhou Wen estimated that it was about there, but this was only an estimate. It wasn''t necessarily accurate.


    "Junior Brother, we seem to have made a mistake¡­" Liu Yun''s expression turned nasty as he thought of the same problem as Zhou Wen.


    Steps were scarce. One had to visit all the torture chambers once before they could ascend and reach the Netherworld Divine Throne.


    However, as they walked all the way, they had already missed many torture chambers. If they walked back now, it would be a waste of many steps, making their already small number of steps even fewer.

 644 Punishmen

    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "Even if we start with the first torture chamber, I''m afraid we won''t be able to reach the Netherworld Divine Throne."


    "Why? Will there not be enough steps?" Liu Yun was puzzled.


    "I don''t know if the number of steps is enough. However, I do know that in the short span of a day, suffering 239 types of punishments might be nothing to our bodies individually, but can we take a total of 239 punishments? I doubt I can. Among the people I know, I''m afraid only one person can complete this street and survive all the punishments. Unfortunately, he''s not here," Zhou Wen said.


    "Although it''s very difficult, we still have to give it a try. We can''t just sit back and wait for death, right?" Liu Yun said.


    "Then give it a try later," Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the shop beside him.


    "As you wish." Liu Yun also knew that at this stage, he had to try his best. Otherwise, there was no way out.


    "Do you want to go back first?" Liu Yun looked at the path they had taken, but he quickly rejected it. "I''ll first try entering the torture chamber beside me."


    There was still some time before the next hourly bell. The two of them could only stand there and wait.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone to take a look, but he still hadn''t finished downloading it. The dungeon map was clearly very big.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to cultivate Gods Retreat. Every time he summoned it, he would switch it away when it was about to explode. After repeated cultivation, the jade infant''s body became more transparent. Soon, it became as transparent as crystal.


    Zhou Wen vaguely felt that the jade infant was about to break through.


    I wonder what a Life Soul''s Perfect Body would be like? Zhou Wen placed all his hopes on the jade infant. Gods Retreat wasn''t enough to resist the taboo power here. If it could advance to a Perfect Body, they might still have a chance of survival.


    As for entering the punishment chamber to receive punishment, Zhou Wen didn''t pin much hope on it. His physique was already very strong, but he might not be able to withstand so many punishments in such a short period of time. Unless Li Xuan was here, Zhou Wen didn''t even wish to give it a try.


    An hour quickly passed. While the jade infant rested, Zhou Wen chatted with Chu He and deliberately asked about his past.


    Chu He was already reeling in horror after being trapped here. Being able to chat with others was also a way to relieve stress. He said a lot.


    Chu He remembered everything that had happened in the past very clearly. It didn''t look like there was a problem with him, nor was there any memory loss.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Zhou Wen looked at the torture chamber beside him and saw that there was a strange torture device inside. It looked like a wooden horse, and on its back was a long spike that resembled a unicorn''s horn. However, it wasn''t growing on its head, but on its back.


    Beside the torture equipment was a sign with the words "Wooden Horse Punishment Twenty Steps" written on it.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, you get twenty steps each punishment. The rewards are very high. Do you want to give it a try?" Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun''s face turned green when he saw the torture equipment. He immediately shook his head and said, "No way! I''ll try this instead. Punishment by a thousand cuts. Every slice of meat is one step. More slices, more steps. This is a punishment that can be repeatedly undertaken. Perhaps it''s a better opportunity to get more steps."


    "Can you take it?" Zhou Wen looked at the torture chamber and saw that there was an iron chain hanging on the beam. Beside it was a dagger.


    With one look, he roughly understood that one was going to be cuffed by the hands and hoisted up before having the dagger slice off pieces of meat.


    "As a man, anything can be done to live. I''ll do it." Liu Yun knew that if he wanted to live, he had to risk it.


    Without any hesitation, Liu Yun followed Chu He''s earlier instructions and shouted at the punishment by a thousand cuts chamber, "I want to undertake punishment by a thousand cuts."


    The moment he finished his sentence, his body vanished as though he had teleported. Zhou Wen looked over and saw that his hands had been cuffed and he was hanging in the torture chamber.


    The tiny blade was picked up by a white ghost-like creature before it slashed at Liu Yun''s thigh.


    The small blade was like a saw as it sliced back and forth, bit by bit. A piece of flesh fell from Liu Yun''s thigh.


    It had to be said that the white ghost''s blade techniques were first-rate. The flesh that was sliced off was as thin as a cicada''s wing and was almost transparent. It was comparable to a top chef.


    Zhou Wen roughly understood why the flesh sliced off was so thin. It wasn''t because they were afraid of the victim dying, but because if it was too thick, he wouldn''t have enough flesh to cut a thousand slices. It naturally couldn''t be considered a punishment by a thousand cuts.


    It was only one slice, but Liu Yun''s face was pale from the pain. Not much flesh had been sliced off, but the wound was nothing in comparison to the pain.


    Liu Yun gritted his teeth and didn''t say a word. The small blade continued to slice off another piece of flesh.


    When Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun again, his forehead was breaking out in cold sweat.


    Chu He''s heart trembled as he watched from the side. Such a bloody and cruel punishment made one''s hair stand on end.


    Liu Yun didn''t even grunt as the blade sliced through his flesh. He was like a classic example of a true man. Even Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be impressed. Liu Yun was truly unyielding.


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, Liu Yun''s wounds didn''t bleed much. Every time the tiny blade sliced off a piece of flesh, the wound would automatically contract without much bleeding.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, I couldn''t tell. You''ve also practiced such a powerful self-recovery technique," Zhou Wen exclaimed.


    "Self-recovery my ass. It''s the power of the torture chamber that prevents me from bleeding. It''s afraid I''ll die before I complete the thousand cuts," cursed Liu Yun.


    He wasn''t really such a hot-tempered person. All he wanted to do was to vent his pain through his cursing.


    After 23 slices, the unyielding Liu Yun finally couldn''t hold it in any longer. He shouted, "I give up on continuing the torture."


    With a clang, the metal cuff released and Liu Yun''s body fell. However, when he landed, he returned to the stone slab he was on before the punishment.


    Indeed, the number on his stone slab increased by 23.


    "See, isn''t it simple? I got it to increase by 23 in no time at all. Try a few more torture chambers, and it won''t be a problem for us to reach the Netherworld Divine Throne," Liu Yun said with a pale face.


    Ignoring Zhou Wen, even Chu He could tell that Liu Yun was merely comforting himself.

 645 Scream Loudly If You Are In Pain

    Chu He shook his head firmly and said, "There''s no other way. Only by being tortured in the torture chamber can one obtain more steps."


    Zhou Wen turned his head and looked at the long street. Apart from them, the others had entered the torture chambers to be punished.


    It was a pity that he couldn''t hear anything beyond ten steps. Otherwise, he would definitely be able to hear the undulating screams.


    "Junior Brother, do you want to give punishment by a thousand cuts a try as well? Perhaps you can last longer than me?" Liu Yun encouraged him. He wanted to see how long Zhou Wen could last under such torture.


    "I think I''ll forget about it." Zhou Wen shook his head and looked around. He planned on attempting a less severe punishment.


    Although they could enter the torture chamber directly without needing to walk over, they needed to be within ten steps of one. If the torture chamber was too far from them, they wouldn''t be able to undergo the punishment.


    Now, there was only one torture chamber to their left and right that were within ten steps away On the left was the punishment by a thousand cuts which Liu Yun had attempted.


    On the right was punishment by whipping. On it stated a step per lash.


    It was similar to punishment by a thousand cuts. One was hoisted up for the punishment. However, it wasn''t the slicing of flesh but lashing with a whip.


    Liu Yun was also looking at the whip. Seeing that it was a vine whip, he said, "Then let me try the punishment. My body is quite tough. I should be able to withstand it a few more times."


    With that said, Liu Yun shouted at the whipping torture chamber, "I want to undertake punishment by whipping."


    Just like the last time, Liu Yun''s body vanished. He was hung in the whipping torture chamber. Then, a white ghost-like figure appeared and picked up the vine whip.


    The vine whip was lashed out by the white figure. Sharp spikes appeared on the originally smooth whip, making it appear like a thorny vine.


    Pa! With a crisp sound, a bloody whip mark appeared on Liu Yun''s body.


    After a few whips, Liu Yun''s body was reduced to a bloody mess. It was even more terrifying than punishment by a thousand cuts.


    This time, Liu Yun only held on for about ten whips before giving up. After being released, he looked a little shriveled.


    "F*ck, this isn''t giving us a way out. How can humans withstand such punishment? Death by punishment, death also by not undergoing punishment. Why should we be punished!?" Liu Yun cursed.


    The moment he finished his sentence, Zhou Wen felt his vision blur. His body seemed to be teleported by some force. By the time he reacted, he was already hung up in the whipping chamber.


    A white ghost appeared in front of him. It had already gripped the vine whip.


    "Junior Brother, scream loudly if you are in pain. Don''t endure it. The more you endure, the more painful it will be. It will be much better if you shout out loud. The louder you shout, the better," Liu Yun said gloatingly.


    He was actually just trying to find pleasure amidst the suffering, hoping to reduce his stress. He didn''t really want to hear Zhou Wen scream.


    "Alright," Zhou Wen replied as he switched his Essence Energy Art to Dao Body and Gods Retreat before closing his eyes.


    However, the Gods Retreat Life Providence didn''t affect the white ghost. Clearly, the punishment in the torture chamber wasn''t a taboo power.


    Seeing that Gods Retreat was useless, Zhou Wen hurriedly switched to Small Perfection of Wisdom. At the same time, he activated the Hell King Life Soul. Under the effects of the Hell King Life Soul, Zhou Wen''s control over his body was extremely strong. Not only did his physique strengthen, but he could also eliminate the pain.


    No matter how serious his injuries were, Zhou Wen wouldn''t feel any pain. It was as though his pain nerves had been removed.


    Zhou Wen didn''t plan on constantly being punished. All he wanted to do was try out the force of the whipping punishment.


    However, just as Zhou Wen used the Hell King Life Soul, the white specter that had already lashed out suddenly retracted its whip without striking.


    "Junior Brother, what''s going on? Don''t tell me you can''t even withstand a whip and are giving up?" Liu Yun said when he saw the scene before him, imagining that Zhou Wen had given up.


    However, what happened next left Liu Yun''s mouth agape.


    The white ghost with the whip actually plopped to the ground and kowtowed. It lay prone, trembling.


    Crack!


    The shackles that bound Zhou Wen''s hands automatically opened, allowing him to land.


    However, Zhou Wen hadn''t given up on being tortured, so he didn''t return to the long street. Instead, he landed in the whipping chamber.


    His feet landed on the ground, but there were no numbers on the floor. Perhaps it was because the steps didn''t count in the torture chambers.


    "Junior Brother¡­ What''s going on¡­" Liu Yun stared at Zhou Wen with his mouth agape as he looked at the trembling white ghost in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen never expected his Hell King Life Soul to have such an effect.


    Looking at the white ghost sprawled on the ground, Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before saying to it, "Stand up."


    The white ghost was very obedient. It obediently stood up, but its body was still trembling. It looked extremely frightened.


    "Don''t be afraid. Come, whip me," Zhou Wen said gently to the white ghost.


    The white ghost trembled again as it collapsed to the ground and kowtowed to Zhou Wen.


    "Stand up. I order you to whip me," Zhou Wen said coldly to the white ghost.


    The white ghost crawled up trembling as it held the whip in its hand, but it didn''t dare to whip Zhou Wen.


    "It''s fine. I''m giving you permission to whip me, but you have to whip me gently. Just gently touch me," Zhou Wen instructed the white ghost.


    The white ghost held the whip, but it didn''t dare attack. Zhou Wen glared at it before it finally flung the whip and struck Zhou Wen''s body.


    The whip whistled through the air, but it only touched Zhou Wen''s clothes and immediately retracted. Zhou Wen felt his skin being touched by his clothes. There was no pain at all.


    The white ghost was terrified. It sprawled on the ground and kowtowed again.


    "You did well. That''s right. Do it again. Lash me a few more times," Zhou Wen encouraged.


    Only then did the white ghost stand up shakily and lashed at Zhou Wen''s body again. Just like before, it retracted once the whip touched his clothes.


    Zhou Wen found a spot to sit down. As he took out his phone, he got the white ghost to torture him.


    "This spot¡­ A little heavier here¡­ My shoulders are a little sore¡­ Strike this side¡­ Use more strength¡­" Zhou Wen kept directing the white ghost to attack the various parts of his body.


    "Seriously?" Liu Yun and Chu He were dumbfounded.


    The originally terrifying atmosphere was now gone. The white ghost held the vine whip and served Zhou Wen like it was a masseur at a massage parlor.

 646 Dead Man

    Zhou Wen, Liu Yun, and Chu He looked at the stone slab beneath Zhou Wen''s feet and saw that the number on the stone slab had changed to 1369. In other words, Zhou Wen had obtained more than a thousand steps during the torture chamber''s opening. This was the same number Zhou Wen had secretly taken note of.


    So this can really increase the number of steps. Zhou Wen felt a lot more relaxed. With the Hell King''s strength, the problem with insufficient steps was resolved.


    However, he couldn''t completely relax. Although the Hell King''s strength could intimidate the torture chamber, it was unable to withstand the rules of Netherworld City.


    Zhou Wen took a step while maintaining the Hell King Life Soul''s state. The subsequent steps would still decrease, indicating that the rules of Netherworld City were still effective on him.


    Now, he had only resolved the problem of the number of steps. He had yet to resolve the three ironclad rules of Netherworld City. He had to think of a way to leave as soon as possible.


    "You¡­ How did you do it?" Chu He looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. He had never seen someone undergo such torture like Zhou Wen.


    Liu Yun also wanted to know how Zhou Wen had done it. This fellow constantly surprised him.


    He originally thought that he was doing pretty well. Although he wasn''t a member of the six families, he had the resources and skills that young geniuses of the six families didn''t have.


    However, he never expected Zhou Wen to be even more equipped than him. He had all sorts of abilities, as though he could resolve anything he encountered.


    "Perhaps my Essence Energy Art is effective against the white ghosts in the torture chamber," Zhou Wen said half-truthfully.


    "Junior Brother, tell me you won''t leave your adorable and kind eldest senior brother behind, right?" Liu Yun was somewhat worried that Zhou Wen would leave after he had enough steps.


    "How can that be? I''m still hoping that you will take me to the Endless Sea of Stars," Zhou Wen said.


    "Junior Brother, you''re right. After we leave, I''ll definitely take you to the Endless Sea of Stars and help you obtain Star Stealer." Liu Yun paused before saying, "You can walk freely, but I don''t have enough steps. What should I do?"


    "When the torture chamber opens again next time, you and I will choose the same punishment room. When the time comes, I''ll get the white ghosts to take care of you. There you will naturally be given the needed steps," Zhou Wen said.


    "Teacher really has good taste. Junior Brother, you''re really an amazing genius. I think that no one can be as glorious as you even if the six heroes were revived¡­" Liu Yun said obsequiously.


    If he hadn''t wanted to go to the Endless Sea of Stars, Zhou Wen really didn''t wish to be with Liu Yun.


    Although he was also Fang Mingyuan''s student, perhaps because Liu Yun had entered society a few years earlier than them, he felt that he wasn''t trustworthy like Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, and Hui Haifeng.


    Of course, it was also possible that this was because Zhou Wen had never interacted with Liu Yun.


    The three of them waited for another hour. After the bell rang again, the torture chambers opened again. Zhou Wen chose to enter the torture chamber. Liu Yun and Chu He also chose punishment by whipping.


    The three of them hung side by side in the whipping chamber. Immediately, three white ghosts appeared. Each of them had a vine whip and was about to whip them.


    The moment Zhou Wen''s Hell King Life Soul appeared, the three white ghosts immediately knelt down and trembled as though Zhou Wen was about to eat them.


    Hence, the three of them sat side by side in the whipping chamber to be punished. This was the first time Liu Yun experienced the feeling of being raised on a pedestal. He grunted comfortably and said, "Junior Brother, if I had known that you had this ability, I wouldn''t have suffered the pain of punishment by a thousand cuts so much."


    "I only realized it after entering the torture chamber," Zhou Wen said casually.


    After the torture chamber closed, Zhou Wen had close to three thousand steps. Chu He and Liu Yun had more than a thousand steps.


    "As long as we do it again, we should have enough steps to reach the Netherworld Divine Throne," Liu Yun said happily.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he saw someone explode on the long street. Blood splattered everywhere and was quickly absorbed by the ground.


    "That person''s step count was used up. He couldn''t withstand the punishment and ended his life." Chu He sighed.


    Zhou Wen realized that there were fewer people on the long street. Now, there were only twenty-four people left. The few who had vanished probably died in the torture chambers.


    The three of them continued waiting. As for Zhou Wen, he used the taboo power of Netherworld City to constantly train his jade infant.


    The jade infant looked cold like a jade statue, but it later turned crystalline. However, with the baptism of the taboo power, the jade infant gradually softened. It was like a transparent jelly as if its body had turned soft.


    Is it about to break through? Zhou Wen had a vague feeling that the jade infant was really about to break through. He was only half a step away.


    Another hour passed. The three of them were once again tortured. By the time they came out, Zhou Wen''s steps had exceeded four thousand. The other two were almost nearing three thousand.


    "This should be enough. Let''s go." Liu Yun was in high spirits as he led the way.


    Chu He naturally followed them. Zhou Wen wanted to bring Chu He out of this place before investigating if he was the real Chu He.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered some problems. Chu He''s combat standards were very poor. He hadn''t advanced to the Epic stage and was only at the Legendary stage.


    When he encountered dimensional creatures on the way, it was Zhou Wen and Liu Yun who helped him block them.


    "Professor Chu, you don''t seem to be good at combat. How did you walk so far before we came?" Zhou Wen asked Chu He in puzzlement.


    Chu He thought for a moment and said, "Before you came, I didn''t step on a stone slab that generated any cause of death."


    "Then, Professor Chu, your luck is really good." Although Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious, he couldn''t think of any other possibility other than this explanation.


    Soon, Zhou Wen and company caught up to the people in front of them. However, all of them seemed numb. Zhou Wen and Liu Yun wanted to communicate with them, but all they did was grunt. It was as though they had fallen deep into despair.


    "Forget it. There''s no way to communicate like this. Let''s go," said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen nodded and continued walking forward. Every time he encountered a person, Zhou Wen would attempt to communicate with them, but the further he went, the number they became. The subsequent ones ignored them like wooden statues.


    These people seem to have some problems. When I first met Professor Chu He, he had similar tendencies. However, he was the closest to the city gate and had the mildest symptoms. It''s no wonder I felt that Chu He was a little odd from the beginning. I thought it was a result of not having spoken to others for a long time, but from the looks of it, that''s not the case, Zhou Wen thought to himself. However, he didn''t say anything because Chu He was beside him.


    Soon, the three of them reached the end of the long street and stepped onto the stone steps. With every step they took, the consumption of their footsteps tripled. One step was equivalent to taking three steps on the stone slabs.


    The 365 stone steps consumed just over a thousand steps.


    Only Zhou Wen had enough steps. Chu He and Liu Yun didn''t have enough. Zhou Wen had no choice but to wait for the bell to ring again. He got them to find a torture chamber nearby and obtain enough steps before climbing the stone steps.


    Clang!


    After Zhou Wen struck the bell, he saw the golden divine throne slowly open. Behind it was Netherworld City''s exit, allowing him to see the desert outside.


    However, City Lord Netherworld stood in the middle of the Netherworld Divine Throne, blocking their path. He glanced at the trio before his gaze landed on Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared for battle. He didn''t believe that he could leave Netherworld City so easily.


    "The two of you can leave. He needs to stay." City Lord Netherworld didn''t take action. He only extended his index finger and pointed at Chu He.


    "He can also ring the Netherworld Bell. Why can''t he leave?" Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    "Because he''s already a dead person," said City Lord Netherworld indifferently.


    "What do you mean? He''s clearly a living person. How can he be a dead person?" Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he turned to look at Chu He and asked, "Professor Chu, what''s the exact date of your entry to Netherworld City?"


    "It should be March 8, 28. Why?" Chu He asked in surprise.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed immediately. This was because it was the year the old professor and company had gone to Zhuolu. In other words, Chu He had entered Netherworld City that year, but he had always believed that he had only entered Netherworld City today. There was only one possibility.


    With Chu He''s ability, it was impossible for him to survive in Netherworld City. Therefore, he had died long ago.


    However, Chu He was standing in front of him, looking alive. It was hard to believe that he was a dead person.

 647 The First Day is also the Last Day

    Liu Yun was abnormally bold. He reached out and pulled Chu He''s face. He said in disbelief, "He''s clearly a normal person. How can he be a dead person?"


    Zhou Wen couldn''t tell in what way Chu He was a dead person. His body, heart rate, and temperature were all normal. Apart from appearing a little slow in thought, he couldn''t tell how he looked like a dead person.


    However, if Chu He hadn''t died, it was difficult to explain how he entered Netherworld City so long ago only to claim that he had only entered today.


    "If you aren''t afraid that his soul will dissipate and vanish forever, take him out of the city," said City Lord Netherworld as he made way.


    "Can we really leave?" Liu Yun looked at City Lord Netherworld with distrust.


    In the years he had spent in society, he naturally understood the principle that human words couldn''t be trusted. Also, it was a dimensional creature who said those words. Furthermore, it was the owner of the netherworld. It sounded like true nonsense.


    "As long as he isn''t afraid of his soul dissipating, just walk out of Netherworld City," City Lord Netherworld said indifferently.


    "Professor Chu, what do you think? Do you want to go out with us?" Liu Yun asked Chu He.


    "I want to go out. I''m not a dead person," Chu He hurriedly said.


    Zhou Wen looked at City Lord Netherworld and asked, "We also entered Netherworld City. Why are we not dead, but Professor Chu He is?"


    City Lord Netherworld seemed to be very patient. He glanced at Zhou Wen and answered, "Didn''t the ghost gates make it clear when you entered the city? None of the three ironclad rules of Netherworld City can be violated. Since he didn''t walk out the city alive on the day he entered, he''s naturally dead."


    "I''m not dead¡­ I''m really not dead¡­ Don''t believe him¡­ Take me away¡­" Chu He''s eyes were bloodshot and his mental state was very unstable.


    It wasn''t Chu He''s fault. Anyone who suddenly heard, in such a straightforward manner, that they were dead would be as nervous as Chu He.


    "Professor Chu, don''t worry. I believe you. Leave the city with us," Liu Yun said as he patted Chu He''s shoulder.


    Although Zhou Wen was suspicious, he couldn''t confirm that Chu He was really a dead person. After some hesitation, he looked at Chu He and said, "Professor Chu, you can choose whether you want to leave this place."


    "I''ll go with you. I''m really not a dead person," Chu He said immediately.


    "Alright, let''s go then." Zhou Wen stared at City Lord Netherworld and moved his feet towards the entrance formed by the Netherworld Divine Throne.


    However, City Lord Netherworld only watched from the side without any intention of stopping them.


    Outside, in the desert, the sun was high in the sky. Beyond the Netherworld Divine Throne, there was bright sunlight. However, inside the Netherworld Divine Throne, it appeared eerie and dark.


    Liu Yun walked in front and stepped out first, standing under the sun in the desert.


    Zhou Wen walked at the back, constantly wary of City Lord Netherworld who didn''t move at all. All he did was look at them coldly.


    Chu He stood in the shadows, one step away from the desert and the sun.


    However, Chu He was somewhat hesitant. Although he was certain he wasn''t dead, City Lord Netherworld had said it with such certainty. Furthermore, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun had said that he had been in Netherworld City for a long time, making him somewhat afraid.


    "I''m definitely not a dead person¡­ I''m definitely not a dead person¡­" Chu He gritted his teeth and extended his palm towards the sun.


    Just as his fingertip touched the sunlight, a blue light suddenly appeared. The tip of his finger that had extended out actually disintegrated and disappeared in the blue light.


    "Ah¡­ How is this happening¡­" Chu He screamed as he retracted his palm. His face was filled with disbelief and despair.


    Zhou Wen''s expression changed slightly as he extended his hand and extended it into the sunlight. There wasn''t any problem. All he felt was that the temperature outside was very high and the sunlight was a little scorching, but it was still acceptable.


    "Professor Chu, try extending your hand again," Zhou Wen said to Chu He as he stood in the shadow of the Netherworld Divine Throne, maintaining his hand in the sunlight.


    Chu He hurriedly extended his hand, but when his fingertip touched the sunlight, it immediately disintegrated.


    "Impossible¡­ I can''t be a dead person¡­ Impossible¡­ I still have to return to see my family¡­ My wife and daughter are waiting for me¡­" Chu He slumped to the ground as his voice sounded disconsolate. Tears flowed down his face.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to what to do. He couldn''t bear to see Chu He''s present state as he looked at City Lord Netherworld and asked, "If he doesn''t leave, what will happen in the future?"


    City Lord Netherworld calmly said, "He will receive punishment day after day, dying day after day. In the future, every day will be his first day. It will also be his last day until his soul reaches absolute purity."


    Zhou Wen thought of the others on the long street. Those people were in much worse condition than Chu He. From the looks of it, what City Lord Netherworld said was true.


    "What happens in the future?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "Who knows? If you are interested, you can stay and give it a try," City Lord Netherworld said with a faint smile.


    Zhou Wen looked at Chu He, unsure of what to say.


    "Zhou Wen, can you do me a favor?" Chu He wiped his tears and asked Zhou Wen.


    "Tell me. I''ll do it if I can," Zhou Wen said.


    "Help me pay my family a visit. If possible, help me take care of my wife and daughter. When they are in trouble, help them as much as you can. I don''t have anything to repay you now. My research on the Niya civilization is all that I have. If you don''t mind, treat it as payment." Chu He handed the documents in his backpack to Zhou Wen. Many of them were handwritten notes.


    "Don''t worry. I''ll take care of them." Zhou Wen took the documents and nodded seriously.


    Even without Chu He''s request, Zhou Wen would have made a trip to Chu He''s place. He still needed to figure out the matter regarding Chu He.


    "Don''t tell them that I''m here. They''ve already been saddened once. Don''t let them be sad again," Chu He said to Zhou Wen again.


    "I know what to do." Zhou Wen nodded.


    "Go. Don''t look back," Chu He said, somewhat disheartened.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to turn around and walk out of the Netherworld Divine Throne.


    "If you have the chance to come again, next time you can try to withstand all the punishments. Then, you will see the real Netherworld City." The moment Zhou Wen walked out of the Netherworld Divine Throne, he heard the voice of City Lord Netherworld.


    However, he had already walked out. When he looked back, he saw endless yellow sand behind him. There was no sign of the Netherworld Divine Throne or Netherworld City. It was as though everything that had happened was just a dream.

 648 Hat City

    Oh no! Zhou Wen immediately reacted. These notebooks should have long been destroyed with Chu He''s death. What Chu He had given him couldn''t be kept in the living world.


    Before the notebook was completely reduced to ashes, Zhou Wen flipped through a few pages, but he didn''t see much content before the information was reduced to ashes. The desert wind blew, leaving no traces behind.


    "It''s really like a dream. I never expected that I, Liu Yun, would make a trip to the netherworld and come back alive. What great luck," Liu Yun said with lingering fear.


    "Don''t think about that for now. Just take a look and see if you can tell where we are. Can you still find the way to the Endless Sea of Stars?" Zhou Wen perked up and sized up his surroundings.


    There was yellow sand all around them. All he could see was a boundless desert with no end in sight. Zhou Wen couldn''t even work out his bearings.


    "No problem. Leave it to me. However, do you really want to go to the Endless Sea of Stars? We seem to be a little unlucky. I''m afraid something will happen again¡­" Liu Yun glanced at the Bamboo Blade on Zhou Wen''s waist before throwing the Orchid Blade back to him. He didn''t want to carry this with him for even an additional moment.


    "Does being unlucky mean that we should stay at home all day? What''s the point of living like that?" Zhou Wen took the Orchid Blade and said.


    "That''s true. Alright, let''s continue." Liu Yun didn''t say anything else. He looked around and summoned his Companion Beast to dig a deep hole as though he was observing the sand or something else.


    Zhou Wen did not know how Liu Yun figured out his bearings. As he led the way, he observed the plants and sand in the desert before slowly adjusting his direction.


    The desert was already boundless. After the dimensional storms, it had become even wider. Even Epic experts would probably be trapped to death if they got lost.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had brought plenty of water and food. He didn''t have to be afraid of being trapped in the desert.


    After repeatedly walking and stopping, on the fourth day, an oasis appeared in front of them.


    "We''re here." Liu Yun pointed at the oasis and shouted in joy.


    "Is that oasis the Endless Sea of Stars?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "No, that oasis is where I usually replenish my water. However, we aren''t far from the Endless Sea of Stars once we reach here. It''ll take another two days at most," said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know whether to laugh or cry. He had plenty of pure water in his chaos space, so he didn''t need an oasis to replenish it.


    This oasis grew much vegetation that Zhou Wen didn''t recognize. There was a tree, but it looked like grass with thick roots. It looked very strange.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that there was actually a city in the oasis.


    However, the city was very simple. The city walls were made of clay and looked like crude concrete.


    "This is Hat City. Legend has it that it was built by the residents of the desert in the past. Back then, there was plenty of water here, but as the water source decreased, many residents left Hat City, causing it to gradually become abandoned. According to the elders in the desert, Hat City could accommodate tens of thousands of people during its golden years. However, due to the depletion of the water source, the area around the oasis shrank. Most of the buildings have been buried under the yellow sand. Together with the arrival of the dimensional storms, there''s no one here. Apart from some guides in the desert who occasionally come here to replenish their water, you usually wouldn''t even see a soul."


    As he spoke, Liu Yun had already led Zhou Wen into Hat City.


    As Liu Yun had said, many of the buildings here were half-buried in the sand.


    These buildings should have been used to extract materials from the ground. They used yellow sand to mix with something, creating materials that resembled concrete.


    Not long after entering the city, Zhou Wen saw a pitch-black behemoth. On careful look, it was a black cube.


    "There''s a black cube in Hat City?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    "What''s so strange about that? Many human ruins have black cubes," Liu Yun said disapprovingly as he walked towards the well in the oasis.


    The desert well was more like an underground cellar. There were stairs that allowed one to walk down, and deep inside was a pool.


    However, the water in the pool wasn''t very clean. Liu Yun excitedly poured it into the water bag, but Zhou Wen stood still. He didn''t want to drink the water.


    "Why aren''t you getting some water? In the desert, water is life. You can lack everything else, but you can''t lack water," Liu Yun said to Zhou Wen.


    "It''s ok, I already have some." Zhou Wen said as he left the well. He wanted to take a spin in Hat City.


    However, just as he left the well, he saw the black cube light up. On the screen were two Companion Beasts fighting.


    One of them was a golden giant. The other Companion Beast was the Orochi that Zhou Wen had seen before.


    The Golden Giant roared like a war god. Every punch emitted a dazzling light that resembled the sun. The Orochi''s eight heads spewed out all sorts of Essence Energy, but they failed to block the Golden Giant''s attack.


    However, the lashing of its eight tails made it tie with the Golden Giant.


    The fist collided with the snake''s tails, producing the sound of metal clashing. Terrifying shock waves and sparks erupted, as though they were divine weapons clashing.


    The Golden Giant seemed to hold the advantage, but it was not enough to kill Orochi.


    Zhou Wen watched for a while and found something strange. Orochi had eight heads and eight tails, but when it fought the Golden Giant, there was always a tail stuck to the ground. The other seven snake tails fought the Golden Giant, but that tail never came into contact with it.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he saw the Golden Giant''s fists suddenly slam into one other. Under the collision, a golden beam of light appeared.


    The Golden Giant grabbed the beam with one hand and transformed it into a gigantic blade of light. It slashed at the body of Orochi. Its might was so powerful that it was most likely the power of the Golden Giant''s Wheel of Destiny. It wanted to end the battle.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen saw the snake''s tail which had never taken part in the battle move. It was like the tail of a rattlesnake as it rapidly twitched and slashed out with an unparalleled sword beam.


    Clang!


    The Golden Giant''s blade beam was sliced apart by the sword beam. Its body was also slashed open, leaving a long gash. It nearly tore through its chest and killed it.


    Thankfully, its physique was indeed powerful, so it wasn''t halved. However, it didn''t have much combat strength left. It was summoned back by its master as a show of admitting defeat.

 649 Behemoth Return

    "The Federation is incompetent. The heroes are shameless."


    This was not the first time the words had appeared. More accurately, it was the third time.


    Apart from the time when Ice Elemental Sprite Queen was defeated, there was also a Mythical dimensional creature that challenged Orochi, only to end in defeat. After that victory, Orochi similarly spat out the words.


    Now that the Golden Giant was defeated again, the entire Federation seemed to explode. Public opinion turned to question the abilities of the six hero families.


    If they couldn''t even deal with a single Orochi, how could they uphold the Federation''s peace?


    There were even some relatively biting media outlets that directly used headlines like "Are the descendants of the heroes still heroes?" to criticize the six families'' inaction.


    This was especially so for the West District''s media. They bombarded the Family Clan of Gods and Cape family with various opinions.


    As the Zhang, Xia, and Dugu families hadn''t taken action to date, they weren''t as miserable as the other three families even though they were constantly questioned.


    After all, they hadn''t been defeated. In theory, they still had the ability to win. They were different from the Cape family and the Family Clan of Gods who had been defeated one after another.


    The six families also knew that their various schemes and arrangements were made to win the final championship. Now, an Orochi had stirred up the situation, disrupting their plans.


    If they revealed their trump cards, it wouldn''t be difficult to kill Orochi. However, if that happened, they would lose the chance to vie for first place with the other families. Therefore, they could only send inferior Mythical Companion Beasts to fight, but the outcome was defeat.


    The Zhang, Xia, and Dugu families were even more depressed. Of all times, the core forces of their three families had gone to the Southern Wilderness''s dimensional zones. Although there were others who could fight, the Companion Beasts were still in their plans. If they were exposed ahead of time, it would trigger a series of chain reactions and disrupt their plans.


    As such, the Federation''s situation became very delicate.


    None of the six families were willing to expose their top Mythical Companion Beasts, but they ended up being defeated by Orochi three times in a row. It left the entire Federation''s citizens ashamed.


    "From the looks of it, we can only expose some things ahead of time. Those few families are shameless, but our Xia family can''t be shameless." Xia Dongyue was still hesitating as to which Mythical Companion Beast his family was to assign.


    Why did Liuchuan have to go to the Southern Wilderness at such a time? Xia Dongyue thought gloomily. If Xia Liuchuan was here, his Companion Beast would be best at restraining a Companion Beast like Orochi. If the enemy wasn''t prepared, it wouldn''t be impossible to kill it in one strike.


    Unfortunately, Xia Liuchuan wasn''t around, causing Xia Dongyue to have a headache.


    The Xia family wasn''t the only one with a headache. The other five families were also having a headache. At this stage, if they didn''t defeat Orochi, the reputation of the six families would probably be damaged.


    The few families had already planned on sending their top Companion Beasts to battle, but at that moment, the black cube lit up.


    The media had been bombarding the six families for their inaction. They hoped that they could step forward as soon as possible. Just as they were in a frenzy, they realized that the black cube had lit up. They thought that the six families had made a move.


    However, they soon discovered that the entity who appeared on the cube was Tyrant Behemoth who had previously given up.


    "Eh, why is Tyrant Behemoth out again? Didn''t it not dare to accept the battle previously?"


    "It should be challenging other Companion Beasts, right?"


    "Giving up without a fight means it already knew it was no match for its opponent. Now that it''s back again, it''s definitely not challenging Orochi."


    "Anyone can tell that a Companion Beast like Orochi is the nemesis of Tyrant Behemoth. No matter how strong its physique and strength is, it can''t withstand the indomitable tail of Orochi."


    Everyone believed that Tyrant Behemoth wanted to challenge the other Companion Beasts and board the rankings again, but to their surprise, when the name of the challenger lit up, it was Orochi.


    "What''s going on? Didn''t it give up earlier? Why is it making the challenge now?"


    "What kind of show is this? Despite knowing that the Companion Beast''s characteristics are restrained, they are still forcefully challenging Orochi?"


    "Could it be that our Federation really doesn''t have any stronger Companion Beasts? We can only let the restrained Tyrant Behemoth fight?"


    Instantly, voices of doubt and speculation arose. People were discussing why Tyrant Behemoth wanted to challenge Orochi at this moment.


    Zhou Wen didn''t think too much about it. He was also a member of the Federation, so he felt uncomfortable being insulted like this.


    Of course, it was mainly because Zhou Wen had the intention to get high on the rankings. Furthermore, he could take down Orochi, who had gotten to its position by kicking Tyrant Behemoth out.


    After watching the battle between Orochi and the Golden Giant, Zhou Wen now knew the strength of Orochi. It wouldn''t be difficult for Tyrant Behemoth to defeat Orochi.


    It was a piece of cake. Not only could he get a high ranking, but it could also frighten everyone. It could also attack the evil ones overseas. It was killing three birds with one stone. Why not?


    Therefore, Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and allowed it to ascend the cube to challenge Orochi.


    "Are you finally coming out?" Uesugi Nao looked at Tyrant Behemoth on the cube''s screen and chose to accept the challenge without any hesitation.


    She knew that Tyrant Behemoth''s owner must have studied Orochi for a long time. However, she was confident that with Orochi''s characteristics, it could definitely restrain Tyrant Behemoth. Under her command, it definitely wouldn''t lose.


    The entire world''s media saw that Orochi had accepted the challenge. Instantly, all the major channels and online platforms were livestreaming the cube''s screen.


    A little boy held his mother''s hand and stood in front of the big screen on the street. He asked worriedly, "Can Tyrant Behemoth win?"


    "He will definitely win," his mother consoled him gently.


    "But we''ve already lost twice." The boy was still somewhat worried.


    "Don''t worry. No matter how many times we lose, there will always be heroes in the Federation who can step forward to save the world. Perhaps that hero is Tyrant Behemoth," said his mother.


    The boy didn''t say anything. He only clenched his fist and looked at the big screen nervously.


    Boom! Orochi landed in the arena. Its huge body was ferocious and terrifying. The eight snakeheads raised together as its eerie snake eyes stared intently at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth maintained a height of a few meters and didn''t gigantify. Compared to the massive Orochi, it appeared somewhat weak. However, everyone knew that Tyrant Behemoth could still gigantify. Its body wouldn''t be smaller than Orochi.


    To everyone''s surprise, Tyrant Behemoth didn''t transform. Instead, it leaped up and punched one of Orochi''s heads.

 650 What Others Think of a Tyran

    "Roar!" A roar shook the world. A crown appeared on Tyrant Behemoth''s head. Although it didn''t expand, its entire body was bathed in bloody red light as though it had been enhanced by some magical power.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth constantly threw out its fists like a storm. The Essence Energy projectiles that Orochi spewed out were blasted apart by Tyrant Behemoth''s fists akin to exploding fireworks.


    When the seven snake tails touched its fist, they emitted a terrifying metallic clang as they were sent flying. The scales on its tail shattered.


    Bam!


    Tyrant Behemoth rushed in front of Orochi and punched its head, sending its entire body flying.


    Orochi tumbled far away before stopping. As for the snakehead which had been hit, it was mostly crushed by the terrifying augmentation of the crown.


    "Impressive, it''s even stronger than the Golden Giant. As expected of Behemoth!"


    "Such strength is really amazing. I''m afraid no Companion Beast can match it in terms of strength."


    The boy pulled his mother''s hand and exclaimed excitedly, "Mommy¡­ Tyrant Behemoth is amazing¡­ It''s really powerful¡­"


    "That''s right. It''s really very powerful." His mother smiled and nodded, but she was still somewhat worried.


    This was because she knew very well that Orochi''s true trump card had yet to be used. And the snake tail with a terrifying sword beam was the nemesis of Strength-type Companion Beasts like Tyrant Behemoth.


    Many people were equally worried. Orochi''s tail sword beam was just too powerful. Up to now, no Companion Beast had been able to withstand a strike from that tail.


    Although Tyrant Behemoth displayed overwhelming strength, it was difficult to say if one could withstand the attack of the snake tail.


    Uesugi Nao didn''t keep them hanging in suspense. At the instant Tyrant Behemoth charged over again, that snake tail suddenly raised. It tore through the void with a cold sword beam, slashing at Tyrant Behemoth''s body.


    Everyone knew that the moment to decide victory was coming. If Tyrant Behemoth couldn''t withstand the snake tail''s slash, it would definitely lose.


    Everyone wanted to know if Tyrant Behemoth, who could swallow Chimera, could swallow the terrifying sword beam.


    When the boy saw the sword beam formed by the snake''s tail, he nervously grabbed the corner of his mother''s clothes. He had already seen the same scene once. The Golden Giant was defeated by the snake tail''s sword beam despite holding the advantage. All it could do was escape with its tail in between its legs and admit defeat.


    At that instant, Tyrant Behemoth''s body seemed to shrink again. The strange red glow on its body also turned black-red. Tyrant Behemoth''s entire body seemed to turn into a black hole. The light couldn''t escape when it landed on its body.


    Clang!


    Tyrant Behemoth collided with the sword beam and the sword beam immediately shattered. The fist directly collided with the snake''s tail.


    The indestructible snake tail wasn''t able to cleave apart Tyrant Behemoth''s fist. It only left a sword mark.


    "Heavens, ladies and gentlemen, did you see that? Orochi''s killer blow wasn''t able to cleave apart Tyrant Behemoth''s fist! The terrifying killing technique that nearly killed the Golden Giant only left a sword mark on Tyrant Behemoth''s fist. Such injuries can''t affect Tyrant Behemoth''s combat strength at all¡­" Some of the more emotional commentators shouted.


    "Mommy, it blocked it! It blocked the huge snake''s tail!" The boy cried out excitedly.


    Before his mother could reply, Tyrant Behemoth had already grabbed the snake''s tail and used all its strength to fling Orochi away.


    Bam!


    Orochi was slammed to the ground. Before Orochi could react, Tyrant Behemoth slammed it left and right using its tail, smashing Orochi''s body to the ground like a sandbag.


    In a few moves, it shattered most of its bones, as though it had turned into a pool of soft flesh. The snake heads went limp.


    "It''s too violent and too bloody. Orochi isn''t a match for Tyrant Behemoth at all. It''s constantly being ravaged."


    "Oh my God, I can''t believe my eyes. Is that still the terrifying Orochi? In front of Tyrant Behemoth, it''s nothing."


    "Yes, that''s right. Kill it and let those overseas fellows know our Federation''s true strength."


    "It''s too tragic. After this battle, I don''t think those reptiles will be able to open their mouths and spit out words again. I can''t tell how many heads it has left or if they have all been smashed by Tyrant Behemoth."


    All the media''s announcers began to cheer up. One by one, they began to tease each other. They no longer had the stern expression they had during their previous criticism. Their choice of words also began to become humorous as all sorts of coquettish comments flew around.


    In comparison, there were more people in the audience. Many people who were watching online posted a large number of comments.


    "Orochi is considering which head to use to call for help. Oh, I''m sorry. I forgot that it has no hands. What should it do?"


    "Daddy, stop beating me. I know I''m wrong."


    "Mommy, love me again."


    "Please make way. I don''t want to just watch the bullet comments. Give me some screen estate. I want to see if Orochi is dead."


    Everything happened too quickly. Uesugi Nao never expected that the power of Orochi''s Wheel of Destiny could not even slice apart Tyrant Behemoth''s fist.


    She wanted to admit defeat and retrieve Orochi, but she felt as though it was being sucked in by a terrifying force. She was unable to summon it back.


    Bam!


    Another heavy blow was delivered as Orochi''s body slammed into the arena. Orochi already seemed completely boneless as it collapsed to the ground.


    Tyrant Behemoth roared as its body instantly expanded to the size of a small mountain. It was even taller and more majestic than Orochi. It raised Orochi''s tail and threw it into its mouth.


    A strange spirit body appeared over Uesugi Nao. Her entire body emitted a demonic glow as she suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face instantly turned pale, but she finally retracted Orochi.


    In the arena, Tyrant Behemoth''s fangs bit into nothing. Orochi''s body vanished, but this no longer affected the Federation''s citizens'' revelry.


    "Dear viewers, thank you for witnessing this great moment with me. Tyrant Behemoth lives up to its name as a tyrant. It is deserving of its title as the king of Companion Beasts, the nightmare of all enemies. What others think of a tyrant, I think of as a king. Your Majesty, Tyrant Behemoth, thank you for bringing us such an exciting battle¡­"

 651 Endless Sea of Stars

    The entire Federation was guessing who Tyrant Behemoth''s owner was. Most people guessed that Tyrant Behemoth might be from the Family Clan of Gods or the Cape family.


    The people from the West District were also proud of this, indicating that they could still rely on their West District Companion Beasts at critical moments.


    Upon seeing Tyrant Behemoth win, its name replacing Orochi''s fourth place, the boy jumped up and cheered. He tugged his mother''s hand and shouted, "Mommy, it won. It really won."


    "Yes, it won." His mother smiled and nodded.


    "Mommy, I also want to have a Tyrant Behemoth." The little boy looked at his mother with a look of longing.


    His mother rubbed the boy''s head. "Strong Companion Beasts are unique. Tyrant Behemoth is such a Companion Beast. When you grow up, you will definitely have a powerful Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth."


    "Definitely. I can''t wait to grow up. But before that, Mom, can you buy me a Tyrant Behemoth plushie?" The boy looked at his mother with anticipation.


    His mother laughed. "Of course. If you can''t buy it, we''ll produce it ourselves. You can help with the design."


    "Really? That''s great. I will definitely design the perfect Tyrant Behemoth plushie." The boy''s eyes lit up with excitement.


    The major media outlets reported Tyrant Behemoth''s victory using all sorts of praises. They didn''t hesitate to use plenty of exaggerated words.


    The titles of the strongest Companion Beast in the world, the ultimate violent battle pet, the strongest pet on the surface, and so on were bestowed to Tyrant Behemoth.


    Although everyone knew that the Primordial Sword Immortal was still the strongest Companion Beast at present, most of the Federation acknowledged Tyrant Behemoth psychologically because it had won a special battle in a special period of time. This psychological recognition was related to its strength, but it wasn''t absolutely equal.


    Therefore, even if there were three Companion Beasts like Primordial Sword Immortal and Death of the Underworld ranked ahead of it, it didn''t affect the Federation''s citizens to view Tyrant Behemoth as the Federation''s number one battle pet.


    As for the six families, they increased their investigations, hoping to find the owner.


    This battle made them see how terrifying Tyrant Behemoth was. It was a terrifying strength that could really vie for first place.


    "Young Master Wen''s Tyrant Behemoth is really terrifying. It looks like he has the chance to vie for first place," An Sheng said with a smile.


    An Tianzuo sat there reading the documents as though he hadn''t heard An Sheng.


    Not long after leaving Hat City, the mysterious phone vibrated. Zhou Wen took out his phone to take a look and realized that the download of Netherworld City had been completed. The icon of Netherworld City appeared on the home screen.


    Liu Yun led the turtle forward while Zhou Wen sat at the back. Without anything to do, he launched the dungeon to see what was different between the game''s Netherworld City and the real one.


    The blood-colored avatar appeared at the entrance of Netherworld City. The door''s ghost faces said identical words to the ones in real life. Then, the door automatically opened.


    He controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter Netherworld City and stepped on the stone slabs on the long street. He saw the number "366" appear on the stone slab. It was the same as entering Netherworld City in real life.


    The only difference was that in-game, the blood-colored avatar was the only one on the long street of Netherworld City. No one else existed.


    Zhou Wen attempted to activate Gods Retreat. Just like in reality, a large number of taboo powers were immediately sucked into the jade infant''s body, allowing its evolution.


    Since he didn''t have to worry about death in-game, Zhou Wen decided to give it a try and see if he would really die after using up all his steps.


    It didn''t disappoint Zhou Wen. After the number of steps on the stone slab dropped to zero, Gods Retreat could only keep the blood-colored avatar safe for a few seconds before it exploded and died. The power was completely unreasonable and there was no way to defend against it.


    After entering Netherworld City again, the blood-colored avatar appeared at the beginning of the long street. Before the torture chamber opened, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to farm dimensional creatures.


    Although the dimensional creatures here were only at the Epic stage, their skills were rather interesting. Zhou Wen planned on grinding some Companion Eggs so that he could use them for pet fusion in the future.


    Or perhaps he could grind some Essence Energy Skill Crystals. If he could use them, it wouldn''t be a bad idea to learn the skills himself.


    Zhou Wen''s movement technique was considered top-notch among humans, but it was still lacking in other aspects. Apart from the Demonic Astral Wheel, there was no special skill that could be used.


    City Lord Netherworld said that one can see the real Netherworld City after experiencing all the punishments. What does that mean? Zhou Wen was still guessing the meaning of the sentence.


    An hour later, the torture chambers opened, but Zhou Wen realized a problem.


    Although the white ghosts in-game were afraid of the Hell King Life Soul, they didn''t have any intelligence. It was impossible for them to help Zhou Wen cheat like in reality.


    After all, a game is just a game. It has its limitations. It''s too rigid. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. There was no way to cheat. If he wanted to reach the end of Netherworld City, he could only suffer the punishment himself.


    However, the blood-colored avatar shared a special relationship with him. He also felt pain when the blood-colored avatar was tortured.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen gave up on his previous plan. He only treated Netherworld City as a place to grind Companion Eggs and Essence Energy Skills.


    Thankfully, no accidents happened this time. Two days later, Zhou Wen finally saw the Endless Sea of Stars that Liu Yun had mentioned.


    "Are you sure this is the Endless Sea of Stars?" Zhou Wen looked ahead in disbelief. He couldn''t believe that this was the Endless Sea of Stars.


    In front of him was a small lake. Although it looked clear, artificial lakes in parks were much bigger than it. How could such a place be called the Endless Sea of Stars?


    Zhou Wen didn''t see any stars here. There wasn''t even a fish in the water. Furthermore, the lake was very shallow, so he could see the bottom at a glance. There was sand below, nothing else.


    No matter how one looked at it, it didn''t look unfathomable like Liu Yun described¡ªa place where most people died if they entered.


    Liu Yun sat by the lake and took off his shoes. He extended his feet into the lake and said with a pleasant expression, "Calm down. Wait till night time and take another look. You will then know how magical the Endless Sea of Stars is."


    At night, the stars in the sky twinkled. The sky was especially clear, and the stars looked as though they would fall at any moment.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen saw a star really fall from the sky. Furthermore, it was falling towards them.

 652 Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monumen

    What was strange was that the seemingly blazing-fast meteor rushed into the lake without causing any ripples on the water.


    Before Zhou Wen could clearly see what was happening underwater, he saw stars fall from the sky. A meteor shower ensued as the meteors headed for the tiny lake, forming a magnificent scene.


    "Are those really meteors?" Zhou Wen couldn''t be sure. The starlight fell into the lake, but the surface of the lake was calm. It was like a boundless starry sky that could envelop everything.


    "Aren''t you going to make a wish? Isn''t it said that if you can tie a knot in the corner of your clothes before the meteor disappears, the wish you make will come true? Junior Brother, you can give it a try," said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "In our hometown, there''s no such thing as making wishes under a shooting star. Furthermore, there are taboos that shooting stars are jinxes. It''s inauspicious to see them. It might be unlucky."


    "Pui, pui, pui. Can''t you say something auspicious?" Liu Yun said gloomily.


    Zhou Wen shrugged and didn''t say another word as he looked at the lake.


    The starlight that resembled a river of stars cascaded down and fell into the lake, forming points of light in the lake. It was as though countless stars were inside the lake. It was really like a sea of stars.


    As Zhou Wen focused on the points of light, he was surprised to discover that they were tiny orbs that resembled planets¡ªminiature planets. The entire lake was like a starry universe with countless celestial bodies.


    What was even stranger was that the planet-like orbs were still revolving according to a certain pattern.


    It''s no wonder this place is called the Endless Sea of Stars! Looking at the starlight that kept falling into the lake, Zhou Wen finally knew the reason behind this tiny lake''s name.


    Liu Yun said with a smile, "Don''t underestimate such a lake. There are countless stars inside. If you enter the lake now, you will be sucked into the sea of stars. It''s very likely that you will forever be lost in it and never come out again."


    Zhou Wen looked around, but he didn''t see the tiny palm symbol. Therefore, he asked Liu Yun, "How are you going to enter the Endless Sea of Stars? Where is the Astral Combat Beast?"


    "The Astral Combat Beasts are on those orbs. They look small, but once we enter the lake, we will discover that they are planets. There are all sorts of terrifying Astral Beasts on them, ranging from the Mortal stage to the Mythical stage. The Astral Combat Beast is one of the Mythical Astral Beasts."


    "I''ll just look around outside for now then." Zhou Wen slowly walked around the lake, hoping to see if there was a tiny palm symbol.


    As the lake was very small, he circled it in half an hour, but he didn''t find the tiny palm symbol. Now that the sea of stars had appeared, he might discover something.


    The interior of the lake was like a starry universe, but it was still the same size outside. It felt rather enthralling.


    Zhou Wen circled the lake and carefully looked at every inch of land, but he still couldn''t find the tiny palm symbol.


    Just as he was feeling disappointed, his gaze suddenly swept across a stone monument at the bottom of the lake. It was lying flat with many star patterns on it, like a star chart.


    Zhou Wen pointed at the stone monument at the bottom of the lake and asked Liu Yun, "What''s that?"


    "That is the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument. As long as you can figure out the profundity of the star chart on it, you will be able to comprehend the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. This is also the key to me comprehending Star Stealer," said Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun knew that it wasn''t that easy to comprehend the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument. Not only did he need extremely high perceptivity, but he also needed a special physique.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have a special physique that matched the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, even if he did, he was already at the Epic stage. He probably couldn''t change his Essence Energy Art and try again.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t too interested in Essence Energy Arts. He couldn''t finish cultivating too many Essence Energy Arts. Simulating them wasn''t difficult, but it was very difficult to level them up.


    However, since the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was necessary for Star Stealer, Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try to use the Lost Immortal Sutra to simulate it.


    After circulating the Lost Immortal Sutra, Zhou Wen carefully sized up the stone monument. The star chart on the stone monument kept changing, making it difficult to figure out what it meant.


    Furthermore, there were no words on it. It was perplexing.


    Liu Yun actually managed to figure out an Essence Energy Art from such a star chart. He''s really a genius. When Zhou Wen carefully sized up the star chart, he had an unexpected discovery.


    On the corner of the stone monument, there was a tiny palm symbol. The stars on the stone monument were shimmering but the palm symbol was engraved in a corner, covered in moss. With the lake water separating them, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have been able to see it if it wasn''t for the starlight''s illumination.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, can we see the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument during the day?" Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    "The stone monument is naturally still there during the day, but you can''t see the starlight flowing on it during the day. It''s just a blank stone monument. It''s useless even if you see it." Seeing that the meteor shower had ended, Liu Yun said to Zhou Wen, "Alright, let''s head down now."


    "I''ve thought about it. The Endless Sea of Stars is so dangerous. My luck has been very bad recently. I''ve seen an ominous phenomenon, so I think I won''t head in. If you go down, help me see if you can obtain the Astral Combat Beast''s Essence Energy Skill Crystal," Zhou Wen said.


    "Junior Brother, that wasn''t what you said before? Didn''t you say that people shouldn''t hide at home just because of bad luck¡­ Why are you suddenly superstitious?" Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen with a puzzled expression.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, I didn''t have the tiny palm symbol previously, so I naturally had to take the risk. Now that I''ve found the tiny palm symbol, I can return home to comfortably grind dungeons after downloading the game. Why would I take the risk?


    Of course, Zhou Wen couldn''t tell Liu Yun that. Therefore, he said, "Actually, I just wanted to take a look at this Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument. Since I can see it from here, there''s no need for me to enter. If you want to head in, go ahead. If you don''t wish to enter, just stay around to look at the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument with me."


    Liu Yun cursed inwardly. I don''t know how many thousand times I''ve stared at this crappy monument, so why would I continue looking at it? You don''t have my Heavenly Star Veins Body, so what will you be able to figure out? Even if you were to look at it for ten thousand years, you wouldn''t be able to comprehend the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    The reason Liu Yun was able to comprehend the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art back then was that the star chart on the stone monument had triggered his Heavenly Star Veins. Only by allowing the Heavenly Star Veins sense the trajectories of the stars could one gain insight.


    Without the Heavenly Star Veins, just looking at the star chart was useless.

 653 Planet Devourer

    "Eldest Senior Brother, be careful," Zhou Wen said.


    "I wouldn''t be so unlucky without you by my side," Liu Yun said as he went into the water.


    Zhou Wen watched as Liu Yun entered the lake. The lake appeared shallow, but when Liu Yun stepped into the water, his body kept sinking as though the bottom was nowhere in sight.


    Furthermore, his body shrank as he descended. Finally, he floated towards the orbs like a speck of dust, disappearing in the blink of an eye.


    What a magical dimensional zone. When it''s daytime, I''ll go down to the lake to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol. After downloading the Endless Star Sea dungeon, I''ll be able to farm it as I wish. Zhou Wen sat down by the lake and carefully observed the star chart on the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument.


    After looking at it for a while, the Lost Immortal Sutra showed its effects. The circulation of Essence Energy became slower and slower before completely stopping.


    After that, his Essence Energy suddenly surged and circulated in Zhou Wen''s body in a new way.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was different from the Essence Energy Arts Zhou Wen had cultivated in the past. It was a very magical feeling. It felt as though the Essence Energy in his body had transformed into countless stars that circulated in his body. Furthermore, when it circulated, it wasn''t a linear movement. Instead, it was like a true celestial body''s trajectory that formed a galaxy.


    It didn''t take long for Zhou Wen to gain a basic mastery of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. However, it wasn''t that simple to level it up.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in a rush to cultivate. It was useless to be anxious. This wasn''t something that could be mastered in a day or two.


    He found a rock by the lake and sat down. He took out his phone and started to grind. He would head down to the lake to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol during the day.


    There was still plenty of time until daybreak after Zhou Wen cleared one dungeon. Liu Yun hadn''t returned.


    He stood up and stretched his body. He looked at the Endless Sea of Stars and realized that there was something strange in it.


    During the day, Zhou Wen had observed it very carefully. The lake was somewhat odd. There were no creatures inside. There were no worms or water plants, much less fish or shrimp. The entire lake was as clean as pure water.


    But now, Zhou Wen saw a creature that resembled a jellyfish in the lake. Its body was transparent like crystal, and it emitted light like a light bulb.


    Although the jellyfish wasn''t big and was only one size bigger than an adult''s clenched fist, if the celestial bodies were considered planets, then the size of the jellyfish was somewhat terrifying.


    This thing can actually devour planets? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. This was because he realized that the jellyfish was very close to the region where Liu Yun was.


    If the orb where Liu Yun is gets swallowed by the jellyfish, would Liu Yun die? Zhou Wen looked at the jellyfish moving in the water. Although it was very slow, it was moving closer and closer to Liu Yun.


    Could Eldest Senior Brother end up dying just like that? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried, but there was nothing he could do.


    There are just too many orbs in the lake; it''s like a sea of stars. I only know the general direction Liu Yun took, but I don''t know which orb he''s on. It''s too late even if I head in now.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out a sword beam at the jellyfish in the lake.


    However, the moment the sword beam entered the lake, it became smaller and smaller. In the end, it was as tiny as a needle tip. It vanished when it was still a distance away from the jellyfish.


    Furthermore, the sword beam had become so tiny. Even if it struck the jellyfish, it wouldn''t be of much use.


    Eldest Senior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother¡­ It''s not that I don''t want to save you, but I really can''t. Zhou Wen slashed a few more times, but to no avail. All he could do was watch helplessly as the jellyfish approached the area where Liu Yun was.


    It''s over! The jellyfish soon arrived at the area where Liu Yun was and swallowed the nearby orbs.


    When the orbs entered its body, they were like glowing jelly beans that spun around its body before slowly melting until they vanished.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother, I didn''t expect you to die like this. You didn''t even leave any clothes behind. I can''t even make a cenotaph for you¡­"


    Just as Zhou Wen was sighing, he suddenly heard a whoosh. Liu Yun emerged from the lake, looking extremely disheveled. His clothes looked as though they were made of paper, turning into paste when touching the water.


    "Junior Brother, are you messing with me again? Are you trying to burn bridges and make me die down there?" Liu Yun jumped onto the shore and questioned Zhou Wen angrily.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, what do you mean? I saw the monster in the water devouring the orbs and wanted to save you, but all the attacks that hit the water became insignificant. I had no choice," Zhou Wen said.


    "If you weren''t behind this, why would I be so unlucky to encounter a Planet Devourer? That thing doesn''t usually appear," Liu Yun said with widened eyes.


    "Eldest Senior Brother, you''ve really misunderstood me. I''m not familiar with this area. I still need you to take me out of this desert. Even if I wanted to do something to you, I wouldn''t choose this moment. Besides, if I wanted to mess with you, I don''t need to secretly do it, right? I knew it. It''s not auspicious after seeing an ominous phenomenon," Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun found that what he said made sense and couldn''t help but say gloomily, "Why am I so unlucky at the moment? I clearly didn''t see the Planet Devourer before I went down. Thankfully, I have deceptive skills. Otherwise, I would have died even if I had ten lives."


    "What is that Planet Devourer? It should be a Mythical creature, right? Can it really devour a planet?" Zhou Wen was rather curious about the jellyfish-like Planet Devourer.


    "I don''t know if it can devour a planet in real life, but in the Endless Sea of Stars, that fellow is an overlord. No matter what kind of Astral Beast it is, it can devour them in one mouthful. Even the celestial bodies inside the Endless Sea of Stars are no exception. However, the celestial bodies in the Endless Sea of Stars are much smaller than real planets. I reckon that the Planet Devourer can only devour mountains outside the Endless Sea of Stars," said Liu Yun.


    "Do you think my Tyrant Behemoth can kill it?" Zhou Wen pondered.


    "Probably not. Tyrant Behemoth isn''t good at aquatic warfare, right?" Liu Yun looked at the Planet Devourer in the lake and said.


    "I really don''t know." Zhou Wen planned on letting Tyrant Behemoth try after he downloaded the dungeon.


    As there was a Planet Devourer, Liu Yun didn''t dare enter the Endless Sea of Stars again. All he could do was stay by the lakeside with Zhou Wen.

 654 Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Ar

    "A little," Zhou Wen said.


    "How much is a little bit?" Liu Yun continued asking.


    There was no way he could figure it out without having a physique that was compatible with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument. Therefore, Liu Yun didn''t believe Zhou Wen''s words.


    This had nothing to do with whether he was a genius or not. It didn''t even have much to do with his perceptivity. Without the Heavenly Star Veins, it was impossible to figure it out. This was the foundation, just like how one couldn''t build a skyscraper without a foundation. Zhou Wen had no chance of figuring out the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting.


    "Just a little," Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Liu Yun curled his lips and didn''t ask any more. Zhou Wen kept staring at the Endless Sea of Stars, hoping to see what else there was in the sea of stars other than the Planet Devourer.


    Unfortunately, apart from the Planet Devourer, there were no other dimensional creatures.


    "Besides this Planet Devourer, is there no other dimensional creature in the Endless Sea of Stars?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "There are Astral Beasts on those small planets, but they are only active on the planets and are unable to leave them. Outside the small planets, there''s only one Planet Devourer. It''s the king here. It pops a planet with each bite, devouring even the dimensional creatures on it. It''s an invincible existence. I am good at deception, so I managed to escape. If it were another person¡ªeven if the six heroes were revived¡ªthey wouldn''t be able to escape its devouring," Liu Yun said smugly.


    Zhou Wen watched for a while and felt bored. He took out his phone and gamed, grinding Mythical creatures and rare dimensional creatures.


    "If you are done watching, let''s go back. Although we won''t encounter danger if we do not enter the Endless Sea of Stars, who knows when something might happen in a place like a desert. The two of us have been unlucky recently. It''s best we return soon," said Liu Yun.


    "I want to go underwater to take a look at the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument during the day. Perhaps I might discover something," Zhou Wen said half-truthfully.


    Liu Yun curled his lips and said, "Junior Brother, don''t blame me for being blunt. If you can''t figure it out at night, what would you figure out in the day? There will not be any starlight chart in the day, it''ll be a bare and dilapidated monolith."


    "I came all the way here. I''m not willing to give up if I don''t take a look," Zhou Wen said, unmoved.


    "Alright, let''s wait until you are done looking at it in the morning. I''ll sleep for a while. Wake me up later." Liu Yun lay down and fell asleep. He was asleep in less than three seconds.


    After taking a closer look, he realized that Liu Yun''s sleeping posture was extraordinary. No matter which direction he was attacked from, his posture allowed him to easily react to it.


    To be able to develop such a sleeping posture, Liu Yun must have experienced many things in the past. How could a normal person be so wary when sleeping?


    Zhou Wen''s senses were very sharp, but he wouldn''t maintain a combat-ready sleeping posture while sleeping because he didn''t have such a realization.


    Of course, with Truth Listener around, it was impossible for ordinary people to get close to him without being discovered.


    Although he had obtained quite a number of Companion Eggs after gaming the entire night, Zhou Wen didn''t get any he wanted. Medusa, Qiongqi, Torch Dragon, and company hadn''t dropped Companion Eggs.


    That shouldn''t be the case. Every time I kill them, I bring the baby tiger with me. After killing them so many times, logically speaking, there should be one dropping? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    The night quickly passed. In the morning, the starlight in the lake surged into the sky like a stream and vanished into the void. The lake returned to normal.


    It looked like an ordinary lake. It was unimaginable that it would turn into a starry sky at night.


    Liu Yun didn''t lie to him. The Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument was still in the lake. Zhou Wen woke Liu Yun up and asked if there was anything to take note of when entering the lake.


    "There''s nothing. As long as you aren''t going into the lake at night, this lake isn''t much different from ordinary lakes." Liu Yun shook his head.


    Zhou Wen tried going into the water. Indeed, it wasn''t as miraculous as last night. He stepped into the lake, and the water only reached his waist.


    Zhou Wen had learned the Nine Dragons Art from the black dragon. He dived into the water and quickly arrived at the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Monument.


    Just as Liu Yun had said, in the day, this was a worn stone monument that was covered in moss. There were only scratches on it, and there was no starlight pattern. If it wasn''t for the tiny palm symbol engraved on it, it wouldn''t be eye-catching at all.


    At a close distance, the mysterious phone vibrated. Zhou Wen picked up his phone and snapped a picture of the stone monument. The phone immediately entered the download interface.


    After putting away his phone, Zhou Wen touched the stone monument again. It felt cold like it was made of metal.


    Not daring to do anything excessive, he turned around and swam back to the shore.


    "How is it, Junior Brother? Did you figure out anything?" Liu Yun asked Zhou Wen with a smile.


    "A little," Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    "You figured out a little yesterday, and you figured out a little today. Added together, it will be impressive. You should have gained basic mastery, right?" Liu Yun teased Zhou Wen.


    "Yes, I''ve gotten basic mastery," Zhou Wen answered.


    Liu Yun, who was drinking water, nearly choked. He looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief and asked, "Are you for real? You really gained basic mastery?"


    "It''s just basic mastery. What''s so difficult about it? Haven''t you long obtained basic mastery?" Zhou Wen said casually.


    Liu Yun refused to believe him. He reached out and grabbed a handful of sand from the ground. With a squeeze, the sand condensed into a ball that looked like a huge grain of sand.


    Liu Yun''s hand relaxed again. The huge sand scattered and turned into yellow sand.


    "If you really gained basic mastery, you should be able to do this, right?" Liu Yun said to Zhou Wen.


    "I''ll give it a try." Zhou Wen also grabbed a handful of sand from the ground. He circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art and pinched the sand. The sand stuck together like magnets, turning into a ball. However, it wasn''t as round as Liu Yun''s.


    "Holy sh*t¡­ You''ve really gained basic mastery of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art?" Liu Yun widened his eyes as he looked at Zhou Wen as though he had seen a ghost.


    "Why would I lie to you?" Zhou Wen released his hand and the sand scattered.


    "Alright, I''ve already achieved my goal. Let''s head back. After we leave the desert, I''ll return the autograph to you," Zhou Wen said.


    "Junior Brother, you''re really a genius in cultivation, but how did you do it? According to what I know, cultivating the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art requires a special physique. You don''t look like you have a special physique." Liu Yun was puzzled. He had the Heavenly Star Veins himself, so he naturally knew what characteristics one needed to have. Zhou Wen didn''t have those characteristics.


    "Do I need a special physique? I don''t know about that. I just casually practiced it and attained basic mastery. I didn''t find it difficult," Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun felt something stuck in his throat and couldn''t say another word.

 655 Heart Lunar Fox

    After leaving the desert, Zhou Wen returned the autograph to Liu Yun.


    "Junior Brother, I''m afraid the entire world is looking for Tyrant Behemoth''s master. Aren''t you afraid that I will leak your secret?" Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression after confirming that it was his signature.


    "Although we haven''t spent much time together and I don''t know you well, I believe you aren''t the type of person to do such things." Although Zhou Wen said that, he was thinking, It doesn''t matter if it''s really exposed. I don''t only have one trump card in my hand. Since I''ve placed it on the rankings, I''m already mentally prepared to expose myself.


    "I like hearing what you said. Don''t worry. After all, you are my junior brother. As a senior brother, I won''t harm you. I will help you keep the secret," said Liu Yun with a smile. It was unknown if he was telling the truth.


    "Alright, let''s go our separate ways here. I should return as well." Zhou Wen planned on going separate ways with Liu Yun and returning to the town as soon as possible.


    The ranking battle hadn''t ended. Tyrant Behemoth was only ranked fourth, so it should still have a chance to make further challenges.


    Liu Yun clearly didn''t wish to continue being with Zhou Wen. Ever since he met Zhou Wen, his luck had been terrible. He seriously suspected that it was a result of the two blades on Zhou Wen.


    "Junior Brother, I don''t know when we will meet again after today. Here''s a farewell song¡­" Liu Yun said generously.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded. He never expected Liu Yun to actually know how to sing.


    "Beautiful ladies¡­ Ladies¡­ Ladies have walked into[1]¡­" Liu Yun sat on the turtle''s back and sang loudly. The turtle ran quickly and soon vanished from sight. Only his delicate voice echoed in Zhou Wen''s ears.


    Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. He originally imagined what kind of song it was, but it turned out to be such a folk song.


    Needless to say, Liu Yun''s singing was really charming. It made one have the urge to beat him up.


    After Liu Yun''s voice could no longer be heard, Zhou Wen summoned Six-Winged and rode it back. Although it was uncomfortable, he had to make do with it.


    As he traveled, Zhou Wen launched the downloaded Endless Sea of Stars dungeon.


    In fact, the dungeon had long been downloaded. However, with Liu Yun around, Zhou Wen didn''t dare launch it.


    After opening the Endless Sea of Stars dungeon, the blood-colored avatar appeared in a starry sky. There were planets around it, but they didn''t look as huge as real planets.


    If it was a real planet, it wouldn''t be too obvious because of a planet''s immense size.


    On such a small planet, the visual impact of seeing a group of mutated beasts standing upside down was extremely strong.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and flew towards the planet. At the same time, he summoned Six-Winged and other Companion Beasts before charging at the mutated beasts.


    The mutated beasts looked like humanoid mantises. After seeing the blood-colored avatar, they charged forward, but they were mostly killed by Six-Winged and Torch Dragon.


    ''Killed Legendary Fiend Star Mantis¡­ Killed Legendary Fiend Star Mantis¡­''


    The notifications kept coming in. Many dimensional crystals dropped, including a few Companion Eggs.


    However, such dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs weren''t of much use to Zhou Wen.


    He went to a few nearby small planets and realized that there were quite a number of Astral Beasts here, but most of them were at the Mortal and Legendary stage. Even Epic creatures were rare.


    I forgot to ask Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun which planet has the so-called Astral Combat Beast. There are thousands of planets here. I wonder how long it''ll take me to go through them one by one. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. This was different from what he had imagined. He imagined that there were Mythical creatures everywhere in the Endless Sea of Stars.


    There was no choice. It was impossible to find Liu Yun now. Zhou Wen could only slowly search each planet.


    Thankfully, his Companion Beasts were very powerful. Killing a tiny planet''s Astral Beasts wasn''t difficult.


    He didn''t find the Mythical Astral Combat Beast, but he discovered a strange Astral Beast.


    It was a fox with crescent-shaped starlight shimmering on its chest. After Zhou Wen killed it, according to the notification, it was said to be a Mortal-stage Heart Lunar Fox.


    Even if a Mortal dimensional creature dropped something, Zhou Wen usually didn''t think much of it.


    The chances of a Mortal Companion Egg dropping were extremely low. It was almost the same as winning the lottery. Furthermore, it was useless for Zhou Wen to get a Mortal Companion Beast.


    The Heart Lunar Fox didn''t drop a Companion Egg either. All it dropped was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal, but it was also very rare to drop one at the Mortal stage.


    Zhou Wen hadn''t paid attention to the Mortal stage Essence Energy Skill, but when he saw its name, he was somewhat surprised.


    The Essence Energy Skill Crystal dropped by the Heart Lunar Fox wasn''t a Heart Lunar Fox Crystal, but an Azure Dragon Heart Crystal.


    Heart Lunar Fox¡­ I think I''ve heard of this name somewhere¡­ Zhou Wen checked online and couldn''t help but be alarmed.


    Few modern people knew the name of the Heart Lunar Fox, but in ancient times, it was one of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.


    The twenty-eight Lunar Mansions were split equally amongst the Eastern Azure Dragon, the Northern Black Tortoise, the Southern Vermilion Bird, and the Western White Tiger¡ªeach having seven palaces.


    The Heart Lunar Fox was one of the seven palaces of the Eastern Azure Dragon. It represented the heart.


    This Heart Lunar Fox is only at the Mortal stage. Logically speaking, it shouldn''t be related to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. They are extremely powerful existences in myths and legends. They should at least be at the Mythical stage. Even if they aren''t at the Mythical stage, they shouldn''t be at the Mortal stage, right? However, the Essence Energy Skill Crystal dropped by the Heart Lunar Fox is actually called the Azure Dragon Heart Crystal. It doesn''t seem right if it''s unrelated.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and let the blood-colored avatar absorb the Azure Dragon Heart Crystal to see what Essence Energy Skill he would learn.


    Typically, Mortal-stage Essence Energy Skill Crystals could be absorbed easily, but when Zhou Wen absorbed them, he realized that the Essence Energy Art wasn''t compatible.


    A Mortal stage Essence Energy Skill actually requires an Essence Energy Art to match? This was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered something like this. He couldn''t help but feel intrigued.


    After some thought, he changed his Essence Energy Art to Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting and absorbed the Azure Dragon Heart Crystal. This time, he successfully absorbed it.


    This Essence Energy Skill was somewhat odd. Typical Essence Energy Skills opened up an Essence Energy circulation path in one''s body.


    However, after the Azure Dragon Heart was absorbed, it condensed into a point in his body. It was motionless like a nail.


    ''Absorbed the Azure Dragon Heart Crystal. Attained Essence Energy Skill: Heart Lunar Fox.''


    [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP_hs_XfFVs

 656 Blood Oxypetalum

    If this skill really has something to do with the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, could it be that I have to gather all the skills of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions before I can use it? Or could it be that I can use it just by gathering the Azure Dragon''s seven palaces? Zhou Wen was just guessing. Up to now, there was no way to prove the relationship between the two.


    As he had nothing to lose, Zhou Wen paid special attention to the Essence Energy Skill Crystal drops when grinding.


    After grinding for half the day, he didn''t see any similar Mortal-stage Essence Energy Skills drop.


    After respawning the dungeon, Zhou Wen went to the place where he discovered the Heart Lunar Fox, but he didn''t see it again.


    Having had the experience of grinding the baby tiger, Zhou Wen knew that such matters couldn''t be forced. Therefore, he didn''t deliberately search for it. He only paid a little attention when grinding low-level monsters, with his main focus on finding Astral Combat Beasts.


    After another day, Zhou Wen surprisingly discovered that he had obtained another Azure Dragon Heart Crystal. After absorbing it, he obtained the Room Solar Rabbit Essence Energy Skill.


    However, just like the Heart Lunar Fox, the Room Solar Rabbit skill was useless.


    It looks like there''s no mistake about the Heart Lunar Fox and the Room Solar Rabbit. It''s really related to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, but why are the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions such low-level dimensional creatures? Zhou Wen couldn''t figure out the reason, but he paid more attention when grinding.


    By the time he returned to the town inside the Funiu Mountain Range, Zhou Wen had obtained some skill crystals related to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.


    Among them, the number of Heart Lunar Foxes and Room Solar Rabbits were the highest. He had three of each, but they couldn''t be taken out, so they were useless.


    Furthermore, these skills had no rank. There was no discernment between the same skills in terms of levels.


    Zhou Wen had also obtained the skill crystals of the Horn Wood Scaly Dragon, Root Earth Raccoon Dog, Tail Fire Tiger, and Winnowing-basket Water Leopard. These Mortal-stage dimensional creatures were also strange. There were very few of them, but as long as he found them, they would definitely drop skill crystals. Nothing else would drop.


    The skill crystals that Zhou Wen had obtained were all from the Azure Dragon seven Lunar Mansions. He had already learned six skills and was only short of the Azure Dragon''s Neck Gold Dragon.


    After reaching the small town, Zhou Wen looked at the ranking again and realized that no one had challenged Tyrant Behemoth. It was still ranked fourth.


    Why is no one challenging Primordial Sword Immortal? There should be less than a month left in the three-month deadline, right? Zhou Wen didn''t wish to be the trailblazer. He planned on returning to school first. It wouldn''t be too late for him to come again after someone challenged the Primordial Sword Immortal.


    When he reached the town''s entrance, he suddenly heard a sound coming from outside. Using Truth Listener to investigate, he realized that a few people were heading for the town.


    Eh¡­ What are they doing here? Zhou Wen realized that Qiao Siyuan and Liz were among the people who had come.


    Although they weren''t wearing the Special Inspector Bureau uniform, Zhou Wen had a deep impression of them, so he recognized them at a glance.


    The others looked like they were from the bureau as well. Zhou Wen didn''t know why he had such a judgment, but he had a feeling that the people from the bureau seemed to have a special aura. This aura was very rare to find on ordinary people.


    It was just like how soldiers could easily be identified. It was the same for the people from the bureau. However, their auras were different from ordinary soldiers.


    This was originally a good opportunity to take revenge, but Zhou Wen wanted to figure out their reason for coming here. Therefore, he retreated into the forest and used Truth Listener to monitor their every move.


    "Clear the area." After entering the valley, Qiao Siyuan gave the order. Immediately, people took out various instruments and summoned their Companion Beasts. They began to busy themselves.


    Zhou Wen recognized a few Companion Beasts that were probably reconnaissance types. From the looks of it, they wanted to ensure that there were no outsiders here.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen sneaked into the lake and hid in the water. Then, he used the Dao Body to converge his aura and blend with the surrounding natural environment.


    Qiao Siyuan and company busied themselves for a few hours, taking control of the entire valley. Only when they seemingly confirmed that there was no one else here did they transport quite a number of things from outside the town.


    Zhou Wen saw Companion Beasts carrying buckets into the town. He didn''t know what was inside.


    "Minister, we have finished counting the items," Liz reported to Qiao Siyuan.


    "Set up a sentry post and split into three shifts to monitor the situation outside. Everyone else, rest immediately," Qiao Siyuan ordered.


    "Yes." Liz accepted the order and began dividing the group.


    When Liz returned to Qiao Siyuan''s side, he had already sat down in a small building.


    "Minister, is the Blood Oxypetalum really as magical as the legends say?" Liz poured a cup of tea for Qiao Siyuan and asked curiously.


    Qiao Siyuan took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "You should have heard of how instantaneous an oxypetalum blooming is, right?"


    "I''ve heard of it, but I heard that it''s just an exaggerated metaphor from the people of the East District. In fact, oxypetalum will bloom for a few hours. It''s not as exaggerated as if it only bloomed for an instant," Liz said.


    Qiao Siyuan nodded. "It''s true that a normal oxypetalum blooming isn''t as exaggerated as being instantaneous, but it''s different if it''s a Blood Oxypetalum."


    After a pause, Qiao Siyuan continued, "To get a Blood Oxypetalum to bloom, one has to pour a large amount of blood. Typical blood isn''t enough. It has to be the blood essence of dimensional creatures. The more blood the Blood Oxypetalum absorbs, the purer it becomes. The flower that blooms will also become more beautiful. Furthermore, it can give birth to a Blood Oxypetalum seed."


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he recalled the ruby he had obtained.


    Previously, many white deer had been sacrificed by the mountain god. Only then did a blood flower bloom in the lake, giving birth to a ruby. It sounded like the seed that Qiao Siyuan had mentioned.


    If the flower in the lake is really a Blood Oxypetalum, then why did Qiao Siyuan and company come here? Are they planning to offer a blood sacrifice to obtain the Blood Oxypetalum seed? What''s its use? As Zhou Wen was thinking, Liz had already given him an answer.


    "Minister, can a Blood Oxypetalum seed really change a person''s bloodline and talent?" Liz asked.


    "That''s not something I know. I''ve never used a Blood Oxypetalum seed before, so I can''t make any judgment. However, since the director-general wants to do this, he must have his reasons," Qiao Siyuan said indifferently.


    "Minister, you''re right. The Director-General has put in so much effort this time to specially prepare this blood. If it really succeeds, the seed produced by the Blood Oxypetalum will definitely be extraordinary," Liz said enviously.

 657 Snatching the Seed Again

    They are waiting for someone. Will Shen Yuchi come personally? Zhou Wen felt that it would be perfect if Shen Yuchi really came personally.


    Zhou Wen didn''t dare barge into the Special Inspector Bureau''s headquarters, but if Shen Yuchi dared to come, Zhou Wen could try his best to see if he could retain him.


    As there were many surveillance Companion Beasts and instruments placed by the lakeside, Zhou Wen hid in the water and didn''t dare move. Any abnormalities might be discovered.


    After enduring more than two days, he finally realized that someone had come to the town. What disappointed Zhou Wen was that the person who came wasn''t Shen Yuchi, but a man he didn''t know.


    Qiao Siyuan and Liz addressed him as Censor Cai very respectfully. Zhou Wen immediately realized the person was Cai Jin, one of the four Censors.


    Cai Jin held a metal alloy box in his hand. There was a metal alloy chain on the box that connected to Cai Jin''s wrist.


    The last time the Essence Crystal mine was robbed, the bureau suffered huge losses. Shen Yuchi had only punished Cai Jin lightly, making Cai Jin extremely grateful.


    This time, he had been ordered to secretly come to Funiu Mountain. Cai Jin had also made sufficient preparations. No matter what, he couldn''t screw up this work trip.


    "Minister Qiao, how''s the defense set up here?" Cai Jin asked.


    "We already have a whole range of defenses in place. We didn''t find any outsiders," Qiao Siyuan replied.


    "Very good. Let''s begin tomorrow," Cai Jin said.


    Liz asked curiously, "Censor, why aren''t you taking action tonight?"


    "I''ve traveled a distance. I need to rest for the night to maintain my optimal condition. So it''s better to take action tomorrow," Cai Jin explained.


    However, after Cai Jin left Qiao Siyuan''s temporary office, he didn''t rest. Instead, he summoned numerous bee-like Companion Beasts that flew in all directions.


    Clearly, Cai Jin wasn''t at ease with their defense. He had to do it again.


    The people from the bureau are really very cautious. Zhou Wen saw Cai Jin circling the valley. He paid special attention to the woods and lake. He even summoned a water snake-like Companion Beast to search underwater.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was prepared. He had dug a hole in the lake ahead of time and hid inside like a loach. It wasn''t easy for him to escape Cai Jin''s search.


    Liz was very displeased with Cai Jin''s actions. "Censor Cai is doubting our abilities?"


    However, Qiao Siyuan said indifferently, "It''s a serious matter. Better be safe than sorry."


    The inspectors and various Companion Beasts had already surrounded the lake.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something. Their blood sacrifice would only last for a short period of time. That would mean that they would have to bring a lot of blood into the lake? Just the thought of the pool of blood made Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable.


    However, there were inspectors and Companion Beasts surrounding the lake. It was too late for Zhou Wen to leave.


    "Minister Qiao, let''s begin," Cai Jin said to Qiao Siyuan after arriving by the lake and summoning his Companion Beasts to search the area again.


    "Liz." Qiao Siyuan gestured at Liz.


    Liz immediately got the inspectors to take action. The inspectors opened the buckets and poured the blood into the lake from different spots.


    The buckets of blood quickly dyed the lake water red. Each bucket weighed five kilograms. They brought more than three hundred buckets of blood. If so much blood were to be poured in, the surroundings would be filled with a pungent smell of blood.


    Zhou Wen felt terrible hiding in the water, but he could only endure it.


    Thankfully, not long after, Zhou Wen saw the blood surge towards the center of the lake as though it was attracted by something.


    Splash!


    The Blood Oxypetalum surfaced out of the water. It greedily absorbed the blood in the water, and the snow-white petals quickly turned into the color of blood.


    The blood in the lake was completely drained in less than an hour, restoring the lake to its former clarity.


    However, the petals of the Blood Oxypetalum didn''t open, but there was a red glow in the flower bud.


    Only then did Cai Jin open the box in his hand. Inside the huge box was a small bottle the size of a palm.


    Cai Jin picked up the bottle and carefully opened it. A pair of eagle wings unfurled behind him as he flew to the sky above the Blood Oxypetalum. He aimed the blood in the bottle at the Blood Oxypetalum and poured it down.


    There was only a drop of blood in the palm-sized metal alloy bottle. The drop of crystalline blood landed on the Blood Oxypetalum and quickly seeped in. Instantly, the blood-red color of the Blood Oxypetalum completely faded. The petals turned back to snow-white and it began to bloom.


    The Blood Oxypetalum had already become as pure as a snow lotus without any tinge of blood. And within its petals, a sanguine light shot up into the sky carrying with it a rich sanguine aura.


    Why is this different from the Mountain God''s blood sacrifice? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised when he saw this.


    "Success." Cai Jin, Qiao Siyuan, and Liz were overjoyed.


    Cai Jin flapped his wings and flew towards the Blood Oxypetalum. He wanted to snatch the seed produced by it.


    Thorny flower vines shot out of the water and swept towards Cai Jin in the air. Cai Jin was truly capable, living up to his reputation as one of the four Censors.


    His body circled around like an eagle as a sword of light flashed in his hand, severing the flower vines one by one.


    What sword is that? Zhou Wen sized up the sword in Cai Jin''s hand curiously.


    The sword didn''t have a corporeal blade¡ªit was completely condensed from light. It looked a little like the legendary lightsaber, but a lightsaber would have a device that beamed out the laser. However, the sword was completely condensed from light without any equipment.


    The flower vines had been sliced off, and Cai Jin successfully approached the petals. The Blood Oxypetalum was no longer able to resist, and Cai Jin was on the cusp of success.


    Just as Cai Jin was about to remove the seed from the Blood Oxypetalum, the lake beside him suddenly exploded. A blurry figure tore out of the water and reached out into the Blood Oxypetalum ahead of him, snatching away the ruby-like seed.


    Cai Jin, Qiao Siyuan, and the other''s expressions changed drastically. Cai Jin roared angrily as the blade beam in his hand transformed into a shooting star that he thrust at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wore the Jade Crystal Spirit Armor and held the Golden Battle God Halberd in his hand as he faced the sword of light.


    Crack!


    The sword of light was shattered by the Golden Battle God Halberd. The Golden Battle God Halberd''s Golden Divine Light tore through the void and stabbed Cai Jin in the chest.

 658 Different Seeds

    Unfortunately, he was still too slow. The Golden Battle God Halberd pierced through the Companion Beast''s body and continually slammed into Cai Jin''s chest, piercing through it and impaling in the air.


    "Who are you? Why are you antagonizing the Special Inspector Bureau?" Cai Jin glared at Zhou Wen as he coughed out blood.


    Zhou Wen didn''t answer. With a flick of the Golden Battle God Halberd, Cai Jin''s body was instantly torn apart like a rag. He died and fell into the lake.


    Liz turned pale with fright. She was dumbfounded. Cai Jin, one of the four Censors, had been killed in one strike. He didn''t even have the ability to resist, making her feel immense horror.


    "Minister¡­" Liz turned her head and realized that Qiao Siyuan had disappeared. She had no idea when he had escaped.


    Liz was instantly alarmed as she turned and ran.


    The other inspectors also reacted. Seeing that Qiao Siyuan had run out of sight, they scrambled to escape.


    Zhou Wen didn''t chase after the inspectors. He didn''t like killing, but this wasn''t why he didn''t chase after them.


    The Special Inspector Bureau was a department. Even if he killed the inspectors, they could still recruit new inspectors. Killing them was meaningless.


    Zhou Wen''s body moved and instantly appeared in front of Liz, blocking her path. The Golden Battle God Halberd pointed at her chest as the Golden Divine Light flickered, illuminating her pale face.


    "I''m Liz from the Cape family. Let me go. You can receive anything you want," Liz said in horror, not daring to move.


    Zhou Wen looked at Liz and said indifferently, "Your red convertible sports car isn''t bad. It can still be driven, even after such a heavy collision."


    Liz''s pupils immediately constricted when she heard that. She looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief and shouted, "You are¡­"


    Before she could finish her sentence, the Golden Battle God Halberd had pierced through her chest, causing blood to gush out of her mouth. She couldn''t finish her sentence.


    Liz glared at Zhou Wen as though she couldn''t believe that she was about to die.


    "Rest in peace. I''ll get the Cape family to accompany you soon." Zhou Wen raised the Golden Battle God Halberd in his hand and Liz''s body was ripped apart.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to search his surroundings, but he didn''t find Qiao Siyuan. He did not know how he had escaped.


    Knowing that he couldn''t stay here any longer, Zhou Wen ignored the ordinary inspectors and quickly left the Funiu Mountain Range.


    After taking a detour out of Funiu Mountain Range, Zhou Wen secretly returned to campus.


    After placating the two of them, Zhou Wen returned to his room and took out the two ruby-like Blood Oxypetalum seeds to compare them.


    The two seeds looked about the same, but their sizes were different. The one he had just obtained was slightly bigger, and the color was deeper.


    The color of the first one was relatively light, making it crystal clear.


    Banana Fairy''s eyes lit up when she saw the two seeds. She flew to Zhou Wen''s side and looked at him pitifully.


    "You want this?" Zhou Wen moved one of the seeds in his hand in front of Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy shook her head and pointed at the Blood Oxypetalum seed in Zhou Wen''s other hand.


    "Aren''t these two seeds the same?" Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. The one Banana Fairy wanted was from Mountain God''s blood sacrifice.


    After handing the seed to Banana Fairy, Banana Fairy immediately hugged it happily.


    After she hugged the seed, the Blood Oxypetalum seed turned into red beams of light that surged towards Banana Fairy''s body. Soon, it completely enveloped Banana Fairy and formed a red cocoon.


    Is this an evolution? Zhou Wen was delighted. After Banana Fairy''s evolution, she would advance to the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen had a lot of feelings for Banana Fairy who had been following him for a long time. To be able to advance to the Mythical stage, no matter how much her combat strength improved, was a good thing for Zhou Wen.


    It''s the same Blood Oxypetalum seed. Why does Banana Fairy only want the one that Mountain God obtained from its sacrifice and not the other? Zhou Wen looked at the remaining Blood Oxypetalum seed in his hand and couldn''t guess the reason.


    He summoned the other Companion Beasts that hadn''t evolved to see if they were interested in the Blood Oxypetalum seed. However, Demonic Neonate and Doctor Darkness weren''t interested in the Blood Oxypetalum seed either.


    Doctor Darkness didn''t have an Evolvable attribute, but Zhou Wen felt that Doctor Darkness was very useful. He had always wanted him to evolve, but he couldn''t find a way.


    Instead, it was an Explosive Fiend Man. He was very interested in the Blood Oxypetalum seed and was eager to try it out.


    "It''s your lucky day." Zhou Wen threw the remaining Blood Oxypetalum seed at the Explosive Fiend Man.


    Without any hesitation, the Explosive Fiend Man swallowed the Blood Oxypetalum seed. Not long after, his body underwent a strange change. It looked like he was about to begin evolving.


    Explosive Fiend Man''s level was too low. Typically, it should be able to complete its evolution very quickly, but who knew that the Explosive Fiend Man had actually transformed into a Companion Egg? It looked like it would take some time before it completed its evolution.


    Is it a problem with Explosive Fiend Man, or is there something wrong with the Blood Oxypetalum seed that the bureau produced? Zhou Wen was momentarily unsure as he could only store Explosive Fiend Man and Banana Fairy into the chaos space.


    ¡­


    "The Blood Oxypetalum seed was snatched away. Cai Jin died in battle, and Liz''s fate is unknown? Qiao Siyuan, you still have the audacity to return?" Shen Yuchi looked at Qiao Siyuan with a sullen expression. He was livid.


    The Special Inspector Bureau''s present situation wasn''t good to begin with. He had spent immense effort to obtain the blood essence of dimensional creatures, especially that one drop of divine blood. It was impossible for him to obtain a second drop. Not only was it gone, but Cai Jin and Liz''s lives were also lost.


    Cai Jin''s death was fine, but Liz was a member of the Cape family. It would be troublesome to explain this matter to them.


    "Director-General, I deserve death. However, if I didn''t bring back the enemy''s information, my death would be of zero value," Qiao Siyuan said as he played a video. It was the video of Zhou Wen snatching the Blood Oxypetalum and killing Cai Jin.


    "A Mythical weapon? It looks like something from the West District," Shen Yuchi said as he looked at the Golden Battle God Halberd in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    "I''ve already investigated it. This is the Mythical creature, Golden Battle God Halberd of the Metalwork Temple in the Peninsula of Gods. The members of the Family Clan of Gods had previously killed the Golden Battle God Halberd," Qiao Siyuan said.

 659 Fiend Man Evolution

    "That''s not what I meant. Based on the information we currently have, the Family Clan of Gods has the highest chance of possessing the Golden Battle God Halberd," Qiao Siyuan said.


    Shen Yuchi looked at Qiao Siyuan for a while before saying meaningfully, "Your intelligence is timely."


    Qiao Siyuan''s expression didn''t change as he said, "It''s my job. Director-General, you handed such an important mission to me, but I screwed it up. I deserve death. Please mete out your punishment."


    Shen Yuchi looked at Qiao Siyuan and said with a smile, "Then go to the Cape family and explain this matter clearly."


    "Yes, I screwed up. I will definitely explain it to Senator Cape. It has nothing to do with our Special Inspector Bureau." After bowing, Qiao Siyuan left Shen Yuchi''s office.


    After Qiao Siyuan left, a person walked out of an inner room.


    It was a woman in a suit and she looked very capable. However, she was wearing a hat that was pulled very low. With large sunglasses covering half of her face, it was almost impossible to tell her looks. However, her full, fair chin and red lips left a deep impression.


    "Button, what do you think of this person?" Shen Yuchi asked the woman.


    The woman called Button said calmly, "Do you mean the person in the video or Minister Qiao?"


    "Both." Shen Yuchi tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table as though he was thinking about something.


    "The person in the video wears an unknown type of armor. The weapon is just as Minister Qiao said; it''s the Golden Battle God Halberd. The Metalwork Temple is a reserved area of the Family Clan of Gods. Their family does have a Golden Battle God Halberd, but that doesn''t mean anything. As for Minister Qiao, he''s very smart. He gave himself a chance to live and has given the Cape family an excuse. The Cape family probably won''t make things difficult for him when he goes to them," said Button.


    Shen Yuchi nodded. "Among the many ministers, Qiao Siyuan is the most capable. Furthermore, he keeps a low profile and doesn''t fight for fame or fortune. At the same time, he doesn''t even have many hobbies."


    "Do you think there''s something wrong with him?" Button asked.


    "The operation this time was highly confidential. Very few people knew about it. Only Cai Jin, Qiao Siyuan, and Liz knew the details. Cai Jin was an extremely careful person. Under such circumstances, he was actually ambushed and had the Blood Oxypetalum seed snatched from him. There''s a high chance that there''s a traitor in our midst," Shen Yuchi said after some thought.


    "Do you want me to investigate?" Button asked.


    "You don''t have to worry about that. Help me make a trip to the Family Clan of Gods and send a copy of the video to them," Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡­


    With one of the Azure Dragon seven palaces missing, the other six were useless.


    In the boundless Endless Sea of Stars, he also failed to find the Astral Combat Beasts. This dungeon was just too huge. Zhou Wen guessed that it would take him a month or two to clear it.


    However, he could do nothing else if he continued grinding like this. It would take up all his time. Most of the dimensional creatures in the Endless Sea of Stars were useless. This left Zhou Wen vexed.


    Wait a minute. There are actually twenty-eight Lunar Mansions in the Endless Sea of Stars. Then, is the distribution of the planets here related to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions? Zhou Wen decided to check.


    The twenty-eight Lunar Mansions was the ancient way of dividing the cosmos. They divided the area around the celestial sphere''s ecliptic plane and celestial equator into twenty-eight regions.


    If the Endless Sea of Stars was really arranged in such a pattern, one could determine the location of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.


    However, Zhou Wen''s understanding of such knowledge was very limited. He only knew the name, but he knew nothing about the distribution.


    He went online to search for some information, but there were many contradictory points on the Internet. Furthermore, they explained things unclearly. After reading for a long time, Zhou Wen roughly figured out the approximate distribution and locations of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.


    After comparing it with the Endless Sea of Stars dungeon, he realized that some of the star charts in the Endless Sea were indeed similar to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. And the place where he had obtained the skills like the Room Solar Rabbit and Heart Lunar Fox was none other than the region of the Azure Dragon''s seven palaces.


    This region was extremely huge. After grinding for so long, Zhou Wen still failed to leave the range of the Azure Dragon''s seven palaces.


    It''s indeed so. It''s no wonder I only managed to obtain the Azure Dragon''s seven palaces'' skills. Zhou Wen roughly analyzed the situation and rushed to the stellar domain where the Neck Gold Dragon was. He planned on farming the Neck Gold Dragon to see what use those skills had.


    However, the Neck Gold Dragon didn''t appear that easily. He swept the entire area but saw nothing of the Neck Gold Dragon.


    Don''t tell me this is as difficult to farm as Poison Dragon Palm 3! He felt that things weren''t looking good. He had six but was still lacking one. If it was really that difficult to farm for it, he didn''t know when he would be able to have it drop.


    How can I find Liu Yun? I have to ask which small planet the so-called Astral Combat Beast is on. Zhou Wen was extremely vexed. His knowledge of Liu Yun was very limited. He didn''t have his phone number or address, so he didn''t know how to find him.


    After grinding for a few days, Zhou Wen was on the brink of giving up. It was indeed difficult to farm for Neck Gold Dragons.


    Crack!


    The evolving Explosive Fiend Man finally broke out of its shell. The evolved Explosive Fiend Man was still like a Tesla Trooper. It wore heavy armor, and even the pipes were black. There was also a crystal cylinder on its back. One could see something red inside, making it look very strange.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Explosive Fiend Man''s stats.


    Explosive Fiend Man: Legendary (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Unlawful


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 21


    Essence Energy: 21


    Talent Skill: Death List, Time-Blast


    Companion Form: Self-detonation Device


    His stats didn''t change much just as Zhou Wen had expected. Zhou Wen focused on studying the Explosive Fiend Man''s Life Providence.


    Unlawful: Unrestricted by laws for a period of time.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be alarmed. This Life Providence wasn''t restricted by rules or laws. This annotation implied that he was rather powerful, but Zhou Wen didn''t know what the actual effects were.


    Before Zhou Wen could experiment with the Explosive Fiend Man''s Life Providence, the Explosive Fiend Man began evolving again, turning into an egg once more.


    From the looks of it, the power of the Blood Oxypetalum seed is a little too potent. It actually allowed Explosive Fiend Man to continuously evolve. I wonder where the bureau''s blood came from. Zhou Wen also wanted to get one himself when he saw how effective the Blood Oxypetalum seed was.


    Just as he was thinking, his phone suddenly rang. It was Li Xuan.


    "Old Zhou, quickly go online and watch the battle. A Companion Beast is challenging Primordial Sword Immortal. It''s the Xia family''s Companion Beast," Li Xuan said excitedly.

 660 Count of the Wind

    The scene was of the cube''s screen where a white-haired man in black levitated above the cube''s arena.


    However, the man''s lower body was a snake. The black clothes on his body flapped amidst zero wind. Even his long white hair slowly fluttered in the air.


    Count of the Wind¡­ Zhou Wen was immediately shocked when he saw the humanoid Companion Beast''s name.


    Count of the Wind and the Lord of the Rain were famous existences who had participated in the Zhuolu battle. He never expected the Xia family to have a terrifying Companion Beast like Count of the Wind.


    That''s not right. I didn''t find Count of the Wind and the Lord of the Rain in Zhuolu. Where did the Xia family''s Count of the Wind come from? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    Logically speaking, Count of the Wind should be in Zhuolu, but it wasn''t to be found. Furthermore, the Xia family''s possession of Count of the Wind made Zhou Wen feel that something was amiss.


    "Old Zhou, I''m here. Quickly open the door," Li Xuan shouted from outside.


    "Why are you here now?" Zhou Wen opened the door and saw Li Xuan holding his phone, watching the live stream as well.


    "It''s boring to watch such a battle alone. Did you see Count of the Wind? Although I don''t know his combat strength, his looks way too cool. As expected of a famous existence in the mythical battle," Li Xuan said as he looked inside. Seeing the antelope sleeping on the sofa, he carefully walked in and pulled a chair to sit down.


    "It''s definitely not as simple as a probe if the Xia family is taking action." Just as Zhou Wen was speaking, he suddenly saw a flash on the combat platform. Primordial Sword Immortal had already charged over and accepted the challenge.


    Primordial Sword Immortal was straightforward. After appearing, the ruby on its hilt emitted sword beams that transformed into a rain of swords that charged at Count of the Wind.


    Count of the Wind floated in the air as a formless wind thrust his body. He fanned the sword rain with the peacock feathered fan in his hand.


    The formless wind immediately reversed the sword rain''s direction and collided with the sword beams behind it. Immediately, an explosion sounded as the sky was filled with sword flashes.


    A sword hum resounded through the void as Primordial Sword Immortal automatically unsheathed its scabbard and slashed at Count of the Wind with terrifying speed.


    Count of the Wind''s body drifted as though he was being carried by the wind. He easily dodged Primordial Sword Immortal''s attack.


    However, Primordial Sword Immortal refused to give up. It slashed at Count of the Wind again and again as sword beams crisscrossed, as though they were about to tear the world apart.


    Primordial Sword Immortal wasn''t just slashing. Its every move was a profound sword technique.


    It was a real sword technique, not an Essence Energy Skill. Zhou Wen could even sense the astonishing sword intent. Just the sword intent alone made Zhou Wen sigh at his inferiority.


    Even his Transcendent Flying Immortal was inferior to that sword''s realm.


    "Holy sh*t, how can this be? A sword actually has such a terrifying sword technique and sword intent. Who can beat it?" Li Xuan also noticed the uniqueness of the situation as he exclaimed in surprise.


    Zhou Wen nodded with a heavy expression. Although Li Xuan appeared as carefree as usual, Zhou Wen could sense that he cared a lot about Count of the Wind.


    Zhou Wen also understood why Li Xuan cared so much about it. Li Mobai had once said that the reason their talented eldest brother died so early was because of the Xia family.


    Li Xuan treated the Xia family as a conjectured enemy, which was why he was so concerned.


    Count of the Wind rode the wind and floated amidst the shocking barrage of sword techniques. The terrifying Primordial Sword Immortal was unable to injure him at all.


    From beginning to end, Count of the Wind only dodged and didn''t counterattack. He seemed to be observing the strength of Primordial Sword Immortal.


    What a powerful movement technique¡­ Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up when he saw Count of the Wind''s movement technique.


    Count of the Wind''s movement technique was different from his Transcendent Flying Immortal despite all of them being called movement techniques.


    Count of the Wind''s movement techniques were extremely elegant. No matter how fast Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword techniques were, they were unable to even touch his clothes.


    Count of the Wind looked like a god of the wind. The sword winds brought by Primordial Sword Immortal made his body drift about with the sword wind. Therefore, no matter how fast Primordial Sword Immortal was, it couldn''t touch him. Count of the Wind was simply riding the wind.


    I wonder if Banana Fairy will be as strong as Count of the Wind when she evolves to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen was somewhat looking forward to evolving Banana Fairy who was of the same type.


    After failing to hit Count of the Wind, Primordial Sword Immortal suddenly stopped attacking and flew back into its scabbard.


    Ever since the stone sword was unsheathed, the scabbard had been floating there without any movement. At this moment, the scabbard spewed out immortal beams.


    Soon, the immortal glow condensed into a humanoid immortal figure. The immortal figure held the scabbard in one hand and the stone sword in the other. It looked at Count of the Wind from afar.


    So this is the true face of Primordial Sword Immortal. The previous battles weren''t enough to force out his true body. Zhou Wen stared at Primordial Sword Immortal. Although he could only see an immortal silhouette that resembled a sword spirit, the powerful sword intent on him was enough to shock anyone.


    Just by standing in midair with the sword in hand, he gave off an aura of supremacy. It was as if he could slice apart the entire world with just one strike.


    What domineering sword intent¡­ Zhou Wen stared at Primordial Sword Immortal. Such domineering sword intent was very similar to Transcendent Flying Immortal''s domineering aspect.


    However, it was even more domineering than Transcendent Flying Immortal. It was also more natural and had a higher realm.


    On the other side, Count of the Wind remained calm and composed. He seemed to be walking leisurely as though he didn''t care about the terror that Primordial Sword Immortal was unleashing.


    However, Zhou Wen could sense that Count of the Wind wasn''t underestimating Primordial Sword Immortal. It was just that his realm was as such¡ªa complete disregard of everything in the world.


    Even if all the deities in the world were his enemies, he could still remain ever so calm even on the brink of death.


    Zhou Wen looked at Primordial Sword Immortal before looking at Count of the Wind. He seemed to have figured something out, that he felt two eyes were insufficient.


    Suddenly, Primordial Sword Immortal moved. The sword moved like a ray of light, as though it had sliced through half the sky. It was so fast that one could only see the sword''s glow and not see his movements.


    Count of the Wind also moved. He transformed into a gust of wind that could no longer be seen with the naked eye. He rushed to face off with Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword glow.


    Boom!


    A cool breeze met the sword glow as a terrifying shockwave rose up.


    The fan and sword constantly clashed, but most people only saw light blasts. They couldn''t see the two Companion Beasts, much less their techniques.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t even keep up despite his eyesight. All he could do was switch to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and use the Eight Perfections Wisdom and Hell King Life Soul to strengthen his vision. Even then he could barely make out what was happening.

 661 Evenly Matched

    With the augmentation of the Life Soul, the battle scene Li Xuan saw slowed down significantly.


    "Amazing. One doesn''t need to be afraid of potent strength or ruthless skill, but one needs to be afraid of such a highly-intelligent Companion Beast. For a Companion Beast to have such high intelligence, it''s impossible for a Mythical Companion Beast of the same level to win against them. It''s similar to a bug-like existence in games," Li Xuan said.


    "That''s right. Intelligence is indeed a hidden attribute of a Companion Beast. A Companion Beast with high intelligence is indeed at an advantage in battle." Zhou Wen nodded in agreement.


    He also liked to use highly-intelligent Companion Beasts like Banana Fairy, Demonic Neonate, and Doctor Darkness. Even if Zhou Wen didn''t give them orders, they knew when and what to do.


    Sometimes, their decisions exceeded Zhou Wen''s expectations.


    As for the brainless representatives, like Tyrant Behemoth, Six-Winged, and Golden Battle God Halberd, they relied on their instincts to fight. Their intelligence was much lower.


    It couldn''t be said that this was bad. If one''s strength was strong enough, such combat instinct could push their strength to the limit and erupt with 120% of their combat strength.


    However, if one were to encounter an evenly matched opponent, such brainless Companion Beasts would be at a disadvantage.


    However, Zhou Wen''s mind wasn''t on these Companion Beasts. He was even more interested in Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword techniques and Count of the Wind''s movement techniques. He was completely immersed in them as he sensed the two completely different approaches.


    One was about claiming supremacy, while the other was about being calm and composed. The two were extremes.


    And these two extremes were similar to the one Zhou Wen had when he first understood the divine Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal were evenly matched. Neither of them had the upper hand, but up to now, they had yet to use their Wheel of Destiny.


    Ordinary citizens were fidgeting in anxiety because they could only see the glow. They couldn''t see the details of the battle. Only a few Epic experts with visual abilities could see the battle clearly.


    Thankfully, modern filming equipment was already very advanced. There would be slow-motion replays in the future. Coupled with the commentary, most people would be able to understand it clearly.


    Zhou Wen was engrossed in watching when Count of the Wind suddenly retreated from the battle. Without any warning, he admitted defeat and left the battlefield.


    As Zhou Wen had been taking in their sword techniques and movement techniques, he had a deeper understanding of them than Li Xuan. He shook his head and said, "Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal are very close in every aspect. If they continue fighting, they can only use their Wheels of Destiny. The Xia family clearly doesn''t want to go all out yet. It''s just a probe, so they have chosen to give up."


    "What a pity. Such a divine-level battle is much more interesting than watching those Strength-type Companion Beasts fight," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen also felt that he hadn''t had enough. He got up and said, "Let''s go to the training grounds. I gained some insight from watching their battle. I liked to experiment to see if I''m right or wrong."


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Li Xuan agreed immediately. The two of them went to the training grounds and found an independent training room.


    "I will try to imitate Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword techniques. Help me check to see if it''s correct." Zhou Wen picked up a practice sword and recalled Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword intent as he slashed at Li Xuan.


    "Interesting, but it''s not domineering enough. You still have some reservations about this strike. You should be more resolute." Li Xuan didn''t take out his weapon as he used his carapace to block the practice sword.


    "Is this enough?" Zhou Wen slashed out again. At the same time, he tried his best to fuse his emotions into the Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword intent realm.


    "Not enough¡­ Not enough¡­ It''s still not enough¡­" Li Xuan constantly fought Zhou Wen. As Zhou Wen''s sword techniques became faster and faster, he no longer had the time to say that it was inadequate. Every time Zhou Wen attacked, Li Xuan would only say no.


    Zhou Wen gradually became one with the will, as his intent fused with the sword. The feeling of using the sword grew stronger and stronger. He gradually realized that the dominance of Primordial Sword Immortal wasn''t because his sword techniques were fast and ruthless, but because it attacked the key spots. It prevented the opponent from counterattacking, so there was no need for defense.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen''s practice sword slashed at Li Xuan. Although he had only used a practice sword, he had actually left a sword mark on Li Xuan''s carapace because the sword beam was too powerful.


    "Interesting. Again." Li Xuan was very excited.


    Zhou Wen was also feeling excited as he brandished his sword without any hesitation to slash at Li Xuan. The more he fought, the more he reveled in the feeling of this sword technique.


    Defense? What the hell was that? I''ll slash out with my sword. Those who follow me will live, those who oppose me will die. There was no need for defense. With one sword in hand, I''m the best in the world.


    The more Zhou Wen fought, the more arrogant he became. He wasn''t usually an arrogant person, but under the influence of the sword intent, his attacks became more and more violent.


    Crack! Crack!


    Li Xuan wasn''t able to completely block Zhou Wen''s sword technique. Sword marks appeared over his carapace, but the armor was immediately restored to its original state upon cracking. Its self-healing speed was unbelievably fast.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen slashed at Li Xuan again. The practice sword made of special rubber couldn''t withstand the domineering sword beam and shattered.


    "My turn." Li Xuan leaped up and drew a practice sword from the weapon rack. He slashed at Zhou Wen, using an identical sword technique that Zhou Wen had just used.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He knew that Li Xuan''s Life Soul could sense the enemy''s techniques and gain experience from suffering injuries, but he never expected that he could learn the techniques that humans used.


    Li Xuan''s strike wasn''t much worse than the one he had used.


    However, this made Zhou Wen even more excited. "Don''t worry about me. Use all your strength."


    Zhou Wen didn''t have a carapace protecting him. Although Li Xuan''s sword technique was right, it didn''t have that domineering aura. That was why Zhou Wen felt confident.


    "Alright." Li Xuan didn''t hold back any further. He used all the experience he had just absorbed from his injuries in battle. A domineering sword beam immediately filled the sword.


    Zhou Wen recalled Count of the Wind''s movement technique and concept and began mimicking his movement technique to circle around Li Xuan.


    Movement techniques were Zhou Wen''s forte. They were easier to use than sword techniques, so he got into the groove faster than with the sword technique.


    ¡­


    Gulli and Sadie had just finished watching the battle between Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal. Sadie''s Eye of Odin had seen more things. She wanted to study the battle between Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal with Gulli, so they had come to the training grounds.


    They also wanted to find a private training room, but they realized that there were already people inside. Just as they were feeling depressed, they suddenly heard the whistling sound of sword aura coming from the training room beside them.

 662 The Talented Xuanwen Club

    However, through the crack in the door, she could see the situation inside.


    Sadie approached the door crack and looked inside. She was immediately alarmed.


    "Sis, what are you doing? This isn''t good, right?" Gulli looked at Sadie strangely.


    "Come and take a look." Sadie pulled Gulli over and got him to stand in front of the door crack. He looked inside and saw two people sparring.


    "Why does this sword technique look so familiar¡­" Gulli muttered when he saw Li Xuan''s sword technique.


    "What''s with that brain of yours? That sword technique is the sword technique of Primordial Sword Immortal. And the movement technique Zhou Wen uses is Count of the Wind''s movement technique. Have you forgotten them after just watching them?" Sadie said.


    "Ah, it''s true. That''s the Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword technique. But how could that person use Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword technique? Could he be the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal?" Gulli said in surprise.


    "My dear brother, you are really hopelessly stupid. Zhou Wen is using Count of the Wind''s movement technique. Does that make him Count of the Wind''s master?" Sadie said helplessly.


    "That''s right. Isn''t Count of the Wind from the Xia family? How did he become Zhou Wen''s?" Gulli was puzzled.


    Sadie was immediately rendered speechless. All she could do was say to Gulli, "Zhou Wen isn''t Count of the Wind''s master. The other person isn''t the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal either. They are the same as us. They watched the battle between Primordial Sword Immortal and Count of the Wind and learned Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword technique and Count of the Wind''s movement technique."


    "They learned the sword technique and movement technique from simply watching the battle? How is this possible? Even you have to do plenty of analysis and simulation to learn a portion of it despite having the Eye of Odin. How long has it been? Yet, they have already learned the sword technique and movement technique. Isn''t this too unbelievable?" Gulli widened his eyes in disbelief.


    "It''s indeed hard to believe, but they''ve done it." Sadie looked at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan with a complicated expression.


    Before coming to Sunset College, she was confident that she could defeat Zhou Wen and avenge Lance.


    However, after coming here, Sadie realized that she was far from Zhou Wen''s match. Not only was she no match for him, but she couldn''t even defeat Feng Qiuyan, who claimed to be learning from him.


    The person who was fighting Zhou Wen inside was similarly no weaker than her, and the person was clearly not Feng Qiuyan.


    Although Li Xuan''s sword technique and Zhou Wen''s movement technique weren''t at the level of Primordial Sword Immortal and Count of the Wind, they already possessed the charm of the two. They had truly understood the meaning behind the sword technique and movement technique. It wasn''t just a simple imitation.


    Boom!


    The practice sword in Li Xuan''s hand failed to withstand the powerful explosion of the sword aura. The two of them could only stop.


    "Old Zhou, are you going to continue training?" Li Xuan retracted his Life Soul and revealed his true body.


    Gulli and Sadie widened their eyes. They never expected that the person who used such a sword technique was actually the frivolous-looking, foppish Li Xuan.


    "Forget it. It''s pointless. I''m not continuing," Zhou Wen said as he shook his head.


    Zhou Wen had already understood the profundity of the movement technique and sword technique. However, just imitating them was useless. He needed to fuse the movement technique and sword technique into his system. This wasn''t something that could be done in a short period of time. He needed time to think.


    Sadie and Gulli clearly misunderstood Zhou Wen''s intentions. They believed that Zhou Wen was saying that this sword technique and movement technique were too simple that they were boring him.


    If anyone else had said that, Sadie and Gulli would think that they were arrogant and ignorant.


    Zhou Wen had only just watched the battle between Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal. Yet, in such a short period of time, he had already comprehended the charm of Count of the Wind''s movement technique. Such a genius could say anything without going overboard.


    Seeing that the two of them were about to come out, Sadie and Gulli hurriedly hid to the side. After the two of them walked out of the training grounds, Sadie said, "Sunset College is really filled with all kinds of hidden talent, especially the Xuanwen Club. I never expected that the usually frivolous Li Xuan would have such strength and talent. In the past, when we were in the North District, we were like frogs in a well, looking down on young people who weren''t from the six families. However, Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan, and Li Xuan aren''t any worse than the top geniuses of the six families. I wonder how many geniuses there are in Sunset College."


    "They''re really too strong. We made no mistake coming. With such opponents, I think we can improve faster," Gulli said excitedly.


    Sadie nodded with a heavy expression. In the past, the Federation''s geniuses came from the six families. However, with the development of the times, more and more geniuses emerged from the ordinary families. The influence of the six families was gradually declining.


    ¡­


    After this battle, all the major media outlets gave a slow-motion video of the battle. Furthermore, there were explanations and professional analyses. It left everyone watching with relish.


    The popularity of Tyrant Behemoth and Orochi''s battle was completely overshadowed.


    Although Tyrant Behemoth was strong, its intelligence was lacking. Its battle with Orochi was too simple and crude. It was far inferior to the battle between Primordial Sword Immortal and Count of the Wind.


    People were discussing who would have been stronger if they had fought to the end¡ªCount of the Wind or Primordial Sword Immortal.


    Some people supported Uncle Feng, but more people believed that Primordial Sword Immortal was the strongest. Otherwise, why would Count of the Wind admit defeat?


    The other families understood the Xia family''s intent. The Xia family had already probed the strength of Primordial Sword Immortal. They probably wouldn''t make a move for the time being. It was up to them now.


    Including the overseas demons and the six families, the various factions were analyzing the abilities of Primordial Sword Immortal and Count of the Wind. They were already eager to try.


    Now, other than not knowing what Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel of Destiny was, Primordial Sword Immortal''s abilities were mostly analyzed.


    Furthermore, based on all sorts of evidence, its Wheel of Destiny was very likely an offensive miracle.


    On this basis, the various families came up with a strategy to deal with the situation. It was only a matter of time before they challenged Primordial Sword Immortal''s number one spot.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t idle either. When he returned, he informed An Sheng of his encounter with Chu He in Netherworld City and got him to help investigate Chu He and his family.


    An Sheng placed a lot of importance on this matter and personally went to Chu He''s hometown. Now, An Sheng had finally sent the news back.


    According to An Sheng''s investigations, Chu He''s wife and daughter had always believed that Chu He had gone to Zhuolu. They had no idea that Chu He had gone to the desert.


    Furthermore, ever since Chu He had left home and gone to Zhuolu, he had never contacted them again. He hadn''t communicated with them, nor had he written any letters.


    After various investigations, An Sheng came to the conclusion that Chu He had gone to Zhuolu and had never been to the desert.

 663 Metal Walnut Gets Gnawed Through

    "No, it''s the opposite. I think the Chu He who went to Zhuolu is a fake," An Sheng said with certainty. "From the information I obtained, everything about the Chu He that went to Zhuolu is perfect. However, this ends up making me feel that something is amiss."


    After a pause, An Sheng continued, "According to my investigations, Professor Chu He studied the Taklamakan desert in the past. In the beginning, he indeed rejected the invitation from the expedition team, but for some reason, he later agreed. He then went to Zhuolu. However, during his time in Zhuolu, he never contacted his family. This makes me find it a little abnormal."


    "In other words, someone really did some tampering?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "We can''t be sure yet. If someone really is behind this, their force is definitely extraordinary. The other party has done it so cleanly that we can''t find any problems. If you hadn''t encountered Chu He, who had already died, in Netherworld City, I''m afraid no one would have expected that Chu He, who went to Zhuolu, would be a fake," An Sheng said.


    "How''s Chu He''s wife and daughter?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Their situation will become very dangerous after our investigations. To ensure their safety, I''ve already brought them back," An Sheng said.


    From An Sheng''s tone, Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng had definitely used some extreme means.


    "If it''s possible, take good care of them. As long as it''s not an unreasonable request, try your best to satisfy them. I''ll be in charge of all expenses," Zhou Wen said.


    "Don''t worry. They have already been brought into the manor by Madam. Madam values them very much," An Sheng said.


    "That''s good." Zhou Wen knew that Ouyang Lan was as concerned about the former principal as he was. Since Chu He''s wife and daughter had gone to her, Ouyang Lan definitely wouldn''t let anything happen to them.


    After ending the call with An Sheng, Zhou Wen was considering what he could do.


    I''m far inferior to An Sheng when it comes to investigating such matters. It''s useless even if I go. If someone really is doing something behind our backs, they are definitely a powerful force to do it so seamlessly. Even if we find out the truth, we will need a powerful force to resolve the problem. It''s better for me to raise my strength first. Zhou Wen felt that what he needed to do now was to become stronger.


    Ding! Just as he cleared the Metalwork Temple dungeon, another Golden Battle God Halberd dropped.


    How easily does this thing drop? It''s already the fourth one. Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless.


    Just as he was about to continue grinding, his phone rang. He opened it and saw that it was from The Thearch.


    "I''ll make a deal with you. Are you interested?"


    "What deal?" Zhou Wen replied.


    "I can let you obtain a Companion Beast. That Companion Beast can help you defeat Primordial Sword Immortal and Companion Beast, but in exchange, you have to give me the divine fruit after obtaining it." The Thearch sent another message.


    "What benefits do I have if I give you the divine fruit?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Isn''t it enough for you to obtain a Companion Beast that can help you defeat Primordial Sword Immortal?" The Thearch asked.


    "What kind of Companion Beast is that?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Come to Chess Mountain. You will know when you get it," said The Thearch.


    "Don''t tell me you want me to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion again?" Zhou Wen deliberately sent a message in an unwilling tone.


    In fact, Zhou Wen did want to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion. In-game, he could only enter the ancient building in Deer Terrace Pavilion, but he couldn''t enter the platform below.


    Now, Zhou Wen really wanted to find another way to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion other than the gap in reality.


    "How can you obtain benefits without entering Deer Terrace Pavilion?" The Thearch asked.


    "It''s too disgusting to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion underwater. Is there no other way of entry?" Zhou Wen wanted to find out other ways to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion so that there was no need for him to trade with The Thearch.


    To his surprise, The Thearch was tight-lipped. She only replied, "Don''t worry. I''ll let you enter Deer Terrace Pavilion easily this time."


    Zhou Wen asked a few more questions, but The Thearch didn''t say a word. She only said that he would know when the time came.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant. He naturally wanted a Companion Beast that could defeat Primordial Sword Immortal, but he wasn''t willing to take the risk at Deer Terrace Pavilion in reality.


    The Thearch was just too mysterious. Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to have too much contact with her.


    Forget it. I won''t go. Even without The Thearch''s Companion Beast, I have a chance of defeating Primordial Sword Immortal. Zhou Wen had carefully studied the battle between Count of the Wind and Primordial Sword Immortal.


    Tyrant Behemoth still had a chance of defeating Primordial Sword Immortal, but that was under the premise that Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel couldn''t kill Tyrant Behemoth.


    As he was pondering, he suddenly felt fluctuations in the chaos space.


    Could it be that Explosive Fiend Man''s evolution has completed? Zhou Wen hurriedly checked the chaos space.


    However, he realized that Explosive Fiend Man hadn''t evolved. It was still in its egg form.


    That fluctuation was actually coming from the metal walnut.


    The tiny beast had been nibbling at the metal walnut all this time. After so long, it had left a deep bite mark on the metal walnut. From where it was nibbling, it seemed to have been bitten through. A crack as thin as a strand of hair appeared on the surface of the crack, revealing a white color.


    As for the fluctuations Zhou Wen felt, they were actually emitted from the metal walnut. The fluctuations seemed to be felt through his consciousness, but Zhou Wen actually felt as though it was asking for his help.


    Could it be that there''s a dimensional creature in this metal walnut? Zhou Wen took it out from the chaos space.


    The little beast continued to bite at the metal walnut. It looked like it wouldn''t stop until it bit right through.


    Zhou Wen used his hand to pull it, but its claws gripped the metal walnut tightly, unwilling to let go.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to knock it out. After the beast fainted, its paws continued holding on tightly. Zhou Wen had to let it hold the metal walnut as he reached out to touch the crack that the beast had bitten open.


    White matter emerged from the crack. Zhou Wen touched it and immediately felt his Essence Energy flow into the metal walnut. The feeling was similar to incubating a Companion Egg.


    The thing inside the metal walnut is actually a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he allowed the metal walnut to absorb his Essence Energy.

 664 Dragon Gate Anomaly

    As the Essence Energy was absorbed, the outer shell of the metal walnut split into two along the crack. A white ball-shaped object rolled out and transformed into a stream of light that shot at Zhou Wen''s body, turning into a white, circular tattoo.


    When he summoned the Companion Beast, it was about the size of a football. He held it in his hand and pinched it. It was soft and bouncy, similar to the feeling of a bouncy ball. Maybe even softer.


    Zhou Wen casually pinched the Companion Beast into various strange shapes. Once he released his grip, it would return to its original state.


    This Companion Beast is rather fun. I wonder what use it has? Zhou Wen didn''t receive any information regarding the Companion Beast, so he felt somewhat puzzled.


    Typically, after contracting a Companion Beast, one would receive some vague information, such as the name, level, etc.


    However, this one didn''t give any of that. Zhou Wen could only take out his phone to read its information. He was still thinking, Such a special Companion Beast must have a very special ability, right? However, it absorbed rather little Essence Energy. Its level shouldn''t be high.


    After placing the white Companion Beast in the viewfinder, Zhou Wen clicked on its information and ended up petrified.


    Tai Sui: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Earth Escape


    Companion Form: Mimicry


    Holy sh*t, this darn thing is Tai Sui¡­ Zhou Wen regretted it so much that he felt a kick in his guts. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn''t have asked for trouble. He would have let the little beast eat it.


    Thankfully, it''s only at the Mortal stage. It doesn''t seem to have any Life Providence or skills like a Jinxes Master or Misfortune. Zhou Wen carefully looked at the introduction and realized that it wasn''t as bad as he imagined.


    However, Tai Sui could actually evolve. This was basically the specialty of a Mythical Companion Beast. If he continued evolving it, it was unknown if it would have abilities like a Jinxes Master or Misfortune.


    I read online that Tai Sui has a Life Providence like Misfortune and Bad Luck. However, it seems like the photos taken online of those Tai Sui are a little different from this one. Zhou Wen searched the pictures online and compared them to the Tai Sui in front of him. They were indeed different.


    Those Tai Suis looked ugly and were either black or yellow. They weren''t as smooth and white as Zhou Wen''s¡ªit looked like white jade.


    It''s also possible that my Tai Sui is different from theirs. Mine doesn''t bring misfortune, Zhou Wen thought.


    Tai Sui bounced around on the ground like a white bouncy ball. Its fleshy look made it very interesting.


    However, when it realized that there was nothing inside, it was stunned. It turned its head and saw Tai Sui in front of Zhou Wen and immediately pounced over.


    Tai Sui seemed a little afraid of it as it immediately jumped behind Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen reached out to grab the fur on the tiny beast''s back and lifted it up. The little beast desperately brandished its tiny claws as though it wanted to fight Zhou Wen to the death.


    However, its claws were just too short. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn''t touch Zhou Wen.


    "Come, be good. This is for you to eat¡­ You''re not eating it? What about this?" Zhou Wen took out something to coax the little beast.


    Finally, when Zhou Wen gave it an Epic Companion Egg, the little beast angrily sprawled on it and ate it. As it chewed, it glared at Zhou Wen and Tai Sui as though it was indignant.


    Zhou Wen fed some Companion Eggs to Tai Sui. Tai Sui didn''t seem picky at all, but its eating speed was very slow.


    Its body wrapped around the Companion Egg like liquid. It didn''t manage to digest it even after a long time.


    After trying out Tai Sui''s Earth Escape skill, he realized that it was very useful. As long as it touched the ground, it could instantly move anywhere.


    However, because Tai Sui''s level was too low, it couldn''t escape too far.


    As for its companion form, it was somewhat magical. It could simulate the companion form of other Companion Beasts. It could transform into armor, weapons, and other forms. It could even simulate the appearance of a Companion Beast.


    However, it only simulated its appearance, its essence didn''t change. It didn''t possess the ability of other Companion Beasts. It looked like a plasticine toy.


    Although Tai Sui doesn''t have the legendary Misfortune, it doesn''t seem to be of any use. Realizing that Tai Sui was useless, Zhou Wen let it slowly eat and evolve. He wanted to see if it would be of any use in the future.


    "Young Master Wen, are you at school?" An Sheng called.


    "Yes," Zhou Wen answered.


    "It''s best you don''t leave the school for the next few days," An Sheng said.


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    "Recently, Dragon Gate Grotto has been a little abnormal. According to Chancellor Leng''s judgment, Dragon Gate Grotto might encounter a large-scale breakout of creatures. When the time comes, we will do our best to prevent the breakout creatures from entering the city. As we don''t know how many breakout creatures will appear, we might need your help as a last resort," An Sheng said.


    "Alright, I''ll stay in school for the next few days." After a pause, Zhou Wen asked, "Does this mean that the other dimensional zones will also experience a large-scale breakout?"


    "We are closely monitoring them. From the looks of it, we haven''t discovered anything similar. The situation in Dragon Gate Grotto has changed. Perhaps something special is affecting them," An Sheng said. "According to Chancellor Leng, some of the break-out creatures outside also came to Dragon Gate Grotto. It''s still a mystery what''s attracting them."


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he immediately thought of the giant golden bird above Dragon Gate Grotto. Back then, it was only when Chancellor Leng personally appeared that the giant golden bird retreated.


    Not long after Zhou Wen received the news, Dragon Gate Grotto was sealed off by the military. In the next two days, the school had organized a mobilization meeting. The students had also been assigned some logistic work to assist the military in preventing the large-scale breakout.


    The entire school''s atmosphere became abnormally tense. Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and company were assigned work. In such a situation, no one could stay out of it.


    That night, a roar that sounded like a cow''s moo came from Dragon Gate Grotto. The sound was soul-stirring. The ground near Dragon Gate Grotto shook as though there was a slight earthquake. The roar lasted the entire night, but nothing came out.


    However, this cast a shadow on everyone''s hearts. This was because they were certain that something had really happened to Dragon Gate Grotto.


    "Old Zhou, if all of these dimensional zones suffer a breakout, do you think our Luoyang will still hold?" Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen as he moved the supplies.


    "I''m afraid it can''t be defended." Zhou Wen knew very well that humans were much weaker than dimensional creatures.


    There appeared to be a hundred Mythical Companion Beasts on the ranking, but the number of Mythical creatures in the dimensional zones was far more than that. It might be a hundred or a thousand times more.


    Zhou Wen even suspected that there were even more terrifying existences above the Mythical stage. Otherwise, Torch Dragon''s stats wouldn''t have the evolvable attribute.

 665 The Battle Begins

    A huge Buddha shed tears of blood for no reason. After careful inspection, it was discovered that there was a crack in the Buddha''s eye. Red spring water surged out from it.


    In the river beside Dragon Gate Grotto, there were creatures that resembled flood dragons churning. However, the back they saw was dozens of meters long. It was extremely terrifying.


    Inside a Buddhist temple, a Buddhist glow bloomed. Through a pair of binoculars, one could see a skeleton dressed in monk robes sitting inside the temple hall. Every inch of its skeleton emitted a Buddhistic glow.


    The entire Grotto was filled with strange sights. The military had completely sealed off the nearby area. The area near Dragon Gate Grotto on campus had been evacuated.


    The matter at Dragon Gate Grotto seemed to be even more terrifying than expected. Malla and Stone Beasts had already walked out of the cave. Many of the Malla and Stone Beasts were the students'' usual hunting targets¡ªmost of them were at the Mortal and Legendary stage.


    However, they now had a strange halo enveloping them. Their Strength and Speed had increased greatly. The power that erupted at the Mortal stage could reach the peak of the Mortal stage. Those at the Legendary stage could produce strength at the peak Legendary stage.


    There were also Flying Beasts and Fairies circling above Dragon Gate Grotto, making the originally mysterious cave even more bizarre.


    Any dimensional creature that stepped out of the defense line was killed by the soldiers, but the situation kept worsening. There were more dimensional creatures that surged out with each day.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan were responsible for transporting the ammunition to the front line. This was a mission An Sheng had specially arranged for them so that they could participate in the battle at any time.


    The school''s tutors were also prepared. When the battle really broke out, these Epic tutors were to be the main combat force.


    Qin Wufu had already arrived at the battlefield to commandeer the troops, but An Tianzuo was nowhere to be seen.


    "Young Master Wen, you have to be careful. The anomaly in Dragon Gate Grotto is too terrifying. There might be a fierce battle when the time comes." After An Sheng arrived on the battlefield, he warned Zhou Wen and company with a heavy expression.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. An Sheng knew that he had several Mythical Companion Beasts in his possession, but even so, he had solemnly warned him to be careful. It was obvious that the situation was extremely terrifying.


    Li Xuan said, "Why don''t I see Overseer?"


    An Sheng sighed softly and said, "Overseer has gathered all the noble families in Luoyang City for a meeting and is mobilizing them to participate in the battle."


    An Sheng said, "Sunset College is closest to Dragon Gate Grotto, but Sunset College has always been a home ground of the An family. They feel that helping this situation is helping the An family, so they are quite unwilling."


    "Don''t they know that once Sunset College fails, all of Luoyang will suffer?" Zhou Wen frowned.


    Even someone like him who had a bad relationship with An Tianzuo was participating in this battle. This was because he knew that this wasn''t the An family''s business. It concerned the survival of Luoyang.


    "Some have already planned on leaving Luoyang to seek refuge," An Sheng said.


    "Escape without fighting? Those people are even abandoning their homeland?" Feng Qiuyan frowned.


    "That''s only human nature. If we manage to hold the line, they will naturally return. If we can''t, they will be able to preserve their strength and wealth. They will also be able to live free and mighty in other cities. However, ordinary citizens won''t share the same fate. Only death awaits them," An Sheng said.


    "How''s my family''s situation?" Li Xuan hadn''t received any news from his family. He didn''t know what was happening at home.


    "Old Master Li didn''t say anything, but he didn''t leave Luoyang either. He seems to be taking a wait-and-see approach," An Sheng replied.


    "Adjutant An, I would like to make a remark on that." Suddenly, they heard someone speak. They turned their heads and saw Li Mobai walking over with a dozen soldiers.


    "Second Young Master Li, you''re finally here. We''ve been waiting for you for a long time." An Sheng saw Li Mobai and the people behind him.


    "All the Epic experts that the Li family can contribute are here. Including me, I''ll be at the Overseer''s disposal," Li Mobai said.


    "If the Li family is willing to help, why is Old Master Li unwilling to speak up for the Overseer during the meeting?" An Sheng asked.


    Li Mobai smiled and said, "Our Li family is willing to fight to protect Luoyang. That''s our decision, but we can''t stop other families from seeking a chance to live."


    An Sheng immediately understood what he meant. All he could do was shake his head and sigh helplessly.


    From this, one could tell that very few people from the major families in Luoyang were willing to participate.


    "Second Young Master, please follow me. After registration, Governor Du will deploy you centrally," An Sheng said as he prepared to lead them to the register.


    "Second Brother¡­" Li Xuan called out with a strange expression when he saw Li Mobai looking at him.


    Li Mobai said indifferently, "You don''t have to speak to me with such an attitude. I''ve never placed you in my heart. Among the Li brothers. I, Li Mobai, only acknowledge one elder brother. I only gave you the Evil King Gu as a tool for revenge. Since you can''t even be a tool, there''s no value in using you. You can do whatever you want."


    With that said, Li Mobai left with An Sheng.


    Li Xuan gritted his teeth and didn''t say a word. All he did was clench his fists.


    Zhou Wen patted Li Xuan on the shoulder. Li Xuan relaxed and shook his head. "Don''t worry. I know what I should do. I won''t lose myself because of his words."


    Over the next two days, some rich Luoyang families sent people to participate in the battle. However, most of them only sent one or two Epic experts. Apart from the Li family, there were only two other families who sent a formidable force.


    On this day, just as Zhou Wen and company were loading the supplies, they suddenly heard an ear-piercing alarm. All the soldiers quickly rushed to their posts before they heard the rumbling sounds of cannons and gunshots.


    Zhou Wen and company pushed the resources to the front lines and saw that in the direction of Dragon Gate Grotto, a large number of stone beasts and Malla were rushing out. There were also a number of flying beasts dancing in the air.


    The tide of dimensional creatures charged at the defensive fortifications. The soldiers followed the commands and kept firing. The dimensional creatures fell, but more dimensional creatures took their fallen brethren and charged over.


    Boom!


    A cannonball exploded in front of a Vajra Malla, but it failed to kill him. He charged over with the fragments of the cannonball still embedded in him and pounced ferociously at a soldier in the trench.


    The soldier didn''t retreat. He summoned a Companion Beast saber and struck the Vajra Malla, forcing it to take two steps back.


    The soldiers beside him shot at the Vajra Malla. They peppered it with a rain of bullets, blasting apart his head.


    A Fairy swooped down from the sky. On the battlefield that was filled with flames of war, the beautiful figure turned into a killing machine. She gracefully charged into the soldiers and blood immediately dyed the trench red.

 666 Thousand-Handed Bull-Headed Creature

    Bullets and artillery fire blasted him, but to no avail. With a wave of the monster-subduing phurba in his hand, a laser-like beam blasted a huge hole in the defensive fortification. Several soldiers died on the spot.


    An Epic expert summoned his Companion Beasts to face it in battle. The Vajra fought four of them alone but managed to force all four Epic Companion Beasts into a retreat.


    Boom! Boom!


    Amidst the flood of stone beasts, multiple three-headed, six-armed Vajras rushed out of Dragon Gate Grotto. Groups of Fairies also flew out into the sky. They were true Fairies, not Fairy Beasts.


    There were also the black-clothed, white-haired Mutated Fairies. Furthermore, there were more than two of them.


    Epic officers, tutors, and people from Luoyang''s major families took part in the battle. There were war cries and explosions everywhere on the battlefield as soldiers constantly fell.


    "Are you interested in warming up?" An Sheng wore a smile, but his eyes were extremely cold.


    "More than happy." Feng Qiuyan summoned his saber.


    "I''ve been waiting." Li Xuan summoned out his carapace.


    Zhou Wen gripped his Bamboo Blade tightly and nodded slightly. He knew that this was really just a warm-up. The truly terrifying creatures had yet to come out.


    An Sheng led them to the leftmost side of the defense line. The defense there was the weakest and had been repeatedly breached by the Fairies.


    "Guard this place until the retreat order is given, you can''t retreat even in death," An Sheng said to Zhou Wen and company before leaving.


    The soldiers were crazily fending off the dimensional creatures'' attacks, but there were still three-headed, six-armed Vajras charging at them. It was something ordinary soldiers couldn''t deal with. The bullets that were imbued with Essence Gold couldn''t penetrate the Vajras'' bodies, nor could they hit the Fairies.


    "Leave the sky to me. I''ll leave the ground to you." Zhou Wen looked at the Fairies in the sky as they constantly charged down to cull the soldiers'' lives.


    "Alright." Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan responded loudly at the same time before rushing out. Each of them faced a three-headed, six-armed Blackiron Vajra.


    When the soldiers saw the two students rush out to fend off the Vajras, they were both surprised and delighted. They hurriedly opened fire to provide them cover, clearing the ordinary Vajras and stone beasts.


    A few Fairies descended from the sky and flew over. The machine guns on the sentry post fired at them, but they failed to hit their bodies.


    Zhou Wen soared into the sky as he unsheathed his Bamboo Blade and slashed out the Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The nearby soldiers were first taken aback before they cheered. At the very least, they saw a temporary hope. There were still humans who could fight these terrifying dimensional creatures.


    Gunfire, the roars of dimensional creatures, the roars of Companion Beasts, the screams of death¡ªthe collision of blood and fire were everywhere.


    Zhou Wen kept killing Fairies. He lost count of the number he killed, but he was already beginning to feel numb. He usually couldn''t find so many Fairies, but now, there were as many as crows in the sky.


    Zhou Wen even killed two Mutated Fairies.


    Feng Qiuyan, Li Xuan, and company were already covered in blood. It was impossible to distinguish the blood on their bodies¡ªtheirs or the dimensional creatures''.


    Boom! Boom!


    In the direction of Dragon Gate Grotto, it was as though a mountain had exploded. A thousand-hand Buddha that was more than ten meters tall on the stone wall emitted a resplendent golden glow. It came to life and walked out of the mountain wall.


    The thousand-hand Buddha looked extremely strange. Zhou Wen had never seen it before.


    His body was shimmering with golden light. He had an ox head and a human body. He had eight arms and countless arms that resembled wheels on his back. He looked extremely demonic.


    An Epic Companion Beast went forward to fight it off, only to see the thousand-handed, bull-headed beast shoot out a golden beam of light that blasted the Epic Companion Beast to pieces.


    Then, the arms behind its back raised up and transformed into different spells. Golden light crisscrossed and instantly killed the nearby Companion Beasts and humans.


    Mythical creature! Zhou Wen''s eyes narrowed. A Mythical creature had appeared so quickly, and one that was especially terrifying.


    The dense bombardment of bullets and attacks struck the thousand-handed, bull-headed beast, but they were nothing but a tickle. They failed to hurt it at all.


    It even blocked an Epic Companion Beast''s attack. As the thousand hands changed in form, the ground was sliced apart by the crisscrossing golden light. Amidst the golden light, a tank was sliced into two like paper.


    Instantly, everyone was horrified. Such an invincible dimensional creature made it impossible for anyone to think of putting up a resistance.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to summon the Golden Overlord Sword to slay the thousand-handed, bull-headed beast, he saw a figure tear through the air. It was a flying sword that resembled a blue rainbow.


    The flying sword circled the creature as it attempted to grab it with its thousand hands. However, it failed. Instead, the sword beam slashed out by the flying sword cleaved down on its numerous arms.


    Zhou Wen turned his head to look at the spot where the flying sword had come from and saw a figure standing on the roof. It was none other than Sunset College''s chancellor, Leng Zongzheng.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but have a thought when he saw that the flying sword didn''t manage to slice through the thousand-handed, bull-headed creature despite having the advantage. He summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and sneaked behind the creature.


    Taking advantage of the fact that it was attracted by the flying sword, he leaped above its head. The Golden Overlord Sword slashed down at the ox head with a resplendent sword beam.


    Boom!


    The thousand-handed, bull-headed creature collapsed to the ground. At the same time it died, the stone beasts, Fairies, and Vajras attacked even more crazily.


    Leng Zongzheng glanced at Zhou Wen and summoned his sword back before turning to sit on a chair. He had no intention of coming down to clean up the battlefield.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn''t stand on ceremony. He went to the thousand-handed, bull-headed creature''s corpse to see if it had left anything good.


    However, before he could reach the corpse, its body exploded. A terrifying blast instantly rushed towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to block him. The Six-Winged Guardian Dragon roared as it spewed out dragon breath to block the terrifying blast.


    And at the spot where the thousand-handed, bull-headed corpse was, a huge golden bull appeared. Its golden eyes were staring straight at him, and golden flames spewed out from its nostrils.

 667 Battling the Golden Bull

    "Yes, Chancellor. He''s our Young Master Wen. What do you think of him?" An Sheng said respectfully.


    "He''s a slippery one. He actually wanted to pick up freebies on the battlefield. He''s really greedy," Leng Zongzheng said.


    "Young Master Wen only wants to help. He didn''t mean to snatch anything from you," An Sheng hurriedly explained.


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t say anything else. It was impossible to tell if he was angry or not.


    Zhou Wen faced the golden bull-headed creature head-on and didn''t dare be careless. This was a battlefield. If he died, that would be it. Therefore, he didn''t charge at the golden bull-headed creature himself. Instead, he got Six-Winged Guardian Dragon to charge forward first.


    Six-Winged Guardian Dragon didn''t fear death as it transformed into a black bolt of lightning and charged over. The six dragon wings slashed at the golden bull like blades.


    The golden bull was massive, about the same size as a mammoth. It wasn''t at a disadvantage facing the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. When it saw Six-Winged Guardian Dragon charge at it, it roared and lowered its head to slam into it.


    Boom!


    Due to the terrifying collision, a huge crater formed on the ground. The golden bull and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon were evenly matched and neither of them retreated.


    Six-Winged''s front claws grabbed the horns on the golden bull''s head as the two monsters locked themselves in a stalemate.


    Golden flames constantly spewed out from the golden bull''s nose. The dragon wings on Six-Winged''s back flapped wildly, but neither was able to gain the upper hand. It looked like their strength was about the same.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and was about to lop off the golden bull''s head.


    To his surprise, the golden bull''s head suddenly shook. A golden bell hanging around its neck rang the moment it shook its head.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his mind go blank when he heard the sound. He was momentarily dazed.


    Six-Winged Guardian Dragon looked as though it was drunk. It staggered and involuntarily dispersed all the strength it exerted.


    The golden bull roared as a pair of thick and huge golden horns slammed into Six-Winged Guardian Dragon''s chest, piercing through its dragon scales and deeply impaling it.


    Six-Winged¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly summoned Six-Winged back.


    Although Six-Winged''s combat strength was only considered average among Mythical creatures, its Life Protection was a rare protective Wheel of Destiny. Having it for so long, Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to see it die.


    Now, Zhou Wen didn''t have time to think too much. The golden bull was now targeting him. Zhou Wen hurriedly retreated and threw the Golden Overlord Sword in his hand.


    The ringing of the golden bull''s bell had actually caused him and Six-Winged to suffer a mental blow, causing them to instantly feel dizzy. If he had been the one charging forward to fight the golden bull, he would probably have been killed.


    Before figuring out the meaning of the bell, Zhou Wen didn''t dare approach the golden bull.


    Although releasing Torch Dragon or Tyrant Behemoth was likely enough to finish it off, Zhou Wen didn''t wish to expose his two trump cards.


    When the golden bull saw Zhou Wen retreat, it immediately charged forward. It looked like it hated Zhou Wen who had ambushed it.


    The Golden Overlord Sword slashed at the golden bull autonomously. The golden sword beam was extremely sharp, but the golden bull managed to block the Golden Overlord Sword''s attack with its horns. The beams only left a shallow mark on the horns.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded when he saw this. The Golden Overlord Sword was augmented by Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable; yet, it only left a very shallow sword mark on the horns. The toughness of the horns was rather shocking.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The Golden Overlord Sword and the horns constantly clashed. The shockwave produced by the collision shattered everything around them. Even Zhou Wen could only retreat a second time.


    The golden bull wanted to catch up to Zhou Wen, but it couldn''t escape the Golden Overlord Sword''s entanglement. Therefore, it shook its neck again, ringing the bell once more.


    Zhou Wen was already dozens of meters away from the battlefield. When he heard the bell, his mind jolted as he felt momentary dizziness. Thankfully, the dizziness was short-lived. Zhou Wen reacted and staggered two steps on the ground without falling.


    As for a brainless Companion Beast like the Golden Overlord Sword, it actually showed signs of dizziness. Unguarded, it was sent flying by the golden bull''s horn.


    The Golden Overlord Sword flew out like a meteor and slammed into the Dragon Gate Grotto''s stone wall. The sword immediately embedded itself into the stone wall.


    What the hell is that bell? Does it actually have such a strange power? I used the Gods Retreat, but it was useless. From the looks of it, it isn''t a nomological force. Could it be a pure aural power? As Zhou Wen retreated, he summoned the Golden Overlord Sword back. He saw that there were many cracks on the Golden Overlord Sword''s blade.


    Without the Gold Overlord Sword''s entanglement, the golden bull roared as it charged at Zhou Wen like a golden train that had gone amok.


    An Sheng wanted to render his assistance, but he was stopped by Leng Zongzheng. "Don''t worry. That punk hasn''t done his best. Let''s wait and see."


    An Sheng also knew that Zhou Wen hadn''t used his full strength. After all, Tyrant Behemoth hadn''t appeared. However, it was best if he didn''t expose Tyrant Behemoth.


    With Leng Zongzheng''s extraordinary status, An Sheng couldn''t refute him. All he could do was stand by the side and continue watching.


    Must I summon Torch Dragon to deal with it? Zhou Wen rushed out, but he couldn''t think of a way to deal with the bell on its neck.


    In terms of combat abilities, the golden bull, Six-Winged, and Golden Overlord Sword were about equal. However, the bell on its neck was too bizarre, preventing Truth Listener and Gods Retreat from showing any effect.


    If it''s only an aural power, Truth Listener should have reacted. Why isn''t even Truth Listener reacting? Zhou Wen was depressed.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen led the golden bull closer to Dragon Gate Grotto to prevent any further human casualties.


    When the golden bull saw that it couldn''t catch up to Zhou Wen, it shook its head again. The bell rang again.


    This time, Zhou Wen was already prepared. He charged into the sky and switched to the Godfiend Era Essence Energy Art.


    His head spun again, but due to the Godfiend Era''s spatial powers, Zhou Wen remained suspended in midair and didn''t fall.


    When the golden bull saw that Zhou Wen didn''t fall, it leaped up and charged at him like a gigantic golden cannonball.

 668 Bull Figh

    Boom!


    The golden bull''s leap lost its momentum as its body fell to the ground heavily, smashing a huge crater on the ground.


    This fellow can''t fly? Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He pulled out his Bamboo Blade and slashed at the golden bull beneath him with Demonic Astral Wheel.


    The golden bull defended with its horn, slamming into the Demonic Astral Wheel and shattering it. With a roar, it leaped up and lunged at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly flew higher, preventing the golden bull from touching him before it landed on the ground.


    Zhou Wen knew the principle of kiting in gaming terms¡ªretreating when the enemy advanced and chasing when the enemy retreated. The moment the golden bull landed, he swooped down and slashed out Demonic Astral Wheel with his Bamboo Blade.


    The golden bull was infuriated. After landing on the ground, it leaped up once again and began to ring the bell in midair. However, Zhou Wen had already flown to a high altitude. Although his head was dizzy, he didn''t fall. The golden bull couldn''t jump high enough, so it couldn''t touch him.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he engaged in guerilla warfare with the golden bull. At the same time, he lured the enraged golden bull towards Dragon Gate Grotto''s dimensional creatures.


    When the infuriated golden bull landed, it immediately squashed many dimensional creatures. When it rang the bell, the dimensional creatures that were more than a hundred meters nearby were affected and became momentarily dizzy.


    As such, the dimensional creatures'' offensive slowed down significantly, greatly reducing the pressure on the frontline soldiers.


    Zhou Wen lured the golden bull as it charged through the monster horde, causing great chaos.


    A large number of Fairies flew towards Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade in one hand and the Overlord Sword in the other. Wherever the saber beams and sword beams went, blood splattered everywhere, unleashing pandemonium on the dimensional creatures at the rear.


    The soldiers who were engaged in an intense battle saw that someone had stormed into the dimensional creatures'' horde alone. It was as though he had entered no man''s land. The blood in them pumped with zeal as they unleashed greater firepower.


    Many Epic officers and tutors, who were in the midst of killing, felt their spirits lift. The pressure they felt seemed to lessen significantly.


    Zhou Wen lured the golden bull and constantly stormed through the dimensional creatures, but he failed to find a way to nullify the bell''s ringing.


    Thankfully, the golden bull couldn''t fly, so it couldn''t threaten Zhou Wen''s safety.


    Even if he didn''t wake up in time, with the Golden Overlord Sword by his side, no matter how many Fairies came, they would all be killed with a single strike.


    It''s definitely not an aural power. Otherwise, there''s no reason for me to be unable to withstand it at all. Even if it''s a spatial-type power, it''s impossible for me to have zero resistance. Could it be that the bell''s power is actually directly attacking the soul? Zhou Wen thought to himself as the golden bull went crazy from Zhou Wen''s teasing.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The golden bull leaped up and repeatedly vibrated the bell in midair. Zhou Wen immediately felt as though his brain was about to explode as he hugged his head and moaned in pain.


    Thankfully, the bell''s range was huge. The surrounding Fairies were also affected in worse ways than Zhou Wen. They screamed and fell from the sky.


    After the golden bull landed, it took a few steps back and pawed its hoof on the ground a few times. With a sudden run, it leaped up and reached a record-breaking height. The thick horns on its head slammed into Zhou Wen, who was hugging his head in midair. The bell kept ringing.


    Zhou Wen felt as though his brain had been struck by a hammer. The pain left his mind blank.


    However, Zhou Wen also knew that the golden bull would definitely deliver a fatal strike at this moment. His willpower was much stronger than that of the average person. Furthermore, when he cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra in the early days, the Lost Immortal Sutra kept chanting incantations into his ears all day, making his mind more resilient.


    Under such circumstances, Zhou Wen could persist by sheer willpower alone and use Lost Country''s teleportation ability.


    Almost at the instant Zhou Wen teleported out, two bodies rushed to where he was.


    One figure was naturally the golden bull, and the other figure was Li Xuan, who was wearing his carapace. He had insect wings on his back.


    "Holy sh*t, what''s going on?" Li Xuan had originally rushed over to save Zhou Wen, but to his surprise, Zhou Wen had vanished. The raging golden bull charged at Li Xuan.


    The insect wings on Li Xuan''s back flapped as he narrowly avoided the golden bull''s horns. He somersaulted and ended up landing on the golden bull''s back. He hugged the ox head and cried out, "Old Zhou, I''m in deep shit because of you. Why didn''t you run earlier when you could?"


    After Zhou Wen teleported into the distance, he used Ghost Steps to widen the distance again. When he heard Li Xuan, he turned his head and saw Li Xuan sprawled on the golden bull, shouting.


    The golden bull angrily jumped around, trying to shake Li Xuan off, but Li Xuan seemed to be stuck to its back. It couldn''t shake him off.


    What was strange was that the golden bull''s bell was useless against him.


    "Li Xuan, are you immune to the bull''s bell?" Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    "I just find it a little noisy. Nothing else. I say, quickly think of a way to get me down¡­" Li Xuan shouted.


    "I heard that insects don''t have brains. Could it be that the bell''s strength is really a mental attack? That''s why it''s useless against the brainless Li Xuan?" Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn''t really think that Li Xuan was brainless, but that his Life Soul was problematic. After all, he had absorbed the Evil King Gu''s Life Soul. It could be said that it was a fusion of two Life Souls. It was indeed stronger than the mental strength of an average person''s Life Soul, so it was very likely the reason it could withstand the bell''s soul-stirring chimes.


    "Hold on a little longer. I''ll soon think of a way to resolve the golden bull." Zhou Wen didn''t immediately rush back when he saw that Li Xuan''s life wasn''t in danger.


    It was mainly because it was useless for him to rush back now unless he summoned his Companion Beasts like Truth Listener, Torch Dragon, and Tyrant.


    "Bro, can you hurry up? I''m getting a little cowsick¡­" Li Xuan cried out with a long face. He didn''t dare get off the bull''s back, afraid that he would be killed by it the moment he got off.


    Zhou Wen saw that the golden bull was extremely irritated and didn''t chase after him. It wanted to throw Li Xuan down and kill him. Immediately, his heart stirred as he gripped the Golden Overlord Sword tightly and secretly changed his direction.


    The Golden Overlord Sword and Bamboo Blade constantly slew the nearby dimensional creatures, reducing them to rivers of blood.


    "Li Xuan, agitate it a little," Zhou Wen shouted.


    Li Xuan steeled his mind and reached out his hands to grab the bull''s ears, yanking at them ruthlessly.


    The golden bull flew into a rage as it raised its hind legs and twisted its body in midair, hoping to throw Li Xuan off.


    Zhou Wen finally saw an opportunity and threw the Golden Overlord Sword like a javelin.


    The Golden Overlord Sword transformed into a golden bolt of lightning. At the moment the golden bull raised its hind legs to shake Li Xuan off, the sword pierced through it, slicing something off.


    "Ow!" The golden bull''s eyes widened to the limit, but its pupils shrank into needle-like slits. It opened its mouth and let out a strange cry.

 669 Resentful Chancellor

    "Get out of the way!" Zhou Wen roared as he cleaved down the Bamboo Blade at the golden bull''s neck.


    Li Xuan ducked to the side. The golden bull seemed to be in so much pain that it forgot how to dodge. When Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade slashed at its neck, a metallic clang sounded. A long gash appeared on its neck as blood immediately gushed out.


    Zhou Wen''s other hand had already grabbed the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed. The golden bull was completely at Zhou Wen''s mercy. It didn''t resist as Zhou Wen''s cleaved through more than half its neck.


    "No good. Retreat quickly!" Zhou Wen felt a sense of danger when he saw a strange aura emit from the golden bull. As he shouted, he flew backward.


    Li Xuan wasn''t slow either, but before the duo could run far, the golden bull''s body exploded like a nuclear bomb. The terrifying power destroyed everything in a radius of two to three hundred meters.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were sent flying by the shockwave. They tumbled far away before stopping. The armor on their bodies was in shambles, and blood stained their backs.


    Zhou Wen got up and looked in the direction of the golden bull''s self-detonation. He saw a crystal and a Companion Egg drop on the ground. He couldn''t help but be delighted.


    Ignoring the injuries on his body, Zhou Wen quickly rushed towards the crystal and Companion Egg. The golden bull was so awesome that it had dropped two items at once. It was the best.


    Furthermore, its bell had a strange power. If he could hatch such a golden bull and make it his pet, it would be quite useful.


    However, before Zhou Wen could reach the Companion Egg, he saw a white figure flash past. Then, the golden bull Companion Egg on the ground vanished.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly turned his head and saw a white parrot hold the Companion Egg in its claws as it flew through the air. Its speed was shockingly fast, and in an instant, it had already flown to the top of a skyscraper and landed on Leng Zongzheng''s shoulder. The Companion Egg in its claw had landed in Leng Zongzheng''s hand.


    Leng Zongzheng held the Companion Egg in his hand as he looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile. It was as though he was saying: ''Since you snatched from me once, I''ll snatch from you too.''


    What kind of chancellor is this? Is he that petty? Zhou Wen muttered inwardly as he rushed over to pick up the dimensional crystal.


    The dimensional crystal was like a golden crystal. Inside was the shadow of a bull. It was clearly an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Although he didn''t obtain the Companion Egg, obtaining an Essence Energy Skill Crystal was a form of consolation.


    As no new dimensional creatures rushed out, the terrifying dimensional creatures were finally suppressed. All the dimensional creatures that charged out of Dragon Gate Grotto were killed.


    Although they had obtained victory, there was very little joy on their faces. Many soldiers and officers had sacrificed themselves, so most wore solemn expressions.


    The soldiers began clearing the battlefield. Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan retreated and returned to their temporary encampment to rest. They still needed to continue delivering the supplies in a while.


    Li Xuan''s injuries had already healed, but Zhou Wen couldn''t recover that quickly. Although the wounds on his back weren''t bleeding, they had a burning sensation. All he could do was lie in the tent and rest.


    Feng Qiuyan was so tired that he fell asleep the moment he collapsed onto the blanket. He had killed so many dimensional creatures that his stamina and Essence Energy were severely drained.


    "It''s already so terrifying with Dragon Gate Grotto suffering a breakout. If all the dimensional zones in Luoyang were to encounter a breakout, it would be unimaginable. There''s no way humans can survive," Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen shared the same thoughts. Up to now, the difference between humans and dimensional zones was still huge.


    "Old Zhou, do you think another dimensional creature will rush out of Dragon Gate Grotto?" Li Xuan asked again.


    "It''s hard to say so, but this matter definitely isn''t over. The giant golden bird on the mountaintop, as well as the monsters in the water, and the skeleton in monk robes in the temple haven''t moved yet," Zhou Wen said as he used his phone to snap a picture of the Essence Energy Skill Crystal he had just obtained.


    Great Might Vajra Bull Crystal: Mythical


    Absorption Requirement: Constitution 41, Essence Energy 41, Buddhist Essence Energy Art


    Zhou Wen looked at the requirement. Although it didn''t have any special stat requirements, he couldn''t meet the two 41 stat requirements. All he could do was put the Essence Energy Crystal away.


    After the battle, Dragon Gate Grotto temporarily calmed down. Without any dimensional creatures rushing out, Zhou Wen and company could rest.


    "Young Master Wen, how are your injuries? I''ve brought you some medicine." An Sheng walked in with a smile, holding a small bottle in his hand.


    "There''s no need. I''ve almost recovered. I''ll be fine after some rest." Zhou Wen was wearing Runic Heavy-Armor during the battle, so his injuries weren''t serious. He just needed some time to recover.


    After all, he wasn''t Li Xuan. He didn''t have such potent self-recovery abilities.


    "This medicine is good. It''ll heal you quickly once it''s applied. I''ll apply some for you." An Sheng opened the medicine bottle and dripped the liquid on Zhou Wen''s wound. Zhou Wen immediately felt a refreshing feeling envelop his wound, making him feel much better.


    An Sheng applied the medicine evenly on his wound and said, "Today, the three of you were amazing. Many of the men are talking about the three of you. All of you are considered famous now. If any of you wish to enter the Sunset Army in the future, you will definitely be protected by the soldiers."


    Zhou Wen didn''t say a word as Li Xuan said with a smile, "That''s for sure. When I was young, a fortune-teller told me that I had the life of a general. I''ll definitely become a senior official in the future."


    "Third Young Master, if you wish to join the Sunset Army, I guarantee that I''ll leave a good position for you," An Sheng said.


    "We''ll see when the time comes. There are still two to three years before graduation," Li Xuan said.


    An Sheng naturally understood that Li Xuan was only making small talk. The Li family might not be willing to let him enter the Sunset Army.


    An Sheng was about to say something when a soldier hurriedly came over and said, "Adjutant An, there''s something happening at Dragon Gate Grotto. Deputy Governor Qin requests your presence."


    "Do you want us to go with you?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "There''s no need. All of you can rest. If something really happened, Deputy Governor Qin wouldn''t be so at ease to get someone to invite me over," An Sheng said as he left Zhou Wen''s tent.


    Although Zhou Wen and company didn''t go, they soon learned what had happened. A strange scene appeared in Dragon Gate Grotto''s Alchemy Cave. A black smoke surged out and enveloped the entire entrance of the Alchemy Cave. Furthermore, they could hear the screams of wraiths and resentful ghosts in the black smoke.


    However, that was all. No dimensional creatures rushed out.

 670 Invisible Enemy

    "Old Zhou, where did these strange Companion Beasts come from?" Li Xuan curiously sized up the Companion Beasts Zhou Wen had summoned.


    "Some of them were bought. Some were obtained when I was out training," Zhou Wen said as he lay down to rest.


    Feng Qiuyan had already fallen asleep and didn''t chat with Li Xuan. All he could do was lie down and sleep as well.


    He slept until midnight when he suddenly heard a commotion outside. He didn''t know what was happening.


    "Why is it so noisy in the dead of the night? Could it be that the dimensional creatures in Dragon Gate Grotto have rushed out again?" Li Xuan said gloomily when he was woken up from his beauty sleep.


    Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan sat up as well. Just as they were about to head out to take a look, they suddenly saw the tent door open. Then, they saw An Sheng barge in. He asked anxiously, "Young Master Wen, are you alright?"


    "We''re fine. What can happen to us?" Li Xuan asked An Sheng in puzzlement.


    An Sheng carefully sized up the three of them and heaved a long sigh of relief after a long while. "It''s good that you''re fine. Stay here and don''t go out. Something happened outside. After it''s settled, you can leave."


    "What happened?" Zhou Wen asked An Sheng.


    "See for yourself." An Sheng pointed outside.


    Zhou Wen and company looked out through the crack and were immediately so shocked that their jaws nearly dropped to the ground.


    On the ground, walls, and tents outside, there were all kinds of mushrooms of different colors.


    "Holy sh*t, when did this place become a mushroom base?" Li Xuan asked.


    "Take a closer look at the soldiers outside," An Sheng said with a heavy expression.


    As An Sheng said that, Zhou Wen noticed that a soldier''s face was covered in what seemed like a pimple breakout. It was filled with many tiny mushrooms.


    Although the mushrooms looked pretty, they made one''s hair stand on end when they were sprouting from a person''s face.


    The soldier''s face was filled with horror. He was clawing at the mushrooms on his face, but just as he pulled out one, another mushroom would emerge.


    He kept pulling them out, leaving his face covered in blood, but the little mushrooms kept popping out. He was so frightened that he was already crying. He was plucking the mushrooms from his face as he cried.


    There were many people like him. Although there were already officers controlling the situation, this fear made them lose their usual calm. The scene was very chaotic.


    Zhou Wen and company''s legs turned limp as they subconsciously touched their faces. Thankfully, there weren''t any mushrooms growing on their faces.


    "I don''t know yet. We''re investigating. In the entire encampment, only a handful of people haven''t been infected with that strange thing. It''s probably related to the phenomena at Alchemy Cave. You guys stay here for now. In a while, I might need you to cooperate with me for the investigations. I hope we can find out why some aren''t growing mushrooms." An Sheng''s expression was solemn as he rushed out.


    "It''s really a blessing from the heavens that it didn''t infect us. Otherwise, I wouldn''t know how to live if my handsome face was destroyed," Li Xuan said with lingering fear as he zipped up the tent.


    "I don''t think it''s as simple as heaven''s blessing. There must be something that prevented us from being infected by those mushrooms." Zhou Wen looked around and didn''t see anything amiss.


    There weren''t any mushrooms in their tent. The three of them and his few Companion Beasts were fine. Tai Sui was lying near the tent''s entrance, doing something there.


    Since it was something invisible to the naked eye, Zhou Wen used the Truth Listener earring''s ability to listen. Furthermore, he pushed it to its limits.


    Upon hearing his surroundings, he immediately discovered a problem.


    At the tent''s entrance, there were many microbial things that humans couldn''t see with the naked eye. They were undergoing random walks in the air.


    Those tiny objects were even smaller than dust. If Zhou Wen hadn''t deliberately used Truth Listener to observe them, he wouldn''t have discovered them. Even using Truth Listener''s hearing, Zhou Wen hadn''t noticed them in the beginning.


    The reason why he discovered their existence was that Tai Sui was actually devouring those little things. He looked like he was enjoying himself.


    Zhou Wen expanded Truth Listener''s range and soon discovered that there were many such tiny objects in the air outside. They were even smaller than dust, so humans couldn''t see them at all. However, when they landed on the skin or something else, they would burrow into their pores and quickly sprout to grow tiny mushrooms.


    As they were so small, no one discovered them. The entire encampment was filled with such tiny objects, as though it was snowing.


    However, there were very few people who could see them apart from Zhou Wen. All the soldiers were at a loss as danger floated around them.


    Zhou Wen reached out and tried grabbing them, but he realized that his palm couldn''t grab them at all. They were too small, so it was useless to grab them. They were like bacteria. Despite knowing that they were there, it was very difficult to eliminate them.


    Tai Sui was actually able to discover them and even eat them. It''s quite impressive. Zhou Wen saw that Tai Sui had already finished all the tiny objects in the tent. He was eager to head out to eat more.


    Zhou Wen realized that the three of them were fine because Tai Sui was here. It had eaten all the little things that had invaded their quarters, preventing them from being infected.


    The military had clearly realized the problem as well. Some soldiers in antibacterial suits were spewing chemicals to remove bacteria and fungus from the encampment.


    However, it was useless. Those things were clearly not something ordinary chemicals could deal with.


    "Don''t go out yet. I''ll take a look at the entrance," Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan before opening the tent door.


    The moment the door opened, many of those little creatures entered with the gust of wind that entered. Tai Sui immediately jumped around excitedly and devoured the little creatures that humans couldn''t see.


    Zhou Wen used an Essence Energy Skill, Small Fireball, that dropped from the Metalwork Temple. A scarlet flame ball flew out from his fingertip and hit the invisible things in the air.


    The tiny objects were burned to ashes by the flames. They didn''t appear very strong, but because they were so tiny, they couldn''t be discovered. That was also why they were so dangerous.


    After burning a few tiny objects to death, Zhou Wen suddenly realized in surprise that a tiny Companion Egg dropped. The Companion Egg was even smaller than the tiny objects. If not for Truth Listener''s ability. Zhou Wen wouldn''t have seen it at all.


    He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the tiny Companion Egg. It was immediately stored on his phone.


    Those little things are really dimensional creatures! After Zhou Wen saw the Companion Egg''s stats, he realized the true origins of the little creatures.


    Parasite Spore: Mortal

 671 The Weakest Companion Beast in History

    Strength: 0


    Speed: 1


    Constitution: 1


    Essence Energy: 1


    Talent Skill: Parasitizing


    Companion Form: None


    These stats are so weak, aren''t they? Zhou Wen had never seen a Companion Beast with such weak stats. However, although they were very weak, they had their own advantages. Even Epic experts would be in great pain and trouble if they got parasitized by not being careful.


    Tai Sui had already rolled out and jumped around excitedly, devouring all the Parasite Spores it could see.


    Zhou Wen didn''t continue killing the spores. Firstly, there were too many. Ordinary skills couldn''t kill them all. Secondly, there were still many soldiers and officers in the encampment, so it wasn''t appropriate for him to use large-scale skills to kill the spores.


    I can still remove the Parasite Spores outside, but how can I deal with the Parasite Spores that have already parasitized people? Zhou Wen pushed Truth Listener''s powers to the limits as he wanted to observe if all the spores were the same.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that most of the spores were transparent and slightly white. These were identical to the Companion Egg which dropped.


    A small portion of the Parasite Spores was light red in color. There were very few of them. Zhou Wen tried killing some of them, but the dimensional crystals that dropped were all at the Legendary stage and their stats were very low.


    It was very rare for Mortal spores to drop Companion Eggs. Zhou Wen had killed many, but no Companion Eggs dropped. The Mortal Companion Egg from before could only be attributed to luck.


    Zhou Wen walked behind Tai Sui. Wherever Tai Sui passed, the spores dodged it as though they were avoiding the plague. Most of them failed to dodge in time and were swallowed by Tai Sui.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen discovered another golden spore but killing it was as simple as the others. A tiny fireball killed the golden spore.


    There were extremely few golden spores. Among the countless spores, it was probably a one in a billion existence. Zhou Wen found a few and after killing them, a Companion Egg dropped.


    Golden Parasite Spore: Epic


    Life Providence: Microbe


    Life Soul: Parasitizing Spirit


    Strength: 18


    Speed: 20


    Constitution: 17


    Essence Energy: 20


    Talent Skill: Parasitizing


    Companion Form: None


    This Epic Companion Beast has also broken the record for the lower limits of an Epic Companion Beast. I originally imagined that the weakest one would be the baby tiger, but I never expected there to be an Epic Companion Beast weaker than it. Furthermore, it''s much weaker. Zhou Wen realized that the spores were indeed weak. They could survive simply because of their microscopic bodies.


    The higher the level of the spores, the smaller their sizes. Even Truth Listener''s ability could barely see the Golden Parasite Spore.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen discovered a tiny purple dot floating around. It appeared and disappeared at times. Even with Truth Listener''s ability, it nearly failed to detect its existence. It was just too small.


    Could it be a Mythical spore? Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he hurriedly got Tai Sui to roll over.


    Even the Mythical spore was afraid of the Mortal Tai Sui. Just as it was about to run, it was burned by Zhou Wen''s fireball.


    However, this time, the purple spore wasn''t burned to death. It continued floating far away. Zhou Wen pulled out the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed with a powerful sword beam.


    Although it was very small, the sword beam''s area was large enough, so it still managed to strike the tiny creature.


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, the Golden Sword Aura failed to kill it.


    This spore is interesting. Zhou Wen used a few more skills and realized that he couldn''t kill the purple spore.


    At that moment, Tai Sui had already rolled over. It leaped up and pounced at the purple spore.


    The purple spore that couldn''t even be killed by weapons trembled as though it had encountered a nemesis. It was sucked up by Tai Sui.


    Seeing that the purple spore had been sucked into Tai Sui''s body, Zhou Wen couldn''t help but sigh. It''s true that one object bests another. For a Mortal-stage Tai Sui to be able to restrain a Mythical spore, this guy is quite useful. In the future, with Tai Sui by my side, I won''t be afraid of being ambushed by microbial Companion Beasts and dimensional creatures.


    "I say, Tai Sui, don''t just focus on eating. Did it leave behind any Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals?" Zhou Wen didn''t hold much hope as he asked casually.


    To his surprise, Tai Sui really understood him. It reluctantly spat out a microscopic purple object.


    Even with Truth Listener''s ability, he nearly missed it. After falling to the ground, he searched for quite a while before finding the tiny point.


    He hurriedly pulled out his phone and took a picture of the purple point.


    Primordial Spore: Mythical


    Life Providence: Eternal Immortality


    Life Soul: Parasitizing Spirit


    Wheel of Destiny: Soul Parasitizing


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Essence Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Parasitizing


    Companion Form: None


    Without a doubt, this was the weakest Mythical Companion Beast that Zhou Wen had ever seen. There was nothing worse. Its extreme weakness could be seen just by looking at its stats.


    However, such Companion Beasts weren''t meant for combat. Their effects might be even more terrifying than combat-type Companion Beasts.


    He directly hatched the Primordial Spore and expended very little Essence Energy. It was about the same as the Essence Energy needed for Epic Companion Beasts.


    Thankfully, as its owner, Zhou Wen could sense its location. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have known where his tiny Companion Beast was if he only looked at it with his eyes.


    After testing it out, he used the Primordial Spore to kill the ordinary spores. Although it was feasible, the combat ability of the Primordial Spore wasn''t high. It wasn''t killing as fast as Zhou Wen''s fireballs, much less competing with Tai Sui''s devouring.


    Tai Sui jumped around in the encampment and swallowed countless spores. Its body clearly became bigger, and the spores in the encampment decreased significantly.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to search the entire time, hoping to find another Primordial Spore. However, he was somewhat disappointed and didn''t discover a second one.


    "Young Master Wen, why did you come out? The situation outside is terrible. You shouldn''t have come out." An Sheng arrived in front of the clearing. Qin Wufu, Leng Zongzheng, as well as the military''s generals and tutors, were with him.


    However, despite there being so many people, other than An Sheng and Leng Zongzheng, there were mushrooms on everyone''s faces. They looked extremely terrifying.


    Even Deputy Governor Qin succumbed to it? Zhou Wen saw a golden mushroom on Qin Wufu''s face. It was likely an Epic Golden Spore that parasitized his face.


    Although Ah Sheng''s body was covered in spores, the spores didn''t drill into his body for some reason.


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t have any spores on him. His body seemed to be protected by an invisible force, preventing the spores from approaching him.


    "It''s not difficult to remove the spores in the encampment, but the spores that have already parasitized people require another solution." Leng Zongzheng looked at the mushrooms in the encampment and summoned his Demonic Organ Throne.

 672 Tai Suis Evolution

    Invisible ripples spread out across the encampment. Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that with the music, the invisible spores were gathering in front of the Demonic Organ Throne like soldiers that had received an order.


    The spores were originally barely visible, but due to their numbers, one could gradually see a faint white mist as more and more spores gathered.


    The fog became thicker and thicker, and soon, people could see it more clearly.


    Originally, Tai Sui couldn''t eat many spores despite bouncing around. Now that the spores had gathered in a region, it became excited. It bounced amidst the white mist formed by the spores. As it consumed a large number of spores, it also grew in size.


    The organ music continued as large amounts of spores gathered in a spot. They gradually turned corporeal, like snowflakes.


    Finally, the snowflakes gathered together and turned into a white ball that resembled cotton candy.


    Tai Sui bounced over and swallowed the cotton candy-like spores in no time. No one knew how many spores it had eaten as the number was already impossible to estimate.


    When Zhou Wen vaguely felt that Tai Sui was about to evolve, he hurriedly summoned it back.


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t stop Tai Sui from devouring the spores. He only glanced at Zhou Wen before saying to An Sheng, "The mushrooms in the encampment must be burned. They can''t be left behind at all to ensure that there are no latent dangers."


    "Yes, I''ll do it now." An Sheng received the order and led his men to clear the mushrooms in the encampment.


    "Chancellor, the mushrooms in the encampment are easy to deal with. What should we do with the ones on the soldiers?" Qin Wufu asked worriedly.


    Leng Zongzheng said, "If these spores hadn''t parasitized a body, it wouldn''t be difficult to remove them. However, once they carried out the parasitization, they became a part of the body. It''s like the flesh and blood of the body. Even if one slices off the flesh, the self-healing ability of the body will regrow it. It''s very difficult to remove it at the root."


    Qin Wufu and company revealed looks of worry when they heard that.


    "You, come with me," Leng Zongzheng suddenly said to Zhou Wen before he left.


    It can''t be, right? Don''t tell me Chancellor Leng is such a petty person. Is he going to settle scores for letting Tai Sui eat the spores? Zhou Wen followed Leng Zongzheng to his office in a somewhat depressed manner.


    "Take a seat." Leng Zongzheng''s office was different from the offices of ordinary chancellors. Instead of calling it an office, it was more like a tea room.


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t mention this matter. He sat at the tea table and said as he brewed tea, "Do you hate me for snatching the Companion Egg?"


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, "That was originally your prey. It''s only right for you to take the Companion Egg. Why would I have such thoughts?"


    Zhou Wen really meant it. It was Leng Zongzheng who had attacked the thousand-handed, bull-headed creature first. He was trying to scoop up the benefits but ended up being taken advantage of by Leng Zongzheng. There was nothing to be said. He could only blame himself for not being fast enough.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen''s words, Leng Zongzheng smiled and placed a cup of brewed tea in front of him. Then, he continued, "Do you know the origins of that golden bull?"


    Zhou Wen only knew that the bull was called the Great Might Vajra Bull. As for its origins, he really didn''t know anything. All he could do was shake his head.


    "The golden bull''s former thousand-handed form is an imitation of Great Might Virtue Vajra. Great Might Virtue Vajra was a guardian Vajra of Tantric Buddhism. It was able to subdue evil demons, so it was known as having great might. It had the virtues of defending the good, so it was also known as having great virtue. There are also titles such as Yam¨¡ntaka, Vajrabhairava, and Bull-Headed Wisdom King. Previously, Tibetans believed that the Great Might Virtue Vajra was the wrath of Bodhisattva Ma?ju?r¨©, so it had great might and terrifying power," Leng Zongzheng said as he put down his teacup.


    "Does that mean that the golden bull is the true body of the mighty Great Might Virtue Vajra?" Zhou Wen said in surprise. He never expected the golden bull to have such a huge background.


    However, Leng Zongzheng said with a smile, "If it was the real Great Might Virtue Vajra, it wouldn''t have been so easy for you to kill it. At most, it can only be considered an embodiment."


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, It''s no wonder that the golden bull is called the Great Might Vajra Bull. So it''s related to the Great Might Virtue Vajra. However, why is Principal Leng telling me this?


    As though he had seen through Zhou Wen''s thoughts, Leng Zongzheng took out an item from the drawer beside him and placed it on the table. It was the Great Might Vajra Bull Companion Egg.


    However, the Great Might Vajra Bull Companion Egg was somewhat different from before. There were thin lines drawn on it. They crisscrossed and looked like a more popular magic circle in the West District, but there were some symbols that looked like something from Tantric Buddhism that emitted strange energy fluctuations.


    "I''ve already dealt with this Companion Egg. Even at the Epic stage, you will be able to incubate it. Do you want it?" Leng Zongzheng said with a faint smile.


    "Will you believe me if I say I don''t, Chancellor?" Zhou Wen asked.


    Leng Zongzheng laughed. "Since you want it, take it."


    "Really?" Zhou Wen felt that there was no free lunch in this world. How could anyone be so kind? They had paid such a huge price to deal with the Mythical Companion Egg only to give it to him.


    Leng Zongzheng said, "I''m afraid there''s no way to resolve the problems in Dragon Gate Grotto from outside. In the end, we can only enter. That''s a Buddhist land. When the time comes, this Companion Egg will definitely be of great use. Perhaps it can save lives, so those who have it have to enter Dragon Gate Grotto. You contributed to its birth, so you are the first person I''m asking. If you are going, just hatch it. If you aren''t going, I hope you can leave it to others."


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant when he heard that. He naturally wanted the Great Might Vajra Bull, but Dragon Gate Grotto was extremely dangerous. If he entered it during this period of time, something ominous would definitely happen.


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t hurry him, nor did he say a word. All he did was drink his tea and wait for Zhou Wen''s decision.


    "If I don''t go, will you use this Companion Egg?" Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    Leng Zongzheng shook his head. "I have other things to do. I don''t have the time to control it."


    "Then who do you plan on getting?" Zhou Wen asked again.


    "If you don''t want it, the next candidate should be Tianzuo. I believe he won''t reject it," Leng Zongzheng said.


    "Alright, I''ll go." Although Zhou Wen had some guesses, he couldn''t help but feel a little moved when he heard that An Tianzuo might obtain the Companion Egg. After some thought, he agreed to enter Dragon Gate Grotto.


    "Take the Companion Egg and hatch it as soon as possible. The opportunity to enter Dragon Gate Grotto should be in the next few days," Leng Zongzheng said with a smile.

 673 Clearing the Parasite Spores

    He saw two mushrooms growing on Feng Qiuyan''s face.


    "Why are there mushrooms on your face?" Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Before he left, he had already gotten Tai Sui to clean up the spores in the tent. After sealing the tent, there shouldn''t have been any problems.


    Feng Qiuyan said with a smile, "I''m fine. I was just curious. I unzipped the tent and wanted to take a look at the situation outside, but who knew that I would succumb to it? However, it''s not a big deal. There should be a way to resolve it."


    "In your dreams. The military experts and tutors are studying the Parasite Spores, but they still haven''t found a way to eliminate the mushrooms. Do you know that many soldiers have fainted because of the mushrooms? They might be like vegetative humans that won''t wake up again." Zhou Wen was somewhat anxious.


    "Then what should we do? I originally imagined that Brother Sheng was fine when he came. We just wanted to see the situation outside and didn''t even go out. I originally imagined that nothing would happen, but I never expected Little Yanyan to fall victim," Li Xuan said gloomily.


    "You''re fine?" Zhou Wen sized up Li Xuan. Feng Qiuyan had fallen victim. Logically speaking, with the numerous spores, it was impossible for only two to float in. It was odd that Li Xuan hadn''t succumbed to it.


    "It should be because I''m wearing my carapace. I don''t have any mushrooms growing on me," Li Xuan said.


    "That''s very likely." Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    "It''s fine. With so many tutors and military experts researching day and night, it''s only a matter of time before they can come up with a treatment," Feng Qiuyan ended up consoling them.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said to Feng Qiuyan, "I have something that could work, but it''s not guaranteed to be effective. It might end up completely useless. Do you want to give it a try?"


    Feng Qiuyan didn''t ask Zhou Wen what method he had and said, "Coach, feel free to try. It''s best if it works. It''s fine if it''s useless."


    Zhou Wen didn''t stand on ceremony as he summoned Doctor Darkness. Then, he got Doctor Darkness to use Fight Poison With Poison to inject some poison into the mushrooms.


    The mushrooms quickly withered and fell off automatically.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan waited for a while longer. Seeing that there weren''t any mushrooms growing on the wound on Feng Qiuyan''s face, they were overjoyed.


    ¡­


    An Tianzuo had arrived at Leng Zongzheng''s office. He was brewing tea for Leng Zongzheng while An Sheng stood silently to the side.


    Leng Zongzheng said with a smile, "I''ve already seen some of his abilities. He should be able to control the Great Might Vajra Bull."


    "Teacher, you think too highly of him. Although he does have some talent and is quite lucky to have obtained some Mythical Companion Beasts, he''s still a student after all. His experience and mental state aren''t mature enough. He hasn''t experienced much, so I''m afraid he won''t be able to deal with sudden and unknown crises. Instead, he will be a burden on us," An Tianzuo said.


    "I remember that when you were his age, you had already led the Sunset Army to battle everywhere. You engaged in a slaughter in many dimensional zones, right? In that case, he''s not young anymore," Leng Zongzheng said as he sipped his tea.


    "How can that be the same? I was trained from a young age. I''ve experienced countless life-and-death situations, but he hasn''t experienced any setbacks. Relying on him for this matter is unreliable. Why don''t you reconsider?" An Tianzuo said.


    Leng Zongzheng smiled at An Tianzuo and said, "Are you afraid that he won''t do well, or are you afraid that he will be in danger?"


    "Of course I''m afraid that he screws up and implicates us," An Tianzuo immediately answered.


    "So that''s how it is. Then, it''s fine. Even if he can''t help much, it''s not a problem for him to control the Great Might Vajra Bull. As for whether he will die in there or not, it doesn''t matter since you aren''t concerned," Leng Zongzheng said with his eyes narrowed as he sipped his tea.


    "Teacher, you should have heard that the empress dowager in my family dotes on him very much. If he were to die inside, I wouldn''t mind, but I''m afraid that the person back home wouldn''t agree to it. When that happens, not only will I have a headache, but you will also have a headache, right?" An Tianzuo said.


    "So that''s how it is." Leng Zongzheng looked enlightened as he took a sip of tea and said, "However, I think Zhou Wen has quite a lot of combat experience. His adaptability isn''t bad either, and he has quite a number of Companion Beasts. With the Great Might Vajra Bull''s protection, there shouldn''t be much of a problem."


    An Tianzuo was about to say something when a soldier reported, "Overseer, there''s news from the research institute. The problem of the Parasite Spores has been resolved."


    An Tianzuo was overjoyed when he heard that. He got up and asked, "Excellent, that''s great. Which expert or tutor came up with the solution?"


    Although the Parasite Spores were very weak, the effects they brought gave even An Tianzuo a headache. If they weren''t resolved in time, the Sunset Army and the college would suffer a heavy blow.


    The soldier answered, "According to the news we received, a student''s Companion Beast can restrain the Parasite Spores. The unconscious soldiers who he helped have already woken up. The mushrooms automatically peel off and stop growing. Currently, the student is clearing out the Parasite Spores on the soldiers and tutors."


    "Student?" An Tianzuo frowned slightly.


    Leng Zongzheng smiled and asked, "What''s the student''s name?"


    "His name is Zhou Wen. He was the one who rushed into the dimensional creature horde yesterday to kill the golden bull," the soldier immediately answered.


    Leng Zongzheng turned his head to look at An Tianzuo and said, "What did I say? This Zhou Wen is still alright. He resolved a problem that so many people couldn''t. If you say he''s unsuitable, who else is more suitable?"


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen used Doctor Darkness to remove the Parasite Spores on everyone. Doctor Darkness''s Fight Poison With Poison was indeed useful. As long as he injected it into the spores, the spores would quickly die and there wouldn''t be a relapse.


    "Little Wen, well done." Qin Wufu was the last to receive Zhou Wen''s treatment. He patted Zhou Wen''s shoulder and said, "Think about it again. Join me after graduation. You can name any conditions you want."


    "It''s still a long time before graduation. I haven''t considered these matters," Zhou Wen said.


    "It''s about time to consider it carefully. The situation in the various parts of the Federation isn''t too good right now. I wonder how many more years we can last," Qin Wufu said with a sigh.


    After busying himself for more than a day, he finally removed all the spores that had parasitized people. When Zhou Wen returned to the tent, he originally wanted to take out the Great Might Vajra Companion Egg and hatch it.


    However, he realized that Tai Sui had completed its evolution. He hurriedly summoned it to see what changes it had.

 674 Clashing Tai Sui

    Tai Sui: Epic (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Clashing Tai Sui


    Life Soul: Twelve Tai Sui Gods


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Essence Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Earth Escape


    Companion Form: Mimicry


    After Zhou Wen finished reading the stats, his expression turned odd. People in the East District probably knew about the words ''Clashing Tai Sui''. It meant that one was in for some unlucky times.


    As for the Twelve Tai Sui Gods, Zhou Wen had never heard of them. He carefully looked at the information on the Life Providence and Life Soul.


    Clashing Tai Sui: One''s characteristic clashes with Tai Sui


    Twelve Tai Sui Gods: Zodiac Twelve Tai Sui Gods


    Although he didn''t understand it clearly, Zhou Wen already felt that it was definitely not some lucky Life Providence. What good could come from having a characteristic clash with Tai Sui?


    If I had known this would happen, I might not have let it evolve! Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless as he hurriedly put Tai Sui away. He was afraid that he would be in trouble if he were to clash with it. He might be in trouble in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to how to deal with Tai Sui. He really couldn''t bear to part with it by fusing it with something else. This was an existence that could advance to the Mythical stage in the future. What was even rarer was that this fellow was extremely effective against microscopic dimensional creatures.


    When it was at the Mortal stage, it could kill the Mythical Primordial Spore. It was probably difficult to find another Companion Beast like that.


    Let''s wait and see. If it really brings bad luck, I''ll think of a way to deal with it. After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to keep it for now.


    After putting away Tai Sui, Zhou Wen carefully sized up the Great Might Vajra Bull Companion Egg. There were many mysterious magic circles and incantations on it. Furthermore, the magic circles and incantations emitted intense Essence Energy fluctuations. Clearly, someone had used a strange power to inject Essence Energy into the magic circle and incantations.


    With the Essence Energy that was stored ahead of time, the difficulty of incubating it would decrease greatly. To be able to do something that amazing, it probably wasn''t done by the typical Epic stage expert.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a long time, but he couldn''t figure out how the magic circles and incantations were produced. It was as though they had already entered deep into the Companion Egg.


    The Essence Energy didn''t enter the Companion Egg directly. Instead, it circulated along the magic formation and incantations before entering the Companion Egg. Apart from the supplementary stored Essence Energy, it also slowed down the Essence Energy absorption speed of the Mythical Companion Egg.


    The entire process was very smooth. Even an ordinary Epic could incubate it with the help of the magic circles and incantations.


    I wonder if this technique is easy to learn. If I can learn it, it will be a good way to earn money. Many people will definitely be willing to pay to incubate high-level Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen didn''t know that using this method was extremely difficult. There weren''t more than ten people in the entire Federation who could use such techniques. Furthermore, to carve the magic formation and incantations on it required expending a large number of precious resources.


    Unless it was a Mythical Companion Egg, it wasn''t worth spending such a huge price on the hatching of a typical Companion Egg.


    Back when An Sheng hatched Love Letter, he couldn''t bear to use this method. Instead, he found a dimensional zone with abundant Essence Energy and used the special Essence Energy environment, along with some Essence Energy Crystals and mystical techniques to incubate it.


    Great Might Vajra Bull: Mythical


    Life Providence: Extreme Might, Extreme Strength


    Life Soul: Bull-Headed Wisdom King


    Wheel of Destiny: Soul Suppression Bell


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 78


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Great Might Divine Horns, Fury of Thunder, Infallible Vajra, Buddha Flames.


    Companion Form: Mount


    Its skills and attributes were very strong, and it had four skills. They looked pretty good. It had all the abilities it should have. The golden bell was the Great Might Vajra Bull''s Wheel of Destiny, which was also the skill that Zhou Wen valued the most.


    However, what''s with it being a mount? This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen one. He imagined that a Companion Beast in companion form would be a mount¡ªno different from the typical Companion Beast form.


    I''ll give it a try. Let''s see how different this mount is from simply riding it. Zhou Wen took out his phone and entered the game dungeon before summoning the Great Might Vajra Bull.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that the Great Might Vajra Bull in its mount form was indeed different. When Zhou Wen rode the Six-Winged, he needed to command it.


    However, the Great Might Vajra Bull in its mount form didn''t need Zhou Wen''s commanding. It was as though it had become Zhou Wen''s limb. It could move according to his wishes. The only difference was that the Great Might Vajra Bull didn''t grow on him.


    Professional mounts are indeed different. Zhou Wen finally understood what the ancients meant by human and horse as one.


    Now, his riding skills¡ªhuman and bull as one¡ªwas pretty good. At the very least, it was much more comfortable than riding Six-Winged.


    If there was any weakness of the Great Might Vajra Bull to point out, it would be its inability to fly. It was indeed extremely powerful on the ground, but it couldn''t fly or go into water.


    However, it doesn''t matter. In any case, the skill I need the most is the Great Might Vajra Bull''s Soul Suppression Bell. The other skills are secondary. Zhou Wen took the Great Might Vajra Bull to the Qiongqi temple. The moment Qiongqi appeared, the Great Might Vajra Bull used the Soul Suppression Bell, causing Qiongqi to feel dizzy.


    Zhou Wen''s Golden Overlord Sword cleaved down, severely injuring Qiongqi with his sword. Following that, it was a one-sided slaughter. Soon, Qiongqi fell under his sword.


    Awesome. That''s what a real man is. A cowboy! Zhou Wen felt extremely delighted. Killing monsters in such a manner was much easier than charging forward on his own.


    Since he had nothing to do, Zhou Wen summoned the Primordial Spore to see how useful it was.


    As the stats of the Primordial Spore were too poor, Zhou Wen didn''t dare use it against Mythical creatures. Instead, he went to the bat cave to test it out.


    The Primordial Spore slowly floated towards the ceiling of the cave. The poisonous bats hanging upside down didn''t realize the impending danger.


    They didn''t have the ability to discover a tiny existence like the Primordial Spore, so they had no idea that the danger was near them.


    The Primordial Spore landed on the head of a Poison Bat. The Poison Bat didn''t even realize its existence as the Primordial Spore vanished in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the Primordial Spore would grow a tiny mushroom over the Poison Bat''s head like ordinary spores, but nothing like that happened. The Poison Bat suddenly opened its eyes, but the look in its eyes turned odd as it flapped its wings and moved towards Zhou Wen.

 675 Soul Parasitizing

    Indeed, the Poison Bat flew in front of Zhou Wen and circled him. Zhou Wen could sense the thoughts of Primordial Spore in the Poison Bat''s brain.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen issued an order to Primordial Spore. The Poison Bat flew up according to Zhou Wen''s orders before charging at the group of Poison Bats and engaging the other Poison Bats in battle.


    The other Poison Bats were still somewhat puzzled, unsure what had happened. A few of them had been killed by the Poison Bat controlled by Primordial Spore before it was killed by the other Poison Bats.


    After the Poison Bat died, the Primordial Spore floated out and slowly returned to Zhou Wen''s side.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw this, but he was pleasantly surprised. Is this Soul Parasitizing? This fellow can actually control other dimensional creatures through parasitizing. Then, can it control Mythical creatures?


    Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to give it a try. He went to the Torch Dragon temple, hoping to see if he could get Primordial Spore to control Torch Dragon.


    Unfortunately, Torch Dragon had great eyesight. It immediately discovered the Primordial Spore and didn''t give it a chance. It directly used the Bright Torch Vision World and sucked Primordial Spore into the Vision World.


    From the looks of it, it''s still a little difficult to parasitize Torch Dragon. I''ll try someone with poorer eyesight. Zhou Wen went to the Metalwork Temple to see if he could parasitize the Golden Battle God Halberd, but it didn''t have any effect.


    The Primordial Spore was unable to penetrate Golden Battle God Halberd''s body. Although it was not killed by Golden Battle God Halberd, it failed to parasitize it successfully.


    From the looks of it, Primordial Spore can only parasitize animals or plant-type dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he took it to the underground sea to test it out with the nine black dragons.


    Primordial Spore successfully entered a black dragon''s body, but the black dragon was clearly formidable. Primordial Spore was unable to control it given the short period of time. It only rooted itself in the black dragon''s head, and it was unknown when it would completely gain control.


    From the feedback from Primordial Spore, it was not a matter of a few days.


    Primordial Spore''s powers are pretty good, but it takes too long to control Mythical creatures. It''s not very useful in-game. Zhou Wen had to respawn dungeons every day, so it was impossible for him to use Primordial Spore to slowly parasitize creatures.


    ¡­


    Over the next few days, many strange dimensional creatures rushed out of Dragon Gate Grotto. Although many dimensional creatures were ferocious, the damage they caused wasn''t as great as the Parasite Spores.


    Sometimes, powerful dimensional creatures were not as terrifying as the weak spores.


    As Zhou Wen had treated almost every soldier and officer, the soldiers and officers were very respectful to him when he delivered the supplies.


    Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan had also gained the respect of the soldiers and officers because of their achievements in the previous battle.


    Although the dimensional creatures that rushed out of Dragon Gate Grotto were destroyed, the situation didn''t improve. The golden robes of the skeleton in the mountain temple became even more resplendent. Even in the dark night, it illuminated the entire Dragon Gate Grotto.


    The river beside Dragon Gate Grotto hadn''t been peaceful for the past few days. The temperature of the river was extremely high. In the beginning, it only emitted white steam, but it had begun boiling over the past two days.


    The fish and shrimps inside died and floated to the surface of the river.


    No one dared to fish up the shrimps. In the end, they fell apart from the river''s boiling and sank.


    "What''s the origins of the monk-robed skeleton in the mountain seal? Do you think the anomaly in Dragon Gate Grotto is because of the monk-robed skeleton?" After Li Xuan and Zhou Wen finished transporting the supplies, they stood by the river''s defense line and looked at Dragon Gate Grotto. All they could see was golden light enveloping it. And the source of the golden light was the monk-robed skeleton.


    "That''s possible." Zhou Wen also felt that it was possible.


    However, up to now, no one could clearly tell the source of Dragon Gate Grotto''s anomaly.


    Leng Zongzheng hadn''t looked for Zhou Wen since his private conversation with him. Therefore Zhou Wen wasn''t kept abreast of the situation.


    There was one thing that Zhou Wen was more concerned about. For so many days, the giant golden bird that had lived above Dragon Gate Grotto hadn''t revealed itself. It was unknown what it was waiting for.


    Boom! Boom!


    As the two of them were watching Dragon Gate Grotto, a terrifying sound suddenly came from the other side of the river bank. The ground seemed to quake with the sound.


    The river also produced ripples due to the shock. The ripples pushed forward ripple by ripple before finally creating a wave.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan looked in the direction of the sound. Under the moonlight, they saw a gigantic white elephant walking along the river bank. It was likely heading to Dragon Gate Grotto based on the direction it was traveling.


    "What a huge white elephant. Where did this fellow come from?" Li Xuan asked in surprise.


    The white elephant was indeed massive. An ordinary elephant probably didn''t even reach its knees. Not only was its body huge, but it also emitted a strange glow as though it was bathed in holy light.


    Its pair of tusks were pure and white as if they were made of jade.


    The gigantic white elephant walked over step by step. Every step it took made a huge print in the ground, causing the ground to tremble. The houses in the encampment seemed to sway with every step.


    The white elephant was clearly not a dimensional creature from Dragon Gate Grotto. It walked to the opposite side of Dragon Gate Grotto and directly entered the river. It looked like it wanted to cross the river and enter Dragon Gate Grotto.


    The river was boiling and the temperature was extremely high. However, the white elephant didn''t seem to notice it. The moment it stepped in, the river overflowed.


    Leng Zongzheng, An Tianzuo, Qin Wufu, and company had already come out. They were also watching the white elephant.


    The soldiers guarding the front line couldn''t help but heave a sigh of relief when they saw that the white elephant wasn''t heading towards the encampment. The pressure the white elephant gave them was just too strong.


    The elephant parted the river''s water; its might left one shuddering.


    Just as the elephant was about to reach the center of the river, a hook-like black claw suddenly reached out from the river.

 676 Monk-Robed Skeleton

    As if charcoal had encountered water, the black claw retreated back into the river.


    The huge white elephant continued walking towards Dragon Gate Grotto as though nothing had happened. It was as though it only had one goal in its eyes.


    The black claw never appeared again even when the white elephant stepped onto the river bank.


    When it tore out of the water and got ashore, the water droplets on his body automatically slid off, leaving nothing behind.


    Zhou Wen and company watched helplessly as the white elephant walked towards Dragon Gate Grotto and headed for the mountain temple.


    Li Xuan looked at where An Tianzuo and company were. Seeing that they were only standing high above and watching without giving any orders, he turned back to look at the white elephant.


    The white elephant walked on the mountain rocks. Wherever the giant foot passed, the rocks cracked, leaving behind huge footprints.


    The dimensional creatures in Dragon Gate Grotto didn''t dare approach the white elephant. All of them hid in the cave and trembled, not daring to walk out of the cave.


    The huge white elephant walked all the way to the temple before stopping to look at the monk-robed skeleton that emitted a resplendent golden light. It raised its trunk and let out an elephant''s trumpet.


    "Not good! Quickly cover your ears!" Zhou Wen shouted at Li Xuan.


    However, it was already a little too late. Everyone felt a thunderclap in their ears, causing their minds to buzz. The soldiers with weaker cultivation levels fell to the ground. Even Epic officers saw stars.


    "Help¡­ Help me up¡­ Why do I feel like I''m in front of gold ingots¡­" Li Xuan seemed drunk as his body swayed violently.


    Zhou Wen was fine as he hurriedly held him up.


    After a while, Li Xuan, the Epic officers, and tutors came to their senses. As for the soldiers, they were still lying on the ground, unable to stand up as though they were drunk.


    When Zhou Wen looked at the temple, he saw that the white elephant had already stepped into it.


    The moment it stepped into the temple, the golden light on the monk-clothed skeleton suddenly flared up brightly like the sun. The golden light shone on the white elephant''s body, causing it to falter.


    The white elephant paused for a moment, but it quickly walked towards the monk-robed skeleton again. Under the suppression of the terrifying golden light, it found it extremely difficult to take a step forward.


    However, it had no intention of giving up. It continued walking towards the monk-robed skeleton. The closer it was to the skeleton, the slower its speed became.


    When it was only a few steps away from the skeleton, it took each step like it was carrying a mountain.


    "It wants to destroy the monk''s remains?" Li Xuan said in surprise.


    Just as he said that, the white elephant''s trunk slammed into the monk-robed skeleton. However, the monk-robed skeleton wasn''t smashed to bits. It continued sitting there cross-legged.


    It suddenly raised its bony hand and grabbed the white elephant''s trunk.


    In the next moment, everyone saw an unbelievable scene. With a wave of the skeleton''s hand, the gigantic elephant''s body was easily thrown away.


    Under Zhou Wen and company''s horrified gazes, the massive elephant fell into the river beneath Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Boom!


    Water splashed up hundreds of feet high as the huge elephant''s body smashed into the river, creating a huge crater at the bottom. Instantly, the water level around the river bank increased drastically, almost reaching the encampment.


    "That monk-robed skeleton is alive? Did he throw the terrifying elephant flying with one hand? What kind of crazy strength is that?" Li Xuan exclaimed.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed and uncertain. It could fling such a massive and powerful white elephant easily. Such immense strength was probably something only Tyrant Behemoth could achieve when it used Absolute Strength.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, the monk-robed skeleton didn''t look like it had powers like Absolute Strength.


    What''s his background? Why is the white elephant attacking him? Zhou Wen sized up the monk-robed skeleton in surprise.


    The skeleton was crystalline and it emitted an intense golden glow, like a Buddha''s golden body.


    Although the monk robe was tattered, it couldn''t conceal the Buddhist light.


    He sat in a lotus position with a stone door behind him. There were no words or patterns on the door, and behind it was an extremely simple squarish stone house.


    The stone house was less than two meters tall, and the stone door was even shorter. The monk-robed skeleton was sitting in front of the door which was only twenty to thirty centimeters taller than him. A normal adult would probably have to bend to enter.


    Could it be that there''s something strange in the stone house behind the monk-robed skeleton? Zhou Wen was guessing when he heard a tumultuous sound.


    Turning his head, he saw the white elephant fighting a similarly gigantic black creature in the river. As the river water churned, Zhou Wen finally saw what the black object was.


    "What a huge turtle! Such a huge turtle must have lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Killing it to make a stew will definitely be nutritious," Li Xuan exclaimed with widened eyes.


    The black creature was actually a huge turtle. It was pitch-black and its shell was like black iron. Its body wasn''t much smaller than the white elephant.


    It fought the white elephant in the river and bit its neck, refusing to let go. The white elephant couldn''t shake it off no matter how hard it tried. Its holy flesh and blood couldn''t defend it from the turtle''s teeth. Blood gushed out from the bite, dyeing the river red.


    Terrifying power constantly erupted from the elephant''s body, but it couldn''t do anything to the huge turtle. The turtle''s shell was just too hard. Even with the elephant''s strength, it couldn''t smash it open.


    The holy light on the white elephant''s body grew dimmer. Just as the huge turtle was about to kill it in the river, a bird''s cry suddenly resounded.


    A golden light descended from the sky. It was the giant golden bird.


    It tore through the air like a bolt of lightning as its pair of talons grabbed at the tortoise''s turtle shell. It managed to penetrate the black iron-like turtle shell. The pain made the turtle release its grip.


    However, the golden bird didn''t stop. It flapped its wings and lifted the huge turtle high into the sky. It brandished its sharp claws and tore it to pieces in the blink of an eye. Blood splattered across the sky.


    The people in the encampment were dumbfounded. The golden bird was so ferocious that it left them terrified.


    This giant bird''s strength is probably comparable to Tyrant Behemoth! Zhou Wen was also alarmed. Only now did he realize how impressive Leng Zongzheng''s feat of getting the giant golden bird to retreat was.

 677 The Tragic Death of a Mythical

    How horrid. To think I actually fought it before. It''s really lucky that I didn''t die. Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed. Back then, he wasn''t as strong as he was now.


    Of course, that wasn''t a real battle. The golden bird''s target wasn''t him, or Zhou Wen wouldn''t have been able to escape so easily.


    When the huge turtle was killed by the golden bird, the white elephant finally crawled out of the river. The wounds on its body rapidly healed.


    The strength of the huge white elephant was originally above the huge turtle''s, but it had been thrown out by the monk-clothed skeleton, rendering it completely defenseless. This produced an opening for the huge turtle to take advantage of the situation.


    The golden bird tore and ate up the turtle, but it had no intention of touching the elephant. It flapped its wings and shot straight into the clouds like a bolt of golden lightning, disappearing behind the mountain peak.


    After the wounds on the elephant''s body healed, it charged towards the monk-robed skeleton in the temple again. Its holy light surged crazily, but it was barely able to reach the skeleton.


    As it had been severely injured, it didn''t even have the ability to attack the monk-robed skeleton.


    After persisting for a long period of time, the strength of the elephant slowly dwindled from the clash with the golden light. Finally, it couldn''t withstand the impact of the golden light as its massive body appeared to be struck by rapids. It rolled down Dragon Gate Grotto and fell into the river, triggering a huge wave.


    "That monk-robed skeleton is really too powerful," Li Xuan exclaimed.


    "Did you see the object that the skeleton seems to be holding in its hand?" Zhou Wen had been observing the skeleton.


    He had managed to throw the white elephant away with one hand, but his other hand never moved. It had always been covered by the monk robes.


    Zhou Wen saw that there seemed to be an abnormal bulge. Unfortunately, Truth Listener''s ability was affected by the golden light. He couldn''t tell what was happening around the monk-robed skeleton, or he would have known if there was anything in his hand.


    Li Xuan used his Life Soul''s insect eyes to look, but he only saw something vague. He couldn''t tell what it was either.


    "Do you think the white elephant is so desperate for the item in his hand?" Li Xuan guessed.


    "I''m not sure yet. Let''s wait and see." Zhou Wen saw the white elephant crawl out again as it panted by the riverside. However, it was unwilling to give up. After resting for a while, it charged towards the monk-robed skeleton for the third time.


    "I''m just afraid that the golden bird and the white elephant are in cahoots. You''ve seen the outcome of that huge turtle. If you aren''t afraid of death, give it a try." Zhou Wen definitely wouldn''t give it a try.


    He wouldn''t even try it with his pets. After all, each of his Mythical pets had been obtained with great difficulty. Every one of them was obtained through blood and tears. Every death made his heart ache.


    "That makes sense. That golden bird is too terrifying. It''s probably an existence that can match Primordial Sword Immortal and Tyrant Behemoth. From its abilities, it seems to be focused on speed and offensive strength. Could it be the legendary Golden-Winged Roc?" Li Xuan guessed.


    "That''s very likely." Zhou Wen also felt that the golden bird resembled the legendary Golden-Winged Roc.


    As the two of them spoke, the white elephant rushed into the temple again and trudged towards the monk-robed skeleton.


    This time, the white elephant was different from before. Its tusks lit up like two bright lamps. It resisted the golden light, making it rush towards the monk-robed skeleton in a seemingly easier manner than the first two times.


    However, Zhou Wen realized that the elephant''s tusks were constantly burning. Its strength seemed to be exchanged from burning the tusks.


    Finally, the huge white elephant charged in front of the monk-robed skeleton with the brilliance produced by burning the tusks. It lowered its head and used its burning tusks to slam into the monk-robed skeleton.


    Before the tusks reached the monk, the force produced by thrust blew at the monk robes.


    Zhou Wen had been paying constant attention to the monk-robed skeleton. When the monk robe fluttered, he saw that the other skeleton hand was placed above his thigh bone.


    In that hand was a golden crystal that was about the size of a chicken egg. It looked slightly oval.


    The moment the crystal appeared, it immediately emitted a golden glow that illuminated the entire mountain temple. Nothing could be seen.


    Even with Zhou Wen and Li Xuan''s eyesight, they couldn''t see anything.


    After a while, the golden light vanished. When everyone saw the scene inside the temple again, they widened their eyes in horror.


    The white elephant was still in front of the monk-robed skeleton. It hadn''t been thrown down this time, but its flesh and organs had completely vanished. All that was left was a skeleton standing in front of the monk-robed skeleton, maintaining the posture of lowering its head to strike. It was the last scene Zhou Wen and company had seen.


    A gust of wind blew and the huge skeleton suddenly scattered like flour. It landed on the ground and covered the entire mountain temple.


    Everyone felt a chill run down their spines as they broke out in cold sweat.


    In the middle of the afternoon, everyone felt their bodies turn cold.


    "What was that bead just now?" Li Xuan stared at the monk-robed skeleton in the temple. The monk robe fell again, covering the bead. They couldn''t see anything anymore.


    "I don''t know, but there''s a Companion Egg on the ground," Zhou Wen said as he pointed towards the temple.


    In the pile of bone powder, there was a white Companion Egg. It was about half as tall as a person. It was clearly left behind by the white elephant after its death.


    "The white elephant''s Companion Egg is good stuff, but who would dare enter to take it?" Although Li Xuan''s self-healing ability was very strong, he wasn''t so foolhardy to believe that he could withstand the terrifying golden light.


    Zhou Wen had some ideas. Although the elephant wasn''t a top-notch Mythical creature, it was still a Mythical creature.


    I wonder if I can send an Epic Companion Beast in and get it out? Just as Zhou Wen had this thought, someone had already done so.


    Among the Epic experts sent by the local major families in Luoyang, an Epic expert summoned an Epic immortal crane. It flew into the temple, hoping to get the Companion Egg out.


    However, just as the immortal crane flew into the mountain temple, its body came into contact with the golden light emitted by the monk-robed skeleton. It immediately disintegrated and died.


    Everyone was alarmed. Only then did they realize that not anyone could enter the mountain temple. The white elephant could travel against the golden light in the mountain temple, but that didn''t mean they could do the same.


    "Thankfully, I didn''t enter." Li Xuan broke out into a cold sweat. He had really wanted to rush into the temple to retrieve the white elephant''s Companion Egg.

 678 Determining Its Attributes

    Everyone wanted the white elephant Companion Egg, but no one dared to send a Companion Beast into the mountain temple. The death of the Epic immortal crane was truly shocking.


    Although Zhou Wen felt that his Mythical Companion Beast was likely capable of withstanding the golden light emitted by the monk-robed skeleton, he was afraid that the golden light from the crystal would erupt again. When that happened, even a Mythical might not be able to withstand it. To sacrifice a Mythical Companion Beast for a Mythical Companion Egg, with the possibility of not getting it back made it too risky.


    An Tianzuo and Leng Zongzheng didn''t let their Companion Beasts enter the mountain temple. Clearly, they had the same qualms.


    Two Mythical creatures had died. No one dared to enter the temple to grab the Companion Eggs. There were no new changes in Dragon Gate Grotto.


    Qin Wufu had already ordered the troops to disperse and rest. The soldiers and officers returned to their respective positions. As for the Epic experts from the noble families, they sized up the Companion Egg unwillingly and tried to think of ways to get it out.


    In the end, they lost several Epic Companion Beasts and failed to enter the mountain temple.


    Zhou Wen ultimately held back his urges and didn''t let his Mythical Companion Beast enter. Before figuring out the origins of the monk-clothed skeleton and the crystal, taking risks meant death.


    "Young Master Wen, Chancellor Leng wants to see you," An Sheng said as Zhou Wen was loading the supplies.


    Zhou Wen put down his work and followed An Sheng to Leng Zongzheng''s office.


    When Zhou Wen arrived, he realized that An Tianzuo and Qin Wufu were there. Zhou Wen pretended not to see An Tianzuo and only greeted Chancellor Leng and Qin Wufu.


    "Little Zhou, come and have a seat." Qin Wufu warmly invited Zhou Wen to take a seat.


    Only then did Leng Zongzheng say, "You all saw what happened in the mountain temple. What are your thoughts?"


    Qin Wufu said, "Chancellor, do you think the golden crystal in the skeleton''s hand is the legendary Relic?"


    "There''s a possibility, but Relics are Buddhist treasures. Logically speaking, they shouldn''t have such destructive force," said Leng Zongzheng.


    An Tianzuo thought for a moment and said, "I do have an idea. Perhaps that monk-robed skeleton isn''t a dimensional creature from Dragon Gate Grotto."


    "Go into the detail." Leng Zongzheng gestured for An Tianzuo to continue.


    An Tianzuo continued, "When we saw him sitting cross-legged in his monk robes, we thought he was a dimensional creature from Dragon Gate Grotto. However, the power he used, including the crystal, looks different from the Buddhist-type creatures I''ve seen before."


    "That''s right." Leng Zongzheng nodded calmly.


    "Tianzuo''s guess coincides with mine. The golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton are top Mythical creatures. If we want to achieve anything, I''m afraid we won''t be able to avoid competing with them. We need to make early preparations." After Leng Zongzheng said that, he looked at Zhou Wen and said, "When the time comes, you can enter the mountain temple with us. You have to be prepared to fight the golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton. If you have any worries, tell me ahead of time."


    "Yes, I''ll prepare well," Zhou Wen answered.


    Leng Zongzheng nodded and continued, "Let''s say that the monk-robed skeleton isn''t a dimensional creature from Dragon Gate Grotto, nor is he a Buddhist-tye creature. Which type do you think it is?"


    Qin Wufu pondered and said, "I''ve seen quite a number of dimensional creatures over the years, but this is the first time I''ve seen such power."


    Seeing Leng Zongzheng look at him, An Tianzuo shook his head and said, "I''ve never seen it before."


    Seeing that everyone was unsure of the skeleton''s strength, Leng Zongzheng said, "Since that''s the case, let''s start from judging the skeleton''s Strength stat."


    Zhou Wen listened to their discussion from the side and didn''t say a word. After all, he was still too young. The dimensional zones and dimensional creatures he had come into contact with were limited. His experience couldn''t compare to the few people present, so all he could do was listen to their discussion. It would also broaden his knowledge.


    Leng Zongzheng and company planned on using the most primitive and most effective method to probe what kind of dimensional creature the monk-robed skeleton was.


    The method was very simple. It was to use the principle of attribute strengths and weaknesses. They would send Companion Beasts of similar strength but of different types into the mountain temple.


    Then, they could observe the reactions after being attacked by the golden light in the mountain temple. If they were strong or weak against it, they would definitely have different reactions. They might die quickly or last a little longer.


    By using these minute differences, one could roughly deduce the monk-clothed skeleton''s type.


    Of course, this method had a premise. Among the Companion Beasts used for testing, there had to be existences that were strong or weak against the monk-robed skeleton or they would be useless.


    After the discussion ended, An Sheng was in charge of the probe. Zhou Wen didn''t receive any assigned missions as he continued his preparations.


    The test didn''t go smoothly. An Sheng used nineteen different Legendary Companion Beasts to test, but he didn''t find anything abnormal.


    Finally, he felt that it was likely that a Legendary Companion Beast was too weak. Even if it was strong or weak against it, it was difficult to show it. They had to use Epic Companion Beasts in the second round of testing.


    The results of the second round of tests were the same. Despite sacrificing more than ten Epic Companion Beasts, they still failed to figure out the attributes of the monk-robed skeleton.


    The only thing they could confirm was that the monk-robed skeleton wasn''t a Buddhist-type.


    Zhou Wen kept thinking about how he could safely get the white elephant Companion Egg out, so he was also studying the attributes of the monk-robed skeleton.


    Unfortunately, there wasn''t an anomaly in Dragon Gate Grotto in-game, nor was there a mountain temple or monk-robed skeleton. There was no way to test it in-game.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen had an idea.


    Primordial Spore''s Life Providence was Eternal Immortality. Although its stats weren''t high, it wasn''t easy to kill it.


    Even the Golden Overlord Sword''s golden sword beam, which had the augmentation of Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable, couldn''t kill Primordial Spore. This showed how powerful the Eternal Immortality Life Providence was.


    At present, Zhou Wen only knew that there were two types of skills that could directly kill Primordial Spore¡ªBright Torch Vision World and Tai Sui''s innate talent.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen thought of letting Primordial Spore enter the temple to give it a try. Perhaps he might discover something.


    Having made up his mind, Zhou Wen didn''t hesitate any further. He released Primordial Spore and allowed it to float slowly towards the mountain temple.

 679 Its Here for Me

    Although there were many Fairies and Mallas wandering around, none of them noticed the existence of Primordial Spore.


    Zhou Wen realized that using Primordial Spore to scout the way was extremely effective. Few dimensional creatures could discover its existence.


    Primordial Spore made its way to the temple without any obstructions. However, the moment Primordial Spore entered the temple, something went wrong.


    Although Primordial Spore wasn''t killed by the golden light that enveloped the entire mountain temple, its body emitted a blinding light when it clashed with the golden light. It was like a firefly''s glow.


    Although the light wasn''t eye-catching, it made Primordial Spore lose the advantage of being virtually invisible.


    Primordial Spore flew through the golden light and soon arrived beside the white elephant Companion Egg. As it had the Eternal Immortality Life Providence, it wasn''t killed by the golden light.


    Having been exposed, it was too risky to let Primordial Spore fly towards the monk-robed skeleton. Under such circumstances, Zhou Wen wasn''t greedy. He got Primordial Spore to land on the white elephant''s Companion Egg before getting it to push the Companion Egg. He wanted to see if he could push the Companion Egg out of the temple.


    Primordial Spore''s Strength was very weak, but that was when compared to other Mythical creatures. At the very least, it had 41 Strength. It was more than enough to push the white elephant''s Companion Egg.


    Now, Zhou Wen was only a little worried. He didn''t know if the monk-robed skeleton would interfere.


    Zhou Wen constantly observed the monk-robed skeleton''s movements. As long as he made any abnormal movements, Zhou Wen would immediately get Primordial Spore to escape and leave the Companion Egg behind.


    However, the monk-robed skeleton didn''t react. Primordial Spore stuck to the white elephant Companion Egg, pushing it and making it slowly roll out of the temple.


    The soldiers monitoring the mountain temple discovered the phenomenon of the white elephant Companion Egg and immediately reported it to their superiors. Soon, An Tianzuo, Qin Wufu, and company came out. Indeed, they saw the white elephant Companion Egg roll out of the mountain temple.


    "What''s going on? Why is the Companion Egg rolling out?" Qin Wufu said in surprise as he held a pair of binoculars.


    This was because after leaving the mountain temple, Primordial Spore no longer produced any light from resisting the golden light. Qin Wufu and company couldn''t see Primordial Spore at all.


    An Tianzuo was also somewhat puzzled as he ordered the soldiers, "Be on high alert to prevent any incidents."


    The tutors and Epic experts from the rich and powerful families were also attracted over. Although they all wanted the white elephant Companion Egg, they found it odd to see it roll out. No one dared to snatch it.


    "It''s coming¡­ It''s coming to the encampment¡­" Someone realized that after the Companion Egg rolled down, it jumped into the river and leisurely crossed the river. It then rolled up to the river bank and rolled towards the encampment.


    "Everyone, be careful¡­" A group of soldiers, tutors, and Epic experts were all waiting solemnly. They stared at the Companion Egg as though they were facing a great enemy. An Tianzuo and Leng Zongzheng were also staring at it.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to get the Companion Egg out, having never expected to cause such a grand lineup. It didn''t seem right to take the Companion Egg in front of everyone.


    Zhou Wen was still hesitating about what to do when the Companion Egg rolled to the encampment. The soldiers aimed their guns at it, as though they would shoot at it with everything they had once the order was given.


    The Epic experts had also summoned their Companion Beasts. It looked like they were preparing for battle.


    "That¡­ I''m sorry¡­ It''s fine, it''s fine¡­ Don''t worry¡­ It''s here for me¡­" Zhou Wen had no choice but to bite the bullet and walk out. He raised his hands and waved at the soldiers, gesturing for them not to shoot.


    Everyone was taken aback when they heard him say that. An Tianzuo''s expression was even stranger.


    "What do you mean it''s here to look for you?" An Tianzuo and company found it odd. A Companion Egg came down from the mountain temple to find Zhou Wen?


    Could it be that it had rested in the temple for too long and wanted to come down the mountain to chat with Zhou Wen? Wasn''t that ridiculous?


    Everyone stared at Zhou Wen with odd expressions. The soldiers didn''t lower their guns. The Epic experts'' Companion Beasts were still staring at the Companion Egg. Clearly, they couldn''t believe Zhou Wen''s words.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to bite the bullet and wave at the Companion Egg. He said, "It''s fine. I''ll take it now. Everyone, you may return to your work."


    Everyone was alarmed when they saw the Companion Egg roll towards Zhou Wen.


    Could it be that something like a Companion Egg would find someone they knew? Many people had mixed expressions.


    Zhou Wen carried the Companion Egg and walked back. At that moment, An Tianzuo waved his hand, gesturing for the soldiers to return to their positions before they lowered their guns.


    "From the looks of it, Young Master Wen has quite good social relations. Even a Companion Egg delivers itself to him," An Sheng said with a smile.


    An Tianzuo said with a cold expression, "It''s just a lowly trick."


    With that said, he ignored everyone and returned to his office.


    "This Little Zhou is getting more and more interesting." Leng Zongzheng looked at Zhou Wen with a smile before turning to leave.


    The news of Companion Eggs coming down the mountain to chat with Zhou Wen immediately spread in the encampment. The more it spread, the crazier it became.


    "You might not know about this. It was a cold, windy day. Countless heroes used all kinds of Companion Beasts, but none of them were able to extract the Companion Egg from the mountain temple. It could be said that there were countless deaths and injuries. However, who would have expected that the Companion Egg of the huge white elephant couldn''t withstand the loneliness in the middle of the dark, windy night? It went down the mountain to chat with Young Master Zhou¡­ Speaking of Young Master Zhou, he''s no ordinary person. At Chess Mountain''s encampment, he is known as Doctor Little Zhou. He healed the strange ailment of the Chess Mountain. Now, at Dragon Gate Grotto''s encampment, he showed his might and wiped out the mushroom monsters that left many helpless¡­" A soldier, who had seen Zhou Wen while being stationed at Chess Mountain, explained to his colleagues who had missed the development because they were resting.


    "Do you know why Young Master Zhou Wen has so many magical abilities? To be honest, my third uncle''s niece''s second aunt''s cousin-in-law is the gardener of the An family. According to his reliable sources, Young Master Wen is Madam Lan''s son, the Overseer''s younger brother. If you ask me why Young Master Wen''s surname is Zhou and not An, then we will have to talk about a tragic past. You might not believe it, but the Overseer and Young Master Wen are twins. Back when Madam Lan was giving birth, a great enemy attacked. After Madam Lan gave birth to the Overseer and Young Master Wen, Young Master Wen was snatched away by the bad guys¡­"


    Ordinary soldiers didn''t know about the An family and the Zhou family. However, when they heard that Zhou Wen was Madam Lan''s son, and after making some additional associations, the rumors became crazier and crazier.


    When the rumors reached An Tianzuo''s ears, the corners of his eyes twitched for a long time, but he remained silent.


    An Sheng didn''t dare say a word as he stood at the side with a solemn expression. His face was taut, but for some reason, he looked very uncomfortable.

 680 An Opportunity

    Feng Qiuyan had also seen the Companion Egg come down the mountain to look for Zhou Wen. After some thought, he came to a realization. "Coach, you must be proficient in the language of eggs. You can communicate with the Companion Egg, right?"


    Zhou Wen was instantly rendered speechless. All he could do was explain, "I used a microscopic Companion Beast to push the Companion Egg down. I know nothing about egg language."


    "I see." Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan were immediately enlightened.


    Zhou Wen took some time to look at the stats of the huge white elephant''s Companion Egg and realized that its stats were rather good.


    White Elephant: Mythical


    Life Providence: Guardian Elephant


    Life Soul: Holy Tusks


    Wheel of Destiny: Holy Guardian


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 72


    Constitution: 79


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Saint Energy Augmentation, Heaven Pillar Strike, Holy Impact


    Companion Form: Mount


    Another mount? Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. He only had one butt, so how could he ride two Companion Beasts at the same time?


    After some thought, Zhou Wen didn''t store White Elephant into his phone, nor did he hatch it.


    White Elephant and Great Might Vajra Bull were considered Companion Beasts of the same type. Furthermore, its stats couldn''t compare to the Great Might Vajra Bull. Even if he hatched it, it wouldn''t be of much use to Zhou Wen.


    As for using it as an ordinary Companion Beast, Zhou Wen felt that it wasn''t necessary. Now that he had the ability to grind Mythical Companion Eggs, there would definitely be many Mythical Companion Beasts with such stats in the future. Furthermore, he couldn''t take those Mythical Companion Eggs out for sale.


    Why don''t I sell this White Elephant Companion Egg or exchange it for something? It''s useless to me anyway. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that selling it didn''t seem appropriate.


    Mythical Companion Beasts were rare. There were probably only about a hundred of them in the entire Federation. They were no longer things that money could measure.


    Furthermore, it was useless for Zhou Wen to have so much money. He was not at all materialistic.


    "Old Zhou, your luck is too good. How old are you, and you''ve already obtained another Mythical Companion Beast. I reckon the old fellows from the six families don''t have as many Mythical Companion Beasts as you," Li Xuan said enviously.


    "If you want it, you can buy it," Zhou Wen said.


    "For real?" Li Xuan was slightly taken aback. He never expected Zhou Wen to say that.


    "Of course it''s true. I''m short of money. You can''t cheat me on the price." Zhou Wen felt that letting Li Xuan have a Mythical Companion Beast wasn''t a bad idea.


    "Qiuyan, what about you? Are you interested?" Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan again.


    "The white elephant doesn''t suit me." Feng Qiuyan was even more direct.


    Zhou Wen was depressed. He wanted to give the Companion Egg away, but no one wanted it.


    "Since you aren''t interested, I''ll get An Sheng to help me sell it," Zhou Wen said as he called An Sheng.


    "Young Master Wen, is there something urgent? If not, I''ll come over to you after I''m done with my matters," An Sheng carefully said as he glanced at the sullen An Tianzuo.


    "It''s nothing serious. It''s just the White Elephant Companion Egg. I want to sell it. Help me see if anyone wants it," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng was immediately alarmed when he heard that. "Young Master Wen, you want to sell the White Elephant Companion Egg? Why are you doing this? If there''s a problem with the incubation, we can help you."


    "No, I just feel that it''s useless. It''s a waste having it with me. I want to exchange it for something useful," Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng was immediately rendered speechless. Zhou Wen was the only one who claimed that Mythical Companion Beasts were useless.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. Zhou Wen had too many Mythical Companion Beasts. Furthermore, with terrifying existences like Torch Dragon and Tyrant Behemoth, a White Elephant was nothing to him.


    "Young Master Wen, wait for me. I''ll come to you. Let''s talk in person," An Sheng said before hanging up.


    "Overseer, Young Master Wen wants to sell the White Elephant Companion Egg," An Sheng said to An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng had said it loudly just now, so An Tianzuo had naturally heard it. He said with a deadpan expression, "Foolish. He''s beginning to become arrogant just because he has some wealth. Since he wants to sell it, buy it. Give him whatever he wants. Don''t miss a single cent."


    "Young Master Wen isn''t a greedy person. He might say that he wants to sell it, but he just wants to give it to us," An Sheng explained on Zhou Wen''s behalf.


    "There''s no sincerity at all. Is this how a gift is given to someone? Furthermore, even if it''s a gift, it''s for you. I have nothing to do with him, nor will I take his things. Therefore, it should be you, not us. Be more precise with your words in the future. As my adjutant, you aren''t even precise with your words. What kind of adjutant are you?" An Tianzuo waved his hand and said, "Don''t bother me. Go back to work."


    An Sheng had no choice but to leave the office and head to Zhou Wen.


    "Young Master Wen, what do you want to exchange it for?" An Sheng asked as he looked at the White Elephant Companion Egg.


    "I want five million," Zhou Wen said.


    "That''s nothing. Mythical Companion Eggs are worth far more than that," Zhou Wen said.


    "As for the rest, I want some rather special Epic Essence Energy Skill Crystals," Zhou Wen said after some thought. His offensive means were still too uniform. He wanted to try and see if he could develop a divine offensive skill.


    "Be specific," An Sheng said.


    "It''s best if it''s an attack skill with special effects. It''s best if it''s a palm technique." Zhou Wen had always wanted to advance his Ashen Palm, but he had no suitable direction.


    "How about this? I don''t think you''ve thought it through. I''ll give you a catalog later for you to choose," An Sheng said.


    "Alright, that''s settled then. Take the Companion Egg away." Zhou Wen was rather satisfied with the deal.


    An Sheng didn''t stand on ceremony as he took the White Elephant Companion Egg back and quickly returned with a catalog for Zhou Wen. There were many Epic Essence Energy Skill Crystals listed on it.


    However, the catalog only had the names of Essence Energy Skill Crystals. He didn''t know what kind of skills they were.


    "You probably can''t tell what kind of Essence Energy Skills they are just by their names. What you can choose is probably the attributes. It''s best if you choose an Essence Energy Skill Crystal that matches your Essence Energy Art," An Sheng suggested.


    Zhou Wen read for a while, unsure what Essence Energy Skill he should choose.


    He had dropped quite a number of Essence Energy Skill Crystals and had learned quite a number of skills, but there were very few that he could usually use.


    "Young Master Wen, if you can''t make up your mind, I have a suggestion," An Sheng said.


    "What''s the suggestion?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Rather than exchanging the egg for Essence Energy Skill Crystals, why don''t you exchange it for a chance?" An Sheng said with a serious expression.


    "What chance?" Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng in puzzlement.


    "Previously, I entered a mysterious dimensional zone with the Overseer¡­" An Sheng explained.

 681 Treasure Chest in a Maze

    An Tianzuo''s first Mythical Companion Egg was obtained from there. However, one person could only open three treasure chests in the maze.


    An Sheng''s luck wasn''t too good. He opened three treasure chests, but he didn''t obtain any Mythical Companion Eggs. However, it wasn''t as though he didn''t get anything.


    In the maze, An Sheng obtained a mysterious pill from a treasure chest. After using it, his physique underwent some changes. In the past, An Sheng had told Zhou Wen that he was especially sensitive to Spirit Bodies. It was thanks to the mysterious pill.


    "In this era, there''s really nothing out of the ordinary. To think that there''s actually such a good place. There are countless strange dimensional zones around the world. I wonder how many people have obtained fortuitous encounters. The fortuitous encounters of wuxia novels in the past are too common in this era," Zhou Wen said wistfully.


    However, Zhou Wen had a slight advantage. Other people''s fortuitous encounters were life-threatening. As for him, all he needed to do was download the dungeon and slowly encounter them. He was bound to encounter one.


    Other people''s fortuitous encounters could be deemed as Heaven selecting them, but the mysterious phone made Heaven''s selection inevitable.


    "The world is changing, and humans are changing as well. It''s the same for the Federation. However, no matter how the world changes, there''s one thing that won''t change," An Sheng said.


    "What?" Zhou Wen really couldn''t think of anything in this world that wouldn''t change.


    "The winner is king," An Sheng said seriously.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback. This didn''t sound like An Sheng''s style. He imagined that An Sheng would say something about family.


    An Sheng smiled and said, "Let''s talk about the maze. The maze itself changes automatically. To walk out of it, one needs to understand the Book of Changes and Chinese divination. Last time, we found a total of twelve treasure chests when Overseer took me through the maze. We opened six and left the remaining six for Madam and Miss Jing. However, in the maze, one needs the strength of an Epic to survive. Miss Jing hasn''t had the chance to go. Madam has been investigating Mr. Ouyang''s matter, so she hasn''t had the time to go either. Now, she''s investigating Chu He. I reckon she won''t be going. Why not use the White Elephant to exchange for a chance to enter and try your luck?"


    "Since this is Sis Lan''s chance, it''s not nice of me to exchange for it, right?" Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. Since Sis Lan wasn''t going, it was fair for him to use the White Elephant Companion Egg to exchange for this opportunity.


    "Alright." Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    "After the matter at Dragon Gate Grotto is resolved, I''ll take you there. That place isn''t in Luoyang. Besides, before you go, you have to remember the maze''s possible path changes. I''ll give you the map of the maze later," An Sheng said with a smile.


    After An Sheng left, Zhou Wen continued grinding dungeons.


    He got nothing from entering Dragon Gate Grotto and grinding the baby tiger. Zhou Wen was already numb with disappointment.


    Why doesn''t the dungeon in-game change as well? If the game dungeons can intrinsically change, I can try cracking the golden light''s secret in-game, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    Ding!


    When Zhou Wen was grinding the Endless Sea of Stars, an Essence Energy Skill Crystal dropped. On careful look, it was the Neck Gold Dragon Essence Energy Skill he had been looking forward to.


    It finally dropped! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He had been grinding for many days. He had already obtained quite a number of the other six palaces of the Azure Dragon''s seven palaces, but only the Neck Gold Dragon eluded him. He had finally fulfilled his wish today.


    After impatiently absorbing the Essence Energy Skill Crystal, Zhou Wen felt another nail-like Essence Energy acupoint appear on his body. When the Essence Energy acupoint formed, the other six Essence Energy acupoints that were like dead acupoints suddenly came to life. They formed an Essence Energy circulation between the seven Essence Energy acupoints.


    Horn, neck, root, room, heart, tail, winnowing basket. The seven palaces were identical to the shape of a dragon. The horn was the horn of a dragon, and the neck was a dragon''s neck. Root was the stem of the neck. Room corresponded to the arms, the heart was the heart, and the winnowing basket was the tail.


    Essence Energy flowed through the seven Essence Energy points like an Azure Dragon. Zhou Wen could even hear the Azure Dragon''s long roar.


    Zhou Wen looked at his stats in-game and realized that the seven Essence Energy Skills had vanished, turning into an Essence Energy Skill.


    Eastern Azure Dragon Seven Lunar Mansions (Mortal): Horn Wood Scaly Dragon, Neck Gold Dragon, Root Earth Raccoon Dog, Room Solar Rabbit, Heart Lunar Fox, Tail Fire Tiger, and Winnowing-basket Water Leopard.


    Zhou Wen saw that the Essence Energy Skill was still at the Mortal stage, having not leveled up just because of the fusion of seven skills. However, the Essence Energy Skills that he couldn''t use previously could now be used.


    He attempted to use the skill of the Azure Dragon''s Seven Lunar Mansions in-game. The Essence Energy in his body surged and transformed into an invisible force that coiled around his body, protecting him.


    This feels a little similar to the Lotus Flower Buddha Body''s functions. They are all protective Essence Energy Skills, but they seem much weaker than the Lotus Flower Buddha Body. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but be in a dilemma. He hadn''t used the Lotus Flower Buddha Body for a long time because it wasn''t strong enough.


    Now, the Eastern Azure Dragon''s Seven Lunar Mansions was only at the Mortal stage, so the effects were even weaker.


    When Zhou Wen used it, he realized that the Azure Dragon Seven Nights could transform into the seven different forms¡ªHeart Lunar Fox, Room Solar Rabbit, and so on. But he didn''t notice anything special.


    After grinding for so long, it''s only a protective Essence Energy Skill? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. With an Essence Energy Skill named after the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions and one that was so difficult to grind, it shouldn''t be so weak.


    Should I try gathering the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions Essence Energy Skill and give it a try? Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to give up. He decided to grind the other Lunar Mansion skills if he had the time.


    However, Zhou Wen didn''t plan on deliberately grinding them any further. It was just that he would farm them if he saw them during his search for Astral Combat Beasts. It was best if he could gather all of them but it was not necessary.


    He controlled the blood-colored avatar to constantly search for Astral Combat Beasts in the endless sea of stars. After heading to other stellar zones, he indeed obtained other Lunar Mansion skills.


    After grinding for some time, Zhou Wen realized the pattern.


    In the four Lunar Mansion regions of north, south, east, and west, every Lunar Mansion region had one Essence Energy Skill that was especially difficult to obtain. Furthermore, one couldn''t use it unless one gathered all seven Essence Energy Skills.


    Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise are in the four Lunar Mansion zones. I wonder what effects they will have if I gather all of them. It was only a passing thought for Zhou Wen; he didn''t deliberately complete the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.

 682 Stone House

    Heavy-Armored Titan and Tyrant Behemoth were considered Companion Beasts of the same type. They had powerful physiques and formidable strength and had especially terrifying defenses.


    Heavy-Armored Titan''s entire body was enveloped by heavy armor. When it used the power of the Wheel of Destiny, almost no one could break its heavy armor.


    Primordial Sword Immortal wasn''t able to slice apart the heavy armor of the Titan. However, Primordial Immortal Sword''s intelligence was much higher than Heavy-Armored Titan. Furthermore, its speed was very fast, so it didn''t clash head-on with Heavy-Armored Titan that had activated its Wheel of Destiny. Once its Wheel of Destiny ended, it was completely defeated by Primordial Sword Immortal. It still couldn''t force Primordial Sword Immortal into using its Wheel of Destiny.


    Zhou Wen also watched the video of the battle later. Heavy-Armored Titan and Tyrant Behemoth were indeed similar, but it wasn''t as agile as Tyrant Behemoth. The Wheel of Destiny was purely a defensive force, unlike Tyrant Behemoth''s Absolute Strength that was offensive.


    I wonder if Tyrant Behemoth''s Absolute Strength will be able to produce a suction force on Primordial Sword Immortal. If I can suck it and force it to fight head-on, Tyrant Behemoth will have a chance of winning. If I can''t, Tyrant Behemoth will face an awkward situation like Heavy-Armored Titan, Zhou Wen thought to himself and felt that the chances of Tyrant Behemoth defeating Primordial Sword Immortal were relatively low.


    It wasn''t that his strength wasn''t enough, but that his intelligence was too low. He wasn''t at an advantage even with his formidable strength.


    There''s not much time left of the three-month deadline. No one can force out Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel of Destiny. I''m afraid it won''t be easy to vie for first place, Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Unless he got Torch Dragon to use Bright Torch Vision World, it would be difficult to snatch first place.


    Why am I thinking so much? Who knows if the problem with Dragon Gate Grotto can be resolved before the three-month deadline. Perhaps I don''t have the time to participate in the battle. It''s useless no matter how much I think about it. Zhou Wen had to stop thinking about it. He would grind dungeons when he had the time, but most of the time, he needed to help the Sunset Army fight the dimensional creatures that had rushed out of Dragon Gate Grotto. In fact, he didn''t even have much time to grind dungeons.


    "It''s gone¡­ The monk-robed skeleton is gone¡­" A soldier monitoring Dragon Gate Grotto discovered something strange. The monk-robed skeleton had vanished.


    As for the stone house''s door, it opened, revealing pure white light from inside.


    Just as everyone was feeling bewildered, the golden bird tore through the air and flew into the stone house.


    It was huge, and the stone house was short and small. The door was even shorter, but when the golden bird flew in front of the stone house, its body gradually shrank to almost the size of a pigeon as it flew in.


    Leng Zongzheng got Zhou Wen to join him before deciding that Leng Zongzheng, An Sheng, and Zhou Wen should enter the stone house to investigate.


    An Tianzuo still had to guard Luoyang, so he couldn''t easily take the risk.


    This was especially so now. Mythical creatures could rush out of Dragon Gate Grotto at any time and someone was needed to guard it. Otherwise, if they all entered, no one would be able to suppress the Mythical creatures that appeared. When that happened, Luoyang would be doomed.


    "Although we can''t determine the attributes of the monk-robed skeleton, we can only take things one step at a time now. After entering the stone house, safety first. If you discover anything amiss, you have to leave immediately," Leng Zongzheng exhorted Zhou Wen and An Sheng.


    The two of them expressed their understanding before Leng Zongzheng led them to the stone house.


    An Tianzuo watched them go up the mountain, but he didn''t say a word.


    Leng Zongzheng summoned a tiny beast to scout ahead. Without the monk-robed skeleton, the golden light in the mountain temple no longer existed. There was no danger.


    The three of them successfully entered the mountain temple and arrived in front of the stone house.


    Zhou Wen constantly tried observing the situation inside the stone house, but be it his vision or Truth Listener''s ability, neither of them could penetrate the white light inside.


    "Follow behind me. If anything happens, retreat immediately. Don''t hesitate," Leng Zongzheng exhorted again.


    Zhou Wen took out the Substitute Talisman and stuck it on his body. At the same time, he switched his Essence Energy Art to Dao Body. He had Gods Retreat Life Soul on standby.


    Unfortunately, the door was too small. If he summoned Six-Winged, it wouldn''t be able to enter. Therefore, Zhou Wen temporarily didn''t summon Six-Winged. He planned on summoning it immediately after entering.


    Leng Zongzheng had already gotten the little beast to enter the stone house. After confirming that there was no danger of death, he led Zhou Wen and An Sheng into the stone house.


    Zhou Wen walked in and entered the white light. He found it very strange as though he was walking in water, but the white light was something he couldn''t touch.


    Due to the white light, Zhou Wen couldn''t see anything. However, this feeling didn''t last long. After taking three steps, the white light in front of him vanished as his eyes regained clarity.


    However, the scene in front of him left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    The scene in front of him wasn''t a stone house. In front of him was a mysterious kingdom. The architectural style was very strange. The towers, buildings, monuments, and rooftops all had various Buddha statues.


    What was even more surprising was that this nation was made of gold bricks. All the buildings and statues were made of gold. They looked resplendent and dazzling.


    All sorts of mysterious Buddha statues dazzled the eyes. Zhou Wen had never seen many of them before, and they didn''t match the style of Dragon Gate Grotto.


    In the center of the Buddhist kingdom, there was a huge golden Buddha statue that was more than ten thousand feet tall. From afar, the Buddha statue''s body tore through the clouds. Its eyes were lowered as though it was looking down at everything.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Buddha statue''s shape and realized that it resembled the Lochana Buddha. According to what Zhou Wen knew, Lochana Buddha was a Buddha who had obtained the Buddha Fruit of Absolute Truth. He was a symbol of wisdom in Buddhism.


    Legend had it that in Dragon Gate Grotto, there was a Lochana Buddha carved to the likes of an ancient female monarch.


    Of course, that was only a legend.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw An Sheng and Leng Zongzheng beside him. When he looked at them, he saw them looking towards the front of the street.


    The skeleton in monk robes was walking on the long street. With the golden crystal bead in hand, it walked towards the huge Buddha step by step like it was holding a miniature sun.


    For some reason, the monk-robed skeleton walked very slowly as though it was treading on thin ice.


    In the sky, the golden bird spread its wings and also flew in the direction of the huge Buddha. Its body was like a great Roc as it spread its wings for 500 kilometers, but for some reason, it failed to close the distance between it and the huge Buddha.

 683 Urna

    He turned his head and realized that there was no longer a stone door behind him. Behind him was an endless void. The huge golden Buddha nation was floating in the void like an island while they were standing at the edge of the golden Buddha nation.


    Zhou Wen looked around and failed to find a way back. He looked at An Sheng and asked, "Ah Sheng, can you tell the way back?"


    An Sheng shook his head and said, "I can''t tell. It''s probably going to be troublesome. Young Master Wen, you have to be careful at all times."


    Leng Zongzheng said, "Look at the spot between the giant Buddha''s eyebrows."


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng looked over and saw a huge piece of sun-like glass between the Buddha''s brows that emitted a strange glow.


    "In Buddhism, that''s an Urna. It''s one of the thirty-two aspects of Gautama Buddha. It represents the source of all religions," An Sheng said.


    Leng Zongzheng nodded and said, "An Urna is one of the original forms of Buddha. It shrinks between the eyebrows. And when a craftsman carves a Buddha statue, there''s no way to depict the true appearance of an Urna. They usually just carve a circle or spiral to represent it. Look carefully at the Urna. Do you find anything odd?"


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng looked over and felt that the Urna was blinding, as though it was clear glass.


    As Truth Listener''s power couldn''t reach such a distance, Zhou Wen didn''t sense any danger descending. He switched to the Small Perfection of Wisdom and the Hell King Life Soul to strengthen his senses before carefully looking at the Urna.


    Upon doing so, Zhou Wen immediately realized something. The Urna wasn''t glass. It was clearly a cocoon formed from crystal threads.


    "That''s¡­ the cocoon of a Guardian¡­" Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    Leng Zongzheng said with a heavy expression, "It''s probably a cocoon of a Guardian. I originally thought that Dragon Gate Grotto only had one in Dragon''s Well, I didn''t expect there to be another one."


    "Could it be that everything that happened in Dragon Gate Grotto is due to the cocoon of the Guardian? But that doesn''t make sense. Doesn''t a Guardian only choose humans as contractors? Why are the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird here?" Zhou Wen frowned.


    No one could answer his question. The three of them watched from afar as the monk-clothed skeleton walked towards the Buddha and the golden-winged bird flew at high speed.


    However, be it the skeleton in monk robes or the golden-winged bird, they couldn''t close the distance. It was as though they were running on the spot.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and made it try walking in the direction of the Buddha.


    It was odd. The golden-winged bird''s flying speed was tremendous. It could fly hundreds of kilometers with a flap of its wings, but it was unable to approach the huge Buddha.


    However, the Great Might Vajra Bull easily closed the distance by slowly walking on the golden bricks. It was about to catch up to the monk-robed skeleton.


    "As expected. Only Buddhist-type creatures can travel through the Buddhist kingdom. That monk-robed skeleton isn''t a Buddhist-type creature after all. It''s probably relying on the crystal in its hand to slowly walk towards the Buddha. As for the golden-winged bird, it can''t approach it no matter what. It''s worse than the monk-robed skeleton." As Leng Zongzheng spoke, he got Zhou Wen to summon the Great Might Vajra Bull back to prevent it from meeting the monk-robed skeleton.


    At that moment, a bird''s cry rang through the clouds. The golden-winged bird''s body expanded like a golden cloud that blotted out the sky. It nearly enveloped the entire Buddhist kingdom in its shadow.


    It flapped its wings as a terrifying power tore through space and rapidly approached the Buddha. It actually broke through the restrictions of the Buddhist kingdom''s strange powers.


    What terrifying might. Only the gigantified Tyrant Behemoth can match it. Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Soon, the golden-winged bird arrived in front of the Buddha statue. As Leng Zongzheng had expected, it had indeed come for the cocoon of the Guardian. It flew to the top of the Buddha''s head and grabbed at it.


    The monk-robed skeleton also noticed the golden-winged Bird''s actions. A strange glint flashed in its eyes as it lifted the crystal in its hand. A golden beam shot out from the crystal and instantly struck the golden-winged bird.


    The golden-winged bird didn''t dare let the golden beam of light strike it. It gave up on the cocoon of the Guardian and flapped its wings to dodge.


    The crystal in the skeleton''s hand constantly emitted golden beams, preventing the golden-winged bird from approaching the cocoon.


    The golden-winged bird''s actions were interrupted a few times. It immediately turned ferocious as it flapped its wings and transformed into a golden beam that charged at the monk-robed skeleton. Its eyes flashed with lightning.


    As the skeleton advanced, it raised the crystal in its hand and emitted a golden glow that fought the golden-winged bird.


    The golden-winged bird seemed to be afraid of the crystal in its hand. It was forced back by the crystal''s light repeatedly.


    Leng Zongzheng stared at the monk-clothed skeleton and the crystal in its hand for a long time as though he was thinking about something. After a while, Leng Zongzheng suddenly turned to Zhou Wen and said, "Little Zhou, get the Great Might Vajra Bull to carry us to the Buddha."


    Although Leng Zongzheng didn''t explain why he was doing so, Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull when he saw his solemn expression.


    Thankfully, the Great Might Vajra Bull was huge. It was more than big enough to seat three people.


    The three of them sat on the bull''s back. The Great Might Vajra Bull immediately ran towards the Buddha.


    The monk-robed skeleton needed to walk towards the Buddha step by step. As for the Great Might Vajra Bull, it ran very quickly. Soon, it caught up with the monk-robed skeleton. While it was fighting the golden-winged Roc, it charged past it.


    When the monk-robed skeleton saw the Great Might Vajra Bull rush over with three people on it, the strange light in its eyes immediately lit up. The crystal in its hand immediately emitted a golden glow that resembled the one in the mountain temple. It enveloped a large area, including the Great Might Vajra Bull, Zhou Wen, and company.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the Runic Heavy Armor on his body melt like bubbles. Even the Great Might Vajra Bull''s body couldn''t withstand the terrifying golden light. It was like a melting candle as its golden flesh melted.


    Leng Zongzheng and Ah Sheng''s situation was the same. The armor on their bodies was melting, and in an instant, their armor was about to collapse.


    Zhou Wen pulled out the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed at the monk-robed skeleton. At the same time, he ordered the Great Might Vajra Bull to use the Soul Suppression Bell.


    Clang!


    The moment the Soul Suppression Bell sounded, the monk-robed skeleton was stunned. The golden light emitted from the crystal in its hand also dimmed.


    Taking this opportunity, Leng Zongzheng and Ah Sheng attacked at the same time. Leng Zongzheng summoned the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword that Zhou Wen had previously seen and slashed at the monk-robed skeleton. As for Ah Sheng, he used Love Letter''s text ability and sent a text to the monk-robed skeleton.

 684 Obstruction

    The golden sword beam was immediately shattered. The Azure Rainbow Flying Sword was sent flying almost simultaneously.


    An Sheng''s text came in front of it. It opened its mouth and blew out a strange cold wind that scattered the power of the text.


    Despite fighting three alone, the skeleton still had the upper hand. It held up the crystal in its hand again and shot out a golden beam.


    However, the golden beam wasn''t directed at Zhou Wen and company. It transformed into a beam that shot into the sky, targeting the golden-winged bird.


    It turned out that the golden-winged bird had taken advantage of the battle between the monk-robed skeleton and the trio to fly towards the Buddha, hoping to snatch the cocoon of the Guardian from the Buddha''s glabella.


    "Let''s go to the Buddha quickly." Leng Zongzheng didn''t seem to be in the mood to fight the monk-robed skeleton as he shouted loudly.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got the Great Might Vajra Bull to rush towards the Buddha. The monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird were occupied with fighting, so they couldn''t be bothered with them.


    Soon, the Great Might Vajra Bull ran to the foot of the Buddha, but it couldn''t fly. It was difficult to ascend the Buddha.


    "It should be fine now. Let''s head up," Leng Zongzheng said as he leaped up from the bull''s back. He stepped onto the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword and flew towards the cocoon of the Guardian.


    Zhou Wen unsummoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and flapped his wings to catch up.


    Ah Sheng quickly jumped up the Buddha statue. He was slightly slower. Leng Zongzheng seemed to be very anxious. Without waiting for them, he charged forward alone.


    The golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton, who were originally fighting, realized that Leng Zongzheng and company were charging towards the cocoon of the Guardian. They stopped their tussle simultaneously and attacked Leng Zongzheng.


    "Help me hold them back. Don''t let them come up." Leng Zongzheng was extremely bold. He leaped up from the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword and lunged towards the cocoon of the Guardian. As for the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword, it headed straight for the monk-robed skeleton.


    Another white beam flew out. It was the white parrot that Zhou Wen had seen before. It flapped its wings and faced the golden-winged bird.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen brandished his sword and slashed at the monk-robed skeleton. The crystal in the skeleton''s hand was too terrifying. If he held it back, he could give Leng Zongzheng greater opportunities.


    "Go!" Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and made it charge at the monk-robed skeleton while he charged at the golden-winged bird.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth landed on the ground and roared at the skeleton.


    The crystal in the monk-clothed skeleton''s hand emitted a golden glow as it struck Tyrant Behemoth. Tyrant Behemoth raised its arm to block, but its arm was penetrated by the golden light.


    In the next second, Tyrant Behemoth activated Absolute Strength. Its body turned into a black hole, causing the surrounding space to distort and form a strange suction force.


    The monk-clothed skeleton''s body was sucked towards Tyrant Behemoth, but it refused to be outdone. It raised the crystal in its hand again and shot out a terrifying golden light towards Tyrant Behemoth.


    However, the golden light was suppressed by Tyrant Behemoth''s Absolute Strength. Tyrant Behemoth charged forward, tanking the golden light before punching the monk-robed skeleton.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth blasted open a huge pit in the gold-bricked ground. As for the monk-robed skeleton, it used some unknown method to dodge Tyrant Behemoth''s attack and moved a few hundred meters away.


    Tyrant Behemoth roared and immediately chased after it.


    In the sky, the white parrot actually spoke the human language. As it flew, it cursed, "Little eagle brat, go back and ask your mother. See who''s son you are? How dare you not kneel down and call me daddy when you see me? You''re worse than a beast. If I had known, I would have ejaculated you towards the wall¡­"


    Zhou Wen had never seen a Companion Beast being so vulgar and offensive. Its strength was inferior to the golden-winged bird, so it could only flee for its life. However, as it fled, it kept on cursing the golden-winged bird. This infuriated the golden-winged bird, making it abandon its attacks on Leng Zongzheng as it directed its sights on the white parrot. It wanted the parrot dead.


    Even Zhou Wen felt his head spin after hearing its words. He really wanted to slap it.


    "A son killing his dad¡­ Aren''t you afraid of heavenly punishment¡­ You''ll be fried into a fragrant, mala eagle¡­" the white parrot cried as it fled.


    It was vulgar, but its flying speed wasn''t slow at all. It was actually comparable to the golden-winged bird. Furthermore, this fellow''s flying trajectory clearly had some technique involved. It wasn''t as simple as relying on speed.


    When Zhou Wen rushed forward, the golden-winged bird was already enraged. Its body emitted a golden glow as mysterious ancient text appeared on its feathers, causing its body to emit a terrifying divine glow. With a flap of its wings, its body tore through the void and appeared above the white parrot. Its claws, that resembled sharp blades, were about to grab the white parrot.


    The white parrot''s figure phased away as it used a teleportation skill to avoid the golden-winged bird''s talons.


    "No matter how awesome a son is, he''s still a son. If you want to capture me, spend another ten thousand years training and there might still be hope," the white parrot cursed as it fled in the opposite direction of the Buddha statue.


    Unfortunately, its teleportation skill was the same as Zhou Wen''s Lost Country. It couldn''t be used continuously. The golden-winged bird that had already gone berserk instantly caught up to it and grabbed it in midair.


    "Let go of your daddy. There''s nothing impressive about flying fast. If you have the guts, let''s fight on the ground." The white parrot had already been caught, but its mouth didn''t stop.


    Zhou Wen flapped his wings and slashed at the golden-winged bird''s claw, hoping to save the white parrot.


    To his surprise, the golden-winged bird hated the white parrot to the core. It ignored the golden sword beam and retracted its claw, about to tear the white parrot''s body into pieces.


    Clang!


    When the golden sword beam struck the bird''s claw, white feathers flew everywhere. The golden-winged bird''s claws were covered in white feathers, but the parrot''s body was gone.


    "Little eagle brat, let daddy teach you one more move. This is slough off the cicada''s golden shell from the Thirty-Six Stratagems. Learn it¡­" The white parrot had a few feathers left on its body. It was like a featherless chicken, but it was still making bold claims.


    The fellow wasn''t stupid either. As it shouted, it fled behind Zhou Wen. The wings that were without feathers could still fly very quickly.


    What the hell is this bird! Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. If he were the enemy of this crappy bird, he would wish to slaughter it immediately.


    The golden-winged bird clearly had the same thought as well. It rushed over immediately as the golden light on its body flashed like lightning. Its speed was unbelievably fast.


    However, Zhou Wen was right in front of the parrot. He immediately bore the brunt of the attack. He had already used Transcendent Flying Immortal to dodge the golden-winged bird''s attack, but the divine-level Transcendent Flying Immortal was like an electric tricycle against a sports car in front of the golden-winged bird. It was overtaken before it even started.


    As Zhou Wen retreated, he slashed out Golden Sword Aura. However, when it struck the golden feathers, it bounced off. Ignoring the fact that he failed to injure the golden-winged bird, he couldn''t even obstruct it for a moment.

 685 Buddha Annihilation

    To his surprise, he suddenly heard a loud boom. It came from the Buddha''s glabella.


    The golden-winged bird seemed to be jolted awake as it stopped pursuing Zhou Wen. It looked up at the Buddha.


    Zhou Wen also looked over and saw that Leng Zongzheng had already arrived in front of the cocoon of the Guardian. He held a saber in his hand as he stabbed it at the cocoon.


    However, in the cocoon of the Guardian, a hand broke out and grabbed the tip of Leng Zongzheng''s saber.


    The hand suffused a Buddhistic glow. It was fair and clean, and it didn''t look powerful. However, the sharp blade failed to injure the hand at all.


    Could the sound just now be from the palm tearing out of the cocoon? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling alarmed, he heard a crack.


    The hand snapped the saber in Leng Zongzheng''s hand.


    Leng Zongzheng retreated and stared at the cocoon of the Guardian with a solemn expression. He muttered to himself, "It''s still too late. Has it already developed to such a stage?"


    Apart from Tyrant Behemoth, who was still chasing the monk-robed skeleton and hammering down, everyone stopped and looked at the cocoon of the Guardian.


    Crack! Crack!


    The Guardian''s cocoon constantly shattered as crystalline fragments fell off, emitting a clean Buddhistic glow from the cocoon.


    The Buddha statues in the Buddhist kingdom seemed to come to life at that moment. Golden Buddha statues, be it sculptures or carvings on the walls, emitted the sound of chanting.


    In the entire Buddhist kingdom, the mysterious murmurs reverberated like a chant. It was as though they were praying or welcoming something.


    Amidst the murmurs, a golden Buddhistic glow rose from all the Buddha statues. The Buddhistic glow gathered at the Buddha''s glabella and flowed into the cracked cocoon.


    Crack! Crack!


    Most of the cocoon formed by the crystal threads had shattered. Zhou Wen and company could already see the creature inside the cocoon.


    It was bhikkhu, who was dressed in white monk robes. He looked no different from a human, but there was an Urna on his forehead. It was crystalline-like jade and had spiral patterns.


    He sat cross-legged in the cocoon as an infinite Buddhistic glow converged in front of him. They transformed into Buddha beads that automatically joined together, turning into a string of golden Buddha beads.


    As the Buddhistic glow intensified, Buddha''s figure appeared on the Buddha beads.


    When the cocoon of the Guardian completely shattered, the string of Buddha beads finally condensed and landed in the bhikkhu''s hand.


    "Buddha is annihilated with my birth¡­" The bhikkhu slowly opened his eyes. His eyes were so clear that it made people feel as though looking at him was desecrating him.


    However, with the bhikkhu''s voice, all the Buddha statues in the Buddhist Kingdom shattered. Even the thousand-foot-tall giant Buddha statue collapsed.


    The Buddha statue crumbled as it slowly sank into the void.


    The monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird trembled as they took on a pleading pose to the bhikkhu who held Buddha beads in his hands and pressed down with his other hand.


    A huge palm print appeared above the Buddha kingdom. Tyrant Behemoth, who continued attacking the skeleton, was slammed into the ground.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly unsummoned Tyrant Behemoth. Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth wasn''t killed. It was only slightly injured.


    However, despite being in its Absolute Strength state, it had been forcefully suppressed and had even suffered some injuries. The bhikkhu''s strength was unimaginable.


    "Chancellor, do we retreat?" An Sheng asked in horror as he rapidly moved through the collapsing Buddha kingdom.


    "There''s nowhere to retreat to. I''ll deal with him. The two of you will do as you see fit," Leng Zongzheng answered without looking back. Then, he looked at bhikkhu and asked, "What''s your name?"


    "Buddha Annihilation."


    Leng Zongzheng didn''t say a word. However, divine beams rose from his body one after another. The divine beams condensed in front of him, turning into a beautiful black-clothed goddess with a harp in her arms.


    Guardian? Does Chancellor Leng actually have a Guardian? Zhou Wen saw the black-clothed goddess holding a harp in front of Leng Zongzheng and immediately recognized her identity. She was actually a Guardian.


    "Name?" The bhikkhu asked as he looked at the harp-holding goddess.


    "Divine Harp." When the goddess answered, her body had already transformed into streams of light that fused into Leng Zongzheng''s body. At the same time, a black suit formed over him.


    Leng Zongzheng''s aura also underwent an earth-shattering change due to the fusion of the Divine Harp. He was like a devil in a suit.


    Leng Zongzheng sat in midair as the Demonic Organ Throne appeared in front of him. The vertical tubes that resembled a castle and the rows of keys emitted a solemn and mysterious aura.


    It was different from the Demonic Organ Throne that Zhou Wen had seen the last time. This time, because Leng Zongzheng had broken through to the divine level with the help of Divine Harp, he became even more terrifying. Every note emitted a terrifying glow.


    Leng Zongzheng pressed his hands on the keys as harp music came from the huge vertical tubes that resembled a castle.


    Zhou Wen didn''t think that the harp tones were anything special, but the Buddha beads in Buddha Annihilation''s hand glowed brightly as though it was resisting some kind of power.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to figure out what was so special about the harp music. This was because the golden-winged bird had already charged at Leng Zongzheng, as though it was helping Buddha Annihilation.


    Zhou Wen immediately released two Golden Battle God Halberds and attacked the golden-winged bird from the side. The Golden Overlord Sword in his hand slashed over.


    The bald parrot stood on Zhou Wen''s shoulder and shouted at the golden-winged bird, "Little eagle brat¡­ Your daddy is here¡­"


    The monk-robed skeleton also wanted to charge at Leng Zongzheng. An Sheng rushed over and stopped him, but An Sheng only had one Mythical creature¡ªLove Letter. Love Letter was far from being the monk-robed skeleton''s match. All it could do was constantly retreat and use various strange skills to delay the monk-robed skeleton''s advance.


    Seeing that An Sheng was in danger, Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth again to help An Sheng fight the monk-robed skeleton.


    Tyrant Behemoth had suffered some injuries, but thankfully, it wasn''t seriously injured. After charging into the collapsing Buddhist kingdom, it immediately activated its Absolute Strength again.


    For some reason, the monk-clothed skeleton fearlessly faced Tyrant Behemoth and stuffed the crystal in its eye socket.


    The moment the crystal entered his socket, it emitted a golden glow. It made the skeleton''s bones burn with golden flames as though it was bathing in Nirvana Flames.


    Boom!


    The monk-clothed skeleton''s bone fist collided with Tyrant Behemoth''s fist. They were evenly matched and neither of them managed to gain the upper hand. The terrifying shockwave produced from the collision of strength caused the already damaged streets to be further destroyed.

 686 Violent Annihilation

    An Sheng didn''t attack the monk-robed skeleton with Tyrant Behemoth. He watched from the side as though he was observing and searching for an opportunity.


    As Zhou Wen fought the golden-winged bird, the dragon wings on his back trembled. The two Golden Battle God Halberd attacked from both sides as the Golden Overlord Sword in his hand constantly slashed out Golden Sword Aura.


    However, the golden-winged bird''s speed was just too fast. It was so fast that Zhou Wen''s eyes couldn''t keep up with its actions. Before he could see what was happening, he heard a crack. One of his Golden Battle God Halberds had been grabbed by its claws. Once it exerted strength, the Golden Battle God Halberd immediately snapped into several pieces.


    Zhou Wen didn''t have the time to worry about the Golden Battle God Halberd''s death. He pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal''s speed to its limits and quickly escaped into the distance.


    If Tyrant Behemoth had absolute strength, then the golden-winged bird had absolute speed. Zhou Wen didn''t fly for long before it caught up.


    Without thinking, the eye mirror in Zhou Wen''s eye condensed a strange luster, making one of his eyes look like a mirror as he looked at the golden-winged bird.


    The golden-winged bird seemed to sense danger. The mysterious ancient text on its wings shimmered as it vanished from Zhou Wen''s sight.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen felt a heavy blow on his back. His body slammed into the ground like a meteor, leaving a huge hole in the golden palace.


    The golden-winged bird''s might was even more ferocious. With a flash, it grabbed the Golden Battle God Halberd that was flying in the air and instantly snapped it into several pieces.


    Zhou Wen crawled out of the ground and felt unbearable pain, but he wasn''t seriously injured. As for the Substitute Talisman, it had already dissipated into ashes.


    Thankfully, I brought the Substitute Talisman. If I had known, I would have drawn a few more. Zhou Wen was alarmed. If not for the Substitute Talisman, even if he didn''t die, the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon would have died.


    Unfortunately, Substitute Talismans were too difficult to draw. Success or failure depended on fate. Zhou Wen had drawn so many of them, but he had only succeeded once when his heart and mind were one.


    Later, he drew many more times, but none of them succeeded. Zhou Wen was too frustrated to continue drawing.


    After the golden-winged bird snapped the Golden Battle God Halberd, its bloody, cold eyes looked into the palace''s hole. It flapped its wings again and instantly vanished.


    Torch Dragon Youngling''s massive body appeared and burst through the palace. It looked up angrily at the sky.


    Zhou Wen stood on its head and used the Truth Listener earring''s ability to observe his surroundings. He realized that the golden-winged bird had already flown into the sky. Clearly, it was afraid of Torch Dragon''s appearance.


    However, in just an instant, the golden-winged bird turned ferocious again. It flapped its wings and transformed into a stream of light that vanished. It was so fast that he couldn''t see its trajectory.


    "Torch Dragon!" Zhou Wen called out.


    In fact, without Zhou Wen''s order, Torch Dragon had already moved. The scales on its body converged like eyelids as rows of Torch Dragon Eyes appeared. It was its World King Transformation.


    Countless Torch Dragon Eyes used Bright Torch Vision World at the same time, opening up like countless mirrors.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt something amiss. He turned his head and saw the golden-winged bird appear behind Torch Dragon. Its body flashed like a bolt of lightning as its wings flapped wildly. Its face was filled with horror as though it was resisting some invisible terrifying force.


    However, it only struggled for a moment before its figure suddenly vanished.


    Zhou Wen saw the golden-winged bird''s figure appear in the eyes on Torch Dragon''s back. It struggled and churned inside before disappearing.


    The Torch Dragon Vision World ended as Torch Dragon Youngling was taken out of its World King Transformation state. Torch Dragon Youngling was exhausted and its strength was greatly reduced. Its combat strength dropped drastically to the level of Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. It couldn''t even use Bright Torch Vision World again.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly unsummoned Torch Dragon Youngling. He couldn''t let it take the risk. This was Zhou Wen''s strongest trump card.


    What a huge loss. Zhou Wen felt his heart ache.


    He originally wanted to see if he could find an opportunity to kill the golden-winged bird, but he ended up losing a Substitute Talisman and two Golden Battle God Halberds.


    Although Bright Torch Vision World was powerful, it didn''t leave anything behind after killing its opponent. This was a fatal flaw. Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to use the skill unless it was absolutely necessary.


    Elsewhere, Tyrant Behemoth kept bombarding the monk-robed skeleton. Its powerful strength forced the monk-robed skeleton to retreat as its bones cracked.


    However, the golden light on its body burned like flames, making its body seem like an immortal body. It immediately recovered from any injuries. Although Tyrant Behemoth had the upper hand, it ultimately failed to kill it.


    Is Absolute Strength about to run out of time? Zhou Wen did the math and realized that there were about ten minutes left. However, from the looks of it, Tyrant Behemoth probably wouldn''t be able to kill the monk-robed skeleton in ten minutes.


    Suddenly, An Sheng, who had been observing from the side, pressed his palm on the ground and vanished like a ghost.


    At this moment, Tyrant Behemoth sent the monk-robed skeleton retreating a few steps with one punch, leaving it staggering.


    An Sheng strangely crawled out from the ground behind the skeleton and leaped up. His finger was like a venomous scorpion''s stinger as he tapped at the back of the skeleton''s head.


    He imprinted a mysterious character on the back of the monk-robed skeleton''s head. Zhou Wen recognized that it was the word "Quake," one of Love Letter''s abilities.


    Boom!


    The crystal in the skeleton''s eye sockets was actually jolted out because of An Sheng''s finger strike. It flew out and landed on the ground.


    The golden flames on the monk-robed skeleton''s body immediately vanished. Tyrant Behemoth''s attack followed up the chain of attacks. The monk-robed skeleton raised its fist in a panic to receive the attack.


    Crack!


    Without the augmentation of the crystal, the skeleton''s bony hand was shattered by Tyrant Behemoth and its body staggered backward.


    The berserk Tyrant Behemoth pummeled the monk-robed skeleton repeatedly. It only took a few punches to shatter the skeleton''s hands.


    The monk-clothed skeleton was sent tumbling to the ground. Tyrant Behemoth pressed one of its claws on its sternum, while the other struck its skull. With a few punches, the skull shattered.


    Tyrant Behemoth lifted the skeleton''s cracked body with one hand and placed it into its mouth. It chewed a few times before swallowing it.


    "Bro¡­ Take a look to see if there are any Companion Eggs left behind¡­" Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. What kind of pet was this? It ate anything it killed without leaving anything behind.


    However, since it had swallowed and couldn''t spit it out, all Zhou Wen could do was quickly run over and pick up the crystal that An Sheng had forced out of the skeleton''s eye socket.

 687 Buddhistic Glow Cleansing

    Zhou Wen couldn''t tell what was so special about it. The music didn''t seem to have any effect on them, but for some reason, when he heard it, he still felt a shiver from the bottom of his heart. It was as though there was a fear that stemmed from the depths of his soul.


    As for Buddha Annihilation, it seemed to be enveloped by a dark force. It was like a devil hidden in the darkness, allowing people to sense his existence but not see it.


    However, the power of darkness was blocked by the golden light emitted by the Buddha beads. The devil-like power failed to penetrate its body, and the two forces remained in a stalemate.


    The golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton were killed. Buddha Annihilation glanced at Zhou Wen and An Sheng, who were rushing over. The Urna between its brows revolved as though a Buddhistic glow had descended upon the Buddhist kingdom.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng were just about to rush over to help Leng Zongzheng when they saw the Buddhistic glow fall. They were alarmed as they used their Essence Energy Skills and Companion Beasts to block the Buddhistic glow.


    However, they soon realized that the Buddhistic glow didn''t affect them at all. However, wherever the Buddhistic glow descended, it illuminated the crumbling Buddhist kingdom like it was cleansing it.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng suddenly widened their eyes. Amidst the cleansed area, the golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton, that had just been killed, were reborn and bathing in the Buddhistic glow.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded as he said to An Sheng in bewilderment, "Ah Sheng, pinch me. I want to know if I''m hallucinating."


    "I think I''m hallucinating as well." An Sheng swallowed his saliva and said with great difficulty, "Young Master Wen, your Companion Beasts were able to kill them just now. They should still be capable of doing so now, right?"


    "No way. My Companion Beast is enervated from earlier. If those two fellows really come back to life, the method from before definitely won''t work," Zhou Wen said.


    Torch Dragon Youngling was greatly enervated after using World King Transformation. It was useless for the time being. Even if he released it, it only had about the same combat strength as the Six-Winged Guardian Dragon. Fighting the golden-winged bird was courting death.


    Tyrant Behemoth had almost used up all the time for its Absolute Strength. Without the suppression of Absolute Strength, it was probably no match for the monk-robed skeleton.


    The only good news was that the monk-robed skeleton, which was bathed in a Buddhistic glow, did not have the crystal in its hand. From the looks of it, the crystal wasn''t part of the monk-robed skeleton. The only one was the one in Zhou Wen''s hand.


    Zhou Wen had already studied it, but he hadn''t figured out how to make it emit the golden light to injure the enemy.


    "Young Master Wen, do you have any other Companion Beasts that can kill them?" An Sheng asked.


    "I do have Companion Beasts, but I don''t know if I can kill them," Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    "Then let''s prepare to risk our lives," An Sheng said through gritted teeth.


    "Son, come here. Your daddy is here¡­" The bald parrot was still alive. It jumped onto Zhou Wen''s shoulder and shouted at the golden-winged bird.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen punched it to the ground and thought to himself, Why would Leng Zongzheng raise such a Companion Beast?


    The monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird rushed towards Zhou Wen. The monk-robed skeleton''s target was the crystal in Zhou Wen''s hand, and the golden-winged bird clearly hated Zhou Wen and the parrot to death. It wanted to kill Zhou Wen and the parrot first.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned Tyrant Behemoth and allowed it to clash with the monk-robed skeleton again. Although Tyrant Behemoth was unable to defeat the skeleton without Absolute Strength''s suppression, it wasn''t a problem for it to hold out for some time.


    Now, the most difficult thing to deal with was the golden-winged bird. It was too fast¡ªso fast that Zhou Wen couldn''t dodge its attack. If he couldn''t kill it, Zhou Wen would be the one to die.


    Truth Listener and Demonic Neonate were summoned by Zhou Wen at the same time. Zhou Wen quickly retreated while An Sheng consciously retreated to the other side and ran towards Tyrant Behemoth.


    After Demonic Neonate landed, she hid herself as she took in the situation. Under Zhou Wen''s orders, Truth Listener''s earring shattered as its body instantly transformed into a terrifying dark-gold ferocious beast.


    Zhou Wen grabbed the bald parrot and threw it at Truth Listener. "Quick, scream. Use all your strength to curse all its ancestors."


    "What the f**k do you take me for? I must curse just because you want me to do so? Whether or not I want to scold my son depends on my mood. Now that I''m in a good mood, I''m not going to be petty with that young eagle brat." The bald parrot was still mumbling, but the golden-winged bird had already charged over with a shriek. It was so fast that no one could see its figure clearly. All they saw was a flash of golden lightning in the sky.


    Truth Listener seemed to have discovered the golden-winged bird''s location as it phased away and extended its claw.


    However, its body''s reaction speed failed to keep up with the golden-winged bird''s speed. It failed to grab the golden-winged bird that flashed past. Instead, the golden-winged bird''s blade-like wings sliced past its chest.


    Truth Listener retreated as its legs tore open two long ditches on the golden-bricked ground.


    The golden-winged bird''s attack only left shallow marks on the dark golden scales on Truth Listener''s chest. It failed to cut through the scales.


    Truth Listener had the Indestructible Vajra Body skill. Even Tyrant Behemoth had to use Absolute Strength to match Truth Listener''s physical toughness.


    Truth Listener''s speed was already very fast. It was considered one of the best at the Mythical stage, but it was still slightly inferior to the golden-winged bird.


    The golden-winged bird constantly flashed about and attacked Truth Listener, causing it to be overwhelmed. Truth Listener, who was originally extremely agile, appeared somewhat clumsy in front of the golden-winged bird. Its body was constantly being attacked by the bird''s wings and claws. Although it wasn''t severely injured, it made Truth Listener, who was already in an abnormal state of mind, become increasingly irritable.


    However, what delighted Zhou Wen was that although Truth Listener couldn''t touch the golden-winged bird, it wasn''t anywhere close to being killed. It managed to stabilize the situation for the time being.


    Zhou Wen looked at Tyrant Behemoth and saw that it was also suppressed by the monk-robed skeleton. Without Absolute Strength, Tyrant Behemoth also lost its absolute dominance at the Mythical stage.


    The situation had completely reversed; Zhou Wen''s pets were at a disadvantage. The situation was extremely bad.


    What worried Zhou Wen the most was that even if they could finish off the skeleton and the golden-winged bird this time, what about the next time?


    If Buddha Annihilation could revive them, no matter how powerful Zhou Wen''s Companion Beasts were, they would still end up dying.


    The only way was to kill Buddha Annihilation first.


    The situation on Leng Zongzheng''s side wasn''t smooth. The Demonic Organ Throne''s strength clearly wasn''t able to completely suppress Buddha Annihilation. Otherwise, Buddha Annihilation wouldn''t have the time to revive the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and flapped his wings as he flew into the sky. He wanted to see if he could help Leng Zongzheng destroy Buddha Annihilation.

 688 Rampage

    Looking from afar, he felt that Leng Zongzheng was playing the organ while Buddha Annihilation was listening to his organ music.


    However, when Zhou Wen entered a certain range, what he saw was completely different. Leng Zongzheng''s Demonic Organ Throne had turned into a terrifying demonic castle.


    With Leng Zongzheng''s organ music, demons flew out of the demonic castle one after another, circling around Buddha Annihilation as though they were trying to lure him into the castle.


    Buddha Annihilation was surrounded by demons as he looked down. He held the Buddha beads in his hand and chanted scriptures. The Buddhistic glow on his body bloomed like a lotus flower, resisting the temptation of the demons.


    Zhou Wen only took a glance from afar and it was enough to make his heart tremble. He couldn''t help but have the urge to throw himself into the devil''s embrace¡ªthe urge to dance with the devil.


    Zhou Wen''s heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly composed himself and eliminated the distracting thoughts.


    His willpower was firm to begin with. Once he entered a focused state, he immediately felt the illusions vanish. There were no demons or the demonic castle, nor were there any Buddhistic glow or lotus flowers. All he saw was Leng Zongzheng playing the organ while Buddha Annihilation listened.


    Zhou Wen didn''t continue walking forward. He felt that what he had just seen wasn''t as simple as an illusion. It was so far away that it made him hallucinate. If he really entered, Zhou Wen might not be able to withstand it with his Epic body.


    If he didn''t end up helping and ended up being killed by friendly fire, that would be a tragic death.


    If I could advance to the Mythical stage myself, I wouldn''t have so many reservations. I wouldn''t need to rely solely on my Companion Beasts to fight. Zhou Wen had the intention to advance to the Mythical stage, but he had no clue how.


    Leng Zongzheng and Jiang Yan had advanced to the Mythical stage by contracting with Guardians. Zhou Wen didn''t wish to take this path.


    This path seemed to be the simplest, but the disadvantages were too great. It was impossible for him to fuse with the Guardian during his daily life. If he encountered any sudden danger, he might die without even having the chance to fuse.


    Do I really have to use Spirit Casting? Zhou Wen was considering if he should take Wang Mingyuan''s path.


    Although the path was difficult, it was a true advancement to the Mythical stage. However, one''s body would no longer resemble that of a human. It was closer to a dimensional creature, and he might even be rejected by humans.


    Without the crystal, the monk-clothed skeleton''s strength had decreased significantly. However, the crystal was ultimately an external force. The monk-clothed skeleton''s Wheel of Destiny''s strength was still present. Compared to Tyrant Behemoth, it had the advantage. Tyrant Behemoth was suppressed by the monk-clothed skeleton in a frontal collision.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth was just too ferocious. Even though it was suppressed, it still attacked without fear of death and caused trouble for the monk-clothed skeleton. Even if it was injured, it wouldn''t be in any serious danger for the time being.


    Furthermore, An Sheng and the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword were constantly harassing it, giving the monk-robed skeleton a headache. It was unlikely that there would be any problems anytime soon.


    Zhou Wen looked at the golden-winged bird and Truth Listener again. Truth Listener looked a little pathetic. It resembled a clumsy bear. The golden-winged bird made it go in circles, but it ultimately failed to touch the golden-winged bird. Instead, it had many wounds on its body¡ªall inflicted by the golden-winged bird. Although they were minor injuries, Truth Listener nearly went berserk.


    The golden-winged bird''s speed is too fast. How can I help Truth Listener? With my speed, I definitely won''t be able to catch up to it. Even if it has powerful offensive powers, it won''t be of much use against it. Should I use the Great Might Vajra Bull''s Soul Suppression Bell? However, the Soul Suppression Bell is an area-of-effect attack. It affects both the enemy and me. If the golden-winged bird and Truth Listener were to faint together, that doesn''t seem to be of much help to the battle¡­ As Zhou Wen was thinking about how to help Truth Listener, he saw the enraged Truth Listener shatter another earring.


    As the earring shattered, Truth Listener''s body underwent a strange change. This time, it didn''t grow bigger, but the first scale on its body vaguely produced strange black symbols. The symbols burned with black flames, like the devil''s mark from hell.


    Due to the appearance of the symbol, Truth Listener''s dark golden body seemed to become dark. Under the envelopment of the black flames, coupled with its ferocious and violent eyes, it was like a demonic beast that had rushed out of hell.


    Zhou Wen could sense that Truth Listener''s emotions had become even more irritable and unstable. It was showing signs of madness, making Zhou Wen almost unable to sense the soul connection between them.


    The golden-winged bird once again flashed past Truth Listener''s side, but this time, Truth Listener''s claw grabbed the golden-winged bird''s leg.


    Boom!


    Truth Listener exerted strength in its arm and pulled the golden-winged bird down from the sky. It slammed heavily onto the ground, creating a huge crater in the golden ground.


    Then, Truth Listener grabbed the golden-winged bird''s legs with both claws and let out a violent roar. It suddenly exerted strength and was about to rip the golden-winged bird into two.


    The golden-winged bird''s body shimmered with golden light as its legs were torn apart. The mysterious symbol on its feathers kept trembling. It turned its head in horror and pecked Truth Listener.


    However, Truth Listener ignored it. It allowed the golden-winged bird to tear apart the scales on its head. Blood gushed out, but it didn''t seem to notice it. It continued tearing at the golden-winged bird''s legs.


    The golden light shattered as blood flowed out. The golden-winged bird let out a tragic cry as one of its legs was ripped off by Truth Listener. It struggled even more violently as it used its wings to strike Truth Listener''s head.


    Truth Listener ignored it. It threw away the bird leg in its hand and grabbed one of its wings with one hand and the other leg with another before tearing it apart.


    Golden blood splattered onto the feathers. The golden-winged bird let out a heart-wrenching cry, but it was useless.


    Zhou Wen looked at the golden-winged bird in horror. It had its wings and legs torn off by Truth Listener. In the end, it even ripped off its head and threw it to the ground.


    Truth Listener roared at the sky like a bloodthirsty demon king from hell.


    An Sheng was already dumbfounded. This was the first time he had seen such a ruthless and ferocious Companion Beast. It wasn''t a massacre, but torture.


    Ignoring Companion Beasts, even dimensional creatures seldom had such ferocious tendencies.


    Zhou Wen himself wore a look of shock. He had only seen one of Truth Listener''s earrings shatter in the past. It was so ferocious and ruthless now that two earrings had shattered. If the six earrings were to shatter together, he didn''t know how terrifying it would be.


    Zhou Wen didn''t attempt it, nor did he wish to try. He felt that the connection between him and Truth Listener had become extremely weak. It was like a taut fishing line that could snap at any moment.


    He attempted to summon Truth Listener back. Thankfully, Truth Listener sensed Zhou Wen''s will and its emotions slowly stabilized. The shattered earring returned to its ears. When Truth Listener returned to Zhou Wen''s ear, the violent emotions vanished.

 689 Invisible Fire

    Every time Truth Listener''s earring shattered, it gave Zhou Wen an ominous feeling. If not for the fact that he had no choice, Zhou Wen wouldn''t be willing to let Truth Listener shatter the earring to fight.


    However, in this situation, there was nothing else he could do. Zhou Wen had already used all the combat strength he could muster, so there was no way he could hold back.


    With the golden-winged bird dead, Zhou Wen no longer had any worries. Unfortunately, he didn''t discover any Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals.


    Gripping the Golden Overlord Sword tightly, Zhou Wen charged at the monk-robed skeleton. At the same time, he summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and used the Soul Suppression Bell as support to attack the monk-robed skeleton.


    Without the help of the crystal, the monk-clothed skeleton''s strength decreased significantly. Under the siege, it was stunned by the Soul Suppression Bell. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to slash at it, slicing off one of its legs, causing its movement to slow down significantly.


    An Sheng also took the opportunity to use the fixing incantation. Although it couldn''t completely freeze the skeleton''s body, it made it pause for a moment.


    Tyrant Behemoth''s body expanded as it used the Mountain Devouring Skill to swallow the monk-robed skeleton.


    Knock! Knock! Knock!


    Zhou Wen saw Tyrant Behemoth''s stomach twitch like a drum, but it didn''t last long.


    It''s finally done! Zhou Wen didn''t dare relax as he turned to look at Buddha Annihilation. Indeed, he saw the Urna on his forehead glow once again. Immediately, another Buddhistic glow descended.


    In the Buddhistic glow, the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird were born once again as their bodies gradually condensed.


    Although he had expected it, Zhou Wen''s expression was still ugly. He turned his head to look at the golden-winged bird''s corpse that he had just killed and saw that it was still scattered across the ground. It hadn''t disappeared.


    Damn it. What kind of power does that Buddha Annihilation''s Urna have to revive a Mythical creature out of thin air¡­ Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed, something even more shocking happened.


    It wasn''t just the skeleton and the golden-winged bird that were reborn in the Buddhistic glow. The two Golden Battle God Halberds that were killed were in the lineup as well.


    However, the two Golden Battle God Halberds that had been revived had no connection to Zhou Wen, much less be under his control.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. Thinking of such a bug-like ability, he felt quite delighted if he could obtain it.


    Unfortunately, Buddha Annihilation might not be willing to contract with him. Even if it was willing, Zhou Wen wasn''t willing to do so.


    His Companion Beast, Demonic Neonate, had signed a master-slave contract. If he signed a Guardian contract, wouldn''t that be too lame in comparison?


    As Zhou Wen pondered over, the skeleton, the golden-winged bird, and the two Golden Battle God Halberds rushed over. It was obvious that the Golden Battle God Halberds were completely heartless and wanted to destroy Zhou Wen and company.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon Truth Listener. He got it to remove the restrictions of one earring and continue fighting.


    Zhou Wen faced the Golden Battle God Halberds himself. With his understanding of the Golden Battle God Halberds, he quickly used the Golden Overlord Sword to snap the two Golden Battle God Halberds.


    Truth Listener was still fighting the golden-winged bird to the death. Tyrant Behemoth was dragging its exhausted body as it fought the monk-robed skeleton. An Sheng, the Azure Rainbow Flying Sword, and the bald parrot were all helping.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to rush forward to help, but he thought that even if he killed them, it would be useless. Buddha Annihilation would still revive them.


    These revived Mythical creatures look no different from the former Mythical creatures or even Companion Beasts. Are they really identical to their original forms? Zhou Wen activated the Hell King''s Eye and glanced at the golden-winged bird and the monk-robed skeleton, hoping to see if he could discover any differences.


    A vertical crack appeared on Zhou Wen''s glabella. It looked like a third eye, but there were no pupils in it. It was as though it was connected to hell as ghostly cries sounded.


    Even with the Hell King''s Eye, he couldn''t tell how different these resurrected Mythical creatures were from their original bodies.


    They looked no different from real creatures. They also had invisible flames on them, and they looked rather thick.


    While Zhou Wen was observing, Truth Listener was already on the brink of going berserk.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and charged at the monk-robed skeleton. He planned on dealing with it before getting Tyrant Behemoth to help Truth Listener alleviate some of the pressure.


    Where did Demonic Neonate go? Why haven''t I seen her attack? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He sensed Demonic Neonate''s location and realized that she was hiding in a pile of ruins. She was secretly looking at Buddha Annihilation, who was sitting cross-legged in the sky.


    So she''s targeting Buddha Annihilation? I wonder if it''s possible. Although Grim Demon is also a Guardian, it feels so weak. It feels weaker than the six-winged seraphim. Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    If Demonic Neonate attacked Buddha Annihilation and ended up being killed by it, it would be a huge loss.


    Zhou Wen was still optimistic about Demonic Neonate''s future. He had been waiting for the day she returned to the Mythical stage, so he was unwilling for her to risk her life.


    If Grim Demon knew what Zhou Wen was thinking, he would probably vomit blood and faint in the bathroom.


    Grim Demon wasn''t weak. It was only because it was limited by the master-slave contract. Furthermore, as the master, Demonic Neonate was too weak, which greatly reduced its combat strength. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be so weak.


    Zhou Wen rushed forward to help Tyrant Behemoth fight and summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and Torch Dragon to help. He wanted to kill the monk-robed skeleton as soon as possible.


    While fighting, Zhou Wen kept his Hell King''s Eye open. He wanted to see if there was anything different between the monk-robed skeleton and the monk-robed skeleton that would be revived later.


    Before Truth Listener went berserk again, Zhou Wen finally managed to kill the monk-robed skeleton. However, this time, Zhou Wen had cleaved apart the skeleton''s head with his sword.


    At this moment, something strange happened. After the monk-robed skeleton was killed, the invisible flames on its body floated towards the Hell King''s Eye as though they were attracted by some force.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised, unsure if he had accidentally discovered the advancement method for Hell King.


    The formless fire that resembled a stream of water was constantly sucked into the Hell King''s Eye. At the same time, Zhou Wen felt that his Hell King body was silently changing.


    So Hell King evolves by absorbing these invisible flames? If I had known, I would have raised Hell King''s level a long time ago. Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.

 690 Resurrection No More

    Apart from top-notch Companion Beasts with especially powerful bodies like Tyrant Behemoth and Truth Listener, the other creatures would die if they went up. The golden-winged bird''s speed was just too fast. One had to withstand its attacks head-on, but its attack power was especially powerful. Even ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts couldn''t withstand it.


    With Tyrant Behemoth joining the fray, Truth Listener''s pressure decreased significantly, but the battle became even more intense.


    It was similar to Truth Listener''s situation. Without the suppression of Absolute Strength, Tyrant Behemoth couldn''t touch the golden-winged bird. It was only an additional target to take a beating, sharing half the brunt of the firepower.


    Zhou Wen had been using his mind to control Truth Listener, preventing it from shattering the second earring.


    Firstly, it was easy to lose control when it was in its berserk state due to the shattering of the earring. Secondly, even if it killed the golden-winged bird, it would still be revived by Buddha Annihilation. It was useless to kill it. It was better to drag it out.


    I''m really stupid. I should have thought of a way to kill the golden-winged bird first and leave behind the easier monk-robed skeleton. Zhou Wen suddenly realized that he had done something wrong.


    "Chancellor Leng''s situation doesn''t seem too good," An Sheng came to Zhou Wen''s side and said as he looked up into the sky.


    Zhou Wen could also tell that Leng Zongzheng''s situation wasn''t good. His Demonic Organ Throne had been unable to suppress Buddha Annihilation despite all this time. Under such circumstances, the party taking the initiative to attack would suffer.


    Once the opponent found a chance to counterattack, Leng Zongzheng would be in danger.


    "The battle between the two of them is almost at the peak of the Mythical stage. Our strength isn''t enough to interfere in the battle. Even if we rely on Companion Beasts to influence the direction of the battle, we need to find an appropriate opportunity." Zhou Wen sighed and said, "If my Torch Dragon Youngling hadn''t expended too much energy, it might have the ability to forcefully change the battle''s trajectory, but it won''t work now."


    An Sheng smiled and said, "Young Master Wen, don''t worry. The quality and quantity of your Companion Beasts are enough to stand tall amongst the Federation. Even the people with the most Companion Beasts in the six hero families are probably inferior to you. If you can''t even leave this place, no one in the Federation will be able to."


    "Those kinds of Companion Beasts are rare even among the six families. Whoever has one is already considered extremely lucky. How could one have so many like you? Let me do a count. Torch Dragon, Behemoth, and that Companion Beast that looks like a golden ape. Ignoring the other ordinary Mythical creatures, you already have three top-notch Mythical creatures that can attempt first place. You can be considered unprecedented," An Sheng sighed.


    Zhou Wen shook his head. Now, these top Companion Beasts weren''t able to help him rush out of the Buddhist kingdom. Life and death remained unknown.


    Sometimes, miracles happen in this world.


    Behemoth and Truth Listener couldn''t keep up with the golden-winged bird''s speed. They were originally getting beaten up, and Zhou Wen only wanted them to hold back the golden-winged bird.


    To his surprise, Truth Listener had actually gotten lucky. It had accidentally caught the golden-winged bird''s wings when it was clawing wildly.


    This surprise was unexpected to the golden-winged bird and Truth Listener. This was also a testament to the benefits of having low intelligence. Under the same circumstances, Truth Listener, who wasn''t intelligent, had a reaction that exceeded its brain. It instinctively grabbed the golden-winged bird''s wings and threw it over its shoulder, slamming it to the ground.


    Boom!


    Having seized this opportunity, how could the two terrifying creatures give up? Behemoth sat on the golden-winged bird''s body and slammed its head. Truth Listener stood in front of the golden-winged bird and ripped off its wings.


    The golden-winged bird had a huge advantage in speed, but its body wasn''t stronger than Truth Listener or Behemoth''s. Under the two beasts'' barrage of attacks, it was quickly killed.


    Zhou Wen was chatting with An Sheng when he realized that it was too late to stop them from killing the golden-winged bird.


    Seeing that the golden-winged bird''s head had been smashed in, it was no longer able to live.


    Zhou Wen wanted to retrieve the golden-winged bird''s invisible flames using the Hell King''s Eye, but he realized that he couldn''t. After the golden-winged bird died, the invisible flames on its body automatically dissipated into the world.


    Could it be that I have to kill a creature myself to absorb the invisible flames on its body? Zhou Wen guessed the reason.


    Upon dying, Buddha Annihilation once again used its power to revive them.


    The Buddhistic glow illuminated and purified the golden Buddha kingdom with no way of stopping it.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought he had to kill the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird again, he realized something strange.


    The golden-winged bird and the two Golden Battle God Halberds were reborn, but the monk-robed skeleton didn''t reincarnate this time. It was nowhere to be seen.


    Strange, why hasn''t the monk-robed skeleton been reborn? Could it be that Buddha''s Annihilation''s strength is insufficient to revive the monk-robed skeleton? That''s not right. The golden-winged bird is even stronger than the monk-robed skeleton; yet, it can be revived. The two Golden Battle God Halberds can also be reborn. There''s no reason for the monk-robed skeleton to not have the strength to be reborn¡­


    Zhou Wen''s eyes lit up as he suddenly thought of a possibility. Previously, when the monk-robed skeleton died, I used the Hell King''s Eye to absorb the invisible flames on its body. Could this be the reason why it couldn''t be reborn again?


    "Young Master Wen, look. That monk-robed skeleton didn''t revive this time. Did Buddha Annihilation expend too much of its energy and have no way of reviving the monk-robed skeleton?" An Sheng couldn''t see Zhou Wen absorbing the invisible flames with the Hell King''s Eye, so his conclusion was similar to Zhou Wen''s first thought.


    "I think I might know how to prevent them from being revived," Zhou Wen said as he impatiently charged at the two Golden Battle God Halberds.


    Tyrant Behemoth and Truth Listener also charged at the golden-winged bird and began their painful battle again.


    Zhou Wen opened the Hell King''s Eye and snapped the two Golden Battle God Halberds. At the same time, he absorbed the invisible flames from their bodies. This time, the process was very smooth. He absorbed all of them in one go.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t wait to know if they would revive later.


    An Sheng seemed to sense something when he saw Zhou Wen slice through the Golden Battle God Halberd, but he didn''t know what Zhou Wen had done.


    Be it the Hell King''s Eye or the invisible fire, they were invisible to the naked eye. An Sheng had no idea that Zhou Wen had absorbed the invisible fire with his Hell King''s Eye, so he naturally had no way of guessing.


    Now, there''s only the golden-winged bird left. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull. He took the opportunity and made it use the Soul Suppression Bell, causing the golden-winged bird to instantly feel dizzy.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to rush over, but to his surprise, Behemoth became dizzy but Truth Listener didn''t. It immediately grabbed the dizzy golden-winged bird.


    Following that, it carried out another round of battery. The two monster-like Companion Beasts beat the golden-winged bird until it was half dead before Zhou Wen went up and killed it in one strike.


    After absorbing the invisible flames from the golden-winged bird, Zhou Wen looked at Buddha Annihilation again.


    However, this time, Buddha Annihilation didn''t use its resurrection ability. It appeared to be as Zhou Wen had expected. Buddha Annihilation''s resurrection wasn''t done without reason; it needed the invisible fire as its foundation. Now that the invisible fire was gone, Buddha Annihilation no longer had a target to use the skill.


    "Young Master Wen, how did you do it?" An Sheng asked Zhou Wen in surprise.

 691 Advancement Initiated

    He didn''t know music and didn''t know much about space. However, he had a nagging feeling that Leng Zongzheng''s organ music was weakening.


    "Ah Sheng, do you know music? Do you know the extent of this song? Is it about to end?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "No one knows what the last movement of the Demonic Symphony is. Everyone who has heard it is already dead. Overseer had only heard Chancellor Leng mention it. If the heart doesn''t die, the seventh movement won''t make a squeak," An Sheng explained.


    After Zhou Wen heard that, he immediately knew that things weren''t looking good. Since the heart doesn''t die naturally, it meant that one still had the desire to live. If one''s heart died, they could even abandon their lives. The final movement''s dangers were obvious.


    Now, Buddha Annihilation had already heard the end of the sixth movement, but he remained composed. Perhaps victory could only be determined by the seventh movement.


    As the two of them spoke, the sixth movement came to an end. Although the first six musical movements had some ups and downs, in general, they were all gentle tunes that spurred one to improve themselves.


    When the first note of the seventh movement sounded, everything changed.


    The musical note seemed to have an irresistible charm. The moment it sounded, Zhou Wen and An Sheng felt an illusion appear in front of them.


    The crumbling Buddhist kingdom seemed to have turned into hell. Death filled the air as countless vengeful souls extended their palms from underground and let out painful cries.


    The Demonic Organ Throne in the sky didn''t change at all. It was still the Demonic Organ Throne, but Leng Zongzheng, who was sitting in front of the organ, emitted a terrifying demonic aura. He looked like a devil dressed in a suit. The demonic aura around him surged into the sky as his fingers danced. He pressed on the keys in a frenzy. His eyes were burning with zeal as he seemed to be possessed.


    "The organ hasn''t changed, but the person has been possessed. This movement is too dangerous and evil." Even Zhou Wen, who didn''t know music, couldn''t see the horror of Chancellor Leng''s movement.


    Buddha Annihilation was still sitting cross-legged in the void. He closed his eyes and chanted. He held the Buddha beads with his fingers and emitted a supreme Buddhistic glow to block the terrifying demonic music.


    However, when the seventh movement sounded, even Buddha Annihilation showed a change in expression. The Buddha beads in his hand scattered and fell into the void. The Buddha patterns on the Buddha beads revealed smiling faces. However, the smiles looked as ferocious as a devil''s smile. It was as crazy and evil as Leng Zongzheng''s expression.


    Buddha Annihilation opened its eyes as the Urna on its forehead emitted a crystalline glow to resist the demonic music. On his body, black-red patterns that represented the devil appeared as they constantly spread across his body. The final target was the Urna.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng felt their hearts tremble. They couldn''t help but be alarmed when they saw the demonic patterns on their bodies.


    "Young Master Wen¡­ Quickly retreat¡­" An Sheng pulled Zhou Wen back.


    The two of them retreated again and again before they felt much better. Zhou Wen used the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to resist the hellish demonic music and it immediately had an effect. The demonic patterns on his body gradually receded.


    An Sheng gradually returned to normal. The two of them looked at each other in horror. Despite being so far away, they were still affected. Buddha Annihilation, who faced Leng Zongzheng directly, experienced an indescribable pressure.


    "Chancellor Leng is indeed worthy of being known as the strongest existence beneath the Mythical stage. Even Buddha can become a devil. I''m afraid there aren''t many people in the world who can withstand such organ music." Zhou Wen couldn''t help but praise Leng Zongzheng, who was like a devil.


    More and more demonic runes appeared on Buddha Annihilation''s body, almost covering his entire body. Only his Urna shone with a Buddhistic glow.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng were nervous, but Leng Zongzheng''s organ music was getting crazier. They knew that it was probably the final critical moment.


    Suddenly, the Urna between Buddha Annihilation''s eyebrows glowed brightly, illuminating the world like a sun.


    "It''s coming!" Zhou Wen and An Sheng''s hearts were in their mouths. They knew that victory or defeat depended on this strike. Anyone who retreated would probably be severely injured.


    At the instant Buddha Annihilation''s Urna released a blinding light, a dark purple beam of light silently passed through the hellish scene and stabbed into Buddha Annihilation''s back.


    Buddha Annihilation''s pupils constricted as the Urna on his forehead dimmed. The demonic organ music immediately invaded his Urna.


    A trace of black demonic aura appeared in the originally flawless Urna. Furthermore, wisps of the demonic aura continued to seep into it, weakening the Urna''s glow.


    Demonic Neonate! Zhou Wen immediately recognized the sword that had stabbed into the Buddha Annihilation''s back. It was the demonic sword in Demonic Neonate''s arms.


    The demonic sword inched into Buddha Annihilation''s heart. With him severely injured and the invasion of the demonic music, the situation changed drastically.


    As its Urna was gradually corroded by the demonic music, Buddha Annihilation''s peaceful face also began to distort. Red light flashed in its eyes as the Buddha-like face gradually turned devilish.


    Buddha Annihilation stood up abruptly as the power in its body erupted like a volcano. It wanted to send the demonic sword on its back flying, but the demonic sword seemed to be nailed into its bones. Not only did it fail to send it flying away, it even stabbed into Buddha Annihilation''s heart at an even faster rate, piercing right through it.


    If Buddha Annihilation could maintain its Buddhist nature, the demonic sword might not have been capable of penetrating its heart that easily. However, the moment it became demonized, Grim Demon on the sword played a significant role. It made Buddha Annihilation unable to put up a resistance.


    Under the pincer attack of the demonic sword and the organ music, the extremely terrifying Guardian ultimately couldn''t withstand the attack. Its eyes gradually dimmed.


    The Buddhistic glow on Buddha Annihilation''s body gradually extinguished. It also meant that his vitality was like a candle in the wind, about to extinguish at any moment.


    Just as Buddha Annihilation was at the end of the ropes, its eyes regained clarity. The demonic patterns on its body gradually receded and it returned to its crystalline Buddha body. It sat down cross-legged and closed its eyes as it said slowly, "Annihilation of Buddha tonight is like the snuffing out of fire."


    With that sentence, the Buddha body burned like a piece of paper, turning to ash.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen suddenly felt his Slaughterer Life Soul tremble as though an invisible force was injected into it, rapidly evolving it.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted. He hadn''t been able to find an advancement method for Slaughterer, but now, it had inexplicably advanced.

 692 Evolved Body

    "The exit is there. Let''s go." Leng Zongzheng led Zhou Wen and An Sheng towards the door.


    When they went through the door, they realized that they were already outside the stone house. The stone house was wobbling and crumbling. Before long, it collapsed with a boom, reduced to a ruin.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tiny pile of rocks and felt as though he was dreaming.


    I''ve finally come out alive. Zhou Wen decided that he had to draw a few Substitute Talismans when he returned. No matter how low the success rate was, he had to draw them.


    In the past, he had always gamed and seldom ventured into dimensional zones. Furthermore, he had plenty of Mythical Companion Beasts. With a Substitute Talisman and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon, he felt that it was enough to deal with any danger.


    However, the battle in the Buddhist kingdom made Zhou Wen realize how terrifying the Guardians were. An uncontracted Buddha Annihilation was already this terrifying. It was probably more dangerous to encounter a contractor who already had an owner¡ªas long as it wasn''t a rookie like John.


    After the stone house collapsed, the phenomenon in Dragon Gate Grotto vanished and everything returned to normal.


    However, problems with the Dragon Gate Grotto''s seal seemed to ensue after this. Often, some creatures would break out of the seal, making it much more frequent than before.


    Thankfully, most of them were Malla or Fairies. Furthermore, there weren''t many of them. The troops stationed there could deal with them.


    "Tianzuo, your family''s Little Zhou is indeed not bad. He''s worth grooming. You should spend more time on him," Leng Zongzheng said to An Tianzuo before he left.


    The corners of An Tianzuo''s eyes twitched, but he couldn''t retort his teacher. All he could do was lower his eyes and say yes.


    Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan, and Li Xuan returned to their campus dorm and received a commendation. Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan had fought with their lives on the line and killed many dimensional creatures. Although they didn''t kill any Mythical creatures, they won plenty of illustrious merits.


    The military handed out medals to the students who had made contributions. However, An Tianzuo didn''t come. Qin Wufu handed out the medals on his behalf.


    After Qin Wufu gave Zhou Wen the medal, he patted him on the shoulder and said, "Zhou Wen, if you wish to join the military, remember to come to me. There''s freedom with me. No one can control you."


    Qin Wufu''s words seemed to imply something, but Zhou Wen had no intention of joining the military at the moment. All he could do was give an excuse.


    Wang Lu and Lucas had sent messages to ask Zhou Wen about the situation after hearing about the anomaly in Dragon Gate Grotto.


    The Thearch asked Zhou Wen for any updates¡ªif he was willing to accept her conditions.


    He replied to the messages one by one. He didn''t receive a reply from The Thearch. Wang Lu and Lucas quickly replied and Zhou Wen explained his situation.


    Only when he was free did Zhou Wen have the time to carefully observe Slaughterer.


    After killing Buddha Annihilation, Slaughterer had automatically evolved. However, Slaughterer had always been mysterious. Zhou Wen''s connection with Slaughterer was somewhat odd¡ªhe knew very little about it.


    He switched on his phone and switched to Slaughterer. Zhou Wen carefully studied Slaughterer''s information.


    Slaughterer: Evolved Body


    The information was simple, but it was equivalent to not saying anything. He only knew that he had advanced to an Evolved Body, but even the name hadn''t changed at all.


    This was identical to the time when he condensed Slaughterer. Other Life Souls could be summoned to be used, but Slaughterer could only be used passively. It was completely different from the other Life Souls.


    Zhou Wen later experimented with some of Slaughterer''s abilities, such as infinite Essence Energy recovery or stat strengthening.


    Now that he had advanced to an Evolved Body, there was still no information. Zhou Wen could only figure it out himself.


    After entering a game dungeon and switching to Slaughterer, Zhou Wen attempted to use all sorts of skills to fight dimensional creatures. He wanted to see what new capabilities Slaughterer''s Evolved Body had.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that Slaughterer''s augmentation of his stats had increased significantly, and his Essence Energy recovery was faster. However, these were abilities that he already had in the past, so it wasn''t surprising for them to be enhanced.


    Don''t tell me there''s no other ability? Zhou Wen attempted to communicate with Slaughterer, but unfortunately, just like before, Slaughterer didn''t respond. It was like a lifeless machine that clung to his body.


    It''s impossible to not have any new abilities, right? Zhou Wen felt that it was definitely not that simple, but after trying for a long time, he failed to discover any extraordinary abilities.


    I''ll test it out slowly in the future. Zhou Wen thought for a moment before switching to the Hell King Life Soul. He planned on grinding it to a Perfect Body.


    He only needed to slay dimensional creatures to advance. The Hell King Life Soul was probably the easiest to advance.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to begin a massacre in-game, he suddenly realized that the Poison Bats in front of him didn''t have any invisible flames.


    Why is this happening? Zhou Wen frowned and looked at the horde of Poison Bats. He realized that there were no invisible flames on them.


    Zhou Wen exited the dungeon and logged into a few more dungeons. The outcome was the same. None of the dimensional creatures in-game had invisible flames.


    Could it be that there are no invisible flames because they are simulated creatures in-game? But that''s not right. If the creatures in-game are different from the creatures in real life, why would a Companion Beast that drops have the invisible flame? For instance, an existence like the Golden Battle God Halberd has the invisible flames? What''s the reason? Zhou Wen couldn''t understand the reason why and planned on heading to a dimensional zone in real life to take a look.


    Zhou Wen planned on heading to Tiger Cage Pass. Every time he entered a dimensional zone in real life, something would happen, so he deliberately chose to head to Tiger Cage Pass.


    Tiger Cage Pass''s final boss was the Elegant Emperor Puppet''s avatar. Zhou Wen could easily kill it now, so no matter what happened, it wouldn''t be too much for him.


    I have to think of a way to get a Companion Beast that augments luck or good fortune to neutralize the bad luck I have. Otherwise, I have a nagging feeling that something will go wrong having Bamboo Blade, Tiger Soul General, and Tai Sui on me, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Since Tiger Cage Pass wasn''t too dangerous, Zhou Wen took the chick out with him to let it get some fresh air. It had been recently eating and sleeping all day in the dorm, making it look much fatter.


    An Sheng got someone to deliver food to them every day, so the antelope and chick ate like kings.


    The chubby chick stood on Zhou Wen''s shoulder with its round face. At a glance, it looked like an owl.

 693 Guidance

    In the past, due to Zhou Wen''s relationship with Wang Mingyuan and the problem with the bureau, many students weren''t willing to interact with Zhou Wen. They were afraid of being implicated.


    Things were somewhat different now. The anomaly at Dragon Gate Grotto allowed many students to witness how terrifying break-out creatures were. At the same time, they deeply realized that only the strong could survive and protect the human cities in the future.


    As for Zhou Wen, who had illustrious feats on the battlefield, many students had no choice but to reconsider their interactions with him.


    However, Zhou Wen looked at them in a somewhat odd manner. It wasn''t because of their actions, but because he had activated his Eye of Hell and saw the invisible flames on them. It was as though he was looking at EXP treasures.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen''s mind was relatively normal. If he were J¨¢k, he would have long culled them for the experience.


    "Zhou Wen, what are you doing here?" Zhou Wen had just arrived at the entrance of Tiger Cage Pass when he saw Li Weiyang leading a group of girls outside.


    "Senior Weiyang, I''m here to kill Demonized Generals," Zhou Wen answered.


    Li Weiyang joked, "Dear Almighty Zhou, shouldn''t you be killing Mythical creatures? Why are you here in Tiger Cage Pass to snatch the mere Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals from us? Is there any justice in this world?"


    Zhou Wen didn''t know what to say as Li Weiyang continued, "We also have to enter Tiger Cage Pass to kill Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals. These juniors aren''t experienced enough. Why don''t you join us? You can give the juniors a demonstration."


    Li Weiyang''s invitation didn''t conflict with Zhou Wen''s intentions, so he nodded and said, "Actually, killing ordinary Demonized Generals isn''t difficult. Previously, Li Xuan and I made a strategy. If one follows the strategy, they only need four or five at the Mortal stage to kill a Demonized General."


    "Senior, teach us please," a female freshman said to Zhou Wen.


    The girls immediately turned rowdy, clamoring for Zhou Wen to teach them how to kill Demonized Generals.


    "Of course." Zhou Wen agreed readily. After all, his goal was to farm invisible flames. He wouldn''t waste much time teaching them.


    The group of girls happily followed Zhou Wen into Tiger Cage Pass. Some of the girls even pulled him along and to teach them how to kill Demonized Soldiers.


    Indeed, as Li Weiyang had expected, the girls originally imagined that Zhou Wen would gently teach them. He might even hold their hands and teach them. This way, they could have some intimate contact with this famous senior. It might even lead to a romantic beginning.


    However, when Zhou Wen really started teaching them, they realized how ridiculously wrong they were.


    Zhou Wen simply used the standards of a soldier on them. No, it should be said that he requested inhuman standards of them.


    "That''s not right. Your foot has to stretch out three centimeters more. Lower your head a little more and punch with more strength. Can you not draw circles with your sword? Be more efficient. Why are you twisting your waist over there? Stand straight¡­" Zhou Wen spoke to them as though he was lecturing a recruit.


    Zhou Wen felt that there was nothing wrong with this. On the battlefield, a tiny mistake could cost them their lives. They needed to be absolutely correct.


    Furthermore, if they wanted to kill a Legendary Demonized General at the Mortal stage, they needed to be precise in everything. Otherwise, problems would easily arise.


    Zhou Wen had taught them according to the standards he had been shown during his practices with Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan. He had even lowered his standards to the minimum.


    Even so, they failed to meet the requirements. Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown.


    The girls realized that this was different from what they had imagined. They originally thought that it would be a pleasant interaction with their senior, but they ended up being treated as animals.


    Seeing many girls leave silently, Li Weiyang laughed inwardly. These girls have finally seen how clueless a man can be.


    Sometime into Zhou Wen''s lesson, he realized that the number of girls who listened to his explanations and guidance was decreasing. Furthermore, they were all over the place. They couldn''t meet his standards.


    However, there was a first-year junior who surprised Zhou Wen. She had meticulously completed all the techniques that Zhou Wen had taught. Although there were some mistakes, she was much better than the other girls.


    Furthermore, the junior was rather talented. She seemed to realize her mistakes and would fix many of them in her next practice.


    "Senior, can I kill a Demonized General alone at the Mortal stage?" The other girls had already distanced themselves from Zhou Wen, but this girl took the initiative to ask him.


    "It''s not impossible. Show me what you''ve learned." Zhou Wen felt that the girl was rather talented and hardworking. He wasn''t stingy with teaching this junior.


    The girl showed Zhou Wen what she had learned. Although Zhou Wen saw that she hadn''t learned any Essence Energy Skills, her basics were very solid. It was obvious that she had worked hard and was an all-rounder.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but recall the time he cultivated Ascetic Meditation. Like the girl, he had been silently cultivating, doing his best to do what he could.


    "With your present skills, it''s a little difficult to kill a Demonized General. I can slightly change your movement technique''s positioning. That might allow you to kill a Demonized General. However, before that, you still need to train your strength. Your present strength isn''t enough. Furthermore, this will require a lot of practice and actual combat. It''s not something that can be done in a short period of time," Zhou Wen said.


    "If it''s not troublesome, can you teach me? If it''s too troublesome, forget it," the girl asked in embarrassment.


    "It''s not troublesome." Zhou Wen explained how to change her movement technique.


    In fact, it was just adding some basic techniques of Transcendent Flying Immortal. Zhou Wen demonstrated it once and guided the girl several times.


    Li Weiyang couldn''t help but be surprised when she saw the girl learning from Zhou Wen. It was really surprising that there was a girl who wasn''t frightened away by him.


    Zhou Wen guided the girl a few times and when he saw that she wasn''t making any more mistakes, he said to her, "Your movement is right, but you need to spend time practicing. When you can use it freely in battle, along with a raise of your strength, you can kill a Demonized General alone."


    "Thank you, Senior. I know what to do." After thanking him, the girl went to the side to silently practice.


    Seeing that no more girls were asking him for advice, Zhou Wen began his Hell King advancement plan.


    The Demonized Soldiers in reality were no different from the Demonized Soldiers in-game. However, these Demonized Soldiers had the invisible flames on their bodies.

 694 Holy Hell King

    After Zhou Wen killed the Demonized Soldiers, invisible flames were immediately sucked into the Hell King''s Eye. However, the quantity was lacking. It was much less than the invisible flames he had obtained from killing the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird. It was like the difference between a drop of water and a pool of water.


    However, a tower could be formed simply by piling sand. By killing more Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals, he could accumulate a significant amount of invisible flames.


    Perhaps it was because he had obtained a lot of invisible flames from before, Zhou Wen felt his body begin to undergo a strange change after killing a few Demonized Soldiers.


    Invisible flames flowed out of the Hell King''s Eye, enveloping his body in invisible flames. Under the baptism of the invisible flames, the Hell King Life Soul underwent a complete transformation.


    However, the invisible flames couldn''t be seen. The students nearby couldn''t tell the changes in Zhou Wen''s body.


    The Hell King Life Soul was Zhou Wen''s body. When the Hell King Life Soul evolved, Zhou Wen''s body also changed.


    His body became extremely sensitive. Zhou Wen could even sense a speck of dust landing on him, and this level of spiritual perception and touch made him feel uncomfortable.


    This feeling wasn''t very good because the air was filled with dust and bacteria. It was fine back when he couldn''t feel or see them.


    But now, he could only watch as the dust landed on his face, eyes, and even on his lips. There were also the worm-like bacteria. As they entered Zhou Wen''s nose and mouth through his breathing, he felt terrible.


    The invisible flames couldn''t injure any creature, nor could it stop anything from approaching Zhou Wen. The invisible flames didn''t seem to exist at all.


    However, it made Zhou Wen''s Hell King Life Soul become stronger and stronger. Finally, even the Hell King''s Eye changed.


    In the past, the Hell King''s Eye was only a spatial rift. There was no pupil inside, but as the Hell King''s Life Soul transformed, a pupil-like bead gradually condensed in the Hell King''s Eye.


    The bead was condensed from invisible flames. It was formless and corporeal, making it look extremely strange. It was like a transparent pupil that floated in the Hell King''s Eye.


    Finally, the Hell King Life Soul completed its evolution. The Hell King''s Eye also had a transparent pupil. The pupil burned with invisible flames, making it look strange and mysterious.


    However, Zhou Wen still switched on his phone and read the blood-colored avatar''s information.


    Holy Hell King (Evolved Body): The King of Hell who cleanses away sin.


    Zhou Wen roughly knew that the Hell King''s Eye had the effect of cleansing sin, but he still needed to give it a try to know its exact power.


    Zhou Wen gave it a try to see how powerful the upgraded Holy Hell King was.


    He looked at a Demonized Soldier with the Hell King''s Eye. The invisible karmic sinflames in his eyes immediately burned.


    The invisible karmic flames on the Demonized Soldier''s body were triggered. It burst into flames as the invisible karmic sinflames on its body became even thicker.


    It looked very powerful. The invisible karmic flames on the Demon Soldier''s body grew thicker, but they didn''t seem to affect the Demonized Soldier at all.


    The Demonized Soldier looked normal. It didn''t seem to hurt in any spot. It didn''t even blink.


    Holy sh*t, how can it be useless? Could it be that the Demonized Soldier has already been secretly injured and will die after taking seven steps? Zhou Wen stared at the Demonized Soldier for a while to see if it would suddenly collapse.


    As Zhou Wen watched, he counted the Demonized Soldier''s steps. One step¡­ Two steps¡­ Three steps¡­


    He watched as the Demonized Soldier finished seven steps. Suddenly, the Demonized Soldier''s body paused.


    No way! I actually guessed right. It''ll die in seven steps? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    However, to his surprise, the Demonized Soldier stopped and farted before continuing to wander.


    Zhou Wen''s face immediately darkened. Without any hesitation, he killed the Demonized Soldier with one strike and swallowed the invisible flames on its body.


    What the hell. After all this trouble, this Holy Hell King''s ability is useless, Zhou Wen thought gloomily.


    Although Zhou Wen knew that the Eye of the Holy Hell King was definitely useful, it didn''t seem to be suitable for mainstream use. He didn''t know what its exact use was.


    Forget it. I''ll continue absorbing the invisible flames. I''ll advance the Hell King to a Perfect Body first. Zhou Wen continued killing monsters to obtain the invisible flames.


    For the next few days, Zhou Wen absorbed the invisible karmic flames at Tiger Cage Pass. Finally, he charged into Tiger Cage Pass and killed the Tiger Cage Demonized General and the Elegant Emperor''s Avatar Puppet.


    However, the invisible karmic flames that these Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals could provide were far inferior to the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird. Despite Zhou Wen absorbing so much, the Holy Hell King didn''t react at all. It showed no signs of advancement again.


    Reality wasn''t a game. After killing the Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals inside, he had no choice but to slowly wait for new Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals to come out of the dimensional rift. He didn''t know how many days he would have to wait, so Zhou Wen naturally wanted to head out. He planned on changing locations to continue grinding the invisible karmic sinflames.


    Just as he was about to leave, he saw a female student enter deep inside Tiger Cage Pass and kill many Demonized Soldiers. Finally, she encountered a Demonized General and was fighting it.


    Zhou Wen didn''t pay her much attention and was about to leave when he realized that her movement technique looked familiar. He took a careful look.


    He immediately realized that the girl was someone he knew. She was the female freshman who had come here with Li Weiyang a few days ago. Zhou Wen had even taught her some basic techniques of Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    After not seeing her for a few days, the girl had already mastered the techniques. She fought the Demonized General alone and used the techniques that Zhou Wen had taught her to constantly move about, preventing the Demonized General from touching her. Instead, she constantly injured it.


    Unfortunately, she was only at the Mortal stage. She didn''t even have a Companion Beast, nor did she learn any Essence Energy Skills. Every strike on the Demonized General only dealt limited damage.


    Zhou Wen couldn''t help but frown slightly. He had told the girl that she lacked strength and needed to raise her strength to kill the Demonized General, but to his surprise, she had come alone.


    She also knew that her attacks were lacking, so she wasn''t greedy. She wanted to cause severe damage by constantly accumulating damage.


    However, she had neglected the fact that her Essence Energy and stamina were lacking. After a prolonged battle, her speed and strength declined.


    Finally, the girl''s speed decreased drastically. She failed to dodge the Demonized General''s charge and was about to be hit.

 695 Butterfly

    The girl barely survived. When she saw Zhou Wen beside the Demonized General, she revealed a look of pleasant surprise.


    "Didn''t I tell you that you lack strength and that you need to raise your strength before you can attempt killing the Demonized General?" Zhou Wen said with a frown. He was a little angry and his tone was nasty.


    The reason Zhou Wen was angry wasn''t that the girl hadn''t listened to him. In the event something happened to the girl, wasn''t he harming her by teaching those movement techniques?


    When the girl heard Zhou Wen, she lowered her head and said uneasily, "I''m sorry. It''s my fault. I shouldn''t have ignored your advice."


    "It''s not that you let me down, but that you let yourself down. You were lucky that I happened to be here. You might not be so lucky next time," Zhou Wen said.


    "Senior, don''t worry. There won''t be a next time," the girl said seriously.


    "That''s good. I''ll escort you back to prevent any accidents." Zhou Wen walked out as the girl followed behind him.


    "Your movement technique isn''t bad. Here are some movement technique notes. You can take a look. They should be of some help to you." Zhou Wen thought for a moment and handed a notebook to the girl.


    They were some of the notes Zhou Wen had made when he first comprehended Transcendent Flying Immortal Skill. They were just random thoughts and techniques, nothing systematic.


    After Zhou Wen truly gained an epiphany, he didn''t use them again.


    This girl was rather talented in movement techniques, and her personality was somewhat similar to Zhou Wen''s. Zhou Wen casually handed the notebook to her to see if she could figure out anything useful from his random thoughts and techniques. It all depended on her perceptivity.


    "I¡­ I don''t have money¡­" The girl shook her hand immediately.


    "It''s not worth much. I just wrote it in passing. Just take a look. There''s no need to take it seriously." Zhou Wen threw the notebook to the girl and left.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his dorm, he began studying which dimensional zone to continue grinding for invisible sinflames.


    Although he already knew the method needed to advance Slaughterer, killing a Guardian to advance Slaughterer was just too difficult.


    Zhou Wen already knew that he couldn''t beat the Guardian in Ant City.


    He might not even be capable of killing the nine black dragons who pulled the wagon in the underground sea.


    There was also another one¡ªit was guarded by the chick''s mother. Ignoring the question of whether Zhou Wen could defeat it, even if he could, he didn''t think it was right to kill the chick''s mother.


    Of course, he might not be its match in the first place.


    Every time Grim Demon saw Zhou Wen, it felt that Zhou Wen was looking at him with a look resembling how a hungry wolf looked at a sheep. It made his heart tremble.


    Although Zhou Wen had the intention to kill Grim Demon in an attempt to advance Slaughterer to another level, Grim Demon was Demonic Neonate''s reserve rations. Zhou Wen couldn''t bring himself to do the deed, so he could only give up.


    Furthermore, Demonic Neonate''s successful sneak attack during the Buddha Annihilation battle was all thanks to Grim Demon who was attached to the demonic sword. Otherwise, the ordinary demonic sword wouldn''t have been able to injure Buddha Annihilation, much less kill it.


    If he killed Grim Demon, Demonic Neonate''s might would be greatly reduced. It didn''t seem worth it.


    After much selection, Zhou Wen finally chose a dimensional zone that few people went to. It was the underground Pool City. In the past, Zhou Wen had farmed dimensional creatures like the Poison Wyrm. There were actually quite a number of dimensional creatures there, but because most of them were underwater and weren''t easy to kill, very few people went there.


    Zhou Wen went to Pool City and grinded for a few days, but he didn''t make much progress. Typical dimensional creatures had very few invisible sinflames on them. Furthermore, after advancing to the Holy Hell King, the invisible sinflames he needed for another advancement seemed to increase significantly. He didn''t know how long it would take to advance Holy Hell King by killing ordinary dimensional creatures.


    Where can I kill a few dimensional creatures like the monk-robed skeleton and the golden-winged bird? Zhou Wen finally gave up on the idea of grinding ordinary dungeons to obtain the invisible sinflames.


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and found Li Xuan sitting in the living room. Seeing Zhou Wen return, Li Xuan walked over with a smile and was about to put his hand on Zhou Wen''s shoulder.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Wen immediately placed the sheathed Bamboo Blade against Li Xuan''s neck. He asked coldly, "Who are you?"


    "Old Zhou, are you crazy? Don''t you even recognize me?" As Li Xuan spoke, he was about to touch Zhou Wen''s forehead.


    The Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen''s hand slashed at Li Xuan''s neck.


    Boom!


    Before the Bamboo Blade struck Li Xuan''s neck, white smoke emitted from his body, causing Zhou Wen''s Bamboo Blade to miss.


    After the white smoke dissipated, he saw a woman standing there. She looked at Zhou Wen in surprise and said, "How did you discover that I''m not Li Xuan? I believe even Li Xuan himself wouldn''t be able to see through it."


    "I''ll give you one last chance. Who are you?" Zhou Wen stared coldly at the woman as he tightened his grip on the scabbard. He wouldn''t use a sheathed saber for the next strike.


    Zhou Wen had not noticed any flaws. The woman impersonating Li Xuan was indeed enough to make it look real. Even if she was placed beside the real Li Xuan, Zhou Wen wouldn''t have been able to tell which was real and which was fake.


    However, women shouldn''t have come here. This was because Li Xuan didn''t dare enter his dorm randomly when Zhou Wen wasn''t around, much less sit on the sofa so daringly.


    This was because Li Xuan knew very well that it was the antelope''s territory. What he was most afraid of was the antelope. Every time he came, he would only sit on a small sofa or a stool.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen only needed a glance to know that this Li Xuan was fake.


    "My name is Butterfly. I''m Second Young Master Li Mobai''s servant. Master wants me to invite you over," the woman said.


    "Is this your idea of an invitation?" Zhou Wen said with a cold expression.


    "That''s because the Master said that I definitely can''t fool you. I didn''t believe it, so I made a bet with him. Now that I''ve lost, you can kill me now if you''re not satisfied. I have no complaints," Butterfly closed her eyes and said.


    "Why is Li Mobai looking for me?" Zhou Wen didn''t have the habit of killing. Furthermore, he actually knew of Butterfly. When Li Xuan told him about Li Mobai and the Evil King Gu, he had told him about this woman.


    Li Weiyang couldn''t tell even when Butterfly pretended to be Li Weiyang. He had nearly lost his will to live because of her ruse.


    "Master has something important to discuss with you," Butterfly said.


    "Not interested. Leave," Zhou Wen said.


    "As the Master expected. However, Master got me to ask you if you are interested in Guardians? If you are interested, he will wait for you at Elegant Peace Restaurant," Butterfly said.

 696 Li Mobais Information

    "After you." Li Mobai carefully brewed a cup of tea and placed it in front of Zhou Wen, gesturing for him to drink it.


    "Just say it directly," Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai without drinking it.


    Li Mobai didn''t mind. As he continued brewing tea, he said, "Zhou Wen, do you know what the most terrifying power in this world is?"


    "I don''t know," Zhou Wen answered.


    Li Mobai continued, "The most terrifying power in this world is to be able to see something but not be able to obtain it. For example, having an enemy who killed your father and stole your wife right in front of you. You can see him every day. You can see him smile, watch him go crazy, and watch him enjoy all the riches and glory in the world. However, you can''t hurt even a single strand of his hair. This is more unbearable than any physical pain."


    "Second Young Master, I''m an ordinary student. I don''t understand such profound principles. If you wish to discuss philosophy, I''m afraid you''ve found the wrong person," Zhou Wen said.


    Li Mobai brewed a cup of tea for himself and took a sip before pouring away the remaining tea.


    "Now, there are two things I can see but can''t obtain. One thing is the life of my enemy, and the other is a cocoon." Li Mobai put down his cup and continued, "Ever since John challenged you with the six-winged seraphim, I''ve been trying my best to figure out what kind of power it is. In the end, I managed to find the answer, the cocoon of a Guardian."


    Zhou Wen silently waited for Li Mobai to continue. Li Mobai definitely didn''t invite him here to talk about this.


    "Perhaps the heavens pitied a half-crippled person like me and allowed me to find a Guardian cocoon. However, there are terrifying Mythical creatures guarding it. I spent a lot of effort and paid a huge price, but I failed to even approach it." Li Mobai looked at Zhou Wen and said, "But you are different. You have the ability to help me approach it."


    "Why should I help you?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "Because you can bet on a one-third possibility," Li Mobai said with a smile.


    "What do you mean?" Zhou Wen didn''t understand what Li Mobai meant.


    "According to what I know, a Guardian like the six-winged seraphim wouldn''t casually reach an agreement with a human. Instead, it depends on whether that person manages to obtain their recognition. I know where the Guardian cocoon is, and you have the ability to get us near it. Each of us will have one chance. I''ll have a go first. If I don''t succeed, it will be your chance. Of course, it''s also possible that we won''t be able to obtain its recognition, but you have at least a one-third chance, right?" Li Mobai said.


    Zhou Wen fell silent. He was naturally interested in the Guardian cocoon. Not only was he interested, but he also wished he could immediately find one.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that every Guardian had terrifying strength. They were top-notch existences among Mythical creatures. He didn''t know if his strength could kill the Guardian.


    Li Mobai continued, "The Guardian cocoon I discovered is in the South District. It''s where I obtained my Essence Energy Art. According to my speculation, since I could obtain the Essence Energy Art there and condense the Evil King Gu Life Soul, perhaps it might be compatible with the Guardian cocoon, elevating my chances of success. Unfortunately, my foundation has been destroyed and I''ve already cultivated another Essence Energy Art. This is also where I''m at a disadvantage. In short, my chances are very high. It''s not like you don''t have a chance. Do you want to take a gamble? The decision lies with you."


    "Aren''t you afraid that I''ll snatch your chance?" Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai laughed. "Just as I said, I can''t do anything while watching my enemy live a carefree life. Now, I''m living a life worse than death. If it were you, would you be willing to take the risk?"


    "I need time to consider it," Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    "That''s fine. You can take your time to consider it. I can wait." Li Mobai said to Butterfly, "Take Zhou Wen back."


    "There''s no need. I can go myself." Zhou Wen got up and left Elegant Peace Restaurant.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen kept considering the proposal.


    A Guardian cocoon was difficult to find. If what Li Mobai said was true, it was worth taking a look. Li Mobai had a chance, but he might not succeed.


    However, Li Mobai was someone who could do anything for revenge. Zhou Wen didn''t dare trust him.


    When he returned to school, he realized that An Sheng was waiting for him outside.


    "Young Master Wen, the selection of treasure chests in the maze has been prepared. When do you plan on going?" An Sheng directly explained his intentions.


    "Let''s do it now." Zhou Wen also wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible.


    The world was changing at an increasing pace. Who knew if there would be a chance to go in the future? It was best to go early before the dimensional zone''s seals completely collapsed.


    "I share the same thoughts. Get in." An Sheng opened the car door and let Zhou Wen in before taking the driver''s seat.


    "Young Master Wen, why did Li Mobai want to see you?" An Sheng clearly knew that Li Mobai had met Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn''t hide it as he recounted the matter.


    "Ah Sheng, there''s something I don''t quite understand. Why did Chancellor Leng kill Buddha Annihilation and not choose to attempt a contract?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "I''m not too sure about that. I''m afraid only Chancellor Leng can answer you." An Sheng shook his head.


    After a pause, An Sheng continued, "What Li Mobai said might be true, but it''s probably too late to go now."


    "Why do you say that?" Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    "According to reliable intelligence, Zhang Chunqiu, Xia Liuchuan, and Dugu Ge have gone to the South District together. Furthermore, their target is a Guardian egg. The place they''ve gone to is very close to the region Li Mobai mentioned," An Sheng said.


    "Li Mobai didn''t say where the Guardian egg is. How do you know where it is?" Zhou Wen asked.


    "The An family has naturally been secretly paying attention to people like Li Mobai. He used to stay in the South District for a period of time. We''ve checked the areas he has been to and can determine a general area," An Sheng explained.


    "I see. That''s a pity." Zhou Wen was originally tempted, but after hearing An Sheng''s words, he felt that his hopes were most likely dashed.


    The roads these days were difficult to navigate. An Sheng stopped the car inside a service station before the two of them rode their Companion Beasts forward.


    Zhou Wen rode the Great Might Vajra Bull as though he was walking on flat ground in the forest. His speed wasn''t slower than driving.


    "Young Master Wen, you have to memorize the map of the maze. Although I''ll lead the way for you, you''ll have to come out by yourself if you get lost inside," An Sheng exhorted Zhou Wen again.

 697 Treasure

    Apart from the maze being overly complicated, it was also because the maze was constantly changing. The degree of change was so complicated that it far exceeded the limits of what ordinary humans could imagine.


    Memorizing the map didn''t only require memorizing the routes, but it also required some formulas. When one really got lost, one didn''t have to rely on their brains'' memory of the routes. Instead, one had to use formulas to calculate the way out.


    Zhou Wen had spent quite a bit of time on this. To be safe, he had put in a lot of effort.


    Two days later, Zhou Wen and An Sheng arrived at an inconspicuous field. It was originally a cornfield, but it was very remote. After the dimensional storms, there was an anomaly here.


    The corn here grew extremely tall; each of them was as tall as a tree. The corn on them was golden and even bigger than a person''s head.


    Furthermore, ever since the dimensional storms, the corn here hadn''t withered. They kept growing.


    The entrance to the maze was in the cornfield. Back then, An Tianzuo and An Sheng had fled from a Mythical break-out creature. In their panic, they escaped into the cornfield and ended up falling into the maze. As a result, they escaped the calamity.


    An Tianzuo obtained his first Mythical Companion Beast there.


    An Sheng circled the cornfield for a while before finally finding a spot. He used a shovel to dig up the soil on the ground, revealing a metal plate.


    He lifted the metal plate and revealed an ancient well.


    An Sheng patted the soil in his hand and said, "Overseer and I disguised this place to prevent others from accidentally entering. Firstly, it was to prevent the treasure chests from being opened by others. Secondly, it was to prevent humans from entering. It''s impossible for people to come out of such a complicated maze. Death would be the only outcome in that event.


    "Young Master Wen, you have to follow me closely after we go down. Don''t take the wrong path," An Sheng exhorted before heading down the well.


    Zhou Wen followed An Sheng down the ancient well. There was still water at the bottom. An Sheng dived down, and before long, there was a horizontal tunnel.


    Soon, the two of them passed through the underwater tunnel and appeared in a squarish stone room.


    An Sheng kept leading Zhou Wen through the stone room. Every stone room looked identical. There was almost no difference.


    Every stone room had six exits in all directions¡ªup, down, left, right, forward, and back. Ordinary people wouldn''t be able to walk far before getting lost.


    Furthermore, the stone house here could move on its own. It made it even harder for ordinary people to leave.


    An Sheng kept walking and stopping, occasionally doing some calculations. After three or four hours, he finally found a treasure chest with Zhou Wen.


    This stone house was a little special because there was no exit at the bottom. There was a stone chest in its place.


    It was different from the treasure chest inlaid with gold and silver that Zhou Wen imagined. It was an ordinary stone chest that didn''t look anything special.


    "The treasure chests here are very strange. A person can only open three treasure chests. Once you open three, it will be difficult to touch any more, even if you use all your strength. According to our past experience, the treasure chests might be empty. There might also be Companion Eggs, dimensional crystals, and some strange items. They are all dimensional items," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen walked forward and held the lid of the treasure chest, lifting it up.


    There was no golden light, nor was there any treasure aura. In the huge chest, there was only a palm-sized crystal hourglass.


    "What''s this? What''s its use?" Zhou Wen took out the hourglass and sized it up.


    The sand in the hourglass was slowly flowing from one end to the other.


    The sand was a type of white sand, not common yellow sand. It looked even finer.


    "It''s possible to obtain something strange in the treasure chest. It''s hard to tell if it''s of any use. Perhaps this hourglass will be of some use," An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen nodded and was about to put away the hourglass when he discovered something strange.


    As he was about to put it in his backpack, Zhou Wen held the hourglass horizontally. Strangely, when the hourglass became horizontal, the sand didn''t stop flowing. It continued falling in another direction.


    Strange! Zhou Wen picked up the hourglass and sized it up again. He saw that the sand was flowing horizontally, completely violating the laws of physics.


    Zhou Wen overturned the hourglass. The sand that should have flowed down flowed upstream without any intention of falling. It looked extremely strange.


    This hourglass sure is extraordinary! Zhou Wen fiddled with the hourglass curiously. No matter how he oriented the hourglass, the sand inside stubbornly flowed in the same direction.


    However, other than that, there was nothing special about it. Zhou Wen injected his Essence Energy, but it didn''t affect the hourglass. It was as though it was an Essence Energy insulator.


    Seeing that the hourglass didn''t have any special effects, Zhou Wen placed it in his backpack and continued searching for other treasure chests with An Sheng.


    During the time they were here, the stone house''s location changed again. An Sheng kept calculating, and after doing so, he continued walking with Zhou Wen.


    After walking for about half an hour, Zhou Wen suddenly heard a "ding" that sounded like the notification of an electric oven.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng jumped in fright before realizing that the sound came from the backpack.


    Zhou Wen opened his backpack with a strange expression. There weren''t any mechanical objects inside, nor were there any clocks.


    Zhou Wen suddenly realized that the sand in the hourglass had been completely emptied. All the sand had entered one chamber.


    Could it be that the sound was produced by it? Zhou Wen felt that there was no other possibility.


    He kept looking at it. Apart from the sand beginning to flow in reverse, nothing happened.


    After putting the hourglass back into his backpack, the two of them continued walking. However, just as they stepped into the next stone house, they suddenly realized that a beam of light had lit up inside.


    All the stone houses Zhou Wen and An Sheng had passed through previously were the same. They didn''t differ from one another, nor were there any carvings on the walls.


    However, there was a mural that resembled a phoenix on the wall of the stone house. It was still emitting light as though it was about to come to life.


    Just as the phoenix mural lit up, the tunnel in the stone house automatically sealed shut.

 698 Magical Hourglass

    Despite wearing armor, the red-hot flames were still scorching hot.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and swallowed the flames, along with the fire phoenix.


    Although it was only for a short moment, An Sheng and Zhou Wen broke out into a cold sweat. White smoke was billowing from their armor. If it had been a little longer, their armor would have been burned red, and their flesh would have been cooked.


    Once the fire phoenix died, the six doors automatically opened and returned to their previous state.


    "Ah Sheng, did you encounter such a situation when you came before?" Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss and asked An Sheng.


    "Never. Young Master Wen, do you think the fire phoenix from before has something to do with this hourglass?" As An Sheng spoke, he looked at the backpack that had been burned to a crisp. The things in the backpack had already been dropped across the ground. Many things had been destroyed, but the crystal hourglass remained intact. It lay horizontally on the ground, the sand still flowing.


    "I also think it might be related. Nothing happened last time you came here, and nothing happened when we were walking. However, after the hourglass reversed, an incident occurred. Apart from it, I really can''t think of any other reason," Zhou Wen said.


    "Let''s use our Companion Beasts to scout ahead and see if the other stone houses have the same problem." As An Sheng spoke, he summoned a lion and let it enter the next room An Sheng planned on entering.


    The moment the lion entered, the stone house suddenly sealed shut. Soon, An Sheng''s expression changed.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener''s powers to figure out what was happening next door, but he couldn''t hear anything. There seemed to be a force blocking Truth Listener from hearing past the stone house''s wall.


    Soon, the tunnel door opened and the lion Companion Beast that had entered vanished. From the looks of it, it had been killed.


    "These stone houses have indeed become a little strange. After my Companion Beast entered, it quickly had its connection with me severed. I couldn''t sense what happened inside either," An Sheng said with a heavy expression.


    Zhou Wen looked in from the door, but he didn''t discover any murals in the stone house. It was no different from an ordinary stone house.


    "If the changes in the maze are related to this crystal hourglass, do you think the maze will return to normal when we wait for the crystal hourglass''s sand to reverse?" Zhou Wen said as he looked at the hourglass in his hand.


    "That''s very likely." An Sheng stared at the sand in the hourglass and said, "From the speed at which the sand flows, it should reverse every hour. Let''s wait here for an hour."


    God knew what other strange things were in this maze. Although he had Mythical pets, his body was still at the Epic stage. If anything happened in such a small stone house, he might not be able to dodge it. It was useless no matter how strong his Companion Beasts were.


    The two of them waited in the stone house as time ticked by. When the sand from the hourglass completely flowed out, they heard a chime that was identical to the sound they had heard previously.


    In the next second, the sand in the hourglass began to flow in reverse.


    "I''ll give it another try." An Sheng summoned another Companion Beast and let it enter the room the lion had entered.


    Indeed, the stone house''s passageway didn''t close this time. The Companion Beasts inside didn''t show any signs of trouble.


    "We were right." An Sheng carefully entered the room, but there weren''t any incidents.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen and An Sheng used their Companion Beasts as scouts and continued proceeding towards the next treasure chest in the maze. They passed many stone houses, but nothing happened.


    When the hourglass reversed, the two of them stopped and didn''t continue advancing. They stayed in place for an hour, waiting for the hourglass to reverse again before continuing.


    It was unknown what kind of relationship the hourglass had with the maze. It could actually control it. The situation inside the maze was completely different when the sand flowed in the different directions.


    When he was forced to rest, Zhou Wen studied the hourglass. He wanted to see if he could control the flow of sand in the hourglass.


    If he could control it, wouldn''t he be able to control this maze?


    However, after studying it for quite some time, Zhou Wen didn''t discover how to control the hourglass. The main reason he didn''t dare act rashly was that he was afraid that he would damage the hourglass. That would only make things worse.


    I''ll think of a way to study it after we leave. Zhou Wen temporarily gave up the idea of controlling it.


    "Young Master Wen, I seem to have discovered something," An Sheng said.


    "What did you discover? Is it a secret regarding the maze?" Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    "No." An Sheng shook his head and said, "After so many experiences with you, I realized that as long as you enter a dimensional zone, it''s easy for unexpected things to happen¡­"


    "Coincidence¡­ It must be a coincidence¡­" Zhou Wen said firmly. Although he also felt that something would happen every time he entered a dimensional zone, he definitely wouldn''t admit that he was a jinx.


    Even if there''s a problem, it''s definitely because of the Tiger Soul General, Bamboo Blade, and Tai Sui. It''s definitely not my problem, Zhou Wen thought.


    An Sheng laughed and said, "Actually, this isn''t bad either. At the very least, it won''t be that boring. It''s always so thrilling every time I enter a dimensional zone with you."


    "It really has nothing to do with me," Zhou Wen said with a sullen expression.


    The two of them kept walking and stopping. After traveling for more than thirty hours, they finally arrived at the room where the second treasure chest was.


    "Young Master Wen, open it and take a look," An Sheng said with a heavy expression.


    "Do I really have to open it?" Zhou Wen asked, somewhat worried.


    The crystal hourglass appeared in the first treasure chest. Who knew what was inside this chest.


    It would be fine if a Companion Egg or dimensional crystal dropped, but if a bomb appeared and blasted them to death, it would be terrible.


    Although it was just an analogy, Zhou Wen couldn''t rule out the possibility of a bomb inside.


    "Open it. Even if there''s a Buddha Annihilation inside, we can just fight it again. There''s nothing to be afraid of," An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen swallowed his saliva and reached out to lift the lid of the treasure chest. His heart was beating rapidly like a drum.


    An Sheng and Zhou Wen looked into the treasure chest and were taken aback.


    There was actually another chest in the treasure chest. The material and style were the same as the treasure chest, but it was a little smaller.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he opened the lid. He saw that there was an even smaller treasure chest inside. After opening seven or eight treasure chests, all he saw were even smaller ones.

 699 Strange Treasure Ches

    An Sheng laughed. "As expected of Young Master Wen. The Overseer and I opened six treasure chests, but none of them were as interesting as a single one of yours."


    "This really has nothing to do with me. You were the ones who picked the good treasure chests. The remaining treasure chests are all so strange," Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    "Quickly open it and take a look. I''m really looking forward to seeing what''s inside," An Sheng urged.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue opening the treasure chests. One after another, he opened at least twenty. The treasure chest also changed from a huge chest to a tiny chest the size of a palm.


    Zhou Wen tried and wanted to take out the treasure chest, but although it was tiny, it remained motionless no matter how hard he tried.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue opening them chest after chest The treasure chest had already become the size of a finger. Yet, there was still a treasure chest inside.


    "I''m very certain now that the owner of the maze must be pulling a prank on us. There''s definitely nothing in the final treasure chest." Zhou Wen felt that he had definitely been fooled.


    "At this stage, even if it''s empty, you have to open the last box to take a look," An Sheng encouraged.


    Zhou Wen continued opening the chest silently. The treasure chest went from the size of a finger to the size of a fingernail.


    "F**k, why are there more? I can''t believe it." Zhou Wen continued opening a few more chests. The treasure chest was already about the size of the jewel on a ring.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to open it, he realized that the square stone treasure chest that resembled a ring''s gem was locked. Although the lock was very small, he could tell that it was a lock.


    "Isn''t this a scam? I''ve opened all the way to this point, yet, it''s telling me that it needs a key¡­" Zhou Wen wished he could smash the treasure chest.


    However, it was unknown if the treasure chests were protected by nomological powers. Even Mythical-stage power was unable to damage them.


    "Could this small treasure chest be the prize in this treasure chest?" An Sheng said as he looked at the small treasure chest.


    "No way?" Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he reached out to pick up the tiny treasure chest. He had opened so many treasure chests and of them could be moved. Yet, this time, he could pick it up.


    "I can actually take it out!" Zhou Wen immediately realized that the fellow who had placed the treasure chest here was definitely doing it on purpose.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the mini treasure chest. With such a small treasure chest, there was probably nothing inside. Even if there was something, what could be inside?


    He had opened two treasure chests which only contained strange items. Zhou Wen was beginning to miss Wang Lu. If he could get her to help him open the treasure chests, he definitely wouldn''t be so unlucky to have such strange items.


    The two of them set off again. Due to their previous experience, An Sheng was afraid that this small treasure chest would trigger a change in the maze, so he walked even more carefully.


    However, nothing unexpected happened. Just like before, as long as they waited for the hourglass''s safe period, they could successfully pass through the stone rooms.


    Finally, Zhou Wen and An Sheng arrived at the location of the third treasure chest. Zhou Wen stood in front of it and pressed his palms together. He prayed in every direction. "Gods from every denomination, please bless me. I don''t wish to become rich overnight. I just want something normal to come out. Mythical Companion Beasts or something, just one will do. I''m really not picky¡­"


    While praying, Zhou Wen summoned the baby tiger, hoping to increase his luck.


    An Sheng held back his laughter when he heard Zhou Wen mutter to himself. He said in all seriousness, "Young Master, it''s all determined by fate. Open it quickly."


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and opened the lid.


    "It''s indeed very normal¡­" An Sheng looked into the box and immediately laughed. This was because the box was empty. There was nothing inside.


    "That''s it?" Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    "Why don''t I take you to find another box? What if you''re born different and can open a fourth box?" An Sheng said.


    "Don''t trouble yourself. Let''s return," Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    He decided that he would never open any cursed chests or other items that depended on luck again unless he could come with Wang Lu.


    An Sheng led Zhou Wen out. It was impossible to return the way they came. As the stone room''s location kept changing, he could only find a new path.


    Thankfully, nothing happened on the way back. The two of them successfully exited the maze.


    An Sheng used the metal plate to seal the well''s entrance again. He covered it with soil as a disguise. Unless it was a coincidence, it would be difficult to discover the entrance to the maze.


    Zhou Wen realized that the crystal hourglass in his hand had appeared to freeze. The sand inside which should still be flowing was frozen. It looked like time had stopped. It was extremely magical.


    "Young Master Wen, it''s not as though you didn''t gain anything. Even if the small treasure chest is empty, this crystal hourglass is rather magical. It might really be a treasure," An Sheng consoled.


    Zhou Wen wasn''t in the mood to say anything. He put away the crystal hourglass and the mini treasure chest and planned on thinking of a way to open it when he returned.


    The two of them returned to Luoyang, but they realized that there were very few people on the city streets. Soon, they realized that most people were watching a livestream.


    "Someone actually challenged Primordial Sword Immortal again. It''s no wonder so many people are watching the livestream." Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to search and discovered the problem.


    "That''s not surprising. There aren''t many days left for the three-month deadline. There must be someone who can''t hold back. Let''s see who''s challenging Primordial Sword Immortal," An Sheng said as he took out his phone and turned on the livestream. He ended up somewhat surprised.


    In the arena, Primordial Sword Immortal had already revealed his sword immortal body. He stood in the arena with the stone sword in hand, but there was no sign of a challenger.


    Suddenly, the sword immortal''s head seemed to suffer a heavy blow as his body flew out horizontally.


    "What was that?" Zhou Wen and An Sheng failed to see what had happened.

 700 The Last 72 Hours

    However, other than Primordial Sword Immortal and his sword beams, Zhou Wen and An Sheng saw nothing.


    "An invisible Companion Beast?" Zhou Wen and An Sheng could see the surprise in each other''s eyes.


    Invisibility Companion Beasts were rare. Zhou Wen had an Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg, but it was a problematic Companion Egg. He hadn''t managed to hatch it yet.


    Apart from that, he had also heard of some Companion Beasts that could be invisible. However, they weren''t absolutely invisible.


    For example, a Companion Beast named Chameleon could fuse with the environment through Chameleon Transformation and reach the goal of invisibility.


    However, this kind of invisibility was basically useless against top-notch experts.


    Ignoring Mythical creatures, even Epic experts like Zhou Wen''s Hell King Life Soul could sense minute changes in the airflow.


    To just be visually invisible wasn''t of much use against top-notch experts.


    It was only when dealing with special skills like the Bright Torch Vision World that invisibility had some effect.


    What was truly terrifying wasn''t visual invisibility, but complete invisibility. Even one''s body could be concealed. It wouldn''t cause any airflow, emit heat, or produce a lifeforce field. It was as if one had vanished into thin air.


    Only then could an existence like Primordial Sword Immortal not discover its location.


    In the battle arena''s situation, Primordial Sword Immortal clearly hadn''t discovered the enemy''s location. All he could do was continuously slash out large swaths of sword beams, hoping to use the dense sword beams to force the enemy out.


    This was clearly useless. Soon, Primordial Sword Immortal suffered another baffling strike and flew out again.


    The battle scene in the arena was very strange. It was as though Primordial Sword Immortal was fighting the air, but he was constantly being attacked. The sword immortal''s spirit body was also flickering from time to time. It didn''t look good.


    "There are still limitations to a livestream. Let''s go to the cube to take a look," An Sheng said as he drove towards the cube.


    There was almost no one on the other streets. The streets that could see the cube''s screen were packed with people. People couldn''t even squeeze through, never mind cars.


    Even the buildings on both sides of the street were filled with people.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng had no choice but to find a place to park the car before finding a relatively closer spot to watch the battle.


    The cube''s big screen could perfectly enact the real battle. It was the same as a real scene. This was something that even high-speed cameras weren''t capable of.


    Just like the scene on the phone, Primordial Sword Immortal was still being thrashed unilaterally.


    His opponent seemed to be deliberately humiliating Primordial Sword Immortal. Every strike was like an invisible fist striking Primordial Sword Immortal''s face, sending him flying.


    Again and again, it struck. It wasn''t in a rush to finish off Primordial Sword Immortal. It was as though it wanted to appreciate Primordial Sword Immortal''s sorry state.


    Ever since Primordial Sword Immortal appeared out of nowhere and suppressed the rankings for a few months, accepting the challenges of many powerful Companion Beasts, he had always appeared invincible. He was practically synonymous with invincibility. When had he ever been in such a sorry state?


    Primordial Sword Immortal attempted to force his opponent out by using many methods, but the outcome was not as he wished. He was completely unable to determine his opponent''s location.


    Zhou Wen looked at the name on the ranking. The Companion Beast that challenged Primordial Sword Immortal was named "Origin Realm King", but he didn''t see the image of Origin Realm King.


    Could it be that Origin Realm King is invisible? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The battle continued in a one-sided manner. The invincible Primordial Sword Immortal was helpless against an invisible opponent. All he could do was passively take a beating.


    "It looks like the number one spot on the rankings will finally be changed."


    "Origin Realm King, why have I never heard of it before?"


    "Indeed, invisible opponents are the most terrifying. Origin Realm King is too powerful. To be able to beat Primordial Sword Immortal to such a state, it''s practically invincible."


    "I wonder who the Origin Realm King belongs to?"


    "That''s hard to guess. I''ve only heard of legends about the Divine Realm, the Immortal Realm, the Fiend Realm, the Spirit Realm, the Ghost Realm, the Demon Realm, and so on. I''ve never heard of the Origin Realm."


    "Could it be from overseas?"


    "Probably not. If the Origin Realm King is from overseas, I''d rather support Primordial Sword Immortal taking first place."


    The entire Federation was abuzz with discussion. Primordial Sword Immortal was clearly at a disadvantage. Although he hadn''t used his Wheel of Destiny and still had the ability to deliver a final blow, his chances of winning were much lower.


    This was because most people determined that Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel of Destiny was an offensive skill. He didn''t even know where his opponent was, so the effects of the Wheel of Destiny were too limited. Unless Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel of Destiny had a huge area of effect, it was difficult to turn defeat into victory.


    Zhou Wen watched the battle the entire time. He had even used the Holy Hell King''s Eye, but he still couldn''t see where Origin Realm King was.


    What powerful invisibility. It can even hide the sinflames on its body? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    "From the looks of it, we should be able to see Primordial Sword Immortal''s Wheel of Destiny." An Sheng also believed that Primordial Sword Immortal had been forced into a corner.


    It wasn''t only An Sheng. The six families and many experts also believed so. At this stage, Primordial Sword Immortal couldn''t sit idle.


    Just as everyone was hoping that Primordial Sword Immortal would release his Wheel of Destiny, something unexpected happened.


    Primordial Sword Immortal actually chose to forfeit and gave up the throne of first place. He didn''t use the power of his Wheel of Destiny.


    The entire Federation was in an uproar. After occupying the rankings for months, the invincible Primordial Sword Immortal had been defeated just like that. First place was given to someone else, and Primordial Realm King became the strongest Companion Beast in the world.


    Since Primordial Sword Immortal didn''t use his Wheel of Destiny, it meant that he knew that he couldn''t win even if he used it.


    There were less than four days left before the three-month deadline Wang Mingyuan mentioned was reached.


    All the major media outlets in the Federation were reporting on the matter of Origin Realm King taking first place. They were also guessing who its owner was.


    Just like Primordial Sword Immortal, the owner of Origin Realm King had never appeared. All the speculation was nothing but speculation.


    However, according to the deductions of the six families, it was very likely that Origin Realm King was an overseas Companion Beast. This was because, in the legends of the Federation''s four districts, there didn''t seem to be a place like the Origin Realm.


    While people were guessing the origins and true colors of the Origin Realm King, the cubes around the world underwent a strange change. Each cube displayed a 72-hour countdown.


    Anyone with a smidgen of intelligence could roughly guess what it meant. There were less than 72 hours left before the three-month deadline.

 701 Light Beasts Challenge

    Without a doubt, the Origin Realm King''s most terrifying ability was invisibility. Even Primordial Sword Immortal couldn''t find it. This was an extremely terrifying ability.


    In addition, it was also probably very fast. Otherwise, even if it was invisible, it would be difficult for it to dodge Primordial Sword Immortal''s high-speed sword beams.


    Based on these two points, professionals began to study and analyze various possibilities.


    Everyone was constantly paying attention to the rankings. As there were less than 72 hours left, there was a chance that someone could challenge the Origin Realm King at any time.


    In fact, other than first place, there were already many people with lower rankings challenging those with higher rankings. They hoped to obtain a better spot before the ranking matches ended.


    In the final 72 hours, there was only an hour to accept the challenge. If one didn''t accept the challenge within the hour, they would automatically be declared the loser.


    Zhou Wen was also studying Origin Realm King. After watching the battle between Origin Realm King and Primordial Sword Immortal, he had a nagging feeling that something was amiss.


    After getting the video to watch carefully, he still failed to see any problems.


    Origin Realm King''s invisibility ability could be said to be perfect. He couldn''t find any flaws. No matter how strong Primordial Sword Immortal was, no matter how strong he was, it was useless against an enemy who could casually appear beside him.


    All Companion Beasts have their weaknesses. Is the invisibility ability of the Origin Realm King really that perfect? Zhou Wen didn''t believe in absolute perfection.


    Just like Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World, such a powerful skill could be nullified with just a mirror.


    Origin Realm King''s invisibility was indeed very powerful, but Zhou Wen felt that it definitely had a weakness. It was just that he hadn''t discovered it yet.


    Just as the various factions were nervously studying it, a Companion Beast named Light Beast suddenly challenged the first-ranked Origin Realm King.


    "Light beast? Isn''t that a Companion Beast of the Family Clan of Gods? I heard that it has the power of light, but its combat strength isn''t strong. At best, it''s about the level of Inferno Dragon? It''s far inferior to Primordial Sword Immortal. How can it challenge Origin Realm King?"


    "Could it be that the Family Clan of Gods has found the weakness of the Origin Realm King?"


    "Can Light Beast restrain Origin Realm King?"


    Li Xuan organized the members of the Xuanwen Club to watch the battle in front of a cube. Zhou Wen followed them to the cube. He had a nagging feeling that Origin Realm King''s invisibility wasn''t that perfect.


    "Holy sh*t, don''t tell me everyone in Luoyang is here?" Li Xuan said gloomily as he looked at the crowd.


    They were still a few streets away from the cube, but they were already unable to proceed forward. They could only see human heads bobbing about. They couldn''t see the cube at all.


    "That''s not surprising. The various Companion Beasts that appeared before, including Primordial Sword Immortal, might be very powerful, but they could at least be clearly seen. However, this Origin Realm King is completely different. You can''t even see it. The unknown has a fatal attraction to human curiosity. Everyone wants to know what kind of Companion Beast Origin Realm King is," Li Weiyang said.


    "At this distance, we can''t see a thing. We might as well stay at home and watch from our phones." It was rare for Huang Ji to join them. He was actually very interested in the abilities of various Companion Beasts, so he participated in the Xuanwen Club''s excursion.


    Of course, he mainly wanted to reproduce the data and abilities of these Companion Beasts in-game.


    After the ranking battles began, Huang Ji had been analyzing the abilities of the Companion Beasts. He planned on using them as prototypes to create some game bosses.


    "If there''s really no other way, let''s find a quiet restaurant and watch the livestream," Gulli suggested. He felt that watching the livestream was no different from watching from the cube''s screen.


    Zhou Wen also felt that they were too far away. Even Truth Listener couldn''t reach such a distance, but they couldn''t barge through the crowd.


    Li Xuan''s heart suddenly stirred as he said to the silent Gu Dian who was at the rear, "Old Gu, walk ahead of us."


    Zhou Wen and company''s eyes lit up as they knew what Li Xuan was thinking. They hurriedly made way for Gu Dian to take the lead.


    "Stop squeezing! You¡­ Ah¡­" A fierce-looking man felt that someone was trying to squeeze past him. He opened his mouth and wanted to curse, but just as he did so, he turned his gaze over. When he saw the person, his legs trembled in fear and he nearly fell to the ground. He hurriedly shut his mouth and retreated in fear.


    He looked fierce himself, but when he saw the person squeezing through, he was so frightened that his heart pounded and cold sweat broke out on his back.


    He had never seen such a ferocious person in his entire life. He was very worried that the other party would directly stab him to death. Therefore, he kept retreating, forcing out some space to make way for the person.


    Gu Dian ignored him and continued walking forward.


    Zhou Wen and company lined up and followed closely behind Gu Dian. For some reason, they felt the thrill of cutting through a line that spanned several streets.


    The streets were extremely crowded. Everyone wanted to squeeze in, but no one was willing to give in. There were even quite a number of people who had verbal disputes.


    However, Gu Dian successfully passed through the crowd. It didn''t look difficult at all.


    Before long, Zhou Wen and company arrived at a suitable distance. It was equivalent to the best seats in a theater¡ªaround the sixth or seventh row. They waited for Origin Realm King to accept the challenge.


    As it only had an hour to accept the challenge, and it took Zhou Wen and company quite a bit of time to rush over, there were less than ten minutes left. Yet, Origin Realm King still hadn''t accepted the challenge.


    "It can''t be. Origin Realm King hasn''t accepted the challenge? Could it be that Light Beast is really its nemesis?"


    "It''s really possible. Under the light, darkness has nowhere to hide. Perhaps it''s really the nemesis of invisibility?"


    "No matter how great a nemesis it is, Origin Realm King is an existence that can fight Primordial Sword Immortal. It would be odd if Light Beast could have an effect on it."


    As people were arguing, they saw the name on the arena flash. Origin Realm King had accepted the challenge, but they didn''t see its figure.


    Everyone knew that Origin Realm King had already appeared in the arena, but they just couldn''t see it.


    Light Beast clearly knew this, so it didn''t hesitate to launch an attack. Light emitted from its body like a sun, illuminating the entire arena. This was its Wheel of Destiny''s power, Light Ray.

 702 Perfect Companion Beas

    Sadie nodded and said, "Light Beast is a Mythical Companion Beast of the Family Clan of Gods. Its Wheel of Destiny is called Light Ray. Although its offensive power isn''t strong, its range is very large. Furthermore, it can last for a long time. It''s suitable for restraining invisibility. From the looks of it, the Family Clan of Gods didn''t find a way to restrain Origin Realm King. They just want to use this method to figure out what kind of Companion Beast Origin Realm King is."


    Zhou Wen and company stared at the cube''s huge screen. The light illuminated the entire arena. If anything was in the arena, even if it couldn''t be seen, it would be injured by the light rays.


    Even if it couldn''t be injured, it would have some reaction.


    Strangely, nothing happened across the entire arena. The light rays didn''t meet any obstacles, nor did they collide with any forces. Neither did the light refract.


    "That''s strange. Could it be that Origin Realm King is really an invisible and intangible spirit body?"


    "Impossible. If it''s really an invisible and incorporeal spirit body, how could Origin Realm King directly attack Primordial Sword Immortal during the battle? It definitely has a form."


    "As you can see, Light Ray has already enveloped the entire arena. If it really has a body, it''s impossible for it to not react to the Light Ray."


    "Perhaps it''s some temporarily incorporeal skill. It shouldn''t last long."


    The various families were discussing how Origin Realm King had dodged Light Ray, but they couldn''t make an accurate guess.


    Light Beast continued shooting out Light Ray. It could do so for several hours, so there was no need to worry about it being ambushed by Origin Realm King.


    Just as everyone was discussing, they suddenly saw the nose and face of the Light Beast crater as though it had been smashed by an invisible fist.


    Then, Light Beast flew out, bleeding from its seven orifices. It died immediately without even having the chance to surrender.


    Instantly, everyone broke out into a cold sweat. Many people had guessed that Light Beast was no match for Origin Realm King.


    However, no one expected Light Beast to lose so tragically. Not only did it fail to force out Origin Realm King, but it was even killed in one strike.


    Clearly, the difference between the two was too great. Light Beast couldn''t even withstand one strike. The Family Clan of Gods'' plan had failed and they had even lost Light Beast.


    "It''s really too powerful. It has invincible invisibility and invincible strength. It''s practically a perfect Companion Beast."


    "What Primordial Sword Immortal? What Death of the Underworld? Compared to Origin Realm King, they are so weak."


    "I wonder who was so lucky to obtain a Companion Beast like Origin Realm King."


    The ordinary citizens of the Federation were discussing the topic of Origin Realm King. In the battle against Primordial Sword Immortal, people were still doubtful of Origin Realm King''s strength. However, killing Light Beast in one strike had allowed Origin Realm King to truly ascend to the throne. It left a deep mark in the history of human Companion Beasts.


    The various families began their intense research and analysis work. They had used all sorts of high-tech equipment to record videos, so they repeatedly studied and analyzed them.


    However, no matter how they analyzed and studied it, Origin Realm King''s invisibility was perfect.


    Light Beast''s indiscriminate Light Ray couldn''t touch its body at all. It was even killed in a frontal attack. This capability was terrifying and made one feel uneasy.


    Just as the man on the street said, having Origin Realm King was equivalent to having the most terrifying assassin in the world. Even the members of the six families were worried that they would be assassinated by Origin Realm King.


    If Origin Realm King was from overseas, the Federation would be in even more danger.


    Even if it was a Companion Beast of the Federation, it would be equally intolerable. It was like a sharp blade hanging over one''s neck. It was unknown when it would land; furthermore, the person holding the blade wasn''t them.


    Repeated studies and analysis ensued as everyone in the world wanted to find out the weakness of Origin Realm King.


    "I wonder if the power of Origin Realm King can augment its master," Feng Qiuyan said in thought.


    "I don''t think so. It''s already invincible in this state. If it can augment its owner, wouldn''t it be like a bug in games?" Li Xuan curled his lips.


    "It''s not impossible. Just like the Invisibility Cloak that once caused a stir, it can make people perfectly invisible. No reconnaissance method can see its existence," said Huang Ji.


    Sadie seemed to know something about the Invisibility Cloak as she continued, "Although the Invisibility Cloak can result in complete invisibility that can''t be detected, there''s a time limit. It can only maintain an invisible and formless state for a period of time. Usually, it''s just invisibility, but it can still be detected by special means. Just like the Light Ray from Light Beast just now, it can expose the Invisibility Cloak under normal conditions. If not for that, the Zhang family wouldn''t have been able to successfully return the Invisibility Cloak to its Companion Egg form back then."


    The few of them discussed as they walked. Zhou Wen didn''t say a word. He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn''t tell what was wrong.


    After this battle, no Companion Beasts challenged Origin Realm King again. This was because no one wanted to risk having their Companion Beasts killed.


    No Mythical Companion Beast was easy to come by. Knowing that it was suicide, no one was willing to do it.


    The various factions could only keep researching and analyzing, hoping to find the weakness of Origin Realm King. However, in the blink of an eye, there were only 48 hours left. No one could figure out the weakness of Origin Realm King.


    They watched the video so many times, but they couldn''t even tell where Origin Realm King was, much less figure out what it looked like and what weaknesses it had.


    Now, many people believed that Origin Realm King was probably going to take first place in the ranking battle. Up to now, no Companion Beast could restrain it and there wasn''t much time left.


    Zhou Wen had been studying the video the entire time as well. After repeatedly watching it, he failed to find the location of Origin Realm King.


    Could it be that the Invisibility ability of Origin Realm King is really that perfect? How manymodes of invisibility are there? Spirit Bodies are considered one of them. Origin Realm King is most likely a Spirit Body. However, from its attack patterns, it seems to have a corporeal body. Also, total invisibility is impossible. If it''s just total invisibility, it will definitely be detected by Light Ray. Then, there''s the type akin to Invisibility Cloak that can temporarily turn into nothingness. From the looks of it, this possibility is the highest. Also, it could be as small as Primordial Spore, so it can''t be seen. However, no matter how small it is, it should react when it''s shot by the omnipresent Light Ray¡­ Wait¡­ That''s not right¡­ Zhou Wen seemed to think of something.

 703 Zhou Wens Speculation

    If I view Origin Realm King as a Companion Beast similar to Primordial Spore, or something even smaller than Primordial Spore, so small that even the Holy Hell King''s eyes can''t see the sinflames on its body, wouldn''t that explain why Primordial Sword Immortal''s sword beam can''t hit it? It''s not because its speed is so fast that Primordial Sword Immortal can''t hit it, but because it''s too small. In that case, its strength definitely can''t be too strong. Therefore, although it looked like it was thrashing Primordial Sword Immortal in all sorts of ways, it was actually unable to kill Primordial Sword Immortal due to its insufficient strength.


    Zhou Wen continued surmising. The battle with Light Beast proved this point even more. Light Ray was everywhere. If Origin Realm King was really in the arena, it would probably trigger a reaction to Light Ray. Even if it can turn into nothingness, at the instant it attacked Light Beast, it should have collided with Light Ray. However, despite repeatedly watching the recordings, nothing whatsoever happened. Light Ray didn''t collide with anything from the beginning to the end. Then, there''s only one explanation. Ever since Origin Realm King entered the arena, it had already drilled into the body of Light Beast. Therefore, Light Ray couldn''t illuminate it no matter how vast the rays were. It wasn''t in the arena at all.


    Furthermore, Origin Realm King used this ability to destroy Light Beast''s body or brain. Then, it used an ingenious opportunity to come out of its nostrils and strike Light Beast. It looked like it was extremely powerful and instantly killed Light Beast. In fact, it had already wreaked havoc in Light Beast''s body. The Light Beast was almost dead.


    Not only did it kill Light Beast, but it also made everyone believe that Origin Realm King''s destructive power was extremely powerful. It concealed its greatest weakness, preventing others from easily challenging it. What a good plan. The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. He brightened up.


    Although he had guessed the various possibilities of Origin Realm King, defeating it wasn''t an easy task.


    Even Truth Listener''s ability and the Holy Hell King''s Eye couldn''t discover its existence. Its body was definitely much smaller than Primordial Spore. It had probably reached the level of an atom.


    It was very easy to fight Origin Realm King to a draw. With the strength it displayed during its battle with Primordial Sword Immortal, Zhou Wen only needed to use Tyrant Behemoth to challenge it. No matter how it attempted to drill into Tyrant Behemoth, it couldn''t cause any injuries.


    However, it wouldn''t be easy for Tyrant Behemoth to find and kill it.


    I wonder what kind of Companion Beast Origin Realm King is. If it''s a fungal or bacterial type, perhaps I can send Tai Sui to deal with it, Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn''t immediately attempt it.


    After all, everything was just Zhou Wen''s speculation. Tai Sui was only at the Epic stage. If his speculation was wrong, or if the Origin Realm King was just small in size and wasn''t a Companion Beast like a fungus, Tai Sui wouldn''t be able to restrain it. Wouldn''t that lead to a tragic death?


    There were still more than two days left. There would definitely be Companion Beasts challenging Origin Realm King, so Zhou Wen planned on taking a wait-and-see approach before deciding if he should send Tai Sui.


    Even if he were to send Tai Sui, he would have to wait until the time was almost up. Otherwise, with Tai Sui being so weak, it would be easily defeated by other Mythical Companion Beasts even after he defeated Origin Realm King.


    While waiting for Origin Realm King to be challenged, Zhou Wen didn''t idle. He continued grinding in-game.


    Ever since he knew that killing Guardians could advance Slaughterer, Zhou Wen had been targeting them.


    Unfortunately, the one in Ant City was just too powerful. After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to target the nine black dragons in the underground sea.


    I have quite a number of Mythical Companion Beasts now. I have the ferocious pair, Behemoth and Truth Listener, and Torch Dragon''s Bright Torch Vision World. Together with the Great Might Vajra Bull, Golden Overlord Sword, and Demonic Neonate, who specializes in sneaking attacks on others, I can try to see if I can deal with the nine black dragons, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    After arriving at the underground sea, Zhou Wen first summoned his Mythical Companion Beasts. Together with Demonic Neonate, the lineup was rather powerful.


    Six-Winged Guardian Dragon was still the same as before. It appeared behind the blood-colored avatar in its six-winged form to prevent it from being instantly killed.


    I still have to find time to draw more Substitute Talismans in the future, Zhou Wen thought.


    With Zhou Wen''s order, Truth Listener and Behemoth charged into the underground sea.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull was actually afraid of water. It could only provide support on land and didn''t enter the sea.


    However, this wasn''t a big deal. All he needed to do was lure the nine black dragons to a spot near the coast and let the Great Might Vajra Bull''s Soul Suppression Bell work.


    Before long, the nine black dragons appeared with the war wagon. After they saw Behemoth and Truth Listener, the chains on their bodies automatically released.


    The nine black dragons immediately perked up as they transformed into ferocious dragons that charged at Behemoth and Truth Listener with a roar.


    Zhou Wen made the two of them fly back and return to the shore. The two giant beasts stood in the shallow water, where the seawater only reached their calves.


    When the nine black dragons charged over, Zhou Wen immediately realized that something was amiss. The strength and speed of the black dragons were even stronger than Truth Listener when it had shattered an earring.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Truth Listener and Behemoth could each fight three or four black dragons alone, but now, he realized that without using Absolute Strength and shattering the other earrings, fighting two alone was somewhat difficult.


    Roar!


    Behemoth roared and used Absolute Strength to suppress the nine black dragons.


    The nine black dragons were beginning to be affected by the suction of Absolute Strength, but soon, they forcefully escaped its restraints.


    Boom!


    Behemoth, who had used Absolute Strength, threw a punch and collided with a black dragon horn.


    To Zhou Wen''s surprise, Behemoth, who had Absolute Strength, was forced to take a few steps back by the collision with the black dragon. It plopped into the seawater, stirring up huge waves.


    Truth Listener was in a worse state. It clashed with a black dragon and was sent flying into the sea.


    Something''s amiss¡­ How can the nine black dragons be so powerful¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed as he carefully looked at the nine black dragons, but he didn''t see anything.


    Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he switched to the Holy Hell King Life Soul. With the Holy Hell''s Eyes, he was immediately alarmed. There were chains that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye connecting the nine black dragons to the war wagon.

 Chapter 704 - Battling the Nine Dragons

    The power unleashed by a black dragon was equivalent to the power of nine black dragons unleashing their might at the same time.


    It''s no wonder Tyrant Behemoth, who has used Absolute Strength, can''t suppress the black dragon. This is fighting nine alone¡­ Zhou Wen thought.


    Tyrant Behemoth stood up again and roared as it charged at the nine black dragons.


    Its strength was unparalleled, but it was still difficult to deal with them when it was actually equivalent to single-handedly fighting nine. The black dragon was a Mythical creature with immense strength, and with the nine of them combined as one, the explosive power they released suppressed Tyrant Behemoth.


    Every clash of strength forced Tyrant Behemoth to retreat.


    Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth was indeed extremely powerful when using Absolute Strength. It wasn''t severely injured even under the combined forces of the nine black dragons.


    Truth Listener rushed out and attacked the black dragon from another direction.


    The nine black dragons'' movements were not affected at all despite being connected by invisible chains. Furthermore, the powers circulated among them extremely quickly.


    As one side sent Tyrant Behemoth retreating, the other side fought Truth Listener, who had gathered its strength, again. The terrifying dragon claws broke through normal speed limits and blasted Truth Listener away.


    Zhou Wen had already controlled the blood-colored avatar to slash at the black dragon. The Great Might Vajra Bull also released the Soul Suppression Bell at the same time. When the bell rang, the invisible chain trembled. The Soul Suppression Bell didn''t work, nor did it make the black dragons faint.


    Truth Listener looked like it was about to go berserk and shatter another earring. Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned it and Behemoth back before turning around to escape to the Bat Cave.


    Demonic Neonate hadn''t attacked all this time, so it looked like she hadn''t found a chance.


    The nine black dragons didn''t dare come ashore. They roared in the water, causing huge waves to surge into the sky. The commotion was extremely terrifying.


    The nine black dragons are so terrifying. I wonder how powerful the Guardian in the war wagon is? I''m afraid it''s another Buddha Annihilation¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the nine black dragons that surged with ferocious flames as he secretly calculated his chances of killing the Guardian in the war wagon.


    Ignoring the question of whether the Lost Immortal Sutra could advance to the Mythical stage, just killing the Guardian to advance to the Life Soul realm was probably unprecedented.


    Unless I think of a way to sever the connection between the nine black dragons, preventing them from gathering the power of nine dragons to attack together, killing them is just a pipe dream. Zhou Wen began to miss the six-winged seraphim.


    Among the Guardians that Zhou Wen had seen, he was the easiest to kill.


    Unable to kill the nine black dragons, Zhou Wen had no choice but to vent his frustration on the other dimensional creatures. He killed all the rare dimensional creatures in the dungeons and also killed some Musical Note Sprites.


    Now, Zhou Wen''s Musical Note Sprites numbered nearly ten thousand. Under the control of the Golden Harp, they could be of some use. However, they were still a distance away from the million-strong army that Zhou Wen had expected.


    I heard that there''s an Undead Scourge in the West District which sent millions of Undead rampaging across the land. In the future, I''ll control the million-strong Musical Note Army and create a Musical Scourge. It will be much cooler than the Undead Scourge. At the very least, they look better than them, Zhou Wen thought.


    Despite leaving a wake of destruction, his luck today seemed to be especially bad. He didn''t have any rare Companion Beasts drop.


    It was time for Medusa to respawn. Zhou Wen planned on farming Medusa once. When he arrived at the Curse Demon Palace, he suddenly thought of something.


    Every time he came to the Curse Demon Palace, the beautiful girl would become the demoness, Medusa. Therefore, Zhou Wen killed Medusa in her demoness form every time.


    What will happen if I kill the beautiful girl before she becomes Medusa? Zhou Wen couldn''t hold back his emotions when he had this thought.


    How can I kill her before she transforms? Zhou Wen didn''t open the door to Medusa''s palace.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had attacked her when she was a beautiful girl, but once he attacked her, she would immediately become Medusa. Killing her before she became Medusa was clearly not an easy task.


    In terms of speed, my Transcendent Flying Immortal is fast enough, but I can''t kill the beautiful girl before she becomes Medusa. In that case, I can only rely on her. Zhou Wen''s heart stirred as he looked at Demonic Neonate, who was standing there with a cold expression like a doll.


    As long as Zhou Wen didn''t take the initiative to attack, the beautiful girl wouldn''t become Medusa even if he entered the palace.


    After Zhou Wen finished his plans, he carried Demonic Neonate into the palace. Indeed, he saw Medusa sitting there quietly. The current Medusa was still a beautiful and pure girl. Just one look at her made him pity her.


    If it wasn''t in-game but in the real world, Zhou Wen really couldn''t bear to attack her.


    However, this was the game world. No matter how beautiful she was, she was still an NPC. He didn''t have any qualms.


    Zhou Wen walked towards the beautiful girl step by step without gathering any Essence Energy or using his Companion Beasts.


    However, Demonic Neonate was slumped on his back. Her black eyes were secretly looking at the beautiful Medusa.


    When he arrived in front of the beautiful girl, Zhou Wen didn''t continue walking forward. If he continued walking forward, even if Zhou Wen didn''t attack her, the beautiful girl would become Medusa.


    At that moment, Demonic Neonate, who was on Zhou Wen''s back, suddenly moved. A black-purple sword beam drilled out from beneath the blood-colored avatar''s crotch.


    Without giving the beautiful girl a chance to react, the demonic sword had already stabbed her in the chest, causing her blood to splatter everywhere. Demonic aura invaded her body, causing her to fall to the ground.


    It''s done! Zhou Wen was delighted as he looked at the beautiful girl''s corpse, only to see it disintegrating and disappearing.


    Ding!


    Soon, something dropped.


    Zhou Wen took a closer look and was immediately overjoyed. The thing the beautiful girl dropped was a Companion Egg that was crystalline like a sapphire.


    A Companion Beast dropped! Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. It hadn''t been a day or two since he started farming Medusa. Dimensional crystals had dropped, but there had never been a Companion Egg drop.


    Could it be that only Medusa in her beautiful form can drop a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen guessed as he picked it up.

 Chapter 705 - Medusa Companion Beast

    Translator: CKtalon


    Medusa: Mythical


    Life Providence: Tragic Beauty


    Life Soul: Eyes of Enticement


    Wheel of Destiny: Demon God Transformation


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Essence Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: None


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed when he saw Medusa¡¯s stats. The weakest Mythical that Zhou Wen had seen was Primordial Spore.


    However, Primordial Spore still had the Eternal Immortality Life Providence that made it invincible. It also had a parasitic skill that was very useful.


    Medusa was ridiculously weak in contrast. She didn¡¯t have any skills. Her Life Providence was Tragic Beauty¡ªa negative skill that actually reduced her stats.


    The only useful ones were probably the Eyes of Enticement and the Demon God Transformation.


    The Eyes of Enticement were very similar to the Eyes of Petrification. They could petrify people, but the limitations of the Eyes of Enticement were much greater than the Eyes of Petrification.


    The Demon God Transformation was even more ridiculous. It was actually a single-time use Wheel of Destiny. The annotation was very clear. Once used, it would forever transform into a Demon God, making it impossible for her to be restored to her human body.


    From the looks of it, after using the Demon God Transformation, Medusa should become a snake-haired demoness. Although becoming a snake-haired demoness will definitely be much stronger than she is now, she¡¯s just too ugly in that form. She still looks good now¡­ However, good looks can¡¯t be eaten or used to block bullets. What¡¯s the point?


    Although he had such thoughts, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t bring himself to do it when he thought about how such a beautiful Medusa would become an ugly snake-haired demoness.


    Forget it. I¡¯ll keep her for now. Who knows what special effects she might have? Zhou Wen planned on farming Medusa tomorrow to see if Medusa in her girl form would continue dropping Companion Eggs.


    If a Companion Egg dropped, he would try to see what would happen after the Demon God Transformation.


    ¡­


    Before Medusa respawned again, a Companion Beast challenged Origin Realm King on the rankings. This time, it was none other than Death of the Underworld.


    Li Xuan invited Zhou Wen to watch the duel at the cube. When they arrived, the Origin Realm King still hadn¡¯t accepted the challenge.


    ¡°Old Zhou, who do you think will win this battle?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    The battle between Origin Realm King and Death of the Underworld was worth watching. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t predict the final outcome.


    Death of the Underworld had a Spirit Body, rendering physical damage virtually ineffective. It was useless even if Origin Realm King entered its body.


    However, it was also unknown if Death of the Underworld¡¯s attacks were effective against Origin Realm King. Therefore, Zhou Wen was very curious about the outcome of the battle.


    Soon, only ten minutes were left for the countdown. Just like the last time, the name on the ranking flashed at the end. Origin Realm King had accepted the challenge.


    Everyone, including Zhou Wen, widened their eyes. They wanted to know how Death of the Underworld would deal with Origin Realm King. With the experience gleaned from Light Beast¡¯s lesson, Death of the Underworld would definitely do something. It might even use its Wheel of Destiny to transport the Origin Realm King into the Underworld for the final battle, just like with Primordial Sword Immortal.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, after Origin Realm King accepted the challenge, Death of the Underworld did nothing but float in the air.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why isn¡¯t Death of the Underworld moving? Does he want to be passive and end up getting beaten?¡±


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t he strike first to force out the invisible Origin Realm King?¡±


    ¡°What is he trying to do?¡±


    People discussed as they guessed what Death of the Underworld was planning.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he saw the motionless Death of the Underworld. It was as though it had fallen asleep while floating there. It was not good.


    That¡¯s bad. Someone has guessed that Origin Realm King is a microscopic Companion Beast just like me. They know that its strength is insufficient to kill a top Mythical Companion Beast, so they want to use the characteristics of Origin Realm King to stall for time. They want to wait until the countdown ends before defeating Origin Realm King¡­ Zhou Wen already understood Death of the Underworld¡¯s strategy.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had thought of a similar method. For example, if Tyrant Behemoth challenged Origin Realm King, Origin Realm King wouldn¡¯t be able to kill Tyrant Behemoth, so he could continue delaying until the time was up.


    However, as Tyrant Behemoth might not be able to kill Origin Realm King, Zhou Wen gave up on this plan. Now that Death of the Underworld had used this plan, it meant that its master was confident that he could defeat Origin Realm King at the final moment.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Origin Realm King would definitely take this opportunity to kill Death of the Underworld. However, to his surprise, Origin Realm King didn¡¯t take any action.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and immediately understood that Origin Realm King¡¯s master was indeed smart.


    It was the best choice for him not to let Origin Realm King move.


    If Origin Realm King was really as Zhou Wen and company had guessed¡ªa microscopic Companion Beast that wasn¡¯t very strong¡ªthen if it were to attack now, not only would it fail to kill Death of the Underworld, but it would also expose its true strength, allowing the master of Death of the Underworld to understand its weakness.


    However, Origin Realm King remained motionless, giving Death of the Underworld immense pressure.


    If it didn¡¯t move, Death of the Underworld¡¯s master wouldn¡¯t be able to confirm if his judgment was correct. This would raise doubts.


    Could it be that Origin Realm King also wants to stall for time? Could it be that it¡¯s different from my conclusion? Could it be confident that it can defeat Death of the Underworld at the end of the countdown?


    All sorts of guesses appeared in people¡¯s minds. It was originally Death of the Underworld who was stalling for time, but it devolved into both sides stalling for time. No one could be sure whether Origin Realm King had the ability to defeat Death of the Underworld.


    If this continued, there would be no time or chance in the event Death of the Underworld was defeated.


    If Death of the Underworld were to attack now, the previous plan would fail. It would also expose Death of the Underworld¡¯s strength. It was equivalent to shooting oneself in the foot.


    Although the two Companion Beasts in the arena didn¡¯t move, the battle had already begun. Such a battle was no longer limited to the confines of the arena. Instead, the owners of the two Companion Beasts were having a psychological game.


    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t figure out the mystery behind it. After waiting all day, people who were originally looking forward to a huge battle ended up surprised to watch a battle in which one of the Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t be seen while the other Companion Beast remained motionless. It left them depressed.


    ¡°What the hell? Wasn¡¯t this supposed to be a challenge? Why aren¡¯t they fighting?¡±


    ¡°Hurry up and fight. Let us see which is the best¡ªOrigin Realm King or Death of the Underworld.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell? Death of the Underworld doesn¡¯t even dare to move. It must be afraid of Origin Realm King. When Origin Realm King makes a move, Death of the Underworld will die like Light Beast.¡±


    ¡°Bullsh*t. It¡¯s obvious that Origin Realm King is afraid of Death of the Underworld. Don¡¯t you see that it doesn¡¯t dare to attack? Death of the Underworld is almost falling asleep waiting for it to attack.¡±


    The arena remained still. The fans of the two Companion Beasts and the streamers who supported them were the first to engage in a war of words.

 Chapter 706 - Quick Battle

    Translator: CKtalon


    The silent battle continued, greatly displeasing many onlookers.


    By standing there for a few hours without moving, how was this a duel? It was a punishment.


    Questions that this was a rigged match began to spread. Some people were already suspecting that Origin Realm King and Death of the Underworld came from the same faction. They were stalling for time to directly obtain first place.


    In fact, even many of the six families had such doubts.


    Zhou Wen also felt that something was amiss. Although Death of the Underworld might not be from the same faction as Origin Realm King, if they were to continue wasting time like this, either one of them would definitely end up coming first.


    All the factions that still had hope for coming in first were paying attention to the battle situation. At the same time, they were secretly gathering information.


    Although they didn¡¯t know who Origin Realm King belonged to, Death of the Underworld was undoubtedly from the Family Clan of Gods. Therefore, all sorts of probing and pressure targeted towards the Family Clan of Gods continued.


    ¡°Old Boll, if you can¡¯t beat it, hurry up and admit defeat. Don¡¯t end up letting that Origin Realm King reap all the benefits later,¡± Rhaego Cape said with a smile while on a video call with the Family Clan of Gods.


    Boll said indifferently, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to worry.¡±


    Rhaego continued, ¡°Old Boll, if you have a hundred percent chance of defeating Origin Realm King, it doesn¡¯t matter if you wait until the end. But if you don¡¯t have a hundred percent chance, why don¡¯t you leave a chance?¡±


    Boll naturally understood what Rhaego was getting at. He was also very conflicted.


    He had originally planned on dragging it out to the end before letting Death of the Underworld defeat Origin Realm King. Just as Zhou Wen had guessed, he believed that Origin Realm King was a microscopic Companion Beast.


    As long as Death of the Underworld opened the path to the Underworld and pulled the microscopic Companion Beast in, it would no longer be able to hide. When that happened, killing it wouldn¡¯t be difficult.


    But now, Origin Realm King was also stalling for time. This worried Boll a little.


    Many people already knew about the abilities of Death of the Underworld. The owner of Origin Realm King definitely knew some, but he still chose to remain still. This made Boll suspect that the Origin Realm King might have the ability to defeat Death of the Underworld, but it could also be a psychological battle.


    After hanging up the call, Boll was thinking about what to do next. However, Feia said, ¡°Father, if we don¡¯t have full confidence in winning, why don¡¯t we do as Rhaego said and leave a way out? We can still grasp the opportunity in our hands.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Boll said to Feia.


    Feia said, ¡°Since we can¡¯t be sure if Death of the Underworld can defeat Origin Realm King, why don¡¯t we complete the battle before the final time limit? It¡¯s naturally best if we can win. If we can¡¯t, we¡¯ll find a chance to forfeit. When the time comes, our Companion Beasts has the initiative to pose the challenge. It¡¯s equivalent to having another chance.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that this opportunity will be snatched away by others,¡± Boll muttered.


    ¡°There can only be one challenger. It depends on who poses the challenge first. We are the ones deciding when Death of the Underworld admits defeat, so we can also apply for the challenge at the same time. How can others be faster than us?¡± said Feia.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Then let¡¯s do it this way. Prepare your Companion Beast. If Death of the Underworld fails, you will be the one to complete the final battle,¡± said Boll after some thought.


    As there was no battle in the arena, many spectators lost their patience after waiting for several hours. Many people chose to return to work or to do other things. They planned on watching the results nearer to the end of the countdown.


    Zhou Wen watched as time ticked by. Neither side had any intention of taking action. It was apparent that both sides wanted to drag it out until the countdown ended. They knew that there was no hope of vying for first place.


    However, Zhou Wen still held onto a sliver of hope as he rushed to the town in Funiu Mountain. He wanted to wait there for the countdown to end. If there was a chance, he could try again.


    In fact, there were many people with the same thoughts as Zhou Wen. Many people from large families were standing guard in front of the cube. Once the battle ended or one side gave up, they would immediately initiate a challenge. Regardless of whether they could win, it was better to try than have no chance at all.


    Time slowly passed. When there were only two hours left before the countdown, more and more people returned to the cube. Most of them returned just to see the results.


    However, Death of the Underworld and Origin Realm King remained still. One couldn¡¯t be seen, while the other was motionless.


    An hour and a half¡­ an hour and fifteen minutes¡­ an hour and ten minutes¡­


    Suddenly, Death of the Underworld, who had been silent all this while, finally moved. Its cloak spread out, and the strange Underworld domain was about to devour the entire arena.


    This was identical to when it fought Primordial Sword Immortal. However, Origin Realm King wasn¡¯t Primordial Sword Immortal. If it were to be trapped, there would be a question if it could storm its way out.


    Everyone¡¯s spirits were lifted. Death of the Underworld¡¯s sudden attack meant that the two Companion Beasts weren¡¯t from the same faction. They still needed to determine a victor.


    Although there was less than an hour and ten minutes left, having some time left meant that there was a chance.


    The only thing they were afraid of was that there was too little time left. If one side lost and there was less than an hour left, then even if they chose to challenge the victor, the other side would still have an hour to prepare for battle. Before the challenge was accepted, the countdown would be over.


    Please decide the victor before the hour mark! Many people were praying.


    However, no one expected the outcome to be far faster than they had imagined.


    At the instant Death of the Underworld activated its Underworld domain, a strange scene suddenly happened.


    Inside the Death of the Underworld¡¯s grayish smoke-like spirit body, a flower suddenly grew out of its head. The flower was beautiful like snow, and there was lightning circulating over it. It was like an electric flower.


    The flower rapidly grew. In an instant, the flower bud bloomed. As the flower bloomed, Death of the Underworld¡¯s Spirit Body seemed to be pulled by some force as it rapidly flowed into the flower, as though it had been devoured by the flower.


    Before the Underworld domain could fully activate, half of Death of the Underworld¡¯s body had been sucked into the flower.


    Not good! Boll was shocked. He quickly wanted to give up and admit defeat, but it was too late.


    The remaining half of Death of the Underworld¡¯s body was completely absorbed by the flower in the blink of an eye. As for the flower, it bloomed and shimmered with a strange electric light. Then, it quickly withered and vanished as though nothing had happened.


    Everyone was stunned. No one dared to believe that the nearly invincible Death of the Underworld had died just like that. Old Boll¡¯s face was ashen, and even Feia, who was about to issue the challenge, was stunned.


    It was just too shocking that Death of the Underworld was instantly killed. It made him hesitate, afraid that his Companion Beast would suffer the same outcome if he entered.


    It wasn¡¯t just Feia. Everyone who was prepared to issue the challenge hesitated. Death of the Underworld¡¯s death shocked them greatly.


    Origin Realm King¡­ is too powerful¡­ The spectators also had such thoughts.

 Chapter 707 - The Dust Settles

    Translator: CKtalon


    Just as everyone was in a daze, a Companion Beast almost immediately issued a challenge. The cube¡¯s screen lit up again as a name and a Companion Beast appeared on the screen.


    ¡°Tai Sui¡­¡± Everyone was slightly taken aback when they saw the Companion Beast and name.


    The people from the East District knew what Tai Sui was, but the people from the other districts weren¡¯t aware. However, when they saw a white and tender ball appear on-screen, it didn¡¯t look like a particularly powerful Companion Beast.


    ¡°No way? Is that thing a slime? Can such a Companion Beast challenge an invincible Companion Beast like Origin Realm King?¡± someone from the West District commented.


    ¡°Is that a legendary blob monster?¡± The people from the North District were puzzled.


    ¡°How can such a Companion Beast challenge Origin Realm King? Isn¡¯t that guaranteeing Origin Realm King¡¯s first place? Don¡¯t tell me they are in cahoots?¡± Many people guessed.


    Although the people of the East District knew about Tai Sui, they didn¡¯t know much about its abilities. They only knew that Tai Sui brought bad luck. As the saying went, ¡°Messing with Tai Sui incurs disaster.¡± It was a very popular saying in the East District.


    Even if it could bring bad luck, it was impossible for it to defeat a powerful existence like Origin Realm King with bad luck in a duel, right? That was a terrifying existence that could kill Death of the Underworld!


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so. Origin Realm King killed Death of the Underworld, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare release Tai Sui to challenge him.


    However, after seeing how the Origin Realm King killed Death of the Underworld, Zhou Wen was finally certain that Tai Sui would be able to restrain it. In essence, Origin Realm King was still a type of microorganism, not some special physical entity.


    As for Tai Sui, it was extremely effective against all kinds of microbes. It could devour the Mythical Primordial Spore back at the Mortal stage. What¡¯s more, it was now at the Epic stage. It had a high chance of defeating Origin Realm King.


    Time ticked by. Origin Realm King hadn¡¯t accepted the challenge. In the blink of an eye, less than an hour was left.


    ¡°What? Origin Realm King is just stalling for time. It looks like there¡¯s zero suspense left. First place will undoubtedly go to Origin Realm King.¡±


    ¡°Origin Realm King is really too powerful. An existence like Death of the Underworld was actually killed by it. It didn¡¯t even have the chance to forfeit. Did you see what happened? What¡¯s up with that flower? The moment it appeared, it sucked in Death of the Underworld. I wonder what kind of ability it is.¡±


    ¡°I should have known. Even Primordial Sword Immortal isn¡¯t a match for Origin Realm King, much less Death of the Underworld.¡±


    Almost everyone believed that there was no longer any suspense in this battle. Without a doubt, Original Realm King was first, and the remaining time would be wasted.


    After Tai Sui was defeated, there wouldn¡¯t be enough time left to challenge it. Even if one had a Companion Beast that could fight Origin Realm King, they wouldn¡¯t be given the chance.


    However, some people didn¡¯t think so. Leng Zongzheng had seen Zhou Wen¡¯s Tai Sui before and knew that Tai Sui was very effective against microorganisms. Furthermore, he had clearly determined that Origin Realm King was a microorganism.


    ¡°From the looks of it, he got lucky. Your family¡¯s Zhou Wen sure is lucky,¡± Leng Zongzheng said to An Tianzuo as he watched the livestream.


    An Tianzuo replied expressionlessly, ¡°Humans can¡¯t just rely on luck. If we only rely on luck, we will suffer a huge loss sooner or later.¡±


    Leng Zongzheng said with a smile, ¡°Actually, luck is similar to money. Money isn¡¯t omnipotent, but it¡¯s impossible without money.¡±


    ¡­


    There was less than half an hour left. Origin Realm King still hadn¡¯t accepted the challenge. Everyone believed that Origin Realm King would accept the challenge at the last moment. Then, with less than ten minutes left before the countdown ended, its first place would then be secured.


    Origin Realm King still didn¡¯t accept the challenge in the final moments. Despite having less than ten seconds on the clock, it still didn¡¯t make a move. It made people feel that something was amiss.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why hasn¡¯t it accepted the challenge?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to keep our hearts racing, right? Does it want to accept the challenge at the last second?¡±


    ¡°Could it be afraid of Tai Sui?¡±


    ¡°What a joke. How is that possible? That¡¯s Origin Realm King!¡±


    ¡°Seven¡­ Six¡­ Five¡­ Four¡­¡±


    Everyone counted silently with the countdown in their hearts, but even at the last second, Origin Ream King didn¡¯t accept the challenge.


    Upon seeing the first ranked Origin Realm King¡¯s name being squeezed out and replaced by Tai Sui¡¯s name, the entire Federation and those overseas were in an uproar.


    ¡°Origin Realm King doesn¡¯t dare accept the challenge? Is Tai Sui that strong?¡±


    ¡°Tai Sui¡­ What kind of Companion Beast is this?¡±


    ¡°I knew that Tai Sui was extraordinary, but I didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    ¡°Facing Primordial Sword Immortal and Death of the Underworld, Origin Realm King can definitely suppress them, but it didn¡¯t dare accept Tai Sui¡¯s challenge. It doesn¡¯t even have the courage to fight. That Tai Sui is too terrifying. I really want to know what kind of abilities it has!¡±


    ¡°What bullsh*t is this Tai Sui? I think it¡¯s all a scam. They¡¯re in cahoots.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Origin Realm King was already first. If they are in cahoots, there¡¯d be no need to admit defeat and let Tai Sui take first place.¡±


    As everyone was discussing, they saw another Companion Beast issue a challenge. However, Tai Sui ignored it. It didn¡¯t accept the challenge even when the 72-hour countdown on the cube ended.


    The scene on the cube turned into a ranking. Tai Sui was first, and the defeated Origin Realm King was second. Third was Primordial Sword Immortal, and fourth was Zhou Wen¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth.


    This continued until the hundredth spot. The names of the Companion Beasts emitted a resplendent glow. It made the entire world know that they were the strongest hundred Companion Beasts among humans.


    However, most people did not realize that Tai Sui, who was ranked first, had yet to advance to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Mommy, Tai Sui is so cute. I want a Tai Sui doll. Can our family¡¯s factory produce one?¡± A little boy hugging a Tyrant Behemoth doll looked at his mother with anticipation.


    ¡°This¡­¡± His mother was somewhat hesitant. Although Tai Sui looked adorable, it seemed a little ominous.


    ¡°Mommy, our Tyrant Behemoth doll has been very popular. I believe Tai Sui will also sell very well. Pretty please?¡± The boy pulled his mother¡¯s hand and wheedled.


    ¡°Alright¡­ Let¡¯s give it a try¡­¡± His mother stroked the boy¡¯s head dotingly.

 Chapter 708 - Reward

    Translator: CKtalon


    The hundred names on the cube lit up. Zhou Wen suddenly felt a huge amount of energy appear out of nowhere in the bodies of his three Companion Beasts on the rankings¡ªTai Sui, Tyrant Behemoth, and Six-Winged Guardian Dragon.


    The least energy appeared in Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡¯s body. It didn¡¯t result in much of a change. The energy in Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body was extremely huge, causing Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body to constantly stir.


    The most powerful energy was inside Tai Sui¡¯s body. The immense power turned Tai Sui into an egg and it began to evolve.


    So there are benefits for all the Companion Beasts on the rankings. They can obtain a strange energy. However, the higher the ranking, the stronger the energy obtained. As Zhou Wen thought about it, he looked at Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡¯s situation.


    As it had obtained very little energy, it had completely absorbed it.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and checked Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡¯s stats. To his surprise, Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡¯s Strength stat had reached 81 points.


    After being strengthened by the cube the last time, all of Six-Winged Guardian Dragon¡¯s stats had reached 80 points, but that was all. They were still within the limits of Mythical creatures.


    This time, the energy obtained by Six-Winged Guardian Dragon allowed its Strength to break through to 81 points. Although it was only one point, it was very significant. This was because only a top Mythical creature had stats with 81 points.


    As Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had never accepted challenges, its ranking kept dropping when it was challenged by other Companion Beasts. It had ended up in the seventies. For such a ranking to increase its stat by one point was amazing enough.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to see Tyrant Behemoth. He wanted to know what kind of strengthening it had obtained. It was ranked fourth, so the energy it obtained would be immense. It was incomparable to the energy that Six-Winged Guardian Dragon had received.


    When Zhou Wen looked at Behemoth, he realized that the power in its body was constantly erupting. Its stats hadn¡¯t changed for the time being.


    After more than an hour, the energy in Behemoth gradually stopped erupting. Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at its stats.


    Behemoth¡¯s stats were top-notch to begin with. Now, it remained unchanged at 81 points.


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny. There were no changes either. When Zhou Wen saw Behemoth¡¯s talent skills, he was immediately overjoyed.


    Originally, Tyrant only had one talent skill¡ªMountain Consuming. But now, Tyrant Behemoth had an additional skill. The skill¡¯s name was ¡°Rampage.¡±


    After reading the introduction of the Rampage skill, Zhou Wen was even more excited. This skill could enhance its Speed and Strength for a short period of time. It was very useful for Tyrant Behemoth, allowing its strength to improve further.


    If I had known that there would be so many benefits, I would have gotten all my Companion Beasts to get a ranking. Even if I can¡¯t obtain any talent skills, it¡¯s good to increase their stats.


    Of course, Zhou Wen was only musing. It wasn¡¯t worth it to expose his Companion Beast¡¯s abilities to exchange for stats.


    The skills obtained by Tyrant Behemoth were just icing on the cake. It didn¡¯t have an absolute effect on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s strength. The one with the greatest influence was Tai Sui who was evolving.


    The immense energy allowed Tai Sui to directly evolve. By the time it completed its evolution, it would be at the Mythical stage.


    In addition, Tai Sui had obtained first place. He likely had a chance of plucking the divine fruit, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover the passageway that led to the divine tree.


    Just as he was feeling suspicious, he saw a pillar of light rise from the center of the cube, leading straight into the void.


    Zhou Wen was hesitating about walking towards the pillar of light when he suddenly realized that a figure was slowly descending from it. It was none other than the Mythical Wang Mingyuan.


    Wang Mingyuan slowly landed on the cube and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°I never expected the Companion Beast that obtained first place to be yours, Little Wen.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan and was momentarily at a loss for words.


    Wang Mingyuan was his teacher and had treated him pretty well. In this aspect, Zhou Wen should respect him.


    However, at the same time, Wang Mingyuan had caused great harm to the Federation. From this angle, Wang Mingyuan was already an enemy of humanity. Zhou Wen was a part of humanity, so he should treat Wang Mingyuan as an enemy.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen¡¯s emotions were extremely complicated. He looked at Wang Mingyuan and opened his mouth before calling out, ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Wang Mingyuan could tell that Zhou Wen was struggling internally, but he thought nothing of it. He smiled slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯m already very gratified that you can call me teacher again. Come, pluck the reward you deserve.¡±


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan walked up the pillar of light. At the end of the pillar of light, a phenomenon of a divine garden appeared. The divine tree also appeared.


    Zhou Wen followed behind Wang Mingyuan and walked into the pillar of light. Immediately, he felt a gentle force envelop his body as he slowly rose up and headed for the divine garden at the end of the pillar.


    Soon, Zhou Wen followed Wang Mingyuan into the garden and immediately smelled a fruity fragrance.


    The air in the divine garden was clean and pure. Even with the Holy Hell King¡¯s eyes, he couldn¡¯t sense any impurities. There was no dust or bacteria. It was like the legendary Paradise.


    Here, even if one wanted to get sick, it was probably very difficult. There was no way to get infected.


    ¡°Do you know the name of this tree?¡± Wang Mingyuan walked to the divine tree and stared at it with a complicated expression.


    ¡°Is its name important?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°To ordinary people, its name isn¡¯t important, but to me, its name is very important,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°What¡¯s its name?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°Its name is Samsara,¡± Wang Mingyuan said slowly.


    1


    Samsara? Zhou Wen looked at the Samsara Tree with mixed feelings as he thought to himself, If there¡¯s really samsara in this world, will Teacher make the same choice in this life if he were to live again?


    ¡°Little Wen, go pluck that divine fruit. This is the only ripened divine fruit in the past year. It can allow any Companion Beast to advance to the Mythical stage. Even if it¡¯s just a Mortal Companion Beast, as long as it consumes the divine fruit, it can still advance to the Mythical stage,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    Although he had guessed it, Zhou Wen still asked, ¡°What if a human eats it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think you will like that outcome.¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled and continued, ¡°Of course, you can also give it a try. There are some things that you have to experience before you know whether they¡¯re good for you. There¡¯s not much time left. Quickly pluck the divine fruit and don¡¯t let it fall to the ground. Otherwise, it will be useless.¡±


    Zhou Wen walked to the Samsara Tree and reached out to grab the ripened fruit. With a gentle tug, he plucked off the fruit.

 Chapter 709 - : Dimensional Axis

    The fruit that emitted a divine glow felt similar to a peach when held in his hand.


    ¡°Teacher, have you realized your dream?¡± Zhou Wen put away the fruit and asked Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°If it¡¯s so easy to realize it, it wouldn¡¯t be called a dream.¡± Wang Mingyuan pondered for a moment and pointed into the distance. ¡°Look over there.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction Wang Mingyuan had pointed and saw a huge building in the void. It was extremely strange, like a pillar that emitted a divine glow. It was unimaginably huge.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The Dimensional Axis. Its existence connects Earth to dimensional zones,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°If we can sever the connection to the Dimensional Axis, will we be able to stop the invasion of dimensional creatures?¡±


    ¡°In theory, it¡¯s indeed feasible. However, there¡¯s more than one Dimensional Axis. It connects different dimensional spaces. Every Dimensional Axis is the core of a dimensional space. Almost all the most terrifying dimensional creatures will gather here, making it very difficult to reach it. Besides, a Dimensional Axis can connect to dimensional zones. It¡¯s not that easy to destroy it,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Teacher, you have already thought of a solution, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve indeed thought of a way to sever the Dimensional Axis, but I don¡¯t plan on severing it,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was stunned.


    ¡°I thought of a solution, but it takes too long to implement it. I¡¯m afraid Earth would already be occupied by dimensional creatures before I can ever sever a Dimensional Axis. Therefore, I don¡¯t plan on severing it,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he narrowed his eyes at the Dimensional Axis.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    No matter how difficult it was, there was still a chance as long as it was done. As for Wang Mingyuan, didn¡¯t he enter the dimensional zone to stop the dimensional invasion? Why was he giving up now?


    ¡°In ancient times, floods were a perennial threat. Humans wanted to control floods. In the beginning, they tried building tall levees to block the flood. Do you know the outcome?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked.


    Zhou Wen had heard of this myth before. The people who tried to stop the floods naturally failed. The higher the levee was, the stronger the flood. Once it breached the levee, it would cause a destructive force that was ten times or a hundred times greater.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up as he looked at Wang Mingyuan and said, ¡°Teacher, do you mean to think of a way to guide dimensional creatures to other dimensional zones instead of rushing to Earth?¡±


    Wang Mingyuan looked at the Dimensional Axis calmly and said indifferently, ¡°No, what I mean is that I want to control the flood. I want the flood to obey my orders. They will go wherever I tell them to go. They will do whatever I tell them to do. I will dominate everything.¡±


    ¡°Dominate the dimensional zones¡±? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred. If it was really as Wang Mingyuan had said, he would one day be able to ascend to the top of the myriad races and become an existence that controlled the dimensional zones. How delightful would that be?


    However, this path was just too difficult. Even with Wang Mingyuan¡¯s shocking talent, it was difficult for him to reach that stage.


    ¡°Little Wen.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s gaze landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s face as he said with a strange tone, ¡°Don¡¯t take my path. There¡¯s only death at the end of this path.¡±


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly asked, ¡°Is there a problem with Spirit Casting?¡±


    He was somewhat worried. With Zhong Ziya¡¯s personality, there was a high chance that he would take this path. If there was really a problem with the Spirit Casting Art, Zhong Ziya would be in danger.


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem with Spirit Casting, but this path isn¡¯t for humans.¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed and waved his hand. A force swept towards Zhou Wen as he said, ¡°Don¡¯t come again next time. You shouldn¡¯t be in a place like this.¡±


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when his body was sent into the void by an invisible force. The light in front of him changed and by the time his body returned to normal, he had already fallen onto the town¡¯s cube.


    He stood up and looked up into the sky, but the pillar of light was gone. He found it indescribable.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s last sentence had hinted at something. If he wasn¡¯t Wang Mingyuan¡¯s student, he might not have plucked the divine fruit so easily.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know what the person who obtained the divine fruit in his place would do or what they needed to do.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen left, Wang Mingyuan sat on the tree¡¯s root and closed his eyes as though he was deep in thought.


    In the void above the pure land, lightning and thunder suddenly flared. It was as though the end of the world had arrived. A terrifying divine voice sounded from the void.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, you actually dared to violate the agreement. You should know the consequences.¡±


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes remained closed as he said indifferently, ¡°Since I¡¯ve done it, I¡¯ll naturally bear all the consequences.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Then prepare to suffer divine punishment.¡± A terrifying lightning bolt descended along with the divine voice.


    Bolts of lightning descended from the void and stabbed into Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body like sharp swords. Thrust after thrust, they filled his entire body with lightning.


    However, Wang Mingyuan sat there without any change in expression. It was as though the lightning bolts that stabbed into his body didn¡¯t exist at all. However, blood-red spots appeared on his white clothes like blooming peach blossoms.


    ¡°The divine punishment will continue until the next divine fruit ripens. I hope you will still be alive when that happens.¡± The voice in the void faded and the lightning in the sky vanished.


    The paradise returned to its original silence. Only the lightning on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body sparked like countless lightning needles as they trembled.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen returned to school and took out the divine fruit, but he was somewhat hesitant.


    There was only one divine fruit, and its use was to raise a Companion Beast to the Mythical stage. He naturally didn¡¯t need to consider the Companion Beasts that had already advanced to the Mythical stage.


    Among the Companion Beasts that had yet to advance to the Mythical stage, Demonic Neonate had the greatest potential.


    However, Demonic Neonate had the ability to evolve. It was only a matter of time before she advanced to the Mythical stage. And the greatest use of the divine fruit was to allow any Companion Egg to advance to the Mythical stage.


    From this point of view, it was best to choose a low-level Companion Beast with immense potential to advance to the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen really had a few Companion Beasts with such potential. For example, Doctor Darkness, Golden Harp, Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, and so on. All of them had immense potential.


    Of course, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t dare raise the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General again. He eliminated it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s idea was to choose between Doctor Darkness and Golden Harp. However, this was also risky. This was because he didn¡¯t know if the Wheel of Destiny they condensed after advancing to the Mythical stage would be of any use. If it condensed a useless Wheel of Destiny, he might as well directly advance Demonic Neonate to the Mythical stage. Her being at the Mythical stage was definitely going to be extraordinary, allowing her to immediately possess powerful combat strength.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant as he was momentarily at a loss.

 Chapter 710 - Darkness Right Hand

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Explosive Fiend Man hasn¡¯t advanced to the Epic stage yet. He would be a pretty good choice for advancing to the Mythical stage. However, Explosive Fiend Man has the ability to evolve. He still has a chance of advancing to the Mythical stage in the future¡­ After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness.


    1


    Doctor Darkness¡¯s abilities were rather outstanding. Furthermore, with his Fight Poison With Poison ability, he could resolve many problems that ordinary powers couldn¡¯t resolve. More importantly, Doctor Darkness¡¯s companion form was a soul. It could directly raise Zhou Wen¡¯s strength. This was very useful to him.


    If Doctor Darkness could advance to the Mythical stage, he would probably be more helpful.


    Without any hesitation, he handed the divine fruit to Doctor Darkness.


    Doctor Darkness took the divine fruit and his eyes flashed with excitement as he swallowed it.


    His body immediately emitted a divine glow. The glow grew stronger and stronger before finally turning Doctor Darkness into an egg.


    Unlike the evolution of typical Companion Beasts in which ordinary Companion Beasts took a long time to evolve, Doctor Darkness immediately completed the evolution after transforming into an egg and hatching. In a moment, he completed the evolution from the Epic stage to the Mythical stage.


    The Doctor Darkness in front of him didn¡¯t seem much different from before. He was still as dark and terrifying, like a puppet without a shred of humanity.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone and read the information regarding Doctor Darkness post-evolution.


    Doctor Darkness: Mythical


    Life Providence: Golden Left Hand


    1


    Life Soul: Dr. Soul


    Wheel of Destiny: Darkness Right Hand


    1


    Strength: 79


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 67


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Scalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, Light of Penetration


    Companion Form: Soul


    Indeed, Doctor Darkness had advanced to the Mythical stage. His skills, Life Providence, and Life Soul hadn¡¯t changed. His stats had increased to the Mythical stage, albeit a little extreme.


    Typically, a Mythical Companion Beast¡¯s limit was 80 points. Doctor Darkness¡¯s Speed and Essence Energy had broken through the limit to 81 points.


    However, his Strength and Constitution hadn¡¯t even reached 80. It was very strange.


    The Wheel of Destiny¡¯s name was Darkness Right Hand. It seemed to match his Life Providence, Golden Left Hand, but the ability was unknown.


    Darkness Right Hand: A place where even divine light can¡¯t reach. That is the forbidden zone of the Gods.


    From the introduction, it didn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with his right hand.


    Zhou Wen entered the game and planned on testing the power of Darkness Right Hand.


    He brought Doctor Darkness to the Zhuolu battlefield and encountered a Chi. Zhou Wen immediately ordered Doctor Darkness, ¡°Use Darkness Right Hand.¡±


    Doctor Darkness stood there and watched as the Chi ran over. He slowly raised his right hand.


    Doctor Darkness had the Golden Left Hand Life Providence. Be it his Strength or Speed, his left hand was much stronger than his right hand.


    When Zhou Wen got Doctor Darkness to attach himself to him as a soul, he could clearly sense that the Strength and Speed of his left hand had been enhanced.


    During that period of time, Zhou Wen had deliberately practiced striking with his left hand because it was much faster than striking with his right hand.


    All along, Doctor Darkness¡¯s right hand had been weaker, but when Doctor Darkness raised his right hand, it seemed to have the power of a devil burning over it like black flames.


    The Chi had already rushed in front of Doctor Darkness, but Doctor Darkness remained motionless. Only when the Chi was about to collide with him did Doctor Darkness slightly tilt his body and dodge the Chi¡¯s charge, allowing it to brush past him.


    Zhou Wen kept staring at Doctor Darkness¡¯s hand, but he didn¡¯t see any movement from it. When he saw Doctor Darkness brush past the Chi, he was puzzled as to why he hadn¡¯t attacked.


    However, when Doctor Darkness turned around, Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils constricted upon seeing his right hand.


    In Doctor Darkness¡¯s right hand was a bloody heart that was still beating.


    The Chi ran a few steps before letting out a tragic cry. It suddenly fell to the ground and convulsed. Soon, it died.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Chi¡¯s corpse and didn¡¯t see any injuries. He had no idea how Doctor Darkness had plucked its heart out.


    Even I couldn¡¯t see how Doctor Darkness did it. Furthermore, its strength is too strange. It can actually pluck out a heart without dealing any injuries¡­ No¡­ I have to watch it again¡­ Zhou Wen continued proceeding forward with Doctor Darkness.


    Before long, he encountered a Wangliang.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t only maximize the Truth Listener earring¡¯s abilities, but he also switched to the Holy Hell King Life Soul, raising his senses to their limits.


    Zhou Wen got Doctor Darkness to rush over and quickly he brushed past the Wangliang.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen felt his devil-like right hand move.


    As it was too fast, Zhou Wen only felt it move a little. He didn¡¯t see it clearly.


    However, Zhou Wen was certain that the right hand had definitely moved. This was because there was something white on the right hand. It was like a pig¡¯s brain, and the blood vessels on it were still squirming.


    How terrifying! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The power of Darkness Right Hand could actually remove organs in an invisible manner. It was so fast that even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see it clearly. Such an ability made his scalp tingle.


    In the future, if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like anyone, he could get Doctor Darkness to pluck at their waist. If anyone pissed him off, he could pluck out their hearts, livers, and brains. It would scare him to death.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if Darkness Right Hand¡¯s ability was merely fast or if it had any special effects.


    The Chi and Wangliang weren¡¯t injured; yet, their heart and brain had been removed. Perhaps Doctor Darkness¡¯s Darkness Right Hand wasn¡¯t as simple as being fast.


    Zhou Wen wanted to experiment further, so he went to the Metalwork Temple to find a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior with extremely powerful defense. The outcome was the same. After Doctor Darkness used Darkness Right Hand, he easily plucked out the heart. The Runic Heavy Armor was useless. Even the runic patterns on it didn¡¯t light up.


    Amazing. The Darkness Right Hand actually has the ability to penetrate through space. It can ignore defense and directly pluck out organs¡­ Zhou Wen was even more excited.


    With Doctor Darkness¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen could ignore dimensional creatures with powerful defense.


    More importantly, Doctor Darkness¡¯s companion form was a soul. He could attach himself to Zhou Wen and allow him to use his abilities. In other words, Zhou Wen could also use Darkness Right Hand. This was equivalent to strengthening Zhou Wen¡¯s strength and abilities.


    Zhou Wen still wanted to give it another try, but he was depressed. He couldn¡¯t use Darkness Right Hand again. After some research, he learned that Darkness Right Hand could only be used three times in twenty-four hours.


    Three times is enough. I¡¯ll pluck the kidney before plucking the heart. If that still doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll pluck the brain. I don¡¯t believe anyone can survive, Zhou Wen thought.


    1

 Chapter 711 - Snatching Blood, Condensing Soul

    Translator: CKtalon


    He attempted to get Doctor Darkness to attach himself to the blood-colored avatar as a soul. Zhou Wen immediately felt his physical attributes increase, especially his left hand. After advancing to the Mythical stage, the Golden Left Hand Life Providence augmented Zhou Wen¡¯s left hand even more.


    After using all of Doctor Darkness¡¯s skills, he realized that the effects of his skills had increased significantly. Fight Poison With Poison¡¯s poison became even more potent. A single milliliter of poison could instantly kill an Epic creature, even when it was a venomous creature like the Chi.


    1


    The destructive power of Scalpel became stronger and it was sharper.


    The enhancement of the Eyes of Penetration was the greatest. The ability to see through things had been enhanced. It wasn¡¯t as troublesome as before; yet, the effects had increased significantly. It was very easy to see through every minute detail inside a creature¡¯s body.


    As long as Zhou Wen used the Eyes of Penetration, he could see the creatures¡¯ meridians and blood vessels clearly. However, he could only see through lifeforms; his ability to see through objects like metal was very poor.


    All that¡¯s left is to experiment with Darkness Right Hand. If everything goes well, I might be able to enter Ant City and obtain the blood of that Guardian. Zhou Wen was somewhat excited.


    Since Darkness Right Hand could dig out hearts across space, it might be able to dig out a Guardian¡¯s heart. When that happened, it wouldn¡¯t just be a drop of blood.


    After waiting for twenty-four hours, it was finally time for Darkness Right Hand to be used again. Zhou Wen got Doctor Darkness to possess the blood-colored avatar and he carefully studied the abilities of Darkness Right Hand.


    After Zhou Wen experienced it personally, he concluded that Darkness Right Hand was indeed extremely powerful. It augmented his right hand¡¯s speed greatly. At the same time, this augmentation wasn¡¯t on speed alone, it also had the ability to pass through matter.


    From his tests, there was nothing that could block or prevent Darkness Right Hand from entering.


    The ability of Darkness Right Hand didn¡¯t only remove organs. As long as it was a region the right hand could enter, it could pluck anything.


    However, Darkness Right Hand also had a flaw. Just like the Poison Dragon Palm, it required the palm to touch the opponent¡¯s body to be of use. This skill couldn¡¯t be used as a long-range attack.


    I thought I could pluck hearts from afar using my right hand to reach into the Guardian¡¯s body. I wonder if I can do it with the speed of Darkness Right Hand? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident.


    Although Darkness Right Hand was very fast, the Guardian of Ant City was also extremely fast.


    Even if there¡¯s no way to pluck the Guardian¡¯s heart, the ability of Darkness Right Hand is very useful. If a dimensional creature like Primordial Spore invades the body and can¡¯t be resolved with Fight Poison With Poison, I can rely on Darkness Right Hand to extract it from the body. Also, this ability is undoubtedly a divine skill for doctors. Surgery can be performed without cutting up bodies. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not a doctor.


    Zhou Wen gave his last usage of Darkness Right Hand to Medusa.


    After Medusa respawned, Zhou Wen entered Medusa¡¯s palace. This time, he didn¡¯t get Demonic Neonate to help. With the speed of Darkness Right Hand, he managed to pluck out her heart before Medusa¡¯s Demon God Transformation.


    Unfortunately, Medusa didn¡¯t drop a Companion Egg this time. All she dropped was a Speed Crystal.


    With my hand¡¯s speed, I might really have a chance of obtaining the blood of a Guardian. I don¡¯t need a heart. Just a drop of blood will be enough. Zhou Wen felt hope again.


    After waiting for another twenty-four hours so that Darkness Right Hand could be used again, Zhou Wen entered Ant City and arrived at the familiar ant nest.


    With the Golden Flying Ant easily killed, Zhou Wen arrived in front of the Guardian cocoon. However, this time, he had no intention of cracking open the cocoon. Instead, he got Doctor Darkness to possess him and directly used the Eyes of Penetration.


    With his penetrative vision, Zhou Wen immediately saw the situation inside the cocoon.


    The Guardian was curled up in the cocoon. Her body was already rather mature, and the thin wings on her back had completely taken form. Her body emitted a strange glow.


    The Guardian sensed that she was being looked at and moved.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare hesitate as he used Darkness Right Hand. His right hand seemed to be enveloped by a devilish power as it instantly vanished.


    Zhou Wen felt that everything in front of his right hand seemed to turn to water. His right hand easily passed through the cocoon and reached for the Guardian¡¯s heart.


    Darkness Right Hand was just too fast, but the Guardian opened her eyes first and grabbed at it.


    However, the Guardian missed as Darkness Right Hand passed through her palm.


    Changing his plans, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t aim for her heart. He directly took a drop of blood from her palm and quickly retracted.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen retracted his Darkness Right Hand and switched to Lost Country. He teleported to distance himself before rushing out of Ant City at full speed.


    Boom!


    Just as Zhou Wen rushed out of Ant City, the underground space in Ant City exploded, instantly turning into ruins.


    Not daring to turn his head, he controlled the blood-colored avatar to run as he circulated the First Order of Chaos, the drop of blood in hand. He hoped to see if he could absorb it.


    The drop of blood was immediately absorbed when the First Order of Chaos circulated. As the First Order of Chaos circulated, it gradually underwent a strange change.


    Can I finally condense a Life Soul? In that case, I might be able to rehatch the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Companion Egg. After Zhou Wen absorbed the blood, he switched instance dungeons to prevent the Guardian from chasing after him.


    The First Order of Chaos constantly circulated. With the drop of Guardian¡¯s blood as its foundation, it fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s essence, vitality, and spirit, nurturing a strange power.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the First Order of Chaos would be similar to the Life Soul condensed by the Dao Sutra. After all, both of them used the blood of the same Guardian. Furthermore, the type of Essence Energy Art was very similar.


    However, when the First Order of Chaos truly condensed a Life Soul, Zhou Wen realized that his guess wasn¡¯t accurate. Although the two shared similarities, they were two different Essence Energy Arts after all.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s essence, vitality, and spirit, as well as Essence Energy fused together. Like a terrifying explosion, it made Zhou Wen¡¯s body and mind tremble.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen realized that the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body had turned into an egg.


    No, it wasn¡¯t that the blood-colored avatar had turned into an egg, but that a barrier that resembled an eggshell had formed around it.


    An eggshell? What Life Soul is this? Zhou Wen felt odd as he looked at the information on his phone. He saw the words ¡°Chaos Egg¡± written in his Life Soul column.


    It¡¯s really an egg! Zhou Wen was somewhat curious. He didn¡¯t know what special effects the Chaos Egg Life Soul would have.

 Chapter 712 - Incubating the Invisibility Cloak

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg in reality, and an eggshell immediately enveloped his body, making him appear as a newborn baby constrained within.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, there was a mysterious force flowing. It was like water, but it wasn¡¯t corporeal.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move, nor did he know what use this eggshell had.


    Under such circumstances, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even move, much less fight. Such a Life Soul was probably useless in battle.


    I¡¯ll ignore it for now. I¡¯ll try hatching the Invisibility Cloak. Zhou Wen took out the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Companion Egg and attempted to hatch it.


    In the chaos egg, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy stirred, and the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg reacted. What was even more magical was that the strange power in the Chaos Egg also flowed into the Invisibility Cloak egg.


    The life force in the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg increased in intensity. Before long, the Companion Egg transformed into a stream of light that entered Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    It¡¯s done! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. After waiting for so long, he had finally hatched the Invisibility Cloak. It would be much easier for him to go anywhere in the future.


    With the Invisibility Cloak, he could freely enter the dimensional zones controlled by the various families. He had long wanted to visit a few dimensional zones, but because they were controlled by the six families, he had no chance of entering them.


    Zhou Wen already knew the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s stats which remained unchanged. He summoned it and put it on. A magical scene happened as Zhou Wen¡¯s body vanished into thin air. It was true invisibility.


    Zhou Wen experimented and realized that the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s ability only made him visually invisible. To truly be invisible, he needed to activate the Wheel of Destiny.


    Once the Wheel of Destiny was activated, Invisibility Cloak lived up to its name and reached an intangible state. No one could discover Zhou Wen¡¯s presence.


    However, the Wheel of Destiny had a time limit. He could only be truly invisible for three minutes.


    Three minutes is about enough. With Doctor Darkness¡¯s Darkness Right Hand, it won¡¯t be difficult to assassinate someone. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred.


    In the past, he couldn¡¯t kill the nine black dragons because they could combine their powers. Now, with the power of the Invisibility Cloak and Darkness Right Hand, he could completely conceal himself and aim to kill three black dragons first. He could mostly rely on the strength of Tyrant Behemoth, Truth Listener, and the other Companion Beasts to deal with the remaining six black dragons.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to give it a try. Unfortunately, he had just used Darkness Right Hand once, so he only had two chances to use it. He had to wait for some time before the cooldown ended


    ¡°Young Master Wen, something happened to Deputy Governor Qin. Can you come over?¡± An Sheng spoke over the phone in a heavy tone.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Deputy Governor Qin? Is there anything I can help you with?¡± Zhou Wen had a rather good impression of Qin Wufu, so he hurriedly asked.


    An Sheng said, ¡°Deputy Governor Qin returned to Chess Mountain to preside over it the past few days. He happened to encounter a break-out creature that rushed out of Chess Mountain and engaged in an intense battle. Deputy Governor Qin was heavily injured. We have done everything we can but to no avail. We hope to use your strength to save Deputy Governor Qin.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know any medicine. I used the power of a Companion Beast back when I treated the parasitic spores,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°We want to borrow your Companion Beast¡¯s strength. That¡¯s our only hope. I¡¯ll pick you up now. We¡¯ll talk on the way.¡± As An Sheng spoke, he had already arrived outside the school.


    Zhou Wen left school and got into An Sheng¡¯s car. As An Sheng drove, he told Zhou Wen the general situation.


    In fact, many experts in the Sunset Army had already made a diagnosis of Qin Wufu¡¯s injuries and found the reason for his serious injuries, but no one could save him.


    A strange dimensional creature had drilled into Qin Wufu¡¯s brain. It was like a tumor that extended out blood vessels that intertwined with Qin Wufu¡¯s brain matter.


    Unless Qin Wufu¡¯s brain was sliced open, it was impossible to extract the dimensional creature from his brain.


    However, the brain was fragile. The dimensional creature had already penetrated deep into it and was entrenched in his brain. Even Chancellor Leng was unable to get it out without damaging Qin Wufu¡¯s brain.


    Many experts and specialists in the Sunset Army had thought of many solutions, but none of them would be effective.


    However, if they ignored the dimensional creature, it would continue invading Qin Wufu¡¯s brain. It was very likely that it would completely control Qin Wufu¡¯s brain and turn him into a puppet.


    An Sheng¡¯s idea was to let Zhou Wen take a look and see if he could use the method of treating the parasitic spores to inject poison into the dimensional creature, causing it to die automatically.


    ¡°The poison itself might affect Deputy Governor Qin¡¯s brain. Furthermore, I wonder how poison resistant the dimensional creature is. There¡¯s no way to accurately apply the dosage with the poison. If too much poison is used, it will damage the brain. If too little is used, the dimensional creature¡¯s final struggle might destroy the entire brain¡­¡± Zhou Wen pondered.


    An Sheng nodded and said, ¡°Actually, the experts have already analyzed this plan of treatment. Just as you said, it¡¯s very dangerous, but at this stage, we can only give it a try. We can¡¯t just watch idly as Deputy Governor Qin gets destroyed, right?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look at the situation first. There might be a way.¡± Zhou Wen surmised that Darkness Right Hand might be useful, but it was situation-dependent.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head over now.¡± An Sheng drove all the way to the military hospital.


    Zhou Wen saw Qin Wufu, who was already unconscious, on the bed. He was connected to all sorts of instruments, and some strange Companion Beasts were by his side.


    A Companion Beast that resembled a jellyfish wrapped around his head. Its tentacles connected to his brain, but it was unknown what use it had.


    Beside the bed were a few doctors and nurses. Many officers were in the room next door, looking at Qin Wufu through the glass window. An Tianzuo was among them, and his expression looked terrible.


    ¡°Overseer, Young Master Wen is here.¡± An Sheng led Zhou Wen into the room.


    Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo subconsciously glanced at each other before they involuntarily looked away.


    An Tianzuo looked at An Sheng and was about to say something when the room was pushed open again. An officer walked over with an elder.


    ¡°Overseer, Mr. Dugu is here,¡± the officer reported.


    ¡°Mr. Dugu, please take a look at Deputy Governor Qin¡¯s injuries,¡± An Tianzuo said to the elder.


    The elder didn¡¯t refuse. He looked at all the diagnostic information and some x-ray photos before saying, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible to eliminate the dimensional creatures in Deputy Governor Qin¡¯s brain, but¡­¡±


    ¡°What conditions do you have?¡± An Tianzuo asked.


    ¡°Since Overseer is so straightforward, I won¡¯t beat around the bush. I can revive Deputy Governor Qin given ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold,¡± the elder said confidently.

 Chapter 713 - Extracting An Object From the Brain

    Translator: CKtalon


    The expressions of the officers changed. The An family might not even produce ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold in three years.


    An Sheng said, ¡°Mr. Dugu, can you reduce it a little? Or can we use money and dimensional crystals to make up for the rest? As you know, the production of refined Essence Gold is very low. It¡¯s really difficult for us to hand over ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold.¡±


    The elder said with a smile, ¡°Adjutant An, there¡¯s no need to act poor in front of an old man like me. Who doesn¡¯t know that the An family¡¯s Essence Gold mine is the richest mine in the Federation? Ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold might be a huge sum to others, but it shouldn¡¯t be much to the An family, right? I can guarantee that Deputy Governor Qin will enjoy a full recovery. You can rest assured about this. The Dugu family is an expert in this aspect. There¡¯s no one else in the entire Federation who can guarantee you that.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Dugu¡­¡± An Sheng was about to say something when he was interrupted by the elder.


    ¡°Ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold, not one bit less. Why don¡¯t you discuss it again? However, you have to be quick. If that dimensional creature injures the brain, even my Dugu family will be helpless,¡± the elder said.


    Everyone knew that the Dugu family was trying to take advantage of the situation, but there was nothing they could do.


    No one in Luoyang could treat Qin Wufu¡¯s injuries. If they wanted Qin Wufu to live, this was probably the only way.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s eyes were resolute. Just as he was about to say something, An Sheng spoke first. ¡°Overseer, let Young Master Wen take a look at Governor Qin¡¯s injuries before making a decision.¡±


    An Tianzuo fell silent as the elder beside him smiled confidently. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can get anyone to come and take a look. I don¡¯t dare say anything else, but in the field of microscopic Companion Beasts, no one will dare claim first if our Dugu family claims second. This dimensional creature that invaded his brain can only be eliminated by our Dugu family.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen.¡± An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, ¡°I need to observe Governor Qin¡¯s situation up close.¡±


    An Sheng hurriedly led Zhou Wen to the ward. On the way to the ward, An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen, ¡°Young Master Wen, using ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold to save Governor Qin¡¯s life is nothing. As long as we can save him, Overseer will be willing to pay anything. However, the research on the new Essence Gold weapons in the military factory is at a critical juncture. A large amount of refined Essence Gold is needed for experiments. Without this batch of Essence Gold, the research progress will be delayed for a year or more. This will deal a severe blow to Luoyang and the An family¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    After reading the information, he had a general idea of what to do. However, the images taken by the instruments weren¡¯t very clear. He still needed to use his Eyes of Penetration to take a clear look himself to ensure that nothing went wrong.


    Standing beside Qin Wufu¡¯s bed, Zhou Wen used his Eyes of Penetration to look at his brain.


    A strange dimensional creature that looked like a blood vessel had invaded Qin Wufu¡¯s brain. The blood vessels extended out like a fishing net that wrapped around a portion of his brain. Furthermore, it was still spreading.


    Many blood vessels seemed to be part of the brain. It was difficult not to hurt the fragile brain if one wanted to remove it.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen deactivated his Eyes of Penetration.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, what do you think?¡± An Sheng hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I can do it.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    An Sheng was immediately overjoyed. He hurriedly turned and said to An Tianzuo, who was on the other side of the glass window, ¡°Overseer, Young Master Wen said that he can be saved. Governor Qin, shall we get Young Master Wen to immediately rescue him?¡±


    At this moment, the elder beside him said, ¡°Overseer, you have to think carefully. That dimensional creature has already merged with Governor Qin¡¯s brain. To eliminate it requires an extremely meticulous job. It also requires the cooperation of special microscopic Companion Beasts. Are you sure you want such a young man to do it? Ignoring the fact that he can¡¯t eliminate it, even if he can, Governor Qin might end up a cripple if his brain is injured.¡±


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t say a word after hearing the elder¡¯s words. He walked to the glass window and stared at Zhou Wen. ¡°Zhou Wen, can you ensure Governor Qin¡¯s recovery?¡±


    ¡°I can only guarantee that I can eliminate the dimensional creature without harming Deputy Governor Qin¡¯s brain. I can¡¯t guarantee anything else,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Young man, don¡¯t be too blindly confident. Do you know what that dimensional creature is called? Do you know what kind of ability it has?¡± the elder said with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, nor do I need to know. I just need to know that I can eliminate it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Overseer, did you hear that? What kind of statement is that? Do you really want to use such a person?¡± The elder laughed.


    But soon, the elder¡¯s smile froze. An Tianzuo directly said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Immediately treat Deputy Governor Qin.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, isn¡¯t your decision a little too rash? Or do you think Deputy Governor Qin¡¯s life is more important than ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold? Wouldn¡¯t this demoralize your subordinates?¡± the elder said with a smile. His words were clearly provoking the other officers.


    He wanted to use the officers¡¯ emotions to pressure An Tianzuo. Ten tonnes of refined Essence Gold were very important resources for the Dugu family.


    The elder wasn¡¯t afraid that Zhou Wen could treat Qin Wufu because he didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had the ability to do so. He was afraid that he would have no hope of obtaining the batch of refined Essence Gold if Zhou Wen killed Qin Wufu.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t answer the elder. He looked at an officer beside him and asked, ¡°If you were Governor Qin, who would you choose to treat you?¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen,¡± the officer answered without hesitation.


    The elder¡¯s expression changed slightly. Things seemed to be different from what he had imagined.


    ¡°What about you?¡± An Tianzuo asked another officer.


    ¡°Young Master Wen,¡± the officer immediately answered.


    An Tianzuo asked one by one, and all the officers chose Zhou Wen without any hesitation. There was no exception. From their expressions, it seemed like a forgone conclusion.


    ¡°Overseer, your methods of subordination are truly brilliant.¡± The elder held back the surprise in his heart. He had imagined that An Tianzuo had given strict orders, making them be willing to risk their lives without any complaints.


    Although he said that, he couldn¡¯t help but look at Zhou Wen in the ward. He thought to himself, Does he really have that ability?


    However, when his gaze landed on Zhou Wen, his pupils constricted. He saw a strange dimensional creature formed from red threads in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. It was the dimensional creature in Qin Wufu¡¯s head. Zhou Wen had already taken out the dimensional creature at some point in time, and it was alive.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible!¡± The elder wore a look of disbelief as he pressed his hands against the glass window. His eyes yearned to reach out to Zhou Wen, hoping to see if the dimensional creature in his hand was fake.

 Chapter 714 - Worm Dugu

    Translator: CKtalon


    The dimensional creature contorted as it attempted to burrow into Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, but it was blocked by a force that prevented it.


    The doctor brought over a specially tempered piece of glassware that he had prepared and Zhou Wen placed the dimensional creature inside.


    It constantly twisted and slammed into the glass container, hoping to rush out. Unfortunately, it was too weak and couldn¡¯t break through the tempered glass. Furthermore, there was an instrument made of Essence Gold above the glass container. It had a weakening effect on dimensional creatures.


    The elder didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had really taken out the dimensional creature. He ran into the ward and wanted to examine Qin Wufu to confirm if the dimensional creature in his brain had really been taken out.


    However, there was no need for a checkup. The elder knew that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t faking it. When he entered the ward, he saw that Qin Wufu had already woken up.


    ¡°Sorry for making everyone worry.¡± Although Qin Wufu was still weak, his brain seemed to be functioning normally. He could already speak.


    ¡°You are Young Master Wen, right? Can you tell me how you did it?¡± the elder asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen answered bluntly.


    The elder was slightly taken aback as he carefully sized up Zhou Wen before continuing, ¡°With Young Master Wen¡¯s abilities, it would be a pity if he doesn¡¯t join my Dugu family. Our Dugu family needs talented people. Young Master Wen, why don¡¯t you consider it?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Dugu, isn¡¯t it inappropriate for you to poach one of ours in front of our Overseer?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°The Federation is a family. Young Master Wen, you really should consider our Dugu family. Otherwise, your ability will be wasted.¡± As the elder spoke, he cupped his hands at An Tianzuo and said, ¡°I¡¯ve broadened myself today. Thank you for the Overseer¡¯s invitation. However, with Young Master Wen around, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t have many opportunities to cooperate in the future.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Dugu, you¡¯re being too polite. There are still many opportunities for cooperation in the future,¡± said An Tianzuo.


    Before the elder left, he gave Zhou Wen an additional glance.


    Qin Wufu chatted with Zhou Wen for a while until the doctor told him to rest. Only then did Zhou Wen leave.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the entrance, he saw An Sheng waiting for him in the car, but he didn¡¯t see An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Overseer has something to attend to. He told me to take you back,¡± An Sheng said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s not far. I can go back myself,¡± Zhou Wen said as he got into the car.


    ¡°It¡¯s mainly because there¡¯s something I need to tell you. The person you saw just now is called Worm Dugu. He¡¯s a member of the Dugu family. In terms of seniority, Dugu Ge has to call him second uncle. The Dugu family is adept at microscopic Companion Beasts, and this person is an expert in Gu-type Companion Beasts.¡± An Sheng explained the origins of Worm Dugu in detail.


    ¡°Why are you telling me this so solemnly? Could it be that there¡¯s something wrong with this Worm Dugu?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, you are getting sharper. Although Governor Qin was injured because of the break-out creature at Chess Mountain, we still have our suspicions. Firstly, we haven¡¯t seen such a dimensional creature in Chess Mountain before. Secondly, the Dugu family lives far away in the South District. It¡¯s a coincidence that Worm Dugu happened to be in Luoyang. Although it might be a coincidence, it¡¯s best to be careful,¡± An Sheng explained.


    Zhou Wen understood what An Sheng meant. If the thing in Qin Wufu¡¯s head was really put there by Worm Dugu, then with Zhou Wen ruining the plans, Worm Dugu probably wouldn¡¯t give up easily.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, that white ball-like Companion Beast of yours is quite fun. Why don¡¯t you let it out for some fresh air? Perhaps there will be an unexpected gain,¡± An Sheng said casually.


    ¡°I will.¡± Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng wanted him to use Tai Sui to prevent the invasion of Gu-type Companion Beasts.


    Unfortunately, Tai Sui was still evolving. It was probably useless for the time being.


    After returning to school, Zhou Wen summoned Primordial Spore and made it stand guard. Tai Sui was still evolving, so it was the only weapon that could deal with microscopic Companion Beasts.


    ¡­


    Under the surveillance of An Sheng¡¯s men, Worm Dugu checked into a hotel. After dinner, he returned to his room to rest. He didn¡¯t do anything strange.


    Through the surveillance cameras, one could even see that Worm Dugu was sleeping in bed.


    However, in a place they couldn¡¯t see, a mosquito secretly flew out of the room, passing through the streets and heading for Sunset College at an unbelievable speed.


    As Worm Dugu flew, he thought to himself, How can those fools from the An family defend against me? I want to see how capable Zhou Wen is to be able to extract the Blood Thread Brain-Eating Gu that was connected to his brain. Even if I were to take action, it would be impossible for me to pull it out as cleanly as him. With his ability, he¡¯s practically a genius at raising Gu worms.


    The mosquito-shaped Worm Dugu quickly arrived at Sunset College. After getting his bearings, he headed for Four Seasons Garden.


    Others might not be able to find Zhou Wen¡¯s location, but Worm Dugu had a smell-seeking Companion Beast. It could find Zhou Wen by searching for his remnant smells.


    Soon, the mosquito-shaped Worm Dugu arrived outside Zhou Wen¡¯s building. He sniffed and confirmed that this was Zhou Wen¡¯s residence.


    Worm Dugu landed in the grass on the yard and thought to himself, Let¡¯s get my baby to test his strength first.


    With a thought, he summoned a Companion Beast that looked like a spider. The spider was only the size of a fingernail and it was gray. One wouldn¡¯t be able to see it if one didn¡¯t pay attention.


    The spider accepted the order from Worm Dugu and crawled towards Zhou Wen¡¯s building. It crawled in through the crack in the door in a seemingly easy manner.


    Just as Worm Dugu wanted to use the perspective of his spider Companion Beast to take a look at the situation inside the building so that he could pick up a strand of hair or a skin flake to proceed with the next step of the plan, the spider suddenly lost contact with him. Worm Dugu Worm didn¡¯t even see a thing.


    He¡¯s indeed prepared. However, if he thinks that he can defend against me just because of some preparations, he is severely underestimating my Dugu family. Worm Dugu didn¡¯t seem surprised. With a thought, he summoned some Companion Beasts.


    This time, it wasn¡¯t a spider, but an even smaller insect. It was like a black sesame seed, so small that it was almost indiscernible. There were many of them.


    Under the control of Worm Dugu, the black sesame-like flying insects flew into the dormitory through the cracks in the door, windows, and so on.


    Although my hundred or so Black Blood Gu are only at the Legendary stage, they can enter the bloodstream the moment they see it. As long as one is bitten by it, they will quickly reproduce in the blood. They can only be cured by me. I want to see if you have the ability to get these Black Blood Gu out as well, thought Dugu Gu.

 Chapter 715 - Magical Hair Gu

    However, very quickly, Worm Dugu¡¯s expression turned ugly. After the tiny Black Blood Gu entered the dorm, he lost contact with them one after another.


    Originally, Worm Dugu believed that even if a portion of the more than a hundred Black Blood Gu was discovered, there would definitely be quite a number of them which successfully infiltrated. One was enough as long as it succeeded.


    However, by the time Worm Dugu realized that something was amiss, more than a hundred Black Blood Gu was almost wiped out. He didn¡¯t even know who killed the Black Blood Gu.


    In the dorm, a golden chick flew around. As long as a Gu worm crawled in, it would eat them. No worm could come in alive.


    Worm Dugu refused to believe it as he released his Companion Beasts one after another, trying his best to infiltrate Zhou Wen¡¯s dorm.


    However, no matter what kind of Companion Beast he released, he immediately lost contact with them the moment they entered Zhou Wen¡¯s building. It was like a rock sinking into the sea.


    I don¡¯t believe that you can even kill my Magical Hair Gu. Worm Dugu had sacrificed many Companion Beasts, but he refused to have his beliefs shaken. He just wanted to win once in his competition with Zhou Wen.


    He did not realize that Zhou Wen had no idea what was happening in his dorm. He was lying in his bedroom on the second floor, grinding instance dungeons.


    The moment Worm Dugu¡¯s Companion Beasts entered the building, they entered the chick¡¯s stomach without alarming Zhou Wen.


    Worm Dugu¡¯s Magical Hair Gu was extraordinary. It was a Mythical dimensional creature.


    That¡¯s right. It was a dimensional creature, not a Companion Beast.


    The truly powerful thing about the Dugu family was that they could tame dimensional creatures. Companion Beasts were secondary.


    Magical Hair Gu was a dimensional creature that Worm Dugu had tamed himself. He had spent a lot of effort and nearly lost his life to subdue and tame it.


    This Magical Hair Gu was a Mythical dimensional creature. Its abilities were very special. As long as it came into contact with the enemy¡¯s body, it could parasitize their hair and use the power of their hair.


    It could control the growth of hair in reverse, causing the hair to grow inside the brain and body, taking root in the brain and flesh. It was terrifying.


    The hair absorbed the nutrients of the body, and in the end, all the flesh and blood in the body would be sucked dry. The interior would be filled with hair, leaving only a layer of human skin on the outside. This way of dying was extremely painful.


    When Worm Dugu caught the Magical Hair Gu, he had almost died. It was only by chance that he had managed to subdue it.


    A black thread thinner than a strand of hair appeared in front of Worm Dugu. As though it was a strand of hair that was blown by the wind, it swept into the building through the crack in the door.


    Punk, when you know how powerful my Magical Hair Gu is, won¡¯t you end up following me back to the South District and be my disciple? Dugu Gu felt that he could definitely deal with Zhou Wen by releasing such a powerful weapon.


    He didn¡¯t really want to do anything to Zhou Wen. All he wanted was to take him in as a disciple of the Dugu family and raise worms with him.


    The main reason was that Zhou Wen¡¯s method of extracting the Blood Thread Brain-Eating Gu was so shocking. Worm Dugu felt that such talent made him gifted at rearing Gu worms. It would be a pity if he didn¡¯t do so.


    The Dugu family was a true presence in the South District. However, the Dugu family didn¡¯t just rear worms. In fact, they raised too many things.


    As the drop rate of Companion Beasts was too low, especially Mythical Companion Eggs which were also difficult to find, the Dugu family did the opposite.


    Killing a Mythical creature only gave one a certain chance of obtaining a Companion Egg. But, the chances weren¡¯t high.


    However, if they could tame a Mythical creature, it was equivalent to having a 100% chance of obtaining a pet.


    Coupled with the research of ancient spells and generations of people, the Dugu family was unmatched in the Federation when it came to rearing strange dimensional creatures.


    However, taming dimensional creatures was very dangerous. Furthermore, the dimensional creatures that the Dugu family domesticated were strange, making them even more dangerous. Many members of the Dugu family were killed by the dimensional creatures they domesticated.


    In the eyes of Worm Dugu, Zhou Wen was born to nurture Gu worms. Therefore, he wanted to recruit him into the Dugu family.


    Of course, if he was recruited into the Dugu family to learn the art of taming dimensional creatures, he had to first implant a Gu in Zhou Wen to prevent him from learning the Dugu family¡¯s abilities only to end up dealing with the Dugu family.


    However, Worm Dugu never expected that all the Companion Beasts he had sent in would die for no apparent reason. This was why he released his most precious Magical Hair Gu.


    When it comes to worms, I, Worm Dugu, am an expert. Worm Dugu was thinking about what he would do when Zhou Wen came crying to him with black hair overgrowing everywhere.


    The moment the Magical Hair Gu entered the building, it was discovered by the chick. However, this time, it didn¡¯t immediately fly over. It stood on the table and watched as the Magical Hair Gu rolled towards the stairs on the second floor. It seemed to be hesitating.


    Just as the Magical Hair Gu was about to roll to the side of the stairs, the chick finally moved. Like a golden bolt of lightning, it landed in front of the bedroom door and pecked at the Magical Hair Gu, hoisting it up. It raised its neck and swallowed the Magical Hair Gu.


    The Magical Hair Gu twisted in the chick¡¯s stomach, but a golden flame burned in its stomach, gradually melting the Magical Hair Gu.


    Pfft!


    On the grass outside, Worm Dugu suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. He returned to his original form, dispelling his mosquito-like form. His face was terrifyingly pale and filled with disbelief.


    Impossible¡­ The Magical Hair Gu is almost invulnerable¡­ It grows once it enters the flesh¡­ How can this be¡­ Worm Dugu¡¯s face was pale as he broke out into a cold sweat.


    He had been raising worms for so many years, but this was the first time he had encountered such a terrifying opponent¡ªone who could even easily kill a Magical Hair Gu.


    Could this Zhou Wen really be my nemesis? He can even easily kill a Magical Hair Gu. It¡¯s probably easy for him to take my life¡­ If I had known this would happen¡­ I shouldn¡¯t have come¡­ The more Worm Dugu thought about it, the more terrified he became. He gritted his teeth and got up from the ground to knock on Zhou Wen¡¯s door.


    Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons when he heard the doorbell ring. He thought it was a classmate, but when he opened the door, he saw an old man standing at the door. It was none other than Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen was secretly wary. Could it be as An Sheng said? Worm Dugu is here to settle scores?


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how to deal with Worm Dugu, the latter suddenly bowed at him. ¡°Young Master Wen, it¡¯s all my fault. I was blind. I shouldn¡¯t have offended you. According to the rules of our Dugu family, I¡¯ve lost this match. Feel free to punish me, even if it takes my life. I¡¯ll do whatever you want.¡±


    Zhou Wen was puzzled when he heard that. He had indeed been wary of Worm Dugu, but he didn¡¯t discover anything entering his room. What was this Worm Dugu talking about?

 Chapter 716 - Master

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Do you know how you lost?¡± Zhou Wen asked Worm Dugu.


    He had no idea what had happened, so he wanted to figure it out.


    Worm Dugu ended up misunderstanding Zhou Wen. He said bitterly, ¡°Young Master Wen, you are indeed brilliant. I used the Blood-Sucking Spider, Black Blood Gu, and seven other types of miniature Companion Beasts. Each one was smaller than the last, but none of them escaped your notice. All the Companion Beasts were killed by you. In the end, I had no choice but to use the Magical Hair Gu. I originally thought I could use the Magical Hair Gu to teach you a lesson, but I never expected that I would be the one being taught a lesson.¡±


    ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    Worm Dugu blushed and stammered, ¡°When I saw your technique at the hospital, I felt that you were more suited to learning my techniques of raising insects and worms, so I wanted to take you to the South District to learn how to raise insects and worms from me.¡±


    ¡°You mean that you want to take me in as your disciple?¡± Zhou Wen asked Worm Dugu in a daze.


    Worm Dugu¡¯s face flushed red. ¡°Young Master Wen, I¡¯m really sorry. I¡¯ve really embarrassed myself. Only today did I realize that there¡¯s always someone better out there. What a joke about you being my disciple; I¡¯m not even qualified to be your disciple. If you wish to kill me, just give the word. I won¡¯t dirty your hands.¡±


    ¡°Did the dimensional creature in Governor Qin¡¯s brain have anything to do with you?¡± Zhou Wen asked directly.


    Worm Dugu immediately said with a serious expression, ¡°Definitely not. Although our Dugu family does need a batch of Essence Gold, we wouldn¡¯t go to such an extent, much less harm Deputy Governor Qin who defends against a dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°In that case, leave,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    However, Worm Dugu had no intention of leaving. He gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Young Master Wen, I¡¯ve raised worms my entire life. This is the first time I¡¯ve suffered such a terrible defeat. I don¡¯t even know how I failed. Can you tell me how you killed the Magical Hair Gu?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zhou Wen said casually. He really didn¡¯t know how the Magical Hair Gu died. He didn¡¯t even see it.


    On second thought, the chick had been flying around without him knowing why. He could roughly guess that the chick had resolved the miniature Companion Beasts and the Magical Hair Gu. However, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to tell Worm Dugu.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know how the Magical Hair Gu died?¡± Worm Dugu naturally didn¡¯t believe such an answer.


    ¡°It was dead before I even saw it. How would I know how it died?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he prepared to close the door. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to say anything more to Worm Dugu.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he didn¡¯t wish for Worm Dugu to die in school thus causing a conflict between the Dugu family and Luoyang, he would have taken action.


    Although he didn¡¯t plan on taking action now, Zhou Wen had no intention of letting Worm Dugu off the hook. He planned on using the Invisibility Cloak to tail Worm Dugu and see if he had any accomplices before deciding what to do.


    Zhou Wen was only making a passing remark, hoping to send Worm Dugu on his way. It also gave him an opportunity to test the effects of the Invisibility Cloak.


    However, when Worm Dugu heard that, he was alarmed. ¡°You killed the Magical Hair Gu without seeing it?¡±


    ¡°Yes. If there¡¯s nothing else, leave. Don¡¯t disturb me again,¡± Zhou Wen said as he closed the door.


    To his surprise, Worm Dugu rushed over and held the door open. ¡°Young Master Wen, can you let me see your Companion Beast. A Companion Beast that can easily kill a Magical Hair Gu must be extraordinary¡­¡±


    Just as he was about to say something, Worm Dugu suddenly saw the chick standing on the table. He immediately widened his eyes in shock.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you? Do you really think I don¡¯t dare kill you?¡± Zhou Wen said with a cold expression. If Worm Dugu continued pestering him, he would have no choice but to attack.


    ¡°That¡­ That can¡¯t be¡­¡± Worm Dugu didn¡¯t seem to hear Zhou Wen¡¯s reprimand as he stared intently at the chick and stammered,¡± Could that be the legendary phoenix fledging?¡±


    ¡°You recognize it?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Worm Dugu in surprise.


    The chick had been with him for quite some time, but not many people recognized its origins. Now, the chick looked like a tiny golden eagle. It didn¡¯t look anything like a phoenix.


    ¡°I recognize it, of course I recognize it. How can a person who plays with worms and insects not recognize a phoenix? A phoenix is the nemesis of insects and worms. No matter how powerful a Gu worm is, they are powerless against it¡­ No wonder¡­ No wonder¡­¡± As Worm Dugu spoke, he tore off its clothes, revealing his dry chest muscles.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Zhou Wen took two steps back and looked at Worm Dugu in surprise.


    However, Worm Dugu turned around, allowing Zhou Wen to see his back. On his back was a huge blood-colored phoenix tattoo. It looked extremely realistic as though it could flap its wings and fly out at any moment.


    ¡°You have a phoenix Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Worm Dugu said in embarrassment, ¡°How can I have a phoenix Companion Beast? The teacher who taught me how to raise worms tattooed this on me. It¡¯s called the Phoenix-Hooking Evil Painting. This is a rule passed down from my ancestors. It uses a mixture of special avian blood and medicinal herbs for the tattooing. It can be used to ward off insects and evil. It¡¯s to prevent me from being injured when catching insects and raising Gu. In my lineage, there are also ancient books regarding phoenixes. The phoenix fledging described in them is very similar to yours. It¡¯s just slightly different¡­ Young Master Wen¡­ Is this really a phoenix fledgling?¡±


    1


    ¡°I see.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer as he nodded and said, ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, go back. I won¡¯t let you off so easily the next time I see you.¡±


    However, Worm Dugu didn¡¯t move. He said to Zhou Wen in a fawning manner, ¡°Young Master Wen, do you lack any errand boys? Do you want me to be your assistant?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need an assistant,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Men usually find young ladies to be their assistants¡­ Then, what do you think about you becoming my master?¡± Worm Dugu¡¯s eyes darted around as he suddenly said something unexpected.


    ¡°How old are you? Why are you still taking me as your master? I¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Worm Dugu had already plopped to the ground.


    ¡°Master, please accept a bow from your disciple, Worm Dugu¡­¡± Worm Dugu didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He was about to pay his respects to his master by kowtowing.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. He had no idea what was happening. Before he could react, Worm Dugu had already finished kowtowing.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Worm Dugu and frowned.


    Worm Dugu crawled up and said, ¡°From now on, you are my master. Master, when are you going to teach me how to raise a phoenix?¡±


    1

 Chapter 717 - Worm Dugu’s Plan

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen took out his saber and prepared to slash at him. After all this back and forth, Worm Dugu was actually targeting the chick.


    Worm Dugu hurriedly retreated out of the yard when he saw Zhou Wen take out his saber. As he retreated, he shouted, ¡°Master, I¡¯ll visit you another day. Call me if there¡¯s anything you need. I¡¯ll be there anytime.¡±


    Zhou Wen closed the door and immediately summoned the Invisibility Cloak. Then, he jumped out of the window at the back of his residence and tailed Worm Dugu from afar to see what he was up to.


    Zhou Wen saw Worm Dugu secretly arrive at an uninhabited spot before turning into a mosquito. He then flew out of the school.


    Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak and had Truth Listener on his ear. He kept monitoring the movements of Worm Dugu and soon followed him to a dilapidated warehouse.


    There¡¯s indeed an accomplice. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to listen and realized that there was another person in the warehouse besides Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen listened attentively, hoping to gather some useful information.


    With Truth Listener around, he didn¡¯t need to risk entering the warehouse.


    ¡°Second Grandpa, what took you so long? How did the matter regarding Essence Gold go?¡± The person who spoke to Worm Dugu was a girl. She appeared rather young. She had a round face and huge eyes. She looked to be about sixteen or seventeen years old at most.


    ¡°I screwed up. The Blood Thread Brain-Eating Gu in Qin Wufu¡¯s body was extracted by someone else,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    ¡°Apart from our Dugu family, there¡¯s actually someone who can extract a Blood Thread Brain-Eating Gu that has entrenched a brain?¡± the girl said in disbelief.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t believe it either, but it was indeed extracted. Furthermore, Qin Wufu was completely unharmed,¡± said Worm Dugu helplessly.


    ¡°What about the Essence Gold? Is the An family willing to sell so much refined Essence Gold to us?¡± the girl asked worriedly.


    ¡°Probably not.¡± Dugu Gu smiled and said, ¡°But don¡¯t worry. Even if we don¡¯t use Essence Gold, I¡¯ve already thought of a way to capture the Myriad Poison Gu King.¡±


    ¡°Second Grandpa, didn¡¯t you try that the last time? Even the Magical Hair Gu is helpless against the Myriad Poison Gu King. It was almost destroyed. Do you have any more powerful Gu?¡± The girl looked at Worm Dugu in disbelief.


    Dugu Gu chuckled and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have one, but I¡¯ve just become a disciple to a master. If I can get his help, I¡¯ll definitely be able to capture that Myriad Poison Gu King.¡±


    ¡°Second Grandpa, didn¡¯t you say that the master you had is already dead? Where did this master come from?¡± The girl¡¯s face looked puzzled.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say that I just became a disciple of this master? He has a phoenix fledging. With the help of the phoenix fledgling, we don¡¯t need to forge an Essence Gold Worm Nurturing Furnace to still capture the Myriad Poison Gu King,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    ¡°Then, Second Grandpa, quickly get your new master to help,¡± the girl said.


    ¡°Cough, cough. There¡¯s no rush.¡± Worm Dugu knew very well that it wasn¡¯t that easy to get Zhou Wen to use the phoenix fledgling to help him capture the Myriad Poison Gu King.


    The girl sighed and said, ¡°I originally thought that our luck was good and we happened to encounter the situation of Qin Wufu having his brain invaded by a Blood Thread Brain-Eating Gu. I thought we could exchange for enough Essence Gold, but I never expected that we wouldn¡¯t even get a single bit of Essence Gold. I wonder when we will be able to capture the Myriad Poison King.¡±


    ¡°Mi¡¯er, don¡¯t worry. With Second Grandpa around, I guarantee that I¡¯ll help you obtain the Gu King of Myriad Poison Valley. Furthermore, other than me, no one else has the ability to take the Gu King away. Just relax.¡± Worm Dugu changed the topic and said, ¡°Stay in Luoyang and have some fun for a few days. When we are to return to the South District, I¡¯ll naturally seek you out. Don¡¯t run around. You can¡¯t leave Luoyang City, understand?¡±


    1


    ¡°Got it, Second Grandpa.¡± Mi¡¯er agreed seriously.


    After some thought, Mi¡¯er asked again, ¡°Second Grandpa, should I visit your master? Second Grandpa, how should I address your master?¡±


    ¡°No need, no need. You don¡¯t have to worry about this matter.¡± After Worm Dugu sent Mi¡¯er away, he muttered to himself, ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a second phoenix fledgling. I reckon the possibility of there being a second one is very low. Even if there is one, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy to obtain it. I should think of a way to invite Master to follow me to Myriad Poison Valley, but how can I move him? From the looks of it, I have to think of a way.¡±


    Zhou Wen listened outside all this time. He heard them talking about Gu, but he didn¡¯t hear any plans. From Mi¡¯er¡¯s tone, Qin Wufu¡¯s injuries didn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with them.


    Although I don¡¯t know if the chick is a real phoenix, it does seem to be able to restrain dimensional creatures like Gu worms. In the future, I have to bring it along if I have to go to the South District, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    After Worm Dugu left the dilapidated warehouse, he returned to the hotel and didn¡¯t come out again.


    Zhou Wen eavesdropped for a long time, but he didn¡¯t gather any useful information. Finally, he gave up on monitoring Worm Dugu and returned to the school dorm.


    The ability of the Invisibility Cloak is really useful. Even if I walk on the streets during the day, I don¡¯t need to worry about being seen by others. Even if I don¡¯t use the Wheel of Destiny, it¡¯s enough to remain invisible under normal circumstances. Zhou Wen thought about how he could use the Invisibility Cloak to do something big.


    1


    Before the dimensional zones are fully unlocked, I should download some game dungeons. I¡¯ll download the famous dimensional zones first. I wonder what dimensional zones Primordial Immortal Sword, Origin Realm King, and Death of the Underworld Companion Beasts come from. After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to start with the nearest dimensional zones.


    The famous dimensional zones closer to Luoyang should be the Xia family¡¯s dimensional zones, right? Zhou Wen looked up the information and quickly made up his mind. He planned on heading to the Xia family¡¯s territory.


    The Xia family controlled many mysterious dimensional zones. Zhou Wen had always wanted to go to a few of them.


    One of the most famous dimensional zones was named Ancient Sword Tomb. It was said that there were many legendary swords there. The Xia family¡¯s old hero had once obtained a Mythical sword-type Companion Egg from Ancient Sword Tomb and used it to reign supreme.


    However, that was decades ago. The Xia family had controlled the Ancient Sword Tomb for so long, so they definitely had more than one Mythical Companion Beast sword.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the demonic sword that Demonic Neonate snatched from Xia Xuanyue was from the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    After I¡¯m done with the Xia family, I¡¯ll tour the six families¡¯ territories and download the dimensional zones they control. When that happens, I can grind for any Companion Beast I want. There¡¯s no need for me to risk my life. Zhou Wen did as he said. He planned on informing An Sheng before setting off for the Xia family.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare leave the chick and antelope behind. He was mainly afraid that the Dugu family would target the chick. Although the possibility of the antelope being stolen was very low, Zhou Wen still planned on taking them with him to prevent any accidents.

 Chapter 718 - Teacher Square

    Translator: CKtalon


    The chick stood on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and looked around curiously.


    However, the antelope looked listless; it didn¡¯t seem to like walking.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush. This trip was also a form of training. He planned on taking a look at all the dimensional zones along the way. He planned on taking a picture of all the dimensional zones with the tiny palm symbol to prepare for a full-scale break-out of dimensional zones in the future.


    Ancient Sword Tomb was in Imperial Capital. Zhou Wen could also take this chance to visit Wang Lu and repay his debt.


    Imperial Capital was also known as Capital. Unlike the Holy City that was jointly controlled by the six families, Imperial Capital was basically controlled by the Xia family. However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the Special Inspector Bureau¡¯s headquarters was also in Imperial Capital, not Holy City.


    Zhou Wen had plans of making a trip to the bureau¡¯s headquarters on his visit to the Imperial Capital.


    As many roads were blocked by dimensional zones, all he could do was circle around them. He had to travel further. Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, he didn¡¯t dare barge into unexplored dimensional zones to prevent any accidents.


    The route Zhou Wen chose was the one An Sheng had planned for him. Although it was a little further, it was safe and reliable.


    After carefully studying the information, the first relatively famous dimensional zone he encountered was called Five Dragons Mouth.


    It was originally a scenic spot. After the dimensional storms, the Five Dragons Mouth turned into a complicated, stacked dimensional zone that had multiple dimensional zones within.


    One of the most famous dimensional zones of the Five Dragons Mouth was called Mount Confucius. There was a Teacher Square in the western Mount Confucius, and Mount Laojun was in the east. Legend had it that the Confucian and Daoist families had competed here, leaving behind many moving tales.


    After the dimensional storms, Mount Confucius became even stranger. One could often hear the sound of reading from Teacher Square, but when one really looked over, there wasn¡¯t a single soul.


    There was also Arrow Atop. It was the highest peak of Five Dragons Mouth. It had many legends related to Hou Yi.


    There were also other dimensional zones that had their own specialties. Zhou Wen planned on heading to the Five Dragons Mouth to take a look. If he could download the dimensional zones, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to keep them for future research.


    ¡­


    Worm Dugu didn¡¯t know that Zhou Wen had left Luoyang, so he went to look for him early in the morning.


    ¡°Master, are you awake? I¡¯m here to pay my respects to you. When are you free? Teach me, your disciple, how to raise a phoenix.¡± In order to learn the way to raise a phoenix, Worm Dugu didn¡¯t care about his reputation at all. He kept using the words, ¡°master¡± and ¡°disciple,¡± without any hesitation.


    ¡°Why are you making such a din so early in the morning?¡± Li Xuan walked out of Zhou Wen¡¯s dorm.


    Before Zhou Wen left, he got Li Xuan to take all the food in the fridge to prevent it from spoiling.


    ¡°Who are you? Where¡¯s my master?¡± Worm Dugu glared at Li Xuan.


    ¡°How would I know who your master is?¡± Li Xuan sized up Worm Dugu and saw that the old man was already in his seventies or eighties. To think he still had a master.


    ¡°You walked out of my master¡¯s dorm, and you still say that you don¡¯t know who my master is?¡± said Worm Dugu.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is your master?¡± Li Xuan widened his mouth as he sized up Worm Dugu in disbelief.


    Zhou Wen was only seventeen or eighteen years old. How could he have such an old disciple?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Zhou Wen is my master. Has he woken up?¡± Worm Dugu said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°If Zhou Wen is your master, then wouldn¡¯t I, Zhou Wen¡¯s classmate, be your martial uncle? Disciple-Nephew, there¡¯s no need to continue shouting. Zhou Wen has gone out and isn¡¯t on campus,¡± Li Xuan joked.


    Worm Dugu narrowed his eyes. He recognized Zhou Wen as his master because he wanted to learn how to rear a phoenix from Zhou Wen. It didn¡¯t mean that others could use him as a joke.


    ¡°Sure. That depends on whether you have the fortune to be my martial uncle.¡± Worm Dugu remained unperturbed as he secretly released a Black Blood Gu, hoping to teach Li Xuan a lesson.


    However, when the Black Blood Gu crawled to Li Xuan¡¯s side, it suddenly stopped moving. It sprawled on the ground and trembled. No matter how the Worm Dugu urged it, the Black Blood Gu didn¡¯t dare approach Li Xuan.


    ¡°Eh?¡± Worm Dugu was slightly taken aback. He had never encountered such a situation.


    He summoned a few more Gu, but the moment they approached Li Xuan, they immediately curled up in horror, not daring to touch him.


    Worm Dugu wore a look of surprise. What¡¯s going on? Why are my Gu worms afraid of him? Does he have a phoenix too?


    1


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen continued forward and didn¡¯t encounter any danger. Along the way, he saw a Companion Beast caravan that transported goods.


    As motor transportation became increasingly difficult, many transportation companies had chosen to use Companion Beasts to transport goods.


    He successfully arrived at Five Dragons Mouth. Zhou Wen walked along the mountain path, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol. After searching for a long time, he didn¡¯t find it.


    Instead, he saw many people fighting a monkey-type dimensional creature. The monkey was muscular and had a short tail. It looked rather ferocious.


    Zhou Wen took a look at the information and knew that this dimensional creature was called a macaque. It was a relatively common dimensional creature at Five Dragons Mouth. There were many of them, and they were typically at the Mortal stage. Occasionally, one could see a Legendary Monkey King. Legend had it that the macaque here had the bloodline of the Handsome Monkey King. He didn¡¯t know if it was true.


    The Macaque King¡¯s combat strength was considered quite powerful among Legendaries. Furthermore, the Macaque King Companion Beast¡¯s companion form was very special, giving it a rather high value. The nearby Legendaries would often come here to hunt the Macaque King, hoping to gain something.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in hunting the Macaque King. He just searched for the tiny palm symbol.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard a strange sound coming from a nearby mountain. It sounded like children reading textbooks. The sound was drawn out, making it sound odd.


    However, those voices were clearly not children¡¯s voices. They were the voices of adults.


    Zhou Wen looked at the source of the sound and then at the map. He immediately knew that it was the legendary Teacher Square.


    The legends are true. There¡¯s actually the sound of reading in broad daylight at Teacher Square. Zhou Wen¡¯s interest was piqued as he walked towards Teacher Square to see what was so magical about it.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he reached Teacher Square and saw the scene in front of him.


    There were many people sitting on Teacher Square. They were all twirling their heads as they read. The voice Zhou Wen had heard wasn¡¯t a phenomenon, but a result of actual people reading.


    These people were engrossed in their reading. They twirled their heads and read loudly, as though they were primary school students who were seriously reciting their textbooks. They also resembled scholars from ancient times. Their voices were especially charming as they dragged out their last words.


    Could this be a reading activity that¡¯s hosted here? Zhou Wen thought as he climbed onto Teacher Square.


    However, just as he stepped onto Teacher Square, he couldn¡¯t help but open his mouth and emit the same voices as the others. He began reading with them, but he had never heard the content that he was reading.


    There¡¯s something odd about this place! Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    1

 Chapter 719 - Injured

    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but sit down and become one of them. He began reciting with them.


    Zhou Wen recited in a rhythmic manner as though he was very familiar with it, but he had no idea what he was reciting.


    Thankfully, the mysterious power of Teacher Square wasn¡¯t harmful. All he did was sit there and read. There was no further development. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to escape the mysterious power¡¯s control. He wanted to figure out what the mysterious power was up to.


    There were more than a hundred people sitting on the huge Teacher Square. They looked like people who cultivated. Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that they were here.


    Why isn¡¯t there any mention of such a strange power on Mount Confucius? Zhou Wen recited whilst studying the content he was reciting.


    The content was very esoteric. The language and words were very different from what modern people were used to. It was clearly an ancient article.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s level of literacy was very ordinary. He could still understand some simple ancient texts, but he really couldn¡¯t understand such obscure ancient texts.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had studied the ancient texts of Daoism and Buddhism, but this ancient text was clearly different from the two. He had never heard of many terms, so he couldn¡¯t figure out what it meant, even after listening for a while.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to memorize the article he was reciting and slowly study it later, but he soon realized that no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t remember a single word.


    After reciting a sentence, it was as if it had vanished from his memory. He couldn¡¯t memorize it at all.


    From the looks of it, I can only try recording it. Zhou Wen wanted to take out his phone to record his voice.


    However, he realized that his body wasn¡¯t listening to him. All he could do was sit there and chant. He couldn¡¯t do anything else.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen switched his Essence Energy Art to the Dao Sutra. He wanted to use the power of Gods Retreat to break the rules of Teacher Square and take out his phone to record the recital.


    Bam!


    Just as Zhou Wen switched to the Dao Sutra, he suddenly felt a terrifying force strike him like lightning. The jade infant nearly cracked.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body tumbled down Teacher Square like a balloon. Thankfully, after leaving Teacher Square, Zhou Wen regained control of his body and quickly found his footing.


    He spat out a mouthful of blood as his organs were severely injured. Some of his bones had even fractured. Zhou Wen was alarmed. Is the taboo power of Teacher Square that domineering?


    However, on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    The taboo power in Netherworld City was already extremely terrifying, but it wasn¡¯t as potent as this. The taboo power in Teacher Square was no longer something that could be explained by the word ¡°potent.¡± Zhou Wen felt that the taboo power of Teacher Square was targeting him.


    Wait, I think I understand. Zhou Wen immediately recalled.


    Legend had it that Mount Confucius was the place where the Confucian and Daoist practitioners fought for supremacy, and Teacher Square was the territory of Confucianism. It was highly likely that he had been targeted when he used the Dao Sutra on Teacher Square.


    In that case, I should head to Mount Laojun to take a look. That¡¯s Daoist territory. Zhou Wen wanted to stand up, but his injuries were too severe. The moment he moved, he grimaced in pain.


    I should heal my injuries first. Zhou Wen switched to the Inverse Ancient Sovereign Life Soul and used its powerful lifeforce to heal his injured organs and bones.


    However, the Inverse Ancient Sovereign only had a powerful lifeforce. Its self-healing speed was far inferior to Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul.


    The antelope looked at Zhou Wen gloatingly, as though it already knew the mystery of Teacher Square.


    The chick skipped about on the rocks beside him. It was filled with curiosity about everything.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± A woman in her thirties walked over and squatted down to ask Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. It¡¯s just a small injury.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    The woman smiled and said, ¡°You aren¡¯t from around here. It¡¯s your first time at Mount Confucius¡¯s Teacher Square, right?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The locals know that you can¡¯t use Daoist Essence Energy Arts on Teacher Square. You must have used the Daoist Essence Energy Art just now to be struck out,¡± the woman explained.


    The recital had ended, and the people sitting on Teacher Square had returned to normal. They were walking down in twos and threes.


    They looked at Zhou Wen with a smile. Clearly, they, like the woman, knew why Zhou Wen had been expelled.


    ¡°Teacher Square is a holy land for cultivating Confucian Essence Energy Arts like Righteousness. If you cultivate in Daoist Essence Energy Arts, you should head to Mount Laojun.¡±


    The woman thought for a moment and reminded him, ¡°Teacher Square has an hour of recital daily. If you want to tour the area, you can go up after that hour.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your advice. I wonder if Mount Laojun has any taboos?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Not really. There¡¯s a Dao book on the top of Mount Laojun, but it requires self-enlightenment. There¡¯s no force that can force you.¡± The woman sized up Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Your injuries don¡¯t seem light. Do you want me to take you to the hospital?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll be fine after resting for a while.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly thanked the woman for her kindness.


    After the woman left, Zhou Wen sat there to recuperate. However, his injuries were too serious. On the second day, the woman and many people who cultivated in Confucian Essence Energy Art came to Teacher Square again. Yet, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t completely recovered from his injuries.


    ¡°Why are you still here? Are you really fine?¡± the woman asked Zhou Wen in surprise.


    Typically, even if someone was expelled, they wouldn¡¯t be too heavily injured.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine. I just like the scenery here. I want to take a break here,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    The average person¡¯s injuries wouldn¡¯t be that serious, but not only did Zhou Wen use the Dao Sutra, but he had also used Gods Retreat, hoping to nullify the taboo power of Teacher Square. That was why he was so heavily injured.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was much better than yesterday, the woman didn¡¯t say anything else. Like the others, she got onto Teacher Square and sat down. Soon, Zhou Wen heard the familiar recital.


    Those people basically came to Teacher Square to read every day. Zhou Wen chatted with the woman a few times and knew that everyone called her Sister Gui.


    According to Sister Gui, reading on Teacher Square accelerated one¡¯s cultivation efficiency of Confucian Essence Energy Arts. However, there were very few people cultivating the Confucian Essence Energy Arts now. Therefore, the people who came to Teacher Square for the daily recital were basically acquaintances. They had known each other long ago.


    After a few days, Zhou Wen finally recovered from his injuries. However, his injuries were secondary. The primary reason was that it took until now for the jade infant to recover from its injuries.


    After recovering, the jade infant gave Zhou Wen a strange feeling as though it was about to break through.


    Could it be that being injured helps the jade infant break through? Zhou Wen had a thought.

 Chapter 720 - Comfort Only When Thrown Out

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen decided to give it another try. Gods Retreat had already reached its peak. It couldn¡¯t continue improving even in Netherworld City.


    1


    If the power of Teacher Square could really allow Gods Retreat to advance to a Perfect Body, it would be Zhou Wen¡¯s first Perfect Body Life Soul.


    When it was the recital session at Teacher Square, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and walked towards it.


    When Sister Gui saw that Zhou Wen had mostly recovered from his injuries, she said with a smile, ¡°This time, make sure not to circulate a Daoist Essence Energy Art when you step into Teacher Square.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say.


    The others laughed. After recuperating here for a few days, they had basically recognized Zhou Wen and knew about his embarrassing use of a Daoist Essence Energy Art on Teacher Square.


    Just as she was about to say something, the recital session began.


    A mysterious force enveloped Teacher Square. Everyone suddenly sat down and began to recite an article in all seriousness¡ªone that they didn¡¯t understand.


    Zhou Wen was one of them, but just as he started reciting, he switched his Essence Energy Art to Dao Sutra.


    Boom!


    As though he was struck in the soul, Zhou Wen felt his soul tremble as his body involuntarily flew out. He slammed onto the stone steps and rolled a distance before he managed to control his body.


    His injuries were worse than before, but Zhou Wen was pleased to discover that the jade infant¡¯s injuries were much lighter than the previous time. After the previous injury, his resistance seemed to have improved significantly.


    Could it be that this method really works? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    An hour later, Sister Gui and company came down from Teacher Square and passed by Zhou Wen, who was recuperating. Sister Gui said in a speechless manner, ¡°Little Zhou, didn¡¯t I tell you that you can¡¯t use Daoist Essence Energy Arts on Teacher Square? Why didn¡¯t you listen to me? I won¡¯t harm you.¡±


    Zhou Wen hurriedly said, ¡°Sister Gui, I know that I can¡¯t use Daoist Essence Energy Arts on Teacher Square, but I have a bad temper. The more I¡¯m not allowed to do it, the more I have to do it.¡±


    1


    ¡°Child¡­¡± Sister Gui was instantly rendered speechless.


    ¡°Sister Gui, don¡¯t bother about him. There¡¯s something wrong with this kid¡¯s brain.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Who cares what he¡¯s doing? He¡¯s just looking for trouble. I think it¡¯s because life in the Federation is too good that there are so many young people out there looking for trouble.¡±


    ¡°Young people have never endured suffering. It¡¯s understandable why they want to seek out excitement. I was the same when I was young. My mom said that girls will have children when they sleep with men. I didn¡¯t listen to her, and I ended up giving birth¡­¡±


    3


    From then on, there was an additional young man with an antelope and chick on Mount Confucius¡¯s Teacher Square. In the beginning, he was sent flying every two to three days.


    Later on, it became worse. He was sent flying daily during the recital session on Teacher Square because of his circulation of a Daoist Essence Energy Art as though he would feel uncomfortable if he didn¡¯t get thrown out.


    Sister Gui tried persuading him at first, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t listen. She got used to it over time.


    After the recital, a young girl left with Sister Gui. When they passed by Zhou Wen who was lying by the roadside, the girl looked at him and said to her, ¡°Sister Gui, do you think that Little Zhou is silly? Why does he have to go against Teacher Square for no reason? Isn¡¯t he just looking for trouble? He really has nothing better to do.¡±


    Sister Gui smiled and said, ¡°How is Little Zhou silly? He¡¯s such a good lad. I think he has his reasons for doing so.¡±


    1


    ¡°What reason could there be? I think he¡¯s just bored.¡± The young girl paused before continuing, ¡°Why is there such a senseless person? If everyone was like Xu Tong, the Federation¡¯s land wouldn¡¯t be constantly devoured by dimensional zones.¡±


    As she spoke, the young girl couldn¡¯t help but look at the youth in front of her.


    The young man had an imposing appearance. He had sword-like eyebrows and bright eyes. He was indeed a very handsome young man.


    Xu Tong was very famous at Five Dragons Mouth. He cultivated Righteous Energy and had advanced to the Epic stage at the age of twenty-seven. In this region, no one was better than Xu Tong.


    It was understandable that Xu Tong could win the girl¡¯s admiration.


    Sister Gui said with a smile, ¡°Xu Tong is not bad, but there are many outstanding girls around outstanding men. Why don¡¯t you consider Little Zhou? I think that young lad is pretty good. He looks quite handsome and is about the same age as you. No one is vying with you for him yet.¡±


    ¡°Tch, I don¡¯t fancy such a senseless man. If I want to find a boyfriend, I have to find an outstanding man like Xu Tong.¡± The girl curled her lips and turned her head to look at Zhou Wen who was lying on the mountain path. No matter how she looked at him, he was far inferior to the dignified and refined Xu Tong.


    Sister Gui said with a faint smile, ¡°It¡¯s understandable that little girls like men like Xu Tong. When you reach my age, you might feel that some special men might be more interesting.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps. However, I won¡¯t find such a man interesting at any time.¡± The girl didn¡¯t find Zhou Wen interesting when she saw him sleeping on the mountain path. His clothes were disheveled and there was a chick skipping around him. He resembled a wandering performer.


    Days passed. Every time the jade infant was struck, Zhou Wen would have the illusion that he was about to break through. Although this feeling was very real, no matter how realistic it was, it was still an illusion. He couldn¡¯t advance to a Perfect Body.


    Strange. I clearly feel that I can advance to a Perfect Body, so why haven¡¯t I advanced? What¡¯s the difference? Zhou Wen kept pondering over this question.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen thought of a possibility.


    Back then, Zero Taboo was a crystalline body. After the crystal exploded, the Gods Retreat jade infant was born.


    Zhou Wen was wondering if it was possible that the jade infant needed to be destroyed before it could advance to a Perfect Body. This explained the reason why he felt that he was about to break through every time the jade infant was injured.


    However, as the jade infant¡¯s body healed, the feeling of a breakthrough vanished.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one possibility. However, it was too risky to shatter the jade infant. If his guess was wrong and the jade infant was really destroyed, he would be doomed. He would have to condense the Life Soul again.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen was still hesitant about giving the jade infant a try.


    It was time for the recital session again. When Sister Gui and company arrived at Teacher Square, many people greeted Zhou Wen. As Zhou Wen had been here for more than two weeks, the people who often came to Teacher Square were already familiar with him.


    However, most people felt that Zhou Wen was a little silly and only wanted to joke with him. They didn¡¯t have any ill intentions.


    Sister Gui got Zhou Wen to head to Teacher Square with her as she asked, ¡°Little Zhou, are you still circulating the Daoist Essence Energy Art today?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    Everyone waited on Teacher Square for the recital session to begin. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat, so Sister Gui and the girl beside her chatted.

 Chapter 721 - Reconstitution after Collapsing

    Translator: CKtalon


    When it was time for the recital, everyone involuntarily sat down and began reciting.


    Although everyone was conscious, they couldn¡¯t control their bodies or mouths. They could only move freely after the recital session ended.


    During this period of time, they could do nothing but recite.


    Zhou Wen was considering if he should use the power of Teacher Square to shatter the jade infant and reconstitute it when he suddenly saw a figure rushing across the mountain path at an astonishing speed.


    Upon closer inspection, it was actually a macaque. However, this macaque seemed to be a little different from ordinary macaque. The average macaque was only about 1.5 meters tall. Even a Legendary Macaque King maxed out at 1.9 meters. That would make it look majestic.


    However, this macaque was nearly three meters tall. It looked even more ferocious than a macaque. Its eyes were glowing red, and its fur appeared metallic black. It looked like a ferocious wrath from afar.


    Sister Gui and the others also noticed the blood-eyed black macaque. They were somewhat surprised, but no one was worried.


    Even if this blood-eyed black macaque was an Epic dimensional creature, as long as it entered Teacher Square, it would be affected by Teacher Square¡¯s power. Like all humans, it would sit on the ground and recite ancient texts.


    Something similar had happened in the past. A macaque that accidentally entered Teacher Square ended up sitting down and reading like the humans. It wouldn¡¯t threaten the scholars here.


    However, the moment the blood-eyed black macaque entered Teacher Square, everyone¡¯s expression changed drastically, revealing shock.


    The blood-eyed black macaque actually didn¡¯t sit down to recite. Its eyes were glowing with blood-red light as it walked step by step towards the humans sitting on Teacher Square. It exposed its fangs and looked like it was going to devour someone.


    The color drained from everyone¡¯s faces, but they couldn¡¯t move. All they could do was watch as the blood-eyed black macaque walked over as they recited.


    Everyone wore odd expressions. Their faces looked prim and proper as they swirled their heads while reciting. However, their eyes and voices were filled with fear. There was even the sound of sobbing in their voices.


    If they could move now, they would have run as far away as they could.


    It was especially so for the three people who were closest to the blood-eyed black macaque. Their expressions were as if they had been tied up and fed feces. It was as uncomfortable as it could be.


    The blood-eyed black macaque walked over step by step. From its heavy footsteps, Zhou Wen knew that it was still affected by the power of Teacher Square. However, it didn¡¯t suffer as significant an effect as them.


    Just as the blood-eyed black macaque was about to reach the crowd, a man suddenly stood up and shouted at the macaque, ¡°How can we allow you to taint the Holy Land of Teacher Square? Leave!¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected someone to be able to stand up while reciting. On careful look, he saw that it was Xu Tong.


    At that moment, Xu Tong¡¯s entire body was emitting a kind of aura. That aura was formless and intangible. It wasn¡¯t as resplendent as divine light, nor was it as grand as Buddhistic light. It was an indescribable aura.


    Everyone was overjoyed. They had thought that they were doomed for sure, but they didn¡¯t expect Xu Tong to stand up to resist the blood-eyed black macaque. They felt that there was hope.


    Xu Tong was already an Epic expert, so he should be able to kill the blood-eyed black macaque. After all, no high-level dimensional creature had ever appeared near Mount Confucius.


    The blood-eyed black macaque didn¡¯t retreat because of Xu Tong¡¯s berating and imposing manner. Instead, it became even more ferocious. A bloody light flashed in its eyes as its majestic body broke through the sound barrier. With a sonic boom, it threw a violent punch at Xu Tong.


    ¡°Pervading Heaven and Earth is the aura of righteousness. A righteous heart empowers¡­¡± Xu Tong¡¯s words seemed to be augmented by a magical power. As he spoke, the righteous aura in his body became even stronger. It was as if his entire being was enveloped by the righteousness that pervaded the world.


    At the instant the blood-eyed black macaque rushed in front of him, Xu Tong¡¯s palm also struck it with a terrifying force that was akin to the sea or dragon.


    What a powerful Essence Energy Skill¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. The power of Xu Tong¡¯s palm strike was extremely powerful at the Epic stage.


    Boom!


    Xu Tong¡¯s palm collided with the blood-eyed black macaque¡¯s claw, producing a terrifying shockwave that sent the people beside him staggering. Meanwhile, Xu Tong flew out like a runaway kite and slammed into the mountain rocks, causing him to vomit blood. After struggling a few times, he got up and sat there. As he vomited blood, he chanted ancient texts.


    Everyone felt a chill in their hearts. In their eyes, Xu Tong was already an invincible existence since he was able to forcefully resist the power of Teacher Square. However, such a powerful Xu Tong was severely injured by the blood-eyed black macaque¡¯s attack. He even lost the ability to resist the mysterious power of Teacher Square. No matter how serious his injuries were, he had to sit there and recite.


    Everyone was horrified, but they could only sit there and recite. No words to describe their feelings any longer.


    The blood-eyed black macaque roared and extended its claws to grab a person in front of it. Its nails were as sharp as daggers. If one were to be swiped by them, five bloody holes would probably appear on their head.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He couldn¡¯t use any Companion Beasts on Teacher Square. Even his Essence Energy Art and body were suppressed, preventing him from summoning any Companion Beasts.


    ¡°What are those two fellows doing outside? Why aren¡¯t they coming over to help?¡± Zhou Wen realized that the antelope and chick were standing on a distant mountain path. They were looking over, but they had no intention of coming over to help. It was as though they were watching a show.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but curse inwardly. I raised you all this while for nothing. To think you are there watching this with relish. Don¡¯t you know that people will die? It¡¯s fine if others die, but I¡¯m here. Wouldn¡¯t I end up dying with them later?


    That¡¯s not right. They cultivate in Confucian Essence Energy Arts, but I¡¯m different. I can switch to the Dao Sutra and be sent out by the power of Teacher Square. With a thought, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to switch to Dao Sutra.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to think of a way to save them after he left, but he realized that Sister Gui and company were too close to the blood-eyed black macaque. It would probably be too late by the time he returned.


    Forget it. I was planning on trying to see if the jade infant can be reconstituted after collapsing anyway. I¡¯ll give it a try now. At the instant Zhou Wen switched to the Dao Body, he unleashed the power of the jade infant.


    Boom!


    The terrifying power on Teacher Square struck Zhou Wen like divine lightning from the nine heavens. The jade infant suffered an extremely terrifying taboo attack.


    Zhou Wen sat motionless on the ground as he forcefully endured the terrifying taboo force. Taking advantage of the instant his body could move, he drew his saber and slashed at the blood-eyed black macaque.


    Everyone was already in despair. The people who were going to bear the brunt of the attack in the first wave had already closed their eyes in resignation.


    However, a blood-colored saber beam suddenly flashed. The blood-eyed black macaque¡¯s body was split into two as both pieces fell to the sides.

 Chapter 722 - Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder

    Translator: CKtalon


    As they watched the blood-eyed black macaque die, everyone felt as though they had escaped death. They were still in disbelief.


    Even Xu Tong wasn¡¯t a match for the blood-eyed black macaque. Who had halved it?


    Their heads couldn¡¯t move, but their eyeballs could. Everyone looked in the direction of the saber beam and saw Zhou Wen sitting on the ground with a saber in hand. The blade had already returned to its scabbard.


    It¡¯s him? The girl sitting beside Sister Gui was taken aback. She couldn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen was the one who had killed the blood-eyed black macaque.


    Zhou Wen had returned the saber to its scabbard, but he sat there motionless with his eyes closed. He wasn¡¯t sent flying by the power of Teacher Square, nor did he continue reciting.


    As Zhou Wen forcefully resisted the rules of Teacher Square, the jade infant suffered the brunt of the terrifying taboo power. It didn¡¯t last long before shattering.


    With the jade infant shattered, Zhou Wen originally imagined that he would be severely injured. At best, he would vomit blood, but the worst situation would be having his Dao Sutra crippled.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case. After the jade infant shattered, the power that formed the Life Soul didn¡¯t dissipate. Instead, it reformed again and completed the restructuring in an instant.


    The reassembled Life Soul looked extremely strange. Its appearance was completely different from the jade infant¡¯s. It had turned into something extremely strange.


    Now, his Life Soul looked like a book, but he couldn¡¯t open it. There were no words on the cover.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense any powerful force from the ancient book-like Life Soul, but he knew that the Dao Sutra Life Soul had successfully advanced.


    This was because he was currently in Teacher Square. The Dao Sutra in his body was still circulating, but the taboo power in Teacher Sutra seemed to have vanished. It was completely useless against him.


    When he opened his eyes and looked around, he saw that Sister Gui and company were still reciting under the power of Teacher Square. Zhou Wen knew that he had really succeeded.


    With his Life Soul complete, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue listening to their recital. He got up and said to Sister Gui, ¡°Sister Gui, thank you for taking care of me these past few days. I¡¯m leaving.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really like farewells. Coincidentally, Sister Gui was still reciting, so she couldn¡¯t speak to him. Zhou Wen waved at her before turning around and walking out of Teacher Square. He quickly left Mount Confucius with the antelope and chick.


    When everyone saw that Zhou Wen could move freely on Teacher Square without being affected by its power, they were convinced that he was the person who had killed the blood-eyed black macaque.


    When the recital ended, everyone regained their freedom.


    ¡°I could tell long ago that Little Zhou is extraordinary. I was right.¡±


    ¡°Bullsh*t. You always liked to call him silly.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? I was just joking with him. How can an ordinary person have such great perseverance? He¡¯s clearly not an ordinary person. I¡¯ve long seen how different he is.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think he¡¯s even twenty years old. To have such a cultivation level, he probably comes from the families of the six heroes, right?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s very likely. Apart from the families of the six heroes, which family can nurture such a young talent?¡±


    Sister Gui couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She rolled her eyes at them and said, ¡°Which of the six hero families have the surname Zhou?¡±


    ¡°Apparently none!¡± Everyone looked at each other, momentarily unable to guess Zhou Wen¡¯s origins.


    The girl looked in the direction Zhou Wen had left with mixed feelings.


    Zhou Wen left Five Dragons Mouth. His identity had definitely been exposed this time, so he didn¡¯t head to the other dimensional zones.


    The main reason was that he hadn¡¯t found the tiny palm symbol at Five Dragons Mouth. If he were to stay here to study it, it would probably take him more than a year to figure out the entire Five Dragons Mouth dimensional zone.


    When he arrived at an uninhabited spot, he summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull. As Zhou Wen rode the bull, he checked the game¡¯s information.


    The Dao Body¡¯s Life Soul was no longer Gods Retreat. It had changed again.


    Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder (Perfect Body): Before the chaos was separated, there was no heaven or earth, no Yin or Yang, no sun or moon, no crystal or light, no east or west, no south or north, no front or back, no source or sink. Infinite changes, grand and majestic, formless and intangible, natural and mysterious. Destitution to the limits, boundless and immeasurable, only the Highest Elder¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what the introduction meant, but it sounded very impressive even though he didn¡¯t know what it was for.


    In the past, Zero Taboo and Gods Retreat could only exist in his consciousness and not be summoned.


    Now that it had transformed into the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen¡¯s mind stirred. The Life Soul that resembled an ancient jade scripture appeared in front of him. Despite it clearly being named Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, there wasn¡¯t a single word on it. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t open it either. After studying it for a while, he realized that its use was only to resist taboo powers. He didn¡¯t discover any other effects.


    Zhou Wen tried in Netherworld City again and realized that the taboo power in Netherworld City was useless against the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Only now could Zhou Wen be said to be truly a person of zero taboos.


    The jade infant from Gods Retreat couldn¡¯t last long in Netherworld City. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to be tortured, so he hadn¡¯t been able to reach the Netherworld Divine Throne in-game.


    Now that he had the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, none of the taboos were effective against Zhou Wen and the blood-colored avatar. Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk along the stone path that didn¡¯t even reveal the numbers.


    However, when he stepped onto the stone slab, punishment ghosts would still appear. Zhou Wen casually killed them and quickly reached the Netherworld Divine Throne.


    Yet, he didn¡¯t see City Lord Netherworld in-game. After Zhou Wen sounded the Golden Bell, the Golden Divine Throne automatically separated, revealing the door to leave.


    After leaving the door, the blood-colored avatar came out of the Netherworld City dungeon.


    Is this all there is to the Netherworld City dungeon? There isn¡¯t even a Mythical boss? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Thinking back to what City Lord Netherworld had said to him, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred. Could it be that I really have to pay a visit to all the torture chambers as City Lord Netherworld said and endure all the punishments before I can see the real Netherworld City? What is the real Netherworld City?


    Zhou Wen was very interested in the secrets of Netherworld City, but he gave up when he thought of the punishments.


    When I have the chance in the future, I¡¯ll take Li Xuan to Netherworld City in real life and let him suffer the punishments. Then, I¡¯ll know what the real Netherworld City is like. Zhou Wen placed his sights on Li Xuan.


    2


    After Zhou Wen left Five Dragons Mouth, his deeds spread around the area. Everyone nearby knew of this young man, but they didn¡¯t know his name. All they knew was that his surname was Zhou.


    Even so, this matter was still detected by the bureau.

 Chapter 723 - The Antelope Leads the Way

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Minister Qiao, are you sure the person who appeared at Five Dragons Mouth is Zhou Wen?¡± Shen Yuchi asked with a frown as he looked at the report delivered by Qiao Siyuan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve confirmed his age and appearance. It matches Zhou Wen in many areas,¡± Qiao Siyuan answered respectfully.


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for young people at this age to have similar looks,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Director-General, you¡¯re right. However, I still think that the young man who appeared at Five Dragons Mouth is Zhou Wen,¡± Qiao Siyuan said.


    ¡°What evidence do you have?¡± Shen Yuchi asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re still investigating, but there¡¯s nothing new for the time being. However, my intuition tells me that it¡¯s Zhou Wen,¡± Qiao Siyuan said with certainty.


    Shen Yuchi wasn¡¯t angered by Qiao Siyuan¡¯s seemingly irresponsible words. In fact, in their line of work, their intuition was sometimes very accurate.


    Intuition wasn¡¯t just a blind guess. It was a sharp sense of an event¡¯s systematic development that they had honed after experiencing countless incidents.


    ¡°If that young man is Zhou Wen, why do you think he went to Five Dragons Mouth? What¡¯s his next destination?¡± Shen Yuchi said after some thought.


    ¡°According to intelligence, someone has been seeing Zhou Wen in the vicinity of Luoyang recently. However, I feel that this may be a ruse from the An family. Their goal is to cover Zhou Wen. According to this inference, Zhou Wen¡¯s goal isn¡¯t as simple as staying at Five Dragons Mouth for a period of time.¡±


    Qiao Siyuan paused before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m guessing that Zhou Wen won¡¯t be returning to Luoyang next. According to his current trajectory, he should be heading north. I think he might come to the Imperial Capital.¡±


    ¡°There are so many cities in the north. Why do you think that he will definitely come to the Imperial Capital?¡± Shen Yuchi frowned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any evidence yet, but it¡¯s best to make some preparations,¡± Qiao Siyuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. However, Zhou Wen has already reached a certain level of attainment. Even without the An family¡¯s protection, it won¡¯t be easy to touch him,¡± Shen Yuchi said after some thought.


    ¡°Director-General, why don¡¯t you discuss it with the Xia family? Perhaps they are also interested in Zhou Wen,¡± Qiao Siyuan said.


    Shen Yuchi naturally understood what Qiao Siyuan was referring to. He glanced at Qiao Siyuan and said meaningfully, ¡°Then help me make a trip to the Xia family and inform them of this matter.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Qiao Siyuan received the order.


    After Qiao Siyuan left, the woman Shen Yuchi called ¡°Button¡± walked out. Shen Yuchi looked at the documents and said, ¡°What¡¯s your take?¡±


    ¡°Qiao Siyuan¡¯s attention on Zhou Wen seems to have exceeded the attention he places on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s other disciples,¡± said Button.


    ¡°Are you saying that he has ulterior motives for Zhou Wen?¡± Shen Yuchi looked up at Button.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve investigated him. Just as you said, Director-General, this person is too simple. His life seems to revolve around nothing but work. He doesn¡¯t have any obvious personal hobbies, no wife, children, family, or friends. He doesn¡¯t even have a lover. He doesn¡¯t eat, drink, prostitute, or gamble. It¡¯s hard to imagine how he does it given his age and status,¡± said Button.


    ¡°Perhaps he¡¯s a workaholic,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    Button¡¯s red lips curled up slightly as she continued, ¡°You can say that, but as a workaholic, he doesn¡¯t seem to be so focused on other parts of his work.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you think Qiao Siyuan mentioned the Xia family?¡± Shen Yuchi continued.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to deduce it for the time being. However, from what I know, in the past few decades, there have been many young geniuses who died young, and all of them have something to do with the Xia family. If the Xia family learns of Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival in the Imperial Capital, perhaps there¡¯s really no need for you to think about it, Director-General.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s take a wait and see approach for now.¡± Shen Yuchi lowered his head and continued working.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen traversed mountains and forests. Although the dimensional storms had brought a huge calamity to humanity, Earth was brimming with vitality. It was unlike the past where everywhere was filled with buildings made of concrete and steel.


    ¡°What are you doing? It¡¯s not over there. We¡¯re going this way.¡± When they reached a fork in the road, Zhou Wen was supposed to take the left fork, but the antelope actually walked to the right.


    The antelope ignored him and bit Zhou Wen¡¯s sleeve as it walked to the right, forcing him to follow.


    ¡°What¡¯s here? Why do you have to walk this way?¡± Zhou Wen found it odd. Although the antelope had been very willful and aloof in the past, it had never interfered with Zhou Wen¡¯s actions.


    This time, the antelope had taken the initiative to alter his path. This left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    The antelope didn¡¯t answer as it walked ahead as though it hadn¡¯t heard Zhou Wen.


    If Zhou Wen stopped and didn¡¯t leave, it would come over to pull him back.


    Zhou Wen studied the map. The right fork was originally a road, but because there were too many dimensional zones there, as well as the appearance of many break-out creatures, it was abandoned due to the danger.


    Zhou Wen felt that there was definitely something going on and he was somewhat intrigued. He wanted to know what the antelope was up to, so he followed it.


    However, Zhou Wen summoned Six-Winged to prevent any accidents.


    He hadn¡¯t managed to successfully create a Substitute Talisman yet. He had drawn quite a number of them whenever he was free, but unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t succeeded. The success rate of producing a Substitute Talisman was just too low.


    Due to the encroachment of the plants on both sides of the originally spacious road, many branches and roots were strewn across the road. Green vines crawled everywhere.


    The trees on both sides of the road were extremely tall. The tree crowns were squeezed together, blocking out the sunlight. Zhou Wen felt that walking on the road was no different from walking in a forest.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen suddenly felt that something was amiss. There were trees everywhere, but there wasn¡¯t a single bird or insect in the huge forest. The entire forest was terrifyingly quiet.


    Zhou Wen had already expanded Truth Listener¡¯s range to its limits, but he still didn¡¯t discover any animals. There wasn¡¯t even an ant.


    How can this be? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown as he secretly became wary.


    The antelope remained oblivious as it continued walking ahead. The chick stood on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and looked around curiously.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope in front of him.


    The antelope didn¡¯t know how to speak at all. Even if it could speak, it had no intention of answering Zhou Wen. Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating about following it down, it suddenly left the road and burrowed into the grass beside it.


    It was a dense grass patch and many vines coiled together. After the antelope entered, it immediately vanished. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had Truth Listener and could see the situation in the grass.


    After the antelope burrowed into the grass, it continued walking in. Soon, it arrived at an empty spot.


    The empty spot was rather strange. There were dense plants all around, but there was not a single blade of grass growing in that small area. It was as if a strong weed killer had been used.

 Chapter 724 - 100% Head Turner

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    The antelope walked to the clearing and began digging with its hooves.


    Could there be some treasure buried there? Zhou Wen was curious as he burrowed into the grass and quickly arrived beside the clearing.


    The antelope dug very quickly. By the time Zhou Wen arrived, it had already dug more than a meter deep. The soil dug out was piled up beside it.


    When Zhou Wen saw the soil, he immediately knew why there weren¡¯t any plants growing here. The antelope wasn¡¯t digging out soil, but grayish-black ash. It looked like it was mixed with some form of metallic powder.


    He looked into the pit and saw that there was indeed metallic powder underneath.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, what are you digging?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    The antelope ignored him and continued digging.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, This antelope usually acts like a big shot. It sees everything beneath it and is the laziest. It¡¯s like a lord that enjoys life and doesn¡¯t do anything. Now that it¡¯s digging a hole by itself, there must be something good down there.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen said with a smile, ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, it¡¯s not convenient for you to dig with your hooves. Why don¡¯t I help you dig? If there¡¯s anything good down there, why don¡¯t you share half with me?¡±


    The antelope glanced at him and after some thought, it raised its front hooves and gestured at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was puzzled as he thought to himself, You only have a hoof. There aren¡¯t any fingers. What does your gesturing mean?


    Seeing that he didn¡¯t understand, the antelope wrote ¡°20%¡± on the ground.


    Only then did Zhou Wen understand what the antelope meant by its hoof gesture. There was a groove in front of its hooves, making it look like a V. It could also represent two.


    ¡°Twenty percent is too little. How about forty-sixty?¡± The antelope ignored him and continued digging.


    ¡°So be it. 20%. I¡¯ll help you dig.¡± Zhou Wen felt that he had nothing better to do. He could help dig and save time. Furthermore, he could split the benefits. Why not?


    The antelope jumped out of the hole and pointed down, indicating for him to dig.


    Why would Zhou Wen dig it himself? He summoned Tyrant Behemoth. The two horns on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s head were like spinning electric drills as it dug at a fast speed.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that the metallic powder below was indeed extraordinary. Despite Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s immense strength, it failed to easily penetrate the metallic powder.


    After drilling for a while, it had dug a hole more than ten meters deep. The metallic powder it dug out turned darker and darker like coal.


    Furthermore, the metallic powder had a smell. It wasn¡¯t pungent, but it resembled the smell of ink on a newspaper.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, what¡¯s down there? How deep do we have to dig?¡± Zhou Wen knew that the antelope was very intelligent and could definitely answer him. It depended on its willingness to speak.


    The antelope extended its hoof and drew two words on the ground: ¡°Eight meters.¡±


    ¡°There are still eight meters to go? It looks like this digging will go on for a little while longer.¡± Zhou Wen did some calculations. The metallic powder was getting harder to dig the deeper it went. He estimated that it would have to dig for another forty to fifty minutes.


    After some thought, he decided to take out his phone to grind dungeons for a while. He would wait until Tyrant Behemoth dug out the item.


    After grinding dungeons for a while, he didn¡¯t get anything good.


    The antelope suddenly nudged him with its hooves. Zhou Wen knew that something had been dug out. He walked to the side of the deep pit and looked down. He saw that Tyrant Behemoth had dug a twenty to thirty-meter deep pit.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body was too huge. It nearly blocked the entire mouth of the pit. Zhou Wen had no choice but to let it out before looking down.


    This time, he saw something in the deep pit. It looked like a wooden stake with a diameter of about fifty to sixty centimeters. It was completely black, but there were tree lines on the surface. It was probably wood.


    The antelope pointed at the log and nudged Zhou Wen. Clearly, it wanted Zhou Wen to bring the log up.


    Although the log looked huge, Zhou Wen had plenty of strength too. Even if it weighed several tons, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take the risk. He got Tyrant Behemoth to go down and pull out the wooden stake.


    Tyrant Behemoth hugged the wooden stake with its claws and pulled with all its might. The wooden stake wasn¡¯t pulled straight out. It only moved a little and rose by ten to twenty centimeters.


    Tyrant Behemoth pulled it out bit by bit, revealing more and more of the wooden stake. When the wooden stake was completely out, it was about three meters long.


    Tyrant Behemoth placed the wooden stake on the ground. Zhou Wen carefully sized it up and realized that it was indeed a log. It was likely a segment of a certain tree, and the bark was rather pristine.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of log it was. The bark and tree core were black, about the blackness of charcoal, but it wasn¡¯t dirty at all when touched. It was a little cold.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, is this the treasure?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope.


    The antelope nodded and circled the log a few times as though it was examining something.


    What¡¯s the use of this log? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover anything special about it. Apart from being a little black and heavy, it didn¡¯t seem to be anything special.


    The antelope pointed at the log and then at Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder, indicating for him to carry it.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have a place to put it, I¡¯ll help you store it. Ask me when you need it,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    The antelope glanced at Zhou Wen, making him feel a little uncertain. However, he never expected the antelope to nod in agreement.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he reached out to lift the log. He realized that it wasn¡¯t as heavy as he imagined. He could still lift it.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he wouldn¡¯t be able to lift it since Tyrant Behemoth had exerted so much strength to pull it out.


    After opening the chaos space, Zhou Wen placed the large log piece inside.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, what¡¯s the use of that log? Tell me.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to obtain some information from the antelope. Otherwise, it would be useless even if the entire log was his.


    The antelope ignored him and crawled out of the grass before returning along the path. Clearly, it was here to dig up the log and didn¡¯t plan on disturbing Zhou Wen¡¯s advance.


    After returning to the fork, Zhou Wen took the correct path and continued heading for Imperial Capital.


    After walking for a while, Zhou Wen suddenly felt something amiss. He felt uncomfortable, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was wrong.


    Am I reading too much into it? Zhou Wen carefully checked his surroundings with Truth Listener, but he didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    After a long journey, he entered a city. That¡¯s when Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. This was because the people walking towards him, be they men or women, were looking at him with strange eyes. Some women were even giggling at his face.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was puzzled. Although he felt that he was good looking, his handsomeness wasn¡¯t to the point of being loved by everyone. To be such a head-turner with a 100% rate creeped him out a little.

 Chapter 725 - : Riding A Bull and Carrying Wood

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen hurriedly found an empty spot and took out a mirror from his chaos space to take a look at his face.


    Zhou Wen was immediately stunned.


    There was a pitch-black word, ¡°slave,¡± on his originally smooth forehead. It looked as if it had been written in ink, and was written beautifully.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, what¡¯s going on? Are you up to no good?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly rubbed it with his hand, but no matter how he rubbed it, the word ¡°slave¡± seemed to be embedded into his flesh. Despite abrading his skin, the word ¡°slave¡± was still clearly visible.


    The antelope wore an innocent expression like a human. Then, it wrote a line on the ground with its hooves. ¡°I told you to carry it, but you didn¡¯t. You can¡¯t blame me.¡±


    ¡°You mean that piece of wood?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    The antelope nodded with a faint smile as it looked at the word ¡°slave¡± on Zhou Wen¡¯s head with an admiring gaze.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out the wooden log from the chaos space and placed it on the ground. He asked the antelope in an extremely distrustful tone, ¡°Tell me honestly, what is this?¡±


    The antelope looked at Zhou Wen with an innocent look as though it was saying: ¡°I¡¯m just an antelope. I can¡¯t speak.¡±


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to grit his teeth and ask, ¡°Will the word on my forehead disappear if I carry it?¡±


    The antelope quickly nodded as though it was waiting for Zhou Wen to say that.


    Zhou Wen had tried all sorts of methods to remove the mark on his forehead to no avail. All he could do was give it a try. He raised one end of the log with both hands and lifted it with his shoulder.


    The log was really heavy. Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, he found it difficult to lift it up.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked into the mirror, he realized that the slave word on his forehead had really vanished.


    Zhou Wen placed the log on the ground and the word ¡°slave¡± appeared again. When he lifted it up, it vanished.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, what the hell is this? Are you expecting me to carry it all the time?¡± Zhou Wen felt like killing the antelope, but he was no match against it.


    Antelope didn¡¯t give excuses. It drew another line of words on the ground with its hooves. ¡°Go to the Imperial Capital and terminate the contract.¡±


    ¡°You mean that as long as we get it to the Imperial Capital, we can terminate this contract?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Seeing the antelope nod, Zhou Wen asked, ¡°Then can I put it away and take it to the Imperial Capital?¡±


    Zhou Wen planned on wearing a hat to cover the word ¡°slave¡± on his forehead. The log was just too heavy. He could forget about doing anything while carrying it.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t afraid of death, sure.¡± The antelope wrote a few succinct words.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his balls ache as he thought to himself, If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have shot my mouth and tried to share the benefits with the antelope.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss.


    With the antelope¡¯s usual lazy personality, it wouldn¡¯t have dug itself. It would definitely have gotten Zhou Wen to help it.


    However, it had started the digging itself and at an extremely slow pace. Zhou Wen realized from recalling the sequence of events that the antelope was clearly trying to entice him into offering his help.


    What kind of society is this? Even an antelope will lie? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. It was too late to say anything now. If he were to question the antelope now, not only would it not help matters, but he would also be making a fool of himself.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just carrying a log to the Imperial Capital? What¡¯s the big deal? I, Zhou Wen, have nothing else but strength,¡± Zhou Wen said as he lifted the piece of wood.


    How freaking heavy! Zhou Wen took a few steps and felt his body break out in sweat.


    The log was about three meters long and was about fifty to sixty centimeters in diameter. Its density and weight were about the same as steel. Zhou Wen found it taxing.


    After walking half a street, Zhou Wen felt that he couldn¡¯t let things continue. He would probably die of exhaustion on the way before he reached the Imperial Capital.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull. He carried the wooden log and got the bull to carry him. This way, he could save some strength.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t against the rules, right?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the antelope.


    The antelope nodded and didn¡¯t object.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and ordered the Great Might Vajra Bull to continue traveling. He was in no mood to carry such a piece of wood. All he wanted to do now was rush to the Imperial Capital and get rid of the slave word on his forehead.


    ¡°Is that person a fool? He¡¯s riding a bull and carrying a piece of wood? Doesn¡¯t he know that he can place the piece of wood on the bull¡¯s back?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand. He¡¯s just showing off.¡±


    ¡°In what sense?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s showing off his great strength that he¡¯s able to carry such a huge log. He¡¯s showing off his ferocious mount that¡¯s capable of lifting him and the log together.¡±


    ¡°Haha, that makes sense, but no matter how I look at it, I find him a little foolish!¡±


    Wherever Zhou Wen passed, people wagged their tongues at him as though they were looking at a fool. The number of heads turning became even higher than before.


    Zhou Wen ignored them and urged the Great Might Vajra Bull to speed up. He hoped to leave the city as soon as possible. Once he entered the wilderness, there wouldn¡¯t be so many people gawking at him.


    ¡°Interesting!¡± On the second floor of a cafe, three men were sitting by the window and drinking coffee. One of the men saw Zhou Wen riding the Great Might Vajra Bull.


    The other two men looked towards the street and immediately discovered Zhou Wen.


    One of the men¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he said to the other two men, ¡°Dugu Ge, Zhang Chunqiu, why don¡¯t we use that person as a bet and decide the ownership of that thing?¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Dugu Ge said expressionlessly.


    Zhang Chunqiu also smiled and nodded. ¡°As long as it¡¯s fair, I have no objections.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely fair. Let¡¯s guess when that person will put down the log on his shoulder. Whoever guesses the closest time will get the thing. What do you think?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Dugu Ge said directly.


    ¡°I have no objections,¡± said Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡°Eh, you guys actually didn¡¯t suspect that I arranged this person? Could it be that you guys know him?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked, a little surprised.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple, adopted son of Madam Lan of the An family. It¡¯s quite difficult to not know him these days,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°So he¡¯s Zhou Wen.¡± Xia Liuchuan thought for a moment before smiling again. ¡°That¡¯s good. None of us will be at a disadvantage by using a third party as a bet. It¡¯ll be fair and square. No one will complain even if they lose.¡±


    After a pause, Xia Liuchuan continued, ¡°If it were an ordinary person, after hearing so much from wagging tongues, he would probably put down the log very quickly. Since he¡¯s not an ordinary person, it depends on when he plans to put down the log to rest. I guess it won¡¯t take long. It should be around seven in the evening. What do you think?¡±

 Chapter 726 - Sister Return Lightning Pool

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°With the bull¡¯s gait, it should arrive at the nearest city around seven or eight in the evening. If Zhou Wen doesn¡¯t wish to sleep in the wilderness, the chances of him spending the night there is very high. It makes sense to guess seven,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    ¡°I can¡¯t compare to Brother Zhang¡¯s clairvoyance. It¡¯s just a random guess,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll make a random guess too. 7:01,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said in all seriousness.


    ¡°Since you are guessing 7:01. Then I¡¯ll guess 6:59,¡± Dugu Ge added.


    ¡°Hey hey, aren¡¯t you guys going overboard?¡± Xia Liuchuan said unhappily.


    Zhang Chunqiu replied with a smile, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s too easy to guess the time. Why don¡¯t we change what we are betting on?¡±


    ¡°What else can we guess other than time?¡± Xia Liuchuan couldn¡¯t think of anything else.


    ¡°Let¡¯s guess which city he¡¯s taking that piece of wood to. What do you think?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s bet on that. I¡¯ll let you guys guess first this time,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Let¡¯s write it on paper and open them together.¡± Zhang Chunqiu handed paper and pen to Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge.


    The three of them gave their answers and opened them together.


    After looking at each other¡¯s answers, the three of them looked at each other in dismay. Among the three of them, two of them wrote the Imperial Capital, while Xia Liuchuan wrote the Capital.


    However, the Imperial Capital and the Capital were basically the same. It was just that the locals of the Imperial Capital were more used to calling it the Capital.


    ¡°It looks like we can¡¯t bet on this either.¡± Xia Liuchuan smiled.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we make it simpler? We¡¯ll bet on whether he can reach the Imperial Capital alive,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°There are only two answers¡ªyes or no. How are the three of us going to bet?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s simple. Reaching the Imperial Capital alive, reaching the Imperial Capital after he¡¯s dead, and not being able to reach the Imperial Capital. Isn¡¯t that three options? The time limit is a month. What do you think?¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°That makes sense. Who will choose first?¡± Xia Liuchuan looked at Dugu Ge.


    ¡°Since I was the one who suggested the rules, I¡¯ll make the final choice,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    Zhang Chunqiu wore a heavy expression as he did some calculations. After a while, he said, ¡°If no one wants to snatch the option from me, I¡¯ll choose the option that he reaches the Imperial Capital after he¡¯s dead.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t vie with you for that choice. I¡¯ll choose the option that he reaches the Capital alive,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Then the remaining choice is mine. I guess he won¡¯t be able to reach the Imperial Capital,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s travel together and follow him. Let¡¯s see the outcome,¡± Zhang Chunqiu suggested.


    ¡°Fine with me.¡± Dugu Ge stood up.


    The three of them left the cafe and chased after Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen carried the wooden log and left the city. Although he was riding the Great Might Vajra Bull, he still needed to expend a lot of stamina to carry the wooden log. When he left the city, Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead was already beading with sweat, and his clothes were drenched.


    Helpless, Zhou Wen could only switch to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and fuse with the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. With the augmentation of the powerful lifeforce, he could continue while carrying the log.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull wasn¡¯t having an easy time either. It slowed down significantly and its speed was nothing like usual. It ran like an old bull dragging a cart.


    Not long after leaving the city and entering the mountains, the sky suddenly darkened. Dark clouds covered the sky as lightning bolts flashed like divine dragons. Occasionally, ferocious shadows would appear in the dark clouds.


    Is it going to rain? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown when he heard the thunder. He stared at the thick, dark clouds.


    Dugu Ge, Zhang Chunqiu, and Xia Liuchuan followed behind Zhou Wen from afar. They didn¡¯t chase too closely. With Zhang Chunqiu, who was clairvoyant, there was no need to be afraid of losing him, nor did they need to get too close.


    At that moment, they also saw the dark clouds and lightning that filled the sky. However, they weren¡¯t as optimistic as Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Chunqiu, what do you think?¡± Xia Liuchuan stared at the dark clouds in the sky with a serious expression.


    Zhang Chunqiu did a simple divination and said, ¡°An ominous omen¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to fool me with those charlatan methods. I want to hear the truth.¡± Xia Liuchuan interrupted Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡°To be honest, a break-out creature is about to appear. Furthermore, it doesn¡¯t look too weak. From the looks of it, you will be busy,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    Among the three of them, only Xia Liuchuan needed Zhou Wen to reach the capital alive to win the bet. He naturally wouldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen die here. As long as he could win, Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t mind helping Zhou Wen.


    As they spoke, Zhou Wen sped up, hoping to reach the city earlier.


    Unfortunately, the log was too heavy. Even if the Great Might Vajra Bull ran with all its might, it couldn¡¯t run fast.


    Zhang Chunqiu pinched his fingers, divining as he walked. He looked around and suddenly, his expression changed as he shouted, ¡°That¡¯s not right!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked curiously.


    Before Zhang Chunqiu could answer, he heard an explosion in the sky. A bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck a nearby forest.


    Strangely, when the lightning struck the forest, there were visible electric arcs. The forest that was enveloped by the lightning only flashed with lightning, but there was no fire.


    And this was only the beginning. Large swaths of lightning kept striking the forest, covering all the plants with a layer of lightning. However, the plants didn¡¯t die. Instead, they became more spirited.


    ¡°Thunder-trigram above, lake-trigram below. It¡¯s Sister Return Lightning Pool. It looks like things aren¡¯t looking good,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he did the calculations.


    After spending some time with Zhang Chunqiu, Xia Liuchuan had a basic understanding of divination. Upon hearing that, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a dangerous divination, right? I remember hearing you say that Sister Return Lightning Pool means that in order to obtain greater benefits, one needs to pay a certain price in exchange. It¡¯s just like marrying off one¡¯s sister.¡±


    ¡°Although what you said isn¡¯t entirely correct, it¡¯s not too far off. However¡­¡± Before Zhang Chunqiu could finish his sentence, he suddenly saw the plants that were covered in lightning seem to come alive. Their leaves and branches trembled as they shot out bolts of lightning.


    Instantly, the criss-crossing lightning enveloped Xia Liuchuan and company.


    This level of lightning naturally didn¡¯t affect them much. Xia Liuchuan shattered the lightning with a wave of his hand.


    Thunder boomed in the sky again. This time, the thunder was especially loud, causing the entire mountain range to tremble. And in the dark clouds in the sky, a ball of green lightning fell like a meteor.


    Boom!


    A large area of the forest was destroyed as a figure emitting lightning appeared in the ruins.

 Chapter 727 - Hotel

    Translator: CKtalon


    Xia Liuchuan looked over and saw that it was a tiger with wings on its back. Azure lightning danced on its body as though every cell was flashing with lightning.


    The tiger immediately saw Xia Liuchuan and the other two. It flapped its wings and instantly transformed into lightning.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s expression changed as he summoned an ancient sword. The ancient sword split into two at every turn until there were eight. It transformed into a sword formation that resembled a metallic wall of copper and iron that defended Xia Liuchuan.


    Dugu Ge rapidly retreated like a ghost. He was unbelievably fast. Zhou Wen¡¯s all-out use of Transcendent Flying Immortal was not much better.


    Zhang Chunqiu flicked his sleeve and talismans appeared in front of him, turning into a talisman formation that protected his body.


    At that instant, an azure bolt of lightning tore through the sky and transformed into a lightning net. Instantly, it enveloped the sword formation and the talisman formation. No matter how fast Dugu Ge¡¯s movement technique was, he wasn¡¯t as fast as the lightning. He was also enveloped.


    Rumble!


    The sword formation shattered and the talismans were burned. The might of the lightning was like heavenly punishment that could destroy everything.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The three of them cried out tragically as their bodies convulsed from the lightning. Their hair was smoking.


    Zhou Wen, who was riding with the wooden log on his shoulder, looked in the direction behind him in puzzlement. He saw lightning striking in the distant mountain, producing incessant rumbling sounds. He couldn¡¯t help but mutter to himself, ¡°Why is this lightning so terrifying? Could it be that the lightning and rain have mutated? From the looks of it, I should rush to the city ahead and find a place to stay.¡±


    Zhou Wen urged the Great Might Vajra Bull, hoping that it could run faster.


    However, the big guy was panting in exhaustion. It had no way of running any faster.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. The dimensionalization was still limited to Earth itself and didn¡¯t involve the satellites outside. Therefore, the Federation could still guarantee basic communication with artificial satellites.


    If the artificial satellites were affected in the future, the means of communication would be even weaker.


    Thunder rumbled in the distance as bolts of lightning descended from the sky. The sound of thunder was terrifying.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t struck by lightning. He rushed all the way and finally arrived at a nearby city at 6 p.m.


    The lightning in the mountains rumbled, but it wasn¡¯t that terrifying in the city. It was just a little cloudy. There was a drizzle that didn¡¯t feel cold. It felt refreshing when the rain landed on his skin.


    This city was relatively small. After the dimensional storms, it had suffered a serious loss of population. Now, very few shops opened on both sides of the streets. There were very few pedestrians. Most of them had probably moved to a large city.


    This was a good thing for Zhou Wen. At the very least, there weren¡¯t many onlookers wagging their tongues at him as he rode on a bull and carried a log. Occasionally, pedestrians would pass by and look at him in surprise.


    Not long after Zhou Wen entered the city, he saw a small hotel. The door of the hotel was open, but there was no one inside. The tables and couches were in a mess and there was quite a bit of dust on them. From the looks of it, the owner had already left.


    Zhou Wen went in and found a room. He realized that there was a bed with a blanket in there, so he chose to stay.


    In any case, he only needed to rest for a while before continuing on his journey. He didn¡¯t have too high a requirement for a place to stay. All he needed to do was shield himself from the elements.


    Shortly after Zhou Wen entered the hotel, it began pouring heavily outside. The rain seemed to be water from an overturned basin. In just a short period of time, rainwater began to pool on the roads. The sewers were unable to keep up with the quantity of rainwater.


    From the looks of it, I can only continue on my journey after the rain stops. Just as Zhou Wen was about to put down the log on his shoulder, the antelope suddenly tugged at him, indicating for him to look at the ground.


    Zhou Wen looked down and saw a few words on the ground. It was obvious that the antelope had written them with its hooves.


    ¡°Body must remain inseparable from the log. Separation means certain death.¡±


    ¡°What do you want? This place is still far from the Imperial Capital. I can¡¯t keep carrying it, right?¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you read? Do you not know what it means for your body to remain inseparable from the log¡± The antelope gave Zhou Wen a disdainful look before writing a line on the ground.


    So that¡¯s how it is. Is it fine as long as my body doesn¡¯t leave the log? Zhou Wen placed the log on the ground and sat on it.


    With his body greatly enervated, Zhou Wen could finally heave a sigh of relief.


    This piece of wood was heavy. Even after using the power of the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul, he still felt that his body couldn¡¯t take it.


    Since he couldn¡¯t leave the log, he didn¡¯t even need to sleep on the bed. Zhou Wen pulled a blanket over himself and slept on the log.


    The antelope slept comfortably on the bed; so did the chick. It even covered itself with a blanket by pecking a rug over.


    With the heavy rain outside, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare rashly set off. He planned on leaving after the rain stopped.


    ¡°That¡¯s not how you kick a ball¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was sleeping soundly when a voice suddenly sounded. It nearly made him jump up in fright.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen still remembered the words that the ¡°body must remain inseparable from the log.¡± He forcefully stopped himself from leaping off the log.


    When he opened his eyes and took a closer look, he realized that the television in the room had turned on and it was playing an old movie.


    I was nearly scared to death. How did this crappy television switch on by itself? Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that the chick had woken up at some point in time. It was fiddling with a remote control with its claws.


    ¡°I¡¯m sleeping. Stop fooling around.¡± Zhou Wen reached out and sucked the remote control over. Then, he used the remote control to turn off the television. Seeing that it was still early and that the rain was still pouring outside, Zhou Wen lay down and continued sleeping.


    He had just fallen asleep when he was suddenly woken up by a sound.


    ¡°This move is clearly called An Old Man Pushing A Cart. Don¡¯t write me off as ignorant¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was woken up again and saw the television turn on again. It was playing the old movie.


    ¡°Little Feifei, stop fooling around, alright? Let me rest for a while. I¡¯m really tired.¡± Zhou Wen was just about to take the chick¡¯s remote when he realized that the chick wasn¡¯t holding the remote at all. The remote was still beside him. The chick crawled out of the blanket and looked at him blankly.


    What¡¯s going on? Did I touch the remote control myself? That¡¯s not right¡­ That¡¯s not right¡­ This hotel has been abandoned for some time. There¡¯s no electricity. How can the television be switched on? Zhou Wen finally snapped out of his daze and sat up to carefully watch the television.


    At this glance, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but change his expression. This was because the television¡¯s power cable was hanging down. It wasn¡¯t plugged in at all. Even if there was electricity in the hotel, it was impossible for the television to be switched on.


    ¡°Watch and see¡­¡± The old movie on the television was still playing. Zhou Wen frowned as he stared at the television and used Truth Listener to inspect it.

 Chapter 728 - Concerned Person

    Translator: CKtalon


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability allowed Zhou Wen to hear the internal structure of the television.


    1


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about circuit boards, nor did he notice anything amiss. He didn¡¯t discover any Companion Beasts or dimensional creatures inside, but he realized that there was an electric current flowing inside.


    It¡¯s impossible for there to be no problems. Zhou Wen checked several times, but he failed to find anything wrong.


    He tried turning the television off with the remote control, and it was switched off again. It looked no different from a normal television.


    What the hell? Could it be that the electric current produced by the thunderstorm has run into the television, giving it electricity? Zhou Wen studied it for a long time, but he still couldn¡¯t figure out why there was electricity in the television. However, even he couldn¡¯t come to terms with his guess.


    I want to see what¡¯s messing around. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to monitor the entire hotel and the nearby area. Nothing could escape his ears even in the heavy rain.


    Zhou Wen sat on the log and stared at the television.


    Boom!


    After a while, thunder sounded in the sky again. It felt like the lightning was very close, as though it had exploded outside the building.


    Suddenly, the television lit up and the movie started playing.


    ¡°Cut the crap. Take off¡­ Ah, take off your clothes¡­ Hey, what are you doing¡­ Are you trying to kill me¡­ You¡¯re really amazing. I don¡¯t even mind you beating me to death¡­¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen kept staring at the television, while Truth Listener kept monitoring all its components. However, for some reason, there was suddenly electricity in the television.


    There were no suspicious signs inside or outside the inn. There was no one, nor were there any dimensional creatures.


    Strange. Could it be that the lightning outside has entered the television? Zhou Wen felt that this matter was odd. Ignoring the fact that the lightning couldn¡¯t be transmitted in, even if it could, it would only damage the components. It was impossible for the television to work normally.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t switch off the television. He sat there watching. The television had plenty of power. It continued playing even after quite some time.


    ¡°Who can be more miserable than me!¡± A person on the television tragically cried out at the sky before collapsing to the ground.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but laugh when he saw this.


    Although he found it odd, this old movie was still quite funny.


    Even if there¡¯s really someone causing trouble, I might only end up falling for someone¡¯s scheme if I were to leave this place and enter the heavy rain. I¡¯ll just take a wait and see approach for now. Zhou Wen decided to turn off the television and sleep on the log.


    He kept Truth Listener¡¯s ability active the entire time. Zhou Wen would immediately know of any movement. He also switched his Essence Energy Art to Dao Sutra. With the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder Life Soul, he could be somewhat safe.


    The television kept playing old movies, one after another, but other than that, nothing else happened.


    After sleeping deep into the night, Zhou Wen suddenly heard footsteps coming from the entrance of the hotel. He immediately woke up. With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, he immediately saw a strange person run in.


    The person¡¯s clothes were tattered and his hair was charred black. He looked like he had just been struck by lightning.


    He finally can¡¯t hold back? Zhou Wen sat up and monitored the person¡¯s every move.


    After the person entered, he sniffed around before walking towards Zhou Wen¡¯s room.


    He¡¯s indeed coming for me, Zhou Wen thought.


    When the person arrived at the door, Zhou Wen was waiting for him. He wanted to see what tricks he had up his sleeve, but he never expected the person to knock on the door a few times.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he asked after some thought.


    The person outside said, ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯m here to snitch. You have to be careful along the way. Someone wants you dead, and it¡¯s not just one.¡±


    ¡°Who wants me dead?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°You should know the Dugu family and the Zhang family of the Federation¡¯s six families, right? The Dugu family¡¯s Dugu Ge and the Zhang family¡¯s Zhang Chunqiu both want your life,¡± the person outside the door answered.


    ¡°I have no grudge with them. Why do they want me dead?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    This time, the person outside didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he asked, ¡°You¡¯re going to the Imperial Capital, right?¡±


    ¡°What has my whereabouts got to do with them wanting to kill me?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t quite believe the person in front of him. This person looked problematic.


    ¡°They don¡¯t want you to enter the Imperial Capital alive,¡± the person outside said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about the reason. Just be careful.¡± The person prepared to leave.


    ¡°Who are you? Why are you telling me this?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Just call me Concerned Person,¡± the person said firmly and turned to go downstairs.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that his clothes were tattered and his hair was charred black, he would have looked rather cool.


    Zhou Wen found the name Concerned Person familiar. After being stunned for a while, he recalled that wasn¡¯t the name used frequently in primary school composition?


    Who is this person? Zhou Wen frowned.


    He naturally wouldn¡¯t completely believe this person¡¯s words, but from the looks of it, he really didn¡¯t have any ill intentions.


    Is he behind the television? Zhou Wen was somewhat unsure.


    The television was still playing, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it. He decided to sleep first and wait for the rain to stop. After all, he was determined to make this trip to the Imperial Capital. He would deal with whatever came his way. There was no use worrying.


    Not long after he fell asleep, Zhou Wen heard someone enter the hotel again.


    Tap! Tap! Tap!


    After the person entered the hotel, he didn¡¯t even take a sniff before heading to the second floor and running towards Zhou Wen¡¯s room.


    His appearance was similar to the person from before. He was also wearing tattered clothes and his hair was charred black. However, it was obvious that he wasn¡¯t the same person. This person was taller.


    Could it be that the person in question is here? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, the person had already arrived at the door. He had actually raised his hand to knock.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked patiently.


    ¡°Are you Zhou Wen?¡± the person at the door asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zhou Wen. Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a nobody. If you¡¯re happy, call me Nameless. I¡¯m here to tell you that someone wants to harm you on your way to the Imperial Capital. You have to be careful,¡± the person outside said.


    Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss as he asked calmly, ¡°Who wants to harm me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Dugu family¡¯s Dugu Ge and the Zhang family¡¯s Zhang Chunqiu. You have to be careful of them.¡± The person outside said the exact same thing as the person who had just come.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for us to know each other. Let¡¯s meet again if fate allows for it.¡± With that said, the person went downstairs.

 Chapter 729 - Messy Information

    Translator: CKtalon


    What the hell is up with these people? They were all struck by lightning, but they still came running to tell me to be careful of a sneak attack? In this day and age, has the human mind reached such a sublime level? Zhou Wen doubted such good things existed.


    The two of them shouldn¡¯t be from the same faction. Otherwise, they would only need to come once. There¡¯s no need for the two of them to run over. However, from the lightning wounds on their bodies, they seem to have experienced similar injuries. What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen thought about it and couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    If it were anyone else, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep after suffering such a disturbance.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone who was afraid of trouble. He lay down before falling asleep again.


    After Concerned Person and Nameless came, the thunderstorm became much smaller and gradually dissipated.


    When Zhou Wen woke up in the morning, the rain had already stopped. The television had also switched off by itself.


    Could it be that it¡¯s really because of the thunderstorm that the television was running on its own? Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe it, there was no better explanation.


    The phone suddenly rang. Zhou Wen took out his phone and saw that it was An Sheng.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, are you in Weihui now?¡± An Sheng asked directly.


    ¡°Yes, how did you know?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°The bureau has already found your whereabouts. It might not be the best choice to make this trip,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I have to make a trip to the Imperial Capital. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll be careful.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice. If it was any other time, he would definitely have turned around and returned to Luoyang. At most, he wouldn¡¯t go to the Imperial Capital.


    But now that he had the log on him, if he didn¡¯t go to the Imperial Capital and couldn¡¯t separate from the log at all, how was he going to pass his days?


    What was worse was that being inseparable from the log was only when he was resting. If Zhou Wen wanted to move, he had to carry it. Who could stand that?


    ¡°Young Master Wen, if you insist on going, it¡¯s best you change your route and progress speed. I¡¯ve revised the routes for you.¡± An Sheng sent a document to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen chatted with An Sheng for a while before opening the document An Sheng had sent him. He wanted to know what to do next, but when he opened the document, his eyes widened.


    The content of the document wasn¡¯t a map at all, but a dynamic emoji. It was a picture of two tall and muscular men wearing only briefs. One of them had his arms around the other¡¯s neck while the other was hugging his waist as they danced together.


    Zhou Wen was immediately dumbfounded as his expression turned odd. It should have been sent wrongly¡­ However, why would An Sheng have such a picture¡­ Could it be¡­


    Zhou Wen shivered and hurriedly shook his head to deny his thoughts. He sent a message to An Sheng and asked, ¡°Ah Sheng, did you send the wrong document?¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it a map of the routes?¡± An Sheng quickly replied.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s an animated picture.¡± Zhou Wen sent the picture along with the message.


    After a while, An Sheng sent another message. ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the message. I didn¡¯t make a mistake, but the message you received isn¡¯t right. The reason isn¡¯t clear. It¡¯s no longer safe to use my route. I¡¯ll send you a few routes later. You shall choose the route yourself. Don¡¯t tell anyone, including me.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    An Sheng sent a simple sketch over. It was obvious that it was hand drawn. It showed the routes from where he was to the Imperial Capital. He could choose one of them.


    As the communication line could be compromised, An Sheng didn¡¯t say much. He exhorted Zhou Wen to be careful before ending the call.


    Zhou Wen studied the map before choosing a path to continue his journey.


    In a cave on Chess Mountain, a seductive woman chained up was fiddling with some experimental equipment as though she was doing some research.


    The phone beside her rang. The woman glanced at the phone screen and realized that the message was from Zhou Wen. With a thought, an invisible force immediately controlled the phone to tap open the message.


    The phone automatically flew to the woman, allowing her to see the message.


    The woman frowned.


    ¡°Baby, I want you to be my slave tonight¡­¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you sure are gutsy! You want me to be your slave? I¡¯ll satisfy you immediately.¡± The woman narrowed her eyes as a strange glint flashed in them.


    With a thought, the woman automatically sent a message to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fulfill your wish tonight.¡±


    2


    Zhou Wen was walking when he heard his phone ring. He took it out and saw that it was from The Thearch. He immediately clicked it open and was momentarily at a loss. He sent a message over.


    ¡°What do you mean? Did you send the wrong message?¡±


    ¡°Wrong message? Then who did you plan on sending your message to?¡± The Thearch quickly replied.


    ¡°How would I know who your message was meant for?¡± Zhou Wen felt even more puzzled.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t reply. Zhou Wen muttered to himself, ¡°Crazy.¡±


    After putting away his phone, he continued his journey. Zhou Wen changed his previous route and took another detour. He didn¡¯t take the same old route.


    Although taking the original path might have an unexpected effect, the probability of Zhou Wen changing his route and not changing his route was one in two. However, the chances of accurately determining which one of the new routes that Zhou Wen would take were much lower. Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to change his route.


    An hour after Zhou Wen set off, Xia Liuchuan and company set off from another hotel in Weihui and continued following Zhou Wen.


    They looked much better now. The day before, they had encountered the mysterious dimensional creature that nearly killed them. Although they had managed to escape in the end, they had suffered minor injuries.


    With Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s deduction, they slowly followed behind. They weren¡¯t afraid of losing Zhou Wen.


    ¡°We were really unlucky yesterday to encounter such a terrifying dimensional creature. Thankfully, I¡¯m smart enough and ran fast enough,¡± Xia Liuchuan said gloomily.


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered and said, ¡°I did some divinations when I came out today.¡±


    ¡°What do they say?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    ¡°Today¡¯s divination is still Sister Return Lightning Pool,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°No way! Something similar will happen today?¡± Xia Liuchuan frowned.


    ¡°I hope not. Logically speaking, this Sister Return Lightning Pool isn¡¯t a bad divination, but this matter seems a little odd. It¡¯s best to be careful,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    The trio left the city and followed Zhou Wen¡¯s path for less than two hours before feeling that something was amiss. In the wilderness, there seemed to be pairs of eyes peeping at them, but upon careful inspection, they didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creatures or humans.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me something is up again!¡± Xia Liuchuan felt uneasy.

 Chapter 730 - Loving You for Ten Thousand Years

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s already happened,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he sized up the dark forest.


    Dugu Ge didn¡¯t say a word, but many tiny worms flew into the forest.


    Although the Gu worms weren¡¯t at the Mythical stage, they had hidden techniques. Furthermore, they were small in size, making it difficult for ordinary creatures to discover them.


    However, after the Gu worms entered the forest, they simultaneously lost contact with Dugu Ge. No matter how Dugu Ge summoned them, he couldn¡¯t obtain their memories. This made Dugu Ge¡¯s expression turn ugly.


    ¡°Quick, let¡¯s go¡­¡± As Dugu Ge spoke, he spread open a pair of insect wings, wanting to retreat along his original path.


    Xia Liuchuan also summoned his ancient sword to use Sword Kinesis Flight. His straight line speed wasn¡¯t slower than Dugu Ge¡¯s. Zhang Chunqiu wasn¡¯t slow either. He took out a talisman and was about to escape underground.


    However, just as the trio was halfway through their actions, they saw a pair of ghostly eyes open in the pitch-black forest. The eyes stared at them, and they felt their minds blur. They were so tired that they couldn¡¯t even open their eyes.


    Bam!


    The three of them fell to the ground in a daze. No matter how they struggled, their eyelids slowly closed.


    As Zhou Wen walked in front, all he felt was that the surrounding forest was especially quiet.


    However, it was different from the path the antelope had taken him. Although this path was quiet, there were many animals. However, they seemed especially lazy and were still sleeping.


    Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. He walked carefully, but he didn¡¯t encounter any problems along the way. By the time he arrived at the next city, the sky had already darkened.


    After a day of carrying the log, Zhou Wen felt exhausted. He found a hotel in the small city and settled down.


    This small city was similar to the previous city. Almost everyone had left. Zhou Wen randomly found an empty hotel, and no one asked him for money.


    That night, Zhou Wen slept very soundly. When he woke up, he stretched his back and was filled with energy.


    Nothing strange happened that night, unlike the hotel the night before. The television didn¡¯t automatically switch on.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. His chest seemed especially heavy. He looked down and immediately screamed.


    For some reason, the clothes in front of his chest were lifted up as though there were two huge papayas stuffed inside. Zhou Wen hurriedly pulled open his clothes and immediately discovered two things that shouldn¡¯t have appeared on him.


    1


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Zhou Wen realized that his voice had become extremely feminine. He hurriedly took out a mirror and looked at himself. He immediately realized that he had become a woman.


    Zhou Wen immediately thought of the message The Thearch had sent him. He hurriedly took out his phone and sent The Thearch a message. ¡°The Thearch, did you turn me into a woman?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The Thearch quickly replied and admitted it readily.


    ¡°Why? I haven¡¯t offended you recently, right?¡± Zhou Wen held back his anger and asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know why?¡± The Thearch asked.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know. Tell me clearly, what¡¯s the reason?¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. From The Thearch¡¯s tone, it seemed like he had provoked her first, but he hadn¡¯t contacted The Thearch recently. The Thearch hadn¡¯t contacted him either.


    ¡°Have you forgotten the message you sent so quickly? Do you still need me to remind you?¡± The Thearch replied.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. I¡¯m begging you, alright? Tell me. What message did I send you?¡± Zhou Wen increasingly felt that there was definitely something wrong.


    When The Thearch heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she seemed to realize that something was amiss. With Zhou Wen¡¯s character being so afraid of death, how could he tempt fate by sending such a teasing message?


    The Thearch thought for a moment before sending a screenshot of the message to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Baby, I want you to be my slave tonight¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s head turned livid when he saw the screenshot.


    He originally wanted to say that it wasn¡¯t posted by himself, but looking at the chat history on the screenshot, it was indeed sent from his account.


    It¡¯s no wonder The Thearch is so angry. So that¡¯s how it is. However, I¡¯ve never sent such a message. If The Thearch wants to mess with me, there¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble to send me a fake message. Could it be that my account has been hacked? Did someone send a message to The Thearch using my account? Zhou Wen was suspicious.


    ¡°The Thearch, I really didn¡¯t send that message. How could I send you that message? Someone must have hacked my account and sent you that message.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to explain the matter clearly and get The Thearch to quickly transform his body back. He really had no way of going out to meet anyone.


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s impossible for you to send me such a message?¡± The Thearch replied.


    ¡°You are a flower. How can I have any thoughts about a flower? The Thearch, just believe me. Even if I were to tease a sow, I wouldn¡¯t dare tease you. Quickly change me back,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    It was fine if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give his explanations, but his explanations only served to make The Thearch even angrier. She replied coldly, ¡°Just wait. You will recover on your own.¡±


    Then, The Thearch didn¡¯t reply to any more of Zhou Wen¡¯s messages. Despite thinking hard, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out what had gone wrong. She was fine just moments ago, so why was she suddenly unhappy?


    Thankfully, recovery was still possible. It was probably similar to the last time he transformed into a cat. He would recover after some time.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave. He planned on staying in the hotel and waiting for his transformation to end.


    During this period of time, Zhou Wen restored his phone to its factory settings. Then, he redownloaded the apps and changed the password. He used all the available methods to prevent his account from being hacked again.


    ¡­


    Feng Qiuyan was practicing his saber techniques as usual.


    Suddenly, his phone rang. Feng Qiuyan usually didn¡¯t pick up his phone or read messages when he was practicing with his saber. However, when he heard that the message was a ringtone that he had specially set, he guessed that it was from Zhou Wen. Feng Qiuyan stopped practicing with his saber and picked up his phone to take a look.


    Indeed, the message was from Zhou Wen. Feng Qiuyan opened the message and his expression immediately turned odd.


    ¡°There was once a sincere love that was placed in front of me, but I didn¡¯t cherish it. I only regretted it when I lost it. This is the most painful thing in the world. If the heavens can give me another chance, I will say three words to you: I love you. If you must add a deadline to this love, I hope it will be¡­ ten thousand years!¡±


    Feng Qiuyan stared blankly at the message as he looked extremely confused.


    How did this happen¡­ Why would Coach treat me¡­ How can I reject Coach without hurting his pride? Feng Qiuyan was conflicted.

 Chapter 731 - Coach, You’re a Nice Guy

    Translator: CKtalon


    Beep¡­ Zhou Wen was grinding while sitting on the log when he suddenly heard his phone ring. He picked it up and realized that it was from Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°Coach, you¡¯re a nice guy. I believe you¡¯ll meet the best person in the future. I just want to focus on practicing my saber. I don¡¯t plan on considering personal problems. It¡¯s not you, it¡¯s me¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was confused, unsure of what was going on.


    Feng Qiuyan was usually cool. Apart from practicing his saber techniques, he seldom spoke to others. Why would he suddenly send such a strange message to him? It didn¡¯t seem like his style at all.


    Could it be that he was hacked like me? As Zhou Wen thought about it, he sent Feng Qiuyan a message: ¡°Little Yanyan, have you been hacked?¡±


    When Feng Qiuyan received Zhou Wen¡¯s message and saw the way he addressed him as Little Yanyan, he suddenly shivered for some reason.


    This nickname was given to him by Li Xuan. He was used to being called that, so he didn¡¯t feel anything. He didn¡¯t mind it either.


    However, for some reason, when he saw this nickname today, he found it a little strange. It weirded him out in an indescribable manner.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t hacked. Coach, we are still students. We should prioritize our studies. Besides, the Federation is in a dire situation now. Everyone has a responsibility for the Federation¡¯s rise and fall¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan thought about how to reason with Zhou Wen without making him lose his dignity and not be sad about being rejected. He also hoped that it could be an impetus for him to work even harder.


    Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss as he suddenly realized something. He immediately sent a message to Feng Qiuyan. ¡°Before this message, did I send you a message? If there¡¯s one, send me a screenshot.¡±


    Zhou Wen took a screenshot of the first message Feng Qiuyan had sent him and sent it over. He felt that something was amiss.


    Indeed, it didn¡¯t take long for Feng Qiuyan to send a screenshot over. He even added, ¡°Coach, it¡¯s really not that you aren¡¯t good enough, but that I really just want to focus on practicing my saber.¡±


    When Zhou Wen saw the screenshot, he wished he could immediately find a hole to burrow in.


    F**k your sister. Who the hell is behind this? Zhou Wen felt like killing someone. If this continued, he would definitely go crazy.


    Left with no choice, Zhou Wen sent a message to Feng Qiuyan to explain the theft of his account.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I understand, Coach. I won¡¯t tell anyone about this,¡± Feng Qiuyan replied.


    ¡°F**k that, what are you thinking? My account has really been hacked.¡± Zhou Wen felt like crying, but Feng Qiuyan¡¯s words reminded him of something.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly sent a message to all his friends, telling them that his account had been hacked. If there were any abnormal messages from him, they mustn¡¯t believe it.


    Not long after, people replied to him with all sorts of messages. Some said that he had cheated them of their money and wanted them to return it. Others said that they had confessed to her and wanted him to take responsibility. However, they were all joking. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he learned that the rest hadn¡¯t received any special messages.


    Zhou Wen switched off his phone before considering the matter. He felt that something was amiss, as though it wasn¡¯t as simple as being hacked.


    This seems to have happened after I entered the hotel which had the television automatically switched on. Could it be that something has happened to my phone? Zhou Wen felt that the two matters were related.


    He checked his phone and didn¡¯t find any problems. Everything inside was normal.


    For this, Zhou Wen even especially found the internal structure of the phone and compared it to his own. However, there was nothing abnormal. No special components were installed inside.


    After switching on the phone again, Zhou Wen wiped his phone again and restored its factory settings. He did it again, but he didn¡¯t know if it was of any use.


    That¡¯s not right. Zhou Wen looked at the screen and suddenly discovered a problem.


    The phone was normal, but the only abnormal thing was the battery.


    In the past two days, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t charged his phone at all. Although he didn¡¯t usually use the phone, it had been on standby for a few days. Furthermore, he had been using it for quite some time; yet, the battery was still at 100% charge. This was clearly abnormal.


    Zhou Wen discovered this anomaly and immediately thought of the television that had automatically switched on in the hotel.


    I don¡¯t know why there was an electric current in the television previously that allowed it to automatically switch on. Now, the battery in my phone doesn¡¯t run out of charge. Could it be caused by the same thing? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to check the phone¡¯s battery, but he didn¡¯t find any problems. He just found plenty of charge in the battery.


    Although smashing the phone might resolve the problem, it was only a possibility. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and didn¡¯t smash the phone. He switched it off.


    Not long after, his body finally returned to normal. Zhou Wen continued on his journey with his phone.


    On the way, Zhou Wen paid close attention to the phone. Truth Listener¡¯s ability was constantly paying attention to the interior of the phone, especially the battery. However, he didn¡¯t discover anything amiss.


    When he arrived at the next city, Zhou Wen stopped to rest again. His phone remained silent.


    However, in the middle of the night, something abnormal happened. The phone that had been switched off, automatically switched on.


    When the phone was switched on, an app automatically started playing the old movie. Zhou Wen had already seen this old movie in the hotel.


    The problem is indeed there. Zhou Wen was now certain that something had happened at the hotel in the thunderstorm.


    Zhou Wen switched off his phone again, but not long after, the phone automatically switched on again. It was still playing the old movies. Furthermore, no matter how long it played them, the phone¡¯s battery didn¡¯t decrease.


    Zhou Wen switched it off a few times, but his phone would automatically switch on. Therefore, he decided not to turn it off.


    Nothing happened to the phone until the morning.


    Zhou Wen observed the battery in his phone the entire night. He could sense that there was a fluctuation in the battery, and it was extremely abnormal.


    Could it be that the electric current is a special dimensional creature? Zhou Wen felt that the possibility was very high.


    If the electric current inside was a Companion Beast, no one would use a Companion Beast like this. Although it created some trouble for him, it wasn¡¯t fatal.


    If his enemy had such a Companion Beast, they wouldn¡¯t have used it in such a manner. It could definitely deal him a lethal blow and throw him into eternal damnation.


    How can I get the electric current out? Zhou Wen looked at his phone and thought about how to confirm if there was a dimensional creature inside.

 Chapter 732 - Disappeared

    Translator: CKtalon


    Smash my phone? It¡¯s probably not of much use. It could silently run from the television into my phone, so it should be able to move elsewhere. That would make it even harder to find it. Now that it¡¯s in my phone, at least I know where it is, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    What kind of dimensional creature is this? A pure electric creature? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to monitor it and could only sense electric waves. He couldn¡¯t tell anything else.


    Zhou Wen thought about it carefully. The electric-elemental creatures he had heard of in the past had powerful destructive powers. They were especially ferocious when it came to roasting meat.


    However, this was the first time Zhou Wen had seen an electric-type creature that could enter electronic products, control electronic products, and use his software to send messages. He had never even heard of it before, much less seen it.


    If it was a traditional electric-type creature, Zhou Wen could blast it apart even if it was at the Mythical stage.


    However, such a sneaky fellow was not easy to deal with.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for a good solution. He wanted to use his phone to contact The Thearch to ask if she knew the origins of this strange electric-type creature, but he was afraid that the information would be tampered with. He didn¡¯t know what trouble it would cause.


    After daybreak, Zhou Wen carried the wooden log to the phone shop. There were very few people in the small city. After circling the city for some time, he finally found a phone shop and bought a few new phones and a new SIM card.


    After returning to the hotel, Zhou Wen placed the new phones in front of him and used Truth Listener to monitor the internal electric current in them.


    Only his first phone had a strange electric current fluctuation. Zhou Wen left it on the table and took out a new phone. He went to the yard outside and called The Thearch.


    Thankfully, The Thearch didn¡¯t reject the call because it was an unknown number. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and recounted what he had encountered in detail.


    ¡°To think I¡¯ve never seen such a dimensional creature before.¡± The Thearch actually didn¡¯t know the origins of this dimensional creature.


    After pausing for a moment, The Thearch continued, ¡°However, from your description, it should have an electromagnetic attribute. It might even have a magnetic field ability. It¡¯s probably impossible to destroy it by simply destroying the phone. It can easily transfer elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think too. I just can¡¯t think of a good way to deal with it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch curled her lips and said, ¡°Were your studies for nothing? Waves need to be transmitted through matter, and particles will be affected by a force field. Even if it¡¯s formed from pure electric energy, it can¡¯t break these laws. Why don¡¯t you try using the power similar to a black hole created by Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength?¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately taken aback. He had been considering how to restrain the electric-type creatures that existed in myths and legends. He never expected that a dimensional creature like The Thearch would take to him using human scientific knowledge.


    ¡°How do you know that Tyrant Behemoth is mine?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly reacted. He hadn¡¯t told The Thearch that Tyrant Behemoth belonged to him.


    ¡°What do I not know?¡± The Thearch said disdainfully.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen returned to his room. Just as he was about to test if Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength was effective, he suddenly realized that the special electric current in his phone had vanished.


    Zhou Wen carefully checked the other phones and checked everything in the hotel that could be connected to electricity. He didn¡¯t discover any abnormal electric waves.


    Why is it gone now? Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and thought of a possibility.


    It was very likely that the strange electric creature had overheard his conversation with The Thearch and had escaped.


    Unwilling to give up, he searched the entire night without discovering any problems. In the day, Zhou Wen had no choice but to set off.


    After this, nothing abnormal happened on the phone. Everything returned to normal.


    Has that electric-type creature really escaped? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that such a strange and cunning dimensional creature would be frightened away by a few words.


    Not long after Zhou Wen left, three men entered the small city where he had stayed. The three of them looked haggard and they had dark eye circles. They looked like they had stayed up all night for a week and were about to die.


    These three people were naturally Xia Liuchuan, Zhang Chunqiu, and Dugu Ge.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s something wrong with this matter? The first time we encountered that terrifying electric beast, we were nearly electrocuted to death. The second time, we encountered a Nightmare and almost lost ourselves in a dreamland forever. Why did we encounter such powerful Mythical creatures?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    Dugu Ge said with certainty, ¡°It¡¯s definitely not a coincidence.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I think this matter might have something to do with Zhou Wen. Wherever he goes, nothing happens. But he leaves a wake of problems behind him.¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that Zhou Wen is secretly up to no good and wants to harm us?¡± Xia Liuchuan frowned.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it. He probably doesn¡¯t know that we are here. After all, it was a coincidence that we met him previously,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Then what do you mean?¡± Xia Liuchuan looked at Zhang Chunqiu in confusion.


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Did you notice that there¡¯s something wrong with the piece of wood Zhou Wen has been carrying?¡±


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s a problem. I¡¯ve never seen such a block of wood before. It looks a little like a Gloomy Wood, but it looks even more solid than the Gloomy Wood,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not talking about that.¡± Zhang Chunqiu reorganized his thoughts before saying, ¡°Do you feel that the log is a little sinister?¡±


    ¡°Sinister?¡± Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge exchanged looks, puzzled.


    Seeing that they were silent, Zhang Chunqiu guessed that they had not noticed it before. He continued, ¡°I think there¡¯s something wrong with that piece of wood. It seems a little sinister. It doesn¡¯t feel like a simple log.¡±


    ¡°If it doesn¡¯t look like a log, what does it look like?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked in confusion.


    ¡°How should I put it? Nowadays, we carry out cremation or promession. In ancient times, land burials were popular. It used a wooden coffin to store a person¡¯s corpse before burying it in the ground. Although that piece of wood looks different from a coffin, the sinister aura emitted from it makes me think of a coffin.¡± Zhang Chunqiu shared his feelings.


    ¡°A coffin? Are you saying that there might be a dead person¡¯s corpse in that piece of wood? Zhou Wen is traveling with a dead person¡¯s corpse on his back? Why is he carrying that thing?¡± Xia Liuchuan widened his eyes.

 Chapter 733 - Sister Return Lightning Pool Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯m only saying that the piece of wood gives me the feeling of a coffin, but I didn¡¯t say that it¡¯s definitely it. Perhaps it¡¯s not. Even if it¡¯s real, there might not be a corpse inside. Even if there¡¯s a corpse, it might not be a human corpse,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he beat around the bush.


    ¡°Then isn¡¯t it as good as not saying anything? Are we still following?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    ¡°Yes, of course. This concerns the Guardian¡¯s ownership. It doesn¡¯t matter if you follow or not, but I have to see the outcome with my own eyes,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°In that case, what are we waiting for? Let¡¯s go,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    The three of them set off again, but this time, they deliberately lagged far behind, trying to keep a greater distance from Zhou Wen.


    However, after walking for a while, they felt that something was amiss. The surrounding fields seemed to be filled with a cold wind that made their hearts tremble.


    ¡°Old Zhang, why do I feel that something is amiss? Try divining again,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    As he said, Zhang Chunqiu did another divination before his expression turned odd.


    Seeing his expression, Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge knew that the situation wasn¡¯t good. They hurriedly asked, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°The divination is still Sister Return Lightning Pool,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a bitter smile.


    Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge¡¯s expressions changed as well. During the first Sister Return Lightning Pool, they had encountered an electric beast. They met a Nightmare the second time. Now, they were encountering it again.


    ¡°Is this sister never getting married?¡± Xia Liuchuan said gloomily.


    1


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s words suddenly gave Zhang Chunqiu a flash of inspiration. He said in surprise, ¡°Do you think that the divination of Sister Return Lightning Pool refers to that piece of wood?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°If my previous guess wasn¡¯t wrong, that piece of wood is really something like a coffin. Do you think there¡¯s a woman inside?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said in a bold and unconstrained manner.


    ¡°What woman? If it¡¯s really a coffin, there should be a female corpse inside,¡± Xia Liuchuan corrected.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a woman or a female corpse. Over the past few days, no matter how I divine, the results are always Sister Return Lightning Pool. I think this matter definitely has something to do with that piece of wood.¡± The more Zhang Chunqiu spoke, the more convinced he was.


    Xia Liuchuan was about to say something when he suddenly heard a roar. The fields beside them split open and a huge earth dragon crawled out.


    Zhou Wen walked ahead. Although he felt that the atmosphere was somewhat odd his entire journey, he didn¡¯t encounter any other strange things other than the electric-type dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen was in no mood to visit other dimensional zones. He walked whenever he could and rested when exhausted. He kept rushing towards the Imperial Capital, hoping to rid the crappy piece of wood from him as soon as possible.


    Zhou Wen himself was fine, but Xia Liuchuan and company, who were following behind him, suffered. They experienced all sorts of difficulties along the way, almost losing their lives several times.


    Xia Liuchuan ultimately couldn¡¯t take it anymore and decided to take a detour back to the Xia family in the Imperial Capital.


    Zhang Chunqiu decided to continue, but Brother Dugu didn¡¯t plan on following.


    ¡°Young Master, everyone is here. When are we going to take action?¡± The members of the Dugu family came in front of Dugu Ge and bowed.


    ¡°Abort the plan for now,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    Everyone was taken aback. One of them asked in puzzlement, ¡°Young Master, why are you aborting it? This concerns your contractual with a Guardian.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I¡¯ll explain this matter to the elders in the clan. Just do as I say,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The group had just arrived and didn¡¯t even get to rest. All they could do was turn back.


    Xia Liuchuan rushed back to the Xia family. He wasn¡¯t really afraid that he would encounter danger if he followed behind, but he had already received the news that the Xia family was prepared to attack Zhou Wen before he entered the capital. Xia Liuchuan wanted to rush back and convince Xia Dongyue to give up on this operation.


    The wooden log Zhou Wen was carrying was indeed odd. Xia Liuchuan was afraid that the Xia family would end up dying as a result.


    Xia Liuchuan embarked on his journey with light gear. He chose the shortest path and returned to the capital much earlier than Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Liuchuan, why are you back? Didn¡¯t I tell you to follow Zhou Wen?¡± Xia Dongyue couldn¡¯t help but frown when he saw Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°Uncle Yue, can we abort this operation?¡± Xia Liuchuan was in a hurry to rush back because he might not be able to convince Xia Dongyue over the phone.


    ¡°Why should we abort it?¡± Xia Dongyue asked Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is carrying a strange piece of wood to the Imperial Capital. That piece of wood has a strange background and is very sinister. I¡¯m afraid something will happen if we touch him now,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°A piece of wood?¡± Xia Dongyue was a little puzzled. Xia Liuchuan had always been fearless, so how could a piece of wood make him so cautious? This was completely different from the Xia Liuchuan that Xia Dongyue knew.


    Xia Liuchuan recounted what had happened when the three of them followed Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Zhang Chunqiu guessed that the terrifying Mythical creatures we encountered along the way are related to that piece of wood. I think it¡¯s very likely,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°It sounds reasonable, but even so, it doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t touch Zhou Wen. We can choose to carry out the operation near the capital. The dimensional zones there are under our control. We don¡¯t have to worry about any break-out creatures causing trouble,¡± Xia Dongyue said after some thought.


    ¡°Uncle Yue, why take such a risk? The grudge between Zhou Wen and the bureau is known by the entire Federation. It¡¯s highly likely that he came to the capital this time for the bureau. Why should we be used by the bureau?¡± Xia Liuchuan continued with his persuasion.


    Xia Dongyue shook his head and said, ¡°This is Old Master¡¯s idea. You know his temper. No one can change what he has decided.¡±


    When Xia Liuchuan heard the words ¡°Old Master,¡± his heart sank. He knew that this operation was already a foregone conclusion and could not be changed.


    ¡°Liuchuan, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. Although that piece of wood might be a little strange, with our Xia family¡¯s heritage, there¡¯s no need to worry about it. It¡¯s just Zhou Wen. Taking him down isn¡¯t difficult.¡± Xia Dongyue patted Xia Liuchuan on the shoulder and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re back, stay home and get some rest. I¡¯ll get someone from the East Courtyard to handle this matter.¡±


    1


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Xia Liuchuan felt that this matter wouldn¡¯t succeed so easily, but there was nothing he could do.


    The Old Master of the Xia family was the supreme existence in the Xia family. Even Xia Dongyue, who had become a member of the Senate, didn¡¯t dare disobey his words. No one could change his mind.

 Chapter 734 - Erected on the Peak of the Forbidden City

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although Xia Liuchuan was a little worried, he had no choice but to leave Xia Dongyue¡¯s office.


    ¡°Brother, you seem to have something on your mind. Is it because you didn¡¯t obtain the Guardian cocoon?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked with concern when she saw Xia Liuchuan frowning.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is on his way to the Imperial Capital. Old Master has already ordered the people from the East Courtyard to bring him back before he enters the Imperial Capital,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Why is Old Master taking Zhou Wen into custody?¡± Having not heard of this, Xia Xuanyue¡¯s expression changed slightly when she learned of it.


    Xia Liuchuan hurriedly stopped Xia Xuanyue from continuing. He looked around and seeing that no one was passing by, he said softly, ¡°You should be the only person to know about this. Don¡¯t mention it again, and don¡¯t tell anyone. Also, don¡¯t ask too much about the Old Master. Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Xia Xuanyue was still confused.


    In fact, Xia Xuanyue¡¯s impression of the Old Master was very vague. Although the Old Master was the true head of the Xia family, Xia Xuanyue had only seen him a handful of times despite having grown up in the Xia family.


    In her impression, the Old Master was a stern old man in a white robe. He occasionally appeared at important Xia family ceremonies. He usually lived in the East Courtyard.


    The East Courtyard was also a restricted area in the Xia family. Without the Old Master¡¯s summoning, even Xia Dongyue couldn¡¯t enter and leave the East Courtyard freely.


    Only those who were in charge of taking care of the Old Master¡¯s daily needs could enter the East Courtyard.


    Most of the people who were in charge of taking care of the Old Master¡¯s daily needs were not from the Xia family. However, they were all loyal to the Old Master and wouldn¡¯t hesitate or doubt his orders.


    When Xia Xuanyue was young, she had seen an elder of the Xia family who was seized by the people from the East Courtyard for some unknown crime. After entering the East Courtyard, he never came out again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask why. Trust me. I¡¯m your brother. I won¡¯t harm you,¡± Xia Liuchuan said as he looked into Xia Xuanyue¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Xia Xuanyue nodded slightly.


    ¡°Get some rest. Since this matter has already been handed over to the East Courtyard, we don¡¯t have to bother about it anymore.¡± Xia Liuchuan seemed to have something on his mind. After saying that, he returned to his residence.


    However, before he could open the door, someone sent a message saying that the Old Master wanted to see him.


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s heart quaked. He had already guessed why the Old Master was looking for him.


    Xia Liuchuan took a deep breath and followed the butler to the East Courtyard.


    If it wasn¡¯t necessary, Xia Liuchuan would rather not enter the East District ever again.


    When he was young, he had actually liked visiting the East Courtyard. The Old Master doted on him very much. The other members of the Xia family were not allowed to enter the East Courtyard, but he was specially permitted by the Old Master to enter freely.


    At that time, Xia Liuchuan could be said to be able to get whatever he wanted. Even if he plucked the flowers personally planted by the Old Master, the Old Master would only laugh and never punish him.


    However, after he turned fifteen, Xia Liuchuan seldom went to the East Courtyard. Although he still had the privilege of doing so, he was unwilling to go again.


    As he stepped into the familiar garden and saw the familiar decorations and flowers, Xia Liuchuan had mixed feelings.


    ¡°Little Chuan, Dongyue has already told me about your matters. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll let Zhou Wen enter the Imperial Capital alive. I¡¯ll let you win the bet and obtain the chance to contract the guardian.¡± A white-robed elder sat in a stone pavilion with a pond by its side, feeding the carp in it.


    ¡°Sorry to trouble you.¡± Xia Liuchuan bowed slightly.


    He was a fearless person who dared to do anything, but in front of this Old Master, he didn¡¯t dare to do anything rash.


    As the elder fed the fish, he continued, ¡°It¡¯s nothing much. It¡¯s just a matter of time. After you contract the Guardian, I want you to personally bring Zhou Wen back to me. Can you do it?¡±


    ¡°Old Master, everyone around you is stronger than me. Why must I go?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t willing, let Xuanyue go,¡± the elder said indifferently.


    Xia Liuchuan gapped his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but he didn¡¯t say anything in the end. He only nodded. ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll bring Zhou Wen back.¡±


    ¡°Remember, you are the future master of the Xia family. No matter how strong the people under you are, they are ultimately servants,¡± the elder said.


    ¡°I understand,¡± Xia Liuchuan lowered his head and said.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen rushed all the way to the Imperial Capital and didn¡¯t encounter anything strange. Apart from the fact that the log was especially heavy and making it difficult for him to go any faster, there wasn¡¯t much trouble.


    When Zhou Wen saw the two words¡ªImperial Capital¡ªfrom afar, he couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, where should I place this log when I reach the Imperial Capital?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope.


    The antelope wrote on the ground with its hooves, ¡°Erect it on the peak of the Forbidden City.¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen saw the words written by the antelope and immediately widened his eyes.


    The Imperial Capital¡¯s Forbidden City was now a very special dimensional zone. It was also one of the dimensional zones that the Xia family valued the most. Its importance was no less than that of the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, ever since the dimensional storms, the Xia family had sealed off the Forbidden City dimensional zone, preventing anyone from approaching.


    If he wanted to enter, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to do so with the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s ability.


    However, it was impossible for him to enter the city without anyone noticing while carrying such a huge object. He had to clash with the Xia family.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, are you deliberately setting me up?¡± Zhou Wen seriously suspected that the antelope had deliberately set him up because he had forcefully dragged it out to come with him on this trip.


    The antelope ignored him and stepped across the Imperial Capital¡¯s Boundary Stone.


    Zhou Wen had to follow. He had no other choice at this point in time.


    Zhou Wen seldom went out, so he had never seen a city as big as the Imperial Capital. Compared to it, Luoyang appeared rather small in scale and numbers.


    As there were too many people, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ride the Great Might Vajra Bull. He walked forward while carrying the wooden log.


    Although this was the Imperial Capital, people still gawked when they saw Zhou Wen walking on the streets with such a huge block of wood.


    Zhou Wen originally planned on contacting Wang Lu when he arrived in the Imperial Capital. However, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to treat her to a meal while carrying a huge log. Therefore, he decided not to contact her. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to contact her after resolving the matter with the log.


    He found a hotel and checked in. The room was rather expensive, but Zhou Wen still paid for it without any hesitation. Furthermore, he booked the room for a week.


    This place was relatively close to Forbidden City. Through the floor-to-ceiling windows in the room, one could see the distant Forbidden City. This was also why Zhou Wen chose to stay here.


    How can I sneak this log in? Zhou Wen stood in front of the window and stared at the ancient Forbidden City in the distance as many thoughts flashed through his mind.

 Chapter 735 - Creditor Comes Knocking

    Translator: CKtalon


    Ever since he entered the Imperial Capital, Zhou Wen felt all sorts of gazes staring at him. Furthermore, there were definitely more than one or two people staring at him.


    It was almost impossible to enter the Forbidden City without anyone noticing.


    Do I have to barge my way in? Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant.


    Although his present strength could be considered top-notch in the Federation and he had many Mythical Companion Beasts, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to gain an advantage against a hero family.


    After all, they had been operating for decades. Even if they didn¡¯t have a phone to grind for resources, they definitely had a lot of resources in real life.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that despite a large number of spies staring at him, no one attacked him despite him being in the capital for so long.


    When did the bureau become so good-tempered? They actually haven¡¯t come looking for trouble? Zhou Wen felt that there was something amiss.


    Zhou Wen was right. Something had happened on the way.


    However, due to an accident, the Dugu family, who had originally planned to attack him, aborted the operation. The bureau was waiting for the Xia family to take action, and because the Xia family wanted Xia Liuchuan to win the bet, they allowed him to arrive at the Imperial Capital safely.


    Now that the Xia family was waiting for Xia Liuchuan to sign a contract with the Guardian, everything was calm.


    As he was thinking, he felt a fluctuation from a Companion Beast. Explosive Fiend Man that had evolved again had finally completed its evolution.


    Zhou Wen checked Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s stats in-game.


    Explosive Fiend Man: Epic (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Unlawful


    Life Soul: Destroyer


    Strength: 41


    Speed: 41


    Constitution: 41


    Essence Energy: 41


    Talent Skill: Death List, Time-Blast


    Companion Form: Self-detonation Device


    His stats had risen in a normal fashion. His skills hadn¡¯t changed, but he had gained a Life Soul.


    Zhou Wen summoned Explosive Fiend Man in-game. It didn¡¯t look much different from when it was at the Legendary stage. It looked like a very modern armored soldier.


    Let me see what use your Life Soul has. Zhou Wen got Explosive Fiend Man to use the Destroyer Life Soul.


    With a thought, the red liquid in the glass tubes on Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s back injected into his body through the pipes. Then, Zhou Wen saw Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s armor emitting strange red flames. Its body was filled with a dangerous aura.


    Explosive Fiend Man seemed to have been injected with stimulants. His Speed and Strength had greatly increased, and his skills had also been strengthened.


    Previously, he needed at least thirty seconds to complete a Time-Blast. However, with the augmentation of the Destroyer Life Soul, he only used less than three seconds to complete a Time-Blast. His efficiency had increased by ten times.


    This Destroyer Life Soul is quite strong! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. In the past, Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s skill cast time was too slow, so it wasn¡¯t convenient to use it.


    Although the speed of a skill at three seconds was still a little slow, much slower than an instantaneous skill, considering Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s special skill, three seconds was considered rather powerful.


    I can consider using Explosive Fiend Man to set up some time bombs nearby. If anyone tries to sneak up on me, I¡¯ll make sure they have no chance of returning. Zhou Wen only had this thought. After all, this was a hotel. It wouldn¡¯t be good if he injured the workers who were cleaning up the room.


    If Explosive Fiend Man advances to the Mythical stage, I might be able to instantly release a time bomb. That would be awesome. Zhou Wen looked forward to Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s growth.


    The doorbell rang. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to take a look and was immediately stunned. The person standing outside the door was Wang Lu.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly opened the door. When Wang Lu saw him, she said unhappily, ¡°You didn¡¯t inform me, your debtor, despite coming to the Imperial Capital? Are you trying to renege on your debt?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I encountered some trouble. I originally planned on contacting you after resolving it, but I never expected you to come here yourself. By the way, how did you know that I was in the Imperial Capital?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? After all, our Wang family has some influence in the Imperial Capital. For a famous person like you to come to the Imperial Capital, I have no choice but to know. This news keeps buzzing around my ears. It¡¯s so irritating that I can¡¯t sleep,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°As you know, I¡¯m in a lot of trouble now. I don¡¯t have the time to eat with you for the time being. Go back now and I¡¯ll look for you when I¡¯m done with my matters,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhou Wen mainly didn¡¯t want his matter to implicate Wang Lu, but when Wang Lu heard that, she curled her lips and said, ¡°If you want to renege on your debt, just say so. Why do you have to come up with so many excuses? Since I came looking for you, I¡¯m naturally not afraid of trouble. Why are you being so wishy-washy? Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t even have time to go downstairs to eat?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t have time, but it¡¯s really inconvenient.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the wooden log under his buttocks and said, ¡°I have to carry this with me at all times. Where do you think I can eat conveniently when I have to take it with me?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Why are you carrying it? Just leave it in the room. If you find it unsafe, I¡¯ll get someone to look after it for you,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about safety. I can¡¯t leave it. I have to carry it with me. It¡¯s a long story,¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    Wang Lu thought for a moment and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. Just take it with you and follow me. I¡¯ll find a place. It¡¯s very quiet there. That place can easily accommodate a few more logs of the same size.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not very nice, right? You know that my relationship with the bureau isn¡¯t good. This is where the headquarters of the bureau is¡­¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t wish for Wang Lu to be embroiled in his matters.


    ¡°Cut the crap. I don¡¯t like hearing that. Just follow me.¡± Having known him for so long, Wang Lu knew Zhou Wen¡¯s temper quite well. There was no need to waste her breath on him. All she needed to do was drag him away.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it will affect your family.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to make things clear.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said it. Since I dared to come, I¡¯m naturally not afraid. Although the bureau is very powerful, they can¡¯t do anything to me. Don¡¯t worry. Quickly follow me. I didn¡¯t eat anything the entire morning just to eat this meal of yours. I¡¯m starving,¡± Wang Lu said.


    The chick smartly flew onto Wang Lu¡¯s shoulder. Even the antelope took the initiative to approach her and fawned over her. Zhou Wen had no choice but to carry the wooden log and follow Wang Lu.


    Looking at Wang Lu teasing the chick in front of him, Zhou Wen¡¯s mood improved significantly. Under such circumstances, it was indeed rare for Wang Lu to be willing to seek him out. Typical schoolmates would probably keep their distance from him.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Wang Lu was taking him to a restaurant, but to his surprise, Wang Lu brought him all the way to a traditionally-styled ancient building complex.


    After circling the alley for a while, he entered one of the ancient buildings¡¯ courtyard.

 Chapter 736 - The Geniuses’ Accidents

    Translator: CKtalon


    After entering the yard, Wang Lu¡¯s expression turned solemn. ¡°Do you know that you are in grave danger now?¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Why are you still here when you know? Do you feel uncomfortable if you don¡¯t get beaten up for a day?¡± Wang Lu rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t plan on coming here like this.¡± Zhou Wen originally planned on using the Invisibility Cloak to enter the Imperial Capital, preventing others from knowing that he had been here.


    But now, he was carrying a huge log. It was useless even if he was invisible. The Invisibility Cloak couldn¡¯t cover such a huge log. Anyone would know that something was amiss when they saw a log floating in midair.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you still don¡¯t know the current situation. If it was just the bureau finding trouble with you, that would be fine. With your abilities and me acting as your informant, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to deal with it. However, the person who wants to touch you isn¡¯t just the bureau. There¡¯s also the real master of the capital, the Xia family. It¡¯s easy for you to come to the Imperial Capital, but I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy for you to leave,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Why does the Xia family want to deal with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    He didn¡¯t have any deep feud with the Xia family, so there was no reason for them to kill him, right?


    ¡°The intricacies are very complicated. I¡¯ll get my grandmother to tell you later.¡± As Wang Lu spoke, she walked towards the main room.


    ¡°Grandma, I¡¯ve brought a friend,¡± Wang Lu shouted into the hall as she walked.


    ¡°Crazy girl, just come. What are you shouting for?¡± A voice came from the backyard and an old woman walked over.


    The woman looked quite old. Her hair was already white, but for some reason, there weren¡¯t any wrinkles on her face. She looked very elegant, and it was easy to guess that she must have been a beauty when she was young.


    ¡°This lad is the Zhou Wen you often mention, right?¡± the old woman said as she sized him up.


    ¡°When did I? It¡¯s just that he owes me so much and hasn¡¯t paid me back that I occasionally mention him. I¡¯m afraid that I¡¯ll forget the debt,¡± Wang Lu said as she tugged the old woman¡¯s arm.


    ¡°I see.¡± The old woman smiled at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Lad, you look so young. Why did you get yourself in debt? Furthermore, your debtor is a female student. Don¡¯t tell me you want to be a freeloader?¡±


    ¡°Grandma Wang, it¡¯s not like that.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to explain.


    However, before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted by the old woman. ¡°But it doesn¡¯t matter. Our Wang family doesn¡¯t have much of anything else, but we have plenty of money. There¡¯s no way to spend it all eating. Just treat it as doing a good deed and come often to have a bite. It doesn¡¯t matter if you stay here. Our Wang family happens to be lacking a live-in son-in-law¡­¡±


    1


    ¡°Grandma, what are you talking about?¡± Wang Lu¡¯s face flushed red. ¡°Zhou Wen is only my classmate. It¡¯s not what you think.¡±


    After a pause, Wang Lu added, ¡°Grandma, you must already know about Zhou Wen¡¯s situation. Tell him how dangerous his current situation is.¡±


    Upon hearing Wang Lu¡¯s words, Grandma Wang retracted her smile. ¡°Let¡¯s talk inside.¡±


    Zhou Wen followed them into the hall. Wang Lu gestured for him to sit down before she brewed tea for them all.


    ¡°Grandma Wang, I heard from Wang Lu that the Xia family wants to find trouble with me, but I don¡¯t have much of a grudge with the Xia family. Why are they targeting me?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Grandma Wang nodded and said, ¡°The crazy girl is right. The Xia family might really attack you. You shouldn¡¯t have come to the Imperial Capital.¡±


    After a moment of silence, Grandma Wang continued, ¡°The crazy girl is willing to bring you here because she doesn¡¯t treat you as an outsider. So I won¡¯t say things meant for outsiders. What I¡¯m about to say next is just speculation. It¡¯s not necessarily the truth. So don¡¯t take it too seriously.¡±


    ¡°Grandma Wang, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not a talkative person,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine even if you are talkative. Anyway, I won¡¯t admit to what I said today, nor will the Wang family.¡± Grandma Wang said with a smile, ¡°According to my guess, the reason the Xia family is targeting you isn¡¯t because your teacher was Wang Mingyuan, nor is it because you crippled the Xia family¡¯s juniors¡¯ Essence Energy sea in the Holy Land.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the reason?¡± Apart from these two reasons, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure out what connection he had with the Xia family.


    Although Demonic Neonate¡¯s demonic sword was snatched from Xia Xuanyue, Xia Xuanyue herself didn¡¯t know that it was done by Demonic Neonate. The Xia family shouldn¡¯t pin the blame on him.


    Grandma Wang said with a strange expression, ¡°If there¡¯s a reason, there¡¯s only one. You are too talented.¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He found it difficult to believe that the Xia family wanted to kill him just for this reason.


    There were many talented youths nowadays, and he wasn¡¯t the only one. Even if the Xia family were to suppress the other wealthy families, it shouldn¡¯t have to resort to such means.


    After all, the dimensional zones¡¯ seals weren¡¯t stable. The six families alone probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the dimensional army. To suppress the local factions would only make them appear short-sighted.


    As if she had seen through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts, Grandma Wang continued, ¡°In the past, there were precedents of geniuses disappearing or encountering accidents in the Federation. Furthermore, there has been more than one incident. Similar incidents happened every once in a while. It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s just ordinary geniuses, but most of these geniuses are targets that the various families focused on grooming. With the protection of the various families, it¡¯s almost impossible for them to take such a huge risk. Yet, something happened to them.¡±


    ¡°In Luoyang, you should know that there¡¯s a Li family in Luoyang. The Li family once had a talented youth. His talent wasn¡¯t inferior to the current Overseer An, but before he truly grew in strength, he died because of some problem,¡± said Grandma Wang with a sigh.


    ¡°You mean that the disappearance of these geniuses has something to do with the Xia family?¡± Zhou Wen had already heard Li Xuan mention the matter regarding his elder brother¡¯s demise.


    However, Li Xuan had learned about it from Li Mobai. He never expected Grandma Wang to know about it.


    Grandma Wang declined to comment and continued, ¡°In the past, our Wang family also had such a genius. Similarly, he died because of some matters. That matter looked like an accident, but I didn¡¯t think it was that simple. Therefore, I secretly did investigations, but I didn¡¯t manage to find anything. However, during this period of time, I discovered something. The accidents of those young geniuses seemed to have something to do with the Xia family.¡±


    ¡°Is the Xia family resorting to every means possible, to the point of attacking their competitors, just to consolidate their forces?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°This is also what I found strange back then. The Xia family didn¡¯t target their opponents who had conflicts of interest with them. They seemed to be only interested in those outstanding geniuses and didn¡¯t differentiate between friend and foe. Therefore, when I investigated in the beginning, I was also confused and didn¡¯t think about the Xia family. Later, after investigating for a long time, I realized that it appeared to be the Xia family behind this matter,¡± Grandma Wang said.

 Chapter 737 - Where Is the Highest Spot?

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Zhou Wen left the yard, he kept thinking about what Grandma Wang had said.


    Although there was no evidence that the Xia family was related to the geniuses¡¯ demise, Zhou Wen also felt that there was something amiss.


    It didn¡¯t seem right to explain it away as the Xia family deliberately suppressing ordinary families as a way to strengthen their status.


    According to Grandma Wang¡¯s investigations, some of the young geniuses who had gotten into trouble didn¡¯t belong to the East District, much less the Xia family¡¯s circle of influence.


    The situation in the other regions was chaotic. It was a happy outcome for the Xia family, but they clearly didn¡¯t think so.


    Regardless, I have to think of a way to get this crappy piece of wood into the Forbidden City. Otherwise, it won¡¯t be convenient for me to do anything. When Zhou Wen was with the Wang family, he had also asked some questions regarding Forbidden City.


    Wang Lu and Grandma Wang didn¡¯t know much about Forbidden City. This was because the Xia family had occupied it from the beginning of the dimensional storms. They never allowed outsiders to enter, so no one knew what had happened inside after the dimensional storms.


    However, Grandma Wang told Zhou Wen something very interesting. She had lived through the dimensional storms, so she had entered Forbidden City quite often before they occurred.


    She said that she had once visited the Forbidden City when she was young. Back then, the weather suddenly turned bad and thunder rumbled in the sky.


    She originally wanted to return home quickly, but when she passed a certain spot in the city, she suddenly saw some strange shadows.


    The shadows wore ancient clothes as they walked in the alley of Forbidden City. They looked like ancient consorts and palace maids.


    What was even stranger was that their figures were transparent like spirit bodies.


    Spirit bodies weren¡¯t rare now, but before the dimensional storms, they were terrifying.


    At that time, Grandma Wang was still very young. She was quite frightened and immediately ran away. However, her youth made her curious. Later on, she went to the same place a few times, but she didn¡¯t see those shadows again.


    Grandma Wang checked the information on the Internet. It said that the magical phenomenon might be a result of lightning during a rainy day. It was like a camera that recorded past scenes. Under identical weather conditions, the footage would be played.


    Of course, this was only a guess. No one could verify its authenticity.


    However, this wasn¡¯t strange. What was strange was that after the dimensional storms, every time there was a thunderstorm, strange sounds would come from the Forbidden City.


    Although outsiders couldn¡¯t enter Forbidden City, one could still hear some sounds from it during a thunderstorm if they lived close.


    After Grandma Wang heard about this matter, she waited for a thunderstorm. Indeed, she heard some strange sounds coming from inside.


    Some of the sounds reminded her of the palace maids and concubines she had seen back then.


    This had all been personally experienced by Grandma Wang, so it was naturally true.


    Zhou Wen had previously searched for information about the Forbidden City on the Internet. In fact, compared to the other ancient cities, the history of Forbidden City wasn¡¯t too long. From its establishment, it had only experienced two feudal dynasties.


    However, its scale was incomparable to the other ancient cities.


    Forbidden City also had the title of Eight-Armed Nezha Demonic City. If one were to mention the tallest building in the city, it would be the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It was nearly forty meters tall.


    Zhou Wen looked up the information mainly to confirm the location of the so-called peak of Forbidden City. It was to prevent him from having to seek it out after entering. That would be troublesome.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked over from the hotel¡¯s top floor, he discovered a strange place. The tallest building he saw from the hotel wasn¡¯t the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but a Corner Tower in the corner of the city.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was because he was too far away or if it was because of the angle, he could only see the Corner Tower and not the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    Despite this, Zhou Wen still searched for information on Corner Towers. This search left him alarmed. Although Corner Towers were inconspicuous, the meaning it represented was extraordinary.


    These Corner Towers were not meant for mortals to live. It was similar to Deer Terrace Pavilion. Their purpose was to guide immortals down to the mortal world and protect the safety of the imperial city. The reason they were named Corner Towers was that the immortals which were meant to be received were the corner mansions of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions.


    The corner mansion wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to Zhou Wen. He even had it as a skill, so when he saw the information, Zhou Wen felt that this place was extraordinary. It might really be the peak of Forbidden City.


    Furthermore, the architectural standards of the Corner Tower were extremely high. It had three eaves, nine beams, eighteen pillars, and seventy-two spines. Such an architectural style was unique in the Forbidden City.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the famous Hall of Supreme Harmony was at the peak of Forbidden City, but the more he looked at it, the more he felt that a Corner Tower was the true peak of the Forbidden City.


    Corner Towers are built on the city walls of Forbidden City, so it might indeed be taller than the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but there are four of them. Which Corner Tower should I erect the log on? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Without any accurate information, Zhou Wen could only wait until he entered Forbidden City before comparing them to the Hall of Supreme Harmony Hall.


    Zhou Wen also asked the antelope, but the antelope only said to erect it on the peak of Forbidden City. It didn¡¯t know the exact location of the erection.


    Could it be that I can just randomly erect it on a higher spot? Zhou Wen thought.


    What Zhou Wen was most worried about was how to enter Forbidden City.


    If he barged in, it would only give the Xia family an excuse to attack him. However, on the other hand, he would be free once he rushed into the city and erected the log.


    With the Invisibility Cloak, who could stop him from escaping?


    This plan looked perfect, but the premise was that he could really abandon the log. If he still couldn¡¯t abandon it when the time came, he would be in trouble.


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating, he heard someone walking towards his room.


    Through the door, Zhou Wen could sense that the person¡¯s bearing was extraordinary. He was in his twenties and probably not much older than An Tianzuo.


    Zhou Wen found the person somewhat familiar, but he couldn¡¯t recall where he had seen him.


    ¡°Is Zhou Wen around?¡± Xia Liuchuan knocked on the door and asked.


    When Zhou Wen heard the voice, he immediately recalled where he had seen him. This fellow was the Concerned Person who had tipped him off on that stormy night.


    Zhou Wen opened the door and asked Xia Liuchuan, ¡°Concerned Person, are you here to tip me off again?¡±


    Xia Liuchuan said calmly, ¡°I don¡¯t understand what you¡¯re talking about. My name is Xia Liuchuan. I¡¯m here to challenge you. This is my challenge letter. I hope you can give me an answer now.¡±


    ¡°Why are you challenging me?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at Xia Liuchuan¡¯s challenge.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve forgotten that you once crippled the Essence Energy sea of my Xia family members in the Holy Land?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°I see. I accept your challenge.¡± Zhou Wen actually agreed without any hesitation, surprising Xia Liuchuan.

 Chapter 738 - Decisive Battle at the Peak of the Forbidden City

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Did you read it carefully? This isn¡¯t an ordinary challenge. We have to fight until one person falls,¡± Xia Liuchuan reminded him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read it carefully. I can agree to a life-and-death duel with you, but on one condition. The location of the duel has to be chosen by me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to have the duel in Luoyang?¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    Xia Liuchuan would have done such a thing himself. If Zhou Wen also did the same, Xia Liuchuan could have agreed if he had any say. However, he had no choice in this duel. He couldn¡¯t agree to Zhou Wen¡¯s request.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s in the Imperial Capital,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Where do you want it to happen?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    To be able to fight an expert like you can be considered a boon in life. I probably won¡¯t have many opportunities like this in life, so I naturally have to choose a place that matches you and me. How about we fight at the peak of Forbidden City? Just as Zhou Wen was worrying about how he could enter the Forbidden City, Xia Liuchuan came knocking on his door.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care about life-and-death duels at all. As long as he could settle the crappy piece of wood, he would immediately put on the Invisibility Cloak and leave. It didn¡¯t matter if he won.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan was in a difficult position.


    It was fine to have the duel elsewhere, but Forbidden City was under the Old Master¡¯s control. Without the Old Master¡¯s orders, even the Xia family members couldn¡¯t enter.


    ¡°What? Are you still worried when it¡¯s your Xia family¡¯s territory?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Alright, I promise you. Since you decided on the location, I¡¯ll decide on the time,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Sure. When?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Wait for my news.¡± Xia Liuchuan turned around and left.


    This fellow is really odd. He was clearly the Concerned Person that night. Why isn¡¯t he admitting to it? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    However, as long as nothing unexpected happened, the matter of entering Forbidden City had been resolved by accident. With the opportunity of a duel with Xia Liuchuan, Zhou Wen could try erecting the log at higher spots.


    Dealing with Xia Liuchuan was better than dealing with the Xia family¡¯s gank.


    While waiting for Xia Liuchuan¡¯s reply, Zhou Wen stayed in his room to grind. He didn¡¯t go anywhere.


    Since he had nothing to do, Zhou Wen planned on trying to kill the nine black dragons. He could use Doctor Darkness¡¯s Darkness Right Hand to kill the three black dragons.


    After bringing all his Mythical Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen arrived at the underground sea again.


    With Behemoth on the left, Truth Listener on the right, Six-Winged on his back, he held a golden sword in his hand. Along with the old bull under his crotch and a Torch Dragon coiled behind him.


    Zhou Wen had even summoned the extremely weak Medusa. Perhaps it would be of some use if she stood by the shore to provide support.


    Demonic Neonate naturally didn¡¯t need to be mentioned. She had already joined the battle. However, she found a cave beside the underground sea and hid there. She had no intention of participating in the battle head-on.


    ¡°Come, my Doctor Darkness.¡± Zhou Wen summoned his most important Companion Beast and made Doctor Darkness transform into a soul that fused with him.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt his physique improve significantly. He was almost comparable to a Mythical stage entity.


    This was the benefit of Doctor Darkness. Not only could his Companion Form bestow Zhou Wen with skills, but it could also raise Zhou Wen¡¯s basic stats, allowing him to have the ability to fight against Mythical creatures. This was something no other Companion Beast could do.


    Unfortunately, Banana Fairy hasn¡¯t completed her evolution. Otherwise, I would have a greater chance. Zhou Wen prepared everything and summoned some Poison Bat Companion Beasts to use as bait to lure the nine black dragons over.


    In a short while, he saw a huge wave stir above the surface of the sea. Nine black dragons tore through the waves and wiped out the horde of Poison Bats in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Fight, my pets.¡± After Zhou Wen issued the order, Torch Dragon, Behemoth, and Truth Listener rushed into the sea.


    As the Great Might Vajra Bull was afraid of water, it didn¡¯t dare enter the water to fight. On the bank, it transformed into the thousand-armed, bull-headed state. Golden light shot out from its palm as it attacked the nine black dragons.


    Torch Dragon didn¡¯t use Bright Torch Vision World. Although using Bright Torch Vision World could instantly kill the black dragons, nothing would be left behind. That would make killing the black dragon useless.


    In a one-on-one battle, Torch Dragon was unable to gain the upper hand without using Bright Torch Vision World. It was obvious that the black dragons were top Mythical creatures.


    The moment Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength was unleashed, the invisible chains between the nine black dragons produced effects. They condensed the power of the nine dragons and collided with Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength. Tyrant Behemoth immediately fell into a disadvantage.


    Truth Listener constantly harassed them from the side, but it didn¡¯t dare clash head-on with the black dragons.


    Zhou Wen had been waiting for an opportunity to use Darkness Right Hand. All he needed was for his hand to touch one black dragon.


    However, the black dragon¡¯s body was too huge. It was probably unrealistic to pull out its heart with a single palm, so Zhou Wen¡¯s target was their brains.


    He didn¡¯t expect to dig out their brains. All he needed to do was stir them up.


    Although the nine black dragons were independent Mythical creatures, they were connected by invisible chains. In battle, they were like one. Their attack and defense were flawless. Zhou Wen watched for a while, but he failed to find an opportunity to attack.


    These nine black dragons are really difficult to deal with. Zhou Wen activated Doctor Darkness¡¯s Eyes of Penetration to see if there were any weaknesses in the black dragons¡¯ bodies.


    If Doctor Darkness hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to see so far with his Eyes of Penetration. His ability to see through things wasn¡¯t that strong either, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to see through the black dragon¡¯s body. Now, all he needed to do was approach it a little and he could clearly see the situation inside the black dragon¡¯s body.


    This glance left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback. In the black dragon¡¯s brain, there was a crystal-like bead with a faint dragon-shaped stream of light swirling inside.


    That thing can¡¯t be the legendary dragon pearl, right? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the pearl in the black dragon¡¯s brain and quickly made a new discovery.


    The black dragon¡¯s brain had the pearl as its core. Although there were parts similar to the brain, it looked like those parts were just supplementary. It was somewhat different from a human¡¯s brain.


    What was even more magical was that when the dragon-shaped stream of light in the dragon pearl circulated, it looked like a word. Zhou Wen carefully identified it as the word ¡°Kan.¡±


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the other eight black dragons and indeed, he found a dragon pearl in their heads. However, the words in the dragon pearls were different.


    Qian, Kun, Zhen, Xun, Kan, Li, Gen, Dui, and Wu. The nine black dragons¡¯ dragon pearls each had these words. The first eight words were from the Eight Trigrams, and the last word was Wu. Zhou Wen guessed that it represented Wuji¡ªLimitless.

 Chapter 739 - : Killing the Nine Dragons

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen observed for a long period of time. By the time he was done, his luxurious lineup of Mythical pets had been destroyed by the nine black dragons. Torch Dragon was heavily injured, and despite Tyrant Behemoth roaring repeatedly, it was unable to reverse the situation.


    Truth Listener showed signs of going berserk. The Great Might Vajra Bull onshore had been killed at some point in time.


    Demonic Neonate apparently failed to find a chance to attack. She had been hiding all this time.


    Zhou Wen directly unsummoned Truth Listener, preventing it from shattering another earring. Torch Dragon was also unsummoned. The heavily injured Torch Dragon basically didn¡¯t have any combat strength left.


    Torch Dragon, who couldn¡¯t use Bright Torch Vision World, could only be considered top-notch in combat, but being top-notch wasn¡¯t enough in such a battle.


    Only Tyrant Behemoth was at the front line. It was being tortured by the nine black dragons as it roared angrily, but it remained completely suppressed.


    Not only was Zhou Wen not discouraged, he even felt happy.


    This was because, after his long period of observation, he discovered a secret of the nine black dragons.


    If one looked at their appearance and abilities, the nine black dragons were no different. Their offensive methods were also similar, so they could be seen as nonuplets.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen¡¯s initial plan was to kill them one by one.


    However, when Zhou Wen used his Eyes of Penetration to see the dragon pearls in their bodies, he discovered a special phenomenon.


    Although the power in the nine dragons¡¯ bodies could be transferred freely without any problems during the transfer, Zhou Wen realized that the Wu dragon pearl would light up every time their powers were transferred.


    For example, when the Li dragon attacked by gathering the power of the nine dragons, the Li dragon pearl would light up, but the Wu dragon pearl would also light up. The other dragon pearls didn¡¯t light up.


    However, when the Kan dragon pearl attacked, the Kan dragon pearl would light up along with the Wu dragon pearl.


    In other words, no matter which dragon condensed the power of the nine dragons, the Wu dragon pearl would light up along with it. Only when the Wu dragon pearl¡¯s dragon attacked would only its dragon pearl light up.


    From this vantage, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that perhaps the Wu dragon pearl¡¯s dragon was the core of the nine black dragons, or rather, a transit station. Perhaps it was because of its existence that the nine black dragons could freely transfer their powers.


    If I kill the black dragon with the Wu dragon pearl first, will the ability to combine the nine dragons¡¯ strength as one be ineffective? Zhou Wen decided to give it a try.


    After quitting the game and respawning the dungeon, Zhou Wen entered the game again and summoned his luxurious lineup of Mythical pets. However, this time, after getting Doctor Darkness to possess him, he switched his Essence Energy Art to the Godfiend Era. The Lost Country Life Soul ring also appeared on his finger.


    Since I can¡¯t find an opportunity, I¡¯ll create one myself. Zhou Wen stared intently at the nine black dragons in the middle of the battle and locked onto the black dragon with the Wu dragon pearl.


    The six wings on his back flapped gently as Zhou Wen gradually approached the battlefield. When the nine black dragons noticed him and were about to attack, Zhou Wen suddenly vanished.


    The black dragon that was about to attack was slightly taken aback as Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared above another black dragon.


    He genuflected on the dragon¡¯s head. With his left hand pressing on the dragon¡¯s skull, his right hand stabbed into the dragon¡¯s head with a devil-like force.


    The hard dragon scales and dragon bones failed to block the ghostly palm. In an instant, Zhou Wen retracted his palm from the dragon¡¯s head. And between his slender fingers was a crystalline dragon pearl.


    After losing the dragon pearl, the black dragon was like an empty shell that had lost its brain. Its body lost its vitality and fell to the bottom of the sea.


    What surprised Zhou Wen even more, was that after he crushed the dragon pearl, the invisible chain that connected the nine black dragons shattered. The nine black dragons were immediately in a state of disunity.


    Two black dragons roared as they charged at Zhou Wen. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t any slower than the black dragons¡¯. Without the augmentation of the nine dragons¡¯ collective strength, the black dragons couldn¡¯t catch up to Zhou Wen.


    A blackish-purple sword beam streaked across the sea and stabbed into the eye of a black dragon, piercing through the dragon pearl in its head. Demonic Neonate had finally taken action and dispatched one.


    Meanwhile, Tyrant Behemoth was even more excited. Without the suppression of the nine dragons¡¯ collective strength, its Absolute Strength unleashed, snapping the dragon horn off a black dragon. Then, it threw punch after punch, shattering the black dragon¡¯s head.


    The nine black dragons that originally had the absolute advantage immediately became the ones being ravaged after losing the key black dragon with the Wu dragon pearl.


    There was no need for Zhou Wen to do anything else as the luxurious lineup of Mythical pets killed the remaining black dragons.


    Indeed, it¡¯s difficult for those who aren¡¯t in the know, but it¡¯s not difficult for those who do. Knowledge is power. If I had known that these nine black dragons had such a relationship and weakness, I wouldn¡¯t have waited until today to kill them. The saying of the forefathers is right. Know yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Zhou Wen sighed at the importance of knowledge.


    ¡®Killed a Mythical Creature, True Blood Demon Dragon. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    After the True Blood Demon Dragons were killed, notices kept coming in. Finally, a True Blood Demon Dragon dropped a dimensional crystal with 80 Strength. It was very high-level and valuable, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t use it now.


    There are only two black dragons left! Zhou Wen was still looking forward to having a black dragon Companion Egg drop.


    However, even when the last black dragon was penetrated by Demonic Neonate¡¯s sword, it failed to drop a Companion Egg. Instead, another dimensional crystal dropped, an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen picked up the Essence Energy Skill Crystal and realized that the stat requirement was 41 Strength and 21 Fire stat. It was different from the True Blood Demon Dragon Crystal he had previously obtained.


    With his Strength and Fire stat lacking, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give it up.


    Zhou Wen was already used to it, so he didn¡¯t feel the pinch. Seeing that his Companion Beasts weren¡¯t injured, he led them towards the war wagon.


    Now that the nine black dragons weren¡¯t disturbing him, Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try to see if he could kill the Guardian in the war wagon. This was the hope for Slaughterer Life Soul¡¯s advancement.


    After opening the door, Zhou Wen entered with his Companion Beasts and saw the cocoon floating in the void.


    He wasn¡¯t in a rush to approach it. Zhou Wen used his Eyes of Penetration to look at the cocoon, hoping to see what the creature inside looked like.


    Something strange happened. The white cocoon was clearly right in front of him, but the Light of Penetration seemed to be separated from the white cocoon by a massive distance. No matter how hard he tried, his vision couldn¡¯t reach the white cocoon.


    Zhou Wen immediately recalled that he had encountered the same situation when he first entered. Back then, he had wanted to pierce through the white cocoon to extract the blood, but he couldn¡¯t touch the white cocoon no matter what. It was only because of the characteristics of the Overlord Sword that he could tear through space and touch the white cocoon in the void.


    Light of Penetration clearly didn¡¯t have such characteristics, so it was impossible to reach the white cocoon.


    Since we are going to fight, there¡¯s no point in watching. Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out a sword beam that tore through the void and headed straight for the white cocoon.

 Chapter 740 - Six Fingers

    Translator: CKtalon


    With the augmentation of Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable, the golden sword beam tore through the white cocoon¡¯s shell.


    As the cocoon cracked, Zhou Wen saw a palm extend out of the white cocoon.


    It was a man¡¯s palm with long and powerful fingers. Zhou Wen could clearly see that there were six fingers on the palm, but the layout of the six fingers didn¡¯t seem out of place. It was about the same as a normal palm.


    There was a different ring on each of the six fingers. The design and material seemed to be different. As he could only see the palm, he didn¡¯t know what the rings looked like from the front.


    Just as the Golden Sword Aura was about to strike the palm, an invisible fluctuation seemed to ripple from one of the rings.


    Wherever the fluctuations passed, time and space seemed to freeze. Countless dust fragments froze as the Golden Sword Aura stopped in front of his palm.


    Although the Golden Sword Aura was less than an inch away from the palm, it was unable to advance any further.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Golden Sword Aura. Zhou Wen¡¯s pets were affected by the fluctuations. Although they tried to resist the fluctuations, it was to no avail.


    Apart from Tyrant Behemoth being able to move thanks to Absolute Strength, most of the Companion Beasts were in a frozen state.


    Companion Beasts at Torch Dragon and Truth Listener¡¯s level found it difficult to move amidst the fluctuations.


    The blood-colored avatar was also immobilized. Zhou Wen felt that the blood-colored avatar¡¯s bodily functions had stopped circulating. Its Essence Energy seemed to freeze as it was completely unable to move according to commands.


    Tyrant Behemoth roared as it charged at the white cocoon and threw a punch at the palm with six fingers.


    The frozen dust and Golden Sword Aura were shattered by Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist. Just as Tyrant Behemoth was about to strike the palm, another ring on the palm flickered.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth punched Torch Dragon¡¯s body and immediately sent Torch Dragon¡¯s huge body flying. It caused blood to spray out of Torch Dragon¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Tyrant Behemoth had clearly struck the white cocoon, but for some reason, its fist struck Torch Dragon¡¯s body. It looked like a spatial dislocation skill.


    From the looks of it, the guardian in the white cocoon has spatial skills, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Tyrant Behemoth continued its violent attacks, but every time its fists struck the white cocoon, it would strangely strike a companion. After a few punches, the palm in the white cocoon didn¡¯t suffer any damage. Instead, Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts were beaten up by Tyrant Behemoth.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen was certain that the Guardian was definitely a spatial expert.


    Once Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength timer ran out, it was immobilized by the spatial fluctuations.


    At that moment, a void that resembled a black hole appeared in the palm of the palm. It sucked in the Companion Beasts and the blood-colored avatar before the game screen went black.


    A Guardian with spatial attributes has abilities like spatial solidification, spatial fold, and black hole. Tyrant Behemoth can fight it while using Absolute Strength¡­ Zhou Wen organized the clues he knew, hoping to find a way to counter it.


    I wonder if Lost Country¡¯s spatial powers will be of some use. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that unless Torch Dragon used Bright Torch Vision World from the beginning, it would be very difficult to kill the Guardian.


    Why are Guardians so strong? Are there no weak Guardians that can allow me to kill for the advancement of my Life Souls? Zhou Wen waited for some time. After all his cooldowns were over, he dripped his blood to respawn and enter the game again.


    The nine black dragons in the underground sea had yet to respawn. The war wagon was still parked at the bottom of the sea, but the door had been closed. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t summon any other pets other than Explosive Fiend Man.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength couldn¡¯t be used yet. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think of killing the Guardian this time. He just wanted to see if his Godfiend Era was useful when fighting the Guardian.


    Zhou Wen got Explosive Fiend Man to plant time bombs all over the war wagon one after another. After more than an hour, the war wagon was covered with time bombs.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, the huge war wagon exploded like an atomic bomb. It formed a terrifying shockwave at the bottom of the sea, producing a huge jellyfish-like cavity.


    Zhou Wen had severely underestimated the might of the explosion. He had already retreated to a hundred meters away, but he still died from the blast. The game screen went black.


    Is the war wagon¡¯s energy so massive? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    When he arrived in front of the war wagon again, it had already recovered to its original state. Zhou Wen began getting Explosive Fiend Man to plant time bombs around the entire wagon.


    This time, Zhou Wen had experience. He retreated far away and watched from a distant bank.


    With a command, Explosive Fiend Man ignited all the time bombs. Zhou Wen, who was standing by the bank, saw the waves churning before they stirred up a tsunami-like wave.


    Ignoring the winds and shock waves, Zhou Wen immediately dived into the sea. However, when he saw the war wagon, he was slightly taken aback. Such a terrifying explosion had failed to blast through it. The war wagon¡¯s outer shell was damaged, but it was undergoing automatic self-repair. It didn¡¯t take long for it to recover to its original state.


    Seeing that it was impossible to blast the war wagon and the Guardian inside to death, Zhou Wen had no choice but to open the door and rush in.


    This time, Zhou Wen used the Godfiend Era Essence Energy Art. The Lost Country ring appeared on his finger before he slashed at the white cocoon.


    After the white cocoon was sliced apart, the palm appeared again. The spatial fluctuations caused everything around it to fall silent again. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was no exception.


    However, it was somewhat different this time. Although the blood-colored avatar couldn¡¯t move, the Godfiend Era¡¯s Essence Energy Art continued flowing. This meant that Zhou Wen could still use Essence Energy Skills and other abilities.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used Lost Country¡¯s spatial teleportation ability and teleported into the white cocoon. He wanted to see what the Guardian inside the white cocoon looked like.


    However, when Zhou Wen teleported, he realized that he wasn¡¯t able to teleport into the white cocoon as he wished. Instead, he appeared in front of the palm.


    What awaited him was a black hole that had already opened in the palm. In the next second, the game screen went black again.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and understood what was going on. The other party was a spatial expert, and his Lost Country was only a Primordial Life Soul. The difference in level was too great. It was already pretty good that he hadn¡¯t been sent into the black hole when he used spatial teleportation.

 Chapter 741 - Duel

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t discouraged. Instead, he felt that this might be an opportunity.


    With this Guardian around, it was equivalent to having another spatial expert as a sparring partner. Perhaps there was a chance to improve Lost Country.


    Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive and once again entered the game to challenge the Guardian. He naturally suffered a crushing defeat, but Zhou Wen also sensed the influence the other party¡¯s spatial powers had on him.


    Through watching and personally experiencing the various spatial-type skills of the Guardian, Zhou Wen gained a lot more insight into spatial-type skills. No matter how much he had studied in the past, it was only theoretical knowledge. It was very rare to have such an opportunity to experience it.


    ¡­


    While Zhou Wen was repeatedly dying from gaming, Xia Liuchuan came to the East Courtyard again and mentioned the battle he had scheduled with Zhou Wen on the peak of Forbidden City.


    ¡°You should know that Forbidden City is a forbidden zone of our Xia family. Outsiders are not allowed to enter,¡± said Old Master Xia.


    ¡°I know, but I also wish to fight him there.¡± Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t explain much.


    ¡°In that case, so be it. However, defeat is not an option. No matter what, Zhou Wen can¡¯t leave Forbidden City again,¡± said Old Master Xia indifferently.


    Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t say anything and just bowed slightly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s set it to be in four days. There are still problems in Forbidden City that need handling. You should head back and prepare for now,¡± Old Master Xia said.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was grinding when he suddenly heard his phone ring. It was none other than Wang Lu.


    ¡°You really agreed to battle Xia Liuchuan?¡± Zhou Wen heard Wang Lu¡¯s voice the moment he picked up the phone.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°To battle a Xia family member in the Imperial Capital, and in the Forbidden City which they control? Are you ignoring what Grandma said to you?¡± Wang Lu said anxiously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have my own plans. Nothing will go wrong¡­ Alright, let¡¯s just end it here. I have a call coming in. I¡¯ll answer it first¡­¡± Zhou Wen picked up the other call as he spoke. It was from Ouyang Lan.


    ¡°Little Wen, did you really agree to a duel with Xia Liuchuan in Forbidden City? Don¡¯t be afraid. If you were forced by the Xia family, I¡¯ll be able to help you,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Sis Lan, the Xia family didn¡¯t force me. I did it willingly. Don¡¯t worry. I can handle it.¡± Zhou Wen felt touched when he heard Ouyang Lan.


    Although they were not related by blood, Ouyang Lan was indeed very concerned about him.


    ¡°Little Wen, your father only has you as a son. We won¡¯t be able to have children in the future. You need to think twice before doing everything. Don¡¯t risk your life. Tell me if there are any problems. I¡¯ll help you resolve them.¡± Ouyang Lan didn¡¯t quite believe Zhou Wen. She remained very worried.


    ¡°Sis Lan, there¡¯s really no need for you to worry. It¡¯s not convenient to speak on the phone. However, I have the ability to protect myself. Nothing will go wrong.¡± Zhou Wen was afraid that his phone was bugged, so he didn¡¯t dare inform Ouyang Lan about his possession of the Invisibility Cloak.


    Ouyang Lan pleaded with Zhou Wen a few more times before his phone rang, bringing an end to his phone call with Ouyang Lan.


    It was An Sheng. He was clearly aware that Zhou Wen was going to duel with Xia Liuchuan. However, he didn¡¯t persuade Zhou Wen not to fight.


    ¡°I¡¯m already on my way to the Imperial Capital. Is there anything I need to do in advance?¡± An Sheng said simply.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come. I¡¯m leaving the Imperial Capital soon,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you outside the Imperial Capital,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it near the Imperial Capital. Let¡¯s have it somewhere far away.¡± Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t stop An Sheng.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll think of a way to inform you when the time comes.¡± An Sheng hung up after saying that.


    ¡­


    This news quickly spread in the Imperial Capital. Anyone who was in the know felt that Zhou Wen was courting death.


    Ignoring the fact that Xia Liuchuan was a rare genius in the Xia family, just the fact that he was dueling someone from the Xia family in their territory made people place their bets against Zhou Wen.


    Dugu Ge and Zhang Chunqiu were in the Imperial Capital, so they naturally heard the news.


    ¡°This battle will give us a perfect opportunity to see how much strength that Guardian raised Loser has,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    ¡°It looks like your divination wasn¡¯t accurate at all. You actually let Xia Liuchuan get the Guardian,¡± said Dugu Ge.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, ¡°Destiny is unpredictable. Don¡¯t take my divinations seriously. I¡¯m just spouting nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Then do some more divinations. Who will win in the duel between Zhou Wen and Loser?¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°Based on my divination, the Xia family will definitely not lose,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Dugu Ge glanced at Zhang Chunqiu in contempt before returning to his room.


    Zhou Wen had already received Xia Liuchuan¡¯s notice to fight in Forbidden City in four days. However, only Zhou Wen was allowed to enter.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to contact Wang Lu, hoping to leave the antelope and chick with her.


    ¡°You hung up so quickly just now. Why am I in your sights again?¡± Wang Lu said angrily.


    ¡°It was my stepmother. Do you think I could reject her call?¡± Zhou Wen consoled.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you know about the Xia family. You really shouldn¡¯t have agreed to the duel with Xia Liuchuan. Xia Liuchuan might not be famous and his fame might not be comparable to the younger generation¡¯s John and Lance, but this person is definitely much more terrifying than Lance. He¡¯s someone who has truly survived countless life-and-death situations. He¡¯s different from those elites who were brought up in safe environments.¡±


    Wang Lu continued, ¡°Although Xia Liuchuan is known as the most profligate scion of the Xia family, his talent and social connection aren¡¯t inferior to An Tianzuo¡¯s. My grandmother met him when he was six. Back then, Old Master Xia took him to the Ancient Sword Tomb to play. At that time, a Mythical sword happened to appear. Xia Liuchuan, who was only six years old, saw the battle between the Mythical sword and humans and actually comprehended a Mythical sword technique. His talent in combat is terrifying.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s not strong, it would be meaningless,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile. He just didn¡¯t want Wang Lu to be too worried.


    ¡°If it were anywhere else, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for you to fight Xia Liuchuan. However, that¡¯s Forbidden City. How can you fight Xia Liuchuan there? Even if you defeat him, it will be difficult for you to walk out,¡± Wang Lu sighed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I, Zhou Wen, want to leave, no one in the Federation can stop me,¡± Zhou Wen said with certainty.


    Wang Lu knew that it was too late to say anything now. Zhou Wen had already accepted the challenge, so it was too late for regrets.


    Four days quickly passed. The Xia family took the initiative to send a car to pick Zhou Wen up, but Zhou Wen rejected them. He carried the wooden log and walked towards Forbidden City.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to take the car, but the car couldn¡¯t fit the log.


    1

 Chapter 742 - Pure Hook Evil-Slaying

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen arrived in front of Forbidden City¡¯s city gates and saw many people gathered outside. They were all here to watch the battle, but because the city gates were sealed, no one could enter.


    The Meridian Gate was tightly shut with people from the Xia family standing guard outside. Forbidden City had four city gates, but usually, only Meridian Gate could be opened. The other three city gates needed a certain opportunity for their opening, so the only way to enter and exit Forbidden City was through the Meridian Gate.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, Young Master Xia is already waiting for you in the city. Please enter,¡± a Xia family guard said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was about to walk in with the log when he was stopped by the guard.


    ¡°People can enter, but things have to be left outside,¡± the guard said as he pointed at the log on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Does your Xia family have to take away their opponent¡¯s weapons before a battle?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    The moment Zhou Wen said that, the onlookers roared with laughter. Although they didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen really used such a huge club as a weapon, it didn¡¯t stop them from feeling contempt towards the Xia family¡¯s high-handedness.


    ¡°Let him in,¡± a middle-aged man on top of the city gates said to the guard.


    Only then did the guard let Zhou Wen enter the city with the log.


    ¡°Old Master, is it really a good idea to let him in like this? If there¡¯s really something wrong with the log as Liuchuan said, wouldn¡¯t it be very disadvantageous for him?¡± the middle-aged man said to Old Master Xia, who was sitting at the top of the city gate to watch the battle.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. This is Forbidden City. Even if Leng Zongzheng is hidden in that log, he won¡¯t be able to escape unscathed today,¡± Old Master Xia said calmly.


    ¡­


    On a tall building in the distance of Forbidden City, Shen Yuchi was looking at the situation around Meridian Gate with his binoculars.


    He couldn¡¯t enter Forbidden City; he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything even if he went to the Meridian Gate.


    ¡°Siyuan, what¡¯s your take regarding this battle¡¯s outcome?¡± Shen Yuchi asked Qiao Siyuan when he saw Zhou Wen enter the Meridian Gate.


    ¡°I believe regardless of the outcome today, it will be very difficult for Zhou Wen to walk out of Forbidden City,¡± Qiao Siyuan replied.


    Shen Yuchi didn¡¯t comment as he continued using his binoculars to observe the situation inside Forbidden City.


    However, there was a mysterious interference from Forbidden City. They could only see the area above the buildings, but not the actual situation inside.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen walked through the Meridian Gate and saw five white compounds leading to the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Xia Liuchuan was standing in front of it.


    Passing through the Gate of Supreme Harmony was the Hall of Supreme Harmony. However, it was unknown if the layout of the city had changed after the dimensional storms.


    Zhou Wen looked around but didn¡¯t see any dimensional creatures.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to look around. There are no dimensional creatures in Forbidden City. You can fight me with all your might without worry,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s great. However, since it¡¯s the final battle at the peak of Forbidden City, let¡¯s fight at a higher spot. I think it¡¯s quite high there. Why don¡¯t we head there?¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed in the direction of a Corner Tower.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble,¡± Xia Liuchuan said as a sword appeared in his hand. ¡°This sword¡¯s name is Ancient Pure Hook. It¡¯s a Mythical Companion Beast. I believe you also have a Mythical Companion Beast, so I won¡¯t hide it.¡±


    With that said, Xia Liuchuan thrust his sword at Zhou Wen. He was a straightforward person who fought without any hesitation.


    The sword beam was like snow. His body and sword seemed to instantly appear in front of Zhou Wen at an unbelievable speed.


    Although Zhou Wen was proficient in movement techniques, it was impossible for him to dodge such a fast sword while carrying such a heavy log. Therefore, he could only draw his saber to fend off the attack.


    Clang!


    The saber and sword collided. Zhou Wen¡¯s body remained motionless, but Xia Liuchuan was forced to take a few steps back.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was stronger than Xia Liuchuan¡¯s, but that the log he was carrying was too heavy. It pressed down on his body, stopping him from retreating.


    Although Xia Liuchuan retreated, he didn¡¯t lose his balance. He tapped the ground with his toe and thrust his sword forward again. His sword technique was swift and fierce like a ghost.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s saber techniques weren¡¯t slow either. He held the log with one hand and brandished his saber with the other. The saber and sword constantly clashed, and Zhou Wen advanced step by step, gradually approaching the Gate of Supreme Harmony.


    Zhou Wen wanted to try his luck at the Hall of Supreme Harmony. After all, it was the most honorable place in the city. It was most likely the peak of Forbidden City.


    Furthermore, there was only one Hall of Supreme Harmony, but there were four Corner Towers. If the Hall of Supreme Harmony didn¡¯t work, it wouldn¡¯t be too late for him to consider trying the Corner Towers.


    ¡°To be able to master such a mature and steady saber technique at such a young age, this Zhou Wen is indeed extraordinary.¡± Old Master Xia narrowed his eyes as though he was admiring a treasure.


    ¡°Zhou Wen once defeated John who had a contract with the Guardian. His strength is indeed extraordinary. Furthermore, according to our investigations, he definitely has more than two Mythical Companion Beasts,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°The stronger he is, the better.¡± Old Master Xia smiled.


    Zhou Wen originally hoped to fight all the way to the front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, but Xia Liuchuan clearly wouldn¡¯t be suppressed by him the entire time.


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s figure suddenly changed as he appeared behind Zhou Wen like a phantom, stabbing at his back.


    Zhou Wen was just too slow while carrying the wooden log. He didn¡¯t have the time to turn around, but he didn¡¯t plan on doing so anyway. He swung his saber and blocked Xia Liuchuan¡¯s strike.


    ¡°The log on your body is too heavy. Why don¡¯t you put it down so that we can fight?¡± Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t continue attacking as he looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll naturally put it down when it¡¯s time to put it down,¡± Zhou Wen turned around and said to Xia Liuchuan.


    Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t say anything else. However, the Pure Hook Sword in his hand emitted a strange glow. It was like a holy sword that made people have the urge to prostrate themselves in worship.


    This time, Xia Liuchuan attacked again, but it wasn¡¯t that easy to deal with. When the Bamboo Blade and the Pure Hook Sword met, Zhou Wen felt his palm shake as he involuntarily took a few steps back. The Bamboo Blade nearly flew out of his hand.


    ¡°The Pure Hook Sword is known as the Exalted Peerless Sword. It can bestow me with power at the Mythical stage,¡± Xia Liuchuan said as he brandished his sword again.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, Doctor Darkness transformed into a soul and attached to him. Zhou Wen brandished his saber to fend him off again. Although he was still sent retreating by the Pure Hook Sword, he wasn¡¯t as pathetic as before.


    ¡°Just show me what you¡¯ve got. There¡¯s no need to hide it,¡± Zhou Wen said as he held his saber.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± Xia Liuchuan waved his left hand and another sword appeared in his hand.


    This sword was different from the Pure Hook Sword. It was a small sword that was about sixty centimeters long. It wasn¡¯t as beautiful as the Pure Hook Sword, as though it carried a sense of resentment.


    ¡°The sword¡¯s name is Evil-Slaying. It¡¯s also a Mythical Companion Beast. I¡¯ve cultivated for so many years, and most of my techniques are delivered through these two swords,¡± Xia Liuchuan said as he glanced at the sword in his hand with a glazed look.

 Chapter 743 - Sword Warp

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt that Xia Liuchuan¡¯s aura changed once he had two swords in hand. His expression couldn¡¯t help but turn solemn.


    The sword in Xia Liuchuan¡¯s hand finally moved, but his body didn¡¯t move. The Evil-Slaying Sword flew over and stabbed at Zhou Wen in a flash, as though it was about to penetrate his right eye.


    Zhou Wen brandished his saber and slashed, sending the Evil-Slaying Sword flying. However, Xia Liuchuan and his Pure Hook Sword arrived in front of Zhou Wen.


    The Bamboo Blade had just slashed out, preventing it from being retractable in time. Zhou Wen abruptly crouched and dodged the Pure Hook Sword¡¯s thrust. At the same time, the log smashed down on Xia Liuchuan¡¯s head.


    Suddenly, Xia Liuchuan¡¯s figure flashed and vanished in front of Zhou Wen. As for the Pure Hook Sword, it turned from a stab into a slash that was aimed at Zhou Wen¡¯s neck.


    Xia Liuchuan arrived beside the Evil-Slaying Sword through some unknown means. He grabbed it with one hand and stabbed it down at Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    Zhou Wen brandished his saber to fend off the Pure Hook Sword, but he no longer had the time to block the Evil-Slaying Sword behind him.


    Clang!


    A scalpel appeared behind Zhou Wen and blocked the Evil-Slaying Sword¡¯s attack as Doctor Darkness separated from Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had also switched to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and fused with the Defy Ancient Sovereign. His body became filled with energy as he used the Demon Dragon True Body, allowing him to gain Mythical combat strength for a short period of time. He forcefully sent the Pure Hook Sword flying.


    After sending the Pure Hook Sword flying, Zhou Wen turned around and slashed at Xia Liuchuan. Xia Liuchuan¡¯s expression remained unchanged as the Evil-Slaying Sword in his hand continued stabbing at Zhou Wen. It was as though he hadn¡¯t seen Doctor Darkness¡¯s scalpel or Zhou Wen¡¯s Bamboo Blade.


    If the two of them continued the trajectories of their thrust, the scalpel and Bamboo Blade would hit Xia Liuchuan while the Evil-Slaying Sword would pierce through Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    Zhou Wen used Bamboo Blade to block the Evil-Slaying Sword, but Xia Liuchuan¡¯s figure vanished. He appeared beside the Pure Hook Sword that had been sent flying and grabbed it for another midair slash.


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s figure kept moving about as though he was performing a magic trick. He appeared beside the Evil-Slaying Sword one moment and appeared beside the Pure Hook Sword the next moment.


    This teleportation wasn¡¯t as simple as being fast. It was similar to Lost Country¡¯s teleportation, but there were no restrictions on the teleportation.


    However, he didn¡¯t have as much freedom as teleportation. It could be seen that Xia Liuchuan could only move between the two swords.


    Although that was the case, it was already difficult for Zhou Wen to deal with him. Xia Liuchuan used two swords and constantly moved back and forth like a ghost. It made Zhou Wen feel that it was harder than fighting three Mythical opponents at the same time.


    The most uncomfortable thing was that he couldn¡¯t fight Xia Liuchuan because Xia Liuchuan could move to the side of another sword at any time. If he attacked, he wouldn¡¯t be able to injure Xia Liuchuan and would only end up being injured by him.


    Zhou Wen and Doctor Darkness joined forces, but they were still suppressed by Xia Liuchuan. They had no chance of charging to the Gate of Supreme Harmony.


    If I wasn¡¯t carrying such a huge object, I wouldn¡¯t be at such a disadvantage. Zhou Wen was best at movement techniques. However, the log prevented him from using the movement techniques he was good at. It was extremely uncomfortable fighting.


    ¡°Liuchuan¡¯s Sword Warp technique has improved,¡± the middle-aged man praised.


    ¡°Sword Warp requires talent, and it¡¯s easy to learn but difficult to master. Little Chuan likes such techniques, but there¡¯s actually not much need for it. The time spent would be better spent on Guardians,¡± Old Master Xia said calmly.


    Although Old Master Xia didn¡¯t approve of Xia Liuchuan spending all his time on the Sword Warp technique, Zhou Wen was now quite depressed from being suppressed by it.


    This Sword Warp technique was like an illusion. Under Xia Liuchuan¡¯s usage, it was unpredictable and dazzling.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Letting this continue wouldn¡¯t work. Since I¡¯ve already entered Forbidden City, there¡¯s no need to fight him. I should quickly place the log on the Hall of Supreme Harmony and give it a try.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull.


    The moment the Great Might Vajra Bull came out, it shook the bell on its neck. Once the Soul Suppression Bell rang, Xia Liuchuan immediately felt dizzy. The two swords fell from the sky with him.


    Zhou Wen took this opportunity to get Doctor Darkness to possess him again as he charged in the direction of the Gate of Supreme Harmony.


    However, after running a few steps, a sword beam flashed. Zhou Wen tilted his head and saw the Evil-Slaying Sword fly past his ear. Xia Liuchuan instantly moved to the side of the Evil-Slaying Sword and slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s face with it.


    Zhou Wen swiped up his saber and clashed with Xia Liuchuan¡¯s Evil-Slaying Sword several times. Xia Liuchuan¡¯s sword techniques were unpredictable, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to gain any advantage.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull turned around to help Zhou Wen, but the moment it turned around, Xia Liuchuan appeared behind the Great Might Vajra Bull like a phantom. He held the Pure Hook Sword and stabbed the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s buttocks.


    ¡°Moo!¡± The Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s pupils constricted as it raised its hind legs and kicked Xia Liuchuan.


    In response, Xia Liuchuan waved his hand and threw the Pure Hook Sword at Zhou Wen. At the same time, he warped to the side of the Evil-Slaying Sword and continued fighting Zhou Wen with it. The entire process was like a magic show. If not for the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s powerful physique, any ordinary person would have been killed by Xia Liuchuan.


    As Zhou Wen blocked the Evil-Slaying Sword, he summoned the Golden Overlord Sword. However, he didn¡¯t have any spare hands to use it. All he could do was let the Golden Overlord Sword attack autonomously in its original form.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull used its Life Soul and transformed into the thousand-handed, bull-headed state. Golden light shot out from its palm as it attempted to kill Xia Liuchuan.


    However, Xia Liuchuan was one with his two swords. He constantly teleported and fought, making it seem harder to fight him than simultaneously fighting three people. Zhou Wen, together with the Great Might Vajra Bull and the Golden Overlord Sword, failed to gain the upper hand.


    What swordplay do you practice? Why aren¡¯t you a magician? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He originally didn¡¯t want to be too ostentatious, but now that he couldn¡¯t escape Xia Liuchuan, he had no choice but to think of other solutions.


    Should I let Tyrant Behemoth fight? Zhou Wen considered Tyrant Behemoth. It had already appeared on the rankings, so exposing it didn¡¯t matter much.


    Carrying such a heavy piece of wood, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t escape Xia Liuchuan. Without any hesitation, he summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth landed on the ground out of thin air, causing the ground to tremble.


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth? It¡¯s actually Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Old Master Xia and the middle-aged man revealed looks of surprise.


    Many people were investigating the identity of Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner. Most people believed that Tyrant Behemoth was a Companion Beast of an expert in the West District, but they never expected it to be in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    Outside Forbidden City, there was someone who was even more surprised than Old Master Xia and company. It was Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu had used his Heavenly Eye to see Tyrant Behemoth in Forbidden City. Furthermore, he knew very well that the Tyrant Behemoth Companion Egg had originally belonged to the Zhang family, but it had been smuggled out by a traitor.

 Chapter 744 - Myriad Sword Formation

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Tyrant Behemoth appeared, it directly activated Absolute Strength. Space distorted as the Pure Hook and Evil-Slaying swords were attracted towards Tyrant Behemoth.


    Although Xia Liuchuan had tried his best to escape this situation, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength was just too powerful. He couldn¡¯t escape the two Mythical swords as he flew towards Tyrant Behemoth with his sword.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop as he ran towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony without waiting for the outcome.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t run fast while carrying the wooden log. Before he reached the Gate of Supreme Harmony, he suddenly heard a terrifying sound. The shock wave broke through the sound barrier and produced a terrifying sonic boom.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw Xia Liuchuan levitating in midair. He was wearing a strange black armor that resembled some kind of black jade. It also emitted a mysterious black light.


    Xia Liuchuan held Pure Hook and Evil-Slaying with both hands as he crossed them in front of him, blocking Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s punch. He wasn¡¯t sent flying.


    That¡¯s¡­ Guardian¡­ Zhou Wen could tell that the armor was somewhat odd. Its aura didn¡¯t seem like a Companion Beast but resembled more of a Guardian.


    Furthermore, Xia Liuchuan was able to withstand Tyrant Behemoth in its Absolute Strength state. This wasn¡¯t something an ordinary Companion Beast armor could do.


    Xia Liuchuan wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage when fighting Tyrant Behemoth. The two swords in his hands criss-crossed as he fought Tyrant Behemoth.


    When Zhou Wen saw that Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t have the upper hand, he immediately continued running towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony. He had to first escape the log. Otherwise, even if the Guardian was in front of him, he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the Guardian while carrying it.


    Zhou Wen rushed past the Gate of Supreme Harmony and couldn¡¯t help but stop. This was because after passing the gates, there were many people standing in the open space. There were probably more than ten thousand of them.


    The ten thousand people stood in a square formation on the empty ground. Each of them held a sword in their hands, but no one spoke. They were silent.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen walk over, the eyes of the ten thousand people looked at him in unison.


    In front of the square formation stood a woman in black. She was none other than the Xia Xuanyue whom Zhou Wen knew.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, why are you here instead of dueling Xia Liuchuan?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Ahem, I¡¯m just taking a stroll. It¡¯s rare to come to the legendary Forbidden City. I want to see the legendary Hall of Supreme Harmony,¡± Zhou Wen said with a light cough.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you go back and fight. Forbidden City isn¡¯t a place outsiders can enter as they wish,¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m already here, let me take a look.¡± Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t willing to retreat. Although the Xia family was already wary of him, he had to make an attempt on the Hall of Supreme Harmony regardless.


    Just as Zhou Wen took two steps forward, Xia Xuanyue raised the ancient sword in her hand. The ten thousand people raised the sword in their hands at the same time. In an instant, countless sword beams surged into the sky and condensed towards the ancient sword in Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hand.


    With the augmentation of more than ten thousand ancient swords, the sword beam produced by the ancient sword in Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hand was already terrifying beyond imagination. Even the Golden Overlord Sword paled in comparison.


    Zhou Wen could roughly tell that the ancient sword in Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hand was similar to the Golden Harp. They could gather some kind of power.


    The difference was that the Golden Harp allowed sound waves to resonate, while the ancient sword in Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hand could condense the sword beams of other sword-type Companion Beasts.


    Every sword in the sword formation of more than ten thousand people was probably an Epic Companion Beast. With the augmentation of more than ten thousand sword beams, and the fact that the ancient sword might be at the Mythical stage, the might of the sword was probably not inferior to a top-notch Mythical creature.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you should return to fight Xia Liuchuan,¡± Xia Xuanyue said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What if I insist on touring Forbidden City?¡± Zhou Wen walked towards the sword formation.


    Xia Xuanyue slashed with her sword as a terrifying sword beam slashed down like a heavenly river. It was difficult for Zhou Wen to dodge, so he could only use the Golden Overlord Sword¡¯s Golden Sword Aura to meet it.


    The Golden Sword Aura was indestructible. In the beginning, it had indeed sliced through the sword beam that resembled a heavenly river, but the sword beam seemed to pour down endlessly. Soon, it drowned the Golden Sword Aura.


    Xia Xuanyue didn¡¯t really slash down. She retracted the ancient sword in her hand and the sword beam circled back like a dragon before returning to the sword formation.


    ¡°Please return,¡± Xia Xuanyue said expressionlessly.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen turned around and left the Gate of Supreme Harmony. The ten-thousand sword formation was just too powerful. It would probably take quite some time to storm through it. Zhou Wen planned on heading to the unguarded building to give it a try to prevent any delays.


    When Xia Liuchuan saw Zhou Wen come out, he had no intention of attacking him. He continued fighting Tyrant Behemoth.


    When Tyrant Behemoth used Absolute Strength, it could only fight Xia Liuchuan to a draw. Once Absolute Strength ran out, it probably wouldn¡¯t be Xia Liuchuan¡¯s match.


    Zhou Wen rushed to the Corner Tower and, when he arrived in front of it, he leaped up and jumped onto the city wall before jumping to the top of the Corner Tower.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to complete the jump in one try, but the log was too heavy. He couldn¡¯t do it with a single jump.


    Zhou Wen erected the log at the top of the Corner Tower and realized that there was no reaction. He tried to release the log and the word ¡°slave¡± immediately appeared on his forehead.


    It¡¯s not here? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he carried the log down Corner Tower. He knew that this time, he could only attempt the Myriad Sword Formation led by Xia Xuanyue.


    It was highly likely that the peak of Forbidden City was the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    After this ordeal, Absolute Strength didn¡¯t have much time left. There were probably only about ten minutes left.


    Xia Liuchuan clearly wanted to defeat Tyrant Behemoth first, so he wasn¡¯t in a rush to chase after Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen passed through the door again and could already see the Hall of Supreme Harmony in front of him. However, with the Myriad Sword Formation obstructing him, it was impossible to gain passage without destroying it.


    The ten-thousand sword formation¡¯s might is too powerful. Among my Companion Beasts, probably only Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World can match it. If Truth Listener breaks two earrings, it might be able to put up a fight, but it¡¯s not convenient for either of them to be exposed¡­ Zhou Wen thought of something as his eyes suddenly lit up.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, why are you back?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked with a frown when she saw Zhou Wen running over.


    ¡°Xia Liuchuan isn¡¯t my match. There¡¯s no point in fighting him. I still want to visit the Hall of Supreme Harmony,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards Xia Xuanyue.


    Xia Xuanyue raised her sword again without any hesitation. The sword formation regenerated as a terrifying sword beam emitted a terrifying might. From afar, it made one¡¯s scalp tingle.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned a Companion Beast.


    This Companion Beast wasn¡¯t Torch Dragon or Truth Listener, nor was it Demonic Neonate. Instead, it was a beautiful girl. She was unbelievably beautiful. She had long hair that made all women envious, and her eyes were extremely charming. It was as though a single glance would entrance one, preventing them from moving their eyes away.


    The Xia family disciples in the Myriad Sword Formation couldn¡¯t help but look at the beautiful girl.

 Chapter 745 - Eyes of Enticement

    Translator: CKtalon


    Previously, Medusa had caused a stir on the Peninsula of Gods, letting the entire Federation know of her existence.


    However, all the videos that people saw were of Medusa¡ªthe snake-haired demoness. Not many had seen her maiden form.


    Furthermore, ever since Medusa had been killed, no new Medusa had passed through the spatial rift to enter the Curse Demon Palace.


    Therefore, the Xia family members didn¡¯t recognize the maiden Medusa. If they knew her, they definitely wouldn¡¯t dare to look at her or her eyes.


    Unlike the snake-haired demoness, Medusa did not have the ability to petrify others. Her Eyes of Enticement needed others to see her eyes before they could be of use.


    At this moment, more than ten thousand Xia family disciples saw Medusa¡¯s eyes. Immediately, their bodies petrified as they turned pale with fright.


    Xia Xuanyue¡¯s expression changed drastically as she immediately realized the problem. She closed her eyes and slashed at Medusa.


    However, because many owners of Epic swords had seen Medusa¡¯s eyes, their bodies slowly petrified. They were unable to circulate their Essence Energy, nor could they use the Epic swords in their hands to cooperate with Xia Xuanyue. This greatly reduced the might of Xia Xuanyue¡¯s sword beam.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out a sword beam to clash with Xia Xuanyue¡¯s sword beam.


    The ancient sword in Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hand was also transformed from a Mythical Companion Beast. It wasn¡¯t inferior to the Golden Overlord Sword, but the stats of the Golden Overlord Sword were too domineering. When the sword beams collided, the ancient sword beam shattered due to the loss of the Myriad Sword Formation¡¯s augmentation. The Golden Overlord Sword¡¯s sword beam continued slashing at Xia Xuanyue.


    Xia Xuanyue closed her eyes and shifted her body, dodging the Golden Sword Aura. At the same time, she brandished her sword and attacked Zhou Wen. Her movement technique was the Path to Snatching Heaven that Zhou Wen had seen before.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had fought Xia Xuanyue, giving him the chance to advance the Transcendent Flying Immortal to the divine level. In that battle, Xia Xuanyue had also comprehended the profundity of the Path to Snatching Heaven, allowing it to advance to the divine level as well.


    Now, Xia Xuanyue¡¯s Path to Snatching Heaven had become more mature, giving her the boldness to snatch a path from heaven Just her movement technique alone gave others a huge sense of oppression.


    As Zhou Wen was carrying the log, he was unable to use Transcendent Flying Immortal to compete with Xia Xuanyue¡¯s Path to Snatching Heaven. The Golden Overlord Sword was a little clumsy and wasn¡¯t suitable for fighting Xia Xuanyue. Zhou Wen threw the Golden Overlord Sword out and allowed it to attack autonomously. He drew his Bamboo Blade and clashed with Xia Xuanyue¡¯s sword.


    Medusa retreated to the side under Zhou Wen¡¯s control. Her combat strength was very weak, so he was afraid that Xia Xuanyue¡¯s sword beam could kill her. It wasn¡¯t suitable for her to participate in the battle.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t summon her back. This was because the Eyes of Enticement couldn¡¯t permanently petrify people. It required them to see her to remain petrified.


    If Zhou Wen were to unsummon her, those people would shortly recover from their petrified states.


    Although they were both petrification skills, Medusa¡¯s skill was Eyes of Enticement. Its nature was different from the Eyes of Petrification.


    Previously, when Zhou Wen had fought Medusa, Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Nullification could restrain the snake-haired demoness¡¯s Eyes of Petrification, but it couldn¡¯t restrain the Eyes of Enticement. This was because the two had different attributes.


    Xia Xuanyue thought that Zhou Wen had killed the ten thousand swordsmen. She was filled with grief as she no longer held back with the ancient sword in her hand. Together with the Path to Snatching Heaven, she slashed at Zhou Wen again and again.


    ¡­


    ¡°Although my Xia family is big, among the younger generation, only Liuchuan and Little Yue are promising talents. To be able to cultivate the Path to Snatching Heaven to such a level, I¡¯m afraid even Liuchuan couldn¡¯t do it at her age, right?¡± On the city gates, the middle-aged man sighed.


    A strange look flashed across Old Master Xia¡¯s eyes and he said calmly, ¡°Little Yue is very talented, but it¡¯s a pity that she¡¯s a girl and can¡¯t inherit the Xia family¡¯s business.¡±


    1


    The middle-aged man said, ¡°However, our Xia family can be considered extremely lucky since Little Yue can support Liuchuan in the future.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhang Chunqiu was also paying attention to the battle in Forbidden City. When he saw Xia Xuanyue¡¯s movement technique, he couldn¡¯t help but praise, ¡°Excellent movement technique. Dugu, your movement technique isn¡¯t much better, right?¡±


    ¡°Her movement technique isn¡¯t inferior to mine.¡± Dugu Ge nodded.


    Dugu Ge couldn¡¯t see the situation inside Forbidden City, but when Zhou Wen entered the city, he had already secretly released some Gu worms to sneak in. Using the information transmitted by the Gu worms, he was also aware of the situation inside.


    ¡­


    Shen Yuchi and the others from the bureau had been using their binoculars to observe the situation inside the city. However, there was a mysterious force inside the city that prevented ordinary binoculars from seeing anything. They could only occasionally see terrifying sword beams shoot out, but nothing else.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was rather familiar with the Path to Snatching Heaven. Although he couldn¡¯t dodge, the Bamboo Blade in his hand blocked Xia Xuanyue¡¯s sword again and again. As he fought, he retreated in the direction of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    ¡°This Zhou Wen is really impressive. He can actually withstand such an amazing movement technique and sword technique despite carrying such a heavy piece of wood,¡± praised Dugu Ge.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that Zhou Wen seems to know Xia Xuanyue¡¯s movement technique very well? It looks like he can predict the future,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Is it a special ability? I heard that there¡¯s a girl in the Ultimate Family Clan who has the Eye of Odin and can see through everything,¡± Dugu Ge mused and said.


    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s more like Zhou Wen knows Xia Xuanyue¡¯s movement technique very well,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Are you saying that Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue have something between them?¡± Dugu Ge said straightforwardly. He wasn¡¯t like Zhang Chunqiu who spoke half-truths.


    ¡°I only know that Zhou Wen definitely knows Xia Xuanyue¡¯s movement technique very well. I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s anything between them,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a shrug.


    ¡­


    Up on the city gates, Old Master Xia and the middle-aged man also frowned. Clearly, they shared the same thoughts as Zhang Chunqiu. Xia Xuanyue¡¯s amazing Path to Snatching Heaven was actually blocked by Zhou Wen¡¯s saber. It was as though he had predicted the future. This was definitely not something that could be explained by just having powerful saber techniques.


    ¡°Little Yue once represented our Xia family to be the witness for Zhou Wen¡¯s battle in Luoyang. Perhaps she crossed paths with him back then. Perhaps she fought Zhou Wen before and not because she deliberately leaked the Path to Snatching Heaven,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of the Path to Snatching Heaven isn¡¯t as simple as exchanging blows,¡± Old Master Xia said indifferently. ¡°Ah Cheng, go and settle this matter.¡±


    ¡°What about Liuchuan¡­¡± The middle-aged man, Ah Cheng, was somewhat hesitant.


    ¡°I¡¯ve given him too much time,¡± Old Master Xia said expressionlessly.


    ¡°I know what to do.¡± Ah Cheng bowed slightly before jumping down the city gates and walking towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony.


    When Xia Liuchuan, who was fighting Tyrant Behemoth, saw Ah Cheng coming down, his expression changed slightly.

 Chapter 746 - Great Array

    ¡°Uncle Cheng, I can handle it myself. You don¡¯t have to do anything,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Sorry, Old Master can¡¯t wait any longer.¡± As Ah Cheng spoke, he continued walking towards the Gate of Supreme Harmony. Soon, he passed through it and saw Zhou Wen fighting Xia Xuanyue.


    ¡°Little Yue, you can stand down. Leave this to me,¡± said Ah Cheng.


    ¡°Uncle Cheng, I can handle it myself,¡± Xia Xuanyue replied.


    ¡°This is Old Master¡¯s order,¡± Ah Cheng said.


    When Xia Xuanyue heard the words ¡°Old Master,¡± she had no choice but to back out from the battle and go to Ah Cheng¡¯s side.


    Ah Cheng extended his hand and a strange yellow talisman appeared. The moment it appeared, golden runes lit up on the ground in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. It blanketed the huge space in golden light instantly.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt as though he had fallen into a huge vortex. The Essence Energy in his body was sucked out before rapidly flowing into the vortex.


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen himself. Even the Companion Beasts he summoned suffered the same fate. The Golden Overlord Sword and Medusa were rapidly drained of their Essence Energy.


    The petrified Xia family disciples and their Epic Companion Beast swords didn¡¯t receive any special care.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly retracted Medusa and the Golden Overlord Sword. At the same time, he switched his Essence Energy Art to the Dao Sutra. The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder also appeared in his consciousness.


    Such an array formation was similar to the Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s time bomb. It needed to be prepared ahead of time. Clearly, the Xia family was very careful and had prepared everything. Even if Xia Liuchuan couldn¡¯t win, they could still kill Zhou Wen.


    With the appearance of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen immediately felt the Essence Energy in his body stop leaking. With a thought, he retracted Tyrant Behemoth who was fighting Xia Liuchuan.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength was almost up. There was no need to continue fighting.


    ¡°We agreed on a duel. Isn¡¯t your Xia family being too shameless?¡± Zhou Wen pretended to be alarmed as he struggled to retreat.


    Ah Cheng said indifferently, ¡°You were the one who didn¡¯t duel. How can you blame our Xia family for not honoring our promise?¡±


    ¡°Alright, count yourselves lucky. I¡¯ll admit defeat, alright? Stop your array formation,¡± Zhou Wen shouted as he retreated. He was already very close to the Hall of Supreme Harmony¡ªless than fifty meters away. Any closer and he would be able to jump onto the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the Hall of Supreme Harmony was the peak of Forbidden City or if it could help him escape the log.


    ¡°It¡¯s already too late,¡± Ah Cheng said.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy for you to want my life. But don¡¯t tell me you have zero concern about the lives of the ten thousand Xia family members?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the petrified Xia family members.


    As Medusa had been unsummoned by Zhou Wen, their petrified bodies were gradually recovering.


    Seeing that they weren¡¯t dead, Xia Xuanyue couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief. She had thought that Zhou Wen had killed all of them and was extremely furious. Only now did she realize that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t really killed them.


    However, just like Zhou Wen, they were trapped in the array. Furthermore, they didn¡¯t have the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Their Essence Energy was constantly devoured by the array. Before the petrification on their bodies completely subsided, their Essence Energy was nearly sucked dry.


    Xia Liuchuan walked over and said, ¡°Uncle Cheng, stop. If this continues, they will all die.¡±


    Ah Cheng shook his head. ¡°Before dealing with Zhou Wen, the array can¡¯t be deactivated.¡±


    Zhou Wen was still retreating. Having already retreated to the edge of the array, the light barrier formed at the edge of the array blocked his path. The thin layer of golden light was like a metal wall. Zhou Wen tried his best several times, but he failed to slam through it.


    Furthermore, as long as Essence Energy struck the barrier, it would immediately be absorbed by the barrier, making its defense even stronger.


    Zhou Wen was still fine. His Essence Energy hadn¡¯t really been sucked away.


    The Xia family¡¯s disciples didn¡¯t share his prowess. They were nearly drained dry. Some of them had already recovered from the petrification. They rushed to the edge of the array formation, but like Zhou Wen, no matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t break through the barrier.


    Soon, their Essence Energy was sucked dry. After their Essence Energy was sucked dry, the array didn¡¯t let them off. Their essence, vitality, and spirit were extracted after their Essence Energy was drained.


    Their bodies aged at a speed visible to the naked eye. They looked extremely terrifying.


    Many Xia family members shouted in horror as they struggled to escape the hellish array.


    Xia Xuanyue¡¯s expression was complicated. She never expected to see such a scene. Furthermore, she was part of the reason why these people ended up like this.


    If she hadn¡¯t failed to stop Zhou Wen, Ah Cheng wouldn¡¯t have taken action¡ªthe ten thousands of Xia family members wouldn¡¯t have been trapped in the array.


    ¡°Uncle Cheng, I¡¯m sorry!¡± Xia Xuanyue gritted her teeth and suddenly brandished her sword, stabbing the yellow talisman in front of Ah Cheng.


    Ah Cheng never expected Xia Xuanyue to unsheathe her sword beside him. He was caught off guard as the yellow talisman was pierced by the sword beam.


    As the yellow talisman shattered, the array¡¯s golden light immediately cracked. The light barrier vanished as the golden runes on the ground dimmed.


    ¡°Little Yue¡­ You¡­¡± Ah Cheng¡¯s expression changed drastically. He wasn¡¯t worried that the array formation would release Zhou Wen after breaking, there was another reason.


    Xia Liuchuan was also shocked. He turned to look in the direction of the city gate tower and his body immediately trembled. Old Master Xia, who was sitting on the city gate tower watching the battle, had already disappeared.


    When he turned around, he realized that Old Master Xia was already standing in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony with his hands behind his back.


    Zhou Wen was just about to forcefully break through the light barrier when he realized that it had suddenly vanished. Just as he was overjoyed and was about to rush up the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a figure appeared in front of it as though he had teleported. He stood at the end of the stairs and blocked his path.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the person¡¯s body was majestic. He was about two meters tall and his hair was completely white. He looked like an elder, but his aura was extremely powerful. He didn¡¯t look like an elder at all.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as though he had sensed an extremely dangerous aura. He couldn¡¯t help but feel alarmed.


    ¡°Who allowed you to destroy the array without permission?¡± Old Master Xia didn¡¯t look at Zhou Wen, but his gaze landed on Xia Xuanyue.


    ¡°Old Master, Xuanyue didn¡¯t do it on purpose. She just couldn¡¯t bear to see the Xia family¡¯s members die¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan hurriedly pulled Xia Xuanyue to kneel down and admit her mistake.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Old Master Xia glanced expressionlessly at the Xia family members who had been drained of their vitality and had luckily escaped.


    Suddenly, Old Master Xia extended his hand and grabbed. Xia Xuanyue¡¯s body seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand as she was instantly pulled in front of Old Master Xia. He had his hand on her head.


    On the ground, the golden runes appeared once again. The array was activated again, trapping everyone inside once more.

 Chapter 747 - Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Formation

    The first to bear the brunt was the Xia family members. Their Essence Energy was already depleted and they had been enervated of their essence, vitality, and spirit. With the array¡¯s sudden suction, their bodies immediately bled as many of them collapsed to the ground.


    Apart from Zhou Wen and Old Master Xia who weren¡¯t affected, even Xia Xuanyue¡¯s Essence Energy began to drain.


    ¡°Old Master, please let Xuanyue off. She won¡¯t make the same mistake again,¡± Xia Liuchuan pleaded.


    Old Master Xia had Xia Xuanyue¡¯s head in one hand; yet, she couldn¡¯t move at all. Even the Mythical sword in her hand dropped to the ground as her eyes were filled with horror.


    Old Master Xia said calmly, ¡°Don¡¯t think that you can do whatever you want just because you were born into the Xia family. The world is cold and heartless. Any mistake can lead to the downfall of a family. As the future leader of the Xia family, if you don¡¯t even understand this, you have no right to lead the Xia family.¡±


    ¡°Please give Xuanyue another chance.¡± Xia Liuchuan slammed his head on the ground.


    ¡°Rules are rules. A volcano won¡¯t stop erupting because of your pleas, and time won¡¯t stop flowing because of pity. Rules have no feelings, and they are the most straightforward. It looks like you still don¡¯t understand what kind of cruel world you will face as the future leader of the Xia family.¡± Old Master Xia didn¡¯t have any intention of letting Xia Xuanyue off¡ªXia Xuanyue¡¯s Essence Energy was almost drained dry.


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s body trembled as he suddenly looked up. The Evil-Slaying Sword in his hand erupted with extreme strength as he stabbed at the golden light of the array.


    ¡°Liuchuan!¡± Ah Cheng¡¯s expression turned even uglier. He wanted to stop Xia Liuchuan, but it was already too late.


    Clang!


    The power of the Evil-Slaying Sword and the augmentation of Xia Liuchuan¡¯s protective armor failed to slice through the light barrier.


    Xia Liuchuan was alarmed, but in the next second, the Pure Hook Sword in his other hand slashed out as well. The two swords slashed at the array in a frenzy, but it only caused the golden barrier to sway. It failed to slice through it.


    Instead, his Essence Energy was absorbed by the array, causing the golden light barrier to become even more terrifying.


    Old Master Xia looked at Xia Liuchuan coldly and asked, ¡°Little Chuan, I dote on you the most. Are you going to betray me now?¡±


    ¡°I only hope that you can spare Xuanyue. She¡¯s my sister.¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s swords didn¡¯t stop as he continued slashing at the barrier.


    ¡°Seems like I need to reconsider the heir to the Xia family.¡± A cold glint flashed across Old Master Xia¡¯s eyes as he clenched his fists.


    Suddenly, a sword beam slashed over. Old Master Xia raised his hand and grabbed it. The golden sword beam was sucked into his palm and vanished instantly. Instead, the Essence Energy on Old Master Xia¡¯s body became even more majestic.


    At the same time, a suction force pulled Xia Xuanyue out. It was Zhou Wen¡¯s Demonic Astral Wheel.


    ¡°You people from a large family sure know how to have fun. You can even make it sound so dignified by killing your descendants. You¡¯ve really broadened my horizons today.¡± Zhou Wen pulled Xia Xuanyue to his side, but she wasn¡¯t in a good state. Her Essence Energy was constantly depleting, and she was almost drained dry.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Heaven-Opening Scripture. The scripture floated above his head, emitting an invisible force that blocked the array¡¯s suction force, preventing any Essence Energy in a tiny area around him from being sucked into the array.


    ¡°To be able to withstand the power of the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array, your talent and the Essence Energy Art you cultivate, as well as your Life Providence and Life Soul, are indeed extraordinary.¡± Old Master Xia didn¡¯t mind the sarcasm in Zhou Wen¡¯s words. All he did was stare at the Heaven-Opening Scripture above Zhou Wen¡¯s head and ask, ¡°That¡¯s your Life Soul, right? What¡¯s its name?¡±


    ¡°Why should I tell you, you old sicko?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Even if you don¡¯t tell me, I¡¯ll find out soon,¡± Old Master Xia said as he spread out his palm. All the Essence Energy in the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array gathered towards his palm.


    Instantly, there were tragic cries. Many of the Xia family disciples who were struggling died as they spat out blood. Their bodies were instantly sucked dry as they lost their essence, vitality, and spirit.


    As for Old Master Xia, after absorbing so much Essence Energy, his aura became extremely terrifying. The Essence Energy that seeped out of his body seemed to condense into something corporeal as it swayed on his body. The cracked Essence Energy made his skin seem transparent.


    Be it Xia Liuchuan and Ah Cheng, who were outside the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array, or Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue inside the array, they all felt their blood run cold.


    It wasn¡¯t that they had never seen a dead person, but more than ten thousand Epic experts had died tragically. Furthermore, they were members of the Xia family. They had never seen anyone so crazy.


    ¡°Old Master¡­ Why are you doing this¡­ This is destroying the Xia family¡­¡± Xia Xuanyue really couldn¡¯t understand why Old Master Xia would do this.


    There were more than ten thousand Epic experts. Even among the six families, there weren¡¯t many who could gather that number of Epic experts.


    Furthermore, they had been nurtured by Old Master Xia himself. Now, he had personally killed them. Xia Xuanyue couldn¡¯t figure out why.


    ¡°With me around, the Xia family will never be destroyed. So what if there are more than ten thousand Epic experts? I spent such a huge price to nurture them. They were originally only used as a stepping stone for my advancement to the Mythical stage. Now that their mission has been completed, they have died a worthy death.¡± The Essence Energy in Old Master Xia¡¯s body was as terrifying as a volcanic eruption. Furthermore, his body seemed to be becoming younger. Even his white hair was gradually turning black.


    ¡°Advance to the Mythical stage?¡± Xia Xuanyue couldn¡¯t comprehend. Was it right to sacrifice so many people just to advance to the Mythical stage? Furthermore, among the ten thousand Epic experts, although most of them didn¡¯t share the Xia surname, many of them were blood-related members of the Xia family.


    ¡°If one doesn¡¯t enter the Mythical stage, they will ultimately be mortal. No matter how powerful they are, there will be a day when they die. Only by advancing to the Mythical stage can one break through the shackles of life-like dimensional creatures and become a higher life form¡­ Unfortunately, the human body is too weak. Their talent is too poor. Even someone as talented as me can¡¯t rely on the strength of a single person to advance to the Mythical stage.¡±


    Old Master Xia explained indifferently, ¡°I¡¯ve studied many Essence Energy Arts and combined them with the Great Emperor Sutra passed down in our Xia family. I¡¯ve finally found a path to advance to the Mythical stage. It¡¯s to pile up sand into a tower and refine rocks into gold. I gathered the bloodlines, talents, Life Providences, and Life Souls of many geniuses into one, allowing me to break through the limits of humanity and advance to the Mythical stage. This is the only path I can take now.¡±


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded when he heard that. He finally knew why the Xia family had secretly attacked so many talented youths. It was all because of Old Master Xia.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Wang Mingyuan¡¯s advancement to the Mythical stage was already very ruthless, but compared to Old Master Xia¡¯s method, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s advancement was as holy as an angel.

 Chapter 748 - Old Master Xia

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°By killing so many people, what¡¯s the difference between you and a devil-like Jing Daoxian? Aren¡¯t you afraid that the other five Federation families will join forces to attack you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Old Master Xia sneered and said, ¡°You killed these people. What has it got to do with me? I¡¯ll naturally kill you to avenge them. You will also become an important step in my advancement to the Mythical stage.¡±


    With that said, Old Master Xia extended his hand and grabbed at Zhou Wen and Xia Xuanyue. At the same time, he continued, ¡°As a member of the Xia family, you should contribute to the Xia family. Return your bloodline¡¯s talent to me.¡±


    A terrifying suction force was produced as Xia Xuanyue and Zhou Wen involuntarily headed for Old Master Xia.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a human use such terrifying strength. His strength couldn¡¯t withstand the suction force. Together with the Heaven-Opening Scripture, he moved in Old Master Xia¡¯s direction, his feet leaving two marks on the stone slabs on the ground.


    Xia Xuanyue had expended too much Essence Energy and was in an even worse state. Her body had already flown up.


    Zhou Wen placed the log down with one hand and stabbed it into the ground. He used his other hand to hold Xia Xuanyue back and thanks to the log, they finally stopped.


    The enemy of an enemy was a friend. Now, Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue were probably going to completely fall out with Old Master Xia. Perhaps he could use their strength later.


    Although Xia Xuanyue no longer had any combat strength, Xia Liuchuan was still outside. Furthermore, he had a Guardian with him. Perhaps he could use his strength to rush out of the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    Otherwise, in this array, any Companion Beast¡¯s Essence Energy would be drained. The more Companion Beasts summoned, the stronger the augmentation Old Master Xia would receive. He had to rush out first.


    ¡°That old sicko has absorbed the Life Providence and Life Souls of countless geniuses. He has also absorbed the Essence Energy and life essence of more than ten thousand Epic experts. His strength is unfathomable. Speaking of which, even a tiger will not eat its cubs; yet, this old sicko wants to devour his descendants. Why doesn¡¯t the heavens strike him to death with lightning?¡± Zhou Wen placed Xia Xuanyue behind the log and got her to hug it. He held the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out sword beams at the old sicko, hoping to temporarily stop his suction force so that he could rush out of the Heaven and Earth Essence Origin-Returning Array with the log.


    However, the Golden Sword Aura that Zhou Wen slashed out was sucked in by the old sicko. Not only did it fail to injure him, but it also became a tonic for him.


    ¡°I refuse to believe that you can suck everything.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and made it shake the Soul Suppression Bell.


    1


    However, the Soul Suppressing Bell¡¯s chime couldn¡¯t stir Old Master Xia¡¯s soul. It didn¡¯t make him dizzy at all. Instead, as the Great Might Vajra Bull was too big in size, the power of the Heaven-Opening Scripture couldn¡¯t envelop it completely. Its Essence Energy quickly drained as its body moved towards Old Master Xia¡¯s palm.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull struggled with all its might, but it was unable to stop itself from sliding towards Old Master Xia. Its four hooves sank into the stone slab, but it didn¡¯t stop its slide towards Old Master Xia, scaring the Great Might Vajra Bull into mooing.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned it back and didn¡¯t dare release it again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use Companion Beasts. He has absorbed countless Life Providences and Life Souls. He can absorb any type of Essence Energy for his own use. Companion Beasts are condensed from Essence Energy. The power of any Companion Beast will be of help to him¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan warned Zhou Wen loudly from outside.


    1


    ¡°How can I rush out without a Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Since you insist on dying, come in and join them.¡± Old Master Xia snorted coldly. Xia Liuchuan had already used his fists to strike the light barrier of the array, but he suddenly felt the area in front of him empty out. He had already fallen into the array.


    Old Master Xia used his other hand to grab and suck at Xia Liuchuan. Xia Liuchuan¡¯s body immediately slid towards him.


    Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t retreat. He gritted his teeth and threw a punch at Old Master Xia.


    Guardians were lifeforms and not pure energy. They were somewhat different from Companion Beasts. The Guardian¡¯s strength should be able to be of some use against Old Master Xia.


    Boom!


    Old Master Xia¡¯s palm collided with Xia Liuchuan¡¯s fist and was forced back a few steps. The suction force immediately vanished.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold him back. Take Xuanyue and leave.¡± Xia Liuchuan threw another punch at Old Master Xia and shouted.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯m counting on you.¡± Zhou Wen picked up the log and ran with Xia Xuanyue.


    Xia Xuanyue was still somewhat hesitant, but Zhou Wen immediately said, ¡°It¡¯ll be easier for your brother to run if we run. If you stay a minute longer, your brother will be in greater danger.¡±


    Xia Xuanyue naturally understood this principle. She gritted her teeth and ran to the edge of the array formation with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen attacked the array, but when his strength struck the barrier, it was absorbed by the barrier, preventing it from cracking.


    Essence Energy-related skills won¡¯t do, but I wonder if pure physical strength works? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it as he forcefully switched to the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. He used the Demon Dragon True Body and endured the loss of Essence Energy as he threw a punch at the barrier.


    Boom!


    The barrier trembled. Although it wasn¡¯t shattered, it gave Zhou Wen hope. Pure physical strength was indeed effective against the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate as he punched the barrier, again and again, hoping to penetrate it and escape the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    Xia Liuchuan was attacking Old Master Xia crazily, but all his attacks were easily dodged by Old Master Xia, like a cat teasing a mouse.


    ¡°I gave you everything you have, and I taught you all your techniques. How dare you attack me?¡± Old Master Xia easily dodged Xia Liuchuan¡¯s attack and stared at him coldly.


    Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t say a word and just kept attacking.


    In the past, Old Master Xia had indeed doted on him. In the past, he had indeed treated Old Master Xia as his closest kin, even closer than his own parents.


    It wasn¡¯t until the year he turned fifteen that he accidentally saw Old Master Xia suck his talented cousin dry. From then on, he rarely went to the East Courtyard.


    ¡°I originally thought that you were a little different from the others, but it looks like you¡¯re just a beast that will ultimately remain mortal. Forget it. With you as my last cornerstone, my raising of you for so many years wasn¡¯t in vain.¡± Old Master Xia actually made a move. His palm actually passed through Xia Liuchuan¡¯s fist and struck his chest.


    Xia Liuchuan was wearing the Guardian armor. Although he wasn¡¯t seriously injured, he still took a few steps back.


    ¡°Although a Guardian is strong, it¡¯s a pity that you don¡¯t have the time to truly control his power. Furthermore, do you really think that after contracting with the Guardian, he will really belong to you?¡± Old Master Xia retracted his palm. There was a wound on his finger and blood was dripping out.


    There was also a smear of blood on Xia Liuchuan¡¯s armor. Clearly, the blood did not belong to him.

 Chapter 749 - The Strong Are Respected

    Translator: CKtalon


    Crack! Crack!


    The Guardian armor on Xia Liuchuan¡¯s body cracked. It wasn¡¯t shattering, but the armor was automatically disintegrating.


    The black jade-like armor quickly disintegrated from Xia Liuchuan¡¯s body and condensed into a figure in the air.


    It was a black jade golem. It looked very strange. It had the appearance of a human, but its body was black jade.


    Old Master Xia looked at Xia Liuchuan and said coldly, ¡°In this world, only strength is the eternal truth. The so-called Guardian only wants to protect humans who can make it stronger. I¡¯m far stronger than you, so it abandoned you and chose me. The rules of the world are just that cruel. The strong are respected.¡±


    As Old Master Xia spoke, the black-jade-like Guardian had already transformed into armor again. However, this time, it was on Old Master Xia.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s white hair had already turned completely black. Wearing the black jade Guardian armor, he looked even more majestic and heroic. His nose was slightly aquiline, giving him the look of the ruthlessness of an ambitious and ruthless character. It made people fear him.


    Without the protection of the black jade armor, Xia Liuchuan¡¯s Essence Energy began to leak out as it was absorbed by the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    Old Master Xia already had terrifying Essence Energy and vitality. Now, with the power of the black jade armor, his strength was unimaginable. With a punch, Xia Liuchuan only had time to raise his arm to block before he was sent flying. He slammed into the light barrier and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Zhou Wen was still striking the barrier, but he hadn¡¯t blasted it open. When he turned his head and saw this scene, he was somewhat alarmed.


    Although I knew that Guardians are unreliable, I never expected them to be so unreliable. It actually betrayed its owner just like that. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t contract a Guardian. Zhou Wen was secretly glad that he didn¡¯t contract with Guardians.


    Zhou Wen secretly decided that unless it was a master-slave contract like Demonic Neonate, even if he couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage, he definitely wouldn¡¯t contract a Guardian.


    Now, there was no time for Zhou Wen to think too much. Xia Liuchuan was already at his limits. If he didn¡¯t leave, he would only be able to fight Old Sicko Xia in the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array. Fighting him here would be too disadvantageous.


    However, the barrier was too hard. The power of the Demon Dragon True Body couldn¡¯t blast it open in a short period of time. By the time he blasted it open, Old Sicko Xia would have already charged over.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen thought of an idea. Although he didn¡¯t know if it would work, he had to give it a try.


    Looking at Xia Xuanyue, who had expended all her Essence Energy and was losing her essence, vitality, and spirit, Zhou Wen switched to the Dao Sutra and summoned the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder to protect himself and Xia Xuanyue. Then, he hugged the log to his waist and slammed it into the light barrier of the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    I¡¯ve carried you for so long. If you don¡¯t give me some help, I¡¯m going to die here, Zhou Wen thought as the log slammed into the barrier.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to try using the heavy mass of the log to aid him, but to his surprise, he heard a loud thud.


    The entire Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array¡¯s barrier shattered like glass. It stopped operating as the golden runes beneath dimmed.


    Everyone was stunned as Old Master Xia gave up on attacking Xia Liuchuan. He turned his head and looked at Zhou Wen, staring at the log in his arms with a puzzled look.


    Xia Xuanyue, who was sitting beside him, looked at Zhou Wen with a look of surprise. She never expected Zhou Wen to crack the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array.


    Zhou Wen never expected the log to be so powerful. If he had known this would happen, he would have long cracked open the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array. He wouldn¡¯t have needed to wait until now.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste any time being dazed. He ran towards the Hall of Supreme Harmony with the log in hand.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s figure moved as he attempted to stop Zhou Wen. Although he didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to, he didn¡¯t think it was anything good, nor did he wish for anything to happen.


    Just as he moved, he saw a sword beam stab at him. Old Master Xia dodged slightly and the Evil-Slaying Sword flew past his face. Xia Liuchuan held the Pure Hook Sword with both hands and cleaved down from behind.


    Old Master Xia snorted and flicked the Pure Hook Sword with his finger, sending it flying.


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s figure appeared beside the Evil-Slaying Sword that had already flown over. He held onto the Evil-Slaying Sword and slashed at Old Master Xia¡¯s neck.


    ¡°I told you, I taught you everything. Your tricks are useless against me.¡± Old Master Xia seemed to have expected Xia Liuchuan to appear there and punched him in the abdomen.


    This punch carried unparalleled power. If one was hit, even a steel castle would be blasted open, much less a person. It was evident that Old Master Xia really wanted to kill Xia Liuchuan.


    However, Xia Liuchuan¡¯s person disappeared again. Old Master Xia¡¯s fist missed again.


    Clang!


    A sword stabbed into Old Master Xia¡¯s back. It was the ancient sword that Xia Xuanyue used. At that moment, Xia Liuchuan held it in his hand and pierced through Old Master Xia¡¯s black jade armor.


    ¡°Very good¡­ Really good¡­ I never expected your Sword Warp technique to reach such a stage. You can use the sword of others to warp. From the looks of it, you never planned on following my orders to kill Zhou Wen from the beginning¡­¡± Old Master Xia lowered his head as his eyes turned terrifying. Without turning around, he enunciated each word with a heavy tone.


    The ancient sword had penetrated three inches in and the sword beam erupted like a volcano. However, no matter how Xia Liuchuan exerted his strength, he was unable to move the sword tip any further.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s figure suddenly turned blurry and vanished in front of Xia Liuchuan as though he had teleported. Xia Liuchuan cursed silently and used Sword Warp. When he appeared again, he was already beside the Evil-Slaying Sword.


    However, just as Xia Liuchuan appeared, Old Master Xia appeared beside the Evil-Slaying Sword and punched him to the ground.


    Boom!


    Xia Liuchuan¡¯s body slammed heavily to the ground, creating a huge crater. Blood spewed out of his mouth as countless bones fractured.


    ¡°Brother!¡± Xia Xuanyue struggled to stand up and wanted to rush over.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over¡­ Leave quickly¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan gritted his teeth and shouted. At the same time, he used Sword Warp with all his might again. When he arrived beside the Pure Hook Sword, his body clearly staggered, but his grip on the sword remained immensely firm.


    However, the moment he held the Pure Hook Sword, Old Master Xia had already appeared in front of him. Without waiting for Xia Liuchuan to swing his sword, his fists had already struck Xia Liuchuan¡¯s chest at an indiscernible speed. Xia Liuchuan vomited blood and his sternum collapsed.

 Chapter 750 - Freakish Monster

    Translator: CKtalon


    While Xia Liuchuan held back Old Master Xia, Zhou Wen finally reached the top of the Hall of Supreme Harmony¡¯s roof. When he raised the log to the highest point, Zhou Wen knew that he was at the right spot.


    After the log was erected on the roof, it seemed to be sucked by a magnet. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to support it to prevent it from falling.


    It¡¯s done! Zhou Wen was delighted as he took two steps back. The word ¡°slave¡± didn¡¯t appear on his forehead again.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to see what changes the log had undergone because Xia Liuchuan was about to be sucked dry.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s hand grabbed Xia Liuchuan¡¯s head, causing his Essence Energy, essence, vitality, and spirit to rush into Old Master Xia¡¯s body.


    Originally, Xia Liuchuan¡¯s life had nothing to do with Zhou Wen, but if he allowed Old Master Xia to absorb Xia Liuchuan¡¯s powers to advance to the Mythical stage, it would be even harder to deal with him.


    Furthermore, if Xia Liuchuan hadn¡¯t held back Old Master Xia just now, it would have been very difficult for him to escape Old Master Xia and erect the log above the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    Without the restriction of the log, Zhou Wen felt much more relaxed. Doctor Darkness possessed him as he drew Bamboo Blade. He used Transcendent Flying Immortal and instantly appeared in front of Old Master Xia and slashed at his hand that was grabbing Xia Liuchuan.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s other hand blocked the Bamboo Blade at the last moment.


    With the protection of the black jade armor, Bamboo Blade failed to injure his hand. However, this was within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. He held the Orchid Blade in his other hand and slashed at Old Master Xia¡¯s neck from a strange angle.


    Old Master Xia had no choice but to let go of Xia Liuchuan and grab the Orchid Blade with his other hand.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique changed as he danced in the air, preventing Old Master Xia¡¯s hand from touching his saber. With one long and one short blade in hand, he slashed at Old Master Xia from all sorts of strange angles.


    He didn¡¯t dare use his Essence Energy Skills and only relied on his strength to attack. Although the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array had been destroyed, Old Master Xia had the ability to absorb all sorts of Essence Energy. Even an Essence Energy Skill with powerful offensive strength like the Golden Sword Aura would be directly absorbed by him and augment him. The other Essence Energy Skills were even more useless.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was best at movement techniques. He didn¡¯t need to release his Essence Energy, or he would have been sucked in by Old Master Xia.


    Outside Forbidden City, Zhang Chunqiu and Dugu Ge were already dumbfounded. With the Heaven and Earth Origin-Returning Array enveloping the area, they had no idea what was happening inside.


    After the array was destroyed by Zhou Wen, they could finally see the situation inside.


    However, they ended up seeing that Xia Liuchuan had been beaten up by Old Master Xia and how Zhou Wen had helped to resolve the situation and was fighting Old Master Xia. In addition, more than ten thousand Xia family members had collapsed to the ground. It left them momentarily shocked, unsure of what had happened.


    Zhou Wen pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits. With Doctor Darkness strengthening his body, his speed was much faster than a Mythical creature like Six-Winged.


    However, his two sabers did not touch Old Master Xia at all.


    Path to Snatching Heaven! Zhou Wen recognized that the movement technique Old Master Xia was using was the Path to Snatching Heaven.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange that Old Master Xia could use Path to Snatching Heaven. Furthermore, Old Master Xia¡¯s Path to Snatching Heaven was stronger than Xia Xuanyue¡¯s. Clearly, he had long cultivated it to the divine level.


    However, this movement technique was somewhat different from Xia Xuanyue¡¯s¡ªit was several times stronger. Even Zhou Wen¡¯s divine Transcendent Flying Immortal paled in comparison.


    What was even more terrifying was that not only did Old Master Xia have a good movement technique, but he seemed to have made terrifying achievements in his various techniques. Every ordinary move was like a finishing touch. It was as if every move had reached a divine level.


    Zhou Wen was completely suppressed in a short period of time. Be it in terms of technique or strength, he was unable to fight Old Master Xia head-on.


    If not for the fact that he already knew the profundity of the Path to Snatching Heaven, he would have been injured by Old Master Xia.


    With his understanding of Path to Snatching Heaven and the wonders of Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen was barely able to maintain an undefeated stance.


    This sicko is a monster. How can someone cultivate all the techniques to the divine level? Is he still human? Zhou Wen knew very well how difficult it was to cultivate a technique to the divine level.


    After cultivating for so long, he had only cultivated Transcendent Flying Immortal to the divine level. Xia Liuchuan was about ten years older than him, but he had also only cultivated Sword Warp to the divine level.


    As for Old Master Xia, he gave Zhou Wen the feeling that he was omnipotent. It was as though any technique would become an unparalleled divine technique in his hands.


    Although he didn¡¯t use any Essence Energy Skills, he was already suffocating from the pressure.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was a person who was calmer and less prone to mistakes in times of adversity. He kept searching for an opportunity to defeat Old Master Xia.


    Typical Companion Beast attacks weren¡¯t of much use against someone like Old Master Xia who could absorb Essence Energy Skills. Physical attacks were relatively effective against him.


    However, now that he had the Guardian armor, he was like a tiger with wings. Typical Mythical Companion Beasts were probably not a threat to him.


    Tyrant Behemoth was originally a better choice. Unfortunately, its Absolute Strength had run out not long ago, so it couldn¡¯t be used for the time being.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that among his Companion Beasts, the only ones that might pose a threat to Old Master Xia were Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World, Demonic Neonate¡¯s Demonic Sword, and Truth Listener that had activated multiple earrings.


    However, they might only be effective and not necessarily useful. Therefore, Zhou Wen had to find an appropriate opportunity to use Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch World. He only hoped to kill Old Master Xia in one strike and not give him any chance.


    His flesh tore as Old Master Xia¡¯s fingertip brushed past Zhou Wen¡¯s arm. Immediately, his flesh was sliced open and blood flowed out. If Zhou Wen had dodged any slower, his arm would have been severed.


    To fight someone whose movement techniques weren¡¯t slower than them, whose attacks were more ruthless than them, and whose moves were more ingenious than them, anyone would feel immense pressure. If they weren¡¯t careful, they might be killed in one strike.


    In reality, there was no rewind option like in-game, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare be careless. He would rather be injured than take the risk of being killed in one strike.


    ¡°You are indeed different from the rest. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if I saw such a movement technique and endurance from an old man in his seventies or eighties, but you are only seventeen or eighteen years old. To be able to do this much, your future achievements will definitely not be inferior to An Tianzuo¡¯s if you don¡¯t die,¡± Old Master Xia said calmly as he attacked.


    Actually, he shouldn¡¯t be called Old Master Xia anymore because his current appearance was almost the same as a man in his thirties. There were no signs of aging on his body.


    His majestic figure, domineering aura, and invincible combat strength made him seem invulnerable.


    Blood splattered as another wound appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you.¡± Xia Liuchuan struggled to stand up, but his injuries were too serious. He staggered as he walked. Only his hand that held the sword remained steady.


    Xia Liuchuan wanted to throw his sword at Old Master Xia, but before he could do so, Old Master Xia had already struck out with his palm, sending Xia Liuchuan flying along with his sword.


    Now. Zhou Wen instantly unleashed his strength. He pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits as the two blades transformed into streams of light that criss-crossed with Old Master Xia.

 Chapter 751 - Connate Dominance Body

    Translator: CKtalon


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The fully-unleashed Transcendent Flying Immortal was blocked by Old Master Xia¡¯s hands.


    The divine physique given to him by the Guardian, together with the powerful Essence Energy he had accumulated, was truly terrifying.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of finishing Old Master Xia off with this strike. As the two sabers slashed crazily, Torch Dragon¡¯s mirror eye also caused Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils to undergo a strange change. It was as though it had turned into a mirror as it looked at Old Master Xia.


    However, Old Master Xia suddenly vanished into thin air. Almost at the same time, he appeared behind Zhou Wen and struck his head with his palm.


    Teleportation! Zhou Wen immediately realized that it was true teleportation. It had an extremely similar effect to Lost Country.


    Without any time to turn around or dodge, Zhou Wen raised Bamboo Blade above his head and blocked Old Master Xia¡¯s palm.


    However, the palm strangely turned transparent as though it had transformed into a ghostly hand. It passed through the Bamboo Blade and continued striking at Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he twisted his head to the side. He gathered his strength with his other hand and struck towards Old Master Xia¡¯s palm.


    When the two palms clashed, Zhou Wen immediately felt a powerful suction force suck his palm, sucking the Essence Energy in his body towards Old Master Xia.


    Zhou Wen wanted to shake off Old Master Xia¡¯s hand, but he couldn¡¯t. His other hand held Bamboo Blade and slashed at Old Master Xia, but he was grabbed by his other hand. His Essence Energy was sucked even faster.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized the problem. Not only had Old Master Xia absorbed the Essence Energy of those geniuses, but he had also robbed them of their bloodline talent, Life Providence, and Life Soul.


    Zhou Wen was certain that Old Master Xia definitely had multiple Life Providences and Life Souls. Otherwise, it was impossible for him to use so many different Essence Energy Skills.


    In that short moment, Old Master Xia had used three powers of different attributes and categories. Furthermore, each of them was a rare ability.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy was drained as his expression turned livid. He suddenly activated his mirror eye and looked at Old Master Xia.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use the same trick twice in front of me,¡± Old Master Xia said coldly. He opened his eyes and there seemed to be a devil roaring in his pupils. It was an eye-type Life Soul.


    At the instant he saw the Life Soul in the eye, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyelids closed uncontrollably. He couldn¡¯t open them no matter what.


    How many terrifying Life Providences and Life Souls did this bastard plunder? How did he do it? Zhou Wen was alarmed as the Essence Energy in his body surged towards Old Master Xia like a river.


    I¡¯ll fight it out with you. Zhou Wen struggled with all his might, hoping to escape Old Master Xia¡¯s grasp, but it was to no avail.


    Just as Old Master Xia was about to say something, a purple-black ancient sword suddenly emerged from the ground and stabbed at Old Master Xia¡¯s crotch.


    This strike was too strange and sinister. Before Old Master Xia could react, the sword had already stabbed into his body.


    Bam!


    After being penetrated by the demonic sword, Old Master Xia¡¯s body exploded like a ball of water, turning into a pool of water. As for his true body, it appeared behind Zhou Wen and twisted his arms.


    He even has an avatar Life Soul. This old sicko¡­ Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    ¡°No matter how strong you are, you¡¯re just a¡­¡± Before Old Master Xia could finish his sentence, his pupils constricted.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s right hand, which he had grabbed, suddenly vanished like a ghost. It passed through Old Master Xia¡¯s Guardian armor and body and instantly flashed three times.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of having his Essence Energy sucked away. His Slaughterer Life Soul allowed him to have unlimited Essence Energy. No matter how much Old Master Xia absorbed, it wouldn¡¯t harm him.


    Zhou Wen had waited so long for this opportunity. When Old Master Xia believed that he was at the end of his rope and his final trump card had failed, he used Doctor Darkness¡¯s Darkness Right Hand.


    Without giving Old Master Xia any chance, Zhou Wen¡¯s Darkness Right Hand plucked out Old Master Xia¡¯s heart, liver, and one of his kidneys. Even the Guardian armor couldn¡¯t block the Darkness Right Hand.


    Zhou Wen held Old Master Xia¡¯s bloody organs in his hand. The heart was still beating violently. Every time it beat, blood would spew out from the severed arteries. It looked extremely terrifying.


    Old Master Xia looked down at his body and didn¡¯t find any injuries. However, blood seeped out from his mouth and nose.


    Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue watched this scene with mixed feelings.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time¡­ It¡¯s been a long time since someone injured me¡­ You are the first in nearly twenty years¡­¡± Old Master Xia said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. Old Master Xia¡¯s vitality didn¡¯t weaken after his organs were removed. Instead, it became stronger.


    A white flame burned over Old Master Xia¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t a flame, but a condensation of immense lifeforce.


    Zhou Wen used his penetrative vision to stare at Old Master Xia and saw that the organs that had been plucked out of his body had grown again.


    ¡°Connate Dominance Body¡­ How is this possible¡­ This is impossible¡­¡± Xia Xuanyue exclaimed.


    ¡°What is the Connate Dominance Body?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    The heavily injured Xia Liuchuan answered, ¡°The Connate Dominance Body is a Life Providence derived from the Invincible Connate Divine Art. Only by cultivating the Invincible Connate Divine Art can one condense a Connate Dominance Body. However, not everyone who cultivates the Invincible Connate Divine Art can condense a Connate Dominance Body. It depends on one¡¯s physique and talent. Our Xia family abandoned the Invincible Connate Divine Art long ago. The only person in the records who could condense a Connate Dominance Body was our Xia family¡¯s hero¡­ However, he died many years ago¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen had heard of the Xia family¡¯s hero. As Li Xuan cultivated in the Invincible Connate Divine Art, he had heard a lot about it from him.


    However, in Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, the Xia family¡¯s hero¡¯s Life Providence didn¡¯t seem to be called the Connate Dominance Body. Furthermore, in order to get married and have children, he had nullified the Invincible Connate Divine Art. He had lost both his Life Providence and Life Soul. Even if he revived, it was impossible for him to have another Connate Dominance Body.


    It was also because of this that the Xia family¡¯s hero died in a dimensional zone.


    However, Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue were real Xia family members. They naturally wouldn¡¯t make a mistake. Old Master Xia definitely had the Connate Dominance Body.


    ¡°From the looks of it, he has absorbed a Xia family member with a Connate Dominance Body Life Providence,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Apart from the Xia family¡¯s hero, even if one cultivates in the Invincible Connate Divine Art, no one has condensed a Connate Dominance Body¡­¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°Then you must be mistaken. What he has isn¡¯t the Connate Dominance Body, but another powerful self-healing ability¡­¡± Zhou Wen saw that Old Master Xia¡¯s body had already recovered. After his organs were regenerated, they were no different from his previous organs.

 Chapter 752 - Dark Clouds

    Translator: CKtalon


    Old Master Xia clearly wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue listening to them. With a flash, he appeared in front of Zhou Wen like a devil and struck out at him.


    The flames on his palm were like a blazing sun that burned everything. When Zhou Wen saw that the flames could even burn through the void, he immediately knew that it wasn¡¯t an ordinary fire-elemental power. He didn¡¯t dare take it head-on as he spread out his six wings and rapidly retreated.


    However, a pair of Golden-Winged Roc Life Soul wings appeared behind Old Master Xia, greatly increasing his speed. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to open the distance between them, so the flames were about to strike his chest.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to slash out his Bamboo Blade at Old Master Xia¡¯s palm.


    When Bamboo Blade came into contact with the flames, the flames spread along Bamboo Blade and instantly enveloped his body.


    The flames spewed out before extinguishing. The six wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back vanished as his face turned pale.


    If not for Six-Winged¡¯s Life Guardian, Zhou Wen would have died from this strike.


    However, Six-Winged was also killed because of this, making it impossible for it to be revived.


    ¡°To think you have a Companion Beast that can die in your place. Your luck sure is extraordinary. However, your luck ends here.¡± Old Master Xia stared coldly at Zhou Wen, prepared to continue attacking.


    Suddenly, a clap of thunder sounded in the sky, shocking everyone.


    At some point in time, the sky was filled with dark clouds. Lightning flashed amidst the dark clouds.


    Zhang Chunqiu, who was peeping outside, felt a sharp pain in his eyes. Blood tears flowed out of his eyes as he hurriedly retracted his Heavenly Eye. He didn¡¯t dare look inside again as he looked at Forbidden City¡¯s general direction in horror.


    A storm was brewing above Forbidden City. The whole of Imperial Capital¡¯s sky was covered in dark clouds, but Forbidden City seemed to be the center of the storm. It was especially gloomy.


    Almost at the same time, Dugu Ge lost contact with his Gu worm. The two of them looked at each other and saw the shock in each other¡¯s eyes.


    Up to now, they had yet to figure out what had happened in Forbidden City. They had some ideas based on what they had seen, but they didn¡¯t know if they were right. However, just the mere speculation left them shocked.


    ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡± Dugu Ge pointed at the dark clouds in the sky and asked.


    Zhang Chunqiu pinched his fingers to divine. The more he did so, the more he shook his head. ¡°The heavenly secrets are in chaos. Nothing can be divined. The outcome is different every time, so there¡¯s no point in divining. From the looks of it, something big is about to happen. Let¡¯s leave this place quickly to avoid being implicated.¡±


    ¡°What about Loser?¡± Dugu Ge asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve previously told his fortune. He¡¯s not destined to die. He should be able to survive this calamity.¡± As Zhang Chunqiu spoke, he turned around and left, as though he was being chased by a dog. He was afraid that he would be bitten by a dog if he ran too slowly.


    Dugu Ge glanced in the direction of Forbidden City before leaving with Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡­


    In Forbidden City, Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon and said to Xia Xuanyue and company, ¡°Leave now.¡±


    He knew that he could only risk his life. Otherwise, he might really not be able to leave Forbidden City today.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the Old Master Xia in front of him might be one of the six heroes, the invincible hero from the Xia family.


    However, the Xia family¡¯s hero had long lost his virginity. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be the Xia family now.


    Wait, what if the present Xia family doesn¡¯t have the true hero¡¯s bloodline? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he suddenly felt that it was very possible.


    As the saying went, even a vicious tiger wouldn¡¯t eat its cubs. However, Old Master Xia was as cold-blooded and heartless to the Xia family. If they went against him in any way, he would kill them immediately. Even geniuses like Xia Xuanyue and Xia Liuchuan could be ruthlessly killed. This was definitely not something an ordinary person could do.


    However, if Old Master Xia was really the hero of the Xia family and he hadn¡¯t really lost his virginity, then all of this could be explained. This was because the Xia family didn¡¯t have the bloodline of the hero, so he didn¡¯t need to have any familial concerns.


    Of course, all of this was just Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. Perhaps Old Master Xia had nothing to do with the Xia family¡¯s hero. His nature was just that ruthless.


    ¡°Ah Cheng, take Little Chuan and Little Yue back,¡± Old Master Xia said as he stared coldly at Zhou Wen.


    He wasn¡¯t killing Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue out of goodwill; instead, the array¡¯s destruction meant he couldn¡¯t prevent outsiders from spying on them. He wasn¡¯t willing to kill Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue in front of others.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ah Cheng ran towards Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop him. Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue being taken away was better than them dying here. As long as they weren¡¯t dead, there was still hope.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, live on,¡± Xia Xuanyue shouted at Zhou Wen as she was taken away.


    I¡¯ll live, Zhou Wen thought.


    Old Master Xia glanced at Torch Dragon and said, ¡°This should be Torch Dragon from the Zhuolu temple, right? At such a young age, you actually have so many Mythical Companion Beasts and have such attainments in martial arts. It¡¯s enough for you to dominate the Federation. In the history of the Federation, there¡¯s no one who had such achievements at your age.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m still inferior to you,¡± Zhou Wen said sincerely.


    He originally believed that he was sufficiently omnipotent and could handle all kinds of crises.


    Even if he was inferior to others in some aspects, Zhou Wen had always felt that he was one of the best in the Federation when it came to overall combat strength.


    However, Old Master Xia was more comprehensive than him. Not only did he have multiple Life Providences and Life Souls, but he could also use them freely. He also had a Guardian. What was even more terrifying was that he didn¡¯t plan on purely relying on the Guardian¡¯s powers to stay at the Mythical stage. Instead, he wanted to advance to the Mythical stage with his own strength.


    He had divine skills and immense strength. Furthermore, he definitely had Mythical Companion Beasts which were definitely not ordinary ones. His strength could be described as unfathomable.


    Boom!


    The lightning in the sky constantly interweaved as thunder boomed one after another.


    Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue no longer had the ability to fight. They were forcefully taken out by Ah Cheng. Only Zhou Wen and Old Master Xia were left in front of the huge Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    ¡°You are indeed inferior to me now, but if we were born in the same era, I might not be your match. With you as the last cornerstone of my advancement to the Mythical stage, I¡¯m very satisfied. Don¡¯t worry. After today, I¡¯ll take your talent, Life Providence, and Life Soul for myself and make it famous. You should be able to feel comforted in the afterlife,¡± Old Master Xia said as he took a step forward and arrived in front of Zhou Wen as though he had tunneled through the void.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared as he put on the Jade Crystal Spirit armor. At the same time, Torch Dragon used World King Transformation. Torch Dragon¡¯s eyes all across its body opened wide as they turned into mirrors. It was the Bright Torch Vision World in the World King Transformation state.

 Chapter 753 - Invisibility Strike

    Translator: CKtalon


    The power of the Bright Torch Vision World enveloped the entire area.


    However, at the instant the Bright Torch Vision World activated, Old Master Xia suddenly vanished. Truth Listener couldn¡¯t sense his location within its range, making Zhou Wen feel uneasy.


    When the power of the Bright Torch Vision World stopped, he saw Old Master Xia¡¯s figure appear not far from him as though he had never moved.


    ¡°Universe Shifting, Yin and Yang Interconnect. There aren¡¯t many abilities that can achieve this level. I only obtained the Yin Yang Universe Ring Life Soul after searching for nearly ten years. Using this Life Soul, I can temporarily reverse Yin and Yang, preventing any force from injuring or seeing me,¡± Old Master Xia said calmly as he stroked the ring with a Taiji symbol on his finger.


    ¡°How many people have you killed and how many Life Souls have you plundered? Don¡¯t you think that those Life Souls are like the ghosts of those people, pestering you every day and night?¡± Zhou Wen unsummoned Torch Dragon to prevent it from being killed by Old Master Xia.


    After the World King Transformation, Torch Dragon entered a weakened state, greatly reducing its strength. It could no longer play a decisive role in such a battle.


    Old Master Xia said calmly, ¡°In this era, if I¡¯m still afraid of the supernatural, how can I defy the heavens and change my fate? I¡¯m not afraid of ghosts or gods. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to make all dimensional creatures prostrate before me.¡±


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s about time. As one of the nine main Life Souls of the Connate Great Emperor Sutra, help me advance to the Mythical stage.¡± The black jade armor on Old Master Xia¡¯s body emitted a terrifying black light. As Old Master Xia threw a punch, space tore apart, forming a black sun.


    However, upon careful inspection, the black sun was a black hole. It produced a huge suction force that pulled Zhou Wen in.


    As Old Master Xia blasted the black hole at Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen felt the suction force grow stronger, as though it was about to pull his soul in.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he suddenly vanished.


    Old Master Xia frowned slightly as he looked around, but he didn¡¯t find Zhou Wen. It was as though he had vanished into thin air.


    Almost instantly, Old Master Xia condensed a ball of sun-like radiance in his palm. The light illuminated all of Forbidden City. Wherever it shone, hot smoke would emit. No matter where one hid, they would be forced out by this indiscriminate attack.


    However, Old Master Xia didn¡¯t sense anything amiss as though Zhou Wen had really vanished into thin air.


    Does he have an ability similar to the Yin Yang Universe Ring? Old Master Xia frowned slightly.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t have the Yin Yang Universe Ring, but he had the Invisibility Cloak. With the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Wheel of Destiny activated, he had three minutes of complete invisibility. Attacks were useless against him.


    After Zhou Wen used the Invisibility Cloak, he unsummoned Demonic Neonate, who was hiding behind the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, and charged towards the entrance of Forbidden City.


    The invisible ability could only last for three minutes. After three minutes, he could only remain physically invisible. That way, he would be easily discovered. Therefore, Zhou Wen wanted to use this time to escape Forbidden City.


    However, when he rushed to the entrance of Forbidden City, he realized that the door had already closed.


    However, the invisibility force made him invisible and intangible during the three minutes. He could directly penetrate matter as Zhou Wen charged straight for the door.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was repelled by a strange force, preventing him from rushing out.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he felt that something was amiss.


    The force that repelled him wasn¡¯t the door itself, but a force that resembled lightning. His body was still feeling numb.


    The black clouds and lightning that filled the sky had already made Zhou Wen feel that something was amiss. It felt even more so now. Zhou Wen looked up and carefully observed Forbidden City. He realized that the Corner Tower on the city wall was emitting a faint glow. Although the light wasn¡¯t strong, it was especially eye-catching with the dark clouds covering the sun.


    Zhou Wen flew into the air and looked at the other three Corner Towers in the city. Indeed, they were glowing.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think about the reason. He didn¡¯t have much time left. It had been nearly twenty seconds since he rushed over. Since he couldn¡¯t leave now, Zhou Wen had to think of a way to kill Old Master Xia. Otherwise, he would be the one to die.


    The Connate Dominance Body is probably similar to Li Xuan¡¯s Immortal God of Combat. Its self-healing ability is even stronger. It¡¯s probably very difficult to kill him by simply injuring his body. How can I kill him? Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss, but he couldn¡¯t sit idle.


    1


    He quickly rushed towards Old Master Xia who was still standing in his spot. He used all sorts of methods to find Zhou Wen, but it wasn¡¯t of much use. The eight Life Providences and Life Souls he already had, as well as all sorts of Essence Energy Skills, failed to be of any use. He failed to find the invisible Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen came in front of Old Master Xia and pointed at his mouth. Then, he summoned the Primordial Spore and allowed it to enter his body. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, he had to give it a try.


    After the Primordial Spore entered Old Master Xia¡¯s body, Zhou Wen pulled out the Orchid Blade and released it from invisibility. He stabbed it into Old Master Xia¡¯s mouth.


    The Orchid Blade entered his mouth and penetrated Old Master Xia¡¯s brain, but it couldn¡¯t penetrate his skull from the other end.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care as he twisted the Orchid Blade.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s strength erupted like a volcano, sending Zhou Wen flying. He didn¡¯t even manage to pull the Orchid Blade out from his mouth.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body tumbled in the air as he finally managed to dissipate the terrifying force. However, he still spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t concerned about his injuries. Such injuries couldn¡¯t kill him. All he wanted to know was if this strike was of any use.


    Old Master Xia stood there with the Orchid Blade in his mouth. His brain had been severely damaged by Zhou Wen, but when Zhou Wen looked at him, he saw Old Master Xia extend his palm, grab the Orchid Blade, and pull it out of his mouth.


    As for his injuries, they were rapidly recovering.


    How can he still self-heal like this? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart chilled. He still couldn¡¯t kill Old Master Xia despite delivering such an attack. He couldn¡¯t think of any power that could kill him.


    Old Master Xia held the Orchid Blade, but there was no anger in his eyes. Instead, there was some fanaticism. ¡°You really surprise me. Although I haven¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, with the augmentation of a Guardian, I¡¯m already a Mythical creature. Furthermore, I¡¯m much stronger than ordinary Mythical creatures. Under such circumstances, you can still injure me, and not just once. It¡¯s enough to prove that your Life Providence and Life Soul are very powerful.


    ¡°However, this also means that after absorbing your talent, Life Providence, and Life Soul, I will become stronger after advancing to the Mythical stage. I should be thanking you.¡± Old Master Xia walked towards Zhou Wen step by step, his killing intent burning to the extreme.

 Chapter 754 - Connate Great Emperor Sutra

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen stood up and stared at Old Master Xia. He silently switched his Essence Energy Art to the most primitive Slaughterer and used Sigh of the King¡¯s power.


    Immediately, an explosive force filled his body, almost blasting it apart. Furthermore, the force was rapidly becoming stronger.


    It had been a long time since Zhou Wen used the Sigh of the King¡¯s power. This was because the force was just too powerful. Even with his present Constitution, he couldn¡¯t last long. If time went on, he would explode from his own strength without the enemy doing a thing.


    But at this stage, he had to use it no matter what.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s figure flashed as he appeared in front of Zhou Wen as though he had teleported. The Orchid Blade in his hand stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. Even at the Mythical stage, his speed was extremely terrifying. It was almost impossible for anyone to react.


    Clang!


    However, Zhou Wen reacted in time. His Bamboo Blade struck the Orchid Blade and forced Old Master Xia to take half a step back. It left Old Master Xia¡¯s eyes filled with surprise.


    With the augmentation of the Guardian, his Speed and Strength were at the Mythical stage. Furthermore, he was a top existence among Mythical creatures.


    Zhou Wen had actually blocked his saber and sent him retreating. This was enough to shock him.


    After all, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a Guardian. Even if he had a Mythical Companion Beast, that didn¡¯t make him a true Mythical.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think too much. His body was swelling uncomfortably, and it wouldn¡¯t be long before he exploded. He had to do something before his body failed to withstand the Sigh of the King¡¯s power.


    He slashed at Old Master Xia with Bamboo Blade like a tsunami.


    Old Master Xia raised the Orchid Blade and absorbed the terrifying Essence Energy from the Bamboo Blade.


    However, he was surprised to discover that the Essence Energy from the Bamboo Blade seemed endless. No matter how he absorbed it, the Essence Energy from the Bamboo Blade showed no signs of weakening.


    Zhou Wen delivered a few consecutive strikes that sent Old Master Xia retreating. The strength multiplied with every strike.


    How is this possible? Old Master Xia was alarmed. He had the augmentation of a Guardian. Together with the power of the Connate Great Emperor Sutra, there weren¡¯t many who could compete with him even at the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen was at the Epic stage, but the power he unleashed was able to suppress him. This left him shocked and delighted.


    The stronger Zhou Wen was, the stronger the Wheel of Destiny he would condense when he advanced to the Mythical stage with the help of the nine Life Souls.


    ¡°Show me your strength. This is your life¡¯s final moment of glory. Let me see how strong you are.¡± Old Master Xia¡¯s figure flashed as he dodged Zhou Wen¡¯s saber attacks, the excitement in his eyes intensifying.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. Now, he was completely focused on combat. He didn¡¯t have any other thoughts as he drove the violent forces in his body to the limits.


    The blade became faster and faster, and the force became more and more violent.


    As for Zhou Wen¡¯s saber techniques, they also became stronger.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal was actually a movement technique, not a saber technique. The present Zhou Wen was unable to injure Old Master Xia with Transcendent Flying Immortal alone as the latter¡¯s Path to Snatching Heaven wasn¡¯t inferior to Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could only seek a breakthrough. Since his movement technique couldn¡¯t threaten Old Master Xia, he could only make the saber in his hand faster and stronger.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to use many fancy moves. He was only pursuing faster speeds.


    Quick! Quick! Quick!


    Zhou Wen only aimed to increase his speed. Be it his movement technique or the blade in his hand, they had infinite possibilities due to the nearly infinite forces in his body.


    Bam!


    When Zhou Wen felt that his body was about to explode from the violent forces, he finally reached a point where even Old Master Xia couldn¡¯t dodge his attacks. He slashed at Old Master Xia¡¯s chest.


    However, Old Master Xia¡¯s body exploded like water. He had only slashed at a clone¡ªOld Master Xia¡¯s body had appeared elsewhere.


    ¡°How interesting. Your Epic body actually possesses such immense strength. However, your body shouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such immense strength, right?¡± Old Master Xia sized up Zhou Wen with a fervent gaze.


    He wanted to know how strong he would be if his Mythical body could possess such power.


    Old Master Xia carefully selected seven talented youths and plundered their talent, Life Providences, and Life Souls. Together with his Life Providence and Life Soul, he was just short of one Life Providence and Life Soul to reach the extremity of nine for the Connate Great Emperor Sutra, allowing him to change his fate and advance to the Mythical stage.


    The Connate Great Emperor Sutra was created by combining the Xia family¡¯s Great Emperor Sutra and the Invincible Connate Divine Art he obtained from the Connate Divine Temple. He believed that he could definitely use this Essence Energy Art to advance to the Mythical stage.


    However, it was difficult to gather nine Life Providences and nine Life Souls. Typical Life Providences and Life Souls, such as the ten thousand Epic swordsmen, only existed as nutrients for the nine Life Providences and Life Souls. They didn¡¯t truly become his Life Providences and Life Souls.


    It was very rare for someone to become one of the nine main Life Providences and Life Souls. Up to now, Old Master Xia was still lacking one.


    In fact, Xia Liuchuan was originally the ninth person that Old Master Xia had deliberately nurtured. However, for some reason, Old Master Xia ultimately didn¡¯t absorb Xia Liuchuan.


    It was only when Zhou Wen appeared that Old Master Xia planned on using Zhou Wen as his ninth Life Providence and Life Soul. At the same time, he would use the Life Providences and Life Souls of more than ten thousand people as nutrients to push himself to the Mythical stage and condense the Wheel of Destiny.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s performance left Old Master Xia alarmed. Zhou Wen was much stronger than the eight he had absorbed previously. It was a rare sight.


    It was indeed as Old Master Xia had said. Zhou Wen¡¯s body couldn¡¯t withstand the power of the Sigh of the King. His flesh ruptured as bloody marks appeared on his skin. His muscles were torn apart as blood dripped. Cracks also appeared on his bones. If this continued, he would probably self-destruct.


    However, Zhou Wen was still as calm as before. He carefully sensed the forces that were pushing his body towards destruction.


    Zhou Wen had seen many powerful creatures¡ªTorch Dragon, Tyrant Behemoth, Primordial Sword Immortal, Truth Listener, and the even stronger Guardians. They were all very powerful, forces that others looked up to.


    However, no matter what kind of power it was, it couldn¡¯t compare to the power in Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen could sense that this power was a level higher than any power he had ever seen. It might even be on a higher level.


    ¡°If God opposes me, I will slay God¡­ If an immortal opposes me, I will cull the immortal¡­ No exchanges with god¡­ No acquaintances with immortals¡­ I am me¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen recalled the impudent and savage voice in his dream. It left him shuddering in fear, but it also made his blood boil.

 Chapter 755 - : The Might of One Saber Strike

    Translator: CKtalon


    His body ruptured as his flesh split open. Blood constantly flowed out, but Zhou Wen remained calm. He gripped the Bamboo Blade tightly with both hands as he focused his insights into it. He raised the Bamboo Blade high above his head.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s heart palpitated as though he sensed danger. His expression turned solemn as he stared intently at Zhou Wen.


    The wounds on Zhou Wen¡¯s body kept cracking, but his expression was as calm as before. He exerted strength with both hands and slashed down, aiming for Old Master Xia.


    With this strike, the crazily erupting power in Zhou Wen¡¯s body was instantly drained. It gathered on the blade, causing Bamboo Blade¡¯s body to tremble.


    Old Master Xia couldn¡¯t see the trajectory of the saber when it landed. He was shocked and his body immediately phased away.


    Bam!


    Old Master Xia¡¯s body was split into two, turning into clear water that splattered on the ground.


    Elsewhere, Old Master Xia¡¯s true body appeared. However, the Guardian armor on his body was shattering. From his helmet to his armor, a saber gash appeared.


    An invisible saber force continued to press down on the armor, causing it to crack from top to bottom. Old Master Xia¡¯s blood was also gushing out.


    Crack!


    The Guardian armor on Old Master Xia¡¯s body had shattered due to the blow. It turned into pieces of black jade that scattered to the ground, revealing Old Master Xia¡¯s true body.


    His body phased away again and appeared again shortly after. He must have used the Yin Yang Universe Ring¡¯s ability.


    However, when he appeared, the saber marks on his body were still spreading. It went from his head to his chest and then to his abdomen. The bloody mark constantly expanding as more and more blood oozed out.


    Old Master Xia¡¯s almost immortal Connate Dominance Body couldn¡¯t stop the saber marks on his body from deepening, nor could it heal his wounds.


    Old Master Xia watched as the saber marks on his body continued to tear, and his skull was about to split open. His expression turned somewhat crazy and in disbelief.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ No power can take my life¡­ My Connate Great Emperor Sutra is the strongest¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen had converged the Sigh of the King¡¯s power. His Slaughterer Life Soul had automatically turned still. During the slash, the Slaughterer Life Soul had automatically fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s strike. Slaughterer, which had only been passively augmenting Zhou Wen, had actively shown its effects for the first time.


    After shattering the Guardian armor, a strange force fused into the Slaughterer Life Soul, but it failed to advance as it did before.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange. The advancement of a Life Soul at higher levels was difficult to begin with. The last time he killed a Guardian, he had allowed Slaughterer to advance to an Evolved Body. It was obvious that killing one Guardian wasn¡¯t enough to advance to a Perfect Body.


    The strike had already drained Zhou Wen of all his combat strength.


    In particular, his body had been severely damaged by the Sigh of the King. It was difficult for him to even stand.


    Zhou Wen stared at Slaughterer as the power of the strike continued to work wonders. It was about to rip Old Master Xia¡¯s bones into two.


    Without the Guardian¡¯s power, no matter how strong Old Master Xia was, he was only at the Epic stage. Zhou Wen believed that it was impossible for him to withstand the terrifying saber force.


    The saber force wasn¡¯t only limited to the Sigh of the King; it also had Slaughterer¡¯s strength embedded within. Zhou Wen felt that the strength of the strike wouldn¡¯t vanish unless it killed its opponent.


    Boom!


    At this moment, a sudden bolt of lightning struck the top of Old Master Xia¡¯s head.


    The purple lightning bathed Old Master Xia¡¯s body and actually shattered the saber force in Old Master Xia¡¯s body. The strange purple lightning also fused into his body at the same time, as if a purple shadow was flashing across his body.


    The moment the saber shattered, Old Master Xia¡¯s injuries began to rapidly recover. What was even more terrifying was that his body was rapidly transforming. It looked like he was transforming from the Epic stage to the Mythical stage.


    Are you f*cking kidding me? I carried you all the way here and suffered so much, but you actually helped that old sicko deal with me? Zhou Wen felt indignant.


    He could clearly see that the purple lightning didn¡¯t smite down from the void, but shot out from the log on the roof of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m indeed a person blessed by the heavens. Even the heavens want to help me advance to the Mythical stage. It used divine lightning to condense another soul for me so that I can advance to the Mythical stage. Who in the world can stop me? I, Xia Jiuhuang, am the Emperor of Heaven. No one can stop me from becoming a god.¡± Old Master Xia threw his head back and laughed. The nine Life Souls on his body were faintly discernible as terrifying power spewed out from his body. His body was rapidly transforming.


    As if responding to Old Master Xia, the thunder in the sky rumbled like a 21-gun salute.


    Zhou Wen sat weakly on the ground. He didn¡¯t have the strength to continue fighting. If Old Master Xia really managed to advance, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have the strength to fight him.


    However, the name Xia Jiuhuang finally made Zhou Wen know who Old Master Xia was. This name wasn¡¯t only known to the Xia family, but it was also famous in the entire Federation. He was one of the six heroes who founded the Federation, the founder of the Xia family, the supposedly deceased legendary hero, Xia Jiuhuang.


    At that moment, Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s aura had reached its peak. His body had almost turned crystalline jade as his Essence Energy spewed out like a volcanic eruption. The nine Life Providences and the power of the nine Life Souls fused as one, and an ancient ¡®Emperor¡¯ word gradually surfaced on his forehead.


    The ¡®Emperor¡¯ word shimmered with purple lightning as though it was a supreme existence.


    Zhou Wen could naturally guess that the purple word ¡°Emperor¡± was likely the Wheel of Destiny condensed by Xia Jiuhuang. Once the Wheel of Destiny stabilized, he would have successfully advanced to the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate and Truth Listener. At this point, all he could do was risk his life and strike Xia Jiuhuang down to the mortal world before he completed the transformation to the Mythical stage.


    Just Demonic Neonate¡¯s strength was clearly insufficient. Zhou Wen could only consider letting Truth Listener shatter more earrings. He needed to shatter at least three of them, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t predict the outcome.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to order Truth Listener to shatter the earrings, he realized that something was amiss with Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s condition. There was a faint power throbbing in his body, like a rhythmic heartbeat.


    Although this power wasn¡¯t powerful and seemed to be a part of Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body, it was sending Zhou Wen some kind of message.


    Primordial Spore! Zhou Wen immediately knew what it was. It was the Primordial Spore that Zhou Wen had previously sent into Xia Jiuhang¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. Typically, Primordial Spore would take a long time to parasitize a Mythical creature, but the information sent by Primordial Spore seemed to be telling Zhou Wen that it was already sprouting.


    1

 Chapter 756 - Three-Sided Struggle

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen immediately realized what the problem was. Previously, Xia Jiuhuang had a Guardian who had fused with him, taking his body to the Mythical stage. However, Zhou Wen had just killed the Guardian. Without a Guardian, Xia Jiuhuang¡ªwho hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage¡ªwas only at the Epic stage, and he had nearly been killed by Zhou Wen¡¯s saber strike. He was in a weakened state, so the Primordial Spore was able to succeed in such a short period of time.


    Once the parasitism succeeded, it could quickly sprout before Xia Jiuhuang really advanced to the Mythical stage, unlike when it parasitized Mythical creatures.


    From the information transmitted by the Primordial Spore, it wouldn¡¯t take long to completely control Xia Jiuhang.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. He originally believed that there was only one way to fight to the death, but he never expected that after reaching a dead end, a tiny Primordial Spore would turn the situation around.


    Boom!


    At the most critical moment of Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s evolution, bolts of lightning struck down from the dark clouds and struck him continuously like a waterfall of lightning.


    Not only did the lightning not injure Xia Jiuhuang, but he also used the power of lightning to help him evolve, allowing his body to become closer and closer to a Mythical physique.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, all Mythical creatures¡¯ original stats were 11. As for humans, their original stats were estimated to be 1. It was even possible that they didn¡¯t reach 1.


    After all, human infants were too weak. They were far inferior to ordinary Legendary creatures, much less Mythical creatures.


    Even ordinary Legendary creatures and Epic creatures seldom advanced to the Mythical stage; therefore, it was almost impossible for humans to advance to the Mythical stage.


    Xia Jiuhuang had condensed nine supreme-grade Life Providences and Life Souls. He also needed a large amount of energy to advance to the Mythical stage. The ten thousand Epic humans from before were prepared by Xia Jiuhuang for this very purpose.


    However, from the looks of it, it was still insufficient. With the help of the heavenly lightning, he was able to take the final step as his body rapidly transformed.


    Unlike the combination of a Guardian, Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s entire body emitted a mythical power. Every cell and strand of hair contained terrifying energy.


    The present Xia Jiuhuang didn¡¯t show any signs of an old man. His body was filled with the vitality of youth and terrifying explosive power. It was as though he could shatter mountains and rivers with a casual flick of his finger.


    Xia Jiuhuang, who had long black hair dancing in the wind, was bathed in lightning. He looked like a resurrected ancient demon god.


    On his forehead, the ¡®Emperor¡¯ word grew brighter and brighter like a purple star.


    Boom!


    With the final bolt of lightning striking him, Xia Jiuhuang completed the transformation from a human to a Mythical. It wasn¡¯t a Mythical advancement with the help of a Guardian, but a true advancement with a human body. This was likely the first in human history.


    ¡°Finally¡­ I¡¯ve finally advanced to the Mythical stage¡­¡± Xia Jiuhuang floated in midair and raised his palm. He admired his transformed body as his excited voice trembled.


    He had racked his brains and even faked his death to secretly scheme for so many years. Now, he had taken the final step.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move because he could sense that the Primordial Spore was about to complete its soul parasitization. As long as the soul parasitization succeeded, it would be useless no matter how strong Xia Jiuhuang was.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you should feel honored to be the first person to die under the power of a human Mythical.¡± Xia Jiuhuang wanted to use Zhou Wen to test how powerful his Mythical powers were. The ¡®Emperor¡¯ character on his forehead lit up as he prepared to attack Zhou Wen.


    However, Xia Jiuhuang suddenly screamed. He hugged his head and yelled. His voice was extremely shrill, as though someone had drilled into his brain with an electric drill.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he saw the purple ¡®Emperor¡¯ character. He immediately understood what had happened.


    That crappy piece of wood isn¡¯t helping Xia Jiuhuang at all. Instead, it wants to enslave or even occupy Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s Mythical body. Zhou Wen recalled the slave word on his forehead and connected it to the ¡®Emperor¡¯ character on Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s forehead. Although the words were different, the form was surprisingly similar.


    Looking at the screaming Xia Jiuhuang, Zhou Wen also received a message from the Primordial Spore. It was as though a force was vying for control of Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s soul from Primordial Spore.


    Xia Jiuhuang kept screaming. Now, his body could be considered a power struggle between powers¡ªXia Jiuhuang, Primordial Spore, and the ¡°Emperor¡± on his forehead.


    The three parties wanted to control Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body, but his will was the weakest. Even the Primordial Spore failed to gain an absolute advantage. The strongest was the ¡®Emperor¡¯ word.


    ¡°Why¡­ Why is this happening¡­ Jing Daoxian clearly said that as long as I can advance to the Mythical stage with a nine-life body¡­ I will have the destiny of a Great Emperor¡­ Why is this happening¡­¡± Xia Jiuhuang roared with a tragic cry. He wanted to slam his head into the ground, but his body didn¡¯t listen to him. It left him alarmed and furious.


    1


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he heard Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s roar. Jing Daoxian is actually involved in this matter?


    Zhou Wen felt that he had seen this scene somewhere before. After some thought, he recalled that Lord Alcohol had said something similar after eating the Longevity Fruit.


    Looking at Xia Jiuhuang who was in excruciating pain, Zhou Wen suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He had a bad feeling.


    Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang were people who wanted to break through to the Mythical stage. Furthermore, they had listened to Jing Daoxian¡¯s words to reach this stage.


    As for the Lost Immortal Sutra that Zhou Wen cultivated, it was also from Jing Daoxian. Now that Zhou Wen wanted to advance to the Mythical stage, he felt that he was somewhat similar to Xia Jiuhang and company.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think too much about it. The Primordial Spore wasn¡¯t able to gain the upper hand. Its control over Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body was weakening, and Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s will was about to vanish. Only the ¡®Emperor¡¯ word¡¯s glow was getting stronger. It was only a matter of time before he gained control of Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body.


    Before Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body was completely controlled, Zhou Wen drew his saber and slashed forward. At the same time, Truth Listener and Demonic Neonate attacked under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    With the Primordial Spore restraining him, Xia Jiuhuang couldn¡¯t move at all. Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t need to find another opportunity as she unsheathed her demonic sword and stabbed forward.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries were too serious, preventing him from using Sigh of the King. His strength was extremely limited, so when he slashed at Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body, not only did he fail to injure him, but he was sent flying by Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s strength.


    Zhou Wen fell to the ground as his wounds tore open. He grimaced in pain.


    Thankfully, Truth Listener was more powerful. It shattered two earrings and brutally stabbed its claws into Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s chest. The demonic sword stabbed into Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s head, inch by inch.


    The ¡®Emperor¡¯ word shimmered as it attempted to blast the demonic sword out, but Truth Listener violently struck Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s forehead, causing the ¡®Emperor¡¯ word to tremble violently.

 Chapter 757 - Scram

    Translator: CKtalon


    Due to the restraint of the Primordial Spore, the ¡®Emperor¡¯ character was unable to stop Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body from counter attacking. The demonic sword stabbed into Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s head inch by inch. At the same time, a black demonic aura invaded Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body, weakening his vitality.


    The ¡®Emperor¡¯ word was a Wheel of Destiny condensed by Xia Jiuhuang. Its foundation was Xia Jiuhuang. As Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s vitality weakened, the light on the ¡®Emperor¡¯ word dimmed, no longer having the same aura as before.


    ¡°How dare you¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen was feeling delighted, he suddenly heard a cold woman¡¯s voice coming from above the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The source of the voice was none other than the log erected there.


    There¡¯s a woman inside the log? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    As the woman¡¯s voice sounded from the log, the stars in the sky shimmered. Starlight cascaded down, passing through the dark clouds and illuminating Forbidden City.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the lit stars were clearly the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. Apart from the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, no other starlight penetrated the dark clouds.


    The starlight shone down, causing Forbidden City to emit resplendent starlight. The four Corner Towers in particular emitted a divine glow.


    Be it the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions in the sky or the four Corner Towers, they were all centered around the log. Starlight gathered on the log, causing the log to emit purple starlight as though there were countless stars swirling inside.


    Under the illumination of the starlight emitted by the purple log, Zhou Wen felt a pain in his forehead. Immediately, he felt that something was amiss. He took out a mirror and saw purple light and lines appear on his forehead. From the parts that had condensed, it looked like he was about to condense the word ¡°slave¡± again.


    The layout of Forbidden City is the Purple Forbidden Enclosure. The Purple Star is also known as the Emperor Star. It¡¯s the Life Star of an emperor. Now that the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions have appeared and the four Corner Towers have submitted, could it be that Emperor Polestar is in the log? Zhou Wen guessed.


    If it was really the legendary Emperor Polestar, Zhou Wen felt that he was doomed today. Unlike ordinary Mythical creatures, Emperor Polestar was an existence that controlled all immortals. He was an immortal¡¯s emperor and not something ordinary Mythical creatures could compare with.


    The slave word on his forehead became more and more obvious. Zhou Wen switched several Life Souls, but he was unable to stop the formation of the slave word.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt a force surge out of his body. It was the power of the Sigh of the King. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, but an autonomous act of the Sigh of the King. It was somewhat similar to the time he knelt.


    In an instant, the incomplete ¡®slave¡¯ word on Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead shattered and dissipated. The power of the Sigh of the King enveloped his body as though he had been placed in a warm embrace.


    1


    ¡°Scram!¡± Zhou Wen felt a voice coming from him.


    The voice was indiscernible, but it seemed to possess a supreme might. The dark clouds that enveloped Forbidden City instantly dissipated, revealing the clear sky and sun. There was no longer any cloud.


    The starlight of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions instantly dimmed and vanished without a trace. The starlight of Forbidden City also dissipated as the four Corner Towers collapsed. The log fell from the Hall of Supreme Harmony and slammed into the ground.


    The log trembled incessantly as though it was about to collapse. It left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    Crack!


    Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s body finally couldn¡¯t withstand the power of the demonic sword and was split into two. Demonic aura surged through his corpse as though it wanted to destroy his body.


    The mysterious phone suddenly vibrated. Zhou Wen took out his phone and saw that the game screen of the Dead Man Tree had automatically switched on. When he snapped a picture of Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s corpse, it was sucked in without leaving a drop of blood behind.


    1


    Without having the time to take a careful look at the Dead Man Tree, Zhou Wen unsummoned his Companion Beasts and put on the Invisibility Cloak before running.


    The log that had collapsed in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony trembled more and more violently, like a volcano that was about to erupt. As for Zhou Wen, the Sigh of the King¡¯s power had already receded, making him feel uneasy. He wanted to escape from Forbidden City.


    Perhaps due to the absence of the dark clouds and starlight, Zhou Wen successfully rushed out of Forbidden City. However, just as he rushed out, he saw a purple beam shoot into the sky.


    Then, all of Forbidden City emitted a terrifying purple glow, like an immortal city condensed from starlight.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare look any further. He turned around and ran, hoping to get as far away from Forbidden City as possible.


    After running for a short distance, he saw Wang Lu looking at Forbidden City with the chick and antelope not far away. The anomaly in Forbidden City worried Wang Lu. She closed her eyes and pressed her palms together in front of her chest as she muttered something.


    ¡°Goddess of Luck, please help Zhou Wen and let him return safely.¡±


    Zhou Wen was greatly touched when he heard that. He thought to himself, Wang Lu is really kind-hearted.


    The antelope¡¯s eyes stared at Zhou Wen. Clearly, the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t effective against it.


    1


    The chick was also staring in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction, but its eyes were somewhat puzzled. It seemed to have discovered Zhou Wen, but it didn¡¯t see him.


    ¡°Wang Lu, let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen appeared and ran out with Wang Lu.


    Now that there was an anomaly in Forbidden City, no one knew what would happen. The further away they were, the better.


    Wang Lu jumped in fright. Seeing that Zhou Wen was covered in injuries and many of his wounds were still bleeding, his clothes still drenched in blood, she couldn¡¯t help but worry. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I won¡¯t die yet. Let¡¯s leave Forbidden City first. It¡¯s too dangerous here.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and jumped up with Wang Lu before running away.


    When he was far from Forbidden City, Zhou Wen made the Great Might Vajra Bull stop.


    Only then did he feel the excruciating pain in his body. He had been in a highly-strung state and hadn¡¯t paid any attention to his injuries. Now, he felt pain all over his body as though he was about to die. Every move he made hurt so much that he wanted to cry for mommy.


    ¡°Your injuries are serious. I¡¯ll take you back to treat them now.¡± Wang Lu summoned a vine that crept onto Zhou Wen¡¯s body and wrapped around him. At the same time, the bud burrowed into his wounds and emitted a faint glow to treat his injuries.


    Then, she summoned a mount and brought Zhou Wen back like he was a vined mummy.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries were too serious. He didn¡¯t know when he would recover, so he allowed Wang Lu to take him back.


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. He didn¡¯t know how Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue were doing, but he was injured. He didn¡¯t have the strength to save them.


    With Xia Jiuhang dead, there shouldn¡¯t be anyone in the Xia family who wants their lives, right? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that they wouldn¡¯t be in any danger. He would get Wang Lu to help him gather information later.


    The anomaly in Forbidden City made the Xia family and the Special Inspector Bureau very concerned. They had set up a large number of people to monitor the situation inside, but no one could enter. They had no idea what was happening. All they could see was that Forbidden City was enveloped by clouds like an immortal city, making it even more unfathomable.

 Chapter 758 - Immortal Slaying

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was wrapped in gauze like a mummy as he lay in bed. A winged pixie danced around Zhou Wen as it tried its best to spew out green light to nourish his injured body.


    According to the information Wang Lu had obtained, although the changes in Forbidden City were intense, it was limited to the city¡¯s interior. No dimensional creatures broke out.


    What was different from before was that strange sounds could be heard coming from inside even though it wasn¡¯t a stormy day. This used to happen inside Forbidden City during thunderstorms.


    Unfortunately, no one could enter Forbidden City, so no one knew what was happening inside.


    Due to Old Master Xia¡¯s disappearance, the Xia family was in a mess. Nothing had happened to Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue. They had even appeared near Forbidden City in the past two days.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed the outcome. Apart from Xia Jiuhang, few people in the Xia family wanted them dead. After all, they were the Xia family¡¯s hope.


    The death of more than ten thousand Epic experts was a huge blow to any of the six hero families. It would definitely affect the Xia family greatly.


    However, it wasn¡¯t as serious as Zhou Wen imagined. The ten thousand Epic experts were mostly nurtured by Xia Jiuhuang himself to be sacrificed for his advancement to the Mythical stage. Therefore, these people were from the East Courtyard and didn¡¯t affect the Xia family¡¯s normal system.


    From this, it could be seen that Xia Jiuhuang still had some feelings for the Xia family. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have separated these people from the Xia family and set up a separate East Courtyard.


    There was also Xia Liuchuan and Xia Xuanyue. Their talent, Life Providences, and Life Souls were top-notch. Xia Jiuhuang could have used one of them as his ninth Life Soul, but he didn¡¯t do so in the end. Perhaps there were some emotional factors involved.


    No matter what, the destruction of Xia Jiuhuang and the East Courtyard had dealt quite a blow to the Xia family, greatly reducing their influence in the Federation.


    The Xia family and the bureau were searching for Old Master Xia and Zhou Wen¡¯s whereabouts, but no one saw Zhou Wen come out of Forbidden City. They imagined that Zhou Wen was trapped in the mutated Forbidden City like Old Master Xia, so they didn¡¯t search the Imperial Capital.


    Zhou Wen had been recuperating in Grandma Wang¡¯s yard for the past two days. It was odd. In such a huge yard, other than Grandma Wang, there were only a few old ladies and a butler. He didn¡¯t see any younger members of the Wang family.


    Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu and learned that this was where Grandma Wang recuperated. The other members of the Wang family didn¡¯t live here, and the Wang family¡¯s real residence wasn¡¯t nearby.


    Zhou Wen held his phone with his stiff wrapped hand and saw a purple flower sprout grow on the Dead Man Tree. It was likely the flower that had absorbed Xia Jiuhuang.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat looking forward to seeing what fruit the flower would bear.


    Xia Jiuhuang had advanced to the Mythical stage with nine supreme-grade Life Providences and Life Souls. Furthermore, he had the power of the log condensed in his body, so the fruit produced from him definitely wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    It¡¯s a shame about my Six-Winged. Zhou Wen sighed softly. Six-Winged had been with him for so long, so he wasn¡¯t used to suddenly losing it.


    Lying in bed with nothing to do, Zhou Wen used his phone to grind dungeons. He originally imagined that he could happily farm the nine black dragons, but to his surprise, they hadn¡¯t respawned.


    The other Mythical creatures respawn every day. Don¡¯t tell me these nine black dragons respawn after nine days? Zhou Wen guessed.


    Since he couldn¡¯t farm the black dragons, Zhou Wen placed his sights on the Guardian again. During his battle with Xia Jiuhuang, Zhou Wen had gained some insight into the concept of power from the Sigh of the King. He had also found a way to use Slaughterer Life Soul. The might of that move was immense, so it might pose a threat to the Guardian.


    Zhou Wen called that move Immortal Slaying. It was basically a single-use attack. If he couldn¡¯t kill the enemy with one move, Zhou Wen would be crippled.


    The main reason was that Immortal Slaying was based on the Sigh of the King and the Slaughterer Life Soul.


    It wasn¡¯t that the Slaughterer Life Soul couldn¡¯t be powered, but the amount of power needed to drive it was too great. Without the massive power of the Sigh of the King as a foundation, it was impossible to power the Slaughterer Life Soul.


    Unfortunately, using the Sigh of the King would place a huge burden on Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Furthermore, Immortal Slaying would drain him of all his strength instantaneously, so Zhou Wen basically didn¡¯t have any combat strength after a single strike.


    The might of this strike was something that even Xia Jiuhuang, who was wearing Guardian armor, couldn¡¯t withstand. He had even killed the black jade guardian with one strike. Such strength might be of some use against the Guardian in Ant City and the war wagon.


    It was too dangerous to use Immortal Slaying in real life. Perhaps he would die before injuring the enemy.


    However, in-game, he didn¡¯t have so many qualms. He just had to do it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s two arms were held in place by a splint. He could only lie on the bed as he raised his arms straight like a zombie. He held his phone and began gaming.


    Before the nine black dragons respawned, the war wagon remained at the bottom of the sea. Zhou Wen went straight to the underground sea, hoping to see if Immortal Slaying could kill the Guardian inside.


    Before Zhou Wen arrived at the underground sea, he heard a sound from the window.


    The windows here weren¡¯t glass windows, but windows that were made of ancient wood paper. They were opened by rolling them up and propped up with a wooden stick.


    Zhou Wen turned his head to look at the window and saw two ponytails sticking out. Then, he saw a little girl¡¯s head slowly extend out. She was sprawled on the window sill, staring at Zhou Wen with her big, limpid eyes as she looked curiously at him.


    Zhou Wen saw that the girl was only about eleven or twelve years old. She was very cute and looked a little like Wang Lu.


    ¡°Hey little one, what¡¯s your name?¡± Zhou Wen asked her.


    ¡°Wang Chan,¡± the little girl answered.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to ask another question, his hand suddenly slipped and the phone smashed down on his face. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes bruised as his nose ached.


    Zhou Wen wanted to pick up the phone, but he couldn¡¯t bend his arm.


    ¡°Let me help you.¡± Wang Chan pushed open the door and ran in. She reached out to pick up the phone on Zhou Wen¡¯s face and handed it to him.


    ¡°Thank you, Little Chan¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen reached out to take the phone when he suddenly heard someone shouting outside the yard. ¡°Miss Little Chan, where are you? Come out quickly!¡±


    Little Chan jumped in fright as she looked back at the door and handed the phone to Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s arm was too stiff. Before he could grab the phone, it fell with a thud and smashed into Zhou Wen¡¯s face. He grimaced in pain.

 Chapter 759 - Wang Chan

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was about to cry when Wang Chan gestured for him to keep quiet before quickly hiding under the bed.


    Soon, an old woman walked in and looked into the room. She didn¡¯t see Wang Chan, so she said to Zhou Wen that she was sorry for disturbing him before closing the door.


    Only then did Wang Chan crawl out from under the bed and swat away the dust on her body. She then picked up the phone beside the pillow and handed it to Zhou Wen. ¡°Sorry, who are you? Why are you lying here?¡±


    Zhou Wen took the phone and said, ¡°My name is Zhou Wen. I¡¯m Wang Lu¡¯s classmate.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re that Numbskull Wen? I heard my sister mention you before,¡± Wang Chan said in enlightenment.


    ¡°What Numbskull Wen?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback, but he knew that Wang Chan was Wang Lu¡¯s younger sister. He just didn¡¯t know if she was his biological sister or his cousin.


    1


    Wang Chan didn¡¯t answer. She only sized him up curiously and said, ¡°Why are you so heavily injured? Why don¡¯t I help you heal?¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s just a superficial wound. With the life pixie¡¯s treatment, I¡¯ll be fine in a few days,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Chan curled her lips and said, ¡°Life pixie¡¯s healing effects are too poor. I have better Companion Beasts here that can quickly heal your injuries. Since you are my sister¡¯s friend, you are also my friend. It¡¯s only right that I help you. You don¡¯t have to stand on ceremony.¡±


    With that said, Wang Chan summoned a Companion Beast. It looked very strange. No matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, it looked like a syringe with wings.


    Although the syringe had cute little wings and was pink in color, similar to Cupid¡¯s Arrow of Love, it was a syringe. Zhou Wen, who had been seriously ill when he was young, often had injections. He just couldn¡¯t bring himself to love something like a syringe.


    ¡°This¡­ There¡¯s no need¡­¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to reject Wang Chan¡¯s kindness, but he didn¡¯t wish to be injected.


    ¡°Don¡¯t stand on ceremony with me. You will recover quickly,¡± Wang Chan said as she ordered the syringe to fly down and stab Zhou Wen in the arm.


    The liquid in the syringe was injected.


    This syringe Companion Beast looked rather intelligent. It was actually able to accurately inject intravenously.


    Zhou Wen felt heat enter his blood vessels. It was warm and didn¡¯t hurt much. Furthermore, when the medicinal essence spread within his blood, Zhou Wen immediately felt energized and even felt his blood boil.


    ¡°Little Chan¡­ Where are you¡­ We are going back¡­¡± At that moment, a woman¡¯s voice sounded from outside the wall. When Little Chan heard the voice, her expression changed slightly. She turned her head and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°My mom is looking for me. I¡¯ll come and see you tomorrow. Goodbye, Numbskull Wen.¡±


    With that said, Wang Chan ran out without waiting for Zhou Wen¡¯s reply.


    She already has a Companion Beast at such a young age. Wang Lu¡¯s sister¡¯s talent isn¡¯t bad. She¡¯s quite kind. Zhou Wen felt his vitality surge as his injuries seemed to heal much faster.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to continue gaming, he felt something amiss. He felt his body heat up as though there was a furnace in his body.


    It¡¯s so hot¡­ It¡¯s so hot¡­ Not long after, Zhou Wen felt like he was about to die. He tore open the gauze on his body, allowing the heat in his body to emit.


    Even so, he still felt uncomfortable. It was as though there was a force pushing him, making him involuntarily move.


    He first ran, but he realized that running vented too little heat. Zhou Wen sprawled on the ground to do push-ups. It was as though he had installed an electric motor as his body rapidly rose and fell while he emitted hot air.


    The heat was really helpful to Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries, accelerating the healing of his wounds. However, Zhou Wen¡¯s crazy exercise ruptured his wounds again.


    When Zhou Wen finally stopped, he realized that not only had his injuries not healed, but some areas that had already healed had ruptured.


    What Companion Beast is that? Why are its effects so domineering? Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless.


    Although Wang Chan¡¯s Companion Beast had a healing effect and the effects were very good, he couldn¡¯t withstand the heat and had crazily exercised, resulting in the opposite effect.


    After lying in bed again, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to get someone to wrap him in gauze. He got the life pixie to treat his injuries as he lay in bed gaming.


    The blood-colored avatar entered the underground sea and opened the door to the war wagon. He saw the white cocoon floating in the void.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and activated the Sigh of the King. He waited for the Sigh of the King to reach a certain intensity before activating Slaughterer and striking with Immortal Slaying.


    The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body trembled because the Sigh of the King¡¯s strength was just too powerful. It caused the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body to crack as blood seeped out.


    This level of strength was still insufficient to activate Slaughterer. When the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was about to collapse, Slaughterer was finally activated. Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and activated Immortal Slaying as he slashed at the white cocoon.


    The void was cleaved apart as spatial powers were unable to withstand the power of Immortal Slaying. The white cocoon was split open almost instantly, revealing the Guardian inside.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen the Guardian¡¯s full appearance. It was somewhat different from what he had imagined. The Guardian inside the cocoon wasn¡¯t a dragon. It looked more like an ancient emperor.


    Dressed in an imperial robe with a crown on his head, a hand extended out. It had six fingers, and each finger wore a ring.


    Immediately, the six rings emitted intense spatial fluctuations as one hand reached towards the Golden Overlord Sword.


    Crack!


    Wherever the Golden Overlord Sword passed, the Guardian¡¯s arm was severed. Blood splattered as the spatial power failed to change the trajectory of Immortal Slaying.


    At first, Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the Guardian extend its other hand. It also had six fingers and wore six rings. With a smack of its hand, it destroyed the blood-colored avatar that had entered a weakened state after using Immortal Slaying. The game screen went black.


    From the looks of it, Immortal Slaying is still useful against Guardians. However, next time, I should directly sever the Guardian¡¯s neck. Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive and entered the game again.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that although the Immortal Slaying strike could tie with the Guardian, he lacked the ability to fight after a miss since it drained him of all his combat strength. As for the Guardian, it had very powerful spatial powers. It was clearly very difficult to kill him with one strike. Zhou Wen tried a few times, but he could only injure him, not kill him.


    The power of Immortal Slaying deals damage over time. If I can guarantee that the blood-colored avatar won¡¯t be killed by the counter attack, the Guardian might die if I wait a little longer. Zhou Wen continued his attempts.


    He realized that this was similarly difficult to do. This was because, after the Immortal Slaying strike, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body would be almost at its limits. It had no combat ability at all. It was impossible for it to escape in front of a Guardian who was proficient in spatial powers.


    My level is still too low. If I were also at the Mythical stage, killing this Guardian with one strike wouldn¡¯t be a problem. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss.

 Chapter 760 - An Essence Energy Art Story

    Translator: CKtalon


    After many attempts, Zhou Wen realized that a better choice was to find a weaker Guardian to kill. For example, the black-jade Guardian he had killed or the previous six-winged seraphim.


    I wonder where that six-winged seraphim went. It¡¯ll be good if I can find him, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The Guardians in Ant City and the war wagon were probably the strongest among the Guardians. At the very least, none of the Guardians that Zhou Wen had seen had displayed strength stronger than theirs.


    The next morning, Wang Chan surprisingly came again.


    The wounds on Zhou Wen¡¯s body had already been rebandaged. Wang Lu had rebandaged him yesterday afternoon.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mention Wang Chan. After all, Wang Chan was just being nice. There was no need for him to mention the matter and make the sisters unhappy.


    When Wang Chan saw Zhou Wen¡¯s state, she asked in surprise, ¡°Are your injuries not healed yet? Didn¡¯t I already treat you yesterday?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost healed. I wish to recuperate further,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I give you another injection?¡± As Wang Chan spoke, she summoned the syringe-like Companion Beast again.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, no need at all.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly waved his hand. ¡°Don¡¯t treat my injuries. I just want to be lazy and lie here for a few days. If you treat all my injuries, I¡¯ll have to continue working.¡±


    ¡°So you are just trying to skive.¡± Wang Chan was enlightened. She didn¡¯t insist on treating Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries and unsummoned the syringe Companion Beast.


    ¡°I heard from Sis that you are a genius. You can become very powerful just by casually learning a skill. Is that true?¡± Wang Chan asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Your sister is exaggerating. I also have to spend serious efforts practicing,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I knew it. How can there be anyone so awesome in this world who can learn something so casually? I¡¯ve already tried so hard, but I still can¡¯t figure things out.¡± Wang Chan seemed to heave a sigh of relief as she pulled a chair and placed it in front of the bed. She leaned against the back of the chair and looked at Zhou Wen. ¡°Do you have some secret trick to learning? Can you teach me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not a secret trick, but I still have some experience to share. What do you want to learn?¡± Zhou Wen thought that since Wang Lu had helped him so much, it was only right for him to help her sister.


    ¡°Essence Energy Arts, sword techniques, movement techniques, and so on are all difficult to learn. No matter how hard I try, I can¡¯t meet their standards. I keep getting scolded,¡± Wang Chan said with a bitter expression.


    ¡°Why do you find it difficult?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wang Chan.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s very difficult to remember. My memory isn¡¯t too good. I keep memorizing the front and forgetting the back. After memorizing the back, I forget the front,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s very simple. Just tell me any Essence Energy Skill you have learned. I¡¯ll tell you how to memorize it in an easier manner,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°This is an Essence Energy Art that I¡¯ve been memorizing recently. I¡¯ll recite it to you.¡± Wang Chan began reciting.


    Zhou Wen listened for a while before his expression gradually turned awkward. The Essence Energy Arts that Wang Chan recited were all unfamiliar and obscure ancient texts. Furthermore, they were very long. She had recited a few thousand words in one go, but it sounded like there was still a long way to go.


    Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s memory, it was difficult for him to memorize everything without understanding the meaning of the article.


    ¡°Eh¡­ Little Chan, stop for a moment. How many words do you have left for this Essence Energy Art?¡± Zhou Wen stopped Wang Chan and asked.


    ¡°There are a total of 134,467 words. I¡¯ve memorized them for days, but I still forget the back after memorizing the front. I keep making mistakes,¡± Wang Chan said in distress.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, It would be a miracle if you could memorize all of them. If you can¡¯t figure out the meaning of such an obscure ancient text, just relying on your memory to memorize the words correctly, you wouldn¡¯t be a genius, but a god.


    This ancient text was actually about the same as a foreign language. Thinking about it, it would be too harsh to require someone to memorize a work of more than a hundred thousand foreign words in a few days and not make a single mistake.


    ¡°Has anyone explained the content of this Essence Energy Art to you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Yes, but it sounds very difficult to understand and I don¡¯t really remember it,¡± Wang Chan said.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said to Wang Chan with a smile, ¡°Then do you like stories?¡±


    ¡°I like them. I love hearing my sister tell me stories about the Federation¡¯s six heroes. They fight and explore in unknown dimensional zones. I also hope that I can be like them one day¡ªgoing to unknown places to fight unknown powerful creatures and obtain magical Companion Beasts¡­¡± Wang Chan wore a look of anticipation.


    Zhou Wen said to Wang Chan with a smile, ¡°Actually, the Essence Energy Art you recited was a story of a hero¡¯s adventure.¡±


    ¡°Tch, can you not try to coax me like I¡¯m a little girl?¡± Wang Chan curled her lips and said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, recite it and I¡¯ll translate this heroic adventure story for you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Chan naturally didn¡¯t believe him as she began reciting the Essence Energy Art. ¡°The Great Dao has no form, yet it creates the Heaven and Earth. The Great Dao is lawless, but it rules the Sun and Moon. The great Dao is nameless, but it nourishes all things¡­¡±


    As Wang Chan recited, she looked at Zhou Wen. No matter how she thought about it, she couldn¡¯t tell what relationship the Essence Energy Art had with a hero story.


    ¡°Alright, let me translate this sentence for you.¡± Zhou Wen gestured for Wang Chan to stop reciting.


    Wang Chan stopped reciting and blinked at Zhou Wen, not believing that it could be translated into a story.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°There¡¯s a beautiful and adorable girl. She¡¯s extremely talented. She became a Legendary at the age of three, an Epic at the age of six, and she advanced to the Mythical stage at the age of nine. At the age of twelve, she¡¯s already invincible in the Federation¡­¡±


    ¡°How can there be such a powerful girl? Are you spouting nonsense? Furthermore, this has nothing to do with Essence Energy Arts, right?¡± Wang Chan curled her lips and said.


    ¡°Listen to what I have to say. That young heroine was invincible when she was twelve years old. She was just too lonely and wanted to suffer defeat. But on this day, a youth about her age appeared and challenged her. In the end, he defeated her with one strike.¡±


    Wang Chan interrupted again. ¡°Why is your story contradictory? You previously said that the girl was invincible. How could she be defeated in one strike?¡±


    ¡°Do you still want to hear the story?¡± Zhou Wen glared at her.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Wang Chan smiled.


    ¡°After being defeated by the youth, the girl asked the youth, ¡®Why are you so powerful?¡¯ The youth answered her, ¡®Because I obtained a treasure in a mysterious dimensional zone. That treasure can nurture the Heaven and Earth and control the movement of the Sun and Moon¡­ From then on, the girl embarked on her journey to find the treasure¡­¡±


    As Wang Chan recited, Zhou Wen translated the content she recited into a hero story. Wang Chan was gradually attracted by the content of the story and forgot to pick up on Zhou Wen¡¯s plot holes.

 Chapter 761 - Invisibly Downloaded A Dungeon

    Translator: CKtalon


    In any piece of knowledge, the most difficult to remember were the unfamiliar professional terms and descriptions. As such words and descriptions were not usually used, there were not many ways to connect these terms to one¡¯s knowledge system.


    Just like a person from the West District, he didn¡¯t know what the Dao was even if you let him read the scriptures. He also didn¡¯t know what the Eight Trigrams was if you let him read the Iching. These words were very difficult for foreigners to form memories.


    When Zhou Wen told the story, he turned these esoteric words into treasures in the story. It made Wang Chan find these treasures novel and interesting, allowing her to remember them.


    ¡°The story you made up is rather interesting, but the treasures in the story are different from the true meaning of the Essence Energy Art, right?¡± After Wang Chan finished hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s story, she felt somewhat unsatisfied that it was over, but she also realized a problem.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s different, it made you remember those words that were originally difficult to remember, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Wang Chan thought about it and realized that she had memorized it. When she thought of those words, she found them a lot more vivid.


    ¡°In the future, when you learn those obscure Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills, treat them as a story. Treat the things you don¡¯t understand as battles with various unknown dimensional creatures. After defeating them, the knowledge you obtain will be treasures,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not as delusional as you,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t even dare think about it and only learn to walk the path of others, what¡¯s the point of such a life?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Chan looked at Zhou Wen in a daze. All the experts in her family that taught her would tell her how powerful so-and-so Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills were, as well as their origins. They would talk about what it would be like if she mastered them.


    No one had ever told her that no matter how powerful the Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills were, they were left behind by others. No matter how strong she became from cultivating them, she was ultimately inferior to others.


    ¡°Is it really okay to fantasize like this?¡± Wang Chan looked at Zhou Wen in a daze as though she was asking him, but also muttering to herself.


    ¡°Of course. There¡¯s nothing in this world that you can¡¯t think of or do. As long as you dare think of it, you will eventually think of a solution. The most important thing is that you dare think of it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try in the future.¡± Wang Chan was about to say something when she heard her phone ring. It wasn¡¯t someone calling her, but an alarm she had set.


    ¡°I need to return, but I¡¯ll remember your story. I¡¯ll also remember your words.¡± Wang Chan thought for a moment and said, ¡°You are indeed as my sister said. You are a very special person.¡±


    After Wang Chan left, Zhou Wen finally got some peace and began grinding.


    However, when Zhou Wen lay on the bed, he suddenly heard a crack. The wooden bed then collapsed.


    This was an ancient carved wood bed with a flower-engraved rack on it. The entire bed fell apart and immediately, Zhou Wen fell to the ground as the shattered wood hit him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries hadn¡¯t healed. The wood couldn¡¯t injure him, but when it hit him, the corners of his mouth twitched in pain.


    What¡¯s going on? My luck hasn¡¯t been good recently. I can even break a bed? Zhou Wen was depressed.


    Upon hearing the sound, the butler came over and was alarmed when he saw Zhou Wen. He hurriedly helped him up and got someone to tidy up the bed before changing it to a new bed.


    In the next few days when Zhou Wen was recuperating, Wang Chan often secretly came to play with him.


    However, for some reason, Zhou Wen was very unlucky every time Wang Chan came.


    One time, Wang Chan ran over while Zhou Wen was eating. Just as Zhou Wen was about to finish the bowl of rice, he realized that there was half a worm in it. It nearly made him vomit all the rice he had eaten.


    1


    Zhou Wen suspected that his bad luck had something to do with Wang Chan. This was because Wang Chan would be beside him every time he was unlucky.


    However, he thought for a moment and found it unlikely.


    Wang Lu was Wang Chan¡¯s sister. It was impossible for the people around her to be unlucky when she was such a lucky person.


    However, there was something strange. Wang Chan always came to him when there was no one around. It was as if she didn¡¯t want anyone to see her.


    Zhou Wen only believed that the Wang family was strict and that they placed a lot of emphasis on her studies, so they didn¡¯t give Wang Chan time to play. This resulted in her sneaking out, so he didn¡¯t tell Wang Lu and Grandma Wang about this.


    After a few days, Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries healed significantly. Although he couldn¡¯t engage in an intense battle, ordinary movements were no longer a problem. He left the Wang family and had a stroll.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on returning to Luoyang. He had yet to settle the most important matter of his trip to the Imperial Capital.


    Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and walked on the streets without anyone seeing him. He headed for the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    The Ancient Sword Tomb was one of the Xia family¡¯s important dimensional zones. Many sword-type Companion Beasts were obtained from the Ancient Sword Tomb. Therefore, Zhou Wen planned on heading to the Ancient Sword Tomb to take a look. If there was a tiny palm symbol, he could download an Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon.


    Apart from the Ancient Sword Tomb, there were many dimensional zones in the Imperial Capital. Zhou Wen planned on making a trip to all of them.


    The Ancient Sword Tomb was guarded by the Xia family¡¯s guards, but they were useless against Zhou Wen. With the Invisibility Cloak, the guards couldn¡¯t see him.


    Zhou Wen used the power of the Godfiend Era and floated over without making a sound.


    After searching outside the Ancient Sword Tomb for a while, he easily found a tiny palm symbol and snapped it.


    My luck today is pretty good. Zhou Wen turned around and left the Ancient Sword Tomb in delight as he headed for the next dimensional zone.


    On the way to his next destination, Ancient Sword Tomb finished downloading. However, it was inconvenient to use the phone while wearing the Invisibility Cloak. If he were to leave the phone unexposed, passersby would see a phone flying in the air. Timid ones would probably wet their pants in fright.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s second dimensional zone was the Thirteen Mausoleum.


    It was an ancient royal cemetery. After the dimensional storms, it had also become a dimensional zone. It was rather magical inside with many good things available.


    Furthermore, the Thirteen Mausoleum was a dimensional zone under the bureau. It forbade outsiders from entering. Zhou Wen had had a bad impression of the bureau. If it wasn¡¯t for his serious injuries, he would definitely have made a trip to the bureau¡¯s headquarters.


    Now that he had yet to recover from his injuries, he couldn¡¯t go to the bureau¡¯s headquarters for the time being. However, it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to take a picture of their dimensional zones.


    His luck today was unexpectedly good. After Zhou Wen arrived at the Thirteen Mausoleum, he found the tiny palm symbol and successfully downloaded another game dungeon.


    After leaving the Thirteen Mausoleum, Zhou Wen continued heading to the next dimensional zone. This time, the dimensional zone Zhou Wen went to was rather famous. It was the legendary Great Wall.


    1

 Chapter 762 - Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence

    Translator: CKtalon


    There were Great Wall dimensional zones in many places, not just in the Imperial Capital.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the chance to go anywhere else for the time being. He decided to head to the local one first, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol to download it as a game dungeon.


    The various Great Wall dimensional zones were mostly the same. The dimensional creatures in them were creatures called Battle Souls. However, the Battle Souls differed by district.


    The most common Battle Soul here was called the Undying Battle Soul. It was said that no matter what method was used, one could not kill the Battle Souls here. Therefore, as time passed, no one visited.


    Zhou Wen was most interested in these strange dimensional creatures, so he wanted to download the dungeon into his phone and study them.


    Just as Zhou Wen arrived in front of the Great Wall and before he could begin searching for the tiny palm symbol, he saw two people walk over. One of them was Wang Chan.


    ¡°Little Chan, where are you going?¡± A silver-haired youth walked beside Wang Chan as he asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s my freedom to go wherever I want. It¡¯s none of your business,¡± Wang Chan said without turning her head.


    ¡°How are you not my business? Your father wants me to take care of you. I can¡¯t let anything happen to you. If anything happens to you, how am I to answer your father?¡± the silver-haired youth said with a smile.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to explain it to him. Xiao Si, I can tell you now that I definitely won¡¯t go to the South District with you. I want to be like my sister and enter Sunset College to study,¡± Wang Chan said.


    Xiao Si¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he continued following Wang Chan. He said casually, ¡°Little Chan, don¡¯t joke around. Your sister has the Life Providence of the Goddess of Luck, so she can naturally go wherever she wants. However, your Life Providence is the Goddess of Misfortune. Apart from me, who has the Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body, who else can turn your misfortune into a blessing? Only with me by your side can you reverse fate and enjoy fortune. The heavens have destined me to protect you for the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any luck, much less your protection. Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know that you want to use this to threaten my family to help your family,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°I need your family¡¯s help, but you also need my help. Isn¡¯t that good?¡± Xiao Si said.


    ¡°No, not at all. I¡¯ve said it before. I don¡¯t need your help, nor do I need any luck,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°You can shrug it off, but have you considered your family? If I do not resolve your bad luck, your family will be affected by it. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know that? Your Wang family originally had a great opportunity to advance the Wang family further and even become an existence comparable to the Xia family. However, it was because of your birth that the Wang family failed. If not for your sister¡¯s strong luck, the Wang family might have rapidly declined. Would you wish for that to happen again?¡± Xiao Si said slowly.


    Wang Chan curled her lips and said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to scare me. With my sister around, my bad luck won¡¯t affect my family. Furthermore, I¡¯ll be studying at Sunset College soon, so it won¡¯t affect my family.¡±


    ¡°Then what about the people from Sunset College? You will have classmates, friends, and people you like there, but the better your relationship with them and the closer you are to them, the more they will be affected by your bad luck. They will constantly be unlucky and they might even lose their lives because of you. Have you really decided to study at Sunset College without my company?¡± Xiao Si said calmly.


    When Wang Chan heard Xiao Si¡¯s words, she seemed to hesitate. However, she still said, ¡°Don¡¯t try to scare me. My Life Providence isn¡¯t that terrifying. Even if you and my sister aren¡¯t around, my Life Providence won¡¯t kill anyone. It will only bring a little misfortune.¡±


    The invisible Zhou Wen listened for a long time before he finally understood two things. Wang Lu¡¯s luck wasn¡¯t some form of metaphysics, but because she had the Goddess of Luck Life Providence. Zhou Wen had long guessed that.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Wang Lu¡¯s sister, Wang Chan ended up having a completely opposite Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence. It was unbelievable that sisters born from the same parents would have such different Life Providences.


    1


    However, on second thought, the bad luck he encountered every time he met Wang Chan convinced him of her having such a Life Providence.


    The smile on Xiao Si¡¯s face vanished as he looked at Wang Chan and said, ¡°The reason why you want to study at Sunset College isn¡¯t because of your sister, am I right?¡±


    ¡°What has this got to do with you? Anyway, I definitely won¡¯t return to the Xiao family in the South District with you,¡± Wang Chan said.


    Xiao Si laughed. ¡°It¡¯s fine. You can try to find that person and see what kind of effect your Life Providence will have on him. Then, it won¡¯t be too late to make a decision. I believe that other than me, no man in the world can withstand the bad luck you bring.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already tried. There¡¯s no problem,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°Then did you take him to a dimensional zone?¡± Xiao Si asked.


    ¡°Why must I go to a dimensional zone?¡± Wang Chan asked.


    ¡°If you really go to Sunset College to study, it¡¯s inevitable that you will enter a dimensional zone to complete your homework missions. Isn¡¯t that normal? Or are you afraid that he will lose his life because of you?¡± Xiao Si said with a smile.


    ¡°So be it. It¡¯s no big deal.¡± Wang Chan turned around in a huff and left.


    Xiao Si stood there without moving. After watching Wang Chan leave, he took out his phone and made a call. ¡°An outsider approached Wang Chan and gained her trust. That person might be a student at Sunset College. Find out who that person is. I don¡¯t wish for him to affect our plans of having Wang Chan enter our Xiao family.¡±


    After hanging up, Xiao Si slowly left.


    Zhou Wen watched Xiao Si leave and pondered for a moment before taking out his phone to call Wang Lu and ask her about Wang Chan and Xiao Si.


    When Wang Lu heard that Zhou Wen had already met Wang Chan, she sighed and recounted the details regarding Wang Chan and Xiao Si.


    When Wang Chan was young, her luck was a little bad, but she was still very talented and hardworking. The family had placed high hopes on her.


    However, a few months ago, Wang Chan condensed her Life Providence. Unexpectedly, her Life Providence was Goddess of Misfortune. It was the opposite of Wang Lu¡¯s Life Providence.


    Her Life Providence brought quite a bit of trouble to the people around her. Only when Wang Lu was by her side would the situation improve.


    However, it was impossible for Wang Lu to stay by her side forever. Therefore, the Wang family had always hoped to resolve the problem of Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence. They came up with many solutions, but none of them worked well.


    The Xiao family in the South District had somehow heard of this matter. It made Xiao Si, who had a Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body, go to the Wang family. Under the influence of his Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body, not only did Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence not trigger any more misfortune, but she also became lucky.


    This made Wang Chan¡¯s parents, Wang Lu, and everyone else very happy. The Xiao family didn¡¯t make any excessive requests. They only hoped that Xiao Si could stay in the Wang family and spend more time with Wang Chan. If the two of them could get along well, they might be able to become husband and wife when Wang Chan reached the legal age of marriage.


    Their Life Providences complemented each other. If they could really become husband and wife, it would be beneficial to both of them.


    Although the Wang family felt that the Xiao family was deliberately trying to curry favor with them and definitely needed their help, Xiao Si¡¯s Life Providence was too important to Wang Chan. It was worth it even if the Wang family had to pay a price.


    Therefore, they allowed Xiao Si to stay in the Wang family to accompany Wang Chan. Firstly, it could resolve the danger of the Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence, and secondly, they could let them spend some time together and see if anything blossomed.


    Perhaps what the Xiao family wants isn¡¯t the Wang family¡¯s help, but Wang Chan herself, Zhou Wen thought. However, as he didn¡¯t have any evidence, it wasn¡¯t his place to tell Wang Lu his thoughts.

 Chapter 763 - Pulling Out Swords in Ancient Sword Tomb

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen searched the Great Wall for a long time but failed to find the tiny palm symbol. He wasted the afternoon just like that.


    The sky had already darkened by the time he returned to the courtyard.


    When Zhou Wen opened the door, he realized that Wang Chan was sitting on a stool in his room in a daze. Upon seeing Zhou Wen return, Wang Chan opened her mouth as though she wanted to say something, but in the end, she only said, ¡°You¡¯re back?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen sat by the table and poured himself a cup of water.


    ¡°I-it¡¯s nothing. I wanted to chat with you, but it¡¯s already so late. I should be leaving. Let¡¯s chat another time.¡± Wang Chan hesitated for a moment and ultimately didn¡¯t say anything. She got up and prepared to leave.


    She had been engaging in an intense psychological battle today. Although Wang Chan wanted to prove that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t meet with misfortune because of her even if Xiao Si and Wang Lu weren¡¯t by her side, Wang Chan still lacked confidence in herself after struggling internally for so long. She wasn¡¯t willing to let Zhou Wen take the risk.


    ¡°Are you free tomorrow?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly asked Wang Chan.


    ¡°I¡¯m free,¡± Wang Chan answered subconsciously.


    ¡°I want to visit the nearby dimensional zones tomorrow, but I¡¯m not familiar with the roads. Can you take me there?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    ¡°To a dimensional zone?¡± Wang Chan was first delighted before her expression dimmed. She shook her head and said, ¡°It¡¯s best you get my sister to accompany you.¡±


    ¡°Your sister isn¡¯t free. Aren¡¯t you free? Can¡¯t you accompany me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°My luck isn¡¯t too good. I¡¯m afraid that going to a dimensional zone with you will bring you bad luck,¡± Wang Chan said with her head lowered.


    ¡°What a coincidence. My luck isn¡¯t good either. Two negatives make a positive. Perhaps my luck will improve,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°My luck is really bad. If you were by my side, you would be very unlucky and might die. I¡¯m serious. I¡¯m not joking,¡± Wang Chan said as she bit her lip.


    Zhou Wen laughed and raised the saber in his hand in front of Wang Chan. ¡°Do you know the name of this blade?¡±


    Wang Chan sized up the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand in puzzlement. After a while, she said in surprise, ¡°Could it be that this is the Bamboo Blade of the Four Gentlemen Blades? Is this a replica?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. This is the authentic Bamboo Blade. Previously, its owner died. Perhaps it¡¯s because I¡¯m so unlucky that it ended up being compatible with me. I¡¯ve always been safe. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m hardy, so I¡¯m not afraid of these things. Go back and rest. We¡¯ll head to the Great Wall tomorrow morning to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then¡­ Alright¡­¡± Wang Chan thought for a moment and felt that it was safer to go to the Great Wall.


    There were Undying Battle Souls at Great Wall City, and they ranged from the Mortal stage to the Epic stage. However, dimensional creatures like Undying Battle Souls were very strange. They only wandered the Great Wall. Humans couldn¡¯t harm them and they didn¡¯t seem to have any consciousness either. They only wandered on the Great Wall and wouldn¡¯t attack humans.


    In fact, even if they attacked humans, it was useless. Just like how humans couldn¡¯t touch them, they also couldn¡¯t touch humans.


    Wang Chan heaved a sigh of relief when she heard that Zhou Wen wanted to go to the Great Wall. Even if something unfortunate happened there, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    After Wang Chan returned, Zhou Wen lay in bed and launched his newly downloaded Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon.


    The Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon looked desolate. At a glance, it was a series of undulating hills. However, upon closer inspection, one would realize that they weren¡¯t hills at all. Instead, they were graves of all sizes.


    Some graves were relatively small, like small mounds. Some of them were hundreds of feet tall, like continuous hills.


    However, it was different from ancient human graves. There were no tombstones in front of the graves. At the highest point of each grave was a sword.


    The swords on every grave were different. There were short swords, long swords, heavy swords, metal swords, jade swords, swords carved from bones, and porcelain swords made of mud.


    There were all sorts of swords that dazzled one¡¯s eyes. Every sword was embedded into a grave, a tombstone in some uncommon fashion.


    Although few outsiders had the chance to enter the Ancient Sword Tomb other than Xia family members, it was a famous dimensional zone.


    Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s first Mythical Companion Beast came from the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    Back then, there were only a handful of Mythical pets in the hands of humans. Xia Jiuhuang dominated the world with his sword and fought for the Federation citizens.


    The six heroes were like gods to humans.


    Of course, no one knew of the existence of Mythical Companion Beasts back then. They only knew that Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s sword was very powerful, but they didn¡¯t know that it was a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Later on, the Xia family became famous for using swords. Most sword-type Companion Beasts came from the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    Some people even suspected that Primordial Sword Immortal came from the Ancient Sword Tomb, but no one from the Xia family had admitted to it.


    There was something else that left Zhou Wen puzzled. For some reason, he hadn¡¯t seen Xia Jiuhuang use a Mythical Companion Beast when he fought him.


    As he walked in the Ancient Sword Tomb, Zhou Wen looked around. He had only heard An Sheng mention that unless one reached out to pluck a sword in the Ancient Sword Tomb, they would remain dead objects. The swords didn¡¯t emit any aura or power, making it impossible to gauge their levels.


    Only by pulling them out could one know their true level and strength.


    Drawing a sword was also a skill. This was because one didn¡¯t know the stats, abilities, and level of a sword. If one was lacking in strength, pulling out a high-level sword might very well result in death.


    However, if one was strong, killing a low-level dimensional creature as a result of their draw would be useless.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about swords, nor did he plan on choosing one. He reached out and grabbed the vine sword stuck in the tiny grave beside him, hoping to pull it out.


    This was because the sword grave had a strange force field that protected the swords embedded in the grave. If he wanted to destroy the swords here, he had to pull them out first.


    However, after Zhou Wen exerted his strength twice, the vine sword seemed to have taken root and wasn¡¯t pulled out by Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but carefully size up the vine sword. He saw that it looked like it was carved from a grayish-black ancient vine. The blade was slightly curved, and it didn¡¯t look sharp. It had a very odd shape.


    Could it be that I encountered a big guy for my first draw? Zhou Wen spread his legs apart and gripped the hilt with both hands. Then, he gathered all his strength and pulled it upwards.


    However, the vine sword remained motionless as though it had become one with the small grave.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. His strength was already considered top-notch in the Epic stage, but even he couldn¡¯t pull it out. This meant that the vine sword was definitely extraordinary. It might even be a Mythical dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to pull out the vine sword.

 Chapter 764 - Light Concealment Sword

    Translator: CKtalon


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s immense strength was boundless. As it held the vine sword in one hand, the vine sword appeared no different from a chopstick in its hand.


    Tyrant Behemoth exerted strength, but the vine sword remained motionless. It remained intact.


    After exerting its strength twice, Tyrant Behemoth failed to move the sword. It lost its temper and grabbed the vine sword with both hands. It was as though it was plucking a river sprout as it used its pushed its feet down and its hands to pull upwards.


    Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that Tyrant Behemoth, who had used all its strength, was still unable to pull out the vine sword. Even though the tiny grave shook from its pulling, the vine sword remained motionless.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He knew that he had definitely been lucky to encounter an extraordinary sword.


    However, as he knew too little about the Ancient Sword Tomb, he didn¡¯t know what this meant.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to activate Absolute Strength to forcefully pull out the vine sword with brute force.


    Boom!


    With Absolute Strength activated, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body became even heavier as its feet sank into the ground.


    Tyrant Behemoth exerted strength in its arms and pulled.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded to discover that the surrounding sword graves of all sizes were trembling violently as though there was an earthquake.


    However, despite the veins on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body protruding as it pulled at the sword with all its might, the vine sword remained stuck in the tiny grave. It didn¡¯t come out as though it had been entrenched.


    Tyrant Behemoth constantly exerted strength. Under the infusion of Absolute Strength¡¯s terrifying and boundless strength, the surrounding sword graves shook more and more violently. The various embedded swords emitted sword hums. Instantly, ten thousand swords resonated as their humming reverberated everywhere.


    Only the vine sword remained silent and was still intact.


    Zhou Wen saw that Tyrant Behemoth had exerted its strength to its limits. The entire Ancient Sword Tomb was almost on the brink of being overturned by an earthquake; yet, the vine sword remained intact. He knew that the possibility of pulling it out was very low.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he ordered Tyrant Behemoth to give up on the vine sword. He ran to a sword tomb to the side and pulled out the claymore from it.


    The moment the claymore appeared, terrifying red flames spewed out from the sword. However, the flames were nothing in front of Tyrant Behemoth. They couldn¡¯t even burn its fur. Tyrant Behemoth stuffed it into its mouth and chewed it a few times before swallowing it.


    ¡°Killed Epic creature, Fiery Claymore¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen saw the game notification, but the sword was swallowed by Tyrant Behemoth without leaving anything behind.


    After Tyrant Behemoth released the vine sword, the Ancient Sword Tomb¡¯s earthquake stopped and the ancient swords stopped buzzing. Tyrant Behemoth pulled out two ancient swords at the same time before smashing them together and snapping them.


    Tyrant Behemoth charged forward as it frantically drew swords and snapped them. There was no sword that could withstand a single strike from it. Soon, it had snapped almost forty swords.


    Zhou Wen kept looking at the game¡¯s notifications. Some dimensional crystals dropped, but the highest was at the Epic stage. He didn¡¯t discover any Mythical swords.


    There were tens of thousands of swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb. Tyrant Behemoth pulled them out one by one without encountering a situation with the vine sword again. They were all easily pulled out.


    Zhou Wen was now certain that it wasn¡¯t a problem with the Ancient Sword Tomb in-game, but that he had struck the lottery. The first sword he encountered was actually an extraordinary sword.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about swords. No matter how he looked at it, the vine sword wasn¡¯t outstanding. It looked similar to a withered vine.


    After snapping nearly a hundred swords, Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to turn around and pull the vine sword again, but the outcome was the same. Tyrant Behemoth used all its strength, causing an earthquake in the Ancient Sword Tomb, but the vine sword remained motionless.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up on the vine sword. He got Tyrant Behemoth to continue pulling the other swords to see if he could gain anything.


    As the swords were pulled out, one of the swords wasn¡¯t snapped by Tyrant Behemoth. The sword flashed a divine light as it scratched Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s palm and escaped.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Tyrant Behemoth still had Absolute Strength active; yet, the sword managed to injure Tyrant Behemoth. Although it had only scratched the surface, that was enough to prove its sharpness.


    After the sword struggled free, it quickly circled around Tyrant Behemoth and occasionally released sword beams to attack it.


    However, the sword beams were shattered by Tyrant Behemoth. They couldn¡¯t injure it at all.


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at the sword. He could only see sword beams, but not the sword¡¯s body. This surprised him even more. When he used Truth Listener¡¯s power to observe it, he immediately realized that the sword was invisible.


    The sword seemed to be transparent. He could only see the sword beam, but he couldn¡¯t see the blade. However, Zhou Wen was certain that the sword had a physical body. It wasn¡¯t a Spirit Body, nor was it a pure sword beam.


    A transparent sword? Interesting. As Zhou Wen was sizing up the sword, he heard Tyrant Behemoth roar angrily.


    The transparent sword flew very quickly. Tyrant Behemoth failed to catch up to it no matter how many times it attacked. In its rage, it unleashed the full might of Absolute Strength. The suction force that resembled a black hole immediately reduced the sword¡¯s speed.


    Tyrant Behemoth charged over and grabbed the transparent sword. The transparent sword was extremely sharp as it sliced through Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s palm, causing blood to drip down from the gaps between its fingers.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth ignored it. It grabbed the transparent sword with both hands and used all its strength to snap it.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see what the transparent sword looked like, but he could see Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s hands slowly descending. When the two claws were about to touch each other, there was a boom as though a tenacious steel plate had snapped.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen saw a notification appear in-game.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Light Concealment Sword. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He had expected to encounter a Mythical sword, but to have a Companion Egg drop surprised him. After all, his luck wasn¡¯t that good.


    He sized up the area where the Light Concealment Sword snapped, but he didn¡¯t see any Companion Eggs. He immediately came to a realization that perhaps Light Concealment Sword¡¯s Companion Beast was also transparent and invisible.


    He hurriedly swept the area with Truth Listener and immediately discovered the Companion Egg. It was beside Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s huge foot, but he couldn¡¯t see it with his eyes.


    I already have the Invisibility Cloak, and now I¡¯ve obtained a Light Concealment Sword. Could it be that I¡¯m destined to become a peerless assassin? Zhou Wen thought happily as he picked up the Light Concealment Sword Companion Egg.


    2

 Chapter 765 - Three Swords of Ancient Times

    Translator: CKtalon


    Light Concealment: Mythical


    Life Providence: Invisible Sword


    Life Soul: Invisible Sword Aura


    Wheel of Destiny: Light Concealment


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Sword Light Slash, Sword Light Wheel, Sword Light Rain, Integration Strike.


    Companion Form: Sword


    Although he didn¡¯t know how the skills or Life Providence were, he knew solely from the stats that the Light Concealment Sword was a top-notch Companion Beast.


    Apart from the one-point difference in Constitution, all of its stats were top-notch at the Mythical stage. They were stronger than the Golden Overlord Sword¡¯s stats.


    In-game, he tried out the Light Concealment Sword¡¯s skill and slashed out a condensed sword beam. Its single-target destructive power was extremely powerful.


    The Sword Light Wheel was a multitudinous light attack. It was considered a small AOE attack.


    Sword Light Rain covered a large area, but its offensive strength was much weaker than a single Sword Light Slash.


    However, if he used Slaughterer¡¯s infinite Essence Energy to complement Sword Light Rain, it would be somewhat ludicrous.


    Typical Sword Light Rain could only be used once before one was depleted of their Essence Energy. Even a Mythical creature¡¯s Essence Energy stores were unable to withstand two or three rounds of expenditure.


    However, Slaughterer¡¯s infinite Essence Energy recovery allowed him to cast Sword Light Rain constantly. It was like a submachine gun with infinite bullets.


    1


    Zhou Wen studied the final Integration Strike for a while, but he failed to figure out what skill it was. It wasn¡¯t an active offensive skill, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand its main effects.


    The Invisible Sword Life Providence was the invisibility ability of the Light Concealment Sword. The Invisible Sword Aura Life Soul was rather interesting. Apart from a sword beam, the Light Concealment Sword could also emit an invisible sword aura. Others could only see the sword beam, but not the invisible sword aura. If one only blocked the sword beam, they would succumb to the Invisible Sword Aura. It was a very sinister Life Soul.


    The effects of the Wheel of Destiny¡ªLight Concealment¡ªwere somewhat strange. Zhou Wen needed to continue studying it. After using it, the Light Concealment Sword¡¯s sword beams and sword aura would converge, causing its destructive power to decrease. He had yet to figure out its true use.


    In short, Zhou Wen was very satisfied with the Light Concealment Sword. Coupled with the Invisibility Cloak, it was the best weapon to secretly defeat others.


    In the past, if Zhou Wen had used the Golden Overlord Sword while wearing the Invisibility Cloak, he would be exposing a huge, golden sword. Even a blind person could see it.


    Now that he had the Light Concealment Sword, the possibility of being seen was much lower.


    The Light Concealment Sword is known as one of the Three Ancient Swords. From top to bottom grade, it went: Light Concealment Sword, Shadow Containment, and Night Training. If one can gather all three ancient swords and attack with all three in a fight, how impressive would that be? Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to continue drawing the swords.


    1


    With this ferocious beast around, there was no need for the blood-colored avatar to do a thing. Zhou Wen released his luxurious Mythical pet lineup and got them to draw swords on their own.


    The outcome wasn¡¯t that good. Apart from obtaining the Light Concealment Sword in the beginning, the Companion Eggs that dropped had relatively low levels. He didn¡¯t encounter any Mythical creatures.


    Apart from that, quite a number of sword Essence Energy Skills dropped. Most of them were at the Legendary stage, with three at the Epic stage.


    Zhou Wen absorbed all the Essence Energy Skills. It was better than nothing.


    ¡­


    The next morning, Wang Chan left the manor and prepared to head to the old courtyard to visit Zhou Wen.


    However, just as she walked out of the Wang manor, she saw Xiao Si walking over.


    ¡°Little Chan, where are you going?¡± Xiao Si asked politely.


    ¡°As you wish. To a dimensional zone,¡± Wang Chan said with a cold expression.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll accompany you to prevent any accidents,¡± said Xiao Si.


    Wang Chan curled her lips and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need. Don¡¯t you claim that it was thanks to your Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body when nothing happens.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body can be controlled freely. I¡¯ve already temporarily sealed him today. It won¡¯t affect your Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence. Furthermore, by going with you, if there¡¯s really excessive bad luck, I can stop it in time to prevent unnecessary casualties, especially your friend,¡± Xiao Si said.


    ¡°Up to you.¡± Wang Chan hesitated for a moment and didn¡¯t stop Xiao Si from following.


    She was really afraid that something would happen to Zhou Wen because of her. Furthermore, with Xiao Si around, if she could really prove that her bad luck wouldn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen, she could also make Xiao Si see the truth and give up on the idea.


    As she was taking Xiao Si with her, Wang Chan didn¡¯t go to the old courtyard again. That was where Grandma Wang rested. Not to mention outsiders, even members of the Wang family weren¡¯t allowed to go there for no reason. Wang Chan naturally wouldn¡¯t take Xiao Si with her.


    After agreeing to meet Zhou Wen at the Great Wall, Wang Chan quickly headed to their meeting point.


    Xiao Si followed Wang Chan mainly because he wanted to know who was influencing her. He had already gotten the Xiao family to investigate, but they hadn¡¯t found out anything due to the short amount of time provided. Furthermore, no one from Sunset College had come to the Wang family recently.


    When he messaged Wang Chan, Zhou Wen knew that she would be bringing Xiao Si along. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. Even if Wang Chan refused to bring Xiao Si along, Xiao Si would probably still meet them by accident.


    ¡°Brother-in-law, you¡¯re here.¡± Zhou Wen arrived at the appointed spot. When Wang Chan saw him, she immediately ran over. However, her form of address left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback.


    However, Zhou Wen immediately understood why Wang Chan called him that without using his name.


    Now, the Xia family and the bureau were still investigating the changes in the Forbidden City. If they knew that Zhou Wen had left the Forbidden City, it would naturally be very troublesome.


    Wang Chan deliberately didn¡¯t call Zhou Wen by his name because she didn¡¯t want Xiao Si to know his true identity as a way to prevent him from causing trouble.


    It¡¯s quite impressive to be aware of such things at such a young age. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly. He wasn¡¯t so meticulous back when he was as old as Wang Chan.


    ¡°Little Chan, is he your brother-in-law?¡± Wang Chan¡¯s address of Zhou Wen left Xiao Si slightly taken aback as he asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°My sister¡¯s boyfriend. If I don¡¯t call him brother-in-law, what else can I call him?¡± Wang Chan curled her lips and said.


    Xiao Si sized up Zhou Wen and saw that his face was still covered in bandages and he was wearing a hat. It was impossible to tell what he looked like.


    ¡°I¡¯m Xiao Si from Chiang Rai¡­¡± Xiao Si took the initiative to introduce himself. He mainly wanted to know who this man was.


    Wang Lu was different from Wang Chan. Wang Lu could be said to be the heir apparent of the Wang family. It was impossible for the Wang family to let her marry outsiders, much less allow her Goddess of Luck Life Providence to go to waste.


    The Wang family would definitely carefully filter the people who could become Wang Lu¡¯s partner.


    Now that Wang Chan had called Zhou Wen brother-in-law, Xiao Si was momentarily unsure of Zhou Wen¡¯s origins.

 Chapter 766 - Undying Battle Soul

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Wei Ge, most people call me Brother.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand and shook Xiao Si¡¯s hand.


    Xiao Si secretly remembered this name, but he naturally wouldn¡¯t call him ¡°Brother.¡± He planned on investigating Wei Ge¡¯s background after he returned.


    ¡­


    In an office of the Imperial Capital Special Inspector Bureau¡¯s headquarters, Wei Ge, who was drinking tea, suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose and muttered to himself, ¡°Who¡¯s thinking of me?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Cut it out. Brother-in-law, didn¡¯t you want to go to the Great Wall? Let¡¯s go.¡± Wang Chan pulled Zhou Wen towards the stairs at the entrance of the Great Wall.


    Zhou Wen had been searching outside the Great Wall for a long time, but he couldn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. However, he remained adamant about giving up¡ªhe wanted to search while on the Great Wall.


    After all, dimensional creatures like Undying Battle Souls had very rare characteristics. Such dimensional creatures might be very useful.


    Wang Chan was still somewhat uneasy, afraid that her Goddess of Misfortune would endanger Zhou Wen.


    Xiao Si tailed them while constantly wearing a smile on his face. However, he was sneering inwardly. Do you think you¡¯ll really be safe after coming to a place like the Great Wall? How naive.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t ascended the Great Wall yesterday and had only searched its exterior. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t seen the Undying Battle Souls. After ascending the Great Wall, he finally knew what kind of existence the Battle Souls were.


    On the ancient city wall, soldiers in armor wandered aimlessly as though they had no mind or soul.


    Their attire looked ancient. Furthermore, these soldiers were like virtual projections. Their bodies were translucent. When Zhou Wen reached out to grab an Undying Battle Soul¡¯s arm, his palm passed through the Battle Soul¡¯s body as though it was only an illusion and not a real creature.


    Zhou Wen condensed his Essence Energy and attempted to attack the Undying Battle Souls but to no avail. All sorts of Essence Energy Skills penetrated the Undying Battle Soul¡¯s bodies, leaving them unaffected.


    An Undying Battle Soul wandered over and passed through Zhou Wen and company as it continued wandering forward.


    These Undying Battle Souls are quite interesting. They look similar to the Ghost Bride that has a Spirit Body, but they seem a little different. Zhou Wen sized up the Undying Battle Souls with interest.


    This was clearly the first time Wang Chan had seen an Undying Battle Soul. She was very curious and reached out to grab it, but it was naturally futile.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard that Undying Battle Souls were very magical in the past. I¡¯m finally seeing it today.¡± Wang Chan was very happy. This was because Undying Battle Souls indeed couldn¡¯t harm anyone, so she didn¡¯t have to worry about Zhou Wen being affected by her bad luck.


    Xiao Si looked at the Undying Battle Souls, his eyes flashing with a strange, indiscernible look.


    Zhou Wen searched for the tiny palm symbol along the way, but Wang Chan treated it as a vacation. However, the scenery of the Great Wall was too monotonous. All there was to see other than the city walls were Undying Battle Souls.


    Such a scenery became a little boring after a long time.


    As they walked, they suddenly saw black smoke rising in front of them.


    Looking in the direction of the rising black smoke, they saw that it was coming out from a beacon tower.


    The so-called beacon towers were actually the place where signals were transmitted in ancient times.


    In ancient times, there were no modern signaling stations, nor were there any radio or satellites to transmit signals over distances. They could only rely on producing smoke to allow people in the distance to see the signal.


    Therefore, there would be a beacon tower built at certain distances on the Great Wall to deliver information quickly.


    This was also the main purpose of the Great Wall. Although the Great Wall was tall and majestic, its main purpose wasn¡¯t for war. Apart from the beacon tower¡¯s ability to transmit information, the Great Wall¡¯s main purpose was to block trade and information transmission.


    However, in modern times, the Great Wall was basically useless. After the dimensional storms, there were very few humans who could reach the Great Wall, much less ignite the flames of war.


    To suddenly have smoke rising from the beacon tower on the Great Wall made Wang Chan¡¯s heart skip a beat as she felt that something was amiss.


    Rising smoke from the nearby beacon tower looked like a black tornado rushing into the sky from afar.


    What was even stranger was that the soulless Battle Souls seemed to awaken all of a sudden. Their eyes glowed red as they swarmed towards the beacon tower.


    ¡°Brother-in-law, something seems amiss. Let¡¯s leave quickly.¡± Wang Chan pulled Zhou Wen and wanted to leave the Great Wall. She was really afraid that something would happen.


    However, when they retreated, they didn¡¯t see any stairs that led them away from the Great Wall.


    The Great Wall had already transformed into a dimensional zone. It was impossible to jump off the city wall. Although one could also jump out of the city wall, the dimensional zone¡¯s power would take effect. One would be bound by a mysterious force. The further one was from the Great Wall, the greater the force.


    It would be as if one had a powerful spring attached to them. In the end, they would be pulled back to the Great Wall. Only by taking the stairs could one truly leave the Great Wall.


    ¡°No¡­ How can it not be here¡­ It was clearly here¡­¡± Wang Chan looked left and right, almost crying from anxiety.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Since we can¡¯t get out, I might as well see what¡¯s on the beacon tower,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards it.


    Although Wang Chan was very worried, she had no choice but to follow Zhou Wen to the beacon tower.


    Xiao Si said from the side, ¡°I¡¯ve already said that only my Traversing Misfortune Buddha Body can give you peace of mind. No one else can.¡±


    Wang Chan pretended not to hear him as she quickly walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side.


    Soon, the trio came to a nearby beacon tower. They saw a strange container emitting copious amounts of black smoke. The nearby Undying Battle Souls were throwing themselves into the container.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised to discover that the black smoke was produced by seemingly burning the Undying Battle Souls.


    He turned around and looked at the other beacon towers nearby, but he didn¡¯t see any smoke from them. Only this one had smoke rising from it.


    He carefully sized up the container. It was a two-handled pot. It was completely black, but it wasn¡¯t made of gold or jade. It looked more like a lacquered container.


    There were some mysterious patterns engraved on the pot, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand them.


    As more and more Undying Battle Souls threw themselves into the pot, the patterns on the pot gradually lit up as though there was some evil aura flowing through them.


    All the nearby Undying Battle Souls had already thrown themselves into the pot. The black smoke stopped spewing out and the pot shook violently.


    Suddenly, something shot out from the pot. When Wang Chan saw what it was, her expression changed.

 Chapter 767 - : Silver-Winged Yaksha

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Silver-Winged Yaksha! Why is there a Silver-Winged Yaksha on the Great Wall!?¡± Wang Chan cried out in horror.


    Zhou Wen frowned as he stared at the creature that came out of the pot. He saw that it was an evil ghost with wings on its back. Its entire body seemed to be forged from silver, but its blood-red eyes shimmered. It looked extremely sinister and bizarre.


    He was certain that it was a dimensional creature and not a Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen had actually heard of Silver-Winged Yakshas. Not long after the dimensional storms, a few Silver-Winged Yakshas had appeared in some coastal cities.


    As Silver-Winged Yakshas were extremely bloodthirsty, they would bring a terrifying calamity to humanity every time they appeared. Some places suffered massacres.


    However, in the past twenty to thirty years, Silver-Winged Yakshas rarely appeared. It was even more so in a place like the Imperial Capital.


    Zhou Wen had only heard that Silver-Winged Yakshas were terrifying. It was possible that it was a Mythical creature, but he had never seen one before.


    ¡°Brother-in-law, run!¡± Wang Chan pulled Zhou Wen and ran. She knew very well how terrifying Silver-Winged Yakshas were.


    This was because the Wang family had a video of the Silver-Winged Yaksha¡¯s massacre of a small city. Not only was the Silver-Winged Yaksha a Mythical creature, but it was also extremely fast. Its physique and strength were equally terrifying. Typically, humans wouldn¡¯t even be able to see it before they were beheaded.


    Now, Wang Chan regretted bringing Zhou Wen into the dimensional zone. If they had not come here, they wouldn¡¯t have encountered such trouble.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that you shouldn¡¯t have come out with others. Only I can stop you from being embroiled by bad luck,¡± said Xiao Si.


    At that moment, Xiao Si was feeling very pleased with himself. The Silver-Winged Yaksha naturally didn¡¯t appear here for no reason. Although it wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast but a genuine dimensional creature, this didn¡¯t mean that no one could control it.


    In fact, the person who released the Silver-Winged Yaksha was Xiao Si himself. However, the Silver-Winged Yaksha wasn¡¯t his pet. He couldn¡¯t command the Silver-Winged Yaksha, so the reason for its appearance was the two-handled pot.


    The pot itself was a magical item. It had the title of Devil¡¯s Pot in the South District. It was a treasure that was obtained from a mysterious dimensional zone in the South District before it ended up in the Xiao family¡¯s hands.


    There were no true devils in the Devil¡¯s Pot, but they could seal certain types of dimensional creatures inside.


    The Xiao family had paid a considerable price to find a Silver-Winged Yaksha and place it inside the Devil¡¯s Pot.


    Although they couldn¡¯t control the Silver-Winged Yaksha, they could selectively release or seal it.


    In other words, after Xiao Si controlled the Devil¡¯s Pot, he had the ability to release or retrieve the Silver-Winged Yaksha.


    Silver-Winged Yakshas were extremely bloodthirsty. They would engage in wanton slaughter the moment they were released. Their only weakness was that they didn¡¯t distinguish between friend and foe. Typically, they would only choose humans and souls as their targets.


    Although the Devil¡¯s Pot wasn¡¯t of much help in cracking dimensional zones, it was a great weapon when used against humans.


    Although Xiao Si told Wang Chan that he could control his Life Providence, it was actually impossible. Therefore, as long as he was by her side, Wang Chan¡¯s Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence wouldn¡¯t have much effect.


    Xiao Si had no intention of letting Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence take effect. He didn¡¯t like uncertain factors and wanted everything to be under his control.


    Roar! After the Silver-Winged Yaksha came out of the Devil¡¯s Pot, it let out a shocking roar. Silver light erupted from its body as a terrifying shockwave blasted out hundreds of meters away, causing Wang Chan and Xiao Si to fall to the ground.


    In the next second, the Silver-Winged Yaksha spread its wings and instantly traversed a distance of hundreds of meters. It appeared in front of Zhou Wen who was still standing there. Its aura was extremely violent, like a devil from hell.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Wang Chan was extremely regretful. She regretted bringing Zhou Wen out. She regretted having the extravagant hopes of making friends at school like an ordinary girl.


    Xiao Si pretended to fall to the ground, but his eyes were filled with killing intent. No one knows that the Devil¡¯s Pot and the Silver-Winged Yaksha belong to our Xiao family. No matter who this fellow is, no one will be able to pin the blame on me if he¡¯s killed by the Silver-Winged Yaksha. Without him, everything will return to normal¡­ Wang Chan will eventually join my Xiao family¡­


    As the two of them had different thoughts, they suddenly saw Zhou Wen draw the saber at his waist and slash at the Silver-Winged Yaksha.


    Xiao Si sneered inwardly. A terrifying existence like the Silver-Winged Yaksha has devoured so many Undying Battle Souls. How can a human¡¯s saber match it¡­


    ¡°Brother-in-law, I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± Wang Chan shouted loudly. Her heart was filled with regret and frustration. Tears fell from the corners of her eyes as she thought sadly, I shouldn¡¯t have had such extravagant hopes¡­


    1


    However, in the next second, Xiao Si and Wang Chan widened their eyes in shock.


    The Silver-Winged Yaksha was split into two by the Bamboo Blade as it slammed to the ground.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Xiao Si¡¯s mouth gaped open as he looked at Zhou Wen and the Silver-Winged Yasha¡¯s corpse at his feet in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t believe that the Mythical Silver-Winged Yaksha had died just like that.


    Wang Chan was also stunned. Her face was still covered in tears, but her expression had turned extremely odd. She hadn¡¯t completely restrained her sorrowful expression, yet it was mixed with a flabbergasted look.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Zhou Wen picked up a silver egg-shaped object from the Silver-Winged Yaksha¡¯s corpse and turned to ask Wang Chan.


    ¡°N-nothing¡­ Brother-in-law¡­ You¡¯re amazing¡­ Is this the Silver-Winged Yaksha¡¯s Companion Egg?¡± Wang Chan¡¯s forlorn look turned into a smile as she jumped up from the ground and tugged at Zhou Wen with a look of joy.


    ¡°I guess so. However, such a weak dimensional creature is probably very weak as a Companion Beast. It¡¯s useless. If you like it, you can have it.¡± Zhou Wen casually threw the Silver-Winged Yaksha Companion Egg towards Wang Chan.


    The corners of Xiao Si¡¯s eyes twitched. He wished he could slap Zhou Wen twice.


    That was the Silver-Winged Yaksha. The Xiao family had sealed the Silver-Winged Yaksha for so long, but they had failed to come up with a way to kill it. They never expected such good luck to have the Silver-Winged Yaksha drop a Companion Egg after its death.


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen had killed the Silver-Winged Yaksha and had a Companion Egg drop, he even complained that the Silver-Winged Yaksha was too weak. This left Xiao Si gnashing his teeth in anger.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about Xiao Si¡¯s expression. His figure phased away and vanished.


    Not good! Xiao Si was alarmed. He had already guessed where Zhou Wen had gone.


    Although the Silver-Winged Yaksha was difficult to seal, there was still a chance of sealing another in the future. It didn¡¯t matter if it died, but if Zhou Wen took away the Devil¡¯s Pot, everything would be over.


    Xiao Si hurriedly ordered his Life Soul to retrieve the Devil¡¯s Pot. He was still very confident in his Life Soul. After all, he had used his Life Soul to silently place the Devil¡¯s Pot on the beacon tower.

 Chapter 768 - Kuman Thong Life Soul

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal was extremely fast, allowing him to instantly arrive at the beacon tower.


    The two-handled pot was still on the beacon tower, but it was swaying as though it had been moved by something before disappearing.


    Truth Listener could hear the sounds of motion and determine where an object was, but it couldn¡¯t outline an exact shape.


    Zhou Wen activated the Holy Hell King Life Soul and opened the Eye of the Holy Hell King. Immediately, he saw a child running with the two-handled Devil¡¯s Pot.


    The child was much smaller than Demonic Neonate, but the sinflames on his body were very rich.


    The child turned his head to look at Zhou Wen, leaving him slightly taken aback. The child¡¯s facial features were very blurry as though he hadn¡¯t grown up. His body was also very strange. His stomach was huge, but his limbs were tiny. He was indescribably terrifying and bizarre.


    Activating the Eye of the Holy Hell King, a force swallowed the invisible child into the Eye of the Holy Hell King. The child seemed to be made of pure sinflames so he was directly absorbed and refined to nothingness.


    Zhou Wen could even sense that his Holy Hell King Life Soul had made significant progress. If he could have more of these Life Souls, he might be able to successfully evolve a Perfect Body.


    Clang!


    After the child was absorbed and refined, the Devil¡¯s Pot that had disappeared immediately dropped to the ground. At the same time, Zhou Wen heard a tragic cry. He saw Xiao Si spew out a mouthful of blood as the color in his face drained. It was as though he had suffered a fatal blow.


    The destruction of Xiao Si¡¯s Life Soul was naturally a severe blow to him. He had dropped from the Epic stage to the Legendary stage, astounding and infuriating him.


    Zhou Wen grabbed the Devil¡¯s Pot and with a flash, he returned to Wang Chan¡¯s side. He stared at Xiao Si, who was about to escape, and said, ¡°This is yours, right?¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? How can that crappy pot be mine?¡± Xiao Si immediately shook his head and said.


    ¡°I originally wanted to give you a chance to live. Since you aren¡¯t appreciating it, there¡¯s no need to say anything else,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to draw his Bamboo Blade.


    ¡°Wait! What do you want?¡± Xiao Si was terrified, but he still pretended to be calm.


    He had seen Zhou Wen kill the Silver-Winged Yaksha with a single blow and knew how terrifying Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was. As for the Life Soul that Xiao Si had relied on and others couldn¡¯t see, it had been killed by Zhou Wen. He had lost his composure.


    ¡°Answer a few of my questions. If your answers satisfy me, I can consider letting you live,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Ask whatever you want to know. However, that Devil¡¯s Pot has nothing to do with me,¡± Xiao Si said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Alright, so you were the one behind this. I thought it was me¡­¡± Wang Chan also understood what had happened and glared at Xiao Si angrily.


    Zhou Wen pulled her behind him and looked at Xiao Si. ¡°I don¡¯t care if it has anything to do with you. Tell me the origins of this pot and what use does it have?¡±


    ¡°This pot is named Devil¡¯s Pot in the South District. You¡¯ll know once you ask around. It can seal certain special dimensional creatures.¡± As Xiao Si answered, his fingers moved in his sleeve.


    ¡°How can I control this pot?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple.¡± Xiao Si explained the usage of the Devil¡¯s Pot.


    ¡°That child was your Life Soul, right? What¡¯s his name? What¡¯s his use?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    He was very interested in Xiao Si¡¯s Life Soul. For a Life Soul to have so many sinflames¡ªeven more than the sinflames on Xiao Si¡¯s body¡ªmade no sense.


    ¡°Kuman Thong. It¡¯s a relatively common Life Soul in Chiang Rai. As long as one cultivates the Kuman Thong Essence Energy Art, they will have a Kuman Thong Life Soul. However, their abilities will be slightly different,¡± Xiao Si said.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard that. He stared at Xiao Si and asked, ¡°Does that mean that many people in Chiang Rai have Kuman Thong Life Souls?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just Chiang Rai. Many Epic experts in the nearby regions have Kuman Thong Life Souls,¡± Xiao Si answered readily.


    ¡°One last question. Why do you want to take Wang Chan to the Xiao family?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Xiao Si and asked.


    ¡°Of course, I wish to obtain the Wang family¡¯s help to make our Xiao family¡­¡± Before Xiao Si could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen had already unsheathed his Bamboo Blade.


    A saber beam flashed. Before Xiao Si and Wang Chan could see what was happening, the Bamboo Blade had already returned to its scabbard.


    ¡°You¡­ You said you wouldn¡¯t kill me¡­¡± Xiao Si¡¯s expression changed drastically as he hurriedly covered his neck with his hand. However, the moment his hand touched his neck, a bloody mark appeared on his originally normal neck. Then, blood gushed out. He couldn¡¯t stop the blood no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°I said that I could let you live if I was satisfied with your answer. Now, I¡¯m very unsatisfied with your answer, so I refuse to give you a way out,¡± Zhou Wen said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Xiao Si opened his mouth, but at that moment, his mouth was filled with blood. He couldn¡¯t say a word. He fell to the ground and twitched a few times before he died.


    Zhou Wen used the sheathed Bamboo Blade to pry open his palm and saw a strange plaque in his hand. It was black, but it looked like the bone of some creature. The plaque had a mysterious engraving, and the necklace connected to the plaque was made using many strange materials. He was unsure what it was.


    ¡°This is a Buddha plaque.¡± Wang Chan recognized what it was.


    ¡°What¡¯s a Buddha plaque? One used to honor Buddha?¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know what a Buddha plaque was.


    ¡°No, a Buddha plaque is a dimensional artifact created by some Epic experts in the South District using dimensional materials. Typically, it¡¯s made from the bones of a dimensional creature before forcefully sealing a Companion Beast inside the Buddha plaque. This way, the Buddha plaque will have the power of a Companion Beast, but it doesn¡¯t have a master. As long as a special method is used, anyone can use the power of the Companion Beast inside the Buddha plaque. This will allow some Mortal stage or even ordinary people who have never cultivated to borrow the power of a Companion Beast,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such a magical technique. Why hasn¡¯t the Federation promoted such a technique?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    It allowed ordinary people to use the power of high-level Companion Beasts. This technique was just extremely powerful.


    ¡°Companion Beasts sealed in the Buddha plaque can only use a portion of their strength. Furthermore, when used by ordinary people, there will be many taboos. A single mistake will result in a backlash. The average person wouldn¡¯t choose such a method to control a Companion Beast. This is similar to the Kuman Thong Life Soul. The Kuman Thong Life Soul is also a Life Soul that allows quick formation. As long as the correct method is used, it¡¯s very easy to condense a Kuman Thong Life Soul. However, the method of condensing the Kuman Thong is very cruel. Furthermore, like the Buddha plaque, it¡¯s easy for it to negatively affect its owner. Therefore, other than a certain area in the South District, there are very few people who cultivate the Kuman Thong Life Soul. I never expected that this b*stard, Xiao Si, would cultivate the Kuman Thong Life Soul. Furthermore, it¡¯s in the form of a child. Damn it.¡± Wang Chan kicked Xiao Si¡¯s corpse hatefully.

 Chapter 769 - Cherish the Opportunity

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen picked up the Buddha plaque in Xiao Si¡¯s hand with his sword. For Xiao Si to use the Buddha plaque against Zhou Wen despite having seen his strength, it was likely that the Buddha plaque had extraordinary strength, so Zhou Wen was rather careful.


    After the dimensional storms, there were too many mysterious powers in the world. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to believe that he was invincible just because he had some achievements.


    If he was not careful, this tiny Buddha plaque might become his death warrant.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the Buddha plaque and couldn¡¯t see anything amiss. All he felt was that there was some invisible evil aura lingering on it.


    However, this evil aura didn¡¯t seem to have any effect.


    This was because the Buddha plaque needed a special method to be used. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to use it, nor was he able to activate the Companion Beast in the Buddha plaque. After fiddling with it for a while and seeing that it was useless, he put it away.


    He searched Xiao Si¡¯s body again. Apart from a few Buddha plaques, there was nothing else of value.


    Zhou Wen put away the Buddha plaques and summoned the Fire Furnace Queen to burn Xiao Si¡¯s corpse to ashes.


    ¡°Let¡¯s return.¡± Zhou Wen took Wang Chan back to the Wang family¡¯s courtyard and went to see Grandma Wang. He recounted the entire process in detail, but he didn¡¯t explain much.


    Grandma Wang listened attentively without saying a word. After she finished listening, she asked Zhou Wen and Wang Chan a few questions.


    ¡°Little Zhou, you¡¯ve done well. You¡¯ve helped our Wang family greatly and saved Little Chan. I¡¯ll just keep it short. I need to gather the core members of the Wang family to discuss our response. Although the Xiao family¡¯s forces aren¡¯t comparable to our Wang family and are far away in the South District, their Companion Beasts and various skills are somewhat special. We have to be wary of them. Also, don¡¯t tell anyone about this matter. Just treat it as though it never happened. Leave everything to our Wang family,¡± Grandma Wang said to Zhou Wen after some thought.


    ¡°I killed him. If there¡¯s anything you need me for, just tell me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Good child, since you call me Grandma, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you. I¡¯ll think of you when I need you. Go back with Little Chan now. Do what you need to do and pretend nothing has happened,¡± Grandma Wang said.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Chan left the hall. Wang Chan looked at Zhou Wen in delight and said, ¡°Zhou Wen, thank you. If it weren¡¯t for you, I would have been fooled by that detestable fellow. Now, I can finally be at ease.¡±


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°Your sister helped me a lot. In comparison, what I did was nothing. You don¡¯t have to take it to heart.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen turned around and returned to his room.


    Since the Wang family already knew of the Xiao family¡¯s intentions towards Wang Chan, they would naturally be wary in the future. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to continue interfering.


    As Wang Chan watched Zhou Wen enter the room, she held the Silver-Winged Yaksha Companion Egg in hand. She wanted to stop him, but when she opened her mouth, she closed it again.


    ¡°Humph, Sister is right. This Numbskull Wen is pretty nice, but he isn¡¯t good with words.¡± Wang Chan put the Silver-Winged Yaksha Companion Egg back into her pocket.


    She originally wanted to return it to Zhou Wen. After all, she had no way of incubating such a Mythical Companion Egg. It was useless even if she took it. Furthermore, she wasn¡¯t someone who would take things from others.


    If she really wanted a Mythical Companion Egg, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for her with her having an elder sister like Wang Lu around.


    Despite that, Wang Chan changed her mind and didn¡¯t return the Companion Egg to Zhou Wen. Instead, she returned to the Wang family with it.


    ¡­


    Wang Lu already knew what had happened. After Wang Chan returned, she asked her in private, ¡°Little Chan, are you alright?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Thankfully, Zhou Wen was there. Otherwise, I would have been fooled by that b*stard Xiao Si. Now, I finally know that my misfortune Life Providence might not necessarily bring misfortune to everyone. At the very least, Zhou Wen isn¡¯t affected by my misfortune,¡± Wang Chan said.


    1


    Wang Lu smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you think that way. Your Life Providence is nothing much.¡±


    ¡°By the way, Sister, do you like that Numbskull Wen?¡± Wang Chan asked.


    ¡°How can that be? We are just classmates with a better relationship,¡± Wang Lu hurriedly said.


    ¡°I see. Then, sister, you have to cherish this opportunity,¡± Wang Chan said.


    ¡°What do you mean cherish the opportunity? No one wants such a boring man. It would be strange if he had a girlfriend,¡± Wang Lu said with a twitch of her lips.


    ¡°That might be the case. I think Numbskull Wen isn¡¯t bad. If you don¡¯t want him, I¡¯ll be his girlfriend when I grow up.¡± With that said, Wang Chan carried the Companion Egg back to her room.


    Wang Lu was taken aback. She hadn¡¯t expected Wang Chan to say that.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen returned to his room, he continued grinding the Ancient Sword Tomb. He was still thinking about the Shadow Containment Sword and Night Training Sword.


    However, the Ancient Sword Tomb was just too huge. Most ancient swords were at the Mortal and Legendary stage. It wasn¡¯t easy to find an Epic, much less a Mythical.


    After grinding for a few hours, none of the ancient swords destroyed were at the Mythical stage.


    On the other hand, the vine sword was still there. Zhou Wen had tried all sorts of methods to pull out the sword, but the outcome was the same. He couldn¡¯t pull it out no matter what.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take out the Buddha plaques to study them because he was afraid that there were special settings on them. It wouldn¡¯t be good if the Xiao family traced the clues to him.


    Placing them in the chaos space was equivalent to them being in another space. It severed all connections with the outside world. No matter how powerful the Xiao family was, it was impossible for them to find those Buddha plaques.


    Zhou Wen planned on studying the Buddha plaques after leaving the Imperial Capital.


    His only regret in coming to the Imperial Capital was that he couldn¡¯t download the Great Wall instance dungeon. However, Zhou Wen already roughly knew that the Undying Battle Soul was a soul-type creature. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t kill it, but he needed some special powers.


    ¡­


    The anomaly in Forbidden City continued as lightning continued to fall from the heavens, turning Forbidden City into a city of lightning. However, the lightning was limited to the city, so it didn¡¯t affect the Imperial Capital much.


    Some people had already attempted to enter Forbidden City to explore the situation inside, but the outcome was terrible. Be it Companion Beasts or humans, people immediately lost contact with them upon their entry into Forbidden City. Up to now, no one had survived.


    What exactly is the woman inside that log? What¡¯s her relationship with the antelope? Why would it let me carry her into Forbidden City? Zhou Wen thought for a long time but failed to come up with an answer.


    He asked the antelope, but it kept looking at him with a strange expression. He couldn¡¯t tell what it meant. It looked a little like pity, regret, contempt, and a hint of gloating. In short, Zhou Wen¡¯s hair stood on end every time he looked at it, but the antelope didn¡¯t give him an answer.

 Chapter 770 - In front of the Earth Temple

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the next few days, Zhou Wen went to some dimensional zones in the Imperial Capital, but he didn¡¯t gain anything. He didn¡¯t discover the tiny palm symbols.


    The Wang family had already settled the matter regarding the Xiao family. Although they had temporarily appeased the Xiao family, it was ultimately a hidden danger.


    The Xiao family¡¯s interest in Wang Chan probably wouldn¡¯t stop because of Xiao Si¡¯s death. The Wang family also wanted to figure out the cause of this matter. If possible, they even wanted to directly eliminate the Xiao family and eliminate this future trouble.


    However, the Xiao family wasn¡¯t weak. Furthermore, they were far away in the South District. The Wang family¡¯s influence couldn¡¯t reach that far yet.


    Only the Dugu family, the ruler of the South District, could easily destroy a local wealthy family like the Xiao family.


    The Wang family could only placate the Xiao family before slowly plotting in secret to figure out why they wanted Wang Chan.


    The matters in the Imperial Capital had basically come to an end. Zhou Wen planned on returning to Luoyang. Before he left, Grandma Wang sent him off with Wang Lu and Wang Chan. She even urged him to visit her often in the future.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen left the Imperial Capital and arrived at an abandoned village. He saw An Sheng sitting on a tree root waiting for him.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, how¡¯s Old Master Xia?¡± An Sheng had been here for so long. Although he hadn¡¯t entered the Imperial Capital himself, he knew the situation inside the Imperial Capital like the back of his hand. He had already contacted Zhou Wen, but for the sake of safety, he didn¡¯t ask for certain information.


    ¡°He won¡¯t appear again in the future.¡± Zhou Wen recounted what had happened to Xia Jiuhuang, leaving An Sheng shocked.


    ¡°Old Master Xia is Xia Jiuhuang. Furthermore, his Invincible Connate Divine Art remains intact. In that case, the Xia family isn¡¯t actually his bloodline?¡± An Sheng immediately had the same thought as Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Who knows? In theory, if the Invincible Connate Divine Art remains intact, it¡¯s unlikely that Xia Jiuhuang has any descendants. However, his Invincible Connate Divine Art has already fused with the Great Emperor Sutra into the Connate Great Emperor Sutra. Perhaps he can have descendants. Now that he¡¯s dead, I¡¯m afraid no one will ever know this secret,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How¡¯s Forbidden City now?¡± An Sheng asked another important question.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either. You have to ask it.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the listless antelope.


    An Sheng clearly knew that it was impossible for him to obtain an answer from the antelope, so he changed the topic. ¡°Li Xuan went to the South District.¡±


    ¡°Why did he suddenly go to the South District?¡± Zhou Wen was taken aback. Li Xuan had not informed him about this.


    ¡°Did Li Mobai get him to go?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as his expression changed drastically.


    ¡°No, he went with Worm Dugu. Worm Dugu wanted to take him in as a disciple, but Li Xuan didn¡¯t agree. In order to move Li Xuan, Worm Dugu told him some secrets, so Li Xuan wanted to try his luck in the South District. He was afraid that you would be anxious, so he didn¡¯t let me tell you.¡± An Sheng recounted the entire matter.


    Zhou Wen was really worried. Li Xuan might look carefree on the surface, but in fact, he was someone who was easily swayed by emotions. This was Li Xuan¡¯s weakness and his strength. Zhou Wen was really afraid that something would happen to him in the South District.


    There were many strange things in the South District. Gu worms, Kuman Thong, black magic, etc. Even if Li Xuan had an indestructible body, it wasn¡¯t absolutely safe in such a place. Furthermore, Li Xuan hadn¡¯t reached the indestructible realm.


    It was too late to say anything now. Zhou Wen only hoped that Li Xuan would return safely.


    ¡°There¡¯s a rather famous Earth temple ahead. Do you want to take a look?¡± An Sheng asked Zhou Wen when they arrived at a small town.


    ¡°Earth Temple? No harm visiting.¡± Zhou Wen still remembered that he had obtained a treasure map when he went to the Earth Temple. However, he didn¡¯t manage to dig up any treasure. A baby-like dimensional creature had given him a metal walnut, and inside the metal walnut was Tai Sui.


    All the Earth temples in the East District had similar functions. If a native were to pay respects to the Earth Lord, they might obtain a treasure map.


    However, if one wasn¡¯t native, Earth Lord would, unfortunately, ignore them even if they cracked their head kowtowing.


    An Sheng took Zhou Wen to the nearby Earth temple. The Earth temple here was indeed much bigger than the one Zhou Wen had previously visited. Furthermore, the main god of this temple was land. It didn¡¯t share temples and incense offerings with other gods.


    ¡°Treasure maps for sale. They are treasure maps obtained by authentic locals. Just one Legendary Companion Egg.¡±


    ¡°Newly produced treasure maps for only two Legendary Strength Crystals. They just need to be above a 6.¡±


    ¡°An ancestral treasure map¡­¡±


    It was very lively in front of the Earth temple as though it was a market. Many stalls were selling treasure maps and some were selling crystals and Companion Eggs.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t these locals digging for treasures themselves?¡± Zhou Wen found it odd.


    An Sheng said with a smile, ¡°Do you really believe that these people are selling treasure maps? It¡¯s been decades since the dimensional storms. The locals have long finished kowtowing. Only newborn infants have the right to pray to Earth Lord to get a treasure map. How many babies are born every year?¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that these people who sold treasure maps were similar to those who sold antiques and Buddha statues at a temple¡¯s entrance. Most people knew that they were fake, but they still held onto the hope that they could be lucky.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we aren¡¯t locals. It¡¯s useless even if we kowtow. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be bad to get a treasure map to try our luck,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°That might not be the case. Although we aren¡¯t locals, it¡¯s very likely that Earth Lord will give us a treasure map if he appreciates our good character,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Lad, you sure are optimistic. Instead of having such unrealistic dreams, why don¡¯t you buy two treasure maps from me to try your luck?¡± an old man selling treasure maps said with a smile.


    ¡°Buying a treasure map from you? We might as well kowtow to Earth Lord.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head and walked towards the Earth temple.


    ¡°Lad, take a look again. Perhaps my treasure map is really more useful than Earth Lord¡¯s?¡± The elder didn¡¯t give up as he held Zhou Wen back.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly as he looked at the elder.


    His reaction was extremely fast. Even a Mythical creature wouldn¡¯t be able to touch Zhou Wen, much less an elder.


    The elder¡¯s seemingly casual tug had grabbed his arm, preventing Zhou Wen from reacting. This was definitely abnormal.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense anything special about the elder. His ability to sense danger, which he had honed over time, didn¡¯t work.


    The more Zhou Wen looked at the elder, the more he felt as though he had seen him somewhere before. Although his looks were different, his eyes were very familiar.


    These eyes¡­ These eyes¡­ Jing Daoxian¡­ There¡¯s no mistake¡­ These are Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes¡­ Zhou Wen nearly cried out.

 Chapter 771 - Meeting Jing Daoxian Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen seemed to have his hair stand on end as he tried to gather his strength to escape the old man¡¯s grasp. An Sheng also realized that something was amiss as he stared intently at the old man, prepared to attack at any moment.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the elder released his hand and picked up a treasure map in the shape of a wooden plaque. He handed it to Zhou Wen and said with a smile, ¡°Lad, this treasure map is on the house. Dig it up and take a look. If you can dig up a treasure, it won¡¯t be too late to buy treasure maps from me.¡±


    Zhou Wen stared at the old man and sized him up, but apart from his eyes, there was nothing about the old man that resembled Jing Daoxian. He couldn¡¯t even sense the Essence Energy fluctuations and exuberant vitality that a cultivator should have. If the old man hadn¡¯t grabbed him, Zhou Wen would have imagined that he was an ordinary person.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony with an old man like me. Dig it up. Who knows, you might be able to dig up an immortal¡¯s treasure? However, not everyone can take this immortal¡¯s treasure. Without the Lost Immortal art, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to return.¡± The old man stuffed the treasure map into Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he felt that the old man in front of him was highly likely Jing Daoxian. Otherwise, why would he say the word ¡°Lost Immortal?¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen?¡± An Sheng walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side, but his eyes were still warily staring at the old man squatting behind the stall.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t want to take the treasure map, but he failed to avoid it. The treasure map was stuffed into his hand as he clenched it. Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy was ready to erupt at any moment.


    The old man slowly packed his things and put everything on the stall into a bag. Then, he got up and left. As he walked, he shook his head and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s getting harder and harder to survive in this world.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, do you know that old man?¡± An Sheng couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw that Zhou Wen was still staring at the old man¡¯s back despite him having walked half a street.


    ¡°I suspect that he¡¯s Jing Daoxian,¡± Zhou Wen whispered.


    An Sheng¡¯s body trembled when he heard that. He said in disbelief, ¡°You know Jing Daoxian?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve met him once. Although he looked different back then, I think it should be him.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant, unsure if he should chase after him.


    Zhou Wen really wanted to figure out the Lost Immortal Sutra, but the person in front of him was the most legendary devil in the Federation¡¯s history.


    Many devils had appeared in the early stages of the Federation and all sorts of devils had appeared later, such as J¨¢k and company. Although they might have killed more people than Jing Daoxian, none of them were as legendary as Jing Daoxian.


    Zhou Wen knew very well how terrifying Jing Daoxian was. Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang were shrewd old men, but they had been toyed by Jing Daoxian.


    Even though Zhou Wen had impressive achievements, he didn¡¯t dare underestimate such a person.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had secretly investigated Jing Daoxian, but the information he obtained was very limited. All he knew was that Jing Daoxian had been severely injured in a dimensional zone and was nearly crippled. Therefore, the bureau had taken the opportunity to pursue him.


    Even so, the Special Inspector Bureau¡¯s pursuit failed. They failed to capture the crippled Jing Daoxian.


    Zhou Wen had encountered Jing Daoxian during that period of time and obtained the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen got up and chased after him. Although Jing Daoxian was terrifying, avoiding him wasn¡¯t an option. Some things could only be answered by Jing Daoxian.


    An Sheng chased after Zhou Wen, but when they took the turn which the old man had taken, they realized that there was no sign of the old man. It was as though he had vanished into thin air.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener to monitor the old man, but he failed to discover how he had vanished. It was as though he had teleported.


    After searching his surroundings and not finding any traces of the old man, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he looked at the treasure map in his hand. He saw that the treasure map was a wooden plaque. In front of the wooden plaque was a simple map, and behind it was a time. It was obvious that it had just been written.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it might really be Jing Daoxian. Young Master Wen, are you going?¡± An Sheng asked as he looked at the time on the treasure map.


    ¡°I have some questions that only Jing Daoxian can answer.¡± Zhou Wen handed the treasure map to An Sheng. ¡°Help me take a look. Where is the location marked on this map?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s in front of the Earth temple. Converting the time to local common time, it should be 3:30 in the morning,¡± An Sheng said after looking at it for a while.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s wait until night,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, find a place to rest first. I¡¯ll make some preparations,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to visit the Earth temple to pay his respects to Earth Lord. He found an inn in town and stayed there, waiting for night to arrive.


    An Sheng didn¡¯t return until three in the morning. When he returned, he said to Zhou Wen, ¡°There was too little time. I tried my best to make some preparations. However, if the other party really is Jing Daoxian, my preparations might not be of much use. Young Master, you have to be careful.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and didn¡¯t say a word.


    Seeing that it was about time, Zhou Wen headed to the Earth temple with An Sheng.


    The front of the Earth temple was naturally not as lively as in the day. There was no one around, but at the same spot, the elder had his stall set up.


    ¡°The surveillance Companion Beasts I set up didn¡¯t work. I didn¡¯t even notice when he entered the Earth temple,¡± An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly before walking towards the elder.


    As he walked towards the elder, Zhou Wen also activated the Slaughterer Life Soul. At the same time, he prepared to summon his Companion Beasts. As long as there was anything amiss, he would immediately attack with all his might.


    ¡°You came after all,¡± the elder said with a smile.


    ¡°Since you came looking for me, what¡¯s the point of hiding?¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards the elder.


    The elder didn¡¯t comment as though he was admiring a treasure. He sized up Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I originally thought that you would be dead. Even if you didn¡¯t die, you should be a lunatic now. However, not only are you not dead or crazy, you seem to be living very well.¡±


    ¡°Because of the Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± Zhou Wen asked. This was the problem he wanted to figure out. He didn¡¯t know the origins of the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Now, he was basically certain that the elder in front of him was Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Jing Daoxian nodded and said, ¡°I found you pleasing to the eye back then. I originally wanted to give you the Skyfiend Treatise that I had researched for fun, but to my surprise, you actually dared reject me. No one in this world can reject me. Even if they do, they will have to pay a price. Therefore, I gave you the Lost Immortal Sutra. In fact, the Lost Immortal Sutra had already changed owners several times before you. Every owner either died or went mad. Even I was tortured by it. If not for this Sutra, I wouldn¡¯t have suffered heavy losses in the dimensional zone.¡±

 Chapter 772 - Your Life Belongs to Me

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had no intention of interrupting Jing Daoxian as he continued listening.


    ¡°Back then, I was heavily injured and most of my Companion Beasts had died. I was also affected by the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s powers. If this continued, I might have really been driven mad by the Lost Immortal Sutra. I happened to encounter you back then and you left me in a bad mood. Therefore, I used a method to transfer the Lost Immortal Sutra to you. It could eliminate you and reduce my burden. It was killing two birds with one stone.¡±


    With that said, Jing Daoxian stared at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°I never expected you to master the Lost Immortal Sutra. There have been many owners of the Lost Immortal Sutra, and although they aren¡¯t all peerless elites, they are all outstanding people with their own amazing traits. However, you managed to master the Lost Immortal Sutra despite so many people not being able to. I really want to know how you are better than them and how you are better than me.¡±


    If an ordinary seventeen-year-old student heard Jing Daoxian¡¯s words, they would definitely be delighted.


    Even a devil like Jing Daoxian admitted that he was inferior to him. How glorious was that?


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so. He had witnessed Lord Alcohol¡¯s death and knew that the reason Xia Jiuhuang was so crazy was because of Jing Daoxian.


    Zhou Wen suspected that Jing Daoxian had given him the Lost Immortal Sutra for the same reason.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything special about the Lost Immortal Sutra. I mastered it from simply cultivating it,¡± Zhou Wen answered ambiguously.


    This answer clearly wasn¡¯t enough to satisfy Jing Daoxian. He wasn¡¯t in a rush as he said slowly, ¡°Why don¡¯t we make a deal? Answer one question and I¡¯ll answer one. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°I have no questions for you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know why the world has become like this? What kind of place is another dimension? How¡¯s your teacher, Wang Mingyuan? Where did the Lost Immortal Sutra come from?¡± Jing Daoxian offered a few questions that Zhou Wen wanted to know.


    ¡°I¡¯ll naturally know the answer to these questions after defeating you.¡± Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something.


    Regardless of whether the Lost Immortal Sutra had been deliberately given to him by Jing Daoxian, he could at least confirm one thing¡ªJing Daoxian wanted to know the process or results of his cultivation.


    Just like Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang, Jing Daoxian might have treated him as an experimental subject.


    Since he was an experimental subject, regardless of whether the experiment succeeded or failed, Jing Daoxian probably wouldn¡¯t want him dead before the experiment ended.


    Since Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t wish for him to die, why should he have so many qualms? Zhou Wen also wanted to know how much strength the legendary devil still had.


    Jing Daoxian seemed to see through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts as he said indifferently, ¡°Do you think you can be presumptuous in front of me just because I don¡¯t want to kill you?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hide his thoughts.


    ¡°Haha, you are right. I really don¡¯t wish to kill you now because you have shown me some interesting possibilities. Compared to killing you, I¡¯m more willing to see the answer.¡± Unexpectedly, Jing Daoxian had admitted that he wouldn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen.


    However, Jing Daoxian changed the topic and said coldly, ¡°Although I won¡¯t kill you, I can lock you up and slowly study you. It¡¯s best you consider carefully before taking action.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through. Before that, I¡¯ll slice you up,¡± Zhou Wen said as he drew his saber and slashed.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal was unbelievably fast, but this wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s trump card. At the same time he attacked, the Great Might Vajra Bull and Behemoth appeared beside him. One used the Soul Suppression Bell, while the other used Absolute Strength.


    And this was still Zhou Wen¡¯s form of restrainment. The true trump card was in his pupils. The Torch Dragon¡¯s eye mirror lit up as it prepared to activate the Bright Torch Vision World.


    ¡°We will meet again. Remember, your life belongs to me.¡± Jing Daoxian looked at Zhou Wen with a strange look in his eyes as his figure suddenly burrowed underground. Even the things on the ground burrowed underground with him and instantly vanished.


    Earth Escape! Zhou Wen frowned slightly as his saber beam slashed the ground, leaving a deep ravine. However, he didn¡¯t see any signs of Jing Daoxian.


    Pushing Truth Listener to its limits, he found no sign of Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, perhaps I can track him. During the day, I¡¯ve already scattered some water mixed with a special scent on the ground. The water has evaporated, but the scent remains in the ground. Jing Daoxian has already been stained with this scent. I can try and see if I can track him,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Then quickly give it a try.¡± Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    He suspected that Jing Daoxian¡¯s injuries hadn¡¯t fully healed. Perhaps now was a chance.


    An Sheng summoned a strange little beast. It looked like a rat, but it was much fatter than a rat. It was as fat as a ball and had no eyes. However, there were many fleshy antennae on its nose.


    ¡°Ordinary creatures can¡¯t smell the scent. Only Companion Beasts with an extremely developed sense of smell can detect it.¡± As An Sheng spoke, he got the Companion Beast to leave the Earth temple and search the nearby area, hoping to find the scent Jing Daoxian had left behind.


    However, after searching the entire town and its vicinity, he failed to find anything. It was unknown if Jing Daoxian¡¯s Earth Escape was too powerful, allowing him to escape more than fifty kilometers away, or if he hadn¡¯t touched the lingering scent in the ground.


    ¡°As expected of the number one devil in the Federation. It¡¯s no wonder he can still be carefree despite being pursued by the Federation for so long. I¡¯ve made so many preparations ahead of time, but none of them worked. Young Master Wen, you have to be especially careful now that you are targeted by such a person,¡± An Sheng said with a heavy expression.


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°I¡¯ll be careful.¡±


    Not daring to stay in the town any longer, Zhou Wen and An Sheng headed straight for Luoyang. They didn¡¯t stop at all.


    However, after that incident, Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t appear again. The journey went very smoothly.


    After returning to Luoyang, An Sheng¡¯s tense nerves relaxed a little. ¡°Young Master Wen, it¡¯s best you don¡¯t return to school. I¡¯ll arrange a residence for you. It can block any entry via Earth Escape.¡±


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s impossible for me to hide forever. Besides, Jing Daoxian might not be able to touch me.¡±


    After rejecting An Sheng¡¯s kind intentions, Zhou Wen returned to school. The antelope and chick returned to the building they were used to living in, appearing very comfortable.


    With the antelope and chick watching over him, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for Jing Daoxian to secretly take action.


    There were no traces of Jing Daoxian three days after his return to campus. Instead, Li Mobai came looking for him again, hoping that Zhou Wen could make a trip to the South District with him to attempt contracting a Guardian.


    ¡°Are you sure that the Guardian is still there?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Mobai.


    This was because he had always suspected that the Guardian Li Mobai mentioned was Xia Liuchuan¡¯s black jade Guardian.


    1

 Chapter 773 - Flower River

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Li Mobai was an intelligent person. Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s question, he immediately had some ominous thoughts.


    ¡°I heard that Dugu Ge, Zhang Chunqiu, and company discovered a Guardian cocoon somewhere in the South District. Furthermore, they have successfully contracted it,¡± Zhou Wen said half-truthfully.


    Li Mobai heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. ¡°I¡¯m aware of what you just mentioned. The two aren¡¯t in the same place. Up to now, no one has entered the place I discovered. It¡¯s surrounded by extremely dangerous dimensional zones. The most famous dimensional zone is called the Valley of No Return. Even the Dugu family doesn¡¯t dare enter it. Back then, I only managed to see the cocoon of the Guardian by chance. The chances of others seeing it are extremely low.¡±


    To be honest, Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. There were too few Guardians, and the two Guardians he could come into contact with were just too powerful. There was not much he could do to them.


    If there was time for Zhou Wen to slowly develop, it was only a matter of time before he killed them. However, now that Jing Daoxian had come knocking on his door, Zhou Wen felt the pressure.


    Just as Xia Jiuhuang had said, if one didn¡¯t enter the Mythical stage, they were ultimately mortal. As their foundation was too weak, they could easily be considered a weakness when facing a Mythical opponent. It was useless even if they had Mythical Companion Beasts.


    ¡°According to the agreement, if you can¡¯t contract a Guardian, the Guardian will belong to me, right?¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai.


    ¡°Of course. Happy cooperation.¡± Li Mobai smiled and extended his hand.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and shook Li Mobai¡¯s hand, having reached an agreement. It was useless to write such an agreement in black and white, so there was no need to sign a contract.


    ¡°When can you set off?¡± Li Mobai asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Anytime,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Pack up your things. We¡¯ll set off tonight. After we reach the South District, we need to make a trip to Mong Hsat and find a friend surnamed Gu for help. With him leading the way, we can safely reach the Valley of No Return,¡± Li Mobai said.


    ¡°Is there any trouble we can¡¯t resolve on the way?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    Li Mobai said, ¡°The South District is very different from the other districts. The other districts mostly respect the big and strong. However, in the South District, there are many miniature and evil dimensional creatures. There are even some places where the small are king. The smaller a dimensional creature is, the greater the destructive power it can cause. Just like the Fairy Undying Gu on the rankings. It¡¯s only the size of an ant, but its destructive power isn¡¯t weaker than any dimensional creature on the rankings. In the South District, there are many evil and microscopic dimensional creatures. If one isn¡¯t familiar with the local situation, they might not even know how they died. Although I know a little about it, I¡¯m ultimately not a local. It¡¯s much safer having a local guide.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and asked, ¡°Do you know that Li Xuan went to the South District?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter where he goes.¡± Li Mobai left after saying that.


    Zhou Wen went back to make preparations and informed his friends that he was heading to the South District.


    In the evening, Zhou Wen set off with Li Mobai for Mong Hsat.


    Li Mobai brought two others with him. One of them was Butterfly whom Zhou Wen had seen before. The other was a mute. His name was Mute.


    The two of them were responsible for Li Mobai¡¯s food and lodging along the way as though they were servants.


    Zhou Wen was still wary of Li Mobai. He had his guard up along the way, but nothing happened.


    As flights were no longer possible to Mong Hsat, it wasn¡¯t easy to proceed. After the dimensional storms, the journey had become even more difficult.


    Thankfully, Mute, who was very familiar with the jungle path, led the way. Along the way, they climbed mountains and crossed ridges. It was all thanks to him scouting ahead that they were able to avoid most dangers.


    Occasionally, they would encounter break-out creatures which were easily dispatched.


    Mong Hsat was similar to a lone island on land these days. Too few people could reach this place. Only the nearby natives and people like the Gu family who wanted to develop themselves in Mong Hsat would continue staying here.


    On the streets, there were many men and women wearing monk robes. The men¡¯s robes were purple-red, while the women¡¯s were pink.


    The locals originally believed in Buddhism. After the dimensional storms, faith became even more important. Be it the indigenous or foreign families, as long as they were people who had settled down in Mong Hsat, they would believe in Buddhism. Otherwise, it would be difficult for them to integrate into the local society.


    The friend Li Mobai was looking for was called Gu Shanshui. Although he wasn¡¯t a monk, he was a Buddhist. However, Zhou Wen saw that he was wearing many chains. They didn¡¯t look like something from Mong Hsat. Instead, they looked like the Buddha plaques he had obtained from Xiao Si.


    Apart from the Buddha plaques, there were many tattoos on Gu Shanshui¡¯s body. The tattoos were clearly not formed by Companion Beasts, but man-made.


    ¡°Li, my friend, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no other way to go to the Valley of No Return,¡± said Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°Master Gu, what happened?¡± Li Mobai knew that something must have happened. Otherwise, with Gu Shanshui¡¯s personality, as long as he agreed, no matter how dangerous the journey to the Valley of No Return was, he would still make the trip.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one way to go to the Valley of No Return¡ªFlower River. However, there¡¯s a large-scale break-out there. There have already been many people who wished to travel between Mong Hsat and Chiang Rai using the Flower River. After entering the Flower River, they were not seen again. There¡¯s no lack of Epic experts among them.¡± Gu Shanshui explained the situation in detail.


    The Flower River wasn¡¯t actually a real river. Instead, after the dimensional storms, a type of flower appeared in a large area between Chiang Rai and Mong Hsat. The flower grew in large numbers, forming an endless river, so it was called Flower River by the locals.


    Due to the dimensional zones, the transportation between Mong Hsat and Chiang Rai was basically cut off. Only by walking through the Flower River could one avoid all the dimensional zones.


    However, in the past half a month, there had been an anomaly in Flower River. Many people who entered the Flower River vanished. No one dared to enter Flower River again.


    Previously, an Epic expert from the Gu family had brought people into the Flower River, but there was no news of them. The people sent by the Gu family to investigate had gone missing, but they failed to find anything.


    ¡°Do we have to take the Flower River to go to the Valley of No Return?¡± Li Mobai asked after some thought.


    ¡°There¡¯s a stretch that requires us to use the Flower River. We have to travel at least 25 kilometers in the Flower River,¡± said Gu Shanshui.

 Chapter 774 - Jellyfish Fungus

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen and Li Mobai looked at each other. If they wanted to go to the Valley of No Return, they had to traverse the Flower River. However, before figuring out the Flower River¡¯s situation, the chances of dying if they entered rashly were too high.


    ¡°Master Gu, can you take us to the Flower River¡¯s banks to take a look?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    ¡°No problem, but please forgive me. I can¡¯t take you into the Flower River.¡± Gu Shanshui made himself clear. Even if they reached the Flower River, he definitely wouldn¡¯t enter.


    Li Mobai agreed to only get him to take them to the Flower River¡¯s banks. He wanted to have a look at the Flower River first.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to take a look at the Flower River¡¯s situation. It hadn¡¯t been easy for him to make this trip, so he wasn¡¯t willing to return empty-handed.


    Gu Shanshui led them to the Flower River. Along the way, they walked through forest trails. There were no roads at all. Gu Shanshui led two young adults from the Gu family ahead to open up a path while Zhou Wen and Li Mobai followed behind.


    Zhou Wen had been using Truth Listener¡¯s ability to monitor everything nearby. Furthermore, he made Tai Sui use its mimicking ability to transform into the chick.


    After Tai Sui transformed, it looked identical to the chick, but it was white. It stood on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder just like the chick.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that the antelope would cause trouble again if it came out. Therefore, he didn¡¯t bring it out this time. He had already contacted An Sheng to get someone to deliver food to it to prevent it from causing trouble in school.


    According to Worm Dugu, the chick should have the phoenix bloodline. It had a very good restraining effect on Gu worms. Tai Sui also had a strong restraining effect on microscopic dimensional creatures. This was why Zhou Wen had dared to come to the South District.


    ¡°Put on your gas masks.¡± Gu Shanshui stopped and handed them gas masks.


    Zhou Wen and company put on the gas masks. Gu Shanshui looked at the two birds on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°Put away your Companion Beasts.¡±


    Zhou Wen placed them in his backpack instead of unsummoning them. Firstly, the chick wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast which he could unsummon. Secondly, Tai Sui needed to be outside to ensure that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be attacked by microscopic Companion Beasts, so it naturally couldn¡¯t be unsummoned.


    Gu Shanshui naturally saw this scene, but he didn¡¯t say a word. Instead, the two youths from the Gu family curled their lips as though they viewed Zhou Wen¡¯s actions in contempt, but they didn¡¯t say a word either.


    Everyone continued walking forward. Zhou Wen soon realized why Gu Shanshui wanted them to wear gas masks. There were many fungi here, and there were so many floating spores everywhere that it appeared like fog.


    These bacteria were originally creatures from Earth. They had mutated due to the dimensional storms. Although they hadn¡¯t reached the level of dimensional creatures, the spores they emitted would cause great damage to the human body if they entered the respiratory tract. The main problem was that it was difficult to treat them when they were inside the body.


    Tai Sui naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of these spores. It didn¡¯t have much appetite for them either. Perhaps the energy of these spores was so low that they didn¡¯t catch Tai Sui¡¯s eye.


    The chick wasn¡¯t afraid of these spores either. Any foreign microscopic organism that entered its body would be refined by the phoenix flames in its body. Otherwise, the phoenix wouldn¡¯t be the nemesis of Gu.


    Zhou Wen got the two of them to stay in his backpack and not come out. As the group walked through the forest, their bodies were quickly covered in a layer of dust. They were actually a large number of spores.


    Various fungi could be seen everywhere on the ground and withered trees. Many of the trees here had already withered and turned into a paradise for fungi growth.


    Thankfully, the spores here were somewhat different from the parasitic spores in Dragon Gate Grotto. The parasitic spores were independent dimensional creatures, and these spores were only a part of a parent body.


    Even so, if an unprepared person entered this area and inhaled large amounts of spores, their lungs and respiratory system would be doomed.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized that there was a corpse on the ground in front of him. From the looks of it, it wasn¡¯t a local. His corpse had already rotted and there was a strange fungi creature growing on it.


    Growing on the corpse was something that looked like an egg-sized jellyfish. It was translucent and colorless. Although the mushroom looked beautiful, it made one¡¯s hair stand on end.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move. Gu Lou, go take a look,¡± Gu Shanshui said to one of the young men.


    The young man responded and summoned a palm-sized black scorpion Companion Beast. He made it slowly approach the corpse and crawl to the jellyfish-like mushroom.


    Gu Lou got Gu Shanshui¡¯s affirmative node before ordering the black scorpion to stab the jellyfish-like mushroom with its tail.


    Bam!


    After the mushroom was pricked, it exploded like a ball filled with water. However, what exploded wasn¡¯t water, but countless transparent spores.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Gu Shanshui grabbed Gu Lou and another young man named Gu He and threw them behind him. He took a step forward and spat out flames at the spores.


    When the flames encountered the spores, they expanded as though they had encountered gasoline. Most of the spores were immediately destroyed, but a few spores still spread out.


    Gu Lou and Gu He also used fire-elemental Companion Beasts to burn the spores that escaped their net.


    However, the black scorpion Companion Beast had already been invaded by spores. It ignored Gu Lou¡¯s orders and crawled crazily towards the other jellyfish mushrooms, hoping to prick them.


    Gu Shanshui spewed out flames, incinerating the corpse along with the scorpion Companion Beast. The jellyfish mushrooms exploded in the flames, along with the spores.


    After confirming that none had escaped, Gu Shanshui said to Li Mobai with a heavy expression, ¡°Li, there¡¯s something amiss. That person clearly died from being infected with the spores of fungi dimensional creatures. There must be a parent of the fungi dimensional creatures nearby. Furthermore, its level isn¡¯t low. It¡¯s at least at the Epic stage. This has never been discovered in the past. Are you still going to the Flower River?¡±


    Li Mobai looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue.¡± Zhou Wen had been observing the jellyfish mushrooms and spores on the corpse. These things weren¡¯t much of a threat to him.


    Even if Tai Sui didn¡¯t take action, he could deal with them himself. There was naturally no need for him to retreat.


    ¡°Master Gu, please continue leading the way. If you feel that you can¡¯t continue, please tell me ahead of time,¡± Li Mobai said to Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Master Gu didn¡¯t say anything else and continued leading Gu Lou and Gu He.


    Their most commonly used means available to them was a fire-elemental Companion Beast, but this fire-elemental Companion Beast was very strange. The flames it spewed out were a bluish-white color that had a strong restraining effect on fungi and poisonous insects.


    After walking for a distance, Zhou Wen suddenly said, ¡°Wait!¡± This was because he had already discovered with Truth Listener that there were many corpses ahead. Each corpse was covered in jellyfish mushrooms.

 Chapter 775 - The Chick Spews Fire

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what did you discover?¡± The people in front stopped and Li Mobai looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°There¡¯s something amiss up ahead,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed ahead.


    Gu Shanshui looked ahead, but he didn¡¯t seem to notice anything. However, he quickly summoned a Companion Beast. The Companion Beast transformed into a mirror eye that appeared in his left eye, making it look like his left eye was completely occupied by the iris.


    Gu Shanshui used his left eye to look ahead for a while before saying, ¡°There¡¯s indeed a problem ahead. Stay here and don¡¯t move. I¡¯ll go take a look.¡±


    As Gu Shanshui spoke, he dived forward. Before long, he returned and said to Li Mobai, ¡°Zhou is right. There¡¯s indeed something wrong ahead. There are many corpses with jellyfish fungi growing on them. There are too many of them. We can¡¯t deal with them.¡±


    Butterfly said, ¡°We also have fire-elemental Companion Beasts. We can help you clean them up.¡±


    Gu Shanshui shook his head and said, ¡°You must not use fire-elemental Companion Beasts here. Otherwise, there might be trouble. Although the fire-elemental Companion Beasts we use aren¡¯t of a high level, their fire-elemental attributes are very special. It¡¯s called Corpse fire. It¡¯s a type of Yin fire that is most effective against parasitic fungi on rotting corpses.¡±


    ¡°Master Gu, is there any other way?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    ¡°We can only take a detour. If we take a detour, it will take us an additional 30 to 40 kilometers. Furthermore, we might have to pass through a dimensional zone known as the Spirit Absorption Valley. Our speed won¡¯t be fast. We will have to walk for at least ten hours more than we expected. Furthermore, the Spirit Absorption Valley is somewhat dangerous. If we are unlucky, we might have to retreat again,¡± said Gu Shanshui after some calculations.


    ¡°Is there no other way? Spirit Absorption Valley is too dangerous. Furthermore, we might not be able to reach it.¡± Li Mobai had heard of the famous Spirit Absorption Valley and didn¡¯t wish to go there.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t take a detour, we must get rid of the jellyfish fungi. However, we can only slowly deal with them from the periphery. It will probably take two days to clean up all the jellyfish fungi along the way. Furthermore, we don¡¯t know if there are any more,¡± Gu Shanshui said.


    Li Mobai thought for a moment and said, ¡°Then let¡¯s clean up the jellyfish fungi. It¡¯s better not to go to the Spirit Absorption Valley.¡±


    ¡°I have a fire-elemental pet here. Master Gu, can you help me see if it can be of any help?¡± Zhou Wen released the chick from his backpack.


    After Tai Sui advanced to the Mythical stage, it didn¡¯t seem to have much appetite for ordinary microbes. As for these jellyfish fungi, they were only grown from the spores emitted from the parent fungus¡¯ body and not dimensional creatures¡¯ bodies. Tai Sui was even less interested.


    Tai Sui: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Clashing Tai Sui


    Life Soul: Twelve Tai Sui Gods


    Wheel of Destiny: Longevity Seed


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Earth Escape


    Companion Form: Mimicry


    Zhou Wen had tried Tai Sui¡¯s Wheel of Destiny, but he hadn¡¯t discovered any special effects as though it was useless. Tai Sui¡¯s body didn¡¯t undergo any changes, leaving Zhou Wen depressed.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Master Gu say that ordinary fire-elemental creatures can¡¯t be used here? Didn¡¯t you hear him just now?¡± Gu Lou said unhappily.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t listened to Gu Shanshui¡¯s words to store the chick and Tai Sui away. From the looks of it, he didn¡¯t trust them. This made Gu Lou have a bad impression of Zhou Wen.


    Now that Zhou Wen had taken out a fire-elemental pet, Gu Lou felt even more irked.


    However, Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t share the same thoughts. Zhou Wen had discovered the jellyfish fungi ahead of time, making him feel that this young man wasn¡¯t simple.


    Furthermore, people like Li Mobai seemed to respect Zhou Wen, making Gu Shanshui even more afraid of underestimating him.


    Gu Shanshui stopped Gu Lou and looked at the chick. ¡°Does your pet¡¯s flame belong to the Yin fire type?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about that, but its flames can be released and retracted freely. It should be of some use,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of releasing and retracting freely? Whose Companion Beast¡¯s ability can¡¯t do that? Don¡¯t you have any common sense? There are a lot of spores here. When gathered together, they are like powder. Using ordinary flames can easily trigger a dust explosion. Even without the dust explosion, igniting a large area of spores will trigger a forest fire. It¡¯s very easy to alarm the dimensional creatures in the forest¡­¡± said Gu Lou.


    ¡°Gu Lou, don¡¯t be rude to guests.¡± Gu Shanshui frowned.


    Upon hearing Gu Shanshui¡¯s words, Gu Lou could only shut up and not say another word. However, from his expression, it was obvious that he wasn¡¯t convinced.


    Gu Shanshui bowed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Zhou, Gu Lou is young and insensible. Please don¡¯t take his rude words to heart. However, what he said is right. Typical flames will indeed cause many problems. If you are confident, you can get your pet to give it a try. If you aren¡¯t confident, let us be in charge of cleaning up. It doesn¡¯t matter if we spend more time.¡±


    ¡°Master Gu, I know a little about the taboos of using flames. Didn¡¯t I just say that my pet can control its flames without triggering an explosion or fire?¡± Zhou Wen had seen the chick¡¯s flames before, so he naturally knew that it had such an ability.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s give it a try. Let it spew out some flames,¡± said Gu Shanshui.


    Zhou Wen gestured for the chick to spew out its flames, but the chick¡¯s temper wasn¡¯t as good as Zhou Wen¡¯s. Its intelligence wasn¡¯t inferior to humans. Although it didn¡¯t speak the human language, it could understand them.


    Gu Lou¡¯s words displeased it. Just as Zhou Wen gestured, the chick flapped its wings and didn¡¯t spew out any flames for Gu Shanshui to verify. It flew straight to the corpses and spat out a swath of golden flames.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Gu Shanshui, Gu Lou, and Gu He were all shocked.


    There were nearly a hundred corpses there. Countless jellyfish fungi of various sizes grew on them. Once they were burned by the flames, large numbers of jellyfish fungi would explode. Even if they didn¡¯t produce dust explosions, large numbers of spores would spread out.


    However, what happened next left them stunned.


    The chick¡¯s golden flames landed on the corpses, igniting the corpses along with the jellyfish fungi. Strangely, the jellyfish fungi didn¡¯t explode when they were burned. They quickly turned to ashes amidst the golden flames.


    Nearly a hundred corpses, along with the jellyfish fungi on them, were instantly reduced to ashes. Nothing was left behind.


    Furthermore, the golden flames only burned the corpses and jellyfish fungi. They didn¡¯t affect the nearby creatures at all. Even the other spores in the air weren¡¯t ignited.


    Gu Lou and Gu He were stunned. Even the Corpse fire they used didn¡¯t have such a good effect, much less be capable of removing all the jellyfish fungi and corpses so quickly.


    Gu Shanshui stared at the chick as his expression turned odd. After staring at it for a while, he suddenly turned to Zhou Wen and bowed. ¡°Mr. Zhou, if I¡¯m willing to send you through the Flower River to enter the Valley of No Return, can you do me a favor?¡±


    Gu Lou and Gu He were alarmed. The foreigners didn¡¯t know the bow that Gu Shanshui was giving, but they knew very well that it was a very high-level etiquette. Typically, such a bow would only be used for accomplished monks with great merit.

 Chapter 776 - : Flower of Life

    Translator: CKtalon


    Li Mobai and company looked at Gu Shanshui in a puzzled manner. They didn¡¯t know why he had suddenly changed his mind and was willing to take the huge risk to help them cross the Flower River.


    ¡°I wonder how I can help you, Master Gu?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t agree easily. Gu Shanshui had clearly noticed something from the chick.


    Gu Shanshui said, ¡°To be honest, our Gu family is also good at nurturing Gu and taming them. I discovered a Mythical dimensional creature somewhere and wanted to tame it into a Gu, but I failed because it was too powerful. If you are willing to help me, Mr. Zhou, you will definitely be able to subdue it.¡±


    As Gu Shanshui spoke, he glanced at the chick. Clearly, his real goal was to seek the help of the chick.


    ¡°If it¡¯s within our abilities, it¡¯s only right for us to help each other. However, we are in a rush to head to the Valley of No Return. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Gu Shanshui said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll help you head to the Valley of No Return first. It won¡¯t be too late for you to help me after we return.¡±


    ¡°Master Gu, I still have to ask what kind of Mythical creature you want to tame. What kind of abilities does it have? What do you want me to do?¡± Zhou Wen asked seriously.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to go back on an agreement, so he had to ask first.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, may I have a word with you in private?¡± Gu Shanshui clearly didn¡¯t want others to know about the dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen and Gu Shanshui went to the side before Gu Shanshui said, ¡°The dimensional creature I want to tame is a Corpse Silkworm. It¡¯s in an extreme Yin dimensional zone. It¡¯s extremely dangerous for ordinary people, but Mr. Zhou, you have a Phoenix divine bird. It won¡¯t be difficult for it to subdue the Corpse Silkworm.¡±


    ¡°I can agree to help, but I am only able to do my best when the time comes. I can¡¯t guarantee that it will succeed.¡± After all, Zhou Wen had never seen the Corpse Silkworm before. He didn¡¯t know how powerful it was, so he was being very conservative.


    ¡°That¡¯s good enough.¡± Gu Shanshui was very open-minded.


    After the two of them finished their discussion, they walked back. The few of them set off again. Gu Shanshui led Gu Lou and Gu He to open up the path ahead.


    Along the way, they discovered some corpses with jellyfish fungi. Gu Shanshui¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    On the way, Gu Lou and Gu He secretly sized up the chick from time to time. Even Li Mobai and company took a few more glances at it. Clearly, they knew that the actions Gu Shanshui had taken had something to do with the chick.


    The chick stood on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and looked around smugly.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener to observe his surroundings, hoping to find the parent body of the jellyfish fungi. However, he didn¡¯t find the mother. All he saw were the parasitized corpses.


    Suddenly, Tai Sui emerged from his backpack. It flapped its wings and flew towards the foliage nearby.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Li Mobai and company looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. My Companion Beast has been in my backpack for too long. It wants to take a walk,¡± Zhou Wen said casually.


    He didn¡¯t wish to be perfunctory, but even he didn¡¯t know what Tai Sui wanted to do. There was no way to explain it clearly.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener to observe the direction Tai Sui had flown in, but there was nothing there.


    Tai Sui flew nearly a kilometer before diving into the ground and disappearing.


    Tai Sui knew Earth Escape, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear where it went. After a while, he saw Tai Sui burrow out of the ground and quickly fly back.


    However, its stomach was clearly bulging. Zhou Wen did not know what it had eaten.


    Everyone set off again when they saw Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast return.


    On the way, although they encountered some corpses, they didn¡¯t find any jellyfish fungi on them. When Zhou Wen saw this, he guessed that Tai Sui had burrowed into the ground and eaten the jellyfish fungi¡¯s parent body.


    Zhou Wen felt a little regretful. He didn¡¯t even get to see what the parent body looked like before it was eaten by Tai Sui.


    Without the interference of the jellyfish fungi, everyone moved much faster. Zhou Wen had gained some knowledge. Many of the strange creatures here were things he had never seen or heard of before.


    Thankfully, with Gu Shanshui and company leading the way, they avoided the dimensional zones. Otherwise, if they were to enter a dimensional zone, there was no knowing how many terrifying unknown creatures they would encounter.


    Zhou Wen saw a sea of flowers in the distance. The white petals and red stamens looked like a white river speckled by blood from afar.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Flower River,¡± said Gu Shanshui as he pointed at the winding river-like flowers in the distance.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were already focused on the Flower River. Zhou Wen was also using Truth Listener to search the Flower River, but apart from the flowers, there were no living creatures.


    The locals called these flowers the Flower of Life. Wherever the Flower of Life appeared, there was no space for other creatures to live. Even weeds wouldn¡¯t grow there.


    In the past, it was very safe for humans to enter the Flower River. As there were no other creatures in there, much less dimensional creatures, the Flower River became an important route that connected nearby cities.


    However, since a couple of weeks ago, none of the people who entered the Flower River had come out alive. They had all gone missing, and this route had been severed.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the Flowers of Life. The flowers weren¡¯t big and looked somewhat similar to the peach blossoms. They were beautiful.


    ¡°These Flowers of Life don¡¯t look like dimensional creatures,¡± Li Mobai said as he sized up the distant Flowers of Life.


    Gu Shanshui nodded and said, ¡°The Flowers of Life existed before the dimensional storms. It¡¯s a type of poisonous flower. After the dimensional storms, the poisonous flower mutated. Furthermore, the numbers increased, forming Flower River. However, for some reason, the mutated Flowers of Life don¡¯t have any poison. Many people have experimented with the Flower of Life. It no longer contains any poison. Even if it¡¯s eaten, it won¡¯t cause any harm to humans. However, it might be different now. Everyone, please wait a moment. I need to do some experiments.¡±


    Zhou Wen and company stopped and waited for Gu Shanshui to carry out the experiments. As no one knew what the danger in Flower River was, they could only start by analyzing the Flowers of Life.


    Unlike what Zhou Wen had imagined, Gu Shanshui opened a bamboo tube and released a worm that looked like a silkworm. It was fair and plump. The worm crawled towards the Flower River and first nibbled at the Flower of Life¡¯s leaves and roots before chewing on the flower. It didn¡¯t seem to have any problems.


    ¡°This is White Silkworm. It¡¯s very sensitive to poison. If it absorbs poison, its body will show different colors,¡± Gu Shanshui explained.


    ¡°Now that White Silkworm hasn¡¯t changed color, does that mean that the Flower of Life remains non poisonous?¡± Butterfly asked curiously.


    Just as she said that, she suddenly saw the white silkworm straighten its body and fall from the flower. It died, but its body remained white without any changes.

 Chapter 777 - Entering the Flower River

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Master Gu, what¡¯s the situation now?¡± Li Mobai asked Gu Shanshui.


    Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t answer. All he did was summon a butterfly Companion Beast and bring back White Silkworm¡¯s corpse.


    Then, Gu Shanshui cut off a portion of White Silkworm¡¯s corpse and fed it to another spider. The spider was fine after eating the silkworm¡¯s corpse.


    Gu Shanshui picked out a strange Buddha plaque from his various Buddha plaques. It looked like a transparent glass bottle with yellow liquid inside. Inside the liquid was a baby-like figurine.


    Gu Shanshui opened the glass bottle and poured some yellow liquid on the remaining White Silkworm corpse. When the liquid touched White Silkworm¡¯s corpse, it immediately seeped in.


    Gu Shanshui held the Buddha plaque and muttered something as he injected his Essence Energy into it.


    However, after a while, there was nothing from White Silkworm¡¯s corpse.


    Gu Shanshui put away his Buddha plaque and looked at the spider that had eaten a portion of the white silkworm¡¯s corpse. He said with a heavy expression, ¡°There¡¯s no poison in White Silkworm¡¯s corpse. It didn¡¯t die from poison. I tried using Spirit Control to condense the remnant spiritual consciousness left in the white silkworm, but I failed.¡±


    When Li Mobai heard this, he understood what Gu Shanshui meant. ¡°In other words, the Flower of Life isn¡¯t poisonous. Did White Silkworm die because it lost its soul?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably the case. However, spiritual consciousness isn¡¯t completely equivalent to a soul,¡± said Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°Can you find out what sucked White Silkworm¡¯s spiritual consciousness?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    ¡°No other creatures have been discovered. The greatest possibility is that the Flowers of Life have sucked away its spiritual consciousness. However, this is only a guess,¡± Gu Shanshui said.


    This made Li Mobai and Zhou Wen¡¯s hearts sink. If the Flowers of Life were really up to no good, it would be very dangerous for them to cross the Flower River. If they weren¡¯t careful, their spiritual consciousness might be sucked away.


    ¡°This seems to be similar to the Spirit Absorbing Valley¡¯s Spirit Absorbing Worms. Could they be related?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. I need to further study it.¡± Gu Shanshui summoned many avian Companion Beasts and made them fly across the Flower River and into the distance.


    The Companion Beasts flew over the Flower River a few times without any problems. This made Zhou Wen and company feel better.


    If they could cross the Flower River by flying, it could save them a lot of trouble.


    After unsummoning his Companion Beasts, Gu Shanshui got Gu Lou and Gu He to open the bamboo cages on their backs. Inside the bamboo cages was a hive with countless wasps entering and exiting.


    Zhou Wen sized up the hive curiously. He hadn¡¯t noticed it before, but he never expected Gu Lou and Gu He to be carrying such an item.


    The wasps inside were clearly not Companion Beasts, nor could they be considered dimensional creatures. They were likely mutated wasps from Earth.


    Driven by Gu Lou and Gu He, the wasps flew out of the hive and into the sky above the Flower River. However, not long after they flew, they fell from the sky as though they were drunk and fell into the flowers.


    None of the wasps survived; all of them fell into the flower field.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts were covered in a shadow. The Companion Beasts were fine, but the wasps died. It was likely that people would end up like the wasps if they entered.


    Gu Shanshui did some more experiments. He had many strange things on him that dazzled the eyes.


    After Gu Shanshui stopped, Li Mobai asked, ¡°Master Gu, is there a way to cross the Flower River?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a way, but we can only prevent our spiritual consciousness from being sucked away. We don¡¯t know if there are other dangers inside,¡± Gu Shanshui said after some thought.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already come this far. There¡¯s no reason to return,¡± Li Mobai said.


    Gu Shanshui nodded and took out a few Buddha plaques from his pocket and handed them to Zhou Wen. ¡°Hang these Buddha plaques around your necks. They will naturally protect you from having your spiritual consciousness sucked away. However, there are a few taboos that you need to abide by. Firstly, don¡¯t take them off casually after wearing them. I¡¯ll help you take them off when we are in the clear. Secondly, you need to drip a drop of blood on the Buddha plaque every day. Thirdly, you can¡¯t eat meat. You have to abide by these three rules or you will be in trouble.¡±


    After Li Mobai received the Buddha plaque, he put it around his neck. Then, he pricked his finger and dripped a drop of blood onto it.


    Strangely enough, the drop of blood instantly seeped into the Buddha plaque.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is sealed in this Buddha plaque?¡± Zhou Wen held the Buddha plaque and asked curiously.


    This Buddha plaque was very similar to the one used by Gu Shanshui. It was split into three levels. One layer was transparent crystal, while the second layer was yellow liquid. Right in the middle was a black baby figurine.


    ¡°The Buddha plaques that seals Companion Beasts are now called Orthodox Buddha Plaques. I made this myself. What¡¯s sealed inside isn¡¯t a Companion Beast, but a Gu. Although it¡¯s a little odd, as long as you abide by the rules, there won¡¯t be any problems. Remember, you have to abide by the rules. Otherwise, you will be in big trouble,¡± Gu Shanshui warned them repeatedly.


    Li Mobai said, ¡°Master Gu¡¯s family used to rear Gu. Later, the Gu family moved to the vicinity of Chiang Rai and learned the local techniques. They have a deep understanding of Buddha plaques and Kuman Thong. Now that they have formed their own style, there aren¡¯t many people in Chiang Rai who can compare to Master Gu.¡±


    Zhou Wen followed Gu Shanshui¡¯s instructions and fed a drop of blood to the Buddha plaque before hanging it around his neck.


    Everyone hung the Buddha plaques around their necks and entered the Flower River under the guidance of Gu Shanshui.


    As Gu Shanshui had said, with the Buddha plaques, they didn¡¯t suffer the problem of having their spiritual consciousness absorbed. The group traversed the Flower River and saw nothing but a sea of flowers. Although they looked beautiful, they also exuded a sense of loneliness.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to get Gu Shanshui to help him see what use the Buddha plaques he had obtained from Xiao Si were, but after some thought, he decided against it. This place wasn¡¯t far from Chiang Rai. If the Xiao family knew that Xiao Si¡¯s Buddha plaques had landed in his hands, it would inevitably cause trouble.


    The sky gradually darkened as the moon rose into the sky.


    Under the moonlight, the Flower River seemed to be covered in a mysterious veil. It looked beautiful and terrifying.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Gu Lou suddenly let out a tragic cry as he fell into the bushes. His eyes turned white as his body convulsed violently. White foam seeped out of his mouth as though he had epilepsy.


    Everyone was alarmed. Gu Shanshui reacted the fastest. He grabbed Gu Lou¡¯s mouth and forced it open. Then, he took out a small bottle and poured its contents into Gu Lou¡¯s mouth.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that there was medicine in the bottle, but to his surprise, he saw a centipede-like bug crawl out of the bottle and into Gu Lou¡¯s mouth.

 Chapter 778 - Nether Butterfly

    Translator: CKtalon


    Gu Lou¡¯s abdomen swelled up as he rolled over and vomited.


    Zhou Wen saw that Gu Lou had vomited quite a number of white objects. A careful look made him almost vomit as well. Gu Lou had vomited out maggots that squirmed on the ground.


    Gu Lou kept vomiting more and more maggots. The few of them felt their scalps tingle, worried that they would end up like Gu Lou.


    After vomiting for a while, Gu Lou spat out the centipede-like worm as well. His swollen abdomen shrank and he looked much better. His face remained ghastly pale.


    ¡°Master Gu, what¡¯s wrong with Gu Lou?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    They had paid attention to their surroundings just now and hadn¡¯t discovered any problems. The sudden incident with Gu Lou made them equally uneasy.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not a problem with the Flowers of Life. He was poisoned by a Gu and I killed it.¡± Gu Shanshui extended his hand and the centipede-like bug flew into his hand. Something dropped from its claws.


    It was a worm the size of a rice grain. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t tell that it was a worm.


    ¡°This is a relatively common Rice Gu. Although it¡¯s only at the Legendary stage, it¡¯s easy to mistakenly eat it when mixed with rice grains. After entering the body, it can quickly reproduce and destroy the body from the inside. It¡¯s very difficult for outsiders to understand.¡±


    Gu Shanshui paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°The Rice Gu isn¡¯t fast, and its offensive strength isn¡¯t very strong. It¡¯s very difficult for it to enter the body directly. It would have been mixed into the bamboo rice that Gu Lou brought. It was only after he ate that the Rice Gu invaded his body.¡±


    With that said, Gu Shanshui got Gu Lou and Gu He to check the things they had brought. Indeed, in their bamboo rice, they found some Rice Gu. They also found a Gu that was thinner than a strand of hair in the kettle.


    Gu Shanshui told them that it was also a Legendary Gu named Bone Drilling Worm. It could easily take a person¡¯s life when it invaded their bodies. It burrowed into bone cavities and reproduced in large numbers. It would gnaw on the bones until all the bones were eaten.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. The few of them hadn¡¯t eaten the bamboo rice or drank any water. Now, they had even less desire for eating or drinking.


    The few of them handed their things to Gu Shanshui for inspection. Thankfully, their food and water were fine.


    ¡°From the looks of it, someone did this before we set off. Master Gu, do you know who did it?¡± Li Mobai asked.


    Gu Shanshui shook his head and said, ¡°Members of our Gu family probably wouldn¡¯t do such a thing because they know that these Gu won¡¯t succeed against me.¡±


    Li Mobai fell into deep thought. If it wasn¡¯t someone from the Gu family, it was possible that it wasn¡¯t targeted at Gu Shanshui and company. There were a myriad of possibilities, making it difficult to guess.


    ¡°Master Gu, is there any way to guard against these Gu?¡± Butterfly asked.


    After all, she was a woman. She was extremely disgusted when she saw Gu Lou vomiting maggots. She would rather die than vomit.


    ¡°There are countless Gu in the South District. It¡¯s easy to defend against one or a few, but to defend against all of them, one can only rely on one¡¯s experience and judgment. However, if you have a legendary divine item that can restrain all Gu, then no Gu will dare approach you.¡± As Gu Shanshui spoke, he glanced at the chick on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°What kind of divine item is that?¡± Butterfly asked.


    ¡°The most famous one is the Mythical Ice Silkworm Gu. If you have an Ice Silkworm Gu with you, basically no Gu will dare approach you. Even if they dare approach you, they will be discovered by the Ice Silkworm Gu and be directly killed. Most Mythical Gu have similar effects, but that¡¯s provided that you can tame them,¡± Gu Shanshui said.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we just kill it and have it drop a Companion Beast?¡± Butterfly said.


    ¡°It works for some, but not all,¡± Gu Shanshui said ambiguously.


    ¡°Why?¡± Butterfly was puzzled.


    ¡°This is because living Gu have experienced many battles. They have very strong instincts, experience, and a certain level of intelligence. They also have territorial awareness. However, when it comes to Companion Beasts, their intelligence might not necessarily be up to standard. They also don¡¯t have combat experience or territorial awareness. Most of them need their owners to control them in order to unleash their might. They are much weaker when it comes to taking precautions. Furthermore, Mythical Gu might not drop Companion Beasts. The chances of taming them are higher,¡± said Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°Master Gu, do you have a Mythical Gu on you? Let it out for us to broaden our horizons,¡± Butterfly said.


    ¡°If I had one, I wouldn¡¯t need to request Mr. Zhou to help me capture the Corpse Bug. There are many people in the South District who rear Gu, but there are very few who have Mythical Gu. Furthermore, most of them should be in the Dugu family.¡± Gu Shanshui seemed to be in a good mood as he continued, ¡°If Mr. Zhou can help me catch the Corpse Bug this time, I will have a Mythical Gu. In the future, the Gu family will be considered a top faction in the South District.¡±


    They continued after Gu Shanshui checked everyone¡¯s belongings and didn¡¯t find any more Gu.


    The Flower River under the moon was so beautiful that it made one¡¯s heart tremble. A breeze blew and the flowers swayed like ripples in a river.


    Gu Shanshui sniffed hard and suddenly stopped. He made a gesture for everyone to stop before looking at the distant Flower River.


    Zhou Wen and company stopped and looked in the direction of his gaze. They saw a huge sea of flowers ahead, but they didn¡¯t discover anything.


    However, the wind became stronger. Not long after, they saw some lights dancing above the distant Flower River.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Truth Listener was extremely powerful, so he quickly saw what it was.


    It wasn¡¯t a light at all, but a crystal-like butterfly. The butterfly¡¯s body was transparent, and there were many patterns on its wings. The patterns emitted an icy-blue cold glow, making it look even more dazzling.


    When the icy-blue butterfly flapped its wings, it triggered a strong wind that caused ripples through the Flower River.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Nether Butterfly¡­¡± When Gu Lou saw that it was a butterfly, his originally pale face drained of whatever color it had.


    Gu He wasn¡¯t any better. His expression was ugly.


    ¡°No wonder none of the people who entered the Flower River survived. There¡¯s actually a Nether Butterfly here¡­¡± Gu Shanshui said with a heavy expression.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the Nether Butterfly was, he could tell from its Essence Energy fluctuations that it was definitely a Mythical dimensional creature.


    ¡°The legendary netherworld envoy, the Nether Butterfly that guides souls into the Underworld?¡± Li Mobai had clearly heard of the Nether Butterfly as he stared at the butterfly and frowned.


    Gu Shanshui whispered, ¡°In the past, I¡¯ve only heard of people encountering the Nether Butterfly. However, it¡¯s in a mysterious dimensional zone that humans are almost unable to reach. I never expected Flower River to have a Nether Butterfly. We sure are down on our luck.¡±

 Chapter 779 - Evolution Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    The Nether Butterfly flew over. Large numbers of Flowers of Life produced specks of light that gathered on the Nether Butterfly¡¯s body.


    Soon, the entire Flower River seemed to become a fluorescent river. Fluorescence was rising from every corner.


    Zhou Wen and company were already retreating, but their bodies underwent the same process as the Flowers of Life. They emitted specks of light, and every bit of light emitted from their bodies weakened their minds. They felt exhausted and wanted to fall to the ground to sleep.


    They tried stopping the radiance from flowing from their bodies, but to no avail.


    ¡°Quick, let¡¯s go. We can¡¯t stop. If we stop, death awaits us.¡± Gu Shanshui led the way as he ran through the Flower River. Some of the Buddha plaques on his body shimmered with a strange light, causing him to emit radiance at a much slower pace. However, it only slowed down. He didn¡¯t stop the radiance from emitting.


    Bam! Bam!


    The Buddha plaques on Zhou Wen and company exploded as yellow liquid splattered out. The baby figurine shattered as it transformed into specks of light that scattered out.


    Many of the Buddha plaques on Gu Shanshui¡¯s body exploded as well. Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed at the Nether Butterfly.


    The Nether Butterfly¡¯s flying speed was extremely fast. Even if Zhou Wen could escape, the others definitely couldn¡¯t.


    However, when the Golden Sword Aura slashed at the Nether Butterfly, it penetrated its transparent body without causing any damage.


    ¡°The Nether Butterfly is a Netherworld creature. It can travel between reality and the Netherworld. Typical Essence Energy attacks are useless against it.¡± As Li Mobai spoke, he summoned a Companion Beast. The Companion Beast was a white-dressed girl holding up a black paper umbrella, but the white-dressed girl had no facial features. She looked extremely strange.


    However, the moment the girl came out, the black paper umbrella opened and blocked Li Mobai¡¯s head. Li Mobai immediately stopped emitting light.


    Unfortunately, the black paper umbrella was too small. It only allowed shelter for two and was unable to envelop everyone.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, try killing the Nether Butterfly,¡± Li Mobai said as he ordered the white-dressed girl to float towards Zhou Wen with the black umbrella.


    The white-dressed girl floated to Zhou Wen¡¯s side like a ghost and used the black paper umbrella to shelter him, preventing him from emitting any more radiance. Zhou Wen immediately felt much better and no longer felt exhausted.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and turned to charge at the Nether Butterfly.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Gu Shanshui stopped Zhou Wen and extended his hand. A golden child appeared in front of him. The golden child was somewhat similar to Xiao Si¡¯s Kuman Thong, but it didn¡¯t have such a terrifying evil aura.


    ¡°Take my Life Soul and your sword will be capable of touching the Nether Butterfly. You don¡¯t have much time. My Life Soul can only last ten minutes at most.¡± As Gu Shanshui spoke, the golden child transformed into a golden beam of light that fused into the Golden Overlord Sword. It added a golden image that resembled a baby or Buddha on the Golden Overlord Sword. The golden aura from on the sword also became stronger.


    Zhou Wen took a step forward and activated Transcendent Flying Immortal. The Golden Overlord Sword in his hand slashed out a golden sword beam that instantly appeared in front of the Nether Butterfly.


    Strangely enough, the white-dressed girl with the black umbrella seemed to stick to Zhou Wen. No matter how fast Zhou Wen was, she stuck close to him and used the black paper umbrella to cover his head.


    The Nether Butterfly seemed to sense that something was amiss with this strike. With a flap of its wings, its figure seemed to penetrate the Netherworld and vanished. When it reappeared, it was already on the other side of the Flower River.


    The Golden Overlord Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand slashed out sword beams one after another, criss-crossing in the air like golden lightning. However, the Nether Butterfly¡¯s figure flickered as it vanished and appeared elsewhere. Zhou Wen¡¯s sword ultimately failed to hit its body.


    Zhou Wen had the black paper umbrella protecting him, so he was fine. However, Li Mobai and company were already exhausted and had no strength to escape. All of them fell to the ground. Gu Lou and Gu He, who were weaker, were about to fall asleep.


    Even so, Li Mobai didn¡¯t unsummon his Companion Beast, nor did Gu Shanshui dispel his Life Soul. He continued augmenting Zhou Wen.


    Since Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hit it after repeated attempts, he knew that he probably couldn¡¯t kill the Nether Butterfly with his speed alone. He immediately switched his Essence Energy Art and the Holy Hell King Life Soul appeared. The Eye of the Holy Hell King at his glabella opened as well.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to see if the Eye of the Holy Hell King could allow him to see the Netherworld Butterfly pass through the Underworld, but to his surprise, the moment it opened, the light emitted from the Flowers of Life changed directions. It no longer flew towards the Nether Butterfly and instead surged towards the Eye of the Holy Hell King.


    What was even more terrifying was that the light on the Nether Butterfly¡¯s body also scattered and flew towards the Eye of the Holy Hell King.


    In just an instant, the Nether Butterfly¡¯s body glowed brightly as ice-blue incantations appeared. The incantations prevented the light from scattering from its body.


    Boom!


    As the wings flapped, a terrifying icy-blue light wave spread out from Zhou Wen like spatial ripples.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes focused as he slashed out with the Golden Overlord Sword in his hand without any hesitation. It transformed into a golden sword beam that slashed apart the ice-blue beam.


    The Nether Butterfly escaped into the Netherworld again, but under the Eye of the Holy Hell King, Zhou Wen could see the Nether Butterfly. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t touch it.


    The moment it left the Netherworld, the Golden Overlord Sword slashed at its body. The indomitable sword beam killed the Nether Butterfly and tore its body into two.


    Ding!


    A dimensional crystal dropped. It resembled a sapphire with the shadow of the Nether Butterfly within. It was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Once the Nether Butterfly died, its body immediately transformed into countless beams of light that surged towards the Eye of the Holy Hell King. At the same time, the light from the Flowers of Life was sucked away by the Eye of the Holy Hell King.


    Li Mobai and company only saw the light that filled the sky surge towards Zhou Wen¡¯s glabella from all directions, but they couldn¡¯t see the Eye of the Holy Hell King.


    Even the white-dressed girl and the golden child were no exception. Their bodies emitted a glow that surged towards Zhou Wen¡¯s glabella. However, Li Mobai and company no longer emitted any radiance.


    Li Mobai and Gu Shanshui hurriedly dispelled the white-dressed girl and the golden child. Only then did they prevent their bodies from leaking radiance.


    As a large amount of light was sucked into the Eye of the Holy Hell King, Zhou Wen vaguely felt that the Holy Hell King Life Soul was about to evolve again. He couldn¡¯t help but be delighted.


    When Holy Hell King evolved again, it would reach the Perfect Body. It would be Zhou Wen¡¯s second Life Soul to reach the Perfect Body.


    The originally beautiful Flowers of Life lost their luster as a large area withered. The originally beautiful Flower River instantly turned into a withered land of death.


    When all the light was absorbed by Zhou Wen, the Holy Hell King Life Soul evolved almost simultaneously.

 Chapter 780 - Supreme Hell King

    Translator: CKtalon


    The sinflames in the Eye of the Holy Hell King bloomed like a lotus flower. Invisible sinflames surged out like layers of petals that enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Others could only see Zhou Wen levitating in mid-air and not the invisible sinflames on his body, but they could sense that his aura was constantly rising.


    When his aura reached its peak, Zhou Wen¡¯s body underwent a tremendous change. The Holy Hell King Life Soul completed its final evolution amidst the sinflames.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen felt his entire body enter a higher dimension, separating himself from reality.


    Reality became extremely filthy in his eyes, like a junkyard. And despite being in such an environment, his body remained untainted.


    As the sinflames in the Eye of the Holy Hell King were consumed, the Eye of the Holy Hell King gradually closed and vanished.


    ¡°When Buddha closes his eyes, every inch of the world will be separated from purity. All life in the tainted world will be abandoned by Buddha and the final purification will descend.¡±


    Looking at the filthy world, Zhou Wen seemed to gain some insight. Although the Eye of the Holy Hell King was closed, his eyes remained open. He did not completely separate himself from reality. Instead, he allowed himself to return to the world.


    The condensation of a Life Soul not only had to do with talent, bloodline, and Essence Energy Art, but it also had to do with a person¡¯s concepts and insights. No two people¡¯s Life Souls were identical. That was because everyone¡¯s thoughts were different. It was impossible to be completely the same.


    If Zhou Wen had been bent on leaving this filthy world, the Holy Hell King Life Soul would have evolved in the direction of a saint, eventually becoming a Buddha or a god.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any thoughts of transcending. He stayed in the filthy world. Therefore, the Holy Hell King Life Soul evolved in another direction.


    Li Mobai and company looked at Zhou Wen in the air. They originally felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s body emitted a holy pressure as though he was the reincarnation of a Buddha.


    However, in the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body turned dim. It was as though a true immortal had been struck down to the mortal world, reducing to a mortal. They could no longer sense the otherworldly aura from him, as though he was an extremely ordinary youth.


    Zhou Wen landed on the ground and stretched his back. He picked up the Essence Energy Skill Crystal that the Nether Butterfly had dropped and looked at Li Mobai and company. ¡°There¡¯s only one crystal. How do we split it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m only here for the Guardian¡¯s cocoon. I don¡¯t want anything else,¡± Li Mobai said.


    Gu Shanshui shook his head and said, ¡°I only hope that you can help me catch the Corpse Bug after this matter is resolved. These things are useless to me.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll take it.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he took the crystal.


    Everyone set off again. The Flower River¡¯s Flowers of Life had already withered. The originally beautiful Flower River had turned into a barren land. There were no creatures left, allowing them to advance much faster.


    While on the way, Zhou Wen took out his phone to take a look. Indeed, he discovered that the Holy Hell King Life Soul had evolved again, becoming a Perfect Body.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s disappointment, the Constitution that corresponded to the Holy Hell King Life Soul remained at 40 points. It didn¡¯t increase to 41 points.


    This was the same as the advancement of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. The Essence Energy attribute it corresponded to didn¡¯t increase to 41 points and remained at 40.


    My Life Soul has advanced to a Perfect Body, but my stats haven¡¯t reached 41. How can I advance my stats? Zhou Wen was somewhat vexed.


    He had been looking forward to it for so long. His Life Soul had advanced to a Perfect Body, but his stats hadn¡¯t increased. This meant that his chances of advancing to the Mythical stage were still very slim.


    However, on second thought, Xia Jiuhuang had used the power of nine Life Providences and Life Souls, as well as absorbing the life essence of more than ten thousand Epic experts. With the help of the lightning, he advanced to the Mythical stage as a human. It didn¡¯t seem reasonable for him to advance to the Mythical stage with just four Perfect Life Souls.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred. Xia Jiuhang used nine Life Providences and Life Souls to advance to the Mythical stage. Doesn¡¯t that mean that Life Souls and Life Providences are helpful in advancing to the Mythical stage? I didn¡¯t take the wrong path. Is it simply because a single Life Soul isn¡¯t enough to break through the limitations of the attributes?


    Zhou Wen thought of his Dao Sutra and the First Order of Chaos. They were very similar and had strengthened his Essence Energy.


    If I were to advance the Chaos Egg Life Soul, which also augments Essence Energy, to a Perfect Body, would the two Life Souls augment my Essence Energy stat to 41 points? With this in mind, Zhou Wen felt a glimmer of hope.


    His mood improved significantly as he carefully looked at his newly advanced Perfect Body Life Soul.


    Supreme Hell King (Perfect Body): The supreme existence in hell, the final faith of the source of sin.


    Zhou Wen could sense the stark differences between the Supreme Hell King and Holy Hell King. He no longer had the Eye of the Holy Hell King and he didn¡¯t have the lofty authority like the Holy Hell King.


    Now, the Supreme Hell King Life Soul made Zhou Wen feel like he truly belonged to hell. He could enter it with his body, not only establish a connection using the Eye of the Holy Hell King.


    However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t tried it to see what would happen if he really used the Supreme Hell King Life Soul to enter Hell.


    Zhou Wen planned on finding an opportunity to give it a try in-game. It was best not to give it a try in reality.


    Even if he didn¡¯t enter Hell, the Supreme Hell King¡¯s augmentation of his senses wasn¡¯t something that the Holy Hell King could match. When the Supreme Hell King Life Soul augmented him, Zhou Wen¡¯s senses became terrifyingly powerful.


    However, there was something wrong with this. Under such sharp senses, no matter what he looked at, he found everything filthy. It was as though he was in a garbage dump. It was unbearable.


    If it wasn¡¯t necessary, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to activate the Supreme Hell King Life Soul.


    Before long, the group passed through the Flower River and arrived near the legendary Valley of No Return. The Guardian cocoon that Li Mobai mentioned wasn¡¯t in the Valley of No Return, but they had to pass through it.


    In order to master the Evil King Gu Life Soul, Li Mobai had accidentally fallen into a stone cave in the Valley of No Return while he was chasing after a Gu King. He passed through the stone cave and arrived at an underground cave behind the Valley of No Return. That was where he discovered the Guardian cocoon.


    Now, Li Mobai led Zhou Wen and company through the underground tunnel again. They circled around the Valley of No Return, which everyone in the South District would turn pale at the mention of, and arrived at an underground cave.


    They saw the Guardian cocoon. It was gray in color and emitted an evil aura. It was different from any Guardian Zhou Wen had seen before.


    ¡°We can¡¯t go any further. There¡¯s a terrifying Mythical creature guarding it.¡± Li Mobai pointed to the side of the gray cocoon.


    Zhou Wen and company looked over and saw a calabash vine growing there.

 Chapter 781 - Gu Pool

    Translator: CKtalon


    The calabash vine was very strange. Its roots and leaves were the color of limestone¡ªthe color of rocks. It didn¡¯t look like a living creature, and more like something carved from stone.


    Above the calabash vine that was twenty to thirty meters long, there was a total of one calabash. It was also grayish-green in color.


    ¡°Is that a plant-type dimensional creature?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Li Mobai shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sure yet. It looks like a plant, but it might be able to spew out a Gu King from inside the calabash. I can¡¯t be sure if it¡¯s a plant or an animal.¡±


    Li Mobai explained his understanding of the calabash vine in detail so that everyone could be prepared.


    Back when Li Mobai accidentally entered this cave when chasing a Gu King, the Gu King had been sucked into the calabash just as he was about to catch up to it.


    Li Mobai felt that something was amiss with the calabash vine, so he didn¡¯t rush over. Instead, he used a Companion Beast to make probes. However, just as the Companion Beast rushed over, the Gu King that had entered the calabash crawled out again.


    The Gu King was the king of bloodsucking Gu. It was at the Epic stage. If Li Mobai wanted to advance to the Evil King Gu Life Soul, he needed to hunt such a Gu King.


    Back then, Li Mobai had the Evil King Gu Life Soul. It could be said that other than Mythical Gu, he was invulnerable to all Gu. It wasn¡¯t difficult to deal with a Bloodsucking Gu King.


    However, to his surprise, after the Bloodsucking Gu King came out of the calabash, it became extremely ferocious. Its strength underwent a drastic change, as though it had advanced to the Mythical stage, and killed Li Mobai¡¯s Companion Beast easily. If Li Mobai hadn¡¯t fled quickly when he saw that the situation wasn¡¯t looking good, he would have died.


    Later, Li Mobai came a few more times, but he returned empty-handed. He was no match for the Bloodsucking Gu King.


    Li Mobai suspected that the calabash vine was odd. He wanted to remove it and think of a way to lure the Bloodsucking Gu King away before getting a fire-elemental Companion Beast to burn the calabash vine.


    However, to his surprise, before the fire-elemental Companion Beast could approach the calabash vine, a Gu King crawled out of the calabash again and killed Li Mobai¡¯s fire-elemental Companion Beast.


    Later, Li Mobai tried many methods, but they were all useless. Even when his Evil King Gu Life Soul reached the Perfect Body, he still failed to deal with the calabash vine.


    After John used the six-winged seraphim to fight Zhou Wen, Li Mobai carried out a lot of investigations and learned about Guardians. Only then did he realize that the truly precious thing wasn¡¯t the calabash vine, but the gray cocoon it protected.


    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have the ability to deal with the calabash vine. Even though he knew that there was a Guardian there, he couldn¡¯t contract it. All he could do was cooperate with Zhou Wen.


    After hearing Li Mobai¡¯s explanation, Gu Shanshui was alarmed. ¡°You mean that there¡¯s a Mythical Gu in that calabash, and it¡¯s not just one?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think.¡± Li Mobai looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Do you want me to use my Companion Beast to lure out the Gu King inside?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and summoned Doctor Darkness to fuse with him in his soul form.


    Be it ancient wars or modern battles, intelligence was one of the most important factors. Therefore, when Li Mobai summoned his Companion Beast and charged at the calabash vine, Zhou Wen used Doctor Darkness¡¯s Eyes of Penetration to look at the limestone calabash.


    Thankfully, the calabash wasn¡¯t a real stone. Through his Eyes of Penetration, he saw through it and was immediately alarmed.


    Inside the calabash, there were more than ten different-looking Gu. Their appearances were strange and they looked creepy.


    What was even stranger was that the Gu in the gourd were actually fighting each other.


    1


    When the Companion Beast Li Mobai summoned approached the calabash, a force controlled one of the Gu and spat it out.


    The Gu looked like a scorpion, but it had dragonfly-like wings on its back. It had fine teeth in its mouth, making it look terrifying.


    The Companion Beast Li Mobai released was an Epic black tiger, but when it flew close to the Gu, the Gu¡¯s tail stabbed into its body and it died instantly.


    After killing the target, the Gu was sucked back into the calabash.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen three different Gu Kings from all my experiments. This is one of them,¡± Li Mobai said.


    ¡°Strange.¡± Gu Shanshui frowned and said, ¡°That Gu looks like a Snake Scorpion Gu, but it has many characteristics that the Snake Scorpion Gu doesn¡¯t have. Furthermore, its strength is much stronger than a Snake Scorpion Gu. It has indeed reached the Mythical stage.¡±


    ¡°This is also what I¡¯m puzzled about. If the Gu only entered the calabash at a later time, there must be some benefits inside that can improve their strength greatly. After the Bloodsucking Gu King entered, its strength increased greatly and its body underwent a huge change,¡± Li Mobai said.


    ¡°I suspect that the calabash is likely a natural Gu Pool,¡± Gu Shanshui said with a solemn expression.


    A so-called Gu Pool was to place many Gu inside and let them fight each other. Finally, the last surviving one would be the strongest Gu. And not only was that Gu the strongest, but it would also absorb the abilities and strengths of other Gu in battle. Its strength far exceeded ordinary Gu.


    Although it was only a guess, Zhou Wen could see it clearly. The Gu inside were indeed fighting each other. Furthermore, it looked like several of them had Mythical strength.


    Although the other Gu hadn¡¯t reached the Mythical stage, they were considered extremely powerful existences at the Epic stage.


    This is practically a super Gu Pool. If the Gu inside fight to the end and produce a Gu King, I wonder how powerful it will be. It will probably be comparable to a top Mythical creature, right? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be tempted. If he could obtain this calabash, it would be excellent for raising Gu.


    The only pity was that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to raise Gu. Even if a powerful Gu King really appeared, Zhou Wen could only kill it to see if a Companion Egg dropped.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what do you think?¡± Li Mobai asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I think Master Gu is right. That calabash is likely a natural Gu Pool. There might be more than one Mythical Gu inside, but where did these Gu come from?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°There are Gu everywhere in the Valley of No Return. There are many at the Mythical stage. I reckon the Gu from the Valley of No Return crawled here and were sucked in by the calabash,¡± said Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Mobai.


    ¡°There¡¯s no particular solution. We can only lure out the Gu Kings inside and kill them one by one. We¡¯ll have to rely on your strength,¡± Li Mobai said.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it would be a waste to lure out all the Gu Kings inside and kill them.

 Chapter 782 - One Thing Subdues Another

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°From the looks of it, that¡¯s the only way.¡± Although he found it a pity, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to rear Gu. It was useless even if he kept them.


    Li Mobai had a plan. Mute and Butterfly each summoned a Companion Beast. Together with Li Mobai¡¯s own Companion Beast, the three Companion Beasts looked identical. They were three bronze men.


    The three bronze men were Epic Companion Beasts. Although they moved slowly, their defenses were extremely strong. Furthermore, they weren¡¯t afraid of the poison that Gu were good at, nor were they afraid of them invading their bodies.


    It was impossible to use them to kill Mythical Gu, but using them as bait was an ideal choice.


    ¡°Could these be the Bronze Men in the Founding Emperor Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    Li Mobai nodded and said, ¡°Yes, they are the Bronze Men in the Founding Emperor Tomb. In order to obtain these three Companion Eggs, I spent a lot of money to buy them from the Zhang family.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the Founding Emperor Tomb because it was very famous. He had long wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol there, but he hadn¡¯t had the chance to go.


    As there were many evil powers in the Founding Emperor Tomb, ordinary people couldn¡¯t enter. Only the Zhang family, who were experts in this area, could enter to hunt dimensional creatures. Therefore, very few Companion Beasts from the Founding Emperor Tomb were produced. Furthermore, they were much more expensive than Companion Eggs at the same level.


    However, the Companion Beasts in the Founding Emperor Tomb were indeed unique. For example, a Bronze Man was very resistant against Essence Energy and had a strong body. He wasn¡¯t afraid of various toxins and microorganisms. He was an ideal scout.


    However, due to the low production, it wasn¡¯t easy to obtain three Bronze Men. It was obvious that Li Mobai was determined to obtain them.


    After the three Bronze Men approached the calabash vine, the Gu inside was indeed spat out. However, the one that came out this time was not the previous one, but a mosquito-like Gu with a carapace protecting its body.


    Li Mobai told Zhou Wen that this was the Bloodsucking Gu King he had previously chased. However, the prior Bloodsucking Gu King wasn¡¯t that powerful. Now, with the Bloodsucking Gu King around, it was imperative not to have any injuries.


    As long as there was a wound, even if it was a very small wound, the Bloodsucking Gu King would be able to expand the wound, causing blood to spray out until the person died.


    Unfortunately, the Bronze Men didn¡¯t have blood, so the bloodsucking ability of the Bloodsucking Gu King was useless against them. However, the Bloodsucking Gu King didn¡¯t only have bloodsucking abilities.


    1


    The Bloodsucking Gu King flapped its wings and flew quickly. The Bronze Men couldn¡¯t keep up with it and one of them was stabbed in the head by its proboscis.


    If it were an ordinary Companion Beast, it would definitely have been severely injured from this strike.


    However, the Bronze Man wasn¡¯t afraid. It was just a hole on his head that didn¡¯t affect him at all.


    The Bloodsucking Gu King even burrowed into the Bronze Man¡¯s head and came out from the other side. However, it only injured the Bronze Man and wasn¡¯t fatal.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to take action, the chick on his shoulder suddenly flapped its wings and flew over.


    The mighty Bloodsucking Gu King was like a mouse seeing a cat when it saw the chick. Its body went limp as though it didn¡¯t even have the strength to resist.


    Although the chick was powerful, it was still growing. As for the Bloodsucking Gu King, it was already Mythical. If it fought the chick with all its might, the chick might not be able to gain much of an advantage.


    However, in this world, everything had a weakness. The chick¡¯s resistance against Gu was just too strong. The Bloodsucking Gu King¡¯s legs went soft. It didn¡¯t even dare to escape, much less fight.


    The chick flew over and pecked at the Bloodsucking Gu King. The Bloodsucking Gu King¡¯s carapace was hard, so the chick needed to peck at it a few times before tearing it open and eating it.


    From beginning to end, the Mythical Bloodsucking Gu King didn¡¯t resist too intensely. A Mythical Gu was eaten just like that. Li Mobai and company were dumbfounded.


    Apart from Gu Shanshui who knew about the chick, everyone else watched in surprise as the chick unleashed its might. Although they knew that it was very powerful when it spewed out the flames to kill the jellyfish fungi, they never expected it to be this powerful.


    The Mythical Bloodsucking Gu King didn¡¯t even have the courage to resist. This wasn¡¯t something that could be described as powerful. It was practically a strike on a whole different plane.


    After the chick finished eating the Bloodsucking Gu King, it seemed unsatisfied as it flew towards the calabash, wanting to peck open the calabash and eat the Gu inside.


    However, after pecking a few times, the calabash remained unharmed. Even the golden flames it spewed out failed to burn the calabash.


    The calabash seemed to know how powerful the chick was. No matter how the chick tortured it from the outside, it didn¡¯t dare spit out the Gu inside.


    Zhou Wen got the chick to return and got Li Mobai and company to release the Bronze Men to entice it, but it was useless. The calabash refused to spit out the Gu inside no matter what.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed out a Golden Sword Aura at the calabash. The Golden Sword Aura¡¯s Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable worked, causing a crack to appear on the calabash.


    However, the Golden Sword Aura vanished the moment it entered the calabash. The crack automatically healed and quickly disappeared.


    ¡°If I had known that inviting you would save me so much trouble, I would have invited you over long ago, even if I had gone bankrupt.¡± Li Mobai and company walked over.


    Although he wasn¡¯t able to chop down the calabash or kill all the Gu inside, the calabash didn¡¯t dare take any abnormal action. Li Mobai had achieved his goal. Ignoring the calabash that had turtled up, he walked towards the gray cocoon of the Guardian.


    Seeing how magical the calabash was, Zhou Wen wanted to remove it, but after slashing a few times, all his strikes were absorbed. He failed to slice off the calabash.


    With the chick standing by the side like a tiger eyeing its prey, ready to eat the Gu that could come out at any time, the calabash didn¡¯t dare do anything out of the ordinary. It didn¡¯t make any abnormal movements and stood still.


    Li Mobai had already walked in front of the Guardian cocoon. Without any hesitation, he cut his finger and let his blood drip onto the cocoon.


    Everyone looked at the blood that dripped onto the Guardian cocoon. Even Zhou Wen temporarily stopped attacking the calabash and looked over.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t wish for Li Mobai to succeed. If Li Mobai succeeded, there would be nothing for him.


    Blood slowly flowed down the Guardian¡¯s cocoon, but it left Li Mobai very disappointed. The drop of blood flowed down the Guardian¡¯s cocoon and dripped to the ground, unable to penetrate it.


    ¡°Master¡­¡± Butterfly wore a look of disappointment. She wanted to console Li Mobai, but she didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°A single failure isn¡¯t a big deal. If it doesn¡¯t work this time, there will be a next time. Since this path doesn¡¯t work, let¡¯s switch paths. As long as we continue walking, there will always be a path that leads to our destination.¡± Li Mobai didn¡¯t look too disappointed. He sorted out his emotions and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, according to our previous agreement, it¡¯s your turn now. If you don¡¯t succeed, I hope you can give them a chance.¡±

 Chapter 783 - Phoenix Might

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen nodded in agreement. If he couldn¡¯t kill the Guardian, there was no harm in letting others give it a try.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately take action. He had a nagging feeling that the calabash was a hidden danger.


    Now that the chick was suppressing it, the calabash didn¡¯t dare act rashly. However, if he were to fight the Guardian, it would be troublesome if the calabash released the Gu inside.


    ¡°Wait a moment. I¡¯ll think of a way to pluck this calabash,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai and company.


    Butterfly joked, ¡°Just drip some blood on the cocoon. The calabash won¡¯t hinder you. There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble, right? Are you afraid of not obtaining the Guardian¡¯s recognition?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer her as he continued studying the calabash in front of him.


    This calabash was indeed something good. It could even control Mythical Gu. Furthermore, it could make them fight each other and evolve through devouring the others.


    This was actually very similar to the phone¡¯s Companion Beast fusion function. However, it was a more primitive and crude version. It wasn¡¯t as modern as the phone¡¯s fusion function.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, If I can obtain this calabash, I¡¯ll have an explanation if I take out some strange fusion pets in the future. But how can I obtain it? Does this thing count as a dimensional creature? If I slice off the calabash, will it drop a Companion Egg?


    The chick pecked and scratched at the calabash, but it wasn¡¯t effective. Even its golden flames didn¡¯t have much effect on the calabash.


    Zhou Wen slashed out a few times with the Golden Overlord Sword. Although he could split the calabash, the space in the calabash seemed to have the characteristic of spatial extension. The sword beam would rush in and gradually dissipate, dealing very little damage. Furthermore, the calabash could rapidly recover.


    Since I can¡¯t slice apart the calabash, I¡¯ll eliminate it at its roots. Zhou Wen glanced at the roots of the calabash vine and planned on attacking from there.


    The Golden Overlord Sword slashed down with an indestructible sword beam. Before the sword beam could strike the roots of the calabash vine, the calabash suddenly spewed out more than ten Gu.


    One strange Gu after another charged at Zhou Wen. Some were as tiny as sesame seeds, while others were as large as ferocious beasts. Furthermore, their abilities were different.


    Everyone was given a fright. They never expected the calabash to have so many Gu inside. Gu Shanshui and Li Mobai were reflexively prepared to do battle.


    A bird¡¯s cry sounded¡ªit was the chick. The Gu that were charging at Zhou Wen immediately turned limp from fright as they fell from the sky.


    Only a few Mythical Gu continued charging at Zhou Wen. However, from their trembling bodies, it was obvious that they were extremely afraid. They had no choice but to rush over because of the calabash¡¯s control.


    Seeing that they still dared to charge over, the chick immediately flew into a rage. It flapped its wings and leaped up, rushing over to peck at the Gu.


    The chick¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t as strong as the Mythical Gu, but for some reason, the Mythical Gu didn¡¯t dare resist. They were pecked by the chick until bloody, and a small Mythical Gu was swallowed by the chick.


    The chick wasn¡¯t afraid of the Gu parasitizing its body. Instantly, it looked mighty, resembling an emperor that was dealing with a group of eunuchs. The eunuchs didn¡¯t dare fight back.


    It¡¯s no wonder Worm Dugu said that phoenixes are the nemesis of Gu. After seeing the chick, Gu Shanshui also treated it with reverence. This phoenix¡¯s ability to restrain Gu is just too strong. Zhou Wen originally imagined that there would be a fierce battle, but from the looks of it, the chick could finish off all the Gu without him needing to do anything.


    1


    Li Mobai looked at the awe-inspiring chick and seemed to be in thought. It looked like he had guessed the chick¡¯s origins.


    It¡¯s no wonder Zhou Wen dared to take the risk to come to the South District. So he has such a divine item on him. Li Mobai was enlightened. He knew that it wasn¡¯t because he had moved Zhou Wen, but because Zhou Wen had the confidence to ensure his safety that he had followed him to the Valley of No Return.


    The chick unleashed its might, and in a short while, it swallowed more than ten Gu. Its body clearly swelled up and its stomach became round.


    Zhou Wen suddenly recalled that the antelope had taken the chick to Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak. The chick had suddenly lost weight after returning.


    Back then, Zhou Wen was puzzled as to why the chick had suddenly lost weight. Now that he thought about it, the chick must have benefited from Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak and digested the accumulated energy in its body.


    It¡¯s no wonder I felt that the chick had grown significantly after that time. It¡¯s not because of time, but because it received some benefit. Zhou Wen now understood why the phoenix had given the chick to him.


    This thing had eaten several Mythical Gu and nearly ten Epic Gu, but it was only as fat as a ball and did not immediately grow up.


    If he wanted to raise it to adulthood, he didn¡¯t know how many resources he would have to expend. He guessed that the phoenix couldn¡¯t afford to rear so many baby phoenixes, so it wanted to help the chick choose a good family to live with¡ªa place it could eat and sleep for free. However, for some reason, it had chosen him.


    After losing all the Gu, the calabash trembled. However, it was only a calabash after all. It couldn¡¯t escape like an animal-type dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he drew his sword and slashed. With a few strikes, he severed the roots of the calabash vine.


    When the roots of the calabash snapped, the calabash vine immediately withered. The grayish-blue leaves also shrank and fell. The color of the calabash also gradually became lighter. The original grayish-blue color gradually turned grayish-white.


    Zhou Wen slashed at the grayish-white calabash vine, reducing it to ashes. Only the calabash remained intact.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and sucked the calabash into his hand. He pinched it and realized that the calabash was still as hard as before. It didn¡¯t turn to powder like the vines or leaves.


    Although the calabash remained, it didn¡¯t have any vitality left in it. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it could still be used. He decided to put it away.


    The chick was so stuffed that it was staggering as it walked. It looked like it would fall to the ground and roll away at any moment.


    ¡°Stay away for now. I¡¯m going to attack,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai and company.


    Guardians were generally very strong. Even if Zhou Wen could kill the Guardian inside, it would definitely result in a huge battle. In order not to implicate them, he made them walk far away to give them a chance of escaping if things went south.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a drop of blood. There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble, right?¡± Butterfly said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Li Mobai seemed to notice something as he instructed Butterfly and Mute to retreat far away with him.


    Although Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t know why Zhou Wen wanted them to retreat, he retreated with Gu Lou and Gu He.

 Chapter 784 - Assassinating the Guardian

    Chapter 784: Assassinating the Guardian


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Zhou Wen is thin-skinned and is afraid of being mocked by us if he fails?¡± Butterfly said as she walked.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that simple.¡± Li Mobai had his speculations, but he didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to.


    From his point of view, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t going to do something as simple as dripping a drop of blood for a contract. It was very likely that he would use some method to increase the success rate of the contract.


    In fact, Li Mobai had previously thought of a similar method, but because he had transferred the Evil King Gu Life Soul to Li Xuan, his physique was much weaker now. He didn¡¯t dare use any of the methods he could have used in the past.


    Li Mobai was very interested in what method Zhou Wen wanted to use. He hoped that Zhou Wen would succeed. This way, he could use Zhou Wen¡¯s method as a reference and still have a chance in the future.


    Zhou Wen waited until they were far enough away before he moved. However, he didn¡¯t walk towards the Guardian cocoon. He also distanced himself from it.


    However, while keeping a distance, he summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Boom! Tyrant Behemoth was more than three meters tall, but its body was heavier than steel. When it landed in the cave, the entire cave trembled.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Tyrant Behemoth¡­ Tyrant Behemoth that¡¯s ranked fourth¡­ That¡¯s actually Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast¡­¡± Butterfly cried out in surprise when she saw Tyrant Behemoth.


    Gu Lou and company were also alarmed as their eyes nearly popped out. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s name was probably known to everyone. Many experts in the Federation had been asking about Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner, but they never expected it to be Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Previously, Gu Lou had thought that Zhou Wen was young and frivolous, but now, with his terrifying pets, he was probably not weaker than the top experts of the Dugu family. He indeed had the right to be frivolous.


    ¡°What¡¯s he trying to do by summoning Tyrant Behemoth?¡± Li Mobai looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. He felt that something was amiss. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to be using a trick to contract the Guardian.


    Indeed, under everyone¡¯s horrified gazes, Tyrant Behemoth roared and threw a punch at the Guardian cocoon.


    ¡°He wants to kill the Guardian, not contract it?¡± Butterfly¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. This was beyond her imagination.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth shattered the gray cocoon with a punch, revealing the Guardian inside.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had already used the Invisibility Cloak to hide himself. At the same time, he summoned Demonic Neonate and hugged her in his arms, using the Invisibility Cloak to cover her. After all, reality wasn¡¯t a game. Everything would be over if he died. Therefore, Zhou Wen was much more careful than usual.


    If he could find a Guardian he could kill in-game, he wouldn¡¯t have taken the risk in reality.


    Even in his invisible state, Zhou Wen had no intention of approaching the Guardian. He wanted to figure out what abilities the Guardian had.


    The Guardian in the gray cocoon was covered in black carapace. There were ant-like antennas on its head, cicada-like wings on its back, snake-like eyes, and four scorpion-like tails on its back.


    This Guardian looked like a humanoid Gu, its body filled with an evil aura.


    Just as Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist was about to hit the Guardian, the Guardian¡¯s figure suddenly blurred. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist only hit an illusion.


    Looking up, he saw the Guardian standing upside down at the top of the cave-like a bat. Its snake-like eyes stared at Tyrant Behemoth. The ten fingers on its hands spread open as thin silk blades crisscrossed like a spiderweb, enveloping Tyrant Behemoth below.


    Tyrant Behemoth exerted strength with its legs, tearing the rocks apart. Its body rose into the air as it raised its fist and punched at the spiderweb in the air, hoping to blast the spiderweb and the Guardian to death.


    However, when its fist struck the spiderweb-like thin blade, the thin blade was able to withstand the force. It was as though it had punched the air.


    As for the silk net blade, it retracted and enveloped Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body.


    Tyrant Behemoth was like a huge fish that had fallen into a fishing net. The more it struggled, the tighter the silk blades wrapped around it. Furthermore, the silk blades had a very strong elasticity. Tyrant Behemoth used its strength in an attempt to break the thin silk blades, but all it could do was expand the net a little. When Tyrant Behemoth relaxed, the thin silk net blades tightened.


    The Guardian, who was standing upside down at the top of the cave, flashed and appeared behind Tyrant Behemoth as though it had teleported. Its barbed palm and feet hooked onto Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s back. At the same time, it opened its mouth and stabbed its tongue into Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s neck like a blood-colored arrow.


    Roar! Tyrant Behemoth directly activated Absolute Strength, but the powerful force failed to help it tear apart the web blades. Even though it moved the web blades away from its body, it was unable to tear the web apart.


    ¡°Guardians are indeed stronger than Mythical creatures. A Mythical Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth is basically the peak of Mythical creatures, but it¡¯s still inferior when fighting Guardians¡­ Zhou Wen will probably suffer greatly this time¡­ Master¡­ Let¡¯s quickly retreat¡­¡± Butterfly said to Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai didn¡¯t answer. He looked around and couldn¡¯t seem to find his target. He frowned and asked, ¡°Where did Zhou Wen go?¡±


    Everyone was taken aback. Their gazes were attracted by Tyrant Behemoth and the Guardian. They were watching the battle and didn¡¯t notice where Zhou Wen had gone.


    They looked around, but they didn¡¯t see Zhou Wen. All they saw was a golden and white bird on a stone not far away. They were watching Tyrant Behemoth and the Guardian fight.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen was wearing the Invisibility Cloak and had activated the Sigh of the King. Not long after, his strength reached the level of activating Slaughterer. Without any hesitation, he activated the Wheel of Destiny of the Invisibility Cloak and secretly approached the Guardian with Demonic Neonate.


    The invisibility ability of the Invisibility Cloak was just so useful. The Guardian failed to discover the invisible Zhou Wen. It was lying on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s back and using its tongue to devour the energy in Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen had already reached its back, but it still failed to notice him. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the Light Concealment Sword and slashed at the Guardian¡¯s neck with Immortal Slaying.


    Almost at the same time, Demonic Neonate in his arms unsheathed her demon sword and slashed at the Guardian¡¯s neck. The two swords slashed down like scissors. At such a close distance, the Guardian had no time to react.


    Li Mobai and company didn¡¯t discover any traces of Zhou Wen, but they suddenly heard a tragic cry. When they turned their heads, they realized that Zhou Wen was floating in the air. The Guardian had been beheaded and its head had fallen to the ground.


    Plop!


    The Guardian¡¯s headless corpse fell from the sky and collapsed to the ground.


    The fine web blade on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body vanished as well. Zhou Wen carefully floated in the air and flicked his palm as though he was flicking away the blood.


    Butterfly, Gu Lou, and company were already shocked speechless. This was because they couldn¡¯t see the invisible Light Concealment Sword. They imagined that Zhou Wen had cleaved off the Guardian¡¯s head with one palm.

 Chapter 785 - : Valley of No Return

    ¡°Is this person¡­ a devil?¡± Butterfly looked at Zhou Wen and felt a chill run down her spine.


    They had painstakingly come here to sign a contract with the Guardian and obtain greater strength.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had chopped off the Guardian¡¯s head with one palm. Although they knew that this person wasn¡¯t an enemy, the difference in strength still left them in despair. They even trembled in body and mind.


    Li Mobai didn¡¯t think so. His eyes burned as he stared intently at Zhou Wen as though he had discovered new land.


    So this is a possible route? Li Mobai felt as though a ball of fire was burning in his body.


    There was no fire in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but as the Guardian¡¯s body disintegrated and vanished, energy surged into his body, causing Slaughterer Life Soul to automatically switch over. After absorbing the energy, it became stronger.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s disappointment, although Slaughterer became stronger, it didn¡¯t advance to a Perfect Body even after the energy was completely absorbed.


    How many Guardians do I have to kill to advance Slaughterer to a Perfect Body? Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    Li Mobai, Gu Shanshui, and company had already returned. Zhou Wen said, ¡°Sorry for not giving you guys an attempt.¡±


    Li Mobai smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not important. If it¡¯s convenient, can you tell me why you killed the Guardian? Why didn¡¯t you sign a contract with him?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for a contract.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t explain too much.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You really don¡¯t need it anymore,¡± Li Mobai said.


    Butterfly, Gu Lou, and company felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s words were too arrogant, but when they recalled the scene of the Guardian¡¯s head falling, they felt powerless at refuting him.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re already here, why don¡¯t we take a look at the entrance of the Valley of No Return?¡± Zhou Wen was still wondering if he could find the tiny palm symbol there. With the Valley of No Return, he would have a place to grind for Gu-type Companion Beasts in the future.


    ¡°Alright. With you around, the Valley of No Return shouldn¡¯t be able to do much to us. It¡¯s good to broaden our horizons,¡± Li Mobai said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m just taking a look outside. I don¡¯t plan on entering.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    Although he had the chick that could suppress Gu, the chick hadn¡¯t grown up yet. If there were too many Gu, it wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with all of them. Or perhaps there were Gu that weren¡¯t afraid of the chick. If they were to come to blows, the chick might not be able to defeat a Mythical Gu.


    Zhou Wen was very surprised that the chick could kill those Mythical Gu. He didn¡¯t know if the chick¡¯s noble phoenix bloodline was working or if it had some special power.


    Furthermore, after delivering Immortal Slaying, Zhou Wen¡¯s strength had been drained. His body was still in a weakened state. Although he wasn¡¯t as miserable as when he used the Immortal Slaying skill in the past, his combat strength was now greatly affected. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take the risk at such a time.


    The group left the underground cave and arrived at the periphery of the Valley of No Return.


    Zhou Wen saw that the valley was stacked layer by layer. There was a valley in a valley, but he didn¡¯t know how big the space was. However, he had heard from locals like Gu Shanshui most people who entered the Valley of No Return never returned. It was what gave it its name.


    However, it wasn¡¯t that no one returned alive. There were still exceptions. However, those people didn¡¯t venture deep into the valley. Most of them only circled around the valley entrance before coming out.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to circle around the valley¡¯s entrance to find the tiny palm symbol, but he had no intention of entering.


    His luck seemed to be surprisingly good. After circling the valley for a while, he found an extremely inconspicuous palm symbol on a mountain wall.


    The tiny palm symbol was covered by dense grass and was covered in moss. If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have Truth Listener¡¯s ability, he wouldn¡¯t have discovered it.


    He took a picture with his mysterious phone and saw it downloading. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    I¡¯ve gained quite a lot this time. I downloaded the Valley of No Return instance dungeon and killed a Guardian. I even made the chick eat quite a number of Gu. I reckon it should be able to grow a little after digesting them, right? Zhou Wen felt that the trip had been quite useful.


    However, Li Mobai had come for nothing. He hadn¡¯t obtained any benefits.


    Since Gu Shanshui wanted to go to Chiang Rai to capture the Corpse Bug, Zhou Wen had no choice but to accompany him to Chiang Rai. Li Mobai thought for a moment and said, ¡°Master Gu, if you don¡¯t mind, let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    ¡°Li, it¡¯s great that you can go with us.¡± Gu Shanshui happily accepted.


    Everyone walked along the Flower River towards Chiang Rai. After walking for two to three hundred kilometers, they saw Flowers of Life that hadn¡¯t withered.


    Zhou Wen rode the Great Might Vajra Bull at the back of the team and played with his phone. The dungeon in the Valley of No Return had been downloaded, so Zhou Wen went in to familiarize himself with the environment.


    The Valley of No Return was actually surrounded by mountains on all sides. Only a sliver of an opening allowed entry.


    The mountain walls on both sides were very close, allowing only one person to pass through sideways.


    The blood-colored avatar walked in sideways as Truth Listener¡¯s ability was constantly activated. At the same time, it switched its Essence Energy Art to Small Perfection of Wisdom. With the augmentation of the Eight Perfections Wisdom Life Providence and Hell King Life Soul, Zhou Wen¡¯s senses became extremely sharp. Even without Truth Listener, he could see everything around him clearly.


    After walking for a short while, Zhou Wen discovered a problem. There were many tiny holes on the walls on both sides. As they were so tiny, one would imagine that they were simply the stone walls¡¯ textures.


    However, Zhou Wen could tell that it wasn¡¯t the texture of the stone. Instead, it was a series of tiny holes. In those tiny holes, there were extremely tiny worms and insects that would occasionally rear their heads. As they were so small, if an ordinary person wasn¡¯t careful, they would end up having these creatures crawl into their body through their pores.


    Since the chick couldn¡¯t be brought in-game, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a good way to restrain the bugs. All he could do was summon Tai Sui and see if it could eat the bugs.


    Although Tai Sui wasn¡¯t very interested in these bugs, it still devoured them under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    A large number of notifications appeared on the game screen. They were all indications of him killing Mortal creatures. Occasionally, there would be a notification about him killing Legendary creatures.


    There were very few items that dropped, and what did drop was basically useless. With Tai Sui¡¯s help, Zhou Wen passed through the crack and arrived in the valley.


    As this was a valley in a valley, Zhou Wen could see a circular valley that wasn¡¯t too big. Inside was grassland that looked verdant.


    However, if one had extraordinary vision, they would discover that there were many green caterpillars in the grassland. They were almost one with the grassland, making it difficult to distinguish them.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Fire Furnace Queen and turned the grassland into a sea of fire. This only served to produce constant notifications of him killing Legendary Green-Haired Gu.


    There seem to be quite a number of Gu. It¡¯s a good place to grind. I wonder if there will be groups of Epic Gu inside?

 Chapter 786 - Ancient Tadpole

    Translator: CKtalon


    Large swaths of Green-Haired Gu were killed, dropping more than ten Green-Haired Gu Companion Eggs and quite a number of dimensional crystals. The valley became narrow again as he walked further in.


    Further in, there was another small valley that was shaped like a horse¡¯s hoof. It was even smaller than the valley ahead.


    The valley¡¯s terrain was much lower and the ground was covered in clear water. The water level was very shallow, reaching only Zhou Wen¡¯s calf. He could see the bottom at a glance.


    There were many water plants growing, making it look very beautiful. It was like a clean paradise.


    However, in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, such a beautiful and clean place wasn¡¯t that great. There were many leech-like Gu on the rocks and water plants at the bottom. If he rashly entered, he would probably have his blood drained.


    Zhou Wen summoned a Water Snake Companion Beast he had obtained in the past. It was a water-elemental snake he had obtained from the island where Six-Winged Guardian Dragon resided. Its body was condensed from water, so it naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of poison or blood-sucking abilities.


    After it entered the water, it directly devoured the leeches. When the leeches entered its body, they were immediately sucked dry, turning into small blobs of dried meat.


    ¡®Killed Legendary Leech Gu¡­¡¯


    Notifications kept popping up on-screen. The water snake swam quickly in the water. Wherever it passed, Leech Gu would be sucked dry.


    It¡¯s no wonder so few people can come out alive despite so many people entering the Valley of No Return. Not only are there many dimensional creatures here, but their abilities are also extremely sinister. If one isn¡¯t careful, they will succumb to it. It¡¯s not easy to leave alive. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t excited about the Leech Gu. He didn¡¯t let the water snake continue killing as he flew through the air and headed for the next valley.


    The valley ahead had split roads. One path led to the left, while the other led to the right. Zhou Wen chose the left path and entered the next valley.


    This valley was clearly much bigger than the previous valley. The water in the valley from before flowed in from here. He could see a waterfall cascading.


    There were still many Leech Gu in the water, but he also saw a type of black tadpole swimming around. Groups of tadpoles could be seen everywhere in the water.


    However, these tadpoles were extremely large, so large that one likely needed both hands to lift up a tadpole.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious about the kind of Gu the tadpoles were, so he got the water snake to charge at them.


    Just like before, the water snake went forward to devour the tadpoles in a bid to suck dry the water in their bodies. However, after the tadpoles were devoured, their bodies immediately exploded, blasting the water snake apart.


    The tadpoles didn¡¯t die after the explosion. Instead, they turned into a group of tadpoles that continued swimming in the water.


    The water snake¡¯s body was originally condensed from water. After being blasted apart, it quickly condensed again and devoured a large number of tadpoles once more.


    The tadpoles exploded again, exploding the water snake¡¯s body once again. At the same time, their numbers increased as their sizes shrank. Yet, there was no sign of death.


    After a few repeated attempts, the tadpoles had already become the size of sesame seeds. It looked like they could continue exploding and splitting.


    This dimensional creature is rather interesting. It can actually explode and split infinitely. I wonder how small it can go? Zhou Wen got the water snake to continue devouring the tadpoles to see what their limits were.


    Finally, he realized that when the tadpoles became the size of a needle hole, their bodies wouldn¡¯t continue splitting apart after the explosion.


    They split and self-destruct five times in total. Unfortunately, the power of self-destruction is a little weak. Zhou Wen silently calculated.


    ¡®Killed Legendary creature, Ancient Tadpole.¡¯ A notification appeared in the game.


    Although the skill was pretty good, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested because its level was a little low and its self-destruction wasn¡¯t powerful enough.


    However, soon, a rather special Ancient Tadpole attracted Zhou Wen¡¯s attention. Among the group of Ancient Tadpoles was a dark-gold tadpole that was clearly different from the others.


    Zhou Wen got the water snake to rush over and devour the Ancient Tadpole, but with a boom, a huge wave rose from the water. The water snake¡¯s body was blasted apart, along with the water-elemental core in its body. It died just like that.


    This self-destruction is quite powerful! Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he looked at the dark-gold tadpole that had split apart in the water. He summoned another Companion Beast.


    This was the Epic Electric Eel that Zhou Wen had obtained in the underground Pool City. After the Electric Eel charged over, it spewed out an electric current. The dark-gold tadpole immediately split apart and exploded once again.


    The Electric Eel was very fast. It escaped quickly in the water and dodged the explosive force of the dark-gold tadpole. It spat out another electric current at the even smaller dark-gold tadpoles.


    Clearly, the dark-gold tadpole was at the Epic stage. Its explosive power was extremely powerful, enough to kill most Epic creatures of the same level.


    Furthermore, after Zhou Wen¡¯s experiments, he realized that these dark-gold tadpoles had exploded more times than the Ancient Tadpoles. They could explode a total of seven times.


    ¡®Ding¡­ Killed Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen realized that there was a dark-gold Companion Egg in the water. He was delighted as he picked it up and hatched it.


    Soon, there was an Ancient Dark Gold tadpole in the Companion Beast column.


    Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole: Epic


    Life Providence: Split


    Life Soul: Combine


    Strength: 34


    Speed: 31


    Constitution: 31


    Essence Energy: 36


    Talent Skill: Self-detonation


    Companion Form: Grenade


    This thing is really special! Zhou Wen summoned the Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole in-game and a dark-gold grenade appeared in his hand.


    Zhou Wen threw it out. When the Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole landed in the water, it immediately exploded, splitting into a group of Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole grenades.


    As for the tiny dark-gold tadpoles, they continued exploding upon undertaking the pressure.


    However, the difference from the Legendary Ancient Tadpoles was that after the Dark Gold Ancient Tadpoles self-destructed, they would automatically gather together as long as they were not suppressed by external forces for a period of time. They would become the big Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole again, and the number of possible splits would return to normal.


    Unless it self-destructed seven times, the Ancient Dark Gold Tadpole would slowly recover and not die.


    This is good stuff. If many Dark Gold Ancient Tadpoles self-destruct at the same time, the might will be quite impressive. Zhou Wen searched the valley again and realized that there was a Dark Gold Ancient Tadpole in every group of Ancient Tadpoles.


    Zhou Wen specifically targeted the Dark Gold Ancient Tadpoles in a bid to have more Companion Eggs drop, but after killing more than ten of them, no Companion Egg dropped. Zhou Wen had already arrived near the waterfall and was about to continue searching when he realized that there was an especially huge Ancient Tadpole in the pool beneath the waterfall.

 Chapter 787 - Mythical Tadpole

    2


    Translator: CKtalon


    The tadpole was more than a meter long, and its head was dozens of centimeters in diameter. When it wriggled its tail, it stirred the water, creating tiny whirlpools.


    Its color was relatively light and wasn¡¯t as black as the Legendary Ancient Tadpoles, nor was it similar to the dark-gold colors of the Dark Gold Epic Ancient Tadpoles. It was a light gray color that leaned towards white.


    When Zhou Wen saw it, it had already discovered the Electric Eel. With a flick of its tail, it tore through the waves like a torpedo and rapidly slammed into the Electric Eel.


    The Electric Eel launched an electric current attack, but when the electric current struck the huge tadpole, it didn¡¯t cause it to explode.


    Boom!


    The giant tadpole slammed into the Electric Eel against the electric current¡¯s surge. Then, Zhou Wen saw a terrifying explosion detonate the ancient tadpoles in the valley.


    The explosion of the giant tadpole was already terrifying, and the tiny tadpoles that were produced from the explosion slammed into the other Epic and Legendary tadpoles, causing a chain reaction.


    Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. He condensed a protective Essence Energy Skill to resist the explosion, but the terrifying explosion blasted apart the blood-colored avatar¡¯s protective Essence Energy. The armor was also penetrated as the tadpoles that burrowed into his body exploded again. After a series of explosions, the blood-colored avatar died.


    Isn¡¯t this explosion a little too powerful? Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. The tadpole was clearly a Mythical existence. The explosion caused it to split and explode again, causing all the Ancient Tadpoles in the valley to explode. Unless it was a Mythical creature with extremely powerful defense, it was impossible to withstand the blast.


    After respawning, Zhou Wen knew better. He didn¡¯t enter the valley himself and summoned Tyrant Behemoth to charge into the valley where the Mythical tadpole was.


    Soon, Zhou Wen heard a chain of explosions outside the valley. The explosion sent water splattering everywhere, and the water level in the valley outside rose significantly.


    The explosion lasted for quite some time before it finally stopped. Zhou Wen roughly counted that there were nine highly intense explosions. It was likely that the Mythical tadpole had experienced nine splits and explosions.


    Notifications of various Ancient Tadpoles¡¯ deaths had already flooded the game screen. The last message was especially eye-catching.


    ¡®Killed Mythical Creature, Ancient Splitting Tadpole. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen entered the valley and saw Tyrant Behemoth standing in the water, covered in wounds. He was somewhat astounded.


    Despite using Absolute Strength, Tyrant Behemoth had still been injured from the blast. Although it was only slightly injured, the Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s self-destruction power was extremely terrifying.


    The Companion Egg had dropped into the water. Apart from the Mythical Companion Egg, there were many dimensional crystals and tiny Companion Eggs scattered everywhere in the water. They were likely left behind by the Legendary and Epic tadpoles.


    Zhou Wen picked up the Mythical Companion Egg and chose to hatch it.


    Soon, the Mythical Ancient Splitting Tadpole appeared in his pet column. It looked no different from before.


    Ancient Splitting Tadpole: Mythical


    Life Providence: Split


    Life Soul: Combine


    Wheel of Destiny: Parasitizing Death


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 76


    Constitution: 77


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Self-detonation


    Companion Form: Grenade


    The Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s attributes were already rather terrifying. Two attributes had reached the top 81 points, but he didn¡¯t know what kind of ability Parasitizing Death was.


    However, just the nine splits and self-destruct abilities were rather terrifying. To be able to injure Tyrant Behemoth while it had Absolute Strength activated meant extreme potency.


    It¡¯s a pity that once the Ancient Splitting Tadpole self-destructs nine times, it will really die. It can¡¯t be used randomly outside the game, but I don¡¯t need to have such qualms in-game.


    Zhou Wen thought of Explosive Fiend Man, who also had the ability to self-destruct. His self-destruction was even more ruthless. He could only self-destruct once before dying. He didn¡¯t even have a second chance.


    The Splitting Tadpole could self-destruct at least nine times. As long as it didn¡¯t self-destruct nine times in a row, it wouldn¡¯t really die. Controlling it allowed him to use it in reality.


    I wonder if I can fuse Splitting Tadpole with Explosive Fiend Man. If Explosive Fiend Man also has such a splitting ability¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare continue thinking.


    Just the thought of the Explosive Fiend Man self-destructing, splitting into small Explosive Fiend Men, and then exploding everywhere made his scalp tingle.


    Looking at the compatibility between Explosive Fiend Man and Splitting Tadpole, he realized that it was only a pitiful 24%. If it was a fusion, the chances of failure were nearly 80%.


    Although they both have similar self-destruction abilities, it looks like the two aren¡¯t the same type. Zhou Wen had no choice but to dismiss the idea of fusion.


    He reached a dead-end in the Valley of No Return with no way to go further, so Zhou Wen had no choice but to retreat to the fork and walk towards the valley on the right to see what was inside.


    The valley on the right was completely different from the valley on the left. After entering the valley on the right, the temperature suddenly dropped. After taking a few steps, frost and snow appeared on the ground.


    The valley on the right was a snow valley. The deeper he went, the thicker the snow became. After taking a few steps, the phone screen suddenly turned black. The blood-colored avatar had died for some reason.


    From the looks of it, there¡¯s a problem with the snow. Zhou Wen roughly understood the problem, but to be able to make his Hell King Life Soul fail to discover the problem, the things in the snow had to be extremely extraordinary.


    Just as he was about to drip his blood to revive and continue grinding in the Valley of No Return, he suddenly heard Gu Shanshui say, ¡°We¡¯ve reached the end of the Flower River. We¡¯ll reach the periphery of Chiang Rai in another ten kilometers.¡±


    ¡°Before the dimensional storms, this area was situated at the borders of three countries¡ªthe famous Golden Triangle. In the past, it was chaotic, and it¡¯s not any better now. Not only are there many dimensional zones, but there are also all sorts of evil Essence Energy Arts. Gu, Kuman Thong, voodoo, witchcraft, Buddhist scriptures, and the other districts¡¯ Essence Energy Arts which can be seen here. It¡¯s messy. Furthermore, there are all sorts of people here. It¡¯s very easy for something to happen. You have to be careful here. It¡¯s best you don¡¯t eat anything randomly or take anything from others.¡±


    Gu Shanshui paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Chiang Rai is in this area. Now, there are three most famous families in Chiang Rai. The biggest one is the Xiao family. The Xiao family isn¡¯t only proficient in Buddha plaques and Kuman Thong, but they also have deep attainments in Gu and voodoo magic. Rumor has it that they have a Mythical Kuman Thong that¡¯s extremely powerful. Anyone who offends this family ends up in a terrible state.¡±


    Zhou Wen was puzzled and asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t Kuman Thong a Life Soul?¡±


    Gu Shanshui explained, ¡°Kuman Thong was originally witchcraft that nurtured spirit babies. There were Heaven Babies, Earth Babies, and Man Babies. After the dimensional storms, someone used the method of raising Kuman Thong to obtain a quick Life Soul. They used the Kuman Thong they nurtured as their Life Souls.¡±


    1

 Chapter 788 - Unexpected Reunion

    With Gu Shanshui leading the way, they quickly arrived at Chiang Rai.


    Gu Shanshui found them a place to stay. The place he wanted to go was near Chiang Rai.


    Chiang Rai and Mong Hsat were a little different. There were many people like Gu Shanshui who had tattoos and Buddha plaques.


    After dinner, Li Mobai, Butterfly, and company went out to stroll around Chiang Rai. Zhou Wen stayed put, having no intention of heading out.


    As Chiang Rai¡¯s dimensional zones weren¡¯t in the city, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see them even if he went out.


    Gu Shanshui came to Zhou Wen¡¯s room and said, ¡°Mr. Zhou, we are going to catch the Corpse Bug tomorrow. There are some things we need to make clear today to prevent any future trouble.¡±


    ¡°Master Gu, please speak.¡± Zhou Wen let him in.


    ¡°The place where I¡¯m going to catch the Corpse Bug is called Dragon Corpse River. Legend has it that a dragon died there, its veracity unknown. However, Dragon Corpse Valley is extremely dangerous. The Gu inside are at least at the Epic stage. Occasionally, there will be Mythical Gu appearing. Even the Dugu family has to be careful when entering Dragon Corpse Valley.¡±


    After pausing for a moment, Gu Shanshui continued, ¡°The Corpse Bug I want to capture is in the most dangerous area of Dragon Corpse River. There are many taboos inside. Furthermore, that Corpse Bug is very special. I suspect that the corpse worm is a Mythical Gu born inside the dragon corpse. When the time comes, even with the help of the phoenix divine bird, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy for us to subdue it. You mustn¡¯t be careless.¡±


    Following that, Gu Shanshui took out a self-made map and explained the details to Zhou Wen.


    There weren¡¯t many people who knew of the existence of the Corpse Bug. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t an easy task to lure it out. It required some special methods.


    Gu Shanshui explained his plan and means in detail so that Zhou Wen could help him when the time came.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, only the two of us know the secret of the Corpse Bug. You mustn¡¯t leak it out. Otherwise, others will definitely vie for it,¡± Gu Shanshui exhorted.


    ¡°Master Gu, don¡¯t worry. My mouth is sealed,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I won¡¯t disturb your rest any further, Mr. Zhou.¡± Gu Shanshui bade farewell and left.


    Zhou Wen continued grinding as the nine black dragons in the Zhuolu underground sea respawned. Zhou Wen farmed the nine dragons again.


    Due to his previous experience, the operation went very smoothly. After killing the black dragon with the Wu dragon pearl, the other eight black dragons immediately became disunited, allowing Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts to slaughter them.


    When he was slaughtering the sixth black dragon, Zhou Wen heard a chime as a black Companion Egg dropped.


    A Companion Egg! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he turned invisible and picked it up to check its stats.


    Demon Blood True Dragon (Kun): Mythical


    Life Providence: Demon Dragon Bloodline (Incomplete)


    Life Soul: Kun Dragon (Incomplete)


    Wheel of Destiny: Dragon Domain (Incomplete)


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Dragon Breath, Demon Dragon Transformation, Demon Dragon True Body, Dragon Wrath


    Companion Form: Dragon Scale Armor (Incomplete)


    Why are there so many incomplete traits? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel greatly disappointed when he saw the Demon Blood True Dragon. Its Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and Companion Form were all incomplete. Its stats were only 80.


    Could it be that I have to gather all nine black dragons to unleash the power of the Demon Blood True Dragon? Zhou Wen hatched the Demon Blood True Dragon and summoned it in its companion form.


    Although the Dragon Scale Armor was incomplete, it covered the blood-colored avatar¡¯s entire body. It was impossible to tell what was missing.


    Regardless, I finally have a Mythical armor. Zhou Wen looked at the black Dragon Scale Armor on the blood-colored avatar. It looked like its defense was pretty good.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the Dragon Scale Armor, he suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from the nearby corridor.


    ¡°Old Worm, are you sure you are up to the task?¡±


    ¡°Of course. This was an accident. The next time I take you there, I¡¯ll definitely be able to capture that Mythical Gu.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many times I¡¯ve heard that. Can¡¯t you say something new?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I have my own plans. You should have trust in your master.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that. You¡¯re not my master yet.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°I really wonder if you are from the Dugu family. What¡¯s so hard about capturing a Mythical Gu. If it wasn¡¯t for Mi¡¯er being so beautiful and not looking like a bad person, I would have suspected that you are a cheat.¡±


    Worm Dugu and Li Xuan? Zhou Wen listened carefully and immediately knew who the two people were.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly opened the door and walked out. Indeed, he saw Worm Dugu and Li Xuan talking as they walked, preparing to enter the room.


    ¡°Li Xuan,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly called out to him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen? Why are you here?¡± Li Xuan was surprised and delighted when he saw Zhou Wen. He ran over and wrapped his arm around Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder. ¡°As expected of my good brother. You came to me because you were worried after hearing that I had come to the South District, right?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t a chick. Why would I be worried? I came here because I had something to do in Chiang Rai. I didn¡¯t know you were here,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Brother, you need to work on your words. They hurt my young heart, do you get it?¡± Li Xuan held his chest with his hand as he wore a stifled expression of heartache.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and continued, ¡°Your brother is here.


    After Zhou Wen said that, he couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback.


    Originally, Li Mobai hadn¡¯t needed to come to Chiang Rai, but he had followed. Zhou Wen wondered if he knew that Li Xuan was there.


    However, after some thought, it didn¡¯t seem likely. No one knew where Li Xuan had gone with Worm Dugu.


    When Li Xuan heard that Li Mobai had come, the smile on his face vanished as his expression turned solemn.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    Zhou Wen recounted how Li Mobai had invited him to the Valley of No Return to find the Guardian cocoon. When Li Xuan heard that Li Mobai had failed to make a contract, his expression darkened.


    From the looks of it, he was still very concerned about Li Mobai transferring his Life Soul to him.


    ¡°By the way, there¡¯s something else I need to tell you.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to tell Li Xuan about Xia Jiuhuang. It was very likely that Li Xuan¡¯s eldest brother was Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s victim.


    Now that Xia Jiuhuang was dead, this matter had nothing to do with the Xia family. There was no need for Li Xuan to risk his life against the Xia family.


    ¡°Eldest disciple, have you thought it through and specially come to take me as your master?¡± Worm Dugu walked over and said with a smile as he sized up the chick on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Ahem, don¡¯t be shy. Li Xuan has already agreed to be my disciple. However, I handle matters in a very clear manner. I took a fancy to you first. You are my eldest disciple. This seniority cannot be messed up,¡± Worm Dugu said without a change in expression.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Worm Dugu, who had wanted to acknowledge him as his master, suddenly changed his attitude and turned hostile.


    ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense. I didn¡¯t agree to be your disciple. You have to beat me in a bet. Perhaps if you lose the bet, you will have to take me as your master in the future? When that happens, you will have to call Old Zhou Uncle-Master,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.

 Chapter 789 - Gu God’s Reincarnation

    Translator: CKtalon


    Worm Dugu beat him to it and said, ¡°I think Li Xuan¡¯s talent is passable, so I plan on taking him in as a disciple. You should also consider it. It¡¯s not too late to regret being my eldest disciple.¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately understood what was going on. Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul had fused with Li Mobai¡¯s Evil King Gu, so he had some Gu characteristics.


    Worm Dugu must have taken a fancy to this point, so he wanted to take Li Xuan in as his disciple.


    However, Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were good friends. Worm Dugu was afraid that Li Xuan would find it embarrassing if he knew that he wanted to acknowledge Zhou Wen as his master. Therefore, he refused to acknowledge him any further.


    ¡°Cut it out. I wonder who stood in front of Zhou Wen¡¯s dorm back then, claiming to be looking for his master.¡± Li Xuan curled his lips and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I, Li Xuan, am a man of my word. As long as you can beat me in a bet, I¡¯ll definitely acknowledge you as my master. However, if you lose¡­¡±


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Li Xuan already knew that Worm Dugu wanted to acknowledge him as his master.


    ¡°Stop. It¡¯s impossible for me to lose,¡± Worm Dugu immediately said.


    Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan what was going on and Li Xuan explained the situation in detail. Only then did Zhou Wen know why Worm Dugu had persuaded Li Xuan to come to the South District.


    After Zhou Wen left, Worm Dugu happened to bump into Li Xuan, who was taking something from Zhou Wen¡¯s place. The two sides had a verbal clash. Worm Dugu wanted to use his Gu to deal with Li Xuan, but his Gu didn¡¯t dare approach Li Xuan. This left Worm Dugu alarmed.


    1


    After many tests, Worm Dugu realized that Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul was the nemesis of Gu.


    Raising a phoenix was also to restrain Gu. As for Li Xuan himself, he could restrain all sorts of Gu. With such talent, Worm Dugu was tempted to make Li Xuan his disciple and learn how to rear Gu from him.


    Li Xuan obviously wasn¡¯t willing but Worm Dugu didn¡¯t give up. He showed Li Xuan the magical effects of many Gu and even said that he wanted to help Li Xuan capture Mythical Gu.


    Li Xuan was truly tempted when he saw the strange and magical abilities of the Gu. However, because Worm Dugu had wanted to take Zhou Wen as his master, Li Xuan wasn¡¯t too willing to be Worm Dugu¡¯s disciple. Therefore, he made a bet with Worm Dugu.


    If Worm Dugu could capture the famous Ice Silkworm Gu King, Li Xuan would agree to be his disciple and learn how to rear Gu from him. The Ice Silkworm Gu King would be Worm Dugu¡¯s greeting gift to his disciple.


    If Worm Dugu couldn¡¯t capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King, he would have to take Li Xuan as his master and teach him how to rear Gu.


    Regardless of the outcome, Li Xuan won¡¯t suffer a loss. For Worm Dugu to be willing to suffer such a huge loss, does he really think highly of Li Xuan, or does he have other motives? Zhou Wen thought to himself, momentarily unsure.


    ¡°If not for someone causing trouble, I would have long captured the Ice Silkworm Gu King and taken him in as a disciple,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    Li Xuan curled his lips and said disdainfully, ¡°If someone hadn¡¯t barged in and diverted the attention of the Ice Silkworm Gu King, we would probably have died there. To think you call yourself the number one expert in Gu rearing in the South District. How embarrassing.¡±


    Li Xuan recounted what had happened. Originally, Worm Dugu had taken Li Xuan to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King with the intention of using Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul to restrain the Ice Silkworm Gu King. With his abilities, he could capture it in one fell swoop.


    However, to their surprise, the Ice Silkworm King Gu wasn¡¯t just one, but two. Just as they were about to succeed in trapping one Ice Silkworm King Gu, another Ice Silkworm King Gu suddenly appeared, catching Worm Dugu off guard. The two of them nearly died there.


    Thankfully, at that time, there was a group of people who wanted to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King as well. They diverted the attention of one of the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings, allowing them to escape.


    ¡°Now, that group of people is still setting up a trap to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings. I think they have more tricks up their sleeves than this old man. I reckon they have most likely succeeded,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Bullsh*t. Do you think it¡¯s that easy to capture the Ice Silkworm King Gu? With those few useless bums from the Xiao family, they won¡¯t be able to capture the Ice Silkworm King Gu even if they were given another ten years. It¡¯s more like they will all die there,¡± Worm Dugu shouted as he jumped.


    ¡°The Xiao family? Which Xiao family?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he asked Worm Dugu.


    ¡°Which Xiao family could it be? Only in a small place like Chiang Rai can the Xiao family stand firm,¡± Worm Dugu said disdainfully.


    ¡°I heard that the Xiao family is very powerful. Not only are they good at nurturing Gu, but they also use black magic and Kuman Thong. The Xiao family also has a Mythical-level Kuman Thong¡­¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Worm Dugu seemed to view the Xiao family with great contempt. When he heard that, he pulled at his beard and said, ¡°There are many bigwigs who know black magic, Kuman Thong, and Buddha plaques in the South District. The Xiao family doesn¡¯t even rank high. They were able to gain a foothold in Companion Beast not because of their excellent techniques, but because they don¡¯t abide by the rules and are ruthless. Do you know how the Xiao family¡¯s Mythical Companion Beasts came about?¡±


    ¡°How did it come about?¡± Zhou Wen and Li Xuan looked curiously at Worm Dugu.


    ¡°More than twenty years ago, there was a family in Chiang Rai. The couple raised Gu and they were rather famous in the South District. They raised Gu, but they never harmed others with them. Later, the wife got pregnant. Ever since she got pregnant, wild Gu often appeared around her house. Those Gu only guarded outside her house, but not a single Gu entered. It was as if they were guarding something. The closer to the wife¡¯s delivery date, the more Gu appeared around her house. There were even Mythical Gu.¡±


    After taking a deep breath, Worm Dugu continued, ¡°Back then, everyone said that the child the wife was carrying was the reincarnation of the Gu God. That was why she attracted all the Gu to protect her. Although the Gu wouldn¡¯t harm them, they caused a lot of trouble for the neighbors nearby. Therefore, the couple had no choice but to move to a remote place to live. Not long after, someone discovered that the couple had died tragically at home. The wife¡¯s abdomen had been sliced open and the baby was nowhere to be seen.¡±


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan felt their blood run cold when they heard that. They heard Worm Dugu continue, ¡°Most people believe that the Gu harmed the couple and took away their child. However, a member of our Dugu family had a good relationship with the couple. According to him, the head of the Xiao family had a good relationship with the couple. When he went to meet the couple, he even met the head of the Xiao family. Furthermore, more than a year after the couple died, the Xiao family produced a powerful Kuman Thong. Furthermore, ever since then, the Xiao family, who originally only knew Kuman Thong and black magic, began to rear Gu. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too much of a coincidence?¡±


    ¡°It does sound like a coincidence, but it might not be related. Does your Dugu family have any evidence?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°If there was evidence, we would have wiped out the Xiao family long ago. How could we let them live until now? However, I think that the matter was most likely done by the Xiao family,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen felt that Worm Dugu¡¯s words made sense. Although he didn¡¯t know much about the Xiao family, he had seen Xiao Si before and knew how ruthless he was. He was definitely capable of such a thing.


    Wait a minute. The Xiao family wants Wang Chan. Don¡¯t tell me they want to use her to cultivate Kuman Thong? Zhou Wen hurriedly asked Worm Dugu. ¡°Do you need a baby to refine Kuman Thong? Can older people be refined into Kuman Thong?¡±


    ¡°Typically, children between the ages of 0 and 12 can be used to create Earth Babies and Man Babies. That was the method of the past, but the method now is even crueler.¡± Worm Dugu didn¡¯t elaborate.


    ¡°From 0 to 12 years old?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Wang Chan seemed to be around 11 or 12 years old. Furthermore, she had the Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence, making her extraordinary.

 Chapter 790 - Dragon Corpse River

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°If an eleven- or twelve-year-old child has already condensed a Life Providence and it¡¯s very special, will it be helpful in refining a Kuman Thong?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure about that. After all, I specialize in nurturing Gu, and I only know the basics regarding Kuman Thong. You should ask a professional,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen chatted with them for a while before bidding them farewell. He wanted to figure out if Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence would affect Kuman Thong.


    After knocking on the door of Gu Shanshui, Zhou Wen roughly recounted the matter, but he didn¡¯t mention the Xiao family or Wang Chan.


    ¡°Apart from Heaven Babies, Earth Babies and Man Babies are actually unorthodox. Typically, fetuses that die early or were aborted are used to make Earth Babies and Man Babies. This way, the resentment will be greater and the spirituality will be stronger. Babies that are born will have weaker spirituality as they grow older. The older they are, the more unsuitable they are as Kuman Thong. Twelve years old is the theoretical limit, but very few people would really use such an old child to make Kuman Thong. Unless the child is very special and possesses a special Life Providence, it can be used to make some special evil Kuman Thong or Kuman Nee¡­¡±


    After hearing Gu Shanhe¡¯s explanation, Zhou Wen was even more certain that the reason the Xiao family wanted Wang Chan was likely related to the refinement of Kuman Thong.


    If that¡¯s the case, this Xiao family really deserves death. Zhou Wen was somewhat furious.


    Zhou Wen planned on visiting the Xiao family after returning from the Dragon Corpse River to see if they really had such plans. If they really had such plans, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind helping Wang Chan eliminate future troubles. It was also considered returning a favor to Wang Lu.


    When Li Mobai returned, Zhou Wen told him that Li Xuan was also here. Li Mobai said indifferently that it had nothing to do with him before returning to his room.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen, Gu Shanshui, Li Mobai, and company headed to Dragon Corpse River. As for Li Xuan and Worm Dugu, they had to make some preparations before catching the Ice Silkworm Gu King.


    ¡°People without the ability should just stay at home and await death. Why do you have to come out and court death?¡± Li Mobai said coldly as Zhou Wen and company parted ways with Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t say a word as he left with Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. All he could do was pretend not to hear as he walked ahead with Gu Shanshui.


    The Dragon Corpse River got its name because of a dragon dying in the river.


    Before the dimensional storms, this was only a legend. No one had really seen a dragon corpse or dragon bones. However, after the dimensional storms, the Dragon Corpse River became a dimensional zone with many taboos.


    For example, after entering the Dragon Corpse River, one absolutely could not touch the water of the Dragon Corpse River. Otherwise, one would become a zombie.


    There was also the taboo of not being able to fly over Dragon Corpse River and not being able to drip blood in it. Also, women who were on their period could not enter the Dragon Corpse River.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen and company could only enter the Dragon Corpse River by boat. The boat they were on was purchased by Gu Shanshui from a nearby family. According to Gu Shanshui, the materials on the boat had been specially processed. Gu didn¡¯t like the smell of the wood on the boat and typically wouldn¡¯t approach it.


    ¡°Li, the Dragon Corpse River is very dangerous. Are you sure you want to join us?¡± Before boarding the ship, Gu Shanshui asked Li Mobai again.


    ¡°With Zhou Wen around, it won¡¯t be too dangerous. Just treat it as me broadening my horizons,¡± Li Mobai said with a smile.


    Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t say anything else and led everyone onto the boat. They left the riverbank and headed upstream of the Dragon Corpse River.


    The Dragon Corpse River wasn¡¯t very large, but the moment the ship left the riverbank, it felt extremely wide. Furthermore, there was a thick fog over the surface of the river. If it wasn¡¯t for someone with experience like Gu Shanshui, it would have been very easy to lose one¡¯s way in the fog.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to help Gu Shanshui row the boat, but Gu Shanshui told him that on the Dragon Corpse River, the eyes could be fooled. He needed to sense where the Corpse Bug was, so only he could row the boat himself.


    After the boat entered the fog, Gu Shanshui took out a container made of clay. He filled the container with river water before placing the container at the bow. Finally, he took out a Gu that looked like a loach and placed it inside.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to game in such a place. He kept his mind focused as Truth Listener constantly scanned his surroundings to prevent any possible danger.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to sense that there were many dimensional creatures swimming in the nearby waters. However, they didn¡¯t approach the wooden boat. It was unknown if it was thanks to the wooden boat or the Gu placed in the clay jar.


    1


    The wooden boat slowly rowed across the dark river. Zhou Wen and company abided by the Dragon Corpse River¡¯s taboos, so there wasn¡¯t any danger.


    As the wooden boat slowly sailed, Zhou Wen suddenly felt cold sweat drip down his back. A terrifying palpitation made his heart pound.


    With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen realized that at the bottom of the Dragon Corpse River, there seemed to be a huge shadow staring at them.


    Plop¡­ Plop¡­ The Gu in the clay jar suddenly jumped as though it had been startled, making Gu Shanshui¡¯s expression turn solemn.


    Gu Shanshui grabbed the Gu from the clay container and placed it into the river. The Gu swam desperately into the distance, but before it could swim far, it suddenly vanished, leaving only ripples on the river surface.


    When the Gu vanished, Gu Shanshui heaved a sigh of relief.


    The wooden boat slowly rowed, but the shadow at the bottom of the river was too huge. After rowing for more than ten minutes, the wooden boat still remained above the shadow, unable to row away from it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was tense. He didn¡¯t dare use Truth Listener to scan the shadow, afraid that he would alarm it. If the wooden boat were to capsize, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of his safety, but the others on the boat would probably die.


    Thankfully, the shadow didn¡¯t move. Ever since it ate the Gu, it had only been watching them from the bottom of the river. After rowing for more than half an hour, the wooden boat finally rowed out of the shadow¡¯s range.


    Zhou Wen secretly heaved a sigh of relief when the feeling of being watched vanished. I wonder what¡¯s at the bottom of the river? Could it really be a dragon? However, it feels different from the dragons I¡¯ve seen in the past. Its aura is completely different.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to cause trouble in such a place. It was naturally best if he didn¡¯t need to fight.


    After rowing for about four or five hours, a small island appeared on the river in front of them. The island was at most the size of a soccer field. On it was a small mountain that was less than a hundred meters tall. It was a typical volcano. In addition, large amounts of thick fog spewed out from the volcanic crater¡ªprobably the source of the thick fog over the river.


    ¡°There it is. The Corpse Bug is in the volcano. After we reach the mountain, I¡¯ll lure the Corpse Bug out. Mr. Zhou, please follow the plan.¡± Gu Shanshui steered the wooden boat to the bank and got everyone to the shore.


    Zhou Wen already knew of Gu Shanshui¡¯s plan. All he needed to do was wait by the side. After the Corpse Bug was lured out by Gu Shanshui, he would take action.


    Gu Shanshui got everyone to stay at the foot of the mountain. He only took Gu Lou and Gu He up the mountain. They practically crawled forward. When they arrived at the volcanic crater, they took out some small bottles that they had prepared. Every once in a while, they would pour a bottle of yellow liquid into the volcanic crater.


    Zhou Wen had heard from Gu Shanshui that the liquid was called Corpse Oil. It was extracted from corpses. Only by using it could one lure the Corpse Bug out of the volcano.


    This was something that required extreme patience. After seven to eight hours and pouring more than a hundred bottles of Corpse Oil, there was finally movement inside the volcano.

 Chapter 791 - Battling the Corpse Bug

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen and company heard the splattering sounds coming from the volcanic crater.


    After Gu Shanshui and company heard the sound, they slowly retreated from the volcanic crater. As they retreated, they poured Corpse Oil on the ground, forming a thin line.


    Soon, the trio retreated and hid behind the rocks with Zhou Wen and company.


    A commotion at the volcanic crater soon happened as a bug crawled out.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a horned beetle?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the bug from afar and saw that it looked like a horned beetle. It had a black carapace and a split horn on its head.


    The worm crawled out bit by bit and crawled down towards the Corpse Oil, licking it clean.


    Seeing the bug slowly climb down, Gu Shanshui¡¯s expression turned solemn. Gu Lou and Gu He also looked very nervous.


    Gu Shanshui looked at Zhou Wen who nodded slightly. In response, Gu Shanshui took out a metal container. It looked like a furnace and also like a tripod. It was an unknown item.


    While the Corpse Bug was still licking the Corpse Oil, Gu Shanshui placed the metal container in a crack in the rocks. Then, he poured in dozens of bottles of Corpse Oil, almost filling the metal container.


    The smell of the Corpse Oil immediately attracted the attention of the bug. It spread its translucent wings and flew towards the metal container.


    It landed on the edge of the metal container and extended its head to suck the Corpse Oil inside.


    The container was a little deep. After the bug finished half of it, it couldn¡¯t reach the Corpse Oil below. All it could do was crawl into the container.


    ¡°Now.¡± Gu Shanshui immediately gestured for Zhou Wen to take action as he ran towards the metal container.


    Zhou Wen got the chick to fly over and land on the edge of the container.


    When the Corpse Bug saw the chick, it wasn¡¯t as afraid as ordinary Gu. It immediately bared its fangs and brandished its claws to confront the chick. However, it could be seen that it was still somewhat afraid of the chick and didn¡¯t immediately charge out from the inside.


    While it was hesitating, Gu Shanshui had already rushed to the metal container. He held the lid in one hand and sprinkled some unknown powder into the container with the other. Then, he covered the container with a click.


    Gu Shanshui pressed down on the metal container with one hand and wrapped a red rope around it with the other, trying to tie it up.


    The metal container suddenly shook violently. Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to help him hold down the lid.


    With Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s help, the metal container immediately stopped shaking. However, there were continuous clangs coming from inside.


    Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t care much. He wrapped a red rope around the metal container several times.


    According to Gu Shanshui¡¯s plan, he had already trapped the Corpse Bug. All he needed to do was bring it back and slowly tame it.


    However, to his surprise, there was a cracking sound coming from the metal container. Gu Shanshui¡¯s expression changed drastically as he knew that something was amiss. He immediately stopped and threw the metal container out.


    The metal container exploded in midair, and the red string snapped inch by inch. The Corpse Bug flew out and bared its fangs and brandished its claws. It opened its mouth and spat out a mouthful of thick fog that swept towards Gu Shanshui.


    ¡°Quickly retreat. That¡¯s corpse fog,¡± Gu Shanshui shouted and quickly retreated. At the same time, he summoned dozens of strange Gu.


    After the Gu came out, they tried their best to absorb the corpse fog, but they died after absorbing a little.


    The chick let out a strange cry and spat out a mouthful of golden flames. When the golden flames met the corpse fog, the corpse fog immediately burned and was reduced to nothing.


    The chick also charged at the Corpse Bug and pecked at it.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the Corpse Bug was even faster than the chick. With a flap of its wings, its horn slammed into the chick, sending it flying. The chick landed on the ground and rolled far away before stopping.


    Ever since it was born, the chick had never suffered such a huge loss. It flew up as though it was enraged. It spat out large amounts of golden flames at the Corpse Bug, wanting to burn it to death.


    The Corpse Bug seemed to be a little afraid of the golden flames. It didn¡¯t dare touch them as it flapped its wings to dodge the golden flames and flew towards the retreating Gu Shanshui.


    From the looks of it, the Corpse Bug¡¯s intelligence wasn¡¯t low. It knew the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.


    Gu Shanshui hurriedly summoned his Gu to face the Corpse Bug, but when his Gu touched the Corpse Bug¡¯s corpse fog, they immediately fell to the ground and died twitching. His efforts were futile.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side and realized that the corpse fog spewed out by the Corpse Bug wasn¡¯t a poisonous fog, but a mass of bacteria or viruses.


    Once the bacteria and virus entered the Gu¡¯s bodies, even the Gu couldn¡¯t take it and quickly died.


    Those bacterial viruses should also be considered Gu, right? This Corpse Bug is basically a parent body of Gu. Just a mouthful of mist from it contains a massive number of Gu. Apart from the chick¡¯s flames that can restrain it, it¡¯s really difficult for others to deal with it. Zhou Wen saw the chick fly over and spew out golden flames that burned the corpse fog away.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let Tyrant Behemoth charge forward. Although Tyrant Behemoth was very powerful, it was too huge. No one knew what would happen if it inhaled the bacteria in the corpse fog.


    Corpse Bug was the first Gu that dared to fight the chick, but it was still very afraid of the chick¡¯s golden flames. It didn¡¯t dare to be touched by the golden flames. It used its speed to constantly change its position, wanting to rush over and bite the chick.


    The chick wasn¡¯t as fast as it was, but its flight trajectory was very strange. Zhou Wen watched for a while before his eyes widened. This fellow¡¯s flight trajectory looked like his Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Damn it. A bird actually learned my Transcendent Flying Immortal movement technique? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    The chick used Transcendent Flying Immortal and was actually on par with the Corpse Bug. Its golden flames failed to hit the Corpse Bug, and the Corpse Bug failed to touch it.


    ¡°Master Gu, do you have a Plan B?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gu Shanshui while the Corpse Bug was fighting the chick.


    He had many Companion Beasts on him, so it wasn¡¯t impossible for them to kill the Corpse Bug. However, it was meaningless for him to kill it since Gu Shanshui wanted it alive.


    ¡°Even the Gu flask made of Pure Essence Gold and the Blood Thread Rope made from Blood Thread Gu can¡¯t trap it. It¡¯s useless even if I have a way to lure it over.¡± Gu Shanshui shook his head and smiled bitterly.


    Upon hearing those words, Zhou Wen recalled something. He took out the calabash and handed it to Gu Shanshui. ¡°Try and see if you can use this to trap the Corpse Bug.¡±


    Gu Shanshui knew the origins of the calabash and was overjoyed when he saw it. However, he couldn¡¯t find any holes despite flipping the calabash around.

 Chapter 792 - Encountering Danger

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Inject your Essence Energy into it and it will automatically open a hole. However, it doesn¡¯t seem to have the ability to control Gu. You must think of a way to get the Gu inside,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Gu Shanshui gave it a try. Indeed, as long as he injected Essence Energy, a gray fog would appear at the top of the calabash, allowing him to put things through the gray fog.


    Holding the calabash, Gu Shanshui gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Then we can only risk it.¡±


    Gu Shanshui summoned his Golden Child Life Soul and got him to rush at the Corpse Bug with the calabash.


    When the Corpse Bug saw the Golden Child, it was like a bee seeing honey. It abandoned the chick and rushed towards the Golden Child as if it wanted to devour him.


    Zhou Wen was greatly surprised. He didn¡¯t know that the Golden Child Life Soul was that attractive to the Corpse Bug.


    Golden Child could also use Essence Energy. It injected its Essence Energy into the calabash and took the opportunity when the Corpse Bug rushed over to store it inside the calabash.


    Unfortunately, Golden Child was only an Epic Life Soul. Its speed was much slower than the Corpse Bug. Just as the Corpse Bug¡¯s figure flashed, it circled around the calabash and charged at Golden Child¡¯s head.


    ¡°No good!¡± Gu Shanshui¡¯s expression changed drastically. If his Life Soul was destroyed, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to condense another Life Soul.


    In particular, his Golden Child Life Soul was also a type of Kuman Thong. However, his was a Heaven Baby and not an unorthodox Earth Baby or Man Baby. It was very rare.


    Just as the Corpse Bug was about to slam into the Golden Child¡¯s head, a bamboo suddenly slammed into the calabash, tipping the calabash¡¯s mouth. It happened to hit the Corpse Bug, causing it to vanish and be stored in the calabash.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and retracted the sheathed Bamboo Blade.


    Gu Shanshui was overjoyed as he hurriedly got Golden Child to withdraw his Essence Energy. The gray fog on the calabash vanished without a trace.


    A faint sound of a collision came from the calabash. It was likely that the worm had slammed into the calabash and wanted to rush out. However, it didn¡¯t seem to show any effects against the calabash.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, it¡¯s all thanks to you that I was able to catch the Corpse Bug. I really don¡¯t know how to thank you,¡± Gu Shanshui said excitedly.


    ¡°I¡¯m just fulfilling my previous promise. Master Gu, don¡¯t take it to heart. However, you still have to think of a way to find a container when we return. I still have other uses for this calabash,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll think of a way to resolve it when we get back,¡± Gu Shanshui said hurriedly.


    ¡°Congratulations on fulfilling your wish, Master Gu.¡± Li Mobai walked over with Butterfly and Mute, congratulating Gu Shanshui on finally catching the Corpse Bug.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to you and Mr. Zhou.¡± Gu Shanshui was very happy, but he wasn¡¯t blinded by his emotions. ¡°Let¡¯s leave Dragon Corpse River now. It¡¯s not safe here.¡±


    Everyone pushed the wooden boat down the river and rowed back the way they came.


    Not long after, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Previously, when they had come, the Gu in the Dragon Corpse River didn¡¯t get too close to the wooden ship. However, when they returned, the nearby Gu slowly approached the wooden boat.


    Furthermore, there were more and more of them. If the chick wasn¡¯t on the boat, they would have long charged forward.


    ¡°Master Gu, something seems amiss,¡± Zhou Wen said to Gu Shanshui.


    Gu Shanshui had also noticed the abnormality. He nodded with a heavy expression and said, ¡°It looks like the Gu in Dragon Corpse River are gathering because of the Corpse Bug. However, they don¡¯t dare approach because of the divine bird. But¡­¡±


    With that said, Gu Shanshui paused before continuing, ¡°However, there might be a terrifying creature in Dragon Corpse River. If it is affected like these Gu, even the aura of the divine bird might not be able to intimidate it. When that happens, we will be in big trouble.¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately thought of the huge shadow at the bottom of the river when they came.


    ¡°Is there any other solution?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Gu Shanshui shook his head slightly. ¡°Even the calabash and wooden boat can¡¯t block the signal emitted by the Corpse Bug. I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no good solution.¡±


    After some hesitation, Gu Shanshui said, ¡°If it really doesn¡¯t work, I¡¯ll return the Corpse Bug.¡±


    Gu Lou and Gu He were alarmed as they hurriedly said, ¡°Master Gu, you can¡¯t. You finally caught the Corpse Bug after so much difficulty. This Corpse Bug is too important to you. You shouldn¡¯t let it go so easily. Perhaps Dragon Corpse River doesn¡¯t have that terrifying creature, or perhaps that creature isn¡¯t affected by the Corpse Bug at all¡­¡±


    Gu Shanshui shook his head and sighed. ¡°I never expected the Corpse Bug to be able to trigger the Gu in Dragon Corpse River. Rearing a Corpse Bug is indeed my wish, but I can¡¯t gamble the lives of so many of us. If we were on land, we could still think of a solution, but now, we are on Dragon Corpse River. There are too many taboos here. Once that creature appears, we will definitely die.¡±


    With that said, Gu Shanshui prepared to open the calabash and release the Corpse Bug.


    Zhou Wen suddenly said, ¡°Master Gu, even if you release the Corpse Bug now, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be able to quell the agitation of the Gu in Dragon Corpse River. We¡¯ve already captured the Corpse Bug. With its intelligence and personality, do you think it will let us leave Dragon Corpse River safely even if we release it?¡±


    Gu Shanshui said with a bitter smile, ¡°I also know that Gu are the most vengeful, but what else can we do?¡±


    Li Mobai said, ¡°Master Gu, I think Zhou Wen is right. Since Gu bear grudges, it¡¯s impossible to avoid its revenge whether we release it or not. Why don¡¯t we leave it as a hostage¡­ Perhaps there¡¯s a chance of leaving Dragon Corpse River.¡±


    Gu Shanshui gritted his teeth. ¡°Now that things have come to this, I can only take a gamble. I didn¡¯t think things through properly this time, so I made everyone suffer with me. If I don¡¯t die today, I¡¯ll make amends to everyone in the future.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about those things in the future. Let¡¯s do some preparatory work first. Even if there are creatures in Dragon Corpse River that even the divine bird can¡¯t stop, we won¡¯t be sitting back and doing nothing,¡± Li Mobai said.


    They discussed things for a while and began making preparations.


    Unfortunately, the range of their activity was limited to the wooden boat. They couldn¡¯t leave the wooden boat and fly into the sky, nor could they touch the water. They couldn¡¯t even be injured. This was too restrictive for them.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the Primordial Spore. He got it to enter the water to probe the situation. No matter how powerful the Gu in the water were, it was difficult to discover such minute Companion Beasts.


    After the Primordial Spore entered the water, it followed Zhou Wen¡¯s instructions and dived forward.


    Everyone did everything they could to ensure that the wooden boat continued forward. More and more Gu gathered in the surrounding waters, and they were getting closer and closer to the wooden boat. They could see the churning water in the distance with their naked eyes. There were all sorts of Gu around them, squeezed together. It was strange and nauseating.


    And under Zhou Wen¡¯s observation, there was a huge shadow at the bottom of the river approaching the wooden boat.

 Chapter 793 - Dragon King Gu

    Translator: CKtalon


    Gu Shanshui¡¯s fears came to live. The huge shadow slowly rose from the bottom of the river.


    Due to its arrival, the Gu that were crowding around the wooden boat scrambled to escape and quickly disappeared. The originally calm river surface also had burgeoning layers of waves appear.


    With such obvious signs, Li Mobai, Gu Shanshui, and company clearly realized the seriousness of the problem. They stared at the river with heavy expressions.


    Splash!


    A huge wave pushed the wooden boat to the side. If Gu Shanshui hadn¡¯t tried his best to control it, the wooden boat would have capsized.


    Li Mobai, Butterfly, and company used their Companion Beasts to block the river water that splashed into the wooden boat. They ensured that the people on the wooden boat wouldn¡¯t be drenched by the river water or have the river water fill the boat.


    But soon, everyone¡¯s eyes were attracted by the scene in front of them. They saw a huge body extend out of the river, staring at them like a god. In front of it, the humans and even the wooden boat were as tiny as ants.


    Although most of its body was still in the river, preventing one from seeing its full appearance, just the exposed parts were shocking enough.


    It was a dragon, but it wasn¡¯t completely one. It had the appearance of a dragon, but its body wasn¡¯t made of flesh and blood. It didn¡¯t have dragon scales or flesh. It looked like a dragon condensed from coral, making it dazzling and strange.


    Zhou Wen had seen many dragons¡ªthe white dragon in Old Dragon Cave, the black dragon in the underground sea, Torch Dragon in Torch Dragon temple, and even the western dragons.


    However, no dragon could be as strange and beautiful as the dragon in front of him.


    The coral-like body¡¯s colors changed according to its emotions. It was sometimes as white as jade, sometimes as red as blood, and sometimes rainbow-colored. It was like a huge piece of art.


    ¡°Could¡­ Could this be the legendary Dragon King Gu¡­ Heavens¡­ There¡¯s no dragon corpse in the Dragon Corpse River¡­ There¡¯s actually a Dragon King Gu¡­¡± Gu Shanshui¡¯s eyes widened as he stared at the gorgeous and terrifying creature in front of him and cried out involuntarily.


    Gu Lou and Gu He were even worse off. They collapsed on the boat and even prostrated themselves before the Dragon King Gu.


    A person like Zhou Wen who didn¡¯t rear Gu might not understand what the Dragon King Gu meant to people who reared them, but Gu Shanshui and company had already lost their fighting spirit from fear. They were like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.


    Legend had it that phoenixes were the nemesis of Gu, while dragons produced all the Gu in the world.


    Some regions treated dragons as gods. If humans angered the gods, they would mete down punishment with diseases, plagues, and other disasters.


    These disasters were actually caused by Gu, and Gu were living beings that parasitized the Dragon God. They would punish humans who did wrong in the Dragon God¡¯s stead.


    From the point of view of modern humans, Gu were parasites on the Dragon God.


    Of course, this was only a legend in a certain region. It was unknown if it was true.


    However, in the legends of these regions, if the parasites on the Dragon God¡¯s body were extremely powerful, they could turn the situation around, transforming the Dragon God into Gu, then it would form the legendary King of Gu, Dragon King Gu.


    This was actually just a local legend. No one had seen a Dragon King Gu before. Even in this era, no one believed that the Gu could really turn the situation and transform the Dragon God into a Gu.


    However, this lifeform in front of them undoubtedly possessed the characteristics of dragons and Gu.


    It looked like a divine dragon and had a terrifying dragon might, but its body was similar to the structure of coral.


    As for the coral itself, it was condensed from many coral worms. The creature in front of them could also be seen as a fusion of countless Gu.


    These characteristics were extremely similar to the legendary Dragon King Gu.


    Furthermore, ever since this creature, suspected to be the Dragon King Gu, appeared, the Gu on Gu Shanshui, Gu Lou, and Gu He¡¯s bodies began trembling. They could no longer move. It was even more terrifying than the chick¡¯s suppression.


    To people who raised Gu, this was undoubtedly fatal.


    The chick stood at the bow and chirped at the Dragon King Gu. It looked extremely ferocious, but Zhou Wen, who knew the chick very well, could tell that it was lacking confidence.


    Otherwise, with the chick¡¯s personality, it would have spat out phoenix flames and burned the creature in front of it.


    The Dragon King Gu stared coldly at the chick and Zhou Wen. It clearly wasn¡¯t as afraid of the chick as the other Gu. It didn¡¯t even treat the chick as a threat.


    Although the chick had the phoenix bloodline, it had yet to fully mature. It could restrain ordinary Gu, but an existence like the Dragon King Gu was not something the chick could match.


    Zhou Wen noticed that the Dragon King Gu¡¯s gaze was constantly staring at the calabash containing the Corpse Bug. Clearly, it had been attracted by the Corpse Bug.


    Gu Shanshui picked up the calabash with trembling hands and offered it to the Dragon King Gu. As a person who nurtured Gu, no one dared to resist the Dragon King Gu because it was the supreme god in his heart.


    With a flash, Zhou Wen arrived at the bow and took the calabash from Gu Shanshui. He held it in his hand and looked at the Dragon King Gu.


    As he was not a Gu-rearing professional, he did not fear the Dragon King Gu. Furthermore, even if he handed over the Corpse Bug in the calabash, the Dragon King Gu might not let them off.


    Roar! The Dragon King Gu seemed to be infuriated by Zhou Wen¡¯s actions as it let out a strange roar.


    Unlike the dragon¡¯s roar that Zhou Wen had heard before, the Dragon King Gu¡¯s voice was very strange. It had a strange resonance.


    Amidst the roar of the Dragon King Gu, Gu Shanshui and company revealed looks of pain. They wrapped their heads with their hands as though bugs were biting at their brains.


    Zhou Wen also felt as though an extremely tiny creature had drilled into his ears and was about to invade his brain.


    ¡°This is a Sound Gu that uses sound¡­ Quickly block your ears¡­ Don¡¯t listen to that sound¡­¡± Gu Shanshui shouted in pain.


    In fact, under the effects of Truth Listener and Supreme Hell King Life Soul, Zhou Wen had already discovered the Sound Gu hidden in the sound waves. He used the Supreme Hell King Life Soul¡¯s control over his body to seal his hearing and bar the Sound Gu from entry.


    ¡°I know you can understand me. Let us leave the Dragon Corpse River and we¡¯ll return the Corpse Bug inside to you. If one of us dies, I¡¯ll reduce it to ashes,¡± Zhou Wen said to the Dragon King Gu as he raised the calabash in his hand.


    The Dragon King Gu was enraged as it spat out dragon breath at Zhou Wen.


    The dragon breath was like a tidal wave that looked extremely terrifying.


    The chick opened its mouth and spewed out golden flames. When the golden flames came into contact with the dragon breath, although a portion of the dragon breath was burned away, it was suppressed by the dragon breath. The dragon breath was about to blanket the wooden boat.


    Gu Shanshui, Gu Lou, and Gu He¡¯s faces were ashen. They didn¡¯t dare resist at all. Although Li Mobai, Butterfly, and Mute had tried their best to block the dragon breath, their efforts were in vain. Their expressions turned ugly.

 Chapter 794 - Tai Sui’s Might

    Translator: CKtalon


    Suddenly, the white chick on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder flapped its wings and flew in front of the dragon breath. It opened its mouth and sucked in the dragon breath. The dragon breath that filled the sky was sucked into the white chick¡¯s mouth, leaving nothing behind.


    Gu Shanshui, Butterfly, and company looked at the white chick in a daze. They knew how powerful the chick was and guessed that it was a phoenix descendant.


    However, the white-chick form that Tai Sui took on didn¡¯t appear too conspicuous. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t look like a fire-elemental creature. It couldn¡¯t be a descendant of a phoenix.


    Furthermore, phoenixes were rare. One was extremely lucky to have one. It was hard to imagine that a person could have two phoenixes.


    In addition, Tai Sui usually seemed to be in a daze and didn¡¯t move much. Most of the time, it stood motionless on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder. They didn¡¯t pay much attention to the silly white chick, believing that it was only an ordinary Companion Beast at the Epic stage.


    However, to their surprise, Tai Sui opened its mouth and swallowed the dragon breath of the Dragon King Gu, as though nothing had happened. They were pleasantly surprised.


    Although Tai Sui was powerful, it wasn¡¯t really invincible. The main thing was that the dragon breath of the Dragon King Gu was different from real dragon breath.


    The dragon breath of the Dragon King Gu was somewhat similar to the corpse fog of the Corpse Bug. It was formed from a large number of miniature Gu, and Tai Sui was the nemesis of these things.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just the dragon breath. Even the Dragon King Gu itself was a complicated microscopic agglomerate. To Tai Sui, the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body was a feast.


    Tai Sui flapped its wings and charged at the Dragon King Gu. The Dragon King Gu clearly didn¡¯t know how powerful Tai Sui was. It opened its mouth and swallowed Tai Sui who was flying towards it.


    Everyone was alarmed. They originally thought that the white bird could fight the Dragon King Gu, but to their surprise, it was swallowed in one mouthful.


    The Dragon King Gu was the king of all Gu. Its body contained all kinds of microscopic Gu. If one was swallowed by it, they would be invaded by large numbers of Gu. Even a Mythical creature might not be able to withstand it.


    But at that moment, Gu Shanshui and company suddenly saw the Dragon King Gu roar at the sky as though it was in extreme pain. Then, they saw a small hole appear in its abdomen. Tai Sui crawled out and pecked at the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body.


    The Dragon King Gu¡¯s body was filled with Gu. Ignoring the fact that it had just been eaten, ordinary creatures would be parasitized by the Gu just by touching it. Even Mythical creatures would probably die tragically.


    The white bird¡¯s casual pecking at the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body was unbelievable.


    ¡°Is that really the Dragon King Gu? It can¡¯t be fake, right?¡± Gu Lou had a look of doubt. How could the legendary king of innumerable Gu, Dragon King Gu, be casually eaten by a small white chick?


    Tai Sui circled around the Dragon King Gu and pecked at it, leaving holes in its body.


    The Dragon King Gu released terrifying dragon breaths and might, but they were useless against Tai Sui. Tai Sui was the nemesis of microscopic creatures. Even Tyrant Behemoth might be parasitized by the Gu on the Dragon King Gu. Even Torch Dragon found it difficult to withstand the Dragon King Gu¡¯s power. After all, the Dragon King Gu was transformed from a Gu that devoured a true dragon. It was naturally effective against dragons.


    Tai Sui happened to be the nemesis of the Dragon King Gu. No matter how powerful the Dragon King Gu was, it was still pecked by Tai Sui.


    Gu Shanshui and the rest watched in a daze as the Dragon King Gu was eaten by the small white chick. In the end, it escaped into the water and tore through the bottom of the river. The legendary king of innumerable Gu had actually escaped just like that.


    Tai Sui¡¯s body swelled up as it couldn¡¯t eat any more. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t fast, so it couldn¡¯t catch up to the Dragon King Gu underwater. It flew back and landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    Gu Shanshui and company looked at Tai Sui on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder in surprise. They originally imagined that the chick with the phoenix bloodline was already a god-like existence, but they never expected the nameless, white chick which definitely wasn¡¯t a phoenix was even more terrifying. Even the Dragon King Gu could only be trampled by it. It even fled in such a sorry state. It was unbelievable.


    Unlike the chick, although Tai Sui looked similar to the chick, it didn¡¯t have the aura or ability of a phoenix. Gu Shanshui and Li Mobai couldn¡¯t deduce its origins.


    Zhou Wen handed the calabash back to Gu Shanshui. ¡°Master Gu, let¡¯s leave this place now.¡±


    Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t reach out to take the calabash. ¡°Mr. Zhou, if it weren¡¯t for you, we wouldn¡¯t even be alive. How would I have the nerve to take this Corpse Bug? It¡¯s best you keep it.¡±


    Zhou Wen said with a smile, ¡°I don¡¯t know how to tame Gu. What¡¯s the point of keeping it? Master Gu, if you feel apologetic, teach me a few Gu nurturing techniques when we return.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, it¡¯s my honor that you are willing to learn how to rear Gu from me. I will definitely teach you everything and not hide anything,¡± Gu Shanshui said seriously.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we get back. This isn¡¯t a place to talk,¡± Zhou Wen said as he handed the calabash to Gu Shanshui.


    Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t decline. After carefully putting away the calabash, he steered the boat towards the exit of Dragon Corpse River.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction the Dragon King Gu had vanished with a strange look in his eyes.


    If not for Tai Sui, even with a Mythical Companion Beast, defeating the Dragon King Gu wouldn¡¯t be easy. Furthermore, it was very likely that they would be parasitized by the Gu before the battle began.


    However, even Tai Sui only managed to injure the Dragon King Gu. The energy contained in its body was too immense. Tai Sui couldn¡¯t digest it all.


    What caught Zhou Wen¡¯s attention was that the Primordial Spore that he had placed in the river had taken the opportunity to enter the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body, as though it wanted to parasitize it.


    However, Zhou Wen could sense that the Primordial Spore had yet to succeed. Now that it had been taken away by the Dragon King Gu, Zhou Wen could only sense that the Primordial Spore was still alive due to the distance. The connection between them had become very weak. He didn¡¯t know how the Primordial Spore was doing in the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body.


    If I can successfully parasitize it and take the Dragon King Gu for my own, I¡¯ll have nothing to be afraid of in the South District, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too worried about the safety of the Primordial Spore. It had an Eternal Immortality Life Providence, so killing it wasn¡¯t an easy task.


    However, it would take a long time to parasitize a Mythical creature. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait for it in Dragon Corpse River, so he could only leave.


    Without the threat of the Dragon King Gu, the other Gu were afraid of the chick, so none of them dared to rush over. The group successfully left Dragon Corpse River.


    Zhou Wen could also sense the existence of Primordial Spore outside Dragon Corpse River. Although the connection was very weak, it was enough to determine whether Primordial Spore was still alive and its location.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any tiny palm symbols along the way and couldn¡¯t help but find it a pity. The Dragon Corpse River had no fewer Gu than the Valley of No Return. If he could download it into a game dungeon, it would be a good place to grind. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol.

 Chapter 795 - Discovered

    Translator: CKtalon


    After returning to Chiang Rai, he didn¡¯t see Li Xuan and Worm Dugu. Presumably, the two of them had yet to return from the Ice Silkworm Gu King¡¯s place.


    Gu Shanshui wanted to think of a way to get a container to rear the Corpse Bug. Therefore, he returned to Mong Hsat overnight.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t follow Gu Shanshui to Mong Hsat. He decided to get the calabash back at Mong Hsat in a few days.


    He chose to stay because he wanted to visit the Xiao family and figure out the matter between Xiao Si and Wang Chan.


    Li Mobai also planned on staying in Chiang Rai for a few more days before heading off with Zhou Wen to Mong Hsat.


    That night, Zhou Wen used the Invisibility Cloak and headed for the Xiao family. He planned on infiltrating the family to see if he could find out anything.


    The Xiao family lived in an exotic manor. Before he arrived, Zhou Wen realized a problem. There were many Gu lurking in the grass on both sides of the road. If it wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen¡¯s Supreme Hell King Life Soul and Truth Listener¡¯s ability, heightening Zhou Wen¡¯s senses, it would be difficult for ordinary people to discover the Gu.


    The Xiao family sure is careful. They even planted Gu outside the manor. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about Gu, so he didn¡¯t know which Gu relied on smell to distinguish the enemy or sound. Therefore, he flew into the manor from the sky to avoid alerting the Gu.


    However, after entering the manor, Zhou Wen realized that although the manor¡¯s layout was very dense, this was only the periphery of the Xiao family. Behind the manor was a valley which was a dimensional zone. The Xiao family¡¯s true headquarters was built in a dimensional zone.


    Using Truth Listener¡¯s ability to constantly scan the area, he found the various hidden mechanisms and traps of the Xiao family.


    With the Xiao family¡¯s guards guarding the entrance to the dimensional zone, that was secondary. It was impossible for four Legendary humans to see through Zhou Wen¡¯s invisibility.


    What caught Zhou Wen¡¯s attention was that there was a statue at the entrance of the dimensional zone. The statue looked very odd. It was a Buddha statue, but it was different from the Buddha statue Zhou Wen had seen in Dragon Gate Grotto. Not only did it look ferocious and terrifying, but it also had a vertical eye at its glabella and a strange fork in its hand.


    Zhou Wen had never seen such a Buddha statue before, but the statue¡¯s carvings were similar to the ones used in Buddhism. A Buddhistic glow was engraved on its back.


    Zhou Wen could vaguely sense an aura similar to a Gu Mantong from the Buddha statue.


    The Spirit Body¡¯s vision is somewhat different from humans. It¡¯s not just about the form. It¡¯s probably impossible to fool that Buddha statue with ordinary invisibility. Zhou Wen decided to activate the Wheel of Destiny of the Invisibility Cloak and completely conceal his body before entering the dimensional zone.


    As expected, the guards and Buddha statues didn¡¯t notice him and Zhou Wen successfully entered the valley. The moment he entered, he found it difficult to breathe as though there was no oxygen in the valley.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any Gu and immediately knew that it was the taboo power of this dimensional zone. He had to switch to the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and immediately, the suffocating feeling vanished.


    Although he didn¡¯t have the keen senses of the Supreme Hell King, it didn¡¯t make a difference with Truth Listener around. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan the entire valley before quickly moving in.


    As the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Wheel of Destiny only had three minutes, he had to figure out the situation in the dimensional zone in those three minutes.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that such a valley would have all sorts of Gu, but in fact, there weren¡¯t any. There was only one temple in the valley, but the style was very different from the one in Luoyang. It was obvious that it was the local style of Chiang Rai.


    There was no one outside the temple, but there were many people inside. They were likely members of the Xiao family. Some were practicing their techniques, while others were directing Gu. It was rather lively.


    When Zhou Wen entered the temple¡¯s yard, he felt that there was no reaction from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. He knew that there was no taboo power here.


    As they trusted the guards outside the manor and the taboo power in the valley, the temple¡¯s internal defenses weren¡¯t as strict. Zhou Wen looked inside and realized that the deities in the temple hall weren¡¯t the Buddhist eminences he was familiar with. Instead, they were dolls of all shapes and sizes.


    Are all the ones consecrated here Kuman Thong and Kuman Nee? Zhou Wen scanned the area and saw many dolls in the shapes of boys and girls. He roughly knew what they were.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in them and he rushed straight to the backyard. He didn¡¯t have much time left. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of being exposed, it would be impossible for him to eavesdrop if he was.


    The temple was rather large and there were quite a number of courtyards inside. Each courtyard had different Kuman Thong, making it look sinister and terrifying.


    Zhou Wen had always felt that these religious buildings weren¡¯t aesthetically pleasing. Regardless of the religion, they gave him an uneasy feeling.


    Along the way, he encountered quite a number of people from the Xiao family, but they didn¡¯t say anything that piqued Zhou Wen¡¯s interest. Seeing that the three minutes were up, Zhou Wen realized that there wasn¡¯t anyone in the nearby yard, so he decided to enter the yard first.


    After entering the yard, the three minutes of invisibility ended. Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak and could only achieve the effects of visual invisibility. His body didn¡¯t vanish completely.


    Thankfully, there weren¡¯t many people here. The yard wasn¡¯t big, and there was only a temple hall inside. The door was open, and strangely, there was a black cloth hanging in front of the door.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan the interior and realized that the tiny temple hall was eerie and terrifying. The decorations inside were very simple. There was a wooden table with a Kuman Thong on it.


    The Kuman Thong was jade-like and curled into a ball. There was a crystal container outside, and the yellow liquid inside wrapped around the Kuman Thong. Zhou Wen now had a vague idea that it was Corpse Oil.


    Seeing that there was nothing inside, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t enter. Just as he was about to continue searching the temple, he suddenly saw a girl standing in front of him.


    The girl didn¡¯t look too old. She was at most eighteen or nineteen years old. She wore strange clothes and looked rather delicate, but for some reason, she had a sinister look as she stared coldly at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt his hair stand on end when the girl stared at him.


    She can see me? Zhou Wen was thinking of how to deal with such a situation.


    The other party was only a girl whom he had no grudges with. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bring himself to draw his saber to kill her.


    However, the girl was strange. She only stared coldly at Zhou Wen without shouting or screaming.


    Could it be that she didn¡¯t see me? Zhou Wen was suspicious as he attempted to take two steps to the left.


    The girl¡¯s pupils moved to the left as he moved. Zhou Wen took a few steps to the right and the girl¡¯s pupils shifted to the right again. She kept staring at him, clearly able to see the invisible Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 796 - Strange Girl

    Translator: CKtalon


    The girl kept looking at Zhou Wen, but she didn¡¯t shout or scream. Neither did she look flustered.


    This left Zhou Wen in a dilemma. If the girl had shown a hostile stance or screamed, he would have long taken action to put her down.


    However, with her looking at him without making a fuss, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for Zhou Wen to attack.


    There are so many people in the Xiao family that the girl might not recognize all of them. Could it be that she doesn¡¯t know that I¡¯m not from the Xiao family? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that it was very likely. Otherwise, there was no reason for the girl not to call for help.


    If he were someone who had a glib tongue, he might be able to fool the girl and get some information from her.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t eloquent, so he only gave the girl a friendly smile. He pretended to be strolling around and wanted to leave the yard.


    Zhou Wen took a few steps to the side, hoping to circle around the girl, but she took two steps to block his path. Clearly, she wasn¡¯t willing to let him go.


    ¡°Ahem, sorry. I got lost. Sorry for disturbing you,¡± Zhou Wen said as he took a few steps to the other side, hoping to circle around the girl.


    The girl blocked his path again, but she had no intention of attacking. She didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of shouting.


    ¡°Why are you stopping me? Is there anything I can help you with?¡± Zhou Wen planned on trying to convince the girl with his bad eloquence.


    The girl remained silent as she continued looking at him, sizing him up.


    Is the Xiao family that odd? Zhou Wen found the girl odd.


    Ignoring the fact that her actions were incomprehensible, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t seen her when he entered the yard. With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, it was impossible for Zhou Wen not to notice that there was someone in the yard.


    However, when the girl stood behind him, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t work out where she had come from.


    Could it be that this girl isn¡¯t human but a ghost? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the girl, but he didn¡¯t discover anything wrong with her. She looked like a normal human girl.


    The girl remained silent. Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he realized that someone was walking towards the yard.


    Zhou Wen looked into the yard. Apart from the temple hall, there were no other obstructions.


    After glancing at the girl, Zhou Wen gestured for her to remain silent before heading deeper into the temple hall.


    The girl being able to see him didn¡¯t mean that others could see him. Zhou Wen planned on hiding and giving it a try. Since he had already been exposed, the situation couldn¡¯t be any worse.


    There was an offering table in the temple hall without any additional decorations. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about where to hide, he saw the girl walk in.


    With the girl following Zhou Wen, even if others couldn¡¯t see the invisible Zhou Wen, they would discover his existence because of her.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to take action and put the girl down, he saw her point at a cloth curtain in the corner of the temple hall, indicating for him to hide behind it.


    The two people had already arrived at the yard¡¯s entrance. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare say another word, afraid that they would hear him. All he could do was look at the girl and point at himself before pointing at the curtain.


    The girl seemed to understand what he meant and nodded.


    Zhou Wen tiptoed to the back of the curtain.


    Just as Zhou Wen steadied himself, he heard the door to the yard open. The two people walked in and quickly entered the temple hall.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of being discovered. If he was discovered, he could just storm his way out. However, that would mean a failure to obtain any information.


    The two of them walked into the room and didn¡¯t pay attention to the back of the curtain. Clearly, they hadn¡¯t expected someone to be hiding here. Furthermore, Zhou Wen was invisible. It was difficult to discover him with the naked eye.


    However, what puzzled Zhou Wen was that they ignored the girl as though she wasn¡¯t there.


    The two people who entered the temple hall were no longer young. They were probably at least fifty years old.


    After entering the temple hall, one of the men placed something on the offering table. It was a small metal furnace with many tiny holes on it. Wisps of smoke emitted from the tiny holes.


    The smoke didn¡¯t rise vertically. It seemed to be attracted by some force and floated towards the Kuman Thong on the offering table.


    The man bowed to the Kuman Thong before walking to the side.


    ¡°Liuqi, have you investigated the matter regarding Si¡¯er?¡± the man who had placed the incense asked.


    ¡°According to the intelligence sent by the spies in the Imperial Capital, Xiao Si went to the Great Wall with Wang Chan. There was likely another person with them. This person has a good relationship with Wang Chan, so we haven¡¯t found out who it is yet,¡± Xiao Liuqi answered.


    ¡°In your opinion, could it be that the Wang family discovered our goal and deliberately eliminated Si¡¯er?¡± Xiao Tianfang said with a frown.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it shouldn¡¯t be. If the Wang family really discovered our goal, they definitely wouldn¡¯t only target Xiao Si alone. They also wouldn¡¯t give us any explanation about Xiao Si and might have even severed relations with our Xiao family. But there aren¡¯t any signs of that,¡± Xiao Liuqi said.


    Xiao Tianfang sighed and said, ¡°The Wang family is a family clan in the East District after all. Even if they are stronger than our Xiao family, it won¡¯t be easy for them to come to the South District to touch our Xiao family. I¡¯m not afraid that they will fall out with us. Unfortunately, with Si¡¯er¡¯s death, I¡¯m afraid our plan won¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Tianfang, is there nothing else that can replace Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence?¡± Xiao Liuqi asked.


    ¡°If there was a replacement, we wouldn¡¯t have taken such a huge risk to target the Wang family.¡± Xiao Tianfang explained, ¡°We¡¯ve studied the Gu Lady Kuman Nee for so many years. Although she successfully advanced to the Mythical level, she still can¡¯t be controlled freely. In recent years, our control over her has become weaker and weaker. Refining her into a Life Soul is even more impossible.¡±


    ¡°Now that she¡¯s already at the Mythical level, it¡¯s impossible to refine her into a Life Soul. However, using Wang Chan¡¯s Goddess of Misfortune Life Providence, we can create a Misfortune Kuman Nee and let her suppress and influence the Gu Lady Kuman Nee. This way, we can take the opportunity to firmly grasp them both,¡± Xiao Tianfang said.


    ¡°Can a Heaven Baby replace the Misfortune Kuman Nee?¡± Xiao Liuqi asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. Gu Lady Kuman Nee is the reincarnation of a Gu God. Before she was born, we forcefully refined her into a Kuman Nee. Although she¡¯s not a real god, she¡¯s not something an ordinary Kuman Thong can compare to. Only some especially powerful Kuman Thong can influence her. Currently, the best chance we have is to refine Wang Chan into a Misfortune Kuman Nee. The other methods are even more difficult and impossible to realize,¡± Xiao Tianfang said.

 Chapter 797 - Gu Lady

    Translator: CKtalon


    Having heard their conversation, how could Zhou Wen not understand what was happening? The Dugu family¡¯s guess was right. Back then, the ones who killed the mother and dug out the fetus weren¡¯t Gu, but the members of the Xiao family.


    They cultivated the fetus into a Kuman Nee and raised it to the Mythical level.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of Kuman Nee was very limited. He didn¡¯t know how Kuman Nee matured, but he believed that the Xiao family had tried their best.


    Now that they couldn¡¯t control the Kuman Nee anymore, they wanted to refine Wang Chan into another Kuman Nee to restrain Gu Lady Kuman Nee.


    What a diabolical Xiao family. In such an era, it¡¯s not wrong to desire becoming stronger. It¡¯s not wrong to use all sorts of means, but to be so vicious, one has to be prepared to be treated the same way by others. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was filled with killing intent.


    Zhou Wen wanted to summon the Light Concealment Sword and kill Xiao Liuqi and Xiao Tianfang first. The two of them definitely weren¡¯t innocent. He could make a judgment on the other members of the Xiao family when the time came.


    Just as he was about to make a move, he suddenly realized that the girl was standing in front of him, seemingly trying to stop him from making a move on Xiao Liuqi and Xiao Tianfang.


    Zhou Wen looked at the girl in front of him and suddenly understood something. He thought to himself, Could this girl be the Gu Lady they refined into a Kuman Nee?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. The person enshrined in the temple hall was likely Gu Lady Kuman Nee. Then, this strange girl might very well be the Gu Lady after growing up.


    Typically, Kuman Nee wouldn¡¯t grow, but after combining a Kuman Nee and an Essence Energy Art, anything was possible.


    She¡¯s now under the Xiao family¡¯s control. If I kill the Xiao family, she will definitely become my enemy. With this in mind, Zhou Wen temporarily didn¡¯t take action.


    Gu Lady was a pitiful person. If she wasn¡¯t born magical, she wouldn¡¯t have been harmed by the Xiao family. Even her parents died tragically. She was refined into Kuman Nee before she was born. It could be said that she was extremely tragic.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if she could survive if he killed her master, so he decided not to take action.


    Xiao Tianfang thought for a moment and continued, ¡°Regardless of whether the Wang family has noticed it or not, let¡¯s put Wang Chan¡¯s matter aside for now. Let¡¯s try our best to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King. If we have the Ice Silkworm Gu King, we won¡¯t have to rely too much on Gu Lady¡¯s strength.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King. I originally thought that with Gu Lady¡¯s help, we would be able to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King. After knowing that the Ice Silkworm Gu King isn¡¯t just one, but a pair, Gu Lady probably isn¡¯t a match for the pair of Ice Silkworm Gu Kings either. I still need to think of something else,¡± Xiao Liuqi said.


    ¡°How¡¯s the taming of the Mythical Blood Scorpion Gu going? Can it be put to use?¡± Xiao Tianfang asked after some thought.


    Xiao Liuqi said with a bitter smile, ¡°I don¡¯t know why, but the Mythical Gu that we used Gu Lady to capture are especially difficult to tame. The three from before were domesticated for so long, but they refuse to yield no matter what. This one is slightly better, but it¡¯s barely under our control. It can¡¯t be controlled freely.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Let¡¯s take it with us to distract the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings. As long as the pair of Ice Silkworm Gu Kings are separated, Gu Lady should be more than enough to deal with one.¡± Xiao Tianfang looked at Kuman Nee on the offering table and continued, ¡°Prepare the Blood Scorpion Gu. We¡¯ll go tomorrow to prevent any delays. Worm Dugu is also eyeing the pair of Ice Silkworms. We can¡¯t let him succeed ahead of us.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ll prepare now,¡± Xiao Liuqi replied.


    ¡°Do a good job. In the future, the position of family head will be taken over by you. However, as family head, you need to have strength that can convince everyone. If you can successfully capture the pair of Ice Silkworm Gu Kings, you can tame and control one of them,¡± Xiao Tianfang said.


    ¡°Tianfang, you are still in your prime¡­¡± Xiao Liuqi was immediately overjoyed, but he didn¡¯t dare show it.


    Xiao Tianfang waved his hand. ¡°I know myself. All these years, in order to suppress Gu Lady, my body has been deteriorating day by day. My mind is also failing. In the future, the Xiao family will have to rely on you. You should also shoulder the responsibility.¡±


    ¡°Tianfang, don¡¯t worry. I definitely won¡¯t let you down,¡± Xiao Liuqi hurriedly said.


    ¡°Alright, make the preparation. I hope that capturing the Ice Silkworm Gu King will go smoothly.¡± Xiao Tianfang gestured for Xiao Liuqi to leave.


    After Xiao Liuqi left, Xiao Tianfang stood in front of the Kuman Nee. He reached out to touch the crystal barrier outside and said with a strange expression, ¡°It¡¯s been so many years, but I still haven¡¯t been able to completely tame you. Now, my plan to capture Wang Chan and refine her into a Misfortune Kuman Nee has also failed. If you still don¡¯t submit, I can only take the final step. My body really can¡¯t take it anymore. After I obtain the Ice Silkworm Gu King, I¡¯ll completely erase your consciousness. Although that will greatly reduce the Kuman Nee¡¯s spirituality and abilities, you¡¯ve forced me into a corner. I can only take such measures¡­¡±


    Xiao Tianfang looked at the Kuman Nee for a while before leaving the yard.


    From beginning to end, the girl stood in front of Zhou Wen, preventing him from harming Xiao Tianfang.


    ¡°Why are you protecting him when he caused you to be in this state?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The girl remained silent, but Zhou Wen seemed to think of a reason. He asked, ¡°Is it because he¡¯s your master? If he dies, will you be injured?¡±


    Surprisingly, the girl nodded, as though confirming Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw the girl finally react. He asked, ¡°Then is there a way to prevent you from being injured?¡±


    The girl just looked at him without answering.


    Zhou Wen snapped to his senses and knew that the girl couldn¡¯t speak. Therefore, he pointed at Kuman Nee on the offering table and said, ¡°If he transfers that to me, will you be ok after he dies?¡±


    The girl reacted this time and nodded again.


    ¡°Alright, I know what to do. Wait a few days. I¡¯ll quickly rescue you,¡± Zhou Wen said to the girl before turning to leave the temple hall.


    The girl seemed to understand what he meant and didn¡¯t stop him. After Zhou Wen left the yard, he temporarily left the Xiao family.


    Gu Lady was very magical, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see her die with Xiao Tianfang. He planned on getting her transferred to him before settling Wang Chan¡¯s score with the Xiao family.


    After Zhou Wen left the Xiao family, he returned to his residence and gave Gu Shanshui a call. Thankfully, he had already arrived at Mong Hsat and had a phone signal. He quickly answered the call.


    Zhou Wen asked some questions about Kuman Thong and Kuman Nee and confirmed that his plan was feasible.


    That night, Worm Dugu and Li Xuan returned together. The situation didn¡¯t look good. Worm Dugu¡¯s expression was especially nasty.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t jibe either. Zhou Wen knew that Worm Dugu¡¯s failure must have been tragic, so Li Xuan didn¡¯t say a word.

 Chapter 798 - Ice Silkworm

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we forget our bet? It was just a joke to begin with,¡± Li Xuan said to Worm Dugu.


    ¡°What joke? I, Worm Dugu, am a man of my word. If I can¡¯t capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King for you, I¡¯ll be your disciple,¡± Worm Dugu said angrily.


    Li Xuan said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ve seen your abilities. If there was only one Ice Silkworm Gu King, you would definitely be able to capture it. But now, there are two. This is unexpected. Just count ourselves even. No one is losing to anyone. Isn¡¯t that fair?¡±


    ¡°No, a man¡¯s word is worth its weight in gold. If I can¡¯t capture the Ice Silkworm Worm, I¡¯ll acknowledge you as my master. I won¡¯t go back on my word.¡± With that said, Worm Dugu turned to Zhou Wen and said, ¡°If Li Xuan is my master, Zhou Wen, you will be my uncle-master. It¡¯s not too much for an uncle-master to teach me some skills, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Worm Dugu with his mouth agape. He found it unbelievable that this fellow was from the Dugu family¡ªone of the six hero families. He was too shameless.


    ¡°Nice, was this your plan from the beginning?¡± Li Xuan was taken aback when he heard that. Only then did he realize that he had been fooled.


    Worm Dugu chuckled and said, ¡°My motto as a human is to be pragmatic. So what if I acknowledge you as my master? You still need me to teach you how to rear Gu. On the surface, you are my master, but in reality, I¡¯m still your master. It¡¯s just a title. It doesn¡¯t matter. If Zhou Wen can teach me how to rear a phoenix, don¡¯t mention me calling him uncle-master, I can even call him grandmaster.¡±


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were dumbfounded. This was the first time they had seen someone like Worm Dugu. It was an eye-opener.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to rear a phoenix. This silly bird insisted on following me. I usually don¡¯t care about it. It eats whatever it gets. I can¡¯t teach you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Worm Dugu immediately shook his head and said, ¡°No, no. I¡¯ve long read about the phoenix¡¯s habits and eating habits in ancient books. If I had a phoenix divine bird, I would know how to feed it myself. You don¡¯t have to teach me.¡±


    ¡°Then what can you learn from me? Don¡¯t tell me you want me to help you find another phoenix? I don¡¯t have that ability,¡± Zhou Wen said, puzzled.


    ¡°I know how to feed one, but I don¡¯t have a phoenix. I just want to learn from you. How can I make a phoenix be willing to follow me?¡± Worm Dugu said.


    ¡°I already said that this silly bird is naturally willing to follow me. There aren¡¯t any tricks involved. Perhaps it¡¯s because of my relatively good character,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Old Zhou is right. Back when the three of us encountered the chick, only Old Zhou was chosen,¡± Li Xuan added.


    ¡°Everything in this world follows cause and effect. It¡¯s impossible for there to be no cause. If there¡¯s no cause, it means that you haven¡¯t discovered the cause. It might be because the Essence Energy Art you cultivate is rather special, or it might be because you have a hidden special physique. It might also be because something on you attracted it. In short, there must be a reason. That¡¯s the reason I need to know.¡±


    Worm Dugu wasn¡¯t serious for long before he said to Zhou Wen with a cheeky smile, ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s highly likely that I won¡¯t be able to catch an Ice Silkworm this time. In the future, you will be my Uncle-Master Zhou. If you like teaching, teach. If you don¡¯t like teaching, let me follow by your side while I self-study¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to speak to Worm Dugu again. He turned to Li Xuan and said, ¡°I¡¯ll help you capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King tomorrow. However, after capturing it, lend it to me for two days.¡±


    ¡°Lend? How?¡± Worm Dugu curled his lips and said, ¡°Gu can¡¯t be transferred once it recognizes its owner. How can you return it after borrowing it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want the Ice Silkworm Gu King to recognize me as its master. I just need to borrow it to do something. I¡¯ll return it to you when I¡¯m done,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°No problem at all. You can even take it, much less borrow it,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Worm Dugu was a little displeased when he heard that. ¡°If you want to use the phoenix to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King, I advise you not to go. Although the phoenix is powerful, it¡¯s only a baby. The Ice Silkworm Gu King won¡¯t be afraid of it. If you aren¡¯t careful, you might even kill the phoenix. That would be a huge loss.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll see how to do it when we are there tomorrow.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King. However, the Xiao family was going to capture it tomorrow. This was the opportunity he wanted.


    He wanted to snatch the Ice Silkworm Gu King from the Xiao family before using it to exchange for Gu Lady.


    Offering an exchange of two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings for a Kuman Nee which might kill Xiao Tianfang, Xiao Tianfang would definitely do so as long as he wasn¡¯t a fool.


    After all, he had already planned on wiping out Gu Lady¡¯s spiritual consciousness. When that happened, Kuman Nee¡¯s ability would be greatly reduced. She would probably be inferior to an Ice Silkworm. With such a comparison, anyone would know what to choose.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll see how you capture the Ice Silkworm Gu King tomorrow. If you can capture it, I, Worm Dugu, will immediately acknowledge the two of you as master and uncle-master,¡± said Worm Dugu. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t optimistic about Zhou Wen¡¯s chances.


    ¡°Forget it. There¡¯s no sense of accomplishment being your master,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. You might not feel a sense of accomplishment now, but if you were to travel in the South District and meet someone from the Dugu family and say that you are Worm Dugu¡¯s master, how awesome would that be? You wouldn¡¯t have a feeling of zero accomplishment,¡± Worm Dugu said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan looked at him in contempt. With his personality, it was unknown how many masters and uncle-masters he had acknowledged outside. It would be odd if the Dugu family was willing to take that into account.


    The next day before dawn, Zhou Wen woke up Li Xuan and Worm Dugu and got them to lead him to the place where the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings were.


    He had heard Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi¡¯s conversation and knew that the Xiao family was going at this time. If he went late, the Xiao family might have already succeeded.


    It wasn¡¯t good to go early either. If they captured the Ice Silkworm Gu King before the Xiao family arrived, the Xiao family wouldn¡¯t know that the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings were in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    Although Worm Dugu was somewhat puzzled as to why Zhou Wen had to go so early, he still took the two of them to Yin Wind Ridge.


    When they arrived, they realized that someone was already fighting the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings. The two people spearheading the attack were none other than Xiao Liuqi and Xiao Tianfang.


    In front of Xiao Tianfang was an ice-blue silkworm the size of a football. Wherever it crawled, the ground was immediately covered in frost. It was obvious how low the temperature was.


    It¡¯s no wonder Worm Dugu said that the chick probably can¡¯t restrain the Ice Silkworm. With such ice-elemental powers, the chick¡¯s phoenix flames will definitely be much less effective against it, Zhou Wen thought.


    Xiao Liuqi noticed Zhou Wen and company. When he saw Worm Dugu, his expression changed slightly. Clearly, he was afraid that Worm Dugu would snatch the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings.

 Chapter 799 - Gu Lady in Battle

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Strange, why is there only one Ice Silkworm? Where did the other Ice Silkworm go?¡± Worm Dugu frowned.


    ¡°Could it be that the Xiao family lured the two Ice Silkworms apart?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    Worm Dugu shook his head and said, ¡°These two Ice Silkworms are a pair. They have something akin to telepathy abilities. It¡¯s not that easy to separate them. If I could separate them, I would have long ago. The Xiao family wouldn¡¯t even stand a chance.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t have the ability to do so. Just because you can¡¯t lure them apart doesn¡¯t mean they can¡¯t either,¡± Li Yue said deliberately.


    Surprisingly, Worm Dugu wasn¡¯t angry this time. He thought for a moment and said, ¡°That¡¯s very possible.¡±


    Li Xuan looked at Worm Dugu in surprise. Every time he mentioned Gu, Worm Dugu would proudly act as though he was number one in the world. It was unbelievable that he would admit that he was inferior to the Xiao family.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to look at me like that. Have you forgotten what I told you? If the Xiao family¡¯s Mythical-level Kuman Thong is really refined from the baby reincarnated from a Gu God, it¡¯s not surprising that they can lure the Ice Silkworm away,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    Zhou Wen knew that what Worm Dugu said was right. It was likely that Gu Lady had lured the Ice Silkworm away.


    Xiao Tianfang held the Kuman Nee that was placed in the temple hall, but Gu Lady was nowhere to be seen. She must have lured the other Ice Silkworm away.


    This Ice Silkworm was trapped here by the Xiao family and was fighting a blood-colored scorpion.


    The Blood Scorpion was clearly no match for the Ice Silkworm. Its body was almost frozen by the ice mist that the Ice Silkworm spewed out. It survived thanks to the Xiao family¡¯s people using all sorts of Gu and Companion Beasts to barely hold back the Ice Silkworm.


    As a result, the Xiao family sacrificed a large number of Gu and Companion Beasts. Furthermore, the Xiao family was still using Kuman Thong to augment the Blood Scorpion. This only allowed them to stall the Ice Silkworm.


    The Ice Silkworm¡¯s ice aura was extremely powerful. Zhou Wen had seen some ice-elemental Companion Beasts before, but this was the first time he had seen one as powerful as the Ice Silkworm.


    As long as one touched its ice aura, be it Gu or Kuman Thong, their bodies would gradually freeze.


    The ice aura seemed to have a spreading attribute. As long as one touched it, one¡¯s body would become colder. Many Gu only touched a tiny bit of the ice aura. In the beginning, it wasn¡¯t too big a problem, but after a while, they would freeze into ice and eventually shatter.


    ¡°Should we take action? Now that the two Ice Silkworms have been separated, it¡¯s a great opportunity,¡± Li Xuan asked Worm Dugu.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s wait and see. They aren¡¯t a match for the Ice Silkworm.¡± Worm Dugu paused before saying, ¡°After all, our Dugu family is the king of the South District. We can¡¯t behave excessively. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be nagged by those fellows at home. It will be a headache.¡±


    When the Xiao family saw that Worm Dugu and company only stayed in the distance and had no intention of going forward, they couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Tianfang, do you think Worm Dugu will snatch our Ice Silkworm?¡± Xiao Liuqi whispered to Xiao Tianfang.


    Xiao Tianfang said with a heavy expression, ¡°The Dugu family controls the South District. On the surface, they do things fairly, so they might not openly snatch it. However, we still have to be on guard. I hope that Gu Lady can quickly capture the other Ice Silkworm.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the situation on Gu Lady¡¯s side?¡± Xiao Liuqi asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s very vague. I only know that they are fighting,¡± Xiao Tianfang said.


    ¡°Tianfang, your perception of Gu Lady is getting weaker and weaker. Will there be a problem?¡± Xiao Liuqi asked worriedly.


    ¡°As long as her main body is in my hands, she won¡¯t be able to resist me. If I let her die, she can only die,¡± Xiao Tianfang said coldly.


    Xiao Liuqi sighed and said, ¡°Gu Lady is really too special. We¡¯ve been rearing her for so many years, but we can¡¯t even see her spirit body. She even implicated you and caused you to suffer a backlash from the Kuman Nee. If we could really make her our own, our Xiao family wouldn¡¯t be limited to a tiny area like Chiang Rai.¡±


    ¡°As long as we can capture this pair of Ice Silkworms and tame them, our Xiao family will also be able to soar,¡± Xiao Tianfang said.


    Xiao Liuqi nodded and said, ¡°Thankfully, there are detailed records of the Ice Silkworm Gu King in the Gu nurturing technique I obtained from the couple. Otherwise, even with the help of Gu Lady, it would be difficult for us to separate the two Ice Silkworms¡­¡±


    Xiao Tianfang¡¯s expression turned cold. ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to mention that matter again?¡±


    Xiao Liuqi hurriedly said, ¡°Sorry, I misspoke.¡±


    Zhou Wen was very far away from Xiao Tianfang, but Truth Listener¡¯s ability allowed him to hear their conversation clearly.


    I should find Gu Lady and the other Ice Silkworm first. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to conduct a large-scale search and soon found an Ice Silkworm in a distant swamp, but he didn¡¯t find the Gu Lady.


    ¡°Keep an eye on that Ice Silkworm for now. I¡¯ll find the other Ice Silkworm,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan before secretly retreating.


    Soon, the Xiao family realized that one person was missing from Worm Dugu¡¯s group. However, Worm Dugu was still around. There was only a youth missing, so they weren¡¯t too worried.


    After all, even Worm Dugu hadn¡¯t been able to capture the Ice Silkworm. Even if he was a member of the Dugu family, it was impossible for him to capture the Ice Silkworm alone. Furthermore, they had set up mechanisms that would inform Xiao Tianfang and the others if someone approached.


    After Zhou Wen left, he put on the Invisibility Cloak and quickly approached the other Ice Silkworm.


    In the area closest to the Ice Silkworm, he discovered some Gu that had been placed in the swamp. Zhou Wen flew over the Gu without alerting them.


    When he arrived at the Ice Silkworm, he saw an ice-blue Ice Silkworm. This Ice Silkworm was slightly bigger than the previous one.


    Strangely, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any traces of Gu Lady with Truth Listener, but when he looked with his eyes, he realized that she was confronting the Ice Silkworm.


    This is really strange. Truth Listener¡¯s ability can¡¯t discover Gu Lady. Even Xiao Tianfang, the owner of Lady Gu, can¡¯t see her. Why can I see her? Zhou Wen was somewhat perplexed.


    If he had used the Supreme Hell King Life Soul, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for him to see a Spirit Body. However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t using it. He didn¡¯t even use any special powers to see Gu Lady whom others couldn¡¯t see. This left him very puzzled.


    It was a little different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. Xiao Tianfang said that Gu Lady was fighting the Ice Silkworm, but the scene he saw was completely different.


    Gu Lady was squatting on the ground and using her fingers to tease the Ice Silkworm. The terrifying Ice Silkworm was like a pet dog, circling around her as the Gu Lady played with it. However, it had no intention of attacking her.


    2


    Zhou Wen watched as the Ice Silkworm rolled on the ground in amusement. He thought to himself, It¡¯s quite terrifying for such a terrifying Ice Silkworm to be played by Gu Lady. Thankfully, the Xiao family doesn¡¯t really control Gu Lady. Otherwise, with her abilities, the Xiao family¡¯s strength would have long exceeded their present limits.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen approach, Gu Lady stood up and looked at him. His invisibility was clearly useless against her.

 Chapter 800 - Grabbing a Silkworm With One Hand

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I need this Ice Silkworm Gu King to exchange for your freedom,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the Ice Silkworm on the ground.


    Gu Lady nodded before tapping the Ice Silkworm. The ferocious and domineering Ice Silkworm obediently crawled towards Zhou Wen and stopped by his feet, but it had no intention of attacking him.


    From the looks of it, the Xiao family has really underestimated Gu Lady¡¯s strength. If they knew that Gu Lady could easily make a top-notch Gu like the Ice Silkworm obey her orders, I wonder what expression they would have.


    Zhou Wen took out the Essence Gold Pot that Worm Dugu had prepared and placed it on the ground. The Ice Silkworm jumped in like a tamed pet.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he looked at Gu Lady and asked, ¡°Can you secretly control the other Ice Silkworm Gu and make it look like I¡¯ve captured it?¡±


    Gu Lady nodded again. It looked like she could do it.


    ¡°Then control the Ice Silkworm Gu later and let it pretend I¡¯ve caught it.¡± Zhou Wen recounted his plan to Gu Lady. After confirming that she could understand, Zhou Wen took the Ice Gu in the Essence Gold Pot and sneaked back to Li Xuan and company.


    ¡­


    ¡°Oh no, Gu Lady failed. Someone stole the Ice Silkworm.¡± Xiao Tianfang¡¯s expression suddenly changed.


    ¡°How is that possible? Who can snatch the Ice Silkworm away from Gu Lady without anyone noticing?¡± Xiao Liuqi jumped in fright as he said in disbelief.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The Gu we planted didn¡¯t react at all, and Gu Lady didn¡¯t find any traces of him.¡± Xiao Tianfang¡¯s expression was ugly as he continued, ¡°I¡¯ve already summoned Gu Lady back. Now, we can only use all our strength to capture this Ice Silkworm.¡±


    Just as Xiao Tianfang said that, he saw Zhou Wen return to Worm Dugu¡¯s side. He exchanged a few words with Worm Dugu before walking towards the Ice Silkworm.


    ¡°Could he have snatched the other Ice Silkworm?¡± Xiao Tianfang¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Xiao Liuqi had already led his men to block Zhou Wen, preventing him from approaching the battlefield. At the same time, he shouted at Worm Dugu, ¡°Old Master Dugu, we are capturing this Ice Silkworm. Isn¡¯t it inappropriate for you to interfere?¡±


    Worm Dugu said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯m still here! I didn¡¯t even move. When did I interfere with your matters?¡±


    ¡°The Dugu family has always been open and aboveboard. Old Master Dugu, are you trying to say that this friend isn¡¯t a member of the Dugu family?¡± Xiao Liuqi pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I really wish he was a member of our Dugu family, but unfortunately, he¡¯s not.¡± Worm Dugu didn¡¯t wait for Xiao Liuqi to say anything before continuing, ¡°But you can¡¯t say that he has nothing to do with our Dugu family. Although he¡¯s not a member of our Dugu family, he¡¯s my uncle-master.¡±


    Xiao Liuqi, Xiao Tianfang, and company were alarmed. Although Worm Dugu wasn¡¯t an authoritative figure in the Dugu family, his seniority was rather high. Furthermore, he was very famous for raising Gu. He was a famous master in the South District.


    Yet, Worm Dugu said that the youth in front of them was his uncle-master. It was somewhat unbelievable, but a figure like Worm Dugu clearly wouldn¡¯t joke about such matters.


    Could it be that this person has already cultivated to the point of returning to his youth? He looks young, but he¡¯s actually an old monster? Xiao Tianfang thought to himself.


    ¡°Since he¡¯s your Uncle-Master, do you think it¡¯s appropriate for him to do something like this?¡± Xiao Liuqi said.


    Worm Dugu continued smiling as he said, ¡°It¡¯s useless saying that to me. Only uncle-masters discipline their disciples. When have you seen a disciple manage an uncle-master?¡±


    ¡°Sir¡­¡± Xiao Liuqi looked at Zhou Wen and was about to say something when he suddenly saw Zhou Wen extend his hand and grab. A blood-red vortex appeared in his palm and sucked in the Ice Silkworm that was fighting the Blood Scorpion.


    The majestic Ice Silkworm couldn¡¯t withstand the suction force of the blood-colored vortex and was sucked into the Essence Gold Pot.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± It wasn¡¯t just the Xiao family. Even Worm Dugu widened his eyes as though he had seen a ghost.


    Although he had thought that it was very likely that Zhou Wen would subdue the Ice Silkworm, he never expected him to use such a method.


    Worm Dugu originally imagined that Zhou Wen would use the chick¡¯s restraining effect before using various means and Mythical Companion Beasts to fight the Ice Silkworm to finally subdue it.


    However, to his surprise, Zhou Wen extended his hand and sucked the Ice Silkworm into the Essence Gold Pot as though he wasn¡¯t taking in a Gu King but an ordinary worm.


    The Xiao family members¡¯ eyes nearly popped out. They had fought the Ice Silkworm for so long, so they naturally knew how terrifying it was.


    Up to now, they had lost hundreds of Gu and Kuman Thong, but they were still helpless against the Ice Silkworm. Even the Mythical Blood Scorpion Gu had been about to be killed.


    Yet, Zhou Wen had managed to capture the Ice Silkworm with one hand. How terrifying was this power? It was unbelievable.


    As expected of Worm Dugu¡¯s uncle-master. He¡¯s indeed an old monster. Xiao Tianfang was secretly alarmed as his expression turned extremely ugly.


    After spending so much effort and paying such a huge price, the Ice Silkworm was actually caught by someone else. Xiao Tianfang didn¡¯t even need to guess to know that the other Ice Silkworm had definitely been taken by Worm Dugu¡¯s uncle-master.


    He wanted to snatch it, but Worm Dugu was already someone he didn¡¯t have the guts to attack. Furthermore, the person in front of him was Worm Dugu¡¯s uncle-master, an existence who had subdued the Ice Silkworm with one hand.


    Only then did Xiao Tianfang feel a sinister aura return and enter the Kuman Nee in his hand.


    ¡°You came back too late.¡± Xiao Tianfang was somewhat exasperated.


    ¡°The Kuman Nee in your hand is rather interesting,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the Kuman Nee in Xiao Tianfang¡¯s hands.


    The expressions of the Xiao family members changed. If an existence that could capture an Ice Silkworm with one hand wanted to snatch their Kuman Nee, they probably wouldn¡¯t have a chance to resist.


    Even a Mythical Kuman Nee wouldn¡¯t be able to fight against such an existence.


    ¡°Old Master Dugu, the Dugu family is the head of the South District. You aren¡¯t going to watch your uncle-master snatch our Kuman Nee, right?¡± Xiao Liuqi was nervous as he looked at Worm Dugu and said through gritted teeth.


    Before Worm Dugu could say a word, Zhou Wen said, ¡°Who said I wanted to snatch something of yours? An old man like me just finds it a little special and asked casually. Even if I really wanted it, I wouldn¡¯t snatch something from juniors like you. At most, I¡¯ll buy your Kuman Nee. Why do I have to snatch it?¡±


    ¡°This Kuman Nee is our Xiao family¡¯s heirloom. It¡¯s not for sale,¡± Xiao Liuqi said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you willing to sell it if I use the Ice Silkworm as an exchange?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°You want to exchange the Ice Silkworm for the Kuman Nee?¡± Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi were stunned.


    ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t the Ice Silkworm enough? What about the two Ice Silkworms?¡± Zhou Wen continued.


    ¡°Old sir, are you really going to exchange two Ice Silkworms for a Kuman Nee?¡± Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi looked at each other and saw the pleasant surprise in each other¡¯s eyes.


    In their opinion, Kuman Nee was indeed very strong, but she was only slightly stronger than an Ice Silkworm. The two Ice Silkworms were much more pragmatic than the Gu Lady Kuman Nee.


    Furthermore, Gu Lady Kuman Nee would bite her master. Xiao Tianfang would even consider exchanging her away for a single Ice Silkworm, much less two.


    ¡°Uncle-Master, you can¡¯t do that.¡± Worm Dugu was shocked. Using two Ice Silkworms to exchange for Kuman Nee was a losing transaction.


    However, what they didn¡¯t know was that the two Ice Silkworms were far inferior to Gu Lady. They weren¡¯t on the same level at all. Even if the exchange was really made, Zhou Wen would have the upper hand. Furthermore, he had no intention of really giving the Ice Silkworms to the Xiao family.

 Chapter 801 - Exchange

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Do you really want to exchange the Ice Silkworm for my Kuman Nee?¡± Xiao Tianfang hurriedly asked, afraid that Zhou Wen would be persuaded otherwise by Worm Dugu.


    ¡°That depends on whether your Kuman Nee can interest me. She looks a little special to me, different from the Kuman Nee I¡¯ve seen before. Tell me what¡¯s so special about her.¡± Zhou Wen firstly wanted to bait Xiao Tianfang into the scam, and secondly, he wanted to know more about the Kuman Nee.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Xiao Tianfang was somewhat hesitant. After all, he wasn¡¯t sure if Zhou Wen would use two Ice Silkworms to exchange for Kuman Nee. If he explained Kuman Nee¡¯s origins and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t make the exchange, he would suffer a great loss.


    ¡°Uncle-Master, if you want a Kuman Nee, our Dugu family has plenty. How about this? Come back with me. You can exchange the Ice Silkworms with our Dugu family. We can offer to exchange two Ice Silkworms for two Kuman Nee. Whatever species you want, you can choose all the Kuman Thong in the Dugu family,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    ¡°Tianfang.¡± Xiao Liuqi was a little anxious as he looked at Xiao Tianfang.


    Xiao Tianfang gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°I don¡¯t dare say that my Kuman Nee is unprecedented, but she¡¯s indeed extraordinary. She can be said to be unique. You won¡¯t find another one in all of the Federation. If you really want it, can we have a private chat?¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any outsiders here. Is there anything you can¡¯t say out loud?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Xiao Tianfang said, ¡°You won¡¯t necessarily exchange for my Kuman Nee. Even if you do the exchange, you wouldn¡¯t want outsiders to know her secret, right?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. Alright then.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    ¡°Uncle-Master, that Kuman Nee really isn¡¯t worth two Ice Silkworms. Why don¡¯t you exchange it with me? Our Dugu family has all kinds of Kuman Nee, so why do we have to go so far to get one?¡± Worm Dugu had the urge to hold Zhou Wen back.


    ¡°Cut it out. I¡¯ve seen all those Kuman Nee at your place. I¡¯m sick of them. They are nothing interesting. I think this Kuman Nee is a little different,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You really have good taste. This way, please.¡± Xiao Tianfang made an inviting gesture.


    ¡°Wait for me here. I¡¯ll be back after taking a look,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan and Worm Dugu before following Xiao Tianfang to the temporary camp they had set up in a nearby cave.


    Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi saw that Zhou Wen seemed totally unfazed along the way, as though he didn¡¯t care if they had set up an ambush. This made them feel that Zhou Wen was definitely very terrifying.


    ¡°How may I address you?¡± When they reached the cave, Xiao Tianfang got Xiao Liuqi to personally guard the door while he conversed with Zhou Wen alone.


    ¡°My surname is Zhou,¡± Zhou Wen said casually.


    ¡°Elder Zhou, you must be an expert at Kuman Thong. You must know a lot about this. You know that some Kuman Thong and Kuman Nee have very special refinement methods¡­¡± Xiao Tianfang probed.


    Zhou Wen waved his hand and said disapprovingly, ¡°I don¡¯t care how this Kuman Nee came about. I just want to know what¡¯s so special about her. I only want something unique. If it¡¯s not unique, it¡¯s meaningless.¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind the method of refining the Kuman Nee, Xiao Tianfang said with a smile, ¡°Elder Zhou, you are indeed an expert. Your insight isn¡¯t something an ordinary person can compare with. My Kuman Nee was refined by a Buddhist master. The abilities this Kuman Nee has are also different from ordinary Kuman Nee. She doesn¡¯t have ordinary abilities like luck enhancement, but she has a way of dealing with Gu. She can capture Mythical Gu independently.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Zhou Wen revealed a look of disappointment.


    Xiao Tianfang gritted his teeth and continued, ¡°To be honest, the baby used to refine the Kuman Nee is the reincarnation of the legendary Gu God. It has a natural restraining effect on Gu. Our Xiao family was too incompetent and couldn¡¯t nurture her well. If an expert like you were to nurture her, you might be able to unleash her full strength. When that happens, she will definitely be of great use.¡±


    ¡°The reincarnation of a Gu God? That¡¯s interesting. I heard that there¡¯s a couple who reared Gu and their child was the reincarnation of a Gu God. Are these two matters related?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Xiao Tianfang neither admitted nor denied.


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of that matter as well. I originally wanted to rush over to see if I could refine a Kuman Nee, but I was a step too late. If this Kuman Nee¡¯s material was that fetus, I¡¯ll do the exchange,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡¯re really a kindred spirit. Do you really want to do the exchange? Two Ice Silkworms for this Kuman Nee?¡± Xiao Tianfang was still worried and wanted to make another confirmation.


    ¡°From the looks of it, this Kuman Nee was really refined by that baby. It¡¯s no wonder you are so careful.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he placed the Essence Gold Pot on the stone platform and pushed it in front of Xiao Tianfang. ¡°If it¡¯s really refined from that fetus, I want it. You can have the Ice Silkworms.¡±


    ¡°Do you mind if I take a look at the Ice Silkworms inside? It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you, but this concerns the future of our Xiao family¡­¡± Xiao Tianfang asked carefully. At this stage, he was still very careful.


    ¡°Just open it. My Essence Gold Pot is extraordinary. As long as I trap a Gu, even a Dragon King Gu won¡¯t be able to escape,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    When Xiao Tianfang heard that the Essence Gold Pot was so powerful, he picked it up and observed it carefully. He felt that it was indeed a good pot, but he didn¡¯t know what was good about it.


    The Xiao family only started raising Gu recently and they weren¡¯t as proficient as nurturing Kuman Thong. How could he recognize a Gu pot made by Worm Dugu?


    Xiao Tianfang didn¡¯t dare open it for fear that the Ice Silkworm would escape. He wasn¡¯t confident of escaping in front of two Ice Silkworms.


    However, on second thought, Kuman Nee was connected to his life, so it was impossible for Zhou Wen to harm him if he wanted her.


    When Xiao Tianfang thought of this, he carefully opened a sliver of the Gu pot. Through the crack, he saw the two Ice Silkworms inside, but they were restrained by the Essence Gold Pot. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn¡¯t rush out.


    Xiao Tianfang was relieved. He opened the lid completely and the two Ice Silkworms inside only circled around the pot, unable to crawl out.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect such a Gu pot to exist in this world. My horizons have really been broadened today.¡± Xiao Tianfang thought for a moment and said, ¡°Since you are so sincere, I won¡¯t hide it from you. This Kuman Nee of mine was refined from that fetus. It has a very strong restraining effect on Gu worms. It is also an extremely powerful existence among Kuman Nee. It can be considered a fusion between Gu and Kuman Nee. It is a unique existence in this world. You definitely wouldn¡¯t regret the exchange.¡±


    ¡°As expected. I knew I wouldn¡¯t be wrong. In that case, the two Ice Silkworms are yours. Remove her Intrinsic Lock and give her to me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Xiao Tianfang said in embarrassment, ¡°Elder Zhou, your pot is amazing, but our Xiao family can¡¯t compare to you. Without a pot that can store the Ice Silkworms, we aren¡¯t able to take them back. We originally wanted this Kuman Nee to control them, but now that Kuman Nee is to be transferred to you, there¡¯s really no other way. Can you lend us the Gu pot for a while? Once it¡¯s successfully tamed, we¡¯ll definitely return it immediately.¡±


    1

 Chapter 802 - Growing Flesh

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, This Xiao Tianfang sure is greedy. He¡¯s already eyeing the Gu pot.


    However, this was exactly what Zhou Wen wanted. Zhou Wen said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s just a Gu pot. I have plenty of them. It¡¯s nothing. Just take it back. There¡¯s no need to return it.¡±


    ¡°Elder Zhou, are you serious?¡± Xiao Tianfang was overjoyed. He even had the urge to kneel and kowtow to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°The premise is that your Kuman Nee is really the reincarnation of the Gu God. If I discover anything amiss, I¡¯m afraid your Xiao family won¡¯t be able to remain safe, much less continue possessing the Ice Silkworms and Gu pot,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Xiao Tianfang was alarmed. The joy in his heart subsided a little as he said solemnly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. This Kuman Nee is definitely refined from the Gu God¡¯s reincarnation. Furthermore, it was personally refined by me. There¡¯s no mistake. If I lied, I¡¯m willing to have ten thousand Gu drill through my heart.¡±


    Xiao Tianfang swore and told the truth.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m relieved. Unlock her Intrinsic Lock,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Do I do it directly? Do you want me to transfer the Intrinsic Lock directly to you?¡± Xiao Tianfang asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. If I can¡¯t even suppress a Mythical Kuman Nee, I would have wasted all my years studying Kuman Thong,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Xiao Tianfang felt that Zhou Wen was indeed a big shot. He didn¡¯t even think much of the Mythical Kuman Nee. It was no wonder he could be Worm Dugu¡¯s uncle-master.


    Thinking of how Zhou Wen could easily subdue the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings, he didn¡¯t hesitate any further.


    He handed the Kuman Nee to Zhou Wen and took out a pouch. Holding it, he bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood onto it.


    The moment his blood touched the pouch, the pouch burst into flames. As the pouch was destroyed, the Kuman Nee in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand trembled.


    Xiao Tianfang¡¯s expression turned nasty as well. His face was pale as cold sweat instantly covered his forehead. He looked to be in extreme pain.


    Zhou Wen had consulted Gu Shanshui and knew that this Intrinsic Lock connected Kuman Nee to his life. If it was removed, it would also cause great damage to him.


    Xiao Tianfang was willing to release the Intrinsic Lock likely because he was unable to completely control Gu Lady. Instead, he had suffered a backlash from Gu Lady¡¯s power. He had been tormented over the years.


    Now that he could finally be liberated of Gu Lady, he was even more eager than Zhou Wen.


    With the two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings and the Gu pot, the Xiao family¡¯s future would definitely be better than before. The pain of Gu Lady¡¯s backlash would also be a thing of the past.


    Crack!


    After the pouch was completely burned, something on Kuman Nee¡¯s skull seemed to shatter. Zhou Wen took a look and saw a drop of blood seeping out from the top of the skull.


    Xiao Tianfang let out a cry and spat out a mouthful of blood. It looked like his injuries weren¡¯t light.


    ¡°Elder Zhou, quickly suppress Kuman Nee. Don¡¯t let her escape,¡± Xiao Tianfang said as he endured the pain.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid that Gu Lady would escape. After all, he had already sold her to Zhou Wen. It didn¡¯t matter if she ran or not. He was just afraid that she would find trouble with him.


    ¡°The deal is closed. It¡¯s time for me to leave.¡± Zhou Wen grabbed the Kuman Nee and injected a stream of Essence Energy into her. Kuman Nee was immediately enveloped by Essence Energy before he placed her in the bag and stood up.


    ¡°Someone, take Elder Zhou back.¡± Xiao Tianfang called for someone and said, ¡°Elder Zhou, take care. I¡¯m not feeling well, so I won¡¯t be sending you off.¡±


    ¡°Recuperate well. You are quite injured after breaking the Intrinsic Lock.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen left with the Kuman Nee.


    Xiao Liuqi came over and asked nervously and excitedly, ¡°Tianfang, did we really close the deal? Did we really exchange for the two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings?¡±


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s those two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings without a doubt. There¡¯s still the mark we left on them. There¡¯s no mistake.¡± Xiao Tianfang was also very excited. ¡°That Elder Zhou doesn¡¯t know that there¡¯s something wrong with Gu Lady and thinks that he got the better deal. Now that we have two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings, and I¡¯ve removed the backlash from my body, the two of us will each have one Ice Silkworm Gu King. In two to three years, after we tame them, our Xiao family will have a chance to advance further. By the way, look at this Gu pot. It¡¯s an amazing Gu pot.¡±


    Xiao Tianfang opened the Gu pot and showed Xiao Liuqi see the Ice Silkworms. He even demonstrated the functions of the Gu pot.


    ¡°Elder Zhou casually gave us such a treasure. What a fool,¡± Xiao Liuqi sighed.


    Zhou Wen had already walked far away, but Truth Listener still allowed him to hear the conversation between the two brothers clearly. He couldn¡¯t help but sneer inwardly. I wonder who¡¯s the fool.


    Gu Lady could easily make the Ice Silkworms obey her orders, making her a truly terrifying existence. The Xiao brothers didn¡¯t know the precious treasure they had and imagined that they got the better deal from exchanging two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings.


    As for the so-called treasure Gu pot, although it was indeed extraordinary, it was impossible to restrain the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings.


    The reason they obediently remained inside was that Gu Lady was making them cooperate. Otherwise, they would have long rushed out.


    The Xiao brothers treated them as treasures, but they didn¡¯t know that they would be taking their lives.


    After Gu Lady obtained freedom, she wanted to attack the Xiao brothers, but Zhou Wen held her Kuman Nee down, preventing her from taking revenge.


    After all, Zhou Wen was trading with the Xiao brothers in the name of the Dugu family. If he killed them now, it wouldn¡¯t be good for the Dugu family¡¯s reputation.


    Worm Dugu had already helped him in the act, so he didn¡¯t want to implicate the Dugu family.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. You are already free. There are still two Ice Silkworm Gu Kings by their side. Are you still afraid of not getting your revenge?¡± Zhou Wen touched the agitated Kuman Nee in his backpack and whispered.


    The Kuman Nee slowly calmed down. After the Intrinsic Lock was removed, Gu Lady entered the Kuman Nee.


    Previously, due to the restriction of the Intrinsic Lock, she couldn¡¯t even return to her body. She could only listen to Xiao Tianfang¡¯s orders and work for him. Otherwise, Xiao Tianfang could easily have killed her.


    However, it was different now. The Intrinsic Lock was removed and Gu Lady was no longer restricted.


    After meeting up with Li Xuan and Worm Dugu, the trio returned to their residence.


    On the way back, Worm Dugu asked with a smile, ¡°Uncle-Master, my acting isn¡¯t bad, right?¡±


    ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s just a little exaggerated,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Only exaggerated acting can be acknowledged by others. Didn¡¯t Xiao Tianfang end up believing it? On account of my age and how hard I¡¯ve worked to participate in your act, shouldn¡¯t you consider teaching me a few tricks on how to adopt a phoenix?¡± Worm Dugu said.


    ¡°The trick is to find a phoenix and be fancied by it.¡± Zhou Wen was speaking the truth, but his honest words left Worm Dugu depressed.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss with the Kuman Nee. The jade-like bones were slowly growing. Not only was the bone expanding, but there were also flesh and blood vessels growing on it.


    What¡¯s going on? Could she have come back to life? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly stored her into the chaos space. Otherwise, it would be too shocking if others saw her.

 Chapter 803 - Ya’er

    Translator: CKtalon


    Crack!


    The crystal container outside the Kuman Nee shattered and the Corpse Oil inside flowed out.


    Kuman Nee was already too big for a container. Her flesh was full, and her skin grew out. This was followed by her hair and nails.


    In just a moment, the originally shrunken and blurry Kuman Nee became a healthy-looking baby.


    1


    The fair and tender baby looked no different from a normal baby, but upon careful inspection of her body, one would discover that her heart wasn¡¯t beating, and the blood in her body wasn¡¯t circulating.


    She could be said to be dead, but everything about her was normal. There was life in her body, and even her eyes were open. She was like a normal baby, but she didn¡¯t even have a heart. It was difficult to understand if she was dead or alive.


    When Zhou Wen returned to his residence, the baby had already grown to the size of a one-year-old toddler. However, it looked like it had stopped growing.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it would grow to the size of Gu Lady, but to his surprise, it stopped growing.


    Could it be that she was affected by the chaos space when I placed her inside? Zhou Wen took the girl out and bathed her. He washed the Corpse Oil off her body and placed her on the bed.


    However, the female toddler didn¡¯t continue growing. She remained as big as before as she sat on the bed and looked at Zhou Wen expressionlessly.


    1


    Zhou Wen took out a set of clothes he had bought for Demonic Neonate from the chaos space. He had originally planned on letting Demonic Neonate wear them when she had nothing to do for fun, but now, they came in handy.


    However, she was slightly smaller than Demonic Neonate, so the clothes would be oversized when she put them on. However, these were the most suitable clothes Zhou Wen could find for her. She would have to make do with them and wait till he bought more for her in the future.


    ¡°Do you know how to put clothes on?¡± Zhou Wen asked the girl.


    The girl shook her head and continued looking at Zhou Wen.


    Could it be that she has become a child, and even her intelligence has regressed? Zhou Wen had no choice but to help her put them on. Then, he looked at the girl sitting on the bed and asked, ¡°Do you still remember me?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what was happening. The knowledge he learned from Gu Shanshui didn¡¯t include this.


    According to Gu Shanshui, if there were no restrictions, the spirit body could return to its original body, but it wouldn¡¯t revive. It only had autonomy.


    Typically, Kuman Nee, who had autonomy, were very dangerous. As they died unjustly, their resentment wouldn¡¯t dissipate, and they would constantly harm others.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to rear Gu Lady like Xiao Tianfang, so he didn¡¯t plan on turning her into his Kuman Nee. Instead, he planned on using another method to take her away.


    However, to his surprise, before Zhou Wen used that method, Gu Lady came alive and turned into a baby. The method Gu Shanshui had taught him was probably useless.


    The girl nodded. It looked like she still remembered him.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you still have your memories.¡± Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. It was easy if she still had her memories.


    ¡°Now that you are free, what plans do you have?¡± Zhou Wen asked the girl.


    The girl looked at Zhou Wen without answering, as though she didn¡¯t know what he meant.


    ¡°I mean, where do you want to go in the future?¡± Zhou Wen was afraid that she wouldn¡¯t understand, so he changed his phrasing.


    The girl continued looking at him without saying a word. It was unknown if she understood him.


    ¡°Well¡­ What¡¯s your name?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to call her by name, but he realized that he definitely didn¡¯t know her name. He couldn¡¯t call her Gu Lady like Xiao Tianfang, right? She probably wouldn¡¯t like that form of address.


    The girl finally reacted and shook her head at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a name?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Seeing the girl nod, Zhou Wen knew that he had guessed correctly. After some thought, he said, ¡°Shall I give you a name then?¡±


    The girl nodded again. This made Zhou Wen know that she could understand him. Her intelligence didn¡¯t regress, but for some reason, she couldn¡¯t speak.


    Zhou Wen seriously considered for a while before sizing up the girl. Then, he carefully asked, ¡°What do you think of the name Xiaoli?¡±


    The girl remained expressionless, but she subtly turned her face away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t like it? How about Xiaona?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    The girl was expressionless as though she hadn¡¯t heard Zhou Wen. She raised her arm and pointed at Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    Zhou Wen looked down and realized that there was nothing but clothes on his chest. There were no patterns or words.


    Could it be¡­ She¡¯s referring to this¡­ Zhou Wen reached into his collar and took out a pendant akin to ivory.


    This was a pendant carved by Wang Mingyuan. It was said to be carved from the tooth of the White Dragon in Old Dragon¡¯s Well. As for the origins of the dragon¡¯s tooth, it was said that Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun had stolen it from Old Dragon¡¯s Well. However, Wang Mingyuan said that he had picked it up himself.


    She can still see through things. From the looks of it, she still has her powers. Zhou Wen knew that he had guessed correctly when he saw the girl¡¯s finger track the pendant as he moved it.


    ¡°You want to use this pendant as a name? Got it. It¡¯s carved from a dragon¡¯s tooth, so you want to be called Xiaolong, right?¡± Zhou Wen was enlightened.


    The girl was expressionless as she stared at him without any reaction. After staring at him for quite some time without blinking, Zhou Wen felt a little creeped out.


    ¡°That¡¯s not it? What about Xiaoya?¡± Zhou Wen asked guiltily.


    The girl looked at Zhou Wen with a strange look before slowly nodding.


    Zhou Wen looked at the girl¡¯s eyes and felt that she was about to give up. He also didn¡¯t feel too good about it, so he thought for a moment and said, ¡°Xiaoya doesn¡¯t sound nice. It doesn¡¯t sound like a girl¡¯s name. Why don¡¯t we call you Ya¡¯er? This ¡®ya¡¯ means sprouting. I hope you can grow up quickly.¡±


    The girl nodded slightly. Although it was still a little forced, she didn¡¯t have the look of giving up like before.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll call you Ya¡¯er from now on.¡± Zhou Wen wiped the sweat off his forehead and looked at Ya¡¯er. ¡°Ya¡¯er, can you still control the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings?¡±


    Ya¡¯er nodded and Zhou Wen felt relieved. If Ya¡¯er couldn¡¯t control the Ice Silkworm Gu Kings, his plan would fail. Although the outcome might still be the same, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like things that he couldn¡¯t control.


    ¡°Can you still make others not see you?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    This time, Ya¡¯er shook her head. Clearly, she could no longer exist in her spirit body state.


    Zhou Wen asked some more questions and roughly gained an understanding of Ya¡¯er, but what he knew remained limited. She couldn¡¯t speak, so Zhou Wen could only probe.


    Now, he only knew that Ya¡¯er¡¯s ability, memory, and intelligence hadn¡¯t changed. It was the same as before, but for some reason, her body had stopped growing.


    Is she considered a living person now? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t determine Ya¡¯er¡¯s situation, so he could only ask her, ¡°What do you want to do now?¡±


    ¡°Kill.¡± Ya¡¯er actually said one word.


    1


    ¡°So you can speak?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ya¡¯er in shock. He had been gesturing for so long, but it turned out that Ya¡¯er could speak.

 Chapter 804 - Annihilation

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, when Zhou Wen asked her again, she only nodded and shook her head without saying another word.


    Could it be that she only knows one word? Although Zhou Wen felt that it was unlikely and there was no reason for her to only say one word, there was nothing he could do if Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t wish to speak.


    Ya¡¯er suddenly stood up and walked out. However, after taking two steps, her legs went limp and she fell to the ground. From the looks of it, her body¡¯s strength was about the same as an ordinary toddler¡¯s.


    Ya¡¯er frowned slightly as her eyes narrowed, causing her body to levitate.


    How strange. Her mental strength is still as strong as before. It¡¯s at the Mythical level, but her body is as weak as a baby. Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something to her, he saw her fly out the window and head for the Xiao family.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that something would happen, so he put on the Invisibility Cloak and followed.


    Inside the Xiao family, Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi were preparing to tame the Ice Silkworms. They couldn¡¯t wait to tame them successfully.


    ¡°What a treasure. A powerful Gu like the Ice Silkworm Gu King is actually trapped inside without the ability to rush out. It¡¯s much easier for us to tame them,¡± Xiao Liuqi said as he looked at the Ice Silkworms inside.


    Xiao Tianfang was also observing the two Ice Silkworms. The two Ice Silkworms seemed to be tired from crawling around inside. They were motionless inside, probably resting.


    Xiao Liuqi took out a Gu and tied it to a rope before throwing it into the Essence Gold Pot. This was food that Ice Silkworms liked to eat. He had to use this method to entice the Ice Silkworms, but he wouldn¡¯t let them eat it. Then, he would gradually train them.


    Xiao Liuqi placed the Gu inside and was about to pull the Gu out when the Ice Silkworm took action. However, to his surprise, an Ice Silkworm swallowed the Gu. Its speed was shockingly fast, giving him no time to pull out the Gu.


    ¡°The Ice Silkworms are too fast. I doubt it will be easy taming them.¡± Xiao Liuqi was just about to pull out the rope and get another Gu when the Ice Silkworm inside the pot phased away suddenly, appearing on the edge of the pot.


    Alarmed, Xiao Liuqi and Xiao Tianfang quickly retreated.


    ¡°How did that happen?¡± Xiao Tianfang was alarmed. He felt that something was amiss.


    Before Xiao Liuqi could say anything, another Ice Silkworm crawled out as though the Essence Gold Pot had lost its effect.


    The two of them ran out without any hesitation. After they left the secret chamber, they were stunned by the scene in front of them.


    In the huge temple, there were all sorts of Gu crawling everywhere. The Xiao family members were fighting with their Gu. What was even more terrifying was that the Gu they had domesticated now betrayed their masters and attacked them. There were screams and blood splattering everywhere.


    ¡°How did this happen? What happened?¡± Xiao Tianfang¡¯s eyes turned red. The entire temple seemed to have turned into hell.


    ¡°There¡¯s a problem. There must be a problem. It must be that Zhou guy. He didn¡¯t want to give us the Ice Silkworms at all¡­¡± Xiao Liuqi felt despair. The Xiao family already had many Gu. Now, all of them had betrayed them. Even the Mythical-level Blood Scorpion Gu had rushed out and was engaging in wanton slaughter.


    There were also a few Mythical Gu they had previously captured that were doing the same.


    Any one of them was already very difficult to deal with, much less with so many Gu. It was already impossible for them to rush out of the temple.


    ¡°Zhou, even if I become a ghost after death, I won¡¯t let you off,¡± Xiao Tianfang shouted in grief and indignation.


    In the sky, a figure slowly descended. Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi looked over and realized that it was a one-year-old girl.


    However, the girl¡¯s face didn¡¯t have the innocence and cuteness a child should have. She was completely expressionless other than her cold expression. She floated in the air and looked down coldly at Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi.


    The surrounding Gu killed wantonly, but no Gu attacked Xiao Tianfang and Xiao Liuqi.


    Xiao Tianfang carefully sized up Ya¡¯er and suddenly pointed at her as he shouted in horror, ¡°Gu Lady¡­ You¡¯re Gu Lady¡­ How is this possible¡­¡±


    After all, he had once been connected to Ya¡¯er at an intrinsic level. He was all too familiar with her aura. Although the Intrinsic Lock had been removed, he could still sense the unique aura from Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°How can she be Gu Lady? That¡¯s impossible, right?¡± Xiao Liuqi naturally didn¡¯t believe that the girl in front of him was Gu Lady.


    Kuman Nee couldn¡¯t be revived. The little girl in front of them was clearly a living person.


    ¡°Liuqi, are you silly? Apart from Gu Lady, who else can control so many Gu? Who can make all our Gu betray us? Also, the aura from her is definitely Gu Lady¡­¡± Xiao Tianfang said in horror.


    At that moment, the two Ice Silkworms crawled out as transparent wings grew from their backs. They flew to the side of Gu Lady as though they were protecting her.


    Xiao Tianfang suddenly seemed to understand something as his body trembled. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I get it. I get it now. So that Zhou fellow isn¡¯t capable at all. The treasure pot and the ease at subduing the Ice Silkworms were all fake. Gu Lady was able to subdue the Ice Silkworms. She was the one controlling the Ice Silkworms¡­ We actually didn¡¯t realize that her strength had already reached such a level¡­¡±


    Xiao Liuqi was also horrified. His face was filled with despair. ¡°It¡¯s over, Tianfang. We¡¯re doomed this time¡­ We shouldn¡¯t have targeted her back then¡­ Now, she¡¯s here for revenge¡­¡±


    Everyone in the Xiao family was dead. Gu swarmed over like a tidal wave, surrounding the two of them in the middle. The entire temple was drowned by Gu, leaving only the spot where they stood without any Gu.


    ¡°You¡­ deserve death¡­¡± With her voice, the tidal-like Gu rushed towards them.


    The Xiao brothers fought with all their might, but they were quickly drowned by Gu. Countless Gu drilled into their bodies and tore at their organs and flesh.


    Amidst the inhuman screams, the Xiao brothers were eaten until there was nothing left.


    Zhou Wen remained in midair and couldn¡¯t help but frown when he saw the Xiao family¡¯s tragic state. He was also somewhat worried.


    It was understandable that Ya¡¯er wanted revenge, but it was indeed a little too ruthless to kill everyone without any discrimination. It wasn¡¯t necessarily true that everyone in the Xiao family was bad, and not everyone had done evil.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pity the Xiao family, but he was afraid of Ya¡¯er¡¯s character. If he kept her by his side in the future, if he or the people around him angered her one day, would she treat him and his friends the same way she treated the Xiao family?


    While Zhou Wen was still pondering over it, the Gu began to disperse. Moments later, not a single one was left. Only Ya¡¯er flew over with two Ice Silkworms.


    Zhou Wen took out the Essence Gold Pot that Worm Dugu had given him and the two Ice Silkworms obediently crawled in.

 Chapter 805 - Dragon Gods

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re free, you can go anywhere you want to go or do whatever you want,¡± Zhou Wen said to Ya¡¯er.


    However, Ya¡¯er just looked at Zhou Wen without saying a word. She clearly knew how to speak, but for some reason, she didn¡¯t say a word.


    ¡°Do you have anywhere you want to go or anything you want to do?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head slightly. She had been refined into a Kuman Nee by the Xiao brothers before she was even born. She probably didn¡¯t know where she wanted to go or what she wanted.


    ¡°Then follow me. However, if you follow me, I have a few requests. If you can do it, you can follow me. If you can¡¯t, you should head off by yourself,¡± Zhou Wen said to Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t say a word as she looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Firstly, you are to follow my orders. Without my orders, you are not to injure others. Secondly, you are not to use Gu to harm others without my permission. Thirdly, you can reason with me, but you have to listen to me in the end. Fourthly, don¡¯t casually show your strength in front of others¡­ Can you do it?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er looked at Zhou Wen and nodded without any hesitation. He did not know if she had really understood.


    Zhou Wen felt odd seeing Ya¡¯er nod. Although he was somewhat happy, he was also somewhat worried.


    Even Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if Ya¡¯er could be considered a human. If she still had the taboos of a Kuman Nee, she would probably spell trouble in the future.


    However, at this point, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take her back.


    He brought Ya¡¯er along to buy some clothes. Although she didn¡¯t say a word, she was very obedient. She did whatever Zhou Wen said. She looked like an ordinary, obedient child. She didn¡¯t show any of the ruthlessness she had when destroying the Xiao family at all.


    ¡°Old Zhou, where did you abduct this child?¡± Li Xuan asked in surprise when he saw Zhou Wen return with a child.


    ¡°I picked her up on the way,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Could she be lost?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°No, I went to a dimensional zone where Gu appear. No one will take a child there,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s so heartless to abandon such a cute little girl?¡± Li Xuan looked at the girl with pity.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but I plan on adopting her and bringing her with me.¡± Zhou Wen took out the Gu pot and handed it to Li Xuan. ¡°The two Ice Silkworms are inside.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s the Xiao family?¡± Li Xuan asked with an odd expression as he held the Gu pot.


    ¡°It was destroyed by the Kuman Nee.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t elaborate because the scene was too tragic.


    ¡°They deserved it. How were they unafraid of the wrath of heaven to actually kill someone and dig out the baby?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Does this child have a name?¡± Li Xuan asked as he stroked her head.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, a name I gave her.¡± Zhou Wen felt relieved when he saw Ya¡¯er not exhibiting any special reactions towards Li Xuan¡¯s stroking of her head.


    ¡°What kind of name is this? How can such a cute little girl use such a name? You should at least call her Crescent or something. Even the common Xiaoya is way better than Ya¡¯er, right? No, no, you have to give her a new name.¡± Li Xuan immediately shook his head when he heard Ya¡¯er¡¯s name.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it when I register her in the future. Let¡¯s just treat Ya¡¯er as a nickname.¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know how to give names. It gave him a headache.


    ¡­


    Soon, the Xiao family¡¯s overnight destruction was discovered. Many people went to take a look and realized that there were traces of a large number of Gu. They guessed that the Xiao family had been destroyed by Gu, but no one knew the exact details.


    The number one Xiao family in Chiang Rai was destroyed overnight. This became a legend in Chiang Rai. There were all kinds of stories.


    Li Xuan planned on visiting the Dugu family with Worm Dugu to learn about Gu, but Zhou Wen stayed behind. As there was still no concrete news from Primordial Spore, he wanted to wait and see.


    The Primordial Spore hadn¡¯t successfully parasitized the dragon, but it hadn¡¯t died either. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what was happening.


    Li Mobai also returned to Luoyang with Butterfly and Mute. Gu Shanshui even called and said that he had found a way to trap the Corpse Bug and wanted Zhou Wen to retrieve the calabash.


    Zhou Wen was temporarily unable to head to Mong Hsat, so Gu Shanshui got Gu Lou to deliver the calabash to him.


    Zhou Wen waited for news of the Primordial Spore while grinding.


    Ancient Sword Tomb and Valley of No Return were excellent dungeons that produced many good items. Zhou Wen focused on grinding these two dungeons. Together with the Mythical creatures and rare creatures in other dungeons, he had to grind them all every time he respawned.


    Zhou Wen went to the snow valley on the right side of the Valley of No Return a few times, but the blood-colored avatar would quickly die every time he entered. It was fine flying in the air, but when he was in the air, he could only see the snow-covered valley with no Gu to be seen.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand why the blood-colored avatar would die in the snow.


    With Truth Listener and Supreme Hell King¡¯s abilities, if a Gu is hidden in the snow, I should be able to sense it no matter how tiny it is. Furthermore, there¡¯s no reaction from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. This means that it¡¯s not a taboo power. What killed the blood-colored avatar? Zhou Wen studied it for a while but failed to find the secret of the snow valley.


    Zhou Wen guessed that most of the people who entered the Valley of No Return had died in the snow valley.


    After all, those who dared to go there were experts at nurturing Gu. Many would have the means to deal with the Gu in the first few areas of the valley. However, the snow valley was not something that could be simply dealt with using Gu knowledge.


    While Zhou Wen was gaming, Ya¡¯er sat on the stool and watched him. She didn¡¯t make a fuss.


    Although Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t have a heartbeat, she wasn¡¯t much different from a normal child. She also needed to eat to grow. Zhou Wen could sense that she was slowly growing at a speed similar to a normal child.


    ¡­


    In a world that resembled a mystic realm, there was a huge palace that stood at the peak of a mountain. At the top of the palace was a huge statue that looked like a snake or a dragon, but it wasn¡¯t either of them.


    On the mountain that resembled a heavenly pillar, there was only a stone staircase that led up the mountain. It extended from the foot of the mountain all the way to the top of the mountain.


    At that moment, a white-robed man with lightning bolts running through his body walked to the stone steps.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, you¡¯re not guarding the divine tree and have actually dared to leave without permission. You¡¯ve even come to Dragon God Mountain. Don¡¯t you know that this is the place where the Dragon Gods live? It¡¯s not a place a mixed-breed like you can come. Are you tired of living?¡± A monster with a human torso and a snake tail blocked Wang Mingyuan¡¯s path.


    ¡°From now on, I¡¯m the king of the Dragon Gods,¡± Wang Mingyuan said calmly.

 Chapter 806 - Calamity Grade

    Translator: CKtalon


    The snake-tailed monster guarding the stone steps appeared to have heard the funniest joke in the world. It laughed to the point of having tears stream down its face.


    ¡°You really think too highly of yourself. Don¡¯t tell me you really think that advancing to the Mythical stage is that impressive? In the dimensional wars, the so-called Mythical stage of you humans is just cannon fodder. This is because only by reaching that level can one cross dimensions without being killed by the barriers of the different dimensions. Only ancient forbidden zones like Earth will treat the Mythical stage as something important.¡±


    The monster continued contemptuously, ¡°Just like how humans on Earth can¡¯t survive in space because it doesn¡¯t have the oxygen and other conditions you need to survive there. Becoming a Mythical stage merely means that you humans have learned how to survive in an environment without oxygen.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s naturally hope if one can learn to breathe and end up surviving,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°You need hope only for the impossible. There¡¯s no way you can fathom what kind of existence the Dragon King is. If an ant like you hadn¡¯t come out of the ancient forbidden land, you wouldn¡¯t even be qualified to be a servant for the Dragon Gods, much less guard the divine tree. Yet, you actually dare to challenge the Dragon King? You¡¯re tempting fate. There¡¯s no need to look for the Dragon King. I¡¯ll show you what true strength is today,¡± the monster said as a strange power arose from its body. It struck out at Wang Mingyuan with its hand.


    The terrifying power transformed into a giant snake that tore towards Wang Mingyuan in a bid to devour him. This casual strike was so powerful that it could match Tyrant Behemoth in its Absolute Strength state.


    Wang Mingyuan continued walking towards the stone steps, ignoring the terrifying snake attack.


    However, when the giant snake came in front of him, it automatically disintegrated and turned into nothingness in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°You actually broke through the dimensional barrier? However, do you think that you have the right to fight our Dragon Gods? Aren¡¯t you being too arrogant?¡± Although the monster was arrogant, its expression turned solemn. It no longer wore a supercilious look.


    Seeing Wang Mingyuan walk over step by step, the monster clasped its hands together and presented a strange offensive stance, like a venomous snake that could devour its enemy at any moment.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the true power of us Dragon Gods¡­ Dragon God Descent¡­¡± As the monster roared, the strange power on its body was pushed to its limits. A terrifying power immediately swept through the entire space. Giant snakes of light shot out with apocalyptic might, bombarding Wang Mingyuan from all directions.


    Countless giant snakes tried to devour Wang Mingyuan, but when they reached him, they automatically disintegrated. They couldn¡¯t touch his body at all as though his body was protected by a deity.


    ¡°How¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± The monster was alarmed when it saw that its Dragon God Descent, which had been unleashed to its limits, failed to touch Wang Mingyuan¡¯s clothes.


    As for Wang Mingyuan, he was less than three meters away from him. The stone steps leading up the mountain were already right in front of him.


    ¡°Dragons aren¡¯t like that.¡± Wang Mingyuan glanced at the monster and waved his hand gently. The monster¡¯s body seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand as it was thrown.


    Boom!


    Its body slammed into the stone wall, creating a crater. Its bones seemed to have shattered and its body was covered in blood. It struggled a few times but failed to stand up. It only spat out a mouthful of blood.


    ¡°You advanced to the Calamity grade?¡± The monster looked at Wang Mingyuan in horror as though it had seen a ghost.


    It hadn¡¯t been long since Wang Mingyuan advanced to the Mythical stage and used the powers of the six Holy Temples to break through the dimensional barrier and enter the dimensional zone. He had even suffered the punishment of lightning smiting. Yet, he had advanced to the Calamity grade so quickly. This was just too shocking.


    Even among the Octokind, which were born Mythical, there was only a handful who could advance to the Calamity grade so quickly.


    Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t answer as he stepped onto the stone steps and walked towards the Dragon God Temple.


    ¡°Even if you¡¯ve advanced to the Calamity grade, you are just an ant in front of the mighty Dragon King¡­¡± The monster roared, but it didn¡¯t get a response.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen waited for the news of the Primordial Spore¡¯s success or failure. As it was too far away, he couldn¡¯t retrieve it. He couldn¡¯t help but feel anxious.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to make another trip to Dragon Corpse River and find the Dragon King Gu. Even if I can¡¯t successfully parasitize it, I have to take back Primordial Spore. With Tai Sui, the chick, and Ya¡¯er beside him, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of Gu at all, so he planned on making a trip to Dragon Corpse River himself.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the family that built the boats, nor did he plan on spending a large sum of money to buy a special boat. He bought an ordinary speedboat and got it transported to Dragon Corpse River.


    ¡°Friend, why did you bring a speedboat to Dragon Corpse River?¡± A person who was prepared to enter Dragon Corpse River to capture Gu saw Zhou Wen¡¯s speedboat and asked curiously.


    ¡°To enter the river to catch Gu,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    The person sized up Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Friend, are you from overseas?¡±


    ¡°I just came to Chiang Rai a few days ago,¡± Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s no wonder. I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know the taboo of Dragon Corpse River. Typical boats will be attacked by Gu when they enter the river. You have to first get a special Gu-proof boat,¡± the person warned.


    ¡°Typical Gu probably wouldn¡¯t attack my boat,¡± Zhou Wen said as he picked up Ya¡¯er and boarded the speedboat. He started the speedboat¡¯s engine and set off into Dragon Corpse River.


    The person said to the disciple beside him, ¡°That young man has really gone mad. He has actually driven a speedboat into the Dragon Corpse River. Although the engine won¡¯t stall in Dragon Corpse River, the Gu in Dragon Corpse River will be attracted by the sound of the engine. When they crawl into the engine and cause damage to the engine, it will be impossible for him to come out again. To think he brought a child with him. He¡¯s really hopeless.¡±


    ¡°This person is clearly from the East District and is very arrogant. If he wants to die, we can¡¯t stop him,¡± the disciple said with a twitch of his lips.


    Zhou Wen steered the speedboat while the chick and Tai Sui stood on each side of the boat. As for Ya¡¯er, she sat beside Zhou Wen and sized up Dragon Corpse River curiously.


    The Gu in Dragon Corpse River sensed the chick¡¯s aura and didn¡¯t dare approach the speedboat.


    However, with a wave of her hand, a few Gu approached and swam beside the speedboat as though they were protecting it.


    Since I¡¯ve gotten the calabash back, should I use Ya¡¯er to subdue some Gu? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t interested in ordinary Gu. If he really planned on subduing any, they would at least be Gu at the level of the Ice Silkworms. It would be even better if he could subdue the Dragon King Gu.

 Chapter 807 - Collecting Dragon King Gu

    The speedboat was much faster than the wooden boat as it sped across the river. Zhou Wen could clearly sense that he was getting closer and closer to Primordial Spore as the connection was getting stronger.


    To people who reared Gu, the Dragon Corpse River was as dangerous as hell, but it was nothing to Zhou Wen. As he sped forward, he quickly sensed the location of Primordial Spore.


    Zhou Wen could sense that Primordial Spore was beneath the boat. Furthermore, he could sense that the massive creature, Dragon King Gu, was also below.


    As they were very close, Zhou Wen could sense it more clearly. Primordial Spore had been trying to parasitize the Dragon King Gu and control its body.


    However, the Dragon King Gu was different from ordinary Mythical creatures. Its body was an agglomerate; likewise for its soul¡ªcountless souls gathered together. Primordial Spore attempted to parasitize the Dragon King Gu¡¯s soul only to realize that it could only control a portion of the souls. No matter which part it parasitized, it couldn¡¯t completely control the Dragon King Gu. This resulted in the current deadlock.


    It was easy to parasitize a soul, but it was impossible to control the Dragon King Gu. Unless Primordial Spore split into thousands of small Primordial Spores and proceeded with a complete parasitization, it was possible to truly control the Dragon King Gu.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, can you control the Dragon King Gu below?¡± Zhou Wen placed his hopes on Ya¡¯er.


    However, Ya¡¯er shook her head. She couldn¡¯t control the Dragon King Gu.


    ¡°Is it because it¡¯s too powerful?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ya¡¯er.


    Although Ya¡¯er had the ability to control Gu, there was a limit. The Dragon King Gu was already a top-notch Mythical creature, so it was normal for Ya¡¯er to be unable to control it with her mind.


    To his surprise, Ya¡¯er shook it again. However, this time, she finally spoke. ¡°Can¡¯t communicate.¡±


    ¡°You mean that you control Gu because you can communicate with them, and you can¡¯t control Gu that can¡¯t you communicate with or those that are unwilling to cooperate?¡± Zhou Wen immediately understood Ya¡¯er¡¯s ability.


    Ya¡¯er nodded. From the looks of it, Zhou Wen¡¯s guess was right.


    However, for some reason, Ya¡¯er and the Dragon King Gu couldn¡¯t communicate. As such, Zhou Wen¡¯s hope of using Ya¡¯er¡¯s ability to subdue the Dragon King Gu was dashed.


    Is there any other way? After some thought, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t think of any good solution. Even if he made Tai Sui transform into a fish and enter the river, it would at most eat a portion of the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body. It was impossible to kill it.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred. Since I can¡¯t subdue it, I wonder if I can store it in the calabash. If I can store it in the calabash, I can feed Tai Sui even if I can¡¯t use it. But how can I store such a huge Dragon King Gu in the calabash?


    After plucking it from the vine, the calabash no longer had the ability to take the initiative to store Gu. However, although Gu wouldn¡¯t resist entering the calabash, they wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to enter either.


    From the looks of it, I can only use the tactic of cornering it. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to scout the terrain at the bottom of the river before summoning Tai Sui.


    Zhou Wen first got Tai Sui to use its mimicking ability to turn into a tiny Ancient Tadpole. However, the Ancient Tadpole that Tai Sui transformed into was white. It was different in color from the real Ancient Tadpole, but its external appearance was no different.


    After lowering Tai Sui into the river, it swam towards the bottom of the river.


    Zhou Wen put on the Dragon Scale Armor formed by Demon Blood True Dragon. He also put on the Invisibility Cloak and went down the river with the calabash, but he headed in another direction.


    The Dragon King Gu had suffered greatly from Tai Sui. It would definitely be afraid if it saw Tai Sui.


    However, Tai Sui was previously in the form of the chick. Now that it had turned into an ancient tadpole, the Dragon King Gu failed to recognize it.


    Seeing a tadpole dare approach it, the Dragon King Gu unleashed its might and swallowed Tai Sui.


    When Tai Sui entered the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body, it immediately bit left and right and began devouring the Dragon King Gu¡¯s body.


    When the Dragon King Gu realized that the tadpole it had swallowed wasn¡¯t dead and was still devouring its body, it was alarmed and wanted to get Tai Sui out of its body.


    It wasn¡¯t a real dragon but condensed from countless tiny Gu. It could control its body freely, so it opened a hole in its abdomen. Tai Sui was devouring its body when it was thrown out.


    After Tai Sui came out, it immediately used its mimicking ability and transformed into the Dragon King Gu. The two Dragon King Gu appeared at the bottom of the river and it was almost impossible to tell which was the real one.


    However, the real Dragon King Gu could change its color, but Tai Sui remained white the entire time. People in the know could easily tell.


    Unfortunately, Tai Sui¡¯s mimicking ability was only superficial. No matter how big and fierce it became, its strength was still as weak. It didn¡¯t have the abilities of the Dragon King Gu; only its appearance was more frightening.


    However, the Dragon King Gu was frightened. Tai Sui was its nemesis to begin with. Now that it had become so huge, the Dragon King Gu was afraid that it would be swallowed by Tai Sui, so it immediately fled.


    Tai Sui¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the Dragon King Gu, so it could only chase after it slowly. Looking like the Dragon King Gu was useless, and it didn¡¯t have the speed of the Dragon King Gu, so it couldn¡¯t catch up.


    The Dragon King Gu was quite frightened. It fled in a panic, hoping to stay as far away from Tai Sui as possible.


    Zhou Wen used Primordial Spore to take advantage of a portion of the Dragon King Gu¡¯s soul, allowing it to have some effect and affect the direction of the Dragon King Gu¡¯s escape.


    The Dragon King Gu chose the correct direction. Zhou Wen was just making sure that things followed his plan.


    He stood in invisibility at the narrow mouth at the bottom of the river and watched the Dragon King Gu rush over. When it was close, he suddenly took out the calabash from under the Invisibility Cloak and opened the mouth of the calabash.


    The Dragon King Gu immediately slammed into the calabash and half its head drilled in.


    Zhou Wen was originally afraid that the Dragon King Gu would resist, but to his surprise, after the Dragon King Gu discovered the space in the calabash, it continued burrowing in. Soon, the entire body of the Dragon King Gu was inside. Zhou Wen capped the calabash and the Dragon King Gu remained inside.


    The Dragon King Gu didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of coming out. It stayed inside the calabash and coiled inside obediently when it didn¡¯t see Tai Sui chase after it.


    Zhou Wen never expected things to go so smoothly. To his surprise, when he saw Tai Sui swim over, Zhou Wen was somewhat curious. He rode on Tai Sui¡¯s back and got it to rush out of the water with him.


    The people that he had encountered previously happened to be nearby. They saw Zhou Wen¡¯s speedboat parked on the river. The girl was still sitting on the boat, but Zhou Wen was nowhere to be seen. They imagined that Zhou Wen had been killed and were about to rescue the girl when they suddenly heard a loud splash.

 Chapter 808 - Legend of the Gu God

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯ve already warned that fellow not to drive the speedboat into the Dragon Corpse River, but he refused to listen. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s dead. That little girl sure is lucky to still be alive. However, without her family, how can she survive at such a young age? What a sin!¡± As the man spoke, he was about to rush over to help when he suddenly saw a huge creature rush out of the water.


    ¡°Heavens¡­ Dragon King Gu¡­ That¡¯s the Dragon King Gu¡­¡± The men immediately trembled when they saw the huge creature. They were so frightened that they forgot to escape. Their legs went limp and they couldn¡¯t move at all.


    To people who reared Gu, the Dragon King Gu was almost a god-like existence.


    But at this moment, they saw the Dragon King Gu lower its head in the direction of the speedboat.


    That girl is doomed! They all thought that the Dragon King Gu was going to eat that little girl.


    To their surprise, after the Dragon King Gu lowered its head, they saw a person standing on its head. That person jumped down from the Dragon King Gu¡¯s head and landed in the boat.


    The group of people couldn¡¯t believe their eyes. Someone actually dared to stand on the Dragon King Gu¡¯s head. Furthermore, the Dragon Corpse River¡¯s river water was extraordinary. Humans couldn¡¯t touch the river water at all, or they would have the possibility of turning into zombies.


    Yet, this person came out with the Dragon King Gu. Clearly, his entire body had already come into contact with the river.


    They were even more shocked when they identified the person. That person was actually the young man they had seen previously. He didn¡¯t seem to have suffered any injuries. What was even more exaggerated was that he even patted the head of the Dragon King Gu as though he was comforting his pet.


    ¡°Oh my god¡­ Is he the reincarnation of a Gu God? How can the Dragon King Gu let a human touch its noble head¡­¡± Everyone was dumbfounded.


    Zhou Wen also saw them and got Tai Sui to retreat into the river. It transformed back into an Ancient Tadpole at the bottom of the river and followed beside the speedboat.


    Zhou Wen started the speedboat, causing a long wave to ripple across the river as it headed for the Dragon Corpse River¡¯s exit.


    ¡°Gu God¡­ That must be the Gu God¡­¡± A man shockingly watched the speedboat leave and muttered to himself. ¡°How can humans treat the Dragon King Gu like a pet? Only a god could have such power, and it has to be a Gu God.¡±


    From then on, there were legends of the Dragon King Gu and Gu God in the vicinity of the Dragon Corpse River. Someone even built a Gu God statue near the Dragon Corpse River.


    A mysterious young man, holding a little girl¡¯s hand, stood on the head of the Dragon King Gu, as though he was about to ride the dragon to fly away.


    Later on, the legend of the Gu God was accepted by more and more people who reared Gu. Many of them in the South District would worship the Gu God, but that was something far into the future.


    After taking the Dragon King Gu out of the Dragon Corpse River, Zhou Wen set off for Mong Hsat. After meeting Gu Shanshui, he returned to Luoyang.


    Although Mute wasn¡¯t around to lead the way, Zhou Wen had already memorized the route. With the chick, Tai Sui, and Ya¡¯er around, he didn¡¯t encounter any danger.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen kept studying the fusion problem of Ancient Splitting Tadpole. Zhou Wen¡¯s ideal combination was to fuse the Ancient Splitting Tadpole and Primordial Spore. If he could produce a Primordial Spore that could split through fusion, he would be invincible.


    However, the compatibility between the two was just too low. It wasn¡¯t even 20%. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t know what the outcome would be after the fusion, so he didn¡¯t dare try it.


    He matched the few Mythical Companion Beasts he already had with the Ancient Splitting Tadpole and realized that their compatibility was very low. The only one with a higher compatibility was Tai Sui, reaching a compatibility score of 69%.


    1


    This made Zhou Wen even more afraid of carrying out the fusion. Although the compatibility was very high, Tai Sui had the ability to restrain microorganisms. Even the Dragon King Gu was afraid of it. If it lost this ability after fusion, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    Don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s no other fusion choices? Zhou Wen matched the few rare Epic Companion Beasts with the Ancient Splitting Tadpole and realized that the compatibility wasn¡¯t high. The only one that was higher was the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Why is this thing so odd? Those that have a high compatibility with it are strange Companion Beasts. I should wait and see. If there¡¯s really no other choice, I can try the fusion using Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed as he gave up on the idea of fusing the Ancient Splitting Tadpole.


    In fact, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t spent much time grinding recently because he was studying the First Order of Chaos, hoping to advance his Chaos Egg Life Soul to a Perfect Body.


    The First Order of Chaos was like the Dao Sutra. They were Essence Energy Arts that mainly enhanced Essence Energy attributes. Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try and see if the Chaos Egg could raise his stats to 41 points if he advanced to a Perfect Body.


    After Zhou Wen¡¯s research, he discovered some ways to use the Chaos Egg. It had a very strong defense. Although it was only a Primordial Body, its defense was comparable to an ordinary Mythical creature¡¯s.


    Zhou Wen used Light Concealment Sword to cleave at the Chaos Egg and required two strikes to leave a mark.


    If he used the Golden Overlord Sword, he could cleave it apart with one strike.


    This was already rather sick. After all, it was only a Primordial Body. If it advanced to a Perfect Body, it might be able to withstand a Mythical attack without any injuries.


    Also, Zhou Wen could rapidly recover from his injuries and replenish his Essence Energy inside the Chaos Egg. It was like a high-level recovery device.


    The only pity was that the Chaos Egg didn¡¯t have any offensive abilities. All it could do was defend and allow self-repair.


    As the Chaos Egg¡¯s ability was somewhat similar to Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul, Zhou Wen questioned the possibility of the Chaos Egg needing to be shattered before advancing.


    He made a few attempts at injuring the Chaos Egg, but it quickly healed without becoming stronger.


    Instead, the Chaos Egg seemed to become stronger after it helped treat his wounds.


    It can¡¯t be¡­ Could it be that this thing can only evolve after treating my injuries? Could it be that I have to seek a beating for no reason? Zhou Wen was extremely depressed when he came to this conclusion.


    However, the facts proved that the Chaos Egg was indeed becoming stronger when it healed his body.


    Furthermore, the Chaos Egg was very strange. It would only become stronger after it treated different kinds of injuries that Zhou Wen sustained.


    If it was the same kind of injury, although it would heal Zhou Wen, it wouldn¡¯t become stronger.


    I have to choose the style in which I¡¯m beaten up. Isn¡¯t this Life Soul too sick? Zhou Wen was so depressed that he nearly gave up on the Essence Energy Art.


    However, after some thought, he couldn¡¯t find any other substitute. All he could do was attempt to suffer different injuries in-game before getting the Chaos Egg to help him recover.


    Bit by bit, the Chaos Egg grew stronger. By the time Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, the Chaos Egg was already showing signs of advancing to an Evolved Body.


    ¡°Little Wen, did you bring an illegitimate daughter back? Am I going to be a grandmother?¡± Not long after Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, Ouyang Lan suddenly visited him. She looked at Ya¡¯er, who was sitting on the sofa, in pleasant surprise.


    1

 Chapter 809 - Puzzlement

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened as he explained, ¡°Why would I have an illegitimate daughter? I picked her up.¡±


    ¡°Picked her up? I thought she was your daughter. I thought my life would be more fun with her in the future.¡± Ouyang Lan was greatly disappointed as though she wished Zhou Wen had ten illegitimate children.


    ¡°If you like children, why not adopt one yourself?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Ouyang Lan rolled her eyes at him. ¡°I have two sons and a daughter. Wouldn¡¯t it be embarrassing if I adopted a grandchild? That punk, Tianzuo, is a disappointment. He only knows how to work every day and doesn¡¯t even have a partner. I¡¯m counting on you and Little Jing now. Don¡¯t be like Tianzuo. Find a wife early and give me a grandchild to play with.¡±


    ¡°Sis Lan, I¡¯m only a sophomore. There¡¯s no rush, right?¡± Zhou Wen was rendered speechless.


    ¡°Why not? Girls in school are most gullible. If you can¡¯t even fool them in school, it will be even harder to find a partner in the future,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Uh!¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°Anyway, give it some thought. I think that Wang Lu is quite good. Unfortunately, she will definitely be in charge of the Wang family in the future. It¡¯s impossible for her to marry out of the family. By the way, didn¡¯t you have a female classmate from Guide High School who was admitted together with you? Her name is Fang Ruoxi, right? I think she¡¯s quite a nice person. She has a huge butt, a sign of being fertile¡­¡±


    1


    ¡°Sis Lan¡­ Have some tea¡­¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly poured a cup of tea for Ouyang Lan, finally stopping her.


    Ouyang Lan drank a mouthful of tea and glanced at Ya¡¯er who was sitting there. She asked, ¡°This girl looks pretty good but too bad she¡¯s not your biological daughter. What¡¯s her name?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a name yet. I gave her a nickname¡ªYa¡¯er,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Ouyang Lan sighed and said, ¡°In this era, too many people have died. There are also many orphans. It¡¯s still alright in Luoyang because of the orphanages. At the very least, they still have a way out. If their parents were to die in smaller cities, the orphans would really have no way out. They might be able to live if they were adopted by good people, but in this world, how can there be so many good people?¡±


    ¡°You still need to cultivate and study now. Furthermore, you are still a child yourself. What do you know about bringing up a child? I¡¯ll help you take care of her. If you have the time, come home and visit her,¡± Ouyang Lan said as she walked in front of Ya¡¯er wanting to hug her.


    ¡°Sis Lan, Ya¡¯er isn¡¯t an ordinary child. She¡¯s very sensible. There¡¯s no need for me to take care of her. She knows everything and will do it herself.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly stopped Ouyang Lan.


    Zhou Wen had seen how ruthless Ya¡¯er was in destroying the Xiao family. He didn¡¯t dare let Ya¡¯er follow Ouyang Lan to the An family. If someone from the An family made her unhappy, the consequences would be unimaginable.


    ¡°What can a young child like her know? Don¡¯t worry. I raised Tianzuo and Little Jing myself. I have experience,¡± Ouyang Lan said as she revealed an amiable smile. She spread open her arms and said to Ya¡¯er, ¡°Ya¡¯er, be good. Come home with Pretty Sister, alright? Pretty Sister has many delicious sweets and beautiful clothes at home.¡±


    Ya¡¯er sat on the sofa and looked at Ouyang Lan before turning her head to the side.


    The corners of Ouyang Lan¡¯s eyes twitched before she took two steps to be in front of Ya¡¯er¡¯s face again. She continued, ¡°Follow Pretty Sister, and there¡¯ll be many toys and delicious food.¡±


    Ya¡¯er turned her face to the other side and Ouyang Lan followed.


    Zhou Wen was rendered speechless when he saw this. Ouyang Lan had just said that it was meaningless taking care of another person¡¯s children, but now, she was insisting on taking Ya¡¯er back.


    ¡°Sis Lan, how¡¯s the investigation on Chu He?¡± Zhou Wen was afraid that this awkward situation would continue, so he hurriedly changed the topic. Furthermore, Zhou Wen really wanted to know if the Chu He who went to Zhuolu was real or fake.


    ¡°On the surface, there¡¯s nothing wrong with the Chu He who went to Zhuolu. All the chronological events matched. If you hadn¡¯t discovered Chu He in Netherworld City, no one would suspect that there was anything wrong with Zhuolu¡¯s Chu He.¡±


    Ouyang Lan paused before continuing, ¡°However, because everything about this Chu He is too perfect, it makes me feel that something is amiss, but our investigations have been fruitless. Therefore, I changed the direction of my investigation and investigated all the members of the team. All of them were clean and looked fine on the surface. However, I realized that all of them have something in common.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Zhou Wen immediately asked.


    ¡°After these people arrived in Zhuolu, most of them didn¡¯t or seldom contacted their families. Although communication isn¡¯t very convenient now and there¡¯s no signal in Zhuolu, they will return to the encampment at times. It¡¯s only natural for them to want to call their family and friends. Even if there are a few workaholics or heartless people among them, it can¡¯t be that most of them are such people. I went to visit their relatives and confirmed this matter. They rarely receive calls. Even if there were calls, they were the ones who called. Furthermore, the other party said that they were very busy. They hurriedly hung up after a few sentences.¡±


    Zhou Wen frowned when he heard that. ¡°Could it be that many of the people in the former principal¡¯s team were impersonated like Chu He?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s very likely.¡± Ouyang Lan nodded.


    ¡°Who did this? What motives does he have?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°This is also what puzzles me. Many of those people are authoritative figures in their respective fields. It¡¯s not easy to get someone to impersonate them. Furthermore, they have to do it flawlessly. Such a huge setup isn¡¯t something an ordinary person can do. Doing all of this should be a ploy, but what are they plotting? Zhuolu has already been mostly explored. From the looks of it, there doesn¡¯t seem to be anything that¡¯s worth going to such great lengths,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    Zhou Wen felt that Ouyang Lan was right. The motive behind such a huge scheme was definitely extraordinary, but what was worth such a setup in Zhuolu?


    The former principal and company were only studying Zhuolu. They didn¡¯t have the ability to kill Torch Dragon and Qiongqi. Ignoring Torch Dragon and Qiongqi, even Aoyin could kill them all.


    If the other party had the ability to set up such a grand scheme, he could have organized an expedition team himself. There was no need for him to follow the former principal.


    ¡°What does the former principal and company have that others don¡¯t?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m also thinking about this question. Based on the information we have so far, there¡¯s no valid answer,¡± Ouyang Lan said helplessly.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of the passcode left behind by the former principal and the metal slab that contained a strange coin.


    Could it be that what they want is that coin? Zhou Wen thought.


    On second thought, Zhou Wen thought of the silver-haired Companion Beast locked in Qin Xiyuan¡¯s shop. The huge metal piece connected to the chain had a corresponding relationship with the small metal piece Zhou Wen had obtained. If he hadn¡¯t seen the huge metal piece, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have imagined that the string of numbers the former principal had given him was a passcode.


    Could there be something inside that huge metal slab? Zhou Wen thought to himself.

 Chapter 810 - I’ll Wait for You Here

    Translator: CKtalon


    Should I give it a try and see if the passcode can open the huge metal slab beside the silver-haired Companion Beast? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to approach the metal slab, but things were different now. With the Invisibility Cloak, he should be able to avoid the various surveillance cameras in the shop and reach the metal slab without anyone noticing.


    Zhou Wen could have openly headed there and even bought the silver-haired Companion Beast, but he had a nagging feeling that there was something wrong with Qin Xiyuan. He wasn¡¯t willing to let Qin Xiyuan know that he was interested in the metal slab.


    In the end, Ouyang Lan failed to take away Ya¡¯er and returned indignantly.


    Zhou Wen thought about it for a while before finally deciding to head to Xiyuan Shop to take a look. Now that Ouyang Lan¡¯s investigations had reached a bottleneck, it was unlikely for her to make any further progress. Perhaps the metal slab that chained the silver-haired Companion Beast could give Zhou Wen new ideas.


    He packed up and fed all the Companion Beasts that needed to be fed. When he fed Demonic Neonate a few Longevity Fruits, she suddenly began evolving again.


    She should be able to advance to the Epic stage this time, right? Zhou Wen was delighted. Demonic Neonate was one step closer to the Mythical stage.


    However, looking at the remaining number of Longevity Fruits, he felt that these Longevity Fruits were probably insufficient to support Demonic Neonate¡¯s evolution.


    Thankfully, there¡¯s still Grim Demon as backup rations. If there¡¯s really no other way, it can be used to make do. Zhou Wen put away Demonic Neonate.


    1


    Before she completely evolved, there was no need to pin any hope on her strength in combat.


    Banana Fairy was still evolving. She had been evolving for quite some time. Based on the time taken, she should be about to advance to the Mythical stage.


    After packing his things, Zhou Wen set off for Qin Xiyuan¡¯s shop.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t directly enter the shop. Instead, he went to a cafe near Xiyuan Store and ordered a cup of coffee. He sat by the window and planned on using Truth Listener to scan Qin Xiyuan¡¯s shop while drinking coffee.


    This cafe was relatively close to Xiyuan Store. Sitting here, Truth Listener¡¯s range covered the entire store. He had to figure out the situation inside first.


    ¡°Sir, here¡¯s your coffee.¡± The waiter served the coffee and politely placed it in front of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s attention was focused on Xiyuan Store and he hadn¡¯t noticed the waiter. When he heard a familiar voice, he looked up and couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. The person who had brought the coffee was Gu Dian.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously looked around. Indeed, it was as he had imagined. The cafe was empty; there weren¡¯t any customers.


    Does the boss of this shop have a grudge with money? He actually hired Gu Dian as a waiter? Zhou Wen felt that the boss must be crazy.


    ¡°Gu Dian, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gu Dian in puzzlement.


    ¡°Working to earn some money,¡± Gu Dian answered.


    ¡°Can working here be more profitable than fighting dimensional creatures and selling the dropped Companion Eggs?¡± Zhou Wen was still somewhat puzzled.


    Gu Dian was considered one of the strongest figures in Sunset College. If he were to sell Companion Eggs he obtained, his income was definitely not something ordinary people could compare with. Furthermore, he was only a waiter at a cafe, so his salary couldn¡¯t be much.


    ¡°Yes.¡± There weren¡¯t many customers in the cafe, so Gu Dian didn¡¯t leave.


    ¡°No way? This cafe can give you such a high salary?¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that a waiter could earn so much.


    Furthermore, this cafe didn¡¯t have any business at all. It was impossible for it to pay a high salary.


    ¡°150,000 a month,¡± Gu Dian answered.


    Pfft! Zhou Wen spat out the mouthful of coffee he had just drunk. He widened his eyes and looked at Gu Dian. ¡°The boss here gives you 150,000 a month?¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that the boss must be nuts. Otherwise, there was no way he would give Gu Dian such a high salary.


    Gu Dian nodded and saw a customer enter. He said, ¡°I need to get back to work.¡±


    Zhou Wen watched Gu Dian head over and say politely, ¡°Welcome.¡±


    When the young couple saw Gu Dian, they seemed to be frightened as they immediately took two steps back. Without even entering, they turned around and quickly walked away.


    I knew it. With Gu Dian around, how can business be good? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out why the boss of this shop would hire Gu Dian.


    After drinking a mouthful of coffee, he felt that it tasted pretty good. It was actually hand-made coffee.


    Unable to figure out the reason, Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop thinking and begin scanning Xiyuan Store.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability enveloped the vicinity of Xiyuan¡¯s shop. It was as though it had turned transparent. Zhou Wen could hear every corner of the building clearly.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the floor where the silver-haired Companion Beast was located was enveloped by a mysterious force, as though it was enveloped by a thick fog.


    Zhou Wen raised Truth Listener¡¯s strength to its limits as the fourth level within the fog slowly became clearer.


    The various Companion Beasts imprisoned inside could be seen clearly. Zhou Wen focused his attention on the room where the silver-haired Companion Beast was. Indeed, he saw the silver-haired Companion Beast sitting beside the large metal slab with its head lowered as though it was asleep.


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s attention landed on him, the silver-haired Companion Beast looked up and clearly glanced in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction. It was as though it was looking into his eyes, shocking him.


    Can he see me? Or is it a coincidence? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    Suddenly, beneath the silver hair that covered most of the Companion Beast¡¯s face was a grin. Then, its lips moved as though it was saying something.


    However, he didn¡¯t make a sound. However, from the shape of his mouth, he seemed to be saying, ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you here.¡±


    He can indeed see me. Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    After Truth Listener advanced to the Mythical stage, its abilities were already very powerful. Furthermore, observing someone through hearing and vision was different. One¡¯s gaze was active, so it wasn¡¯t surprising for those with sharp senses to notice it when someone looked at them.


    Truth Listener¡¯s hearing was passive. It was only gathering information. Yet, the silver-haired Companion Beast was actually able to discover his location. This ability was a little too powerful.


    What¡¯re the origins of that silver-haired Companion Beast? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he wondered about entering.


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. If the chains that bound the silver-haired Companion Beast were unlocked after entering the passcode, could he be doing something foolish?


    What does he mean by waiting for me? Could it be that he knew I would come? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled. The entire matter was odd.


    From the moment the former principal sent him the passcode, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. As the matter developed, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn¡¯t as simple as he had imagined.


    At the very least, the silver-haired Companion Beast in front of him was definitely a terrifying existence. If the former principal had placed the silver-haired Companion Beast in the store, how could he have caught such a Companion Beast? The former principal probably didn¡¯t have such strength.

 Chapter 811 - Mythical Rank

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen decided to enter Xiyuan¡¯s shop to take a look at the silver-haired Companion Beast. No matter how strong the Companion Beast was, since he was locked up in a way that a Companion Beast shop could trap him, there was no reason for anything to happen to him. After all, Qin Xiyuan and company were fine.


    As long as I don¡¯t touch the metal slab or enter the passcode, I should be fine. Zhou Wen made up his mind. After paying the bill, he left the cafe and found an empty spot. He put on the Invisibility Cloak and walked towards Xiyuan Store.


    Zhou Wen had already figured out the situation in the shop. Since Qin Xiyuan wasn¡¯t there, he avoided the places that might expose him and slowly approached the elevator that led to the fourth level.


    The building held no secrets for him. Zhou Wen passed through some ventilation ducts and quickly arrived at the top level.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to go directly to B4, but B4 was completely sealed. No ventilation duct could reach there.


    However, this wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen. There was only one entrance to the fourth level, and it was a special elevator. It was in Qin Xiyuan¡¯s office.


    Zhou Wen remembered that the last time he came with Ouyang Lan, she could take him to B4. Now, the public elevator had been sealed. Only this place could reach B4.


    Without Qin Xiyuan around, Zhou Wen found an opportunity to release Primordial Spore and allowed it to enter the lock. It opened the lock from the inside and easily allowed Zhou Wen to gain access to the office.


    Following the steps from his experience, he activated the sealed elevator and successfully reached the empty B4.


    The various seals naturally didn¡¯t pose a problem for Zhou Wen. Miniature Companion Beasts like Gu could enter the locks, making it easy to open them.


    The invisible Zhou Wen could do whatever he wanted in the shop. Soon, he arrived at the room where the silver-haired Companion Beast was.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t enter directly because there were many cameras in the room. Even the opposite side of the room had several cameras installed. If he opened the door in invisibility, people in the surveillance room would notice it.


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering how to enter, he suddenly realized that the entire building¡¯s electricity had been cut. This was somewhat different from a blackout.


    In the event of a blackout, it only meant that the power supply had been cut. There would still be stored electric power in some equipment, such as electronic watches, phones, and electrical appliances with batteries that allowed them to continue operating.


    However, the electricity in the entire building seemed to have been sucked away. There was nothing left, and all the electronic devices had lost their effects.


    Zhou Wen immediately knew that it was the handiwork of the silver-haired Companion Beast inside. Although there was a door between them, the silver-haired Companion Beast was smiling at him as though the door didn¡¯t exist.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said. This time, not only did he open his mouth, but he also spoke. It was different from when he had only used lip-reading.


    ¡°You knew I would come?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t push open the door and spoke to the silver-haired Companion Beast through the door. In fact, they could see each other without opening the door.


    ¡°When I first saw you, I knew that you were Ouyang Ting¡¯s chosen one, so I knew you would definitely come,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Why was I chosen?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask what he was chosen for. This was because the other party would know that he didn¡¯t know anything. When the time came, he would reconsider revealing some truths.


    Now that Zhou Wen had asked why he was chosen, the other party would say something. Perhaps he could obtain some useful information from him before continuing the conversation.


    ¡°Because you aren¡¯t smart enough,¡± said the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen looked at the silver-haired Companion Beast in a daze. He had imagined many possibilities, but he never expected such an answer.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast continued with a smile, ¡°There are some things that overly smart people can¡¯t do. The person we need is someone who isn¡¯t too smart but isn¡¯t stupid. At the same time, he has to be very talented, occasionally having bouts of inspiration. The person also has to be highly focused.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Then, you were chosen by Ouyang Ting. I think he has good taste. You are indeed someone who¡¯s highly focused,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said with a smile.


    ¡°Then what can I do?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s answer once again exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°How can you not know?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t know how far you can go, I don¡¯t know what you can do in the end. The differing ability levels dictate the different things you can do. When you are still a child, your parents won¡¯t let you work to earn money. When you are a man, no one will request to use you as a surrogate mother. Therefore, what you can do doesn¡¯t depend on anyone else. It only has to do with your abilities,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to listen to you talk about philosophy. If that¡¯s all you want to say to me, I think I should leave,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright, then I¡¯ll say something that you¡¯re interested in. Do you know the Mythical stage?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast changed the topic, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why he would suddenly say that. Under the present circumstances, with people possibly coming to check on the fourth level at any time, shouldn¡¯t he say something related to himself?


    ¡°You mean the level above the Mythical stage?¡± Zhou Wen asked patiently.


    ¡°That description isn¡¯t right. In fact, Mythicals contain many different grades. The Mythical you are talking about now is just the threshold when stepping into the Mythical stage,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Then what grades are there to the Mythical stage?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If you want to know what grades there are to a Mythical creature, you first need to know what a god is. Do you know what a god is?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said calmly.


    ¡°Can our communication be simpler and more effective? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll have much time to listen to your stories here. The people in this shop won¡¯t give me that much time,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    However, the silver-haired Companion Beast continued without batting an eyelid. ¡°In ancient times, humans in a primitive society became afraid of unknown things and dangers. And by manifesting this fear, gods were born. For example, humans were afraid of lightning, so they imagined lightning as a terrifying life form. Hence, there was the Thunder God. Humans were afraid of the heavy rain because it would make humans sick, so there was the Rain God. Other examples include powerful creatures like tigers, wolves, snakes, eagles, etc. Human strength was incomparable to them. They were worshiped because of fear as humans hoped to be as powerful as those ferocious beasts. Therefore, they created totem worship. That is also a form of god.


    ¡°Therefore, the first grade of the Mythical stage is the Terror grade. Any Mythical creature that can cause terror belongs to this level. This is also the weakest level among Mythical creatures. The Mythical Companion Beasts on the ranking all belong to this grade.¡±

 Chapter 812 - The Final Victor

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Such a gradation isn¡¯t right, isn¡¯t it? Many Legendary and Epic creatures can also instill terror in people, can¡¯t they?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Sorry, there¡¯s a problem with how I¡¯m conveying it. This level is based on dimensional civilizations as reference. Legendaries and Epic on Earth aren¡¯t qualified to enter the ranks of dimensional civilizations,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Alright, continue.¡± Zhou Wen shrugged helplessly.


    ¡°Floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, etc. These are things that humans are unable to control, nor can they resist them. Once they happen, they can only wait for death. They are known as calamities, and they are also known as the Calamity grade. This is the second level of Mythical creatures. Mythical creatures that can reach this level are considered accomplished in dimensional civilizations,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    Calamity grade? Zhou Wen silently repeated the name.


    ¡°Although natural disasters are terrifying, they will ultimately come to an end. Yet, some forces are enough to destroy everything. In ancient times, some people were worried that the sky would collapse, while others were worried that the land they lived in would be destroyed. Such a force that can destroy the world is known as the Apocalypse grade amongst dimensional civilizations.¡±


    The silver-haired Companion Beast smiled and said, ¡°Of course, the so-called apocalypse is only relative to Earth. In fact, in dimensional civilizations, there aren¡¯t any existences that can truly destroy worlds. Furthermore, there aren¡¯t any so-called gods in dimensional civilizations. There are only indescribable things. The so-called Apocalyptic power doesn¡¯t cause much destruction in dimensional civilizations. This has something to do with the composition of the world. Compared to dimensional civilizations, Earth is just too weak.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s after the Apocalypse grade?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There hasn¡¯t been such a life form so far, so it¡¯s unknown,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Then, what¡¯s your grade?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the silver-haired Companion Beast and asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m only at the Terror grade. It¡¯s impossible for an existence above the Terror grade to appear in an ancient forbidden land like Earth.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because this is an ancient forbidden land. There¡¯s no reason to speak of. That¡¯s the rule of an ancient forbidden land. Even if those terrifying Apocalypse-grade creatures enter an ancient forbidden land, they will be reduced to the Terror grade.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s an ancient forbidden land?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to know as much as possible. If he missed this opportunity, who could tell him this?


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This is the name dimensional civilizations have given Earth since ancient times. Only a place like Earth has such weak lifeforms. Therefore, many dimensional civilizations want to explore Earth and find out the secrets here. In the past, there were several Mythical wars on Earth because of this. There were dimensional civilizations backing them.¡±


    The silver-haired Companion Beast paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°This is because there have been too many divine wars on Earth. The dimensional creatures that had their strength reduced entered, only to end up dying here. The losses were heavy. Now, the various dimensional civilizations have already reached an agreement. They won¡¯t send a large number of manpower into Earth, nor will they trigger divine wars on Earth. Every species will only send a Guardian to Earth and sign a contract with the humans on Earth. They will fight each other. The final victor and the dimensional civilization that he represents will have the rights to Earth for a hundred years. A hundred years later, new Guardians will enter Earth and begin the battle of Guardians again, deciding the ownership of Earth for the next hundred years.¡±


    1


    ¡°Why must Guardians decide who Earth belongs to? We humans are the masters of Earth,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast curled its lips and said, ¡°This is typical human thinking. In fact, humans are only one of the millions of lifeforms on Earth. Humans used their powerful strength to conquer other lives and became the rulers of Earth. Now, there are even stronger lifeforms entering Earth and becoming the new rulers. Isn¡¯t this something that¡¯s only right? If you want to blame someone, you can only blame yourself for being too weak. You can¡¯t even advance to the Terror stage. That is a sin by itself.¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss with the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s words, but he couldn¡¯t think of any reason to refute him.


    ¡°Why do Guardians have to contract with humans? Can¡¯t they just fight each other?¡± Zhou Wen changed the topic.


    ¡°This is because Guardians have great growth potential, but the rules of Earth don¡¯t allow existences above the Terror grade to appear on Earth. However, there¡¯s one exception. If you humans are used as carriers, they can erupt with powers above the Terror grade level for a short period of time without being restricted by the rules of the ancient forbidden land. Therefore, Guardians can only continue growing by contracting with you humans and come one step closer to victory,¡± explained the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°I see.¡± Zhou Wen finally understood why the powerful Guardians chose to contract with humans. It was all for victory.


    1


    With this in mind, it wasn¡¯t unreasonable for a Guardian to choose to betray weaker contractors.


    After all, with a weak contractor, there was almost no chance of them winning. They could only constantly seek out stronger contractors.


    Of course, as a human, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like the Guardians, much less them treating Earth as a gambling table, battlefield, and dimensional civilization.


    ¡°What if all the Guardians fail in the end?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he asked the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°Haha, well asked. Back then, Ouyang Ting asked the same question. However, there¡¯s still no answer because no one other than the Guardian has obtained the final victory,¡± said the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen saw that someone was coming down on the elevator, so he quickly asked, ¡°Someone¡¯s here. Speak quickly. What do you want me to do?¡±


    ¡°Ouyang Ting wants to know the answer to your question, so he has been searching for a way to win. However, his body can¡¯t take it anymore. He¡¯s too old, so it¡¯s impossible for him to participate in such a battle again. Therefore, he wants to find someone who can win the answer for him. From the looks of it, he chose you,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Has he found a way to win?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The method is in this metal box. Open it and you will get the answer,¡± said the silver-haired Companion Beast as he pointed at the metal slab connected to the chain.


    Zhou Wen looked at the metal slab, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s words were trustworthy.


    The elevator door opened and someone entered B4. He headed straight for the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s room. It was Qin Xiyuan, who had rushed back.


    Upon realizing that the silver-haired Companion Beast was still around and that the metal slab was fine, Qin Xiyuan heaved a sigh of relief. However, he still ordered the people around him to search all of B4.

 Chapter 813 - Continuously Looking for Trouble

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen used the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s three minutes of invisibility to leave the Xiyuan Shop. He didn¡¯t enter the password to open the metal slab.


    Firstly, there wasn¡¯t enough time. Secondly, what the silver-haired Companion Beast had said was only one-sided. Before he got a clear understanding of the situation, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to casually open the metal slab.


    At the very least, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know what the anchor and woman¡¯s picture meant. Since the symbol was engraved on the metal slab, there had to be a reason.


    Zhou Wen planned on finding an opportunity to ask the silver-haired Companion Beast again in the future. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to open the metal slab after figuring things out.


    Anyway, he was the only one who knew the passcode now. It was impossible for others to open it.


    After returning to his dorm, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that the antelope, Ya¡¯er, and chick were watching television.


    The chick wasn¡¯t a problem, but Zhou Wen was afraid that something might happen if the antelope and Ya¡¯er clashed.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see the school being besieged by a sea of Gu. However, on careful thought, Gu-type Companion Beasts were typically in the South District. Not every place had Gu. Ya¡¯er could only communicate with Gu. In such a place without Gu, it was impossible for her to summon a large number.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen became afraid that Ya¡¯er would be at a disadvantage against the antelope.


    In contrast, Zhou Wen felt that Ya¡¯er was better. The antelope was quite an asshole. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t trust it.


    However, as the antelope was somewhat unfathomable and too powerful, Zhou Wen was momentarily helpless against it. All he could do was silently acknowledge its existence.


    If the silver-haired Companion Beast isn¡¯t lying, the strongest creature on Earth is only at the Terror stage. Only after those Guardians and humans combine will they have a chance of breaking past the Terror stage. I should think of a way to advance to the Mythical stage first. Otherwise, it¡¯s useless thinking about this. Zhou Wen launched the game and grinded monsters while getting injured so that he could use the Chaos Egg to treat him.


    The heavier and more bizarre the injuries were, the faster the Chaos Egg grew. Zhou Wen even attempted to fight Mythical creatures to suffer serious injuries so that he could get the Chaos Egg to treat him.


    Unfortunately, the same type of injury could only allow the Chaos Egg to grow once. It was useless if he suffered the same injuries again. Therefore, Zhou Wen had to find a way to torture himself. Finally, four days later, the Chaos Egg began to evolve while treating Zhou Wen.


    At that moment, the blood-colored avatar was still inside the Chaos Egg. When the Chaos Egg evolved, it remained in this state. Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Essence Energy inside the Chaos Egg was rapidly transforming. It became purer and more concentrated. The healing effects were clearly enhanced.


    Not long after, the Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg condensed into mist. The mist then turned into droplets. With the increasing amount of droplets, they became a water body that filled the entire Chaos Egg.


    At this moment, the Chaos Egg¡¯s evolution was finally completed.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the liquid inside the Chaos Egg was a type of high-level Essence Energy. It was much stronger than ordinary Essence Energy in all aspects.


    After taking a look at the Chaos Egg¡¯s information, he realized that the Chaos Egg had indeed evolved to an Evolved Body. However, its name hadn¡¯t changed. It was still Chaos Egg and was somewhat different from other Life Souls.


    Zhou Wen suffered injuries again and entered the Chaos Egg to recuperate. As expected, the healing speed was much faster this time.


    Could it be that the Chaos Egg¡¯s ability is just healing? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too disappointed. After all, such crazy healing ability was almost comparable to Li Xuan¡¯s self-healing.


    However, Li Xuan could heal himself while fighting. The moment he used the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do anything else. All he could do was hide inside to recuperate.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care too much. After all, he had to raise the Chaos Egg to a Perfect Body first. Zhou Wen crazily looked for trouble in-game and suffered almost all the injuries he could.


    Although it still hadn¡¯t advanced to a Perfect Body, it gave Zhou Wen a deeper understanding of the abilities of various dimensional creatures.


    After all, experiencing their various skills personally was different from seeing with his eyes.


    Now, Zhou Wen knew the effects of various skills like the back of his hand. He knew very well what kind of skills were most powerful and the effects when they hit him.


    Even so, the Chaos Egg failed to advance to a Perfect Body. Zhou Wen felt that it was becoming stronger, but it was too slow.


    There¡¯s no place left for me to be injured. What should I do? Should I find a new dimensional zone? Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Finding a new dimensional zone wasn¡¯t that easy.


    Finally, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth. From the looks of it, I can only go there.


    Zhou Wen reluctantly launched the Netherworld City dungeon and entered. When the torture chambers opened, he entered the first one.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± Not long after, Zhou Wen came out of the torture chamber and used the Chaos Egg to treat his injuries. Then, he went to the next torture chamber and tragic cries sounded. Soon, Zhou Wen came out again and continued treating his injuries.


    Zhou Wen shuttled back and forth on the long streets of Netherworld City and suffered all sorts of punishments. Being whipped and burned was nothing to him. What was even more perverse was getting fried in a pot of oil, having nails impaling his body, etc. Such inhuman pain was something ordinary people couldn¡¯t tolerate.


    However, Zhou Wen endured all of them and the effects were excellent. After every treatment, he could clearly sense that the Chaos Egg was rapidly growing.


    Zhou Wen carried on in the midst of pain and happiness. The pain in his body couldn¡¯t hide the joy in his heart.


    However, even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t accept a few punishments. He skipped the torture chambers, such as the Wooden Horse Punishment that Zhou Wen had previously recommended to Liu Yun.


    There were also some punishments that were even more terrifying than the Wooden Horse Punishment. Zhou Wen consciously didn¡¯t choose them.


    Zhou Wen waited for the torture chamber to open every day before experiencing new punishments. These punishments needed at least half a month before he could finish them all.


    City Lord Netherworld said that I have to try all the punishments before I can see the real Netherworld City. I wonder what it means. Zhou Wen was somewhat curious, but he couldn¡¯t accept some of the punishments. In the end, he gave up.


    Days passed as Zhou Wen tried most of the punishments in Netherworld City. He vaguely felt that the Chaos Egg was about to advance, but it was just a little short.


    No, I have to find another place to get beaten up. After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that it was too dangerous to go to unfamiliar dimensional zones. It was better to find someone to beat him up.


    I wonder how Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber techniques have been recently. I¡¯ll get him to spar with me. Zhou Wen contacted Feng Qiuyan by phone.

 Chapter 814 - Wanting to Know the Feeling of Being Injured

    Zhou Wen said that he wanted to spar with Feng Qiuyan, but he couldn¡¯t invite him to beat him up because he wanted to be beaten and injured.


    When he arrived at the training grounds, Feng Qiuyan was already waiting for him.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Gulli and Sadie were also there. Only after chatting did he realize that Feng Qiuyan had been practicing with Gulli and Sadie recently.


    Feng Qiuyan sure is a martial arts fanatic. In the past, it used to be Ming Xiu, then Li Xuan. Now, he doesn¡¯t even let Gulli and Sadie off, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°My saber techniques have improved recently. Coach, please guide me,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he picked up a practice saber.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use the Life Soul Saber?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    In the past, when Feng Qiuyan fought, be it in practice or in actual combat, he used the Life Soul Saber. Today, for some reason, he suddenly used the practice saber.


    If it were any other time, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have any problems with Feng Qiuyan using a practice saber, but Zhou Wen was here to get injured. How could Feng Qiuyan injure him with a practice saber?


    ¡°I¡¯ve been practicing with Sadie recently. In order to crack her abilities, I can only make some attempts with my saber techniques. I can¡¯t always release without being able to withdraw in time, so¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan explained.


    ¡°I see. However, you should switch to the Life Soul Saber. I want to find the feeling of actual combat. It¡¯s best if I can suffer some injuries,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. ¡°Coach, why do you want to be injured?¡±


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to explain. ¡°If a person doesn¡¯t make mistakes, he will never know what¡¯s right. If he has never been injured, he naturally wouldn¡¯t know how to deal with injuries when he suffers one. Therefore, I want to suffer some injuries and have a taste of being injured.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan was enlightened when he heard that. ¡°You¡¯re right, Coach. I get it.¡±


    With that said, Feng Qiuyan placed the practice saber back and summoned his Life Soul Saber.


    However, when Gulli and Sadie heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, they had different thoughts.


    Getting injured when entering a dimensional zone to hunt dimensional creatures was actually very normal. Otherwise, the school wouldn¡¯t have been equipped with specialized hospitals.


    Even Sadie, who had the Eye of Odin, would sometimes be injured. After all, anything could be found in a dimensional zone. A person¡¯s strength didn¡¯t determine everything.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s words made it seem as though he had never been injured. He actually wanted to find the feeling of being injured, making Gulli and Sadie wonder what he was up to.


    ¡°Although Zhou Wen is indeed very strong, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber techniques are so fast that even my Eye of Odin can only see them but not dodge them. If Zhou Wen isn¡¯t careful, he might really be injured,¡± Sadie said.


    Gulli had been practicing with Feng Qiuyan for the past few days. He had a deep understanding of how good Feng Qiuyan was and felt that Zhou Wen would definitely suffer if he underestimated him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use a practice saber. Firstly, the practice saber couldn¡¯t block the Life Soul Saber. Secondly, Zhou Wen was here to get injured, so he didn¡¯t plan on blocking.


    ¡°Coach, be careful.¡± With that said, Feng Qiuyan drew his saber and slashed.


    Before he saw the saber beam, Zhou Wen felt a chill streak across his chest. He immediately moved his feet and saw Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber slice past his shoulder.


    What a fast saber! Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber speed was comparable to his Mythical Transcendent Flying Immortal, surprising Zhou Wen.


    Before Feng Qiuyan¡¯s strike landed, his saber¡¯s might slashed down like a raging river.


    This was a saber technique that Sadie couldn¡¯t dodge even if she could see it. Zhou Wen needed to focus all his attention when using Transcendent Flying Immortal. If he made any mistakes, he might be struck by the saber.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s original intention was to spar with him, get injured, and return to recuperate.


    However, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber techniques surprised him. He couldn¡¯t help but have another look. The more he looked, the more interesting he found them. For a moment, he forgot about getting injured, eager to take another look at Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber techniques.


    Sadie was alarmed when she saw Zhou Wen dodge Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attack without retaliating.


    Under normal circumstances, a person with the same physique definitely wasn¡¯t as fast as a saber. Yet, Zhou Wen was able to dodge Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber. This meant that Zhou Wen was faster than Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s explosive saber techniques ultimately failed to injure Zhou Wen. However, his fighting spirit surged as he unleashed his full strength, accelerating his saber.


    His Life Providence was Swift Saber Heavenly King, allowing his saber to become faster and faster. However, he had had to control his saber in the past to prevent it from escaping his control.


    Now, he was doing the opposite, allowing his saber to become faster and faster. Without deliberately controlling it, the upper limit of his saber speed was much higher. However, under such circumstances, even Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t control his saber. He was completely going with the flow.


    If he wasn¡¯t in a dire situation, Feng Qiuyan wouldn¡¯t have used such a saber technique. This was a saber technique meant for risking his life in a hopeless situation.


    Even so, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber failed to touch Zhou Wen from beginning to end. In the end, the saber¡¯s speed was so fast that Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t control it. The saber in his hand flew out.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling excited from the battle when he suddenly saw the saber fly out. Realizing that he hadn¡¯t been injured, he immediately felt depressed.


    He had come here to get injured, so this meant that he had come for nothing.


    Zhou Wen steeled his heart and flew towards the saber. He used his body to catch Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber as the Life Soul Saber stabbed into his ribs.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s actions stunned Sadie, Gulli, and Feng Qiuyan. Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t control his saber from slipping out of his hand. He couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen at all; yet, Zhou Wen had chosen to slam into the saber.


    ¡°Coach, are you alright?¡± Feng Qiuyan went forward to check Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries as he unsummoned his Life Soul Saber.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. Do you have any other techniques? I want to try them all out and see how the other types of injuries feel,¡± Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°I only know how to use a saber.¡± Feng Qiuyan felt relieved when he saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s wound wasn¡¯t bleeding profusely.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t the two of you give it a try?¡± Zhou Wen placed his sights on Sadie and Gulli. They came from the Ultimate Family Clan of the North District, so the techniques they knew were different from the people of the East District. The injuries they caused should have some effect.


    ¡°Coach, you must be joking. How are we your match?¡± Sadie shook her head and refused to fight Zhou Wen.


    Helpless, Zhou Wen could only return to use the Chaos Egg to recuperate.


    ¡°Is that fellow really human? He actually slammed himself into the saber!¡± Gulli said with a strange expression.


    Sadie sighed and said, ¡°Just as he said, he wants to know how it feels to be injured, but he¡¯s just too strong. No one can injure him.¡±


    ¡°Even the Dugu family, which is best at movement techniques, probably doesn¡¯t have many people who can reach that level, right?¡± Gulli exclaimed.

 Chapter 815 - Perfect Chaos Egg

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and used the Chaos Egg to treat his injuries, but he realized that the improvement it had on the Chaos Egg wasn¡¯t good enough.


    From the looks of it, human strength is still too weak. The injuries they cause are very limited in raising Chaos. I still have to go to those dimensional zones to find Mythical dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen gave up on the idea of finding humans to fight. Currently, there were only a handful of humans at the Mythical stage. Most of them had relied on Guardians to advance to the Mythical stage.


    However, it wasn¡¯t easy to find a new dimensional zone. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and suddenly thought of something. I wonder if the injuries I suffered under taboo powers count? Those are the rules of a dimensional zone. It¡¯s different from the injuries of dimensional creatures, but it¡¯s an injury, right?


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen entered the game and headed to Small Buddha Temple to give it a try. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use any Buddhist Essence Energy Art or any Essence Energy Skills to prevent himself from being injured. He directly stepped onto the stone steps.


    Not long after he walked up the stone steps, Zhou Wen felt something amiss with his body. Just as he was about to vomit blood and collapse, he hurriedly summoned the Chaos Egg to envelope the blood-colored avatar.


    The Chaos Egg was really useful. When Zhou Wen was inside, the taboo power outside couldn¡¯t injure him. When the Chaos Egg began to heal Zhou Wen¡¯s body, Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Chaos Egg was rapidly becoming stronger while treating him.


    It really works¡­ Zhou Wen was overjoyed. After treating his injuries, he continued walking. However, when he was injured again, although the Chaos Egg could still treat him, it didn¡¯t become stronger again.


    A taboo power can only raise it once. Let me see which dimensional zones have taboo powers¡­ Zhou Wen thought about it and went to the dimensional zones to experience all the taboo powers.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s improvement was extremely fast. The effects of the taboo power were abnormally good. It was even more powerful than being injured by Mythical creatures. When Zhou Wen walked around Netherworld City without any regard for the rules, the taboo power activated and nearly killed him. Before he was killed, he entered the Chaos Egg and successfully healed his body.


    During the restoration process, the Chaos Egg began to evolve again. The liquid in it that resembled spring water underwent a tremendous change.


    The liquid seeped into Zhou Wen¡¯s body and he felt as though his body had melted into the liquid, becoming a part of it.


    This feeling was very subtle. Furthermore, the liquid was gradually solidifying. As part of the liquid, Zhou Wen could still move freely.


    This feeling was indescribable because it was impossible for a person to move in ice or jade. Now, Zhou Wen was experiencing this feeling, so he found it difficult to describe. In short, it was a magical experience.


    In the beginning, the Chaos Egg only had a shell. When it evolved, its insides were filled with liquid. Now, the entire Chaos Egg was one, turning into jade. There were no gaps inside.


    The Chaos Egg successfully advanced to a Perfect Body. At the same time, a notification appeared in-game.


    ¡®Chaos Egg Life Soul has advanced to Perfect Body. Essence Energy+1.¡¯


    When Zhou Wen saw the word+1, he immediately felt refreshed as though he had drunk honey. He hurriedly took a look at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s stats. Its Essence Energy stat had indeed increased to 41 points.


    Although it was only a one-point difference, it was something Zhou Wen had been looking forward to for a long time.


    This didn¡¯t just mean that his stats had increased. It also meant that Zhou Wen could absorb the Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystals that required 41 Essence Energy points.


    The Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystals he had obtained in the past could not be used due to insufficient stats. He felt it such a waste.


    Chaos Egg: Perfect Body


    Zhou Wen looked at the Chaos Egg¡¯s stats and realized that there weren¡¯t any changes. However, after advancing to a Perfect Body, the self-healing effects were even stronger. There didn¡¯t seem to be anything special about it.


    Could it be that Chaos Egg really only has healing abilities? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    This was a Life Soul condensed from the First Order of Chaos. Its functions shouldn¡¯t be so monotonous, but Zhou Wen had tried many experiments. Apart from self-healing, he didn¡¯t discover anything special.


    Forget it. I¡¯ll think of a way to raise the other Life Souls to a Perfect Body as soon as possible. Two Essence Energy Arts with similar attributes can allow the corresponding stat to reach 41 points. Are there any other Essence Energy Arts that have similar attributes? Zhou Wen began considering his Essence Energy Arts.


    The Dao Sutra and First Order of Chaos could be excluded. These two had already enhanced his Essence Energy stat.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was an Essence Energy Art with a Constitution attribute. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra was Strength, and the Godfiend Era was Speed. Apart from these three, Zhou Wen had also cultivated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. However, he had only just gained basic mastery of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art and hadn¡¯t even condensed a Life Providence.


    However, Zhou Wen could roughly sense that the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was somewhat similar to the Godfiend Era. It seemed to have some spatial attributes that were inclined towards Speed.


    Next, I¡¯ll cultivate the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art and the Godfiend Era. Zhou Wen made up his mind to raise the Life Soul of the Godfiend Era before cultivating the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    The Life Soul condensed by Godfiend Era was Lost Country. Zhou Wen had actually studied it for a long time. He had read many books on space and fought spatial dimensional creatures. He had vaguely figured out how to advance.


    However, there had been too many things happening recently, so he hadn¡¯t had the time to do the advancement.


    The advancement method of Lost Country could hardly be described as difficult or easy. Zhou Wen usually used Lost Country¡¯s teleportation function. Every time he used teleportation, Lost Country would actually improve a little.


    However, teleportation could only be used once every twenty-four hours, so its growth was extremely slow. According to Zhou Wen¡¯s estimates, he needed to use teleportation more than a thousand times to evolve Lost Country.


    At this speed, it was impossible for him to advance to an Evolved Body for a few years. Then, the Evolved Body needed to be advanced to the Perfect Body. It definitely needed him to use teleportation more, something that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time for.


    It wasn¡¯t that there was no solution. After studying it for so long, Zhou Wen had come up with a solution. He had discovered a Mythical creature that could teleport. The Companion Egg that dropped was a mount type, and it could teleport with its owner.


    As long as he could teleport, Lost Country should be able to advance.


    Zhou Wen felt that if he could obtain such a Companion Beast, he could greatly reduce the time it took for Lost Country to advance to a Perfect Body.


    However, the Companion Beast named Mystic Bird was the Hero King¡¯s Companion Beast. It was said that when the Hero King knew that he was about to die, he had forcefully transferred the Mystic Bird to his descendant. The Mystic Bird could be said to be the most precious Companion Beast in the Zhang family.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much of a relationship with the Zhang family. He only knew Zhang Yuzhi and didn¡¯t have a particularly great relationship with her. Zhou Wen thought it would be unrealistic to borrow the Mystic Bird from the Zhang family.


    It¡¯s probably unrealistic to farm the Mystic Bird Companion Beast myself. I¡¯ll ask Zhang Yuzhi first to see if she knows where the Mystic Bird can be found. If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯ll give it a try. If there¡¯s no chance, I¡¯ll have to take an unorthodox path. Zhou Wen tried sending Zhang Yuzhi a message, but he wasn¡¯t sure if she would read it. He heard that Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t always use her phone.

 Chapter 816 - Getting Accustomed to Death After Plenty of Deaths

    Translator: CKtalon


    After a while, Zhang Yuzhi unexpectedly sent a message: ¡°Don¡¯t you know the origins of the Mystic Bird?¡±


    ¡°I only know that it¡¯s your Hero King¡¯s Companion Beast,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your hometown in Guide City? You don¡¯t even know about the Mystic Bird?¡± Zhang Yuzhi was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that? Could it be that the Mystic Bird Companion Egg was obtained in Guide City?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°The Mystic Bird was in Guide Ancient City,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Impossible,¡± Zhou Wen immediately replied. Guide Ancient City was called Ancient Sovereign City in-game. He had grinded it countless times in the past, but there were no Mythical creatures inside, much less the Mystic Bird.


    ¡°How is that impossible? Do you know that the Mystic Bird is a divine bird that represents merchants? And Guide City has a place called Three Merchants. If the Mystic Bird doesn¡¯t appear in Guide Ancient City, where else can it appear?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. He had forgotten about it.


    The Mystic Bird was indeed the divine patron of merchants. Legend had it that it was born into merchants. The merchants had always considered themselves to be the descendants of the Mystic Bird, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t associate it with the Zhang family¡¯s Mystic Bird.


    ¡°But I¡¯ve almost swept Guide Ancient City clean. There¡¯s no Mystic Bird at all. Forgetting the Mystic Bird, there¡¯s not even an ordinary Mythical creature,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew what was inside Guide Ancient City. It was impossible for him to be mistaken.


    ¡°I heard it from my elders. Back then, my great-grandfather, who is also the Hero King you mentioned, passed by Guide Ancient City. On a whim, he brought his wife through Guide Ancient City. In the end, he saw a black divine bird in a place called Fire God Platform. My great-grandfather killed the divine bird with great difficulty and obtained the Mystic Bird Companion Beast. As a result, it has been passed down¡­ However, I heard that after that, no one saw the Mystic Bird appear in Guide Ancient City again. Later on, the Zhang family went to look for it and they couldn¡¯t find it,¡± Zhang Yuzhi explained.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that equivalent to having none?¡± Zhou Wen was helpless.


    ¡°Why are you asking this? Don¡¯t tell me you have designs on our Mystic Bird?¡± Zhang Yuzhi joked.


    ¡°Companion Beasts can¡¯t be traded. It¡¯s useless even if I have designs on it,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°That means you really want the Mystic Bird. What do you want it for?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    ¡°The Mystic Bird¡¯s teleportation ability is amazing. I just want to use it as a mount. It can save my life at critical moments. As you know, there are quite a number of people who want my life, especially the people from the bureau. I have to be wary.¡± Zhou Wen found an excuse.


    ¡°Then I can¡¯t help you. You can try your luck at Guide Ancient City. Perhaps if you are lucky, another Mystic Bird will appear? However, even if a Mystic Bird appears, how are you going to kill it? Its teleportation ability is too powerful. No matter how fast your saber is, you probably won¡¯t be able to touch it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to try my luck. It definitely doesn¡¯t exist. I¡¯ll think of another way.¡± Zhou Wen changed the topic. ¡°Do you have any plans to come out for a walk soon? You can come visit Luoyang.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t come out.¡± There was nothing from Zhang Yuzhi after her reply.


    Zhou Wen sent a few more messages to her, but she didn¡¯t reply.


    The Zhang family¡¯s Mystic Bird was actually produced from Guide Ancient City. Could it be that Guide Ancient City is really extraordinary? Zhou Wen thought of the stone saber on the Fire God Platform.


    The Mystic Bird was also discovered on Fire God Platform. The stone saber was also on Fire God Platform. If he pulled out the stone saber and completely unsealed Ancient Sovereign City, it was unknown if a dimensional creature like the Mystic Bird would appear.


    Zhou Wen was tempted and wanted to draw the saber.


    However, after some thought, he realized that Guide City didn¡¯t have many experts to begin with. If something really happened after he pulled out the stone saber, there would be tens of thousands of deaths.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible to obtain the Mystic Bird Companion Beast. I can only use Plan B. Zhou Wen still had another method, but it was even more unreliable. He did not know if it would work.


    Teleportation was actually a type of spatial teleportation. In theory, the Bright Torch Vision World was also a type of spatial teleportation that transported what Torch Dragon saw into its vision world.


    However, being teleported into the Vision World meant death, so no one was willing to be teleported in.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s solution was to use the blood-colored avatar¡¯s death as a way to get the blood-colored avatar to experience teleportation with Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World.


    After entering the game, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to run to the Torch Dragon temple. He summoned Torch Dragon Youngling and got it to use Bright Torch Vision World to look at the blood-colored avatar.


    In one look, the game screen immediately turned black.


    Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive and got Torch Dragon Youngling to kill the blood-colored avatar wearing the Lost Country ring again and again. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how much blood he used.


    He could sense that the Lost Country ring was growing, but its growth speed was much slower than teleportation. At this speed, it was probably impossible for it to evolve without at least a thousand tries. It might even require tens of thousands of deaths.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Egg had the healing ability. Otherwise, Zhou Wen would be worried if he had enough blood.


    Zhou Wen kept courting death in his dorm the entire time. He was already numb to death, but the effects were terrible. A single teleportation could raise Lost Country¡¯s stats equivalent to dozens of Bright Torch Vision World deaths.


    How nice would it be if I had the Mystic Bird! Why isn¡¯t there a Mystic Bird in Ancient Sovereign City? Zhou Wen was rather depressed.


    Now, Zhou Wen had a deep understanding of how difficult it was for humans to advance to the Mythical stage.


    It was impossible for an ordinary person to cultivate eight Essence Energy Arts at the same time, and it was impossible for them to raise all four basic stats to 41. This also prevented them from advancing to the Mythical stage.


    Even if one could cultivate eight Essence Energy Arts at the same time, the cultivation methods of the Essence Energy Arts were different. Without the help of the mysterious phone, it was equally difficult to master them.


    For instance, Chaos Egg needed constant injuries. In the event an ordinary person died accidentally, there was no point in cultivating.


    The advancement of Slaughterer was even better. Was killing a Guardian something an ordinary person could do? Even with a Mythical pet, killing a Guardian was as difficult as ascending to the heavens.


    Unless I¡¯m like Xia Jiuhuang and forcefully plunder the talent bloodlines of others for my own use, it¡¯s too difficult for humans to advance to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen felt a headache when he thought of the few Essence Energy Arts he needed to cultivate.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a complete set of Essence Energy Arts. He had complete Essence Energy Arts for Speed and Essence Energy. There was the Demon God Catalog of an unknown attribute. As it was difficult to determine its corresponding attribute, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on cultivating it for the time being.


    If the Demon God Catalog added Strength and Constitution, he was still lacking at least one Essence Energy Art.


    He got used to the deaths after repeatedly dying. Zhou Wen was somewhat numb to it anyway. All he wanted now was to quickly advance Lost Country.

 Chapter 817 - Civilized Country

    Translator: CKtalon


    In front of Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall, there was a strange flower with a flower bud hanging down, as though it was looking at a girl beneath.


    ¡°An Jing, you should already have gotten the answer, right?¡± A voice sounded from the flower. It was The Thearch¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Yes, I already have an answer. I promise you,¡± An Jing said calmly.


    ¡°A wise decision. With my help, not only can you obtain powerful Mythical Companion Beasts, but you can also obtain the Guardian¡¯s favor. Soon, you will be stronger than the person you want to defeat,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that I¡¯ll be stronger than him just because I have these,¡± An Jing said.


    The Thearch asked with piqued interest, ¡°In that case, why did you agree?¡±


    ¡°Just because I want to become stronger,¡± An Jing said.


    ¡°Alright, as you wish. You will become stronger than all humans.¡± With The Thearch¡¯s voice, a passageway opened up on Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall. An Jing walked in.


    2


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that An Jing had also encountered The Thearch. At that moment, he was still desperately being killed by the Bright Torch Vision World. The blood-colored avatar had died countless times. It had died repeatedly for days.


    Finally, after Zhou Wen used Lost Country¡¯s teleportation ability, the Lost Country ring suddenly produced a powerful spatial fluctuation.


    Half of the ghost face on the Lost Country ring looked very ugly, while the other half looked very beautiful, like an angel and devil coexisting.


    At that moment, eyes on the ghost face emitted a strange spatial fluctuation as they shimmered with a strange light.


    Click¡­ Click¡­ Click¡­ Click¡­


    A sound suddenly came from the eyes, like the sound produced when a mechanical needle spun. Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that there was a wheel in each of the ghost face¡¯s eyes. There were markings on the wheel, but the markings were very strange. It wasn¡¯t the marking of time which Zhou Wen was familiar with, nor was it a unit of length. He didn¡¯t know what it meant.


    The two wheels in the ghost face¡¯s eyes kept spinning. The clicking sounds came from the spinning wheels.


    When both wheels finished one revolution, they stopped. A notification appeared in the game.


    ¡®Lost Country Life Soul has advanced to Civilized Country. It¡¯s currently an Evolved Body.¡¯


    Civilized Country (Evolved Body): A lost country, but the origins of civilization.


    During his advancement, Zhou Wen had also gained some information about Civilized Country. He had a simple understanding of it. To truly understand it, he needed to figure it out himself.


    Compared to Lost Country that could only allow him to teleport once every twenty-four hours, Civilized Country was much better. The markings in the ghost face¡¯s eyes represented coordinates.


    After adjusting the coordinates, he could do a long-distance teleportation once every twenty-four hours.


    There was also the short-distance teleportation he had used previously. He could use it ten times in twenty-four hours.


    I¡¯m one step closer to infinite teleportation. Zhou Wen was rather satisfied with Civilized Country¡¯s abilities, but he didn¡¯t know how to determine the coordinates.


    The markings in the ghost face¡¯s eyes were different. They looked very strange.


    Could it be longitude and latitude? Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand how to set the coordinates. It wouldn¡¯t be good if he made a mistake and was teleported into a pot of boiling oil or a female bathroom.


    1


    Forget it. I¡¯ll study it in the future. It wouldn¡¯t be too late when I raise Civilized Country to a Perfect Body. Zhou Wen continued letting Torch Dragon use Bright Torch Vision World to kill the blood-colored avatar.


    However, Zhou Wen realized that the energy obtained from the blood-colored avatar¡¯s death was nearly indiscernible.


    I can only obtain this much energy every time I die. When will Civilized Country advance to the Perfect stage? I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be enough even if I drain all my blood. Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t continue down this path. He had to think of another solution.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, have you seen the news?¡± Just as he was thinking, An Sheng called.


    ¡°What news?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Recently, he had been grinding dungeons. At best, he would take some time out to buy some food and daily necessities for Ya¡¯er. He didn¡¯t have the time to watch the news.


    ¡°Take a look at the headlines in Luoyang today,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what major event had happened. He looked online and immediately saw a striking picture. It was a seraphim with six wings. To be precise, it was a woman wearing angel armor. She was killing a break-out creature.


    Eh, isn¡¯t this the six-winged seraphim John contracted in the past? He found a new contractor? Zhou Wen was delighted as he asked An Sheng, ¡°Is this a picture of Luoyang?¡±


    Zhou Wen thought that if the six-winged seraphim was still in Luoyang, there was hope for his Slaughterer advancement.


    If he wanted to kill a Guardian, he had to do so as soon as possible. According to the silver-haired Companion Beast, Guardians could continue growing. After contracting with humans, they could even reach the Calamity grade with the help of humans.


    Killing them would only become harder in the future.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s in a dimensional zone near Luoyang. I originally thought that the Guardian had already left, but I never expected it to still be nearby. Furthermore, there¡¯s a new contractor,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Can you still find him now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already sent someone to investigate. I¡¯ll keep you informed,¡± An Sheng said again. ¡°Madam wants you to take Ya¡¯er home for a meal.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± After spending so much time in his dorm, Zhou Wen had reached a bottleneck with Civilized Country. He planned on heading out to take a breather.


    While he played games every day, Ya¡¯er sat alone in his dormitory. He wondered if she would develop any psychological problems over time.


    After getting An Sheng to make the appointment, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to visit Ouyang Lan.


    It was rare for Zhou Lingfeng to be here today. As Zhou Wen seldom came to the An family home, he seldom saw him.


    However, Zhou Wen was used to it. Before Zhou Lingfeng married Ouyang Lan, he was often away, so he didn¡¯t find it a problem.


    During the meal, Ouyang Lan mentioned what Zhou Lingfeng had been doing. Only then did Zhou Wen know that he had been translating a book for a long time. He was almost done.


    ¡°What kind of book is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    With Ouyang Lan around, Zhou Lingfeng shouldn¡¯t need to do any ordinary translation work. The books he was translating weren¡¯t just for money.


    Zhou Lingfeng said, ¡°It¡¯s a book from a small country in the South District before the dimensional storms. As that language wasn¡¯t very developed and was mixed with many symbols, the translation work wasn¡¯t progressing smoothly¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen listened for a while but failed to figure out anything. He wasn¡¯t too interested in language work.

 Chapter 818 - Earth Elemental Beast

    Translator: CKtalon


    On the way back, Zhou Wen walked along the streets of Luoyang with Ya¡¯er. He could clearly sense that Luoyang was much more desolate than when he had first arrived.


    Life was difficult to begin with, and there were often break-out creatures appearing. In such chaotic times, having a stable home was already difficult. Raising children was even harder. Many people chose not to have children.


    Even though the Federation had been promoting childbirth, the birth rate of newborns continued to decrease.


    Ya¡¯er looked around curiously. Everything here was new to her. Although she wasn¡¯t a real child, her inner world wasn¡¯t much more mature than a child¡¯s.


    After all, she had always been trapped near the Kuman Nee. Xiao Tianfang wouldn¡¯t take her out unless she was needed in a fight.


    Zhou Wen thought that since he was out today, he should relax and take Ya¡¯er shopping nearby. He bought some things for her and let her try out some normal entertainment.


    Although Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t say anything, it was obvious that she was happy.


    Should I take her out more often in the future? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen felt that he was taking care of Ya¡¯er, but he didn¡¯t realize that without Ya¡¯er, he might have become more and more accustomed to being alone.


    While Ya¡¯er was playing a VR game, Zhou Wen¡¯s phone rang. It was Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°You previously asked about the Mystic Bird. Do you only want a Mystic Bird, or do you want any Companion Beast that can help you escape?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    ¡°Actually, I want a mount that can teleport. Do you have a way?¡± Zhou Wen asked doubtfully.


    Zhang Yuzhi said, ¡°Not at all. If you only want to escape, our Zhang family will be selling an Earth Escape Companion Beast recently. Perhaps you can try to obtain it.¡±


    ¡°Earth Escape Companion Beast? Is it a mount-type?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    If it was a mount, it would be very attractive to Zhou Wen if it could use Earth Escape with its owner.


    Apart from teleportation, Earth Escape was almost the best escape skill. Zhou Wen naturally wanted a mount that knew Earth Escape. However, if it wasn¡¯t a mount and it couldn¡¯t bring along others while using Earth Escape, its value would be much lower.


    Take Tai Sui for example. Although it could also use Earth Escape, it wasn¡¯t of much use when it couldn¡¯t bring people along with it.


    ¡°It¡¯s a mount, and it¡¯s at the Mythical stage. However, there are many people competing this time. I reckon it will fetch a high price,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Why would your Zhang family sell such a Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    No one would find such a Companion Beast excessive. Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that the Zhang family wanted to sell it.


    If Zhou Wen had such a Companion Beast, he definitely wouldn¡¯t sell it.


    ¡°The reason is very complicated. It¡¯s a long story, but the Companion Beast is definitely genuine. If you are interested, you can come over to take a look. When the time comes, I can do my best as a host,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Alright, what Companion Beast is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s an Earth Elemental Beast of the Five-Elemental Beasts.¡± Zhang Yuzhi thought for a moment and said, ¡°There are a total of five Five-Elemental Beasts. They are the five types of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. They each have different abilities. They are obtained from a dimensional zone. One needs a corresponding special physique to obtain Companion Eggs of different attributes. There¡¯s no problem with the origins of the Earth Elemental Beast, but there are many people who want it. The price might be very high.¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the Earth Elemental Beast was likely the same as Banana Fairy. They were Companion Eggs obtained from special dimensional zones and not dropped from killing dimensional creatures.


    After chatting with Zhang Yuzhi for a while, he knew that the auction would be held next month, so there was no rush.


    It¡¯s good to take a look when the time comes. With my present strength, I don¡¯t need to worry about the bureau. I¡¯ll use that batch of Essence Crystals I have. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he couldn¡¯t directly use the Essence Crystals directly at the auction. Therefore, he asked An Sheng if he had any channels to sell them.


    ¡°Sunset Army¡¯s weapons factory requires a large number of Essence Crystals. Just sell them to the weapon factory. We will definitely not fleece you,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen agreed.


    After discussing the details of the deal with An Sheng, An Sheng suddenly said, ¡°Are you interested in coming to the factory to take a look?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not appropriate, right?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing inappropriate about it. To others, the factory is a secret, but you are different. Furthermore, there¡¯s something I want you to see,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to go, but since An Sheng had said so, he had no choice but to agree.


    After setting a time, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to the factory.


    The weapon factory itself was in a dimensional zone. It used the dimensional zone¡¯s rules to effectively ensure that outsiders couldn¡¯t enter. Furthermore, the weapon factory itself had tight security measures.


    It was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. The weapon factory was modern and the various instruments were very advanced. It looked like a high-tech laboratory from a movie.


    It was rare to see such a laboratory in this era.


    ¡°Overseer searched for a long time before finding this dimensional zone. The taboo rules here are very special. They won¡¯t affect the operation of the apparatus,¡± An Sheng introduced as he walked.


    Zhou Wen saw many of the Sunset Army¡¯s equipment, such as Essence Gold bullets, Essence Gold shields, Essence Gold armor, etc.


    There were also some that Zhou Wen had never seen before. They were likely still in development. The entire factory was built in an underground space, divided into several levels.


    Zhou Wen was surprised to see an engine and accelerator made of Essence Gold.


    ¡°Overseer has put in a lot of effort in the weapon factory. Every year, he will invest a large amount of money. The expenses on materials are huge. Thankfully, scientists aren¡¯t valued by society these days. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to hire so many high-end professionals,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°How powerful are the Essence Gold weapons now? Can they resist Mythical creatures?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Pure Essence Gold weapons are still lacking, but just like the Bamboo Blade you use, some high-level Essence Gold weapons can fight Mythical creatures if the user is strong enough. However, this isn¡¯t absolute. The item we are researching might be a breakthrough.¡± As An Sheng spoke, his eyes seemed to glow. It was obvious that he was very proud of that item.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°You should see for yourself.¡± An Sheng didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen directly. Instead, he took him to the lowest level of the factory.


    When the door to the independent experimental zone opened, Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed by what he saw.

 Chapter 819 - Essence Energy Compression Accelerator

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the huge warehouse-like laboratory, there was a strange device placed horizontally. It looked like a rocket launcher that could be held over the shoulder.


    However, this thing was just too big. It was placed horizontally, and it almost spanned across the entire laboratory. Furthermore, it looked even more high-tech. There were circles of crystal rings on it.


    In short, it was a rod-shaped object that combined metal and crystal.


    ¡°Are these all made of Essence Gold? The crystals on them should be Essence Crystals, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    If this thing was really made of Essence Gold and Essence Crystals, the amount of materials needed was unimaginable. Zhou Wen had a lot of Essence Crystals, but they would only take up a small portion of the huge machine.


    ¡°59% is Essence Gold. 28% Essence Crystals. The remaining consists of supplementary materials,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a large rocket launcher?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°You can view it as a super-large rocket launcher. Its effects are similar, but it¡¯s not exactly the same. This is an Essence Energy compression accelerator,¡± An Sheng explained. ¡°Its main function is to compress Essence Energy, accelerate it, and shoot it out.¡±


    ¡°How powerful can it be?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    An Sheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°This is a very complicated problem. The power depends on the amount of Essence Energy and the enhanced speed. Based on the current technology, we can only compress the Essence Energy contained in 4.5 tonnes of Essence Crystals at a time. Then, we can accelerate it to supersonic speed.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Is there any obvious analogy?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°This is because we haven¡¯t used that many Essence Crystals during our experiments. Therefore, the strength I¡¯m talking about now is only in theory. According to the calculations, the might of a full-powered Essence Energy launch should be stronger than Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s full-strength strike. Of course, this is only in theory. In fact, a launch requires a large number of Essence Crystals. Furthermore, the extraction of Essence Crystals before the launcher compresses the Essence Crystals takes a long time. Even if all the materials are prepared beforehand, the launch will still take more than ten hours to reach its maximum power.¡±


    ¡°It sounds troublesome,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It is. That¡¯s because we were building on very weak foundations in the beginning. Many of the technologies were figured out bit by bit. We don¡¯t have the optimal solution yet. However, from the looks of it, the idea is right. Essence Energy can be compressed and accelerated before being shot out. The energy explosion produced is indeed very strong. Furthermore, it will deal great damage to dimensional creatures. It¡¯s much stronger than ordinary Essence Gold bullets.¡±


    Upon saying this, An Sheng appeared somewhat excited. ¡°The greatest difficulty now is how to more effectively compress Essence Energy. If we can compress Essence Energy ahead of time and create compressed Essence Energy Bullets similar to ordinary bullets, then miniaturize the acceleration mechanism, we might be able to produce Essence Energy compression accelerators that can be used by a single person. However, there are many technical problems that need to be resolved. The Essence Energy compression accelerator that can be produced now is just that big.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good, but it won¡¯t be of any use at the moment, right?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t imagine how such a huge item could be used.


    If they used it to deal with Mythical creatures, the Mythical creatures were very fast. Before the accelerator could have them in the line of fire, they would probably have fled.


    Unless it was a Mythical creature with a problematic intelligence, one that would only stand there and let the Essence Energy compressor hit it.


    The fatal flaw was it having more than ten hours of preparation time. A fight had to be scheduled before it could happen. The restrictions were too great.


    ¡°In fact, the original goal of such a large-scale Essence Energy compression accelerator wasn¡¯t to kill Mythical creatures in dimensional zones. It was mainly prepared for the scenario when dimensional creatures break out on a large scale in the future,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood. An Tianzuo had originally carried out this research to defend Luoyang in the future. It was very useful to deal with large numbers of dimensional creatures that were attacking the city.


    ¡°However, the development direction now is still mainly miniaturization. We hope that a single launcher can be developed in the next few years, but this is very difficult. Not only are there funding and raw material problems, but there are also many technical problems that require the experts to solve. Sometimes, a small problem might take years¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen could tell that An Sheng had high hopes for the launcher.


    Indeed, humans were unable to advance to the Mythical stage, so they could only rely on external forces. Companion Beasts were external forces; likewise for Guardians. As for An Tianzuo and An Sheng, they clearly wanted to try taking another path.


    ¡°We are still studying Essence Energy armor. It¡¯s still in R&D and hasn¡¯t obtained any substantial results. In the future, if the studies on Essence Energy armor and Essence Energy launcher are successful, even a Mortal-stage human could use this equipment to fight high-level dimensional creatures or even kill Mythical creatures¡­¡±


    ¡°I hope that day comes sooner.¡± Zhou Wen felt that it would be great if they could succeed. This might be the bedrock for the stability of human society.


    Just like in primitive societies humans slowly learned how to use tools and create cold weapons to eventually become the owners of the land. Then, they created hot weapons, cars, ships, rockets, and so on, becoming the rulers of the entire Earth.


    Perhaps Essence Energy armor and Essence Energy launchers were the weapons that would allow humans to regain their rule over Earth in the future. The premise was that the research was successful.


    A launcher of this size was too useless in actual combat.


    ¡°Overseer has always been looking forward to that day. He said that even if humans can¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage and their physical strength can¡¯t match those powerful creatures, we will definitely become the rulers of the world again,¡± An Sheng said.


    Looking at the busy workers in the laboratory, Zhou Wen suddenly felt that there might be hope for humanity¡¯s future.


    Many people were secretly working hard to prepare for the large-scale breakouts of dimensional zones. Even if a dimensional zone broke out, humans might not be crushed.


    The only thing they lacked now was time. Be it humans who were cultivating hard to advance to the Mythical stage or people who were researching new weapons, they all needed time.


    Zhou Wen left all the Essence Crystals with An Sheng. He originally planned on selling only a portion, but he was ultimately persuaded by An Sheng to sell all the Essence Crystals to him. Furthermore, a portion of them were exchanged for items.


    When he left, Zhou Wen realized that An Sheng had brought him to see the Essence Energy compression accelerator because he wanted those Essence Energy Crystals.

 Chapter 820 - Returning to Chess Mountain

    ¡°There¡¯s something else I want to show you.¡± After leaving the laboratory, An Sheng took Zhou Wen to the Sunset Army¡¯s military camp.


    An Sheng took Zhou Wen to a hall where there was a large amount of VR equipment.


    ¡°Try it,¡± An Sheng said with a smile as he handed a VR helmet to Zhou Wen.


    Puzzled, Zhou Wen put the helmet on before entering a game. Soon, he nearly cried out in surprise.


    This game was actually very similar to what Huang Ji was doing. However, Huang Ji was making a mobile game, while this one was much more high-end. The VR game with a full field of vision looked very similar to the real Tiger Cage Pass. Even the Demonized Soldiers and Demonized Generals could almost pass off as real.


    However, the settings and modes were very similar to the mobile version.


    ¡°This game looks a little familiar,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng after taking off his helmet.


    ¡°You have a part in this game as well. It¡¯s the game that you and Huang Ji worked together to create. Overseer got Huang Ji to work with him. This is the latest result. It¡¯s used to train new recruits,¡± An Sheng said.


    So the sponsor Senior Huang Ji mentioned is An Tianzuo! Zhou Wen really never expected An Tianzuo to invest in a game that Huang Ji had made.


    Zhou Wen remembered that An Tianzuo disliked him gaming. He never expected An Tianzuo to invest in this game, so it was extremely surprising.


    ¡°Overseer isn¡¯t actually a bad person. He¡¯s just a little more stubborn than others,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°What kind of person he is isn¡¯t important. After all, we aren¡¯t the same type of people. It¡¯s impossible for us to have too many interactions in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng shook his head and didn¡¯t continue the topic. Zhou Wen told An Sheng about the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s auction.


    ¡°The Zhang family is actually auctioning the Earth Elemental Beast? Is this news accurate?¡± An Sheng was alarmed.


    ¡°Zhang Yuzhi told me. It shouldn¡¯t be fake, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What Zhang Yuzhi says definitely won¡¯t be fake. I never expected the Zhang family to auction the Earth Elemental Beast. I reckon the other five families and some wealthy families will participate in this auction.¡± An Sheng¡¯s expression changed as though he was thinking about something.


    ¡°Do you know the origins of the Earth Elemental Beast?¡± Zhou Wen could tell from An Sheng¡¯s expression that he knew something.


    An Sheng said, ¡°A little. In fact, Earth Elemental Beasts are only one of the Five-Elemental Beasts. These Companion Beasts were brought out from the Founding Emperor Tomb by the six heroes. There are a total of five¡ªMetal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth. The Zhang family obtained the Earth Elemental Beast, but I don¡¯t know where the other four went.¡±


    ¡°Weren¡¯t they brought out by the six heroes? Shouldn¡¯t the other four be in the hands of the other families?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°In theory, yes. But the other families claim to not have the Five-Elemental Beasts. Only the Zhang family has the Earth Elemental Beast. It¡¯s said that this matter made the six heroes very unhappy, but outsiders don¡¯t know the truth. Now that the Zhang family is suddenly offering the Earth Elemental Beast for sale in an auction, there must be some unknown reason. By the way, did Zhang Yuzhi say why they are auctioning the Earth Elemental Beast?¡± An Sheng pondered.


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly.


    ¡°If you are interested, you can go take a look. However, it will probably be a little difficult to obtain the Earth Elemental Beast. The auction won¡¯t be that simple,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen nodded. He was indeed very interested, but he was more interested in a dimensional zone like the Founding Emperor Tomb. If there was a chance, he wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol.


    ¡°Adjutant An, the six-winged seraphim has appeared again.¡± As the two of them were speaking, a soldier came over to report.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s near Chess Mountain.¡± The soldier handed the information he had just received to An Sheng.


    ¡°Near Chess Mountain? Why did she go there?¡± An Sheng frowned slightly.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange. The six-winged seraphim had been released by The Thearch after fooling John. Now, it was very normal for people who had contracted the six-winged seraphim to go to Chess Mountain.


    ¡°Do you have a specific location? I want to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°According to the intelligence, the few times we discovered her recently were near the Qihe River. If you want to find her, there should be a chance if you head over there.¡± An Sheng handed the information to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go take a look now.¡± Zhou Wen read the intelligence and realized that it was indeed written in this manner. He decided to head over to take a look.


    ¡°I still have some matters to settle, so I won¡¯t take you there. After all, you know the place well. Deputy Governor Qin is still there. Just look for him when you get there,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡­


    After leaving the military camp, Zhou Wen went to Chess Mountain.


    Most of the Guardians didn¡¯t have an owner yet, so he didn¡¯t have many choices. He would kill every single one he found, and the six-winged seraphim was a Guardian that Zhou Wen had a higher chance of killing.


    The only person he needed to worry about was The Thearch. If it wasn¡¯t necessary, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see her.


    The Thearch was definitely not as simple as an ordinary Mythical stage. Zhou Wen suspected that she was very likely at the Calamity grade. However, after arriving on Earth, her strength was weakened by the laws of Earth, reducing her to the level of an ordinary Mythical.


    Even so, The Thearch was much stronger than ordinary Mythical creatures.


    Ya¡¯er was also taken to Chess Mountain by Zhou Wen. There were many strange creatures in Chess Mountain, such as Blood Threadworms. Zhou Wen suspected that they were also considered Gu, so taking Ya¡¯er along might be of some use.


    ¡°Doctor Zhou, you¡¯re finally here. We were just talking about you.¡± Before Zhou Wen arrived at Chess Mountain¡¯s encampment, he encountered the patrolling soldiers who greeted him in surprise.


    In the military camp, An Jing was training. She had been stationed inside Chess Mountain¡¯s encampment for quite some time. Every time she fought, she did her best.


    However, no matter how well she did or how many contributions she made, others would only take her for granted. This was because she was from the An family; she was An Tianzuo¡¯s sister.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had only spent a short period of time in the military camp, but he had already obtained the support of the soldiers and officers.


    When others mentioned Zhou Wen, they wouldn¡¯t talk about his relationship with the An family. They would only talk about how good Doctor Zhou was and how much they idolized him.


    An Jing didn¡¯t understand why everyone still treated her as An Tianzuo¡¯s sister despite her having done no less than Zhou Wen at Chess Mountain.


    How am I inferior to him? An Jing trained very hard because she wanted to defeat that fellow. She couldn¡¯t lose.


    Just as she was practicing, she suddenly heard a commotion coming from the military camp. An Jing thought that something had happened, but when she went out to take a look, she saw many soldiers and officers surrounding a person. It was the Zhou Wen she wanted to defeat even in her dreams.


    An Jing¡¯s heart tightened, but she quickly relaxed as she thought to herself, Perfect timing. It¡¯s time to settle this.

 Chapter 821 - Six-Winged Seraphim’s New Master

    Translator: CKtalon


    Seeing the way the soldiers looked at Zhou Wen, An Jing felt mixed emotions. It was something she wanted but couldn¡¯t obtain.


    Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll surprise you this time, An Jing thought.


    Even Qin Wufu came out to take a look when he heard the commotion. When he realized that it was Zhou Wen, he got someone to call him over.


    ¡°Little Zhou, have you thought it through and decided to join us as a soldier?¡± Qin Wufu poured a cup of water for Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I heard that the six-winged seraphim appeared near the Qihe River, so I came to take a look. Will it be possible for you to get someone to take me there?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy, but that six-winged seraphim¡¯s strength is extremely terrifying. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s friend or foe. If we encounter him, you have to be careful.¡± Qin Wufu exhorted before saying to his adjutant, ¡°Call Little Jing over.¡±


    ¡°Governor, are you looking for An Jing?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You are family. She¡¯s currently in charge of monitoring that area. She¡¯s the perfect choice to take you there,¡± Qin Wufu said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to trouble her. Just find a soldier to take me there.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to get into trouble with An Jing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not trouble at all. It¡¯s her job,¡± Qin Wufu said with a smile.


    Seeing that the adjutant had already left, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. After all, it wasn¡¯t a big deal to just lead the way.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that An Jing wouldn¡¯t be willing to take him, but to his surprise, after An Jing came and listened to Qin Wufu¡¯s orders. She didn¡¯t make any outlandish show of expression. She was like an ordinary soldier who chose to carry out orders.


    From the looks of it, she hasn¡¯t come to the military for nothing. She has indeed matured and is no longer as childish as before. Zhou Wen felt that this trip wouldn¡¯t be troublesome when he saw An Jing treating him like an ordinary person.


    The two of them left the encampment and An Jing led Zhou Wen all the way to the Qihe River.


    An Jing didn¡¯t say much on the way, but Zhou Wen was happy with that as well. He had no intention of making small talk with her.


    However, Zhou Wen soon discovered a problem. According to the intelligence, the location of the six-winged seraphim was near the Qihe River, but An Jing had already reached the nearby mountains and was a little far from the Qihe River.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the six-winged seraphim appear near the Qihe River? Why are we in the mountains?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to ask.


    ¡°You are looking for the six-winged seraphim, right?¡± An Jing asked expressionlessly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake then. Just follow me.¡± An Jing continued leading the way, but she thought to herself, You never expected me to be the current owner of the six-winged seraphim, right? Although you once defeated John, who possessed the six-winged seraphim, John was unable to use the true strength of a six-winged seraphim. And I can already use more than 90% of the six-winged seraphim¡¯s strength. It should be enough to fight you.


    Seeing how confident An Jing was, Zhou Wen continued following her into the mountain.


    After walking for quite some time, An Jing finally stopped at a cave. She guessed that even if a battle happened here, the camp wouldn¡¯t be able to hear anything.


    ¡°Have we arrived? Did the six-winged seraphim appear nearby?¡± Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find any traces.


    Truth Listener was activated the entire time, but there was no sign of the six-winged seraphim nearby.


    ¡°Yes, the six-winged seraphim is here,¡± An Jing said, pretending to be calm.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen had already noticed that An Jing¡¯s tone was odd.


    Holy light rose from An Jing¡¯s body as white feathers condensed, forming a six-winged seraphim that floated behind her. It was the six-winged seraphim Zhou Wen had seen before.


    ¡°So you are the new contractor of the six-winged seraphim.¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    He had come to kill the six-winged seraphim, but now, the six-winged seraphim was An Jing¡¯s Guardian. It didn¡¯t seem right for Ouyang Lan to know that he had killed her Guardian.


    ¡°Ever since I joined the military, I¡¯ve been working hard. I work when others are working, and I train hard to make myself stronger when others are resting. Now, I¡¯m at the same starting point as you. I have an Epic Perfect Life Soul, a Mythical Companion Beast, and a Guardian. What you have, I already have. Now, we can have a fair battle,¡± An Jing said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Did The Thearch help you contract the six-winged seraphim?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Jing.


    ¡°You know The Thearch?¡± An Jing was slightly taken aback.


    Zhou Wen immediately smiled bitterly when he heard An Jing¡¯s reply. ¡°I¡¯d rather not know her. Does she have any conditions for helping you contract the six-winged seraphim?¡±


    ¡°This has nothing to do with you,¡± An Jing said.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that your matter has nothing to do with me, but you are Sis Lan¡¯s daughter. I don¡¯t wish for Sis Lan to be sad, so I hope you understand that The Thearch is a very dangerous person. Think about John¡¯s outcome and you should know what kind of person she is,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about my mother. I¡¯m already an adult. I know what needs to be done and what shouldn¡¯t be done. I didn¡¯t agree to do anything for The Thearch. She didn¡¯t ask me to do anything for her either. Her only request was for me to try my best to clinch first place in the next Companion Beast ranking battle and obtain a divine fruit for her.¡±


    ¡°In that case, you obtained a Mythical Companion Beast in Chess Mountain, right?¡± Zhou Wen never expected The Thearch to place so much importance on the divine fruit. She didn¡¯t manage to obtain it from him and instead got An Jing to do it.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± An Jing was even more surprised.


    ¡°Because The Thearch came to me before, but I rejected her. She¡¯s too dangerous. It¡¯s best not to have anything to do with her,¡± Zhou Wen said truthfully.


    ¡°If one wants to become stronger, one naturally has to take the risk. I know what choice to make. There¡¯s no need for you to teach me.¡± An Jing looked at Zhou Wen and slowly said, ¡°Regardless of victory or defeat today, the grudge between us ends here.¡±


    ¡°Do you really have to fight me?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Jing.


    ¡°Of course. Otherwise, why would I train so hard? I have to beat you this time,¡± An Jing said.


    ¡°Even if it means losing the Guardian?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    This time, without waiting for An Jing to answer, the six-winged seraphim said, ¡°The only one who can defeat a Guardian is a Guardian. Last time, John was too weak and couldn¡¯t even use a tenth of my strength. Now, with An Jing as my Guardian, my true strength can be exhibited. You have no chance of winning. An Jing¡¯s compatibility with me is virtually perfect, so I won¡¯t betray her.¡±


    The six-winged seraphim had clearly misunderstood, believing Zhou Wen meant that he would betray An Jing like he had betrayed John.

 Chapter 822 - Ending Before Starting

    Zhou Wen ignored the six-winged seraphim and looked at An Jing as though he wanted her to answer him personally.


    ¡°I contracted the Guardian to defeat you. If I can¡¯t defeat you, what¡¯s the point of having a Guardian?¡± An Jing¡¯s eyes were resolute as she stared at Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°Over the past few days, I¡¯ve been constantly seeking a breakthrough. Even in my dreams, I¡¯ve been thinking about how to make myself stronger. No matter what problems I encounter, as long as I can defeat you, I can¡­¡±


    An Jing was still speaking, but Zhou Wen had already drawn his saber when she said her first sentence.


    Immortal Slaying!


    Back when he fought John, Zhou Wen already had a good understanding of the six-winged seraphim¡¯s abilities. He knew what skills he had, so there was no need for him to hesitate.


    The only thing he needed to consider was the effects on An Jing after killing the six-winged seraphim. Since An Jing said that contracting a Guardian was meaningless if she couldn¡¯t defeat him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any qualms.


    Immortal Slaying was unbelievably fast. It wasn¡¯t domineering because it was too fast. It was impossible to sense any domineering aura.


    By the time An Jing sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s strike, his saber had already returned to its scabbard.


    As for the six-winged seraphim in the air behind her, his pupils constricted. His mouth moved as though it wanted to say something, but this movement only served to misalign his mouth. His body split into two as it fell to the sides, turning into white feathers that dissipated.


    An Jing stood there in a daze. There was no surprise on her face, only confusion and shock. She stopped her words midway.


    She never expected Zhou Wen to strike without much warning. Zhou Wen was still hugging Ya¡¯er in his arms. She originally wanted to say that they would only begin the battle after Zhou Wen placed the child to the side, but Zhou Wen held the child in one hand and drew his saber with the other. He killed the six-winged seraphim so casually that it felt like they hadn¡¯t even begun the battle.


    I¡­ haven¡¯t even started yet¡­ This was the only thought that remained in An Jing¡¯s mind. She didn¡¯t know what to say next.


    After slaying the six-winged seraphim with one strike, Zhou Wen felt a strange energy infuse into the Slaughterer Life Soul, causing it to grow again. He had a faint feeling that it was turning corporeal.


    However, even after the energy was exhausted, Slaughterer still failed to advance to a Perfect Body.


    Is it still not enough? How many do I have to kill? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to find another Guardian that was as easy to kill as the six-winged seraphim.


    Firstly, the six-winged seraphim couldn¡¯t be considered especially powerful among the Guardians. Secondly, Zhou Wen knew the various abilities of the six-winged seraphim like the back of his hand, allowing him to kill him so easily.


    If it were an unfamiliar Guardian, even if its strength was about the same as the six-winged seraphim, it would be difficult for him to kill it so easily.


    ¡°Let¡¯s call it a day. If you really want to defeat me, use your own strength. The strength bestowed by others unto you won¡¯t be able to defeat me.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and walked back with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    An Jing stood there without moving for quite some time. Before this battle, she had thought about many things. She had thought about the possible winning and losing outcomes, but no matter how she imagined the possibilities, she never expected that she would lose before the battle even began.


    She originally thought that this would be an evenly matched battle, but now, she suddenly realized that she didn¡¯t seem to have the qualifications to stand in the arena.


    Just like an amateur challenging a professional boxer, she fell to the ground before the bell rang.


    ¡­


    I hope she won¡¯t look for The Thearch again. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for An Jing to have anything to do with The Thearch.


    An Jing was Ouyang Lan¡¯s daughter after all. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like her much, he didn¡¯t wish for anything to happen to her.


    After returning to the encampment, Zhou Wen met a few acquaintances and gathered with them before setting off for Luoyang the next day.


    Qin Wufu had been encouraging Zhou Wen to give up on his studies and come over to work with him. Zhou Wen politely declined.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to contribute to protecting humans, but that he felt that making himself stronger was the most important. As long as he was the strongest, he could completely eliminate the uncertainties and not be forced into a passive position of defense.


    Zhou Wen was willing to stay on campus because the college would give him plenty of free time and provide him with plenty of resources and information. It allowed him to walk the path he wanted and quickly become stronger.


    However, if he entered the military, he needed to carry out missions. That could indeed help a portion of people, but Zhou Wen wanted to help more than just a portion.


    After returning to school, Zhou Wen began studying the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. This was because it was very difficult for Civilized Country to advance by relying on Bright Torch Vision World. He had to think of other solutions, and he couldn¡¯t think of one at the moment unless he could obtain a pet like the Mystic Bird. However, that wasn¡¯t easy, so Zhou Wen could only study other Essence Energy Arts.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was a rather interesting Essence Energy Art. Zhou Wen had only just gained basic mastery of it. Although he didn¡¯t sense any powerful strength from it, just the way the Essence Energy was circulated was very interesting.


    Typical Essence Energy Arts mostly had a sea of energy, but Essence Energy Arts like the Lost Immortal Sutra didn¡¯t have an Essence Energy sea. However, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art had countless Essence Energy seas.


    When the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art circulated, his body was like a tiny universe with countless revolving stars. Every star was an Essence Energy sea, and the entire tiny universe was a huge Essence Energy sea.


    As Zhou Wen felt his Essence Energy circulate, he pondered over the profundity of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, hoping to condense a Life Providence.


    Condensing a Life Soul required the blood essence of a Mythical or Guardian. Otherwise, the simulation of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art couldn¡¯t condense a Life Soul without a foundation. However, a Life Providence wasn¡¯t that particular. All one needed to do was gain insight into the Essence Energy Art.


    Why does this Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art¡¯s pocket universe feel a little similar to the Endless Sea of Stars? Zhou Wen suddenly discovered something amiss.


    The layout of the miniature universe¡¯s stars was very similar to the Endless Sea of Stars. If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t spent a long time grinding Essence Energy Skills in the Endless Sea of Stars, he wouldn¡¯t have discovered this similarity.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he stopped practicing and took out his phone to enter the Endless Sea of Stars dungeon.


    Zhou Wen looked up at the stars in the Endless Sea of Stars. After watching for a while, he heaved a sigh of relief and revealed a look of delight. As expected, the circulation method of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art is a replica of the Endless Sea of Stars.

 Chapter 823 - Devourer

    The pocket universe formed by the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art wasn¡¯t as complicated as the Endless Sea of Stars. It lacked a portion of the details, but the general outline was the same.


    Zhou Wen explored the Endless Sea of Stars as he grinded. Through his observations of the Endless Sea of Stars, he gained insight into the profundity of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    Since Zhou Wen wanted to search for Astral Combat Beasts in the Endless Sea of Stars, it wasn¡¯t considered a waste of time.


    He had been too busy recently, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to grind the Lunar Mansion skills and Astral Combat Beasts. The twenty-eight Lunar Mansion Skills were still lacking three key skills, so the Star Stealer¡¯s Essence Energy Skill Crystal hadn¡¯t dropped.


    Now was the perfect opportunity to explore the Endless Sea of Stars and find Astral Combat Beasts.


    Zhou Wen roamed the Endless Sea of Stars and watched the stellar transposition. Every time he gained some insight, the tiny universe in his body would become more similar to the Endless Sea of Stars.


    Zhou Wen had a vague feeling that when his pocket universe became identical to the Endless Sea of Stars, it would be the time he condensed his Life Providence.


    The Endless Sea of Stars wasn¡¯t just limited to the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. Outside the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions covered a large area. Zhou Wen killed countless Astral Beasts along the way, but he didn¡¯t find any Astral Combat Beasts.


    In fact, there were very few Mythical Astral Beasts. Most of them were between the Mortal and Epic stage.


    Just as he was feeling puzzled, he suddenly saw something flash in the cosmos ahead.


    When Zhou Wen focused, he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    Were my eyes playing tricks on me? Zhou Wen took a closer look and still didn¡¯t discover anything. He couldn¡¯t help but find it odd.


    Suddenly, something flashed in the cosmos. Zhou Wen only saw a flash, but he didn¡¯t see what it was.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked carefully at the spot where the figure was flickering, he immediately felt his scalp tingle. This was because a planet that was originally there had vanished. When he confirmed that there was nothing there, he clearly saw a planet.


    Devourer! Zhou Wen immediately thought of something.


    Previously, when he had gone to the Endless Sea of Stars in real life, Zhou Wen had seen a Devourer. However, the Devourer back then looked like a jellyfish in a lake. It ate planets like eating candy, so it didn¡¯t feel too shocking.


    However, now that he was in the Endless Sea of Stars, it was somewhat different. Although the planet was much smaller than the planets in real life, it was still as huge as a mountain. It was truly shocking to see it disappear.


    What was even more terrifying was that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the Devourer in-game. He only saw something flash when it devoured the planet.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and raised Truth Listener¡¯s ability to its limits to monitor the nearby area.


    Soon, he realized that a nearby planet had been devoured, and he finally saw the Devourer.


    With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen outlined the appearance of the Devourer in his mind, but he still couldn¡¯t see it with his eyes.


    It was similar to what Zhou Wen had seen in real life¡ªa transparent jellyfish-like monster. However, its size was far more exaggerated in-game. It directly swallowed the entire planet; the smaller planets in the Endless Sea of Stars were about the size of a bean.


    This body is much bigger than Tyrant Behemoth after its transformation! When Zhou Wen looked at it, the Devourer had already wandered over.


    Zhou Wen ordered the gigantic Tyrant Behemoth to charge forward, hoping to see how powerful the Devourer was.


    After receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s order, Tyrant Behemoth activated Absolute Strength and pounced over.


    The Devourer was really like a jellyfish. The countless tentacles below shook as its body rose at an unbelievable speed, dodging Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s attacks.


    After Tyrant Behemoth struck, it didn¡¯t continue pursuing. It stood there in a daze.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood. He could see the Devourer with Truth Listener, but Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t. It naturally couldn¡¯t attack enemies it couldn¡¯t see.


    Zhou Wen commanded Tyrant Behemoth to fight, but Tyrant Behemoth relied on its instincts to fight. With Zhou Wen commanding it, there was a delay.


    Before long, the Devourer swallowed Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body.


    It was unknown what the Devourer¡¯s body was made of. Tyrant Behemoth, which possessed Absolute Strength, failed to escape after being swallowed.


    This is really troublesome. Tyrant Behemoth can¡¯t see it, so it¡¯s disadvantageous in battle. Furthermore, if it can¡¯t be seen, Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World will be useless. I¡¯ll probably have to rely on Truth Listener to kill the Devourer. Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and relied on Truth Listener¡¯s ability to lock onto the Devourer¡¯s position. He gathered all his strength and used Immortal Slaying to slash at the Devourer without holding back.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen felt the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body sink into a vortex before the phone screen went black.


    GAME OVER!


    Devourer is amazing. Tyrant Behemoth and Torch Dragon probably can¡¯t do anything about it. The only one who can fight it is probably Truth Listener. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that he didn¡¯t have a good solution to deal with the Devourer.


    However, the danger of Truth Listener removing multiple earrings was too high. If it only removed one or two, it probably wouldn¡¯t be enough to kill the Devourer.


    He once again entered the Endless Sea of Stars. This time, Zhou Wen circled around the area. He couldn¡¯t think of a way to kill the Devourer for the moment, so he ignored it and strolled through the Endless Sea of Stars to condense the Life Providence of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    However, the Devourer¡¯s whereabouts was unpredictable. Zhou Wen had already circled around it, but to his surprise, it would appear in different star systems. Every time Zhou Wen wanted to escape, he was devoured by its black hole-like power.


    The only time Zhou Wen ran away was when he used the long-distance teleportation skill of Civilized Country to reach a spot where the Devourer couldn¡¯t see him. However, he was eventually found and killed by the Devourer.


    At first, Zhou Wen imagined that it was a problem with the respawning of the game. Every time he respawned the Devourer would be in a different star system, but with repeated dying, Zhou Wen began to suspect something.


    Every time I enter the Endless Sea of Stars, as long as I leave the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, I will encounter it at about the same time. This definitely isn¡¯t as simple as a random respawn. Could it be that the Devourer has the ability to teleport? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised when he thought of this possibility.


    He didn¡¯t have much hope of obtaining the Mystic Bird. If the Devourer also had spatial teleportation abilities, he could attempt to kill it. If a Companion Egg dropped, perhaps the problem of advancing Civilized Country would be resolved.

 Chapter 824 - Pocket Universe

    How can I kill the Devourer? Behemoth and Torch Dragon aren¡¯t suitable for such battles. Demonic Neonate is still evolving. Who is more suitable?


    After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there were only three Companion Beasts that stood a chance. He could use Truth Listener with many earrings released or Primordial Spore¡¯s Parasitizing.


    The other Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t see the Devourer, so it was useless no matter how powerful they were.


    As for the last method, Zhou Wen would have to wear the Invisibility Cloak so that the Devourer couldn¡¯t see him and attempt an assassination.


    Zhou Wen began with the simplest method. He first used the Invisibility Cloak to attempt an assassination. While visibly invisible, the Devourer could still see him. He had to use the three minutes of complete invisibility to prevent the Devourer from seeing him.


    However, the assassination failed. The Devourer¡¯s entire body was like a black hole. Zhou Wen went over while invisible and used Immortal Slaying on it only to be sucked in. The game instantly ended.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen attempted the second method, hoping to let Primordial Spore parasitize the Devourer. However, after the Primordial Spore entered the Devourer¡¯s body, it was sucked inside and the connection was broken.


    With the two methods failing, Zhou Wen could only risk sending Truth Listener. After undoing two earrings, Truth Listener became extremely violent as it tore through space and charged at the Devourer.


    The Devourer¡¯s invisibility couldn¡¯t affect Truth Listener. Truth Listener moved like lightning and wasn¡¯t sucked in.


    However, when Truth Listener¡¯s claws swiped across the Devourer¡¯s body, it was as though it had sliced through water. No traces of harm were left behind.


    Truth Listener failed to gain an advantage in its battle with the Devourer, but it wasn¡¯t devoured either. The situation seemed to be in a stalemate.


    However, Truth Listener needed to constantly move at high speeds to avoid being sucked in by the Devourer. Its stamina and Essence Energy expenditure were rather intense. It would definitely not be the Devourer¡¯s match if this dragged on.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and ordered Truth Listener to undo the third earring while its stamina was still at its peak.


    Another earring on Truth Listener¡¯s ear shattered. As it shattered, Truth Listener¡¯s body underwent a strange change.


    Before Zhou Wen could see Truth Listener¡¯s exact changes, he felt an extremely violent and painful thought. It made him feel as though Truth Listener was about to explode.


    And on Truth Listener¡¯s body, black flames were rising like a bomb that could explode at any moment.


    Zhou Wen directed Truth Listener to attack, but it didn¡¯t listen to his orders. It roared at the sky as though it was resisting Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    Zhou Wen felt that the connection between him and Truth Listener was about to be severed. It was almost impossible to see, and Truth Listener could already resist his orders.


    Return! Zhou Wen forcefully summoned Truth Listener back, but it was still useless.


    Thankfully, while Truth Listener was resisting Zhou Wen¡¯s will, the Devourer took the opportunity to devour it and kill it.


    Zhou Wen exited the game. The Truth Listener earrings in reality were still there, allowing him to heave a sigh of relief.


    After summoning Truth Listener, the dark-gold Six-Eared Golden Silk Monkey appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Thankfully, nothing happened.


    Indeed, I can¡¯t undo the earrings again. He was still reeling in fear and didn¡¯t dare try again.


    Zhou Wen had already tried all the methods he could think of, but there was nothing he could do about the Devourer. He had to think of a way to deal with it. Now, Zhou Wen could only use his invisibility to escape. If he was found again, he would let Truth Listener, who had shattered two earrings, hold it back while Zhou Wen continued exploring the Endless Sea of Stars to comprehend the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    Using Truth Listener to hold back the Devourer wasn¡¯t too much of a problem.


    As Zhou Wen entangled himself with the Devourer, he traveled the Endless Sea of Stars. After some time, he got used to it.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that apart from the Devourer, he didn¡¯t see a single Mythical Astral Beast in the Endless Sea of Stars.


    Could it be that all the Mythical Astral Beasts have been devoured by the Devourer? Zhou Wen guessed.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art¡¯s pocket universe became closer to perfection. Zhou Wen vaguely felt that he was about to condense a Life Providence.


    Indeed, in less than two days, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art began condensing a Life Providence. The pocket universe in his body emitted resplendent starlight.


    After everything was over, the Life Providence of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art condensed successfully. Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the Life Providence¡¯s information.


    Life Providence: Pocket Universe


    This Life Providence is really called Pocket Universe? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He never expected the Life Providence to match the Essence Energy Art¡¯s situation.


    I wonder what Life Providence Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun condensed? Zhou Wen wanted to ask Liu Yun, but he couldn¡¯t find him.


    Although the two of them had cultivated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, their bloodlines and minds were different, so the Life Providences they condensed would be different.


    Pocket Universe: Producing the universe with one¡¯s body.


    What does it mean by producing the universe with one¡¯s body? Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss. What did this Life Providence mean?


    However, when Zhou Wen switched to the Pocket Universe Life Providence and used the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, he came to a slight realization.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know about the other functions for the time being, but he definitely wouldn¡¯t get lost again. The Pocket Universe Life Providence was like a GPS. No matter where he went, he would know his position in the universe.


    Ignoring the fact that he wouldn¡¯t get lost on Earth, Zhou Wen guessed that he wouldn¡¯t even get lost in the universe.


    It turns out that this Life Providence is just a locator? Zhou Wen was already suspicious of his previous guess, wondering if the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was an Essence Energy Art that increased Speed.


    The next step is to condense a Life Soul. I¡¯ll first try to see if the Guardian¡¯s blood in the underground sea can help the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art advance. Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t the Guardian¡¯s match, it wasn¡¯t difficult to obtain a drop of blood. He could also farm the nine dragons.


    The Guardian had a spatial attribute, so Zhou Wen felt that its compatibility with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art was very high. It was highly likely to work.


    The nine dragons didn¡¯t drop anything useful as Zhou Wen forcefully extracted a drop of blood from the Guardian. To his surprise, the drop of blood couldn¡¯t be absorbed by the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.


    It doesn¡¯t work? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he had no choice but to head to Ant City to give it a try.


    This time, Zhou Wen was still praying that he wouldn¡¯t be compatible with the guardian of Ant City. Otherwise, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art might be an Essence Energy Art that enhanced his Essence Energy. Zhou Wen no longer needed such an Essence Energy Art, so cultivating it was a waste of time.


    Zhou Wen tried it in fear, but thankfully, he was unable to absorb it. While Zhou Wen was delighted, he was also somewhat depressed.


    Now that the blood from these two Guardians wasn¡¯t working, he didn¡¯t know where to find another drop of Guardian¡¯s blood.


    This sure is troublesome. Zhou Wen only knew a few Guardians. Furthermore, once a Guardian contracted a human and truly broke out of the cocoon, their blood would be useless. He had to find a Guardian that had yet to leave its cocoon and then extract their blood essence.

 Chapter 825 - Lady of the Stars

    Is there any Guardian related to the stars or the universe? Zhou Wen sat on the sofa and muttered to himself. It was too difficult to find a suitable Guardian. The key problem was that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know where the Guardians were.


    Zhou Wen had the urge to take the chick back to the phoenix¡¯s nest to discuss with the phoenix. He wanted to see if he could obtain a drop of blood essence from the cocoon protected by the phoenix.


    Just as he was considering it, the antelope walked over and stood opposite Zhou Wen, writing on the ground with its hooves.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. The antelope usually ignored him, so he wasn¡¯t sure why it had suddenly come over. He hurriedly looked at the ground.


    ¡°You want to find a Guardian related to the stars?¡± The antelope wrote on the ground.


    ¡°So what if I do? Do you know where to find one?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already see it before? Why are you asking where it is?¡± the antelope continued writing.


    ¡°When did I see it?¡± Zhou Wen frowned. He couldn¡¯t remember when he had seen such a Guardian.


    ¡°Not only have you seen it, but you have also carried it.¡± The antelope looked at Zhou Wen in a teasing manner and continued writing.


    ¡°When did I carry¡­ it¡­¡± Zhou Wen suddenly reacted as he widened his eyes and asked the antelope, ¡°Are you saying that there¡¯s a Guardian inside the log?¡±


    The antelope smiled at Zhou Wen and wrote: ¡°That¡¯s a Guardian with the Life Providence of the Lady of the Stars. She¡¯s also a top existence among Guardians. You originally had the chance to contract her, but unfortunately, you screwed up. Not only did you fail to contract her, but you even became an enemy. Do you regret it now?¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? How would I know?¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    ¡°How do I tell you? You had to keep carrying that log. Did you want me to tell you in front of her that you have to lie to her and think of a way to cheat her?¡± The antelope curled its lips.


    ¡°You could have told me in advance.¡± Zhou Wen paused before continuing, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this first. Do you have a way to help me obtain a drop of her blood essence?¡±


    ¡°Why do you want her blood essence?¡± The antelope looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°I¡¯m cultivating an Essence Energy Art, but I don¡¯t have a special physique that matches it. I need a drop of Guardian¡¯s blood with the same stats as a foundation,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What Essence Energy Art is it?¡± the antelope asked.


    ¡°Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of hiding it. Having followed him for so long, the antelope naturally knew that he knew many Essence Energy Arts. There was nothing to hide.


    ¡°So it¡¯s the Sky-Stealing technique. It¡¯s possible to use her blood essence as a foundation¡­¡± When the antelope said that, it pondered for a moment before continuing, ¡°Now that she has returned to Forbidden City, Forbidden City has experienced a recovery in Essence Energy, so it will definitely be extremely terrifying. Furthermore, she probably doesn¡¯t have a good impression of you. Even if you have a Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth, you will probably die after entering. It¡¯s basically impossible to obtain her blood essence.¡±


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    Even the antelope said that there was no hope, so Zhou Wen felt that there was no need to take the risk.


    To his surprise, the antelope changed the topic and continued writing. ¡°However, your luck isn¡¯t bad. I happen to have some of her blood essence.¡±


    ¡°You have her blood essence? When did you obtain it?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe the antelope.


    The Guardian had always been inside the log. The log had never been opened, and the antelope had never touched the log. How could it obtain the blood essence?


    ¡°Of course it wasn¡¯t obtained recently. The one in the log is one of the few Guardians that survived the last Guardian Battle. This blood essence was obtained in the past.¡± After the antelope finished writing, it shook its body and a small jade bottle dropped from the fur around its neck.


    This fellow is actually hiding something? Zhou Wen sized up the antelope¡¯s fur in surprise.


    The antelope¡¯s fur was very short. Only the fur around its neck was slightly longer. However, it couldn¡¯t hide a bottle no matter what, so he had no idea how it had hidden the bottle.


    Zhou Wen reached out to take the jade bottle, but he was stopped by the antelope¡¯s hooves.


    ¡°You can have the blood essence, but I have a condition,¡± the antelope wrote.


    ¡°You live off me, and you still want to negotiate with me?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Do you want it?¡± The antelope had no intention of reasoning with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright, tell me. What are your conditions?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to ask patiently.


    ¡°In the future, if you have the ability, you have to make another trip to Forbidden City and get something from her. Originally, as long as you contracted with her, that thing would have been ours, but it ended up in this state. Now, there¡¯s no other way but to use force,¡± the antelope wrote.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when the time comes. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll help you. When the time comes, we¡¯ll split it according to our agreement¡ª20-80.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do. In the past, we said 20-80 because you were the one who found the log. Now that we are cooperating, we naturally can¡¯t do 20-80 again. 40-60, I¡¯ll get 60% while you get 40%. After all, I know nothing about it. The risk is rather high.¡± Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what it was, he wasn¡¯t willing to suffer a loss.


    He wanted the blood essence anyway, so he definitely had to agree to the antelope¡¯s conditions. It wasn¡¯t a bad idea to fight for some benefits.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± The antelope rejected it directly.


    Seeing its firm attitude, Zhou Wen said, ¡°Then split it 50-50. It can¡¯t be any lower.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t want the blood essence?¡± The antelope pointed at the small jade bottle.


    ¡°40-60. You get 60% while I get 40%. That¡¯s my bottom line. Besides, you have to put in some effort. You can¡¯t let me take it all alone,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Deal.¡± The antelope handed the jade bottle to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took the jade bottle and opened it. He saw a tiny blob of blood inside. The blood was a strange purple color that suffused faint purple starlight. It was as though there was purple star sand inside. It looked beautiful and mysterious.


    Zhou Wen had come into contact with the blood essence of many Guardians, so he knew at a glance that it was the blood essence of a real Guardian. However, its attribute was different from anything he had seen before. It was very similar to the aura in the log, so it was likely real.


    After returning to the training room with the blood, Zhou Wen attempted to use the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art to absorb the blood in the jade bottle, and he successfully refined it.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the Pocket Universe in his body erupt. The purple blood essence provided the Pocket Universe with terrifying energy, causing it to emit terrifying starlight.


    Zhou Wen felt his essence, vitality, and spirit condense inside the pocket universe. This was the precursor to condensing a Life Soul.


    Perhaps it was because he had absorbed too much blood essence this time¡ªpossibly about eight drops¡ªcompared to a single drop in the past, the energy contained was much more than before, causing the Life Soul to condense at an abnormally fast speed.


    A speck of starlight condensed in between Zhou Wen¡¯s brows as it shimmered with a purple glow.

 Chapter 826 - Fine Dust

    It was a purple star that resembled a particle. It emitted a resplendent divine light that floated between Zhou Wen¡¯s brows like a gem.


    Life Soul: Fine Dust (Primordial Body)


    Fine Dust: Millions of galaxies are just the dust of the boundless universe. A tiny speck of dust can also be a trichiliocosm.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Fine Dust Life Soul and felt its body emit powerful stellar forces. A tiny bit of information surged into Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, allowing him to gain a rough understanding of Fine Dust.


    Although it was called Fine Dust, it was actually a miniature star. With the Fine Dust Life Soul and the Pocket Universe Life Providence, Zhou Wen could travel through space.


    This was somewhat similar to the ability of Civilized Country. The difference was that the Fine Dust Life Soul could only be used to travel between planets. As long as there were stars in the Pocket Universe, Zhou Wen could use Fine Dust¡¯s ability to travel to that planet.


    For example, planets that were relatively close to Earth like the Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, Saturn, as well as the planets in the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions, or even planets that were even further away. As long as they were within the Pocket Universe, he could teleport over using Fine Dust.


    However, Fine Dust had a longer cooldown period. It could only be used once a month.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to try heading to the moon to take a look, but on second thought, he immediately gave up on such plans. His current body didn¡¯t have the ability to survive in space. He could only teleport once a month. If he were to teleport out now, he wouldn¡¯t be able to return. If that happened, wouldn¡¯t he die of suffocation in space?


    Fine Dust¡¯s ability looks impressive, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be of much use. This thing can only be used for interstellar travel and doesn¡¯t allow free teleportation within a planet. However, humans have yet to discover any habitable planets outside Earth. Wouldn¡¯t teleporting to them be courting death? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    However, thankfully, apart from the interstellar teleportation ability, Fine Dust also had enhancement effects on Speed, Strength, and Essence Energy. On a bright night with stars, he could also enjoy the augmentation of the stellar forces.


    It could also be done during the day, but because the sunlight during the day was too strong, the augmentation from the other stars weakened. The main augmentation came from the sun.


    Thankfully, after advancing to the Mythical stage, typically speaking, one should have the ability to survive in space. This ability would definitely be of great use in the future.


    This was the basic function of Fine Dust. Zhou Wen still needed to figure out the other methods and abilities himself.


    How can I advance Fine Dust? Zhou Wen continued studying the method to advance his Fine Dust Life Soul.


    After entering the game, Zhou Wen tried out Fine Dust¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability. It was really effective. The Fine Dust on his forehead flashed with a purple light as it took him across more than half the Pocket Universe to a tiny planet that he had never been to.


    Then, he entered cooldown mode and had to wait a month until he could use it again.


    This cooldown time is too long! Interstellar teleportation felt great, but it could only be used once a month. It was too much of a scam.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on using it in real life. If he had used it in a rush, it would have been too late when he realized he had to wait for a month.


    After studying his Life Soul in-game for a long time, he didn¡¯t find any way to level up Fine Dust. The method of observing the Pocket Universe to condense a Life Soul clearly wasn¡¯t of any help to Fine Dust.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you coming to the auction?¡± Zhang Yuzhi sent Zhou Wen a message.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    Although Civilization Country could also teleport, the restrictions were too great. An Earth Escape mount was more useful. Even if he failed to win the bid, he could still broaden his horizons.


    It wasn¡¯t usually easy to see the six families together.


    ¡°Remember to inform me before you arrive. I¡¯ll arrange a place for you to stay. There are too many people participating in the auction this time, so it¡¯s not convenient for you to stay outside. You can stay in my family¡¯s courtyard,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on standing on ceremony.


    It was rare for Zhang Yuzhi to chat with him for a while, but it didn¡¯t last more than ten minutes before there was suddenly no message. It was as though she had gone offline.


    Could she be using her phone behind her family¡¯s back? Zhou Wen thought of this possibility.


    To the Zhang family, Zhang Yuzhi was too important. Her every action was closely protected by them. Many things were out of her control.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s not necessarily a good thing to be too special. People like Zhang Yuzhi and Wang Lu have abilities that others dream of, but they might not necessarily be happy, Zhou Wen thought.


    In the morning, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er out for a stroll. Zhou Wen took the time to take her out every morning to interact more with human society.


    Sunset College also had students who had children, but they were basically graduate students. He was probably the first sophomore to have a child.


    Thankfully, everyone in school knew of Zhou Wen¡¯s relationship with Ouyang Lan, so no one said anything.


    Zhou Wen led her to the activity room of the Xuanwen Club. When Fang Ruoxi saw her, she pointed at Ya¡¯er¡¯s clothes and said, ¡°Zhou Wen, Ya¡¯er¡¯s clothes seem to be small. It¡¯s time to buy her new clothes.¡±


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the clothes on Ya¡¯er¡¯s body were indeed a little small. Children grew very quickly. In just a month, she had grown quite a lot.


    ¡°You¡¯re still a boy. How can you take good care of Ya¡¯er? Why don¡¯t you hire a nanny to take care of her?¡± Fang Ruoxi suggested.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll slowly learn how to take care of her.¡± Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t let others take care of Ya¡¯er. Who knew what would happen?


    ¡°Old Zhou, could Ya¡¯er really be your daughter?¡± Tian Xiangdong asked.


    ¡°It would be good if that was the case.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless.


    If Ya¡¯er was really his daughter, Zhou Wen could still get Ouyang Lan to help him take care of her. Unfortunately, no matter how troublesome it was, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take care of her himself.


    ¡°How old is this girl? My relative¡¯s child is a little younger than her, but she can already call her parents. Why can¡¯t she say a word? Didn¡¯t you teach her?¡± Tian Xiangdong teased Ya¡¯er as he spoke. ¡°Ya¡¯er, call Uncle¡­ Uncle¡­¡±


    Ya¡¯er sat on the stool and looked at Tian Xiangdong without any change in expression. Tian Xiangdong felt like a fool. He laughed dryly and stopped teasing her.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, wait for me here for a while. Don¡¯t mess around, alright?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to go to the bathroom and couldn¡¯t take Ya¡¯er with him. He believed that it would be fine to let her stay here.


    Before leaving, Zhou Wen even exhorted Fang Ruoxi to help take care of Ya¡¯er and not let anyone tease her.


    Not long after Zhou Wen left, someone came to the activity room. He couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw Ya¡¯er sitting on a stool.


    ¡°Why is there a child here?¡± the person asked.

 Chapter 827 - Yun Niu

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°This is Zhou Wen¡¯s adopted child,¡± Tian Xiangdong said when he saw that it was Yun Niu.


    Yun Niu was a freshman who had just joined the Xuanwen Club. Zhou Wen had never met him before.


    ¡°Ah, so it¡¯s the famous Senior Zhou¡¯s child. I didn¡¯t expect him to be extremely talented in cultivation and very caring. He¡¯s both morally and technically good.¡± As Yun Niu spoke, he went forward to pinch Ya¡¯er¡¯s face. ¡°This child is really cute. What¡¯s her name?¡±


    However, Ya¡¯er took two steps back and dodged Yun Niu¡¯s hand.


    ¡°This child is afraid of strangers. Don¡¯t scare her,¡± Fang Ruoxi pulled Ya¡¯er back and said to Yun Niu.


    ¡°Children should be more lively. Once they start seeing more people, they naturally won¡¯t be afraid.¡± As Yun Niu spoke, he searched his body and took out a handful of candies from his pocket. ¡°Come, these candies are high quality stuff. They are delicious. Call me uncle and I¡¯ll give them all to you.¡±


    1


    Ya¡¯er only looked at Yun Niu silently.


    Seeing that Ya¡¯er wasn¡¯t moved, Yun Niu peeled a piece of candy and placed it in its mouth to chew. As he chewed, he said, ¡°It¡¯s fragrant and sweet. This piece is for you. Try it first.¡±


    However, Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t reach out to take it. She continued to look at him expressionlessly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this child?¡± Yun Niu frowned slightly. He had seen many children, but none of them were like Ya¡¯er.


    Some introverted and timid children would show some expression even if they didn¡¯t dare to take it or were frightened by him. They wouldn¡¯t be so expressionless.


    However, Ya¡¯er was clearly not afraid of him. She looked at him but ignored him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you like candy? I still have many treasures here. Let¡¯s see if you like them.¡± Yun Niu opened his backpack and took out a rattle drum, a small pistol, a doll, a bell, and other toys. He placed them on the table one by one.


    1


    ¡°Look at how fun this is. Here you go.¡± Yun Niu shook the rattle drum in front of Ya¡¯er.


    However, Ya¡¯er still looked at him and had no intention of reaching out to take it.


    ¡°Is this child deaf and mute?¡± Yun Niu asked gloomily.


    ¡°What do you mean by deaf and mute? She¡¯s young and can¡¯t even speak. By the way, why do you have so many children¡¯s toys on you? Where did you get them?¡± Tian Xiangdong asked.


    1


    ¡°I bought this. I¡¯m planning on taking it back for my niece to play during the holidays. However, it looks like these things can¡¯t attract a little girl,¡± Yun Niu said in frustration.


    ¡°I never expected you to be so meticulous. You actually have your niece on your mind,¡± Tian Xiangdong said with a smile.


    ¡°I just didn¡¯t know what to buy, so I bought a little of everything. It looks like it won¡¯t work.¡± As he spoke, Tian Xiangdong picked up the toys and handed them to Ya¡¯er. ¡°How about this? Do you like this?¡±


    Yun Niu tried many things, but Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t react.


    Just as Yun Niu was giving up hope, Ya¡¯er suddenly pointed at Yun Niu¡¯s backpack.


    Yun Niu was delighted. ¡°What do you want? Uncle will give it to you.¡±


    Ya¡¯er still pointed at the backpack with her tiny hand. Yun Niu poured out all the things inside and said to Ya¡¯er, ¡°Which one do you like? Take it yourself.¡±


    Ya¡¯er reached out and grabbed something. When Yun Niu saw what Ya¡¯er was grabbing, he couldn¡¯t help but be slightly stunned. ¡°Strange, why is that thing in the backpack? Could it be that it was accidentally stuffed inside when I was putting things in?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Yun Niu wanted to stop Ya¡¯er, but after some thought, he allowed Ya¡¯er to grab it.


    It was a necklace with many rubies embedded in it. It looked very beautiful.


    Although the value of gems wasn¡¯t as expensive as before, this necklace was clearly a high-quality item. Before the dimensional storms, it could probably have been sold for hundreds of millions.


    Even now, it was probably worth some money. After all, such gemstones were still very rare.


    ¡°A girl is a girl. They know beauty from a young age. She chose such a beautiful necklace. Yun Niu, is this necklace real?¡± Tian Xiangdong asked.


    ¡°How can it be real? It¡¯s a replica. If she likes it, let her play with it,¡± Yun Niu said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Fang Ruoxi pulled Ya¡¯er to the side and said, ¡°Ya¡¯er, I¡¯ll put it on for you.¡±


    Ya¡¯er released her hand. After Fang Ruoxi took the necklace, she put it on Ya¡¯er¡¯s neck and said, ¡°Ya¡¯er, you¡¯re so beautiful.¡±


    However, Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t react. She wore the necklace and remained expressionless, as if she was facially paralyzed.


    Yun Niu took out a pearl necklace from the toys and said to Ya¡¯er, ¡°Is the necklace nice? Do you still want it? Uncle has something even more beautiful. Let Uncle hug you and I¡¯ll give you a lot of beautiful jewelry.¡±


    However, Ya¡¯er remained unmoved. She turned her head to the side as if she was impatient with him.


    The corners of Yun Niu¡¯s eyes twitched as he thought to himself, Alright, you ingrate. You¡¯re turning your back on me after taking my stuff.


    However, no matter how Yun Niu coaxed her, she ignored him.


    ¡°Yun Niu, it looks like you aren¡¯t very popular with children. Stop teasing her,¡± Tian Xiangdong said.


    ¡°It looks like that¡¯s the case.¡± Yun Niu nodded, but he suddenly reached out and forcefully picked up Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°Yun Niu, don¡¯t do that. You¡¯ll scare Ya¡¯er.¡± Fang Ruoxi frowned and was about to take Ya¡¯er back.


    Yun Niu took two steps back and with a poof, his body emitted white smoke. When the smoke dissipated, Yun Niu and Ya¡¯er were gone.


    ¡°Tell Zhou Wen that if he wants this girl to live, he has to come to Mount Dragon Tiger alone.¡± A voice sounded, but there was no sign of him.


    Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong¡¯s expressions changed drastically as they quickly rushed out. However, there was no sign of Yun Niu or Ya¡¯er.


    Zhou Wen happened to walk over at this moment. Tian Xiangdong immediately said, ¡°Zhou Wen, bad news. Ya¡¯er has been abducted¡­¡±


    Fang Ruoxi said anxiously, ¡°Let¡¯s chase after him. He shouldn¡¯t have escaped the campus grounds yet.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to chase. We won¡¯t be able to catch up. That person¡¯s name is Yun Niu?¡± Zhou Wen had already seen the development. He was afraid that something would happen to Ya¡¯er, so he kept using Truth Listener to monitor her.


    Zhou Wen had seen everything that had happened in the activity room. However, he never expected Yun Niu to suddenly pull off such a trick. Even he didn¡¯t have the time to stop him.


    ¡°Yes, his name is Yun Niu. He¡¯s a freshman. He just joined the club not long ago. I never expected¡­ Zhou Wen, I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡¯ll go with you to Mount Dragon Tiger. No matter what, I have to save Ya¡¯er.¡± Fang Ruoxi felt terrible. Zhou Wen had requested that she take care of Ya¡¯er, but someone had abducted Ya¡¯er under her nose.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I know who took away Ya¡¯er. It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t blame yourself. Even the six families couldn¡¯t stop him from stealing something, much less you,¡± Zhou Wen said.

 Chapter 828 - Cupid’s Gift

    Translator: CKtalon


    Liu Yun led Ya¡¯er out of Luoyang and rode an eagle into the forest. Even if An Tianzuo personally gave the order to capture him, it was probably too late.


    ¡°Hehe, little girl, with you in my hands, I¡¯m not afraid that bastard Zhou Wen won¡¯t come to Mount Dragon Tiger.¡± Liu Yun glanced at Ya¡¯er who was sitting beside him.


    Ordinary children would cry from fright if they encountered such a situation. Yet, to his surprise, there was no expression on Ya¡¯er¡¯s face. It was as though nothing had happened. She was no different from before. She sat obediently on the eagle¡¯s back. She wasn¡¯t afraid of heights either.


    Is she an idiot? Liu Yun felt that there was definitely something wrong with Ya¡¯er¡¯s brain.


    How can a normal child be so calm? Not to mention a one-year-old child, even an eleven or twelve-year-old child would probably cry from fright.


    ¡°Come, give me the necklace. I¡¯ll change it for you.¡± Seeing that Ya¡¯er was a little silly, Liu Yun wasn¡¯t in the mood to say anything to her. He reached out and wanted to take the necklace from her neck.


    This necklace was extraordinary. It was a treasure of the Cape family. Although it wasn¡¯t a dimensional item, it was very famous before the dimensional storms.


    This necklace was known as Cupid¡¯s Gift. Before the dimensional storms, the queens of several countries had worn it. It was a priceless treasure.


    However, this necklace had another name. It was called ¡°Widow Queen.¡± In the beginning, this necklace was a gift from a king to his queen. The king expressed his love for the queen and searched for the best ruby back then. After the forging and setting was done by a master artisan, Cupid¡¯s Gift was created.


    However, who knew that good times wouldn¡¯t last long. Not long after giving away the necklace, the king died from illness, and the queen became a regent queen.


    Later, the necklace switched hands a few more times. Many of its owners were queens, and they all lost their husbands.


    When Liu Yun went to the Cape family to steal something, he accidentally discovered Cupid¡¯s Gift and stole it.


    Although this item wasn¡¯t a dimensional item, many women liked it, especially those who were rich, powerful, and married. Many were willing to buy it at a high price.


    Liu Yun knew that there was a rich lady of a local family who had been looking for this necklace for a long time. If he took it to her, he could exchange it for many resources.


    Liu Yun originally planned on auctioning this necklace in the future, so he naturally couldn¡¯t really give it to Ya¡¯er.


    When Liu Yun tried to take the necklace off, Ya¡¯er naturally refused and retreated.


    However, they were now sitting on the eagle¡¯s back. Once Ya¡¯er retreated, her body would fall.


    Liu Yun hurriedly pulled her back, preventing her from falling.


    Forget it. You can wear it for now, Liu Yun thought to himself. After all, Ya¡¯er was in his hands and she couldn¡¯t escape. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to take it back when she was sick of wearing it. There was no need to force her to take it off.


    Zhou Wen, that bastard. You made me suffer so much the last time. I¡¯ll teach you a lesson this time. Liu Yun had been planning this for a long time.


    He had disguised himself as a student and sneaked into Sunset College. He had even joined the Xuanwen Club to think of a way to get Zhou Wen to Mount Dragon Tiger.


    The Earth Elemental Beast was being auctioned at the Zhang family¡¯s Mount Dragon Tiger. Liu Yun was also very interested in the Earth Elemental Beast, but he naturally wouldn¡¯t use money to bid for it. He wanted to steal it before the auction.


    Liu Yun had already made an attempt before, but ever since he had stolen from the Zhang family, the Zhang family had implemented measures against him. They nearly captured him alive.


    Liu Yun knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to steal the Earth Elemental Beast, so he planned on finding someone to help him. Therefore, he thought of Zhou Wen and planned on using Ya¡¯er to force him to steal it.


    That bastard caused me so much trouble the last time. I can¡¯t let him have it easy this time. I¡¯ll let him do all the dirty work. In the end, after I take the Earth Elemental Beast, I¡¯ll disavow him¡­ Liu Yun couldn¡¯t help but laugh out loud when he thought of the smug look he would be wearing.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Haha¡­ Haha¡­ Haha¡­¡± Liu Yun laughed heartily, but as he laughed, his expression turned ugly.


    This was because he realized that he couldn¡¯t stop laughing.


    ¡°I¡­ Haha¡­ I¡­ Haha¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ Haha¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ Haha¡­¡± Liu Yun couldn¡¯t stop laughing. His mouth was about to deform from laughing, but he couldn¡¯t stop.


    He covered his mouth with his hand, but he couldn¡¯t stop himself from laughing. Instead, he looked even more wretched as though he was secretly laughing.


    After a while, Liu Yun finally stopped laughing.


    What¡¯s going on? Could it be that Zhou Wen has something up his sleeve? He knows that I stole Ya¡¯er, so he¡¯s messing with me? Liu Yun checked his body but didn¡¯t discover any curse-like powers.


    There¡¯s no curse. Could it be that I¡¯m too happy? Liu Yun¡¯s ring didn¡¯t react so he couldn¡¯t help but be puzzled.


    Ever since he had succumbed to Zhou Wen¡¯s move, Liu Yun had thought of many solutions to prevent himself from being cursed. He had obtained many Companion Beasts to resolve this problem, and this purification ring was one of them.


    Although the purification ring couldn¡¯t remove all curses, it would react if he suffered from one. It was very convenient to use it to detect curses.


    Now that the purification ring didn¡¯t react, it meant that Liu Yun wasn¡¯t cursed.


    Liu Yun carefully checked his body again and didn¡¯t find any problems. He had stopped laughing.


    From the looks of it, it might be because I was too happy just now. Liu Yun thought for a moment and felt that it was plausible. He had seen people who couldn¡¯t stop laughing.


    ¡°Hungry,¡± Ya¡¯er suddenly said some time into the flight.


    ¡°So you can speak?¡± Liu Yun looked at Ya¡¯er in surprise.


    However, Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t say anything else. She only looked at Liu Yun.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you to eat when we reach the city ahead.¡± Liu Yun controlled the giant eagle and flew towards a nearby city.


    After arriving in the city, Liu Yun took Ya¡¯er window shopping.


    Ya¡¯er stopped in front of a dessert shop and pointed inside, indicating her desire to eat some desserts.


    However, Liu Yun curled his lips and said, ¡°What¡¯s so good about these non-nutritious things? Furthermore, as a godly thief, how can I pay for food? I¡¯ll let you have a free meal.¡±


    Ya¡¯er followed Liu Yun expressionlessly. This was what Liu Yun was most satisfied with. Although Ya¡¯er was a little strange, she didn¡¯t cry or make a fuss. It saved Liu Yun trouble.


    After walking for a while, Liu Yun brought Ya¡¯er to a hotel. The hotel looked rather high-end and was very lively.


    However, there was one thing. At the entrance of the hotel, there were many flower wreaths and couplets. It was as if someone had died and they were having a funeral.

 Chapter 829 - Don’t Hit The Face

    ¡°Ya¡¯er, here¡¯s a life lesson. Nothing else is important in life, but when it comes to eating, never compromise; otherwise, you will have come to this world for nothing. Although this small city isn¡¯t famous, its Eight Bowl Dish is very authentic. It¡¯s difficult to find it elsewhere. Let¡¯s head in to have some now.¡± Liu Yun led Ya¡¯er inside.


    When he arrived at the reception area at the entrance, he waved his hand like he was doing a magic trick, producing a white bag. He then swaggered inside with Ya¡¯er.


    The receptionists didn¡¯t know him, but this place was huge. There were more than a hundred tables, so it was normal for there to be unfamiliar people. Soon, someone arranged for Liu Yun to sit down.


    ¡°There will be delicious food in a while. You will definitely suffer if you follow Zhou Wen. You haven¡¯t eaten anything delicious. It¡¯s different if you follow me. Be it the things on mountains, in the sea, or on land. you¡¯ll have the best to eat. Just follow me obediently. I guarantee you that you won¡¯t regret it,¡± Liu Yun whispered to Ya¡¯er.


    When the people beside him heard Liu Yun, although they didn¡¯t know him, someone who was very friendly said, ¡°Lad, from what you said, you¡¯ve been to many places?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s for sure. I¡¯m not bragging. I¡¯ve basically visited all the cities in the Federation¡¯s four districts, big and small.¡± Liu Yun was even better at conversations than him. In a while, he was having a good chat with the people at his table. At the same time, he figured out who was the one having the funeral.


    From the looks of it, it was obvious that the funeral wasn¡¯t held by an ordinary family, but one of the most powerful families in the area. Three of the four brothers were at the Epic stage and were known as the Three Heroes of the Chen family. In such a small city, they could be considered top wealthy families.


    Not long ago, their father had passed away. They were having the funeral for the father, and all the famous people in the area had come to pay their respects.


    The deceased had many friends when he was alive, and he had good social relations. Many people came, and those who sat far away were sitting at the extra tables that were set up. Those who had invitations were all sitting in front.


    Not long after, an emcee went on stage to speak.


    ¡°Dear friends and guests: Today, we are gathered here today in memory of our dear Old Master Chen¡­¡±


    While the emcee was reading from his script with a sorrowful expression, everyone had solemn and sorrowful expressions. As they waited silently, they suddenly heard someone laugh. ¡°Haha¡­¡±


    Instantly, everyone¡¯s eyes focused on the source of the laughter.


    Liu Yun¡¯s face turned livid. He didn¡¯t know why he had suddenly laughed. He didn¡¯t want to laugh either. He covered his face with an innocent expression.


    The eldest son of the Chen family gestured for the emcee to continue. At such a time, it was not suitable to cause trouble. Even if there was something, he had to wait until the funeral was over.


    ¡°Our dear Old Master Chen was generous and helpful. He was a good boss at the company, a good husband and father at home¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Laughter sounded again. This time, everyone¡¯s eyes quickly looked at the spot where Liu Yun was sitting. The eyes of the Chen family members were murderous.


    Liu Yun felt like crying. He really didn¡¯t want to laugh, but he couldn¡¯t help it. It worked when he covered his mouth just now, but he couldn¡¯t stop laughing despite doing so now. Instead, it made his expression look even more wretched, as though he was snickering while covering his mouth.


    ¡°Are you f** king here to cause trouble?¡± The three Chen brothers couldn¡¯t tolerate it any longer. Their friends and family were also indignant. Instantly, hundreds of people in the hall stood up and surrounded Liu Yun. All of them had ugly expressions.


    ¡°I¡­ Haha¡­ I really don¡¯t want to laugh¡­ Haha¡­ I¡­ Haha¡­¡± Liu Yun laughed as he spoke. He really couldn¡¯t control himself.


    ¡°Beat him to death.¡± The three Chen brothers were truly enraged. The others couldn¡¯t stand it any longer and rushed forward to beat him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± A tragic cry sounded in the hall.


    When Liu Yun escaped with a swollen face, he saw that Ya¡¯er had followed him without him realizing it. They were outside the hotel.


    Liu Yun picked up Ya¡¯er and fled. There was a group of people shouting to have him killed behind him.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Gosh¡­ Haha¡­ Don¡¯t hit me in the face¡­ These people don¡¯t even know the rules¡­ Haha¡­ They know nothing¡­¡± After escaping the pursuit, Liu Yun was still laughing despite his swollen face. When he laughed, it even pulled at the injuries on his face, causing him to grimace in pain.


    ¡°What the hell. Why can¡¯t I stop laughing?¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he realized that he wasn¡¯t laughing. He was even more alarmed.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Liu Yun glanced at Ya¡¯er and saw her pointing at a cake shop. ¡°Hungry.¡±


    How old is this brat? It¡¯s impossible that it¡¯s because of her. Could it be that I didn¡¯t notice that I committed some taboo when I was in school? Liu Yun thought to himself.


    Since he was already in this state, it was impossible for him to freeload. Liu Yun had no choice but to take Ya¡¯er to the cake shop to buy some desserts for her.


    As Ya¡¯er ate, she looked at the injuries on Liu Yun¡¯s face. Liu Yun took a bite of the cake and it tugged at the wound at the corner of his mouth. The corners of his mouth twitched in pain as he said gloomily, ¡°What are you looking at? Don¡¯t think that I¡¯m not their match. I can kill them all with a flick of my finger, but I¡¯m a professional and not a bandit. Do you understand?¡±


    Ya¡¯er lowered her head and continued eating the desserts. He did not know if she had understood him.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen knew that Liu Yun had taken away Ya¡¯er and was forcing him to go to Mount Dragon Tiger. He wasn¡¯t worried that Liu Yun would harm Ya¡¯er. Liu Yun wasn¡¯t someone who would harm a child.


    Furthermore, he was going to Mount Dragon Tiger anyway, so it was fine for him to head there early.


    Liu Yun wants me to find him at Mount Dragon Tiger. From the looks of it, he has his sights on the Earth Elemental Beast. Zhou Wen was still somewhat worried. It wasn¡¯t because he was worried about Ya¡¯er, but because he was afraid that Liu Yun would be a dead person by the time he found him.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t know Ya¡¯er¡¯s origins and only treated her as a child. He probably didn¡¯t have his guard up against her, but Ya¡¯er wasn¡¯t a real child. Offending her would really kill him.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t wrong. If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t set those rules for Ya¡¯er, Liu Yun would have been in a terrible situation if Ya¡¯er hadn¡¯t obeyed.


    Even if Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t want to kill anyone, Liu Yun¡¯s situation was equally bad.


    Liu Yun originally thought that he could easily rush to Mount Dragon Tiger and wait for Zhou Wen to arrive, but to his dismay, the journey wasn¡¯t easy at all.


    Failing to freeload the previous time, Liu Yun was indignant. After arriving in another city, Liu Yun planned on freeloading at another banquet.


    Liu Yun thought to himself, My bad habit of suddenly laughing should be fine at a wedding banquet. Even if it flares up, people will just think that I¡¯m happy.


    Liu Yun¡¯s idea was pretty good, but at the wedding banquet, just as the bride and groom were about to exchange rings, Liu Yun suddenly couldn¡¯t help but cry out loud. He cried so sadly that those who didn¡¯t know would think that there was something between him and the bride and that he couldn¡¯t bear to let the bride get married.


    Instantly, everyone¡¯s eyes focused on Liu Yun.


    ¡°Boohoo¡­ I¡­ I really don¡¯t want to cry¡­ Boohoo¡­ Don¡¯t hit my face¡­¡±

 Chapter 830 - Dragon Tiger Town

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen set off for Mount Dragon Tiger, wanting to know what Liu Yun was up to.


    After walking for a while, Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised to discover that the Fine Dust Life Soul was growing.


    What happened? Why would the Fine Dust Life Soul grow on its own? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what he had done to make it grow.


    After some thought, he narrowed it down to one possibility. When he walked, he triggered Fine Dust¡¯s growth.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly experimented again and realized that it was true. The further he went, the faster Fine Dust grew. When he didn¡¯t walk, Fine Dust would stop growing.


    Furthermore, it was useless to take a repetitive path. He had to go to places he had never been before. Only then would Fine Dust obtain the energy needed to grow.


    The advancement method of the Fine Dust Life Soul is quite interesting. I can actually grow it by walking. This is very easy. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be delighted. He could evolve it simply by walking. The Fine Dust Life Soul could be considered the easiest to advance.


    1


    ¡°If this continues, I might be able to advance to an Evolved Body by the time I reach Mount Dragon Tiger.¡±


    As he had something on his mind, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to visit the dimensional zones on the way. He headed straight for Mount Dragon Tiger without stopping.


    Before the dimensional storms, Mount Dragon Tiger was a Daoist sacred land. The founder of the orthodox path, Perfected Orthodox Unity, cultivated and did alchemy on Mount Dragon Tiger.


    Legend had it that the Zhang family was the descendant of Perfected Orthodox Unity. After Mount Dragon Tiger became a dimensional zone, the Zhang family, who had always lived there, naturally became the owner of Mount Dragon Tiger.


    It was said that after the mutation at Mount Dragon Tiger, there were dragon and tiger roars coming from within. It was a terrifying place. Apart from the Zhang family, no one usually dared to approach it.


    The Zhang family was good at alchemy and Sword Seal Talismans. It was said that not only did they benefit from dimensional zones, but they also had the legacy of Orthodox Unity.


    The Hero King¡¯s rise to prominence back then was definitely not due to luck. Orthodox Unity¡¯s legacy was indispensable.


    Although the Hero King was very famous, the Zhang family was relatively low-key among the six families. They weren¡¯t as arrogant as the Cape family, nor did they seize power like the Xia family. They only guarded the area near Mount Dragon Tiger and rumors about the Zhang family were rare.


    However, no one dared to underestimate the Zhang family because of this. In fact, there were many times when the other five families needed the Zhang family¡¯s help.


    Furthermore, the Zhang family controlled the most important servers in the Federation. Much information and data had to go through the Zhang family before they could retrieve it.


    With the Zhang family¡¯s way of doing things, it wasn¡¯t easy to get information from them. To get them to do something wasn¡¯t something that could be done with a small sum of money.


    Zhou Wen rushed all the way to the vicinity of Mount Dragon Tiger and had no choice but to marvel at the wonderland. It was a perfect paradise. The scenery was picturesque and the fog filled the air like a paradise on earth.


    Legend has it that back when Celestial Master Zhang was refining pills on Mount Dragon Tiger, a dragon and tiger appeared after the pill was formed. That¡¯s why it was named Mount Dragon Tiger. I wonder if the current Mount Dragon Tiger also has a Dragon Tiger Pill? Zhou Wen was very interested in the Mount Dragon Tiger dimensional zone.


    The Zhang family had been guarding Mount Dragon Tiger all this time and had even built this place to be the headquarters of the Zhang family. Outsiders were not allowed to enter, so Mount Dragon Tiger was definitely no trifling matter. If he could download it as a game dungeon, there might be great benefits awaiting him.


    However, the auction wasn¡¯t to be held in the Dragon Tiger dimensional zone. Instead, it was going to be held in a small town outside the mountain. The town¡¯s name was Dragon Tiger Town.


    Although it was called a town, Dragon Tiger Town was comparable to a large city.


    Due to the Zhang family¡¯s existence, many people moved their families to the vicinity of Mount Dragon Tiger, causing the nearby town to expand greatly. The Zhang family also protected the peace in the vicinity, preventing them from being ravaged by dimensional creatures.


    After Zhou Wen arrived at Dragon Tiger Town, he originally imagined that Liu Yun would take the initiative to contact him, but to his surprise, Liu Yun was nowhere to be seen.


    Little did he know that although Liu Yun had left early, he had encountered many things on the way. He had traveled very slowly, allowing Zhou Wen to arrive at Dragon Tiger Town first.


    Could Liu Yun be dead? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was wait.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t contact Zhang Yuzhi because he didn¡¯t know what Liu Yun was up to. If Liu Yun wanted to force him to go to the Zhang family to steal the Earth Elemental Beast, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for Zhou Wen to stay at the Zhang family¡¯s residence.


    Just as he was about to find a hotel to stay in, he saw a group of people walking across the street. From their looks, they were likely from the West District.


    People from the Family Clan of Gods? Zhou Wen carefully sized them up and recognized the logo on them.


    Although the members of the Family Clan of Gods only had surnames and no names, they would usually use a symbol to let others know that they were members of the Family Clan of Gods. They would also be proud of being members of the Family Clan of Gods.


    Zhou Wen saw that the middle-aged man in the lead was tall and handsome. His figure and facial lines were as angular as a marble statue. It was unforgettable.


    As though sensing Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze, the person looked over as well. He clearly recognized Zhou Wen. After taking a glance, he walked over.


    The middle-aged man came in front of Zhou Wen and said with a smile, ¡°Hello, Zhou Wen. My name is Moses and I¡¯m a member of the Family Clan of Gods. I¡¯ve wanted to meet you for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t find time to go to Luoyang. To be able to meet you here, it looks like we are destined to meet.¡±


    The other members of the Family Clan of Gods also stared at Zhou Wen as they sized him up. Clearly, they were rather curious about him.


    A young man who wasn¡¯t from the six families and didn¡¯t even have a decent family background was actually able to make such a name for himself in the Federation. This was very eye-catching.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen was Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. Just this alone was enough to raise an eyebrow.


    ¡°How may I help you?¡± Zhou Wen asked Moses.


    His relationship with the six families wasn¡¯t too good. After all, the six families were the actual rulers of the Federation, but he had challenged the authority of the Federation. It would be strange if their relationship was good.


    ¡°If possible, I hope to have a fair battle with you,¡± said Moses.


    ¡°Moses, aren¡¯t you being a disgrace? You actually want to challenge a young man.¡± As he spoke, Zhang Chunqiu walked over.


    This was Mount Dragon Tiger. It would have been odd if the Zhang family did not know that figures like Zhou Wen and Moses had come to Dragon Tiger Town.


    Moses smiled and said, ¡°The rules of the Family Clan of Gods are different from your East District. The strong are respected. Zhou Wen is strong enough to be my opponent.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile, ¡°Then you can challenge Zhou Wen when he goes to your Family Clan of Gods. He¡¯s our guest now.¡±


    1

 Chapter 831 - Fiend Tomb

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯ll naturally follow our host¡¯s arrangements,¡± Moses said with a smile.


    Zhang Chunqiu bowed slightly and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already prepared a place for you to stay. Zhang Xiao will take you there. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Moses said.


    Zhang Xiao took Moses and company to their residence. Before he left, he glared fiercely at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen found it baffling. Although he had taken Zhang Yuzhi out on a trip the last time, he had ultimately sent her back safely. Was there a need to hold a grudge?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that his Tyrant Behemoth had actually been lost by the Zhang family. Zhang Xiao already knew that Tyrant Behemoth was his and wasn¡¯t angry with him because of Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, come with me. Celestial Master Manor has already prepared a guest room. Yuzhi is waiting for you there,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t wish to head to the Zhang family so early, but since Zhang Chunqiu was already here, he had no choice but to make a trip.


    The Celestial Master Manor was situated beside a mountain and a river. It was an excellent place. The Zhang family had lived here for generations. They were good at geomancy so they naturally chose the right place.


    Upon seeing Celestial Master Manor, Zhou Wen thought of a legend regarding Celestial Master Zhang.


    Legend had it that Celestial Master Zhang¡¯s father was a geomancy expert. He had found an excellent cave with great traits according to geomancy for his father and wanted to bury him there.


    The cave was located along an Emperor Dragon vein. This implied that there would definitely be an emperor among his descendants in the future.


    However, during the burial, a burly man who was carrying the coffin couldn¡¯t hold back his bladder. He ran nearby and peed. He happened to pee on the dragon vein. A bolt from the blue sounded; dissipating the dragon aura and eliminating the possibility of a human emperor.


    1


    Celestial Master Zhang¡¯s father sighed at the Zhang family¡¯s lack of fortune, but he didn¡¯t blame the burly man. He still buried his father in the cave and left a message saying that the cave had lost its dragon aura, but the layout was still fine. The Zhang family would definitely produce a master in the future.


    Indeed, his son, Zhang Daoling, eventually became Celestial Master of the Orthodox Unity. He wasn¡¯t just a master, but an immortal-like figure back then.


    Zhang Chunqiu led Zhou Wen into Celestial Master Manor and led him into the main hall.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Yuzhi?¡± Zhou Wen asked when he didn¡¯t see Zhang Yuzhi.


    Zhang Chunqiu said, ¡°I¡¯ve already gotten someone to call her over. She should be here soon. There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s have a chat first.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, There¡¯s nothing to chat about between us. I don¡¯t know you at all, right?


    However, Zhang Chunqiu said, ¡°That Tyrant Behemoth is your Companion Beast, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He didn¡¯t know how Zhang Chunqiu knew, but he had no intention of denying it. He looked at Zhang Chunqiu and said, ¡°Why are you suddenly asking about this?¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu said, ¡°Tyrant Behemoth was originally a Companion Egg from the West District. An elder of our Zhang family went to the West District to cultivate and obtained a Tyrant Behemoth Companion Beast in a dimensional zone named Genesis Garden. He originally planned on leaving it for talented juniors to use, but to his surprise, a spy appeared among us. He ingeniously did a swap and brought it out of Celestial Master Manor.¡±


    ¡°Our Behemoth shouldn¡¯t be the same one, right?¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t admit it. He didn¡¯t know if Zhang Chunqiu was telling the truth. Even if it was, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t return Tyrant Behemoth.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Since it has been lost, it means that Tyrant Behemoth isn¡¯t fated with our Zhang family. Furthermore, you have already hatched it, so we won¡¯t make things difficult for you by asking you to return it.¡± Zhang Chunqiu continued, ¡°Behemoth is unique. It wasn¡¯t obtained by killing a dimensional creature, but from an opportunity. It¡¯s impossible for there to be a second one. We don¡¯t plan on getting it back either. We just want to know how you obtained the Companion Egg so that we can know how it was swapped. That way, we can be on guard in the future.¡±


    ¡°I got it at an auction. I originally thought it was a Minotaur, I never expected it to be a Behemoth.¡± Zhou Wen recounted the process of obtaining Tyrant Behemoth.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it was. I know how the Behemoth Companion Egg was swapped and taken out. Zhou Wen, you are indeed someone with great luck. The other party must have been prepared to bid for the Behemoth Companion Egg, but it ended up being intercepted by you. There must have been an accident, but we just aren¡¯t aware of it.¡± Zhang Chunqiu really had no intention of pursuing the matter.


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible, can I ask you to help our Zhang family with Tyrant Behemoth? Of course, we won¡¯t scrimp on compensation. The spirit talismans created by our Celestial Master Manor are still rather useful. I¡¯ll use a Life Reversing Spirit Talisman as payment. What do you think?¡± Zhang Chunqiu continued.


    ¡°What do you want me to do?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Chunqiu in puzzlement.


    He had heard of the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman before. Furthermore, he had heard of it from Liu Yun. A while ago, Liu Yun had used the Zhang family¡¯s Life Reversing Spirit Talisman to steal his Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. It was obvious that the spirit talisman was quite impressive.


    If the Zhang family was willing to offer such a good item as a reward, it would definitely not be an easy task.


    ¡°Have you heard of the Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhang Chunqiu asked.


    Zhou Wen shook his head. He had never heard of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Few outsiders know about the Fiend Tomb. Over the years, our Zhang family has been guarding the Fiend Tomb and suppressing the dimensional creatures inside, preventing them from rushing out. We paid a huge price for this. It¡¯s unimaginable to outsiders,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a serious expression.


    ¡°What kind of place is Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Have you heard of the story of my Zhang family, the one about the search for a special cave to bury a father?¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t answer and instead asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it. I heard that the grandfather of the Celestial Master of the Orthodox Unity found a treasure cave for the burial. The extraordinary Celestial Master of the Orthodox Unity was a result of this geomancy augmentation,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhang Chunqiu nodded. ¡°That¡¯s probably what the rumors say. Do you think they¡¯re reliable?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about this.¡± It wasn¡¯t appropriate for Zhou Wen to say that he believed it, nor did he say that he didn¡¯t.


    If he said that he believed it, it would be as though he was saying that the Zhang family relied on luck. If he said that he didn¡¯t believe it, wouldn¡¯t it mean that the Zhang family was lying? They didn¡¯t obtain any mandate at all.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled and didn¡¯t say if the legend was true. He only said, ¡°That cave is where the Fiend Tomb is.¡±


    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he looked at Zhang Chunqiu in disbelief.


    The legendary cave that could give birth to an emperor and produce a Celestial Master was actually the Fiend Tomb that Zhang Chunqiu mentioned. It was unbelievable.


    ¡°Under the influence of the dimensional storms, the anomaly in the already extraordinary Fiend Tomb worsened. Our Zhang family has tried everything we can to deal with the Fiend Tomb, but the situation has only worsened. If possible, I hope you can use Tyrant Behemoth to help us temporarily suppress it.¡± Zhang Chunqiu explained what he needed Zhou Wen to do in detail.

 Chapter 832 - Pill Essences

    Translator: CKtalon


    He originally imagined that the Zhang family needed him to do something very dangerous, but after hearing this, he realized that there was no need for him to fight. They mainly needed Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s strength.


    At the entrance of the Fiend Tomb, there was a type of Fiend Stone that could keep growing. Wherever the Fiend Stone grew, the creatures in the Fiend Tomb could reach it. It was equivalent to a break out.


    Dealing with Fiend Stones was very troublesome. One couldn¡¯t shatter them, much less place them anywhere. This was because even if Fiend Stones were shattered into powder, they would continue to grow as though they were alive.


    Shattering Fiend Stones or taking them elsewhere would only make them occupy more places.


    These Fiend Stones didn¡¯t pose much of a threat, but wherever it was, the creatures in the Fiend Tomb could pass through.


    Of course, this was only one of the problems with the Fiend Tomb. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t from the Zhang family after all, so he wasn¡¯t briefed about the Fiend Tomb¡¯s other problems. All he needed to do was control Tyrant Behemoth to have it eat the additional Fiend Stones.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I naturally won¡¯t shirk my duty. However, we still have to see if Behemoth will eat those Fiend Stones when the time comes. If it doesn¡¯t, there¡¯s nothing we can do,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯m just afraid that it won¡¯t be able to finish all the Fiend Stones.¡± Zhang Chunqiu was in a better mood when he saw Zhou Wen agree.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried about that. He had seen Behemoth¡¯s appetite before, so eating a small mountain wasn¡¯t a problem.


    The two of them chatted for a while before Zhang Yuzhi walked in. She was very happy to see Zhou Wen. After all, she seldom had friends visiting her.


    In fact, even if someone wanted to look for her, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to enter Celestial Master Manor. Even Moses, who was a member of the six families, had to stay in a courtyard instead of Celestial Master Manor.


    ¡°There are many interesting things about Mount Dragon Tiger. Let Yuzhi take you around.¡± Zhang Chunqiu bade farewell and left.


    Zhang Yuzhi led Zhou Wen out of the Celestial Master Manor and as they walked, said , ¡°You must have been to many dimensional zones, but we have a dimensional creature here that you definitely haven¡¯t seen elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°What dimensional creature is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there.¡± Zhang Yuzhi acted all mysterious and refused to explain.


    She took Zhou Wen on a boat and they drifted down a river. The scenery on both sides of the river was like a fairyland. There were no ferocious dimensional creatures to be seen. It was no wonder the Zhang family could live here.


    If there were dimensional creatures everywhere, it would probably be difficult for the Zhang family to live in peace.


    Not long after the boat set off, Zhou Wen saw red rocks that made the area appear to have a red bed with steep cliffs along its sides. And in between the mountains and rivers was a strange hill.


    The hill was situated alone in the water, revealing itself over the surface of the water. It looked like a huge pill furnace, and the red color suited the scenery.


    ¡°The dimensional creature is over there,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she pointed at the hill.


    ¡°You mean that hill is a dimensional creature?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Just wait and see,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she summoned a bow and shot an arrow at the hill.


    When the arrow flew to the cauldron-like hill, it spewed out a beam of light. A red pill flew out and struck the arrow, shattering it.


    The pill circled the hill a few times before charging at Zhou Wen and company.


    ¡°It¡¯s very difficult for you to see the pill essences from Pill Furnace Mountain elsewhere. This red color is at the Legendary stage, while the golden one is at the Epic stage. If you can see a pill essence with dragon patterns or tiger patterns, it will be at the Mythical stage. However, they are very rare.¡± As Zhang Yuzhi spoke, she reached out and grabbed the red pill essence. No matter how it struggled, it couldn¡¯t escape.


    Zhang Yuzhi had no intention of killing it. She touched it with her hand and the pill essence calmed down. It obediently stayed in her palm. Even when Zhang Yuzhi released her grip, it didn¡¯t escape.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of these pill essence Companion Beasts? Can they treat injuries?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°Some pill essences have healing abilities, but different pill essences have different abilities. For example, Poison Avoidance Pill Essence can detoxify, Rejuvenation Pill Essence can treat injuries, and some pill essences have poison-elemental abilities. They are all different.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi pointed at the pill essence hill and continued, ¡°If you¡¯re interested, you can give it a try. If you can find a Mythical Rejuvenation Pill Essence or Resurrection Pill Essences, that would be awesome.¡±


    ¡°What uses do they have?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°How stupid. You can tell from the name. Any one of them has the ability to revive the nearly dead. No matter how serious their injuries are, as long as they still have a breath left, they can be saved,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Is it that powerful?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s powerful. However, pill essence Companion Beasts are single-use. They are gone after being used. Our Zhang family didn¡¯t obtain many of them. It¡¯s rare to see pill essences of such stages pass through a spatial rift, so to see it requires some luck,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll try my luck. Perhaps I¡¯ll be lucky.¡± Zhou Wen was interested and asked Zhang Yuzhi what to do.


    ¡°The pill essences that come through the dimensional rift are all in Pill Furnace Mountain. You just need to lure them out. It¡¯s not complicated. Just make some noise. However, don¡¯t keep your hopes up. It¡¯s rare to see a Mythical pill essence,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen summoned a Poison Bat and made it fly towards Pill Furnace Mountain.


    Indeed, just as the Poison Bat approached the Pill Furnace Mountain, it alarmed the pill essences inside. Another pill essence flew out. It was also a pill essence that was as red as fire. It looked like it was at the Legendary stage.


    The pill essence¡¯s combat strength was lacking. It could only emit Pill Aura attacks that were similar to Essence Energy waves. Its might wasn¡¯t very strong either, so it was instantly shattered by the Poison Bat.


    The Poison Bat circled around the Pill Furnace Mountain for quite some time, causing pill essences to fly out one after another. However, most of them were at the Legendary stage. Even Epic ones were rare, much less Mythical ones.


    Despite finally killing an Epic pill essence, nothing dropped.


    ¡°Haha, it looks like you are also down on your luck. Not even a Legendary Companion Beast dropped much less a Mythical pill essence,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat indignant as he used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to see if there were any Mythical pill essences in Pill Furnace Mountain.


    However, after giving it a try, he realized that Truth Listener¡¯s hearing couldn¡¯t penetrate deep into Pill Furnace Mountain. Inside Pill Furnace Mountain was an independent dimensional zone.


    From the looks of it, this Mount Dragon Tiger is similar to Dragon Gate Grotto. It¡¯s a dimensional zone formed by many small dimensional zones. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he wanted to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    1


    If he could download the Dragon Tiger Mountain dungeon, he wouldn¡¯t have to worry in the future. He could slowly grind for Mythical pill essences.

 Chapter 833 - Free Labor

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although the Chaos Egg was useful, it could only be used by himself and not others.


    If his family and friends were seriously injured, the pill essences were far more useful than the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen sized up Pill Furnace Mountain and couldn¡¯t help but be delighted. There was a tiny palm symbol on the rocks.


    There really is one! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he looked at Zhang Yuzhi and asked, ¡°Can I take a picture closer to Pill Furnace Mountain?¡±


    ¡°Definitely not for outsiders. However, just be quick. Don¡¯t let others see you do it,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she blinked.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone and flew towards Pill Furnace Mountain. When he reached a distance that his phone could sense it, he snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol and immediately the download screen appeared.


    ¡°Do you still want to continue trying your luck?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked when she saw Zhou Wen return to the boat.


    ¡°My luck isn¡¯t that good. Forget it. Let¡¯s go somewhere else to take a look.¡± Zhou Wen thought of searching elsewhere. Perhaps he could find other dungeons.


    After downloading Pill Furnace Mountain, Zhou Wen realized that it was only the Pill Furnace Mountain instance dungeon and not the entire Mount Dragon Tiger instance dungeon.


    From the looks of it, this is different from Dragon Gate Grotto. I can¡¯t download the entire dimensional zone at once. Zhou Wen followed Zhang Yuzhi and browsed through several important dimensional zones near Mount Dragon Tiger.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s disappointment, apart from the Pill Furnace Mountain, he didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol anywhere near the other dimensional zones.


    However, having Pill Furnace Mountain is enough. After all, these pill essences are rare elsewhere.


    ¡°By the way, I heard that Earth Elemental Beast is very precious. Why is your family willing to auction it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Zhang Yuzhi hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°The Earth Elemental Beast is indeed very precious. It¡¯s very likely that there¡¯s only one in the world. It¡¯s impossible for there to be a second one. However, this Earth Elemental Beast was obtained through the efforts of the six heroes back then. Due to the unhappiness caused by it, my great-grandfather didn¡¯t hatch it, nor did he let any of his descendants hatch it. Because of this, he¡¯s auctioning it off. I¡¯m not too sure about the details.¡±


    After a pause, Zhang Yuzhi continued, ¡°I know that the other five families want it very much, so the price will be very high. I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have a chance.¡±


    ¡°Then why did you get me to come here to bid for it?¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just treat it as a vacation and to visit a friend?¡± Zhang Yuzhi smiled.


    The two of them walked on the mountain path. Just as they were talking, they saw a huge immortal crane fly over from the mountains. On the back of the immortal crane was a youth with a cold expression.


    ¡°Brother, why are you here?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said when she saw that it was Zhang Xiao.


    ¡°I have something to discuss with Zhou Wen.¡± When Zhang Xiao spoke to Zhang Yuzhi, his tone was very gentle, but when he turned to Zhou Wen, his tone immediately turned stiff. ¡°Zhou Wen, do you know that Tyrant Behemoth originally belonged to our Zhang family?¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhang Xiao.


    Zhang Xiao was slightly taken aback and was momentarily at a loss for words. Zhou Wen had already hatched Tyrant Behemoth and fed it until it had advanced to the Mythical stage. It was clearly unrealistic for Zhou Wen to return Tyrant Behemoth.


    The reason Zhang Xiao had come was because he was furious. He didn¡¯t plan on doing anything to Zhou Wen. If Zhou Wen were to take a softer stance, Zhang Xiao¡¯s anger would have dissipated.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone who would take a soft stance. The moment he shot back his retort, the two of them entered a frozen deadlock.


    ¡°Brother, forget it. You can¡¯t blame Zhou Wen for this.¡± Zhang Yuzhi also spoke up for Zhou Wen, leaving Zhang Xiao even more depressed.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°How about this? Please help me feed Tyrant Behemoth. I won¡¯t ask for any payment during this period of feeding. Just treat it as free labor for you.¡±


    ¡°What if I keep feeding it?¡± Zhang Xiao asked coldly.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll let it continue working for your Zhang family for free.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°However, I have a condition. You have to feed it until it¡¯s full. You can¡¯t let it starve. Furthermore, you have to feed it until I leave Mount Dragon Tiger.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Then it¡¯s settled. Summon Tyrant Behemoth. I¡¯ll feed it now,¡± Zhang Xiao said to Zhou Wen, afraid that he would go back on his word.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to follow Zhang Xiao.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to do this,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said apologetically.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. If he¡¯d like to raise it, let him try it.¡± Zhou Wen felt pity for Zhang Xiao when he saw him leave excitedly with Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth was indeed powerful. It even had a chance of advancing in the future. Others only saw its strength, but they didn¡¯t know how much food it consumed every day.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that there was an endless Essence Crystal mine in-game, Tyrant Behemoth would have long starved to death. Zhou Wen knew very well how much one had to pay to feed it in real life. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t afford such a price.


    Since Zhang Xiao wanted to feed Tyrant Behemoth, there was no need for Zhou Wen to stop him.


    Zhang Xiao happily took Tyrant Behemoth back. As long as he fed Tyrant Behemoth, he could use it for free. Where could he get such a deal?


    Zhang Xiao was secretly delighted. If Zhou Wen goes back on his word, he won¡¯t have to be shamed even if I don¡¯t disparage him. If he doesn¡¯t go back on his word, I¡¯ll keep feeding Tyrant Behemoth until Zhou Wen dies. I won¡¯t return him no matter what.


    ¡°Zhang Xiao, what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhang Chunqiu asked in puzzlement when he saw Zhang Xiao bring Tyrant Behemoth over.


    Zhang Xiao recounted the matter proudly. ¡°Zhou Wen knows that he¡¯s in the wrong, so he lent it to us for free. There¡¯s no need to give him the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman now.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu frowned when he heard that. He sized up the three to four-meter-tall Tyrant Behemoth and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple. That Zhou Wen isn¡¯t such a thin-skinned person. Why would he be so kind as to lend us Tyrant Behemoth for free?¡±


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth is here. If he goes back on his word, he will be embarrassing himself,¡± Zhang Xiao said.


    However, Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t think so. After some thought, he said, ¡°Legend has it that Tyrant Behemoth eats mountains daily. Although the legend might be a little exaggerated, Tyrant Behemoth is definitely a glutton. Did you ask Zhou Wen what Tyrant Behemoth eats?¡±


    ¡°I did. He said that it eats Essence Crystals, Essence Gold, and anything else that contains Essence Energy. So what if it can eat? Aren¡¯t we letting Tyrant Behemoth eat Fiend Stones? This is equivalent to free labor,¡± Zhang Xiao said with a smile.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Zhang Chunqiu had a nagging feeling that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t such a nice person.


    1

 Chapter 834 - Pill Furnace Mountain Dungeon

    Despite hanging out with Zhang Yuzhi for a day, Zhou Wen only managed to go to a few famous places as Mount Dragon Tiger was just so huge. There were just too many dimensional zones.


    After returning, Zhang Yuzhi arranged a place for Zhou Wen to stay in Celestial Master Manor. Zhou Wen lay in bed and took out his phone, hoping to see if he could get a pill essence to drop in Pill Furnace Mountain in-game.


    When he launched the game, the scene he saw was the entire Pill Furnace Mountain. He controlled the blood-colored avatar to come to the top of Pill Furnace Mountain and saw nine bowl-sized holes.


    When he approached Pill Furnace Mountain, a pill essence immediately spewed out from one of the holes. It was a scarlet pill essence, undoubtedly at the Legendary stage.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Overlord Sword and allowed it to slay the pill essence before landing on the mountaintop.


    The nine holes immediately spewed out pill essences¡ªred and yellow ones¡ªbut they were no match for the Golden Overlord Sword. They were shattered the moment they appeared.


    ¡®Killed Legendary creature, Venom Pill Essence¡­ Killed Epic creature, Rejuvenation Pill Essence¡­¡¯


    Although they looked similar on the surface, the pill essences had slight differences.


    Ding!


    With a crisp sound, a Companion Egg finally dropped. On careful look, it was a golden pill with the words ¡°Rejuvenation Pill Essence.¡±


    An Epic Rejuvenation Pill! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed. Although this wasn¡¯t as good as the Resurrection Pill, he had heard from Zhang Yuzhi that the Rejuvenation Pill¡¯s healing effects were very good. They were extremely effective treating typical internal organ, flesh, and bone injuries.


    He hatched the Rejuvenation Pill and checked its stats.


    Rejuvenation Pill Essence: Epic


    Life Providence: Land Rejuvenation


    Life Soul: Pill Spirit


    Strength: 21


    Speed: 21


    Constitution: 22


    Essence Energy: 39


    Talent Skill: Miraculous Rejuvenation


    Companion Form: Pill (One-time use)


    These stats are quite odd. However, Zhang Yuzhi said that the other stats don¡¯t matter. The quality of a pill essence depends on its Essence Energy. A pill essence with high Essence Energy has stronger effects. This has 39 Essence Energy. It¡¯s considered excellent, Zhou Wen thought.


    The Golden Overlord Sword was still killing the pill essences. All sorts of pill essences spewed out from the nine holes as they were killed by the Golden Overlord Sword.


    These pill essences were odd. Apart from Companion Eggs, nothing else dropped. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even see a single stat crystal. Instead, two more Legendary Companion Eggs dropped.


    Suddenly, a white pill essence flew out from the hole. It was about the size of a fist and was crystalline like a ball of jade with misty clouds inside.


    What was even stranger was the white dragon-shaped mist flowing in the pill. The entire pill essence emitted an abnormally powerful lifeforce.


    A pill essence with a dragon form? Could it be the Mythical Resurrection Pill Essence that Zhang Yuzhi mentioned? Zhou Wen was delighted as he immediately ordered the Golden Overlord Sword to slash at it.


    Clang!


    The Golden Overlord Sword slashed at the Resurrection Pill Essence, but it failed to split it into two. It only left a sword mark.


    Almost instantly, the wounds on the Resurrection Pill Essence healed.


    The Golden Overlord Sword slashed several times, each strike leaving a deep mark on its body. However, it failed to slice through it fully. In the next instant, the Resurrection Pill Essence would recover.


    The Rejuvenation Pill Essence¡¯s recovery ability is so strong. It¡¯s even stronger than Li Xuan¡¯s recovery ability. Zhou Wen was secretly surprised.


    Unfortunately, Tyrant Behemoth was still with Zhang Xiao and couldn¡¯t be used. Zhou Wen had to unsummon it to have it projected in-game.


    Now, Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t take it back, so he had no choice but to let the blood-colored avatar hold the Golden Overlord Sword and use Immortal Slaying.


    The Golden Overlord Sword combined with Immortal Slaying cleaved the Life Regeneration Pill Essence into two at once.


    ¡®Killed Mythical Creature, Rejuvenation Pill Essence.¡¯


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he saw the game notification. That¡¯s it?


    It was the first kill of a Mythical creature in this dungeon, but nothing dropped¡ªnot even a single strand of hair.


    Although Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed, he didn¡¯t mind as there were plenty of opportunities in the future. He continued letting the Golden Overlord Sword kill the pill essences.


    Ding!


    After killing a Legendary pill essence, a Companion Egg dropped. Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that it was called a Virility Strengthening Pill.


    There¡¯s actually such a pill essence! Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. After incubating the Virility Strengthening Pill, he realized that its stats were ordinary. However, its talent skill was different from the Rejuvenation Pill. Its name was ¡°Virility Strengthening.¡±


    Zhou Wen kept counting. There were only eighty-one pill essences in Pill Furnace Mountain. After killing them, no more pill essences came out.


    Apart from the Resurrection Pill Essence, no other Mythical pill essence appeared.


    He dripped his blood to respawn in the dungeon, but the pill essences on Pill Furnace Mountain didn¡¯t respawn.


    From the looks of it, the respawning pattern of this Pill Furnace Mountain should be the same as other Mythical creatures. It respawns once every 24 hours. Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on grinding pill essences and switch to grinding other Mythical creatures and rare dimensional creatures.


    Ding!


    After killing the Golden Battle God Halberd again, another Companion Egg dropped.


    This thing has such a high drop rate! Is this the fourth or fifth? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t remember how many times it had dropped.


    What¡¯s the point of dropping so many? Quickly have the nine black dragons¡¯ Companion Beast drop. Let me see what effects they have. Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something.


    Previously, Liu Yun could transfer his Companion Beast to others by paying a small price. Now that I¡¯ve also practiced the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, can I be like him? If I can do it, won¡¯t I be able to sell those useless Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen really wanted to sell his Companion Beasts in exchange for the resources he needed.


    Even if he didn¡¯t sell them, he could give the Companion Beasts he had no use for to his close friends to ensure their safety.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand how to use the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art to transfer Companion Beasts.


    I¡¯ll think of a way to get the method from Liu Yun. Is this fellow here or not? As Liu Yun couldn¡¯t enter Celestial Master Manor, Zhou Wen planned on visiting Dragon Tiger Town tomorrow to prevent Liu Yun from failing to find him.


    While Zhou Wen slept, Zhang Xiao didn¡¯t sleep. He was reeling in excitement. He led Tyrant Behemoth to the Fiend Tomb today to see if Tyrant Behemoth would eat the Fiend Stones.


    The outcome excited him. Not only did Tyrant Behemoth eat them, but it also ate at an astonishing speed. In less than half a day, it had already eaten a large number of Fiend Stones.


    At this rate, it will only take five days at most. The Fiend Stones that spread out from the Fiend Tomb will probably be eaten clean. Considering how much it has eaten, it definitely won¡¯t digest it all so easily. Considering the digestion time, it will probably take more than a month to resolve the problem of Fiend Stone growth¡­ Zhang Xiao thought excitedly.

 Chapter 835 - The Insatiable Behemoth

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhang Xiao wasn¡¯t wrong. Unfortunately, he had underestimated Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s appetite. He originally imagined that after the first day, Tyrant Behemoth would definitely need a few days to rest and digest.


    To his surprise, Tyrant Behemoth didn¡¯t have any intention of resting every two days. It continued eating, and it ate even more than the first day.


    It should be full this time, right? Zhang Xiao already felt that something was amiss.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth continued eating on the third day. It was like a black hole that couldn¡¯t be filled as it constantly devoured the Fiend Stones.


    In just three days, Tyrant Behemoth resolved the problem of the Fiend Stone proliferation that had plagued the Zhang family.


    However, Zhang Xiao couldn¡¯t be happy. The problem with the Fiend Stones was temporarily resolved, but how was he to feed Tyrant Behemoth?


    There was still nearly a month left until the auction. Just the thought of Tyrant Behemoth eating like this every day made his knees go weak. How many Essence Energy Crystals did he have to get to feed Tyrant Behemoth like this?


    I don¡¯t believe that Tyrant Behemoth doesn¡¯t need digesting. It definitely needs time to digest after eating so many Fiend Stones. Even if it isn¡¯t fed for half a month, it shouldn¡¯t be hungry. Zhang Xiao still had some hope.


    But soon, Zhang Xiao realized that he was too naive.


    After not feeding it for half a day, Zhang Xiao realized that Tyrant Behemoth was showing the symptoms of hunger that Zhou Wen had mentioned.


    Zhang Xiao gritted his teeth and took out the dimensional crystals in his small vault to feed Tyrant Behemoth. However, only after half of the small vault was finished the hungry did Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s hunger symptoms vanish.


    Zhang Xiao¡¯s expression was extremely ugly. If Tyrant Behemoth ate like this, his little vault could only feed it for four or five days at most, but what would happen after that?


    Zhang Xiao suddenly realized that he had probably been tricked by Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen had said that he had to feed him until he left Mount Dragon Tiger. How could Zhang Xiao have so many Essence Crystals to feed Tyrant Behemoth?


    That¡¯s not right. If Tyrant Behemoth can eat so much, how can Zhou Wen afford to rear it? If I can¡¯t afford it, it¡¯s even more impossible for Zhou Wen. Zhang Xiao felt that Zhou Wen definitely had a way to prevent Tyrant Behemoth from eating, such as letting Tyrant Behemoth sleep to reduce its expenditure.


    However, Zhang Xiao didn¡¯t know what to do. All he could do was discuss it with Zhang Chunqiu.


    When Zhang Chunqiu heard Zhang Xiao, he shook his head and said, ¡°What else can we do? Apologize and get him to take back Tyrant Behemoth. Otherwise, what else can we do? Don¡¯t tell me you really want to rear it for a month? Anyway, I won¡¯t lend you any dimensional crystals.¡±


    ¡°What I mean is that there must be a way to make Tyrant Behemoth not need to eat. Otherwise, no one could afford to feed it. It¡¯s impossible for Zhou Wen to feed it like this every day. Do you think there¡¯s a way?¡± Zhang Xiao had his pride, so he naturally wasn¡¯t willing to return Tyrant Behemoth.


    ¡°I have no solution. You can ask Zhou Wen,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he spread out his hands.


    Zhang Xiao couldn¡¯t help but be dumbfounded that even someone as resourceful as Zhang Chunqiu was helpless. However, he couldn¡¯t bring himself to apologize to Zhou Wen.


    I don¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen can raise it, but I can¡¯t. There must be a way. Zhang Xiao brought Tyrant Behemoth back to think of a solution.


    However, if it wasn¡¯t full, it wasn¡¯t full. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s appetite was real. There was no way to fool it into not being hungry.


    Zhang Xiao thought of many solutions. He even wanted to hypnotize Tyrant Behemoth to temporarily enter hibernation.


    It was useless. Even if it fell asleep, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s hunger symptoms remained. As long as the symptoms appeared, Zhou Wen would definitely sense them.


    Zhang Xiao really couldn¡¯t afford to embarrass himself. Once Tyrant Behemoth was hungry, he had to feed it. After a few days, his little vault had been emptied, so he had to borrow from others.


    Zhang Xiao was a person who cared about his reputation. He would rather sell everything to raise Tyrant Behemoth until Zhou Wen left. He definitely couldn¡¯t send him back now.


    However, Zhang Xiao was filled with regret. If he had known that Tyrant Behemoth could eat that much, he wouldn¡¯t have agreed to help Zhou Wen raise it.


    Now, as long as he saw Tyrant Behemoth, he felt his heart turn cold. Just a slight movement from Tyrant Behemoth made his legs go limp.


    How the hell is this a Companion Beast? It¡¯s a bottomless pit. How did that bastard Zhou Wen raise it to the Mythical stage? Zhang Xiao felt extremely depressed.


    But he knew that Zhou Wen had definitely invested heavily. Even if there was a way to make Tyrant Behemoth not eat or drink after advancing to the Mythical stage, he definitely had to invest a large amount of resources to advance it.


    The amount of resources was unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen had spent the past few nights in Celestial Master Manor and spent the days shopping nearby. He mainly wanted Liu Yun to find him, but unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t seen Liu Yun. This made Zhou Wen worry if Liu Yun had really been killed by Ya¡¯er.


    When he returned to Celestial Master Manor at night, he realized that Zhang Chunqiu was sitting in the garden he had to pass through. He looked like he was waiting for him.


    ¡°Looking for me?¡± Zhou Wen asked when he saw Zhang Chunqiu stand up.


    Zhang Chunqiu handed a small paint box to Zhou Wen. ¡°This is the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman we agreed on previously.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I agree to lend Tyrant Behemoth to Zhang Xiao for free? There¡¯s no need to give me this,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile, ¡°Zhang Xiao was wrong in this matter. I apologize on his behalf. Take the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman. There¡¯s still a little something here. Consider it a token of my appreciation. On account of Yuzhi, how about we call it quits?¡±


    ¡°You are being too serious. It¡¯s inevitable for young people to have disputes. I¡¯ll accept the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman. There¡¯s no need for anything else. I¡¯ll take back Tyrant Behemoth and pretend nothing happened,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take it back yet. Let Zhang Xiao feed it for another two more days. It might not be a bad thing to let him suffer a little,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    3


    ¡°Alright, as you wish,¡± Zhou Wen said as he took the box containing the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman.


    However, Zhang Chunqiu stuffed the other box into Zhou Wen¡¯s hands. ¡°Take this too. It has nothing to do with anything else. Just treat it as a token of my appreciation. You might need it during the auction.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll accept it.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t decline.


    After chatting for a while, Zhang Chunqiu left. Zhou Wen returned to his room and opened the two boxes. One of them contained the Life Reversing Spirit Talisman, and in the other box was a card. The card was carved from jade. It was the size of a name card without any patterns. Only the word ¡°Celestial Master¡± was engraved on it.


    What¡¯s the use of this thing? Zhou Wen looked at it for a while and realized that it was an ordinary jade carving. It wasn¡¯t a dimensional item.


    In the courtyard of Dragon Tiger Town, Moses and the rest were discussing something.


    ¡°We have to obtain the Earth Elemental Beast. If we can¡¯t obtain it, we can only use forceful means.¡± The elder looked at Moses and said, ¡°You have to be mentally prepared. You might need to take action when the time comes.¡±


    Moses smiled and said, ¡°My Guardian and I are ready. We can take action at any time.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait until the auction results are out. Mount Dragon Tiger belongs to the Zhang family after all,¡± the elder said. ¡°Even if we want to make a move, we have to wait until the item leaves Mount Dragon Tiger.¡±

 Chapter 836 - Fiend Stone Rebirth

    Translator: CKtalon


    After two days, Zhou Wen unsummoned Tyrant Behemoth. Zhang Xiao didn¡¯t come looking for him; it was considered a tacit understanding.


    When Tyrant Behemoth vanished, Zhang Xiao heaved a sigh of relief. If he reared it for a month, he would really go bankrupt.


    Zhou Wen had been waiting for Liu Yun, but before he arrived, Zhang Chunqiu rushed over to find him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, there¡¯s a problem with the Fiend Tomb. Can you lend me your Tyrant Behemoth again?¡± Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s expression was solemn. It looked like things were really serious.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen needed to know more due to the severity of the matter. He couldn¡¯t risk Tyrant Behemoth.


    ¡°The Fiend Stones that grew out of Fiend Tomb had already been eaten by Tyrant Behemoth. Nothing happened in the past few days, but just now, the Fiend Stones have begun to grow again. Furthermore, their growth speed is even faster than before. I want to borrow your Tyrant Behemoth to try eating them up again,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Is it convenient for me to go with you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course. Follow me.¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say anything else as he turned around and led the way.


    After leaving the town, Zhang Chunqiu summoned an immortal crane and set off with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the vicinity of Mount Dragon Tiger was like a fairyland, but after arriving at the Fiend Tomb, he realized that it wasn¡¯t the case.


    There was a place in the mountain where all vegetation died. Nothing grew. In broad daylight, the sun could clearly release its rays down, but the area felt extremely dark and eerie.


    In an inconspicuous spot, Zhou Wen saw a tiny grave without a tombstone. If Zhang Chunqiu hadn¡¯t said that it was a Fiend Tomb, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have imagined that this tiny grave would have such a huge back story behind it.


    The only strange thing about this grave was its material. The graves of ordinary people were made of mud. Higher-level ones were made of rocks or bricks. Even higher-level ones were made of jade or even metal.


    Although the grave was made of stone, the stone wasn¡¯t man-made. It was as though the grave had grown out of stone.


    The grayish-white stone seemed to emit a sinister aura. And near the grave, a large number of rocks appeared to have the same texture. They looked out of place with the mountain wall beside them, as though a layer of frost had covered the valley.


    In every direction of the grave, there was a man-made stone platform. On each stone platform were members of the Zhang family. They monitored the Fiend Tomb from different angles.


    Zhang Chunqiu landed on one of the stone platforms with Zhou Wen and pointed at the grayish-white Fiend Stones beside him. ¡°Please get Tyrant Behemoth to eat the grayish-white Fiend Stones over there.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to eat the grayish-white Fiend Stones.


    According to Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s instructions, Tyrant Behemoth stopped after eating a portion of the Fiend Stones.


    ¡°Alright, we are now waiting for the outcome. If you have the time, you can stay and take a look. If you don¡¯t have time, I can get someone to take you back now,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°If it¡¯s convenient, I want to stay and take a look.¡± Zhou Wen also wanted to see what was so special about the Fiend Tomb that the Zhang family had protected for so many years.


    ¡°You can stay, but remember not to leave this platform, especially at night,¡± Zhang Chunqiu exhorted Zhou Wen repeatedly.


    Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t joke around with his life and agreed readily.


    The Fiend Stones didn¡¯t seem to grow in that short period of time. It had been a few days since Tyrant Behemoth ate the Fiend Stones last time before they grew again; therefore, they wouldn¡¯t grow back so quickly.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stare at that spot. Instead, he looked around the Fiend Tomb to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol. After carefully searching the vicinity, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up.


    Behind the tiny grave, Zhou Wen saw a tiny palm symbol with Truth Listener. It was engraved on the grave¡¯s stone. As the stone wasn¡¯t very flat, it looked like a natural pattern. However, Zhou Wen had seen many tiny palm symbols, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t mistake them.


    However, Zhou Wen was in trouble again. Although he had found the tiny palm symbol, Zhang Chunqiu had repeatedly exhorted him not to leave the platform. How could he walk to the Fiend Tomb to take a picture?


    Furthermore, it was already an exception for the Zhang family to let him come here. It was impossible for him to take pictures with his phone.


    How can I take a picture? Zhou Wen thought for a while but failed to come up with a good solution.


    Just as he was fretting, he suddenly heard someone shout, ¡°It¡¯s growing¡­ It¡¯s growing again¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly looked at the Fiend Stone hole that Tyrant Behemoth had produced from taking a big mouthful. He saw Fiend Stones appear on the ground that had been completely cleared.


    The Fiend Stones were like bamboo shoots after the rain, rapidly growing.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a stone grow.


    ¡°This time, the regrowth time is even shorter. It regrew in less than half an hour,¡± a member of the Zhang family said worriedly.


    ¡°Has this happened before?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The Zhang family had been guarding the Fiend Tomb for so many years. They should have come up with means to deal with the Fiend Stones in the past.


    To his surprise, Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and said, ¡°In the past, the growth speed of the Fiend Stones was very slow. After the dimensional storms, the speed of growth gradually increased. In recent months, the speed of growth was much faster than before. In the past, the Fiend Stones only extended less than ten meters around the Fiend Tomb. Look at it now. In just a few months, it will probably reach almost a hundred meters.¡±


    ¡°In other words, you haven¡¯t dealt with the Fiend Stones before?¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Of course. However, we only took a small portion of the Fiend Stones and took them back for research. We didn¡¯t dig up the Fiend Stones on such a large scale. There has never been such a situation in the past. Although the place where the Fiend Stones were dug out still grew new Fiend Stones, it happened very slowly. It has never been this fast,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Suddenly, someone pointed at the spot where the Fiend Stones grew and exclaimed in surprise.


    Zhou Wen and Zhang Chunqiu looked over and saw a human face symbol appear at the spot where the Fiend Stones grew. The symbol grew on the Fiend Stone as though a person was embedded in it. It looked extremely strange.


    ¡°Has this happened before?¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhang Chunqiu.


    This time, Zhang Chunqiu only shook his head as he stared at the face on the Fiend Stone. At the same time, he ordered, ¡°Everyone, enter an emergency state.¡±


    Everyone tensed up. Everyone in the Zhang family knew how terrifying the Fiend Tomb was. Zhou Wen, who had no concept of the Fiend Tomb, had an ominous feeling.

 Chapter 837 - Ba

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    The human face had all five facial features and its eyes were closed. Unlike ordinary stone masks, the face on the stone didn¡¯t have any vibes. It was as though it could open its eyes and come alive at any moment.


    Everyone looked warily at the face on the stone. On the stone platform beside them, someone from the Zhang family suddenly leaped down.


    It was unexpected, no one had the time to react. By the time they realized what had happened, the person had already jumped from the platform to the ground.


    The ground was filled with Fiend Stones. The moment the person landed on the ground, the shoes on his feet strangely turned into Fiend Stone. Even his calves rapidly turned into Fiend Stone. It just took all of two seconds before both calves turned into Fiend Stone.


    Everything happened too quickly. Only Zhang Chunqiu reacted. Using his hand as a saber, he slashed out a saber beam in midair, severing the petrified legs. He extended his hand and pulled him back to the stone platform.


    At that moment, the person seemed to regain consciousness. He screamed as his legs kept bleeding.


    ¡°Stop the bleeding and treat his injuries,¡± Zhang Chunqiu instructed as he stared at the leg that had been completely petrified.


    The legs remained standing on the ground and became one with the Fiend Stones as though they were part of them. It was so strange that it made one¡¯s scalp tingle.


    Although Zhou Wen really wanted to ask what was going on, it was clearly not the time to ask such questions. He had been using Truth Listener to scan the Fiend Tomb and the Fiend Stones, but he didn¡¯t discover anything abnormal. All he could sense was that there was Essence Energy flowing within the Fiend Stone; nothing else was special.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, go back now. The situation at the Fiend Tomb has changed. It¡¯s too dangerous. We need to prevent any accidents,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said to Zhou Wen.


    Although Zhou Wen really wanted to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol of the Fiend Tomb, it was impossible for him to request to take a picture in such a situation. He had to listen to Zhang Chunqiu and leave.


    The Fiend Tomb looked a little troublesome. When the Zhang family evacuated Zhou Wen, he could see members of the Zhang family constantly rushing towards the Fiend Tomb as reinforcements.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the Fiend Tomb was like. He couldn¡¯t help even if he wanted to.


    When he returned to Celestial Master Manor, Zhou Wen kept thinking about the Fiend Tomb. He didn¡¯t know what that strange face was.


    It looked like a part of the Fiend Stone or some dimensional creature. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be sure.


    And this seemed to be the beginning of a nightmare. In the next few days, it was obvious that the entire Zhang family was in a tense state. There were constantly people leaving the Celestial Master Manor, and there was a high chance that they were heading for the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°Yuzhi, how¡¯s the situation at the Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask when he saw Zhang Yuzhi again.


    ¡°The situation isn¡¯t good. Over the last few days, there have been people who attempted to jump into the Fiend Tomb every day. Although they were saved in the end, it¡¯s becoming more and more frequent. No reason has been found, and questioning them comes up empty. If they still can¡¯t find the reason, they will probably be in big trouble.


    ¡°Have you tried shattering the face on the Fiend Stone?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. It will regrow if it¡¯s shattered. After the face on the Fiend Stone was shattered, stone faces grew in other places. Now, there are seven stone faces around the Fiend Tomb.


    Zhou Wen knew that the Zhang family had really encountered trouble this time. If they couldn¡¯t resolve it, people would keep jumping in. In the end, the entire Zhang family might be wiped out.


    ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s going on with the Fiend Tomb? If it¡¯s inconvenient, forget it,¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Zhang Yuzhi hesitated for a moment before whispering to Zhou Wen, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you about this, but don¡¯t tell anyone. Legend has it that our Zhang family¡¯s ancestor was buried in a special cave. With the help of the cave, a Celestial Master was born. Actually, that¡¯s not the case. Our Zhang family found the special cave, but we didn¡¯t find it to bury ourselves inside, but to prevent the things inside from coming out.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Do you mean that someone was already buried inside?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°To be precise, it¡¯s not a person, but a Ba,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Ba? Is it a type of zombie?¡± Zhou Wen seemed to have heard of such monsters, but he wasn¡¯t too sure. He felt that it had something to do with zombies.


    ¡°Ordinary people often mix Ba and zombies together. In fact, the two are not the same thing. In myths, a Ba is the goddess of the heavens. She descended to the human world to help Yellow Emperor defeat Chiyou. However, because she exhausted her divine power, she couldn¡¯t return to the heavens. Therefore, she can only sleep beneath the ground and wait for the day she recovers her divine power to return to the heavens.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Ba descended to the mortal world to deal with Count of the Wind and Lord of the Rain. Even the storm they produced was incinerated in front of Ba. Even when Count of the Wind and Lord of the Rain joined forces, they weren¡¯t a match for Ba. It¡¯s obvious how powerful her divine power was. Ba slept underground, but once her divine power recovered, she woke up from her long slumber. Or perhaps someone disturbed her and woke her up. Her divine power spread out, causing the land to be dry and barren. That¡¯s why she¡¯s known as God of Drought, or Hiderigami in other places. It¡¯s an extremely terrifying existence.


    ¡°Back then, my family¡¯s ancestor discovered that the Ba that was sleeping underground was about to revive. That¡¯s why he guarded the area to prevent the Ba from appearing. He was mistaken as having found a treasure cave. Over the years, our Zhang family has been guarding the Fiend Tomb to prevent the Ba from coming out. However, with the arrival of the dimensional storms, the power in the Fiend Tomb has become stronger. How long can our Zhang family guard it? Even we don¡¯t know. The break out is only a matter of time.¡±


    ¡°It existed in the world before the dimensional storms. Is there really such a creature as a Ba?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    After the dimensional storms, it wasn¡¯t surprising for any creature to appear. However, the Zhang family had already begun guarding against Ba since ancient times. This was truly surprising.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s really a Ba, but there¡¯s definitely something unbelievable in the Fiend Tomb. Over the years, strange things have frequently appeared in the Fiend Tomb. If it wasn¡¯t for my Zhang family risking our lives to guard the area, I¡¯m afraid the area around Mount Dragon Tiger would have long been plunged into misery and suffering,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    After saying that, Zhang Yuzhi got up and prepared to leave. ¡°I have to go out for a few days. Don¡¯t just wander around when I¡¯m not in the Celestial Master Manor, lest others misunderstand.¡±


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled as to why Zhang Yuzhi was heading out.


    The Fiend Tomb was already extremely dangerous. Logically speaking, Zhang Yuzhi should have stayed inside Celestial Master Manor to help.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to kill dimensional creatures with my brothers,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    Zhou Wen recalled the matter regarding Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s Life Providence and said to her, ¡°Actually, I have a golden apple that can change a person¡¯s Life Providence without any side effects. Do you want to give it a try?¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi was first delighted before shaking her head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. This is all the useless me can do to help everyone.¡±

 Chapter 838 - Three Realms’ Best Wind

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen remained silent. Zhang Yuzhi was lucky, but at the same time, she was unlucky. She had to withstand the pros and cons of her ability and pain.


    Zhou Wen could understand Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s feelings. She wasn¡¯t willing to become best friends with dimensional creatures before killing them.


    However, the Zhang family was in such a difficult situation. It was even possible that they would be wiped out. What she did might be saving the lives of all her family members.


    Every family has its hardships. It¡¯s not easy for a large family like the Zhang family either. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    After Zhang Yuzhi left, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stay in Celestial Master Manor. He went to an inn in Dragon Tiger Town. On the one hand, he didn¡¯t want to trouble the Zhang family, and on the other hand, it was also convenient for Liu Yun to contact him when he arrived.


    That afternoon, Demonic Neonate completed her evolution and became an Epic. Her various skills didn¡¯t change, and only her stats increased to 41. Zhou Wen could only continue to look forward to the pleasant surprise the Wheel of Destiny would bring when she evolved to the Mythical stage.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s return made Zhou Wen feel a lot more at ease. Although she was only at the Epic stage, her combat strength was greatly beneficial to Zhou Wen.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling gratified that Demonic Neonate had completed her evolution, Banana Fairy, who hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, successfully advanced to the Mythical stage on the same day.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He had been waiting for Banana Fairy for too long. Seeing Banana Fairy break out of her egg and transform into a young girl in a jade-silk dress, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to see her stats.


    Banana Fairy: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life State: Supreme Yin Spirit Root.


    Life Soul: Divine Wind Immortal


    Wheel of Destiny: Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind (Yin)


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Supreme Yin Wind


    Companion Form: Fan


    There weren¡¯t many changes to the other skills, but her basic stats had increased to 81 points of a top Mythical. The additional Wheel of Destiny was actually called the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind. This name was very domineering, but he didn¡¯t know how effective it was.


    Why is there the word Yin behind the Wheel of Destiny? Could it be that there¡¯s the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind with the word Yang? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Summoning Banana Fairy in reality, he saw a girl in green clothes with a light veil. She looked to be about fourteen or fifteen years old. Her snow-white legs were bare as she sat on a banana leaf.


    At that moment, the banana leaf was much bigger than before. The girl sat there, floating. Her veil was lithe and she looked uncomfortable.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind the appearance of a Companion Beast, he was naturally in a good mood with such a beautiful and adorable Companion Beast by his side.


    He launched a game dungeon and entered the Metalwork Temple dungeon. Zhou Wen wanted to see how powerful Banana Fairy¡¯s Wheel of Destiny was.


    There were furnaces everywhere in the Metalwork Temple and the temperature was rather high.


    Banana Fairy sat on the banana leaf and floated beside the blood-colored avatar. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, she puffed up her cheeks and blew at the Metalwork Temple.


    Whoosh!


    Large swaths of Fire Elemental Sprites and various dimensional creatures were blown away. Anything that could move was blown away. As for the huge furnaces, they were all extinguished.


    As though a hurricane had passed, Zhou Wen saw the game¡¯s notification column being flooded. Notices of various dimensional creatures dying kept popping up.


    Zhou Wen quickly walked into the Metalwork Temple and realized that the flames at the back of the temple had also been extinguished. It was a mess.


    The Metalwork Temple that was originally filled with furnaces no longer had any flames. The temperature had returned to normal and he no longer felt hot.


    What left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed was that the dimensional creatures that had been blown to death by the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind had been sent flying. The dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs that dropped couldn¡¯t be found.


    That¡¯s way too strong. As expected of the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind! Just as Zhou Wen was feeling excited, he saw Banana Fairy looking somewhat exhausted. Her Essence Energy had been drained, and even the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind had entered a cooldown state.


    What a pity. If I could get her to do it a few times in a row, this thing would be better than nuclear bombs, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    2


    Even without the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s augmentation, Banana Fairy¡¯s Supreme Yin Wind was considered a powerful divine technique. Ordinary Mythical creatures couldn¡¯t withstand a single strike from her. Even if they weren¡¯t blown away, they would be frozen.


    Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy¡¯s complete evolution delighted Zhou Wen.


    After grinding Pill Furnace Mountain again, no Mythical Companion Egg dropped.


    Zhou Wen went out for a stroll that day. When he returned, he realized that Liu Yun was sitting in his room. Zhou Wen had no idea when he had arrived.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t look well. He had dark circles under his eyes and he looked cranky. His hair was greasy and messy. He looked like he hadn¡¯t washed his hair for weeks.


    The stubble on his face had grown out and his clothes weren¡¯t clean. If not for his good looks and branded clothes, he would have been mistaken as a beggar.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Ya¡¯er?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er is fine. Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s very easy to see her. Help me do something,¡± Liu Yun said through gritted teeth.


    It hadn¡¯t been easy for him all this while. Now, he could finally extort Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Do you want me to help you steal the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Liu Yun nodded smugly. ¡°As long as you do as I say, I¡¯ll naturally return Ya¡¯er to you after everything is done. Otherwise¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say otherwise. If you like it, continue having her,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What? Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll kill¡­¡± Liu Yun was furious. He had suffered so much just for this moment. To his surprise, Zhou Wen actually said such a thing? It infuriated him.


    ¡°If you dare kill her, do it,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°What do you mean? Do you think I don¡¯t dare?¡± Liu Yun said angrily.


    ¡°Did you find your journey extremely problematic?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°What has that got to do with you?¡± Liu Yun¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he asked Zhou Wen suspiciously.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with me, but you can think about when your bad luck started,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Are you saying that all of this was caused by Ya¡¯er?¡± Liu Yun was immediately enraged. He had always thought that it was his fault, but he never expected the problem to be with that little girl.


    ¡°Do you know Wang Lu from the Wang family? Some people are born different. Ya¡¯er is such a person, but she¡¯s different from Wang Lu. She won¡¯t bring you luck¡­ Do you understand what I mean? Anyway, if you like her, continue taking her around. It saves me trouble,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun was dumbfounded. He never expected such a thing to happen. Of course he knew Wang Lu from the Wang family. He even knew Wang Chan, but he never expected Ya¡¯er to be such a person as well.

 Chapter 839 - Nutrition Fee

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°This¡­ Why don¡¯t I return her to you?¡± Liu Yun felt a little guilty.


    He originally didn¡¯t believe it, but when he thought of what he had encountered along the way, Liu Yun felt that he had to believe it.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been very busy recently. I don¡¯t have time to take care of a child. Why don¡¯t you help me take care of her for a few more days? Let¡¯s talk when I return to Luoyang,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Take care my ass,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, don¡¯t be anxious. At most, I¡¯ll pay you for your labor. How about one Epic Companion Egg a day? It won¡¯t be a problem to hire a female celebrity as a nanny for this price. It¡¯s a bargain. What do you think?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun slammed his palm on the table and said righteously, ¡°Who do you think I, Liu Yun, am? I¡¯m the great God of Theft, Liu Yun. Am I someone who takes care of children? Ignoring the fact that you give me an Epic Companion Egg every day, even if you give me a Mythical Companion Egg every day, I won¡¯t do it. Just you wait. I¡¯ll send Ya¡¯er back to you now. Take care of her yourself.¡±


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, this isn¡¯t appropriate. Look at how you brought her all the way here only to return her to me. Aren¡¯t you losing out? I suggest that you continue taking care of her for a few more days,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why would I believe you? You are terrible. Wouldn¡¯t it be worse if I took care of her?¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°Are you really returning her to me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course. I, Liu Yun, never go back on my word,¡± Liu Yun said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Alright, but you¡¯ve been taking care of Ya¡¯er for so many days. She must have lost weight from your hunger. You have to give her some nutrition money so that I can buy her some delicious supplements, right?¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun was dumbfounded. He had seen shameless people, but he had never seen someone so shameless.


    ¡°You¡¯re still demanding nutrition fees from me?¡± Liu Yun was extremely angry and aggrieved. His hands were trembling. ¡°I¡¯m the one who¡¯s skinny because of hunger, alright? Damn it, I shat out everything I ate and vomited everything I drank along the way. I didn¡¯t eat or say anything. I cried and laughed all day. In the middle of the night, I laughed until the entire hotel thought that it was haunted. Do you think it was easy for me? Let me tell you, that brat had a great time eating and drinking. I¡¯m about to die, do you know that? Why are you asking me for nutrition fees?¡±


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, you shouldn¡¯t be shirking your responsibility in this matter. You were the one who abducted her. You make it sound as though Ya¡¯er abducted you. Don¡¯t you feel ashamed?¡± Zhou Wen was finally completely at ease. He held back his laughter and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to give it to me. Anyway, I plan on staying at Celestial Master Manor for a few days. If you have the ability, send Ya¡¯er there.¡±


    1


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want her, I¡¯ll kill her,¡± Liu Yun said ruthlessly.


    ¡°You dare to kill such a person? As long as you aren¡¯t afraid of being unlucky your entire life, go ahead,¡± Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    When Liu Yun thought of the days he had spent and how he would be spending the rest of his days in that manner, he immediately shivered.


    Suddenly, Liu Yun¡¯s angry face lit up with a smile. ¡°Junior Brother, we¡¯re all brothers. Why are you treating me like an outsider? Just tell me what my disciple-niece likes to eat. I¡¯ll buy it for her. She can eat whatever she wants.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more what an Eldest Senior Brother should be like.¡± Zhou Wen gave him a thumbs up. ¡°By the way, Eldest Senior Brother, how do you transfer a Companion Beast to someone else with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art? I¡¯ve studied it for a long time, but I don¡¯t understand how it works.¡±


    ¡°Junior Brother, if you want to learn, I¡¯ll definitely teach you. However, you have to condense a Life Soul with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art first.¡± Liu Yun thought to himself, You don¡¯t mainly cultivate the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. It would be strange if you could condense a Life Soul.


    ¡°The Life Soul of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art has already been condensed. Tell me, how should I use it?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun¡¯s eyes widened as he asked in disbelief, ¡°What? Your Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art has condensed a Life Soul?¡±


    ¡°I just condensed it not long ago. It¡¯s too difficult to cultivate. It¡¯s still a Primordial Body,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun wanted to slap Zhou Wen in the face and smash his irritating face, but after some thought, he didn¡¯t dare do it.


    ¡°Junior Brother, you must not joke. If you haven¡¯t condensed a Life Soul of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art and try using my method, you will die.¡± Liu Yun still found it unbelievable.


    ¡°What¡¯s your Life Soul¡¯s name?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    ¡°There¡¯s no harm in telling you. My Life Soul is called Astral Soul. It means the soul of the stars in the heavens.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he summoned a bit of starlight. The starlight flowed as though it was condensing thousands of stars.


    ¡°My Life Soul isn¡¯t as resounding as your name. It¡¯s called Fine Dust, but it should be similar.¡± Zhou Wen summoned his Fine Dust Life Soul.


    Liu Yun was immediately stunned when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s Fine Dust. Although Life Souls were different and their abilities might be different, he could sense that it was undoubtedly a Life Soul condensed from the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. There was no mistake.


    ¡°Junior Brother, won¡¯t there be a problem with dual cultivating Essence Energy Arts?¡± Liu Yun swallowed his saliva and asked.


    ¡°Of course not. Are you going to tell me your method or not? If not, I¡¯m going to Celestial Master Manor,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. This method is a little complicated, but since you already have the Life Soul of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for you to learn it.¡± Liu Yun explained his method to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was originally worried that his Life Soul was different from Liu Yun¡¯s. He thought the abilities wouldn¡¯t be completely the same, so he might not be able to learn Liu Yun¡¯s method.


    However, after hearing Liu Yun¡¯s explanation, he realized that his worries were unnecessary. He could also use Liu Yun¡¯s method. In fact, he didn¡¯t rely on the Life Soul¡¯s ability, but the ability of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art itself.


    Soon, Zhou Wen grasped Liu Yun¡¯s method. He was just short of executing it.


    ¡°Junior Brother, continue practicing. I¡¯ll fetch disciple-niece over.¡± With that said, Liu Yun ran off, afraid that Zhou Wen would ask him for something else.


    He had always been a person who refused to suffer losses, but every time he encountered Zhou Wen, he would suffer losses. Now, he only wanted to distance himself from Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really want anything from Liu Yun, so he didn¡¯t stop him.


    After a while, an employee knocked on Zhou Wen¡¯s door and said that someone was looking for him.


    Zhou Wen went out to take a look and saw Ya¡¯er standing outside, but he didn¡¯t see Liu Yun. Liu Yun was definitely afraid that Zhou Wen would extort him again, so he didn¡¯t even dare show his face.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, did you suffer any grievances along the way?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he stroked her head.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head and took off the necklace around her neck before handing it to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He knew that this was the necklace that Ya¡¯er had obtained from Liu Yun, but he didn¡¯t understand why it was handed to him.


    ¡°Do you want me to help you put it away?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he took the necklace.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head again and pointed at the gem on the necklace. It looked like there was something wrong with the gem on the necklace.


    Zhou Wen checked the gem on the necklace in puzzlement. After taking a closer look, he really found a problem.

 Chapter 840 - Red Heart Gu

    Translator: CKtalon


    The naked eye couldn¡¯t see anything wrong with the ruby necklace, but when Zhou Wen activated the Hell King Life Soul, he realized that there was a blood-colored shadow in the largest ruby in the middle of the pendant. It looked like a spider.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? A Spirit Body?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°Gu,¡± Ya¡¯er said.


    This is also a Gu? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. No matter how he looked at it, there was a Spirit Body inside the ruby.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. No one stipulated that Gu with a spirit body could not exist. The spider in the ruby was likely a spirit-type Gu.


    It¡¯s no wonder Ya¡¯er took this necklace. So there¡¯s such a strange Gu inside. I wonder what stage it is. Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the ruby with the spider.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the stats appeared. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t a dimensional creature, but a Companion Beast.


    Red Heart Gu: Mythical


    Life Providence: Widow


    Life Soul: Queen of Hearts


    Wheel of Destiny: Love Gu


    Strength: 72


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 71


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Neurotoxin


    Companion Form: Pendant


    This is a Companion Beast that has already hatched, but why is it here? Where did its owner go? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Logically speaking, once the owner of a Companion Beast died, the Companion Beast would vanish.


    This Red Heart Gu had clearly hatched, but it was trapped in the necklace. Its owner had not unsummoned it, so this was somewhat strange.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ask Liu Yun about the necklace¡¯s origins, but he couldn¡¯t find him. All he could do was search for pictures online to see if there were any clues.


    It was very easy to find the origins of the necklace. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be surprised. This necklace has been circulating since ancient times before the dimensional storms. Furthermore, from the looks of it, the culprit behind the fates of those who possessed it was likely the Red Heart Gu. This makes things strange. Did they already have Companion Beasts in that era?


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out. He asked Ya¡¯er, but she couldn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°You can control the Red Heart Gu inside, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er nodded. In fact, all the pain Liu Yun had suffered along the way was because of this Red Heart Gu.


    ¡°Then keep it. If you encounter danger in the future, you can protect yourself.¡± Zhou Wen returned the necklace to Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head and said a few words. ¡°For you¡­ Raise me¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ throw me away¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen suddenly realized that Ya¡¯er was a human and not his Companion Beast when he heard that. His attitude towards her seemed to make her feel insecure.


    Zhou Wen picked up the necklace and put it on Ya¡¯er. He stroked her head and said, ¡°I gave you your name. Do you know who¡¯s qualified to give others a name?¡±


    Ya¡¯er shook her head. Clearly, she didn¡¯t understand because she didn¡¯t have a name previously.


    Zhou Wen said, ¡°Only family members can give their children names. I gave you your name. You are my family and my sister, so you don¡¯t have to worry about me abandoning you. That kind of thing will never happen. Do you understand?¡±


    Ya¡¯er looked at Zhou Wen and shook her head. She didn¡¯t seem to understand the concept of family.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. You will slowly understand in the future. A family member doesn¡¯t need you to give them anything. I will treat you well. I will accompany you, sharing sadness and joy with you¡­¡± Zhou Wen tried his best to make Ya¡¯er understand. Unfortunately, he was a person with a low EQ, so he just couldn¡¯t express it well.


    As the necklace was too eye-catching, and Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone who loved antiques, he ended up dismantling the necklace and separated the pendant embedded inside.


    The gems outside were just decorations. The ruby in the middle and a thin thread were the main body of the Red Heart Gu. Zhou Wen only needed the main body of the Red Heart Gu to be worn around Ya¡¯er¡¯s neck. He kept the gem necklace to prevent any unnecessary trouble.


    As he had noticed Ya¡¯er¡¯s psychological problems, Zhou Wen clumsily wanted to treat her better, but he didn¡¯t know what to do.


    As Zhou Wen had been very independent since he was young, he had never experienced how his elders protected and loved him. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know how to treat others well.


    Zhou Wen could only do his best. He took the time to take Ya¡¯er out for a walk and buy her some food or toys. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what girls played. In fact, he didn¡¯t know what boys played either because he had never played with any toys when he was young.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen bought a phone for Ya¡¯er and taught her how to use it. He also added his account to her friend¡¯s list. This way, Ya¡¯er could send him a message or call him when he wasn¡¯t around.


    Ya¡¯er seemed very happy and fiddled with her phone for a long time.


    However, she wasn¡¯t interested in games or movies. She only learned how to use her phone to send messages to Zhou Wen, but she didn¡¯t know how to type or write. Even when she sent voice messages, she didn¡¯t say much. It was very troublesome.


    However, Ya¡¯er worked hard to learn language and how to type.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and continued grinding. His luck today was pretty good. Just as the nine dragons respawned, another Companion Egg dropped after killing them.


    Demon Blood True Dragon (Zhen): Mythical


    Life Providence: Demon Dragon Bloodline (Incomplete)


    Life Soul: Zhen Dragon (Incomplete)


    Wheel of Destiny: Dragon Domain (Incomplete)


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Dragon Breath, Demon Dragon Transformation, Demon Dragon True Body, Dragon Wrath


    Companion Form: Dragon Scale Armor (Incomplete)


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the word ¡°Zhen¡± behind the Demon Dragon True Dragon was different, Zhou Wen would have imagined that it was the same Companion Egg that had dropped. Its stats and skills were identical.


    I wonder if this thing can be fused? Zhou Wen tried matching it and realized that the compatibility between the two was 99%. It was almost impossible to fail.


    Zhou Wen directly clicked on the fusion. After all, he couldn¡¯t wear two sets of Dragon Scale Armor alone. He could try fusing them. Perhaps there would be a pleasant surprise.


    However, a notification suddenly popped up in the game: ¡®Incomplete. Lacking main body, unable to fuse.¡¯


    What¡¯s the meaning of this? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the so-called main body was. He could only guess that he needed to obtain all nine different Demon Blood True Dragons before fusing them.


    Zhou Wen had been grinding on Pill Furnace Mountain, but he didn¡¯t obtain any Mythical Companion Eggs.


    The dragon-patterned Rejuvenation Pill and the Tiger-Patterned Resurrection Pill would randomly spawn one every time. However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t had a Companion Egg drop in the past few days.

 Chapter 841 - Entering the Fiend Tomb Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    When it was time for Pill Furnace Mountain to respawn pill essence, Zhou Wen went to farm them again. The Golden Overlord Sword killed the pill essence that spewed out one by one. As he killed them, he suddenly saw a strange pill essence spew out from Pill Furnace Mountain.


    The pill essence wasn¡¯t the common red and golden color. Although it was white, it wasn¡¯t a dragon-patterned Rejuvenation Pill. It had black colors, but it wasn¡¯t a tiger-patterned Resurrection Pill either.


    It was a pill that was half white, half black, half dragon-patterned, and half tiger-patterned. It looked strange and strangely harmonious. From the pill essence, one could faintly hear dragon and tiger roars.


    Clang!


    The Golden Overlord Sword slashed at the pill essence, but a white dragon-shaped Essence Energy rushed out of the pill, blocking the Golden Overlord Sword¡¯s sword beam.


    Although the dragon-shaped Essence Energy was ultimately shattered by the Golden Overlord Sword, the latter did not then have the strength to injure the pill essence.


    Before the Golden Overlord Sword could deliver a second attack, a tiger¡¯s roar sounded from the pill essence¡¯s body. A black-colored Essence Energy condensed into a ferocious tiger and pounced at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and slammed down with his claw, shattering the Essence Energy tiger.


    Tyrant Behemoth took another step forward, wanting to shatter the pill essence as well. However, a dragon and tiger¡¯s roar sounded from the pill essence¡¯s body. The shadow of a dragon and tiger rose and actually blocked Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s attack.


    Tyrant Behemoth struck out several times, but it failed to shatter the dragon-tiger shadows. All it could do was activate Absolute Strength and roar as it struck out again. After more than ten punches, it shattered the dragon-tiger shadows.


    The pill essence was also repeatedly struck by Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s punches. Finally, it shattered into pieces. Its healing speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the shattering speed.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Dragon Tiger Pill Essence. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    When Zhou Wen saw the game notification, he saw a Companion Egg drop. He couldn¡¯t help but be delighted as he hurriedly picked it up and hatched it.


    Dragon Tiger Pill Essence: Mythical


    Life Providence: Dragon Spirit Tiger Feracity


    Life Soul: Dragon Tiger Combat


    Wheel of Destiny: Resurrection


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: Pill (One-time use)


    What a powerful pill essence. Can this thing really resurrect the dead? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed when he saw the information on the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence.


    Ignoring the other attributes, its Wheel of Destiny was somewhat powerful. In the introduction, it said that it had the ability to revive the dead. He didn¡¯t know if that was true.


    However, without a doubt, this was a life-saving item. Even if it was difficult to resurrect the dead, it would definitely have miraculous effects when used on serious injuries.


    With such a treasure, Zhou Wen was even more motivated. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t gain anything after grinding the 81 pill essences.


    During this period of time, there was no news from the Zhang family. Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t return. The date of the auction was approaching.


    This morning, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er out for a stroll as usual. When he walked to the nearby river, he saw Zhang Chunqiu sitting on a bench by the river.


    ¡°What a coincidence.¡± Zhou Wen walked over with Ya¡¯er to greet him.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a coincidence. I came here specially to wait for you,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to the hotel to look for me?¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s face was filled with exhaustion, but he still said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s been stifling these past few days. I wanted to come out to take a breather, so I decided to wait for you here.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The matter with the Fiend Tomb is very troublesome. More than ten people from the Zhang family have died. They have all jumped into the Fiend Tomb and become Fiend Stone statues,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t someone been watching?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. No one knows who will be the next one to jump. Perhaps the next one to jump will be the person guarding it. We have already thought of many solutions and even evacuated everyone from the Fiend Tomb, but there are still people who have walked to the Fiend Tomb themselves and become Fiend Stone statues,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a sigh.


    1


    ¡°Is there anything I can help you with?¡± On account of Zhang Yuzhi, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind helping if he could.


    Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and said, ¡°Up to now, I haven¡¯t figured out a solution. I¡¯m not here because of Fiend Tomb.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you looking for me?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    The Zhang family had encountered such a huge problem, but Zhang Chunqiu still took the time to meet him. It was probably something important.


    ¡°I came here to ask you a favor. The Zhang family is in contact with Sunset College. If there aren¡¯t any problems, Yuzhi should be able to be a tutor at Sunset College. When the time comes, I hope you can take care of her. She doesn¡¯t have many friends, so I can¡¯t beg others,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Is the matter with the Fiend Tomb really that dangerous?¡± Zhou Wen knew that if they weren¡¯t doing it out of desperation, how would the Zhang family let Zhang Yuzhi leave Mount Dragon Tiger to go to Sunset College?


    The Zhang family must have reached a helpless state before making such a decision.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a precaution. After the auction ends, I¡¯ll get Yuzhi to accompany you to Luoyang. If the Zhang family can successfully pass this trial, I¡¯ll bring her back,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhou Wen felt that this was an opportunity. Therefore, he looked at Zhang Chunqiu and said, ¡°Although I don¡¯t know much about the Fiend Tomb, I have some special abilities. Perhaps they can be of some help to the Fiend Tomb. If your Zhang family doesn¡¯t mind, can you let me do a comprehensive survey of the Fiend Tomb?¡±


    ¡°The Zhang family is extremely grateful that you are willing to help us, so why would we mind? However, the Fiend Tomb is too dangerous. Anyone who has come into contact with the Fiend Tomb might subconsciously walk into it. I¡¯m afraid¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t continue, but his meaning was very clear.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already been to the Fiend Tomb. If there¡¯s really a problem, I won¡¯t be able to escape. I¡¯m doing this for myself.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s last sentence was the truth.


    Surveying was only an excuse. What he really wanted to do was take a picture of the tiny palm symbol and download the Fiend Tomb dungeon.


    After Zhou Wen downloaded the Fiend Tomb dungeon, he could enter the Fiend Tomb in-game. Perhaps he could resolve the Zhang family¡¯s problems.


    ¡°When do you want to go?¡± Zhang Chunqiu asked after some thought.


    ¡°The sooner the better. This matter can¡¯t be delayed,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°In that case, come with me now.¡± Zhang Chunqiu led Zhou Wen to the Fiend Tomb again.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. This time, he could finally approach the Fiend Tomb and take a picture of the tiny palm symbol on it.


    When they arrived at the Fiend Tomb again, there were clearly more people from the Zhang family stationed here. On every stone platform, there were four people sitting facing each other. If anything happened, the other three would immediately know to prevent any accidents.

 Chapter 842 - Digging the Fiend Tomb

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Chunqiu, why did you bring him here?¡± an elder said with a frown when he saw Zhang Chunqiu bring Zhou Wen over.


    ¡°Uncle, Zhou Wen is proficient in many special reconnaissance-type Essence Energy Skills. As he might be able to help us discover the problem with the Fiend Tomb, I invited him over to take a look.¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say that Zhou Wen had requested to come.


    ¡°Hurry up. Don¡¯t affect the others.¡± The elder frowned slightly but didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Zhang Chunqiu led Zhou Wen into the region of the Fiend Tomb. Zhou Wen could clearly see that the situation with the Fiend Stone Petrification had worsened. A small portion of the nearby mountain walls had already been petrified. The last time he had come, the Fiend Stones hadn¡¯t covered such a large area.


    Furthermore, there were more than ten Fiend Stone stone statues on the ground. They had different expressions and appearances. They were likely the Zhang family members who had run into the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°How do you plan on investigating? Do you have any special needs?¡± Zhang Chunqiu asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I need to observe the Fiend Tomb up close. If possible, I would like to take a few photos,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You can take pictures, but you have to be fast. Furthermore, when you approach the Fiend Tomb, you can¡¯t exceed those lines or touch the Fiend Stones. Otherwise, you will end up like them.¡± Zhang Chunqiu pointed at the red lines in the sky. They were about ten meters away from the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°Alright, can I go now?¡± Zhou Wen agreed immediately. At a distance of about ten meters, his phone could lock onto the tiny palm symbol and download the dungeon.


    ¡°Go. I hope you can discover something,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhou Wen leaped into the air and used the Godfiend Life Providence to fly towards the Fiend Tomb. At the same time, he got Doctor Darkness to attach himself to him in his soul form and used his Eyes of Penetration to look at the Fiend Tomb.


    In fact, the Eyes of Penetration didn¡¯t have a good effect on things like metal and stone. Zhou Wen was only putting on a show for the Zhang family to prove that he had such abilities and wasn¡¯t here to mess around.


    When the Zhang family saw Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes shoot out two beams at the Fiend Tomb like two searchlights, they looked at him curiously.


    Zhou Wen pretended to take a look before taking out his phone to take a picture. In fact, the Eyes of Penetration couldn¡¯t see the interior of the Fiend Tomb through the thick Fiend Stones. Zhou Wen circled the Fiend Tomb and took the opportunity to snap a picture of the tiny palm symbol.


    The game immediately entered the download screen, allowing Zhou Wen to relax.


    After pretending to look around the Fiend Tomb seriously for a while, Zhou Wen returned to the stone platform.


    ¡°How is it?¡± When Zhang Chunqiu asked Zhou Wen, the other Zhang family members looked at him.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell anything for the time being. I¡¯ll go back and think about it. Perhaps I can figure out something,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhang Chunqiu took Zhou Wen back without another word.


    After Zhou Wen returned to his residence, he couldn¡¯t wait to open the Fiend Tomb dungeon that he had just downloaded. Firstly, he was very curious about the Fiend Tomb dungeon, and secondly, he hoped to help the Zhang family. He didn¡¯t wish to see Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s family destroyed and for her to be sent to Sunset College.


    The game had successfully downloaded. A picture of a white grave appeared on the phone¡¯s screen. Under it were the words ¡°Fiend Tomb.¡±


    Zhou Wen clicked on the program and entered the game. What appeared in front of him was the crater in the mountain where the Fiend Tomb was. The tiny Fiend Tomb stood there, and the grayish-white Fiend Stones looked like snow under the moonlight.


    Zhou Wen saw that there were many strange faces just like in real life on the Fiend Stone-filled ground. There were more than ten faces, but none of them belonged to the Zhang family who had transformed into Fiend Stones.


    According to Zhang Chunqiu, humans would only be petrified when they touched the Fiend Stones after the fiend faces appeared. They hadn¡¯t discovered any similar problems back when they touched the Fiend Stones.


    Zhou Wen believed in this. Tyrant Behemoth had previously eaten a Fiend Stone, and it wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Zhou Wen summoned a few different types of pets and made them land on the ground. As expected, they were all petrified.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth again to see if it would be petrified. After all, it had eaten Fiend Stones before.


    Tyrant Behemoth landed on the Fiend Stones, but its feet also showed signs of Fiend Stone Petrification. However, it was at a slower speed.


    It¡¯s actually suffering from Fiend Stone Petrification as well? After Zhou Wen ordered Tyrant Behemoth to use Absolute Strength, the Fiend Stone Petrification stopped.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth was still strong enough. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to enter the Fiend Tomb.


    As there was no entrance to the Fiend Tomb, he could only dig it open with brute force. This heavy responsibility could only be placed on Behemoth.


    The Zhang family had an ancestral rule that the Fiend Tomb couldn¡¯t be dug open. Otherwise, the Goddess Ba would awaken. When that happened, everything would be incinerated. Humans would have no chance of survival.


    In reality, Zhou Wen definitely didn¡¯t dare dig either, but in-game, there were naturally no taboos.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s command, Behemoth, who had activated Absolute Strength, slammed into the Fiend Tomb. The two horns on its head spun like an electric drill, immediately causing sparks to splatter everywhere on the Fiend Tomb. Fiend Stone powder splattered everywhere.


    Just as Behemoth began digging the grave, the fiend faces on the ground suddenly seemed to come to life. They burrowed out from the ground and transformed into Fiend Stone statues.


    The Fiend Stone statues pounced at Tyrant Behemoth without a word. Zhou Wen hurriedly sent out a few Companion Beasts to fight, preventing them from disturbing Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s grave digging.


    As it was only a test, the Companion Beasts Zhou Wen sent out weren¡¯t his main combat pets. They were all Epic Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors. The only Mythical Companion Beast was a Golden Battle God Halberd.


    The speed and strength of the Fiend Stone statues looked like they were at the Epic stage. However, after their bodies were shattered, they quickly revived inside the Fiend Stones. They couldn¡¯t be killed no matter how hard he tried.


    Furthermore, anything touched by the Fiend Stone statues would be petrified. It was very difficult to deal with them.


    As the Fiend Tomb was dug open, more and more fiend faces appeared around it. They transformed into Fiend Stone statues that rushed to Behemoth¡¯s side.


    Thankfully, Behemoth in Absolute Strength was indeed an invincible existence. The Fiend Stone statues grabbed at its body, but they were unable to petrify it. They wrapped around Behemoth like a nest of ants.


    Is there no way to completely kill them? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He had already tried many Strength attributes, but they were useless. He could shatter the Fiend Stone statues, but he couldn¡¯t stop them from reviving inside the Fiend Stones.


    Furthermore, the game didn¡¯t have any indication of successfully killing them. Clearly, shattering them wasn¡¯t enough to kill them.

 Chapter 843 - Ghoul Mask

    Clang!


    While Tyrant Behemoth was digging the Fiend Tomb, its horn seemed to have touched something, emitting a metallic clang. As for Tyrant Behemoth, it automatically took two steps back and stared at the dug up Fiend Tomb.


    Inside the Fiend Tomb, there was a huge human face. It was identical to the fiend faces that had appeared on the Fiend Stones. However, this face was much bigger, and it emitted a grayish-white strange aura.


    Zhou Wen was staring at the face as he sized it up, but it floated up by itself. Only then did he realize that it wasn¡¯t a face, but a stone mask.


    From the looks of it, the problem of the fiend face appearing lies with this mask. Zhou Wen ordered Tyrant Behemoth to deliver a punch. He wanted to see what abilities this mask had.


    Bam!


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength strike shattered the mask. This left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback. Although he felt that there weren¡¯t many Companion Beasts in this world that could fight Tyrant Behemoth head-on, it was blasted apart with a single punch. It was too weak¡ªeven inferior to the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he saw the dust that filled the sky float towards Tyrant Behemoth. Before Zhou Wen could react, the dust from the shattered mask touched Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face, turning into a complete mask.


    However, this time, the mask matched the size of Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face, enveloping it completely.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. Indeed, Tyrant Behemoth roared and struggled, trying to tear off the mask on its face, but it failed. Furthermore, its struggling slowed down. Soon, Zhou Wen realized that Tyrant Behemoth was no longer under his control.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth threw a punch at the blood-colored avatar who dodged to the side. Its fist smashed a huge hole in the mountain wall.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s terrifying strength was unleashed as it attacked the blood-colored avatar repeatedly. Zhou Wen¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t enough to fight Tyrant Behemoth, so he could only dodge.


    As Zhou Wen dodged, he observed the mask and mentally contacted Tyrant Behemoth.


    The mental connection was no longer working. The mask completely controlled Tyrant Behemoth. The mask¡¯s ability surprised Zhou Wen.


    From the looks of it, I can only give it a try. After shattering the mask, can I liberate Tyrant Behemoth? Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and instantly vanished.


    Tyrant Behemoth was a Companion Beast that employed brute force. It had never been afraid of anyone in a head-on battle.


    However, Zhou Wen had vanished. It could only stand there in a daze. Its masked face looked around, but there was no sign of Zhou Wen.


    Suddenly, an invisible sword beam flashed. The mask on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face was cleaved into two and fell from Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth didn¡¯t regain its freedom. The mask automatically shattered and condensed on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face, forming a new mask. Tyrant Behemoth was still under its control.


    Zhou Wen continued forward invisibly as the Light Concealment Sword in his hand rapidly flashed. Countless strikes instantly shattered the mask, but the outcome was still useless.


    The shattered mask returned to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s face and reformed. It still firmly controlled Tyrant Behemoth.


    It¡¯s impossible for there to be no weakness. What¡¯s the weakness of the mask? Still invisible, Zhou Wen used the Hell King Life Soul¡¯s ability and Truth Listener¡¯s hearing to constantly scan the mask.


    Coupled with Doctor Darkness¡¯s penetrative vision, the mask had almost no secrets in front of Zhou Wen.


    The mask itself was flawless. It was made of gray rocks, so he didn¡¯t discover anything special.


    It was unlike the Water Elemental that Zhou Wen had seen before. The Water Elemental could be scattered and reformed. However, there was a water element core in the Water Elemental¡¯s body. As long as the core was destroyed, the Water Elemental could be killed.


    However, this mask was different. It didn¡¯t have a core in its body. No matter how he sliced its body or even blasted the mask to dust like Tyrant Behemoth, he couldn¡¯t kill it.


    Could it be that it really doesn¡¯t have a weakness? Zhou Wen observed for a long time but failed to discover the weakness of the mask.


    Demonic Neonate, who was hiding in the Invisibility Cloak, hadn¡¯t taken action. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t found the flaw in the mask, so she had no intention of taking action.


    Even Demonic Neonate and I can¡¯t discover the flaws in the mask. Then, is it possible that there aren¡¯t any flaws? Or perhaps, its flaws aren¡¯t on its body? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he focused his attention on the Fiend Tomb where he had discovered the mask.


    Inside the Fiend Tomb were grayish-white Fiend Stones. After the mask flew out, the Fiend Stones below formed the shape of human faces, perhaps because they were compressed by the Fiend Stones above. However, they only looked a little similar in shape. They didn¡¯t have the vibrancy of the other Fiend Stones. They didn¡¯t seem to be living creatures.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care. He had to give everything a shot. He immediately went over in his invisible state and quickly slashed out with Light Concealment Sword, slashing at the human-faced Fiend Stones in the Fiend Tomb.


    Pfft!


    Wherever the sword mark appeared, black blood spewed out like a fountain. As for Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s mask, it suddenly distorted as cracks similar to the sword marks appeared.


    When the black blood spewed out, the mask shattered with a crack and fell to the ground.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Ghoul Mask.¡¯ A notification appeared in-game.


    Nothing dropped? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. The Dragon Tiger Pill Essence that had recently dropped seemed to have expended all his luck. It had been days since anything good had dropped.


    After the Ghoul Mask was dispatched, Zhou Wen recovered his connection with Tyrant Behemoth. Furthermore, the ghost faces in the Fiend Stone shattered. When the Companion Beasts touched the Fiend Stones again, they didn¡¯t get petrified again.


    From the looks of it, the problem with Fiend Stone Petrification was triggered by the Ghoul Mask. I wonder if the Zhang family¡¯s people ran towards the Fiend Tomb because of the Ghoul Mask. If that¡¯s the case, the Zhang family¡¯s problem should be resolvable, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he got Tyrant Behemoth to continue digging the Fiend Tomb to see what else was down there.


    Without the interference of the Fiend Stone statues, Tyrant Behemoth dug even faster. It directly swallowed the Fiend Stones it dug out to replenish its expended Essence Energy.


    As it dug, Tyrant Behemoth stopped as though it had lost its soul. It stood in front of the Fiend Tomb, motionless no matter how Zhou Wen ordered it.


    What¡¯s wrong now? Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he focused his gaze at the Fiend Tomb that had been dug seven to eight meters deep. He saw that apart from the Fiend Stones, there was another living creature in the pit.

 Chapter 844 - Ba

    The creature looked very strange. Its lower body was like a snake, but it was also like a fish. Its upper body had two dragon claws, and its head resembled a dragon, but it didn¡¯t have horns. It was a very strange creature.


    It lay silently in the grave. For some reason, Tyrant Behemoth stood outside the pit and stared at it as though it was possessed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he summoned the Golden Battle God Halberd to attack the monster in the grave.


    However, when the Golden Battle God Halberd approached the grave, it lost control and landed beside the pit.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly sent a few Companion Beasts over, but the outcome was the same. As long as they approached the grave, they would stand there motionless as though they had been possessed.


    Be it animals or weapons, all Companion Beasts shared the same fate.


    The dimensional creatures in this Fiend Tomb are really strange. First, it¡¯s the Ghoul Mask, and now, it¡¯s such a monster. Their abilities are so strange. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned Truth Listener to the graveside.


    However, Truth Listener didn¡¯t stand there in a daze. It broke two earrings and, after descending, grabbed the monster with its claws, tearing it into two.


    By the time the monster wanted to resist, it was already too late. It died an unnatural death, and only then did Tyrant Behemoth and the other Companion Beasts regain their lucidity.


    Thankfully, I have enough Companion Beasts that have well-rounded abilities. Otherwise, I really wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to this Fiend Tomb, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Ghost Hornless.¡¯ A game notification popped up.


    It¡¯s another Mythical creature. What¡¯s hidden underneath? Could it really be Ba? Zhou Wen wondered how powerful Ba would be if it was really Ba.


    After eliminating Ghost Hornless, Zhou Wen ordered Tyrant Behemoth to continue digging. He wanted to see if there was a Ba in the Fiend Tomb.


    Tyrant Behemoth received the order and continued digging. Not long after, the Fiend Stones below emitted a scorching aura. The deeper it went, the hotter the Fiend Stones became. Towards the end, the Fiend Stones turned into magma.


    Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t afraid of the magma as it sucked the magma into its stomach. As the magma vanished, something gradually revealed itself.


    Zhou Wen finally saw something that wasn¡¯t a Fiend Stone. It was a type of black metal that had been forged into the shape of a bed. There was a canopy on the bed with a transparent curtain hanging down.


    The magma formed by the Fiend Stones was blocked by the veil, preventing it from entering the bed.


    And on the bed, there was a stunning woman sleeping. Just sleeping there with her eyes closed she was beautiful beyond description. It was difficult to imagine how beautiful she would be if she opened her eyes.


    The woman was dressed in red, making her figure look enchanting and charming. Even though the game¡¯s style was cartoonish, it was already very provocative.


    If it was in reality, he wondered how sexy and alluring she would be.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to admire her beauty. His expression was still solemn because he felt a familiar aura from this woman.


    That aura wasn¡¯t from a dimensional creature, but the aura of a Guardian.


    However, typical Guardians were in cocoons, but this woman was sleeping on the bed. This only meant one thing; she had long broken out of the cocoon.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, it wasn¡¯t possible for a Guardian to break out of the cocoon just because they were strong enough. Unless someone forcefully broke the cocoon of the Guardian, or someone contracted them, the Guardian couldn¡¯t break out no matter how strong they were.


    Now that this woman wasn¡¯t in the cocoon, it could only mean that she had already contracted a human, or that someone had forcefully torn open the cocoon.


    The Zhang family has protected the Fiend Tomb for so long it¡¯s unlikely that someone else dug up the Fiend Tomb and contracted the Guardian. Then, there are only two possibilities. One is that the Zhang family has someone who contracted the Guardian. Another possibility is that this woman is the same as the fellow in the log. She¡¯s one of the surviving Guardians from a previous era, Zhou Wen thought as the woman on the bed suddenly opened her eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t as beautiful as Zhou Wen imagined. It was a pair of eyes that were as red as fire. Although they didn¡¯t look ugly, they were terrifying. There wasn¡¯t a hint of feminine charm in them.


    Her red eyes stared coldly at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at a thief who dared disturb her dreams.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart chilled as he broke out into a cold sweat. A sense of danger arose spontaneously.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen recalled that he was still wearing the Invisibility Cloak. Yet, she could actually see him. Didn¡¯t that mean that the Invisibility Cloak was ineffective against her?


    Zhou Wen chose to strike first to gain the upper hand. Tyrant Behemoth roared and charged at the woman on the bed. After it expanded, a fist that was bigger than the bed slammed down violently in a bid to smash the bed and the woman to pieces.


    However, before Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist landed, the woman on the bed had already sat up and lifted the transparent veil over the bed.


    At the instant the veil was lifted, terrifying flames instantly filled the entire world. Zhou Wen failed to react in time and only saw flames fill the screen before the blood-colored avatar died.


    What the hell is this? A full-screen instant kill? Zhou Wen launched the game dungeon and wanted to reenter the Fiend Tomb to take a look, but the program icon of the Fiend Tomb dimmed. There was no reaction from tapping it. There was a 24-hour countdown below. The meaning was obvious. He needed 24 hours to enter the Fiend Tomb dungeon again.


    Zhou Wen felt somewhat unsatisfied. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to find another Guardian. This might be the opportunity for Slaughterer to advance to a Perfect Body.


    I have Banana Fairy, so I might be able to restrain the Guardian¡¯s flames. There¡¯s still a chance of killing her. Zhou Wen thought again. There¡¯s actually a Guardian in the Fiend Tomb. In that case, the Ba that the Zhang family mentioned is actually a Guardian?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. When he connected the origins of Ba, Zhou Wen increasingly felt that she might be the surviving Guardian of the last Guardian battle.


    Now, Zhou Wen was beginning to suspect that the battle between Yellow Emperor and Chiyou might have been a battle between Guardians. There must have been many Guardians involved.


    The former principal went missing after studying the Zhuolu battlefield. The things he left behind seem to be related to the Zhuolu battle. Could it be that the things the former principal left behind really give people a chance to defeat the Guardians? Zhou Wen thought about the connection.


    He first went to grind other dungeons. After a painful wait of twenty-four hours, Zhou Wen entered the Fiend Tomb dungeon again. By then, the Fiend Tomb had returned to its original state.


    Zhou Wen ordered Tyrant Behemoth to dig up the Fiend Tomb before drawing out the Ghoul Mask. He held the Golden Overlord Sword and slashed at the face in the Fiend Tomb.


    However, just as the blood-colored avatar arrived in front of the Fiend Tomb, it collapsed and died on the spot.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback as the game screen went black. It would take another twenty-four hours to enter the Fiend Tomb.


    What the hell? Do I have to wait 24 hours after a single death? Isn¡¯t this dungeon too odd? Zhou Wen was extremely helpless.

 Chapter 845 - Goddess Ba

    Translator: CKtalon


    Previously, I was fine slashing the human face in the grave while invisible. Now, just walking over means immediate death. From the looks of it, that human face still has some tricks up its sleeve. However, it couldn¡¯t see me the last time I went invisible, so it didn¡¯t trigger its ability, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    It looks like it¡¯s rather difficult to crack Fiend Tomb. The necessary Companion Beasts need Behemoth, Invisibility Cloak, and Truth Listener. If I want to kill the Guardian, I need Companion Beasts that can restrain flames. I need at least four top-notch Mythical Companion Beasts. Where would the typical person get these Companion Beasts? Even the Zhang family will probably find it difficult to have such a lineup that can perfectly counter the Mythical creatures in the Fiend Tomb.


    However, I don¡¯t think I need to fight the Guardian to resolve the Zhang family¡¯s problem. I just need to kill the Ghoul Mask and the Ghost Hornless. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking of how to help Zhang Yuzhi, she called.


    ¡°When did you return?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I just came back.¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice revealed her exhaustion before she said apologetically, ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m afraid things will change at this Earth Elemental Beast Auction.¡±


    ¡°Is the Earth Elemental Beast not going to be auctioned?¡± Zhou Wen could understand. With such a huge matter happening in the Zhang family, it would be normal for them to not be in the mood to hold an auction.


    ¡°The auction will continue and will even be held ahead of time. However, the auction this time won¡¯t be bid using money. Whoever can resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb can take the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. This isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡± Zhou Wen was delighted. He already had a certain understanding of the Fiend Tomb. Although he wasn¡¯t certain that he could completely resolve the problem with the Fiend Tomb, there shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem if he tried a few more times.


    He didn¡¯t need to kill the Guardian to resolve the Zhang family¡¯s problem, so he was still very confident. However, he still needed to do a few dungeon runs to confirm it. After ensuring that there were no problems, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to participate in the auction.


    ¡°I hope that someone from the other families can resolve the problem with the Fiend Tomb. Otherwise, our Zhang family will really be in danger.¡± Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t in a good mood. She didn¡¯t chat with Zhou Wen for long before hanging up.


    The auction will begin in two days. Time is a little tight, but it should be enough to confirm certain matters. Zhou Wen had already made up his mind to obtain the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg.


    Ignoring the fact that he wanted to help Zhang Yuzhi, even if it was just for the Companion Egg, he had to take action.


    However, I have to think of a way. I can¡¯t expose my Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen thought about how to handle this matter to prevent too many Companion Beasts from being exposed.


    After all, he needed to use many Companion Beasts for the endeavor. At the very least, Tyrant Behemoth, Truth Listener, and Invisibility Cloak were necessary.


    When the Fiend Tomb dungeon could be launched again, Zhou Wen eagerly charged in. This time, Zhou Wen strictly adhered to the procedure.


    Tyrant Behemoth dug out the grave to lure out the Ghoul Mask. Zhou Wen went invisible and approached the grave to kill the ghost face. Then, he dug out the Ghost Hornless and used Truth Listener to kill it.


    The entire process went perfectly without any problems.


    Then, Zhou Wen waited for a period of time. After confirming that the Fiend Stone no longer grew in copious amounts and the ghost face no longer appeared, the Companion Beasts no longer suffered Fiend Stone Petrification, nor did they walk towards the Fiend Tomb by themselves, he felt relieved.


    It¡¯s not easy for me to come here. I can¡¯t waste it. I¡¯ll try to see if Banana Fairy can restrain the Guardian¡¯s flames. Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to continue digging.


    Soon, Tyrant Behemoth dug out Ba again. Just like the last time, when the veil was lifted, terrifying flames immediately burned around the Fiend Tomb.


    However, this time, Banana Fairy was beside the blood-colored avatar. Just as the flames lit up, Banana Fairy parted her cherry lips and spat out the Supreme Yin Wind augmented by the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind.


    In an instant, the flames that filled the screen vanished. The speed at which they were extinguished was as though the flames had never appeared.


    Even the magma in the Fiend Tomb was wiped out by the Supreme Yin Wind and solidified into rocks.


    As for the metal bed, it was sent flying by the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind. It tumbled into the distance and quickly became a black dot before disappearing. It was unknown how far it was sent flying, but it had already exceeded the limits of what could be seen in-game.


    1


    As expected of the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind. It¡¯s too powerful! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Even the Guardian couldn¡¯t withstand a blow from Banana Fairy. It was truly terrifying.


    ¡®Warning¡­ Warning¡­ Goddess Ba transforms into her Terror form¡­ Goddess Ba transforms into her Terror form¡­¡¯ Just as Zhou Wen was feeling delighted, a red warning suddenly appeared in-game. It was like a warning siren that constantly flashed, giving people a visual sense of danger.


    Terror form¡­ What is it? Zhou Wen was momentarily taken aback. He felt that this Terror form had something to do with the Mythical stage¡¯s Terror grade.


    He remembered that the silver-haired Companion Beast had said that most Mythical creatures that appeared on Earth were likely at the Terror grade, but it hadn¡¯t said anything about the Terror form.


    Just as Zhou Wen was puzzled, he saw the scarlet flames burn half the sky red. A red figure that resembled a ghost god tore through the air at an unbelievable speed.


    Wherever the red figure went, everything around it turned into flames. Even the air and mountains burned.


    As he was extremely far away, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t manage to see the figure clearly at first. However, she came too quickly and could be seen in the blink of an eye. It was likely Goddess Ba, but the current Goddess Ba was very different from before.


    Now, Goddess Ba¡¯s entire body was burning with terrifying flames. These flames weren¡¯t burning outside her body, but through her entire body. Every inch of her muscles, every bone, and every tiny cell seemed to be burning with blood-red flames.


    It was as if her entire body was condensed from flames. Her hair was like fire threads, and her eyes were like fire pupils. She was like a fire demoness that had walked out of a myth, emitting a terrifying and dangerous aura. Due to her arrival, the entire valley burned. The river instantly dried up, and the ground was red like purgatory.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the power in her body was unimaginably terrifying. It was something he had never seen on any creature or Companion Beast.


    Tyrant Behemoth roared as it soared into the sky. Its huge fist struck at the levitating Goddess Ba. With the augmentation of Absolute Strength, its strike could shatter mountains.


    However, Goddess Ba only looked coldly at Tyrant Behemoth without any intention of attacking. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s terrifying strike failed to touch her body. It didn¡¯t even break the flames outside the Goddess Ba¡¯s body as invisible flames held back its fist.

 Chapter 846 - Terror Transformation

    Translator: CKtalon


    The flames on Goddess Ba¡¯s body surged as Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s huge body immediately transformed into a fireball. Terrifying flames rapidly burned its body. Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t withstand the flames even with its physical strength.


    The entire valley plunged into a sea of flames. Due to Banana Fairy blowing out the Supreme Yin Wind, she was barely able to prevent the blood-colored avatar from being burned by the flames.


    However, without the augmentation of the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind, the Supreme Yin Wind was clearly no match for the flames. It was being rapidly devoured by the flames.


    Seeing that Tyrant Behemoth was about to be burned to death, Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned Torch Dragon Youngling and used Bright Torch Vision World on Goddess Ba. However, in Torch Dragon Youngling¡¯s eyes, there was only a sea of fire with no sign of Goddess Ba. Goddess Ba stood there without being sucked into the Vision World.


    Holy sh*t, what¡¯s this? Even Bright Torch Vision World is useless? Is it because of the Terror form? Zhou Wen was alarmed. Without waiting for him to think further, the sea of flames had already devoured the blood-colored avatar and the game screen went black.


    What a terrifying Terror form. Is this the true power of a Terror-grade Mythical creature? Zhou Wen felt that Goddess Ba was the most terrifying creature he had ever seen.


    Even the two Guardians of Ant City and the underground sea aren¡¯t that terrifying. I wonder if they have a Terror form. Zhou Wen guessed that they didn¡¯t have one. At the very least, he had never seen them before.


    If there is anyone else with a Terror form, it¡¯s probably the one inside the Forbidden City¡¯s log. She might have a Terror form.


    The chances of new Guardians who hadn¡¯t come out of the cocoons having a Terror form were relatively low.


    How did this Terror form come about? Can Companion Beasts have such a form? Zhou Wen thought about it but couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    He suddenly thought of The Thearch and thought to himself, Could The Thearch also have a Terror form?


    After some thought, Zhou Wen sent a message to The Thearch: ¡°The Thearch, can I ask you a question? Are you a Terror-grade expert?¡±


    He originally didn¡¯t expect a reply, but The Thearch surprisingly replied shortly after. ¡°Not bad. You even know about the Terror-grade. What else do you know?¡±


    ¡°I also know the existence of the Terror form. You should be an existence at that level, right?¡± Zhou Wen said after some hesitation.


    ¡°A Terror form is nothing. To you humans, the Terror grade means invincibility, but in front of me, the Terror grade is trash,¡± The Thearch said in contempt. ¡°You must have encountered a fellow with a Terror form. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have asked me.¡±


    ¡°You are wise.¡± Zhou Wen flattered her, hoping that she would say more.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t disappoint and sent another message. ¡°In theory, Mythical creatures with a Terror form are considered true Mythical creatures. However, the Terror form isn¡¯t something all Mythical creatures can possess. It depends on their bloodline talent and comprehension abilities. Typical Guardians can have a Terror form as long as they continue fighting and evolving. However, for dimensional creatures, only the top ones can have a Terror form.¡±


    ¡°What exactly is a Terror form?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The Thearch replied, ¡°What do you think the difference between the Mythical stage and the typical Epic and Legendary stages is?¡±


    ¡°Basic stats and Wheel of Destiny,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°The Wheel of Destiny can indeed allow Mythical creatures to possess a powerful ability, but no matter how powerful it is, it¡¯s only an ability. This isn¡¯t a qualitative difference. From the perspective of dimensional creatures, being able to undergo a Terror transformation is the most important indicator of the differentiation between the levels of creatures. There¡¯s no distinction between Legendary and Epic in dimensional zones because such creatures are too weak. They don¡¯t have the qualifications to be categorized. There are only two ways to be truly categorized. A dimensional creature that can undergo Terror transformation and a dimensional creature that can¡¯t. This is the first level of categorization for dimensional creatures.¡±


    ¡°I still don¡¯t understand what kind of power the Terror form is.¡± Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand.


    The Thearch added, ¡°Of course you don¡¯t understand. That¡¯s because that¡¯s the true Mythical realm. If you haven¡¯t reached that realm, you naturally won¡¯t understand. To put it simply, the so-called God is an indescribable thing. It¡¯s an unknown thing that makes humans feel terrified. If humans can defeat creatures with their strength, they won¡¯t be called gods. The Terror form is an indescribable state. After the Terror transformation, no matter how strong a mortal is, it¡¯s impossible for them to injure the body that has undergone Terror transformation. Only a Terror form can defeat a Terror form.¡±


    ¡°Then how can Terror transformation be achieved?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for you humans to undergo Terror transformation. Only by signing a contract with a Guardian and using the Guardian¡¯s power to advance to the Mythical stage will you have the qualifications to undergo a Terror transformation,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t humans advance to the Mythical stage?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand why only humans couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Let me give you an analogy. Don¡¯t you humans have something called comics? The characters in those comics are called two-dimensional creatures by you. As for you humans, you are three-dimensional creatures. No matter how powerful the characters in the comics are, do you think they can become three-dimensional creatures like humans? Of course, this is just an example. It¡¯s not completely accurate, but the actual situation isn¡¯t much different. Therefore, no matter how powerful the characters in the comics are, they can¡¯t injure three-dimensional creatures. As for three-dimensional creatures, they can easily destroy two-dimensional creatures. This is why only the Terror grade can defeat the Terror grade. After the Terror transformation, they are no longer existences on the same level. There¡¯s no comparison,¡± The Thearch explained.


    Is humanity really hopeless? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t believe that humans couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage. At the very least, Xia Jiuhuang had succeeded, although his methods were very cruel.


    The Thearch replied, ¡°Of course there¡¯s hope. Contracting a Guardian or becoming one with a Guardian like Wang Mingyuan. Only these two paths are possible.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen a human before. He relied on himself to advance to the Mythical stage,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch¡¯s reply was filled with contempt. ¡°You¡¯re talking about the one in Forbidden City, right? Do you think that he could have advanced to the Mythical stage by his strength alone if it wasn¡¯t for the help of Starlady Polestar?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. Back then, Xia Jiuhuang had indeed used the power in the log to condense the final Life Providence and Life Soul. With the help of the purple lightning, he had advanced to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°There are only these two paths for humans. Have you considered which one you want to take? If you want to contract a Guardian, I can help you. I can help you contract an extremely powerful Guardian. It¡¯s definitely not inferior to Starlady Polestar,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°I still want to see if I can advance to the Mythical stage with my own strength,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then take your time. It won¡¯t be too late to find me when you reach a dead end.¡± The Thearch wasn¡¯t angry this time. She seemed to be certain that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage with his own strength.

 Chapter 847 - Gathering at Fiend Tomb

    Translator: CKtalon


    After waiting for twenty-four hours, Zhou Wen entered the Fiend Tomb dungeon again. This time, he naturally didn¡¯t dare provoke the Goddess Ba. All he did was eliminate the Ghoul Mask and Ghost Hornless. Then, he didn¡¯t take further action. He maintained this state and observed if there were any other abnormalities around the Fiend Tomb.


    There were no more problems with the Fiend Tomb even when Zhang Yuzhi invited him to participate in the so-called auction. As long as he didn¡¯t continue digging, Goddess Ba wouldn¡¯t wake up.


    The auction was originally planned to be held in Dragon Tiger Town, but it had been changed to a temporary encampment near the Fiend Tomb.


    Those who were invited were basically the best in the Federation. The members of the six families were all present, so the Cape family naturally didn¡¯t look happy when they saw Zhou Wen.


    The other families didn¡¯t have much of a relationship with Zhou Wen. Instead, people from the North District¡¯s Ultimate Family Clan took the initiative to greet him.


    ¡°Lance often mentions you and wishes to have a serious battle with you. If you have the time in the future, why don¡¯t you pay a visit to the North District?¡± the elder from the Ultimate Family Clan said to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely go if I have the chance in the future.¡± Zhou Wen had long had thought about the dimensional zones in the North District, but they were too far away, so he hadn¡¯t gone.


    However, now that Fine Dust needed him to take untaken paths to advance, he couldn¡¯t avoid heading out more often in the future. It was a good opportunity to make a trip to the North District.


    After chatting for a while, the person in charge of the Zhang family came over and began speaking.


    It was similar to what Zhang Chunqiu had said. It roughly meant that the Zhang family wouldn¡¯t charge any form of money for the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. As long as they could help the Zhang family resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb, they could take away the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg.


    In fact, most people already knew the news in advance, so they weren¡¯t surprised. After all, such a huge matter had happened to the Zhang family. It was impossible to keep it under wraps.


    ¡°Brother Zhang, we roughly know about the situation in the Fiend Tomb. However, there are some things that we can¡¯t produce a solution for unless we see them with our own eyes,¡± the Dugu family¡¯s representative, Dugu Wenxin, said.


    ¡°In a while, I¡¯ll take all of you to the Fiend Tomb to view it. However, there¡¯s something I want to make clear to everyone. The Fiend Tomb is extremely strange. Anyone who goes there might be struck by some unknown power. Who knows when they might unknowingly walk towards the Fiend Tomb and become a lifeless Fiend Stone Statue. Therefore, the people who go will face certain danger. We leave it up to you to decide. If something happens because of this, the Zhang family will not be held responsible,¡± the person in charge of the Zhang family said.


    ¡°Of course,¡± said Moses.


    Most people expressed their willingness to take the risk. Only a small number of people stayed back.


    The Zhang family produced a contract and got all who were willing to take the risk to sign it. Only then did they take the people who had signed the contract to the Fiend Tomb.


    Zhou Wen was one of them. He was determined to obtain the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, so he naturally couldn¡¯t let go of this opportunity.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already been there. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know the dangers there. Why are you still going?¡± When the others set off for the Fiend Tomb, Zhou Wen was stopped by Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought of a way. Perhaps it can eliminate the influence of the Fiend Tomb, so I want to give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What method is it?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked doubtfully.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hide it. ¡°I want to dig open the Fiend Tomb and eliminate the dimensional creatures inside. That way, I can naturally eliminate the negative effects.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi immediately shook her head and said, ¡°You can¡¯t do that. My ancestral Celestial Master said that if we release the creatures in the Fiend Tomb, it will definitely cause a calamity for the Zhang family. Our Zhang family has suppressed the Fiend Tomb for so many years, precisely because we do not want that to happen. How can we dig open the Fiend Tomb for our own selfish reasons?¡±


    ¡°According to my observations, there shouldn¡¯t be only one terrifying creature in the Fiend Tomb. The one that¡¯s affecting your Zhang family shouldn¡¯t be the Ba that the ancestral Celestial Master mentioned. As long as we don¡¯t alarm the Ba, we can dig shallowly into the Fiend Tomb and kill the dimensional creatures that are affecting your Zhang family,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    Zhang Yuzhi shook her head with a bitter smile. ¡°Who knows what will happen if we touch the Fiend Tomb? Perhaps the terrifying creatures inside will escape. The consequences would be unimaginable. I¡¯m afraid my family¡¯s elders won¡¯t agree to that.¡±


    Zhou Wen fell silent. He was already having so much difficulty convincing Zhang Yuzhi, so it would probably be even more difficult to convince the elders of the Zhang family. He couldn¡¯t reveal the fact that he knew about the Fiend Tomb¡¯s situation, so it would be troublesome to convince them.


    Now, Zhou Wen could only take one step at a time. He was unwilling to give up the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg no matter what.


    After witnessing the horror of the Terror transformation, if one encountered such a terrifying existence before they had the strength to fight it, the only option was to run.


    As for the Earth Elemental Beast, it was undoubtedly the best weapon for escaping. It was highly likely that he would have to rely on it.


    Of course, it was best if he didn¡¯t encounter a creature that was capable of Terror transformation. However, if he did, he needed a way to survive.


    In the future, more and more Guardians would appear. There would definitely be more Guardians with the ability of Terror transformation. Even more terrifying dimensional creatures might appear as well.


    If it was really as the silver-haired Companion Beast said, the combination of a human and a Guardian might produce a Calamity-grade powerhouse, it would be even more terrifying.


    To be so terrifying at the Terror grade, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t imagine what kind of power a Calamity had.


    As Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t allowed to go to the Fiend Tomb, Zhou Wen had no choice but to chase after the group alone and follow the others.


    Zhang Chunqiu had been guarding the Fiend Tomb recently. When Zhou Wen and company arrived, Zhang Chunqiu welcomed them and took them to the stone platform.


    This stone platform had a huge backstory. It had been built by the ancestral Celestial Master. Up to today, it hadn¡¯t been petrified by the Fiend Stones. The ground and mountain walls beneath the stone platform had long been petrified by the Fiend Stones. Only these eight stone platforms were safe.


    Most of the people who had come were from the other five families. Some of them were from famous local wealthy families and famous freelance hunters.


    Zhou Wen looked at them for a while, but he didn¡¯t find Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun probably won¡¯t give up easily. If he¡¯s not here, does he plan on stealing the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg? Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious.


    The others had already begun studying the problem of the Fiend Stones. They had already obtained detailed information from the Zhang family. Now was the time to showcase their abilities.


    Some people summoned their Companion Beasts and tried to see if they could avoid being petrified. Others wanted to use some kind of power to cleanse the mountain walls and people.


    An elder of the Cape family summoned a crucifix. After praying, the crucifix emitted a holy light and shone it at the Zhang family members who had turned into Fiend Stone statues. However, it was useless. The Fiend Stones weren¡¯t purified.

 Chapter 848 - : Fighting for an Opportunity

    Translator: CKtalon


    It had to be said that the six families and the local wealthy families had rich heritage. Their means and various Companion Beasts broadened Zhou Wen¡¯s horizons.


    Some of the Companion Beasts and abilities really worked.


    An elder from the Cape family summoned a book-shaped Companion Beast. When the book¡¯s page flipped open, a shadow appeared on it. It was the blurry shadow of the Ghoul Mask.


    There were also some Companion Beasts that could move across the Fiend Stones without being petrified. Everyone was trying their best to find a solution to the problem.


    These fellows sure are capable. Don¡¯t tell me they can really resolve the problem with the Fiend Tomb? Zhou Wen immediately felt a sense of danger.


    He had worked so hard for the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. It would be terrible if someone else beat him to it.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and found Zhang Chunqiu. He whispered, ¡°I¡¯ve thought of a way to resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb. I just need to dig it up.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and said, ¡°You can¡¯t dig up the Fiend Tomb. Even if I agree, the elders in my family won¡¯t agree, much less the Celestial Master.¡±


    ¡°If we don¡¯t dig open the Fiend Tomb, I¡¯m afraid it will be very difficult to resolve the problem. However, you can rest assured. After my investigations, there¡¯s not only a Ba in the Fiend Tomb. There are other dimensional creatures on the periphery. We just need to dig open a portion of the Fiend Tomb and eliminate those dimensional creatures. I¡¯m confident that I won¡¯t disturb Ba,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered for a moment and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless even if I believe you. This is the teachings of the ancestral Celestial Master. The Zhang family has protected it for generations, and we won¡¯t dare violate it, or the Zhang family will definitely be wiped out. Even for the Zhang family, the elders in the family will never allow anyone to touch the Fiend Tomb.¡±


    ¡°But the Zhang family will also suffer if we don¡¯t touch the Fiend Tomb. At this point in time, we have to take the risk, right?¡± Zhou Wen still wanted to move Zhang Chunqiu.


    Zhang Chunqiu stared at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Are you really confident? You have to be absolutely certain. If any accident happens, our Zhang family will be doomed.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that Zhang Chunqiu hoped that he could produce some powerful evidence, but how could Zhou Wen produce any? He couldn¡¯t just switch on his phone and farm the Fiend Tomb for them to see.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°To be honest, I have a special ability to see through things. I can see the situation in the Fiend Tomb clearly, so I¡¯m very confident about this matter.¡±


    ¡°You can see through the Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhang Chunqiu looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    In fact, the Zhang family also had Companion Beasts with penetrative vision. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just one. However, none of the Companion Beasts¡¯ penetrative vision worked on the Fiend Tomb. They were unable to see its interior.


    This didn¡¯t mean that the Companion Beasts¡¯ penetrative vision wasn¡¯t strong, but that the sleeping Goddess Ba was too powerful. It wasn¡¯t easy to see through the Fiend Tomb.


    Even some Companion Beasts with the ability to predict the future could only roughly predict the Ghoul Mask at the top. Furthermore, the scenes they predicted were blurry, just like the one produced by the Cape family¡¯s elder.


    ¡°There are a total of three levels in the Fiend Tomb. The first level is the mask. I reckon that the ghost face and the power of the Fiend Stone Petrification are produced because of that ghost face. The second level is a strange creature. It looks like a snake and dragon, but it¡¯s neither. The reason behind the Zhang family members involuntarily walking towards the Fiend Tomb is probably due to its enticement. The third level is the Ba that your Zhang family is suppressing and protecting, but we don¡¯t have to alarm her. All we need to do is dig up the Fiend Tomb and eliminate the two dimensional creatures. Then, we can resolve your family¡¯s problem.¡± Zhou Wen explained the general situation.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid that the Zhang family would go back on their word. Even if he told them what was down there, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to kill the Ghoul Mask and Ghost Hornless. Many people might even die.


    Even Zhou Wen needed to use Tyrant Behemoth, Truth Listener, and the Invisibility Cloak to kill them.


    Seeing how detailed Zhou Wen was, Zhang Chunqiu couldn¡¯t help but believe him. After some thought, he said, ¡°That may be the case, but no one can guarantee that opening the Fiend Tomb won¡¯t alarm the Ba at the bottom. Furthermore, we know nothing about the two dimensional creatures above. It won¡¯t be easy to kill them.¡±


    After a pause, Zhang Chunqiu continued, ¡°To be honest, our Zhang family can also deduce that there are dimensional creatures in the Fiend Tomb. However, due to the orders of the ancestral Celestial Master, no one dares to touch the Fiend Tomb. Therefore, this matter will probably be very difficult to facilitate. How about this? Give me some time and let me give it a try. I¡¯ll think of a way to convince my elders.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen could only wait for Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s news.


    The Zhang family¡¯s current Celestial Master was Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s second uncle, Zhang Siyou. At this moment, Zhang Siyou was talking to the Cape family and the Family Clan of Gods.


    ¡°Chunqiu, you came at the right time. Old Mister Charlie and Moses have found a way to eliminate the influence of the Fiend Tomb. Come and listen too.¡± Zhang Siyou beckoned Zhang Chunqiu over.


    Zhang Chunqiu bowed slightly and stood behind Zhang Siyou.


    Although he wanted to talk about Zhou Wen, it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to say it in front of so many people. All he could do was wait patiently.


    ¡°Celestial Master, as I said just now, all the strange things in the Fiend Tomb are a result of that mask. To remove the mask without digging open the Fiend Tomb, only our Cape family¡¯s Great Divination Theurgy can do it¡­¡± Charlie Sr. said slowly.


    Zhang Siyou listened quietly without commenting. After Old Charlie finished speaking, he looked at Moses and the other members of the Family Clan of Gods.


    Moses said, ¡°I can¡¯t agree with Old Mister Charlie. There¡¯s indeed a mask in the Fiend Tomb, but the Great Divination Theurgy might not be useful. If you are willing to let me do it, I definitely won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    ¡°Then I want to hear what abilities you have that are better than our Cape family¡¯s Great Divination,¡± Charlie said coldly.


    Moses didn¡¯t say anything. He summoned a terrifying giant.


    Unlike the typical barbaric and primitive giant, this giant was wearing glorious armor. He was like a giant god that protected the world. He had an incomparable aura as though he could crush the earth with a single step and shatter the stars with a single punch.


    ¡°This is my Guardian, the Giant God Sovereign. With his strength, it won¡¯t be difficult for him to kill the mask in the Fiend Tomb,¡± said Moses.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze was attracted by the Giant God Sovereign. Although many people already knew of the existence of Guardians, not many had actually seen one.


    ¡°No matter how strong a Guardian is, it¡¯s impossible for them to destroy the mask inside the Fiend Tomb, right? You still have to dig open the Fiend Tomb in the end, isn¡¯t that so?¡± Charlie remained unmoved as he sneered.


    Moses said unhurriedly, ¡°That might not be the case. The power that the Giant God Sovereign possesses is unimaginable to ordinary people. Even if we don¡¯t dig open the Fiend Tomb, we can still destroy the mask inside. I can guarantee that I won¡¯t damage the Fiend Tomb. If the Fiend Tomb is damaged in any way, the Celestial Master doesn¡¯t have to pay me with the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg.¡±

 Chapter 849 - : My Method

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although Moses and the rest were not on the stone platform, Giant God Sovereign was so huge that the people on the stone platforms also saw the terrifying body of Giant God Sovereign.


    When Zhou Wen saw Giant God Sovereign, his eyes lit up. He could already smell the aura of the Guardian. Without a doubt, it was another Guardian.


    Zhou Wen was still no match for the super powerful Guardians, but not every Guardian was that strong. Perhaps this Giant God Sovereign was about the same strength as the six-winged seraphim?


    Zhou Wen wanted to take another look, but Moses had already unsummoned the Guardian.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and suddenly frowned. Don¡¯t tell me that fellow wants to use the Guardian¡¯s power to touch the Fiend Tomb? Isn¡¯t that courting death?


    When Guardians descended on Earth, they represented different dimensional races in battle. They were enemies against each other. Now, they were using one Guardian to blast the place where another Guardian was sleeping. It was obvious what would happen next.


    Without a doubt, Goddess Ba sleeping in the Fiend Tomb would most likely go berserk. When that happened, the Zhang family wouldn¡¯t be the only ones to suffer. Everyone would die.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to die, nor did he wish for Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s family to be destroyed. Therefore, he was already considering how he could stop the Zhang family if they really agreed to let the Guardian attack the Fiend Tomb.


    Zhang Siyou was still considering Charlie¡¯s and Moses¡¯s suggestions. Two different solutions seemed to be worth a try, but at the same time, it was difficult to say which method would really work.


    Both arguments had their merits. They hoped that the Zhang family could use their plans.


    ¡°Chunqiu, what do you think?¡± Zhang Siyou looked at Zhang Chunqiu and asked.


    When Zhang Chunqiu was young, he had already helped his family to guard the Fiend Tomb. Furthermore, Zhang Siyou had the intention of grooming him into the Zhang family¡¯s next Celestial Master. By asking Zhang Chunqiu now, not only did he want to know his opinion, but he also wanted to test him.


    Zhang Chunqiu thought for a moment and bowed to Zhang Siyou. ¡°Celestial Master, if possible, I wish to hear more plans before making a decision.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, other than our two families, no one has discovered the mask in the Fiend Tomb, much less come up with a solution to getting rid of it without damaging the Fiend Tomb,¡± said Moses.


    Zhang Siyou looked at Zhang Chunqiu thoughtfully and asked, ¡°Are there any other plans?¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu hurriedly said, ¡°Zhou Wen, who represents Luoyang¡¯s An family, also has a plan that can resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb. Why don¡¯t you listen to it first?¡±


    ¡°Is that Yuzhi¡¯s friend?¡± Zhang Siyou clearly knew who Zhou Wen was.


    ¡°Yes, Yuzhi has a good relationship with Zhou Wen. She even saved Zhou Wen before. He has no ill intentions towards the Zhang family,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Then invite him over to get him to tell me his plan,¡± Zhang Siyou said after some thought.


    Zhang Chunqiu hurriedly agreed and went to look for Zhou Wen. Just as Zhang Chunqiu left, Charlie said, ¡°Celestial Master, that Zhou Wen is just a kid with some luck. Don¡¯t tell me you really believe him and are leaving such an important matter to him? This concerns the fate of the Zhang family. Please be careful!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no harm in listening to more opinions. In the end, we¡¯ll use the proposal that¡¯s better,¡± Zhang Siyou said calmly.


    Seeing that Zhang Siyou had made his decision, Charlie and Moses didn¡¯t say anything else.


    When Zhang Chunqiu saw Zhou Wen, he explained the situation in detail. He still believed Zhou Wen. After all, not only did Zhou Wen see the mask, but he also knew that there was a monster beneath it, as well as Ba further down.


    As for Charlie and Moses, they had only discovered the topmost mask.


    If he really wanted to give it a try, Zhang Chunqiu was more willing to believe Zhou Wen.


    ¡°They only discovered the mask. Ignoring the question of whether they can remove the mask, even if they can, the monster below is still there. It¡¯s useless to remove the mask.¡± Zhou Wen paused for a moment and said to Zhang Chunqiu with a heavy expression, ¡°Furthermore, I suspect that the Ba down there is actually a Guardian. We don¡¯t know what the relationship between the Guardians is. If they are enemies, it will probably cause huge trouble if Moses uses a Guardian to attack the Fiend Tomb.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu frowned when he heard that. He asked, ¡°Are you sure Ba is a Guardian?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure. After all, I can only see a portion of it through my penetrative vision. However, Ba does look like a Guardian,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If there¡¯s really such a possibility, we can¡¯t let Moses try regardless. We can¡¯t take such a risk.¡± Zhang Chunqiu had already made up his mind. He brought Zhou Wen along and said, ¡°Follow me to the Celestial Master. Try your best to fight for an opportunity. I¡¯ll help you from the side.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen agreed and followed Zhang Chunqiu to Zhang Siyou¡¯s side.


    ¡°Greetings, Celestial Master. I¡¯m Zhou Wen.¡± Zhou Wen bowed at Zhang Siyou.


    In the past, the Zhang family¡¯s Hero King was the leader of the six heroes. Now, every Zhang family¡¯s Celestial Master had a very special status in the Federation. Even the Senators of the six families were respectful in front of the Celestial Master, not daring to slight him.


    ¡°Since you are Yuzhi¡¯s friend, there¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony with me. I often hear Yuzhi mention you. I can tell that you are indeed a young hero.¡± Zhang Siyou sized up Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°I heard that you also have a way to eliminate the influence of the Fiend Tomb. Can you elaborate?¡±


    ¡°My method is actually very simple. It¡¯s to dig open the Fiend Tomb and kill the dimensional creatures inside. Only then can I completely resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    When he said that, not only did many members of the Zhang family frown, but Charlie even said disdainfully, ¡°If we could dig up the Fiend Tomb, why would the Zhang family invite you over with their means and abilities?¡±


    Zhang Siyou didn¡¯t directly object to Zhou Wen¡¯s suggestion. All he did was look at him and say, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me why you insist on digging up the Fiend Tomb?¡±


    Zhou Wen said calmly, ¡°I have a penetrative skill. I can roughly tell that the Fiend Tomb is split into three levels. The first level has a mask, the second level is a monster, and the third level is the creature that your family has been guarding. If I want to completely resolve the problem of the Fiend Tomb, I have to eliminate the mask on the first level and the monster on the second level. If I don¡¯t dig up the Fiend Tomb, I really don¡¯t have the ability to eliminate both.¡±


    ¡°What a joke. The Zhang family has the power of the Heavenly Eye. Even the Zhang family can¡¯t see through the Fiend Tomb, but you can see it clearly. You even know that it¡¯s split into three levels. Could it be that your ability to see through things is even more powerful than the Zhang family¡¯s Heavenly Eye? I¡¯m afraid you heard what we said and know that there¡¯s a mask in the Fiend Tomb. You are using this information to be an alarmist, hoping to benefit from it, right?¡± Charlie said with a sneer.


    ¡°The Celestial Master will be able to determine the veracity of my information.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t argue with Charlie. He turned to Zhang Siyou and said, ¡°Celestial Master, if you want me to do it, I have to dig open the Fiend Tomb. There¡¯s no other way.¡±

 Chapter 850 - Killing the Ghoul Mask

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Celestial Master, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to waste time, right? It¡¯s naturally impossible to dig up the Fiend Tomb. It looks like you can only choose between me and Old Mister Charlie,¡± said Moses.


    After hearing Moses say that, Zhou Wen suddenly said, ¡°Celestial Master, if I were you, I definitely wouldn¡¯t choose to use the power of a Guardian.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what are you trying to imply?¡± Moses and the members of the Family Clan of Gods glared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhang Siyou looked at Zhou Wen with interest.


    ¡°It¡¯s not convenient for me to explain the exact reason in public. I¡¯ve already told Zhang Chunqiu. It¡¯s best if he explains it to you in private,¡± Zhou Wen said as he deliberately glanced at Moses.


    Originally, he had thought of a better solution, but he chose the easiest method to anger Moses and the Family Clan of Gods. This was because he needed an excuse to kill Giant God Sovereign.


    Now, Moses and the members of the Family Clan of Gods looked at Zhou Wen with extremely unfriendly gazes.


    Zhang Chunqiu used a secret message to convey the reason Zhou Wen had mentioned to Zhang Siyou. After hearing it, Zhang Siyou looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Are you sure about the matter regarding Giant God Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t be sure, but if it were me, I wouldn¡¯t take such a risk,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Celestial Master, please don¡¯t listen to his nonsense. I know my Guardian best. There definitely won¡¯t be a problem,¡± Moses explained. Although he didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen had said to the Zhang family, he knew that there was nothing good about it.


    ¡°Please calm down. We need some time to discuss. Please wait for a moment.¡± After Zhang Siyou finished speaking, he got someone to lead the three parties away, leaving only the members of the Zhang family behind to begin a discussion.


    ¡­


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you dare accept my challenge?¡± Moses asked Zhou Wen coldly.


    ¡°You are just relying on a Guardian. It¡¯s nothing impressive. Why wouldn¡¯t I dare?¡± Zhou Wen replied arrogantly.


    ¡°Very well. After this matter is over, I will definitely fight you. You won¡¯t escape then,¡± Moses said with a sullen expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you will be the one to escape when the time comes.¡± Zhou Wen remained as arrogant as ever.


    Moses didn¡¯t say anything else. After all, this was an important area in the Zhang family. It was impossible for him to fight Zhou Wen here. It was useless to say anything now. All he could do was wait until he left.


    ¡­


    The Zhang family was in an intense discussion. Naturally, Zhang Chunqiu strongly recommended Zhou Wen, but due to the teachings of the ancestral Celestial Master, many elders of the Zhang family didn¡¯t agree to digging up the tomb.


    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s uncle was especially against it.


    ¡°If we really want to dig up the tomb, our Zhang family has countless experts. Why would we need to rely on outsiders?¡± This was what most of the Zhang family members thought.


    The reason they were willing to hire someone¡¯s help with the Earth Elemental Beast as compensation was because they hoped to resolve the problem without touching the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°Uncles, Zhou Wen can see through the Fiend Tomb. Only he knows where the Fiend Tomb can be dug and where it can¡¯t be dug. Uncles, you should know the dangers of the Fiend Tomb better than me. We can¡¯t take such risks,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°There are also risk-free solutions. Charlie and Moses do not need to dig open Fiend Tomb, so there¡¯s no risk at all. Even if it¡¯s really as Zhou Wen said and there¡¯s a Guardian down there, making it inconvenient to use a Guardian to blast open Fiend Tomb, we can still choose Charlie. Furthermore, saying that Ba is a Guardian isn¡¯t believable at all. When he first came, he couldn¡¯t see any problems. Now that he¡¯s here, he has figured everything out. It¡¯s a little unbelievable,¡± Uncle Zhang said.


    ¡°Uncle¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Uncle Zhang.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say anything else. The ancestral teachings are unbreakable. Ancestral Celestial Master has already made it clear that if the Fiend Tomb is touched, our Zhang family will definitely perish. No matter what, I don¡¯t agree to digging up the tomb.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu was helpless. No matter what he said, he couldn¡¯t move the elders of the Zhang family.


    After waiting for a while, the Zhang family finally finished their discussion. Zhang Siyou led the Zhang family out and said to the three of them, ¡°After our discussion, we have decided to get Mr. Charlie to help us solve the problem of the Fiend Tomb. If Mr. Charlie can¡¯t solve the problem of the Fiend Tomb, we will trouble the other two to help us.¡±


    ¡°Celestial Master, that¡¯s a wise choice.¡± Charlie smiled like a gentleman, but he couldn¡¯t hide the smugness in his eyes.


    Moses and company glared at Zhou Wen, clearly believing that he had hindered them. Otherwise, they would have been the ones to obtain this opportunity.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve tried my best,¡± Zhang Chunqiu walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and said apologetically.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. The Cape family might not be able to succeed. There might still be a chance.¡± Zhou Wen felt that since Charlie couldn¡¯t even see the Ghost Hornless below, the chances of him resolving the problem with Fiend Tomb were slim.


    Furthermore, if he wasn¡¯t careful, he might even lose his life there. After all, the Ghoul Mask and the Ghost Hornless¡¯s abilities were too strange. Even Zhou Wen would be killed if he wasn¡¯t careful. It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy for Old Mister Charlie to return alive.


    As the two of them spoke, Uncle Zhang walked past them and glanced at Zhou Wen. Then, he said to Zhang Chunqiu, ¡°Don¡¯t mention digging up the tomb again. As long as my old bones are still around, I won¡¯t let anyone harm our Zhang family.¡±


    ¡°Uncle¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu wanted to say something, but Uncle Zhang had already waved his hand and gone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. My uncle was only afraid that something would happen to the Zhang family because of the ancestral Celestial Master¡¯s orders. He doesn¡¯t have any intention of targeting you,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said helplessly to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing. However, I think your uncle seems to have some misunderstanding about me. I¡¯m afraid that if Charlie doesn¡¯t succeed, they will be willing to give Moses a chance and not me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t let that happen,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a firm expression.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out when he had offended the old man to make him look down on him.


    Zhang Chunqiu thought for a moment and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you happen to bump into my uncle the last time you were here? I think this might have something to do with you saying that you didn¡¯t discover anything.¡±


    Zhou Wen was enlightened. The elder originally imagined that he was here to mess around and didn¡¯t have any true abilities.


    ¡­


    On the other side, Charlie had already begun taking action. Zhou Wen and Zhang Chunqiu went to the stone platforms. Zhou Wen also wanted to see what the Great Divination Theurgy was.


    Charlie produced a pair of angel wings on his back and flew to the front of the Fiend Tomb. He stopped outside the demarcating line and summoned two Companion Beasts. One was a crucifix, and the other was a book.


    As the book opened, light beams shot out from the book¡¯s surface, gradually condensing into the shape of a Ghoul Mask. Although it was a little blurry, Zhou Wen could tell that it was undoubtedly the Ghoul Mask.


    This old man is quite capable, Zhou Wen thought.


    Without any hesitation, the moment the Ghoul Mask¡¯s shadow condensed, the crucifix in his other hand emitted a terrifying holy light. He used the crucifix as a sword and stabbed into the Ghoul Mask¡¯s shadow.


    The Ghoul Mask¡¯s shadow immediately shattered the crucifix, turning into specks of light that dissipated. At the same time, there was a cracking sound from the Fiend Tomb as though something had shattered.

 Chapter 851 - One Person Is Enough

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen saw this scene, he knew that Charlie was doomed.


    His book and the crucifix¡¯s abilities were indeed powerful, but he didn¡¯t know that the mask wasn¡¯t the crux of the problem. Destroying the mask alone was useless. Instead, it might put him in danger.


    Indeed, after a commotion in the Fiend Tomb, grayish-white dust spewed out.


    When Charlie saw the dust, his expression changed slightly. The book and crucifix in his hand glowed again. He wanted to repel the dust, but the dust was like smoke. Repelling the smoke on one side would have the smoke on the other side sweep over and spray on Charlie¡¯s face.


    Everything happened so quickly that even the Cape family couldn¡¯t stop it. By the time they reacted, the dust had already condensed into a mask on Charlie¡¯s face.


    When the Cape family rushed forward to help Charlie, the crucifix in Charlie¡¯s hand had a shocking glow. It stabbed the two Cape family members who wanted to help him.


    The two of them were caught off guard. After being injured by Charlie, they fell to the ground and their bodies quickly turned into Fiend Stones. Everyone was shocked.


    However, Charlie, who was controlled by the Ghoul Mask, didn¡¯t care. He waved the book and crucifix in his hand and charged at the humans on the stone platform.


    Zhang Chunqiu suddenly attacked. His sword slashed like a stream of light, instantly shattering the mask on Charlie¡¯s face. However, it didn¡¯t injure Charlie¡¯s face. The precision of his sword technique was shocking.


    However, it was useless. The shattered mask quickly reformed and covered Charlie¡¯s face again.


    Everyone fought Charlie, but it wasn¡¯t good enough to injure him. Even attacking the mask on his face was useless. Instantly, everyone was in disarray.


    In the end, Zhang Siyou produced a talisman and stuck it to the Ghoul Mask, causing Charlie to stand there motionless. However, the mask could not be removed from his face.


    The Cape family thought of many ways, but they were unable to remove the mask. They could only seek help from Zhang Siyou.


    Zhang Siyou said, ¡°My Mythical Ghost Suppression Talisman can only suppress it, but it can¡¯t completely be eliminated. Furthermore, this mask is very strange. It¡¯s useless to shatter it. I¡¯m helpless as well. We must think of other solutions.¡±


    This outcome was naturally within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. The Ghoul Mask wasn¡¯t the main point. No matter how strong one was, it was impossible to kill it. They had to dig up the grave and destroy the human-face symbol below.


    The Zhang family looked at Moses, hoping that he could remove the mask. However, Moses shook his head and said, ¡°If I had attacked from the beginning and completely destroyed the mask, I might have had a chance. Now, the mask is already on Charlie¡¯s face. My Guardian is too powerful. Even if I can destroy the mask with one strike, Charlie won¡¯t be spared.¡±


    The Zhang family and the Cape family were in a dilemma. No one could solve the problem of the Fiend Tomb without harming Charlie.


    When Zhang Chunqiu saw Zhou Wen standing by the side and watching all of this happen, his expression remained abnormally calm. With a thought, he asked Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, do you have a way to remove the mask without harming Charlie?¡±


    As everyone fell silent, they looked at the two of them when they heard Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s question.


    Zhou Wen answered, ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ll say it again. I¡¯m not as capable as Charlie and company. If you want me to resolve the problem, you have to dig open the Fiend Tomb.¡±


    ¡°Why are you still spouting nonsense at a time like this? The mask has already been lured out. Why are you still digging up the Fiend Tomb?¡± Uncle Zhang said.


    As a conservative of the Zhang family, the last thing he wanted was to dig up the Fiend Tomb.


    Zhou Wen was helpless as well. This was the result of unequal information. It was common sense from his point of view, but to the Zhang family, it was a mysterious and unfathomable unknown force. They were too afraid of the Fiend Tomb and were afraid that the Zhang family would be wiped out if the Fiend Tomb was dug up. Therefore, they were extremely against it.


    ¡°Uncle, Zhou Wen isn¡¯t someone who speaks without reason. He must have his reasons for saying that.¡± Zhang Chunqiu and Dugu Ge had seen Zhou Wen¡¯s strength from outside Forbidden City and knew that he was extraordinary.


    Furthermore, back then, everyone believed that Zhou Wen and Old Master Xia had been trapped in Forbidden City. No one had seen him come out, but to their surprise, he had returned to Luoyang unscathed while Old Master Xia had vanished without a trace. Zhang Chunqiu knew that he himself couldn¡¯t do such a thing.


    ¡°The truth is right in front of us. What reason do we need?¡± Uncle Zhang said coldly.


    ¡°Celestial Master, the Fiend Tomb¡¯s influence on our Zhang family is getting more and more serious. If we can¡¯t resolve it completely, I¡¯m afraid our Zhang family will die in a few years, even if there are no disasters or calamities. Now that things have come to this, rather than being sitting ducks, why don¡¯t we let Zhou Wen give it a try? I believe he can resolve the problem without alarming Ba. Celestial Master, please give him a chance and also give our Zhang family descendants a chance,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he bowed in front of Zhang Siyou.


    ¡°Chunqiu, what are you doing? Getting rid of that mask doesn¡¯t require digging up the Fiend Tomb. We are only helpless because we are worried about Charlie¡¯s life¡­¡± Uncle Zhang was immediately enraged.


    ¡°Now that things have come to this, I don¡¯t think I can hold back anymore. Celestial Master, if you are willing to let my Guardian take action, I guarantee that I can destroy the mask. However, I can¡¯t guarantee Charlie¡¯s life,¡± Moses said.


    ¡°Moses¡­ How dare you¡­¡± The Cape family members glared at him.


    ¡°Enough.¡± After Zhang Siyou spoke, everyone quietened down and looked at him. It was still Zhang Siyou who called the shots here.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, how confident are you?¡± Zhang Siyou looked at Zhang Chunqiu who was kneeling in front of him before asking Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I was only 70% confident previously, but now that I¡¯ve seen the mask¡¯s ability, I¡¯m 90% confident,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Do you need anything?¡± Zhang Siyou asked again.


    ¡°No, one person is enough,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Alright, then do it. If you succeed, the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg will be yours,¡± Zhang Siyou said with a nod.


    ¡°Celestial Master, we can¡¯t dig up the Fiend Tomb¡­¡± Uncle Zhang said anxiously.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯ve already made my decision. There¡¯s no need to speak further,¡± Zhang Siyou said calmly.


    Uncle Zhang stomped his feet in anger. ¡°Have you forgotten the teachings of the ancestral Celestial Master? Digging open the Fiend Tomb is a calamity for our Zhang family!¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what are you waiting for?¡± Zhang Chunqiu pretended not to hear his uncle¡¯s indignant words as he stood up and nudged Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen no longer had any qualms as he summoned Tyrant Behemoth. With a boom, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s majestic body landed in front of the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth¡­ That¡¯s actually Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast¡­¡± Apart from the Zhang family, the other families were alarmed.


    After all, it was a powerful existence ranked fourth on the previous rankings. In fact, although Tyrant Behemoth was ranked fourth, it had never lost.

 Chapter 852 - Expelling Evil

    Translator: CKtalon


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, Tyrant Behemoth activated Absolute Strength and slammed into the Fiend Tomb, digging it open.


    ¡°The Zhang family¡­ is finished¡­¡± Uncle Zhang was shocked, angry, and afraid. His face was pale.


    The other members of the Zhang family also wore looks of nervousness. After all, the teachings of the ancestral Celestial Master remained fresh in their minds. It would be a lie to say that they weren¡¯t worried. Even Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s palms were sweating.


    However, the Fiend Tomb was slowly dug open by Tyrant Behemoth. Nothing strange happened.


    ¡°I thought that Tyrant Behemoth was a Companion Beast from the West District, but I never expected it to be in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.¡± The elder from the Ultimate Family Clan looked at Tyrant Behemoth with envy. Anyone would want to have such a violent battle pet, but there weren¡¯t many violent battle pets of such level and quality in the entire Federation.


    Moses had been watching coldly from the sidelines. Although Tyrant Behemoth was powerful, it wasn¡¯t stronger than his Giant God Sovereign. The Giant God Sovereign was also a Strength-type. Furthermore, it had an extremely powerful restraining effect on Companion Beasts of the same type.


    If Zhou Wen wanted to rely on Tyrant Behemoth to fight him, Moses would definitely make him suffer.


    As everyone had different thoughts, Tyrant Behemoth suddenly stopped digging and retreated a distance.


    The Zhang family was puzzled as to why Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t digging. However, they suddenly saw Zhou Wen wave his hand as though something had flashed.


    There was a cracking sound in the Fiend Tomb. Before they could see what was happening, black blood spewed out like a fountain, splattering everywhere.


    At that moment, everyone could clearly see that there was an abstract human face symbol in the dug up Fiend Tomb. There was a sword mark on the human face symbol. It was unknown how it had been slashed, but it was spewing black blood.


    Crack!


    As the black blood spewed out, a hairline crack appeared on the mask on Charlie¡¯s face. More and more cracks appeared. When the black blood spewed out, the mask shattered and turned to dust.


    It wasn¡¯t just the mask on Charlie¡¯s face. Even the fiend faces on the Fiend Stones shattered. The people who had been petrified gradually recovered.


    Unfortunately, they were already dead. Even with the Fiend Stone Petrification dispelled, it was impossible for them to be revived.


    When the Zhang family saw this, they were overjoyed. Zhang Chunqiu secretly heaved a sigh of relief. He had also been gambling, but thankfully, he had won.


    ¡°Thankfully, I didn¡¯t fail.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue digging because if he continued digging, he would have to use Truth Listener when he reached Ghost Hornless. This was something he didn¡¯t wish to expose.


    He could use Light Concealment in place of Invisibility Cloak to kill the Ghoul Mask, but Ghost Hornless needed Truth Listener¡¯s help. The Invisibility Cloak was useless.


    ¡°My young friend, you saved our Zhang family from danger. I don¡¯t know how to thank you. Come with me to retrieve the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg.¡± After Zhang Siyou said that, he said to Zhang Chunqiu, ¡°Invite everyone back to have a rest. Don¡¯t be negligent.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered.


    Zhang Siyou took Zhou Wen back to Celestial Master Manor. When they arrived, he waited for him to take his seat before saying, ¡°My young friend, you still have something to say, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He never expected Zhang Siyou to see that he had something to say. Without any hesitation, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve already said before that apart from Ba, there are two dimensional creatures in the Fiend Tomb. Now, only one has been eliminated. There¡¯s still one below. If we don¡¯t eliminate it, I¡¯m afraid the Zhang family¡¯s problem won¡¯t be completely resolved.¡±


    ¡°Young friend, you didn¡¯t attack immediately. You must have some scruples?¡± Zhang Siyou said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to eliminate that dimensional creature, but I need some special Companion Beasts. I don¡¯t want too many people to see my Companion Beasts, so I hope that you can permit me to head to the Fiend Tomb alone. If you are worried, you can watch from the side. I just hope that there won¡¯t be a third person present,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem, and there¡¯s no need for me to be present. I¡¯ll get Chunqiu to accompany you later. Other than you and Chunqiu, no one else will know about this matter. Even I won¡¯t ask too much.¡± Zhang Siyou paused before continuing, ¡°However, there¡¯s something I hope you can help the Zhang family keep secret.¡±


    ¡°Please speak, Celestial Master,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Since you can see through the Fiend patterns, it¡¯s very likely that Ba is a Guardian. I hope no one else knows that Ba is a Guardian,¡± Zhang Siyou said.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He never expected Zhang Siyou to request this, but he still agreed. ¡°I can guarantee that this matter will never be spread from me.¡±


    Zhang Siyou understood Zhou Wen¡¯s underlying meaning and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s good. If the Zhang family were to spread the news, it would be the Zhang family¡¯s life on the line.¡±


    After Zhang Siyou called Zhang Chunqiu over, he got him to accompany Zhou Wen to the Fiend Tomb again.


    After the two of them left, Uncle Zhang walked over. ¡°Celestial Master, why did you do that? Since we¡¯ve already decided to dig up the Fiend Tomb, why don¡¯t we do it ourselves? Why did you hand our fate over to an outsider?¡±


    Zhang Siyou poured him a cup of tea and slowly said, ¡°Brother, why has our Zhang family been able to prosper for so many years? It¡¯s not because our Companion Beasts are more powerful than others, nor is it because our Zhang family is powerful enough. It¡¯s because we see further than others, think more than others, and take fewer detours than others.¡±


    ¡°In this era, resources might be important, but the importance of information and knowledge is sometimes even more important than resources. Just like Zhou Wen. He can see through the Fiend Tomb and discover the information inside. If we were to do it ourselves, although we might succeed, we might have to pay a huge price. There¡¯s no need to do so.¡± Zhang Siyou paused before continuing, ¡°Besides, don¡¯t you think this outcome is better than expected for us to hand the Earth Elemental Beast to someone who isn¡¯t from the six families?¡±


    Uncle Zhang was taken aback before saying, ¡°That¡¯s true. However, Zhou Wen is really impressive. Even Old Master Xia was defeated by him. Now that he has the Earth Elemental Beast, I¡¯m afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°Now that the Guardians have all appeared, it¡¯s hard to predict what will happen in the future. However, do you still remember the last part of the ancestral Celestial Master¡¯s last words?¡± Zhang Siyou said with a strange expression.


    ¡°You mean that we might have a chance¡­¡± Uncle Zhang didn¡¯t dare continue as though there was some taboo.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take it one step at a time. Our generation is already old, so we don¡¯t have the chance to take another step forward. However, Chunqiu and the others are different. Perhaps they still have hope,¡± Zhang Siyou said indifferently.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen and Zhang Chunqiu arrived at the Fiend Tomb again. Zhang Chunqiu brought the Celestial Master Token and got the Zhang family guarding the area to temporarily retreat.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this place to you. I¡¯ll come back after the matter is done,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he left.


    The Zhang family sure is straightforward. They actually didn¡¯t leave a single person behind, Zhou Wen thought to himself. Such a decision wasn¡¯t something anyone could make. After all, it concerned the life and death of the family. No one would be at ease leaving it in the hands of an outsider, but the Zhang family had chosen to do so.

 Chapter 853 - Incubating Earth Elemental Beast

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen followed the steps and easily eliminated Ghost Hornless. When he dug up the Fiend Tomb, he was very careful, afraid that he would alarm the Goddess Ba.


    Thankfully, nothing unexpected happened. After killing Ghost Hornless, Zhou Wen used the Fiend Stones to fill up the dug up Fiend Tomb before meeting up with Zhang Chunqiu.


    As for Zhang Chunqiu, he had already prepared the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. When they met, he gave it to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I didn¡¯t complete the mission?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? You can run but you can¡¯t hide. Could you not return to Luoyang for the rest of your life?¡± Zhang Chunqiu curled his lips and said.


    ¡°Thankfully, I¡¯ve already completed the mission,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhang Chunqiu thought for a moment and said, ¡°You have to be careful of the other families, especially Moses. He won¡¯t let it go easily.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°I know.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about anything else. If there¡¯s anything you need from my Zhang family, just say the word. If there¡¯s anything you need, you can stay in Celestial Master Manor for a year or so,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.


    ¡°That will be unnecessary. I still have some matters to attend to. After I¡¯m done here, I plan on returning. Can you help me make arrangements to bid farewell to Yuzhi?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°She¡¯s waiting for you at Celestial Master Manor.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°I never expected the Earth Elemental Beast to fall into Zhou Wen¡¯s hands. Your Cape family has worked for nothing,¡± Moses said to Charlie with a smile.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t your Family Clan of Gods end up empty-handed as well?¡± Charlie¡¯s face was somewhat pale. Although he had escaped death, he had suffered some hidden injuries due to the Evil Ghost Mask¡¯s control.


    Moses smiled and said, ¡°That might not be the case. He definitely needs external help to incubate a Mythical Companion Egg. I don¡¯t think Zhou Wen can hatch the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg quickly. We still have a chance of getting it back.¡±


    ¡°You want to snatch the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg?¡± Charlie stared at Moses and asked.


    ¡°Zhou Wen previously agreed to fight me. If I win the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg fair and square, how can this be called snatching?¡± Moses said indifferently.


    ¡°Hmph, then what do you mean by coming here to tell me this?¡± Charlie said thoughtfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Zhou Wen won¡¯t dare to accept the challenge and will run away at the last moment. Therefore, I wish to ask you to help me. If Zhou Wen wants to escape or doesn¡¯t dare to accept the challenge, help me intercept him. With your Book of Prophecy, it will be difficult for him to escape even if he has wings,¡± said Moses.


    ¡°Why should I help you?¡± Charlie said coldly.


    ¡°No, no, no. You aren¡¯t helping me, but helping yourself. Even if you can track him, are you confident of defeating Tyrant Behemoth? And I can defeat Tyrant Behemoth. If we work together, we can definitely snatch back the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. When the time comes, our families will explore the Founding Emperor Tomb together and split the benefits equally. What do you think?¡± Moses said.


    ¡°Hmph, you make it sound nice. There¡¯s only one Earth Elemental Beast. Without it, you can¡¯t enter the Founding Emperor Tomb. How can we cooperate?¡± Charlie naturally didn¡¯t believe Moses¡¯s nonsense.


    ¡°To show my sincerity, after we retrieve the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, your Cape family will be responsible for incubating it. This way, you should believe me, right?¡± Moses smiled.


    ¡°Do I have your word?¡± Charlie looked at Moses in disbelief.


    Without the Earth Elemental Beast, one couldn¡¯t enter the Founding Emperor Tomb. Previously, the six heroes had nearly fallen out because of this Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. Now, Moses was willing to take the initiative to give it up. He found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Our families are from the West District. Although there are occasional conflicts, we are still family. The Founding Emperor Tomb is an important dimensional zone in the East District. If we cross districts like this, I¡¯m afraid the Xia and Zhang families won¡¯t sit back and do nothing. If our two families cooperate, we might be able to bring back everything inside. Otherwise, it¡¯s very likely that we will get out the items and only serve to benefit the Zhang and Xia families. I¡¯m not sure if the Xia family will participate, but the Zhang family took the initiative to give the Earth Elemental Beast away. Do you think they are really so kind as to give up the things in the Founding Emperor Tomb?¡± Moses asked.


    After some thought, Charlie nodded and said, ¡°What you said makes sense. We are also willing to cooperate, but the premise is that the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg must be incubated by our family.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve already said that the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg is yours, but you have to split the spoils 50-50,¡± said Moses.


    ¡°Deal.¡± Charlie extended his palm.


    While they were discussing how to snatch back the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, Zhou Wen was already prepared to incubate it.


    Typical Epic humans needed external help to hatch Mythical Companion Eggs if they wanted to incubate them. They needed plenty of preparation in the early stages, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need it at all. He didn¡¯t even need Slaughterer¡¯s infinite Essence Energy. Dao Sutra, and First Order of Chaos could help him incubate Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Earth Elemental Beast: Mythical


    Life Providence: Earth Life


    Life Soul: Essence of Earth


    Wheel of Destiny: Earth of the Five Elements


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Earth Escape


    Companion Form: Mount


    From the looks of it, the Earth Elemental Beast is purely a mount-type Companion Beast. It doesn¡¯t have any special offensive skills, but just the Earth Escape mount makes it excellent. After Zhou Wen saw its stats, he hatched it.


    Soon, a Companion Beast that resembled a pangolin but was as large as a dinosaur appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen tried it in-game and realized that the Earth Elemental Beast lived up to its name. Although it didn¡¯t have any offensive skills, this Earth Escape skill could be activated repeatedly as long as one had Essence Energy. The cooldown time was very short.


    With the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Essence Energy maxed out, it could instantly carry out Earth Escape for more than fifty kilometers with Zhou Wen. It was truly a life-saving weapon.


    It was also useful for assassination. In the midst of an army of ten thousand, an Earth Escape could allow him to appear in front of the enemy commander and kill him with one strike. Then, he could escape easily via Earth Escape. No matter how many enemies there were, they couldn¡¯t stop the Earth Elemental Beast.


    As long as I¡¯m on the ground, I won¡¯t have to be afraid of being besieged in the future. Zhou Wen was delighted, but on careful thought, there were also the four similar mounts of Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire. If he could obtain them all, he wondered if he could use the phone¡¯s functions to fuse them into one.


    1


    While Zhou Wen was still studying how to use the Earth Elemental Beast, Moses sent someone to deliver a challenge letter. He wanted to have a fair duel with Zhou Wen to determine who was better.


    After reading the invitation, Zhou Wen rejected it without any hesitation. Firstly, it was because he didn¡¯t know what abilities Giant God Sovereign had. Secondly, he didn¡¯t need to give Moses an excuse to openly snatch the Earth Elemental Beast.


    If Moses wasn¡¯t willing to give up on the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, he could only secretly snatch it. When that happened, Zhou Wen would be taking the moral high ground. No matter what he did to Moses or what methods he used, no one could blame him.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of being criticized, but there was no need for him to take the risk of fighting the unknown Giant God Sovereign. It would be too dangerous if the Giant God Sovereign was comparable to Ant City¡¯s Guardian.

 Chapter 854 - Pursuit?

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen packed his things and prepared to leave Mount Dragon Tiger.


    He had previously rejected Moses, and now that he had packed his things and fled, it was very likely that Moses would chase after him and intercept him. When that happened, it would be Zhou Wen¡¯s homeground.


    Even if the Giant God Sovereign really had the strength of the Ant City Guardian, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of employing guerrilla tactics.


    Earth Escape, teleportation, invisibility, and with his excellent movement techniques, it could be said that Zhou Wen was best at guerrilla warfare.


    Zhou Wen packed his things and was about to leave with Ya¡¯er when he saw Zhang Chunqiu rush over.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you planning on leaving Mount Dragon Tiger?¡± Zhang Chunqiu asked directly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t leave now. We realized that Moses and Charlie have reached a tacit agreement. If you leave now, you definitely won¡¯t be able to escape the pursuit of the two families. Charlie¡¯s Book of Prophecy is best at finding people. You have already shown yourself in front of him. As long as you aren¡¯t too far from him, he will be able to find you no matter where you hide,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s perfect that way,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhang Chunqiu was slightly taken aback, unsure what Zhou Wen meant. He stared at Zhou Wen with an odd expression and said, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to attack Moses and company as well?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°At least make a trip to Celestial Master Manor. We have already prepared the resources needed to incubate the Earth Elemental Beast. It can help you incubate the Earth Elemental Beast in three days. When the time comes, you will be much safer,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, will Moses still chase after me?¡± Zhou Wen paused and said, ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already hatched the Earth Elemental Beast.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen summoned the Earth Elemental Beast.


    Zhang Chunqiu was dumbfounded. When he snapped to his senses, he said with a bitter smile, ¡°It looks like Moses and the rest are destined to not be able to gain an advantage.¡±


    ¡°Who can they blame for their greed?¡± Zhou Wen put away the Earth Elemental Beast and bade Zhang Chunqiu farewell before secretly leaving Mount Dragon Tiger with Ya¡¯er.


    Looking at Zhou Wen¡¯s departing back, Zhang Chunqiu muttered to himself, ¡°This Zhou Wen is even more terrifying than An Tianzuo was. I¡¯m afraid he will really turn the Federation upside down. In this era, I wonder if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse.¡±


    ..


    The news of Zhou Wen secretly leaving Mount Dragon Tiger naturally couldn¡¯t be hidden from Moses and Charlie.


    Charlie had already predicted Zhou Wen¡¯s departure as he said with a sneer, ¡°It hasn¡¯t even been twenty-four hours since he obtained the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. He definitely won¡¯t be able to hatch it in time. As long as we catch up to him, we will have a chance of getting the Companion Egg back.¡±


    ¡°Then what are we waiting for? Before he returns to Luoyang, we have to stop him and snatch the Companion Egg from him,¡± said Moses.


    ¡°Not only do I want the Companion Egg, but I also want his life.¡± A cold glint flashed in Charlie¡¯s eyes. The grudge between Zhou Wen and the Cape family naturally wouldn¡¯t be resolved with Zhou Wen¡¯s shattering of the Ghoul Mask on his face. He wouldn¡¯t consider how Zhou Wen had saved his life.


    1


    With the two families mobilizing their forces together, the originally lively Dragon Tiger Town suddenly became much quieter.


    ¡°Celestial Master, Zhou Wen has already left Dragon Tiger Town. Moses and Charlie have also led their men to chase after him.¡± An intelligence officer from the Zhang family reported to Zhang Siyou.


    ¡°Should we send someone over and wait for an opportunity to snatch the Earth Elemental Beast back? If we can snatch it back this time, we can prevent others from knowing that the Earth Elemental Beast is in our Zhang family.¡± Uncle Zhang¡¯s eyes lit up. Zhang Chunqiu hadn¡¯t returned to report that Zhou Wen had already hatched the Earth Elemental Beast, so he wasn¡¯t aware.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Moses and company aren¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s match,¡± Zhang Siyou said indifferently.


    ¡°That might not be the case, right? After all, Moses has a Guardian. His strength can¡¯t be underestimated. With Charlie¡¯s Book of Prophecy, Zhou Wen probably won¡¯t be able to escape that easily.¡± Uncle Zhang didn¡¯t think so.


    Zhang Siyou said, ¡°So what if he has a Guardian? What kind of person is Old Master Xia? Even he wasn¡¯t able to kill Zhou Wen, much less a mere Moses who relies on a Guardian. They will probably be doomed if they attack him.¡±


    1


    Although the eldest uncle of the Zhang family didn¡¯t quite believe Zhang Siyou¡¯s judgment, he couldn¡¯t refute it. After all, Zhang Siyou¡¯s knowledge and judgment far exceeded his. Otherwise, he would have taken over as Celestial Master instead of Zhang Siyou who was the second eldest in the family.


    Zhou Wen ran all the way. He didn¡¯t really want to escape, but to create the illusion that he was escaping.


    Moses and company kept chasing after Zhou Wen. With Charlie¡¯s Book of Prophecy tracking Zhou Wen¡¯s location, they got closer and closer.


    ¡°That bastard Zhou Wen is actually running so fast. We have to speed up,¡± Charlie said through gritted teeth. They had chased for hundreds of kilometers, but they still hadn¡¯t caught up to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a trapped beast¡¯s struggle. He can¡¯t escape¡­¡± Just as Moses spoke, a person on his left suddenly touched a tree. The tree exploded and sent the person flying. Several people nearby were affected.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Moses quickly checked the man¡¯s injuries and saw that he was nearly half-dead.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Life Blast-type Essence Energy Skill. It must have been left behind by that bastard, Zhou Wen,¡± said Charlie as he observed the destroyed tree.


    ¡°Damn it, Bayh. Stay and take care of them. The rest of you, follow me. I want that bastard dead,¡± Moses said angrily.


    1


    Everyone chased, but this time, they were much more careful. They didn¡¯t touch the trees or grass.


    After chasing for a distance, they arrived at a grassland. Just as they approached, they alarmed a group of insects in the grassland. Large swaths of them flew up.


    ¡°No good! Be careful of those insects!¡± Charlie shouted, but it was already too late. Someone had already waved their hands at the insects, hoping to drive them to the side.


    However, when their powers hit the insects, it immediately triggered a series of explosions.


    Due to the low life force of the worms, a large number of them exploded together, leaving them in a sorry state. Some people who weren¡¯t paying attention had their eyes injured from the explosion, while others were covered in blood.


    In their panic, they stepped on the grass. The grass also exploded, immediately causing a series of explosions.


    ¡°That bastard!¡± Moses saw that many people were injured. Although their injuries were not very serious, they looked pathetic.


    When they continued chasing after Zhou Wen, they realized that the forest had turned into a huge minefield. Anything they touched could turn into a mine. This made them suspicious. Not only were many people injured, but their progress was also much slower.


    ¡°If this continues, that bastard will escape. Someone with a flying pet, chase after him with me. The others will circle around and take the main road and see if they can intercept him.¡± After Moses and Charlie discussed the plan, the two of them continued chasing with flying pets.

 Chapter 855 - Giant God Sovereign

    Translator: CKtalon


    They no longer needed to fear skills like Life Blast in midair. Moses and company sped up and chased after Zhou Wen crazily, but when Charlie predicted Zhou Wen¡¯s location again, he realized that Zhou Wen was behind them.


    ¡°No good!¡± Charlie and Moses¡¯s expressions changed drastically. This was because Zhou Wen¡¯s current location was where they had separated from the others.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back quickly.¡± After Moses led his men back, they discovered the corpses of their companions not far from where they had parted. They had been blasted into pieces, and there were almost no complete corpses.


    The surrounding forest was also in a mess. Clearly, a powerful explosion had happened. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary Life Blast. The typical self-destruction of trees didn¡¯t have such power.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll tear you to pieces.¡± Moses¡¯s expression was livid as he urged Charlie to continue tracking Zhou Wen.


    This time, Moses directly summoned Giant God Sovereign. After he fused with Giant God Sovereign, the armor transformed by Giant God Sovereign still remained huge. Moses was inside Giant God Sovereign¡¯s body as the core existence inside Giant God Sovereign armor.


    Moses, who was like a giant, grabbed Charlie and charged forward without caring if there were any Life Blast mechanisms nearby.


    Indeed, large swaths of trees and grass exploded, but it was useless against the huge armor that Giant God Sovereign had transformed into. It was unable to injure it at all.


    When Moses ran to the nearby water, tadpole-like things suddenly rushed out of the water. The tadpoles constantly exploded.


    However, such power failed to injure Moses. All of Giant God Sovereign¡¯s armor blocked the explosions.


    ¡°These things killed them.¡± Moses could tell from the tadpoles¡¯ explosive mode that these were the things that killed their companions.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, your tricks are useless in front of absolute strength. Come out and die,¡± Moses said coldly.


    Charlie had already predicted that Zhou Wen was less than five kilometers away and could definitely hear him.


    Zhou Wen had already seen everything clearly with Truth Listener. He thought to himself, From the looks of it, Giant God Sovereign should be a Strength- and Defense-type Guardian. Tyrant Behemoth is also of the same type. It shouldn¡¯t be weaker than Giant God Sovereign. However, Moses knows that Tyrant Behemoth is in my hands, yet he¡¯s still so confident. He probably has a way to restrain Tyrant Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he continued pulling away from Moses and company. However, after Moses donned the Giant God Sovereign armor, his speed was too fast. Not only was Zhou Wen unable to pull away, but the gap between them kept shrinking.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind. As he fled, he summoned a large number of Musical Note Sprites and Golden Harp. There were now tens of thousands of Musical Note Sprites. Together with the power of the Golden Harp, the sound waves produced were enough to kill an Epic expert.


    Most importantly, it was very difficult for sound wave attacks to be completely blocked by armor. No matter how strong the defense of the Giant God Sovereign armor was, it could be penetrated by the sound waves and killed.


    Moses chased after him with Charlie in a frenzy. Suddenly, he saw a large number of Musical Note Sprites and a Golden Harp. Before he could react, the Golden Harp suddenly sounded.


    Hum!


    With the sound of the Golden Harp, all the Musical Note Sprites sounded. The sound waves emitted were like a tidal wave that surged towards Moses.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    The sound wave failed to break through the armor of Giant God Sovereign, but Charlie, who was held in Moses¡¯ hand, was bleeding from his seven orifices because of the sound wave. His Book of Prophecy and the crucifix could not defend against the sound blast.


    Moses was alarmed. A golden barrier lit up over the Giant God Sovereign armor, protecting Charlie inside and thus, saving him.


    The sound blast was unable to penetrate the barrier and was blocked outside. Just as Moses was about to destroy the Musical Note Sprites and harp, he realized that the Musical Note Sprites and harp had disappeared.


    Moses rushed over at full speed, but he didn¡¯t find Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Where did Zhou Wen escape to?¡± Moses asked Charlie. Charlie wiped the blood from his face and used the Book of Prophecy to predict Zhou Wen¡¯s location again.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ He¡¯s here¡­¡± When Charlie saw the prediction, his eyes widened in disbelief.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared above Moses out of thin air. He held a golden broadsword in his hand and slashed at the golden barrier with an indomitable golden sword beam.


    Clang!


    A three-foot gap was slashed open in the golden barrier, but Zhou Wen¡¯s sword couldn¡¯t continue. The barrier wasn¡¯t as simple as a shell. It also seemed corporeal. If not for the Golden Overlord Sword having the augmentation of Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable, it would have been impossible for it to slice open the barrier.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finally appeared!¡± Moses wasn¡¯t alarmed but delighted. He controlled the Giant God Sovereign armor and threw a punch at Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed in midair before suddenly disappearing.


    Moses originally imagined that Zhou Wen was fast and had moved elsewhere, but when he looked around, he didn¡¯t see Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Damn it, why are his skills so wretched? Where did he go? Quickly find him,¡± Moses gritted his teeth and said to Charlie.


    Charlie used the Book of Prophecy to predict again, but he realized that Zhou Wen was already several kilometers away. He pointed in surprise and anger and said, ¡°He¡¯s over there. Don¡¯t let him escape.¡±


    With the virtually invincible ability of the Giant God Sovereign armor, Moses did not care if there was an ambush. He charged forward crazily. The tall trees were knocked away by the Giant God Sovereign armor like a huge humanoid machine.


    Its defense is comparable to Tyrant Behemoth with Absolute Strength activated, but its strength is much weaker. However, in that case, it shouldn¡¯t be able to defeat Tyrant Behemoth. What kind of power does Giant God Sovereign have that makes Moses so confident? Zhou Wen thought of various possibilities.


    From the looks of it, I can only let Tyrant Behemoth give it a try. When Zhou Wen saw Moses chasing after him, he summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Not daring to be careless, Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to activate Absolute Strength before charging at Moses.


    ¡°Good timing.¡± Moses finally had a combat target. His speed didn¡¯t decrease but rose as he charged at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth also gathered all its strength and threw a punch at Moses, who was wearing the Giant God Sovereign armor.


    A ruthless glint flashed in Moses¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t swing his fist to meet it. Instead, he used the golden barrier of the Giant God Sovereign armor to slam into Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist struck the golden barrier, but it failed to send Moses retreating. Instead, it was sent flying as its fist bones shattered.


    A repulsion barrier! With his experience, Zhou Wen immediately saw through the trick. Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t sent retreating by Giant God Sovereign, but was defeated by its own strength and the power of Giant God Sovereign.

 Chapter 856 - I Just Want to Set Off Fireworks

    ¡°Die! My Giant God Sovereign is invincible.¡± Moses controlled the Giant God Sovereign armor and threw a punch at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as Tyrant Behemoth returned to him. Since he knew that Moses¡¯s Guardian was good at reflecting strength, a Strength-type Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t suitable for battle.


    ¡°Without Tyrant Behemoth, how are you going to fight me? Zhou Wen, come out and die. I¡¯ll leave your corpse intact.¡± Moses chased after Zhou Wen while using words to agitate him.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t moved at all. As he rapidly moved, he also thought of a way to kill Giant God Sovereign.


    Giant God Sovereign¡¯s defense wasn¡¯t weaker than Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength. It also had the ability to reflect strength. It was difficult to break through Giant God Sovereign armor¡¯s defense.


    It was not difficult to kill Moses, but killing him was useless. As an equal in the contract, Giant God Sovereign could escape and choose another person to contract.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s main target was Giant God Sovereign, not Moses.


    The only thing worth rejoicing about is that this Giant God Sovereign shouldn¡¯t have the ability to undergo Terror transformation. There¡¯s still a chance of killing him, Zhou Wen thought.


    If it were an ordinary Guardian, Zhou Wen would have killed it long ago if he sneaked an attack with Invisibility Cloak. However, Giant God Sovereign¡¯s defense was just too powerful. This wasn¡¯t a problem that could be resolved with a sneak attack.


    Moses was getting closer and closer to Zhou Wen. Just as he was about to catch up to him, his eyes burned with killing intent. ¡°Zhou Wen, you can¡¯t escape.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your breath on him. Kill him and snatch back the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg,¡± Charlie shouted with red eyes. With so many people dead, they finally had a chance to kill Zhou Wen.


    As long as they could kill Zhou Wen and retrieve the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, everything would be worth it.


    Just as they were about to catch up to Zhou Wen, they suddenly saw Zhou Wen summon a Companion Beast. It looked like a huge pangolin as Zhou Wen rode on its back.


    They only knew of the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg, but they didn¡¯t know what it looked like.


    Seeing Zhou Wen summon such a Companion Beast, they imagined that Zhou Wen wanted to risk his life. Without any hesitation, Moses threw a punch. Even Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t fight Giant God Sovereign head-on, much less such an inconspicuous Companion Beast.


    Boom!


    Moses punched down, blasting a huge crater in the ground, but Zhou Wen and the Companion Beast were nowhere to be seen.


    Could it be! Moses and Charlie had a bad feeling.


    Turning their heads, they realized that Zhou Wen was already dozens of meters away. Moses threw another punch. This time, he saw it clearly. The pangolin that Zhou Wen was sitting on burrowed into the ground and vanished. When they emerged again, they were already a hundred meters away.


    ¡°Earth Elemental Beast¡­ He actually hatched Earth Elemental Beast¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± Charlie shouted indignantly.


    No matter how strong Giant God Sovereign was, it was useless if he couldn¡¯t catch up to the Earth Elemental Beast. It was already impossible for him to kill Zhou Wen today, much less snatch the Earth Elemental Beast Companion Egg. Even if they killed Zhou Wen, the Companion Beast that had already hatched would vanish with its master.


    Moses was stunned. He did not expect such an outcome.


    ¡°Count yourself lucky.¡± Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Moses wanted to retreat.


    ¡°Who said you can leave?¡± Zhou Wen rode on the Earth Beast¡¯s back and blocked Moses¡¯s path.


    ¡°If you didn¡¯t have the Earth Elemental Beast to escape, you would have long been killed by me. How dare you say such things in front of me?¡± Moses said coldly as he walked towards Zhou Wen, hoping to stomp him and the Earth Elemental Beast to death.


    Zhou Wen remained unmoved as he summoned Tyrant Behemoth. At the same time, he fed the Rejuvenation Pill he had recently obtained to Tyrant Behemoth, allowing its injured fist to rapidly heal.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of summoning a defeated opponent? No matter how many times you summon it, it will be suicide,¡± said Moses.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he continued the summoning. Truth Listener was summoned and it shattered two earrings. It descended like a ferocious beast and glared at Moses.


    ¡°Another Strength-type Companion Beast? It doesn¡¯t matter. Attack together.¡± Moses didn¡¯t care.


    Zhou Wen continued summoning and summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and Torch Dragon. One bull and one dragon surrounded Moses.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Torch Dragon¡­ That¡¯s Torch Dragon from the Zhuolu temple¡­¡± Charlie recognized Torch Dragon and his expression changed drastically.


    Moses didn¡¯t look too good either. Zhou Wen had actually summoned five Mythical Companion Beasts alone. This was very rare among the six families.


    ¡°No matter how many Companion Beasts you summon, it makes no difference for Giant God Sovereign. If you don¡¯t break through my defense, you will ultimately be defeated.¡± Although Moses said that, he was no longer confident.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and continued summoning his Companion Beasts.


    The Golden Overlord Sword and Golden Battle God Halberd appeared beside him, floating in the air. At the same time, the Mythical Kun Dragon and Zhen Dragon appeared. The two black dragons also joined the battlefield as Moses was surrounded in the center.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the Golden Battle God Temple of the Metalwork Temple, the black dragon in the Zhuolu underground sea¡­ How is that possible¡­ How can he have so many Mythical Companion Beasts¡­¡± Charlie¡¯s voice was trembling. He had never seen a person have so many Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Even in recent years, the six families had many more Mythical Companion Beasts than before, but it was already not bad for the core upper echelons to have one. Only top figures could have two or three Mythical Companion Beasts. Those who had five or six Mythical Companion Beasts were considered the family¡¯s top combat strength, the true pillar of the family.


    Now, Zhou Wen had summoned more than ten Mythical Companion Beasts alone. Furthermore, they included top-notch terrifying existences like Tyrant Behemoth and Torch Dragon. How could Charlie not be alarmed?


    At that moment, Moses¡¯s mind was filled with curses. He never expected that Zhou Wen, who wasn¡¯t even a direct descendant of the An family, would have so many Mythical pets on him. Mythical Companion Beasts were summoned out as though they were nothing.


    Moses was already regretting it. Although Giant God Sovereign¡¯s strength was powerful and his defense was almost invincible, who could guarantee that none of Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts could restrain him?


    According to what Moses knew, Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World¡¯s power could devour all living beings. Giant God Sovereign might not be able to withstand it.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. No matter how many Companion Beasts you have, it¡¯s ultimately a joke if you can¡¯t break through Giant God Sovereign¡¯s defense.¡± Moses¡¯ tone was no longer as confident as before.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen finally spoke. At the same time, he summoned two Companion Beasts. Charlie and Moses didn¡¯t recognize the two Companion Beasts, but from the looks of them, they were undoubtedly at the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen had summoned Doctor Darkness and Explosive Fiend Man.


    ¡°Of course. If you can break through Giant God Sovereign¡¯s defense, why did you need to summon so many Mythical Companion Beasts?¡± Moses seemed to be speaking to Zhou Wen and himself.


    ¡°You will soon know the use of having so many Mythical Companion Beasts.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand as the terrifying Mythical Companion Beast army charged at Giant God Sovereign.


    When Moses saw so many terrifying Mythical Companion Beasts rush over, he felt his scalp tingle, but he had no choice but to bite the bullet and accept the challenge.


    However, how could a single Giant God Sovereign deal with so many Mythical Companion Beasts? Although Tyrant Behemoth and company couldn¡¯t break through Giant God Sovereign¡¯s defense, it didn¡¯t stop them from rushing forward to hold down the armored Moses.


    Tyrant Behemoth and Truth Listener each held onto an arm, while the two black dragons each pulled at a leg. Torch Dragon wrapped around its neck and pulled Giant God Sovereign down.


    Giant God Sovereign had powerful defense, but in terms of strength, it was inferior to Tyrant Behemoth, much less be able to resist so many Mythical creatures at the same time.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull stomped on his chest as the Golden Overlord Sword and Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed at his body. Although they failed to penetrate the barrier, they pressed him firmly to the ground. No matter how he struggled, he couldn¡¯t escape.


    Charlie fell to the ground. Moses couldn¡¯t be bothered with him anymore. He stood up and wanted to run, but he saw a scalpel suddenly appear and slice across his throat. Doctor Darkness gracefully walked past him and returned to Zhou Wen¡¯s side without looking back.


    Charlie covered his neck in horror, but blood kept gushing out of the gaps between his fingers. His eyes widened as he opened his mouth to say something, but all he spat out was blood.


    Plop!


    Charlie¡¯s body fell to the ground; he was dead.


    ¡°What a pity,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently when he saw that the Dead Man Tree didn¡¯t react.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, it¡¯s useless no matter how many Mythical Companion Beasts you have. You can¡¯t break through my defense. You can¡¯t injure me.¡± Moses was pressed to the ground by so many Mythical Companion Beasts, but he wasn¡¯t injured. Although he couldn¡¯t move, he still roared.


    ¡°Why should I break your defense?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, Explosive Fiend Man walked over.


    Explosive Fiend Man, whose eye mask was shimmering with an evil glow, pressed its palm on Giant God Sovereign¡¯s barrier, leaving strange marks on it that gradually covered every corner of the barrier.


    The Time Bomb skill could only be used on objects that could not resist. It was basically impossible to use it on a Guardian like Giant God Sovereign. However, Giant God Sovereign couldn¡¯t even move.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Moses¡¯s face was pale, and his eyes were filled with fear. Although he did not know what those imprints did, he knew that things weren¡¯t looking good.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯m just in a good mood and want to set off fireworks to celebrate,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Let go of me¡­ You bastard¡­¡± Moses struggled with all his might. He already felt that something was amiss. Even Giant God Sovereign was struggling to escape as though he was terrified.


    However, it was useless. Under the suppression of so many terrifying Mythical creatures, even the Guardian¡ªGiant God Sovereign¡ªcouldn¡¯t escape.


    After all, it had only broken out of its cocoon not long ago. Although it was strong, it wasn¡¯t capable of Terror transformation and didn¡¯t have overwhelming strength.


    More and more imprints appeared on the golden barrier, emitting a dangerous purple glow. It was like a spiderweb that covered the entire barrier.


    Finally, Zhou Wen unsummoned all his Companion Beasts and quickly retreated.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Moses finally regained his freedom. His first reaction was to remove the armor, but it was too late.


    Explosive Fiend Man snapped his fingers and there was a bang.


    Like a hydrogen bomb exploding, a golden sun rapidly expanded its radius with Moses at the center. Everything that was devoured instantly turned to ashes.

 Chapter 857 - Perfect Slaughterer

    Due to the Explosive Fiend Man detonating Giant God Sovereign¡¯s strongest barrier, the powerful force made it so that Moses didn¡¯t even have the chance to scream. He was directly reduced to ashes, and Giant God Sovereign himself was blasted apart.


    With the death of Giant God Sovereign, Zhou Wen felt a strange force enter his body, causing Slaughterer to evolve again.


    I¡¯m finally about to evolve a Perfect Body! Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. He had killed several Guardians. If he didn¡¯t evolve, he didn¡¯t know where he could find Guardians to kill.


    The Slaughterer that enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body had always been an invisible existence. After advancing to an Evolved Body, Zhou Wen could sense its existence and take the initiative to control it.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand it much. It was limited to powering Immortal Slaying.


    This evolution allowed Slaughterer¡¯s form to gradually appear. Although it was only a blurry shadow, like a silhouette, it was many times stronger than back when it was invisible and untouchable.


    As he watched the light gradually appear, Zhou Wen realized that the light was somewhat familiar, as though he had seen it before.


    He couldn¡¯t see the facial features or figure, but the aura was very familiar.


    Is it the woman in my hallucination? Zhou Wen suddenly recalled where he had seen such an aura. The woman who had defied the heavens to slay immortals and made all races bow down to her seemed to have such an aura.


    When the evolution was completed, Zhou Wen could only see a silhouette-like shadow. The Slaughterer¡¯s appearance hadn¡¯t completely surfaced, nor had it been able to condense a corporeal body.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the information in-game and realized that Slaughterer had indeed advanced to a Perfect Body. However, its name and introduction remained the same.


    The only thing that made Zhou Wen feel that Slaughterer had indeed grown was that he could finally maintain contact with Slaughterer. He still needed to slowly experiment with its other abilities.


    Is that it? Is this the final appearance of the Slaughterer Life Soul? Zhou Wen looked at the figure of light and found it unbelievable that Slaughterer ultimately looked like this. It was too abstract.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to believe it, the truth was that Perfect Body was the final form of a Life Soul. It was impossible to change it.


    After cleaning up the battlefield, Zhou Wen rode the Earth Elemental Beast again with Ya¡¯er. This time, he wasn¡¯t in a rush. However, his speed wasn¡¯t slow. Furthermore, the path he was taking wasn¡¯t the way back to Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on returning to Luoyang right away. He wanted to circle around and walk through the relatively safe human districts to advance Fine Dust.


    After walking for less than two days, Fine Dust began to evolve. The dust-like planet began to burn like a tiny sun, emitting a strange glow.


    Although he didn¡¯t know if it was of any use, the stat augmentation provided by the Fine Dust was much stronger than before.


    Glimmer: Evolved Body


    The evolution of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art is indeed easy. If I take more steps, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for me to reach the Perfect Body. Instead, Civilized Country needs a large number of spatial teleportations to evolve. What should I do? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a good solution.


    The Zhang family¡¯s Mystic Bird could rapidly teleport, but the Zhang family had already hatched it. It was impossible for them to transfer it to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have enough benefits to move them.


    I¡¯ll take it one step at a time. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t idle along the way. He was studying the Demon God Catalog, hoping to figure out what kind of Essence Energy Art it was and how to condense a Life Providence and Life Soul.


    Condensing a Life Providence wasn¡¯t difficult. With the Essence Energy Art and his talent, as long as he had sufficient perceptivity, success wasn¡¯t a distant thing.


    However, a Life Soul needed a foundation. Typically, a Guardian¡¯s drop of blood was needed as a foundation. However, the Guardian¡¯s attribute had to be compatible with the Demon God Catalog.


    I wonder if The Thearch¡¯s blood can be used as a foundation of the Demon God Catalog. Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what kind of existence The Thearch was. He didn¡¯t know if she was a dimensional creature or a Guardian, or if she was neither.


    However, The Thearch was trapped in Chess Mountain, and the Demon God Catalog was obtained from there. The possibility of the two being compatible was naturally higher.


    It probably won¡¯t be that easy to obtain a drop of blood essence from The Thearch, but it¡¯s not like there¡¯s no chance. Compared to the Guardians who I have to fight to obtain their blood, it¡¯s possible to negotiate with The Thearch. However, I don¡¯t know what price I will have to pay. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it. He wanted to condense the Demon God Catalog¡¯s Life Providence first.


    Zhou Wen only did his research when he walked. He didn¡¯t do any training because switching to other Essence Energy Arts prevented Glimmer from obtaining energy.


    When he stopped to gather information, he exacted his thoughts and insights on the Demon God Catalog. In just a few days, he had obtained a huge improvement and condensed a Life Providence.


    Life Providence: Demon Bloodline


    Zhou Wen felt that when he used the Demon Bloodline, his basic stats were greatly augmented. Among all his Life Providences, the Demon Bloodline augmented his physical stats the most.


    From the looks of it, this Demon God Catalog is likely an Essence Energy Art that corresponds to one¡¯s Constitution. The other Essence Energy Art corresponding to Constitution is Small Perfection of Wisdom. The Supreme Hell King Life Soul is already a Perfect Body. Then, if I advance the Demon God Catalog¡¯s Life Soul to a Perfect Body, won¡¯t my Constitution reach 41 points?


    Zhou Wen was vexed about how he could obtain a Guardian¡¯s blood that corresponded to the Demon God Catalog and condense a Life Soul.


    ¡°The Thearch, are you interested in making a deal?¡± Zhou Wen planned on probing The Thearch¡¯s intentions. If he could obtain a drop of her blood, he could give it a try.


    ¡°How rare. You actually took the initiative to make a trade with me. Weren¡¯t you deathly afraid of me and kept hiding from me?¡± The Thearch replied in a teasing tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m not avoiding you. I¡¯m just too busy and don¡¯t have time. Otherwise, I would have come to Chess Mountain to visit you,¡± Zhou Wen said in a hypocritical manner.


    ¡°Alright, then come. I¡¯ll wait for you,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°I¡¯m near the South District now. I really can¡¯t return. When I return, I¡¯ll definitely visit you.¡± Zhou Wen sent another message. ¡°Are you interested in the deal I¡¯m talking about?¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡± The Thearch asked straightforwardly.


    ¡°I want a drop of your blood essence.¡± Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and sent the message. He was somewhat nervous, unsure if The Thearch would end up falling out with him.

 Chapter 858 - Qiongqi

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Sure.¡± The Thearch¡¯s message delighted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What do you want? I¡¯ll exchange it with you,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to see me? Then come. If you come to see me, I¡¯ll give you a drop of blood essence. I don¡¯t want anything else,¡± The Thearch replied.


    Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. He had only said it in passing. He really didn¡¯t dare go to Chess Mountain to see The Thearch.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t come back now. Do you want to exchange for something else? There are many new and interesting things here. Shall I send some to you? Otherwise, I¡¯ll buy any experimental equipment or apparatus you want,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want anything. If you come, there will be blood essence. If you don¡¯t, nothing.¡± The Thearch¡¯s reply left Zhou Wen somewhat helpless.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk when I get back. I can¡¯t fly back now.¡± Zhou Wen replied before switching off his phone.


    Typically, when Guardians are in the cocoon, their bodies will be flowing with blood essence. When they come out of the cocoon, the blood essence will have already fused into their bodies. It won¡¯t be that easy to obtain more blood essence. Perhaps The Thearch¡¯s blood essence isn¡¯t useful. After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to head to Chess Mountain.


    Since it¡¯s the Demon God Catalog, the nine black dragons are demon dragons. The Guardian they are guarding might be compatible with the Demon God Catalog. Zhou Wen launched the game and ran to the underground sea to obtain a drop of the Guardian¡¯s blood. However, it was useless. The Demon God Catalog didn¡¯t absorb it.


    He went to Ant City to give it a try, but the outcome was the same. The blood essence of the two Guardians was useless for the Demon God Catalog. However, this also meant that the Demon God Catalog wasn¡¯t an Essence Energy stat.


    This path doesn¡¯t seem to work. Zhou Wen had to think of other solutions to see if he could find other Guardians that hadn¡¯t broken out of their cocoons.


    Ding!


    This was because most of his Life Soul and Essence Energy Art had reached a bottleneck. Zhou Wen could only game and grind dungeons on the way. This time, he had cleared all the Vermilion Bird¡¯s Seven Mansions while grinding in the Endless Sea of Stars.


    The seven Essence Energy Skills were the same as the Seven Mansions of the East. They combined into one Essence Energy Skill. When used, a Vermillion Bird¡¯s shadow surrounded him. Just like the Seven Mansions of the East, they were all Essence Energy barrier-type skills. The level of the Essence Energy Skill didn¡¯t increase.


    Could it be that I really have to gather all the 28 Lunar Mansion skills to reveal their true might? Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue grinding.


    The Northern Black Tortoise¡¯s Seven Mansions and the Western White Tiger¡¯s Seven Mansions each lacked a skill. They were especially difficult to grind. Zhou Wen had no idea how many times he had tried only to fail.


    Zhou Wen deliberately grinded a few more times. In a stroke of luck, he managed to gather all the seven Essence Energy Skills of the Western White Tiger¡¯s Seven Mansions.


    The Essence Energy Skill that combined the seven skills was the same as Azure Dragon and Vermillion Bird. They were all protective Essence Energy Skills but its level didn¡¯t increase.


    Zhou Wen went all out as he farmed the Endless Sea of Stars again and again. He had to grind out the last skill to see what would happen after he gathered all the 28 Lunar Mansion skills.


    However, Zhou Wen grinded for nearly ten days and dripped his blood to revive countless times but the last Mansion¡¯s skill never appeared.


    Thankfully, during this period, Zhou Wen obtained another Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Egg. Its stats were almost identical to the first two, but this one was a Qian Dragon.


    Zhou Wen already had Qian, Kun, and Zhen of the nine Demon Blood True Dragons, but the three black dragons failed to fuse. No matter how he matched them, it would indicate that they lacked a main body.


    What¡¯s this main body? Could it be that the Demon Blood True Dragon with the Wu dragon pearl is the main body of the nine black dragons? Zhou Wen guessed.


    However, if he couldn¡¯t obtain a Wu True Dragon Companion Egg, his guessing was pointless.


    Every time Zhou Wen respawned, he would grind the baby tiger, but after grinding for so long, no Companion Egg dropped. It was the same for some Mythical creatures. It was very difficult for the Companion Eggs to drop.


    Even if Qiongqi is like Torch Dragon, a Companion Beast with only one attribute, Qiongqi should have produced one after farming it so many times, right? Or could it be that my way of grinding for it is wrong? Just like Medusa, Qiongqi needs a special method to have a Companion Egg drop?


    After some thought, Zhou Wen thought of a possibility. Don¡¯t tell me it only drops a Companion Egg when someone with a ferocious Life Providence kills Qiongqi?


    With this possibility in mind, Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s Life Providence was extremely ferocious, but it was still at the Epic stage. It was definitely unrealistic for it to kill Qiongqi.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had enough Mythical Companion Beasts. He summoned the Mythical pet team and had them charge into the Qiongqi temple. They ganked Qiongqi and beat it to a pulp.


    1


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General then charged over and stabbed again and again. After striking for more than half an hour, it managed to kill Qiongqi.


    Ding!


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Qiongqi. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    This really works? Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open for a long time.


    It was just a flash of brilliance that he gave a try. Who knew that it would really work?


    If I had known this would happen, I would have had Qiongqi dropped a long time ago. Why would I have to wait so long? Zhou Wen could only sigh. Sometimes, brute force was really unacceptable. Intelligence was most important.


    Qiongqi: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Punishing Kindness and Raising Evil


    Life Soul: Companion with Evil


    Wheel of Destiny: Ferocious and Evil


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Evil Deeds Like Wind, Evil Deeds Everywhere, Devouring Whole, Badlands.


    Companion Form: Mount


    A top Mythical mount! Zhou Wen was first delighted, but when he carefully looked at Qiongqi¡¯s skills and various abilities, his face darkened.


    This thing was something that bullied the weak and feared the strong. When encountering evil people, due to the effect of the Companion with Evil Life Soul, not only would its stats decrease, even its skills would weaken.


    However, when it came to fighting good people, it was ferocious. When it did good deeds, its stats would drop drastically. When it did evil deeds, its various stats would increase greatly. It was a wonder.


    The skill that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tolerate the most was Badlands. This skill was a passive skill that didn¡¯t have any lethality. Its only use was that wherever it was, it would make the local area terrible, making people poor and evil. As its owner, he would naturally be the first to bear the brunt. Sooner or later, he would be poor, ferocious, and starving. He wouldn¡¯t even have food to eat.


    If I had known this would happen, why would I have spent time grinding for it? Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry as he looked at Qiongqi¡¯s Companion Egg. It was too sinister for incubation.


    But if he didn¡¯t incubate it, he would be missing a top-notch mount Companion Beast. In terms of combat strength, it was top-notch. It would be a pity to throw it away.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Egg with an expression that kept changing. He was in a dilemma.

 Chapter 859 - Mythical Tiger Soul General

    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t make up his mind whether to incubate it. He first matched the Companion Egg with his pets.


    In fact, Zhou Wen really wanted to throw it away. None of its skills and abilities made Zhou Wen find them especially useful. They all had various flaws.


    The only thing that made it better was that it was especially fierce when it did evil. It was especially powerful when dealing with good people.


    If Zhou Wen was a devil, Qiongqi would be an excellent-grade demon apart from its Badlands skill. It could unleash extremely powerful combat strength.


    The problem was that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like to do evil, nor did he plan on killing good people. With such a thing and the risk of being poor while having nothing to eat, Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t want to incubate it.


    After watching for a while, he realized that Qiongqi¡¯s compatibility with the other Companion Beasts wasn¡¯t high. Just as Zhou Wen was about to throw it away, he thought of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General he had summoned and matched it.


    The 93% compatibility surprised Zhou Wen.


    Birds of a feather flock together. The compatibility between these two fellows is astonishingly high. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it was a pity to throw away the Mythical Qiongqi, a top-notch Mythical creature, and its evolutionary ability.


    From the looks of it, Jinxes Master doesn¡¯t seem to do much to me. Why don¡¯t I try fusing them? Perhaps there will be a good outcome after the two flawed Companion Beasts fuse? Even if they do not change for the better, it won¡¯t be any worse. Zhou Wen decided to give it a try as he placed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General on the Qiongqi Companion Egg and chose to fuse them.


    The 93% compatibility was as genuine as it could be. As a supplementary ingredient, the Qiongqi Companion Egg transformed into a stream of light and entered the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body, quickly completing the fusion.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General that had been successfully fused didn¡¯t look much different. However, the tiger under the Tiger Soul General looked a little like Qiongqi.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at its stats and thought to himself, If only I could erase Jinxes Master.


    Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul Runes


    Wheel of Destiny: Ferocious and Evil


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Magic Stone Curse, One with Horse, Armor-Piercing Spear, Evil Deeds Everywhere, Badlands, Jinxes Master.


    Companion Form: None


    ¡°¡­¡±


    After seeing the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s stats, Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    These stats were considered excellent. It was basically impossible to be stronger. It was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a Companion Beast with eight skills. Furthermore, there was a possibility of further improvement in the future. Perhaps it could achieve Terror transformation.


    With Jinxes Master still around, Zhou Wen could still accept it. However, what the hell was that wretched Badlands? It actually fused with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    With Jinxes Master and Badlands, it¡¯s like it¡¯s afraid I won¡¯t die from a single strike. It follows up with execution from a thousand cuts! Zhou Wen had the urge to euthanize the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen held back. After all, Jinxes Master probably included being poor. It didn¡¯t matter if there was the additional Badlands.


    In the past, Jinxes Master had no effect on him. It didn¡¯t make sense that Badlands could do anything to him.


    I¡¯ll observe it first. If I really can¡¯t withstand it, I¡¯ll have to think of a way to euthanize it as soon as possible. Zhou Wen thought to himself and quickly unsummoned Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. He decided to try his best not to let it out.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen summoned his baby tiger and got it to follow him, giving him some luck.


    After doing all of this, Zhou Wen felt much more relaxed.


    As he carefully continued on his way, Zhou Wen heightened his focus. Thankfully, nothing bad happened, allowing him to heave a sigh of relief.


    Glimmer was much more difficult to evolve than Fine Dust. After walking for so long, Zhou Wen realized that although Glimmer was growing, its growth was very slow. At this rate, he didn¡¯t know how many places he needed to visit to advance Glimmer to a Perfect Body.


    The path Zhou Wen took was one that humans were still on; therefore, he didn¡¯t encounter much danger.


    On this day, Zhou Wen rode on the Great Might Vajra Bull and walked on a winding mountain road. At night, he had yet to walk out of the mountainous area. In front of him were unending mountains. The winding mountain roads were like snakes coiled around the mountain.


    As he walked, he suddenly saw many trucks parked on the road ahead. They looked like a convoy, but he didn¡¯t know why they were parked there.


    Typically, convoys would stop at a fixed service area. They wouldn¡¯t usually stop on this mountain road in the middle of the night.


    Behind the convoy were many soldiers in military uniforms. When they saw the Great Might Vajra Bull, they were shocked. Immediately, many soldiers ran over from the front of the army. Many soldiers raised their guns and aimed at the Great Might Vajra Bull.


    When they saw Zhou Wen sitting on the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s back, they heaved a sigh of relief. However, they didn¡¯t let down their guard. The dozens of guns were still aimed at Zhou Wen and the Great Might Vajra Bull.


    ¡°We are the Federation¡¯s transport team. Who are you?¡± The officer in the lead shouted at Zhou Wen from afar.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t rashly head over. He stopped the Great Might Vajra Bull and asked, ¡°I¡¯m a student of Sunset College. I¡¯m preparing to rush back to Luoyang. What happened here?¡±


    ¡°For some reason, a large portion of the Panshan Road ahead has collapsed. Our vehicles can¡¯t drive over, so we are trying to think of a solution. If you don¡¯t have the ability to fly, I¡¯m afraid you can only reroute,¡± the officer said.


    ¡°I have some flying abilities, but I can¡¯t fly too far. Can you let me take a look?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The officer discussed with the person beside him for a while before saying to Zhou Wen, ¡°Alright, you can come over, but put away the Companion Beast first.¡±


    Zhou Wen put away the Great Might Vajra Bull and walked over with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    ¡°It¡¯s already very dangerous for a student like you to take mountain paths at night. Why are you carrying a child?¡± the officer said as he looked at Ya¡¯er in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms.


    Perhaps it was because of a girl like Ya¡¯er that they were willing to let Zhou Wen approach the convoy.


    ¡°Bad things are happening to this world. Her parents are gone, so I can only take her to school,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The soldiers revealed looks of sympathy, and the atmosphere eased a lot.


    ¡°This world¡­ Sigh¡­¡± The officer sighed and led Zhou Wen forward.


    Indeed, a large portion of the mountain road ahead was blocked. It was estimated that several hundred meters of the mountain road had collapsed. The Epic experts in the operations team were using their flying pets to slowly transport the goods and vehicles separately.


    However, as there were only three flying pets working, the goods that could be transported at once were very limited, so the progress was very slow.


    Zhou Wen looked at the broken mountain road and couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    The mountain road had almost completely collapsed. Even the mountain wall had collapsed. Zhou Wen looked at it for a while and felt that they had not collapsed naturally, nor did they look like they had been smashed by something heavy. It was more like something had bitten into them.

 Chapter 860 - Slaying With One Strike

    Zhou Wen sized up his surroundings and looked at the map. He didn¡¯t discover any dimensional zones nearby.


    The closest dimensional zone was about sixty kilometers away.


    Is there a break-out creature nearby? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare let his guard down. He used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to scan the vicinity, but he didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures.


    To be able to cause such damage, it should be very large. Why didn¡¯t I discover it? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. After such a thing had happened, the transport team would definitely have checked the surroundings. If there was such a huge dimensional creature, it was impossible not to have found it, nor would they have been transporting goods here in the middle of the night.


    ¡°Lad, can you fly over?¡± the officer beside him asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°This distance shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± Zhou Wen answered with a nod.


    ¡°You should only do so if you are confident. Don¡¯t take any risks with a child,¡± the officer exhorted.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m confident.¡± After Zhou Wen thanked her, he leaped up with Ya¡¯er in his arms. After leveraging himself off the mountain wall, he arrived at the mountain pass opposite.


    ¡°The students of Sunset College are indeed extraordinary. This movement technique is truly impressive. If I had been able to get into Sunset College back then, I would have long been a section commander after toiling for so many years,¡± a soldier said enviously when he received the news that Zhou Wen was coming.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want to be too ostentatious, or he would have flown over. He never expected such a movement technique to be praised by the typical soldier.


    ¡°When you got here, was the road already like this?¡± Zhou Wen asked one of the soldiers.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. When we were about forty to fifty kilometers away, we heard a loud bang. At that time, we were wondering what had happened. Only when we arrived did we realize that the road had collapsed,¡± the soldier answered.


    If it were anywhere else, it might be difficult to hear sounds. However, this was a mountain road. The distance of forty to fifty kilometers was the travel distance; the actual straight-line distance wasn¡¯t that far.


    It won¡¯t take long to travel forty to fifty kilometers here. If there really are break-out creatures, theoretically speaking, they shouldn¡¯t be able to go far. Zhou Wen constantly used Truth Listener to scan the area. This time, he focused on scanning the forest at the foot of the mountain.


    This was because Zhou Wen previously felt that the dimensional creature was likely very large. It was impossible for it to be hidden in the forest.


    Furthermore, there were no signs of the forest being destroyed. It didn¡¯t look like a behemoth had passed by.


    However, for safety¡¯s sake, Zhou Wen carefully scanned the forest.


    As there weren¡¯t any dimensional zones nearby, the forest below didn¡¯t undergo much mutation. The trees weren¡¯t too tall either. Zhou Wen scanned the area for a while, thinking that he wouldn¡¯t find anything, but suddenly, he discovered a creature rushing through the forest.


    The creature looked like a centipede. It was huge and its body was probably the thickness of a bucket. Its upper body had a human torso, legs, and head. It looked extremely strange.


    It advanced through the forest and was almost at the mountain path.


    What dimensional creature is this? Was the mountain path destroyed by it? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have time to think as he said to the soldiers, ¡°There seems to be a dimensional creature in the forest below. Quickly evacuate the gap. Don¡¯t get too close.¡±


    The soldier was taken aback. He looked down and didn¡¯t see anything. He used the walkie-talkie to pass Zhou Wen¡¯s words to the officer across him.


    The officer hurriedly got someone to carefully observe the situation below. While they were still observing, they saw the monster with a centipede tail crawl out of the mountain wall.


    ¡°Dimensional creature. Prepare to fire.¡± The officer immediately gave the order to shoot. Essence Gold bullets rained down on the dimensional creature.


    The hard bullets appeared to shoot into rubber and stuck in its body. The terrifying thing was that the bullets quickly melted into its body as though they had been absorbed by its body.


    Seeing that the Essence Gold bullets were ineffective, the Epic officer ordered a giant eagle Companion Beast to release a claw beam from the sky to attack the monster.


    The monster looked up and glanced at the giant eagle. A blood-red beam shot out from its eyes. When the beam touched the giant eagle¡¯s body, it immediately plummeted from the sky. While still in midair, it had already melted into a pool of blood.


    The officer was alarmed. Their transport team had two Epic officers. Together, they had five Epic Companion Beasts. With such strength, they could deal with ordinary emergencies unless they encountered Mythical creatures.


    Now, an Epic Lightning Eagle had been killed in one strike. Such strength seemed to have exceeded the Epic stage.


    ¡°Retreat, everyone fall back.¡± The officer gave the order, but it was too late.


    Before the soldiers could board the vehicle, the monster had already climbed up the mountain wall. Its eyes suffused with a red glow. When the beam of light landed on the truck, it melted.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts were covered in a shadow. Having encountered such a terrifying dimensional creature, they were probably doomed.


    ¡°Retreat! Retreat immediately! Commander Yan and I will provide cover. The rest of you retreat immediately. Ignore the goods. Retreat immediately!¡± As the officer roared, he summoned his Companion Beasts to hold back the monster and cover the others¡¯ retreat.


    The monster¡¯s body, which was dozens of meters long, climbed up the mountain wall and let out a strange roar. Its red eyes shot red beams at the officer.


    The officer quickly dodged. At the same time, he slashed out a sword beam with an Epic Companion Beast sword in his hand, hoping to slice through the monster¡¯s centipede-like body.


    However, just as he moved, the centipede-like body swept over. The countless centipede feet were about to grab his body.


    The officer¡¯s sword beam slashed at the centipede, but the sword beam scattered like glass after shattering. It failed to deal any damage.


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± The officer¡¯s face was pale. He had already tried his best to retreat, but the difference in speed was too great. He was unable to dodge the centipede¡¯s attack.


    Suddenly, a golden sword beam descended from the sky like a bolt of lightning, illuminating everyone¡¯s eyes.


    In the next second, they saw the golden sword beam cleave the monster¡¯s body in half. The monster split into two and fell down the cliff.


    At that moment, they saw the spot where the golden sword beam had vanished. A figure held a golden sword in one hand and a girl in the other. He was floating above the broken road. It was naturally Zhou Wen.


    The officer and soldiers were dumbfounded as they looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    ¡°Thank you for your help,¡± the officer said as he saluted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not safe here. There are other dimensional creatures. It¡¯s best you leave quickly,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned Tyrant Behemoth and made it grow in size.


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth¡­ That¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth¡­ So Tyrant Behemoth isn¡¯t a Companion Beast from the West District¡­¡± the soldiers immediately shouted when they saw Tyrant Behemoth.

 Chapter 861 - Mountain God Temple

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen directly ordered Tyrant Behemoth to help the transport team take their trucks and goods to the other side of the broken road.


    The trucks were like toys in front of Tyrant Behemoth. It could pick them up with one hand.


    Soon, all the trucks, goods, and people had been moved to the other side of the broken road.


    ¡°May I know your name?¡± the officer asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Zhou Wen,¡± Zhou Wen answered before saying to the officer, ¡°Leave quickly. This isn¡¯t just the only dimensional creature. There are even more terrifying existences. There might be danger if you continue delaying.¡±


    The officer bowed at Zhou Wen and didn¡¯t dawdle. He immediately instructed all the soldiers to board the vehicle and leave with the goods.


    ¡°Commander Jin, I never expected Tyrant Behemoth to be a Companion Beast of our East District. Furthermore, it¡¯s owned by such a young student. That Zhou Wen is really impressive. Not only are his Companion Beasts powerful, but he¡¯s also powerful. He killed such a terrifying dimensional creature with a single strike. If humanity¡¯s students are as powerful as him, would we need to be afraid of dimensional creatures in the future?¡± the soldier beside him said excitedly to the officer.


    Jin Shihao shook his head and said with a bitter smile, ¡°I¡¯m afraid there might not even be one such person in a billion people. It¡¯s just impossible for them to protect all of humanity. We soldiers are also very important. Therefore, we have to work hard to become stronger. Even if we can¡¯t reach their level, we can still protect our compatriots who are weaker than us.¡±


    ¡°Although that¡¯s the case, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to possess such strength for the rest of our lives.¡± The soldier sighed.


    Jin Shihao cursed, ¡°If everyone thinks like you, humanity is probably doomed. If we can¡¯t do it now, it doesn¡¯t mean that we won¡¯t be able to do it in the future. Did the humans of ancient times imagine that everyone would have a phone one day? Back in times of peace, would people have thought that everyone would be holding a gun to do battle? People like Zhou Wen are the pioneers of the times. One day, pioneers like them will bring powerful Companion Beasts, Essence Energy Arts, and Essence Energy Skills to everyone. When that happens, humanity will truly be able to change the world. We have to work hard to become stronger. If that day really comes and we don¡¯t even have the ability to helm those powers, we will really be doomed.¡±


    1


    ¡°Commander, I understand what you mean. By standing on the shoulders of giants we can see further. However, seeing it with our own eyes is still too shocking. He¡¯s clearly so young, but he actually has such strength. Is the difference in talent between humans that huge?¡± the soldier said wistfully.


    Zhou Wen constantly scanned the forest below. The collapse of the mountain path was definitely not something the dead dimensional creature could do. There had to be stronger dimensional creatures nearby.


    However, he scanned the forest repeatedly and didn¡¯t discover anything else.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and wrapped Ya¡¯er in it before heading in the direction the centipede monster had come from.


    The dense forest was dark and eerie under the moonlight. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t enter the forest, afraid that something would happen, so he flew above it.


    With the Invisibility Cloak on him and the Earth Elemental Beast ready to fight at any moment, Zhou Wen¡¯s escaping ability was at its peak. With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, he could escape even if he couldn¡¯t defeat the adversary.


    He didn¡¯t discover anything along the way. Thankfully, the smell from the centipede monster was still present. Zhou Wen followed the smell and turned towards a mountain before discovering something.


    There was a hill over there, standing at less than two to three hundred meter, but it was rather steep. On the mountain¡¯s peak, there was a building that resembled a temple.


    There¡¯s actually an Earth Temple in such a place? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He observed the hill and didn¡¯t find any stone steps leading up.


    Strange, there aren¡¯t any stone steps. How did the ancients build it? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the temple and realized that there was incense burning inside.


    There was a wooden plaque hanging above the temple¡¯s entrance. On the wooden plaque were the words ¡°Mountain God Temple.¡±


    So it¡¯s not an Earth Temple, but a Mountain God Temple. Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    If it was an Earth Temple, there was no need to worry too much. This was because the nature of Earth Temples in the East District were similar. Typically, there wouldn¡¯t be too much danger. They even provided benefits at times.


    However, Mountain God Temples were different. Mountain God Temples were divided into temples that consecrated orthodox and evil gods. Orthodox Mountain God Temples were similar to Earth Temples, so they weren¡¯t very dangerous.


    However, it was difficult to say for the Mountain God Temples that consecrated evil gods.


    Some so-called mountain gods were actually demons that had developed sentience in the mountains. There were good and bad demons, and their personalities were completely different. It was because of their magical abilities that humans treated them as mountain gods to worship.


    However, these mountain gods might not protect humans. There were even many mountain gods who wantonly killed humans. They made humans so afraid of them that they were worshiped.


    Although the Mountain God Temple on the mountain wasn¡¯t big, it was rather exquisitely built. It was made of pure wood, and there was incense burning inside. As the words ¡°Mountain God Temple¡± were written, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the Mountain God inside looked like.


    That centipede monster should have come from the Mountain God Temple. From the looks of it, the Mountain God here is most likely an evil god. The collapsed mountain path probably has something to do with this Mountain God, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen focused Truth Listener¡¯s power on the Mountain God Temple, wanting to know what was inside.


    As a mysterious force enveloped the Mountain God Temple, he previously couldn¡¯t clearly hear the situation inside. Now that Truth Listener was doing its best, the scene inside the Mountain God Temple gradually surfaced in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    The temple hall was simple. On an offering table, there was something consecrated. There was an incense burner in front of it. There was incense in the burner, and there were candles on both sides. He did not know who had lit the incense.


    When Zhou Wen saw what was in the temple, his expression turned odd.


    It¡¯s indeed an evil god¡¯s Mountain God Temple. I¡¯ve seen offerings for Snake Immortals, Fox Immortals, and Yellow Immortals. This is the first time I¡¯ve seen someone giving offerings to a toad. Zhou Wen looked at the Mountain God Temple and couldn¡¯t help but be curious.


    What was consecrated in the Mountain God Temple looked like a toad. The fat statue was sprawled on the table with its eyes closed, as though it was enjoying itself.


    Its entire body seemed to be made of copper. There were many spots on its body, making it look ugly. If it were Zhou Wen, he definitely wouldn¡¯t consecrate such a mountain god.


    However, after taking a closer look, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    It looked like a toad lying there, but upon closer inspection, he discovered that this fellow was somewhat different from a toad.


    Just as Zhou Wen was carefully observing it, he saw it open its eyes and look at him.


    1

 Chapter 862 - Fortune Devouring

    Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak. Although he wasn¡¯t completely invisible, he was still visually invisible. The toad-like mountain god stared straight at Zhou Wen, clearly able to see him.


    The mountain god looked at Zhou Wen and opened his mouth to let out a strange cry.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he quickly retreated. At the same time, he drew the Golden Overlord Sword to prevent any possible attacks.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any terrifying forces rushing out of the Mountain God Temple, but his pocket twitched before everything turned still again.


    What happened? Zhou Wen was somewhat confused. He knew that something must have happened as he reached into his pocket and his expression immediately turned odd.


    His pocket was as good as before, but the change he had inside was gone. There were only a few hundred bucks in total. Zhou Wen had kept it on him as a backup if he needed to get a ride or for daily necessities.


    Now, not a single cent remained. It had vanished into thin air.


    Is it that mountain god¡¯s doing? But how did it do it? As Zhou Wen was alarmed, the mountain god cried at him again.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly flew to dodge. He didn¡¯t know what the mountain god¡¯s strength was, so he could only try his best to distance himself from it to prevent any more losses.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen was still too late. With the mountain god¡¯s strange cry, Zhou Wen felt his wrist lighten as the bracelet he had been wearing vanished.


    Not good! Zhou Wen was alarmed. The bracelet wasn¡¯t worth much to begin with. It was fine if he lost it, but it was embedded with Chaos Bead. There were many things inside the Chaos Bead that couldn¡¯t be lost.


    Zhou Wen immediately summoned Tyrant Behemoth and made it gigantic. He threw a huge fist at the Mountain God Temple on top of the hill, hoping to smash it to pieces.


    Boom!


    The toad-like Mountain God Temple rushed out. Its body rapidly expanded to the point of being comparable to Tyrant Behemoth. Its head collided with Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist.


    It was unknown what its head was made of, but it was extremely hard. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist seemed to strike steel. It failed to injure the mountain god.


    Only then did Zhou Wen see that although the fellow was ugly, it wasn¡¯t a toad. Its body was like a lion, its feet were like a Qilin, and its head was like a dragon. The spots on its body weren¡¯t spots, but copper coin-shaped scales.


    The copper coin-shaped scales covered its body. When its body shrank, it looked like a lump on a toad¡¯s body.


    Could this thing be the legendary Pixiu? Zhou Wen looked at it and connected it to its previous abilities. He immediately thought of a legendary mythical beast.


    Legend had it that the mythical beast, Pixiu, was also known as Tianlu, Evil Warding, and Hundred Cures. It was an auspicious beast that could exorcise evil and ward off calamity. It ate the wealth from everywhere, and it only ate without excreting. It could attract wealth and treasures, only allowing entry and not exit.


    Anyone who wanted to get rich would have a divine beast like a Pixiu in their home or shop.


    The more Zhou Wen looked at this fellow, the more it resembled the legendary Pixiu. It wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage when fighting Tyrant Behemoth when it came to Strength, Speed, or Constitution.


    It bit down and bit off a piece of a hill beside it. Its combat strength was extremely terrifying.


    It¡¯s definitely the one who gnawed off the mountain path. Zhou Wen ordered the Golden Overlord Sword to slash at Pixiu, hoping to help Tyrant Behemoth kill it and see if he could get the Chaos Bead from its stomach.


    Seeing the Golden Overlord Sword fly over, Pixiu opened its mouth and let out a strange cry. It sucked the Golden Overlord Sword into its stomach.


    Holy sh*t, this fellow¡¯s ability is a little sick. It can even devour a Mythical weapon? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. He didn¡¯t attack blindly and instead distanced himself from it. He observed its battle with Tyrant Behemoth from afar, hoping to find its weakness before attacking.


    Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand. It roared and used Absolute Strength. Its powerful strength immediately suppressed Pixiu as it punched at it, sending it rolling around the mountain.


    However, Pixiu had thick skin and flesh. It was only slightly injured, so Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t kill it anytime soon.


    This infuriated Pixiu. It opened its mouth and, like a monster that was devouring the world, let out a strange cry that sounded like a bull.


    Zhou Wen, who had retreated far away, felt his body tremble. Some of his valuable items had vanished. Even the accessories he had bought for Ya¡¯er had vanished.


    What was even more exaggerated was that the ground beneath cracked open, revealing a gold mine. Large amounts of gold ore surged into the Pixiu¡¯s mouth, causing its body to glow with golden light as though it was made of gold.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Perhaps because it had devoured a large amount of gold ore, Pixiu was actually on a par with Tyrant Behemoth, who had activated Absolute Strength. Even if it was inferior, it was difficult for Tyrant Behemoth to severely injure it.


    Not long after, the golden light on Pixiu¡¯s body dimmed significantly, perhaps a result of expending all the energy from devouring the gold mine. This was when it suddenly rushed out.


    Tyrant Behemoth chased after it relentlessly. After crossing several mountains, Pixiu roared again. The ground split open, revealing a silver mine beneath.


    A large amount of silver ore flew into Pixiu¡¯s mouth, causing its body to emit a silver glow. Its combat strength increased once again as it fought Tyrant Behemoth.


    Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth had never been afraid of anyone in a melee battle. It fought Pixiu crazily, causing the surrounding mountains to collapse. Large craters appeared on the ground as large swaths of the forest were destroyed.


    Before long, the silver light on Pixiu¡¯s body dimmed again. It fled towards the mountainous area again. Soon, it found another copper mine and devoured it to fight Tyrant Behemoth.


    After a long struggle, the light on Pixiu¡¯s body slowly dimmed. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength time was up as well. The two ferocious beasts had passed their peak, but they were still battling each other in exhaustion. They looked extremely ferocious.


    This fellow has the ability to devour wealth and sense wealth. As long as I have something related to wealth on me, I¡¯ll be sensed if I approach it. If I want to kill it, I can only lightly equip myself. With a thought, Zhou Wen first sent Ya¡¯er to a safe place before placing all the items that were worth something beside her. Then, he put on the Invisibility Cloak and used its Invisibility ability to secretly approach Pixiu.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use the Light Concealment Sword. Such a sword might be considered a treasure. If Pixiu were to discover it and devour it, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    He approached Pixiu from behind, but this time, it didn¡¯t discover him. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use a weapon and only summoned Doctor Darkness to get him to fuse his soul with him.

 Chapter 863 - Three Copper Coins

    Translator: CKtalon


    After fusing, Zhou Wen arrived behind Pixiu. His Eyes of Penetration activated, allowing him to see through Pixiu¡¯s body.


    The Golden Overlord Sword had already been melted and absorbed by Pixiu, making Zhou Wen¡¯s heart ache. Such a divine weapon had been destroyed by it.


    The gold, silver, and copper ore that it had devoured had mostly melted. Thankfully, Zhou Wen saw that the Chaos Bead hadn¡¯t been melted and absorbed. The bracelet was gone, leaving only a bead.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Bead is still here. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to use Doctor Darkness¡¯s Wheel of Destiny while Pixiu and Tyrant Behemoth were fighting.


    Darkness Right Hand was activated as Zhou Wen¡¯s right hand reached into the back of Pixiu¡¯s head and stirred it, tearing a huge chunk of its brain apart.


    As it was too big, Darkness Right Hand couldn¡¯t pluck out its entire brain. It could only do its best to cause damage.


    Pixiu let out a tragic cry. Tyrant Behemoth took the opportunity to press it to the ground. It rode on its body and pummeled it with its fists.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stay idle either. He used the remaining two Darkness Right Hand abilities consecutively, turning its brain into a mess.


    With problems arising in Pixiu¡¯s brain, it no longer had the ability to resist. It was repeatedly struck in the chest by Tyrant Behemoth, and its struggles weakened.


    Seeing that it no longer had the ability to suck wealth, Zhou Wen summoned the Light Concealment Sword and slashed its neck.


    Tyrant Behemoth extended its claws into the wound and forcefully ripped open the wound. Finally, it tore off its head. A divine beast had died.


    Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener and let the mini Truth Listener enter its stomach to take out the Chaos Bead.


    Soon, Truth Listener crawled out again. It held the Chaos Bead in one claw, but there was something else in the other claw.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the item Truth Listener had pulled out was three copper coins tied with a red string. The copper coins were circular on its outer rim, but there was a square hole in the middle. As they were too ancient, the patterns and words on them couldn¡¯t be seen clearly. They were strung together by a red string, making them look inconspicuous.


    However, this item wasn¡¯t digested or absorbed by Pixiu¡¯s stomach. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary item.


    Truth Listener placed the Chaos Bead and copper coins in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Zhou Wen took the copper coins and looked at them, but he didn¡¯t find anything special. He first put away the copper coins before using his penetrative vision to look at Pixiu¡¯s body.


    There aren¡¯t any Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed. Pixiu¡¯s abilities were very special. It would have been good to obtain a Companion Egg.


    Unfortunately, Pixiu didn¡¯t drop anything. He even lost the Golden Overlord Sword, making Zhou Wen feel like he had suffered a huge loss.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to think of a way to fuse a new weapon that¡¯s similar to the Golden Overlord Sword, Zhou Wen thought.


    However, Ever-Victorious was too difficult to farm. The success rate of fusion wasn¡¯t high either. The chances of fusing an identical Golden Overlord Sword were very low.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have OCD. All he needed to do was fuse Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable into one weapon.


    I wonder if I can fuse those skills onto the Light Concealment Sword. Zhou Wen had that thought. He could only slowly try it in the future.


    After searching the area and finding no other dimensional creatures, Zhou Wen left with Ya¡¯er.


    These copper coins don¡¯t seem to be anything special. Why weren¡¯t they digested by Pixiu? On the way back, Zhou Wen studied the three copper coins, but no matter what Essence Energy Art he injected, he couldn¡¯t activate them.


    Apart from being harder than the typical copper coin, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any use for them.


    I should think of a way to get a weapon. Zhou Wen also had a Mutated Overlord Snake that he had previously obtained. It had the Ever-Victorious ability.


    Unfortunately, when Zhou Wen matched it with the Light Concealment Sword, he found the compatibility to be pitifully low¡ªless than twenty.


    The Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s compatibility with the Light Concealment Sword wasn¡¯t high either. It was only 31. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare mess around with such a success rate.


    It doesn¡¯t seem realistic to fuse these two skills with the Light Concealment Sword. What if I fuse them with a sword-type Companion Beast before fusing them with the Light Concealment Sword? Zhou Wen decided to give it a try.


    After grinding the Ancient Sword Tomb for so long, he didn¡¯t obtain any other Mythical swords. However, he obtained quite a number of Epic and Legendary swords.


    Zhou Wen used the swords to match the Overlord Snake and Golden Battle God Halberd and quickly found one with a higher compatibility score.


    He first used a sword to fuse with the Overlord Snake, but with a high compatibility of 63, the fusion ended up failing.


    He used the Golden Battle God Halberd and another Epic sword to fuse. This time, the fusion succeeded, but the Unstoppable skill was deleted from the fusion.


    Why is my luck so bad? Zhou Wen thought of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s newly added Badlands skill and felt a little uneasy. Could it be that the skill is showing its effects? I¡¯ve suffered quite a loss this time¡­


    1


    Without the Golden Battle God Halberd and Mutated Overlord Snake as ingredients, it was impossible to continue any fusion. Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up on his previous plans and wait for a Companion Egg to drop.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen focused his attention on grinding dungeons. He focused on the Endless Sea of Stars and the Ancient Sword Tomb. He wanted to obtain the complete 28 Lunar Mansion skills from the Endless Sea of Stars. He also wanted to obtain another Mythical Sword from the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    The Light Concealment Sword was very powerful when used for assassination, but it wasn¡¯t suitable in a head-on battle. Zhou Wen still needed a weapon for melee battles.


    It was unknown if his luck had really changed for the worse. After grinding for a few days, nothing decent dropped. Instead, quite a number of useless Companion Eggs dropped.


    Since he had to walk around to advance his Glimmer Life Soul, Zhou Wen took a detour to the Founding Emperor Tomb. He wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol to download the dungeon.


    Before reaching the Founding Emperor Tomb, Zhou Wen saw a bustling town-like market. Many people were selling dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs produced in the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    There were many unique Companion Eggs in the Founding Emperor Tomb, such as the Bronze Men that Zhou Wen had seen before and the Earth Elemental Beast. They were all from the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    However, the Founding Emperor Tomb that humans knew of was actually only the periphery of the Founding Emperor Tomb. It was impossible to enter the tomb¡¯s interior.


    If the Founding Emperor Tomb was considered a huge underground city, the area that humans were in contact with now wouldn¡¯t even reach the city gates.


    Besides the legendary six heroes, no one had entered the true Founding Emperor Tomb.


    Zhou Wen was just about to pass through the bazaar and head to the periphery of the Founding Emperor Tomb to search for the tiny palm symbol when he saw a commotion in the bazaar. He didn¡¯t know what the group was doing.


    After paying a little attention, Zhou Wen realized that Liu Yun was in the crowd, arguing with an old man.


    Liu Yun doesn¡¯t do anything unless there are benefits involved. What¡¯s he doing here? Zhou Wen¡¯s interest was piqued as he found a corner that no one was paying attention to and secretly observed Liu Yun¡¯s every move.

 Chapter 864 - Selling the Sword

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen watched from the side for a while before finally understanding the reason behind Liu Yun¡¯s argument with the old man.


    Liu Yun insisted on buying the old man¡¯s bronze sword, but the old man refused to sell it no matter what. One insisted on buying while the other refused to sell. Therefore, they began arguing.


    It wasn¡¯t that the old man really wasn¡¯t selling it, but that the old man insisted on using the bronze sword to exchange for a Mythical Companion Beast. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t sell it no matter how much money was given.


    The old man also said that his bronze sword had been dug out from the Founding Emperor Tomb before the dimensional storms. It was the Founding Emperor¡¯s sword.


    No one believed him. Even if it was really the Founding Emperor¡¯s sword, it wasn¡¯t worth much in modern times. At most, it was an antique.


    However, the old man insisted on exchanging the sword for a Mythical Companion Beast. It was unknown what Liu Yun was up to. He insisted on buying the sword, but he couldn¡¯t produce a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Something¡¯s amiss. How can a thick-skinned fellow like Liu Yun buy a sword so honestly? It¡¯s even more impossible for him to make a din here. If he really wanted that sword, he should have secretly stolen it¡­ What is this fellow trying to do? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you three Epic Bronze Man Companion Eggs in exchange for your sword,¡± Liu Yun said to the old man.


    ¡°I won¡¯t exchange even for ten, much less three.¡± The old man was very stubborn. He hugged the bronze sword and refused to let go. He was dead stubborn.


    When others heard that Liu Yun wanted to exchange three Bronze Man Companion Eggs for a crappy bronze sword, they were alarmed.


    ¡°How about five? This is all I have,¡± Liu Yun said as he placed five Companion Eggs in front of the old man.


    Everyone was alarmed when they saw this. There were very few locals who didn¡¯t know the Bronze Man Companion Egg. Even if they hadn¡¯t personally obtained one, they had definitely seen one.


    The five Companion Eggs that Liu Yun took out were undoubtedly Bronze Men.


    ¡°Dude, you have five Bronze Man Companion Eggs. Why don¡¯t you exchange them for something good? Why do you have to exchange them for his crappy sword?¡± a person beside him said.


    Everyone agreed. Bronze Man Companion Eggs were very famous, but there weren¡¯t many of them, so their prices were very high. To be able to produce five at once was something even the elderly who had been setting up stalls here had never seen.


    ¡°Nothing else. I just like that sword. I think it might be a treasure,¡± Liu Yun said casually.


    ¡°This is obviously a treasure. If you want it, you can exchange it using a Mythical Companion Beast. Otherwise, it¡¯s useless no matter what you say,¡± the old man said firmly.


    Everyone found Liu Yun and the old man crazy. Liu Yun was a prodigal, and the old man was a fool.


    A burly man squeezed forward and looked at the five Bronze Man Companion Eggs on the ground. He swallowed his saliva and said to Liu Yun, ¡°Brother, I have a sword that¡¯s about the same as his. If you want it, I¡¯ll sell it for five Bronze Man Companion Eggs.¡±


    ¡°I want a treasure sword dug out from the Founding Emperor Tomb. Do you think I want any sword?¡± Liu Yun curled his lips.


    ¡°Hey, what the hell are you saying. This sword of mine was a treasure my great-grandfather dug out from the Founding Emperor Tomb,¡± the man hurriedly said.


    ¡°For real?¡± Liu Yun looked at the sword in his hand in disbelief.


    Indeed, the two ancient swords were very similar with only slight differences. From a comprehensive take of the two swords, they likely originated from the same period.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s real. It¡¯s definitely more real than that old man¡¯s,¡± the man said as he patted his chest.


    However, the old man said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t be greedy for small gains. If you are greedy, you will suffer a huge loss. What¡¯s the point of buying a fake with five Companion Eggs?¡±


    ¡°Old man, whose goods are you calling fake? You are the one selling a fake,¡± the man said angrily.


    Liu Yun laughed and said to the old man, ¡°Old man, don¡¯t tell me you are regretting it? It¡¯s too late for regrets now. I won¡¯t buy your sword. Let¡¯s see who else will offer such a high price.¡±


    With that said, Liu Yun pushed the five Companion Eggs towards the man and said, ¡°I don¡¯t care if yours is genuine or fake. I¡¯ll buy yours. I want to let that old fool regret it.¡±


    The burly man was overjoyed as he hurriedly took the Bronze Man Companion Eggs. He was still worried, so he got someone to check them for him. After confirming that they were Bronze Man Companion Eggs, he handed the ancient sword to Liu Yun.


    ¡°Old Man, just wallow in regret.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he left.


    Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and secretly followed.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t go to the town. After making a turn, he ran to a nearby forest and sat on a large tree root to smoke.


    After a while, he saw the old man who was trying to sell the sword sneak into the forest.


    When Zhou Wen saw the elder, he immediately came to a realization. The two of them were in cahoots. They had caused a commotion just to make the burly man sell his sword.


    The burly man was a freelance hunter who had entered a dimensional zone. He wasn¡¯t selling things at a stall. They definitely wanted the burly man¡¯s sword, but it wasn¡¯t convenient for them to just buy it from him, so they had set up such a trap.


    What¡¯s that ancient sword? Is it worth Liu Yun spending so much effort on? Zhou Wen secretly sized up the ancient sword in Liu Yun¡¯s arms.


    ¡°How is it? Is it real?¡± the old man asked Liu Yun after entering.


    ¡°There¡¯s no problem. It¡¯s real. With this sword, we can enter the Founding Emperor Tomb,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°Let me take a look,¡± the old man said as he went to take the sword.


    However, Liu Yun retracted his hand and didn¡¯t let the old man touch the sword. He said with a smile, ¡°Why are you in such a rush? Didn¡¯t we agree that I¡¯ll hold the sword and open the door? When we return, we¡¯ll split the items equally. With the sword with me, don¡¯t worry because nothing will go wrong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that you¡¯ll be cheated. I¡¯ll help you take a look and see if that¡¯s really the Emperor Qin Sword,¡± the old man said without changing his expression.


    ¡°I have always been the scammer, not the other way. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Liu Yun held the ancient sword and asked the old man, ¡°When are we going to take action?¡±


    ¡°The sooner the better. If you¡¯re ready, we¡¯ll take action tonight,¡± the old man said.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s settled then. We¡¯ll meet outside the Founding Emperor Tomb tonight.¡± Liu Yun turned around and left.


    The old man watched Liu Yun¡¯s back disappear before turning to leave.


    Zhou Wen secretly looked in the direction the old man had left and fell into thought. He had a nagging feeling that the old man was somewhat familiar, as though he had seen him somewhere before. However, from his face and figure, he didn¡¯t seem to have any impression of him.


    This old man¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s Jing Daoxian¡­ An idea suddenly flashed in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as he thought of that familiar feeling.


    This was because the aura the old man occasionally exuded was very similar to Jing Daoxian¡¯s, but his appearance and figure were different.


    Changing his looks and figure shouldn¡¯t be difficult for Jing Daoxian. I think it¡¯s most likely him. However, why is he with Liu Yun? Why do the two of them want to enter the Founding Emperor Tomb? Zhou Wen was filled with curiosity.

 Chapter 865 - Xie Yukun

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this had nothing to do with him. He didn¡¯t plan on entering the Founding Emperor Tomb, so he stopped making wild guesses.


    After circling around, he returned to the periphery of the Founding Emperor Tomb. He searched for the tiny palm symbol at the edge of the tomb, hoping to gain something.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of entering the Founding Emperor Tomb to begin with. Now that he knew that Liu Yun and Jing Daoxian were entering, he was even less likely to enter. All he did was walk around the periphery.


    There were terracotta soldiers on the periphery. They were basically at the Legendary stage, and further in were Epic Bronze Men. It was said that there were also Mythical Gold Men, but they were extremely rare. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see them.


    When he was about to reach the Founding Emperor Tomb, Zhou Wen slowed down. He definitely wouldn¡¯t enter the imperial mausoleum. All he needed to do was look for the tiny palm symbol.


    In the dungeon that Zhou Wen had downloaded, there was already a Thirteen Mausoleum. It was the only game dungeon that Zhou Wen had yet to enter.


    The main reason was that there were some mysterious things in that dungeon. If one didn¡¯t handle it well, problems would arise. More importantly, he couldn¡¯t find the entrance and could only circle around the periphery.


    A place like a mausoleum was not meant for entry to begin with, so it was naturally impossible for there to be an entrance. If one wanted to enter, they could only dig their way in.


    It was the same for the Founding Emperor Tomb. There were no doors, but there were numerous holes dug nearby. It was said that many people wanted to enter, but things would happen midway. Up to now, only the six heroes had successfully entered.


    Using Truth Listener¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen carefully searched the area. His luck wasn¡¯t bad. He found the tiny palm symbol on a stone beast that was half buried in the ground.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol. The game entered the download screen.


    After waiting for a while, it still hadn¡¯t downloaded successfully. This dungeon was probably a more important one.


    Having had the phone for so long, Zhou Wen realized that the speed at which he downloaded the game had nothing to do with the size of the map. Typically, when the download took longer, there would be something especially powerful or mysterious inside.


    It was getting late and he had already obtained the instance dungeon. In order not to bump into Liu Yun and Jing Daoxian, Zhou Wen planned on leaving and continuing his travels.


    To his surprise, when he reached the main road, he saw Liu Yun leaning against a tree by the side of the road and looking at him with a faint smile.


    ¡°Junior Brother, I never expected us to meet again so soon,¡± Liu Yun said with a smile.


    This fellow must have spotted me long ago. Zhou Wen knew very well. He looked at Liu Yun and said, ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, have you thought it through and want to help me take care of Ya¡¯er?¡±


    When Liu Yun heard Ya¡¯er¡¯s name, his heart couldn¡¯t help but tremble. He looked at Ya¡¯er, who was in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms, and hurriedly shook his head. ¡°I came to discuss something with you. You should have heard my conversation with that old man. Are you interested in entering the Founding Emperor Tomb together? This sword is the key to entering the Founding Emperor Tomb. With it and your Earth Elemental Beast, we can safely enter and take whatever we want.¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen said bluntly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know what¡¯s inside the Founding Emperor Tomb? It¡¯s¡­¡± Liu Yun was slightly taken aback. He was about to say something when Zhou Wen interrupted him again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know or go,¡± Zhou Wen said as he circled around Liu Yun and continued walking forward.


    Ignoring the fact that there might be danger in the Founding Emperor Tomb, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t go with the suspected Jing Daoxian around.


    Even Liu Yun had discovered him, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that Jing Daoxian hadn¡¯t discovered him. It was best not to get involved.


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s an Elixir of Immortality in the Founding Emperor Tomb. One can become immortal after eating it.¡± Liu Yun refused to give up as he followed Zhou Wen, hoping to persuade him.


    ¡°Not going.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s attitude was firm. Even if Liu Yun gave the best pitch, he wouldn¡¯t enter the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    ¡°There¡¯s still a Guardian cocoon in the Founding Emperor Tomb. If you enter, you might have a chance of contracting a Guardian,¡± Liu Yun continued.


    ¡°Not going.¡± He never expected such good news. However, even if there were Guardians inside, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t go.


    Since his phone was already downloading the game dungeon, he could still fight the Guardian in-game. There was no need for him to take the risk.


    ¡°Do you know who that old man is?¡± Liu Yun suddenly asked when he saw that Zhou Wen was determined not to go to the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    He never expected Zhou Wen to answer in such a manner. Liu Yun was taken aback before he asked in disbelief, ¡°You know who that old man is? That¡¯s impossible, right? You shouldn¡¯t have seen him. He¡¯s a dead person.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think he is?¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss when he heard Liu Yun¡¯s words. He stopped and asked him.


    Everyone knew that Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t dead. Even when he was injured the last time and had nearly lost his ability to fight, the bureau¡¯s setting up of a virtually inescapable net had failed to capture him.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be unfamiliar with the Zhuolu expedition team, right? That old man is one of the members of the expedition team,¡± Liu Yun said mysteriously.


    ¡°Impossible. I¡¯ve seen all the members of the expedition team. There¡¯s no such person,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction, Liu Yun knew that there was a chance. He chuckled and said, ¡°As long as you have read the information on the experts and staff members of the expedition team, it¡¯s not surprising that you know them. But have you ever thought that there might be some people who aren¡¯t in the records?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have time to listen to your nonsense. It¡¯s impossible to let an outsider stay in the team for such a large-scale inspection,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°He¡¯s not an outsider. After reading so much information, don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s something missing?¡± Liu Yun said solemnly.


    Zhou Wen frowned in thought. He didn¡¯t feel that there was anything missing from the information. All the information on the staff and experts had been available.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand him, Liu Yun said, ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s missing the information of the people who organized the expedition team?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he thought about the information he had read before saying, ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t there information on those officers and soldiers?¡±


    ¡°Are those officers and soldiers qualified to organize such an expedition team? They are only responsible for security,¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°Think about it. For such an important expedition, they invited so many top experts, but they only used the power of some low-ranking officers to protect them. Don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s something wrong if there¡¯s no one monitoring the progress of the work?¡± Liu Yun continued.


    ¡°Are you saying that the Federation deliberately concealed some information? That elder is one of them?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve investigated this matter before. I even entered the department that initiated the expedition and read through their information. However, the information was done perfectly. I couldn¡¯t see any problems at all. However, I looked at some other information and realized that a few people in that department had mysteriously vanished when the expedition team was established. They never appeared again. Later, I did a lot of investigations, so I¡¯m certain that those people must have gone to Zhuolu.¡± Liu Yun paused and said, ¡°That old man¡¯s name is Xie Yukun. He¡¯s one of them.¡±

 Chapter 866 - Ancient Mirror

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Where did you find him?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Liu Yun. He was somewhat puzzled as to why Liu Yun was so concerned about this matter.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite a coincidence. I originally came here to wait for you. I guessed that after you obtained the Earth Elemental Beast, you would most likely come to the Founding Emperor Tomb. To my surprise, I didn¡¯t see you despite waiting for ages. Instead, I recognized Xie Yukun who was selling things at the market. Therefore, I secretly followed and monitored him, but he discovered me.¡±


    Liu Yun paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°But who am I? He was naturally not my match. In order to save his life, this old fellow told me some things. Only then did I know that he had indeed gone to Zhuolu back then and had been in charge of supervising the expedition team with a few others. However, later on, the others vanished with the expedition team. And he said that he escaped calamity because he was sick and returned to the encampment that day. I naturally don¡¯t believe him.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Zhou Wen increasingly found the matter odd.


    He felt that the old man was most likely Jing Daoxian, but Liu Yun said that he was Xie Yukun and was related to the Zhuolu expedition team. This was somewhat odd.


    ¡°Then, he rattled on about some nonsense, saying that there¡¯s something good in the Founding Emperor Tomb. Furthermore, he has a way to enter. I felt that he knew a lot about the Founding Emperor Tomb. Furthermore, I¡¯m very curious as to why he¡¯s in such a rush to enter the Founding Emperor Tomb. Therefore, I agreed to cooperate with him and temporarily keep him at bay while waiting for you to come,¡± Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen sized up Liu Yun for a while before asking, ¡°Why are you interested in the expedition team?¡±


    ¡°Ahem, of course it¡¯s because I¡¯m concerned about you, Junior Brother. I know you¡¯re very concerned about this matter, so I helped you investigate it.¡± Liu Yun changed the topic and said, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, we¡¯ll capture that Xie Yukun later and torture him personally. Then you¡¯ll know if I lied to you.¡±


    ¡°Me? Beat him? I¡¯m afraid that the two of us will be the ones getting crippled later,¡± Zhou Wen said with a twitch of his lips.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Although that old man has some ability, he¡¯s far from our match. I can deal with him alone,¡± Liu Yun said smugly.


    Zhou Wen saw that Liu Yun didn¡¯t seem to be faking it, so he said to him, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re interested in this matter, but I don¡¯t know if that old man is Xie Yukun. I just feel that he¡¯s someone else.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Liu Yun hurriedly asked when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s solemn expression.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun¡¯s expression changed when he heard that. He said in disbelief, ¡°That¡¯s impossible! How can he be Jing Daoxian?¡±


    ¡°In any case, I won¡¯t be going to the Founding Emperor Tomb. Watch your back,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to leave. However, when he walked past Liu Yun and looked ahead, his expression changed.


    At some point in time, the old man had arrived and was now standing in front of them. He smiled at the two of them as cold sweat immediately broke out on Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    Liu Yun wanted to stop Zhou Wen, but when he turned his head and saw the old man, his expression changed.


    ¡°Old Man Xie, when did you come?¡± Liu Yun also knew that something was amiss. Xie Yukun had appeared so close to them, but he hadn¡¯t sensed anything.


    The old man ignored him and smiled at Zhou Wen. ¡°I never expected you to recognize me. It¡¯s somewhat unexpected.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult not to recognize a figure like you,¡± Zhou Wen said to Jing Daoxian. The old man had clearly admitted that he was Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian declined to comment. ¡°Since you are interested in the Founding Emperor Tomb, why don¡¯t you enter with us? You should know that even if I were to kill everyone in this world, I won¡¯t be willing to let you die. There¡¯s no need for you to be wary of me.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­ Are you really Jing Daoxian?¡± Liu Yun widened his eyes as he looked at Jing Daoxian in disbelief.


    The number one devil in the Federation. He had actually beaten the number one devil in the Federation previously and lived to talk about it. Even Liu Yun felt his legs go limp.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you were also waiting for me?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°I originally planned on taking the Earth Elemental Beast after the Zhang family auctioned it off. However, since you took the Earth Elemental Beast, I naturally wouldn¡¯t take it from you. I could only wait for you here,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, but I¡¯m not interested in the Founding Emperor Tomb. I¡¯m leaving. Since you and my Eldest Senior Brother are so interested in it, it¡¯s best you go together,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun¡¯s face turned livid as he forced a smile. ¡°I¡¯m not interested either. I was just fooling around. Old Master, don¡¯t take it to heart.¡±


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he sighed. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if the two of you aren¡¯t going, but now, one of you has the Earth Elemental Beast and the other has the Emperor Qin Sword. These two items are necessary to enter the Founding Emperor Tomb. Therefore, no matter what, I will need the two of you to accompany me.¡±


    ¡°What if I say no?¡± Zhou Wen was already prepared to fight or escape.


    Jing Daoxian said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so nervous. I¡¯ve said it before. Even if everyone in the world dies, I¡¯ll ensure your survival. Therefore, you don¡¯t have to treat me as an enemy. However, you have to accompany me on this trip to the Founding Emperor Tomb. I¡¯m just too old and my body is too weak. I need external help to continue living.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s your problem. What has it got to do with me?¡± Zhou Wen retreated as he spoke. Although Jing Daoxian treated him as an experimental subject and the chances of him killing him weren¡¯t high, who knew what kind of scheme Jing Daoxian would come up with? It was best to stay away from him if possible.


    Zhou Wen had seen Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s outcome with his own eyes. The two of them were also Jing Daoxian¡¯s test subjects. There was no doubt about that.


    ¡°Since Zhou Wen isn¡¯t going, It¡¯s useless even if I go. I¡¯ll leave this sword for you. I¡¯ll be leaving now. If you have anything to say, have a good chat with my junior brother.¡± Liu Yun placed the ancient sword on the ground as he retreated.


    Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t stop them. He slowly took out something. It was an ancient bronze mirror. The mirror¡¯s surface was blurry, and its reflections were also blurry.


    When Zhou Wen saw the ancient mirror, he felt that something was amiss. He summoned the Earth Elemental Beast and attempted to escape.


    Liu Yun¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t slow either. Like a meteor, he quickly rushed into the forest.


    Jing Daoxian had no intention of stopping them. He held the ancient mirror and slowly turned it. Then, a strange scene happened. Zhou Wen, who had already escaped through the ground, and Liu Yun, who had rushed into the forest, returned as though things were being played back.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± Jing Daoxian carried the ancient mirror as he walked. Zhou Wen and Liu Yun couldn¡¯t control their bodies as they were pulled towards the Founding Emperor Tomb like puppets.

 Chapter 867 - Yin Yang Mirror

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt as though his body was uncontrollable as he followed Jing Daoxian in the direction of the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    His various bodily functions seemed normal. He could also use his various abilities, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t help but follow Jing Daoxian.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t counterattack blindly. He used Truth Listener to observe the ancient mirror in Jing Daoxian¡¯s arms and realized that he and Liu Yun¡¯s shadows were inside.


    The problem was that Jing Daoxian¡¯s back was facing them. It was impossible for the ancient mirror to directly reflect them. Why were their shadows inside?


    Liu Yun was also led away. He gathered strength in his hand, but after some hesitation, he didn¡¯t dare attack Jing Daoxian.


    Although Jing Daoxian had his back facing them and didn¡¯t seem to be on guard, he was Jing Daoxian. Even Liu Yun had to consider the consequences of attacking.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take action. Instead, he secretly circulated his Essence Energy Art and switched his Life Souls to see if he could escape the ancient mirror¡¯s control.


    If he couldn¡¯t escape the ancient mirror¡¯s control, he would be limited in every aspect if he really were to fight Jing Daoxian. It was almost impossible for him to gain the upper hand.


    Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Nullification ability didn¡¯t have any effect. The ancient mirror¡¯s ability clearly didn¡¯t belong to an evil power like a curse. Switching to the Dao Sutra, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder that had the ability to break taboos failed to free Zhou Wen from the ancient mirror¡¯s control.


    It¡¯s not a curse or a taboo power. What kind of power is the ancient mirror? Zhou Wen suddenly realized a problem.


    Ya¡¯er was in his arms, but there was no sign of her in the ancient mirror.


    Why is Ya¡¯er¡¯s shadow missing? Is it because Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t attack Ya¡¯er, or is Ya¡¯er special? Is that ancient mirror useless against her? If it¡¯s because Ya¡¯er is special, what¡¯s special about her? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that the biggest difference between Ya¡¯er and him was that Ya¡¯er had already died once and couldn¡¯t be considered a real living person.


    Zhou Wen thought again and switched his Essence Energy Art to Small Perfection of Wisdom. He wanted to see if he could use Supreme Hell King to escape the ancient mirror¡¯s control, but it was useless.


    When Zhou Wen switched to Supreme Hell King, he was stunned when he saw Jing Daoxian.


    He rubbed his eyes in disbelief and carefully looked at Jing Daoxian¡¯s body. However, the outcome was the same. He couldn¡¯t see any sinflames on Jing Daoxian¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen had seen many humans, but he had never seen anyone without sinflames. At most, it was a matter of how many sinflames they had.


    However, Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t have any flames on him. He was unbelievably clean.


    That¡¯s impossible¡­ The more evil a person does, the more sinflames they have. Jing Daoxian is the number one devil in the Federation. He has committed countless crimes and killed countless people. How can he not have any sinflames? Ignoring the fact that he¡¯s the number one devil in the Federation, even an ordinary person who hasn¡¯t done any evil in his entire life wouldn¡¯t be without sinflames¡­ Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that Jing Daoxian must have used some special method to extinguish the sinflames on him. However, he didn¡¯t know how he had done it.


    2


    Since the Supreme Hell King¡¯s powers were useless, Zhou Wen had to think of other methods. He switched several Essence Energy Arts, but he was unable to break the influence the ancient mirror had on him.


    Liu Yun was clearly making various attempts, but like Zhou Wen, he didn¡¯t have any good results.


    When they arrived in front of the Founding Emperor Tomb, the two of them were still unable to escape the ancient mirror¡¯s control.


    Jing Daoxian stopped and waved the ancient mirror in front of the two of them. The two of them immediately regained their freedom. Jing Daoxian said with a smile, ¡°This ancient mirror is called the Yin Yang Mirror. You might not have heard of it, but in ancient times, this Yin Yang Mirror once left all the gods in the world in awe. It can wipe out souls and kill people. I only used it to lock up one of your souls. If you follow me into the Founding Emperor Tomb, I¡¯ll naturally release the soul trapped in the Yin Yang Mirror. Of course, you can choose not to go. However, this soul will always be locked in the Yin Yang Mirror. Over time, it will probably dissipate.¡±


    ¡°What will happen to someone without a soul?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°To put it simply, the Yin Yang Mirror divides a person¡¯s soul into three souls and seven senses. Losing a soul isn¡¯t a big deal. You¡¯ll still have two souls and seven senses. Your bodies aren¡¯t damaged, so it won¡¯t kill you. At most, your memory will worsen. Over time, you might become an idiot,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    Liu Yun and Zhou Wen exchanged looks. Zhou Wen knew that Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t being an alarmist. The shadows in the ancient mirror weren¡¯t born out of thin air. They had some connection to their bodies.


    Liu Yun suddenly thought of something. He stared at the Yin Yang Mirror and said, ¡°Could it be that the ancient mirror is the legendary Yin Yang Mirror, the supreme treasure in the battle between the gods during the Shang and Zhou dynasty period?¡±


    ¡°You are quite knowledgeable, but it¡¯s not considered a supreme treasure. It¡¯s just a manifestation of a Mythical Companion Beast. However, it¡¯s slightly stronger than ordinary Mythical creatures,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°A Terror-grade Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the Yin Yang Mirror.


    Jing Daoxian narrowed his eyes. ¡°To think that you already know about the Terror-grade. That¡¯s right. The Yin Yang Mirror is indeed at the Terror-grade. If I wanted to kill you, it¡¯s just a matter of thinking about it. Therefore, you don¡¯t have to worry about me killing you. This is because I can kill you anytime I want. There¡¯s no need to trick you into entering the Founding Emperor Tomb. As long as you help me enter it to retrieve something, you can regain your freedom. Furthermore, I¡¯ll only take one item from the Founding Emperor Tomb. The rest will be yours.¡±


    ¡°You have the strength, so it¡¯s naturally up to you,¡± Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as a tacit agreement.


    However, he thought to himself, Since the Yin Yang Mirror Companion Beast can advance to the Terror grade, Companion Beasts like Torch Dragon with the Evolvable attribute should be able to advance to the Terror grade. How can I advance them?


    Zhou Wen remembered that The Thearch had said that only those at the Terror grade could defeat the Terror grade. Although he had many pets, none of them were at the Terror grade. It was probably not easy to defeat the Yin Yang Mirror.


    It¡¯s too late to think of a way to advance to the Terror grade. Is there a way to bypass the Yin Yang Mirror and kill Jing Daoxian? Zhou Wen felt that he might have a chance.


    Jing Daoxian had been severely injured. Furthermore, he had said that his body wasn¡¯t in good condition. Without external help, he probably wouldn¡¯t live long.


    ¡°Summon your Earth Elemental Beast and let it take us into the Founding Emperor Tomb. You have to use Earth Escape according to the coordinates I mentioned. It has to be precise, nothing more, nothing less. Otherwise, the three of us will die inside. No one will be spared,¡± Jing Daoxian said.

 Chapter 868 - Underground Imperial City

    He needed to deal Jing Daoxian a fatal strike and not give him a chance to counterattack; otherwise, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the Terror-grade Yin Yang Mirror.


    Without full confidence, Zhou Wen could only feign civility and listen to Jing Daoxian¡¯s instructions.


    The three of them sat on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back. Zhou Wen controlled the Earth Elemental Beast and used the coordinates Jing Daoxian had mentioned to let it drill into the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    The Earth Elemental Beast phased away with the trio and burrowed into the ground. When Zhou Wen¡¯s vision recovered, he realized that the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s body had landed atop a huge stone pillar.


    The stone pillar was more than four meters in diameter and more than thirty meters tall. Beneath the stone pillar, there was silver liquid flowing slowly.


    In the huge underground world, there was a huge stone pillar every few hundred meters. However, the stone pillars were connected to the stone ceiling. Only the stone pillar they were standing on was halved.


    In the entire underground world, other than the stone pillar, there was only silver liquid. If the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Earth Escape had deviated slightly, they would have fallen into the silver liquid.


    Seeing Zhou Wen and Liu Yun look at the silver liquid below, Jing Daoxian said, ¡°That liquid is mercury. It¡¯s very poisonous to humans, but this mercury shouldn¡¯t be much considering our physiques. It can¡¯t harm our bodies. However, after the dimensionalization, there¡¯s a now terrifying dimensional creature in the mercury. If we fall into the mercury, even I might not be able to come out alive.¡±


    ¡°What dimensional creature is that?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°See for yourself,¡± said Jing Daoxian. He summoned a mouse-like beast and let it fall into the mercury.


    The little beast bobbed up and down over the silver liquid¡¯s surface twice. The surrounding mercury suddenly gathered towards the little beast, turning into a strange creature that looked like a snake with wings on its back. It swallowed the little beast in one mouthful.


    When the little beast touched its saliva, its body immediately festered as though it had melted.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun were alarmed when they saw the instant devouring of the tiny beast. The mercury-like monster¡¯s aura was extremely shocking. It was definitely at the Mythical stage.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much. As long as you don¡¯t touch the mercury, you won¡¯t alarm it.¡± As Jing Daoxian spoke, he summoned a bird and sat on its back before flying deep into the underground world.


    Zhou Wen unsummoned the Earth Elemental Beast and summoned a flying mount just like Liu Yun did. They flew deep into the underground world with Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Legend has it that the Founding Emperor Tomb is extremely dangerous. From the looks of it, it¡¯s nothing much.¡± Liu Yun looked around but didn¡¯t find anything dangerous.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t even entered the Founding Emperor Tomb¡¯s main entrance,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener to scan the area in front of him. He could already see a huge metal door at the end of the Mercury Sea. In the middle of the metal door was a flat opening that looked like it would fit an ancient sword.


    Soon, the three of them arrived at the door. Jing Daoxian pointed at the gap and said, ¡°Insert the Emperor Qin Sword in. After opening this door, we will truly enter the Founding Emperor Tomb.¡±


    Liu Yun was somewhat hesitant, but his life was still in Jing Daoxian¡¯s hands. He had no choice but to walk over with the Emperor Qin Sword. After ensuring that he was 100% protected, he carefully inserted the Emperor Qin Sword.


    When the Emperor Qin Sword was completely inserted, the three of them heard a cracking sound.


    Liu Yun flew back like lightning, but the door slowly opened, revealing the scene behind it.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked when he saw the scene inside. Behind the door was a huge ancient city. There was a stretch of ancient palace complexes in the ancient city, and there were many bronze men with weapons standing on both sides of the street. There were even a few bronze carriage statues standing in the middle of the street.


    At the end of the long street, there were twelve golden men sitting in front of the majestic temple-like palace. Each golden man was thirty feet tall when sitting, as though they were golden divine generals guarding the palace.


    Whoosh!


    The moment the trio stepped through the door, the bronze men on the long street raised their weapons and looked at Zhou Wen and company.


    These bronze men were very similar to the Bronze Men at the periphery of the mausoleum. However, the Bronze Men at the periphery of the mausoleum were typically bare-handed and did not carry any weapons. As for the bronze men here, each of them held a spear or sword.


    With the sound of the bronze swords being unsheathed, groups of bronze men charged at Zhou Wen and company.


    ¡°Leave the mere bronze men to me.¡± Liu Yun took the initiative to charge forward.


    Bronze Men Companion Eggs were rare to begin with, and these bronze men had weapons. If a few Companion Beasts dropped, their value would definitely be rather high.


    However, after Liu Yun rushed in, he realized that the bronze men were like warriors who had been battle-hardened. They advanced in rows and formed a battle formation, constantly attacking the encircled Liu Yun.


    Thankfully, Liu Yun¡¯s movement technique was extremely powerful. His fast hands flashed repeatedly as he snatched the white blades with his bare hands, snatching all the weapons from the bronze men nearby.


    Crack!


    A bronze man was beheaded by Liu Yun with a bronze sword. Liu Yun charged all the way as though he had entered a no man¡¯s zone. Be it his movement techniques or offensive techniques, they were all excellent. Even an army of thousands seemed unable to trap him.


    After killing dozens of bronze men, a Companion Egg dropped.


    Liu Yun¡¯s was really fast. Before the Companion Egg landed, he had grabbed it.


    Just as Liu Yun was about to kill more bronze men, he suddenly saw one of the golden men stand up. The golden man, who was thirty feet tall when sitting, looked even more majestic when he stood up.


    The golden man stepped on the stone steps and walked down the long street. His speed became faster and faster. After a few steps, he was like a charging lion. When he was a hundred meters away from Liu Yun, he leaped up and struck down at him.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t hesitate either. He summoned his Companion Beast and transformed it into a bracer that wrapped around his fist and arm. Then, without retreating at all, he clashed with the golden man¡¯s huge fist.


    Boom!


    When the two fists collided, Liu Yun immediately flew back and fell to the ground. He rolled far away and slammed into the city wall behind him before stopping.


    ¡°Junior Brother¡­ That¡¯s the end of the road for me¡­ I¡¯ll leave the rest to you¡­ You have to get out alive¡­¡± Liu Yun struggled a few times but failed to get up. Blood kept flowing out of his mouth. Just as he finished speaking, he fell to the ground. There was no heartbeat or breathing. It looked like he was dead.


    Jing Daoxian grabbed the Emperor Qin Sword and stabbed it into his thigh. Liu Yun remained motionless; there was no reaction from his muscles.


    ¡°From the looks of it, he¡¯s really dead. Don¡¯t waste a perfectly good body. Dig out his heart and use it for food.¡± As Jing Daoxian spoke, he was about to stab Liu Yun¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Cough, cough¡­ I¡­ I can still be saved¡­¡± Liu Yun suddenly sat up again. His heartbeat and breathing were back as he laughed dryly.

 Chapter 869 - Twelve Gold Men

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll leave this to you,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he pointed at the golden man walking over.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your Yin Yang Mirror very powerful? Can¡¯t you just use it? Why go through so much trouble?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Unfortunately, the Yin Yang Mirror is only useful against lifeforms with flesh and blood. It¡¯s not very useful against such Gold Men.¡± Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t seem to have any qualms as he revealed the Yin Yang Mirror¡¯s weakness.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if what he said was true, but he could only summon Tyrant Behemoth and let it fight the Gold Man.


    The Gold Man¡¯s strength and defense were very strong. It wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage when fighting Tyrant Behemoth. Zhou Wen had no choice but to get Tyrant Behemoth to activate Absolute Strength to quickly finish off the Gold Man.


    Under the suppression of Absolute Strength, the Gold Man was immediately sent retreating by Tyrant Behemoth. Just as he was about to withstand heavy damage after failing to put up a defense, another Gold Man rushed down and joined the battle.


    With the addition of this Gold Man, the first Gold Man became much stronger. However, it was still no match for Tyrant Behemoth.


    The Gold Men came down one after another. They attacked Tyrant Behemoth together, and their cooperation was almost flawless.


    Not good! Zhou Wen saw the problem. The twelve Gold Men were similar to the nine black dragons in the underground sea. They could share each other¡¯s powers.


    After seven Gold Men joined the battle, their strength was already on par with Tyrant Behemoth, who had activated Absolute Strength. It was difficult for Tyrant Behemoth to gain an advantage.


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth is about to be overwhelmed. You should do something, right?¡± Zhou Wen said to Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian smiled and said, ¡°All you need to do is lure the twelve Gold Men in front of the palace down. I¡¯ll enter the temple to take something and we¡¯ll leave immediately. It won¡¯t take long.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that Jing Daoxian had ulterior motives for bringing him to the Founding Emperor Tomb. It wasn¡¯t as simple as borrowing the Earth Elemental Beast.


    More and more Gold Men came down the stairs. When ten Gold Men besieged Tyrant Behemoth, Tyrant Behemoth was already in a losing position. It looked like it couldn¡¯t hold on much longer.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that Tyrant Behemoth won¡¯t be able to last until all twelve of the Gold Men are down before it¡¯s killed. It¡¯s best you make plans early.¡± Zhou Wen was telling the truth. Although Tyrant Behemoth was powerful, it was still impossible for it to fight twelve alone.


    The strength and physique of these Gold Men were very strong to begin with. Furthermore, they could borrow each other¡¯s strength. Even Tyrant Behemoth with Absolute Strength was about to be defeated.


    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯ll settle the remaining two myself,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he charged towards the palace guarded by the twelve Gold Men.


    Zhou Wen saw him rush over the battlefield like a strange bird with the Yin Yang Mirror in hand. He wanted to rush into the palace.


    The two Gold Men who had yet to come down immediately realized Jing Daoxian¡¯s intentions. They stood in front of the palace door and threw punches at him.


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s body was in midair as a ring on his finger spun. Then, Zhou Wen saw his figure vanish. When he appeared again, he was already in front of the palace door.


    Teleportation ability. Could it be that the Essence Energy Art Jing Daoxian cultivates in is spatial? As Zhou Wen guessed, Jing Daoxian had already slammed into the palace door.


    Strangely enough, the palace door was clearly closed, but when Jing Daoxian slammed into it, he seemed to be able to penetrate the wall. The door failed to stop him at all.


    The fists of the two Gold Men slammed heavily onto the door, causing it to rumble. However, they failed to move the door at all.


    Unable to find Jing Daoxian, the two Gold Men turned around and rushed into the battlefield, joining in the fight against Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth was already having a hard time holding on. With the addition of the two Gold Men, it immediately lost the strength to resist. It received several punches on its body, causing its bones to crack.


    ¡°These twelve Gold Men are too powerful. Even Tyrant Behemoth isn¡¯t their match. Let¡¯s retreat now.¡± Liu Yun retreated as he spoke, but when he arrived at the city gates, he was blocked by a strange force. He couldn¡¯t leave no matter what.


    Liu Yun gathered his strength and struck again and again, but he still couldn¡¯t charge out.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to try. I¡¯ve already gotten the Earth Elemental Beast to try. It can¡¯t even escape with Earth Escape.¡± Zhou Wen had already tried. If he could escape, he wouldn¡¯t have let Tyrant Behemoth withstand the twelve Gold Men¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian rushed into the palace to take the treasures, but he made us wait here for death. He¡¯s clearly trying to scam us,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°That might not be the case. Although the twelve Gold Men are powerful with extremely powerful Strength and Constitution, they aren¡¯t fast. As long as we don¡¯t fight them head-on, it won¡¯t be easy for them to kill us in a short period of time. The problem now is how do we enter the palace? We can¡¯t really just wait for Jing Daoxian to come out, right?¡± Zhou Wen said as he unsummoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Having lost their important target, Tyrant Behemoth, the twelve Gold Men immediately charged at Zhou Wen and Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wait for them to come over as he started using his movement technique and charged towards the twelve Gold Men.


    He had been watching from the side for a while and had a general understanding of the abilities of the twelve Gold Men. Although it wasn¡¯t easy to kill them, it wasn¡¯t difficult to stay alive.


    Zhou Wen used Transcendent Flying Immortal and constantly shuttled through the twelve Gold Men. Although the twelve Gold Men were powerful, they appeared somewhat clumsy and failed to touch Zhou Wen.


    Liu Yun also quickly dodged the twelve Gold Men¡¯s attacks. He was also good at movement techniques and wasn¡¯t much weaker than Zhou Wen.


    ¡°When the two Gold Men smashed their fists into the palace door, they failed to budge it at all. I¡¯m afraid that the door can¡¯t be opened with brute force. Otherwise, Jing Daoxian wouldn¡¯t have needed to pass through the wall. We don¡¯t know how to pass through walls, so it won¡¯t be easy to enter,¡± Liu Yun said as he dodged.


    ¡°You have to give it a try even if it¡¯s not easy. Aren¡¯t you the best thief in the world? Can¡¯t a thief like you even open a door?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to open the door, but it needs time. We are now being chased by these twelve Gold Men. There¡¯s no way out. How do I have the time to open the door?¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold them back. Take the opportunity to open the door,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°How are you going to hold them back? Even Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t withstand it. Do you have any stronger Companion Beasts?¡± Liu Yun asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any stronger Companion Beasts, but if I want to hold them back, I don¡¯t need powerful Companion Beasts. I just need to tank the beating,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned a Companion Beast.

 Chapter 870 - Tiger General’s Might

    Translator: CKtalon


    Liu Yun took a careful look and realized that he recognized the Companion Beast Zhou Wen had summoned.


    Not only did he know it, but he had once owned it. Later, he took the initiative to return it to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No way? You want to use it to block the twelve Gold Men? Are you crazy?¡± Liu Yun had once stolen the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General from Zhou Wen. He had some understanding of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and knew that it was an Epic Companion Beast.


    It was impossible for Zhou Wen to use the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to fight the twelve Gold Men.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try. Perhaps it will work?¡± Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and constantly moved around the city, dodging the Gold Men¡¯s attacks.


    The strongest thing about the twelve Gold Men wasn¡¯t their strength, but their defense. Even Tyrant Behemoth, who had Absolute Strength, wasn¡¯t able to leave a fatal wound on them. It was obvious how powerful their bodies were.


    The moment the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General appeared, he was surrounded by the Bronze Men on the street. However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General didn¡¯t care about that. The tiger beneath him charged at the Bronze Men crazily. The spear in his hand instantly pierced through the three Bronze Men like a skewer of candied haws. He lifted them up and threw them out, tearing them apart in midair.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was like a tiger that had entered a flock of sheep. The Bronze Men with astonishing defense had no chance of turning the tide under its spear. In just a moment, he had killed twenty to thirty Bronze Men.


    A Gold Man charged at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and threw a huge metal fist at him.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General showed no signs of weakness. The spear in his hand stabbed out with the momentum of an armor-piercing spear, colliding with the Gold Man¡¯s fist.


    Clang!


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General remained motionless, but the Gold Man was forced to take a few steps back.


    In a one-on-one situation, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s Strength was stronger than the Gold Man, but he wasn¡¯t much stronger.


    That¡¯s impossible!? Liu Yun¡¯s eyes nearly popped out. When he stole the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, he didn¡¯t find the latter that strong.


    After the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General landed on the ground, it continued charging through the Bronze Men. Its body gradually burned with strange purple flames.


    Zhou Wen knew that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s skill combination that resembled a perpetual motion machine was beginning to take effect.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was a Companion Beast that became stronger as he fought. He could condense killing aura to strengthen himself. The flames that were ignited by killing aura were transformed by the Tempered Steel Cauldron skill, making his body stronger and stronger.


    As long as the twelve Gold Men failed to kill him in the beginning, he would become stronger and stronger. Perhaps when he reached a certain level of strength, he could fight the twelve Gold Men.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body could be strengthened to that level. He could give it a try now.


    As the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General unleashed his might, more and more Gold Men were attracted to it. The pressure on Zhou Wen and Liu Yun decreased significantly.


    As for Liu Yun, he wore a look of disbelief. He really couldn¡¯t believe that the Companion Beast he had stolen and returned to Zhou Wen was so powerful.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was fighting against five Gold Men alone, and in such a spectacular manner without being at a disadvantage.


    If I had known that this thing was so powerful, I wouldn¡¯t have returned him to Zhou Wen! Liu Yun felt his heart bleed.


    ¡°Let me give him a boost.¡± Zhou Wen summoned three Fire Furnace Queens and got them to release a large amount of flames at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Two of the other Fire Furnace Queens were obtained by Zhou Wen later. Now, there were only three of them.


    With the augmentation of the flames, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became even more ferocious. The purple flames on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became more and more intense. It was like a Fiend Tiger and Fiend General that had rushed out of hell.


    Seven or eight Gold Men surrounded it and temporarily suppressed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s ferocious might. However, under their pressure, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became stronger the more it fought. It had no intention of retreating.


    Soon, all twelve Gold Men were attracted by it.


    No way! This fellow is even more ferocious than Tyrant Behemoth? Liu Yun felt as though someone had stabbed him in the heart a few times. He had stolen such a ferocious Companion Beast and ended up returning it to Zhou Wen. However, when he thought of this matter, he had the urge to bang his head against the wall or slap himself.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General staggered under the siege of the twelve Gold Men. However, it continued to brandish the spear in its hand to fight them. The ferocious tiger beneath it roared and pounced forward.


    Although it looked a little tragic, even Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t restrain the twelve Gold Men.


    Upon seeing the sparks fly off the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t alarmed. Instead, he was delighted and began to feel relieved.


    If the twelve Gold Men had attacked together from the beginning, perhaps only eight or nine Gold Men would have been needed to kill Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s skills had already formed a cycle. He became stronger and stronger in battle. It was already impossible for the twelve Gold Men to kill him.


    As long as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body could withstand it, he might eventually become stronger than the twelve Gold Men.


    ¡°Why are you still watching? Open the door,¡± Zhou Wen said to Liu Yun.


    Only then did Liu Yun snap out of his daze. He looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General with a pained expression before turning to run to the palace door to open it.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General stormed through the city, attracting the attention of the twelve Gold Men. They had no time to care about Zhou Wen and Liu Yun.


    Some Bronze Men rushed over, but Zhou Wen casually killed them, preventing them from approaching Liu Yun who was opening the door.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener to scan the palace, but the palace was enveloped by a strange force that Truth Listener¡¯s power couldn¡¯t penetrate.


    Unless Zhou Wen got Truth Listener to break its earrings, it would be very difficult for it to make a breakthrough.


    ¡°It¡¯s open!¡± After a while, Liu Yun, who was sprawled in front of the door, shouted happily. Then, he pushed the door with both hands, and the palace door opened.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze inside, but what he saw left him and Liu Yun stunned.


    He originally imagined that Jing Daoxian was plundering the palace, but the situation was completely different. Jing Daoxian stood inside the door, holding the Yin Yang Mirror with both hands. His body was covered in sweat as though he had just been fished out of water.


    The Yin Yang Mirror emitted divine light. And in the hall opposite the Yin Yang Mirror, there was a five-foot-long sword hanging.


    The divine light emitted by the sword collided with the Yin Yang Mirror¡¯s divine light. It was not at all inferior. It even seemed to be suppressing the Yin Yang Mirror.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what sword is that? It can actually suppress the Yin Yang Mirror?¡± Liu Yun was alarmed. He didn¡¯t dare enter the palace and only sized up the sword from the outside.


    Zhou Wen was also sizing up the sword. The Yin Yang Mirror was already a Companion Beast at the Terror grade. For the sword to be able to suppress it, it was clearly extraordinary.


    The ancient sword was simple and unadorned. It was actually a stone sword. Although it didn¡¯t look eye-catching and there weren¡¯t any beautiful gems embedded on the sword or scabbard, the sword beam it emitted left one shuddering in fear.

 Chapter 871 - Art on the Door

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen only glanced at the stone sword before his gaze went past it and landed on the hall behind it.


    With the stone sword used as the dividing line, there were only some murals and sculptures in the hall ahead. And in the hall behind the stone sword, there were rows of bamboo slips.


    Bamboo slips were tools used in ancient times for records. Back then, before paper was invented, people would engrave words on pieces of bamboo. Then, they would string the bamboo together for easy storage and reading.


    Looking in from the outside door, there were rows of shelves in the hall behind. All sorts of bamboo slips were placed on them. The number was shocking. Even the Federation¡¯s library might not have such a large scale.


    This wasn¡¯t the main point of Zhou Wen¡¯s observation. The main point was that the bamboo slips seemed to emit a strange power. It was thanks to the power emitted by the bamboo slips that the stone sword could emit such terrifying might, allowing it to withstand the Yin Yang Mirror.


    How strange. That stone sword can actually use the power of the bamboo slips. This is unheard of. Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Books and swords were originally two incompatible things, but now, the sword had borrowed the aura of books. It was very strange.


    Liu Yun gave Zhou Wen the nod before looking at Jing Daoxian, who was struggling against the stone sword in the hall.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood Liu Yun¡¯s intentions. He wanted to kick him while he was down. Now, Jing Daoxian was using all his strength to resist the stone sword. This was the best opportunity to kill him.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. If he could kill Jing Daoxian here, he wouldn¡¯t have to be on guard against Jing Daoxian in the future. He was afraid that he would follow in the footsteps of Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang.


    Just as he was considering taking a gamble, the Yin Yang Ancient Mirror in Jing Daoxian¡¯s hand suddenly spun. The divine light on the mirror turned from white to black as it spewed at the stone sword.


    With a sword hum, the stone sword unsheathed and transformed into a peerless sword beam that slashed at Jing Daoxian.


    The Yin Yang Ancient Mirror¡¯s mirror beam was completely unable to withstand the stone sword as it was cleaved apart. The stone sword was about to strike the Yin Yang Ancient Mirror.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun were delighted. If the Yin Yang Ancient Mirror could be destroyed, their imprisoned souls would naturally be able to escape.


    Clang!


    At the instant the stone sword was about to slash at the ancient mirror, Jing Daoxian suddenly retracted in his hand. Another item that looked like a jade seal smashed into the stone sword.


    The stone sword landed on the ground with a clang and was suppressed by the jade seal. It struggled to flip the jade seal but was close to doing so.


    Jing Daoxian ignored the jade seal and stone sword as he quickly rushed into the hall behind and vanished in a flash.


    Almost at the instant he rushed into the hall where the bamboo slips were piled up, the jade seal was sliced into two by the sword beam on the stone sword and shattered.


    The stone sword circled in the air, but it didn¡¯t chase towards the back of the hall. It only returned to the scabbard.


    ¡°Damn it. We should have done it earlier,¡± Liu Yun said regretfully.


    However, Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°It would have been useless. Jing Daoxian only risked his life because he sensed our killing intent towards him. It wouldn¡¯t have mattered if we attack earlier or later.¡±


    ¡°What do we do now? With that stone sword guarding the hall, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t have the chance to rush in like Jing Daoxian,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°Since we can¡¯t enter, we can only wait.¡± Zhou Wen left the door and looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General who was fighting the twelve Gold Men.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became braver the more he fought. Although he was still at a disadvantage, he was already able to stand firm under the siege of the twelve Gold Men. It wasn¡¯t as pathetic as before.


    Looking at the purple flames that were burning like a furnace in his body, as well as the armor that was burning like an amethyst, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but have a thought.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra is a battle-type Essence Energy Art. The Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul is also the type that grows stronger the more one fights. It¡¯s somewhat similar to the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Can I use the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s model to advance the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Although the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul doesn¡¯t have the ability to condense killing aura into flames, it comes with a powerful life essence. If I can use the Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s life essence to burn myself¡­ Zhou Wen considered this possibility.


    However, now wasn¡¯t the time to study this. He took out his phone and opened the downloaded Founding Emperor Tomb dungeon before entering.


    There was no entrance to the Founding Emperor Tomb dungeon, but Zhou Wen already knew the way in. He summoned the Earth Elemental Beast in-game and quickly arrived at the pillar in the Mercury Sea.


    He easily passed through the Mercury Sea and arrived outside the city. However, he didn¡¯t have the Emperor Qin Sword in-game. All Zhou Wen could do was attempt to use the Earth Elemental Beast to enter the city.


    Unfortunately, the mysterious city seemed to be protected by some mysterious force, preventing the Earth Elemental Beast from entering.


    From the looks of it, I can only try using force. Zhou Wen ordered the blood-colored avatar to strike the door, but it was useless. No matter how powerful the attack was, it couldn¡¯t budge the door at all.


    Could it be that I really can¡¯t enter without the Emperor Qin Sword? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to carefully observe the door and the structure of the keyhole, hoping to use the power of a miniature Companion Beast to open it.


    Unfortunately, there was no special structure inside the keyhole. It was like a scabbard that was only compatible with the Emperor Qin Sword.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling disappointed, he suddenly realized that there were words on the door.


    Strange, why didn¡¯t I see these words before? Puzzled, Zhou Wen looked at the ancient city¡¯s door in real life. He didn¡¯t see any words on the door.


    He clearly remembered that those words didn¡¯t exist on the door when the blood-colored avatar first arrived in-game.


    Zhou Wen looked at the words on the door in-game. They were ancient words from the East District. Zhou Wen had learned some when studying the Dao Sutra, so he recognized the words on the door.


    This is an Essence Energy Art? After carefully reading the words on the door, Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    He never expected that there would be an Essence Energy Art on the entrance of the Founding Emperor Tomb. However, this Essence Energy Art came out of nowhere. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Essence Energy Art it was.


    While Zhou Wen was reading the Essence Energy Art on his phone, Liu Yun looked into the hall and then at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General who was fighting the twelve Gold Men. He was extremely anxious. When he turned his head, he saw Zhou Wen sitting there playing with his phone. He couldn¡¯t help but say, ¡°Junior Brother, you¡¯re still in the mood to play with your phone at such a time? We have to quickly think of a way to enter and see what Jing Daoxian is doing.¡±


    ¡°With that stone sword around, I don¡¯t have the ability to enter. If you have a solution, feel free to give it a try.¡± After Zhou Wen finished reading the Essence Energy Art on the door, the Lost Immortal Sutra played its role again, simulating the Essence Energy Art.

 Chapter 872 - Old Man

    Translator: CKtalon


    This Essence Energy Art was also strange. There weren¡¯t many changes. It was purely an Energy Refinement technique.


    With every circulation of the Essence Energy Art, a portion of the impurities in the Essence Energy would be removed, allowing the Essence Energy to become purer. It was as though it was a technique that specialized in extracting Essence Energy.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that by cultivating this Essence Energy Art, he could enter the Founding Emperor Tomb, but he realized that it was useless. After he gained basic mastery of the Essence Energy Art, Zhou Wen used it to push open the door, but the door remained firmly locked. It didn¡¯t open.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed that he couldn¡¯t enter the Founding Emperor Tomb in-game.


    He originally wanted to try entering the palace in-game to see if there was a way to pass through the temple guarded by the stone sword, but now, he had to give up.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became stronger the more it fought. It was already capable of contending against the twelve Gold Men. He constantly charged back and forth in the ancient city. Most of the Bronze Men had been killed by him, leaving only the twelve Gold Men to fight him. However, there was no way to suppress the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    This fellow¡¯s abilities are really impressive. As long as he has enough time, he¡¯s even stronger than Tyrant Behemoth. Zhou Wen was somewhat gratified, but he was also somewhat worried.


    Jinxes Master and Badlands still existed, making Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable.


    ¡°Junior Brother, I remember that this Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General should be an Epic Companion Beast, right? Why is it so terrifying?¡± Liu Yun couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that some Companion Beasts can evolve?¡± Zhou Wen asked casually.


    Liu Yun had already guessed it, but when he heard Zhou Wen admit it, he couldn¡¯t help but regret returning the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to Zhou Wen.


    There were very few Companion Beasts that could evolve. Typically, only Companion Beasts that hatched from bestowed Companion Eggs obtained from special dimensional zones could have the ability to evolve.


    From Liu Yun¡¯s point of view, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was likely such a Companion Beast.


    In the intense battle, a Gold Man couldn¡¯t withstand the powerful collision. Cracks appeared on his body as he was beheaded by the Tiger Soul General.


    The Gold Man¡¯s massive body fell to the ground. Its originally extremely hard body suddenly became as weak as porcelain. It shattered into pieces.


    Zhou Wen saw a dimensional crystal drop from the Gold Man¡¯s remnant body.


    After losing a Gold Man, the combat strength of the Gold Men was further weakened. As for the Tiger Soul General, its strength became even stronger. Under this situation, the Tiger Soul General¡¯s might became even more ferocious. The remaining eleven Gold Men were completely suppressed by him.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was like a killing machine that didn¡¯t know fatigue on the battlefield. The more it fought, the more ferocious it became. It forced the remaining eleven Gold Men to retreat. Soon, another Gold Man was killed.


    As such, the Gold Men¡¯s combat strength was even weaker. The remaining Gold Men were killed by the Tiger Soul General. When the last Gold Man collapsed, there were no longer any living dimensional creatures in the ancient city.


    Zhou Wen went down to clean up the battlefield and pick up the Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals that had dropped from the Bronze and Gold Men.


    The twelve Gold Men only dropped one dimensional crystal, but it was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    Zhou Wen secretly used his phone to take a look and realized that the requirement for the Gold Man Essence Energy Skill Crystal was relatively simple. It required 41 Essence Energy and 41 Constitution, without any special stat requirements.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen only had 41 Essence Energy, so he couldn¡¯t absorb and refine it. All he could do was put it away.


    Without an opponent, the flames on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body gradually dissipated. The fire in its body also slowly extinguished as its strength rapidly dissipated.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t order the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to rush into the palace. Although he was powerful, he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade. He would probably suffer greatly if he fought the stone sword.


    ¡°Could it be that we can only wait here for Jing Daoxian to return?¡± Liu Yun was very indignant, but there was nothing he could do.


    He had already attempted to summon a few Epic creatures to rush into the palace, but the moment they entered, they were instantly killed by the sword beam emitted by the stone sword. The stone sword didn¡¯t even leave its scabbard.


    Zhou Wen had also looked at the stone sword, but his gaze was mainly focused on the bamboo slips.


    Although the stone sword is powerful, its energy source seems to be from the bamboo slips. If I can destroy the bamboo slips, the stone sword¡¯s strength might be greatly weakened, making it possible to rush over, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Unfortunately, the bamboo slips were in the hall behind the stone sword. To touch the bamboo slips, one had to pass the stone sword. It was not an easy task to get rid of the bamboo slips.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the tiny Blood Threadworm Companion Beasts. He got them to crawl into the palace to see if they could escape the stone sword¡¯s protection and crawl into the hall to destroy the bamboo slips.


    However, just as the Blood Threadworms entered the palace, they were killed by the sword beam emitted by the stone sword.


    Not even a miniature Companion Beast works? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any other solutions, but those solutions needed him to enter the temple himself to know if they were useful.


    He wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk. A stone sword that could use Terror transformation was too dangerous for him.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Liu Yun suddenly pointed into the ancient city and shouted in horror.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw a pillar of light shoot out from the city. It reached the stone dome of the underground world, illuminating the entire underground tomb.


    Zhou Wen frowned inwardly. Just as he was about to use Truth Listener to scan the pillar of light, he saw a figure walk out.


    Human? That¡¯s not right. Guardian? That¡¯s not right either. Zhou Wen looked at the figure in surprise.


    The figure looked like a human. His appearance and clothes were very similar to a human¡¯s, but his aura had the aura of a Guardian.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen thought of Wang Mingyuan. The creature in front of him looked like a fusion of a human and a Guardian.


    However, he was somewhat different from Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan had absorbed and fused with a Guardian, but Wang Mingyuan¡¯s will was still dominant.


    As for the creature in front of him, it made him feel that it was closer to a Guardian.


    Liu Yun also looked warily at the creature who walked through the air step by step. The ancient clothes on his wide sleeves and robe fluttered despite a non-existent wind.


    When he got close, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun saw his appearance clearly. It was an old man with white hair and beard. He was wearing ancient traditional clothes.


    The only difference between this elder and a normal human was his skin. It had jade-like skin that was crystalline and transparent.


    Seeing the elder walk towards the palace door, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun retreated.


    The elder ignored them as though he hadn¡¯t seen them and walked straight though the palace door.

 Chapter 873 - Purple Bronze Pill Furnace

    Translator: CKtalon


    As soon as the elder entered the hall, the stone sword immediately emitted a terrifying sword beam that wanted to kill the elder on the spot.


    The elder looked at the stone sword¡¯s sword beam as his body underwent an earth-shattering change. His flesh, blood, skin, and clothes instantly took on the form of jade. It was as though his entire body had turned into a strange jade statue.


    The sword beam struck the elder¡¯s jade-like body, but it was shattered by a single wave of his hand.


    Terror transformation! Zhou Wen was alarmed. The elder could shatter the stone sword¡¯s sword beam. It clearly meant that he was a Terror grade expert.


    The stone sword unsheathed itself without any hesitation and slashed at the elder with an invisible sword beam.


    The jade-like elder suddenly extended his hands to grab the stone sword. For a moment, there was a stalemate. The stone sword couldn¡¯t stab any further, but the elder couldn¡¯t repel the stone sword either. The man and sword were in a stalemate.


    ¡°Who is this old fellow? He can actually withstand the power of the stone sword!¡± Liu Yun said in surprise.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word. With a flash, he charged into the palace.


    Liu Yun also reacted and gritted his teeth before rushing into the palace.


    The stone sword and the jade-like elder were in a stalemate. They had no strength to stop Zhou Wen and Liu Yun. In the blink of an eye, the two of them had rushed into the hall with the bamboo slips.


    Seeing that the elder was still in a stalemate with the stone sword, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to rush further in. He casually took down a bamboo slip from the rack and opened it.


    When he saw the content was laws and regulations, he randomly picked a few bamboo slips on different shelves to take a look. They were all the same. He couldn¡¯t help but find it odd.


    I heard that back then, Emperor Qin believed in the Art of Longevity that warlocks advocated. I originally imagined that the books he buried with him were related to alchemy and the Art of Longevity. I never expected them to be law books. Zhou Wen casually flipped through them as he walked and realized that there were no records related to alchemy. They were all about laws.


    ¡°Junior Brother, why aren¡¯t you leaving? What¡¯s so interesting about those bamboo slips?¡± Liu Yun also flipped through a few scrolls. Seeing that they were all laws and regulations, he lost interest.


    Zhou Wen put down the bamboo slips and quickened his pace. He and Liu Yun walked to the back of the palace and saw another door. However, it had already been opened. It was clearly Jing Daoxian¡¯s work.


    There was a jade screen blocking the door. The two of them circled around the screen, and the scene that greeted them left them surprised.


    There were shattered bronze and jade fragments everywhere on the ground, as though a huge battle had ensued. However, there was no sign of anyone, nor were there any doors that led to other places.


    ¡°There might be a secret door,¡± Liu Yun said as he searched the walls, hoping to find a secret door.


    ¡°Stop looking. Look at the water in the pool. Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at a pool.


    The water in the pool was black like ink, but there was no strange smell. It probably wasn¡¯t black because of a change in water quality.


    ¡°Are you saying that there¡¯s a path beneath the pool?¡± Liu Yun sized up the pool, but the water in the pool was too dark. He couldn¡¯t see anything clearly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there¡¯s a path down there, but there shouldn¡¯t be a secret door in this palace.¡± Zhou Wen had already scanned the entire palace with Truth Listener. If there was a secret door, it was impossible for him not to have discovered it.


    ¡°Should we go down?¡± Liu Yun was somewhat hesitant.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s our only choice.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he looked outside and saw that the elder had rushed in.


    The stone sword chased after him unlike its reaction to Jing Daoxian¡¯s entry. Wherever the sword beam went, almost everything was destroyed.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen jumped into the pool with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    The Azure Dragon¡¯s Seven Mansions Essence Energy Skill activated as though an Azure Dragon was circling his body, repelling the black liquid outside.


    Liu Yun gritted his teeth and jumped down with Zhou Wen.


    Strangely enough, the black water in the pool didn¡¯t seem to have any buoyancy. They rapidly plummeted the moment they entered. Furthermore, their speed increased as though there was a force pulling them down.


    Bam!


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s and Liu Yun¡¯s feet touched solid ground, the powerful impact nearly fractured their legs.


    Before they could see their surroundings clearly, two more shadows descended from above. One of them was the jade-like elder, while the other was the stone sword.


    The moment the stone sword landed, thousands of sword beams shot out from the sword, enveloping the area.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun quickly dodged. Zhou Wen somersaulted and hid behind a huge object. The object blocked the stone sword¡¯s sword beam. The storm-like sword beams struck the object, but they failed to shatter it.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the thing he was using to seek refuge was a huge pill furnace. It was more than ten meters tall and looked like it was made of copper.


    However, it wasn¡¯t the commonly-seen bronze of that era, but a type of purple bronze.


    The sword beam struck the purple bronze pill furnace, causing it to produce a din. However, it failed to damage the pill furnace at all.


    Zhou Wen looked into the pill furnace and realized that it was filled with flames. The flames inside were already burning white, and the temperature was unimaginably high. However, the purple bronze pill furnace only felt warm, not scorching hot.


    Strange, I¡¯ve never heard of a pill furnace having flames inside. The flames should be beneath it to heat the furnace¡¯s interior. Why is this furnace burning on the inside? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    As the stone sword fought the elder, Zhou Wen took the opportunity to size up the surrounding environment. Only then did he discover in surprise that this was the peak of a mountain.


    In the huge, pitch-black underground space, a mountain peak occupied a large space. They stood at the top of the mountain, only twenty to thirty meters away from the stone dome above them.


    The surroundings were pitch-black. As the space was so large and there was no light, only the flames that emitted from the purple bronze furnace¡¯s ventilation hole emitted light. This made the distant areas even darker.


    The area that Truth Listener could sense was empty. However, a cold wind blew from afar. Furthermore, the wind was very strong, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes to stick to his body as the cold wind drilled into his bones.


    Where did Jing Daoxian go? Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and turned his back to the cold wind. After searching for a while, he didn¡¯t find Jing Daoxian.


    Liu Yun rushed behind the pill furnace and rendezvoused with Zhou Wen. He said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing on this mountaintop. There¡¯s only a pill furnace. Do you think the pill furnace contains the Elixir of Immortality refined by the emperor?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Otherwise, why isn¡¯t Jing Daoxian here?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he suddenly heard a loud rumbling sound from afar as though it was thunder.

 Chapter 874 - Wind and Fire

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Why is there thunder underground?¡± Liu Yun frowned slightly before his expression gradually turned ugly. ¡°No, it¡¯s not thunder. It¡¯s wind¡­¡±


    Thunder and lightning was a very terrifying power. In contrast, most people might not understand how terrifying the wind was, but to Liu Yun, who often traveled the world, he knew that sometimes, wind was much more terrifying than thunder and lightning.


    Zhou Wen had long sensed the turbulent airflow. He was even more sensitive to wind than Liu Yun, so he naturally knew how terrifying the impending storm would be.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability had already been pushed to its limits, but other than this mountain peak, the surroundings were extremely empty. There was nothing, not even a place to hide.


    ¡°Go to the back of the mountain.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he flew down. The airflow became more and more turbulent. He couldn¡¯t estimate how terrifying the storm would be when it touched down. All he could do was make some preparations.


    Liu Yun also went down. He took many grappling hooks and threw them into the cracks in the mountain wall. Using the criss-crossing rope locks, he fixed his body to the side of the mountain.


    On the mountaintop, the stone sword was still fighting the elder. The battle between two Terror-grade experts caused space to crack. It was not a battle that ordinary people could interfere with.


    Boom!


    The terrifying storm roared and broke through the sound barrier. The continuous sonic booms were like a thunderstorm.


    A hurricane blew past. On the back of the mountain, not facing the storm, Zhou Wen¡¯s and Liu Yun¡¯s clothes were fluttering in the wind. They struggled to grab the mountain rocks and were almost blown away.


    The ropes on Liu Yun¡¯s body lodged into his flesh, preventing him from being blown away by the wind.


    Zhou Wen had already summoned Tyrant Behemoth. After it gigantified, it hugged the mountain peak and protected him and Ya¡¯er inside, blocking the terrifying storm.


    The wind was even more terrifying than a blade. The Epic armor that Liu Yun was wearing had been sliced open by the wind. Blood gushed out.


    ¡°Come on out, Little Orange.¡± Liu Yun roared in the wind as an orange cat appeared on him. It opened its mouth and sucked in the wind that blew on Liu Yun. The orange cat¡¯s stomach expanded and became like a balloon.


    Just as Zhou Wen was worried that the orange cat would explode, the orange cat spat out the air it had sucked into its stomach to resist the airflow.


    The terrifying wind was mostly blocked by the mountain peak. They were only suffering the remnant winds.


    When Zhou Wen and Liu Yun thought that they had finally survived the brunt of the wind, they realized that they had been too naive.


    This was because they quickly realized that the wind that blew past had formed a flow that circled around the mountain peak.


    The extremely violent airflow formed a vortex in the underground space. As the airflow constantly blew in, the wind vortex became stronger.


    The orange cat on Liu Yun¡¯s body could no longer swallow the wind. His body was swaying crazily from the wind as ropes snapped one after another. His armor had already shattered and he was about to be killed by the terrifying wind.


    Starlight flashed in Liu Yun¡¯s eyes as his figure transformed into a stream of light that flashed and appeared beneath Behemoth.


    At that moment, Behemoth hugged the mountain and resisted the terrifying vortex. Even its fur was sliced open by the airflow.


    ¡°What the hell? What wind is this? How can it be so terrifying?¡± Liu Yun hid beneath Behemoth and finally heaved a sigh of relief. He couldn¡¯t help but grumble.


    I¡¯m just afraid that the truly terrifying wind hasn¡¯t arrived. Zhou Wen wore a look of worry.


    The hurricane in the underground space strengthened as though it would never stop. If the wind speed continued to increase, even Tyrant Behemoth might not be able to withstand it.


    The elder and the stone sword were still fighting on the mountaintop. The stone sword seemed to have an irreconcilable grudge with the elder as it held him back, preventing him from escaping.


    The mountain peak was the eye of the storm, but at the top of the mountain, the wind speed wasn¡¯t that strong. The elder and the stone sword fought in the center of the vortex, and the battle remained intense.


    The pill furnace suffered countless attacks from the man and sword, but it remained intact. However, when the wind vortex rushed into the pill furnace¡¯s ventilation hole, the wind aided the fire, causing the flames inside to burn even more vigorously. Blazing white flames spewed out from the ventilation hole at the top of the pill furnace.


    Then, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun saw a powerful wind constantly blow into the pill furnace, causing the flames inside to spew out before being sucked into the vortex.


    The flame was like a fire dragon as it rapidly spread in the vortex. It was about to turn the vortex into a fiery vortex.


    If it was just the wind, Behemoth could still last for a period of time. However, with the combination of wind and fire, the might was like an annihilative force. Behemoth probably couldn¡¯t withstand such terrifying strength.


    ¡°To the top of the mountain.¡± Zhou Wen put away Tyrant Behemoth and carried Ya¡¯er as he rushed to the top of the mountain.


    Now that the vortex of wind and fire had formed, the mountaintop had become the eye of the storm. There was no wind or fire there, forming a vacuum.


    All the wind that reached the top of the mountain blew into the pill furnace and spewed out from the top. It formed a tiny safe zone beside the pill furnace. Only there could one avoid the pain of the wind and fire.


    However, the mountaintop was already surrounded by flames. If he wanted to rush in, he had to pass through the hundred-meter thick vortex of flames.


    Zhou Wen wore the Demon Blood True Dragon Armor and could still withstand it, but Ya¡¯er, who was in his arms, didn¡¯t have the protection of the divine armor. She probably couldn¡¯t withstand the heat of the flames.


    Without any other choice, Zhou Wen switched to Civilization Country and used its teleportation ability to teleport to the mountaintop.


    Without Behemoth¡¯s protection, Liu Yun could only follow Zhou Wen to the top of the mountain. He summoned new armor, and the Essence Devouring Beast fused with his arm. Instantly, he transformed into a shooting star and charged through the vortex of fire.


    Liu Yun¡¯s entire body was charred black. Many parts of his armor had melted, and his hair had been burned away. There were blisters on his body, making him look extremely disheveled.


    Just as he entered the top of the mountain, he was nearly slashed by a sword beam. Thankfully, he reacted quickly. He rolled to a spot near the pill furnace.


    Zhou Wen also hid beside the pill furnace. The stone sword and elder were still fighting, ignoring the terrifying wind and fire vortex around them.


    Soon, the flames in the pill furnace spread to the entire space. Terrifying tornadoes of wind and fire spun around the mountain. The stronger the wind, the stronger the flames in the pill furnace. The stronger the flames, the more terrifying it made the fiery tornadoes.


    However, it was strange. The flames were extremely terrifying. When the rocks touched the flames, they instantly melted. However, the pill furnace and mountain didn¡¯t show any signs of melting.


    The mountain still felt a little hot, but the pill furnace remained the same. No matter how hot the flames in it were, the furnace was only warm to the touch.

 Chapter 875 - Snatching the Treasure from the Pill Furnace

    Translator: CKtalon


    The huge underground space had already become a world of wind and fire.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay attention to the battle between the stone sword and the elder. His attention was focused on the pill furnace.


    No matter how one looked at it, the terrifying wind was prepared for the pill furnace. The pill furnace borrowed the wind¡¯s might to fan the flames in the furnace such that it became extremely hot.


    Could this pill furnace really be refining the Pill of Immortality? Zhou Wen suspected as he used Truth Listener to observe the situation inside the pill furnace.


    However, because the wind and fire inside were too violent, he couldn¡¯t hear much information.


    Just as Zhou Wen was observing the pill furnace, a beam of light suddenly lit up inside. Even in the surging furnace flames, the beam of light was still very obvious.


    ¡°Is it finally coming out? I¡¯ve waited so long for this day.¡± The elder was immediately excited when he saw the light in the furnace.


    His body emitted a jade glow as he forced the stone sword to retreat. He flew towards the pill furnace and grabbed the lid with one hand, wanting to open it.


    However, the stone sword refused to be outdone. It flew up again and slashed at the elder¡¯s arm, forcing him to release the lid. Due to the pressure from the stone sword, the elder failed to open the lid several times.


    ¡°You¡¯ve fought with me for so many years, but you still aren¡¯t willing to give up?¡± The elder was furious. He suddenly retreated and temporarily broke away from the stone sword. The jade light on his body condensed on his right hand, causing his jade-like right hand to become even more crystalline.


    The stone sword seemed to sense the danger as well. It no longer charged forward blindly. The stone sword also began to condense its strength as runes appeared on the stone¡¯s blade.


    The runes carried a strange power. The appearance of each rune made the sword seem heavier.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that the runes that appeared on the stone sword was a law.


    ¡°Defiance of a superior¡­ shall result in execution¡­¡±


    With the appearance of the law, the stone sword seemed to possess unparalleled power as it slashed at the elder with a suppressive might.


    The elder¡¯s crystal-like right hand extended out almost at the same time.


    The moment he extended his right hand, time and space seemed to condense. It was as though only his hand was moving. Everything else stopped.


    Clang!


    The stone sword was actually sent flying by the elder¡¯s right hand. The law on the sword was also destroyed.


    Although the stone sword wasn¡¯t injured, it couldn¡¯t help but fly into the vortex of flames. It was unknown how it was doing.


    After the elder sent the stone sword flying, he immediately rushed towards the pill furnace. Without the stone sword¡¯s obstruction, he lifted the heavy lid with one hand and extended his other hand to grab the resplendent item inside.


    Just as the elder was about to grab the item inside the furnace, a white light suddenly shone out from the furnace.


    The elder was caught off guard and was hit by the white light. He immediately screamed and fell.


    The resplendent light in the furnace resembled a sun as it rose from the pill furnace. After leaving the pill furnace, the item¡¯s light slowly dimmed. Only then did Zhou Wen see that it was Jing Daoxian¡¯s Yin Yang Mirror.


    Jing Daoxian also jumped out of the furnace and stood on it. He held the Yin Yang Mirror and smiled at the elder.


    ¡°Who are you? How dare you scheme against a king like me?¡± The elder struggled to stand up, but when Jing Daoxian waved the Yin Yang Mirror in his hand, the elder lost control of his body like a puppet. He fell off the mountain, falling into the flames.


    ¡°You are a mere alchemist. Do you think you are worthy of being called a king?¡± Jing Daoxian said disdainfully.


    ¡°Boss Jing, you are still the best. That old man looks rather powerful. I never expected him to be unable to withstand a single strike from you,¡± Liu Yun flattered.


    Jing Daoxian said, ¡°Not really. I only took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t be his match either. Although he¡¯s only an alchemist, he has fused with the Guardian of the Founding Emperor Tomb. After so many years, he has already evolved to the Terror grade. Few humans are his match now.¡±


    Seeing Jing Daoxian admit that he wasn¡¯t the elder¡¯s match and that he had relied on a sneak attack to gain the upper hand, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun¡¯s fear of him deepened.


    The elder¡¯s body was truly terrifying. He rushed out of the vortex of flames and angrily wanted to kill Jing Daoxian.


    However, he had already been injured by the Yin Yang Mirror. The Yin Yang Mirror had already locked onto his soul. With just a turn of the Yin Yang Mirror, the elder¡¯s body flew out again.


    The stone sword had originally treated the elder as its mortal enemy, but it didn¡¯t take the opportunity to kill him. Instead, it charged at Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian raised the Yin Yang Mirror to fight the stone sword. The elder charged back as well, but unfortunately, he was controlled by the Yin Yang Mirror and involuntarily slammed into the stone sword¡¯s sword beam.


    As such, it became a battle between the elder and the stone sword again.


    However, the elder had willingly fought the stone sword previously, while this time, he was being controlled by Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Just now, the stone sword wished to slay the elder. Why is it dodging all the time when there¡¯s now a chance?¡± Liu Yun was puzzled.


    Zhou Wen said, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, the stone sword should have the power of a law. It¡¯s the true existence that guards this place. Previously, the stone sword didn¡¯t do its best to stop Jing Daoxian because it probably believes that Jing Daoxian can¡¯t obtain the item in the pill furnace, and that old man was the real threat. That¡¯s why it continued guarding the palace.¡±


    ¡°But now, the stone sword has realized that Jing Daoxian is a greater threat than that elder. And it can¡¯t deal with Jing Daoxian by itself. It can¡¯t stop Jing Daoxian from taking the thing inside the pill furnace. That¡¯s why it doesn¡¯t kill the elder. It hopes that the elder can escape Jing Daoxian¡¯s control and form a tripartite situation,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Liu Yun¡¯s eyes lit up as he lowered his voice and used a mystic technique to transmit his voice, allowing Zhou Wen to hear him. ¡°Now that they are restraining each other, do you and I have a chance to snatch the item in the pill furnace?¡±


    At that moment, another blob of light lit up in the furnace. It was different from the light that Jing Daoxian had faked with the Yin Yang Mirror. It was as warm as jade, but it gave off a refreshing feeling in the scorching furnace.


    ¡°The wind and fire outside the pill furnace are already so powerful. The flames inside the pill furnace are even more terrifying. I¡¯m afraid even Mythical armor can¡¯t withstand it. If we enter, we will be reduced to ashes. How can we take the thing inside?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°My Star Stealer is unparalleled. What can¡¯t I get?¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t believe that he couldn¡¯t get what was inside the pill furnace. ¡°Why don¡¯t we join forces? I¡¯ll be responsible for stealing the things inside the pill furnace. You can use your teleportation ability and the Earth Escape to help me escape. After we leave, we¡¯ll split the items equally.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Jing Daoxian, who was engaged in an intense battle with the stone sword and the elder. Seeing no reaction from him, as though he hadn¡¯t heard their conversation, he nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 876 - Treasure in the Furnace

    Translator: CKtalon


    Liu Yun saw that Jing Daoxian was doing his best to deal with the stone sword and the elder, and that he didn¡¯t have the time to pay attention to him. Without any hesitation, a mysterious starlight lit up at the tip of his fingers. At the instant he directed them, it was as though they had passed through a black hole and vanished.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Liu Yun¡¯s hand retracted as he let out a tragic cry. White flames burned at the tips of his fingers. The flesh on his fingertips had been burned away, revealing white bones.


    Furthermore, the flames were still spreading rapidly. Almost instantly, the flames were about to reach Liu Yun¡¯s palm.


    Liu Yun was a decisive person who immediately sliced off his flaming fingers as he chopped down with his other hand.


    When the five fingers landed on the ground, they were instantly burned to ashes. If he had been any slower, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to keep his arm.


    Jing Daoxian chuckled and said, ¡°Even top fire-elemental Mythical creatures don¡¯t dare touch the flames in the furnace. You actually dared to reach in to grab it? You have guts.¡±


    Liu Yun¡¯s right hand had all his five fingers severed. Upon hearing Jing Daoxian¡¯s mockery, he realized that Jing Daoxian had been watching their every move. The reason he hadn¡¯t stopped them was because he was certain that they couldn¡¯t take out the item inside the pill furnace.


    Liu Yun wasn¡¯t angry. All he did was secretly send a voice transmission to Zhou Wen. ¡°I touched the thing in the pill furnace with my hand. It¡¯s definitely not a pill.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked secretly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only touched a portion of it. It feels like a handle, but I don¡¯t know what it is. My hand turned to this from just touching it. I didn¡¯t dare hold it tightly,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°Could it be something like a sword or saber?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s possible.¡± Liu Yun nodded.


    He had originally wanted to pull out the item inside. Even if he couldn¡¯t take it out, he could have threatened Jing Daoxian to release his soul that was locked in the Yin Yang Mirror.


    Now, he had injured his hand instead of taking out the item; there was naturally no hope.


    ¡°Let me give it a try.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, but he didn¡¯t rush towards the pill furnace immediately.


    The flames in the pill furnace were just too powerful. Even the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General probably couldn¡¯t withstand them.


    Zhou Wen got the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to charge into the wind and fire vortex. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was blown around by the wind and fire vortex.


    However, the Fiend armor on his body gradually lit up. The purple flames in his body burned brighter and brighter. The power of the flames couldn¡¯t injure him, but instead made him stronger.


    Only when the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s Fiend armor had burned into something akin to amethyst and its entire body was enveloped by the purple flames did Zhou Wen get him to rush towards the pill furnace.


    Jing Daoxian only glanced coldly and did not stop the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. As he blocked the elder and the stone sword, he allowed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General entry.


    When the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General touched the flames, the Fiend armor immediately lit up. The originally amethyst-like Fiend armor turned purple-white due to the rapidly rising temperature. There was even magma-like liquid slowly flowing down the armor.


    With the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s powerful body, it was still unable to withstand the flames in the furnace despite being able to borrow the power of the flames.


    Zhou Wen could sense the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s soul roaring in pain. Although he hadn¡¯t been burned to ashes, he was still in extreme pain.


    If he continued entering, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body would completely melt before he touched anything inside. Therefore, Zhou Wen could only order him to leave the pill furnace.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t unsummon him. Instead, he made him stand beside him. The flames on his body were still burning crazily, and the melting situation improved slightly.


    ¡°Even if a Mythical Fire Elemental King were to come, they would melt in this Sun True Flames Furnace. It¡¯s a fool¡¯s dream to rely on a Mythical Companion Beast to take out what¡¯s inside,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently. ¡°The thing inside isn¡¯t something you can take.¡±


    Jing Daoxian had no intention of taking it himself, as though he was waiting for something.


    The elder and the stone sword kept trying to kill Jing Daoxian, but Jing Daoxian was toying with them using the Yin Yang Mirror. The elder wanted to escape the Yin Yang Mirror¡¯s control, but the effects weren¡¯t ideal.


    Suddenly, a sound came from the pill furnace.


    ¡°Wa¡­ Wa¡­¡± Zhou Wen listened carefully and his expression changed. He looked at Liu Yun and asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the thing inside might be a weapon? Why is there the sound of a baby crying?¡±


    Liu Yun also heard the voice inside and was alarmed. That¡¯s not right. I clearly grabbed something that resembled a handle with my hand. How can there be a baby¡¯s voice? Could it be that the weapon has become a spirit?


    Impossible. It¡¯s probably a Companion Beast, right? Zhou Wen thought.


    At that moment, Jing Daoxian finally took action. With the Yin Yang Mirror in one hand to stop the stone sword and the elder, he used his other hand to reach into the pill furnace¡¯s interior.


    The elder and the stone sword seemed to know that the critical moment had arrived. Rows of laws suddenly appeared on the stone sword. Instantly, they tore through the void and stabbed towards Jing Daoxian¡¯s heart.


    The elder began to risk his life. His entire body transformed into a crystalline state as he charged at Jing Daoxian like a crystal man.


    The power of the Yin Yang Mirror failed to control the elder.


    Jing Daoxian frowned slightly. He didn¡¯t have the spare strength to retrieve the item in the furnace. As he held the Yin Yang Mirror to block the stone sword¡¯s strike, he used the stone sword¡¯s power to retreat and dodge the crystallized elder¡¯s strike.


    When the crystallized elder saw Jing Daoxian dodge, he charged into the cauldron, hoping to take out the item inside.


    However, the stone sword suddenly switched sides and slashed at the elder¡¯s head, forcing him to retreat.


    Jing Daoxian charged towards the pill furnace again, but he was stopped by the joint forces of the elder and the stone sword.


    The two men and sword fought above the pill furnace, dazzling Liu Yun and Zhou Wen. Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight, he could barely see their trajectories. There were many details that he couldn¡¯t see clearly.


    The stone sword¡¯s sword techniques were nothing out of the ordinary. Every strike seemed to be within expectations, but it made one have no choice but to face its existence. There was no way to use tricks against it.


    The elder¡¯s moves were very strange. His entire body was like crystal, but his movement techniques were varied. He looked like a ghost.


    Jing Daoxian was very good at borrowing the strength of others. His strength was far inferior to the stone sword and the elder, but with the help of the Yin Yang Mirror, he could also divert the stone sword¡¯s and the elder¡¯s strength to hold them back. No one could take out the thing inside the pill furnace.


    Bam!


    The three forces clashed, sending Jing Daoxian, the crystallized elder, and the stone sword flying into the vortex of wind and fire.


    ¡°Now.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to order the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to charge at the Sun True Flames Furnace again. At the same time, he flew close to the furnace¡¯s mouth.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General plunged in. His body began to rapidly melt amidst the terrifying flames. He was unable to withstand the Sun True Flames inside. It looked like he wouldn¡¯t be able to touch anything inside before turning into a pool of magma.


    Jing Daoxian and the elder knew that it was impossible for Zhou Wen and company to take out the item inside the pill furnace, so they ignored them.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen still wanted to use the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to try his luck, they weren¡¯t too worried despite not being able to rush back in time to stop him.


    Just as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was about to melt, Zhou Wen, who had already reached the furnace¡¯s mouth, suddenly summoned a banana fan and fanned at the furnace¡¯s mouth.

 Chapter 877 - Miscalculation

    At the instant the Supreme Yin Wind, augmented by the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind, swept into the pill furnace, the flames inside the pill furnace that was originally roaring with wind and fire immediately converged. The airflow also became much calmer.


    Something appeared where the wind and fire converged.


    Zhou Wen saw what it was and revealed a look of surprise. However, he didn¡¯t hesitate. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had already rushed over and grabbed the item before rushing out of the pill furnace.


    In the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand was a golden banana fan. It was golden and resplendent like the sun.


    The shape of the banana fan was somewhat similar to Banana Fairy¡¯s fan shape, but it wasn¡¯t completely the same. There was a strong flow of wind and fire Essence Energy on it, making it different from Banana Fairy.


    Jing Daoxian, the elder, and the stone sword never expected Zhou Wen to take out the item in the pill furnace. After a moment of surprise, the stone sword and the elder rushed towards the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General holding the banana fan, hoping to snatch it back.


    With a thought, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General returned to Zhou Wen. The Sun Banana Fan also landed in front of him. Zhou Wen held the fan¡¯s handle and could feel the heat through the Dragon Scale Armor.


    With the elder and the stone sword rushing over, Zhou Wen held the Sun Banana Fan and fanned at them. Immediately, a scorching wind blew out. Wherever the hot wind went, flames would ignite.


    What was even more terrifying was that the wind and fire in the entire underground space moved with the Sun Banana Fan, turning into a terrifying fire dragon that swept towards the elder and the stone sword.


    The elder and the stone sword used their powers of Terror transformation to meet the fire dragon.


    Boom!


    The entire underground world shook. Although the fire dragon was defeated by the elder and the stone sword, they were also sent flying by the power of wind and fire.


    Jing Daoxian silently arrived near Zhou Wen. With a flash of the Yin Yang Mirror in his hand, Zhou Wen¡¯s soul projection appeared. He wanted to control Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Before Jing Daoxian could control Zhou Wen¡¯s body, Zhou Wen threw the Sun Banana Fan in his hand. At the same time, the other banana fan in his hand flew out and transformed into a girl sitting on a banana leaf in midair. She reached out and grabbed the Sun Banana Fan.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian, you can use your soul to control my body, but you can¡¯t control my Companion Beast. At most, we can just break ranks. If I can¡¯t defeat you, I¡¯ll just destroy that fan. No one can have it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he had the means to negotiate, but what happened next completely exceeded his expectations.


    After Banana Fairy grabbed the Sun Banana Fan, it turned into golden wind and fire that fused into the banana leaf beneath Banana Fairy.


    Golden veins appeared on the emerald-like green banana leaf.


    Before Zhou Wen could react, a violent gust of wind erupted from Banana Fairy¡¯s body, enveloping her before returning to Zhou Wen.


    It evolved¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded.


    He originally wanted to use the power of the Sun Banana Fan to resist Jing Daoxian, the elder, and the stone sword. In this land of wind and fire, the Sun Banana Fan had a natural advantage. It could be said that this was its home ground.


    However, the Sun Banana Fan had been absorbed by the banana leaf and had entered an evolutionary state. Instantly, Zhou Wen¡¯s previous plans failed.


    Seeing Jing Daoxian, the elder, and the stone sword staring at him, Zhou Wen felt somewhat awkward.


    He had held back on using Banana Fairy¡¯s ability to restrain wind and fire, hoping that she could deliver a shocking effect at the critical moment. Now, she had indeed delivered a shocking effect, but this was just too much of a shock. Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect this to happen. He felt his lips turn bitter.


    With the Sun Banana Fan gone, the stone sword was enraged. Laws appeared on the sword as it charged at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the attack head-on. He used the Civilized Country ring to teleport elsewhere, but just as he teleported out, the elder¡¯s crystalline palm had already grabbed at his neck, forcing Zhou Wen to teleport again.


    Civilized Country was much stronger than Lost Country, but it could only teleport ten times. It was absolutely impossible to finish off the elder and the stone sword in ten teleportations.


    Furthermore, with Jing Daoxian eyeing him covetously, Zhou Wen¡¯s chances were even slimmer.


    ¡°Give me your Companion Beast and I¡¯ll help you tide through this calamity,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe Jing Daoxian at all. Seeing the elder and the stone sword charge at him again, he didn¡¯t hesitate to activate the Civilized Country. However, he wasn¡¯t using teleportation this time, but the positioning teleportation function.


    The markings in the ghost face¡¯s eyes spun as Zhou Wen instantly vanished with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    Bam!


    The positioning teleportation ability of Civilized Country required him to specify a location in advance. In the future, no matter where he was, he could return there by activating the positioning teleportation function.


    As Zhou Wen had recently figured it out, he had set the coordinates not far from Mount Dragon Tiger.


    He originally wanted to escape from the Founding Emperor Tomb and think of a way to retrieve his soul controlled by the Yin Yang Mirror in the future. However, to his surprise, he failed to teleport out and appeared at the Founding Emperor Tomb entrance.


    Damn it. Even teleportation can¡¯t leave the Founding Emperor Tomb? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the luxury of time. If he couldn¡¯t leave, Jing Daoxian and company would catch up to him sooner or later.


    He directly put on the Invisibility Cloak and switched his Essence Energy Art to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, allowing the Defy Ancient Sovereign to fuse with him. Then, he charged towards the beam of light that the elder had walked out of.


    After taking a few steps, he felt as though some force was summoning his body, making him want to rush in the direction of the palace. Zhou Wen immediately got the Defy Ancient Sovereign to take over his body and forcefully control it to continue charging forward without being affected by the soul in the Yin Yang Mirror.


    The pillar of light vanished. Zhou Wen found himself near an inconspicuous building in the ancient city. He didn¡¯t hesitate to rush in.


    The stone house wasn¡¯t big, and it looked very simple. There were no beds or tables. There was only a stone platform with many bamboo slips on the rack beside it.


    After passing through the room, there was another room inside. Zhou Wen walked in and saw that it was an alchemy room. There were all kinds of pill furnaces and other equipment. There were also many refined pills stored in bottles.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he stored everything inside the Chaos Bead, regardless of whether they were useful or not.


    Zhou Wen also stored the bamboo slips. It was a waste not to take them. Perhaps they would be useful in the future.


    Just as he finished, he heard a whistling sound from the ancient city. It was likely the stone sword that had rushed out of the temple. However, the stone sword didn¡¯t discover Zhou Wen. It knew that Zhou Wen definitely couldn¡¯t leave, so it constantly flew around the city, hoping to find him.


    </di

 Chapter 878 - Jing Daoxian’s Conditions

    Translator: CKtalon


    Soon, the elder rushed out as well. After he came out, he went straight to his room. When he rushed in, he saw that the stone house was in a mess. There was nothing left. Even the pill furnace, medicinal pestle, and other tools were gone. He was so enraged that he nearly vomited blood.


    ¡°It will be difficult to appease the hatred in my heart if I don¡¯t tear you to pieces!¡± The elder roared at the sky and rushed out to search for Zhou Wen like a madman.


    Jing Daoxian and Liu Yun rushed out one after another. They were also searching for Zhou Wen, but he seemed to have vanished into thin air. They couldn¡¯t find him no matter how hard they tried.


    ¡°Could Zhou Wen have already escaped?¡± Liu Yun asked Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Impossible. Without this Emperor Qin Sword, it¡¯s impossible for him to leave. He must still be in the Founding Emperor Tomb,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he held the Emperor Qin Sword.


    The stone sword and the elder also knew that it was impossible for Zhou Wen to escape, so they searched every corner of the ancient city and swore to find him.


    When the elder rushed out, Zhou Wen had already used the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s three minutes of complete invisibility. He went in the opposite direction and rushed back into the palace, passing through the black water and returning to the mountain peak in the underground space.


    The wind in the underground space had stopped, and the fire in the Sun True Flames Furnace had extinguished.


    From the looks of it, the flames in the Sun True Flames Furnace were emitted from the Sun Banana Fan. The furnace itself doesn¡¯t have any flames. Zhou Wen was sizing up the Sun True Flames Furnace, hoping to see if he could take it away.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly palpitated as he stared intently at the Sun True Flames Furnace in front of him.


    Jing Daoxian crawled out of the Sun True Flames Furnace and smiled at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already leave?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°It¡¯s just an illusion. You can¡¯t leave the Founding Emperor Tomb, so you can only hide. I¡¯ve been here waiting for you,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°You relied on the soul in the Yin Yang Mirror to sense my location, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is that the alchemist and Grand Qin Dharma Sword want to kill you. The only person who can save you from Emperor Qin¡¯s mausoleum is me,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°Conditions?¡± Zhou Wen asked bluntly.


    ¡°That Companion Beast.¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Zhou Wen knew that even if he transferred Banana Fairy to Jing Daoxian, she might not survive. Therefore, he hadn¡¯t considered doing so.


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking you to transfer the Companion Beast to me, but to promise me the usage of the Companion Beast¡¯s abilities in the future to do something for me,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Naturally, it¡¯s pill refinement. Although there aren¡¯t any true Elixirs of Immortality in this world, there are some pills that can extend my life. Refining those pills not only requires special materials, but the furnace and fire also have special requirements. Since the Sun Banana Fan has been absorbed by your pet, your pet must have similar powers. I¡¯ll use her as a replacement,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he summoned a cloth bag and sucked the Sun True Flames Furnace into the tiny cloth bag.


    Zhou Wen was still hesitating when Jing Daoxian said, ¡°You don¡¯t have time. The Grand Qin Dharma Sword is easy to fool, but that alchemist isn¡¯t that easy to fool. He will quickly react and come back to capture you. I don¡¯t think you can teleport a second time.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I agree. However, other than helping me leave, you have to release Liu Yun and my soul,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t say a word as he threw the Emperor Qin Sword in his hand at Zhou Wen. Then, with a flip of the Yin Yang Mirror, Zhou Wen¡¯s blurry figure in the mirror vanished.


    Zhou Wen could sense that his mind had relaxed significantly. He felt indescribably relaxed.


    ¡°With that Emperor Qin Sword, I believe you will be able to leave the Founding Emperor Tomb,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°If I wish to leave, there¡¯s nowhere that can retain me,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently. ¡°He¡¯s here. You don¡¯t have time.¡±


    Zhou Wen had already sensed the entity rushing into the underground space, so he asked Jing Daoxian, ¡°When are you refining the pill?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll naturally look for you when the time comes,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile. ¡°You¡¯ve grown faster than I imagined. Or rather, the Lost Immortal Sutra has exceeded my expectations. I¡¯m really looking forward to how far it can take you. Before that, you mustn¡¯t die.¡±


    2


    With that said, Jing Daoxian spun the Yin Yang Mirror in his hand and shot it at the elder who had already charged into the underground space. ¡°Go. I¡¯ll keep looking forward to our next meeting. I hope that you can give me more surprises the next time we meet.¡±


    Zhou Wen glanced at Jing Daoxian and used teleportation to rush to the exit of the underground space. As for the furious elder, he was entangled by Jing Daoxian and was unable to proceed with a pursuit.


    Zhou Wen turned invisible and rushed out of the palace, heading for the ancient city¡¯s entrance.


    Just as he left the palace, he saw the Sword of Law rush back into the hall. From the looks of it, it had figured out what had happened. Unfortunately, it was already too late.


    When Zhou Wen rushed to the ancient city¡¯s entrance, he realized that Liu Yun was standing at the entrance. He was somewhat surprised.


    Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appear, Liu Yun said with a smile, ¡°I knew it. If you want to leave, you definitely have to come here.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat with him. He stabbed the Emperor Qin Sword into the hole in the door. The barrier that separated the ancient city and the outside immediately vanished. The two of them rushed out without any hesitation.


    After passing through the Mercury Sea, Zhou Wen used the Earth Elemental Beast to take Liu Yun out of the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    ¡°We¡¯ve finally come out alive.¡± Liu Yun looked at the starry sky outside and let out a long sigh.


    ¡°Farewell. I hope we won¡¯t meet again in the future.¡± Zhou Wen rode the Earth Elemental Beast and was about to escape. He was afraid that the elder would chase after him again, so he wanted to get as far away from the Founding Emperor Tomb as possible.


    ¡°You got Jing Daoxian to release my soul, right?¡± Liu Yun stopped Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It was probably released by Jing Daoxian in passing,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t say a word as he extended his hand and threw something at Zhou Wen. ¡°This is something I took out from the pill furnace. There are two in total. I¡¯ll give one to you. Have fun with it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t think you touched anything,¡± Zhou Wen caught the item and said in surprise.


    Zhou Wen sized up the item in his hand. It was a purple bronze ball. It looked like it was made of the same material as the Sun True Flames Furnace. It was about the size of a billiard ball. There were strange mysterious patterns on it, making it look ancient and mysterious.


    ¡°A thief doesn¡¯t leave empty-handed. I don¡¯t dare say anything else, but I¡¯ve never returned empty-handed in my life. I didn¡¯t take out that crappy fan, but I didn¡¯t return empty-handed.¡± Liu Yun waved his hand and turned around to quickly walk away. Moments later, he vanished.


    This fellow¡­ When did he take it out¡­ Even Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t discover it. This thing should be from the Sun True Flames Furnace, right? I wonder what it¡¯s used for. Zhou Wen sized it up for a while, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what use it had. He put it away.

 Chapter 879 - Ranking Reboot

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen rode the Earth Elemental Beast and left the Founding Emperor Tomb with Ya¡¯er.


    On the way, Zhou Wen attempted to use his phone to take a picture of the Emperor Qin Sword to see if he could get it into the game. Otherwise, having the dungeon but not being able to enter was useless.


    After the phone entered its camera mode, it automatically locked onto the Emperor Qin Sword. With a click, the Emperor Qin Sword vanished into thin air, and an Emperor Qin Sword appeared in-game.


    However, in-game, Emperor Qin Sword wasn¡¯t its name, but ¡®Key to the Imperial Mausoleum.¡¯


    After Zhou Wen inserted the Emperor Qin Sword into the ancient city¡¯s door, it automatically vanished. The game¡¯s door opened and didn¡¯t close again. Even if Zhou Wen respawned in the dungeon again, he didn¡¯t need to use the Emperor Qin Sword to open the door.


    As Zhou Wen rushed in, he grinded the Founding Emperor Tomb dungeon. The monster in the Mercury Sea was extremely difficult to kill. Typical attacks were useless against it. Its body was somewhat similar to water-elemental creatures. Even if its body was severed, it could reform.


    Furthermore, as long as it was in the Mercury Sea, it seemed to possess infinite power. Zhou Wen momentarily couldn¡¯t think of a way to kill it.


    Zhou Wen killed the Bronze Men and the twelve Gold Men in the city again. However, this time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t just use the power of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth, Torch Dragon, and other Companion Beasts. Together with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, the speed at which he killed the twelve Gold Men was much faster.


    When he killed the seventh Gold Man, another dimensional crystal dropped. Furthermore, it was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal. The requirements were the same as the previous one.


    Apart from that, the twelve Gold Men didn¡¯t drop anything.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Constitution failed to meet the requirements of 41 Essence Energy and 41 Constitution, so he could only give it up in pain.


    After circling the ancient city, he went to the stone house where the old alchemist lived. However, he didn¡¯t see anything there. Clearly, the old man wasn¡¯t a creature from the dungeon.


    Could it be as Jing Daoxian said? That old man was a human alchemist from the Founding Emperor¡¯s era? Then how did he survive in the mausoleum to the present day and how did he fuse with a Guardian? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. If that fellow escaped the mausoleum, he would probably seek him out.


    I hope Banana Fairy will quickly evolve to the Terror grade. Without the power of the Terror grade, it will be difficult for me to face the existence of the Terror grade head-on. Zhou Wen looked at his Banana Fairy tattoo and saw that it was still chaotic. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t completed her evolution.


    The door to the palace opened with a push. However, the Grand Qin Dharma Sword inside was just too powerful. Even Tyrant Behemoth was killed. Its Absolute Strength was virtually useless.


    The Thearch really didn¡¯t lie to me. Only a power at the Terror grade can resist a power at the Terror grade. This is no longer a matter of stats. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t resolve the problem of the Great Qin Dharma Sword. All he could do was wait for the invisibility ability of the Invisibility Cloak cooldown to end. He could first use the Invisibility Cloak to pass through the hall and see if it was different from reality.


    After finally waiting for the cooldown of the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Wheel of Destiny to finish, Zhou Wen invisibly passed through the hall without triggering the attack of the Grand Qin Dharma Sword.


    After passing through the hall filled with bamboo slips, he realized that this place was somewhat different from reality. Where there should have been a black pool, there was a strange bronze artifact instead. The bronze artifact was more than two meters tall, like a huge jar. It completely covered the spot where the black pool should have been. It was unknown if there was a pool below.


    At the mouth of the jar, there was red soil and a man¡¯s head. The man was like a flower planted in the bronze jar.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the human head on the bronze altar, it¡¯s eyes suddenly opened. It shot a glance at the blood-colored avatar and the blood-colored avatar died. The game screen went black.


    Jing Daoxian likely shattered the bronze jar in real life after he entered the Founding Emperor Tomb. How did he do it? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the Yin Yang Mirror, so he naturally couldn¡¯t attempt it.


    Zhou Wen tried a few times, but every time, he was killed by the strange man inside the bronze jar. He knew that the strange man was most likely a Terror-grade existence, so he had no choice but to give up on the idea. All he did was grind the Bronze Men and the Gold Men outside.


    The nine black dragons in the underground sea respawned once every nine days. These Gold Men respawned once every twelve days. The pattern was very clear. It took a day to respawn a Mythical creature. The more there were, the slower the respawn.


    Devourer, Grand Qin Dharma Sword, and the strange person in the jar. If I want to kill these fellows, I¡¯ll probably have to wait until Banana Fairy¡¯s evolution is complete. I wonder what Banana Fairy¡¯s Terror transformation will be like? Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to imagine it.


    Terror transformed creatures basically had obvious body characteristics. They were different from normal creatures.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to an unfamiliar city. He originally wanted to take her to eat some delicacies and buy some clothes, but when he walked to the street, he saw the black cube in the middle of the street light up.


    The ranking battle began again. However, this time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see Wang Mingyuan on the cube¡¯s screen. The one guarding the divine tree was a snake-tailed monster.


    Where did Teacher go? Was he implicated because I took away the divine fruit? Zhou Wen had a bad feeling.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly saw the cube¡¯s screen light up as a creature appeared.


    That¡¯s¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils constricted when he saw the creature¡¯s appearance.


    Even if Companion Beasts like True Dragon and True Phoenix were on the rankings, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t find it strange. However, the creature on the rankings was a human.


    To be precise, it was a human who had contracted a Guardian and was wearing Guardian armor.


    Can humans and Guardians participate in the battle? Does that mean that a single Companion Beast can no longer reach the top? Zhou Wen sized up the human on the screen and saw a name appear first on the rankings.


    Great Skyfiend! Zhou Wen silently repeated as his gaze returned to the human.


    Unfortunately, his entire body was covered in black armor. It was impossible to see what he looked like. It was even impossible to tell if he was male or female.


    I wonder if pure humans can participate in the ranking battle without contracting a Guardian? Zhou Wen wanted to know why Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t under the divine tree.


    However, if he couldn¡¯t participate in the battle himself, he couldn¡¯t use multiple Companion Beasts. Even an existence like Primordial Sword Immortal wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain first place.


    Teacher, what happened? Zhou Wen looked at the Great Skyfiend on the screen, but he was distracted. He still remembered that the last time he went to retrieve the divine fruit, Wang Mingyuan had secretly warned him not to go there again.

 Chapter 880 - Transferring the Baby Tiger

    Translator: CKtalon


    It was somewhat different from the first ranking battle. The ranking had just started not long ago. In less than an hour, all sorts of pets filled the rankings. Many Companion Beasts on the rankings had been seen in the previous ranking battle.


    However, Primordial Sword Immortal and Fairy Immortal Gu, who had performed extremely well the last time, weren¡¯t on the rankings. Zhou Wen¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth naturally wasn¡¯t on the rankings.


    The person ranked first was still Great Skyfiend. No matter which Companion Beasts appeared on the rankings, they couldn¡¯t shake his position.


    This was also within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. Great Skyfiend wasn¡¯t just referring to a Guardian. There was also the human who had fused with him, as well as various Companion Beasts that the human had. Their combined combat strength far exceeded a single Companion Beast.


    Unless there was someone else who had similarly contracted a Guardian on the rankings, in terms of overall combat strength, it was almost impossible for ordinary Companion Beasts to surpass Great Skyfiend.


    Various areas of the Federation were also discussing what Great Skyfiend was. Most humans didn¡¯t know of the existence of Guardians, but anyone could tell that Great Skyfiend didn¡¯t look like a Companion Beast.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay in one place for too long. After staying for a night, he left the city.


    It¡¯s already the fourth day. Even if that alchemist comes out, he shouldn¡¯t be able to find me, Zhou Wen thought as he walked. Suddenly, he was taken aback as his expression turned odd.


    My first thought is that I¡¯m actually worried about that alchemist and not Jing Daoxian. This is too dangerous. Now, Zhou Wen suddenly understood why Lord Alcohol and Xia Jiuhuang believed in Jing Daoxian, who was known as a devil.


    This person was a very complicated contradiction to begin with. He did whatever he wanted and killed people without a care. But sometimes, he had a charm that made it obvious that he was evil, but it was impossible to associate him with the word evil.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He knew that such a thought was very dangerous. He needed to be more alert. Jing Daoxian was even more dangerous than the old alchemist.


    Ding!


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, a pleasant chime sounded in-game.


    Looking down, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed. A baby tiger had dropped in-game.


    Finally, another baby tiger has spawned. Zhou Wen looked at its stats. It wasn¡¯t much different from the two baby tigers from before.


    ¡°What should I combine the baby tiger with?¡± As the baby tiger¡¯s luck couldn¡¯t be stacked, it could only be used for fusion.


    However, with the lesson learned from the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare randomly fuse it. He first matched the baby tiger with his various Companion Beasts to check their compatibility.


    There were quite a number of Companion Beasts with high compatibility, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately decide on fusing them.


    I¡¯ll put it aside for now. Zhou Wen decided to consider it later. After all, getting the baby tiger to drop was just too difficult.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen thought of the method he had learned from Liu Yun. He thought to himself, It¡¯s fine if I don¡¯t fuse the baby tiger. I can try transferring it, but who should I transfer it to?


    Now, there was only Ya¡¯er beside Zhou Wen, but it was still difficult to say if Ya¡¯er was considered a living person. He didn¡¯t know if she could use Companion Beasts like ordinary people.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to ask her, ¡°Ya¡¯er, can you use Companion Beasts?¡±


    Ya¡¯er looked at Zhou Wen blankly. Clearly, she didn¡¯t know either.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡± Zhou Wen decided to head to the city to buy a Mortal Companion Egg for Ya¡¯er to see if she could hatch it.


    If she could incubate and use Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen could give her some Companion Beasts that he didn¡¯t need. While giving her the ability to protect herself, she could also control the Companion Beasts to help him.


    After arriving in the city, Zhou Wen found a Companion Egg shop and bought the weakest Mortal Companion Egg. It was much more expensive than Legendary Companion Eggs.


    The reason he chose the weakest was that Zhou Wen was afraid that incubating a Companion Egg would require too much Essence Energy and Ya¡¯er¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it.


    Although she had divine-level mental strength, her body was still that of a child. If her body lacked the Essence Energy needed, something bad might happen.


    ¡°Try injecting your Essence Energy into the Companion Egg.¡± Zhou Wen handed the Companion Egg to Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°Do you know what Essence Energy is?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment before asking her. As Ya¡¯er was a Kuman Nee in the past, he didn¡¯t know if she cultivated in Essence Energy Arts.


    Ya¡¯er nodded and took the Companion Egg. Soon, the Companion Egg in her hand hatched and transformed into a stream of light that transformed into a tattoo on Ya¡¯er¡¯s body.


    So she can really use Companion Beasts! Zhou Wen thought for a moment. He wanted to first transfer the baby tiger to Ya¡¯er. He wanted her to be luckier and passively increase his luck. After all, Ya¡¯er would always be with him.


    He successfully transferred the baby tiger to Ya¡¯er, and Zhou Wen had only sacrificed a star in the Pocket Universe.


    1


    Furthermore, with the evolution of the Pocket Universe, that star could still be reborn in the future.


    This Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art is really awesome. With this Essence Energy Art, won¡¯t I be able to exchange Companion Beasts? Unfortunately, not everyone knows the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting Art. Otherwise, I could exchange Companion Beasts at will. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly as he increasingly liked this Essence Energy Art.


    Zhou Wen transferred a few Companion Beasts to Ya¡¯er before telling her how to use their abilities.


    Ya¡¯er was very smart. As long as Zhou Wen told her what to do, she could use them perfectly without making any mistakes.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, you¡¯re really smart.¡± Zhou Wen stroked Ya¡¯er¡¯s head.


    Zhou Wen took a huge detour and when they arrived at a city again, the first on the ranking was still Great Skyfiend. Apart from Great Skyfiend, no other Guardian had entered the rankings.


    There shouldn¡¯t only be one Guardian. At the very least, Jiang Yan has Burial Immortal. Why didn¡¯t he participate in the battle? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    However, he realized that the ranking battle had only recently started. There was still plenty of time. It was also possible that some Guardians wanted to secretly hide their strength and hadn¡¯t chosen to fight.


    From the looks of it, the Battle of Guardians is about to officially surface. Zhou Wen continued on his journey with Ya¡¯er. After walking so much and going to so many unfamiliar places, Glimmer¡¯s evolution speed remained stagnant. Although it kept improving, its progress was rather slow.


    Zhou Wen headed north, planning on heading to the North District where the Ultimate Family Clan was. There were many dimensional creatures he had never seen before, as well as many novel dungeons. Since he had to walk around, he might as well download some new dungeons.


    However, before he could even walk out of the East District, Zhou Wen saw an elder slowly walking over from the opposite side on a flat road.


    Although he was still a distance away from the elder, Zhou Wen had already identified the elder as the alchemist in the Founding Emperor Tomb. Not only had he got out, but he had also found Zhou Wen after so many days.

 Chapter 881 - Crazy Escape

    Translator: CKtalon


    Without a word, Zhou Wen rode the Earth Elemental Beast and used Earth Escape to get far away.


    However, after the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Earth Escape ended, he realized that the elder had also appeared beside him. He had also used Earth Escape to follow him.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly as he made the Earth Elemental Beast use Earth Escape again. This time, Zhou Wen chose to let the Earth Elemental Beast expend all its Essence Energy in one go and use a long-distance Earth Escape that spanned hundreds of kilometers.


    Just as he came out of the Earth Escape, he saw the elder walk out from a tree beside him. He was like a ghost hidden in the tree.


    Wood Escape Art? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart chilled.


    Not only did the elder know the Earth Escape technique, but he also knew the Wood Escape technique. If not for the fact that he couldn¡¯t use it in the imperial mausoleum, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have escaped so easily.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to escape,¡± the elder said coldly as he stared at Zhou Wen. He wasn¡¯t anxious at all as he slowly approached Zhou Wen like a cat chasing a mouse.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used the teleportation ability of the Civilized Country. At the same time that the teleportation ended, he activated the invisibility power of Invisibility Cloak.


    After activating the Invisibility Cloak, he teleported several times and changed the direction of his escape.


    However, soon, Zhou Wen realized that the elder had followed him again. In front of the elder was something that resembled a hairpin. No matter where Zhou Wen fled in, the hairpin would point in his direction.


    The elder clearly couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen, but under the hairpin¡¯s guidance, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t shake off his tail.


    Zhou Wen was extremely anxious. He only had three minutes of complete invisibility. If he couldn¡¯t shake off the elder in three minutes, ordinary invisibility was useless against such an expert.


    There¡¯s less than two minutes left of complete invisibility. If I don¡¯t destroy that hairpin-like thing, it¡¯s impossible for me to escape. Zhou Wen made a prompt decision and stopped running. He suddenly changed his position and exploited his invisibility to slash at the hairpin floating beside the elder.


    The elder chased in the direction the hairpin pointed, but the hairpin could only point in a direction, not the location. He never expected Zhou Wen to have the guts to turn around and charge back.


    By the time he realized it, Zhou Wen was already in front of the hairpin. The Light Concealment Sword slashed at the hairpin with the power of Immortal Slaying.


    Almost at the same time, the elder with the cold eyes threw a crystalline palm at Zhou Wen¡¯s chest. It was so fast that it was difficult for him to dodge.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of dodging. The Light Concealment Sword slashed at the hairpin, slicing it into two.


    As for Zhou Wen¡¯s chest, it was destroyed by the elder¡¯s palm, turning into white smoke.


    When the white smoke dissipated, Zhou Wen had already vanished. A shattered paper talisman floated to the ground.


    He actually has a Substitute Talisman. The elder frowned slightly as he searched for Zhou Wen¡¯s tracks, but he didn¡¯t find anything.


    Without the hairpin, the elder couldn¡¯t determine Zhou Wen¡¯s location.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to escape.¡± The elder took out a few copper coins and condensed his Essence Energy. He threw them to the ground and began calculating with his fingers, as though he was trying to divine Zhou Wen¡¯s location.


    However, after calculating for a while, a look of puzzlement appeared on his face. Strange. My six lines of insight can¡¯t divine his location?


    Zhou Wen was frantically running for his life when he suddenly felt something tremble. On a second look, he realized that it was something Ya¡¯er was wearing.


    It was the three copper coins and red string that Zhou Wen had taken out of the Pixiu¡¯s stomach when he had killed it.


    Later on, he gave it to Ya¡¯er who wore it on her wrist. At that moment, the copper coin actually trembled automatically for some reason.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stop as he continued fleeing with Ya¡¯er. Thankfully, the elder didn¡¯t chase after him again. The invisibility time limit had passed as Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    All this time, he drew Substitute Talismans whenever he had the time. Up to now, he had only succeeded in drawing two. He had just used one, leaving him with only one.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay any longer. He summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and made it rush into the mountainous area at its fastest speed.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of getting lost since he had the Pocket Universe¡¯s positioning. He was just afraid of encountering an unknown dimensional zone. However, at this stage, he couldn¡¯t care less. All he could do was escape in the direction of the more concealed areas.


    After crossing one mountain after another, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how far he had run. There were no more roads and he found himself by a small river.


    Zhou Wen followed the river. There was a large peach blossom forest on both sides of the river. The peach blossoms landed in the river and flowed along it, making the river appear especially beautiful.


    After walking for more than five kilometers, he reached the end of the river. The area ahead was blocked by a mountain. Just as Zhou Wen was about to go around the mountain, he saw a gap that allowed him to pass through. He could vaguely see the light from the other side of the mountain.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate as he passed through the mountain crack.


    The mountain crack was extremely narrow when he first entered. After walking for a short distance, it gradually widened. Soon, Zhou Wen passed through the mountain and saw a beautiful valley in front of him.


    There were many wooden houses and bamboo buildings in the mountain valley. There were bamboo forests and flowers everywhere. Similarly, there were large peach trees. The wooden houses and bamboo buildings dotted the area, like a paradise on earth.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. This was because after he passed through the mountain crack, he failed to determine his location with Pocket Universe.


    This place¡­ Could it be that legendary place? Zhou Wen sized up the valley with a strange expression as he suddenly thought of an essay he had read in school.


    The essay was called ¡°Peach Blossom Spring.¡± It mentioned that a fisherman had accidentally entered a peach blossom garden. There he saw a beautiful village that was isolated from the world. However, after he left, he couldn¡¯t find the peach blossom forest or the village no matter how hard he tried.


    No matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, it seemed to be identical to the place described in Peach Blossom Spring. The only difference was that in the Peach Blossom Spring in the essay, there was a group of Pre-Qin villagers who had taken refuge in war. However, although there were wooden houses and wooden buildings here, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see anyone. He didn¡¯t even see a chicken or dog.


    Using Truth Listener¡¯s ability to scan the valley, he felt as though there was a fog enveloping the valley. He could see it with his eyes, but he couldn¡¯t see anything with Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    It doesn¡¯t matter if this is Peach Blossom Spring, it¡¯s definitely a dimensional zone. Zhou Wen was somewhat curious as he summoned a group of Poison Bats and got them to fly into the village to scout and see what was inside.


    However, after the Poison Bats left Zhou Wen¡¯s line of sight, he suddenly lost contact with them. This made Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turn nasty.


    ¡°Is anyone there?¡± Zhou Wen called out to the depths of the valley, but no one answered him. Instead, his voice echoed in the valley repeatedly.


    ¡°Is anyone there¡­ Is anyone there¡­ Is anyone¡­¡±

 Chapter 882 - The Man in White

    This place was strange, very strange. Zhou Wen wanted to backtrack, but when he turned around, the mountain wall crack he had come from had vanished. Behind him was a complete mountain wall. There was no way out.


    Zhou Wen reached out to touch the mountain wall. It was made of real stone, not an illusion.


    Feeling that something was amiss, Zhou Wen summoned a Poison Bat and attempted to have it fly out through the sky. However, when the Poison Bat flew out of the valley, it seemed to hit something and fell from the sky.


    This outcome didn¡¯t surprise Zhou Wen. If this was really a dimensional zone, it was normal that it couldn¡¯t fly out.


    How can I leave this dimensional zone? Seeing that there was no way out, Zhou Wen had no choice but to walk deeper in, hoping to find a way to leave the dimensional zone.


    He summoned different Companion Beasts to scout ahead. There were Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors, Flying Ants, and some small green-furred Gu.


    The valley was as beautiful as a fairyland, but there was no living creature. There was no aura of a living person in the wooden houses and bamboo buildings.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, a green-furred Gu burrowed into the wooden hut closest to him. It realized that there were all sorts of daily necessities used by humans in the wooden hut. However, those things looked ancient, unlike those used by modern humans. Furthermore, there was no one inside, nor were there any dimensional creatures.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue exploring. Strangely, there were no creatures in the valley. The Poison Bats that he had lost contact with had vanished.


    After circling the entire valley, he realized that it wasn¡¯t small at all. There was even a stream circling it, and the scenery was especially beautiful.


    Beside the stream was a huge peach tree. The tree was covered in flowers, making it look gorgeous.


    However, for some reason, there were no other peach trees beside the huge peach tree. The other peach trees were a distance away from the huge peach tree, making it look a little lonely.


    After circling the valley twice¡ªa place that looked like paradise¡ªhe would have found this place a great place if not for suddenly losing contact with his Companion Beasts after they went beyond a certain range.


    There must be something in this valley. Where are they hiding? Zhou Wen searched for a long time but failed to find a way out. Similarly, he failed to find the Companion Beasts that had lost contact with him.


    It was useless to walk around. Zhou Wen sat down to rest as he thought of various possibilities.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this was the legendary Peach Blossom Spring as everything here was slightly different from the legendary Peach Blossom Spring.


    Time ticked by. Zhou Wen failed to come up with a way to leave this place. Although he had tried to force his way out, it was useless.


    The Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Earth Escape technique could only circle around the valley, preventing it from escaping.


    The mountain wall seemed to have a life of its own. The hole that Tyrant Behemoth dug out would be quickly filled up.


    The sky gradually darkened as a moon rose into the sky.


    A strange sound suddenly appeared in the originally silent valley. Zhou Wen tilted his head to listen. It was the sound of a flute.


    After determining the direction, the sound of the flute seemed to come from the stream.


    Zhou Wen had been searching the valley the entire day, but he hadn¡¯t found any clues. Now that there was a sudden sound of a flute, he naturally wanted to take a look.


    Even if it was a dimensional creature, he would at least gain some understanding of what to do. He wasn¡¯t as aimless as he was now.


    Zhou Wen carefully walked to the stream and, from afar, saw a person in white sitting under a huge peach blossom tree. He held a flute in his hand, and the sound was coming from it.


    From where Zhou Wen was, he could only see the person¡¯s side profile. He was dressed in white with his long hair tied up. Wherever the peach blossoms fell, he would gently blow into the bamboo flute, making him look like a deity.


    It¡¯s impossible for someone to really be here. It should be a humanoid dimensional creature. I wonder how strong he is? Zhou Wen stood motionless as he sized up the white-robed man from afar.


    After the tune ended, the white-robed man put down the bamboo flute in his hand and turned to look at Zhou Wen. ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t you have a drink with me?¡±


    Only then did Zhou Wen see that the white-robed man was handsome. On the ground beside him was a jade alcohol flask and wine cups.


    Is he really not a human? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled when he saw that his appearance and actions resembled a human.


    Seeing a motionless Zhou Wen, the white-robed man picked up the alcohol flask and wine cup and poured himself a cup. As he drank, he looked at the moon in the sky and said, ¡°Life is so short. Why seek frustrations?¡±


    The white-robed man was enjoying the moon and drinking, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Immortal,¡± the person in white answered.


    ¡°What immortal?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°Immortals are immortals. They are carefree, happy, and comfortable,¡± the white-robed man said.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t get an answer, Zhou Wen asked, ¡°Do you know how to get out of here?¡±


    ¡°Why do you want to leave? Isn¡¯t this place good? It¡¯s aloof from worldly affairs and there are no worries. Is there any place better than this in this world?¡± the person in white said as he drank.


    ¡°This place is very good, but I don¡¯t like it here,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t leave. This is an immortal realm, a place isolated from the mortal world. Unless one dies, no one can leave this place,¡± the white-robed man said.


    Zhou Wen naturally refused to believe the white-robed man¡¯s words. As long as it was a dimensional zone, there was definitely a way to leave.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant, unsure if he should immediately attack the white-robed man. This white-robed man looked like a human, but he was likely a dimensional creature. However, with his high intelligence, his strength was definitely extraordinary. Zhou Wen was wondering if he should wait for Banana Fairy to complete her evolution before taking action.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen looked at the white-robed man and wanted to say something, but he was surprised to discover that the white-robed man had vanished under the peach blossom tree.


    Zhou Wen called out a few times, but no one responded. He searched the valley again, but he didn¡¯t see the white-robed man again.


    He waited until daybreak, but he didn¡¯t see any living creatures again.


    What kind of dimensional zone is this? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    If a horde of dimensional creatures were to pounce at him, Zhou Wen knew what to do. But his current situation left him at a loss.


    No, the next time I see that white-robed person, I have to think of a way to subdue him and figure out how to leave this place. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned Explosive Fiend Man to make some arrangements in the valley.


    With such a highly-intelligent dimensional creature, it was definitely not easy to deal with. Zhou Wen had no choice but to make preparations in advance¡ªjust in case.


    </di

 Chapter 883 - Thirteen Moves Sword Technique

    However, in the next few days, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the white-robed man again. The entire valley was empty, making Zhou Wen suspect that this dimensional zone was a prison specially used to hold people.


    Thankfully, Ya¡¯er was by Zhou Wen¡¯s side. Although she seldom spoke, having someone by his side made him feel much better.


    As Zhou Wen set up the traps in the valley, he grinded his phone as he waited for the white-robed person to appear again.


    This wait lasted for seven days. Seven nights later, Zhou Wen finally heard the familiar sound of a flute. He hurriedly ran to the peach blossom tree by the stream and saw the white-robed man sitting at the spot where he had been playing the flute.


    The sound of his flute was quiet and ethereal, making one feel relaxed after hearing it. It gave one a sense of freedom that allowed one to forget their worries.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was firm and he wasn¡¯t affected by the flute¡¯s sound. He only thought about how to subdue the white-robed man and ask him how to leave.


    ¡°We meet again.¡± After the tune, the white-robed man looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Do you want a drink this time?¡±


    ¡°I just want to know how to leave this place.¡± Zhou Wen stared intently at the white-robed man. No matter what, he couldn¡¯t allow him to disappear like the previous time.


    ¡°It looks like you¡¯ve already made up your mind,¡± the person in white said as he held his wine glass.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly as he gripped the Bamboo Blade in his hand.


    ¡°Alright then. I can tell you how to leave this place, but I have a condition,¡± the white-robed man said, surprising Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What condition?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the white-robed man in surprise.


    ¡°Do you know how to use a sword?¡± the person in white said as he fiddled with the wine cup.


    ¡°Not really. I¡¯ve only learned a few sword techniques,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine even if you don¡¯t. I have a sword technique here. As long as you can learn this sword technique, I¡¯ll tell you the way to leave this place,¡± said the white-robed man.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. He had never seen such a dimensional creature.


    ¡°No reason. Do you want to learn it?¡± The person in white didn¡¯t explain.


    ¡°I¡¯ll learn.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and nodded in agreement.


    ¡°My sword technique has a total of thirteen moves. It¡¯s not too difficult. No matter how stupid you are, you should be able to learn it in five days.¡± As the white-robed man spoke, he stood up and casually picked up a withered branch from the ground before performing his swordplay.


    He used the branch as a sword and demonstrated the set of sword techniques. The sword technique was ethereal and elegant, without any killing intent.


    Most sword techniques in the world pursued the ability to injure enemies, but this sword technique of his didn¡¯t have any oppression. Instead of saying it was for killing enemies, it was more like a swordplay that was for entertainment.


    Soon, the white-robed man finished demonstrating the thirteen sword moves. He looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile. ¡°Have you memorized them?¡±


    ¡°Got it.¡± Zhou Wen had an excellent memory, and the thirteen moves weren¡¯t too complicated. He remembered every move clearly.


    The person in white smiled. ¡°Find me after you¡¯ve mastered it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. I¡¯ll show it to you now. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to master it in a night. As long as I can demonstrate the complete sword technique, it¡¯ll count as me mastering it, right?¡± Zhou Wen said to the white-robed man.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. As long as you can completely use that sword technique once, I¡¯ll count you as mastering it.¡± The bamboo flute in the white-robed man¡¯s hand spun between his fingers.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll demonstrate it to you now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned a Legendary thin sword. It was a Companion Egg that had dropped from the Ancient Sword Tomb. It wasn¡¯t usually of much use. Based on its size, it was more suitable for this sword technique, so Zhou Wen casually summoned it.


    Zhou Wen held the sword and recalled the white-robed man¡¯s sword technique in his mind. After confirming that he hadn¡¯t forgotten any details, Zhou Wen began striking.


    With his combat experience and talent, it was too easy for him to imitate a set of sword techniques. Even if it were more than a hundred moves, Zhou Wen could replicate them with just one look; what¡¯s more thirteen moves.


    However, when Zhou Wen stabbed out with his sword, he was stunned. He couldn¡¯t continue the swordplay after the thrust.


    It wasn¡¯t that the sword technique¡¯s moves were difficult. With Zhou Wen¡¯s present physique, he could carry out any movement as long as a human body was capable of doing it.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t continue the thrust no matter what he did. This was because he realized that the sword technique in his memories was somewhat different from the one the white-robed man had demonstrated.


    Strange! How is it different? Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he retracted the sword he had thrust out and carefully recalled the white-robed man¡¯s sword techniques.


    Memories of the sword technique appeared clearly in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but his expression gradually changed.


    This was because the sword technique in his mind was completely different from the one he had just memorized.


    This feeling was very strange. It was like a person clearly remembering someone in red clothes, but when they recalled it again, the color of the person¡¯s clothes turned white.


    The clashing of memories was something Zhou Wen had never encountered before.


    He turned to look at the white-robed man and wanted to ask him what was going on, but there was no one under the peach blossom tree. The white-robed man had long vanished.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he recalled the thirteen moves. This time, it was different from the previous two memories.


    It was like Zhou Wen had memorized three different sword techniques. Although the sword techniques all had thirteen moves, the styles were completely different.


    The sword technique demonstrated by the white-robed man was elegant, but the sword technique in Zhou Wen¡¯s memory was ferocious and domineering in his second memory. The sword technique in his third memory was mild and mysterious, making Zhou Wen doubt his own memories.


    Then, when Zhou Wen wanted to carefully recall it again, he realized that the sword technique had changed again. The sword technique he recalled every time seemed different.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed constantly. He was certain that there was nothing wrong with his memory, but why was his memory constantly changing? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Is it an illusion? Zhou Wen quickly rejected this thought. He was very focused. Even an illusion couldn¡¯t shake his will. If it was purely an illusion, it was impossible for it to affect his brain.


    If it¡¯s not an illusion, then there¡¯s something wrong with the sword technique itself. Zhou Wen recalled the thirteen moves again and again. He wanted to try and see how many different memories he had.


    The night passed as the sun rose and set. When night came again, Zhou Wen had already recalled more than a hundred times, but the sword techniques he recalled were different every time. None of them were repeated.


    With the moon above the branches, the white-robed man appeared under the peach blossom tree again. He sat on a tree root and held a wine flask in one hand and a wine cup in the other. As he poured himself wine, he asked, ¡°Have you memorized it?¡±


    </di

 Chapter 884 - Three Thousand Sword Intent

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What sword technique is this?¡± Zhou Wen asked the white-robed man.


    Previously, he hadn¡¯t been interested in the white-robed man¡¯s sword technique. He only wanted to memorize the sword technique and get the white-robed man to tell him the way to leave. Therefore, he didn¡¯t even ask for the name of the sword technique.


    Now, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take this unassuming sword technique seriously. This was because he couldn¡¯t confidently tell the white-robed man that he had memorized the sword technique.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have a name. Whatever you think it is will be its name,¡± the person in white said.


    Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the white-robed man. He didn¡¯t say a word for a while. Although he had long imagined that the white-robed man wouldn¡¯t tell him the way to leave so easily, the strangeness of the sword technique exceeded his imagination.


    ¡°Do you want me to demonstrate it to you again?¡± the white-robed man asked Zhou Wen with a smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head and gestured with the sword in his hand. At the same time, he kept recalling the white-robed man¡¯s thirteen-move sword technique.


    The white-robed man¡¯s sword technique seemed to contain infinite changes. Every time Zhou Wen recalled something, it was different. For the next few days, Zhou Wen kept recalling and gesturing with his sword, but there was no result.


    Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as though he was possessed.


    Under the pure moonlight, the white-robed man sat under the peach blossom tree. As he watched Zhou Wen practice his swordplay, he fiddled with the wine cup in his hand and muttered to himself, ¡°Why try to fix something that was not broken in the first place?¡±


    As he spoke, the white-robed man downed the wine in his cup.


    The stream under the moonlight reflected the figure of the white-robed man, but the reflection wasn¡¯t that of a handsome man, but a skeleton in ragged clothes.


    After another two days, Zhou Wen felt as though he had been possessed. He sat under the peach blossom tree in a daze, his eyes turning blood-red. He was in a terrible state.


    Ya¡¯er continued following Zhou Wen obediently. She didn¡¯t say a word or disturb him.


    Night descended upon the valley again as the white-robed man appeared under the peach blossom tree. He looked at the bedeviled Zhou Wen as a strange glint flashed in his eyes. Then, he looked at Ya¡¯er, who was sitting beside Zhou Wen. ¡°Young lady, do you want to learn sword techniques?¡±


    Ya¡¯er looked at the white-robed man expressionlessly without any reaction. It was as if she couldn¡¯t understand him.


    ¡°Is he your father? It looks like your father doesn¡¯t have a good memory. He can¡¯t even remember such a simple sword technique after learning it for so many days. I find you smart. If it¡¯s you, you should be able to learn it quickly. When the time comes, you can leave with your father,¡± the white-robed man said to Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er continued looking at him expressionlessly without any reaction.


    ¡°Forget it. You are still young. I¡¯m afraid you still don¡¯t know what a sword is. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t learn it. Let me personally deliver you to freedom. Just like your father, you will forever stay in this carefree place,¡± the white-robed person muttered to himself.


    With that said, the white-robed man stood up. He held the bamboo flute in his hand as he walked towards Ya¡¯er.


    Just as he was about to reach Ya¡¯er, the bamboo flute in his hand stabbed at Ya¡¯er¡¯s heart like a blade.


    Clang!


    A saber beam flashed as the bamboo flute in the white-robed man¡¯s hand was instantly sliced into two. Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade in his hand as he stood up and stared coldly at the white-robed man.


    ¡°How is that possible?¡± The white-robed man looked at Zhou Wen in shock as though he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already memorized your sword technique,¡± Zhou Wen said as he held the Bamboo Blade and stared at the white-robed man.


    ¡°Impossible. It¡¯s impossible for you to memorize it.¡± The white-robed man didn¡¯t believe Zhou Wen at all.


    ¡°Why?¡± The blood vessels in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes slowly receded as he pointed the Bamboo Blade in his hand at the white-robed man.


    ¡°Because¡­¡± The person in white was speechless.


    ¡°That¡¯s because it¡¯s not a thirteen-move sword technique at all. It¡¯s a combination of three thousand sword intents. Every time I recall it, I will sense a different sword intent. No matter how good my memory is, it¡¯s impossible for me to memorize all three thousand sword intents, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a sword technique that humans can¡¯t master to begin with. You actually didn¡¯t fall into the endless cycle of sword intent. You do have some ability. Unfortunately, you failed to learn my sword technique, so you naturally can¡¯t leave this place. You will ultimately die here. It¡¯s just the difference between early and late death,¡± said the white-robed man.


    ¡°Who said I didn¡¯t master it?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter what you say. It¡¯s impossible for you to master it,¡± said the white-robed man.


    ¡°Then watch carefully.¡± Zhou Wen used his saber as a sword and stabbed at the white-robed man. It was the first move the white-robed man had demonstrated.


    The white-robed man was slightly surprised as he quickly retreated. However, Zhou Wen kept unleashing an endless stream of techniques. In a moment, he used all of the sword techniques demonstrated by the white-robed man. It was identical to the sword technique used by the white-robed man.


    ¡°Is that all? Then I¡¯m sorry to tell you that you didn¡¯t master my sword technique,¡± the person in white said with a sneer.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he continued delivering the sword technique. One sword strike after another surged out like a river. At times, it was ferocious, but at times, it was brisk. After every thirteen moves, the style of the sword technique would change.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± The person in white seemed to have thought of something, but he couldn¡¯t believe it. The expression on his face was mixed with fear, suspicion, disbelief, and other emotions.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique continued. He used all the sword techniques he had once recalled, and he used them in perfect order.


    ¡°How can there be such a thing¡­ Impossible¡­ Three thousand sword intents¡­ How can you memorize all of them¡­¡± The expression on the white-robed man¡¯s face had already become ferocious and twisted. He no longer had the elegance and confidence from before.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any other strengths; my only strength is that I¡¯m sufficiently focused. I can remember things that others can¡¯t. It¡¯s indeed difficult to remember three thousand sword intents, but I still memorized them.¡± Zhou Wen constantly used sword moves.


    As Zhou Wen¡¯s sword moves changed, the surrounding space seemed to distort and change. The originally beautiful valley gradually turned into ruins filled with withered branches and charred wood.


    The elegant white-robed man gradually turned into a ragged skeleton.


    After Zhou Wen demonstrated all his sword techniques, the skeleton collapsed and leaned against the tree which looked like it had been struck by lightning. The tree no longer had any leaves and was charred black.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ It¡¯s impossible for anyone to memorize¡­ Impossible¡­¡± The skeleton was still muttering to itself as though it was possessed. In the end, the soul fire in its eyes gradually extinguished, becoming lifeless.


    Zhou Wen looked around and realized that the valley was completely different from the one he had seen before. There was scorched earth everywhere. It was no peach blossom spring, but a dead zone.


    There was no longer any water in the stream. There were bones everywhere, like a river of bones from hell.

 Chapter 885 - Great Skyfiend Master’s Challenge

    Translator: CKtalon


    It was unknown what had happened here. It was as though a thunderstorm had struck it. All the trees were charred black, and so were the houses.


    The skeleton under the tree no longer had any vitality. His clothes were tattered and there were charred marks in many places. It looked like he had been struck by lightning.


    And the crack appeared on the mountain wall where Zhou Wen had entered.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the skeleton and turned to walk out of the valley. After walking out of the crack in the mountain, his Pocket Universe locating ability was immediately restored.


    What a strange dimensional zone. Zhou Wen looked at the mountain wall behind him and realized that the crack had vanished as though it had never appeared.


    Zhou Wen had seen many dimensional zones, but this time, it was a wonder. Although he hadn¡¯t been able to kill a dimensional creature, it wasn¡¯t without benefits. The 3,000 sword intents were genuine. It was extremely beneficial for Zhou Wen¡¯s swordplay practice.


    After being trapped in the valley for so many days, Zhou Wen was worried that the old alchemist would have caught up. After leaving the valley, he left with Ya¡¯er in one direction at full speed.


    This time, Zhou Wen tried his best to choose a path that humans were still using to prevent himself from falling into a strange dimensional zone like Peach Blossom Spring.


    When he arrived at a human city, he realized that everyone in the city was talking about Great Skyfiend.


    After searching online, he immediately knew what had happened.


    A Mythical Companion Beast ranked in the top ten had challenged Great Skyfiend, but it was instantly killed. It didn¡¯t even have the chance to escape or admit defeat.


    This was not the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was that the Great Skyfiend actually said that she was called Uesugi Nao and was from the Overseas Federation.


    Humans could actually participate in the ranking battle. Furthermore, she was from overseas, and had actually obtained first place on the rankings. Such explosive news immediately spread throughout the Federation. The Federation¡¯s upper echelons had no way of controlling it.


    There were cubes everywhere. Many people had seen Uesugi Nao¡¯s speech, so there was no way to hide it.


    Furthermore, Uesugi Nao even admitted that she was Orochi¡¯s master. In front of the entire world, she officially challenged Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s master in a bid to avenge her humiliation.


    1


    Most of the Federation¡¯s citizens hoped that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner would participate in the battle and defeat the overseas Uesugi Nao.


    However, most people didn¡¯t know who Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner was. They only guessed that it was likely someone from the six families. Therefore, many media outlets were exerting pressure on them, hoping that the six families could get Tyrant Behemoth to fight.


    However, on the fourth day, the six families didn¡¯t respond. This left the Federation citizens very displeased.


    Zhou Wen had just learned of this matter, so it was naturally impossible for him to challenge Uesugi Nao. Even if he had known earlier, he wouldn¡¯t have challenged her.


    Without a Guardian, there was no way to enter the cube to participate in the battle. A pure human body couldn¡¯t meet the requirements of being at the Mythical stage, nor could it activate the cube to enter the rankings.


    ¡°Old Zhou, are you going to participate in the battle? That Uesugi Nao is very arrogant. Go and teach her a lesson.¡± Zhou Wen unlocked his phone and realized that many people had left him a message. This message was from Li Xuan.


    ¡°Do you have any plans to fight? If you plan on fighting and need any help, our Zhang family is willing to support you. This is what my brother wants me to tell you.¡± This was from Zhang Yuzhi.


    There were also some messages from other people. Basically, they were all related to the matter of Uesugi Nao.


    ¡°I¡¯m not fighting.¡± Zhou Wen sent a group message and replied en masse.


    ¡°That¡¯s such a pity. If you defeat Uesugi Nao, you will be a true national hero,¡± Li Xuan replied.


    ¡°I¡¯m not suitable to be a hero.¡± Zhou Wen paused before asking, ¡°How are you? When are you coming back?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m almost done learning here. I¡¯ll be back in a couple of weeks. Why? Do you miss me, your handsome eldest senior brother?¡± Li Xuan joked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I miss you dearly. When you return, you have to inform me immediately.¡± Zhou Wen had recently gained new insights into the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul. He needed a sufficiently strong opponent to be his sparring partner and help him advance to the final Perfect Body. After some thought, he realized that Li Xuan was the most suitable candidate.


    ¡°Haha, definitely.¡± Li Xuan was still very happy. He had no idea what awaited him when he returned.


    After a while, An Sheng also sent a message. ¡°Young Master Wen, Madam has already investigated the matter regarding Xie Yukun that you mentioned. It¡¯s true that six people in that department, including Xie Yukun, vanished at the same time. That period was when Old Mister Ouyang set up an expedition team to Zhuolu.¡±


    ¡°In that case, this matter might be related to that department?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. Due to all sorts of reasons, those people have resigned. It¡¯s still unknown if their actions are related to that department. We are still investigating further,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°How can there be such a coincidence? Six people from a department resigned at the same time, and it happened to be related to the expedition team?¡± Zhou Wen naturally refused to believe that there was no connection.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait for the results of the investigation. It¡¯s very easy to make wrong judgments without any evidence.¡± An Sheng paused before saying, ¡°Young Master Wen, Madam wishes that you visit.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s happened?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. Madam just wants to introduce a girlfriend to you,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. I¡¯m still schooling. Why would Sis Lan think of introducing a girlfriend to me?


    An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about that. Madam previously arranged a blind date for Overseer, but he made it uncomfortable for everyone. Madam has already given up on him. She plans to place all her hopes on you.¡±


    Zhou Wen broke out into a cold sweat. ¡°Help me tell Sis Lan that I probably won¡¯t be able to return any time soon.¡±


    An Sheng said, ¡°Actually, I think the girl Madam is introducing is pretty good. Not only is she smart, but she¡¯s also very reasonable. Her background isn¡¯t bad, and she¡¯s beautiful¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll consider it when I need it¡­¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    ¡°I think you should come back,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t go back. I still have something to do. Let¡¯s talk about it another day.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to return. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to consider such matters. The elder was still pursuing him. Who knew when he would catch up. When that happened, the people around Zhou Wen would probably be implicated.


    How can I finish off a Terror-grade expert? Zhou Wen thought about it and couldn¡¯t come up with a good solution.


    Although I have many Companion Beasts, none of them are at the Terror grade. It¡¯s impossible for me to kill that elder. Only the Terror grade can deal with the Terror grade¡­ Wait¡­ Although I don¡¯t have a Terror-grade Companion Beast¡­ It doesn¡¯t mean that there¡¯s no Terror grade that can deal with him¡­ Zhou Wen seemed to think of an idea.

 Chapter 886 - Deer Terrace Pavilion’s Lower Level

    Translator: CKtalon


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering how to deal with the old alchemist, his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw that it was Ouyang Lan.


    Having had An Sheng¡¯s warning, Zhou Wen roughly knew why Ouyang Lan was calling him, but he had no choice but to answer.


    ¡°Little Wen, where have you been? Why haven¡¯t I seen you recently?¡± Ouyang Lan asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the Zhang family¡¯s auction. I¡¯m on my way back now,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How many days has it been? Let¡¯s not talk about participating in the Zhang family¡¯s auction. Even if you went overseas, you should be back by now, right?¡± Ouyang Lan curled her lips and said.


    ¡°I planned on visiting a friend¡¯s place on the way,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Friend? Male or female?¡± Ouyang Lan immediately asked.


    ¡°Male,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°What¡¯s so nice about a man? Come back quickly. I¡¯ll introduce you to a girl. She¡¯s not bad. If you miss this opportunity, there won¡¯t be another.¡± Ouyang Lan praised the girl. She made it sound as though Zhou Wen would suffer a huge loss if he didn¡¯t marry her.


    ¡°Sis Lan, I really can¡¯t come back any time soon.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to find an excuse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. You have to come back on the 16th of this month. I helped you arrange a meeting with her. Just do it for me and meet her. If you really don¡¯t like her, I won¡¯t force you.¡± Ouyang Lan had steeled her heart to hook Zhou Wen up on a blind date.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try my best to return.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to brush her off.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to try your best. You have to.¡± Ouyang Lan changed the topic and said, ¡°By the way, you can¡¯t accept the challenge from Uesugi Nao. We don¡¯t know what abilities and Companion Beasts the overseas people have. What if something happens? I¡¯m still hoping that you can give me a grandchild.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I definitely won¡¯t accept the challenge.¡±


    After Ouyang Lan finally hung up, Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief.


    Looking at his itinerary, Zhou Wen felt that he should be able to make it back to Luoyang on the 16th. After some thought, he decided to return.


    Firstly, he didn¡¯t want to disappoint Ouyang Lan and didn¡¯t want to embarrass her. Secondly, Zhou Wen needed to return as well.


    With his abilities, he couldn¡¯t kill the old alchemist. It looked like Banana Fairy wouldn¡¯t be able to evolve anytime soon. He had to think of another way to eliminate the old alchemist.


    Otherwise, Zhou Wen felt like there was a ticking time bomb hanging over his head. It made him uncomfortable.


    Zhou Wen planned on luring the old alchemist to Chess Mountain. He might be able to get him and The Thearch to suffer a mutually destructive fight.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s fantasy. In reality, the execution involved many difficulties. The Thearch might not be willing to be used by him.


    If it were in the past, there really wasn¡¯t much I could do. However, now that I have the Earth Elemental Beast, I can directly escape into Chess Mountain. Even if The Thearch doesn¡¯t want to help, she can¡¯t tolerate others wreaking havoc in Chess Mountain, right? Zhou Wen rode the Great Might Vajra Bull back and returned to revise Chess Mountain¡¯s instance dungeon.


    This time, Zhou Wen had the Earth Elemental Beast. He wanted to see if he could use it to enter Chess Mountain and the lower levels of Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    After entering the game, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wait for the flower to open the path into the mountain before riding the Earth Elemental Beast in.


    After arriving at Deer Terrace Pavilion, Zhou Wen killed all the dimensional creatures inside. Finally, he used the Earth Elemental Beast to attempt to enter the treasure vault beneath Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    The Earth Elemental Beast was indeed very useful. It led Zhou Wen past the foundation of Deer Terrace Pavilion and quickly arrived in a room. There was a large amount of gold, silver, and jewelry in the room, piled up like a hill.


    These treasures were nothing to Zhou Wen. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t take out the items in-game, so he couldn¡¯t be bothered to take a look. He pushed open the door and walked out of the room, continuing his search through the passageway outside.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered another room. This time, he pushed it open and saw that there was no gold, silver, or jewelry inside. Instead, there was a huge wild boar sleeping inside.


    The blood-colored avatar¡¯s pushing open of the door immediately stirred the huge boar. It glared at him and got up to charge at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to rush forward to finish the boar.


    Although the wild boar was very strong, it was clearly much weaker than Tyrant Behemoth. Soon, its skull was shattered by the Tyrant.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Pig Demon.¡¯


    Nothing dropped, leaving Zhou Wen somewhat depressed.


    The interior of Deer Terrace Pavilion was like a huge maze with many rooms. Some of the rooms had dimensional creatures or treasures, but most of the rooms had nothing.


    Previously, when I entered this place in reality, the environment there was somewhat different from here. It should be at the bottom of the foundation. Zhou Wen rode the Earth Elemental Beast and made it use Earth Escape to continue heading down.


    Splash!


    After the Earth Elemental Beast escaped, it fell into water. On careful look, it was a canal in the palace.


    Back when I entered this place in reality, I swam in from the canal. I¡¯m probably not far from that area now. Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures. There weren¡¯t any important areas nearby either. Zhou Wen continued swimming upstream, hoping to find an area similar to the one in reality.


    Zhou Wen still remembered that there were many high-level dimensional crystals here. Perhaps there were many divine skill crystals.


    He followed the canal to another room. The scene he saw delighted him. Although he had never been here before, there were many dimensional crystals piled on the stone platform in the room. It was like a small mountain.


    As he was in-game, Zhou Wen could easily see the stats of the dimensional crystals. Most of them were at the Epic stage, but there were quite a number of Mythical ones. Zhou Wen had already seen a few of the 70-80 stat crystals, including Mythical Essence Energy Skill Crystals.


    However, Zhou Wen soon noticed a strange dimensional creature lying on the mountain-like dimensional crystal.


    It was a leopard-shaped dimensional creature. It had already stood up and was glaring at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen decided to strike first. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth and charged at the dimensional creature.


    Tyrant Behemoth was indeed a top existence at the Mythical stage. It finished off the leopard-shaped dimensional creature with a single punch.


    These are all mine¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the dimensional crystals on the ground and had the urge to laugh out loud.


    However, on careful thought, unless he absorbed the crystals himself, he couldn¡¯t take them away. It seemed like his joy was a little premature.

 Chapter 887 - Xu Ai

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the An family in Luoyang, Ouyang Lan pulled a girl and said, ¡°Little Ai, stay here for a few more days. Don¡¯t be in a rush to return.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not too good, right?¡± Xu Ai said hesitantly.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with that? Your mother and I were childhood friends. If your mother hadn¡¯t gone so far away with her husband, I would have long taken you as my goddaughter. We are family, so you can rest assured and stay here. If you were to come to Luoyang and still stay outside, I really couldn¡¯t face meeting your mother,¡± Ouyang Lan said with a smile.


    ¡°Sis Lan, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony then,¡± Xu Ai said.


    ¡°Child, what¡¯s there to be polite with me? Stay here for now. When Little Wen returns, I¡¯ll introduce you to him. You are about the same age, so you should have something in common,¡± Ouyang Lan said with a smile.


    ¡°Is Zhou Wen Uncle Lingfeng¡¯s son?¡± Xu Ai asked.


    1


    Ouyang Lan nodded. ¡°Although he¡¯s Lingfeng¡¯s son, his personality is completely different. He¡¯s just too shy¡­¡±


    After Xu Ai left, Ouyang Lan asked An Sheng, who was beside her, ¡°Ah Sheng, what do you think of Little Ai and Little Wen? I think Little Ai is pretty good. She¡¯s quite compatible with Little Wen.¡±


    An Sheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°Miss Xu is Old Master Xu¡¯s daughter. The Xu family doesn¡¯t have a son and only has two daughters. I heard that Xu Ai is especially doted on by Old Master Xu. Will they let her marry out?¡±


    ¡°Madam Xu and I are childhood friends. They are worried about Xu Ai marrying off to someone else¡¯s family, but would they be worried about marrying into my family? You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Just tell me if you think they are suitable,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Miss Xu is knowledgeable, gentle, and virtuous. She¡¯s also very smart, so she¡¯s naturally an excellent candidate,¡± An Sheng said.


    Ouyang Lan glared at An Sheng. ¡°Why are you beating around the bush when you¡¯re talking to me? Do you think there¡¯s something wrong with Xu Ai¡¯s personality?¡±


    1


    An Sheng shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not it. I just think that Miss Xu is a little too smart. I wonder if she can get along easily with a simple-minded person like Young Master Wen.¡±


    Ouyang Lan said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t understand. It¡¯s best to find a smart and scheming woman. With Little Wen¡¯s straightforward personality, it¡¯ll be impossible for him to coax a woman. It¡¯ll probably be very difficult to find a silly woman. However, for a smart and sensible woman like Xu Ai, as long as she¡¯s willing, she will think of a way to get Little Wen to coax her. Only then can they live on happily.¡±


    1


    ¡°Madam, you¡¯re right,¡± An Sheng echoed.


    ¡°When Little Wen comes back, let them meet first. I think Little Ai is quite a nice child.¡± Ouyang Lan thought for a moment and said, ¡°We should have someone there, right?¡±


    ¡°We do,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°Then let them investigate what hobbies Xu Ai usually has. It will also allow Little Wen to understand her better,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do it now.¡± An Sheng naturally understood that what Ouyang Lan wanted him to investigate wasn¡¯t as simple as Xu Ai¡¯s hobbies. Therefore, he didn¡¯t dare be negligent.


    The next morning, Xu Ai went to Luoyang¡¯s dimensional zone. Her personal female guard followed her.


    ¡°Miss, we have successfully entered the An family. Should we act according to plan?¡± the female guard whispered when they arrived at an uninhabited spot in the dimensional zone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. Don¡¯t be fooled by Ouyang Lan¡¯s appearance. She won¡¯t believe us so easily. We can¡¯t rush this matter. Let¡¯s stay in the An family for a while,¡± Xu Ai said.


    ¡°But Ouyang Lan seems to be trying to matchmake you with that Zhou Wen. That¡¯s not very nice, right?¡± the female guard said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing bad about it. If I¡¯m unwilling, Ouyang Lan can¡¯t force me, right? Besides, I want to meet Zhou Wen. I want to know what kind of person he is, considering he has caused so much trouble in the Federation alone,¡± Xu Ai said.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s best to be careful. According to the information we obtained, the Xia family has suffered greatly because of him. The Cape family and the Family Clan of Gods seem to have suffered quite a blow because of him. It¡¯s best not to come into contact with such a person if possible to prevent your identity from being exposed,¡± the female guard said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t be exposed. No one will expect that the Xu family¡¯s second daughter, Xu Ai, is the master of the Great Skyfiend, Uesugi Nao,¡± Xu Ai said indifferently.


    1


    ¡°In short, it¡¯s better to be careful. After all, we aren¡¯t overseas. Also, Miss, you are now the Xu family¡¯s second daughter, Xu Ai. Don¡¯t mention the other name in the Federation,¡± the female guard reminded again.


    1


    ¡°I know.¡± Xu Ai nodded and didn¡¯t say anything else.


    ¡­


    As Zhou Wen traveled, he used his phone to explore Deer Terrace Pavilion. The space beneath Deer Terrace Pavilion was much bigger than he imagined. He encountered several Mythical creatures inside, but unfortunately, none of them dropped Companion Eggs.


    He found quite a number of dimensional crystals, but not many could be used.


    Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s situation was rather awkward. He couldn¡¯t absorb the Mythical dimensional crystals, and even if he could, they were useless.


    Epic crystals were no longer of much use to him, so despite having so many dimensional crystals, he actually didn¡¯t need much.


    ¡°Since I can¡¯t use it myself, you guys are lucking out.¡± Zhou Wen summoned his main Companion Beasts, such as Tyrant Behemoth, Demonic Neonate, and the like. He got them to choose crystals and eat whatever they wanted.


    Zhou Wen planned on seeing if the crystals here would respawn the next time he came. If they could, he would really be rich.


    Explosive Fiend Man and Doctor Darkness were very interested in some of the Essence Energy Skill Crystals, but Demonic Neonate remained the same. The Mystical crystals were unable to move her. She usually only ate the Longevity Fruits, and there weren¡¯t many of them left.


    Tyrant Behemoth and Truth Listener weren¡¯t picky with food. As long as they could provide energy, they would directly swallow most crystals.


    Zhou Wen constantly searched Deer Terrace Pavilion. Apart from searching for the treasures there, he also wanted to see if he could find The Thearch¡¯s true body.


    He refused to believe that The Thearch was that flower.


    When Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, he still couldn¡¯t find The Thearch¡¯s true body under Deer Terrace Pavilion. The interior of Deer Terrace Pavilion was just too complicated. Zhou Wen had explored less than half of it.


    According to the parts he had explored, Zhou Wen felt that there was definitely a Terror-grade existence inside Deer Terrace Pavilion. This was because he had already seen six Mythical dimensional creatures inside.


    For dimensional zones like the Metalwork Temple, there was only one Mythical creature in the entire dimensional zone. Now, there were more than ten Mythical creatures found in the ancient buildings in Deer Terrace Pavilion. This was just too terrifying. It was definitely not something ordinary dimensional zones could compare with.


    After returning to Luoyang, Zhou Wen planned on returning to school, but on the way, he suddenly saw a cube light up on the street. A Companion Beast had issued a challenge, so he took Ya¡¯er to take a look.


    ¡°Coach, when did you return?¡± Just as Zhou Wen arrived near the cube, Feng Qiuyan, Sadie, and Gulli saw him. They waved as they squeezed over.

 Chapter 888 - Too Weak

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I just arrived in Luoyang. I haven¡¯t even managed to return to campus.¡± Zhou Wen stood to the side when he saw that it was Feng Qiuyan and company.


    ¡°Coach, look at those two Companion Beasts. Which one of them can win?¡± Gulli often heard Feng Qiuyan call him Coach, and now, he was also very comfortable with addressing him the same way.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never seen these two Companion Beasts before,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    ¡°You can make a guess even if you haven¡¯t seen it before. With your standards, you should be close to the mark just by looking,¡± Gulli said with a smile.


    Gulli¡¯s words were a little exaggerated, attracting the attention of others.


    Xu Ai, who wasn¡¯t far away, heard Gulli¡¯s words and turned to look at Zhou Wen and company.


    Are all Federation students so arrogant and conceited? Xu Ai thought to herself. She sized up Zhou Wen and company and didn¡¯t pay much attention to them. She only imagined that they were a group of students bragging.


    She had seen Zhou Wen¡¯s information and photo before coming, but back then, he was wearing Sunset College¡¯s uniform and looked very spirited.


    Now that Zhou Wen had been on the run for so many days, he didn¡¯t have the time to groom himself. He looked a little sloven and his condition made him look older than his actual age. Furthermore, he had Ya¡¯er in his arms. Those who didn¡¯t know him would think that he was a young father who didn¡¯t know how to take care of his daughter.


    Therefore, Xu Ai didn¡¯t think of Zhou Wen immediately. She only believed that Zhou Wen was Feng Qiuyan and company¡¯s tutor.


    Zhou Wen looked at the challenger and the challenged. The challenged was a Thunderbird, and the one challenging the Thunderbird was a Windthunder Raven. Both of them had lightning attributes and were birds. They were considered relatively similar Mythical pets.


    ¡°They both have lightning-elemental powers. The Windthunder Raven also has wind-elemental powers. Its speed is also faster than the Thunderbird. I think the chances of the Windthunder Raven winning are higher. Coach, what do you think?¡± Gulli said again.


    ¡°I think the Thunderbird will win,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Gulli asked in puzzlement.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t only Gulli who was puzzled. Xu Ai, who had heard their conversation, thought otherwise. She also believed that the Windthunder Raven would win.


    As the Windthunder Raven was an overseas Companion Beast, Xu Ai was very familiar with it. The Windthunder Raven had the power of wind and lightning. It was somewhat different from pure lightning-elemental beasts. It could even be said to restrain pure lightning. Therefore, although Xu Ai didn¡¯t know much about the Thunderbird, she still felt that the Windthunder Raven had a higher chance of winning.


    Since Zhou Wen was so certain that the Thunderbird would win, Xu Ai naturally thought nothing of it.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Thunderbird on the screen and said, ¡°That¡¯s because that Thunderbird has the aura of inevitable victory. When meeting face to face, the bravest wins. If the difference in strength between the Thunderbird and the Windthunder Raven isn¡¯t too great, the Thunderbird will definitely win.¡±


    ¡°So it¡¯s because of the aura,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he fell into deep thought, as though he had understood something.


    ¡°Unfortunately, there¡¯s no way to place a bet here. Otherwise, I would place my bet on Thunderbird¡¯s victory and earn some pocket money,¡± Gulli said regretfully.


    To think that such a person can be a tutor at Sunset College. From the looks of it, Sunset College doesn¡¯t deserve its reputation. When Xu Ai heard their words, she stopped paying attention to them. She felt that Zhou Wen was spouting nonsense. If he could determine victory based solely on aura, what was the point of having strength?


    As the few of them conversed, the battle between the Thunderbird and the Windthunder Raven had already begun. The Windthunder Raven immediately launched an attack. Its flying speed was extremely fast, and with the sound of wind and thunder accompanying it, it was much faster than the Thunderbird.


    After using its speed to bypass the Thunderbird¡¯s line of sight, the Windthunder Raven launched a violent bombardment. With a flap of its wings, wind and lightning transformed into blades of light that attacked the Thunderbird from behind like a storm. The Windthunder Blades that filled the sky blocked the Thunderbird¡¯s path.


    The Thunderbird had no intention of retreating. Lightning surged from its body as it faced the storm.


    Boom!


    Lightning flashed and thunder crackled as the wind blades shattered. Sparks flew as the Thunderbird went against the wind, piercing through the wind blades that filled the sky and rushing in front of the Windthunder Raven.


    The Windthunder Raven wanted to use its speed to dodge the Thunderbird¡¯s attack before counterattacking.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the Thunderbird charged forward without any hesitation. It didn¡¯t dodge the Windthunder Raven¡¯s Windthunder Blades at all. It would rather suffer some injuries to forcefully close the distance.


    Although the Windthunder Raven was faster, it could only dodge under the pressure of the Thunderbird. As for the Thunderbird, it became braver as it charged. The lightning on its body condensed as it streaked across the sky in the shape of a bird. If it managed a hit, even the hardest steel would probably explode.


    In the beginning, the Windthunder Raven could still use its speed to dodge, but as the lightning powers on the Thunderbird grew stronger, its flying speed also increased. It was very difficult for the Windthunder Raven to dodge the Thunderbird¡¯s attacks.


    Before long, the owner of the Windthunder Raven saw that there was no chance of victory, so he directly admitted defeat and retracted it.


    ¡°As expected of Coach. You have keen eyes.¡± Gulli gave him a thumbs up.


    Xu Ai thought otherwise. She didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had determined the victor based on aura. She thought to herself, If it wasn¡¯t for his good luck, he would have long known the abilities of the Thunderbird and Windthunder Raven. That¡¯s why he made such a judgment.


    After watching the battle, Xu Ai was about to leave when she suddenly heard Sadie ask Zhou Wen, ¡°Coach, what do you think of Great Skyfiend that¡¯s ranked first?¡±


    Upon hearing Sadie¡¯s words, Xu Ai couldn¡¯t help but slow down. Her ears pricked up as she felt a little smug. These people from the Federation should be afraid of Great Skyfiend¡¯s invincibility and strength, right?


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Sadie thought for a moment and said, ¡°Coach, do you think Great Skyfiend can maintain first place until the end of the ranking battle?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen answered directly.


    ¡°Why?¡± Sadie asked in surprise when she saw Zhou Wen¡¯s straightforward answer.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s too weak,¡± Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    He had seen too many powerful Guardians. If one couldn¡¯t reach the Terror grade, they were naturally weak in Zhou Wen¡¯s opinion. It was impossible for it to obtain first place, and Great Skyfiend clearly hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade.


    Too¡­ weak¡­ When Xu Aai heard this, she nearly exploded from anger. If this were overseas, she wouldn¡¯t hesitate to summon Great Skyfiend to let Zhou Wen know how terrifying the so-called weak Guardian was.


    Unfortunately, this was the Federation. Xu Ai could only endure it. She thought to herself, I can¡¯t lower myself to the level of these ignorant Federation people.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s answer, Gulli gave him a thumbs up and said, ¡°Sis, aren¡¯t you asking an unnecessary question? In front of Coach, Great Skyfiend or whatever is definitely weak. Unfortunately, pure humans can¡¯t participate in the battle. Otherwise, if Coach were to go up, he would be able to beat up the Great Skyfiend and Uesugi Nao to a pulp. They¡¯d kneel and call him daddy.¡±


    2

 Chapter 889 - Three Immortal Swords

    Translator: CKtalon


    I¡¯ll bear with it¡­ I¡¯ll bear with it¡­ The corners of Xu Ai¡¯s eyes twitched as she felt like killing someone.


    However, this was the Federation, and Xu Ai had a special mission. She couldn¡¯t expose her identity, so she forcefully resisted the urge to slap Gulli.


    ¡°Are you heading back to campus?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gulli and company.


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s go together.¡± The few of them returned to school.


    ¡­


    Ouyang Lan was well-informed. Zhou Wen had just returned to school when he received a call from her asking him to have dinner with her.


    Zhou Wen agreed. It had been a long time since he had seen Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Lan. He could take the opportunity to meet them while eating.


    He changed Ya¡¯er into new clothes and took her along.


    However, when he arrived, Zhou Wen realized that Zhou Lingfeng wasn¡¯t around. Apart from Ouyang Lan, there was a girl who looked to be in her twenties.


    The girl was naturally Uesugi Nao, who had impersonated as Xu Ai. She was slightly taken aback when she saw Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er. Only then did she recognize that Zhou Wen was the fellow who had said that Great Skyfiend was too weak.


    ¡°Come, Little Wen, let me introduce you. This is my childhood friend¡¯s daughter, Xu Ai¡­¡± Ouyang Lan pulled Zhou Wen to sit beside her.


    Ouyang Lan didn¡¯t deliberately make Zhou Wen sit beside Xu Ai because she knew him too well. She knew that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to chat with girls, so he wouldn¡¯t say anything if she made him sit beside Xu Ai.


    1


    ¡°Little Ai, this is Ya¡¯er, an orphan that Zhou Wen adopted. Although he looks cold, he¡¯s actually very caring.¡± Ouyang Lan explained Ya¡¯er¡¯s origins and beautified Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Such caring people are rare in such an environment,¡± Xu Ai said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Not only is my Little Wen compassionate, but he¡¯s also talented. He can master anything he picks up¡­¡± Ouyang Lan¡¯s praises of Zhou Wen made him blush.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I heard that your cultivation talent is extremely high. Even the peers of the six families are far inferior to you. I wonder if you can teach me?¡± Xu Ai said to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Ouyang Lan interrupted him.


    When Ouyang Lan heard Zhou Wen¡¯s opening, she knew that he wanted to say that he didn¡¯t have the time. She knew Zhou Wen too well, so she didn¡¯t hesitate to say, ¡°It¡¯s still early. After dinner, you young adults can head out for a walk. If you have any cultivation questions, feel free to ask Little Wen. He¡¯s an absolute genius in this aspect.¡±


    Ouyang Lan thought to herself that it wasn¡¯t easy to find a girl that wasn¡¯t frightened away by Zhou Wen and was willing to understand him. She felt that she couldn¡¯t let go of this opportunity.


    She was really worried that with Zhou Wen¡¯s personality, he wouldn¡¯t be able to find a wife in the future.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, can the beautiful Sis Lan take you out to play?¡± After the meal, Ouyang Lan wanted to take Ya¡¯er away to prevent Ya¡¯er from interfering with their interaction.


    Ya¡¯er turned her head and leaned her face on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder, completely ignoring Ouyang Lan.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Sis Lan. I¡¯ll take her. She¡¯s afraid of strangers,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡¯ll spoil her like this.¡± Ouyang Lan was helpless. Although she had a sharp tongue, she couldn¡¯t bear to forcefully take Ya¡¯er away. All she could do was let Ya¡¯er follow Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Sis Lan, I like children too. I¡¯ll take care of her. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Xu Ai said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m relieved.¡± Ouyang Lan couldn¡¯t help but praise Xu Ai for being sensible.


    Zhou Wen and Xu Ai left the restaurant together. Seeing that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t speaking, Xu Ai took the initiative to say, ¡°Zhou Wen, I have some questions regarding cultivation that I would like to ask you. Is it convenient to go to the training grounds?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen saw that it was still early. Furthermore, Ouyang Lan had already agreed for him to help. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for him to leave, so he nodded.


    Seeing Zhou Wen agree, a crafty glint flashed in Xu Ai¡¯s eyes as she thought to herself, I¡¯ll let you know today what it means by there¡¯s always someone better. Let¡¯s see if you dare be arrogant in the future. You actually dare say that Great Skyfiend is too weak. I¡¯ll let you know who¡¯s too weak later.


    The reason she had taken the initiative to ask Zhou Wen out was naturally not to build a good relationship with him.


    The target of Uesugi Nao¡¯s visit wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen, but the An family¡¯s weapon factory and the new Essence Energy weapons the An family researched. These had nothing to do with Zhou Wen, so she didn¡¯t need to deliberately approach him.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen¡¯s evaluation of Great Skyfiend and Gulli¡¯s words in front of the cube, she would probably have politely eaten with Zhou Wen and never taken the initiative to ask him out again in the future.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts were even simpler. He wasn¡¯t interested in Xu Ai. Furthermore, there was still the problem of the alchemist that hadn¡¯t been resolved. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to think about anything else.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Sis Lan, Zhou Wen would have returned to grind dungeons.


    The two of them had their own thoughts and soon, they arrived at a nearby training ground.


    Xu Ai didn¡¯t want anyone to see them, so she paid for a private training room. Soon, the staff took them in.


    ¡°What do you need me to teach you?¡± Zhou Wen asked Xu Ai.


    These words sounded awkward to Xu Ai¡¯s ears. She thought to herself, You really think too highly of yourself. If you want to teach me, teach me in your next life. In a while, you will know who¡¯s teaching who.


    Xu Ai¡¯s thoughts didn¡¯t show on her face. She looked at Zhou Wen with a smile and said, ¡°Do you know sword techniques? I¡¯ve been practicing a sword technique recently, but no matter how much I practice, I can¡¯t grasp the key point. I want you to help me see what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    1


    ¡°A little. How about this? Demonstrate the sword technique for me first. I¡¯ll try to see if I can find the problem,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    He didn¡¯t know that Xu Ai had other intentions and thought that she really wanted to seek his help. He felt that it was fine to help her. After all, she was the daughter of Sister Lan¡¯s childhood friend.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll demonstrate it first. Help me take a look. If there¡¯s anything wrong, just say. There¡¯s no need to worry.¡± After Xu Ai said that, she took a sword from the rack and stood in the middle of the training grounds.


    She naturally wouldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen guide her in her sword practice. Not only was the sword technique she demonstrated without a problem, but it was also very profound.


    This sword technique was named ¡°Three Immortal Swords.¡± It was obtained by Uesugi Nao in a mysterious dimensional zone overseas. She was the only person in the world who knew the Three Immortal Swords. Furthermore, she had never displayed it to outsiders before.


    Now that she was demonstrating the Three Immortal Swords, the practice sword in her hand drew a profound trajectory. It looked like a casual move, but in fact, it was very profound.


    Back when Uesugi Nao practiced the Three Immortal Swords herself, she had put in a lot of hard work. After a year of arduous cultivation, she had finally mastered the Three Immortal Swords and comprehended the sword intent of the Three Immortal Swords.


    2

 Chapter 890 - Your Sword Art Is Very Problematic

    Translator: CKtalon


    The most difficult part of the Three Immortal Swords was the three forces delivered with one strike. It was hard and soft at the same time. It had three different ways of utilizing the forces and three different concepts.


    One needed to combine the three forces and concepts ingeniously to be able to use the Three Immortal Swords well. If they didn¡¯t do it well, not only would they fail to achieve the effect of defeating the enemy, but they would only fall flat on their face. It would be a good outcome if they weren¡¯t injured, much less injure the enemy.


    Uesugi Nao had trained for so long to master the Three Immortal Swords. How could someone who had never seen the Three Immortal Swords teach her?


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s goal for demonstrating this sword technique was to embarrass Zhou Wen. She wanted to let him know who was truly weak.


    As no one had seen the Three Immortals Swords, Uesugi Nao wasn¡¯t afraid of being recognized.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that so many thoughts were running through Uesugi Nao¡¯s head. He only believed that Uesugi Nao was really asking him for advice, so he watched very seriously as he searched for anything amiss with the Three Immortal Swords.


    Soon, Uesugi Nao finished demonstrating the Three Immortal Swords. Then, she looked at Zhou Wen and asked with a smile, ¡°Do you need me to demonstrate again?¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    A smile appeared on Uesugi Nao¡¯s face before she demonstrated the sword art again. However, she thought to herself, Forget about demonstrating it once. Even if I demonstrate it a hundred times, you won¡¯t be able to understand it.


    Unlike straightforward and domineering sword arts, the Three Immortal Swords were mainly about the use of force and concepts. These non-superficial things couldn¡¯t be understood just by looking at the sword moves.


    Uesugi Nao had already made up her mind. After this round, she asked Zhou Wen if he wanted her to demonstrate again. If Zhou Wen overestimated himself and wanted to watch it a third time, she would directly ask Zhou Wen if he had found any problems after three rounds of demonstrations.


    If you know what¡¯s good for you, you should admit early that you can¡¯t tell anything. That way, you wouldn¡¯t be so embarrassed, Uesugi Nao thought.


    Soon, Uesugi Nao demonstrated the Three Immortal Swords again. After stopping, she held the practice sword and asked Zhou Wen with a smile, ¡°Do you want me to demonstrate again?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    Uesugi Nao thought to herself, At least you have some self-awareness. If I were to demonstrate it a third time and you couldn¡¯t see anything, it would only be even more embarrassing.


    Uesugi Nao smiled at Zhou Wen, waiting for him to bow his head to her and admit that he couldn¡¯t tell anything.


    ¡°There¡¯s indeed a huge problem with your sword art.¡± However, Zhou Wen¡¯s words left Uesugi Nao stunned.


    ¡°Oh, tell me. What¡¯s the problem with my sword art?¡± Uesugi Nao looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile. She imagined that Zhou Wen was just trying to put on a front.


    From Uesugi Nao¡¯s point of view, Zhou Wen¡¯s actions would only embarrass him further.


    ¡°There¡¯s a very serious problem with your sword art. The sword art you practice is incomplete,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°The sword art I¡¯m practicing is actually incomplete?¡± Uesugi Nao pretended to be surprised, but she was sneering inwardly. Not complete my ass. The Three Immortals Sword Art is complete. I¡¯ve already mastered it completely, yet you still dare to say it¡¯s incomplete. Keep making up lies. Let¡¯s see what you can come up with.


    ¡°Yes, the sword art is indeed incomplete. It¡¯s also possible that you failed to grasp the essence of the sword art when you were practicing. You failed to draw inferences and comprehend the true meaning of the sword art,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I see. Then can you give me some pointers on the true meaning of this sword art?¡± Uesugi Nao looked at Zhou Wen and teased him.


    She was already so well-versed with the Three Immortal Swords to the point of being able to use them in reverse, but Zhou Wen had actually said that she hadn¡¯t understood its true meaning. All Uesugi Nao wanted to know was how Zhou Wen was going to continue making up stories.


    ¡°Give me the sword.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Uesugi Nao.


    Uesugi Nao handed the practice sword to Zhou Wen before standing to the side with her arms crossed. She waited to watch Zhou Wen¡¯s clumsy performance. Now, she was somewhat curious as to how Zhou Wen had managed to smooth over his ridiculous words.


    Zhou Wen got Ya¡¯er to stand by the side and walked to the center of the training grounds with the practice sword in hand. He said, ¡°This sword art of yours has three uses of force and concepts. You have already used the three types of force and concepts very well. However, your method isn¡¯t right, so you are only stuck at that stage. There¡¯s no way to improve further and master a complete sword art.¡±


    To be able to tell that the Three Immortal Swords is a combination of three forces and concepts, this Zhou Wen isn¡¯t completely blind, thought Uesugi Nao.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s attitude still displeased her. Therefore, she asked with a faint smile, ¡°Then how can I improve further and master a complete sword art?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not difficult.¡± The practice sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand began moving. The sword moves he released were actually Uesugi Nao¡¯s Three Immortal Swords.


    Uesugi Nao was surprised that Zhou Wen could use the sword moves of the Three Immortal Swords. Although he had only used one force, he was still able to produce the corresponding sword intent. She was already rather surprised and couldn¡¯t help but raise her opinion of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°This is the first force and concept of the sword art,¡± Zhou Wen said as he used another move. It was the Three Immortal Swords sword move that Uesugi Nao had used. This time, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword move contained the two forces and concepts of hardness and softness.


    This surprised Uesugi Nao. To be able to use both hard and soft forces in one strike at the same time, she had practiced for nearly a month back then to master it.


    ¡°According to Daoist teachings, the so-called ¡®one begets two¡¯ can be seen as Chaos giving birth to Yin and Yang, or it can be said to be a division of hardness and softness.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he struck out with his sword. It was still the sword move of the Three Immortal Swords, but this time, he had already used all three forces.


    Uesugi Nao widened her eyes as she looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief. She secretly suspected, Could it be that Zhou Wen has also practiced the Three Immortals Sword Art in the past? That¡¯s impossible. The Three Immortals Sword Art was engraved on the stone wall of the Three Cave Immortal. After I saw it, the stone wall was destroyed. How could Zhou Wen have learned the Three Immortals Sword Art?


    ¡°One begets two, two begets three, and three begets all things. Your sword art stopped at three and didn¡¯t continue expanding. It¡¯s like the basic colors of red, green, and blue. You can use the three primary colors, but when the three colors are combined, they can form an even richer and more colorful color, forming a colorful world. I don¡¯t know if your sword art is incomplete or if it¡¯s because you haven¡¯t figured out the true meaning of the sword art, but it has stopped at the three primary colors realm. You haven¡¯t been able to demonstrate the true meaning of the world of the sword¡­¡± Zhou Wen demonstrated as he spoke. As for Uesugi Nao, she was already dumbfounded. Her face was filled with shock and disbelief.


    Four types¡­ Five types¡­ Six types¡­ Uesugi Nao saw more and more types of sword intent in Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique, but they were extremely harmonious. It was as though the Three Immortals Sword Art was supposed to be exactly what he demonstrated.


    The first time she heard what Zhou Wen said did seem to make sense, but Uesugi Nao felt a deep sense of helplessness. Even if she understood this principle, she didn¡¯t have that many sword intents to fuse together.

 Chapter 891 - Nine-Tailed Fox

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Nine¡­ Ten¡­ Eleven¡­ Is this fellow a monster? Uesugi Nao stared intently at Zhou Wen, feeling extremely shocked.


    Zhou Wen casually waved his hand and used more than ten sword intents. And at his age, how could he comprehend so many sword intents?


    1


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sword intents were naturally not something he had mastered himself. In fact, Zhou Wen had never practiced sword arts before. What he was truly good at was movement techniques. At most, he could add the Immortal Slaying move to his list.


    These sword intents were what Zhou Wen had learned in the peach blossom mystic realm. The white-robed man¡¯s sword art contained three thousand sword intents. This was just a drop in the ocean.


    Although Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t fully comprehended the three thousand sword intents, he had already memorized them. It wasn¡¯t enough to use it against a true top-notch swordsman, but he could still use it casually.


    ¡°That¡¯s the general problem. There¡¯s nothing wrong with the rest. Go back and train slowly. I still have something on, so I¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± Zhou Wen handed the practice sword back to Uesugi Nao before carrying Ya¡¯er out of the training room.


    1


    Uesugi Nao watched Zhou Wen leave. She was in a daze for a long time before coming to her senses. After the door to the training room closed, she snapped to her senses. Training¡­ What training can I do¡­ That¡¯s not the Three Immortals Sword Art at all¡­ There aren¡¯t so many sword intent training methods in the Three Immortals Sword Art. What the hell am I to train with!


    Although she said that, Uesugi Nao was still shocked by Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art. To be able to casually unleash more than ten sword intents mixed together was something only a few top sword masters overseas could do.


    ¡°Miss, are you alright?¡± The female guard walked in. She had been secretly protecting Uesugi Nao, but with Zhou Wen around, she didn¡¯t dare approach. She only came over after Zhou Wen left.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. From the looks of it, I¡¯ve underestimated the young experts of the Federation. It¡¯s indeed reasonable for Zhou Wen to be able to stir up such a storm in the Federation,¡± Uesugi Nao said.


    ¡°What happened?¡± the female guard asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I¡¯ve seen Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art and it¡¯s indeed very strong. Unfortunately, no matter how strong his sword art, it¡¯s useless. Without a Guardian, humans will ultimately not be able to step into the stage of being a human god. No matter how strong his sword art, he¡¯s only mortal.¡± Uesugi Nao slowly regained her confidence.


    1


    Although Zhou Wen was strong, he was stuck below the Mythical stage. She had Great Skyfiend and was already in the Mythical stage. She still had the right to look down on him.


    I can study the world of swords that Zhou Wen mentioned, Uesugi Nao thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that a person like Zhou Wen definitely has something extraordinary about him,¡± the female guard said.


    1


    Uesugi Nao didn¡¯t say anything else. She looked at the female guard and asked, ¡°How¡¯s the information I asked you to gather coming along? Did you find out who Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner is?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing for now. Our men are already investigating,¡± the female guard said.


    ¡°Find him as soon as possible. I must avenge the slaying of Orochi,¡± Uesugi Nao said.


    2


    Zhou Wen returned to his dorm and began grinding again. Now, he only wanted to quickly figure out the Chess Mountain dungeon. If the alchemist came to him again, he could lure the alchemist to Chess Mountain.


    The interior of Deer Terrace Pavilion was bigger than Zhou Wen had imagined. As he needed to explore it, it wasn¡¯t like he could directly use Earth Escape. He wouldn¡¯t know what he might miss in the middle.


    After entering Deer Terrace Pavilion again, Zhou Wen continued exploring.


    Not long after, an arched door suddenly appeared in front of Zhou Wen. After passing through the arch, there was a huge space inside.


    This space looked like the interior of a tower. There were arched doors all around, and there was water flowing in many of them.


    The bottom of this space was occupied by water, like a huge circular pool. And in the middle was a huge bronze tripod cauldron.


    And inside the bronze tripod cauldron, there was a white fox. It was different from ordinary foxes. The fox had nine snow-white tails on its back.


    As for its body, it was trapped by the chains that passed through the bronze tripod cauldron. It seemed to be imprisoned in the bronze tripod cauldron.


    Is that¡­ a nine-tailed fox? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but recall the legend of Deer Terrace Pavilion¡ªthe peerless demon concubine who could topple kingdoms and bring disaster to the people.


    1


    Although the Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit and Jade Lute Spirit were ranked equal, the first impression people had of a demon concubine was that of a nine-tailed fox. There wouldn¡¯t be a second one.


    Could she¡­ be The Thearch? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he stared at the Nine-Tailed White Fox inside the bronze tripod cauldron.


    Suddenly, the Nine-Tailed White Fox opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the blood-colored avatar.


    They were fox¡¯s eyes, but in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, they were indescribably charming. It even made Zhou Wen feel tempted to run towards the white fox in the bronze tripod cauldron.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly focused.


    He originally had the ability to focus. At that moment, he focused his mind and immediately regained his clarity. When he looked at the nine-tailed fox again, he didn¡¯t feel anything.


    However, the demonic glint in the nine-tailed fox¡¯s eyes intensified. Perhaps due to the demonic glint in its eyes, the nine-tailed fox in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes gradually transformed into a beautiful woman in white.


    Zhou Wen had seen plenty of beauties, but he had never seen such a seductive woman. Her eyes seemed to hook onto people, as though any man in the world would be willing to die for her from the mere move of her gaze.


    The blood-colored avatar walked towards the extremely seductive woman in a daze as though it had lost its soul. It seemed to only have eyes for the woman, unable to contain anything else.


    The blood-colored avatar quickly walked to the bronze tripod cauldron and looked at the girl inside. Without any hesitation, it jumped in.


    However, there was no white-robed woman in the bronze cauldron. It was clearly the evil and demonic Nine-Tailed White Fox. It opened its bloody mouth and bit at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head.


    Just as the nine-tailed fox was about to bite the blood-colored avatar, the dazed blood-colored avatar suddenly flashed and dodged the fox¡¯s bloody mouth. At the same time, an invisible sword beam slashed across the nine-tailed fox¡¯s neck, dyeing the snow-white fur red.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that it was a pity. As he had to pretend to be charmed by the nine-tailed fox, he couldn¡¯t condense his Essence Energy ahead of time, so he couldn¡¯t use Immortal Slaying. Otherwise, this strike might have beheaded the nine-tailed fox.


    The nine-tailed fox was alarmed and furious. It found it unbelievable that its charm was useless against Zhou Wen.


    1


    In fact, Zhou Wen was afraid of many things, but powers like bewitchment were useless against him. Previously, even the Lost Immortal Sutra couldn¡¯t bewitch him, much less a nine-tailed fox.

 Chapter 892 - Li Xuan’s Return

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    The nine-tailed fox¡¯s eyes suffused a demonic glint as its nine tails danced wildly. Essence Energy spewed out from its body like a volcanic eruption.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to charge forward. However, when Tyrant Behemoth met the nine-tailed fox¡¯s eyes, it was immediately charmed by it. It turned around and charged at the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly dodged and retreated as Tyrant Behemoth chased after him.


    Even a Mythical creature like Tyrant Behemoth can be bewitched? Zhou Wen turned his head to take a look. Thankfully, the nine-tailed fox was locked inside the bronze tripod cauldron and couldn¡¯t chase after him.


    Tyrant Behemoth chased Zhou Wen for quite some time before the effects of the bewitchment on it gradually vanished. Zhou Wen regained control of it and unsummoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    I can resist the bewitchment myself, but my Companion Beasts can¡¯t. From the looks of it, I can only personally kill that nine-tailed fox. Zhou Wen felt that the nine-tailed fox didn¡¯t seem like The Thearch.


    Even if The Thearch in-game wasn¡¯t as intelligent as in real life, it wasn¡¯t to the point of having such a low IQ. Furthermore, it felt like the nine-tailed fox¡¯s abilities were somewhat different from The Thearch¡¯s.


    At the very least, the nine-tailed fox didn¡¯t seem to have the ability to make wishes, nor did it have the invisible pressure of The Thearch.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the nine-tailed fox reveal its Terror state. If it used its Terror state, Zhou Wen¡¯s strike probably wouldn¡¯t be able to injure it.


    After returning to the nine-tailed fox, Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak and activated its invisibility. He approached without the nine-tailed fox noticing him.


    The Light Concealment Sword combined with the Immortal Slaying Sword cleaved off the nine-tailed fox¡¯s head. The nine-tailed fox didn¡¯t even have time to react.


    From the looks of it, this nine-tailed fox can¡¯t be The Thearch. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed, but he suddenly realized that something was amiss.


    The nine-tailed fox was already dead. Logically speaking, there should be a game notification, but there was no notification of him killing the nine-tailed fox.


    Crack! Crack!


    The chains that bound the nine-tailed fox automatically unshackled because it was dead.


    However, after the chains were released, the nine-tailed fox¡¯s corpse floated in the air as its head grew out again. As its nine tails swayed, its Essence Energy burned like flames. Wherever the flames passed, the nine-tailed fox¡¯s body underwent a strange change. It gradually transformed from a fox into a beautiful woman in white palace robes.


    Furthermore, this white-robed woman¡¯s body suffused a demonic glow. She looked like a ghost. This time, it wasn¡¯t an illusion, but a woman.


    ¡®Warning¡­ Warning¡­ Nine-Tailed Fox has entered a Terror form¡­ Nine-Tailed Fox has entered a Terror form¡­¡¯ A red warning popped up in the game.


    Terror transformation! Zhou Wen turned around and ran without a word. He didn¡¯t have the means to kill a Terror-grade opponent. If he didn¡¯t run, he could only wait for death.


    Thankfully, the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s effects were still present. The Nine-Tailed Fox couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen, allowing him to escape.


    Although I can¡¯t be sure if the Nine-Tailed Fox is The Thearch, if that alchemist pursues me again, I can lure him to it. Zhou Wen had seen the abilities of the Nine-Tailed Fox and had some ideas.


    The strongest ability of the Nine-tailed Fox was still bewitchment, but bewitchment was useless against Zhou Wen. Therefore, in comparison, the Nine-Tailed Fox was a Terror-grade creature that Zhou Wen was least afraid of.


    Zhou Wen avoided the location of the Nine-Tailed Fox and went to other places in Deer Terrace Pavilion to hunt dimensional creatures. However, no matter where he went, he would eventually reach the space where the Nine-Tailed Fox was.


    From the looks of it, only by killing the Nine-Tailed Fox will I be able to reach the area behind. Zhou Wen could only temporarily give up on the idea of grinding Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    After grinding all the dungeons that he could, he didn¡¯t obtain much. When he was grinding the Ancient Sword Tomb, he discovered a Mythical ancient sword.


    The ancient sword was wide and had extremely powerful destructive power. After killing it, he learned that it was named Great Destroyer. It was a Mythical sword, but unfortunately, it didn¡¯t drop a Companion Egg.


    After returning to Luoyang for a few days, he didn¡¯t find any traces of the alchemist. This made Zhou Wen feel uneasy.


    An Sheng had already gotten people to carry out surveillance, hoping to discover the alchemist before he entered Luoyang. Unfortunately, there was no news. It was unknown if he hadn¡¯t come to Luoyang or if he had avoided all the surveillance.


    ¡­


    Xuanwen Club¡¯s training grounds.


    ¡°Your wise and mighty President has returned. Aren¡¯t you very happy and surprised?¡± Li Xuan returned much earlier than expected.


    According to Li Xuan, he had already learned most of Worm Dugu¡¯s Gu nurturing techniques. All that was left was practice. He had found it boring and ran back alone.


    Due to the pair of Ice Silkworms, Li Xuan¡¯s combat strength was considered very strong. However, when he was in the Dugu family, Worm Dugu didn¡¯t let him use the Ice Silkworms. He insisted that he fight all sorts of Gu, causing him to suffer quite a bit.


    However, because of this, he had a deep understanding of Gu, and it had helped his growth tremendously.


    ¡°I realize that you seem to have become much more handsome recently?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Li Xuan.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Li Xuan stroked his chin and said smugly, ¡°I¡¯ve always been handsome. You just didn¡¯t realize it in the past. There¡¯s nothing to be alarmed about.¡±


    ¡°No, I really think you are much more handsome than before. Come, let me take a closer look.¡± Zhou Wen circled Li Xuan a few times and nodded in thought. ¡°I see. I understand¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you understand?¡± Li Xuan asked curiously.


    ¡°I understand why you look so much more handsome,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Li Xuan hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Because you¡­¡± Zhou Wen deliberately lowered his voice. When Li Xuan approached to hear him clearly, he punched him in the eye. ¡°Because you haven¡¯t suffered a beating in a long while.¡±


    1


    Li Xuan immediately flew into a rage after being punched in the eye. ¡°Zhou Wen, how dare you sneak an attack on me? You¡¯re dead.¡±


    Seeing Li Xuan rush over, Zhou Wen summoned the Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul and fused it with himself, taking on a battle stance.


    When Li Xuan charged over, the Life Soul carapace had already enveloped his body. At the same time, he swung his fist.


    Zhou Wen dodged Li Xuan¡¯s fist and chopped at the back of his neck.


    Li Xuan strangely circled around with his movement technique. Not only did he dodge Zhou Wen¡¯s chop, but he also stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s waist like a sharp blade.


    ¡°What¡¯s with your movement technique?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    When Li Xuan was injured, he could quickly learn the other party¡¯s skills and moves, but he couldn¡¯t learn movement techniques.


    As movement techniques couldn¡¯t hurt him, Li Xuan¡¯s movement technique had always been his weakness.


    However, Li Xuan¡¯s movement technique had clearly improved significantly. Furthermore, it looked rather strange and fast.


    ¡°Hehe, this is the Dugu family¡¯s movement technique. It originally wasn¡¯t taught to outsiders, but my talent is too great and my character is excellent. They made an exception and I got to learn it from the Dugu family¡­¡± Li Xuan said smugly.


    ¡°Then let me see how much you have learned.¡± Zhou Wen became serious as he pushed the Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s strength to its limits.

 Chapter 893 - Battle for Advancement

    Translator: CKtalon


    Gu Dian, Feng Qiuyan, Sadie, Gulli, Fang Ruoxi, and the other members of the Xuanwen Club watched the two of them fight from the side.


    Feng Qiuyan watched for a while before his eyes lit up. ¡°President has become much stronger after returning. Be it his movement techniques or skills, he has already reached the limits of a human. In addition, he can constantly recover and become stronger in battle. Coach might really be in trouble this time.¡±


    Sadie nodded slightly. ¡°What¡¯s terrifying about Li Xuan is that he has countless chances of failure. As for others, if they make one mistake, they might never have another chance. This ability is really enviable.¡±


    Gulli said enviously, ¡°Why don¡¯t I have such a sick Life Soul?¡±


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan kept fighting. Zhou Wen coupled Transcendent Flying Immortal with Defy Ancient Sovereign, but the pressure from the battle remained immense.


    Li Xuan¡¯s movement technique was strange and inexplicable. It looked like he had inherited the Dugu family¡¯s best teachings. Although he hadn¡¯t reached the level of Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s divine technique, he couldn¡¯t be underestimated.


    Most importantly, when Zhou Wen¡¯s attack struck Li Xuan¡¯s carapace, he could at best shatter it. It didn¡¯t affect Li Xuan¡¯s ability to continue the battle. Furthermore, after the carapace shattered, it would become even sturdier. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for Zhou Wen to shatter it again.


    Not only was the carapace becoming stronger, but Li Xuan was also constantly becoming stronger. His various techniques became more and more bizarre, and the changes became more and more unpredictable. Many stances didn¡¯t look like something which were humanly possible.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was definitely a technique and skill that Li Xuan had learned from dimensional creatures.


    Zhou Wen had already pushed the Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s strength to its limits. Transcendent Flying Immortal couldn¡¯t be any faster, but he still couldn¡¯t take down Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan became more and more accustomed to the battle with Zhou Wen as he became stronger.


    ¡°Among his peers, the only one who can fight Coach to such an extent is probably President,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    Sadie thought for a moment and said, ¡°Perhaps some people might have the ability to determine the outcome of the battle with Coach in a short period of time, but there aren¡¯t many people who can fight Coach head-on in such a manner.¡±


    ¡°Sis, do you think President has a chance of defeating Coach?¡± Gulli asked with interest.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. From the looks of it, Li Xuan is invincible. It¡¯s not like there¡¯s no chance,¡± Sadie said after some thought.


    Feng Qiuyan also said, ¡°Coach¡¯s technique, abilities, and timing are undoubtedly top-notch. If it were an ordinary person, they would have long been defeated. However, President is the type of person who can¡¯t be killed. Coach¡¯s dominance will slowly decrease due to the expenditure of stamina and Essence Energy. As for President, as long as he doesn¡¯t die, he will slowly become stronger. Time is on President¡¯s side, so there¡¯s indeed a chance unless Coach can defeat President in a short period of time.¡±


    ¡°Imagine the look on Coach¡¯s face when he is defeated. That would definitely be interesting. I¡¯m really looking forward to it,¡± Gulli said excitedly.


    In fact, many people had such expectations. It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen had a worse relationship with them compared to Li Xuan, but deep in the hearts of humans, they sympathized with the weak and hoped that the myth would be shattered.


    In recent times, Zhou Wen was almost synonymous with invincibility. In comparison, Li Xuan was the person who could take down the legend.


    Li Xuan was very serious. Although he gave off an indecent feeling, he was also someone who refused to admit defeat. Even if his opponent was Zhou Wen, he didn¡¯t wish to lose.


    In the crazy battle, the Defy Ancient Sovereign gave Zhou Wen endless energy, virtually making him a tireless machine. However, his suppression of Li Xuan continued to decrease.


    Li Xuan became more and more familiar with Zhou Wen¡¯s various moves and techniques. Although Zhou Wen was also familiar with him, he lacked the ability to self-repair and become stronger the more injured he was.


    Bam!


    When the fists met, Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, which could originally suppress Li Xuan, now resulted in Zhou Wen taking two steps back uncontrollably. As for Li Xuan, his body only swayed.


    ¡°President has gained the upper hand,¡± Gulli said.


    ¡°From the looks of it, the situation has begun to reverse.¡± Sadie looked seriously at Li Xuan.


    In the beginning, she didn¡¯t have a good impression of Li Xuan. She felt that Li Xuan was a typical foppish scion, but as she constantly interacted with him, Sadie¡¯s impression of him had changed drastically.


    At this point, Sadie had no choice but to admit that Li Xuan might be one of the top few people of their generation. Even the strongest Lance in the Ultimate Family Clan might not be able to defeat him.


    Outside the six families, more and more young geniuses have appeared. Existences like Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Feng Qiuyan might be existences that can influence the fate of the Federation in the future¡­ I have to work harder¡­ Sadie carefully watched the battle between the two.


    At that instant, Li Xuan switched from defense to offense and launched a barrage of attacks.


    Previously, Li Xuan defended more than he attacked, but now, he wasn¡¯t defending at all. He was completely devoted to attacking.


    Every part of his body seemed to turn into a lethal weapon. Many of his offensive means were unimaginable to others, but Li Xuan used them without any trouble.


    Zhou Wen was finally suppressed. His Strength, Speed, and Constitution began to decline. Although it wasn¡¯t obvious, it was exactly what was happening. As for Li Xuan, he was still growing stronger.


    Zhou Wen had many means to turn the situation around, but that required switching to other Essence Energy Arts. Zhou Wen had no intention of doing so. He continued using the Defy Ancient Sovereign to fight Li Xuan.


    Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body began to be struck. This was the first time he had been struck since the beginning of the battle.


    Once there was a first, there was a second and third time. Zhou Wen felt the pain from his body, but his mood wasn¡¯t that bad. Instead, he became more and more excited.


    That¡¯s it¡­ Deliver something more violent¡­ Zhou Wen felt the power fluctuations of the Defy Ancient Sovereign in his body as he attempted to control and drive the power fluctuations.


    Badump! Badump!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart beat crazily, like a piston that was going all out.


    However, this wasn¡¯t enough. Zhou Wen guided the infinite vital essence produced by the Defy Ancient Sovereign to constantly compress the explosive force.


    The Defy Ancient Sovereign could only produce powerful vitality, but it couldn¡¯t be used in a virtuous cycle. What Zhou Wen needed to do now was mimic Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s circulation chain, constantly compressing and burning his vital force in his body instead of radiating it.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen felt his heart heat up as though it was about to ignite. At the same time, he could sense that the Defy Ancient Sovereign was transforming.


    Come on, make the battle crazier. Zhou Wen also abandoned defending and dodging as he brandished his fist to meet Li Xuan¡¯s crazy attacks.


    1

 Chapter 894 - Ancient Sovereign Advancement

    Translator: CKtalon


    Bam! Bam!


    The clash of fists and flesh, the clash of blood and fire.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan seemed to be nailed to the ground. Their legs didn¡¯t move, but their arms flailed wildly as they punched each other¡¯s faces and chests.


    Feng Qiuyan, Sadie, and company felt their hearts turn cold. This wasn¡¯t a battle, but a life-and-death battle. Those who didn¡¯t know better would think that Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had a deep grudge.


    ¡°Coach seems to be using his weakness to fight President¡¯s advantage. Why is he doing this?¡± Feng Qiuyan frowned in thought.


    Sadie said, ¡°He probably wants to take a final gamble, right? His stamina and strength are declining. If he were to fight under normal circumstances, he would have to admit defeat after his stamina and strength drop drastically. Therefore, he needs to make the final impact before that happens, in a bid to reverse the situation.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan shook his head and said, ¡°That¡¯s not right. There¡¯s no chance of turning the situation around with such a desperate attempt. Coach wouldn¡¯t make such a foolish decision. He definitely has his reasons.¡±


    ¡°His injuries are getting worse, but Li Xuan¡¯s injuries have automatically healed. Furthermore, such injuries will only make Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul carapace stronger. I really can¡¯t tell what other chances Coach has. He can only reverse the situation by using external forces like Companion Beasts.¡± Sadie had the Eye of Odin¡¯s ability to see the situation clearly.


    Although Zhou Wen¡¯s body was powerful, his injuries weren¡¯t light after suffering so many blows. However, he still had no intention of retreating as he continued attacking Li Xuan crazily.


    Just a little more¡­ Why can¡¯t I advance yet¡­ What¡¯s the difference¡­ Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Defy Ancient Sovereign in his body was like a volcano that was about to erupt due to the accumulation of the excess vital essence. However, for some reason, the energy just didn¡¯t erupt which prevented the Defy Ancient Sovereign from completing its final evolution.


    Why? What went wrong? The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General can constantly accumulate and burn using killing intent and flames, making him constantly become stronger. Why can¡¯t the accumulation of vital essence push the Defy Ancient Sovereign to evolve? What¡¯s the difference? As Zhou Wen fought, he thought hard.


    Crack!


    Cracks appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s ribs as blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth. Even his organs began to rupture as fine cracks appeared. Blood was seeping out.


    ¡°Think of a way to make them stop. If this continues, Zhou Wen¡¯s body won¡¯t be able to withstand it.¡± Sadie could tell that Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries were already rather serious. If this continued, it would be troublesome if his organs shattered.


    ¡°They can¡¯t be serious, right? At such a time, President should be the one stopping, right? Could it be that President is really angry?¡± Gulli said.


    Feng Qiuyan shook his head and said, ¡°Impossible. President isn¡¯t that kind of person. There must be a reason for not stopping.¡±


    ¡°His opponent is already so injured, but he still isn¡¯t stopping. I really can¡¯t think of a reason,¡± Gulli said.


    ¡°Pressure,¡± Gu Dian, who usually didn¡¯t speak much, suddenly said.


    ¡°What?¡± Sadie and company didn¡¯t hear Gu Dian clearly.


    ¡°Pressure,¡± Gu Dian repeated, but he had no intention of explaining.


    This time, Sadie and Gulli heard it clearly, but they didn¡¯t understand what Gu Dian meant.


    ¡°I understand. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s pressure¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan¡¯s eyes lit up as he said in appreciation.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Gulli asked Feng Qiuyan in puzzlement.


    Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen in battle and said, ¡°Coach wants to break through. He wants to fight President using his weakness. That¡¯s because he wants to surpass himself. He wants to make up for his flaws and become stronger. He wants to break through his shackles under pressure¡­ President clearly understands this, so he¡¯s trying his best to exert pressure on Coach¡­¡±


    ¡°Is that so? But from the looks of it, Coach will be beaten to death if this continues¡­¡± Gulli looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    Sadie also found it difficult to accept Feng Qiuyan¡¯s explanation. Everyone had their own traits and weaknesses. No one could be perfect. To forcefully use their weakness to fight, could one really break through under heavy pressure? Sadie had great doubts about this.


    ¡°Coach should be able to do it,¡± Feng Qiuyan said matter-of-factly while he was inwardly considering: What¡¯s my weakness? Should I try to break through my weakness?


    If Zhou Wen knew what Feng Qiuyan was thinking, he would definitely be at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    He only wanted his Life Soul to advance to a Perfect Body. How could he think of any weakness to break through? With that time, he might as well farm more powerful Companion Beasts.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a perfectionist, nor had he ever thought of making himself perfect.


    Why isn¡¯t it working¡­ What¡¯s wrong? Zhou Wen clearly felt that the Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s vital essence was about to erupt, but it just didn¡¯t do so.


    Zhou Wen carefully thought through the similarities and differences between the Defy Ancient Sovereign and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and constantly compared the differences between the two.


    Suddenly, an idea flashed in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. Yes, I¡¯m lacking a catalyst. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General uses flames to ignite killing intent to use it to burn Fiend Armor. No matter how much vital essence the Defy Ancient Sovereign gathers, it lacks a catalyst to ignite the vital essence, so it¡¯s unable to convert it into an effective energy to push the Defy Ancient Sovereign to evolve¡­ A catalyst¡­ What do I use as a catalyst¡­ to ignite the Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s vital essence?


    Although the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was inclined towards the fire element, it was in essence not the power of fire, but the fire of life. It was still somewhat different from pure fire-elemental powers.


    From the looks of it, the fire of life wasn¡¯t enough to act as a catalyst. It could even be said that the heat wasn¡¯t strong enough.


    The Defy Ancient Sovereign¡­ Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡­ Ancient Sovereign¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly recalled that The Thearch had once mentioned that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was an Essence Energy Art of the Human Sovereign. It was an Essence Energy Art that was impossible to advance to the Mythical stage because there was no path ahead for humans. Even the head of the Three Sovereigns, Suirenshi, was unable to defy the heavens and change his fate of making the Ancient Sovereign Sutra break through to the Mythical stage.


    Defy¡­ So that¡¯s how it is¡­ If I don¡¯t have the determination to defy the heavens and change my fate¡­ How can I fight against the heavens¡­ The Defy Ancient Sovereign Life Soul in Zhou Wen¡¯s body emitted a glow like the sun, making the glow on Zhou Wen¡¯s body grow stronger.


    Boom!


    The light suddenly converged, and shortly after it converged, it quickly exploded. The terrifying light instantly devoured the entire training grounds, temporarily blinding everyone¡¯s eyes.

 Chapter 895 - Primordial Human Sovereign

    Translator: CKtalon


    Only one¡¯s life can ignite vital essence. Zhou Wen already understood the true meaning of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He forcefully used his life force as a catalyst to detonate the boundless vital life essence which Defy Ancient Sovereign had gathered.


    As his vital essence erupted, the Defy Ancient Sovereign rapidly transformed and was instantly pushed to a Perfect Body.


    The Defy Ancient Sovereign¡¯s Perfect Body fused at a deeper level with Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The effects on his body were even more direct and intense.


    Primordial Human Sovereign? Zhou Wen had already sensed the information gained from the new Life Soul and knew its name.


    Badump! Badump!


    The beating of his heart combined with the power of the Primordial Human Sovereign. His heart was like a sun that emitted infinite light and heat. The light and heat made Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body seem to burn. Every inch of his cells was filled with intense vital essence, like a humanoid sun of vital essence.


    Even Feng Qiuyan and company, who were by the side of the arena, could sense the intense vitality emitted by Zhou Wen after he burned his vital essence. When the light of life shone on them, not only did it not make them feel uncomfortable, but it also gave them an indescribable sense of comfort. It was as though their bodies had been rejuvenated. All their fatigue and discomfort were swept away.


    Even Li Xuan¡¯s injuries that had yet to fully recover began to rapidly recover under the illumination of Zhou Wen¡¯s humanoid sun.


    The only injury that hadn¡¯t recovered was Zhou Wen¡¯s own injuries.


    The Human Sovereign defied the heavens and killed, forging a way out for humans. However, he burned his own life in exchange for that.


    Suirenshi observed lightning and obtained fire. Shennongshi tasted every plant. Fuxi deduced the changes in the world. All of them used their own strength to fight for a chance of survival.


    And this chance of survival wasn¡¯t for themselves.


    Looking at Zhou Wen who was emitting light and heat like the sun, Li Xuan looked at him and said, ¡°It¡¯s fair now. Everyone has a Perfect Body Life Soul. No one will suffer a loss. Fight with all your might. Let me see how strong you are.¡±


    ¡°As you wish.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s body lit up as though he had turned into a burning body of energy. His fist broke through the speed of sound and blasted at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Nicely done.¡± Li Xuan wasn¡¯t to be outdone. The black demonic aura on the carapace expanded as he similarly brandished his fist at Zhou Wen like an evil god.


    Bam!


    At the instant the two fists collided, Li Xuan¡¯s body was sent flying by Zhou Wen¡¯s terrifying strength. Even the carapace on his fist shattered.


    While Li Xuan¡¯s body was still in the air, Zhou Wen had already followed up like a beam of light. He punched Li Xuan repeatedly with his fists.


    Crack! Crack!


    Li Xuan¡¯s carapace shattered piece by piece. Without waiting for his carapace to heal, Zhou Wen¡¯s fist had already struck his flesh.


    The maximum power unleashed with Primordial Human Sovereign seemed to explode with life. It exceeded its original limits. Even something as powerful as Li Xuan¡¯s carapace found it difficult to withstand it.


    ¡°What powerful strength, but your strength is still insufficient to kill me. Such an injury will only make me stronger faster.¡± Li Xuan wasn¡¯t alarmed by Zhou Wen¡¯s continuous attacks. Instead, he was delighted.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen remained unperturbed. The power of the Primordial Human Sovereign constantly erupted, shattering Li Xuan¡¯s bones.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless¡­ It¡¯s useless¡­ It¡¯s useless¡­ Although this kind of power is strong¡­ it still can¡¯t deal fatal damage to me¡­ It will only make me stronger and stronger¡­ Let the tempest come strike harder¡­¡± Li Xuan was in pain and happy.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as his fists rained down on Li Xuan, nearly shattering his entire carapace. While the carapace rapidly healed, he also broke many of Li Xuan¡¯s bones.


    Finally, Zhou Wen punched Li Xuan in the abdomen, sending him flying.


    However, while Li Xuan¡¯s body was flying, his bones and carapace completely healed. When he landed on the ground, there were no wounds on his body. Even the carapace had completely recovered.


    ¡°Haha, didn¡¯t I say so? Your attacks are useless against me. I feel that I¡¯ve become stronger. My healing factor has sped up. It¡¯s so fast that even I¡¯m surprised. I really have to thank you¡­ Strange¡­ Why do I feel a little dizzy¡­¡± Li Xuan wanted to rub his eyes with his hand, but when he extended his left hand, he realized that his left hand couldn¡¯t reach his face. He couldn¡¯t help but feel strange. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°President¡­ Your¡­ Your body¡­¡± Gulli pointed at Li Xuan¡¯s body in horror.


    The others beside him had similar expressions as they looked at Li Xuan in horror as though they had seen a ghost.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with my body?¡± Li Xuan looked down at his body and when he saw it, he screamed in fright.


    He wasn¡¯t injured at all, but all his bones were not in their right positions. His leg bones were overturned, and his arm was twisted like a fried dough twist. His eyes were askew from each other, and his neck was slanted. Li Xuan could almost see his back with one of his eyes.


    Now, Li Xuan looked like a deformed monster. Although he wasn¡¯t injured and his carapace was intact, there was nothing right with his body.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Old Zhou, what did you do to me?¡± Li Xuan was frightened as he asked with a trembling voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just broke your bones and made them heal faster,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, you are screwing with me. Quickly fix me¡­¡± Li Xuan felt like crying.


    Li Xuan¡¯s self-healing had a memory characteristic that allowed him to recover to his normal state. However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Power of the Primordial Human Sovereign also had the ability to heal others.


    Therefore, Li Xuan¡¯s fractured bones were healed before they returned to normal. This resulted in such a deformity.


    ¡°Then I must break your bones again,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Quick¡­ Quick beat me¡­¡± Li Xuan said through gritted teeth. All he wanted now was to quickly recover his handsome appearance.


    ¡°You are the one asking for the beating. Don¡¯t you retaliate,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked in front of Li Xuan.


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Li Xuan gritted his teeth so hard that they nearly shattered.


    Zhou Wen once again unleashed the power of Primordial Human Sovereign, but this time, shattering Li Xuan¡¯s bones was much more difficult than the last time. His carapace and bones had become harder, and his healing factor had improved.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for him to break all the deformed bones again, allowing them to return to their normal states and heal themselves. Eventually, Li Xuan finally returned to normal.


    Li Xuan, who had returned to normal, wanted to sneak an attack on Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen nimbly dodged.


    ¡°If you do that again, I won¡¯t help you recover next time,¡± Zhou Wen took a few steps back and said to Li Xuan with a smile.


    When Li Xuan thought of his appearance, he couldn¡¯t help but shiver. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of being injured, he couldn¡¯t tolerate such a deformed look.


    ¡°F*ck, what kind of f*cking Life Soul is that? It¡¯s freaking sinister.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t dare attack again as he cursed indignantly.

 Chapter 896 - Essence Energy Pill

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Zhou Wen returned, he carefully studied the Primordial Human Sovereign¡¯s powers and realized that it was indeed very powerful. It was expected of a Life Soul condensed from an Essence Energy Art with the Strength attribute.


    After the Perfect Body¡¯s Perfect Body Human Sovereign fused with Zhou Wen, the strength it could produce was almost comparable to a weaker Mythical creature.


    What was ridiculous was that this power came from the explosion of powerful vital essence. In other words, after the power of the Primordial Human Sovereign produced destructive power, the power of the burning vital essence would also heal the destroyed lifeforms.


    Therefore, after Zhou Wen injured someone, he would automatically treat their injuries. Apart from causing them some pain, it was basically useless.


    What the hell is this? It wasn¡¯t easy for me to have a powerful destructive Essence Energy Art and Life Soul, but this is what I get!? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or worried.


    He never expected that the Essence Energy Art that represented Strength would form a Life Soul ability that healed. What was even worse was that this healing ability was useless for him.


    From the looks of it, I can only place my hopes on another Strength-attribute Essence Energy Art. Zhou Wen could only hope that another Strength-attribute Essence Energy Art could bring him pure destructive power.


    Regardless, the Ancient Sovereign Life Soul had finally advanced to a Perfect Body. He was one step closer to advancing to the Mythical stage.


    Now, I still need to cultivate Glimmer, Civilized Country, the Demon God Catalog, and that unknown Essence Energy Art. Zhou Wen thought to himself as to which Essence Energy Art he should focus on.


    Glimmer needs me to walk out to advance. Civilized Country requires teleportation. These two aren¡¯t things that can¡¯t be cultivated just because I want to. As the Demon God Catalog doesn¡¯t have the corresponding Guardian¡¯s blood, it can¡¯t condense a Life Soul. I can¡¯t cultivate it now either. Now, I can only cultivate that unknown Essence Energy Art. After Zhou Wen thought it through, he began studying the Essence Energy Art.


    The Essence Energy Art was learned from the entrance of the Founding Emperor Tomb. Now, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what its stats were. If it was Strength, it would correspond to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Then, all the Essence Energy Arts would be considered complete.


    However, he couldn¡¯t be certain yet. All he could do was cultivate it first. Once he condensed a Life Providence, he would probably be able to make a judgment.


    This Essence Energy Art was very strange. It solely extracted and compressed Essence Energy. Every circulation would purify some of the Essence Energy and increase its concentration. Apart from that, it was useless.


    Could it be that as long as this Essence Energy Art purifies the Essence Energy to a certain extent, it can automatically evolve a Life Providence? Zhou Wen studied it and felt that it seemed to be the only possibility.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen obtained some high-level Essence Energy Crystals in-game. As he absorbed them, he practiced his Essence Energy Art.


    This method actually worked. With the help of a large number of high-level Essence Energy Crystals, it was very easy to cultivate the Essence Energy Art. The Essence Energy in Zhou Wen¡¯s body also became purer.


    This thing seems to be specially used for Qi Refinement. Could it be an Essence Energy Art with an Essence Energy attribute? If that¡¯s the case, I can only find another Essence Energy Art that corresponds to Strength or Constitution. The more Zhou Wen looked at the Essence Energy Art, the more it resembled an Essence Energy attribute.


    In just a few days, the nameless Essence Energy Art automatically produced a Life Providence.


    Life Providence: Qi Refinement Cultivator


    After the Life Providence appeared, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy recovery and Essence Energy purity were greatly augmented. This chilled Zhou Wen¡¯s heart.


    From the looks of it, this Essence Energy Art is most likely of the Essence Energy attribute. Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Since he had already condensed a Life Providence, he might as well condense a Life Soul to see if it was of any use.


    The Guardian¡¯s blood that corresponded to Essence Energy wasn¡¯t difficult to obtain. Zhou Wen went to Ant City and obtained a drop of it.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that the Essence Energy Art that Zhou Wen called Qi Refinement Art didn¡¯t absorb the blood essence of the Ant City Guardian.


    It¡¯s not an Essence Energy attribute? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as hope rose in his heart.


    1


    Zhou Wen went to the underground sea again and obtained a drop of the Guardian¡¯s blood essence. He attempted to use the Qi Refinement Art to absorb it.


    With the Qi Refinement Art activated, the drop of blood was sucked in. Zhou Wen immediately felt his Essence Energy begin to condense towards the drop of blood. His essence, vitality, and spirit also stirred as he vaguely showed signs of condensing a Life Soul.


    The Guardian of the underground sea seems to have a spatial attribute. Then what¡¯s his corresponding basic attribute? Will it be Strength? Zhou Wen was somewhat nervous.


    This was because he had already confirmed that the Qi Refinement Art wasn¡¯t of the Essence Energy attribute. As for the Guardian of the underground sea, its attributes had nothing to do with Speed. Zhou Wen had already confirmed that the most likely possibility was Strength or Constitution.


    The Demon God Catalog couldn¡¯t condense a Life Soul with the blood of the underground sea Guardian. Furthermore, it was very likely to have a Constitution attribute, so the Qi Refinement Art was likely of the Strength attribute.


    As his essence, vitality, and spirit condensed, the Essence Energy in Zhou Wen¡¯s body that had been purified and refined by the Qi Refinement Art quickly gathered together, gradually forming a core that was purely formed from Essence Energy.


    It was still constantly purifying. The Essence Energy in the pill became more and more condensed, turning from gaseous to liquid before turning from liquid to solid.


    The form of this Life Soul looks a little similar to the Primordial Life Soul of the Dao Art. Is it really not of the Essence Energy attribute? Zhou Wen was rather suspicious.


    However, the two were still somewhat different. The Life Soul of the Dao Sutra was born in the Sea of Consciousness, while the Life Soul of the Qi Refinement Art was born in the Essence Energy Sea. The two were different.


    Finally, when the pill was crystalline and almost without any impurities, the Life Soul condensed.


    Zhou Wen had already sensed some of its information, but he habitually checked its information with his phone.


    Life Soul: Essence Energy Pill (Primordial Body)


    Is this something like a pill? Zhou Wen could sense the terrifying Essence Energy in the Essence Energy Pill, but such Essence Energy seemed a little too domineering. It was different from things like the Rejuvenation Pill.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. The resplendent diamond-like Essence Energy Pill appeared on his fingertip. With a thought, he controlled the Essence Energy Pill to fly into the air. It was very fast, but he didn¡¯t discover any special abilities.


    Could it be that I¡¯m to use this Essence Energy Pill to smash others? Zhou Wen randomly entered a dungeon and came to the Metalwork Temple. When he saw a Metal Golem with a hammer approaching, he ordered the Essence Energy Pill to rush over.


    The Essence Energy Pill transformed into a stream of light that penetrated the Metal Golem¡¯s head. The Metal Golem immediately died as the system produced a notice of its death.


    This thing is really used for smashing others! Zhou Wen was greatly surprised as he found some Epic dimensional creatures to test with his Essence Energy Pill.


    The Essence Energy Pill easily penetrated the bodies of Epic creatures. Even the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior¡¯s Runic Heavy Armor failed to block it. The shimmering heavy armor was forcefully penetrated and he was stabbed in the chest.

 Chapter 897 - Possibility

    Translator: CKtalon


    I never expected the destructive power of a tiny Essence Energy Pill to be so powerful. If I can advance it to a Perfect Body, its destructive power should be comparable to a relatively low-level Mythical weapon, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted.


    His Life Soul didn¡¯t have a pure destructive Life Soul. The downside was that the Life Soul was only a pellet and couldn¡¯t be used as a weapon.


    How can I advance the Essence Energy Pill to a Perfect Body? Should I continue absorbing Essence Energy? Zhou Wen attempted to continue absorbing the Essence Energy in the Essence Energy Crystals, and it turned out to be useful.


    The Qi Refinement Art is really unique. As long as I have enough Essence Energy, I can resolve all problems. Such an Essence Energy Art can be quickly mastered as long as I have the resources. It¡¯s very suitable to be popularized among humans. Zhou Wen was still thinking of promoting Essence Energy Arts in the future.


    The Essence Energy Pill can slowly absorb Essence Energy. Glimmer requires me to walk outside. The advancement of these two Life Souls only requires time. However, the Civilized Country and the Demon God Catalog are somewhat troublesome. Civilized Country needs a large number of teleportations. I have to think of a way to get a pet that can teleport. The Demon God Catalog needs the blood of a Guardian. From the looks of it, I must think of a solution using The Thearch. Zhou Wen thought about how he could obtain The Thearch¡¯s blood essence.


    The Thearch wants me to meet her at Chess Mountain. This is a chance. Perhaps I can settle that alchemist when I obtain the blood essence. Zhou Wen thought of all sorts of possibilities.


    Unfortunately, there was no news of the alchemist. He didn¡¯t know if the alchemist had given up on pursuing him.


    ¡­


    ¡°Young Master Wen, haven¡¯t you been searching for Companion Beasts that can teleport?¡± An Sheng called with good news.


    ¡°There¡¯s news?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted.


    ¡°It¡¯s not easy to find such a Companion Beast. However, recently, a break-out creature that¡¯s suspected to be able to teleport has appeared on the eastern coast. If you are interested, you can try your luck. You can also do me a favor as a result,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    An Sheng roughly explained the situation. Due to the appearance of the break-out creature, the nearby cities suffered heavy losses. A local wealthy family there had business dealings with the An family.


    The An family¡¯s Essence Energy compression accelerator required an important supplementary material. It was mainly provided by that family.


    They were now asking the An family for help. If the An family could help them eliminate the break-out creature, not only would they obtain the materials at low prices, but the family would also prioritize providing them the materials in the future.


    There were very few materials produced. Many places in the Federation needed them. The An family wasn¡¯t the only family that was willing to help them eliminate the break-out creatures. However, no one had succeeded so far.


    The main reason was that the break-out creature had a powerful spatial ability. It could teleport continuously and it was very difficult to trap it. Even if one had the ability to kill it, they wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to it.


    An Sheng then transmitted the detailed information about the break-out creature to Zhou Wen. In the video he received, Zhou Wen discovered that it was a dimensional creature that looked a little like a Qilin. Its body was as colorful as colored glass, and it ran extremely fast. Furthermore, it could instantly vanish. It would then appear elsewhere. It was undoubtedly a spatial teleportation ability.


    Zhou Wen carefully studied the video. As the break-out creature was too fast, even high-speed cameras couldn¡¯t capture a complete image. If he slowed down the video, there would be some missing parts.


    However, from the video, it could be seen that the break-out creature¡¯s combat strength was very strong. Apart from its spatial teleportation abilities, its physical combat strength was also tremendous. It also had powerful single-target and group-target Essence Energy Skills. It was a very comprehensive Mythical creature with almost no obvious weaknesses.


    In terms of combat strength, Tyrant Behemoth is definitely not inferior to it. The main point is that its spatial teleportation ability is too powerful. It won¡¯t be easy to kill it. Zhou Wen was already tempted. If not for such powerful spatial teleportation abilities, it wouldn¡¯t be worth him taking the risk.


    However, before the problem of the alchemist was resolved, Zhou Wen was afraid that the alchemist would find him after he left Luoyang. When that happened, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to run to Chess Mountain.


    ¡°I¡¯m very interested in that break-out creature, but I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to go over before resolving the alchemist problem,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. No one can deal with that break-out creature yet. There¡¯s still a chance if you go later.¡± An Sheng paused before continuing, ¡°We can¡¯t wait for the alchemist to come. Why don¡¯t we think of a way to lure him over?¡±


    ¡°How? Don¡¯t tell me you want to use me as bait?¡± Zhou Wen immediately guessed An Sheng¡¯s intentions.


    An Sheng said, ¡°According to what you said, the banana fan in the Sun True Flames Furnace has already been absorbed by your Companion Beast. It¡¯s useless even if that alchemist kills you, but he is still stubbornly chasing after you. There should be another reason for this. Think about it carefully and you should be able to come up with something. Perhaps we can use this point to lure him over and let him have a taste of the Essence Energy compression accelerator.¡±


    ¡°Forget it. Your accelerators require too much preparation time. Energy is also a problem.¡± Zhou Wen rejected An Sheng¡¯s good intentions.


    However, An Sheng¡¯s suggestion gave Zhou Wen some inspiration.


    It wasn¡¯t reliable to rely on the An family¡¯s accelerator to eliminate the alchemist, but it was a good way to lure him to Chess Mountain.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the sun banana fan, why would the alchemist chase after me? Zhou Wen thought of the purple bronze ball that Liu Yun had given him before he left, as well as the things he had taken from the stone house.


    It should be these things, right? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one possibility. Apart from that, he didn¡¯t take anything out of the Founding Emperor Tomb.


    I can give it a try. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if these things could lure the alchemist over, but he could give it a try. After all, he could only wait.


    Zhou Wen decided to take the purple bronze ball and pill-related items to Chess Mountain to see if he could lure the alchemist over.


    Xu Ai hadn¡¯t been in a good mood the past few days. She had come to the An family mainly because she wanted to obtain information on the An family¡¯s Essence Energy weapons. However, after arriving, she had only seen An Tianzuo once. She didn¡¯t even have the chance to speak to him, much less go to the An family¡¯s weapon factory.


    ¡°Miss, I¡¯ve found out that the An family values the material¡ªMagic Dust. As for the Lu family, which mainly produces Magic Dust, they have been seeking help everywhere recently because of a break-out creature. Furthermore, the Lu family is willing to use large amounts of Magic Dust as payment. At the same time, they are also willing to provide Magic Dust¡¯s priority purchase rights. If we can obtain these rights, the An family will likely take the initiative to cooperate with us.¡± The female guard sent the news to Xu Ai.

 Chapter 898 - Purple Bronze Ball

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°It¡¯s not convenient for us to appear, right?¡± Xu Ai frowned.


    ¡°Our family has already found someone to step in. However, we still need you to personally deal with that break-out creature. No one else can do it,¡± the female guard said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no progress here. It¡¯s not appropriate for me to stay in the An family for too long. I don¡¯t want them to notice anything. It¡¯s good to go out for a walk,¡± Xu Ai said after some thought.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to Chess Mountain. He didn¡¯t head to the encampment but took a detour to somewhere around Chess Mountain and found a hidden spot.


    I wonder if this thing can lure that alchemist over. Zhou Wen took out the pill furnaces and pills, opened the lid, and placed them on the ground.


    Then, he took out the purple bronze ball and injected Essence Energy into it.


    After the purple bronze ball absorbed the Essence Energy, it began to light up. Soon, it was like a red-hot metal ball.


    The copper ball itself seemed to be fire-elemental. As long as Essence Energy was injected into it, the copper ball would produce heat, but that was all. It didn¡¯t have any special use.


    Zhou Wen had already experimented many times in the past. Now that he thought about it, it was very likely that the alchemist was able to find him because of the copper ball. It was as though the alchemist had come knocking on his door not long after he had taken it out to experiment.


    Sitting on the ground, Zhou Wen constantly injected Essence Energy into the copper ball to maintain its burning state.


    Essence Energy was nothing to Zhou Wen. It was nearly inexhaustible in his Slaughterer state.


    Although he didn¡¯t know if the alchemist would be attracted or when he would arrive, Zhou Wen was still prepared to escape at any time.


    Earth Elemental Beast and Truth Listener were already on standby. Zhou Wen sent Explosive Fiend Man out and set up a large number of time bombs nearby.


    In some hidden places, Zhou Wen even set up many Gu Companion Beasts.


    He had farmed quite a number of Gu in the Valley of No Return, so it came in handy. He even threw many Ancient Tadpoles into the riverbed of Chess Mountain.


    He didn¡¯t need to kill the alchemist. All he needed to do was stall him or discover him in advance.


    Eh, what¡¯s this? Zhou Wen suddenly realized that something strange had happened to the purple bronze ball.


    Due to the prolonged infusion of Essence Energy to keep it burning, the entire purple bronze ball had turned golden. And in the golden color, there was a hint of purple flowing.


    The purple color was like smoke and also light as it constantly flowed in the purple bronze ball. Furthermore, its flow was very regular.


    Zhou Wen looked at it for a while and increasingly felt that the purple color was very strange. It seemed to have a life of its own. Wherever it flowed, the Essence Energy would vanish, causing the originally golden copper ball to cool down significantly.


    Zhou Wen attempted to inject more Essence Energy, but the outcome was the same. No matter how much Essence Energy Zhou Wen injected, the purple swath would absorb most of it, allowing the purple bronze ball to maintain a temperature that wasn¡¯t too high or too low.


    Could it be that the purple color is also a dimensional creature? Or could it be that this purple bronze ball is a dimensional creature? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure. After observing for a while, he saw that the purple color was only swimming in the purple bronze ball. Furthermore, it was extremely regular. It didn¡¯t seem like it would rush out.


    What¡¯s the use of the purple bronze ball? Is it part of the Sun True Flames Furnace? Zhou Wen was puzzled. He wanted to ask Liu Yun, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know where Liu Yun was.


    Liu Yun said that there were two purple bronze balls. If I can find him, I might be able to figure out what use this thing has. Zhou Wen observed for a while and seeing no special reaction, he stopped paying attention.


    He had more or less set up his traps. Zhou Wen got Truth Listener to pay close attention to his surroundings. The Earth Elemental Beast was beneath him, allowing him to escape at any time.


    Holding his phone, he continued grinding.


    Ya¡¯er held the phone Zhou Wen had bought for her and was learning human language and words.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Oh¡­ Uh¡­ Y¡­ Uh¡­ Fish¡­¡± Ya¡¯er studied diligently with the phone software. She wasn¡¯t impatient.


    1


    Nothing happened for two days. Just as Zhou Wen thought that the purple bronze ball and pill furnace were useless, he suddenly felt his heart palpitate as he felt that something was amiss.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen picked up Ya¡¯er and charged into the sky.


    Just as Zhou Wen leaped into the air, he saw the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s body bounce up from the ground as though it had been struck by lightning. Lightning crackled around its body as it emitted smoke.


    Beneath the Earth Elemental Beast, the elderly alchemist tore out of the ground and stared coldly at Zhou Wen in midair. As though he had teleported, he grabbed at him.


    Zhou Wen unsummoned the injured Earth Elemental Beast immediately and turned the Civilized Country ring on his finger before rushing towards Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what had taken effect, but he couldn¡¯t be bothered to consider it. When he teleported out, he was already above the riverbed of Chess Mountain.


    The elderly alchemist ignored the pill furnaces and pills on the ground. With a flash, he vanished into the ground as though he was in pursuit.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that no matter how powerful his Earth Escape was, it was impossible for him to directly come out of the water and fly towards Chess Mountain along the river.


    To his surprise, the river below suddenly exploded with waves. The elderly alchemist¡¯s figure condensed from the waves and grabbed at Zhou Wen again.


    This fellow actually knows Water Escape¡­ Could it be that he¡¯s proficient in the Five-Elemental escape techniques? Zhou Wen hated encountering these fellows who were proficient in Dao techniques.


    An Epic Elegant Emperor¡¯s Avatar Puppet was already very difficult to deal with, but the elderly alchemist was much harder to deal with than that.


    Thankfully, the elderly alchemist wasn¡¯t powerful enough to interrupt teleportation. Zhou Wen teleported six times in a row and arrived near Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall. He could already clearly see the flower on the mountain wall.


    ¡°The Thearch, save me.¡± Zhou Wen felt that it was best to be honest in front of The Thearch. If she refused to appear, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to rush into Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    However, the flower on the mountain wall didn¡¯t react. As for the alchemist behind him, he had already caught up. All Zhou Wen could do was teleport again.


    This time, Zhou Wen had already arrived in front of the mountain wall when he teleported. However, the flower on the mountain wall remained motionless. Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon the Earth Elemental Beast. He planned on forcefully passing through the mountain wall and using Earth Escape to enter Deer Terrace Pavilion to lure the elderly alchemist to the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    The elderly alchemist seemed to be somewhat afraid of Chess Mountain, but when he saw that nothing happened around him, he chased after Zhou Wen.


    At that moment, the flower on the mountain wall suddenly raised its flower bud. A petal dropped and dissipated.


    As the petal vanished, the elderly alchemist who was charging at Zhou Wen suddenly came to a halt. He was like a horse that was galloping at full speed only to be nailed to the spot. From motion to stillness, there was no buffer.


    ¡°Wish spell! Which race are you from? I¡¯m Yin Talisman King of the Immortals. I didn¡¯t mean to offend you,¡± said the elderly alchemist as he looked at the flower on the mountain wall in horror.


    ¡°Do you think you are worthy of calling yourself an Immortal? You are just a lowly rat.¡± The Thearch¡¯s voice sounded from the flower.

 Chapter 899 - Confrontation

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I am indeed an Immortal¡­¡± The elder who called himself the Yin Talisman King already had the intention of retreating. He slowly retreated and wanted to use escape techniques to leave, but he realized that they were completely useless.


    ¡°Take another step and you shall perish right here,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    Yin Talisman King¡¯s expression changed, but he didn¡¯t dare move. He stood there and said with a bitter smile, ¡°I have no grudge with you, nor did I mean to offend you¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you worthy of having a grudge with me?¡± The Thearch said indifferently, ¡°Not to mention a thief like you, even the first Contractor, Yellow Emperor, wouldn¡¯t dare call himself an Immortal, much less a thing like you.¡±


    When Yin Talisman King heard that, fear flashed in his eyes. He hurriedly bowed and said, ¡°Please forgive me, Great One. I inherited the legacy of Yellow Emperor and thought of myself as part of the Yellow Emperor¡¯s lineage. I definitely didn¡¯t dare be disrespectful to the Immortals¡­¡±


    The Thearch said disdainfully, ¡°You can¡¯t even master the Yin Talisman Sutra and forcefully fused with a Guardian. If Yellow Emperor really has a successor like you, I¡¯m afraid he will be so angry that he will kill himself. Slice off your own arm and scram. If you dare to touch one of mine in the future, there will be no place for you in the world¡ªHeaven, Earth, or Hell.¡±


    Yin Talisman King gritted his teeth and slashed off his left arm. Without looking at the arm that had landed on the ground, he bowed in the direction of the flower and quickly left.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. He had originally planned on luring the Yin Talisman King here to let him engage in an internecine battle with The Thearch, but he never expected such an outcome.


    Yin Talisman King, who already had the ability of Terror transformation, didn¡¯t even dare resist. The Thearch only needed to say one sentence to make him slice off his arm.


    The flower looked at Zhou Wen and said sinisterly, ¡°Were you thinking of luring him to me so that he could fight me so that you could take advantage of the situation?¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately shivered and hurriedly said, ¡°Misunderstanding¡­ It¡¯s really a misunderstanding¡­ I was driven into a corner by him, so I had no choice but to seek your help. I¡¯m really indebted to you for saving my life. I have nothing to repay you with. I¡¯ll go back and prepare some new research equipment for you¡­¡±


    ¡°Try taking another step,¡± The Thearch said coldly. ¡°Do you think I really don¡¯t know what you did at the river?¡±


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop and look at The Thearch. ¡°Ahem, I just wanted to use your fame to scare him away. I never expected him to really dare come. By the way, The Thearch, why did you get me to come last time?¡±


    ¡°Who did you give that divine fruit to?¡± The Thearch asked.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon Doctor Darkness and say, ¡°I fed him the divine fruit. If I had known that you wanted it, I would have given it to you.¡±


    ¡°Cut the useless crap.¡± The Thearch sized up Doctor Darkness before saying to Zhou Wen, ¡°I saved your life today and helped you defeat a powerful enemy. How are you going to repay me?¡±


    ¡°Feel free to instruct me. As long as I can do it, I¡¯ll definitely do my best.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any room for negotiation.


    ¡°Use this Companion Beast of yours to help me do something. I won¡¯t treat you unfairly. Don¡¯t you want my blood essence? If you do it, I¡¯ll give you a drop of blood essence,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°The matter you mentioned must be very dangerous, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked carefully.


    ¡°It depends. This Companion Beast of yours can barely be considered up to the mark. With him doing this, the difficulty shouldn¡¯t be too high,¡± The Thearch answered casually.


    ¡°Can I know what you want me to do?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I want you to steal something from the dimension,¡± The Thearch said straightforwardly.


    ¡°Stealing? My eldest senior brother is especially good at stealing. Furthermore, he¡¯s an expert with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Shifting. No one in this world can match him. Why don¡¯t I introduce him to you?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    The Thearch smiled and said, ¡°Only your Companion Beast can steal it unless there¡¯s another Companion Beast that ate the divine fruit.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°Once I tell you what it is, you have to go,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I go now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course not,¡± The Thearch said firmly.


    ¡°Then tell me. What do you want my Doctor Darkness to steal?¡± Zhou Wen asked the flower.


    ¡°I want you to help me steal a bell¡­¡± The Thearch pondered for a moment before saying.


    ¡°What kind of bell? Which dimensional zone?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bell the size of a fist. It¡¯s made of bronze and looks like a small bell. There¡¯s the ancient word ¡®Shang¡¯ engraved on it. When you look at it, you will naturally know that it¡¯s it.¡± After a pause, The Thearch continued, ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say that the small bell is in the dimension, not a dimensional zone? Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be a need for a Companion Beast that has eaten a divine fruit.¡±


    ¡°The place where I took the divine fruit?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd.


    ¡°Not far from there.¡± The Thearch nodded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to go there,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Since I¡¯m getting you to go, I naturally have a way to ensure your safe return. You just need to follow the plan and steal that bell back,¡± The Thearch said.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and said, ¡°I can give it a try, but I need some time to prepare. Besides, you have to give me the drop of blood essence first.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Make an oath and I¡¯ll give it to you,¡± The Thearch said.


    Zhou Wen knew that if he swore, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as empty words. There would definitely be some restrictions if he swore in front of The Thearch.


    ¡°Alright, I swear that if I can¡¯t bring that bell back to you, I¡¯ll be severely condemned by my conscience¡­¡± Zhou Wen raised his hand and swore solemnly at the flower.


    Boom!


    A thunderclap suddenly sounded in the sky, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he couldn¡¯t bluff his way out of this oath, but to his surprise, The Thearch didn¡¯t make him swear again. She said meaningfully, ¡°Conscience is sometimes very important.¡±


    With that said, a crystalline drop of water suddenly flew out from the flower¡¯s stamen without waiting for Zhou Wen to say a word. It flew in front of Zhou Wen and floated in front of him.


    ¡°This is the blood essence you want. I¡¯ll give you a month to prepare. Come here in a month and I¡¯ll tell you the detailed plan,¡± The Thearch said.


    Could it be that The Thearch¡¯s true body is really this flower? Zhou Wen looked at the drop of blood essence in front of him and had his suspicions.


    He extended his hand towards the water droplet and secretly circulated the Demon God Catalog. The moment Zhou Wen¡¯s palm touched the water droplet, the water droplet seemed to be absorbed by a sponge. It seeped into his skin and was absorbed by the circulating Demon God Catalog.


    I actually managed to match it! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.

 Chapter 900 - Mirror Eyes

    Translator: CKtalon


    As the blood was absorbed, the Demon God Catalog in his body circulated crazily. His essence, vitality, and spirit also circulated with the Demon God Catalog.


    Essence, vitality, and spirit gradually gathered together, but they didn¡¯t form an independent Life Soul. Instead, they fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, making them gradually become crystal-clear.


    This transparency was abnormal. Before long, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes turned into what Torch Dragon looked like when it activated the Bright Torch Vision World. They were like two eye-shaped mirrors.


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes completely turned into mirrors, his Life Soul was finally condensed. Zhou Wen blinked and his eyes returned to normal.


    However, when he activated the Demon God Catalog, his eyes turned into mirrors again. From afar, he looked like a blind person without pupils.


    Could it be that the Demon God Catalog¡¯s ability is similar to Torch Dragon¡¯s? Zhou Wen found it odd, but he didn¡¯t dare look at his phone here.


    However, regardless of what Life Soul it was, the Demon God Catalog¡¯s ability to condense a Life Soul was enough for Zhou Wen. This Essence Energy Art was most likely used to strengthen his Constitution. It wouldn¡¯t overlap with the Qi Refinement Art, so the eight Essence Energy Arts was likely complete.


    ¡°The Thearch, I¡¯ll head back now. I¡¯ll come back in a month.¡± Zhou Wen left Chess Mountain with Ya¡¯er, but he was still thinking, Is The Thearch really Nine-Tailed Fox? Why do I feel that it¡¯s unlikely to be the case?


    After returning to school, Zhou Wen dared to take out his phone to look at the information on his new Life Soul.


    Life Soul: Mirror Eyes (Primordial Body)


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra that enhances Constitution also had an eye as a Life Soul, but it was a third eye. This Mirror Eyes overlaps with my eyes. I wonder what use it has. Zhou Wen switched on his phone, hoping to give it a try in-game to see if it had an ability similar to Bright Torch Vision World.


    Soon, Zhou Wen was disappointed. He used the Mirror Eyes to look at the dimensional creatures, but it was useless. It didn¡¯t produce the effects of Bright Torch Vision World.


    Not only was there no vision, there was no light emitted at all. When he used the Mirror Eyes to look at things, it was no different from ordinary eyes.


    It didn¡¯t have the ability of vision, lethality, petrification, or charm. Zhou Wen tried all the visual abilities he could think of, but they were useless. It was as though his Life Soul didn¡¯t exist.


    What¡¯s the use of this Life Soul? Could it be an ability that reflects the eyes? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he went to Medusa¡¯s Curse Demon Palace.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t kill Medusa. Instead, he used his eyes to meet Medusa¡¯s eyes.


    The girl, Medusa, activated her Eyes of Enticement. When Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes met hers, Zhou Wen, who should have been petrified, didn¡¯t show any abnormalities. Instead, after the girl-formed Medusa was slightly jolted, her body gradually petrified.


    It really works! Zhou Wen was delighted. Although it seemed to be a passive ability, there were many terrifying existences with Eye-type abilities. It would be a good Life Soul if it could restrain all Eye-type abilities.


    Medusa had only just begun petrifying when she activated her snake-haired demoness form. After she transformed into a demoness, she used the Eyes of Petrification to look at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen continued using Mirror Eyes to fend her off, and the snake demoness¡¯s eyes showed signs of petrification, but it wasn¡¯t obvious.


    Even the Eyes of Petrification can be reflected. I wonder what will happen when I face the Bright Torch Vision World? After killing the demoness and seeing that nothing useful dropped, Zhou Wen eagerly switched maps to Zhuolu. He wanted to head to the Torch Dragon temple to see if he could restrain Bright Torch Vision World.


    When Zhou Wen stood in front of Torch Dragon Youngling and fought it, he forced it to use the Bright Torch Vision World.


    Zhou Wen used Mirror Eyes to meet Torch Dragon Youngling¡¯s gaze. Zhou Wen clearly felt that he wasn¡¯t being sucked into the Vision World, but it only lasted for a short period of time. Then, the blood-colored avatar was sucked into the Vision World as the game screen went black.


    Although he failed to restrain the Bright Torch Vision World, he was rather pleasantly surprised.


    This was because Mirror Eyes had some influence on the Bright Torch Vision World. However, due to its weak strength, it was ultimately cracked by Bright Torch Vision World.


    If Mirror Eyes can reach a Perfect Body, or even advance to the Mythical stage in the future, it might be able to resist the Bright Torch Vision World. With this possibility in mind, Zhou Wen became excited again as he began studying how to evolve Mirror Eyes.


    However, despite trying many methods, Mirror Eyes didn¡¯t show any changes. Be it using Mirror Eyes to reflect the power of Eye-type powers or using Essence Energy to strengthen Mirror Eyes, the outcome was useless.


    Unable to find a way to advance Mirror Eyes for the time being, Zhou Wen was out of options. All he could do was go online and read up on some information regarding Eye-type powers. He hoped to obtain inspiration to find a way to advance Mirror Eyes.


    Zhou Wen worked hard for two days and came up with all sorts of ideas, but they were useless.


    It¡¯s not a solution if this continues. I should make a trip to the East Sea first. I can raise Glimmer and also see if I can kill that dimensional creature that¡¯s proficient in spatial teleportation. Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er along.


    Zhou Wen guessed that Yin Talisman King wouldn¡¯t come looking for trouble with him anytime soon. He didn¡¯t expect Yin Talisman King to be that afraid of The Thearch that he wouldn¡¯t dare cause trouble for him.


    However, Yin Talisman King had lost an arm and looked to be seriously injured. It wouldn¡¯t be easy for him to recover anytime soon.


    It¡¯s a pity that I didn¡¯t get Yin Talisman King to hand over the Yin Talisman Sutra. That¡¯s Yellow Emperor¡¯s Essence Energy Art. It must be extraordinary, Zhou Wen thought regretfully.


    The battle between Yellow Emperor and Chiyou back then was undoubtedly a battle between Guardians. Now, it was almost certain that Yellow Emperor and Chiyou had contracted Guardians. Furthermore, the Guardians they had contracted were definitely top-notch.


    From the conversation between Yin Talisman King and The Thearch, the Guardian that Yellow Emperor contracted should be the Guardian of the Immortals. Then, which race did Chiyou¡¯s Guardian come from? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare waste too much time on the way. He headed straight for the East Sea¡¯s city, hoping to resolve the dimensional creature as soon as possible. If a Companion Egg dropped, it was very likely that he could resolve the advancement problem of Civilized Country.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen was still extremely careful and wary of Yin Talisman King. Thankfully, Yin Talisman King didn¡¯t appear, saving Zhou Wen a lot of trouble.


    ¡­


    The Lu family¡¯s Sea Gazing City was a newly-established city after the dimensional storms. As there were some good dimensional zones nearby, many powerful families migrated here, turning the originally small fishing village into the present Sea Gazing City.


    The Lu family was a family that had migrated here. Now, the Lu family was basically the only major family in Sea Gazing City.

 Chapter 901 - Turtle Tomb

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the Lu family residence, the Lu family warmly welcomed him.


    However, when Zhou Wen mentioned the dimensional creature, the Lu family members who received him only gave him a general summary of the situation. Then, they told Zhou Wen that they hoped he could stay with them for two days. After everyone arrived, the Lu family¡¯s patriarch would personally take them to the place where the dimensional creature appeared.


    After inquiring, he learned that the An family wasn¡¯t the only one that had accepted the Lu family¡¯s invitation. The Xia and Zhang families had also sent people. There were also many famous freelance hunters.


    The Lu family planned on taking everyone over together. When the time came, whoever had the ability to kill the dimensional creature on the spot would receive the Lu family¡¯s offered conditions.


    Zhou Wen felt that this was fair. The Lu family only hoped to resolve the problem. As for who killed the dimensional creature, they didn¡¯t care.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on staying in the Lu family residence. Since they would set off in two days, he left the Lu family and planned on visiting the nearby dimensional zones. He might be able to find the tiny palm symbols.


    There were four or five famous dimensional zones in Sea Gazing City. The most famous one was half on land and half in the sea. That dimensional zone was named Turtle Tomb.


    In fact, Turtle Tomb wasn¡¯t a tomb, but a dimensional zone with countless turtles. It included a large area of beach and shallow sea.


    The reason for the name Turtle Tomb was related to an ancient myth.


    As ancient people didn¡¯t understand the principle of the water cycle, and only saw rivers flow into the sea day and night, as the seawater never overflowed, they therefore believed that there was a huge abyss to the east of the sea. All the seawater eventually flowed into the bottomless abyss.


    This abyss was known as the Sinkhole by the ancients.


    Above the East Sea, there were five immortal mountains¡ªDaiyu, Yuanqiao, Fanghu, Yingzhou, and Penglai. Due to the impact of the water, the immortal mountains constantly drifted in the direction of the Sinkhole, making both humans and deities worry.


    One of the Sea Gods was afraid that the immortal mountains would slip into the Sinkhole, so he sent fifteen gigantic sea turtles. Three sea turtles formed a group as they held back the five immortal mountains, preventing them from sliding into the Sinkhole.


    Everything was originally fine, but after countless years, a few giants came to the beach and used bait to capture six of the turtles. They also untied the ropes on the turtles¡¯ back.


    This resulted in a huge disaster. Daiyu and Yuanqiao lost the pull from the sea turtles and eventually sank into the Sinkhole. Only Fanghu, Yingzhou, and Penglai remained.


    Legend had it that Turtle Tomb was where the giants had cooked the six sea turtles. Furthermore, they had thrown the turtle shells into the seaside. At high tide, the huge turtle shells would be submerged. And when the tide receded, the turtle shells would be revealed.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the veracity of the legend, but in Turtle Tomb, large swaths of reefs would appear after the tide fell. They were like tiny islands numbering a total of six. On each island, there were many different types of dimensional sea turtles.


    All the sea turtles in Turtle Tomb had one Companion Form¡ªarmor. It had extremely strong defense. Among Companion Beasts of the same level, the sea turtles¡¯ defense was considered top-notch.


    Some special types of turtle armor had insane defense.


    Furthermore, it produced a very famous Essence Energy Skill, Turtle Breath. It was available from the Mortal stage to the Epic stage. After cultivating Turtle Breath, one could temporarily stop their heartbeat and breathing. The higher the level, the longer Turtle Breath could last. It was a necessary skill for faking death.


    Liu Yun had faked his death before. He had used Turtle Breath, and it was at the Epic stage.


    Of course, the true use of Turtle Breath wasn¡¯t to feign death, but to converge one¡¯s aura. It prevented dimensional creatures, that relied on aura to determine where humans were, from detecting humans. The effect was equivalent to invisibility.


    As for the Mythical Turtle Breath, legend had it that someone had once had it drop, but no one had seen it.


    It wasn¡¯t even noon when Zhou Wen arrived at Turtle Tomb. From afar, he could see many people fighting the sea turtles on the beach. And not far away, he could see several huge reef islands. There were fewer humans on them.


    The sea turtles on the beach weren¡¯t of high levels. They were basically at the Mortal stage. Most of the people who came here to hunt sea turtles were people who hadn¡¯t cultivated for long.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in the sea turtles here, but he continued walking slowly along the beach as he searched for the tiny palm symbol.


    Before coming, An Sheng had told Zhou Wen a legend. Some people said that if the islands formed from the six turtle shells floated away one day, they would definitely head to the Sinkhole to continue fulfilling their mission. Following them might lead to the Daiyu and Yuanqiao immortal islands that had sunk into the Sinkhole.


    On the beach of the turtle tomb, two men saw Zhou Wen. One of them said in puzzlement, ¡°Why is he here?¡±


    ¡°The An family likely sent him to hunt that dimensional creature and help the An family obtain the rights to Fiend Dust,¡± another man said.


    These two men weren¡¯t real men. Instead, they were Uesugi Nao and the female guard who had used Body Transformation. It wasn¡¯t convenient for them to use their identities to visit Sea City, so they could only use Body Transformation to change their appearances and come to Sea City incognito.


    Just like Zhou Wen, they had to stay in Sea Gazing City temporarily because of the Lu family. Since they had nothing to do, they came to Turtle Tomb to take a look.


    This was an open dimensional zone. Anyone could come here without any identification. They naturally didn¡¯t fancy the sea turtles on the beach. Just as they were about to head to Turtle Island, they unexpectedly saw Zhou Wen.


    Uesugi Nao rolled her eyes and said to the female guard, ¡°Let¡¯s go over and greet him.¡±


    ¡°Why invite trouble?¡± The female guard was somewhat unwilling.


    ¡°He¡¯s our competitor by coming here. Isn¡¯t it more advantageous for us to find out more about our competitor? Don¡¯t worry, I have a way to obtain information from him,¡± Uesugi Nao said as she walked towards Zhou Wen.


    Although the female guard didn¡¯t agree with Uesugi Nao¡¯s actions, she still followed.


    ¡°Hello, are you Zhou Wen?¡± Uesugi Nao approached Zhou Wen and greeted him with a man¡¯s voice.


    Zhou Wen had already sensed that someone was looking at him. He had discovered Uesugi Nao and the female guard, but he didn¡¯t recognize them. He only felt that one of them had a somewhat familiar gaze.


    Seeing them come over and greet him, Zhou Wen looked at them in puzzlement and said, ¡°I¡¯m Zhou Wen. Who are you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really Zhou Wen. That¡¯s great. We are your fans and especially admire you. I never expected to meet you here.¡± Uesugi Nao pretended to be excited as she took out a notebook and pen and handed them to Zhou Wen. ¡°Can I have your autograph?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    1


    His Explosive Fiend Man had the Death List skill. By signing it, it was equivalent to giving his life to the Explosive Fiend Man. Ever since he learned of such a skill, Zhou Wen basically stopped signing autographs, much less giving autographs to strangers.

 Chapter 902 - Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle

    Zhou Wen quickly left without looking back. Uesugi Nao stood there in a daze with a notebook and pen.


    From Uesugi Nao¡¯s point of view, Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction was clearly unreasonable. Even if he wasn¡¯t willing to give his fans autographs, a normal person wouldn¡¯t have such an attitude.


    ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go,¡± the female guard said to Uesugi Nao.


    ¡°I know the reason. Go back now. I have my ways,¡± Uesugi Nao said to the female guard as she walked in another direction.


    When she reached an empty spot, Uesugi Nao returned to her original appearance and changed back into female clothes before heading to the beach again.


    Although Uesugi Nao had never liked men who treated women as accessories, she had to admit that women had a huge advantage in certain aspects.


    Ordinary people might be impatient with male fans who clamored for autographs, but they would be much more patient towards female fans, especially beautiful and cute ones.


    Uesugi Nao was very confident in her appearance and figure. It was much better than her transformation as Xu Ai.


    Since I have the qualities, it¡¯s not a bad thing to occasionally use them, Uesugi Nao thought as she walked up the beach and walked towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was still strolling on the beach, his main goal to search for the tiny palm symbol. As he walked, he felt someone watching him.


    He turned around and looked at the source of his gaze, but he realized that it wasn¡¯t the two men from before. Instead, it was a beautiful girl who looked less than twenty years old. There was a hint of charm in her beauty. She was a rare beauty.


    Seeing Zhou Wen staring at her, Uesugi Nao revealed a charming smile. From her point of view, it was a very advantageous weapon.


    Zhou Wen stared at Uesugi Nao¡¯s eyes and found them somewhat familiar. However, it was difficult to tell with just one look. He wanted to take a closer look to determine where he had seen a woman with such eyes.


    Uesugi Nao thought to herself, Indeed, men are all the same.


    With this in mind, Uesugi Nao walked towards Zhou Wen. Her beautiful hair fluttered under the sea breeze as her thin clothes clung tightly to her body, revealing her exquisite figure.


    Such a style was comparable to a model on the runway. It was more natural and delightful, something that models lacked.


    ¡°My name is Hai¡¯er. I seem to have seen you somewhere before. Can you tell me your name?¡± Uesugi Nao came in front of Zhou Wen, tidied her hair, and said to him with a smile.


    ¡°You remembered wrongly. I don¡¯t know you.¡± Zhou Wen thought carefully and indeed, he didn¡¯t know this woman. With that said, he turned around and left.


    Uesugi Nao was slightly taken aback. Seeing that Zhou Wen had already turned around and left, she calmed herself down and chased after him. She stood in front of him and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t know me. I think you¡¯re very special. Can we get to know each other?¡±


    ¡°No, please make way.¡± Zhou Wen brushed Uesugi Nao¡¯s hand aside and glanced at the reef behind her before walking to the other side.


    Uesugi Nao stood there in a daze for quite some time. By the time she snapped to her senses, Zhou Wen had already walked far away.


    Is this guy¡­ a woman who used Body Transformation? Uesugi Nao thought with a strange expression.


    Zhou Wen circled the beach but didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. Instead, he killed a few sea turtles that crawled out of the sea.


    Unfortunately, they were all at the Mortal stage, so nothing dropped.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and rode it towards the islands in the sea. The six islands in Turtle Tomb could only be seen when the tide receded.


    According to the information Zhou Wen had obtained, there would occasionally be Mythical sea turtles on the six turtle shell islands, but there were very few of them. Instead, there were quite a number of Legendary and Epic sea turtles.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in ordinary sea turtles. He mainly wanted to head to the island to see if there was a tiny palm symbol.


    There were also people hunting sea turtles on Turtle Shell Island. These people were clearly much stronger. Most of them were at the Legendary stage, and occasionally, Epic existences could be seen.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in them. He circled the first Turtle Shell Island and didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly saw a behemoth rush out from the seawater beside him.


    It was a sea turtle that was the size of an elephant. The turtle shell looked about the same as the typical iron-armored turtle. It was black, but it looked darker.


    Furthermore, the patterns on the turtle¡¯s back were golden. They were like golden threads that outlined a strange pattern on the turtle shell.


    ¡°Mythical Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle!¡± Not far away, someone exclaimed.


    His shout attracted the attention of the people nearby. Some people retreated the moment they saw the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle, while others rushed over.


    Those who dared to rush over were basically at the Epic stage.


    As the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle wasn¡¯t fast, Epic creatures had the chance to dodge. Furthermore, with several Epic entities attacking from different directions, it made it difficult for the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle to deal any damage.


    The sea turtles in Turtle Tomb had very strong defenses, but their combat strength wasn¡¯t very strong. This was probably the only Mythical creature that could be bullied by a few Epic entities.


    However, the Epic humans¡¯ offensive strength was useless against the Black Iron Gold Thread Tortoise. All sorts of Essence Energy Skills and Companion Beasts¡¯ abilities struck it, producing metallic clangs, but they hardly left a mark.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side for a while but didn¡¯t immediately attack the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle.


    Uesugi Nao also went to the island. When she saw the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle, she had an idea. I can use the excuse of competing with Zhou Wen for the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle to test his strength.


    After seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique, Uesugi Nao didn¡¯t dare underestimate him despite believing that she had the Great Skyfiend Guardian that made her better than Zhou Wen.


    Uesugi Nao felt that Zhou Wen might be a key opponent if she wanted to obtain the Lu family¡¯s Fiend Dust rights. Furthermore, Zhou Wen represented the An family. It would be best if she could think of a way to get Zhou Wen to quit before the dimensional creature hunting began.


    I might not be as good as you in sword arts, but you might not be able to beat me in actual combat. As Uesugi Nao thought about it, she approached the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle.


    The Epic humans clearly didn¡¯t have a good way to deal with the Black Iron Gold Thread Tortoise. Their attacks couldn¡¯t penetrate its defense.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen gained a general understanding of the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle. This Mythical creature basically had all its talent in defense. It was very weak in other aspects. As long as he could break through its defense, it would be very easy to kill it.

 Chapter 903 - Fighting Uesugi Nao

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Battle God Halberd that had recently dropped and stabbed at the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle¡¯s head.


    The Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle¡¯s turtle shell was the hardest. Comparatively speaking, its extended limbs and head didn¡¯t have such strong defense. The Golden Battle God Halberd also had Unstoppable. With this strike, it was very likely that it could pierce through its neck.


    However, just as the Golden Battle God Halberd was about to pierce the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle¡¯s neck, a blade beam suddenly slashed out and struck the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    The blade beam was fast and ruthless. It actually sent the Golden Battle God Halberd in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand to the side, preventing him from stabbing the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw a beautiful girl from where the blade beam flew over. She held a strangely-shaped narrow blade in her hand. Zhou Wen remembered that Sei Gasakai had used a similar blade. However, they also called such a blade a sword.


    ¡°Why did you attack me?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown when he saw that the girl was the girl who had spoken to him previously. She seemed to be named Hai¡¯er.


    Uesugi Nao held the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and said, ¡°It¡¯s rare to chance upon a Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle. Of course, it belongs to whoever has the ability. Is that wrong?¡±


    The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was also known as the Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi. It was formed by Orochi.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he suddenly thrust the Golden Battle God Halberd at Uesugi Nao.


    Uesugi Nao was delighted as she didn¡¯t hesitate to welcome him with her Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi. She thought to herself, Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll let you know how powerful I am today.


    Just as the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was about to collide with the Golden Battle God Halberd, she suddenly heard a bell ring. Uesugi Nao immediately felt her head buzz as she felt dizzy for a moment.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to deal with Uesugi Nao. The Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed into the head of the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle and killed it. Then, it lifted its massive body and threw it into the air.


    The Golden Divine Light at the tip of the Golden Battle God Halberd quickly streaked across the turtle¡¯s abdomen, slicing it open. A dimensional crystal dropped and Zhou Wen grabbed it. It was an Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    By the time Uesugi Nao recovered from her dizziness, the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle¡¯s corpse had landed on the ground. As for the people who had been attacking the Black Gold Thread Turtle, they had also recovered from their dizziness and were dumbfounded.


    A young-looking youth had actually killed the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle in the blink of an eye. It was truly shocking.


    Uesugi Nao was alarmed and furious. She was alarmed because if Zhou Wen had attacked her while she was dizzy, he might not have been able to kill her, but he would have made her suffer quite a bit. She was furious because Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to treat her as an opponent at all. He had only used a feint to kill the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle. He had been fooling her from the beginning.


    ¡°Leave the dimensional crystal behind.¡± Uesugi Nao didn¡¯t dare underestimate Zhou Wen again. She slashed at Zhou Wen with the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi at lightning speed as the blade beam tore out like a wheel.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull beneath Zhou Wen rang the bell again. Almost at the same time, the Golden Battle God Halberd in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand stabbed at Uesugi Nao¡¯s heart.


    Hum!


    Uesugi Nao was once again stunned, but the moment the Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed her chest, her body vanished. What the Golden Battle God Halberd stabbed was only her robe.


    Having escaped her clothes, Uesugi Nao was wrapped in white clothes. Only her eyes were exposed, making her look like she was wearing an ancient ninja costume.


    Uesugi Nao held the blade with both hands and slashed down with astonishing speed. The blade beam descended like a wheel.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen brandished the Golden Battle God Halberd and blocked Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade beam and blade. Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade left a mark on the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    What a sharp blade. It¡¯s probably even sharper than the Golden Overlord Sword. Zhou Wen was somewhat interested in the blade in Uesugi Nao¡¯s hand, but he didn¡¯t know that it was transformed from Orochi.


    Uesugi Nao landed on the ground as white fog emitted from her body. She suddenly vanished and when she appeared again, she was already behind Zhou Wen. She slashed down again.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s cooldown was up. It rang the bell again.


    Uesugi Nao had already predicted the bell¡¯s ringing. At the same time the bell rang, her body suddenly exploded, turning into a mist that vanished, preventing Zhou Wen from attacking her while she was dizzy.


    By the time she appeared again, she had already appeared beside Zhou Wen. She slashed at the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s leg with her Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


    Zhou Wen brandished his halberd to block Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade. Uesugi Nao did a roll and disappeared into the sand.


    Suddenly, the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi stabbed out of the sand, straight at the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s abdomen.


    An escape technique? It¡¯s a little similar, but it¡¯s also a little different. Zhou Wen put away the Great Might Vajra Bull and leaped into the air with Ya¡¯er in his arms. He dodged Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade beam and retracted the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    1


    The Golden Battle God Halberd blocked twice, but it had two blade marks left on it. If it was slashed a few more times, it would probably have snapped.


    Uesugi Nao swept her blade upwards. The blade beams were so fast that they seemed to have no shadows. Each strike was faster and more ruthless.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure was elegant. No matter how fast and ruthless Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade techniques were, no matter how sinister they were, they couldn¡¯t touch Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes.


    How could a Mythical Transcendent Flying Immortal be struck so easily?


    Uesugi Nao pushed her skills to the limit. She constantly changed positions and used different skills, but nothing worked.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to observe Uesugi Nao¡¯s every move and realized that although her skill was very similar to the Five-Element escape technique, there were still some differences.


    The Five-Element escape technique was to assimilate one¡¯s body with the five elements. It required one to possess the physique of the five elements. Furthermore, her technique didn¡¯t assimilate her body with the five elements. It only enveloped the power of the five elements. Such an escape technique could be used for short distances, but it definitely couldn¡¯t be used for long-distance escaping.


    Furthermore, her body was still present. She hadn¡¯t completely assimilated the five elements. Even when using the escape technique, Truth Listener could still hear her.


    Once Uesugi Nao escaped into the sand again, Zhou Wen used his finger as a sword and stabbed out a sword beam. It was the first move of the Thirteen Swords of the Peach Blossom Valley¡¯s white-robed man¡ªImmortal Guides the Way.


    1


    Uesugi Nao was just about to rush out when she saw the sword beam land. It was too late to change positions, so she could only brandish her blade to block Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beam.


    The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi was very sharp and it forcefully sliced open the sword aura from the middle. However, to Uesugi Nao¡¯s horror, the sword aura that was split into two didn¡¯t disperse. It continued to stab at her, and Uesugi Nao no longer had the strength to resist.


    Boom!


    A crazy power surged out from Uesugi Nao¡¯s body like a fountain.

 Chapter 904 - Punching Great Skyfiend

    Translator: CKtalon


    A black armor appeared on Uesugi Nao¡¯s body. When the sword beam struck the armor, it failed to injure it. Instead, the sword beam completely shattered.


    Great Skyfiend? Don¡¯t tell me my luck is that good. I just randomly encountered someone, and she¡¯s actually the contractor of Great Skyfiend? Zhou Wen immediately recognized the armor on Uesugi Nao¡¯s body. It was identical to Great Skyfiend on the cube¡¯s rankings.


    Uesugi Nao was forced to use Great Skyfiend, so she no longer hid it. She leaped up from the sand. With the augmentation of the Great Skyfiend armor, Uesugi Nao had the speed of a Mythical creature. She was much faster than before.


    The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi slashed at Zhou Wen like a phantom. It was so fast that almost no one could see the trajectory of the blade. With a flash of light, the blade was about to hit Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique was elegant like a flying immortal. It didn¡¯t seem fast, but he dodged the blade by a hair¡¯s breadth. The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi brushed past his ear.


    Gale Slash¡­ Multi-Slash¡­ Samsara Slash¡­ Boomerang Wind Slash¡­


    Uesugi Nao used her blade techniques again with the augmentation of the Great Skyfiend armor.


    However, this time, due to her Mythical Speed and Strength, her blade techniques seemed to have activated an acceleration switch. They were unbelievably fast.


    Wherever the blade beam passed, terrifying ditches appeared on the surrounding reefs. The humans on the island had long fled in horror. Even the sea turtles on the island scrambled to escape into the sea.


    ¡°That¡¯s Great Skyfiend! Great Skyfiend who¡¯s ranked first!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, it¡¯s really Great Skyfiend. I think I saw an extremely beautiful girl before she transformed into Great Skyfiend. That girl should be Uesugi Nao, right?¡±


    ¡°I never expected the owner of Great Skyfiend to be such a beautiful girl. She¡¯s just a little too ruthless. That blade technique is really lethal!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s the young man fighting Great Skyfiend? How impressive. He actually managed to dodge Great Skyfiend¡¯s attack with just his movement technique.¡±


    ¡°I think he has no choice but to dodge. He has no chance of retaliating.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Look at that young man. He¡¯s still holding a little girl in his arms. Look at how calm that little girl is. If that young man is really dodging in a sorry state, he would definitely scare the little girl in his arms. The little girl¡¯s calmness can only mean one thing. The young man is completely composed.¡±


    1


    ¡°Speaking of which, who is that young man? He¡¯s so young. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s not even twenty, right? To be able to fight Great Skyfiend without using a Companion Beast is a little terrifying.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s name and looks were well known among the six families and some wealthy families, but there weren¡¯t many ordinary citizens who knew him.


    If someone from the six families or the bureau were here, they wouldn¡¯t be surprised to see this scene.


    Zhou Wen used the Godfiend Life Providence and Glimmer Life Soul to complement Transcendent Flying Immortal, pushing his movement technique to its limits.


    Although Uesugi Nao had the augmentation of Great Skyfiend and her Speed and Strength had reached the Mythical stage, she still failed to touch Zhou Wen.


    Impossible¡­ I have Great Skyfiend augmenting me. My speed is already at the Mythical stage. He¡¯s only at the Epic stage. There¡¯s such a huge difference in basic Speed. How can he dodge my attacks time and time again? Uesugi Nao found it unbelievable.


    She had always felt that unless it was a human who had contracted a Guardian, no one could resist her after she obtained Great Skyfiend.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance shattered the pride in her heart. Ignoring everything else, Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique was actually able to match her Mythical speed. She found it unacceptable.


    Uesugi Nao couldn¡¯t accept such an outcome. She constantly stimulated Great Skyfiend¡¯s strength, allowing her movement techniques and blade techniques to become faster and faster. She had to defeat Zhou Wen no matter what.


    However, her blade still couldn¡¯t touch Zhou Wen. She could clearly sense that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t as fast as her, but her blade was always dodged by him.


    As Zhou Wen dodged Uesugi Nao¡¯s attack, he observed Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities.


    His movement technique was indeed not as fast as Uesugi Nao¡¯s, but at least Uesugi Nao wasn¡¯t so fast that he couldn¡¯t react.


    Zhou Wen was best at movement techniques. Transcendent Flying Immortal had been trained by him from when it was a low-level skill. Be it technique or compatibility with Zhou Wen, they were incomparable to other skills.


    Amidst the terrifying blade shadows, Zhou Wen tapped his toes and floated in the air like a fallen leaf dancing in the wind. No matter how fast Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade techniques were, they couldn¡¯t touch him.


    Speed should be at the top of the Mythical stage, so is Strength. Although I don¡¯t know what Great Skyfiend¡¯s skills are, just from his augmentation of Uesugi Nao¡¯s stats, he¡¯s undoubtedly an extremely powerful Guardian. Zhou Wen deduced Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities to gain more information.


    However, Zhou Wen also knew that Uesugi Nao had only used Great Skyfiend¡¯s stats and hadn¡¯t used his abilities. The strength of a Guardian depended on their abilities.


    Zhou Wen kept waiting to see what abilities Great Skyfiend had. What were his Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and skills?


    However, Uesugi Nao never used Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities. She only wanted to use her blade techniques to defeat Zhou Wen.


    From the looks of it, I have to give her some pressure so that she can use Great Skyfiend¡¯s powers. With a thought, Zhou Wen watched as Uesugi Nao slashed out again. This time, he didn¡¯t dodge.


    A roar alarmed the world as Tyrant Behemoth descended out of nowhere and transformed into a boxing glove that appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Zhou Wen brandished his fist to meet Uesugi Nao¡¯s Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


    Tyrant Behemoth! Uesugi Nao¡¯s pupils constricted. She never expected Zhou Wen to be Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner.


    In the last cube ranking battle, Orochi had been defeated by Tyrant Behemoth and nearly devoured by it.


    It wasn¡¯t just Uesugi Nao. Everyone watching the battle on the beach also saw the terrifying light and roar before Tyrant Behemoth condensed into a boxing glove.


    However, before they could react, Zhou Wen¡¯s fist had already struck Uesugi Nao¡¯s blade.


    Boom!


    With Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength augmentation, the power of Zhou Wen¡¯s punch was extremely terrifying at the Mythical stage.


    The extremely sharp Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi slammed into Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s boxing glove. Not only did it fail to slice open the boxing glove, but it was also sent flying by the shockwave. Uesugi Nao also retreated a few steps from the terrifying force. The reef beneath her feet shattered as shocking cracks appeared.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, so it¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner. It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s so strong.¡±


    ¡°So Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner is from our East District. He¡¯s so young!¡±


    ¡°Haha, I knew it. Great Skyfiend isn¡¯t anything impressive. It¡¯s just that the previous top four didn¡¯t participate in the battle. Otherwise, how could she have arrogantly taken first place? The people overseas are this and nothing more.¡±

 Chapter 905 - Won’t Do It a Third Time

    Uesugi Nao stared intently at Zhou Wen as both new and old grudges surged in her heart. She extended her hand and beckoned for the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi that had flown out to rush forward to fight Zhou Wen again.


    Suddenly!


    A strange bird-like cry sounded from afar. When Uesugi Nao heard the sound, she glared hatefully at Zhou Wen. White mist exploded from her body before she vanished.


    ¡°What Great Skyfiend? That¡¯s all? She was sent running with one punch. She even said on the cube that she wanted to kill Tyrant Behemoth to avenge her humiliation. Is she sure she¡¯s not trying to become a joke?¡±


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth is still the best. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner is also powerful.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone know who that young man is? Is he from the six families?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ He¡¯s not from the six families¡­¡± At that moment, a middle-aged man held back his excitement and muttered to himself.


    On his shoulder was a high-speed camera. He had already taken a video of Zhou Wen¡¯s battle with Uesugi Nao.


    He was a reporter. He had originally come to Turtle Island to try his luck and see if he could encounter the break-out creature that had recently wreaked havoc nearby. To his surprise, he happened to capture this battle.


    As a news reporter, he was rather well-informed and happened to know Zhou Wen. After all, many people knew that Zhou Wen was Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. He only knew about Zhou Wen because of this matter.


    He originally wanted to interview Zhou Wen, but after Uesugi Nao escaped, Zhou Wen quickly vanished.


    The reporter had no choice but to rush back. After getting his colleagues to process the footage, he quickly wrote the news article and posted it along with the footage.


    Ever since Great Skyfiend took first place on the rankings, its ranking had been unmoved, but not many people had seen her fight.


    When this video was released, it quickly caused a huge commotion. It wasn¡¯t just the average person. Even the six families wanted to study Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities. This video became precious information for studying Great Skyfiend.


    The ordinary citizens didn¡¯t care about Great Skyfiend. They only cared about two things.


    Zhou Wen was Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s master, and Great Skyfiend was sent flying by Zhou Wen¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth punch.


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth is really too powerful. Unfortunately, in the last ranking battle, Tyrant Behemoth didn¡¯t have the chance to challenge Tai Sui. Otherwise, Tyrant Behemoth might have been first.¡±


    ¡°I thought Great Skyfiend was something impressive, but it turns out he¡¯s nothing much. He couldn¡¯t even defeat Tyrant Behemoth, who was ranked fourth. If he were to encounter the first Tai Sui, wouldn¡¯t he have no chance of escaping?¡±


    ¡°Those fellows overseas always think that they are very strong. From the looks of it, they are really weak.¡±


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner seems to be Zhou Wen. I remember that he¡¯s Wang Mingyuan¡¯s student.¡±


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan is Wang Mingyuan, and Zhou Wen is Zhou Wen. It¡¯s completely different. I heard that Zhou Wen is from Luoyang¡¯s An family.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that he will be like Wang Mingyuan. When that happens, our Federation will be in an even more difficult situation.¡±


    ¡­


    Uesugi Nao nearly vomited blood when she saw these reports.


    If her female guard hadn¡¯t used the emergency signal to make her retreat, she wouldn¡¯t have retreated without a fight. In the end, it was unknown which b*stard had created the video as though she had fled after being sent flying with a punch. The editing was clearly biased towards Zhou Wen and it was deliberately edited to give such an illusion.


    B*stard, don¡¯t let me know who edited this video. I¡¯ll skin him alive and pull out his bones. Uesugi Nao was furious.


    She never expected Zhou Wen to be Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner. That already left her depressed, but to be written in such a manner as though she was afraid of Zhou Wen and Tyrant Behemoth made her feel indignant.


    ¡°Miss, you shouldn¡¯t have used Great Skyfiend at that time. Now that Great Skyfiend has been exposed ahead of time, we are at a disadvantage,¡± said the female guard.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing disadvantageous about it. Great Skyfiend has the strength to kill the break-out creature. This is a fact that can never be changed,¡± Uesugi Nao said.


    The female guard said, ¡°Although that¡¯s the case, everyone knows that you and Great Skyfiend are here. I¡¯m afraid that the An family will suspect that you are related to the death of the break-out creature¡­¡±


    Uesugi Nao naturally knew that she shouldn¡¯t have exposed Great Skyfiend. She said helplessly, ¡°I didn¡¯t want to either. I was forced to do so back then. If I didn¡¯t use Great Skyfiend, I¡¯m afraid I would have been heavily injured by Zhou Wen. I underestimated his strength. I never expected him to be Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s master.¡±


    The female guard pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Miss, you end up suffering every time you encounter Zhou Wen. Perhaps his Life Providence jinxes you. I think it¡¯s best not to have too much contact with him in the future.¡±


    Uesugi Nao said, ¡°You¡¯re thinking too much. I won¡¯t be careless next time. I¡¯ll use Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities with all my might. Even if he has Tyrant Behemoth, he¡¯s not my match.¡±


    The female guard still wanted to say something, but Uesugi Nao continued, ¡°Besides, even if I avoid him, he¡¯s here for the break-out creatures and the Fiend Dust. How can I avoid him?¡±


    The female guard thought that it made sense, but she still exhorted Uesugi Nao. ¡°Miss, I have a nagging feeling that this Zhou Wen is somewhat odd. He has a bad influence on you. If you encounter him again, you have to be careful.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I definitely won¡¯t make the same mistake a third time,¡± Uesugi Nao said through gritted teeth.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to see what abilities Great Skyfiend had, but Uesugi Nao had escaped. This left him somewhat disappointed.


    Although Slaughterer had already advanced to a Perfect Body and didn¡¯t need to kill Guardians, killing every Guardian made sense. From the perspective of humans and Earth, Guardians were undoubtedly invaders.


    Unfortunately, I didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. I wonder if I¡¯ll have the chance to visit Turtle¡¯s Tomb again. Zhou Wen felt a little regretful.


    He definitely couldn¡¯t go to Turtle Tomb for the next few days. It was unknown if he could return after killing the break-out creature.


    Thankfully, it¡¯s not completely fruitless. Zhou Wen took out the Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle¡¯s dimensional crystal and used his phone to take a picture.


    Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle Crystal: Requires 41 Constitution, 41 Essence Energy, Essence Energy-type Essence Energy Art.


    It¡¯s the stats requirement of Constitution and Essence Energy again. This isn¡¯t difficult. After I have 41 Constitution, I can absorb it. It probably won¡¯t take long. Zhou Wen stored the crystal in the Chaos Bead.


    He found a hotel nearby and when the hotel owner, who was reading the news on his phone, saw Zhou Wen, he looked at the photo on the news before looking at him. He immediately pointed at him in surprise and shouted, ¡°You¡¯re Zhou Wen!¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he looked at the news on his phone. He realized that he had become famous because of his battle with Great Skyfiend.


    The boss warmly welcomed Zhou Wen and even arranged the best room in the hotel for him.


    ¡°Boss, can you give me a discount?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the room prices.


    ¡°Anything will do. If you are unhappy, you can even beat me up, but no discounts,¡± the boss said firmly.


    ¡°Then change it to a standard room for me,¡± Zhou Wen said.

 Chapter 906 - Sudden Challenge

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the end, the boss gave Zhou Wen a 20% discount and allowed him to stay in the VIP room. However, even with a 20% discount, it was still much more expensive than the standard room.


    Zhou Wen looked around the VIP room. It was as though it had been a long time since someone had lived there. There was even dust on the television.


    The boss wiped the television in embarrassment and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°My idol, feel free to stay. Breakfast is also provided. It¡¯s quite a sumptuous meal.¡±


    Zhou Wen took a look and saw that the blanket was clean, so he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    After the boss left, Zhou Wen took out milk and other food from the chaos space. After heating it up for Ya¡¯er, he got her to eat some nutritious food.


    Now was the time for her to grow. She grew a little every day. It showed after some time that she was outgrowing her shoes and clothes.


    It was a magical feeling to watch Ya¡¯er grow up day by day.


    He switched on his phone and read the news regarding him. The discussion on the Internet was intense, but he wasn¡¯t the focus of discussion. Instead, it was Tyrant Behemoth.


    As the reporter only managed to record the second half of the battle by the time he arrived, and it had been deliberately edited, it looked like Zhou Wen was hugging Ya¡¯er and gracefully dodging Uesugi Nao¡¯s attacks. Then, he summoned Tyrant Behemoth and transformed it into a boxing glove before sending Uesugi Nao flying with her blade.


    Most people were amazed at Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s strength. The East District people were glad that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner was from the East District, while the West District people claimed that Zhou Wen was only able to defeat Great Skyfiend because of the powerful Companion Beast from their district.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s popularity was much higher than its master, Zhou Wen. This made Zhou Wen extremely indignant. Do these people have any taste? If I hadn¡¯t used it well, what¡¯s the use of Tyrant Behemoth no matter how strong it is? If I really let it fight alone, it wouldn¡¯t have been able to touch Uesugi Nao, alright?


    Zhou Wen had only said it in passing. He didn¡¯t really care about it.


    Just as he was about to close the window and continue grinding dungeons, he suddenly saw that the news that was playing was being interrupted.


    ¡°Good evening, viewers. I¡¯m Reporter Yourong from the Imperial Capital TV Station. I¡¯m now live in front of the Imperial Capital¡¯s cube. Just a moment ago, a new creature challenged the first ranked Great Skyfiend. From the cube¡¯s screen, we can see that we are no strangers to the Companion Beast that has challenged Great Skyfiend. It¡¯s the Heavy-Armored Titan that once challenged Primordial Sword Immortal in the previous ranking battle. Heavy-Armored Titan is very similar to Tyrant Behemoth. They are both Companion Beasts that focus on Strength and Constitution. Shortly after Great Skyfiend was defeated by Tyrant Behemoth, Heavy-Armored Titan suddenly challenged Great Skyfiend. Its goal is obvious¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was amused when he saw the news. Some people really believed that they could defeat Great Skyfiend and Uesugi Nao with just Strength and Constitution.


    In fact, during Zhou Wen¡¯s battle with Great Skyfiend, Uesugi Nao hadn¡¯t used Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy for Tyrant Behemoth to defeat her.


    I wonder if Uesugi Nao will accept the challenge. Zhou Wen decided not to switch off his phone. As he played the news on his phone, he used his mysterious phone to grind dungeons.


    Just as he finished grinding the 81 pill essences on Pill Furnace Mountain, he heard the excited voice of Reporter Yourong from the phone. ¡°Dear viewers¡­ Dear viewers¡­ Great Skyfiend has accepted the challenge and is entering the arena¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen put down the mysterious phone and looked at the live broadcast. Indeed, he saw Uesugi Nao, who was wearing Great Skyfiend armor, slowly descend into the cube arena in the void.


    This is going to be good. Perhaps I¡¯ll be able to see a portion of Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities. Zhou Wen could tell from Uesugi Nao¡¯s aura that she was definitely in a bad mood. This spelled bad news for Heavy-Armored Titan.


    The owner of Heavy-Armored Titan clearly didn¡¯t think so. He felt that since Tyrant Behemoth could defeat Great Skyfiend, and although Heavy-Armored Titan wasn¡¯t as strong as Tyrant Behemoth, his defense was more outstanding than Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t defeat Great Skyfiend, he could use the defense of Heavy-Armored Titan to force Great Skyfiend to use some abilities and employ other means. It would be very helpful in researching Great Skyfiend.


    The moment Great Skyfiend entered the arena, Heavy-Armored Titan roared. Its heavy armor lit up as red magma-like demonic patterns appeared on its surface. With the augmentation of the demonic patterns, the already powerful defense of the Heavy-Armored Titan became even crazier.


    In the previous ranking battle, the powerful Primordial Sword Immortal failed to break through its defense when the Heavy-Armored Titan used this move.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    After three consecutive roars, two halos appeared beneath the feet of Heavy-Armored Titan. A white light barrier also appeared over his body. One could roughly guess that it was a skill that augmented his body.


    After doing all of this, Heavy-Armored Titan suddenly charged towards Uesugi Nao, who was levitating in midair. Its body was extremely huge, and every step it took was akin to a horizontally-moving mountain, causing the ground to quake.


    Just as it was about to reach Uesugi Nao, Heavy-Armored Titan leaped up and its huge body rose into the air. It clasped its palms together as a fist and struck at Uesugi Nao, who was floating there, with the might of a crushing mountain.


    Uesugi Nao floated there without moving. She only looked coldly at the massive creature through the Great Skyfiend armor¡¯s visor.


    When the Heavy-Armored Titan¡¯s fist was about to reach her, Uesugi Nao finally raised her arm.


    The moment she raised her arm, demonic flames spewed out of the Great Skyfiend armor, enveloping Uesugi Nao¡¯s entire body.


    Boom!


    The Heavy-Armored Titan¡¯s hands struck Uesugi Nao¡¯s tiny palm, but the mountain-like strike was blocked by the tiny palm. Despite using all its strength, Heavy-Armored Titan failed to move its fist forward at all.


    From the audience¡¯s perspective, the scene was even more shocking.


    Uesugi Nao was as tiny as an ant in front of the Heavy-Armored Titan. The Heavy-Armored Titan that was crashing down like a mountain was blocked by an ant-like palm. The impact such a scene left on their minds was too great.


    However, in the next second, an even more unbelievable scene happened.


    The demonic flames on Uesugi Nao¡¯s body rose and instantly enveloped Heavy-Armored Titan¡¯s huge body. Furthermore, the demonic flames quickly entered Heavy-Armored Titan¡¯s body through the gaps in the armor.


    The owner of Heavy-Armored Titan clearly realized that something was amiss and wanted Heavy-Armored Titan to admit defeat before summoning it back.


    However, it was too late. There was a loud bang.


    Heavy-Armored Titan exploded like a watermelon above Uesugi Nao¡¯s palm. Fragments and flesh splattered like blood-colored fireworks.


    Seeing the name of Heavy-Armored Titan disappear, the entire world fell silent.

 Chapter 907 - Fatal Temptation

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°That can¡¯t be real, right? Heavy-Armored Titan and Tyrant Behemoth shouldn¡¯t be too different. How did it get instantly killed?¡±


    ¡°What was that? Am I seeing things?¡±


    ¡°Is Heavy-Armored Titan so inferior to Tyrant Behemoth?¡±


    ¡­


    Everyone broke into a flurry of discussion. The scene of Great Skyfiend instantly killing the Heavy-Armored Titan was too shocking. Even the members of the six families did not expect that Heavy-Armored Titan, who specialized in defense, would die so quickly.


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s mood finally improved a little. She had helped Great Skyfiend redeem himself. At the same time, she had also exposed part of Great Skyfiend¡¯s abilities.


    However, there was nothing she could do about it. If she took too long to finish off Heavy-Armored Titan, the other families would think that Great Skyfiend was easy to deal with. They would constantly send Mythical creatures to test Great Skyfiend¡¯s strength. That would be even more troublesome.


    Now that she had killed Heavy-Armored Titan in one strike, anyone who wanted to test Great Skyfiend¡¯s strength had to consider whether they could afford to lose their Mythical creature.


    Even if the number of Mythical Companion Beasts in the six families kept increasing, few people would be willing to lose their Mythical Companion Beasts.


    ¡­


    What kind of power was that strike? Zhou Wen thought about the crux of Great Skyfiend¡¯s strike.


    It was clearly not a simple clash of strength. Even Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength couldn¡¯t blast through the Heavy-Armored Titan¡¯s armor in one strike, much less shatter it into pieces.


    The power of Great Skyfiend clearly had a special effect. That was why Heavy-Armored Titan couldn¡¯t even block a single strike.


    However, even if he saw the process with his own eyes, he couldn¡¯t accurately determine what kind of power it was because there were too many possibilities.


    It could be the power to something akin to Life Blast. As long as he touched his opponent, he could detonate the opponent¡¯s energy.


    It could also be a penetrative power that directly penetrated the heavy armor and destroyed the heavy titan¡¯s body from the inside, preventing it from putting up a resistance.


    There were several possibilities that he could think of, and there were also possibilities that he couldn¡¯t think of.


    However, after witnessing Great Skyfiend¡¯s attack, he definitely couldn¡¯t let the demonic flames on Uesugi Nao¡¯s body touch him when he fought her again.


    ¡­


    ¡°Although Heavy-Armored Titan isn¡¯t bad, it¡¯s still much weaker than Tyrant Behemoth. Tyrant Behemoth can defeat Great Skyfiend, but Heavy-Armored Titan can¡¯t even withstand one strike. The difference is too great.¡±


    ¡°I hope Tyrant Behemoth can step forward to challenge Great Skyfiend and snatch back first place. Let those fellows overseas know how powerful we from the Federation are.¡±


    Many people hoped that Tyrant Behemoth could step forward to fight, but Zhou Wen had no intention of doing so.


    He hadn¡¯t figured out Great Skyfiend¡¯s exact abilities, and Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t participate in the battle himself. Sending Tyrant Behemoth to challenge Uesugi Nao was no different from sending himself to his death.


    I should quickly advance to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen constantly absorbed Essence Energy Crystals in-game, hoping to quickly raise the Essence Energy Pill¡¯s level.


    Ding! After killing Medusa in her demoness state, an Essence Energy Skill Crystal dropped.


    Zhou Wen deliberately waited for Medusa to become a demoness before killing her. He had killed Medusa several times while she was in her maiden form, but nothing dropped.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had seen Medusa drop two Essence Energy Skill Crystals when he was previously grinding.


    One required 41 Constitution and 21 Cursed stat, while the other required 41 Essence Energy and 21 Poison stat. Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy and Poison stat had already met the requirements, so he had been grinding Medusa recently in hopes of obtaining the skill crystal that needed 41 Essence Energy.


    Two days ago, he had also obtained a Medusa crystal. Unfortunately, it was the type with a 41 Constitution requirement. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to absorb it, so he had to give it up during a respawn.


    Give me the 41 Essence Energy one! Zhou Wen prayed inwardly as he picked it up and was immediately overjoyed. It was the skill crystal that required Essence Energy and Poison stats.


    I can finally absorb a Mythical skill! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to absorb the Essence Energy Skill Crystal.


    The crystal transformed into a grayish-white Essence Energy stream that entered the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body. Zhou Wen immediately felt as though his body was being pricked by needles wherever the Essence Energy stream passed.


    The Essence Energy constantly circulated in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, forcefully opening up his meridians. After more than an hour, the Essence Energy formed a circulation and finally, all the Essence Energy flowed into Zhou Wen¡¯s hair.


    ¡®Absorbed Medusa Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill: Fatal Temptation.¡¯


    It¡¯s indeed not the Eyes of Petrification¡­ Zhou Wen had long guessed that the Essence Energy Skill Crystal that required Constitution and Cursed was the Eyes of Petrification.


    What skill is this Fatal Temptation? It has a Poison stat requirement. Don¡¯t tell me it turns my hair into venomous snakes? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel uneasy when he thought of his head full of venomous snakes. Such a skill felt a little odd and difficult to accept.


    He nervously looked at the introduction of Fatal Temptation and realized that it was indeed a hair skill. He was alarmed, but after carefully reading the introduction, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Legend had it that Medusa had the most beautiful long hair in the world. As a result, she became too proud and looked down on Athena, and was turned into a snake-haired demoness.


    Fatal Temptation was a skill that allowed one¡¯s hair to be tainted with poison. However, it didn¡¯t turn into venomous snakes. If anyone touched the poisonous hair, they would be poisoned.


    Zhou Wen tried using the Fatal Temptation skill. With a move of his Essence Energy, Zhou Wen¡¯s hair immediately grew crazily and in a blink of an eye, it reached the ground.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that it wasn¡¯t real hair, but hair condensed from Essence Energy.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen realized that it was extremely difficult to control the Poison Hair condensed from Essence Energy. It was unrealistic to use it as a weapon.


    Could it be that I can only passively wait for others to touch my hair? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Such a skill wasn¡¯t something he needed.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen had an idea. He pulled out a strand of Essence Energy Poison Hair and placed it in water. The Essence Energy Poison Hair immediately dissolved into the water.


    Soon, many dimensional creatures in the water were poisoned to death.


    So this skill can also be used as poison. In that case, it¡¯s not bad. However, I wonder how potent the poison of Fatal Temptation is. Can it poison a Mythical creature to death? Zhou Wen studied it for a long time and roughly learned how to use Fatal Temptation.


    In fact, there was no need for it to be in water. Even in air, Fatal Temptation could emit poisonous fumes, just like perfume. Any creature that smelled it would be poisoned.


    However, the poison wasn¡¯t as potent as Zhou Wen imagined. It was somewhat difficult to poison a Mythical creature to death unless a Mythical creature directly swallowed a large amount of Essence Energy Poison Hair.


    If he could do that, Zhou Wen had a high chance of killing the Mythical creature himself. There was no need for him to go through so much trouble.


    However, if this skill was used against humans, the effects would be very powerful. This was because humans were at the Epic stage at best. Just the poisonous gas emitted from the Poison Hair was enough to deal great damage to humans.

 Chapter 908 - Landing on the Island

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, Zhou Wen felt that this Fatal Temptation skill was a little uncomfortable. Therefore, he secretly wondered. I wonder if I can combine the Poison Dragon Palm and Fatal Temptation?


    1


    Zhou Wen carefully studied the two Essence Energy Skills. Apart from using different body parts, they were very similar in other aspects.


    They were all using poison in the form of Essence Energy, and they both used poison to obtain victory. It didn¡¯t seem impossible to combine them.


    It will be great if I could use the poison power of Fatal Temptation on my hands. Zhou Wen was still used to using his hand rather than his hair.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen began the corresponding research and experimentation, hoping to combine the two.


    The process wasn¡¯t that easy. Although it was the same conversion of Essence Energy into poison, the circulation method between Essence Energy Skills was still very different. After studying it for a long time, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn¡¯t impossible to fuse the two Essence Energy Arts into one. All he could do was give it a try and add some Essence Energy circulation techniques from another Essence Energy Skill.


    At the appointed time, Zhou Wen arrived at the Lu family residence again. This time, the Lu family was still very warm, but they were much more polite and hospitable than the first time he had come.


    The current head of the Lu family, Old Master Lu, personally came out to welcome Zhou Wen. Furthermore, from his words, he didn¡¯t treat Zhou Wen as a junior because of his age.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was most likely because of his battle with Uesugi Nao that the Lu family paid special attention to him.


    After entering the Lu family residence, Zhou Wen saw the others invited by the Lu family. Zhang Xiao was from the Zhang family, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know anyone from the Xia family.


    However, the Xia family looked at Zhou Wen with a strange expression. It didn¡¯t appear like hatred, but there was no intention of getting close to him.


    Zhou Wen could understand why. He had killed Xia Jiuhuang, and to the Xia family, Xia Jiuhuang was the founder of the Xia family. However, the latter had nearly destroyed the Xia family, so their attitude towards Zhou Wen was very odd.


    Old Master Lu didn¡¯t say anything else. After explaining the situation of the break-out creature in detail, he led everyone to the place where the break-out creature had recently appeared.


    Half a month ago, the break-out creature had frequently appeared in the vicinity of Sea Gazing City, causing a large number of casualties. There was even one time when it charged into the city and started a massacre, causing unimaginable losses.


    However, in the past half month, the break-out creature had seldom approached the coast. Most of the time, it had appeared in the shallow waters, and the number of times it appeared decreased.


    The Lu family had been sending people to monitor the movement of the break-out creature. Although they didn¡¯t dare to get too close, with the Lu family¡¯s understanding of this area, they could still determine that the break-out creature should be residing on a nearby island.


    The island wasn¡¯t too far from Sea Gazing City, but it was different from Turtle Tomb¡¯s six islands. It was a real island, and it wasn¡¯t a dimensional zone.


    The Lu family used a team of sea turtles to take Zhou Wen and company to the island. One by one, the Epic experts of the Lu family controlled the Epic Blackrock Turtles to rapidly swim across the sea.


    1


    Zhou Wen stood on the back of a Blackrock Turtle and looked into the distance. Zhang Xiao led the Zhang family¡¯s white crane team and rode their own white cranes to fly in the sky. They didn¡¯t ride the Blackrock Turtles.


    In just over an hour, the island was right in front of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already informed everyone of the information our Lu family knows. If you are confident, you can head to the island to hunt the break-out creature. If you aren¡¯t confident, I hope you won¡¯t take the risk. After all, life is precious. Also, although this island isn¡¯t a dimensional zone, there have been break-out creatures appearing here often in the past. Therefore, there might be more than one break-out creature on the island. Please be careful. If you discover anything amiss, please retreat over here immediately. Our Lu family will be responsible for evacuating you.¡± With that said, Old Master Lu turned to Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Zhou Wen, do you want us to help you take care of the child?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. The child is afraid of strangers.¡± Zhou Wen saw that the others had already headed towards the island. He transformed the White Shadow of Poison into wings and flew towards the island.


    Before reaching the island, Zhou Wen had already expanded Truth Listener¡¯s monitoring range to its limits, hoping to understand the situation there.


    This island wasn¡¯t too big. It was typical of an island formed by volcanic eruption. In the middle was a volcano that occasionally emitted smoke. Although it didn¡¯t erupt, it wasn¡¯t a good place.


    The volcano was surrounded by forests. The terrain wasn¡¯t complicated, but the forests were dense. There were many creatures inside, so there might be problems.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to envelop the entire island and monitor it. However, to his surprise, he didn¡¯t find any traces of the break-out creature on the island.


    He also didn¡¯t discover any of the other break-out creatures mentioned by the Lu family. Apart from some insects and birds, there wasn¡¯t a single dimensional creature on the island.


    When Zhou Wen reached the coast, he stopped and scanned the entire island again. The outcome was the same. He didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creatures.


    Did the Lu family make a mistake, or did that break-out creature happen to leave? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, someone walked over. The person was a freelance hunter. To be invited by the Lu family, he was probably very famous, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know him.


    The person came in front of Zhou Wen and introduced himself. ¡°My name is Bida. I was born and raised in Sea Gazing City. I¡¯m quite famous among the local freelance hunters.¡±


    Zhou Wen sized up Bida and didn¡¯t say a word. This person¡¯s aura was very strange. He looked like he was at a Mortal stage and had a weak vital aura. However, the Lu family naturally wouldn¡¯t invite a Mortal stage human to participate in such an operation.


    Bida continued, ¡°As a native of Sea Gazing City, my understanding of this area isn¡¯t inferior to the Lu family¡¯s. I even know some information that the Lu family doesn¡¯t know. I can say with certainty that it¡¯s impossible for them to find the break-out creature on the island.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°If you are willing to cooperate with me, I will tell you why. Furthermore, I can lead you to the break-out creature,¡± Bida said.


    ¡°Since you know everything, why don¡¯t you deal with that break-out creature yourself?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If I had that ability, I wouldn¡¯t be cooperating with you.¡± Bida paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can look for it and verify my words before working with me.¡±


    ¡°How do you want to cooperate?¡± Zhou Wen asked directly. He naturally knew that the break-out creature wasn¡¯t on the island.

 Chapter 909 - Egg

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Let¡¯s work together to kill the break-out creature. After the matter is done, the benefits given by the Lu family will belong to you. If the break-out creature drops anything, it will belong to me. If nothing drops, I¡¯ll just blame it on my bad luck,¡± Bida said.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there¡¯s no way we can cooperate.¡± Zhou Wen was mainly here for the Companion Egg that might drop. Helping An Sheng was only in passing, so it was naturally impossible for him to agree to such conditions.


    Bida couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. ¡°Aren¡¯t you satisfied with the Lu family¡¯s Fiend Dust ores and priority purchase rights?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain as he constantly scanned the island with Truth Listener. Apart from Zhou Wen, the Zhang and Xia families and the free hunters were also using their own methods to search for the break-out creature.


    Unfortunately, they came up empty-handed like Zhou Wen. Some people began suspecting that the break-out creature wasn¡¯t on the island.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and carried Ya¡¯er towards the volcanic crater. If the break-out creature was really on this island, it could only be inside the volcano.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you really not considering it? The chances of a break-out creature dropping a Companion Egg are very low¡­¡± Bida tried persuading Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Since the chances of a Companion Egg dropping are very low, why are you trying your luck?¡± Zhou Wen asked casually.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to kill the break-out creature, so I can only try my luck,¡± Bida said.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no other way. I also want to try my luck.¡± As the two of them spoke, they approached the volcanic crater. Many people had already gathered at the volcanic crater. Zhang Xiao and the Xia family were also here.


    From the looks of it, their judgment was the same as Zhou Wen¡¯s. They believed that the break-out creature was hidden in the volcano.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you think the break-out creature is inside the volcano like them?¡± Bida whispered to Zhou Wen, ¡°No offense, but now that they believe that the break-out creature is inside the volcano, it¡¯s the best opportunity for us to kill it. If we waste too much time, I¡¯m afraid something unexpected will happen again.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t agree to your conditions.¡± Zhou Wen stopped some distance away from the volcano.


    The Zhang and Xia families had already used fire-elemental Companion Beasts to enter the volcano to search. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan the volcano, but he didn¡¯t find any traces of the break-out creature inside. Instead, he saw plenty of magma inside the volcano. It was an active volcano that was extremely unstable.


    That break-out creature should have a spatial attribute, not a fire attribute. It shouldn¡¯t be resting in the magma, right? Zhou Wen thought.


    Truth Listener had a hard time hearing the situation in the magma. Unless a Companion Beast was allowed to go down, it was very difficult to obtain results.


    When Zhang Xiao and company saw Zhou Wen, they were somewhat nervous. Zhou Wen¡¯s reputation was too resounding, and they knew how powerful he was. Amongst so many people, Zhou Wen had the greatest chance.


    Seeing Zhou Wen remain unmoved, Bida gritted his teeth and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°How about this? The items dropped by the break-out creature will be yours. The Lu family¡¯s priority purchase rights towards Fiend Dust will also be yours. As for the portion of the Fiend Dust that is rewarded, I¡¯ll only take 30%. How about that?¡±


    ¡°In that case, I can consider it,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to lose. Let¡¯s hunt the break-out creatures while they are still searching the volcano,¡± Bida said.


    ¡°Alright, then we¡¯ll do as you say. Apart from 30% of the Fiend Dust, everything else will belong to me. Do you have any objections?¡± Zhou Wen asked Bida.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be helped. I don¡¯t have the ability to kill that dimensional creature. I¡¯ll just write it off as me selling information,¡± Bida said helplessly as he spread out his hands.


    Zhou Wen nodded and left the volcano with Bida.


    After Bida led Zhou Wen away from the volcano, they passed through the forest and arrived at the shore on the other end of the island.


    Bida walked along the coast for a while before stopping at a spot. He pointed at the coast below and said, ¡°There¡¯s a limestone cave below. We have to pass through the seawater. How¡¯s your swimming? What about this child?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m from inland. I¡¯m not good at swimming. Does that break-out creature live in water?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Not really. However, the karst cave has a long stretch underwater. If your swimming ability is good, it won¡¯t be difficult to pass through. If you don¡¯t know how to swim, you can only hold your breath and walk over,¡± Bida said.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no problem. Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and walked towards the sea.


    Bida got into the water first as Zhou Wen used the Black Tortoise¡¯s Seven Mansion¡¯s Essence Energy Skill. After entering the water, the seawater was isolated a foot away, preventing it from touching Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and sank to the bottom of the sea. Indeed, he saw a black cave below. Bida had already swam inside.


    Zhou Wen walked along the bottom of the cave and followed behind Bida.


    Bida was good at swimming, but Zhou Wen walked too slowly. All he could do was control his speed and lead Zhou Wen into the karst cave.


    The underwater world was extremely magical, especially in the karst cave. There were all kinds of creatures and fish.


    The Black Tortoise¡¯s protective Essence Energy Skill had a certain ability to repel water. Ya¡¯er curiously sized up the schools of fish. When she saw the fish approach, she extended her hand out of the Black Tortoise¡¯s barrier, but she wasn¡¯t stopped by it.


    1


    Although the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions¡¯ barrier wasn¡¯t of a high level, it was somewhat different from ordinary Essence Energy barriers.


    The biggest difference was that it could be controlled freely. Typical Essence Energy barriers forcefully formed Essence Energy barriers, but the barrier formed by the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions¡¯ Essence Energy Skills was different. It could be produced as he wished. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just a simple barrier, but a liquid that enveloped his entire body.


    The barriers of different Lunar Mansions had different attributes. For example, the Black Tortoise had the water attribute, the Vermillion Bird had the fire attribute, the Azure Dragon had the wood attribute, and the White Tiger had the metal attribute.


    Now, Zhou Wen was still lacking an Essence Energy Skill. Without gathering the twenty-eight Lunar Mansion Skills, he didn¡¯t know if it would have any special abilities in the future.


    The underwater karst cave was winding and strange. As they didn¡¯t travel in a straight line, they often had to pass through narrow gaps. Furthermore, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t walking fast. After more than half an hour, the two of them passed through the underwater karst cave and emerged from the water.


    Outside the water surface was still a karst cave, but this karst cave was somewhat different from before. The karst cave here was like a crystal mine, filled with green crystals.


    Zhou Wen quickly discovered that there was an egg half the height of a person in a cave surrounded by crystals.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the egg of that break-out creature?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the egg in surprise.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s highly likely. Your luck is really good. I never expected that break-out creature to have an egg. This is a Mythical egg. Although it¡¯s not a Companion Egg and can¡¯t be incubated as a Companion Beast, such a dimensional creature can be easily tamed from a young age,¡± Bida said with envy.

 Chapter 910 - Blue Sky Crystal Beast

    Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find the break-out creature. There was only one egg in the crystal cave.


    ¡°How regretful. If I had known, I would have come alone to take the egg for myself. The value of this Mythical egg far exceeds the Fiend Dust,¡± Bida said regretfully.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he walked towards the egg. As the dimensional creature inside hadn¡¯t been born, it wasn¡¯t dangerous.


    He walked to the crystalline egg and reached out to lift it up.


    This egg was much heavier than a rock. Although it wasn¡¯t big, its weight was a little terrifying. If Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t strong enough, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to lift it with one hand.


    At the instant Zhou Wen touched the egg, he suddenly saw a spatial ripple appear beside him. It was a sign of a long-distance spatial teleportation.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw a dimensional creature that resembled a Qilin rush out of the spatial ripples. Its glass-like body shimmered with resplendent light as it roared and pounced at Zhou Wen, its claws having the power to tear through the void. Before it reached Zhou Wen, the void in front of him had already cracked.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he stuffed the egg into the Chaos Bead. At the same time, he quickly dodged the break-out creature¡¯s attack.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and blocked the break-out creature that continued charging at him.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth collided with the break-out creature¡¯s force, producing a terrifying force that blasted the crystal cave apart. Immediately, large amounts of seawater poured down from above. This cave was actually underwater.


    As for the people on the island, they suddenly heard a thunderclap-like rumble. Then, they saw an explosion in the seawater not far from the island. The water pillar rose dozens of meters and they immediately knew that something had happened.


    Just as they were observing, they saw someone rush out of the water. First, it was Zhou Wen who was hugging Ya¡¯er, followed by Tyrant Behemoth and the break-out creature.


    The break-out creature pounced at Zhou Wen crazily. Tyrant Behemoth immediately brandished its fist to stop it, but before Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s strength touched the break-out creature, it suddenly vanished and appeared above Zhou Wen¡¯s head. Its sharp claws were about to touch Zhou Wen¡¯s scalp.


    Zhou Wen instantly vanished, causing the break-out creature¡¯s attack to miss.


    Tyrant Behemoth chased after the break-out creature, but unfortunately, before it could catch up to it, the break-out creature had already teleported away and caught up to Zhou Wen who had just appeared from his teleportation.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen¡¯s excellent movement techniques and fast reflexes, he would have been torn into two the moment he appeared again.


    Zhou Wen was wearing Dragon Scale Armor as he grabbed the middle of the Golden Battle God Halberd with one hand, blocking the terrifying claw.


    Crack!


    The Golden Battle God Halberd was sliced into several pieces by the claw. Although Zhou Wen took the opportunity to dodge the strike, it was hopeless for the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for another Golden Battle God Halberd to drop, but it¡¯s gone just like that. Zhou Wen felt his heart ache. In the past, he had disparaged the fact that the Golden Battle God Halberd dropped way too often, but now, he realized that it wasn¡¯t enough.


    The terrifying offensive strength of the break-out creature left Zhou Wen alarmed. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, this fellow was likely proficient in spatial slicing skills. Typical Mythical weapons found it difficult to withstand spatial slicing. Otherwise, the Golden Battle God Halberd wouldn¡¯t have been destroyed so easily.


    I have to think of a way to get a weapon that¡¯s indestructible in the future. Otherwise, there¡¯s no way to guarantee that the weapon won¡¯t be destroyed when facing some terrifying skills, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen dodged a few more attacks and didn¡¯t dare clash head-on with the break-out creature.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, if you can¡¯t do it, move aside.¡± Zhang Xiao had already led the White Crane team over.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I was thinking. I¡¯ll leave this fellow to you.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he rushed to the back of the White Crane team.


    Under Zhang Xiao¡¯s command, the many Zhang family members on the white cranes struck out spirit talismans at the same time. There were many of them, instantly enveloping a large area of the sky and the break-out creature was caught in the middle.


    Mysterious rays of light emitted from the spirit talismans. The rays intertwined and turned into a spirit energy net that trapped the break-out creature.


    The break-out creature charged at the spirit energy net, but it failed to tear it apart. Instead, the spirit talismans stuck to its body, and the spirit energy net also bound its body.


    When the break-out creature teleported, it couldn¡¯t escape the spirit energy net. It could only teleport within the confines of the spirit energy net; it was ultimately trapped within when it appeared again.


    Under Zhang Xiao¡¯s lead, the members of the White Crane team circulated their Essence Energy Arts, causing the spiritual light on the spirit talismans to become stronger and stronger. The break-out creature seemed to be in extreme pain as it roared and attempted to tear open the spirit energy net, but to no avail.


    The spirit energy net didn¡¯t look like a real net. Instead, it appeared on the break-out creature like a tattoo. No matter how the break-out creature struggled, it was unable to escape.


    ¡°The Zhang family sure is impressive. That Essence Energy Art can actually combine different people¡¯s Essence Energy Skills into one. It¡¯s rather magical.¡± Zhou Wen felt like his horizons had been broadened. He had never seen such an Essence Energy Art or Essence Energy Skill before.


    Zhang Xiao said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t be ridiculous. How can you know everything of the Zhang family¡¯s heritage?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he watched the Zhang family fight the break-out creature.


    The Xia family and the other freelance hunters came over as well. However, now that the Zhang family was fighting the break-out creature, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for them to interfere.


    Offending the Zhang family for a break-out creature and Fiend Dust was not worth it to most people.


    However, not everyone had the same mindset. If the Zhang family couldn¡¯t deal with the break-out creature and even ended up with an internecine outcome, they would be able to scoop up the benefits.


    While everyone was watching the battle, someone arrived at the volcanic crater. He lowered his head and looked inside before carefully climbing down.


    This person quickly arrived at the magma pool inside the volcano. It was none other than Bida, who had led Zhou Wen to seek out the break-out creature.


    ¡°Those idiots, let them risk their lives. Without them holding back the Blue Sky Crystal Beast, I won¡¯t be able to obtain what¡¯s down there.¡± Bida looked at the magma and summoned a Companion Beast. It was a Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle.


    The Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle transformed into a full-body armor that enveloped Bida completely. Not a single part of him was exposed. Then, he walked towards the magma pool, looking like he wanted to dive into it.


    ¡°According to our agreement, everything except 30% of the Fiend Dust will belong to me. Don¡¯t tell me you want to secretly take some treasure behind my back?¡± Just as Bida stepped into the magma pool, he suddenly heard a voice. His body trembled as he turned his head in surprise. Indeed, he saw Zhou Wen standing not far behind him.

 Chapter 911 - Balrog

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Ahem, what are you doing here?¡± Bida retracted his foot and looked at Zhou Wen gloomily.


    ¡°We are partners. Of course I have to follow you,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    He hadn¡¯t really been following Bida all this time. However, Zhou Wen had left Primordial Spore here as his informant when he first came to the volcanic crater. If it discovered anything here, he would be first to know.


    To his surprise, he realized that Bida had sneakily come here. Zhou Wen felt that this fellow was somewhat odd from the beginning, so he used Truth Listener to listen carefully. He roughly knew what was happening, so he stopped him before he went down. He wanted to figure out what was beneath the magma.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I already help you find that break-out creature? Our cooperation is over. Why are you looking for me instead of killing it?¡± Bida said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. You used me to lure the break-out creature and people away. This means that we are still cooperating. I should have a share of the treasure here, right?¡± Zhou Wen said slowly.


    Bida knew that it was impossible to shirk Zhou Wen off again. He gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Alright, so be it. We¡¯ll split the items below equally, but you have to go down with me and bring the items up.¡±


    With that said, Bida wanted to walk into the magma.


    ¡°Wait. Tell me what¡¯s down there first.¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t believe Bida¡¯s words. He extended his Bamboo Blade and stopped him.


    Bida suddenly threw a punch and struck the Bamboo Blade¡¯s scabbard, causing it to tilt to the side before plunging into the magma.


    Zhou Wen looked at the magma below and summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to follow Bida, but he didn¡¯t go down himself.


    After the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General entered the magma, it immediately became excited. The purple flames in its body ignited as it ran rapidly through the magma, chasing after Bida.


    ¡°This fellow is really difficult to deal with¡­¡± Bida was somewhat depressed when he saw that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was not afraid of the high-temperature magma.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for him to have a Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle Armor drop, allowing him to enter the magma layer. Yet, just any random Companion Beast of Zhou Wen¡¯s could achieve the same effect, leaving Bida displeased.


    Thankfully, Bida was very fast in the magma. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was momentarily unable to catch up to him.


    The deeper into the magma, the hotter it became. After a few hundred meters, the bottom suddenly became empty. After the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General rushed down, it realized that it was in magma. There was magma all around it without any support, but there was an invisible force that blocked out the surrounding magma. In the middle of the space, there was a black cocoon with magma patterns.


    Through the thoughts transmitted by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Zhou Wen knew the situation there. His expression immediately changed. A Guardian cocoon. There¡¯s a Guardian here? In that case, that break-out creature is actually protecting the Guardian cocoon.


    I thought there was something good, but it¡¯s actually a Guardian. Zhou Wen found it meaningless. He no longer needed a Guardian to advance his Life Soul, nor did he need the blood of a Guardian. Guardians were no longer of much use to him. At most, they were meant for killing.


    Bida quickly rushed towards the Guardian cocoon. It looked like he was planning on trying to contract the Guardian here.


    Zhou Wen made the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General halt and didn¡¯t stop him from making the contract. Guardians would appear sooner or later anyway. Killing a Guardian without a contract was about the same difficulty as a contracted Guardian. It might even be easier to kill a Guardian after a contract, so there was no need to stop him.


    Bida rushed to the Guardian cocoon and dripped his blood on it. Soon, the black-red Guardian cocoon absorbed Bida¡¯s blood. Then, crimson magma cracks appeared on the cocoon. As the cracks spread, a fiend formed from magma rushed out.


    ¡°My name is Balrog. From today onwards, I¡¯ll fight with you and pledge my life to follow you.¡± The magma on Balrog¡¯s body splattered as he pressed a large hand on Bida¡¯s head.


    1


    Balrog¡¯s body transformed into magma that swept towards Bida¡¯s body. Layer after layer of magma wrapped around Bida¡¯s body, quickly turning into a magma armor. The terrifying fire-elemental power also filled Bida¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen had already unsummoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and left the volcano.


    Boom!


    Not long after Zhou Wen came out of the volcano, he heard a terrifying rumbling sound coming from the volcano. Then, he saw a scarlet pillar of fire rush into the sky with plumes of black smoke. The volcano had erupted.


    Zhang Xiao and company, who were fighting the Blue Sky Crystal Beast, also noticed the situation on the volcano¡¯s side. They didn¡¯t know what had happened or why the volcano had suddenly erupted.


    When Bida rushed out wearing Balrog armor, everyone¡¯s hearts skipped a beat.


    Greed was the original motivation for humans. Clearly, Bida was also a greedy person. After obtaining Balrog, Bida rushed out with the eruption of the volcano and charged straight at the Blue Sky Crystal Beast. Clearly, he wanted to snatch it.


    The White Crane team members were all fighting the Blue Sky Crystal Beast with all their might, so they didn¡¯t have the capacity to deal with Bida. Bida¡¯s body carried magma-like flames that swept towards the Blue Sky Crystal Beast.


    The Blue Sky Crystal Beast was trapped by the spirit energy net. It failed to dodge the terrifying flames even after teleporting as its entire body was ignited.


    Even the Zhang family¡¯s spirit talismans and spirit energy net were consumed by the flames.


    The Blue Sky Crystal Beast lost the restriction of the spirit energy net and constantly teleported. It charged into the sea, hoping to use the seawater to extinguish the flames on its body.


    However, after the Blue Sky Crystal Beast entered the sea, the flames on its body didn¡¯t extinguish. It continued burning its body rapidly.


    Bida had already rushed into the sea like a fire dragon, chasing after the Blue Sky Crystal Beast.


    Zhang Xiao was peeved and furious. They had done so much, but they ended up benefiting another. However, the White Crane team wasn¡¯t good at water battles. Looking at Bida¡¯s might just now, they knew they probably didn¡¯t have the chance of being the ones to take down the Blue Sky Crystal Beast today.


    The Xia family and a few freelance hunters chased into the sea, but they quickly lost them. With their speed in the sea, they couldn¡¯t catch up to the teleporting Blue Sky Crystal Beast and Bida.


    Bida was also a strange person. He clearly cultivated a fire-elemental Essence Energy Art and contracted a fire-elemental Guardian, but he was surprisingly good in water.


    Furthermore, Balrog didn¡¯t seem to be afraid of water. Its flames could burn in the water without any obstruction.


    The Blue Sky Crystal Beast constantly teleported. It wasn¡¯t difficult for it to pull away from Bida, but the flames on its body couldn¡¯t be extinguished. As the flames burned, the Blue Sky Crystal Beast¡¯s vitality became weaker and weaker. The distance it could teleport became narrower and narrower, and eventually, Bida caught up to it.


    Seeing that the Blue Sky Crystal Beast was already on the brink of collapse, Bida blasted out a magma-like fire dragon and devoured its already charred body. In a moment, its body was burned to ashes as a crystal dropped.


    ¡°Essence Energy Skill Crystal!¡± Bida was delighted and was about to grab the crystal.


    Suddenly, a figure slid across the water. His posture was like a dragon or a wyrm, and he was even faster than Bida in the water. He snatched the Blue Sky Crystal Beast¡¯s crystal before Bida did.


    Bida was slightly taken aback. On careful look, he realized that the person who had snatched the crystal was Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you f*cking say that you are from inland and don¡¯t know how to swim?¡± Bida wished he could slap Zhou Wen in the face. The finesse in water that Zhou Wen displayed was even better than his. To think that he had pretended to be a non-swimmer in the beginning. He was just too shameless.

 Chapter 912 - Slaying Balrog

    ¡°I originally thought that swimming was difficult, but it turns out it¡¯s not that difficult.¡± Zhou Wen played with the crystal in his hand and said, ¡°According to the agreement, this dimensional crystal should belong to me, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s yours. Everything is yours,¡± Bida said as he suddenly struck out with a hand. Terrifying flames transformed into a dragon¡¯s roar as it charged at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen dodged and the flames landed at the bottom of the sea, turning it into a sea of fire.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already given you the stuff. The partnership is over. Now I¡¯m going to snatch them back. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that, is there?¡± Bida said, looking at the huge fire at the bottom of the ocean.


    ¡°No problem.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General again.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was like a knight from hell as it stood in the deep sea fire. The purple flames in its armor also began burning.


    ¡°With both of them being fire-elemental, Balrog is supreme. You are too naive if you want to use a fire-elemental Companion Beast to fight me,¡± Bida said as flames spewed out from his body and swept towards Zhou Wen.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General dashed forward without any hesitation. It did not dodge the flames that Bida blasted out and charged straight into the roaring magma and flames.


    Bida was somewhat surprised to discover that Balrog¡¯s flames did not burn the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to death. A shocking flame erupted from his body once again as the magma-like Balrog armor turned golden.


    ¡°I¡¯ll show you the true power of fire.¡± Along with Bida¡¯s voice, Balrog¡¯s body had already turned into a sun. Terrifying flames instantly evaporated a large amount of seawater. The seawater in the distance also boiled from the heat. Large amounts of seabed sand and rocks turned into magma, making the seabed look like a magma-like hell.


    Bida, who was emitting heat like the sun, threw a punch at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, hoping to melt it into molten iron.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General grabbed the two ends of the spear with both hands and blocked Bida¡¯s fist. The terrifyingly high temperature on his fist made the spear appear like a red-hot iron pole or spear.


    ¡°Melt!¡± The temperature on Bida¡¯s body rose again. He wanted to melt the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General directly.


    Under the terrifying high temperatures, the armor on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body was burned red. However, the strange thing was that it was still emitting purple flames.


    Bida originally thought that he could melt the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General into molten iron as long as he exerted more strength. However, he soon realized that something was amiss.


    Balrog¡¯s high temperature did not melt the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Instead, the purple flames in its body became stronger.


    Bam!


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General exerted strength with both hands and forcefully sent Bida flying. The ferocious tiger on the ground roared as it leaped forward. The burning spear carried purple flames as it stabbed towards Bida.


    Bida was astonished. He used the various skills and abilities of Balrog to fight the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Balrog was indeed ferocious. Its flames were different from ordinary fire-elemental powers as they had a burning effect. Upon contact, they would continuously burn until the opponent was burned to death.


    Furthermore, Balrog¡¯s flames didn¡¯t purely rely on the flames. The most important thing was the high temperature. Even if one didn¡¯t touch the flames, they would still be injured by the high temperature.


    However, these abilities were useless against the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. This was because with the existence of the Tempered Steel Cauldron skill, the higher the temperature and the more intense the burning, the stronger the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became.


    In the beginning, Bida could still suppress the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General by using Balrog¡¯s powers. However, through Bida¡¯s efforts to burn it to ashes, he finally threw himself into a disadvantageous position.


    What the hell is this Companion Beast? Bida had already discovered that something was amiss, but he still found it unbelievable. Not only was Balrog¡¯s power unable to injure the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, it was instead used by the other party.


    However, he had no choice but to believe the increasingly powerful Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Bida knew that Balrog had met his nemesis and turned to run. He wanted to escape before considering anything else.


    How could Zhou Wen let him do as he wished? He continued chasing.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t escape Zhou Wen in water, Bida fled towards the shore. After rushing to the shore, a circular hole similar to a rocket propeller appeared behind the Balrog armor. Demonic flames spewed out from it, pushing Bida¡¯s body into the distance at a terrifying speed.


    Bida rushed into the mountainous area and looked back. When he didn¡¯t see Zhou Wen behind him, he heaved a sigh of relief and landed.


    However, just as he landed on the mountaintop, he saw Zhou Wen riding a gigantic pangolin-like Companion Beast. He was looking at him from the opposite mountaintop.


    Bida was extremely shocked, and he hurriedly used Balrog¡¯s ejection force to shoot into the sky again before fleeing in another direction.


    However, no matter how fast Bida was, every time he stopped, he would see Zhou Wen carrying Ya¡¯er and riding the Companion Beast nearby.


    After a few consecutive attempts, Balrog¡¯s strength was almost exhausted. Bida was also on the verge of tears.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± After landing again and seeing Zhou Wen, Bida stopped running and shouted at him while panting.


    ¡°What I want to do is what you just said,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What did I say?¡± Bida asked, gasping for air.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that our partnership has ended and you want to snatch the items back? This is also what I want to do,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You took the Blue Sky Crystal Beast¡¯s egg and dimensional crystals. You took everything. What else do you want?¡± said Bida.


    ¡°And the Guardian on you,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°You don¡¯t cultivate a fire-elemental Essence Energy Art. Even if I give him to you, you won¡¯t be able to contract him. Besides, I¡¯ve already contracted him. I can¡¯t give him to you even if I wanted to,¡± said Bida.


    ¡°That¡¯s simple. Just kill him,¡± Zhou Wen said as he gripped his Bamboo Blade tightly, prepared to strike at any moment. With an additional Guardian in the world, the battle between Guardians would cause additional damage to Earth. He would kill one whenever he could.


    ¡°Then you might as well take my life. I¡¯ll fight it out with you.¡± As Bida said that, he angrily pounced over from the sky. The Balrog armor on his body burst out with shocking demonic flames. Like the flames of a burning heaven, it covered the sky and descended.


    Looking at Bida pouncing at him like a flaming giant, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change at all. However, his aura instantly turned terrifying.


    The Bamboo Blade was unsheathed, followed by the release of Immortal Slaying¡¯s might.


    The demonic flames that filled the sky suddenly split into two. Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared behind Balrog as though he had teleported. By then, Bamboo Blade had already returned to its sheath. When Bamboo Blade was fully sheathed, Balrog split into two in midair. Its body transformed into magma that scattered across the ground like piles of bonfires.


    Meanwhile, Bida¡¯s figure appeared in the sky. However, he no longer had the Balrog armor on him. Instead, a pair of crow-like wings appeared on his back. There was also a black mask that looked like a ghoul on his face. The aura from his entire body had become very strange.

 Chapter 913 - Mirror Eyes’ Advancement Method

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen frowned as he sized up Bida. This was because Bida¡¯s aura had become extremely strange. Furthermore, this was the first time he had seen a human use a Guardian as a shield. He had screwed over the Guardian.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan is right. You are indeed very powerful,¡± Bida said to Zhou Wen from midair.


    Upon hearing Wang Mingyuan¡¯s name, Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils constricted slightly as he stared at Bida and asked, ¡°Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Bida, the man who is about to become Yaksha King, remember this name.¡± As Bida spoke, the wings on his back flapped and a spatial rift opened in the void. He flapped his wings and retreated into the spatial rift.


    Zhou Wen watched the spatial rift disappear, but it was too late to chase after him.


    That fellow¡­ He¡¯s like Teacher¡­ but he also seems a little different¡­ Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. Although Bida had only displayed his true strength for a moment, he could sense the dual auras of a human and a dimensional creature. He was very similar to Wang Mingyuan and Yin Talisman King.


    Zhou Wen also knew that there were humans like Wang Mingyuan who had charged into different dimensions. He was very suspicious that Bida was one of the humans who had rushed into one.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ask Bida what had happened to Wang Mingyuan, but unfortunately, Bida had already escaped through the spatial rift. It was impossible for him to catch up to him.


    He returned to the Lu family with the Blue Sky Crystal Beast¡¯s crystal and used it as evidence in exchange for the Lu family¡¯s promise. Zhou Wen then asked Old Master Lu about Bida.


    However, Old Master Lu told him that there was no freelance hunter named Bida in Sea Gazing City, and none of the people he invited were called Bida.


    ¡°But I did see him.¡± Zhou Wen drew Bida¡¯s appearance for Old Master Lu to see.


    Old Master Lu looked at it for a while before saying, ¡°This is a freelance hunter from another city. I saw that he knew a lot about the habits of the break-out creature, so I invited him to stay. But his name is not Bida. He said his name is Ah Ye.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any hopes of finding out anything else. After settling the matter here, he left Sea Gazing City.


    Uesugi Nao did not participate in the hunting operation this time. As she was exposed ahead of time, the overseas federation gave up on the plan and allowed her to go elsewhere as Xu Ai, so as to prevent the An family from suspecting the relationship between Xu Ai and Uesugi Nao.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to return to Luoyang, but before he left Sea Gazing City, another Guardian appeared on the rankings. The Guardian named Starry Night challenged the second-ranked Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen watched the battle and saw Starry Night standing in the void. The stars in the sky rained down like a meteor shower. After a bombardment lasting more than ten minutes, it nearly killed the Companion Beast. Finally, the latter had no choice but to forfeit and admit defeat.


    More and more Guardians have appeared. I wonder how many there are? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    After taking second place, Starry Night didn¡¯t continue the challenge. It seemed like it didn¡¯t intend to fight the first Great Skyfiend.


    Zhou Wen left Sea Gazing City and played with the Blue Sky Crystal Beast¡¯s Essence Energy Skill Crystal on the way.


    Blue Sky Crystal Beast: Mythical stage. Requires 41 Constitution, 21 Spatial Attribute, Spatial Essence Energy Art.


    It¡¯s 41 Constitution again. From the looks of it, I have to think of a way to raise Mirror Eyes to the Perfect Body as soon as possible so that my Constitution can reach 41. This way, I can absorb several Mythical techniques. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. Up to now, he still hadn¡¯t found a way to advance Mirror Eyes.


    However, although he wasn¡¯t able to obtain a Blue Sky Crystal Beast Companion Egg during his trip to Gazing Sea City, he had obtained an egg. If he could hatch a baby Blue Sky Crystal Beast, he might be able to use it in place of a Companion Beast.


    Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s problem was that even if the baby Blue Sky Crystal Beast was born, he wouldn¡¯t tame it since he didn¡¯t know how to make it obedient.


    I wonder if I can raise it like a Gu? Zhou Wen thought.


    As Zhou Wen rode the Mighty Vajra Bull, he used his phone to grind the game dungeons.


    This time, Zhou Wen chose Deer Terrace Pavilion. He couldn¡¯t kill the Nine-Tailed Fox inside, but it was different for the other Mythical creatures. Perhaps he could farm something good.


    After farming all the dimensional creatures that he could, Zhou Wen went to challenge the Nine-Tailed Fox when there was nothing left.


    At any rate, he had to refresh the instance dungeon, so he took the opportunity to test the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s strength.


    Just like last time, after killing the fox body, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox did not die. Instead, it entered its Terror transformation form and became a beautiful demon consort.


    Seeing the demon consort attack, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he attempted to use Mirror Eyes to glance at her. To his surprise, his glance made the demon consort¡¯s face turn into that of a fox.


    Perhaps it was because Mirror Eyes was still relatively weak, only her face had turned into that of a fox, and the rest of her body remained human.


    Moreover, the face that had turned into that of a fox quickly recovered its devastatingly beautiful human features.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s disbelief, Mirror Eyes grew.


    Before Zhou Wen could get excited, he saw the screen turn black. The game was over. He had been too pleasantly surprised to notice how demon consort had killed the blood-colored avatar.


    Mirror Eyes actually has the ability to see through things. From the looks of it, I have to use Mirror Eyes to see through the disguise of dimensional creatures that use transformation techniques to advance. I wonder if destroying a human¡¯s transformation technique can allow Mirror Eyes to advance? Zhou Wen was somewhat excited after finding the method to advance Mirror Eyes.


    1


    As long as his Constitution reached 41 points, he could absorb several Mythical Skill Crystals, and his strength would definitely improve greatly.


    The most important thing was that he could absorb the Skill Crystal of the Blue Sky Crystal Beast. Perhaps that was a skill that could allow him to teleport indefinitely.


    Where can I find dimensional creatures that can transform? Visiting the demon consort each time is too difficult. I¡¯ll die every time I take a look. The advancement speed is just too slow. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of any dimensional creatures that were good at transforming, so he could only search for information online.


    He never expected that there were actually quite a number of dimensional creatures that were good at transforming. Among them, the most common Fox Immortal in East District seemed to have a transformation skill.


    How could I have forgotten about this? Aren¡¯t there many lesser demons impersonating immortals on Deer Terrace Pavilion? Zhou Wen smacked his head and cursed himself for being foolish.


    This couldn¡¯t be blamed on Zhou Wen. This was because fake immortals like fox demons had always looked like immortals. He momentarily forgot about them.


    He eagerly entered Deer Terrace Pavilion and used Mirror Eyes to look at the fake fairies and immortals. When Zhou Wen looked at an Epic fake fairy, she revealed her true form and turned into a fox. Zhou Wen immediately felt that the Mirror Eyes had grown.


    Seeing that this move was indeed effective, Zhou Wen immediately looked around. Any lesser demon that was seen by Mirror Eyes was immediately reduced to its original form.


    Although this would expend large amounts of Essence Energy, Zhou Wen could switch back to the Slaughterer Life Soul, giving him unlimited Essence Energy at any time. Then, he could switch back and activate Mirror Eyes.


    As he swept his gaze and killed along the way, Mirror Eyes grew rapidly. It was only a matter of time before it broke through to the Evolved Body or even the Perfect Body.

 Chapter 914 - Feng Qiuyan’s Weakness

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had recently absorbed many Essence Energy Crystals. There was no lack of Mythical crystals. He felt that the Essence Energy Pill had reached its limits and was about to break through.


    However, for some reason, every time he reached a critical moment, he couldn¡¯t take that final step. It was as if something was missing.


    What¡¯s missing? Zhou Wen looked at the diamond-like Essence Energy Pill in front of him and frowned in thought.


    What was lacking was clearly not energy, as the Essence Energy Pill¡¯s Primordial Body had already absorbed quite a number of Mythical Essence Energy Crystals. Be it the quality or quantity of energy, they far exceeded the requirements needed for the Primordial Life Soul to evolve.


    If it¡¯s not lacking energy, why can¡¯t the Essence Energy Pill evolve? Zhou Wen racked his brains over it but couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Just as he was thinking, his phone suddenly rang. He took out his phone and realized that it was Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan seldom spoke, and even if he did, most people couldn¡¯t understand what he was saying.


    ¡°Coach, thank you for your guidance. I¡¯ve already overcome my weakness and have some achievements in my saber art. If you have the time, can you help me take a look at my saber art?¡±


    Zhou Wen found Feng Qiuyan¡¯s message baffling as usual. However, he was already used to it. He casually replied: ¡°The earliest time for me to return to school is the day after tomorrow. I¡¯ll look for you when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait. Coach, which path are you taking? I¡¯ll find you,¡± Feng Qiuyan replied.


    Zhou Wen sent his route to Feng Qiuyan. Since he had nothing to do on the way, it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to have someone welcome him.


    After unsummoning the Essence Energy Pill, Zhou Wen continued grinding Deer Terrace Pavilion. The advancement of Mirror Eyes went very smoothly. At this rate, he could probably advance to an Evolved Body in a few days.


    Zhou Wen was gaming when he suddenly felt a tattoo on his body tremble. Before he could summon it, the Companion Beast automatically left his body.


    ¡°Neo, what happened?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise when he saw Demonic Neonate staring at a lake by the side of the road.


    1


    ¡°Food,¡± Demonic Neonate answered as she continued staring at the lake.


    Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know what the food Demonic Neonate mentioned was because her diet was too strange. Even Guardians were treated as food by her¡ªshe was probably the only one that did so.


    The lake by the side of the road wasn¡¯t too big. Truth Listener¡¯s senses could directly envelop it, but it didn¡¯t discover anything amiss.


    The lake was filled with ordinary creatures. There were quite a number of fish and shrimps, but there were no dimensional creatures. There were no dimensional zones nearby.


    He looked at the map on his phone and realized that there was no sign of a lake here.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the food?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to ask Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate extended her finger and pointed at the center of the lake.


    Zhou Wen noticed that she was referring to the surface of the lake, not inside. Therefore, he narrowed his eyes and looked over.


    In the middle of the lake was a bamboo pole. There was a scarecrow hanging on it.


    ¡°The food you mentioned is that scarecrow?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the scarecrow and asked.


    Demonic Neonate nodded as she continued looking at the scarecrow.


    As Demonic Neonate had already finished the Longevity Fruits she had previously obtained, she hadn¡¯t eaten anything in the past few days. She was probably a little hungry.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help you get it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Dangerous.¡± Demonic Neonate shook her head and said seriously.


    Demonic Neonate seldom spoke to begin with. It was the first time he had heard her mention danger. He couldn¡¯t help but seriously size up the scarecrow in the middle of the lake.


    Looking at its body, there was nothing special about it. The scarecrow¡¯s internal structure was made of straw¡ªit could be clearly heard with Truth Listener. Apart from straw, there was nothing.


    Apart from its straw body, it also had tattered clothes and a straw hat. It didn¡¯t look anything special. The scarecrow was likely placed here in the past to prevent the shorebirds from eating the fish in the lake.


    It had been here for quite some time. Its straw hat and clothes had already faded and rotted. Its straw body was also somewhat moldy. No matter how one looked at it, it was just an ordinary scarecrow.


    Demonic Neonate bit her lip and glanced at the scarecrow. She actually jumped back onto the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s back and said, ¡°Go.¡±


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he turned to look at the scarecrow. It was still standing there like a dead object, without any signs of being terrifying.


    However, Zhou Wen believed Demonic Neonate¡¯s judgment. He didn¡¯t stay any longer and got the Great Might Vajra Bull to leave the lake.


    After leaving the lake, Demonic Neonate looked back, clearly still having some thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to figure out what the scarecrow was.


    ¡°Food.¡± Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t explain it clearly either. She only said that it was food.


    Zhou Wen secretly memorized this place to prevent himself from provoking the scarecrow when he passed by in the future. Something that even Demonic Neonate had some qualms about was definitely no trifling matter.


    After walking for half a day, he suddenly saw a green bird flying at an extremely fast speed in the distant sky. Soon, it arrived above Zhou Wen.


    The huge green bird circled a few times before landing from the sky. A figure floated down. It was none other than Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°Coach, I¡¯m here.¡± Feng Qiuyan landed in front of the Great Might Vajra Bull. The green bird transformed into a tattoo and returned to Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°You really didn¡¯t waste a moment,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Feng Qiuyan said seriously, ¡°After I overcame my weakness, my saber technique improved a little. Coach, I really want you to help me take a look at it, so I immediately rushed over.¡±


    ¡°Then let me see what improvement your saber technique has made.¡± Zhou Wen placed Ya¡¯er on the back of the Vajra Bull and flew to the grass beside him.


    Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he summoned his Life Soul Saber and held it in his hand, preparing to attack.


    ¡°Hold on. You said that you overcame your weakness, so what do you think is your weakness?¡± Zhou Wen stopped Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attack.


    Feng Qiuyan said seriously, ¡°I¡¯ve thought about this problem for a long time. Although my saber art has many problems, those problems can be resolved through cultivation. Therefore, it can only be said to be a flaw, not a weakness. After much thought, I only have one weakness¡ªloneliness.¡±


    ¡°Loneliness?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what Feng Qiuyan meant.


    ¡°Yes, loneliness. This is because my saber art is a saber art meant for me to fight alone. Therefore, if I were to encounter experts of the same level ganking me, it¡¯s very easy for me to lose due to a lack of stamina or from being overwhelmed,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Is this considered a weakness? If this is a weakness, then all creatures in this world have such a weakness.


    ¡°Then how did you overcome this weakness?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat curious.

 Chapter 915 - Infinite Saber Pilgrimage

    Feng Qiuyan answered, ¡°Firstly, I have to resolve the problem of stamina and Essence Energy. This problem can be resolved with some skills that can recover Essence Energy. However, even if it¡¯s a skill that can recover Essence Energy, it¡¯s impossible to make a complete recovery. The expenditure of stamina is also a problem. Thankfully, after reading many manuals, I finally thought of a solution. It¡¯s to use resources obtained in combat to support the combat.¡±


    ¡°How do you use resources obtained in combat to support the combat?¡± Zhou Wen knew what the phrase meant, but using resources obtained in combat to support the combat worked because there was time to regroup.


    After a single person was surrounded, there was no time to regroup. How was he going to use resources obtained in combat to support the combat?


    ¡°First, I reduce my expenditure, then I snatch the enemy¡¯s Essence Energy¡­¡± As Feng Qiuyan spoke, he waved the Life Soul Saber in his hand. The Life Soul Saber seemed to produce some strange magical power that sucked the nearby Essence Energy into the saber.


    ¡°You¡­ That¡¯s good¡­¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. This ability to devour other people¡¯s Essence Energy was very rare.


    Zhou Wen had only seen Xia Jiuhuang use it before, and Feng Qiuyan was the second. He didn¡¯t know how he had learned it.


    Feng Qiuyan continued, ¡°The second step is to resolve the problem of being ganked. For this, I spent a long time before coming up with a new saber art. Coach, please give me your advice.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s do it.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat looking forward to Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber art.


    Feng Qiuyan held the Life Soul Saber with an extremely solemn expression. After telling him to be careful, he raised his saber and slashed at Zhou Wen. The saber beam tore out like an invisible blade that cleaved down at Zhou Wen.


    Although this strike was strong enough and much stronger than Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber techniques in the past, there weren¡¯t any qualitative changes. Zhou Wen used Transcendent Flying Immortal and dodged Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber strike.


    However, Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t care about that. He slashed out repeatedly, his saber beams pouring down like a surging river. Each strike was more ruthless and faster than the last.


    Zhou Wen had to admit that Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber art was indeed top-notch. If it wasn¡¯t for him being restricted to the Epic stage, this saber art might have even had a chance of advancing to the Mythical stage.


    Feng Qiuyan had completely shed his former naivety, hesitation, and lack of confidence. The saber seemed to have become one with him. He could be passionate and unrestrained, and he could also be calm like water flowing beneath a bridge.


    Like being able to split a mountain with a single strike, yet also carve out flowers in tofu.


    Fast and slow, light and heavy¡ªeverything was controlled adequately. When it was time to risk his life, he could unleash an infinite amount of power. When it was time to restrain himself, he could completely restrain his sharpness.


    Zhou Wen felt that if Feng Qiuyan continued practicing this saber art, his saber art would probably advance to the Mythical stage like his Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, he couldn¡¯t tell how Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber art could deal with a group fight. His saber art only supported one-on-one combat.


    That¡¯s not right! Zhou Wen sensed something. When he used Transcendent Flying Immortal to dodge Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attack, he switched to the Hell King Life Soul, allowing his eight senses to become extremely sharp.


    I see. What an amazing fellow. Zhou Wen had already discovered the secret of Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber art.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber beams crisscrossed, each strike stronger than the last. After countless slashes, Feng Qiuyan suddenly retracted his saber and retreated. He stared at Zhou Wen with a sharp gaze and said, ¡°Coach, you have to be careful.¡±


    With that said, Feng Qiuyan held the hilt of his saber with both hands. The saber aura on his body was abundant, and his long hair and clothes fluttered with the saber aura.


    The shattered saber beams from before rapidly condensed around Feng Qiuyan, condensing into complete saber beams that formed a huge saber array. All the saber beams pointed at Zhou Wen, densely packed together.


    ¡°What¡¯s this move called?¡± Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°This was inspired from watching an ancient movie. I then added to it with my own research and modification. In the movie, that move is called Infinite Sword Convergence. I call this move Infinite Saber Pilgrimage.¡± Feng Qiuyan¡¯s hand that held the saber began to tremble.


    The Life Soul Saber in his hand was connected to all the saber beams. It was equivalent to carrying the power of infinite sabers.


    Although it sounded a little exaggerated, there were still more than a thousand sabers.


    ¡°Do your best. Let me see how powerful this Infinite Saber Pilgrimage technique of yours is,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    ¡°Coach, please be careful.¡± Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t hold on any longer as he slashed at Zhou Wen.


    With the strength of his strike, dense saber beams descended like a river of sabers from the sky.


    Dense saber beams rained down as Zhou Wen phased left and right in the saber river. Like a ghost, his figure left behind afterimages in the air. The saber beams slashed through the afterimages, but they failed to touch Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The violent saber beams failed to touch his body. All of them flew over and slashed at the mountain rocks behind Zhou Wen.


    Boom! Boom!


    The mountain rocks that were dozens of meters tall were shattered by the dense saber beams, turning into countless fragments. However, Zhou Wen remained standing in front of the collapsed mountain rocks without suffering any damage.


    Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t feel discouraged just because Zhou Wen had dodged his Infinite Saber Pilgrimage. Instead, he stared at Zhou Wen with a burning gaze. His mind was completely occupied by Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique for dodging the Infinite Saber Pilgrimage.


    With the saber in hand, Feng Qiuyan stood there and stared at Zhou Wen. The aura that should have declined after the Infinite Saber Pilgrimage didn¡¯t decline. Instead, it increased.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn as he pressed his hand on the handle of Bamboo Blade.


    When Feng Qiuyan¡¯s aura reached its peak, he suddenly relaxed. The ferocious and domineering aura on him seemed to vanish, as though he had become an ordinary person. There was a strange smile on his face.


    At that moment, Feng Qiuyan was like a pious believer. He wanted to use the saber in his hand to commemorate the holiness in his heart. Apart from being pious, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense any killing intent or evil aura from him.


    It was as if he wasn¡¯t holding a lethal weapon, but a holy artifact that consecrated gods.


    Finally, the saber in Feng Qiuyan¡¯s hand moved again. There was no domineering saber beam, nor was there a ferocious saber beam. Zhou Wen had never seen anyone use a saber art in such a clean and holy manner. It was very artistic.


    It was as if he wasn¡¯t killing, but completing a redemption.


    Almost at the instant Feng Qiuyan unsheathed his saber, Zhou Wen¡¯s hand that held the Bamboo Blade moved. Transcendent Flying Immortal didn¡¯t have any mortal aura as it crossed Feng Qiuyan like an elegant immortal.


    A saber hum that resembled a dragon¡¯s roar lasted for a long time. If one were to carefully distinguish it, they would realize that the saber hum came from two different sabers. Bamboo Blade and the Life Soul Saber in Feng Qiuyan¡¯s hands were trembling and humming.


    Crack!


    A saber mark split open on the Dragon Scale Armor across Zhou Wen¡¯s chest. Almost at the same time, a saber mark appeared on Feng Qiuyan¡¯s chest. On his exposed muscles, there was a thin line of blood that seeped out.

 Chapter 916 - Fighting the Yin Talisman King Again

    ¡°Congratulations on mastering a Mythical saber technique. It¡¯s very strong,¡± Zhou Wen said sincerely as he looked at the shattered Dragon Scale Armor on his chest.


    Feng Qiuyan put away his saber, but he shook his head and said, ¡°Even though it¡¯s a Mythical saber technique, I was still defeated. Coach, if you hadn¡¯t retracted your saber in time, I would have been beheaded.¡±


    Zhou Wen had already sheathed the Bamboo Blade in his hand. He said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s a draw. I¡¯m wearing Mythical armor, so I knew that you couldn¡¯t injure me, so I could consider retracting my saber. Otherwise, both sides would have suffered.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan still shook his head and said, ¡°To be able to release and withdraw freely under such circumstances, Coach, you are indeed much stronger than me. I still need to continue working hard.¡±


    Zhou Wen blushed with shame. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s strike already had the qualifications to match Transcendent Flying Immortal. However, other than Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen also had Immortal Slaying. It made him accustomed to higher-level battles, so he still had the strength to react more under such circumstances.


    In terms of saber arts, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s strike was in no way inferior to Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    ¡°That final strike shouldn¡¯t be a part of the Infinite Saber Pilgrimage, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°It wasn¡¯t in the past, but it is now. This strike is the new Infinite Saber Pilgrimage. The Infinite Saber Pilgrimage before can just be considered a prelude.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any concept of names to begin with. Feng Qiuyan could name anything he wanted, so he didn¡¯t have any thoughts on it.


    Just as he was about to return to Ya¡¯er¡¯s side, he suddenly heard a voice. ¡°How exciting. Young men who aren¡¯t even twenty can actually use such movement techniques and saber art. Is this era too powerful, or were the humans from the past too weak? How enviable.¡±


    When Zhou Wen heard this voice, he immediately knew that something was amiss. He turned his head and saw the Yin Talisman King slowly walking over. He was clearly very far away, but with every step he took, he rapidly approached Zhou Wen and company. In a few steps, he was less than a hundred meters away from them.


    ¡°Yin Talisman King, you dare appear in front of me? Aren¡¯t you afraid that it would infuriate The Thearch?¡± Zhou Wen glanced at the Yin Talisman King¡¯s arm and saw that his severed arm had already recovered.


    Yin Talisman King said with a sinister smile, ¡°No matter how strong The Thearch is, she¡¯s still trapped in a dimensional zone and can¡¯t leave. As long as I don¡¯t approach Chess Mountain, how can she do anything to me? Trying to use her to reel me in? Don¡¯t be ridiculous.¡±


    ¡°Are you really that sure that she can¡¯t come out of a dimensional zone?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    However, Yin Talisman King said disdainfully, ¡°Don¡¯t try to scare me. The seal won¡¯t be broken. Even if she¡¯s a Calamity goddess, she can forget about rushing out of a place like Chess Mountain. Without that person today, I want to see who can protect you.¡±


    With that said, Yin Talisman King appeared in front of Zhou Wen like a ghost. A crystal-like palm grabbed at Zhou Wen.


    Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t hesitate to draw his saber and slash at Yin Talisman King. It was none other than the Infinite Saber Pilgrimage Technique he had just figured out.


    Zhou Wen lamented inwardly when he saw Feng Qiuyan take action. All he could do was draw his saber and slash at Yin Talisman King.


    The two of them slashed at Yin Talisman King from both sides. They were extremely fast, but Yin Talisman King grabbed a saber with one hand. The sharp blade couldn¡¯t even tear through the skin of his crystallized palm.


    Zhou Wen released Bamboo Blade and struck Yin Talisman King¡¯s head. Feng Qiuyan also retracted his Life Soul Saber and slashed at his waist.


    Yin Talisman King turned slightly, threw away Bamboo Blade, and extended his hand to strike Zhou Wen. At the same time, he raised his leg and kicked Feng Qiuyan.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan were sent flying almost at the same time. Zhou Wen shouted, ¡°Split up and run!¡± Then, he spun in midair and flew to Ya¡¯er¡¯s side before rapidly flying into the distance.


    Feng Qiuyan held back the churning blood in his chest and ran in another direction.


    ¡°This place is very far from Chess Mountain. You won¡¯t be able to run there.¡± Yin Talisman King sneered as he chased after Zhou Wen. He almost instantly appeared behind him.


    Seeing that he was chasing after him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate any further. He summoned Earth Elemental Beast and used Earth Escape several times.


    The reason Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use Earth Escape¡¯s maximum distance was that he hoped that Yin Talisman King would chase after him and not chase after Feng Qiuyan.


    Thankfully, Yin Talisman King was very confident and had no intention of using Feng Qiuyan as a hostage.


    Clang!


    The Earth Elemental Beast was in the midst of Earth Escape when it suddenly seemed to slam into an iron wall. It became dizzy from the collision and bounced out of Earth Escape. It sprawled on the ground and nearly fainted. A portion of its skull had shattered. From the looks of it, its injuries weren¡¯t light as Zhou Wen unsummoned it.


    Yin Talisman King chased after him with a smile. ¡°If I wasn¡¯t completely confident, would I have taken action? Even if immortals came today, they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape either.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer as he summoned the Invisibility Cloak and used the three minutes of invisibility to escape this area.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen wanted to fly away, but he felt his body slam into an invisible barrier and rebound.


    Yin Talisman King couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen, but he could hear the sound. He rushed over and said with a sinister smile, ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter how you struggle. Even if you turn into a ghost, you won¡¯t be able to escape this area.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how large the area was, so he stood there without moving. At the very least, he knew that there was an invisible barrier beside him.


    Yin Talisman King couldn¡¯t see him. All it could do was fly into the sky and look down at the entire forest. At the same time, it took out something as though it wanted to figure out Zhou Wen¡¯s location.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move as he activated his Mirror Eyes and looked at the invisible barrier, but he didn¡¯t see anything.


    After switching to the Supreme Hell King Life Soul, he looked at the invisible barrier again, but he still couldn¡¯t see anything. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t some kind of soul power.


    If there¡¯s a barrier in such a huge area, even a Terror-grade can¡¯t do it with their own strength, right? With this in mind, Zhou Wen switched to the Dao Sutra and the Heaven-Opening Scripture appeared in his sea of consciousness. Then, he charged straight at the invisible barrier.


    Zhou Wen held the Light Concealment Sword in his hand, but when the Light Concealment Sword touched the invisible barrier, it passed right through.


    As expected. Yin Talisman King relies on the power of the Heaven and Earth laws to form such a powerful barrier. Zhou Wen rushed out of the barrier and immediately flew at full speed.


    At the instant Zhou Wen rushed out of the barrier, Yin Talisman King sensed something as his expression changed. Damn it, how did he rush out of the Mystic Heaven Array?


    However, very quickly, Yin Talisman King took out something that resembled a compass. There were many intersecting points and lines on it. After Yin Talisman King injected his Essence Energy, the compass pointed in the direction Zhou Wen had fled.


    Yin Talisman King used Earth Escape to chase after Zhou Wen.


    Just as Zhou Wen came out of invisibility, he was discovered by Yin Talisman King. All he could do was dodge with his movement technique and constantly pull open the distance with teleportation.


    Unfortunately, the last time he had used fixed-position spatial teleportation was less than a month ago. He couldn¡¯t use it again. It was almost impossible to shake off Yin Talisman King by teleporting a great distance.


    As for the ten teleportation opportunities in a day, they were quickly expended. Earth Elemental Beast was severely injured and it¡¯s mind was muddled, so it was impossible for it to help Zhou Wen escape.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t running towards Chess Mountain because it was too far away. It was impossible for him to escape.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had already fled, Yin Talisman King could also tell that Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation ability could no longer be used.


    ¡°Continue fleeing,¡± said Yin Talisman King coldly as he looked at Zhou Wen who had been chased to a lake.

 Chapter 917 - Scarecrow

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen stopped and stood by the lake. He suddenly took out the purple bronze ball.


    When Yin Talisman King saw the purple bronze ball in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, he slowed down and didn¡¯t immediately rush over.


    ¡°This is what you want, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he slowly walked over.


    In fact, Zhou Wen already knew the answer without needing Yin Talisman King to answer. This was because Yin Talisman King¡¯s eyes were glowing when he saw the purple bronze ball.


    ¡°Give it to me and I shall give you a quick death. Otherwise, I¡¯ll let you suffer so much that you¡¯ll wish you were dead,¡± said King Yin Talisman.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Is it worth you risking your life to chase after me? You didn¡¯t chase after the person who took away the Sun True Flame Furnace, but you chased after me for this. I believe this thing must be extraordinary, right?¡± Zhou Wen held the copper ball and slowly retreated. He had already retreated to the edge of the lake and was about to step into it.


    Yin Talisman King was also sizing up his surroundings, especially the lake behind Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t dare underestimate Zhou Wen. Although it looked like Zhou Wen was unable to escape, Yin Talisman King was still very careful when Zhou Wen chose to stop here. He didn¡¯t dare charge forward, hoping to figure out if there were any problems here.


    Just like Zhou Wen, Yin Talisman King didn¡¯t discover any problems. He believed that this was only an ordinary lake and that there was nothing special nearby. Therefore, he focused his attention on Zhou Wen.


    In fact, this was where Zhou Wen had discovered the scarecrow. It was erected in the lake.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know what this is. Where¡¯s the other one?¡± Yin Talisman King asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s two of these?¡± Zhou Wen saw that Yin Talisman King had already approached him. He suddenly flew up and flew across the lake.


    Yin Talisman King tore through the air at a speed faster than Zhou Wen¡¯s. He was just moments from grabbing Zhou Wen from behind.


    Zhou Wen suddenly threw the purple bronze ball into the lake, and it landed near the scarecrow.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Yin Talisman King would chase after the purple bronze ball first. If he approached the scarecrow, the scarecrow wouldn¡¯t be indifferent.


    However, to his surprise, Yin Talisman King was more ruthless than Zhou Wen had imagined. He seemed to think that it didn¡¯t matter even if the purple bronze ball fell into the lake. He could quickly return to retrieve it later.


    Therefore, Yin Talisman King didn¡¯t chase after the purple bronze ball. Instead, he continued attacking Zhou Wen, hoping to kill him first.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed, but he had also thought of this possibility. His body suddenly sank as he burrowed into the lake, allowing Yin Talisman King to rush past him.


    The moment Zhou Wen entered the water, he switched to the Demon God Catalog and dived deep into the lake.


    Without any hesitation, Yin Talisman King chased after Zhou Wen and rushed into the lake. He wanted to kill Zhou Wen quickly and not give him any chance of survival.


    However, just as Yin Talisman King was about to rush into the water, he suddenly saw a strange scene.


    Yin Talisman King had been paying attention to the purple bronze ball with a sliver of his mind. He needed to know where the purple bronze ball had landed so that he could search for it later.


    However, before the purple bronze ball landed in the water, it suddenly changed its trajectory. Yin Talisman King saw the purple bronze ball land in the hands of the scarecrow on the lake.


    The scarecrow that originally looked like an ordinary object was now holding the purple bronze ball in its moldy straw palm. It tilted its head and looked down at the purple bronze ball.


    Yin Talisman King was alarmed. If the purple bronze ball was taken away, it would be useless even if he killed Zhou Wen. He immediately made a prompt decision and spun like a strange eagle, striking at the scarecrow with his palm.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he would be in a bitter battle, but to his surprise, Yin Talisman King changed directions and charged at the scarecrow.


    Zhou Wen lay in the lake and looked up at the scarecrow.


    The scarecrow¡¯s face was the same as the rest of its body. It was already moldy, but on its face¡ªunder the cover of the hat¡ªwas a pair of red eyes and a crescent-shaped mouth that emitted an evil red glow.


    At that moment, the scarecrow was completely different from when Zhou Wen had observed it. It emitted a terrifying evil aura that resembled black demonic smoke. It rose from its body as though it was wrapping its body like its clothes and a hat.


    One of Yin Talisman King¡¯s hands had already slammed in front of the scarecrow. Yin Talisman King was clearly very careful. His entire body had turned into a crystalline state as he entered his Terror form. His hand was almost transparent.


    Just as Yin Talisman King¡¯s hand was about to strike the scarecrow¡¯s head, the scarecrow finally looked up. The eyes and mouth that were covered by the brim of the hat were revealed to Yin Talisman King.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Yin Talisman King suddenly screamed as he retreated.


    Zhou Wen saw that Yin Talisman King¡¯s eyes were like the eyes of a scarecrow, turning blood-red. Furthermore, the redness was still spreading around his eyes like protruding blood vessels. It made Yin Talisman King¡¯s eyes look extremely strange. Furthermore, his eyes protruded and shimmered with red light. It gave off the feeling that his eyes were about to burst.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart trembled as he thought to himself that it was a close call. Thankfully, he thought that the scarecrow might be a dimensional creature like a demon. As for the Demon God Catalog, it had a bewitchment effect on such dimensional creatures. It made them mistake Zhou Wen for one of their kind, so he switched over.


    From the looks of it, he had escaped a calamity. If not for the protection of the Mirror Eyes Life Soul in the Demon God Catalog, he would probably have suffered the same outcome as Yin Talisman King when he saw the scarecrow¡¯s eyes.


    Yin Talisman King was impressive as well. He gathered his strength with both hands and pressed it on his eyes that were about to burst. Two beams of Yin energy were injected into his eyes, forcefully suppressing the red light in them.


    However, the red light didn¡¯t disappear. It was suppressed and remained in his eyes, preventing him from opening his eyes to see.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Yin Talisman King used his ears as his eyes and listened in the direction of the scarecrow with a heavy expression.


    The only one who could injure a Terror-grade was a Terror-grade creature. The scarecrow had nearly crippled his eyes. Clearly, it was also a Terror-grade creature.


    However, the scarecrow had no intention of answering. Its body dissipated like black smoke as it silently condensed in front of Yin Talisman King. The finger that carried black smoke and demonic aura stabbed at Yin Talisman King¡¯s blind eyes.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought that Yin Talisman King was about to be crippled, he suddenly saw a jade light on Yin Talisman King¡¯s body glow. His palm was like a jade claw as it penetrated the scarecrow¡¯s chest. He had actually discovered the scarecrow¡¯s location.


    However, the scarecrow didn¡¯t seem to feel any pain. Its hand continued reaching out, wanting to grab Yin Talisman King¡¯s neck.


    Yin Talisman King raised his other hand and grabbed the scarecrow¡¯s palm.

 Chapter 918 - Soul Cage

    ¡°Ah!¡± Another tragic cry came from the lake. Zhou Wen originally imagined that it would be the scarecrow, but to his surprise, he realized that it was Yin Talisman King.


    Yin Talisman King¡¯s hand had penetrated the scarecrow¡¯s chest and grabbed one of its hands. However, the scarecrow stood in front of him expressionlessly. The Essence Energy in Yin Talisman King¡¯s body quickly flowed into the scarecrow¡¯s body.


    Yin Talisman King wanted to shake off the scarecrow, but it seemed to be sucked in. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t shake it off. As for the scarecrow, it approached his body as though it was about to cling to him.


    Boom! Zhou Wen saw an immortal glow circulate over Yin Talisman King¡¯s palm. A strange symbol swirled in his palm and forcefully blasted the scarecrow¡¯s body.


    The scarecrow¡¯s body slid across the lake like a skater, but its actions were extremely strange. As it contorted its body and slid towards Yin Talisman King, it reached out to grab at him.


    Yin Talisman King and the scarecrow fought above the lake, but neither gained an advantage. If it wasn¡¯t for the mysterious symbols on his hands that could restrain the demonic aura on the scarecrow, Yin Talisman King would have long been sucked dry by the scarecrow.


    Even so, Yin Talisman King wasn¡¯t having it good either. He couldn¡¯t see, so he could only rely on his other senses to make up for his shortcomings. At the same time, he didn¡¯t dare touch any other spot of the scarecrow.


    The scarecrow was like an elegant figure skater. Its body moved strangely on the surface of the lake as it attacked Yin Talisman King in all sorts of elegant and strange poses.


    The spot on Yin Talisman King¡¯s crystalline Terror form where the scarecrow had touched immediately turned black, as though ink had seeped into his flesh.


    What a terrifying scarecrow! Zhou Wen was alarmed. The powerful Yin Talisman King was actually suppressed to such a sorry state in front of the scarecrow.


    Yin Talisman King¡¯s Five-Elemental Escape technique didn¡¯t seem to be of much use in front of the scarecrow. As he moved in the water, the scarecrow¡¯s figure turned into black smoke and dissipated. By the time he escaped from the water, the scarecrow had already condensed beside him.


    The two invincible existences at the Terror grade didn¡¯t seem to erupt with earth-shattering strength, but their battle was extremely harrowing. If it were an ordinary Mythical creature, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand a single strike and would die tragically.


    Strength wasn¡¯t purely based on one¡¯s destructive power. Some forces might not look very destructive, but could lead to death upon contact.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but after hiding in the water and peeping for a while, he dispelled the thought of immediately escaping.


    Yin Talisman King was proficient in the Five-Elemental Escape technique. If he really wanted to escape, he could escape far away. It was likely that the scarecrow wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to him so easily.


    However, Yin Talisman King only escaped in a small area and didn¡¯t go far. It was obvious that he hadn¡¯t given up on the purple bronze ball and wanted to snatch it back from the scarecrow.


    In fact, the scarecrow only used one hand to fight. Its other hand held the purple bronze ball tightly. Clearly, it also valued the purple bronze ball.


    Zhou Wen secretly summoned Demonic Neonate and hid in the lake with her, hoping to wait for an opportunity.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s large eyes sized up the scarecrow and Yin Talisman King. Clearly, she was also judging the situation and looking for an opportunity.


    Although Yin Talisman King was suppressed by the scarecrow, his life wasn¡¯t in danger. During the battle, Yin Talisman King was still shouting sternly, ¡°Who are you? Are you a fiend? I was once a peer of the fiends¡¯ Guardian¡­¡±


    However, the scarecrow ignored him. It circled around Yin Talisman King like a ghost and attacked him, putting him in grave danger.


    Seeing that Yin Dark Talisman King seemed to have the intention of retreating, Zhou Wen thought to himself, If I let him escape, I won¡¯t be the scarecrow¡¯s match. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to retrieve the purple bronze ball. How can I stop Yin Talisman King from running and fight the scarecrow to an internecine outcome?


    However, after some thought, there seemed to be nothing he could do. Unless he sealed off all the five elements when dealing with a person who was proficient in the Five-Elemental Escape technique, it was impossible to stop him from escaping.


    Indeed, when Yin Talisman King realized that he couldn¡¯t turn the tables and gradually couldn¡¯t withstand the scarecrow¡¯s attacks, he already had the intention to retreat.


    After dodging the scarecrow¡¯s attack, Yin Talisman King used Water Escape to reach the edge of the lake and leaped towards the shore. Half of his body had already touched the ground he wanted to escape through. He wanted to leave this place and wait for his injuries to heal before seeking revenge on the scarecrow.


    However, Yin Talisman King¡¯s expression suddenly changed. He felt as though a force that came from his soul was sucking at his soul, pulling him into the lake.


    Just as Yin Talisman King had landed on the ground, he fell back into the lake.


    ¡°Soul Cage!¡± Yin Talisman King turned pale and couldn¡¯t help but shout.


    Zhou Wen also saw an extremely strange scene. The scarecrow stood on the surface of the lake, its body wrapped in a black-robed demonic smoke, but its body made of straw emitted a soul-like holy brilliance.


    The entire lake emitted a white soul glow like a holy lake.


    Yin Talisman King rushed out of the lake, but a transparent shadow was locked inside. Then, Yin Talisman King¡¯s body seemed to be pulled back by a rubber band.


    The transparent shadow also fused with his body, and the scarecrow transformed into demonic smoke again and gracefully attacked.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as well. Taking advantage of their battle, he swam towards the bank, hoping to leave the lake.


    However, just as he climbed ashore, he felt something in the lake affecting him, making him want to throw himself into the lake uncontrollably.


    Could the Soul Cage that Yin Talisman King mentioned really imprison souls? Zhou Wen realized that Demon God Catalog and Mirror Eyes were useless, so he switched to the Supreme Hell King Life Soul.


    The moment Supreme Hell King Life Soul appeared, Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body transformed into a Hell King state. The force that was pulling him suddenly vanished as Zhou Wen finally rushed ashore.


    When he turned his head, he saw that the lake wasn¡¯t glowing at all. He couldn¡¯t even see the lake. Countless bones sank to the bottom of the lake, and in the lake were countless wailing, struggling, and entangled wraiths. The lake was like a living hell, and the scarecrow that emitted demonic aura was the king of this purgatory.


    Countless wraiths entangled Yin Talisman King¡¯s soul. His body could leave the lake, but his soul was entangled by countless wraiths.


    Some wraiths wanted to entangle Zhou Wen, but the moment they touched Zhou Wen¡¯s Supreme Hell King body, they were immediately burned by invisible flames. One of their hands turned to ashes.


    As for the invisible flames, they remained undying. They spread across the wraith¡¯s body until it completely turned to dust before disappearing.

 Chapter 919 - First Mountain Bronze

    Translator: CKtalon


    A wraith tried to pull Ya¡¯er from Zhou Wen¡¯s arms, but Zhou Wen casually waved his hand and reduced it to ashes.


    Demonic Neonate remained hidden in the lake and didn¡¯t come out with Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen looked in surprise at where Demonic Neonate was and realized that the wraith-like objects didn¡¯t entangle Demonic Neonate as though she didn¡¯t exist.


    Demonic Neonate isn¡¯t leaving because she probably thinks there¡¯s a chance. There¡¯s no harm in observing. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and hid in the nearby forest to observe the battle in the lake.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that the wraith-like objects couldn¡¯t leave the lake. It was as though there was a barrier outside the lake.


    Could it be that the scarecrow can¡¯t leave the lake? Zhou Wen guessed.


    The last time he passed here, the scarecrow hadn¡¯t attacked him. Back then, he had walked on a small path by the lake, less than two meters away from the lake.


    Such a distance was probably nothing to a terrifying existence like the scarecrow. There were only two possibilities for it not to attack Zhou Wen.


    One was that it didn¡¯t want to attack, and the other was that it couldn¡¯t leave the lake.


    If the scarecrow really can¡¯t leave the lake, there might be a chance of snatching the purple bronze ball back. Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly heard Yin Talisman King¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, let¡¯s make a deal. Help me leave the lake and I¡¯ll help you contract the strongest Guardian.¡± Yin Talisman King was pleasantly surprised when he realized that Zhou Wen had rushed out of the lake.


    What surprised him was that Zhou Wen was able to escape the lake. This person had always exceeded his expectations. He had lived for so many years, but he had never suffered such a huge loss at the hands of an uncontracted human.


    He was naturally happy that Zhou Wen could escape the lake. This might be his chance of survival.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and shouted in the direction of the lake, ¡°Tell me what that purple bronze ball is. What¡¯s its use?¡±


    As Yin Talisman King fought the scarecrow, he said, ¡°That¡¯s First Mountain Bronze.¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback when he heard the name First Mountain Bronze.


    First Mountain Bronze wasn¡¯t a name for a type of bronze. First Mountain was a name for a place. In myths and legends, Yellow Emperor went to First Mountain to mine bronze and cast a tripod cauldron to stabilize the light from providence that shone on China.


    There were all sorts of theories as to where First Mountain was. Many regions claimed that it was the true First Mountain. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know which was true.


    However, even if the legends were true, First Mountain Bronze was only a metal used to forge cauldrons. Was it worth it for existences like Yin Talisman King and the scarecrow to fight for it?


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to forge a tripod cauldron by snatching the First Mountain Bronze,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    King Yin Talisman was in a perilous situation after being attacked by the scarecrow. Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, he felt a little depressed, but he had no choice but to say patiently, ¡°The true value of First Mountain Bronze isn¡¯t because of the material itself. The so-called First Mountain isn¡¯t really called First Mountain. It¡¯s the place where Yellow Emperor and Chiyou deployed their troops to battle. Countless experts from both sides died. The blood of human immortals and demons dyed the mountain range red and soaked through the mountain¡¯s bronze mine. The blood-stained bronze cauldron that Yellow Emperor made could suppress the light from providence for ages. What kind of treasure is that? Emperor Qin went through all the trouble to find First Mountain Bronze in hopes of using the human immortals and demons¡¯ blood essence in First Mountain Bronze to refine the Elixir of Longevity.


    ¡°Unfortunately, even after Emperor Qin passed away, the First Mountain Bronze couldn¡¯t be refined. Instead, the blood essence in it became more and more condensed. It also absorbed the essence energy in the pill furnace and turned into two bronze balls. These two bronze balls can be said to be a kernel of the Elixir of Immortality, and they can also be said to be the strongest forging material for humanity.¡±


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Zhou Wen felt that Yin Talisman King hadn¡¯t finished explaining the matter of First Mountain Bronze.


    If that was the case, why would the scarecrow snatch it? It was immortal to begin with, and it couldn¡¯t use tools forged by humans.


    The situation on Yin Talisman King¡¯s side wasn¡¯t optimistic. His crystalline body was already tainted with the scarecrow¡¯s demonic aura. He couldn¡¯t last much longer.


    ¡°If you are willing to help me out of the lake, we can settle our past grievances. I can also help you refine the First Mountain Bronze. Only I know how to refine it¡­¡± Yin Talisman King attempted to convince Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I want to help you too, but I¡¯m not capable enough to help.¡± How could Zhou Wen be willing to help Yin Talisman King? It would be good if such an old fellow died.


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t need to refine the First Mountain Bronze, you should still need a Companion Beast, right? I know where the Companion Beast used by Yellow Emperor Huang is. That Companion Beast has already returned to its Companion Egg form. With my help, you will definitely obtain it.¡± Yin Talisman King continued throwing out his chips.


    However, Zhou Wen was completely unmoved. He ignored Yin Talisman King¡¯s nonsensical words and pretended not to hear him.


    When Yin Talisman King saw that Zhou Wen clearly wanted him dead and that it was useless to say anything else, he immediately steeled his heart and didn¡¯t waste his breath. Taking advantage of his remaining strength, he suddenly advanced and slammed into the scarecrow.


    Inside the crystal jade-like body of Yin Talisman King, there were dark-gold mysterious symbols flowing. The mysterious symbols suddenly collided with something.


    Boom!


    A golden beam shot into the sky like a nuclear explosion. It formed a huge golden mushroom cloud that blew up the entire lake.


    The powerful shockwave shattered the nearby forest and caused the mountain walls to collapse.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth to block the blast. Truth Listener kept monitoring the battlefield as the scarecrow¡¯s body scattered amidst the golden explosion.


    However, it was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. After the scarecrow¡¯s body scattered, it transformed into countless wraiths. It was as though its body didn¡¯t have any corporeal form¡ªthe straw was made of wraiths.


    The wraiths closest to Yin Talisman King were disintegrated by the terrifying golden light. Many of them died.


    A cold beam flew out of the explosion. After rushing out of the lake, it landed on the ground and vanished.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was definitely a trump card that Yin Talisman King had kept close to his chest, but he didn¡¯t have the time to stop him from escaping. By the time Zhou Wen rushed over, the cold beam had already fled into the distance. It was probably kilometers away.


    Even this can¡¯t kill him? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed as he turned to look at the lake.


    The remaining wraiths in the lake were condensing towards a spot. There was a black core there, and all the wraiths were condensing towards the core. The numerous wraiths turned into a part of the outer core, gradually forming the scarecrow¡¯s body.


    Before it could condense into a scarecrow again, a black-purple sword beam flashed as Demonic Neonate¡¯s demon sword pierced through the black monster core.


    At the moment the monster core was pierced, the wraiths in the lake let out ear-piercing screams. Then, soul light brightly bloomed as wraiths rose into the sky amidst the light. The number was terrifying, and the scene was extremely spectacular.


    After all the wraiths vanished into the sky, Demonic Neonate flew back to the bank with the purple bronze ball in one hand and the demon sword in the other.


    The black monster core was still skewered to the demon sword. It was shaped like a walnut, but its texture was like obsidian. It also beat like a heart.


    If not for Grim Demon¡¯s power suppressing the monster core, it would have long fled.


    Before Zhou Wen could ask Demonic Neonate what it was, Demonic Neonate had already opened her mouth and bit off the monster core like she was eating from a skewer. After chewing a few times, she swallowed it.


    1

 Chapter 920 - The Weapon Zhou Wen Likes

    Seeing Demonic Neonate swallow the scarecrow¡¯s monster core, Zhou Wen opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but he saw Demonic Neonate emit demonic aura as though she was about to evolve.


    Demonic Neonate leaped towards Zhou Wen and returned to him in the form of a tattoo. However, the tattoo was different from usual. It had already transformed into a blob of dense demonic aura that couldn¡¯t be dispelled. It was impossible to tell its outline.


    Is she finally going to be a Mythical? Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted. After this evolution, he might be able to find out the secret of Demonic Neonate¡¯s Wheel of Destiny.


    Unfortunately, I failed to kill Yin Talisman King. Zhou Wen glanced at the lake regretfully before leaving with Ya¡¯er.


    When he arrived at a place with a signal, Zhou Wen¡¯s phone rang. It was a message from Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°I¡¯m in Taihang Mountain District. There¡¯s a dimensional zone here that allows us to take refuge. Lure him here¡­¡±


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t seen the message. He had fled too quickly and there was no signal.


    ¡°It¡¯s been resolved. I¡¯m rushing back to Luoyang. Quickly return.¡± Zhou Wen sent him a message before rushing back.


    Although he failed to kill Yin Talisman King, he was definitely severely injured. Even his body had self-destructed. It was difficult to say if he could recover his strength. It was unlikely he could return anytime soon.


    If he dared to come again, Banana Fairy would probably have completed her evolution. When that happened, it would be difficult to say who would be the pursuer.


    Unfortunately, I can¡¯t find him. Otherwise, this would be a great opportunity to eliminate him. Zhou Wen took out the purple bronze ball and played with it. Yin Talisman King had said that it was First Mountain Bronze and that it had absorbed the blood essence of the three races¡ªhumans, immortals, demons.


    Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t as simple as Yin Talisman King had said. If it was the pure blood of ordinary humans, immortals, and demons, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use even if he absorbed it. If it was really as Yin Talisman King had said, the blood absorbed by the First Mountain Bronze would probably be extraordinary.


    However, Zhou Wen tried many methods, but he failed to figure out how to use it. No matter how he heated it, it only burned red. He could see a hint of purple flowing inside.


    I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible to call such a huge bronze ball a pill kernel. If it¡¯s really refined into a pill, it might be able to gorge someone to death. It¡¯s more reliable using it to make weapons. This thing is so hard, so it definitely won¡¯t be easily destroyed by weapons. However, if it¡¯s so hard, it won¡¯t be easy to turn it into a weapon. I can¡¯t use a ball as a weapon, right¡­ Wait¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something and summoned his Essence Energy Pill.


    I¡¯ve been wondering if the Essence Energy Pill will advance into a pill or something in the future, but I neglected the fact that this thing is more like a weapon. If it¡¯s a weapon, will it have a weapon form after advancing? Could it be that the reason the Essence Energy Pill hasn¡¯t advanced is because it doesn¡¯t have a fixed weapon form? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    The Life Soul was a fusion of bloodline talent and essence, vitality, and spirit. Its growth not only required energy, but also its master¡¯s will.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any special preferences for weapons. He could use any weapon. To him, weapons were just tools that he didn¡¯t devote any feelings to.


    Zhou Wen felt that this was likely the reason why the Essence Energy Pill hadn¡¯t advanced.


    If it¡¯s a weapon, what kind of weapon do I need? A saber, a sword, or a spear? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that they were about the same. Apart from the fact that he seldom used a spear, swords and sabers were basically the same to Zhou Wen. However, swords were mainly focused on thrusting, while sabers were more focused on slashing.


    Since they¡¯re about the same, I¡¯ll choose the sword. Zhou Wen thought about the form of the sword before circulating the Qi Refinement Art again, hoping to advance his Essence Energy Pill.


    However, the outcome was useless. At the final step, the Essence Energy Pill remained infinitely stable. It refused to break through.


    Could I be wrong? The Essence Energy Pill doesn¡¯t evolve towards weapons? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    When Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, Feng Qiuyan had already returned ahead of time. As he had suffered some injuries, he was being treated at the hospital. He probably wouldn¡¯t be able to return to campus for a couple of weeks.


    After visiting Feng Qiuyan, Zhou Wen returned to campus.


    Zhou Wen had been considering the problem of the Essence Energy Pill along the way. He felt that his idea was correct, but for some reason, the Essence Energy Pill couldn¡¯t evolve.


    Could it be that I really have to like a certain weapon for it to be able to sense my will for evolution? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to seriously study the various weapons to see if he could find a weapon he really liked.


    The first weapon Zhou Wen learned about was the sword. It wasn¡¯t because he liked swords the most, but because he had an Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon. There were all kinds of swords there, so Zhou Wen planned on taking a closer look.


    After returning to his dorm, he opened the door and the chick flew over. It had grown a little bigger¡ªfrom the looks of it, An Sheng had sent it quite a number of good things recently. It hadn¡¯t starved.


    The antelope lay on the couch and when it saw Zhou Wen return, it lazily opened its eyes and glanced at him before closing its eyes to continue sleeping.


    This fellow eats and sleeps all day. Will its strength regress? Should I try to kill it and roast some venison skewers? Zhou Wen looked at the antelope and thought to himself.


    However, this was only a thought. Zhou Wen suspected that this fellow was at the Terror grade. If they really fought, he might not be able to kill it.


    After summoning Truth Listener and the other Companion Beasts that liked to play outside, he distributed the snacks he had brought back to the chick and got Ya¡¯er to play with them. Only then did Zhou Wen return to his bedroom and lie in bed. He took out his phone and entered the Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon.


    The vine sword was still stuck there. Every time he respawned, the location of the vine sword would be different. However, he could see it. Zhou Wen had tried many times to pull it out, but he failed.


    This vine sword¡¯s shape is too strange. It¡¯s not the kind I would like. Zhou Wen looked at the vine sword before shaking his head and looking at the ancient sword beside him.


    In the Ancient Sword Tomb, there were quite a number of beautiful ancient swords. Zhou Wen quite liked the shapes of some ancient swords, but no matter how much he liked them, he only treated them as tools. He had no way of developing the feelings that Feng Qiuyan had for sabers.


    After circling the Ancient Sword Tomb for some time, Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for him to be a swordsman who loved swords as much as his life. Therefore, he gave up on searching.


    I should take a look at sabers. Perhaps I¡¯m a natural saber user? Zhou Wen decided to change his train of thought.


    It wasn¡¯t as convenient to look at sabers as looking at swords. There were no instance dungeons like Saber Tomb, but in Sunset College, there was a showroom where many Essence Gold weapons were stored. Sabers took up a large potion of them.


    Why did sabers take up the largest portion? That was because sabers were the most practical. While a sword had two sharp edges, making it seem to have more functions than a saber, this didn¡¯t mean that it was better. A sword had high requirements for the craftsmanship and user. It wasn¡¯t as simple and practical as a saber.

 Chapter 921 - Practice Comes Before Saber

    As long as the showroom was open, the college¡¯s students could enter freely with their student identification.


    The moment the showroom opened, Zhou Wen swiped his student ID and entered.


    There weren¡¯t many students here usually, and it was still early. When Zhou Wen entered the showroom, the staff were still organizing the items. There wasn¡¯t a single student.


    Since he was already here, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to look at the sabers. He looked at the first item on display.


    What was displayed here were all Essence Gold weapons produced by humans after the dimensional storms. However, most of them were replicas for show.


    Sabers were mainstream, followed by spears and bows. Swords and other weapons were non-mainstream. There were also shields and armor made of Essence Gold. However, there were very few of them because the effects weren¡¯t very good.


    Then, there were all kinds of Essence Gold bullets and firearms. Most bullets were gilded or mixed with a certain amount of Essence Gold. Pure Essence Gold bullets were relatively rare, and they were usually only assigned to high-ranking officers.


    Rockets and shells were also made of Essence Gold, but they could only be used to attack large groups of dimensional creatures, so they weren¡¯t suitable for ordinary battles.


    Most of them were used to repel large-scale dimensional creature tides or deal with immobile plant-type dimensional creatures.


    There were even more types of sabers. They could be as small as being only palm-length. The big ones were like Steed Slaying Saber. It left Zhou Wen dazzled. However, no matter how he looked at them, he felt that they were just tools without much difference.


    In terms of something that was pleasing to the eye, they were inferior to the Bamboo Blade that Zhou Wen often used.


    However, Zhou Wen had already tried. Even though he was thinking about Bamboo Blade, he had no way of advancing the Essence Energy Pill.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there¡¯s no weapon that can make one fall in love at first sight?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. He wasn¡¯t a hot-blooded person to begin with. He really couldn¡¯t see a weapon as something more important than his life.


    No matter how good a weapon was, no matter how valuable it was, Zhou Wen would definitely abandon it when his life was at stake.


    ¡°Lad, there are no weapons in this world that can make you fall in love at first sight. There are only veterans that remain alive,¡± a staff member said when he heard Zhou Wen mutter to himself.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that the person speaking was a man in his forties. Although he was wearing sunglasses, Zhou Wen could tell that it was because one of his eyes was blind. One leg was a prosthetic limb.


    ¡°Can you elaborate on the meaning of that sentence?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    As the man wiped the weapons on display, he said, ¡°Most people don¡¯t really like weapons, but in times of danger, they need to use them to protect themselves and their families. Apart from a small number of people who like weapons, weapons are just tools to ordinary people.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. He shared the same view as the man.


    ¡°But¡ª¡± The man wiped a saber clean and carefully placed it on the saber rack. He straightened it and continued, ¡°¡ªonce you pick up a weapon and fight with it, no matter if you love it or not, or no matter how much you despise it, it will become your most important companion. This thing is even more important than your woman or brothers. On the battlefield, it¡¯s the only one you can truly trust.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    The man continued, ¡°That¡¯s why, on the battlefield, no matter if you like it or not, no matter how proud you are, you have to understand it and familiarize yourself with it. You have to constantly practice and get used to it. You have to put in more effort than chasing women. Otherwise, on the battlefield, it might take your life. If you want to become a veteran, you have to get along with it no matter how terrible it is. After some time, you will realize that the weapon is already a part of your body, a tool that can¡¯t be easily abandoned. Because without them, your body seems to be missing a part, making you appear like a disabled person. The chances of a crippled person dying on the battlefield are naturally higher than a normal person.¡±


    Zhou Wen fell into thought when he heard the man¡¯s words.


    ¡°Why do we have the verb ¡®practice¡¯ come before the noun ¡®saber?¡¯ Young man, practice well.¡± The man patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder and continued cleaning.


    ¡°Thank you. How should I address you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a crippled veteran. My name isn¡¯t important.¡± The man ignored Zhou Wen and continued his work.


    Zhou Wen felt a little upset. War had brought misfortune to most people. No one liked war, but sometimes, war was inevitable.


    He didn¡¯t continue looking at the exhibits because he knew very well that he wasn¡¯t a person who liked weapons. Therefore, no matter how he looked at it, he couldn¡¯t treat a tool as his life.


    Just as the veteran had said, when it came to practicing sabers, practice was more important than the saber.


    Zhou Wen already had an idea as he walked out of the showroom and prepared to return to his dorm.


    Halfway there, he saw Li Xuan, Sadie, and Gulli walking towards the Xuanwen Club.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what a coincidence. Where are you going?¡± Li Xuan greeted.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw Li Xuan. He went over and tugged at Li Xuan. ¡°Come, practice with me.¡±


    ¡°No, you should find someone else. I¡¯m dizzy. I won¡¯t do¡­¡± Li Xuan held his chest as though he was about to faint.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of being beaten, but he couldn¡¯t accept being beaten into a deformed person by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Coach, what do you want to practice?¡± Sadie asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to practice my sword technique,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I can be your sparring partner,¡± Sadie¡¯s eyes lit up as she said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go to the training room.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    Sadie¡¯s combat abilities were inferior to Li Xuan¡¯s. If she really fought with her life on the line, she wasn¡¯t Li Xuan¡¯s match. However, in practice, she had the Eye of Odin. Her performance in combat was stronger than Li Xuan¡¯s, making her more suitable as Zhou Wen¡¯s sparring partner.


    After all, with the Eye of Odin¡¯s ability, Sadie could crack all sorts of moves in battle without risking her life like Li Xuan.


    The four of them went to the training room together. Sadie picked up a sword.


    There were two types of swords in the North District. One was a broadsword-type heavy sword, while the other was a narrow and thin armor-piercing sword. The two swords had their own specialties and their usage was completely different.


    Sadie was originally good at armor-piercing swords. With her Eye of Odin, it was very easy for her to find the other party¡¯s weakness and deliver a fatal strike.


    However, ever since she came to Sunset College to study, Sadie had learned quite a number of East District sword techniques. Furthermore, she had fused the East District sword techniques into her own.


    As she had never competed with a true East District sword expert, Sadie didn¡¯t know how well she had mastered her sword techniques. When she heard that Zhou Wen wanted to practice, she wanted to test how well she had mastered her sword techniques.


    The practice sword she chose was naturally the commonly seen armor-piercing sword in the North District. The blade was long and thin, much narrower than the swords from the North District.

 Chapter 922 - Sword Practice

    Zhou Wen randomly chose a practice sword. It was the commonly seen three-foot-long sword in the East District. It was straight and light.


    The type of sword was actually not important to Zhou Wen. He wasn¡¯t planning to focus on a particular sword technique, but the thirteen sword techniques he had learned in the Peach Blossom Spring.


    Strictly speaking, the sword stance wasn¡¯t important. What was truly important was the three thousand sword intents.


    After hearing the veteran¡¯s words, Zhou Wen realized that the appearance of the sword wasn¡¯t important. He needed to know what he could do with the sword.


    ¡°Draw your sword,¡± Zhou Wen said to Sadie.


    Sadie didn¡¯t hesitate as she stabbed out with her armor-piercing sword at lightning speed.


    Zhou Wen struck out at almost the same time. He was as fast as lightning, just like Sadie. They were both fast-attack sword techniques.


    She won! Gulli saw Sadie¡¯s sword reach Zhou Wen¡¯s chest first. As for Zhou Wen¡¯s sword, it was still a distance away from Sadie. He couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed and nearly jumped up.


    To him, being able to defeat Coach once was something worth being happy about.


    Sadie never expected to win. She found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Again.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he retracted his sword.


    After Sadie retracted her sword, she used the same move again. Zhou Wen did the same speed versus speed clash, but the outcome was the same. Sadie¡¯s sword touched Zhou Wen first.


    ¡°Again,¡± Zhou Wen retracted his sword and continued.


    Zhou Wen had only memorized the three thousand sword intents, but he hadn¡¯t actually practiced them. Now, Zhou Wen wanted to practice using the three thousand sword intents himself to truly understand the subtlety of the sword intents.


    Sadie defeated Zhou Wen for a few consecutive rounds, but she was somewhat shocked.


    Sadie had the Eye of Odin, so Zhou Wen¡¯s actions looked like slow motion to her. Therefore, as long as her sword¡¯s speed could keep up, Sadie could crack Zhou Wen¡¯s sword techniques.


    The same move against Sadie was almost doomed to failure. There was no chance of winning.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case. Every time Zhou Wen unsheathed his sword, the sword technique seemed to become much stronger than before. It wasn¡¯t just an improvement in technique and speed, but more importantly, the sword intent in his sword technique became stronger and stronger.


    After more than ten strikes, Sadie had no choice but to use her movement technique to dodge Zhou Wen¡¯s sword because her sword couldn¡¯t hit him first anymore.


    However, once she retreated, there was no chance of winning. Zhou Wen¡¯s sword techniques accelerated with every strike. Soon, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword pointed at Sadie¡¯s chest.


    ¡°I lost.¡± Sadie was convinced of her defeat.


    After more than ten strikes, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique had actually improved greatly. It was unimaginable.


    Just imagine a person who was easily defeated by you more than ten times. Then, after more than ten strikes, you were no longer their match. How terrifying was that?


    However, Sadie wasn¡¯t too surprised that such a thing had happened to Zhou Wen. Gulli and Li Xuan weren¡¯t surprised either. This was because he was Coach. It wasn¡¯t unacceptable that he could defeat Sadie.


    Zhou Wen retracted his sword and seemed to ponder for a moment before saying, ¡°Continue.¡±


    Sadie didn¡¯t know what was the point of continuing practicing. Zhou Wen¡¯s fast sword was something she could see, but not dodge. There was no point in continuing.


    However, since Zhou Wen wanted to continue, Sadie had no choice but to continue.


    However, this time, Sadie realized that Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art was different. This time, Zhou Wen¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t that fast or offensive. It seemed to have become a defensive sword art.


    Strangely, the sword move Zhou Wen used was still the same.


    The same sword move but with a completely different sword intent. The effects of the sword art seem to have completely changed. How did he do it? Sadie was somewhat surprised as she knew why Zhou Wen wanted to continue.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen was quickly defeated. This was because he was focused on defending and counterattacking, but due to the existence of the Eye of Odin, it was very difficult to defend against Sadie¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he fought Sadie again.


    After repeated failures, it became more and more difficult for Sadie to defeat Zhou Wen. Almost in the same manner as before, Sadie realized that she had no way of breaking through Zhou Wen¡¯s defensive sword technique.


    In the end, Sadie lost again.


    However, Zhou Wen still wanted to continue. Furthermore, the sword art he used was still the same, but the sword intent had changed.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Coach used a sword art with three different sword intents? How did he master it?¡± Gulli was dumbfounded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but from the looks of it, there are more than three types of sword intents,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Gulli was slightly stunned. ¡°More than three? Are you joking? Mastering three or more sword intents for one sword art isn¡¯t something a human can do, right?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Zhou Wen,¡± Li Xuan said as he stared intently at Zhou Wen.


    Just as Li Xuan had said, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t just have three sword intents. In fact, it wasn¡¯t a human sword art. The white-robed man from the Peach Blossom Spring was no longer human, so his sword art was naturally not a human sword art. Even the white-robed man couldn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen could memorize three thousand sword intents. It was obvious how unbelievable the sword art was.


    ¡°Four¡­ Five¡­ Six¡­ Heavens¡­ How many sword intents has Coach mastered?¡± Gulli felt like he was dreaming.


    From the beginning until now, Zhou Wen had already used more than ten sword intents. He was basically beating Sadie in all kinds of fancy ways.


    Regardless of which sword intent it was, it would gradually become stronger in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands before defeating Sadie.


    Sadie felt terrible, but at the same time, she was very excited. She was also a sword practitioner. To be able to face so many types of sword intents was of great help to her. Her understanding of the sword deepened as her sword techniques became stronger.


    However, the speed at which she became stronger clearly couldn¡¯t keep up with Zhou Wen. As Zhou Wen used different sword intents, Gulli was already dazzled. He couldn¡¯t remember how many sword intents Zhou Wen had used.


    ¡°Is this fellow really human?¡± Gulli looked at Zhou Wen as though he was looking at a monster.


    ¡°Without a doubt, Zhou Wen is physiologically human. Since he can do it, it means that this path is feasible,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this path will work. In any case, I won¡¯t be capable of doing it. Besides, there¡¯s no need for that, right? Just cultivating a single sword intent to the extreme is enough to defeat an opponent. Why do you have to cultivate so many different sword intents?¡± Gulli gave up. He had seen so many sword intents and felt that his mind was in a mess.


    ¡°Zhou Wen naturally has his reasons for doing so. I haven¡¯t figured it out yet,¡± Li Xuan said seriously.


    ¡°Forget it. Take your time. Anyway, I¡¯m only a human. I won¡¯t get involved with monsters like you guys.¡± Gulli felt that he had come to the wrong place.


    In the past, when he was in the Ultimate Family Clan, he was still considered a genius. Apart from existences like Lance and Sadie, he was always basking in the limelight.


    However, ever since he had entered the Xuanwen Club, he felt like he had entered a perverted concentration camp, and he was one of the more normal ones.

 Chapter 923 - Sword Pill

    Translator: CKtalon


    For the next couple of days, Zhou Wen practiced with Sadie. He wanted to practice all three thousand sword intents to see which sword intent was suitable for the Essence Energy Pill. Perhaps that would be the time when the Essence Energy Pill advanced.


    After he was discharged, Feng Qiuyan surprisingly didn¡¯t practice his saber for the next few days. He came to watch the two fight every day.


    Sadie went from initially surprised to the subsequent shock and finally numbness. She no longer thought about anything. All she did was focus on taking in the battle with Zhou Wen and use the Eye of Odin to record the battle.


    She didn¡¯t wish to master so many sword intents like Zhou Wen, but as long as she could master a few sword intents that suited her, she could make great progress.


    In fact, Sadie did the same as Zhou Wen. During the battle with him, she gradually infused her insights into her sword art.


    Perhaps even Sadie didn¡¯t realize that her sword art was undergoing a tremendous change thanks to Zhou Wen¡¯s influence.


    Zhou Wen powered the 13 stances using the Qi Refinement Art to constantly gain insight into the 3,000 sword intents, but the Essence Energy Pill showed no signs of advancing despite him gaining insight into all the sword intents.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush as he continued practicing. Without realizing it, he had already practiced all three thousand sword intents.


    After using the last sword intent, Zhou Wen sheathed his sword and stood there motionless.


    When Sadie saw Zhou Wen suddenly retreat, the sword in her hand stabbed at him. However, before the sword could plunge into him, Sadie found herself unable to do so.


    Zhou Wen seemed to be standing there casually, but his body seemed to emit infinite sword intent.


    It was different from any of the previous sword intents. Every sword intent Zhou Wen had used previously had distinct characteristics. They were either firm or soft, offensive or defensive, fast or slow, domineering or kingly. Every sword intent had its advantages and disadvantages.


    However, the sword intent emitted by Zhou Wen was completely different.


    Sadie couldn¡¯t figure out what the sword intent on Zhou Wen¡¯s body was. All she felt was an infinite sword intent surge from Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It was indescribable, like a sword furnace.


    Sadie felt that no matter how she struck out, she would receive Zhou Wen¡¯s fatal counterattack. However, if she retreated, she would similarly be pursued. Instantly, she was petrified as cold sweat constantly seeped out of her forehead. She stood motionless, as though she would be killed by Zhou Wen if she moved.


    Hum!


    A sword hum sounded from Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but the practice sword in his hand had already shattered.


    The sword hum lasted for a long time, but no sword appeared. It was as though the sword was inside Zhou Wen¡¯s body, and Zhou Wen was like a sword furnace that had fused with the swords in the world.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. The Essence Energy Pill had finally advanced to an Evolved Body. Its Essence Energy had been further purified and compressed, becoming smaller and purer. However, it didn¡¯t transform into a sword form. It was still an Essence Energy Pill.


    However, the Essence Energy Pill contained infinite sword intent.


    After the Essence Energy Pill advanced successfully, the sword hum on Zhou Wen¡¯s body vanished. The boundless sword intent also vanished.


    Sadie¡¯s entire body was drenched with sweat. When the sword intent vanished, Sadie¡¯s legs went limp as she fell to the ground, panting heavily.


    Feng Qiuyan, who was watching from the side, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Although he wasn¡¯t facing the boundless sword intent like Sadie, he could sense how terrifying it was.


    ¡°Sorry, are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen asked Sadie, who had fallen to the ground.


    Sadie shook her head slightly, but there was a smile on her face. ¡°Coach, don¡¯t say that. I should be thanking you. If not for the past couple days of practice, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to comprehend the true Sword Dao and find my true path. I should be thanking you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you¡¯re fine.¡± Zhou Wen took out his phone and glanced at the Essence Energy Pill Life Soul.


    Sword Pill (Evolved): Heaven and Earth as a furnace, Essence Energy as a sword, three thousand swords fused in one pill.


    There¡¯s still one last step, Zhou Wen thought.


    With Sword Pill completed, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to continue sword practice. He hadn¡¯t thought of a way to advance Sword Pill. All he could do was continue absorbing Essence Energy Crystals, allowing Sword Pill¡¯s Essence Energy to constantly strengthen, purify, and compress in wait for the opportunity to advance to a Perfect Body.


    1


    Mirror Eyes, on the other hand, had finally advanced to the Evolved Body after he continuously revealed the demons for what they were.


    The evolved Mirror Eyes still only strengthened the eyes, but the name changed.


    Eyes of Legacy (Evolved): Demon God Eyes of Legacy.


    The introduction was very simple. Zhou Wen had obtained very little information during his evolution, but after some experiments, he finally knew what use the Eyes of Legacy had. Furthermore, its use left him pleasantly surprised.


    The Eyes of Legacy had inherited the Mirror Eyes¡¯ ability to see through demons. At the same time, it had another function. Zhou Wen could use the Eyes of Legacy to scan dimensional creatures before taking on the guise of a dimensional creature.


    This transformation wasn¡¯t purely an illusion. It was more like a replica. For example, Zhou Wen could scan and transform into Torch Dragon Youngling. After transforming, Zhou Wen had a body that was identical to Torch Dragon Youngling. He also had various abilities and skills. He was like a replica of Torch Dragon Youngling.


    It was a very powerful and terrifying ability, but the problem was that using the Eyes of Legacy to transform into Torch Dragon Youngling required a large amount of time and Essence Energy to scan Torch Dragon Youngling¡¯s body. Furthermore, it required a large amount of Essence Energy to support the transformation. After transforming, he would also expend a large amount of Essence Energy to maintain the Torch Dragon Youngling form.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s present Essence Energy, he couldn¡¯t even scan and transform into Torch Dragon Youngling. All he could do was temporarily transform into some Epic dimensional creatures or lower. Furthermore, this required a certain amount of scanning time.


    If only Slaughterer Life Soul could be used together with the Eyes of Legacy. With infinite Essence Energy, I¡¯ll be truly invincible if I can scan a powerful dimensional creature at the Terror grade, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    1


    Unfortunately, this was impossible at the moment. Different Life Souls couldn¡¯t be used at the same time. And if he switched Life Souls, the Eyes of Legacy¡¯s transformation would vanish.


    How can I use multiple Life Souls at the same time? Zhou Wen had been considering this problem, but he couldn¡¯t find a solution.


    To use different Life Souls, he had to switch to different Essence Energy Arts. It was naturally impossible for different Essence Energy Arts to be circulated at the same time.


    Is it possible to simulate two Essence Energy Arts at the same time? Zhou Wen had made similar attempts in-game, but he had failed.


    Simulating two Essence Energy Arts at the same time was like an ordinary person cultivating two Essence Energy Arts. It would immediately cause a conflict and destroy Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    From the looks of it, I can only wait until I advance to the Mythical stage to see if there¡¯s a possibility of using multiple Essence Energy Arts. Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up on the idea of using multiple Essence Energy Arts at the same time.


    Time passed as Zhou Wen practiced. Soon, it was time for him to meet The Thearch.

 Chapter 924 - Theft

    There are only a few days left before the appointment with The Thearch. I need to prepare. Zhou Wen thought about his trip to another dimension to steal something.


    The reason he agreed to The Thearch wasn¡¯t entirely because he wanted her blood essence. Zhou Wen also wanted to go to the dimension to see what had happened there and why Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t under the divine tree.


    Although The Thearch said that she had already arranged everything, and that there would definitely be no danger as long as he followed her plan, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe in absolute safety, so he had to make preparations.


    As it was too dangerous, he definitely couldn¡¯t take Ya¡¯er with him. After all, her body wasn¡¯t strong. Even if her body could keep up with her mental strength, she was only at the Mythical stage. The Mythical stage was only a bottom feeder in the dimension. It was too dangerous.


    Zhou Wen explained his trip to the dimension to Ya¡¯er and got her to stay at Ouyang Lan¡¯s place for a few days. He would pick her up when he returned.


    Ya¡¯er finally nodded in agreement. Seeing that she didn¡¯t show any signs of violence, Zhou Wen felt relieved to leave her alone.


    Zhou Wen called Ouyang Lan in advance and she happily agreed. She even urged Zhou Wen to take Ya¡¯er over as soon as possible.


    On the day of departure, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er over before heading to Chess Mountain alone.


    He came in front of Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall again and saw the flower on it. Zhou Wen said, ¡°The Thearch, I¡¯m here for the appointment. Now, you can tell me what I should do, right?¡±


    The flower twisted the flower bud towards Zhou Wen and said, ¡°It¡¯s very difficult for humans to cross the dimensional barrier to reach the dimension. Therefore, you need a lot of preparation work.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it very easy to reach there through the cube?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s different. The cube is equivalent to an official door. It¡¯s naturally easy for you to enter through the main door. However, if you want to steal something, it¡¯s naturally impossible for you to walk through the main door. You have to climb over the wall or dig a hole to enter. The difficulty is naturally different. Just like Wang Mingyuan previously. He used the power of the six Holy Temples to successfully break through the dimensional barrier. If you want to enter, you have to do it without anyone noticing. The difficulty is even greater.¡±


    The Thearch paused and said, ¡°However, with me around, this isn¡¯t a difficult task. At most, it will be a waste of time. However, after you enter the dimension, you have to be careful. Apart from acting according to the plan, if you encounter an emergency, you have to resolve it yourself. Remember, don¡¯t use force unless it¡¯s absolutely necessary. Your combat strength is too weak there.¡±


    With that said, The Thearch opened the mountain wall and allowed Zhou Wen to enter Chess Mountain.


    This was the second time Zhou Wen had entered Chess Mountain in real life. He was very familiar with everything here, but he had seen a cartoon version in-game. It had a beautifying effect that masked the more sinister and terrifying appearance in real life.


    As Zhou Wen walked into Chess Mountain, The Thearch explained what Zhou Wen needed to do and the steps to take.


    The process wasn¡¯t complicated, but the problem he encountered was troublesome. Zhou Wen entering a dimensional zone to steal things was no different from a child entering a pack of wolves to steal their wolf cubs. If he was discovered, the chances of survival were slim.


    When The Thearch explained the plan to Zhou Wen, he confirmed that The Thearch wasn¡¯t Nine-Tailed Fox. This was because to enter the dimension, he had to use the bronze tripod that chained the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    The Thearch got Zhou Wen to use some means to fool the Nine-Tailed Fox, allowing him to borrow the power of the bronze tripod. If the Nine-Tailed Fox was The Thearch, there was no need to go through so much trouble.


    Furthermore, from his previous visit to Deer Terrace Pavilion and the actions of The Thearch this time, she didn¡¯t have much control over the interior of Deer Terrace Pavilion. She seemed to be different from the dimensional creatures inside.


    What¡¯s her background? Among the people related to Deer Terrace Pavilion, other than the three demons, what other women are there? Zhou Wen thought about it but couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    According to The Thearch¡¯s plan, Zhou Wen went to the ancient building on Deer Terrace Pavilion and killed the fake immortals on the first level. He got a few jars of alcohol and entered the lower level of Deer Terrace Pavilion through a secret tunnel in the ancient building.


    So the passageway to Deer Terrace Pavilion is here. Only then did Zhou Wen know the true way to enter the lower level of Deer Terrace Pavilion. Previously, he had relied on the Earth Elemental Beast to enter.


    With The Thearch¡¯s guidance, Zhou Wen circled most of the dangerous areas. Along the way, he killed some dimensional creatures that appeared.


    When he arrived at a spot that Zhou Wen had never been to in-game, he placed the jars of alcohol in front of a stone door. Then, he pushed open the stone door by a sliver and immediately hid.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw a tiny, white beast crawl out from the crack in the door. It was a ferret-like creature. It looked around intelligently and discovered the opened wine jar on the ground. Its eyes immediately lit up as it rushed towards it.


    In a short while, the tiny beast finished one jar after another. After it finished the last jar, it was extremely drunk. It curled up in the jar and fell asleep.


    Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhou Wen tiptoed to the stone door and slowly pushed it open. He looked back at the little beast and saw that it was still sleeping soundly in the wine jar. Zhou Wen quickly walked in.


    Behind the stone door was a huge hall. There were four statues consecrated in the hall. These four statues looked different from ordinary statues. They were more like generals in the human world and not immortals in heaven. Not only were they wearing armor, but their faces were extremely ferocious.


    Zhou Wen still remembered The Thearch¡¯s words as he looked at the third statue.


    The statue looked ferocious like a general from a demonic realm. He held a strange umbrella in his hand. There were many pearls embedded in the umbrella, and on it were the words ¡°Cosmic Bag.¡±


    Zhou Wen tiptoed to the statue and carefully flew to the side of the pearl umbrella. He reached out and pressed down on a pearl before gently tapping on it three times.


    The pearl dropped by itself. Zhou Wen hurriedly caught it and quickly left the door. He glanced at the sleeping white beast and quickly left.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief as The Thearch¡¯s voice sounded in his mind. ¡°Well done. Now, take the pearl to the bronze tripod cauldron and give it to the Nine-Tailed Fox. It won¡¯t stop you from using the bronze tripod. Remember, after you enter the dimension, you only have 36 hours. Once the time is up, the bronze tripod¡¯s passageway will automatically close. When that happens, your chances of survival will be very slim. You have to steal the bell in 36 hours.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Are you sure there won¡¯t be any problems with the place the tunnel opens up to?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There won¡¯t be any problems there. Don¡¯t worry,¡± The Thearch said with certainty.

 Chapter 925 - Crossing Dimensions

    Zhou Wen followed The Thearch¡¯s instructions and arrived near the bronze tripod. The Nine-Tailed Fox immediately woke up and glared at Zhou Wen as though it would pounce at him at any moment.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly held the pearl he had taken from the umbrella in his hand. When the Nine-Tailed Fox saw the pearl, its ferocious look immediately vanished as it stared at the pearl.


    Seeing the Nine-Tailed Fox extend its head, Zhou Wen threw the pearl at it.


    The Nine-Tailed Fox swallowed the pearl and stared at Zhou Wen. ¡°Human, why are you doing this?¡±


    ¡°I want to borrow the bronze tripod cauldron to teleport to the dimension.¡± Seeing the Nine-Tailed Fox acting as The Thearch had said, he felt much more at ease.


    ¡°On the account that you brought the Stabilizing Bead to me, I can let you use the bronze tripod. However, why are you going to the dimension as a human? Are you sick of living?¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox asked with a seductive voice.


    ¡°I want to find someone in the dimension,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Who?¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox asked again.


    ¡°Emperor of Shang,¡± Zhou Wen answered according to The Thearch¡¯s instructions.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s answer, the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s mesmerizing eyes lit up as it stared intently at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Why are you looking for him?¡±


    ¡°Emperor of Shang is an imperial lord of our human race. He has the supreme glory of the human race and is the person I respect the most. The reason I¡¯m looking for him is firstly to see the Emperor¡¯s face, and secondly, to learn some skills from him. I hope to bring glory to my human race¡­¡± Zhou Wen said the lines he had thought of.


    In order to think up these lines, Zhou Wen had lost quite a bit of hair.


    The Thearch only gave him a general outline of how to communicate with the Nine-Tailed Fox. She told him to try his best to praise Emperor of Shang, but Zhou Wen had to fill in the details himself.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at praising others to begin with. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to come up with such phrases. It was unknown how many brain cells he had lost in the process.


    When the Nine-Tailed Fox heard Zhou Wen, its expression gradually softened. It looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You are a mere human. You will probably die very soon after entering a dimensional zone. How will you be able to see Emperor of Shang? Forget it. On account of the fact that you gave me the Stabilizing Bead, I¡¯ll lend you something. Take it with you, and you¡¯ll still stand a chance. Return it to me when you return.¡±


    ¡°How can I accept this?¡± Despite saying this, Zhou Wen was delighted deep down.


    He originally thought about how he could trick the Nine-Tailed Fox into giving him the item like The Thearch had said. He never expected the Nine-Tailed Fox to take the initiative to offer it to him.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be embarrassed about. If you see Emperor of Shang, help me pass a message to him,¡± said the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    ¡°No problem. As long as I can see him, I¡¯ll definitely deliver the message. If I can¡¯t see him, there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°What message do you want me to deliver?¡±


    The Nine-Tailed Fox fell silent for a moment before slowly saying, ¡°Think not.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily confused.


    ¡°Do you need me to carve it on your face?¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox asked Zhou Wen coldly.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly recalled and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need. I got it. It¡¯s just ¡®think not,¡¯ meaning think not of something, right?¡±


    The Nine-Tailed Fox glanced at him coldly but didn¡¯t say anything. It opened its mouth and spat out something. It was a pearl that was as crystalline as the moon.


    ¡°Take it with you. It can conceal your human aura, and it can also prevent most dimensional creatures from hating you. However, if you encounter a Terror-grade dimensional creature, it¡¯s best you hide far away. If you encounter a Calamity-grade god, kill yourself to avoid suffering,¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox said.


    Zhou Wen reached out to catch the pearl. It was warm to the touch and emitted a fragrance like perfume. He hurriedly put it away.


    ¡°Come in. I¡¯ll send you there. Remember the message. If you forget it, you won¡¯t have a chance of survival when you return,¡± said the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As long as I don¡¯t die, I¡¯ll definitely deliver the message,¡± Zhou Wen said as he jumped into the bronze tripod.


    Zhou Wen had seen the bronze tripod cauldron many times in-game. He originally imagined that it was a tool to suppress the Nine-Tailed Fox, but he never expected it to have the ability to traverse dimensions.


    After Zhou Wen entered the bronze tripod, the Nine-Tailed Fox stood up, tightening the chains. At the same time, its body emitted a demonic glow as terrifying Essence Energy seeped into the bronze tripod through the chains, causing it to emit a strange luster. The mysterious runes on it lit up.


    ¡°Remember, you only have 36 hours. You have to return before the time is up. Otherwise, you will be trapped in the dimension forever.¡± The Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s voice entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears.


    Zhou Wen felt the world spin as a huge vortex formed in the cauldron, sucking him in.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly switched his Essence Energy Art to a Civilized Country. After all, it was a spatial teleportation. It should be able to strengthen Civilized Country to a certain extent.


    As the spatial vortex spun, Zhou Wen suddenly made a connection. Was this feeling the same when flushing the toilet?


    The dizziness continued. Zhou Wen could sense that his body seemed to be teleporting, but the teleportation was taking a little too long.


    At that moment, the energy in Civilized Country constantly increased. The speed at which it grew far exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s imagination.


    Zhou Wen had seriously underestimated the difficulty of teleporting into the dimension. He had been to the dimension using the cube, so he felt that it wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    However, in fact, entering the dimension through the cube was completely different from sneaking into the dimension. The difficulty was incalculable, and the teleportation method was completely different.


    It could be said that the energy needed to teleport 10,000 times using a cube wasn¡¯t even comparable to the energy needed to sneak into it once.


    Back then, Wang Mingyuan had used the power of the six Holy Temples to break through the dimensional barrier. How much terrifying energy was that?


    Although the bronze tripod wasn¡¯t forcefully breaking through the dimensional barrier and didn¡¯t expend that much energy, it was far from what ordinary spatial teleportation could compare with.


    After a long period of dizziness and loss of control, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how long he had been teleporting because he wasn¡¯t able to judge time and space. In any case, it felt extremely long.


    Plop!


    Zhou Wen felt himself fall into the water as his body gradually returned to normal.


    What left him pleasantly surprised was that Civilized Country had obtained unimaginable energy during the teleportation process. Now, Civilized Country was about to break through to a Perfect Body.


    What an unexpected gain. From the looks of it, I just need a few more teleportations to advance to a Perfect Body. Zhou Wen was delighted.


    After floating out of the water, Zhou Wen wanted to see where he was, but the scene he saw made his expression turn odd.

 Chapter 926 - Teleportation Mistake?

    It was a liquid pool that suffused blue light. Outside the pool was a volcano-like ring-shaped mountain.


    If this was really a volcano, the liquid in the pool should be magma. However, the liquid in the pool suffused blue fluorescence. The temperature wasn¡¯t high, and it was even somewhat cold.


    And at the bottom of the pool, there were many crystals, as though they were arranged together.


    Boom!


    Just as Zhou Wen was observing the crystal-like objects, he suddenly saw the blue liquid in the pool spew out like a volcanic eruption.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly leaned against the stone wall and watched the blue liquid spew out. At the same time, a large number of crystal-like objects were ejected.


    The blue liquid then landed back into the crater.


    After the crystal-like objects came into contact with the air outside, they immediately produced a special chemical reaction. The crystal-like objects rapidly transformed and quickly turned into foxes. The foxes¡¯ eyes suffused blue light as they fell from the sky.


    These foxes¡­ Why do they look like the fox demons in Deer Terrace Pavilion¡­ Zhou Wen found it odd as he secretly crawled to the volcanic crater and looked out.


    With a glance, he was alarmed. He saw that there were no plants on the black primitive land. Black smoke billowed in the sky as black ring-shaped volcanoes covered the land.


    From time to time, a ring-shaped volcano would erupt. However, what spewed out wasn¡¯t magma, but liquid of different colors.


    Some of the liquids were blue like this one, some were red, and some were yellow. There were all sorts of colors. Similarly, every time a volcano spewed out liquid, a portion of the crystals would randomly be ejected.


    Once the crystal-like objects left the liquid and came into contact with the air, they rapidly transformed into different dimensional creatures.


    Red centipedes with wings danced in the air as hundred-meter-long serpents roared into the sky. Groups of demons ran amok on the ground. Most of these creatures were creatures Zhou Wen had never seen before, but there were also some he had seen before.


    For example, the foxes spewed out from this volcano were Epic Fox Immortals in Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    The volcano beside him spewed out gray porcupines which Zhou Wen had seen in Deer Terrace Pavilion. It was also an Epic demon-type dimensional creature.


    This¡­ Could it be a place where dimensional creatures are born? Zhou Wen looked at the volcanoes erupting everywhere as large numbers of different dimensional creatures spewed out. The spectacular scene was indescribable.


    A nearby fox seemed to discover Zhou Wen. When he saw it look over, Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    However, the fox didn¡¯t show any hostility towards him. It seemed to treat him as one of its kind as it yelped at him.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen thought of the pearl the Nine-Tailed Fox had given him.


    He crawled out of the volcano. The fox demons nearby had discovered him, but they had no intention of attacking him. This relaxed Zhou Wen significantly.


    I never expected this thing to be so useful. However, my human appearance is just too eye-catching. I have to think of a way. Zhou Wen looked around.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that there were many snow cats gathered near a nearby volcano. It was a Legendary dimensional creature. Zhou Wen walked over.


    The snow cats only looked at him without any intention of attacking. Zhou Wen immediately switched to the Demon God Catalog and scanned a snow cat with the Eyes of Legacy.


    As the scan proceeded, Zhou Wen felt a strange power flow out of his eyes. This power passed through his meridians and spread throughout his body, causing his body to undergo a strange change.


    Not long after, Zhou Wen turned into a snow cat. He looked no different from the snow cats beside him. The snow cats seemed to treat him as one of their kind and didn¡¯t even look at him.


    Boom!


    Lightning streaked across the black smoke-filled sky. The dimensional creatures that were struck by the lightning immediately vanished.


    Just as Zhou Wen was in a daze, large swaths of lightning descended. The snow cats and the nearby fox demons vanished when they were struck.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly ran and dodged the lightning¡¯s attacks. He could sense the power of space from the lightning. It didn¡¯t seem to be real lightning, nor was it ordinary lightning. Instead, it was some kind of spatial lightning.


    This is a little different from what The Thearch said! Zhou Wen ran with all his might before escaping the area covered by lightning. Wherever the lightning passed, the nearby dimensional creatures just vanished.


    Zhou Wen remembered very clearly that The Thearch had told him that after he teleported to the dimension, he was to walk towards a tower.


    However, all Zhou Wen saw were ring-shaped volcanoes. There were no towers.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had never heard The Thearch mention the void lightning.


    Could it be that the Nine-Tailed Fox got the wrong place when it teleported me here? That¡¯s not right either. Didn¡¯t The Thearch say that the bronze tripod¡¯s teleportation only has one destination? Zhou Wen saw a huge ring-shaped volcano nearby and wanted to climb to the top to see if there was a tower in the distance.


    He didn¡¯t dare fly randomly to avoid being targeted. He still didn¡¯t know where he was, nor did he know if there was any danger here.


    However, no matter how he looked at it, this place was somewhat different from the dimension The Thearch had mentioned.


    Boom!


    Halfway through his climb, the huge volcano suddenly erupted. Red liquid shot into the sky like a heavenly pillar. At the same time, a red crystal-like object spewed out.


    However, this red crystal pillar was much bigger than the blue crystal pillar Zhou Wen had seen before. It was about half the size of a soccer field.


    The red liquid receded. After the crystal-like object came into contact with the air, it immediately transformed. When the huge red crystal-like object landed, it had already transformed into a fire qilin that was as red as crystal and emitted terrifying flames.


    The snow cat¡¯s body was like an ant beside the fire qilin.


    Holy sh*t, this place can even spew out Mythical creatures! Zhou Wen retreated step by step. He was too close to the fire qilin. He was afraid that it would discover that he was human. That would be terrible.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of ordinary Mythical creatures, he didn¡¯t know if he would be targeted by an even more terrifying existence if he fought the fire qilin here.


    Thankfully, the fire qilin didn¡¯t notice Zhou Wen. Perhaps in its eyes, the snow cat was similar to an ant. There was no need for it to care.


    Boom! Boom!


    The fire qilin walked towards the lightning, causing the ground to tremble. Soon, it walked into the lightning and gradually vanished under the bombardment of the void lightning.


    What the hell is this place? Zhou Wen eagerly rushed to the top of the volcano. He wanted to see if there was the tower mentioned by The Thearch nearby.

 Chapter 927 - Discovered

    Translator: CKtalon


    After climbing to the volcanic crater, Zhou Wen looked around. All he could see was billowing black smoke that enveloped the sky and volcanoes.


    Looking around, there was only one place that was slightly different. In between the volcanoes, there was a mountain that resembled a heavenly pillar. Its height far exceeded that of ordinary volcanoes, piercing through the black smoke that enveloped the sky. One couldn¡¯t see the end of the mountain.


    Could the tower The Thearch mentioned be that mountain? Zhou Wen thought to himself. However, no matter how he looked at it, it was only a special mountain. It was somewhat different from a tower.


    However, Zhou Wen had nowhere else to go. All he could do was rush towards the huge mountain.


    Could it really be a teleportation error? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss, but how could the bronze tripod cauldron that had a fixed destination make such a mistake?


    He ran across the land in the form of a snow cat. From time to time, dimensional creatures would spew out from the volcano. Before long, void lightning would make the dimensional creatures vanish.


    Could it be that the lightning is a spatial rift that leads to Earth? The dimensional creatures on Earth all pass from here? Then, if I¡¯m struck by lightning, will I be able to return to a dimensional zone on Earth? Zhou Wen kept thinking.


    If a legendary mistake really happened, he had to think of a way to return. Otherwise, if a human were to be discovered by the dimensional races in such a place, it would be no different from courting death.


    Thankfully, there didn¡¯t seem to be any particularly powerful creatures here. They were dimensional creatures that spewed out from volcanoes. They were mostly Mortal and Legendary creatures, and relatively fewer Epic creatures. Occasionally, there would be one at the Mythical stage.


    If there aren¡¯t any more terrifying and powerful existences here, it¡¯s a good place to grind. However, although there are many dimensional creatures here, they all have the characteristics of demons¡­ Zhou Wen observed as he walked. The Truth Listener earring constantly scanned his surroundings.


    The pillar-like mountain was too far from where Zhou Wen was. The closer Zhou Wen was to it, the more majestic the mountain was.


    Thankfully, with the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s pearl and Eyes of Legacy, the dimensional creatures that spewed out of the volcano didn¡¯t attack Zhou Wen, saving him a lot of trouble.


    It took Zhou Wen nearly three hours to approach the mountain. The bronze tripod¡¯s passageway could only last for thirty-six hours. If he didn¡¯t discover anything, Zhou Wen planned on returning via the original path.


    He sized up the mountain that was very close, but he didn¡¯t discover anything. There were no dimensional creatures nearby, nor were there any traces of the void lightning.


    As for the volcanic eruptions, Zhou Wen had no idea if it was a volcano because he couldn¡¯t see beyond the black smoke above.


    He constantly scanned the mountain but failed to find anything. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before deciding to climb up to take a look. If he didn¡¯t find anything, he could return the way he had come to avoid being trapped in this godforsaken place.


    Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures nearby before climbing up the mountain.


    He used the snow cat¡¯s body to quickly jump on the mountain rocks. This was because not only was the mountain huge, but it was also especially steep. The mountain wall was inclined at almost 90 degrees, so Zhou Wen could only use the cracks on the rocks or the protruding spots as a foothold.


    The snow cat didn¡¯t have the ability to fly, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use it to avoid being discovered.


    Just as he was about to reach the mountainside, Zhou Wen discovered a protruding platform. He landed on it and planned on resting to condition himself.


    However, after landing on the platform, he realized that there was a cave behind the platform. In the dark cave, there was a pair of eyes staring at him.


    This wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen sensed, he could really see a pair of eyes. They emitted a blue glow, making them stand out in the dark cave.


    Furthermore, the owner of those eyes was slowly walking out of the cave.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw the eyes staring at him. He was about to summon Truth Listener¡¯s earring to sweep at it.


    However, before Zhou Wen could summon Truth Listener, the creature had already walked out of the cave. It was a tiger with two wings.


    Its body was black, but there were many places that were transparent dark blue. As it grunted, the dark blue spots on its body alternated between bright and dark. When it was bright, it was like a glowing amethyst. When it was dark, it was the same as the other black spots on its body. It was blackish-gray like metal.


    Zhou Wen sensed a powerful Essence Energy fluctuation from it. It was definitely a Mythical creature, but he didn¡¯t know if it had the ability to undergo Terror transformation.


    Zhou Wen slowly moved his body, but the creature kept staring at him. Clearly, it had locked onto its target.


    Roar! In the next second, the creature let out a tiger roar. Its body emitted a blue glow as it pounced forward.


    Zhou Wen was just about to counterattack when he suddenly realized something. He retreated but didn¡¯t launch a counterattack.


    Boom!


    A terrifying beam descended from the mountain and struck the Mythical creature, freezing its body in ice.


    This rather powerful Mythical creature didn¡¯t even have the chance to resist. Its body maintained its pouncing pose as it froze.


    And on the mountain peak, a figure quickly floated down.


    Zhou Wen had already used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to see the figure clearly. It was a woman in a snow robe. She looked very beautiful, but her face was extremely cold. Furthermore, her aura was somewhat different from humans. Her entire body seemed to emit a frost aura.


    Without a doubt, she was a dimensional creature with terrifying strength.


    ¡°Why would a snow cat come here?¡± The snow-robed woman was slightly surprised when she saw Zhou Wen. She extended her hand and sucked the snow cat into her arms.


    At that moment, another dimensional creature with a snake¡¯s tail and human body slithered down. It glanced at the frozen Mythical creature and said, ¡°This Fairy Demonic Tiger is smart. It actually hid here. It¡¯s no wonder it wasn¡¯t sent to the human world.¡±


    ¡°Throw it into the void lightning,¡± the snow-robed woman said.


    The snake-tailed dimensional creature responded and grabbed the frozen Fairy Demonic Tiger with one hand before throwing it towards the volcanic area.


    The huge ice block streaked across the sky like a meteor. Soon, it rushed into an area filled with void lightning before disappearing.


    ¡°What about this little thing?¡± the snake-tailed monster asked as it looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll deal with it myself,¡± the snow-robed woman said as she flew up and headed for the top of the mountain that resembled a heavenly pillar.


    The snake-tailed monster didn¡¯t say anything else and followed the snow-robed woman to the top of the mountain.

 Chapter 928 - Ice Castle Bell

    As Zhou Wen was carried by the snow-robed woman, he felt a chill run through him as though he had fallen into an ice cellar.


    Thankfully, the snow cat was a frost-elemental creature, so it was quite resistant to coldness. Otherwise, Zhou Wen might have to pretend to be frozen by the cold air around her.


    The snow-robed woman quickly passed through the billowing black smoke and arrived at the peak of the mountain.


    Zhou Wen looked around and was suddenly alarmed to discover that the billowing black smoke that enveloped the ground was transparent. He could see everything below clearly.


    Zhou Wen secretly cheered inwardly. Thankfully, he had only used the normal strength of a snow cat when he scaled the mountain. Otherwise, he would have long been discovered.


    However, Zhou Wen was still somewhat uneasy. He didn¡¯t know if his snow cat transformation could fool the snow-robed woman. From her looks, she was most likely at the Terror grade.


    Thankfully, the snow-robed woman didn¡¯t seem to notice anything wrong with Zhou Wen. After arriving at the mountaintop, she carried him towards a building.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen realized that there was an ice sculpture-like castle on the mountaintop. The woman walked into the ice sculpture castle and the snake monster followed.


    ¡°Why did you bring such a snow cat back? Why don¡¯t you just throw it back into the void lightning?¡± the snake monster asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡± As the snow-robed woman spoke, she walked up the ice stairs and quickly arrived in a room at the top of Ice Sculpture Castle.


    This room was empty other than a crystal coffin.


    The snow-robed woman walked to the crystal coffin and it automatically opened. After she carried Zhou Wen in and lay down, the crystal coffin automatically closed.


    Zhou Wen quickly realized that the snow-robed woman was sleeping in the crystal coffin. She looked human, but her body was colder than ice.


    Don¡¯t tell me she will keep sleeping like this? Zhou Wen struggled out of the snow-robed woman¡¯s grasp and crawled to an empty spot in the crystal coffin. He turned to look at the woman and realized that her skin had turned into jade. If he hadn¡¯t seen her walk over, he would have thought that she was a jade statue without any vitality.


    Through the crystal coffin, he could see the situation inside. He couldn¡¯t see anything further. Although the castle was made of ice, he couldn¡¯t see anything through the thick ice wall.


    With the snow-robed woman beside him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare summon Truth Listener.


    If the woman discovered that there was an earring on his ear, anyone would know that there was something wrong with the snow cat.


    From the looks of it, there really was a mistake during the teleportation. This isn¡¯t the place where the bronze tripod should have teleported me. I have to teleport back as soon as possible. Zhou Wen glanced at the sleeping woman and thought to himself, Is she really sleeping or is she faking it? Perhaps my attack will be of some use to her when she isn¡¯t in a Terror form.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare act rashly. In the end, he decided to wait a little longer. There was still about thirty hours left, so he didn¡¯t have to worry about the tunnel closing for the time being.


    The space in the crystal coffin wasn¡¯t large to begin with, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much space to move around. All he could do was lie in the crystal coffin to rest and wait for an opportunity to arrive.


    Time ticked by. Several hours passed, but the woman remained asleep. She didn¡¯t move or breathe at all. It made Zhou Wen suspect that she was an ice sculpture.


    He had no choice but to continue waiting patiently. After a while, he suddenly heard a clanging sound. It was like the sound of a bell that reported the time in ancient times, but it was somewhat different. The sound was clearer.


    Zhou Wen heard it sound twelve times before the woman finally opened her eyes. Then, she carried Zhou Wen and climbed out of the crystal coffin.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. If the woman continued sleeping like this, he would really be in trouble. He might have no choice but to barge out. Thankfully, that didn¡¯t happen. He still had plenty of time.


    The woman carried Zhou Wen downstairs and soon arrived in a hall. The snake monster was already inside.


    Zhou Wen was suddenly taken aback. There was a bell hanging on the back wall of the hall. From the looks of it, the sound was likely from this bell.


    However, the bell looked very similar to the bell The Thearch had mentioned.


    That¡¯s strange. Could it be that I didn¡¯t teleport to the wrong place? This is the tower that The Thearch mentioned? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss. If the tower refers to a mountain peak, there¡¯s no reason for The Thearch to not make it clear. Furthermore, she said that the bell is on the highest level of the tower. She didn¡¯t mention anything about an ice sculptured ancient castle.


    However, Zhou Wen carefully sized up the bell. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like the bell The Thearch had mentioned. The various details of the bell were identical to The Thearch¡¯s description.


    What¡¯s going on? Did I teleport to the right place? Is this the bell? Zhou Wen was momentarily stumped.


    ¡°You should know that forcibly retaining the creatures in the dimensional pool isn¡¯t allowed, right?¡± the snake monster said as he glanced at Zhou Wen in the snow-robed woman¡¯s arms.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that I don¡¯t need anyone to interfere in my matters,¡± the snow-robed woman said coldly before placing Zhou Wen on the ground and walking towards the bell.


    When she approached the bell, the ice aura over her body quickly rose and her entire body turned into an ice sculpture.


    Terror transformation! Zhou Wen immediately recognized the power the snow-robed woman was using.


    The snow-robed woman walked to the bell and picked it up before shaking it.


    Tinkle!


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the sound wasn¡¯t from the bell. The bell¡¯s sound was completely different from before.


    With the bell¡¯s sound, Zhou Wen felt an invisible force radiate out like a blast. Then, he felt the entire ice castle tremble.


    After doing all of this, the woman put the bell back. Her body gradually left her Terror form.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what had happened, but the woman still looked exhausted.


    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you,¡± the snake monster said to the woman with a smile.


    However, the woman ignored him. She carried Zhou Wen and left the hall.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to find an opportunity to escape, but when he saw the bell, he hesitated. He wondered if he should steal the bell first.


    The woman carried Zhou Wen back into the crystal coffin and began sleeping again.


    What¡¯s wrong with this woman? Even if you are a dimensional creature, you can¡¯t just be shaking the bell and sleeping, right? You should at least eat something, right? Zhou Wen really felt hungry when he thought of eating.


    However, he couldn¡¯t take anything out of the Chaos Bead to eat. He had to endure it.


    Suddenly, a thought flashed across Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. Could this woman be treating me as food?

 Chapter 929 - Escaping with the Bell

    Inside the crystal coffin, Zhou Wen kept thinking about how he could obtain the bell and safely escape.


    Although he wasn¡¯t sure if the bell was the one The Thearch wanted, since he was already here, Zhou Wen still wanted to bring the bell back if possible.


    The snow-robed woman at the Terror grade, and the snake monster might also be at the Terror grade. It wasn¡¯t easy to take away the bell in front of two Terror-grade entities.


    This was an ice castle. Earth Escape was useless. Teleportation was likely a more effective method.


    As long as he could leave the ice castle, he could use the Earth Elemental Beast to escape to the spatial passageway on the mountain outside.


    From the looks of it, I have to take the risk. However, it¡¯s still very difficult to take the bell away from two Terror-grade entities. Zhou Wen recalled what The Thearch had said about the bell.


    The Thearch said that the bell couldn¡¯t be touched by typical creatures. It had to be taken by a Companion Beast that had eaten the divine fruit. In other words, Doctor Darkness had to hold the bell until he returned.


    Zhou Wen calculated the various possibilities and felt that with his abilities, although he wasn¡¯t a match for two Terror-grade opponents, as long as he could obtain the bell, escaping back into the tunnel shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided that if the woman took him to the bell again, he would snatch it.


    Time ticked by. After twelve hours, Zhou Wen heard a bell-like chimes. After twelve chimes, the woman woke up again.


    The woman carried Zhou Wen to the ice castle¡¯s hall like the last time.


    Zhou Wen immediately focused and planned on escaping after snatching the bell.


    When the woman arrived at the hall, the snake monster was already in front of the bell. It was unknown if he had been standing guard there the entire time and had never left.


    However, seeing the woman approach, the snake monster made way.


    The woman placed Zhou Wen on the ground and was about to walk towards the bell when Zhou Wen saw that he couldn¡¯t miss the opportunity. Without any hesitation, he switched to the Civilized Country Life Soul and restored his original appearance. He teleported in front of the bell while Doctor Darkness had already attached himself to Zhou Wen in his soul form.


    Zhou Wen reached out to hold the bell and felt his soul tremble. Thankfully, with Doctor Darkness possessing him, nothing worse happened.


    The woman and the snake monster quickly reacted. The woman transformed into an ice maiden as the snake monster¡¯s body suffused a strange glow. Four more arms grew out and the six arms emitted a strange light that shone at Zhou Wen, who had snatched the bell.


    Without any hesitation, he used teleportation to leave the hall again without stopping. After four consecutive teleportations, Zhou Wen finally rushed out of the Ice Castle.


    Almost at the same time he rushed out of the ice castle, Zhou Wen summoned Earth Elemental Beast and thought to himself, With Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Earth Escape ability, I should be able to return to the spatial passageway with its maximum distance. Even if the two Terror-grade fellows catch up, I can use the remaining teleportation abilities to rush back to the spatial passageway.


    However, when Zhou Wen rode on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back and it landed, Zhou Wen was stunned.


    Outside the ice castle was likely the huge mountain. Zhou Wen¡¯s original plan was that as long as the Earth Elemental Beast landed on the mountain, it would use Earth Escape.


    However, after he rushed out of the ice castle, he suddenly realized that it wasn¡¯t the huge mountain peak outside. There was no longer the churning sea of clouds.


    Everywhere he looked, there was blue seawater. Apart from the sea, he couldn¡¯t see anything. The ice castle floated above the sea.


    What¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ Zhou Wen was momentarily dumbfounded.


    Plop!


    The Earth Elemental Beast landed in the seawater and the seawater hit Zhou Wen¡¯s face, immediately waking him up. Although he didn¡¯t know what had happened and why the ice castle had turned into an endless sea, he had to try his best to escape. There was no other way.


    Almost instantly, Zhou Wen ordered the Earth Elemental Beast to burrow into the sea.


    However, before the Earth Elemental Beast could burrow down, an ice beam shot over from the ice castle. It was unbelievably fast.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart chilled as he unsummoned Earth Elemental Beast. At the same time, he used the Civilized Country¡¯s spatial teleportation to leave the seawater.


    When the ice beam landed on the surface of the sea, a large portion of the seawater froze. The seawater turned into an unknowingly thick glacier.


    The snake monster charged forward in extreme rage. Its snake tail swayed as it arrived in front of Zhou Wen in the blink of an eye. Its six arms brought with them a gust of death as it crazily sliced through space, hoping to dismember Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and summoned Tyrant Behemoth to meet the snake monster. Tyrant Behemoth roared as it activated Absolute Strength and charged at the snake monster.


    Crack! Crack!


    Blood splattered from wounds that appeared on Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s extremely tough body. One could even see broken bones from some of the wounds.


    Tyrant Behemoth screamed as it flew out and slammed into the ice. It shattered the thick glacier as large amounts of seawater spewed out from the crack.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to retreat dozens of meters. At the same time, he unsummoned Tyrant Behemoth and put on the Invisibility Cloak before instantly disappearing.


    The snake monster scanned his surroundings, but he didn¡¯t find Zhou Wen. He couldn¡¯t help but turn to the woman and roar, ¡°You brought that human back. Is he your accomplice?¡±


    The ice maiden said coldly, ¡°If it were me, do you think I would be so foolish as to let him steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell like this? If you have the time to suspect me, why don¡¯t you think of a way to find him? He won¡¯t be able to escape.¡±


    ¡°Explain this matter to the higher-ups yourself.¡± The snake monster seemed to think that what the ice maiden said made sense, but it still spoke hatefully before beginning to search for Zhou Wen.


    Like him, the ice maiden searched everywhere for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak and relied on three minutes of invisibility to rush into the sea, desperately swimming deeper.


    The seawater here was extremely deep. When Zhou Wen dived deep into the seawater, he could vaguely see specks of light at the bottom of the sea, like stars.


    However, the stars were colorful. It reminded Zhou Wen of the liquid in the volcano.


    As Zhou Wen dived deeper, he realized that he was right. At the bottom of the sea, there were countless colorful springs that spewed out all sorts of colorful liquid.


    As the colorful liquid spewed out all sorts of crystal-like objects, they turned into different dimensional creatures when they came into contact with the seawater. However, they were different from the volcanic region from before. The dimensional creatures here were basically sea creatures.

 Chapter 930 - Undersea Battle

    Is this really not where I was originally? Zhou Wen felt like crying as he watched the deep-sea behemoths swim in the sea.


    Now, Zhou Wen was certain that something had gone wrong during the teleportation, but why did it happen?


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment. The Thearch needed his help and wanted the bell, so she definitely wouldn¡¯t play any tricks. The Nine-Tailed Fox didn¡¯t seem to have any reason to mess with him if she wanted him to deliver a message to Emperor of Shang.


    Furthermore, the Nine-Tailed Fox had given the pearl to Zhou Wen. It wouldn¡¯t do her any good if Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t return.


    Despite racking his brains, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out the reason.


    Now, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to think too much. There wasn¡¯t much time left for the Invisibility Cloak. He had to think of a way to shake off the ice maiden and the snake monster as soon as possible.


    Zhou Wen felt that he would die a terrible death if they found him.


    In the vast sea, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have many places to hide. All he could do was continue heading deep into the sea. He decided to find a spring to hide in.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to use the Eye of Legacy to transform into a dimensional creature, but there weren¡¯t any low-level Legendary creatures nearby. It took quite some time to simulate an Epic creature, so the invisibility time would be up before he succeeded.


    The spring was a place that gave birth to dimensional creatures. Furthermore, there were countless of them. It shouldn¡¯t be that easy for the snake monster and the ice maiden to find him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to choose carefully. Three minutes of invisibility was too little. He didn¡¯t have many options, so he swam towards a nearby spring.


    It was a blue liquid spring. When Zhou Wen came previously, he had come out of the blue liquid. The blue liquid was safer.


    As he watched the blue spring gradually expand in his vision, the blue liquid inside automatically isolated itself from the seawater, just like how water and oil don¡¯t mix.


    Zhou Wen plunged into the blue liquid and found it somewhat similar to the previous blue liquid. However, it was still different. The blue liquid here was darker in color and colder.


    Thankfully, this temperature wasn¡¯t enough to damage Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen dived deeper into the spring and tried his best to hide.


    At the bottom of the blue liquid was a blue crystal. It wasn¡¯t surprising that it had a crystal body. What was strange was that the crystal bodies Zhou Wen had seen previously were densely arranged. There were many of them, but this crystal body was alone. No similar crystal body appeared around it.


    The blue crystal was like a pineapple with many edges. It was about the size of a basketball.


    Could it be that this is the only one left after all the crystalline bodies have been spewed out? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly. This was because he had seen many fountains spew out quite a number of dimensional creatures. It was impossible for there to be only one crystal.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to think too much as he hid beside the crystal. The Invisibility Cloak¡¯s three minutes of invisibility had ended. Although he was still visually invisible, complete invisibility was gone.


    Zhou Wen converged his aura and hid without moving. He wanted to preserve his life before finding a way to return.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression quickly turned nasty.


    This was because Truth Listener had already discovered that the ice maiden and the snake monster had already swam down. From the direction they were heading in, they were clearly coming for the spring where he had hidden.


    Crap, could it be a problem with this bell? Zhou Wen immediately realized the problem, but it was too late to throw the bell away.


    If he rushed out now, it would be no different from courting death. Zhou Wen remained motionless as he hid beside the crystal.


    Indeed, the ice maiden and the snake monster arrived outside the blue spring. The ice maiden looked at the blue spring and said, ¡°The Heaven Shrouding Bell is inside.¡±


    The snake monster glanced at her and said, ¡°Are you sure?¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll make a mistake?¡± the ice maiden said as she entered the spring.


    The snake monster snorted coldly and didn¡¯t say anything else. He followed the ice maiden into the spring.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that he¡¯s here? Where is he?¡± The snake monster scanned the area, but he didn¡¯t discover Zhou Wen. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t proficient in searching for people.


    The ice maiden said indifferently, ¡°He¡¯s right there. Can¡¯t you see him?¡±


    With that said, the ice maiden casually shot out an ice beam at Zhou Wen¡¯s hiding spot.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to move. Thankfully, he was agile in water, so he didn¡¯t need to use teleportation to dodge the ice beam.


    However, the moment he moved, the snake monster immediately discovered his location. Although Zhou Wen was still visually invisible, it was useless.


    The snake monster charged at Zhou Wen as terrifying wind blades crisscrossed and slashed at him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique was amazing, but his speed was still much slower than the snake monster. After dodging a few wind blades, he was unable to dodge them. All he could do was use teleportation again.


    The wind blades that could slice through space failed to injure Zhou Wen. After rushing over, a wind blade slashed at the crystal behind him, causing a crack to appear.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to summon Earth Elemental Beast to see if he could use the rocks at the seabed to escape, he suddenly felt a terrifying vibration coming from underground.


    Then, a powerful force surged from below, spewing out everything in the spring.


    The power that erupted from the spring was very strange. Even the snake monster and the ice maiden couldn¡¯t withstand it and were spat out.


    Crap! Zhou Wen separated himself from the blue liquid. He was surrounded by seawater, so there was no chance for him to use Earth Escape.


    After the snake monster and the ice maiden separated from the blue liquid, they surrounded Zhou Wen.


    Just as the snake monster was about to charge at Zhou Wen, it suddenly saw the blue crystal appear between the three of them. After leaving the blue liquid, the crystal rapidly transformed, quickly turning into a strange dimensional creature.


    It was a blue clam. The blue crystal-like shell was fan-shaped and looked very beautiful.


    The moment the dimensional creature appeared, it opened its shell and spat out a blue beam of light. Its target was the snake monster.


    The clam-type dimensional creature¡¯s attack on the snake monster had already surprised Zhou Wen. What surprised him even more was that the snake monster, which had already taken a Terror form, chose to dodge instead of blocking the blue light.


    What¡¯s that dimensional creature? It actually makes a Terror-grade existence wary. Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he wondered if this was an opportunity for him to escape.


    The clam-type dimensional creature seemed to recognize the snake monster as it constantly spewed out blue light at him. The snake monster wore an ugly expression, but it only dodged and didn¡¯t attack the shell.

 Chapter 931 - New Era

    The snake monster was stopped by the scallop, but the ice maiden rushed over. An ice beam descended at an unbelievable speed. Zhou Wen had already pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits, but he still couldn¡¯t dodge it.


    After all, Zhou Wen was only at the Epic stage; just his stats alone were much weaker.


    He had no choice but to use his teleportation ability again. However, he didn¡¯t have many teleportation attempts left. It was impossible for him to last long.


    He wanted to teleport to the bottom of the sea to see if he could use Earth Escape, but the ice maiden seemed to see through his thoughts. When the ice beam shone at the bottom of the sea, it immediately turned a large area of the sea into ice. It didn¡¯t give Zhou Wen a chance to touch the sand and rocks.


    Zhou Wen retreated as he fought. The number of teleportations in the Civilized Country was decreasing, and now there were only two left.


    When Zhou Wen had no choice but to use teleportation again, he suddenly felt the energy in Civilized Country explode. At that moment, Civilized Country advanced.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as the ghost-faced ring underwent a new change. The half-evil and half-beautiful ghost face underwent a strange change. The ugly half became extremely handsome, while the handsome half became abnormally ugly. The gears in his eyes also spun in the opposite direction.


    At the same time, the evolved information of Civilized Country entered Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. Although the information was very vague and wasn¡¯t as clear as the annotations in-game, he could roughly understand its functions.


    The evolved Life Soul of the Civilized Country was called New Era. The detailed abilities were unknown, but he could sense that the number of times he could use instantaneous transmission had increased. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how many times he could use it, but it was definitely more than ten.


    Great! Zhou Wen watched as the ice maiden shot out another ice beam. Having nowhere to retreat, Zhou Wen used his teleportation ability again.


    This teleportation distance was much further than before. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t sense the energy of the New Era Life Soul dissipate. From the looks of it, he could use it many more times.


    Zhou Wen constantly teleported in an attempt to shake off the ice maiden, but he quickly realized that it was impossible to shake her off in the sea. She actually had a Water Escape skill that allowed her to appear and disappear in the sea, allowing her to teleport kilometers.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the reason the ice castle changed from the volcanic area to the sea was because the ice maiden had previously rung the bell. He also tried to ring the bell in his hand, but no matter how he shook it, the bell wouldn¡¯t ring.


    Thinking back to when the ice maiden rang the bell, she had entered her Terror form. Thinking that this bell could only be used at the Terror grade, he had no choice but to give up on using it.


    He teleported to the surface of the sea and the ice maiden chased after him.


    After the snake monster shook off the scallop, it chased after him. Seeing that the ice maiden was still chasing Zhou Wen and wasn¡¯t shaken off, it heaved a sigh of relief and quickly chased after them.


    Zhou Wen used teleportation repeatedly in the sky and had once distanced himself from the ice maiden, but as long as he stopped, she would quickly catch up to him.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the ice maiden had a special method to sense the bell. Unless he threw the bell away, it was almost impossible to shake her off.


    Although he could teleport multiple times with New Era, it wasn¡¯t infinite. Zhou Wen knew that it would be used up sooner or later. He had to find a way to escape before that happened.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen continuously teleported, distancing himself from the ice maiden before rushing into the sea.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s luck wasn¡¯t bad. He saw a group of dimensional creatures that had just spewed out of a spring. Most of them were at the Mortal stage, and he occasionally saw a few at the Legendary stage.


    Now, these creatures were what Zhou Wen needed. He rushed over and used the Eye of Legacy to scan a Mortal-stage Golden Scaled Fish.


    As it was a Mortal creature, the scanning time was very short. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen became a Golden-Scaled Fish that mixed with the school of Golden-Scaled Fish.


    Unfortunately, the bell couldn¡¯t be stored in the Chaos Bead. After Zhou Wen transformed, the bell hung on his fin.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± The snake monster caught up and asked when it saw the ice maiden stop.


    ¡°It¡¯s right below. He wants to do the same thing again, so I feigned ignorance and didn¡¯t chase after him. I waited for you to come over and capture him together to prevent him from escaping again,¡± the ice maiden said.


    The snake monster immediately understood what she meant and asked, ¡°He became a snow cat again?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not a snow cat, but a Gold Scaled Fish,¡± the ice maiden said. ¡°His transformation technique is somewhat strange. Even I can¡¯t tell what dimensional creature he has transformed into. If he didn¡¯t have the Heaven Shrouding Bell on him, it would have been very difficult to find him.¡±


    ¡°Where is he? We have to quickly snatch the Heaven Shrouding Bell back to prevent any accidents from happening,¡± said the snake monster.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll surround him from both sides and prevent him from escaping.¡± The ice maiden pointed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°The Heaven Shrouding Bell is on him. Take a closer look and you will be able to tell which one is him.¡±


    With that said, the ice maiden rushed into the sea from one side while the snake monster entered from another side to do a pincer attack.


    When Zhou Wen saw the ice maiden and the snake monster plunge down, he knew that his transformation technique was useless. He immediately wanted to escape.


    However, the snake monster didn¡¯t give him a chance. Wind blades sliced through the sea and enveloped Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to switch his Life Soul and use teleportation again to dodge the snake monster¡¯s attack. However, just as he teleported, he saw the ice maiden in front of him. An ice beam shone down.


    Now, it wasn¡¯t a matter of teleportation. He was too close to the ice maiden and the ice beam was too fast. Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction couldn¡¯t keep up.


    However, thanks to his intuition cultivated from prolonged combat, Zhou Wen still used teleportation to dodge the strike. However, when he teleported out, he felt his head, hands, and legs being grabbed by someone as though he was wearing iron chains.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. The person who had grabbed him was the snake monster with six arms. The hands at the top grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s head, while the hands in the middle grabbed his wrists. The hands at the bottom grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s feet. His expression was extremely ferocious as though he was a devil from hell, about to tear Zhou Wen¡¯s body into six pieces.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used Doctor Darkness¡¯s Dark Right Hand. His right hand suddenly turned into nothingness and escaped the snake monster¡¯s control. He stabbed it into its head, hoping to pluck its brain out.


    Zhou Wen realized that his idea was a little too idealistic. Only a Terror-grade could defeat a Terror-grade. This was definitely not a joke. The Wheel of Destiny power of the Darkness Right Hand had actually penetrated the snake monster¡¯s head, but it failed to extract his brain.


    The brain was like a bull¡¯s tendon; Zhou Wen had no way of pulling it.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s actions made the snake monster cry out in pain. At the same time, he turned extremely furious as he exerted strength with his other five hands, hoping to tear Zhou Wen apart.

 Chapter 932 - Ice Maiden’s Scheme

    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was restrained by the snake monster¡¯s strange power, preventing him from teleporting away. He was alarmed as a terrifying tearing pain came from his body, as though his muscles and bones were about to be torn apart by the snake monster.


    I can only risk it. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth. As he retracted his right hand, he held the Heaven Shrouding Bell in his right hand before using Darkness Right Hand again.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The snake monster held its head and screamed. Zhou Wen used the Darkness Right Hand to stuff the Heaven Shrouding Bell into its head.


    He had only done it in passing and didn¡¯t think that it would be of much use. He had originally planned on giving up on the Heaven Shrouding Bell. It would probably make it difficult for the ice maiden and the snake monster to track him down. In order to survive, he had no choice but to abandon the bell.


    However, to his surprise, after the bell was placed in the snake monster¡¯s head, it made it hold its head and scream. For a moment, it forgot about tearing Zhou Wen apart.


    Suddenly, an ice beam flashed. Just as Zhou Wen was about to dodge, he realized that the ice beam wasn¡¯t directed at him.


    This ice beam was extremely terrifying. The ice beam Zhou Wen had seen previously was considered warm when compared to this ice beam.


    The ice beam shone on the defenseless snake monster, freezing it into ice.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to escape the two hands that were still grabbing at his feet and finally regained his freedom.


    Did she accidentally hit the wrong person? Zhou Wen glanced at the snake monster who wore a look of horror and pain. He saw that it couldn¡¯t move at all and was completely frozen.


    It wasn¡¯t an accident. It was deliberate. Zhou Wen looked at the ice maiden.


    The ice maiden didn¡¯t attack Zhou Wen again. She looked at him coldly and said, ¡°The fox core on you belongs to the Nine-Tailed Fox, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he heard that. ¡°Yes, you know her?¡±


    ¡°If I didn¡¯t know her, why would I bring you into my castle?¡± the ice maiden said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen had previously suspected why the ice maiden had brought him into the ice castle.


    If she wanted to rear pets, there were adorable dimensional creatures everywhere. She had seen more dimensional creatures than the grains of rice Zhou Wen had eaten. There was no need for her to make an exception and rear a snow cat.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you brought me into the ice castle to deal with him?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly reacted and glanced at the frozen snake monster.


    ¡°I have to thank you for that. If you hadn¡¯t attracted all his attention, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to succeed so easily.¡± The ice maiden¡¯s tone was very strange as though she was talking about something unrelated to her. However, she clearly wanted to deal with the snake monster and had deliberately used Zhou Wen.


    ¡°In that case, I did you a favor. Since everyone is friends with the Nine-Tailed Fox, let¡¯s pretend nothing happened today,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Did the Nine-Tailed Fox ask you to steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell?¡± the ice maiden ignored his words and asked directly.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for an answer. If the ice maiden was the enemy of the Nine-Tailed Fox, it would be difficult for him to escape death if he said yes.


    However, if the ice maiden was a friend of the Nine-Tailed Fox and he said no, he would probably end up missing a great opportunity to live.


    With an instant¡¯s thought, Zhou Wen decided to take a gamble and immediately answered, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Why did she ask you to steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell?¡± the ice maiden asked again.


    Seeing that she didn¡¯t show any signs of anger, Zhou Wen knew that he had made the right bet. He said, ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. I was only entrusted by her to steal the bell. Also, I wish to meet Emperor of Shang and help her deliver a message.¡±


    ¡°What message?¡± the ice maiden asked with a frown.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t Emperor of Shang. It doesn¡¯t seem appropriate for me to tell you,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it,¡± the ice maiden said coldly.


    ¡°Alright, she only said ¡®think not.¡¯¡± Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to use force if he could.


    ¡°Hmph, if she really knew the words ¡®think not,¡¯ she wouldn¡¯t have gotten you to steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell,¡± the ice maiden said with a twitch of her lips. Then, her hands emitted an ice beam. When the ice beam landed on the snake monster, it gradually disintegrated its body before shattering into ice shards. It left Zhou Wen¡¯s scalp tingling.


    This was a Terror-grade creature, but it was killed just like that.


    Amidst the ice shards, an Essence Energy Skill Crystal and Heaven Shrouding Bell appeared. Unfortunately, none of them belonged to Zhou Wen. With a casual wave of her hand, the Skill Crystal landed in her hand.


    ¡°Emperor of Shang is a criminal. The place he¡¯s imprisoned in an extremely dangerous dimension. With your strength, you aren¡¯t strong enough to enter.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a dimension?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°This can only be considered a buffer zone between Earth and the dimension. It¡¯s not a real dimension. If you really go to the dimension and aren¡¯t at the Terror grade, it will be difficult for you to even survive. How could it be so easy?¡± The ice maiden said, ¡°If you aren¡¯t afraid of death, I can show you the way and let you enter the dimension to meet Emperor of Shang. Whether you can survive in the dimension will depend on your luck.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s so dangerous, it¡¯s best I don¡¯t go,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You have been entrusted to do something, so how can you give up halfway?¡± The ice maiden paused and said, ¡°Take the Heaven Shrouding Bell with you. Perhaps you will have a chance to walk to the place where Emperor of Shang is imprisoned alive.¡±


    Zhou Wen never expected the ice maiden to say such words. He couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed, but in the next second, his heart palpitated as he felt that something was amiss.


    When the ice maiden threw the Heaven Shrouding Bell at him, she suddenly shot out an ice beam. It was fast and ruthless, not inferior to the ice beam that had frozen the snake monster.


    It¡¯s really true that women are most vicious. Zhou Wen quickly teleported and forcefully escaped the ice maiden¡¯s pursuit.


    After rushing into the sea, Zhou Wen once again used the Eyes of Legacy to transform into an ocean dimensional creature. This time, although the ice maiden flew across the sky nearby, she didn¡¯t discover him.


    ¡°You won¡¯t be able to escape. This place isn¡¯t Earth, nor does it belong to the dimension. There¡¯s no way out. If you come out now, you can die a faster death,¡± the ice maiden said as she hung in the air, seemingly certain that Zhou Wen was nearby.


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t answer her. To answer her was equivalent to exposing his location. A heartless creature like the ice maiden definitely wouldn¡¯t let him off.


    Without the Heaven Shrouding Bell on him, the ice maiden couldn¡¯t tell the difference between Zhou Wen and ordinary dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen followed the dimensional creatures and gradually left the area.


    However, these dimensional creatures seemed to have a territorial sense. They wouldn¡¯t go far, so Zhou Wen had no choice but to transform into another dimensional creature. He traveled further and further, hoping to escape the ice maiden.


    Zhou Wen turned into a fish swimming when he suddenly saw a blue glow appear in front of him. It was like a glowing sapphire. Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that it was the blue scallop. Without realizing it, he had returned to the vicinity of the spring with the blue liquid.

 Chapter 933 - Unexpected Advancement

    It was unknown where this scallop came from, but it was able to make a terrifying expert like the snake monster retreat. It seemed to be very powerful.


    However, Zhou Wen had seen the blue light it spewed out. It didn¡¯t seem as powerful as he had imagined. The blue light wasn¡¯t fast, nor did he see any astonishing might. He didn¡¯t know why the snake monster would take the initiative to retreat.


    Now that Zhou Wen was running for his life, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to study the scallop¡¯s abilities, nor did he wish to cause trouble.


    The scallop remained silently on the sand without being alarmed by Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival. Apart from attacking the snake monster, it hadn¡¯t attacked any other dimensional creatures.


    Zhou Wen saw a Fiend Claw Fish swim past it, but it didn¡¯t react.


    As he was sizing up the scallop, void lightning appeared not far away. The dimensional creatures that were struck by the void lightning vanished just like the dimensional creatures in the volcanic zone.


    If the void lightning is really a spatial rift that leads to Earth¡¯s dimensional zone, can I leave through that? Zhou Wen had similar thoughts before, but he couldn¡¯t give it a try. If he made a wrong guess or if a human¡¯s body couldn¡¯t withstand the power of the void lightning, he would be doomed.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he heard the ice maiden¡¯s voice ring out on the surface of the sea. ¡°If you want to live, we can have a chat. Hand over the Nine-Tailed Fox core and I can spare your life. You have to consider carefully. In three hours, I¡¯ll leave this place. When the time comes, there will be no way out. You won¡¯t be able to return to Earth or enter the dimension. You can only be trapped here til death.¡±


    So she wants the pearl lent to me by the Nine-Tailed Fox, but it might be an excuse to lure me out and kill me. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°You better believe me. Not many dimensional experts can even enter this place. No one will come here for tens of thousands of years. You only have three hours left. If you still want to live, come to the castle and find me.¡± With that said, the ice maiden returned to the ice castle.


    Zhou Wen originally suspected that the ice maiden was luring him out, but he later realized that she had really left.


    Zhou Wen secretly sneaked to the vicinity of the ice castle and saw that there was no movement inside. As for the ice maiden, she was indeed inside. It looked like she really had no intention of looking for him.


    If the ice maiden could really take him back to the volcanic area, Zhou Wen was willing to give her the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s pearl. After all, nothing was more important than his life.


    The problem was that no one knew if the ice maiden would really keep her promise.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t make up his mind. It was mainly because he didn¡¯t have the ability to fight a Terror-grade entity. If he entered the ice castle, he would be at her mercy. It was equivalent to handing his life to someone else.


    After circling the nearby sea, this place seemed to be an endless sea. It was as if there was nothing else in the world other than the sea.


    I wonder if this place is connected to the volcanic area. Even if it is, I reckon that when I rush back, the time limit of thirty-six hours would have already passed. As Zhou Wen was thinking, he passed by the scallop.


    Strange, why is it still here? Zhou Wen looked at the scallop in surprise.


    Previously, void lightning had already swept through this area. The other dimensional creatures had vanished in the void lightning, but the scallop remained. It was clearly abnormal.


    From the looks of it, this scallop is indeed extraordinary. Zhou Wen had the intention of studying its abilities, but this was reality, so he didn¡¯t act rashly.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen attempted to use the Eyes of Legacy to scan the scallop. He wanted to see if he could transform into it. As long as he could transform into it, he would know what abilities it had.


    The Eyes of Legacy looked at the sapphire-like scallop. His mirror-like eyes reflected its appearance.


    The scallop remained motionless, allowing Zhou Wen to heave a sigh of relief.


    Large amounts of Essence Energy surged into his eyes. The amount of Essence Energy needed to simulate the scallop left Zhou Wen somewhat alarmed. This was about the same as when Zhou Wen scanned Torch Dragon Youngling.


    After scanning for a while, he still couldn¡¯t transform. There was too much information contained in the scallop.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy was about to be depleted. He failed to transform into the scallop, but the Eyes of Legacy began to evolve after copying so much information.


    It can¡¯t be¡­ It evolved so easily¡­ Zhou Wen still found it unbelievable. This advancement to a Perfect Body was too sudden.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen was extremely delighted. The advancement of the Eyes of Legacy to a Perfect Body meant that his Constitution¡¯s two Life Souls had reached a Perfect Body. His Constitution was finally reaching 41.


    There were several Mythical Essence Energy Skills that he couldn¡¯t cultivate in the past. He could try them now.


    With the transformation of the Eyes of Legacy, Zhou Wen felt a mysterious energy spread to other parts of his body. As the blood flowed through his body, it caused a shocking change.


    ¡­


    The ice maiden placed the Heaven Shrouding Bell back in the ice castle hall and waited for Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival.


    She wasn¡¯t lying to Zhou Wen. According to the plan, she had to leave within three hours. And she had relied on the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s strength to come here.


    Once she left, she didn¡¯t know when she would return again. It was normal for no one to step foot in such a place for tens of thousands of years.


    The dimensional creatures here might be treasures to humans, but to dimensional creatures, they were too weak. They were products of Earth¡¯s civilizations.


    Looking at the time, it was less than fifteen minutes to the deadline to leave, but there was still no sign of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It looks like he won¡¯t come. What a pity. If I can obtain the Nine-Tailed Fox core, I can spare his life,¡± the ice maiden muttered.


    Suddenly, the ice maiden stood up and looked outside the ice castle. She saw Zhou Wen fly over from the distant sky and arrive in front of the ice castle¡¯s door.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here?¡± The ice maiden walked out of the hall and stood on the ice steps outside. She looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°There are only a few minutes left. You¡¯ve finally made a wise decision. Leave the Fox core to me, and I¡¯ll take you out.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the ice maiden and said, ¡°I don¡¯t plan on giving you anything. Not to mention the fox core, I won¡¯t even give you a Black Chicken White Phoenix Pill.¡±


    ¡°So you want to die of old age here?¡± The ice maiden said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ll leave with you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The ice maiden said disdainfully, ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll take you out if you don¡¯t hand over the fox core?¡±


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s not up to you to disagree,¡± Zhou Wen said.

 Chapter 934 - Student Surpasses the Master

    ¡°Oh, then I want to know the reason. Why must I take you away?¡± The ice maiden wasn¡¯t angry. From her point of view, Zhou Wen¡¯s words were like an ant bragging to an elephant. It was nothing but a joke.


    Zhou Wen said, ¡°It¡¯s very simple. This is because you previously said that you have to leave this place within three hours. In that case, as long as I enter the ice castle, you can only take me with you once the three hours are up.¡±


    ¡°Does that mean you plan on walking into my trap?¡± the ice maiden mocked.


    As Zhou Wen could teleport, it wasn¡¯t easy for her to capture him outside. However, the ice castle was only that big. Furthermore, the ice castle had a very powerful augmentation effect on her.


    The ice maiden¡¯s power could fill the entire ice castle. As long as Zhou Wen was inside, he had nowhere to hide.


    Previously, she had wanted to use Zhou Wen to lure the snake monster, giving her a chance to eliminate him. That was why she had allowed Zhou Wen to easily leave the ice castle. Now, she didn¡¯t have any scruples.


    The moment Zhou Wen entered the ice castle, he was like a bird in a cage.


    ¡°It¡¯s not walking into a trap, but a sparrow occupying a pigeon¡¯s nest,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the ice castle. If he wanted to leave this place, he had to enter the ice castle. There was no other way.


    The ice maiden smiled. She had never smiled much in her life, but this time, she smiled. Furthermore, she smiled very happily as though she had heard an extremely funny joke.


    ¡°Then come. Let me see how you, a little sparrow, can occupy my ice castle,¡± said ice maiden.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen estimated that it was about time and walked towards the ice castle.


    After Zhou Wen entered the ice castle, the ice maiden didn¡¯t immediately take action. Instead, she looked at him with interest and said, ¡°I¡¯ve seen quite a number of humans, but you are the first to be so ignorant and arrogant. How do you want to occupy my ice castle? You can take action now.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t take action, I can also be a good guest,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Do you know who you are talking to?¡± The ice maiden¡¯s eyes flickered with a terrifying coldness as she glared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I was just about to ask.¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know who the ice maiden was.


    ¡°The Nine-Tailed Fox dared to let you steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell, but she didn¡¯t tell you about the four demon monarchs guarding it?¡± the ice maiden asked.


    ¡°What are the four demon monarchs?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°What a foolish and pitiful human. You don¡¯t even know about the four demon monarchs, but you were tricked by that demon consort to steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell. However, it makes sense. The ignorant are fearless. If you knew what kind of existence the four demon monarchs are, you probably wouldn¡¯t have dared to come here to steal the Heaven Shrouding Bell.¡±


    The ice maiden continued, ¡°On Earth, so-called Mythical creatures are nothing but cannon fodder among species in the dimension. The Terror grade is the beginning of the path of the strong. Only a Calamity grade has a seat in the dimension. The four monarchs of the demons are the royal families of the four demons. The descendants of these four royal families will definitely be able to advance to the Calamity grade, and I am from the Ice Monarch race of the four royal families.¡±


    ¡°So you are that powerful. Then are you a Calamity grade now?¡± Zhou Wen asked the ice maiden.


    The ice maiden choked immediately. How could it be so easy to advance to the Calamity grade? Although she was from the Ice Monarch race, she only had the talent and potential to advance to the Calamity grade. To truly advance to the Calamity grade, not only did she need talent and potential, but she also needed a large amount of resources and personal effort.


    ¡°Even if I¡¯m not at the Calamity grade, killing you will be as easy as flipping my hand,¡± the ice maiden said.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like chatting, he would rather have a chat with the ice maiden if he could leave the area without any fighting.


    ¡°Then do you know who I am?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly asked solemnly.


    ¡°You? You¡¯re just a human. You¡¯re nothing. I don¡¯t need to know who you are,¡± the ice maiden said with disdain.


    ¡°Of course, you can think that I¡¯m mediocre or that you haven¡¯t heard of me. However, I believe you should have heard of my teacher,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your teacher? Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s also a human?¡± the ice maiden said, clearly not caring who Zhou Wen¡¯s teacher was.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s a human. My teacher¡¯s name is Wang Mingyuan. Have you heard of this name?¡± Zhou Wen actually only wanted to see if he could obtain any information about Wang Mingyuan. He didn¡¯t think Wang Mingyuan was very strong.


    Wang Mingyuan was indeed very strong among humans, but he had only recently advanced to the Mythical stage. In the dimension, the Mythical stage was nothing.


    Zhou Wen used this tone to speak to the ice maiden because he wanted to use her arrogance to obtain some information about Wang Mingyuan.


    However, the ice maiden¡¯s reaction seemed to exceed Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. She looked at him in surprise and said, ¡°You are Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple?¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback. From the ice maiden¡¯s expression, she didn¡¯t show any contempt for humans when she mentioned Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m Wang Mingyuan¡¯s most outstanding and most beloved disciple. How do I compare to you, the descendant of the Ice Monarch?¡± Zhou Wen feigned a proud expression.


    The ice maiden snorted coldly and said, ¡°Wang Mingyuan is indeed capable by defeating the Dragon King of the Octokind and becoming the new monarch of the Dragon Gods. Unfortunately, no matter how strong your teacher is, he won¡¯t come here to save you. Your life is still in my hands. Hand over the fox core and I can spare your life. I can also send you to the Dragon Gods.¡±


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. He originally imagined that something had happened to Wang Mingyuan, but to his surprise, Wang Mingyuan seemed to have done something extraordinary.


    Even the ice maiden, who looked down on humans, was somewhat afraid when mentioning Wang Mingyuan. She didn¡¯t have any intention of underestimating him. The Dragon Monarch that Wang Mingyuan had defeated was definitely not an ordinary dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen had no idea that the monarch of the Octokind were all Calamity-grade existences. However, there were differences in strength among Calamity-grades existences. Among the Octokind, the other monarchs were only average. However, there were two monarchs who were extremely terrifying existences. Even in the dimension, they were famous. One of them was the Dragon King.


    The former Dragon King was so famous that he was comparable to the four demon monarchs. As for Wang Mingyuan, he had actually defeated the Dragon King and become the new king of the Dragon Gods. This matter shocked many dimensional species.


    For such an expert, even if the ice maiden looked down on ordinary humans, she wouldn¡¯t underestimate him.


    Furthermore, in essence, Wang Mingyuan was no longer a pure human.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t know about this. However, from the ice maiden¡¯s tone, he knew that Wang Mingyuan was doing pretty well in the dimension. Nothing bad happened because he took the divine fruit. This made him feel much better.


    Zhou Wen looked at the ice maiden and said, ¡°You dimensional species just don¡¯t like studying. Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying ¡®the color blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo?¡¯¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± The ice maiden clearly didn¡¯t know this human proverb.


    ¡°It means that the teacher can be very impressive, but the students they teach are even more impressive,¡± Zhou Wen explained seriously.

 Chapter 935 - Demon God Body

    The ice maiden laughed happily. This was the first time she had met a human like Zhou Wen.


    Wang Mingyuan was indeed powerful. No one would deny the strength of a human who could defeat the Dragon King. They would also give him the corresponding respect.


    However, that was under the condition that Wang Mingyuan had the ability to earn the prestige. Furthermore, Wang Mingyuan had fused with a Guardian, so he was no longer considered a human.


    After fusing with the Guardian, his body no longer had any human shackles. In essence, Wang Mingyuan was already considered a part of the dimension zone and not a human from Earth.


    Zhou Wen was a pure Earth human who wasn¡¯t even at the Mythical stage, yet he dared to say such words. The ice maiden found it very funny.


    ¡°Are all the humans on Earth as ignorant and laughable as you?¡± the ice maiden asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t find it funny,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.


    ¡°Then you must be crazy. A human at the Epic stage who doesn¡¯t even have the right to live in the dimension dares to be mentioned in the same breath as the Dragon King. You even claim that you have surpassed him. I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know what kind of existence a Calamity-grade existence like the Dragon King is.¡±


    The ice maiden paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s impossible for you to have a chance to see a Calamity-grade existence on Earth. On Earth, the Terror grade is already an unparalleled existence. If a Calamity grade comes close to Earth, even if it¡¯s just an unconscious contact without any hostility, it will cause an unimaginable disaster to Earth. The ignorant are fearless. Your arrogance is understandable.¡±


    With that said, the ice maiden ignored Zhou Wen and transformed into her Terror form. She walked to the bell, picked it up, and shook it.


    Zhou Wen felt the ice castle shake again before using Truth Listener to look outside. He realized that it wasn¡¯t an ocean outside the ice castle, but he wasn¡¯t back at the volcanic area. Outside, there was an endless grassland. He could see many dimensional creatures with human torsos but the lower body and legs of horses. Some dimensional creatures were even stranger.


    After putting down the bell, the ice maiden slowly turned around and looked at Zhou Wen expressionlessly. ¡°Your jokes are very funny, but I¡¯m not interested in them. Hand over the fox core now and I can send you to the Dragon Gods. Otherwise, even if Wang Mingyuan is really your teacher, you will definitely die today.¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t died before. I want to give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Very well.¡± The ice maiden¡¯s gaze turned cold as her body emitted an ice beam. In an instant, the entire ice castle was enveloped by a terrifying cold aura. The interior space was filled, sealing off all possibilities.


    The power of the Terror grade was indeed not something ordinary Mythical creatures could compare with.


    Almost at the same time the ice maiden attacked, Zhou Wen¡¯s body underwent a change. The speed at which he changed exceeded one¡¯s imagination. As the ice castle was sealed, Zhou Wen turned into a blue scallop.


    This was the ability that the Eyes of Legacy had given Zhou Wen after it advanced to a Perfect Body.


    Demon God Body (Perfect Body): A carrier of the demons¡¯ bloodline. A catalog of the myriad races.


    In the past, the Eyes of Legacy could only scan and transform. Once it switched to other Essence Energy Arts, the transformation would be gone. If he wanted to continue transforming, he could only scan again.


    However, the present Demon God Body didn¡¯t need to go through that trouble. As long as Zhou Wen had scanned and transformed into the dimensional creature previously, he would be able to store the memory into the Demon God Body like a picture. He could directly transform when he wanted to use it without spending a lot of time and Essence Energy scanning.


    Furthermore, the Essence Energy expenditure needed to transform was further reduced as a Perfect Body Life Soul. With Zhou Wen¡¯s current Essence Energy, he could support transforming into a Mythical creature.


    Mutated Demon Mother Clam? The ice maiden¡¯s expression changed when she saw the blue crystalline shell that Zhou Wen had transformed into.


    Her ice beam shone on the blue crystalline shell, but it failed to freeze it. There seemed to be a blue vortex inside the blue shell. When the ice beam shone on it, it was immediately sucked in.


    Zhou Wen was in a very good mood. After his Life Soul advanced to the Demon God Body, he completed the scan of the Mutated Demon Mother Clam and turned into it.


    He finally understood why the snake monster had been unwilling to attack the Mutated Demon Mother Clam. It was because it was like a demon¡¯s recycling station.


    It could devour all forms of energy released by demons and convert it into its own energy. Even the power of the Terror grade would be absorbed when it struck the Mutated Demon Mother Clam.


    Of course, this power was only effective against demons. Devouring the energy of other species would instead cause adverse effects to the Mutated Demon Mother Clam.


    It was a Mythical creature with obvious strengths and weaknesses. Almost no demon could harm it. However, against creatures other than demons, its combat strength wasn¡¯t that strong.


    This was a typical creature that specialized in disciplining its own kind during any internal strife.


    After Zhou Wen figured out the Mutated Demon Mother Clam¡¯s abilities, he was immediately overjoyed. Without a doubt, the ice maiden was also a demon. Her Terror-grade strength would only be converted into energy and unable to harm Zhou Wen who had transformed into the Mutated Demon Mother Clam.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy couldn¡¯t sustain the Mythical creature transformation for long. However, due to the Mutated Demon Mother Clam¡¯s ability to absorb energy and convert it for its own usage, he could keep up the transformation for a long period of time after absorbing the ice maiden¡¯s ice beam.


    Zhou Wen had deliberately infuriated the ice maiden because he wanted her to attack him so that he could absorb her energy and keep the Mutated Demon Mother Clam transformation for a longer period of time.


    It¡¯s no wonder there¡¯s only one Mutated Demon Mother Clam in the spring. It¡¯s probably a unique Mythical creature, Zhou Wen thought.


    The ice maiden clearly knew the Mutated Demon Mother Clam¡¯s ability as she looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    The ice maiden didn¡¯t think much of Zhou Wen¡¯s ability to transform into low-level demons. There were many demons who were good at transforming.


    However, Zhou Wen was at the Epic stage, yet he could transform into a creature like the Mutated Demon Mother Clam. Furthermore, he had the same ability as the Mutated Demon Mother Clam. This was unbelievable.


    This was because most of the transformations only changed one¡¯s physique and couldn¡¯t truly transform into that creature.


    Even if one could completely transform into another creature, they could only go from a higher level to a lower level.


    For example, a Terror-grade demon who was good at transforming could completely transform his body into a Mythical creature, but it was very difficult for him to turn into a Terror, much less a higher-level Calamity.


    This was because the level of energy available ensured that it was impossible to go from a lower lifeform to a higher lifeform.


    However, this wasn¡¯t absolute. Among the demons, there was indeed an Essence Energy Art that could turn living creatures from a lower lifeform to a higher lifeform. It was the legendary Demon God Catalog. Legend had it that it was the Essence Energy Art progenitor of all demons.

 Chapter 936 - : Ice Maiden’s Suggestion

    The Demon God Catalog is a secret heritage of the Demon Sovereign. Only the royal family has the right to cultivate it. Furthermore, among the royal family, there are very few talented demons who have the chance of mastering the Demon God Catalog. As a human, it¡¯s unlikely that he has seen the Demon God Catalog, much less master it¡­


    The ice maiden was suspicious as she continuously struck the Mutated Demon Mother Clam that Zhou Wen had transformed into. However, the outcome was the same. Her strength was completely absorbed by the Mutated Demon Mother Clam.


    It¡¯s impossible for a human to master the Demon God Catalog¡­ But he¡¯s only at the Epic stage. How can he turn into the Mutated Demon Mother Clam and have its complete abilities¡­ The ice maiden looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you can only leave an unwelcome guest like me behind.¡± Zhou Wen had absorbed a large number of ice beams and accumulated terrifying energy in his body. He could maintain his transformation for a long period of time. As for the ice maiden, she was probably helpless against him.


    The ice maiden calmed down and asked Zhou Wen, ¡°Have you practiced the demons legacy catalog?¡±


    ¡°So what if I¡¯ve practiced it?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t deny it when he saw that the ice maiden could tell the origins of his ability.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen admit it, the ice maiden seemed to find it unbelievable. She asked, ¡°You really mastered the demons¡¯ legacy catalog?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see it already?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The ice maiden looked at Zhou Wen with a strange expression, momentarily at a loss.


    That was the demon ancestors¡¯ Essence Energy Art. Only royalty had the right to take a look at it. It was a cultivation technique that might be a problem to master. Zhou Wen, a human, had actually mastered the Demon God Catalog. If news of this were to spread, it would probably shock the entire demon race. Perhaps no demon would believe it.


    Even the ice maiden couldn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had mastered the Demon God Catalog. However, other than that Essence Energy Art, she couldn¡¯t think of any other Essence Energy Art that could allow him to achieve such a transformation.


    Previously, when the ice maiden heard Zhou Wen talk about how a student could surpass the teacher, she found it funny. But now, she didn¡¯t feel like laughing at all.


    It was unbelievable that a pure human had mastered the Demon God Catalog.


    ¡°Where did you obtain the Demon God Catalog?¡± The ice maiden didn¡¯t continue attacking. She even exited her Terror form and asked Zhou Wen with a strange expression.


    ¡°Does this have anything to do with you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Although the ice maiden didn¡¯t obtain an answer, she had some guesses. He¡¯s only an Epic human. He can¡¯t survive in the dimension, nor does he have the chance to mix with the dimension¡¯s demons. It¡¯s even more impossible for him to see the Demon God Catalog that only the demons¡¯ royalty has the right to view. The only area he can come into contact with is Earth. Could it be that the legend is real?


    Earth was in an ancient forbidden area. Even experts as powerful as the Demon Sovereigns couldn¡¯t forcefully descend to Earth.


    However, in the dimension, there was a legend that said that the ancient sealed land was the birthplace of the dimension. All dimensional creatures were born in the ancient sealed land.


    However, that was only a legend without any evidence. Furthermore, powerful dimensional creatures didn¡¯t believe that mighty existences like them would be born in such a low-level space.


    Now, the ice maiden was beginning to suspect if the legend was real. Otherwise, how could Zhou Wen, a human from Earth, learn the Demon God Catalog?


    Furthermore, if Earth wasn¡¯t such a special place, why would the various races of the dimension be so concerned about Earth and constantly vie for control?


    However, the ice maiden thought about it again. There had been several divine wars on Earth. Perhaps the Demon Sovereign¡¯s bloodline that descended on Earth had brought the Demon God Catalog to Earth.


    Regardless of the possibility, it was an unbelievable fact that Zhou Wen could master the Demon God Catalog.


    The ice maiden looked at Zhou Wen and suddenly asked, ¡°Are you interested in making a deal with me?¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Although he could now avoid being killed by the ice maiden, he would still be trapped here if he couldn¡¯t return to the volcanic region. He still couldn¡¯t return to Earth.


    If the ice maiden still wanted the fox core and could guarantee his return to Earth, Zhou Wen could only give it up. Even if he had to face the wrath of the Nine-Tailed Fox, it was better than being trapped here.


    However, to his surprise, the ice maiden didn¡¯t mention the core at all. ¡°Give me the Demon God Catalog. I can give you the Heaven Shrouding Bell and take you to see the Emperor of Shang to help you finish what you need to do.¡±


    ¡°You want the Demon God Catalog?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected the ice maiden to make such a request.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. As long as you give me the complete Demon God Catalog, I can guarantee that you will complete the mission. Furthermore, I can also send you to the Dragon Gods,¡± said the ice maiden.


    ¡°How do I know if you will keep your promise?¡± Zhou Wen constantly thought of various possibilities. He felt that he really had a chance of returning alive.


    ¡°I can help you finish everything first. When we are near the Dragon Gods, I¡¯ll exchange the Heaven Shrouding Bell for your Demon God Catalog before you leave,¡± said the ice maiden.


    Zhou Wen felt that the ice maiden¡¯s suggestion was pretty good, but the problem was that he didn¡¯t want to go to the Dragon Gods. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t produce the Demon God Catalog.


    This was because the Demon God Catalog couldn¡¯t be imparted with words. It was a picture. One had to look at the picture in order to comprehend the Demon God Catalog. It was an Essence Energy Art that could only be understood and not transmitted.


    Even Zhou Wen, who had mastered the Demon God Catalog, couldn¡¯t tell others how to cultivate the Essence Energy Art.


    ¡°All you need to do is give me an Essence Energy Art to obtain the Heaven Shrouding Bell and return unscathed. Aren¡¯t you satisfied? Although you can transform into the Mutated Demon Mother Clam, you should know that the Demon Mother Clam¡¯s strength can only guarantee that you won¡¯t be killed by me. However, you have to know that as long as I leave this place and return to the demons, I can find a creature that isn¡¯t a demon to kill you,¡± the ice maiden added.


    Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°I also want to make a deal with you. Unfortunately, an Essence Energy Art like the Demon God Catalog can¡¯t be taught with words.¡±


    The ice maiden became even more convinced when she heard that. Zhou Wen had indeed mastered the Demon God Catalog. She asked, ¡°How did you master it?¡±


    ¡°I saw a demonic beast catalog somewhere. This Essence Energy Art was comprehended from the demonic beast catalog. It can only be understood and not transmitted. If you really want the Demon God Catalog, you can only take a look at it yourself,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Where is the demonic beast catalog?¡± the ice maiden asked.


    ¡°Earth,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    The ice maiden revealed a difficult expression when she heard that. ¡°Even the power of the Heaven Shrouding Bell can only pass through the buffer zone. It can¡¯t enter Earth¡­¡±


    ¡°If you want to go, I have an idea,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.

 Chapter 937 - The True Dimension

    ¡°What solution do you have?¡± The ice maiden stared at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    ¡°Since I can come here, I naturally have a way to return. Otherwise, what¡¯s the point of coming here to steal? However, this method is somewhat difficult,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°As long as you can let me see the Demon God Catalog, the Heaven Shrouding Bell will be yours,¡± said the ice maiden.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I mean. As you know, teleporting here is an extremely difficult task. I can teleport back alone, but if I take you along, the energy needed for the teleportation will probably be insufficient. If there¡¯s a teleportation deviation, we won¡¯t be able to survive,¡± Zhou Wen said with a solemn expression.


    ¡°What are you trying to say?¡± The ice maiden could naturally tell that Zhou Wen was up to something. If he really couldn¡¯t teleport to Earth, he wouldn¡¯t have said anything.


    ¡°If you really want to go, there¡¯s a solution. However, I¡¯ll have to trouble you. I have a spatial artifact. You can enter it first. That way, I can take you to Earth,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°This trick of paying me back in my own coin is pretty good,¡± the ice maiden said coldly.


    Zhou Wen shrugged and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have such thoughts. As a Terror-grade expert, would you be trapped by a tool?¡±


    The ice maiden looked at Zhou Wen without a word. Clearly, she wouldn¡¯t agree to such a condition. Zhou Wen felt his hair stand on end from her gaze. All he could do was continue, ¡°Alright, I still have a second solution, but it¡¯s more difficult.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± The ice maiden looked nasty.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you dimensional creatures sign a contract with humans? Sign a contract with me and you can be my Guardian.¡± The contract Zhou Wen wanted was naturally not a Guardian contract, but the master-slave contract similar to the one Ya¡¯er had signed with Grim Demon.


    The ice maiden curled her lips and said, ¡°Those who can contract are Guardians, not true races from the dimension. Guardians are half pets and half dimensional creatures, different from us.¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯m out of options,¡± Zhou Wen said as he shrugged.


    ¡°Show me your spatial container.¡± Zhou Wen took out the calabash containing the Dragon King Gu. The Dragon King Gu had been kept in the calabash, so it hadn¡¯t been doing well recently.


    Tai Sui treated it as food. When it was hungry, it would eat some of the Dragon King Gu. Although the Dragon King Gu had the ability to reproduce and heal itself, it needed energy. There was no energy supply in the calabash, so it relied on its own stores. The Dragon King Gu appeared somewhat weak.


    ¡°This is it. There¡¯s a dimensional creature inside.¡± Zhou Wen handed the calabash to the ice maiden.


    The ice maiden took the calabash and looked at it before studying it for a while. She nodded and said, ¡°We shall use the first method. I¡¯ll enter this calabash. Take me to Earth to see the Demon God Catalog. When the time comes, the Heaven Shrouding Bell will be your reward.¡±


    ¡°Alright, but before that, we have to return to the volcanic area. The spatial coordinates set by the Nine-Tailed Fox with me are there. Only by using those spatial coordinates as a marker can I contact her to open the spatial teleportation tunnel,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°No problem. I can take you there now,¡± the ice maiden said.


    ¡°You previously said that you can take me to see Emperor of Shang?¡± Zhou Wen thought of the Nine-Tailed Fox. If possible, he should help her pass the message to prevent himself from returning with nothing to say.


    ¡°Sure, but are you sure you want to go?¡± the ice maiden asked with a faint smile.


    ¡°Is there anything wrong?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with it. However, the place where Emperor of Shang resides is the true dimension world. The environment there isn¡¯t as comfortable as here. Epic creatures would probably find it difficult to survive there,¡± the ice maiden said.


    ¡°I can transform into a Mythical creature. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Sure.¡± The ice maiden nodded slightly.


    ¡°How long will it take to get to Emperor of Shang?¡± Zhou Wen was afraid that he would take too long and miss the time needed to return. There wasn¡¯t much time left until the 36-hour deadline.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to go where Emperor of Shang is. With the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s help, if your body can withstand the environment of the dimension, you can return in an hour,¡± the ice maiden said after some thought.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go. If I don¡¯t settle this matter, I won¡¯t be able to explain why to the Nine-Tailed Fox when I return.¡± Zhou Wen actually wanted to meet the legendary tyrant.


    After all, this tyrant¡¯s reputation was too illustrious in the history of the East District. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to call him the number one tyrant throughout history.


    If such a tyrant really existed, Zhou Wen wanted to see with his own eyes what he looked like.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s best you prepare ahead of time. When you reach the dimension, the environment will have a very strong effect on your body,¡± the ice maiden reminded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head over in the form of the Mutated Demon Mother Clam,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The ice maiden didn¡¯t say anything else as she turned into her Terror form again. Then, she walked towards the Heaven Shrouding Bell and picked it up before shaking it thrice.


    The ice castle trembled violently. It was much more intense than the previous two times. Zhou Wen could clearly sense the energy of spatial teleportation. Unfortunately, the New Era Life Soul had already advanced to a Perfect Body, so it couldn¡¯t continue advancing.


    Zhou Wen floated in the air as a Mutated Demon Mother Clam, waiting for the moment he would be teleported to the dimension.


    When the ice castle stopped shaking, Zhou Wen suddenly felt a terrifying force coming from his body. His body seemed to be attracted by a powerful magnet as he fell from the sky.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen slammed heavily into the icy ground as though there was a mountain pressing down on him. No matter how much strength he exerted, his Mutated Demon Mother Clam body remained motionless.


    At the same time, he felt his mind tremble. His soul seemed to be oppressed by some unknown force, making him feel extremely uneasy. It was as though a terrifying existence existed in every corner of this world.


    ¡°How did this happen? Why can¡¯t I move?¡± Zhou Wen asked the ice maiden.


    The ice maiden looked at him with a faint smile and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already told you. The Mythical creatures that you humans think of are only the lowest level existences in the dimension. Although the Mutated Demon Mother Clam is special, it¡¯s only a Mythical creature. On Earth, it¡¯s a god-like existence, but in the dimension, it¡¯s a scallop. Have you seen a scallop that can walk?¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. The ice maiden clearly knew of the outcome and had deliberately wanted to see him make a fool of himself.


    ¡°It¡¯s about five kilometers from here to where Emperor of Shang lives. Are you sure you still want to go?¡± The ice maiden mocked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Of course. Why not?¡± Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and canceled the Demon Mother Clam transformation.


    In an instant, Zhou Wen felt as though his body was a watermelon that was about to explode. His organs were about to burst.


    Before his body exploded, Zhou Wen used the Mythical Demon Dragon True Body and transformed into a humanoid Demon Dragon. At the same time, he got Doctor Darkness to possess him and augment him with strength. Finally, he managed to withstand the terrifying pressure.


    Zhou Wen wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. For that instant, he really believed that his body was about to explode.

 Chapter 938 - Emperor of Shang’s Place

    Translator: CKtalon


    Now, Zhou Wen felt extremely uncomfortable. Not only was he under immense pressure, but he also felt dizzy as his heart raced.


    Under the protection of the Dragon Scale Armor, his Demon Dragon True Body still felt his skin flush with blood. It was almost about to split the scales open.


    What made Zhou Wen even more uncomfortable was that everything he saw was a mysterious, dazzling light. It was as though he was looking through a kaleidoscope. He couldn¡¯t even see the ice castle and the ice maiden in front of him, nor could he hear their voices. His senses couldn¡¯t be used normally. Only two of his senses remained effective.


    Zhou Wen opened his mouth and realized that he couldn¡¯t even speak or make a sound.


    Zhou Wen felt as though he had fallen into a space of despair. The feeling nearly made him break down.


    Could it be that the ice maiden wants to harm me? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    He hurriedly summoned Truth Listener. The ability Truth Listener gave him immediately restored his hearing, and the appearance of the ice castle and the ice maiden appeared in his mind again.


    The ice castle and ice maiden remained the same. In Truth Listener¡¯s hearing, everything was normal. However, when he used his senses to listen, he couldn¡¯t see or hear anything. He didn¡¯t even have a sense of touch.


    Zhou Wen helplessly closed his eyes. As he couldn¡¯t make a sound, he could only use his fingers to write in midair. ¡°Why is this happening?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impressive that you are able to maintain a portion of your bodily functions. This is the dimension, a space of a far higher level than Earth¡¯s. Here, if your order in life isn¡¯t up to standard, you won¡¯t be able to see the existence of this world.¡± The ice maiden was somewhat surprised that Zhou Wen could still write with his body.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the dimension before, but I didn¡¯t feel this way,¡± Zhou Wen wrote again. He felt suspicious. He hadn¡¯t felt this the last time he went to get the divine fruit.


    ¡°Then you definitely didn¡¯t go to the real dimension,¡± the ice maiden said with certainty.


    ¡°It was definitely the dimension. I went to the divine tree which Teacher was guarding to pluck the divine fruit. Wasn¡¯t that the dimension?¡± Zhou Wen wrote.


    The ice maiden looked at Zhou Wen in surprise and said, ¡°So the human who took the divine fruit is you. It¡¯s no wonder an Epic like you could pick up the Heaven Shrouding Bell without being killed. From the looks of it, you are telling the truth. You are indeed Wang Mingyuan¡¯s beloved disciple. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have suffered the pain of lightning smiting just to let you go. Although it was the dimension, the environment wasn¡¯t that bad with the divine tree around. You have never experienced the real world of the dimension.¡±


    ¡°What lightning smiting?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he hurriedly wrote.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know?¡± The ice maiden thought for a moment and continued, ¡°That¡¯s right. You left after taking the divine fruit, so you naturally don¡¯t know what happened after that. The divine fruit can be taken away, but the human who obtains it has to sign a contract to become the spokesperson of the dimension in the human world. Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t let you sign the contract before letting you return to Earth. Naturally, you have to be punished. The pain of the lightning smiting isn¡¯t something anyone can endure. Even the closest relatives of the dimension¡¯s species might not be willing to suffer in place of others. Yet, he endured so long for you. It¡¯s not overboard to say that you are his most beloved disciple.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to feel as he immediately wrote again. ¡°Teacher actually suffered so much for me. Can you take me to him?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless even if you go now. He¡¯s already the supreme Dragon King. Even the Dragon King who punished him has been defeated. Who else dares to punish him? Don¡¯t worry. He¡¯s very well now. You have no idea how respected is,¡± the ice maiden said.


    Zhou Wen felt a little more at ease, but he didn¡¯t know how to repay Wang Mingyuan¡¯s kindness.


    ¡°Are you going to see Emperor of Shang or Wang Mingyuan?¡± the ice maiden asked.


    ¡°Emperor of Shang,¡± Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth.


    Even if he went to see Wang Mingyuan now, he didn¡¯t have the ability to return the favor. Instead, he might cause trouble. Therefore, Zhou Wen decided not to meet Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°If you can withstand the burden, follow me.¡± The ice maiden smiled as she walked out of the ice castle.


    However, Zhou Wen felt as though every step he took was a fight against the world. It was extremely strenuous. Before he walked out of the ice castle, he felt his eyes blur and ears ring. His legs were so weak that he could barely stand.


    ¡°If you walk like this, it will probably take you days to reach the destination,¡± the ice maiden said to Zhou Wen as she stood at the entrance of the ice castle.


    Zhou Wen knew that the ice maiden was waiting for him to beg her. When the time came, she would definitely raise more conditions.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and wanted to summon Tyrant Behemoth, but after taking a look, he realized that Tyrant Behemoth had been injured by the snake monster. Its injuries hadn¡¯t healed yet, so it probably couldn¡¯t withstand the dimensional forces.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon Youngling. He wanted to see if Torch Dragon Youngling could withstand the dimensional forces and use it as a mount to take him to Emperor of Shang.


    After Torch Dragon Youngling appeared, although its situation was slightly better than Zhou Wen¡¯s, its actions were greatly restricted. It looked like its actions were very slow, completely lacking its usual speed.


    ¡°Torch Dragon?¡± The ice maiden looked at Torch Dragon Youngling in surprise. Clearly, she recognized Torch Dragon.


    Furthermore, Torch Dragon was different from ordinary dimensional creatures. It was an existence with the potential to advance to the Calamity grade. Such dimensional creatures were very rare in the dimension. She never expected Zhou Wen to have a Torch Dragon Companion Beast.


    Could it be that Earth is really the birthplace of the dimension? Otherwise, how could there be a dimensional creature like Torch Dragon? The ice maiden was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen got Torch Dragon to use World King Transformation. Under the state of World King Transformation, Torch Dragon immediately could move easily. Under the state of World King Transformation, as long as it didn¡¯t use the Bright Torch Vision World, it could still maintain its state for a period of time.


    Zhou Wen rode on Torch Dragon¡¯s back and said to the ice maiden, ¡°Let¡¯s go. I don¡¯t have much time.¡±


    The ice maiden nodded and led the way. Her footsteps were brisk. As for Torch Dragon, it could only barely follow behind after using all its strength.


    After leaving the ice castle, Zhou Wen saw a stone staircase, but he couldn¡¯t hear what was outside. It was as though he was enveloped by boundless fog.


    As he followed the ice maiden through the fog, Zhou Wen could occasionally hear terrifying sounds coming from the fog. They were very strange and he couldn¡¯t tell what they were from.


    Here, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense the passage of time. He couldn¡¯t estimate how long he had walked. When the ice maiden stopped, a strange building appeared at the end of the stone steps.


    ¡°Emperor of Shang is inside. Go in yourself. He probably doesn¡¯t wish to see demons, so I won¡¯t be entering,¡± the ice maiden said as she pointed at the strange building in front of them.

 Chapter 939 - Good Things Are Inbound For You

    The building was indeed odd. It looked like a stone temple. The door to the stone temple was open, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for Zhou Wen to ride Torch Dragon in. When he arrived at the door, he summoned Torch Dragon again and walked into the stone temple step by step.


    What kind of person is Emperor of Shang? Zhou Wen was extremely curious. Due to his excessive curiosity, his fatigue decreased significantly.


    Due to Truth Listener¡¯s ability, the range it could hear was very limited. Only when Zhou Wen walked into the stone temple did he roughly understand the situation inside.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen looked at the scene inside the ancient temple in disbelief.


    There were many strange things placed in the stone temple. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what most of them were for, but he recognized the red words of ¡®joy¡¯ often found at weddings.


    Furthermore, on the pillars on both sides of the stone temple, there were words written about a ¡®match made in heaven¡¯ and ¡®a happy ending.¡¯ The layout of the entire ancient temple was completely different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    If he didn¡¯t know that Emperor of Shang was inside, Zhou Wen would have imagined that this was the ancient version of an Elder Moon Temple.


    ¡°May I know if the Imperial Lord is here? I was entrusted by an old friend in Deer Terrace Pavilion to bring a message.¡± After Zhou Wen entered the stone temple, he realized that his senses had recovered significantly. He could see and make sounds.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare mention the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s name, so he could only say that it was an old friend.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A voice sounded from the hall.


    Zhou Wen felt that the voice was very deep and masculine, so he walked into the hall.


    He didn¡¯t know what was so special about the stone temple. Even walking felt much easier. After walking into the hall, he saw a man sitting on a stone platform.


    Typically, that was a spot meant to consecrate deities, but there were no statues there. There was only one person, and he was a real human.


    Is this the famous tyrant? Has he really lived to this day? Zhou Wen looked at the man on the stone platform in disbelief.


    The man was completely different from the King Zhou of Shang that Zhou Wen had imagined. He didn¡¯t have a tall, stocky figure, nor did he have a domineering aura. He looked like a very quiet man. He was handsome and didn¡¯t have a thin figure. He was slender and muscular, giving him a refined aura.


    If he met this person outside, Zhou Wen believed that he was a young and promising professor. He definitely wouldn¡¯t believe that he was a tyrant.


    Emperor of Shang sat on the stone platform in a very comfortable posture. One of his hands rested on his knee while the other held a flask of alcohol. He drank without looking at Zhou Wen and said casually, ¡°What message did she get you to bring?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I need to confirm that you are Emperor of Shang,¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Emperor of Shang looked up at him. ¡°Since you are able to come here, don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m the only prisoner here?¡±


    ¡°She told me to pass you the message: think not.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly conveyed the Nine-Tailed Fox¡¯s words to the Emperor of Shang.


    ¡°Think not¡­ Think not¡­ ¡®Think not¡¯ indeed¡­¡± Emperor of Shang suddenly laughed loudly, looking extremely carefree.


    After Emperor of Shang finished laughing, Zhou Wen said, ¡°The message has been delivered. It¡¯s time for me to bid you farewell to report to her.¡±


    ¡°Wait.¡± Emperor of Shang stopped Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen stopped in puzzlement and looked at him. Emperor of Shang extended his hand and threw something at Zhou Wen. ¡°This is my reward for you. Help me pass a message to her as well.¡±


    ¡°Imperial Lord, please speak.¡± Zhou Wen saw that the item that the Emperor of Shang had thrown at him was a palm-sized stone tablet. The stone tablet had the red word ¡°joy¡± engraved on it. Apart from that, there was nothing else. He didn¡¯t know what it was for.


    ¡°Wait,¡± the Emperor of Shang said.


    ¡°What?¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily taken aback.


    ¡°Wait,¡± the Emperor of Shang repeated.


    Only then did Zhou Wen react. He looked at Emperor of Shang and asked, ¡°You want me to pass her the word: wait? Actually, you can say more.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Go back. Your human body shouldn¡¯t stay in the dimension for too long,¡± Emperor of Shang said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to leave, feeling extremely puzzled.


    Emperor of Shang was completely different from what he had imagined. Furthermore, the place he resided was somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    If Emperor of Shang was a prisoner, the place that imprisoned him was like child¡¯s play. There wasn¡¯t even a guard. It looked like he was alone, and he didn¡¯t see anything that restrained him.


    Furthermore, an ordinary human like him could enter and leave as he pleased. It didn¡¯t seem like a prison.


    ¡°Is everything done?¡± the ice maiden asked when she saw Zhou Wen come out.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to say something, but after leaving the stone temple, he returned to his previous state. He couldn¡¯t make a sound and could only write.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± the ice maiden asked again.


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say anything. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have come out so quickly.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to tell the ice maiden about the message Emperor of Shang wanted him to pass.


    The ice maiden curled her lips and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be nervous. I¡¯m not trying to pry into his secrets. In fact, he doesn¡¯t have any secrets.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go. We have to hurry back. We don¡¯t have much time left.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he summoned Torch Dragon again. Just as he was about to put away the stone tablet and leave, the ice maiden grabbed his hand.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± The ice maiden pulled up Zhou Wen¡¯s hand that was holding the stone tablet and stared intently at it.


    ¡°A stone tablet. What else can it be?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised, unsure why the ice maiden had such a huge reaction.


    ¡°Did Emperor of Shang give it to you?¡± The ice maiden¡¯s gaze remained fixed on the stone tablet.


    ¡°Yes, do you know what this is?¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself. From the looks of it, the stone tablet that Emperor of Shang gave me seems to be something good. Don¡¯t tell me that the ice maiden wants to snatch it from me?


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, the ice maiden released her hand and looked at him with an odd expression. ¡°Of course I know. I¡¯m afraid everyone in the dimension knows.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so this stone tablet has a great background. What¡¯s its use?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    The ice maiden suddenly smiled and said, ¡°Why should I tell you? It¡¯s fine if you want to know, but that depends on whether you pay the price.¡±


    ¡°Forget it.¡± Zhou Wen put away the stone tablet and rode Torch Dragon.


    Since many people in the dimension knew about it, there was no need for him to ask the ice maiden. He could just ask The Thearch when he returned.


    Thinking nothing of it, the ice maiden said without head or tail, ¡°Good things are inbound for you.¡± She led the way and took Zhou Wen back to the ice castle.


    Zhou Wen kept thinking about what the ice maiden meant by ¡°good things are inbound for you,¡± but he couldn¡¯t figure it out.

 Chapter 940 - Imprisoning the Ice Maiden

    After returning to the ice castle, the ice maiden once again used the Heaven Shrouding Bell. However, after using it, she appeared extremely weak. It looked like she had expended a lot of energy.


    Even a Terror-grade expert pays such a heavy cost to use the Heaven Shrouding Bell. I wonder if the Heaven Shrouding Bell is the bell The Thearch wants. Zhou Wen was now certain that he hadn¡¯t successfully teleported to the place The Thearch wanted him to go, but the Heaven Shrouding Bell was almost identical to the bell The Thearch had described. It could be the same bell.


    The ice castle came to the volcanic area again. The ice maiden shrank the ice castle to the size of a ring and put it away.


    Zhou Wen led the ice maiden to a volcano and said, ¡°This is it. Enter the calabash.¡±


    The ice maiden frowned and said, ¡°It won¡¯t be too late for me to enter after you open the spatial passageway.¡±


    ¡°Although I¡¯m not very smart, I¡¯m not stupid. You could enter the spatial passageway directly once I open it. You would then be leaving me alone behind to await death, so no can do,¡± Zhou Wen said with a firm shake of his head.


    The ice maiden thought for a moment and said, ¡°Alright, give me the calabash.¡±


    The ice maiden was confident that she wouldn¡¯t be trapped by the calabash, so she didn¡¯t insist.


    Zhou Wen handed the calabash to the ice maiden, who entered it.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m about to open a spatial passageway. Wait a moment, and we will be teleporting to Earth,¡± Zhou Wen said as he picked up the calabash and stuffed it into the Chaos Bead.


    The calabash might be broken, but the Chaos Bead was a legendary treasure of a mighty god. The ice maiden probably couldn¡¯t break out of the Chaos Bead so easily.


    The ice maiden clearly hadn¡¯t discovered that she had been sent into a special space. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain it either. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to release her when she couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    Of course, Zhou Wen¡¯s release meant releasing her from the calabash. Her person would still be in the chaos space to prevent her from destroying the calabash.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was 36 hours yet, so he didn¡¯t dare delay any further. He headed straight for the volcanic pool.


    How could he open a spatial passageway? The bronze tripod¡¯s spatial passageway had always been open. It was open for only 36 hours.


    Thankfully, when Zhou Wen returned to the blue liquid volcano, the spatial passageway in the pool was still open. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to enter. He was still somewhat uneasy. If another teleportation malfunction happened, he didn¡¯t know if he could safely return to Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    After a long teleportation, Zhou Wen saw that he had returned to the bronze tripod cauldron. The Nine-Tailed Fox was staring at him and he was delighted.


    ¡°Did you pass the message I entrusted you?¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Although there were some twists and turns, I finally met the Emperor of Shang. I passed him your message,¡± Zhou Wen said as he returned the pearl to the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    ¡°Did he say anything?¡± the Nine-Tailed Fox asked hesitantly.


    ¡°He also got me to pass a message to you, but there¡¯s only one word: wait.¡± Zhou Wen conveyed the Emperor of Shang¡¯s words to the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    The Nine-Tailed Fox was slightly taken aback when it heard that. A complicated human expression appeared on its face. After a long while, it opened its mouth and sucked the pearl in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand back.


    ¡°Leave.¡± The Nine-Tailed Fox had no intention of killing Zhou Wen. It didn¡¯t even suspect the authenticity of Zhou Wen¡¯s message.


    Perhaps she had some doubts previously, but after hearing this word, she no longer doubted it. This was because there were some things that only the person in question could say. Others couldn¡¯t imitate it.


    The simple word ¡®wait¡¯ made the Nine-Tailed Fox understand many things.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay any longer. There were too many horrors in Chess Mountain. Apart from the Nine-Tailed Fox, there were definitely other Terror-grade existences. Zhou Wen suspected that the four demon general statues he had seen were Terror-grade experts that had been sealed.


    After leaving, Zhou Wen hurriedly walked out of Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    ¡°What are you doing? Have we not reached Earth?¡± The ice maiden in the calabash couldn¡¯t sense the situation outside, but too much time had passed. She was already suspicious even before Zhou Wen left Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    ¡°We¡¯re here. You can come out.¡± Zhou Wen opened the calabash¡¯s mouth.


    However, the ice maiden remained somewhat suspicious. This was because she was a Terror-grade dimensional creature. She would be restricted if she descended to Earth. It was impossible for her to maintain her original Terror grade.


    However, she didn¡¯t feel any restrictions on her body, so she didn¡¯t believe that she had already arrived on Earth.


    Since Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t imprisoned her, she naturally didn¡¯t need to destroy the calabash to drill out of it.


    Just as the ice maiden came out of the calabash, she realized that the calabash beside her had vanished. As for her, she was in a void of chaos. There was an endless chaos space around her. There was no sign of Zhou Wen, nor could she see Earth. This immediately made the ice maiden realize that something was amiss.


    ¡°What did you do?¡± The ice maiden had already transformed into her Terror form. She shot out a terrifying ice beam, hoping to see where this space was.


    Her terrifying ice beam shot out without any obstruction, but it failed to reach the end. It was as though the void¡¯s chaos space was infinite, making the ice maiden¡¯s expression turn nasty.


    ¡°This is Earth. We¡¯ve already arrived on Earth. However, to prevent you from being injured by Earth¡¯s powers, I¡¯ve temporarily found a place for you to stay. Feel at ease and rest here for the time being,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Do you know what you are doing? Do you know what will happen to you if I get out?¡± the ice maiden said with a cold expression.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry as he continued, ¡°I¡¯ve been so good to you and even arranged such a nice place for you to stay. Shouldn¡¯t you pay some rent? I think you should just hand the Heaven Shrouding Bell to me as rent.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re dead.¡± The ice maiden¡¯s expression was cold as she summoned the ice castle.


    The ice castle constantly expanded in the chaos space, returning to its original size. The ice maiden then walked into the ice castle and picked up the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too nervous. Even if she could really come out of the chaos space, she and the Heaven Shrouding Bell had already arrived at Chess Mountain. Zhou Wen could explain to The Thearch, so she could deal with her herself.


    The ice maiden shook the Heaven Shrouding Bell, hoping to teleport out of the mysterious chaos space. However, after shaking it a few times, she realized that the ice castle remained in the chaos space and couldn¡¯t be teleported out. This immediately left the ice maiden alarmed and furious.


    She didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen¡¯s space was. Even the Heaven Shrouding Bell couldn¡¯t break out. Now, she was really trapped inside.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw that she couldn¡¯t come out. He continued, ¡°Think about it. Give me the Heaven Shrouding Bell first. If I¡¯m in a good mood, I can consider letting you out.¡±


    ¡°In your dreams.¡± The ice maiden was filled with hatred. She never expected to ultimately fall into Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.

 Chapter 941 - Fruit Ripens

    ¡°Where¡¯s the bell?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to say something to the ice maiden when he suddenly heard The Thearch¡¯s voice in his mind.


    ¡°The Thearch, something wrong happened during the teleportation. I didn¡¯t find the tower you mentioned,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Impossible. The bronze tripod can only teleport to one place. You must have been able to see that tower.¡± Although The Thearch said so, she seemed to be holding back.


    She didn¡¯t see Doctor Darkness holding the bell, and the bell could only be held by experts at or above the Terror grade. Ordinary storage spaces couldn¡¯t store the bell.


    ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth.¡± Zhou Wen immediately recounted his experience.


    When The Thearch heard his description of the volcanic region, she believed him a little. This was because it was very difficult to enter that area from Earth or the dimension. If Zhou Wen had only heard of the existence of such a place, it was impossible for him to describe it in such detail.


    Strange, how did he teleport there? In the cave, The Thearch muttered to herself. She already believed that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t obtained the bell.


    The place she wanted Zhou Wen to go was in a dimensional space. And with Zhou Wen in that volcanic area, it was impossible for him to enter another dimension, so it was naturally impossible for him to find the tower to obtain the bell.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. If you hadn¡¯t entered the dimension, how could you have helped the Nine-Tailed Fox pass her message to the Emperor of Shang?¡± The Thearch suddenly realized something.


    When Zhou Wen heard The Thearch¡¯s words, he knew that nothing in Chess Mountain could hide from her. Thankfully, he only needed to use his mind to converse with the ice maiden in the chaos space. He likely hadn¡¯t been discovered by The Thearch. All he could do was continue, ¡°I¡¯m not done. After I arrived at the volcanic area, I saw a huge mountain peak. It was like a heavenly pillar that pierced into the sky. I thought the tower you mentioned was atop that, so I ascended it. To my surprise, I didn¡¯t see the tower, but I saw an ice castle¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen fabricated some changes filled with half-truths. He didn¡¯t mention the Heaven Shrouding Bell or the ice maiden that he had abducted and brought to Earth.


    What you want is the bell in the tower. The one I have isn¡¯t the bell in the tower. It¡¯s naturally not what you want, Zhou Wen thought. He planned on getting the Heaven Shrouding Bell from the ice maiden and monopolizing it for himself.


    Seeing how detailed Zhou Wen was, The Thearch knew that something had gone wrong with Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation. It was already lucky for him to return alive.


    ¡°I never expected such a teleportation mistake to happen to the bronze tripod. How strange. Did you do anything during the teleportation?¡± The Thearch asked in thought.


    ¡°What could I do? I was just waiting for the teleportation,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch thought for a moment and felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t capable of affecting the spatial teleportation. Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t a fool. Why would he deliberately make a mess of the teleportation coordinates?


    Unable to figure it out, The Thearch didn¡¯t say anything else. She waited until Zhou Wen walked to the flower outside Chess Mountain before saying, ¡°Swear to the flower that you didn¡¯t obtain the bell.¡±


    Although The Thearch didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with what Zhou Wen had said, she didn¡¯t trust him.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen raised his hand and swore at the flower on the mountain wall. ¡°I swear that I didn¡¯t see the tower or obtain a bell from the tower. If there¡¯s any falsehood, I¡¯ll be condemned by my conscience for life.¡±


    Boom!


    A clap of thunder sounded out of thin air. It looked like the power of the oath had taken effect, but Zhou Wen was safe and sound. Only then did The Thearch believe him.


    ¡°The Thearch, if there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll head back now.¡± Zhou Wen bade farewell and left Chess Mountain to return to school.


    Although The Thearch felt that something was amiss, she couldn¡¯t figure out what it was.


    After Zhou Wen left Chess Mountain, he finally heaved a sigh of relief. Although this trip to the dimension was extremely dangerous, it wasn¡¯t without harvests. At the very least, now that the ice maiden was in his hands, he would be able to obtain the Heaven Shrouding Bell sooner or later.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the ice maiden seemed to be completely unaffected by Earth in the chaos space. The taboo power restriction she mentioned didn¡¯t appear.


    The ice maiden remained cooped up in the ice castle. It looked like she was thinking of a solution, but with the Heaven Shrouding Bell useless, the chances of her escaping were almost zero, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too worried.


    Before he arrived on campus, Zhou Wen received a lot of messages from his phone. Some were from Li Xuan, Wang Lu, and even Zhang Yuzhi.


    Zhou Wen replied to some messages and also learned of recent events.


    The most important thing was that another Guardian had appeared on the rankings. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised by a Guardian¡¯s appearance. What surprised him was that the Guardian on the rankings was named Burial Immortal.


    Is Senior Jiang Yan finally taking action? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, Burial Immortal was only ranked third. He didn¡¯t challenge the two Guardians ahead of him. Up to now, there hadn¡¯t been any battles between Guardians.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that a war between Guardians was inevitable. They would fight sooner or later.


    Recently, Zhou Wen had also figured out some things. The Guardians were sent by the dimensional races to vie for control of Earth, so they likely wouldn¡¯t want to destroy Earth wantonly. There was a high chance that their battle would be carried out inside the cube.


    Zhou Wen even felt that this cube ranking battle was actually prepared for Guardians, not just meant to rank pets.


    Unfortunately, I haven¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, so I can¡¯t participate in the battle. If I want to kill those Guardians, I have to find them in reality, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± A message came over. It was from Ya¡¯er. Ya¡¯er had probably seen his account come online and knew that Zhou Wen had returned.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly replied: ¡°I just came back. I haven¡¯t reached the city yet. I¡¯ll pick you up now.¡±


    ¡°Waiting for you.¡± Ya¡¯er replied.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to first head to the An family to fetch Ya¡¯er.


    As he walked, the mysterious phone suddenly vibrated. Zhou Wen was alarmed as he imagined that a new dimensional zone had appeared in the city. When he took it out, he realized that the fruit on the Dead Man Tree had ripened.


    Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s fruit has finally ripened. Zhou Wen was still looking forward to Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s fruit.


    After all, Xia Jiuhuang had already advanced to the Mythical stage back then. Furthermore, he had fused nine Life Providences and nine Life Souls. This was something ordinary humans didn¡¯t possess.


    Xia Jiuhuang still had all sorts of strange Essence Energy Skills. If all of this could be inherited by the Companion Beast, the Companion Beast¡¯s abilities would definitely be extremely powerful.


    Most importantly, the Companion Beasts born on the Dead Man Tree were unique. Zhou Wen felt that it wouldn¡¯t disappoint him, so he looked at the fruit on the Dead Man Tree.

 Chapter 942 - Evil Spirit King

    The fruit was unique, like a graphite fruit.


    Zhou Wen plucked the fruit and immediately checked its stats.


    Evil Spirit King: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Spirit Devouring


    Companion Form: Soul


    It¡¯s the same soul state as Doctor Darkness. In other words, it can attach itself to me, strengthen my stats, and let me use its abilities. Unfortunately, it¡¯s at the Mortal stage. Although it can evolve, it still needs some time to advance to the Mythical stage. Zhou Wen studied his only skill, Spirit Devouring, and realized that it wasn¡¯t very practical, but it was a skill that was almost like a bug in computer games.


    Spirit Devouring could only be used on creatures of the same level. Furthermore, the success rate wasn¡¯t high. It might not succeed once in ten attempts. Even if one didn¡¯t skip levels, there was a chance of a backlash from creatures of the same level.


    When used on creatures higher than one¡¯s level, it was basically a 100% failure rate.


    However, the functionality of Spirit Devouring was extremely terrifying. It was like a bug.


    When used on any creature, there was a certain chance of obtaining one of their skills. In other words, having the Spirit Devouring Skill was equivalent to having infinite skills. If one wanted a particular skill, they just needed to devour a particular dimensional creature.


    If it advanced to the Mythical stage and combined with all sorts of impressive skills, it would be amazingly powerful.


    I wonder what its Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny are. Can they also be increased through devouring? Zhou Wen felt that it was unlikely. If that was the case, it would be fantastic.


    Zhou Wen eagerly hatched the Evil Spirit King and saw a black puppet wearing a white mask appear in front of him.


    His black clothes were like a devil¡¯s gown. The mask on his face was smooth white, as though it was carved from bones. It looked very strange.


    Zhou Wen attempted to feed it with Companion Eggs. The Evil Spirit King directly used the Devouring Skill. The palm wrapped in the black glove grabbed the Legendary Companion Egg and sucked it dry.


    Bam!


    The Evil Spirit King¡¯s body exploded. Its body was too weak, so it couldn¡¯t receive the energy in an Legendary Companion Egg.


    Thankfully, it¡¯s in-game. If it was outside the game, this fellow would already be dead. From the looks of it, I can only use Mortal Companion Eggs to feed the Evil Spirit King. When he advances to the Legendary stage, I can use Legendary Companion Eggs to raise him. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel a headache when he thought of this.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to obtain Legendary and Epic Companion Eggs, but Mortal Companion Eggs were really difficult to find. The chances of a Mortal Companion Egg dropping were too low. If one were to buy them in real life, they needed to pay a high price and it wasn¡¯t easy to obtain them.


    I hope he doesn¡¯t need too many Companion Eggs to advance to the Legendary stage. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue feeding the Evil Spirit King because he didn¡¯t have any Mortal Companion Eggs. He could only farm for them in the future or spend money to buy them.


    After arriving at the An family residence, An Tianzuo and An Sheng weren¡¯t around. When Zhou Wen saw Ouyang Lan and Ya¡¯er, he almost didn¡¯t recognize Ya¡¯er.


    She was wearing a pink princess dress with a huge pink butterfly hair clip. She was hugging a Barbie doll in her arms as she sat on the sofa expressionlessly.


    ¡°How is it? She¡¯s very cute, right? I spent a lot of effort to dress her up so beautifully. Don¡¯t say that she¡¯s not pretty,¡± Ouyang Lan said smugly.


    ¡°Can I take her back?¡± Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it ugly, it was somewhat different from Ya¡¯er¡¯s usual style.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen seemed to know why Ya¡¯er had sent a message when she saw him online.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? Let Ya¡¯er stay here for a few more days. I still plan on taking her to the amusement park,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to speak, Ya¡¯er had already stood up from the sofa and walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side. Clearly, she planned on returning with him.


    ¡°Perhaps another time,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    When Ouyang Lan saw that Ya¡¯er wanted to leave, she didn¡¯t force her to stay. However, she got someone to move out all the things she had bought for Ya¡¯er. She instructed the driver to drive Ya¡¯er to Zhou Wen¡¯s dorm.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the bags were. Since they were for Ya¡¯er, he didn¡¯t say anything.


    After returning to her dorm, Ya¡¯er changed into her usual clothes.


    ¡°Did you suffer at the An family?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ya¡¯er.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head and said, ¡°No, Sister Lan treated me very well.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. However, when he heard Ya¡¯er call Ouyang Lan Sis Lan, he couldn¡¯t help but grumble inwardly. How obsessed are women with their youth and looks? Is it that difficult to admit that they are aging?


    Zhou Wen planned on taking Ya¡¯er out for a walk. The Glimmer Life Soul needed Zhou Wen to continue visiting unfamiliar places to advance to a Perfect Body.


    As for the advancement method of Sword Pill, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t figured it out yet. He was still in the process of absorbing Essence Energy.


    Before leaving Luoyang, Zhou Wen planned on learning a few skills. This was because after the Demon God Catalog¡¯s Life Soul reached the Perfect Body, Zhou Wen¡¯s Constitution finally reached 41 points. He had a few Mythical skill crystals to absorb.


    Zhou Wen roughly sorted out the Mythical skill crystals he already had and could absorb.


    Jade Lute Crystal: Constitution 41, Spatial 21.


    Great Might Vajra Bull Crystal: Constitution: 41, Essence Energy: 41


    National Cornerstone Gold Man Crystal: Essence Energy 41, Constitution 41


    Black-Armored Golden Silk Turtle Crystal: Essence Energy 41, Constitution 41


    Blue Sky Crystal Beast Crystal: Constitution: 41, Spatial: 21.


    Zhou Wen searched and found that there were five Mythical crystals he could absorb in real life. The Mythical skill crystals that dropped in-game had long disappeared from respawning because he couldn¡¯t absorb them back then.


    These were obtained in reality, and his attributes had already met the requirements.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and absorbed the Jade Lute Crystal. As his stats had reached a certain level, the absorption process was very smooth. The Jade Lute Crystal quickly transformed into Essence Energy that formed a new Essence Energy circulation in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    ¡®Absorbed Jade Lute Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill, String Aural Quake.¡¯


    Zhou Wen also obtained some information. It was as he had expected. It was a spatial skill, not an aural skill.


    Unfortunately, String Aural Quake needed a string instrument as a weapon to be used. Without a similar instrument, this skill couldn¡¯t be used.


    Ordinary musical instruments naturally weren¡¯t sufficient. They couldn¡¯t withstand the vibrations of the Essence Energy and the strings would snap. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had a Golden Harp, so he could give it a try.

 Chapter 943 - Ya

    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to try. Instead, he continued absorbing and refining the other Mythical skill crystals.


    The Mythical Essence Energy Crystals were absorbed by Zhou Wen as though they were free.


    ¡®Absorbed Great Might Vajra Bull Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill: Vajra Drill.¡¯


    ¡®Absorbed National Cornerstone Gold Man Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill, Body of Gold Essence.¡¯


    ¡®Absorbed Black Iron Gold Thread Turtle Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill: Grand Turtle Breath.¡¯


    ¡®Absorbed Blue Sky Crystal Beast Crystal. Attained Mythical Essence Energy Skill: Sky Slash.¡¯


    Absorbing different Mythical Crystals required different Essence Energy Arts. Zhou Wen switched Essence Energy Arts several times and finally absorbed all the Mythical Crystals he could.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s skill wasn¡¯t anything interesting because its strongest ability was the Soul Suppression Bell. However, the Soul Suppression Bell wasn¡¯t a skill, so it was impossible for him to comprehend it.


    He never expected the Great Might Vajra Bull to have the move, Vajra Drill. It was rather impressive, and it intrigued Zhou Wen.


    This move was something the Great Might Vajra Bull used when going all out. It broke its horn and shot it out like a drill. Its might was rather domineering.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a bull horn, but he didn¡¯t need one when using the skill. All he needed to do was find a weapon that could be launched. He could use a spear or sword as long as he could throw them.


    After the weapon was thrown, it would quickly spin and form a powerful drilling force. It was even better than Penetrating Pierce.


    The key problem was that there was something wrong with this move. After throwing the weapon, it would automatically explode after hitting the target, maximizing its might. After using it once, it would destroy a weapon. An ordinary weapon wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such a powerful force. It might self-destruct before hitting the target.


    Therefore, the weapon used for Vajra Drill couldn¡¯t be too bad. Otherwise, it was very easy to miss.


    Body of Gold Essence was a type of Essence Energy that strengthened the body. It was somewhat similar to Golden Bell and Iron Skin. However, it was of a higher level. It strengthened the body even more. It was a divine skill to suffer beatings.


    Grand Turtle Breath was a high-level version of Turtle Breath. When he used it, there was no sign of life on his entire body. He was like a dead person.


    However, he couldn¡¯t move when using ordinary Turtle Breath, but for Grand Turtle Breath, he could still move freely. It was a necessary skill for feigning death.


    Of course, he could also use it to deal with creatures with poor vision who relied on determining the enemy¡¯s life auras to attack. He could also use it for hiding, making it difficult for him to be discovered.


    Sky Slash left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed. This was because Zhou Wen wanted a teleportation skill, but this was a spatial attack.


    It was indeed very powerful. An Essence Energy skill that could slice through space was even more destructive than Zhou Wen¡¯s Demonic Astral Wheel. However, Zhou Wen already had the even more destructive Immortal Slaying. He could use Sky Slash normally, but when he needed to go all out, he had to rely on the might of Immortal Slaying.


    With so many Mythical skills, Zhou Wen¡¯s combat strength increased significantly, especially with Vajra Drill. It was like an Essence Energy version of a missile. Its destructive power was rather shocking, provided that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of sacrificing his weapon.


    If he used it in-game, he wouldn¡¯t have any qualms about using it. When the Mythical Light Concealment Sword was thrown out with Vajra Drill, its offensive strength was upgraded by a whole level. Furthermore, the final explosion was even more shocking.


    Zhou Wen planned on using it in-game to kill bosses. In real life, to use such a move made the person a super tycoon. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t that rich.


    The Body of Gold Essence was also very useful. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t clash with the Demon Dragon True Body. Zhou Wen first used the Demon Dragon True Body before using the Body of Gold Essence. He looked like a humanoid golden dragon with a terrifying body. He could even clash head on with Tyrant Behemoth two or three times without being killed.


    Of course, the Essence Energy expenditure was rather huge. Sometimes, he needed to switch back to Slaughterer to replenish it.


    Sky Slash wasn¡¯t as useless as Zhou Wen imagined. After Zhou Wen tried it, he realized that the expenditure of Sky Slash wasn¡¯t high. It could be used continuously. It wasn¡¯t like Immortal Slaying in which he would lose his combat strength after one strike. It was a form of compensation for its weaker strength.


    Finally, Zhou Wen tried String Aural Quake again. The Golden Harp only struck once before the harp snapped. Thankfully, it was in-game, so there wasn¡¯t any problem.


    String Aural Quake was an area-of-effect attack skill. If a group of monsters needed to be cleared, this move was almost invincible.


    I hope some useful skills drop in-game. Zhou Wen really wanted to stay at home and grind dungeons, but the Glimmer Life Soul needed him to walk out to advance. It left him helpless.


    Zhou Wen looked at maps online and planned on which direction he should take. He wanted to advance Glimmer to a Perfect Body as soon as possible. This was a critical step in advancing to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Why are you going out again?¡± Ouyang Lan asked when Zhou Wen told her that he was leaving Luoyang.


    ¡°It¡¯s beneficial to go out and broaden my horizons. Now that the dimensional zones in the Federation are becoming more and more unstable, I wonder if I¡¯ll have the chance to leave again in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Send Ya¡¯er over. I¡¯ll help you take care of her,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°I plan on taking her out for a walk with me this time,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°She¡¯s still so young. What if you encounter danger?¡± Ouyang Lan said worriedly. It was obvious that she really liked Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take routes I¡¯m confident in. Besides, you should be able to tell that Ya¡¯er isn¡¯t an ordinary child,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright, be careful. Stay away from taking risks¡­¡± Ouyang Lan exhorted again.


    After informing the others, Zhou Wen was about to leave Luoyang when he suddenly heard a piece of news. Someone had challenged the first ranked Great Skyfiend.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly switched on his phone and couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw the challenger.


    The challenger also looked like a human, but he was wearing clothes that resembled a cloak. Beneath the cloak was an airtight armor, making it impossible to see what the creature inside looked like.


    However, his clothes and armor weren¡¯t Guardian armor. Furthermore, there was a white ¡°Ya¡± embroidered on the back of the cloak.


    And the name on the cube only had one word: Ya.


    What surprised the Federation citizens was that Ya held an ancient sword in his hand. Ya wasn¡¯t famous, but the ancient sword was very famous.


    In the previous ranking battle, Primordial Sword Immortal, who had been invincible against everyone overseas, was now in Ya¡¯s hands.


    Zhou Wen was also alarmed, but what shocked him wasn¡¯t the Primordial Sword Immortal in Ya¡¯s hand, but that Ya looked like someone to Zhou Wen.


    Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Zhong Ziya! Zhou Wen prayed inwardly.


    If it was really Zhong Ziya, he might have already taken Wang Mingyuan¡¯s path. This was because Ya¡¯s condition was clearly different from the Guardians.

 Chapter 944 - Sea Return

    Zhou Wen¡¯s phone suddenly rang. He looked at the number and saw that it was from Hui Haifeng.


    After the call connected, Hui Haifeng¡¯s solemn voice sounded. ¡°Zhou Wen, are you looking at the cube¡¯s challenge?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find that Ya a little familiar?¡± Hui Haifeng asked again.


    ¡°You also think he looks like Zhong Ziya?¡± Zhou Wen said directly.


    Hui Haifeng fell silent for a moment before saying, ¡°He seems to have Teacher¡¯s shadow on him.¡±


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he was reading too much into it, but now, even Hui Haifeng thought so. It looked like there was a high chance that Zhong Ziya had chosen an extremely difficult path.


    ¡°Perhaps we are reading too much into it. Perhaps that isn¡¯t Zhong Ziya at all,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Hui Haifeng said with a bitter smile, ¡°The possibility of us making a recognition mistake at the same time is slim. It¡¯s best we make plans early. Running away won¡¯t solve the problem.¡±


    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Zhou Wen asked. He didn¡¯t even know where Zhong Ziya was, nor could he think of any solutions.


    ¡°Do you still remember the question Teacher asked us back then?¡± Hui Haifeng asked.


    ¡°Yes, two paths,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°I want to try the first one,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°How?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°In the dimensional zones, we discovered quite a number of strange materials. For example, common materials like Essence Gold and Essence Crystals. There are also some that aren¡¯t common. I want to try and see if I can figure out something that can fight dimensional creatures. Humans have used their intelligence to become the masters of Earth for thousands of years. Perhaps this time, we can still rely on our intelligence to win,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°This path isn¡¯t easy.¡± Zhou Wen knew how difficult this path was. The An family had invested so many resources, but the things they had researched weren¡¯t very useful against Mythical creatures.


    ¡°Someone has to walk over to the edge to see if that¡¯s the end of the world,¡± Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    ¡°Then walk the path. Perhaps there¡¯s a new world ahead,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if there¡¯s a new world. I just want to keep the past.¡± Hui Haifeng paused before saying to Zhou Wen, ¡°Wen, don¡¯t take that path.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew which path Hui Haifeng was referring to, but he fell silent. He didn¡¯t know if he would take that path.


    If the Lost Immortal Sutra didn¡¯t work, he had to choose between a Guardian and Spirit Casting. Zhou Wen felt that he might choose the Spirit Casting path, so he couldn¡¯t answer Hui Haifeng.


    After a long silence, Hui Haifeng finally broke it with a soft sigh. ¡°Alright, if you really take that path one day, I hope that you can still see me when you want to turn back.¡±


    Zhou Wen forced a smile and said, ¡°You make it sound like I¡¯m walking on a path of no return. I have my own path. If my luck isn¡¯t too bad, I probably won¡¯t choose that path. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°Come to Sea Return to visit me when you have the time. I¡¯ll treat you to some rare seafood.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I plan on traveling soon.¡±


    The two of them tacitly stopped the previous topic and agreed to meet at Sea Return.


    Although Sea Return and Sea Gazing City¡¯s names were similar, their positions were very different. Sea Gazing City bordered the East Sea, while Sea Return bordered the South Sea.


    Zhou Wen remembered that Feng Qiuyan came from Sea Return. Furthermore, the Feng family was rather famous there.


    Zhou Wen wondered if he should inform Feng Qiuyan and see if he wanted to return with him. That way, he could have a guide.


    Now was clearly not the time to think about this. Zhou Wen watched the livestream again. Great Skyfiend didn¡¯t accept the challenge. The countdown to accepting the challenge was only twenty-four hours.


    After waiting for half an hour, he still didn¡¯t see Great Skyfiend accept the challenge. Zhou Wen called Feng Qiuyan and told him that he was heading to Sea Return soon. He asked if he wanted to go with him.


    ¡°Coach, it¡¯s not very peaceful over at Sea Return. There are often break-out creatures coming ashore. Many people have moved inland. Why are you going to Sea Return?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked in surprise.


    ¡°I have a senior over there. I want to visit him,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Those who remain in Sea Return now are basically those who have family businesses there. That senior shouldn¡¯t be an ordinary person, right?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked.


    ¡°Hui Haifeng,¡± Zhou Wen said his name.


    ¡°As expected. The Hui family has quite a number of mineral mines in Sea Return. They are also most determined to defend Sea Return.¡± Feng Qiuyan explained the situation to Zhou Wen in detail.


    The situation was worse than Zhou Wen had imagined. Apart from the cities guarded by humans, most of the areas had break-out creatures. It was almost impossible to distinguish between dimensional zones and non-dimensional zones.


    There were many break-out creatures that came out of the sea. Furthermore, they were very difficult to deal with. Sea Return had three relatively large families taking the lead. Together with more than ten small families, they formed the forces of Sea Return City that had been fighting the break-out creatures all this time.


    The Hui family and the Feng family were two of the bigger families. Feng Qiuyan came from the Sea Return Feng family.


    Feng Qiuyan got Zhou Wen to wait. He wanted to apply for leave from school before accompanying Zhou Wen back to the sea.


    As the two of them were talking, there was a sudden commotion on the cube. Great Skyfiend accepted the challenge and descended into the cube arena in the void.


    Everyone¡¯s gaze was immediately attracted by Great Skyfiend. The scene of Great Skyfiend destroying Heavy-Armored Titan with one strike surfaced in many people¡¯s minds.


    Ya stood in the arena and calmly looked at Great Skyfiend as though he didn¡¯t know how terrifying it was.


    Uesugi Nao had been in a bad mood recently. Her progress in Luoyang hadn¡¯t been smooth. She had already tried many solutions, but she was unable to obtain any information regarding the Essence Energy weapons from the An family.


    Although she had seen An Tianzuo a few times, he never talked shop at home.


    Back in the An family residence, An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t as domineering as the rumors said. He was no different from an ordinary young man.


    Not only was there no progress in the mission, but she was also continuously challenged. This made her somewhat vexed.


    Although Uesugi Nao chose to accept the challenge, she didn¡¯t dare let her guard down.


    She had already seen Primordial Sword Immortal¡¯s might the previous time. It was an existence even more terrifying than Orochi. Now that someone had entered the rankings with Primordial Sword Immortal, this person was likely similar to her¡ªsomeone who had contracted a Guardian.


    However, Uesugi Nao couldn¡¯t tell if Ya was someone who had used a Guardian. Typically, when people with Guardians fought, Guardians would fuse with humans. They would be donning Guardian armor, but Ya was wearing a Companion Beast armor.


    Uesugi Nao accepted the challenge because she wanted to know the origins of Ya.

 Chapter 945 - Purgatory Fiend Flames

    Apart from knowing that her opponent was the owner of Primordial Immortal Sword, Uesugi Nao knew nothing about Ya, so she didn¡¯t dare to be careless. She summoned the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi formed by Orochi.


    With the augmentation of Great Skyfiend¡¯s power, a terrifying demonic aura appeared over Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


    Ya didn¡¯t say a word. He held Primordial Immortal Sword and didn¡¯t pull it out. Instead, he slashed at Uesugi Nao with the sword sheathed, making it appear like a heavy sword.


    Uesugi Nao was not to be outdone. She brandished her Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to meet Ya¡¯s Primordial Immortal Sword.


    Clang!


    The two swords clashed and the two terrifying forces collided, producing a terrifying explosion and shockwave. However, neither of them retreated as they quickly brandished their swords again.


    Fast. It was just too fast. The two of them had reached the peak of the Mythical stage. They were so fast that ordinary humans couldn¡¯t see their battle.


    All people could see were streams of light crisscrossing like sudden bolts of lightning. They flashed and vanished. Their figures couldn¡¯t be seen, much less the sword moves.


    Only a very small number of Epic experts with special sight-type skills or people with high-level sight-type Companion Beasts could see their battle clearly.


    When Zhou Wen saw Ya¡¯s sword technique, he was even more certain that he was Zhong Ziya. His sword technique was unrestrained and unbridled. Only someone with Zhong Ziya¡¯s personality could master such a sword technique to its limits.


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s sword technique was actually more like a saber technique. It was also a model of swiftness, ruthlessness, and accuracy. Although Zhou Wen had previously fought her, it wasn¡¯t a real battle. Now, he finally understood her strength. She undoubtedly had the standards of a top Mythical.


    Of course, this was under the premise of fusing with Great Skyfiend. Without Great Skyfiend, Uesugi Nao was only at the Epic stage just like him.


    However, a Guardian was a part of one¡¯s strength. Just like how humans used pistols in the past. If one had good marksmanship, they could also be considered one of the strong.


    Companion Beasts and Guardians shared the same principle. One¡¯s own strength and external strength weren¡¯t differentiated. Be it one¡¯s own strength or external strength, as long as one could use it well, they were experts.


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s ability to perfectly control Great Skyfiend¡¯s power meant that she was indeed very strong.


    The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and Primordial Immortal Sword constantly clashed. No one had the upper hand. Their techniques were mainly focused on attacking. There was basically no defense. Every strike looked abnormally perilous. It was pure offense that only allowed for one outcome¡ªone of them had to die while the other lived.


    After a while, Uesugi Nao realized that she was at a disadvantage. It wasn¡¯t because her strength and technique were inferior to Ya¡¯s, but because Ya¡¯s speed was getting faster and faster. His strength was also getting stronger. The continuous battle didn¡¯t seem to consume his strength and stamina. Instead, it made him even more ferocious and domineering.


    The other party is good at prolonged battles. Uesugi Nao immediately realized that she couldn¡¯t delay any further. People who were good at prolonged battles would definitely become stronger the longer they fought. If this dragged on, it would be very disadvantageous for her.


    Without any hesitation, Uesugi Nao gathered her strength and slashed out Great Skyfiend¡¯s Infinite Fiend Abyss. Black demonic aura transformed into darkness as it tore out and slashed at Ya.


    Wherever the black demonic aura went, everything turned into darkness. In the blink of an eye, the cube¡¯s screen turned black and nothing could be seen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got up and ran towards the cube in the city. This was because the broadcast didn¡¯t allow him to see through the darkness. He had to reach the cube to see what was happening inside the darkness.


    The cube arena in the void was completely enveloped by darkness. As for Ya, his vision, hearing, and sense of smell in the darkness had been stripped away. Even when the blade slashed at him, he couldn¡¯t feel anything, much less feel pain.


    Looking at Ya, who was standing in the arena with a sword in hand, Uesugi Nao mercilessly slashed with her blade.


    She knew that in the Infinite Fiend Abyss, her opponent¡¯s senses would be stripped away. However, she wasn¡¯t sure if her opponent had the ability to nullify Infinite Fiend Abyss. Therefore, she had to kill her opponent as quickly as possible.


    Clang!


    However, Ya moved in the darkness. Primordial Immortal Sword accurately blocked Uesugi Nao¡¯s Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi.


    The blades constantly clashed. The Infinite Fiend Abyss wasn¡¯t cracked, but Ya didn¡¯t seem to be affected at all. He didn¡¯t make any mistakes.


    He has an ability that transcends the normal senses. Uesugi Nao immediately guessed the reason. In the Infinite Fiend Abyss, only people who had extra-sensory perception could be unaffected.


    Unless Uesugi Nao could make Great Skyfiend break through to the Terror grade, Infinite Fiend Abyss was almost useless against people with extra-sensory perception.


    After figuring this out, Uesugi Nao no longer wasted her Essence Energy and directly deactivated Infinite Fiend Abyss.


    When Zhou Wen arrived above the cube, Uesugi Nao had already dispelled Infinite Fiend Abyss, revealing their figures again.


    Zhou Wen wore the Invisibility Cloak and floated in the air as he watched the battle on the cube¡¯s arena. Such a battle was already the pinnacle of humanity. The only pity was that they weren¡¯t fighting purely with human strength.


    Ya¡¯s offensive was like a tidal wave. He didn¡¯t have many tricks, nor did he have any complicated skills. He was just one man and one sword. He was presumptuous and arrogant. He relentlessly attacked, as if the word ¡°defense¡± didn¡¯t exist in his dictionary.


    Seeing that Infinite Fiend Abyss didn¡¯t have any effect, Uesugi Nao didn¡¯t hesitate to use another of Great Skyfiend¡¯s Mythical technique, Purgatory Fiend Flames.


    The moment the sword slashed out, the demonic aura on the sword burned and turned into terrifying fiend flames. Uesugi Nao had used this move to instantly kill Heavy-Armored Titan.


    It¡¯s finally here! Zhou Wen stared at Uesugi Nao¡¯s strike. He naturally knew that it was this move that had killed Heavy-Armored Titan.


    However, no one knew what the exact function of this move was, nor did they know how to crack it.


    If it were Zhou Wen, his movement technique was excellent. He wouldn¡¯t need to take the risk and could directly dodge before counterattacking. That would prevent Uesugi Nao from hitting him.


    However, Ya clearly did not share Zhou Wen¡¯s habits. His sword didn¡¯t seem to have the option of retreating or dodging. Primordial Immortal Sword continued advancing crazily.


    The six families and many wealthy families stared intently at the two combatants. Even the great devils overseas were somewhat nervous.


    Everyone wanted to know if Great Skyfiend¡¯s one-hit kill of Heavy-Armored Titan could kill Ya.


    Clang!


    The Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi and Primordial Immortal Sword collided fiercely. The Purgatory Fiend Flames on the Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi immediately spread to Primordial Immortal Sword. Besides that, even Ya¡¯s clothes, armor, and body began to burn with fiend flames.

 Chapter 946 - Top Rank Changes

    Translator: CKtalon


    Oh no, he didn¡¯t block it. Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Will the same thing happen again? Zhang Chunqiu looked at Ya, who was burning with fiend flames, and muttered to himself with a frown.


    Many people in the six families were very disappointed. Although they didn¡¯t know who Ya was, there was no doubt that Uesugi Nao was from overseas. Most people still supported Ya.


    However, Ya¡¯s body didn¡¯t explode like the Heavy-Armored Titan. Although his body was burning with fiend flames, he was still brandishing his sword to attack. The terrifying fiend flames seemed like an illusion that didn¡¯t exist. They failed to damage his body.


    After blocking a few more strikes, Uesugi Nao realized that Ya hadn¡¯t exploded. Even his clothes and armor weren¡¯t burned. She was filled with puzzlement.


    How can there be no reaction? Could there really be a sinless person in this world? No way. He must have the ability to restrain the Purgatory Fiend Flames that prevented him from being killed. Uesugi Nao felt depressed.


    The Purgatory Fiend Flames were extremely powerful, but there was a condition. That person had to commit a sin before the Purgatory Fiend Flames could be effective.


    Pride, envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, lust, and so on were all Original Sins. No one in the world had no Original Sin at all. Therefore, the Purgatory Fiend Flames were practically invincible against humans. The heavier the Original Sins, the stronger the damage target received.


    Back then, Heavy-Armored Titan had been killed by the Purgatory Fiend Flames because its owner had committed too many massacres. Furthermore, it had also committed the sins of wrath and gluttony. This led to its explosion.


    However, Ya was completely unaffected. Uesugi Nao found it impossible.


    Soon, the people from the Federation and overseas realized that Great Skyfiend¡¯s attack didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on Ya. The people from the Federation were naturally overjoyed, but the great devils overseas had solemn expressions.


    The battle continued. The situation was already somewhat disadvantageous for Uesugi Nao. She knew that she had to defeat Ya as soon as possible. Time wasn¡¯t on her side.


    From the looks of it, I can only use Great Skyfiend¡¯s Wheel of Destiny. Uesugi Nao made up her mind as she stared at Ya through her visor. The demonic aura on her body quickly converged.


    Suddenly, Uesugi Nao¡¯s figure vanished. When she appeared again, she was already behind Ya.


    Crack!


    Ya¡¯s body had been sliced apart at the waist at some point in time.


    Everyone was horrified. Even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell how Uesugi Nao had killed Ya. It wasn¡¯t a matter of speed. No matter how fast a Mythical creature was, it was impossible for Zhou Wen, who had powerful eyesight, to not see its trajectory.


    Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t see anything. Uesugi Nao¡¯s body seemed to vanish when she completed the strike.


    It wasn¡¯t teleportation either. This was because attacks could only be delivered after completing the teleportation. As for Uesugi Nao¡¯s strike, it was completed when she disappeared. This was different from teleportation.


    Many experts from the Federation felt their hearts turn cold as they felt a chill run down their spines. If Uesugi Nao used this strike against them, few had the confidence of dodging it.


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good when she saw Ya¡¯s body split into two. This was because she felt that something was amiss when she killed Ya. She quickly retreated.


    Suddenly, the two halves of the corpse turned into a broken puppet. The other Ya appeared where he had been standing when he first entered the arena.


    Everyone was stunned. They couldn¡¯t believe that Ya, who had fought with Uesugi Nao for so long, was actually a puppet.


    Uesugi Nao¡¯s expression turned nasty. She had already used her strongest strike, so it was impossible for her to deliver a second strike in a short period of time. Now, she understood why the Purgatory Fiend Flames were useless against Ya. It was because it wasn¡¯t Ya, but a puppet.


    Primordial Immortal Sword automatically returned to the true Ya¡¯s hand. He held the Primordial Immortal Sword and stared at Uesugi Nao like a devil.


    At that moment, everyone felt that Ya was as powerful as a devil. This wasn¡¯t a feeling brought about by strength, but a psychological pressure.


    Regardless of whether Ya¡¯s true strength could defeat Uesugi Nao, his ability to toy with his opponent was even more terrifying than his true destructive power.


    The unknown was most terrifying. Once a certain power was known by others and had psychological expectations, the horror instilled would decrease. The present Ya felt unfathomable and terrifying.


    Uesugi Nao didn¡¯t hesitate and chose to forfeit. She knew very well that she had lost this time because of the unequal intelligence between them. If she continued fighting, there was only death.


    If she wanted to defeat her opponent, she had to first figure out her opponent¡¯s abilities. She no longer had that chance.


    With Uesugi Nao¡¯s withdrawal, the first name on the ranking became Ya. As for Great Skyfiend, it retreated to second place. All the Guardians and Companion Beasts on the ranking automatically dropped by one.


    Ya¡¯s entire body was covered, and no one could tell what expression he had. After obtaining victory, he left the void arena.


    ¡°He¡¯s really too strong. As expected of the owner of Primordial Sword Immortal. Just a puppet made Great Skyfiend retreat.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s practically invincible. Primordial Sword Immortal is powerful, but its owner is even more terrifying. I don¡¯t think there will be any more surprises in this ranking battle, right?¡±


    The citizens of the Federation were amazed at Ya¡¯s strength. This name quickly spread throughout the Federation. Some people viewed him as a hero.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so. Ya was indeed very strong, but the combat strength displayed by Uesugi Nao was also very terrifying. It could only be said that Ya won because of his successful strategy.


    However, the same strategy might not succeed a second time. Therefore, it was difficult to say if he could maintain first place.


    After returning to campus, Zhou Wen saw many reports regarding Ya. As Ya was likely from the Federation, the various media outlets of the Federation touted Ya as a hero. They held him in high esteem, raising the enthusiasm of the Federation citizens. They kept guessing who Ya was.


    After Zhou Wen read the report, he smiled bitterly to himself. If Ya is really Zhong Ziya, it¡¯s hard to tell if he¡¯s a hero or a devil to the Federation.


    The battle between the two pumped zeal and ardor through Zhou Wen¡¯s vessels. He had the urge to fight personally.


    However, Zhou Wen quickly regained his rationality. He felt that grinding dungeons was more practical. Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find opponents like Ya and Great Skyfiend in-game.


    If only I could scan them into the game, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    After Feng Qiuyan applied for leave, the three of them were prepared to set off. To their surprise, after hearing of the matter, Li Xuan joined them. They set off as a group of four.


    ¡°After watching Ya and Great Skyfiend¡¯s battle, I feel like getting a Guardian to play with.¡± On the way, Li Xuan mentioned the battle.


    ¡°Guardians are external forces after all. It¡¯s not good.¡± Feng Qiuyan clearly rejected Guardians. He wished to become stronger by himself.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what do you think? How does it feel to have a Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve only killed a few Guardians and never had one,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    2

 Chapter 947 - : Unable to Walk Straight

    ¡°Coach is indeed Coach. You¡¯ve already killed so many Guardians? Can you teach me how to kill Guardians?¡± Feng Qiuyan said in admiration.


    ¡°Is this even a normal chat?¡± Li Xuan was somewhat speechless.


    The four of them set off together. Zhou Wen had already walked the first part of the journey, but now, it felt different from before.


    Not only were many roads destroyed, but after leaving the city, the chances of encountering break-out creatures increased significantly. Many break-out creatures were only at the Legendary stage. The reason they could break out was clearly because the dimensional zones¡¯ seals had weakened, not because they were strong enough.


    The further away they were from the city, the denser the plants grew. The environment that had been destroyed by humans in the past had not only recovered, but it had also become terrifying. The plants had mutated. Although they hadn¡¯t reached the standards of dimensional creatures, they had become extremely huge.


    Large trees that were dozens of meters tall and flowers that were more than a meter in diameter were rather common now. Most of the paths were awash with plants.


    Furthermore, new dimensional zones were constantly appearing. It was very possible that a spot he passed this time was fine, yet it could become a dimensional zone the next time he came here.


    ¡°Li Xuan, what are you up to?¡± Zhou Wen saw that Li Xuan had suddenly turned odd.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything?¡± Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement, unsure what he meant.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t doing anything, why are you walking so weirdly?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Li Xuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m not walking weirdly. I¡¯m walking very normally,¡± Li Xuan said as he took another step.


    However, this step immediately made Li Xuan¡¯s expression change. This was because he clearly wanted to walk straight forward, but to his surprise, he took a diagonal step and blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s path.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. I¡¯m not senile. It¡¯s impossible that I can¡¯t even walk straight¡­¡± Li Xuan refused to believe it as he took a few more steps. However, every step he took was diagonal. None of them were straight.


    ¡°What the hell¡­ There¡¯s something strange here¡­ Try walking¡­ There¡¯s no way to walk in a straight line here¡­¡± Li Xuan¡¯s expression turned nasty. He checked himself but didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    Feng Qiuyan and Zhou Wen took two steps. They walked very straight without any signs of walking diagonally.


    ¡°It¡¯s completely fine,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe it.¡± Seeing that Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan were fine, Li Xuan took two more steps.


    Li Xuan tried his best to control his footsteps. He had already used his Essence Energy, but after he stepped out, he went diagonal again. He couldn¡¯t walk straight.


    ¡°President, stop teasing us. We still have a long journey ahead of us,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    Li Xuan felt like crying. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with me? I really can¡¯t walk straight.¡±


    ¡°But we have no problems,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he took a few steps back. He walked very straight.


    Li Xuan suddenly stared at Feng Qiuyan as though he had discovered something. He said loudly, ¡°Wait, Little Yanyan. Don¡¯t walk in a straight line. Walk diagonally.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with walking diagonally? It¡¯s very easy,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he took a step forward diagonally.


    However, when he took this step, his feet walked straight ahead. This step was so straight that even a ceremonial guard¡¯s standard marching wasn¡¯t as straight as his.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Feng Qiuyan was somewhat dumbfounded. He gathered his Essence Energy and attempted to take a few more steps, but the outcome was the same. No matter how hard he tried to walk diagonally, he ended up walking in a straight line.


    ¡°I knew it. There¡¯s definitely something odd here,¡± Li Xuan shouted.


    The two of them looked at Zhou Wen at the same time. One of them could only walk diagonally while the other could only walk in a straight line. Now, they wanted to know how it was with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen tried walking, but he could only walk in a straight line. If he wanted to walk diagonally, he couldn¡¯t walk out no matter what. He walked forward the moment he moved his feet.


    Zhou Wen tried walking backward again, but he soon realized that he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Take a look at the map. Where is this place?¡± Zhou Wen had already realized that something was amiss, but he was even more certain now.


    Li Xuan was already looking at it on his phone. This was an old map he had downloaded. It wasn¡¯t for navigation, but to see if there were any legendary scenic spots on the map.


    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special nearby. It¡¯s just an ordinary mountainous area. Could it be that an unknown dimensional zone has appeared here? Or has some dimensional creature affected this place?¡± Li Xuan looked at the map for a while but didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    Zhou Wen tried switching to the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder before taking two more steps. He realized that he could now retreat and walk diagonally.


    ¡°How are you able to walk diagonally again?¡± Li Xuan asked in surprise when he saw Zhou Wen take two steps diagonally.


    ¡°I have an ability that can restrain the taboos of dimensional zones. From the looks of it, this place has transformed into a dimensional zone. However, I wonder where we entered.¡± Zhou Wen sized up his surroundings and saw mountains and rivers. The scenery wasn¡¯t bad, but he didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creatures.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a dimensional zone, let¡¯s walk forward. It just prevents me from walking straight, so it¡¯s not a big deal,¡± Li Xuan said.


    His strength didn¡¯t rely on movement techniques to begin with, so the restriction of movement was nothing to him.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t have much of an impact,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue walking forward,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned a Poison Bat, hoping to get it to scout ahead.


    However, after the Poison Bat was summoned, it fell to the ground, unable to fly no matter how hard it struggled.


    ¡°There¡¯s a taboo here that prevents flight,¡± Li Xuan said in surprise.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to unsummon the Poison Bat before summoning a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior to scout ahead.


    The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior didn¡¯t have any problems, but he could only walk in a straight line. He couldn¡¯t walk diagonally.


    The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior walked far ahead while Zhou Wen and company followed behind. Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan were fine, but Li Xuan could only walk diagonally. It was extremely awkward.


    They walked for quite some time without discovering any dimensional creatures. The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior had already walked to the river in front of them and was about to cross it.


    As they couldn¡¯t fly, they had no choice but to cross the river. Zhou Wen was afraid that there would be something odd in the river, so he got the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior to head into the river as they watched by the edge.


    The river wasn¡¯t deep. The deepest part only reached the waist of the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. There wasn¡¯t any problem when the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior crossed the river.


    However, just as he reached the opposite bank, a bang was heard.

 Chapter 948 - Chinese Chess Dimensional Zone

    The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior¡¯s body shattered into pieces. At the same time, a dimensional creature that looked like a squirrel landed and stood in the wreckage blasted open by the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that little squirrel is so strong!¡± Li Xuan¡¯s eyes nearly popped out.


    He had seen Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors before. Although they were only at the Epic stage, their defense was extremely powerful. It wasn¡¯t easy for Mythical creatures with weaker offensive strength to break through their Runic Heavy-Armored Armor, much less shatter them directly. Only a powerful Mythical creature like Tyrant Behemoth could do so.


    However, this tiny squirrel looked inconspicuous. He never expected it to have such terrifying strength.


    Zhou Wen found it unbelievable as well. He immediately used Truth Listener to observe the tiny squirrel. No matter how he looked at it, it didn¡¯t look like a dimensional creature that could kill a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior with one strike.


    ¡°Something¡¯s amiss. Perhaps it¡¯s not that the squirrel is strong, but the taboo of this dimensional zone,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the squirrel on the opposite bank.


    Li Xuan suddenly thought of something and suddenly said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Old Zhou, your reconnaissance abilities are strong. Look behind that squirrel. Are there any other dimensional creatures in a straight line?¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and extended Truth Listener¡¯s ability. Indeed, he discovered a gray rabbit squatting further away. It was in a very straight line from the squirrel.


    Zhou Wen told Li Xuan this outcome and Li Xuan immediately exclaimed, ¡°I understand. This dimensional zone¡¯s taboo might be related to Chinese chess.¡±


    ¡°Chinese chess?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to play Chinese chess, so he asked Li Xuan what he meant.


    Li Xuan explained, ¡°You don¡¯t know how to play Chinese chess. Otherwise, it would be easy for you to figure out that in the rules of Chinese chess, different pieces have different ways of motion. Horse moves in an L shape while Elephant moves in a shape similar to an L, but with both sides equal in length, like two sides of a square. They are the most representative. For example, I can only walk diagonally. I¡¯m guessing that it might be one of the two or another type of Advisor. Little Yanyan can only walk in a straight line, so he might be a Chariot or Cannon. You can only walk in a straight line and can¡¯t retreat. You should be a Soldier in Chinese chess. You can only advance but not retreat.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said, ¡°President, what you said makes sense. If this is really a dimensional zone following Chinese chess rules, it can explain why a tiny squirrel can instantly kill a Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior. This is because in Chinese chess, all the pieces have single lives. Regardless of whether one is strong or weak, one will die if they are hit.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the rules of Chinese chess. Do you have a solution?¡± Zhou Wen asked the two of them.


    ¡°I only know a few rules. I¡¯m not good at it. How about you, Little Yanyan?¡± Li Xuan asked Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and answered, ¡°My grandfather likes to play Chinese chess very much, so I learned it from a young age. However, I¡¯m only average. Furthermore, there is no chess board here, only rules. It¡¯s still a little different from real Chinese chess. I wonder if it will work.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s try using Companion Beasts first. Tell me what to do.¡± Zhou Wen summoned another Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior.


    When Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan saw the spot where Zhou Wen summoned the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior, they shouted at the same time, ¡°Quick, dodge.¡±


    The Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior that Zhou Wen summoned was in front of him, forming a straight line with the squirrel.


    Boom!


    The squirrel tore through the air and struck the spot where Zhou Wen had been standing. Thankfully, with Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan¡¯s warning, Zhou Wen had dodged in advance. Otherwise, the outcome would have been unimaginable.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°This little squirrel should be a Cannon in Chinese chess. It needs a chess piece to be in the way to launch an attack,¡± Feng Qiuyan explained.


    With that said, Feng Qiuyan moved to a spot that was a straight line away from the little squirrel and attacked. Just as his saber touched the little squirrel, its body exploded.


    ¡°From the looks of it, I represent Chariot.¡± Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Coach, we need some chess pieces now. Summon more Companion Beasts. They don¡¯t need to be too strong. Legendary ones will do. Let¡¯s first determine what they represent in Chinese chess before figuring out what chess pieces are on the other side of the river.¡±


    Zhou Wen had many Companion Beasts, but he really had very few Legendary Companion Beasts. As they weren¡¯t of much value, he seldom hatched them. Typically, he directly fed them to pets.


    Zhou Wen summoned some Epic Companion Beasts and Li Xuan said, ¡°Old Zhou, there¡¯s no need to be so extravagant. Just a few worthless Legendary Companion Beasts will do.¡±


    ¡°These are already my most worthless Companion Beasts. Feel free to use them. It¡¯s useless to keep them anyway. I still have plenty,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned some Companion Beasts. They were also at the Epic stage.


    However, after summoning twelve, Zhou Wen realized that he couldn¡¯t summon any more Companion Beasts.


    ¡°I suddenly realized that we aren¡¯t on the same frequency,¡± Li Xuan said with an aggrieved look.


    Feng Qiuyan counted the number of Companion Beasts and said, ¡°From the looks of it, there¡¯s nothing wrong about this dimensional zone following Chinese chess rules. There are sixteen pieces for each side. Twelve Companion Beasts plus the four of us makes sixteen. Now, we have to figure out what pieces these Companion Beasts represent. Coach, try getting them to walk.¡±


    Zhou Wen made the Companion Beasts move. According to their movement, Feng Qiuyan quickly determined what pieces they represented.


    ¡°If my judgment is right, Ya¡¯er might very well represent the General. Coach, you have to protect her no matter what. If the General dies, it means game over. No one knows what the outcome will be,¡± Feng Qiuyan said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded. Although he had roughly understood the rules, chess was a skill. Knowing the rules wasn¡¯t enough.


    ¡°Now, we need to know what¡¯s on the other side. Coach, look at what dimensional creatures there are,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he looked across the river.


    Truth Listener played its role. Zhou Wen told Feng Qiuyan about the various dimensional creatures that had appeared across the river. However, they were all small animals like rats, sheep, cats, and dogs. They didn¡¯t look very strong.


    Feng Qiuyan thought for a moment and said, ¡°Now, we don¡¯t know what chess pieces those dimensional creatures represent. We can only test them in actual combat. When the time comes, it¡¯s inevitable that some chess pieces will be sacrificed.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. They are all unimportant Companion Beasts,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Feng Qiuyan nodded. Just as he was about to get a Companion Beast to cross the river, he suddenly heard a voice from the other side of the river. ¡°Interesting. I never expected there to be someone proficient in the Way of Chinese chess among the youths these days. How rare.¡±


    The three of them were slightly taken aback as they looked towards the opposite bank. They saw an old man sitting on a boulder that was more than ten meters tall. He was staring at them with his eyes glowing.


    ¡°Human?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.

 Chapter 949 - Cheating

    It wasn¡¯t strange for a human to appear in such a place. The strange thing was that the dimensional creatures on the opposite bank didn¡¯t show him any animosity. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had a vague feeling that the dimensional creatures were mainly led by the elder.


    ¡°Grandpa, why are you here alone?¡± Li Xuan shouted.


    The elder ignored Li Xuan and looked at Feng Qiuyan. ¡°Since you know Chinese chess, play a round with me. You can leave alive if you win.¡±


    ¡°Grandpa, you are also a human. Why are you making things difficult for your own kind?¡± Li Xuan shouted again.


    The elder sneered and said, ¡°Whether you are human or not has nothing to do with me. Since you are here, you only have two choices. Win or die.¡±


    ¡°Why is this old fellow so inhumane?¡± Li Xuan muttered.


    The elder continued, ¡°The rat is Elephant, the fox is Advisor¡­¡±


    He told Feng Qiuyan which chess pieces were represented by which various dimensional creatures before saying, ¡°I¡¯m the General The rules are somewhat different from the old Chinese chess. There¡¯s no limit to the number of steps. As long as you have the ability, you can simultaneously move as many pieces as you can.¡±


    With that said, the dimensional creatures moved according to the elder¡¯s orders.


    Unlike real Chinese chess, they didn¡¯t take a step turn after turn. When the elder gave the order, many dimensional creatures moved at the same time.


    As the Companion Beasts weren¡¯t Feng Qiuyan¡¯s, Feng Qiuyan could only inform Zhou Wen to get him to control the movement of the Companion Beasts. This naturally slowed things down.


    But even so, Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage. Their chess pieces kept decreasing, and it looked like they were evenly matched.


    However, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s side suffered a hidden danger. Apart from himself, all the old man¡¯s chess pieces could be sacrificed. However, Feng Qiuyan had four chess pieces that could not be sacrificed. In late game, it would spell a greater disadvantage.


    Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t anxious at all. Seeing the number of chess pieces decreasing, he remained as calm as still water. He constantly communicated with Zhou Wen and directed the remaining Companion Beasts to fight.


    As Zhou Wen took in the orders to move the Companion Beasts, he had gained a deeper understanding of the rules of Chinese chess and knew Feng Qiuyan¡¯s disadvantage.


    Soon, most of the Companion Beasts on both sides were sacrificed. Apart from the four of them, there was only one Chi that represented Horse.


    As for the old man, other than his General piece, he also had a Horse, a Cannon, and two Chariots.


    In terms of lineup, Feng Qiuyan was clearly at a disadvantage. Furthermore, other than the Chi, they couldn¡¯t make any sacrifices.


    The elder said sinisterly, ¡°It looks like you need to decide which one to sacrifice next.¡±


    Apart from the elder, the Horse, Cannon, and two Chariots attacked Zhou Wen and company.


    The two Chariots were the most powerful. As long as one stood in a straight line with them, they would be instantly killed. The Horse and Cannon were equally shocking.


    If one stood in a straight line with the Horse in front of the Cannon, they would be hit by the Cannon. If one took a diagonal path, they might be killed by the Horse.


    As for Zhou Wen, he was in a somewhat miserable state. Although Li Xuan represented Advisor¡ªmeaning he could walk diagonally¡ªhe could only walk one unit of distance each time. No matter how fast Li Xuan was, he couldn¡¯t speed up due to the restrictions of the dimensional zone. His damage range was much shorter than Horse.


    Zhou Wen was a Soldier¡ªa pawn¡ªwho could only take one step at a time. Furthermore, he could only advance and not retreat. At most, he could move horizontally. He was almost no threat to the elder.


    Only Feng Qiuyan¡¯s Chariot posed a greater threat to his opponent. However, because he couldn¡¯t take the initiative to stand in a straight line with his opponent, he hadn¡¯t found an opportunity.


    Soon, the Chi that represented the Horse was killed. The four of them could no longer continue making any sacrifices.


    ¡°From the looks of it, your skill in chess is only so-so. How disappointing.¡± The elder held the absolute advantage and wasn¡¯t in a rush to continue attacking.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he looked at the elder and said, ¡°My chess skill is inferior to yours. If this was a real game, I would definitely lose. However, this isn¡¯t a real chess game, so I will definitely win.¡±


    ¡°Everything in the world can be distilled as chess. This is a true chess game,¡± the elder said.


    ¡°Everything is chess, but chess pieces are different,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s no different. No matter how powerful a creature is, it¡¯s just a chess piece in this game. It can be killed easily,¡± said the elder.


    ¡°That might not be the case. Sometimes, a chess piece can influence the chessboard.¡± Feng Qiuyan turned around and said to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, ¡°Coach, President, this is all I can do. I can only weaken my opponent to such an extent. All of you are already very clear about the rules. What¡¯s next is the battle, not the game. You are all experts in combat, so there¡¯s no need for me to command you.¡±


    With that said, Feng Qiuyan drew his saber and charged forward. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn¡¯t say a word as they followed Feng Qiuyan.


    Previously, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t known the rules, but now, he knew them like the back of his hand. Furthermore, Feng Qiuyan had eliminated most of the chess pieces, simplifying the complicated chess game and minimizing the possibility of being accidentally killed.


    Just as Feng Qiuyan had said, they only needed to fight under the restrictions of the rules. They didn¡¯t need to think about how to play chess.


    Apart from their movements being restricted and having to be careful not to be instantly killed, it was no different from normal battles.


    The three of them moved together. Feng Qiuyan was very fast, but Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were very slow. They could only take one step at a time.


    One Horse, one Cannon, and two Chariots attacked the two of them, but the two of them made use of their positioning and judgment to avoid being killed.


    Instead, Feng Qiuyan used the opportunity to quickly kill a Horse.


    The remaining two Chariots and one Cannon could only move in straight lines. The threat was immediately reduced.


    Hence, the three of them ignored the chess pieces and charged towards the elder.


    Just as Feng Qiuyan had said, if it was a real game, he would have lost. However, this wasn¡¯t a real game.


    In a real game, it was impossible for Ya¡¯er and Li Xuan¡¯s chess pieces to cross the river. Even their movement range was limited, but it was different in reality.


    Seeing Zhou Wen and company coordinate with each other and how the remaining three chess pieces failed to kill any one of them, the elder¡¯s expression turned nasty.


    ¡°Unforgivable¡­ Unforgivable¡­ That¡¯s not how chess is played¡­¡± Anger appeared on the elder¡¯s face.


    ¡°You no longer have a chance of winning. It¡¯s best you admit defeat and let us pass,¡± Feng Qiuyan said. The other party was a human, so he wasn¡¯t willing to really kill the elder.


    ¡°Lose? It¡¯s impossible for me to lose. No one can defeat me on the chessboard. No one¡­¡± As the elder spoke, he stood up and let out a long roar.


    Many dimensional creatures rushed out and replenished the dead pieces. As for Zhou Wen and company, they immediately fell into a hopeless situation as they fell into the attack range of many pieces.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, you are cheating!¡± Li Xuan shouted.


    ¡°So what? As long as I win, all of you can die. I¡¯m number one in chess. No one can defeat me in chess,¡± the elder shouted with a ferocious expression.

 Chapter 950 - Chess Soul

    The four of them were deep into the enemy¡¯s formation, and there was no room for them to dodge. All the straight routes were locked. Even if they could kill a few chess pieces, the other chess pieces would kill them instantly.


    ¡°You cheated when you lost. You call this being number one in chess?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°The world is like chess. The victor is king. As long as you can win, you are number one in the world.¡± The elder was already confident of victory, so he didn¡¯t immediately take action.


    Zhou Wen looked at the elder and asked, ¡°How can a human like you control dimensional creatures in a dimensional zone?¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried about his safety. He was only curious how the elder had done it.


    ¡°I¡¯m the Chess King. This is a chess dimensional zone. The heavens have chosen me to be the king here, allowing me to revitalize the way of chess,¡± the elder said fervently.


    ¡°What a joke. Is this how you revitalize chess? You rely on cheating to defeat others, yet you still call yourself the Chess King. What a joke,¡± Li Xuan mocked.


    ¡°Ignorant people like you know nothing about chess. A win is a win. Die.¡± As the elder spoke, he ordered his chess pieces to attack.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture and broke through the dimensional zone¡¯s taboo. Instantly, he summoned tens of thousands of Musical Note Sprites.


    Bam! Bam!


    The elder¡¯s fifteen pieces killed a few Musical Note Sprites, but the endless number of Musical Note Sprites had already occupied the entire space. They blotted out the sky and enveloped the entire chessboard.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­ How can you summon so many chess pieces¡­ There are only sixteen chess pieces on one side of the chessboard¡­¡± The elder was horrified. Every Musical Note Sprite that filled the sky was a chess piece. Even someone who didn¡¯t know how to play chess could instantly kill him.


    ¡°The rules here are useless to me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You are cheating¡­¡± the elder shouted with a ferocious expression.


    Li Xuan burst out laughing. ¡°Weren¡¯t you the one saying that cheating doesn¡¯t matter. Who was the one who said that the victor is king?¡±


    ¡°Tell me, why can you control the dimensional creatures here?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the elder and asked.


    The elder didn¡¯t answer. He suddenly roared and ordered his chess pieces to attack again, but it was useless against Zhou Wen¡¯s sea of Musical Note Sprites.


    With a thought, all the elder¡¯s chess pieces were instantly killed. As for the elder, he charged at a Musical Note Sprite, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give him a chance to die. He controlled the Musical Note Sprite to spare his life.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with this elder.¡± Li Xuan also realized the problem.


    ¡°He should be controlled by a dimensional creature.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell anything with his naked eye as he retracted his Companion Beasts. Then, he switched to the Hell King Life Soul and sized up the elder again.


    This time, he finally saw the problem. There was a soul-shaped dimensional creature on the elder¡¯s body. It looked like an ancient chess player.


    ¡°I¡¯m number one in chess¡­ I¡¯m the Chess King¡­¡± The elder shouted crazily as he charged at Zhou Wen and company.


    ¡°What should we do?¡± Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen in a dilemma. He had no problem killing the enemy, but there was clearly something wrong with the elder. He wasn¡¯t willing to kill him.


    ¡°Let me do it.¡± Zhou Wen walked towards the elder. When the elder rushed in front of him, he waved his hand and slashed out Supreme Hell King¡¯s sinflames, burning the soul attached to the elder to ashes.


    With the soul gone, the elder immediately collapsed to the ground like a deflated balloon. The madness in his eyes quickly faded.


    With the soul-shaped dimensional creature dead, Zhou Wen and company felt their surroundings return to normal. There were no taboo powers to restrict their movements. They could walk horizontally and diagonally as they wished.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ I¡¯m sorry¡­ I¡­ I didn¡¯t do it on purpose¡­ I¡­¡± The elder regained his consciousness and said helplessly. He looked like an honest old man. He was no longer as crazy as before.


    ¡°We know it¡¯s not your fault. You were controlled by a dimensional creature. Tell us, what happened here?¡± Zhou Wen pulled the elder up and asked.


    The elder heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Zhou Wen. Then, he recounted the situation.


    This place wasn¡¯t very famous. In the past, there was a small village on the mountain. The elder was a villager. The village lacked water and electricity, so there wasn¡¯t much entertainment. Therefore, chess became the hobby and entertainment of many villagers.


    Later, after the dimensional storms, many villagers were afraid that dimensional zones would appear here. Therefore, they moved to large cities.


    The elder¡¯s grandfather was a nostalgic person who didn¡¯t wish to leave his hometown. Furthermore, there weren¡¯t any dimensional zones nearby back then. Therefore, their family lived a peaceful life in the remote mountain village.


    It wasn¡¯t a big deal in the beginning. As there weren¡¯t any dimensional creatures appearing, they lived rather comfortably. However, after more than ten years, after the elder¡¯s grandfather died, the surroundings gradually began to change. The elder¡¯s father was prepared to take him to a large city, but he realized that they couldn¡¯t leave. This was because a dimensional creature called Chess Soul had appeared nearby.


    If he wanted to leave this place, he had to play chess with Chess Soul. If he won, he could pass. If he lost, he would be possessed by the Chess Soul and become an elder.


    After the elder¡¯s father lost to the Chess Soul, he was controlled by it. His mother didn¡¯t dare take him out again. Therefore, the mother and son lived in the small mountain village. Apart from being unable to leave, there were no other problems.


    Later on, the elder¡¯s mother passed away. The elder slowly aged. He had been practicing chess all these years, hoping that he could one day rush out.


    As he had never had the courage, he only plucked up the courage to play chess with the Chess Soul when he was about to die of old age. The outcome was the same. He had lost to the Chess Soul and ended up in this state.


    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s more than one Chess Soul?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°In the beginning, there were only a few Chess Souls that sealed the nearby paths. Later, more and more Chess Souls appeared, and the range of control increased,¡± said the elder.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there are still many Chess Souls ahead. Should we continue forward?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    Zhou Wen looked at the map and said, ¡°Let¡¯s continue. I¡¯ll lead the way. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡±


    Although he could choose other routes, Zhou Wen had already taken them. That didn¡¯t bring any benefits to the Glimmer Life Soul, so he decided to continue taking this path.


    When the elder heard that they wanted to continue walking forward, he pleaded to take him along. If he could meet his father, he begged them to save him.


    Since it was just a matter of convenience, Zhou Wen agreed to take him along.


    As they walked forward, they realized that there were indeed many criss-crossing rivers. They were like lines on a chessboard. When they walked to a river in front of them, they realized that a creature had appeared opposite them. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t a human, but an ancient chess player in a Spirit Body state.

 Chapter 951 - Chess Sage Li

    Translator: CKtalon


    This Chess Soul looked much more elegant than the one attached to the elder. Furthermore, the Essence Energy fluctuations on its body were stronger.


    He sat by the river bank with a stone chessboard and Chinese chess in front of him. When he saw Zhou Wen and company walk over, the Chess Soul said faintly, ¡°If you want to go up Mt. Chinese Chess, you have to pass me first.¡±


    ¡°We aren¡¯t going up Mt. Chinese Chess. We are just passing by,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°If you wish to go up Mt. Chinese Chess, you have to pass through me first.¡± The Chess Soul repeated this sentence mechanically as though it was the only thing he could say. It was like an extremely unintelligent robot.


    ¡°Grandpa Chen, what¡¯s Mt. Chinese Chess?¡± Zhou Wen asked the elder beside him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been to Mt. Chinese Chess. I only heard from the elder when I was young that there was a Mt. Chinese Chess in the nearby mountains. Legend has it that there was an ancient general who once fought an immortal by the river. In the end, the immortal was defeated by the general and flew away in embarrassment. The immortal even abandoned his chessboard and chess pieces. Therefore, the chessboard and chess pieces turned into Mt. Chinese Chess,¡± the elder said after some thought.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s because Mt. Chinese Chess has become a dimensional zone that the surrounding area has changed. These Chess Souls are only protecting Mt. Chinese Chess,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Li Xuan narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°They are guarding this place and not letting people go to Mt. Chinese Chess. Doesn¡¯t that mean that there are treasures there?¡±


    ¡°Even if there are treasures, it has nothing to do with us. With our chess skills, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to go up the mountain.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to play chess, so he wasn¡¯t interested in anything on Mt. Chinese Chess.


    ¡°All treasures in the world belong to those who are fated. Since we¡¯ve encountered it today, if we don¡¯t take it, we might be struck by lightning.¡± Li Xuan was very interested.


    ¡°Even so, you have to have the ability to win the game. Don¡¯t tell me you plan on letting me fight my way up? If there¡¯s a Mythical Chess Soul, my ability might not be effective.¡± Zhou Wen was telling the truth. Supreme Hell King had Epic strength after all. Who knew if it would be effective against a Mythical Chess Soul.


    Furthermore, Mt. Chinese Chess was odd. Perhaps there would be some special taboos. When the time came, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to use two things at the same time. He couldn¡¯t use sinflames when dismissing the taboo, nor could he dismiss the taboo when using sinflames. That would be troublesome.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to fight. Watch me. Let these Chess Souls know how powerful I am.¡± The workings of Li Xuan¡¯s mind was a mystery as he confidently walked towards the opposite bank.


    After Li Xuan crossed the river, he saw the space on the other side immediately turn odd. It was as though an ancient power had descended and enveloped the space on the other side.


    Li Xuan calmly sat opposite the Chess Soul and really began playing with it.


    ¡°Is President very good at chess?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen him play before,¡± Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    Li Xuan sat opposite the Chess Soul casually as though he thought nothing of it. As he played chess with the Chess Soul, he played with his phone.


    Zhou Wen glanced at his phone screen and immediately knew why Li Xuan was so confident. This fellow had actually used his phone to play a game of man versus machine at the Grandmaster level.


    He played the Chess Soul¡¯s move against the Grandmaster-level AI on the phone. Then, he used the Grandmaster-level AI¡¯s moves against the Chess Soul.


    The facts proved that even a dimensional creature like a Chess Soul wasn¡¯t as smart as a computer. Li Xuan actually defeated the Chess Soul.


    After a while, the Chess Soul was out of moves and fell into a deadlock.


    Bam!


    The Chess Soul¡¯s body exploded and a dimensional crystal dropped. Unfortunately, it was only a stat crystal.


    ¡°President, your chess skills are amazing. If I had known, I would have gotten President to do it. Coach didn¡¯t need to sacrifice so many of his Companion Beasts.¡± Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t see what was on Li Xuan¡¯s phone screen from such a distance, so he thought that Li Xuan¡¯s chess skills were extremely impressive.


    Li Xuan held the stat crystal and walked back. He said smugly, ¡°How about it? Do you now know that the title Chess Sage Li isn¡¯t called for nothing?¡±


    ¡°President, you are really talented,¡± Feng Qiuyan praised.


    ¡°Old Zhou, are you convinced?¡± Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen again.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more appropriate to call him Grandmaster Li,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan laughed. ¡°Indeed, I can¡¯t hide it from you. However, can¡¯t you pretend not to know and let me be smug for a while?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked in puzzlement.


    Li Xuan showed the phone to Feng Qiuyan, who immediately understood. However, he still praised, ¡°President, you are really smart. You actually thought of this move.¡±


    ¡°Of course. Back when I was born, a fortune-teller said that I had a halo above my head¡­¡± Li Xuan was even more smug.


    The few of them continued on their way. Every time they encountered a Chess Soul, Li Xuan would use his phone to fight it. Every time, he would defeat the Chess Souls and even have several dimensional crystals drop.


    Zhou Wen used his phone to look at the stats of the dimensional crystals and roughly knew that they were at the Legendary or Epic stage. They weren¡¯t that strong.


    However, as long as they entered the Chess Soul¡¯s range, the Chinese Chess dimensional zone would activate. Unless one defeated them in chess, there was no way to kill them.


    Only someone like Zhou Wen who had special attribute abilities could kill the Chess Soul in an aberrant situation.


    Li Xuan won consecutively as the few of them slowly passed through the mountainous area. However, along the way, they didn¡¯t see the elder¡¯s father. The Chess Souls they encountered didn¡¯t possess anyone.


    Even when they arrived at the mountain village the elder mentioned, they didn¡¯t encounter his father.


    ¡°Grandpa Chen, from the looks of it, your father is probably no longer around. What are your plans? We can take you to a nearby city,¡± Li Xuan asked the elder as they rested in the village.


    ¡°I¡¯m already at this age. There¡¯s no point in going out. It¡¯s best I stay in this mountain village,¡± the elder said after some thought.


    ¡°By the way, Grandpa Chen, where¡¯s the Mt. Chinese Chess you mentioned?¡± Li Xuan asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s over there. Follow this mountain path and you¡¯ll see it. Mt. Chinese Chess is very special. You¡¯ll recognize it at a glance.¡± The elder pointed the way.


    After Zhou Wen and company bade the elder farewell, they continued on their way. Along the way, they encountered a few Chess Souls, but none of them were a match for the computer. They were defeated by Li Xuan.


    ¡°Is that Mt. Chinese Chess?¡± Li Xuan pointed ahead.


    Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan looked over and saw a strange mountain in front of them. Just as the elder had said, it was squarish and resembled a chessboard.


    What was even stranger was that there were sounds of a battle coming from the mountain. It was as though an army was fighting an intense battle on Mt. Chinese Chess.


    However, Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to observe the top of Mt. Chinese Chess, but he didn¡¯t discover any troops. There was only a black-robed Chess Soul sitting in front of the chessboard.


    And above the chessboard was a strange cocoon.

 Chapter 952 - Black-Robed Chess Soul

    There¡¯s actually a Guardian cocoon here? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Although there were many Guardian cocoons scattered across the world, the chances of encountering one weren¡¯t high. It was considered lucky that they could encounter one in such an unknown dimensional zone.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Chess Soul and a Guardian cocoon on the mountain.¡± Zhou Wen told Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan the situation.


    Li Xuan¡¯s interest was piqued when he heard that. ¡°I really get what I want. I was just thinking of getting a Guardian to play with, but he came knocking on my door. If you aren¡¯t interested, I¡¯ll contract him for fun.¡±


    ¡°You have to think it through. Ignoring the possibility of being contracted, even if it can be contracted, such a contract doesn¡¯t provide any guarantees. The Guardian might betray you at any time.¡± Zhou Wen explained matters pertaining to Guardians to Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan thought nothing of it. ¡°That¡¯s good. No one has any restrictions. It¡¯s just like finding a girlfriend. If we are suitable, we can be together. If we aren¡¯t suitable, we can break up. You can¡¯t just let the other person be with you forever regardless of whether you like them or not. That¡¯s immoral.¡±


    ¡°Alright, as long as you are fine with it.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°However, you have to be careful. The one on the mountain is probably a Mythical Chess Soul. It¡¯s still a question if your strategy will work.¡±


    Li Xuan thought for a moment and said, ¡°In fact, Chinese chess is a relatively simple game. It¡¯s not as complicated as Go. Even a Grandmaster-level human at Chinese chess won¡¯t find it easy to beat a computer at Chinese chess. If that Chess Soul follows the rules, there¡¯s a high chance of me winning. I¡¯m just afraid that he has some special means that can change the game.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°How about this? Don¡¯t go up. I¡¯ll help you play chess. You will contract the Guardian yourself. If anything happens, I can handle it myself.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony then.¡± Li Xuan handed his phone to Zhou Wen.


    As there was no Internet here, he could only get Zhou Wen to use his phone which had the Chinese chess game installed and tell him how to operate it.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, it¡¯s too dangerous up there. Wait for me here.¡± Zhou Wen put Ya¡¯er down and got her to stay at the foot of the mountain while he took Li Xuan¡¯s phone and went up Mt. Chinese Chess.


    Zhou Wen had already made up his mind. If Li Xuan couldn¡¯t contract it, he would attempt to kill the Guardian inside the cocoon. It could be considered as eliminating a future enemy.


    The moment he took his first step on Mt. Chinese Chess, Zhou Wen felt the taboo power descend on him. Thankfully, the Heaven-Opening Scripture was effective. The restrictions were useless against him.


    Knowing that the Heaven-Opening Scripture was useful, Zhou Wen felt relieved.


    The black-robed Chess Soul sat in front of the chessboard. His appearance was no different from a real person. It was almost impossible to tell that he was a Spirit Body.


    The chessboard here was much more exquisite. Not only was it engraved on the stone platform, but there were also stone blocks on both sides. After Zhou Wen sat down on the stone block opposite him, the black-robed Chess Soul finally opened his eyes. He looked at him with eyes that resembled dark abysses and said, ¡°Are you prepared to bet on your fate as a chess player?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Zhou Wen picked up Li Xuan¡¯s phone and launched the Chinese chess app. He chose the highest difficulty level¡ªSpecial Grandmaster.


    As Zhou Wen was the first to move, he relaunched the game a few times. After he managed to get a round in which the computer made the first move, he followed the computer¡¯s choice and chose to carry out a common opening¡ªmoving the Cannon.


    The black-robed Chess Soul moved the Horse out without any change in expression.


    Zhou Wen played chess with the black-robed Chess Soul according to the computer¡¯s moves. The intensity exceeded his imagination as no winner could be determined.


    Li Xuan also turned nervous when he saw this. Mythical Chess Souls are indeed extraordinary to be able to fight a Grandmaster without being at a disadvantage for so long. Will Zhou Wen be alright?


    ¡°Coach can resist dimensional zone rules. Even if he loses, he will be fine,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but what if¡­¡± Li Xuan felt uneasy.


    In the end, neither side had the ability to kill the General. Unless one side made a fatal mistake, there was no chance of winning.


    ¡°Do you agree to a draw for this match?¡± the black-robed Chess Soul asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen could tell that the computer was repeating the previous steps. There was no way to win.


    ¡°Restart,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul said before the chess pieces on the chessboard automatically returned to their starting positions.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a draw, I don¡¯t plan on continuing.¡± Zhou Wen got up to leave, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t leave the stone block.


    ¡°Since the game has already begun, we have to determine the victor,¡± said the black-robed Chess Soul.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he continued playing chess with the black-robed Chess Soul. However, the few subsequent rounds had neither side defeating the other¡¯s General. All he could do was play again and again.


    ¡°The situation isn¡¯t looking good. That black-robed Chess Soul is a little powerful. It can actually play so many rounds with a Grandmaster-level computer. Do you think the computer will screw up?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°The computer isn¡¯t a human brain. It won¡¯t make mistakes.¡± Feng Qiuyan also became nervous.


    Although the computer¡¯s standard was relatively stable and probably wouldn¡¯t make any mistakes, the black-robed Chess Soul was actually able to keep drawing with the computer. It would be difficult to tell if something unexpected would happen.


    ¡°The treasure in your hand is rather interesting. It can actually calculate the various possibilities of each move and choose the optimal solution,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul suddenly said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. The black soul Chess Soul¡¯s intelligence was clearly much higher than the average Chess Soul. It could actually see through the problem with the mobile game.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried if the black-robed Chess Soul would use any means to prevent his phone from functioning normally.


    However, the black-robed Chess Soul didn¡¯t have such plans. He looked at Zhou Wen and said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s indeed very easy to win that way, but it¡¯s not a sure win. I¡¯ll win this round.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat. In fact, it wasn¡¯t that the computer wouldn¡¯t lose. Furthermore, this was only a mobile game. The algorithm and calculation abilities weren¡¯t especially strong.


    The black-robed Chess Soul began another round, but this time, Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the aura on the black-robed Chess Soul was different. The intense confidence and determination to win were just too shocking.


    Zhou Wen continued playing according to the computer¡¯s moves, but even a chess rookie like Zhou Wen could sense that the situation was developing in a disadvantageous direction.


    ¡°Not good. This round isn¡¯t good.¡± Feng Qiuyan, who had the best chess skills among the three of them, had already noticed that something was amiss.


    ¡°Prepare to help Old Zhou.¡± Li Xuan summoned his carapace and was prepared to fight.


    Indeed, the subsequent situation became more and more disadvantageous for Zhou Wen. Finally, Zhou Wen¡¯s General had nowhere to go. The word ¡°victory¡± appeared in the mobile game. He had followed the black-robed Chess Soul¡¯s moves and had actually won against the computer¡¯s Special Grandmaster.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen switched to the Heaven-Opening Scripture and prepared to fight the black-robed Chess Soul.


    The black-robed Chess Soul looked up and stared at Zhou Wen with a strange smile. ¡°You want to contract the Guardian, right?¡±

 Chapter 953 - Don’t Belong Here

    Zhou Wen looked at the black-robed Chess Soul in puzzlement. He had won the game, but he didn¡¯t immediately use the rules to control his body. He even asked such a question, so Zhou Wen was unsure what he was up to.


    ¡°I have a companion who wants to contract the Guardian.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say that he was the one wanting to contract the Guardian.


    If the black-robed Chess Soul allowed him to contract the Guardian for some quirky reason, wouldn¡¯t it be awkward? Was he to attack or not?


    One wouldn¡¯t rush over and kill the person who had just given you a treasure with a smile, right?


    ¡°It¡¯s that one, right?¡± The black-robed Chess Soul glanced at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    The black-robed Chess Soul said, ¡°I can give him a chance to attempt the contract, but there¡¯s a condition.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the black-robed Chess Soul in shock. This was the first time he knew that the Guardian Beast could negotiate with others.


    This intelligence should be considered above par among the dimensional creatures on Earth, right? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked, ¡°What¡¯s the condition?¡±


    The black-robed Chess Soul pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°If you can¡¯t contract it, you have to help me destroy the Guardian in the cocoon.¡±


    Zhou Wen was even more alarmed when he heard that. He never expected the black-robed Chess Soul to make such a request ahead of time.


    ¡°Pardon me for asking, but aren¡¯t you protecting it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The black-robed Chess Soul didn¡¯t answer. It only asked Zhou Wen, ¡°You can consider it. If you agree, you can get your companion to try the contract. If you don¡¯t agree, you can leave now.¡±


    ¡°Why did you choose us?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Because you can help, especially you,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul answered directly without hiding anything.


    ¡°I need to discuss it with my companions,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Sure.¡± The black-robed Chess Soul nodded slightly. Zhou Wen felt the taboo power on him vanish. He could stand up from the stone block.


    Seeing Zhou Wen return, Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan wore looks of curiosity. Li Xuan asked, ¡°Old Zhou, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°The black-robed Chess Soul said that he can let us attempt to contract the Guardian, but there¡¯s a condition,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°We can even negotiate?¡± Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan widened their eyes in disbelief.


    ¡°I originally thought that it wasn¡¯t possible, but from the looks of it, I seemed to have had some misunderstandings in the past.¡± Zhou Wen now felt that the relationship between the Guardian Beast and the Guardian wasn¡¯t as simple as he had imagined.


    ¡°Coach, what are the black-robed Chess Soul¡¯s conditions?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked.


    Zhou Wen repeated the words of the black-robed Chess Soul.


    Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan looked at each other after hearing that. Like Zhou Wen, they found it unbelievable that such a thing would happen. It had completely exceeded their imagination.


    ¡°If the contracting fails, do we have the ability to kill the Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°We can give it a try. Since the black-robed Chess Soul dares to take action, I believe he has some confidence. If you want to give it a try, go ahead.¡± Zhou Wen also wanted to eliminate the Guardian to prevent another enemy in the future.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll give it a try.¡± Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Li Xuan no longer hesitated.


    After the three of them reached a consensus, they went up Mt. Chinese Chess and arrived in front of the black-robed Chess Soul.


    ¡°So as long as we agree to help you, we can attempt contracting the Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± The black-robed Chess Soul nodded slightly.


    ¡°Alright, we agree. Can I attempt to contract the Guardian now?¡± Li Xuan looked at the black-robed Chess Soul.


    ¡°Anytime.¡± The black-robed Chess Soul looked very easygoing. It didn¡¯t request Zhou Wen and company to make an oath.


    In fact, not all dimensional creatures had the ability to bind people with oaths. It was a very high-level ability that only a few powerful dimensional creatures had.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be going.¡± As Li Xuan walked towards the Guardian cocoon, he looked at the black-robed Chess Soul.


    The black-robed Chess Soul sat there leisurely without any intention of stopping him.


    Li Xuan had long understood the method of contracting a Guardian from Zhou Wen. Without any hesitation, he cut his finger and dripped a drop of blood on the Guardian cocoon.


    Unfortunately, this Guardian wasn¡¯t interested in Li Xuan. Li Xuan¡¯s blood flowed down without seeping into it.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know what¡¯s good for you.¡± Li Xuan retreated gloomily.


    ¡°Both of you can give it a try as well,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul said to Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to either,¡± Feng Qiuyan said firmly.


    The black-robed Chess Soul was somewhat surprised. It glanced at them and said, ¡°Since you can¡¯t contract it, you should fulfill your promise now.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan on doing? What can we help with?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The black-robed Chess Soul got up and looked at the Guardian cocoon. He said with a heavy expression, ¡°This Guardian cocoon shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±


    Zhou Wen was enlightened. ¡°In that case, you don¡¯t need to protect it?¡±


    To his surprise, the black-robed Chess Soul shook its head and said, ¡°My duty is indeed to protect it. Therefore, before it¡¯s contracted, I can¡¯t injure it unless something special happens.¡±


    Zhou Wen guessed the special situation the black-robed Chess Soul mentioned. He looked at the Guardian cocoon and said, ¡°Let it break out of the cocoon without a contract?¡±


    The black-robed Chess Soul nodded and said, ¡°Guardians without a contract are not allowed to break out of the cocoon. As long as you can help me break its cocoon and force it out, I can deal with it.¡±


    ¡°In other words, we only need to break the cocoon of the Guardian and don¡¯t need to participate in the battle, right?¡± Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°Of course, if you wish to participate, you can,¡± said the black-robed Chess Soul.


    Zhou Wen and company looked at each other. They never expected the black-robed Chess Soul¡¯s request to be so simple.


    ¡°What did you mean by it shouldn¡¯t be here?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    The black-robed Chess Soul said with a strange expression, ¡°This explanation is very complicated. To put it simply, this Guardian and I don¡¯t belong to this dimensional zone. We appeared here due to some accident.¡±


    ¡°In that case, you aren¡¯t a Chess Soul?¡± Zhou Wen and company looked at the black-robed Chess Soul in a daze.


    ¡°No,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul answered firmly.


    This answer made Zhou Wen and company¡¯s expressions turn even odder. Li Xuan asked, ¡°You aren¡¯t a Chinese chess soul? How do you have such good skills at Chinese chess?¡±


    ¡°All chess souls have similarities. Although I¡¯m not a Chinese chess soul, I¡¯m a type of chess soul. Therefore, learning Chinese chess isn¡¯t difficult,¡± said the black-robed Chess Soul.

 Chapter 954 - Strange Chess Game

    Translator: CKtalon


    Li Xuan asked curiously, ¡°What kind of chess do you play?¡±


    The black-robed Chess Soul smiled without answering. ¡°You humans are just too curious. Now isn¡¯t the time to explain this. You should fulfill your promise.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°Take Ya¡¯er down the mountain first. If it¡¯s just destroying the Guardian cocoon. I alone am enough.¡±


    Before Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan could say a word, the black-robed Chess Soul said, ¡°It¡¯s useless. Once the Guardian breaks out of the cocoon, the surrounding area will be under its control. Let alone the foot of the mountain, even if you walk another fifty kilometers, he will still be able to cover the area with his ability.¡±


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care. He got Li Xuan and company to descend the mountain while he stood in front of the cocoon alone.


    As he didn¡¯t know what abilities the Guardian inside had, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t forcefully tear open the cocoon. He summoned Explosive Fiend Man and made it use Time Bomb on the cocoon.


    ¡°When I¡¯m far away, I¡¯ll blast open the Guardian cocoon. It¡¯s best you stay away,¡± Zhou Wen said as he descended the mountain and retreated a distance with Ya¡¯er and company.


    At the limit of Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s range, Zhou Wen ordered Explosive Fiend Man to detonate the Time Bombs that covered the Guardian cocoon.


    Boom!


    With an earth-shattering boom, the Guardian cocoon exploded into pieces as the Guardian inside appeared.


    Guardians were basically in human form. Although they were somewhat different from real humans, they weren¡¯t too different. At most, they had wings or heads that resembled animals.


    However, the Guardian that appeared looked completely different. At first glance, nothing about it resembled a human.


    This Guardian looked like a canine or feline, but its body wasn¡¯t made of flesh and blood. Its outer shell appeared metallic, like a kind of mechanical creature.


    The moment this strange Guardian appeared, it immediately confronted the black-robed Chess Soul. A powerful aura erupted between the two.


    ¡°Is the battle about to begin?¡± Li Xuan said excitedly as he looked at the mountaintop.


    ¡°It has already begun.¡± Zhou Wen looked around. Ever since the Guardian appeared, a certain nomological force had covered a large area. They were already far enough from Chess Mountain, but they were still within the range of influence.


    1


    Furthermore, this nomological force was clearly different from Mt. Chinese Chess¡¯s nomological forces.


    Zhou Wen also focused on the mountaintop. This battle might be different from ordinary battles. After all, the power possessed by the Chess Soul and Guardian was different from ordinary battle-type Guardians and dimensional creatures.


    Just as Zhou Wen was looking forward to the battle between them, he saw them sit down in front of a chessboard.


    ¡°What the hell! So it¡¯s still a game of chess!¡± Li Xuan said in disappointment.


    However, what they saw next was somewhat different from what they had imagined.


    The chess pieces on the chessboard automatically exploded. Even the chessboard was somewhat different.


    Clang!


    When a chess piece landed on the board, the three of them took a look. It was still the familiar Chinese chess piece with the word ¡®Horse¡¯ written on it.


    ¡°Quick, dodge!¡± The moment the chess piece landed, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate. He suddenly pushed Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan as he quickly retreated with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    Boom!


    A huge hoof print appeared where they had been standing, as though some invisible terrifying creature had landed there.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had reacted quickly enough. Otherwise, they would have been flattened.


    ¡°What the hell was that?¡± Li Xuan got up and threw out a Gu. The Gu charged at the hoof mark, but it rushed straight through it as though there was nothing there.


    Boom!


    Another loud bang sounded. Not far from them, a hill collapsed as though something heavy had fallen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the chessboard and saw that there was an additional chess piece on it. It was a piece played by the black-robed Chess Soul.


    The chess piece was different from the Guardian¡¯s chess piece. Although it was also a horse, there were no words written on it. Instead, it was a statue-like chess piece in the shape of a horse¡¯s head.


    ¡°That piece should be chess from the West District, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with an odd expression.


    ¡°Probably. Although I¡¯ve never played it before, I¡¯ve seen others play it before. It should be from the West District. It¡¯s completely different from the Chinese chess in the East District.¡± Li Xuan used insect eyes to see the chessboard on the mountain.


    Boom! Boom!


    As the Guardian and the black-robed Chess Soul kept placing pieces down, the surrounding space seemed to have invisible giants land, causing the ground, mountains, and rivers to constantly crack.


    As for the Guardian, it seemed to deliberately target them. Every time it placed a piece, it would cause a disaster where they were. It made Zhou Wen and company constantly move to avoid the disasters that appeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°We can¡¯t stay here. We have to get out.¡± Li Xuan led the way out.


    However, disasters continued to descend. They were nearly hit several times.


    Due to the nomological force, they would probably be instantly killed if they were struck. No matter how strong their bodies were, it was useless in front of laws.


    ¡°Get on.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Earth Elemental Beast and got Li Xuan and company to sit on it before letting it leave by burrowing through the earth.


    However, when the Earth Elemental Beast reached about fifty kilometers, it couldn¡¯t escape. No matter how it tried to escape, it kept circling around the edge.


    Zhou Wen used the Heaven-Opening Scripture and attempted to take a step out. He did exit himself, but Ya¡¯er was isolated inside. He couldn¡¯t take her out.


    ¡°From the looks of it, everything within a fifty-kilometer radius has become a chessboard that corresponds to the game. Wherever the chess piece lands, it will form a connection with the corresponding location, causing terrifying destructive power,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    Boom!


    Another chess piece landed where they were standing. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had already seen the spot where the chess piece landed. He determined the corresponding spot in reality and dodged it with them.


    I have to deal with that Guardian. Zhou Wen handed Ya¡¯er to Li Xuan and rode the Earth Elemental Beast to the side, heading straight for Mt. Chinese Chess.


    He didn¡¯t care about the rules. He wanted to kill the Guardian.


    Perhaps the Guardian¡¯s target was Zhou Wen. The moment Zhou Wen appeared, its chess piece landed again. This time, it was a piece with the word ¡°Cannon.¡± When it landed, it left a huge blast crater in the ground.


    With the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture, Zhou Wen ignored the laws and pulled out Light Concealment Sword. With a Sky Slash, he slashed at the canine robot-like Guardian, hoping to kill it and end the terrifying game.

 Chapter 955 - Torch Dragon’s Ferocious Might

    Translator: CKtalon


    Sky Slash could tear through space and had astonishing destructive power.


    Just as the Sky Slash was about to hit the Guardian, the Guardian¡¯s body automatically split open like the disassembly of mechanical components.


    Sky Slash slashed past its body, but it failed to injure it.


    The Light Concealment Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand crisscrossed like lightning, but the Guardian¡¯s body kept disassembling into components. Wherever the Sky Slash slashed, it would disassemble into smaller pieces to dodge the Sky Slash¡¯s power.


    Furthermore, every part of its body seemed to possess intelligence. When it fought Zhou Wen, its fingers were still tapping down on the chessboard.


    Every time it tapped his finger, a new piece would appear on the chessboard.


    However, the position where the chess piece landed wasn¡¯t where Zhou Wen was, but where Li Xuan and company were.


    Without Zhou Wen¡¯s ability to spy on the chessboard, they had no idea when a chess piece would land on them. They had relied on their intuition and experience to dodge a few times, but they were already in peril.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth, Explosive Fiend Man, Torch Dragon, and other Companion Beasts to attack the Guardian.


    This move worked as expected. Under the siege of Zhou Wen¡¯s Mythical Companion Beast line up, the Guardian, who seemed to be able to infinitely disassemble, couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure. A portion of the disassembled parts were shattered by Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s punch.


    However, the shattered components actually reassembled like nanomachines. This terrifying Guardian actually managed to withstand the attack of the Mythical line up.


    With the chess piece, Cannon, landing, Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan had no time to dodge. Li Xuan pounced forward and held Ya¡¯er and Feng Qiuyan in front of him. He supported himself with both hands as an evil aura on his body flickered. The power of the carapace Life Soul was pushed to its limits.


    Boom!


    Under the terrifying strike, the carapace on Li Xuan¡¯s back shattered. The fragments stabbed into his body, piercing through his flesh and bones. Instantly, Li Xuan was covered in blood.


    Blood dripped down as Li Xuan continued supporting himself with both hands. A deep crater appeared in the surrounding rocks. Ya¡¯er and Feng Qiuyan were protected by him. Ya¡¯er wasn¡¯t injured, while Feng Qiuyan was only slightly injured.


    ¡°President!¡± Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed when he saw Li Xuan¡¯s spine exposed from the strike. Furthermore, many parts of his body had torn open.


    ¡°Don¡¯t move,¡± Li Xuan shouted coldly, stopping Feng Qiuyan from crawling out.


    The injuries on his body healed at an extremely fast speed and the carapace automatically healed.


    Boom!


    At that moment, there was another loud stomp. A terrifying force that resembled the hoof of a pegasus stepped on Li Xuan¡¯s back. Immediately, blood spewed out of his mouth. Li Xuan, who had yet to fully recover, suffered serious injuries once again. His armor shattered and his bones were almost crushed.


    But even so, Li Xuan didn¡¯t die. His injuries and shattered carapace rapidly healed once more.


    Zhou Wen knew that Li Xuan couldn¡¯t last long, but he had yet to find a way to kill the Guardian. All he could do was get Tyrant Behemoth to rush over to provide support.


    The Guardian struck Li Xuan again and again, but Li Xuan managed to survive. Even so, the situation was only worsening.


    Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth finally rushed over and protected the three of them under its body, blocking the terrifying bombardment.


    Tyrant Behemoth, who had activated Absolute Strength, spat out a mouthful of blood after suffering the strike. It was immediately severely injured, and its bones fractured.


    Zhou Wen knew that it wasn¡¯t because the Guardian was powerful, but because it had borrowed the power of Mt. Chinese Chess¡¯s dimensional zone. Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t only resisting the Guardian¡¯s power, but also the rules of Mt. Chinese Chess. This was a truly terrifying power. No matter how strong a Companion Beast was, it was difficult for it to withstand the power of an entire dimensional zone.


    Previously, Li Xuan had been able to resist the rules thanks to his Life Providence. The rules of Mt. Chinese Chess implied destruction when struck by a chess piece, but his Life Providence was indestructible. Furthermore, Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul was extremely strange, allowing him to withstand the strikes of the chess pieces.


    If it were anyone else, they might not have been able to withstand it even with a Mythical body.


    Zhou Wen was also attacking the Guardian with all his might, but the Guardian was as tenacious as Li Xuan. No matter how many times its body components were destroyed, they could still be combined to form new parts even if they were shattered.


    Its entire body seemed to be made of nanomachines. Unless one could directly vaporize it or make it disappear into nothingness, it was very difficult to kill it.


    ¡°Die!¡± Zhou Wen knew that they couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. He ordered Torch Dragon Youngling to use Bright Torch Vision World.


    The power of the Bright Torch Vision World immediately sucked in the Guardian¡¯s body, but the body sucked in seemed to be only a part of its body.


    Soon, another nanomachine appeared out of nowhere and began reconstructing the Guardian¡¯s body.


    ¡°Chess Soul, think of a way to escape.¡± Zhou Wen roared at the black-robed Chess Soul before putting away all the Companion Beasts other than Torch Dragon. He also wore the Jade Crystal Essence Armor.


    In the next second, Torch Dragon¡¯s body emitted a bright glow as rows of Torch Dragon Eyes opened. Like an ancient ferocious god, it simultaneously activated Bright Torch Vision World.


    The black-robed Chess Soul turned pale with fright when it saw this. Its figure flashed and vanished.


    The Guardian¡¯s disintegrated body was rapidly sucked away by the Bright Torch Vision World. Even the Mt. Chinese Chess below suffered a terrifying energy strike as it vanished piece by piece.


    The Guardian seemed to realize that it was about to die. Unable to withstand Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World in its World King Transformation state, the Guardian suddenly made a strange move. Its remaining components rushed towards the spot where the Guardian cocoon was.


    However, very quickly, under the omnipresent Bright Torch Vision World, the Guardian¡¯s body was sucked in. Even half of Mt. Chinese Chess vanished.


    The power of the chess game finally vanished. Apart from the dimensional zone¡¯s nomological powers, the other powers vanished.


    Torch Dragon Youngling landed weakly and was almost unable to raise its head. Using the World King Transformation and Bright Torch Vision World at full strength expended too much of its strength. Thankfully, it had only lasted for a blink of an eye. If it had lasted any longer, Torch Dragon Youngling would have died first.


    The black-robed Chess Soul crawled out from beneath Mt. Chinese Chess and looked at the mountaintop that had vanished.


    ¡°Li Xuan, are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to bother with the black-robed Chess Soul as he quickly arrived in front of Li Xuan and company.


    Tyrant Behemoth was covered in injuries and looked severely injured. It had only suffered two strikes, but Li Xuan had suffered at least five strikes.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Li Xuan crawled out from below as his body and carapace healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

 Chapter 956 - Defective Guardian

    Translator: CKtalon


    Just as Li Xuan¡¯s carapace was being repaired, a strange scene suddenly ensued. Tiny specks of dust appeared where his carapace shattered. The specks of dust mixed into the carapace and fused with it, allowing the carapace to recover faster.


    However, the repaired carapace was somewhat different from the other intact parts of the carapace. It suffused a strange metallic luster as though it was mixed with metallic granules.


    ¡°This is¡­ That Guardian¡­ What does it want? Don¡¯t tell me it wants to occupy my body?¡± Li Xuan was given a fright.


    ¡°It chose to use the drop of blood from before to contract with you, allowing it to escape death,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul floated over and said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that a contract needs both parties to agree? Why don¡¯t I feel anything?¡± Li Xuan asked with a frown.


    ¡°The Guardian contract naturally requires both parties to agree. However, under such circumstances, it no longer has the time to wait for your agreement. Therefore, it chose a method that doesn¡¯t require your agreement,¡± said the black-robed Chess Soul.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this forcing himself on me?¡± Li Xuan looked at the extremely patchy carapace on his body.


    The metallic parts looked like patches. It looked ugly.


    The black-robed Chess Soul said with a strange expression, ¡°Usually, both parties have the right to terminate a Guardian contract at any time. However, under the present circumstances, the Guardian has made a huge sacrifice. Unless you are willing, it¡¯s impossible for it to terminate the contract with you. If you die, it dies. It can be said that you have absolute dominance.¡±


    ¡°It sounds pretty good, but isn¡¯t this a little too ugly?¡± Li Xuan still didn¡¯t like the appearance of the carapace.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It will continue fusing with your carapace. In the future, when your carapace is shattered and reconstructed, everything will become uniform. Perhaps you can wait a little while longer. It¡¯s still injured and has little remaining strength. It won¡¯t be able to fuse completely. After it recovers, even if your carapace isn¡¯t shattered, it will completely fuse with it. When that happens, it will contact you,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul continued.


    ¡°Since it has come to this, it looks like I can¡¯t reject it. I¡¯ll reluctantly accept it. By the way, what¡¯s the name of this Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked the black-robed Chess Soul.


    ¡°Alpha.¡± The black-robed Chess Soul said its name.


    However, even if he didn¡¯t say it, Alpha would directly communicate with Li Xuan after it recovered some energy.


    Zhou Wen listened from the side, unsure if he should congratulate Li Xuan for his good luck or feel sorry for him.


    His Life Soul was problematic to begin with. Now, he had contracted a heavily injured Guardian. Furthermore, it was some unknown contract that allowed the Guardian to fuse with his problematic Life Soul. He didn¡¯t know what would happen in the future.


    ¡°Thank you for your help. Alpha¡¯s mutation has exceeded my expectations. If it weren¡¯t for you, I¡¯m afraid I would have been defeated,¡± the black-robed Chess Soul said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why did you want to destroy it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The black-robed Chess Soul hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°As you know, the place Alpha and I should preside over should be a dimensional zone in the West District. Although the two dimensional zones are both Chinese chess dimensional zones, the rules are completely different. It was because of an accident that Alpha and I came here. This accident was caused by Alpha itself. It had a problem and lost control. It¡¯s a defective product that can¡¯t represent our race. In addition, after it came to Mt. Chinese Chess and absorbed the powers here, its problems worsened. It¡¯s impossible for it to represent our race, so I can only choose to destroy it.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned even odder when he heard that. Not only did Li Xuan have a problematic Life Soul, but he also had a highly problematic Guardian. Who knew if anything would happen to him in the future?


    ¡°Please accept this. I¡¯ll be heading to the West District. If you come to the West District in the future, you can take this to the Black and White Chess Country¡¯s dimensional zone. I¡¯m willing to guide you and contract my race¡¯s new Guardian.¡± The black-robed Chess Soul handed something to Zhou Wen.


    It was a white chess piece that looked like a King in international chess.


    ¡°I¡¯ll visit when I have the chance, but I can¡¯t guarantee you that I¡¯ll be contracting the Guardian.¡± Zhou Wen accepted the chess piece.


    ¡°My race¡¯s Guardian is very compatible with your attributes. If you can fuse together, you will definitely be invincible in the present era. I hope you can consider it carefully. I¡¯ll wait for your answer in the Black and White Chess Country.¡± As the black-robed Chess Soul spoke, it bowed slightly and left Mt. Chinese Chess.


    The group continued on their way and soon left Mt Chinese Chess¡¯s dimensional zone. Zhou Wen searched the entire way, but he unfortunately failed to find the tiny palm symbol.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take the black-robed Chess Soul¡¯s words to heart. The black-robed Chess Soul only said what he had said because he saw how powerful his Companion Beasts were. Zhou Wen was certain that he didn¡¯t even know what attributes he had or what Essence Energy Art he cultivated.


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on contracting a Guardian, even if he really wanted to, he wouldn¡¯t choose a Guardian of the Black and White Chess Country.


    However, if there was a chance, he could head to the Black and White Chess Country to take a look. Perhaps there would be a tiny palm symbol. It would be nice to download an instance dungeon.


    Over the next few days, they didn¡¯t have any accidents. Occasionally, dimensional creatures would appear, but their levels weren¡¯t high. They could be easily dealt with.


    However, for some reason, Feng Qiuyan spoke even less along the way.


    Zhou Wen thought that it was because of his nostalgia for his hometown, but Li Xuan could read a little of Feng Qiuyan¡¯s mind. However, it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to say anything.


    While having a break one day, Feng Qiuyan suddenly came to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and asked with a solemn expression, ¡°Coach, can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Just ask it directly. Why are you standing on ceremony with me?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Feng Qiuyan looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Coach, you don¡¯t plan on contracting a Guardian, right?¡±


    ¡°Not at the moment,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°But if you don¡¯t contract a Guardian, a Perfect Body Life Soul is already the final destination for humanity. How do we proceed from there?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. He didn¡¯t immediately answer. He planned on using the Lost Immortal Sutra to advance to the Mythical stage, but Feng Qiuyan had never cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra. It seemed impossible for him to rely on his own strength to advance to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Currently, humans have confirmed that there are two ways to advance to the Mythical stage. One is to fuse with a Guardian and transform oneself like my teacher, Wang Mingyuan. This way, a human¡¯s body can break through its limits without the restrictions of being unable to advance to the Mythical stage. The other way is to contract with a Guardian and use the Guardian¡¯s power to advance to the Mythical stage. However, this advancement is only the advancement of a Guardian. One¡¯s body won¡¯t become stronger.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a true coach, so he couldn¡¯t decide which path Feng Qiuyan should take.


    ¡°Coach, which path are you taking? The first one?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked.


    ¡°Neither. I want to rely on my own strength to advance to the Mythical stage. However, this path is basically a dead end,¡± Zhou Wen answered.

 Chapter 957 - Feng and Qin

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen activated his Glimmer Life Soul the entire journey. When he arrived near Sea Return, the Glimmer Life Soul had improved significantly, but it was still lacking a little when it came to advancing to the Perfect Body.


    Every time he rested, Zhou Wen would switch to cultivating the Qi Refinement Art. He would absorb Essence Crystals in-game to raise Sword Pill¡¯s Essence Energy.


    As many of the Essence Energy Crystals Zhou Wen absorbed in-game were at the Mythical stage, Sword Pill¡¯s Essence Energy increased rapidly. He could sense that Sword Pill¡¯s Essence Energy had reached a certain limit and was about to advance again.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand how Sword Pill could advance to a Perfect Body.


    The last time he advanced to an Evolved Body, Zhou Wen had cultivated 3,000 sword intents, but it didn¡¯t seem to be effective this time. From the looks of it, the key to advancing to a Perfect Body wasn¡¯t the sword intents.


    Since it¡¯s called Sword Pill, it probably has something to do with swords. Could it be that I should transform Sword Pill into a sword? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen had already considered this problem previously. He didn¡¯t have a sword he especially liked. If he needed to turn Sword Pill into a sword, Zhou Wen planned on using Light Concealment Sword as its prototype.


    3


    However, Sword Pill failed to be molded, nor did it advance to a Perfect Body.


    If it can¡¯t be transformed into a sword, how can I advance Sword Pill? Zhou Wen considered all sorts of possibilities and tried many methods, but he still failed.


    3


    When they finally arrived at Sea Return, Feng Qiuyan invited Zhou Wen and Li Xuan to stay at his place.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as they followed Feng Qiuyan to the Feng family residence. In fact, there weren¡¯t many places in Sea Return City that they could stay. If they didn¡¯t go there, their only choice was Sea Return City¡¯s only hotel.


    There were two famous Feng family branches. One was in the Imperial Capital, and the other was the Feng family of Sea Return.


    As Sea Return was close to the sea, the break-out creatures in the nearby sea often appeared ashore, making the vicinity of Sea Return City very desolate. There were very few pedestrians on the streets.


    When the Feng family saw Feng Qiuyan return, they were overjoyed. It looked like Feng Qiuyan was very favored by the Feng family.


    Upon hearing that Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were Feng Qiuyan¡¯s schoolmates, the Feng family was especially warm to them.


    ¡°Little Yanyan, you have quite a high status in your family. You actually have special guest rooms,¡± Li Xuan said as he sized up the room.


    Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°As the eldest son and grandson of the family, I have some privileges, but I¡¯ll be responsible for the Feng family in the future.¡±


    ¡°Qiuyan, you¡¯re back.¡± Just as the three of them were chatting, a beautiful and dignified woman walked over.


    ¡°Sis Ling, I¡¯ve just returned. I originally planned on visiting you after settling my classmates down.¡± Feng Qiuyan chatted with the woman.


    ¡°Little Yanyan, why didn¡¯t you introduce such a beauty to us? Is this your sister? She¡¯s really beautiful,¡± Li Xuan praised the woman.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t mean to curry favor, but this woman was indeed very beautiful. Even Zhou Wen took a second look.


    ¡°This is Qin Ling, Sis Ling. These are my schoolmates, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. They helped me a lot in school,¡± Feng Qiuyan introduced the three of them.


    Qin Ling was a very polite woman, but at the same time, she kept an arms-length distance from people despite looking very gentle. People couldn¡¯t build a closer relationship with her.


    After Qin Ling left, Li Xuan asked Feng Qiuyan, ¡°Little Yanyan, she isn¡¯t a blood sister, right?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Feng Qiuyan was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Apart from practicing martial arts, you are really an idiot in other aspects. Her surname is Qin and yours is Feng. How can she be your blood sister?¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Feng Qiuyan explained, ¡°Then you¡¯re wrong. Our Feng family has a tradition. The boys have the surname Feng, but girls have the surname Qin.¡±


    ¡°Why the strange rules? Could it be that your mother¡¯s surname is Qin? That¡¯s not right either. It¡¯s impossible for all the women who marry into your Feng family to have the Qin surname,¡± Li Xuan said in puzzlement.


    Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m not too sure about the reason. I heard from my elders that it seems that a person with the Qin surname had done our Feng family a great favor, so to thank him, all the girls in the Feng family have the Qin surname. This tradition existed many years before the dimensional storms and it has been continued to this day.¡±


    After a pause, Feng Qiuyan said in embarrassment, ¡°However, Qin Ling isn¡¯t my sister. She doesn¡¯t have any blood ties with our Feng family.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s her relationship with you? There¡¯s something amiss between the two of you,¡± Li Xuan asked nosily.


    Feng Qiuyan blushed. ¡°Actually, Sis Ling is my fianc¨¦e.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, you¡¯re only seventeen, right? How do you have a fianc¨¦e? And she¡¯s so beautiful! She looks much older than you. She should be in her twenties, right?¡± Li Xuan widened his eyes.


    Feng Qiuyan explained, ¡°Sea Return is actually more traditional. My father and Sis Ling¡¯s parents are good friends. This marriage was arranged by our family.¡±


    ¡°What era is this? To think there are still arranged marriages¡­ Why didn¡¯t I encounter such a great deal? Why don¡¯t I have such a beautiful fianc¨¦e? Heaven is unfair!¡± Li Xuan sighed at his fate.


    However, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°It¡¯s not what you think. The reason we are engaged is related to our Life Providences. It¡¯s not an arranged marriage.¡±


    ¡°Life Providence? I remember that your Life Providence is Swift Saber Heavenly King. Could it be that her Life Providence is Swift Saber Heavenly Queen, making her a match for you? Then you are so lucky,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Stop talking. Let Qiuyan finish.¡± Zhou Wen could tell that there was something amiss with Feng Qiuyan¡¯s emotions.


    Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°Her Life Providence is Scabbard, and her Life Soul is the Saber Sacrificer. However, any saber that lands in her hand will become stronger. The reason my father made her my fianc¨¦e was because he fancied her Life Providence and Life Soul, believing they would be of help to me.¡±


    ¡°Although that¡¯s the case, Qin Ling is so beautiful. Even if she¡¯s a little older, you can still count yourself lucky,¡± Li Xuan consoled.


    ¡°Sis Ling is indeed very nice,¡± Feng Qiuyan said with a sigh.


    Li Xuan was good with reading people as he added, ¡°But you don¡¯t like her, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t like her. I should say that I¡¯ve never thought about these things. All I want now is to become stronger,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s an excuse. If you really liked her, you wouldn¡¯t have such thoughts. She just hasn¡¯t caught your eye,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Feng Qiuyan looked out the door and seeing that no one was there, he lowered his voice and said to Zhou Wen and Li Xuan, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you something, but you mustn¡¯t tell anyone else.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t you trust our character? We definitely won¡¯t tell anyone. Quick, tell me what¡¯s going on. Could it be that Qin Ling has a boyfriend outside? It¡¯s no wonder considering how she made you a cuckold. She¡¯s already in her twenties, so it¡¯s not too much to have already had a boyfriend,¡± Li Xuan said excitedly.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Sis Ling isn¡¯t that kind of person.¡± Feng Qiuyan hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°I think Sis Ling isn¡¯t human.¡±


    2


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were taken aback as they looked at Feng Qiuyan in a daze, unsure what he meant.

 Chapter 958 - Electric Power

    ¡°No, I don¡¯t understand. What do you mean?¡± Li Xuan looked at Feng Qiuyan in puzzlement.


    Feng Qiuyan explained, ¡°Because the two families have a good relationship. When I was young, I often tagged along behind Sis Ling. Once, I followed Sis Ling to the nearby coast to have some fun. Back then, break-out creatures seldom appeared, so the two of us played by the seaside.¡±


    After some hesitation, Feng Qiuyan continued, ¡°I vaguely remember a break-out creature rushing out of the sea and pouncing at us on the beach. It even had a particularly fishy smell. I turned groggy when I smelled it, as though I was about to faint. At that moment, I saw Sis Ling turn extremely terrifying in my spinning mind as she charged at the break-out creature. Then, I fainted.¡±


    ¡°When I woke up, I saw Sis Ling beside me, but I didn¡¯t see any break-out creature. When I mentioned the break-out creature, Sister Ling wore a puzzled expression. She asked me if I was too tired from playing and had a nightmare after falling asleep,¡± Feng Qiuyan said with a strange expression. ¡°But I don¡¯t think it was a dream. It was just that I didn¡¯t find any traces of the dimensional creature nearby, so I kept this matter to myself and didn¡¯t tell anyone.¡±


    ¡°How old were you then?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Three years old,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°How old was Qin Ling?¡± Li Xuan asked again.


    ¡°Thirteen,¡± Feng Qiuyan answered after some thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s very normal for a three-year-old child to have wild thoughts. Perhaps you had really dreamed it. If Qin Ling was only thirteen years old, she wouldn¡¯t have reached the Legendary stage, right? It¡¯s virtually impossible for her to use a Companion Beast¡­¡± Li Xuan analyzed.


    ¡°That I know,¡± Feng Qiuyan said with a strange expression.


    ¡°If you are really sure that you didn¡¯t see wrongly, then there¡¯s something wrong with Qin Ling,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°I can¡¯t be sure if I was dreaming back then, so I hope you can help me confirm what happened.¡±


    ¡°How can we help you? We can¡¯t drag Qin Ling over to beat her up and ask if she can transform into a monster, right? Even if we dared ask, she won¡¯t admit it, right?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I also know that it won¡¯t be easy, but I can only ask for your help,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s try our best. We can¡¯t guarantee that we can get to the bottom of the matter,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Despite being delighted, Feng Qiuyan said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Coach, I hope this matter can be carried out secretly. No matter the outcome, don¡¯t let a fourth person other than us know.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Zhou Wen agreed.


    ¡°Old Zhou, how do you plan on investigating this matter?¡± Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen after Feng Qiuyan settled the two of them in and took them to meet his elders.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Let¡¯s wait and see. Didn¡¯t Qiuyan say that he will arrange for us to interact with Qin Ling? We¡¯ll think of something when the time comes,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I got a Gu from the South District. If it can be attached to a person, it can affect their will. Do you want to give it a try?¡± Li Xuan said with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s best we don¡¯t. After all, we are guests. It won¡¯t be nice if the Feng family discovers our actions,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m meeting Hui Haifeng. Do you want to come with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him well, so there¡¯s no point. Go yourself. I¡¯ll take a look around,¡± Li Xuan said.


    After the two of them separated, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to see the Hui family. The Hui family was a major family in Sea Return, so he didn¡¯t need to ask around to quickly find their residence.


    Before arriving, Zhou Wen gave Hui Haifeng a call. Hui Haifeng quickly came to the door to welcome him.


    ¡°I never expected you to come so quickly.¡± Hui Haifeng smiled and gave Zhou Wen a hug.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t used to such enthusiasm. ¡°The journey was rather smooth, but the situation in Sea Return seems to have deteriorated far earlier than others.¡±


    Hui Haifeng nodded. ¡°It¡¯s indeed terrible. This month isn¡¯t over yet, but we¡¯ve had two small-scale marine dimensional creatures hordes come ashore. Although there weren¡¯t any casualties, it will be exhausting for us if this happens every month. It¡¯s very easy for problems to arise. Furthermore, the strongest marine dimensional creatures that have come ashore are at the Epic stage, but who knows when a Mythical dimensional creature will come ashore. In short, Sea Return City is in a very thorny situation.¡±


    ¡°Have you thought of migrating inland?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°How can it be that easy to migrate? Ignoring the fact that we have family and business here in Sea Return, even if we can abandon these businesses, how can we find a city willing to share resources with us elsewhere?¡± Hui Haifeng led Zhou Wen into a yard. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this. I¡¯ll show you something good.¡±


    The Hui family residence was huge. In fact, it could no longer be considered a normal home. It was more like a base.


    They arrived at a place resembling a warehouse. Hui Haifeng opened the door and pointed inside. ¡°What do you think of this thing?¡±


    Zhou Wen saw huge machinery inside the warehouse. There were all sorts of gears and electronic devices. On the left side of the warehouse were many devices that resembled treadmills. Many Companion Beasts were running on them.


    ¡°Companion Beasts can be trained like this?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Beasts in surprise.


    ¡°What training? We are using Companion Beasts to generate electricity. Using the power of the Companion Beasts to drive the generator, we can store the electricity produced. Anyway, the Companion Beasts have nothing to do when not fighting. This way, we can use their strength and also give them some training,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    Zhou Wen had already heard that many places were powered by Companion Beasts, but this was the first time he had seen an example of one.


    ¡°Is this considered environmentally friendly?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s environmentally friendly, but Companion Beasts can automatically recover their stamina without needing external replenishment of their energy. It¡¯s indeed very convenient,¡± Hui Haifeng said as he continued walking into the warehouse.


    When he reached the deepest part of the warehouse, there was a room that was separated by glass. Zhou Wen could see many high precision instruments inside. Many staff members were busy inside.


    After Hui Haifeng and Zhou Wen changed into special work clothes, they entered the glass room. Then, Hui Haifeng pointed at something in the culture tank and said, ¡°Look at this. This is our main area of research now.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the culture tank and saw a white blob inside. It looked like a white piece of fat, but it also looked a little like a fungus.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.

 Chapter 959 - Marine Dimensional Creatures Coming Ashore

    ¡°This is an artificial dimensional creature we are researching,¡± Hui Haifeng answered.


    ¡°Artificial dimensional creatures? How do you create them?¡± Zhou Wen knew nothing about this.


    Hui Haifeng explained, ¡°Dimensional creatures are somewhat different from Earth¡¯s creatures. Earth¡¯s creatures are basically carbon-based, but dimensional creatures are different. Although some dimensional creatures have flesh and blood, carbon isn¡¯t the building blocks of their bodies. Research has shown that creatures on Earth are affected by the dimensional storms. Their bodies undergo some changes, causing some abnormal elements to appear in originally carbon-based matter.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, we extracted this element and attempted to culture and use it. Based on our present research, this element can rapidly mutate terran creatures. It¡¯s even possible for them to mutate into lifeforms similar to dimensional creatures in a short period of time.¡± With that said, Hui Haifeng pointed at the creature in the culture tank excitedly. ¡°This is the latest result. We used this element to successfully turn ordinary terran bacteria into a dimensional creature. Although it¡¯s only at the most ordinary Mortal stage, this is already huge progress. In the future, we will conduct experiments on plants and animals. If everything goes well, perhaps one day, humans can become as powerful as dimensional creatures through the injection of this element.¡±


    ¡°Are there any side effects from injecting this element?¡± Zhou Wen asked worriedly.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t discovered any side effects. Don¡¯t worry, we will do rigorous experiments. We won¡¯t let humans take risks easily.¡± Hui Haifeng continued, ¡°Our goal is to let the human race evolve as a whole. The bodies of humans now are too weak. In the future, if humans can have powerful bodies like dimensional creatures and have a Life Providence and Life Soul at birth, we won¡¯t have to be afraid of any invasion from dimensional creatures.¡±


    ¡°It sounds pretty good.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°However, we are still in the early stages. There¡¯s still a long way to go before the real human trials. I hope that day won¡¯t come too late,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    After leaving the laboratory, the two of them chatted about their past days in college and their current situation.


    ¡°You are native to Sea Return. Are there any special dimensional zones you can show me?¡± Zhou Wen still wanted to download more dungeons.


    Hui Haifeng smiled and said, ¡°If you want to see special dimensional zones, you¡¯ve really come to the right place. Although there aren¡¯t many people in Sea Return, there are quite a number of dimensional zones. They are on land and in the sea, but especially in the sea. You definitely won¡¯t be able to see such places further inland.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about them?¡± Zhou Wen was intrigued.


    ¡°There¡¯s too much to tell. Sea God Reef, Undersea Blue Hole, Infinite Island, and so on are all extremely mysterious dimensional zones. Very few humans can enter them. Even the great devils overseas can only take a detour when they encounter these dimensional zones.¡± Hui Haifeng recounted the famous dimensional zones near Sea Return to Zhou Wen as if he knew everything.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s still early, I¡¯ll head to the nearby Sea God Reef to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I still have work to do, so I can¡¯t accompany you. Give me a moment. I¡¯ll find a reliable person to guide you,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. Feng Qiuyan from the Feng family is a member of our Xuanwen Club. He has also returned. He can be my guide,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Look at me, almost forgetting this matter. It¡¯s best if Feng Qiuyan goes with you.¡± Hui Haifeng pondered for a moment before reminding Zhou Wen, ¡°Recently, Sea Return hasn¡¯t been peaceful. There are many more break-out creatures coming ashore than before. I¡¯m afraid something major will happen soon. Don¡¯t go too deep. Just take a look at the coastal areas.¡±


    After bidding Hui Haifeng farewell, Zhou Wen was just about to contact Li Xuan when he heard warning sirens in Sea Return City.


    The ear-piercing sound echoed in the city. There weren¡¯t many people on the streets originally, but suddenly, many people appeared, fleeing towards the underground bomb shelters.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen got a hold of someone and asked.


    ¡°Marine creatures have come ashore again. Aren¡¯t you going to take refuge in the bomb shelter?¡± the man asked as he hurriedly left.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen ran towards the coast. A high wall made of steel and concrete had been built around the city¡¯s periphery. The members of Sea Return¡¯s major families gathered here.


    After Zhou Wen went up the high wall, he looked in the direction of the sea and was somewhat alarmed.


    The waves in the distant sea weren¡¯t huge, but huge crabs that resembled tanks crawled out of the sea. There were quite a number of them. Large swarms of crabs were heading for Sea Return City. The large crabs at the front of the swarm were less than five kilometers away from the high wall.


    Looking at the black swarm of crabs that resembled a legion of tanks, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but lick his lips. He felt his saliva secreting significantly.


    Previously, Ouyang Lan had treated him to eat a meal of crabs. He had heard that they were very expensive, but they tasted great.


    Back then, the crabs were about the size of a plate. The crabs here were so huge that if cooked, they would probably be more delicious than what Zhou Wen had eaten before.


    ¡°Which family are you from? Why aren¡¯t you taking refuge in the bomb shelter? Why are you here?¡± a middle-aged man asked when he saw Zhou Wen sprawled on the tall wall and staring blankly at the huge crabs on the beach.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to help defend the city,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why are you bringing a child here to mess around? Quickly go back and hide,¡± the middle-aged man said as he left to help in the supply transportation.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen heard a loud bang. A cannon set up on the high wall fired. A cannonball mixed with Essence Gold exploded among the crabs. Amidst the intense blast, the cannonball fragments scattered in all directions.


    Some of the fragments struck the crabs¡¯ shells, but they were of limited effect. They only left some superficial wounds on the shells without leaving any fatal injuries.


    However, a few crabs had their legs injured, causing their movements to slow down.


    Boom! Boom!


    The salvo constantly rang out as shells exploded among the crabs. Zhou Wen could tell that the bombs weren¡¯t used to kill the giant crabs, but to blast their legs apart. This way, the crabs could no longer charge into Sea Return City after losing their mobility.


    However, there were too many huge crabs rushing out of the sea. The crabs in front had their legs blasted apart, but the crabs behind them crawled over them and continued charging towards Sea Return City.


    The bombardment continued, but it didn¡¯t put any end to the crab horde. When the crabs approached the city, the members of the few families began shooting with their guns.


    However, their target was the crabs¡¯ legs. They tried their best to hit the crabs¡¯ joints and make them lose their mobility.


    Capable Legendary and Epic experts summoned their Companion Beasts and stood guard outside the high wall. They were in charge of repelling the large crabs that came close.


    Zhou Wen looked for a while and suddenly realized that there was a huge creature in the sea near the coast.

 Chapter 960 - Deep Blue Crab Sovereign

    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to observe carefully and heard a massive object moving in the sea.


    Before he could determine what the behemoth in the sea was, he suddenly saw the seawater suddenly rise, forming a huge wave. And within that wave, a huge, castle-sized, dark-blue crab crawled out from the sea.


    The huge crabs that looked like tanks on the beach were already huge, but in front of the dark-blue crab, they looked like baby crabs.


    Even the twenty-meter-tall wall appeared much shorter in front of the huge crab. Its pincers were terrifyingly large.


    Everyone was stunned seeing the giant crab come out of the sea. Even the Epic experts who were fighting the crabs had a drastic change in expression.


    Before the giant crab¡¯s legs could walk out of the sea, it suddenly opened its mouth and spewed out countless bubbles. The bubbles flew towards Sea Return City and filled the sky.


    Someone shot at the bubbles that flew over. When the bullet hit a bubble, the bubble that looked light and thin didn¡¯t burst. Instead, after the bullet entered the bubble, it immediately floated in the bubble as though it had escaped gravity.


    Some people used sabers or ordered their Companion Beasts to charge forward and destroy the bubble, but no matter what it was, it would be sucked into the bubble the moment it touched it.


    Then, the bubbles that had sucked in something seemed to be pulled into the sky by some force. In the blink of an eye, they flew hundreds of meters high and continued rising rapidly, as though they were about to break through the atmosphere and enter outer space.


    When people saw this scene, they began to dodge the bubbles in horror. After all, there were very few humans who knew how to fly. Some Epic humans couldn¡¯t fly in the air because they didn¡¯t have flying pets.


    If they fell from such a height, they would probably die a terrible death.


    Furthermore, the bubbles rose rapidly. If they really entered outer space, they would definitely die.


    Instantly, the entire defense line of Sea Return City fell into chaos. Ignoring ordinary people, even Epic experts began retreating. As for the crab legion, the effective resistance against them collapsed, allowing them to rush to the high walls of Sea Return City. They used their steel-like crab pincers to strike the high walls, splattering concrete and cracking steel alike. Before long, the high walls would be breached.


    The air bubbles that filled the sky had already floated into the city. Seeing that Sea Return City definitely couldn¡¯t withstand such an attack, Zhou Wen put on the Jade Crystal Spirit armor and suddenly flew into the sky, quickly arriving above the sea.


    He held a Golden Harp in his hand as he strummed it.


    Hum!


    A strange sound spread out all the bubbles in the radius of the Golden Harp burst. The crabs that had either reached the shore or were still in the water were struck by the terrifying sound wave. They spewed out water and fell to the ground. About 80% of them died. Those that survived were severely injured as they struggled to get up.


    Zhou Wen deliberately used String Aural Quake above the sea at a spot relatively far from Sea Return City. Although String Aural Quake¡¯s power still affected the city, it was already relatively weak. It didn¡¯t possess much lethality against humans.


    Humans who could fight on the front lines had some level of cultivation. After being shaken by the aftershocks, they would at most spit out blood.


    After being shaken, the people from Sea Return City turned to look out. When they saw that the water bubbles that filled the sky had almost all burst and that countless crabs had died, they couldn¡¯t help but be pleasantly surprised.


    They looked up and immediately saw Zhou Wen in the distant sky.


    Sea Return City was several kilometers from the coastline. It wasn¡¯t that they had good eyesight, allowing them to see Zhou Wen from such a distance.


    It was because Zhou Wen was wearing the mirror-like Jade Crystal Spirit armor. When the sun shone on him, he was like a humanoid light source. It was difficult not to see him.


    The might of String Aural Quake isn¡¯t bad. Unfortunately, it¡¯s too useless. I can only use it once. Zhou Wen glanced at the Golden Harp in his hand. A few of the strings had snapped, so he couldn¡¯t use it again. All he could do was unsummon it and let it slowly recover.


    The giant crab was very close to Zhou Wen. It staggered and nearly collapsed into the seawater. It couldn¡¯t help but fly into a rage as it brandished its huge crab pincers and smashed them at Zhou Wen.


    Although it was huge, it wasn¡¯t clumsy at all. The crab pincer swung in front of Zhou Wen like a gust of wind.


    At that moment, many people in the city were looking at the airborne Zhou Wen. They were given a fright when they saw the giant crab move like a ghost.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t flinch as he unsheathed his Bamboo Blade. At the same time, his body rapidly flashed in Transcendent Flying Immortal form as he struck out with Sky Slash.


    The people in the city only saw the humanoid figure rapidly flicker around the giant crab like streams of light crisscrossing. When Zhou Wen stopped again, the giant crab stopped with its pincers raised in the air.


    Crack! Crack!


    The giant crab¡¯s shell suddenly cracked open. The crab pincers it held up broke into several pieces and fell into the water, stirring up waves.


    Boom!


    In the end, even the giant crab¡¯s body crumbled into a few pieces and fell into the sea. It couldn¡¯t be more dead.


    When the humans in the city saw this scene, they were momentarily taken aback. They stared blankly at the gigantic crab¡¯s sorry state and at Zhou Wen, who was like a human-shaped sun in the sky.


    Moments later, everyone finally reacted and cheered. The joy of escaping death was incomparable.


    Zhou Wen rushed into the sea and vanished from everyone¡¯s sight.


    By the time he returned to Sea Return City, the Jade Crystal Spirit armor on his body had vanished. He looked like a young father carrying Ya¡¯er. He wasn¡¯t conspicuous at all.


    However, there was an additional crab tattoo on Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It was obtained from hatching the giant crab Companion Egg he had fished out from the sea.


    Deep Blue Crab Sovereign: Mythical


    Life Providence: Ocean Overlord


    Life Soul: Heart of the Ocean


    Wheel of Destiny: Loss of Gravity


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 71


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 79


    Talent Skill: Gravity Bubble, Overlord Pincer, Deep Sea Emperor


    Companion Form: Mount


    Is it an ocean mount? Not bad. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have an underwater mount yet. The Great Might Vajra Bull was afraid of water. It was fine for it to walk in a stream, but it was impossible for it to enter the sea.


    The Earth Elemental Beast was of little use in water. He happened to lack an underwater mount.


    However, the Deep Blue Crab Sovereign was too big. He probably couldn¡¯t use it for tiny streams and rivers, so he could only use it in the ocean.


    From the looks of it, my luck has been pretty good recently. I obtained such a good Mythical Companion Beast shortly after coming to Sea Return. Perhaps this is a lucky place for me, Zhou Wen thought.

 Chapter 961 - Sea God Reef

    ¡°Why are you still loitering around? What if the child gets injured? Don¡¯t you know the severity of the matter? Thankfully, a powerful human expert killed those giant crabs. Otherwise, if they were to rush into the city and something happened to the child, I¡¯d like to see how you explain it to your wife when you return.¡± The middle-aged man bumped Zhou Wen again and reprimanded him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave now,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said, knowing that he meant well.


    ¡°Stay at home and take care of the child. Children are our future,¡± the middle-aged man lectured Zhou Wen again. Before leaving, he didn¡¯t forget to remind Zhou Wen to return.


    Zhou Wen carried the child and headed for a city gate in an opposite direction. He still needed to visit Sea God Reef. His luck today seemed pretty good. He had a feeling that he might find the tiny palm symbol.


    The Sea God Reef was also known as the Dragon King Reef by the locals. Every time the tide receded, one could see a dragon-shaped reef surface above the sea like a divine dragon undulating over the sea.


    Legend had it that the reef was originally formed by a divine dragon. As there were restrictions in the world, sea dragons couldn¡¯t go ashore. However, the divine dragon¡¯s newborn child was caught by a fisherman during one of its playful escapades.


    In order to save its child, the divine dragon ignored the restrictions and rushed onto land to snatch back its child. However, because it had violated the restriction, it turned into a rock before returning to the sea. It had been left here ever since.


    This was originally just a legend. Later, after the dimensional storms, an area near Sea God Reef became a dimensional zone. Many terrifying dimensional creatures appeared inside.


    No one had really landed on Sea God Reef to this day. It was unknown if the Sea God Reef had transformed back into a divine dragon.


    Now, Sea God Reef couldn¡¯t be seen from the beach. In the shallow sea, there were many shrimp soldiers and crab generals. They were all powerful Epic existences. Legend had it that deeper in the Sea God Reef was the Turtle Minister, a powerful dimensional creature at the Mythical stage.


    Of course, no one dared to enter the deep sea, so they didn¡¯t know if these legends were true.


    There weren¡¯t many people from Sea Return City who dared enter Sea God Reed. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t encounter anyone when he arrived.


    Before coming, Zhou Wen had contacted Li Xuan, but his call didn¡¯t connect. The latter was probably in a dimensional zone.


    ¡°Young man, why aren¡¯t you listening to my advice at all? Why are you running around with a child?¡± Zhou Wen had just arrived at the periphery of the Sea God Reef dimensional zone when he heard a familiar voice.


    He turned his head and saw that it was indeed the middle-aged man from before.


    ¡°Brother, what a coincidence. Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked the middle-aged man with a smile.


    ¡°The crabs that came ashore this time might be related to Sea God Reef, so I came to investigate. I say, what¡¯s wrong with you? You¡¯re already an adult and even have a child. Why can¡¯t you weigh up the consequences?¡± the middle-aged man asked.


    ¡°This is my sister,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°Then even more reason why you shouldn¡¯t bring her to such a dangerous place. Your mother is already so old. How much effort and risk did she endure to give birth to a daughter? If anything happens, how are you going to answer your parents?¡± The middle-aged man tried his best to educate Zhou Wen.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to explain, he suddenly heard a dragon¡¯s roar coming from the sea. The two of them subconsciously turned their heads and saw that the dragon¡¯s roar was coming from the direction of Sea God Reef.


    However, as they were still in the area outside the dimensional zone, the sea was covered in fog. They couldn¡¯t see anything clearly. They could only find out by walking in.


    ¡°Quickly send your sister back. If you want to take risks, do it yourself. Don¡¯t joke around with the child¡¯s safety,¡± the middle-aged man exhorted Zhou Wen before running towards Sea God Reef.


    ¡°Brother, we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on inside. It¡¯s best you don¡¯t enter,¡± Zhou Wen reminded him out of goodwill.


    ¡°My job is to investigate the nearby dimensional zones. If there¡¯s any danger, I have to sound the warning ahead of time. Go back quickly. I have to figure out what happened here,¡± the middle-aged man said as he rushed into the dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t plan on entering and only wanted to search for the tiny palm symbol outside. However, seeing that the middle-aged man wasn¡¯t a bad person, he thought for a moment and decided to enter. If anything really happened, he could help him.


    In this day and age, there weren¡¯t many people who were willing to care about others. Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t want anything to happen to him.


    He walked into the fog with Ya¡¯er in his arms. The fog looked so thick that it couldn¡¯t be dispelled, but when Zhou Wen walked in, he saw a beautiful golden beach.


    The middle-aged man was standing on the beach, staring blankly at the sea.


    Zhou Wen traced his gaze and his eyes lit up. He saw a golden divine dragon frolicking in the seawater. Its scales seemed to be gilded as they shimmered with a mysterious glow under the sunlight.


    Zhou Wen had his fair share of grand experiences. He had seen many dragons and had killed some before. He quickly reacted and hurriedly used Grand Turtle Aura to converge his aura to the limits to prevent himself from attracting the golden dragon¡¯s attention.


    The aura on the golden dragon was comparable to the white dragon Zhou Wen had seen at the bottom of Dragon¡¯s Well. They were extremely terrifying existences, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to fight it without understanding its abilities.


    The golden dragon didn¡¯t seem to care about the insect-like humans as it swam in the sea. It seemed to be in a good mood.


    The middle-aged man snapped out of his shock. Clearly, he knew very well that he was nothing compared to the golden dragon. He slowly retreated, hoping to leave the Sea God Reef dimensional zone.


    After taking a few steps back, he saw Zhou Wen hugging Ya¡¯er. His expression changed immediately.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly gestured for him to remain silent to prevent him from alarming the golden dragon.


    Thankfully, the middle-aged man wasn¡¯t stupid. He knew that he couldn¡¯t alarm the golden dragon, so he didn¡¯t plan on speaking. He held back his tirade on Zhou Wen.


    The two of them slowly retreated. They didn¡¯t dare to retreat too quickly as they moved step by step.


    However, not long after, the golden dragon seemed to sense something and turned to look at Zhou Wen and company.


    The dragon¡¯s golden, crystalline eyes lit up when it saw them. Then, half its body extended out of the sea and stared at them.


    We¡¯re doomed! The man¡¯s heart trembled. Being targeted by such a terrifying creature, his chances of survival were slim.


    The golden dragon stared at them for a while before suddenly raising its head and letting out a shocking dragon roar.


    Accompanying the dragon roar, the originally calm surface of the sea instantly broke into turmoil. Then, Zhou Wen and the middle-aged man saw rows of strange-looking shrimp soldiers and crab generals rush up the coast.


    ¡°Leave quickly¡­¡± The middle-aged man pulled Zhou Wen and turned to rush out of the dimensional zone.


    However, when he turned his head, he saw rows of shrimp soldiers and crab generals standing behind them at some point in time. They had long sealed off their retreat.

 Chapter 962 - Dragon Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    The shrimp soldiers and crab generals looked terrifying. They stood up upright and were about two to three meters tall. Their faces were strange, and the shells on their bodies were in battle armor form. Their limbs were still as sharp as blades, giving them a ferocious and terrifying feeling. They didn¡¯t have the cuteness and charm they had on the dining table.


    However, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals only blocked their path and didn¡¯t immediately attack.


    More shrimp soldiers and crab generals had already arrived on the beach. There were thousands of them. It was unknown how many there were, but they had already surrounded the trio.


    The middle-aged man¡¯s expression was nasty as he sighed and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°I told you not to take risks with the child around, but you refused to listen. There¡¯s no chance of leaving now.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t seem to have any animosity towards us.¡± Zhou Wen found it odd. Typically, dimensional creatures would attack humans immediately, but these shrimp soldiers and crabs were in an orderly formation without showing any signs of aggression.


    ¡°Is there a need for animosity. Just a mouthful of saliva from each of them can kill us.¡± The middle-aged man summoned his Companion Beast and planned on risking his life. Then, he said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Although it¡¯s probably impossible for a chance to appear, escape anytime there¡¯s an opening once the fight breaks out.¡±


    With that said, the middle-aged man prepared to charge forward and fight the shrimp soldiers and crab generals who blocked the way.


    However, at that moment, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals suddenly parted to the side and opened up a path. A huge, black-armored turtle that was twenty to thirty meters tall walked over like a human. It carried a tusk spear.


    Looking at the strange humanoid turtle with bulging muscles and ferocious armor, the middle-aged man was alarmed. Can it be the legendary Mythical creature, Turtle Minister?


    Clang!


    The Turtle Minister walked in front of them step by step. With every step, it was as though a mountain was moving horizontally, causing the ground to tremble. It stabbed the tusk spear on its shoulder into the ground, and the weight of the spear immediately stabbed a huge hole in the beach. A shock wave surged out from the yellow sand beside it, giving it an extremely powerful aura.


    The middle-aged man gritted his teeth. Although he knew that he was no match for the creature, he couldn¡¯t just sit idle as death approached. He would kill whatever he could before dying.


    Just as he was about to engage in battle, he suddenly saw the Turtle Minister kneel down on one knee respectfully. He bowed at Zhou Wen and lowered his head as he said in a thunderous voice, ¡°My lord, my master invites you to enter the sea for a gathering. I hope you can agree. I¡¯ll be very grateful.¡±


    The middle-aged man was somewhat dumbfounded. He stared blankly at the Turtle Minister who was kneeling on one knee, almost believing that he was dreaming.


    The legendary Mythical creature, Turtle Minister, actually bowed to the young man and respectfully addressed him as lord. It was unbelievable.


    The middle-aged man looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. He was beginning to suspect that Zhou Wen was a terrifying dimensional creature disguised as a human.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your master?¡± Zhou Wen looked in the direction of the sea, but the golden dragon had vanished.


    ¡°Sir, you have already met my master. Now, my master is waiting for you in the Dragon Palace,¡± said the Turtle Minister.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll meet your master. This person has no ill intentions towards you. Let him leave,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the middle-aged man.


    ¡°We will obey your orders, my lord.¡± The Turtle Minister stood up and waved his hand. The shrimp soldiers blocking the way immediately made way.


    ¡°Dimensional creatures are ferocious and ruthless. It¡¯s best you don¡¯t take risks,¡± the middle-aged man said hesitantly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s just a Dragon Palace. It can¡¯t trap me. Go back now,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The middle-aged man wore a strange expression, but he couldn¡¯t say anything else. He turned around and headed for the exit of the dimensional zone.


    The shrimp soldiers didn¡¯t stop him as expected. They lined up and welcomed Zhou Wen into the sea like a procession.


    The shrimp soldiers and crab generals lined up on both sides, parting the seawater. It was as though a curtain had been lifted, revealing a path that led deep into the sea.


    When the middle-aged man saw Zhou Wen carry the child into the sea, he gritted his teeth and left the dimensional zone. When he arrived outside the dimensional zone, he looked back at the misty beach and sea. He felt as though he had been dreaming.


    A dimensional creature from myths would actually kneel to a human youth. I¡¯m afraid no one will believe me even if I tell them, right? The middle-aged man even wondered if he had been hallucinating.


    The Turtle Minister led the way as Zhou Wen walked deep into the sea. The underwater scenery was gorgeous and mysterious. In the seawater that resembled a curtain, there were all sorts of sea creatures wandering everywhere.


    He even saw a few beautiful women lying in clams. They were probably the legendary Clam Fairies.


    Zhou Wen had always believed that the sea dragons lived in the underwater palace. Just like the famous Crystal Palace was the residence of the East Sea Dragon King.


    However, this dragon king didn¡¯t seem too particular. When Zhou Wen arrived at the so-called Dragon Palace, he realized that it was a huge shipwreck. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about ships, nor did he know what type of shipwreck it was. However, from the scale of the ship, Zhou Wen guessed that it was likely an aircraft carrier¡ªhumanity¡¯s top marine combat unit before the dimensional storms.


    However, after the dimensional storms, the aircraft carriers, various fleets, and cruise ships had mostly been sunk by dimensional creatures.


    Even if this ship wasn¡¯t an aircraft carrier, it didn¡¯t look anything like a Dragon Palace.


    The sunken ship seemed to be protected by some force, preventing the seawater from approaching it. Zhou Wen followed the Turtle Minister to the deck. The Turtle Minister knelt on one knee again and lowered his head towards the cabin. ¡°Master, the lord is here to meet you.¡±


    ¡°My lord, please follow me.¡± A graceful clam woman walked over and bowed at Zhou Wen before extending an inviting gesture.


    Zhou Wen followed her into the cabin and quickly arrived at a relatively large cabin space.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering how the gigantic golden dragon entered the cabin, he saw a voluptuous woman wearing golden armor. She had dragon horns on her head and golden hair. She sat on the wide chair opposite him like a queen.


    However, the chair didn¡¯t look like the legendary Dragon King Coral Throne. Instead, it looked like a chair in front of a human warship¡¯s console.


    So that golden dragon is actually female. It can even take human form! Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he couldn¡¯t help but size up the dragon queen.


    The dragon queen had fair skin, but her irises were golden. She looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Are you the spokesperson of the Ancient Dragons?¡±


    ¡°What Ancient Dragons? I¡¯ve never heard of them,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you¡¯re not the representative of the Ancient Dragons, why do you have the keepsake of the Ancient Dragons?¡± the dragon queen asked with a frown.


    ¡°A keepsake of the Ancient Dragons?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback before he thought of something. He took out the dragon tooth pendant on his neck and said, ¡°Are you talking about this? This was carved by my teacher using a dragon tooth. It¡¯s just an ordinary gift, not a keepsake.¡±


    The dragon queen sized up Zhou Wen for a while. ¡°Since you have the Ancient Dragons¡¯ keepsake, no matter where you got it from, you are the representative of the Ancient Dragons. From today onwards, you are the son-in-law of my Dragon Palace.¡±

 Chapter 963 - Heavenly Happiness Token

    Zhou Wen looked at the dragon queen in surprise. He never expected her to say such a thing even in his wildest imagination.


    He was a pure human, while the dragon queen was a dimensional creature. They weren¡¯t of the same species. How could he become the son-in-law of the Dragon Palace?


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had never thought of marriage. All he could do was say, ¡°Thank you for your kindness, but I have no intention of getting married.¡±


    When the dragon queen heard Zhou Wen¡¯s answer, her expression immediately turned cold. ¡°You can only choose one of two choices¡ªdie or become the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the dragon queen with an odd expression and asked, ¡°There are plenty of humans. If you want to get married, many human men should be willing. Why must you choose me?¡±


    The dragon queen said with a cold expression, ¡°A mere human doesn¡¯t even have the right to look at me.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t I human?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    The dragon queen didn¡¯t answer. She only stared at him coldly and said, ¡°Answer me immediately. Are you willing to become the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law or do you want to die here?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t plan on getting married.¡± Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t choose to be the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law. They weren¡¯t of the same species.


    The dragon queen immediately turned hostile. ¡°Take him down.¡±


    With the order issued by the dragon queen, a shrimp soldier immediately rushed forward and thrust its shrimp-headed spear at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen used his movement technique and rushed towards the cabin¡¯s exit.


    The row of shrimp soldiers guarding the exit also thrust their spears at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen unsheathed Bamboo Blade and sliced off the shrimp-headed spear in front of him. Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er to the deck.


    The Turtle Minister was standing on the deck. His previous humble attitude was completely gone. He carried the huge spear and smashed it at Zhou Wen.


    The spear was fast and ferocious. Furthermore, it was extremely heavy. Zhou Wen guessed that his Strength probably couldn¡¯t withstand such a powerful attack, so he could only use his movement technique to dodge.


    The Turtle Minister brandished the spear like a raging wind sweeping away fallen leaves. His massive body didn¡¯t show any signs of clumsiness. Zhou Wen dodged left and right. Although he dodged the attacks, he was momentarily unable to shake off the Turtle Minister.


    The Turtle Minister is already so ferocious. That dragon queen must be even more terrifying. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t panic. He had the ability to teleport and conceal himself. Even if he couldn¡¯t defeat her, he could escape.


    This fellow is completely different from the Turtle Prime Minister in myths and legends. He¡¯s practically a super Berserker! Zhou Wen realized that the Turtle Minister was becoming more and more ferocious as the battle progressed. Furthermore, it was invulnerable. Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks didn¡¯t pose much of a threat to it, so he didn¡¯t wish to be entangled with it. He directly switched to the New Era Life Soul and used his teleportation ability to rush out of the Dragon Palace and into the sea.


    No matter how ferocious the Turtle Minister was, he couldn¡¯t catch up to Zhou Wen who had teleported. After a few teleportations, Zhou Wen had already left the Turtle Minister in the dust.


    Just as he was about to swim out of the sea, he suddenly saw a golden figure flash. It was the dragon queen in golden dragon scales. She had a hot figure, but her fists were even more explosive than her figure. With a single punch, the seawater formed a terrifying vortex under her fist, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s body to involuntarily be sucked towards her fist.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used teleportation to rush out of the terrifying fist¡¯s range, but just as he teleported out, the dragon queen appeared in front of him. The terrifying fist was about to land on Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to teleport again, but he failed to escape the dragon queen despite teleporting several times. Every time he teleported, the dragon queen would appear in front of him.


    What was even more terrifying was that Zhou Wen should have escaped the sea after teleporting so many times. Yet, instead of arriving at the beach, all he could see was endless seawater as though he was still deep in the sea.


    ¡°Where we are is known as Deep Blue. No matter how powerful you are, you won¡¯t be able to escape the sea. Agree to becoming the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law and I can still spare you,¡± the dragon queen said as she pursued Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What do you see in me? I¡¯ll change, alright?¡± Zhou Wen said speechlessly.


    ¡°Unless you die, you have to become the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law.¡± The dragon queen wasn¡¯t human. She couldn¡¯t hear the sarcasm in Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    ¡°You are a dragon and I¡¯m a human. We aren¡¯t of the same species. It¡¯s impossible for us to copulate,¡± Zhou Wen said as he dodged. At the same time, he was thinking of a way to escape.


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m copulating with you? I want you to become the Dragon Palace¡¯s son-in-law by marrying my sister. She has half a human¡¯s bloodline,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°Wait, you mean you want me to marry your sister? But I¡¯ve never seen your sister. Who¡¯s your sister?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    The dragon queen stood opposite Zhou Wen and didn¡¯t continue attacking. She took out a clam and opened it. Immediately, light shot out from the shell like a holographic projection. The light condensed into a woman¡¯s figure.


    ¡°Qin Ling!¡± Zhou Wen cried out when he saw the woman¡¯s figure.


    Without a doubt, that figure was none other than Qin Ling. It was impossible to mistake it.


    ¡°You¡¯ve met her? That¡¯s great. In that case, stay in the Dragon Palace and wait to marry my sister,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°Wait!¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand to stop the dragon queen who was about to capture him. He looked at the dragon queen and said, ¡°If your sister is really Qin Ling, she already has a fianc¨¦ and they have a good relationship. I think even if I were willing to marry her, she wouldn¡¯t be willing to marry me. I think you are mistaken. It¡¯s best you ask your sister first.¡±


    The dragon queen said coldly, ¡°Ordinary humans aren¡¯t qualified to marry my sister.¡±


    ¡°Your sister¡¯s fianc¨¦ isn¡¯t an ordinary human. He¡¯s very talented and will definitely become a top expert in the future. He¡¯s far better than me¡­¡± Zhou Wen praised Feng Qiuyun to no end.


    However, his words were sincere. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s talent was indeed unparalleled. Furthermore, he was very diligent, no less than Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter how outstanding he is. Without the recognition of the dimension¡¯s rules, it¡¯s impossible for them to marry,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°What dimension¡¯s rules? I¡¯m also a human. If he isn¡¯t acknowledged, I won¡¯t be acknowledged either, right?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled.


    ¡°You are different. You have already been acknowledged,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been acknowledged? When?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled. He didn¡¯t have a seal of approval on his head, so why did the dragon queen say that he had been acknowledged?


    The dragon queen snorted and said, ¡°You¡¯re still acting dumb. Do you think I don¡¯t recognize the Heavenly Happiness Token?¡±


    ¡°Heavenly Happiness Token?¡± Zhou Wen immediately realized something as he hurriedly took out the stone token that Emperor of Shang had given him. ¡°You mean this?¡±

 Chapter 964 - Seven Seas Dragon King

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± said the dragon queen as she nodded at the stone token.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, it¡¯s very simple. I can give it to your sister¡¯s fianc¨¦. That way, they can be legitimate,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°The Heavenly Happiness Token has already bound you. What¡¯s the point of giving it to him?¡± The dragon queen snorted coldly.


    Holy sh*t, why did Emperor of Shang give me such a token? I really don¡¯t want to get married. Zhou Wen was filled with regret. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have wanted the token.


    However, on second thought, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s fianc¨¦e was indeed not human. At the very least, she wasn¡¯t a pure human. What Feng Qiuyan saw when he was young probably wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Your Majesty, actually, it doesn¡¯t matter if there¡¯s a token. I think your sister and my schoolmate, Feng Qiuyan, are truly in love. Why do you have to separate them?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to use words to move the dragon queen.


    On careful thought, this dragon queen was considered Feng Qiuyan¡¯s sister-in-law. They would all be family in the future, so fighting her wasn¡¯t a good idea.


    ¡°Without the Heavenly Happiness Token, whatever you say is useless. If we can¡¯t use the Heavenly Happiness Token to reverse her fate and break the taboo, she can only become the concubine of the Seven Seas Dragon King,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°What Seven Seas Dragon King?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled when he heard that. He had only heard of the Four Seas Dragon King. What the hell was the Seven Seas Dragon King? Why would Qin Ling become his concubine?


    Since the dragon queen needed Zhou Wen¡¯s help, she had no choice but to patiently explain, ¡°This sea is called the Seven Dragons Sea. In fact, it¡¯s a huge dimensional zone. The Sea God Reef is only a tiny dimensional zone in it. In every dimensional zone like the Sea God Reef, there¡¯s a dragon monarch. However, the supreme ruler of the Seven Dragons Sea is the Seven Seas Dragon King. He¡¯s the supreme existence that rules over everything in the Seven Dragons Sea.¡±


    After explaining everything, Zhou Wen finally had a clearer understanding of the entire matter.


    Dragons were extremely lascivious by nature. In fact, the seven dragon monarch domains in the Seven Dragons Sea were the harem bases of the Seven Seas Dragon King. Once a new female dragon was born, they would be added to the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s harem.


    The dragon queen¡¯s father was the Dragon King of the Sea God Reef, and her mother was also a dragon. As the Seven Seas Dragon King wanted her mother for his own, the old Dragon King of the Sea God Reef fought the Seven Seas Dragon King and was ultimately killed by him.


    Her mother was also severely injured in that battle and was saved by a human. Later on, for some reason, her mother and that human had Qin Ling before she passed away.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King didn¡¯t kill them all and made the dragon queen the dragon monarch of the Sea God Reef. However, the Seven Seas Dragon King didn¡¯t do it out of goodwill. He was waiting for the dragon queen and Qin Ling to grow up. Once they grew up, they had to become Seven Seas Dragon King concubines.


    ¡°Have you never thought of killing the Seven Seas Dragon King?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The Seven Seas Dragon King is a Terror-grade existence. Even if the seven dragon monarchs join forces, they are no match for him,¡± the dragon queen said indifferently.


    Terror-grade? Zhou Wen felt his head ache when he heard that. Banana Fairy¡¯s evolution hadn¡¯t been completed, so he didn¡¯t have a good solution to deal with Terror-grade existences.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you escape inland with your sister? The world is so huge. It¡¯s impossible for the Seven Seas Dragon King to find you, right?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    The dragon queen nodded and said, ¡°I think so too. However, we are limited by the dimensional zones. It¡¯s impossible for us to leave the sea. I can¡¯t even leave the dimensional zone. My sister¡¯s partial human bloodline allows her to leave the dimensional zone, but she can¡¯t be too far from the sea. Unless¡­¡±


    With that said, the dragon queen didn¡¯t continue as she looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood what she meant and said, ¡°The Heavenly Happiness Token on me can remove the dimensional zones¡¯ restrictions on her, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s why the person she marries can only be you. She can use the Heavenly Happiness Token¡¯s power to escape the dimensional zone¡¯s restrictions on her,¡± the dragon queen said.


    However, Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°I only have one Heavenly Happiness Token. Even if I can save Qin Ling, I can¡¯t save you, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll handle my own matters. You just need to marry Qin Ling and take her inland,¡± the dragon queen said.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t do it, you¡¯ll die,¡± the dragon queen said with a cold expression.


    Zhou Wen looked at the dragon queen and continued, ¡°It would be okay if I didn¡¯t know about this, but now that I do, I¡¯ll feel terrible if I watch the tragedy happen to you and your sister without doing anything. If you are willing, please let me help you kill the Seven Seas Dragon King and save your sister and the entire Seven Dragons Sea.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that this might be a good opportunity. He might be able to obtain immense benefits while the Seven Dragons Sea was in chaos.


    The dragon queen looked at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at a fool. ¡°Do you know what a Terror-grade existence is? It¡¯s an existence that can kill you thousands of times with one finger.¡±


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve seen a few of them. They aren¡¯t as terrifying as you make them out to be. If you believe me, give me some more time and I¡¯ll definitely be able to save you.¡± Zhou Wen thought about how he could convince the dragon queen to become his spy in the Seven Dragons Sea.


    ¡°Forget about giving you more time; it¡¯s impossible for a human like you to defeat the Seven Seas Dragon King. Besides, there¡¯s no time. According to the dragons¡¯ standards, Qin Ling will be an adult in six months,¡± said the dragon queen.


    ¡°What about you?¡± Zhou Wen asked the dragon queen.


    ¡°Less than a month.¡± The dragon queen hesitated for a moment before answering Zhou Wen¡¯s question.


    ¡°Less than a month?¡± Zhou Wen pondered.


    It was clearly very difficult to advance to the Terror stage. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if Banana Fairy could complete her advancement in a month.


    ¡°Stop dreaming. There¡¯s only one path for you now. Marry Qin Ling and take her inland so that the Seven Seas Dragon King can never find her,¡± the dragon queen said.


    ¡°If I want to take anyone away, you should be the one taken away.¡± Zhou Wen meant that Qin Ling still had six months, while the dragon queen only had a month left. He naturally had to rescue her first. They could still stall for time for Qin Ling to think of a solution.


    1


    However, these words sounded different to the dragon queen. She looked at Zhou Wen in a daze.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think there was anything wrong with his words, nor did he notice the dragon queen¡¯s abnormality. He was now thinking that this might be a huge opportunity.


    1


    It was very difficult to kill a Terror-grade dimensional creature, but with the help of a traitor, there might still be a chance.


    According to the dragon queen, the seven dragon monarchs of the Seven Dragons Sea probably didn¡¯t have a good impression of the Seven Seas Dragon King. They might even hate him to the core. If he could incite internal strife, he might have a chance to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    It was unrealistic to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King in its Terror form, but a Terror-grade existence wasn¡¯t always in a Terror form. If he could take advantage of it, he might not need to wait for Banana Fairy to complete her evolution.


    ¡°You should have a name, right? How should I address you?¡± Zhou Wen asked the dragon queen.

 Chapter 965 - Miya

    ¡°Miya,¡± the dragon queen answered.


    ¡°Miya, taking Qin Ling away actually isn¡¯t a good idea. The dimensional zones will definitely be lifted in the future. When the time comes, will the Seven Seas Dragon King let her off? I¡¯m afraid the hatred will only deepen when the time comes. If she¡¯s caught, it will be even worse. The only solution is to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King. Only then can you and your sister obtain true liberation,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sincere expression. ¡°We can first deal with the Seven Seas Dragon King. Can you tell me what kind of dimensional creature the Seven Seas Dragon King is?¡±


    ¡°Unless I can advance to the Terror grade, there¡¯s no hope.¡± Although Miya said that, she still informed Zhou Wen about the situation with the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    As Miya¡¯s father had once risked his life against the Seven Seas Dragon King, Miya had personally witnessed the battle. She knew the abilities of the Seven Seas Dragon King quite well.


    However, even Miya didn¡¯t understand some of the abilities used by the Seven Seas Dragon King. Therefore, when she explained them, some of them were just in narrative form.


    According to Miya, the Seven Seas Dragon King didn¡¯t seem to be a divine dragon in the traditional sense. It had seven dragon heads and its body was huge. Every dragon head had unparalleled strength.


    Furthermore, as long as one was grabbed by the Seven Seas Dragon King, it would be difficult for them to escape.


    Back then, Miya¡¯s father¡¯s combat strength was extremely high. With the accolade as Golden Dragon King, he was a top-notch existence in the Seven Dragon Seas thanks to having the strongest combat strength. The Golden Dragon Body was almost immortal.


    However, after being grabbed by the Seven Seas Dragon King, the Golden Dragon Body was unable to withstand the terrifying power. In the end, Miya watched as her father¡¯s Golden Dragon Body was devoured by the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    ¡°Does every dragon head of the Seven Sea Dragon King have different attributes? For example, wind, fire, thunder, lightning, etc?¡± Zhou Wen thought of Orochi he had seen before.


    ¡°No. The powers of the seven dragon heads are the same. They can spew out a terrifying liquid. Once one is touched by the liquid, their bodies will become immobile. Their only fate is to wait to be slaughtered,¡± said Miya.


    ¡°What¡¯s its Terror form?¡± Zhou Wen asked in detail.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see it. When it used the Terror form, the sea produced huge waves. All I could see were terrifying dragons tumbling in the waves. I couldn¡¯t see its full appearance,¡± Miya answered.


    ¡°From what you said, if you are willing to join forces with me, we might have a chance of killing the Seven Seas Dragon King. If you can contact the other six dragon monarchs and get their help, the chances are even higher,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t even defeat me. What makes you think you can kill the Seven Seas Dragon King?¡± Although Miya still retorted, she didn¡¯t say that Zhou Wen was delusional for some reason.


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m not your match? I¡¯m just unwilling to use my true strength to harm you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Miya looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Then show me your true strength. Unless you really have the strength to convince me, I definitely won¡¯t let Qin Ling take such a risk.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that Miya¡¯s combat strength was powerful. Her Strength and Constitution seemed to be in no way inferior to Tyrant Behemoth. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to defeat her.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was known as the man with the most Companion Beasts and they were also of the highest quality on Earth.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth who landed in front of Miya. He looked at Miya and asked, ¡°Do you know what this is?¡±


    ¡°Tyrant Behemoth. I¡¯ve seen it on the rankings. So its owner is you.¡± Miya was slightly surprised. She never expected Zhou Wen to have a powerful Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth.


    However, although Tyrant Behemoth was powerful, Miya didn¡¯t believe that she was inferior to Tyrant Behemoth. Even if Zhou Wen was Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s master, he definitely didn¡¯t have the ability to challenge the Seven Seas Dragon King. Even she and Turtle Minister couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Do you believe me now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Although Tyrant Behemoth is strong, it might not be able to defeat me,¡± said Miya.


    ¡°Then, what if we add on these?¡± Zhou Wen began summoning his Companion Beasts. He summoned the three Demon Blood True Dragons, Light Concealment Sword, and Deep Blue Crab Sovereign.


    When Miya saw that Zhou Wen had so many Mythical Companion Beasts, she couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed. She began to believe Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    ¡°No matter how many ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts there are, it¡¯s impossible for them to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King. The Terror grade is an existence on a different level. It¡¯s not something that can be defeated with numbers alone,¡± said Miya.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just quantity. There¡¯s also quality.¡± Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon.


    ¡°Torch Dragon!¡± Miya recognized Torch Dragon at a glance.


    Dragons were probably dimensional creatures with the most branches. There were almost countless dragon-type creatures. Some dragons weren¡¯t very strong, and they couldn¡¯t even reach the Mythical stage.


    However, some dragons were terrifyingly strong and could even fight Calamity-grade existences.


    Torch Dragon was undoubtedly one of the most terrifying existences among dragon-type creatures. As a dragon, Miya naturally recognized it.


    ¡°Unfortunately, it¡¯s still a youngling. If it can reach adulthood and transform into its Terror form, it might really be able to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King,¡± said Miya in disappointment after carefully observing Torch Dragon.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s still young, it¡¯s still Torch Dragon. Its Bright Torch Vision World should still be of some use against the Seven Seas Dragon King. Furthermore, we don¡¯t need to fight it head-on. As long as you tell me the details of the Seven Seas Dragon King, I can think of a way to assassinate it without it transforming into its Terror form¡­¡± Zhou Wen continued persuading Miya.


    ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous. There¡¯s almost no chance of success,¡± said Miya after some thought.


    ¡°As long as you believe me, we can think of a solution. I¡¯ll rescue you and your sister from the sea of bitterness¡­¡± Zhou Wen knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to make Miya believe him.


    After all, they were facing the Terror-grade Seven Seas Dragon King. However, Zhou Wen needed Miya¡¯s help, so he could only patiently win her trust.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± Miya asked after some hesitation.


    ¡°Do you think we can convince the other six dragon monarchs?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Absolutely impossible,¡± answered Miya with certainty.


    ¡°Why? Aren¡¯t they also oppressed by Seven Seas Dragon Kings? Don¡¯t they want to resist?¡± Zhou Wen said in disbelief.


    ¡°That¡¯s if you have the ability to resist. Other than me, the other dragon monarchs won¡¯t risk their lives to resist,¡± Miya said with certainty.


    ¡°In that case, tell me the situation of the other six dragon monarchs and their dimensional zones. Perhaps I can think of a solution.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to obtain as much information as possible.


    Miya explained the situation in the Seven Dragon Seas in detail to Zhou Wen, making him sigh at how good it felt to have a spy providing information. He didn¡¯t need to go anywhere to understand the situation in the Seven Dragon Seas clearly.

 Chapter 966 - Dragon Pearl Companion Egg

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Zhou Wen figured out the situation in the Seven Dragons Sea, he realized that they weren¡¯t proper dragon monarchs.


    Miya was already considered the most normal dragon in the Seven Dragons Sea. According to her, the dragon monarchs in the other six dimensional zones didn¡¯t have true dragon forms.


    Some looked like crocodiles, some looked like lobsters, and one looked like a whale. However, because all of them had some dragon blood in them, they called themselves dragon monarchs.


    1


    That Seven Seas Dragon King shouldn¡¯t be a purebred dragon king. In Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, a purebred dragon king had to be like the white dragon in Dragon¡¯s Well.


    If it were any other time, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have gone to unknown dimensional zones to kill the dimensional creatures. However, with Miya¡¯s intelligence, things were different.


    As long as Miya¡¯s information was correct, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to rush into the dimensional zones to kill the dragon monarchs. After all, it was impossible for those single Mythical creatures to be a match for his divine pet lineup.


    ¡°Do you think that if we were to fight the Seven Seas Dragon King to the death, those dragon monarchs would help him and become our enemy?¡± Zhou Wen slowly got more information from Miya.


    ¡°If the Seven Seas Dragon King summons them, they wouldn¡¯t dare disobey orders,¡± said Miya.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get rid of the trouble first. Wait for my good news in the Dragon Palace,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to leave.


    ¡°Stop,¡± Miya called out.


    Does that not work? Zhou Wen believed that Miya had seen through his thoughts.


    ¡°You are a human after all. If you walk in the sea, you will definitely be discovered. Here¡¯s a dragon pearl. Take it with you. As long as you aren¡¯t close to a Mythical creature, it will be difficult to discover you. It also provides a certain level of water warding.¡± Miya handed a pearl to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°How can I accept this?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the bead and was somewhat embarrassed to take it.


    He only wanted to use Miya¡¯s intelligence to achieve his goal of killing monsters. He felt somewhat embarrassed that Miya would give him something.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing; you are risking your life for us sisters after all.¡± Miya clearly believed that Zhou Wen really wanted to help them.


    Zhou Wen blushed slightly. Although he did wish to help Miya and Qin Ling, he mostly wanted to use Miya¡¯s intelligence to kill dimensional creatures to obtain more resources.


    ¡°Ahem, alright then. I¡¯ll take it. I¡¯ll return it to you in the future.¡± Zhou Wen took the dragon pearl and realized that it was a Companion Egg.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be surprised. This is something my father left behind after he died. Since you want to help us sisters, let it aid you. If you have the ability, you can hatch it and use it to fight the Seven Seas Dragon King,¡± said Miya.


    Zhou Wen was really embarrassed as a result. Miya seemed to completely trust him. It made Zhou Wen feel uneasy that she was willing to give him such a thing.


    He had originally planned on helping as much as he could. All he needed to do was do his best. If he really wasn¡¯t a match for him, he could retreat.


    However, seeing that Miya seemed to have placed all her hopes on him, he felt a little uncomfortable running away if he really couldn¡¯t kill the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    You trust people too easily. If you were to encounter someone evil in the future, you might even end up helping them count the money they received from selling you. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly and put away the dragon pearl Companion Egg before leaving the Sea God Reef dimensional zone.


    I should let Feng Qiuyan know about this matter first. Otherwise, I won¡¯t be able to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King. Once the Seven Seas Dragon King takes revenge, I wonder if it will implicate the entire Feng family because of Qin Ling. Zhou Wen decided to return to the Feng family first. After telling Feng Qiuyan about this matter, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to head to the other six dimensional zones in the Seven Dragons Sea.


    Just as Zhou Wen left Sea God Reef, he bumped into someone. The person was walking in the direction of Sea God Reef and was taken aback when he saw Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Are you going to the Dragon Palace?¡± Zhou Wen asked her. This person was naturally Qin Ling. She clearly wanted to go to the Sea God Reef.


    ¡°What Dragon Palace? I just want to go to Sea God Reef to hunt dimensional creatures,¡± Qin Ling said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve met Miya,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Qin Ling¡¯s expression immediately changed as she bit her lip and stared at Zhou Wen. ¡°Will you tell Qiuyan about me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered with certainty.


    Qin Ling¡¯s pupils immediately constricted as she stared intently at Zhou Wen. A terrifying aura rose from her body as her originally black pupils turned golden. Even her skin began to show faint golden scales. Her strength was clearly nothing like an Epic being.


    She had half a Golden Dragon bloodline. Apart from the Epic strength of humans, there was an even more terrifying power hidden in her body.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if a mixed-blood like her could inherit all the power of the Golden Dragon. Even if she couldn¡¯t, she was much stronger than an ordinary human¡¯s body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell Qiuyan about this,¡± Qin Ling said through gritted teeth as she stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°He has the right to know.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Qin Ling without backing down.


    The killing intent in Qin Ling¡¯s eyes burned as she slowly raised her palm. Her nails also turned pale gold like sharp daggers.


    However, in the end, Qin Ling still lowered her hand and her body gradually returned to her original human appearance.


    ¡°Leave. You can tell Qiuyan that I won¡¯t return.¡± As Qin Ling spoke, she turned around and walked towards the Sea God Reef dimensional zone.


    ¡°Would you be willing to give up just like that? Why don¡¯t you give it a try? Perhaps Feng Qiuyan doesn¡¯t mind,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at Qin Ling¡¯s back.


    ¡°How can he not mind? I¡¯m not a human, but a monster. No one can accept a monster like me as their wife. He suffered a fright back when he saw my true body during his childhood. Why should I frighten him a second time?¡± As Qin Ling spoke, she charged into the Sea God Reef.


    Zhou Wen watched as Qin Ling¡¯s figure vanished into the fog, only to hear someone sigh nearby. ¡°I never expected Little Yanyan¡¯s fianc¨¦e to really be nonhuman.¡±


    Li Xuan walked over. He had seen the message Zhou Wen had left him. He had originally come to look for Zhou Wen, but he never expected to hear their conversation.


    ¡°You are better with words. I¡¯ll leave this matter of telling Feng Qiuyan to you,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°I never like to say things that make people sad. It¡¯s best you say it yourself.¡± Li Xuan shook his head in rejection.


    ¡°It might not be a bad thing,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked in the direction of the Feng family. Some things had to be faced eventually. Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that Feng Qiuyan was already mentally prepared.


    The two of them returned to the Feng family residence and found Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°Coach, you were the one who killed the giant crab at sea, right? Now, all of Sea Return is discussing your deeds. They want to know who you are¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about this in the future. Is there a place where we can talk in private? I have something to tell you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Come with me.¡± Feng Qiuyan quickly took the two of them to a small building. Then, he looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Coach, tell me directly.¡±


    ¡°Qin Ling isn¡¯t human. She has half the bloodline of a dimensional creature,¡± Zhou Wen said directly.

 Chapter 967 - Seven Seas Dragon King

    ¡°Little Yanyan, you don¡¯t have to be sad. Actually¡­¡± Li Xuan wanted to comfort Feng Qiuyan, but Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t show an expression that needed his comfort.


    ¡°What¡¯s the other half of her bloodline?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked calmly.


    ¡°Sea God Reef¡¯s Golden Dragon King bloodline,¡± Zhou Wen answered Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°I see. My memories back then were indeed correct. I saw strange horns growing from her head and scales appearing on her body,¡± Feng Qiuyan muttered to himself.


    ¡°When I returned, I met Qin Ling. She told me to tell you that she has gone to Sea God Reef and will never return again.¡± Zhou Wen conveyed Qin Ling¡¯s words to Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°That¡¯s good too.¡± Feng Qiuyan nodded slightly.


    Zhou Wen then told Feng Qiuyan the full story about the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    ¡°What¡¯s that Seven Seas Dragon King? I don¡¯t care if it hoards the monsters in the sea, but it actually wants to target a human beauty. Damn it, I can¡¯t tolerate it. Old Zhou, count me in if you want to take down that Seven Seas Dragon King,¡± Li Xuan said.


    However, Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t say a word. He turned around and left the building, but he didn¡¯t leave the Feng family residence.


    ¡°From the looks of it, Little Yanyan suffered quite a heavy blow,¡± Li Xuan said with a sigh.


    ¡°People have to suffer some blows to grow. It¡¯s not a bad thing,¡± Zhou Wen said thoughtfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid the blow is too great.¡± Li Xuan shook his head slightly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sentimental here. Aren¡¯t you going to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King? What are you waiting for? Go and prepare. We are about to set off,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Are we really going?¡± Li Xuan asked with widened eyes.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you couldn¡¯t tolerate it?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°I was just responding to the mood back then. That¡¯s an old Terror-grade monster. Didn¡¯t you say that only a Terror-grade can kill a Terror-grade. The two of us aren¡¯t at the Terror-grade. Wouldn¡¯t we be sending ourselves to our deaths if we went?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Enough, we¡¯re just going to deal with the other ordinary dragon monarchs. We aren¡¯t going to kill the Seven Seas Dragon King.¡± Zhou Wen rolled his eyes at him.


    The two of them left the Feng family residence and headed for the seaside again. When they arrived at the seaside, Li Xuan looked back and couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly disappointed when he didn¡¯t see Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± In an area without anyone else, Zhou Wen summoned Deep Blue Crab Sovereign and got Li Xuan to sit with him.


    A gravity bubble appeared around the Deep Blue Crab Sovereign¡¯s body. A hemispherical bubble was hooked onto its back, protecting Zhou Wen and company, preventing them from being hit by the seawater.


    The Deep Blue Crab Sovereign wasn¡¯t slow at all. It moved in water as though it was flying. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t walk horizontally. It walked forward normally like a spider.


    The first dimensional zone Zhou Wen planned on heading to was known as Undersea Blue Hole to humans. The sea surface appeared to be an extraordinary blue color. It was very different from the surrounding seawater, as though it was a blue hole.


    In fact, the seawater there was the same color as the surrounding seawater. The difference was that there was a bottomless cave at the bottom of the sea.


    As it was underwater and it was very difficult for humans to fight underwater for long periods of time, very few humans entered the Undersea Blue Hole.


    According to Miya¡¯s intelligence, there was a huge sea snake in the Undersea Blue Hole dimensional zone. The sea snake was extremely poisonous. As it had a sliver of a dragon¡¯s bloodline, it also claimed to be a Sea Dragon King.


    In the Undersea Blue Hole, there were a large number of poisonous sea snakes. The toxicity of these sea snakes was very intense. Once someone¡¯s body was injured, the snake venom would enter their bodies through their wounds. It was doubtful many humans could withstand it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Poison stat was very high. Furthermore, he cultivated a Poison-type Essence Energy Skill, so he wasn¡¯t afraid of poison.


    Li Xuan had an indestructible body and with the carapace that had fused with Alpha, he probably could shrug off ordinary sea snakes. He only needed to be careful against the Sea Dragon King.


    However, Zhou Wen had already learned of the Sea Dragon King¡¯s weakness from Miya. He had brought Li Xuan here because he wanted to use his strength to safely finish off the Sea Dragon King.


    Although Zhou Wen could handle it himself, it was relatively more troublesome without help. After all, reality wasn¡¯t a game. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for any accidents to happen.


    ¡°In a while, after we enter the Undersea Blue Hole, leave the ordinary sea snakes to me. You don¡¯t have to worry. When the Sea Dragon King comes out, I¡¯ll hold it back. Then, you can release the Ice Silkworm and use it to lower its temperature.¡± Zhou Wen explained his plan to Li Xuan.


    The Sea Dragon King didn¡¯t have any natural enemies in the water. The only thing it was afraid of was the cold. If the temperature was too low, its body would turn stiff.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any Mythical ice-type pets, so he could only rely on Li Xuan¡¯s Ice Silkworm.


    When he arrived at the entrance of the Undersea Blue Hole, Zhou Wen looked around and couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed when he didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol.


    Quite a number of sea snakes had already appeared near the blue hole. These sea snakes looked rather odd. Their bodies were flat and looked similar to fish, but they were more than ten meters long.


    Furthermore, their bodies were blue in color. It was difficult to discover them when they melded into the environment.


    When the sea snakes approached, there was no need for Zhou Wen to do anything. The Crab Sovereign brandished its crab pincers and snipped the sea snakes into two. No sea snakes could approach them.


    After entering the blue hole, a large number of sea snakes appeared in Zhou Wen and company¡¯s line of sight. They watched as countless sea snakes twisted and squirmed in the seawater. The scene left them shuddering.


    Crab Sovereign spewed out a large number of gravity bubbles. The moment the sea snakes encountered the gravity bubbles, they were sucked into them. Then, as though gravity had lost its effect on them, they floated in the bubbles, unable to rush out.


    There were many sea snakes, but there were even more gravity bubbles. A large number of sea snakes were trapped by the gravity bubbles, unable to rush over.


    Suddenly, a blue-scaled, nearly hundred-meter-long, strange sea snake with a horn on its head rushed out from the depths of the blue hole. Its eyes were filled with anger as it stared coldly and sinisterly at the Crab Sovereign.


    ¡°How ugly. That Seven Seas Dragon King sure is hardcore. To think that he can even lay his hands on a harem of this quality.¡± Li Xuan couldn¡¯t help but criticize when he saw the Sea Dragon King¡¯s appearance.


    ¡°They are dragons. They have different standards of beauty from us.¡± Zhou Wen watched the Sea Dragon King rush over and wasn¡¯t in a rush to attack. All he did was order the Crab Sovereign to continue spewing out the gravity bubbles.


    ¡°Thankfully, Qin Ling isn¡¯t this fellow¡¯s sister,¡± Li Xuan said with a strange expression.


    The Sea Dragon King was unbridled as his body tore through the gravity bubble. He opened his terrifying snake mouth and was about to swallow both the humans and crab.


    The Crab Sovereign exerted all its strength as it raised its pincers and clamp down on its jawbone. However, the Sea Dragon King¡¯s strength was just too great. It forcefully pressed down the Crab Sovereign¡¯s pincers. The latter was no match for the Sea Dragon King.


    Zhou Wen summoned Sword Pill which transformed into a stream of light that stabbed at the Sea Dragon King¡¯s eyes. At the same time, he signaled Li Xuan with his eyes.


    Without any hesitation, Li Xuan summoned the two Ice Silkworms. While the Sea Dragon King was distracted by the Sword Pill, the male and female Ice Silkworms landed on the Sea Dragon King¡¯s body from both sides and attached to it like leeches.

 Chapter 968 - Unexpected Gain

    Translator: CKtalon


    The two Ice Silkworms stuck to the Sea Dragon King¡¯s body. The Sea Dragon King immediately shivered and his actions became unnatural as he struggled to get the Ice Silkworms off him.


    However, the Crab Sovereign held onto its head tightly. The Sea Dragon King was momentarily unable to escape, so its body became increasingly stiff.


    What powerful Ice Silkworms. Zhou Wen could see with his naked eye that frost was spreading on the Sea Dragon King¡¯s scales. The Sea Dragon King¡¯s body was turning stiffer.


    Before long, the gigantic Sea Dragon King lost its combat ability. It was as though it was in hibernation as its body froze.


    Indeed, it¡¯s better to have a restraining effect when killing monsters. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to attack. As the Sea Dragon King couldn¡¯t retaliate, the Crab Sovereign finished it off.


    The two Ice Silkworms were still stuck to the Sea Snake King¡¯s body. The blood in the Sea Snake King¡¯s body had already frozen. After a while, the Crab Sovereign¡¯s two giant pincers finally split the Sea Snake King¡¯s body into two, but he only found a stat crystal.


    ¡°How stingy. He didn¡¯t even drop a Companion Egg,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily.


    ¡°How can Companion Eggs drop so easily?¡± Zhou Wen was already used to it. After putting away the stat crystal, he glanced at the bottomless blue hole and thought for a moment. ¡°Since we¡¯re here, let¡¯s go down and take a look.¡±


    The Crab Sovereign led the three of them deeper into the blue hole. There were many sea snakes around, but with the Crab Emperor¡¯s gravity bubble opening up a path for them, no sea snake could approach them.


    ¡°This blue hole is so deep. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s about to reach the other side of Earth.¡± After diving for a while, the Crab Sovereign still failed to reach the bottom of the blue hole.


    The blue hole seemed bottomless. They had dived so deep that even the sea snakes didn¡¯t appear again.


    Most of the sea snakes lived in snake caves on the rock walls, but at this depth, even the snake caves couldn¡¯t be seen.


    ¡°There seems to be something down there?¡± Li Xuan leaned on the Crab Sovereign and looked down as though he had seen something.


    Zhou Wen also looked over and indeed, he saw a swath of crystalline jade-blue below, as though the crystal cave was glowing.


    However, even crystals needed light to show any reflection. It was naturally impossible for light to exist in such a deep sea. The glowing crystals were definitely extraordinary.


    As the Crab Sovereign dived deeper, the blue light gradually became clearer. Only then did the two realize that it was a thick glacier.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Isn¡¯t the Sea Dragon King afraid of the cold? Why would it live in such a cold place?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°There must be a reason. Perhaps the secret is in the glacier. The ice definitely wouldn¡¯t glow by itself. There might be something inside,¡± Zhou Wen said as he sized up the glacier.


    ¡°Could it be a snake egg produced by the Sea Dragon King? If it¡¯s a snake egg, perhaps I can tame it like a Gu.¡± Li Xuan reached his hand into the water and touched the glacier. He was immediately given a fright. The glacier was extremely cold. Just touching it nearly froze his fingers.


    ¡°The Sea Dragon King is so afraid of the cold, so how can it lay its eggs here? At such a low temperature, I don¡¯t think the Sea Dragon King would dare approach because of the cold, right?¡± Zhou Wen ordered the Crab Sovereign to dig the ice.


    The Crab Sovereign was very resistant to cold. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, it brandished its huge crab pincers and quickly cracked open the glacier.


    More and more ice blocks were dug out as Zhou Wen and company finally saw what was glowing with blue light.


    ¡°Is that a tooth? The Sea Dragon King¡¯s tooth?¡± The thing that emitted blue light from the glacier was a meter-long blue tooth that looked like it was carved from ice.


    ¡°It¡¯s obviously not.¡± Zhou Wen got the Crab Sovereign to grab the tooth. After grabbing it, he immediately felt a chill from the tooth. Almost instantly, Zhou Wen¡¯s hands froze.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen hurriedly threw the tooth onto the Crab Sovereign¡¯s back and couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed. With his physical strength and Essence Energy, ice immediately formed on him. The coldness emitted from the tooth was no less than a strike from a Mythical creature.


    ¡°Could this thing be¡­¡± Zhou Wen thought of a possibility.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Typical dimensional creatures, even Mythical creatures, will rot and disintegrate after death. Only a very small number of corpses can be stored for a long period of time, but it¡¯s impossible for them to maintain the strength back when they were alive¡ªunless it¡¯s the corpse of a Terror-grade creature. A body in its Terror form can preserve Terror-grade power. It won¡¯t rot and disintegrate so easily,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°In that case, this is a tooth of a Terror form? What kind of creature is it? It can¡¯t be the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s, right?¡± Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tooth and said, ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. The Sea Dragon King is clearly afraid of the cold, but there¡¯s such a tooth here. I think it¡¯s unlikely that the Sea Dragon King placed it here. Perhaps the Seven Seas Dragon King placed it here to suppress it.¡±


    ¡°Who cares who placed it? Since it¡¯s good stuff, let¡¯s take it. What do you think this thing is for? Can it be made into a weapon?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t know much about the Terror grade. I just heard that it is the true Mythical stage. Perhaps the materials obtained from a Terror-grade creature are useful.¡± Zhou Wen put on the Dragon Scale Armor and forcefully threw the ice-blue tooth into the Chaos Bead.


    Although it only took a short period of time, the dragon scales on his hands had produced a layer of frost.


    1


    He got Crab Sovereign to dig deeper into the glacier, but it didn¡¯t find anything. This wasn¡¯t unexpected because other than the tooth, there was no more glow in the glacier.


    Seeing that there was nothing else in the blue hole, Zhou Wen ordered Crab Sovereign to lead them out.


    ¡°Where are we going next?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Evil Dragon Island. I heard from Miya that there¡¯s a dragon monarch that looks like a crocodile there. Its defense and combat strength are extremely shocking. Furthermore, it¡¯s not afraid of the cold. The Ice Silkworm will be useless this time, but I¡¯ve already thought of a way to kill it. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult,¡± Zhou Wen said as he ordered Crab Sovereign to head towards Evil Dragon Island.


    No human dared to approach such an island. Even the great devils overseas wouldn¡¯t casually enter such a place.


    Using Miya¡¯s information, Zhou Wen and company easily found Evil Dragon Island and Dragon King.


    It indeed looked like a crocodile, but it wasn¡¯t completely like a crocodile. Its body was much longer than a crocodile, and it had horns on its head. It could barely be considered a dragon.


    Miya had explained that the dragon was afraid of poison. Zhou Wen secretly used the Invisibility Cloak and stabbed it in the eye. When it opened its mouth in pain, he threw the poisonous hair formed from Fatal Temptation into its mouth.


    Soon, the Evil Dragon died. There was nothing there when they tore open its corpse.


    ¡°This fellow is even stingier than the previous one,¡± Li Xuan said as his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Old Zhou, do you think there¡¯s a tooth here?¡±

 Chapter 969 - The Remnants of Terror Creatures

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°No way?¡± Zhou Wen found it unlikely.


    ¡°Let¡¯s search. Who knows?¡± Li Xuan began searching the dragon¡¯s lair.


    Zhou Wen originally thought that there was no hope, but to his surprise, Li Xuan found something.


    ¡°There really is one. Look here. There¡¯s also the same ice as the bottom of the blue cave.¡± Li Xuan¡¯s voice sounded from inside the dragon lair.


    Zhou Wen went over to take a look and indeed, he realized that there was a thick layer of ice in the stone cave. There was an ice-blue glow inside.


    ¡°That does seem to be the case.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he got Crab Sovereign to dig up the ice layer. At the same time, he said, ¡°If there¡¯s also the same tooth here, it means this matter won¡¯t be that simple.¡±


    Li Xuan nodded. ¡°The Sea Dragon King is afraid of the cold, so it¡¯s possible that the tooth was put there to suppress it, but this Evil Dragon isn¡¯t afraid of the cold. There¡¯s no reason to put one here.¡±


    With that said, Li Xuan¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°By the way, didn¡¯t you say that the seven dragon monarchs are the concubines of the Seven Seas Dragon King? Do you think this tooth is a token the Seven Seas Dragon King gave to his concubines? Something similar to the tooth having the same authority and presence as the dragon?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? Let¡¯s wait until we dig it out.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head helplessly.


    Soon, the Crab Sovereign dug out something else. It wasn¡¯t the tooth they had imagined. Instead, it was a bone that looked like a rib. However, it had a broken section. It didn¡¯t look complete.


    Although it was a bone, it was similar to the tooth. They were both ice-blue and crystalline. It was obvious that they originated from the same creature.


    ¡°The Seven Seas Dragon King probably wouldn¡¯t remove his rib to use as a love token, right?¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the rib.


    ¡°From the looks of it, the tooth and rib are unlikely to belong to the Seven Seas Dragon King. However, apart from the Seven Seas Dragon King, are there any other Terror-grade creatures in the Seven Seas? Why are the things from its body in the two dragon monarchs¡¯ nests?¡± Li Xuan stroked his chin in thought.


    ¡°We can go to the other dragon monarchs to take a look. Perhaps there¡¯s something similar in their lairs. If that¡¯s the case, it will really be interesting,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I heard that deities were born because of humanity¡¯s fear. Therefore, as long as human fear remains, deities are immortal existences that will never die. That¡¯s also the origins for the Terror grade.¡±


    Zhou Wen paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°I don¡¯t know if the legend is real or fake, but from the looks of it, there¡¯s still a terrifying Terror form power on the tooth and bone. If we can really find all its bones, do you think it will suddenly revive?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t scare me. If we ended up killed after going through great trouble to find the bones and teeth, wouldn¡¯t that make us look stupid?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°If there really are more parts in the other dragon monarchs¡¯ lairs, do you think we should dig them up or not?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    ¡°We dig. Of course we have to dig. These Terror form teeth and bones must be extremely high in value. If every dragon monarch has some Terror form item, we just won¡¯t dig them all out. I often see on television that those devils who want to revive need to find their bodies. As long as their bodies aren¡¯t complete, they can¡¯t be revived,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care. At most, he would put them all into the chaos space.


    Even if the owner of the teeth and bones really revived, they wouldn¡¯t be able to cause any trouble in the chaos space.


    If something major really happened, Zhou Wen could get the owner of the bones to meet the ice maiden who was trapped in the Chaos Bead and let them fight to the death.


    Therefore, the two of them went to another few dimensional zones and avoided some terrifying taboos along the way. Soon, the two of them killed two more dragon monarchs. In the end, they really found something similar at the two dragon monarchs¡¯ lairs.


    They found a crystal-like strand of hair in one lair and a broken horn in another. They were also cold and crystalline. It likely originated from the same creature as the tooth and bone from before.


    ¡°Why do I feel like we are villain minions trying to revive a demon king?¡± Li Xuan said with an odd expression.


    ¡°How can we be villains? When villains revive a demon king, they have righteous protagonists who try their best to stop them. How can there be villains as successful as us?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    2


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Li Xuan thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Where are we going next?¡±


    ¡°The closest dimensional zone is the Deathwater Zone. It will be troublesome there. The seawater in the Deathwater Zone is affected by the dimensional zone. Any creature that enters will sink. Even if they can fly, it¡¯s useless inside. All they can do is constantly sink. To kill the lobster-like dragon monarch inside, the greatest obstacle is the Deathwater Zone itself,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You are good at this. Ya¡¯er and I will wait for you outside,¡± Li Xuan said.


    When they arrived near the Deathwater Zone, Zhou Wen got Crab Sovereign to stay outside to protect Li Xuan and Ya¡¯er while he put on his Invisibility Cloak and entered the Deathwater Zone.


    With the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, the Deathwater Zone prevented Zhou Wen from drowning. At the same time, Zhou Wen used Grand Turtle Breath to restrain his vitality.


    The lobster-like dragon monarch was blind. It could only rely on vital aura to determine the location of other creatures. Zhou Wen¡¯s Grand Turtle Breath could restrain it.


    Not only was the water in the Deathwater Zone not black, but it was crystalline, like pure water without any impurities.


    There were no dimensional creatures in the water. Apart from the dragon monarch, ordinary dimensional creatures didn¡¯t have the ability to swim in the Deathwater Zone. They were all at the bottom of the sea.


    Ordinary people would quickly sink into the Deathwater Zone and be eaten by them.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t have any qualms. He quickly swam through the Deathwater Zone and easily passed through it under the cover of the Invisibility Cloak and Grand Turtle Breath to find the dragon monarch.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when he saw the dragon monarch. The dragon monarch was much more beautiful than he had imagined.


    Although it looked like a lobster, its carapace was crystalline, revealing a mysterious sapphire color. There were countless shimmering streams of light inside.


    When it stood still, it was like a sapphire art piece that was illuminated by starlight.


    ¡°Miya said that its carapace isn¡¯t only beautiful, but it¡¯s also hard. If I want to kill it, I have to attack from the inside.¡± Zhou Wen turned invisible and approached the huge lobster. At the same time, he summoned the Ancient Splitting Tadpole and stuffed it into its mouth in the form of a grenade.


    1


    Boom!


    As the Ancient Splitting Tadpole kept exploding, the lobster¡¯s body kept tumbling. Pieces of flesh spat out from its mouth, but its carapace remained intact.


    Ding!


    With the lobster¡¯s death, a Companion Egg dropped.

 Chapter 970 - Galaxy Shell Dragon

    Translator: CKtalon


    A Companion Egg has finally dropped! Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly picked it up. Then, he used the mysterious phone to read its information.


    Galaxy Shell Dragon: Mythical


    Life Providence: Unbreakable


    Life Soul: Astral Array


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Defense


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Deathwater Domain, Dragon Head Raising, Ghost Armor


    Companion Form: Armor


    1


    One attribute is actually 81! Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Unless it was some excellent-grade Mythical Companion Beast, it was impossible for it to have a stat reach 81 points.


    The Galaxy Shell Dragon actually had one stat reach 81. This meant that it had broken through its limits in a particular aspect. It was considered an excellent-grade Mythical Companion Beast.


    Zhou Wen looked at its stats and abilities and was very curious about the Absolute Defense ability. He had previously seen Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength amongst the Absolute series for Wheels of Destiny.


    The Wheel of Destiny of the Galaxy Shell Dragon was very similar to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s. It was unknown if it had the same level of might.


    There was nothing else to say. It looked like a defensive Companion Beast. Now that Zhou Wen had Dragon Scale Armor, he didn¡¯t have much need for defensive Mythical Companion Beasts.


    However, Zhou Wen still hatched it and summoned it in its armor form. He wanted to see if this pure defensive Companion Beast armor had higher defense.


    When the armor appeared on Zhou Wen, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    A translucent blue armor that shimmered with nebulous starlight appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body, tightly enveloping him. It accentuated his slender and muscular figure, making him look like a god surrounded by starlight.


    Ignoring its defense, just the appearance of the armor is far better than the Dragon Scale Armor. Zhou Wen still remembered about the Terror creature¡¯s material, so he searched the vicinity while wearing the armor.


    The dimensional creatures at the bottom of the sea rushed forward. Zhou Wen wanted to test the strength of the armor, so he didn¡¯t fight back and allowed them to attack.


    The ordinary dimensional creatures couldn¡¯t injure the armor at all.


    From the looks of it, I have to fight a Mythical creature to know how strong this armor¡¯s defense is. Zhou Wen searched the vicinity for a while and indeed found the ice block.


    After digging open the ice, he discovered a damaged scale. Like the materials from before, it was extremely cold. Zhou Wen stored it in the chaos space.


    After leaving the Deathwater Zone, Li Xuan and Ya¡¯er were still waiting for him outside. The three of them continued on their journey.


    ¡°I found another scale. All the dragon monarchs have the same material. I¡¯m wondering if Miya has something like that,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Tooth, bone, hair, horn, and scale. The more I look at it, the more it looks like we are preparing to revive a divine dragon. When we gather the other two materials, can we summon a divine dragon and make a wish?¡± Li Xuan teased.


    3


    ¡°There¡¯s still the last dragon monarch. After we deal with this dragon monarch, we¡¯ll go to Miya and ask her. She might know what these things are for.¡±


    After a pause, Zhou Wen continued, ¡°However, this dragon monarch is a little troublesome. She seems to be a mixed-blood with clam and dragon heritage. She¡¯s known as a Dragon Granny, but she¡¯s actually a clam lady with some dragon blood. However, her abilities are somewhat special. She can suck people into shells and trap them until they die. Furthermore, I heard that the Seven Seas Dragon King often lives with her. I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯ll encounter the Seven Seas Dragon King when we head there. It will be troublesome when that happens.¡±


    1


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Li Xuan also knew that this wasn¡¯t a joke. If they really encountered a Terror-grade Seven Seas Dragon King, they would die.


    ¡°Infinite Island where Dragon Granny lives is relatively close to the coast. Let¡¯s head back now. Later, I¡¯ll secretly sneak up to Infinite Island and take a look at the situation first.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare be careless.


    ¡°That¡¯s the only way.¡± Li Xuan nodded as the three of them returned to the beach.


    ¡°Since we have to return, why don¡¯t we go to Miya¡¯s place and ask her what these materials are for?¡± Li Xuan was curious and couldn¡¯t help himself.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think that it would waste much time, so they took a detour to Sea God Reef.


    This was the first time Li Xuan had seen the shrimp soldiers and crab generals. He felt very curious and said in puzzlement, ¡°That¡¯s strange. Why does Miya¡¯s place look like the only place that resembles what a real dragon monarch should have? The other dragon monarchs are just a haphazard mob. They don¡¯t look like something a dragon monarch should have. There aren¡¯t even shrimp soldiers and crab generals.¡±


    ¡°I find it odd too. Perhaps Miya¡¯s bloodline is really different. She¡¯s indeed the creature that looks most like a dragon among the seven dragon monarchs,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    When the two arrived at the beach, the shrimp soldiers and crab generals took them to the Dragon Palace.


    In the Dragon Palace, not only did he see Miya, but he also saw Qin Ling standing beside her.


    Li Xuan secretly observed and didn¡¯t see Feng Qiuyan, so he didn¡¯t mention the matter again. All he did was greet Qin Ling.


    ¡°Why are you back so quickly? Did you encounter trouble?¡± Miya didn¡¯t mention Qin Ling and only asked Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already eliminated five dragon monarchs. Now, only Dragon Granny remains. We didn¡¯t rashly head over because we were afraid of encountering the Seven Seas Dragon King at Dragon Granny¡¯s place,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You actually killed the Galaxy Shell Dragon and the rest so quickly?¡± Miya looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    ¡°I did. Furthermore, I discovered something strange at the Sea Dragon King¡¯s place, so I wanted to ask you if you know what it is.¡± Zhou Wen took out the tooth and placed it on the ground.


    The ground in the cabin immediately froze. Furthermore, the frost was rapidly spreading throughout the cabin. The coldness in the tooth was too intense.


    ¡°This is¡­ Dragon King¡¯s Tooth?¡± Miya sized it up for a while before her expression gradually changed into surprise.


    ¡°Are you saying that this is the tooth of the Seven Seas Dragon King?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Miya shook her head. ¡°It¡¯s not from the Seven Seas Dragon King. I heard that there was a true dragon in the Seven Dragons Sea to begin with. After the Seven Seas Dragon King came, he killed that true dragon and became ruler of the Seven Dragons Sea. However, these are only legends. I didn¡¯t believe it at first, but now that I see this tooth, I believe it a little. This is clearly a dragon¡¯s tooth after its Terror transformation. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to be preserved. In the entire Seven Dragons Sea, other than the Seven Seas Dragon King, only a legendary true dragon can reach the Terror grade. Furthermore, according to legend, it¡¯s an ice-elemental true dragon.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Miya and asked, ¡°We discovered some items at the other dragon monarchs¡¯ lairs. Don¡¯t tell me you have something from the true dragon?¡±


    Miya shook her head and said, ¡°Perhaps, but I¡¯ve never seen it before. The Dragon Palace in Sea God Reef wasn¡¯t here originally. During the battle between my father and the Seven Seas Dragon King, the original Dragon Palace was destroyed, so I moved here. If you are interested, I can take you to the original Dragon Palace.¡±

 Chapter 971 - Seven Seas Dragon King Appears

    Translator: CKtalon


    The original Dragon Palace was now in ruins. There were broken coral reefs everywhere.


    According to Miya, the original Dragon Palace was a coral palace, but there was no longer anything left. All that was left was ruins.


    Miya didn¡¯t wish to live in this sad place, so she stayed in the sunken ship.


    Zhou Wen got the Crab Sovereign to dig up the coral reefs to search for the possible ice block. He never expected to find it, but beneath a coral reef rock, a blue ice block appeared.


    After digging it open, he found a blue crystal that looked like an eyeball. Miya said that it might be the Dragon King¡¯s dragon eye.


    As Miya didn¡¯t know what these things were for, Zhou Wen had no choice but to put them away. He had a nagging feeling that they would be of some use.


    After leaving Sea God Reef, Li Xuan felt that something was amiss the more he thought about it. ¡°Old Zhou, I think something¡¯s amiss.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If that Terror-grade true dragon was really killed by the Seven Seas Dragon King, why would the Terror objects on its body be hidden in the seven dragon monarchs¡¯ lairs? Even if the Seven Seas Dragon King doesn¡¯t need these materials, there¡¯s no need for him to go through so much trouble to hide them in seven different places, right?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little strange. Perhaps the seven dragon monarchs also participated in the battle. These Terror items might be a reward from the Seven Seas Dragon King.¡± Zhou Wen had also thought of this problem.


    ¡°How can these fellows help in a battle at the Terror grade?¡± Li Xuan pondered for a moment before his eyes suddenly lit up. ¡°Do you think the seven dragon monarchs were subordinates of that ice-elemental dragon to begin with? In the end, they betrayed the ice-elemental dragon and pledged allegiance to the Seven Seas Dragon King. That¡¯s why they obtained these Terror items as rewards?¡±


    ¡°Possibly.¡± Zhou Wen felt that it was indeed possible.


    ¡°I still feel that something is amiss.¡± Li Xuan continued pondering with a frown.


    After returning to Sea Return City, Zhou Wen got Ya¡¯er to temporarily follow Li Xuan. He planned on visiting Infinite Island. If the Seven Seas Dragon King wasn¡¯t there, he could take the opportunity to kill Dragon Granny.


    However, before he went, Zhou Wen sent a message to The Thearch to ask if the Terror-grade materials were of any use.


    ¡°Where did you get the Terror items?¡± The Thearch quickly replied.


    Zhou Wen roughly explained the matter regarding the Seven Dragons Sea before asking The Thearch: ¡°If we find all the Terror items, will this Terror creature revive?¡±


    ¡°How can it be that easy to revive one. However, those Terror items are considered pretty good materials due to the existence of the power of fear. It¡¯s useless for you to keep them anyway. Why don¡¯t you let me experiment with them?¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°How is it useless? I still plan on turning these materials into weapons. Weapons made from Terror items should be very powerful, right?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly replied.


    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s scrap metal? That it can be made into a weapon just by smelting and refining them? Different Terror items have different uses. As you said, those are ice-elemental Terror items. It¡¯s best used to make a refrigerator to store experimental items at low temperatures,¡± The Thearch said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if The Thearch was telling the truth or not. In any case, he definitely wasn¡¯t willing to use the Terror items to build a refrigerator.


    After chatting with The Thearch for a while, he didn¡¯t obtain any useful information. Just as Zhou Wen was about to head to Infinite Island, he suddenly saw a violent gust of wind on the surface of the sea. The waves transformed into a huge tsunami that surged towards the coast. Large numbers of dimensional creatures rushed onto land with the tsunami.


    Another dimensional creature tide? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he felt that something was amiss.


    This dimensional creature tide was much more terrifying than the previous crab tide. Many dimensional creatures in the water found it difficult to unleash their combat strength on land.


    However, this time, the seawater expanded and rushed towards the land. Many marine creatures that couldn¡¯t enter the land were also swept forward.


    Could it be that the Seven Seas Dragon King wants revenge after discovering that the five dragon monarchs are dead? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed.


    Sea Return City was the first to bear the brunt of the attack. The terrifying tsunami even crossed the high wall and poured into Sea Return City. Shark-like dimensional creatures could be seen charging through the city with the waves.


    Thankfully, the people who remained in Sea Return City were all wealthy families. There were no longer any commoners. Most of them had a certain level of combat strength, so they didn¡¯t suffer too much damage.


    However, as the tsunami continued to inundate the city, more and more marine dimensional creatures swept forward. The situation was extremely bad.


    Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t discovered any Mythical creatures. Zhou Wen estimated that he had killed most of the Mythical creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea. There weren¡¯t many Mythical creatures left.


    After putting on the Invisibility Cloak, Zhou Wen flew towards the sea, hoping to see what power had triggered the tsunami. Ordinary Mythical creatures definitely couldn¡¯t produce such a tsunami. Zhou Wen guessed that the Seven Seas Dragon King had personally arrived.


    Flying far into the air, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare approach the sea. If the Seven Seas Dragon King was really here, he would still have room to escape.


    The tsunami came wave after wave. Soon, Zhou Wen saw the source of the tsunami. He saw huge strange dragons stirring up trouble in the sea.


    The reason they were called strange dragons was that although they looked like dragons, they weren¡¯t completely dragons.


    They did have dragon faces, but there were no scales on their bodies. Instead, they had smooth skin that looked extremely tight.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any dragon claws on them. Instead of calling them dragons, they looked more like snakes, but they didn¡¯t look like snakes either. There was a strange ring on their abdomen.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s the Seven Seas Dragon King. Zhou Wen counted and indeed, there were seven of them. However, their tails were beneath the sea, so he couldn¡¯t tell what they looked like.


    As Zhou Wen was sizing up the Seven Seas Dragon King, the Seven Seas Dragon King seemed to notice Zhou Wen in midair. The strange dragons raised their heads and looked at the invisible Zhou Wen.


    I¡¯ve been discovered! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he saw the seven strange dragons spew out white liquid at him.


    The liquid was clearly not ordinary water. It was probably the mucus that Miya mentioned. Once touched, he would be stuck and rendered immobile.


    Zhou Wen quickly dodged without touching the white liquid. The Seven Seas Dragon King was enraged when he saw this. His body rose out of the water as though he wanted to rush out of the sea to attack Zhou Wen.


    As the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body rose up, the seawater surged to the sides. Zhou Wen finally saw the lower half of the Seven Seas Dragon King and his expression turned odd.

 Chapter 972 - Mysterious Person

    Translator: CKtalon


    How was that a dragon? It was a huge octopus monster. The seven strange dragons were its seven tentacles.


    However, it was different from ordinary octopuses. Its tentacles had a dragon head growing at the tip, as well as eyes, ears, tongue, and nose. It looked both like an octopus and a dragon. It looked extremely strange and evil.


    The enraged Seven Seas Dragon King revealed most of its body. Its strange dragon-like tentacles spewed out white liquid into the air, hoping to strike Zhou Wen down.


    Although it was very fast, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t slow either. Furthermore, he was very far from the sea, preventing the Seven Seas Dragon King from touching him.


    Realizing that he couldn¡¯t hit Zhou Wen, the Seven Seas Dragon King suddenly stopped and retracted his seven tentacles.


    When Zhou Wen saw the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s pose, he found it baffling. Its current appearance was like a sitting Buddha. Its seven tentacles curved into a motionless pose, like a Buddha¡¯s hand that was forming seals.


    Zhou Wen could even vaguely hear the chanting of scriptures coming from the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    With the strange chanting, the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s entire body seemed to fall into a fog, preventing others from seeing clearly.


    Not good! Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. He wanted to escape, but it was too late.


    Boundless fog rose around him as though the entire world was enveloped by fog. Furthermore, the chanting continued.


    An illusion? A mental attack? Or is it some special power? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be sure what power the Seven Seas Dragon King was using, but without a doubt, it was a power at the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen used teleportation to teleport out of the fog, but just as he teleported out, he realized that not only was he unable to teleport out of the fog, but he ended up being delivered to right in front of the Seven Seas Dragon King. The Seven Seas Dragon King swallowed Zhou Wen who was beside its mouth.


    Zhou Wen felt a terrifying suction force pull his body towards the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach.


    Zhou Wen wanted to teleport again, but he realized that this place seemed to be a sealed space. He couldn¡¯t teleport out.


    Plop!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body fell into the white liquid. In an instant, the Dragon Scale Armor he wore was stuck to the white liquid. No matter how hard he struggled, he couldn¡¯t escape. Soon, his entire body sank into the white liquid.


    After the Seven Seas Dragon King devoured Zhou Wen, it sank into the sea in satisfaction and quickly vanished.


    As the Seven Seas Dragon King vanished, the tsunami gradually subsided. The dimensional creatures that rushed to the coast gradually decreased.


    Zhou Wen fell into the white liquid and used many methods, but he couldn¡¯t escape no matter what. Furthermore, he realized that his Dragon Scale Armor was being assimilated by the white liquid. A portion of it had already turned into white liquid.


    Even the Mythical Dragon Scale Armor couldn¡¯t withstand the corrosion of the white liquid. Just the thought of the white liquid stuck to his flesh made him shudder.


    What should I do? Should I release the ice maiden? Zhou Wen thought of this idea, but he didn¡¯t immediately take action.


    The ice maiden was a double-edged sword. Letting her out had pros and cons. If it wasn¡¯t a last resort, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want to take that step.


    He switched to a few more Essence Energy Arts, but they were useless. The Dragon Scale Armor was about to be penetrated.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg with the intention of giving it a try.


    However, he didn¡¯t have much hope for the Chaos Egg. After all, even the Mythical Dragon Scale Armor couldn¡¯t withstand the white liquid, while the Chaos Egg was only an Epic Life Soul.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, when the Chaos Egg enveloped his body, the white liquid failed to corrode it like the Dragon Scale Armor.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw that the Chaos Egg could ward off the white liquid.


    I never expected the Chaos Egg to be so magical. Although it doesn¡¯t have any offensive power, its defense is rather good. Zhou Wen hid inside the Chaos Egg and used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to pay attention to the commotion outside.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King was advancing in the sea. From the direction it was heading in, it wasn¡¯t Infinite Island where Dragon Granny was. He didn¡¯t know where he was going.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s defense is impressive, but it can¡¯t move and doesn¡¯t have any offensive strength. How can I escape from here? Zhou Wen thought about it but couldn¡¯t think of a good solution.


    Not long after, the Seven Seas Dragon King stopped somewhere. Zhou Wen listened attentively and took in the situation outside. He realized that he was beside a huge rift at the bottom of the sea.


    Without any hesitation, the Seven Seas Dragon King entered the underwater rift and entered a place that resembled an abyss.


    In the abyss, Truth Listener¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t extend far. It could only hear the nearby situation. After a while, the Seven Seas Dragon King arrived in front of a palace.


    This octopus sure knows how to enjoy itself. It actually has such a gorgeous palace in such a place, Zhou Wen thought.


    However, Zhou Wen soon felt that something was amiss. When the Seven Seas Dragon King arrived in front of the palace, it made a strange gesture as though it was bowing.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A human voice sounded from the palace.


    How can there be humans in such a place? It can¡¯t be a human, right? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King entered the palace. At the same time, Zhou Wen heard the situation inside. There was really a human inside.


    The human wore black armor as he sat high on a throne, looking like an emperor.


    After the Seven Seas Dragon King entered the palace, he prostrated himself as though he was expressing his humility to the human.


    ¡°Has it all been resolved?¡± the man asked casually.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King couldn¡¯t speak. All he could do was nod with all his might. Even the dragon heads at the tip of his tentacles nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. After spending so much time planning, I¡¯ve finally created a mixed-blood Dracotaur. How can I let her escape my control?¡± the man said indifferently.


    Who is this person? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen was very certain that the man was definitely a human and had likely contracted a Guardian. However, even so, it was unbelievable that an existence like the Seven Seas Dragon King would humbly serve him.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King nodded repeatedly as though he agreed with the man.


    The man didn¡¯t seem willing to communicate with the Seven Seas Dragon King who couldn¡¯t speak. He waved his hand and made the Seven Seas Dragon King retreat to the side. As for him, he sat there, fiddling with something in his hand.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw the item. It was a blue dragon pearl that resembled an ice crystal. It emitted a cold aura that was very similar to the Terror items he had previously obtained.

 Chapter 973 - Dracotaur Bloodline

    Translator: CKtalon


    At this moment, a clam maiden walked into the palace and bowed to the man. ¡°Master, everything is normal at Sea God Reef. Qin Ling has been residing in the sunken ship and hasn¡¯t left.¡±


    This is that Dragon Granny, right? Zhou Wen thought.


    The man nodded slightly. ¡°Watch her. I don¡¯t want any more accidents.¡±


    Dragon Granny glanced at the Seven Seas Dragon King and said in a seductive tone, ¡°Master, that Zhou Wen is Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple after all. If we kill him like this, I¡¯m afraid it will be disadvantageous to your plan if Wang Mingyuan comes looking for trouble.¡±


    The man said coldly, ¡°So what if it¡¯s Wang Mingyuan? He was nowhere when I dominated the Federation. Even if he was lucky and became the Dragon Gods¡¯ lord, it was just a moment of luck. When my plan succeeds, the Dragon Gods¡¯ lord will be nothing. Both humans and dragons will acknowledge me as their master.¡±


    ¡°How should we deal with Miya? If she hadn¡¯t revealed the details of the other dragon monarchs, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill them so easily,¡± Dragon Granny asked carefully.


    ¡°Qin Ling is still with her. Don¡¯t worry about her for now. However, to prevent any problems from developing, we need to let Qin Ling mature as soon as possible and extract her Dracotaur bloodline.¡±


    As the man spoke, he took out an item and threw it to Dragon Granny. He sneered and said, ¡°Take this to the sunken ship and let Qin Ling eat it. In less than six months, her Dracotaur bloodline will be of use. When the time comes, all humans will be transformed into Dracotaurs. It¡¯s useless even if the other Guardians win. Earth will forever be mine.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it now.¡± Dragon Granny took the items and bowed before leaving the hall.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he heard that. This person is even more ruthless than Teacher and Jing Daoxian. Teacher only brought a portion of people into the dimension, while Jing Daoxian only experiments on talented people. This fellow actually wants to turn all humans into Dracotaurs. He¡¯s too crazy. From his tone, he seems to be a high-ranking member of the Federation a long time ago. Who is he?


    Upon realizing that Dragon Granny had already gone to Sea God Reef, Zhou Wen was somewhat anxious. However, he could only help himself now. He couldn¡¯t even rush out of the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach, so it was even more impossible to inform Qin Ling.


    ¡°Go. Guard the Seven Dragons Sea well and don¡¯t let any outsiders come into contact with Qin Ling.¡± The man waved his hand and gestured for the Seven Seas Dragon King to leave.


    ¡­


    Inside Sea God Reef, Qin Ling was talking to Miya.


    ¡°Sister, how can you trust a human so easily?¡± Qin Ling said.


    Miya sighed and said, ¡°It was a moment of bewitchment. I actually believed that he could defeat the Seven Seas Dragon King. Now, not only is the Seven Seas Dragon King alive, but even his life has been lost. If I had known, I would have insisted that he take you away from the Seven Dragons Sea.¡±


    However, Qin Ling shook her head and said, ¡°I won¡¯t leave with any human. I¡¯m not a human to begin with.¡±


    Miya reached out to rub Qin Ling¡¯s head and sighed. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the Seven Seas Dragon King, you could have stayed here forever, but not now. I have to think of a way to send you out of the Seven Dragons Sea. You have human bloodline in you, so you still have a chance of breaking the dimensional zones¡¯ restrictions.¡±


    ¡°So what if I leave? Won¡¯t I still be treated like a monster?¡± Qin Ling was ashen.


    Feng Qiuyan already knew the truth about her, but he hadn¡¯t appeared again. Qin Ling had already given up.


    ¡°Little Feng probably hasn¡¯t thought it through yet. Give him some more time,¡± Miya said helplessly.


    In fact, Miya couldn¡¯t understand Qin Ling¡¯s feelings. As she was a pure dragon, she didn¡¯t think that there was anything wrong with being a dragon.


    However, Qin Ling had half a human bloodline. Furthermore, she had grown up in human society. The other half of the dragon bloodline gave her immense pressure other than strength.


    As the two of them were talking, a shrimp soldier reported, ¡°Master, Dragon Granny is here.¡±


    ¡°Why is she here?¡± Miya thought for a moment and said to Qin Ling, ¡°Stay here and don¡¯t come out. I¡¯ll go and see what Dragon Granny is doing here.¡±


    With that said, Miya left the cabin. After arriving on the deck, she saw Dragon Granny floating in the seawater outside.


    ¡°Dragon Granny, why are you here instead of Infinite Island?¡± Miya asked coldly.


    ¡°Several dragon monarchs in the Seven Dragons Sea have been killed. The Dragon King asked me to come and see if you had encountered any trouble here and to provide you help if necessary.¡± As Dragon Granny spoke, she had already passed through the water curtain and landed on the deck.


    ¡°I appreciate your kindness, but there¡¯s no trouble here. You can return,¡± Miya said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Why are you in such a hurry to chase me away? I heard that your human sister has returned. Why don¡¯t I see her?¡± Dragon Granny asked with a smile.


    ¡°She¡¯s not feeling well and is resting. Please return.¡± Miya didn¡¯t have a good impression of Dragon Granny.


    ¡°I¡¯m good at Essence Energy recovery. I can help her. Take me to her,¡± said Dragon Granny.


    ¡°Don¡¯t let me personally send you off.¡± Miya stared at Dragon Granny, her voice already turning cold.


    ¡°You can give it a try.¡± Dragon Granny was still smiling and wasn¡¯t angry at all.


    Miya didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as she threw a punch at Dragon Granny.


    Miya had inherited the Golden Dragon King¡¯s bloodline and strength. The might of this punch was extremely powerful. Even Tyrant Behemoth was nothing against it.


    However, Dragon Granny wasn¡¯t flustered. She took out a small rattle drum from the clamshell and shook it gently.


    Suddenly, Miya lost all her strength. A golden incantation appeared on her neck like a necklace, strangling her neck as if it was about to snap.


    Boom!


    Miya revealed her Golden Dragon King body. The huge Golden Dragon Body rolled on the deck, but the golden incantation on her neck kept glowing. No matter how Miya struggled, she could not escape.


    As the rattling of the rattle drum in Dragon Granny¡¯s hand sped up, the incantation on Miya¡¯s neck tightened. Miya was already paralyzed on the deck, her neck about to break.


    ¡°Sis, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Qin Ling ran out and was shocked when she saw Miya. She wanted to help Miya remove the incantation on her neck.


    However, just as her hand touched the incantation, it suddenly shrank, causing Miya extreme pain. However, she couldn¡¯t make any sound. She was about to die.


    The Turtle Minister rushed over with the shrimp soldiers and crab generals, but Dragon Granny only said indifferently, ¡°If you want her to die, feel free to come.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Qin Ling stared at Dragon Granny and asked.


    Dragon Granny opened the box in her hand and took out a crystal bottle inside. She handed it to Qin Ling. ¡°Drink this and I¡¯ll let her go.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Qin Ling asked as she looked at the transparent liquid in the crystal bottle.


    ¡°Poison. A life for a life. Do you dare drink it?¡± Dragon Granny said with narrowed eyes.

 Chapter 974 - Slaying Dragon Granny

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Will you let my sister off if I drink it?¡± Qin Ling said as she looked at the bottle in her hand.


    ¡°Qin Ling, throw it away,¡± Miya struggled to say.


    Dragon Grandma shook the rattle drum again. Miya was immediately strangled to the point of not being able to make another sound. All she could do was tremble in pain on the ground.


    ¡°Of course. I always keep my word. Today, your sister offended me, so one of you has to die. Between you and your sister, choose who is to die.¡± Dragon Granny smiled at Qin Ling and said, ¡°Of course, you can choose not to drink it. You can let your sister die. Anyway, she doesn¡¯t share the same father as you and can¡¯t be considered a real sister, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll drink it. Let my sister go,¡± Qin Ling said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy for me to kill you. There¡¯s no need to lie to you. Once you drink it, I¡¯ll immediately release your sister,¡± said Dragon Granny slowly.


    Miya failed to make a sound. She struggled to get up and snatch the bottle from Qin Ling¡¯s hand, but Dragon Granny shook the rattle drum, causing Miya to immediately collapse on the deck and tremble in pain.


    Miya knew that someone must have done something to her. Otherwise, with the power of Dragon Granny, it was impossible for her to be her match, much less torture her so badly.


    However, Miya couldn¡¯t recall when anyone had done something to her.


    ¡°Stop shaking. I¡¯ll drink it,¡± Qin Ling said as she opened the bottle and was about to drink the liquid inside.


    ¡°Don¡¯t drink it!¡± With a clear voice, a saber beam slashed at Dragon Granny.


    ¡°Little Feng!¡± Qin Ling was pleasantly surprised when she saw the person.


    Feng Qiuyan was expressionless as he slashed at Dragon Granny with his Life Soul Saber.


    Dragon Granny¡¯s figure moved as she dodged Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber force. She originally wanted to counterattack, but she realized that Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber aura was like a surging river. She couldn¡¯t find any flaws.


    ¡°Your saber art isn¡¯t bad, but unfortunately, you are too weak.¡± As Dragon Granny spoke, she used the clam shell to block Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber before striking his chest, sending him flying.


    ¡°Little Feng!¡± Qin Ling flew over to catch Feng Qiuyan who had flown back, only to see Feng Qiuyan¡¯s chest collapse and blood seep from the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Sis Ling, I¡¯m sorry I came late,¡± Feng Qiuyan said in his usual tone.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have come.¡± Qin Ling checked Feng Qiuyan¡¯s injuries with a complicated expression. ¡°How are you?¡±


    ¡°He won¡¯t die yet. I¡¯m in a good mood today. I just want to kill someone. Qin Ling, who do you think I should kill?¡± Dragon Granny stared at Feng Qiuyan and said.


    Qin Ling looked at Miya and Feng Qiuyan. She held the bottle and was about to raise it when Feng Qiuyan grabbed the bottle and threw it to the ground.


    However, the bottle was crack resistant. It didn¡¯t shatter, and the liquid inside didn¡¯t spill at all.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s actions immediately infuriated Dragon Granny. She originally wanted to trick Qin Ling into drinking it, but now, she could only use force.


    A strange aura rose from the Dragon Granny¡¯s body as her eyes suffused a red glow. She stared at Feng Qiuyan and wanted to kill him first before forcefully injecting the liquid into Qin Ling¡¯s body.


    Qin Ling wanted to help Feng Qiuyan block, but she was held back by him.


    Feng Qiuyan slowly stood up and stared at Dragon Granny. He said, ¡°Sorry for making you wait so long, but there were some things I needed to settle before I could come. Otherwise, it would be useless even if I came.¡±


    As he spoke, a Companion Beast appeared on Feng Qiuyan¡¯s body. It was a male Companion Beast with a human torso and a snake as its lower body. It was wearing a robe that resembled a shaman.


    ¡°Mythical Companion Beast¡­ You went to the Wind God Cave?¡± Qin Ling asked in surprise when she saw Feng Qiuyan¡¯s Companion Beast.


    ¡°Yes, there are some things that require sufficient strength to do. Therefore, I went to the Wind God Cave and contracted the Companion Beast inside before coming to pick you up,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    Qin Ling was delighted. She naturally knew what the Wind God Cave was.


    It was a dimensional zone that only people with the Feng family bloodline could enter. There was a special Companion Beast there. Although it wasn¡¯t a Companion Egg, as long as a person had the Feng family¡¯s bloodline flowing in them, it could be taken in as a Companion Beast like incubating a Companion Egg.


    However, the Companion Beast needed too much Essence Energy. Many generations of the Feng family, including many powerful Epic experts, wanted to subdue it, but they ultimately failed. Although they didn¡¯t die, their cultivation levels were crippled.


    Feng Qiuyan had actually gone to the Wind God Cave for her, making Qin Ling¡¯s previously disheartened heart feel like a withering tree ushering in spring.


    The strange Companion Beast transformed into a gust of wind that attached itself to Feng Qiuyan¡¯s body as though it had vanished.


    However, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s aura was rapidly rising.


    Dragon Granny looked at Feng Qiuyan in surprise. Although she couldn¡¯t recognize the origins of the Companion Beast, she could tell from Feng Qiuyan¡¯s aura that it was no trifling matter.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want her to die, it¡¯s best you stand there and do nothing,¡± said Dragon Granny as she raised the rattle drum in her hand.


    Clearly, she wanted to use Miya to threaten Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t move because as long as you shake that rattle drum, I will behead you,¡± Feng Qiuyan said calmly.


    ¡°Interesting. A mere human actually dares to threaten me because of a Companion Beast. I want to see how you will behead me¡­¡± As Dragon Granny spoke, she was about to shake the rattle drum in her hand.


    However, just as her hand moved, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s figure vanished like the wind. When he appeared again, he was already behind Dragon Granny.


    1


    Crack!


    The rattle drum in the Dragon Granny¡¯s hand snapped and half of it fell to the ground.


    Dragon Granny was alarmed. She didn¡¯t see how Feng Qiuyan moved. She wanted to turn her head to look, but despite her head moving, her body didn¡¯t move.


    The head landed on the ground before her body collapsed. One of the seven dragon monarchs, Dragon Granny, had died just like that.


    Feng Qiuyan also spat out a mouthful of blood. The mysterious Companion Beast automatically separated from his body and transformed back into a tattoo.


    The incantation patterns on Miya¡¯s neck vanished as her body gradually recovered its strength. She looked at the corpse of Dragon Granny on the ground in disbelief.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is that? It doesn¡¯t look like a dragon?¡± Miya asked Feng Qiuyan.


    Feng Qiuyan shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know his name. I only know that his surname is Feng and that he only follows people from the Feng family. However, my strength is too weak. I can¡¯t even withstand the shock produced when I use his strength.¡±


    Suddenly, the waves churned and the water stirred. The Seven Seas Dragon King charged into the Sea God Reef dimensional zone in a frenzy as he had sensed Dragon Granny¡¯s death.

 Chapter 975 - Grown Up

    ¡°No good. It¡¯s the Seven Seas Dragon King. I¡¯ll hold it back. You guys return to the land first.¡± Miya had only been restricted previously; she wasn¡¯t injured.


    Although Feng Qiuyan had obtained the mysterious Mythical Companion Beast, its strength was too powerful. His body couldn¡¯t withstand it if it attached itself to him in a soul form.


    Previously, his body had already suffered damage from only using it briefly. It was obvious how powerful the Companion Beast was.


    Miya rushed out of the cabin and immediately saw the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s true body. Due to Dragon Granny¡¯s death, he was already enraged and didn¡¯t bother hiding. When he saw Miya come out, the seven dragon-like tentacles swept over.


    Miya transformed into the Golden Dragon King and charged forward to fight the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Her body was no weaker than the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s. It was even stronger than the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body. Golden beams of light shone resplendently, causing the seawater to surge and huge waves to appear on the surface of the sea.


    The Turtle Minister also rushed forward with his spear and helped Miya attack the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    However, the Turtle Minister wasn¡¯t as fast as Miya. He was accidentally hit by the white liquid spewed out from the strange dragon¡¯s mouth and was immediately stuck. It was as if he had been drenched by super glue. At first, he could still move, but soon, he couldn¡¯t even move. He was sent flying by the strange dragon¡¯s tentacles and smashed into the sand at the bottom of the sea.


    Qin Ling helped the injured Feng Qiuyan swim towards the sea. A golden glow suffused her body as fine scales appeared on her skin. Her hair and pupils also turned pale golden.


    Although she was still in human form, she didn¡¯t look like a human. However, she wasn¡¯t ugly. She just looked a little strange.


    After transforming, Qin Ling¡¯s speed in the water became extremely fast as she rapidly swam towards the coast with Feng Qiuyan.


    Miya constantly fought the Seven Seas Dragon King. The terrifying Golden Dragon King body didn¡¯t seem to be at a disadvantage. She was truly powerful.


    However, she had yet to advance to the Terror grade. The Seven Seas Dragon King once again used the posture that resembled a Buddha chanting scriptures and entered the Terror transformation state.


    Miya immediately felt that she had fallen into a heavy fog. She heard the chanting coming from all directions, but she couldn¡¯t tell where the Seven Seas Dragon King was.


    Suddenly, a strange dragon-like tentacle emerged from the fog and spat out white liquid at Miya.


    Miya reacted extremely quickly as she twisted her dragon body to dodge, but other tentacles kept tearing out of the fog. Before Miya could react, she was immediately sprayed with white liquid.


    Soon, Miya felt her body stiffen where the white liquid had hit. Her dragon claws were stuck to her body, making it abnormally difficult to brandish them.


    More and more white liquid sprayed onto the Golden Dragon King Body. Miya was like a ferocious beast that had been bound. No matter how strong she was, it was useless. She was bitten by the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s tentacles.


    The seven strange dragons bit Miya¡¯s body, but she couldn¡¯t resist. Soon, she was covered in wounds.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King clearly hated Miya to the core and didn¡¯t devour her.


    ¡­


    ¡°Leave now¡­ I want to go back and save my sister¡­¡± Qin Ling gritted her teeth and rushed back when she saw Miya¡¯s Golden Dragon King form being ravaged by the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Feng Qiuyan grabbed her and forcefully pulled her to the shore. ¡°It¡¯s useless if you go back. Go ashore first.¡±


    ¡°I know it¡¯s useless, but if I don¡¯t return, I won¡¯t be able to feel at ease for the rest of my life.¡± Qin Ling wanted to shake Feng Qiuyan off.


    ¡°Sorry, Sis Ling.¡± Feng Qiuyan lifted Qin Ling up and ignored her protests as he rushed to the coast.


    At that moment, the coast was filled with surging seawater. The beach could no longer be seen. Even the trees outside were covered in seawater.


    ¡°Wait at a spot where there¡¯s no water. You are not to get down.¡± Feng Qiuyan placed Qin Ling down before turning around and diving into the sea.


    Qin Ling stared blankly at Feng Qiuyan¡¯s figure as he rushed into the sea. She suddenly realized that this wasn¡¯t the Feng Qiuyan she had known in the past.


    The little boy that followed behind her all day like a tail, the affectionate boy who called her Sis Ling, these originally clear impressions suddenly became blurry. Replacing them was the feeling of a man, not a boy.


    He¡­ has really grown up¡­ Qin Ling¡¯s expression was complicated. After some thought, she leaped onto a beacon beside her and waited for Feng Qiuyan in the sea.


    ¡­


    After Feng Qiuyan descended into the sea, he quickly rushed back to where the Seven Seas Dragon King and Miya were fighting. The Golden Dragon King form that Miya had transformed into was severely injured.


    Feng Qiuyan knew that he only had one chance. His body was already injured, so it was impossible for him to withstand the mysterious Companion Beast¡¯s possession for long. He had to resolve the problem in one strike.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King seemed to want to tear Miya apart. It thought that Miya had killed Dragon Granny, so he had a raging resentment.


    This is a good opportunity. Feng Qiuyan summoned the mysterious Companion Beast and attached it to him in a soul form. After succeeding, Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t hesitate to draw his saber and slash.


    It was the power of the wind. In an instant, it sliced through the seawater and slashed at the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body. However, when the blade struck the Seven Seas Dragon King, it was like a blunt blade slicing through a cow¡¯s tendon. The strike with the strength of a Mythical Companion Beast only managed to slice through less than ten centimeters.


    A ten-centimeter deep wound was fatal to humans.


    However, to the massive Seven Seas Dragon King, it was nothing.


    Bam!


    With a flick of the strange dragon tentacle, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s body was sent flying. He shot out of the sea like a cannonball with a huge splash.


    As though he had had enough of the cat-and-mouse game, the Seven Seas Dragon King opened his main body¡¯s mouth. It wanted to devour Miya alive so as to appease the hatred in its heart.


    Miya was stuck to the white liquid and had no ability to resist. Knowing that it was impossible for her to live, she decided to transform into a human form and be swallowed by the Seven Seas Dragon King to prevent herself from being bitten and suffering so much pain.


    ¡­


    ¡°Feng¡­¡± Qin Ling¡¯s expression changed drastically when she saw Feng Qiuyan being thrown out of the water. She hurriedly rushed over and hugged him.


    Seeing that Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t dead despite his serious injuries, Qin Ling felt a little more at ease. She glanced at the sea and gritted her teeth before rushing out of Sea God Reef with Feng Qiuyan in her arms.


    Although she really wanted to rush back and fight with Miya, she couldn¡¯t allow Feng Qiuyan to die in front of her.


    Just as they rushed back to the coast, they saw a man in black armor standing on the coast like a nobleman, blocking their path.


    ¡°Qin Ling, you don¡¯t belong to the world over there yet. Return with me. In the future, you will become the new human progenitor,¡± the black-armored man said slowly.

 Chapter 976 - Meeting Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen kept trying to figure out a way to leave the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach, but the place was filled with white liquid. He couldn¡¯t even teleport in the white liquid, so it wasn¡¯t easy to leave.


    With the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection, Zhou Wen¡¯s life wasn¡¯t in danger. He could slowly try all sorts of methods, hoping to restrain the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Firstly, it was the power of fire. This power was clearly useless against the white liquid, or perhaps Zhou Wen¡¯s fire power level wasn¡¯t high, so it was useless.


    Companion Beasts with powerful bodies were useless. They would be stuck to the white liquid, unable to unleash their combat strength.


    Weapon-type Companion Beasts were the same. No matter how sharp a Companion Beast was, it would be stuck to the white liquid. They were useless.


    He basically tried all the Companion Beasts and abilities he had of every element, but they were useless.


    Could it be that this white liquid is really that invincible? Is there no power that can restrain it? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe it.


    What other powers are there that I haven¡¯t used? After some thought, Zhou Wen suddenly had an idea.


    It was the Terror items he had put away previously. Those Terror items were extremely cold. If he could freeze the liquid into a solid, it might lose its stickiness.


    Zhou Wen attempted to take out the bone and placed it in the white liquid. It was unknown if it was because only a Terror-grade power could restrain a Terror-grade power, or if it was because the freezing power was the nemesis of the white liquid, but the nearby white liquid quickly froze once the extremely cold bone was inserted into it.


    Does it really work? Zhou Wen extended his hand to touch it and realized that the frozen white liquid was indeed no longer sticky. Furthermore, it no longer had any corrosive effects.


    So the Seven Seas Dragon King is also restrained by this ice dragon¡¯s power. In that case, the person who killed the ice dragon back then might not be the Seven Seas Dragon King. It¡¯s very likely the human who has a Guardian, Zhou Wen guessed.


    Otherwise, it would be very difficult to explain why the Seven Seas Dragon King could still kill the ice dragon when his power was restrained by the ice dragon¡¯s bone.


    Was Miya¡¯s father also killed by that man? Zhou Wen thought of Miya¡¯s father again. The possibility of his father leaving a Companion Egg behind and being killed by a human was very high.


    With a method to restrain the white liquid, Zhou Wen froze the surrounding white liquid, but he soon discovered another problem.


    The solidified white liquid was extremely tenacious and almost indestructible. He spent a lot of effort to shatter a small piece of the white solid.


    This is a little troublesome. If I don¡¯t freeze it, it will be too sticky. If I freeze it, it will be too hard. Zhou Wen attempted to use the ice dragon bone to strike it. It was a little easier than using a Mythical weapon, but his speed wasn¡¯t fast.


    Zhou Wen was out of options. All he could do was freeze the white liquid as he shattered it. Thankfully, he had Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s help. Otherwise, Zhou Wen¡¯s progress would have been even worse.


    The main reason was that Zhou Wen¡¯s body didn¡¯t have enough resistance to the cold, preventing him from touching the ice dragon bone for long periods of time. Even Tyrant Behemoth needed to use Absolute Strength to hold the ice dragon tooth for long periods of time without being injured.


    As he was digging, he suddenly sensed the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s rage. Then, he saw him fighting Miya and Feng Qiuyan. Although Zhou Wen wanted to help, he wasn¡¯t able to leave for the time being.


    Miya, who was covered in wounds, was swallowed and fell into the white liquid. She thought that she was doomed. Not only did the white liquid have a powerful stickiness, but it also had a terrifying corrosive ability. Even her Golden Dragon Body would find it difficult to withstand it for a long period of time. Furthermore, she was severely injured.


    Just as Miya gave up hope of survival, she suddenly felt something grab her hand and pull her over forcefully. At the same time, she felt a terrifying coldness.


    The white liquid that stuck to her body slowly became less sticky due to the cold. Soon, Miya was released by the hand.


    When Miya came out of the white liquid, she almost couldn¡¯t believe her eyes.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re still alive?¡± Miya looked at Zhou Wen in surprise and delight, almost believing that she was dreaming.


    After being devoured by the Seven Seas Dragon King for so long, Zhou Wen was still alive. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t seem to be injured.


    ¡°Is it strange that I¡¯m alive?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°No, I just didn¡¯t expect you to survive in the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach.¡± Miya looked around and realized that the white liquid had turned solid. It was no longer harmful.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to these things that I can survive in its stomach,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the ice dragon tooth in Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s hand.


    This thing can actually restrain the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s mucus? Then how did the Seven Seas Dragon King kill the Ice Dragon King? Miya found it unbelievable when she saw it.


    ¡°I suspect that the Ice Dragon King wasn¡¯t killed by the Seven Seas Dragon King at all, but by a human,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°A human? That¡¯s even more impossible. How can a human kill the Ice Dragon King? It¡¯s a Terror-grade existence.¡± Miya refused to believe this.


    ¡°Ordinary humans might not be able to do it, but it¡¯s not impossible for humans with Guardians. Did the Seven Dragons Sea have a Guardian cocoon in the past?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I¡¯ve never heard of a Guardian cocoon here. Typical Guardian cocoons are in pure dimensional zones of a certain race. The dimensional creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea are too mixed. It¡¯s not suitable to release Guardians here,¡± Miya said after some thought.


    ¡°Makes sense.¡± Zhou Wen told Miya the conversation he had heard.


    Miya¡¯s face was filled with disbelief when she heard that. ¡°You mean that the Seven Seas Dragon King is only a puppet and the person who really controls the Seven Dragons Sea is a human?¡±


    ¡°That appears to be the case.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°He wants to extract Qin Ling¡¯s bloodline. Wouldn¡¯t that mean Qin Ling is in grave danger? I have to think of a way to save her.¡± Miya looked at the white liquid around her, but she didn¡¯t have a solution.


    ¡°Calm down. The other party needs to wait for the human-dragon bloodline in Qin Ling¡¯s body to completely take form before getting his way with her. It will take at least a couple of weeks. We still have time.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke to Miya, he listened to the commotion outside. After the Seven Seas Dragon King had swallowed Miya, he left Sea God Reef and swam towards the abyss.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he made Tyrant Behemoth stop. Since he was safe now, he might as well follow the Seven Seas Dragon King into the abyssal palace. Perhaps he could learn more secrets.

 Chapter 977 - Absolute Defense

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Miya asked Zhou Wen in puzzlement when she saw Tyrant Behemoth put down the ice dragon tooth and stop digging.


    ¡°The Seven Seas Dragon King has gone to see that person. Even if we can leave, only death awaits us. Let¡¯s wait for now.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a good solution. Even if he didn¡¯t wish to eavesdrop, now wasn¡¯t the time to escape.


    Sitting on the crystal, Zhou Wen took out his phone to continue gaming and grinding dungeons. He didn¡¯t know how much time he needed to stay here, so since he had nothing to do, he gamed.


    Miya knew that Zhou Wen was right. They couldn¡¯t even defeat the Seven Seas Dragon King, much less the more terrifying human, so it was pointless for them to leave.


    ¡°Qin Ling was captured by them, right?¡± Although Miya had already guessed the answer, she still hoped that Zhou Wen could give her a different answer.


    ¡°She¡¯s probably captured.¡± Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the man capture Feng Qiuyan and Qin Ling, he could guess that the man wouldn¡¯t let Qin Ling leave.


    Miya was vexed, but there was nothing she could do. She couldn¡¯t even leave to risk her life now.


    ¡°When can we leave?¡± Miya asked, but she was suddenly stunned. She realized that she seemed to be overly reliant on the human in front of her.


    In the past, she wouldn¡¯t even spare humans a glance, much less ask such a foolish question.


    Zhou Wen looked up at Miya and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll save them.¡±


    Although it was a simple sentence, Miya felt much better after hearing it. It was as though Zhou Wen could really do it.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King returned to the underwater abyss, but to Zhou Wen¡¯s dismay, he didn¡¯t head for the underwater palace where the human was. Instead, he entered a cave to rest.


    Zhou Wen could only wait patiently. With a minion like the Seven Seas Dragon King available, it was impossible for the human to let the Seven Seas Dragon King sleep in the cave.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was useless to burn with anxiety. He grinded dungeons as usual and also farmed some Mortal Companion Eggs for the Evil Spirit King, hoping that he could evolve as soon as possible.


    He went to the Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon again, a place where Zhou Wen had often grinded in recent times. He hoped to obtain some inspiration and perhaps have a chance of evolving Sword Pill.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had personally pulled out the swords and killed them when he visited Ancient Sword Tomb dungeons in recent times. He hadn¡¯t gotten Tyrant Behemoth to take action, or it would have been difficult for him to gain any insight.


    The ancient swords were pulled out by the blood-colored avatar and killed. Quite a number of crystals dropped, but nothing new triggered.


    Could it be that the advancement of Sword Pill has nothing to do with swords? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but there was nothing he could do. This was the only solution he could think of at the moment.


    Zhou Wen came in front of a sword tomb again and pulled out a short sword.


    The short sword was red in color and looked like it was made of red bronze. It was exquisite and elegant. The hilt was in the shape of a phoenix¡¯s head, and the guard was a pair of wings. Furthermore, this short sword had a scabbard.


    At the instant the short sword was pulled out, terrifying flames erupted from the scabbard. It scalded Zhou Wen so much that he immediately released his grip and hurriedly summoned and wore Galaxy Shell Dragon¡¯s armor.


    The short sword filled the sky with flames as it attacked Zhou Wen again. It was clearly a Mythical fire-elemental ancient sword. The power of the flames was rather powerful.


    The defense of the Galaxy Shell Dragon armor surprised Zhou Wen. It was able to block the ancient sword¡¯s attack without activating Absolute Defense.


    However, the flaming sword aura on the ancient sword heated the armor so much that it was scalding.


    After Zhou Wen activated Absolute Defense, he realized that he couldn¡¯t even feel the burning heat of the flaming sword beam. Zhou Wen stood there and allowed the ancient sword to constantly slash at him. At most, it would only send him retreating a few steps with Absolute Defense preventing him from being injured at all.


    What powerful defense! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Such armor¡¯s defense was definitely a life-saving weapon. It was much stronger than Dragon Scale Armor.


    The strength of Absolute Defense was probably comparable to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength. However, one was for offense while the other was for defense.


    Thankfully, I ambushed and killed the Galaxy Shell Dragon. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy to kill it in a head-on battle. Zhou Wen was secretly delighted.


    The duration of Absolute Defense was shorter than Absolute Strength, but it was already very strong. Even top Mythical powers couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen when Absolute Defense was activated.


    Absolute Strength¡­ Absolute Defense¡­ Could there be something like Absolute Speed¡­ If I can gather an Absolute set, it will be really impressive, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    After testing the strength of the Galaxy Shell Dragon, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to waste time with the ancient sword. He summoned Light Concealment Sword to fight it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sword techniques were pretty good now, but he couldn¡¯t gain an advantage against the short sword.


    As he fought, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that there was no need for him to work so hard. He didn¡¯t need to do it himself. He was a man with Sword Pill.


    Sword Pill was similar to flying swords. It could be used hands-free, so there was no need for him to use a sword to slash others.


    I wonder if Sword Pill¡¯s strength can withstand a Mythical weapon. Zhou Wen summoned Sword Pill and planned on giving it a try.


    With a thought, the resplendent diamond-like Sword Pill appeared in front of Zhou Wen. Then, with Zhou Wen¡¯s will, it stabbed at the short sword.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Sword Pill and the short sword constantly clashed in midair, turning Zhou Wen into a spectator.


    It feels so good not having to use a sword to slash at others. It¡¯s no wonder so many people like flying swords. It¡¯s indeed a skill best suited for lazy people. Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted.


    It wasn¡¯t because he had found another way to be lazy, but because the strength of Sword Pill could actually clash head-on with a Mythical sword without being damaged.


    It¡¯s really good stuff. Zhou Wen used the 3,000 sword intents. Sword Pill already had the concepts of the 3,000 sword intents. Now, with Zhou Wen using the thirteen stances, the might and concepts were much stronger than when Zhou Wen slashed with his sword.


    Furthermore, Sword Pill didn¡¯t have any restrictions. It could use the moves far more frequently than when Zhou Wen used them himself. It also had a lot more freedom.


    If I can really raise Sword Pill to the Mythical stage one day, will I be like the legendary sword immortals in ancient times, able to behead enemies from thousands of kilometers away? The more Zhou Wen used Sword Pill, the more he found it convenient. He decided to use the short sword as a sparring partner and used all 3,000 sword intents.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t notice that during the battle between Sword Pill and the short sword, some ancient swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb would tremble gently as though they were responding to the sword intents in Sword Pill.

 Chapter 978 - Bronze Sparrow Sword

    Translator: CKtalon


    The characteristics of Sword Pill were very strange. Typical weapons or mobile Life Souls needed contact during usage for the injection of Essence Energy into the weapon.


    Even if one could transmit Essence Energy across space, there would be a transmission path that resembled a ribbon.


    However, Sword Pill was completely different. It seemed to have some spatial teleportation ability between it and Zhou Wen. Even if they were very far apart, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy could instantly transfer into Sword Pill without loss. He couldn¡¯t find any traces of transmission.


    Be it control or Essence Energy delivery, there was no delay. This was very rare.


    At the very least, Zhou Wen had never seen such an ability on other weapons.


    Exploiting the characteristics of Sword Pill, Zhou Wen could attack from afar without any worries. It was almost the same as him attacking with a sword in hand.


    Zhou Wen controlled the Sword Pill and constantly fought the ancient sword. His control over Sword Pill became stronger and stronger.


    Unfortunately, Sword Pill was only an Epic Life Soul after all. It was still somewhat difficult to defeat a Mythical ancient sword.


    During the battle, Zhou Wen discovered some strange phenomena. When he made Sword Pill use a particular sword intent, some swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb would react to the sword intent.


    Different ancient swords would react to different sword intents.


    The reaction to sword intent means that the ancient sword has a similar concept, which is why it resonates. Doesn¡¯t that mean that I can use the sword intent on Sword Pill to determine which type of ancient sword it is? However, just judging the type doesn¡¯t seem to be of much use. If only I could directly determine which sword is at the Mythical stage. As Zhou Wen fought, he observed the ancient swords that reacted.


    After a while, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that perhaps he could really determine the level of the ancient sword through the sword intent resonance.


    This was because low-level ancient swords had very weak sword intent resonance. They didn¡¯t even have sword intents, so it was relatively difficult to trigger a resonance with them.


    As for the stronger ancient swords, they were easier to trigger a resonance due to their stronger sword intents. These ancient swords were mainly at the Epic stage.


    At a higher level, like the Mythical ancient swords, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword intent had to be sufficiently high in order to trigger their resonance because their sword intents were extremely powerful. Therefore, it was relatively difficult.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen came to a conclusion. Ancient swords that could easily resonate were typically at the Epic stage, with a small number at the Legendary stage.


    As for the ancient swords that didn¡¯t resonate easily, they were either the strongest Mythical ones, the weakest Legendary ones, or even Mortal ones. In any case, they were either the best or the worst.


    Although he couldn¡¯t distinguish it accurately, eliminating a large number of options was huge progress for Zhou Wen.


    In the constant battle with the ancient sword, Zhou Wen had a strange thought. Since Sword Pill has already fused with 3,000 sword intents and can cause various types of ancient swords to resonate, it means that it has all sorts of different characteristics. Therefore, it¡¯s clearly wrong for me to want to turn it into a particular sword. However, there¡¯s no sword in the world that can be compatible with all characteristics. Then, can I make Sword Pill become a sword that¡¯s suited for a particular sword intent when the respective sword intent is used?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if Sword Pill had such a transformation ability, but he decided to give it a try.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of sword should be matched with what kind of sword intent, but with the Ancient Sword Tomb, it wasn¡¯t a problem. All he needed to do was use one type of sword intent and pull out the ancient sword that resonated with it. Then, he could understand all the characteristics of the ancient sword through battle.


    However, before that, Zhou Wen had to defeat the ancient sword with fire-elemental powers.


    The ancient sword was extremely difficult to deal with. It was clearly difficult to defeat it with Zhou Wen¡¯s sword techniques and strength alone.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to waste any more time, so he summoned Tyrant Behemoth. With Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s help, he quickly snapped the short sword.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Bronze Sparrow Sword. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be delighted. He didn¡¯t have many fire-elemental Companion Eggs, and weapons were even rarer. This Mythical ancient sword was rather good and could be used.


    After incubating the Bronze Sparrow Sword, Zhou Wen willed the red bronze short sword with a scabbard into his hand.


    The Bronze Sparrow Sword had similar attributes with the Light Concealment Sword, but its Life Providence and Life Soul both had fire attributes. When it attacked, it came with fire attributes. This was something Light Concealment Sword didn¡¯t possess.


    The Bronze Sparrow Sword¡¯s Wheel of Destiny was surprising. It wasn¡¯t a Wheel of Destiny with offensive abilities, but the ability to be reborn from flames.


    Even if the Bronze Sparrow Sword was destroyed, as long as its scabbard remained, it could use the flames in the scabbard to self-repair.


    So the Bronze Sparrow Sword has such an ability. Thankfully, Tyrant Behemoth destroyed the sword and scabbard together. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been easy to kill it. Zhou Wen was quite appreciative of the Bronze Sparrow Sword.


    However, after using it for a while, he realized that the sword was useless to him. Such a powerful fire attribute wasn¡¯t suitable for sneak attacks. Also, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at fire-elemental sword techniques. It was not as relaxing using Sword Pill.


    Yet, the advantages of the Bronze Sparrow Sword were very obvious. It was very effective against ice-elemental elements. Furthermore, it could be reborn from fire. It would be very useful at times.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the Bronze Sparrow Sword. He would use it when he needed it in the future, or if there was a suitable opportunity. It wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea to use it for fusion.


    After he was done with the Bronze Sparrow Sword, Zhou Wen began his plan of matching his sword intent with the swords. He first used Sword Pill to trigger the ancient swords¡¯ resonance before pulling out a resonating ancient sword. Through combat, he fully understood the sword¡¯s characteristics.


    Although Sword Pill didn¡¯t change in the beginning, Zhou Wen realized that the matched sword intent became stronger during the battle.


    Bored, Zhou Wen had nothing else to do other than grind dungeons in the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach.


    Thankfully, there was plenty of food in the chaos space, so there was no need to be afraid of starving. Zhou Wen took out plenty of food and drinks and shared a portion with Miya.


    In order to rest better, Zhou Wen even stored mattresses and other items. He even took out a player that had many movies and music stored in it for Miya to kill time.


    When Miya saw that Zhou Wen was like a magical pocket that constantly produced all sorts of novel and strange things, she increasingly felt that he was different from the rest of humanity.


    For the next few days, the Seven Seas Dragon King slept in the cave and didn¡¯t see the male human again.


    It was useless for Zhou Wen to worry. All he could do was get Tyrant Behemoth to open up a passageway while he constantly grinded dungeons to practice his sword techniques. He hoped to raise Sword Pill to a Perfect Body.

 Chapter 979 - Successful Parasitizing

    Constant daily practice brought about excellent results. Although Sword Pill hadn¡¯t advanced, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique had improved tremendously.


    Although it wasn¡¯t as good as his movement technique, he had already gained some level of mastery in the way of the sword. It wasn¡¯t like before when he only used a sword as a blade to slash at people.


    With practice came interest. Although they were all swords, the usage and concepts of different swords were different. Some very subtle things could not be understood by just looking at them. He had to experience them personally.


    As he had truly put in hard work, be it his sword intents or the thirteen sword arts, they had advanced by leaps and bounds. Zhou Wen felt that the thirteen sword arts were likely to be the second Mythical technique he would master.


    Seven days had passed, but the Seven Seas Dragon King remained motionless. It slept in the cave, somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    Although Tyrant Behemoth had already penetrated the white liquid and discovered that they were inside something that resembled a stomach, it was useless even if they could escape if they couldn¡¯t save Qin Ling and company.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen kept placating Miya, getting her to wait patiently.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think it was feasible to just wait. Since the white liquid had been penetrated, Zhou Wen decided to try releasing Primordial Spore to see if he could parasitize the Seven Seas Dragon King from the inside.


    In theory, it was impossible for a Mythical Primordial Spore to parasitize a Terror-grade Seven Seas Dragon King.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t impossible for Primordial Spore to do so. After all, it was currently in the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body. This was a huge advantage. Furthermore, the Seven Seas Dragon King was sleeping, so its bodily functions were at their lowest in all aspects. Perhaps Primordial Spore had a chance.


    The tiny Primordial Spore flew out of the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach and quickly landed on the inner wall of an organ like a speck of dust.


    The organs of the Seven Seas Dragon King were still undulating evenly without any abnormalities. Only then did Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief. Although he didn¡¯t know if he could successfully parasitize it, from the looks of it, Primordial Spore hadn¡¯t been discovered.


    Zhou Wen continued waiting. If Primordial Spore could successfully parasitize the Seven Seas Dragon King, it would undoubtedly be great news for him.


    Following that was another long wait. Zhou Wen spent every day grinding dungeons to train. His sword intents constantly became stronger, and his sword techniques seemed to gain divine augmentation.


    In Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, he also memorized the characteristics and usage of various swords. Furthermore, Zhou Wen vaguely felt that Sword Pill seemed to show signs of advancing.


    Three thousand sword intents needed to be matched with three thousand swords. Most sword intents could find their corresponding sword in the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    However, there were still many sword intents that failed to find a sword to resonate with in the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was because his sword intent wasn¡¯t strong enough to trigger the high-level swords or if it was because there was no ancient sword with the corresponding sword intent in the Ancient Sword Tomb.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that the former was more likely, so he planned on raising his sword intent level.


    Although sword intent stemmed from a sword art, it was something that required comprehension instead of practice. If one could comprehend it, they might only need an instant to raise their strength.


    However, if one couldn¡¯t comprehend it, they might not be able to improve even if they trained for ten years.


    Training hard definitely doesn¡¯t work, but if I don¡¯t train, I won¡¯t be able to understand the true intent of the sword, so I naturally won¡¯t be able to comprehend sword intent. What should I do? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and he came up with a solution that wasn¡¯t a solution.


    He first used the three thousand sword intents to trigger the ancient swords¡¯ resonance before plucking the ancient swords that had never resonated. Although he might encounter low-level swords, he might also encounter Mythical swords. In that scenario, he would narrow down the range of finding Mythical swords.


    During the battle with high-level swords, he could comprehend his own sword intent.


    Pulling out a sword, fighting, pulling out a sword, and fighting again¡ªZhou Wen kept repeating this process.


    ¡°What¡¯s the thing you play all day?¡± Miya had observed Zhou Wen for many days. Although she wasn¡¯t interested in human games, it was boring here, so she couldn¡¯t help but ask after seeing him game on his phone.


    ¡°This? A mobile game. I can obtain experience and equipment by killing monsters,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Miya¡¯s expression turned odd. She didn¡¯t think of herself as a monster in the past, nor could she understand why Qin Ling was so vexed because of her Golden Dragon bloodline.


    However, after hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s unintentional words today, Miya suddenly understood why Qin Ling minded her dragon bloodline. This was because she also felt uncomfortable.


    ¡°Do you want to play?¡± Zhou Wen looked up and asked Miya.


    ¡°No.¡± Miya shook her head and sat back on her mat to watch some dramas. However, she couldn¡¯t get into it no matter what. She was somewhat in a daze.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Miya was thinking as he continued practicing his swordplay in-game.


    This was already the eleventh day since Zhou Wen and Miya had entered the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body. The Seven Seas Dragon King was still sleeping, but Zhou Wen received a signal that delighted him.


    Primordial Spore had successfully parasitized the Seven Seas Dragon King. Although it was only a preliminary parasitization and it would take some time to truly control the Seven Seas Dragon King, this was already very good news for Zhou Wen.


    I hope there¡¯s still time. Zhou Wen had eavesdropped on the conversation between Dragon Granny and the man. He knew that if Qin Ling drank that thing, she would reach adulthood in a couple of weeks. When that happened, the man would extract Qin Ling¡¯s bloodline and create something that could turn humans into human-dragons.


    Zhou Wen had to save Qin Ling before that. He didn¡¯t know if becoming a human-dragon was good or bad, but humans needed the right to choose. Zhou Wen felt that such a forceful mutation was a little too much. At the very least, he didn¡¯t wish to become a Dracotaur.


    Wouldn¡¯t it be better to become a cat-man? Zhou Wen thought to himself. If he had to choose to transform, he would rather become a cat. At the very least, it wouldn¡¯t be that ugly.


    ¡°Do you know sword arts?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly asked Miya one day.


    ¡°No.¡± Miya shook her head and asked curiously, ¡°Why are you suddenly asking this?¡±


    ¡°If you know sword arts, I want to see your sword intent.¡± After cultivating for so many days, Zhou Wen felt that his sword art had reached a bottleneck. If he could improve further, his sword art would probably break through to the Mythical stage.


    However, this bottleneck was clearly not that easy to break through. Furthermore, time was indeed too short. It had only been a few days since he began practicing seriously.


    ¡°The concepts in the world are all interconnected. Although I don¡¯t know sword arts, I can let you see my concept if you want to see it,¡± said Miya.

 Chapter 980 - Myriad Sword Resonance

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible, please let me take a look.¡± Zhou Wen felt that he really needed to change his train of thought. Otherwise, he would only walk into a dead end if he just continued doing the same.


    Miya thought for a moment and said, ¡°I¡¯m a Golden Dragon. All my powers are obtained through inheritance. I only know one concept, and that is Golden Dragon King Battle Intent.¡±


    ¡°Battle Intent? How is it different from ordinary concepts?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. Have a feel of it yourself,¡± Miya said as she pressed a hand to Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dodge and allowed Miya¡¯s palm to press on his forehead. As he didn¡¯t dare cause too much of a stir in the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body, Miya directly imprinted her Golden Dragon King Battle Intent into Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, allowing him to sense her battle intent.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen seemed to see an extremely terrifying Golden Dragon King appear in the world. It was ferocious and domineering, as though it was the overlord of the entire world. The terrifying battle intent made all life tremble.


    It was a primordial era. Lightning, fires, floods, and all sorts of calamities frequently descended. All sorts of creatures died in the calamity. Only creatures with extremely powerful vitality could survive in such primordial times.


    The Golden Dragon King grew in such an environment. At the same time, due to the extinction of all things, food became extremely scarce. All sorts of terrifying creatures could only fight each other and eat each other¡¯s flesh and blood.


    Combat! Crazy combat! One could only survive through combat.


    The Golden Dragon King might not be the most powerful beast, nor was it the beast with the strongest defense, much less the fastest beast.


    However, through constant combat, the Golden Dragon King rapidly grew. It constantly transformed and evolved in battle, eventually allowing it to stand at the top of the food chain.


    The unyielding, fearless, brave, crazy, and intelligent will left even Zhou Wen, who was a spectator, deeply shocked.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was the inherited memories of the Golden Dragons. The Golden Dragon King in the Battle Intent was actually the first generation Golden Dragon King. It probably didn¡¯t exist in the world anymore.


    However, its fearless battle intent was eternal.


    There¡¯s no such thing as having good fortune after surviving a great calamity in this world. It¡¯s just that I obtained enough insight and growth in a great calamity to improve myself. Zhou Wen came to a realization as though he understood why his sword art had yet to make a breakthrough.


    It wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t practice well enough, nor was it because his comprehension was lacking, nor was it because he wasn¡¯t diligent enough.


    It was because no matter how much Zhou Wen cultivated, he was ultimately learning something from others. He was learning the three thousand sword intents without comprehending something that belonged to him in battle.


    This also had something to do with Zhou Wen¡¯s views. He hadn¡¯t planned on practicing sword arts to begin with. He had only learned sword arts to advance Sword Pill, so naturally, he just needed to master it. He hadn¡¯t planned on improving it further.


    Zhou Wen now realized that he had underestimated sword arts. Everything in the world had its own principles. If he didn¡¯t put his heart into it, no matter how smart he was, it would be difficult for him to reach the extreme.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that he hadn¡¯t lost to the sword art, but to himself.


    Indeed, one needs to put their heart in everything they do. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think hard.


    ¡°I hope my Battle Intent can help you,¡± Miya said as she retracted her hand when she saw that Zhou Wen had escaped the influence of her Battle Intent.


    ¡°Thank you so much. It was very useful. You¡¯ve helped me greatly.¡± Zhou Wen thanked her sincerely.


    If Miya hadn¡¯t shown him the Golden Dragon King Battle Intent, he wouldn¡¯t have realized his problems. It was easy for animals like humans to discover the problems of others, but it was the hardest to discover their own problems.


    After figuring all of this out, Zhou Wen felt a sense of clarity. When he thought about the 3,000 sword intents again, he immediately felt different. It was as though he was observing the 3,000 sword intents from a different angle and discovered many things that he hadn¡¯t noticed before.


    Miya looked at Zhou Wen and suddenly realized that his aura had changed. It was ethereal and illusory in a rather surreal fashion.


    Although Zhou Wen was standing in front of her, she felt that he resembled a virtual projection. He didn¡¯t give of the feeling that he was an existence made of flesh and blood.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen¡¯s presence continued to decrease. If she closed her eyes, she wouldn¡¯t even be able to sense him standing in front of her.


    ¡°What¡­ did you do¡­¡± Miya looked at Zhou Wen in a daze, not daring to take her eyes off him. It was as though Zhou Wen would vanish if she didn¡¯t keep her eyes on him.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just gained some insight after seeing your Golden Dragon King Battle Intent,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Miya¡¯s expression turned even odder. She really didn¡¯t understand what Zhou Wen¡¯s performance had to do with the Golden Dragon King Battle Intent.


    If Zhou Wen¡¯s battle intent surged like the reincarnation of a Tyrannosaurus, Miya would believe that it was something he had comprehended from the Golden Dragon King Battle Intent.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s presence was getting weaker and weaker. This was completely at odds with the Golden Dragon King Battle Intent. Miya couldn¡¯t understand how Zhou Wen connected the two and comprehended such things.


    Are humans¡­ all so strange? Miya was secretly puzzled.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain further because some things couldn¡¯t be explained with words. After sitting down, he took out his phone and entered the game again.


    When he arrived at the Ancient Sword Tomb again, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to use his sword. He walked to a sword tomb and reached to pull out the sword.


    After the ancient sword was pulled out, it immediately struggled amidst Zhou Wen¡¯s palm and flew into the air, prepared to attack.


    However, the ancient sword spun a few times in midair as though it couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen. It didn¡¯t attack him.


    Zhou Wen ignored it and walked to another sword tomb, pulling out the ancient sword from it.


    The outcome was the same. The ancient sword streaked across the sky as though it couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen pulled out swords as he walked. He pulled out hundreds of ancient swords of different levels and attributes, but none of them attacked him as though he wasn¡¯t the one pulling them out.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen finally moved. With a tap of his finger, the resplendent Sword Pill tore through the air and streaked across the sky. More than a hundred ancient swords were instantly sliced apart by Sword Pill. Not a single sword could withstand a single strike from Sword Pill. The remnant sword fragments fell to the ground, leaving only Sword Pill floating in front of Zhou Wen. Above Zhou Wen and Sword Pill was an extremely terrifying sword intent.


    Hum!


    Inside the Sword Tomb, the myriad swords resonated.

 Chapter 981 - Perfect Sword Pill

    ¡°A swordsman, a ferocious weapon. If the sword doesn¡¯t move, it¡¯s like a Buddha or an immortal. If the sword moves, it will slaughter Buddha and destroy immortals. If you lack the intent, why move the sword? If I were to strike, I would make the entire world my enemy,¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself as he stared at Sword Pill in front of him.


    Sword Pill emitted a blinding sword beam, and the ancient swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb hummed even louder.


    Ancient swords tore out of the ground and flew out without anyone needing to pull them out. Countless ancient swords tore out of the tombs and charged at Zhou Wen and Sword Pill like a rain of swords. The turn of events was truly terrifying. Even the world changed color.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid. The baneful aura on Sword Pill surged as it circled around him. Any ancient sword that approached Zhou Wen was instantly sliced apart by Sword Pill.


    Ancient swords rained down. Three feet around Zhou Wen¡¯s body were filled with shards and broken handles, but there wasn¡¯t a single sword within three feet. Only Sword Pill, which seemed as powerful as a god, culled all the swords in a shocking manner.


    A dragon-like sword hum tore through the air. It was a white ancient sword with the aura of a wyrm on it. It was blinding as it transformed into a wyrm-like sword beam that streaked across the sky towards Zhou Wen.


    The sword was clearly a Mythical weapon, a sovereign of swords.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to take it to heart. He extended his hand and beckoned at the sword pill before coolly saying, ¡°Sword, come.¡±


    With that said, Sword Pill transformed into a stream of light that charged at Zhou Wen¡¯s palm. When it landed in his palm, Sword Pill had already transformed into a real sword.


    The sword was four feet long. The sword¡¯s spine was straight and firm, like a gentleman¡¯s back that never bowed. Blood patterns could be vaguely seen on the sword.


    The Wyrm Sword slashed down in midair, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t retreat as he slashed out in defiance of the heavens.


    Clang!


    The wyrm-like sword beam was forcefully cleaved apart by the sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. The wyrm sword collided with the blade and was sent flying.


    Hum!


    Another ancient sword tore out of the ground with a terrifying sword aura. The sword was wide and huge, and it was extremely heavy. When it slashed down, it was like a mountain pressing down on him. Its might seemed unstoppable.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid as he brandished his sword to meet it. However, the sword in his hand changed its appearance, turning into a soft azure sword.


    The sword was as thin as cicada wings and as light as muslin.


    When the two swords clashed, the sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand wrapped around the heavy sword like silk. He used the momentum to fling the heavy sword away, causing it to slam into a large sword tomb.


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    Terrifying ancient swords tore out of the grave one after another, bringing with them boundless sword beams as though they were determined to destroy Zhou Wen and the sword in his hand.


    Yet, Zhou Wen showed no fear as he brandished his sword to meet the terrifying Mythical swords.


    When Zhou Wen struck, the sword in his hand transformed into thousands of shapes. When facing any sword, his sword, sword moves, and sword intent would transform into a form that restrained the other party.


    Although the other party was at the Mythical stage and was one level higher than him, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage in battle.


    From beginning to end, seven Mythical swords joined the battle. Zhou Wen single-handedly used his sword art to fight the seven swords without being at a disadvantage.


    As Zhou Wen was engrossed in the battle, Sword Pill in his hand transformed into the shape of Bamboo Blade. He fused with the saber and used Immortal Slaying to slice through one of the Mythical swords.


    However, due to his excessive strength and expenditure, he was killed by six Mythical swords before he could catch his breath.


    Seeing the game screen turn black, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t vexed at all. Instead, he was delighted.


    Without a doubt, his sword art had advanced to the Mythical stage, and his Sword Pill had also advanced to a Perfect Body.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, he launched the game again and read the blood-colored avatar¡¯s stats.


    Indeed, Sword Pill had already advanced to a Perfect Body. Strangely, the name of Sword Pill didn¡¯t change this time. It was still the words ¡°Sword Pill.¡±


    Among the Life Souls that changed their names during the first evolution, only Sword Pill didn¡¯t change its name after the second evolution. It could be considered the only one.


    Zhou Wen looked at his skill column and indeed, there was an additional Mythical sword art.


    Heart Defying Sword: Mythical


    Zhou Wen was very satisfied with the sword art. Although he knew quite a number of Mythical techniques, the only ones he had truly mastered independently were Transcendent Flying Immortal and the Heart Defying Sword.


    Of course, the level given by the game wasn¡¯t important to Zhou Wen. What was important was that he finally knew how to use a sword. Furthermore, it was a very special sword art.


    As Sword Pill had advanced to a Perfect Body, his Strength attribute also reached 41 points. The only remaining attribute was Speed.


    I never expected that despite being best at movement techniques, my Speed stat is the last to reach 41. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. Some things were simply out of his control.


    If he were to choose, he would definitely raise his Speed attribute, but he failed to do so.


    Thankfully, he only needed to raise Glimmer to a Perfect Body to raise his Speed stat to 41 points. If everything went well, he could use the Lost Immortal Sutra to advance to the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen entered the Ancient Sword Tomb again. This time, he no longer had the mind of sword practice. However, with the Heart Defying Sword¡¯s sword intent and Sword Pill, he had a good way of farming in Ancient Sword Tomb.


    As long as he stimulated the Heart Defying Sword¡¯s sword intent with all his might, he could trigger the myriad swords and get the Mythical swords to attack him.


    Indeed, after Zhou Wen used the Heart Defying sword intent, the entire Ancient Sword Tomb boiled once again. The myriad swords resonated as many ancient swords automatically tore out of their tombs to kill Zhou Wen.


    Unfortunately, they couldn¡¯t pass Sword Pill at all. They were all sliced apart. Finally, the Mythical swords were activated. Unlike before, only six Mythical swords appeared.


    Furthermore, the Mythical swords this time were somewhat different from the previous six.


    Zhou Wen estimated that every time the Ancient Sword Tomb respawned, seven Mythical swords would appear, but the type of Mythical swords that appeared wasn¡¯t fixed.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any intention of practicing his sword intent. After luring out the Mythical swords, he activated his Mythical Companion Beast lineup. The six Mythical swords weren¡¯t their match at all and were quickly killed.


    Ding!


    One of the Mythical swords dropped a Companion Egg.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯m really lucky. I just had a Bronze Sparrow drop not long ago. Now, there¡¯s another one. Zhou Wen picked up the Companion Egg and was overjoyed when he saw it. It was Night Immaculate Sword.


    Among the three famous swords in China, there was the high-grade Light Concealment, medium-grade Shadow Concealment, and low-grade Night Immaculate.


    Now that Zhou Wen had the high and low-grade swords, he just lacked the middle-grade Shadow Concealment Sword.


    If I can gather all three swords, I wonder if I can combine them into one? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, it wasn¡¯t easy to have Shadow Concealment drop. It was unknown when it would drop. After all, the famous swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb were randomly respawned. He might not have Shadow Concealment Sword appear every time.

 Chapter 982 - Seven Dragons Sea’s Great Mutation

    Translator: CKtalon


    Night Immaculate: Mythical


    Life Providence: Corporeal Sword


    Life Soul: Corporeal Sword Aura


    Wheel of Destiny: Night Immaculate


    Strength: 80


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Sword Aura Slash, Sword Aura Wheel, Sword Aura Rain, Dao Integration Strike.


    Companion Form: Sword


    The attributes of Night Immaculate were very similar to Light Concealment, but they were slightly different. It was also considered a top-notch Companion Beast, but Night Immaculate couldn¡¯t turn invisible.


    Zhou Wen summoned Night Immaculate and saw that it was condensed from a blob of sword aura. Although he could see it, that was all he could see¡ªa blob of white sword aura. It was like a sword condensed from dense white fog.


    After giving it a try, he realized that the various skills of Night Immaculate were about the same as Light Concealment. However, one was Sword Light, while the other was Sword Aura.


    After matching Light Concealment and Night Immaculate, the compatibility between the two reached 91. If he wanted to fuse them, the success rate was very high.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to fuse them. He still wanted to see how different the three swords would be when placed together.


    Zhou Wen grinded for two more days without seeing the Shadow Concealment Sword, but something finally happened with the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Indeed, the Seven Seas Dragon King arrived at the man¡¯s palace. The man wasn¡¯t inside. The Seven Seas Dragon King passed through the palace and stopped behind it. Zhou Wen immediately saw the man, Feng Qiuyan, and Qin Ling.


    Feng Qiuyan was locked in a crystal coffin and looked like he was asleep. As for Qin Ling, she was in a huge device. Part of the device was a crystal container with pure water inside. This was very similar to the water in the Deathwater Zone. Qin Ling was inside the pure water.


    The pale golden scales had already covered her body. Dragon horns grew out of her head, making her look like a golden human human-dragon.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if Qin Ling¡¯s state was considered adulthood, but from the looks of it, the man¡¯s experiment was already underway.


    Zhou Wen sized up the device, but he couldn¡¯t tell what it was used for.


    ¡°Seven Seas, the time is ripe. Gather all the dimensional creatures in the Seven Seas,¡± the man said to the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    After the Seven Seas Dragon King heard the order, it raised its seven strange dragon-like tentacles. The strange dragons opened their mouths and let out a silent roar.


    Zhou Wen could hear a high-frequency sound wave with Truth Listener. This sound wave couldn¡¯t be heard by ordinary ears, but all the dimensional creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea approached after hearing this sound wave.


    The sea snakes in the Undersea Blue Hole, the lobsters in the Deathwater Zone, the clams on Infinite Island, and various dimensional creatures were gathering towards the abyss. The number was unimaginable.


    What¡¯s that man trying to do? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°Qin Ling, we may begin now.¡± A large number of dimensional creatures arrived outside the palace, but they could only swim in the sea and not enter the palace protected by a mysterious force.


    ¡°If I do as you say, will you let Feng Qiuyan off?¡± Qin Ling asked through gritted teeth.


    ¡°I¡¯m also a human. I don¡¯t like killing my own kind. You can rest assured about that,¡± the man said.


    Qin Ling glanced at Feng Qiuyan in the crystal coffin and gritted her teeth. She bit her tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood.


    This mouthful of blood was somewhat different from ordinary blood. It was actually golden. After the golden blood flowed out, it immediately mixed with the pure water.


    After being diluted by the large amount of pure water, the mouthful of blood quickly disappeared.


    The man reached out and pressed the device¡¯s switch. The liquid in the huge jar spewed out and fused into the seawater above.


    After the countless dimensional creatures outside were stained by the liquid in the jar, some low-level dimensional creatures quickly changed.


    The sea snake actually grew claws, and scales grew on the clam maiden¡¯s fair skin. All sorts of different dimensional creatures seemed to undergo changes. Even the fish-type dimensional creatures grew claws.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly understood that after these dimensional creatures evolved, they had the characteristics of being close to dragons. Although they were still far from being comparable to real dragons, their bodies looked like they could already move on land.


    These dimensional creatures that were originally in the sea might very well break out of the Seven Dragons Sea and enter land.


    Just the thought of it left him horrified. It was impossible for Sea Return City¡¯s people to withstand so many dimensional creatures.


    Should I go out and stop him now? Zhou Wen felt that even if he went out, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to stop the man from doing all of this.


    He could still think of a way to deal with one Terror-grade, but it would probably be difficult for Zhou Wen to deal with two.


    Primordial Spore, hurry up. Zhou Wen could only wait for Primordial Spore to finish the parasitization. If he could control the Seven Seas Dragon King to fight the man, he still had a chance of redeeming the situation.


    More and more marine creatures came here to be baptized by the liquid that contained Qin Ling¡¯s blood. Their bodies were also gradually transforming.


    After Qin Ling spat out the golden blood, the man didn¡¯t force her to do anything more. However, Qin Ling looked very dispirited. That mouthful of golden blood was unlikely to be as simple as ordinary blood.


    The dimensional creatures in the entire Seven Dragons Sea were mutating. With time, the changes in their bodies became more apparent. Even the dimensional creatures that had completed their evolution didn¡¯t leave. They kept circling the abyss.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s consciousness was gradually blurring as Primordial Spore silently parasitized its soul.


    To be able to parasitize a creature in a Terror form in such a short period of time was already considered amazing. However, the situation was too urgent. Zhou Wen still found it too slow.


    In just a few days, a large number of dimensional creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea mutated. They possessed some of the characteristics of dragons and had grown to a certain level.


    ¡°Seven Seas, that¡¯s enough. Let them step onto land and turn all the humans in the world into Dracotaurs.¡± The man ordered Seven Seas.


    Shall I risk it? Zhou Wen wondered if he should go out and stop them, but on second thought, he gave up on the idea.


    If he were to go out and risk his life now, the chances of reversing the situation were very low. The man had been ordering the Seven Seas Dragon King to control the marine dimensional creatures. It looked like he didn¡¯t have such an ability.


    Since the Seven Seas Dragon King is the key to controlling these dimensional creatures, as long as Primordial Spore can successfully parasitize it, I can completely reverse the situation. Since Feng Qiuyan and Qin Ling weren¡¯t in danger for the time being, Zhou Wen decided to wait and see.


    Zhou Wen told Miya about the situation outside and his judgment.


    After Miya heard that, she heaved a sigh of relief. Since that man hadn¡¯t killed Qin Ling, nothing else was that important to her.


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what method that man used, I¡¯m certain that those mutated creatures aren¡¯t going ashore to eat humans. They probably are trying to infect humans with their mutated blood,¡± Miya said after some thought.

 Chapter 983 - Alarmist

    Translator: CKtalon


    The people from Sea Return City realized that something was amiss over the past few days. The dimensional zones on land were fine, but they couldn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures in the dimensional zones in the sea.


    All the dimensional creatures in the sea seemed to have vanished.


    Sea God Reef, Undersea Blue Hole, Infinite Island, and other places were empty. There was almost no sign of dimensional creatures.


    The Hui family had contacted all the families in Sea Return City to discuss a countermeasure. As for the Feng family, they were also troubled by Feng Qiuyan and Qin Ling¡¯s disappearance. They had already sent people to search everywhere, but they were unable to find them.


    ¡°The situation in the Seven Dragons Sea is very strange. All the dimensional creatures have vanished. Everyone, let¡¯s discuss. What does this mean?¡± Old Master Hui swept his gaze across the core members of the various families.


    ¡°The disappearance of dimensional creatures is a good thing for us. We don¡¯t rely on dimensional zones in the sea to begin with. All we need to do is guard the dimensional zones and mineral deposits on the shore,¡± said Liu, a family head.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but I¡¯m afraid that the dimensional creatures in the sea will cause trouble again,¡± an elder from the Feng family said.


    ¡°What can happen? After all, they are dimensional creatures in the sea. Only a small number of them have the ability to leave the sea to fight. Most of them will have their combat strength greatly reduced after they hit land. They won¡¯t be a danger to us.¡± Family Head Liu paused before saying, ¡°Besides, haven¡¯t we already made preparations? Even if Sea Return City really can¡¯t be defended, we can still retreat into the dimensional zones on land. Everyone has been in business here for so long. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems, right?¡±


    1


    ¡°Brother Liu is right. Those things are from the sea after all. They can only circle the area before leaving. Do you think they can grow legs to snatch our territory?¡± another family head said.


    Everyone immediately began discussing. Most people felt that they should stay behind and continue watching. Even if something really happened, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to retreat when the time came.


    ¡°I think we should evacuate immediately.¡± A different voice sounded. Everyone looked at the person who spoke and saw a young man in his twenties. Most people knew that he was Hui Haifeng from the Hui family.


    ¡°Young Master Feng, what do you mean?¡± Family Head Liu asked Hui Haifeng.


    Hui Haifeng took out a small bottle and held it in his hand, allowing everyone to see what was inside.


    The bottle wasn¡¯t big, about the same size as a mineral water bottle. There was water inside, but there was something in the water that looked like a mushroom. It was similar to the test subjects he had shown Zhou Wen previously.


    However, the thing that should have been white now suffused a faint golden color. It looked very strange.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Old Master Hui asked Hui Haifeng.


    He knew that Hui Haifeng was doing research, and he had supported him. However, he never expected Hui Haifeng to really figure out anything.


    ¡°Grandpa, this is a sample of the fungi I extracted from the marine plants to nurture. Originally, the evolution of these fungi took at least a year from a spore to its present state. However, this experimental product was something I just started cultivating this morning, but it has already evolved to such a level. Something must have happened in the Seven Dragons Sea. It¡¯s very likely that the dimensional creatures in the sea will undergo a large-scale evolution, so we have to evacuate immediately,¡± Hui Haifeng said seriously.


    ¡°Young Master Feng, aren¡¯t you being a little too assertive? Perhaps something went wrong with your experiment, or perhaps it¡¯s just an anomaly. It doesn¡¯t necessarily mean anything. Perhaps you need more experiments,¡± said Family Head Liu disapprovingly. He wasn¡¯t interested in so-called scientific research.


    He even felt that scientific research was useless in this era. It was the era of gods, and science was no longer feasible.


    There were quite a number of people who thought that way. Furthermore, most people weren¡¯t willing to give up on Sea Return City and the mineral deposits that they had been running for so many years.


    After all, Hui Haifeng was only making an inference. No one knew if his inference would come true.


    Even if it were true, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to leave when they really couldn¡¯t stop dimensional creatures. They still had dimensional zones operating on land as an escape route.


    ¡°Everyone, perhaps you don¡¯t know what this evolutionary speed means. Let me make an analogy. According to the current evolutionary speed, if an ordinary rat is injected with this element, it will only need three days. In three days, it will evolve to have an elephant-like body and strength. If the creatures in the sea have such an evolutionary speed, are you still confident that you can safely retreat under their attacks? Do you still have the confidence to defend the dimensional zones?¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°Young Master Feng, this is only your speculation after all. You can¡¯t just rely on your speculation to make us leave our homeland, right?¡± Family Head Liu pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this? We¡¯ll send some capable people into the water to investigate what has happened in the sea. If it¡¯s really as you say, it won¡¯t be too late for everyone to leave when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What Family Head Liu said makes sense. Let¡¯s investigate first.¡± Many people supported Family Head Liu¡¯s suggestion.


    In the end, Hui Haifeng couldn¡¯t convince them. After all, Sea Return City wasn¡¯t under the jurisdiction of Hui Haifeng¡¯s family. Furthermore, many people in the Hui family felt that Hui Haifeng was being overly alarmist.


    In fact, many members of the Hui family disapproved of Hui Haifeng¡¯s research.


    If Hui Haifeng hadn¡¯t paid for the research funding himself, they definitely wouldn¡¯t have let him do so much.


    ¡°How was it?¡± Li Xuan asked Hui Haifeng after the meeting ended.


    Hui Haifeng shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless. They are blinded by interest and comfort. They won¡¯t believe it unless they see the apocalypse with their own eyes.¡±


    Li Xuan said gloomily, ¡°Then what should we do? Old Zhou and Little Yanyan are missing. Something big must be happening.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s return to the laboratory first. I need to make some preparations. We have to move the important things out first. We can¡¯t stay here.¡± Hui Haifeng quickly rushed to the laboratory. He knew that he didn¡¯t have much time left.


    Li Xuan took Ya¡¯er and returned with Hui Haifeng to make preparations.


    At the same time, Sea Return City sent some humans with underwater abilities into the Seven Dragons Sea to investigate the disappearance of the dimensional creatures.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to investigate? Isn¡¯t this unnecessary? It¡¯s better if the dimensional creatures in the sea leave. It saves us the trouble of them coming ashore to harass us every once in a while,¡± a middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it all because of that scion from the Hui family? He said that there will be a huge mutation in the sea and that there will be many mutated dimensional creatures. It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t seen them before. What¡¯s there to be alarmed about? He even said that he wants us to move out of Sea Return. I think he¡¯s studied too much and has lost his mind. What famous university? He¡¯s ridiculous¡­¡±


    The others laughed. They felt that a scion like Hui Haifeng only knew how to spout nonsense and give instructions blindly.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Suddenly, someone realized that there seemed to be something in the seawater ahead.


    ¡°Sea snakes? That¡¯s not right. Why do they look like they have claws? The color isn¡¯t right either. Sea snakes should be blue. This one looks blue with some gold in it¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a sea snake. Just kill it and bring it back for research.¡±


    1


    Just as they were about to move, they suddenly saw the strange sea snake rush over. It was much faster than ordinary sea snakes. Before anyone could react, the sea snake had bitten him.

 Chapter 984 - The Mutation Begins

    Translator: CKtalon


    The people beside him rushed forward and immediately diced the strange sea snake into several pieces.


    ¡°Old Li, don¡¯t be afraid. My Companion Beast can restrain the sea snake¡¯s poison. I¡¯ll treat your injuries now,¡± the person said as he summoned a Companion Beast to treat the bitten person.


    He had treated poison wounds inflicted by sea snakes many times, so it wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Indeed, the wound was quickly healed without any signs of poisoning.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go quickly. Let¡¯s take a look ahead. If we can¡¯t find anything, we should quickly return. Don¡¯t waste time here. The dimensional creatures in the sea have little to do with us,¡± the few of them said as they continued diving deeper into the sea.


    However, they didn¡¯t realize that Old Li, who was behind them, gradually turned problematic. His eyes gradually turned golden, and tiny golden spots appeared on his face.


    After a while, Old Li suddenly pounced on the person in front of him as though he had gone mad. He opened his mouth and bit down on the neck of the person in front of him.


    ¡°Ah!¡± The person was caught off guard and was bitten. He screamed and turned to look at Old Li, only to see that his pupils had turned completely golden.


    ¡­


    There were many guards at the Sea Return sentry post. They were still concerned about the mysterious disappearance of the dimensional creatures in the sea, but they were unwilling to leave Sea Return just like that.


    In fact, most people could guess that something major had happened in the sea, but they were still hoping to get lucky.


    ¡°They¡¯re back!¡± The guards on the sentry post discovered the people who had gone into the sea to investigate.


    ¡°One, two, three¡­ Seven¡­ No one is missing. I knew it. It¡¯s all fine. Didn¡¯t they return safely? If there¡¯s really a huge mutation in the sea, how can they return safely?¡± the guard said in delight. He had been on tenterhooks the past two days, afraid that the mutation Hui Haifeng mentioned was real.


    ¡°Old Li, how¡¯s the situation in the sea? Did you find any mutated creatures?¡± A few guards who were familiar with them greeted the people who had entered the sea.


    However, Old Li and company didn¡¯t speak. They walked over with their heads lowered.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking you a question. Why aren¡¯t you speaking?¡± a guard leader said unhappily.


    When Old Li and company approached, they finally looked up. The guards shivered when they saw this and immediately shouted that something was amiss.


    Old Li and company¡¯s eyes were golden. Scales had grown on their faces, making them look terrifying and strange.


    Just as they shouted, Old Li and the others bared their fangs and pounced forward. Instantly, the sentry post was in chaos as someone sent out a warning signal.


    When the few families saw the warning signal, they were alarmed. They immediately organized their men to observe, but they didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creatures on the coast. Their own people were attacking their own people at the sentry post.


    The few families hurriedly led their men over to figure out what had happened. When they arrived, the last conscious guard was bitten on the neck by Old Li.


    Everyone was stunned. They were also frightened by Old Li and the others. What was even more terrifying was that the guards who had fallen to the ground quickly got up again.


    The eyes of the guards also began to turn golden. Golden spots appeared on their faces, but they hadn¡¯t grown into scales.


    An infection! This word popped up in everyone¡¯s minds.


    ¡°Attack. Kill them all. We can¡¯t let them live. It¡¯s contagious,¡± Old Master Hui immediately ordered.


    Only then did the frightened people react. No one dared to rush forward to fight them. Thankfully, there were enough people. They summoned their Companion Beasts and let them fight.


    They were surprised to discover that Old Li and company¡¯s bodies had become as hard as steel. Furthermore, they were terrifyingly fast. They felt nothing from ordinary injuries. Only by stabbing their hearts could they be killed. They no longer looked like humans, but more like dimensional creatures.


    Thankfully, their bodies became stronger, but their intelligence seemed to weaken. Finally, with everyone¡¯s cooperation, they finally killed all the infected people.


    ¡°We can¡¯t leave these corpses behind. Burn them all.¡± Just as Old Master Hui finished speaking, everyone looked at the sea. No one burned the corpses.


    A storm suddenly stirred in the sea. And amidst the waves, something seemed to be surging.


    Soon, they saw what it was. Countless dimensional creatures¡ªshrimp, crabs, octopuses, sea snakes, and many strange creatures that they couldn¡¯t name¡ªrushed over alongside the waves. It was unknown how many there were.


    What was even more terrifying was that the dimensional creatures they were previously familiar with were now unrecognizable. The sea snakes and the sharks had grown claws. They rushed to the coast and bared their fangs as they charged at everyone.


    ¡°Retreat! Return to the city immediately! Everyone in the city retreat into the dimensional zone!¡± Old Master Hui¡¯s expression changed drastically as he shouted.


    Everyone¡¯s faces were pale. The dimensional creatures that came surging over had exceeded their imagination. Apart from escaping, they no longer had any second thoughts.


    Something even more terrifying happened. A large number of winged fish flew towards Sea Return City from the sky. The high wall was useless.


    Sea Return City was in chaos. Some people¡¯s bodies became strange after being injured by the dimensional creatures. Those with stronger bodies could still last for a period of time, while those with weaker bodies quickly turned golden. Golden spots began to appear on their skin.


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± When Old Master Hui returned to the city, he saw that someone had already been infected.


    Now, everyone was filled with regret. If they had known, they would have listened to Hui Haifeng and moved out of Sea Return City.


    No matter how valuable the mineral deposits here were, people who died here wouldn¡¯t have the life to enjoy them.


    ¡°Take refuge in the dimensional zones. Retreat immediately. Everyone retreat into the dimensional zones¡­¡± Old Master Hui shouted as he killed.


    Now, it was only a flying fish invasion. There were many, but they were nothing compared to the dimensional creatures that rushed out from the coast.


    Without Old Master Hui needing to shout, everyone was running for their lives. Instantly, Sea Return City seemed to turn into hell. There were screams and killing everywhere.


    However, no one died. All the injured people would stand up after a while, but when they stood up, they would become members of the dimensional creature horde and not humans.


    The few families fought as they retreated, gathering towards a dimensional zone. It was the dimensional zone they had been in for the longest time. They wanted to use the taboos in the dimensional zone to block these creatures.


    Boom!


    Following a huge tsunami, a terrifying monster appeared. It looked like a huge octopus, but its tentacles were like wyrms. Each one was a hundred meters long.


    All sorts of terrifying creatures charged forward with the terrifying monster blotting out the sky. The high walls were destroyed without putting up much of a defense.

 Chapter 985 - Night Thearch

No content

 Chapter 986 - True Mythical Strength

    Translator: CKtalon


    Hui Haifeng took a deep breath. ¡°Although we share similar beliefs, I¡¯m sorry. We aren¡¯t the same kind of people. I also want humans to evolve, but I won¡¯t choose such a method.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just fooling yourself. I know you want to say that you will figure out an evolution method with a high success rate, but what¡¯s the point of having a high success rate? Even if everyone can become stronger because of a 100% success rate, there will still be strong and weak outcomes due to different talent. The strong will become stronger, and the weak will become weaker. When that happens, the strong will occupy most of the resources, but the weak will obtain fewer and fewer resources.¡±


    Night Thearch sneered and said, ¡°Just like how no matter how long workers work, capitalists will never find it enough. No matter how low the workers¡¯ salary is, they will think that it¡¯s too much. In order to squeeze out the last bit of remaining value, the weak will eventually die or even be killed by their powerful companions.¡±


    1


    ¡°Instead of letting such a cruel thing happen and waste so much time, why don¡¯t you let me complete this step directly? It will save time and also allow a genius like you to not have to think about how to snatch the last grain of rice from the weak in the future. Isn¡¯t this a happy ending for everyone? If I¡¯m guilty, let me bear these sins.¡±


    Night Thearch¡¯s eyes were firm and confident. Hui Haifeng knew that what he said wasn¡¯t an excuse he had found for himself. He probably really believed what he said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the situation you mentioned will happen, but I still want to give it a try,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pity. I really hoped that you would stay and help me. It¡¯s a pity. However, it¡¯s fine. If you can survive this ordeal, even without my help, you can prove your excellence. When that happens, you will understand everything I¡¯m saying.¡± As Night Thearch spoke, he waved his hand, gesturing for Seven Seas Dragon King to begin.


    Seven Seas Dragon King raised its strange dragon-like tentacles and let out a silent roar. The dimensional creatures that had stopped attacking humans began surrounding the people of Sea Return City.


    Everyone immediately fell into despair. Faced with the flood of dimensional creatures, their fighting spirit was long gone. They originally believed that they could rely on Hui Haifeng¡¯s gold powder to escape, but death was still the outcome.


    Suddenly, the dimensional creatures that were charging at the humans slowly stopped. Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body trembled as though it was engaging in an intense battle of thoughts.


    ¡°Seven Seas, what happened?¡± Night Thearch frowned as he looked at Seven Seas Dragon King. Seven Seas Dragon King had actually disobeyed his orders.


    Seven Seas Dragon King didn¡¯t respond, but his trembling intensified. No matter how Night Thearch ordered it, it didn¡¯t respond.


    The dimensional creatures stopped, unsure of what to do.


    Zhou Wen ordered Primordial Spore to forcefully fight for control of Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body from within.


    Now, Primordial Spore hadn¡¯t completely occupied the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s soul, but there was no time. Zhou Wen could only make this choice.


    Although Primordial Spore hadn¡¯t completely occupied the soul, it had played a certain role. Seven Seas Dragon King was restrained, making it difficult for him to be of any use in a short period of time.


    ¡°There¡¯s a problem!¡± Li Xuan looked at Seven Seas Dragon King who looked mentally ill and realized that something might have happened.


    The people from Sea Return also looked at Seven Seas Dragon King eagerly. Now, their fates no longer belonged to them. Their life and death were in the hands of others. Although they knew that the chances were very low, they yearned for a miracle to happen.


    ¡°Come out.¡± Night Thearch seemed to realize something as a cold glint flashed in his eyes. He pressed a hand on the head of Seven Seas Dragon King and a strange electric force penetrated Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen felt the horror of the force. He originally wanted to continue hiding, but now, he had no choice but to leave.


    He pulled Miya out of Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s stomach and teleported out of his body. He arrived above Seven Seas Dragon King and looked at Night Thearch from afar.


    The people from Sea Return City were alarmed. Another human had appeared above Seven Seas Dragon King. It looked like a young couple.


    ¡°I knew it. Old Zhou wouldn¡¯t die so easily.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t find it strange when he saw Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t dead?¡± Night Thearch was slightly surprised. He originally imagined that Zhou Wen had been devoured by Seven Seas Dragon King, but he never expected him to survive.


    ¡°Night Thearch, it¡¯s best you stop. The Seven Seas Dragon King no longer obeys your orders. It¡¯s impossible for your plan to continue,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Night Thearch said indifferently, ¡°Your strength isn¡¯t enough to affect Seven Seas Dragon King. I believe you relied on a Companion Beast to influence it. As long as I kill you, your Companion Beast will die with you. Seven Seas Dragon King will naturally recover.¡±


    ¡°Many people have wanted to kill me, but they failed in the end. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s easy,¡± Zhou Wen said as he shot a look at Miya.


    Miya nodded and immediately turned around to fly towards the sea.


    Zhou Wen had already discussed it with her. She was in charge of rescuing Qin Ling and Feng Qiuyan while Zhou Wen was in charge of holding back Night Thearch.


    Night Thearch saw through their plan at a glance, but he didn¡¯t stop Miya. This was because there was no need. As long as Zhou Wen was killed, everything would return to normal.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan is quite a figure. I never expected the disciples he taught to be such figures as well. Unfortunately, firstly, you didn¡¯t fuse with a Guardian like Wang Mingyuan, and secondly, you didn¡¯t contract a Guardian. You have no right to be my opponent,¡± Night Thearch said as he slowly raised his hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing impressive having Guardians. I¡¯ve killed a few too,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Guardians you killed can¡¯t even transform into a Terror form, right?¡± Night Thearch raised his right hand high and slashed down like a blade. At the same time, he said, ¡°Today, I¡¯ll let you see what true Mythical power is.¡±


    Zhou Wen quickly retreated, hoping to dodge Night Thearch¡¯s attack, but Night Thearch¡¯s strike didn¡¯t produce any ordinary Essence Energy or light.


    The sky suddenly darkened, plunging the entire world into darkness. One couldn¡¯t see their fingers, nor could they see anything else. Night Thearch¡¯s figure had also vanished.


    ¡°What is terror? The unknown and the invisible are the true terrors. You can¡¯t see or touch a true Terror-grade powerhouse. As long as I¡¯m willing, I can take your life at any time. This is a true god. It¡¯s irresistible and impossible to compete¡­¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice echoed in the boundless darkness. He seemed to be everywhere, but he didn¡¯t seem to be anywhere at the same time.


    v

 Chapter 987 - Two Choices

    Translator: CKtalon


    The entire Sea Return City fell into darkness. Everyone seemed to become blind as the terror in their hearts was magnified countless times.


    Even Epic experts with eyesight abilities couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness. There was only darkness, like an eternal night.


    The average people of the city were used to using their eyes. They were already very flustered losing their vision. They thought of the countless monsters around them, but were unable to see them and did not know what they were doing. Were they preparing to pounce over and devour them? Had the dimensional creatures¡¯ bloody mouths reached their necks?


    The terror humans felt mostly came from their own imagination. And this dark environment was the easiest environment to seed terror in their imaginations.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like to imagine things, so when he used Truth Listener, he also activated the Supreme Hell King Life Soul, allowing his senses to become extremely sharp.


    However¡­ it was useless¡­ Be it Truth Listener¡¯s ability or Supreme Hell King¡¯s enhanced senses, he failed to discover any traces of Night Thearch. It was as though Night Thearch had already melted into the night.


    ¡°Have you¡­ experienced true terror?¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s ear.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see Night Thearch. As for the darkness, it seemed to transform into a saber that brushed past Zhou Wen¡¯s neck.


    Clang!


    The Astral Shell Dragon Armor appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body as he activated Absolute Defense. Even so, a thin mark appeared on his armored neck.


    ¡°Absolute Defense. This should be a manifestation of the Astral Shell Dragon Companion Egg, right? You are really lucky. Although the Astral Shell Dragon¡¯s abilities aren¡¯t much, Absolute Defense is an extremely powerful skill. Even at the Terror grade, it won¡¯t be easy to break through Absolute Defense.¡±


    Night Thearch¡¯s voice drifted over from somewhere. It was as though his lips were right beside Zhou Wen¡¯s left ear as he spoke, but when Zhou Wen turned his head, he saw nothing.


    The voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s right ear again. ¡°Absolute Defense is among the top Mythical powers. Previously, I wanted to personally kill the Astral Shell Dragon to see if a Companion Egg would drop. However, the chances were too low, so I had no choice but to give up. I never expected you to obtain the Astral Shell Dragon Companion Egg. Unfortunately, the Astral Shell Dragon is only a Mythical creature with no potential. It can¡¯t enter the Terror state and can¡¯t have Absolute Defense constantly activated. It can only last for half an hour at most.¡±


    Zhou Wen turned his head to the right, but he still didn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°Half an hour. This is the amount of time you have to live in this world. Enjoy it. No, it¡¯s already been a minute. You still have 29 minutes¡­¡± Night Thearch¡¯s evil voice entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears like a devil.


    Faced with the pressure of death, especially knowing the time when he might die, the pressure and terror was enough to make one break down.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a sentimental person. He knew that Absolute Defense couldn¡¯t protect him forever. Instead of being afraid, he should think about what to do next.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen¡¯s first thought was to run.


    Half an hour was enough for him to teleport far away, but in the darkness, Zhou Wen teleported several times. He had already left Sea Return City, but all he saw was darkness.


    All the mountains and rivers were in the darkness. They could be heard but couldn¡¯t be seen.


    ¡°Do you want to leave? I can let you leave.¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s ear again. It was so close that it made his hair stand on end.


    After Night Thearch said that, light returned to where Zhou Wen was.


    However, it was still dark inside Sea Return City.


    This scene was unbelievable. It was daytime on Zhou Wen¡¯s side, but the city several meters away was pitch-black.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to escape? You can leave now, but the people here will become my test subjects and experience that one in a thousand possibility. I wonder if there¡¯s anyone you care about among them? However, no matter how much you care about them, it¡¯s not as important as your life, right?¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice sounded from the darkness.


    In the darkness, Night Thearch appeared beside Hui Haifeng like a nightmare. Hui Haifeng felt his eyes light up. He could actually see clearly in the darkness. He threw a punch, but Night Thearch¡¯s body was like a dark shadow. Hui Haifeng¡¯s fist passed through, failing to harm him at all.


    Night Thearch smiled and said, ¡°What do you think Zhou Wen will choose? He and you are fellow disciples, right? Can your friendship exceed the terror of death?¡±


    Hui Haifeng said calmly, ¡°I wish for him to leave. With his abilities, he will definitely be able to defeat you in the future. He just needs to avenge us.¡±


    Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t shout for Zhou Wen to leave because he knew that those words would only excite stir feelings. He didn¡¯t need Zhou Wen to become sentimental.


    ¡°How touching.¡± Night Thearch came to Li Xuan and Ya¡¯er¡¯s side again. They immediately had the ability to see in the darkness.


    ¡°Do you think Zhou Wen will leave this place or come back to save you?¡± Night Thearch asked with interest.


    Without a word, Li Xuan released the Ice Silkworms. However, the Ice Silkworms passed through the shadow-like Night Thearch and failed to cause any damage to him.


    ¡°How interesting. Don¡¯t you wish for him to come back and save you? Don¡¯t tell me that you really don¡¯t care about him abandoning you and escaping? You once treated him as your best friend and best companion, but he escaped alone when there¡¯s danger. How sad is that?¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice sounded in the trio¡¯s ears.


    ¡°If it were me, I would definitely come back to save you, even if it means sharing life and death. What would Zhou Wen choose?¡± Night Thearch continued.


    Outside Sea Return City, Zhou Wen stared at the dark Sea Return City with a frown.


    ¡°Are you escaping or not? I¡¯ll give you three more seconds. If you don¡¯t want to escape, return to the darkness.¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice came from the darkness again. ¡°One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­¡±


    When Night Thearch counted to three, Zhou Wen turned around and quickly vanished.


    In the dark Sea Return City, Night Thearch gloated as he said to Hui Haifeng and company, ¡°What a pity. It looks like your companion is half unreliable. Between living and your friendship, he chose to live.¡±


    Li Xuan looked at the depressed Ya¡¯er in his arms and suddenly said, ¡°So what?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel abandoned at all?¡± Night Thearch said with interest.


    ¡°Of course. Old Zhou is a bastard. I wish I could tear him to pieces, but unfortunately, I might not have such a chance.¡± Li Xuan stroked Ya¡¯er¡¯s head and said, ¡°Zhou Wen is a bastard like me. If it were just the few of us here, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have returned. However, there¡¯s still the little princess he cares about the most here, so he will definitely return. Don¡¯t you agree, Ya¡¯er?¡±


    Ya¡¯er was stunned. The disappointment on her face gradually disappeared. Her eyes became resolute as she nodded heavily.


    ¡°Li Xuan.¡± Hui Haifeng frowned slightly.


    However, Li Xuan waved his hand. ¡°I know what you mean, but a bastard knows a bastard the best. Compared to letting others know that he will return, he cares more about Ya¡¯er¡¯s feelings. There are some things we understand, but Ya¡¯er is still young. We can¡¯t leave her with a psychological trauma. Even if she dies, she should die happily.¡±

 Chapter 988 - Battling Night Thearch

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°You actually think that he will return?¡± Night Thearch was intrigued.


    Human nature couldn¡¯t withstand tests. Night Thearch believed that it was impossible for Zhou Wen to return when facing death.


    Night Theach wanted to see Li Xuan, Hui Haifeng, and company¡¯s disappointed expressions, so he wasn¡¯t in a rush to get the dimensional creatures to attack. He wanted Li Xuan and company to slowly experience the process of going from hope to disappointment before going from disappointment to despair.


    However, not long after, Night Thearch suddenly realized that a figure was rapidly approaching Sea Return City from afar. The figure was none other than Zhou Wen, who had returned.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t really fled previously. He only wanted to test if Night Thearch would really let him go or if there was some other scheme.


    When Zhou Wen confirmed that he had really escaped and that Night Thearch hadn¡¯t chased after him, he returned.


    Li Xuan, Hui Haifeng, and Ya¡¯er were trapped inside. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to give up when he still had the ability to do something.


    Ya¡¯er was delighted when she saw Zhou Wen fly back.


    Hui Haifeng and Li Xuan wore heavy expressions. Zhou Wen¡¯s return meant that they were going to risk their lives. No matter what they did, no matter how trivial it was, as long as they could play some unimportant role in the battle, they would work hard.


    ¡°Why are you back?¡± Night Thearch asked Zhou Wen with interest.


    ¡°I left something here. I came back to take it away,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What did you leave here?¡± Night Thearch asked.


    ¡°People in Sea Return City,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Are you referring to your family and friends?¡± Night Thearch asked.


    ¡°No, everyone in Sea Return City,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    ¡°Are you testing my patience?¡± Night Thearch¡¯s voice turned cold. With his voice turning cold, darkness once again devoured the area outside Sea Return City.


    Zhou Wen felt his body sink into the darkness again and Night Thearch seemed to be everywhere, existing in every corner of the darkness, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t panic at all.


    Since he had dared to return, he had naturally come back with a plan. Regardless of whether it was effective or not, he wanted to give it a try.


    ¡°Absolute Defense can only last for half an hour at most, but that¡¯s only in theory. Under a powerful attack, due to excessive expenditure, Absolute Defense can only last for an even shorter period of time. If I attack with all my might, you might die in less than ten minutes. To be honest, I don¡¯t wish for that to happen,¡± said Night Thearch.


    ¡°You can give it a try and see if you can kill me in ten minutes.¡± Zhou Wen seemed to be confident, showing no fear of Night Thearch¡¯s threat.


    ¡°I originally didn¡¯t want to kill you, but since you have a death wish, it¡¯s difficult for me to retain someone who¡¯s bound to die.¡± As Night Thearch spoke, the phantom-like figure seemed to vanish. Zhou Wen¡¯s Truth Listener could no longer hear any information related to Night Thearch.


    Now, I have to think of a way to break through the darkness and find Night Thearch¡¯s true body before Astral Dragon Armor Dragon¡¯s Absolute Defense expires. Otherwise, I won¡¯t even be able to touch Night Thearch¡¯s true body. There¡¯s no way to kill or severely injure him.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Night Thearch couldn¡¯t be seen, but the blades that resembled the night sky strangely appeared everywhere. They were like invisible blades of darkness that sliced at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body retreated repeatedly from the slash, but he couldn¡¯t see where Night Thearch was. He was like a ghost in the darkness, omnipresent, yet without a corporeal body. He couldn¡¯t be found no matter how Zhou Wen searched.


    Even if it¡¯s a Terror-grade creature, it¡¯s impossible for it to be without a body. Be it the ice maiden or the Yin Talisman King, they both have their true bodies. Night Thearch definitely has a true body. I just haven¡¯t found it. Where is he? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener and listened to the surroundings again, but he still failed to discover anything. Even when Night Thearch attacked him, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense his existence.


    How does he do it? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out, so he could only make attempts.


    The invisible saber in the darkness slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s back again. Without looking back, Zhou Wen summoned a sword and slashed behind him.


    The sword that carried flames was the Bronze Sparrow Sword that he had recently obtained.


    The flames produced by the Bronze Sparrow Sword illuminated Zhou Wen¡¯s surroundings, but it was limited in range. It was still pitch-black further away.


    The light from the flames didn¡¯t completely banish the darkness, nor did it help Zhou Wen find Night Thearch. A strange black palm shadow rushed out of Zhou Wen¡¯s shadow and slashed at his thigh.


    Thankfully, the Astral Shell Dragon¡¯s armor blocked the strike. Otherwise, Zhou Wen¡¯s leg would have been severed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body streaked through the darkness. Although he was protected by Absolute Defense and he couldn¡¯t really be injured, the pain in his leg made him clearly aware that the effects of Absolute Defense were weakening.


    It was undoubtedly dangerous to fight an invisible, untouchable enemy who could hurt him. Furthermore, the enemy could kill one of his own at any time.


    Although this strike wasn¡¯t effective, it didn¡¯t mean that it was really useless. At the very least, Zhou Wen had discovered that the light emitted by the flames was somewhat effective against the darkness.


    However, the range that Mythical flames could illuminate was only three feet away from the Bronze Sparrow Sword. It was a very limited range of illumination.


    Also, Night Thearch seemed only capable of traveling in the darkness. That strike just now was an attack launched from the shadows produced by the light.


    Zhou Wen attempted to use the Bronze Sparrow Sword to attack from a different direction, but he naturally failed to injure Night Thearch. However, he was certain that Night Thearch had to be in the darkness to deliver his omnipresent attacks. He couldn¡¯t appear in the light.


    Now, Zhou Wen was roughly certain that even if Night Thearch could attack in the light, he would definitely be unable to hide his body.


    If he wanted to defeat Night Thearch, he had to place him in the light.


    However, the Bronze Sparrow Sword¡¯s flames weren¡¯t enough to illuminate all parts of Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Even if it was bright enough, there would be shadows. With shadows, there would be darkness. Night Thearch could still attack Zhou Wen through the shadows.


    External light is useless my body can glow. This doesn¡¯t seem difficult for me. Zhou Wen thought of his Life Soul, Primordial Human Sovereign.


    As long as he fused with the Primordial Human Sovereign, he could transform into a humanoid sun. He didn¡¯t know how far the Primordial Human Sovereign¡¯s light could illuminate.


    However, even if it was only a foot away, it would be enough. In a situation where there were no blind spots in the darkness, Zhou Wen should be able to see Night Thearch¡¯s true body once he entered a one-foot radius to attack.

 Chapter 989 - Last Chance

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Absolute Defense is indeed a very powerful ability. Unfortunately, if the Companion Beast that possesses it is at the Terror grade, it can be considered Absolute Defense in the absolute sense of the word. This ability is a waste on the Astral Shell Dragon. Now, that armor can¡¯t even last a minute. Once Absolute Defense completely fails, it will be the end of your life.¡± Night Thearch¡¯s demonic voice sounded in the darkness again, but his attacks never stopped.


    ¡°Perhaps that might spell the end of your life,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°I¡¯m very curious. What gives you the confidence? Apart from the Astral Shell Dragon, what other trump cards do you have? Why don¡¯t you take them all out and let me see what power you can rely on?¡± Night Thearch was really curious.


    From the moment Zhou Wen returned, Night Thearch was already rather interested in him. He didn¡¯t underestimate Zhou Wen. On the contrary, after Zhou Wen really returned, he placed an elevated importance on him.


    However, Night Thearch was still curious to know what Zhou Wen¡¯s return was banking on.


    Even so, Night Thearch didn¡¯t relinquish the chance of killing Zhou Wen just because of his curiosity. He would still kill Zhou Wen the moment the Shell Dragon armor failed. Therefore, he hoped to see Zhou Wen¡¯s trump card before that.


    Clang!


    The Shell Dragon armor suffered another attack. This time, the Shell Dragon armor was sliced open by the blade condensed from darkness. It was so deep that even Zhou Wen¡¯s bones could be seen. Blood flowed out of the wound.


    ¡°This is your last chance¡­¡± As Night Thearch launched another attack, his voice entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears.


    Once the Shell Dragon armor was destroyed, Absolute Defense would be useless. Night Thearch could enter Zhou Wen¡¯s body through the ruptured wound and kill him.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that this was indeed his last chance. If he couldn¡¯t withstand this strike, he would probably die here.


    In Sea Return City, only Li Xuan, Hui Haifeng, and Ya¡¯er received special treatment from Night Thearch. They could see everything.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen bleed, the three of them became nervous. They wanted to rush over to help, but it was as though they were separated by a strange distance. No matter how they charged towards the battle, they were unable to reach it. It was as though they were stuck in place.


    Almost at the instant Night Thearch attacked, Zhou Wen changed his Life Soul and fused the Primordial Human Sovereign Life Soul with himself.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen¡¯s body turned into a humanoid sun. The area he illuminated was greater than he imagined. It was even bigger than the Mythical Flaming Sword.


    And just inches away from Zhou Wen was where Night Thearch stood. With his fingers on one hand stretched out, he stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s wound like a sword. There were cracks in his armor that provided zero defense.


    They saw it. They finally saw it. It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. Li Xuan, Hui Haifeng, and company also saw Night Thearch¡¯s true body appear in the light.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen threw the Bronze Sparrow Sword out.


    That¡¯s right. It wasn¡¯t a stab, but a throw. This was a Mythical skill, Vajra Drill. It was a skill that sacrificed weapons to unleash the strongest attack.


    With the augmentation of Vajra Drill, the power that erupted from this strike was equivalent to the combined strength of Zhou Wen and the Bronze Sparrow Sword. Its speed was unimaginably fast as the Bronze Sparrow Sword stabbed into Night Thearch¡¯s body before immediately exploding.


    Boom!


    Flames erupted like a sun flare. A Mythical weapon instantly erupted all its energy. The destructive power it produced was unimaginable.


    The darkness that enveloped Sea Return City finally vanished as everyone regained their vision. Apart from Li Xuan and a few others, no one knew what had happened.


    When their vision recovered, they saw Zhou Wen floating in the air like a sun god and the intense explosion of light.


    Has the terrifying Night Thearch been killed? He should be dead. Even Mythical creatures can¡¯t survive such a terrifying explosion. Everyone prayed for this outcome.


    However, when the light from the explosion gradually dissipated, they realized that Night Thearch was standing there unharmed. His long black hair was still flowing as before, as though he wasn¡¯t injured at all.


    ¡°You¡¯re really impressive. You have more than one Life Soul, and it¡¯s so powerful. You were actually able to reveal my true body in the Night of Terror. Unfortunately, although your strike is extremely powerful, one that would have probably halved the lives of any Mythical creature even if they didn¡¯t die, to a Terror-grade creature, it¡¯s useless no matter how strong it is. Only a Terror-grade power can defeat a Terror-grade. You are still too weak,¡± Night Thearch said as he walked towards Zhou Wen. He no longer had any curiosity after seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s trump card. He had no regrets killing Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen touched the scabbard in his left hand and condensed the Bronze Sparrow Sword again.


    Weapons that were destroyed by Vajra Drill typically vanished. However, because the Bronze Sparrow Sword had the ability to be reborn in the scabbard, it didn¡¯t really vanish. It was also the best weapon to use with Vajra Drill in reality.


    Zhou Wen once again threw out the Bronze Sparrow Sword with Vajra Drill. Night Thearch didn¡¯t dodge as he reached out to grab the flying Bronze Sparrow Sword, causing it to explode in his hand.


    It was useless. That body was like a divine body that wouldn¡¯t be injured by mortal powers. No matter how terrifying the power unleashed by the Bronze Sparrow Sword was, it couldn¡¯t injure Night Thearch at all.


    Zhou Wen threw out the Bronze Sparrow Sword again and again, but it was like setting off fireworks.


    Is he a god? The people from Sea Return City were dumbfounded as irresistible terror arose in their hearts. Under such a terrifying explosion, he wasn¡¯t injured at all. He was no different from a god.


    Night Thearch was slightly disappointed because the Night of Terror was useless against Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t activate it again as he destroyed everything with a wave of his hand. He arrived in front of Zhou Wen and didn¡¯t even give him a chance to draw his sword. He struck Zhou Wen¡¯s head with one hand, hoping to completely end his life.


    With Absolute Defense completely nullified, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to withstand this strike.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s right hand still moved. However, this time, he didn¡¯t pull out the Bronze Sparrow Sword with his right hand, nor did he use Vajra Drill again.


    An ice-blue dragon tooth that resembled a sapphire appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s right hand before disappearing with the use of Darkness Right Hand.


    It was so fast that no one saw his actions. When everyone saw what happened, they saw that the ice-blue dragon tooth in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand had already penetrated Night Thearch¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 990 - Terror versus Terror

    Translator: CKtalon


    Night Thearch looked down at his chest and saw blood slowly flowing along the ice-blue dragon teeth.


    ¡°Ice Dragon King¡¯s Tooth¡­¡± Night Thearch¡¯s face instantly turned extremely pale.


    Zhou Wen released the dragon tooth. His palm that held the dragon tooth had already frozen. If he continued holding it, his palm and armor would probably be frozen to pieces.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that only a Terror-grade can injure a Terror-grade? As you wish.¡± Zhou Wen pulled out an ice dragon rib with his left hand and slashed at Night Thearch again.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to use Doctor Darkness¡¯s Darkness Right Hand with his right hand again, but his right hand was already numb from the cold. He couldn¡¯t raise it at all.


    The power of a Terror-grade was too terrifying. Just holding the dragon tooth for an attack was already unbearable for his palm, so he could only switch to his left hand.


    Although his left hand wasn¡¯t as good as Darkness Right Hand, it was augmented by Doctor Darkness¡¯s Golden Left Hand. His Speed and Strength were much stronger.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen¡¯s strike was using the Immortal Slaying thanks to Slaughterer. It was unbelievably fast. With a flash, he crossed paths with Night Thearch.


    As he switched his Life Soul, the sun-like light vanished, revealing Zhou Wen¡¯s true appearance. As for Night Thearch¡¯s arm, it had been sliced off by Zhou Wen. However, Night Thearch vanished like a phantom without a trace, leaving only an arm and the dragon tooth that had stabbed into his chest.


    He actually managed to escape? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed, but he didn¡¯t chase after him. His left hand was already suffering from frostbite, so it was impossible for him to use the ice dragon¡¯s parts with his hands.


    Furthermore, after dealing Immortal Slaying, he had expended all his strength. He might not be able to gain an advantage even if he succeeded in chasing after him.


    The people from Sea Return City didn¡¯t know Zhou Wen¡¯s present situation. Seeing him easily injure the god-like Night Thearch and even sever one of his arms, they looked at him with reverent eyes.


    ¡°Let them retreat to the sea,¡± Zhou Wen said to the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Although the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s consciousness hadn¡¯t been completely parasitized, its resistance suddenly weakened after Night Thearch escaped. Primordial Spore had the upper hand.


    It was still difficult to destroy the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s consciousness, but some simple control was enough.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s order, the seven strange dragon-like tentacles of the Seven Seas Dragon King roared at the sky. The mutated marine dimensional creatures retreated into the Seven Dragons Sea like the tide.


    Seeing a powerful dimensional creature like the Seven Seas Dragon King listen to Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, everyone¡¯s expressions turned even odder. They found it unbelievable that he was only a human youth.


    In particular, many people from the Hui and Feng families recognized Zhou Wen. They knew that he was Hui Haifeng and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s classmate, so their expressions were even stranger.


    Back when Feng Qiuyan mentioned Zhou Wen to his family elders, he even said that Zhou Wen had taught him many things. Back then, the Feng family thought nothing of it.


    Now, from their point of view, Feng Qiuyan was extremely lucky to be able to learn from Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that Night Thearch would return to the underwater palace to cause trouble for Miya and company, so he landed on the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s head and spoke to Li Xuan and Hui Haifeng. ¡°I¡¯m heading to the underwater abyss to take a look. Do you want to come with me?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll go with you.¡± Li Xuan chased after him with Ya¡¯er in his arms. Hui Haifeng also boarded the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King reluctantly headed for the sea and quickly vanished in the raging waves.


    ¡°Old Master Hui, are we still leaving Sea Return City?¡± Family Head Liu walked to Old Master Hui and asked.


    The others also looked at Old Master Hui eagerly. Although they usually let Old Master Hui take the lead, they were clearly more respectful now.


    Old Master Hui knew very well that the reason they were so reverent wasn¡¯t because he was the head of the Hui family, but because of Hui Haifeng and Zhou Wen.


    Although he didn¡¯t know if Zhou Wen had called Hui Haifeng along on purpose or not, it had undoubtedly helped the Hui family greatly. In the future, it would be much more convenient for the Hui family to handle matters in Sea Return City, especially matters related to Hui Haifeng.


    As for Hui Haifeng¡¯s previous research results, everyone saw its potential and possibilities. They no longer dared to underestimate him. If not for Hui Haifeng¡¯s gold powder, they would have long been infected. They wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to wait for Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance.


    The Feng family was also secretly doing the math. Zhou Wen¡¯s relationship with Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t any weaker than his relationship with Hui Haifeng. They felt like they could do something.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to leave for the time being, but the situation is unpredictable. Everyone should return and pack up. Leave and think of backup plans for the family,¡± Old Master Hui said ambiguously.


    Many people strongly agreed with his words. They were in a rush to escape. Previously, they hadn¡¯t been able to take their possessions with them. Now, they could return to take them. They had to slowly transfer the family assets away. Even if they could stay in Sea Return, they couldn¡¯t treat this place as their foundation.


    Before Zhou Wen and company arrived at the underwater abyss, they saw Miya return with Qin Ling and Feng Qiuyan. They were fine, having only been imprisoned in the palace by Night Thearch.


    Miya had finally broken through the power that sealed them and saved them.


    ¡°Night Thearch is a strange person. He can be considered vicious for trivializing the murder of billions of people, but he didn¡¯t kill us despite having so many chances,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s true that we can¡¯t treat him as simply a bad person, but sometimes, such people are even more terrifying than bad people.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°We still have to think of a way to resolve Qin Ling¡¯s problem. Otherwise, Night Thearch will eventually make a comeback.¡±


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, the source of those marine mutated creatures should be her, right?¡± Hui Haifeng said as he sized up Qin Ling.


    Qin Ling nodded slightly. ¡°I¡¯m sorry for implicating everyone.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say that. You¡¯re not at fault. The one at fault is this era.¡± Hui Haifeng thought for a moment and said, ¡°If you believe me, you must give me some time. With my research, I might be able to resolve the problem with you and stop Night Thearch from seeking you out again.¡±


    Qin Ling looked at Hui Haifeng in puzzlement before looking at Feng Qiuyan and Miya.


    ¡°Senior Hui has done a lot of research on biological mutations. Let him give it a try. Perhaps he really can succeed. Even if he can¡¯t, things can¡¯t get any worse,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Li Xuan still trusted in Hui Haifeng¡¯s character.


    ¡°If you trust us, you can let Senior give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen added.


    When Qin Ling saw Feng Qiuyan and Miya nod slightly, she bowed at Hui Haifeng. ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to repay you.¡±


    ¡°If it really succeeds, taking good care of our Junior Feng will be considered the best payment,¡± Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen knew that Hui Haifeng had the confidence for him to say that, but he didn¡¯t know what he was going to do.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about this, so he couldn¡¯t help much. All he wanted to do was head to Night Thearch¡¯s abyssal palace to see if there was anything there.


    After finding so many ice dragon objects, there might be something similar in the deep-sea palace.

 Chapter 991 - King of Earth

    Translator: CKtalon


    The palace in the deep sea was now empty. Ordinary dimensional creatures didn¡¯t dare approach it. Of Night Thearch and the Seven Seas Dragon King, who lived here, one had fled while the Primordial Spore controlled most of the other¡¯s autonomy.


    Zhou Wen searched the entire palace, but he failed to find anything.


    There were only some daily necessities and equipment here. It looked like this palace was more like a place that Night Thearch used for research.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in the research data and equipment here, but Hui Haifeng treated them like treasures.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to help him transport the equipment and data back. Although Hui Haifeng¡¯s research direction was similar to Night Thearch¡¯s, Hui Haifeng wasn¡¯t as radical. The results he could produce wouldn¡¯t be as unreliable as Night Thearch¡¯s.


    Without any results to speak of, Zhou Wen went to the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s nest to take a look. This time, he discovered the blue glacier.


    When he dug it out, he saw something that looked like a fingernail. It was very likely the tip of a dragon claw.


    This discovery delighted Zhou Wen. He wasn¡¯t a match for a Terror-grade creature yet, but with these Terror-grade items, he had a chance of injuring or even killing them. Therefore, Zhou Wen treated them like treasures.


    Thinking that he hadn¡¯t been to Infinite Island where Dragon Granny resided, Zhou Wen went there and found another terrifying item that looked like a dragon¡¯s whisker.


    The seven dragon monarchs and Dragon Sea Dragon King¡¯s nests have the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror items. If Night Thearch killed the Ice Dragon King, why did he place these things in the seven dragon monarchs¡¯ nests? Why didn¡¯t he collect them himself or destroy them directly? Zhou Wen was extremely puzzled.


    If he hadn¡¯t found the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror items, it would have been difficult for him to injure Night Thearch, and he might not have been able to stop him.


    Inside the empty underwater palace, Zhou Wen took out all the Ice Dragon King items¡ªtooth, bone, scale, horn, whisker, claw, eye, and hair.


    These were all parts of the Ice Dragon King, but they were not complete. They were only a very small portion.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that there was a vague connection among the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror items, but this connection was extremely weak and didn¡¯t have much effect.


    From the looks of it, there¡¯s something missing? Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that the eight items weren¡¯t complete.


    The completeness Zhou Wen mentioned wasn¡¯t referring to the Ice Dragon King¡¯s body, but the eight items when placed together felt like something was missing.


    The Thearch said that even a Terror-grade creature will find it difficult to revive after death, but just because it¡¯s difficult doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s impossible. I think there¡¯s something wrong with these items. Otherwise, it would be impossible for Night Thearch to place them in different places. He could have kept them for himself. Zhou Wen wondered if there was another item that belonged to the Ice Dragon King in Night Thearch¡¯s hands. Perhaps it was the most important one.


    Ordinary creatures didn¡¯t dare touch Terror items, much less carry them on their bodies. However, Night Thearch was naturally different. He was already at the Terror grade, so there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.


    However, he didn¡¯t know where Night Thearch had gone. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see him again, much less snatch the item in his possession.


    In the next few days, Hui Haifeng did some research work. At the same time, he obtained information about Night Thearch. This information and equipment made Hui Haifeng more confident in solving Qin Ling¡¯s problem.


    He had already begun making preparations. He believed that they would be completed soon.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand any of that. When he was bored, he looked at the cube¡¯s ranking and realized that the top ten had already been occupied by Guardians.


    Furthermore, there were already fourteen Guardians on the rankings. During this period of time, there were more and more Guardians on the rankings. It looked like they all wanted to use this ranking battle to defeat their opponents.


    Ranked first was still Ya. The second was still Great Skyfiend whom Ya had defeated. The third was Fairy Burial.


    Following that were some Guardians that Zhou Wen had never seen before. Their names looked very powerful. There was also a fellow named Metal Reaper. Zhou Wen looked at his projection and realized that the Guardian was like a metal robot. It looked like it had explosive combat strength.


    For some reason, Starry Night, who was previously ranked very high, had fallen to tenth place and barely maintained its top-ten standing.


    1


    Zhou Wen searched for Starry Night online and realized that a Guardian had challenged Starry Night previously, but Starry Night didn¡¯t accept the challenge. Its ranking automatically dropped.


    After a few consecutive challenges, Starry Night didn¡¯t accept any of them and quickly fell to tenth place.


    The reason Zhou Wen paid more attention to Starry Night was because he felt that Starry Night might be Liu Yun, but it was only a guess.


    1


    On the rankings, the Guardians that Zhou Wen could already confirm were Jiang Yan¡¯s Fairy Burial and Uesugi Nao¡¯s Great Skyfiend. In addition, Zhou Wen guessed that Ya was Zhong Ziya and Starry Night was Liu Yun. If he thought about it this way, among Wang Mingyuan¡¯s students, only he and Hui Haifeng weren¡¯t on the rankings.


    Hui Haifeng wanted to do research, so he definitely wouldn¡¯t participate in the battle. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a strong desire to participate either.


    Previously, he had wanted to participate in the battle because he wanted to go to the dimension to take a look at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s situation. However, now that he knew that Wang Mingyuan was doing pretty well there, Zhou Wen lacked the motivation to participate.


    It didn¡¯t seem worth risking his life for a divine fruit. Furthermore, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, so it was impossible for him to participate in the battle.


    As Zhou Wen was studying the ranking, he saw the cube suddenly light up. It was the countdown on it. There was only a month left.


    On the cube¡¯s screen, a shadow appeared. The shadow was distorted and blurry, making it impossible to see what it looked like, but it made one feel that it was a biological creature.


    Zhou Wen had once entered the dimension and knew that the other party was indeed a biological creature, but because the level of the dimensional world far exceeded Earth¡¯s, the vision of Earth¡¯s creatures couldn¡¯t accurately capture the other party¡¯s physical characteristics. Therefore, it looked like a distorted shadow.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that the other party was distorted, but that the level of vision of humans on Earth was insufficient.


    Soon, the figure emitted a voice. ¡°In 720 hours, the first on the ranking will become the owner of Earth who will control the fate of Earth. Humans with Guardians, show your strength to your heart¡¯s content. The victor is king, and the loser is vilified. This is an eternal truth. I look forward to the birth of the King of Earth.¡±

 Chapter 992 - Dimensional Wheel

    Translator: CKtalon


    Many people disapproved of the shadow¡¯s words. So what if someone became first on the rankings? No matter how strong they were, it was impossible for them to control all of humanity. The various bigwigs wouldn¡¯t admit that such a person had become the lord of Earth.


    ¡°You might think that this is ridiculous. Why is the person first on the rankings the lord of Earth? It¡¯s very simple. This is because the first on the rankings will obtain the Dimensional Wheel that represents dimensional power. Whoever controls it will obtain invincible power. The possession of the Dimensional Wheel will last until next year¡¯s ranking battle. Then, the next King of Earth and the owner of the Dimensional Wheel will be decided.¡± As the figure spoke, a light wheel appeared on the screen. As the light was too intense, it was like a sun. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see what it was.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and could only tell that it resembled a sphere. He didn¡¯t know what it was for.


    Have the rules been changed? Zhou Wen was puzzled before sending The Thearch a message. ¡°The Thearch, I remember you once said that the various races agreed to hold a Guardian battle once every hundred years to determine the ownership of Earth. Why has it become a year?¡±


    The Thearch quickly replied: ¡°I¡¯m in Chess Mountain. How would I know what happened in the dimension? However, I can guess that it might be related to your teacher, Wang Mingyuan.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand how The Thearch had come to such a conclusion.


    ¡°Because the fellows in the dimension also have fear,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Fear? Are you saying that they are afraid of Teacher?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Although Wang Mingyuan had become the king of the Dragon Gods, according to what Zhou Wen knew, there were eight such monarchs among the Octokind. Furthermore, above the Octokind were terrifying Apocalypse-grade powerhouses. It didn¡¯t seem right to say that they were afraid of Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan only absorbed and fused with a Guardian. In such a short period of time, he actually broke through to the Calamity grade. Such an evolutionary speed is extremely terrifying in the dimension. You have to understand that the time in the dimension isn¡¯t calculated in the same way as here. Any lifeform¡¯s lifespan far exceeds humans by a hundred or a thousand times, but their evolution speed will also be much slower. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s evolution speed has frightened some dimensional species, so they want to speed up their exploration of Earth,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°If they are really that afraid, why don¡¯t they just kill Teacher?¡± Zhou Wen felt that The Thearch¡¯s analysis wasn¡¯t convincing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like there¡¯s only one race in the dimension. Their relationship is very complicated. Although I haven¡¯t seen him with my own eyes, I can imagine that your teacher is a very intelligent person. He understands the balance of survival in the dimension. Although it might be very dangerous, he hasn¡¯t died yet,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°That¡¯s just your guess,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s right or wrong. What¡¯s interesting is that some people have changed the rules, proving their impatience.¡± The Thearch didn¡¯t argue with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What exactly is that Dimensional Wheel ? Can one really be invincible with it?¡± Zhou Wen now valued this problem.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve been trapped in Chess Mountain for too long. In our era, there wasn¡¯t such a thing. However, since it¡¯s something that those fellows created, it likely has powerful strength. I don¡¯t know if one will become invincible with it, but the power of that thing is definitely not weaker than the Terror grade,¡± The Thearch pondered.


    All the cubes in the world dimmed. The creature and Dimensional Wheel that had spoken previously vanished.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was somewhat solemn. The appearance of the Dimensional Wheel had caused the situation on Earth to slide in an unpredictable direction.


    If it was really as they said, possessing the Dimensional Wheel meant invincibility, what would happen if the person who obtained the Dimensional Wheel was someone like Jing Daoxian and Night Thearch?


    Just imagine what would happen to Earth if an invincible power appeared on Earth and was controlled by a crazy person?


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t imagine it, nor did he dare think about it.


    At the same time, what made Zhou Wen feel depressed was the lofty attitude of the dimensional creatures. They seemed to treat Earth as a game arena. Whoever won the game would be rewarded by them.


    What was the difference between this and dogs in a dog-fighting ring who were rewarded by their owners with dog food?


    How can I break the influence of the dimension on humans? Zhou Wen constantly pondered over this question.


    Snatching the so-called Dimensional Wheel that could bestow invincible power wasn¡¯t the real solution.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in being the king of the doggy arena. What he wanted was to destroy the supercilious dimensional creatures.


    It doesn¡¯t seem possible to defeat them at present. The physiques of humans are too weak. Without the help of Guardians, it¡¯s difficult for us to advance to the Mythical stage. And a Mythical stage is no different from cannon fodder in dimensional zones. Zhou Wen knew very well the difference.


    However, no matter how great the difference was, he still wanted to continue because there was no way out unless he wanted to muddle his way through life.


    Can I think of a way to sever the connection between the dimension and Earth? This thought surfaced in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but he quickly rejected it.


    Perhaps there really was such a method that could sever the connection between the two, but after severing it, humanity had no chance of advancing further. They would only be trapped in this world, making no progress.


    Once the passageway between the two was opened again, humanity would face an even more difficult situation.


    Instead of waiting to be ravaged, he might as well resolve the problem now and make humanity stronger. He wanted humanity to be strong enough to fight dimensional creatures. Only then could they truly escape the fate of being enslaved.


    The ice maiden once said that Earth might be the birthplace of the dimension. Many things here can be said to be extremely precious in the dimension. Perhaps this is the true opportunity for humanity, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    ¡°Are you interested in becoming the King of Earth? I can help you contract the strongest Guardian.¡± The Thearch wanted to tempt Zhou Wen again.


    ¡°How powerful is it? Is it at the Terror grade?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± The Thearch gave an affirmative answer.


    ¡°A Guardian that survived from ancient times?¡± Zhou Wen immediately guessed something. This was because he had never seen a newly born Guardian with the Terror transformation ability.


    ¡°Yes, an invincible Guardian of that era.¡± The Thearch sent a message.

 Chapter 993 - Frost City

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Which Guardian is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If you are willing, you will naturally know when the time comes,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m just an ordinary student. I¡¯ll let someone else be the King of Earth.¡± Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t agree.


    Now, he was just short of a Glimmer advancing to a Perfect Body. Perhaps the Mythical stage was already close at hand. How could he contract a Guardian at such a time?


    Ignoring becoming the number one person in the world back then, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t even consider becoming the number one person in the universe now.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell how true The Thearch¡¯s words were.


    The Thearch¡¯s era¡¯s invincible Guardian shouldn¡¯t be from the Chess Mountain¡¯s faction right? Zhou Wen knew some history.


    Chess Mountain likely represented the Shang Dynasty, but the Shang Dynasty was ultimately replaced by Zhou. If that was also a battle between Guardians, the strongest Guardian should be in Zhou.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen felt that The Thearch was probably bragging and trying to trick him.


    ¡­


    Hui Haifeng¡¯s research finally produced results. After injecting Qin Ling with a new element, the Dracotaur bloodline in Qin Ling¡¯s body became stable.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how he differentiated stability and instability, but Hui Haifeng told them with certainty that Qin Ling¡¯s Dracotaur bloodline couldn¡¯t be used to mutate other creatures in the future.


    In that case, Qin Ling would be useless to Night Thearch. Night Thearch probably wouldn¡¯t find trouble with her again.


    However, the dimensional creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea were a huge problem. If humans were injured by them, they would still be infected and mutate.


    This was something that couldn¡¯t be resolved. This was because all the creatures in the Seven Dragons Sea had been infected and mutated. There were so many dimensional creatures that they couldn¡¯t kill them all. The numbers were unimaginably huge.


    Therefore, they could only hope that humans didn¡¯t court death. As long as they didn¡¯t enter the Seven Dragons Sea, nothing would happen. Without the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s command, those dimensional creatures wouldn¡¯t rush out of the Seven Dragons Sea.


    Of course, it didn¡¯t eliminate the possibility that someone wanted to take that one-thousandth chance. If the mutation succeeded, they could obtain quite a bit of strength.


    As for the Seven Seas Dragon King, Zhou Wen got Primordial Spore to control it and enter the calabash. He made it its residence.


    Primordial Spore was still unable to completely occupy its soul. The Seven Seas Dragon King would occasionally resist, but most of the time, it was under Primordial Spore¡¯s control.


    Sea Return City¡¯s matters were mostly settled, and Night Thearch didn¡¯t return. Zhou Wen planned on leaving Sea Return City and heading north. After returning to Luoyang, he would head to the North District to take a look.


    Firstly, it was because the Ultimate Family Clan in the North District had expressed their goodwill to Zhou Wen. Secondly, Lance had always wanted to invite him over.


    Furthermore, Sadie, Gulli, and company were considered members of the Xuanwen Club and had a good relationship with Zhou Wen and company. They also wanted to invite Zhou Wen to be a guest at the Ultimate Family Clan.


    Sadie and Gulli had originally come for Zhou Wen. They didn¡¯t plan on really finishing their four years of studies at Sunset College, so it was only a matter of time before they returned. When they heard that Zhou Wen was willing to go to the Ultimate Family Clan, they planned on returning together.


    Now, the roads between the districts were getting harder and harder to traverse. They were afraid that it wouldn¡¯t be that easy if they returned any later.


    Zhou Wen naturally wanted to go to the North District because he wanted to cultivate the Glimmer Life Soul. He had to go to places he had never been before, or he would have only gamed at home.


    Hui Haifeng wanted to stay in Sea Return City to do research. Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan joined Zhou Wen¡¯s trip to the North District.


    Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t stay in Sea Return City to accompany Qin Ling. This left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°Little Yanyan, Beauty Qin is alone in Sea Return City. Aren¡¯t you afraid that she will be snatched away by others?¡± Li Xuan was more nosy than Zhou Wen and asked directly.


    Feng Qiuyan sighed and said, ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t know what to do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you despise her for having a dragon bloodline?¡± Li Xuan said with widened eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s not what you think. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve always treated her as my biological sister in the past. I¡¯ve never thought about romance. For the moment, I don¡¯t know what to do,¡± Feng Qiuyan said in frustration.


    ¡°You really are blind to the comforts you are enjoying. If I had such a beautiful fianc¨¦e, I would have long given up my virgin boy skill,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Cut it out.¡± Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan, ¡°Then you have to think carefully. Don¡¯t regret it when the time comes.¡±


    1


    ¡°I know. I¡¯ll consider it carefully,¡± Feng Qiuyan said seriously.


    After meeting up with Sadie and Gulli, everyone set off for the North District. There were indeed many changes on the way, but the Ultimate Family Clan had long sent people to pick up Sadie and Gulli. Zhou Wen followed them without any accidents.


    The North District was even colder now. There was ice and snow everywhere. The creatures that could survive here had very strong physiques.


    Sadie and Gulli described many dimensional zones in the North District to Zhou Wen, making him look forward to them.


    The group arrived at Frost City, where the Ultimate Family Clan was located. The city was actually built with ice. It looked like a fairytale world.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Lance would welcome them, but he didn¡¯t see him. Furthermore, when Zhou Wen asked about Lance, the person who came to welcome them spoke hesitantly as though he was hiding something.


    Gulli was a straightforward person. He grabbed the person and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with Lance?¡±


    Helpless, the person could only tell Gulli and company.


    Only then did everyone realize that Lance had been injured.


    The person who had injured him was a young man from the Ultimate Family Clan, but he could only be considered a collateral relative. Lance had been injured in a fair duel.


    ¡°Impossible. How can that fellow, Joseph, be my brother¡¯s match? My brother can give him a four-limb handicap, and Joseph still wouldn¡¯t be his match.¡± Gulli shouted when he heard the name of the person who injured Lance.


    ¡°Gulli, you have been away from Frost City for too long. There are some things you aren¡¯t aware of. Joseph has contracted a Guardian and is extremely powerful now. He challenged Lance and defeated him. Among the younger generation, he¡¯s the strongest.¡± As the person spoke, he said to Sadie, ¡°Sadie, you have to be careful. He challenged Lance and severely injured him. I¡¯m afraid he will challenge you next.¡±


    ¡°How dare he!¡± Gulli said angrily.


    Sadie gestured for Gulli not to be angry. After some thought, she said, ¡°Joseph is also a member of the Ultimate Family Clan. I don¡¯t think he will go against me. Let¡¯s head back now.¡±


    After the few of them entered the city and Zhou Wen and Li Xuan settled down, they planned on touring Frost City.


    Zhou Wen and company followed the local customs and bought a fur coat and fur hat. Ya¡¯er put on a white fox fur coat and looked charmingly naive.


    ¡°There are actually people selling Tyrant Behemoth dolls here?¡± Li Xuan said in surprise when he saw a large Tyrant Behemoth doll while they were shopping.


    ¡°That¡¯s a figurine, not a doll,¡± a seven-year-old boy corrected him seriously.

 Chapter 994 - True Tyrant Behemoth

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s different. Figurines aren¡¯t toys for children, but works of art,¡± the boy explained seriously.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any difference. It¡¯s just a doll.¡± Li Xuan looked around and couldn¡¯t tell what was different about this Tyrant Behemoth doll. It just looked more exquisite.


    The boy said angrily, ¡°Not at all. If you don¡¯t understand, don¡¯t spout nonsense. This is a great work.¡±


    Li Xuan looked inside the shop and curled his lips. ¡°If it¡¯s really a great work, why isn¡¯t there a single customer in the shop other than you?¡±


    ¡°Let me see¡­ Wow¡­ Such a tiny doll is actually sold for more than a hundred thousand. It¡¯s no wonder no one wants to buy it. After all, a doll is only a doll. It¡¯s so expensive. Which kid would spend so much money to buy a doll? With so much money, it¡¯s enough to buy a very good Legendary Companion Egg.¡± Li Xuan was bored and wanted to tease the boy.


    The boy immediately said, ¡°That¡¯s not the case. Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui used to sell very well, but¡­ but¡­¡±


    ¡°But what?¡± Li Xuan pressed.


    ¡°However, those people are too superficial. They feel that Guardians are stronger than Tyrant Behemoth, so they went to buy Guardian figurines,¡± the boy said sadly.


    ¡°Is this shop yours?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Beast models placed in the shop. It sold several Companion Beast models which topped the rankings last time, but most of them were Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui.


    Other Companion Beast models typically only had two or three types, but there were many different versions of Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui. There was a huge difference in sizes and models.


    There were replicas, cartoon versions, cute versions, and ferocious versions. There was a huge difference in size. The biggest Tyrant Behemoth was on the shop¡¯s display booth. It was more than four meters tall and looked very similar to Tyrant Behemoth when it wasn¡¯t huge. It was a one-to-one replica.


    Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know that Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui were so popular.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The boy nodded.


    ¡°Since Guardians are popular, why don¡¯t you sell Guardians? Is there a problem with the supply?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    The boy shook his head and said, ¡°The figurines are made by our own factory. It¡¯s very easy to create a Guardian figurine, but I don¡¯t like it. I don¡¯t want to sell the figurines of those Guardians.¡±


    ¡°Why? Did a Guardian bully you?¡± Li Xuan asked with interest.


    ¡°I sold these Companion Beasts because they are partners who fight for humans, but those Guardians aren¡¯t. I heard from Mommy that those Guardians fight to enslave Earth and us humans. No matter how powerful they are, I won¡¯t sell their figurines, much less make them,¡± the boy said with a serious expression.


    When Zhou Wen and Li Xuan heard that, they knew that the boy¡¯s background wasn¡¯t simple. For him to know this information, it meant that his father wasn¡¯t an ordinary person.


    ¡°Others are selling them, but if you don¡¯t sell, there won¡¯t be any business. Then, can this shop continue operating?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Anyway, the shop belongs to my family. At most, it won¡¯t be sold. It¡¯s not a big deal. Besides, I believe that Tyrant Behemoth, Tai Sui, and company will definitely showcase their powerful strength on the rankings. When that happens, those superficial fellows will know that Companion Beasts aren¡¯t inferior to Guardians at all. They can even be stronger,¡± the boy said.


    This time, Li Xuan didn¡¯t strike a blow at him. He knew that the chances of a Companion Beast appearing alone were very low. It could only appear in a Guardian battle coupled with another Guardian.


    However, seeing how stubborn and serious the boy was, even Li Xuan couldn¡¯t bear to tell him the truth.


    ¡°Little Yi, we should return,¡± a middle-aged man walked in and said to the boy.


    However, when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance, he said in surprise, ¡°You are Zhou Wen?¡±


    When the boy heard Zhou Wen, he was first taken aback before his eyes widened. He looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement and asked, ¡°Your name is Zhou Wen too?¡±


    ¡°Yes, my name is Zhou Wen.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    The middle-aged man said, ¡°What do you mean by Zhou Wen too? He¡¯s Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s owner, Zhou Wen.¡±


    After the boy heard that, he asked in disbelief, ¡°You¡­ Are you really Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s master?¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s no second Tyrant Behemoth, I think I should be the one you are referring to,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ Are you really¡­ Is Tyrant Behemoth alright? No, that¡¯s not what I meant. It¡¯s great to be able to see you¡­ My name is Li Benyi. I really like you and your Tyrant Behemoth¡­¡± The boy immediately became nervous as he spoke incoherently.


    ¡°Do you want to see the real Tyrant Behemoth?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    ¡°Can¡­ I?¡± Li Benyi¡¯s voice trembled with excitement.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the space here. The exhibition hall was very high and was more than enough to accommodate Tyrant Behemoth. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    ¡°Wow¡­ It¡¯s really Tyrant Behemoth. It¡¯s so cool. It¡¯s even cooler than what I saw in the video. Our figurines aren¡¯t good enough¡­¡± Li Benyi looked at Zhou Wen with a look of longing.¡± Can I touch it? ¡±


    ¡°Of course. If you are willing, I can let it take you around,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Yes¡­ Of course I¡¯m willing¡­ Thank you so much.¡± Li Benyi immediately jumped up excitedly.


    Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to extend its hand and lift Li Benyi up. It placed him on its shoulder and carried him around the shop.


    ¡°How cool. When I grow up, I¡¯ll also want to have such a Companion Beast.¡± Li Benyi stroked Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s hair and wore a blissful expression.


    ¡°Sorry to trouble you,¡± the middle-aged man said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s rare for someone to like my Companion Beast so much.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the symbol on the middle-aged man¡¯s clothes and asked, ¡°Are you from the Ultimate Family Clan?¡±


    The middle-aged man nodded. ¡°Yes. I was in charge of picking you up, but something happened on my end and someone else took my place. I didn¡¯t expect us to be so fated to meet here. My name is Li Benyu.¡±


    Zhou Wen chatted with Li Benyu for a while before realizing that he was considered a collateral relative of the Ultimate Family Clan. He didn¡¯t have the bloodline of the Ultimate Family Clan, but he was invited to join because he was valued by the Ultimate Family Clan in certain aspects.


    Li Benyu was from the East District, but his wife had the pure bloodline of the Ultimate Family Clan. Li Benyi was a mixed-blood.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ve completed one of my two dreams. Now, I¡¯m only left with seeing Tai Sui with my own eyes.¡± When Tyrant Behemoth brought Li Benyi back, he still looked unsatisfied. He didn¡¯t want to let go of Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fingers as he thanked Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 995 - Joseph

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Li Xuan couldn¡¯t help but be amused when he heard that. He glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Benyi, your other dream is to meet Tai Sui?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Tyrant Behemoth is our Federation¡¯s hero, and so is Tai Sui. Furthermore, it¡¯s the previous generation¡¯s No. 1. I also want to see it with my own eyes, but I don¡¯t know who its owner is. I got Dad to help me investigate for a long time, but I couldn¡¯t find out who Tai Sui¡¯s owner is,¡± Li Benyi said helplessly. ¡°Indeed. A mysterious Companion Beast like Tai Sui must have a very powerful human master, an existence akin to the six heroes. It would be difficult to meet the owner even if I knew who he is, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult for you to meet Tai Sui. Just beg him,¡± Li Xuan said as he pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why?¡± Li Benyi still didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Because Tai Sui is also his Companion Beast. If he¡¯s happy, you can even hug Tai Sui to sleep, much less look at it,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Li Benyi gaped in disbelief as he looked at Zhou Wen, speechless. It was as though happiness had come too suddenly.


    Tai Sui being his Companion Beast was no longer a secret. Many people around him knew about it, so there was no need for him to hide it. Zhou Wen decided to summon Tai Sui.


    ¡°It¡¯s really Tai Sui¡­ You actually have Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui at the same time¡­ You¡¯re really lucky¡­¡± Li Benyi¡¯s eyes turned red from excitement.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright. They aren¡¯t easy to raise,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Can I hug it?¡± Li Benyi automatically ignored Zhou Wen¡¯s words as he looked at Tai Sui¡ªwhich resembled a white, bouncing ball¡ªwith glowing eyes.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    Li Benyi picked up Tai Sui with trembling hands. He felt like he was the happiest person in the world. In just one day, all his dreams were fulfilled.


    Li Benyi suddenly thought of something and asked Zhou Wen excitedly, ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ No, no, no¡­ Idol¡­ You will get Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui to participate in the battle, right? You will defeat those Guardians, right?¡±


    ¡°I have things to do at the moment. I¡¯m not sure if I can finish them in time. If I finish it before the one-month countdown, I might participate in the battle,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I see. I hope you can quickly finish your matters. I really want to see Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui defeat those Guardians.¡± Although Li Benyi was somewhat disappointed, he still supported Zhou Wen. He only hoped that Zhou Wen could settle his matters before the ranking battle ended.


    If an adult heard Zhou Wen¡¯s explanation, they would think that it was just an excuse, but Li Benyi believed it.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen answered with a slight nod.


    If he could advance to the Mythical stage before the Battle of Guardians ended, he indeed had plans to participate in the battle. Even if he couldn¡¯t obtain first place, he could eliminate some Guardians.


    Guardians would only become stronger. Just like Night Thearch¡¯s Guardian, it was already at the Terror grade. Most of the newly contracted Guardians probably hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade. It was relatively easy to eliminate them now. In the future, the situation would only become more complicated.


    However, it would probably be difficult to kill a Guardian like Night Thearch. Although Zhou Wen had the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror item, it wasn¡¯t easy to injure Night Thearch when he was on guard.


    ¡°Little Yi, you actually believe such a lame excuse? How naive.¡± A voice sounded from the door. Everyone turned their heads and saw a young man who was about the same age as Zhou Wen and company¡ªor just slightly older¡ªwalk into the shop.


    ¡°Joseph, what are you doing here?¡± Li Benyi said unhappily when he saw the young man.


    ¡°To visit my brother and uncle, of course,¡± said Joseph indifferently.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your brother? We don¡¯t have that kind of relationship,¡± Li Benyi said.


    ¡°You¡¯re still young and naive. I don¡¯t blame you.¡± Joseph frowned slightly before turning to Li Benyu. ¡°Uncle, have you considered the matter we discussed previously?¡±


    Li Benyu pondered and said, ¡°Joseph, you should know that the Companion Beast was specially prepared for Little Yi by the family head¡­¡±


    ¡°Uncle, Little Yi is still young. If he wants to contract a Mythical Companion Egg, he will have to wait at least a decade. You also know how fast the world changes. After more than a decade, Mythical Companion Eggs will no longer be worth anything. Lend me the Companion Egg now. You also know that I¡¯ve already contracted a Guardian. With the help of a Mythical Companion Beast, it will be like adding wings to a tiger. Killing Mythical creatures will be as easy as flipping a hand. How many Mythical Companion Eggs do you want in the future? When Little Yi grows up, I¡¯ll give him ten Mythical Companion Eggs¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan listened for a while and roughly understood what was going on. However, these family matters after all. The two of them didn¡¯t know the details, so they didn¡¯t say anything.


    ¡°Joseph, I¡¯m really sorry. This Companion Egg is said to be for Joseph, but it¡¯s actually the dowry that the family head gave to your aunt. The meaning is different. I can¡¯t lend it to you,¡± Li Benyu said.


    ¡°Uncle, why haven¡¯t you gotten your head out of the mud? You and Aunt have raised me since I was young, just like my biological parents. Now that I¡¯ve contracted a Guardian, I have authority in the family. In the future, my authority will only grow. My parents are long dead, and you are my only family. In the future, not only will I take care of you and Aunt, but Little Yi will also have me to take care of in the future. Won¡¯t he have all the best resources when that happens? Now that I have the ability, I¡¯ll repay you in the future. You also know that I¡¯ve just contracted a Guardian and haven¡¯t had the time to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast. If you help me now, it will be helping your own family¡­¡± Joseph continued persuading.


    ¡°I really can¡¯t help you with this matter. Furthermore, we adopted you back then only because your mother is my wife¡¯s sister. We didn¡¯t expect you to repay us. We just want you to live well,¡± Li Benyu said.


    Joseph¡¯s expression became a little nasty. ¡°Uncle, let¡¯s talk about this later. You have to discuss it with my aunt after all. She should understand that this is a good thing for our family.¡±


    ¡°Then wait for her to come back. I still have guests to entertain, so I won¡¯t keep you,¡± Li Benyu said.


    Joseph glanced at Zhou Wen and curled his lips in disdain. ¡°Zhou Wen, right? I heard that your Companion Beasts are very strong? Unfortunately, the era of Companion Beasts is over. In the future, it will be the Guardian¡¯s world. It¡¯s useless having so many Companion Beasts.¡±


    Li Xuan couldn¡¯t stand it any longer as he quipped, ¡°It may be useless, but it isn¡¯t stopping you from shamelessly requesting one.¡±


    Joseph¡¯s expression turned ugly. Before he could flare up, Li Benyu said, ¡°Gentlemen, the family head is still waiting to meet you. I¡¯ll take you there.¡±


    With that said, Li Benyu pulled Li Benyi along with him and left the shop with Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.

 Chapter 996 - Choices ABC

    Translator: CKtalon


    After leaving the shop, Li Xuan asked Li Benyu, ¡°Brother Li, if it¡¯s convenient, can you tell me what¡¯s going on with this Joseph?¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Li Benyu was a little hesitant.


    Li Benyi said angrily, ¡°What¡¯s there not to say? That Joseph is an ingrate.¡±


    After Li Benyi¡¯s explanation, Zhou Wen and company finally learned the details.


    Just as they had guessed, Joseph¡¯s mother and Li Benyu¡¯s wife were biological sisters. When Joseph was around twelve, his parents entered a dimensional zone and never returned¡ªJoseph became an orphan.


    Therefore, Li Benyu and his wife adopted Joseph. Although they couldn¡¯t say that they treated him the same as Li Benyi, they tried their best to take care of him, allowing him to live a carefree life. They even gave him various resources and opportunities.


    On the surface, Joseph was respectful and kind to them. When he grew up, he even helped run the factory. Who knew that he would secretly siphon off funds in the factory and nearly caused the factory to close down?


    Only then did Li Benyu suspect that there was something wrong with Joseph. If not for his deceased mother, it would have been enough to send him to jail.


    As for the details, Li Benyi didn¡¯t say much. However, one could tell that it wasn¡¯t Joseph¡¯s sole instance. Now, he was even thinking of targeting their Mythical Companion Egg. He was extremely shameless.


    Li Xuan and Zhou Wen were taken aback when they heard that. They never expected such a person to exist in the world.


    This wasn¡¯t hearsay. They had seen Joseph¡¯s face with their own eyes today. It was no wonder Li Benyi hated him so much.


    ¡°To think that such a person would be fancied by a Guardian. From the looks of it, the Guardian¡¯s standards aren¡¯t that great,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Li Benyi pursed his lips and said, ¡°Do you know what Joseph¡¯s Guardian¡¯s name is? His name is Lie.¡±


    ¡°The Guardian ranked 14th?¡± Li Xuan and Zhou Wen immediately thought of the Guardian on the rankings.


    ¡°Yes. Although Joseph has never said what his Guardian¡¯s name is, it can¡¯t be hidden once he¡¯s on the rankings. I¡¯m guessing that he must have obtained this Guardian in the Maze of Lies. It¡¯s obvious that Joseph and his Guardian aren¡¯t good people,¡± Li Benyi said.


    Zhou Wen had previously heard from Sadie and company that the Maze of Lies was a famous dimensional zone near Frost City.


    In the Maze of Lies, one absolutely couldn¡¯t speak the truth. Once one spoke the truth, they would be killed by the taboo power inside. Therefore, humans who entered the maze typically sealed their mouths to prevent themselves from speaking, lest they trigger the taboo power.


    After all, it was impossible for an ordinary human to not tell a single truth.


    ¡°Dad, why did you stop Zhou Wen just now? Let Zhou Wen use Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui to defeat him. Let¡¯s see how arrogant he can be,¡± Li Benyi said.


    ¡°He has a Guardian. Don¡¯t take it to heart.¡± Li Benyu was actually afraid that Zhou Wen would be injured.


    Although Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui might be very strong, just as Joseph had said, people now felt that Guardians were invincible. Companion Beasts were no match for them. Otherwise, how could Guardians be ranked at the top of the rankings? No Companion Beast¡¯s ranking could surpass those Guardians.


    Therefore, Li Benyu stopped them in time to prevent Zhou Wen and company from being injured by the Guardian.


    ¡°So what if he has a Guardian? One Tyrant Behemoth can defeat him, much less Tai Sui,¡± Li Benyi said.


    ¡°So in your hearts, my Guardian is so weak. It¡¯s no wonder Uncle refuses to lend me the Companion Egg. It¡¯s because you look down on my Guardian.¡± At some point in time, Joseph had followed them and heard Li Benyi¡¯s words.


    ¡°Little Yi was just joking. Don¡¯t take the child¡¯s words seriously,¡± Li Benyu had no choice but to say.


    ¡°No, Little Yi has a huge misunderstanding about me and my Guardian. From the looks of it, I have to resolve this misunderstanding.¡± Joseph looked at Li Benyi and said, ¡°Little Yi, since you think his Companion Beast is stronger than my Guardian, why don¡¯t we make a bet? Let him fight me. If he wins, it will prove that your words are correct. I won¡¯t mention borrowing Companion Eggs again in the future. If he loses, why don¡¯t you lend me your Companion Egg?¡±


    With that said, Joseph added with a smile, ¡°Since you are so confident in his Companion Beast, you wouldn¡¯t be afraid to accept my challenge, right?¡±


    Before Li Benyu could say a word, Li Benyi said, ¡°Of course I dare. However, Zhou Wen and company are guests. I can¡¯t trouble them.¡±


    Joseph looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Little Yi is so confident in you. Don¡¯t you want to help him?¡±


    Li Benyu hurriedly interjected, ¡°Joseph, they are the family head¡¯s guests. Don¡¯t mess around.¡±


    However, Joseph curled his lips and said, ¡°What guest of the family head? Aren¡¯t they just Lance and Sadie¡¯s friends? Lance has already been defeated by me. When I¡¯m free in the future, I¡¯ll defeat Sadie and let the family know who the real genius is.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to challenge me?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly asked.


    ¡°Of course, if Little Yi is willing to let you represent him, I don¡¯t mind letting him know that in this world, only the Guardians are truly powerful existences,¡± said Joseph.


    ¡°Alright, wait a moment.¡± Zhou Wen took out his phone and sent a message to Lance and Sadie.


    After all, he was a guest invited by Lance and Sadie. It didn¡¯t seem too good to kill the Guardian of the Ultimate Family Clan here, so he informed the two of them first.


    Joseph was quite a distance away from Zhou Wen, but his eyes were good. He realized that the friend icon he was talking to belonged to Lance.


    ¡°You only want to investigate me now? Isn¡¯t it too late?¡± Joseph said contemptuously.


    He didn¡¯t spend much effort defeating Lance because the latter was only at the Epic stage. He didn¡¯t even have a Mythical Companion Beast, so he easily won with a Guardian.


    Therefore, he was very certain that Lance didn¡¯t have any information to divulge to Zhou Wen.


    However, when Joseph saw Zhou Wen¡¯s message, he nearly blew his top.


    ¡°There¡¯s a person in your family named Joseph who wants to challenge me. As he¡¯s from your family, I want to ask for your opinion. As for the three options below regarding the Guardian, which one is more suitable? Please reply with the letter as soon as possible.¡±


    A: Beat him to death.


    2


    B: Cripple him.


    C: Knock him out.


    Then, Joseph realized that Zhou Wen had copied the message and sent it to Sadie as well.


    Beep! Beep!


    Soon, Lance and Sadie replied. Their answers were unanimous: ¡°A.¡±


    2

 Chapter 997 - The Maze of Lies

    Translator: CKtalon


    Lance and Sadie gave the answer A, clearly telling Zhou Wen that there was no need to have any qualms.


    Since they didn¡¯t mind, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to have any qualms. This Joseph was irritating. Furthermore, he could also eliminate a Guardian in passing. There was no reason for him to let him off.


    After receiving the answer, Zhou Wen looked at Li Benyi and asked, ¡°Are you willing to let me fight him on your behalf?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m willing. Please let him know that a Guardian is nothing impressive,¡± Li Benyi said excitedly.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to challenge me? You can do it now,¡± Zhou Wen said to Joseph.


    ¡°You sure are confident to think nothing of Guardians.¡± Joseph curled his lips in disdain before asking Li Benyu, ¡°Uncle, can he represent you? If he loses, will you really lend me the Mythical Companion Egg?¡±


    Li Benyu was somewhat hesitant, but Li Benyi said to him, ¡°Dad, please agree. Zhou Wen has the strongest Tai Sui and Tyrant Behemoth. He won¡¯t lose. Please, Dad.¡±


    Li Benyu patted Li Benyi¡¯s head. ¡°Alright, I agree.¡±


    Li Benyu didn¡¯t have as much confidence in Zhou Wen as Li Benyi did. However, no matter how precious a Mythical Companion Egg was, it ultimately belonged to Li Benyi in the future. There were some things that he should experience.


    It was naturally best if Zhou Wen could win, but even if he lost, he could teach Li Benyi a deep lesson that he would never forget.


    Although he might lose a Mythical Companion Egg, Li Benyu believed that it wasn¡¯t an unacceptable price.


    If Zhou Wen knew that Li Benyu was thinking this way, he would probably sigh. The son of a rich family was really blessed.


    ¡°Uncle, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you, but there are some things that need to be made black and white or it might hurt our family¡¯s feelings when the time comes,¡± said Joseph.


    Li Benyu frowned, but before he could say anything, Zhou Wen continued, ¡°Yes, we should make a contract. Both parties are responsible for any losses incurred during the duel. It will save us trouble.¡±


    ¡°Yes, in case Joseph cries from the beating and goes to the family head to complain again,¡± Li Benyi said.


    ¡°Also, if I lose, you can take the Companion Egg. What if you lose?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Benyi.


    ¡°I won¡¯t mention borrowing the Companion Egg again in the future,¡± said Joseph without blushing.


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when Li Benyu shook his head and said, ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s fine as long as there¡¯s no trouble in the future.¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that Li Benyu had his own considerations. If he were to take something from Joseph now, it would only spell trouble if he continued to pester them in the future.


    Since Li Benyu had already said so, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. Joseph quickly came up with two contracts. After Zhou Wen and company saw that there was no problem, they signed and thumb-printed the contract.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a fair duel, let¡¯s fight in the family¡¯s arena tomorrow. It will also let everyone know that the era of Guardians has arrived,¡± Joseph said arrogantly after putting away the contract.


    Before the Guardians appeared, Zhou Wen could be said to be the top representative of the younger generation. He had powerful Companion Beasts and excellent talent.


    Everyone in the Federation¡¯s six families knew Zhou Wen¡¯s name. Even the older generation feared him.


    He wanted to fight Zhou Wen not only because of the Mythical Companion Egg, but also because he wanted to tell everyone that he, Joseph, was a true genius, a person recognized by God. The so-called geniuses in the past were just humans blowing their own trumpets. They had never obtained the recognition of God.


    Therefore, he chose to fight in the family¡¯s arena. Furthermore, he wanted to wait until tomorrow to let everyone in the Ultimate Family Clan know of this matter. At the same time, he could personally defeat Zhou Wen in front of his family¡¯s elders and peers.


    He had absolute confidence in Guardians, believing that only a Guardian could defeat another Guardian.


    Zhou Wen felt that it didn¡¯t matter and agreed. Joseph then left in excitement. It was easy to imagine that he would quickly inform everyone he knew to watch the battle tomorrow.


    In fact, even if Joseph didn¡¯t publicize it, Frost City was only small. There were no secrets that could be hidden. Soon, everyone would know.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you need our help to prepare anything?¡± Li Benyi felt that Zhou Wen was helping him in battle and that he should do something.


    ¡°If possible, take us to the nearby dimensional zones to take a look. We just came to Frost City and are very interested in the dimensional zones here,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need to prepare for tomorrow¡¯s battle?¡± Li Benyi asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m already prepared. There¡¯s no need to make any last-minute preparations,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. With Tai Sui and Tyrant Behemoth around, you can definitely defeat Joseph¡¯s Guardian. I¡¯m really looking forward to tomorrow¡¯s battle.¡± Li Benyi wore a look of anticipation.


    Under the lead of the Li father-and-son duo, Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and Ya¡¯er went to a few more famous dimensional zones.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover the tiny palm symbol in the first few dimensional zones. When he arrived at the Maze of Lies, he chanced upon a tiny palm symbol.


    ¡°Is this the dimensional zone where Joseph obtained the Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked curiously.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Maze of Lies is very special. You mustn¡¯t tell the truth after entering. For example, if you say your name, it will be the truth. You will be killed by the taboo inside¡­¡± Li Benyi explained the situation inside the Maze of Lies.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and casually took a picture of the tiny palm symbol. Soon, the Maze of Lies dungeon was downloaded.


    According to the Li father-and-son duo, the Maze of Lies was rather dangerous. Apart from the taboo of not being able to speak the truth, the dimensional creatures inside had very strange powers.


    For example, there was a Mischief Clown that would hide in the maze and call your name out of the blue. If you answered, it was equivalent to telling the truth. You would be killed by the taboo in the Maze of Lies.


    Apart from using the taboo power, the Mischief Clown also had some strange skills. For example, he had an elastic ball that would cause the body to bounce uncontrollably if it was hit by it, making it difficult to dodge its attack.


    There were many strange dimensional creatures inside. According to the legends here, the dimensional zone, Maze of Lies, was likely owned by a very famous deity. It was the legendary God of Mischief and Lies, Loki.


    Legend has it that in the deepest part of the Maze of Lies, there was a magical mask of mischief. One would gain Loki¡¯s divine powers from wearing the mask.


    3


    Of course, that was only a legend. No one had really seen the mask.


    2

 Chapter 998 - Can’t Tell the Truth

    Translator: CKtalon


    After circling Frost City, Zhou Wen felt that his Glimmer Life Soul was already showing signs of a breakthrough, just falling short of it. For some reason, he couldn¡¯t really break through to the Perfect Body.


    Could it be that I can¡¯t advance the Glimmer Life Soul by just going to new places? Zhou Wen thought of all sorts of possibilities, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the problem.


    In Frost City, he had only downloaded a copy of Maze of Lies. There were many famous dimensional zones in the North District, but it required them to leave Frost City. Zhou Wen and company didn¡¯t plan on going for the time being.


    After returning to his residence, Zhou Wen realized that Lance, Sadie, and Gulli were waiting for them.


    Lance didn¡¯t look injured, but he was in a wheelchair. His leg must have been injured badly. A beautiful girl was standing behind the wheelchair. It looked like she had pushed Lance over.


    1


    ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you. Unfortunately, I¡¯m temporarily unable to fight you,¡± Lance said helplessly.


    ¡°Is your leg alright? Do you need help?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s Primordial Human Sovereign was very effective in treating external injuries.


    Lance shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be fine after a few days of rest. There¡¯s no problem. As for you, you have to be careful when fighting Joseph. His abilities¡­ No¡­ I should say that his Guardian abilities are somewhat strange¡­¡±


    ¡°Strange in what way?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a fanatic who pursued combat excitement, so every bit he learned about Joseph¡¯s Guardian was for the better.


    ¡°I attacked his body with all my might, but in the end, all his injuries were transferred to me.¡± Lance explained the situation.


    ¡°Damage reflection?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°No, if it was damage reflection, I would have known back then. His ability made the injuries on him appear on me after I was done with the assault. It was as though those injuries were alive and could run on their own,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a special ability.¡± Zhou Wen pondered as he thought about how to deal with such an ability.


    ¡°But if it¡¯s you, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m looking forward to your performance tomorrow.¡± Lance smiled.


    ¡°If I destroy his Guardian, will your family really be fine?¡± Zhou Wen found it odd and couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°No problem,¡± Lance answered with certainty.


    ¡°From the looks of it, Joseph is really hated by everyone. At the very least, he has a Guardian. How can the family not value him?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°The family also wants to value him, but unfortunately, he doesn¡¯t share the same views as the family. He has secretly done many things that have harmed the family¡¯s interests. He believes he did them flawlessly, but in fact, the elders in the family are already well aware of them. They are just discussing how to deal with him,¡± Sadie said.


    ¡°I see.¡± Only then did Zhou Wen understand why Sadie and Lance had answered so readily.


    It turned out that their family had originally planned on dealing with Joseph, but they were somewhat afraid of his Guardian. Furthermore, Joseph was ultimately a member of the Ultimate Family Clan, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for them to make things too nasty, making the other families in the North District laugh at them.


    Zhou Wen suddenly wanted to fight Joseph. If he could really kill Joseph¡¯s Guardian, it would help the Ultimate Family Clan resolve a problem. They were naturally more than happy to see it happen.


    ¡°From the looks of it, one doesn¡¯t necessarily enjoy special treatment just because they have powerful strength. It¡¯s no wonder Joseph didn¡¯t plan on letting Li Benyi¡¯s Mythical Companion Egg off,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh.


    ¡°Uncle Li and Aunt raised Joseph for nearly ten years and treated him like their own son. They invested all sorts of resources into him, but what he did bitterly disappointed us, let alone Uncle Li and Aunt,¡± Sadie said.


    Everyone chatted for a while before Lance and company returned. They agreed to celebrate after Zhou Wen¡¯s victory tomorrow.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen lay in bed and took out his phone to open the Maze of Lies dungeon he had downloaded today.


    After entering the game, the blood-colored avatar appeared in front of an ancient castle. The castle looked very strange, like an ancient amusement park. The various buildings were very strange.


    Furthermore, the castle door looked like a clown¡¯s face. The door was the clown¡¯s laughing mouth. Entering the castle was like being devoured by a clown.


    ¡°Are you a man or a woman?¡± A line of words suddenly appeared on the door. A pop-up appeared in-game. There were two options¡ªmale and female.


    Zhou Wen naturally chose male, but following that, the blood-colored avatar exploded on the spot as the screen went black.


    Holy sh*t, so this is also the taboo power of the Maze of Lies? Zhou Wen immediately understood that he couldn¡¯t make such choices in the Maze of Lies.


    Zhou Wen wanted to know the various strange things in the maze, so he didn¡¯t use the Heaven-Opening Scripture. He dripped his blood and revived before arriving at the door of the Maze of Lies.


    ¡°Are you a good person or a bad person?¡± However, this time, the question on the door changed. It was different from what he had seen previously.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt stumped. He felt that he wasn¡¯t considered a good person, but he didn¡¯t seem to have done anything too bad. He probably wasn¡¯t considered a bad person.


    However, there were only two options on the phone¡ªgood and bad. Zhou Wen had to choose one of them.


    I should be barely considered a good guy, right? Then, according to the Maze of Lies, I should choose ¡®bad person,¡¯ right? Zhou Wen chose ¡®bad person¡¯ as his answer.


    Bam!


    The blood-colored avatar exploded on the spot again. The armor and Essence Energy on his body were useless.


    How is that possible? Am I a bad person? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that the taboo power of the Maze of Lies had determined that he was a bad person.


    Zhou Wen dripped his blood gloomily to revive again, allowing the blood-colored avatar to come to the entrance of the Maze of Lies.


    What was even more depressing was that the question on the Maze of Lies¡¯s door changed again.


    ¡°Is your girlfriend your left hand or right hand?¡±


    5


    ¡°¡­¡±


    F*ck you. I¡¯m not playing anymore. Zhou Wen activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture and pushed open the door to enter the Maze of Lies.


    With the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, the taboo power didn¡¯t work on the blood-colored avatar as it successfully entered the maze.


    The first thing he saw when he entered the castle-like maze was a huge merry-go-round.


    The diameter of the merry-go-round was at least 30 meters. At this moment, the carousel was spinning, and the horses were moving up and down.


    On one of the wooden horses, Zhou Wen saw a puppet clown in a clown costume. He was sitting on the wooden horse with three different-colored balls in his hand. He tossed them around as though he was performing on stage.


    Is this the Mischief Clown? Zhou Wen had already heard from Li Benyi that Mischief Clown was an Epic dimensional creature with very unique abilities.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to kill Mischief Clown, but he wanted to see what kind of abilities the Mischief Clown had. If the skill was really good, he could consider using it for fusion in the future.


    When the clown who was tossing the ball saw the blood-colored avatar, he threw the red, yellow, and blue balls at it.

 Chapter 999 - Arena

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and got it to block in front of him.


    With a boom, the red ball immediately turned into a ball of flames after hitting the Great Might Vajra Bull, enveloping its entire body.


    Thankfully, the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s body was sufficiently powerful. The Epic flames had no effect on it.


    Seeing that the red ball was useless, the clown threw the blue ball out. After the blue ball exploded from the collision, it formed a huge ice fog that could freeze people into ice.


    Unfortunately, it was only at the Epic stage. The Great Might Vajra Bull trembled and the frost on its body immediately fell to the ground. It couldn¡¯t be injured at all.


    Finally, the clown threw out the yellow ball. This time, after the yellow ball shattered, there was no fire or ice. There was only a plume of smoke, and then there was nothing.


    This yellow ball should be the so-called elastic ball, right? From the looks of it, it¡¯s useless. It has no effect on Mythical creatures. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, Great Might Vajra took a step forward.


    With this step, the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s body seemed to have a spring installed in it. Its body leaped up high. When it landed, it landed heavily on the ground before being bounced even higher.


    The Great Might Vajra Bull waved its hooves in the air, but it couldn¡¯t control its body. Its body seemed to have turned into a bouncing ball as it bounced around the ancient castle.


    Although the puppet clown¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t injure the Great Might Vajra Bull, it left it in a sorry state.


    This skill is interesting! Zhou Wen suddenly realized that this skill was quite good. It could actually affect Mythical creatures.


    However, this skill was clearly useless against the Mischief Clown. The Great Might Vajra Bull quickly adapted to the elasticity before transforming into its thousand-handed, bull-headed form. With a golden beam in its hand, it blasted the clown apart.


    Zhou Wen circled the maze and encountered quite a number of Mischief Clowns. Therefore, he killed every one of them, hoping to obtain a few Mischief Clown Companion Eggs to use for synthesis in the future.


    This skill was useless for the Mischief Clown, but it might be useful when paired with powerful pets.


    As he farmed the clowns, he searched the maze. However, in the maze that resembled an amusement park, there were Mischief Clowns everywhere, but he didn¡¯t see any other dimensional creatures.


    Strange, Li Benyi clearly said that there were many strange dimensional creatures here. Why do I only see clowns? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, but he couldn¡¯t find any other dimensional creatures.


    ¡­


    While Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons, the news of his battle with Joseph had already spread throughout Frost City. It wasn¡¯t just the members of the Ultimate Family Clan. Even the other families and ordinary people in Frost City learned of this news.


    Ordinary people weren¡¯t too familiar with the name Zhou Wen, but some of the more powerful families knew what the name represented.


    Before the Guardians appeared, Zhou Wen was synonymous with invincibility among the younger generation. However, with the Guardians around, no one could guarantee that Zhou Wen would be as invincible as before.


    The top fourteen on the rankings were all Guardians. Such a battle result was too dazzling, making it impossible for people not to treat the strength of Guardians seriously.


    Although Joseph¡¯s Lie Guardian was only ranked 14th, it still suppressed all Companion Beasts that fought alone. Furthermore, the Lie had never fought other Guardians. Perhaps its combat strength was higher than its actual ranking.


    Therefore, early at dawn the next day, many people from Frost City went to the arena. However, most of them were here to see the Guardian. Only a small number of people had expectations for Zhou Wen.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the arena, he saw that it was already packed with people. Even the top of the walls had people standing on them, and the entrance was packed to the brim.


    ¡°Brother, can you make way and let us pass?¡± Li Xuan led the way, but after squeezing for a long time, he failed to squeeze in. There were too many people inside.


    ¡°Let you pass? As if I don¡¯t wish to enter? Do you think it will work? If it works, I¡¯ll be watching the duel inside. If you want to watch the duel, slowly squeeze in. Don¡¯t keep thinking about stupid tricks,¡± the man in front said.


    Li Xuan thought to himself, If Zhou Wen doesn¡¯t enter, what match is there to watch?


    He naturally couldn¡¯t say that, so he could only continue squeezing in.


    Thankfully, Li Xuan had a solution. He released some Stinky Gu and immediately, the people nearby couldn¡¯t help but squeeze to the side. Finally, they had more space to move around.


    However, this move hurt indiscriminately. It wasn¡¯t easy for them either.


    After squeezing in with great difficulty, there was still a sea of people inside. It was unknown why the people of Frost City were so free to come here early in the morning to watch their duel.


    ¡°From the looks of it, that punk, Joseph, has spent quite a bit of effort. He got so many people here just to finish you in front of everyone.¡± Li Xuan saw through Joseph¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°Actually, I don¡¯t like so many spectators,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The few of them continued to squeeze in. Thankfully, Gulli discovered them through the surveillance cameras and sent someone to pick them up.


    ¡°Why did you enter through the main entrance? Why didn¡¯t you use the special underground passageway!?¡± Gulli asked Zhou Wen and company in puzzlement.


    ¡°There¡¯s a special passageway?¡± The three of them were taken aback.


    ¡°You said there was no need to pick you up, so I thought you knew. Let¡¯s not talk about this. Let¡¯s head to the lounge to prepare. That punk, Joseph, is dying of eagerness,¡± Gulli said.


    Joseph was indeed impatient. The two of them should have gone on stage at the same time, but Joseph had already long appeared in the arena. Furthermore, this fellow was delivering a speech.


    ¡°Although I grew up in Frost City, I believe there are many people who don¡¯t know my name. My name is Joseph, and I¡¯m a member of the Ultimate Family Clan. As a person chosen by God, I¡¯ve signed a contract with a Guardian, I will represent the deities to protect Frost City of Frost. No matter what difficulties I encounter, even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will fight foreign enemies to the death¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity this fellow isn¡¯t a politician¡­¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips when he heard Joseph¡¯s speech.


    However, the ordinary citizens who didn¡¯t know Joseph well cheered after hearing his words. Some even shouted his name. It looked like he had successfully fooled many people.


    ¡°What a worrisome fellow,¡± Gulli said gloomily. Zhou Wen saw Sadie, Lance, and company when he arrived in the lounge.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you definitely can defeat him and let those people know how powerful Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui are, right?¡± Li Benyi asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Of course. I still have some experience in killing Guardians. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Zhou Wen ruffled Li Benyi¡¯s hair before walking towards the entrance.


    The moment Zhou Wen walked out of the tunnel, he immediately heard a tsunami-like booing.


    Regardless of who was in the right or wrong, from the perspective of the people in Frost City, Zhou Wen was an outsider. They were naturally more willing to support the local Joseph and had treated Zhou Wen as an enemy.

 Chapter 1000 - Make Sure You Don’t Move

    2


    Translator: CKtalon


    Seeing Zhou Wen enter the arena, Joseph¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he waved his hand and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t your Tyrant Behemoth very strong? Then I¡¯ll wait for you to summon it. If I were to attack first, you wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to summon a Companion Beast.¡±


    As soon as these words were spoken, the spectator stands were filled with cheers. Regardless of whether Joseph had the ability or not, such a domineering declaration made the locals who supported him feel their blood boil. Furthermore, the people here were valiant. It was a place that held martial arts in high esteem.


    ¡°This person¡­ really doesn¡¯t know the meaning of death¡­¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Feng Qiuyan pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°With Joseph¡¯s personality, he should have some ulterior motives for doing so. Previously, Lance said that Joseph has the ability to harm others by transferring injuries. I think he plans on using that move.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that he hasn¡¯t died before. He actually dares to use a technique that he has already used before in front of Zhou Wen. I¡¯m afraid he doesn¡¯t even know how he died,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Since Coach already knows that he has such an ability, it would be too naive for him to use this move against Coach,¡± Feng Qiuyan said with a nod.


    Seeing Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan looking as though Zhou Wen was bound to win, Li Benyu couldn¡¯t help but frown and say, ¡°A Guardian¡¯s strength is the strongest at present. Furthermore, Zhou Wen hasn¡¯t seen Lance and Joseph¡¯s battle with his own eyes. It¡¯s best to be careful. It¡¯s best to summon more Companion Beasts to probe his strength.¡±


    Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t say a word as Lance said with a smile, ¡°Uncle Li, don¡¯t worry. If the move he already knows about can injure him, he won¡¯t be Zhou Wen.¡±


    Upon hearing Lance¡¯s words, Li Benyu couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    Lance was a very hardworking person, and his talent was unparalleled.


    Although he had lost to Joseph, most people in the Ultimate Family Clan didn¡¯t believe that it was a true defeat.


    This was because Lance didn¡¯t contract a Guardian or use a Mythical Companion Beast. It was an unfair battle against Joseph, so the Ultimate Family Clan¡¯s importance of Lance didn¡¯t decrease at all.


    Li Benyu had never seen Lance praise others in such a tone. Even an elite like Sadie had never been praised by Lance like this.


    Li Benyi also said confidently, ¡°Dad, don¡¯t worry. With Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui around, Zhou Wen will definitely win.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Li Benyu looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief. He didn¡¯t know what kind of magic Zhou Wen had that made these people so confident in him. It could be said that it was blind faith.


    In the arena, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angered by Joseph¡¯s provocation. He said without a change in expression, ¡°There¡¯s no need for Tyrant Behemoth to deal with you. Just summoning a Companion Beast is sufficient.¡±


    The moment Zhou Wen said that, the crowd booed. To the locals of Frost City, Zhou Wen¡¯s words were too arrogant.


    Although Joseph didn¡¯t dare say that he was invincible, he had a Guardian after all. On the rankings, only a Guardian could surpass a Guardian on the rankings. Even if Lie was defeated, it wasn¡¯t something any Companion Beast could defeat.


    ¡°Is that so? Then just randomly summon a Companion Beast. I¡¯ll stand here motionless and see how you defeat me,¡± said Joseph coldly as a cold glint flashed in his eyes.


    The people of Frost City cheered for Joseph. Zhou Wen only smiled. ¡°Stand still? I hope you will do as you say.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have the right to make me move,¡± Joseph continued provocatively.


    He wasn¡¯t doing it purely for his reputation, but to infuriate Zhou Wen and get him to use all his strength. The more serious his injuries were, the stronger the Guardian would be.


    Lie had a skill called Hypocritical Transaction. When using this skill, the damage he suffered would be transferred to the opponent who injured him.


    However, Hypocritical Transaction had a time limit. He only had a few seconds for the transaction, so he wanted to infuriate Zhou Wen and get his Companion Beast to attack with all its might. After transferring the power that was released, in the span of a few seconds, there was a possibility of directly killing the other party¡¯s Companion Beast.


    He wanted Zhou Wen to lose a Mythical Companion Beast first. This was the price Zhou Wen had to pay for underestimating him.


    The reason why Joseph dared to challenge Zhou Wen was because of the existence of this move. This was a skill that was the nemesis of Tyrant Behemoth. The stronger Tyrant Behemoth was, the higher the possibility of death.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he summoned a Companion Beast.


    Everyone looked at the short sword beside Zhou Wen in surprise. It was a red sheathed short sword that was about a foot long. The hilt resembled the head of a phoenix, making it look extremely exquisite.


    They had never seen such a Companion Beast before and didn¡¯t know its origins. However, they were somewhat disappointed that Tyrant Behemoth wasn¡¯t summoned.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s domineering stance of invincibility was something they had admired. They never expected Zhou Wen to summon a short sword that didn¡¯t look domineering at all.


    Li Benyi, Lance, and company were also intrigued. They didn¡¯t know what was so special about the short sword Zhou Wen had summoned. They wondered if it could really be effective on Joseph.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is that sword? Is it very powerful? Why didn¡¯t he use Tyrant Behemoth and Tai Sui?¡± Li Benyi looked at Lance in puzzlement, hoping that he could answer his doubts.


    Lance looked at the Bronze Sparrow Sword in front of Zhou Wen and said, ¡°From the aura of that sword, it should be a fire-elemental Mythical Companion Beast. It being a sword and fire-elemental in nature, there¡¯s no doubt that it¡¯s a Companion Beast with extremely high offensive strength. However, Joseph has the ability to transfer damage. It¡¯s very risky to use such a Companion Beast to attack Joseph. However, Zhou Wen definitely has his own plans. We¡¯ll just watch.¡±


    Li Benyi also became nervous when Lance said that.


    Li Benyu¡¯s judgment was the same as Lance¡¯s. He also felt that it was clearly irrational for Zhou Wen to use such a Companion Beast to fight Joseph.


    The best way to deal with an ability that could exchange damage was to use Companion Beasts with the ability to confine the opponent¡¯s body. This was a more normal solution.


    Clearly, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have such plans.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Zhou Wen held the Bronze Sparrow Sword and asked Joseph.


    ¡°Anytime. However, such a crappy sword probably can¡¯t injure me. It¡¯s best you summon Tyrant Behemoth,¡± Joseph mocked.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re ready, make sure you don¡¯t move,¡± Zhou Wen said as he unsheathed his sword. The fiery-red Bronze Sparrow Sword tore out of its scabbard and stabbed at Joseph with a tornado-like inferno.


    With the augmentation of Vajra Drill, the Bronze Sparrow Sword instantly appeared in front of Joseph and stabbed into his chest.


    Well done! Joseph wasn¡¯t alarmed but delighted. Such a violent attack meant that the sword-shaped Companion Beast was indeed very strong. It was enough to teach Zhou Wen a lesson by killing it first.

 Chapter 1001 - Not Moving

    Translator: CKtalon


    A faint fog seemed to appear on Joseph¡¯s mysterious gray armor. The Bronze Sparrow Sword pierced through the armor and his chest. The tip of the sword was revealed behind him as flames burned crazily.


    ¡°Die!¡± Joseph felt that such an attack was already powerful enough. He steeled his heart and wanted to transfer his injuries to the Bronze Sparrow Sword.


    As the Bronze Sparrow Sword had injured him, he could only transfer it to the Bronze Sparrow Sword and not Zhou Wen.


    However, before he could use Hypocritical Transaction to transfer his injuries, the Bronze Sparrow Sword had already exploded. A terrifying explosive force exploded in Joseph¡¯s body like a nuclear bomb.


    Not good! Joseph¡¯s expression changed drastically. The explosion of the Bronze Sparrow Sword instantly made him lose his target of damage transfer. Ignoring the fact that his injuries couldn¡¯t be transferred, even Lie probably couldn¡¯t withstand such a terrifying explosion.


    Almost instantly, Joseph activated Lie¡¯s Wheel of Destiny: False God Statue.


    Boom!


    Joseph¡¯s body was blasted apart by the flames, shocking everyone watching. No one expected such a situation to happen.


    Thankfully, Joseph¡¯s figure suddenly appeared in a corner of the arena as he half-knelt on the ground. He wasn¡¯t blasted to death. What was blasted to death was a fake statue that was akin to an avatar.


    However, the injuries he had suffered previously couldn¡¯t be transferred out. His chest was dripping with blood as his face turned pale. He looked like he was in a terrible condition.


    In the silent arena, Zhou Wen held the Bronze Sparrow Sword¡¯s scabbard which spewed out flames. It condensed a new Bronze Sparrow Sword that looked flawless.


    ¡°Wow! Too powerful¡­ What kind of Companion Beast is that? It¡¯s so cool. I¡¯ve decided! I¡¯ll create such Companion Beast figurines in the future¡­¡± Li Benyi exclaimed excitedly.


    Li Benyu wore an odd expression. Zhou Wen¡¯s strike had indeed exceeded his imagination.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you were not going to move?¡± Zhou Wen asked Joseph.


    ¡°You¡­ pulled a trick¡­¡± Joseph¡¯s expression turned nasty as he gritted his teeth and stood up. He stared at Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°Don¡¯t be too smug. Schemes can only last for a while. In front of true strength, scheming is useless. I¡¯ll let you know what true strength is.¡±


    With that said, the Guardian armor on Joseph¡¯s body emitted a mysterious fog. His injured chest and armor rapidly recovered in the mysterious fog. In the blink of an eye, he returned to normal as though he had never been injured.


    What powerful recovery ability. It¡¯s actually stronger than my self-healing ability? Li Xuan widened his eyes in disbelief.


    ¡°From the looks of it, that shouldn¡¯t be ordinary self-healing, right?¡± Feng Qiuyan said after some thought.


    Sadie used the Eye of Odin to see more clearly. She said, ¡°It really doesn¡¯t look like self-healing. It¡¯s more like some kind of time-reversal ability that reverts his state to before he was injured.¡±


    ¡°That works too? Isn¡¯t this too much of a bug? Such a scumbag actually has such a powerful Guardian. How depressing,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Lance pondered and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that easy to use such a powerful force like reversing the flow of time. Perhaps, Joseph needs to pay a certain price.¡±


    ¡°What kind of price could it be?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Lance shook his head.


    In the spectator stands, many people from Frost City began shouting Joseph¡¯s name in unison.


    To be able to escape from such a huge explosion and instantly recover from his injuries, he looked as powerful as a god.


    However, they didn¡¯t dare underestimate Zhou Wen now. The strike from the Bronze Sparrow Sword had left them somewhat horrified. Even now, they still felt their scalps tingle when they thought of that strike.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you prepared to suffer the wrath of God¡¯s chosen one?¡± Joseph said coldly as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen summoned some armor and put it on. He said with a smile, ¡°Since you can¡¯t abide by the agreement, it¡¯s my turn to stand here motionless and let you attack. Feel free to attack. I¡¯m always a man of my word. I won¡¯t run.¡±


    These words made Joseph¡¯s expression turn nasty. He originally imagined that he could use Hypocritical Transaction to teach Zhou Wen a lesson, but he never expected Zhou Wen to counter him.


    Now, Joseph knew that he had to suppress Zhou Wen to protect the image he had painstakingly built up in Frost City.


    ¡°You are tempting fate.¡± Joseph¡¯s figure appeared in front of Zhou Wen like a phantom as he punched him in the chest.


    Unlike ordinary people¡¯s boxing techniques, there was a ring on the middle finger of Joseph¡¯s fist. There was a spike on the ring. It was a poison spike that came with Lie¡¯s armor. Coupled with the use of Essence Energy¡¯s Sweet-Talking Punch, the poison produced when the poisonous sting stabbed into one¡¯s body could make one hallucinate.


    Even if Joseph didn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen would still fall into an illusion. If his will wasn¡¯t firm, he would commit suicide even without needing Joseph to do a thing.


    Clang!


    However, when Joseph¡¯s fist struck Zhou Wen¡¯s body, the poisonous sting failed to penetrate the armor at all. Under the powerful impact, the poisonous sting nearly snapped, but the armor remained unharmed.


    ¡°Impossible? How can it have such powerful defense?¡± Joseph refused to believe that his Guardian powers couldn¡¯t break through Zhou Wen¡¯s armor.


    With that, Joseph quickly moved as he brandished his fists and struck Zhou Wen with all his might.


    Zhou Wen wore the Shell Dragon Armor and had activated Absolute Defense. No matter how Joseph attacked, he couldn¡¯t break through the armor.


    No matter how strong Lie was, it hadn¡¯t activated its Terror form. It was just too difficult to break through the Absolute Defense. Back then, Night Thearch hadn¡¯t been able to directly penetrate the Absolute Defense, much less Joseph.


    The people in the spectator stands were dumbfounded. Zhou Wen really stood there motionless, allowing Joseph to attack.


    In their eyes, the god-like Joseph was now a weak child. No matter how he attacked, he couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen at all.


    That fellow¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ A strange thought arose in many people¡¯s hearts as they looked at Zhou Wen who was dressed in blue crystal armor as though he was protected by the stars.


    Could it be that the strength of a Companion Beast is really stronger than a Guardian? Although they were unwilling to believe it deep down, the image of a Guardian suddenly didn¡¯t seem so lofty in their hearts when they saw Joseph fighting an adult like a child.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is this? It¡¯s so powerful. Joseph can¡¯t even leave a mark on the armor. It¡¯s just too powerful¡­¡± Li Benyi¡¯s eyes lit up.


    Ya¡¯er glanced at Li Benyi and felt that this fellow was so noisy as if he had never seen anything.


    2

 Chapter 1002 - Subversion

    Translator: CKtalon


    The spectator stands were dead silent as everyone stared blankly at the battle in the arena.


    Perhaps it couldn¡¯t be called a battle. It was like a naughty child challenging a giant. Even if the giant stood there without moving, the naughty child couldn¡¯t injure the giant at all.


    Just as Joseph had said, it seemed to be the difference in absolute strength.


    ¡°Why¡­ Why is this happening¡­ Why can¡¯t I break it¡­¡± Joseph changed his skills in an attempt to break through Zhou Wen¡¯s armor.


    However, it was completely useless. No matter what skill he used, it was blocked by the crystal-like armor. It couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen at all.


    Joseph¡¯s heart sank to the bottom. He never imagined that he would lose to Zhou Wen, nor did he believe that he, who had a Guardian, couldn¡¯t defeat a human without a contracted Guardian.


    However, the truth was right before him. His heart was already palpitating, and his hands were trembling even more because he couldn¡¯t see any hope of victory.


    Now, Joseph was already regretting his decision to challenge Zhou Wen. Why did this darn Zhou Wen have so many terrifying Companion Beasts?


    ¡°Even if I kill you, you won¡¯t be able to kill me. From the looks of it, there¡¯s no need to continue fighting. This battle is a draw,¡± said Joseph as he suddenly retreated. He still wanted to preserve his final dignity.


    However, his words made even the locals who had supported him find it unacceptable. All of them felt their faces burn.


    ¡°A loss is a loss. What do you mean by a draw? Can¡¯t you act like a man?¡± a hot-tempered man in the stands shouted.


    This was also what many people thought. They felt that Joseph should fight to the end. Even if he lost, it wouldn¡¯t be as embarrassing as now.


    Zhou Wen looked at Joseph without any expression. All he did was slowly dispel the Shell Dragon Armor and Bronze Sparrow Sword. He held the Bamboo Blade and said, ¡°I won¡¯t use any Companion Beasts. I¡¯ll only use this Essence Gold Bamboo Blade to fight you. Do you dare fight?¡±


    Instantly, the entire arena fell silent. Everyone suspected that there was something wrong with their ears or that Zhou Wen had gone mad.


    The highest level humans could reach was the Epic stage. If they didn¡¯t use Mythical Companion Beasts, they had no right to fight Guardians.


    They admitted that Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts were very strong. They were practically invincible. Without using Tyrant Behemoth, he had completely suppressed Joseph, who had a Guardian.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean that they believed that Zhou Wen was qualified to fight Joseph without a Companion Beast.


    ¡°Are you sure there¡¯s nothing wrong with his brain?¡± Li Benyu was also stunned. He was originally rejoicing over Zhou Wen¡¯s victory, but, to his surprise, Zhou Wen had said such crazy words.


    Lance also stared at Zhou Wen with a burning gaze. He knew what Zhou Wen wanted to do because he had done the same thing, but he had failed.


    ¡°Of course he¡¯s not crazy. He just wants to prove that a Guardian is nothing impressive. We humans can defeat a Guardian with our own strength,¡± Sadie said with a complicated expression.


    Although this sounded terrifying, Sadie didn¡¯t find it strange that Zhou Wen was capable of completing such a feat.


    ¡°But¡­ Can humans really defeat Guardians?¡± Li Benyu couldn¡¯t believe it.


    Li Benyi also couldn¡¯t believe it. He muttered to himself, ¡°Using a human¡¯s body to defeat a Guardian? Is that possible?¡±


    Apart from Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and Ya¡¯er, no one in Frost City believed that Zhou Wen could do it.


    Humans maxed out at the Epic stage. There was a huge gap between them and the Mythical stage. As for Guardians, they were the best amongst those at the Mythical stage. The difference between them was just too great. The gap was so wide that no one could see hope.


    ¡°Is he crazy? Without using a Companion Beast, he¡¯s only at the Epic stage. What right does he have to fight the Guardian?¡±


    ¡°Victory blinds one.¡±


    ¡°I think victory makes people crazy.¡±


    When the people in the stands snapped to their senses, they began discussing spiritedly. Clearly, they also felt that Zhou Wen had been blinded by victory.


    ¡°Are you really not going to use a Companion Beast to fight me?¡± Joseph looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief. He couldn¡¯t believe that a person like Zhou Wen would make such a foolish decision.


    ¡°If I use a Companion Beast, even if it¡¯s only at the Legendary stage, it will be considered my loss.¡± Zhou Wen immediately added, ¡°However, I have a condition.¡±


    ¡°What condition?¡± Joseph found it normal. There was no reason for Zhou Wen to be such an idiot.


    ¡°Even if I lose using a Companion Beast, this battle can¡¯t end before I admit defeat. Do you dare accept the challenge?¡± Zhou Wen had been observing the powers of Lie.


    It was indeed a very strong Guardian. Although it wasn¡¯t the kind with absolute strength, his abilities were unique.


    Zhou Wen was confident that he could defeat Joseph, who had Lie, but he wasn¡¯t completely confident that he could completely destroy Lie before Joseph admitted defeat.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had to force Joseph not to admit defeat. He had to fight him to the end.


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen in shock, believing that he had definitely gone mad. How was this a condition? It was as though he had personally delivered himself to the gallows.


    Joseph stared at Zhou Wen with bloodshot eyes. He felt like he had been greatly insulted.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to beat around the bush. Aren¡¯t you just trying to say that we won¡¯t rest until one of us dies? I¡¯ll fulfill your wish. We won¡¯t rest until one of us dies. However, if you use a Companion Beast, it will be your loss. I want you to commit suicide.¡± Joseph¡¯s eyes were red as his face couldn¡¯t help but grimace. His voice was filled with ruthlessness.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    ¡°Everyone, you heard that, right? As a member of the Ultimate Family Clan, you can guarantee me fair treatment, right?¡± Joseph looked at the VIP stands in the arena and said.


    There, the upper echelons of the Ultimate Family Clan were watching the battle.


    ¡°No one can violate the agreement here,¡± an elder said calmly as he walked to the stands.


    Joseph was delighted when he saw the elder. He bowed respectfully before turning to Zhou Wen with a ferocious expression. ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll gladly accept your life.¡±


    With that said, the Lie Guardian armor on Joseph¡¯s body emitted a mysterious fog that charged at Zhou Wen with terrifying power.


    Zhou Wen had already analyzed the various abilities of Lie back when Joseph attacked. He already had an idea of its strength.


    He held the Bamboo Blade, but he didn¡¯t pull it out of its scabbard. As though riding the wind and smoke like an immortal, he dodged Joseph¡¯s strange attacks.


    Everyone saw that Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t use a Companion Beast and relied solely on his strength to fight Joseph. Furthermore, Joseph didn¡¯t have the absolute advantage.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s elegant movement technique that resembled a transcendent flying immortal was deeply imprinted in many people¡¯s minds.


    ¡°Can humans¡­ really compete with Guardians?¡± The people who rejected the notion previously had their beliefs shaken.


    That elegant figure was subverting their long-established beliefs.

 Chapter 1003 - Slaying the Guardian

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s movement techniques and saber techniques were pleasing to the eye and looked extremely elegant.


    Even with the help of the Guardian¡¯s powers, Joseph¡¯s Speed and Strength were stronger than Zhou Wen¡¯s in all aspects; yet, he was ultimately unable to injure him.


    Even ordinary people who didn¡¯t know how strong or weak their combat strength was could tell that although Joseph¡¯s Strength and Speed were great, his technique and realm were far inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    Zhou Wen relied solely on his technique and combat experience to forcefully make up for the difference in physique between the two.


    The Mythical Transcendent Flying Immortal combined with the Mythical Heart Defying Sword made Zhou Wen appear no weaker in his battle with Joseph.


    Joseph was alarmed. He believed that after having a Guardian, he was already one of the strongest humans. Ignoring normal humans, even people with Mythical Companion Beasts were probably no match for him.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even use a Companion Beast. Just his strength, skills, and Essence Gold saber were enough to render him helpless. It was rather terrifying.


    Joseph made up his mind. Previously, he had that strange sword that prevented the Guardian¡¯s Hypocritical Transaction from finding a target to transfer. Now that he can¡¯t use Companion Beasts, I don¡¯t believe that he can withstand the damage transfer. He can¡¯t self-destruct, right?


    However, with his previous experience, Joseph didn¡¯t dare be careless against Zhou Wen. Although he felt that this move was feasible, he couldn¡¯t activate the Wheel of Destiny again anytime soon. If his life ended up in danger, he couldn¡¯t use the False God Statue to escape.


    To prevent any accidents, Joseph made a decision.


    Zhou Wen used the Bamboo Blade as a sword and used the Heart Defying Sword to perfection. The might of his sword moves also became stronger.


    As for Joseph, he seemed to be completely suppressed by Zhou Wen. He seemed to be retreating in defeat.


    The spectators were already dumbfounded when they saw this. They couldn¡¯t believe that an Epic human could suppress Joseph, who had a Guardian.


    ¡°Joseph seems to be deliberately luring Zhou Wen into delivering greater might with his sword,¡± Sadie said.


    ¡°That¡¯s indeed the case. From the looks of it, he still plans on using that damage transfer ability,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°He still hasn¡¯t learned his lesson after suffering a loss. He just has to do it again,¡± Li Xuan said with a curl of his lips.


    ¡°The situation now is probably a little different. Zhou Wen is using an ordinary Essence Gold weapon and not a saber transformed from a Companion Beast. It¡¯s impossible for him to let the Bamboo Blade leave his hand to attack Joseph. If the damage is transferred, it can be transferred to Zhou Wen. Even if Zhou Wen were to throw the saber out, Zhou Wen¡¯s situation will be very bad if the saber is destroyed,¡± Gulli said.


    Lance thought for a moment, but he couldn¡¯t think of a way for Zhou Wen to nullify the damage transfer. He pondered and said, ¡°Since Zhou Wen has agreed not to use Companion Beasts, there should be a solution. Let¡¯s continue watching.¡±


    With Joseph luring Zhou Wen to use greater strength, Zhou Wen¡¯s might grew stronger and stronger. This was also what Joseph wanted. He wanted to use damage transfer to kill Zhou Wen.


    Seeing that the time was ripe, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword stance was like a storm. It was impossible for him to retract his force.


    Joseph suddenly retreated, but the armor on his body condensed into a Guardian that looked like a devil. It faced the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    Bamboo Blade crisscrossed over Lie¡¯s body like bolts of lightning, leaving deep marks on its body.


    Without the augmentation of Mythical Strength, Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength was still a little weak. The injuries he left on Lie weren¡¯t deep.


    Joseph was delighted when he saw this. Zhou Wen¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t as terrifying as he imagined. It was completely within the limits of Lie.


    However, such a violent sword attack left many wounds in a short period of time. Even if these injuries couldn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen, they could reduce him to a heavily injured state.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re dead.¡± Joseph roared as he excitedly launched Hypocritical Transaction to transfer the Guardian¡¯s injuries to Zhou Wen.


    However, in the next second, the excitement on Joseph¡¯s face froze. He realized that the Guardian¡¯s injuries couldn¡¯t be transferred to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ How can this be¡­ You cheated¡­ You used the power of a Companion Beast to withstand the Guardian¡¯s damage transfer?¡± Joseph roared at Zhou Wen with bloodshot eyes.


    The people in the spectator stands also felt that what Joseph said wasn¡¯t impossible. Otherwise, how could Zhou Wen, an Epic-stage human, suppress the Guardian so badly?


    ¡°Do I need to cheat?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly as the Bamboo Blade¡¯s aura suddenly increased.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen¡¯s aura reached a terrifying level. At the instant he brandished the Bamboo Blade in his hand, he seemed to vanish.


    When he appeared again, he was already at the other end of the arena. He slowly returned Bamboo Blade to its scabbard.


    Crack!


    And in the sky, Lie¡¯s body split into two and was killed on the spot.


    Not far behind the Guardian, Joseph spat out a mouthful of blood and fell to the ground.


    The arena was silent. Those who had doubted Zhou Wen moments ago now felt the coldness deep in their bones.


    Is there a need to cheat? It really doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s a need. This thought appeared in everyone¡¯s minds.


    The strength of humans can really kill Guardians! Apart from that, an unbelievable thought sprouted in everyone¡¯s hearts.


    ¡°You cheated¡­ You cheated¡­ It¡¯s impossible for human strength to defeat a Guardian¡­ It¡¯s impossible for you to defeat me, a chosen one of God¡­ You must be cheating¡­¡± The wounds on Joseph¡¯s body were still bleeding, but he seemed to have gone mad. He ignored his injuries and struggled to get up and shout.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t kill him. After all, he was from the Ultimate Family Clan. It was better to leave him to the Ultimate Family Clan to deal with.


    He originally imagined that the matter would end here, but gray smoke suddenly rose from Joseph¡¯s body as though his body was turning into dust.


    As for the smoke, it condensed into the appearance of Lie above Joseph.


    This strange scene left everyone horrified. As Joseph constantly screamed, his body quickly dissipated, and the smoke transformed into the complete Lie.


    However, the current Lie looked much more agile and strange than the previous Lie.


    ¡°What happened? Aren¡¯t Guardians supposed to protect contractors? Why did it devour Joseph?¡± Everyone felt their blood run cold.


    Lie floated in the air as it looked at Zhou Wen with its demonic eyes and said, ¡°You defeated Joseph. Now, you have the right to succeed Joseph as God¡¯s chosen one. I will bestow you supreme power.¡±

 Chapter 1004 - Frod

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen only looked at Lie without saying a word.


    He had plotted to kill the Guardian, but the other party hadn¡¯t died. Instead, he had devoured the puppet-like Joseph. This Guardian seemed to be stronger than Zhou Wen imagined.


    Seeing Zhou Wen remain silent, Lie continued, ¡°Don¡¯t think that defeating Joseph means defeating me. In fact, my true strength far exceeds what you see. It¡¯s just that Joseph can¡¯t use my true strength. However, you are different. With your ability, you can perfectly unleash my strength. When the time comes, we can defeat many Guardians and become the King of Earth.¡±


    With that said, the gray smoke on the Guardian rose and instantly enveloped the entire arena. As for the people in the arena, they realized that they couldn¡¯t control their bodies.


    All of them began clapping like puppets as they shouted in unison, ¡°Become the Kings of Earth together¡­¡±


    Everyone was horrified. Their minds were very lucid, but for some reason, their bodies didn¡¯t listen to them at all. It was as though they were controlled by a devil.


    ¡°Is this the true power of a Guardian?¡± Everyone was alarmed, angry, and afraid.


    ¡°How about it? As long as you contract with me, you will have the supreme divine power to control everything. You will become the true King of Earth.¡± Lie floated in the air and looked down at the entire arena like a god. It was as though the humans in the arena were ants that he could toy with.


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in losers,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you have any doubts about my strength, you can use all your strength. Try again and see if you can injure me,¡± Lie continued arrogantly. ¡°Of course, I¡¯m different from trash like Joseph. You can use any Companion Beast or external force as you wish without any qualms.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then I really want to give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Then what are you waiting for? Do it now. Reveal your strongest strength and your strongest Companion Beast. I¡¯ll let you know what a true Guardian is. I¡¯m completely different from that trash, Joseph. This is the true Guardian¡¯s strength,¡± Lie said.


    ¡°Since you think Joseph is trash, why did you contract him?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Humans are mostly trash. There was no better choice. We can only make do by choosing trash with a suitable physique. However, since there¡¯s a human like you, I naturally don¡¯t need that useless trash,¡± Lie said.


    ¡°Is that so? Then let me see how strong you are.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he summoned the Tyrant Behemoth boxing glove and threw a punch at the levitating Lie.


    ¡°A boxing glove with Absolute Strength? Such strength might be useful against other Guardians, but to me¡­ It¡¯s useless¡­ Bam¡­¡± Before Lie could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen struck him in the chest.


    However, Lie didn¡¯t realize that just as Zhou Wen¡¯s boxing glove was about to hit him, a crystalline blue thread appeared in the boxing glove. It stabbed into Lie¡¯s body with a terrifying icy aura.


    In an instant, Lie¡¯s body froze. Following that, the Absolute Strength-powered punch blasted the frozen body into ice fragments.


    Just like that, Lie was killed with a single punch. He couldn¡¯t even use Hypocritical Transaction. The controlled people immediately regained their freedom. The fog in the arena dissipated as warm sunlight scattered down, bathing Zhou Wen in sunlight.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you are also trash,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly as he looked at the ice shards that filled the sky.


    For some reason, the people who were very concerned about Zhou Wen defeating Joseph felt an inexplicable sense of joy when they heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    ¡°He¡¯s so powerful¡­ Zhou Wen is really so powerful¡­¡± Li Benyi was so excited that he was incoherent.


    Li Benyu was already dumbfounded. This was the first time he had seen such a person. He didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°F*ck it. Guardians aren¡¯t that impressive. They¡¯re just trash. They can¡¯t even withstand a single punch from Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What trash Guardians? We humans are the strongest.¡±


    ¡°How can I become as strong as Zhou Wen? I also want to kill those detestable Guardians.¡±


    ¡­


    The beliefs in Frost City seemed to change in an extremely short period of time. The belief that Guardians were invincible was slowly fading.


    Although it was impossible for them to completely change because of this matter, at least there was already a seed of restlessness sprouting in their hearts.


    ¡°Sorry, I originally wanted to hand Joseph over to you, but I never expected¡­¡± Zhou Wen returned to the lounge and said apologetically to Lance, Sadie, and Gulli.


    ¡°This has nothing to do with you, but there¡¯s something I hope you can help me with,¡± Lance said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°My great-grandfather wants to meet you,¡± Lance said seriously.


    ¡°I should greet the elders,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Follow me. This might be a little different from the elder you imagine.¡± Lance only invited Zhou Wen.


    Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and Ya¡¯er had to wait outside. They weren¡¯t on the invitation list.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that no matter how bad Lance¡¯s great-grandfather¡¯s personality was, he wouldn¡¯t bicker with him on account of Lance and Sadie.


    However, when he really saw Lance¡¯s great-grandfather, he realized that it wasn¡¯t what he had imagined.


    Lance took Zhou Wen to the depths of Frost City. It was a place that resembled an ice cave that had existed for billions of years. And on the ice wall of the ice cave, there was a humanoid sculpture.


    One could see that the sculpture was a very majestic elder, but there were no signs of it being a man-made carving. It was as though the elder¡¯s ice sculpture had grown out of the ice wall.


    ¡°Great-grandfather¡­ I brought Zhou Wen here¡­¡± When Lance bowed at the ice sculpture, his words left Zhou Wen dumbfounded.


    ¡°Hello, Zhou Wen. I¡¯m Frod.¡± The ice sculpture actually spoke. Furthermore, the name he said left Zhou Wen even more alarmed.


    ¡°Frod? Could it be that you are one of the six heroes, Frod?¡± Zhou Wen had learned this name countless times in his textbooks, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t forget it.


    However, according to what Zhou Wen knew, other than the old hero from the Dugu family, the other five heroes should have passed away.


    Even if Frod was still alive, he couldn¡¯t be an ice sculpture, right?

 Chapter 1005

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be so surprised. He¡¯s indeed our family¡¯s hero and pride, my great-grandfather, Frod,¡± Lance said.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at Frod in the ice wall. No matter how he looked at him, it was just an ice sculpture. Apart from having a humanoid shape, it didn¡¯t have any human characteristics.


    The ice sculpture-like Frod revealed a smile. ¡°The reason I became like this is because I violated the agreement with the holy temple. If you are interested, I can tell you the story.¡±


    Zhou Wen naturally wanted to know. He knew too little about the older generation.


    ¡°Back then, Zhang Daotian, Xia Jiuhuang, and I were still very young. We were about the same age as you¡­¡± Frod slowly said as he sank into his memories.


    When the dimensional storms descended, many unknown mysterious areas appeared in the human world. Many people died because they found themselves in the mysterious areas. Many deranged people obtained powers that were akin to superpowers. Human society nearly collapsed.


    At that moment, six youths stood forward and used their strength to defeat all the great devils. They expelled them overseas and established a new order¡ªthe current Federation.


    1


    The six youths were naturally the six heroes of the past.


    However, Frod¡¯s story was somewhat different from the legend of the six heroes. According to him, there was no such thing as six heroes because there were many young people who had entered the Holy Land with them.


    Among the people who came out of the Holy Land, eventually, six of them were the most famous. Furthermore, they established the Federation government, so they became the legend of the six heroes.


    ¡°In fact, many of the people who entered the Holy Land with us back then had talent that wasn¡¯t inferior to the six of us. They were even stronger than us. For example, Jing Daoxian¡¯s talent far exceeded the six of us. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t obtain the recognition of the six Holy Temples, nor did he obtain a special physique.¡± When Frod said that, his expression turned odd. ¡°However, Jing Daoxian¡¯s failure might not be a bad thing. This is because although we were glorious when we obtained the special physiques and Companion Beasts, something unimaginable happened later.¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°The physiques given to us by the six Holy Temples all have different flaws, but we didn¡¯t know about them beforehand,¡± Frod answered.


    ¡°What flaws?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°For example, Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s Connate Sacred Body is an almost undying physique. However, a Connate Sacred Body has to maintain its virginity. Once one loses their virginity, the Connate Sacred Body will be gone. The other five physiques also have various strange flaws, but they aren¡¯t as obvious as the Connate Sacred Body.¡±


    Frod paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Due to the existence of these flaws, we had no choice but to think of a way to resolve them. However, no matter what method we used, we were unable to make up for them. Therefore, in order to prevent our flaws from being exploited by others, we had no choice but to think of various methods. The easiest way to resolve them was to seek help from the Holy Temple.¡±


    ¡°In that case, the Holy Temple is using these special physiques to threaten you?¡± Zhou Wen understood what Frod meant.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. On the surface, the six of us are the six heroes of the Federation, but in fact, we are just puppets of the Holy Temple. During that period of time, many of the things we did came from the Holy Temple¡¯s orders, including the establishment of the Federation government.¡± Frod revealed a secret that left Zhou Wen shocked beyond belief.


    ¡°Could it be that¡­ the Federation government is actually just a puppet government?¡± Zhou Wen widened his eyes.


    Frod shook his head. ¡°Not entirely. In fact, the six families are secretly searching for a way to resolve their problems in order to escape the Holy Temple¡¯s control.


    ¡°Furthermore, it¡¯s a huge mistake if the Holy Temple thinks that they can completely control us like this.¡± Frod said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s precisely because I disobeyed the Holy Temple¡¯s orders that they made use of the weakness in my physique to turn me into this. The other fellows also did the same thing openly or secretly. Therefore, although the Holy Temple has a huge influence on the Federation, they don¡¯t have absolute influence because they can¡¯t descend personally.


    ¡°In addition, Wang Mingyuan had previously used the power of the Holy Temple to weaken the connection between the Holy Land and Earth. This decreased the influence again, but it still can¡¯t be underestimated. If the Holy Temple insists on doing something, they will have many ways to achieve their goals. The six hero families aren¡¯t completely united,¡± said Frod.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t invite me here just to tell me this, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Frod looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. After a long while, he said, ¡°I got Lance to invite you here because I wish you to help me and my family do something. If this can be done, perhaps our family can completely escape the control of the Holy Temple.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you thinking too highly of me?¡± Zhou Wen had entered the Holy Land before and had visited a few Holy Temples. He knew that there were extremely terrifying existences there.


    In the past, he had only felt that they were strong. Now that he thought about it, the existences in the temple were likely all at the Terror grade or even stronger.


    Frod smiled and said, ¡°If you can do it, it will be very beneficial to you.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me what it is?¡± Zhou Wen was still very curious.


    ¡°In the Maze of Lies, there¡¯s the mask of the God of Mischief. Only by obtaining that mask can we use the power of the mask to escape the influence of the special physique. I hope you can help us obtain that mask.¡± Frod paused before saying, ¡°In return, I¡¯ll tell you a secret regarding the Holy Land. You will definitely be interested in it.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Frod with an odd expression. Although he was Lance¡¯s elder, he didn¡¯t have any intention of helping him considering how he was being so vague.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s expression, Frod knew what he was thinking. Therefore, he said, ¡°This secret is related to the disappearance of Professor Ouyang Ting and company. You are very concerned about this matter, right?¡±


    ¡°Professor Ouyang Ting went missing in Zhuolu. It has nothing to do with the Holy Land.¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    Frod smiled and said, ¡°Child, the six Holy Temples represent the six strongest races of the dimension. Zhuolu is the battlefield of the divine war between two of the races. And you think it¡¯s unrelated?¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Frod with some hesitation because he wasn¡¯t sure if he could believe him.


    To others, the six heroes might be extremely lofty existences, but Zhou Wen had seen Xia Jiuhuang¡¯s horror and knew that they were actually different from the heroes spoken about in legend.

 Chapter 1006 - Don’t Board the Ship

    Translator: CKtalon


    Seeing Zhou Wen hesitate, Frod continued, ¡°Although dimensional creatures appear on Earth in the form of higher-level lifeforms and are very similar to the legendary gods, through the years of contact with them and the things they have done, it¡¯s very likely that Earth isn¡¯t as low-level as they say. Or rather, there¡¯s something they need on Earth. That¡¯s why they didn¡¯t hesitate to descend to Earth and incite humans to wage war. In the end, it even evolved into a war between gods.¡±


    ¡°I once heard that there¡¯s a saying in the dimension that Earth is the birthplace of all dimensional creatures,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°This theory is novel, but it¡¯s not impossible.¡± Frod continued, ¡°I¡¯ve secretly studied it before. I discovered that there have been traces of special forces behind every large-scale war in history. The older the era, the more obvious the forces behind it are. It¡¯s just like the Zhuolu battle in your East District. After my research, I discovered the traces of many terrifying creatures from the dimension. Furthermore, this has a lot to do with the race that the two temples belong to. I even discovered traces of the two races appearing in the war. The other families clearly discovered something amiss. Someone seemed to have discovered something and wanted to delve deeper. Therefore, Ouyang Ting¡¯s team entered Zhuolu for research.


    ¡°After this group entered Zhuolu, many strange things happened. As I was also paying attention to this matter, I once sent people to infiltrate the research team. However, I later realized that the person I sent to the research team had been switched without us realizing it. If it wasn¡¯t for the need for the person to contact us through a special channel every once in a while, we wouldn¡¯t have known that this person had been replaced.¡±


    Frod took a deep breath and continued, ¡°Later on, I sent some people there to test the personnel. Finally, I confirmed that the person was no longer the original him, but even those who were more familiar with him couldn¡¯t find any flaws. Therefore, I checked the rest of the team and discovered many problems. Apart from Ouyang Ting, who was the head of the research team and someone I confirmed to be the actual person, I found many suspicious points on the others.¡±


    ¡°Did you find out who did all this?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°No. Up to now, I still don¡¯t know who did all of this. Even the six families will find it difficult to pull it off. It¡¯s not difficult to replace one or two people, but to replace most of the experts in the research team, not only do the people have to look the same, but they also need to have similar expertise. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to continue the research. At the very least, I can¡¯t think of anyone who can do it,¡± said Frod.


    ¡°Which aspect is the secret you mentioned?¡± Zhou Wen finally believed that Frod might know something.


    He already knew what Frod had said, but there was no progress.


    ¡°If my judgment is correct, don¡¯t you find it strange that everyone else has been replaced except Professor Ouyang Ting?¡± Frod asked.


    ¡°Is it because Professor Ouyang Ting¡¯s professional abilities can¡¯t be replaced by others?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That might be a partial reason. They only changed the people, but they didn¡¯t stop the research from continuing. I¡¯m certain that the mastermind behind this is also very interested in Zhuolu¡¯s research, so Ouyang Ting¡¯s existence is rather important. However, after my investigations and research, I discovered something even more shocking. This has something to do with Professor Ouyang Ting. Perhaps you will be interested.¡± Frod didn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°What¡¯s the mask in the Maze of Lies? A dimensional creature?¡± Zhou Wen was already tempted. He really wanted to know the truth of the past. He vaguely felt that the truth of the matter wasn¡¯t as simple as the former principal¡¯s life and death.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a dimensional creature. It¡¯s an extremely special item. You can treat it as the core of a dimensional zone, or you can treat it as something that suppresses the dimensional zone. If that item is taken away, the restrictions on the dimensional zones will be completely lifted. The dimensional creatures inside will be able to enter and exit freely. Therefore, if you want to take the mask away, the problems with the dimensional creatures inside have to be resolved. We can¡¯t leave any trouble behind, so we need your help,¡± said Frod.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, In that case, that mask is probably something like the stone saber in Ancient Sovereign City or the jade box in Chess Mountain.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen said, ¡°I can promise to do my best, but I can¡¯t guarantee success. I¡¯ll consider my safety first.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. I believe that with your strength and the strength our family has accumulated over the years, it won¡¯t be difficult for you to control the situation,¡± said Frod.


    ¡°Also, I need full authority. I¡¯ll decide when to enter, when to retreat, and when to take action,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Frod hesitated for a moment before looking at Lance.


    Lance nodded slightly. ¡°I believe in Zhou Wen.¡±


    Only then did Frod look at Zhou Wen and say, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll entrust my family¡¯s lives to you.¡±


    After a pause, Frod continued, ¡°Back then, I had been investigating matters related to the six temples. Zhuolu was one of them. Therefore, before the scientific research team went to Zhuolu, my family had already studied Zhuolu and met Professor Ouyang Ting there. That was more than ten years before the Zhuolu project began.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. He had always suspected that the former principal had been to Zhuolu before.


    Frod sighed softly. ¡°When I met him we chatted a lot. After Professor Ouyang Ting heard about my investigation, he also told me some of his special discoveries in Zhuolu. However, because he needed further research to confirm some of his discoveries, he didn¡¯t say much. Not long after that, I became what I am now. Many things can only be done by others, so I couldn¡¯t communicate with Professor Ouyang Ting further. Later, I don¡¯t know what happened, but Professor Ouyang Ting didn¡¯t continue studying Zhuolu. Instead, he returned to his education work until the Zhuolu project started¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen listened quietly. He knew that Frod was about to get to the point.


    As expected, Frod continued, ¡°In fact, after discovering the problem with the people we sent out, I also tried to secretly contact Professor Ouyang Ting. However, at that time, he seemed to realize that his environment wasn¡¯t safe, or that he was secretly being controlled by someone. Therefore, he secretly sent me a message.¡±


    ¡°What message?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Only four words. Don¡¯t board the ship,¡± Frod said with a strange expression.

 Chapter 1007 - If the Catastrophe Really Existed

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Don¡¯t board the ship? What ship?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement, but he had some thoughts.


    1


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what ship he¡¯s talking about either. That¡¯s all he sent. However, other than that, he also sent me a piece of paper that came from a diary and a hand-drawn sketch. There should be a connection between the two.¡± Frod gestured for Lance to take out a piece of paper from a box beside him for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took the piece of paper and looked at it. He realized that it was indeed a very ordinary piece of diary paper. It wasn¡¯t very big. On one side of the paper was a sketch. It was an anchor with a woman¡¯s side profile.


    This picture¡­ When Zhou Wen saw the picture, he immediately felt as though he had grasped something, but he couldn¡¯t make the connections. It was an extremely uncomfortable feeling.


    When Frod mentioned the ship, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that it might be related to the anchor woman he had seen before. Now, he was finally certain that this was the anchor woman.


    Perhaps the disappearance of the former principal was related to this symbol.


    Don¡¯t board the ship¡­ Could it be¡­ There¡¯s really such a ship¡­ Then, could the missing former principal have boarded this ship? Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Frod continued, ¡°Later on, when I wanted to contact Professor Ouyang Ting, there was a problem with the information network. Before I could deploy more people, something happened to the research team.¡±


    ¡°It would have been fine if something had happened during the research, but after my investigations, that wasn¡¯t the case. The day before Professor Ouyang Ting and company went missing, a batch of things was transported out, but those things mysteriously disappeared. No matter how I investigated, I couldn¡¯t find their whereabouts. If it wasn¡¯t for the information left by the people I had previously planted, I wouldn¡¯t have known that there was such a batch of things,¡± Frod said.


    ¡°What were the items?¡± Lance was also attracted by the story and couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The people I planted were only in charge of supplies. They couldn¡¯t enter the core research team. Furthermore, during that period of time, my information network was severely damaged. Only one survived. I only made contact with him a few days after the incident.¡±


    Frod said coldly, ¡°After that, I carefully studied the pattern and the Zhuolu research team. Clearly, someone had deliberately erased all the clues and made it impossible to find anything. However, the pattern has been discovered in some places and investigations bore fruit.¡±


    Zhou Wen and Lance looked at Frod. They wanted to know what the anchor symbol represented.


    After studying it for so long, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what it represented.


    Frod said, ¡°You should have heard of myths regarding floods, right? No matter which district¡¯s myths or a religion¡¯s legend, there are similar legends of a flood.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°There¡¯s indeed a similar flood legend in the East District. Legend has it that the Water God fought the Fire God and slammed into Mt. Buzhou, causing the heavenly pillar to shatter. A huge flood descended from the sky and drowned the entire world.¡±


    Frod nodded and said, ¡°Apart from the myths in your East District, there are many similar myths in the other districts. The ones that are more famous are the religious myths¡ªNoah¡¯s Ark. There are similar legends all over the world. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s very coincidental? What if this really happened and isn¡¯t a legend?¡±


    ¡°You mean that the anchor symbol originated from Noah¡¯s Ark? Then what does Professor Ouyang Ting mean by not to board the ship? Isn¡¯t Noah¡¯s Ark a ship that saves humans and various creatures in myths?¡± Zhou Wen felt that this was somewhat contradictory.


    However, Frod shook his head and said, ¡°What I mean is the speculation of the flood, not the existence of Noah¡¯s Ark.¡±


    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course. Before the dimensional storms, research found that the continents that are scattered across the oceans might have been a whole. If there was some force that split the supercontinent, it could explain the flood that happened all over the world. It was because the supercontinent was forcefully separated by some force, resulting in a tidal wave that overwhelmed the entire world. What kind of force could split a supercontinent? In the past, someone raised a theory of continental drift, believing that the supercontinent had split because of the centrifugal force generated by a celestial body¡¯s gravity and Earth¡¯s rotation. However, ever since the appearance of the dimension, I¡¯m more inclined to another explanation.¡± Frod¡¯s eyes turned sharp.


    1


    ¡°What explanation?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Perhaps a dimensional creature cracked the supercontinent,¡± said Frod.


    ¡°But why would they do that? What do they gain from doing so?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that dimensional creatures wanted to find something on Earth? Perhaps that¡¯s why they cracked the supercontinent. Of course, this is only my guess.¡± Frod continued, ¡°I¡¯ve also discovered that symbol in some places, but they are all places related to dimensional zones. Furthermore, they have been discovered all over the world. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a coincidence. Perhaps a ship really appeared during the flood, but it wasn¡¯t Noah¡¯s Ark that saved the world. Instead, it was a terrifying creature from a dimensional zone that descended to Earth. They tore through the waves and ripped through the entire supercontinent with a wave of their hands. They directly entered the continent by ship and might have saved some creatures that looked more pleasing to the eye. This then gave rise to the legend of Noah¡¯s Ark¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen and Lance were dumbfounded when they heard that. To shatter the land with a wave of a hand was a terrifying force.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t impossible. In the division of the Mythical stage, there was still the Calamity grade above the Terror grade. Perhaps a Calamity-grade powerhouse was capable of that.


    If there¡¯s really such a ship, is the ship the former principal said not to board the same one? That ship still exists on Earth? Then what about the dimensional creatures on the ship? Countless questions flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, but there¡¯s one thing I¡¯m certain of. I¡¯ve seen creatures in the Holy Temples. I saw the anchor symbol on their clothes.¡± Frod¡¯s last sentence reminded Zhou Wen of someone.


    Previously, when Zhou Wen entered the Holy Temple, he had encountered an amnesiac named Ah Lai. He said that he had gone out to sea with his father before encountering a storm. However, when he woke up, he found himself inside the Holy Temple.


    Now, Zhou Wen suddenly wanted to ask Ah Lai what the captain of the ship looked like.


    Although Zhou Wen felt that the Ah Lai family¡¯s ship was likely different from the ship in the catastrophe, he had a nagging feeling that there might be a connection between Ah Lai¡¯s appearance in the Holy Temple after encountering the storm.

 Chapter 1008 - Multiple Dungeons

    Translator: CKtalon


    After leaving the underground ice cavern, Zhou Wen was still thinking about what Frod had said.


    If the Holy Land was really related to that ship, and they had been in operation for so many years, secretly supporting humans to form the Federation, then their goal was clearly not simple.


    What¡¯s on Earth that even Calamity-grade dimensional creatures drool over? Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    However, he had already realized that Earth was definitely not as inferior as it looked. Many dimensional creatures on Earth had immense potential. Although their levels were relatively low, if they could develop, they might become existences that could make even the dimension tremble.


    Ignoring everything else, Zhou Wen was certain that Torch Dragon would be extremely terrifying if it could advance to the Terror or even the Calamity grade in the future.


    Agreeing to help Frod didn¡¯t seem like a bad thing for Zhou Wen.


    He had obtained some information regarding the Maze of Lies from the Ultimate Family Clan. Now, Zhou Wen finally knew why he could only see the Mischief Clown in the Maze of Lies.


    This was because the Maze of Lies was actually a very special dimensional zone. This dimensional zone was split into seven different states. From Monday to Sunday, the Maze of Lies would undergo some changes every day.


    It happened to be Monday when Zhou Wen cleared the Maze of Lies. This was the weakest day of the Maze of Lies, and there was only Mischief Clown on that day.


    After Tuesday, there would be more and more terrifying dimensional creatures in the maze. Before Friday, all kinds of dimensional creatures below the Mythical stage would appear.


    On Saturday, Mythical creatures were a certainty. As for the final Sunday, it was the most terrifying day in the Maze of Lies. All kinds of dimensional creatures would undergo huge changes on that day. Even the weakest Mischief Clown would have Mythical powers.


    The Maze of Lies that day was no different from an abyssal hell. Furthermore, that was the only day that the mask would only appear.


    Even with the Ultimate Family Clan¡¯s present strength, it was impossible for them to conquer the maze on that day, much less kill all the dimensional creatures inside.


    This was because after the mask was taken out, the seal on the Maze of Lies would vanish. Therefore, not only did Frod want to obtain the mask, but he also wanted to destroy all the dimensional creatures inside and completely have the Maze of Lies under control. Even if dimensional creatures entered through spatial rifts, it would only be a small number. Furthermore, with preparations in advance, the Ultimate Family Clan could deal with them easily.


    The only thing Zhou Wen was worried about was that the last time he pulled out the stone saber, it triggered an anomaly in Guide City, causing more high-level dimensional creatures to appear.


    If such a situation happened in the Maze of Lies, it would be troublesome. He wondered if the Ultimate Family Clan could handle it.


    These weren¡¯t problems that Zhou Wen needed to consider. The Ultimate Family Clan didn¡¯t plan on immediately attempting the Maze of Lies, so they first got Lance to take Zhou Wen to the Maze of Lies to familiarize him with it. They themselves needed some time to make preparations.


    Of course, Lance didn¡¯t take Zhou Wen to the Maze of Lies on Sunday. However, it was too long to wait for Monday, so there was no need for that. Therefore, he chose to start on Thursday.


    After Zhou Wen returned, he planned on understanding the Maze of Lies in-game before realizing that after he entered the game, it was still the Maze of Lies on Monday. There was only the Mischief Clown inside.


    What¡¯s going on? It¡¯s clearly Wednesday today, right? Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a possibility.


    He arrived in front of Maze of Lies and took another picture of the tiny palm symbol. In the end, the loading screen appeared again. Soon after the download was completed, two options¡ªMonday and Wednesday¡ªappeared when launching the Maze of Lies in-game.


    Holy sh*t, this actually has multiple dungeons! Zhou Wen entered Wednesday¡¯s Maze of Lies dungeon and indeed, he realized that Mischief Clowns weren¡¯t the only ones. There were also Witches and Sorcerers.


    Furthermore, the buildings in the Maze of Lies looked even more sinister and terrifying. The merry-go-round at the entrance had turned into one with skeleton horses with blood flowing from their eyes.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen waited until Thursday before heading to Maze of Lies with Lance and company to download Thursday¡¯s dungeon.


    Standing in front of the maze, Lance said to Zhou Wen and company, ¡°After entering the maze, make sure you do not speak. If you accidentally speak the truth, you will definitely die. Therefore, the best way is to not to say anything. Our family has a special silencer that can temporarily seal our ability to talk. This is the safest way. Also, to enter the Maze of Lies, there¡¯s a very terrifying obstacle. You have to answer the question on the door before you can enter. Furthermore, the answer has to be a lie or you will be killed. This is because the questions are random and there are trap questions. Furthermore, the answers aren¡¯t fixed for everyone. Many people died here. If you want to enter, you have to take a huge risk. If there¡¯s no need, it¡¯s best not to enter.¡±


    Lance¡¯s words were mainly directed at Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan. Even if they were powerful, they might die at the door if they answered wrongly.


    ¡°It¡¯s best I don¡¯t enter such a strange place. I¡¯ll stay here to take care of Ya¡¯er.¡± Unexpectedly, Li Xuan chose not to enter.


    In fact, Li Xuan wasn¡¯t as carefree as he usually appeared. He didn¡¯t mind because it was built on the premise that he wasn¡¯t in any danger. Li Xuan wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk for no reason in a place that might prevent him from recovering.


    However, Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°Since I¡¯m here, I want to enter to take a look.¡±


    Sadie and Gulli didn¡¯t plan on entering either. In the end, other than Zhou Wen, Feng Qiuyan, and Lance, there was only a silencer from the Ultimate Family Clan.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, go in first. With us around, we can give you some suggestions to prevent any problems. If you really aren¡¯t confident, you can choose not to answer and quit. That¡¯s the safest way,¡± Lance said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat uneasy. He had already secretly downloaded Thursday¡¯s dungeon, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to enter.


    However, there would always be some baffling problems from the Maze of Lies. If he wasn¡¯t confident, he could only use Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder to gain entry.


    Zhou Wen stood in front of the door. A line of text immediately appeared on the ancient door that resembled a clown¡¯s front teeth.


    Everyone looked at the line of text, wanting to know what the problem was. However, the moment they saw the question, their expressions turned odd.

 Chapter 1009 - Sunday Dungeon

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Choose between one: a friend or a top Mythical Companion Egg. The other will be destroyed. What will your choice be?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he saw this question.


    The definition of friends had a very wide range. Even very good friends would sometimes choose to sacrifice their friends when faced with enough benefits. Human nature often failed to withstand tests.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, step back. It¡¯s very difficult to have the correct answer to this question,¡± Lance immediately said.


    If Zhou Wen was a little tempted by a top Mythical Companion Egg, his choice of friend would result in his death. Also, choosing a top Mythical Companion Egg would make others think that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t value friends.


    Of course, the choice was the other way around, but this didn¡¯t hinder one¡¯s comprehension.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There are many types of friends. How can we generalize them? This question is a huge trap. Don¡¯t answer it. Let¡¯s try again tomorrow,¡± Gulli said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. There¡¯s no need to wait for tomorrow. It¡¯s a waste of time.¡± Zhou Wen secretly activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture and chose top Mythical Companion Egg. Under normal logic, it meant Zhou Wen had chosen ¡®friend.¡¯


    Lance and company didn¡¯t know that Zhou Wen had the ability to restrain all sorts of taboo powers. When they saw that Zhou Wen had chosen ¡®friend,¡¯ they broke out into a cold sweat for him. He might die if there was any screw up.


    However, Zhou Wen walked into the Maze of Lies unscathed and didn¡¯t die.


    The silencer on the side said in surprise, ¡°He¡¯s actually willing to give up a top Mythical Companion Egg without any hesitation. Such a person is already rare.¡±


    ¡°With Coach¡¯s strength, a top Mythical Companion Egg is nothing to him. It¡¯s normal for him to choose a friend,¡± Gulli said.


    However, Feng Qiuyan said, ¡°Even if Coach didn¡¯t have a Mythical Companion Egg to choose from, I believe he would choose a friend.¡±


    ¡°Regardless, I believe Zhou Wen is a rare friend,¡± Lance said.


    Li Xuan knew Zhou Wen well, but he didn¡¯t say a word.


    Zhou Wen actually wasn¡¯t sure how he would choose. After all, it depended on the situation. He didn¡¯t dare confirm that he would choose a friend, so for safety¡¯s sake, he used the Heaven-Opening Scripture.


    Next, it was Feng Qiuyan¡¯s turn. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s question wasn¡¯t difficult, so he easily gained entry.


    The silencer and Lance joined in. Their questions didn¡¯t have huge traps. All they needed to do was answer accordingly by lying.


    After entering the maze, the silencer cast a silencing spell on Zhou Wen and company, preventing them from speaking as a way to stop them from saying anything wrong.


    As it was only Thursday, although there were many types of dimensional creatures inside, they didn¡¯t discover any Mythical creatures. The few of them didn¡¯t take long to clean up the maze.


    With Lance and the silencer who were familiar with the area, it wasn¡¯t a problem.


    After leaving the maze, Lance said to Zhou Wen, ¡°We can continue coming here to familiarize ourselves with the situation on Friday and Saturday. However, don¡¯t enter on Sunday for the time being. All of us will enter when we¡¯re ready.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just take a look myself. There¡¯s no need for you to specially accompany me. You can busy yourself with your matters.¡± Zhou Wen actually didn¡¯t wish to enter in reality. He only wanted to quickly download the Sunday dungeon and enter the Sunday dungeon in-game to figure out the situation inside.


    Lance naturally trusted Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, so he didn¡¯t insist on accompanying him.


    Zhou Wen went there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday alone, but he only looked at the question on the door before returning without answering.


    When others asked, he only said that he wasn¡¯t confident about the question on the door, so he didn¡¯t enter.


    He finally downloaded the Sunday dungeon. After returning, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to launch it. He wanted to see what was different about the Sunday dungeon.


    After launching the game dungeon, the blood-colored avatar stood in front of the door and he found it a little different from before. The door to the maze that looked like a clown¡¯s face had already turned into skull-like material. The skeleton clown¡¯s face was still emitting black smoke as blood flowed from its eyes. It looked extremely ferocious and terrifying.


    Zhou Wen directly used the Heaven-Opening Scripture to avoid the question on the door, saving him the trouble of wasting time.


    When the door opened, the scene Zhou Wen saw was indeed different from the Maze of Lies he had previously seen.


    Although the layout didn¡¯t seem to have changed much, strange blood flames burned in the maze. The merry-go-round had turned into bones with blood flames burning on them.


    Everywhere he looked was filled with bones and blood flames. It was like hell.


    A Mischief Clown appeared on one of the horses. Its face looked even more sinister. Furthermore, its originally colorful body had turned black and white. Such purity made it look even stranger.


    The three-colored balls also turned black and white. Each ball was half black and half white, completely different from what Zhou Wen had seen before.


    When Mischief Clown saw the blood-colored avatar, it immediately flashed and vanished from the horse.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth to block him. As he didn¡¯t know anything about this completely different looking Mischief Clown, Zhou Wen could only choose to first understand its abilities.


    The vanished Mischief Clown appeared in front of Tyrant Behemoth like a ghost. It threw the magic ball in its hand at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s reaction was extremely fast as it struck the black-and-white magic ball.


    However, the black-and-white magic ball vanished in front of Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist. Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss as he hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to teleport away.


    Indeed, the black-and-white magic ball seemed to pass through Tyrant Behemoth and appeared behind it before flying into the distance.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t dodged, the black-and-white magic ball would have hit him.


    What ability is that? It¡¯s completely different from ordinary Mischief Clowns. Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    However, the Mischief Clown didn¡¯t give him any time to be surprised. He threw out one black-and-white magic ball after another.


    Unlike ordinary Mischief Clowns, it didn¡¯t only have three black-and-white magic balls, but a total of six. Every black-and-white magic ball looked identical.


    Even if the magic ball that it threw didn¡¯t hit its target, it would bounce back after hitting something. The black-and-white magic ball that bounced back would become even faster.


    The six magic balls quickly shot out from nearby. Every time Tyrant Behemoth wanted to strike the magic balls, the magic balls would vanish and appear in another spot.


    The magic balls only targeted the blood-colored avatar. From the looks of it, not only did Sunday¡¯s Mischief Clown¡¯s abilities become terrifying, but even his intelligence seemed to have increased greatly. He actually knew the principle of capturing the leader.

 Chapter 1010 - Divination House of Fate

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen realized that if he continued dodging, the magic ball would bounce faster and faster. Sooner or later, it would hit him, so he stopped dodging. He pulled out the Bronze Sparrow Sword and slashed at one of the magic balls that was bouncing towards the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared for the magic ball to suddenly vanish, but it didn¡¯t vanish. It was struck by the Bronze Sparrow Sword.


    It was different from what he had imagined. The magic ball didn¡¯t seem to be very hard, nor did it have any explosive effects. It didn¡¯t have ice or fire, nor did it have the effects of the yellow ball.


    Just like that, the black-and-white magic ball was cleaved into two by Zhou Wen before shattering into powder.


    In the next second, the devil-like clown appeared to his left. His sharp black fingernails stabbed at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s neck.


    The clown¡¯s speed was very fast; it was definitely at the Mythical stage. However, Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction and speed weren¡¯t slow either. He extended his hand to block the clown¡¯s strike.


    He originally wanted to use his left hand to block, but he immediately realized that something was amiss. This was because he was thinking of his left hand, but his right hand ended up moving. Furthermore, when he wanted to block with his left hand, his right hand raised to the right. It was completely opposite from what he had imagined.


    In an instant, Zhou Wen reacted and understood what had happened.


    Seeing that the clown¡¯s dagger-like fingernails had already touched the skin on the blood-colored avatar¡¯s neck and were about to stab into it, Zhou Wen¡¯s body spun like a top as he barely dodged the strike.


    That magic ball actually has the ability to distort thoughts and physical actions. When I think left, I move right. When I think up, it moves down. If it were anyone else, they wouldn¡¯t have reacted in time. The more they try to dodge, the more they would slam into danger. Zhou Wen was extremely calm. After figuring out the reason, he controlled his body to circle around the clown.


    It was very difficult for ordinary people to not make mistakes after their thoughts and actions were reversed, but Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was extremely clear. He didn¡¯t make any mistakes as he dodged the clown¡¯s repeated attacks.


    After the blood-colored avatar was hit by the magic ball, the other magic balls didn¡¯t attack him. One of them hit Tyrant Behemoth, and then Tyrant Behemoth revealed a situation where its thoughts and actions were completely opposite.


    Tyrant Behemoth clearly didn¡¯t have Zhou Wen¡¯s powerful thought processes. It immediately became at a loss for what to do. It wanted to rush left, but it ended up charging right. Instead of retreating, it advanced. It nearly tripped on its left leg and fell to the ground.


    Sunday¡¯s Mischief Clown is so powerful¡­ Just its ability is so strange. I wonder how many Mischief Clowns there are here. If there are as many as usual, it would be very terrifying without even including the other dimensional creatures, Zhou Wen thought as he fought.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered the secret of the Mischief Clown¡¯s magic ball. It turned out that the magic ball couldn¡¯t penetrate walls. Instead, during its flight, it caused a spinning vortex to appear around the ball due to its high-speed rotation. Once the vortex stopped, the magic ball would automatically deviate from its trajectory and dodge the fist. It would slide down or sideways, making it look like it had vanished.


    In fact, Mischief Clown didn¡¯t have spatial abilities. It was just that the technique of throwing the magic ball was very powerful.


    The dimensional creatures here are really interesting. I wonder if a Companion Egg will drop? Zhou Wen was extremely interested in the Sunday clown¡¯s ability. Be it the method of throwing the magic ball or the ability to subvert one¡¯s thoughts with the magic ball, they were very useful. Furthermore, the clown had the ability to move stealthily.


    If it were anyone else, they would be doomed if they couldn¡¯t control their bodies when their Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t be used normally. However, these abilities weren¡¯t of much use against Zhou Wen. Soon, he saw an opportunity. When the clown appeared again, he used Light Concealment Sword to kill it.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Devil Clown.¡¯


    Nothing dropped. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be somewhat disappointed. So this isn¡¯t Mischief Clown anymore. It¡¯s a true Mythical creature. From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to farm this place a few more times in the future. Even if I can¡¯t obtain a Companion Egg, I can still obtain skill crystals.


    After finishing off the Devil Clown, Zhou Wen continued walking forward. However, before long, the blood-colored avatar suddenly died and the game screen went black.


    How did I die? Zhou Wen carefully recalled, but he still didn¡¯t know how he died.


    He had no choice but to drip his blood to revive again and enter Maze of Lies. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the Demon Clown on the merry-go-round, so he walked straight ahead.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that there would be quite a number of Devil Clowns here, but he only saw one. He didn¡¯t find a second one.


    When Zhou Wen walked into an ancient castle, he discovered another dimensional creature. This time, it was a Divination Witch.


    The Divination Witch started appearing in the dungeon on Wednesday. She was also an Epic dimensional creature. She was a terrifying-looking old woman in blue clothes and a blue hat. She even held a crystal ball in her hand.


    Her abilities didn¡¯t seem to be anything impressive. She could only use the crystal ball to activate some light-attribute waves.


    However, the Divination Witch in front of him was completely different. No, it wasn¡¯t one, but two.


    Two witches sat side by side behind the long table in the ancient castle. One was dressed in white and had a white hat, while the other was dressed in black and had a black hat. Both of them were maidens. They were completely different from the old and ugly witches in the previous few days. They were rather fair and beautiful.


    Furthermore, they didn¡¯t have a crystal ball in their hands. The white-robed witch held a black poker card in her hand, while the black-robed witch held a white poker card in her hand.


    The two witches sat there and silently watched Zhou Wen walk into the hall. They had no intention of attacking.


    ¡°Welcome to the Divination House of Fate. You can draw a card from our hands to decide your fate.¡± The white-robed witch and the black-robed witch spoke at the same time. Their voices were completely identical. If one closed their eyes, they would think that only one person was speaking.


    ¡°Why should I draw your cards?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in playing divination games with them. He drew his sword and slashed at the white-robed witch.


    The white-robed witch was surprisingly weak. He was already prepared for a fierce battle, but the white-robed witch had fallen to the sword and had her head beheaded by the Bronze Sparrow Sword.


    However, at the instant the white-robed witch¡¯s head was chopped off, Zhou Wen realized that the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head had also fallen. The way it fell was identical to the white-robed witch¡¯s head. It was as though it had been chopped off by someone.


    1


    The game screen went black as Zhou Wen faced death again.


    This dungeon is really sick. What the hell is it? Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t died like this in a long time. The Maze of Lies was somewhat different in every aspect.


    Thankfully, this was in-game. It wasn¡¯t a big deal to die once. If it was in reality, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t take the risk in such a dangerous place.


    I wonder how much Frod and company know about the Maze of Lies on Sunday? Zhou Wen felt that helping Frod this time wouldn¡¯t go so smoothly.

 Chapter 1011 - Destiny’s Draw

    Translator: CKtalon


    On the cube¡¯s rankings, Guardians had already begun challenging each other to obtain a higher ranking.


    People believed that Guardians should aim for first place. Rankings other than first didn¡¯t seem to be of much use. They should challenge Ya, who was first.


    However, in fact, no one challenged Ya. The challenged Guardians were basically ranked above fifth place.


    This also allowed people to finally see how powerful Guardians were. Humans with Guardians were equivalent to Mythical creatures. They could have all sorts of Companion Beasts and Mythical skills. They were far stronger than a single Mythical Companion Beast.


    The battle between Guardians was far more complicated and interesting than the battle between Companion Beasts.


    Once a Companion Beast was defeated, there was no hope of a comeback. However, the battle between Guardians was ever-changing. Any factor could change the outcome of the battle.


    Apart from Lie, who had mysteriously vanished from the rankings, there were more and more challenges for the Guardians ranked beyond fifth place. Many new Guardians also joined the rankings.


    1


    However, it was obvious that they didn¡¯t know each other well. They were also testing the other party¡¯s abilities. They didn¡¯t really fight to the death, and it was very likely that they were hiding many abilities.


    Even so, it was still extremely satisfying to watch. Now, just the battle of Companion Beasts was no longer able to attract attention.


    All over the world, people were discussing the problem of Guardians. There were also people secretly searching for Guardian cocoons, hoping to contract one and gain success in one step.


    Guardians were just too attractive to ordinary people. As long as one was lucky and obtained the Guardian¡¯s recognition, they could ascend to the Mythical stage in a single step. This was more attractive than any treasure.


    It was obvious that many new Guardians were on the rankings.


    However, the trouble that followed seemed to have just begun. In several places in the Federation, there were incidents of Guardians committing crimes.


    Guardians owned by unknown humans had a terrifying propensity to commit crime.


    Although the Federation had already tried its best to maintain the situation, its control over the various lands was weakening day by day. Unless the Guardians were suicidal and went to the territories controlled by the six families, the chances of capturing them were slim.


    ¡°The appearance of Guardians is really not a good thing for the Federation,¡± Sadie, who was watching the news, said with a frown.


    ¡°The Guardians these days aren¡¯t actually that terrifying. After all, those who have obtained Guardians didn¡¯t have a good foundation in the past. It¡¯s not difficult to deal with them even after they obtain a Guardian. However, with the passage of time, these fellows will truly create chaos when they have all sorts of Mythical Companion Eggs,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the ultimate battle happening in a month?¡± Sadie said.


    ¡°In a month, it will only determine the ownership of the Dimensional Wheel, but the battle between Guardians has only just begun. To truly resolve the problem of Guardians, relying on the King of Earth is useless. They are jackals of the same tribe,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°Is there still a way out?¡± Sadie said after some thought.


    ¡°Yes. Just kill all the Guardians like Zhou Wen,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°How many freaks like Zhou Wen can you find in the Federation?¡± Sadie smiled bitterly.


    ¡°Fight fire with fire,¡± Lance said slowly.


    Sadie immediately understood what Lance meant. Since Guardians were difficult to eliminate, they could only contract Guardians themselves and use Guardians to kill Guardians.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that it will leave latent problems for the future,¡± Sadie said.


    ¡°It¡¯s better than nothing.¡± Lance paused before saying, ¡°After I get the mask from the Maze of Lies, I¡¯ll think of a way to contract a Guardian.¡±


    Sadie wanted to say something, but she opened her mouth and ultimately didn¡¯t say anything.


    In this era, the path ahead was filled with fog. No one knew which path was correct. Only by taking one would one know.


    However, no one knew if the person who walked out would return alive.


    ¡°How¡¯s Zhou Wen?¡± Lance asked again.


    ¡°He went a few times, but he rarely entered the Maze of Lies. He hasn¡¯t entered the dimensional zone since Friday,¡± Sadie answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. When the people invited by the family arrive, we can enter the maze together,¡± Lance said with a slight nod.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen once again entered Sunday¡¯s Maze of Lies. The Devil Clown didn¡¯t seem to have respawned. Zhou Wen once again arrived at the Divination House and saw the twin-like witches.


    Just like the last time, they extended the cards in their hands and got Zhou Wen to draw them.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to try it out. He wanted to see what tricks they had up their sleeves. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to deal with them after he figured it out.


    ¡°How many do I have to draw?¡± Zhou Wen asked the twin witches.


    ¡°One,¡± the two witches answered in unison.


    ¡°One card per deck?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the two different black and white poker cards and asked.


    ¡°Just one,¡± the witches answered again.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and got the blood-colored avatar to draw one from the black-robed witch¡¯s white poker cards.


    This should be something like a tarot card, right? Zhou Wen thought as he flipped the card over. However, the card he saw had nothing to do with tarot cards.


    On the white card was a black symbol. It was a black silhouette. Although it was only a silhouette and its appearance couldn¡¯t be seen, one could naturally associate it with a western mythical figure that had a large and long sickle.


    ¡°Is this Death?¡± Zhou Wen asked the witch in puzzlement.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the black-robed witch answered with a nod.


    ¡°What does drawing this card mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°It means that Death will take your life,¡± the black-robed witch answered.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly realized that a black shadow, Death, similar to the card had appeared behind the blood-colored avatar. Without waiting for the blood-colored avatar to react, Death slashed down and killed it.


    The blood-colored avatar¡¯s armor didn¡¯t work. It was as though Death had reaped its soul and not its body.


    Looking at the black screen, Zhou Wen had no choice but to drip his blood to revive. This time, Zhou Wen drew one from the white-robed witch¡¯s black poker cards.


    A black Death can be drawn on a white poker card. I don¡¯t think I can draw that on a black poker card, right? Zhou Wen thought as he drew a black card.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he flipped the card over. There was a white shadow on the black card. Even if he couldn¡¯t see its appearance, the wings and the halo above his head undoubtedly meant that it was an angel card.


    ¡°This should be an angel, right? What does he represent? Did I win?¡± Zhou Wen asked the white-robed witch.


    ¡°No, this means that he will take you to Heaven,¡± the white-robed witch said calmly.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen saw the angel¡¯s shadow appear behind the blood-colored avatar. Then, a white light flew out from the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head and it collapsed to the ground. The game screen went black again.

 Chapter 1012 - One in 54

    Translator: CKtalon


    Choosing black is death, but so is choosing white. I can¡¯t kill the witches either. How can I survive? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Of course, he could just make no choice. With Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Nullification and Heaven-Opening Scripture, he might be able to forcefully break through and kill the black-and-white Destiny Witches.


    However, if Zhou Wen were to enter the Maze of Lies with Lance and company in the future, it was best to understand the various abilities of the black-and-white Destiny Witches. If anything happened, he could figure out how to deal with it.


    In fact, Zhou Wen¡¯s main goal for grinding wasn¡¯t to clear the dungeon, but to figure out all the information regarding Sunday¡¯s dungeon to prevent any accidents from happening in real life.


    After entering the game again, Zhou Wen went in front of the witches. This time, Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could draw a few more cards, but it was useless. After he drew the first white poker card, the other cards would vanish into thin air when he attempted touching them.


    Zhou Wen flipped the cards over and saw that there was still a black silhouette on the white poker card. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t Death, but a black heart. Furthermore, the middle of the heart had cracked.


    After seeing it, Zhou Wen felt the heart in his chest rupture before the game screen went black.


    ¡°Do you have any cards that allow for survival?¡± Zhou Wen asked the two witches when he came in front of them again.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the two witches answered in unison.


    ¡°How many cards are there in total? How many allow for survival?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°There are 54 cards in each deck. There are 108 cards in total,¡± the black-robed witch said.


    ¡°Every deck has a card that allows survival. Your chances are still very high,¡± the white-robed witch said immediately.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s face immediately darkened. In other words, I only have a one in fifty-four chance of drawing a card for survival?


    ¡°In theory, but you can try a few more times. The success rate will naturally be higher,¡± the two witches said together.


    ¡°Try my ass. If it was in real life, I would have died a long time ago. How would I have the chance to try again?¡± Zhou Wen felt that there was definitely some trick to drawing the cards. Otherwise, it would be too difficult to get what he needed with luck.


    Luck¡­ Wait¡­ Could it be that to kill the Destiny Witches, one needs someone with a Luck-type skill, like Wang Lu? Zhou Wen thought of Wang Lu, whose luck was virtually invincible. If she were to draw, she would definitely be able to draw the card that meant survival.


    If I need luck, I definitely won¡¯t be able to draw it. Zhou Wen tried using Truth Listener¡¯s ability to listen to the cards and used Doctor Darkness¡¯s Light of Penetration, but it was useless.


    The cards he saw and heard were blank. He had no idea what the cards were showing.


    He thought of all sorts of ways to cheat, but all of them were useless. If he wanted to clear this obstacle, he had to invite Wang Lu over. Otherwise, he could only use force.


    This time, Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener and activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder before drawing his card.


    However, the first card was an angel. Zhou Wen immediately felt the Truth Listener earring heat up before large amounts of Essence Energy surged into his body.


    1


    Although the angel shadow appeared, it failed to take the blood-colored avatar¡¯s soul into Heaven.


    Seeing that Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Nullification was effective, Zhou Wen continued drawing cards. He drew them one by one. The Truth Listener earring kept heating up as Essence Energy surged into him like waves.


    Zhou Wen knew that if it wasn¡¯t for Truth Listener¡¯s ability, he would have died countless times.


    When he drew the 37th card, Zhou Wen pulled out a black mask from the white card. This time, the Truth Listener earring didn¡¯t heat up, nor did it produce Essence Energy.


    At the same time, the wall behind the black-and-white Destiny Witches parted. It was the door that led to the back of the Maze of Lies.


    In the previous Monday to Saturday instance dungeons, Witch Castle was the end. There was no such door, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what was behind the door.


    The black-and-white witches looked at Zhou Wen from the side without any intention of attacking. From the looks of it, they were rather special dimensional creatures and had no intention of fighting him to the death.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk out the door and leave Destiny Witch Castle.


    After walking past the door, Zhou Wen immediately saw a garden. In the middle of the garden was a strange tree.


    Zhou Wen felt that the tree looked somewhat similar to the Dead Man Tree and the Longevity Tree, but there were some differences.


    At the very least, there were no fruits on the tree. Beneath it, an elder sat with his back against the tree. His clothes were tattered, and from the holes, one could see his skin and bones. However, his chest was still heaving slightly. He didn¡¯t look dead.


    As though he heard the blood-colored avatar¡¯s footsteps, the elder opened his eyes. His eyes were deep and looked extremely turbid.


    ¡°Young man, it¡¯s great to finally meet you. I don¡¯t have to die with that huge secret¡­¡± the elder said weakly.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen drew his sword and slashed.


    Who was he kidding? This was a game, not reality. It was impossible for a human to exist in-game. No matter how much the elder looked like a human, Zhou Wen was certain that he wasn¡¯t human.


    Just as the Bronze Sparrow Sword was about to strike, the zombie-like elder suddenly released a terrifying force. He leaped up and charged into the sky at an unbelievable speed, dodging Zhou Wen¡¯s strike.


    As for the elder, his body had already changed in midair. He transformed into Zhou Wen and charged at him. His movement technique was extremely strange.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to fight him. He summoned his Mythical lineup and surrounded it.


    In the next second, the monster that had transformed into Zhou Wen emitted a white fog before transforming into the Great Might Vajra Bull. When the two bulls stood together, it was impossible to tell which was real and which was fake.


    Unfortunately, the Great Might Vajra Bull was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast. It was telepathically connected to Zhou Wen, so he could naturally tell which was real or fake.


    No matter how the dimensional creature changed, it was still quickly beaten to death.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Shapeshifting Beast. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    Zhou Wen glanced at the crystal and was immediately disappointed when he realized that it was only an ordinary stat crystal.


    Although there are many Mythical creatures in the Maze of Lies on Sunday, the drop rate isn¡¯t very high. Zhou Wen thought carefully and realized that he had only killed two Mythical creatures. One was a Devil Clown and the other was a Shapeshifting Beast. It couldn¡¯t be considered a lot.


    There was only one Shapeshifting Beast in the entire garden. There were no other dimensional creatures, nor was there any other way out. Zhou Wen glanced at the tree and had no choice but to return via the same path. He then returned, through Witch Castle, to the maze that resembled an amusement park and continued exploring.

 Chapter 1013 - Gaiman

    Translator: CKtalon


    In order to clear the Maze of Lies and obtain the mask inside, other than the experts from the Ultimate Family Clan, they also invited experts with Mythical Companion Beasts.


    However, very few of these people were members of the six families. They were basically the leaders of the various wealthy families in the North District. In the East District, they were equivalent to An Tianzuo.


    It could be seen that the Ultimate Family Clan was very prestigious in the North District. Furthermore, the wealthy families in the North District were united. They weren¡¯t like the East and West District, where there was a lot of internal strife.


    Although Frod was one of the six heroes, he was trapped in the ice cave and couldn¡¯t move freely. Now, the true leader of the Ultimate Family Clan was Gaiman.


    After all the invited experts arrived, Gaiman planned on holding a meeting to explain the general situation and introduce Zhou Wen to them.


    As Zhou Wen had already said that he had to have the final say, Gaiman was the leader in this operation, but he still needed to listen to Zhou Wen on how to proceed.


    ¡°Inform Zhou Wen about the meeting tomorrow,¡± Gaiman said to his secretary.


    The secretary responded but didn¡¯t leave immediately.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Gaiman looked at Gemar and asked.


    ¡°According to our observations over the past few days, Zhou Wen has only entered Friday¡¯s Maze of Lies at most. He hasn¡¯t entered the Maze of Lies on Sunday at all. Is it really good to give him veto powers? This concerns the fate of our Ultimate Family Clan,¡± Gemar said.


    ¡°Old Master naturally has his reasons for making such a decision. Furthermore, Zhou Wen is indeed a person with true talent. You saw the battle between him and Lie. To be able to defeat the Guardian without any external help, how many people in the Federation can do so?¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is very strong, and it¡¯s indisputable, but strength is different from being a commander. I¡¯m afraid that problems will arise because of his decisions,¡± Gemar said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. We still have time to get used to each other and build teamwork. Deliver the news of the meeting.¡± After Gaiman said that, he lowered his head and continued working on his documents.


    Gemar had no choice but to leave the office and arrange for someone to inform Zhou Wen of the meeting tomorrow.


    After Zhou Wen received the notice of the meeting, he agreed readily. He already had a more detailed understanding of the Sunday dungeon, but he hadn¡¯t found the mask that Frod had mentioned.


    The Ultimate Family Clan still had some secret information regarding the Maze of Lies that hadn¡¯t been released. The information would likely be announced at the meeting. Zhou Wen wanted to know how much they knew about the Sunday dungeon.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen left with Ya¡¯er. Just as he was about to attend the meeting, he saw a girl getting out of a car.


    ¡°Wang Lu? Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu in pleasant surprise.


    ¡°Old Mister Gaiman invited me to help, so I came.¡± Wang Lu wore a white fox fur coat, making her baby-like skin appear even whiter.


    1


    Upon hearing Wang Lu¡¯s words, Zhou Wen knew that the Ultimate Family Clan was very knowledgeable about the Maze of Lies on Sunday. Inviting Wang Lu was most likely to deal with the Destiny Witches.


    ¡°This operation is very dangerous. Why did you agree to come?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    Wang Lu smiled and said, ¡°Our family has quite a number of business dealings with the North District. Furthermore, Old Mister Gaiman has repeatedly guaranteed my safety. Furthermore, I heard that you are here and will be participating in this operation. What else do I have to worry about?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. It¡¯s best to be careful. This dimensional zone is indeed very strange. You mustn¡¯t be careless,¡± Zhou Wen exhorted.


    ¡°Sir, Madam, the family head is already waiting for you inside.¡± A staff member came over to welcome them.


    The two of them chatted as they walked. Wang Lu was fine and things were very stable at her side. Although Wang Chan still had occasional incidents, with Wang Lu¡¯s Life Providence suppressing her, nothing serious happened.


    1


    When the two of them entered the meeting hall, many people looked over.


    In the entire meeting hall, only the two of them weren¡¯t from the North District. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had recently killed Joseph, who had a Guardian. This had caused quite a stir in the North District.


    Gaiman introduced the two of them to everyone at the right time. At the same time, he said, ¡°When attacking the Maze of Lies, there are some key areas that require the help of the two of them. They are an indispensable part of this operation. This is because after entering the Maze of Lies, there¡¯s no way to communicate with words. Therefore, before we go, there are some things that need to be explained clearly. We also need to practice and train for a period of time to prevent any problems from happening after entering the dimensional zone.¡±


    After arranging for Zhou Wen and Wang Lu to sit down, Gaiman explained the detailed plan.


    The Ultimate Family Clan knew a lot about the situation regarding Sunday¡¯s dungeon. They also knew the abilities of the Devil Clown and the Destiny Witches and explained in detail.


    From Gaiman¡¯s description, Zhou Wen knew that they had paid the price of many lives to obtain this information.


    However, their intelligence wasn¡¯t much more than Zhou Wen¡¯s, nor was it that detailed.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen realized that they hadn¡¯t been able to pass the Destiny Witches¡¯ trial to reach the garden at the back.


    The reason they had invited Wang Lu all the way here was to deal with the Destiny Witches. Only then could they pass the witches to reach the final garden.


    However, there was something that left Zhou Wen puzzled. Gaiman and company had clearly failed to pass the test of the Destiny Witches and reach the final garden.


    Yet, they seemed to be very certain that the mask was behind Witch Castle. As long as they defeated the Destiny Witches, they would have a chance of obtaining the mask.


    Strange, why didn¡¯t I see that mask in the garden? Zhou Wen had already carefully searched the entire garden, but he didn¡¯t discover the mask that Frod had mentioned.


    As for the plan that Gaiman and the others had set up, it was all for the sake of passing Witch Castle. It would be fun if they couldn¡¯t find the mask after entering the garden.


    Furthermore, there was a Shapeshifting Beast in the garden. It was fine if Zhou Wen went in alone, and the rest of his team were Companion Beasts. Regardless of who the Shapeshifting Beast turned into, Zhou Wen could tell.


    However, with so many people entering, it would be difficult to identify the Shapeshifting Beast if it transformed into anything outside Zhou Wen¡¯s sphere of influence.


    After explaining the plan, Gaiman asked Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, what do you think?¡±


    The others also looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I have a question. Since no one has defeated the witches, it means that no one has reached the place outside the ancient castle. How do you know that there must be a mask there?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gaiman.

 Chapter 1014 - The Difference Between Reality and In-game

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°My father reached the back of Witch Castle a long time ago and saw the mask there, so the mask is behind Witch Castle. There¡¯s no mistake about that,¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°So Old Hero Frod has been there before. Then there¡¯s no mistake about it,¡± a big shot from the North District said.


    Everyone nodded. It looked like Frod¡¯s reputation in the North District was unparalleled. Just the mention of his name made everyone reveal looks of awe.


    ¡°So the old hero has been there before. I wonder in which spot the old hero saw the mask?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    This was because he knew that there was only a garden behind the castle without any mask to be seen, so he had to ask clearly. Otherwise, it would be a waste of time for so many people to risk entering.


    Gaiman smiled and said, ¡°Behind Witch Castle is a garden. My father saw the mask there. Unfortunately, my father was alone. He was afraid that taking the mask would trigger a dimensional zone anomaly, so he didn¡¯t take it back.¡±


    ¡°Which part in the garden?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat convinced when Gaiman mentioned a garden. After all, it was impossible to know that there was a garden if one hadn¡¯t been there before.


    ¡°According to my father, the mask is embedded on a grave¡¯s tombstone in the middle of the garden,¡± Gaiman answered.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown when he heard that as he thought to himself, That¡¯s strange. Why do I only see a tree in the middle of the garden and not a tombstone?


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out what had gone wrong. What he had seen in-game couldn¡¯t be wrong, but if Frod hadn¡¯t been there, he wouldn¡¯t have known that there was a garden.


    Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. After some thought, he asked, ¡°I wonder if you can tell me the details of the situation?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a little too rude? Mr. Gaiman has already made it very clear. It¡¯s also something that Old Hero Frod saw with his own eyes. What else do you have to doubt? Do you want the old hero to crawl out of his grave and personally explain it to you before you believe him?¡± Someone felt that Zhou Wen was being too rude by repeatedly pressing for answers.


    Furthermore, they had said that because they didn¡¯t know that Frod wasn¡¯t dead.


    Gaiman waved his hand and said, ¡°The stakes are high, so it¡¯s good that Zhou Wen is cautious. Zhou Wen, did you notice a problem?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen could only shake his head. He couldn¡¯t say that he had already been there in-game, and there were no tombstones or masks there.


    Gaiman continued explaining the plan and even played some 3D animation. There were introductions to the skills of the Devil Clown, the Divination Witch, and other dimensional creatures.


    However, this introduction was clearly not comprehensive enough. It only introduced some skills.


    After the meeting ended, Gaiman stopped Zhou Wen. ¡°Zhou Wen, if it¡¯s convenient, follow me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you outside,¡± Wang Lu said when she saw Zhou Wen look over.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen followed Gaiman to his office. Gaiman looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°If you have anything to say, feel free to say it now. It¡¯s inconvenient to communicate inside the maze. If anything happens, it will be very troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Can you let me meet the old hero again? I want to know the details of when he saw the mask,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You might not know this, but my father is trapped in the ice wall. He can¡¯t communicate with others at any time. Most of the time, he¡¯s just an ice sculpture. Occasionally, he will regain partial consciousness. When you saw him previously, it was already the last time he was relatively conscious. Not long after that, he turned into an ice sculpture. I don¡¯t know how long it will take for him to regain consciousness again.¡±


    After a pause, Gaiman said, ¡°However, my father recorded down the situation in detail. If you need it, I can make a copy for you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Since he couldn¡¯t see Frod, he had no choice but to accept.


    Gaiman quickly handed a copy to Zhou Wen. ¡°If you discover anything, remember to inform us immediately.¡±


    ¡°I will. I¡¯ll head back now.¡± Zhou Wen flipped through the documents and realized that there were more than ten pages of content that recorded many things. He probably wouldn¡¯t be able to finish them in a short period of time, so he planned on taking them back to slowly read them.


    Gaiman got his secretary to see Zhou Wen out. When the secretary returned, he asked, ¡°Do you really believe that Zhou Wen has discovered something?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I believe it or not. One can never be too careful. This matter can¡¯t go wrong. It¡¯s best if he doesn¡¯t discover anything. If he does, it will be beneficial to us,¡± Gaiman said.


    Zhou Wen arrived at the entrance and saw Wang Lu, Lance, and company waiting for him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, did you discover something?¡± Lance was also present, but because everyone present was his elder, he had no right to speak.


    ¡°I keep feeling that there¡¯s something amiss about this matter, but I can¡¯t put my finger on it. It would be great if I could meet your great-grandfather again,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Great-grandfather¡¯s situation is highly variable. Even if we meet him now, there¡¯s no way to communicate,¡± Lance said with a sigh.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll think about it again. After all, there will still be a period of time for us to build our teamwork. We won¡¯t immediately head to the Maze of Lies. We still have time.¡± Zhou Wen flipped through the document.


    According to the records, it had happened not long after the Maze of Lies had been discovered. Back then, Frod didn¡¯t know that the state of the maze differed daily. The first time he had entered was on Monday, but he didn¡¯t go in again during the next few days. It was Sunday when he wanted to go to the maze again, so the outcome was obvious.


    Thankfully, when Frod saw that the situation wasn¡¯t right, he released his Companion Beast to resist the Devil Clown. He wanted to escape the maze at full speed.


    Unfortunately, there was no such chance. Frod was struck by the black-and-white magic ball and he lost control of his body. The Devil Clown that phased into existence used its dagger-like nails to slice open the aorta on his neck. Soon, he fainted.


    Frod originally thought that he was doomed, but to his surprise, he woke up not long after. He was in a narrow and confined space.


    Frod pushed the lid for a long time before he crawled out and realized that he was lying in a grave.


    On the tombstone in front of the grave, he discovered the mask.


    And the spot where the grave was was the garden Zhou Wen had seen in-game.


    When Frod escaped from the garden, he saw the twin Destiny Witches and the ancient castle. Only then did he know that the garden was behind the witch¡¯s castle.


    Strange, how did he enter the garden? Who took him in? Is there really a grave and tombstone in the garden in reality? Zhou Wen was still puzzled when he read the information.

 Chapter 1015 - Mysterious Method of Death

    Translator: CKtalon


    After returning to his residence, Zhou Wen switched on his phone and entered the Maze of Lies on Sunday. He also passed the test of the Destiny Witches and arrived at the garden again.


    This time, Zhou Wen searched very carefully. There was definitely no grave in the garden, much less the tombstone and mask that Frod had described.


    There was only one tree in the middle of the garden. It stood in the middle of the garden like a huge umbrella.


    There really aren¡¯t any graves or masks in-game. I can only go to reality to see if there are any. Zhou Wen glanced at the tree and was somewhat unwilling to return. He summoned the Bronze Sparrow Sword and slashed at the tree.


    He wanted to dig up the tree and take a look. Perhaps there was a grave under the tree.


    The Bronze Sparrow Sword slashed at the tree¡¯s roots with terrifying flames. It only managed to slice less than three centimeters into the tree before it stopped. The flames failed to burn the tree.


    To be more precise, the tree trunk and leaves became even more vibrant and lively in the flames.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Bronze Sparrow Sword back and saw magma-like liquid flowing out of the tree¡¯s wound. Furthermore, after the liquid flowed out, it quickly cooled down and turned to dust. The damage to the tree quickly healed.


    This is a plant-type Mythical creature? As Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly saw the blood-colored avatar collapse to the ground. The game screen went black.


    How did I die? Zhou Wen felt that he needed to figure out the true situation in the garden. He had a nagging feeling that the operation wouldn¡¯t go so smoothly.


    After entering the garden again, Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth, hoping to see if he could uproot the tree.


    In the Absolute Strength state, Tyrant Behemoth could be considered a peak force at the Mythical stage. After it gigantified, it crouched down and held the tree trunk with both hands before pulling it upwards.


    Tree roots tore out of the ground as the entire garden trembled. However, the tree wasn¡¯t pulled out.


    Seeing that Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t do it alone, he summoned Torch Dragon, Black Dragon, Vajra Bull, and other Companion Beasts to pull out the tree.


    Under the pull of the Mythical Companion Beasts, the tree¡¯s roots snapped one by one as magma-like liquid flowed out. Then, it turned into ashes and vanished, but it still failed to be pulled out.


    Suddenly, the blood-colored avatar collapsed to the ground again as the game screen went black.


    Could it be that the liquid flowing out of the tree has some special power that kills me? In order to prove this hypothesis, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do anything after entering the garden again. He got the blood-colored avatar to stand in the garden and wait.


    This was also to verify another guess because Zhou Wen realized that the time of the blood-colored avatar¡¯s inexplicable deaths seemed to be very similar.


    Time ticked by. When the blood-colored avatar had been in the garden for an hour, it died without any warning. The game screen went black again.


    This time was rather similar to the time of death last time.


    Zhou Wen carried out many experiments again. He wanted to figure out what was going on.


    The situation was more complicated than Zhou Wen imagined. The few experiments produced different results.


    Gaiman sent someone to invite Zhou Wen to participate in the training, but he declined the invitation.


    Earlier on, Zhou Wen still had the intention to cooperate, but now, he knew very well that he had to figure out why the blood-colored avatar had died as soon as possible. Otherwise, it was very likely that no one would survive this operation.


    Gaiman didn¡¯t say anything when Zhou Wen didn¡¯t participate on the first day. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t attend on the second and third day. Ignoring Gaiman, even the rich and powerful personnel that came had negative views of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Does he think he¡¯s impressive just because he has some strength? Does he think it¡¯s beneath him to be associated with us?¡± The people from the North District had a bad temper to begin with. Zhou Wen¡¯s actions naturally displeased them.


    ¡°He¡¯s Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. He has a backer. Even if dimensional creatures occupy Earth, he can still live very well. Can you do it? If not, shut up,¡± another local tycoon quipped.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t come for training, but he has the final say. What if he gives random orders? Do you want us to listen to him and send you to your death? Mr. Gaiman, do you think that¡¯s appropriate?¡± someone questioned Gaiman.


    ¡°Zhou Wen might have some matters to resolve. After the matter is resolved, he will probably come. Everyone, calm down.¡± As Gaiman comforted everyone, he secretly got Lance, Sadie, and company to figure out what Zhou Wen was doing.


    Although Lance and Sadie felt that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t an arrogant person, they were very puzzled over his non-participation in the training. Therefore, they went to Zhou Wen¡¯s residence.


    Before they arrived at his place, they met Wang Lu, who was hugging Ya¡¯er and carrying bags of snacks.


    Wang Lu didn¡¯t participate in the training either. However, she was only responsible for drawing cards from the Destiny Witches alone, so she didn¡¯t need to have good teamwork with the others. Furthermore, she didn¡¯t have the authority to make decisions, so no one had asked her to participate in the training.


    ¡°Wang Lu, why did you buy so many snacks? Didn¡¯t I get someone to arrange a chef for you? Is the food not to your liking?¡± Sadie asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°No, the food is very good, but Zhou Wen is in his room¡­ cultivating¡­ He doesn¡¯t want to go out, so he got me to buy some food and drinks for him,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°I see. What cultivation is Coach doing?¡± Sadie asked.


    ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m not too sure either¡­¡± Wang Lu¡¯s expression changed slightly.


    Zhou Wen was basically gaming in his room. He didn¡¯t cultivate at all. She only felt that it wasn¡¯t appropriate to say that Zhou Wen was gaming, so she swapped it to cultivation.


    ¡°We naturally trust Zhou Wen¡¯s character, but the others have many doubts. Furthermore, it¡¯s better for him to familiarize himself with the other¡¯s abilities. It¡¯s beneficial for combat. I still hope he can participate in training,¡± said Lance.


    As they spoke, they went to Zhou Wen¡¯s room.


    When she arrived at the door, Wang Lu knocked and said, ¡°Zhou Wen, open the door. I¡¯m back from buying your stuff. Lance and the rest are here to see you.¡±


    Wang Lu naturally hoped that Zhou Wen would restrain himself a little and not let Lance and company see him gaming.


    However, when Zhou Wen opened the door, he was still playing with his phone.


    Due to the unexpected complexity of the Maze of Lies, he had yet to completely resolve the problem.


    Now, Zhou Wen had to resolve the problem before the team entered the Maze of Lies. Otherwise, apart from him, everyone who entered would die.

 Chapter 1016 - Burden

    Translator: CKtalon


    This wasn¡¯t alarmist talk because Zhou Wen had discovered that the Maze of Lies on Sunday had a terrifying taboo power.


    Unless one had the ability to restrain taboo powers like the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, the moment one stepped into the Maze of Lies on Sunday, it was equivalent to activating a death countdown.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s constant tests during this period of time, he realized that if he didn¡¯t enter Witch Castle within three hours after entering the maze, he would be killed by the taboo power.


    This was the power of the rules. No matter where one was, it was inevitable as long as one didn¡¯t leave the Maze of Lies.


    Entering Witch Castle within three hours allowed one to obtain a two-hour death countdown inside. If one failed to enter the garden within two hours, they would also be killed by the taboo power.


    After entering the garden, the death countdown became an hour. One could only stay in the garden for an hour, or they would also die.


    What was even more terrifying was that the death timer in every area wouldn¡¯t be reset just because one entered the next area. It wouldn¡¯t stop either.


    In other words, if he used two and a half hours in the maze before entering Witch Castle after half an hour, the countdown in the maze would have reached zero. He would also die if he returned to the maze.


    Therefore, although it looked like the first two regions had a longer time limit, it was actually impossible for him to spend that much time there. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to come out even if he obtained the mask.


    Zhou Wen had the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, so he wasn¡¯t afraid. However, if Wang Lu, Lance, and company exceeded the time limit inside, they would die.


    Now, Zhou Wen had already figured out these rules, but these weren¡¯t all of Sunday¡¯s rules. The other problems were still being tested.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you alright?¡± Lance and Sadie didn¡¯t have any special reaction because of Zhou Wen gaming. This was because they were already used to Zhou Wen gaming and didn¡¯t find it strange.


    ¡°Me? I¡¯m fine.¡± The blood-colored avatar died again in-game. Zhou Wen put away his phone and looked at Lance and company in puzzlement, unsure why they were asking.


    ¡°Coach, don¡¯t tell me you have been gaming in your room all day?¡± Sadie¡¯s expression turned even odder as she asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Sadie in puzzlement.


    As expected¡­ Wang Lu held her forehead helplessly. She knew that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t lie.


    Lance smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re very calm. It looks like you already have a card up your sleeve. However, the others are a little worried that you might give the wrong orders because you don¡¯t understand their abilities. If you have the time, it¡¯s best you take a look at their training. At the very least, you¡¯d have some understanding of their abilities. That would be a good thing.¡±


    Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s why I feel that it¡¯s best I go alone to avoid leading them into trouble.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s words came from the bottom of his heart. If he were to go alone, he could activate Evil Nullification and the Heaven-Opening Scripture the entire way. He wouldn¡¯t need to worry about the group¡¯s survival, nor would he need to study the dungeon so clearly. There was no power inside that could kill him.


    It didn¡¯t seem difficult for a person to rush into the garden in reality to see if there was a mask.


    However, the Ultimate Family Clan was definitely worried about letting him enter alone, afraid that he would take the mask for himself. Also, there was no time or opportunity for him to enter alone.


    Gaiman had already decided to lead people into the Maze of Lies this coming Sunday.


    Lance and Sadie exchanged looks and smiled bitterly. Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts were even more straightforward than they had expected. He had actually treated all the strongmen in the North District as a burden.


    They naturally knew that it was impossible for Zhou Wen to enter the maze alone. All Lance could do was say, ¡°It¡¯s good to have more people. After all, the maze is strange. If anything happens, even if they can¡¯t help, they can spread out the firepower. Why don¡¯t¡­¡±


    Just as Lance was about to ask him to take a look, Sadie beat him to it. ¡°Coach, I suddenly remembered that we have something to do.¡±


    With that said, Sadie pulled Lance away quickly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± When they came to a place without anyone, Lance looked at Sadie in puzzlement.


    Sadie said, ¡°You wanted Coach to visit the training grounds?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. At least appease the experts from those places,¡± said Lance.


    However, Sadie said, ¡°That will probably make things worse.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Lance was momentarily taken aback.


    ¡°With my understanding of Coach, even if he goes to the training grounds, he will definitely find a place to lie down and game. Do you still think it¡¯s a good idea for him to go or not?¡± Sadie said.


    Lance was immediately enlightened as he nodded. ¡°That makes sense.¡±


    ¡­


    The two of them had no choice but to tell Gaiman what Zhou Wen had said. Gaiman couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly when he heard that. ¡°Zhou Wen is indeed very capable, but he¡¯s so arrogant. He doesn¡¯t take this operation seriously at all. Does he treat this as child¡¯s play?¡±


    ¡°Family Head, I think Coach naturally has his reasons for saying that.¡± Sadie was very confident in Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s the reason? He hasn¡¯t even entered the Maze of Lies on Sunday. With his arrogance, he will probably suffer greatly.¡± Gaiman was already secretly considering if he should hand the final veto to Zhou Wen.


    Although Frod had agreed to give him the veto rights, he couldn¡¯t just watch as Zhou Wen made some unreasonable decisions.


    Gaiman had already decided that if Zhou Wen¡¯s decision was the same as his, he would listen to him for the time being. If it wasn¡¯t, he would prioritize his own opinion.


    He believed that the members of the Ultimate Family Clan and the experts of those places would listen to his orders.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it. There were less than two days left until Sunday. He had to figure out the details as soon as possible.


    The repeated deaths in-game deepened Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of the Maze of Lies. In the end, he was basically studying the tree and the method to kill it.


    Although this tree might not necessarily exist in reality, there was nothing wrong with being careful. It was always better to be prepared.


    This tree was extraordinary. It could also kill people, but its method of killing wasn¡¯t that obvious. It was even more bizarre.


    Time passed quickly. Seeing that there were only a few hours left until Sunday, Zhou Wen suddenly felt a strange energy fluctuation emit from his body.


    Neonate¡¯s evolution is complete¡­ Zhou Wen figured out the source of the fluctuations and was immediately overjoyed.

 Chapter 1017 - Great Demon King

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had long been looking forward to Demonic Neonate¡¯s evolution. Now, she was finally out.


    He hurriedly summoned Demonic Neonate, but she didn¡¯t seem to have changed much. She wore blackish-purple armor and hugged a Demonic Sword. She didn¡¯t even seem to have grown taller.


    The superficial details aren¡¯t important. Stats are what matters. Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at Demonic Neonate¡¯s stats. All he wanted to know was what had happened to her Wheel of Destiny when she returned to the Mythical stage.


    Demonic Neonate: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Child of Dimension


    Life Soul: Supreme True Demon


    Wheel of Destiny: One Spin


    Terror Form: Great Demon King (S-grade)


    2


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Demonic Sword


    Companion Form: None


    Terror form¡­ Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. Demonic Neonate had just advanced to the Mythical stage. Although the Wheel of Destiny he was looking forward to hadn¡¯t changed, she actually had the ability to transform into the Terror form. He was overwhelmed with joy.


    Isn¡¯t this a little too powerful? She just advanced to the Mythical stage and already has a Terror form? Zhou Wen was very curious about Demonic Neonate¡¯s Terror form.


    He summoned Demonic Neonate in-game and made her enter her Terror form.


    Demonic aura spewed out from Demonic Neonate¡¯s body, but in the next second, she vanished in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen knew that since he hadn¡¯t made Demonic Neonate move, she shouldn¡¯t have moved randomly. Since she wasn¡¯t moving, it should be an invisibility ability.


    Is it invisibility? Zhou Wen could vaguely sense that Demonic Neonate was in front of him, but he couldn¡¯t see her with the naked eye.


    Zhou Wen attempted to use the Demon God Body, but he still couldn¡¯t see Demonic Neonate. When he switched to Supreme Hell King, he still couldn¡¯t see her. However, he could vaguely see some strange minute fluctuations in space. They were extremely tiny, and even in the Supreme Hell King state, it was very difficult to detect them.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He wanted to see what Demonic Neonate¡¯s Terror form looked like, but no matter how he tried, he couldn¡¯t see her. It was as though Demonic Neonate had really vanished.


    Zhou Wen extended his palm, but he couldn¡¯t touch Demonic Neonate. However, he could sense that she stood there without moving.


    Alright, it doesn¡¯t matter if I can¡¯t see you. Let¡¯s give it a try and see what your abilities are like. Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Today was the day the nine black dragons in the underground sea respawned. It was the perfect time to grind there again.


    After entering the underground sea, Zhou Wen only summoned Demonic Neonate. He didn¡¯t summon any other Companion Beasts.


    When the nine black dragons saw Zhou Wen, they didn¡¯t break their chains immediately. They just sized up Demonic Neonate in puzzlement.


    Whenever the nine black dragons saw a Mythical Companion Beast at the same time, they would definitely break free from their shackles. Now, they didn¡¯t do so immediately. There was only one reason¡ªthey couldn¡¯t see Demonic Neonate. At most, they were about the same as Zhou Wen. They only felt that the space there was a little strange, so they didn¡¯t immediately break free from the shackles.


    Demonic Neonate, let me see how strong you are. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he ordered Demonic Neonate to kill the nine black dragons.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen suddenly saw dragon blood spew out as a black dragon was beheaded. It died without even knowing how it died.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw a very strange scene. The black dragons spun around like headless flies. They couldn¡¯t discover what was attacking them. When they sensed something, their heads had already been chopped off.


    Clang! Clang! Ding! Ding!


    Moments later, the nine black dragons were killed in the sea, dyeing the nearby seawater red. Two dimensional crystals and a Companion Egg dropped.


    Too¡­ Too powerful¡­ Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The Mythical Demon Blood True Dragon was slaughtered like poultry in front of the terrifying Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen had seen quite a number of Terror-form powerhouses, but they didn¡¯t seem to be as strong as Demonic Neonate.


    The dimensional crystal was useless, but the Companion Egg had a Li attribute that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have. Now Zhou Wen had four of the nine Demon Blood True Dragons.


    I think I can give it a try. What will happen if I kill the Guardian inside? Zhou Wen stared at the war wagon at the bottom of the sea.


    In the past, he couldn¡¯t defeat the Guardian, but now, ignoring Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, Demonic Neonate¡¯s Terror transformation state was already invincible.


    Without any hesitation, he opened the war wagon¡¯s door and ordered Demonic Neonate to kill the Guardian inside.


    Crack! The Guardian cocoon was split into two. The emperor-like Guardian with six fingers appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s vision.


    Although he couldn¡¯t see her, Zhou Wen could roughly guess that Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t taken action herself. She had only used the Demonic Sword to slice open the cocoon of the Guardian. Unfortunately, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the Demonic Sword that had Terror-transformed.


    The Guardian seemed to be able to see Demonic Neonate. He stared intently at her as his face turned pale.


    The invisible Demonic Sword slashed down again. The six-fingered Guardian seemed to be able to see where the Demonic Sword was. The ring on his finger glowed brightly at the same time as it rapidly spun. His figure also teleported and vanished.


    However, when he appeared again, his body was split into two by a sword.


    In the next second, a scene that left Zhou Wen dumbfounded appeared. The Demonic Sword suddenly revealed its size as demonic aura surged from it, condensing into Grim Demon¡¯s figure. He actually grabbed the Guardian¡¯s body and devoured it. In a few mouthfuls, he completely devoured the Guardian¡¯s corpse before automatically returning to the Demonic Sword and quickly disappearing.


    Grim Demon is still around? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He imagined that Grim Demon would be absorbed by Demonic Neonate.


    ¡®Killed Guardian Demon Master.¡¯ A notification popped up in-game.


    1


    So this Guardian is called Demon Master. Unfortunately, such a powerful Guardian was killed by Demonic Neonate just like that. It didn¡¯t get the chance to reveal its abilities. With a thought, Zhou Wen recalled the Guardian of Ant City.


    However, on second thought, killing the Guardian didn¡¯t seem to be of much use now. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to kill it in the future.


    The most important thing now was to deal with the tree in the Maze of Lies.


    Previously, so many Companion Beasts had failed to kill the tree. The Terror-form Ice Dragon King¡¯s items couldn¡¯t be taken into the game, so Zhou Wen had been vexed about it.


    Now, with Demonic Neonate in her Terror form, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem to slice through the tree.


    After taking Demonic Neonate to the Maze of Lies and arriving at the garden, Demonic Neonate walked towards the tree before Zhou Wen could give her an order.


    As Demonic Neonate approached, the tree, that had formerly remained motionless like a mountain, suddenly moved. Its leaves shook and the tree trembled. Its roots rose up, revealing a tree hole.


    Demonic Neonate walked towards the tree hole. Zhou Wen hurriedly controlled the blood-colored avatar to follow and see what was inside.

 Chapter 1018 - Wooden Hut

    Translator: CKtalon


    There was a strange spatial distortion at the entrance of the tree hole. He felt a slight spatial fluctuation when he passed through it.


    After entering the tree hole, the scene he saw left him slightly taken aback. Inside was a wooden hut, not the grave or tombstone that Zhou Wen had imagined.


    All the tools in the wooden house seemed to be carved from the tree itself.


    There was a wooden bed, a wooden table, a wooden stool, and a wooden rack. All sorts of equipment looked ancient and artistic. On the wooden rack were many books.


    On the table was an open book, as though someone had been reading it.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any other creatures despite looking through the entire hut.


    This is a game. Logically speaking, only dimensional items can appear in-game. Could these books be dimensional items? Zhou Wen saw that Demonic Neonate had already walked to the wooden table and was looking at the opened book on it.


    Zhou Wen also went over to take a look and realized that he didn¡¯t recognize a single word on it. It was a mess of words of an unknown language¡ªhe couldn¡¯t understand a single word.


    Demonic Neonate extended her tiny hand and the book flew up by itself. It arrived in front of her and floated above her palm.


    Demonic Neonate actually likes to read after her evolution. This is a good phenomenon. Zhou Wen was rather gratified.


    Demonic Neonate was good in every way, but she was just too ferocious. She usually didn¡¯t say a word and she attacked only when death was certain from a single strike. She didn¡¯t give anyone a chance to counterattack. She was like a cold-blooded killer.


    Although Demonic Neonate was flawless as a Companion Beast, Zhou Wen felt that she was, after all, an intelligent creature with feelings. It was better to have some humanity.


    Reading could enrich people with feelings. This seemed to be a good sign.


    ¡°Neonate, what¡¯s written on it¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, he saw Demonic Neonate grab the two sides of the book, open her mouth wide, and eat the book like she was eating a cake.


    1


    ¡°¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate in a daze, unable to say a word. He realized that he had misunderstood something.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t stop at all. Her mouth opened and closed as she swallowed the entire book with a few bites.


    After she was done eating, she still hadn¡¯t had enough. She walked to the bookshelf and devoured the other books one by one. When she had finished, she even licked her lips, looking like she hadn¡¯t had enough.


    ¡°Why are you eating those books?¡± Zhou Wen finally reacted and asked Demonic Neonate in puzzlement.


    ¡°Food,¡± Demonic Neonate said.


    Zhou Wen was helpless. It was unlikely that Demonic Neonate would explain it clearly. He still didn¡¯t know what the books were.


    Suddenly, the screen went black as the blood-colored avatar died again.


    How can this be? The one-hour time limit in the garden shouldn¡¯t be up yet? Could it be that there¡¯s a different time limit in the treehouse? Zhou Wen guessed as he started the dungeon again.


    Now, Zhou Wen was certain that there was no mask in-game. There was only a treehouse in the tree.


    Is Frod lying, or is it really different in reality? Zhou Wen was almost confident of bringing Wang Lu, Lance, and company out alive, but there were still some things he wanted to figure out.


    After entering the garden again, the tree automatically opened the entrance to the wooden hut when it saw Demonic Neonate. This time, Zhou Wen paid special attention to the time inside the tree hole before discovering an extremely strange phenomenon.


    The flow of time in the tree hole¡¯s wooden hut was much faster than outside. An hour outside was only a minute here.


    Zhou Wen had only discovered the changes in his body after using the Eight Perfections Wisdom and Hell King Supremacy, allowing him to determine that the flow of time here was different.


    Even if he used the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, it was useless against the abnormal flow of time here. This was because such a flow of time was normal in the tree hole¡¯s wooden hut. It wasn¡¯t a taboo power.


    Seeing that the books in the wooden hut didn¡¯t respawn again, Zhou Wen hurriedly left the tree hole.


    He was afraid that staying inside where time flowed too quickly would affect his true body. That wouldn¡¯t be good.


    Thankfully, it was only a game and it didn¡¯t affect his true body. However, the secret of the garden seemed to end there. There were no graves or masks.


    Now, Zhou Wen knew the dungeon like the back of his hand. All he needed to do was wait for tomorrow to head to the Maze of Lies in reality to see if it was different.


    While it was still early, Zhou Wen went to the underground sea again. The cocoon in the war wagon hadn¡¯t respawned; he didn¡¯t know if it would respawn in the future either.


    With the underground sea¡¯s Guardian gone, Zhou Wen made another trip to Ant City.


    After being wrecked by Ant City¡¯s Guardian for so long, I can finally do something about it. Zhou Wen was somewhat excited.


    Ant City was a dungeon that had come with the phone. Ant City¡¯s Guardian was also the first Guardian Zhou Wen had seen. Zhou Wen was still looking forward to killing Ant City¡¯s Guardian and clearing the dungeon.


    He stormed all the way through Ant City and destroyed the Golden Flying Ant¡¯s nest, exposing the Guardian Egg.


    ¡°Neonate, kill it.¡± Zhou Wen floated in the air, waiting to see the Ant City Guardian get killed.


    After Demonic Neonate transformed into her Terror form, her figure vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s sight. At the same time, he couldn¡¯t see the demonic sword as she instantly cleaved open the Guardian cocoon.


    Zhou Wen saw the Ant City Guardian again. At that moment, the Ant City Guardian seemed to have grown a lot.


    Zhou Wen remembered that the last time he saw her, she still looked like a girl, but now, she looked completely mature. She exuded the charm of a mature woman.


    Her lascivious body curves, orange-red pupils, and long hair made Zhou Wen almost not dare look at her.


    Zhou Wen discovered that the feelers on the Guardian¡¯s head and the transparent wings on her back had vanished. She looked no different from a human.


    This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a Guardian who can constantly grow. What¡¯s this fellow¡¯s background? I wonder which dimensional race she represents? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, the Terror-form demonic sword slashed at the Guardian again.


    Typical Guardians couldn¡¯t even see the attack, much less resist it. Just as Zhou Wen thought that the Guardian was about to be killed, he saw the Guardian¡¯s beautiful hands clasp together and clamp down on the Demonic Sword that came slashing down.


    At the same time, a strange power fluctuation spread out from the pair of beautiful hands. With a terrifying power fluctuation, the Guardian¡¯s figure vanished in front of Zhou Wen.


    Not good! Zhou Wen immediately realized something as he quickly retreated.

 Chapter 1019 - Final Veto Rights

    Translator: CKtalon


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen sensed that Demonic Neonate was moving at high speeds. In the next second, the terrifying collision produced an unimaginable explosion and shockwave that instantly reduced Ant City to ruins.


    The blood-colored avatar used the Shell Dragon armor¡¯s Absolute Defense to block the terrifying strike, but in the next second, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate. An invisible force struck the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body and penetrated the armor, causing its body to explode. The game screen went black.


    Terror form¡­ That fellow hasn¡¯t come out of the Guardian cocoon¡­ But she already has the ability to transform into the Terror form¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that it was the power of the Terror form. Furthermore, it was one of the stronger ones. At the same time, Zhou Wen¡¯s previous guess had been confirmed.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s Great Demon King state wasn¡¯t an invisibility state. It could even be said that it wasn¡¯t invisibility.


    It was only because a Terror form¡¯s lifeform was too high-level that it couldn¡¯t be seen.


    However, not every Terror-grade creature could reach such a high-grade Terror form. Up to now, the Terror-grade creatures that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see were Demonic Neonate and Ant City¡¯s Guardian.


    It was hard to say who was stronger between Demonic Neonate and Ant City¡¯s Guardian, but Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was much weaker. Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t a protective Companion Beast, so if the Ant City¡¯s Guardian chose to attack Zhou Wen, it was impossible for Demonic Neonate to constantly protect him. As long as Zhou Wen was killed, the game would end. The Ant City¡¯s Guardian didn¡¯t need to fight Demonic Neonate.


    Her growth is really fast. I wonder when she obtained the ability to transform. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    He had downloaded quite a number of dungeons, but this dungeon that had existed from the beginning had yet to be cleared. It looked like he still needed some time.


    He didn¡¯t attempt it again. He couldn¡¯t even see her. He had no right to fight the Ant City Guardian.


    1


    Actually, if I use Truth Listener to its limits, I can still sense a tiny spatial fluctuation. However, that level isn¡¯t enough to help in a battle. Zhou Wen felt that he needed to advance to the Mythical stage to see Demonic Neonate¡¯s Terror form.


    Mythical stage. I¡¯m only one step away from advancing to the Mythical stage. How can I raise the Glimmer to a Perfect Body? Could it be that I really have to teleport to other planets? However, I don¡¯t have the ability to survive in space as someone who¡¯s not at the Mythical stage. I have no way of returning. By the time I could teleport back in a month, I would have long died. After some thought, Zhou Wen had only one solution.


    He could use the positioning teleportation ability of the New Era Life Soul to position himself on Earth before using Glimmer to teleport out. Then, he could use the positioning teleportation ability of the New Era Life Soul to return.


    The only thing he wasn¡¯t sure of was if the positioning teleportation ability of the New Era could teleport between space. If it couldn¡¯t, he was dead meat in space.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare continue trying.


    He planned to return and think of a way to obtain some space capsules and space suits. After teleporting to other planets, even if he couldn¡¯t teleport back, he could still last for a month on them and wait for the teleportation function of the Glimmer Life Soul to finish the cooldown.


    ¡­


    Finally, on Saturday night, Gaiman got Lance to find Zhou Wen. Everyone who was prepared to enter the Maze of Lies had already gathered at the door.


    Gaiman would personally lead the team this time. Among the younger generation, only Lance would accompany them. The rest were middle-aged or elderly.


    Basically, anyone who could enter the maze had at least one Mythical Companion Beast.


    Wang Lu was considered a unique existence among them. No one knew how strong she was, nor did anyone care. It was enough as long as she could defeat the twin Destiny Witches during the draw.


    ¡°Do you want me to accompany you in?¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Take care of Ya¡¯er.¡± Zhou Wen put Ya¡¯er down and stroked her head. ¡°I¡¯ll be back soon. Wait here.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you ready?¡± Gemar asked.


    Although he was somewhat displeased that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t participated in the training, he knew that as a secretary, he couldn¡¯t show his emotions, so his attitude remained very good.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly and came in front of Gaiman. ¡°Mr. Gaiman, there¡¯s something I need to confirm. Do I have complete say on this operation?¡±


    Gaiman frowned slightly. Gemar hurriedly added, ¡°The situation in a dimensional zone is ever-changing. There are many unexpected situations that require immediate reaction. If there¡¯s time to discuss, it will naturally be up to you.¡±


    Gemar¡¯s words were rather respectful, but the meaning behind them was that everyone would act according to the situation.


    ¡°Mr. Gaiman, do you share the same view?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gaiman directly.


    Gaiman pondered for a moment and said, ¡°You haven¡¯t entered the Maze of Lies on Sunday. You might not know many things.¡±


    ¡°The information you gave me is sufficiently detailed. I don¡¯t need to go personally to know what¡¯s going on inside the maze.¡± Zhou Wen saw that Gaiman wasn¡¯t being certain, so he said, ¡°I have an agreement with your family. I will definitely enter the maze, but if I don¡¯t have a hundred percent say, I wish to enter the maze alone. If you are worried, you can get Lance to enter with me. Otherwise, I refuse to participate in this operation.¡±


    With that said, it wasn¡¯t just the local elites. Even the experts from the Ultimate Family Clan couldn¡¯t hold back. Zhou Wen made it sound as though they were a burden.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your request a little too demanding?¡± Gaiman said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°We agreed on me having the final veto previously. If you can¡¯t abide by the agreement, I won¡¯t take the risk of entering the dimensional zone,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    ¡°Mr. Gaiman, since he¡¯s afraid to go, why are you forcing him?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just a young man who doesn¡¯t know better. Ignore him.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Gaiman, let¡¯s go in. It¡¯s fine if he doesn¡¯t go. Would we not succeed without him?¡±


    The local powerhouses were already displeased with Zhou Wen, but they were even more displeased now.


    However, Gaiman was in a dilemma. This was because Frod had exhorted him repeatedly that Zhou Wen had to be present for this operation to succeed. He had to take Zhou Wen in.


    Gaiman pondered for a long time before giving in. ¡°Alright. Since it¡¯s an agreement, we¡¯ll do as you wish. You have the final say.¡±


    Everyone was somewhat displeased with Gaiman¡¯s compromise, but since it was Gaiman¡¯s decision, they had no choice.

 Chapter 1020 - Different

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although Gaiman had agreed, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t relax.


    The human heart was unpredictable. No one knew what would happen after entering.


    However, Zhou Wen needed to do what needed to be done in exchange for the intelligence Frod had provided him. If they had a death wish, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to stop them.


    ¡°After entering the maze, follow me. Listen to me. Don¡¯t believe what others say,¡± Zhou Wen whispered to Wang Lu.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wang Lu nodded slightly.


    Everyone arrived in front of the maze and answered the questions in the order they had arranged.


    As some questions were questions that couldn¡¯t be answered, some could only give up. They couldn¡¯t return for another question in a day.


    Therefore, the Ultimate Family Clan had prepared many people just in case. Even if a portion of them couldn¡¯t enter, it wouldn¡¯t hinder their plans.


    There were three indispensable people in the team¡ªZhou Wen, Wang Lu, and Gaiman.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the crowd. There were nearly thirty people. Most of the powerhouses in the North District who had Mythical Companion Beasts were here.


    However, if they continued answering the questions one by one, it would probably take thirty minutes for everyone to gather inside. It would be such a waste of time.


    ¡°Mr. Gaiman, must so many people enter?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gaiman.


    ¡°The maze is too dangerous. It¡¯s easier to deal with any accidents with more people,¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°Alright then. What¡¯s Wang Lu¡¯s place in line?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°As no one will be able to pass the test of the Destiny Witches if Wang Lu doesn¡¯t enter, she has to be one of the first to enter. We will get the experienced members of the two families to enter before her in case anything happens when inside,¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°Change it. Let Wang Lu be the last to enter,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not good, right? If she can¡¯t enter as the last one, wouldn¡¯t our previous efforts be in vain?¡± Gemar said.


    ¡°Remember that I call the shots here. If I say she¡¯s the last, she¡¯s the last. Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen said to Gemar.


    Gemar¡¯s expression changed slightly, but he couldn¡¯t say a word. All he could do was look at Gaiman.


    ¡°With Wang Lu¡¯s ability, it¡¯s unlikely that she won¡¯t be able to enter. Then let her be the last,¡± Gaiman said, unwilling to clash with Zhou Wen over such a trivial matter.


    With Gaiman¡¯s words, Gemar changed the order of entry.


    Others believed that Zhou Wen had taken a fancy to the young and beautiful Wang Lu and wanted to show off in front of her, but they didn¡¯t say a word. All they did was look down on him. At this moment, Zhou Wen was still only thinking about women. He was ultimately a young man.


    How could they know that if by entering half an hour later, the safe period would be decreased by half an hour? If something happened inside and they failed to come out in time as planned, this might save her life.


    One by one, everyone answered the questions and entered the maze. Many people had to give up answering because they had encountered questions that meant certain death. Only about half of them could really enter.


    Zhou Wen was originally second last, but after some thought, he got Wang Lu to answer the question first.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen wanted to ensure his safety, but he wanted to know what question a person like Wang Lu would encounter.


    When Wang Lu walked to the door, a problem immediately appeared on it: Is one plus one equal to two?


    1


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. There was actually such a question.


    Without a doubt, Wang Lu successfully entered.


    Zhou Wen went up to answer the question again and saw the question on the door: Are humans born evil or good by nature?


    ¡°My life doesn¡¯t need simple beauty.¡± Zhou Wen decisively activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and randomly chose one before successfully entering Sunday¡¯s Maze of Lies.


    Including Zhou Wen and Wang Lu, a total of seventeen people entered. Gaiman and Gemar were among them, and Lance had successfully entered too.


    Gaiman had already arranged for people to take action after Zhou Wen entered.


    Although he didn¡¯t know that there was a time limit, he knew that he couldn¡¯t waste time here.


    Soon, the group arrived in front of the carousel. There was really a Devil Clown there. When he saw everyone, the six magic balls in his hand shot out.


    Gaiman directly summoned an Ice Nightmare. The ice gas that the Ice Nightmare spewed out actually froze the six magic balls, preventing them from bouncing again.


    The Devil Clown phased away as one of them summoned a bat-like Mythical Companion Beast. The bat emitted a sound wave that made the stealthy clown appear. He couldn¡¯t maintain his stealth any longer.


    Everyone joined forces to defeat the enemy and successfully killed the troublesome Devil Clown. No one was injured at all.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange. This was because they had already sacrificed quite a number of people to figure out the information on Devil Clown. If they couldn¡¯t kill it, they would really be letting down the people who had died in the Maze of Lies.


    ¡°Keep in line with our previous training. Keep moving forward in this state.¡± Gaiman led the team in the direction of Witch Castle.


    Zhou Wen had actually encountered a few dimensional creatures in-game, but their range of activity wasn¡¯t in this area. Logically speaking, after killing the Devil Clown, they should be able to reach Witch¡¯s Castle without any obstructions.


    However, not long after they proceeded, they suddenly saw a white wolf with three heads and two wings on its back tear through the air. One wolf head spewed out flames while the other spewed out ice mist. The wolf head in the middle emitted an aural attack.


    ¡°It¡¯s a three-headed wolf. Don¡¯t panic. Follow the plan according to our training.¡± Gaiman continued commanding.


    Although the three-headed wolf was powerful, it was difficult for it to defeat more than ten Mythical Companion Beasts. It was quickly killed.


    ¡°Although the Mythical creatures here are powerful, it¡¯s easy to enter Witch Castle with our Mythical Companion Beasts.¡± As a local bigshot expressed this statement, he deliberately shot a glance at Zhou Wen.


    He seemed to mean that even without Zhou Wen, they could still complete the mission. Zhou Wen was redundant.


    Zhou Wen sincerely hoped that he was redundant. Being safe was better than anything else. He wanted to complete the mission quickly and return.


    However, just as the person signaled that, he suddenly saw the three-headed wolf¡¯s corpse explode. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.


    Many people were stained with blood. At that moment, they suddenly heard strange cries coming from all directions. They sounded like crying banshees.


    They could vaguely see some creature in the distance approaching them.


    This seems a little different from in-game¡­ Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown, but he had already guessed what creature it was.

 Chapter 1021 - Evil Puppeteer

    Translator: CKtalon


    It was very difficult to communicate in the Maze of Lies. This was because the silencer had used Silence on them. Usually, they could communicate through handwritten words, but in an emergency, it depended on everyone¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Retreat now.¡± Gaiman didn¡¯t have the time to write too many words. He only wrote two words for everyone to see before retreating towards the door.


    Clearly, Gaiman and company didn¡¯t know what was about to appear. They had only explored the parts related to Witch Castle in the past and hadn¡¯t explored all of the Maze of Lies, nor had they seen all the dimensional creatures.


    However, Zhou Wen had explored the entire maze. He had seen almost all the dimensional creatures inside.


    Although he had never seen the three-headed wolf¡¯s corpse self-destruct, he could roughly guess the dimensional creature that was about to arrive from its sound.


    If that thing really comes, those people who are stained with the three-headed wolf¡¯s blood won¡¯t have it easy. Zhou Wen swept his gaze and quickly confirmed who the people stained with the blood were.


    Wang Lu, who was by Zhou Wen¡¯s side, wasn¡¯t stained by the wolf blood. Zhou Wen was relieved when he saw that Lance wasn¡¯t stained with the wolf blood either.


    However, nine out of the seventeen people were stained with wolf blood. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. The self-destruction of the three-headed wolf was really timely. It happened to self-destruct in the middle of everyone. Could it be that it was a suicide bomber?


    Upon thinking of this possibility, Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. If the three-headed wolf was really sending itself to its death, the Maze of Lies in reality was much more terrifying than in-game.


    The dimensional creatures in the game kept to their own territories. They would only appear when they were triggered.


    The three-headed wolf in real life had run over and infected so many people with its wolf blood. This was to pave the way for another dimensional creature to appear.


    When everyone retreated to the door, they stood in formation with their backs against the exit. The Companion Beasts were also prepared to fight as they looked in the direction of the strange sound.


    Soon, everyone saw blood-colored puppets appear everywhere. They looked like humans and were very well-made. They were even wearing clothes.


    However, at their joints, thin threads extended into the distance.


    It¡¯s indeed the Devil Puppeteer. Zhou Wen knew that his guess was right when he saw the puppets.


    However, in-game, the Devil Puppeteer was in the Puppet Hall and wouldn¡¯t run out by himself.


    Yet, here he was. Furthermore, those people had already been stained with the blood of the three-headed wolf. It happened to match the skill of the Devil Puppeteer. In a while, those who were stained with the wolf blood would probably become puppets.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess.


    If the Devil Puppeteer had tampered with the three-headed wolf in advance, the blood could be used by him. If he hadn¡¯t tampered with it in advance, the people who were stained with the three-headed wolf¡¯s blood wouldn¡¯t be affected.


    Gaiman and company ordered their Companion Beasts to attack the puppets, but in the next second, some were horrified at what happened.


    Strange threads appeared on the bodies of the people stained with wolf blood. The threads were like puppets that extended deep into the maze.


    The people and Companion Beasts with fine threads on their bodies found that they were no longer in control of their bodies. They seemed to be controlled by the threads as they lunged at their companions.


    Such an unforeseen event exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations. It was a mess.


    Before they could meet the Destiny Witches, they were already having in-fighting.


    The puppets also rushed forward to join the battle. The scene became extremely chaotic.


    Gaiman wanted to sever the threads on those people and see if he could save them. Unfortunately, when their weapons slashed down at the threads, they found the threads akin to flowing water. The threads didn¡¯t break under the weapons¡¯ slices.


    Zhou Wen had long expected this outcome. He pulled Wang Lu back and waited for the Devil Puppeteer to appear.


    Killing these puppets was useless. The puppeteer had countless puppets, so it was useless to decrease their numbers. He had to wait for the puppeteer to appear before killing him.


    Gaiman and company clearly realized the problem. They also wanted to find the dimensional creature controlling the puppets. One even charged in the direction of the threads.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, these actions were futile. Like Demonic Neonate, the puppeteer was very good at hiding himself. He was a fellow who liked to kill others while in hiding. It was impossible to find him by following the threads. It would only place one in danger.


    Indeed, after the person rushed over with his Companion Beast, there was quickly nothing from him. He was nowhere to be seen, not even his corpse.


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow the threads and rush over together.¡± Gaiman wrote a few words wanting to follow the threads on the puppets.


    The puppets revived after being killed. It was useless killing them anymore. They had to kill the person controlling the puppet.


    ¡°Do not go over.¡± Zhou Wen wrote on the cardboard.


    When he first encountered the puppeteer, he had suffered the same way. He thought that he could find the puppeteer by following the threads, but what awaited him was a death trap.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t go over, death awaits us. We can only go.¡± Gaiman quickly wrote.


    ¡°According to the agreement, I call the shots. Stay here. No one is allowed to go over.¡± Zhou Wen quickly wrote a line.


    ¡°Give me a reason,¡± Gaiman wrote as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I think only by staying here will there be a chance of survival. Going over will only lead to death.¡± Zhou Wen wrote.


    ¡°Staying here is the only way to die. Mr. Gaiman, don¡¯t worry about him. Let¡¯s rush over and capture the fellow who controls Old Liu and the others.¡± One person wrote a line before rushing towards the other end of the threads.


    Zhou Wen had no reason to stop others if they were suicidal. After all, their lives had nothing to do with him.


    The others were also eager to give it a try. Clearly, they felt that if this continued, unless they killed all their controlled people and puppets, there was no chance of survival.


    ¡°Give Zhou Wen a chance.¡± As Lance controlled his Companion Beasts to circle around the puppets, he rushed over and raised the board in his hand.


    As communication was inconvenient, many people wanted to say something, but they had no time to write in battle.


    Gaiman looked at the spot where the person had gone and saw that he had vanished silently like the previous person. Finally, he gritted his teeth and ordered everyone to continue resisting the puppet¡¯s attack. He gave up the thought of following the threads.


    However, their situation became worse and worse. This was because nine people had been controlled. When they fought the nine people, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for them to kill them. This resulted in them being at a disadvantage.


    Furthermore, with a large number of puppets charging at them, it became increasingly difficult for them to deal with them.

 Chapter 1022 - Carrying Her Out

    Translator: CKtalon


    Gradually, even Gaiman felt a little regretful. They could neither retreat nor advance. They were trapped by the puppets and didn¡¯t even have the chance to follow the threads.


    Someone was already injured. Although it didn¡¯t look serious, it was a very bad sign.


    Some people had no choice but to be ruthless to their companions who were controlled like puppets. If they didn¡¯t do so, they would be killed.


    However, killing a companion to survive wasn¡¯t a pleasurable thing for anyone.


    Therefore, they couldn¡¯t help but blame it on Zhou Wen. They would occasionally glare at him angrily.


    If they could speak, Zhou Wen would probably be drowned by their saliva.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care about their expressions. He had been using Truth Listener to monitor the commotion nearby, hoping to discover the puppeteer as soon as possible.


    This only made it appear as though he was ignoring their angry gazes. What was even more infuriating was that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t participating in the battle. All he did was watch from the back with Wang Lu, like a scion who had brought a beautiful lady out on a vacation.


    We didn¡¯t invite you here to hit on chicks¡­ If he could speak, Gemar would have reprimanded Zhou Wen loudly.


    Unfortunately, he could only keep it to himself. The situation was getting worse. A large number of puppets had surrounded them, preventing him from having the time to write.


    More and more people were getting injured. Gaiman was already considering a retreat. Otherwise, not only would he not be able to save the nine people controlled by the puppet, but everyone else would also die here.


    However, to sacrifice nine people just like that without having done anything after entering was unacceptable.


    In fact, many people already had the intention to retreat. The present situation didn¡¯t seem to allow them to continue.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen, who hadn¡¯t participated in the battle, moved. Everyone saw him pull out the Bamboo Blade at his waist and vanish.


    Where¡¯s Zhou Wen? Everyone looked around but didn¡¯t find Zhou Wen.


    Crack!


    A black-robed dimensional creature fell from the bell tower beside them. When it fell to the ground, its body had already been split into two.


    The puppets also stopped when the dimensional creature fell to the ground. The threads on the nine people who had been controlled fell off, restoring their control over their bodies.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    The string puppets shattered one after another. Everyone couldn¡¯t help but look up and see Zhou Wen standing on the bell tower, sheathing his Bamboo Blade.


    ¡°To Witch Castle.¡± After Zhou Wen came down, he wrote three words on a board.


    ¡°Everyone is injured. Shall we rest for a while?¡± Gaiman also wrote on the cardboard.


    The previous battle had injured most people, especially the nine controlled people. Their injuries were rather serious.


    This was because they weren¡¯t afraid of death when they were controlled. They had been risking their lives without any regard for themselves. Therefore, they were severely injured.


    ¡°Send back all those who are injured. The rest will follow me.¡± Zhou Wen wrote.


    ¡°Our injuries aren¡¯t serious. We can continue fighting after some rest.¡± The big shots who had come from those places changed their impression of Zhou Wen.


    However, when Zhou Wen said that, it was as though he treated them as a burden. It displeased them greatly.


    ¡°Time is life in such a place. We have to make the best use of every second. I don¡¯t have the time to wait.¡± After Zhou Wen wrote the words, he pulled Wang Lu towards Witch Castle.


    ¡°Old Zhao, go back now. We¡¯ll be out soon.¡± Gaiman thought for a moment and decided to let them return first.


    ¡°Go ahead. We¡¯ll recuperate here before chasing after you. Or we can meet you guys back here.¡± Old Zhao wrote.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Gaiman thought for a moment and wrote again, ¡°However, you have to be careful. If any dimensional creatures appear again, leave immediately.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Old Zhao agreed.


    Gaiman chased after Zhou Wen with the uninjured Lance, Gemar, and two other members of the Ultimate Family Clan who were slightly injured.


    Fortunately, there were no more accidents along the way. The group successfully entered Witch Castle.


    Zhou Wen had only seen cartoon versions of the witches in-game. Upon comparison, he realized that these witches were indeed rather beautiful and weren¡¯t as cute as in-game.


    ¡°Welcome to the House of Destiny¡­¡± The black-and-white witch began explaining the rules of the game just like in the game.


    ¡°Wang Lu, thank you.¡± Gaiman looked at Wang Lu and showed her the words on the board.


    Wang Lu nodded and was about to draw a card when she was stopped by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re fine? If you aren¡¯t 100% confident, you don¡¯t have to draw. I have a solution,¡± Zhou Wen asked as he wrote a few words on her palm.


    ¡°No problem. Don¡¯t worry.¡± Wang Lu also wrote on Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Only then did Zhou Wen feel relieved.


    Since Wang Lu was so confident, there shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Wang Lu walked in front of the white-robed witch and reached out to draw a card. When she flipped it open, it was the mask card.


    Her luck sure is good. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel mixed emotions when he saw the door behind the twin witches open.


    We¡¯ve finally come this far. Gaiman looked at the space behind the door. He was somewhat nervous as he led his men towards the door.


    ¡°Go back now,¡± Zhou Wen wrote on Wang Lu¡¯s palm.


    ¡°We¡¯re already here. Can¡¯t I go in and take a look?¡± Wang Lu wrote.


    ¡°No, you have to leave immediately. It will be troublesome if there¡¯s no time.¡± Zhou Wen urged her to leave the maze.


    ¡°What do you mean there¡¯s no time?¡± Wang Lu asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain it to you later. Now, you have to leave the maze immediately. You definitely can¡¯t wait for me inside,¡± Zhou Wen exhorted again.


    However, seeing Wang Lu¡¯s curious expression, he knew that she definitely wouldn¡¯t leave so easily.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before lifting Wang Lu up. Ignoring her objections, he carried her and sped off.


    After running all the way to the entrance of the maze, Zhou Wen threw her out before turning to head for Witch Castle.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Wang Lu looked hatefully at the maze door in front of her, but she wasn¡¯t really angry. She couldn¡¯t help but laugh when she thought of how Zhou Wen had carried her out.


    1


    Seeing that Old Zhao and company were still inside, Zhou Wen wrote. ¡°All of you can leave. There¡¯s no need to stay here. Otherwise, there will be danger.¡±


    ¡°We are willing to stay. There¡¯s no need for you to worry.¡± Old Zhao was very stubborn and refused to leave.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to say anything else as he headed for the garden.


    I hope Gaiman and company are fine. When Zhou Wen rushed to the garden, Gaiman and company had already entered without waiting for Zhou Wen to return.

 Chapter 1023 - Something Happens Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen passed through Witch Castle and arrived at the garden. He saw Gaiman and company standing motionless in the garden as though they were possessed.


    What happened? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Although there was a Shapeshifting Beast in the garden, with Gaiman and company¡¯s abilities, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for the Shapeshifting Beast to kill them. He had only taken about ten minutes to take Wang Lu out and return.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that Gaiman, Lance, and company had been tricked by the Shapeshifting Beast in such a short period.


    Furthermore, Gaiman and company were only standing in the garden. There were no wounds on their bodies, and there were no signs of battle around them. It didn¡¯t look like a battle had just happened.


    However, Gaiman and company stood there motionless like statues.


    Zhou Wen looked towards the center of the garden, where Gaiman and company were facing.


    There¡¯s no tree¡­ Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed.


    The other parts of the garden looked identical to the ones in-game, but there was no tree in the middle.


    There was a grave at the spot where the tree was supposed to be. In front of the grave was a tombstone, and on the tombstone was a strange mask.


    The mask was like a ghoul, but it looked a little like a clown. It was strange and comical, different from any mask Zhou Wen had seen before.


    Gaiman, Lance, and company stared intently at the mask on the tombstone. They didn¡¯t even blink. Their breathing seemed to have stopped.


    There¡¯s really a grave and mask. Frod wasn¡¯t lying. Zhou Wen sized up the mask. He activated Truth Listener and the Heaven-Opening Scripture to their limits.


    However, as he watched, he realized that he couldn¡¯t move his gaze away from the mask.


    The eye sockets of the mask seemed to be two black holes that wanted to suck away Zhou Wen¡¯s soul.


    Not good! Zhou Wen was alarmed. His first reaction was to summon Demonic Neonate, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t even summon his Companion Beast.


    It was as if there was some mysterious force blocking his thoughts, preventing him from contacting his Companion Beasts.


    Damn it, what¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have time to be shocked and angry. He first attempted to switch Essence Energy Arts. They could be used, but his body still couldn¡¯t move.


    Regardless of which Life Soul or Life Providence he used, his gaze was firmly fixated on the mask, and his body couldn¡¯t move.


    It¡¯s over! Zhou Wen became disheartened.


    Now, there was really nothing he could do.


    Zhou Wen was only glad that he had forcefully sent Wang Lu out. Otherwise, she would have died here as well.


    He switched his Life Soul to the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. The garden had an hour limit. By only being able to stand there immobile, he would definitely die once the hour was up without the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    Even with the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how long he could live.


    He didn¡¯t believe that the mask only mesmerized people into standing there. It definitely had other abilities. It might even eat people.


    I can still last for a period of time with the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, but Lance and company don¡¯t have it. If they can¡¯t leave this place within an hour, I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll die immediately. Zhou Wen estimated that there was only about forty minutes left until the hour limit in the garden.


    What can I do? Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but he couldn¡¯t think of a solution.


    He couldn¡¯t move his body or contact his Companion Beast. Although he could use his Essence Energy Arts, they weren¡¯t enough to free him from the strange power of the mask.


    As time ticked by, cold sweat broke out on Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead. As the hour was getting closer, he still couldn¡¯t think of a way to save Lance and company.


    Knock! Knock!


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard a strange sound coming from the grave. It was a very dull knocking sound.


    He kept hearing the sound because the Truth Listener earring had been on his ear the entire time. Its ability was still working, allowing Zhou Wen to hear that the sound came from the grave.


    The soil above the grave trembled and with a dull sound, the pile of soil rose as though something was about to drill out.


    I knew it. Something happens every time I enter a dimensional zone in real life. Will I be eaten by the dead this time? Zhou Wen was extremely depressed.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid because there were no such things as supernatural beings in this era. All of them were dimensional creatures. Since ghosts and gods were dimensional creatures, what was there to be afraid of?


    Knock! Knock!


    The sound from the grave continued to sound, becoming clearer and clearer. It was no longer as dull as before.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that in the grave, a strange box appeared as though some force was pushing it from beneath.


    That¡¯s a coffin? The coffins Zhou Wen had seen in the past were squarish, but the style of this coffin was somewhat strange. It was a hexagon.


    Knock! Knock!


    The sound came again, and the coffin trembled with the sound. Now, it was certain that the sound came from inside the coffin. It looked like something was about to rush out.


    Clang!


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, he suddenly heard a loud bang. The coffin lid flew up and Zhou Wen saw a hand reach out from the coffin and grab the edge of the coffin.


    It was a pale hand with slender fingers, but it was very thin as though it was malnourished.


    The fingernails weren¡¯t long, but they showed a strange jade color. They didn¡¯t look like normal cuticles.


    Soon, another hand extended out. A pair of hands pressed down on the sides of the coffin. It looked like it was using a lot of strength. Even the tendons on the back of the hands protruded.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw a head slowly rise up.


    Long hair covered his face, making it impossible to see what he looked like. From his figure, he should be a man.


    The man stood up from the coffin. His figure was about the same as Zhou Wen¡¯s. He might be slightly taller, but not much taller.


    From its appearance, it was actually a human.


    It¡¯s impossible for it to be a human. Why would a human sleep in such a place? As Zhou Wen was pondering, the person pulled back his hair with both hands, revealing his face.


    The moment he saw the face, Zhou Wen was so surprised that he nearly escaped the mask¡¯s control. This was because the face looked identical to Lance¡¯s.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to observe his figure again and realized that his figure was identical to Lance¡¯s. It was as though he was carved from the same mold.


    However, he was thinner than Lance and looked a little malnourished.


    He can¡¯t be Lance, so who is he? Zhou Wen was very sure that he wasn¡¯t Lance because Lance was just like him, standing there in a daze.

 Chapter 1024 - Masked Man

    Translator: CKtalon


    After the person came out of the grave, he looked no different from a living person. With Truth Listener¡¯s ability, it was impossible to tell if he was human.


    Crack!


    The tombstone shattered. The mask embedded in the tombstone floated up and floated in front of the man.


    The man glanced at the mask and muttered to himself, ¡°Is it finally starting again?¡±


    With that said, he picked up the mask and slowly placed it on his face. The strange mask stuck to his face as though it had fused with it.


    It didn¡¯t look like he was wearing a mask. Instead, it looked like the mask had grown on his face. It was an extremely strange feeling.


    2


    After the man put on the mask, Zhou Wen immediately felt his body regain its freedom. It was the same for Lance and the others.


    ¡°I¡¯ll ask, and you answer. Now, you can speak. The rules here won¡¯t kill you because you speak,¡± the masked man said calmly.


    ¡°Who¡­ Who are you?¡± Lance stared at the masked man and asked.


    Although he couldn¡¯t move previously, he clearly had the ability to observe the masked man¡¯s face. He was more puzzled than anyone else why the masked man¡¯s appearance was identical to his.


    The masked man didn¡¯t answer his question and instead asked, ¡°Are you a descendant of Frod?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. We are all Frod¡¯s descendants. Who are you, Sir?¡± Gaiman asked the masked man.


    ¡°None of you are. Only he is.¡± The masked man slowly raised his hand and pointed at Lance with his index finger.


    ¡°Sir, what do you mean?¡± Lance stared intently at the masked man and asked.


    ¡°Frod has an agreement with me. He will give me his descendant, and you are his descendant,¡± the masked man said.


    Although his words were odd, Zhou Wen believed them a little. This was because Lance shouldn¡¯t have been part of this operation.


    Lance had never contracted a Mythical Companion Beast before, and he had just been injured. Furthermore, with his special identity, he shouldn¡¯t have come here to take the risk.


    However, Frod had made Lance participate in this operation. For this, he had specially contracted a Mythical Companion Beast for him.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it was because Frod wanted to train Lance and give him more experience that he was allowed to carry out this mission.


    From the looks of it, it wasn¡¯t that simple. Perhaps the masked man¡¯s words were true.


    ¡°What are you talking about? There¡¯s no such thing. We are all Frod¡¯s blood relatives. Even if he really has a deal with you, it shouldn¡¯t be Lance.¡± Gaiman shielded Lance behind him, but his expression was somewhat odd.


    Although Gaiman¡¯s words were firm, he was just as suspicious as Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No, you aren¡¯t. The bloodline in you is only Frod¡¯s bloodline as a human. That means nothing to me. Only he has the bloodline of the non-human Frod¡ªthe body I need,¡± the masked man said.


    ¡°Nonsense. He¡¯s my grandson, and I¡¯m Frod¡¯s son. In terms of bloodline, I¡¯m naturally closer to Frod. Who are you? Why are you making up these lies?¡± Gaiman summoned his Companion Beasts and gestured for Lance and company to retreat out of the garden.


    ¡°The bloodline I¡¯m talking about might be a little different from what you understand, but it doesn¡¯t matter. From the looks of it, Frod doesn¡¯t plan on offering him to me,¡± the masked man said as his gaze shifted to Zhou Wen. ¡°From the looks of it, he prepared a better body for me in order to redeem the one of his bloodline.¡±


    When the masked man first spoke, Zhou Wen realized that he might have been scammed by Frod. Now that he heard the masked man say that, he no longer had any doubts. He had indeed been scammed.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Lance stared at the masked man and asked again.


    The masked man answered unhurriedly, ¡°I¡¯m not a human. I¡¯m a Guardian, the Guardian of the Maze of Lies.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? You are a human. Besides, the Guardian of the Maze of Lies has already been killed.¡± Lance naturally didn¡¯t believe it.


    The mask on the masked man¡¯s face was like a human¡¯s face. He revealed a somewhat evil expression. ¡°I only said that I¡¯m the Guardian of the Maze of Lies, but I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯m the current Guardian.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t wrong to say that I¡¯m human. This is because only by fusing with a human¡¯s body can I obtain the possibility of growth in this world. However, contracting a human is too troublesome. I still need to take care of the weak human. I hate trouble, so I chose to fuse with a human¡¯s body and wield everything at my control,¡± said the masked man.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the masked man was the opposite of Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan had fused a Guardian with his human body.


    As for the masked man, he had absorbed a human with a Guardian¡¯s body. The foundation was the same, but things were reversed.


    ¡°Are you a Guardian from the last Guardian battle?¡± Zhou Wen interjected.


    ¡°Sort of.¡± The masked man continued, ¡°Although fusing with a human¡¯s body allowed me to escape the restrictions of this world¡¯s powers on aliens, I had no choice but to face another problem. A human¡¯s body is different from a Guardian¡¯s. A Guardian¡¯s body won¡¯t age, but a human¡¯s body will age and die. I didn¡¯t want to die, so I had to change my body before I aged. Therefore, I made an agreement with Frod. I helped him obtain what he wanted. And in return, he will offer a child of his bloodline to me for my new body. According to the agreement, you have finally arrived in front of me.¡±


    With that said, the masked man¡¯s gaze looked at Lance before landing on Zhou Wen, not moving it away again. ¡°Frod has put in a lot of effort. His bloodline was originally the most suitable for me, but I never expected such a body to exist among humans. I¡¯ll accept his painstaking effort. Go back and tell Frod that I¡¯ll take this body. The agreement between us is over.¡±


    Lance, who was retreating, stopped when he heard that. He stared at the masked man and said, ¡°Ignoring the fact I don¡¯t believe such a thing exists, even if it does, this matter has nothing to do with others. This is an agreement between you and our family. Don¡¯t implicate others.¡±


    The masked man laughed when he heard that. ¡°Are you going to destroy Frod¡¯s hard work? In order to save you, he invited so many people in, hoping that I would choose another body. This is your only chance of survival. If I don¡¯t choose him, you will definitely die.¡±


    ¡°Lance, let¡¯s go.¡± Gaiman pulled Lance back.


    However, Lance suddenly summoned his Companion Beast. Wearing his Companion Beast armor, he threw a punch at the masked man. ¡°Then give it a try and see if you can snatch my body.¡±


    Gaiman was alarmed. It was too late to stop him, so he could only cooperate with Lance in an attack.


    Gemar and the other two members of the Ultimate Family Clan also attacked. Their Mythical Companion Beasts mostly had freezing abilities. All sorts of freezing beams blasted at the masked man.

 Chapter 1025 - Clue

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, the freezing beams passed through the man¡¯s body as though his body was an illusion. They didn¡¯t do a thing.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. Your strength is too weak. You don¡¯t have the right to touch me.¡± The masked man watched as Lance¡¯s fist and person passed through his body. He stood there and continued, ¡°If it wasn¡¯t because this body is too old, you wouldn¡¯t even have the right to see me.¡±


    As he spoke, the masked man¡¯s eyes focused. Just like before, Lance, Gaiman, and company immediately recovered their dazed states and were completely unable to move.


    ¡°Seeing that Frod did a good job, I¡¯ll forgive your rudeness this time, but don¡¯t do it again.¡± After the masked man said that, Lance and company immediately regained their freedom.


    ¡°This is your deal with our family. If you want a body, take mine. Don¡¯t implicate others,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°Lance¡­¡± Gaiman wanted to drag Lance away, but Lance dodged him.


    ¡°Are you really willing to let me take away your body? Do you know that although your body can continue living, your consciousness will be completely wiped away? I don¡¯t need your consciousness,¡± the masked man asked Lance with interest.


    ¡°I¡¯ll settle my own matters. There¡¯s no need for others to replace me. It won¡¯t be that easy for you to occupy my body,¡± Lance said calmly.


    ¡°From the looks of it, humans nowadays seem to have more backbone than before. Unfortunately, I¡¯ve already changed my mind. I want his body, and your body is already useless to me. I won¡¯t change my mind. It¡¯s up to you whether you leave or stay, but I want his body,¡± the masked man said as he looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t know this would happen,¡± Lance said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s not your fault.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly.


    He was already used to being in the middle of a conspiracy. If a person didn¡¯t have any wealth, even if he appeared in front of an evil person, the evil person wouldn¡¯t scheme against him. That was because there was no profit to be had.


    However, if a person had a huge treasure, no matter how far they hid, there would still be people targeting them. This was probably the reason why it was said that a man¡¯s wealth was his own ruin.


    As Zhou Wen¡¯s abilities became stronger, no matter how much he restrained himself, people would still target him. It was inevitable.


    Of course, Zhou Wen could accept it, but it didn¡¯t mean that he would forgive Frod.


    ¡°Since my life should have ended here, I¡¯ll still stay behind. Even if we really go to hell, we probably won¡¯t be lonely,¡± said Lance.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care if you want to go to hell, but I haven¡¯t lived enough. I still want to live a few more years.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, his figure suddenly vanished. He used teleportation and headed for the exit of the garden.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized that the garden¡¯s door had vanished. There was nothing beyond the garden. There was no way out.


    ¡°Only people with my permission can walk out of here,¡± the masked man said with a smile.


    ¡°Then, can I leave after killing you?¡± Zhou Wen asked bluntly.


    The masked man laughed. ¡°Of course, you can kill me and leave this place. Unfortunately, even the strongest human is as insignificant as an ant in front of me.¡±


    ¡°How would I know if I don¡¯t try?¡± Zhou Wen continued pulling out the Bamboo Blade.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight with you,¡± Lance said as he leaned over.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll attack the top while you attack the bottom,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Lance rushed over.


    Zhou Wen was behind him, but he struck the back of Lance¡¯s head, knocking him unconscious.


    ¡°Take him back. Don¡¯t get in the way here.¡± Zhou Wen carried Lance and threw him at Gaiman.


    Gaiman hurriedly caught Lance and looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. ¡°Our family has let you down. I never expected you¡­ Tell me whatever wish you have. As long as I can do it, I¡¯ll definitely help you.¡±


    Gaiman didn¡¯t know, but no matter who it was, it would be impossible for them to be as carefree as Zhou Wen. He had even taken Lance into consideration and wanted to send him out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. I¡¯m a person who distinguishes kindness and hatred clearly. This matter has nothing to do with Lance. He doesn¡¯t need to die with me, but go back and tell Frod that I¡¯ll definitely take back what he owes me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Gaiman didn¡¯t say anything else as he bowed deeply at Zhou Wen before leaving the garden with Lance.


    From his point of view, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to leave alive. In front of the masked man who was as invincible as a god, they didn¡¯t even have the ability to resist. All that awaited them was death.


    I wonder if Demonic Neonate is a match for the masked man? However, at this point in time, I can only give it a try. However, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a big problem. I can¡¯t even see Demonic Neonate¡¯s Terror form, but I can at least see this masked man. Zhou Wen closed his eyes, preventing his gaze from coming into contact with the mask, hoping to prevent his body from being unable to move.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless to close your eyes. The influence of this mask doesn¡¯t target your eyes, but your soul,¡± the masked man said with interest.


    He looked at Zhou Wen as though he was looking at a new car or house. He was filled with curiosity, but he didn¡¯t treat Zhou Wen as a person.


    Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t open his eyes and after some thought he said, ¡°Can I ask you a few questions?¡±


    ¡°On account that you are about to donate your body to me, I can try my best to answer you.¡± The masked man wasn¡¯t in a rush to take action, as though he was waiting for something.


    ¡°You participated in the last Guardian battle. Then, can you tell me what the Guardians are looking for?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to take the opportunity to pry into some secrets.


    Many powerful creatures in the dimension wanted something from Earth, but up to now, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know what they wanted.


    ¡°If you ask the other Guardians this question, even if you ask 99 of them, I¡¯m afraid none of them will know. However, you are asking the right Guardian by asking me. I¡¯m the only Guardian among a hundred who knows.¡± The masked man¡¯s answer delighted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what it is,¡± the masked man answered.


    The corners of Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes twitched as he had the urge to slap him.


    The masked man seemed to appreciate Zhou Wen¡¯s expression as he said with a faint smile, ¡°Of course I wouldn¡¯t know. This is because even the big shots of the dimensional races don¡¯t know what they are looking for. However, there¡¯s a clue. There aren¡¯t many Guardians who know this clue, and I¡¯m one of them.¡±


    ¡°What clue?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°Companion Beast, the strongest Companion Beast,¡± said the masked man.

 Chapter 1026 - Time’s Up

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Companion Beasts? Aren¡¯t dimensional creatures unable to use Companion Beasts? Why do they need them?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°Who told you that dimensional creatures can¡¯t use Companion Beasts?¡± The masked man curled his lips and said, ¡°They just can¡¯t use Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts. In dimensional zones, there are many powerful Companion Beasts, but they are just a little different from Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts. Furthermore, they are far stronger than Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°Since dimensional Companion Beasts are stronger than Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts, why are they searching for a Companion Beast on Earth?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled.


    ¡°This world is unique so no dimensional creature can understand it.¡± The masked man pondered for a moment before continuing, ¡°In any dimension, creating something out of nothing is impossible. Even in theory, it¡¯s impossible to do such a thing. However, humans have done it on Earth.¡±


    ¡°Humans can create something out of nothing? Why don¡¯t I know?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment. There didn¡¯t seem to be such powerful technology on Earth.


    ¡°Yes, every human can do it.¡± The masked man smiled at Zhou Wen. ¡°You can do it too.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out how he could make something out of nothing.


    The masked man raised a hand and pressed it against his head with his finger. ¡°It¡¯s the imagination of the brain. In the dimension, there¡¯s no such thing as ghosts and gods. Only Earth has those imaginary entities. Isn¡¯t that creating something out of nothing? What¡¯s even stranger is that the ghosts and gods in human imagination can actually result in the appearance of the corresponding creatures in the dimension. It is a mystery that has yet to be explained.¡±


    ¡°The saying of ghosts and gods originated from humans¡¯ fear of nature. It¡¯s just that humans have a richer imagination. Perhaps it doesn¡¯t mean anything. Or perhaps, it¡¯s the dimensional creatures that descended to Earth in the past. Humans saw them and treated them as ghosts and gods, so they had their legends. It¡¯s not strange to find the corresponding creatures in a dimension,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not the case. In fact, you don¡¯t know that outside this world, there¡¯s another area between this world and the dimension. That area gives birth to many dimensional creatures. The dimensional creatures in Earth¡¯s dimensional zones come from there, not from the dimension.¡±


    The masked man continued, ¡°What¡¯s even stranger is that some powerful dimensional creatures once spent a lot of energy and effort to study the region where dimensional creatures were born. They discovered something very strange.¡±


    ¡°What was that?¡± Zhou Wen naturally knew of such a place. Not only did he know about it, but he had also been there.


    ¡°The dimensional creatures born there are highly compatible with the creatures you humans imagine. Furthermore, the dimensional creatures that originally didn¡¯t exist there were actually born there after you humans used your imagination to create them.¡±


    ¡°How are you sure that dimensional creatures were born after humans used their imagination to create them? Perhaps humans have long imagined them, but you didn¡¯t discover them in the past.¡± Zhou Wen attempted an analysis.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t difficult to prove. This is because a thousand years ago, humans didn¡¯t have firearms, and the dimensional creatures born in that area didn¡¯t have firearms. When something like a pistol appeared among you humans, dimensional creatures were actually produced that wielded pistol-like weapons. Although there were very few of them and they were very rare, this is a concrete fact.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if there are many instances of this in the modern world, but before I fell asleep, such a situation had already happened.¡± The masked man continued, ¡°There are still many strange things about Earth. For example, even powerful existences at the Apocalypse grade will have their strength weakened to the level of ordinary Mythical creatures when they descend upon this world. Another example is that only human bodies can break through to a level above the Terror grade in this world. These are all very unscientific. In theory, this world is a low-level world relative to the dimension. Low-level creatures have no way of limiting high-level creatures. Even if they can¡¯t withstand the descent of high-level creatures, they can only be destroyed by high-level forces, not restrict high-level creatures. However, until I fell asleep, no expert has been able to break the rules of this world. What does that say?¡±


    ¡°It means that Earth isn¡¯t a low-level world? It could be higher than the dimension?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The dimensional experts also had such considerations, but if this world is a high-level world, there will definitely be high-level lifeforms. However, there aren¡¯t such lifeforms on Earth. And other than Earth, there aren¡¯t any lifeforms on other planets. Therefore, those big shots want to find the answer.¡± The masked man revealed a strange smile.


    The smile sent a chill down Zhou Wen¡¯s spine as he had an ominous feeling.


    ¡°Have they found the answer?¡± Zhou Wen asked nervously.


    ¡°Almost. According to their speculations, this world might give birth to a very powerful Companion Beast. As for you humans and the other dimensional creatures, you are just companion creatures of that Companion Beast,¡± the masked man said with a smile.


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he frowned and asked, ¡°Why would it be giving birth to a Companion Beast instead of a dimensional creatures¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. You have to ask the big shots of the dimension. These ideas were speculated by them. Furthermore, they guessed that once the Companion Beast appeared, this world would be destroyed,¡± the masked man continued.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know either, because I only heard the news, but didn¡¯t know their inference process. However, this matter has already reached the consensus of the various races in the dimension. They are vying for control of this place because they want to find that Companion Beast and take it for themselves. Once that Companion Beast is found, this world will be doomed.¡± The masked man looked up into the sky and said, ¡°Times up. You should be on your way. I hope you had a good time before you died. After all, I don¡¯t wish for this body I¡¯m using to have any unpleasant memories.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean time¡¯s up?¡± Zhou Wen asked the masked man.


    ¡°Time of death.¡± The masked man didn¡¯t look at Zhou Wen. He continued looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, waiting for the moment Zhou Wen died.


    However, as time ticked by, Zhou Wen remained standing there without any changes. He didn¡¯t show any signs of dying. As for the masked man, his neck seemed to ache as his expression stiffened.

 Chapter 1027 - Battle of Terror Creatures

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen knew what the masked man meant when he said the time was up. He had already been in the garden for an hour. Under normal circumstances, he would have been killed by the garden¡¯s one-hour time limit.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how he would die in reality, the masked man only wanted his body. A complete corpse was most suitable.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen had the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, so the time limit here couldn¡¯t kill him.


    The masked man looked cool by looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, but after a while, he couldn¡¯t maintain it.


    ¡°You actually have the ability to restrain taboo powers. How surprising. This is a very rare attribute. I¡¯m increasingly satisfied with your body,¡± the masked man said.


    ¡°Thank you for your affirmation of my body, but I¡¯m sorry. I also find this body pretty good. I have no intention of giving it away.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he suddenly summoned the Invisibility Cloak and put it on. At the same time, he released the ice maiden in the Chaos Bead.


    Demonic Neonate was also summoned by Zhou Wen. He hugged her and quickly retreated.


    As he had to maintain the Heaven-Opening Scripture state to prevent himself from being killed by the taboo powers here, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t teleport.


    The ice maiden had been trapped in the Chaos Bead for days. She was already gnashing her teeth in hatred. Now that she was suddenly released, she immediately felt a strange force descend on her, oppressing her body and strength.


    Sweeping her gaze, the ice maiden immediately understood something. She summoned the ice castle and used its power to provide herself protection, preventing her Terror-grade powers from being directly weakened by Earth.


    The ice castle fell and immediately smashed the garden.


    When the masked man saw Zhou Wen suddenly vanish only to have the ice maiden and the ice castle instantly appear and flatten the garden, he imagined that the ice maiden was Zhou Wen¡¯s helper.


    The masked man¡¯s eyes turned cold. The eye sockets of the mask seemed to have a strange magical power that attracted the ice maiden¡¯s soul.


    The ice maiden¡¯s gaze involuntarily looked into the masked man¡¯s eyes. However, she knew that this wasn¡¯t her wish.


    The ice maiden was alarmed as well. She imagined that the masked man had been sent by Zhou Wen to kill her, so she immediately entered her Terror form. Her entire body turned into an ice crystal as a terrifying cold wave emitted from her. Instantly, the entire garden turned into a world of ice and snow, freezing the masked man in ice.


    ¡°How dare you show off your ice-elemental Terror powers in front of me?¡± The masked man¡¯s cold voice sounded from the ice. Cracks appeared on the ice as it quickly shattered.


    In the next moment, the masked man¡¯s figure vanished.


    The ice maiden immediately erected an ice barrier to protect her body. As for the terrifying invisible blades, they crisscrossed and slashed at the ice barrier, quickly shattering it.


    The masked man¡¯s mask kept appearing in her mind, making her have the desire to look at it.


    The ice maiden was alarmed. The masked man¡¯s strength was terrifying, exceeding her expectations. She never expected Zhou Wen to find such a terrifying figure to deal with her.


    Without any hesitation, the ice maiden took out the Heaven Shrouding Bell from the ice castle and shook it in her hand.


    The hidden masked man revealed himself due to the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s sound. He staggered a few steps and revealed a solemn expression.


    A strange gray light suffused the mask, making his face look even more ferocious.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t rush out of the garden and could only hide far away. However, the Invisibility Cloak only had three minutes. After three minutes, the masked man and the ice maiden would be able to find him.


    ¡°Little Neonate, find an opportunity to kill that fellow with the mask now.¡± Zhou Wen used his mind to communicate with Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate remained motionless in his arms. She also felt that the masked man wasn¡¯t easy to deal with, so she had to wait for an opportunity.


    During the ice maiden and the masked man¡¯s fight, the Heaven Shrouding Bell and the mask emitted strange powers. Zhou Wen only saw flashes of light, preventing him from seeing their battle clearly.


    This situation was similar to the situation after Zhou Wen entered the dimension. He could only use Truth Listener and could vaguely hear the battle situation.


    The Heaven Shrouding Bell was very powerful, but the ice maiden¡¯s strength seemed to be lacking. After shaking the Heaven Shrouding Bell twice and failing to kill the masked man, her strength began to weaken.


    As for the masked man¡¯s strength, it showed no signs of weakening.


    Is the masked man that strong? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    He originally imagined that the ice maiden was a dimensional creature and should be sufficiently powerful. He never expected her to fail to suppress the masked man with the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    ¡°Although the Heaven Shrouding Bell is very strong, you are too weak. You are unable to truly use its might. It¡¯s best you give it to me and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡± The masked man actually had the intention of snatching the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    The gray light on the mask intensified as though there was an endless abyss in its eye sockets.


    The ice maiden¡¯s mind was gradually attracted by it. She could barely restrain her desire to look at the mask.


    The ice maiden clearly saw that the masked man had the bloodline of a human and a Guardian as she said coldly, ¡°How dare a hybrid scum have designs on the Heaven Shrouding Bell?¡±


    ¡°As an ice demon, you might not have any noble bloodline. At the very least, my strength is above yours. If I want you to live, you will live. If I want you to die, you will die.¡± The masked man swam through the world of ice like a phantom. When the ice maiden¡¯s frost power struck him, it only hit an illusion.


    The ice maiden¡¯s eyes became less and less resolute.


    ¡°If you hand over the Heaven Shrouding Bell now, you still have a chance of survival.¡± The masked man¡¯s figure appeared on the ice surface as though he had appeared in a mirror.


    The ice maiden¡¯s gaze began to uncontrollably look at the masked man¡¯s figure on the ice surface. Her frost powers also began to weaken.


    Ice Maiden is not going to make it¡­ Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but worry when he saw that Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t taken action. This was because his three minutes of invisibility was almost up.


    At that moment, an ice beam erupted from the ice maiden¡¯s body. An ice crystal crown formed above her head. Her figure became increasingly transparent, almost invisible.


    At the same time, the ice maiden shook the Heaven Shrouding Bell in her hand.


    ¡°Ice Demon Monarch¡¯s bloodline?¡± The masked man wore a look of surprise. Just as he finished speaking, everything in the garden was shattered by the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s power.


    The masked man, who was the first to bear the brunt of the impact, slid backward in the garden before slamming into the garden¡¯s wall. The wall collapsed and he was buried inside.


    After this strike, the ice maiden¡¯s body immediately entered a weakened state. She was unable to maintain her Terror form and she returned to her normal appearance.


    However, there was no joy on the ice maiden¡¯s face. The masked man slowly stood up amidst the rubble of the collapsed wall.

 Chapter 1028 - Ice Maiden’s Disbelief

    Translator: CKtalon


    The masked man¡¯s face looked intact, but his clothes were tattered like a beggar¡¯s.


    However, from the torn parts of his clothes, one could see that his skin was crystalline like jade. There were some strange red spots that quickly vanished.


    ¡°From the looks of it, my body has really aged. If I were at my peak, such strength wouldn¡¯t even be able to damage my clothes. I actually suffered injuries. A human¡¯s body is indeed too weak¡­¡± The masked man walked out step by step. The mask on his face seemed to be enveloped by a mysterious fog as it emitted a terrifying aura.


    He was like a devil that had walked out of hell. Even the ice maiden¡¯s expression changed.


    The ice maiden stared at the masked man and asked through gritted teeth, ¡°You have an S-grade Terror form?¡±


    ¡°As expected of the Ice Demon Monarch¡¯s descendant. You do have some keen eyesight. If it wasn¡¯t for my body being too old, your strength wouldn¡¯t have been able to injure me,¡± the masked man said indifferently, but he still walked towards the ice maiden step by step. The closer he was to the ice maiden, the more her eyes couldn¡¯t leave the mask.


    ¡°Ice Maiden, give me the Heaven Shrouding Bell.¡± Zhou Wen suddenly appeared not far from the ice maiden. Three minutes of invisibility had passed, and he couldn¡¯t hide his body any longer.


    When the ice maiden heard Zhou Wen¡¯s voice, the hate for him exceeded the influence the mask had on her. She subconsciously turned to look at Zhou Wen and raised the Heaven Shrouding Bell in her hand.


    She meant to use the Heaven Shrouding Bell against Zhou Wen, but in the masked man¡¯s eyes, it was as though she was obediently giving the Heaven Shrouding Bell to Zhou Wen.


    The masked man instantly arrived in front of the ice maiden and reached out to grab the Heaven Shrouding Bell. Before the ice maiden could react, he had already grabbed the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    The ice maiden wanted to resist, but her strength was ultimately inferior to the masked man. The masked man forcefully snatched away the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    At the instant the masked man succeeded, his expression changed drastically. In her Terror form, Demonic Neonate had appeared above him with the demonic sword in hand. It slashed at the mask.


    Crack!


    The mask was split apart by the demonic sword, leaving a crack in the middle.


    Pfft!


    Blood spewed out of the masked man¡¯s mouth as he was sent flying. The Heaven Shrouding Bell he had just snatched was snatched back by Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate held the Heaven Shrouding Bell in one hand and the demonic sword in the other as she charged at the masked man.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see her figure at all, but he could see the mask on the masked man¡¯s face being slashed open. It was about to shatter.


    Crack!


    The mask finally couldn¡¯t withstand the terrifying destructive force and shattered into pieces. The masked man¡¯s face, that was extremely similar to Lance, was revealed again.


    However, his face was devoid of color. Instead, blood spewed out of his mouth as his body rapidly aged. In the blink of an eye, he went from a young man to a middle-aged man. Then, the wrinkles on his body increased. Soon, he became an old man.


    ¡°Companion Beast¡­ A Terror-grade Companion Beast¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± The masked man¡¯s body slammed into the wall, creating a dent. His body sank in, but his eyes were filled with disbelief as he looked at Demonic Neonate, who had stabbed her sword into his glabella. It was as though he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you have no use for my body. Do you have anything to say before you die? If you have any unfulfilled wishes and it¡¯s not too troublesome, I don¡¯t mind helping you,¡± Zhou Wen said to the masked man from afar.


    Although the mask had been shattered and the demonic sword had stabbed into his skull, the masked man didn¡¯t die immediately. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare approach him to prevent himself from suffering a counterattack.


    The masked man didn¡¯t move, but the ice maiden suddenly moved. With a terrifying ice beam, she struck Zhou Wen.


    However, just as she moved, a huge creature rushed out from the calabash in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Seven strange dragon-like tentacles spewed out white liquid that blocked the ice maiden¡¯s ice beam. At the same time, it wrapped around her body.


    Another Terror-grade! The ice maiden was already speechless from shock.


    She already understood that she had been tricked by Zhou Wen and had helped him fight. However, while Demonic Neonate was dealing with the masked man, she believed that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill Zhou Wen with all her remaining strength.


    However, she never expected Zhou Wen to have another Terror-grade creature on him.


    Originally, the Seven Seas Dragon King wasn¡¯t the ice maiden¡¯s match. Furthermore, the ice element was more effective against the Seven Seas Dragon King. However, the ice maiden had expended too much of her strength, leaving her with less than thirty percent of her combat strength. She was no match for the Seven Seas Dragon King.


    Is this really Earth? The ice maiden found it unbelievable. A human actually had a Terror-grade Companion Beast and had a Terror-grade creature loyal to him. It was unimaginable.


    Seeing that the ice maiden was restrained, her body was entangled by the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s tentacles and that she was covered in the white liquid, Zhou Wen finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    However, the masked man suddenly laughed strangely. As he laughed, he said crazily, ¡°Interesting. It¡¯s really interesting. A mere human actually has a Terror-grade Companion Beast. Furthermore, he can order a Terror creature to do things. This is really interesting. Only such a body is worthy of me, the Bizarre God. I want your body.¡±


    ¡°Are you dreaming?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he ordered Demonic Neonate to quickly kill the masked man.


    1


    Demonic Neonate pulled out the demonic sword mercilessly as blood and brain matter spewed out from the masked man¡¯s head.


    Without any hesitation, Demonic Neonate brandished her sword again and cleaved open Bizarre God¡¯s head. As for the Grim Demon in the demon sword, he rushed out and opened his mouth in excitement, swallowing Bizarre God¡¯s corpse. With a few chomps, it swallowed everything.


    After swallowing Bizarre God¡¯s corpse, the demonic aura on Grim Demon¡¯s body surged. It looked like he was about to evolve.


    Demonic Neonate waved her hand and Grim Demon returned to the demonic sword. The demonic sword automatically returned to its scabbard and returned to her hand.


    That¡¯s a¡­ Guardian¡­ A Companion Beast¡¯s Guardian¡­ The ice maiden was already dumbfounded. She couldn¡¯t believe what she had seen today and felt like she was dreaming.


    An Epic human had a Terror-grade Companion Beasts; yet, this Companion Beast actually had a Guardian. What was this? It was like a fantasy story.


    Even in her dreams, the ice maiden had never imagined that something like this would happen.


    Is this fellow really human? The ice maiden had already given up struggling and looked at Zhou Wen in a daze. However, no matter how she looked at it, Zhou Wen was only an Epic human.

 Chapter 1029 - Day of the Reborn

    Translator: CKtalon


    Deep underground in Frost City, a white-haired man with a white beard walked out of the ice cavern.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally had the agreement annulled!¡± Frod was so excited that he almost roared at the sky.


    Although he had obtained what he wanted from the deal with the Bizarre God, he still fell for a trap in the end. His body fused with the ice, turning him into an undead iceman.


    Now that Bizarre God had obtained the body he wanted, the agreement was finally completed. Frod had finally regained his freedom.


    Suppressing his excitement, Frod walked out of the ice cave immediately. The moment he saw the sky and the sun, he narrowed his eyes. The long-awaited sun made him so excited that he almost cried.


    ¡°How many years has it been¡­ How many years has it been¡­ I¡¯m finally back¡­ I, Frod¡­ can finally stand at the peak of the earth again¡­¡± Frod suppressed the excitement in his heart and muttered to himself with a trembling voice.


    ¡°Father¡­ You¡­ You¡­¡± Gaiman couldn¡¯t believe his eyes when he saw Frod.


    Gaiman had rushed back to Frost City with his men because he wanted to ask Frod about the things he had heard as soon as possible. However, now that he saw Frod had returned to his human form and walked out of the ice cavern, there was no need for further questions. It was obvious that the masked man was right.


    ¡°Gaiman, where¡¯s Lance? Has he returned?¡± Frod immediately grabbed Gaiman¡¯s arm and asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s back¡­ That masked man chose Zhou Wen¡­¡± Gaiman said with a complicated expression.


    He was naturally happy that Lance hadn¡¯t died, but Zhou Wen had sacrificed himself as the price. Gaiman wanted to be happy, but he couldn¡¯t. Frod¡¯s actions were at odds with his beliefs.


    ¡°I knew it. I knew that the fellow would choose Zhou Wen. That¡¯s good. That¡¯s good. Lance is safe, and I¡¯ve regained my freedom. This is a joyous occasion for our family. Prepare the alcohol. I want to drink¡­¡± Frod was even more excited.


    Gaiman thought for a moment and sighed. ¡°Father, Zhou Wen said that he¡¯s a person who distinguishes kindness and hatred clearly. He will come for you.¡±


    Frod laughed. ¡°Come for me? I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s going to be in his next life. He has no idea how terrifying that Bizarre God is. Even the most top-notch humans are like ants in front of Bizarre God. Bizarre God only needs a mere thought to kill as many people as he wants. Although Zhou Wen is indeed very strong, he¡¯s still far from that level. Or rather, it¡¯s a power that humans can¡¯t reach.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s not talk about this anymore. Go prepare the alcohol. It¡¯s been so many years since I¡¯ve tasted alcohol. Now that I¡¯ve finally recovered my human form and saved Lance, I have to celebrate today.¡± When Frod thought of the fragrance of the alcohol, he felt a little light-headed as his saliva kept secreting.


    After he became an iceman, he no longer had any sense of taste, nor could he eat. Furthermore, he was trapped in the ice cavern. His range of movement was limited to the ice cavern.


    Although his family would occasionally visit him, the feeling was still unbearable. It almost drove him crazy.


    Frod was an alcoholic. After enduring so many years without alcohol, he only wanted to drink to his heart¡¯s content.


    As for Zhou Wen, he wasn¡¯t part of his considerations. After all, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t his descendant. It didn¡¯t matter if he died.


    Gaiman sighed inwardly and didn¡¯t say anything else. He went to prepare food and drinks for Frod. After all, it was indeed a good thing for the Ultimate Family Clan that Frod had been revived.


    Zhou Wen¡­ What a pity¡­ Gaiman shook his head inwardly.


    Under those circumstances, Gaiman felt it was a blessing for Lance to have a friend in Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen had saved Lance.


    Gaiman ordered people to prepare the best dishes and alcohol for Frod. At the same time, he arranged for the core members of his family to meet him.


    As the news of Frod¡¯s revival still needed to be kept secret, he couldn¡¯t tell all the members of the Ultimate Family Clan. He only wanted a few core members to know about it.


    Frod sat in front of the table and watched as all sorts of roasted meat and fish were served. His gastric juices were secreted crazily, almost melting his entire stomach.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the alcohol? I want alcohol. Quickly bring it over,¡± shouted Frod.


    ¡°Coming.¡± Gaiman took out the hard liquor he had kept.


    ¡°That¡¯s the smell. That¡¯s the smell. How many years has it been? I can finally drink again.¡± Frod took the alcohol and immediately opened it to smell it. Even without drinking it, the smell of the alcohol made him so happy that he almost felt inebriated.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Lance? Why don¡¯t I see him?¡± Just as Frod was about to drink, he suddenly thought of Lance. Lance was the descendant he valued the most. It was only right for him to be present at such a joyous occasion.


    ¡°Lance was slightly injured and is resting.¡± Gaiman didn¡¯t mention that Lance wasn¡¯t willing to leave and wanted to pay back Zhou Wen with his life.


    It was rare for Frod to be so happy. Furthermore, Zhou Wen was already dead. It was only a matter of time before Lance got over it. There was no need to make Frod unhappy.


    ¡°Are his injuries serious?¡± Frod asked with a frown.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. He¡¯ll be fine after resting for half a day,¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Frod was already starving when he smelled the fragrance of the roasted meat and alcohol. He couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Without any hesitation, he held the bottle and couldn¡¯t wait to pour it out. He immediately wanted to drink it.


    ¡°Today will be the day I, Frod, am reborn¡­¡± Frod was overjoyed, but he suddenly felt the bottle in his hand being pulled away by a huge force. It left his palm open, and he didn¡¯t even taste a drop of alcohol.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Frod was extremely furious. He slammed his palm on the table and glared over.


    However, when he looked over, his eyes widened and his pupils constricted. His body suddenly trembled.


    Gaiman and company also turned their heads. With a glance, Gaiman exclaimed, ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ You¡­ You aren¡¯t dead¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen held the bottle in Frod¡¯s hand as he stood in front of the door with a calm expression.


    ¡°Bizarre God¡­ You are Bizarre God, right? From the looks of it, you have been reborn. Congratulations¡­¡± Frod stood up and changed to a smile as he bowed at Zhou Wen.


    He naturally believed that Zhou Wen¡¯s body had been occupied by Bizarre God.


    Only then did Gaiman come to a realization. He carefully sized up Zhou Wen and thought to himself that it was a pity.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t look at the respectful Frod. He looked at Gaiman and said, ¡°Did you deliver the message I asked you to deliver to Frod?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already conveyed your words to Father. The agreement between you and him has been completed¡­¡± Gaiman said.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t what I said,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That was what you wanted me to¡­¡± Gaiman was about to say something when a thought suddenly flashed through his mind. Although he couldn¡¯t believe that such a thing would happen and believed that it was a delusion, he couldn¡¯t help but have one thought when he looked at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1030 - Frozen Period

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Bizarre God, if you have anything to say, you can tell me directly now. There¡¯s no need to go through another person.¡± Although Frod felt that Bizarre God was somewhat odd and had some doubts, he never expected that Bizarre God hadn¡¯t obtained Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The person who had returned was the real Zhou Wen.


    It wasn¡¯t that Frod wasn¡¯t sinister and cunning, but that he understood the power of Bizarre God too well. He had long formed the belief that Bizarre God was invincible, making it difficult for him to immediately accept anything else.


    ¡°Mr. Gaiman, did you pass on my message to him?¡± Zhou Wen ignored him and continued speaking to Gaiman.


    When Gaiman heard Zhou Wen¡¯s tone, he was even more certain of his guess. His voice trembled as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You¡­ You are Zhou Wen¡­¡±


    Frod jolted when he heard Gaiman¡¯s words. Before this, he had never thought of such a possibility, but Zhou Wen¡¯s tone and demeanor seemed to be different from the Bizarre God he knew.


    Impossible. How can a human defeat Bizarre God? It¡¯s useless no matter how many Mythical Companion Beasts one has. It¡¯s impossible for humans to win¡­ Frod couldn¡¯t accept such a possibility deep down.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not Zhou Wen, who else can I be?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Everyone was alarmed when they heard that. Frod¡¯s body trembled as he looked at Zhou Wen with a strange look.


    ¡°How did you escape?¡± Frod asked Zhou Wen in surprise. He naturally refused to believe that Zhou Wen could defeat Bizarre God. He only believed that Zhou Wen had used some strange ability to luckily escape the maze.


    However, Zhou Wen continued ignoring Frod. He looked at Gaiman and continued asking, ¡°Did you give him the message I asked you to pass on?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Gaiman answered with a strange expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and looked straight at Frod. ¡°Frod, since you¡¯ve received the message, I don¡¯t need to say anything else. Do you want to end it yourself, or do you want me to do it?¡±


    Frod¡¯s expression darkened as he stared at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I did let you down regarding this matter, but since you escaped, I can give you some compensation to end this.¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, you want me to do it?¡± Zhou Wen said to Frod.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, this is the Ultimate Family Clan. There¡¯s no benefit in fighting me here. You didn¡¯t suffer any losses anyway. I can give you a Mythical Companion Egg as compensation. Let¡¯s end this matter. This will be beneficial to both you and me,¡± Frod said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen pondered and didn¡¯t say a word. Frod thought that he was already tempted and continued, ¡°You don¡¯t need to pay any price to obtain a Mythical Companion Beast and my friendship. This will be of great help to you in the future¡­¡±


    ¡°Frod, you sold me out, and even your blood descendant, to Bizarre God to escape the ice cavern, right?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly interrupted Frod.


    Frod¡¯s expression turned somewhat nasty, but he still said, ¡°Even if I didn¡¯t send someone in, Bizarre God would still rush out of the maze when the time came. When that happened, it would only bring about an even greater disaster.¡±


    ¡°In other words, you used me to exchange for a chance to escape from the ice cavern and regain your freedom?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°What are you trying to get at?¡± Frod was getting impatient.


    ¡°I¡¯m a very fair person. Since you used me to exchange for your freedom, I¡¯ll take back what belongs to me and send you back into the ice cavern,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Who do you think you are? You are only a human, not Bizarre God. Apart from gods, no one can defeat me. Not even the Hero King from the past.¡± Frod found it difficult to control his emotions when he heard the words ¡®ice cavern.¡¯


    He had endured the ice cavern for so many years before finally escaping and being restored to a normal person. He hadn¡¯t even taken a sip of alcohol. He definitely wouldn¡¯t return to such a place.


    Frod knew that Zhou Wen was very strong. From his point of view, the fact that Zhou Wen could escape from Bizarre God was a terrifying testament to his abilities.


    However, no matter how strong Zhou Wen was, he was only a human. He still had a limit. With his strength and the Ultimate Family Clan¡¯s present heritage, there was no need for him to be afraid of Zhou Wen.


    He had even secretly decided that even if he had to pay a price, he would kill Zhou Wen here and eliminate this future threat.


    ¡°Ice Maiden.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of wasting his breath on Frod. All he did was call out the ice maiden¡¯s name.


    At that moment, everyone realized that there was a beautiful young woman standing outside the door. Her face was as cold as ice, as though someone owed her a lot of money.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Ice Maiden walked in and bowed at Zhou Wen.


    In the Maze of Lies, Ice Maiden had been forced to sign an unfair contract with Zhou Wen. All she could do was obey his orders.


    3


    ¡°Throw him into ice, but don¡¯t let him die. Don¡¯t let him escape either. Furthermore, he has to have his consciousness maintained. Can you do it?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ice Maiden answered with certainty.


    ¡°Then do it. He owes me. Don¡¯t you agree, Mr. Gaiman?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gaiman.


    Frod was already enraged. Zhou Wen had a powerful Companion Beast, so he didn¡¯t dare underestimate him. It would have been fine if Zhou Wen were to do it himself, but now, Zhou Wen had actually made a servant do it. Furthermore, she was such a young woman. This wasn¡¯t contempt, but an insult to him.


    ¡°From the looks of it, I have been out of the limelight for too many years. The world has already forgotten how powerful the former hero of ice is,¡± Frod said before Gaiman could answer. At the same time, a terrifying ice aura erupted from his body. He summoned a frost dragon that prostrated under his feet. Its body suffused with an extremely terrifying ice aura.


    The Frost Dragon was a top ice-type Mythical Companion Beast. It was perfectly compatible with Frod¡¯s ice-elemental Essence Energy. With the mutual augmentation, their strength increased greatly.


    ¡°Back then, Bizarre God only turned me into an iceman by using a trick to trigger my own power of ice. It wasn¡¯t his power of ice that surpassed mine. I want to see how you will seal me back into ice,¡± Frod said coldly.


    Ice Maiden wasn¡¯t in the mood to speak to Frod. She glanced at him and shot out an ice beam that instantly landed on Frod and the Frost Dragon.


    In an instant, Frod and the Frost Dragon beneath him were frozen into ice sculptures.


    The entire process was too fast. It was so fast that Gaiman and company had no time to react. They watched as Frod and the Frost Dragon turned into ice sculptures.


    Even Frod himself remained standing there proudly, but his eyes were filled with boundless horror.


    How is that possible? A top ice-elemental Mythical creature, Frost Dragon, was frozen into an ice sculpture? Gaiman and the other members of the Ultimate Family Clan knew how powerful the Frost Dragon was.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising if a Mythical creature defeated Frost Dragon, but to use the power of ice to freeze Frost Dragon was too terrifying.

 Chapter 1031 - Time to Collect the Debt

    Translator: CKtalon


    Who is that woman? She actually has such terrifying ice powers. Could she be the legendary Goddess of Ice? Otherwise, how could she freeze a top ice-type Mythical Companion Beast like the Frost Dragon into an ice sculpture with a single glance¡­ Such a woman is actually Zhou Wen¡¯s subordinate¡­ Father¡­ What kind of person did you plot against¡­ Gaiman¡¯s heart was filled with bitterness. He wanted to save his father, but he was afraid of bringing disaster to the Ultimate Family Clan.


    Even the Frost Dragon had been frozen into ice by the woman¡¯s casual glance. If he angered Zhou Wen, Gaiman really didn¡¯t know what the outcome would be. However, he knew very well that the outcome wasn¡¯t something he could bear. Neither could the entire Ultimate Family Clan bear it.


    The few core members of the Ultimate Family Clan present were dumbfounded. They were momentarily at a loss.


    If they had reason on their side, they might have had the courage to fight to the death, but now, they couldn¡¯t convince themselves.


    Zhou Wen looked at the frozen Frod and asked Ice Maiden, ¡°Is it possible for the ice to melt or shatter?¡±


    ¡°His body has already been frozen by me. If someone¡¯s strength is stronger than mine, it¡¯s possible to melt or shatter the ice. However, in that case, the person inside will also melt or shatter. As long as the ice isn¡¯t destroyed, he won¡¯t die,¡± Ice Maiden answered.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Zhou Wen was very satisfied with this answer. On Earth, it was very difficult to find a creature stronger than Ice Maiden.


    Furthermore, even if the person was stronger than Ice Maiden and could shatter the ice, that wasn¡¯t sufficient to let Frod live.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, on account of Lance and Sadie¡­¡± Gaiman knew that it was impossible to use force, so he could only persuade Zhou Wen.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for them, do you think he would be the only one in the ice?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Gaiman and cut him off.


    Gaiman felt his heart turn cold. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to say what he was about to say.


    Zhou Wen poured the alcohol from the bottle in his hand in front of Frod¡¯s ice sculpture and said indifferently, ¡°Continue living the rest of your life in the ice. I hope you can live a little longer.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen turned around and left. Ice Maiden followed behind him like a maid.


    The top experts of the Ultimate Family Clan were here, but no one dared to stop Zhou Wen. All they could do was watch as they left.


    No¡­ Don¡¯t leave! Let me out! I beg you, let me out¡­ Bastard¡­ Kill me if you have the guts¡­ Don¡¯t leave¡­ I beg you¡­ Let me out¡­ I haven¡¯t even taken a sip of the alcohol¡­ Let me out¡­ Frod roared and pleaded inwardly.


    In the past, when he had been transformed into an ice statue, he could still move around in the ice cavern, but now, he couldn¡¯t even blink. He was like a statue with a will. It was more torturous than killing him. He would rather die than live like this.


    Kill me¡­ Kill me¡­ Frod was on the verge of madness, but no one could hear his thoughts.


    Gaiman and the others had gathered all the experts in the Ultimate Family Clan who were proficient in ice-elemental powers. They wanted to dispel the ice, but no one was able to melt it.


    How could they know that this was Terror-grade frost powers? Unless one reached the Terror-grade, even if they threw the ice into the flames, they wouldn¡¯t be able to produce even a drop of water.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t meet Lance, Sadie, and company. He directly contacted Wang Lu, Feng Qiuyan, and Li Xuan and left Frost City with them.


    Although Zhou Wen had avenged himself, the other party was, after all, a relative of Lance and Sadie. If he were to meet them under such circumstances, it would only make both parties awkward. It was better not to meet them.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that a strange change was happening to the unconscious Lance.


    1


    A strange force surged out of his brain, causing his body to undergo a strange change.


    Bizarre God had previously said that only Lance had Frod¡¯s bloodline. This was contradictory and complicated to begin with.


    There were many people in the Ultimate Family Clan, and in fact, many of them were directly related to Frod. Lance wasn¡¯t very special among them, and he was already three generations from Frod.


    Logically speaking, in terms of purity, a first-generation descendant like Gaiman should be closest to Frod¡¯s bloodline.


    However, Bizarre God¡¯s so-called Frod bloodline wasn¡¯t determined by such ways. In fact, the human body that Bizarre God had fused with had belonged to Frod.


    It just wasn¡¯t the present Frod. Instead, it was a genetic replica created by Bizarre God using Frod¡¯s genes and humanity¡¯s gene technology.


    Although he was a genetic clone, through some means of Bizarre God, the genetic clone¡¯s body was even more perfect and outstanding than Frod¡¯s.


    However, such a genetic clone still couldn¡¯t meet the requirements of Bizarre God. Therefore, he had done something to Frod and left something in him, waiting for the perfect human body that was truly suitable for him to be born into.


    Lance was the perfect human body that Bizarre God had been waiting for. This was why he looked so similar to Bizarre God. Unfortunately, he had chosen Zhou Wen and abandoned his initial plan.


    However, Bizarre God had left something behind in Lance¡¯s body.


    1


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen and company headed for the East District. Now, Zhou Wen was roughly certain that he wouldn¡¯t be able to evolve the Glimmer Life Soul simply by going to new places.


    He planned on returning to buy some necessities for survival in space before teleporting to another planet. This might be the final condition for Glimmer to break through to the Perfect state.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that it was likely the case. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be realistic for him to advance to a Perfect Body without using Glimmer¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability.


    After the dimensional storms, space technology had stopped advancing. Although many satellites were launched later, they were basically used for information transmission.


    Humans had stopped exploring the universe. It had been a long time since humans had been able to land on the moon, much less Mars.


    It wasn¡¯t an easy task to obtain space equipment, but with Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, it wasn¡¯t too difficult to obtain it.


    After Wang Lu¡¯s analysis, Zhou Wen decided to make a trip to the Special Investigation Bureau. It was time to collect some payment for the debt. He could also get some spaceflight equipment as interest on the debt.


    According to Wang Lu, the Special Investigation Bureau had participated in quite a number of rocket launches. This was because satellites were basically unaffected by the anomalies on Earth. They were very useful for observing various parts of the Earth. Much of the intelligence was obtained through satellite imagery.

 Chapter 1032 - Shen Yuchi in a Great Mood

    Translator: CKtalon


    Shen Yuchi had been in a good mood recently. Although he had suffered heavy losses previously, the bureau was still the eyes and ears of the Federation.


    As the anomalies in the Federation intensified, Shen Yuchi made up for a lot of losses using various channels of intelligence.


    However, the main reason why Shen Yuchi was in a good mood wasn¡¯t because of this, but because of their recent discovery on the Moon.


    Although the Earth¡¯s anomalies were getting more and more serious and it was detrimental to the development of technology, it wasn¡¯t completely without benefits.


    The physique of humans had greatly improved. With a powerful Companion Beast, their survivability in space had greatly increased.


    Humans with Mythical Companion Beasts equipped with equipment like space suits could do much more in space than before.


    However, there were very few people who were willing to develop the space business. Shen Yuchi was one of the more determined ones.


    He had always believed that even in this era, technology would one day occupy an important position. In particular, Shen Yuchi had invested a lot in aerospace technology.


    Two months ago, humans had landed on the Moon again and made a major discovery.


    A dimensional zone was discovered there. Furthermore, a large number of Essence Crystals were discovered in the dimensional zone. Apart from that, they also discovered something very strange. Shen Yuchi felt that this discovery might change the Federation¡¯s present situation.


    This was because the moon landing operation was mainly pushed by the bureau. Most of the astronauts on the moon were from the bureau, so Shen Yuchi quickly enforced a news blockade.


    This will be the underlying reason for the bureau¡¯s comeback. We mustn¡¯t make any more mistakes. Shen Yuchi thought through the key details again. After confirming that there were no mistakes, he felt relieved and poured himself a cup of tea.


    Just as he picked up the teacup, but before it touched his lips, someone reported, ¡°Director-General¡­ We found¡­ found it¡­¡±


    These words were unclear, but Shen Yuchi was overjoyed when he heard them. He immediately got up and walked out of the office to the main control room of the moon landing project.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, we just received a message from the Moon. We¡¯ve finally found it,¡± an old professor said excitedly.


    Shen Yuchi held back his excitement and said, ¡°Establish comms. I want to see that thing.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± The staff member quickly connected to the communication device on the Moon. Soon, an image of a certain part of the Moon appeared on the big screen.


    A few people in space suits were inside a pit on the Moon. In the pit, there were many Essence Crystal ores.


    Shen Yuchi¡¯s gaze wasn¡¯t on the Essence Crystal ores at all. Although the reserves of the Essence Crystal ores here weren¡¯t lower than the ones in the bureau, mining and transporting them was a problem. There was no easy solution for the time being.


    Even if all of them were dug out, they weren¡¯t something that could be transported back in a short period of time.


    In comparison, something in the Essence Crystal ore was the focus of Shen Yuchi¡¯s gaze.


    It was a tree root with a tip as thick as a finger. It twisted and extended all the way into the Essence Crystal ore. The roots were as black as ink, but there were no signs of foulness.


    It was clearly black like charcoal, but it gave off a holy feeling.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. This is it. Dig it out.¡± Shen Yuchi suppressed the excitement in his heart and gave the order.


    ¡°Roger that.¡± After the astronaut received the order, he summoned a Companion Beast that looked like a rat but was as large as a bull. It continued digging towards the root.


    The Companion Beast was at the Mythical stage. Among all the astronauts, it was only one. It was also because of its existence that these discoveries had been made.


    Only Mythical Companion Beasts could survive in ordinary space environments and work normally.


    Although some Epic creatures could just about survive, it was very difficult for them to work normally.


    In the beginning, Shen Yuchi only wanted to know if there had been any changes to the Moon.


    If the Moon hadn¡¯t undergone any anomalies, perhaps he could build a base on it to prepare for a large-scale break-out of Earth¡¯s dimensional zones in the future.


    If the Federation really couldn¡¯t hold on, there was still a way out.


    With humanity¡¯s present physique, as long as they could build a sealed base, it wasn¡¯t impossible to live on the moon.


    Of course, many resources still needed to be obtained from Earth. That was only a final form of insurance.


    In the beginning, they didn¡¯t discover any anomalies or dimensional zones on the Moon. Later, when they were exploring and taking samples, they discovered an Essence Crystal mine. That wasn¡¯t much to speak off.


    While excavating for samples from the Essence Crystal mine, the Mythical Companion Beast dug up something different.


    It was a petal. It was white like snow, without any impurities. It was holy like snowflakes.


    The petal was like a fossil that was enveloped by the Essence Crystal mine, but it didn¡¯t petrify or wither. It remained bustling with vitality.


    Discovering Essence Crystal ores on the Moon and some plants was nothing.


    However, when the petal wrapped in the Essence Crystal mine was extracted, something shocking happened.


    As they didn¡¯t know what the petal was, they handled it through a Companion Beast in a sealed environment.


    The Companion Beast was a Legendary Nature Elf. Although the level of a Nature Elf wasn¡¯t high, its appearance was similar to a human¡¯s. It could do precision work, so there were many similar Companion Beasts in a typical laboratory.


    The moment the Nature Elf touched the petal, the petal melted and was absorbed by the Nature Elf. In a few hours, the Nature Elf advanced to the Epic stage.


    This discovery shocked everyone.


    Shen Yuchi immediately ordered a news blockade and continued digging the Essence Crystal mine.


    Indeed, they dug up a few more petals and carried out some experiments. The results of the experiments confirmed that these petals could indeed advance a Companion Beast.


    With just one piece, a Companion Beast could easily advance to the Epic stage.


    However, as there were too few petals, there was no way to test if the petals could advance an Epic Companion Beast to the Mythical stage.


    They did some simple research on this petal and realized that it resembled the petals of an osmanthus, an evergreen tree. However, it was unknown why such petals existed on the Moon.


    Shen Yuchi and many people from the East District immediately thought of a legend of the East District. In that legend, there was indeed an osmanthus tree on the moon.


    In order to determine if there was really such an osmanthus tree, the Mythical Companion Beast had been diligently digging over the past few days. It had finally found something.


    Just a petal is already so magical. Then what about a tree? Just the thought left Shen Yuchi¡¯s heart beating especially fast.

 Chapter 1033 - Osmanthus Tree

    Translator: CKtalon


    More and more black roots were dug out. They were already more than two meters long, but there was still no end to them.


    This made Shen Yuchi excited and nervous. He originally thought that he had dug up a broken root, but now, it looked like they had really dug up the osmanthus tree.


    However, there was something that caught Shen Yuchi¡¯s attention. When the Mythical Companion Beast was digging, it would occasionally come into contact with the roots. However, the roots weren¡¯t absorbed like the flower petals, nor did anything strange happen.


    Could it be that only the flower petals have a magical effect? Shen Yuchi was somewhat worried. If only the flower petals had an effect, how many flower petals were on the buried osmanthus tree?


    However, everything was still unknown. He had no way of confirming that the osmanthus tree was useless. He didn¡¯t know how many petals there were, so he could only continue waiting for the outcome.


    A professor wanted an astronaut to cut off a portion of the roots and conduct a simple test in the space station, but even the Mythical Companion Beast couldn¡¯t damage the roots at all.


    The result was the same when using high-tech cutting equipment. The hardness of the roots far exceeded any known matter.


    This outcome alarmed everyone, including Shen Yuchi. After all, a Mythical Companion Beast couldn¡¯t even damage it at all. What kind of existence was that tree? It was truly shocking.


    Now that there was no other way; they could only continue digging. More and more roots were dug out, and the crisscrossing was very complicated. It looked like they had really dug up the osmanthus tree.


    During the excavation, they dug up quite a number of petals. Apart from a small number used for experiments and research, most of them were stored away.


    As he saw more and more petals gathered, Shen Yuchi hated the fact that he couldn¡¯t be on the Moon himself. He wanted to be a miner and dig up all the petals.


    Such petals could bring immeasurable wealth to the bureau. Even if they couldn¡¯t be used to advance an Epic creature to the Mythical stage, the ability to advance a Legendary to the Epic stage was enough to create unimaginable wealth.


    After some research, they realized that repeated usage of the petals on the same Companion Beast had reduced effects. Different Companion Beasts underwent different levels of evolution using the same petal.


    Epic Companion Beasts would have their stats enhanced to a certain extent¡ªsomething which could be seen from the experiments.


    The Mythical Companion Beast kept digging. After a period of time, it finally dug to the trunk of the osmanthus tree. The trunk was also pitch-black like ink. Based on what had already been dug out, it was probably more than ten meters in diameter.


    A giant tree with a diameter of more than ten meters. When it¡¯s in full bloom, how many osmanthus flowers will it produce? Everyone was pleasantly surprised when they saw the tree¡¯s size.


    Even if only one-thousandth of the flowers produced by the osmanthus tree was preserved, it was still an unimaginable number.


    They impatiently ordered the Mythical Companion Beast to continue digging, but not long after, they realized that the tree trunk had reached its end.


    ¡°That¡¯s all¡­ How can there be nothing¡­¡± Shen Yuchi¡¯s expression was somewhat ugly.


    From the communication video, one could see that the huge osmanthus tree was in fact only a stump. The parts above seemed to have vanished.


    The Companion Beast continued digging in the vicinity, but it only discovered sporadic petals. It didn¡¯t find the snapped trunk.


    On the tree stump, there were also obvious signs of cleaving. It proved that this mysterious and huge osmanthus tree hadn¡¯t been cut off by a natural disaster. Instead, some creature had chopped it down.


    Even the strength of a Mythical Companion Beast can¡¯t injure the tiny roots at all. What kind of creature can chop through such a thick tree trunk? Shen Yuchi was alarmed just thinking about it.


    Thankfully, there were no traces of dimensional creatures nearby. Furthermore, even if the main trunk was gone, there were still some scattered petals nearby. To the bureau, being able to gather these scattered petals already meant a huge fortune.


    Furthermore, the tree stump might be of great value. Otherwise, there was no need for the mysterious creature to have taken it away. All he needed to do was remove the petals. There was no need for him to have gone through the trouble of chopping the tree.


    The excavation continued. Every day, they would dig out at least ten petals. Sometimes, they would dig out dozens.


    This excited the bureau and the researchers. After all, these petals didn¡¯t just represent Epic Companion Beasts.


    Some Legendary Companion Beasts with very useful skills or Life Providences couldn¡¯t be used due to their low levels and poor stats.


    With these osmanthus flowers, they could raise these select Legendary Companion Beasts to the Epic stage and make up for their stats. They could even give birth to powerful Life Souls.


    Having the osmanthus flowers was equivalent to having infinite possibilities.


    Everyone felt that they would gain a huge harvest from this lunar expedition, but on this day, as the Mythical Companion Beast continued digging the tree stump in the bid to dig out all the parts of the tree stump and think of a way to transport it back to Earth¡ª


    The communications between Earth¡¯s command center and the lunar space station came to an abrupt halt. No one knew what had happened. The researchers tried everything they could to contact the Moon, but there was no news from them. They had no way of knowing what had happened.


    ¡°Professor, can you think of a way to use the existing satellites to record the situation of the space station and the tree stump?¡± Shen Yuchi asked the old professor beside him.


    The old professor said with a heavy expression, ¡°It¡¯s easy to use satellites to scan the space station, but the tree stump is in a position that can¡¯t be captured.¡±


    ¡°Use the satellite to scan the space station first,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°We¡¯re already trying, but we need to wait for our satellites to reach a predetermined orbit. Otherwise, we can only rely on other satellites¡­ I¡¯m afraid it will leave traces¡­¡± the old professor said.


    ¡°How long will it take for our satellites to capture the space station?¡± Shen Yuchi asked with a frown.


    ¡°It should be around three hours and forty minutes,¡± the old professor answered.


    Shen Yuchi pondered for a moment before saying a word. He didn¡¯t wish to attract anyone¡¯s attention. ¡°Wait.¡±


    Time ticked by. Everyone waited nervously. When the satellite reached the required orbit, they immediately got busy.


    Soon, the picture near the space station was sent back.


    When they saw the picture, everyone was horrified. The entire space station base had sunk into a deep pit, and the deep pit looked like the footprint of some animal.


    The space station seemed to have been flattened by a creature.


    There¡¯s a terrifying dimensional creature on the Moon¡­ Everyone had ominous thoughts.

 Chapter 1034 - Space Suit

    Zhou Wen, Wang Lu, and company headed for the Imperial Capital. Along the way, they encountered quite a number of break-out creatures. Unfortunately, their levels weren¡¯t too high. Without needing him to do anything, they were easily dispatched by Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan.


    The last time Zhou Wen had gone to the Imperial Capital, he was nearly killed by Xia Jiuhuang and the Guardian in the log. He had even fled from Forbidden City in a sorry state. He hadn¡¯t even dared stay in the Imperial Capital for long as he fled back.


    Now, it was different. Ignoring Demonic Neonate and the Seven Seas Dragon King, with the Terror-grade Ice Maiden around, it wouldn¡¯t be easy for the Guardian in the log to touch him.


    After Ice Maiden was restrained by the Seven Seas Dragon King, Zhou Wen used Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s Death List to get Ice Maiden to sign her name.


    Although it wasn¡¯t easy to use Death List on the Terror-grade Ice Maiden, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried that she would go back on her word and attack him.


    The sole reason was because the Heaven Shrouding Bell had been taken away by Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen had tried to get the Heaven Shrouding Bell back, but to his surprise, he realized that the Heaven Shrouding Bell had been devoured by Demonic Neonate just like the Demonic Sword. It became Demonic Neonate¡¯s skill, which also meant that it was a part of her. He couldn¡¯t retrieve it at all.


    As long as Demonic Neonate shook the Heaven Shrouding Bell, no matter how ferocious Ice Maiden was, she would obediently surrender without any chance of resisting.


    As for Grim Demon inside the Demonic Sword, he had actually begun evolving independently after devouring Bizarre God. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what changes he would undergo after his evolution.


    Logically speaking, when Demonic Neonate evolved, as a part of the Demonic Sword, Grim Demon should already have gained the ability to transform into a Terror form. Now that it had evolved alone, it was unknown what its outcome would be.


    Ice Maiden didn¡¯t wish to be trapped in the Chaos Bead, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t force her to enter. Since she couldn¡¯t escape, he decided to let her move freely.


    ¡­


    When he arrived at the Imperial Capital again, Zhou Wen swaggered into the city with Wang Lu without deliberately hiding his whereabouts.


    ¡°Director-General¡­ Zhou Wen¡­ Zhou Wen has come to the Imperial Capital¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen entered the Imperial Capital, the bureau had already been made aware.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing in the Imperial Capital?¡± Shen Yuchi felt a headache when he heard that.


    In the past, he had yearned for Zhou Wen to come to the Imperial Capital so he could capture him.


    But now, there was no point in capturing Zhou Wen. Even if there was meaning, how many people in the world could capture him?


    Based on the information the bureau had, even a ranked Guardian might not be able to capture Zhou Wen if they wanted to. Furthermore, the bureau didn¡¯t have such a figure.


    ¡°Pay attention to his whereabouts, but don¡¯t follow him directly. You just need to use the surveillance equipment network on Imperial Capital Street. If he wants to leave your line of sight, there¡¯s no need to determine his whereabouts,¡± Shen Yuchi said after some thought.


    Not long after, the inspector ran back and said with a strange expression, ¡°Director-General¡­ He seems to be heading for our bureau¡¯s headquarters¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s coming to the bureau?¡± Shen Yuchi frowned.


    ¡°He¡¯s already passed Sky Street and is heading east. If he¡¯s heading this way, the chances of him coming to our bureau are the highest,¡± the inspector said.


    ¡°East of Sky Street¡­ It looks like he really wants to come to the bureau. Is he alone? Is there anyone else with him?¡± Shen Yuchi asked again.


    ¡°He¡¯s also carrying a girl who looks about two years old. Wang Lu, Feng Qiuyan, and Li Xuan, who entered the Imperial Capital with him, went to the Wang family residence. They didn¡¯t join him,¡± the inspector hurriedly said.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen headed for Sky Pass. Sky Pass was a dimensional zone in the Imperial Capital, as well as the location of the bureau¡¯s headquarters.


    As Sky Pass was protected by powerful dimensional zone taboos, outsiders had no way of entering it alive. Even if the inspectors wanted to enter the Sky Pass, they needed permission from the higher-ups. They couldn¡¯t enter freely, or they would be killed by the taboo power of the Sky Pass.


    Zhou Wen arrived at a fork in the road and saw a middle-aged man passing by. He went over and asked, ¡°Uncle, is Sky Pass ahead?¡±


    ¡°You want to go to Sky Pass? Do you know what kind of place it is?¡± The middle-aged man sized up Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°I heard that it¡¯s the bureau¡¯s headquarters. I want to buy something there,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Buy something from the bureau¡¯s headquarters?¡± The middle-aged man was even more surprised. He looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Do you know what the bureau does?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure. I heard that there are quite a number of good things there that I¡¯d like to buy.¡± Zhou Wen asked again, ¡°Do you know which way the bureau is?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m about to head to the bureau. If you want to go, come along,¡± the middle-aged man said with interest.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhou Wen said gratefully.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. It¡¯s on the way. What do you want to buy from the bureau?¡± The middle-aged man was very curious.


    The bureau¡¯s headquarters wasn¡¯t a good host. It was difficult to enter, but it was even harder to leave. No one would go to such a place for no reason. If it wasn¡¯t necessary, the middle-aged man wouldn¡¯t have gone to the bureau.


    ¡°I want to buy some space equipment,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The middle-aged man was even more interested when he heard that. He said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Are you interested in space exploration?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not too interested. I just want to go into space on a tour,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Tour?¡± The middle-aged man shook his head and said with grimace, ¡°Current space technology hasn¡¯t developed to the point where we can travel freely in space. However, as the human physique improves, what was only possible for highly-trained astronauts is now possible as long as they are at the Legendary stage even without any training. However, it would be a waste of manpower and resources just for traveling.¡±


    ¡°Are you an expert in this area?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the middle-aged man and asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t be considered an expert. You can call me a businessman. My company specializes in producing space suits for astronauts,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Space suits? Then does your company sell equipment like space cabins that can allow ordinary people to survive in space for a period of time?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°No, that kind of thing involves too much technology. It can¡¯t be done. Our company¡¯s space suits are alright. If you are interested, you can visit our company later. It¡¯s best not to go to a place like the bureau,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Uncle, how may I address you? Why are you going to the bureau?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the middle-aged man and asked.


    The middle-aged man roughly explained his situation as they walked. His name was Tang Zhizhong. Previously, the bureau had been in a partnership with their company. The space suits used were all products customized by their company.


    Over the years, their space suits had never had any problems. Their research team had also been researching and developing better and more practical space suits. They could be said to be the top space suits manufacturers in the Federation.


    However, some time ago, the bureau¡¯s partnership with them ended and they switched to using another company¡¯s products. Even the batch of space suits they had previously ordered were rejected for various reasons.


    Tang Zhizhong originally thought that there was a problem with his product, but after asking around, he realized that it wasn¡¯t the case.

 Chapter 1035 - Surrender

    Translator: CKtalon


    Another company seemed to have used their connections to obtain the order from the bureau.


    Tang Zhizhong also acquired the other company¡¯s space suits to do a comparison test. He found that their space suits were not as good as his company¡¯s, which made Tang Zhizhong very angry.


    Furthermore, the space suits that the bureau had ordered previously would have a huge impact on Tang Zhizhong¡¯s company if they didn¡¯t take receipt of the goods. It might even collapse.


    There weren¡¯t many technology companies nowadays, and it was very difficult for them to survive. Tang Zhizhong came this time because he hoped that the bureau could take receipt of the batch of space suits according to the contract. It didn¡¯t matter if they stopped the partnership in the future.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting tougher and tougher for technology companies these days. If I can ride through this ordeal, I¡¯m prepared to close down the business. There¡¯s no future if I continue. Even if I don¡¯t go bankrupt this time, it will eventually happen in the future. Young people nowadays only want to enter a dimensional zone to obtain Companion Beasts. No one¡¯s dream is to explore the universe,¡± Tang Zhizhong said with a sigh.


    ¡°How long can your company¡¯s space suits last in space?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That depends on the environment. There are so many terrifying phenomena in space that it wouldn¡¯t be of much use even if you wore a space suit. The primary use nowadays is in places like the Moon and space stations. If it¡¯s in a relatively safe area on the Moon, as long as there¡¯s enough oxygen, food, and water, the space suit I manufacture won¡¯t have any problems generally speaking, for a year or two. As long as the life support system isn¡¯t destroyed, there¡¯s no need to worry about survival.¡± When Tang Zhizhong mentioned the space suit, he immediately became extremely confident.


    ¡°Can I eat and drink while wearing a space suit?¡± Zhou Wen asked Tang Zhizhong. At the same time, he thought to himself, Going to the moon seems like a good idea. It won¡¯t be difficult to use the Chaos Bead to carry enough oxygen, food, and water for a month.


    ¡°Of course. Our company has been constantly researching and improving space suits. We can do all the daily necessities like eating, drinking, and defecating in space suits. However, the premise is that we have enough supplies. The life support system of space suits can¡¯t carry that many reserves¡­¡± As the two of them spoke, they had already arrived outside Sky Pass.


    ¡°How many space suits did the bureau order from you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°110 sets,¡± Tang Zhizhong answered.


    ¡°Where are those space suits now?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he sent a message to Wang Lu, asking her to help investigate Tang Zhizhong¡¯s company.


    ¡°They are still in the warehouse. The bureau has been looking for all sorts of reasons to not take receipt of them. I only hope that they will take the space suits even if I¡¯m required to kneel and kowtow. There are so many employees in the company who are counting on the space suit payment for their wages,¡± Tang Zhizhong said with a long face.


    After receiving Wang Lu¡¯s message, Zhou Wen said to Tang Zhizhong, ¡°Uncle Tang, bring the space suits over. I guarantee that the bureau will accept them.¡±


    ¡°Are¡­ Are you serious?¡± Tang Zhizhong looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief. Zhou Wen was so young, and he was clearly not a local. It was difficult for him to believe that Zhou Wen had such great power.


    ¡°You should know very well that it¡¯s impossible for the bureau to take receipt of your space suit. If you believe me, there will still be a chance. If you don¡¯t believe me, there won¡¯t be a chance at all.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the time on his phone. ¡°I¡¯ll give you an hour. If you can send the space suits over, I guarantee that the bureau will take receipt of them and pay you accordingly. The premise is that I have to see those space suits with my own eyes.¡±


    ¡°May I know who you are?¡± Tang Zhizhong looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°Does it matter who I am? Time waits for no one. You only have 59 minutes left.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the time again.


    ¡°Please wait. It won¡¯t take an hour. I¡¯ll get someone to deliver them in half an hour.¡± Tang Zhizhong also knew that there was almost no chance of success going to the bureau to ask for money. He was just giving it a shot.


    Tang Zhizhong made a call and contacted his staff to get them to deliver the space suits over as soon as possible.


    ¡­


    Sky Pass was also known as the number one pass in the world. It was a very famous and unknown dimensional zone in the Imperial Capital.


    The reason why this place was famous was that in the decades since Sky Pass became a dimensional zone, no one had been able to enter Sky Pass through the main entrance. Later on, someone discovered a special method to bypass the main entrance and enter.


    And the person who discovered this method was the bureau¡¯s director-general, Shen Yuchi. Therefore, this place later became the bureau¡¯s headquarters.


    It wasn¡¯t famous because other than the members of the bureau, very few people could enter Sky Pass. Very few people knew what was inside.


    Zhou Wen stood in front of Sky Pass and saw a majestic city gate tower. However, the city wall was forty meters tall. On the tall signboard, there were four majestic words: ¡°World¡¯s Number One Pass.¡±


    Typical city gates opened on both sides outwards, but the city gates here didn¡¯t have two panes. They looked like they were one entity without any gaps.


    Legend had it that this was an unbreachable door. Back then, Sky Pass was very famous. Many experts hoped to be the first to enter.


    Unfortunately, even if they attacked Sky Pass with Mythical Companion Beasts, no one could break through the city gates.


    Up to now, the city gates of Sky Pass had never opened.


    ¡°Bro¡­ No, no¡­ Young¡­ Sir¡­ Who are you related to in the bureau? Can you really help us get the bureau to take receipt of the space suits?¡± Tang Zhizhong asked nervously after ending the call.


    ¡°Many people in the bureau know me, including Director-General Shen Yuchi,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    2


    Tang Zhizhong was overjoyed when he heard that. ¡°That¡¯s great. Our company is saved. Sir, what¡¯s your name? What¡¯s your relationship with Director-General Shen? Are you his relative?¡±


    Tang Zhizhong wondered if Zhou Wen was Shen Yuchi¡¯s son. Otherwise, how could he get the bureau to so easily take receipt of his space suits?


    To his surprise, Zhou Wen said, ¡°Director-General Shen and the bureau have been trying to arrest me for a long time. My arrest warrant should still be hanging on Director-General Shen¡¯s wall, I guess?¡±


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ Are you joking?¡± Tang Zhizhong was somewhat dumbfounded as he looked at Zhou Wen in a daze.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer. He stood in front of Sky Pass and looked at the guards on the city gate tower.


    Tang Zhizhong traced his gaze and saw rows of inspectors standing on the city gate tower that only had a few guards. All of them were pointing their guns at them.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, why are you here at the bureau?¡± the leader of the people on the city gate tower said to Zhou Wen from above.


    Tang Zhizhong recognized that person. He was one of the four Censors under Shen Yuchi¡ªYu Guang. Although he was in the Imperial Capital, he was still a famous person.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you always wanted to arrest me? I¡¯m here to surrender myself.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hands as though he was waiting to be handcuffed.


    Tang Zhizhong was already dumbfounded. Even a fool could tell that Zhou Wen was really a wanted criminal of the bureau, but how could a wanted criminal be so foolish as to surrender himself?

 Chapter 1036 - Cold-Faced Hades

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Surrender?¡± Countless question marks appeared over Yu Guang¡¯s head.


    As for Shen Yuchi and the bureau¡¯s top brass who were watching everything through the surveillance cameras, their expressions turned very strange.


    At this moment, only an idiot would believe Zhou Wen when he said that he wanted to surrender. If he really wanted to surrender, he should have come a long time ago. Why would he wait until now?


    ¡°Director-General, what should we do?¡± Yu Guang whispered to Shen Yuchi through the communicator.


    ¡°Director-General, you mustn¡¯t let Zhou Wen in. This must be his scheme to overthrow our bureau,¡± a director immediately warned.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That Zhou Wen can¡¯t enter Sky Pass, so he¡¯s trying to use such a method to sneak in. He definitely wants to kill us. We definitely can¡¯t let him in.¡±


    ¡°Director-General, Zhou Wen is Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. We have to be wary!¡±


    The bureau¡¯s brass were surprisingly unanimous. They definitely couldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen in.


    The average person might not know how terrifying Zhou Wen was, but what kind of place was the bureau? This was where the ears and eyes of the Federation were. They knew Zhou Wen better than anyone else.


    It could be said that Zhou Wen¡¯s file was ranked one of the highest in the Federation. It was ranked alongside Jing Daoxian, Wang Mingyuan, and a few others. Even the Federation¡¯s Senators¡¯ files weren¡¯t as confidential as Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    They knew very well how terrifying Zhou Wen was. The information they had obtained from their investigations was shocking. Anyone who had read the information would no longer treat him as an undergraduate unless they had a screw loose.


    Shen Yuchi was naturally the one in the bureau with the deepest understanding of Zhou Wen, so he felt a headache coming on.


    Shen Yuchi naturally didn¡¯t believe a word of Zhou Wen¡¯s claims of surrendering. However, Zhou Wen had already come to the bureau. Would he leave so easily?


    ¡°Put him at ease first. Find out what he wants.¡± Shen Yuchi ordered Yu Guang. He knew that escaping was definitely not a solution. He had to think of a way to resolve the problem.


    Tang Zhizhong was at a loss and didn¡¯t know what to do.


    Zhou Wen was actually a wanted criminal of the bureau. Furthermore, he had a screw loose and wanted to surrender.


    Everyone knew that the bureau was unreasonable. As long as one¡¯s brain wasn¡¯t damaged, they wouldn¡¯t turn themselves in. Even if they felt bad and chose to commit suicide to atone for their sins, they wouldn¡¯t turn themselves in.


    It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. I actually believed the words of a lunatic and even got someone to send the space suits over. Isn¡¯t this asking for trouble? Tang Zhizhong was already a little afraid.


    The bureau had already made up its mind to break the contract. If they found an excuse to arrest him along with this lunatic, he might lose his life, much less money.


    Just as Tang Zhizhong was feeling alarmed, he heard Yu Guang speak from the top of the city gates.


    Tang Zhizhong was no stranger to Yu Guang. He was one of the four Censors of the bureau. Apart from Cai Jin who had died previously, he was the most senior.


    Furthermore, Yu Guang was the head of the General Affairs Department. All sorts of matters in the bureau needed to go through him.


    The matter of the space suits also had to go through Yu Guang, only he was only responsible for the final decision. There were still plenty of officers under him, so Tang Zhizhong had had no chance to personally discuss this matter with Yu Guang.


    Previously, he had come here a few times wanting to meet Yu Guang to clarify the matter about the space suit. However, Yu Guang wouldn¡¯t see him at all and only let Tang Zhizhong talk to the officers under him.


    Yu Guang also had another nickname, Cold-faced Hades. From this nickname, one could tell what kind of person he usually was.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s been a misunderstanding. Our bureau has never had a warrant for you, and you aren¡¯t a criminal.¡± He paused for a moment before saying, ¡°I¡¯ve heard some things about you. You are a good student with excellent grades and morals. You are humble and sincere. You have contributed a lot to our Federation, so why is there a need for you to surrender?¡±


    4


    Tang Zhizhong listened to Yu Guang and then looked at the kind face Yu Guang was wearing. He almost thought that he had recognized the wrong person.


    Is this really the Cold-faced Hades, Yu Guang? Tang Zhizhong sized up Yu Guang again and again to confirm that he had not misidentified him. It was Cold-faced Hades, Yu Guang. There was no mistake about that.


    ¡°There¡¯s no misunderstanding. I¡¯m guilty. I feel bad and wish to redeem myself,¡± Zhou Wen said with a serious expression.


    ¡°See that? This fellow is just looking for trouble. He wants to enter Sky Pass and kill us. We definitely can¡¯t let him in,¡± a director shouted from the office.


    ¡°Yu Guang, figure out his intentions first.¡± Shen Yuchi frowned slightly, but he didn¡¯t panic.


    The world¡¯s number one pass wasn¡¯t an empty title. No matter how strong Zhou Wen was, it was impossible for him to forcefully enter Sky Pass.


    It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. It wasn¡¯t easy for Cold-faced Hades to show kindness and say something humane. Yet, this punk actually wants to court death! Tang Zhizhong¡¯s expression was ashen. He felt Yu Guang definitely wouldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen off after what he said. He would capture him first before deciding if he was guilty or not.


    However, to his surprise, Yu Guang turned even friendlier. His smile became even more amiable. ¡°The Special Investigation Bureau isn¡¯t a law-enforcement organization. If you really want to surrender yourself, you should go to the police station. However, I know your character. You are a promising youth and a future pillar of the Federation. You¡¯re not the kind of person to commit crimes. Did you encounter any difficulties? If you have any difficulties, tell us. The Special Investigation Bureau is a ministry under the Federation. We have the obligation to resolve the problems for federal citizens¡­¡±


    Tang Zhizhong listened in a daze and felt that he was dreaming.


    The bureau isn¡¯t a law-enforcement agency? It is obligated to help federal citizens resolve their problems? Is this still the bureau I know? Is this still the Cold-faced Hades I know? Tang Zhizhong suddenly realized that the young man in front of him might not be a lunatic.


    Just as Yu Guang was trying his best to persuade Zhou Wen, trucks quickly drove over from afar. It was Tang Zhizhong¡¯s company delivering the space suits over.


    The trucks drove very quickly and soon, a row of trucks had stopped not far from Tang Zhizhong.


    A middle-aged man jumped out of the truck eagerly. As he ran to Tang Zhizhong, he asked loudly, ¡°Old Tang, what¡¯s the situation? Is the bureau willing to take receipt of this batch of goods? After you gave the instructions, I delivered the goods here as quickly as possible. How do we do the handover?¡±


    ¡°No, the bureau didn¡¯t agree to take receipt of our goods,¡± Tang Zhizhong said.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t agree to take receipt of them? Then why did you get us to deliver the goods here?¡± Many of the factory employees got out of the trucks and surrounded Tang Zhizhong, looking at him eagerly.


    They were all hoping that they would be paid after the goods were accepted. They needed to support their families.


    ¡°This Mr. Zhou said that he can get the bureau to take receipt for us,¡± Tang Zhizhong said with a complicated expression as he pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°He¡¯s from the bureau?¡± Everyone looked at Zhou Wen. They found it unbelievable when they saw how young he was.


    ¡°No¡­ No¡­ He¡¯s a criminal who wants to surrender¡­¡± When Tang Zhizhong spoke, his expression became even stranger.

 Chapter 1037 - Brazen Extortion

    ¡°Surrender? Criminal?¡± Everyone looked at Zhou Wen and Tang Zhizhong in surprise.


    ¡°Old Tang, is this the time for jokes? Everyone is waiting for this sum of money.¡± The middle-aged man who came first thought that Tang Zhizhong was joking.


    Tang Zhizhong grimaced, unsure how he could explain the situation. At this moment, Zhou Wen said to Yu Guang on the city gate, ¡°I did encounter some difficulties. Is your bureau really willing to help me?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s our duty as the bureau to resolve the problems for federal citizens. If there are any difficulties, feel free to tell us. As long as it¡¯s within the scope of our authority, we will definitely uphold justice for you¡­¡± Yu Guang said righteously like an impartial Justice Bao from ancient China.


    ¡°Old Tang, that person seems to be Yu Guang, right?¡± The middle-aged man looked at Yu Guang with uncertainty. He knew Yu Guang, but wasn¡¯t too sure today.


    ¡°It¡¯s Yu Guang alright.¡± Tang Zhizhong nodded.


    ¡°But why would Yu Guang¡­¡± The middle-aged man was doubtful as his eyes were filled with puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s because of him.¡± Tang Zhizhong looked in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction and whispered to the middle-aged man, ¡°Perhaps they will take receipt of our space suits this time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been very interested in space suits recently. I want to buy a few space suits to study. Perhaps I can contribute to the Federation¡¯s aeronautical industry. However, as you know, I¡¯m just a poor student. I don¡¯t have much money to begin with, and I¡¯ve always been wanted by your bureau. I don¡¯t have the money to buy space suits¡­¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Director-General, what should we do?¡± Yu Guang realized that Zhou Wen was blatantly extorting them. He had no choice but to seek Shen Yuchi¡¯s advice again.


    Shen Yuchi looked at Tang Zhizhong and the others through the surveillance monitor and asked with a frown, ¡°That should be Tang Zhizhong from the Tang Aerospace, right? I remember that he has always been a space-suit supplier for our bureau¡¯s space program. What¡¯s going on with them?¡±


    Immediately, a director stood up and said, ¡°Director-General, it¡¯s like this. We recently changed space-suit suppliers, so we have some differences in contract with Tang Aerospace.¡±


    ¡°Tang¡¯s space suits have always been of high quality. Why did we switch suppliers?¡± Shen Yuchi asked with a frown.


    Everyone immediately fell silent. Shen Yuchi pointed at them with his finger, but he didn¡¯t say a word. Finally, he said into the communicator, ¡°You know how to deal with the matter regarding Tang Aerospace, right?¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Yu Guang replied. He hurriedly said to Zhou Wen, ¡°It¡¯s our duty to support the development of young talents. The bureau has many advanced space suits. If you are interested in studying them, I can make the decision to give you a few.¡±


    ¡°I heard that Tang Aerospace¡¯s space suits are currently the best and most advanced in the Federation. I¡¯m more interested in theirs,¡± Zhou Wen added.


    ¡°That¡¯s easy. Tang Aerospace is our bureau¡¯s space suit supplier. We just ordered a batch of space suits. If you want them, I can sponsor a few sets for you,¡± Yu Guang immediately said.


    ¡°Are you talking about this batch?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he pointed at the trucks.


    ¡°Yes,¡± said Yu Guang.


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a problem with this batch of goods. You haven¡¯t taken receipt of them yet. Could there really be a problem?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a rumor. Tang Aerospace¡¯s space suits have always been of high quality. There¡¯s definitely no problem. We were just about to acknowledge receipt,¡± Yu Guang said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Then quickly take receipt. You have to check the goods carefully. I don¡¯t want any inferior products,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Yu Guang had no choice but to send someone to check the goods. The entire process went surprisingly smoothly. In less than ten minutes, the inspection was completed on the spot and the goods were collected.


    Tang Zhizhong and the other employees of Tang Aerospace felt like they were dreaming.


    After taking receipt, the bureau didn¡¯t dare move the space suits inside the trucks into Sky Pass. They were afraid that Zhou Wen would take the opportunity to rush in when Sky Pass opened.


    ¡°There are so many space suits. Are you planning on giving them all for my research? The bureau sure is generous.¡± Zhou Wen gave a thumbs up before saying to Tang Zhizhong, ¡°These space suits were given to me by the bureau. Please help me send them to this location. Is there a problem?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ No problem¡­¡± Tang Zhizhong took the slip of paper with the address written on it and hurriedly ordered the employees to reload the trucks with the space suits.


    The bigwigs from the bureau were depressed. That was more than a hundred sets of space suits. They needed to pay a large sum of money for them. Although it wasn¡¯t a huge sum to the bureau, they were still displeased that Zhou Wen had taken them all.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, thank you. Thank you so much.¡± Tang Zhizhong brought a few company executives over to thank Zhou Wen.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. They were bought by the bureau. It has nothing to do with me. Just help me deliver them to the place,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, don¡¯t worry. We promise to deliver them to your requested location. This is my number. If there¡¯s any problem with the space suits in the future, call me at any time. Even if the company closes down, I will provide you with after-sales service.¡± Tang Zhizhong handed his number to Zhou Wen with both hands.


    ¡°Alright, you may leave.¡± Zhou Wen took the slip of paper with the number written on it and looked at Yu Guang. He had no intention of leaving.


    Although the space suits could resolve the problem regarding his survival in space, they could only be used in relatively safe areas. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if he could teleport to a safe area, so he wanted more.


    Helping Tang Zhizhong and the rest was just a matter of convenience. This small price was not enough to settle his grudge with the bureau.


    ¡°Actually, I¡¯m also very interested in a space station. I want to study it¡­¡± Tang Zhizhong and company¡¯s hands trembled when they heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave quickly and safely deliver the things to Mr. Zhou¡¯s designated location.¡± Tang Zhizhong jolted the stunned middle-aged man and urged him to drive faster.


    The middle-aged man started the truck, but he couldn¡¯t help but glance at Zhou Wen through the rearview mirror. He said with a complicated expression, ¡°Old Tang, that young¡­ Mr. Zhou¡­ Who is he? Even Cold-faced Hades seems to be very afraid of him¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just Cold-faced Hades. I heard that Shen Yuchi is also in Sky Pass and hasn¡¯t stepped out,¡± Tang Zhizhong said softly.


    The middle-aged man¡¯s expression changed again. ¡°Mr. Zhou is so young, but he can already intimidate the bureau. It¡¯s unbelievable¡­¡±


    Shen Yuchi was at a loss. Zhou Wen was asking for too much. The space station¡¯s equipment required a lot of technology and various materials. In this era, it was very difficult to acquire most of the technology and materials. Constructing a space station could be said to be filled with difficulties.


    The bureau didn¡¯t even have many space stations built by themselves, yet Zhou Wen was asking for one.


    Suddenly, Shen Yuchi seemed to think of something as his eyes lit up. He said into the communicator, ¡°Bring Zhou Wen in. I want to talk to him.¡±

 Chapter 1038 - : Shen Yuchi’s Suggestion

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Zhou Wen.¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to see if he could extort a space station, a small door appeared beside Sky Pass¡¯s main entrance. An extremely majestic man walked out.


    Zhou Wen recognized him at a glance. He was the bureau¡¯s director-general, Shen Yuchi. Zhou Wen had met Shen Yuchi when he had gone to Sunset College because of Wang Mingyuan.


    However, back then, Shen Yuchi was a mountain that Zhou Wen could only look up to. Shen Yuchi could kill him with a flip of his hand.


    Things were now completely different. Zhou Wen was completely confident that he could kill Shen Yuchi.


    As the boss of the bureau, Shen Yuchi actually walked out of Sky Pass alone. He didn¡¯t bring any inspectors with him as he walked towards Zhou Wen.


    Even though Zhou Wen had always treated the bureau as an enemy, he had no choice but to applaud Shen Yuchi¡¯s bearing. Just by standing there casually, he gave off a dignified aura like an inviolable mountain.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, it¡¯s really not easy to meet you,¡± Zhou Wen said to Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°Why do you want to see me?¡± Shen Yuchi said indifferently.


    ¡°I should be the one asking you that, Director-General Shen. Hasn¡¯t the bureau always wanted to invite me over?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Shen Yuchi¡¯s aura was as heavy as a mountain. He said with a heavy voice, ¡°The bureau wanted to arrest you because of your relationship with Jing Daoxian, even more so because you are Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. This is a standard procedure. We have a clear conscience.¡±


    ¡°In that case, are you saying I was wrong?¡± Zhou Wen stared coldly at Shen Yuchi.


    Shen Yuchi¡¯s gaze didn¡¯t dodge or show compromise. He looked into Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes and continued, ¡°From the bureau¡¯s standpoint, you were indeed wrong. However, it¡¯s meaningless to say who¡¯s right and who¡¯s wrong now. With your strength, there¡¯s no value talking about right or wrong with you.¡±


    ¡°Director-General Shen, are you calling me a lawless thug?¡± Zhou Wen asked calmly.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve repeatedly studied your information. Perhaps you don¡¯t believe me. My understanding of your personality might be better than yours,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°I would like to hear what kind of person I am.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Shen Yuchi with interest.


    Shen Yuchi said slowly, ¡°If you hear my evaluation, I¡¯m afraid you will want to kill me, so there¡¯s no point saying it out loud. However, I have a suggestion regarding the grudge between you and the bureau. I believe you will be interested.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about it,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°Summon one of your Legendary Companion Beasts,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious why a person like Shen Yuchi dared to meet him alone. What did he rely on? Therefore, he summoned a Legendary Companion Beast according to Shen Yuchi¡¯s request.


    It was a Legendary Vajra Malla, a dimensional creature commonly seen in Dragon Gate Grotto.


    ¡°Vajra Malla. Not a bad Legendary Companion Beast. It¡¯s rare,¡± Shen Yuchi said as he took out an Essence Crystal and held it in his palm.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled as to why Shen Yuchi took out an Essence Crystal. However, when he looked carefully, he realized that there was a snow-white petal inside the Essence Crystal.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask what it was because he knew that since Shen Yuchi had taken it out, he would definitely explain it clearly.


    He was just a little curious how magical this petal was to give Shen Yuchi the confidence of moving him with a single petal.


    Shen Yuchi didn¡¯t say anything else. He crushed the Essence Crystal and let the petal fly out. Then, he used the wind from his palm to send the petal to the Vajra Malla.


    The petal landed on the Vajra Malla¡¯s head and, like melting snow, it fused into the Vajra Malla¡¯s body.


    Following that, Zhou Wen saw the Vajra Malla¡¯s body emit a strange glow. It had actually begun evolving.


    The Vajra Malla was only a low-level Companion Beast and didn¡¯t have any evolutionary attributes. Therefore, under normal circumstances, there was no possibility of it evolving.


    However, that tiny petal had actually allowed the Vajra Malla to begin evolving. It was truly shocking.


    ¡°There are no permanent enemies in the world, only interests. Let¡¯s not talk about who¡¯s right or wrong in the past. Now, even if you slaughter the entire bureau, you won¡¯t be able to obtain any benefits. However, as long as you are willing, you can obtain such flowers together with the bureau¡­ There are thousands of them¡­¡± Shen Yuchi said slowly.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. Ignoring the fact that these petals were useless against high-level Companion Beasts, they were very useful to Zhou Wen.


    This was because many Mythical Companion Beasts had difficulty advancing in the early stages. He had no choice but to wait for them to slowly grow.


    With such flowers, Zhou Wen could use them to rapidly grow Mythical Companion Beasts.


    For example, it was extremely difficult to advance the Evil Spirit King. This was because Mortal Companion Eggs were rare. Although Zhou Wen had bought quite a number of them, he still didn¡¯t meet the requirements needed to advance the Evil Spirit King.


    If he had such flowers, he could directly advance the Evil Spirit King without having to go through so much trouble.


    Furthermore, Shen Yuchi¡¯s claim that there were thousands of them tempted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why should I believe you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go in and take a look at the information we recorded? You can then make a decision.¡± Shen Yuchi smiled. He knew that Zhou Wen had been moved.


    Zhou Wen and Shen Yuchi entered Sky Pass and arrived at the bureau¡¯s base. He also saw the information that Shen Yuchi and company had recorded on the moon.


    Zhou Wen saw the entire discovery process of the osmanthus petals and osmanthus tree stump through the videos.


    He knew that Shen Yuchi wasn¡¯t lying. At their excavation speed, they might discover thousands of osmanthus petals. Furthermore, there was a mysterious osmanthus tree stump there. Perhaps it was more valuable than the petals.


    Could it be that that¡¯s the legendary osmanthus tree on the moon? Then, do the legendary woodcutter, Moon Palace Fairy, and Moon Rabbit also exist? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    ¡°We¡¯ll work together to gather the osmanthus flowers. After the matter is done, half the harvest will be yours,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, you don¡¯t seem like someone who will throw money at a problem,¡± Zhou Wen said to Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°Consider it mutually beneficial. Look further.¡± Shen Yuchi played the final video.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw the huge footprint and the flattened space station.


    ¡°There are other dimensional creatures on the moon?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Our bureau doesn¡¯t plan on giving up on such divine items. Therefore, I plan on taking men to the Moon personally. If you are willing to go with me, my promise will still be valid. No matter how many osmanthus flowers we obtain, you can have half,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Apart from half the osmanthus flowers, I want that tree stump,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Pleasure to work with you.¡± Shen Yuchi raised his teacup.

 Chapter 1039 - Ranking Challenge

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen returned to Wang Lu¡¯s house, the 110 space suits had already been delivered.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re here.¡± Wang Chan was very happy to see Zhou Wen. It was obvious that she had been in a good mood recently.


    Although she was still affected by the Misfortune Life Providence, her mood was not as bad as before.


    ¡°I heard them say that you bought these space suits. Why did you buy so many? Do you want to go to heaven?¡± Wang Chan asked curiously.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I want to go up and take a look at the Moon to see if there¡¯s the legendary Moon Rabbit or Chang¡¯e,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Tch, those are all stories used to deceive children. There¡¯s no Moon Rabbit or Chang¡¯e. Even if there are, they are dimensional creatures,¡± Wang Chan said with a pout.


    ¡°It¡¯s even better if they¡¯re dimensional creatures. Maybe I can get a Chang¡¯e Companion Beast to play with,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Are you Pigsy from Journey to the West?¡± Wang Chan said with widened eyes.


    ¡°Why am I Pigsy?¡± Zhou Wen asked cooperatively.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t Pigsy, why would you think of something like that?¡± Wang Chan said with a smile.


    While Wang Lu and the others were around, Zhou Wen told them about his time at the bureau.


    In fact, Li Xuan and the others had already learned a lot from Tang Zhizhong. However, they didn¡¯t know what had happened at the end.


    ¡°Shen Yuchi is a very terrifying person. My grandmother once evaluated him and said that he was an old turtle,¡± said Wang Lu.


    Li Xuan was surprised. ¡°Why is he called an old turtle? Could it be that he knows how to shrink?¡±


    Wang Lu said, ¡°Turtles may seem stupid and don¡¯t seem to pose a threat. However, when a turtle really attacks, it is shockingly fast. Furthermore, as long as it bites, it will definitely not let go. Shen Yuchi is the same. He usually doesn¡¯t reveal any flaws, and he¡¯s fine when he doesn¡¯t attack. Once he attacks, he will definitely bring doom to the victim. If such a person was born in the six families, his status would definitely not stop there. Even with his average background, he¡¯s now a hot figure in the Federation. From this, we can tell how terrifying he is.¡±


    ¡°You embarrassed the bureau in front of everyone this time, but he still calmly negotiated a partnership with you. I have a nagging feeling that he won¡¯t let this matter rest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. There¡¯s nothing good about a department like the Special Investigation Bureau. Shen Yuchi most likely invited you to the Moon to use you to get rid of the dimensional creatures there before thinking of a way to deal with you. Although your Companion Beasts are powerful, it¡¯s too easy for something to happen to you on the Moon. I think it¡¯s better not to go,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Actually, even if Shen Yuchi hadn¡¯t invited me, I¡¯d still want to make a trip to the moon. I have an Essence Energy Skill that¡¯s at a critical juncture. I might have it break through by making a trip to the Moon. I agreed to Shen Yuchi¡¯s request because I wanted to take advantage of the situation. Besides, if there really are those osmanthus flowers, they will be very useful to me. I don¡¯t want to miss this opportunity,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    He had originally planned on using his interstellar teleportation ability to visit the nearest Moon. However, in that case, he needed to be prepared to live on the Moon alone for a month.


    Now that Shen Yuchi had invited him, he could visit it via rocket. If Shen Yuchi really wanted to deal with him, he could also use Glimmer¡¯s interstellar teleportation to directly teleport back to Earth.


    Furthermore, he had terrifyingly powerful existences on him. If Shen Yuchi really wanted to scheme against him, it was unknown who would suffer in the end.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. To think that there are petals that can directly enhance a Companion Beast¡¯s stage. That¡¯s too satisfying,¡± Li Xuan added.


    ¡°In short, you have to be careful of Shen Yuchi. You must not trust him easily,¡± Wang Lu reminded him again and again.


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll leave Ya¡¯er for you guys to take care of her while I¡¯m away. She¡¯s relatively introverted and isn¡¯t good at communicating with others. If she has offended anyone, don¡¯t take it to heart on my account.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid that the Wang family would bully her, but he was afraid that the Wang family would anger Ya¡¯er and result in her wiping them out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll take care of Ya¡¯er like she¡¯s our biological sister.¡± Wang Chan patted Ya¡¯er¡¯s head like a big sister.


    ¡°Old Zhou, let me accompany you. You are unfamiliar with the crappy Moon. It¡¯s better to have more people to watch each other¡¯s backs,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t go. That place is different from Earth. If something happens here, as long as you don¡¯t die, there¡¯s still hope. If something happens there, where there¡¯s no oxygen, even if you have an immortal body, it will probably be difficult for you to live, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never tried that before¡­¡± Li Xuan was about to say something when he suddenly heard someone from the Wang family shouting in the yard.


    ¡°Third Aunt, what happened?¡± Wang Lu went out and stopped a woman.


    ¡°Someone challenged Ya, who is first on the rankings. Everyone is rushing to the cube to take a gander,¡± the middle-aged woman said.


    Zhou Wen had almost forgotten about the ranking battle. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to it.


    It was mainly because he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, so he didn¡¯t plan on participating in the battle.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be much time left for the month-long countdown.


    ¡°You can go first. I have to check the space suits. I¡¯ll rush over later.¡± Zhou Wen stayed behind alone as the others went to the cube to watch Ya¡¯s battle.


    ¡°President Tang, does your company have accessories for oxygen, food, and water?¡± Zhou Wen asked Tang Zhizhong.


    ¡°Of course. We originally planned to make an industrial chain, but unfortunately, there are too few people who need these now. We have accumulated a lot of stock,¡± Tang Zhizhong said helplessly.


    ¡°Alright, send me all the equipment you produced. Don¡¯t worry about the money. I won¡¯t give you a single cent less than the asking price.¡± Zhou Wen was also preparing for the future.


    Since there were dimensional creatures on the moon, Zhou Wen felt that there might be dimensional creatures on other planets. With Glimmer¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability, he planned on visiting other planets in the future.


    ¡°The matching accessories can¡¯t be sold. They are all stockpiled and aren¡¯t worth much. If you want them, take them.¡± Tang Zhizhong wanted to do Zhou Wen a favor.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to give them to me for free. It¡¯s fine as long as the items are good.¡± Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t someone who was greedy for small gains.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Our company is professional in this aspect,¡± Tang Zhizhong said confidently.


    After Tang Zhizhong and company left, Zhou Wen sent the space suits into the chaos space. Before long, Tang Zhizhong sent over compressed oxygen and other equipment.


    The precision of the accessories left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised. The various equipment dazzled him. There were even some that were specially used to resolve the clearing of bowels.


    Zhou Wen only learned how to use most of the equipment after consulting Tang Zhizhong.

 Chapter 1040 - Tag-Team Battle

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen rushed to the cube, he saw Ya fighting a Guardian named Beast Deity.


    Beast Deity held a huge stone hammer. Its strength was extremely powerful as it blasted away the Primordial Immortal Sword in Ya¡¯s hand again and again.


    Primordial Sword Immortal was the Primordial Immortal Sword in Ya¡¯s hand. Its might was even stronger than Primordial Sword Immortal, but it failed to kill Beast Deity.


    ¡°Is Beast Deity that strong?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He had arrived a few hours later, but the battle was still continuing.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the case,¡± Feng Qiuyan said excitedly. ¡°That Ya is just too powerful. He has already defeated three Guardians consecutively. Beast Deity is already the fourth.¡±


    ¡°Fourth?¡± Zhou Wen frowned when he heard that.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That Ya is really too arrogant. He doesn¡¯t rest at all. He accepts any challenge. Now, two of the four Guardians who challenged him have been severely injured and one has been killed. It looks like Beast Deity won¡¯t be able to last much longer.¡± Li Xuan was envious and jealous.


    ¡°In that case, they clearly know that they aren¡¯t a match for him, but they still challenge Ya?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s frown deepened.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that normal? Ya is in first place. Don¡¯t all the Guardians have to vie for first place? What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Wang Chan asked in puzzlement.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and didn¡¯t say a word. All he did was look at Ya in battle.


    Ya¡¯s ability was really very strong. It wasn¡¯t just strength, but his sword techniques were almost flawless. Even Zhou Wen, who had created the Heart Defying Sword himself, had to admit that Ya was definitely not inferior to him in sword techniques.


    Furthermore, Ya wasn¡¯t a person who solely relied on sword techniques like Zhou Wen. His various techniques reminded Zhou Wen of the Elegant Emperor Puppet¡¯s Avatar Puppet in Tiger Cage Pass.


    Could it be that Elegant Emperor is actually a Guardian? The Guardian that Zhong Ziya fused with is Elegant Emperor? Zhou Wen suspected that there was such a possibility.


    Zhou Wen had grinded Tiger Cage Pass so many times, but he had only seen Elegant Emperor¡¯s Avatar Puppet. He had never seen Elegant Emperor¡¯s true body. He still didn¡¯t know what kind of existence Elegant Emperor was. Perhaps he was really a Guardian.


    Beast Deity shattered Ya¡¯s body with the hammer, but it was only a puppet avatar. The real Ya had already appeared behind Beast Deity and stabbed through his back where his heart was.


    Beast Deity made a prompt decision. Despite being injured, he turned around and used an arm to block Primordial Immortal Sword¡¯s attack. Then, he admitted defeat and left the cube¡¯s arena, choosing not to fight to the death.


    All across the Federation, the citizens and media were in an uproar. Ya had four consecutive victories. Such a result was definitely unprecedented. After all, no one had seen consecutive battles between Guardians in the past. Ya was considered the first.


    There was no time for Ya to rest. Another Guardian challenged Ya, causing everyone to cheer again.


    ¡°Ya¡­ Ya¡­ Ya¡­¡± Many people waved their fists in excitement as they shouted Ya¡¯s name, hoping for him to continue accepting the challenge.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. Although Guardians fought to clinch first place, there were actually Guardians who didn¡¯t have this ability. There was no need for them to take the risk to participate in the battle. They could wait for the next opportunity.


    After all, the ranking battles happened once a year. There was no need to be suicidal. They could wait.


    However, the Guardians continued challenging Ya. It didn¡¯t seem like they were trying to snatch first place. It was more like they were wearing Ya down.


    Are the other Guardians joining forces to deal with Ya? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred as he seemed to think of something.


    That¡¯s not right. Ya is different from the other Guardians. The other Guardians had only contracted with humans. However, Ya has absorbed his Guardian. If that¡¯s the case, can Ya still represent the Guardian¡¯s race? If he can¡¯t, there¡¯ll be no dimensional race that can take over Earth if Ya wins.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that he was right. That¡¯s right. The various races of the dimension absolutely can¡¯t accept such a situation happening. Therefore, any Guardian can be the champion, but not Ya¡­ This is why he has been continuously challenged¡­


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. He didn¡¯t know if Ya could hold on.


    Even if he could hold on, the Guardians who really had a chance of obtaining first place were still secretly watching, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any time.


    Zhou Wen had met Night Thearch, a fellow who had already advanced to the Terror grade. If he were to participate in the battle, Ya would be in even more danger.


    Ya didn¡¯t reject the challenge or even stall for time. He directly accepted another Guardian¡¯s challenge.


    He fought! He fought non-stop!


    In front of the cubes all over the world were humans and even dimensional creatures.


    The devils overseas were also paying attention to Ya¡¯s battle, hoping to find his weakness.


    However, despite Ya accepting the challenge of five Guardians in a row, no one could identify his weakness. This was because these five Guardians had been defeated by Ya in the same way.


    Ya¡¯s sword art combined with Primordial Immortal Sword possessed immense destructive power. Even Guardians found it difficult to resist it with their bodies.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the main reason for their defeat. The main reason was that they couldn¡¯t tell if the person fighting them was Ya himself or his avatar.


    Every time they fought with all their might, they would discover that the one fighting them was only a puppet avatar. The real Ya would suddenly appear and take their lives.


    Sometimes, they couldn¡¯t even tell if the person who injured them was Ya or an avatar.


    It seemed that no one had ever made the right choice between the two, so no one could defeat Ya.


    However, the challenge continued. There were still Guardians who wanted to challenge Ya.


    They were determined to use a tag-team battle to defeat Ya. Just as Zhou Wen had guessed, anyone could be first, except Ya.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Ya was thinking. He was still constantly accepting challenges. He didn¡¯t even rest for a moment. After defeating a Guardian, he didn¡¯t give himself any time to rest. As long as someone challenged him, he would always accept the challenge.


    Something¡¯s amiss! Zhou Wen looked at the battling Ya and found it odd.


    Ya was crazy, but he didn¡¯t give Zhou Wen the feeling that it was Zhong Ziya¡¯s style.


    Zhong Ziya was arrogant and heretic, but he was definitely not a hot-blooded fool.


    Even Zhou Wen could tell that his stamina and Essence Energy had decreased drastically, but he was still constantly accepting challenges. If Ya was really Zhong Ziya, he would definitely choose to have a good rest until the last moment before accepting the challenge. He would choose to fight in an optimal state.


    What happened? Zhou Wen really wanted to rush into the arena and ask Ya if he was Zhong Ziya or what had happened.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a Mythical. He didn¡¯t have the right to challenge anyone.


    Wait a moment. Although I can¡¯t enter the arena, my Companion Beast can. I just want to ask Ya. There¡¯s no need to vie for first place. There¡¯s no need to keep winning. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred.

 Chapter 1041 - 48 hours

    Translator: CKtalon


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen decided to send a Companion Beast to challenge him.


    This Companion Beast had to be known by Zhong Ziya. If Ya accepted this Companion Beast¡¯s challenge, he might very well be Zhong Ziya.


    Of course, as a matter of precaution, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t sacrifice his main combat strength.


    Which Companion Beast should I send to challenge him? After some thought, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a suitable Companion Beast.


    If he sent a main combat pet like Tyrant Behemoth, not only would Zhong Ziya know, but everyone knew that it was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Furthermore, if Ya wasn¡¯t Zhong Ziya, who knew what strange skills it would produce. If Tyrant Behemoth was killed, it would be a huge loss.


    If he wasn¡¯t afraid of Night Thearch and the other fellows who had already reached the Terror grade, it wouldn¡¯t be a bad idea for Zhou Wen to send Demonic Neonate to vie for first place. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how many Terror-grade existences were hidden in the shadows. He didn¡¯t dare take such a risk.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen thought of a suitable Companion Beast.


    Back when Zhong Ziya had used the Invisibility Cloak Companion Egg in exchange for Medusa¡¯s dimensional crystal, not many people knew that the Invisibility Cloak was with Zhou Wen. Zhong Ziya was definitely one of them.


    Furthermore, the Invisibility Cloak had its benefits. With three minutes of complete invisibility, it wasn¡¯t easy to kill it. There was still time to surrender.


    Another benefit was that ordinary people couldn¡¯t see the Invisibility Cloak, nor would they know that his Companion Beast was challenging it. This made it much easier.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen summoned the Invisibility Cloak and made it float towards the cube.


    As the Invisibility Cloak was invisible to begin with, no one could see him. Only some top experts could use some special methods to sense the existence of the Invisibility Cloak.


    However, everyone¡¯s attention was focused on the battle between Ya and the other Guardians. No one noticed the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s arrival.


    Ya was indeed very strong, but the continuous battles had drained him greatly. It was obvious that his strength and speed were decreasing.


    Even so, the Guardian was still defeated by Ya. However, anyone could tell that Ya¡¯s dominance was plummeting and wasn¡¯t seemingly invincible as before.


    The moment the Guardian admitted defeat, someone else issued a challenge.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen got the Invisibility Cloak to issue a challenge. The light from the Imperial Capital¡¯s cube shot into the sky, shocking everyone.


    ¡°Who is it? Who issued the challenge here? Does our Imperial Capital have Guardians joining the battle?¡±


    ¡°Strange, why can¡¯t I see anyone? Who¡¯s issuing the challenge?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a thing. Where is it?¡±


    As everyone was bewildered, the words ¡°Invisibility Cloak Challenges Ya¡± appeared on the cube¡¯s screen. However, they still couldn¡¯t see it. On the cube¡¯s screen, the Invisibility Cloak remained invisible.


    ¡°Invisibility Cloak¡­ Someone actually rehatched the Invisibility Cloak. However, this should be a Companion Beast, right?¡±


    ¡°A single Companion Beast actually dares to challenge a Guardian. Isn¡¯t he a little too confident? Even if he has invisibility, it¡¯s impossible for him to beat Ya, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Although the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s invisibility is powerful, its offensive power isn¡¯t strong. I¡¯m afraid it can¡¯t even break through the Guardian¡¯s armor.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless saying so much. Ya probably won¡¯t accept Invisibility Cloak¡¯s challenge. With so many Guardians challenging him, he should view such a Companion Beast with contempt.¡±


    Everyone felt that it made sense, but then the cubes around the world lit up. Two names appeared at the same time¡ªYa and Invisibility Cloak.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Ya actually accepted Invisibility Cloak¡¯s challenge!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Ya doing? Fighting a Companion Beast? From the looks of it, he¡¯s really tired. He wants to use this opportunity to rest, right?¡±


    Everyone felt that Ya had accepted the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s challenge because he wanted to rest.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw that the Invisibility Cloak had been chosen.


    From the looks of it, Ya is most likely Zhong Ziya. As Zhou Wen pondered, the Invisibility Cloak had already entered the void¡¯s cube arena through the tunnel on the cube.


    Ya remained standing in the cube¡¯s arena, holding Primordial Immortal Sword in his hand. He didn¡¯t show any emotions as though he didn¡¯t recognize the Invisibility Cloak.


    Is this fellow Zhong Ziya? Zhou Wen was somewhat unsure because in Ya¡¯s eyes, there was only an infinite fighting spirit.


    In the next second, Ya had already pulled out Primordial Immortal Sword and stabbed at the Invisibility Cloak.


    The ordinary invisibility ability of Invisibility Cloak was clearly useless in front of Ya.


    Ya¡¯s strike was fast and ruthless. It was even more ferocious than the last battle.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to order Invisibility Cloak to use its complete invisibility ability. The Invisibility Cloak¡¯s form vanished as Ya¡¯s strike passed through it, failing to injure it.


    When Primordial Immortal Sword passed through the Invisibility Cloak, Zhou Wen suddenly discovered a strange fluctuation in it. He couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed.


    Could it be that Ya has the ability to see through invisibility? As Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly saw Ya¡¯s body dissipate like a stream of light after passing through the Invisibility Cloak. He then disappeared without a trace.


    What skill is this? Is it also invisibility? Zhou Wen was momentarily taken aback.


    When he saw the scene on the cube again, he was stunned.


    On the cube screens around the world, Ya, who was ranked first, fell from first place for the first time. Replacing him was Zhou Wen¡¯s Invisibility Cloak.


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. Everyone was stunned, unsure what was happening.


    In Invisibility Cloak¡¯s challenge of Ya, Ya had only struck once before admitting defeat.


    Since they couldn¡¯t see the Invisibility Cloak, they could only see Ya strike. They didn¡¯t know how Ya lost or why he admitted defeat.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right? A Companion Beast can actually defeat a Guardian? And it¡¯s a Guardian like Ya?¡±


    ¡°What the hell. A Companion Beast actually took first place!¡±


    ¡°Something must be going on. An absolute scam. I spent all my money betting on Ya to win and now I¡¯ve lost everything. My savings are all gone. Boohoo.¡±


    ¡°Brother, gambling isn¡¯t good. Don¡¯t worry. Calm down and pay your debts. I¡¯ll do the honors of taking care of your wife.¡±


    The Guardians who were about to challenge Ya were stunned when they saw Ya lose and give up his first spot. They were momentarily stunned and didn¡¯t know if they should continue.


    Should they challenge the first place¡ªInvisibility Cloak¡ªor Ya, who had already fallen to second place?


    However, Zhou Wen had already sensed that something was amiss with the Invisibility Cloak. There was a line of words written on the inside of the Invisibility Cloak.


    ¡°Help me occupy first place and I¡¯ll rush back in 48 hours. You must not lose first place. Otherwise, I¡¯ll lose my life¡­ Zhong Ziya¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how the line was written, but there was no doubt that Ya was Zhong Ziya.


    48 hours¡­ You think too highly of me¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what had happened, but it wasn¡¯t an easy task to occupy first place on the rankings for 48 hours.


    Now, the preparation time for all challenges had been shortened to an hour. In 48 hours, Zhou Wen had to accept the challenge forty-eight times. Furthermore, the same challenger couldn¡¯t challenge another a second time within a day.

 Chapter 1042 - Rigged Match

    Translator: CKtalon


    After a moment of collective silence among the Guardians, a Guardian immediately challenged the Invisibility Cloak.


    Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t accept it. The Invisibility Cloak¡¯s supplementary effects were very strong, but its actual lethality wasn¡¯t much. In a battle with a Guardian, there was basically no chance of victory.


    Li Xuan and company knew that Zhou Wen had the Invisibility Cloak and looked at him with odd expressions. However, it was difficult to say it out loud where they were.


    ¡°Wang Lu, other than here, is there a cube where there are fewer people?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu.


    ¡°Yes, but there are many dimensional creatures in the uninhabited area outside the Imperial Capital,¡± Wang Lu said after some thought.


    ¡°Can we get there in an hour?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°You have to be fast enough. At the very least, you have to be at the Mythical stage. Furthermore, you can¡¯t be delayed on the trip there.¡± Wang Lu didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately answered Zhou Wen¡¯s question.


    ¡°Alright, give me the address.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s speed was comparable to a Mythical.


    ¡°That place isn¡¯t easy to find. I¡¯ll take you there,¡± Wang Lu said as she summoned a huge white cat.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and sat behind Wang Lu. After informing Li Xuan and company, Wang Lu rode the white cat away.


    It was definitely not an easy task to maintain first place for two days. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t let the Invisibility Cloak fight, so he could only challenge himself and drag out the next two days.


    As the Companion Beasts that could issue challenges had to be at the Mythical stage or had the qualifications to advance to the Mythical stage, it was impossible to use ordinary Companion Beasts to stall for time. Zhou Wen calculated that if he summoned all his Mythical Companion Beasts, he could last for twenty-four hours.


    He needed many Mythical Companion Beasts to survive a day of challenges without repeats.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had quite a number of Mythical Companion Beasts, so it shouldn¡¯t be a problem.


    Wang Lu¡¯s white cat was actually a Mythical Companion Beast. It was rather fast as it ran on the main road of the Imperial Capital and quickly left the city.


    There were many dimensional zones near the Imperial Capital. The white cat ran quickly and didn¡¯t encounter any dimensional creatures along the way.


    After more than forty minutes, the white cat had reached the ancient town that no one lived in. There was a cube in the town.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Wang Lu controlled the white cat to stop in front of the cube.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there were many dimensional creatures nearby?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. He didn¡¯t see any dimensional creatures nearby.


    ¡°I naturally won¡¯t see them if I don¡¯t want to encounter them,¡± Wang Lu said with a wink.


    Zhou Wen was enlightened. It was because of Wang Lu¡¯s Luck stat.


    ¡°Thankfully, I have you. Otherwise, I don¡¯t know if I would¡¯ve made it in time if I were intercepted by a dimensional creature.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the countdown. There was less than ten minutes left. He hurriedly summoned a Golden Battle God Halberd and got it to challenge the Invisibility Cloak.


    Zhou Wen looked at the time and wasn¡¯t in a rush to accept the challenge. He wanted to wait until the last second and not waste a single second. After all, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to last the forty-eight hours.


    People from all over the world were waiting for the Invisibility Cloak to accept the challenge, but as time passed, the Invisibility Cloak remained motionless. The countdown was about to end.


    ¡°The Invisibility Cloak won¡¯t automatically forfeit, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very possible. Although the Invisibility Cloak is strong, it¡¯s only a support-type Companion Beast. Its combat strength isn¡¯t strong. Even if it accepts a challenge, it¡¯s impossible for it to be the Guardian¡¯s match.¡±


    ¡°Have you forgotten that the Invisibility Cloak defeated Ya?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just a coincidence. I think Ya fought the Guardians with all his might previously and was already at the end of his rope. That¡¯s why the Invisibility Cloak benefited.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. We aren¡¯t sure if the Invisibility Cloak has powerful offensive abilities. Perhaps it does.¡±


    As everyone was discussing, there were only ten seconds left on the countdown. As they watched the time pass, their hearts leaped to their throats.


    ¡°It looks like the Invisibility Cloak is about to give up on accepting the challenge.¡± The countdown was already at 1. Another tick and it would be over.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, the screen suddenly lit up.


    ¡°The Invisibility Cloak has accepted the challenge¡­ Whose challenge? Holy sh*t¡­ Golden Battle God Halberd¡­ Another Companion Beast¡­¡±


    2


    ¡°Why does it feel like I¡¯ve returned to the previous ranking battle? This is too retro.¡±


    ¡°Golden Battle God Halberd. I think it¡¯s a Mythical Companion Beast from the West District. Can it defeat the Invisibility Cloak?¡±


    Seeing the Golden Battle God Halberd appear on the cube and float in midair, everyone looked forward to a huge battle.


    Although everyone knew that the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s strength was definitely inferior to a Guardian¡¯s, they were still very curious as to what skills the Invisibility Cloak had.


    Countless pairs of eyes stared at the cube¡¯s screen. They waited for a while, but there was no reaction. They waited for a little while longer, but there was still no reaction.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is the video stuck?¡± someone asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°This is a cube, not a live stream. How can it be stuck?¡± someone said.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not stuck, why isn¡¯t the screen moving?¡±


    ¡°I think¡­ Perhaps¡­ Perhaps¡­ the Golden Battle God Halberd hasn¡¯t moved?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t see the Invisibility Cloak at all. What can it do? It¡¯s staying motionless to deal with any possible change.¡±


    ¡°But it can¡¯t just stay still.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for the Invisibility Cloak to remain hidden forever. The Golden Battle God Halberd is waiting for an opportunity.¡±


    As everyone watched the frozen scene, they discussed how the Golden Battle God Halberd could find the Invisibility Cloak.


    More than half an hour passed. The Golden Battle God Halberd remained motionless like a mountain, and they couldn¡¯t see where the Invisibility Cloak was.


    At that moment, people began to feel that something was amiss. ¡°Holy sh*t, this can¡¯t be a rigged match, right? Don¡¯t tell me the Golden Battle God Halberd and Invisibility Cloak belong to the same person?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s very likely. Otherwise, how could they remain motionless?¡±


    ¡°A blatant rigged match. How shameless.¡±


    After waiting for a while, the Golden Battle God Halberd and Invisibility Cloak still had no intention of moving. Everyone had already realized that this was definitely a rigged match.


    ¡°If this continues, won¡¯t they be able to last until the end of the ranking battle? Then, the first place on the rankings will definitely be chosen between the Invisibility Cloak and the Golden Battle God Halberd.¡±


    ¡°This is too shameless. I wonder who could do such a thing. It¡¯s a disgrace to the Federation.¡±


    Be it the Federation or overseas, they hated such actions. Instead, the Guardians didn¡¯t panic and continued waiting patiently.


    Zhou Wen sat in front of the cube and played with his phone. He wanted to while away the forty-eight hours like this.


    Unfortunately, the heavens didn¡¯t listen to his wishes. On the cube¡¯s arena, a blinding light suddenly appeared as though there was life inside.

 Chapter 1043 - Showing Off Pets

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    This blob of dazzling light was none other than the one who had announced the beginning of the Battle of Guardians. His sudden appearance was clearly because of the Invisibility Cloak and the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s rigged match.


    The creature in the light slowly said, ¡°From now on, battles between all Companion Beasts have to be decided within an hour. If it exceeds the time limit, both sides will be eliminated. In the final ranking battle for first place, there will be unlimited single challenges. There¡¯s no time limit for the battle. As long as a Guardian challenges, the person in first place has to accept the challenge until no Guardian challenges them again.¡±


    With that said, the dazzling creature vanished into the void. In the cube¡¯s arena, a huge number appeared. It was a three-minute countdown.


    ¡°Haha, serves you right for rigging the match. Even the dimensional creatures can¡¯t stand it.¡±


    ¡°Dream on if you believe you can use tricks to win. Does he treat dimensional creatures as fools?¡±


    ¡°Are you dumbfounded now? You can only stall for three minutes at most.¡±


    ¡°The Invisibility Cloak and Golden Battle God Halberd sure did well. They actually forced the Battle of Guardians to change the rules.¡±


    Although everyone discussed spiritedly, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t filled with anxiety. He hadn¡¯t had any hopes that a single Companion Beast could last forty-eight hours.


    I can drag it out for an hour before the challenge, but I can also drag it out for an hour during the battle. In that case, I only need twelve Mythical Companion Beasts to drag it out for twenty-four hours. When the time comes, I¡¯ll repeat them again, allowing me to drag it out for forty-eight hours, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste any time as he waited for the three-minute countdown to end.


    Everyone believed that Zhou Wen was in a difficult position to make a choice. Only at the last second did the Invisibility Cloak automatically admit defeat, allowing the Golden Battle God Halberd to occupy first place.


    ¡°The Golden Battle God Halberd actually took first place. What a joke.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t stay up there for long. The Guardians will quickly chase it down.¡±


    ¡°Do you think that person will still have Mythical Companion Beasts to afford his continual challenging of himself?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. You heard the rules the dimensional creature mentioned. Infinite challenges. This trick is useless. He won¡¯t get first place.¡±


    ¡°Invisibility Cloak and Golden Battle God Halberd are both Companion Beasts from the West District, right? I wonder which family in the West District would do such a shameless thing.¡±


    Seeing that the Golden Battle God Halberd hadn¡¯t accepted the challenge, everyone guessed that it would be dragged to the last second again.


    They wanted to see how the Golden Battle God Halberd would be defeated. Although they knew that this was the case, no one left.


    After waiting for an hour, there was only one second left to accept the challenge. The arena lit up as the Golden Battle God Halberd accepted the challenge.


    ¡°Demon Blood True Dragon, another Companion Beast! Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the same person?¡±


    2


    Everyone saw a black dragon appear on the cube¡¯s arena, confronting the Golden Battle God Halberd.


    However, after a long confrontation, they still didn¡¯t make a move.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, again? Is this person crazy? What¡¯s the point of doing something so useless?¡±


    ¡°Did the embarrassment get to him? It¡¯s clearly impossible to get first place this way, yet he insists on doing this.¡±


    Everyone was very displeased with this act of time stalling, but there was nothing they could do.


    Now, they didn¡¯t need to watch to know the outcome. It would definitely be another case of one side admitting defeat at the last second.


    Indeed, things went as they expected. At the last second, the Demon Blood True Dragon admitted defeat, allowing Golden Battle God Halberd to remain in first place.


    Then, there was another hour of long waiting. Now, everyone knew that it was impossible for the owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd to accept the challenge without dragging it to the last second.


    Finally, after waiting for another hour, the Golden Battle God Halberd accepted a challenge. However, the challenger was another Demon Blood True Dragon.


    1


    ¡°What the hell is this? Didn¡¯t the Demon Blood True Dragon already go on stage? Isn¡¯t it said that the same Companion Beast can only challenge once a day? Why is it here again?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. This isn¡¯t the same one. Look carefully. Behind the Demon Blood True Dragon, there¡¯s a tiny Kun character. This one doesn¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. So it¡¯s not the same one. This person is too shameless. Anyway, he will still lose in the end. Why waste everyone¡¯s time?¡±


    The spectators were very displeased, but Zhou Wen remained indifferent as he continued stalling for time.


    Two hours later, another Demon Blood True Dragon entered the cube arena. Four hours later, another Demon Blood True Dragon entered the cube arena.


    In the beginning, there were still people complaining, but now, no one was complaining.


    ¡°Four True Blood Demon Dragons. These are all Mythical Companion Beasts. Together with the Golden Battle God Halberd and Concealment, there are already six Mythical Companion Beasts. Do you think these Mythical Companion Beasts belong to one person or a family clan?¡±


    ¡°The possibility of a family clan is higher, right? It¡¯s rare for a person to have so many Mythical Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°I think they might be owned by one person.¡±


    ¡­


    In Luoyang¡¯s Overseer Manor, An Sheng and An Tianzuo were watching the live broadcast.


    ¡°The fourth Demon Blood True Dragon. Don¡¯t tell me Young Master Wen has already gathered the nine Demon Blood True Dragons that pull the carriage?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°It¡¯s already lucky to have four. It¡¯s unlikely there will be any more,¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡¯s luck seems pretty good, so it¡¯s hard to say.¡± An Sheng disagreed with An Tianzuo¡¯s view.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be unsure about? Luck has its limitations,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    1


    ¡­


    It was unknown if there was some unknown force affecting the turn of events, but just as An Tianzuo finished speaking, Zhou Wen, who was farming his dungeons, had another Demon Dragon True Dragon Companion Egg drop.


    1


    Zhou Wen was originally still fretting over what Companion Beast to use for battle, but now, he didn¡¯t have to worry about it. He hatched the fifth True Blood Demon Dragon and waited for the time to be up.


    ¡°It¡¯s the fifth one¡­ There¡¯s really a fifth one¡­ How is this a duel? It¡¯s simply showing off Companion Beasts!¡±


    1


    ¡°If the owners of these Companion Beasts are the same person, it will be terrifying.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if there will be another Dragon Blood True Dragon. From the words at the back, it seems to be arranged according to the Eight Trigrams. There should be a total of eight, right?¡±


    ¡°How can it be so easy to gather them? I want to see how many Mythical Companion Beasts that person has.¡±


    People who were originally very displeased with this kind of rigged match hoped to see how many Mythical Companion Beasts the owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd would have.


    ¡­


    ¡°Overseer, it¡¯s the fifth one,¡± An Sheng reported softly.


    1


    ¡°I can see that,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.

 Chapter 1044 - Queen Mother Fox Immortal

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Do you think there will be a sixth Demon Blood True Dragon?¡±


    ¡°It can¡¯t be that crazy, right? Even if there are really eight Eight-Trigram True Dragons, who has such good luck to have all eight Demon Blood True Dragons drop?¡±


    ¡°To have five drops is already crazy luck.¡±


    There were still many resourceful people in the Federation¡¯s media. During this period of time, someone had already investigated all the Companion Beasts that had appeared.


    The Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau was a rather famous media outlet in the Federation. They had already created a column that specifically introduced these Companion Beasts.


    Not only did it introduce the origins of the Golden Battle God Halberd, but it also dug up the origins of the Invisibility Cloak and the story of the Invisibility Cloak.


    Only then did people realize that the Invisibility Cloak had returned to its Companion Egg form after hatching. Almost no one could hatch it again.


    What was even stranger was that after the Invisibility Cloak was won in an auction, it had actually been stolen. Up to now, no one knew who had the Invisibility Cloak.


    The origins of the Demon Blood True Dragon had been dug out by them, causing widespread discussion.


    Although they couldn¡¯t see a battle, this didn¡¯t reduce their enjoyment at all. Many people read the reports while waiting.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, it¡¯s awesome. There are a total of nine Demon Blood True Dragons, and they are in the terrifying Zhuolu underground sea. What kind of powerful existence can kill the nine Demon Blood True Dragons and have five Companion Beasts drop?¡±


    ¡°I think this was definitely done by a family. It can¡¯t be just one person.¡±


    ¡°According to the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau¡¯s report, the combat strength of these nine Demon Blood True Dragons is extremely terrifying. I haven¡¯t heard of anyone being able to fight them alone.¡±


    ¡°The Golden Battle God Halberd of the West District and the Demon Blood True Dragon of the East District. How powerful are the people who have them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not one person. It must be a family.¡±


    ¡°The six families haven¡¯t indicated that this matter has anything to do with them. I have a feeling that the person who has these Companion Beasts might be a person.¡±


    ¡°Compared to who has these Companion Beasts, I want to know what kind of Companion Beast will appear next. Will it be another Demon Blood True Dragon?¡±


    People were discussing who the person who had these Companion Beasts was. They were divided into two factions that argued incessantly. Most people believed that the entity who had these Companion Beasts was definitely a large family clan.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t an existence like the six families, it was definitely a powerhouse.


    A portion of them were discussing if the people with these Companion Beasts were from the East or West District. This was because up to now, the Companion Beasts used came from the East and West District.


    Amidst the discussions and arguments, two hours passed. Everyone punctually waited in front of the cube or the live broadcast, hoping to see a new Companion Beast appear.


    Indeed, at the last second, the Golden Battle God Halberd accepted the challenge again. However, this time, the challenger that appeared on the cube was no longer the Demon Blood True Dragon.


    It was an extremely beautiful girl with mesmerizing eyes and long hair. Just a glance at her made one feel like they were in love.


    ¡°Medusa¡­ It¡¯s actually Medusa¡­ Furthermore, it¡¯s Medusa in her maiden form¡­¡±


    ¡°I heard that ever since the Curse Demon Palace was discovered, many experts wanted to have Medusa drop. Some people killed Medusa, but up to now, no one has heard of anyone dropping a Medusa Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°I knew it. The owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd is definitely from our West District.¡±


    ¡°Maiden Medusa is really beautiful. I really like this Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Purchasing her for one hundred million Federation coins!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s this Medusa that¡¯s cute. She¡¯s too terrifying when she transforms into a demoness.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to use ten years of my lifespan to exchange for a day with Medusa.¡±


    1


    The videos and pictures of the young Medusa quickly became popular in the entire Federation because she was just so beautiful.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was still in town playing cards with Wang Lu and company. Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan had already rushed over, but their journey wasn¡¯t that smooth. They encountered many powerful dimensional creatures and had to storm their way to the town.


    The few of them had nothing to do in the town, so Zhou Wen took out a table and cards. They played cards in front of the cube, but after a few rounds, they found it boring.


    There were clearly four people playing cards, but only Wang Lu won. It was really meaningless.


    ¡°You guys have fun. I¡¯ll take a walk nearby. I can increase my combat experience,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he stood up.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of losing, but playing cards wasn¡¯t fun for him. He might as well practice his saber.


    Li Xuan also brushed off the matter with a laugh. ¡°This card game is really boring. You don¡¯t need to look at the cards to know that you will lose. No matter how good the cards are, you won¡¯t win. I¡¯m not playing anymore.¡±


    Wang Lu said helplessly, ¡°I can¡¯t do anything about that. I can¡¯t control my Life Providence.¡±


    ¡°Is there anything interesting around here?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    Wang Lu thought for a moment and said, ¡°There¡¯s a Fox Immortal Temple nearby. It worships Queen Mother Fox Immortal. I heard that as long as you offer her incense, she can fulfill a wish.¡±


    ¡°For real? Then can I make a wish for a Mythical Companion Beast or a Guardian?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Of course¡­ not¡­¡± Wang Lu said with a smile,¡± In fact, there¡¯s only one wish that Queen Mother Fox Immortal can satisfy. That is to temporarily improve your luck. During this period of time, if you kill dimensional creatures, the chances of a Companion Egg dropping will be higher.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such a good thing? How long can this effect last?¡± Li Xuan was interested.


    ¡°It¡¯s variable. It depends on the person. Some people only enjoy it for a short period of time. It might be about ten minutes or an hour. There are also those who have a longer period of time. Their luck will be better the entire day. However, typically speaking, it will only be effective on the day. After midnight, the luck augmentation will definitely disappear.¡±


    Wang Lu paused for a moment before saying, ¡°Furthermore, it¡¯s only useful to offer incense on the fifteenth day of the lunar calendar. Our luck is pretty good. Today is the fifteenth. We can go there to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Is it far?¡± Zhou Wen was very interested when he heard that. If the augmentation of Fox Immortal Temple was really useful, his efficiency at grinding Companion Beasts in-game would increase significantly.


    ¡°With our speed, we can reach there in twenty minutes at most,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go take a look together.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the time. There was probably enough time.


    Under Wang Lu¡¯s lead, the group quickly arrived at Fox Immortal Temple. It was also a dimensional zone, but it was very small. It was only a tiny temple.

 Chapter 1045 - Lingering Fear

    Translator: CKtalon


    The tiny Fox Immortal Temple didn¡¯t even have a yard wall. Although it was called a temple, it was actually a small house made of stone. The door was only half the height of an ordinary door. If one wanted to enter, they had to bend very low.


    The temple was very simple. There were almost no decorations. The rocks used to build the temple were uneven and very crude.


    There was an offering table made of stone in the temple. On the offering table was an ancient wooden tablet with the words ¡°Queen Mother Fox Immortal¡± engraved on it.


    ¡°Wait a moment. There¡¯s still a taboo when entering Fox Immortal Temple. You have to kneel and enter. Otherwise, what you obtain won¡¯t be good luck, but bad luck,¡± Wang Lu hurriedly said when she saw Li Xuan about to enter.


    ¡°So be it. It¡¯s not embarrassing to kneel in front of Queen Mother Fox Immortal. It¡¯s fine if she bestows me some luck later.¡± Li Xuan was open-minded. He walked to the temple and plopped to his knees.


    One had to admit that they could only enter the tiny temple while kneeling. Li Xuan had to lower his head to enter even while kneeling. There was no way he could enter while standing.


    When inside the temple, Li Xuan lit the three incense sticks Zhou Wen had given him. He bowed at Queen Mother Fox Immortal¡¯s tablet before inserting the three incense sticks into the incense burner.


    At that moment, a purple gas immediately rose from the Queen Mother Fox Immortal¡¯s tablet. The purple gas circled above Li Xuan¡¯s head and landed on his forehead, forming a circular blurry pattern. It looked like a fox with its head and tail connected.


    1


    ¡°Is that all? Has my luck increased?¡± Li Xuan left Fox Immortal Temple and asked Wang Lu.


    ¡°It has already increased. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s effective though. When the symbol on your forehead disappears, that¡¯s when time is up,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste any time. Little Yanyan, quickly go in and pay your respects. Let¡¯s try our luck by going out and killing some dimensional creatures.¡± Li Xuan urged Feng Qiuyan to enter.


    Feng Qiuyan took three incense sticks and mimicked Li Xuan. He entered while kneeling and bowed.


    The outcome was the same. A purple gas rushed out from the tablet, but the amount of purple gas was much greater than Li Xuan¡¯s. The pattern formed was also clearer. One could already see the fox¡¯s facial features. It wasn¡¯t as blurry as Li Xuan¡¯s. Even its face couldn¡¯t be seen clearly.


    ¡°Why is mine a little different?¡± Li Xuan asked as he looked at the symbol on Feng Qiuyan¡¯s forehead.


    ¡°The clearer the pattern, the stronger and longer the luck augmentation,¡± Wang Lu explained.


    ¡°This is discrimination. Why are Little Yanyan¡¯s effects better than mine when we both bowed?¡± Li Xuan said gloomily.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re ugly,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Since you are beautiful, why don¡¯t you give it a try? You might even be worse than me,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to know if Queen Mother Fox Immortal¡¯s luck augmentation was effective in-game. Therefore, he took out three more incense sticks and walked to the front of Fox Immortal Temple. Then, he mimicked Li Xuan and knelt in front of the door.


    Bam!


    The tablet in Fox Immortal Temple suddenly seemed to be blasted away as it fell from the offering table. After falling to the ground, it split into two.


    Zhou Wen held the incense sticks in a daze as he looked at the two halves of the tablet on the ground.


    ¡°This¡­ Can it still be used?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to enter again to give it a try, but just as his knees moved and he ended up moving half a step into the temple, the two halves of the Queen Mother Fox Immortal tablet on the ground immediately exploded into fragments.


    Seeing this situation, Zhou Wen knew that it was definitely useless. All he could do was stand up with a bitter smile.


    Feng Qiuyan and Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen with odd expressions. Li Xuan didn¡¯t react much, having seen this happen before.


    ¡°Old Zhou, from the looks of it, you aren¡¯t fated to be augmented by a god in this life. Don¡¯t be so awesome in your next life. It¡¯s not a good thing to be too awesome,¡± Li Xuan consoled Zhou Wen as he patted him on the shoulder.


    Zhou Wen was exasperated as well. He knew that his Life Providence was up to no good, but there was nothing he could do about it. Most temples needed a bow, but a bow from him resulted in something bad, so he couldn¡¯t gain anything from it.


    ¡°Forget it. I¡¯m going back.¡± Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t received the augmentation, nor had he found the tiny palm symbol. He planned on rushing back to the town¡¯s cube with Wang Lu.


    Feng Qiuyan and Li Xuan went to kill dimensional creatures together. They weren¡¯t interested in watching Zhou Wen flaunt his Companion Beasts.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t walked far before he suddenly thought of something. He got Wang Lu to return to Fox Immortal Temple before switching to the Supreme Hell King Life Soul to take a look from afar.


    With a glance, he realized that there was a purple Spirit Qi rising in the tiny temple. It was like a transparent purple fox had entrenched itself in the temple as it stared at Zhou Wen in surprise and puzzlement.


    This thing¡­ Does it count as a dimensional creature? Zhou Wen looked at the spirit body fox. Under normal circumstances, humans couldn¡¯t see such a pure spirit body creature.


    Only the Supreme Hell King Life Soul allowed Zhou Wen to see these things.


    Zhou Wen summoned a Golden Battle God Halberd and made it fly towards the fox¡¯s spirit body.


    However, the Golden Battle God Halberd directly flew out of the fox¡¯s spirit body and failed to injure it. The fox only stared at Zhou Wen fiercely, but it seemed to be afraid of something. It didn¡¯t dare attack him.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword. He also tried several Companion Beasts and realized that their attacks were useless against the fox in its spirit body state.


    The fox only looked at Zhou Wen without any intention of attacking him.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    She couldn¡¯t see the fox¡¯s spirit body. All she saw was Zhou Wen using all sorts of Companion Beasts to constantly attack the air above the temple. She imagined that he had offended Queen Mother Fox Immortal and had been cursed.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Zhou Wen saw that ordinary Companion Beast attacks were useless against the fox, so he called out Ice Maiden in the Chaos Bead.


    After coming out, she stared at the temple. Ice Maiden could clearly see the fox¡¯s spirit body.


    When the fox saw Ice Maiden, it immediately bared its teeth and stared at her as though it was afraid of her.


    Could the fox in this temple really be a Terror-grade creature? Zhou Wen had only guessed it previously, but now that he saw Queen Mother Fox Immortal staring at Ice Maiden, he was even more certain.


    If Queen Mother Fox Immortal is a Terror creature, wouldn¡¯t the Earth Lord in the Earth Temple or the mountain gods of the Mountain God Temple be Terror-grade creatures?


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd. Although it was somewhat surprising that there was a Terror-grade creature in the temple, what really surprised him was that his Life Providence could smash a Terror-grade creature¡¯s tablet. Furthermore, the Terror-grade creature didn¡¯t do anything to him.


    Zhou Wen felt a lingering fear when he thought about it. If the Terror creatures had really attacked him, wouldn¡¯t he have lost his life long ago?

 Chapter 1046 - Humans Are Not the Protagonists

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Ice Maiden, is that a Terror Creature?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ice Maiden.


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s a little different from the dimension¡¯s Terror creatures. It should be a Terror-grade creature born on Earth,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°Are you confident?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d be confident if I had the Heaven Shrouding Bell in hand,¡± Ice Maiden said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and left, dispelling his desire to fight.


    The Heaven Shrouding Bell had already fused with Demonic Neonate. He couldn¡¯t even take it back, much less return it to Ice Maiden.


    Furthermore, there wasn¡¯t much time left. He had to get Medusa to admit defeat when he returned. Otherwise, the two Companion Beasts would be eliminated. After this matter was settled, he would study the fox.


    Ice Maiden didn¡¯t wish to return to the Chaos Bead again, so she followed Zhou Wen and company back to the town.


    Seeing that the countdown was almost up, Zhou Wen was considering which Companion Beast to send to stall for another two hours.


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, everyone in the world guessed what the next Companion Beast would be.


    Even the six families and overseas devils were studying Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts. At the same time, they were guessing who the owner of these Companion Beasts was.


    This was because other than the Golden Battle God Halberd, Medusa, and the Invisibility Cloak, few people had seen the other Companion Beasts, much less know of their abilities.


    However, having so many Companion Beasts gathered in the hands of one person or faction was a very terrifying matter. It was worth their attention. They also secretly guessed who had these Companion Beasts.


    Unfortunately, none of the Companion Beasts fought after they entered the arena. They had no chance of studying them.


    As everyone waited, Medusa also admitted defeat and left. A new round of challenges began.


    When the time allocated to the challenges ended, a Companion Beast named Ancient Splitting Tadpole appeared on the cube¡¯s arena. Everyone looked at each other because no one had seen such a Companion Beast before, much less know what abilities it had.


    ¡°Who knows which district the Ancient Splitting Tadpole belongs to?¡± the chief editor of the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau asked as he scanned the entire studio.


    Everyone looked at each other. They couldn¡¯t even tell which district the Companion Beast came from.


    ¡°Investigate. Investigate immediately. Think of all ways. No matter what, we have to investigate the origins of the Ancient Splitting Tadpole before our competitors,¡± the chief editor said fiercely.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Freedom Investigation Bureau. In fact, the various families were trying to investigate the origins of the Ancient Splitting Tadpole. All sorts of intelligence agencies began working hard.


    However, a place like the Valley of No Return was somewhere even the locals of the South District didn¡¯t dare approach. Not many people knew that there were Splitting Tadpoles inside, much less a Mythical Ancient Splitting Tadpole.


    Some people who had entered the Valley of No Return and were lucky enough to come out alive had seen the typical Splitting Tadpole, but the typical Splitting Tadpole was very different from Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    In the end, it was a news reporter from the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau stationed in the South District. He remembered seeing a photo of a Mythical Ancient Splitting Tadpole in a native¡¯s home.


    The reporter hurriedly ran over and realized that the dimensional creature in the photo was indeed identical to the Ancient Splitting Tadpole. After repeated questioning, he learned the origins of the photo.


    In less than an hour, the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau once again reported the origins of the Ancient Splitting Tadpole.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, a Mythical Companion Beast from a place like the Valley of No Return¡­¡± People who knew about the Valley of No Return gasped when they saw the report.


    ¡°This time, it¡¯s another Companion Beast from the South District. Now, I can confirm that the person with these Companion Beasts is definitely from a large faction. It¡¯s impossible for a person to do it alone. How can a person have so much time and energy to go to so many places and hunt so many Mythical Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s highly likely that one of the six families is behind the scenes. How can a family clan have such immense strength to cross different districts to hunt Mythical creatures?¡±


    Now, everyone was extremely interested in these Companion Beasts. They no longer had their previous contempt.


    As for the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau, they also published an article, ¡°If these Companion Beasts belong to the same person¡±. The article proposed a hypothesis. If these Companion Beasts belonged to the same human, what would happen if this human participated in the ranking battle.


    This article didn¡¯t provide a conclusion, but it did a lot of analysis.


    The so-called Guardians were actually at the Mythical stage, but they were slightly stronger than the typical Mythical creature. Typical Mythical Companion Beasts weren¡¯t their match.


    As for the owners of Guardians, they also had Mythical Companion Beasts. If a single Mythical Companion Beast were to challenge them, there was almost no chance of winning.


    But what if it was a human with a large number of Mythical Companion Beasts?


    Invisibility Cloak, Golden Battle God Halberd, five Demon Blood True Dragons, Medusa, and Ancient Splitting Tadpole. There were already nine Mythical Companion Beasts in battle, and there might even be more.


    If such a human participated in the battle and he didn¡¯t contract a Guardian, could he defeat a human with a Guardian?


    This article immediately sparked global attention, turning the originally tense ranking battle into a discussion.


    ¡°In theory, with the Invisibility Cloak, one can guarantee their safety. There are also a large number of Mythical Companion Beasts. If one swarms a Guardian with a sea of pets, the Guardian will also be defeated.¡±


    ¡°Such a strategy is useless. Guardians have absolute strength to suppress them. Furthermore, the owner of the Guardian also has Mythical Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s a chance of defeating a Guardian. The premise is that these Companion Beasts belong to the same person.¡±


    ¡°This problem isn¡¯t valid at all. Without a Guardian, humans won¡¯t be able to reach the Mythical stage. There¡¯s no possibility of them entering the ranking battle.¡±


    At the end of the discussion, everyone realized that it was indeed meaningless. Without a Guardian, it was impossible for humans to participate in the battle. Even if the Companion Beasts belonged to the same person, it was useless.


    This made everyone realize that the ranking battle was actually still dominated by the dimension. Humans were just auxiliary to the battle, not the protagonists.


    I really want to see real humans participate in the battle and not the companions of those Guardians! Many people had this thought.


    Unfortunately, humans were unable to advance to the Mythical stage. This was an indisputable fact. It was impossible to see pure humans participate in the battle.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it. With nothing to do, he was grinding dungeons. When he was almost done grinding the other dungeons, Zhou Wen went to the Maze of Lies on Sunday, hoping to see if he could kill the twin witches.


    To his surprise, after entering the Maze of Lies, he discovered that the Devil Clown had respawned. After killing the Devil Clown, he heard a ding and a Companion Egg dropped.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He had been grinding for a long time without any Mythical Companion Eggs dropping. Today, a Demon Blood True Dragon and a Devil Clown had dropped one after another.

 Chapter 1047 - The Method to Killing the Destiny Twin Witches

    Translator: CKtalon


    Devil Clown: Mythical


    Life Providence: Devil¡¯s Spokesperson


    Life Soul: Devil Believer


    Wheel of Destiny: Clown


    Strength: 67


    Speed: 80


    Constitution: 62


    Essence Energy: 78


    Talent Skill: Stealth Travel, Reverse Magic Ball, Poison Blade


    Companion Form: Soul


    Devil Clown¡¯s stats were somewhat extreme, but he was actually a very rare soul-type Companion Beast. By having the Devil Clown possess him in his soul form, he could use his various abilities. This was rather useful to Zhou Wen.


    I wonder if I can kill the twin Destiny Witches. It will be interesting if I can have the two witches¡¯ Companion Eggs drop. Zhou Wen had nothing to do, so he wanted to give it a shot.


    It was definitely impossible to kill the Destiny Witches with ordinary methods. They seemed to have some special powers. Killing them was equivalent to killing the blood-colored avatar. If any of them died, the blood-colored avatar would die with them.


    Zhou Wen had already attempted it before. Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Nullification and the Heaven-Opening Scripture were useless. They were unable to withstand the kind of death power.


    Now, Zhou Wen wanted Demonic Neonate to give it a go. Demonic Neonate was a powerful existence at the Terror grade. If she killed the Destiny Witch, would there be any problems?


    When he arrived at the Destiny Witch Castle, Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate and ordered her to kill the Destiny Witch.


    Demonic Neonate used the Demonic Sword to kill the white-robed witch, but at the same time, the blood-colored avatar died with her.


    Is this method useless? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    However, he felt that there had to be a way to kill the Destiny Witches. It was impossible for there to be a dimensional creature that was absolutely invincible.


    No matter how strong the Destiny Witches were, they were only at the Mythical stage. They hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade, so it was unlikely that they were that strong. However, because their abilities were so strange, a special method might be needed to kill them.


    What kind of power can kill them? Zhou Wen thought to himself, hoping to find their weakness.


    It¡¯s probably unrealistic to kill them directly unless I have the ability to revive. Unfortunately, even Li Xuan doesn¡¯t have the ability to revive, much less me. The Destiny Witches don¡¯t seem to have any offensive strength. As long as one doesn¡¯t draw their cards, they won¡¯t be able to do anything to the opponent. It¡¯s only because they control the door that leads to the garden that I have no choice but to draw their cards¡­ Wait¡­ Draw their cards¡­


    Zhou Wen seemed to think of something as his eyes lit up. He continued thinking to himself, Their cards can kill, and they can open the door to the garden. Then, are there cards in the deck that can kill them?


    In the past, Zhou Wen had always stopped after drawing the door-opening card. Now, he wanted to give it a try. If he continued drawing, would he encounter any special cards that might have a backlash effect on the twin Destiny Witches?


    He arrived in front of the white-robed witch again. Under the double protection of Truth Listener and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen began drawing his cards again.


    Every card had a different diagram that represented different ways of death. However, to Zhou Wen, these ways of death were useless. After all, they were ineffective against him.


    After drawing the twenty-third card, Zhou Wen finally drew the mask card again. The door to the garden opened.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to walk through the door. Instead, he continued drawing the cards in the white-robed witch¡¯s hand, hoping to see if the remaining cards hid the secret to killing her.


    He looked at the cards one by one, but the outcome was the same. Apart from the mask card, the other cards only had the ability to kill the opponent.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any negative effects on the white-robed witch as he drew.


    Could it be that I was wrong? These Destiny Cards don¡¯t hide the secret to killing the Destiny Witches? Zhou Wen drew the last card. After flipping it over, he immediately felt the Truth Listener earring transform a large amount of Essence Energy before sending it into the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body. Clearly, the target of this card was him and not the white-robed Destiny Witch.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the white-robed Destiny Witch. She no longer had any cards in her hand as she stood there motionless. She had no intention of attacking or retreating.


    Can a witch without cards be killed? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he decided to give it another try.


    He summoned the Light Concealment Sword and killed the white-robed witch with one strike. The blood-colored avatar died as well.


    This still doesn¡¯t work? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he felt that his train of thought wasn¡¯t wrong.


    Since he couldn¡¯t kill the Destiny Witch directly, he had to think of a solution based on her cards.


    Could it be that I have to finish drawing all the cards in the twin witches¡¯ hands? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he had to give it a shot.


    He entered the game again, but this time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even look at the cards. He drew all the cards in the twin witches¡¯ hands, leaving none behind.


    However, the outcome was still the same. Among the 108 cards, there were two mask cards. The other cards were cards that could kill him, and not one of them caused a backlash to the witch.


    Looking at the cardless twin witches, Zhou Wen wanted to try killing them again to see if he would suffer a backlash.


    Just as he was about to attack, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred. He didn¡¯t slash down with the sword in his hand as he glanced at the Destiny Cards he had drawn.


    He held the two decks of cards in his hand, shuffled them up, and placed them in front of the two witches. ¡°Do you want to draw cards?¡±


    The expression of the twin Destiny Witches, who had been expressionless all this while, finally turned solemn. They stared at the cards in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and really extended their hands to draw.


    The white-robed witch drew a black card, the card of the guillotine. Then, a shadow of the guillotine appeared over the white-robed witch. In the next second, the white-robed witch was beheaded.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Destiny Twin Witch (White).¡¯


    They can really be killed like that! From the looks of it, they have to abide by the rules of the Destiny Cards. Zhou Wen looked at the black-robed witch as she drew a white card. On it was the gallows.


    Then, the black-robed witch was hanged. The game gave another notification: ¡®Killed Destiny Twin Witch (Black).¡¯


    Although the two witches didn¡¯t drop anything, it delighted Zhou Wen. He had finally found a way to kill the Destiny Twin Witches. It was only a matter of time before a Companion Egg dropped.


    Unfortunately, the Destiny Twin Witches were Mythical creatures that needed two days to respawn. Otherwise, Zhou Wen would have farmed them dozens of times and have the Destiny Twin Witches drop to see what their stats and skills were.


    Meanwhile, Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s time was up. Zhou Wen needed to choose a new Companion Beast to stall for time.

 Chapter 1048 - Time’s Up

    Translator: CKtalon


    Which Companion Beast should I send out? Zhou Wen mainly didn¡¯t want others to know that these Companion Beasts belonged to him, so he didn¡¯t want to use his signature Companion Beast to fight. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have needed to consider so much.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to get the newly hatched Devil Clown to fight. Then, he did the math. Invisibility Cloak, Golden Battle God Halberd, five Demon Blood True Dragons, Medusa, Ancient Splitting Tadpole, and Devil Clown. I¡¯ll need at most three more Mythical Companion Beasts to drag it out for twenty-four hours. After twenty-four hours, I can get the Companion Beasts I previously fought to challenge again. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to last for forty-eight hours.


    Although he had this plan in mind, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that dimensional creatures would really let him stall for time. Perhaps there would be a new technique that would prevent him from stalling.


    I can only take it one step at a time. I wonder what Zhong Ziya is doing. Why must I help him stall for 48 hours? Zhou Wen had considered this problem before, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the reason.


    When the Devil Clown appeared in the arena, it caused another heated discussion.


    ¡°Another new Mythical Companion Beast I¡¯ve never seen before. Amazing. How many Mythical Companion Beasts does he have?¡±


    ¡°Devil Clown, where does this Companion Beast come from? I¡¯ve never heard of it before.¡±


    ¡°Now, we can confirm that this is a family clan¡¯s operation, right? It¡¯s impossible for one person to have so many Mythical Companion Beasts.¡±


    Soon, the media in the North District revealed the origins of the Devil Clown. They explained in detail how terrifying the Maze of Lies was and how terrifying the dimensional zone on Sunday was.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually a Mythical Companion Beast from the North District. Now, all the Mythical Companion Beasts in the North, South, East, and West District are here. How do we guess? Which district¡¯s family are they from?¡±


    Now, most people believed that it couldn¡¯t be a person. It had to be a family.


    The six families and some wealthy families were also investigating who these Companion Beasts belonged to. With so many Mythical Companion Beasts, even in this rapidly developing era with more and more Mythical Companion Beasts appearing, the impact was still terrifying.


    However, after repeated investigations, no family clan met the requirements.


    ¡°What Companion Beast will appear next? I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡±


    ¡°If so many Mythical Companion Beasts belong to the same person, how strong is this person?¡±


    ¡°Impossible. Even among the six families, no one has so many Mythical Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. It¡¯s too difficult.¡±


    Everyone was looking forward to the appearance of a new Companion Beast. They wanted to know how many Mythical Companion Beasts this mysterious unknown family clan could produce.


    Another two hours passed. When the Night Immaculate Sword appeared, the Xia family quickly recognized it.


    This was because someone from the Xia family had once fought the Night Immaculate Sword, but no Companion Beast dropped. Now that they saw Night Immaculate Sword appear in the arena, the Xia family was puzzled. Who was it that managed to get the Night Immaculate Sword drop? It only appeared in the Ancient Sword Tomb that the Xia family controlled. This was too strange.


    After the origins of the Night Immaculate Sword were revealed, many people suspected that the family with these Companion Beasts was the Xia family.


    If one wasn¡¯t from the Xia family, one was forbidden from entering the Ancient Sword Tomb. Therefore, the owner of Night Immaculate Sword was very likely from the Xia family.


    As people were making all sorts of guesses, another two hours later, a Companion Beast named Dragon Tiger Pill Essence appeared in the cube¡¯s arena.


    The Zhang family couldn¡¯t sit still upon seeing this. The most precious pill essence in Pill Furnace Mountain wasn¡¯t the Mythical Life Regeneration Pill or the Resurrection Pill, but the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence that Zhou Wen had managed to obtain.


    Although all of them were at the Mythical stage, the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence had the characteristics of the Rejuvenation Pill and the Resurrection Pill. It was a divine pill that could virtually revive the dead.


    Of course, the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence wasn¡¯t really able to revive the dead. However, to a certain extent, it could heal injuries that resuscitation couldn¡¯t.


    However, as the chances of the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence appearing were too low, the Zhang family had only encountered it a few times. None of them had dropped Companion Beasts.


    However, Pill Furnace Mountain was a restricted area of the Zhang family. Outsiders were unable to enter. Now, someone had used the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence that the Zhang family didn¡¯t have. How could the Zhang family not be alarmed?


    1


    The people who originally suspected the Xia family began to suspect the Zhang family. After all, the Zhang family¡¯s pill essence was just too famous.


    The Zhang family was also doing its best to investigate. They wanted to know when the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence had dropped, but there was no result.


    All sorts of guesses flew around the Federation. Now, everyone wanted to know who the family that had these Companion Beasts was. However, no matter how many guesses they made, they couldn¡¯t confirm it.


    The entity had Mythical Companion Beasts from all four districts. It was very difficult to guess.


    ¡­


    ¡°Young Master Zhou Wen¡¯s luck with Companion Beasts is too good. I really wonder how he managed to have so many Mythical Companion Beasts drop.¡± An Sheng couldn¡¯t help but marvel when he saw the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence.


    ¡°It¡¯s just luck,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    2


    An Sheng said with a bitter expression, ¡°Overseer, why don¡¯t we get Young Master Wen to join us the next time we hunt a Mythical creature?¡±


    ¡°Why will you be inviting him? Can¡¯t we kill it ourselves?¡± An Tianzuo snorted coldly.


    ¡°We can kill them, but in the past two months, we¡¯ve killed more than ten Mythical creatures. Quite a number of dimensional crystals dropped, but none of the Companion Beasts dropped¡­¡± An Sheng said helplessly.


    The corners of An Tianzuo¡¯s eyes twitched. His luck hadn¡¯t been good recently. He had killed quite a number of Mythical creatures, but he just couldn¡¯t get a Companion Egg to drop.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with the person. Just kill more,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    1


    ¡°Yes, Overseer. Then let¡¯s kill more,¡± An Sheng said solemnly.


    ¡°How¡¯s Little Jing now?¡± An Tianzuo asked after some thought.


    ¡°Miss Jing has been cultivating at Chess Mountain¡¯s encampment. Now, Miss Jing is much more composed. She has made quite a number of contributions and is very respected,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± An Tianzuo nodded slightly.


    ¡­


    Now, the entire Federation and even the overseas factions were discussing what new Mythical Companion Beasts would be joining the battle.


    When the Evil Spirit King appeared, no one knew what Companion Beast it was. They had never even heard of it before, so they couldn¡¯t obtain any information through investigations.


    Another two hours passed. Under the attention of everyone, a new Companion Beast appeared, but on careful look, there was nothing. On careful look, they realized that the Companion Beast that issued the challenge was the Invisibility Cloak.


    Only then did people realize that twenty-four hours had passed. The Invisibility Cloak that had previously issued a challenge could now be used again.

 Chapter 1049 - Altering the Rules Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Twenty-four hours have passed, and the Invisibility Cloak has appeared again. Doesn¡¯t that mean that by using these Companion Beasts, one can indefinitely repeat the trick day by day until the last day of the rankings ends and enters the unlimited single challenge mode? Only then can one chase the Golden Battle God Halberd down from first place?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that works? Then we won¡¯t be able to see anything new. There are still a few days until the end of the rankings.¡±


    ¡°Let me do the math. A total of thirteen Mythical Companion Beasts appeared. This is terrifying enough. Typical Guardians probably won¡¯t have a chance of winning if they encounter him, right?¡±


    ¡°That might not be the case. Some powerful Guardians have AOE attacks that can insta kill them. It¡¯s useless no matter how many low-level Mythical Companion Beasts there are.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I originally imagined that it would be a battle between Guardians. I never expected to not see Guardians in the next few days.¡±


    ¡°What a pity. Pure humans can¡¯t participate. Otherwise, I would really want to see what kind of scene when these Companion Beasts appear alongside one person.¡±


    As everyone was discussing, they suddenly realized that the dazzling light had appeared above the cube arena again.


    This time, the beam-like creature was even more straightforward. After it appeared, it said, ¡°The time to accept a challenge for Companion Beasts shall be shortened to three minutes. If the challenge is not accepted in three minutes, it will be considered a forfeit.¡±


    With that said, the dazzling creature tore through the air and vanished.


    ¡°Why are they only targeting Companion Beasts? Why aren¡¯t Guardians suffering any restrictions?¡±


    ¡°This is clearly discrimination against humans. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t let pure humans participate in the competition, but even Companion Beasts are being targeted by changing the rules again and again. Then why don¡¯t you just not let Companion Beasts participate in the competition? Why are you acting so hypocritical? Disgusting.¡±


    ¡°What can we do? The rules are set by dimensional creatures. This is their game to begin with. They can change it however they want. Humans are nothing.¡±


    ¡°How infuriating. They play however they like because they have the means to do so. When they are at a disadvantage, they change the rules. How f*cking shameless.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play if you can¡¯t afford it. Just say that only Guardians can participate.¡±


    People were gloating the last time the rules were changed, but this time, many people were crying out for justice for the Companion Beasts¡¯ owner.


    It wasn¡¯t that they had any feelings for these Companion Beasts, nor did they really like to fight for justice. It was just that the dimension¡¯s repeated changing of the rules allowed them to see through the essence of the ranking battle.


    This wasn¡¯t a game for humans at all. Even human Companion Beasts were targeted time and time again. This feeling was very uncomfortable.


    ¡­


    ¡°The acceptance time for a challenge has been changed to three minutes. In that case, it will take twice the number of Companion Beasts a day to hold the top of the rankings. Even if it¡¯s any one of the six families, it won¡¯t be easy to gather twenty-four Mythical Companion Beasts,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a sigh.


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she looked at the Golden Battle God Halberd on the screen.


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way unless more Mythical Companion Beasts participate in the battle. However, even if we gather twenty-four Mythical Companion Beasts, the dimensional creatures can still change the rules again,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°In that case, what¡¯s the point of setting the rules?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°It¡¯s meaningless to begin with. To the dimension, this is just a game. However, to Earth, this game might decide our fate for the next year,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Is it that serious? Will the person really become the King of Earth if they win first place? I don¡¯t think so.¡± Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t agree with Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s point of view.


    ¡°It¡¯s very serious. It¡¯s so serious that it¡¯s unimaginable,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said seriously.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s so serious, why don¡¯t we stop it?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying, but there¡¯s not much time left.¡± Zhang Chunqiu smiled. ¡°However, the situation isn¡¯t that bad. After all, Guardians who participate in the battle have to rely on humans to go further. Perhaps those humans can influence Guardians.¡±


    ¡°The Guardian grows, but human¡¯s strength is stagnant. Its influence will only weaken with time. How much use can it be?¡± Zhang Yuzhi clearly knew what the Guardian was about.


    ¡°That might not be the case. There¡¯s still a way,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°You mean Ya, Wang Mingyuan, and company¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi was alarmed.


    ¡°What they can do might not be impossible for us considering our Zhang family¡¯s abilities,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°But that would make¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t finish her sentence.


    ¡°Make us a monster?¡± Zhang Chunqiu leaned on the railing and looked at the distant Mount Dragon Tiger. ¡°Sometimes, it¡¯s really difficult to distinguish between humans and monsters. If I have to choose between monsters and being enslaved, I¡¯d rather become a monster.¡±


    With that said, Zhang Chunqiu turned his head and smiled brightly at Zhang Yuzhi. ¡°Of course, it¡¯s the kind of monster that doesn¡¯t eat humans.¡±


    ¡­


    At the Dugu family residence in the South District, Dugu Ge was also watching the livestream. His face was expressionless, and it was unknown what he was thinking.


    ¡°Second Uncle, is it really impossible for humans to advance to the Mythical stage through their own strength?¡± Dugu Ge was still in a daze, but he asked Worm Dugu.


    ¡°No one can do it for the time being,¡± Worm Dugu answered.


    Dugu Ge seemed to have long known that this was the answer. He continued muttering to himself, ¡°Our Dugu family has been researching for many years, but we haven¡¯t found a way to advance humans to the Mythical stage. Could it be that we have to take Wang Mingyuan¡¯s old path?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. In fact, it¡¯s not like our family hasn¡¯t made any progress over the years. For example, the art of humans and Gu becoming one might allow humans to advance to the Mythical stage,¡± said Worm Dugu.


    Dugu Ge shook his head and said, ¡°We are just fooling ourselves. What¡¯s the difference between the so-called humans and Gu as one? It¡¯s just that he uses a Guardian, while we use Gu. We all turn into monsters. There¡¯s no difference.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about that. Humans have huge flaws in their talent. There¡¯s an uncrossable gap between them and the Mythical stage.¡± Worm Dugu was somewhat helpless.


    When he was young, he was like Dugu Ge and company. He had a passion and wanted to rely on his own strength to advance to the Mythical stage, but after so many years, the Gu he had reared had advanced to the Mythical stage. However, he ultimately remained at the peak of the Epic stage and couldn¡¯t advance any further.


    ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s see how the owner of those Companion Beasts deals with the situations. To take out twenty-four Mythical Companion Beasts at once, even the six families can¡¯t easily gather them, right? Even if they can, no one will expose their strength in public.¡± Dugu Ge looked at the Golden Battle God Halberd with interest.

 Chapter 1050 - Only Defeat Is Allowed

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat worried. Although he had quite a number of Mythical Companion Beasts, it was somewhat difficult to gather twenty-four. Furthermore, he definitely needed to send his signature Companion Beasts in that situation.


    What should I do? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    With the principle of stalling for time, Zhou Wen first got the Companion Beasts that could fight to stall for time before slowly thinking of a solution.


    ¡­


    ¡°According to the principle of being able to issue another challenge after twenty-four hours, he still has one Companion Beast after the Invisibility Cloak. The Companion Beasts after that won¡¯t reach the twenty-four hour requirement. Therefore, new Companion Beasts need to be sent to battle. Otherwise, he can only give up on occupying first place on the rankings,¡± An Sheng said as he did the math.


    ¡°It¡¯s a meaningless move to begin with. So what if he can continue dominating the rankings? The final unlimited challenge has already been decided. It¡¯s impossible to obtain first place with this method,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡­


    Everyone was discussing what the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s owner would do next. Would he release a new Companion Beast or end the domination of the rankings?


    Most people felt that it was meaningless to let Companion Beasts continue occupying first place. The dimension wouldn¡¯t give ordinary Companion Beasts the chance to win by trickery.


    This period of time was a torture for everyone. Everyone wanted to know what the owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd would do after the rules changed.


    The various media outlets also wrote all sorts of analysis articles. Most of the media felt that there was no need to continue after the rules were changed. Even if the owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd had other Mythical Companion Beasts, it was meaningless to continue if they couldn¡¯t maintain the full 24-hour cycle.


    And to achieve a 24-hour cycle, it required at least 24 Mythical Companion Beasts. At present, only the six hero families had such strength.


    However, up to now, no family clan had stepped forward to admit that the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s dominance of the rankings was their doing.


    1


    Time quickly passed as everyone waited in anticipation.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was also racking his brains to think of a solution. Zhong Ziya had made it sound so serious. He had to think of a way to survive the remaining twenty plus hours.


    Torch Dragon, Behemoth, Tai Sui, Great Might Vajra Bull, Galaxy Shell Dragon, and other Companion Beasts I have are too iconic. As long as I use them, everyone will definitely guess that it¡¯s me. Furthermore, exposing all my important combat strength will be very disadvantageous for me. However, other than that, what other way can I stall for time? After some thought, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he summoned Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate looked at Zhou Wen quietly. It wasn¡¯t that she lacked intelligence, but she didn¡¯t like to speak. Even when facing Zhou Wen, she remained silent.


    ¡°Neonate, how¡¯re your food reserves?¡± Zhou Wen was naturally referring to Grim Demon.


    After Grim Demon devoured the corpse the last time, it seemed to have evolved. However, as there was no information on Grim Demon in-game, he didn¡¯t know if he had completed his evolution.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t say a word. All she did was summon the Demonic Sword and pull it out of its scabbard. With a casual shake, Grim Demon flew out of the sword.


    ¡°Grim Demon, long time no see. Come, sit down and have a drink. Let¡¯s have a good chat,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile as he waved at Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon was extremely shrewd. From Zhou Wen¡¯s expression, he knew that Zhou Wen needed his help. He immediately put on the airs of a boss and raised his chin slightly as he looked at Zhou Wen in contempt. ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Tell me and let me consider it¡­¡±


    As he spoke, he suddenly broke out into a cold sweat. He hurriedly turned his head and saw Demonic Neonate looking at him. Her arrogant look immediately turned into a fawning one. He lowered his head and bent his waist as he said to Zhou Wen with a smile, ¡°Feel free to tell me if you need anything. I¡¯ll definitely help you settle it.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and sized up Grim Demon before asking, ¡°How¡¯s your current strength? Do you have the strength of a Terror-grade?¡±


    When Grim Demon heard Zhou Wen¡¯s question, he immediately felt smug. ¡°What kind of existence am I, Grim Demon? Of course, I have the strength of a Terror-grade. Ignoring the Terror-grade, if I hadn¡¯t been suppressed for so long, even a Calamity-grade creature wouldn¡¯t be a problem¡­¡±


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°Not¡­ bad¡­¡± When Grim Demon heard that and looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s expression, he had the urge to immediately use his Terror Transformation powers to rip him to shreds, letting him know that the dignity of a Terror-grade expert couldn¡¯t be violated.


    However, when he saw Demonic Neonate, Grim Demon¡¯s words changed. ¡°You¡¯re right. My standard is indeed only not bad¡­ It¡¯s alright¡­¡±


    ¡°Then that¡¯s it. You can head on up for the challenge later,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the cube beside him.


    Grim Demon¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw the cube. He immediately became ambitious as he said loudly, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Now that I¡¯ve recovered a lot of my strength, defeating those brats and getting first place won¡¯t be difficult. It¡¯s time to let those new brats know how powerful their Grim Demon ancestor is.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s good. After you go up, try your best to stall for time. Only defeat is allowed.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll definitely kill everyone. Only defeat is ¡­ What¡­¡± After Grim Demon figured out his condition, he widened his eyes and looked at Zhou Wen. It was almost as though something had gone wrong with his ears.


    ¡°The Companion Beasts on it are mine. Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°Can I¡­ not go¡­¡± Grim Demon suppressed the urge to smash Zhou Wen into smithereens and asked humbly.


    He was Grim Demon, yet he had to be defeated by such a weak Companion Beast. Grim Demon felt that it was a huge insult to him.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he glanced at Demonic Neonate.


    Grim Demon subconsciously glanced at Demonic Neonate with Zhou Wen before immediately making up his mind. He swore to Zhou Wen, ¡°It¡¯s my honor to work for you. I¡¯ll definitely do my best and lose flawlessly.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be flawless, nor do you need to fight. Just go up and stall for time. Stall for as long as you can. When I get Demonic Neonate to inform you, just admit defeat yourself.¡± Zhou Wen recounted his request in detail.


    The changes in the rules of the dimensional creatures were targeted at Companion Beasts, but Guardians weren¡¯t included.


    If Grim Demon took the challenge, he wouldn¡¯t have to abide by the rules of having a victor within an hour.


    I want to see how those dimension assholes will change the rules. Are they going to restrict Guardians as well? Zhou Wen thought.


    This was clearly impossible. If elimination of both sides happened when Guardians couldn¡¯t decide a victor in an hour, things would probably happen in the final battle.


    Soon, the one-hour countdown arrived. Everyone looked at the cube¡¯s big screen and waited for the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s owner to make a decision.

 Chapter 1051 - Grim Demon’s Appearance

    Translator: CKtalon


    Unexpectedly, the Invisibility Cloak didn¡¯t admit defeat this time. Instead, the Golden Battle God Halberd admitted defeat and left the battlefield.


    People believed that this was a sign of giving up. Presumably, the owner of the Golden Battle God Halberd didn¡¯t wish to continue.


    ¡°Is it finally ending? Although I knew that it was meaningless, I don¡¯t know why, but I still have some indescribable anticipation,¡± someone said in disappointment.


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s because of our own expectations. In the real world, we have many things we want to do, but due to our own conditions or various reasons, we can¡¯t do it. Sometimes, we will subconsciously hope that someone can do something that we can¡¯t. Even if it¡¯s just watching others succeed, we will be very happy,¡± his friend said after some thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although we can¡¯t participate in the ranking battle, we still hope that there are real humans who can participate and not those fellows with Guardians.¡±


    Another person said, ¡°There¡¯s actually no difference, right? Aren¡¯t Companion Beasts and Guardians the same external forces?¡±


    ¡°How can it be the same? Companion Beasts are obtained through our own hard work. That¡¯s the power we control. But what about Guardians? Their power ultimately belongs to them. They represent the dimension. Even if they win in the end, it only means that the dimensional race they represent obtained victory, not us humans.¡±


    There were many people who shared the same thoughts as them, but everyone knew that the era of Guardians was coming. This was already an irreversible trend.


    The Invisibility Cloak took first place, and a Guardian immediately issued a challenge.


    The Invisibility Cloak was a Companion Beast. According to the changed rules, it only had three minutes to accept the challenge.


    Three minutes quickly passed. The humans stared at the screen, wondering if the Invisibility Cloak would still choose a Companion Beast as its opponent.


    A light flashed on the screen as the Invisibility Cloak accepted the challenge. However, this time, the one challenging the Invisibility Cloak wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast, but a Guardian.


    From the looks of it, he has really given up. Everyone sighed inwardly. Although they knew that failure was inevitable, they were unwilling to see this moment arrive.


    ¡°Grim Demon is a Guardian I¡¯ve never heard of. I wonder who he belongs to.¡±


    ¡°It looks like only the Guardian went on stage. His human companion didn¡¯t appear alongside him.¡±


    ¡°Does he look down on the Invisibility Cloak that much?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Although Guardians are also at the Mythical stage, they are clearly much stronger than ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts. Furthermore, the Invisibility Cloak isn¡¯t a Companion Beast with very strong combat strength. I believe this Guardian will still win in the end.¡±


    Everyone suddenly felt dispirited. The Guardian battle that they had been looking forward to was no longer that interesting.


    ¡°We¡¯re finally back on track. Let me see how strong the other Guardians are.¡± A man in Guardian armor smiled when he saw Grim Demon appear.


    However, after a while, people suddenly realized something amiss.


    After Grim Demon entered the cube¡¯s arena, he floated in the air. He looked very mysterious, mighty, and domineering. However, he only floated there and looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle without attacking.


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s going on? Look at that Guardian. Doesn¡¯t the way he¡¯s acting look familiar?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s here to stall for time like those Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible either. What¡¯s the point of a Guardian stalling for time? Besides, if there¡¯s a Guardian, why don¡¯t you appear with the Guardian? Why do you need those Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°But look, he¡¯s really the same as the Companion Beasts from before. He¡¯s just standing there without moving.¡±


    Instantly, ripples surged once again in the Federation. Everyone was guessing what Grim Demon, the Guardian, was up to. Why was he doing this?


    Also, was the owner of Grim Demon and the owner of the Invisibility Cloak the same person, or was he just stalling for time?


    ¡°It¡¯s been half an hour, but Grim Demon still hasn¡¯t moved. From the looks of it, there¡¯s no mistake. He¡¯s also stalling for time.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, since he possesses a Guardian, why didn¡¯t he use it earlier? Turns out that this is a fellow who started out with the help of a Guardian.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If he didn¡¯t have a Guardian, how could he have killed so many Mythical creatures and have so many Companion Beasts drop?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange? Why didn¡¯t his human companion participate? Instead, the Guardian went up by himself?¡±


    As people discussed, the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau suddenly released an article, ¡°The Contract between Humans and Guardians.¡±


    An interesting idea was proposed in the article. This idea also caused a huge reaction in the Federation.


    The article pointed out that up to now, more than forty humans had known to contract Guardians. Some of them didn¡¯t hide their identities and had even become celebrities among humans.


    Some were originally unknown youths who ended up becoming famous celebrities in the Federation.


    The Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau had also interviewed a portion of them. All humans with Guardians said that their contract with Guardians was absolutely fair. Any party could terminate the contract at any time without any ramifications.


    However, the reporter from the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau pointed out that although this contract looked absolutely fair, it wasn¡¯t the case.


    After humans contracted with Guardians, the growth of humans would stop. As for Guardians, they could continue to become stronger. It looked like a fair contract, but in the end, only the Guardians benefited.


    Of course, when humans had the Guardian, they could also use Guardians to do things that were beneficial to them. However, in the end, humans were more like tools.


    Grim Demon¡¯s lone appearance in the arena gave the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau¡¯s reporter a sudden thought. Hence, he raised the question of whether there was only one way for a human to contract a Guardian.


    Furthermore, he also speculated the possibility of another contract that placed the human in the driver¡¯s seat. Before humans violated the contract, the Guardian couldn¡¯t take the initiative to terminate the contract.


    ¡°How is that possible? The difference in strength between humans and Guardians is too great. Even if there¡¯s such a contractual method, Guardians will definitely not be willing to sign something like that.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Now, humans are in need of Guardians. How can they sign such a contract?¡±


    ¡°It sounds like this contract method is even fairer. The Guardian obtains benefits from humans, so it doesn¡¯t make sense that they can leave whenever they want to.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Even a divorce requires one to split the family assets. Letting all the benefits be taken away by the Guardian is unfair in itself.¡±

 Chapter 1052 - Have to Fight

    Translator: CKtalon


    As people discussed, Grim Demon felt extremely uncomfortable standing in the arena.


    This was supposed to be a stage where he slaughtered everyone and made everyone tremble in fear. He wanted people to know that he was back, but now, he could only stand there and do nothing.


    Although he had already tried his best to appear cool and powerful, Grim Demon was extremely displeased when he thought about how he would have to admit defeat in the future.


    That detestable human. If it wasn¡¯t for Her Lady Demonic Neonate, I would have blasted him to pieces, Grim Demon thought gloomily.


    Since he was only here to stall for time, Grim Demon closed his eyes and waited for time to pass.


    After an hour, Grim Demon suddenly felt that something was amiss. Opening his eyes, he realized that the Invisibility Cloak had been forcefully ejected from the cube¡¯s arena, and he had won.


    What¡¯s going on? Grim Demon was pleasantly surprised as he thought to himself, It¡¯s not my fault. That thing admitted defeat.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t the only one stunned by this sudden development. All the humans on Earth were stunned.


    Soon, people realized what had happened.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this too much of a bully? How can a Companion Beast be judged to lose within an hour while a Guardian is judged to have won?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s unfair!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen shameless people, but I¡¯ve never seen such a shameless person. If you want to deem it as the loser, both of them should be deemed as having lost. What right does a Guardian have to stand there without moving to be judged the winner?¡±


    People were furious as they made condemnations about it, but it was useless.


    The ranking battle continued. Everything was still under the control of the dimension.


    People couldn¡¯t help but feel sad. This was clearly the selection of the King of Earth, but Earth¡¯s creatures didn¡¯t even have the right to choose.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Lu were also stunned by this shameless act. Wang Lu said angrily, ¡°These fellows are bullying us.¡±


    Zhou Wen snapped to his senses and said thankfully, ¡°I¡¯m already considered very lucky. Thankfully, they didn¡¯t deem Grim Demon to have lost. Otherwise, the situation would only be worse.¡±


    However, Zhou Wen had already thought about it. It was unlikely that both parties would be eliminated. That way, there would be no first place.


    If the second place was replaced, it would still be Zhong Ziya. First place would still fall into the hands of outsiders.


    However, this way, Zhou Wen¡¯s plan of using Grim Demon to stall for the full 48 hours failed. All he could do was let Grim Demon continue accepting challenges.


    ¡°You want to fight? Then let¡¯s fight.¡± Zhou Wen was still confident in Grim Demon¡¯s strength.


    Regardless, this fellow already had the strength of a Terror-grade. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem for him to defeat ordinary Guardians.


    As long as the challenger wasn¡¯t a Guardian at Night Thearch¡¯s level, Grim Demon¡¯s victory was almost certain.


    There were quite a number of Guardians challenging Grim Demon. Zhou Wen had previously learned about some of them. After seeing some of their battles and looking at the challenge list, he got Demonic Neonate to inform Grim Demon and accept one of the Guardians¡¯ challenges.


    ¡°You have to win.¡± Zhou Wen finally got Demonic Neonate to inform Grim Demon.


    Demonic Neonate only needed to inform Grim Demon with her mind. Grim Demon was overjoyed when he heard that, but he still muttered, ¡°Why is there a need to select opponents? My strength is enough to suppress everything. No matter how many of those brats come, they will all die.¡±


    However, despite saying that, Grim Demon still accepted a challenge from a Guardian named Darkness Emissary according to the instructions Demonic Neonate had sent.


    Darkness Emissary had previously been interviewed by the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau. It was a rather encouraging story.


    A youth from a small city had entered a famous school with excellent results. After graduation, he took things one step at a time and became an excellent freelance hunter. Then, he obtained the favor of the heavens and unexpectedly encountered a Guardian cocoon. It also happened to match his hidden talent, allowing him to leap to the top of the Federation.


    ¡­


    At that moment, Wei Ge held a teacup in one hand as he watched the livestream while flipping through the information beside him. The information was regarding Darkness Emissary.


    After Wei Ge had graduated, he went through many twists and turns before finally entering the Special Investigation Bureau. He had started off as an ordinary inspector, but now, he was only a low-ranking archive administrator.


    Although this was only the bureau¡¯s ordinary archive room, the information Wei Ge could come into contact with was incomparable to the past.


    He wasn¡¯t in a rush. He insisted on combing through the files every day. Others weren¡¯t willing to do such a boring job, but he enjoyed it. Now, Wei Ge knew the entire archives like the back of his hand.


    The information regarding Darkness Emissary and Zhou Ming was also included. After he saw Darkness Emissary enter the arena, he pulled out his docket to take a look.


    They both have the same surname, but why is there such a huge difference between them? Wei Ge couldn¡¯t help but sigh after seeing Darkness Emissary¡¯s information.


    The information obtained by the bureau naturally wasn¡¯t as simple as it looked. From the information, not only was Zhou Ming ruthless, but he also didn¡¯t care about friendship.


    His family background was indeed not good. He had a girlfriend in high school, and her family didn¡¯t despise him. They even paid him to attend a famous school. In the end, after he made a comeback, he abandoned that girlfriend and found another beautiful one.


    Wei Ge looked at his first girlfriend¡¯s photo. She was indeed not beautiful. She could only be considered average and was a little plump. He guessed that Zhou Ming¡¯s motives were probably not pure when he first got together with her.


    Later, the girl¡¯s parents went to reason with Zhou Ming and had even been injured by him. He really didn¡¯t care about their past relationship.


    Zhou Ming had done many such things in secret. He was a person who only wanted to climb up.


    Wei Ge was reading when he suddenly heard the door to the archive room open and a person walk in.


    Wei Ge was a very meticulous person. When he heard the gait, he felt that the person was somewhat different from those who often came to the archives. He hurriedly looked up and saw who it was. He immediately stood up and saluted. ¡°Director-General, why are you here? If you need any files, just inform me. I¡¯ll send them to you now.¡±


    Shen Yuchi smiled. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous. Let me take a look at Darkness Emissary¡¯s file. Ah, it¡¯s already here. So, you¡¯re also interested. Not bad.¡±


    As he spoke, Shen Yuchi took the file on the table and stood there to flip through it.


    ¡°I happened to see that Darkness Emissary is up next in the fight, so I took it out to take a look and tidy it up,¡± Wei Ge said.


    Shen Yuchi nodded slightly and didn¡¯t say anything. After reading a few pages, Shen Yuchi asked casually, ¡°You are a top student at Sunset College. You should know Zhou Wen, right?¡±


    Wei Ge immediately answered, ¡°Yes, Director-General. Zhou Wen is my junior. When he entered the school, I was already the student council president.¡±


    ¡°Do you know much about him?¡± Shen Yuchi looked at the information and continued asking without looking up.


    ¡°I know a little. I originally wanted to pull him onto the student council, but he wasn¡¯t interested,¡± Wei Ge said.

 Chapter 1053 - Where is He?

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Shen Yuchi left, the fearful expression on Wei Ge¡¯s face vanished. He sat back down and picked up his teacup to slowly drink tea as he watched the livestream.


    If one placed their ear close to Wei Ge¡¯s mouth, one could hear him muttering to himself, ¡°From the looks of it, my chance is finally here. I just don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse.¡±


    Battles that hadn¡¯t been seen for more than a day were about to begin again. Many people were still looking forward to the outcome of this battle. The media had reported a little of Darkness Emissary¡¯s abilities. He was indeed very strong. Furthermore, Zhou Ming had recently been very close to a local wealthy family. Perhaps he had already obtained a Mythical Companion Beast, so his strength was definitely not to be underestimated.


    As for Grim Demon¡¯s strength, it was unknown, but his human companion hadn¡¯t participated. This was undoubtedly a huge disadvantage. Without a human¡¯s participation, there were no Mythical Companion Beasts available to be used.


    Grim Demon didn¡¯t mind this. He looked at Zhou Ming, who had appeared in the arena in the Darkness Emissary armor, and said condescendingly, ¡°I¡¯m happy today. I¡¯ll let you live a little longer. I¡¯ll give you a two-move handicap before killing you.¡±


    Zhou Wen massaged his temples when he heard Grim Demon¡¯s words, feeling a headache.


    This bastard. Doesn¡¯t he know that I¡¯m stalling for time? If you want to kill him in three moves, how can I stall for time? Zhou Wen decided to summon Grim Demon back to reprimand him after the battle ended. He wanted him to figure out the importance of the holy edict.


    Such a speech excited all the spectators in the Federation.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Grim Demon too arrogant?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he really has the right to be arrogant. After all, his origins are definitely not simple. The person backing him has so many Mythical Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°You said it yourself. It¡¯s his backer who isn¡¯t appearing in battle. Without a human accompanying him, he can¡¯t use Companion Beasts.¡±


    Zhou Ming only sneered. Without any hesitation, he attacked.


    The power of Darkness Emissary was different from Night Thearch¡¯s. The moment Zhou Ming attacked, the Darkness Emissary armor on his body erupted with terrifying energy.


    The energy condensed in the air above his head gradually transformed into a dark door. As time passed, the dark door became clearer and clearer. It emitted a terrifying dark aura like a door to hell.


    Anyone could tell that using such a skill required a large amount of time to channel the strength. If it was a normal battle, Darkness Emissary wouldn¡¯t have the time or opportunity to use such a skill.


    However, as Grim Demon had actually given him a two-move handicap, Zhou Ming took the opportunity to use this skill.


    Ordinary people knew that skills that required time to gather strength were typically very terrifying.


    ¡°Grim Demon really deserves it. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s irrevocably committed now.¡±


    ¡°What a powerful Essence Energy fluctuation. It has such a powerful aura even before it¡¯s fully formed. This strike must be extraordinary.¡±


    After a few minutes, the dark door condensed above Zhou Ming¡¯s head.


    ¡°As you wish. Let my Door of Darkness take you to the Seamless Abyss.¡± Zhou Ming finally spoke. Almost at the same time, the Door of Darkness opened.


    A strange suction force was produced in the dark world behind the door, sucking everything nearby into the dark door.


    Zhou Ming was very confident in this move. He had once used it to instantly kill an extremely powerful Mythical creature. The only pity was that after using this move, the Mythical creature was reduced to nothing, leaving no spoils behind.


    Go to hell. This is the outcome of underestimating me. Zhou Ming sneered inwardly as he waited to see Grim Demon¡¯s horrified expression when he was sucked into the Dark World.


    But soon, the sneer on Zhou Ming¡¯s face turned to horror.


    Grim Demon floated in the air and moved. He continued looking down at him as though the suction force in the Door of Darkness didn¡¯t exist.


    Impossible¡­ The suction force of the Dark World is enough to devour top Mythical creatures¡­ How can this be¡­ Zhou Ming was alarmed and furious. He gathered his strength and pushed the Door of Darkness closer to Grim Demon.


    The closer the Door of Darkness was to Grim Demon, the greater the suction force of the Dark World. However, when the Door of Darkness was almost in front of Grim Demon, Grim Demon remained standing there motionless.


    ¡°Stop dawdling. You¡¯ve still got one move left.¡± Grim Demon waved his hand and demonic aura surged, shattering the Door of Darkness.


    Pfft!


    However, at the same time as the Door of Darkness shattered, Zhou Ming spewed out blood as he fell backward.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Ming immediately surrendered and left the arena.


    Instantly, all the spectators looked at Grim Demon in a daze. Their shock was indescribable.


    Although Darkness Emissary wasn¡¯t very strong, it was ranked in the top twenty. The attack he had channeled with all his might had been easily dispersed by Grim Demon, scaring Zhou Ming into admitting defeat.


    Furthermore, anyone could tell that Grim Demon had no intention of doing anything to Zhou Ming. It was an unintentional strike.


    ¡°This Grim Demon¡­ is so powerful¡­¡±


    ¡°D*mn, this is too ferocious.¡±


    ¡°Who is his contractor? I really want to know.¡±


    ¡°For real? Is the difference between Guardians that great?¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen never expected Grim Demon to be so ferocious. With a casual wave of his hand, he had destroyed Darkness Emissary¡¯s all-out strike.


    The Terror grade is indeed powerful. Without the Terror transformation ability, even Mythical creatures are nothing. Yet, I¡¯m not even considered nothing. How tragic. Zhou Wen wished he could immediately advance to the Mythical stage.


    Grim Demon was depressed. He remembered that the Guardians of his era weren¡¯t that weak.


    He was originally prepared to unleash a massacre, but it ended before it even began.


    What depressed Grim Demon even more was that none of the people who had been constantly challenging him previously challenged him again. The cube also lost its video broadcast because there were no Guardians challenging it again. It returned to the ranking menu.


    On the rankings, Grim Demon was first, while Ya was second.


    People waited for a while, but no one challenged Grim Demon again. That strike had stunned all the Guardians. Even if someone wanted to challenge him, they wouldn¡¯t act rashly like before.


    I never expected such an unexpected gain. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry when he saw Grim Demon return.


    He had previously wanted to reprimand Grim Demon, but he never expected that after Grim Demon¡¯s ruckus, he would end up with more time. Perhaps he could while away the 48 hours.


    ¡°Well done,¡± Zhou Wen said as he patted Grim Demon on the shoulder.


    ¡­


    On the Internet, the scene of Grim Demon accidentally defeating Darkness Emissary had already become an emoji. Someone even added lines to the picture.


    1


    ¡°Fight me¡­ Eh¡­ Where is he¡­¡±


    1

 Chapter 1054 - Objective Accomplished

    Translator: CKtalon


    Grim Demon¡¯s name spread across the world. Many people were studying Grim Demon¡¯s abilities, but because there was too little information, they failed to figure out anything.


    With no Guardian continuing the challenge, Zhou Wen finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    Grim Demon wasn¡¯t happy at all. He sat by the side dejectedly and drew randomly on the ground with a tree branch. As he drew, he muttered softly, ¡°Why isn¡¯t anyone challenging me¡­ Why isn¡¯t anyone challenging me¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen pretended not to hear him. It was normal for Demonic Neonate to come out to take a breather since he was locked inside the sword.


    I hope no one will challenge me in the remaining twenty hours, Zhou Wen prayed inwardly.


    Ice Maiden secretly sized up Grim Demon and was extremely shocked. Previously, she had thought that Grim Demon was only an accessory and that his abilities were definitely not very strong. Otherwise, how could he be willing to be the Guardian of a Companion Beast? But from the looks of it, Grim Demon was a genuine Terror-grade existence. This left her even more alarmed.


    Even the Guardian of a Companion Beast is at the Terror grade? Ice Maiden had never heard of such a thing in the past, nor did she know how Zhou Wen had done it.


    Time ticked by. No one challenged Grim Demon again. Almost forty-eight hours later, someone finally challenged Grim Demon again. However, the person who challenged was Ya.


    ¡°Someone is challenging me!¡± Grim Demon stood up excitedly and was about to rush to the cube.


    ¡°Admit defeat immediately after entering,¡± Zhou Wen said lightly.


    Grim Demon immediately deflated like a balloon. He looked at Zhou Wen with a look of resentment and asked, ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you want to get first place?¡±


    ¡°No, do as I say.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t completely uninterested in first place. However, he still didn¡¯t know the benefits and disadvantages.


    Wang Mingyuan had once told him not to take first place again, so up to now, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t made up his mind.


    Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t that easy to obtain first place. It was unknown if there were any Terror-grade Guardians that were participating. However, Night Thearch and the one from Forbidden City who hadn¡¯t participated in the battle were definitely at the Terror grade. Perhaps such terrifying existences would take action in the final infinite battle.


    It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy for Zhong Ziya to maintain his first place.


    ¡°I guarantee that as long as you let me fight, I will obtain first place.¡± Grim Demon looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get your help when I want first place.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate. Demonic Neonate seemed to understand Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions as she glanced at Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon immediately looked at the cube obediently and walked over. Zhou Wen exhorted, ¡°Be careful when you go up. See if Ya will secretly pass you a message.¡±


    ¡°Got it,¡± Grim Demon answered listlessly as he entered the cube.


    Ya didn¡¯t pass any message. All he did was take back the first spot. If Zhou Wen had known that would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have even sent Grim Demon. It was more straightforward to forfeit.


    When the Federation citizens saw that first place had returned to Ya, they naturally understood that they were all in cahoots.


    ¡°Ya is already a Guardian. Grim Demon can¡¯t be his, so who does Grim Demon belong to? If we can find Ya, we might be able to know who Grim Demon belongs to.¡±


    ¡°Which family are these people from? They have so many Mythical Companion Beasts, but they actually have Guardians like Ya and Grim Demon. It¡¯s too terrifying.¡±


    ¡°Did you notice? Second place became Grim Demon, but after the Mythical Companion Beasts admitted defeat, they didn¡¯t obtain a ranking. This is blatant discrimination.¡±


    ¡°What can we do about that? The future is the era of Guardians. Existences like Ya and Grim Demon are not something ordinary humans and Companion Beasts can deal with.¡±


    ¡°Instead of thinking about this, we might as well consider where to contract a Guardian that¡¯s as powerful as Grim Demon.¡±


    Zhou Wen saw Ya make a gesture before disappearing. It was the gesture Zhong Ziya had used every time he won back when they played cards together.


    Only then did Zhou Wen feel relieved. Although he didn¡¯t know what Ya had done, it looked like he had succeeded.


    After putting away Ice Maiden and Grim Demon, he was just about to find Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan when his phone suddenly rang. It was a message from The Thearch.


    ¡°You contracted with Grim Demon?¡± The omniscient Thearch seemed to have a question for the first time.


    ¡°I have nothing to do with Grim Demon. Why are you asking?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing between you, would he have cooperated with your Companion Beast to stall for time? If there¡¯s nothing, would he have given first place to Ya?¡± The Thearch said disdainfully.


    ¡°There¡¯s really nothing between us.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to explain further lest he slipped up. With The Thearch¡¯s shrewdness, she could easily guess something from his words.


    ¡°Although Grim Demon is very strong, contracting him is definitely not a good choice.¡± The Thearch seemed adamant that Zhou Wen was related to Grim Demon.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. From The Thearch¡¯s words, she seemed to know Grim Demon. Furthermore, Grim Demon was the first to be described as very strong by The Thearch.


    Is Grim Demon really that strong? Zhou Wen had always felt that Grim Demon wasn¡¯t that strong because he was too cowardly in front of Demonic Neonate.


    However, Zhou Wen now felt that perhaps what Grim Demon had said in the past wasn¡¯t pure bragging.


    ¡°Then who¡¯s a good choice? You?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t qualified to contract me.¡± The Thearch¡¯s answer was very arrogant.


    However, these words seemed to admit that she was also a Guardian, but he couldn¡¯t be sure. It was also possible that The Thearch had deliberately said this to mislead him.


    ¡°However, if you do me a favor, I can consider giving you a chance.¡± The Thearch sent another message.


    ¡°What chance?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed, but he asked the obvious.


    ¡°A chance to contract the strongest Guardian,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the strongest Guardian you are talking about is yourself?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Guess.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in guessing.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to play any guessing games with her. He bluntly said, ¡°If the strongest Guardian you mentioned is you, I can consider it.¡±


    The Thearch didn¡¯t respond to the topic at hand. ¡°Let¡¯s continue our discussion after you obtain the Dimensional Wheel.¡±


    ¡°If I can obtain the Dimensional Wheel, I¡¯ll be the Lord of Earth. What¡¯s there to talk about?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you really think that you will be the Lord of Earth after getting first place?¡± The Thearch replied.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t they say that the Dimensional Wheel will bestow immense power? With absolute power, one will naturally be the Lord of Earth. Aren¡¯t you also interested in the Dimensional Wheel?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep talking until you obtain the Dimensional Wheel,¡± The Thearch replied before going offline. She didn¡¯t reply to Zhou Wen¡¯s messages.


    What does she want? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.

 Chapter 1055 - Landing on the Moon

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Ya went on stage, the Guardians began challenging him again. Ya was the same as before. No matter who challenged him, he would accept the challenge.


    However, this time, Ya didn¡¯t immediately accept the challenges one after another. He would always rest for some time to maintain an optimal state.


    Zhou Wen had also watched a few of Ya¡¯s battles and found him very strong. He couldn¡¯t find any weaknesses. Together with the puppet avatar and other strange skills, he was virtually invincible.


    Guardian after Guardian was defeated by Ya, but there were still Guardians constantly challenging him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue watching. It was almost time to head to Sky Pass to meet Shen Yuchi and head to the Moon.


    Li Xuan and Feng Qiuyan took Ya¡¯er and followed Wang Lu back to the Wang family. Zhou Wen went to Sky Pass alone.


    Although Mythical creatures could also fly into space, humans had weak physiques. It was safer to take a rocket. Shen Yuchi had been preparing for the launch of the rocket for the past few days.


    In fact, he had begun making preparations after the lunar incident. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for him to complete the preparations for a manned rocket launch in such a short period of time.


    After arriving at the Sky Pass, Shen Yuchi personally received Zhou Wen. What surprised Zhou Wen was that Wei Ge was following Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this President Wei? Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m now an inspector at the bureau. I wanted to inform you, but I don¡¯t have your contact number. I haven¡¯t been able to contact you. You have to give me your phone number later.¡±


    ¡°Since you are classmates, you should build on your relationship in the future.¡± Shen Yuchi smiled and said, ¡°In the future, Little Wei will be in charge of our bureau¡¯s liaison with you. Do you have any objections?¡±


    ¡°I have no objections. President Wei is quite good. He¡¯s a very capable person. Your bureau sure is filled with talent,¡± Zhou Wen said with a faint smile.


    ¡°If you are interested, the bureau¡¯s door is always open to you,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Forget it. I can¡¯t be restrained. I¡¯m different from others,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    1


    Shen Yuchi stopped talking about this matter and said, ¡°The rocket will be launched at 3:10 AM. There¡¯s still some time to prepare. Perhaps you can rest first. Little Wei, take good care of Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Director-General.¡± Wei Ge saluted.


    After Shen Yuchi left, he went to a room. There was a surveillance video playing in the room. The woman with the nickname of Button was sitting there watching the surveillance footage.


    ¡°Noticed anything?¡± Shen Yuchi sat down and asked.


    ¡°This Wei Ge is a smooth and slick person. He¡¯s naturally good at gathering intelligence,¡± said Button.


    ¡°He does have some talent. If I can take him under my wing, he might be able to achieve great things in the future,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t trust him?¡± asked Button, having noticed something.


    ¡°Although according to the investigations, he really has nothing to do with Zhou Wen and even had some conflicts in secret, it¡¯s best to be careful,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°So you got Wei Ge to follow Zhou Wen to test him?¡± Button pondered.


    ¡°Not entirely. It was better to have someone who knows Zhou Wen follow him than someone who knows nothing about him,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Then what do you want me to do?¡± Buttons nodded before asking again.


    ¡°Stay behind on our trip to the Moon,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be in danger if I¡¯m not with you,¡± said Button.


    ¡°I need you to do something. I can¡¯t let you expose yourself to them.¡± Shen Yuchi looked at Button and reached out to straighten the slightly wrinkled clothes on her shoulder.


    ¡°Does what you want me to do have something to do with Zhou Wen?¡± Button asked.


    ¡°No, it has nothing to do with him, but it¡¯s best not to let him see you.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want me to do?¡± Button was surprised that she had guessed wrong.


    ¡°If Wei Ge returns alive, I want you to think of a way to stay by his side,¡± Shen Yuchi said casually.


    Button¡¯s body trembled imperceptibly, but she immediately returned to normal. ¡°Why? Even if he has some relationship with Zhou Wen, it¡¯s not worth wasting too much time and energy on him, right?¡±


    ¡°This is my decision. You can choose to carry it out or return to where you came from,¡± Shen Yuchi took two steps back and said as he sized up the well-pressed clothes on Button.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it. But at the very least, you have to tell me what I should investigate, right?¡± Button gritted her teeth and said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to investigate or do anything. You just need to gain his trust and wait for the day I need you,¡± Shen Yuchi said calmly.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why they had to launch the rocket at night.


    He was rather curious when he first entered the rocket cabin. Although it wasn¡¯t rare for people to fly in the sky or burrow into the ground in this era, it was still very nerve-wracking and exciting to be on a rocket.


    Apart from Zhou Wen, there were eight other members, including Shen Yuchi and Wei Ge.


    As for the four Censors, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know any of them. The other six were unfamiliar faces.


    Everything was ready. After the countdown ended, the rocket flew into the sky. Zhou Wen was originally nervous and expectant, but he soon realized that the feeling of riding a rocket wasn¡¯t as magical as he had imagined.


    It could even be said to be boring because he couldn¡¯t see anything in the cabin. He couldn¡¯t experience the feeling of leaving Earth and watching it shrink.


    I looked forward to it for nothing. Zhou Wen suddenly felt that it was better to fly out of Earth on a Companion Beast after he advanced to the Mythical stage.


    The rocket launch was very successful. Soon, they entered a predetermined orbit. Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.


    However, everyone knew that their fate would only be decided when they reached the Moon.


    Up to now, they still hadn¡¯t figured out what the creature that had destroyed the lunar base was, nor had they discovered any other dimensional creatures.


    More than 70 hours later, Zhou Wen and company successfully landed on the Moon, but they were still a distance away from the base.


    Apart from two people staying behind, Shen Yuchi, Zhou Wen, and company headed for the lunar base.


    This landing was simple. They hadn¡¯t brought any tools like lunar rovers. In fact, they wouldn¡¯t need to use them. Mythical Companion Beasts were much more useful here than lunar rovers.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he could see more stars on the Moon, but now, he realized that what he could see was rather limited. It was far inferior to what he could see on Earth. It didn¡¯t match his expectations.


    ¡°President Wei, do you want to ride with me?¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Great Might Vajra Bull and invited Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge looked at Shen Yuchi and saw him nod slightly. Only then did he smile and said into the communicator, ¡°Alright.¡±

 Chapter 1056 - Bone Pottery

    Translator: CKtalon


    Everyone was nervous because this was the Moon. If anything happened, just damage to the space suits could result in their deaths.


    After arriving on the Moon, they had already used radar to scan the area, but they didn¡¯t find anything abnormal.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare be careless. He kept Truth Listener on, but here, Truth Listener¡¯s ability seemed to be affected. It wasn¡¯t as useful as on Earth.


    Everyone felt uneasy as they headed for the base.


    With a Mythical Companion Beast mount, they moved quickly. The Great Might Vajra Bull quickly adapted to the gravity here and ran no slower than on Earth.


    Shen Yuchi also summoned a Mythical Companion Beast. It was a giant rhinoceros. It was more than enough for the rest to sit on.


    Although they had already seen the photos, they were still shocked by the scene before them when they arrived at the base.


    The base that was hundreds of meters long had been squashed into a pit by some creature. Most of the buildings were flattened. Even if they weren¡¯t flattened, they were crushed into the rock stratum.


    There was no need to look. It was impossible for there to be a living person inside.


    However, there were no dimensional creatures around. After Shen Yuchi communicated with everyone, he planned on heading straight to the Essence Crystal mine, which was also the spot where the tree stump had been found.


    Similarly, when they arrived at the Essence Crystal mine, they didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures, nor did they see any astronauts.


    There were quite a number of Essence Crystal ores scattered on the ground. In the excavation crater, there were also quite a number of Essence Crystals shimmering with a charming luster.


    ¡°It¡¯s gone!¡± an inspector named Wang Qiuyuan said as he stared into the mine.


    Everyone knew what he was talking about. Previously, the huge pit was where the tree stump was. As its roots were spread out, they had dug a huge pit.


    But now, there was only a huge crater left. The tree stump had gone.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts turned cold. Without the petals and the tree stump, their trip was equivalent to a wasted trip.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen saw something strange as he looked at a corner of the mine.


    Everyone traced Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze and saw something in a huge hole in the mine.


    However, their eyesight wasn¡¯t as strong as Zhou Wen¡¯s, so they couldn¡¯t see what it was.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, can you see what it is?¡± Shen Yuchi asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It looks like a human¡¯s back is facing us, but it doesn¡¯t look like a human,¡± Zhou Wen said as he organized his words.


    ¡°What do you mean it looks like a human, but not a human?¡± Wei Ge asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t see the front. His back looks like a human, and he¡¯s wearing ordinary human clothes. But this is the Moon. How can a human sit here in ordinary clothes?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Everyone used the binocular function of their helmets to take a closer look. Indeed, they saw a figure sitting with his back facing the cave entrance. They could only see his back, but they couldn¡¯t confirm if he was really human.


    ¡°Retreat. Let the Companion Beasts take a look.¡± Shen Yu ordered his Companion Beasts to approach.


    Everyone felt a little uneasy as they watched the rhinoceros slowly approach. However, the figure remained motionless.


    The rhinoceros walked to the side of the figure, but the figure still remained motionless.


    Shen Yuchi frowned slightly and didn¡¯t let the rhinoceros attack. ¡°Wang Qiuyuan, go take a look.¡±


    Wang Qiuyuan responded and carefully looked over and approached.


    ¡°Director-General, it¡¯s a human, a dead human, but this place is a little strange¡­¡± Wang Qiuyuan said in surprise after circling around the person sitting there.


    He sounded very surprised, as if he had discovered something unbelievable.


    ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡± Shen Yuchi immediately asked.


    ¡°Fire, there¡¯s fire here.¡± Wang Qiuyuan¡¯s voice sounded from the communicator.


    Everyone was alarmed when they heard that. Logically speaking, it was impossible to ignite a flame on the moon. Therefore, it was indeed strange for Wang Qiuyuan to say that there was a fire there.


    ¡°Do you know that person? Is he an astronaut from before?¡± Shen Yuchi asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him. I don¡¯t think he¡¯s an astronaut from before. His looks are a little strange, and his clothes are also very strange¡­¡± Wang Qiuyuan couldn¡¯t describe him accurately.


    ¡°Survey the surroundings. Report any situation immediately. We¡¯ll head over now.¡± Shen Yuchi led everyone over.


    Zhou Wen and company were very careful. There was actually a person without a space suit sitting there. This was very strange to begin with, making them feel uncomfortable.


    Everyone carefully came to the cave and indeed, they saw a dead person. His flesh and blood were shriveled, and his face and clothes were covered in dust. He looked like he had been dead for a long time.


    He looked like someone from the East District, but his cheekbones were especially high and his eyes were deep. He was somewhat different from East District people.


    His hair remained relatively intact. Under the dust, one could tell that his hair was black.


    The style of his clothes was very strange. It looked like a robe with long, wide sleeves. They didn¡¯t look like the clothes worn by modern people.


    This wasn¡¯t too strange. The strangest thing was that there was a white jar in front of the person¡¯s toes. It was at most twenty centimeters in diameter.


    Inside the white jar was a tiny flame that looked like a lighter¡¯s flame.


    Although the flame was very small, it gave off a magical feeling. This was the Moon. There was no oxygen, yet the tiny flame was burning steadily. This was very unusual.


    Everyone looked at Shen Yuchi. He was the leader of this operation. Now that he had encountered such a strange matter, he naturally needed to make a decision.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch him. First, explore the area and see if there are any other discoveries,¡± Shen Yuchi said as he sized up the white jar.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, did you notice something amiss?¡± Zhou Wen asked Shen Yuchi.


    Shen Yuchi said, ¡°Have you seen this jar before?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen had already taken a careful look and couldn¡¯t tell what the jar was made of.


    It looked a little like jade, but it wasn¡¯t that exquisite. Saying that it was made of clay wasn¡¯t right due to its luster.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, it should be bone pottery, a special kind of pottery,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Are bone pottery and bone porcelain the same thing?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    He had heard of bone porcelain. Because of the addition of bone powder, the porcelain that was produced under heat could be made thinner, harder, and more beautiful.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the same. Bone porcelain uses bone powder as the raw material. Bone pottery doesn¡¯t use bone powder as the raw material to make the pottery. Instead, it¡¯s pottery made from blood and blood sacrifices. It¡¯s also called blood pottery or corpse pottery.¡± Shen Yuchi continued with a solemn expression, ¡°In the past, I saw an expert¡¯s collection. He had bone pottery. According to him, bone pottery is usually used in ancient rituals. Ordinary people have no chance of coming into contact with such things.¡±

 Chapter 1057 - Invisible Dimensional Creature

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Were ancient humans capable of coming to the Moon to offer sacrifices?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the corpse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If you had asked me this question before now, the answer would definitely have been no. But from the looks of it now, even without rockets and other equipment, humans might have had the ability to reach the Moon.¡± Shen Yuchi shook his head slightly.


    Under Shen Yuchi¡¯s command, everyone left the cave and continued searching for useful clues nearby.


    Among the people from the bureau, there were professional investigators. They were much more professional than Zhou Wen, so he didn¡¯t focus on the investigations.


    He slowly walked on the moon as he switched his Life Soul to Glimmer.


    He could clearly sense that the Glimmer Life Soul was growing, but this growth wasn¡¯t enough for it to break through to a Perfect Body.


    Could it be that I have to use Glimmer¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability to advance to a Perfect Body? Zhou Wen now roughly understood how Glimmer could advance. He felt relieved.


    The Glimmer Life Soul already had the power to advance. It was only because he had never used Glimmer¡¯s ability that he was unable to break through the final barrier.


    Now, Zhou Wen only needed to use interstellar teleportation once to advance to perfection.


    If I were to use Glimmer to teleport back to Earth, I should be able to advance to a Perfect Body. Zhou Wen could sense that there was no mistake.


    Zhou Wen planned on teleporting back to Earth after the matters on the Moon were over, allowing Glimmer to advance to a Perfect Body.


    Shen Yuchi and company kept investigating and had already discovered many clues. According to the current clues, the previous astronauts had been attacked by an unknown creature when they dug out the tree stump.


    Furthermore, according to the measurements of the mine, they discovered that there should be a natural pit hole under the tree stump. The creature that had attacked the astronauts was likely hiding in that natural pit hole.


    ¡°Director-General, there¡¯s something very strange,¡± Wang Qiuyuan said as he surveyed the area.


    ¡°Speak.¡± Shen Yuchi and company looked at Wang Qiuyuan.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any astronaut corpses at the scene, nor are there any signs of a fight. This means that the dimensional creature is very powerful. It can directly devour them or forcefully detain them. However, look at these footprints. These footprints belong to that Mythical Companion Beast. These belong to those astronauts.¡± Wang Qiuyuan pointed at the footprints. ¡°If we were to encounter a powerful dimensional creature, even if we were quickly devoured after discovering it, we would subconsciously retreat. Even if we didn¡¯t take a step forward, the center of gravity for the step will shift. This should be obvious from the changes in the footprints.


    ¡°But from the looks of it, there¡¯s no sign of that at all. It¡¯s as though they didn¡¯t see any terrifying creature, and were devoured without realizing what was happening.¡±


    Everyone looked carefully at the footprints on the ground and realized that this was indeed the case.


    ¡°What do you think of this situation?¡± Shen Yuchi asked Wang Qiuyuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m certain that they didn¡¯t see the dimensional creature. It¡¯s possible that the dimensional creature has invisibility, or it might have hidden somewhere and launched an attack when they weren¡¯t prepared.¡± Wang Qiuyuan scanned his surroundings. ¡°If that thing has invisibility, we have to be careful. Perhaps it¡¯s watching us from somewhere nearby.¡±


    Everyone was alarmed as Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction was the greatest.


    This was because he knew that the dimensional creature might not be invisible, but because its life form was so advanced¡ªthis resulted in them being unable to see it.


    In other words, that dimensional creature might be a Terror-grade existence.


    Is there really a Terror-grade monster hiding on the Moon? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he and Truth Listener scanned their surroundings at the same time, but they didn¡¯t discover anything. However, this only made him even more alarmed.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what¡¯s your take?¡± Shen Yuchi pondered for a moment before his gaze landed on Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s best we leave this place quickly.¡± Zhou Wen was originally interested in the petals and tree stump, but now that they were gone and that there might still be a Terror-grade creature here, it wasn¡¯t suitable for him to continue taking risks in such an environment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back now.¡± Shen Yuchi had just given the order when he suddenly heard a tragic cry.


    The screams coming from the communicator were short, as if someone had grabbed the person by his throat just as he had started shouting.


    Everyone was alarmed as they looked around, but they didn¡¯t discover anything. They didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures or blood. No one even discovered anyone injured.


    However, one of them was missing. A perfectly fine person had vanished beside them.


    ¡°Lu Dong¡­ Lu Dong¡­¡± Everyone felt their souls leap out of their bodies. As Shen Yuchi summoned his Companion Beast to stand guard, he shouted for the vanished inspector.


    No response. The communicator was terrifyingly quiet, as though the inspector had been erased from the world.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to release Ice Maiden. At that moment, he was almost certain that the dimensional creature on the moon was likely a Terror-grade existence.


    Shen Yuchi and company, who were feeling nervous, were shocked when they suddenly saw a woman beside Zhou Wen.


    However, when they saw Zhou Wen¡¯s behavior, they imagined that the woman was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast, but her aura didn¡¯t seem right.


    At times like this, no one was in the mood to investigate if the woman was a Companion Beast or something else. Shen Yuchi immediately gave the order to evacuate.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t go over.¡± Zhou Wen stood there without moving because Ice Maiden¡¯s eyes were looking in the direction of their retreat. Furthermore, she looked rather solemn.


    ¡°What did you discover?¡± Wei Ge stopped and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That thing should be over there,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked in the direction that Ice Maiden was looking.


    Shen Yuchi and company hurriedly retreated. Shen Yuchi looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Can you see it?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t see it, but she can.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ice Maiden and asked, ¡°How is it? What is it? Are you confident?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very tricky. Even if I can win, I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to protect you,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    So it¡¯s really at the Terror grade? Zhou Wen no longer had any doubt. To make Ice Maiden say such words, it had to be at the Terror grade.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, it looks like we can only escape separately.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to summon the Earth Elemental Beast and planned on using its Earth Escape ability to escape.


    ¡°Whoever moves first will become its target,¡± Ice Maiden said again.


    Upon hearing Ice Maiden¡¯s words, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up summoning the Earth Elemental Beast and stood there motionless.


    Even though Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move, someone didn¡¯t believe him. An inspector summoned an Epic Companion Beast that could fly. He wanted to use its power to escape in another direction.

 Chapter 1058 - Wei Ge’s Decision

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, as he flew up, he suddenly vanished along with his Companion Beast as though he had been devoured by an invisible monster.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the dimensional creature is over there?¡± Wang Qiuyuan said in horror.


    ¡°It¡¯s still there,¡± Ice Maiden said expressionlessly.


    Shen Yuchi¡¯s expression changed constantly. He suddenly turned around and ran. At the same time, he ordered, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Wang Qiuyuan didn¡¯t hesitate and ran with Shen Yuchi. Wei Ge followed as well. Zhou Wen only thought for a moment before following.


    The few of them jumped into the mineshaft together. Shen Yuchi led the way and rushed towards the dead person they had previously discovered.


    When they got to the side of the corpse, they were already covered in cold sweat.


    Thankfully, they had made the right bet. The invisible dimensional creature didn¡¯t attack them.


    ¡°Director-General, what should we do now?¡± Wang Qiuyuan asked Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°We can¡¯t leave now.¡± Shen Yuchi looked at the dead person and the Bone Pottery jar in front of him. ¡°Perhaps our chance for survival lies here.¡±


    Zhou Wen had to admit that Shen Yuchi was indeed the head of the bureau. He was bold, careful, and quick-witted.


    All the nearby creatures had been devoured, but this sitting dead person hadn¡¯t been affected at all. Therefore, Shen Yuchi took a gamble. From the looks of it, he had made the right bet.


    At the very least, the Terror-grade creature didn¡¯t immediately attack them or chase after them.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Ice Maiden had also joined in their retreat. She didn¡¯t attack the terrifying creature. From the looks of it, she didn¡¯t have much confidence. Otherwise, she would have attacked without retreating.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. A dead person that was originally here,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That creature seems to be afraid of something here. It hasn¡¯t approached,¡± Ice Maiden said as she looked nearby.


    ¡°From the looks of it, my guess should be correct. Perhaps the things here can help us escape.¡± Shen Yuchi¡¯s gaze landed on the Bone Pottery jar.


    Of the things here, the Bone Pottery jar was naturally the most magical. The tiny flame in the altar was still burning as though it wouldn¡¯t be affected by any external force.


    If there was anything here that could affect the Terror creature, this was most likely the culprit.


    Zhou Wen and company stared at the Bone Pottery jar, but no one took it.


    Ice Maiden didn¡¯t know what it was as she constantly sized up the Bone Pottery jar and the dead man.


    ¡°Director-General, we have limited oxygen. We have to make a decision soon,¡± Wang Qiuyuan said as he stared at the Bone Pottery jar.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what¡¯s your take?¡± Shen Yuchi didn¡¯t immediately make a decision. Instead, he looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°This thing is a little odd. It¡¯s best not to touch it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Shen Yuchi clearly didn¡¯t want to take the risk and wanted Zhou Wen to give it a try. The stronger something was, the more dangerous it was. But, before figuring out what it was, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to touch it either.


    After all, it might be something that could intimidate Terror creatures. Since even Terror creatures were afraid of it, Epic humans might be courting death if they came into contact with it.


    ¡°Now that we are in the same boat, we should work together to tide through this crisis. Otherwise, everyone might die here.¡± Shen Yuchi paused before saying, ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this? Let¡¯s draw lots and choose someone to come into contact with the Bone Pottery jar. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°If you want to draw lots, you can do so yourselves. There¡¯s no need to count me in,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Qiuyuan frowned and said, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you counted? Should we take the risk and let you reap the benefits?¡±


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t need to reap the benefits. This is because I¡¯m confident of escaping back to Earth alive, so I don¡¯t need to take the risk.¡±


    Wang Qiuyuan opened his mouth, but he couldn¡¯t say a word. His expression didn¡¯t look good.


    Zhou Wen indeed had the right to say such things. After all, Ice Maiden¡ªwho was of unknown origins¡ªwas the only one among them who could see the dimensional creature. Furthermore, she remained unharmed despite staring at it.


    Shen Yuchi nodded. ¡°That¡¯s right. Zhou Wen, you aren¡¯t from our bureau. There¡¯s no need for you to take the risk with us. In that case, let¡¯s draw lots.¡±


    ¡°Director-General, there¡¯s no need to draw. Let me give it a try,¡± Wei Ge suddenly said.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m the director-general of the bureau, I don¡¯t have the right to let my subordinates risk their lives. Let¡¯s draw lots,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Ever since the day I joined the bureau, I¡¯ve been prepared to risk my life,¡± Wei Ge said calmly. ¡°I¡¯m the weakest person here. My chances of survival are the lowest. Please allow me to do something within my abilities for the bureau. If I¡¯m lucky enough not to die, I hope you can remember my tiny contribution. If I die, there¡¯s no need to mention anything else.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Shen Yuchi pondered.


    ¡°Please fulfill my wish, Director-General.¡± Wei Ge bowed.


    ¡°Whatever then. What other unfulfilled wishes do you have? If we are lucky enough to escape, I will definitely help you complete them,¡± Shen Yuchi said as he glanced at Zhou Wen from the corner of his eye.


    At this moment, Shen Yuchi hadn¡¯t forgotten to observe Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction.


    However, Zhou Wen stood there expressionlessly. This was because before Wei Ge spoke, he had secretly made a gesture that only Zhou Wen could see, telling him not to act rashly.


    ¡°Thank you for fulfilling my wish, Director-General. If I am to die here, I hope you can take care of my family when you return. I¡¯ll be very grateful,¡± Wei Ge said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Our bureau will definitely not treat meritorious employees unfairly. If anything happens to you, the bureau will definitely let your family live a comfortable life,¡± Shen Yuchi said solemnly.


    ¡°Thank you, Director-General. I¡¯m relieved.¡± With that said, Wei Ge walked towards the Bone Pottery jar.


    He walked to the side of the jar and slowly squatted down to carefully examine the Bone Pottery jar.


    President Wei shouldn¡¯t be someone who will sacrifice himself for the bureau. Zhou Wen was somewhat worried for Wei Ge, but Wei Ge¡¯s secret gesture was telling Zhou Wen that he could handle it.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan looked at Wei Ge nervously. Shen Yuchi didn¡¯t forget to observe Zhou Wen. Seeing that Zhou Wen was only watching coldly without any reaction, his doubts about Wei Ge were basically gone.


    Wei Ge sized it up for a while, but he didn¡¯t seem to discover anything. Finally, he gritted his teeth and extended his hands towards the Bone Pottery har, hoping to lift it up.


    If the dimensional creature was really afraid of the Bone Pottery jar, they could return to the spacecraft and leave the Moon with it.


    The moment Wei Ge held the Bone Pottery jar with both hands, the tiny flame inside suddenly spewed out, turning into a terrifying flame that shot into the sky.

 Chapter 1059 - Moon Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    In an instant, the fire enveloped Wei Ge, who was holding the Bone Pottery, turning him into a flaming man. The space suit instantly reduced to ashes.


    Zhou Wen was given a fright as he immediately instructed Ice Maiden to save him. Her strength was most effective against fire-elemental attacks, but Ice Maiden didn¡¯t move as she stared at Wei Ge.


    Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. On careful look, he saw that the flames had already flowed into Wei Ge¡¯s body. The flames weren¡¯t burning from the outside, but from the inside out.


    Now, Wei Ge¡¯s body was like a flaming man. It was as though flames had seeped into every inch of his cells. As for the Bone Pottery artifact in his hand, it had turned to ashes in the flames.


    The corpse beside him also disintegrated. He didn¡¯t go up in flames, but was reduced to ashes. This gave Zhou Wen a very bad feeling.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan also looked at Wei Ge in horror. Although the flames on Wei Ge¡¯s body were terrifying, they didn¡¯t hear him cry out in pain.


    ¡°I¡­ am finally back¡­¡± The flames gradually converged into Wei Ge¡¯s body. His body remained unharmed in the fire as he spoke.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear Wei Ge¡¯s voice. His tone and intonation were completely different from Wei Ge¡¯s.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Wei Ge and asked.


    Now, he regretted not stopping Wei Ge. Although the two of them hadn¡¯t interacted much, they were schoolmates. Zhou Wen still felt somewhat uncomfortable seeing him being possessed by an unknown creature.


    ¡°Who am I?¡± The flames on Wei Ge¡¯s body had almost completely extinguished as he returned to his original appearance. Although his appearance hadn¡¯t changed, for some reason, Zhou Wen felt that the present Wei Ge was completely different.


    He looked up at the universe and said in a strange tone, ¡°I¡¯m not human.¡±


    ¡°What are you?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge as countless thoughts flashed through his mind. He couldn¡¯t think of any way to help Wei Ge retrieve his body.


    ¡°I¡¯m human,¡± Wei Ge said slowly.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you aren¡¯t human?¡± Zhou Wen looked at him in puzzlement. He increasingly felt that Wei Ge was in danger. Not only was the thing attached to him a monster, but it was also a mentally ill monster.


    Wei Ge didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen. He turned his head to look in the direction of Earth, but because this was the back of the Moon, he couldn¡¯t see Earth.


    ¡°Is Earth still around?¡± Wei Ge asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s still here, but we can¡¯t see it from this side of the Moon.¡± Zhou Wen found it even stranger.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I should still be in time,¡± Wei Ge muttered to himself. As he spoke, he walked out.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Zhou Wen exchanged looks with Ice Maiden and followed him.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan hurriedly followed. Due to Wei Ge¡¯s existence, the invisible dimensional creature didn¡¯t attack them. If they were far away from him, they would probably be attacked again.


    This existence that occupied Wei Ge¡¯s ¡°body¡± didn¡¯t seem to be as offensive as the dimensional creature.


    ¡°Take back my Companion Beast,¡± Wei Ge said as he walked, as though he didn¡¯t care about Zhou Wen and company.


    He didn¡¯t walk quickly, as though he was familiarizing himself with this body.


    Wei Ge was already at the Epic stage, but Epic humans didn¡¯t have the ability to survive on the Moon. However, now that he was walking naked on the Moon, it was as though he was walking as freely as back on Earth.


    ¡°Where is your Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen guessed the creature under the tree stump might be his Companion Beast.


    If he could subdue it, their danger would be greatly reduced.


    However, now that Wei Ge was possessed by him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he could recover.


    Thinking back to when Wei Ge left school, he had once said that he would find his life meaningful if he was lucky enough to barely defeat the heavens.


    But now, he was already doomed without doing anything. He didn¡¯t know if there would be a day when he could realize his value.


    Wei Ge didn¡¯t answer as he continued walking forward. He was walking in the direction where Zhou Wen and company had previously encountered the invisible creature.


    ¡°That Terror creature is retreating. It seems to be afraid of this person,¡± Ice Maiden whispered to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Terror creature his Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen whispered.


    ¡°That¡¯s a Terror-grade dimensional creature. It¡¯s naturally impossible for it to be a Companion Beast.¡± Ice Maiden paused before saying, ¡°This person seems very strong.¡±


    ¡°I also know that he¡¯s very strong. Now, I just want to know if there¡¯s any hope for Wei Ge to live?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible to retrieve his body,¡± Ice Maiden answered firmly.


    Soon, Wei Ge returned to the spot where the tree stump had been dug out. He stood in front of the huge hole and stared at it. A strange divine light shot out from his eyes like two divine lamps. When the light shone into the hole, a strange change immediately happened inside.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen and company saw a figure gradually condense in the hole. It was a huge dark-gold toad.


    ¡°In the legends of the East District, the Moon is also called Toad Palace. Legend has it that there¡¯s a golden toad inside. Could it be that this is the legendary golden toad?¡± Shen Yuchi said as he stared at the golden toad.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that the one who had devoured the astronauts and inspectors was most likely the golden toad. However, he didn¡¯t know what power Wei Ge had used to make the Terror creature show itself.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that Wei Ge¡¯s target wasn¡¯t the golden toad. His gaze shone into the hole, revealing an ancient jade door where the mine¡¯s wall originally stood.


    The jade door was crystalline and emitted infinite coldness. Zhou Wen looked carefully and saw that on the plaque above the door¡¯s brow were the words ¡°Moon Palace.¡±


    Holy sh*t, there¡¯s really a Moon Palace. Could Chang¡¯e and Moon Rabbit be inside? Zhou Wen was surprised when he swept his gaze across the corner of the plaque. His surprise turned into disbelief.


    In the corner of the plaque was a tiny palm symbol. The tiny palm symbol held the moon symbol.


    There¡¯s actually a tiny palm symbol here! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. This was an unexpected gain.


    Shen Yuchi and company also looked at Moon Palace in surprise. Although it wasn¡¯t strange for mythical places to appear in this era, seeing the legendary Moon Palace still sent palpitations through their hearts. After all, the legend of Moon Palace was famous in the East District.


    The divine light in Wei Ge¡¯s eyes vanished as he slowly walked towards the Moon Palace. After taking a few steps, the golden toad opened its mouth and extended its python-like tongue towards Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge extended his hand and beckoned. Flames immediately appeared in his hand, condensing into a flaming ax that severed the golden toad¡¯s tongue.

 Chapter 1060 - Two Illogical Points

    Translator: CKtalon


    The golden toad¡¯s tongue was severed by the ax. Blood immediately spewed out from its mouth as it let out a shrill cry.


    And at the spot where its tongue was severed, flames burned. When the blood spewed into the air, it also burned like fireworks.


    How powerful! Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Even Ice Maiden didn¡¯t dare underestimate the strength of the golden toad, but Wei Ge had chopped off its tongue with an ax. This was just too terrifying.


    Wait¡­ Axe¡­ Lunar Osmanthus Tree¡­ Could the one possessing Wei Ge be the legendary logger? Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge in surprise.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. In myths and legends, the logger was a human. As he had committed a huge mistake during his immortal cultivation, he had been punished by the furious Celestial Thearch. He was only allowed to leave after he had chopped down the osmanthus tree on the moon.


    However, the osmanthus tree on the moon wasn¡¯t an ordinary tree species. Instead, it was a type of undying tree. When the ax was pulled back after a chop, the wound on the tree automatically healed.


    Therefore, the logger ended up logging on the Moon forever, never to leave the Moon again.


    This was only one of the versions of the punished logger legend. Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t believe it, but now that such a person had appeared, it was difficult not to connect them together.


    However, according to legend, it¡¯s impossible for the osmanthus tree to be chopped down. Why is there only a tree stump now? How did the logger die? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    While Zhou Wen was still pondering, the injured golden toad retreated into the Moon Palace. The possessed Wei Ge also walked in.


    ¡°If you want to leave, this is the best opportunity,¡± Ice Maiden informed them.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, are you returning to the spacecraft?¡± Zhou Wen asked Shen Yuchi.


    Shen Yuchi pondered and said, ¡°Little Wei made such a huge sacrifice. Since he can still be saved, we can¡¯t abandon him. We have to think of a way.¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected Shen Yuchi to say such a thing.


    ¡°In that case, are you going in to save him?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Shen Yuchi and asked.


    ¡°I can only say that I¡¯m going in to take a look. If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯ll save him. If there¡¯s no chance, I won¡¯t throw my life away. I¡¯ll just do my best. You and Wei Ge are also schoolmates. You won¡¯t abandon him, right?¡±


    ¡°We were only from the same school and not from the same class. We didn¡¯t have much interaction and don¡¯t have any ties. Save him yourself. I¡¯m not in the mood to take the risk,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Shen Yuchi was slightly taken aback, but he didn¡¯t say anything else. He led Wang Qiuyuan into the Moon Palace.


    After they entered, Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol behind the words ¡°Moon Palace.¡±


    With a click, the phone screen showed the download interface.


    I wonder if Chang¡¯e is really in the Moon Palace. It should be very interesting when the Chang¡¯e Companion Beast drops, right? Zhou Wen saw that his phone was constantly on the downloading screen. It didn¡¯t seem like it could be downloaded in a short period of time.


    Should I enter? Zhou Wen looked at the door of Moon Palace. The cold air inside was like fog, preventing him from seeing anything. Truth Listener¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t penetrate it either.


    ¡°If I were you, I wouldn¡¯t choose to enter,¡± Ice Maiden suddenly said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ice Maiden.


    Ice Maiden said, ¡°The existence that possessed your classmate is too powerful. The golden toad¡¯s strength isn¡¯t weaker than the present me, but he can heavily injure it with a mere strike. With such strength, even Grim Demon might not be able to emerge victorious if he were to fight. It¡¯s best you consider it carefully.¡±


    After a pause, Ice Maiden continued, ¡°Furthermore, this matter is somewhat odd. According to what I know, it¡¯s impossible for humans to advance to the Mythical stage with their own strength, much less reach the Terror grade. That creature said that he¡¯s human, but his strength is very terrifying at the Terror grade. Unless he¡¯s not human, there must be some secret behind this matter.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he looked at the Moon Palace door in silence.


    He didn¡¯t care if the person who had possessed Wei Ge was human, but there was something that Zhou Wen was very concerned about.


    For Shen Yuchi to risk his life for Wei Ge, something didn¡¯t seem right no matter how he thought about it.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible that Shen Yuchi knew of the existence of the Bone Pottery jar from the beginning?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°What do you mean? If he knew, why did he take the risk to come here?¡± Ice Maiden frowned.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It doesn¡¯t make sense, but there¡¯s something else that doesn¡¯t make sense. Although I haven¡¯t interacted much with Wei Ge, I do know him a little. He¡¯s definitely not someone who would sacrifice himself for a place like the bureau, yet he actually took the initiative to take the risk. This doesn¡¯t seem like his character.¡±


    ¡°Is it possible that he was forced to do so? After all, even if lots were really drawn, Shen Yuchi might have tampered with them. The person who eventually had to go was still likely to be him. He might as well have taken the initiative. If he succeeded, he could still obtain Shen Yuchi¡¯s recognition in the future,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°No, Wei Ge knows that Shen Yuchi is afraid of me. If he really needs to risk his life, he will probably seek help from me. It¡¯s impossible for him to stop me from interfering with his actions.¡±


    Zhou Wen paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Is it possible that Wei Ge also recognizes the Bone Pottery and knows what¡¯s inside, so he took the initiative to take the risk?¡±


    ¡°It seems illogical,¡± Ice Maiden said with a frown.


    ¡°But adding the two unreasonable things together seems to make sense. Otherwise, I really can¡¯t figure out why Wei Ge and Shen Yuchi would do something so illogical,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to find out the answer. Just go in and take a look,¡± Ice Maiden said as she looked at the door of Moon Palace.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go in and take a look.¡± Zhou Wen glanced at his phone and realized that it was still downloading. He got Ice Maiden to lead the way as the two of them entered through the Moon Palace door.


    He didn¡¯t have a feel of it outside the door, but the moment he entered, Zhou Wen felt a terrifying coldness pass through the space suit that could withstand low temperatures. It made him shiver.


    When Ice Maiden walked over, Zhou Wen immediately felt the coldness dissipate significantly as his body warmed up.


    How did Shen Yuchi and the rest survive such a low temperature? Zhou Wen felt increasingly puzzled. Even his body couldn¡¯t withstand it. He didn¡¯t believe that Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan could withstand such low temperatures.


    Thankfully, with Ice Maiden as an ice-elemental expert beside him, the coldness naturally receded wherever she went. Zhou Wen could vaguely see that there were many jade buildings in the cold fog, like a fairyland in myths.

 Chapter 1061 - Toad Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    Boom!


    Deep in Moon Palace, a terrifying explosion sounded. Zhou Wen saw a faint red flame flash in the distant fog. It was as though a building had caught fire. Mixed into the fog were flames and smoke, and the red glow in the white fog looked unnatural.


    Is Wei Ge fighting? Zhou Wen felt as though the whole of Moon Palace was trembling.


    The cold fog didn¡¯t feel as cold as before. Ice Maiden scouted ahead as Zhou Wen followed behind her, heading deeper into Moon Palace.


    In such a land of extreme coldness, it was Ice Maiden¡¯s home ground. She controlled the frost aura, preventing it from injuring Zhou Wen at all.


    As they walked, snowflakes floated out of the fog. Under the red glow of the flames, they looked like burning ashes.


    Zhou Wen held one and took a careful look, but he was surprised to discover that it wasn¡¯t ash or a snowflake. It was the petal of an osmanthus.


    Could these petals be the ones Shen Yuchi wanted me to see? Zhou Wen summoned an ordinary Musical Note Sprite and placed the petal on it.


    In the next second, he saw the petal transform into a strange light that fused into the Musical Note Sprite. The Musical Note Sprite immediately began to evolve.


    It¡¯s true! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly reached out to gather the petals that floated over.


    These petals had magical effects on Companion Beasts, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel anything when he touched them. Clearly, they were ineffective on humans.


    He gave a few petals to different Companion Beasts and realized that those at the Legendary stage could immediately evolve. However, those at the Epic stage only gained a slight boost in stats without any immediate evolution.


    Just as Shen Yuchi had said, the petals of the osmanthus could only be used once. If they came into contact with the petals again, they wouldn¡¯t be able to absorb much.


    Even so, it was already very impressive. Zhou Wen wanted to collect more.


    I wonder where these petals came from. I hope there are more. If I can get hundreds or even thousands of them, they will be of great use in the future. As Zhou Wen walked forward, he carefully gathered the petals.


    Perhaps it was because Wei Ge had already cleared all the dimensional creatures in Moon Palace that Zhou Wen and Ice Maiden didn¡¯t see any dimensional creatures wherever they went.


    There were jade towers one after another, but there was nothing inside. It was cold and empty.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the crazy battle in the distance, Zhou Wen would have imagined that this was an empty palace complex.


    He approached the flaming glow in front of him, and the cold fog dissipated. His vision also became much better.


    One petal after another¡­ There are already more than forty¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted. In the future, when he obtained Mythical Companion Beasts that needed to be fed, one petal could advance them to the Epic stage. There would be no need to go to much trouble.


    Suddenly, the flames erupted. They illuminated almost all of Moon Palace.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen saw many things clearly. The most eye-catching was the huge osmanthus tree. It was thousands of feet tall and stood at the brightest spot in the distance.


    Amidst the flames of war and the cold fog, the osmanthus tree was swaying. Large petals fluttered in the cold fog and flames like snowflakes or ashes. There were thousands of them¡ªvirtually uncountable.


    Zhou Wen was stunned. He almost couldn¡¯t believe his eyes.


    With so many osmanthus petals, even if he could only collect half of them, there would probably be tens of thousands, not to mention if he collected them all.


    With so many petals, can I advance all the Musical Note Sprites to the Epic stage? I now have nearly a hundred thousand Musical Note Sprites. If I advance all of them to the Epic stage, the Epic Musical Note Sprite legion, together with the unified command of the Golden Harp, will produce combat strength that¡¯s probably stronger than ordinary Mythical creatures. Zhou Wen wished he could immediately rush over and take the petals for himself.


    However, reason told him that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, nor were there any flower petals that he could pick up for free. He might not be able to return alive if he rushed over now.


    Ensuing under the huge osmanthus tree was the most intense battle. There was no sign of anyone.


    Terrifying cold air and flames shot out from there.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight, he couldn¡¯t see the battle. All he could see were dazzling lights. Without a doubt, it was a true Terror-grade battle.


    Where did Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan go? Zhou Wen had been searching for their traces, but he couldn¡¯t find any traces of them despite looking for so long.


    They definitely didn¡¯t go to save Wei Ge, but I didn¡¯t encounter them along the way. They shouldn¡¯t have turned back. Could it be that they really went to the huge osmanthus tree? However, considering the aftershocks from such a battle, I reckon ordinary Mythical creatures wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it. Would they really dare go there? Zhou Wen looked around and used the occasional erupting flames to size up his surroundings.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that Shen Yuchi and company¡¯s target was likely not the osmanthus tree.


    This is Toad Palace. Although the osmanthus tree is magical, the most precious treasure of Toad Palace isn¡¯t the osmanthus tree. Zhou Wen observed the deeper parts of Frost Palace from afar.


    The buildings there were different from the jade buildings here. They were made of osmanthus wood, forming pavilions and palaces.


    Zhou Wen suddenly recalled something. Although Moon Palace and Chang¡¯e were very famous, Moon Palace¡¯s owner wasn¡¯t Chang¡¯e in truth. Moon Palace was only where Chang¡¯e lived, not the Moon Goddess Temple. Moon Palace¡¯s true owner was actually the Lady Supreme Yin, or rather, the Moon Goddess.


    Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang had a lofty status in the East District¡¯s mythology. Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s status was nothing Chang¡¯e, who had ascended simply from consuming an elixir, could compare with.


    Could it be that Shen Yuchi and company¡¯s target is there? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was possible. The area where the osmanthus tree stood was only a small area of Toad Palace. Shen Yuchi and company could completely circle around that area and enter the depths of Toad Palace.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look over there.¡± Zhou Wen temporarily gave up on the idea of picking up the petals and got Ice Maiden to lead him around the battle and head deeper into the wooden buildings.


    Compared to the gorgeous jade buildings, the wooden buildings looked ordinary, but as long as one realized that the wood came from the osmanthus divine tree, they would immediately feel that the wooden buildings weren¡¯t that ordinary.


    Shen Yuchi and company are indeed here. From afar, Zhou Wen saw Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan kneeling in front of a wooden hut. He didn¡¯t know what they were doing.


    2

 Chapter 1062 - Moon Goddess Temple

    Translator: CKtalon


    Due to the distance, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the situation clearly. With a thought, he put on the Invisibility Cloak and approached Shen Yuchi and company.


    Ice Maiden silently followed behind Zhou Wen. With her skills, even if she didn¡¯t turn into her Terror form, Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan wouldn¡¯t be able to discover her.


    When Zhou Wen got closer, he saw that the wooden hut they were kneeling in front of looked more like a temple. However, the temple didn¡¯t have a plaque or a sign. Even the temple walls were made of osmanthus wood, but despite having been made into a wooden hut, there were still buds growing on it with beautiful osmanthus flowers blooming.


    Upon arriving in this area, there was no longer the Moon Palace¡¯s coldness. Instead, it made one feel refreshed and comfortable. It was indescribably pleasant.


    The door to the wooden hut was closed. There were no dimensional creatures around Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan, but they were kneeling in front of the wooden hut¡¯s door, their heads on the ground, motionless.


    Could it be that there¡¯s an invisible force suppressing them, forcing them to kneel? Zhou Wen looked left and right, but he couldn¡¯t see any energy fluctuations. He looked at Ice Maiden beside him.


    Ice Maiden clearly knew what was on Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. She said in a voice that only Zhou Wen could hear, ¡°They aren¡¯t suppressed by any power.¡±


    That¡¯s strange. There aren¡¯t any dimensional creatures or powers suppressing them. Why are they kneeling here? Or should I say, what¡¯s the point of kneeling here? If this is really the Moon Goddess¡¯s temple, could it be that they are kneeling here to ask for benefits from her? But how do they know that the Moon Goddess will give them something good by kneeling? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    As the story of Chang¡¯e¡¯s ascension to the moon was so famous, people didn¡¯t know much about the true Moon Goddess. Zhou Wen had only heard of the legend of Lady Supreme Yin, but he wasn¡¯t too sure what kind of goddess she was.


    Since Shen Yuchi and company were kneeling here, they definitely knew something. Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. How did they know? The conclusion obtained solely from the analysis of myths wasn¡¯t necessarily correct. People like Shen Yuchi definitely wouldn¡¯t risk their lives for such a guess.


    ¡°Director-General, is this really useful?¡± Wang Qiuyuan knelt there, not daring to move, but he couldn¡¯t help but speak.


    ¡°It¡¯s useful. Just kneel down and don¡¯t move. Stop talking,¡± Shen Yuchi answered.


    They then fell into silence again. They knelt there without moving or saying a word. This left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed. He originally imagined that he might hear some secrets, but to his surprise, they stopped talking.


    ¡°If you want to know something, why don¡¯t you ask them now?¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°Ask them¡­ That¡¯s right¡­ Why didn¡¯t I think of it¡­ You¡¯re smart¡­¡± Zhou Wen suddenly understood what Ice Maiden meant.


    Shen Yuchi and the rest were kneeling in front of the wooden hut. They definitely had their orders, and wouldn¡¯t dare to stand up. If he were to ask them, they probably wouldn¡¯t dare remain silent.


    Zhou Wen put away the Invisibility Cloak and walked towards Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyun who were kneeling in front of the door.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan were alarmed when they heard the footsteps. Even if they didn¡¯t dare look up, they quickly recognized that it was Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you came at the right time. We are trapped here and can¡¯t move. Quickly save us,¡± Wang Qiuyuan pleaded.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t heard their conversation, he would have been frightened and wouldn¡¯t have dared to go over.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll save you now.¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips and walked to Wang Qiuyuan¡¯s side, reaching out to pull him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Don¡¯t touch me¡­¡± Wang Qiuyuan¡¯s body trembled as he hurriedly shouted.


    ¡°Director-General Shen, what¡¯s going on? At the very least, you should make up a story to deal with me, right?¡± Zhou Wen squatted down and pressed his fingers on Shen Yuchi¡¯s arm as he said calmly.


    Shen Yuchi lay there, not daring to move. Wang Qiuyuan said, ¡°We originally wanted to save Little Wei, but we couldn¡¯t see the path clearly in the cold fog. We accidentally came across this place and were cursed. If we move, we will explode¡­¡±


    ¡°This fabrication sucks. Director-General Shen, why don¡¯t you make one up yourself?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    1


    Shen Yuchi finally said, ¡°Before we came to the Moon, we perused a large amount of information and gained a lot of understanding of the Moon according to myths and legends. However, the information was only inferred from myths and legends. We didn¡¯t know if it was real or fake, so we didn¡¯t announce it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s an interesting fabrication. Continue.¡± Zhou Wen pressed his fingers on Shen Yuchi¡¯s arm as though he would push them at any moment.


    ¡°Moon Palace is actually equivalent to a cold palace, a place where royalty are put under house arrest. Therefore, Chang¡¯e isn¡¯t the Moon¡¯s master. She¡¯s just a prisoner. In myths and legends, the Moon¡¯s true master is Lady Supreme Yin¡ªLady of the Moon¡ªwho is also the Moon Goddess. The place we are now is the true residence of the Moon Goddess, which is the Moon Goddess Temple.¡±


    Shen Yuchi paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°We believe that the nature of the Moon Goddess Temple is similar to Earth Temples. There might be benefits if we worship here.¡±


    ¡°This story is quite sound, but don¡¯t tell me that you didn¡¯t know of the existence of the Bone Pottery jar and the dead man before coming to the Moon,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°In fact, the Bone Pottery jar and the dead man were discovered long ago. When I was on Earth, I had already done a lot of research and consulted many experts. That¡¯s why I knew that the Bone Pottery jar is actually a kind of sacrificial artifact,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°You knew that the person who picked up the Bone Pottery jar would be possessed, right?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Shen Yuchi and said.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t sure about that. I only knew that the Bone Pottery jar was used to offer sacrifices to deities. In ancient times, shamans used the Bone Pottery jar to communicate or invite deities to possess them. However, they usually used water or alcohol. I¡¯ve never heard of such a flaming Bone Pottery jar. I don¡¯t know what uses it has.¡± Shen Yuchi was clearly unwilling to admit that he had long known the consequences of touching the Bone Pottery jar.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expose him as he continued asking, ¡°Did you originally want me to touch the Bone Pottery jar?¡±


    ¡°Why would I have such thoughts? I definitely didn¡¯t have such intentions,¡± Shen Yuchi said.


    ¡°Did Wei Ge know about the Bone Pottery jar?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he asked Shen Yuchi another question.


    ¡°The matter regarding the Bone Pottery jar is a top secret in our bureau. Little Wei¡¯s clearance isn¡¯t high enough to come into contact with those secrets,¡± Wang Qiuyuan added.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed it as well. He and Wei Ge were actually sacrificial goods brought by Shen Yuchi. Shen Yuchi had originally wanted to lure Zhou Wen to touch the Bone Pottery jar.


    Shen Yuchi originally felt that a youth like Zhou Wen, who was proud and had powerful strength, would probably want to study the unknown when encountering one.


    However, to his surprise, Zhou Wen was like an old man who was afraid of death. Despite possessing such strength, he was still extremely cautious. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t seem curious at all. He didn¡¯t touch the Bone Pottery jar. This had left Shen Yuchi feeling very disappointed.


    2

 Chapter 1063 - Lady Supreme Yin

    Translator: CKtalon


    How could Shen Yuchi know that Zhou Wen had suffered death too many times in-game? Therefore, he was especially careful in reality. He definitely wouldn¡¯t touch anything unknown.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if what Shen Yuchi had said was true. Just as he was about to ask something else, he suddenly heard a creak as the door to the Moon Goddess Temple opened.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan were immediately overjoyed. However, they didn¡¯t dare look up and continued kneeling on the ground. Zhou Wen and Ice Maiden looked up without any qualms.


    Inside the Moon Goddess Temple, there was a wooden statue. It was a dignified and beautiful woman.


    When Ice Maiden saw the wooden statue, her expression immediately turned solemn. She was even somewhat alarmed as she involuntarily retreated.


    However, with every step she took, frost footprints appeared on the ground. After taking a few steps back, she was frozen as though she had turned into a jade statue. Although there wasn¡¯t any frost on her body, she gave off a feeling that she was frozen. It was extremely strange.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Ice Maiden was an ice-elemental Terror creature. The creature in the temple had to be unimaginably powerful to freeze her.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan were overjoyed. They had been waiting for this moment.


    Now that the Moon Goddess had appeared, the disrespectful Zhou Wen and Ice Maiden would naturally be punished.


    Zhou Wen stood there motionless. Even an existence like Ice Maiden had been frozen. If he moved, he might freeze even faster than her.


    Instead, he stood still and temporarily didn¡¯t feel anything strange.


    However, when he looked at the wooden sculpture, Zhou Wen lamented inwardly. He couldn¡¯t retreat or advance.


    Ice Maiden was right. It¡¯s best not to enter such a place, Zhou Wen thought.


    However, Ice Maiden was too careless. Ever since she had come to this world, the strongest she had seen was at the Terror grade. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had the Terror-grade Demonic Neonate, Grim Demon, and the Seven Seas Dragon King by his side. Therefore, although she found this place somewhat strange, she didn¡¯t take it to heart. She felt that even if something went wrong, they should be able to resolve it. That¡¯s why she still entered with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Since fate has brought you here, choose one among yourselves. I will help you walk the world and do good deeds to prevent calamity.¡± The Moon Goddess statue¡¯s lips didn¡¯t move, but an ethereal voice sounded.


    Zhou Wen found the line familiar. Although delivery was different, he seemed to have experienced a similar scene.


    Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the one-in-three choice of Mythical Companion Beasts? As Zhou Wen thought to himself, he saw a pearl and a jade slip fly out from the Moon Goddess statue and land on the wooden table in front of the statue.


    Why are there only two? Aren¡¯t there usually three choices? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he immediately thought of something. So that¡¯s how it is. Someone has been here long ago and obtained a Mythical Companion Beast from here. Shen Yuchi must have known about this long ago, so he personally came to try his luck.


    However, this Moon Goddess doesn¡¯t seem to be very picky. She actually gives Companion Beasts to anyone. Now, there are three of us, but there are only two Companion Beasts. The two of them have been kneeling here the entire time. They are very respectful of the Moon Goddess. It¡¯s very likely that the Moon Goddess will let them choose first. After they choose, what has it got to do with me? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced, but he couldn¡¯t think of a good solution.


    Zhou Wen would be thankful if the Moon Goddess didn¡¯t find fault with him or freeze him. He didn¡¯t dare dream of choosing a Companion Egg.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had many Mythical Companion Beasts now. There was no need to take the risk.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan clearly thought the same. The two of them were overjoyed.


    Wang Qiuyuan looked at Shen Yuchi and saw him nod slightly. Only then did he bow to the Moon Goddess statue. ¡°Thank you, Your Excellency for your reward. I want that pearl.¡±


    After he bowed, there was no reaction from the temple. The Moon Goddess didn¡¯t speak again. The pearl became even brighter, but it didn¡¯t fly out.


    Zhou Wen found it odd. He had previously chosen Companion Eggs. After a choice was made, the Companion Beasts would typically fly over themselves.


    Wang Qiuyuan didn¡¯t know what to do. He didn¡¯t dare enter the Moon Goddess Temple, so he could only look at Shen Yuchi.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go in yet. Let me give it a try.¡± Shen Yuchi was also somewhat puzzled. It was indeed as Zhou Wen had imagined. He knew that someone had come here and knew the details, so he had personally come to try his luck.


    However, the development was different from what he knew. When the person who had taken away the first Companion Beast made the choice, the Companion Beast had flown over by itself, but for some reason, there was no movement.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I choose the jade slip. Thank you for your reward,¡± Shen Yuchi said as he knelt.


    Just as Shen Yuchi said that, the bamboo slip lit up. However, it only lit up, without any intention of moving.


    ¡°Director-General, I think we need to go in and retrieve them ourselves. Why don¡¯t I go in and take a look first?¡± Wang Qiuyuan said as he looked at the luminous pearl and jade slip.


    Shen Yuchi nodded slightly. Wang Qiuyuan bowed again and said, ¡°Your Excellency, I¡¯ll be entering to retrieve the pearl.¡± Then, he got up and walked towards the Moon Goddess Temple.


    Wang Qiuyuan was extremely excited. Although there were many more Mythical Companion Beasts available these days, they were still rare. Only a few experts had a chance of obtaining one. With his status, he had no chance of obtaining a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Now, this was definitely a chance for him to achieve success in a single step. If the other inspectors who had come with him hadn¡¯t died, this opportunity might not have landed on him.


    Wang Qiuyuan walked to the door of the Moon Goddess Temple. Just as he was about to step in, frost suddenly appeared beneath his feet. Then, his entire body was frozen in front of the door. Just like Ice Maiden, there was no frost on his body. His body seemed to have turned into cold jade.


    What¡¯s going on? Isn¡¯t she giving a Companion Beast? Why doesn¡¯t she let them take it? Is this the Moon Goddess¡¯s scam? Zhou Wen was alarmed. This was the first time he had seen such a scamming dimensional creature.


    In the past, most of the dimensional creatures had laid obvious traps. They clearly informed people of the danger and dared them to come over.


    However, Moon Goddess didn¡¯t do so. She first told them of the benefits, only to kill them when they went over. Zhou Wen felt that she shouldn¡¯t be called Moon Goddess, but a Scamming Goddess.


    That¡¯s right. She¡¯s Lady Supreme Yin to begin with¡­ There¡¯s a second interpretation to the name¡­ Zhou Wen thought about it and realized that the divine title made sense.


    Shen Yuchi also wore a puzzled look. This was completely different from the information he had obtained, but his information couldn¡¯t be wrong. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know what had gone wrong.


    ¡°Did that person lie to me?¡± Shen Yuchi¡¯s expression changed.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you choose?¡± At that moment, a voice sounded from the Moon Goddess Temple. Although she didn¡¯t say who she was talking to, there were only three people. Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan had chosen, while Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t made a choice. She was definitely talking about Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Can I still choose?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise. This was because these items were supposed to be unique. They would be gone after being chosen.

 Chapter 1064 - You Can Have It All

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to choose, you can request both.¡± The voice that came from the Moon Goddess Temple left Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth agape in surprise. He failed to immediately recover from his shock.


    He didn¡¯t know that he could make such a choice. In the past, when he had chosen Truth Listener and Banana Fairy, he could only choose once. There would be no reaction if he tried again.


    But this entity was different. She actually said that he could choose them both.


    Conspiracy¡­ It must be a conspiracy¡­ This Lady Supreme Yin wants to scam me after scamming them? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that such a good thing would happen and felt that there was definitely a trap.


    Shen Yuchi also thought so, so he kept looking at Zhou Wen. If Zhou Wen were to choose to take both, he might end up worse than Wang Qiuyuan.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I¡¯m not doubting you. It¡¯s just that I¡¯ve heard from others that a person can only choose a Companion Beast once, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. A person can only choose once.¡± The Moon Goddess¡¯s voice floated out again.


    Zhou Wen never expected the Moon Goddess to admit it so quickly. After some thought, he carefully asked again, ¡°One person can only choose one Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the Moon Goddess answered with certainty.


    ¡°Then why are you allowing me to take both?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the Moon Goddess¡¯s trap was a little too obvious. No matter how stupid he was, he wouldn¡¯t fall for it that easily, right?


    Although Shen Yuchi knew that Zhou Wen was very careful, he couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat disappointed when he saw that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t tempted.


    ¡°Choosing and requesting are two separate matters.¡± The Moon Goddess¡¯s voice sounded, leaving Zhou Wen and Shen Yuchi stunned as their emotions underwent a subtle change.


    ¡°You mean¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at the pearl and jade slip in disbelief.


    ¡°Now that these two Companion Beasts have been chosen, there are naturally no rules. Anyone can take them away and hatch them.¡± The Moon Goddess¡¯s words left Shen Yuchi somewhat dumbfounded.


    It must be a conspiracy¡­ There must be a conspiracy¡­ Shen Yuchi reacted and stared at the pearl and jade slip in the temple as he thought repeatedly.


    ¡°That works too¡­ However, Your Excellency, your divine might is too powerful. A mortal like me can¡¯t enter your temple¡­¡± No matter how greedy Zhou Wen was, he didn¡¯t dare enter to take them.


    However, just as Zhou Wen said that, the pearl and jade slip flew out and quickly landed in his hand.


    Zhou Wen held the pearl and jade slip in disbelief.


    Could it be that my luck has really turned for the better? I actually encountered such a good thing. Or could it be that I¡¯m handsome and confident, and Lady Supreme Yin thinks that I¡¯m a promising talent? Zhou Wen looked at the pearl and jade slip in his hand and was momentarily at a loss.


    Meanwhile, Shen Yuchi gritted his teeth so hard that they almost shattered. He had been tricked. Furthermore, he had been tricked by a deity.


    However, he still couldn¡¯t figure out why the Moon Goddess would entrap him and Wang Qiuyuan and give Zhou Wen the Companion Beasts that originally belonged to him and Wang Qiuyuan.


    This didn¡¯t make sense. It didn¡¯t make any sense at all.


    According to the information he had obtained, the Moon Goddess was a goddess who saved the world from calamity. It didn¡¯t matter if one came from a noble family or a lowly family. Therefore, she didn¡¯t have any requirements for their physiques. As long as one sincerely knelt and prayed, they would be rewarded by her.


    But from the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case at all.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even kneel. He even caused trouble in front of the Moon Goddess Temple. That was a great disrespect to the Moon Goddess.


    Now, not only did the Moon Goddess not punish him, but she had also scammed them and given their Companion Beasts to Zhou Wen. This infuriated Shen Yuchi to the point of nearly exploding. He couldn¡¯t understand why this was happening.


    Thankfully, Shen Yuchi had experienced too many storms in his life. He had long reached the point where he didn¡¯t show his emotions on his face. Even though he didn¡¯t show it at all, he was so angry that he almost went crazy.


    ¡°Lady Moon Goddess, you are truly wise, mighty, beautiful, and magnanimous¡­¡± After Zhou Wen confirmed that the Companion Beasts in his hand weren¡¯t fake, he thought about the praises his limited vocabulary could afford and used them all to praise the Moon Goddess.


    He now felt that the Moon Goddess was the best deity in the world¡ªa deity with such foresight should be the only true god in the world.


    Those gods such as God, Jade Emperor, Buddha, and the like were nothing compared to the mighty Moon Goddess. They should have long been eliminated.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what you were thinking. Didn¡¯t you say that I should be called Scam Goddess?¡± The words that came from the Moon Goddess Temple instantly made Zhou Wen break out into a cold sweat.


    ¡°Nothing of that sort. You are the gentle, beautiful, and kind Goddess of the Moon. If anyone dares to be disrespectful to you, I¡¯ll not let him off,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said, not daring to think too much.


    Moon Goddess seemed to have the ability to read minds.


    Beside him, Shen Yuchi¡¯s face turned pale. If the Moon Goddess really had the ability to read minds, what he was thinking would probably lead him to an outcome worse than Wang Qiuyuan.


    Just as he thought of this, his body quickly froze, turning into a jade statue like Wang Qiuyuan.


    ¡°Since you have already obtained the Companion Beasts, would you mind doing me a small favor?¡± The Moon Goddess didn¡¯t harp on the matter.


    ¡°You also know that I¡¯m weak. What can I do for you?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he thought to himself, As expected, there¡¯s no free lunch in this world. I wonder what this Moon Goddess wants?


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. Go to Moon Palace and help Chang¡¯e defeat the logger,¡± the Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Your Excellency, your divine powers are boundless. Isn¡¯t it just a matter of moving your fingers to deal with the logger? With my lowly strength, I won¡¯t be of much help even if I go. Instead, I might become a burden.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t crazy. How could he be a match for the logger?


    However, the Moon Goddess¡¯s words confirmed that the one possessing Wei Ge was the logger.


    ¡°If I could leave this temple, would I need to seek your help?¡± The Moon Goddess said, ¡°Her abilities are very compatible with the Moon Palace. If you take her to help in the battle, you might be able to defeat the logger.¡±


    Moon Goddess was naturally referring to the frozen Ice Maiden.


    ¡°You also said that it¡¯s a ¡®might¡¯¡­¡± Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t want to go. Ignoring how terrifying the logger was, the body he possessed belonged to Wei Ge. They were former school classmates after all. Neither Wei Ge nor the logger had made attempts on his life. It wouldn¡¯t be right for him to kill them, much less destroy Wei Ge¡¯s body.


    ¡°Of course, you can also choose not to help. However, if the logger succeeds, the Moon will be destroyed. Do you think Earth will be unaffected?¡± the Moon Goddess said calmly.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that the Moon had a huge influence on Earth. If the Moon was really destroyed, Earth would definitely be greatly affected. It was even possible for an apocalyptic calamity to happen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the logger say that he only wants to retrieve his Companion Beast? It shouldn¡¯t be that exaggerated to the point of destroying the Moon, right?¡± Zhou Wen was skeptical.


    ¡°Do you know what Companion Beast he wants to take away?¡± the Moon Goddess asked calmly.

 Chapter 1065 - Elixir of Immortality

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zhou Wen said, but he thought to himself, It¡¯s not like we¡¯re friends. Who knows what his Companion Beast is?


    ¡°Have you heard of the story of Chang¡¯e¡¯s ascension to the Moon?¡± the Moon Goddess asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of this before. Legend has it that Chang¡¯e secretly ate the Elixir of Immortality that belonged to her husband, Hou Yi, who obtained it from the Queen Mother of the West. Then, she ascended to the Moon and became an immortal fairy¡­¡± Zhou Wen had naturally heard of this story. As it was so famous, it was difficult for him not to know it.


    Moon Goddess continued, ¡°Then do you know why Chang¡¯e ascended to the Moon after secretly eating the Elixir of Immortality and not anywhere else?¡±


    How would I know¡­ Wait¡­ Elixir of Immortality¡­ Tree of Immortality¡­ Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a possibility.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t that stupid. That¡¯s right. The Elixir of Immortality is made from the materials from the Tree of Immortality. Chang¡¯e secretly ate the Elixir of Immortality and was pulled to the Moon by the Tree of Immortality.¡±


    Moon Goddess paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°As for the Tree of Immortality, it¡¯s the foundation of the Moon. The Companion Beast is also inside. If the logger fells the Tree of Immortality, the Moon will crumble as well. When that happens, not only will my temple be affected, but even Earth will be affected. You can decide if you want to go or not.¡±


    ¡°I do want to help, but I¡¯m afraid that if I¡¯m not strong enough, I won¡¯t be able to provide any help. Instead, I¡¯ll only be a burden.¡± Zhou Wen watched as the splendid showcase of ice and fire powers unfolded before him. He couldn¡¯t even see a figure. It would be no different from courting death if he went.


    ¡°That dimensional Terror creature has the same attributes as the Moon Palace. Since you can control her, just let her help Chang¡¯e. With her help, Chang¡¯e should be able to last a little longer,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Just a little longer?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. If that was the case, it didn¡¯t seem to be of much use.


    ¡°The logger is an existence that can chop down the Tree of Immortality. It¡¯s not something an ordinary Terror-grade creature can compare with. Getting her to help Chang¡¯e only serves as a delay. Use this time to retrieve something. With that item, you can defeat the logger and stop him from cutting down the Tree of Immortality and save the Moon from danger,¡± Moon Goddess explained.


    ¡°What is it? It can actually defeat the logger?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred. If there was really such a treasure, it was worth a try.


    ¡°The Elixir of Immortality.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s answer alarmed Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Chang¡¯e secretly eat the Elixir of Immortality? Does it still exist? What effects does it have? How do I use it after I get it back?¡± Zhou Wen asked several questions in a row.


    Although Chang¡¯e¡¯s actions were culpable, the Elixir of Immortality was just too magical. A mortal could actually ascend in broad daylight after consuming it. Although it was only a legend, no matter how weak the effects were, he should be able to advance to the Mythical stage after eating it, right?


    ¡°The medicinal effects of the Elixir of Immortality can allow a person to possess powerful and immense strength for a short period of time. If you take the Elixir of Immortality to Chang¡¯e, she will naturally have the ability to defeat the logger. Of course, you can also eat it yourself and fight the logger yourself. That¡¯s up to you,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Is it just a temporary increase in combat strength?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed when he heard that.


    ¡°Not entirely. Although the medicinal essence can¡¯t be maintained forever, the burst of improvement will also allow your body to obtain permanent benefits. With your body, this little benefit is enough to help you break through to the Mythical stage that is unreachable by humans,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed, but on second thought, if he could easily obtain something as good as the Elixir of Immortality, why didn¡¯t she get Shen Yuchi and company to go? Why did she choose him?


    ¡°The Elixir of Immortality is precious. There must be a terrifying creature protecting it, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked carefully, afraid that he would infuriate the Moon Goddess.


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s protection, but you don¡¯t have to worry about that. If you take my token over, it will naturally view you in a different light and won¡¯t make things too difficult for you.¡± Moon Goddess paused before saying, ¡°Now that the Moon is in danger, this is your last chance. If I wasn¡¯t confident, I wouldn¡¯t be sending you.¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that it made sense. Once the Moon was destroyed, this Moon Goddess probably couldn¡¯t even protect her temple. She definitely wouldn¡¯t do anything rash.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make a trip. Where can I get the Elixir of Immortality?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this matter was beneficial to him.


    If he could obtain the Elixir of Immortality, he could use it to advance to the Mythical stage without wasting any time advancing Glimmer.


    This was because even if the Glimmer Life Soul advanced to a Perfect Body, it was unknown if it could push him to the Mythical stage. After all, everything was just his speculation.


    The Elixir of Immortality was much more reliable. With Chang¡¯e being a precedent, he could obtain some benefits no matter what.


    If there was really danger, he could use the Glimmer Life Soul to directly teleport back to Earth. There wouldn¡¯t be too much of a risk. He could also test if that made Glimmer advance to a Perfect Body.


    ¡°Walk west from here. After passing through the osmanthus forest, you will see a medicine mortar. The Elixir of Immortality is inside¡­¡± said Moon Goddess.


    After telling Zhou Wen the detailed steps, Moon Goddess dispelled the ice from Ice Maiden¡¯s body and allowed her to regain her freedom.


    When Ice Maiden came to life, she looked into the Moon Goddess Temple in horror. Clearly, she was somewhat afraid.


    ¡°Ice Maiden, help Chang¡¯e fight the logger. Try your best to stall for time. I¡¯ll come back to help you after retrieving the Elixir of Immortality.¡± Zhou Wen explained the general situation to her and got her to help Chang¡¯e while he headed west to retrieve the Elixir of Immortality as instructed by Moon Goddess.


    The osmanthus forest was beautiful, but the Moon Goddess told him that these osmanthus trees were not Trees of Immortality. There were a total of two Trees of Immortality on the Moon, one growing on the surface of the Moon¡ªthe one at the entrance to Toad Palace.


    However, that Tree of Immortality had already been felled, leaving only a stump.


    There was also the huge osmanthus tree in Toad Palace. It was the foundation of Toad Palace. Once it was destroyed, the Moon would collapse. It couldn¡¯t be lost.


    Zhou Wen reached out to pluck some petals and tested them with his Companion Beasts. Indeed, these petals didn¡¯t have the effect of evolving Companion Beasts.


    Just as the Moon Goddess had said, there were no other dimensional creatures in Toad Palace. He didn¡¯t encounter any danger along the way and passed through the osmanthus forest smoothly.


    When Zhou Wen rode the Great Might Vajra Bull through the osmanthus forest, his download was finally completed. A moon icon appeared on the phone¡¯s homescreen.


    However, the name of the dungeon wasn¡¯t Moon Palace, but the name ¡®Toad Palace.¡¯


    Moon Palace sounds better. Toad Palace keeps reminding me of that toad. A place like the moon should have some beautiful legends. When I return with the Elixir of Immortality, I¡¯ll go and see how beautiful Chang¡¯e is. Zhou Wen was very curious about the beauty of this fairy who was known for her beauty.

 Chapter 1066 - Jade Rabbit

    Translator: CKtalon


    Before leaving, Zhou Wen had asked Moon Goddess what the medicine mortar looked like, but she told him that he would identify it at a glance after leaving the osmanthus forest. It would be easy to recognize it.


    Now, Zhou Wen knew why he could recognize it at a glance. The white object was clearly a huge ring-shaped mountain. Moon Goddess had actually called it a medicine mortar.


    Zhou Wen knew that he wasn¡¯t mistaken because the surrounding ring-shaped mountains were all gray. Only this one was white and looked especially striking.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, many of the ring-shaped mountains on the moon were formed from meteorites, but this white ring-shaped mountain looked somewhat special.


    As the mountain wall of the ring-shaped mountain wasn¡¯t very tall¡ªonly about two to three hundred meters¡ªthe Great Might Vajra Bull leaped up and arrived at the edge of the ring-shaped mountain, allowing him to look inside.


    The mountain wall inside the ring-shaped mountain was much higher. It was probably about a thousand meters tall. The interior space was much bigger than what he saw from the outside.


    If this thing is a medicine mortar, how big would the pestle have to be to match it? How big would the pill made from it be? Can humans eat it? As Zhou Wen thought, he sized up the interior of the ring-shaped mountain.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find any pills or anything like that. He didn¡¯t even see a pill-shaped stone. The interior of the ring-shaped mountain was clean as though it had been washed with water.


    In a corner of the mountain, there was a huge white rabbit lying on the ground. The rabbit was surprisingly huge. If it stood up, it would probably be about the same height as Zhou Wen. Its white fur was like snow and extremely fluffy.


    If it were placed in a plush toy shop, one would think that it was a large furry doll.


    Is this the legendary Jade Rabbit that grinds the medicine? Zhou Wen had already learned from Moon Goddess that the one guarding the Elixir of Immortality was Jade Rabbit.


    Seeing the Jade Rabbit sleeping, Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to alarm it. It was best if he could take the Elixir of Immortality while it slept.


    Although Moon Goddess said that Jade Rabbit wouldn¡¯t make things difficult for him if he had her token, Zhou Wen still felt that it was better to avoid trouble.


    He put on the Invisibility Cloak and entered the ring-shaped mountain. Furthermore, he used Truth Listener to constantly scan the vicinity of the Jade Rabbit, hoping to find the legendary Elixir of Immortality.


    Strange, why isn¡¯t there any? Could it be that the Elixir of Immortality has been eaten by the Jade Rabbit? Zhou Wen felt that the possibility was very high.


    After all, how could Jade Rabbit not eat such a good item after guarding it all day, every day?


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating about waking up the Jade Rabbit, it suddenly pricked up its ears. Its ears twitched a few times before it looked up at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly removed the Invisibility Cloak and revealed himself. At the same time, he took out the pearl and jade slip he had previously obtained. He waved them in front of the Jade Rabbit and said, ¡°I¡¯m here on Moon Goddess¡¯s orders. She wants to borrow your Elixir of Immortality¡­¡±


    Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, he felt that something was amiss.


    The originally docile Jade Rabbit¡¯s eyes immediately turned red when it saw the pearl and jade slip in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Its fur stood on end like an enraged bull.


    Holy sh*t, is this what Moon Goddess means by it won¡¯t make things difficult for me on her account? Zhou Wen felt that he had definitely been scammed by Moon Goddess.


    Just as Zhou Wen was in thought, the Jade Rabbit stood up on its hind legs and grabbed a jade pole from somewhere.


    In the next second, Jade Rabbit leaped up and flew into the air like a rocket.


    Zhou Wen was still puzzled as to why the fellow was jumping so high. However, he was immediately alarmed to discover that the Jade Rabbit¡¯s body was constantly expanding in midair as it turned gigantic. Even the jade pestle in its arms was extremely huge.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw the gigantic jade pestle strike at the ring-shaped mountain with the might of a mountain.


    Holy sh*t! Zhou Wen saw how terrifying the might was. He was probably no match for it as he hurriedly summoned Tyrant Behemoth.


    Tyrant Behemoth gigantified as it raised its claws to meet the jade pestle.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body trembled violently as its back bent involuntarily. The rocks beneath its feet shattered.


    Pfft!


    Tyrant Behemoth, who was in its Absolute Strength state, spat out blood.


    Boom! Boom!


    Jade Rabbit struck down one pestle after another as though it was grinding medicine. In its Absolute Strength state, Tyrant Behemoth was unable to move. All it could do was passively take a beating.


    It was only thanks to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength that it wasn¡¯t reduced to meat paste by Jade Rabbit¡ªany other Companion Beast wouldn¡¯t have survived.


    What terrifying strength. Could this Jade Rabbit also be at the Terror grade as well? Zhou Wen saw Tyrant Behemoth spew out blood under the continuous bombardment. Seeing that it was about to collapse, Zhou Wen immediately knew that Jade Rabbit wasn¡¯t an ordinary Mythical creature.


    Without any hesitation, he summoned the Seven Seas Dragon King that had been parasitized by Primordial Spore. Although this wasn¡¯t the sea and the Seven Seas Dragon King couldn¡¯t use its greatest strength, a Terror grade was still worth something. Once it used its Terror form, it would be much stronger than ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts.


    The moment the Seven Seas Dragon King appeared, it immediately transformed into its Terror form under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders. Then, it spewed out a large amount of glue-like liquid. Jade Rabbit¡¯s jade pestle struck down and smashed into the glue, immediately sticking to it.


    The Jade Rabbit tried its best to pull out the jade pestle, but the glue spewing out from the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s dragon head kept increasing. The stickiness also increased, preventing Jade Rabbit from pulling it out no matter how hard it tried.


    Jade Rabbit hissed angrily as it exerted all its strength. However, after pulling out a portion of the jade pestle, the sticky liquid clung to it like countless white threads.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King continued spewing out glue as the adhesiveness increased.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He knew that he was lucky. The Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s ability seemed to counter the Jade Rabbit.


    Unable to pull out the jade pestle, Jade Rabbit immediately became anxious. It abandoned the jade pestle and struck out its front claws towards the ring-shaped mountain, hoping to tear the Seven Seas Dragon King apart.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King wasn¡¯t to be outdone. It spewed out large amounts of glue to meet Jade Rabbit¡¯s claws.


    When the Jade Rabbit¡¯s claws touched the glue, they were immediately stuck together. When its claws reached into the ring-shaped mountain, they ended up stuck, preventing it from pulling them out.


    The more it struggled, the more glue stuck to its body, making it unable to move.


    The furious Jade Rabbit¡¯s body lit up as it grew bigger and bigger. It became much bigger than Tyrant Behemoth. Soon, Tyrant Behemoth looked like a baby in front of it.


    Even so, the Jade Rabbit still failed to escape the glue.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. The Jade Rabbit was clearly a pure Strength-type creature. Its Terror transformation was also purely a Strength-based transformation, so it was perfectly countered by the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s ability.


    ¡°Jade Rabbit, lend me your Elixir of Immortality and I¡¯ll let you go,¡± Zhou Wen said to Jade Rabbit as he stood on the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s head.

 Chapter 1067 - : Battling Jade Rabbit

    Translator: CKtalon


    It was unknown if Jade Rabbit could understand him, but it ignored Zhou Wen and continued struggling.


    However, as its body was covered in glue-like liquid, its struggles were futile.


    A pure Strength-type creature has such a weakness. Once they are restrained, there¡¯s almost no chance of turning the tables. Tyrant Behemoth has the same weakness. Zhou Wen ordered the Seven Seas Dragon King to take the initiative to attack when he realized that Jade Rabbit was refusing to surrender.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s tentacles swept towards Jade Rabbit, but unfortunately, Jade Rabbit was just too big after its Terror transformation. The Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s tentacles were unable to wrap around Jade Rabbit¡¯s body. All it could do was bite at its flesh.


    The Jade Rabbit¡¯s flesh was terrifyingly tough. The tentacles with dragon heads nearly had their teeth chip when biting at it¡ªthey failed to bite through its flesh. All they did was tear off some rabbit fur.


    What a powerful physique! Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King was at the Terror grade after all. Furthermore, its strength wasn¡¯t considered weak among the Terror-grade creatures. Yet, it was actually unable to break through the Jade Rabbit¡¯s defense. The strength of this fellow¡¯s physique was unimaginable.


    If it hadn¡¯t been restrained by the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s ability, it would have been a huge problem.


    From the looks of it, I have no choice but to let Demonic Neonate take action. Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Jade Rabbit, I won¡¯t be holding back if you don¡¯t hand over the Elixir of Immortality,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at Jade Rabbit again, but it continued struggling and ignored him.


    ¡°Neonate, let it see some blood,¡± Zhou Wen instructed Demonic Neonate with his mind.


    Demonic Neonate received the order and immediately unsheathed her Demonic Sword that flew towards Jade Rabbit.


    The Demonic Sword was just too small. In front of the gigantic Jade Rabbit, it couldn¡¯t even be considered a needle.


    However, the Demonic Sword¡¯s offensive strength was clearly much stronger than the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s. It tore through the Jade Rabbit¡¯s flesh and stabbed right in.


    A drop of blood flowed out along the sword hilt. Zhou Wen was about to shout at Jade Rabbit again, but when his gaze landed on its face, he was stunned.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s originally red eyes had turned black. Then, its eyelids drooped down as crystalline tears shimmered inside.


    ¡°Wa!¡± Jade Rabbit suddenly cried as large drops of tears streamed down.


    As it cried, its huge body slowly shrank and returned to its original size. It cried in the glue and soon, it was wet.


    Zhou Wen was depressed. ¡°Why are you crying like a child when you¡¯re a Terror creature?¡±


    ¡°Jade Rabbit, hand over the Elixir of Immortality and I¡¯ll immediately release you,¡± Zhou Wen said to Jade Rabbit.


    It would have been better if he hadn¡¯t said it. With him saying that, Jade Rabbit cried even more tragically. Its tears flowed down like a stream.


    Zhou Wen was just about to say something when he suddenly realized that something was amiss. The tears had drenched the Jade Rabbit¡¯s fur, and the sticky liquid that stuck to its body had automatically fallen off, preventing it from sticking to it.


    When Jade Rabbit realized that the glue on its body had been removed, it was immediately surprised and delighted. It jumped up and rushed to the edge of the ring-shaped mountain. With another flash, it was gone. Its speed was terrifying.


    Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. He didn¡¯t expect Jade Rabbit¡¯s tears to be able to remove the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s sticky liquid. Jade Rabbit was gone before he could obtain the Elixir of Immortality.


    With Jade Rabbit¡¯s speed, even a Mythical Companion Beast that was proficient in speed wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up. Since Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t chase after it, it was obvious that any attempts would be pointless.


    From the looks of it, the Moon is doomed. It¡¯s not my fault. Zhou Wen saw that the jade pestle of the Jade Rabbit was still stuck there. It couldn¡¯t take it away in time, so he walked over to put it away.


    After the Seven Seas Dragon King dispelled the sticky liquid, Zhou Wen reached out to grab the jade pestle, hoping to pick it up, but after exerting some force, the jade pestle remained motionless.


    It¡¯s heavy! Zhou Wen held the jade pestle with both hands, hoping to pull it out.


    However, the jade pestle remained motionless, surprising Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen got the Seven Seas Dragon King to extend its tentacles to sweep up the jade pestle, but even after using all its strength, the Seven Seas Dragon King failed to lift it.


    It can¡¯t be! The Seven Seas Dragon King is at the Terror grade, but it can¡¯t even lift the jade pestle? How heavy is this jade pestle! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he had another idea. Perhaps it¡¯s not just a matter of strength. The Seven Seas Dragon King can even move a building after all. Perhaps it¡¯s possible that only the Jade Rabbit can lift this jade pestle.


    Demonic Neonate suddenly turned her head in a direction. Zhou Wen turned his head and saw Jade Rabbit retracting its head and hiding behind the mountain.


    1


    Why is it back? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and knew what was going on.


    Jade Rabbit was definitely unwilling to part with the jade pestle, so it had come back for it.


    ¡°Jade Rabbit, if you want the jade pestle back, exchange it with the Elixir of Immortality,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at the spot where Jade Rabbit was hiding.


    Jade Rabbit seemed to know that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t catch up to it, so it became a lot bolder. Although it didn¡¯t dare come over, it extended its head and paw from behind the mountain wall. Then, it raised its paw and made a universally-known gesture at Zhou Wen.


    1


    Holy sh*t, this rabbit actually knows that? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    Jade Rabbit knew that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t lift its jade pestle, so it wasn¡¯t afraid of Zhou Wen¡¯s threat. Zhou Wen really had no choice. The jade pestle was terrifyingly heavy. He couldn¡¯t lift it at all.


    What should I do? Zhou Wen glanced in the direction of Moon Palace and saw that the flames were becoming more and more blinding. Clearly, the logger was at a huge advantage. He didn¡¯t know how long Chang¡¯e and Ice Maiden could last.


    Is the Moon really going to be destroyed? Zhou Wen wondered how he could obtain the Elixir of Immortality from Jade Rabbit.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s speed is too fast. If Demonic Neonate doesn¡¯t chase after it, it means that she knows that she can¡¯t catch up to it. Furthermore, Jade Rabbit¡¯s strength and physical toughness are extremely terrifying. It¡¯s virtually impossible to catch it. However, if I don¡¯t stand any chance, why would the Moon Goddess send me? Does she want to use Jade Rabbit to kill me? But there¡¯s no need for that. She can even freeze Ice Maiden with her strength. If she wants to attack me, she could have done it in front of the Moon Goddess Temple.


    But if I have a chance of obtaining the Elixir of Immortality, where¡¯s the chance? Jade Rabbit isn¡¯t someone I can match¡­ Jade Rabbit¡­ I seem to remember having something like that in the past¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he sank his consciousness into the Chaos Bead and rummaged around.


    After a while, Zhou Wen found something.


    It was a translucent jade box with mysterious cloud patterns on it. This jade box was something Zhou Wen had obtained from White Cloud Mountain¡¯s Jade Rabbit¡¯s Lunar Prayer Stone.


    Back when The Thearch had guided him to obtain the jade box, he had only discovered some low-level dimensional crystals inside. Zhou Wen was quite disappointed because they weren¡¯t of much use.


    He had felt that the jade box might be a little special, so he had stored it away in passing. Now, he suddenly recalled that the Jade Rabbit¡¯s Lunar Prayer Stone was said to be a manifestation of the Jade Rabbit when it descended to the mortal world. The jade box was supposed to have been hidden by the Jade Rabbit. He didn¡¯t really know if it had anything to do with the Jade Rabbit.

 Chapter 1068 - : Exchange for the Elixir of Immortality

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the jade box had anything to do with the Jade Rabbit on the moon. After all, legends were only legends. Many legends were just far-fetched.


    When he took out the jade box, he only felt that the material of the jade box was somewhat similar to the jade pestle.


    He compared the jade box with the jade pestle and realized that the materials were very similar.


    He casually opened the jade box and suddenly heard a whoosh. The jade pestle, that even the Seven Seas Dragon King couldn¡¯t move, actually moved by itself and flew into the jade box.


    The jade pestle shrank as it flew over before quickly landing in the jade box. The box fit it perfectly.


    Zhou Wen looked at the jade pestle lying silently in the jade box and was alarmed. The Seven Seas Dragon King couldn¡¯t even lift the jade pestle, but it didn¡¯t seem to add much weight to the jade box.


    Jade Rabbit immediately became anxious when it saw the jade pestle taken away. It stood on the edge of the mountain and shouted and jumped at Zhou Wen as though it was threatening him to return the jade pestle or it would eat him.


    Zhou Wen closed the jade box and stored it in the Chaos Bead before saying to Jade Rabbit, ¡°Exchange for it with the Elixir of Immortality.¡±


    Jade Rabbit was even more furious when it heard that. Its body expanded once again and soon, it became an extremely huge rabbit. Its body was much taller than the ring-shaped mountain.


    The ring-shaped mountain was like a toy model in front of Jade Rabbit, while Zhou Wen and company were ants inside the toy.


    Jade Rabbit revealed its ferociousness, but because it had suffered under the Seven Seas Dragon King, it didn¡¯t dare rush down. All it did was flare up outside.


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t wish to exchange for it, I¡¯m leaving.¡± Zhou Wen carried Demonic Neonate and ordered the Seven Seas Dragon King to head out of the ring-shaped mountain.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s tentacles danced as it quickly rushed out of the ring-shaped mountain. Jade Rabbit was screaming fiercely, but it didn¡¯t dare rush forward or stop Zhou Wen. It was in a panic.


    Wah!


    When Jade Rabbit saw that Zhou Wen was really leaving the ring-shaped mountain, it cried out again. Its body rapidly shrank back to its original size as it rolled on the ground and cried.


    ¡°Give me some of the Elixir of Immortality and I¡¯ll return the jade pestle to you,¡± Zhou Wen said to the crying Jade Rabbit on the ground.


    Jade Rabbit crawled up from the ground, its eyes still brimming with tears. Then, it gestured with its front paws as though it was outlining a square.


    Zhou Wen took out the jade box and asked Jade Rabbit, ¡°You want this box?¡±


    When Jade Rabbit saw the jade box, it nodded immediately and stopped crying.


    ¡°Alright, I can give you the jade box and jade pestle, but you have to give me the Elixir of Immortality.¡± Zhou Wen had no use for the jade box, so he might as well exchange it with Jade Rabbit.


    Jade Rabbit seemed hesitant as it looked at Zhou Wen and the jade box in his hand. Finally, it nodded firmly.


    ¡°Where did you put the Elixir of Immortality?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw Jade Rabbit nod.


    Jade Rabbit waved its paw at Zhou Wen before running in a particular direction.


    Zhou Wen ordered the Seven Seas Dragon King to follow Jade Rabbit and left the white ring-shaped mountain. He traversed numerous ring-shaped mountains and soon arrived in front of a stone hut.


    The stone hut was simple and crude, as though it was built by a barbarian. It didn¡¯t look anything special. Furthermore, the stone door was covered in dust, making it look uninhabited.


    Jade Rabbit bowed in front of the stone hut before pushing open the door. It stood inside the stone hut and waved its paw at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen walked to the door and saw that the decorations in the stone hut were very simple. They were all primitive stone tools with stone carvings.


    Jade Rabbit went to one of the stone pots and opened the lid. Then, it carefully picked up the stone pot and tipped it twice.


    A crystalline pill rolled out of the stone pot. It was the size of a baby¡¯s fist and emitted a strong osmanthus fragrance. The fragrance could penetrate the protection of the space suit, allowing Zhou Wen to smell the fragrance.


    Jade Rabbit grabbed the pill with one paw and pointed at the jade box in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand with the other paw, clearly indicating that it wanted to exchange it with him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hand over the jade box. He looked at the stone pot and said, ¡°You still have Elixirs of Immortality in that stone pot, right? Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted to exchange all the Elixirs of Immortality with me?¡±


    Jade Rabbit immediately picked up the stone pot and looked at Zhou Wen warily. Then, it pointed at the pill in its paw and the jade box, indicating that it was a one-for-one exchange.


    ¡°No can do. You have to exchange all the Elixirs of Immortality with me.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s face showed a struggle. Finally, as though it had made up its mind, it extended its paws and gestured a two in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. From the looks of it, there are more than two Elixirs of Immortality in the stone pot.


    Zhou Wen pointed at the stone pot and said, ¡°I want all the Elixirs of Immortality.¡±


    Jade Rabbit hugged the stone pot and shook its head like a rattle drum. Its body kept retreating as it looked at Zhou Wen as though it was looking at a thief.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want the jade box and jade pestle?¡± Zhou Wen waved the jade box in front of Jade Rabbit and tempted it.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s eyes followed the jade box as it spun. It wished it could grab the jade box, but it couldn¡¯t bear to part with the Elixirs of Immortality.


    Seeing Jade Rabbit struggling as though it couldn¡¯t make up her mind, Zhou Wen asked, ¡°How many Elixirs of Immortality are in the stone pot?¡±


    Jade Rabbit used its paw to gesture three. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that there were only three Elixirs of Immortality.


    Zhou Wen noticed that Jade Rabbit¡¯s intelligence wasn¡¯t high. At most, it was at the level of a child. His heart stirred as he said to the Jade Rabbit with a smile, ¡°How about this? I¡¯ll exchange the jade box for all your Elixirs of Immortality.¡±


    When Jade Rabbit heard that, it immediately shook its head and hugged the stone pot even tighter.


    ¡°Hear me out. Just treat it as leaving the Elixirs of Immortality with me. In the future, follow me and help me do some trivial things if possible. I¡¯ll take care of your food and drink. If you perform well, I¡¯ll return one Elixir of Immortality to you. If you perform well and make me happy, I¡¯ll return two Elixirs of Immortality. Perhaps you can even get back all three Elixirs of Immortality. What do you think?¡± Zhou Wen said to Jade Rabbit.


    When Jade Rabbit heard that, it extended its paw and counted as though it was calculating something.


    After some calculation, Jade Rabbit felt that it was worth it. Therefore, it nodded happily and handed the stone pot to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯ll help you put the Elixirs of Immortality away for now. From now on, follow me and you¡¯ll live in the lap of luxury. I guarantee you won¡¯t regret it.¡± Zhou Wen reached out to take the stone pot.


    However, Jade Rabbit pulled it back and pointed at the jade box in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. It meant that they had to exchange the items at the same time.


    Zhou Wen handed the jade box over in exchange for the stone pot. He looked inside and indeed, there were three pills inside. Each of them were jade-white and emitted a strong osmanthus fragrance. Just taking in the fragrance made him feel refreshed as though he was about to fly and ascend.


    When Jade Rabbit obtained the jade box, it was also very happy. It hugged the jade box and rubbed its face against it as though it had obtained a treasure.

 Chapter 1069 - Speculation of the Strongest Companion Beast

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen returned, he didn¡¯t head to the Moon Goddess Temple. Instead, he circled around and came close to Moon Palace.


    As Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how true the Moon Goddess¡¯s words were, he wanted to head to Moon Palace to take a look.


    With the Elixirs of Immortality in hand, and having lured Jade Rabbit over, together with the Seven Seas Dragon King and Demonic Neonate, he could greatly influence the battle. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to make a move after figuring out who would be beneficial to humanity.


    At that moment, there was almost no cold fog in Moon Palace. There were flames burning everywhere, and many jade buildings were aflame.


    Amidst the flames, there was only a jade palace with a small amount of cold fog surging.


    As for the huge osmanthus tree, under the remnant blasts from the battle, large numbers of petals fell and fluttered everywhere.


    I¡¯m rich. There are so many petals, and every one of them is equivalent to an Epic Companion Beast¡­ Zhou Wen saw that there were copious numbers of petals. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take him to pick them up if he were to pick them up one by one. Therefore, he summoned the army of Musical Notes and let them fuse with the petals.


    Companion Beasts below the Mythical stage found it difficult to maintain their combat strength in space. However, there were a few low-level Companion Beasts that could survive in space.


    Although Musical Note Sprites had virtually zero combat strength in space, surviving wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Thousands of Musical Note Sprites pounced at the falling petals. Every Musical Note Sprite immediately absorbed the petals upon contact, allowing them to enter an evolutionary state.


    The scene of tens of thousands of Companion Beasts evolving together was spectacular.


    Zhou Wen had almost 100,000 Musical Note Sprites and the number of petals that fell here exceeded 100,000.


    He summoned the other Legendary and Epic Companion Beasts he usually gathered and got them to absorb the petals.


    Those at the Legendary stage were directly promoted, but those at the Epic stage only had their stats boosted. When they used a second petal, the effects became much weaker.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Evil Spirit King as well, hoping that he could absorb the petals and quickly advance. To his surprise, he didn¡¯t even look at the petals. He had no intention of absorbing them.


    Is he that picky? Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless.


    Ever since the Evil Spirit King was born, it had only absorbed energy from Companion Eggs. Furthermore, they had to be at the same level¡ªit ate nothing else.


    There were still many petals falling from the tree, but they were all closer to the battlefield. Zhou Wen was afraid of being implicated, so he didn¡¯t dare approach.


    Just as he was hesitating about whether to pick up the petals, he suddenly heard a loud bang. The jade palace, that had emitted a cold fog, exploded and was instantly reduced to ruins.


    All the cold fog vanished. At the same time, two figures appeared from the ice beam. Clearly, they were unable to maintain their Terror states.


    Zhou Wen saw Ice Maiden land in a sorry state in the ruins of the palace. The huge dark-gold toad had fallen with her.


    At that moment, the dark-gold toad¡¯s body emitted layers of frosty gas. Its body seemed to be covered in frost, but some spots were already charred black by the flames. There was no protection from the frost.


    It¡¯s Ice Maiden and the toad. Why don¡¯t I see Chang¡¯e? Zhou Wen looked around but didn¡¯t see the legendary Chang¡¯e.


    Just as he was feeling puzzled, he saw Wei Ge walk out of the flames one step at a time. He held nothing in his hand, but flames condensed into a battle axe that hung down to the ground.


    ¡°Chang¡¯e, you can¡¯t stop me. Give up,¡± Wei Ge said as he walked towards the dark-gold toad.


    Who is he talking to? Who¡¯s Chang¡¯e? There¡¯s only that toad over there¡­ Zhou Wen widened his eyes in disbelief as he stared at the dark-gold toad.


    He couldn¡¯t believe his guess. The beautiful celestial maiden, Chang¡¯e, was actually a toad. Wasn¡¯t this too ridiculous?


    However, the toad stirred up the frost again and stood in front of Wei Ge. It looked like it wanted to continue fighting, but it couldn¡¯t even enter the Terror state. Its combat strength had greatly weakened. Even if it continued fighting, only death awaited it.


    Ice Maiden was clearly seriously injured. She was also unable to maintain her Terror transformation, but she wasn¡¯t as stubborn as the toad. She had already secretly retreated.


    As Wei Ge walked towards the toad, he said, ¡°Chang¡¯e, why bother? Let me chop down the Tree of Immortality. Although you will lose the ability to live forever, you can regain your original appearance and no longer have to be an ugly toad. Isn¡¯t this what you want? Or would you rather be an ugly toad in order to live forever?¡±


    When Zhou Wen heard this, he was certain that the toad was the legendary Chang¡¯e.


    Chang¡¯e is actually a toad. I wonder how those people who fantasize about Chang¡¯e will react when they see her true appearance? Zhou Wen secretly rejoiced that he hadn¡¯t immediately eaten the Elixir of Immortality after obtaining it.


    So the Elixir of Immortality created using the Tree of Immortality actually had such negative side effects.


    Zhou Wen would rather not advance to the Mythical stage than become a toad.


    ¡°Even if I¡¯m ugly and despised by the world, I will still wait here for him.¡± The toad finally spoke. Indeed, it was a woman¡¯s voice.


    ¡°He¡¯s only an ordinary human. Even if he has the stunning Power of Sun Strafe, he¡¯s only a speck of dust in the river of time. It¡¯s already unknown where the dust has landed. That wait will be fruitless,¡± Wei Ge said.


    ¡°No, he¡¯ll come, he¡¯ll definitely¡­¡± Chang¡¯e yelled in a frenzy.


    ¡°If you knew this would happen, why did you do it in the first place? I originally wanted to spare your life on account of our similar circumstances. Since you wish for death, I can only fulfill your wish,¡± Wei Ge said as he slowly raised the flaming ax in his hand, hoping to kill the toad.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before taking out an Elixir of Immortality. He summoned the Jade Rabbit and headed for Chang¡¯e.


    ¡°Chang¡¯e, let me ask you. If the Tree of Immortality is chopped down, will the Moon really be destroyed?¡± Zhou Wen asked the dark-gold toad.


    ¡°No.¡± Chang¡¯e originally didn¡¯t want to answer when she saw that it was a human youth, but when she saw Jade Rabbit beside Zhou Wen, she was slightly alarmed and answered his question.


    Was Moon Goddess really lying to me? Zhou Wen frowned inwardly.


    To his surprise, Chang¡¯e continued, ¡°However, the Tree of Immortality is connected to the Moon¡¯s Companion Beast. The destruction of the Tree of Immortality means that when the Companion Beast inside the Moon appears, the Moon, which is the outer shell of the Companion Egg, will naturally shatter.


    ¡°What¡­ You¡¯re telling me that the Moon is a Companion Egg¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at Chang¡¯e in horror, almost unable to believe his ears.


    3


    He wasn¡¯t shocked by the strength of the Companion Beasts inside the Moon, but the news made him think of something else.


    If the Moon is a Companion Egg, what about Earth? If Earth is also a Companion Egg, wouldn¡¯t the strongest Companion Beast that the dimension is seeking be inside the Earth?


    If the Companion Beast broke out of its shell, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t imagine what Earth would become.

 Chapter 1070 - The Cause of the Catastrophe

    Translator: CKtalon


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. It was no wonder the bigwigs of the dimension said that Earth would be doomed once the strongest Companion Beast was found.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but recall a scene after a chick broke out of its shell. It seemed like some fledglings ate their eggshells.


    Ice Maiden also seemed to have thought of something, and her expression became extremely strange.


    That¡¯s not right. If Earth is a Companion Egg, wouldn¡¯t we be able to find the Companion Beast inside as long as we keep digging? There¡¯s no need to spend so much time searching, right?


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, he suddenly thought of something. Could it be that the ship that tore through the sky and broke apart the supercontinent was planning to crack the Companion Egg and search for the Companion Beast inside the Earth? If that¡¯s the case, they clearly didn¡¯t succeed. What stopped them?


    Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but he didn¡¯t know which was the correct answer.


    While Zhou Wen was still pondering, Wei Ge¡¯s flaming ax slashed at the toad.


    ¡°Bunny, stop him,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at Jade Rabbit.


    Jade Rabbit was somewhat hesitant, but when it saw Zhou Wen raise the Elixir of Immortality in his hand, it immediately took action. It took out the jade pestle and transformed into the huge rabbit in its Terror state. It smashed it at Wei Ge.


    The flaming ax in Wei Ge¡¯s hand rose and collided with the huge jade pestle that Jade Rabbit had smashed down.


    With a boom, a terrifying shock wave instantly destroyed everything nearby.


    Zhou Wen was sent flying as the space suit turned to dust, revealing the Galaxy Shell Dragon Armor inside.


    With Absolute Defense, Zhou Wen survived the terrifying blast.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s strength was extremely terrifying. The jade pestle constantly struck out, showing zero disadvantage when facing Wei Ge head-on. It even had the upper hand.


    This surprised Zhou Wen greatly. This was because Jade Rabbit had previously been restrained by the Seven Seas Dragon King, preventing it from unleashing its true strength. This had given Zhou Wen the illusion that it wasn¡¯t very strong.


    From the looks of it, the strength of the Jade Rabbit far exceeded the dark-gold toad.


    On second thoughts, Zhou Wen came to a realization. The logger could fell the Tree of Immortality, and Jade Rabbit could also use the Tree of Immortality as a medicinal ingredient.


    It would be impossible for an existence that could shatter the Tree of Immortality to be weak.


    As long as it wasn¡¯t restrained, Jade Rabbit¡¯s strength was just too terrifying.


    Zhou Wen wore the Shell Dragon Armor, so the radiation and environment on the moon couldn¡¯t harm him. The boiling point on the moon was very low, so if ordinary people didn¡¯t have space suits to protect them. Their blood would boil, making it impossible for them to survive.


    With the protection of the Shell Dragon Armor, he didn¡¯t have to worry about this. However, he hadn¡¯t reached a state where he could survive without oxygen. Without oxygen for a long period of time, he would still die.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s Chaos Bead had many space suits and oxygen supplies, so he didn¡¯t have to worry.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to change into his space suit. Zhou Wen quickly retreated to prevent himself from being drawn into the terrifying battle.


    Chang¡¯e and Ice Maiden were also sent flying. They had been severely injured, so they were unable to transform into their Terror forms for the time being and could no longer participate in the battle.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give the Elixir of Immortality to Chang¡¯e. If Jade Rabbit could suppress the logger, he could save one Elixir of Immortality.


    ¡°Jade Rabbit can¡¯t stop the logger. Give the Elixir of Immortality to Chang¡¯e and get her to help Jade Rabbit.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s ethereal voice suddenly entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Moon Goddess, didn¡¯t you say that with your token, Jade Rabbit wouldn¡¯t do anything to me? I was nearly killed by Jade Rabbit,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    Moon Goddess¡¯s voice remained as gentle as before. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t said that, would you have gone? I also knew that it would be extremely dangerous, but if you hadn¡¯t made the trip, there¡¯d really be no hope for the Moon.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you really thought that I could defeat the Terror-grade Jade Rabbit and obtain its Elixir of Immortality?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to defeat Jade Rabbit either, but if you want the Elixir of Immortality, you don¡¯t necessarily have to defeat it. Others might not be able to do it, but you might be able to,¡± Moon Goddess said faintly.


    ¡°You sure have confidence in me. I¡¯m not that confident of myself,¡± Zhou Wen mocked.


    Moon Goddess said with a smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t you do it? Furthermore, you did it better than I imagined. Not only did you obtain the Elixirs of Immortality, but you also brought the Jade Rabbit over and made it assist you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because I¡¯m lucky. What if I¡¯m unlucky?¡± Zhou Wen snorted coldly.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t lucky, there won¡¯t be anyone in this world with good luck,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°Have you ever bowed at a temple?¡± Moon Goddess asked.


    ¡°So what if I did?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as Moon Goddess seemed to know something.


    ¡°No, you haven¡¯t bowed before because no temple¡¯s deity will dare to accept your bow. Even I don¡¯t dare,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Why won¡¯t any deities accept my bow? What¡¯s so different about my Life Providence?¡± Zhou Wen finally confirmed that Moon Goddess knew something.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t accept the Moon Goddess¡¯s answer.


    ¡°What an answer,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to be angry. If I could completely see through your Life Providence, I wouldn¡¯t be afraid of being worshiped by you. I can only tell that there¡¯s something wrong with it. It shouldn¡¯t be your Life Providence, but a Life Providence formed due to the influence of external forces. Furthermore, that Life Providence is too ferocious. If I were to receive your bow, I¡¯m afraid I would be plagued by calamities and catastrophes. Even deities would suffer greatly,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to harp on this matter as he asked, ¡°Chang¡¯e said that the Moon is a Companion Egg. Is that true?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the same for Earth too. However, you don¡¯t have to worry. Earth is different from others. The Companion Beast inside won¡¯t be born so easily.¡± Moon Goddess seemed to know what Zhou Wen wanted to ask.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If the Companion Beast on the Moon wants to be born, it has to wait until the Tree of Immortality dies. Otherwise, it will never be born. By the same logic, if the Companion Beast on Earth wants to be born, it needs similar conditions. However, up to now, no creature knows what those conditions are,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Since the Companion Beast is inside the Earth, can¡¯t we just dig it out?¡± Zhou Wen asked the question plaguing him. Earth wasn¡¯t difficult to dig.


    ¡°A terrifying existence from another dimension tried it before. It was an existence even more terrifying than us, but in the end, Earth still remained intact, but the terrifying existence from the dimension disappeared,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Is the terrifying existence you mentioned the owner of a ship?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°You actually know of the existence of that ship?¡± Moon Goddess was slightly surprised.


    ¡°Is it really that ship? What kind of creature is the owner of that ship?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. A ship tore through the sky, causing the ground to split apart and floods to occur. The world was almost destroyed, and then the ship vanished deep into the crevice in the ground. From then on, it never appeared again. No one knows who the owner of the ship is.¡± As the Moon Goddess spoke, she suddenly changed the topic. ¡°Quickly feed Chang¡¯e the Elixir of Immortality. The logger is about to forcefully cut down the Tree of Immortality. Jade Rabbit can¡¯t stop him. Only Chang¡¯e¡¯s power can.¡±

 Chapter 1071 - Reversing Yin and Yang

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen turned his head. He couldn¡¯t see the logger anymore. However, he could see gorgeous flames burning around the Tree of Immortality. Wounds appeared out of thin air on the Tree of Immortality¡¯s body as the wooden splinters that splattered out burned in the air.


    The huge Jade Rabbit had held back, afraid it would result in collateral damage on the Tree of Immortality, before it attacked its surroundings with the jade pestle, so it had failed to hit the logger.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat afraid when he saw Jade Rabbit¡¯s irritable look. He didn¡¯t want it to snap the Tree of Immortality.


    Zhou Wen knew that if he continued hesitating, the Tree of Immortality might really be chopped down by the logger. Without any hesitation, he threw an Elixir of Immortality at the dark-gold toad that Chang¡¯e had transformed into.


    After Chang¡¯e swallowed the Elixir of Immortality, a large amount of cold air immediately surged out of her, causing her body to quickly disappear as she returned to her Terror form.


    Following that, Zhou Wen saw an extremely terrifying scene. The cold air that filled the sky surged towards the Tree of Immortality like a tsunami.


    Everything that encountered the cold froze immediately. As for the Tree of Immortality, it became more spirited amidst the cold.


    The logger¡¯s flames were actually suppressed by the cold air upon contact. The range of the flames became smaller and smaller. It looked like Chang¡¯e¡¯s power was indeed his nemesis.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the logger or Chang¡¯e, but he could tell that Chang¡¯e had the upper hand from the dissipation of the frost and flames.


    He summoned Jade Rabbit back, afraid that it would accidentally injure the Tree of Immortality.


    The range of the flames became smaller and smaller. Finally, they were limited to a small area. The logger appeared again as though he could no longer maintain his Terror form.


    Logically speaking, the logger was bound to lose if he couldn¡¯t even maintain his Terror form, but for some reason, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate when he saw Wei Ge¡¯s face. He had a nagging feeling that something was about to happen.


    Seeing that the infinite cold air had already surged towards the logger, the remaining flames around him extinguished¡ªhe was about to be frozen in the cold air.


    Faced with the infinite cold, the logger suddenly revealed a strange smile.


    In the next second, the overwhelming cold gases completely drowned the logger¡¯s figure. Apart from the cold gases, there was no other force. Not even a tiny flame could be seen.


    The toad appeared again. At that moment, its entire body was covered in frost, as though it was an ice sculpture. Even without its Terror transformation, it still emitted a terrifying cold aura.


    It became obvious how powerful the effects of the Elixir of Immortality were. Even now, the medicinal effects were constantly erupting.


    What a pity. I might become a toad after taking the Elixir of Immortality. I don¡¯t want to become a second Chang¡¯e. Zhou Wen looked at Chang¡¯e and saw her staring at the logger.


    Zhou Wen looked over and saw that after the cold gases dissipated, the logger¡¯s body appeared. It had already turned into an ice sculpture and was completely frozen.


    However, when he saw the frozen Wei Ge¡¯s expression, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. There was a smile on his lips that sent chills down his spine.


    Crack! Crack!


    A tiny shattering sound could be heard using Truth Listener. It left Zhou Wen feeling extremely uneasy.


    What was even more shocking was that inside the ice sculpture, the logger¡¯s body gradually turned into ice jade. Not only did the cold gases on him fail to injure him, but they also made his strength increase.


    ¡°How is this possible! He clearly has fire-elemental powers, and it¡¯s a fire-elemental power that has already Terror transformed. How can he suddenly switch to ice?¡± Ice Maiden was alarmed as she stared at the logger in disbelief.


    The toad also wore a solemn expression, but it was also somewhat puzzled. Clearly, it couldn¡¯t figure out why the power of the logger had turned into an ice-elemental power.


    ¡°Not good.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s voice entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. Almost at the same time, the ice on the logger¡¯s body completely shattered as he regained his freedom.


    At that moment, the logger¡¯s body suffused extremely terrifying cold gases. They didn¡¯t look any weaker than the cold gases emitted by the toad.


    ¡°I never expected that I would have to rely on the strength of this human body to redeem the situation.¡± The logger raised his arm and looked at his palm. ¡°Although this body is very weak, his Life Soul is surprisingly interesting. It has the ability to reverse Yin and Yang. Even I benefited greatly from it. I really have to thank him.¡±


    ¡°Oh no! The Elixir of Immortality is refined from the Tree of Immortality that has the Yin attribute. It can boost Chang¡¯e¡¯s Yin attribute and is very useful against fire-elemental powers. However, now that the logger has switched to the ice attribute, Chang¡¯e¡¯s ability to suppress him has greatly weakened. It¡¯s impossible to kill or suppress him now. Once the effects of the Elixir of Immortality fade, no one will be able to stop the logger. It looks like the Moon will really be doomed this time.¡± Moon Goddess sighed.


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    Although he still had two Elixirs of Immortality, they were no longer key to victory. It would be useless even if he was willing to give them both to Chang¡¯e.


    ¡°As you can see, Jade Rabbit¡¯s strength is excessively ferocious. If we let it stop the logger, I¡¯m afraid the Tree of Immortality will be destroyed by it. That ice demon from the dimension has only just entered the Terror grade. It¡¯s too weak, so it¡¯s impossible for it to stop the logger.¡± Moon Goddess sighed softly. ¡°The lunar calamity is inevitable. I wonder where my Moon Goddess Temple will go in the future.¡±


    Chang¡¯e transformed into her Terror form again as she charged toward the logger. The logger clenched his fist, and the power of frost condensed in his palm, transforming into a frost ax. It then disappeared, transforming into a dazzling ice beam.


    Crack! Crack!


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the battle between the two Terror creatures, but the Tree of Immortality was riddled with wounds from the ice beams. The damage intensified.


    As the Tree of Immortality was injured, the entire Moon began to tremble. Deep ravines appeared on the Moon as they constantly spread. It looked like the end of the world was approaching.


    Is the Moon really going to be destroyed? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°Leave. I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be a moon from now on.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s voice sounded. Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan, who had been frozen in front of the Moon Goddess Temple, had also recovered.


    However, they had no idea what situation they were in. They looked at the quaking and cracking ground with eyes filled with horror.


    If Earth is really like the Moon and is a Companion Egg, if those fellows in the dimension really find a way to bring it to life, then humans¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the Moon that was on the brink of destruction and could already imagine what Earth would look like.


    The earth would fracture, volcanoes would erupt, and seawater would drown everything. Humans had nowhere to hide. 99.99% of over 10 billion humans would die in a short period of time.


    1


    Perhaps a small number of people could use external forces to escape from Earth, but they would be in the ultra-minority.

 Chapter 1072 - Then Let’s Give It A Shot

    Translator: CKtalon


    Now that the Moon is being destroyed, I can still escape back to Earth. If Earth is destroyed in the future, where can I escape to? Zhou Wen looked solemnly at the Tree of Immortality that was beginning to tilt.


    The legendary Tree of Immortality had the ability to recover on its own, but under the power of the logger, the damage to the Tree of Immortality¡¯s body didn¡¯t automatically heal and was constantly expanding.


    ¡°Go. It will be too late for you to leave once the Tree of Immortality falls.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s voice sounded from the Moon Goddess Temple.


    Shen Yuchi and Wang Qiuyuan turned around and ran in the direction of the spacecraft. As the Moon had cracked open, many cracks had appeared around Toad Palace and the Moon¡¯s crust. There was no need for them to leave through the door.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move. He looked at the Tree of Immortality and asked, ¡°You are the Moon Goddess, the ruler of the Moon. With such powerful strength, why can¡¯t you stop him?¡±


    Moon Goddess sighed softly and said, ¡°Because I¡¯m a creature born on the Moon. The logger can disobey the Moon¡¯s rules, but I can¡¯t. It¡¯s ironic. As a creature of the Moon, I can only break free from the restrictions and use my powers as I wish after the Moon shatters.¡±


    ¡°Then if you were given a choice, do you want to preserve the Moon, or do you want freedom and strength?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve lived here for countless years, so I¡¯m too lazy to move.¡± Moon Goddess said with a bitter smile, ¡°From the looks of it, there¡¯s nothing I can do even if I don¡¯t want to move.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s give it a shot and see if we can protect the Moon,¡± Zhou Wen said as he took out a calabash. Zhou Wen released the Seven Seas Dragon King. At the same time, he released Grim Demon from the Demonic Sword.


    ¡°Grim Demon, no matter what method you use, protect that tree,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the distant Tree of Immortality.


    ¡°I only have one method¡­ That is¡­ to kill¡­¡± Grim Demon¡¯s eyes were filled with a ruthless killing intent. It transformed into a demonic aura that filled the sky and swept towards the Tree of Immortality.


    Grim Demon! So Grim Demon is Zhou Wen¡¯s Guardian! Shen Yuchi¡¯s heart started racing when he saw Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon became famous from a single battle. He had trounced his challenger, and humanity was guessing who he belonged to.


    He never expected Grim Demon to be Zhou Wen¡¯s Guardian.


    It¡¯s actually his. In that case, those Mythical Companion Beasts are also Zhou Wen¡¯s. They don¡¯t belong to any family? Many thoughts flashed through Shen Yuchi¡¯s mind as he looked at the distant Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. He gritted his teeth and quickly fled.


    Moon Goddess was also somewhat surprised, but her surprise was completely different from Shen Yuchi¡¯s.


    It wasn¡¯t rare to have a Guardian. It was normal for a human like Zhou Wen to be fancied by a Guardian.


    However, the Guardian didn¡¯t come from Zhou Wen. Instead, it came from Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast¡¯s sword. Moon Goddess had never heard of a Guardian being attached to a Companion Beast.


    Furthermore, this was a Terror-grade Guardian. This was even more shocking.


    Grim Demon rushed over and engaged in a crazy battle with the logger. It was the toad that played the supporting role.


    Unlike the toad, Grim Demon didn¡¯t consider stopping the logger at all. He only wanted to kill his opponent.


    He attacked, unleashing crazy attacks.


    Zhou Wen could clearly tell that the logger no longer had the energy to chop the tree.


    After receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s order, the Seven Seas Dragon King also moved. However, it didn¡¯t participate in the battle. Instead, it charged at the Tree of Immortality and spewed the glue-like liquid at its damaged spots.


    As the power of the logger was special, it seemed to have a restraining effect on the Tree of Immortality, making it difficult for the wound to automatically heal.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have powerful Companion Beasts that could heal the Tree of Immortality¡¯s damage in a short period of time. Therefore, he got the Seven Seas Dragon King to use glue to cover the damaged spots.


    Even if the logger extricated himself from Grim Demon and the toad and wanted to chop the tree again, he had to either destroy the glue or chop from another angle. Either choice could buy a lot of time for the Tree of Immortality.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that the glue could really ward off the logger. This was because the Seven Seas Dragon King¡¯s ability was actually restrained by ice and fire-elemental powers.


    This was also the reason Zhou Wen didn¡¯t get the Seven Seas Dragon King to participate in the battle. It was restrained by the logger, so it had little effect.


    Grim Demon had already become the main force in the battle against the logger, and Chang¡¯e¡¯s role was gradually diminishing.


    Jade Rabbit also wanted to help, but its body was too big. With one strike, it nearly sent Grim Demon flying. With it attacking the logger together with Grim Demon, not only did it fail to gain the upper hand, but it nearly injured Grim Demon a few times. Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon it back.


    Jade Rabbit crouched by the side with an aggrieved look, as though it knew that it had done something wrong.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the ability to participate in the battle so he picked up some fallen petals and put them away. They might be useful in the future.


    Bam!


    With a loud bang, the toad was sent flying. It slammed into the trunk of the Tree of Immortality and spat out large amounts of blood.


    The ax wounds on its body crisscrossed and it was powerless to enter its Terror firm. It didn¡¯t look like it had the ability to continue fighting.


    On the other hand, Grim Demon was surprisingly resilient. He wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage even when fighting the logger alone.


    What Grim Demon said in the past might not have been bragging. His combat strength is indeed off the charts, Zhou Wen thought to himself. If he¡¯s really as powerful as he says but is so humble in front of Neonate, what¡¯s Neonate¡¯s background?


    Demonic Neonate had too many secrets. Before she had been absorbed by the Dead Man Tree, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even tell if she was a dimensional creature or a human. She was a unique existence.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he saw a change in the situation. Without Chang¡¯e¡¯s participation in the battle, the logger switched his stats to fire.


    Terrifying flames spewed out, turning into a sea of flames which enveloped a large area near the Tree of Immortality. Its leaves and petals, as well as its trunk, immediately burned upon contact with the flames.


    Grim Demon had powerful combat strength, but he wasn¡¯t good at protecting others. He only wanted to kill the logger before the Tree of Immortality was burned down.


    However, the logger¡¯s strength was equally unfathomable. Grim Demon failed to gain the upper hand.


    Just as the Tree of Immortality was on the brink of incineration, the Moon¡¯s tremors intensified. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to how he could resolve his present predicament.


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating about whether he should use the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Tooth to see if he could extinguish the flames on the Tree of Immortality, he suddenly felt a strange force and thought coming from his body.


    Banana Fairy¡¯s evolution is complete! Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed when he sensed her will.


    3

 Chapter 1073 - A Cool Breeze

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was near the Moon Goddess Temple. With the Moon Goddess around, the logger didn¡¯t dare enter the area.


    However, the Tree of Immortality was being consumed by the flames. If he didn¡¯t save it, it would probably be charred in a few hours.


    Huge cracks constantly appeared on the Moon¡¯s surface. This was clearly a sign that the Companion Beast inside was about to appear.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to see the changes in Banana Fairy¡¯s stats. He summoned her immediately.


    With a flash of light, a young woman wearing a white veil was sitting on a banana leaf that resembled a boat. Her snow-white feet were swaying playfully.


    Her face was beautifully delicate, but her figure was petite. As the banana leaf floated in the air, she looked like a fairy.


    ¡°Little Fairy, can you help me extinguish the flames on that tree?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the flames on the Tree of Immortality.


    Banana Fairy blinked and looked in the direction of the Tree of Immortality. Then, she opened her red lips and spat out a cool breeze.


    Zhou Wen was filled with anticipation. Banana Fairy¡¯s Supreme Yin Wind was known as the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind. Furthermore, it was Yin-elemental. It should have an extremely powerful restraining effect on flames.


    With the help of the Supreme Yin Wind, he might have a chance of defeating the logger.


    A cool breeze silently blew into the darkness.


    The wind that blew out of Banana Fairy¡¯s mouth was just too weak.


    ¡°Little Fairy, use more strength!¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat anxious. After all, the other party was a top existence at the Terror grade. He didn¡¯t know if Banana Fairy¡¯s casual blow would be effective.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open.


    The cool wind that looked like a breeze immediately extinguished the flames and demonic aura when it came into contact with them. As for the demonic aura, it dissipated.


    In an instant, the demonic aura that had filled the area vanished without a trace. The terrifying fire was also extinguished. Not even a wisp of smoke remained as though the fire had never existed.


    Bam! Bam!


    Grim Demon and the logger slammed into the trunk of the Tree of Immortality, but they didn¡¯t fall. Their limbs stuck to the trunk, unable to move in the wind. The muscles on their faces were distorted by the wind, and frost formed on their brows and hair.


    If not for the Tree of Immortality, they would have been blown into space.


    Zhou Wen was at a loss for words. After a long while, he exclaimed, ¡°Holy sh*t! Isn¡¯t this a little too strong?¡±


    Only when this gust of wind passed did Grim Demon and the logger fall from the tree trunk. They failed to get up immediately.


    ¡°Supreme Yin Wind!¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s voice was somewhat odd.


    She was Lady Supreme Yin, so she was naturally no stranger to the Supreme Yin Wind. She immediately recognized it.


    However, she found it unbelievable that a Companion Beast could use the Supreme Yin Wind, and this Companion Beast was Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    The logger changed his stats again, turning from fire to ice. He condensed an ice ax and threw it at Banana Fairy.


    The ice ax vanished in midair. All that could be seen was ice swirling over.


    Banana Fairy sat on the banana leaf without dodging. She pouted her red lips and blew out another mouthful of fragrance.


    However, the wind this time wasn¡¯t as cool as before. Instead, it was scorching.


    When the fragrant wind encountered the power of the ice ax, blazing white flames appeared out of thin air. Instantly, the ice ax completely melted. From ice to water, then from water to steam, it finally turned into nothingness in the blink of an eye.


    The strong wind swept over with flames and devoured the logger¡¯s body. It instantly melted the ice aura and his body immediately burned.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re on the same side¡­ We¡¯re on the same side¡­¡± Another tragic cry sounded. It was Grim Demon, who had just gotten up and was standing not far from the logger. He was implicated as his demonic aura caught fire, turning him into a flaming man.


    Banana Fairy¡¯s wind was good at everything, but its area was just too wide. It didn¡¯t distinguish between friend and foe, causing Grim Demon to be implicated.


    ¡°Supreme Yang Wind!¡± Moon Goddess was even more bewildered.


    Supreme Yin and Supreme Yang were two conflicting attributes, and they were two extremes. A Companion Beast actually had the ability to control Supreme Yin Wind and Supreme Yang Wind at the same time. This was just too terrifying.


    If she can advance to the Calamity grade¡­ Moon Goddess didn¡¯t dare imagine such a scene. Just with one gust of the wind, even Earth would probably suffer an apocalyptic end, much less the Moon.


    ¡°Ahem¡­ Little Fairy¡­ That¡¯s one of us¡­¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly helped Grim Demon resolve the situation.


    It was unknown what kind of fire Banana Fairy¡¯s flames were, but Grim Demon failed to extinguish the flames on his body. He cried out from the heat.


    Banana Fairy blew out another gust of wind. This time, it was the Supreme Yin Wind. As the breeze brushed past, the flames on Grim Demon¡¯s body immediately extinguished.


    Just as the logger turned into the fire attribute and wanted to absorb the flames on his body, the flames on his body were extinguished by the Supreme Yin Wind. Then, she saw Grim Demon and the logger fly out together.


    Bam! Bam!


    They slammed into the Tree of Immortality again and had their limbs plastered to the tree trunk. After the Supreme Yin Wind blew, they fell again.


    Grim Demon didn¡¯t dare continue staying there. He could tell that this unknown Companion Beast was a destroyer who didn¡¯t distinguish between friend and foe. She was even more unscrupulous than himself. If he stayed, due to her whims, it might be the end of him.


    The logger struggled to get up after falling from the tree, but he suddenly held his chest. His chest seemed to have been pierced by an invisible sword.


    Blood flowed down the invisible sword hilt and dripped onto the ground.


    The logger wanted to pull out the Demonic Sword, but he felt his strength rapidly disappearing. He knew that he had no chance of fighting again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve waited for countless years. I never expected such an outcome.¡± The logger sat under the Tree of Immortality and looked up at the osmanthus petals dancing in the sky. However, there wasn¡¯t much anger or hatred on his face.


    He extended his hand and caught a petal. He held it in his palm and stared at it, but his gaze wasn¡¯t focused on the petal. It was as though his emotions had flown elsewhere.


    ¡°Back then, I was focused on cultivating and attempted to escape my mortal coils. Instead, I neglected the most important person¡­ This can be considered my retribution¡­ Sorry for making you wait so long¡­ I¡¯ll be accompanying you soon¡­¡± As the logger spoke, he slowly looked up and his gaze landed on the distant Zhou Wen.


    Don¡¯t tell me he wants to self-destruct and drag me down with him? Zhou Wen subconsciously took a few steps back.


    To his surprise, the logger said, ¡°Do you have anyone you want to protect?¡±


    ¡°If not, I wouldn¡¯t have stopped you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Be careful of those fellows in the dimension. Don¡¯t believe their so-called rules.¡± The logger nodded before closing his eyes. ¡°Unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to see the day you cut down the Tree of Immortality.¡±

 Chapter 1074 - Birth from Extreme Death

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen was just about to ask when he saw that the logger had stopped moving. There were no longer any signs of life¡ªhe was probably dead.


    Why don¡¯t you make yourself clear before you die! Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. However, from the looks of it, the logger didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of saying anything else. Otherwise, he would have said it before he died.


    However, it was difficult to guess what the logger had meant.


    There were many interpretations for this sentence. Perhaps it was because Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t resist the temptation and wanted to obtain the Companion Beast on the Moon, so he had come to chop down the Tree of Immortality.


    It could also be that there was some secret beneath the Tree of Immortality. In the future, Zhou Wen would have to chop down the Tree of Immortality to find out the secret.


    There were too many possibilities. It was also possible that the logger had said it casually to deliberately arouse Zhou Wen¡¯s curiosity.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue guessing. At the very least, from the looks of it, the Moon¡¯s continued existence was better than it being destroyed.


    As he walked towards the logger, Zhou Wen planned on bringing his corpse back. After all, this body belonged to Wei Ge. At the very least, he could return his body to his family in one piece.


    When he arrived in front of the corpse, Zhou Wen extended his hands and placed them under the corpse¡¯s armpits. Just as he was about to lift the corpse up, he suddenly saw the eyes widen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction was extremely fast as he instantly made a decision. If he retreated, he would have fallen for the logger¡¯s scheme. Therefore, Zhou Wen did the opposite. Instead of retreating, he advanced and pressed his body against the logger¡¯s body. His hands passed through his armpits before grabbing his neck. He wanted to use force to snap his neck.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s me¡­ Don¡¯t¡­ Cough, cough¡­¡± The logger said a few words before his neck was pressed down by a powerful force, preventing him from saying a word.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but slow down when he heard those words. He didn¡¯t continue.


    This was because the pitch and tone of the words didn¡¯t sound like the logger¡¯s. Instead, they sounded like Wei Ge¡¯s.


    ¡°President Wei?¡± Zhou Wen released his hand and retreated as he looked at Wei Ge in disbelief.


    If it was the logger, he would have killed him, but it also seemed impossible for it to be Wei Ge.


    Be it Wei Ge¡¯s consciousness controlling the body or the logger¡¯s consciousness controlling the body, the injuries this body suffered were fatal. It was useless no matter whose consciousness it was. If the body died, the consciousness could only perish.


    The wound on Wei Ge¡¯s chest was still there. His heart had been pierced through. The logger was dead, so how could Wei Ge still be alive?


    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± Wei Ge looked down at the wound on his chest and said with a grimace, ¡°I don¡¯t have much time left. Quickly think of a way to save me. Think of a way to stabilize my injuries first. Just don¡¯t let me die.¡±


    ¡°Are you really President Wei?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge suspiciously. He was somewhat suspicious that the logger wasn¡¯t dead and was trying to trick Zhou Wen into treating him.


    ¡°Do you still remember when I went to look for you after graduation? We even chatted a little. Do you remember the sentence about ¡®barely defeat the heavens?¡¯¡± Wei Ge said.


    ¡°The logger has occupied the body, so he might have absorbed your memories¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wei Ge warily.


    Wei Ge didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. ¡°My dear junior, I¡¯m really Wei Ge. Previously, I recognized that the bone pottery artifact was a sacrificial offering to invite a deity¡¯s descent. I knew that I might be possessed by some kind of spiritual body. Furthermore, I also knew that Shen Yuchi would most likely make me a sacrifice. Therefore, it was better to take the initiative to touch the bone pottery artifact.¡±


    ¡°My Life Providence is Birth from Extreme Death. It¡¯s too troublesome to explain. To put it simply, after my body dies, I can still exist in a living-dead state for a period of time. If I heal my body during this period of time, I can still live. I can¡¯t hold on much longer. If you don¡¯t treat my injuries, I¡¯ll really die¡­¡± Wei Ge said gloomily.


    Zhou Wen saw that his tone and demeanor were indeed different from the logger¡¯s. He believed him a little.


    This was because Zhou Wen had previously determined that Wei Ge might know the origins of the bone pottery artifact, so he had taken the initiative to take it. He definitely had some means.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had believed that Wei Ge¡¯s judgment was wrong, so his means had failed to take effect and he had ended up dying tragically.


    Without much hesitation, Zhou Wen switched to the Primordial Human Sovereign Life Soul and threw a punch at Wei Ge¡¯s wound.


    The fist blasted into Wei Ge¡¯s heart, but when it pulled out, the wound on his heart healed significantly.


    Berserk punches came one after another. Under the strange force, the fatal blow to Wei Ge¡¯s heart miraculously healed completely. There was no longer any wound on his chest.


    However, due to the excessive blood loss, Wei Ge¡¯s body was still on the brink of failure.


    Zhou Wen summoned a few more pill essences like the Rejuvenation Pill and got Wei Ge to swallow them. Only then did his body recover its vitality. As for the glow in Wei Ge¡¯s eyes, it grew stronger and stronger. Soon, he was back to being a healthy person.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯ll have to thank you for your help. Otherwise, I would have really died here,¡± Wei Ge said as he stood up.


    ¡°If the logger hadn¡¯t died, would you have been able to retrieve your body?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wei Ge.


    ¡°No.¡± Wei Ge shook his head.


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t treated your injuries, would you have lived?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°No.¡± Wei Ge shook his head again.


    ¡°Then why did you make such a bet?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the conditions for survival were too harsh. If he wasn¡¯t here, Wei Ge would definitely be dead.


    ¡°As there are benefits that are hundreds or even thousands of times greater, it was worth taking the risk. The logger used my body and died in my body. The wealth he left behind for this body is unimaginable. It was worth betting my life.¡± Wei Ge smiled and continued, ¡°Of course, there¡¯s another important reason why I was willing to take the bet.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Because you are here,¡± Wei Ge said solemnly.


    ¡°You think too highly of me.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head and smiled bitterly.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Wen and company were on the Moon, the ranking battle on Earth continued. Ya constantly faced challenges from different Guardians and had yet to be defeated.


    However, Ya¡¯s various abilities were constantly probed by the Guardians. Furthermore, the opponents that appeared were getting stronger. His victories became increasingly hard-won, but he still hadn¡¯t lost.


    In Forbidden City that was enveloped by fog, a distorted figure descended from the void. The figure was very similar to the figure that had changed the cube¡¯s battle rules twice. Or rather, it was the same creature.


    The figure floated in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The door to the Hall of Supreme Harmony seemed to be opened automatically by some invisible force. In the hall, there was a log lying flat.


    ¡°Polestar, why haven¡¯t you chosen a contractor yet?¡± An ethereal voice sounded from the figure made of light and shadows.


    ¡°That¡¯s my business. What has it got to do with you?¡± A cold woman¡¯s voice sounded from the log.

 Chapter 1075 - True Terror Grade

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°As a Guardian, you should know your mission,¡± the figure said as it looked down at the log in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    ¡°My mission has long ended. Don¡¯t you already have a new Guardian? Why are you still looking for me?¡± The woman in the log snorted coldly.


    ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since the new Guardian came into existence. It hasn¡¯t grown to a sufficiently strong stage. It¡¯s not enough to vie for first place,¡± said the figure.


    ¡°What has that got to do with me?¡± The woman¡¯s voice was cold and heartless.


    ¡°If you defeat Ya, you can return to the dimension and obtain a good status,¡± the figure said.


    The woman suddenly laughed, her laughter filled with mockery. ¡°Aren¡¯t you all known to be omnipotent high-level lifeforms? Can¡¯t you even deal with a fellow who¡¯s half human and half Guardian?¡±


    ¡°After you return to the dimension, you can dominate a region.¡± There was no change in the figure¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Not interested,¡± the woman said without hesitation.


    ¡°A divine fruit,¡± the figure continued.


    ¡°Keep it for yourself,¡± the woman mocked.


    ¡°Ten.¡± The figure remained emotionless.


    ¡°Are you that afraid of Ya getting first place?¡± The woman didn¡¯t reject his offer immediately this time.


    ¡°He¡¯s not a Guardian. There¡¯s already one Wang Mingyuan. There¡¯s no need for a second or third one. The Lord of Earth has to be a Guardian,¡± the figure said.


    ¡°The King of Earth can¡¯t even have half a human¡¯s bloodline? How ironic. Humans are the original owners of Earth.¡±


    ¡°What can make you take action?¡± asked the figure.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t found a suitable contractor. I don¡¯t plan on taking action.¡± The woman actually rejected the figure again.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the only Guardian who survived that era. If they were to obtain ten divine fruits, you should know what that will imply.¡± There was finally some emotion in the figure¡¯s voice. One could clearly sense that his tone had turned cold.


    ¡°So what if I know?¡± the woman said indifferently.


    ¡°As long as you defeat an ordinary Mythical creature, you can obtain ten divine fruits. It¡¯s impossible for such a good thing to happen a second time. Don¡¯t regret it.¡± The figure regained its calm.


    ¡°Nothing can make me, Empress Polestar, regret it,¡± the woman said.


    The figure didn¡¯t say anything else as it gradually vanished into the void. Finally, it completely vanished.


    After Empress Polestar sensed that the light figure had vanished, she muttered to herself, ¡°An ordinary Mythical? I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s not that simple. Otherwise, why would you come looking for me?¡±


    ¡­


    On the Moon, Zhou Wen was sitting in front of a huge cube.


    After saving Wei Ge, Zhou Wen had originally planned on punishing Shen Yuchi, but Wei Ge convinced him otherwise.


    In fact, Wei Ge didn¡¯t say much. All he did was tell Zhou Wen, ¡°Leave him alive. With me around, the bureau will be your eyes and ears in the future.¡±


    With Wei Ge¡¯s words, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seek trouble with Shen Yuchi again. He got the Great Might Vajra Bull to take Wei Ge back to the spacecraft while he remained on the Moon.


    Zhou Wen had originally planned on using Glimmer to teleport back. He didn¡¯t need to take the spacecraft back, so he got Wei Ge to return with them.


    As for how Wei Ge would subdue Shen Yuchi and the bureau, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to know. Even if Wei Ge didn¡¯t succeed, Zhou Wen already had the strength necessary to destroy the bureau at any time.


    2


    However, before returning to Earth, Zhou Wen still wanted to obtain more petals of the Tree of Immortality.


    However, the Moon Goddess had told him that the Tree of Immortality was severely injured. It was best not to pluck its petals and wait for it to recover.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to pick up the petals that had fallen nearby. He didn¡¯t touch the petals on the tree again. He knew the principle of economizing to ensure long-term benefits.


    After touring the Moon, he realized that there was a cube here. Zhou Wen watched several battles here, all between Ya and the Guardian.


    A battle at this level can¡¯t even withstand a single breath from my Little Fairy. Every time Zhou Wen made a comparison, he felt that Banana Fairy was much stronger. Typical Mythical and Terror-grade creatures couldn¡¯t compare.


    Banana Fairy: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Yin Yang Spirit Root


    Life Soul: Fairy in the Wind


    Wheel of Destiny: Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind


    Terror form: Apeiron Perfected Immortal (S-grade)


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Supreme Yin Wind, Supreme Yang Wind, Immeasurable Wind.


    Companion Form: Fan


    Banana Fairy¡¯s evolution was very strange. This was because ordinary creatures wouldn¡¯t change their Life Providences or Life Souls. However, with Banana Fairy¡¯s evolution, even her Life Soul and Life Providences had changed. This was a phenomenon Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Furthermore, she was different from Demonic Neonate. Demonic Neonate was still at the Mythical stage, but she had the ability to transform into a Terror form. Zhou Wen originally believed that the Terror grade was only a state of the Mythical stage.


    However, from the looks of it, above the Mythical stage was the Terror grade, not just a state. Banana Fairy was a true Terror grade. Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t truly reached the Terror grade, but for some reason, she had the ability to transform into a Terror form.


    Zhou Wen guessed that it had something to do with her Wheel of Destiny, but he couldn¡¯t be sure.


    Then there was Banana Fairy¡¯s stats. Although she had broken through the limits of the Mythical stage of 81 points, she didn¡¯t directly reach a certain value like before. All her stats had only increased by a little.


    Zhou Wen suspected that after achieving the Terror grade, Banana Fairy might need to slowly raise her stats like humans. As for the limit of the Terror grade, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure.


    According to the previous standards, the limit should be double the previous stage, but this was only speculation.


    As for how powerful Banana Fairy¡¯s Terror Transformation ability was, Zhou Wen had no idea. This was because once Banana Fairy completely transformed into her Terror form, even Zhou Wen¡ªas her master¡ªcouldn¡¯t see her.


    2


    The only thing he was certain of was that Banana Fairy was very strong.


    As he was pondering over it, he saw the cube light up again. Another Guardian had challenged Ya. However, the name that challenged Ya this time made Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils involuntarily contract.


    Night Thearch¡­ He has finally joined the battle¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. Zhong Ziya might not know that Night Thearch was at the Terror grade. If Zhong Ziya ended up trapped in Night Thearch¡¯s Evernight domain without being aware of it, he might end up being killed without even having the chance to surrender.


    After all, only the Terror grade could defeat the Terror grade. Zhong Ziya and Primordial Sword Immortal had yet to reach the Terror grade.


    Zhong Ziya quickly accepted the challenge, making Zhou Wen even more worried. From the looks of it, Zhong Ziya likely didn¡¯t know of Night Thearch¡¯s existence.


    Night Thearch entered the cube¡¯s arena and stood in midair as he stared at Zhong Ziya and said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you, so you should admit defeat yourself.¡±


    Zhong Ziya looked up at Night Thearch. No one could see his expression behind the mask, but Zhong Ziya¡¯s words made Zhou Wen secretly heave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I¡¯m more interested to know how strong the Terror grade is.¡± Zhong Ziya slowly pulled out Primordial Immortal Sword.

 Chapter 1076 - Never Cares About Consequences

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°To me, you are a work of art. Don¡¯t give me the chance to personally destroy you,¡± Night Thearch said.


    ¡°Compared to being a work of art, I want to be a tool without any beauty,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°Since you insist on fighting, then attack,¡± Night Thearch said calmly.


    ¡°I had the same thought,¡± Zhong Ziya said as he fused with his sword and transformed into a stream of light that streaked towards Night Thearch.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword techniques and movement techniques were already at the Mythical stage and weren¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. In fact, due to the augmentation of his Mythical attributes, he was even stronger than Zhou Wen.


    However, no matter how terrifying the Primordial Immortal Sword in his hand was, it couldn¡¯t touch Night Thearch¡¯s clothes. Night Thearch was like a ghost, his figure unpredictable. Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword was always three inches away from him, so he couldn¡¯t hit him.


    ¡°It¡¯s really perfect. You¡¯re better than I imagined.¡± Night Thearch praised as he dodged Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword.


    Others might think that Night Thearch was mocking Zhong Ziya, but Zhou Wen knew that Night Thearch didn¡¯t have any intention of mocking him. Those words were most likely heartfelt.


    Night Thearch was just too odd. He could kill ten million people without any guilt. It could be said that he was a true devil.


    However, he especially indulged those humans with excellent talent. Even though Zhou Wen was his enemy and had nearly killed him, Night Thearch didn¡¯t take any revenge.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t completely understand his mentality. He felt that he was a strange person that couldn¡¯t be fathomed.


    ¡°Your sword is very determined. This is very good, but it¡¯s still not good enough,¡± Night Thearch continued.


    ¡°How is it not good enough?¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword streaked across Night Thearch¡¯s face, almost touching him, but he ultimately failed to touch Night Thearch.


    ¡°It¡¯s not focused enough.¡± Night Thearch flashed past Zhong Ziya like a ghost.


    ¡°My sword has no distracting thoughts.¡± Zhong Ziya turned the Primordial Immortal Sword in his hand and stabbed in a direction that had nothing but thin air. Night Thearch was not there.


    In the next second, the space around the area changed. The two of them seemed to have been swapped. Zhong Ziya¡¯s seemingly missed strike stabbed right in front of Night Thearch.


    ¡°Just because there aren¡¯t any distracting thoughts doesn¡¯t mean that one is sufficiently focused.¡± Night Thearch¡¯s body was similar to the dawn-like darkness as he silently retreated. That strange strike kept advancing in front of his nose, but it was like the light of dawn which couldn¡¯t touch the night sky. It was forever a distance away from Night Thearch.


    As he fought, Night Thearch said, ¡°Your sword is too sentimental. It can¡¯t be devoted. If you want to use a sword, you have to be devoted to the sword. If you want to kill someone, you have to devote all your attention to the process of killing. You have too many emotions in your heart, so it¡¯s inevitable that you will be distracted. That¡¯s why you can¡¯t focus.¡±


    1


    ¡°I don¡¯t believe that there¡¯s anyone in this world who can be absolutely focused.¡± Zhong Ziya constantly attacked, his sword techniques and skills changing.


    One after another, his illusory clones charged at Night Thearch from all directions, but Night Thearch dodged them again and again.


    ¡°Indeed not, but I¡¯ve seen one who came extremely close. He¡¯s more heartless than you and closer to a focused state than you. However, you aren¡¯t bad either. If you can turn emotions into extreme emotions, you might surpass him,¡± Night Thearch said.


    ¡°I think I know who you¡¯re talking about. He¡¯s indeed very strong.¡± Zhong Ziya suddenly threw out the sword in his hand. Primordial Immortal Sword split into millions of identical ones in the air and rained down on Night Thearch.


    However, Night Thearch stood there without moving. He allowed the millions of ancient swords to pass through his body, but none of the swords could injure him.


    He didn¡¯t take on his Terror form. The swords didn¡¯t injure him. Not because of the power of the Terror transformation; instead, it was because the swords were only illusions that didn¡¯t really exist.


    ¡°He also has his flaws. Compared to you, he¡¯s too conservative and can¡¯t accept new powers. This is a fatal flaw. Therefore, in comparison, I think more highly of you. You have a chance to improve further.¡± Night Thearch suddenly made a move. His two fingers grabbed the real Primordial Immortal Sword amidst the millions of illusory Primordial Immortal Swords.


    The Primordial Immortal Sword trembled and hummed between his fingers, but it couldn¡¯t move at all.


    ¡°Leave. Your time hasn¡¯t come yet. I¡¯m looking forward to the arrival of that era.¡± Night Thearch casually waved his hand, and Primordial Immortal Sword flew back and entered the scabbard in Zhong Ziya¡¯s other hand.


    This battle dazzled everyone. Everyone was shocked by Night Thearch¡¯s strength.


    Ya, who had been undefeated and almost invincible, seemed to have been easily suppressed in front of Night Thearch.


    ¡°Time waits for no man.¡± Zhong Ziya had no intention of retreating.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to kill you before, much less now. However, you have to leave this place,¡± Night Thearch said with a frown.


    ¡°Before I get first place, I definitely won¡¯t die, nor will I leave,¡± Zhong Ziya said firmly.


    ¡°Is there something more important than death?¡± Night Thearch asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Ziya answered with certainty.


    ¡°Then let me see if you have the qualifications to stay.¡± As Night Thearch spoke, he took a step forward. In that instant, the entire arena turned into an eternal night.


    The cube¡¯s big screen turned pitch-black, and nothing could be seen. Only the sound of armor tearing could be heard.


    In the blink of an eye, the arena lit up again.


    Night Thearch had already returned to his original spot, and Ya was still there. However, many wounds had opened up on his cloak and armor. Blood was constantly flowing out, dyeing his armor red.


    ¡°Go back,¡± Night Thearch said.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhong Ziya suddenly said.


    Before Night Thearch could figure out what Zhong Ziya meant by ¡®thank you¡¯, he saw that the wound on Zhong Ziya¡¯s body was no longer bleeding, but effusing light.


    The light was corroding his body, gradually turning his flesh and blood into light.


    ¡°Terror form¡­¡± Night Thearch looked at Zhong Ziya in surprise. Clearly, Zhong Ziya was transforming into his Terror form.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± A voice entered Night Thearch¡¯s mind.


    Night Thearch looked at the Terror-form Zhong Ziya and knew that this was a critical moment for his advancement. This was the best opportunity to kill him. Once he completed the Terror transformation, it wouldn¡¯t be so easy to kill him.


    However, Night Thearch only stood there and watched without any intention of attacking.


    ¡°I said kill him. Didn¡¯t you hear me?¡± The voice entered Night Thearch¡¯s mind again.


    Night Thearch remained unmoved as though he hadn¡¯t heard anything.


    ¡°Do you know the consequences of violating our agreement?¡± The voice was already somewhat angry.


    ¡°I, Night Thearch, never care about consequences,¡± Night Thearch said indifferently.


    1


    In the dimension, a distorted figure of light and shadow roared angrily. Terror-grade force crushed everything nearby into powder, but it was still unable to vent the anger in his heart.

 Chapter 1077 - Origins of the Dimensional Wheel

    Translator: CKtalon


    Before long, Ya¡¯s body completely transformed into light. On the cube¡¯s screen, only a humanoid figure could be seen. If he moved slightly, the dazzling light would change, preventing anyone from seeing his appearance.


    Instead, because Primordial Immortal Sword had yet to reach the Terror grade, it remained in Ya¡¯s hand.


    ¡°The Guardian you fused with was already at the Terror grade?¡± Night Thearch asked as he admired Zhong Ziya who had transformed into the Terror form.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhong Ziya answered.


    ¡°With your strength, it should be impossible for you to absorb such a Guardian. How did you do it?¡± Night Thearch continued asking.


    ¡°A betting contract,¡± Zhong Ziya answered.


    Others might not understand what a betting contract was, but Night Thearch knew very well. When he heard that, he asked with a heavy expression, ¡°What did you bet with him?¡±


    ¡°First on the rankings,¡± Zhong Ziya answered.


    Night Thearch laughed. ¡°Do you know how difficult this path is? It¡¯s impossible for the alien races in all the worlds to let even half a human become the final victor.¡±


    ¡°Only with difficulty will there be fun.¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s hand that held the sword glowed brightly. The Primordial Immortal Sword and scabbard in his hand slowly lit up before finally turning into a body of light.


    ¡°Interesting. Then let me see if you have the qualifications to walk to the end.¡± Night Thearch took a step forward and Evernight descended on the arena again, turning everything into darkness.


    All the humans in the world felt extremely uncomfortable. It was like watching a boring crappy movie in a movie theater. After enduring it for an hour and finally seeing a beautiful woman about to take a bath, the screen suddenly turned black. Only the sound of water splashing could be heard. It was so uncomfortable that it made one want to go crazy.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel good either because he couldn¡¯t see what was happening inside.


    However, this state didn¡¯t last long. Soon, a point of light appeared on the dark screen. The point of light became brighter and brighter before it lit up the dark area like a volcanic eruption.


    In the end, the light was just too powerful. It made it impossible to look straight at it. It was so blinding that one couldn¡¯t even open their eyes.


    When the light faded, the cube¡¯s screen finally returned to normal. Ya and Night Thearch¡¯s figures appeared. The two of them looked at each other from afar as though nothing had happened.


    ¡°Who won?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t see anything at all.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too terrifying. We can¡¯t even see a battle at that level. If such experts want to slaughter humans, we won¡¯t even have the chance to resist.¡±


    ¡­


    Everyone discussed spiritedly as Zhou Wen wore a puzzled look. He didn¡¯t know who had won or lost.


    ¡°I hope you can walk to the end.¡± After Night Thearch said that, he turned around and vanished into the night.


    ¡°I will,¡± Zhong Ziya answered.


    The cube¡¯s screen went black before returning to the rankings. Ya remained in first place. Night Thearch didn¡¯t appear on the rankings, so it was obvious that Ya had won again.


    After Ya won this time, the Guardians didn¡¯t swarm over to challenge him like before. There wasn¡¯t even one challenger.


    This was because the Guardians knew very well that only a Terror grade could defeat a Terror grade. If they were to challenge him again, it wouldn¡¯t be a challenge, but suicide.


    There are less than forty hours left on the countdown. If this continues, Ya should have a chance of getting first, right? Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to obtain first place.¡± A palm-sized humanoid puppet walked over, but the sound emitted by the puppet belonged to Moon Goddess.


    ¡°Why not? He¡¯s already at the Terror grade. Even if he encounters other Terror grades, he should have a good chance of winning, right?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why Moon Goddess was so certain that Zhong Ziya wouldn¡¯t come in first.


    ¡°Just as Night Thearch said, it¡¯s impossible for the dimension to let even half a human obtain first place,¡± Moon Goddess answered.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and said, ¡°If humans obtain first place, it means that no dimensional race can obtain control of Earth for a year. I can understand that. However, Ya can only be considered half human. If he wins, doesn¡¯t it mean that the race of the Guardian that fused with Ya won? Why can¡¯t they accept that?¡±


    ¡°If he is not of our kin, he is sure to have a different mind. It¡¯s the same for dimensional creatures. If Ya finds the strongest Companion Beast in this year, do you think he will hand it over to the dimensional creatures?¡± Moon Goddess paused before continuing, ¡°Most importantly, that Dimensional Wheel can¡¯t be handed over to a creature with human blood. Otherwise, even if those dimensional experts personally descend, it¡¯s impossible for them to defeat a human with a Dimensional Wheel in this world.¡±


    ¡°The Dimensional Wheel is created by dimensional creatures. Could it be that they can¡¯t deal with it?¡± Zhou Wen asked suspiciously.


    ¡°Who told you that the Dimensional Wheel was created by dimensional creatures?¡± Moon Goddess asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that so?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Of course not. The so-called Dimensional Wheel is actually a Companion Beast,¡± said Moon Goddess.


    ¡°Companion Beast? What level is it?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say what level it is, but the owner of that Companion Beast was the person who had the strongest Guardian in that horrific era. In that era, they fought countless powerful opponents in the world and ultimately obtained first place. That Dimensional Wheel played a role of inestimable proportions.¡±


    Moon Goddess paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°After all, Guardians in that era weren¡¯t as weak as they are now. This is because the Battle of Guardians took a long time. All the Guardians had enough time to become stronger. Furthermore, in that era, the various races of the dimension had just reached an agreement. The regulations weren¡¯t too strict. Many terrifying dimensional creatures descended and secretly controlled the Battle of Guardians. The expert who could defeat all his opponents in that era and stand at the peak of the world was an unimaginably powerful existence.¡±


    ¡°Which era is the horrific era you speak of? Who¡¯s the Guardian who obtained first place? Who¡¯s his contractor?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°That human¡¯s name is Xuan Yuan. The Guardian¡¯s name is Mystic Thearch,¡± Moon Goddess answered.


    ¡°Xuan Yuan! Could it be Yellow Emperor!? Then, is Chiyou among his opponents?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°There was indeed such a person. He was also an existence that was very likely to win first place at that time. His Guardian was the Weapon Lord. I still remember that if Xuan Yuan hadn¡¯t taken the Dimensional Wheel back then, the human who clinched final victory in that horrifying era might have been Chiyou,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°What do you mean? Didn¡¯t you say that the Dimensional Wheel is Yellow Emperor¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled when he heard that.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Yellow Emperor picked up the Dimensional Wheel Companion Egg, so the Dimensional Wheel naturally became his Companion Beast. However, Chiyou originally had a chance of obtaining the Dimensional Wheel Companion Egg. No, it should be said that the dimensional wheel originally belonged to Chiyou and Weapon Lord,¡± Moon Goddess said after some thought.

 Chapter 1078 - Betting Contract

    Translator: CKtalon


    Moon Goddess had been born on the Moon, so she didn¡¯t know much about Earth. All she could see were some of the major things that had happened on Earth. It had to be a sufficiently large commotion for her to see a thing or two.


    Just like how the ship had flown out of thin air back then, Moon Goddess could see such a huge matter clearly from the Moon.


    Originally, the battle between Chiyou and Yellow Emperor wasn¡¯t enough for the Moon Goddess to observe. However, a huge meteorite had slammed into Earth. If Earth had been hit, most of the creatures would have been wiped out.


    Moon Goddess didn¡¯t know what the experts on Earth had done. However, Chiyou had worn the Weapon Lord Armor and destroyed the meteorite.


    The Dimensional Wheel Companion Egg had flown out from the shattered meteorite. However, Chiyou and the Weapon Lord were exhausted of their strength after destroying the meteorite. It was picked up by another human and Guardian. They were naturally Yellow Emperor and Mystic Thearch.


    There¡¯s actually such a thing! Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. He didn¡¯t know if Moon Goddess was telling the truth.


    However, Moon Goddess¡¯ knowledge was very limited. She didn¡¯t say it clearly because there was no such thing as the black cubes in that era. The experts directly fought on Earth. Only when the combat energy exceeded a certain threshold could Moon Goddess observe it.


    Moon Goddess had observed the Dimensional Wheel¡¯s energy explosion many times. It was likely the key to Yellow Emperor¡¯s victory.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Since the Dimensional Wheel is Yellow Emperor¡¯s Companion Beast, it should have died with him. Why did it end up in the hands of the dimensional creatures?¡± Zhou Wen thought of a terrifying question.


    ¡°That¡¯s not something I can know.¡± The puppet controlled by Moon Goddess shook its head.


    As the two of them spoke, the black cube lit up again. Another person issued a challenge, and the person being challenged was still Ya.


    To dare challenge at this time, the challenger must be extraordinary. They must be at the Terror grade, right? Zhou Wen looked at the challenger¡¯s name.


    However, the name was very unfamiliar. It was a Guardian named Cave Era.


    Not long after, Zhong Ziya accepted the challenge and appeared in the cube¡¯s arena again.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up Cave Era that had entered the arena. He saw a human wearing gray armor. The armor covered her entire body, so he could only tell that it was a woman¡¯s figure. However, he didn¡¯t know what kind of human she was or what she looked like. He didn¡¯t know if she was young or old.


    ¡°Is this a former Guardian?¡± Zhou Wen asked the Moon Goddess puppet.


    In recent years, very few Guardians had advanced to the Terror grade. As long as they were at the Terror grade, there was a high chance that they were former Guardians who had survived.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Moon Goddess¡¯s answer left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed.


    Zhong Ziya didn¡¯t care who his opponent was. He immediately entered his Terror form and transformed into a beam of light that slashed at Cave Era.


    Cave Era¡¯s figure vanished in front of everyone as though she was invisible.


    She¡¯s indeed a Terror grade! Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too surprised. It would be strange if the person who dared to challenge Ya wasn¡¯t at the Terror grade.


    After Cave Era vanished, the only thing that could be seen in the arena was Ya, who was like a dazzling light. One could see the light constantly flashing. Ya was probably constantly attacking. He was likely capable of seeing Cave Era.


    ¡°Ya is in danger,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown. He couldn¡¯t see the battle clearly.


    ¡°See for yourself.¡± Moon Goddess didn¡¯t answer directly.


    ¡°Would I be asking you if I could see it?¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to see it very soon,¡± Moon Goddess said with a hint at what she felt deep down.


    Indeed, before long, Zhou Wen realized that the shadow that represented Ya was gradually slowing down. Not only that, but even his Terror form was becoming somewhat unstable.


    After a while, Ya couldn¡¯t maintain his Terror form and revealed himself.


    Furthermore, his body looked a little odd. The body under the robe looked much thinner and more hunched. Although his appearance couldn¡¯t be seen, his body didn¡¯t give off the feeling of a young and strong youth. Instead, he looked like an old man on the brink of death.


    Temporal power! Zhou Wen immediately knew what had happened. The power of Cave Era was time.


    Zhong Ziya had been affected by powers like Time Acceleration. Guardians wouldn¡¯t die and weren¡¯t afraid of the passage of time. However, Zhong Ziya wasn¡¯t a pure Guardian. Half of him had a human bloodline and he had a limit to his lifespan. He would still age.


    ¡°There¡¯s still a chance of survival if he admits defeat now. Otherwise, he will die of old age in the arena. Unfortunately, he has a betting contract. Admitting defeat will also lead to death,¡± said Moon Goddess with a sigh.


    What kind of contract is a betting contract? Zhou Wen could roughly guess the rules of the bet, but he still wanted to know the details.


    ¡°A typical Guardian contract is an equal contract. Both parties can terminate the contract at any time without paying any price. However, a betting contract is different, especially in a situation like Ya¡¯s. His strength isn¡¯t enough to absorb such a powerful Guardian, so he can only agree to sign a betting contract with the Guardian. If he can win the betting contract, he can always have this body. However, if he loses, I¡¯m afraid this body will only benefit others in the end,¡± Moon Goddess said.


    ¡°Just now, he said that he¡¯s betting on whether he can obtain first place. In other words, he has no way out now. He has to win?¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    ¡°His body has already aged. I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no chance of him winning,¡± said Moon Goddess.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be that simple,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at Ya.


    ¡°He can¡¯t withstand the passage of time, nor can he touch Cave Era who possesses the ability of Time Acceleration. I can¡¯t think of a way for him to turn the tides of defeat.¡± The Moon Goddess puppet looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Do you know what other abilities he has to help him turn the tables?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what abilities he has, but a person like him shouldn¡¯t be so helpless,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    However, the scene Zhou Wen was hoping for didn¡¯t happen. As time passed, Ya¡¯s body died and he collapsed to the ground. As time passed too quickly, Ya¡¯s body turned to dust.


    1


    Cave Era¡¯s figure appeared again. She glanced at the scattered dust on the ground, but her expression suddenly changed. She immediately entered her Terror form.


    As for the dust that scattered on the ground, it gathered together again and returned to Ya¡¯s appearance. Furthermore, there was no sign of age on his body.


    ¡°Do you only realize it now? It¡¯s too late,¡± Ya said as he extended his palm. A strange light rune shimmered in his palm.


    At the spot where Cave Era had vanished, the same light rune shimmered. It immediately pulled Cave Era¡¯s body over, and she charged uncontrollably into Ya¡¯s palm.


    Despite using several powers in a row, she was unable to escape Ya¡¯s power. Even though time slowed down, Cave Era still flew towards Ya¡¯s palm.

 Chapter 1079 - : Perfection

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen stood up as he watched Cave Era admit defeat and leave the cube¡¯s arena.


    ¡°Are you leaving?¡± the Moon Goddess puppet asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I have to return eventually.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat nervous.


    It was almost certain that Glimmer would advance to a Perfect Body, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if Glimmer¡¯s advancement to a Perfect Body could advance him to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to hatch the Companion Beast I gave you?¡± the Moon Goddess puppet asked.


    ¡°In the future, I don¡¯t feel like doing it now.¡± Zhou Wen tidied up his things and confirmed that he hadn¡¯t missed anything. He temporarily stored Jade Rabbit and Ice Maiden in the Chaos Bead before waving goodbye to Moon Goddess.


    Taking a deep breath, Zhou Wen switched to the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and used the Glimmer Life Soul to choose Earth as a teleportation target in the pocket universe.


    His body instantly tore through the void. In the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen realized that he had returned to Earth and was standing in a desert.


    Almost at the same time, the Glimmer Life Soul erupted with immense energy and rapidly transformed. The pocket universe in his body seemed to be activated as it automatically circulated.


    In the originally empty desert, there was a baffling amount of energy. The energy was like countless meteors shooting from the sky to the ground.


    This gave Zhou Wen a fright. This was because the meteors looked terrifying. Even if there were hundreds of Earths, they would probably be instantly destroyed.


    However, that didn¡¯t happen. When the meteors hit Earth, they passed through it without hitting it. It was unbelievable.


    The meteor that struck Zhou Wen fused into his body and into his pocket universe, making it stronger and stronger.


    Finally, the Glimmer Life Soul completed its final evolution and became a Perfect Body.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to observe what the Glimmer Life Soul had evolved into. The Lost Immortal Sutra in his body automatically circulated.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. Although the Lost Immortal Sutra automatically circulated, this was the first time it had automatically switched back while he was simulating other Essence Energy Arts.


    Could it be that¡­ I¡¯m really about to advance to the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen felt expectant and uneasy.


    His Slaughterer Life Soul automatically activated as it hugged Zhou Wen¡¯s body as though it had fused with him. Endless Essence Energy surged crazily.


    Zhou Wen, who was looking forward to advancing to the Mythical stage, suddenly realized that another Essence Energy Art was circulating in his body.


    Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡­ How can this be¡­ The Lost Immortal Sutra is still circulating without switching. Why is the Ancient Sovereign Sutra circulating at the same time? Won¡¯t there be a conflict? Zhou Wen was alarmed, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t stop the Essence Energy in his body from circulating.


    1


    He didn¡¯t know what was happening, nor did he know if it was a blessing or a curse.


    In theory, it was very dangerous for two different Essence Energy Arts to circulate in one body. Now that the Lost Immortal Sutra and the Ancient Sovereign Sutra were circulating at the same time, Zhou Wen¡¯s body definitely couldn¡¯t withstand the clash of Essence Energy. The chances of him exploding to his death were as high as 99.99%.


    As Zhou Wen was feeling uneasy, the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra began circulating.


    It wasn¡¯t just Small Perfection of Wisdom. All the Essence Energy Arts that Zhou Wen had cultivated began circulating.


    Unlike the usual switching of Essence Energy Arts, the Essence Energy Arts were circulating at the same time. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra, Small Perfection of Wisdom, Dao Sutra, Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, First Order of Chaos, Qi Refinement Art, Godfiend Era, and Demon God Bloodline Catalog were all circulating in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed and afraid. Others who cultivated two Essence Energy Arts at the same time would most likely die.


    With the nine Essence Energy Arts coming together, it was equivalent to having his name registered with the King of Hell. Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that he wouldn¡¯t die.


    However, the nine Essence Energy Arts circulated in Zhou Wen¡¯s body without any conflict.


    This feeling was magical. The circulation path of the nine Essence Energy Arts had many conflicts, but for some reason, other than the Lost Immortal Sutra, the eight Essence Energy Arts felt like they were circulating in the void.


    The eight Essence Energy Arts seemed to circulate in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but they also didn¡¯t seem to be in his body. They were closely connected to his body, but they weren¡¯t completely attached to his body.


    This magical experience had the eight Essence Energy Arts circulate under the support of Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy. If not for the Lost Immortal Sutra providing unlimited Essence Energy, it would be impossible for him to circulate all eight Essence Energy Arts at the same time.


    2


    As the eight Essence Energy Arts circulated, all sorts of Life Providences and Life Souls automatically activated.


    What was even stranger was that the Life Providences and Life Souls had separated from Zhou Wen¡¯s body, forming independent entities. Eight Life Souls that had fused with the Life Providences appeared in eight different directions around Zhou Wen.


    Primordial Human Sovereign was the shadow of a sovereign; the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder was a book; the Supreme Hell King was Zhou Wen himself; the New Era was a ring with a clown symbol; the Chaos Egg was an egg; the Sword Pill was still in the form of a pill¡ªit hadn¡¯t changed into a sword; the Demon God Bloodline Catalog was a blood shadow. The blood shadow¡¯s outline looked like Zhou Wen.


    Finally, there was a constantly changing point. It looked like a point, but inside, there seemed to be countless stars circulating as they constantly changed.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was likely the Perfect Body Life Soul evolved by Glimmer. He didn¡¯t even have the time to look at its name.


    These Life Souls were originally condensed by Zhou Wen. Although he had used a simulation method, they still had a blood connection with him when he used them.


    But now, the eight Life Souls were unfamiliar and terrifying. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense the connection that he should have with them. It was as though they weren¡¯t the Life Souls and Life Providences that Zhou Wen had condensed himself.


    They clearly enjoyed Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy, but they didn¡¯t belong to him. This feeling left him so depressed that he nearly vomited blood.


    The only Life Soul that was connected to Zhou Wen¡¯s bloodline was Slaughterer. At the same time, Slaughterer emitted a terrifying killing intent that affected Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    If not for Zhou Wen¡¯s extraordinary willpower, he would have long been controlled by the killing intent and turned into a lunatic who only knew how to kill.


    Hum!


    At that moment, the eight Life Souls erupted with terrifying power. Zhou Wen was extremely familiar with the powers. He had used most of them countless times.


    However, this time, the powers didn¡¯t help Zhou Wen, but became his enemy.


    The sword hum was like a song as the three thousand sword intents fused into one pill. The Sword Pill carried the supreme will of the Sword Dao as it slashed at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1080 - Annihilation

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think that the sword intent was terrifying when he had used Sword Pill in the past, but now that Sword Pill had become an enemy, he realized how terrifying the sword intent was from personal experience.


    Under the suppression of the terrifying sword intent, Slaughterer¡¯s killing intent erupted. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on taking action, but his body was driven by Slaughterer¡¯s power. It was as though he was being hugged by someone behind him as he guided his attacks step by step.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Wasn¡¯t he hitting himself? It wasn¡¯t easy for him to condense the Sword Pill Life Soul and its corresponding Life Providence. It would be a pity if it was crippled.


    Boom!


    The sword beam clashed head-on with Slaughterer¡¯s strength. Sword Pill tore through the Essence Energy and stabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s palm at high speeds like a hot knife through butter.


    However, the closer Sword Pill got to Zhou Wen¡¯s palm, the slower it became. The Essence Energy resistance it encountered increased. When it was a few centimeters away from Zhou Wen¡¯s palm, its forward speed was nearly reduced to zero.


    Hum!


    At that moment, Sword Pill suddenly changed. Its body transformed into a sword that broke through Slaughterer¡¯s Essence Energy barrier. The blade pierced through Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    Damn it. I¡¯ll be the first person in history to be injured by my Life Soul, right? Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t hesitate any longer. He wanted to cooperate with Slaughterer and fight seriously.


    It didn¡¯t matter if it was condensed by him. If he wanted to live, he had to destroy it first.


    Just as he was about to pull out the Sword Pill that had penetrated his palm, the blood shadow condensed by the Demon God Body attacked Zhou Wen from the other side. With a flash, it appeared behind him.


    Zhou Wen turned around and brandished his fist. Just as he was about to strike the Demon God Body, the blood shadow that looked like Zhou Wen transformed into a blood snake that wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s arm and bit at his neck.


    Screw you. Zhou Wen made a prompt decision and headbutted the blood snake¡¯s head.


    However, the blood snake changed again. It flapped its wings and transformed into a blood bird, dodging Zhou Wen¡¯s head strike. Its claws left several bloody marks on Zhou Wen¡¯s scalp, injuring his skull.


    The Primordial Human Sovereign and Supreme Hell King also attacked from both sides. One fist carried a brilliant divine light while the other carried invisible karmic sinflames.


    Zhou Wen used his left hand to pull out the Sword Pill that had penetrated his right hand. He quickly moved, hoping to dodge the attacks of the Primordial Human Sovereign and the Supreme Hell King. At the same time, he wanted to summon his Companion Beasts.


    However, the Companion Beasts didn¡¯t react at all. Even Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t answer his calls.


    Two streams of light flashed and appeared in front of Zhou Wen out of thin air. He had just dodged the attacks of Primordial Human Sovereign and Supreme Hell King, so it was already difficult for him to afford any new strength. Furthermore, the two streams of light appeared out of thin air as though they were teleporting.


    Zhou Wen could only do his best to contort his body. With his excellent reaction speed and calm mind, he dodged the two streams of light that appeared out of nowhere in front of his chest and the back of his head. He wasn¡¯t hit by the fatal attack.


    At that instant, the two streams of light vanished again, but Zhou Wen could clearly see that one of the streams of light was the New Era Ring Life Soul. The other was the Perfect Life Soul that Glimmer had just evolved.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure moved at high speeds as he took the opportunity to deliver a punch at Supreme Hell King. He wanted to kill one first, but he was surrounded by eight Life Souls and couldn¡¯t use Companion Beasts. This left him overwhelmed.


    However, when Zhou Wen¡¯s fist struck Supreme Hell King, it didn¡¯t hit its corporeal body. The palm seemed to pass through space and enter purgatory. The palm inside Supreme Hell King¡¯s body was instantly enveloped by flames. In the flames, the flesh on the palm quickly disintegrated.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly retracted his hand, but the injury couldn¡¯t be healed.


    Do you really think I¡¯m easily defeated? Zhou Wen was infuriated. He used Transcendent Flying Immortal and the Heart Defying Sword. As his figure moved like an illusion, sword beams crisscrossed.


    A huge ball rolled over. It was none other than the Chaos Egg. When Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beam slashed at the Chaos Egg, it was instantly absorbed like water that had encountered a sponge.


    In the past, when Zhou Wen had used these Life Souls to restrain others, he had felt extremely comfortable, but now, he realized how uncomfortable it was to be besieged by these Life Souls.


    The easiest thing for humans to ignore was what they already had.


    Only when he became enemies with his Life Souls did Zhou Wen seem to realize his Life Souls for what they were worth. It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand them in the past, but that he couldn¡¯t see it from this angle.


    1


    In the past, Zhou Wen could use their characteristics, but he never knew how it felt to be attacked by the power of these Life Souls.


    Apart from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder remaining motionless, the other seven Life Souls surrounded Zhou Wen as though they wanted to kill him.


    Although Zhou Wen had pushed his technique and strength to their peak, he was still at a disadvantage in a one-on-seven situation. He was constantly injured by his Life Souls, making the situation rather terrible.


    The injuries on his body made Zhou Wen increasingly calm. Slaughterer¡¯s strength gradually fused with Zhou Wen. With the augmentation of infinite Essence Energy, Zhou Wen¡¯s strength grew stronger.


    If I can condense you, I¡¯ll naturally be able to destroy you. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were calm. Slaughterer seemed to have fused with his body as a whole, no longer hugging his sole Life Soul.


    Seeing Sword Pill fly over again, Zhou Wen used his finger as a sword and stabbed at it.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy already had the power of Immortal Slaying.


    Pitting sword against sword, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword aura and sword intent were stronger than Sword Pill. When the sword beams collided, Sword Pill¡¯s sword aura instantly shattered. Even the sword body shattered.


    The demon beast transformed from the Demon God Body had already pounced behind Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t turn his head or dodge. Instead, he rapidly retreated and slammed into the demon beast.


    Terrifying Essence Energy directly shattered the demon beast formed by the Demon God Body, turning it into specks of splattering blood.


    He suddenly extended his left hand and grabbed at his ear. The New Era Ring that he had teleported out of was caught between his fingers before it was crushed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s every move contained the terrifying power of Immortal Slaying. Together with his strength and the augmentation of Slaughterer, he slaughtered his former Life Souls.


    One Life Soul after another that once belonged to him was shattered by him. Sword Pill, New Era, Demon God Body, Supreme Hell King, Primordial Human Sovereign, Singularity, and even the Chaos Egg with the strongest defense were cleaved into two by Zhou Wen.


    Apart from the immense power of Immortal Slaying, there was another important reason. Zhou Wen knew them too well.


    No Life Soul could withstand a single strike from him. Once upon a time, he would have been enervated once he used the power of Immortal Slaying, but now, he could use it freely without weakening himself.


    Only the final Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder remained floating there. The other Life Souls that Zhou Wen had painstakingly condensed shattered into dust.


    Zhou Wen looked at the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder with a calm expression. He raised his palm and slashed down like a blade.

 Chapter 1081 - No More Friends

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    After Cave Era was defeated, no Guardian challenged Ya again. Time ticked by until there was only one second left before another Guardian challenged Ya.


    ¡°Indeed, they won¡¯t let Ya, a half-human, obtain first place so easily.¡± Zhang Chunqiu looked at the cube and sighed.


    ¡°Even the Cave Era with the power of time was defeated. Are there any Guardians with powers stronger than time?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked in puzzlement.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, ¡°Time is indeed a very powerful attribute. In theory, time and space should be considered top-notch strength among all the various attributes. However, at that realm, the suppression between attributes isn¡¯t the most important. The strength of a skill is also no longer an important criterion to determine one¡¯s combat strength.¡±


    ¡°Then how do we determine who¡¯s stronger and who¡¯s weaker?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    ¡°It depends on whose willpower is stronger, whose intelligence is deeper, and whose in-combat improvisation is better. At that stage, there are only weak people, and no such thing as weak abilities. Any ability, even if it looks weak, can become the key to victory as long as it¡¯s used properly.¡± Zhang Chunqiu paused before adding, ¡°Of course, this is when the difference in strength isn¡¯t too disparate. If the difference in strength is too great, it will be a different matter. However, Ya¡¯s strength and ability should be considered top-notch on Earth. It¡¯s unlikely that there¡¯s a force on Earth that has absolute suppressive might on him.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t it appear? Didn¡¯t you say that there¡¯s the stronger Calamity grade above the Terror grade?¡± Zhang Yuzhi still wore a puzzled expression.


    ¡°The Calamity grade can naturally crush the Terror grade, but in a place like Earth, there are only two possibilities for a Calamity-grade creature to appear. The first is the descent of a Calamity-grade powerhouse from the dimension. However, the dimension¡¯s Calamity-grade powerhouse will be restricted by the rules of Earth after its descent. It¡¯s impossible for them to unleash the strength of the Calamity grade. If they forcefully use their Calamity-grade strength, they might even be reduced to the Mythical stage by the rules.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu thought before continuing, ¡°There¡¯s another possibility. After a Guardian contracts a human, they can use the bodies of humans to advance to the Calamity grade. Too little time has been given to the Guardians born in this era. Let alone advancing to the Calamity grade, there aren¡¯t even many at the Terror grade. Therefore, if a Calamity-grade creature appears on Earth, the only possibility is that it is from the Calamity-grade Guardians that survived the previous war.¡±


    ¡°Like the one in our Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t answer and continued, ¡°However, although the Guardians who survived the battle are extremely powerful, the humans who contracted them can¡¯t live that long. After leaving the humans, their strength will once again be suppressed by the rules of Earth. Even if they have the strength of the Calamity grade, it¡¯s impossible for them to use it on Earth unless they contract humans again.¡±


    ¡°There are so many humans on Earth. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to find a contractor, right?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said after some thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy. There is some kind of restriction. Do you think the one in our family doesn¡¯t want to come out?¡± Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, ¡°In short, it looks like Ya still has a chance. As long as he can survive the next challenge from the dimension, he might very well become the final victor.¡±


    ¡°Brother, do you wish for Ya to win or for him to lose?¡± Zhang Yuzhi blinked and asked.


    ¡°From my standpoint, I hope he wins, but his chances aren¡¯t high,¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered.


    The person challenging Ya was a Guardian named Jiuyue. It was a very unfamiliar name. He had never appeared on the rankings before, so no one knew what abilities he had.


    After the battle began, people immediately knew what ability he had because the characteristics of his ability were too obvious.


    Teleportation¡ªconstant teleportation. Ya¡¯s continuous attacks failed to touch any part of Jiuyue¡¯s clothes.


    However, Jiuyue had no intention of counterattacking. If Ya attacked, he would teleport and dodge. If Ya didn¡¯t attack, he wouldn¡¯t move either. Instead of calling it a battle, it looked more like he was stalling for time.


    Ya didn¡¯t launch any meaningless attacks as he took on his Terror form. His body transformed into a beam of light, but Jiuyue could also enter the Terror form. After doing so, he vanished even more thoroughly than Ya.


    However, the Terror-form Jiuyue still had no intention of counterattacking. He continued dodging. Now, anyone could tell that Jiuyue was stalling for time. They just didn¡¯t understand why he was stalling.


    ¡°What does Jiuyue want? If he wants to expend Ya¡¯s Essence Energy, that shouldn¡¯t be right. The Essence Energy he expends when teleporting is much more than Ya,¡± Xia Xuanyue said in thought as she looked at the cube¡¯s screen.


    Xia Liuchuan looked at the screen and frowned. ¡°I have an ominous feeling. I¡¯m afraid this battle for first place won¡¯t end so easily.¡±


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s just a hunch.¡± Xia Liuchuan shook his head slightly, but his expression was solemn.


    Just as Xia Xuanyue had said, Jiuyue was constantly teleporting in his Terror form, and the expenditure was much greater than Ya¡¯s. If he continued fighting, Ya would definitely win.


    However, Ya didn¡¯t continue attacking. He stopped and left his Terror form. He sat down in the arena and placed Primordial Immortal Sword on his lap.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you fighting?¡± Jiuyue had also left his Terror form as he looked at Ya and asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you need time to prepare to deal with me? I¡¯ll give you time,¡± Ya said indifferently.


    Jiuyue looked at Ya with a complicated expression. ¡°You know that I need time to deal with you. Why don¡¯t you defeat me as soon as possible? If you are fast enough, you might be able to avoid a lot of trouble.¡±


    ¡°What will be, will be. Besides, I¡¯m not afraid of trouble,¡± Ya said.


    ¡°No regrets?¡± Jiuyue asked Ya.


    ¡°Life isn¡¯t about regret, but about doing what you want to do,¡± Ya answered.


    Jiuyue looked at Ya and sighed. ¡°If I had met you earlier, we might have become friends.¡±


    ¡°We won¡¯t become friends. I stopped making friends long ago,¡± Ya said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Jiuyue asked Ya in a daze.


    ¡°Because I only have one life. I can¡¯t give it all to them when there are too many friends,¡± Ya answered.


    Jiuyue didn¡¯t say a word when he heard that. He only looked at Ya silently. After a moment, Jiuyue said, ¡°If you attack now, you still have a chance if you can defeat me in fifteen minutes.¡±


    Ya had no intention of moving. He continued sitting there with his eyes closed. Jiuyue looked at him and asked, ¡°Do you think I¡¯m lying to you?¡±


    ¡°No, I believe you are telling the truth,¡± Ya said with certainty.


    ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you fighting?¡± Jiuyue asked curiously.


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t want to be your friend, I won¡¯t take anything that belongs to you,¡± Ya said.


    Jiuyue looked at Ya with a strange look in his eyes. After a while, he wanted to say something, but his expression suddenly changed. He looked into the void and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s too late now.¡±


    In the void, a beam descended, illuminating the entire cube¡¯s arena.

 Chapter 1082 - The Symbol on the Wheel of Destiny

    Translator: CKtalon


    At the instant he shattered the Heaven-Opening Scripture, Zhou Wen felt his body undergo a strange change.


    The mysterious Sigh of the Life Providence King automatically circulated. Slaughterer that had fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body still emitted terrifying killing intent and Essence Energy. It was even more terrifying than when he fought the eight Life Souls.


    As for Zhou Wen¡¯s essence, vitality, and spirit, they erupted like a volcano.


    The energy produced by the three forces was unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen had seen countless Mythical creatures. Apart from Demonic Neonate, who had the ability to undergo Terror transformation at the Mythical stage, all sorts of powerful Mythical creatures, such as Torch Dragon and Tyrant Behemoth, could produce powers that weren¡¯t as terrifying as the ones Zhou Wen had unleashed.


    Under the direction of such a terrifying force, Zhou Wen felt his body constantly transform.


    This transformation was different from any other in the past. The previous transformations were within Zhou Wen¡¯s limits, but this time, the energy produced by the evolution was no longer something his body could withstand.


    At the beginning of the evolution, Zhou Wen was very worried that his body would explode because he couldn¡¯t withstand the power.


    In fact, it was indeed the case. In an instant, countless cracks appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body like an eggshell that was about to shatter.


    At this moment of life and death, the terrifying force surged towards a spot.


    It was a point, a point that seemed to be in a superposition of existence and non-existence. It was like the beginning of the universe, but also the end of the world.


    That point seemed to be a real existence, but it also seemed to only exist in his consciousness.


    Between reality and illusion, it was difficult to even determine its existence. However, when the terrifying power injected into the point, it gradually became clearer.


    It constantly spun and changed, and it became more and more corporeal. However, this corporealization was very abstract. It didn¡¯t really exist in reality, as though it was just Zhou Wen¡¯s imagination.


    Gradually, the point grew bigger and brighter, turning from a point into a wheel.


    1


    Furthermore, there were many strange, changing patterns on the wheel.


    The patterns were abstract. Sometimes, Zhou Wen felt that the patterns resembled him, and sometimes, they resembled Slaughterer. Sometimes, they resembled the Life Souls that had been destroyed by Zhou Wen.


    There were moments when the patterns resembled Primordial Human Sovereign, New Era, and Supreme Hell King. However, upon careful inspection, it didn¡¯t seem like it.


    It was difficult to describe the patterns accurately.


    Even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what shape the wheel was. Although it could be described as a disk, it only had one face. It had a spherical arc.


    If it was described as a sphere, from a certain angle it looked sunken. It was like a coin that was constantly spinning and changing.


    Is this the Wheel of Destiny? Zhou Wen could sense that the Wheel of Destiny was inextricably linked to him. It was like a part of his body, as important as organs like his brain and heart.


    However, it was different from the organs that grew on its body. It existed independently.


    What will my Wheel of Destiny be? Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength isn¡¯t bad. Dragon Eclipse¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World is the strongest, but those don¡¯t seem to have anything to do with me¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what his Wheel of Destiny would be.


    This was because he didn¡¯t have any reference. Perhaps he was the first human to rely on his own strength to advance to the Mythical stage.


    The three forces constantly surged into the Wheel of Destiny that was taking shape, but even the Wheel of Destiny couldn¡¯t seem to withstand such a powerful force.


    In particular, the energy that gushed out from the Sigh of the King was endless like a galaxy or the universe itself.


    The energy that seeped out of the Wheel of Destiny seeped into Zhou Wen¡¯s flesh and blood. Under the impact of the energy, his transformed flesh and blood seemed to undergo an inexplicable change.


    Zhou Wen and the Wheel of Destiny were constantly transforming, especially the patterns on the Wheel of Destiny. The changes seemed to slow down as some of the lines stopped moving.


    Zhou Wen inexplicably knew that his Wheel of Destiny was about to condense. This was the most critical moment.


    What kind of power is it? If I can choose, I hope that the power of the Wheel of Destiny is related to spacetime. Zhou Wen felt that the power of spacetime was easier to understand the world¡¯s origins.


    To figure out the relationship between the dimension and Earth, perhaps spatial-temporal power was a good entry point.


    However, he didn¡¯t see any patterns related to spacetime on the Wheel of Destiny.


    On the Wheel of Destiny that had condensed, many of the lines had already solidified. The lines looked a little messy, but he still couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    Zhou Wen tried to figure out some patterns from it, but in reality, there was no pattern to the lines. They were everywhere, as though they were random scribbles.


    Most of them were curves with almost no straight lines.


    Ah! When most of the lines took form, Zhou Wen finally saw what symbol it was. At the same time, he was alarmed.


    It was a painting. It was a portrait of a woman, but it only showed her side profile. He couldn¡¯t see her entire face. The portrait was complete, and just the incomplete side profile was already breathtakingly beautiful.


    2


    However, this wasn¡¯t the reason for Zhou Wen¡¯s horror. What truly alarmed him was that he was too f*cking familiar with this woman¡¯s avatar.


    This was the woman¡¯s portrait on the anchor. He couldn¡¯t be wrong. Zhou Wen had seen it too many times and had thought about it too many times. Apart from the lack of an anchor, this was the woman¡¯s portrait.


    As more and more lines were fixed, it proved Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. It was indeed identical to the portrait of the anchor woman he had seen. Apart from not having an anchor, it was identical.


    Why¡­ Why would that woman¡¯s symbol appear on my Wheel of Destiny¡­ Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Just as the woman¡¯s portrait was about to be completed with only a few strokes left, Zhou Wen suddenly felt extremely uncomfortable.


    That¡¯s my Wheel of Destiny. Why is there a woman on it? Zhou Wen felt an inexplicable emotion. This emotion seemed to infect the Wheel of Destiny.


    When the woman¡¯s portrait was just short of the last stroke, the Wheel of Destiny suddenly lit up. The rapidly spinning Wheel of Destiny suddenly stopped.


    In the next moment, the Wheel of Destiny moved again. However, it was different from before. It was actually spinning in reverse.


    Following the reversal of the Wheel of Destiny, the portrait of the woman engraved on the Wheel of Destiny was disappearing bit by bit.


    For some reason, even though he didn¡¯t know what the outcome would be, Zhou Wen felt an inexplicable sense of satisfaction.

 Chapter 1083 - No Engravings

    Translator: CKtalon


    The patterns on the Wheel of Destiny decreased bit by bit, and at that moment, the Sigh of the King¡¯s power suddenly surged out even more crazily.


    Unlike how it was helping the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s rotation previously, the Sigh of the King¡¯s power was now trying to prevent the Wheel of Destiny from spinning in reverse.


    The Sigh of the King was unimaginably powerful. The Wheel of Destiny, which was rapidly spinning in reverse, immediately slowed down as though the emergency brake had been hit.


    The Wheel of Destiny didn¡¯t completely stop reversing. It was still spinning slowly like a clock¡¯s second hand. Every tick produced a click.


    This sound wasn¡¯t the tick of the second hand, but the cracking sounds of the Wheel of Destiny as it continued spinning in defiance of the Sigh of the King¡¯s terrifying power.


    Crack! Crack!


    The Wheel of Destiny spun forcefully. After a few rotations, several cracks appeared on its body. If this continued, the entire Wheel of Destiny would probably shatter.


    Zhou Wen felt his lifeblood boil as though his body was about to be torn apart.


    He knew very well that if the Wheel of Destiny shattered now, not only would his advancement to the Mythical stage fail, but he would also be reduced to the Epic stage. It was even possible that his body would be severely injured. It was difficult to say if he would be able to reach the Mythical stage again.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop the Wheel of Destiny from circulating. He had long known that his Life Providence was different from the average person¡¯s Life Providence.


    The Sigh of the King far exceeded the power an ordinary Life Providence should have. Mythical creatures could be killed with a single thought. The various deities in the temple didn¡¯t dare to receive his bow. After all, the creatures in the temples were very likely existences at the Terror grade.


    Just as Moon Goddess had said, his Life Providence shouldn¡¯t have been like this. It was because of some external influence that it had formed such a Life Providence.


    Without a doubt, the external force that affected him was the metal plate that recorded the Lost Immortal Sutra. The existence that whispered in Zhou Wen¡¯s ear like a female ghost had only appeared after he obtained the metal plate. From then on, it had left a huge impact on Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that he had completely resolved this problem after he advanced to the Epic stage.


    However, from the looks of it, this problem hadn¡¯t been resolved. It was still affecting him. Otherwise, how could that woman¡¯s portrait appear on his Wheel of Destiny?


    Could the woman drawn on the anchor be the same person as the owner of the Lost Immortal Sutra? Zhou Wen guessed.


    The Wheel of Destiny was still spinning in reverse, but the Sigh of the King was just too powerful. If the Wheel of Destiny continued spinning in reverse, there would only be one outcome¡ªthe Wheel of Destiny would definitely shatter.


    Despite knowing this outcome, Zhou Wen had no intention of stopping it.


    Perhaps it had something to do with how Zhou Wen had lived alone from an early age. From the moment he could register memories, he had basically lived alone. He had decided what he should and shouldn¡¯t do. Even Zhou Lingfeng hadn¡¯t forced him to do anything.


    Now that the Sigh of the King¡¯s power had forcefully interfered with the formation of his Wheel of Destiny, coupled with Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of the Sigh of the King, Zhou Wen firmly supported the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s reversal. This was because his personal feelings wouldn¡¯t lie. When the Wheel of Destiny reversed, the comfortable feeling made him make a decision.


    Even if the Wheel of Destiny shattered, wasting the past two years, and even if he had to start over again, he would definitely not compromise. He would not let the Sigh of the King control his Wheel of Destiny and decide how he was to proceed in the future.


    My path can only be decided by myself. Zhou Wen watched the Wheel of Destiny constantly crack. It wasn¡¯t done on impulse, nor would he feel any regret. He was extremely calm.


    He was still young. As long as he was still alive, he still had the capital to start all over again. If he didn¡¯t stay true to himself, was he going to regret it when he was old?


    Crack! Crack!


    As though sensing Zhou Wen¡¯s beliefs, the Wheel of Destiny spun even more intensely. However, every spin was at the cost of its own destruction.


    Seeing that the Wheel of Destiny was about to shatter into pieces, the Sigh of the King¡¯s forceful control of the power on the Wheel of Destiny began to recede.


    The Wheel of Destiny finally regained its freedom as it spun faster. The woman¡¯s portrait was also erased bit by bit.


    The damaged Wheel of Destiny continued absorbing energy and repairing the damaged wheel. When the last line of the woman¡¯s portrait was erased, the Wheel of Destiny had long returned to normal.


    At that moment, it stopped moving. Zhou Wen originally imagined that the Wheel of Destiny would spin again before condensing a mark that truly belonged to him.


    However, it didn¡¯t happen. After the Wheel of Destiny stopped circulating, the power that erupted caused Zhou Wen¡¯s body to undergo a mutation. Zhou Wen clearly felt his stats increase¡ªit was no longer limited by 41 points.


    I¡¯ve advanced to the Mythical stage? But why isn¡¯t there anything on my Wheel of Destiny? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed as he hurriedly checked his phone. He wanted to take a careful look at his stats to see what abilities the unmarked Wheel of Destiny had.


    Zhou Wen was connected to the Wheel of Destiny by blood, so he could sense that it had power. However, the power was strange, preventing him from completely comprehending its profundity.


    He switched on his phone and dripped a drop of blood on it. A few notifications immediately popped up on the phone¡¯s home screen.


    ¡®Advanced to the Mythical stage. Bloodline function activated.


    ¡®Advanced to the Mythical stage. Samsara function activated.¡¯


    ¡®Advanced to the Mythical stage. Birth function activated.¡¯


    2


    Zhou Wen was dumbstruck when he saw this. The first two were fine. Although he didn¡¯t know what they were for, he would eventually find out in the future.


    But what the hell is this Birth function? Could it be that he couldn¡¯t have children before advancing to the Mythical stage? Did he need a phone to decide whether he could have children?


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to study the new functions of the phone. All he wanted to know was what his Wheel of Destiny was.


    Opening the blood-colored avatar¡¯s stats, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s latest information entered Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    Zhou Wen: Mythical


    2


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Life Soul: Slaughterer


    Wheel of Destiny: No Engravings (One Spin)


    Strength: 42


    Speed: 42


    Constitution: 42


    Essence Energy: 42


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at his various stats a few times. It was within his expectations to break through his limits. He still needed to absorb the various stat crystals to raise his strength to the level of a true Mythical creature.


    Slaughterer didn¡¯t have the mark of a Perfect Body, not because it had weakened, but because with Zhou Wen¡¯s advancement, his Life Soul already had the strength of a Mythical.


    The Sigh of the King remained the same. It didn¡¯t change at all. After preventing the Wheel of Destiny to no avail, there was nothing from it.


    There were no changes to the various rare stats. The rare stats required him to absorb the stat crystals himself. They wouldn¡¯t automatically increase just because he had advanced to the Mythical stage.


    Finally, it was Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny. Ignoring what kind of ability No Engravings was, just One Spin annotation left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    Zhou Wen had only seen the words ¡°One Spin¡± on Demonic Neonate¡¯s Wheel of Destiny before, but Demonic Neonate¡¯s Wheel of Destiny was called One Spin. And on his Wheel of Destiny, One Spin seemed to be a unit.

 Chapter 1084 - A Mountain

    Translator: CKtalon


    No Engravings: Destiny when unengraved, has not come to an end.


    Zhou Wen looked at the annotation of his Wheel of Destiny and was still confused. He still didn¡¯t know what his Wheel of Destiny¡¯s ability was.


    Without even looking at where he was, Zhou Wen entered the game, hoping to see what use the Wheel of Destiny had in actual combat.


    At the same time, he could farm some Mythical dimensional crystals and raise his stats. Otherwise, he would be at a disadvantage facing a Mythical creature.


    He entered Deer Terrace Pavilion, where there were the most Mythical creatures on the third floor. Although they weren¡¯t strong, it was a good place to farm Mythical dimensional crystals.


    1


    He first tried using the Chi he had encountered on the way, but it left Zhou Wen puzzled. After the Wheel of Destiny was activated, it immediately began circulating.


    However, nothing happened. There was no augmentation of attributes, no powerful offensive strength, or any special changes.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was extremely depressed. He now suspected that something had happened to his Wheel of Destiny because of the reversal. He hadn¡¯t obtained an ability that the Wheel of Destiny should have.


    He rushed all the way to the underground sea, but the nine Demon Blood True Dragons hadn¡¯t respawned. Zhou Wen was about to rush past the area when his gaze swept across the sapphire-like sky, he couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.


    Approaching the sapphire sky spelled death. After observing it several times, Zhou Wen failed to discover the secret within.


    However, when he looked at the sapphire sky, he realized that there was a massive creature inside.


    The creature was so huge that it was comparable to a dragon. It could be seen in every corner of the underground sea, but Zhou Wen had never seen such a huge creature before.


    Have I always been blind in the past? Zhou Wen immediately rejected this thought and became ecstatic.


    He wasn¡¯t blind in the past, so there were only two possibilities why he hadn¡¯t seen the massive creature in the sapphire sky.


    One possibility was that the creature was capable of invisibility. Another possibility was that the creature was at the Terror grade, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see it.


    The first possibility wasn¡¯t high. If it was invisible, there should have been other methods to sense its existence. However, Zhou Wen had used many methods in the past, but he had failed to discover it. Now, things were clearly abnormal that he could suddenly see it.


    I can see creatures in their Terror form? Zhou Wen¡¯s first reaction was to summon Demonic Neonate and let her enter her Terror state.


    Indeed, I can see it! Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate and nearly jumped up in joy.


    In the past, when Demonic Neonate transformed into her Terror form, Zhou Wen had seen nothing but air. Now, Zhou Wen could see her clearly.


    He realized that Demonic Neonate¡¯s body had indeed changed significantly. However, he hadn¡¯t seen her in the past, so he didn¡¯t know what Demonic Neonate looked like after her Terror transformation.


    After Demonic Neonate transformed into her Terror form, the demonic aura on her body was variable. She was like a devil, transforming into all sorts of terrifying shadows as though she could devour anyone at any moment.


    On the other hand, Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t change much herself. She was still wearing an ink-purple armor. She held the Demonic Sword in her arms and a bell hung at her waist. She stood there coldly.


    Zhou Wen stopped circulating the Wheel of Destiny. Demonic Neonate immediately vanished from his eyes as though she had turned invisible.


    Could it be that the power of my Wheel of Destiny allows me to see creatures that have turned into their Terror form? This seems a little weak¡­ But it can¡¯t really be considered weak either¡­ Zhou Wen felt that this ability wasn¡¯t bad.


    There were two key reasons why the Terror grade was powerful. One was that only the power of the Terror grade could injure a Terror grade. Therefore, no matter how strong a Mythical grade was, it was almost impossible to defeat the Terror grade.


    Even if the stats between both parties weren¡¯t too different, the Terror grade was invincible among Mythical creatures.


    This wasn¡¯t something that couldn¡¯t be resolved. Zhou Wen had the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror item. By using it as a weapon, he could injure Terror-grade creatures. This had been confirmed when used on Night Thearch.


    The other terrifying thing about the Terror grade was that most people couldn¡¯t see them. The unknown would deepen one¡¯s fear, making it impossible for ordinary creatures to fight a Terror-grade creature. They could only be tortured to death.


    However, it wasn¡¯t absolute. For example, the Terror transformation of the Jade Rabbit didn¡¯t make it invisible to others. Instead, it just gigantified.


    However, this type of Terror-grade creature was relatively rare. Most Terror-grade creatures had Terror forms that couldn¡¯t be seen.


    Now Zhou Wen could see Terror-grade creatures and had something that could injure Terror-grade creatures. These two points had greatly increased his strength.


    In the future, when he faced Terror-grade creatures again, he wouldn¡¯t be at such a disadvantage.


    Now that I think about it, my Wheel of Destiny seems rather useful. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that it was indeed very useful. However, he still felt that it didn¡¯t have all the abilities of No Engravings.


    Zhou Wen did some more experiments, but he didn¡¯t discover any other abilities.


    Knowing that such matters couldn¡¯t be rushed, Zhou Wen decided to cross the underground sea and let Demonic Neonate enter Deer Terrace Pavilion. He killed the fake fairies and immortals and cleared the three-story building. Finally, a 59-valued Strength Crystal and 62-valued Essence Energy Crystal dropped.


    1


    He directly refined and absorbed them, and the two stats instantly increased.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue farming because he didn¡¯t know where he was.


    The teleportation ability of Glimmer was a long-distance interstellar teleportation. It could only teleport to a designated planet, but its precision was insufficient.


    Now that he was in a desert, Zhou Wen had no idea where he was.


    In the past, with Glimmer and New Era, it wasn¡¯t difficult to get his bearings. However, Zhou Wen had shattered all his Life Providences and Life Souls, so he naturally didn¡¯t have his prior abilities.


    He tried switching Essence Energy Arts and realized that there was no reaction. It was as though he had never cultivated them before.


    Are all the Essence Energy Arts I took so long to cultivate crippled just like that? Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. Forget it. I need to figure out where I am first.


    Zhou Wen tried his best to expand Truth Listener¡¯s range to figure out where he was, but all Truth Listener could hear was a desert.


    Only in the distance in front of Zhou Wen was a mountain. The mountain was somewhat strange. In the endless desert, there wasn¡¯t a single cactus or water source, but the mountain was filled with greenery and vitality.


    Zhou Wen sized it up for a while and didn¡¯t walk towards the mountain. Instead, he summoned the Earth Elemental Beast and got it to tunnel in the opposite direction.


    There was definitely something amiss. Although Zhou Wen was powerful, he didn¡¯t dare barge into mysterious places without the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    However, when the Earth Elemental Beast tunneled hundreds of kilometers away, Zhou Wen was alarmed to discover that he had already arrived at the foot of the mountain.

 Chapter 1085 - Paradise Mountain

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen looked up and saw a monument standing in front of the mountain. On it were the words ¡°Paradise Mountain.¡±


    Zhou Wen immediately knew where he was.


    Back when he followed Liu Yun to the Taklamakan Desert, Liu Yun had once told him that there were four extremely terrifying dimensional zones in the desert: Death Valley, Netherworld City, the Endless Sea of Stars, and Paradise Mountain.


    Zhou Wen had already been to Netherworld City and the Endless Sea of Stars. He had heard of Paradise Mountain, but he never expected to see it when he teleported back.


    Since he couldn¡¯t leave, Zhou Wen decided not to. He released Ice Maiden and Jade Rabbit and carried Demonic Neonate as he carefully sized up the Paradise Mountain stone monument.


    Beneath the stone monument was a tiny palm symbol.


    It¡¯s a free dungeon. It¡¯s a waste not to take it. Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol. He immediately entered the download screen.


    1


    According to Liu Yun, no one who enters Paradise Mountain can come out alive. I wonder what¡¯s so special about this mountain? Now that there¡¯s no Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, it¡¯s not easy to barge in. It¡¯s best I wait until the game is downloaded before exploring in-game. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he heard a sweet voice coming from Paradise Mountain.


    Looking up, he saw a group of bikini beauties laughing and playing. Their beautiful legs made him dizzy.


    1


    Zhou Wen sat outside the mountain and watched the beauties play. His body seemed to have an uncontrollable urge to go over. Thankfully, his will was firm. With a thought, he made the urge disappear.


    He circulated the Wheel of Destiny and looked at the beauties. His pupils immediately constricted.


    They weren¡¯t beauties at all. They were just huge, ugly and evil gray rats.


    What was even stranger was that the gray rats stood like humans. They wore gray cloaks and their eyes swirled with an evil light.


    Upon seeing this scene, Zhou Wen summoned the Bronze Sparrow Sword. The flaming blade tore out of its scabbard and flew into Paradise Mountain, instantly killing a few evil gray-robed rats.


    This stirred up the rats¡¯ nest. A large number of gray-robed rats crawled out of the mountain forest of Paradise Mountain. Their eyes lit up as they formed a massive psyche force field. The more gray-robed rats there were, the stronger the psyche force field.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood why no one returned from Paradise Mountain alive.


    These gray-robed rats were good at psyche attacks. Furthermore, they could gather their psyche powers together. It was similar to the combined attack of the Musical Note Sprites.


    However, these gray-robed rats were even more terrifying. Psyche attacks were difficult to defend against, and these were all at the Epic stage. Furthermore, there were many of them. Even Mythical creatures would easily be lost in their minds if they suffered their psyche attacks.


    In the beginning, the Bronze Sparrow Sword wasn¡¯t affected. It continued slaughtering the gray-robed rats, igniting flames everywhere on Paradise Mountain.


    However, when thirteen red-clothed rats appeared on Paradise Mountain, the Bronze Sparrow Sword was also affected. Not only did it stop killing, but it also turned to attack Zhou Wen.


    Holy sh*t, thirteen Mythical rats. This Paradise Mountain is a force to be reckoned with. Don¡¯t tell me there are still Terror-grade existences? Zhou Wen felt a huge mental pressure as he thought to himself.


    However, his willpower was extremely tenacious to begin with. Now that he had the Wheel of Destiny, he could see the true bodies of the rats. No matter what, he wouldn¡¯t be fooled. He extended his hand and grabbed the Bronze Sparrow Sword that was in a state of betrayal.


    However, the rats¡¯ psyche strength was quite powerful. Countless Epic gray-robed rats and the thirteen red-robed rats exerted their strength together. Even the Terror-grade Jade Rabbit was affected.


    Jade Rabbit¡¯s eyes were replaced with red hearts as it slowly walked towards Paradise Mountain.


    ¡°Wake it up.¡± Zhou Wen felt embarrassed for Jade Rabbit. It was at the Terror grade after all, but it had been bewitched by a mischief of rats.


    Ice Maiden summoned a huge block of ice and smashed it onto Jade Rabbit¡¯s head. The ice shattered into pieces before Jade Rabbit woke up.


    Although the Jade Rabbit is a pure Strength-type Companion Beast and its mental strength isn¡¯t its specialty, it¡¯s still at the Terror grade. To be able to affect it, these rats¡¯ psyche skills are no trifling matter. Zhou Wen saw that Ice Maiden seemed to have the ability to restrain such psyche skills, so he got her to ascend Paradise Mountain and kill the rats first.


    Ice Maiden wasn¡¯t in the mood to play with these rats. After her Terror transformation, an ice explosion blasted most of the gray-robed rats into ice shards.


    About eight of the thirteen red-robed rats died. A few were also injured.


    When Zhou Wen saw the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs on the ground, he hurriedly summoned a group of Musical Note Sprites and got them to pick up the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs.


    Seeing that the remaining red-robed rats were about to escape, Ice Maiden waved her hand. Cold air surged out and froze them into ice sculptures.


    When Ice Maiden saw that the rats were dead and was about to return, she suddenly heard an ear-piercing shriek coming from the top of Paradise Mountain.


    ¡°Squeak!¡± The voice was extremely sharp. Ice Maiden¡¯s expression changed slightly when she heard the voice. Icy light erupted from her body, as if she was resisting some terrifying power.


    The Musical Note Sprites that Zhou Wen had sent into Paradise Mountain seemed to have lost their souls as they floated towards the mountaintop.


    Zhou Wen stood outside Paradise Mountain and felt his mind go adrift. He almost walked into Paradise Mountain.


    Thankfully, his willpower was too strong. He was only slightly dazed before he immediately recovered.


    The Jade Rabbit fell into a trance again as Zhou Wen stored it into the Chaos Bead. Zhou Wen originally imagined that he couldn¡¯t use the Chaos Bead without the First Order of Chaos, but he realized that his Essence Energy could still activate the Chaos Bead without any problems.


    This made Zhou Wen suspect that it wasn¡¯t that the Essence Energy Arts were unusable. They were, for some reason, temporarily unusable.


    Ice Maiden¡¯s eyes narrowed as she charged toward the top of Paradise Mountain. Soon, a terrifying collision sounded.


    Seeing that there weren¡¯t many rats left on Paradise Mountain, Zhou Wen decided to walk in himself. He planned on picking up the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs.


    He especially wanted the dimensional crystals. Zhou Wen happened to need to build up his stats. The thirteen red-robed rats had dropped five stat crystals and a Companion Egg. It was perfect.


    Even a Mythical creature couldn¡¯t withstand the psyche influence from the mountaintop, but Zhou Wen could still maintain self-control. After walking into Paradise Mountain, he picked up the stat crystals and absorbed them without any hesitation, allowing his stats to rapidly increase.


    Just as Zhou Wen picked up the Companion Egg, he saw a stream of light slash down from the mountaintop. It was an ancient sword.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been able to see the power of the Terror grade, he probably would have died. He would have been slain by the ancient sword.

 Chapter 1086 - Inscription

    Translator: CKtalon


    Clang!


    The Demonic Sword automatically unsheathed itself and blocked the ancient sword.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the Demonic Sword failed to gain the upper hand in the clash with the ancient sword. It looked like they were evenly matched.


    One had to know that not only was the Demonic Neonate terrifying, but it also had Grim Demon¡¯s power inside. Grim Demon was already extremely powerful at the Terror grade. With such an augmentation, it only managed to fight the ancient sword to a draw. The ancient sword¡¯s strength was shocking.


    Out of Death Valley, Netherworld City, the Endless Sea of Stars, and Paradise Mountain, I¡¯ve already entered Netherworld City and the Endless Sea of Stars. Netherworld City has some extreme horror in it. It¡¯s impossible to see the real Netherworld City unless all the punishments are experienced. The Endless Sea of Stars also has terrifying existences like the Planet Devourer. Now, there¡¯s actually such a powerful creature in Paradise Mountain. As it fights Ice Maiden, it can also use an ancient sword to fight the Demonic Sword. The four mysterious dimensional zones in the desert really aren¡¯t simple. Zhou Wen stood there watching the battle in his Galaxy Shell Dragon armor. The shockwave from the battle between the two swords hit Zhou Wen, causing him to retreat uncontrollably. His feet left two deep grooves in the ground.


    Amidst this impact, Zhou Wen discovered a strange phenomenon.


    Under the impact of the terrifying sword beam, Zhou Wen realized that marks had appeared on his Wheel of Destiny.


    Zhou Wen originally thought that the Wheel of Destiny had been injured by a Terror-grade power, or that the injuries from reversing the Wheel of Destiny hadn¡¯t completely healed. He believed that these cracks were a result of the powerful collision.


    However, he soon realized that this wasn¡¯t the case. This was because Zhou Wen could sense sword intent amidst the cracks that gradually appeared. It was a familiar yet unfamiliar sword intent.


    Three thousand sword intents¡­ Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The sword intent was clearly the three thousand sword intents, but it was different from his three thousand sword intents. It was even more powerful and terrifying. It was a true Mythical sword intent.


    The power of the Sword Pill is still around¡­ Then, are the other Life Providences and Life Soul powers also around? Zhou Wen looked at the cracks on the Wheel of Destiny and realized that the cracks were swords. All the swords pointed out and condensed into the shape of the Sword Pill.


    When the Sword Pill had completely formed on the Wheel of Destiny, Zhou Wen immediately felt an uncontrollable terrifying sword intent erupt from the Wheel of Destiny.


    The sword intent was like an emperor ruling over the world. At the same time, a powerful sword aura erupted from the Life Wheel.


    The ancient sword seemed to be affected by Zhou Wen¡¯s sword intent as it abandoned the Demonic Sword. With a resplendent and terrifying sword aura, it streaked across the sky and instantly arrived in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt the sword aura in his body fill up, nearly causing his body to explode. He couldn¡¯t help but extend his hand and use his index and middle fingers as swords to stab out.


    Boom!


    A sword beam tore out of his finger and condensed into the Sword Pill that collided straight-on with the ancient sword.


    The Sword Pill was shattered by the ancient sword, but the ancient sword was also deflected by the Sword Pill¡¯s force. It deviated from its original trajectory and flew past Zhou Wen¡¯s cheek.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. The Sword Pill and the Qi Refinement cultivator¡¯s abilities still existed. However, the way they existed was different from before. They were even stronger.


    If they were a simulation in the past, they had now fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body and become an instinct, not a simulated skill.


    Before Zhou Wen could rejoice, he suddenly realized that the Sword Pill inscriptions on the Wheel of Destiny were rapidly disappearing. Soon, they vanished, preventing Zhou Wen from using its power.


    Without the lure of the sword intent, the ancient sword was no longer interested in Zhou Wen. After being caught up by the Demonic Sword, it continued fighting.


    What¡¯s going on? The Wheel of Destiny had clearly engraved the Sword Pill and obtained the unique skill of the Wheel of Destiny. Why is it gone again? Zhou Wen frowned in thought as he carefully recalled what had happened. He immediately had some ideas.


    Zhou Wen focused and calmed his mind as he recalled his insights from cultivating the Qi Refinement Art and his understanding of Sword Pill.


    He engraved his Wheel of Destiny with his mind. Indeed, as his thoughts and large amounts of Essence Energy surged in, patterns appeared on the Wheel of Destiny again.


    Finally, the engravings transformed into the shape of the Sword Pill. However, this Sword Pill¡¯s appearance was somewhat different from before. This was a Sword Pill that Zhou Wen had drawn according to his understanding, making it somewhat different from before.


    Drawing the Sword Pill consumed a large amount of Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy, but with Slaughterer¡¯s help, the Essence Energy expenditure wasn¡¯t a problem.


    Once the Sword Pill was formed, the supercilious sword intent appeared and attracted the ancient sword¡¯s attention again. Seeing the ancient sword slash at him again, Zhou Wen stabbed out with the Sword Pill once more.


    Boom!


    This time, Zhou Wen was in an even worse state. He was sent flying as he rolled down Paradise Mountain like a ball.


    However, Sword Pill still managed to withstand the ancient sword¡¯s strike. Despite it shattering, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t injured.


    Just as Zhou Wen had expected, the moment the Sword Pill shattered, the marks on the Wheel of Destiny vanished.


    My Wheel of Destiny is called No Engravings. It¡¯s very difficult to leave a mark on it. Even if it¡¯s engraved, it¡¯s only temporary and can¡¯t exist for long¡­ In other words, even with the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s ability, it¡¯s only temporary. Every time I use one, I have to engrave it myself¡­ However, in that case¡­ Since I can engrave Sword Pill¡­ Can I also engrave other Life Souls? Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions.


    Although he had finally discovered a way to use the Wheel of Destiny, this method was a little strange. Every time he used it, he had to engrave it himself. If it was a sudden battle, how would he have the time?


    However, Zhou Wen soon thought of something that made him so excited that he immediately wanted to verify it.


    In the past, he couldn¡¯t circulate two Essence Energy Arts at the same time, so he couldn¡¯t use two Life Providences and two Life Souls at the same time. But now, it was different.


    If the abilities of those Essence Energy Arts had already become his instinct, could he carve out two Life Wheel patterns at the same time and use two or more abilities?


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen immediately used his mind to draw on the Wheel of Destiny again. This time, he wasn¡¯t drawing the Sword Pill, but Primordial Human Sovereign.


    He wanted to see if he could draw another Life Wheel symbol or if he could only draw Sword Pill.


    The outcome delighted Zhou Wen greatly. As he inscribed his understanding and insights of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, he indeed drew a pattern that resembled the Primordial Human Sovereign on the Wheel of Destiny.


    The reason it was only a resemblance was because the Life Wheel symbol wasn¡¯t the Primordial Human Sovereign from before, but an upgraded version. It was a true Mythical power.


    As the Ancient Sovereign symbols appeared on the Wheel of Destiny, a shadow appeared in front of Zhou Wen. Without a doubt, it was the upgraded Primordial Human Sovereign.

 Chapter 1087 - Can’t Last Long Enough

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen suppressed the excitement in his heart and continued carving on the blank spot on the Wheel of Destiny. This time, he was carving the Sword Pill.


    The Sword Pill was also engraved on the Wheel of Destiny bit by bit. As for the Ancient Sovereign symbol on the other side, it didn¡¯t disappear. When the Sword Pill symbol was completed, the Sword Pill tore out of his fingers again, Zhou Wen nearly moaned in bliss.


    Looking at the coexisting Sword Pill and Ancient Sovereign, Zhou Wen felt that Lady Luck hadn¡¯t abandoned him.


    Thank you, Holy Mother, Jade Emperor, God of Fortune¡­ Just as Zhou Wen was feeling excited, the Ancient Sovereign shadow suddenly vanished. It turned out that the Ancient Sovereign symbol on the Wheel of Destiny was disappearing. It was no longer complete.


    Only then did Zhou Wen gloomily realize that even if he didn¡¯t fight, the marks on the Wheel of Destiny would quickly vanish.


    The name ¡®No Engravings¡¯ sure is apt. I really can¡¯t engrave anything on it. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. Although he gained the possibility of using multiple abilities at the same time, the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s characteristics were too odd, making things a little troublesome.


    Is there any way to permanently preserve the engravings? Zhou Wen felt that he should spend some time studying it in the future. Even if it only lasted a little longer, it would be a huge improvement for him.


    Grim Demon fought the ancient sword and Ice Maiden fought the unknown creature on the mountaintop, but Zhou Wen was having fun drawing at the foot of the mountain.


    After various tests, Zhou Wen confirmed that he could draw the eight Life Souls. Furthermore, as long as his insights were different, what he drew would be different every time.


    The deeper Zhou Wen¡¯s insights were, the stronger the Wheel of Destiny patterns he drew and the longer they could stay on. They would be stronger as well.


    The only thing Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t draw was the marks that the Lost Immortal Sutra should have. This was because he knew the least about it. The Lost Immortal Sutra didn¡¯t need him to comprehend it or cultivate it. It would automatically circulate. As long as his stats reached a certain level, he could directly advance.


    It was clearly the foundation of Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy Art, but the one he knew the least about.


    If I can carve the Lost Immortal Sutra on the Wheel of Destiny one day, will those marks disappear again? A thought flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    There was no answer, but Zhou Wen had found a direction to make himself stronger. The deeper his understanding of Essence Energy Arts, the longer the marks left on the Wheel of Destiny would last. Perhaps one day, when he was strong enough, the marks would exist forever.


    After figuring out the situation, Zhou Wen placed his attention on the battle on Paradise Mountain. The Demonic Sword and ancient sword were still engaged in battle, with no victor determined.


    On the mountaintop, Ice Maiden seemed to be gradually falling into a disadvantage. Zhou Wen circulated the Wheel of Destiny and carved out the Heaven-Opening Scripture before flying to a spot closer to the mountaintop.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw the creature that was fighting Ice Maiden. It was also a ratman, but the ratman looked more like a human than the gray-robed and red-robed rats.


    It was dressed in a white suit with golden-framed glasses on its face and a white top hat decorated with black lines on its head. It looked very strange.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen was alarmed. This was the first time he had seen such a dimensional creature.


    What was even stranger was that not only did the ratman possess powerful psyche skills, but its movement technique was also extremely strange. It was as fleeting as smoke. In its hand was a gun.


    It was in the shape of a revolver. It looked a little like a Smith & Wesson 500, but it was bigger and had a thicker barrel. Most of the gun was silver-white metal in color, and a small portion had gray patterns. It had an indescribable beauty.


    Ice Maiden could withstand the ratman¡¯s psyche attacks, but the revolver caused her a lot of trouble.


    She seemed to be afraid of the bullets in the gun and didn¡¯t dare to be hit by them. She would dodge every time, putting her at a disadvantage. It looked like it was going to be very difficult for her to persist.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what kind of power was in the bullet. Although he could tell that it was at the Terror grade, the bullet was too fast. His vision couldn¡¯t keep up.


    ¡°Ice Maiden, come back.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he summoned Banana Fairy. At the same time, he quickly retreated and left the Paradise Mountain area.


    Firstly, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder had already vanished from his Life Wheel. Secondly, Banana Fairy¡¯s attacks didn¡¯t differentiate between friend and foe. It would be a hindrance if he stayed there.


    Ice Maiden knew how powerful Banana Fairy was. Even Grim Demon was left in a tragic state from her winds. She wouldn¡¯t fare better.


    The strange ratman didn¡¯t know how powerful Banana Fairy was. When it saw a beautiful fairy floating over with a banana leaf, it raised the revolver and shot Banana Fairy three times.


    Banana Fairy pouted and blew out a gust of Supreme Yin Wind.


    Just like the bullets in The Matrix, the three bullets suddenly slowed down. Zhou Wen finally saw them clearly.


    The bullet head looked like it was made of crystal, but its appearance was somewhat strange. It was like a miniature ghost, looking extremely sinister.


    Not only did the three bullets slow down, but frost even formed on them. In the blink of an eye, they were thrown back in the wind.


    The strange-looking ratman was also blown away. As there were no obstructions nearby, the ratman and bullets were sent flying. They flew into the distance with the yellow sand and quickly vanished.


    1


    I wonder if the ratman is dead? Zhou Wen watched as it was blown away. He didn¡¯t even know where to pick up the dimensional crystal if there was one.


    Even if it really was dead, the dimensional crystal might have already been taken away by other creatures by the time he rushed over.


    Clang!


    The ancient sword that was fighting the Demonic Sword suddenly lost control and fell from the sky, landing on the ground. Furthermore, it was no longer in its Terror form.


    Eh, this sword isn¡¯t a dimensional creature? Zhou Wen immediately realized that there was something wrong with the ancient sword.


    If the ancient sword was a dimensional creature, being able to fight the Demonic Sword for so long was a little shocking, but it was still acceptable.


    However, if it was only a weapon that was controlled by the ratman, it would be abnormal for it to fight the Demonic Sword for so long. After all, the ratman didn¡¯t seem to be that strong.


    Zhou Wen walked closer and looked at the ancient sword that had fallen to the ground. He hadn¡¯t looked at it carefully before, but now that he was carefully sizing it up, he realized that it was indeed somewhat odd.


    It looked like it wasn¡¯t made of gold, jade, iron, or steel. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t seem to have a sharp edge. It looked like it was sheathed in a scabbard, but there was no opening to the scabbard. It looked like it was one.


    The ancient sword remained motionless on the ground. He was certain that the ratman had been controlling it previously. Now, he didn¡¯t know if the ratman was too far away from it or if it was already dead. In any case, the sword was no longer under its control.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the ancient sword and saw that there were words engraved on the hilt. When he looked at it, his eyes widened as his pupils constricted like needles.

 Chapter 1088 - Substitute Fighter

    Translator: CKtalon


    On the hilt of the sword, the words ¡°Immortal Culling¡± were engraved.


    Is this thing for real? Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he looked at the ancient sword. He found it unbelievable that it was the real Immortal Culling Sword.


    If one were to look at the two words ¡°Immortal Culling¡± alone, they weren¡¯t anything impressive. They were even a little tacky. However, if one added the word ¡°sword¡± behind the two words, it would be a little terrifying.


    If there were three swords beside this sword¡ªImmortal Vanquishing, Immortal Entrapment, and Immortal Peril¡ªit would be even more terrifying.


    The legendary Four Swords of Immortal Vanquishing were a terrifying existence that had truly killed all immortals and fiends. They were the most powerful Dharma treasure of the legendary Sect Master.


    It was difficult to describe how powerful the four swords were. In comparison, an existence like the Nine-Tailed Fox in Chess Mountain was no different from a chicken waiting to be slaughtered in front of the real Immortal Culling Sword.


    Any one of the powerful existences that the four swords had killed could defeat the Nine-Tailed Fox.


    Ignoring the four swords, just any one of them would probably make Zhou Wen invincible on Earth if he could completely master them.


    Of course, the premise was that this sword was really the Immortal Culling Sword. This ancient sword might only share the same name as the legendary one.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the risk. He summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to pick up the sword.


    Immortal Culling Sword didn¡¯t react at all. Tyrant Behemoth brandished it twice, but it didn¡¯t discover any special energy fluctuations. It didn¡¯t have the same might as before.


    How did that ratman control it? With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned the Earth Elemental Beast and chased after the ratman with Immortal Culling Sword.


    Regardless of whether this sword was the real Immortal Culling Sword or not, it possessed rather powerful strength. If he could figure out how to control it, it would be of great help.


    Banana Fairy¡¯s fan had blown the ratman far away. Zhou Wen followed the huge trail left by the wind and ran for hundreds of kilometers before he finally lost track of the trail. However, he didn¡¯t see the strange ratman either.


    It¡¯s not dead? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to search the vicinity, but he didn¡¯t find any traces of the ratman. He wanted to return to Paradise Mountain.


    However, after walking for a long time, he couldn¡¯t even see Paradise Mountain. It was as if it had vanished into thin air.


    Zhou Wen knew that it would probably be very difficult to find Paradise Mountain again. All he could do was switch on his phone. He had successfully downloaded the Paradise Mountain dungeon and entered it in-game.


    There were many gray-robed rats in-game, so Zhou Wen had a great time killing them.


    Soon, thirteen red-robed rats appeared. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to waste time with them. He got Demonic Neonate to release the Demonic Sword and killed them.


    A few dimensional crystals dropped. After Zhou Wen absorbed the dimensional crystals, his Strength reached 67, his Speed reached 71, his Constitution reached 54, and his Essence Energy reached 70.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was still on the strange ratman. Without carefully looking at his stats, he led Demonic Neonate up the mountain.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that he didn¡¯t see the strange ratman atop Paradise Mountain.


    There was a hole at the top of the mountain. It was the size of a bowl, but when he looked inside, it was bottomless, as though there was no end.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Earth Elemental Beast to go down, but after crawling for a long time, it failed to reach the bottom. It was as though there was no bottom.


    How strange. What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen knew that there was definitely something wrong with the hole. Otherwise, with the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s speed, it would have probably crawled to the other side of Earth in half a day.


    He thought of all sorts of solutions and even got Banana Fairy to inject wind in. However, the terrifying Supreme Yin Wind vanished without a trace. He had no idea how deep the hole was.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to take the Immortal Culling Sword with him. He planned on returning to Luoyang first.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen grinded all sorts of Mythical creatures in-game. He planned on raising his stats. After all, having a powerful body was the foundation. He would have an advantage in battle.


    ¡­


    On the cube¡¯s arena, a white beam descended from the sky. In the white beam was a faint shadow.


    After the light descended, it landed on Jiuyue¡¯s body and vanished in a flash.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see it clearly. Is it a Companion Beast summoned by Jiuyue?¡±


    ¡°Some kind of skill?¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. They were momentarily unsure what it was.


    Zhong Ziya looked at Jiuyue and frowned.


    Jiuyue¡¯s pupils turned white. Although nothing else had changed, his aura was clearly different.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhong Ziya asked Jiuyue.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t worthy of knowing my name,¡± Jiuyue replied indifferently as he looked at Zhong Ziya.


    With that said, most people understood what was going on.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that works? Aren¡¯t those fellows from the dimension too shameless?¡±


    ¡°They aren¡¯t satisfied with a tag-team battle, and are now using substitutes?¡±


    ¡°How f*cking disgusting. Although I don¡¯t like people like Ya, I hate shameless people even more.¡±


    ¡°Ya, kill him.¡±


    The Federation was in a frenzy. Even the devils overseas didn¡¯t look happy.


    ¡°They really don¡¯t treat us humans as people,¡± Uesugi Nao muttered to herself with a cold expression. If she could enter the arena now, she would help him regardless of which faction Ya belonged to.


    Many people had the same thoughts as Uesugi Nao, but humans weren¡¯t dimensional creatures. No one could break the rules of the cube.


    However, Zhong Ziya didn¡¯t show any emotions. He just said calmly, ¡°Alright. Anyway, I don¡¯t have the habit of remembering the names of losers.¡±


    ¡°Ignorance is also a form of bliss. Cherish your last moments of happiness.¡± Jiuyue wasn¡¯t angry as he slowly raised his palm.


    There was no shocking glow on his palm. With a casual grab, Zhong Ziya, who was thousands of meters away, somehow appeared in front of him and was grabbed by the neck.


    It felt as if the space between them had vanished.


    Crack! Ya¡¯s neck snapped as his head fell.


    However, Ya¡¯s decapitated body exploded into a white fog, turning into a beheaded puppet that fell to the ground.


    The spectators broke out into a cold sweat before feeling relieved. Now, most humans hoped that Ya could win.


    Jiuyue seemed to have expected this. He grabbed again and Ya, who had just reappeared, appeared in front of him again. The space between the two of them vanished just like that.


    Clang!


    This time, it was Ya¡¯s true body. He raised Primordial Immortal Sword and blocked Jiuyue¡¯s palm, but Jiuyue¡¯s palm grabbed the sword along with his neck, lifting them up together.

 Chapter 1089 - The Fool Who Has Lived A Little Longer

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s body suddenly turned into white mist and escaped from Jiuyue¡¯s hand.


    Following that, the two of them entered their Terror forms. The average human couldn¡¯t see their figures, so they didn¡¯t know how the battle was proceeding.


    However, from the short battle just now, Ya was clearly at a disadvantage. Jiuyue¡¯s spatial powers left a deep impression in the minds of people.


    Furthermore, the dimensional creature attached to Jiuyue had a powerful aura. It made people feel that Zhong Ziya wasn¡¯t as powerful as before. It was like a child fighting an adult.


    Zhou Wen had already walked out of the desert and arrived in a city that had been abandoned by humans. When he passed by the cube, he happened to see this scene and stopped to watch the battle.


    Others couldn¡¯t see the Terror-grade battle, but when Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny moved, he immediately saw it clearly.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. Zhong Ziya¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t good.


    As their power attributes weren¡¯t completely the same, there was no way to directly compare the power between the two. However, from the levels, Jiuyue didn¡¯t surpass the Terror grade. It was still at the Terror grade.


    However, his usage of spatial powers and his understanding of them had reached a terrifying level. It was far from what the original Jiuyue could compare with. Zhong Ziya was far inferior.


    Those fellows from the dimension are really shameless. They actually let a Calamity-grade creature control Jiuyue¡¯s body and power. Although their power levels are the same, his usage and realm are on a much higher level. The Guardian that Zhong Ziya fused with clearly has some spatial powers. His opponent is also a spatial-type, but his opponent¡¯s understanding is deeper than his. His opponent knows Zhong Ziya¡¯s various abilities and knows how to deal with him, but Zhong Ziya knows very little about Jiuyue¡¯s abilities. The difference in information will result in a huge disadvantage. Zhou Wen could tell how Zhong Ziya was in danger.


    Furthermore, Zhong Ziya¡¯s previous battles had exposed too many of his abilities, allowing his opponent to understand him better.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s every move seemed to be within Jiuyue¡¯s expectations. The battle was extremely difficult, and the injuries on his body increased.


    If not for his various escape techniques and clone abilities, he would have been killed by Jiuyue long before now.


    However, the escape technique had its limits. It was impossible for him to have an inexhaustible supply of clones. Zhou Wen could tell that Zhong Ziya¡¯s situation was very bad.


    Just as Zhong Ziya escaped, he suffered another heavy blow. The terrifying spatial power tore through his body.


    Boom!


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s body slammed into the arena and was no longer in his Terror form. His white robe was already dyed red with blood. The wound on his chest almost extended across his entire chest.


    He held the hilt of the sword with his blood-stained hand and supported his body. He could barely stand as his body swayed. His wounds were still bleeding. He looked like he was in a bad situation.


    ¡°This is unfair!¡± A young girl clenched her fists and shouted angrily.


    There were many people who had the same thoughts as her, but there was nothing they could do. Even if they knew that it was unfair, they were powerless to change anything. There was no fairness in this world.


    Jiuyue also dispelled his Terror form. He looked at Zhong Ziya, who was covered in blood, and said, ¡°You were lucky not to die from this strike. You actually didn¡¯t take the opportunity to quit. You really have a death wish.¡±


    With that said, Jiuyue prepared to attack and kill Zhong Ziya.


    ¡°You¡¯re at the Calamity grade?¡± Zhong Ziya asked as he held the hilt of his sword with both hands to support his body so that he wouldn¡¯t collapse.


    ¡°At least you aren¡¯t ignorant,¡± Jiuyue answered.


    ¡°The Calamity grade is indeed very strong,¡± Zhong Ziya continued.


    ¡°That¡¯s an unimaginable level for you humans. It¡¯s also a power that you can¡¯t understand. In my eyes, you are no different from an ant. Therefore, don¡¯t try to make an enemy of us. That will only bring about a calamity for you humans,¡± Jiuyue said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°What a pity.¡± Zhong Ziya suddenly sighed.


    ¡°What¡¯s the pity?¡± Jiuyue asked with a frown.


    ¡°Unfortunately, you made a mistake,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°Oh, what mistake?¡± Jiuyue looked at Zhong Ziya with interest. To him, Zhong Ziya was like a joke.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have come here,¡± Zhong Ziya said seriously.


    ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I be here?¡± Jiuyue continued asking.


    ¡°Killing you at this level is nothing. I want to kill you at the Calamity grade. Therefore, you shouldn¡¯t have come here.¡± Zhong Ziya was still very serious, showing no intention of joking.


    However, Jiuyue laughed as though he had heard an extremely funny joke. ¡°Do you think that you have a chance of killing me just because we are both at the Terror grade? How ignorant are you to have such thoughts? Even if our powers are about the same, our levels and understandings are different. Our actual combat ability is worlds apart. I only need to move my fingers to kill you. It¡¯s useless even if you want to self-destruct. You can¡¯t injure me.¡±


    Jiuyue¡¯s words had a defeating effect, but no one could refute him. Ya was considered almost the best among humans, but in front of the dimensional creature that possessed Jiuyue, he was suppressed to the point of being unable to resist.


    Everyone fell silent. They had nowhere to vent their anger.


    Ya was the one being humiliated on stage, but Jiuyue¡¯s words were also a form of contempt for the entire human race.


    However, Zhong Ziya didn¡¯t reveal any special emotions. He looked at Jiuyue and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Your realm is very high, and your understanding of power and the laws is far above mine. Unfortunately, you don¡¯t understand humans.¡±


    ¡°Why should I understand humans?¡± Jiuyue was no longer in the mood to continue talking to Zhong Ziya. He raised his hand and grabbed him. The space between the two vanished without a trace. Zhong Ziya appeared in front of him as though he had offered his neck into his hand.


    Zhong Ziya, who had his neck clasped by Jiuyue, gradually had a burning look in his eyes. His eyes turned red as he continued, ¡°If you understand humans, you should know that humans are a species that constantly make mistakes and learn. People like you who have a lifespan of ten thousand years and can even live forever wouldn¡¯t understand how good humans are at learning given their lifespans only last decades.¡±


    With that said, Zhong Ziya¡¯s aura suddenly turned domineering. Terrifying Essence Energy erupted like a volcano, blasting away Jiuyue¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Unlike you, I wasn¡¯t born ten thousand years ago. Ten thousand years later, you stand before me like a giant.¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s aura became more and more terrifying. He had already entered his Terror form and vanished from everyone¡¯s sight. However, his crazy voice still echoed.


    ¡°Everything that has been given to you over the past ten thousand years is just a moment of grandeur. The real you is just a fool who has lived a little longer.¡±

 Chapter 1090 - Indeed A Fool

    Translator: CKtalon


    These words were extremely arrogant, but the humans watching felt zeal and ardor pump through their veins.


    ¡°Well said. Nice tirade.¡± Xia Liuchuan couldn¡¯t help but praise.


    ¡°He¡¯s just a fool who has lived a little longer. Haha, what an interesting fellow.¡± Zhang Chunqiu laughed until his tears were about to fall.


    ¡°I suddenly feel that it¡¯s not bad to have such a friend,¡± Dugu Ge, who had always abided by the mantra ¡®silence is golden,¡¯ suddenly said.


    ¡°What a pity. He said that he no longer makes friends,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll treat him as a friend. What does his willingness to make friends have to do with me?¡± Dugu Ge said expressionlessly.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ true¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu realized that he couldn¡¯t refute Dugu Ge.


    ¡°That¡¯s totally right. I also want to shamelessly acknowledge such an interesting person as a friend,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    As for Jiuyue, he was extremely furious. Instantly, he entered his Terror form and wanted Zhong Ziya dead once and for all.


    Zhou Wen was feeling extremely uneasy. Zhong Ziya was severely injured, and those injuries were as genuine as can be. It would be too dangerous if he continued fighting.


    However, Zhong Ziya had no intention of giving up on the battle. He continued battling Jiuyue.


    Yet, although Jiuyue still had the advantage, he wasn¡¯t able to completely suppress Zhong Ziya like before.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s combat strength was constantly improving.


    No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that it was his combat strength. His power hadn¡¯t become stronger, but his understanding and realm of power had become stronger. He was growing at an unbelievable speed.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Jiuyue almost couldn¡¯t believe that such a thing would happen.


    In such a short period of time, Zhong Ziya seemed to have completely understood and absorbed the various abilities and realms he had previously displayed.


    The methods he had used previously were no longer effective against Zhong Ziya. Jiuyue had to use new abilities or have a higher understanding of nomological power to continue suppressing Zhong Ziya.


    However, once he used it, it was useless to use the same method again against Zhong Ziya. This was because Zhong Ziya already understood the power and realm.


    They were both spatial-type and at the Terror grade. The advantage that Jiuyue had was his realm and superior understanding.


    Now, this advantage was rapidly being eroded. Jiuyue¡¯s expression finally changed.


    Now, he just wanted to kill Zhong Ziya quickly. He did his best and pushed Zhong Ziya¡¯s strength to the limits, leaving wounds on his body.


    However, those wounds weren¡¯t fatal. Furthermore, the chances of him injuring Zhong Ziya decreased.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s pupils had already turned into a strange red color. They were blood-red, evil and crazy. It made Jiuyue panic.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have come.¡± Zhong Ziya was grabbed in front of Jiuyue, but at that moment, Jiuyue didn¡¯t feel any joy from succeeding. Instead, he felt that something was amiss.


    Crack!


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s neck was snapped by Jiuyue again, but his beheaded body turned into a puppet.


    Jiuyue¡¯s pupils constricted. He had actually failed to tell that it was Zhong Ziya¡¯s clone.


    Realizing that something was amiss, he wanted to use space to teleport away, but he realized that Zhong Ziya was already behind him. The blood-stained lips were almost touching his ear. ¡°I¡¯ll chop off your head.¡±


    Bam!


    Jiuyue felt a huge force behind him as his body involuntarily flew forward.


    Jiuyue wanted to extend the distance, but he suddenly realized that his body seemed to be locked in place. He couldn¡¯t extend the space any further. Furthermore, his body had been kicked out from his Terror state.


    He felt that he had something on his back, but he couldn¡¯t see it. It was a strange blood-colored curse pattern that was imprinted on his back. It emitted an evil aura.


    Jiuyue didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to look at what it was because Zhong Ziya had appeared behind him. He held Primordial Immortal Sword with both hands and slashed at his neck at an unbelievable speed.


    As Jiuyue had been kicked out of his Terror form, all the spectators could see this scene.


    Boom!


    A beam of light flew out of Jiuyue¡¯s body. Although there was still a chance for him to fight to the death, the dimensional creature didn¡¯t wish to risk its life.


    Just as Zhong Ziya had said, his true strength wasn¡¯t limited to what had been showcased. His true strength could easily crush Zhong Ziya to death. He didn¡¯t want to risk his life because of Zhong Ziya.


    When the figure of light ascended, it turned around and took a glance. This glance nearly made him vomit blood.


    The Primordial Immortal Sword in Zhong Ziya¡¯s hand hung around Jiuyue¡¯s neck. The blade had already reached his skin, but it didn¡¯t slash down.


    ¡°This¡­ bastard¡­¡± The figure immediately understood.


    There was only one possibility for him to hold back his sword and not slash down under such circumstances. Zhong Ziya had never planned on slashing down. Otherwise, with his strength and speed, it would be impossible for him to temporarily hold back his sword. Everything he had done previously was just to scare him.


    Under such circumstances, Zhong Ziya actually dared to do such a thing. If he had known that this strike was a feint, the figure would have had a chance of killing Zhong Ziya.


    However, not only did Zhong Ziya do it, but the figure had also been frightened. It couldn¡¯t tell the truth behind the strike.


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed an idiot,¡± Zhong Ziya muttered as he looked at the figure that flew into the void. He returned his sword to its scabbard.


    The figure suddenly shook in the void before instantly disappearing.


    ¡°Haha, this person is really interesting.¡± Xia Liuchuan laughed until he couldn¡¯t straighten his back.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t interesting. He¡¯s risking his life. If that dimensional creature saw that his strike was a feint, he would probably be dead by now,¡± Dugu Ge said solemnly.


    ¡°To dare slash out such a strike under such circumstances, this person is either a lunatic or an idiot,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a strange expression as he looked at Zhong Ziya on stage.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look like a lunatic,¡± Dugu Ge said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s an idiot,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Idiot? That¡¯s good,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said thoughtfully.


    In the arena, Jiuyue regained control of his body. He looked at Zhong Ziya with a complicated expression and didn¡¯t say a word. He only cupped his fists and bowed slightly before admitting defeat and leaving the arena.


    ¡°Ya¡­ Ya¡­ Ya¡­¡± At that moment, many of the humans who were watching the battle shouted Ya¡¯s name, forgetting the fact that Ya only had half a human bloodline.


    Ya stood in the arena. Although his body was covered in blood, he left people in awe. None of the Guardians dared to challenge him again.


    There were very few Terror-grade Guardians to begin with. There were even fewer who had Ya¡¯s realm and comprehension. Among the Guardians who were willing to fight, no one had the confidence to defeat him.


    Suddenly, Ya was ejected from the cube¡¯s arena. At the same time, his name vanished from the cube¡¯s rankings.


    Everyone was taken aback before they suddenly understood what had happened. Instantly, the entire Federation and overseas were in an uproar.

 Chapter 1091 - Human

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he was kicked out of the rankings just because they can¡¯t win. Can they be any more shameless?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t play if you are a sore loser! Why the f*ck are we fighting in the arena? Can¡¯t you just decide on who¡¯s first place?¡±


    ¡°Ya¡­ so pitiful¡­¡±


    ¡°Screw whatever King of Earth. Ya is the real King of Earth.¡±


    Instantly, the entire Federation and overseas were enraged, but what was the point? Ya was still kicked out of the rankings. It was impossible for him to return to the rankings.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was nasty. He wasn¡¯t thinking about victory or defeat.


    Whether Zhong Ziya could get first or if he had suffered grievances wasn¡¯t important to Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhong Ziya had signed a betting contract. If he didn¡¯t get first place, he would have lost the bet. His body would suffer a backlash from the Guardian and he would completely lose himself.


    Now, Zhou Wen wished he could immediately find Zhong Ziya and see how he was doing, but he had no idea where Zhong Ziya was.


    ¡°Grim Demon, what will happen if you lose after signing a betting contract?¡± Zhou Wen called Grim Demon out and asked with a cold expression.


    Grim Demon replied with some schadenfreude, ¡°A betting contract has a powerful binding effect on both parties. Even a Calamity-grade expert would find it difficult to violate it. I reckon that the kid¡¯s body should already belong to the Guardian of the bet.¡±


    Upon hearing Grim Demon¡¯s words, Zhou Wen knew that there was no hope. Even a Calamity expert couldn¡¯t escape the conditions of a betting contract. Zhong Ziya was most likely doomed.


    No matter what, they won¡¯t let humans get first place, right? Zhou Wen looked at the ranking with cold eyes. The anger in his heart was indescribable as he walked towards the cube.


    If Zhong Ziya were to be defeated, it would be because he was inferior. However, forcefully kicking him out and taking his life was unacceptable to Zhou Wen. He had nowhere to vent his anger.


    When Grim Demon saw Zhou Wen walk towards the cube, he hurriedly chased after him and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°To participate in the cube ranking battle,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Grim Demon hurriedly said, ¡°Actually, you don¡¯t have to go. We are one. If I take first place, it¡¯s equivalent to you taking first place. Now that I¡¯m first, I can guarantee that I can definitely secure first place and retrieve the Dimensional Wheel.¡±


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that Grim Demon winning meant that he had won. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to win in such a manner, nor would he let Grim Demon win.


    Although Grim Demon belonged to him, Grim Demon also represented a race in the dimension. Grim Demon¡¯s win also meant that the race had won. This wasn¡¯t what Zhou Wen wanted.


    ¡°You are to stay here and wait for my challenge. You decide what to do.¡± Zhou Wen unsummoned his Companion Beasts, leaving Grim Demon standing there before going up the cube.


    As Ya had been kicked out, Grim Demon, who was originally second on the rankings, was first. After Zhou Wen got onto the cube, he injected his Essence Energy into it.


    The cube immediately reacted. Among pure humans, only Zhou Wen could activate it.


    As Guardians and dimensional creatures had natural names but humans didn¡¯t, his name was blank when the cube did a verification scan. Zhou Wen had to fill it in himself.


    ¡°Human.¡± Zhou Wen only filled in one word.


    As there were no other Guardians or Companion Beasts challenging Grim Demon, all the cubes in the world displayed his challenge request and name.


    ¡°Human!¡± All the humans were stunned when they saw this name.


    This was because dimensional creatures and Guardians had natural names. Even if humans participated in the battle after contracting Guardians, the cube would only show the Guardian¡¯s name and not the human¡¯s.


    And ¡®Human¡¯ clearly wasn¡¯t a Guardian¡¯s name.


    ¡°It should be a human like Ya, right?¡± People guessed.


    ¡°Even if he¡¯s a human like Ya and as powerful as Ya, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s useless. He will ultimately be kicked out. Those b*stards in the dimension won¡¯t let humans get first place. Not even half a human can.¡±


    ¡°Just defeating Grim Demon to vent our anger would be nice though.¡±


    ¡°How can it be that simple to defeat Grim Demon? That Grim Demon is definitely at the Terror grade. There might be a chance but only if this person is as powerful as Ya.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. They basically believed that the challenger was a monster that was half-human and half-Guardian.


    In fact, most humans didn¡¯t acknowledge people like Wang Mingyuan and Ya. The reason they had supported Ya previously was partly because Ya was so outstanding and partly because they had no other choice.


    Pure humans couldn¡¯t even leave their names on the rankings. They had no chance of supporting them.


    As people discussed, Grim Demon accepted the challenge. The scene on the cube¡¯s screen changed to the cube¡¯s arena. Two figures appeared in the cube¡¯s arena.


    One of them was naturally Grim Demon. However, most people wanted to know what the fellow who claimed to be ¡°Human¡± looked like. Although they knew that it was impossible for him to be a pure human, most of them had a sense of affinity towards him for daring to use the name ¡®Human.¡¯


    However, when they saw the figure, they were stunned.


    The figure wore human clothes and looked like a human from head to toe. Apart from a white jade mask on his face, he looked like a human.


    ¡°He really looks like a human?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for him to be a pure human. He must be half-human like Ya.¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s no sign of mutation on him at all.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you see him wearing a mask? The mutation part is definitely on his face.¡±


    Everyone was in a flurry of discussion, but Zhou Wen stood there motionless as he looked at Grim Demon with a complicated expression.


    The mask on his face was called Moonlit Mask Armor. It was transformed from a Companion Beast, Moonlit Rabbit.


    The Moonlit Rabbit Companion Beast was formed from the pearl he had obtained from Moon Goddess. Although it had a Mythical foundation, it was still at the Mortal stage.


    Moonlit Rabbit: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Moonlight Transformation


    Companion Form: Facial Armor


    The reason he was using the Moonlight Mask was because of the Moonlight Transformation skill. Although it was only a facial armor, the existence of this skill prevented others from seeing his true identity.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to become famous. He only wanted to vent his anger and prevent any Guardian from becoming the King of Earth.


    When people saw Grim Demon finally move, they stopped their discussion and focused their gazes on Grim Demon.


    Everyone knew very well how terrifying Grim Demon was. Many people even believed that he wasn¡¯t weaker than Ya. He had only admitted defeat because of his relationship with Ya.


    They also wanted to know how powerful Grim Demon would be if he really unleashed his combat strength.


    Grim Demon walked in front of Zhou Wen step by step. Everyone believed that Grim Demon was about to attack, but Grim Demon¡¯s next move petrified everyone.

 Chapter 1092 - Grim Demon’s Stand

    Translator: CKtalon


    Grim Demon knew that it was time for him to choose a side, but he didn¡¯t feel too conflicted. He chose to stand on Zhou Wen¡¯s side.


    Guardians weren¡¯t pure dimensional creatures. They were just tools created by dimensional creatures. He had no feelings for them.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the reason he chose Zhou Wen. It was mainly because Demonic Neonate was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast. Demonic Neonate was definitely on Zhou Wen¡¯s side, so Grim Demon had no choice. He would choose whichever side Demonic Neonate stood.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to choose a side. The difficult part was how to make the stand.


    Grim Demon knew that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t trust him, and Demonic Neonate listened to Zhou Wen. Therefore, Grim Demon felt that this was a very good opportunity. If he did well and obtained Zhou Wen¡¯s trust, he might be able to escape the awkward position of being ¡°reserve rations.¡±


    1


    Grim Demon gritted his teeth and made up his mind. He looked at Zhou Wen and walked over.


    Everyone looked forward to the beginning of the battle as their gazes focused on Grim Demon. Now, they only hoped that Grim Demon and Human wouldn¡¯t just disappear again.


    Grim Demon didn¡¯t vanish; instead, he slowly walked in front of Zhou Wen. Then, under everyone¡¯s incredulous gazes, he genuflected like a knight and pressed his right hand to his heart. He said to Zhou Wen, ¡°I swear upon my name as Grim Demon that I¡¯m willing to sign a master-slave contract with you and pledge eternal loyalty to you until death¡­¡±


    The entire world fell dead silent. People couldn¡¯t believe their eyes and ears.


    Guardians were Guardians. How honorable and powerful were they? Without exception, the humans who had Guardians had to work extremely hard to obtain the Guardian¡¯s recognition before they had a chance to sign a contract with them.


    There were even many people who were willing to pay the price of their lives to contract a Guardian.


    It could be said that although the Guardian contract was an equal contract, humans were actually the weaker party in the contract. They were the ones being chosen.


    As for the Guardians, their strength paled in comparison to Grim Demon¡¯s. They were much weaker.


    Such a powerful Grim Demon had actually taken the initiative to request a contract with the person in front of him. Furthermore, he had requested to sign a master-slave contract. This was completely unheard of.


    ¡°Guardians can also sign a master-slave contract?¡±


    ¡°Wait, Grim Demon wants to sign a contract with that person. In other words, that person definitely hasn¡¯t contracted a Guardian.¡±


    A human who has fused with a Guardian can still contract with another Guardian? If it¡¯s not possible, could this person be a pure human?


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Pure humans are unable to advance to the Mythical stage, so it¡¯s impossible for them to activate the cube to enter the ranking battle.¡±


    ¡°Who is this person? He¡¯s only wearing a mask. Does anyone recognize him?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just the average person. Even the veteran experts of the six families were shocked. They had never seen such a thing before.


    ¡°Old Qiu, can you tell who this person is?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell. There¡¯s some kind of power that has changed his build. This build isn¡¯t his original build,¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered.


    Messages kept being exchanged overseas. They hoped to find out Human¡¯s true identity.


    Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon with an odd expression. He could roughly guess Grim Demon¡¯s thoughts.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t saying a word, Grim Demon had no choice but to maintain the stance of a knight taking an oath. He kept consoling himself inwardly. I¡¯ll put on a show. For Her Lady Demonic Neonate, I¡¯ll tolerate it.


    Zhou Wen waved his hand, gesturing for Grim Demon to leave. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to put on an act. All he wanted to do now was kill Guardians, but he took note of Grim Demon¡¯s intentions.


    Grim Demon hurriedly got up and admitted defeat before leaving the cube¡¯s arena.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he doesn¡¯t want a Guardian who came knocking on his door?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Grim Demon¡ªa top Guardian. He rejected him just like that?¡±


    ¡°Boss, if you don¡¯t want him, give him to me. I want him.¡±


    1


    ¡°This world must be crazy. Such a powerful Guardian took the initiative to request a master-slave contract, but he actually rejected it.¡±


    ¡°Is Grim Demon that dim? He didn¡¯t even attack despite the embarrassment he suffered from Human. He even obediently admitted defeat. Isn¡¯t this too ridiculous?¡±


    ¡°I think Grim Demon knows how powerful Human is, so he took the initiative to request a master-slave contract. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t dare turn hostile.¡±


    ¡°Never compare with others. They only serve to infuriate!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just Earth. The dimensional creatures watching this battle were also dumbfounded.


    Grim Demon was a Guardian. Many dimensional creatures who had experienced the war on Earth in ancient times knew of him. He was also one of the top Guardians back then.


    Grim Demon¡¯s actions were just too strange to them. It even made them suspect if Grim Demon was fake.


    Soon, the various dimensional races ordered their Guardians on Earth to test Human and figure out what kind of existence Human was.


    Due to the restrictions of the rules on Earth, no matter how powerful the dimensional races were, they would be punished by the rules if they personally descended. At most, they would maintain their standards at the Terror grade. They might even drop to the Mythical stage.


    They couldn¡¯t personally test Zhou Wen either, so they could only observe him through the cube. The information they could obtain was very limited.


    Before Zhou Wen went on stage, he had already thought it through. He had already drawn the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Heaven-Opening on his Wheel of Destiny. Furthermore, he constantly engraved it. Even if the engravings vanished, the subsequent engravings would be replenished, allowing him to maintain an active state of Heaven-Opening Scripture.


    1


    To others, this would expend a large amount of mental strength and Essence Energy, but to Zhou Wen, this expenditure was nothing.


    Now, he only wanted to know if the Heaven-Opening Scripture, which could break through the various dimensional zones¡¯ taboo laws, could withstand the cube¡¯s laws.


    If he couldn¡¯t withstand it and the dimensional creatures could kick him out like they had kicked Ya away, there would be zero chance. As long as they couldn¡¯t kick him out, he definitely wouldn¡¯t let any Guardian get first place.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that dimensional creatures wouldn¡¯t use the cube¡¯s rules to kick him out immediately.


    From the various actions of the dimensional creatures and the information he had obtained from Ice Maiden, he could tell that there were many races in the dimension. They restrained each other and often launched racial wars.


    The cube wasn¡¯t something a single race could control. After all, the victor of the cube would allow a race to obtain control of Earth. It was impossible for the rest of the dimension to allow a race to completely control the cube.


    It wasn¡¯t an easy task to obtain the approval of all the figures in power and use the rules to kick him out. Even if all the big shots could reach a consensus, it would definitely take some time. Otherwise, the fellows from the dimension wouldn¡¯t have gone through all the various troublesome methods to deal with Ya.

 Chapter 1093 - Tiger General’s Might

    Translator: CKtalon


    The reason Zhou Wen maintained the state of the Heaven-Opening Scripture was to prevent any accidents.


    If the bigwigs that had just kicked Ya out were still having a meeting, it would be too unjust for them to reach a conclusion and kick him out too.


    Thankfully, what Zhou Wen was worried about didn¡¯t happen. No special power descended on him. Instead, the Guardians¡¯ challenges constantly appeared in front of him.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that many Guardians who hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade had issued a challenge to him. His heart stirred as he chose to accept the challenge from one of the Mythical Guardians.


    The Guardian¡¯s name was Flaming Battle God. Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know which family his contractor was from. However, just from the name, he knew that it was definitely a fire-elemental Guardian. Furthermore, its ranking wasn¡¯t high. It hadn¡¯t even entered the top ten. The possibility of it being at the Terror grade was almost zero.


    Everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel disappointed when they saw that he had chosen Flaming Battle God and not the powerful Cave Era.


    After all, Flaming Battle God was much weaker than Grim Demon. Even Grim Demon had automatically admitted defeat, so it was impossible for Flaming Battle God to be his match.


    However, there were people who didn¡¯t think so. Now, many human experts knew that when Guardians contracted humans, they valued potential, not absolute strength. Grim Demon chose Human because of his talent, not because of his strength.


    The human wearing the armor of Flaming Battle God entered the arena. He was originally a little nervous, afraid that the strange person in front of him was really as powerful as Grim Demon. Then, he would be in danger the moment he appeared.


    However, when he saw that the other party had summoned a Companion Beast and had it rush over, it was clear that his opponent planned on letting a Companion Beast fight him. He immediately felt relieved and he became emboldened.


    ¡°Why is it a Companion Beast? A Companion Beast is definitely not a Guardian¡¯s match. Don¡¯t tell me he wants to use a Companion Beast to win?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, that Companion Beast seems to have some fire-elemental abilities.¡±


    ¡°Does anyone know what Companion Beast that is? Why do I feel like I¡¯ve never seen it before?¡±


    The Companion Beast Zhou Wen had summoned was none other than the Mythical Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. It could be said to be the nemesis of fire-elemental powers. It was perfect for dealing with Flaming Battle God.


    The reason Zhou Wen did so was because he didn¡¯t want to scare away the Guardian, nor did he want the big shots to use the cube¡¯s rules to kick him out.


    If the Heaven-Opening Scripture couldn¡¯t withstand the cube¡¯s rules, he could at least kill a few Guardians before being kicked out.


    ¡°Using fire in front of me?¡± Seeing the strange flames burning in the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body rush over, the human wearing the armor of Flaming Battle God sneered. The flames on his body lit up as he condensed a huge flaming saber and slashed at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The Tiger Soul General raised its spear to block. After the flaming saber collided with the spear, it immediately transformed into a sea of fire that drowned the Tiger Soul General in flames.


    Amidst the flames, the Tiger Soul General¡¯s armor turned red like iron in charcoal. It seemed as if it would melt into liquid metal at any moment.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Isn¡¯t using a Companion Beast to fight a Guardian a waste of time?¡±


    ¡°Not only is it a waste of time, but it¡¯s also a waste of Companion Beasts. A perfectly fine Companion Beast will probably be killed soon. That¡¯s a Mythical Companion Beast. It¡¯s such a waste.¡±


    ¡°Quickly fight like Ya. Unleash your strength and kill the Guardian.¡±


    People clearly didn¡¯t wish to see a Companion Beast fight. Although Zhou Wen had previously showcased many of his Companion Beasts, it had only been for show and not a real battle.


    To most people, it was impossible to use a Companion Beast to defeat a Guardian.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General seemed to charge at Flaming Battle God without any regard for its own safety. However, its armor had already been burned red. The situation didn¡¯t look good.


    Flaming Battle God slashed out again with his flaming saber, hoping to defeat the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The flaming saber struck the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body, causing sparks to fly. It was as though the iron liquid on his body had splattered. Furthermore, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was forced to retreat. Its body was enveloped by more flames and the Tiger Soul General could no longer be seen. All one could see was a figure wrapped in flames retreating in the sea of flames.


    ¡°He¡¯s actually not dead yet?¡± Flaming Battle God frowned slightly. He planned on finishing this Companion Beast quickly.


    After all, wasting too much time on a Companion Beast was a disgrace to him.


    He gathered his strength and slashed out the flaming saber repeatedly. The flaming saber slashed crazily at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General in the sea of fire, forcing him to constantly retreat. More and more molten metal splattered out from his body, but after he retreated again and again, the Tiger Soul General that looked like it was about to collapse remained alive.


    Flaming Battle God realized that something was amiss. He immediately stopped and used the Wheel of Destiny¡¯s power to repel the Tiger Soul General.


    Terrifying flames turned from red to golden as they rose from Flaming Battle God¡¯s body. They condensed into a golden flaming chariot that charged at the Tiger Soul General with roaring battle intent.


    Everything melted in the wake of the Golden Flaming Chariot. Even the red flames that originated from Flaming Battle God were melted by the golden flames.


    Boom!


    The Golden Flaming Chariot slammed into the Tiger Soul General¡¯s body. The flaming wheels spun crazily as though it wanted to crush and melt everything.


    The Tiger Soul General¡¯s body was constantly pushed back by the Golden Flaming Chariot. Soon, it was pushed out of the sea of flames.


    At that moment, people realized that the Tiger Soul General¡¯s body was burning with purple-red flames. It looked extremely strange. Even its armor had turned crystalline like an amethyst from the purple-red flames.


    He wasn¡¯t injured at all. None of the previous attacks had harmed him.


    The Tiger Soul General raised the spear with both hands and blocked the Golden Flaming Chariot. Not only did the flames of the Golden Flaming Chariot not injure him, but it also made the flames in his body burn brighter.


    Flaming Battle God could tell that there was something wrong with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, but it was too late. With a boom, the spear in the Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand slammed down and shattered the Golden Flaming Chariot, turning it into golden flames that scattered.


    In the next moment, the strange-looking ferocious tiger under the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General let out a roar and charged at Flaming Battle God.


    When Flaming Battle God saw that the situation had gone south, he summoned a dragon and a war hammer. They were Mythical Companion Beasts. He rode the dragon and sent the war hammer towards the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Despite fighting three alone, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s ferocious might did not decrease. The tiger beneath it leaped up and stepped on the dragon. Wherever the tiger claw passed, it left several wounds that burned with purple flames on the dragon¡¯s back, causing it to fall with a tragic cry.


    The ferocious tiger used the momentum to pounce at Flaming Battle God. The spear in the Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand met the war hammer. The powerful impact sent the war hammer in Flaming Battle God¡¯s hand flying. He retreated as blood seeped out of his mouth. His expression changed drastically.

 Chapter 1094 - True Body Descends

    Translator: CKtalon


    The people who had been clamoring for Human to attack quickly fell silent. They watched the battle in a daze as their expressions gradually changed.


    With the help of the two Mythical Companion Beasts¡ªthe dragon and war hammer¡ªand the strength of a Guardian, everyone originally believed that this would be a battle without any suspense.


    And indeed, there was no suspense. However, it was different from what they had imagined. The one being suppressed and ravaged was Flaming Battle God.


    Looking at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General that was charging across the arena like a demonic god, a question mark surfaced in many people¡¯s minds.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is this? It¡¯s freaking ferocious!¡±


    ¡°Why haven¡¯t I heard of such a ferocious Companion Beast before?¡±


    ¡°He vomited blood again. Flaming Battle God¡¯s armor is about to crack. Furthermore, he was beaten to such a state despite having the help of two Mythical Companion Beasts. This Companion Beast is really powerful.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t right. Isn¡¯t it said that Guardians will definitely defeat Companion Beasts? Why is he being thrashed?¡±


    ¡°Flaming Battle God likely hasn¡¯t unleashed his other ultimate moves, right?¡±


    ¡°What ultimate move? The Golden Flaming Chariot was his ultimate move.¡±


    The spear in the Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand danced wildly as it smashed into Flaming Battle God¡¯s chest, shattering his breastplate. He was sent flying like a sandbag. With the shattered armor pieces, Flaming Battle God tumbled a great distance in the arena before stopping.


    The Tiger Soul General didn¡¯t stop. Demonic flames spewed out from its body as it arrived in front of Flaming Battle God like a demon.


    There was no chance of Flaming Battle God winning the battle against the Tiger Soul General. The Tiger Soul General had absorbed too many flames early in the battle. Furthermore, the more he fought, the stronger he became. It would be too easy to defeat Flaming Battle God now.


    The Flaming Battle God saw that the situation was going south and wanted to admit defeat to leave the arena.


    Unfortunately, he was still a step too late. Zhou Wen had arrived not far behind him at some point in time. He held something that looked like a grenade in his hand and threw it at Flaming Battle God before quickly retreating.


    Boom! Boom!


    The energy produced by the explosion of the Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s grenade shattered the already cracked and shattered Flaming Battle God armor into pieces. Furthermore, the explosions were continuous.


    After the large Ancient Splitting Tadpole exploded, it split into smaller grenades that continued exploding. The continuous explosions almost instantly blasted the Flaming Battle God to pieces. He was deader than dead.


    2


    ¡°He died just like that?¡± Some people couldn¡¯t believe that a Guardian had been blasted to death.


    ¡°So Guardians aren¡¯t as strong as I imagined. With powerful Companion Beasts, we can still kill them.¡±


    ¡°That requires a Companion Beast to be strong enough. That person¡¯s Companion Beast is extremely strong.¡±


    ¡°The grenade Companion Beast that killed the Flaming Battle God looks like the Ancient Splitting Tadpole from the previous Companion Beast showcase.¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it, it does seem like it!¡±


    ¡°Could this person be the owner of those Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that¡¯s really possible!¡±


    Soon, this news spread. All the major media outlets began reporting it. After all, people had a deep impression of the previous Companion Beast showcase.


    However, this battle didn¡¯t stop the other Guardians from issuing challenges. Although there were fewer Guardians who issued a challenge, there were still quite a number of them. Many of them were at the Mythical stage.


    From their point of view, although Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast was powerful, it wouldn¡¯t be impossible to take it down.


    Zhou Wen had Mythical Companion Beasts, but so did they. As long as they used them well, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to defeat the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Furthermore, many people could tell the problem with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. They knew that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General could absorb fire-elemental powers and was extremely effective against Flaming Battle God. This was why Flaming Battle God had suffered such a tragic defeat.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the challenge list and realized that Darkness Emissary who had been frightened away by Grim Demon was among the list. He was also the Guardian Zhou Ming had contracted.


    1


    This fellow actually dares to challenge me? Is he crazy? Zhou Wen knew Zhou Ming quite well.


    He didn¡¯t deliberately find out more about Zhou Ming. However, with Grim Demon¡¯s name shaking the world, many media outlets had reported about Zhou Ming.


    Grim Demon loved reading those reports and had deliberately read them out loud for them to hear. This was why Zhou Wen knew a little.


    Zhou Wen felt that there was only one possibility for such a selfish and cowardly fellow to take the risk to challenge him. Something had given him the courage.


    What could it be? Could it be that a dimensional Terror creature will descend on him like Jiuyue? Zhou Wen felt that it was impossible.


    No matter how spineless a Calamity-grade dimensional creature was, it wouldn¡¯t choose the body of such a low-level human for its descent, right? Even if it wanted to choose, it would choose someone like Cave Era or Jiuyue.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and chose Darkness Emissary as his next opponent.


    Soon, Zhou Ming, who was wearing the Darkness Emissary armor, appeared in the arena. The moment he appeared, he began condensing the Door of Darkness.


    Unexpectedly, Zhou Ming condensed the Door of Darkness very quickly.


    Zhou Wen immediately saw the problem. Zhou Ming held a black crystal in his hand. Most of the power that condensed the Door of Darkness came from the black crystal.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a madman like Ya, nor was he interested in knowing what the black crystal was or how the Door of Darkness was different from before.


    Therefore, he immediately drew his Night Immaculate Sword. The sword that resembled smoke tore through the air and stabbed at Zhou Ming. He wanted to kill him along with Darkness Emissary before Zhou Ming could condense the Door of Darkness.


    Although Night Immaculate wasn¡¯t absolutely invincible, Zhou Ming was currently condensing the Door of Darkness. He couldn¡¯t move at all. Once he moved, the channeling of the Door of Darkness would be interrupted. All his previous efforts would be in vain.


    Zhou Ming watched as Night Immaculate flew over like a rainbow. He had no intention of dodging. The moment Night Immaculate stabbed into the Darkness Emissary armor, a golden light bloomed from his chest.


    It was a golden rune that transformed into a golden barrier that protected Zhou Ming.


    The Night Immaculate Sword crisscrossed and struck the golden barrier again and again, but it failed to slice through it.


    Zhou Wen looked at the golden barrier and felt the power on it. No matter how stupid he was, he understood that be it the golden runes or the black crystal, it was definitely the work of the dimension.


    Those with keen eyes could guess what had happened. They were very worried for Human, afraid that Ya¡¯s encounter would repeat itself.


    Zhou Wen stared at the Door of Darkness. He knew that dimension¡¯s techniques weren¡¯t that simple. The truly terrifying thing would definitely be inside the Door of Darkness.


    Could it be that a dimensional creature wants to use the Door of Darkness to descend personally? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The Door of Darkness condensed at an extremely fast speed. It took only a moment for it to take shape. With a boom, the Door of Darkness opened. A roar that sounded like it came from the depths of an abyss came from deep within the Door of Darkness.


    Is a dimensional creature descending personally? Zhou Wen stared intently at the Door of Darkness.

 Chapter 1095 - Darkness Domain Devil

    Translator: CKtalon


    Boom! Boom!


    Terrifying footsteps sounded from the Door of Darkness. Every step seemed to shake the void.


    Seeing a black figure walk out of the door, Zhou Wen retracted his Night Immaculate Sword and didn¡¯t continue attacking Zhou Ming because it was too late.


    Through the cube, people gradually saw the creature that came out of the door. It was a monster that seemed to be enveloped by darkness. Its indistinct figure in the darkness was like a huge minotaur.


    With its huge bull¡¯s horn, arrow-shaped tail, and legs with reverse joints it walked out of the Door of Darkness step by step and landed in the arena. The entire arena seemed to be enveloped by the terrifying dark aura.


    Unlike Night Thearch¡¯s Evernight powers, the dark aura didn¡¯t block out the light. One could still see the monster¡¯s faintly discernible figure, but this feeling made one feel even more terrified.


    In an ancient temple on a plateau, an old man played with a Demonfall Pestle as he looked at the cube screen beside him. When he saw the dark minotaur appear, he couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. Using Darkness Emissary¡¯s Door of Darkness, he summoned the top Terror-grade creature, Dark Domain Devil, into the arena. He bypassed the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules and allowed the Dark Domain Devil to maintain its full strength after its descent. Those fellows from the dimension will really think of any method to prevent humans from obtaining first place.


    However, will Dark Domain Devil really fulfill their wish? Jing Daoxian looked at Zhou Wen, who was on the other side of the arena. His eyes shimmered with a strange glint as he fiddled with the Demonfall Pestle and muttered to himself, ¡°Let me see how far you have come.¡±


    ¡°How shameless. Such a creature isn¡¯t something a fellow like Zhou Ming can summon. It must be those fellows from the dimension,¡± Li Xuan said angrily.


    Wang Lu hugged Ya¡¯er and said, ¡°The cube is the home ground of dimensional creatures to begin with. If you want to win in such an environment, you have to be prepared to fight in adversarial situations.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan also said, ¡°What I¡¯m most worried about isn¡¯t this Terror creature. I¡¯m afraid that Coach will be like Ya and be kicked out by them using the cube¡¯s rules. He won¡¯t even have a chance to fight.¡±


    ¡°Those shameless fellows will definitely do such a thing.¡± Li Xuan agreed with Feng Qiuyan¡¯s point of view.


    Others might not recognize Zhou Wen, but they knew him too well. They had already recognized him from his Companion Beasts, so they were somewhat worried.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Zhou Wen won¡¯t be kicked out so easily,¡± Wei Ge said with narrowed eyes.


    He had come to the Wang family residence to pass on Zhou Wen¡¯s message to Li Xuan and company. When he saw Zhou Wen enter the arena, he stayed behind to watch the battle.


    ¡°Old Zhou has many strange abilities, but this is their home ground after all. The rules were set by them¡­ It¡¯s not easy¡­¡± Li Xuan felt his balls ache just thinking about it. It was clearly a battle that decided the King of Earth, but the rules weren¡¯t set by the creatures on Earth.


    ¡°Darkness Domain Devil, kill him!¡± Zhou Ming pointed at Zhou Wen excitedly.


    Although he hadn¡¯t summoned Darkness Domain Devil with his own strength and had the help of the dimensional creatures, this was a chance that brought him closest to being the King of Earth.


    With the power of Darkness Domain Devil, as long as he defeated this strange person in front of him, he had a high chance of obtaining the Dimensional Wheel and becoming the King of Earth.


    Darkness Domain Devil ignored him and stared at Zhou Wen. Its blood-red eyes in the darkness were like a pair of huge red lanterns.


    Although Darkness Domain Devil had been summoned by Zhou Ming, it wasn¡¯t a summoned beast. It was a very famous creature in the Darkness Domain, one of the strongest Terror-grade creatures in the dimension.


    If not for some reason, Darkness Domain Devil would have long advanced to the Calamity grade.


    The dimensional bigwigs had secretly planned this operation. They had gotten Darkness Domain Devil to descend with the Door of Darkness Door because they hoped to settle this once and for all. They didn¡¯t want any additional problems.


    Previously, they had paid a huge price to forcefully kick Ya out of the game. Only then did the various bigwigs agree to use the cube¡¯s nomological forces. If it happened again, ignoring the bigwigs who knew that their race had no hope of obtaining first place, just inviting those bigwigs over wouldn¡¯t be an easy task.


    ¡°Weak creatures like humans are always capable of causing a lot of trouble. In the past, those fellows were already troublesome. I never expected these fellows to be even more troublesome now.¡± A mysterious shadow felt a headache coming on.


    They were clearly creatures that were so weak that they couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage, but they could take advantage of every opportunity and do something that gave them a headache.


    ¡°Any last wishes? If it¡¯s not too difficult, I can try my best to satisfy you,¡± Darkness Domain Devil said to Zhou Wen.


    It naturally didn¡¯t have good intentions. This was also one of its abilities. If its opponent¡¯s will was shaken, it would make its strength even stronger.


    Although its opponent was only an Earthling, Darkness Domain Devil wasn¡¯t careless at all. It treated Zhou Wen as an opponent of the same level. It only wanted to use the safest method to kill its opponent in exchange for the benefits promised by the dimensional bigwigs.


    In a battle of the same level, strength was, needless to say, important. But apart from that, the strength of a creature¡¯s will was extremely important in battle.


    ¡°I do have a wish. It¡¯s not too difficult. I hope you can satisfy me,¡± Zhou Wen said after some serious thought.


    Darkness Domain Devil was slightly delighted. It thought that Zhou Wen¡¯s will had wavered, so it asked, ¡°Tell me, what¡¯s your wish?¡±


    Zhou Wen sized up Darkness Domain Devil and said in all seriousness, ¡°Can you let me see your true body?¡±


    Darkness Domain Devil was slightly taken aback. It never expected Zhou Wen to make such a request. It immediately knew that Zhou Wen¡¯s will hadn¡¯t wavered. Perhaps he was just stalling for time.


    At that moment, Darkness Domain Devil didn¡¯t waste any more time. The dark aura on its body surged like a tidal wave over the arena. Soon, it enveloped the entire cube, preventing outsiders from seeing anything.


    However, the dark aura didn¡¯t injure anyone. Instead, the blood-red eyes of Darkness Domain Devil eyes intensified, but under the envelopment of the Darkness Domain, no one could see it.


    ¡°Come, let me bring your soul into the dark abyss. Enjoy the joy of depravity!¡± Darkness Domain Devil approached Zhou Wen with the tide of dark aura. At the same time, the sanguine light in its eyes intensified as though it had some soul-stealing power.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny kept circulating as he watched every move of Darkness Domain Devil. When he saw the pair of eyes, he immediately felt attracted to them as though his soul was about to be sucked in.


    Thankfully, his willpower and mental strength were stronger than ordinary people. He temporarily stabilized his mind, but he pretended to be attracted by it. As though he was in a daze, he walked towards Darkness Domain Devil step by step.

 Chapter 1096 - What’s Going On?

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the Darkness Domain, Zhou Wen walked towards Darkness Domain Devil. Soon, he arrived in front of it.


    ¡°Come, follow me into the depraved abyss of happiness¡­¡± Darkness Domain Devil lowered its head and extended its palms as though it wanted to lift Zhou Wen up. At the same time, its face approached Zhou Wen.


    Just as its palms were about to touch him, Zhou Wen suddenly vanished. When he appeared again, he was already in front of Dark Domain Devil¡¯s eyes. He held an ice crystal-like dragon tooth in his hand and stabbed at its eyes.


    The tip of the dragon tooth was about to touch the eyeball of Darkness Domain Devil when a palm suddenly extended out of the darkness and grabbed the dragon tooth.


    ¡°You are still too young to play dirty in front of me.¡± Darkness Domain Devil grinned hideously. It grabbed the Dragon Tooth with one hand and grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s body with the other. At the same time, it said, ¡°It¡¯s no wonder you dare be so arrogant. You actually have a Terror item. This isn¡¯t something that any Terror creature can condense¡­ Ah¡­¡±


    Before Darkness Domain Devil could finish its sentence, blood bloomed in its eyes. Demonic Neonate had stabbed it in the eye with Demonic Sword.


    Darkness Domain Devil¡¯s reaction was also extremely fast. It reached out to crush Zhou Wen, but when its other eye saw Demonic Neonate, its hand froze as its eyes were filled with disbelief.


    Its palm unknowingly released Zhou Wen as he fell to the ground, turning into a Substitute Talisman in midair. Zhou Wen¡¯s true body appeared elsewhere.


    Demonic Neonate immediately retreated after a successful strike and landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Darkness Domain Devil stared at Demonic Neonate as its injured eyes rapidly healed. However, it had no intention of attacking Zhou Wen. It only stared intently at Demonic Neonate with a look of horror as though it had seen a ghost.


    Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss and had a bad feeling. He immediately unsummoned Demonic Neonate.


    Darkness Domain Devil clearly knew Demonic Neonate, or rather, it had seen an existence similar to Demonic Neonate.


    In the past, the fact that Grim Demon knew Demonic Neonate had made Zhou Wen feel that something was amiss. Grim Demon was ultimately a Guardian born on Earth.


    However, Darkness Domain Devil was different. It was a creature from the dimension. It actually recognized Demonic Neonate and from its alarmed look, this was a huge problem.


    If Demonic Neonate was really related to the dimension, who knew what would happen if the big shots of the dimension saw him using Demonic Neonate in the arena.


    From Ya¡¯s previous encounter, it could be seen that the fellows in the dimension were different from humans. They didn¡¯t care about their reputation at all. They were very dangerous considering how unscrupulous they were to achieve their goals.


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat glad that he had summoned Demonic Neonate in the darkness. Otherwise, Demonic Neonate would have been completely exposed.


    Zhou Wen already had the intention to kill. He was just about to summon Banana Fairy and kill Darkness Domain Devil with all his might.


    However, before Zhou Wen could take action, he saw Darkness Domain Devil suddenly retract its Darkness Domain. Even the Darkness aura on its body completely converged, revealing its true body.


    The spectators stared at the black screen. They couldn¡¯t see anything, but clearly, the creature Zhou Ming had summoned was definitely a Terror-grade existence.


    Many people were worried for Zhou Wen, hoping to know the outcome as soon as possible. However, they were also worried that they would see Zhou Wen¡¯s tragic death when the darkness vanished.


    Even Zhou Ming himself couldn¡¯t see anything in the darkness.


    Suddenly, the darkness in the arena vanished. Not only did the darkness disappear, but even the black gas surrounding the Darkness Domain Devil vanished.


    Only then did everyone see that the true body of the Darkness Domain Devil wasn¡¯t as huge as they had imagined. It was only about ten meters tall, but it was already very majestic compared to humans.


    It had a bull¡¯s head and hooves, but its body and hands looked human. Furthermore, it was wearing a black robe. It looked very strange.


    Seeing that Darkness Domain Devil was unharmed, everyone was alarmed. They hurriedly searched the other corners of the arena, worried that Zhou Wen had been killed.


    Seeing Zhou Wen standing there perfectly fine without any injuries, they couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°What are you standing there for? Quickly finish him off!¡± Zhou Ming was immediately disappointed when he saw that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t dead. He immediately urged Darkness Domain Devil to quickly kill Zhou Wen.


    This was because the dimensional creatures he had come into contact with had told him that Darkness Domain Devil was invincible among Terror-grade existences. As long as he summoned it over, there was no way for him to lose.


    The next second, Darkness Domain Devil finally moved, but its target wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen. It turned around and looked at Zhou Ming, who was wearing the Darkness Emissary armor.


    Its eyes shimmered with a sanguine glow like the eyes of the Devil. In an instant, Zhou Ming and the Darkness Emissary armor on his body exploded. Blood spewed everywhere, instantly leaving nothing behind.


    This turn of events stunned everyone. They looked at the arena in a daze, unsure what had happened.


    It wasn¡¯t just humans. Many creatures in the dimension were also stunned. The eyes of the big shot who had arranged for Darkness Domain Devil to descend into the arena twitched as he had a strong ominous feeling.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as well, but he quickly thought of something. Could it be that this fellow is the same as Grim Demon? Is it related to Demonic Neonate or her lineage?


    Zhou Wen was momentarily hesitant. Should he continue summoning Banana Fairy to silence it? Darkness Domain Devil was very powerful, so it didn¡¯t seem easy to silence it.


    Furthermore, without the cover of the Darkness Domain, if he wanted to kill it without using Demonic Neonate, he would probably have to expose most of his abilities.


    After all, this was a combat arena where one could admit defeat. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident that he could kill Darkness Domain Devil before it admitted defeat.


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating and everyone was puzzled, Darkness Domain Devil suddenly took a step forward and genuflected. Just like Grim Demon from before, it placed its right hand on its chest and lowered its head.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t this thing summoned by Zhou Ming? Isn¡¯t it a Terror creature from the dimension?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­¡±


    Instantly, the Federation was in an uproar. It made sense if Grim Demon had something to do with Human, but Darkness Domain Devil was a dimensional creature summoned by Zhou Ming. Why did it kneel after the screen turned black and lit up?


    Only Zhou Wen knew that Darkness Domain Devil was kneeling to Demonic Neonate, not him.


    ¡°Little Yanyan, pinch me. See if I¡¯m still dreaming?¡± Li Xuan said to Feng Qiuyan with a strange expression.

 Chapter 1097 - Little Fairy Appears

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Ah!¡± Li Xuan let out a tragic cry as he held his swollen face. His fingers trembled as he pointed at Feng Qiuyan and jumped. ¡°Why did you use so much strength?¡±


    ¡°How can you be sure if you aren¡¯t dreaming if I don¡¯t use more strength?¡± Feng Qiuyan muttered to himself, ¡°Seeing how much pain you are in, you should be able to confirm that you aren¡¯t dreaming.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t have to use so much strength, right? Do you want to pinch me to death? If it wasn¡¯t for my extraordinary physique, my face would have been flattened by you,¡± Li Xuan said unrelentingly.


    ¡°Others will die when facing such strength, but you won¡¯t,¡± Feng Qiuyan said calmly.


    Li Xuan opened his mouth and realized that he had no means to refute him. He swallowed his words.


    However, Li Xuan was certain that this wasn¡¯t a dream. Darkness Domain Devil continued kneeling there with its head bowed at Zhou Wen.


    Due to the deaths of Zhou Ming and Darkness Emissary, the Door of Darkness dissipated at the same time. Darkness Domain Devil lost the protection of this layer of connection and was immediately repelled by Earth¡¯s laws. The Darkness aura on its body was rapidly dissipating.


    As Darkness Domain Devil fought the terrifying nomological force, it bowed three times respectfully in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction. Without a word, it turned around and admitted defeat before leaving the arena and returning to the dimension.


    Although Darkness Domain Devil didn¡¯t say a word, anyone could tell that he had simply treated Zhou Wen as a god.


    Previously, Grim Demon had only genuflected. Now, the powerful dimensional creature, Darkness Domain Devil, had bowed so respectfully. It was truly unbelievable.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is Human actually a powerful creature from the dimension in disguise?¡±


    ¡°He can¡¯t be human, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡±


    People began to wonder if Human was human, but only humans could use Companion Beasts. This also meant that Human was human¡ªor at least half-human.


    However, how could a human have such glory? He had actually made Darkness Domain Devil bow to him. It was a terrifying existence that could instantly kill a Guardian at a glance, but in front of Zhou Wen, it was like a slave and had treated Zhou Wen like a god. It was unbelievable that he was really a human.


    As a result, many Guardians who originally wanted to issue a challenge hesitated.


    Darkness Domain Devil was clearly at the Terror grade and sent by the dimension. It had extremely terrifying strength. Yet, such an existence was so subservient in front of this fellow who claimed to be Human. They were really afraid.


    Ignoring the human contractor, even the Guardian itself was afraid. Even though the dimensional bigwigs kept urging Guardians to enter the arena, none of them dared to do so.


    Time ticked by. If no one challenged him in an hour, Human would obtain first place on the rankings.


    After a few minutes of silence, someone finally issued a challenge. The challenger was Cave Era.


    Cave Era was a Terror-grade Guardian with the power of time. After entering the arena, she immediately turned into her Terror form and vanished from everyone¡¯s eyes.


    Others couldn¡¯t see her, but Zhou Wen could see her very clearly. Her Terror form couldn¡¯t escape his eyes, but after Cave Era entered her Terror form, her body obtained the augmentation of time power. Under the acceleration of time, her movement technique was unbelievably fast.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to summon Banana Fairy. The fairy-like Banana Fairy appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Her elegant and beautiful appearance immediately attracted everyone¡¯s attention.


    Banana Fairy pouted her red lips and blew out a breath. A cold wind instantly rose over the arena and swept towards the Terror-form of Cave Era.


    1


    Cave Era summoned a triangular blade transformed from a Companion Beast and charged at the cold wind with a cold beam.


    The cold beam pierced through the cold wind, but it only moved half a foot forward. As for Cave Era¡¯s body, it was sent flying by the cold wind. She was kicked out of her Terror state in midair and instantly flew for an unknown distance. She vanished from the screen, her whereabouts unknown.


    ¡°Is¡­ Is that a Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°Heavens, that Companion Beast is too terrifying. She blew away the Terror-grade Cave Era with a single breath. It¡¯s no wonder Grim Demon and Darkness Domain Devil are so fearful of Human. Such a powerful Companion Beast is practically invincible.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this too fake? The Terror-grade Cave Era was blown away just like that.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of being strong? Looks are what matters. Just look at how beautiful that Companion Beast is and you¡¯ll know that she¡¯s definitely invincible. If she were to wheedle at me, I would definitely die of joy.¡±


    1


    ¡°A beautiful humanoid Companion Beast that¡¯s so terrifyingly powerful. How much did that brother suffer in his previous life to exchange for such a Companion Beast in this life?¡±


    1


    Everyone was alarmed by Banana Fairy¡¯s strength and beauty. They explained away the respect Grim Demon and Darkness Domain Devil showed by her existence.


    It wasn¡¯t their fault for thinking that way. The battle Banana Fairy had displayed was just too shocking. A small gust of wind blew the Terror-grade powerhouse away. She looked way overpowered.


    However, they didn¡¯t know that Banana Fairy only had a few moves. Apart from blowing wind, she didn¡¯t do anything else.


    1


    Zhou Wen watched as Cave Era was blown away by the Supreme Yin Wind. Her body was almost frozen into ice in midair. He felt that she was doomed.


    However, in the next second, a figure flashed. Cave Era strangely returned to the arena and appeared where she had been standing as though she had never moved.


    Zhou Wen sized up Cave Era in surprise and asked, ¡°Time reversal?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have such powerful strength to reverse time. Not to mention reversing time, I can¡¯t even stop time. Otherwise, you and Ya would have died long ago.¡± Cave Era answered coldly, ¡°It¡¯s just a time mark. By marking a time point, my body can return to that time point. The mark can only last a maximum of three seconds.¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t use this move when you fought Ya, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I can only use it once. So even if I had used it, I would still have lost. There was no point in using it,¡± said Cave Era.


    ¡°In that case, you believe that you can¡¯t beat Ya, but you can beat me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°At the very least, there¡¯s a chance,¡± Cave Era said as she transformed into her Terror form again and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Banana Fairy blew out the Supreme Yin Wind again. However, the speed of the Supreme Yin Wind couldn¡¯t catch up to Cave Era after she accelerated time. Cave Era circled around the Supreme Yin Wind and continued charging at Zhou Wen.


    Banana Fairy was a wind-elemental divine pet. In terms of speed, she wasn¡¯t slower than Cave Era. With Cave Era accelerating time, Banana Fairy still caught up to her. With a grab, the banana leaf under her became a fan that appeared in her hand. She fanned it at Cave Era, and her figure vanished as she entered her Terror form. It was as though she had transformed into an invisible wind.


    This was a battle of speed. Banana Fairy and Cave Era were unbelievably fast; ordinary people couldn¡¯t see their figures. All they could see was the wind constantly flowing across the arena.


    After Banana Fairy was lured away, Cave Era suddenly summoned four Mythical Companion Beasts and sent them charging at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1098 - Sea of Mythical Pets

    Translator: CKtalon


    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see Banana Fairy and Cave Era, but the four Mythical Companion Beasts could see them clearly.


    ¡°Ghidorah ¡­ World Wolf¡­ Dark Troll and Pharaoh¡­¡± Many people immediately recognized the Mythical Companion Beasts.


    It wasn¡¯t that they were knowledgeable, but that the four Companion Beasts were so famous.


    Ghidorah was known as the strongest Strength-type Companion Beast in the North District. The World Wolf was known as the fastest Companion Beast in the North District.


    Dark Troll was a famous Mythical Companion Beast in the West District. Its body was extremely powerful, and it also had the ability to use darkness magic. It was an excellent Companion Beast that practiced both magic and martial arts. It was said that no one had been able to defeat and kill it in the Darkness Abyss. No one expected Cave Era to possess the Dark Troll Companion Beast.


    1


    There was no need to mention Pharaoh. He was a divine Companion Beast with Mythical magic powers.


    These four famous Mythical Companion Beasts had appeared together with Cave Era. It made Zhou Wen break out into a cold sweat.


    2


    This was because most people believed that Banana Fairy was what Human relied on the most. Now that Banana Fairy had been lured away by Cave Era, it was still unknown if Human could deal with these four powerful Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Do you want to compete with Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen saw the four Companion Beasts rush over, but he had no intention of retreating. He directly summoned most of his Companion Beasts that had appeared on the rankings.


    The six Demon Blood True Dragons appeared out of nowhere and lined up in front of Zhou Wen. The last time he had gone to the underground sea, he had obtained another one. Now, he was only three short of the nine Demon Blood True Dragons.


    Furthermore, the Demon Blood True Dragons were very strange. It didn¡¯t drop every time, but when something dropped, it would definitely be a Demon Blood True Dragon with a different attribute. Zhou Wen had never had a Demon Blood True Dragon with the same attribute drop.


    Zhou Wen guessed that it might be because the Demon Blood True Dragon¡¯s Companion Beast had a unique characteristic. Perhaps after it dropped, no one else could get it to drop again.


    Now, Zhou Wen only hoped to have the nine Companion Eggs drop before others went to the underground sea to kill the Demon Blood True Dragon. He wanted to see how powerful the nine Demon Blood True Dragons were.


    ¡°Wow¡­ Six Demon Blood True Dragons¡­ Three Golden Battle God Halberds¡­ Splitting Ancient Tadpoles¡­ Devil Clown¡­ Night Immaculate Sword¡­ And the fire-elemental knight who fought previously¡­ The Invisibility Cloak should be here too¡­ These Companion Beasts really belong to the same person¡­¡±


    ¡°What kind of luck is this¡­ Six Demon Blood True Dragons¡­ Three Golden Battle God Halberds¡­ Holy sh*t¡­¡±


    ¡°Together with that beautiful fairy-like Companion Beast, how many Mythical Companion Beasts does this fellow have?¡±


    ¡°Is this fellow having an affair with Lady Luck? Why is he getting all the good pets?¡±


    Instantly, everyone was alarmed. The four Mythical Companion Beast battle lineup from Cave Era were already very shocking, but the Companion Beasts Zhou Wen summoned couldn¡¯t be called a battle lineup. They were like a sea of pets.


    The originally aggressive Ghidorah was instantly surrounded by six Demon Blood True Dragons. The Pharaoh was being pursued by the three Golden Battle God Halberds. The Night Immaculate Sword transformed into a shocking sword beam that circled the World Wolf. Sword marks appeared on the World Wolf¡¯s body as blood dyed its fur red.


    Others believed that it was caused by Night Immaculate¡¯s sword aura, but in fact, it was the invisible combination of the Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword. It was just that others couldn¡¯t see Light Concealment Sword.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Devil Clown, and Ancient Splitting Tadpole fought the Dark Troll. In just a moment, the Dark Troll¡¯s skin and flesh were lacerated.


    After being hit by the Devil Clown¡¯s magic ball, he was immediately at a loss for what to do. He could only be thrashed by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and couldn¡¯t dodge the explosion of the Ancient Splitting Tadpole.


    As long as the Ancient Splitting Tadpole didn¡¯t explode nine times in a row, it could slowly recover. There was no need to worry.


    The onlookers enjoyed the spectacle. They couldn¡¯t see the earlier Terror-grade battles at all. They could only imagine and make all sorts of guesses, making them feel depressed.


    Now, in such a battle of Mythical Companion Beasts, although it might not be as strong as a Terror-grade, it was very satisfying watching it.


    The only bad thing was that the Companion Beasts in the cave were being ganged up on. They could only suffer a beating. Occasionally, they could counterattack, but they couldn¡¯t cause too much of a stir.


    ¡°If I had so many powerful Companion Beasts, I would dare vie with those Guardians.¡±


    ¡°Pui! I just need that beautiful fairy Companion Beast. That¡¯s equivalent to having the entire world. What¡¯s there to fight for!¡±


    ¡­


    Luoyang¡¯s An family.


    ¡°Overseer, Young Master Wen¡¯s Companion Beast army is really terrifying. With so many Mythical Companion Beasts, I¡¯m afraid he has the ability to sweep through the Federation,¡± An Sheng said as he watched the live broadcast.


    ¡°Companion Beasts are ultimately external forces,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Companion Beasts are external forces. Guardians are external forces. Guns and cannons are also external forces. Humans are experts who are good at using external forces. Young Master Wen is already at the epitome when it comes to Companion Beasts. I¡¯m afraid no one on Earth can compare with him,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo frowned and said, ¡°If you have the time to think of so many words of praise, why don¡¯t you think about how to resolve the problem of the accelerator?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Overseer. I¡¯ll think about it now.¡± An Sheng realized that he had been a little too smug and things were going south. After giving a military salute, he turned around and wanted to escape.


    ¡°Come back,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly.


    ¡°Overseer, I¡¯m aware of my mistakes.¡± An Sheng turned his head with a bitter expression.


    An Tianzuo snorted coldly. ¡°It¡¯s fine if you blow his trumpet here. If that punk also thinks that he¡¯s invincible with those Companion Beasts, he probably won¡¯t even know how he died. However, it¡¯s good that he¡¯s dead. His death can bring me some peace.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, what do you mean? What means does the dimension have to restrain Young Master Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts?¡± An Sheng asked carefully.


    ¡°Why would there be a need for the dimension to do something? According to what I know, there¡¯s a Guardian who has a skill similar to a seal. However, it¡¯s not a sealing of a person¡¯s body, but a sealing of Companion Beasts. Under his influence, no one can summon a Companion Beast. If that punk is as arrogant as you, he will definitely die.¡± An Tianzuo drank a cup of water and added, ¡°It¡¯s good if such a fellow dies. That reduces the havoc he will create everywhere. The Federation is already chaotic enough. It¡¯s good that there¡¯s one less scourge.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, when this battle ends, I¡¯ll think of a way to inform Young Master Wen.¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°It¡¯s your own business if you want to inform him. Why are you asking me? I can¡¯t wait for that troublemaker to be taught a lesson,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m the one who wants to tell Young Master Wen. It has nothing to do with you, Overseer.¡± As An Sheng spoke, his eyes darted to An Tianzuo. ¡°But I don¡¯t know where Young Master Wen is now. How can I contact him?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t look at me. Don¡¯t have any ideas about my voice transmission bell. Don¡¯t think that I¡¯ll lend it to you,¡± An Tianzuo said as he turned around and drank his tea.

 Chapter 1099 - Blood Shaman

    Translator: CKtalon


    Instead of saying that Cave Era had lured Banana Fairy away, it was better to say that Banana Fairy had held back Cave Era, attacking her until she could only constantly escape. She didn¡¯t dare take on Banana Fairy¡¯s Supreme Yin Wind.


    Seeing that her Companion Beast was about to be ganked to death, and that she wasn¡¯t Banana Fairy¡¯s match, Cave Era could only admit defeat and leave the cube.


    ¡°This is more satisfying. It¡¯s great watching this.¡±


    ¡°So Companion Beasts can be so powerful. Pure Companion Beasts can defeat a Guardian. There¡¯s nothing impressive about a Guardian.¡±


    ¡°That beautiful fairy Companion Beast is practically my dream lover. When can I have such a Companion Beast?¡±


    As no one challenged him, Zhou Wen temporarily left the cube.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen¡¯s phone rang. This left him puzzled because there was no signal here. He couldn¡¯t contact Li Xuan and company even if he wanted to.


    He took out his phone and saw that it was An Sheng.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, how did you get through?¡± Zhou Wen glanced at his phone and realized that there was still no signal, but the call was very normal.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to¡­¡± Before An Sheng could finish his sentence, An Tianzuo, who was sitting in his office chair, looked up and glared at him. He immediately corrected himself. ¡°It¡¯s just a special Companion Beast. Let¡¯s not talk about that. Young Master Wen, you have to be careful of a Guardian named Blood Shaman. He has the ability to seal Companion Beasts. No one can use a Companion Beast in front of him. Overs¡­ Du¡­ du¡­¡±


    Just as An Sheng was about to say the word ¡®Overseer,¡¯ An Tianzuo reached out and took back the bell in An Sheng¡¯s hand. An Sheng could only shake his head helplessly.


    ¡°Hello¡­ Ah Sheng¡­ Hello¡­¡± Zhou Wen suddenly couldn¡¯t hear any sound. He looked at his phone¡¯s screen and realized that the line had been disconnected. He couldn¡¯t get through again. There was no signal.


    What Companion Beast is that? It can actually forcefully connect without a signal. I have to think of a way to get one later. Although Zhou Wen seldom made calls, it was irritating when he needed to make a call but did not have a signal.


    Blood Shaman? I wonder if the Heaven-Opening Scripture can withstand the power of the seal. Is the seal considered a nomological power? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn¡¯t safe to rely on the Heaven-Opening Scripture alone. If it didn¡¯t work, he would have to rely on himself.


    As for whether Blood Shaman would appear, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t doubt it at all. The dimensional bigwigs definitely wouldn¡¯t watch him take first place. As long as there was such a Guardian, there was a 99% chance of it coming to deal with him. The other 1% was them having been taken down by Zhou Wen.


    Time ticked by. After more than half an hour, there was still no Guardian challenging Zhou Wen. Furthermore, people were still excitedly discussing the various Companion Beasts Zhou Wen had used.


    The various media outlets were analyzing Zhou Wen¡¯s various Companion Beasts, especially Banana Fairy. Almost all the headlines of the various media outlets used her as a cover.


    Li Benyi was the fastest. During the pet showcase from before, he had already made plenty of Companion Beast merchandise. However, they weren¡¯t too popular back then. Now, they were absolutely popular.


    Li Benyi¡¯s dolls and figurines began to sell like hotcakes. As for the Guardian figurines and figurines that sold very well, the market demand was much lower. Almost no one cared about them now.


    In the past, they had no choice. They felt that Guardians were too powerful and could only support Guardians.


    However, now that Human¡¯s Companion Beasts had appeared out of nowhere, it allowed people to see the strength of Companion Beasts. It also changed people¡¯s perception of Companion Beasts and brought them back to the sights of humanity.


    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t come into contact with Guardians, but they had a high chance of obtaining Companion Beasts. They naturally wished to believe that Companion Beasts were the strongest.


    At that moment, the dimension wasn¡¯t calm either. How long had it been since Earth had recovered? Yet, a Terror-grade Companion Beast had appeared. This was extremely terrifying for the dimension.


    If this continued, a Calamity-grade Companion Beast might soon appear on Earth. That was a situation that the dimension was very unwilling to see.


    ¡­


    In front of a glorious palace, a warrior in gorgeous armor genuflected and said with his head lowered, ¡°Your Excellency, we have already contacted Blood Shaman. He has also agreed to fight, but he wants ten divine fruits.¡±


    ¡°Give them to him.¡± A familiar voice sounded from the palace. He was the one who had presided over the cube battle and changed the rules.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The warrior stood up and was about to leave when he heard another voice coming from the palace. ¡°How¡¯s the situation with the other members of the Octokind?¡±


    ¡°They have already agreed to lend out the Body Cleansing Stone, but the price is very high. They are still negotiating,¡± the warrior answered.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the Dragon King stop it?¡± the voice in the palace said again.


    ¡°No,¡± the warrior answered.


    ¡°You¡¯re dismissed. Tell them that they have to bring back the Body Cleansing Stone.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    After the warrior left, a god-like man was sitting sideways on the roof of the palace, frowning in thought.


    A seductive woman circled around the man¡¯s body and leaned her fair head against his chest as she said gently, ¡°Your Excellency Di Tian, why does it have to be a Body Cleansing Stone? The monarchs of the various races are already communicating with each other. I believe there will be an outcome very soon. When that happens, that person will be kicked out of the rankings like Ya. Why do you have to pay such a huge price to obtain the Body Cleansing Stone?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just preparing for a rainy day. We absolutely must not let existences like Ya and Human obtain the Dimensional Wheel, much less give them a chance to stand on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s side,¡± Di Tian said indifferently. ¡°It¡¯s fine if he¡¯s kicked out. Otherwise, the Body Cleansing Stone will naturally be of use.¡±


    ¡°How can he not be kicked out? He¡¯s just a human. How can he resist the cube¡¯s rules? Furthermore, with Blood Shaman restraining his Companion Beasts, he will probably be defeated in the next round. Your Excellency Di Tian, you don¡¯t have to worry excessively about a mere human,¡± the woman said.


    Di Tian didn¡¯t say anything. He only used his fingers to stroke the woman¡¯s beautiful hair that was like a river in the night. His eyes were deep and unfathomable.


    ¡°Worry excessively? That fellow is also a human. If I don¡¯t worry too much, I¡¯m afraid a second or third person will appear¡­¡± The figure of the gentle-looking man appeared in Di Tian¡¯s mind.


    When an hour was almost up, and people thought that Human was about to obtain first place, the cube suddenly lit up. Another person issued a challenge.


    Everyone looked at the cube¡¯s screen, but the name they saw was unfamiliar. They had never seen it before.


    It¡¯s really him. Zhou Wen saw the word Blood Shaman and couldn¡¯t help but be grateful for An Sheng¡¯s timely intelligence. Although he might not have been at a disadvantage without the intelligence, it was better to be prepared in advance than to think of a solution at the last minute.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen agreed to the challenge. No matter who came, he had to do his best to vie for first place. As long as he wasn¡¯t kicked out like Ya, he definitely wouldn¡¯t let any Guardian become the King of Earth.


    Zhou Wen and Blood Shaman appeared in the arena at the same time. Blood Shaman in blood-colored armor made a shocking move. He extended his hand and swiped at his palm, causing blood to gush out like a fountain.

 Chapter 1100 - Sealing Companion Beasts

    Translator: CKtalon


    When the blood landed in the air, it turned into specks of sanguine light that dissipated. The blood could no longer be seen with the naked eye, but the entire arena seemed to be covered in a faint sanguine light.


    Zhou Wen extended his palm and a red glow appeared on the blue crystal bracer. It was faint and inconspicuous.


    After summoning Night Immaculate Sword, he realized that his mental connection with it had weakened significantly. This made Zhou Wen understand that Blood Shaman¡¯s blood sacrifice technique was the power to seal Companion Beasts.


    Even on his ear, Truth Listener¡¯s connection with Zhou Wen weakened significantly. From the looks of it, Evil Nullification couldn¡¯t restrain this sealing power.


    The Heaven-Opening Scripture had long been engraved, but it didn¡¯t appear to be of much use.


    Even the Heaven-Opening Scripture and Evil Nullification can¡¯t restrain it. It¡¯s neither a taboo rule nor a curse. What kind of power is this? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn¡¯t stop. He planned on summoning the Companion Beasts that had previously fought.


    Everyone watched excitedly as Companion Beasts appeared, believing that they could see another grand battle of Companion Beasts.


    However, Zhou Wen had only summoned a few Companion Beasts without even summoning all six Demon Blood True Dragons before he saw a sanguine glow emit from the Blood Shaman¡¯s eyes, turning the entire arena red.


    The Companion Beasts that Zhou Wen had summoned suddenly flew back to him and returned to their tattoo form. Truth Listener was no exception.


    ¡°What happened? Why did he unsummon his Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like it was done of his own accord. It seems to have been sent back by the power of Blood Shaman.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the power of Blood Shaman prevents people from summoning Companion Beasts? If that¡¯s the case, Human will be in danger.¡±


    ¡°It looks like it. That beautiful fairy-like Companion Beast didn¡¯t appear either.¡±


    ¡°Even a Terror-grade Companion Beast can be sealed? Isn¡¯t that too much of a sham? Without a Companion Beast, how can we humans fight?¡±


    ¡°Blood Shaman¡¯s ability is basically targeted at us humans. In front of him, all humans will be unable to withstand a single blow. It¡¯s really terrifying.¡±


    ¡°If he can¡¯t use Companion Beasts, will Human still have a chance of defeating Blood Shaman?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it will be very difficult. Unless he has the same combat ability as Ya.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Zhou Wen also attempted to summon Banana Fairy, but unfortunately, she was also sealed by Blood Shaman¡¯s power and couldn¡¯t be summoned.


    The power of Blood Shaman is definitely a great enemy of humanity, Zhou Wen thought as he looked at Blood Shaman.


    However, Zhou Wen also realized that Blood Shaman¡¯s power wasn¡¯t only targeted at him. Even he couldn¡¯t summon his Companion Beasts, nor did he have any equipment transformed from them. Clearly, even he was limited by this power and couldn¡¯t use Companion Beasts either.


    Blood Shaman stood in the blood-colored light. The armor on his body emitted a strong bloody smell like a bloodthirsty god.


    ¡°Forget your futile attempts. In the blood sacrifice ritual, no Companion Beast can be summoned. Even I can¡¯t.¡± Blood Shaman looked at Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°There¡¯s still time to withdraw.¡±


    With Blood Shaman admitting it personally, everyone knew that their previous guess was right. Blood Shaman¡¯s ability was simply the natural enemy of humans.


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such power. Isn¡¯t this too ridiculous? With such power, how can humans live in the future?¡±


    ¡°Such power is too unfair to humans.¡±


    ¡°Child, you are still too naive. There¡¯s nothing fair in this world.¡±


    ¡°Human¡¯s really in danger this time. He can¡¯t use Companion Beasts. His combat strength has been greatly weakened.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Blood Shaman and said calmly, ¡°I¡¯ll naturally withdraw when I¡¯m about to die.¡±


    Blood Shaman didn¡¯t say anything else. However, the sanguine light on his body became stronger and stronger. It turned into blood-colored flames that enveloped his entire body like a blood shadow.


    Terror-grade? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised when he saw the change in Blood Shaman¡¯s strength.


    He wasn¡¯t surprised that Blood Shaman was at the Terror grade. It would be strange if it wasn¡¯t at the Terror grade if he could seal even Banana Fairy.


    To his surprise, although Blood Shaman had turned into his Terror form, his body didn¡¯t completely disappear. The average person could still see his figure.


    Only some special Terror transformations would have such an effect. For example, the gigantification of Jade Rabbit.


    ¡°This is your last chance to live. If I attack, I won¡¯t show any mercy.¡± Blood Shaman floated in the air like a divine blood shadow, illuminating the entire arena with blood-red light.


    Wang Lu held her hands together in worry. Although Zhou Wen was very strong, how could he fight the Terror-grade Blood Shaman without the help of his Companion Beasts?


    Others believed that Zhou Wen was a human who had fused with a Guardian, but Wang Lu and company knew very well that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t fused with a Guardian.


    When they had parted, Zhou Wen was only at the Epic stage.


    Although they didn¡¯t know what method Zhou Wen had used to get on the rankings, it was already impressive that he had advanced to the Mythical stage. It was impossible for him to advance to the Terror grade in such a short period of time.


    Many of the spectators were equally worried.


    ¡°Since you are standing here, you are an enemy. Why are we talking about mercy?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently. He was determined to defeat all humans with Guardians. Unless he was at his wits¡¯ end, he definitely wouldn¡¯t give up easily.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I was wrong.¡± With that said, the anthropomorphic blood shadow charged at Zhou Wen and slashed down like a blade.


    His speed was so fast that ordinary humans couldn¡¯t keep up with him. Even though he didn¡¯t disappear after his Terror transformation, ordinary people couldn¡¯t see his actions.


    However, Zhou Wen could clearly see that although Blood Shaman was very fast, it wasn¡¯t much faster than a top Mythical creature. Its speed couldn¡¯t even compare to some top Speed-type Mythical creatures.


    Zhou Wen knew that this meant that Blood Shaman¡¯s stats weren¡¯t very high. Perhaps, just like Banana Fairy, he had just slightly exceeded 82, so he wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage in terms of stats.


    His Speed attribute had already broken past 70.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t underestimate Blood Shaman because of this. The other party¡¯s Terror form definitely had its benefits. Although their stats were similar, he couldn¡¯t treat him as a Mythical creature.


    With a wave of his hand, a white wooden club appeared in his hand.


    This wooden club wasn¡¯t transformed from a Companion Beast. It was something Zhou Wen had picked up from the mountain god who had sacrificed the white deer and condensed the Blood Oxypetalum.


    Apart from the white wooden club, there was also a metal disc that resembled a gong.


    There was no way to use a Companion Beast now, and Bamboo Blade was too eye-catching. Others would recognize him at a glance, so he had no choice but to use these.


    1


    After condensing his forces, Zhou Wen used the white wooden club as a sword and charged at Blood Shaman with an intense sword aura. He wanted to see how strong a Terror-grade creature like Blood Shaman was.


    Dressed in Absolute Defense armor, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to worry that Blood Shaman could instantly kill him.

 Chapter 1101 - Suppressing A Terror-Grade Creature

    Translator: CKtalon


    Clang!


    The tip of the wooden club collided with Blood Shaman¡¯s saber. Zhou Wen immediately felt an immense force strike him as he was sent flying along with the club.


    However, when Zhou Wen was in midair, he had already used borrowed force to dissipate the enemy force. He was like an immortal that flew backward in the wind. When he landed, the force was completely deflected.


    Zhou Wen roughly knew that Blood Shaman¡¯s strength was indeed stronger than his, but it wasn¡¯t much stronger. It was probably around eighty.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand what the ability obtained after Blood Shaman¡¯s Terror transformation was.


    Only a Terror-grade power could kill a Terror-grade, but the Terror transformation of Blood Shaman wasn¡¯t as powerful as he imagined.


    Blood Shaman sized up the wooden club in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand as though he was puzzled.


    He blocked it! The spectators felt mixed emotions when they saw Zhou Wen block Blood Shaman¡¯s strike. Although he was at a disadvantage, he wasn¡¯t severely injured.


    It was undoubtedly a good thing that Human could fight Blood Shaman, but this also indirectly proved that Human couldn¡¯t be a pure human. This was because it was impossible for a pure human to advance to the Mythical stage, much less fight a Terror-grade Guardian. This greatly disappointed many people who originally had fantasies that Human might be pure human.


    Although half-humans could be considered humans, people ultimately couldn¡¯t give up their prejudice. They yearned for pure humans to step onto the stage and compete with dimensional creatures.


    ¡°Is he really not pure human?¡± Li Benyi couldn¡¯t hide the disappointment on his face.


    ¡°It looks like I¡¯m overthinking it. How can a pure human be on the rankings?¡± Xia Liuchuan was somewhat disappointed. He really hoped that Human was pure human.


    There were many people like them, and they couldn¡¯t hide the disappointment on their faces.


    In the arena, Zhou Wen used his sword art to fight Blood Shaman. His sword art was all-encompassing and compatible with three thousand sword intents. He could use any one of them to fight Blood Shaman. As long as he didn¡¯t switch intents randomly, it would be difficult for anyone to recognize him as Zhou Wen.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Blood Shaman seemed much weaker than he imagined. It didn¡¯t have the suppression that a Terror-grade should have.


    Blood Shaman was faster and stronger than him, but the difference was limited. As for what abilities his Terror state had, Zhou Wen had yet to discover them.


    As for combat strength and techniques, although Blood Shaman was very strong, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t weaker than him. As such, Blood Shaman failed to showcase the horror of the Terror grade.


    Could it be that Blood Shaman¡¯s Terror transformation ability is only to seal Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen wondered.


    After all, being able to seal all Companion Beasts was a very transformative ability. However, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that Blood Shaman¡¯s Terror transformation¡¯s abilities weren¡¯t limited to that.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized the problem.


    This was because during the battle, Blood Shaman seemed to pay special attention to the white wooden club in his hand. He couldn¡¯t help but think to himself, Could it be that the reason why Blood Shaman hasn¡¯t unleashed his abilities is related to this wooden club?


    Is this wooden club that powerful? Its owner didn¡¯t seem that strong. It didn¡¯t take Truth Listener much effort to kill it back then. Zhou Wen felt that it was somewhat unlikely, but other than that, he couldn¡¯t figure out why Blood Shaman couldn¡¯t produce the combat strength that a Terror-grade should have.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t taken the initiative to attack Blood Shaman because he knew that only a Terror-grade power could injure a Terror-grade. Therefore, he thought that it was useless even if he attacked. All he did was block.


    However, after having other thoughts, he immediately switched from defense to offense. He used the Heart Defying Sword and thrust his attacks at Blood Shaman¡¯s vital spots.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Blood Shaman really began dodging, not daring to let the white wooden club injure his body.


    Holy sh*t, Blood Shaman is really afraid of this wooden club! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. He never expected the item he had casually stored away to be so useful. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t tell what was so special about the wooden club.


    What¡¯s this wooden club? And that metal disc. Could they be something good? Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    With this turn of events, Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks became even more ferocious. With the deterrence of the white wooden club, he forcefully suppressed Blood Shaman. Blood Shaman slowly began to retreat.


    ¡°Is that Blood Shaman at the Terror grade? It looks very weak?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not that Blood Shaman is weak, but that Human is too strong. That sword art is simply godlike.¡±


    ¡°But his body looks very normal. He doesn¡¯t look as strange as those creatures in their Terror form. Is he at the Terror grade?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s definitely at the Terror grade. Otherwise, how can he suppress the Terror-grade Blood Shaman?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. According to my experience, those Terror-grade bodies will have obvious changes. They might even become invisible to us, but Human remains of flesh and blood. He is still wearing ordinary clothes. From this point of view, he shouldn¡¯t have used the power of the Terror-grade. It¡¯s even possible that he¡¯s not at the Terror-grade at all.¡±


    ¡°If he¡¯s not a Terror-grade entity, how can he suppress Blood Shaman? Are you reading too much into it?¡±


    People were divided into two factions. One faction felt that Human wasn¡¯t at the Terror grade, while the other felt that Human was at the Terror grade. Even among the six families, many people had opposing views.


    The battle hadn¡¯t even ended, but the media had already started a war of words.


    ¡°Human is definitely not at the Terror grade.¡±


    ¡°How can he suppress the Terror-grade Blood Shaman if he¡¯s not at the Terror grade?¡±


    ¡°Our Human is just strong. As a Mythical, he can defeat a Terror-grade creature. Can¡¯t you just accept it?¡±


    ¡°ZZ, have you ever seen a Mythical creature fight a Terror-grade? Even Ya can only fight Jiuyue after breaking through to the Terror grade. Please wake up and stop fantasizing.¡±


    ¡°Ya is Ya, and Human is Human. Ya can¡¯t fight the Terror grade at the Mythical stage, but Human can.¡±


    As the two factions were embroiled in a heated argument, someone weakly said, ¡°Could Human really be pure human? Without a Companion Beast, he¡¯s only wearing human clothes and an ordinary helmet. He doesn¡¯t seem to be a half-human like Ya.¡±


    Such a suggestion was quickly denounced by the two factions.


    ¡°Do you have any common sense? It¡¯s impossible for humans to break through to the Mythical stage by themselves.¡±


    ¡°Brother, although I also hope that Human is pure human, it seems impossible from what we know.¡±


    In an ancient temple on a plateau, Jing Daoxian looked at the white wooden club in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and frowned as though he was thinking about something. After a while, he muttered to himself, ¡°That wooden club¡­ Could it be the Mourning Stick of the Impermanence ghosts¡­ Where did this punk get it from¡­¡±


    2

 Chapter 1102 - Ganking

    Translator: CKtalon


    Celestial Gods¡­ Di Tian¡¯s palace¡­


    An enchanting woman looked at the battle in the cube as her beautiful face revealed a look of surprise. ¡°What¡¯s that wooden club? It can actually withstand Blood Shaman¡¯s Blood Thinning powers?¡±


    Di Tian said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s a Terror item of the extreme Yin attribute. Furthermore, it has reached the level of a physical weapon. How can such a level of Blood Thinning power injure it? If that thing was in the hands of its true owner, Blood Shaman would already be dead.¡±


    ¡°In that case, it¡¯s impossible for Blood Shaman to win. Then, we can only hope that the kings of the various races can reach an agreement and kick that person out,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for that. Although Blood Shaman no longer has a chance, it has given us an important piece of information,¡± Di Tian said slowly.


    ¡°What important information?¡± The woman was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know what Guardian that person has fused with, I can now confirm that he hasn¡¯t reached the Terror grade. All he can rely on is that Terror-grade Companion Beast and the corporeal Terror weapon in his hand. As long as one can resolve these two things, he won¡¯t be able to withstand a single blow from the Terror grade,¡± Di Tian said casually.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy, right? His Companion Beast in her Terror form is too powerful. Typical Terror-grade creatures aren¡¯t her match at all. Which Guardian would be her match if that Companion Beast could be summoned? However, Blood Shaman is afraid of that wooden club. There¡¯s no chance of winning,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Since there¡¯s no chance for a single Blood Shaman, add a few more to the lineup.¡± Di Tian slowly stood up.


    ¡°Your Excellency, it doesn¡¯t seem appropriate to change the rules of the cube without the approval of the various races, right?¡± The woman immediately understood what Di Tian was trying to do.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to change the rules. As the host of this cube battle, I still have this tiny bit of authority.¡± As Di Tian spoke, he took a step forward and passed through space, heading towards the cube.


    As everyone watched in excitement, Zhou Wen constantly attacked while Blood Shaman retreated in defeat. However, when they suddenly saw a distorted light descend from the void, their hearts skipped a beat.


    Indeed, the distorted shadow that had appeared a few times previously appeared above the cube¡¯s arena again.


    ¡°What does he want again?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that he wants to change the rules because they can¡¯t beat us again?¡±


    ¡°What else do they know other than changing the rules?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just kick Human out? You¡¯ve already done it once anyway.¡±


    ¡°People can¡¯t be so shameless.¡±


    ¡°People naturally can¡¯t be so shameless. Unfortunately, they aren¡¯t humans.¡±


    ¡°They are beasts.¡±


    The spectators were angry and frustrated as they mocked loudly. Unfortunately, it was useless. Their voices couldn¡¯t reach the cube, so Di Tian couldn¡¯t hear them. Even if he could hear them, he wouldn¡¯t care. He would only smack them to death with a swat.


    Di Tian looked down at the arena and spoke like a god who ruled over everything. ¡°In order to quickly determine first place, the top ten creatures on the rankings can immediately enter the arena to fight. The loser will be immediately eliminated. The rules from before remain unchanged. Every creature only has one chance to issue a challenge.¡±


    After speaking, Di Tian tore through the air and returned to the palace of the Celestial Gods.


    After everyone heard that, they subconsciously looked at the rankings and immediately cursed.


    ¡°F*ck you. Apart from Human in the top ten, the rest are Guardians. Isn¡¯t letting them in merely to have them gank Human?¡±


    ¡°Shameless.¡± The Zhang family¡¯s hot-tempered eldest uncle cursed out loud.


    ¡°Do they have any shame?¡±


    Everyone was extremely furious. They wished they could spit at them and drown the creatures of the dimension.


    However, despite cursing, several Guardians in the top ten had already entered the arena. In just a moment, eight Guardians in the top ten had arrived.


    There was only one Guardian in the top ten who didn¡¯t participate.


    ¡­


    On an island overseas, a cultured young man was about to board the cube when he suddenly retreated.


    A figure appeared where the young man had stood as though he had teleported. It was none other than the Terror-grade Guardian, Cave Era.


    ¡°You¡¯d better stay behind and not go anywhere,¡± said Cave Era as she looked at the young man.


    ¡°Why?¡± The young man wasn¡¯t angry as he asked with a smile.


    ¡°Because you can¡¯t go on stage,¡± said Cave Era.


    ¡°I¡¯m also in the top ten. Why can¡¯t I go on stage?¡± the young man asked again.


    ¡°Do you want to kill that Human after you go on stage, or do you want to help him?¡± Cave Era asked.


    ¡°Help him,¡± the young man answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you can¡¯t go on stage.¡±


    ¡°What if I have to go?¡± The smile on the young man¡¯s face vanished as he became serious.


    ¡°Defeat me and you can go,¡± Cave Era said.


    The young man suddenly laughed. ¡°Sis, stop joking. Your Guardian is already at the Terror grade, but my Guardian hasn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade. How can I defeat you?¡±


    ¡°Then stay here obediently and be a spectator,¡± said Cave Era.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The young man walked towards Cave Era, but his eyes were on the cube¡¯s screen. ¡°Sis, do you think that person has a chance of defeating the ganking of those Guardians?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no chance¡­¡± Before Cave Era could say anything, the young man suddenly attacked. He pressed a hand on Cave Era¡¯s shoulder and a flower vine wrapped around her body, instantly wrapping her up like a mummy.


    Taking advantage of this moment, the young man rushed towards the cube, wanting to enter the cube¡¯s arena.


    However, just as he rushed to the cube, he saw Cave Era standing on it.


    ¡°You can go if you want, but defeat me first,¡± Cave Era said coldly as she looked at the young man.


    ¡°Sis, must we do this?¡± The young man sighed.


    ¡°Defeat me or watch the battle here,¡± said Cave Era expressionlessly.


    The young man stared at Cave Era. The gentleness on his face had vanished. He softly spat out two words. ¡°Fairy¡­ Burial¡­¡±


    1


    Petals surged out of his body and gradually condensed into a floral armor that enveloped his slender body.


    In the arena, the eight Guardians had already surrounded Zhou Wen from different directions. There were Guardians blocking his path in every single direction.


    Their goal was very clear. Just as people had guessed, they had no intention of engaging in a free-for-all battle. Their only target was Human.


    Furthermore, they had already obtained the news from the dimension. They knew that Human wasn¡¯t at the Terror grade at all. He was only at the Mythical stage. They had already guessed this from Zhou Wen¡¯s battle with Blood Shaman.

 Chapter 1103 - Mythical Immortal Slaying

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen looked at the Guardians and was surprisingly calm.


    Apart from Zhou Wen himself, there were a total of nine Guardians in the top ten and Blood Shaman wasn¡¯t among them. Zhou Wen only recognized two of them.


    Zhou Wen had seen Night Thearch, Cave Era, Jiuyue, and Great Skyfiend before. The stronger Guardians weren¡¯t in the top ten.


    The two Guardians Zhou Wen knew were Grim Demon and Fairy Burial, but among the eight Guardians in the arena, he didn¡¯t see them.


    Strange; even if Grim Demon and Fairy Burial are held back and can¡¯t enter the arena, there should be seven Guardians in the arena. Why are there eight? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think about who the additional person was because the eight Guardians had already surrounded him.


    Zhou Wen was at the Mythical stage and couldn¡¯t use Companion Beasts. The only reason he could suppress Blood Shaman was because of the white wooden club in his hand.


    Now that the eight Guardians had surrounded him, Zhou Wen felt the pressure. Even Zhou Wen was overwhelmed by the eight different powers and skills.


    Guardians that could enter the top ten naturally had their specialties. None of them were weak. If he encountered them normally, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for Zhou Wen to deal with them using various Companion Beasts.


    However, now that his Companion Beasts were restricted and he was kept busy by Blood Shaman, he didn¡¯t have the spare energy to deal with them.


    From the looks of it, there¡¯s only one way. Zhou Wen looked at Blood Shaman and knew that his only chance was to kill it. As long as he killed it, he could use his Companion Beasts. The eight Mythical Guardians would then be nothing to him.


    However, it was extremely difficult to kill the Terror-grade Blood Shaman under the siege of eight Guardians.


    Unfortunately, I can¡¯t use creatures other than Companion Beasts and Guardians on the cube. Otherwise, how difficult would it be to kill Blood Shaman if I summoned Jade Rabbit and Ice Maiden? Zhou Wen thought.


    1


    The humans watching naturally saw Zhou Wen¡¯s predicament.


    His sword art and movement techniques were stunning. While fighting Blood Shaman, he could still remain undefeated despite the siege of eight Guardians.


    However, everyone could tell that it was impossible for Human to persist. The pressure Blood Shaman gave him was too great, so he didn¡¯t have the excess strength to kill the other Guardians.


    ¡°This sword art and movement technique are too powerful. It definitely doesn¡¯t belong to humans.¡±


    ¡°Even if he¡¯s a half-human, he still has human blood flowing in him. As long as he treats himself as a human, he¡¯s a human.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s human to begin with. Ya is the same. So what if he fused with a Guardian? As long as he identifies as human, he¡¯s human.¡±


    ¡°His determination is obvious from using ¡®Human¡¯ as his name.¡±


    Zhou Wen was able to remain undefeated despite fighting nine alone. His god-like sword art and movement techniques were shocking. It also made most of the audience¡¯s acknowledgment of him intensify. They even began to ignore the fact that he might be a half-human.


    However, everyone also knew that no matter how strong Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art and movement techniques were, that was all. If this continued, he would only be defeated.


    The stronger Zhou Wen¡¯s performance was, the more regretful the outcome would be.


    ¡°Ya is like this, and so is Human. Are we humans destined to be toyed with by the dimension?¡±


    Anger and indignation gradually rose in everyone¡¯s hearts. They yearned to rush into the arena and fight alongside Zhou Wen.


    However, there was nothing they could do. All they could do was watch as Zhou Wen was besieged. They had nowhere to vent their anger.


    It wasn¡¯t only pity for Zhou Wen, but also hatred for their own incompetence. At the same time, it was indignation and shame at having their fates controlled.


    They could fully empathize with Zhou Wen¡¯s predicament. The humiliation made them feel terrible.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t humans become the King of Earth? We are the masters of Earth.¡± Anger and humiliation intertwined in their hearts. Instantly, the spectators fell silent. No one said a word as they quietly watched Zhou Wen being attacked by the Guardians, waiting for the outcome they didn¡¯t wish to see.


    Seeing that Human¡¯s situation was worsening, more and more people fell silent. In front of the countless cubes on Earth, most of them were silent.


    Even the media streamers who did live-stream analysis spoke less. They almost stopped interpreting the current situation.


    This was because even if they didn¡¯t provide an interpretation, they could tell from the slow-motion camera that Human was in a dire situation. Defeat was only a matter of time.


    ¡°This silence isn¡¯t bad. Low-grade creatures should be reserved,¡± the woman beside Di Tian said with a smile.


    Di Tian said indifferently, ¡°From the looks of it, the silence will continue.¡±


    The situation was becoming more and more disadvantageous for Zhou Wen. He had already used his movement techniques and sword art to their limits, but it was still difficult for him to gain the upper hand in the siege.


    Zhou Wen had already made up his mind. He gripped the white wooden stick in his hand tightly and circulated Slaughterer Life Soul.


    This was the only Life Soul he could use without carving it. It was also the power he needed to use Immortal Slaying.


    However, ever since Zhou Wen advanced to the Mythical stage, he hadn¡¯t used Immortal Slaying. He only knew that as his Life Soul grew and his stats increased, Immortal Slaying¡¯s might should be much stronger than before.


    Yet, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure how much status Immortal Slaying had grown and if he could kill Blood Shaman under the siege of the Guardians.


    However, at this stage, he could only give it a shot. If he didn¡¯t succeed, he would have to admit defeat and leave the arena.


    As Slaughterer¡¯s power fused with Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen immediately felt a strange power infuse into his body, making his entire body feel like it was about to sublimate.


    This feeling was somewhat different from when he had used Slaughterer in the past. In the past, Slaughterer seemed to hug him, pushing his body to erupt with power.


    Although it could give Zhou Wen immense strength, he felt a little estranged.


    Now, Slaughterer¡¯s strength had perfectly fused with his body. There was no barrier between them, allowing Zhou Wen to deeply sense Slaughterer¡¯s strength.


    No, it should be said that the power seemed to be a part of Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It was no different from his own strength. Even though he had never used the Mythical Slaughterer, the moment the power entered his body, it had already fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s own strength.


    The white wooden club in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand was still a wooden club without any blade, but it suddenly gave off an indomitable and strange feeling.


    Blood Shaman and the eight Mythical Guardians felt their hearts palpitate as though they had sensed something.


    However, before they could react, Zhou Wen had already brandished the white wooden club in his hand.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s swing didn¡¯t seem fast. Ignoring a Terror-grade expert and Mythical Guardian like Blood Shaman, even ordinary humans could see it clearly.

 Chapter 1104 - Kicking Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Everyone saw this strike clearly. Even the media broadcast didn¡¯t need to use slow-motion replays to see it clearly.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean that the strike wasn¡¯t fast. On the contrary, not only was it fast, but it also gave off that indomitable and unyielding feeling.


    Elegance was the word to describe the beauty of its gentleness, while unyielding described the beauty of masculinity. These were two extremes that shouldn¡¯t have been used to describe the same thing at the same time.


    1


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s strike had perfectly fused the two opposing beauties into one. It gave off an elegant yet sharp feeling.


    What was even stranger was that everyone saw the slash clearly. Blood Shaman and the eight Guardians also saw it clearly.


    However, for some reason, they saw all the minute movements of this move, but their bodies didn¡¯t seem to obey their orders. They watched helplessly as the white wooden club slashed at their necks, but their bodies couldn¡¯t react or do anything.


    Seven heads were beheaded almost at the same time. Only Blood Shaman¡¯s body emitted a sanguine glow as blood spewed out from his body. He transformed into a blood shadow and flew away, instantly admitting defeat and leaving the arena.


    1


    The originally noisy arena immediately fell silent, leaving only the sounds of the heads and corpses of the seven Mythical Guardians falling to the ground.


    And in front of the cubes around the world, it was even quieter than the arena.


    Everyone¡¯s expressions changed from shock to pleasant surprise, then to wild joy. After a moment of silence, cheers resounded into the sky.


    ¡°He¡¯s so powerful¡­ He killed seven Guardians ranked in the top ten in one strike and even severely injured the Terror-grade Blood Shaman, forcing it to admit defeat. This is too sick¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen such a terrifying move. When I saw that slash, I thought I would be sliced into two.¡±


    ¡°If a divine technique can even make a Terror-grade Guardian flee, who can match it? First place will definitely be Human¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°In theory, Human¡¯s definitely number one, but who knows what other cheap tricks those b*stards from the dimension will pull.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that those fellows will deal with Human like they dealt with Ya. If that happens, no matter how strong Human is, it¡¯ll be impossible to obtain first place.¡±


    ¡­


    As everyone discussed fervently, Di Tian¡¯s eyes were filled with surprise.


    ¡°What a powerful move. Thankfully, he¡¯s only at the Mythical stage. If he were at the Terror grade, even Blood Shaman probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape death.¡± The woman continued in surprise, ¡°Once Blood Shaman is defeated, who can match him?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Di Tian shook his head and said, ¡°The monarchs of the various races have already come to a conclusion. They are going to use the cube¡¯s rules to kick him out.¡±


    The woman heaved a long sigh of relief and said, ¡°That¡¯s for the best. I didn¡¯t expect there to be an outcome so quickly.¡±


    Di Tian said coldly, ¡°They know very well that the Dimensional Wheel can never land in the hands of humans. That strike just now was the main reason they made the decision so quickly.¡±


    With that said, Di Tian stood up. As the host of the cube battle, after obtaining the permission of the various races, he could activate the cube¡¯s rules and kick Zhou Wen out.


    However, this method of kicking wasn¡¯t a proper process. Di Tian had to personally arrive in front of the cube before he could change the rules and kick Zhou Wen out.


    However, he didn¡¯t immediately head to the cube. Instead, he summoned a warrior from the Celestial Gods and asked, ¡°How¡¯s the progress of the Body Cleansing Stone?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already obtained it. We¡¯re escorting it back,¡± the warrior answered.


    ¡°Get them to send the Body Cleansing Stone directly to the cube.¡± As Di Tian spoke, he walked towards the cube.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. The might of the Immortal Slaying Strike exceeded his imagination. He originally wanted to kill Blood Shaman, but he had never expected to slay the seven Guardians together.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the main reason for Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise. What truly surprised him was that the Immortal Culling Sword that Zhou Wen had kept beside him hadn¡¯t reacted previously, but when he used Immortal Slaying, the Immortal Culling Sword had reacted.


    No one challenged him again. Everyone was frightened by the seven Guardians¡¯ corpses. Unless a Terror-grade expert appeared, no one would dare to challenge Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave the arena. He knew that the dimension definitely wouldn¡¯t let the matter rest after his huge commotion and his killing of seven Guardians in one strike. He was afraid that he would soon receive the same treatment as Ya.


    As Zhou Wen expected, just as everyone was still immersed in the unbelievable strike of Human, they suddenly saw the black cube glow brightly as the entire arena¡¯s space distorted.


    The ¡°Human¡± word in first place was gradually disappearing.


    ¡°Screw you. Again.¡±


    ¡°I knew those bastards would use this move again. If they can¡¯t beat him, they¡¯ll just kick him.¡±


    Everyone immediately knew what had happened. They were even more furious, but they could only watch as the number one ¡°Human¡± on the rankings gradually vanished.


    Zhou Wen felt a strange power descend on him as though it wanted to sever something from his body. The power couldn¡¯t be seen or touched, and the thing it slashed wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s body. If an ordinary person couldn¡¯t sense it, they would have been kicked out.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny had been engraved with the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Its power played its role, allowing Zhou Wen to sense the strange power.


    At the same time, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder was activated by the power. The scripture book that had been closed automatically opened.


    This development left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback. He had never seen such a change when he was at the Epic stage, nor had he seen the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder open.


    The terrifying power was absorbed by the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It was just like when Zhou Wen entered a dimensional zone and encountered a taboo power.


    The entire Heaven-Opening Scripture emitted scorching energy. What was different from before was that if the taboo power the Heaven-Opening Scripture could withstand exceeded its limits, it would spread out and be borne by Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    This time, nothing like that happened. The energy didn¡¯t radiate. Instead, it gradually condensed on the page of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, forming a sutra symbol.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the sutra symbol meant, but he could vaguely comprehend its true meaning.


    With the appearance of the sutra symbol, the mark of the Wheel of Destiny that should have vanished in a short period of time didn¡¯t disappear for a long time. It remained on the Wheel of Destiny.


    Many people cursed at the shamelessness of the dimension, believing that Human would be kicked out of the rankings like Ya. However, after the Human word in first place vanished halfway, it didn¡¯t continue disappearing. As for Zhou Wen¡¯s body, he wasn¡¯t kicked out of the arena.


    In the arena, Zhou Wen stood in midair as though an invisible force was resisting the distorted force in the arena. No matter how much the force in the arena changed, it failed to kick Zhou Wen out of the arena.


    Instead, the remaining half of the human characters on the rankings were glowing. The disappearing strokes were slowly reappearing.


    1


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Everyone looked at the word ¡®Human¡¯ on the rankings in surprise and delight. They all held their breaths as though they were afraid that they would blow the word away if they were so much as to exhale.

 Chapter 1105 - The Judge’s Battle

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°How can this be?¡± Standing in front of the cube, the woman staring at Di Tian wore a face filled with shock.


    Di Tian had clearly already erased Human¡¯s ranking on the cube, but that erased ranking actually gradually appeared again.


    Di Tian looked at the transformed cube in front of him and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. He attempted to wipe off the name ¡®Human¡¯ again, but the outcome was the same. Even if the ¡®Human¡¯ word on the ranking vanished, the Guardian in second place didn¡¯t advance.


    After a while, the word ¡®Human¡¯ reappeared.


    Seeing the words on the rankings disappear and reappear, many people were dumbfounded.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what kind of sh*t is this? An erased name can still get back on?¡±


    ¡°The sky is falling. Those fellows from the dimension can¡¯t kick Human away?¡±


    ¡°You can do that?¡±


    ¡°Haha, this is interesting. Those b*stards from the dimension can¡¯t kick Human away, nor can they beat him. If they don¡¯t have other means, I¡¯m afraid Human will be getting first place.¡±


    ¡°Awesome, those b*tches must be hopping mad now, right?¡±


    ¡°Amazing. How did he do it?¡±


    ¡­


    The various bigwigs of the dimension also wanted to know how it was done, but the cube itself was an ancient magical item. It wasn¡¯t man-made and had its own rules. The dimensional creatures¡¯ research on the cube was still ongoing. They could only use some loopholes in the rules to control it. It was far from being able to do whatever they wanted.


    Di Tian had already tried a few times, but the outcome was the same. He was unable to completely remove Human from the cube.


    The woman looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s figure through the cube¡¯s screen and said, ¡°Your Excellency, it¡¯s a good thing you had foresight and prepared the Body Cleansing Stone ahead of time. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid first place will really fall to that person.¡±


    Di Tian had already given up on modifying the cube¡¯s rules. Clearly, it was useless.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t really expect it to be used,¡± Di Tian said calmly.


    ¡°Your Excellency, who do you plan on letting use the power of the Body Cleansing Stone?¡± the woman asked.


    Di Tian didn¡¯t answer as he looked at Zhou Wen in the arena.


    The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder experienced the invasion of the cube¡¯s laws again and again. The sutra symbols in the sutra became more complete and brighter. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to deliberately engrave them on the Wheel of Destiny to maintain his state without disappearing.


    Finally, the word ¡®Human¡¯ on the rankings stopped changing and stabilized at first place.


    As the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder lost its energy supply, the sutra no longer changed. However, it didn¡¯t disappear. It froze.


    Zhou Wen quickly realized that even the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder was difficult to permanently store on the Wheel of Destiny. It only lasted a little longer and didn¡¯t immediately vanish. However, over time, the engravings would slowly disappear.


    However, this was extremely good news for Zhou Wen. This was because with the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder existing for a longer period of time. He didn¡¯t need to constantly engrave it. The time and effort he saved could be used to engrave other Essence Energy Arts, giving him the power of multiple Essence Energy Arts.


    ¡°Human¡¯s ranking has stabilized. Is him getting first place almost guaranteed?¡±


    ¡°It looks like the first place is secured.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t even kick him away. What other moves can they have? I think Human¡¯s definitely first.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯ll acknowledge this first place.¡±


    ¡°As everyone wishes.¡±


    Just as everyone thought that first place was definite this time and there shouldn¡¯t be any suspense, a beam shot down from the arena like a holy light descending from the sky.


    A distorted shadow slowly descended from the beam. This figure was very familiar to humans.


    However, when they saw him appear, everyone muttered inwardly, unsure what he was up to.


    Previously, this figure would change the rules every time it appeared, making it extremely disadvantageous for humans. No one knew how he would change the rules this time.


    ¡°Without a Guardian to defeat Human, it¡¯s useless no matter how the rules are changed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You can¡¯t kick Human away. No amount of tricks will work.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Why waste time? Can¡¯t you just let Human get first place?¡±


    Many people thought about it. It seemed that no matter how the rules changed, as long as no one could defeat Human, first place was undeniable.


    If someone could defeat Human in the arena in a clean fight, the dimension wouldn¡¯t have resorted to so many tricks.


    ¡°Old Zhou should be safe, right?¡± Although he couldn¡¯t figure out how the rules could be changed to kick Zhou Wen out, Li Xuan still had some doubts. He felt that things weren¡¯t that simple, so he asked Wei Ge.


    ¡°Unless there¡¯s someone who can defeat Zhou Wen and participate in the battle, it¡¯s useless changing the rules.¡± Wei Ge paused and said with a heavy expression, ¡°I¡¯m just afraid¡­¡±


    ¡°What are you afraid of?¡± Li Xuan pressed.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that Calamity-grade dimensional creatures will descend to participate in the battle,¡± Wei Ge said.


    ¡°No way, right? Dimensional creatures will be greatly suppressed on Earth. Just like the fellow who fought Ya previously. At most, he can only use the strength of a Terror-grade. Such a Calamity cannot defeat Old Zhou,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Wei Ge shook his head and said, ¡°I read quite a lot about ancient Mythical wars in the bureau. If there really were dimensional creatures participating in those ancient wars, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be as simple as a Terror-grade. There¡¯s a high chance that a Calamity-grade dimensional creature has existed on Earth. Perhaps they have a way to withstand the suppression of the rules on Earth.¡±


    ¡°No way. Wouldn¡¯t that mean Old Zhou is in danger?¡± Li Xuan¡¯s expression changed slightly. Just as he was about to say something, he suddenly saw a terrifying change in the arena.


    Previously, every time Di Tian descended, he was only a distorted humanoid figure without a corporeal body.


    However, the descent this time was completely different. As the light gradually descended, it gradually solidified.


    A gorgeous emperor¡¯s robe, long white hair, and the faintly discernible golden armor under the emperor¡¯s robe made Di Tian appear like a god gradually walking out of the beam of light. His body became more and more corporeal as his aura became more and more terrifying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you were right?¡± Li Xuan said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°From the looks of it.¡± Wei Ge shrugged helplessly.


    Can Coach defeat a Calamity-grade entity? Feng Qiuyan calmly analyzed, but no matter how he analyzed it, he felt that the chances of victory were extremely slim.


    Wang Lu hugged Ya¡¯er and didn¡¯t say a word. She just couldn¡¯t hide her worry.


    The ordinary people watching the battle realized what had happened as their expressions changed drastically.


    ¡°Are they sending the referee in because they can¡¯t beat him in a fight? Isn¡¯t this too shameless?¡±

 Chapter 1106 - Di Tian

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was solemn. He knew that the other party definitely wasn¡¯t cannon fodder that had come to die for it to descend at this moment. There was a high chance that it was a Calamity-grade existence.


    Furthermore, being able to preside over the cube battle meant that the other party¡¯s status in the dimension wasn¡¯t low.


    Banana Fairy was the first to be summoned. His Companion Beast equipment had already been restored. Truth Listener¡¯s earring constantly scanned the figure, but other than the powerful, terrifying aura, Truth Listener couldn¡¯t hear anything.


    2


    Zhou Wen already had the intention to retreat. Above the Mythical stage, there was a huge gap between every grade. For example, power below the Terror grade couldn¡¯t harm a Terror-grade creature.


    Calamity-grade entities had their own uniqueness. Even a Terror-grade entity was as weak as a baby in front of a Calamity-grade entity, much less Zhou Wen who had just entered the Mythical stage.


    If the dimensional creatures that descended really had the strength of the true Calamity grade, there was probably no chance of winning even if Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy were summoned.


    Zhou Wen planned on taking a look first. If he was certain that the other party was a true Calamity-grade, he would admit defeat and leave. Although Zhou Wen also wanted to take first place, his life was clearly more important.


    When Di Tian walked out of the light beam, Zhou Wen was very certain that this was definitely a complete Calamity grade, not the kind of Terror-grade Calamity idiot that Ya had defeated.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen chose to forfeit and admit defeat without giving Di Tian a chance to attack.


    Soon, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed. He had clearly given up and admitted defeat, but he hadn¡¯t been teleported out. He remained in the cube¡¯s arena.


    Zhou Wen constantly circulated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, but it was useless. The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder couldn¡¯t let him leave the arena.


    ¡°Do you want to forfeit and admit defeat? I¡¯m afraid you no longer have a chance.¡± Di Tian walked out of the beam of light as his body completely condensed. However, even though he was standing there, one wouldn¡¯t be able to see what he looked like with their eyes.


    Despite clearly feeling that he had seen him, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t describe what he looked like. He only felt that the person was like an emperor or god that brought about supreme pressure. Everything in the world seemed tiny and weak in front of him.


    Di Tian looked at Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°You have the nomological power on you, so you can ignore the cube¡¯s rules and prevent yourself from being kicked out. Since you want to stay so badly, I shall fulfill your wish and activate the cube¡¯s deathmatch mode. Now, the cube has completely severed its connection with the outside world¡¯s spacetime. It will only open again if one side dies. It¡¯s useless even if you can break the rules because there¡¯s no way out.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen knew that what Di Tian said was true. Otherwise, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder wouldn¡¯t be useless. His mind raced as he thought of all the possible ways of escape.


    ¡°Di Tian, Lord of the Celestial Gods,¡± Di Tian calmly replied.


    The Celestial Gods of the Octokind? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about the dimension, nor did he know much about the Calamity-grade powerhouses in the dimension. It just so happened that he knew that the Lord of the Celestial Gods was a Calamity-grade powerhouse.


    Due to Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen had learned some information regarding the Octokind. The Octokind were eight different dimensional races.


    Wang Mingyuan defeated the Dragon Gods¡¯ king and became the new Dragon King. According to Ice Maiden, six of the eight monarchs of the Octokind were at the Terror grade, while only two were at the Calamity grade. Di Tian was one of them and also the leader of the Octokind.


    Wang Mingyuan had snatched the Dragon King¡¯s position, but he hadn¡¯t touched Di Tian. From this, one could tell how terrifying Di Tian was.


    Now that Di Tian had personally descended to kill him and his retreat path had been severed, Zhou Wen immediately felt that things were going south.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen and Di Tian¡¯s conversation, the Federation was in an uproar.


    Di Tian clearly wanted Human¡¯s life, and not solely to kick him out.


    ¡°Do you want to leave behind your name before you die? To be killed by me is also a form of honor for you,¡± Di Tian said casually as though Zhou Wen¡¯s life was already in his hands.


    Zhou Wen had secretly drawn the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, hoping to use interstellar teleportation to see if he could teleport away.


    However, he was very disappointed. All the stars in the Pocket Universe were dim. Clearly, he couldn¡¯t teleport out from here.


    Since I can¡¯t leave, I can only give it my all. Zhou Wen gripped the white wooden club in his hand tightly. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, Banana Fairy used her Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind.


    A terrifying storm instantly enveloped the entire arena, sweeping towards Di Tian.


    At the same time that the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind stirred, Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and entered the Invisibility state. He used the Godfiend Era Energy Art he had just drawn to teleport behind Di Tian and unleashed Immortal Slaying while invisible.


    As for Demonic Neonate, she was secretly hiding in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms, waiting for an opportunity to take action.


    Di Tian floated in the air as he faced Banana Fairy¡¯s Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind. All he did was wave his sleeve. It was as though there was a world inside his sleeve. When the terrifying Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind rushed into his sleeve, it was like a rock sinking into the ocean. It only made his sleeve flutter a few times as though it was being caressed by a breeze.


    The invisible Zhou Wen was about to hit Di Tian with Immortal Slaying, but without even turning his head, Di Tian casually grabbed the white wooden club and threw Zhou Wen in front of him.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body slammed into the arena as blood spewed out of his mouth. He couldn¡¯t hold the white wooden club in his hand as it tumbled out.


    Di Tian didn¡¯t do a follow-up attack. Instead, he held the white wooden club and sized it up. Then, he muttered to himself, ¡°It¡¯s indeed the Mourning Stick. Unfortunately, it¡¯s not complete. It¡¯s just an incomplete item.¡±


    Banana Fairy was worried about Zhou Wen, so she flew over and stood in front of him. The banana leaf transformed into a fan that fanned at Di Tian.


    Di Tian waved his sleeve again, but this time, not only did he suck in Banana Fairy¡¯s wind, but the sleeve also became extremely huge as though it covered the void. There was a huge suction force inside that pulled Banana Fairy¡¯s body, causing her to involuntarily fly towards the sleeve.


    Banana Fairy tried her best to use her wind-elemental powers to escape the suction of the sleeve, but she was still pulled into it.


    Zhou Wen endured the pain and summoned Truth Listener.


    Even Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t move, so ordinary Mythical Companion Beasts were even more useless. In front of a Calamity-grade existence, an existence like Banana Fairy didn¡¯t have much room to resist. Now, the only power Zhou Wen could think of was Truth Listener.


    The moment Truth Listener was summoned, it charged at Di Tian. While in midair, the earrings on its six ears shattered one after another as its body constantly changed.


    Zhou Wen had only released a maximum of three earrings in the past. He didn¡¯t dare try any further as he didn¡¯t know what would happen if Truth Listener¡¯s six earrings were all released.


    However, now that it was a life-and-death situation, he couldn¡¯t care less.

 Chapter 1107 - : Six-Earring Destruction Leads to Calamity

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Truth Listener¡¯s fourth earring shattered, its body vanished. Ordinary people could only see a terrifying dark-gold behemoth charge at Di Tian before vanishing in midair.


    However, Zhou Wen could clearly see that Truth Listener had already entered its Terror form when it shattered the fourth earring.


    The fourth earring puts it in the Terror form. What will happen if all six earrings shatter? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he felt a chill.


    This was because after the fourth earring shattered, the connection between Truth Listener and him had become extremely weak. It was almost impossible to sense it.


    The moment the fifth earring shattered, Zhou Wen felt as though an invisible chain had been severed between them. He couldn¡¯t sense any information from Truth Listener.


    When the sixth earring shattered, Truth Listener had already rushed in front of Di Tian. However, at that instant, Truth Listener, which had vanished due to its Terror form, appeared in everyone¡¯s eyes again.


    At that moment, Truth Listener was like an ancient ferocious beast from hell. Its entire body shimmered with a dark golden glow, and its protruding fangs resembled crystal diamonds. The violent and ferocious aura it emitted made one shudder as it resembled an extremely evil beast.


    What was even more terrifying was that as Truth Listener appeared in everyone¡¯s vision again, the entire arena also discovered a strange change. A Door to Hell opened behind Truth Listener.


    The door was the same as Truth Listener¡¯s body. It was dark-gold in color and there were countless mysterious, beautiful runes engraved on it. They had a fatal allure that seemed to suck one¡¯s soul into the door.


    With the appearance of the Door to Hell, countless evil spirits and ferocious ghosts emerged from the ground. Arms extended from the ground as the Door to Hell opened. Terrifying ferocious beasts that had never been seen before rushed out.


    As for the Door to Hell, it emitted an even more terrifying aura and roar, as though there was an even more terrifying existence rushing out of it.


    Instantly, the entire arena seemed to turn into Shura hell. There were terrifying hellish evil spirits and ferocious beasts everywhere.


    As for the hellish aura that constantly spewed out from the Door of Hell, it filled the entire space. In the increasingly dense hellish aura, most Mythical creatures would quickly die, much less fight.


    Calamity grade! Zhou Wen was finally certain that Truth Listener, who had released the six earrings, had reached the height of a Calamity-grade entity.


    The power of a Terror-grade was indescribable, but after reaching the Calamity-grade, the power would transform into a Calamity Domain. Even if one were to see it, human strength would not be able to fight a Calamity-grade. They could only struggle and wait for death or wait for Lady Luck¡¯s blessing to survive the Calamity.


    As Truth Listener had already severed its connection with Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen was also affected by the death aura of Hell. In the death aura, the vitality in his body rapidly drained as his body began to age.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had Absolute Defense armor on him, allowing him to temporarily withstand the corrosion of Hell¡¯s death aura.


    However, the horde of evil spirits and ferocious beasts didn¡¯t identify Zhou Wen as a friend or Truth Listener¡¯s former owner. They surged towards him like a tidal wave, hoping to tear him to pieces.


    They looked extremely terrifying. Any one of them probably had the strength of a Mythical creature. With so many Mythical creatures swarming forward, even Zhou Wen felt his heart tremble.


    With the Mourning Stick snatched away by Di Tian, Zhou Wen immediately engraved Supreme Hell King on his Wheel of Destiny. The power of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra immediately descended on his body, augmenting it greatly.


    More importantly, after Supreme Hell King fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body, the hellish evil spirits and ferocious beasts seemed to show fear towards him. Or perhaps they treated him as one of them and stopped charging at him.


    Meanwhile, Truth Listener let out a ruthless roar. With the augmentation of the boundless death aura from Hell, it charged at Di Tian like a demonic god.


    A Calamity-grade Companion Beast! A glint flashed in Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes as he stared at Truth Listener. His expression changed as he fell into deep thought.


    How is that possible? How can a Calamity-grade Companion Beast appear on Earth? How long has it been since Essence Energy was revived? The woman following Di Tian was also stunned.


    It wasn¡¯t just the woman. Many races in the dimension watched this scene in shock. A Calamity-grade Companion Beast had actually appeared on Earth. It was unimaginable.


    In the eyes of ordinary people, all they could see was hell and countless evil spirits and ferocious beasts. It was as though the entire arena had turned into hell.


    However, they could no longer see Truth Listener¡¯s figure. Truth Listener¡¯s speed and ability far exceeded what human vision could capture, but such a scene was enough to let their imagination run wild.


    ¡°Could it be¡­ That¡¯s a Calamity-grade Companion Beast¡­¡±


    ¡°This is way too ridiculous. How can there be a Calamity-grade Companion Beast? This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡±


    ¡°Ignoring everything else, I really admire Human¡¯s Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°I originally thought that the Terror-grade humanoid Companion Beast was already the limit. I never expected¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s hope. Calamity versus Calamity. That Di Tian might not win. Human still has a chance of getting first place.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps¡­¡±


    Everyone was extremely excited. They originally believed that there was no hope, but they never expected Human to give them a huge surprise.


    ¡°Calamity-grade¡­ That¡¯s a Calamity-grade Companion Beast¡­ How did Young Master Wen do it?¡± An Sheng said excitedly.


    An Tianzuo looked at the hellish arena in the scene and fell silent for the first time.


    In Chess Mountain¡¯s base, An Jing and the troops on Chess Mountain who weren¡¯t on duty were watching the live broadcast on the sports field. When she saw Truth Listener showcase its Calamity-grade strength, An Jing¡¯s expression turned extremely complicated.


    That person seemed to be getting further and further away from her.


    ¡°Calamity-grade¡­ That¡¯s a Calamity-grade Companion Beast¡­ How did he do it?¡± The Zhang family¡¯s family head¡¯s eyes turned red.


    If the Zhang family had such a Companion Beast, how could the Holy Temple restrain them?


    It wasn¡¯t just the Zhang family. The core members of the other five families were also pleasantly surprised.


    The appearance of a Calamity-grade Companion Beast opened a new world for them. It made everyone know that not only could Companion Beasts resist Guardians, but they could even fight terrifying existences of the dimension. The potential of Companion Beasts was far greater than they imagined.


    Due to Truth Listener¡¯s Calamity Domain, the power of Strength¡¯s sleeve decreased drastically. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to unsummon Banana Fairy.


    As for Di Tian, he didn¡¯t continue forcefully sucking Banana Fairy because Truth Listener had already arrived in front of him with the boundless death aura and countless hellish evil spirits.


    2

 Chapter 1108 - : Humans Don’t Fight With The Heavens

    Translator: CKtalon


    Finish him! Zhou Wen could only secretly pray that Truth Listener could kill Di Tian. Otherwise, he really didn¡¯t have the strength to fight Di Tian.


    In fact, even Zhou Wen had never expected Truth Listener to reach the level of a Calamity. This was already a pleasant surprise.


    However, Truth Listener had completely severed its connection with him after reaching the Calamity grade. It was probably impossible to regain ownership of it. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell if it was a blessing or a curse.


    1


    If Truth Listener defeated Di Tian, would it count as him winning this battle? Or would Truth Listener kill him, its former owner?


    Looking at the ruthless Truth Listener that resembled a devil from hell, Zhou Wen felt that the possibility was very high.


    The entire power of hell seemed to lunge at Di Tian with Truth Listener. A look of surprise flashed in Di Tian¡¯s eyes, but he didn¡¯t show any intention of retreating. He slowly extended his palm to suppress it.


    With the movement of his palm, the sky was filled with gods and Buddhas. They flew around him as though Heaven had descended from the sky.


    The spectators were dumbfounded. What they saw was hell rising and the heaven descending. At the moment of this pandemonic collision, countless terrifying phenomena emerged.


    4


    If this scene hadn¡¯t happened in the cube¡¯s arena but on Earth, a huge city would have been destroyed by this strike.


    ¡°Is this the power of a Calamity-grade entity?¡± Everyone felt their hearts tremble. A single strike was enough to destroy the world. Gods, Buddhas, and ferocious beasts wreaked havoc everywhere. It was like hell on earth.


    They didn¡¯t dare imagine how many people would die if such a force erupted in human settlements. Even Mythical experts would probably die.


    ¡°No good!¡± Li Xuan exclaimed. This was because he saw the power of hell descending, and the power of the heaven constantly suppressing it.


    Zhou Wen also knew that things weren¡¯t good. Others couldn¡¯t see the clash between Truth Listener and Di Tian, but Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny allowed him to see some of it, especially when Truth Listener and Di Tian were motionless.


    Di Tian¡¯s palm pressed down on Truth Listener¡¯s dark-gold claws, forcefully suppressing it. Truth Listener¡¯s huge body was about to be pressed down into the arena.


    Boom!


    In the next second, Truth Listener¡¯s body had already landed on the arena. It propped its feet on the ground and used its claws to resist Di Tian¡¯s palm, but its back was bent from the suppression.


    The hellish scene was almost completely shattered by the scene of heaven. Truth Listener and Di Tian¡¯s figures appeared.


    Upon seeing Truth Listener being suppressed by a single hand of Di Tian, its body slowly arching as it started to kneel on the ground, everyone was shocked.


    Such a powerful Companion Beast was actually suppressed by Di Tian to the point of being unable to stand. What powerful strength was this?


    They didn¡¯t know that as the leader of the Octokind, Di Tian was a top-notch existence among the Calamity grade entities. Although Truth Listener had entered the Calamity grade, its method of entering the Calamity grade had actually been through a trick. It could only be considered as having just entered the Calamity grade, so there was still a gap between it and Di Tian.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. Even such a powerful Companion Beast can¡¯t fight dimensional creatures. Dimensional creatures are just too powerful.¡± Someone sighed, but most people were silent.


    Di Tian¡¯s strength and invincibility had already been deeply imprinted in the minds of every human. It made them feel an indescribable sense of powerlessness. They felt as if their strength had been sucked away.


    It wasn¡¯t that they really didn¡¯t have any strength left. It was just that they were suffering from too much despair in their hearts. The mental blow was too great and they were too disappointed.


    So what if they could nurture Companion Beasts to be as powerful as Human¡¯s Companion Beasts? They would still be suppressed by dimensional creatures with one hand.


    Humans weren¡¯t afraid of difficulties, but they were afraid of not seeing hope. And Di Tian¡¯s strength had already made many people despair.


    Even if humans rely on external forces, they are far from being able to fight dimensional creatures. This thought was buried deep in their hearts.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time for such wistful thoughts. This was because he knew that Truth Listener¡¯s defeat meant that he would die. It would be impossible for Di Tian to spare him.


    What should I do? How can I turn the tables? Countless plans flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but he rejected them all.


    No matter how powerful a technique was, it was useless in front of absolute strength. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of any strength he had that could match Di Tian.


    Sigh of the King? Zhou Wen finally thought of his strange Life Providence.


    However, ever since he had forcefully reversed the Wheel of Destiny, the Sigh of the King had had no reaction at all. Perhaps it was completely disappointed in him so it no longer gave him any feedback.


    Zhou Wen kept trying, but the Sigh of the King didn¡¯t stir.


    What a pity. Truth Listener¡¯s evolution was too fast. If it had been a little slower, it might still have had a chance. In a cave at the foot of Chess Mountain, there was an extremely beautiful woman chained up. The woman looked at the phone screen in front of her and sighed. I originally thought that I could find someone compatible with me to escape, but who knew that it would be such a suicidal fellow. From the looks of it, I can only continue searching for others. I wonder how long I¡¯ll have to wait.


    Even a powerhouse like The Thearch believed that Zhou Wen no longer had a chance.


    A battle between Calamity-grade creatures wasn¡¯t something ordinary creatures could participate in. Unless Zhou Wen had a second Calamity Companion Beast, the outcome was set.


    What a pity. Jing Daoxian, who was in the ancient temple, also sighed. However, it was unknown if he felt pity for Truth Listener or Zhou Wen.


    Wang Lu, Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, Wei Ge, and company had their hearts in their throats. They knew that Truth Listener¡¯s defeat would spell Zhou Wen¡¯s death, but no one had the ability to help him. All they could do was watch helplessly and pray for a miracle.


    God, help him. At the very least, let him live. Wang Lu could only pray for God¡¯s help. However, her level was too low. Even with the augmentation of her Life Providence, the effects were minute.


    Boom!


    One of Truth Listener¡¯s legs touched the ground as it half-knelt. It roared angrily as dark golden blood seeped out of its seven orifices. Its entire body exerted all its strength, but it was unable to stand up under the huge hand. Furthermore, it was constantly bending under the pressure.


    Crack!


    Truth Listener¡¯s other leg supported its body by pressing against the ground as it refused to yield. However, it was snapped by the terrifying pressure, revealing its broken bones.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ferocious nature erupted as it crazily unleashed its strength, but it was useless. Only blood flowed out from its fracture, dyeing the arena red.


    ¡°Humans don¡¯t fight with the heavens. Slaves don¡¯t fight with the master. This is the law of the world. It¡¯s also destined. This is the consequence of going against the will of the heavens.¡± Di Tian¡¯s voice was like divine thunder that spread to every corner of the world.


    Anger, indignation, helplessness, sorrow, despair, and other emotions spread in everyone¡¯s hearts, but there was nothing they could do.


    Di Tian stood there with the vantage of a god and looked down on all human beings. Even if there was any indignation, they were powerless to knock that god off his pedestal. At this moment, saying anything was just inviting insults

 Chapter 1109 - Immortal Culling Sword

    Translator: CKtalon


    The oppressive atmosphere spread silently. Everyone¡¯s hearts were extremely heavy. The area in front of almost all the cubes was dead silent.


    An Tianzuo stood up and stared intently at the screen. An Sheng¡¯s nervous palms were covered in sweat.


    ¡°You have to come back alive.¡± Ouyang Lan sat in front of the television with the remote control in her hand. Her body involuntarily trembled.


    Boom!


    Truth Listener¡¯s body was pressed onto the arena. The Door to Hell behind it shattered and vanished into thin air. The numerous evil spirits and ferocious beast phenomena also vanished.


    Looking at Truth Listener struggling on stage, everyone¡¯s hearts turned cold. All their indignation and anger vanished.


    Anger was useless, and no justice came from it, so what was the point of being angry?


    As Truth Listener was suppressed to the ground, the phenomena of deities descended. Countless deities attacked Zhou Wen from all sides.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was his last chance. If Truth Listener was killed and he didn¡¯t have any powers to restrain Di Tian, he would have even less of a chance.


    Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t made a move all this while. Clearly, she couldn¡¯t find a chance to attack. Facing the Calamity-grade Di Tian, her strength was still too weak.


    He summoned Banana Fairy again. Banana Fairy protected Zhou Wen and blew out Supreme Yin Wind, blowing away the deities.


    However, in Di Tian¡¯s Calamity Domain, the power of the Supreme Yin Wind was greatly restricted. It could only blow them away, but it couldn¡¯t take their lives. It was also impossible to blow them out of the arena.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen held the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand.


    With the white wooden club snatched away, Zhou Wen¡¯s most powerful weapon was the Ice Dragon King¡¯s Terror Item. However, the Terror item was of limited threat to a Calamity. Even if he used it, it probably wouldn¡¯t be of much use.


    Under the ratman¡¯s control, the Immortal Culling Sword had once erupted with extraordinary combat strength. Furthermore, when Zhou Wen used Immortal Slaying, the Immortal Culling Sword had once trembled.


    Now, Zhou Wen could only try his best. He took out the Immortal Culling Sword to give it a try. If it was really the legendary sword, he might be able to create a miracle.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that the possibility was slim. If it was really the Immortal Culling Sword, how could it have been in the ratman¡¯s hands?


    Zhou Wen held the Immortal Culling Sword and fused with Slaughterer again to deliver Immortal Slaying.


    However, the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand didn¡¯t slash out. The sword seemed to freeze in midair, preventing Zhou Wen from swinging it no matter how hard he tried.


    Furthermore, the Immortal Culling Sword was trembling slightly. The frequency at which the sword trembled was very similar to the frequency at which Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy fluctuated when he used Immortal Slaying.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s horror, his palm seemed to be stuck to the hilt. He couldn¡¯t shake it off no matter how hard he tried. Furthermore, his Essence Energy was crazily surging into the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Zhou Wen had always believed that Slaughterer provided him with infinite Essence Energy that wouldn¡¯t dry up no matter how much he used it.


    However, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that the Essence Energy provided by Slaughterer didn¡¯t seem to be truly infinite. It was only because there had been too much in the past that Zhou Wen felt that it was infinite no matter how he used it.


    However, the amount of Essence Energy that the Immortal Culling Sword extracted exceeded the Essence Energy provided by Slaughterer.


    If the Essence Energy provided by Slaughterer was the sea, then the Immortal Culling Sword was a behemoth that devoured the sea. When the massive amount of Essence Energy was sucked into the Immortal Culling Sword, there wasn¡¯t much of a reaction. Only the frequency at which the Immortal Culling Sword vibrated increased.


    Even Zhou Wen¡¯s body frequency was affected by the Immortal Culling Sword as it trembled slightly.


    This trembling was very mild and almost undetectable, but Zhou Wen knew that the change in frequency had given the original Immortal Slaying a qualitative breakthrough.


    This was originally a good thing, but the Essence Energy provided by Slaughterer was no longer able to withstand the absorption of the Immortal Culling Sword. The Essence Energy turned from an ocean to a river, and then from a river to a stream before gradually drying up.


    After Slaughterer¡¯s Essence Energy was drained, Zhou Wen¡¯s body became the subsequent sacrifice. His essence, vitality, spirit, and even his flesh and blood were sucked towards the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Zhou Wen was only at the Mythical stage and didn¡¯t have as much Essence Energy as Slaughterer. How could he withstand the suction? Instantly, his body was sucked dry.


    Demonic Neonate, who was in his arms, sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s predicament. She pressed her tiny hand on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest as large amounts of her Essence Energy surged into his body. Finally, the Immortal Culling Sword stopped absorbing Zhou Wen¡¯s flesh and blood and instead absorbed Demonic Neonate¡¯s Essence Energy.


    1


    Demonic Neonate had an abundant supply of Essence Energy, as though it wasn¡¯t inferior to Slaughterer. It was even more massive, but even so, under the crazy absorption of the Immortal Culling Sword, it rapidly decreased.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Essence Energy that Demonic Neonate had injected into his body was decreasing.


    Before long, the Essence Energy in Demonic Neonate¡¯s body gradually dried up. As for Demonic Neonate¡¯s tiny hand, it remained pressed against Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    Zhou Wen could see that Demonic Neonate¡¯s body was gradually fading. Soon, it became as transparent as jelly.


    Demonic Neonate was a Companion Beast and not an ordinary creature. Her body was formed from pure energy, and her body gradually turned transparent. It could only mean one thing. Demonic Neonate had given him the last of her energy. Once her energy was completely absorbed, she would completely disappear.


    ¡°Leave me.¡± Zhou Wen forcefully engraved the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and used the last of his willpower to forcefully flick Demonic Neonate out and terminate her Companion Beast relationship with him, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t control her.


    As for Demonic Neonate¡¯s body, it became increasingly transparent. At this speed, it would probably only take a few seconds before it completely vanished.


    Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. He knew that even if he forcefully removed his relationship with Demonic Neonate in the arena, Demonic Neonate wouldn¡¯t be able to escape. She would ultimately die.


    Even if you have to die, you have to die after me. I¡¯m a very selfish person. I don¡¯t wish to grieve for others. Zhou Wen immediately injected his remaining strength into the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Demonic Neonate was, after all, transmitting energy indirectly. She couldn¡¯t do it as directly as Zhou Wen. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s guidance, her already emaciated body, which was almost sucked dry, experienced a certain level of improvement.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought he was about to die, an energy suddenly erupted from his body. It nourished his dry body like spring water and surged towards the Immortal Culling Sword.


    1


    Sigh of the King¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted. The Sigh of the King that hadn¡¯t stirred all this time finally reacted.


    2


    Massive energy made up for the energy gap needed for the Immortal Culling Sword. A large amount of Essence Energy surged into it as the trembling the Immortal Culling Sword finally calmed down. However, Zhou Wen could clearly sense that a terrifying power was awakening in the sword.

 Chapter 1110 - Slaying Heaven

    Translator: CKtalon


    Under Di Tian¡¯s suppression, Truth Listener¡¯s bones emitted cracking sounds. It was unknown how many bones broke as its body became severely deformed. Dark-gold blood flowed out of its seven orifices and wounds, dyeing the entire arena dark-gold.


    ¡°You are quite interesting, but what a pity. In your next life, remember to be born in the dimension. Don¡¯t be associated with humans again.¡± The power in Di Tian¡¯s hand grew stronger and stronger. The sky was filled with gods, Buddhas, and fairies¡ªall of them bent on obliterating Truth Listener.


    Everyone looked at Truth Listener, whose body was about to explode from the pressure. They were indescribably shocked as fear silently spread.


    ¡°You keep talking about humans. How irritating.¡± Suddenly, a voice sounded in the arena.


    Only then did everyone recall that Zhou Wen still existed in the arena. Previously, their attention had been completely attracted by Truth Listener and Di Tian¡¯s battle, so they had forgotten about Zhou Wen, the true protagonist in the battle.


    They looked at Zhou Wen and saw him standing in Di Tian¡¯s Calamity Domain with a sword in hand. Banana Fairy was beside him, desperately resisting the deities that were lunging at Zhou Wen.


    Everyone was somewhat depressed. Although Human wasn¡¯t dead yet, he would die once Truth Listener was defeated. After all, Human was only at the Mythical stage. The Terror-grade Companion Beast, Banana Fairy, could barely protect herself in the Calamity Domain. She had no right to fight Di Tian.


    ¡°Humans need to know their standing against the heavenly mandate. If you hadn¡¯t insisted on defying the heavens, you wouldn¡¯t have ended up in such a state. This is the outcome of defying the heavens.¡± Di Tian continued suppressing Truth Listener with one hand. No matter how Truth Listener roared, it couldn¡¯t escape from his grasp.


    ¡°Know one¡¯s standing? What do you mean by heavenly mandate? Who¡¯s the heavens? You?¡± Zhou Wen questioned Di Tian.


    ¡°To you humans, I am the heavenly mandate. If I want you to live, you will live. If I want you dead, you must die,¡± Di Tian said indifferently, his tone as calm as though it was only right.


    Everyone fell silent. Although Di Tian¡¯s words infuriated humans, they couldn¡¯t refute him. In front of the Calamity grade, humans were as puny as ants. All they could do was beg for mercy from the heavens.


    ¡°If you are the heavenly mandate, what¡¯s the harm in defying the heavens?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, his hand holding the ancient sword finally moved.


    The ancient sword was still wrapped in a scabbard. Moving with Zhou Wen¡¯s palm, the ancient sword was pulled out inch by inch. The sword shimmered with a dazzling light that could steal one¡¯s soul as boundless killing intent surged out from the sword.


    The sword seemed to have some kind of magical power. In just an inch of unsheathing, it made the people watching through the screen feel ice-cold. It was as though the killing intent had penetrated their hearts as their bodies trembled.


    Di Tian¡¯s eyes focused as he stared intently at the sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. Even his hand that was suppressing Truth Listener paused.


    ¡°Humans don¡¯t fight with the heavens. Slaves don¡¯t fight with their masters. Unfortunately, you¡¯re not the be all and end all of humans, nor are you the master of humans. If you let me live, I can live. If you want me dead, I¡¯ll slay the heavens and destroy you.¡± With Zhou Wen¡¯s cold voice, he completely unsheathed the Immortal Culling Sword.


    He slashed at Di Tian with an Immortal Slaying strike.


    Di Tian seemed to sense something as he released his hand that was pressing down on Truth Listener and pressed down on Zhou Wen with both hands.


    The divine phenomenon also crazily suppressed Zhou Wen. It wasn¡¯t just a shockwave. It was even more terrifying and powerful than Truth Listener¡¯s suppression.


    Layers of heavenly phenomena descended with Di Tian¡¯s hands. A total of nine heavenly realms descended as though the end of the world was approaching.


    And below the nine heavens, only one person defied the heavens as he drew his sword to slash upwards.


    The seemingly tiny humans under the Calamity Domain erupted with unimaginable power the moment he released his sword beam.


    The terrifying sword beam instantly penetrated the nine heavens and charged into it with an indomitable force. The terrifying sword beam didn¡¯t stop as it slashed at Di Tian who was above the nine heavens.


    Di Tian¡¯s eyes were colored with a look of horror. He wanted to block the terrifying sword beam with both hands, but the sword beam flashed as though it had vanished in front of him.


    The ancient sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand had already returned to its scabbard. He stood in the arena as though nothing had happened.


    Above his head, the phenomenon of the nine heavens suddenly shattered and vanished in an instant. It turned into light specks that fell like snowflakes.


    A sword mark appeared between Di Tian¡¯s brows as he stood above the nine heavens. Then, the sword mark quickly spread.


    Di Tian¡¯s pupils constricted as his body split into two. As he fell, he disintegrated along with the Nine Heavens domain.


    2


    ¡°This¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± The woman who followed Di Tian to the cube stood there as though she had been petrified. She didn¡¯t dare imagine that such a thing would happen.


    On Earth, everyone stood rooted to the spot as though they couldn¡¯t believe it either.


    After a brief moment of silence, cheers erupted everywhere in the world.


    Zhou Wen stood there motionless. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to move, but that he really couldn¡¯t move. If he hadn¡¯t pressed down against the Immortal Culling Sword with both hands and used it as support, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to stand.


    The Immortal Culling Sword had extracted too much. Zhou Wen¡¯s body was on the brink of collapse. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to stand.


    Truth Listener also collapsed from its injuries and struggled to stand up to no avail.


    With Di Tian killed, the cube¡¯s deathmatch mode ended. All the cubes in the world lit up at the same time.


    All the images on the cube¡¯s screen turned into Zhou Wen standing with a sword. The first name on the rankings lit up as well. The word ¡®Human¡¯ shimmered. Finally, the other names on the rankings vanished one by one, leaving only the word ¡®Human¡¯ glowing like an eternal existence.


    Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief. From the looks of it, the cube had already acknowledged him as first place. It hadn¡¯t changed because of Truth Listener¡¯s existence.


    However, the Dimensional Wheel that had been displayed didn¡¯t appear. Then, the cube dimmed. Zhou Wen and Truth Listener were kicked out of the cube and they returned to the town.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised that he hadn¡¯t obtained the Dimensional Wheel. It was a reward given to first place from the dimension, but he was someone they didn¡¯t wish to see clinch first place. With the way the dimension worked, it would be unbelievable that they would give him the Dimensional Wheel.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tattoo on his body and saw that Demonic Neonate had already returned to him. Although the color of the tattoo had turned a little dim and looked almost indiscernible, it didn¡¯t disappear. Only then did he heave a sigh of relief.


    Meanwhile, Truth Listener struggled to stand up. Its entire body was severely injured, but it remained ferocious like a ghoul. It stared at Zhou Wen fiercely as though it wanted to pounce over and devour him.

 Chapter 1111 - The Missing Guardian

    Translator: CKtalon


    Where did Grim Demon go? As Zhou Wen retreated, he looked around, but he didn¡¯t see Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon had also entered the cube¡¯s arena from this area. He should still be here after admitting defeat.


    Previously, he hadn¡¯t seen Grim Demon participate in the group battle of the top ten Guardians. Now that he couldn¡¯t be found, Zhou Wen wondered if he had already been killed.


    Previously, Grim Demon had publicly pledged his loyalty. It was definitely impossible for the dimension to let him fight. It wasn¡¯t impossible to think of a way to kill him.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to look for Grim Demon. Truth Listener had already pounced over with its heavily injured body. It had forcefully shattered six earrings and entered the Calamity grade. The many latent dangers were now apparent. Not only had it severed its connection with Zhou Wen, but even its emotions seemed to become extremely unstable; it was filled with ruthlessness and malice.


    However, its injuries were too serious. Even though it had Calamity-grade strength, it didn¡¯t have much of it left.


    Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy, who sent Truth Listener tumbling away with a mouthful of Supreme Yin Wind.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly restrained Banana Fairy to prevent her from killing Truth Listener.


    He was the one who had forcefully removed six of Truth Listener¡¯s earrings. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have turned into this state. If it wasn¡¯t for Truth Listener, it would have been impossible for it to hold back Di Tian for so long and give Zhou Wen the time to use the Immortal Culling Sword.


    However, Truth Listener¡¯s mind seemed to be completely out of control. It got up and dragged its injured body over in another charge.


    Banana Fairy sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts, but she only blew out the wind barrier, preventing Truth Listener from rushing over. She didn¡¯t injure it again.


    How can I make Truth Listener return to its sealed state with six earrings? Zhou Wen attempted to give Truth Listener orders, but it was useless.


    In fact, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was also severely injured. Even with the help of Slaughterer and Sigh of the King, as well as Demonic Neonate¡¯s help, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was still severely injured. His body was on the brink of collapse, and he was so emaciated that he was only skin and bones. He didn¡¯t look fine like before.


    He would recover with time, but Slaughterer Life Soul had nearly been sucked dry. The Wheel of Destiny had also nearly collapsed. Although he didn¡¯t know how Sigh of the King was, it definitely didn¡¯t have things easy after paying such a huge price.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was like a hole-ridden ship that had expended all its fuel. It was definitely not an easy task to set sail again.


    He attempted to circulate his Essence Energy Art, but as his Essence Energy was depleted, even the Lost Immortal Sutra couldn¡¯t circulate normally, much less inscribe other Essence Energy Arts on the Wheel of Destiny. This made Zhou Wen¡¯s plan of using Chaos Egg to heal himself fail.


    Meanwhile, Truth Listener was still trying to charge through the wind barrier again and again. However, it was too heavily injured and had no strength to break through the wind barrier. All it did was roar and charge.


    However, if this continued, Truth Listener would probably die soon.


    Suddenly, a figure walked out of the cube, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    Only he and Grim Demon had entered the arena from this cube. Grim Demon had long come out. Now, the ones who could come out of the cube were most likely dimensional creatures.


    If another powerhouse like Di Tian appeared, Zhou Wen would be powerless to deal with him.


    Even with the Immortal Culling Sword in hand, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the ability to use it again.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he identified the person walking out of the cube.


    Previously, in the battle with Blood Shaman, there had been eight Guardians. However, other than Grim Demon and Burial Immortal, there should only have been seven Guardians in the top ten. He didn¡¯t know why there was one more.


    Later, when Zhou Wen had used Immortal Slaying, he only killed seven Guardians. One of them had vanished into thin air.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had some doubts, but he didn¡¯t have the time to think carefully. Now that he saw that the person was the Guardian who had mysteriously appeared and vanished, he immediately guessed something.


    The fact that he could come out meant that he had entered the cube¡¯s arena through this cube. Then, he could assume the reason for Grim Demon¡¯s disappearance.


    This Guardian must have killed Grim Demon and replaced him before entering the arena.


    However, there was something Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand. If he had the ability to eliminate Grim Demon, it meant that he was at least at the Terror grade. Why hadn¡¯t he used his strength to fight him in the previous battle?


    The Guardian slowly walked over as a terrifying aura rose from his body. The strength of this aura was definitely not inferior to Grim Demon¡¯s.


    In the next second, the Guardian attacked, but his target wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen. With a wave of his hand, he grabbed Truth Listener.


    The huge Truth Listener automatically shrank when it approached his palm and quickly became the size of a palm. At the same time, the six earrings appeared again and clamped onto its six ears.


    1


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated when he saw this. Such means were definitely not something an ordinary Terror-grade could muster. The Guardian¡¯s origins were unimaginable.


    The Guardian grabbed Truth Listener with one hand and slashed at Zhou Wen with the other.


    Banana Fairy didn¡¯t wait for Zhou Wen¡¯s instructions as she immediately stood in front of him. She pouted her red lips and blew out boundless wind. With the augmentation of the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind, the boundless wind nearly blew the entire town away.


    However, the Guardian¡¯s sleeves didn¡¯t budge at all. His hand blade tore through the wind like a sharp blade, circled around Banana Fairy, and instantly arrived in front of Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the chance to summon his Companion Beasts to block the attack before the hand blade reached his neck.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. He was too heavily injured, so it was impossible for him to dodge. All he could do was close his eyes and wait for death.


    I never expected that I, Zhou Wen, would die here. Zhou Wen closed his eyes and waited for death, but the attack didn¡¯t come.


    Feeling that something was amiss, he opened his eyes and realized that the Guardian was standing in front of him with a smile. The saber hadn¡¯t slashed down, and he no longer looked like a Guardian. Instead, he was a refined man in white with crystal dragon horns on his head.


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted. He felt as though he had instantly returned to heaven from hell.


    ¡°Well done.¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled at Zhou Wen and reached out to press his head. A strange force surged into Zhou Wen¡¯s body, immediately making him feel as though he was bathing in a hot spring. The injuries on his body quickly healed.


    ¡°Teacher, there¡¯s no need for such praises.¡± Zhou Wen blushed slightly.


    To his surprise, Wang Mingyuan rapped his knuckles on the top of his head and pursed his lips. ¡°Do you really think I¡¯m praising you? You¡¯re in big trouble now. Didn¡¯t I tell you not to come again? Why did you come to participate in the cube battle and end up in first place again? Do you really think that the dimension will give you the Dimensional Wheel? Or do you think they will just let it go?¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen said helplessly, ¡°I also know that they won¡¯t give me the Dimensional Wheel, but I couldn¡¯t just watch them kill Zhong Ziya without doing anything, right?¡±


    ¡°Who told you that Ziya is dead?¡± Wang Mingyuan said, a little peeved.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he sign a bet with the Guardian¡­ Could it be that his bet wasn¡¯t to come in first?¡± Zhou Wen immediately came to a realization.

 Chapter 1112 - It’s to Let You Die

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°You should worry about yourself first. You killed Di Tian¡¯s Body Cleansing Stone clone. Do you think the monarchs of the Octokind will let you off?¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Body Cleansing Stone clone?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He imagined that he had killed the real Di Tian.


    ¡°When dimensional creatures descend onto Earth, they will be restricted by the rules. Di Tian was naturally no exception. Of course, it would have been impossible for him to descend with his true body. Therefore, he only descended with a Body Cleansing Stone clone. With the power of the Body Cleansing Stone, he could avoid the rejection of Earth¡¯s rules and retain his Calamity-grade strength,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Since it was only a clone and I didn¡¯t obtain the Dimensional Wheel, is there a need to use all means to kill me?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°If you had only killed the Body Cleansing Stone clone, they wouldn¡¯t have to insist on killing you. But since you killed Di Tian, things are naturally different.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s words left Zhou Wen somewhat confused.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I only killed the Body Cleansing Stone clone?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s true you only killed the Body Cleansing Stone clone, but Di Tian¡¯s true body has already been simultaneously killed by me. Unfortunately, no one knows that I was the one who killed him. They will naturally think that you used some kind of power to kill the true body when you killed the clone. After all, the power displayed by your sword was so powerful. Even the monarchs of the various races will probably think so,¡± Wang Mingyuan said casually.


    1


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless as he looked at Wang Mingyuan, at a loss for words.


    1


    ¡°Furthermore, even without the matter regarding Di Tian, humans like you are already enough to influence the plans of the dimension¡¯s monarchs. They definitely won¡¯t let you off. If they know that you advanced to the Mythical stage with a human body, they will be bent on killing you. There will be more than one Apocalypse-grade powerhouse who wants to kill you. Even if you were on Earth, you probably wouldn¡¯t be able to live comfortably,¡± Wang Mingyuan added.


    ¡°They probably won¡¯t recognize me, right?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that he hadn¡¯t exposed his identity.


    ¡°Finding you isn¡¯t as difficult as you imagine. For example, there¡¯s a monarch in the dimension who¡¯s proficient in the art of the Heavenly Eye. He can see through the karma that has already happened. Furthermore, you were only wearing a helmet. As long as he personally enters Earth, it will be easy for him to find you.¡±


    Wang Mingyuan paused for a moment before saying, ¡°Even if that monarch doesn¡¯t come personally, there are plenty of Calamity-grade creatures with similar abilities. Although they aren¡¯t as strong as that monarch, it won¡¯t be difficult to figure out your identity.¡±


    ¡°Teacher, do you have a solution?¡± Zhou Wen knew that if Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t have a solution, he wouldn¡¯t waste his time talking to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already thought of a solution for you,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked in delight.


    ¡°It¡¯s to let you die.¡± With that said, Wang Mingyuan pressed down on Zhou Wen¡¯s head with all his might. Before Zhou Wen could react, he felt his vision turn black as he immediately lost consciousness.


    4


    ¡­


    The battle between Zhou Wen and Di Tian had a huge impact on the Federation and even overseas.


    People were guessing the origins of Human and who it was.


    They made all sorts of guesses. Some people even guessed that Human might be a real human and not a half-human who had fused with a Guardian. Otherwise, why would he be named Human?


    Human was a miracle to begin with. It wouldn¡¯t be surprising if there were more miracles. Why couldn¡¯t he be a pure human?


    However, another group of people believed that Human couldn¡¯t be pure human. After all, pure humans couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage.


    Both sides held their own views and kept arguing. No one could convince the other.


    However, there was one thing that everyone acknowledged. Human¡¯s contributions to humanity were indelible.


    The most famous self-media, Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau, even called Zhou Wen by the name of Human Sovereign.


    Of course, this was because the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau was a supporter of the theory that Human Sovereign was pure human.


    And the reason why they used the word ¡®Sovereign¡¯ was because the dimension had called first place ¡®King of Earth.¡¯ Using the word ¡®Sovereign¡¯ instead of ¡®King¡¯ meant that they didn¡¯t acknowledge the so-called King of Earth.


    There had been no King of Earth in the past, nor would there be in the future. There would only be a sovereign of humanity.


    Even if there were cube ranking battles in the future and a new King of Earth was to be chosen, humans wouldn¡¯t acknowledge it. The only person acknowledged was Human Sovereign.


    Regardless of whether Human Sovereign was half-human or whether he agreed with this title, the various media outlets started using this title, and it was gradually acknowledged after people got used to it.


    Everyone kept arguing about everything regarding Human Sovereign, but they never came to a conclusion.


    As for the strike that Zhou Wen had used to kill Di Tian, it was also a compulsory lesson for the various human colleges. Many colleges even had statues of Zhou Wen drawing his sword and slashing at the sky.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t know any of this. This was because when he woke up, he realized that his vision was pitch-black. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t move his body at all. It was as though he had been imprisoned by something. He couldn¡¯t even move his fingers.


    What happened? Where am I? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he slowly recalled what had happened. He knew that Wang Mingyuan had knocked him unconscious.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Wang Mingyuan was up to, nor did he know where he was. He didn¡¯t even know if he was alive.


    He attempted to summon his Companion Beasts, but he realized that none of them reacted as though all of them had vanished.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy seemed to circulate normally again. He could even draw different Essence Energy Arts on the Wheel of Destiny.


    The various Essence Energy Arts were normal, but he couldn¡¯t move. It was as though he was sealed in infinite darkness.


    Time ticked by. With Zhou Wen¡¯s ability, it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to calculate the time even without a watch. As time passed, he realized that he didn¡¯t feel hungry at all.


    Mythical bodies were very powerful, but no matter how powerful they were, it was impossible for them to not eat or drink. Zhou Wen had already kept track of time for more than a month, but he didn¡¯t feel hungry at all. This was extremely abnormal.


    Could it be that I¡¯m really dead? Zhou Wen was very puzzled. Apart from being dead, he really couldn¡¯t figure out why he didn¡¯t feel hungry after such a long period of time.


    Zhou Wen tried many methods, but he couldn¡¯t escape. Since he had nothing to do, he decided to constantly circulate the Lost Immortal Sutra and draw all sorts of Essence Energy Arts to comprehend the profundity within.


    After experiencing the matter of a scripture appearing for the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen could engrave the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder together with the scriptures.


    This allowed the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder to be maintained for a much longer period of time. As for the other Essence Energy Arts that were engraved, the duration was still very short.


    Since Zhou Wen had nothing to do, he constantly studied carving. As his insights deepened, his carving speed increased.


    Many times, Zhou Wen felt that he was dead or that he was just dreaming. According to his calculations, more than a year had passed, but he still didn¡¯t feel hungry.


    1

 Chapter 1113 - Mount Fangzhang

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Mount Fangzhang¡­ Could this be the legendary Mount Fangzhang¡­¡± A woman stood on the back of a huge sea turtle, her eyes staring straight ahead as her voice trembled.


    Not far from the sea turtle was an island with a mountain on it.


    The island and mountain didn¡¯t look very big, but for some reason, they couldn¡¯t see the top of the mountain. The mountain passed through the clouds as though there was no end.


    The sea turtle quickly approached the island. The woman jumped off the sea turtle¡¯s back and happily climbed up the mountain.


    The woman wasn¡¯t old. At most, she looked about seventeen or eighteen years old. She looked rather delicate and pretty. She crawled up the mountain with her hands and feet.


    Mount Fangzhang was one of the three legendary immortal mountains. In the past, the First Emperor of Qin had sent people out to sea to search for the Elixir of Immortality. Their main search was for Mount Fangzhang.


    Among the three immortal mountains overseas, it was said that immortal grass and spirit herbs were everywhere on Penglai Mountain. So why wasn¡¯t the First Emperor of Qin looking for Penglai Mountain, but Mount Fangzhang that wasn¡¯t famous for immortal herbs and spirit herbs?


    This was because it was said that the top of Mount Fangzhang was where immortals lived. Furthermore, the word ¡°Fangzhang¡± didn¡¯t refer to a monk, but a pill chamber.


    Therefore, the First Emperor of Qin wanted the Elixir of Immortality, not the immortal grass and spirit herbs from Penglai Mountain, but the finished elixir refined by immortals.


    If one erroneously ate the wrong immortal grass and spirit herbs, not only would they not gain immortality, but they might even lose their lives. If one really wanted to become immortal, they had to obtain the pills refined by immortals.


    Ji Moqing was only seventeen this year. She was still in her youth and wasn¡¯t at the age to worry about longevity.


    The reason she had come to Mount Fangzhang wasn¡¯t because she had taken the initiative to search for the immortal mountain, nor was it because she wanted to live forever.


    Ji Moqing¡¯s appearance here was completely an accident. She was originally from the Federation, but not long ago, she had been captured by the overseas faction. It could be considered a kidnapping.


    Thankfully, Ji Moqing was smart and had Companion Beasts that could be used at sea. Furthermore, she looked young and weak, so people weren¡¯t wary of her. This had given her an opportunity to escape.


    Ji Moqing now regretted escaping. This was because she had already been out at sea for nearly half a month. Although no one had caught up to her, she didn¡¯t know how to navigate at all, much less where to go to reach land. Therefore, in this half a month, Ji Moqing hadn¡¯t even drunk a drop of water. If this continued, she would definitely die of thirst.


    She was so excited to see Mount Fangzhang not because she felt that she could find the Elixir of Immortality, but because she felt that she might find water and food here.


    However, Ji Moqing was quickly disappointed. This place, which was suspected to be the legendary Mount Fangzhang, was completely bare. There was not even a single weed, much less water.


    Ji Moqing refused to give up. She wanted to climb to the top of the mountain to take a look. Even if there was no water source, eating an immortal pill if it existed would be of some use.


    However, after climbing for a long time, to the point of making her hands bleed, Ji Moqing looked up and saw the peak that seemed to extend infinitely as though there was no end to it.


    What f*cked-up mountain is this? I¡¯ve been climbing for so long. I should have reached the top long ago. Why can¡¯t I see the end of it? Ji Moqing was puzzled, but she knew that it was too late for regrets.


    Her body would no longer allow her to go to other islands to find water sources, so Ji Moqing could only pin her hopes of reaching the top of Mount Fangzhang before she died of thirst. She wanted to see if there was any Elixir of Immortality that could quench her thirst.


    Even if there was no Elixir of Immortality, it was fine to find some water. Ji Moqing didn¡¯t ask for much.


    However, after Ji Moqing climbed for a long time, the mountain still didn¡¯t seem to have a top. No matter how hard she climbed, she couldn¡¯t reach the top.


    I can¡¯t take it anymore. I really can¡¯t crawl anymore. I might as well die of thirst. Ji Moqing crawled to a protruding part of a mountain rock and sat on it, panting heavily. Now, she didn¡¯t have any strength left.


    She also knew that if this was really Mount Fangzhang, there was definitely something odd about it. It was impossible for her to easily climb to the top.


    Ji Moqing¡¯s desire to live was very strong. She had only said those words in a fit of anger. When she sat there to rest, her eyes were still sizing up her surroundings, hoping to find a way to scale Mount Fangzhang.


    After watching for a while, Ji Moqing¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as though she had discovered something.


    The mountain was extremely steep, and there were no obvious protrusions on the mountain wall. Only the spot where she was sitting had such a stone protruding out. Furthermore, the texture of the stone was somewhat odd.


    Ji Moqing observed carefully and realized that the protruding rock was not fundamentally different from the rocks on the mountain wall beside it.


    Although the stone was the same, Ji Moqing realized that the texture of the stone did not match the texture of the stone beside it.


    If such a steep mountain wall had a crack, it should have fallen very quickly. This protruding rock didn¡¯t fall, but its texture doesn¡¯t match the nearby rock patterns. There must be something wrong with it. The more Ji Moqing thought about it, the more she felt that she was right. She seemed to gain some strength in her body as she summoned a companion short sword. Then, she grabbed the short sword and used the tip of the sword to dig out the spot where the rock connected to the mountain wall.


    She slowly dug out a space in the rocks. These rocks didn¡¯t seem to be as hard as she imagined. They were easily dug out by her short sword.


    Strange. Even if this isn¡¯t Mount Fangzhang, it should be a dimensional zone. Logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t be so easy to dig through it. After all, this is only a Mortal Companion Beast sword¡­ Ji Moqing thought to herself as she continued digging with the short sword in her hand.


    She was just too tired and didn¡¯t have much strength left. To be able to last until now was testament to her extremely strong desire to live.


    Clang!


    Suddenly, when Ji Moqing dug down again, the short sword seemed to touch something and snapped.


    On a careful look, a blade-like object was revealed in the dug up rock. Her short sword had been snapped by the blade.


    What a loss. Ji Moqing was somewhat depressed. Although her Companion Beast, the short sword, was only at the Mortal stage, a Mortal Companion Beast was sometimes more expensive than an Epic Companion Beast. This Companion Beast had been bought by her family for a large sum of money, but now, it had snapped.


    Ji Moqing touched the blade embedded in the rock and felt an extremely cold feeling, as though it was made of cold metal. However, only a part of the blade was revealed.


    Ji Moqing extended her fingers and carefully pinched the sides of the blade before shaking it. To her surprise, this shake made the blade move.


    She carefully rocked it as she drew it out. After a while, she finally drew out the sharp blade. Ji Moqing immediately realized that it was a saber. It had a straight blade. The blade was cold and looked like it was made of Essence Gold.

 Chapter 1114 - Escaping

    Translator: CKtalon


    Why is there an Essence Gold weapon here? Who hid it here? Ji Moqing brandished the Essence Gold saber twice and felt that it was extremely sharp. With a thought, she continued digging in with the Essence Gold saber.


    This Essence Gold saber was much better than her short sword. Soon, it dug through the hole.


    Before long, the tip of the Essence Gold Saber dug into something with a clang.


    Ji Moqing hurriedly retracted the Essence Gold saber and looked in the direction where the tip of the saber had just stabbed. She saw that there was actually a piece of metal exposed from the rock.


    Ji Moqing followed the exposed part of the metal and dug out the rocks beside it. Soon, she realized that it was a bamboo-shaped scabbard.


    She took out the scabbard and inserted the Essence Gold saber into it. It matched seamlessly. Clearly, this was a set to begin with.


    ¡°This Essence Gold saber¡¯s forging standards are extremely high. It might even be the best Essence Gold weapon now. And this saber looks like it must have been used for many years¡­¡± Ji Moqing held the Bamboo Blade and carefully sized it up.


    However, she didn¡¯t know that the moment the Bamboo Blade returned to the scabbard, some ephemeral object hidden in the scabbard had been severed. And on the mountaintop of Mount Fangzhang, some strange changes ensued.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen was trapped in the strange area as he silently counted the days.


    He originally imagined that Wang Mingyuan was definitely trying to use the method of faking his death to fool the monarchs of the dimension. After everything was over, he would release him.


    However, no matter how long Zhou Wen waited, Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t appear to rescue him.


    If it were any ordinary person, they would probably go crazy after the solitary confinement. After all, this place was just too lonely.


    However, Zhou Wen endured it. He tried all sorts of methods to escape while he constantly studied and engraved the other Essence Energy Arts.


    Time passed slowly. In the beginning, Zhou Wen could only draw one Life Soul. Then he could draw two at the same time. Finally, he could draw several Life Souls at the same time.


    However, such success wasn¡¯t a coincidence. This was because according to Zhou Wen¡¯s calculations, he had been trapped here for nearly ten years, but Wang Mingyuan had not come to save him.


    2


    Could Teacher have encountered some trouble? Or could it be that the dimensional monarchs discovered that he had killed Di Tian and captured him? Zhou Wen thought.


    Time continued to pass as Zhou Wen constantly meditated every day. His comprehension of the other eight Essence Energy Arts had already sublimated. With a thought, he could carve a Life Soul on the Wheel of Destiny. He could even carve several Life Souls at the same time.


    However, according to Zhou Wen¡¯s count, he had been here for no less than twenty years.


    1


    At that moment, he no longer had any hopes of Wang Mingyuan coming back to save him. He could only rely on himself to escape his current predicament.


    He could only work on his Essence Energy Art, hoping that he could successfully escape one day.


    Time passed in a flash. According to Zhou Wen¡¯s count, he had been here for more than a hundred years, and to this day, he had failed to escape.


    3


    Zhou Wen continued cultivating like before, but he suddenly heard a click as though a lock had opened.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised to discover that his body was gradually able to move. He could now clearly sense the body he couldn¡¯t sense previously.


    He controlled his body and struggled with all his might. Then, his body touched something. Then, a ray of light shone in through the crack, illuminating his face.


    Finally¡­ Zhou Wen was so excited that he couldn¡¯t speak. He pushed with all his might again, causing the crack to widen. Then, he heard the sound of rocks falling to the ground.


    Sunlight shone on Zhou Wen¡¯s face, blinding him. All he could do was lower his head to size up what was trapping him.


    With this glance, Zhou Wen was immediately stunned.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the area trapping him was some narrow space.


    However, what he saw now was a huge stone furnace. Such a huge stone furnace was enough for three people to sleep inside. For some reason, he hadn¡¯t been able to move at all while lying inside.


    After coming out of the stone furnace, Zhou Wen realized that everything about his body was normal. What was even stranger was that he was as young and strong as before. This left Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    When he was trapped, his heart muscles had been silently calculating. It had indeed been more than a hundred years, but his body hadn¡¯t aged. It was very strange.


    Could it be that those hundred plus years were just a dream? Were they were all illusions? Zhou Wen felt that this explanation was a little unreliable.


    If it was really a dream, then the things he had comprehended in the dream wouldn¡¯t exist. However, Zhou Wen realized that everything he had comprehended whilst trapped was something he could do as he pleased. It was impossible for it to have been a dream.


    What¡¯s going on? Have I been trapped for more than a hundred years? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he suddenly heard knocking coming from the foot of the mountain.


    Although the sound was very far away, Zhou Wen heard it very clearly as though it was ringing in his ears.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously touched his ear and was immediately overjoyed because he had touched the earring that Truth Listener had transformed into.


    Truth Listener is still by my side and has reestablished a connection with me. This is great¡­ Zhou Wen hurriedly checked his other Companion Beasts and realized that they were all there. Even Demonic Neonate, who had expended all her strength, had returned to normal. This made him certain that the past hundred years were definitely not a dream.


    My phone¡­ Only then did Zhou Wen recall the problem with his phone. He touched his body, but he didn¡¯t find it. Looking down, he realized that there was a package in the stone furnace. Many of Zhou Wen¡¯s things were inside, including the mysterious phone.


    He switched on his phone and entered some dungeons. Seeing that there was nothing wrong with those dungeons, he was completely relieved.


    1


    From the looks of it, I have to ask someone. Zhou Wen had already heard Ji Moqing digging the mountainside.


    However, before he could ask Ji Moqing any questions, a few people landed on the island and quickly arrived in front of the mountain. They discovered Ji Moqing halfway up the mountain.


    They quickly caught up to her, scaring Ji Moqing so much that she tried her best to climb up. This was because she had already recognized that one of them was the person who had captured her overseas.


    Ji Moqing struggled to climb upwards, but she didn¡¯t have much strength left. Soon, she was surrounded by them against a mountain wall.


    ¡°Ji Moqing oh Ji Moqing, I really have to thank you for escaping. Otherwise, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to see the legendary Mount Fangzhang,¡± the leader said with a laugh.

 Chapter 1115 - Master Human Sovereign

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen packed up his things and placed the Immortal Culling Sword back into the Chaos Bead. After checking the area, he realized that all the important things were there. He hadn¡¯t lost anything. Even the Mourning Stick was there.


    The only thing missing was the Bamboo Blade, which was now in Ji Moqing¡¯s hand.


    Ji Moqing was climbing up the mountain with all her might. The people below were chasing after her. Ji Moqing looked like she was only at the Mortal stage, so her speed was not as fast as the others. She was about to be caught.


    One of the pursuers released an eagle-type Companion Beast to grab Ji Moqing from the air, but just as the eagle-type Companion Beast flew into the air, a bolt of lightning appeared out of thin air and instantly charred the eagle.


    This gave everyone a fright, but they quickly realized the problem. They didn¡¯t dare summon any more flying Companion Beasts and only climbed up the mountain wall to chase after Ji Moqing.


    No more lightning appeared as a result. Soon, they caught up to Ji Moqing. The man at the top reached out to grab her feet.


    Ji Moqing held onto a crack in the mountain wall with one hand and slashed at the person¡¯s hand with the Bamboo Blade with the other.


    Unfortunately, she was too weak and too slow. The man casually grabbed the blade of the Bamboo Blade and pulled Ji Moqing down, clamping her under his armpit.


    ¡°Let go of me. Do you know what you¡¯re doing? You¡¯ll regret what you¡¯ve done,¡± Ji Moqing said as she struggled.


    However, she was too weak, and the man was an Epic expert. He didn¡¯t mind her punches and kicks; Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t injure him at all.


    ¡°Miss Ji, of course I know what I¡¯m doing, and I definitely won¡¯t regret it.¡± The man smiled and continued, ¡°If you think that the person in your family can save you, you are gravely mistaken. Ignoring the fact that he doesn¡¯t know you are here, even if he knows, he won¡¯t be able to save you. On land, he can be said to be invincible, but out at sea, even if he really is a god that descended to the mortal world, he will drown.¡±


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m counting on Brother-in-law to save me? I¡¯m not talking about him,¡± Ji Moqing said.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t counting on him, who else can you count on? Your father? You can¡¯t count on him either. He has gone to the South District and hasn¡¯t returned yet. He might not even know that you have gone missing,¡± the man said again.


    ¡°Who said I¡¯m counting on my father?¡± Ji Moqing pursed her lips.


    ¡°Oh, who else can you count on?¡± the man asked with a smile.


    Of course, he knew very well that Ji Moqing had no one to rely on. The sea was not under the Federation. Even if the members of the six families came, they wouldn¡¯t dare do much out at sea.


    ¡°I¡¯m counting on this,¡± Ji Moqing said as she pointed at the Bamboo Blade in the man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Counting on it? Do you mean that this saber will kill me? Or do you want me to return it to you and then extend my neck for you to kill me?¡± The man¡¯s words made everyone laugh.


    However, Ji Moqing did not laugh. With a serious expression, she said, ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange? Why do I have this saber?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about that¡­ No¡­ This is an Essence Gold saber, not a Companion Beast weapon. You didn¡¯t bring a weapon with you. There¡¯s no place to find a weapon in this vast sea. Could it be that this saber belongs to Mount Fangzhang?¡± The man immediately thought of something amiss as he looked at the Bamboo Blade in his hand with a strange look.


    ¡°Wu Zonglie, you are a reputable figure in the overseas alliance after all. Furthermore, you are Martial Fanatic. From the looks of it, you are just boasting. I never expected you to be so stupid. I think you should stop calling yourself Martial Fanatic. Just call yourself Martial Idiot or Martial Fool¡­¡± Ji Moqing said.


    Wu Zonglie said coldly, ¡°Don¡¯t think that we won¡¯t dare to do anything to you just because we want to use you to threaten your brother-in-law. Believe it or not, if you spout any more nonsense, I¡¯ll chop off one of your hands. Having one hand missing won¡¯t affect anything.¡±


    However, Ji Moqing wasn¡¯t afraid at all. She even said plausibly, ¡°Is there anything wrong? When have you seen an Essence Gold weapon in a dimensional zone? Or do you think a dimensional creature will forge an Essence Gold saber in a place like Mount Fangzhang?¡±


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Wu Zonglie frowned slightly when he heard that. He looked at Ji Moqing and said, ¡°Where did you get this Essence Gold saber?¡±


    ¡°Someone naturally gave it to me,¡± Ji Moqing said.


    ¡°Who?¡± Wu Zonglie and company sized up their surroundings. Ji Moqing was right. Since there was an Essence Gold saber here, it meant that someone was here.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll scare you if I tell you the truth. You¡¯d better obediently return the saber to me and kowtow to me respectfully to beg for my forgiveness. When the owner of the saber comes, I can even put in a few good words for you so that he can spare your lives,¡± Ji Moqing said seriously.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m bragging, but there¡¯s no one in this world worthy of me, Wu Zonglie, kneeling and begging for mercy. Furthermore, out in the sea, even if there¡¯s someone here, they are from our overseas alliance. Why would anyone save you?¡± Wu Zonglie scoffed.


    ¡°What if this person isn¡¯t from the overseas alliance?¡± Ji Moqing asked.


    ¡°Even better. If those fellows from the Federation dared to come to the sea, I would let them know the glory of us powerhouses out at sea,¡± said Wu Zonglie.


    ¡°You mean to say that you want to compete with Human Sovereign?¡± Ji Moqing sneered.


    ¡°Human Sovereign?¡± Wu Zonglie and company were alarmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s His Excellency, Human Sovereign. When he passed by this place, he saw that I had an extraordinary physique and was smart, kind, adorable, and extremely talented. Therefore, he took me in as his disciple and even gave me the saber to protect myself.¡± Ji Moqing spoke without blinking, as though she was speaking the truth.


    ¡°Do you think I will believe you? If it¡¯s really as you say, why wouldn¡¯t Human Sovereign come to save you? Why would you have to come up with so many lies?¡± Wu Zonglie said disdainfully.


    The last time Ji Moqing had escaped, it was because she had been so eloquent that she had managed to fool all of them. This had given her an opportunity to take advantage of.


    This time, Wu Zonglie naturally wouldn¡¯t believe her no matter what. Furthermore, ever since the ranking battle five years ago, Human Sovereign had not appeared again. In this vast sea, the chances of Ji Moqing meeting Human Sovereign were even lower than striking the lottery. How could there be such a coincidence?


    3


    ¡°That¡¯s something you wouldn¡¯t know. Although my master is an unparalleled hero, he¡¯s old after all. He¡¯s not very good in some aspects¡­¡± Ji Moqing blinked and said.


    The expressions of Wu Zonglie and company turned odd. Wu Zonglie sneered and said, ¡°Did Human Sovereign tell you that?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Men all care about their pride. How can he tell me these things? However, I heard from Master that there¡¯s something wrong with his relationship with his wife. That¡¯s why he came here to look for the Elixir of Immortality. That¡¯s my guess¡­¡± Ji Moqing said.


    1

 Chapter 1116 - Niten Flying Immortal Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Wu Zonglie and company heard her say that, they suddenly felt that it made sense.


    Seeing that they seemed to believe her, Ji Moqing struck while the iron was hot and continued, ¡°Now, my master has gone to the top of the mountain to get the Elixir of Immortality. When he comes down with the Elixir and doesn¡¯t see me, you will be in trouble. Therefore, if you release me now and kneel down politely to apologize, I can even put in a few good words for you and spare your lives.¡±


    However, Wu Zonglie didn¡¯t believe her. He sneered and said, ¡°Then shout. Get your Human Sovereign master to kill us.¡±


    Ji Moqing was still too young after all. She complained in her heart. Wu Zonglie had suffered once, so it seemed like he didn¡¯t believe her at all. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to fool him again.


    When Wu Zonglie saw Ji Moqing¡¯s gaze, he knew that his guess was definitely right. He was delighted as he said with a smile, ¡°Ignoring the fact that Human Sovereign can¡¯t be here, even if he was, I would definitely make sure he doesn¡¯t return. It¡¯s good to know how powerful I, Martial Fanatic, am. Perhaps the two of you will kneel down and beg for mercy together.¡±


    Wu Zonglie naturally said all this to vent his anger on Ji Moqing. He wasn¡¯t really that arrogant.


    The people beside him echoed, ¡°Human Sovereign defeated Di Tian. Lord Martial Fanatic, if you defeat Human Sovereign, it will be a beautiful story of the new generation replacing the old. I believe Human Sovereign will be gratified.¡±


    Zhou Wen listened from the mountaintop for a long time. In the beginning, he didn¡¯t know who the Human Sovereign they were talking about was. Only when he heard the last sentence did he suddenly realize that they were talking about him. He couldn¡¯t help but be at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    When did I become Human Sovereign? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Furthermore, he wasn¡¯t sure what era it was.


    He had kept track of time himself when he was trapped. It felt like more than a hundred years had passed, but from the looks of it, it hadn¡¯t been that long for these people.


    At this point, Ji Moqing could only persist with her lie. She forced herself to calm down and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that my master will destroy your Niten Flying Immortal Palace in a fit of anger?¡±


    Wu Zonglie opened his mouth to say something, but he suddenly widened his eyes in horror.


    1


    ¡°Are you afraid now? Let go of me quickly. You might still have a chance of survival later¡­¡± As Ji Moqing spoke, she suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    This was because Wu Zonglie and company weren¡¯t looking at her, but at the other side of the mountain wall.


    Ji Moqing, who was sandwiched by Wu Zonglie, also looked up and was instantly alarmed. She saw a masked man standing at the protruding part of the mountain wall and looking over.


    ¡°Who did you say was to kneel and beg for mercy?¡± Zhou Wen wore the Moonlit Rabbit mask as he stared at Wu Zonglie and asked coldly.


    2


    Wu Zonglie thought to himself, How can there be such a coincidence? There hasn¡¯t been any news of Human Sovereign for five years. To think that Ji Moqing would encounter Human Sovereign and be taken in as a disciple? It must be fake.


    In fact, even Ji Moqing didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign. She also knew that it couldn¡¯t be such a coincidence.


    With a thought, Ji Moqing deliberately shouted, ¡°Master Human Sovereign, quickly save me. These bad people are bullying me.¡±


    She believed that Zhou Wen was deliberately cooperating with her to act as Human Sovereign to save her, so she immediately cooperated.


    Wu Zonglie sized up Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Are you really Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Upon hearing that, Wu Zonglie secretly heaved a sigh of relief. Although he felt that Zhou Wen was definitely not Human Sovereign, he couldn¡¯t help but have second thoughts. After all, this was indeed a coincidence: Zhou Wen had appeared when Ji Moqing said that Human Sovereign was here and he wore a mask that resembled the one Human Sovereign had worn in the video.


    ¡°Then are you standing up for her?¡± Wu Zonglie asked again.


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head again.


    Wu Zonglie and company couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. Ji Moqing also wore a look of surprise. She originally imagined that Zhou Wen had come out to save her, but his words left her dumbfounded.


    ¡°Then why are you here?¡± Wu Zonglie asked with a frown.


    ¡°That saber is mine.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the Bamboo Blade in Wu Zonglie¡¯s hand.


    An idea came to Ji Moqing¡¯s mind as she immediately shouted excitedly, ¡°Master, I really didn¡¯t lose your saber on purpose. They snatched it away by force. I¡¯m too weak and can¡¯t protect your saber. I don¡¯t deserve to be your disciple¡­¡±


    Wu Zonglie and company immediately looked at Zhou Wen warily. Although they didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen was the true Human Sovereign, since he was the owner of the saber, it was possible that he was related to Ji Moqing. Otherwise, why would the saber be in Ji Moqing¡¯s hands?


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Wu Zonglie stared at Zhou Wen and asked.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to explain further to them. He tapped his foot on the mountain wall and flew towards Wu Zonglie, hoping to retrieve the Bamboo Blade.


    When Wu Zonglie and company saw Zhou Wen approach, they immediately drew their swords to meet the enemy.


    These people were using tachi swords, and they were dual wielding. The moment they used their saber moves, Zhou Wen immediately felt a sense of familiarity. There was a faint inkling of Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    1


    However, it wasn¡¯t purely Transcendent Flying Immortal. There was only an inkling of it. Zhou Wen seemed to have some impression of the other portion.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen recalled where he had seen similar moves.


    Back when he was still schooling at Sunset College, Zhou Wen had once gamed in a stone pavilion in Peony Garden, but he had ended up encountering an old man and a young man. The youth had insisted on competing with him.


    In the end, the elder fought Zhou Wen and even used a very special Essence Energy Art. Not only did he fail to defeat Zhou Wen, but he even helped him condense the Dao Sutra Life Soul.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t remember the names of the old and young duo, but he still remembered condensing a Life Soul and the concept of withering that the elder had used.


    The two of them had seen him use Transcendent Flying Immortal, but back then, Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal wasn¡¯t as mature as it was now.


    It¡¯s no wonder I felt that the concept of Transcendent Flying Immortal in their saber techniques wasn¡¯t perfect. So that¡¯s how it is. It¡¯s probably because the old and young duo fused it into their saber techniques after seeing that move¡­ Zhou Wen had roughly figured out the cause and effect.


    However, he didn¡¯t stop. He kept advancing and retreating amidst the saber beams of Wu Zonglie and company. By the time he retreated, the Bamboo Blade had already returned to his hand.


    The expressions of Wu Zonglie and company changed drastically to nastiness. Regardless of whether the person in front of them was Human Sovereign, he was an extremely terrifying figure. At the very least, his movement techniques were not something they could match.


    Wu Zonglie introduced himself, ¡°We are disciples of the Sword Sage of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. May I know who you are? Why are you making an enemy of us?¡±

 Chapter 1117 - Meeting Honn Shinsakura Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What¡¯s the Sword Sage¡¯s name?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    1


    When Wu Zonglie and company heard this, their expressions turned nasty as though they had been greatly insulted.


    ¡°Out at sea, who doesn¡¯t know the Sword Sage, Sei Gasakai of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace? Your Excellency, you are overseas, so how can you not know? Could it be that you are deliberately insulting us?¡± Wu Zonglie held his two sabers as though he wanted to fight Zhou Wen to the death.


    ¡°Sei Gasakai. Yes, that¡¯s the name. That¡¯s no mistake then.¡± Zhou Wen recalled that the elder¡¯s name was indeed that.


    Wu Zonglie and company didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen meant as they looked at him without saying a word.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked Wu Zonglie, ¡°Since Sei Gasakai is known as Sword Sage, what¡¯s his cultivation level now? Has he advanced to the Calamity grade?¡±


    Zhou Wen believed that he had been trapped for more than a hundred years. In these hundred years, it was impossible for humans to stay in their original spots. Experts like Jing Daoxian and Night Thearch might have long cracked the restriction that prevented humans from advancing to the Mythical stage. Perhaps there were Calamity-grade experts among humans.


    Since Sei Gasakai had the lofty title of Sword Sage, it was highly likely that he had already advanced to the Calamity grade.


    Wu Zonglie and company¡¯s faces flushed red. Wu Zonglie even drew his sword and pointed it at Zhou Wen. He said angrily, ¡°If you dare insult our master again, we won¡¯t let you escape unscathed even if we have to die today.¡±


    ¡°When did I insult Sei Gasakai?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    Ji Moqing hurriedly said, ¡°Master, that Sword Sage, Sei Gasakai, only advanced to the Mythical stage with the help of a Guardian¡¯s power. He¡¯s still worlds apart from reaching the Terror grade, much less the Calamity grade.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. My master is already half a step into the Terror stage. What do you mean worlds apart? You deserve death.¡± Wu Zonglie was furious when he heard Ji Moqing¡¯s disrespect for Sei Gasakai. He raised his saber and slashed at Ji Moqing, wanting to kill her.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure suddenly advanced and retreated. Before Wu Zonglie could react, Ji Moqing had already been pulled away by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Leave,¡± Zhou Wen said to Wu Zonglie and company. He felt that it was tiring to speak to them. It was best to slowly ask the girl.


    2


    Wu Zonglie knew that he wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s match. He gritted his teeth and left with his juniors.


    After Wu Zonglie and company left, Zhou Wen carried Ji Moqing to the foot of the mountain. He placed her on the ground and asked, ¡°Did you bring your phone?¡±


    ¡°They took everything away when they caught me.¡± Ji Moqing brushed away the soil on her buttocks and stood up to say to Zhou Wen, ¡°Furthermore, even if i had a phone, there¡¯s no signal here. It would be useless even if I had it.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want his phone to go online, but to check the date to determine the time.


    He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. It was as though he hadn¡¯t been trapped for a hundred years.


    ¡°Since they¡¯re all gone, stop pretending. My brother-in-law sent you here, right? Where¡¯s brother-in-law? He didn¡¯t come himself, right?¡± Seeing Zhou Wen standing there motionless, Ji Moqing reached out to grab his mask. ¡°Honn Shinsakura is definitely nearby. After they meet Honn Shinsakura, he will definitely be able to guess that you were sent by my brother-in-law. It¡¯s useless to wear a mask. Quickly take it off. It makes me uncomfortable.¡±


    Zhou Wen dodged slightly, but he still took off his mask.


    Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when she saw Zhou Wen¡¯s face. Then, she sized him up and said, ¡°I never expected you to be so powerful at such a young age. As expected of my brother-in-law¡¯s man.¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, Ji Moqing pulled Zhou Wen and ran towards the beach. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this now. Let¡¯s leave quickly. When Wu Zonglie finds Honn Shinsakura, we¡¯ll be in trouble.¡±


    However, after taking a few steps, Ji Moqing¡¯s legs went limp and she nearly fell to the ground.


    Ji Moqing hadn¡¯t eaten or drunk for more than ten days. After such a long time, she was already at her limits.


    ¡°Did you bring any food or water?¡± Ji Moqing asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took out a packet of biscuits and a bottle of water from the Chaos Bead and handed them to her. Thankfully, the time and space in the chaos space were different from the outside world. Food didn¡¯t go bad.


    Ji Moqing opened the bottle and poured water into her mouth. Then, she stuffed the biscuits into her mouth. As she stuffed them into her mouth, she walked towards the beach. She said in a daze, ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ leave quickly¡­ Don¡¯t let them¡­ catch up¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably too late to leave now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked into the distance.


    Ji Moqing looked up and saw a huge whale swimming over from the distant sea.


    Wu Zonglie and company were standing on the back of the whale, but the person in the lead wasn¡¯t Wu Zonglie. Instead, it was a young man in a white sword outfit.


    2


    ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Honn Shinsakura actually came so quickly. I can¡¯t escape. Leave quickly. Go back and tell my brother-in-law that there¡¯s no need to worry about me. I have a way to escape and get him to not go to the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.¡± Ji Moqing pushed Zhou Wen, indicating for him to leave quickly.


    On the whale¡¯s back, they also saw Zhou Wen. Wu Zonglie pointed at him and said, ¡°Senior Brother Shinsakura, it¡¯s that punk who disguised himself as Human Sovereign and snatched Ji Moqing away. It¡¯s useless even if he takes off his mask. He hasn¡¯t changed his clothes. He can¡¯t be mistaken.¡±


    Honn Shinsakura¡¯s gaze landed on Zhou Wen. When he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s face, his body involuntarily trembled as his eyes turned odd.


    1


    ¡°Senior Brother Shinsakura, that punk even insulted Master. You have to tear him to pieces. You can¡¯t let him die too easily,¡± shouted Wu Zonglie and company.


    Honn Shinsakura didn¡¯t say a word as he stared intently at Zhou Wen with mixed feelings.


    Back then, he had still been a youth who believed himself to be a genius. He had believed that his talent was top-notch and that no one his age could match him.


    However, he had met Zhou Wen that year. Even now, Honn Shinsakura couldn¡¯t forget their meeting¡ªhe would never forget it for the rest of his life.


    ¡°I told you to leave. Why are you still standing here?¡± Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t help but panic when she saw Zhou Wen standing still.


    However, Ji Moqing quickly realized that it was too late. Honn Shinsakura had already arrived on the island with Wu Zonglie and company.


    Ji Moqing knew how powerful Honn Shinsakura was. Although they were nominally disciples of Sword Sage Sei Gasakai, Wu Zonglie and company were in fact only in-name disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, while Honn Shinsakura was Sei Gasakai¡¯s personal disciple. Furthermore, he was the one with the highest achievements.


    Therefore, despite being much older than Honn Shinsakura, Wu Zonglie addressed him as Senior Brother Honn Shinsakura.


    Legend had it that Honn Shinsakura¡¯s achievements in the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± were almost comparable to Sei Gasakai¡¯s. He was an extremely famous young expert overseas.


    ¡°Punk, let¡¯s see if you still dare to act mysterious this time¡­ Senior Brother Shinsakura, it¡¯s him¡­¡± As Wu Zonglie spoke, he turned to look at Honn Shinsakura, but he was petrified.


    Honn Shinsakura held his two sabers with both hands before kneeling down and bowing in front of Zhou Wen. This was an honorable bow that disciples used to pay respect to their masters. In the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, only Sei Gasakai could receive such a bow from Honn Shinsakura.


    2

 Chapter 1118 - Changes in Five Years

    Translator: CKtalon


    Ji Moqing looked at Honn Shinsakura and Zhou Wen in shock, almost unable to believe her eyes.


    Wu Zonglie and company were dumbfounded, completely petrified.


    After Honn Shinsakura bowed, he stood up with his sword in hand and said, ¡°My master has repeatedly exhorted me to bow as a disciple if I see you again.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that you still remember me.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    When Ji Moqing heard their conversation, she felt as though she had been struck by lightning. She immediately understood everything and could not help but retreat.


    She had already realized that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been sent by her brother-in-law. It was even very likely that he was a famous overseas devil. Otherwise, why would a person like Honn Shinsakura bow so respectfully to him and even say that the Sword Sage had instructed him to bow as a disciple?


    Even the Sword Sage, Sei Gasakai, held him in such high esteem. He was definitely not as simple as he looked on the surface. Under his young appearance, he was very likely an old devil that had eternal youth.


    After figuring everything out, Ji Moqing retreated, wanting to escape immediately.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t chase after her, nor did he speak. Honn Shinsakura didn¡¯t get anyone to chase after her either. Ji Moqing summoned the Sea Turtle Companion Beast and quickly left the island.


    ¡°Sir, should we bring her back?¡± Honn Shinsakura asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why do you want her captured?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Honn Shinsakura recounted the entire story. It involved a lot of information that Zhou Wen was eager to know. Furthermore, many things were different from what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    Now, only about five years had passed since his battle with Di Tian. It was far from the hundred-plus years that Zhou Wen had counted.


    However, Zhou Wen was certain that he had been trapped for more than a hundred years. After all, enduring such a long period of imprisonment wasn¡¯t an easy task.


    Zhou Wen had a firm will. An ordinary person would probably have suffered mental problems even if they hadn¡¯t starved to death.


    Although there was nothing wrong with Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, he had spent a large amount of time practicing all sorts of Essence Energy Arts over the past hundred years. They were benefits that were as real as they could be. Furthermore, they had been built up over time. They couldn¡¯t be faked.


    Since it was true that Zhou Wen had been imprisoned for a hundred years and that only five years had passed in reality, there was only one possibility. Wang Mingyuan had used some kind of power to change time to achieve such an effect.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t starved to death in the past five years. That was strange.


    Although using five years to exchange for a hundred years seemed like a huge gain, the feeling of being imprisoned for a hundred years was almost maddening.


    Even if Zhou Wen could focus on studying the Essence Energy Arts and try his best not to think too much, there were still a few times when he nearly had a mental breakdown.


    Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know if he should thank Wang Mingyuan or beat him up to vent his anger.


    Over the past five years, Earth had undergone tremendous changes. It was different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. The Guardians had failed to occupy Earth, much less become its owners.


    Of course, the current owner of Earth wasn¡¯t humanity either. In fact, the situation of humans was even worse than five years ago.


    Earth was still undergoing constant changes. As more and more dimensional zones suffered breakouts, the space that humans could survive in became smaller and smaller.


    Now, the living environment of humans was the opposite of before. In the past, humans wouldn¡¯t be in danger as long as they didn¡¯t enter dimensional zones. There were only a few dimensional creatures that could break out.


    However, it was completely different now. If humans didn¡¯t enter dimensional zones, the chances of survival were much lower.


    Earth was filled with dimensional creatures that could break through the restrictions. There was no lack of Mythical and even Terror-grade existences. Even Calamity-grade dimensional creatures occasionally appeared.


    3


    Humans could only enter dimensional zones and use the dimensional zones¡¯ rejection of alien, break-out dimensional creatures. Only then could they live an abject existence.


    The dimensional zones that humans had previously viewed as a forbidden zone of death had now become humanity¡¯s final refuge.


    Of course, the dangers in dimensional zones still existed, but as long as one was familiar with the dangers, they could effectively avoid them. Many humans had already established human factions in various dimensional zones.


    In such a harsh environment, the Federation surprisingly didn¡¯t completely perish. However, the Federation was different from before. It was no longer an era where the six families controlled everything.


    Up to now, no pure-blooded human had relied on their own strength to break through to the Mythical stage.


    And now, the common way to advance to the Mythical stage was still to contract with Guardians. Absorbing and fusing Guardians was still a very rare way to advance. This was because this advancement method had very high requirements for humans. Not everyone had the ability to fuse with Guardians.


    However, another relatively more mature advancement method had appeared two years ago. It was to extract energy from the bodies of dimensional creatures to strengthen human bodies to achieve the goal of advancing to the Mythical stage.


    However, this method also had many problems. For example, a Mythical creature could only be used to create a single Mythical Serum. A single Mythical Serum could only be provided for one person. As for whether this person could advance to the Mythical stage with the help of the Mythical Serum, it depended on many factors. The overall success rate was only a few percent. Furthermore, if they failed, there would be many side effects. They might even instantly die.


    Even if the person succeeded, their Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny would be affected by the Mythical creatures.


    In other words, the strength of the Mythical creatures used to create the Mythical Serum determined the strength of this person after advancing to the Mythical stage. It also determined the possibility of them advancing further in the future.


    Furthermore, just like fusing with a Guardian, the genes of humans would mutate. Their appearance would be somewhat different from ordinary humans, and some would even completely beastify.


    As for whether there would be other latent dangers in the future, it was still unknown.


    However, up to now, most of the Mythical powerhouses among humans had used this method to advance. Now, a large portion of the Federation¡¯s system relied on the Mythical Serum. As for the faction that controlled the Mythical Serum, it was now the actual ruler of the Senate.


    When Zhou Wen heard the name of the creator of the Mythical Serum, his expression couldn¡¯t help but turn odd.


    Hui Haifeng¡­ Federation President¡­ Zhou Wen repeated the name silently. To him, this was a memory from a hundred years ago, so he found it somewhat unfamiliar. Furthermore, the two terms together sounded even more unfamiliar.


    Heavens¡­ What happened in the past five years¡­ Zhou Wen snapped to his senses and groaned inwardly.


    What surprised Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t just that the changes in the past five years had been too drastic, but he wished he could immediately return to land and see how his family and friends were doing.


    However, from what he gathered from Honn Shinsakura , the An family still resided in Luoyang. Not only had it not declined, but it had also become stronger.


    The An family ran quite a number of dimensional zones in Luoyang and had taken in many refugees who had fled to Luoyang. They were now considered one of the few major factions in the East District. Even the people from the Senate were somewhat afraid of the An family.

 Chapter 1119 - Fuji Island

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen got Honn Shinsakura to capture Ji Moqing before following him to the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to return to Luoyang immediately, but what was about to happen overseas had piqued his interest.


    The reason Honn Shinsakura had wanted to capture Ji Moqing was because he wanted to obtain the help of someone in Ji Moqing¡¯s family. The ability and Companion Beast that person had might be able to help the Niten Flying Immortal Palace tide through a calamity.


    Now, Earth¡¯s anomalies were extremely intense. There were terrifying dimensional creatures everywhere. Occasionally, they would encounter existences at the Terror grade. Many people died without knowing how.


    The only refuge for humans was the dimensional zones that had been previously occupied by dimensional creatures. Under normal circumstances, dimensional creatures that weren¡¯t from the corresponding dimensional zone would find it difficult to enter. Or rather, some force restrained dimensional creatures, preventing them from entering dimensional zones that didn¡¯t belong to them.


    However, such a situation would lose its effect in one circumstance¡ªdimensional creatures could enter different dimensional zones without any scruples. That would be humanity¡¯s greatest disaster whenever it happened.


    Based on the research done over the past few years, there weren¡¯t many possibilities for such a situation to happen. Most of it was due to the descent of a Calamity creature.


    Every Calamity creature that descended would trigger a large number of dimensional creatures to go berserk. Humans suffered heavy losses every single time.


    Now, there were signs of a Calamity creature¡¯s descent overseas. Once a Calamity creature truly descended, the dimensional zones would no longer be able to protect humans. Humans had to directly face the dimensional creature tide that accompanied the Calamity creature.


    The reason why humans hadn¡¯t been wiped out in all the disasters wasn¡¯t because humans were powerful. Part of it was because humans had tenacious vitality, but the most important reason was that the Calamity creatures had no intention of destroying Earth and humanity.


    Or rather, humans were nothing to them. Not long after every Calamity creature descended, they would rush out of Earth and disappear. This was the biggest reason why humans had survived until today.


    If those Calamity creatures really wanted to destroy humanity, humanity would have long ceased to exist in this world.


    Even the Guardians who had advanced to the Terror grade were unable to fight against the Calamity creatures born on Earth. The King of Earth created by the dimension looked like a joke now.


    The Niten Flying Immortal Palace didn¡¯t plan on fighting the Calamity creature. They only hoped to survive the terrifying calamity and minimize the losses.


    As for the Calamity creature this time, there was something special about it. The dimensional creature tides it triggered all had extreme Yin attributes.


    Therefore, Honn Shinsakura wanted to use the power of extreme Yang to protect the foundation of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    Ji Moqing¡¯s brother-in-law, Fang Mingsu, had an extreme Yang-elemental Guardian and Companion Beast. Therefore, Honn Shinsakura had captured Ji Moqing and wanted to use her to threaten Fang Mingsu.


    This matter had been done secretly by Honn Shinsakura without Sei Gasakai¡¯s knowledge. Although Honn Shinsakura wasn¡¯t happy about doing such a thing, in order to protect the foundation of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, Honn Shinsakura was willing to lose his reputation and even had the resolve to be expelled by Sei Gasakai.


    ¡°Hyakki Yagy¨­, the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think of a myth when he heard Honn Shinsakura and company¡¯s description of the descent of the Calamity creature.


    1


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the Ghost Parade.¡± Honn Shinsakura nodded slightly. In fact, they used this word to describe the coming disaster.


    When Wu Zonglie and company saw how Honn Shinsakura treated Zhou Wen as though he were an elder, they couldn¡¯t help but wonder about his origins.


    They shared the same thoughts as Ji Moqing. They felt that Zhou Wen definitely wasn¡¯t as young as he looked. He was definitely an old monster who knew how to retain his youth. He just looked young.


    Under their lead, Zhou Wen arrived at the dimensional zone where the Niten Flying Immortal Palace was.


    Beside the dimensional zone known as Fuji Island, Zhou Wen saw the tiny palm symbol he hadn¡¯t seen in a long time.


    He took out his phone and snapped a picture of the palm engraved with the words ¡°Fuji Island¡±. The phone quickly entered the download screen.


    It¡¯s been a long time since I downloaded a dungeon. Zhou Wen¡¯s hundred years felt like a dream. He hadn¡¯t touched the game in the past hundred years. Now that he was holding his phone, he couldn¡¯t help but feel his hands itch.


    1


    It wasn¡¯t for gaming or farming equipment. It was just that his hands were itching.


    ¡°The taboo power in Fuji Island is extremely strange. Apart from pure physical strength and the power of swords and sabers, you can¡¯t use any other powers. Otherwise, it will trigger the taboo power and be instantly destroyed. The power of all kinds of Companion Beasts is included.¡± Before entering the island, Honn Shinsakura specially exhorted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little odd. If I have fire-elemental powers, can I use them?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°No. Other than pure physical strength, no other power can be released,¡± Honn Shinsakura answered.


    Zhou Wen followed Honn Shinsakura onto the island and gave it a try. Indeed, he couldn¡¯t release his Essence Energy outside his body as though his body had become a cage.


    It¡¯s no wonder Sei Gasakai chose this place to establish the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. It¡¯s indeed a good place, Zhou Wen thought.


    Ji Moqing was detained by Wu Zonglie and followed behind. She looked around as though she was searching for a way to escape.


    She was quite bold. Despite being a seventeen-year-old girl that was being escorted to such a place, she showed no panic on her face.


    However, her eyes darted around, but she couldn¡¯t think of a way to escape.


    Wu Zonglie and company felt terrible as though their curiosities were being scratched by a cat. They wanted to know about Zhou Wen, but Honn Shinsakura kept mum about his origins. It made them feel terrible.


    After entering Fuji Island, Honn Shinsakura bowed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Sir, I need to make a move first. I¡¯ll inform my master that you are here. Wu Zonglie will take you there.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly. Only then did Honn Shinsakura bid farewell and leave.


    Wu Zonglie continued leading Zhou Wen and Ji Moqing forward. Soon, they arrived at a man-made city.


    This city wasn¡¯t big, and most of the buildings were made of wood. Zhou Wen realized at a glance that the wood hadn¡¯t been cut with saws or other tools, but with blades.


    All the buildings in the city were cleaved out with blade strikes. Furthermore, there were definitely many people who used them.


    After entering the city and walking along the streets, the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace sized up Zhou Wen and Ji Moqing curiously.


    Just as they took a step down the street, they suddenly saw a group of people rushing over.


    Zhou Wen recognized the person in the lead. It was the elder, Sei Gasakai, whom he had met in Peony Garden. However, not only had Sei Gasakai not aged, but he also looked younger. Furthermore, his aura was more elegant and ethereal.

 Chapter 1120 - Return Blade

    Translator: CKtalon


    The surprise in Wu Zonglie and company¡¯s hearts intensified. With Sei Gasakai¡¯s current status overseas, even if those famous devils came, they had to treat him with respect. There was no reason for Sei Gasakai to welcome them.


    Now, not only had Sei Gasakai come out to welcome him, but he had even walked as far as half a street. From his looks, if Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t entered Fuji Island, he would probably have directly welcomed him at the dock.


    The ordinary disciples on the way didn¡¯t know what had happened. However, when they saw Sei Gasakai appear on the long street, they automatically retreated to the side and stopped to watch.


    Soon, Sei Gasakai arrived near Zhou Wen. He had originally wanted to walk in front of Zhou Wen, but he seemed to think of something and stopped a few steps away from him.


    ¡°All disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Sect, listen up,¡± Sei Gasakai said with a solemn expression. His voice spread throughout the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    The disciples in the palace looked at Sei Gasakai and respectfully waited for his orders.


    ¡°Return Blade,¡± Sei Gasakai said.


    Everyone was taken aback, but they quickly reacted. They sat on the ground in a kneeling posture before unsheathing the blade at their waists. Together with the scabbard, they carefully placed it on the ground in front of them.


    Return Blade was a ritual of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. Typically, when juniors sought guidance from their seniors, they would respectfully place their blades in front of them to indicate their intentions.


    They didn¡¯t know why Sei Gasakai wanted them to perform Blade Return.


    However, Sei Gasakai was the creator of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. He was a god-like existence in the hearts of his disciples, so no one dared to question his orders. Although they didn¡¯t understand, they did as he said.


    On the long street, only Zhou Wen, Ji Moqing, and Sei Gasakai were still standing.


    Sei Gasakai also pulled out the two blades attached to his waist. He held them with both hands and offered them to Zhou Wen. ¡°Sir, in front of you, Sei Gasakai doesn¡¯t dare carry a blade. Please accept them.¡±


    With that said, many disciples were shocked beyond words. Sei Gasakai was publicly acknowledged as the number one in the Sword Dao overseas. Although he wasn¡¯t the strongest in terms of level and strength overseas, he was the true number one when it came to swords.


    Many famous experts overseas, such as Uesugi Nao, had once consulted Sei Gasakai regarding sword arts and had benefited greatly.


    Sei Gasakai was no longer just a single person. He symbolized a spirit. To be recognized as a Sword Sage overseas, his status in the hearts of many overseas experts was obvious.


    However, such a person just claimed that he didn¡¯t dare hold a blade in front of Zhou Wen. It was as though it was an insult to the blade. How could they not be alarmed?


    Wu Zonglie was dumbfounded. He originally imagined that Zhou Wen and Sei Gasakai were old acquaintances or related by blood. Therefore, Sei Gasakai had made a disciple like Honn Shinsakura treat him as an elder.


    However, from the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case. Sei Gasakai¡¯s actions were shocking.


    This fellow is definitely a super devil¡­ Could he be Jing Daoxian¡­ Ji Moqing was extremely alarmed. Apart from Jing Daoxian, she couldn¡¯t think of anyone else who was worthy of Sei Gasakai¡¯s treatment.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t used a weapon for a long time. Put it away,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Sei Gasakai bowed slightly before putting away the two blades. However, he didn¡¯t hold them again. Instead, he threw the two blades on the ground and said to the disciples, ¡°Without Mr. Zhou, there wouldn¡¯t be the present me and the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. In the future, you have to treat him with more respect than you treat me. If there¡¯s any disrespect, I will personally kill you.¡±


    With that said, he led Zhou Wen to his residence.


    The disciples knelt on the ground with their blades placed on the ground as they watched Zhou Wen and Sei Gasakai leave in a daze.


    Only when the two of them entered Sei Gasakai¡¯s Sword Sage Palace did Honn Shinsakura retract his blade and stand up. Then, he bowed slightly in the direction of Sword Sage Palace before retreating.


    Devil¡­ He must be a super devil¡­ Who is he? Could he really be Jing Daoxian? But I heard that Jing Daoxian looks like an old man¡­ Ji Moqing¡¯s mind raced as she felt extremely unlucky. She never expected to encounter such a devil while escaping.


    Sei Gasakai was a martial arts fanatic. He discussed swords with Zhou Wen.


    It would probably be very difficult for an ordinary person to communicate normally with this elder known as Sword Sage. However, Zhou Wen had been trapped for a hundred years and had already developed the Heart Defying Sword formed by the three thousand sword intents to its limits.


    He didn¡¯t dare say anything else, but his cultivation in the Sword Dao was probably inferior to Sei Gasakai¡¯s.


    Furthermore, part of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± created by Sei Gasakai was inspired by Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal. The details Zhou Wen mentioned often enlightened Sei Gasakai.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or sad. He had never expected his Transcendent Flying Immortal to shine overseas.


    However, from the looks of it, the conflict between the Federation and overseas was actually nothing. Humans faced too many survival crises, so they couldn¡¯t be bothered with any internal strife.


    Sei Gasakai also shared some of his insights and Sword Dao insights, asking Zhou Wen for advice.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be impressed with Sei Gasakai when he heard that. He was indeed a sword arts genius. Zhou Wen had only figured out many of the insights Sei Gasakai had mentioned after being trapped for decades.


    However, as Zhou Wen needed to cultivate more Essence Energy Arts, he didn¡¯t constantly focus on his sword. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have taken him that long.


    Zhou Wen occasionally gave him some pointers, speaking of Sei Gasakai¡¯s innermost thoughts. He hit the nail on the head, making Sei Gasakai treat him like a god.


    If what Sei Gasakai had done previously was just to remember his roots and his gratitude towards Zhou Wen, then now, Sei Gasakai was truly convinced. He almost considered himself a disciple.


    1


    Their discussion was interrupted only when a train whistle sounded. Just as Zhou Wen was wondering why there was a train here, a disciple rushed over in a panic to report that a dimensional creature that looked like a train was rushing towards Fuji Island.


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat curious as he followed Sei Gasakai out to take a look.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw a train outside.


    The train looked like an ancient steam train, but the front of it looked like the skull of a bull. As for the train carriages in the back, they looked like huge black coffins.


    It chugged across the sea in the dark night; it¡¯s wheels were burning with blue flames, like a ghost train from hell.


    Wherever the Ghost Train went, seawater surged over as well, turning into huge waves that slammed into the island. Ordinary waves naturally couldn¡¯t threaten the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, but after the waves passed, the disciples who had been drenched by the waves seemed to lose their minds and they walked towards the Ghost Train. They couldn¡¯t be stopped no matter what.

 Chapter 1121 - Ghost Train

    Translator: CKtalon


    Hum!


    With a sword hum tearing through the night sky, Honn Shinsakura slashed at the strange train with his two blades in hand.


    Honn Shinsakura held a long blade in one hand and a short blade in the other hand. The two blades flowed with pink flames, and his body looked very strange. He was very different from ordinary humans.


    He was wearing armor. It wasn¡¯t Guardian armor, but an ordinary Companion Beast armor.


    However, at that moment, the Companion Beast armor was dyed pink by the pink flames flowing out of his body. Furthermore, as the pink flames constantly seeped out, they turned into points of light that resembled scattering snowflakes.


    The light seemed to be emitted from his flesh and blood, not his Essence Energy.


    Zhou Wen also sensed a powerful dimensional creature¡¯s aura in the flames.


    Could this be the Mythical Serum he mentioned? Zhou Wen thought.


    Honn Shinsakura slashed at the train like a flying immortal with intense pink flames. Just as the blade in his primary hand was about to slash at the train¡­


    Wu!


    The train¡¯s steam whistle suddenly sounded as it spewed out large amounts of smoke from the exhaust. When Honn Shinsakura¡¯s blade beam collided with the smoke, he was immediately enveloped by it. The pink flames immediately dimmed.


    ¡°Oh no, thanks to the effects of the Ghost Parade, the taboo power of Fuji Island is weakening.¡± Sei Gasakai¡¯s expression changed slightly. He stepped forward and raised his blade above his head. His other hand also grabbed the hilt and swung down with both hands.


    The invisible blade beam slashed at the train head, and a large amount of smoke spewed out from the mouth of the ox skeleton head at the train head. After making contact with Sei Gasakai¡¯s invisible blade beam, Sei Gasakai¡¯s invisible blade beam immediately vanished like a rock sinking into the sea.


    Sei Gasakai appeared to the left of the train as though he had teleported. He slashed with his blade repeatedly, and with every strike, his figure would switch to another position. His figure flickered, making him look like a ghost.


    The continuous blade beams formed an invisible blade net. With the size of the train, it seemed impossible to dodge such blade beams.


    The smoke it spewed out was only at the front of the train. The coffin-like carriages behind weren¡¯t enveloped by smoke. Sei Gasakai¡¯s target was those carriages.


    Indeed, the train couldn¡¯t dodge Sei Gasakai¡¯s blade beam net. Blade beams slashed at its carriage.


    The distant disciples were overjoyed. They believed that Sei Gasakai had succeeded and the train monster would be slain.


    However, in the next second, they were alarmed to discover that Sei Gasakai¡¯s Mythical-level blade beams, which he produced with the help of the Guardian armor, struck the train carriage like water entering a sponge. They were instantly absorbed and didn¡¯t leave any marks on the carriage.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly because he could already tell that this train monster was likely a Terror-grade existence.


    With a thought, a clown symbol appeared on his Life Wheel. The clown symbol was ghostly and demonic, as though it was an unreal existence in the void. It also seemed very corporeal¡ªthe red color on the clown¡¯s face was vivid like blood.


    On the other side of the Life Wheel, a Sword Pill appeared, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s sword intent to flourish.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared in front of the train. The Bamboo Blade in his hand slashed through the thick smoke with a terrifying sword beam. He extended his hand and pulled Honn Shinsakura, who was about to be sucked into the train. Before the smoke could envelop them, he teleported out again.


    On the other side, Sei Gasakai¡¯s aura had already reached its limits. His entire body and Guardian armor emitted a powerful aura.


    The originally invisible blade beam condensed into something corporeal in his hand, turning into two blades¡ªone long, one short.


    The blades were filled with vitality. Under the influence of the long blade, the flowers and plants in the nearby area quickly bloomed.


    As for the short blade in his other hand, it had a deathly aura. Any creature that came into contact with that aura immediately withered.


    The dual blades in Sei Gasakai¡¯s hand danced as they matched his body that seemed to be spirited away. He constantly appeared in different spots around the train. As he dodged the smoke, he released blade beams of life and death at the train.


    The blade beams of life and death slashed at the train carriage, scuffing it. However, the scuffs were too shallow. Furthermore, the carriage seemed to have self-healing abilities. In an instant, the scuffs vanished.


    Sei Gasakai seemed to have expected this situation. His expression remained unchanged as the two blades fused into one in his hand, turning into a saber.


    The saber had life and death coexisting, as though it had some fateful power of reincarnation, causing all life in the surroundings to turn upside down.


    The withered grass regained its vitality once again. The tree that was originally filled with vitality instantly withered. In the same area, it was as though Death and the Goddess of Life had simultaneously released their divine powers. The power of life and death constantly intertwined.


    Finally, Sei Gasakai raised his saber high and slashed down.


    A single strike separates the path of life and death. Destiny is not in the hands of humans. What a powerful will of life and death. It¡¯s no wonder Sei Gasakai can be called a Sword Sage. Just this strike alone makes him worthy of the title. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly, but he didn¡¯t believe that this strike could seriously injure the train monster.


    As the terrifying saber beam slashed down, the train¡¯s steam whistle sounded again. However, this time, what spewed out wasn¡¯t smoke, but blue spectral flames.


    The spectral flames instantly spread across the entire train. When the raging blue flames had enveloped the entire train, it made the strange train even more illusory. The carriages seemed to have turned into blue flames, allowing one to see straight through the carriage.


    Sei Gasakai¡¯s Life-and-Death Saber Beam failed to injure the train. The saber beam passed through the train¡¯s body as though the train was only an illusion and not a real existence.


    Wu!


    The train suddenly accelerated and slammed into the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± lineage. After the disciples were hit, they didn¡¯t fly out with tragic cries. Instead, they vanished as though they had been devoured by the Ghost Train. It also made people realize that the train wasn¡¯t an illusion, but a real Terror creature.


    ¡°A true Terror-grade dimensional creature; retreat immediately to the valley.¡± Sei Gasakai¡¯s face was somewhat pale as he ordered all the disciples to retreat.


    He was known as a half-step Terror which meant that his realm of thought had reached the Terror grade. However, his true strength and level weren¡¯t at the necessary level. It was impossible for him to fight a Terror-grade creature.


    Surprisingly, the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± didn¡¯t panic. They retreated in an orderly manner, but their speed of retreat was far inferior to the train. They watched as the train roared and charged forward again.


    The eyes of the disciples at the back were filled with horror, but they didn¡¯t scatter in random directions. Instead, they turned around and charged at the train with blades in hand. Their faces were filled with determination as though they wanted to use their bodies to buy time for their companions to escape.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that their actions were no different from courting death.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny changed again.

 Chapter 1122 - Might of the Hell King

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    On the Wheel of Destiny, a third symbol appeared. It was an existence that resembled a god or devil. It sat cross-legged with its eyes closed like an old monk in meditation, but also like a sleeping devil.


    When the symbol was complete, a huge Hell King projection appeared in front of Zhou Wen. As for Zhou Wen, he had already teleported above the train.


    ?


    The Supreme Hell King shadow, that resembled a giant godfiend, slammed down on the head of the train.


    The chugging Ghost Train slowed down. Supreme Hell King blocked the front of the train with both hands, but his body was rapidly pushed back by a terrifying force. His hands that had made contact with the front of the train were also being devoured by the strange blue flames.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted when he saw that Supreme Hell King¡¯s strength was effective against the train.


    Supreme Hell King was still at the Mythical stage after all. To be able to reduce the Ghost Train¡¯s speed in a head-on collision meant that Supreme Hell King¡¯s strength had a powerful restraining effect on the Ghost Train. Otherwise, other Mythical Life Souls would have long been devoured by it.


    Zhou Wen seemed to gain some insight as he sensed the information from Supreme Hell King.


    After a hundred years of cultivation, the Small Perfection of Wisdom had been pushed to the limits of the Mythical stage by Zhou Wen. Supreme Hell King was also at the peak of the Mythical stage, but for some reason, he had failed to take the next step forward.


    Now, having Supreme Hell King fight the Terror-grade ghost train, it made Zhou Wen understand the root of the problem.


    The reason Supreme Hell King had failed to advance wasn¡¯t because Zhou Wen¡¯s realm wasn¡¯t high enough, but because his body had been limited when he was trapped.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen had a vague guess that he had really been trapped for five years, not a hundred years.


    This was because his realm had been constantly improving, but the Essence Energy Art in his body hadn¡¯t kept up with the improvement in his realm. It was very likely because his body clock and thoughts weren¡¯t synchronized.


    In other words, Zhou Wen felt that he had experienced a hundred years, but his body had only experienced five years.


    What did Teacher do? Or could it be that it was originally the power of Mount Fangzhang? Teacher only used its powers? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to think about that.


    Supreme Hell King was quickly pushed back by the train as his body constantly burned with the blue spectral fire.


    However, the Ghost Train slowed down significantly as a result. It allowed the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± to retreat to the side in time. Only the train continued pushing Supreme Hell King forward.


    Supreme Hell King was like an emotionless machine as he transmitted everything he had experienced to Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, intensifying his feelings.


    Then let¡¯s give it a try. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes focused as the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra quickly flowed in his body. The Supreme Hell King symbol on the Wheel of Destiny also burned with invisible karmic sinflames.


    After the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± escaped, they watched the battle between the Ghost Train and the Supreme Hell King.


    They could tell that Supreme Hell King was clearly a Life Soul. Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the aura of a dimensional creature or a Guardian. He was likely a human.


    However, it was unbelievable that a pure human could be on a par with the Ghost Train.


    After all, Sei Gasakai and Honn Shinsakura were experts at the Mythical stage. Sei Gasakai was known as a half-step Terror. Even he found it difficult to fight the Ghost Train. A pure human who could use his Life Soul to temporarily fend off the Ghost Train was already shocking enough.


    However, at that moment, they couldn¡¯t be bothered to think too much. They watched as Supreme Hell King slammed into the mountain behind him, courtesy of the Ghost Train. Furthermore, Supreme Hell King¡¯s body was completely enveloped by blue spectral flames. Flames burst out everywhere from his collision. The blue spectral flames rose and expanded, completely devouring Supreme Hell King¡¯s body and the mountain behind him.


    Everyone believed that Supreme Hell King was doomed, but only Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up. At the same time, the Supreme Hell King symbol on the Life Wheel emitted a blinding light.


    As the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± were retreating, they suddenly realized that something was amiss.


    After the Ghost Train hit the mountain, it stopped. It didn¡¯t shatter the mountain, nor did it crash through the mountain.


    Its wheels were still spinning, and the steam whistle was still humming, but it didn¡¯t continue advancing.


    The mountain in front of it was still enveloped by the raging spectral flames as Zhou Wen floated above it.


    Crack! Crack!


    A strange sound came from the mountain peak wrapped in spectral flames. It sounded like something had cracked, or like firecrackers crackling.


    Suddenly, the blue flames rapidly dissipated. Rather than saying that they had vanished, it was better to say that they had been devoured. However, no one could see what had devoured the spectral flames.


    As the spectral flames subsided, a mountain peak enveloped in flames gradually appeared. In front of the mountain peak was Supreme Hell King, who they imagined had been destroyed.


    However, Supreme Hell King probably couldn¡¯t be called Supreme Hell King anymore.


    He sat cross-legged like a Buddha, but he had four faces and eight arms. Each arm had a different stance and formed different hand seals. The four faces were also different.


    The forward-facing face was emotionless, as though it was a machine without any feelings.


    On the left side, there was a smile on his face, making anyone who cast their eyes on him feel like they were welcoming a spring breeze.


    The right side of his face was the complete opposite. There were faint tears of blood at the corners of his eyes as he wore a look of pity and sorrow.


    The back-facing face was indiscernible, but one could vaguely sense that the eyes on the face seemed to be prying into the secrets of all life.


    No one could see the face on the back because behind him, there was a black hole that resembled hell. It was like a black Buddhistic glow floating behind him.


    The interior of the black hole was filled with all sorts of strange things. There was also the faint sound of ghosts crying or howling. Although one couldn¡¯t see anything, it made them feel endless fear.


    As for the Ghost Train, it no longer advanced. Not only did it not advance, but it also began to retreat.


    Its wheels spun in the reverse direction and a siren sounded, but its body failed to retreat. Not only did it not retreat, but it was also pulled by a strange force as it constantly approached Supreme Hell King.


    Supreme Hell King¡¯s eyes were slightly closed as one of his palms slowly slapped down.


    The Ghost Train spewed out spectral flames in a bid to stop the descending hand, but before the spectral flames could touch the hand, it was devoured by invisible karmic sinflames.


    Boom!


    The terrifying Ghost Train was shattered by the palm of the hand, turning into flames that filled the sky. However, the flames were devoured by the invisible karmic sinflames while still in midair.


    As for the people who had been devoured by the Ghost Train, they also fell out. Following that, a resplendent emerald-green crystal dropped.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± stared blankly at Supreme Hell King and Zhou Wen, who was floating above Supreme Hell King. They seemed to understand why Sei Gasakai, who they viewed as a god, held Zhou Wen in such high esteem.


    He advanced to the Mythical stage with a human body¡­ Is he really human¡­ Honn Shinsakura looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression as he muttered to himself.

 Chapter 1123 - New Function

    Translator: CKtalon


    Unfortunately, it¡¯s not a Companion Egg. In a room, Zhou Wen played with the crystal that had dropped from the Ghost Train. He used his phone to snap a picture and found it to be a 96-Strength Crystal.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength hadn¡¯t reached its peak, so it was perfect for him.


    ?


    A warm stream fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body before his Strength stat rapidly increased. It only stopped after reaching 81.


    It actually reached 81 points¡ªthe limit of the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. The previous advancements had required special methods to add the additional point.


    However, this time, it reached 81 points without any restrictions.


    Does this mean that my body can already match a natural Mythical creature? Zhou Wen guessed.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about this problem. Now, he wanted to know more about the situation with Supreme Hell King. He used his phone to carefully look at his stats.


    Zhou Wen: Mythical


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Life Soul: Slaughterer


    Wheel of Destiny: No Engravings (One Spin)


    Terror Form: Great Brahma (S-grade)


    5


    I really gained the ability to transform into the Terror form, but my level is still at the Mythical stage. This will be the same as Little Neo. Zhou Wen was somewhat delighted.


    1


    Demonic Neonate had always been different. Now that he had an ability similar to Demonic Neonate, it meant that he was no longer ordinary. Furthermore, he seemed to be able to continue making breakthroughs with the other Essence Energy Arts and obtain the Terror transformation ability in a seemingly feasible manner.


    It¡¯s really interesting that the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra condenses Great Brahma. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and looked at the description on his phone.


    Previously, when he advanced to the Mythical stage, his phone game gained three new functions¡ªBloodline, Samsara, and Birth. He had been trapped for ages without having the chance to use his phone. He didn¡¯t know what these three functions were, so he decided to study them.


    After carefully studying the three functions, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd.


    The Bloodline function was a function that enhanced Companion Beasts¡¯ abilities. One could use Companion Beasts as raw materials to strengthen another Companion Beast.


    1


    Companion Beasts that were used as raw materials would vanish. As for another Companion Beast, it was possible to obtain double Life Providences, or even triple Life Providences. There might even be more.


    At a glance, this function was amazing. Wouldn¡¯t a Companion Beast with multiple Life Providences be invincible?


    However, Zhou Wen knew that things weren¡¯t that simple. The previous pet fusion function had already taught him a lesson. It wasn¡¯t easy to even roll skills. The chances of creating a double Life Providence were definitely not high. The chances of having multiple Life Providences were definitely terrifyingly low.


    Zhou Wen randomly used a few low-level Companion Beasts to give it a try. The chances were indeed very low. He used the Bloodline function ten times in a row, but he failed all ten times. There was no mechanism that gave guaranteed success from doing it ten times in a row.


    1


    However, this function was still pretty good for Zhou Wen. After all, he had plenty of Companion Beasts. No matter how low the success rate was, throwing hundreds or thousands of Companion Beasts at the problem would eventually lead to success.


    Of course, the premise was that a Companion Beast as a main pet had the value of being upgraded.


    For example, if Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy had a Life Providence that suited them, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind helping wasting Companion Beasts on them.


    The function of Samsara wasn¡¯t as simple as the Bloodline function. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what it meant for the time being. In-game, it only mentioned that killing dimensional creatures gave him a chance of obtaining Samsara Stones. Samsara Stones could allow a Companion Beast to be reincarnated.


    As for what the Samsara Stone looked like and what effects it had after reincarnation, there was no detailed description.


    The final Birth function was the strangest function. It was a Companion Beast¡¯s birth function.


    Companion Beasts didn¡¯t need to mate to conceive. Regardless of whether they were male or female, as long as they reached the requirement to give birth, they could have children.


    Zhou Wen studied the conditions for Birth and realized that things weren¡¯t simple. It wasn¡¯t easy to get a Companion Beast to give birth. Furthermore, the higher the Companion Beast¡¯s grade, the more stringent the conditions for giving birth. Furthermore, the Birth conditions for each Companion Beast were different.


    As long as he used the Birth function to check on a Companion Beast, he would know its fertility conditions, but not all Companion Beasts had it stated¡ªDemonic Neonate being an example.


    Banana Fairy did have fertility conditions to give birth, but her fertility conditions required her to choose her spouse freely. He had no idea how Banana Fairy chose her spouse.


    1


    Could there be a Banana Man in this world? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and found it unlikely. He had never heard of any famous banana creature being male.


    5


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fertility conditions were even more extreme. It directly indicated that it was the only Behemoth in the world, so it couldn¡¯t find a fertility partner.


    3


    After looking through his Companion Beasts, he realized that there were all sorts of strange fertility conditions, but there weren¡¯t many Mythical Companion Beasts that could immediately give birth.


    Now, the only ones who could meet the fertility requirements were the Light Concealment Sword and the Night Immaculate Sword.


    The fertility conditions of these two Mythical swords were sword-type partners. They happened to be matched as a pair. Since Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use them much, he decided to give it a try and see what the Birth function could produce.


    He placed the Light Concealment Sword and the Night Immaculate Sword in the selection box before clicking on Birth.


    Then, he saw the Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword light up at the same time before flying together. Just as they were about to collide, the phone screen turned black. Then, a notification appeared: ¡°Birth in progress. It will take 36 days.¡±


    Holy sh*t, is this censorship? Zhou Wen still wanted to see how the two swords could reproduce. He couldn¡¯t help but feel depressed.


    2


    ¡­


    In the past two years, the signal from Earth¡¯s communication satellites had been worsening, especially at sea. There was almost no signal, causing the separation between the Federation and overseas to worsen.


    Sei Gasakai told Zhou Wen that there was a Companion Beast that could deliver long-distance communications. However, he didn¡¯t have such a Companion Beast. If Zhou Wen wanted to use his phone for communication, he had to return inland.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to stay for the time being.


    It was actually not common for a Calamity-grade creature to appear. Sometimes, it might not even appear once a year. Sometimes, it would appear several times a year. Furthermore, the location was not fixed.


    The last time a Calamity creature appeared was in West District. It was a grand Undead Calamity that swept through the entire West District. Thankfully, the Calamity creature rushed out of Earth not long after it appeared, and the Undead army scattered. Otherwise, the humans in the West District would have been wiped out.


    Humans didn¡¯t get out of it without benefits. After the Undead Calamity, large numbers of Undead creatures appeared everywhere in the West District. Hunting Undead creatures also benefited humans.


    According to past experience, with the birth of a Calamity creature, many Terror-grade creatures would appear. Furthermore, they were rare top-grade creatures.


    I wonder if the appearance of a Calamity creature can be downloaded into a game dungeon? Zhou Wen felt that he could give it a try because Sei Gasakai had told him that every Calamity-grade creature that appeared resulted in the destruction of a dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could download the dimensional zone before the Calamity creature appeared. That way, a Calamity creature might appear in-game.

 Chapter 1124 - Bride Island

    Translator: CKtalon


    According to Sei Gasakai, the Ghost Parade covered many areas in the East Sea. Many places had large numbers of Yin-attribute dimensional creatures.


    This was only the prelude to the Ghost Parade. When the true Calamity creature appeared, there were definitely more Yin-attribute dimensional creatures.


    ?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about the legends here. Sei Gasakai told him that if the Ghost Parade was the same as the legends, there would probably be hundreds of dimensional creatures like the Ghost Train.


    As for the source of the Ghost Parade, Sei Gasakai wasn¡¯t too sure either. He only knew that a large number of Yin-attribute dimensional creatures had first appeared in the Ryukyu Islands. As for which dimensional zone had appeared first, Sei Gasakai wasn¡¯t too sure.


    Zhou Wen planned on heading to the Ryukyu Islands to take a look before the Calamity creature appeared.


    Sei Gasakai originally wanted to accompany Zhou Wen, but because he needed to resist dimensional creatures that might appear, he ultimately chose to give up. However, he still got one of his personal disciples to be Zhou Wen¡¯s guide.


    As for Ji Moqing, who had been captured, Sei Gasakai didn¡¯t plan on using her to threaten Fang Mingsu. Therefore, he got Zhou Wen to take Ji Moqing along and send her back inland.


    Zhou Wen had plans on returning inland, so he agreed.


    After the three of them set off together, Ji Moqing didn¡¯t believe anything Zhou Wen said. She felt that Zhou Wen was a super devil overseas. There must be a conspiracy behind bringing her along. It was very likely to be to deal with Fang Mingsu.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to explain. On the other hand, Sei Gasakai¡¯s disciple treated Zhou Wen as though he was a god. Or perhaps it was because of Sei Gasakai¡¯s orders that she listened to Zhou Wen like a maid.


    The female disciple of Sei Gasakai was named Shiraishi Satomi. She was around 27 years old. Although she was still at the Epic stage, she was accomplished in the way of the sword. Apart from Honn Shinsakura, she was the disciple Sei Gasakai was most proud of.


    Not only was Shiraishi Satomi in charge of leading the way, but she also took care of Zhou Wen¡¯s food and lodging during the journey. Almost without Zhou Wen needing to say a word, she prepared everything. She was even more meticulous than Zhou Wen when handling his own matters.


    This devil is indeed lying to me. This isn¡¯t the direction to return inland at all. Ji Moqing cursed inwardly, but she didn¡¯t dare show it in front of Zhou Wen.


    Under Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s guidance, Zhou Wen quickly arrived at the Ryukyu Islands. Indeed, he realized that there were many Yin-attribute dimensional creatures on the islands.


    ¡°What famous dimensional zones does Ryukyu have?¡± Zhou Wen asked Shiraishi Satomi.


    ¡°Ryukyu isn¡¯t too far from the overseas islands or inland. Its culture has been affected by two aspects. Its myths and legends aren¡¯t overly complicated, but there are many scattered local legends. In particular, there are many legends regarding the uninhabited islands and sea monsters. Many of those uninhabited islands have dimensional zones. However, I¡¯ve never heard of any of them being famous. With the Ghost Parade stemming from the Ryukyu area, it has left many people alarmed.¡±


    After a pause, she continued, ¡°If you want to talk about the famous ones, there are a total of four famous uninhabited islands¡¯ dimensional zones here¡ªEmotional Island, Bride Island, Minor God Island, and Seed Island.¡±


    Shiraishi Satomi gave Zhou Wen the details of the four islands. Finally, she told him, ¡°Minor God Island is rather far from the area where the Yin-attribute dimensional creatures are appearing. I don¡¯t think it will be there. The most likely ones are Emotional Island, Bride Island, and Seed Island. We are the closest to Bride Island now. Do you want to take a look?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s head to Bride Island first.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    It was still daytime, so there weren¡¯t many Yin-attribute creatures that appeared. Furthermore, they were relatively low-level. It was hard to tell if that were the case at night. Even if it wasn¡¯t an island, it would be very dangerous out at sea.


    The reason Bride Island had this name was because of an ancient legend.


    Legend had it that three diligent fisherman brothers lived on that island, but because they were too poor, the three brothers didn¡¯t get married. In the end, the three brothers came up with a plan and gathered money to have their eldest brother wed somebody.


    Furthermore, they agreed that after the eldest brother got a wife, the three brothers would continue working hard together and save money for the second brother.


    The three brothers gathered enough money and got a wife for the eldest brother who was overjoyed because of her beauty.


    Early the next morning after the wedding, the eldest brother went out to sea to catch fish. Considering how his second brother wasn¡¯t getting any younger, he wanted to catch more fish for money to get him a wife.


    However, the eldest brother never returned. A few days later, his boat floated back, but it was empty.


    Unable to find their eldest brother, the two brothers knew that he was definitely doomed; they had no choice but to hold a funeral for him.


    Life wasn¡¯t easy back then, so there wasn¡¯t much to be particular about. After the eldest brother died, the second brother and third brother came up with a plan and had the second brother marry their eldest brother¡¯s wife.


    On the second day of their marriage, the second brother went fishing out at sea, never to return as well.


    The nearby fishermen began to spread rumors, saying that the bride jinxed her husband and that she was a witch.


    However, the third brother didn¡¯t believe them. He still married the same bride after his brother¡¯s funeral.


    After all, the bride was too beautiful. It was no wonder the third brother was tempted. However, he remained a little wary. After getting married, he planned on resting for a few days and not go out fishing so quickly.


    However, no one saw the third brother again. After a period of time, someone boldly went to the island and arrived at the three brothers¡¯ house. It had already been abandoned. In the house, there was a man¡¯s skeleton, but the bride was nowhere to be seen.


    The nearby fishermen said that the bride was a sea demon. No one dared to go to the island again, and that was how the name Bride Island came about.


    After the dimensional storms, dimensional zones appeared on Bride Island. The nearby fishermen had once heard female sobbing on the island. None of the people who boldly went to the island returned alive. This island thus became notorious.


    Now that the origins of the Ghost Parade were nearby, Bride Island was considered one of the more suspicious dimensional zones.


    Soon, the three of them arrived near Bride Island. Zhou Wen looked at the legendary Bride Island and realized that it wasn¡¯t very big. It was probably smaller than a village, but the island was covered in fog. Even with Truth Listener¡¯s ability, it couldn¡¯t hear what was on the island.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up Bride Island, he suddenly saw a few large ships approaching from afar. On careful look, the symbol on the large ship belonged to the Federation.


    When Ji Moqing saw the Federation¡¯s ships, she was delighted, then a little worried.


    This place wasn¡¯t too far inland, so it wasn¡¯t strange to encounter Federation ships. However, in Ji Moqing¡¯s opinion, Zhou Wen was a peerless overseas devil. If she sought help from those Federation ships, she might end up harming them.


    Just as Ji Moqing was still hesitating about whether to call for help, the ships had already cruised over. There was a person standing on the deck of the large ship in front. When Ji Moqing saw the person¡¯s appearance, she was immediately overjoyed.

 Chapter 1125 - The New Four War Gods

    Translator: CKtalon


    That person was Fang Mingsu, Ji Moqing¡¯s brother-in-law.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know Fang Mingsu, but Shiraishi Satomi long knew of his fame. If she had met him in the past, under such circumstances, she would definitely have turned tail without giving him a chance to see her.


    ?


    However, with Zhou Wen beside her, she didn¡¯t think she needed to run.


    Although Fang Mingsu was very strong and was known as one of the four new war gods of the Federation, with his Guardian having reached the Terror grade, Shiraishi Satomi didn¡¯t believe that he was stronger than Zhou Wen.


    Ji Moqing lowered her head and didn¡¯t say a word. She had also seen Zhou Wen¡¯s strength. Such a terrifying Ghost Train had been smacked to death by his Life Soul. Such strength was probably not much weaker than Fang Mingsu¡¯s.


    Now that she was in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands, she was afraid that Fang Mingsu would be threatened by Zhou Wen and company because of her.


    ¡°It¡¯s Fang Mingsu,¡± Shiraishi Satomi whispered when she saw that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to recognize him.


    So he¡¯s Fang Mingsu? Zhou Wen sized up Fang Mingsu and felt somewhat intrigued.


    He was curious about Fang Mingsu not because of how strong he was or how famous he was, but because Fang Mingsu and An Tianzuo were the four new War Gods of the Federation.


    Zhou Wen was mainly curious how strong a person who was An Tianzuo¡¯s peer was.


    Fang Mingsu clearly knew that Ji Moqing was here and was here for her.


    When the ships were a few hundred meters away from Zhou Wen and company, they finally stopped. Fang Mingsu stood at the bow and said to Ji Moqing with a smile, ¡°Little Qing, don¡¯t worry. Since I¡¯m here, I won¡¯t let you suffer any more grievances.¡±


    ¡°Brother-in-law.¡± Ji Moqing¡¯s eyes immediately turned red.


    After all, she was only seventeen. Although she was rather scheming, it would be a lie to say that she wasn¡¯t afraid after being abducted overseas.


    Now that Fang Mingsu was here, she finally had someone she could rely on. She no longer needed to rely on herself. She was immediately awash in emotions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t cry.¡± Fang Mingsu stepped down from the boat and walked step by step over the seawater. The seawater didn¡¯t even wet his shoes.


    ¡°I¡¯ve long heard of the famous name of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. I¡¯ve always yearned for the name of Sword Sage, but I never expected him to do such a thing. It¡¯s really disappointing. I guess Sword Sage Sei Gasakai¡¯s title is just an empty title. Otherwise, why would he do such a despicable thing?¡± Fang Mingsu said as he walked. Soon, he was less than ten meters away from Zhou Wen and company.


    Upon hearing Fang Mingsu insult Sei Gasakai, Shiraishi Satomi was immediately enraged. Although she knew that she was no match for him, she still drew her blade to defend her master¡¯s honor.


    Zhou Wen reached out to press down on Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s hand that was holding the blade. He looked at Fang Mingsu and said, ¡°There¡¯s more to this matter than meets the eye. It wasn¡¯t done by Sword Sage. Thankfully, this lady wasn¡¯t injured. Now that she¡¯s returned to you perfectly fine, how about we drop this matter?¡±


    Fang Mingsu did not answer. He only looked at Ji Moqing and asked, ¡°Little Qing, did they bully you?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Ji Moqing hurriedly shook her head.


    If it were any other time, with Fang Mingsu as her backer, she would definitely add fuel to the fire and complain. However, after seeing how terrifying Zhou Wen was, she also hoped that this matter would end here and not cause any further problems.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave her to you. We¡¯ll take our leave now.¡± Zhou Wen gestured for Shiraishi Satomi to throw Ji Moqing at Fang Mingsu before turning the boat¡¯s bow and leaving.


    Fang Mingsu caught Ji Moqing and again asked her if she had suffered.


    On the other side, the other ships blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s path.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Zhou Wen asked Fang Mingsu.


    Fang Mingsu didn¡¯t even look at Zhou Wen as he continued speaking to Ji Moqing.


    Many humans appeared on the ship. One of them was a brawny, bald man in a military uniform with a huge ax over his shoulder. He said loudly, ¡°Do you think our marshal¡¯s sister is someone you can capture and release as you wish? Would you be willing to have me abduct your wife for a month before returning her to you?¡±


    ¡°Then what must be done to satisfy you?¡± Zhou Wen felt that although the man¡¯s words were crude, they weren¡¯t wrong.


    This matter was indeed Honn Shinsakura¡¯s fault. It was not their fault for being overbearing.


    ¡°You can¡¯t make the decision on this matter. Let Sei Gasakai talk to us,¡± the bald man said.


    ¡°Can you make calls on matters pertaining to the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±?¡± Zhou Wen asked Shiraishi Satomi.


    Shiraishi Satomi first shook her head before nodding at Zhou Wen. ¡°I can¡¯t make the decision, but you can, according to Master before he left. You can even have our lives¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and looked at the bald man. ¡°I can make some decisions regarding the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. I¡¯ll get Honn Shinsakura to apologize and let you vent your anger. He didn¡¯t do anything out of line. How about letting him live?¡±


    The bald man was slightly taken aback as though he never expected Zhou Wen to be so easy-going. He couldn¡¯t help but look at Fang Mingsu.


    Only then did Fang Mingsu look up and say to Zhou Wen, ¡°You can¡¯t make the decision on this matter. Take me to Sei Gasakai. He has to personally give me an explanation.¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly as he looked at Fang Mingsu and said, ¡°This matter has nothing to do with the Sword Sage. Why do you have to see him? Do you want to seek justice for her or do you want to go to the Niten Flying Immortal Palace?¡±


    ¡°Both. Lead the way,¡± Fang Mingsu said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen already understood that Fang Mingsu¡¯s true goal wasn¡¯t to save Ji Moqing, or rather, it wasn¡¯t entirely to save her. Perhaps Ji Moqing¡¯s abduction had been a trap all along.


    Fang Mingsu¡¯s true target was the Niten Flying Immortal Palace and Sei Gasakai. There was no doubt about this, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why.


    ¡°Sorry, if you want to go to the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, it¡¯s best you go yourself. I don¡¯t have time to accompany you.¡± Zhou Wen gestured for Shiraishi Satomi to continue sailing.


    Fang Mingsu frowned slightly. In his intelligence, there didn¡¯t seem to be such a person on Fuji Island. The three most important people in the Niten Flying Immortal Palace were Sei Gasakai, Honn Shinsakura, and Shiraishi Satomi.


    As for Shiraishi Satomi, she seemed to follow this young man¡¯s lead, but this young man wasn¡¯t Honn Shinsakura. This left Fang Mingsu somewhat puzzled.


    However, there was no turning back now. Even if the young man in front of him was as powerful as Honn Shinsakura, it wouldn¡¯t affect the overall situation much.


    ¡°Brother-in-law¡­¡± Ji Moqing seemed to come to a realization. She wanted to tell Fang Mingsu what had happened on Fuji Island, but she was cut off by Fang Mingsu. He even gave her a reassuring gesture.


    ¡°Regardless of whether you have the time or not, you have to make this trip.¡± With Fang Mingsu¡¯s voice, the soldiers on the ship had already summoned their Companion Beasts and got them to target Zhou Wen and Shiraishi Satomi.


    1


    Scales appeared on the bald man¡¯s body as he slashed at Zhou Wen like a monster.

 Chapter 1126 - Trapped on Lone Island

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Just as he was about to summon his Companion Beast to fight the baldy, he suddenly felt a powerful spatial fluctuation.


    Almost instantly, everyone felt the intense spatial fluctuations. In the next moment, before they could react, they saw the lighting in front of them change. The scenery around them no longer looked the same.


    ?


    Zhou Wen stood on the spot without moving, but the scene in front of him had turned into a white beach.


    Previously, he was clearly standing on his boat, but now, there was actual sand beneath his feet.


    Spatial powers? Furthermore, spatial teleportation on a large scale? Zhou Wen looked around and was immediately alarmed to discover that he was on Bride Island¡ªthe one he had seen at sea.


    Standing on the beach, Zhou Wen could still see Emotional Island, which was across the sea from Bride Island.


    Not far from the beach, Ji Moqing was lying on the ground. She looked unconscious. Her level was too low and her body was too weak. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel anything from the spatial fluctuations, but she couldn¡¯t withstand it and had fainted.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see anyone else. It was as though the spatial fluctuations had teleported them to different locations on Bride Island.


    Not in the mood to bother with Ji Moqing, Zhou Wen summoned a Poison Bat and got it to fly out of Bride Island. It hadn¡¯t flown far when its body seemed to be sliced open by an invisible force. Blood spewed out and fell into the sea, dyeing the seawater red.


    A spatial rift? Zhou Wen summoned another group of Poison Bats and sent them flying in different directions.


    The outcome was the same. No matter where the Poison Bats flew, they would definitely be sliced apart once they were ten meters away from the island.


    If Bride Island isn¡¯t totally enveloped by spatial powers, it means that there¡¯s an extremely terrifying spatial creature controlling everything, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that the former was more likely. His present sensing abilities were excellent. If such an existence controlled everything, he should have sensed something.


    If the entire island is enveloped by spatial powers, departure with teleportation and teleportation powers will definitely be prevented. Zhou Wen thought about how he could leave the island.


    As Zhou Wen was in thought, Ji Moqing slowly woke up. When she was almost completely awake, she realized that Zhou Wen was beside her. She immediately jolted and got up to run.


    However, as Ji Moqing ran, she realized that not only was her body not moving forward, but she was also retreating. Then, she felt a hand grab the back of her neck.


    ¡°Lord, please spare me. I really didn¡¯t want to be your enemy. It¡¯s that baldy who wants to deal with you. It really has nothing to do with me,¡± Ji Moqing pleaded with a sullen face.


    ¡°Your brother-in-law doesn¡¯t seem to agree,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    He didn¡¯t want to make things difficult for Ji Moqing. He had taken note of Ji Moqing trying to persuade Fang Mingsu previously.


    The reason he had captured her was because he didn¡¯t want her to run around the island and die here for no reason. After all, she was a human life as well.


    1


    Heavens, what sins did I commit in my previous life? Why did you send me to this devil¡¯s side again? Ji Moqing was utterly depressed, but she had no choice but to smile. ¡°My brother-in-law doesn¡¯t know the immensity of heaven and earth. That¡¯s why he made an enemy of an expert like you. It really has nothing to do with me. I know how powerful you are. How can I be your enemy? Just a sneeze from you can kill me a thousand or ten thousand times¡­¡±


    Although Ji Moqing said that, she was thinking to herself, Hmph, you devil. You can¡¯t even compare to my brother-in-law. Otherwise, why would you release me the moment you saw him? Aren¡¯t you afraid of him? Anyway, this island isn¡¯t big. Let¡¯s see what you can do to me when he comes to find me.


    ¡°Very good. I like good children who tell the truth,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any other merits, I just don¡¯t know how to lie.¡± Ji Moqing heaved a sigh of relief when she saw this, thinking that she had escaped another calamity.


    ¡°Alright then. You will keep telling the truth from now on. If I hear you lie or if what your truths sound unpleasant, I¡¯ll chop off your head,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡­ are really a smartas¡­¡± Ji Moqing had just said a word when she saw Zhou Wen look at her. She immediately changed her words.¡± You are so smart and handsome. I don¡¯t know how to describe you. Even those fancy words can¡¯t describe one in ten thousand of your good qualities¡­¡±


    ¡°Follow me. Let¡¯s talk as we walk. If I hear any repeated truths, I¡¯ll immediately behead you.¡± Zhou Wen walked slowly along the beach, hoping to find Shiraishi Satomi.


    Bride Island didn¡¯t look big, but Truth Listener¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t reach the center of the island. There seemed to be a mysterious force guarding it.


    1


    Zhou Wen could see a village in the middle of the island with his naked eye, but he wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk. He wanted to walk around the beach and see if he could find Shiraishi Satomi.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t find her, just finding the tiny palm symbol would be even better.


    ¡°Your eyes are like the sea of stars, deep and charming. Your voice is even more moving than the singing of angels. Please, let me hear your voice again. Even the word ¡®scram¡¯ will make me blush for a long time. You are the greatest man on Earth¡­¡±


    Ji Moqing had long believed that Zhou Wen was a devil, so she took his words seriously. She racked her brains to think of all sorts of praises for Zhou Wen, but she didn¡¯t dare stop for a moment. She didn¡¯t care if her words disgusted her.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay attention to what Ji Moqing was saying. He kept staring ahead. There was a human-like figure standing by the beach.


    The person was standing by the sea with a lute on his back, as though he was looking into the distance.


    From the point of view of an ordinary person, he seemed to be a zither player, but Zhou Wen could tell from his extremely weak aura that he wasn¡¯t a human, but a dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate, who had long recovered. She came out in her Terror form and sat on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t see Demonic Neonate in her Terror form, nor was she in the mood to look. She was still pondering over what words to praise Zhou Wen with.


    However, the zither player by the sea seemed to sense something as he turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he prepared for battle, but he heard the zither player say to him, ¡°The path ahead is dangerous. It¡¯s best you return.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he really had no ill intentions or if he had other motives, so he asked, ¡°What¡¯s the danger?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say.¡± The zither player shook his head and turned back to continue looking at the distant sea.


    Seeing that he had no intention of fighting, Zhou Wen attempted to circle around him and continue walking forward.


    ¡°If you encounter a woman standing by the bridge, don¡¯t approach her or speak to her.¡± Zhou Wen had already walked over with Ji Moqing when the zither player suddenly said this, but he obviously had no intention of chasing after him.


    1

 Chapter 1127 - The Woman on the Bridge

    Translator: CKtalon


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen such a dimensional creature. He suspected that he was up to no good, so he didn¡¯t dare trust him.


    He continued walking forward with Ji Moqing. Bride Island was indeed very odd. He could see as far as the eye could see in the direction of the sea, but when he looked into the island, he could only see up to a few meters away. When he looked further into the distance, he felt that there was a fog enveloping the island. The forest and the village were faintly discernible¡ªhe couldn¡¯t see them clearly.


    ?


    After walking for a short distance, a small river appeared in front of them. The small river slowly flowed around the village. The clean green water and green bamboo made one find it unbearable to step on them. Even breathing seemed to taint the air here.


    ¡°A woman!¡± Ji Moqing suddenly pointed ahead and shouted.


    Zhou Wen naturally saw that there really was a woman in front of him. Furthermore, she was standing on the bridge over the river.


    It was a wooden bridge. It was unknown when it had been built, but the wood was the color of the original wood. There were no traces of paint. Time had left marks of wind and frost on the wood. Not only did it not affect the beauty of the wooden bridge, but it also gave off an ancient feeling.


    Amidst the bamboo forest with the bridge and rivers, the woman in a kimono with red flowers embroidered on it stood on the bridge, holding a paper umbrella in her hand. Her black hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. A breeze blew past, and a few bamboo leaves fluttered. As her sleeves fluttered slightly, one could vaguely see her fair skin and graceful figure.


    Although it was just her back view, it was already infinitely beautiful.


    ¡°So beautiful!¡± Even as a woman, Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t help but be attracted by the woman¡¯s back.


    Zhou Wen was also sizing up the woman, but his focus wasn¡¯t on her beauty or figure. He had been sensing her aura, but no matter how hard he sensed, she was a living woman without any dimensional creature aura.


    There are still humans on this island? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    When they approached the bridge, the woman finally turned around. Her face seemed to be filled with joy and anger, and there was a hint of delicateness in her softness.


    ¡°Why are you here? Don¡¯t you know that Bride Island is very dangerous?¡± the woman said worriedly when she saw Zhou Wen and Ji Moqing.


    ¡°What danger can there be? Aren¡¯t you here too?¡± Ji Moqing asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m different from you. I¡¯m trapped here and can¡¯t leave. It¡¯s best you leave quickly. Otherwise, when night falls, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to escape death,¡± the woman on the bridge said.


    ¡°Why are you trapped here? Who trapped you here?¡± Ji Moqing asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s a dimensional creature with a lute on his back. However, this has nothing to do with you. Leave Bride Island quickly before it turns dark,¡± the woman on the bridge said.


    ¡°We want to leave, but the entire island is enveloped by a spatial rift. We can¡¯t leave either,¡± Ji Moqing said.


    At fixed distances along the way, Zhou Wen would use the Poison Bats to probe, but none of them had managed to escape. Ji Moqing naturally had seen all of this.


    2


    ¡°Walk forward from here. After passing through the bamboo forest, you will see a mountain. Go around the mountain from the left. There¡¯s a ferry crossing behind. If you leave Bride Island from there, you won¡¯t encounter the spatial rift,¡± the woman on the bridge said.


    Ji Moqing looked at Zhou Wen. Clearly, she couldn¡¯t tell if the woman on the bridge was telling the truth.


    Zhou Wen sized up the woman. He had already tried using many skills to look at her, but they all showed that she was human. However, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Previously, the dimensional creature had said to be careful of the woman on the bridge, but this woman had said that the dimensional creature with the lute had imprisoned her here. It was unknown who was lying.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and ignored the woman on the bridge as he continued walking forward.


    ¡°How did you get trapped here? Can you leave with us?¡± Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t bear to leave the woman behind and asked.


    ¡°Unless the dimensional creature with the lute on his back is killed, I won¡¯t be able to leave this bridge. It¡¯s just too difficult. He¡¯s a Terror-grade dimensional creature. You are far from his match. It¡¯s best you leave quickly. If you are going to Nankai Island in the future, please inform my parents and tell them not to worry about me. I¡¯m fine here. There¡¯s no danger to my life,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Why did that dimensional creature trap you here? Why didn¡¯t he kill you?¡± Ji Moqing continued asking.


    ¡°Beauty is a woman¡¯s greatest sin.¡± The woman sighed and didn¡¯t explain much. Then, she urged Zhou Wen and Ji Moqing to leave quickly. ¡°It¡¯s getting late. Leave quickly. Otherwise, there won¡¯t be a chance to leave after dark.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he continued walking forward.


    He¡¯s indeed a cold-blooded devil, Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t help but think.


    Despite encountering his own kind, and such a beautiful woman at that, Zhou Wen had no intention of saving her. Only devils would do such a thing.


    Ji Moqing was only at the Mortal stage and didn¡¯t have the ability to save the woman. All she could do was bid farewell to the woman and continue walking forward with Zhou Wen.


    The woman stood on the bridge and watched them leave, but she didn¡¯t do anything abnormal.


    After walking for a short distance, they heard someone behind them. Ji Moqing turned her head and saw that the bald officer who had followed Fang Mingsu had brought a few people to the vicinity of the wooden bridge.


    Ji Moqing was delighted. The bald officer was a Mythical expert. Perhaps he could save the woman.


    It didn¡¯t seem as if they had encountered the dimensional creature with the lute on its back. When they arrived in front of the wooden bridge, they exchanged a few words with the woman. A few soldiers went over to rescue the woman.


    However, just as the soldiers stepped onto the wooden bridge, a strange wind gushed out of thin air, sweeping the soldiers into the river.


    The river didn¡¯t seem deep, but after a few soldiers fell in, they couldn¡¯t crawl out. They were all Epic existences. Ignoring the fact that they knew how to swim, even if they didn¡¯t, it shouldn¡¯t have been difficult for them to get out of the water.


    However, not only did they fail to break out of the water, but they also began sinking deeper and deeper as they struggled with all their might. They were about to sink completely.


    The soldiers on the riverside wanted to save them, but be it their Companion Beasts or themselves, as long as they approached the river, they would be swept into the river by the strange wind.


    Ji Moqing immediately realized that something was amiss. She looked at the woman on the bridge in disappointment and secretly rejoiced. If she hadn¡¯t been with a cold-blooded devil like Zhou Wen, she would probably have drowned in the river.


    The bald officer also realized that there was something wrong with the woman. Relying on the fact that he had fused with a Mythical creature, the scales on his body rapidly grew. He held a huge ax in his hand as he leaped up and slashed at the woman on the bridge.


    The woman didn¡¯t dodge. She only looked at the bald officer with a delicate look.


    The bald officer was quite steel-hearted. He remained unmoved as he cleaved down with his ax.


    However, the ax which was formed by a Mythical Companion Beast failed to slice apart the thin paper umbrella. Instead, it was held motionless in midair.


    The woman smiled at the bald officer and spun the paper umbrella in her hand. The bald officer was immediately swept into the river by a strange wind.

 Chapter 1128 - Birthplace of the Calamity

    The river didn¡¯t seem to be more than a meter or two deep, but even a Mythical expert like the bald officer could only struggle with all his might when he fell in. He couldn¡¯t escape no matter how hard he tried and was about to fully sink at any moment.


    Suddenly, a voice came from the bamboo forest beside him. ¡°Among the ghosts of a Ghost Parade, there¡¯s a ghost named Hashihime¡ªBridge Lady. She stands by the bridge, and if a man is tempted by her, he will be lured into the river where he will drown. I believe you are that Hashihime?¡±


    ¡°Brother-in-law¡­¡± Ji Moqing was overjoyed when she heard the voice. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Fang Mingsu walking out of the bamboo forest.


    Fang Mingsu¡¯s gaze was firm. He wore golden armor and emitted a dazzling golden light like the sun. As he spoke, he approached the wooden bridge. When the golden light shone on Hashihime, she let out a tragic cry as white smoke emitted from her body.


    The woman hurriedly used the paper umbrella to block the golden light from Fang Mingsu¡¯s body, but the golden light seemed to have a strong restraining effect on her. Wherever the golden light shone, not only Hashihime, but even the wooden bridge and river water began to emit white fog.


    Hashihime glared fiercely at Fang Mingsu. Her body suddenly turned into white fog and vanished along with the wooden bridge and river.


    On a second look, there was no river. The bald officer and company were struggling on the grass. After realizing their predicament, they stood up and looked at each other, unsure if they had been hallucinating.


    ¡°Brother-in-law!¡± Ji Moqing looked at Fang Mingsu as though she had found a backer. She stopped praising Zhou Wen and turned to run towards him.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t stop her. He found Ji Moqing a burden to begin with¡ªhe had only brought her along on account that she was a fellow human.


    Since she had already found a powerful relative like Fang Mingsu, Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t be bothered with her. He continued walking forward.


    ¡°Devil, why aren¡¯t you acting all fierce now? Are you afraid of my brother-in-law?¡± Ji Moqing pulled a face and shouted at Zhou Wen¡¯s back, ¡°You aren¡¯t handsome at all. You don¡¯t have any poise. You¡¯re just a cold-blooded devil.¡±


    She had been disgusted by her praise of Zhou Wen. It wasn¡¯t easy for her to find someone to rely on. If she didn¡¯t deliver him a few sarcastic remarks, she would feel terrible.


    ¡°Little Qing, stop it.¡± Fang Mingsu stopped her from continuing.


    ¡°He¡¯s most afraid of you. With you around, he wouldn¡¯t dare do anything to me,¡± Ji Moqing said.


    Fang Mingsu shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m afraid you are mistaken. If he really wants to deal with me, it would be impossible for him to easily let you return to my side. If he wants you to return, it means that he has no intention of fighting with us.¡±


    With that said, Fang Mingsu shouted in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction, ¡°Friend, thank you for taking care of Little Qing. If you don¡¯t mind, why don¡¯t you travel with us?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Zhou Wen said as he left without looking back.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to find Shiraishi Satomi quickly. It was too dangerous here. Sei Gasakai had requested Shiraishi Satomi to accompany him. It wasn¡¯t nice for him to go back and tell him that his disciple was dead, right?


    However, not long after Zhou Wen walked out, he heard a strange sound coming from the village.


    Fang Mingsu and company also heard the sound. They turned their heads and saw the village in the fog suddenly become clearer.


    Standing here, they could roughly see the situation in the village.


    Just the parts they could see were filled with strange dimensional creatures. They looked like demons and ghosts with all kinds of appearances.


    Hashihime was also among them. However, at that moment, she was prostrating on the ground with the other demons and ghosts. They were all kneeling in the middle of the village.


    They had already experienced the horror of Hashihime. For such a powerful dimensional creature to prostrate on the ground without even daring to raise her head, what was she bowing to?


    Everyone, including Zhou Wen, couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction where the demons and ghosts were prostrating. It was also the center of the village.


    However, Zhou Wen and company didn¡¯t discover any terrifying creatures. In the middle of the village was an empty space. Most of the area was empty except for a well.


    Zhou Wen realized that the strange sound was coming from the well.


    ¡°That¡¯s bad. This is the birthplace of the Calamity creature. We need to go.¡± Fang Mingsu¡¯s expression suddenly changed drastically. He retreated as he pulled Ji Moqing. The bald officer and company hurriedly followed Fang Mingsu.


    Unfortunately, it was too late for them to leave. Large numbers of dimensional creatures had already appeared on the surrounding bamboo forests and beaches.


    The dimensional creatures looked strange, but their levels weren¡¯t low. They were at least at the Epic stage, and there were even Mythical creatures.


    The most powerful ones were the man who carried the lute on his back and Hashihime.


    There were still many ghosts in the village that hadn¡¯t come out. The most powerful one had a face that resembled an evil ghost. It had a long nose and wings on its back. It looked like a mythical Daitengu.


    Behind the Daitengu was a white-haired woman in a snow-white kimono. Her body floated as snowflakes danced around her. She looked like the legendary Yuki Onna¡ªsnow woman.


    ¡°Daitengu, Yuki Onna, Hashihime, and Umib¨­zu. I¡¯m afraid this is really the birthplace of the Calamity creature¡­ Could that well be where the Calamity creature is?¡± the bald officer said in shock.


    ¡°Stay close to me.¡± Fang Mingsu pulled Ji Moqing. The Guardian armor on his body glowed with golden light. Wherever the golden light went, the ghosts retreated. If they retreated any slower, they would be burned to ashes by the golden light.


    The Guardian¡¯s power is extreme Yang in nature. It¡¯s indeed the nemesis of ghosts. It¡¯s no wonder Honn Shinsakura wants to use Fang Mingsu to deal with the ghosts. Zhou Wen sized it up and guessed which race Fang Mingsu¡¯s Guardian came from.


    Without needing to guess, he quickly knew where Fang Mingsu¡¯s Guardian originated.


    Although the golden light on Fang Mingsu¡¯s body was extremely effective against ghosts, the four Terror-grade creatures like the Daitengu and the Yuki Onna weren¡¯t too afraid. They surrounded Fang Mingsu.


    Fang Mingsu had no choice but to go all out when fighting four adversaries. Soon, he revealed all his strength.


    Seeing the familiar golden flames ignite on Fang Mingsu¡¯s body as he resisted the four Terror creatures, Zhou Wen immediately recognized that it was identical to the phoenix flames of the phoenix chick.


    Could it be that the Guardian Fang Mingsu obtained is the one Chick¡¯s mother is guarding? It¡¯s no wonder he can become one of the four war gods of the new era. Zhou Wen had reared Chick for so long and had a deep understanding of a phoenix¡¯s might.


    If Fang Mingsu really obtained the Phoenix race¡¯s Guardian, his strength definitely wouldn¡¯t be too weak.

 Chapter 1129 - Birth

    Zhou Wen secretly circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra as invisible karmic sinflames emitted from his body. The ghosts didn¡¯t dare approach him.


    Fang Mingsu and company were besieged, but Zhou Wen was leisurely sitting on the bamboo watching the battle.


    Yuki Onna¡®s abilities were very similar to Ice Maiden¡¯s, and their battle prowess was also very close.


    Of Hashihime and Umib¨­zu who had a lute on his back, one appeared and disappeared unpredictably. The other delivered aural attacks. As for the Daitengu, not only did it possess both strength and speed, but it was also proficient in curse-type powers.


    The four Terror-grade creatures attacked Fang Mingsu together. Even though the phoenix flames were very effective against Yin-attribute dimensional creatures, he was still at a disadvantage.


    The soldiers were in an even worse state. Fang Mingsu was no longer able to take care of them. Just the shockwaves from the Terror-grade battle killed more than half of them.


    Only the baldy and a few powerful ones rushed out of the danger zone, but they found themselves in an endless sea of ghosts. It was only a matter of time before they died.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t save them. Not because he didn¡¯t want to save them, but that there was no hope.


    No matter how powerful the phoenix flames were, no matter how strong Fang Mingsu was, he was only at the Terror grade. Power at the Calamity grade surged out from the well. The terrifying Yin aura was endless like a tidal wave, greatly augmenting the ghosts. Even if they were killed, they would constantly regenerate amidst the Yin aura.


    The Calamity creature was about to be born. If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t escape Bride Island quickly, he would probably be in danger, much less be able to save the others.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Earth Elemental Beast and used Earth Escape to quickly move around the island in search of Shiraishi Satomi.


    Now, all the ghosts were attracted to Fang Mingsu and company. The powerful ghosts no longer had the time or energy to deal with Zhou Wen.


    Bride Island was filled with ghost creatures. Before long, Zhou Wen found Shiraishi Satomi, who was fighting the ghosts.


    Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s attainments in the sword were extremely high. Furthermore, her abilities had hints of Transcendent Flying Immortal. She stormed through the horde of ghosts and killed many dimensional creatures.


    Unfortunately, she was still at the Epic stage. After encountering a Mythical monster, she was unable to keep up. She was greatly suppressed.


    Zhou Wen walked towards Shiraishi Satomi as the Great Brahma aura on his body revealed itself slightly. The ghosts around him immediately retreated as though they had encountered poisonous creatures like snakes or scorpions. They didn¡¯t dare stand in front of Zhou Wen.


    When Zhou Wen arrived in front of Shiraishi Satomi, the ghosts had already retreated to a distance of a hundred meters. None of them dared to rush forward¡ªeven those at the Mythical stage.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Shiraishi Satomi looked at Zhou Wen before looking at the retreating dimensional creatures with an abnormal expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen led Shiraishi Satomi to the beach. Even if he couldn¡¯t find a way to break out of the spatial rift, he had to force his way out. Otherwise, he could only wait for death.


    When he had killed Di Tian, the Immortal Culling Sword Sword had nearly taken Zhou Wen¡¯s life. He didn¡¯t want another repeat.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen already knew that the Di Tian he had killed was only an avatar. The real Di Tian had been killed by Wang Mingyuan¡¯s sneak attack.


    Zhou Wen led Shiraishi Satomi along the coast, but unfortunately, they didn¡¯t find a way out. It was as though all the places were enveloped by spatial rifts, preventing them from leaving.


    Boom!


    In the village, a terrifying Yin aura surged into the sky like a volcanic eruption, instantly turning the sky black. It was clearly daytime, but it now looked like night.


    ¡°The Calamity creature is about to appear¡­¡± Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s expression changed.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He knew that it wasn¡¯t realistic to find a way out. The only way was to use force.


    Striking a spatial rift with force was definitely unrealistic. A spatial rift was equivalent to a blade pointing out. The faster one charged, the faster they would die.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s so-called use of force was actually to use a trick. It wasn¡¯t a reckless charge.


    After circulating the Godfiend Era, Zhou Wen engraved a clown-like symbol on the Wheel of Destiny. This symbol represented the Godfiend Life Providence and the New Era Life Soul. It had a strange spatial power.


    Just spatial powers weren¡¯t enough for Zhou Wen to rush out of Bride Island that was covered in spatial rifts.


    Let me see if space here has really been completely sealed. Zhou Wen extended his finger and the clown ring appeared on his finger. At the same time, the clown¡¯s eyes flashed with a strange and warped light.


    As the power of the clown ring was released, the spatial fluctuations on the ring became more and more intense, as though it was about to resonate with the spatial rifts on Bride Island.


    At that moment, he suddenly saw a golden beam flash in the sky. A golden figure flew over like a comet.


    Boom!


    The golden ball of light landed on the beach. It was Fang Mingsu, who was hugging Ji Moqing.


    Fang Mingsu was in terrible condition. The Guardian armor on his body had already cracked in many places. Blood constantly seeped out from the cracks. It looked like his injuries were not light.


    Fang Mingsu suddenly threw Ji Moqing, who was in his arms, at Zhou Wen. At the same time, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll hold them back and give you time to escape. If you can escape, take her with you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t hold on any longer.¡± Zhou Wen looked in the direction of the well and could already sense that there was an extremely terrifying creature accompanying the Yin aura.


    As for the four Terror-grade creatures, they had already caught up. Under the augmentation of the endless Yin aura, Daitengu, Yuki Onna, Hashihime, and Umib¨­zu¡®s strength were greatly augmented. It was very unlikely for Fang Mingsu to match them.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hold them back, but it won¡¯t be for long.¡± As Fang Mingsu spoke, the phoenix flames on his body rose again. He was like a phoenix that had been reborn from the flames of nirvana. The wounds on his body rapidly healed as his vitality increased greatly.


    Soon, Ji Moqing could no longer see Fang Mingsu. All she could see was a golden flame that resembled a phoenix dancing in the black sky.


    The fire phoenix charged between the four Terror creatures and forcefully suppressed them. The ordinary ghosts around them were reduced to ashes by the phoenix flames. It was unimaginably terrifying.


    The phoenixes¡¯ Guardian is indeed terrifying. He can actually produce such terrifying strength in such a harsh environment. Although Zhou Wen felt that Fang Mingsu was indeed very strong, he didn¡¯t believe that he could stall for too long.


    This was because Zhou Wen had already sensed that the Calamity creature in the well had been born.


    At that moment, a figure slowly emerged from the ancient well.


    The flaming phoenix that Fang Mingsu had transformed into danced wildly. Wherever it passed, golden flames would destroy the world. The Yuki Onna was restrained too much and could no longer participate in the battle.


    Daitengu¡®s hair and beard were charred black, making it look extremely pathetic.


    Hashihime and Umib¨­zu couldn¡¯t approach Fang Mingsu either. Instantly, Fang Mingsu suppressed the four Terror-grade creatures with his own strength. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but marvel at how powerful the phoenixes were.


    Meanwhile, the clown ring on Zhou Wen¡¯s finger kept flickering, but it was still a little short of taking the final step for the breakthrough.


    Suddenly, a white figure walked over from the ancient well. It looked like it was walking very slowly, but in the blink of an eye, it had already appeared on the battlefield.

 Chapter 1130 - : Nirvana

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen could clearly see that the white figure that came out of the ancient well was a woman with silver hair and eyes like the moon.


    In the woman¡¯s arms was a saber. The hilt and scabbard were pitch-black, forming a stark contrast to her white clothes.


    ?


    The woman¡¯s expression was cold. She looked at Fang Mingsu, who was fighting the four Terror-grade creatures, as though she was looking at a dead person.


    Fang Mingsu completely unleashed the power of a Guardian. Just as he gained the upper hand¡ª


    The saber in the silver-haired, white-robed woman¡¯s arms suddenly moved. Zhou Wen only saw a saber flash. Even with his eyesight, he couldn¡¯t see the trajectory of the saber clearly. All he saw was a crescent blade flash before his eyes. In the next second, the phoenix-like Fang Mingsu was sent flying.


    Boom!


    Fang Mingsu crashed to the ground. The golden armor on his body shattered. The Terror-grade Guardian armor was completely destroyed.


    On Fang Mingsu¡¯s chest, a bone-deep wound could be seen. Blood was rapidly gushing out.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, after Fang Mingsu¡¯s armor shattered, the clothes were also mostly destroyed. What appeared in his vision was a female body.


    Fang Mingsu is a woman? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    Although Fang Mingsu looked a little delicate, her actions were very masculine. Furthermore, Ji Moqing kept calling her brother-in-law. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t read too much into it.


    He never expected Ji Moqing¡¯s brother-in-law to be a woman.


    When Zhou Wen looked at Ji Moqing, he realized that she was also alarmed. She stared at Fang Mingsu with widened eyes as though she couldn¡¯t believe it.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to figure out why Fang Mingsu was a woman. He pulled Ji Moqing and teleported away.


    Regardless of whether Fang Mingsu was a woman or a man, she was doomed. Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t take the risk to save her. Escape was the most important thing now.


    Now, Zhou Wen hoped that the dimensional creature that had crawled out of the ancient well would quickly leave Earth and head to space like Sei Gasakai had said.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized gloomily that the woman didn¡¯t continue pursuing the heavily injured Fang Mingsu. She had cast her gaze at Zhou Wen and walked towards him.


    As the entire island was enveloped by spatial rifts, Zhou Wen was unable to teleport out. All he could do was teleport elsewhere on the island and distance himself from the woman.


    After Zhou Wen teleported out, he was immediately alarmed to discover that the woman had already arrived in front of him. She was looking at him with her emotionless eyes.


    Zhou Wen immediately teleported again. Furthermore, he constantly teleported. After teleporting a few times, Zhou Wen saw the situation in front of him clearly. His heart chilled as goosebumps rose all over his body.


    That woman actually appeared in front of him again and looked at him coldly.


    I¡¯ve been trapped for too long. I actually forgot that something happens every time I enter a dimensional zone. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have come to this darn place even if I¡¯d be beaten to death. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed as he threw Shiraishi Satomi and Ji Moqing in different directions, allowing them to escape.


    As for Zhou Wen himself, he knew that he had been targeted by the strange dimensional creature in front of him. Since he couldn¡¯t escape Bride Island, he could only risk his life.


    Thankfully, Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy had already recovered while he was trapped. With the Mourning Stick and Immortal Culling Sword still around, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t lack the capital to go all out.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s aura erupted as Great Brahma appeared in front of him. The Mourning Stick also appeared in his hand.


    Immortal Culling Sword was too dangerous. He would basically be crippled with each use. Even if he could kill this terrifying female dimensional creature, Zhou Wen might not be able to escape alive.


    Now, Zhou Wen wanted to stall for time, hoping that she would lose her patience and leave Earth as soon as possible.


    After Ji Moqing was sent flying by Zhou Wen, she gritted her teeth and ran in the direction where Fang Mingsu had fallen. Although she knew that Fang Mingsu was probably doomed, she still wanted to take a look.


    After Shiraishi Satomi landed, she didn¡¯t choose to escape. Instead, she held her blade as though she wanted to put her life on the line.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over. You will only affect my battle.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s voice dispelled her intention to immediately attack. However, she didn¡¯t plan on escaping. She continued searching for opportunities nearby.


    The woman suspected to be at the Calamity Grade stared at Zhou Wen as she slowly walked over. It was unknown when the saber in her arms would be unsheathed.


    Suddenly, golden phoenix flames rose from Fang Mingsu¡¯s direction.


    Fang Mingsu, whose Guardian armor was almost completely shattered, was surrounded by a group of dimensional creatures. Just as she was about to be dismembered, terrifying phoenix flames suddenly erupted around her. Any dimensional creature that approached Fang Mingsu was burned to ashes. Even Yuki Onna and the other three Terror-grade creatures suffered some injuries and retreated far away to dodge the phoenix flames.


    A phoenix cry resounded through the clouds. The phoenix flames that filled the sky transformed into a Phoenix that circled around Fang Mingsu a few times before flying towards her body.


    As the Fire Phoenix fused into her body, the shattered Guardian armor on Fang Mingsu¡¯s body rapidly recovered amidst phoenix flames. Soon, it formed brand new golden armor.


    Fang Mingsu was bathed in phoenix flames. The power that erupted from her body was even stronger than back when she had given her all.


    1


    Boom!


    Fang Mingsu¡¯s figure flew across the sky like a Phoenix. She was unbelievably fast.


    Daitengu was actually unable to dodge her punch. Under its forceful resistance, it was sent flying by Fang Mingsu¡¯s punch. The clothes on its body and the feathers on its back burned. Daitengu circulated its strength, but it was unable to extinguish the phoenix flames on its body.


    In the end, it could only cut off the burning part in a sacrificial act.


    Yuki Onna, Hashihime, and Umib¨­zu all surrounded her, but this time, their siege seemed even more powerless in front of Fang Mingsu. In just a moment, they were beaten back by her.


    Firstly, it was because the phoenix flames were very effective against ghost-type dimensional creatures. Secondly, it was because after her Guardian armor underwent Nirvana Rebirth, the might it could produce was much stronger than before.


    Among those who could become strong in such a way, Li Xuan was an example Zhou Wen had seen before Fang Mingsu.


    However, she was different from Li Xuan. Fang Mingsu couldn¡¯t learn the techniques of others. Her strengthening only made her Guardian armor stronger.


    The woman suspected to be a Calamity seemed to be attracted by Fang Mingsu¡¯s gaze as she didn¡¯t continue walking towards Zhou Wen.


    On the other side, Fang Mingsu had beaten back the Yuki Onna and the others. She began a massacre as though she had entered a no man¡¯s land. The phoenix flames on her body became more and more intense, almost turning half of Bride Island into a sea of flames.


    Ji Moqing couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed when she saw that not only was Fang Mingsu still alive, but that she had become even stronger.


    However, before she could run over, Fang Mingsu had already charged towards the woman who was suspected to be a Calamity with a sea of flames.

 Chapter 1131 - Spatial Stillness

    Fang Mingsu also knew that if they wanted to escape Bride Island, they had to defeat that woman. Otherwise, even if they killed all the dimensional creatures here, there was no chance of survival.


    Back then, Human Sovereign could defeat the Calamity-grade powerhouse, Di Tian. Brother-in-law can do the same. Ji Moqing secretly prayed for Fang Mingsu.


    However, when she thought that Fang Mingsu was actually a woman, Ji Moqing¡¯s expression became complicated.


    How could Fang Mingsu not want to defy the heavens and change her fate like Human Sovereign did and defeat a Calamity-grade dimensional creature? Furthermore, she had to do it, or death was the only outcome.


    When the woman looked at the flames and Fang Mingsu, her eyes remained unchanged.


    The phoenix flames on Fang Mingsu¡¯s body grew stronger and stronger. The flames on her back engulfed the world like a pair of phoenix wings that covered the sky. As Fang Mingsu threw a punch, the phoenix flames that filled the sky also cascaded down like a waterfall.


    When the phoenix flames arrived in front of her, the woman finally moved again. The pitch-black saber in her arms was unsheathed once more as a beam of moonlight flashed.


    The phoenix flames that filled the sky were instantly shattered, and Fang Mingsu¡¯s armor was slashed apart again.


    However, the injured Fang Mingsu didn¡¯t fall again. The phoenix flames on her body rapidly healed her shattered armor. The wings on her back spread out and she attacked the woman from another direction.


    Ji Moqing¡¯s heart felt like it was on a roller coaster, unable to settle down as the situation developed.


    However, when she saw the woman slash at Fang Mingsu again, and how she had recovered each time, Ji Moqing¡¯s hope was gradually ignited.


    He can do it; he definitely can do it. If Human Sovereign can defeat Di Tian, Brother-in-law can definitely defeat this Calamity-grade creature¡­ Ji Moqing thought excitedly.


    However, just as she had this thought, she suddenly saw an unbelievable scene.


    When Fang Mingsu attacked the woman again, the woman didn¡¯t continue drawing her saber. However, the pupils in her eyes were like the moon, constantly evolving into crescent moons hidden behind dark clouds.


    In the next moment, something unbelievable happened. Everything around them seemed to freeze.


    The rising flames turned still. Fang Mingsu, who was flying in the air, was also frozen in place. Ji Moqing, who had her mouth agape in shock, maintained that posture the entire time. She couldn¡¯t even move her eyes.


    The whole of Bride Island seemed to become a painting, including the other dimensional creatures. Everything became still as though it was a lifeless painting.


    Only the woman was alive and could walk in the painting.


    She walked to Fang Mingsu¡¯s side, who was covered in flames. She extended her finger and pinched the frozen phoenix flames. With a casual rip, the motionless phoenix flames were torn off and thrown to the side by the woman.


    The woman moved her fingers again, and the phoenix flames around Fang Mingsu¡¯s body were completely torn apart. Then, there was her Guardian armor, her clothes, and finally¡­


    Everyone remained conscious and they could see everything, but for some reason, their bodies couldn¡¯t move.


    Ji Moqing watched helplessly as Fang Mingsu¡¯s armor was torn off. She was already in despair.


    Fang Mingsu was very strong, but she had borrowed the power of the Guardian armor. Now, even the Guardian armor had been casually torn off by the woman and thrown to the ground like trash. One could imagine Fang Mingsu¡¯s outcome.


    Fang Mingsu was very calm. She knew that she no longer had a chance. She felt somewhat relieved. ¡°I should have died more than twenty years ago. To be able to live for another twenty more years is already a blessing from the heavens.¡±


    Fang Mingsu wanted to close her eyes and wait for death to descend, but in the Calamity domain, she didn¡¯t even have the ability to close her eyes.


    The woman¡¯s finger reached out to Fang Mingsu again. Now, there was nothing left on Fang Mingsu¡¯s body. If she continued tearing, the only thing that could be torn off was her flesh.


    Suddenly, a strange force spread out on the picturesque Bride Island like layers of ripples.


    The woman¡¯s fingers paused for a moment. She didn¡¯t extend her hand towards Fang Mingsu as she turned to look at the center of the ripples.


    Fang Mingsu and Ji Moqing happened to be facing that direction¡ªthey saw that in the middle of the ripples was Zhou Wen, who was standing far away.


    Ripples spread out from Zhou Wen¡¯s body as though space had turned into water.


    In this motionless space, Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers moved slightly. Every movement of his fingers caused a ripple in space.


    As his fingers moved faster and faster, the range and fluctuations of the ripples increased.


    In the end, it wasn¡¯t just his fingers. Zhou Wen¡¯s arms, body, and legs gradually moved as though a character in a painting was gradually gaining life.


    It only took a few seconds from the initial clumsy movements to the gradual freedom of movement.


    How¡­ How is that possible¡­ Fang Mingsu looked at Zhou Wen as though she had seen a ghost.


    Her Guardian, Nirvana, was already at the Terror grade, and it could be considered a top-notch existence among Terror-grade creatures. However, it still couldn¡¯t resist the woman¡¯s Calamity Domain.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any Guardian armor on him. Nor could she sense the aura of a dimensional creature, much less any signs of fusing with a Guardian.


    No matter how she looked at it, his body was purely human. However, Fang Mingsu had no way of believing that he was really a human.


    There was still no precedent to date, of any human relying on their own strength to advance to the Mythical stage when it came to human evolution on Earth.


    Ignoring the Terror grade, there wasn¡¯t a single pure human among the known Mythical humans. They either relied on Guardians to advance to the Mythical stage or used Mythical Serum.


    Now, to suddenly be informed that a human could rely on his own strength to resist the Calamity Domain, Fang Mingxiu found it unbelievable.


    Even though she saw it with her own eyes, she still found it unreal.


    However, things were slowly happening in front of her. In the Calamity Domain where even the Terror-grade Nirvana couldn¡¯t move, Zhou Wen had completely regained his freedom. However, his actions looked extremely slow, as though he was walking in the deep sea.


    On his finger that could move at first, a clown ring was emitting intense spatial fluctuations.


    Crack!


    The ring shattered as the clown ring¡¯s surface slowly rose. As it rose, it constantly expanded and finally transformed into a clown mask that covered Zhou Wen¡¯s face.


    The moment the clown mask completely fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s face, his body became extremely relaxed as though he had returned to the land from the deep sea.


    The Calamity Domain with spatial powers was unable to restrain his body or affect his actions.


    The clown mask wore a smile. It was evil, crazy, bloodthirsty, and filled with hope.

 Chapter 1132 - He’s Human Sovereign?

    Zhou Wen felt the power of Godfiend Era spread through his body as the clown symbol on the Wheel of Destiny became clearer. Through the clown mask, the world he could see was somewhat different.


    The woman glanced at Zhou Wen and waved her hand. She wanted to tear Fang Mingsu¡¯s body apart.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen teleported in front of the woman and reached out for her face.


    The woman stretched out her hand to block Zhou Wen. She was much faster than him, but when her hand touched his hand, it hit nothing. Zhou Wen vanished in front of her eyes.


    The woman seemed to realize something. When she turned her head, she realized that Fang Mingsu had vanished.


    When she turned around, she realized that Shiraishi Satomi and Ji Moqing had also disappeared.


    On Fangzhang Island, Fang Mingsu and Shiraishi Satomi stood by the coast. Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared again as he threw Ji Moqing to the ground.


    After Godfiend Era¡¯s Terror transformation, Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of space had broken through to an extremely high realm. The spatial rifts on Bride Island couldn¡¯t trap him anymore.


    In the blink of an eye, not only did his teleportation range greatly increase, but there were almost no restrictions. He could continuously teleport without limit.


    ¡°Everyone, run for your lives. I need to escape as well.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen teleported away, not daring to stay for a moment.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to take Shiraishi Satomi back to Fuji Island, but the Calamity creature was also a spatial-type creature. If she could teleport from afar, taking Shiraishi Satomi back to Fuji Island would be equivalent to bringing destruction to it if she were to track him down.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had taken them to the uninhabited Fangzhang Island before letting them leave by themselves. When that happened, even if the Calamity creature chased after them, she would only track Zhou Wen himself.


    ¡°Take us with you!¡± Ji Moqing shouted twice, but no one answered her.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to escape,¡± Fang Mingsu with her restored Guardian-armored said thoughtfully as she looked at the spot where Zhou Wen had vanished.


    ¡°No need to escape? Why? Didn¡¯t he already escape?¡± Ji Moqing asked in puzzlement.


    Although Zhou Wen could save them and was indeed very powerful, a Calamity-grade creature was a Calamity-grade creature. Even if humans could escape one, it was difficult for them to fight one.


    ¡°Because he¡¯s Human Sovereign, sovereign of all humans. He¡¯s an existence that has slain a Calamity. There¡¯s no need for him to escape,¡± Fang Mingsu said with certainty.


    ¡°He¡¯s Human Sovereign? Impossible. Isn¡¯t he an overseas devil? How can he be Human Sovereign?¡± Ji Moqing was momentarily unable to digest the information Fang Mingsu had given her as she spoke incoherently.


    Fang Mingsu glanced at Shiraishi Satomi and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve been paying attention to him. Earlier on, I saw him take out a white wooden stick. It¡¯s identical to the white wooden stick that Human Sovereign used when he fought Di Tian. I thought it was just a resemblance, but from the looks of it, it¡¯s not just that. It¡¯s the same wooden stick.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s Human Sovereign?¡± Ji Moqing repeated what she had said in a daze. She really couldn¡¯t connect the great devil with Human Sovereign that quickly.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be wrong. I originally thought that the claim that Human Sovereign was pure human was nothing more than humanity¡¯s self-consolation. It¡¯s impossible for such a thing to happen. Now, it looks like I was wrong. Human Sovereign is actually a pure human. It¡¯s hard to imagine how he did it. A pure human advancing to the Mythical stage can actually be done. Furthermore, he did so five years ago.¡± Fang Mingsu looked at Shiraishi Satomi as though she wanted to hear what she had to say.


    Unfortunately, Shiraishi Satomi didn¡¯t know anything. She was still awash with adrenaline and had nothing to say.


    ¡°He¡¯s Human Sovereign¡­ Then he¡¯s going¡­¡± Ji Moqing¡¯s mind cleared up as she thought of a possibility.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. He must have gone to kill that Calamity creature to prevent her from bringing disaster to the human world.¡± Fang Mingsu sighed and said, ¡°Over the years, I thought I had done very well. I could be considered somewhat accomplished among humans, but compared to Human Sovereign, I¡¯m nothing. I really never expected Human Sovereign to be a pure-blooded human, and he¡¯s so young.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he an old monster who has some way to retain his youth?¡± Ji Moqing had always felt that Zhou Wen only looked young, but was actually an old man in person. Otherwise, how could he have such a powerful cultivation level?


    ¡°Of course not. My Nirvana Guardian is most sensitive to vital energies. Although he looks very accomplished¡ªsomething expected from age¡ªhe is still a very young life. He¡¯s actually not that old. He¡¯s only in his early twenties,¡± Fang Mingsu said after some thought.


    ¡°In his early twenties¡­ That¡¯s impossible¡­ How old was he when he defeated Di Tian five years ago?¡± Ji Moqing thought about it carefully and felt that what Fang Mingsu said was too fantastic. It didn¡¯t make sense at all.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m equally unwilling to believe it, the truth is right in front of us. When he defeated Di Tian, he was probably not even twenty years old,¡± Fang Mingsu said with a sigh.


    She originally believed that she was already considered a top genius among humans, but after seeing Zhou Wen, she realized that so-called geniuses were nothing.


    ¡°Less than twenty years old¡­ Is there really such a human in this world? Is he really Human Sovereign?¡± Ji Moqing looked out into the sea with a complicated expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple to know if he¡¯s Human Sovereign. When a Calamity appears, it will definitely bring calamity to the world. Only Human Sovereign can kill a Calamity to stop the disaster,¡± Fang Mingsu said.


    Ji Moqing¡¯s eyes immediately lit up. ¡°As long as we don¡¯t see the appearance of a Calamity, it means it must have been killed. In other words, he¡¯s really Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°Actually, there¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. He¡¯s definitely Human Sovereign. Apart from Human Sovereign, who else can advance to the Mythical stage as a human? Who else can fight a Calamity-grade creature?¡± Fang Mingsu had already determined that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign.


    If Zhou Wen knew that the three of them had seen through his identity and believed that he would kill the Calamity creature, he would probably be at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    He was really fleeing for his life. Godfiend Era¡¯s Terror transformation was indeed very strong. Coupled with Slaughterer, he was capable of infinite teleportation. Even a Calamity-grade creature would find it difficult to kill him, but it was probably not a realistic thought that he could defeat a Calamity-grade creature.


    Zhou Wen constantly teleported, hoping to escape back to the mainland. After a few teleportations, he was still out at sea when a figure suddenly appeared in front of him. It was none other than the newly born Calamity creature.


    She still looked the same. She had long silver hair and white clothes. In her arms was a pitch-black saber. There was no emotion in her eyes.


    She still managed to catch up? Can¡¯t you leave Earth? Why are you chasing me? Zhou Wen grumbled inwardly as he used teleportation to escape again.


    However, after a few teleportations, he still failed to shake off the Calamity creature.


    The woman seemed to be attempting to use spatial powers to control him, but the Terror-form Clown Mask gave Zhou Wen spatial powers that allowed him to ignore the spatial seal. He couldn¡¯t escape, but the woman couldn¡¯t control him either.


    Zhou Wen wanted to continue teleporting when he suddenly heard the woman speak.


    ¡°Marry me and I won¡¯t kill you,¡± the woman said in all seriousness as she looked at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1133 - Let’s Get Married

    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded, unsure what was going on.


    He had never been confessed to in his life, much less by a dimensional creature, even less a Calamity-grade dimensional creature.


    Although the woman looked beautiful and had a strange charm that humans didn¡¯t possess, Zhou Wen was a more traditional human. He found it unacceptable to have a love that transcended species.


    ¡°We don¡¯t seem to be creatures of the same species, right?¡± Zhou Wen gave a measured response. He didn¡¯t dare reject her too directly, afraid that he would anger this terrifying Calamity-grade existence.


    If she flew into a rage out of humiliation and completely unleashed her Calamity-grade strength, even if Zhou Wen could escape through teleportation, a large area would probably be affected by the calamity.


    ¡°Will you marry me or not?¡± The woman was much more straightforward than Zhou Wen. She pulled out the crescent-like saber in her arms and pointed it at Zhou Wen. It was as though she would chop off his head if he said no.


    Zhou Wen hated being threatened, so he immediately teleported again. At most, he could use the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art to escape to other planets and return after the woman left Earth.


    In the past, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage, so his physique hadn¡¯t been enough for him to survive in space. Now, with his Mythical body, as long as he didn¡¯t encounter overly terrifying energy eruptions or radiation, surviving for a period of time wasn¡¯t a problem.


    After teleporting out, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression suddenly changed. He found himself in front of the woman again. He had failed to appear where he wanted to go.


    With the augmentation of Clown Mask, Zhou Wen saw that the surrounding space had become extremely strange. The sea and sky formed a line, intersecting and distorting the location of the moon. It transformed the nearby area into an independent space that resembled a M?bius loop.


    This spatial connection was completely severed from the outside world. No matter how Zhou Wen teleported, he was still in this space and couldn¡¯t leave.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that this Calamity-grade woman was far more terrifying than he had imagined.


    ¡°Are you marrying me or not?¡± the woman continued pointing her saber at Zhou Wen as she asked expressionlessly.


    ¡°Ahem, why do you want me to marry you?¡± Zhou Wen felt that one shouldn¡¯t be too hot-tempered. It was best to reason and negotiate.


    The woman didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen¡¯s question. She still pointed her saber at him and stared straight at him. Clearly, she only wanted an answer and didn¡¯t wish to answer the question.


    Seeing that the woman didn¡¯t take action directly, Zhou Wen continued, ¡°Legend has it that the bride on Bride Island married three brothers, but all three brothers died. Don¡¯t tell me you are that legendary bride?¡±


    The woman finally spoke. ¡°How can the place where I live be a place where mortals live?¡±


    Although the woman didn¡¯t say if she was the bride, she had indirectly admitted that the myth did exist. The deaths of the three brothers were related to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m also a mortal. Don¡¯t tell me you want to marry me before killing me?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°No,¡± the woman answered with certainty.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°Are you marrying me or not?¡± The woman clearly didn¡¯t wish to answer this question as she once again forced Zhou Wen to give an answer.


    ¡°Since you wish to marry a human, you should at least follow human rules, right?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to stall for time to see if he could find a way to escape.


    ¡°We can get married immediately by doing the rites.¡± The woman clearly knew some human rules, but the rules she knew seemed to be ancient.


    ¡°Those are rules from the past. Things these days are different.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he attempted to use the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art to escape, but it was useless. The stars in the pocket universe were dim. In this strange space, it was clearly impossible to use interstellar teleportation.


    ¡°Oh, what are the rules now?¡± the woman asked with a frown.


    ¡°Rules these days talk about free love. If you want to get married, you have to fall in love with the other party first,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stalled for time.


    The woman seemed to understand Zhou Wen¡¯s words as she sheathed her saber.


    Zhou Wen secretly heaved a sigh of relief, believing that he had finally convinced the woman. All he needed to do was find an excuse to escape from her.


    However, to his surprise, after she sheathed her sword, the woman began to take off her clothes and walk towards Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What are you doing¡­¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the so-called love of humans just lust? You said that you can only marry if you fall in love with the other party. I can do it now,¡± the woman said as she continued walking towards Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Stop. Who did you hear that from? It¡¯s not like that at all.¡± Zhou Wen retreated as he called for a stop.


    ¡°What is it then?¡± the woman stopped and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ That¡¯s¡­¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and couldn¡¯t think of something. All he could do was say what he could think of. ¡°It¡¯s just that the two of them need to understand each other and see if their personalities are compatible or if their thoughts are compatible¡­¡±


    ¡°Humans are still as hypocritical as ever,¡± the woman said with a frown. After a pause, she continued, ¡°Then let¡¯s get to understand each other. We shall get married after understanding each other. How do you want to understand me?¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the woman in a daze, momentarily at a loss for words.


    Understand? What the hell? Zhou Wen had no intention of dating a dimensional creature.


    Ignoring dimensional creatures, even if a living person stood in front of Zhou Wen, he wouldn¡¯t know how to date her, much less a terrifying Calamity-grade creature.


    ¡°That¡­ That¡­ Why don¡¯t we watch a movie first¡­¡± Zhou Wen recalled that Li Xuan had once said that if he felt bored dating girls, he would take them to the movies. He had at least an hour and a half to relax or sleep.


    Zhou Wen felt that this wasn¡¯t a bad idea. Perhaps he could take this opportunity to think of a way to escape this woman¡¯s clutches.


    ¡°What¡¯s a movie?¡± the woman asked with a frown.


    Zhou Wen roughly explained what a movie was. The woman nodded. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s watch a movie.¡±


    ¡°Going to a movie is a very pleasant thing. If we end up covered in blood, it will affect our mood. Shouldn¡¯t we restrain ourselves a little¡­¡± Zhou Wen was already beginning to regret taking a Calamity creature to a human city to catch a movie. Zhou Wen felt that this idea was too stupid. He didn¡¯t know what was wrong with him to come up with such a stupid idea.


    ¡°It¡¯s inauspicious to get married when there¡¯s death. I understand,¡± the woman said calmly.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know your name?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi,¡± the woman answered.

 Chapter 1134 - Movie Etiquette

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was slightly alarmed when he heard the name. He couldn¡¯t help but carefully size up the woman.


    When he had learned about the Ghost Parade previously, Zhou Wen had learned a little about the overseas myths. Although it wasn¡¯t very detailed, Zhou Wen still knew a famous Mythical figure like Tsukuyomi.


    ?


    Tsukuyomi was one of the three Supreme Gods of a certain pantheon overseas. Legend had it that she was one of the three children of the Creator. She was a twin of one of the other three Supreme Gods, Amaterasu.


    2


    However, in some other myths and legends, there were also some which said that Tsukuyomi was male. There were also some which said that Tsukuyomi and the beautiful Kaguyahime were the same person.


    None of that was important. What was important was that if this woman was really the legendary Tsukuyomi, her status would be second only to the Creator.


    Myths could be exaggerated, but to have such a status in a pantheon, no matter how exaggerated, meant that her true strength had to be extremely terrifying.


    Watching a movie with the daughter of the Creator? Zhou Wen felt that this was a bad idea.


    Fang Mingsu and company waited on Fangzhang Island for a few days, but they didn¡¯t see Zhou Wen return. The Ghost Parade that appeared every night also decreased significantly.


    Furthermore, the famous ghosts didn¡¯t appear again. The ones that appeared again were ghosts with unknown names. The strongest ones were at the Mythical stage.


    After the trio obtained further information, they became more certain that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign. They imagined that the Calamity creature had been killed by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I never expected him to really be Human Sovereign. Furthermore, he¡¯s so young.¡± Ji Moqing still found it unbelievable that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign.


    Fang Mingsu took Ji Moqing back inland and secretly investigated Zhou Wen¡¯s identity.


    He realized that Human Sovereign¡¯s appearance was very similar to Zhou Wen from the An family camp. However, the An family¡¯s Zhou Wen had been in Luoyang the past few days and hadn¡¯t left. It was unlikely.


    1


    After Shiraishi Satomi returned, she told Sei Gasakai that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign. It thrilled Sei Gasakai. ¡°It¡¯s no wonder. He was Human Sovereign all along. It¡¯s no wonder. I should have known. Apart from him, how can there be a human who can slash out such a strike¡­ By the way¡­ You should keep this to yourself¡­ Don¡¯t spread it¡­¡±


    ¡­


    To humans nowadays, watching movies was a luxury.


    With dimensional creatures breaking through the restrictions on a large scale, there were very few cities that humans could defend. Most humans retreated to a particular dimensional zone and relied on the repulsive forces of the dimensional zones to barely survive.


    All sorts of modern instruments and tools had been severely damaged. Furthermore, due to the cut-off of roads, raw materials couldn¡¯t be supplied. Even if the factories weren¡¯t destroyed, the possibility of continuing production wasn¡¯t high.


    In such an environment, other than the Federation occasionally shooting some promotional videos, it was very rare for a person to film a movie.


    More and more research was done using Companion Beasts to replace high-tech equipment. Most of the areas where humans gathered had already been popularized with Companion Beast power generation systems.


    However, human hobbies sometimes had nothing to do with practicality.


    The infamous overseas devil, Sasser, was an avid movie enthusiast. Furthermore, he was someone who had to go to the cinema to watch movies.


    However, in this era, cinemas were very difficult to find. There were none overseas. Therefore, every time Sasser¡¯s movie addiction flared up, he would sneak inland.


    Although Sasser wasn¡¯t as infamous as Jing Daoxian, people who knew him definitely had a fear of him that was no less than Jing Daoxian¡¯s.


    Although Jing Daoxian was infamous, not many people had seen him kill.


    Apart from the crazy massacre at the Federation building, many of the brutal legends regarding Jing Daoxian were actually just people committing acts under his name.


    However, Sasser was different. Sasser wasn¡¯t famous, but the number of people he killed far exceeded Jing Daoxian¡¯s. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t leave any survivors, so very few people knew of him.


    1


    After putting on a decent suit, a white shirt, and a bow tie, Sasser, who had meticulously combed his white hair, arrived at the cinema¡¯s entrance. He lined up to buy a ticket, coke, and a bucket of popcorn. Then, as though he was on a pilgrimage, he walked into the cinema¡¯s theater hall.


    These habits stemmed from when Sasser was young. Back then, when his parents took him to the movies, they would always dress him up nicely. Then, they would buy coke and popcorn and catch a movie together.


    Therefore, this habit remained.


    Sasser found his seat and sat down. He sat up straight and sized up the movie screen. Just as he had imagined, this spot was indeed the best spot in the theater. Thankfully, it hadn¡¯t been bought by others. Otherwise, he would have spent more time thinking of a way to adjust his seat.


    It was a rather nice cinema. The fragrant popcorn that was still emitting steam, the iced coke, and the perfect seat made Sasser feel good. He adjusted his bow tie and waited for the movie to begin.


    Suddenly, a young man and woman walked in. The spot they had chosen happened to be in the row just in front of Sasser. This made Sasser frown slightly.


    He recalled an unhappy experience he had when he watched a movie previously. A couple sat in front of him and whispered to each other from time to time. They even kissed in front of him, greatly affecting his movie experience.


    As a result, Sasser sewed the couple¡¯s mouths together and hung them to death at the entrance of the theater after the movie ended.


    Why did he have to wait for the movie to end? Movie time was sacred, so how could he kill someone during the movie?


    Thankfully, the young men and women who had just entered were very silent. They didn¡¯t talk to each other, making Sasser feel much better.


    From the looks of it, this should be a perfect movie experience today. Sasser sat up straight and waited for the movie to begin. Although this movie was an old movie and Sasser had watched it a few times, he still liked it. He wouldn¡¯t get sick of watching it a few more times.


    After a while, Sasser suddenly heard the young man in front speak.


    ¡°Do you want anything to eat or drink?¡±


    When Sasser heard that, he was immediately infuriated as he thought to himself, What¡¯s wrong with young people these days? They don¡¯t understand the essence of watching movies at all. You have to buy iced coke and popcorn before entering. How can you buy them after entering the hall?


    ¡°Anything,¡± the woman said coldly.


    ¡°Wait for me here. Don¡¯t move. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± As the youth spoke, he left, leaving the young woman sitting in front.


    The young woman was very quiet, and she was still. This made Sasser appreciate her.


    He still remembered that two months ago, when he went to watch a movie, a young woman was eating melon seeds while watching a movie. She kept fidgeting around. Hence, after the movie ended, Sasser shattered all the woman¡¯s teeth and stuffed them into her stomach before hanging her to death at the entrance of the theater.


    ¡°Orange juice and melon seeds. Try them.¡± The man returned with two large cups of orange juice and a huge bag of melon seeds.


    You have to drink coke and eat popcorn when watching a movie. Don¡¯t you even know that? Sasser wished he could snatch the melon seeds and orange juice and smash them at the young man¡¯s face.


    However, years of movie-watching cultivation made Sasser endure it. However, he was already planning how to teach the young man some movie-watching etiquette after the movie ended.

 Chapter 1135 - : Boring Movie

    Translator: CKtalon


    Speaking of which, Zhou Wen felt wronged. If you were to ask him how to kill dimensional creatures or which dimensional zones had which taboo, he might know something about that.


    However, Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t know what taboos to look out for when watching movies at a cinema. His knowledge of movie theaters basically came from Li Xuan¡¯s descriptions, so how could he know much?


    ?


    Li Xuan was only focused on showing off and bragging. He wouldn¡¯t talk about the trivialities. He only talked about how he was popular with girls and how they threw themselves at him.


    After passing the melon seeds and orange juice to Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to eat snacks, so he sat there resting with his eyes closed. In fact, he was thinking about how to get rid of Tsukuyomi.


    Previously, after Tsukuyomi dispelled the Calamity domain, Zhou Wen had thought of escaping, but he ultimately gave up.


    The main reason was that Tsukuyomi had spatial abilities. Now, Tsukuyomi had no intention of killing him. If he failed to escape and she caught him, it would probably be a situation of fighting to the death.


    Furthermore, if Tsukuyomi really went berserk and the Ghost Parade erupted, too many innocent people would suffer.


    If he could peacefully send Tsukuyomi away, Zhou Wen would be very happy to give it a try.


    I heard from Sei Gasakai that most Calamity creatures leave Earth not long after they are born. A small portion of them vanished. No one saw where they went, but they basically never appeared on Earth again. They probably left Earth as well. Although I don¡¯t know why Calamity creatures leave Earth, there must be some restrictions. I wonder if Tsukuyomi will be affected by this restriction? If she will be affected as well, I just need to wait until she has to leave before I call it a win, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, stalling for time was one thing. It was impossible to make Zhou Wen sacrifice himself¡ªsexually.


    2


    As Zhou Wen was thinking about how to stall for time, Sasser, who was behind him, had a sullen expression and twitching eyes. He had the urge to murder.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the etiquette of the cinema, much less Tsukuyomi, a dimensional creature. Although she had already transformed into a human and wore human clothes, she was still a dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen was thinking while Tsukuyomi was munching on melon seeds. Although the munching sounds weren¡¯t loud, it made Sasser feel uneasy.


    ¡°Young lady, you can¡¯t eat melon seeds during a movie. This is basic etiquette.¡± Before the movie began, Sasser decided to remind them.


    However, Tsukuyomi ignored him. This was because in Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes, other than Zhou Wen, no other humans mattered. They were lifeforms that were inferior to ants. There was no need to care about their feelings.


    Zhou Wen turned his head to look at Sasser and saw that it was an old man with a head full of white hair. He apologized before saying to Tsukuyomi, ¡°Don¡¯t eat melon seeds when watching the movie later.¡±


    Tsukuyomi nodded slightly before putting the melon seeds aside and stopping eating.


    Seeing that their attitude wasn¡¯t bad, Sasser¡¯s mood improved slightly. Since the movie hasn¡¯t started, I¡¯ll spare you for now.


    Soon, the movie began. It was an old movie called The Prestige.


    In fact, in recent years, all the movies that were shown in theaters were basically old movies. It wasn¡¯t just because of nostalgia, but mainly because there were very few new movies being filmed.


    Sasser knew all the details of The Prestige like the back of his hand, but he was still very engrossed every time he watched it.


    The movie began. That¡¯s when Sasser picked up his coke and popcorn and enjoyed the classic that delighted him.


    However, not long after, he suddenly saw Tsukuyomi in front of him stand up and say to Zhou Wen, ¡°Watching boring movies here is a waste of time. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    With that said, Tsukuyomi turned around and walked towards the exit.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he heard that. He stood up and followed Tsukuyomi.


    A creature at Tsukuyomi¡¯s level had almost infinite life. By saying that it was a waste of time, it was very likely because of some restriction she was under. Time had an extraordinary meaning to her.


    This made Zhou Wen feel that his previous guess was right. Tsukuyomi had no choice but to leave Earth after a certain period of time. This was very beneficial for him.


    Zhou Wen was delighted, but Sasser was about to explode from anger.


    Boring movie¡­ A waste of time¡­ Sasser¡¯s gaze became abnormally terrifying. It¡¯s already unforgivable to leave early in front of such a great movie, yet you still dare¡­


    Sasser slowly stood up. Having watched movies for so many years, this was one of the few times he had left early.


    ¡°You don¡¯t like this movie? We can switch to another one,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked alongside Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like such boring movies,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Then what do you like?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Tsukuyomi lowered her head and thought for a moment. After a while, she said, ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I don¡¯t like watching movies.¡±


    As the two of them spoke, they had already reached the entrance of the theater.


    Sasser followed. Upon hearing Tsukuyomi¡¯s words, the killing intent in his heart burned even more. Standing on the steps, his body produced a faint energy fluctuation.


    You actually dare belittle a movie? Then I¡¯ll let you have a taste of being killed by a movie. Sasser¡¯s eyes were cold as his strength secretly condensed into a camera in his hand. He pressed the shutter button as the camera aimed at Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi, who had just walked down the steps of the cinema, suddenly realized that their surroundings had changed drastically.


    The streets had vanished, and the entire city seemed to suddenly vanish. It was supposed to be nighttime, but the sun was shining brightly here. In front of them was a blue sea, blue sky, and a beautiful huge ship.


    Blue sea, blue sky, seagulls flying.


    The two of them were standing on the cruise ship. A breeze blew past them, making them feel very comfortable.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he circulated his Essence Energy Art, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t use it.


    Not only was he unable to use Essence Energy Arts, but he couldn¡¯t even summon Companion Beasts. He seemed to have become an ordinary person.


    ¡°Can you use your strength?¡± Zhou Wen asked Tsukuyomi.


    Tsukuyomi shook her head slightly and said, ¡°No.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly. If even Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t use her powers, things had likely turned very troublesome.


    Could it be that the monarchs of the dimension discovered that I wasn¡¯t dead and wanted to kill me across dimensions? Otherwise, who would have the ability to trap Tsukuyomi? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he constantly switched Essence Energy Arts, hoping that something would be of use.


    Soon, when Zhou Wen circulated the Dao Sutra, the Essence Energy that hadn¡¯t reacted finally reacted. But it still couldn¡¯t circulate.


    However, this already delighted Zhou Wen. At critical moments, I still need to rely on the Dao Sutra. From the looks of it, we have been pulled into a domain limited by certain rules. If the Dao Sutra advances further, I might be able to break through. I wonder if my opponent will give me the time.


    Zhou Wen looked around. He didn¡¯t have the ability to resist now. It was too easy for the enemy to kill him. However, all he could see were ordinary humans.


    No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that they were ordinary humans. The humans here were much weaker than ordinary humans. They seemed to be humans who had never cultivated.

 Chapter 1136 - Sea Disaster

    Translator: CKtalon


    Boom!


    Just as Zhou Wen was looking around, he suddenly felt a violent quake beneath his feet. Then, he heard a loud crashing sound before an ear-piercing screech.


    ?


    Before he could figure out what had happened, the ship¡¯s massive body began to tilt to the side. At the same time, there was a muffled explosion.


    An iceberg appeared out of nowhere, slamming into the deck. The shattered ice struck people, leaving many bleeding.


    Cries and screams intertwined as the ship¡¯s side tipped even more. Many people slid and fell. An explosion happened somewhere nearby as a heatwave surged over, sending Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi flying.


    Zhou Wen had no idea where in hell he was. Not only was he unable to use Essence Energy Skills and various other abilities, but even his body had become extremely weak as though he had never cultivated.


    Thankfully, although his strength and abilities were unusable, his technique and reaction remained. When Zhou Wen tumbled down, he grabbed the railing and prevented himself from falling into the sea.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had doubted if Tsukuyomi could use her powers, but he quickly realized that she couldn¡¯t. She grabbed a metal column that was taller than Zhou Wen, but the cabin beside her suddenly exploded. The fragments smashed into Tsukuyomi¡¯s head, immediately causing her to bleed. She seemed to show signs of fainting as she fell and rolled down the deck, about to fall into the sea.


    The temperature of the seawater was already below zero degrees Celsius. In the past, Zhou Wen could shower in such low temperatures, but now, his body was like an ordinary person¡¯s. If he fell, it wouldn¡¯t be long before all the heat in his body was sucked away by the seawater. When that happened, only death awaited him.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously reached out to grab the half-conscious Tsukuyomi and pulled her over.


    Although this was a good opportunity to kill Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen felt that it was likely that the dimensional monarchs were targeting him. Tsukuyomi was suffering an undeserved catastrophe.


    The enemy of an enemy was a friend. Perhaps saving Tsukuyomi today would give the dimension another Calamity-grade enemy in the future.


    After all, Tsukuyomi was a natural Calamity creature born on Earth. It was somewhat different from the monarchs of the dimension.


    ¡°How are you?¡± Zhou Wen realized that the wound on Tsukuyomi¡¯s forehead was very deep. It was a result of a few metal fragments stabbing into her and she was constantly bleeding. From the looks of it, the situation wasn¡¯t good.


    Tsukuyomi opened her mouth but didn¡¯t make a sound. Her eyes had already lost their focus and she was on the brink of unconsciousness.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and pulled Tsukuyomi along the deck, hoping to find something that could be used as a lifeboat, even if it was just a floating plank.


    Once the ship sank, ordinary humans wouldn¡¯t be able to last long in the icy-water sludge. They had to leave the sea to have a chance of survival.


    However, there were people running for their lives everywhere. Some people jumped into the sea disregarding anything, hoping to leave the ship as soon as possible to prevent themselves from being pulled into the sea by the suction force produced when the ship sank. From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, it was no different from having a death wish.


    Some people also found lifeboats before jumping into the sea and then using these tools to escape.


    However, there were too many people who were escaping. In order to survive, many people tried their best to climb into the lifeboats near them. This resulted in overcapacity¡ªthe lifeboats capsized and everyone fell into the sea.


    There were also a few crew members organizing the children and women to board the lifeboats. Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find anything that could be used as a boat.


    The nearby hatch doors were all metal and couldn¡¯t be used as rafts.


    Zhou Wen could only carry Tsukuyomi and constantly run for the high ground, constantly searching, hoping to find something that could save himself.


    After losing his strength, Zhou Wen realized that the strength of humans was pathetic. Just running for a while with Tsukuyomi in his arms made his heart beat vigorously. His limbs ached and he was out of breath.


    Dao Sutra kept circulating intermittently. Zhou Wen also kept trying his best to engrave the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder on the Wheel of Destiny, but due to the strange power here, the difficulty of engraving it was too great. The shallow marks on the Wheel of Destiny quickly vanished, preventing him from engraving the complete Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    Just as he was climbing up, a black shadow suddenly smashed down from above. Zhou Wen dodged to the side and the thing smashed into the metal pillar beside him. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that it was a table.


    I¡¯ve got it! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Seeing that the table was about to continue sliding down, he hurriedly rushed over and kicked it towards the surface of the sea.


    After the table fell, Zhou Wen jumped down after it and fell into the sea with Tsukuyomi.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s face was covered in blood and she was unconscious. As the seawater met her face, the blood all over her face was washed away, dyeing the nearby seawater red.


    The bone-chilling seawater made Zhou Wen shiver as he hurriedly pulled the unconscious Tsukuyomi onto the floating table.


    However, the table¡¯s buoyancy couldn¡¯t withstand their weight and sank a little. Zhou Wen¡¯s calves were soaked in the seawater as he felt his body¡¯s heat rapidly wick away.


    Furthermore, the waves would hit them from time to time, making them shiver from the cold.


    A lifeboat happened to row by at that moment. On it were a few women and children. They watched Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi as they rowed.


    ¡°Our boat allows for one more person¡­¡± a woman shouted at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at the unconscious Tsukuyomi in his arms and gritted his teeth before handing her over.


    The women pulled Tsukuyomi onto the lifeboat. The lifeboat¡¯s waterline was almost at its limit, so it was impossible for Zhou Wen to board it.


    Zhou Wen waved his hand at them, gesturing for them to leave.


    Without Tsukuyomi¡¯s weight, the table¡¯s surface rose significantly, but it was still covered in the seawater. A portion of Zhou Wen¡¯s calf remained soaked in the seawater, numbing it until it showed a purplish-black color.


    At that moment, he couldn¡¯t care less. As he paddled, he tried his best to get the top of the table surface out of the water. At the same time, he constantly engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and infused his insights from his hundred years of imprisonment into it.


    Without the augmentation of Essence Energy, it was difficult to leave deep marks on the Wheel of Destiny with just his thoughts. However, with Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts changing, even without the augmentation of Essence Energy, the marks became deeper and deeper. Soon, Zhou Wen finally succeeded in carving out the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    At the instant the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder appeared, Zhou Wen felt his Essence Energy surge out like a spring. It instantly nourished his body and restored his original strength. The cold seawater was no longer able to affect his body.


    How did this happen? Sasser kept watching the scene on the camera. When he saw that Zhou Wen could actually use Essence Energy in the movie world, his expression turned nasty.


    Although his Life Soul was magical, it could only send people into the movie world. He was unable to control the plot in the movie. All he could do was watch Zhou Wen recover his strength.


    1


    Suddenly, Sasser felt a mysterious force flow into his Life Soul, causing the movie world in the camera to change.

 Chapter 1137 - Tripartite Struggle

    Translator: CKtalon


    Sasser wore a look of horror. He realized that he couldn¡¯t control his Life Soul. The movie world that shouldn¡¯t have been changed had undergone a tremendous change.


    Why is this happening? Who¡¯s controlling my Life Soul¡­ Impossible¡­ Sasser looked around, but he found nothing.


    ?


    He became more alarmed. He couldn¡¯t find the other party, but they had controlled his Life Soul. This was a terrifying thought.


    Sasser desperately wanted to retract his Life Soul and dispel the movie world, but it was already too late. The camera-like Life Soul seemed to have its own consciousness as it crazily absorbed Sasser¡¯s Essence Energy. In just a moment, his face was as pale as snow. His cheeks clearly thinned.


    Zhou Wen had just recovered his Essence Energy when he suddenly saw a huge storm of dark clouds in the sky. The storm poured down as lightning constantly flashed and rumbled in the sky.


    The strong winds blew at the seawater, forming huge waves that came crashing over.


    What was even more terrifying was that the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder that Zhou Wen had just condensed shattered once again.


    What a powerful taboo power. Even the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder can¡¯t withstand it. Are the monarchs of the dimension bent on killing me? Zhou Wen was once again relegated to an ordinary person.


    1


    Amidst the storm, Zhou Wen was thrown into the seawater by a huge wave. He kept tumbling in the bone-chilling seawater. After managing to finally surface, he found his body was almost frozen.


    Bam!


    Another huge wave smashed over as something slammed into Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen hugged the thing and tumbled out of the sea. It felt like a person.


    After he stabilized himself and rushed out of the water with the person, he realized that it was Tsukuyomi who had slammed into him.


    Not far away, there were women and children who had fallen into the water. They couldn¡¯t escape in such a storm even if there were lifeboats. They were instantly swept deep into the sea.


    Many people could have lived, but now, it was unlikely any of them could.


    Zhou Wen hugged Tsukuyomi and felt that her body no longer had any warmth. She was probably close to death; this only served to make him extremely depressed.


    He wasn¡¯t sad that Tsukuyomi was dying, but even the lives of Calamity-grade creatures were in the hands of the dimensional monarchs. As for him, he was also at their mercy. Seeing so many humans die like ants filled Zhou Wen¡¯s chest with anger and indignation, making him feel like his chest was about to explode.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that no matter how angry he was, it was useless. The world wouldn¡¯t change because of a human¡¯s anger, nor would it change the rules because of human emotions.


    The only thing he could do was turn his anger into motivation and work hard to understand the rules and make use of them until he became the person who decided on the rules.


    Under the bombardment of the massive waves, even the huge cruise ship sank, not to mention humans. The sunken ship soon became the center of a huge whirlpool.


    Zhou Wen hugged Tsukuyomi, whose fate was unknown, and was swept into the sea. His body constantly slammed into objects that were swept down by the seawater, but his frozen body didn¡¯t feel any pain.


    Sasser was about to become a dry corpse. Although he had advanced to the Terror grade after fusing with a Guardian, the power of the Terror grade still couldn¡¯t withstand such terrifying suction.


    Who is the one behind this¡­ Who is it¡­ Unforgivable¡­ Absolutely unforgivable¡­ Sasser¡¯s eyes were red as they emitted a ruthless red glow.


    He wasn¡¯t angry because he had been used by others, or even because he might die.


    The reason he was angry was because the original movie world had been wrecked to an unbearable extent.


    Although he used the movie world to kill people, he never destroyed the ending as expected of the movie world.


    However, under the influence of that terrifying power, the male and female protagonists in the movie world had been completely wiped out, causing a touching movie to lose its meaning of existence.


    Unforgivable¡­ Unforgivable¡­ The last bit of strength in Sasser¡¯s body completely erupted. The camera in his hand was emitting smoke everywhere as sparks constantly shot out, as though it had missed a spark.


    Everything that happened inside the camera¡¯s movie world began rewinding. It was as though he had pressed the rewind button while watching a movie.


    Sasser wanted to restore this destroyed movie world. He definitely couldn¡¯t tolerate the destruction of this movie he deemed a classic¡ªeven if it meant risking his life.


    Zhou Wen, who was constantly deducing the Dao Sutra, suddenly felt time and space around him strangely retreat. Even the Life Mark he had engraved had vanished.


    Rules¡­ Rules¡­ Only by understanding all the rules can I use them¡­ Zhou Wen forced himself to calm down in the chaotic space. He engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder again and again, correcting his understanding of the rules.


    Many people believed that freedom without rules and restrictions was true freedom, but Zhou Wen believed that without rules and restrictions, there was no freedom.


    Only by understanding the rules and grasping them could one truly obtain freedom.


    Being lawless wasn¡¯t called freedom. It would only lead to destruction. That wasn¡¯t what Zhou Wen needed.


    Pfft!


    Blood spewed out of Sasser¡¯s mouth as he looked like a ferocious ghost. The terrifying force drove the movie world, allowing the movie plot to continue progressing.


    Sasser had tried his best, but he still couldn¡¯t stop it.


    F*ck you. Get back here. The blood vessels in Sasser¡¯s body burst, and blood flowed from his seven orifices. His blood burned, and the movie rewound again.


    However, the force increased again, allowing the plot to continue moving forward.


    Sasser completely disregarded his life as he unleashed his vital potential again and again, forcefully rewinding the movie.


    1


    After all, this was Sasser¡¯s Life Soul. Although the force was extremely terrifying and even stronger than Sasser, under Sasser¡¯s desperate efforts, they were in a stalemate. It alternated between fast-forwarding and rewinding. The entire movie world¡¯s timeline constantly changed.


    In the chaos of time and space, the marks on Zhou Wen¡¯s Wheel of Destiny deepened. Be it the effects of rewinding or fast-forwarding, they had little influence on the mark.


    Zhou Wen finally engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder again, but this time, it wasn¡¯t over. Zhou Wen carved a Life Mark on the activated Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. The Life Mark transformed into scriptures that constantly appeared in the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It was Zhou Wen¡¯s comprehension of the rules.


    With the appearance of the scripture, the light from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder intensified. The influence the movie world had on Zhou Wen decreased, and it was even affected by the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    Boom!


    1


    A strange light bloomed in the movie world.

 Chapter 1138 - So This Is Free Love

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the chaotic movie world, the tempest raged on. Dark clouds blotted out the sky as lightning streaked across the sky as waves devoured everything in their path.


    However, a human emitted a holy glow as he slowly surfaced from the sea. It was none other than Zhou Wen who had fallen into the sea.


    ?


    He held Tsukuyomi in one hand and held a mysterious ancient scripture in the other. The words on the ancient scripture emitted a mysterious glow.


    Zhou Wen was in the movie world, but the power in the movie world could no longer affect him.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the outcome Zhou Wen wanted. He looked at the ancient scripture in his hand as the sutra¡¯s glow intensified, illuminating the entire space.


    The dark clouds dispersed as the wind and rain came to a stop. In the mysterious holy light, the humans who had been swept into the sea appeared again as though on rewind. Finally, the huge cruise ship slowly floated up from the bottom of the sea.


    The entire timeline in the movie world was rewinding. The mysterious power that had resisted Sasser suddenly vanished, leaving only Sasser¡¯s power and the power of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder at odds with each other.


    In the beginning, Sasser wanted to rewind time and turn the plot back to normal.


    But now, not only had time rewound to normal, but it was also constantly rewinding. It was almost back at the movie¡¯s beginning.


    Sasser wanted to stop it, but he realized that his strength was no longer able to resist the power to rewind time. Despite exerting his full strength, the movie rewound to the beginning. The camera¡¯s screen was covered in snowflakes.


    Bam!


    The camera that was already producing sparks finally exploded. As the camera exploded, Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi, who were in the movie world, appeared out of thin air.


    Almost at the same time as the camera exploded, Sasser spat out a mouthful of blood. His body, which was almost unrecognizable, forcefully transformed into a stream of light and escaped into the movie theater¡¯s large screen that was playing a trailer. Then, he vanished.


    Zhou Wen stood on the steps in front of the theater with Tsukuyomi in his arms. The commotion had attracted the attention of many passers-by. At that moment, everyone was staring at Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    Tsukuyomi, who was being princess-carried by Zhou Wen, slowly opened her eyes as her injuries rapidly healed.


    Her expression was gentle as her eyes appeared misted. She looked at Zhou Wen and said shyly, ¡°You saved me. From now on, I¡¯m yours.¡±


    2


    With that said, Tsukuyomi closed her eyes. A charming blush rose on her beautiful face, inevitably making one have evil thoughts.


    1


    Although they didn¡¯t know what had happened, everyone around them began clapping when they heard Tsukuyomi¡¯s confession. Some even shouted, ¡°Kiss her!¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi and suddenly threw her to the ground.


    2


    This action stunned everyone. Tsukuyomi reacted very quickly. Just as she was about to fall to the ground, she blinked and was already standing up.


    Zhou Wen left without looking back. Tsukuyomi hurriedly chased after him.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, this brother is too awesome. Such a beauty delivered a public confession, but he threw her down without a word. After that, the beauty even chased after him. Why do I never encounter such a good thing?¡±


    ¡°The heavens are truly blind. Why didn¡¯t that beauty take a fancy to me?¡±


    ¡°¡­¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Tsukuyomi chased after him and asked.


    ¡°Why? I should be asking you. Do you think I¡¯m a fool? You were the one controlling the movie space, right?¡± Zhou Wen glared at her.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had believed that the dimensional monarchs were attacking him, so he didn¡¯t suspect Tsukuyomi.


    However, after shattering the movie world, he realized that the other party was likely at the Terror grade¡ªdefinitely not the monarchs from the dimension. Otherwise, even if the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder had Terror transformed, it would be impossible for him to shatter the movie world so easily.


    Zhou Wen refused to believe that a Terror form Life Soul was able to nearly kill Tsukuyomi.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes narrowed into crescents as she said with a smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that free love requires romance? A hero saving a beauty. Isn¡¯t it romantic enough for a beauty to marry him in return?¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless as he looked at Tsukuyomi. He was momentarily at a loss for words. All he could do was shake his head and continue walking forward.


    ¡°Is that wrong? I think that¡¯s what you humans say in your stories. I¡¯m certain of it.¡± Tsukuyomi took out her phone and opened the Qidian app. She read it again and felt that she hadn¡¯t done anything wrong.


    2


    ¡°Tell me what I did wrong. I¡¯ll change,¡± Tsukuyomi followed and asked in all seriousness.


    ¡°Please act more realistically next time. Do it in a way that I can¡¯t tell, alright?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to put across his point clearly, so he gave a patronizing answer.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. To deceive the other party without the other party seeing through it. Is this what it means by free love?¡± Tsukuyomi nodded thoughtfully as though she had gained some insight.


    1


    Zhou Wen was rendered speechless when he heard that. He decided to stop telling Tsukuyomi about such pointless matters in the future. It was best not to say anything.


    Now, Zhou Wen could tell that Tsukuyomi had no intention of killing him. Furthermore, she seemed to have a request for him.


    What do I have that Tsukuyomi wants? Could it be that Heavenly Happiness Token? However, Dragon Girl previously told me that the Heavenly Happiness Token can allow one to escape the restrictions of dimensional zones. Tsukuyomi has long escaped the restrictions of dimensional zones, why would she want the Heavenly Happiness Token? Could it be that it¡¯s not the Heavenly Happiness Token? Zhou Wen thought for a moment but apart from the Heavenly Happiness Token, there didn¡¯t seem to be anything that was worth Tsukuyomi¡¯s efforts.


    If she wanted the Immortal Culling Sword or something else, she could just snatch it from him. There was no need for her to marry him. After some thought, only the Heavenly Happiness Token needed Tsukuyomi to do these things because the Heavenly Happiness Token was something useless even if she snatched it.


    What¡¯s the Heavenly Happiness Token that Emperor of Shang gave me? Zhou Wen really wanted to go to the dimension to ask Emperor of Shang, but unfortunately, the only path he knew was in Chess Mountain.


    The Thearch of Chess Mountain was probably even more difficult to deal with than Tsukuyomi. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to provoke her.


    How long can this Tsukuyomi stay on Earth? Zhou Wen secretly paid attention to Tsukuyomi and realized that she was browsing the Internet with her phone¡ªone that Zhou Wen had bought for her.


    However, from Tsukuyomi¡¯s relaxed look, it seemed like she wasn¡¯t in a rush to leave.


    Could I be wrong? Not all Calamity-grade creatures need to leave Earth? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    Since he couldn¡¯t escape, Zhou Wen could only get used to it.


    With Tsukuyomi on the phone the entire time, he took out his phone and prepared to try the Bloodline function he had activated.


    Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate constitute my main combat strength. I can try to add some useful Life Providences for them. If Doctor Darkness and Explosive Fiend Man have some more powerful Life Providences, they can become stronger. Perhaps they might have a chance to advance further. I wonder if there are any Life Providences that can resolve Truth Listener¡¯s problem. Zhou Wen browsed through all the Companion Beasts he had. He didn¡¯t worry about which stage they were in, only looking at their Life Providences. As long as their Life Providences were good enough, it didn¡¯t matter if their levels were low.


    After browsing for a while, Zhou Wen discovered many low-leveled Companion Beasts who had very unique Life Providences. They could be said to be fantastic.

 Chapter 1139 - Gone Viral

    The Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s Split Life Providence was an extremely powerful Life Providence. It split into an individual that was comparable to its own strength. Many Companion Beasts¡¯ strength would increase drastically after possessing this Life Providence.


    However, the Ancient Splitting Tadpole was too rare. Zhou Wen only had one drop to date. The success rate of the Bloodline function was too low, so it was almost impossible to get another Companion Beast to gain the Split Life Providence with one Ancient Splitting Tadpole.


    However, although the Epic Dark Gold Tadpoles were much weaker than the Ancient Splitting Tadpole, they had the same Life Providence as the Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡ªSplit.


    He couldn¡¯t bear to use the Ancient Splitting Tadpole, but he had no qualms regarding the Dark Gold Tadpoles.


    It¡¯s time to showcase my true skills. Zhou Wen carefully counted and looked at how many Dark Gold Tadpoles he had. He realized that there were more than three hundred of them.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had farmed the dungeon many times, hoping to obtain another Ancient Splitting Tadpole, but he had failed to obtain one.


    However, he did manage to farm many Epic Dark Gold Tadpoles as a result. He originally thought that they were useless, but they came in handy now.


    Who should I test it on first? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he shouldn¡¯t test it on Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate immediately. If there were any flaws with the Bloodline function, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the Bronze Sparrow Sword. He planned on using the Bronze Sparrow Sword to see if the Bloodline function could really allow it to have two Life Providences without any negatives.


    He placed the Bronze Sparrow Sword as the primary pet and chose a Dark Gold Tadpole as the bloodline sacrifice.


    After clicking on begin, there was a flash on the phone screen. The Dark Gold Tadpole vanished while the Bronze Sparrow Sword remained.


    Failure is the mother of success. Let¡¯s do it again. Zhou Wen had plenty of Dark Gold Tadpoles on hand, so he didn¡¯t care about one or two.


    He placed another Dark Gold Tadpole in and chose Bloodline transfer again, but it still failed.


    I have plenty of Companion Beasts. Again. Zhou Wen was already mentally prepared and knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to succeed.


    Therefore, he placed the Dark Gold Tadpole in again and again, but he failed even after ten attempts.


    Failure is a necessary path to success. As long as the bricks are paved well, there¡¯s no path that can¡¯t be crossed. If ten bricks aren¡¯t enough, I¡¯ll lay another ten. Zhou Wen continued tapping away.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    However, he still failed repeatedly. He sacrificed thirty ancient tadpoles without success.


    Is the success rate of Bloodline transfer so low? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart raced.


    He wanted to give up, but he couldn¡¯t bear to do so. If he gave up now, wouldn¡¯t the thirty Dark Gold Tadpoles have been thrown away for nothing?


    If thirty won¡¯t do, I¡¯ll do another thirty. I don¡¯t believe that I can¡¯t even have one success. Zhou Wen sacrificed another thirty, but he still failed.


    I don¡¯t believe it. Even if the success rate is only 1%, I should be able to succeed after sacrificing another thirty to forty of them, right? Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and sacrificed another forty.


    The idea was nice, but reality was cruel. A hundred Dark Gold Tadpoles were sacrificed, but none of them succeeded.


    Could the success rate really be that low? It¡¯s not even 1%? It can¡¯t be 0.1%, right? Zhou Wen began having second thoughts.


    If there was really a 0.1% chance of success, then his 300 Dark Gold Tadpoles might not be able to create a dual Life Providence.


    This wasn¡¯t about experimenting anymore. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn¡¯t a solution.


    Without continuing to use Bloodline transfer, Zhou Wen first went to the bathroom to remove the filth in his body. Then, he washed his hands and cleaned himself up. He then bowed in all directions raising both hands before taking out his phone again and placing a Companion Beast on it.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use the Bronze Sparrow Sword. Although the Bronze Sparrow Sword was very powerful, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t lack weapons. Without knowing if he could succeed, Zhou Wen felt that it was better to bet on Explosive Fiend Man.


    Placing the Dark Gold Tadpole in still resulted in repeated failures. This situation was already within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. Now, he didn¡¯t wish for high success rates. He just wanted one success out of the remaining 200 plus Dark Gold Tadpoles.


    Zhou Wen felt like he was releasing firecrackers. With a bang, they were reduced to ashes.


    As this went on over and over again, there was a festive atmosphere. Yet, he didn¡¯t even succeed once.


    Coupled with the hundred failures from before, the three hundred plus Dark Gold Tadpoles quickly vanished. There were less than fifty left with not one iota of hope left to be seen.


    It can¡¯t be¡­ Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind failure, he still felt somewhat depressed. At the same time, he felt that the Bloodline function was just useless. With such a low success rate, unless it involved Companion Beasts that appeared en masse like music sprites, it would be very, very difficult to succeed.


    The last thirty did not succeed.


    The last twenty did not succeed.


    As Zhou Wen continued putting Companion Beasts in dejectedly and was about to use the Bloodline transfer function again, Tsukuyomi, who was playing on her phone, put it down and walked over to Zhou Wen. As she walked, she asked, ¡°What are you playing? It looks fun?¡±


    Zhou Wen hurriedly put down his phone and looked at Tsukuyomi. ¡°It¡¯s a mobile game. Do you want to play?¡±


    ¡°How do you play mobile games?¡± Tsukuyomi asked curiously.


    ¡°Give me your phone. After I download it for you, you can use your phone to play.¡± Zhou Wen placed the mysterious phone in his pocket and took Tsukuyomi¡¯s phone. Then, he logged on to the website to download the game, Dimension, that Huang Ji had created.


    However, when he searched for the game, Dimension, Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded. He realized that the game, Dimension, was already first on the mobile game rankings. Furthermore, the number of downloads far exceeded second place. The difference was huge. The number of downloads for second place was just a rounding error for Dimension.


    Is it the same game? Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious. Perhaps this Dimension only had the same name as the game that Huang Ji had created.


    However, on careful look, the icon for Dimension was still the same. There were no changes at all.


    Could it really be the same game? Has Huang Ji¡¯s Dimension really gone viral? Zhou Wen attempted to download it.The current app was clearly much bigger than before. Thankfully, the Internet speed here was rather impressive. It took him nearly half an hour to download the game.


    After entering the game, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t be sure if this was a game produced by Huang Ji. Be it the graphics or controls, it was much better than the previous version of Dimension. They were on completely different levels.


    However, the most basic modes were still the same as Dimension.


    Only when Zhou Wen went on Dimension¡¯s official website and saw that the overall game designer¡¯s name was Huang Ji, did he confirm that this Dimension was indeed the former Dimension mobile game.

 Chapter 1140 - Successful Division

    Translator: CKtalon


    After a brief search online, Zhou Wen realized that the popularity of Dimension far exceeded his imagination.


    There were many humans playing Dimension. The current game dungeons were no longer limited to the few dungeons in Luoyang. Many dungeons from around the world were available.


    ?


    Of course, most of them were dungeons that humans had explored, but the assortment was rather complete.


    Zhou Wen chose a few dungeons that he was more familiar with and entered the game to take a look. He realized that it was rather realistic. The various habits and actions of dimensional creatures had been done very realistically.


    After familiarizing himself with the attack patterns of dimensional creatures in-game, it would definitely be of great help in real life.


    For example, the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior in the Metalwork Temple dungeon¡ªthe signs prior to it using its runes were very realistic.


    Zhou Wen was very surprised. He never expected that the mobile game he had randomly aided in its creation would be so popular in the world. Furthermore, it seemed to have become a dimensional zone database for everyone. This was something Zhou Wen had never expected.


    Dimension had similar functions as Zhou Wen¡¯s phone, but it didn¡¯t have the mind connection function. It could only play dungeons that humans had already explored.


    As for the mysterious phone, it could download dungeons that had never been entered. There was still a fundamental difference.


    ¡°Using mobile games to familiarize yourself with dimensional zones and dimensional creatures. You humans sure have some ideas.¡± Tsukuyomi was smart. After watching Zhou Wen play for a while, she knew what the game was about.


    ¡°Alright, you can play by yourself.¡± Zhou Wen returned the phone to Tsukuyomi.


    Seemingly intrigued, Tsukuyomi took her phone and started playing.


    Seeing that Tsukuyomi was gaming, Zhou Wen took out the mysterious phone again. When he turned on the screen, he was immediately given a fright.


    Previously, because of Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen, who was choosing a pet, had put away his phone. Perhaps his fingers had touched a Companion Beast when he put it away, allowing him to place Torch Dragon on it.


    On careful look, he realized that it had already undergone Bloodline transfer. What surprised Zhou Wen even more was that he had succeeded. Beside him was a notification that Bloodline transfer had succeeded.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at Torch Dragon¡¯s information. Indeed, in the Life Providence column, there was not only the Life Providence, Son of a World King, but also Split.


    Are you kidding me? It succeeded? Zhou Wen threw the remaining dozen or so Dark Gold Tadpoles at Explosive Fiend Man, but none of them succeeded.


    Don¡¯t tell me the Bloodline transfer function completely depends on luck? Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t tell if there was any pattern. Why did Torch Dragon succeed in one try?


    He didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to think much about it. Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon in-game to see what changes it would undergo after having the Split Life Providence.


    Don¡¯t tell me it can split into tiny Torch Dragons like the Splitting Tadpoles that can explode after death? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t imagine what it would be like.


    To verify Torch Dragon¡¯s new Life Providence, Zhou Wen took Torch Dragon to the snow valley behind the Valley of No Return.


    Zhou Wen had been to Snow Valley many times in the past, but the blood-colored avatar died without knowing why. He didn¡¯t even know the cause of death.


    He had long suspected that there were Terror creatures there. Now was the time to take a look. He could also farm some Dark Gold Tadpoles.


    He farmed all the way to Snow Valley. All he saw was silver snow. Apart from that, there were no other creatures in Snow Valley.


    However, Zhou Wen was no longer the same as before. With the Wheel of Destiny activated, the valley in his eyes immediately changed.


    The originally beautiful Snow Valley became extremely terrifying in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    In the snow that looked extremely pure, there were countless tiny worms crawling around. They were densely packed and uncountable.


    The worms looked like maggots, but they were even smaller. They drilled through the gaps in the snow, preventing any changes in the snow.


    When he saw the countless tiny maggots squirming in the snow, Zhou Wen had the urge to vomit.


    However, another thought suppressed the urge to vomit.


    Although these worms are very small, they aren¡¯t so small that I can¡¯t see them. I couldn¡¯t see them at all previously. Could it be that these worms are at the Terror grade? Zhou Wen was shocked by this thought.


    There were countless worms in Snow Valley. The idea that they were all Terror creatures was terrifying.


    If the worms here were to fly out, they would probably be able to destroy the entire world.


    It¡¯s impossible that they are all Terror creatures, right? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and ordered Torch Dragon to rush into Snow Valley. At the same time, he got it to activate the Bright Torch Vision World to see if it could kill the tiny worms in the snow.


    Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World opened as its mirror-like eyes looked towards Snow Valley. The thick snow in Snow Valley immediately vanished.


    However, the worms didn¡¯t disappear with the snow. They remained where they were and landed on the ground below.


    Without a doubt, the Bright Torch Vision World was ineffective against them. The Mythical Torch Dragon Youngling couldn¡¯t see them either, indicating that they might really be Terror-grade creatures.


    Torch Dragon¡¯s actions infuriated the tiny worms. On their white bodies, pairs of invisible wings unfurled.


    Then, countless tiny worms flapped their wings and flew towards Torch Dragon like a fog.


    Torch Dragon couldn¡¯t see the tiny worms, so it had no idea that danger was approaching. It continued standing there in a daze.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly ordered it to attack, but it was useless. It couldn¡¯t see the worms, so its strongest offensive skill, Bright Torch Vision World, was useless.


    Countless tiny worms pounced on Torch Dragon and drilled into its body through any possible gaps.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally knew how the blood-colored avatar had died in the past. Just the thought of countless worms entering his mouth and nose made Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable. His throat felt itchy as he couldn¡¯t help but swallow his saliva.


    With the countless worms entering Torch Dragon¡¯s body and about to kill it, Zhou Wen ordered it to use World King Transformation.


    Numerous Torch Dragon Eyes opened on Torch Dragon¡¯s body. Its aura immediately became terrifyingly powerful. Despite so many Torch Dragon Eyes using Bright Torch Vision World together, they still failed to injure the tiny worms.


    Instead, Torch Dragon let out a painful roar. Its body had almost been bitten through by the worms.


    Suddenly, Torch Dragon¡¯s body split apart, but its body didn¡¯t shatter into pieces. The rows of Torch Dragon Eyes that appeared on its body after the World King Transformation split apart. Every Torch Dragon Eye transformed into a miniature Torch Dragon.


    Instantly, the huge Torch Dragon Youngling turned into a bunch of tiny Torch Dragon Younglings with one eye.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tiny Explosive Dragon Youngling in a daze. This was clearly different from the Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s Split.


    The Ancient Splitting Tadpole¡¯s Split was a passive skill. It could only split after an explosion. As for Torch Dragon Youngling¡¯s Split, it seemed to split on its own accord, splitting its body into smaller Torch Dragons. The smaller Torch Dragons were clearly not bombs, and they had no intention of self-destructing.

 Chapter 1141 - The Way for Continued Growth

    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling alarmed, he realized that Torch Dragon had unleashed World King Transformation again.


    A group of smaller Torch Dragons unleashed their World King Transformation as rows of Torch Dragon Eyes grew out of their bodies. At the same time, they activated Bright Torch Vision World. Instantly, the entire valley was wiped clean by Bright Torch Vision World.


    With so many miniature Torch Dragons using the World King Transformation and Bright Torch Vision World simultaneously, it was similar to a small-scale apocalypse. Everything that could be seen, other than Torch Dragon itself, vanished without a trace.


    However, no matter how powerful Bright Torch Vision World was, Torch Dragon was still at the Mythical stage. It couldn¡¯t undergo Terror transformation. Without being able to see the worms, Bright Torch Vision World was ineffective against them.


    The tiny worms rushed forward again and burrowed into the tiny Torch Dragons¡¯ bodies. However, the tiny Torch Dragons began to split apart again. The eyes on its body split into even smaller Torch Dragons.


    After splitting again and again, Torch Dragon stopped after splitting nine times. It had the same maximum of nine splits as the Ancient Seed Splitting Tadpole.


    However, unlike the Ancient Splitting Tadpole, Torch Dragon didn¡¯t have the self-destruction skill. Therefore, it only split and didn¡¯t self-destruct. The number of tiny Torch Dragons that were produced from nine splits was already shocking.


    With so many tiny Torch Dragons using World King Transformation and Bright Torch Vision World together, the huge Snow Valley turned into a dead zone.


    Bright Torch Vision World was constantly superimposed onto each other. Not only did the Bright Torch Vision World between the different Torch Dragons not harm each other, but it also strengthened it by reflecting each other¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World.


    In the Bright Torch Vision World that constantly reflected, Zhou Wen realized that a portion of the worms had vanished. It was as though they had been affected by the power of Bright Torch Vision World.


    It can¡¯t be. Only a Terror-grade power can injure a Terror-grade. No matter how strong Torch Dragon Youngling is, it can¡¯t undergo Terror transformation; yet, its power can actually kill the tiny worms. Could it be that those tiny worms aren¡¯t at the Terror-grade? Zhou Wen carefully observed for a while and realized that not all the tiny worms would be destroyed by the Bright Torch Vision World. Only a portion of them would be affected.


    However, Snow Valley suffered. It had been completely wrecked and the entire Valley of No Return was affected. If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been prepared, the blood-colored avatar would probably have been destroyed by Torch Dragon.


    Boom!


    As the ground was devoured by Bright Torch Vision World, a terrifying sound suddenly came from below the snow valley. A huge snow-white worm crawled out of the ground.


    The worm was the size of a truck. It was snow-white and had six transparent wings on its back. It looked like the tiny worms.


    As the huge worm burrowed out of the ground, the worms approached it and fused into its body like water entering the sea.


    So that¡¯s how it is¡­ So this is the true body of the Terror creature. The tiny worms are just avatars that it split out¡­ However, to be able to eliminate a portion of the Terror-grade avatars, Torch Dragon¡¯s ability is sick. Zhou Wen immediately came to a realization.


    The appearance of the huge worm¡¯s true body made it apparent that it was much stronger than the tiny worms. Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World was useless against it. It flew in the Bright Torch Vision World and opened its suction cup-like mouth to suck in a tiny Torch Dragon.


    Unlike the tiny worms, this huge worm didn¡¯t need to enter Torch Dragon¡¯s body at all. Furthermore, it wanted to devour Torch Dragon.


    The tiny Torch Dragons were devoured as the other tiny Torch Dragons failed to put up much of a resistance.


    What a pity. If Torch Dragon was also at the Terror grade, how could this huge worm be its match? Torch Dragon could probably instantly kill it with a glance. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t alarmed but delighted.


    After Torch Dragon obtained the Split Life Providence, not only did its life-preservation abilities greatly increase, but its offensive strength also greatly increased. Once it advanced to the Terror grade, Zhou Wen felt that even Banana Fairy might not be able to defeat Torch Dragon.


    How can I advance Torch Dragon to the Terror grade? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Soon, the tiny Torch Dragons were devoured by the huge worm. The phone system also indicated the death of Torch Dragon Youngling.


    Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate as he activated his Wheel of Destiny. Clown Mask and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder appeared at the same time.


    However, before Zhou Wen could do anything, Banana Fairy sent out a Supreme Yin Wind. The huge worm¡¯s body immediately flew up. When it was in the air, it gradually froze and turned into an ice sculpture.


    Splash!


    The huge worm landed on the ground and its huge body shattered. However, its shattered body transformed into tiny worms that gathered together again.


    Banana Fairy frowned unhappily and blew again. However, this time, it was the Supreme Yang Wind.


    This time, he saw the huge worm struggle in the flames with a tragic cry, but to no avail. Its wings were burned to ashes. Regardless of whether it amalgamated or dispersed, it was burned to ashes when it encountered the Supreme Yang Wind. It had no ability to resist.


    The previously mighty worm was literally a worm in front of Banana Fairy. It was burned to death.


    Ding!


    With a crisp sound, a system notification popped up. ¡®Killed Terror Creature Gu Mother. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    It¡¯s not a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he looked at the crystal that dropped and realized that it was an 87 Essence Energy crystal.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to pick up the Essence Energy Crystal and use it himself, but he realized that Banana Fairy was staring at him. No, she was looking at the Essence Energy Crystal in his hand.


    ¡°You want this?¡± Zhou Wen asked Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy nodded immediately. She looked like she really wanted it.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before handing the Essence Energy Crystal to Banana Fairy. After Banana Fairy obtained the dimensional crystal, it immediately transformed into threads of light that fused into her body.


    Soon, the 87-Essence Energy crystal completely vanished. As for Banana Fairy, she looked like she hadn¡¯t had enough.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at Banana Fairy¡¯s stats and realized that her Essence Energy had already reached 87, while the other three stats were still 82.


    I see. So Terror-grade creatures are the same as humans. They need to absorb Essence Energy Crystals to increase their stats. They aren¡¯t born with full stats. Zhou Wen was delighted and worried.


    He was happy that he finally knew how to ensure Banana Fairy¡¯s continued growth, but he was worried about where to get so many stat crystals for himself and Banana Fairy.


    Zhou Wen could still use Mythical stat crystals, but Banana Fairy had to use Terror-grade stat crystals. Only Terror-grade creatures dropped them.


    From the looks of it, I have to make another trip to the sapphire sky in the underground sea and the Endless Sea of Stars. Zhou Wen thought to himself about the dungeons he had downloaded and the possibility of any Terror creatures.

 Chapter 1142 - Battling the Sapphire Sky Again

    It was unknown if the Planet Devourer in the Endless Sea of Stars was at the Terror grade, but the huge dimensional creature in the Sapphire Sky was definitely at the Terror grade.


    However, Zhou Wen found it odd. Why were Torch Dragon and Qiongqi who were guarding the temple at the Mythical stage while there was a Terror-grade creature in the Sapphire Sky?


    Could it be that the temple isn¡¯t the core of the Zhuolu ruins? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    Sapphire Sky, Longevity Tree, Demon Blood True Dragon Guardian, White Bone Desert, and other places had all sorts of mysteries. In contrast, the temple wasn¡¯t as exaggerated.


    Although there was a powerful creature like Torch Dragon, it was only a youngling. It hadn¡¯t even reached the Terror grade.


    After killing the Gu Mother, Zhou Wen left the Valley of No Return dungeon because he didn¡¯t know how long it would take for it to respawn. He headed for the Zhuolu underground sea to hunt the Terror creature in the Sapphire Sky.


    Now, Zhou Wen and Banana Fairy needed to raise their stats. As for Demonic Neonate, she hadn¡¯t truly advanced to the Terror grade. Her stats had reached their limits, so she couldn¡¯t raise them for the time being.


    In fact, Zhou Wen¡¯s situation was similar to Demonic Neonate¡¯s. However, humans had just advanced to the Mythical stage. They weren¡¯t like Demonic Neonate who had maxed out her stats from the beginning. They still needed to slowly raise their stats.


    When he arrived at the underground sea, the nine black dragons had already respawned. Zhou Wen first grinded the nine dragons, and another Companion Egg dropped.


    Now, Zhou Wen already had seven Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Beasts. Only the last two types hadn¡¯t been obtained.


    Since the Demon Blood True Dragon with the Wu character hadn¡¯t dropped a Companion Egg all this while, the other Demon Blood True Dragons couldn¡¯t fuse. There was a constant indication that the main core was lacking. This made Zhou Wen suspect that the Demon Blood True Dragon with the Wu dragon pearl was the main core.


    The Guardian in the war wagon was gone. Guardians weren¡¯t like dimensional creatures and wouldn¡¯t respawn.


    I wonder how much that Guardian in Ant City has grown. With my present abilities, with Banana and Demonic Neonate, I should be able to kill her, right? Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try later.


    After coming out of the sea, Zhou Wen looked up at the Sapphire Sky. The behemoth was in there and could be seen from afar.


    The Sapphire Sky was clearly solid, but the behemoth swam around the Sapphire Sky as though it wasn¡¯t solid but ordinary seawater.


    Zhou Wen had previously attempted to shatter the Sapphire Sky, but the sapphire was abnormally hard. The power of a Mythical could only leave faint marks on it. It was impossible to shatter it.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the creature in the Sapphire Sky. The creature looked very strange. Its entire body was blue and translucent. Its upper body resembled a human¡¯s body. It also had arms and hands, but its lower body didn¡¯t have legs. It had many blue ribbon-like objects.


    Its head was also different from humans. It looked like a jellyfish without any human facial features.


    It wandered in the Sapphire Sky and occasionally swept its gaze over the blood-colored avatar, as though it was also observing it. Clearly, it had long discovered the blood-colored avatar.


    However, for some reason, it didn¡¯t leave the Sapphire Sky to attack the blood-colored avatar. It only occasionally moved its jellyfish-like head beneath the Sapphire Sky to observe the blood-colored avatar and the Companion Beasts.


    Could it be that the Sapphire Sky is actually a prison? An idea flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as he thought of this possibility.


    Zhou Wen had been to the underground sea countless times, but apart from being attacked when he approached the Sapphire Sky, he was never in danger.


    If it¡¯s really imprisoned here, who imprisoned it? Why is it imprisoned here? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any more clues and couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    After summoning Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate, Demonic Neonate summoned Grim Demon.


    Back when he had fought Di Tian, after Wang Mingyuan suppressed Grim Demon, he had used Grim Demon¡¯s identity to enter the cube¡¯s arena. Later, when Zhou Wen returned, Wang Mingyuan had imprisoned Zhou Wen in Fangzhang Mountain, and Grim Demon returned.


    However, Zhou Wen was trapped, and Grim Demon had been sealed in the Demonic Sword the entire time. He had no chance of coming out.


    Now, to kill the dimensional creature in the Sapphire Sky, Grim Demon would come in handy.


    Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to stand far away as Banana Fairy and Grim Demon approached the Sapphire Sky.


    Banana Fairy blew a gust of Supreme Yin Wind at the Sapphire Sky from afar, but the Supreme Yin Wind was blocked by the Sapphire Sky. It couldn¡¯t enter, so it naturally couldn¡¯t injure the dimensional creature.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. Although the Sapphire Sky trapped the dimensional creature, it also prevented anyone from killing it.


    That thing was indeed extraordinary, considering how even the Terror-grade Supreme Yin Wind couldn¡¯t stir the Sapphire Sky.


    Seeing that the Supreme Yin Wind had failed, Grim Demon emitted a terrifying demonic aura that swept towards the Sapphire Sky.


    Boom!


    Grim Demon¡¯s punch struck the Sapphire Sky, creating a huge crater more than two meters in diameter. Although the destructive power was shocking, it was just a tiny gap in the entire sapphire sky¡ªas inconspicuous as a needle eye.


    Furthermore, after Grim Demon retracted his fist, sapphire shards automatically flew back and filled up the shattered hole. Soon, it returned to its original state without any trace of it being damaged.


    Zhou Wen was even more alarmed. The power of the Sapphire Sky was clearly not self-healing; it was more like an ability like Time Reversal.


    Just as Grim Demon retracted his palm, the dimensional creature in the Sapphire Sky emitted a blue beam of light that blasted out through the Sapphire Sky.


    The dazzling light was so intense that it was almost blinding, but after passing through the Sapphire Sky, it became much weaker. It was extremely weak by the time it reached Grim Demon.


    Even without using the Wheel of Destiny, Zhou Wen could see the blue beam.


    This meant that the power of the blue beam was almost below the Terror grade. That was why it could be seen by the human eye.


    Grim Demon was very disdainful of such weak strength. With a casual wave of his hand, he shot out a demonic beam, hoping to shatter the blue beam.


    However, after the demonic aura came into contact with the blue light, the latter didn¡¯t shatter. Instead, it seeped into the demonic aura, causing a strange blue color to suffuse the black demonic aura.


    Furthermore, the blueness in the demonic aura became more and more obvious. Soon, the demonic aura that Grim Demon produced turned into sapphire.


    Eh, that¡¯s odd. Why can the Sapphire Sky block and weaken the power of dimensional creatures, but the dazzling light it emits can transform demonic aura into something like the Sapphire Sky? Zhou Wen found it odd.

 Chapter 1143 - It’s a Long Story

    After some thought, he couldn¡¯t think of a reasonable explanation. All Zhou Wen could do was get Grim Demon and Banana Fairy to continue attacking.


    However, across the Sapphire Sky, Grim Demon and Banana Fairy¡¯s powers were almost unable to injure the dimensional creature. The dazzling blue beam released by the dimensional creature was greatly weakened. It could only barely transform the demonic aura into sapphire. Furthermore, the blue beams dissipated not long after passing through the Sapphire Sky. It couldn¡¯t exist for long.


    However, this was already very shocking. Be it Grim Demon¡¯s demonic aura or Banana Fairy¡¯s wind, none of them could completely eliminate the blue beam.


    Even if one¡¯s strength was far stronger than the blue beam, it would be permeated by the blue beam and become a part of the demonic aura or wind before slowly turning into sapphire.


    However, due to the power of the dazzling light being too weak, it could only convert a tiny portion of the demonic aura or wind into sapphire-like crystals before being exhausted.


    After shattering, the demonic aura and wind that had turned into sapphire would automatically fly to the Sapphire Sky, becoming a part of it.


    What¡¯s going on? Is it imprisoned here or did it trap itself? Could it be that it can only survive in the Sapphire Sky? It will die if it leaves the Sapphire Sky, so it tries to turn everything into sapphire? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this idea wasn¡¯t too reliable.


    However, since he couldn¡¯t break through the Sapphire Sky¡¯s obstruction, it was impossible for him to kill the Terror creature. Zhou Wen had no choice but to change his strategy and use the Terror form of Great Brahma.


    Great Brahma was in a Spirit Body state, something that Zhou Wen wanted to exploit to see if it could pass through the Sapphire Sky.


    The four-faced and eight-armed Great Brahma flew towards the Sapphire Sky. The black hole behind him was like the entrance to hell, as though it could devour everything. It also seemed like countless evil spirits were about to crawl out.


    It really passed through! Zhou Wen watched as Great Brahma entered the Sapphire Sky. Just like the dimensional creature, Great Brahma looked like it had entered water. His actions were slowed down a little but weren¡¯t too affected.


    The ribbon on the lower half of the dimensional creature¡¯s body danced as it shimmered with blue light that swept towards Great Brahma.


    As they were in the Sapphire Sky, the might of the dazzling blue beam wasn¡¯t weakened. It was unimaginably terrifying.


    Great Brahma was still sitting cross-legged with his eight hands forming different hand seals. The expressions on the three faces were also different. Only the face facing the black hole had no discernible expression.


    Only when the blue beam descended in front of Great Brahma did he strike out with a palm.


    The blue beam was extinguished by Great Brahma¡¯s palm as though a candle had been extinguished.


    Holy sh*t, Great Brahma is unstoppable! Zhou Wen was overjoyed, but he could also tell that the dimensional creature inside the Sapphire Sky was undoubtedly a soul. Great Brahma was most effective against such creatures.


    Great Brahma could almost be said to be the nemesis of ghosts and souls. At the same level, creatures like ghosts were unable to put up a fight.


    Although the dimensional creature inside the Sapphire Sky was a Spirit Body, it was somewhat different from ordinary ghosts. It wasn¡¯t completely suppressed by Great Brahma as it constantly emitted blue beams to fight.


    Its figure floated erratically in the Sapphire Sky as though it could teleport. It appeared around Great Brahma as blue beams constantly bombarded him.


    However, no matter how strange and powerful the blue beams were, they were suppressed by Great Brahma¡¯s palm. They immediately dimmed and were extinguished, making the attack meaningless.


    ¡°Nicely done. Kill it!¡± Zhou Wen directed Great Brahma to kill the dimensional creature.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized gloomily that Great Brahma wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to attack. He would only counterattack when his opponent attacked.


    Great Brahma¡¯s counterattacks were clearly insufficient to kill the dimensional creature.


    It can¡¯t be! Great Brahma only knows how to be beaten up? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. With his understanding of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, it didn¡¯t seem to be the case.


    Furthermore, Great Brahma had four faces. One was heartless, one was bliss, and the other was filled with pity. Although the fourth face remained unknown, the three faces made him unlikely to be someone who only knew how to take a beating.


    Did something go wrong? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Zhou Wen sank his mind into Great Brahma. It was born from him and was equivalent to his avatar. Zhou Wen immediately received some information about Great Brahma, making his expression change.


    Although Great Brahma was nurtured by Zhou Wen, it didn¡¯t mean that he understood everything about it.


    Great Brahma¡¯s power didn¡¯t only come from Zhou Wen. It also came from the profundity of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and the Guardian¡¯s blood that served as a foundation. Therefore, the Terror-form Great Brahma was actually an extremely complicated individual. Even Zhou Wen found it difficult to understand everything about him.


    From the basic information he received, the power that Great Brahma used in battle was actually only a quarter of his total strength.


    He had a total of four faces, and each face represented a different power. Now, what was really used in battle was the expressionless side in front.


    The power of the left and right faces wasn¡¯t used for combat, so they weren¡¯t suitable for attacking.


    And the last face that even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see hid an extremely terrifying power. Even as Great Brahma¡¯s owner, Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate as though there was something terrifying about it. Once it was activated, even the owner couldn¡¯t predict the outcome.


    However, this was in-game, so Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t have any qualms. He directly activated the unknown face of Great Brahma.


    After Zhou Wen issued the order, Great Brahma finally did something different. The face facing the black hole slowly turned around.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the face looked like. He was staring at the side of his face that was spinning, when he suddenly realized that the scene around him had undergone a strange change.


    The black hole that was like a Buddhistic glow behind Great Brahma gradually expanded as he turned around.


    Before Great Brahma could fully turn his head, the black hole had already devoured the Sapphire Sky. Countless evil spirits roared out of it, turning the underground sea into hell.


    Zhou Wen only saw Great Brahma¡¯s side profile. Before he could see it clearly, the game screen suddenly turned black.


    As a dark cloud hung over him, Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. He was probably the first person in history to be killed by his Terror form power.


    Holy sh*t, I¡¯m the creator of Great Brahma after all. Even I¡¯m killed! This doesn¡¯t make sense! Zhou Wen¡¯s feelings were indescribable.

 Chapter 1144 - Tsukuyomi’s Request

    Translator: CKtalon


    Great Brahma¡¯s fourth face was definitely a powerful killing machine. It was extremely powerful at the Terror grade, but its indiscriminate killing was a huge problem.


    Great Brahma was Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror form, so he couldn¡¯t put too much distance between him and Great Brahma. Otherwise, Great Brahma would automatically return to his body.


    ?


    Unless Zhou Wen could withstand the power of Great Brahma¡¯s fourth face, using it again was equivalent to suicide.


    Great Brahma¡¯s power seems somewhat similar to Truth Listener. Could there be a relationship between the two? Zhou Wen felt that the power of Great Brahma¡¯s fourth face was indeed somewhat similar to Truth Listener when it released six earrings. It just wasn¡¯t as strong.


    Zhou Wen was considering how to use Great Brahma¡¯s power when Tsukuyomi walked over.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhou Wen looked up at Tsukuyomi and asked.


    ¡°The game is boring.¡± Although Tsukuyomi was holding her phone, she had already quit the game.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I take you to get something to eat?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Human food is no different from rocks to me. It is all material energy,¡± Tsukuyomi said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt a headache. If he were made to kill dimensional creatures, he could think of a way to defeat his opponent.


    However, he really couldn¡¯t guess a woman¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°Have you been to school?¡± Tsukuyomi suddenly asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, unsure why Tsukuyomi would suddenly ask such a question.


    ¡°What¡¯s it like to go to school?¡± Tsukuyomi asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s just studying. What else would it be?¡± Zhou Wen found Tsukuyomi¡¯s question odd.


    ¡°Then take me to school,¡± Tsukuyomi blinked and said.


    ¡°School?¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss. He didn¡¯t know what Tsukuyomi meant.


    ¡°Dimensional creatures are born with knowledge, so there¡¯s no concept of schooling. I want to know what it¡¯s like to go to school. Take me there,¡± Tsukuyomi said seriously.


    So that¡¯s how it is. Zhou Wen thought about it and realized that it was true. Dimensional creatures really didn¡¯t need to study like humans.


    However, Tsukuyomi¡¯s request left Zhou Wen in a dilemma.


    A school wasn¡¯t like street markets. It wasn¡¯t a place he could go as he wished. Although Zhou Wen had been a student in the past, he hadn¡¯t graduated. Five years had passed and his former classmates had already graduated. Zhou Wen also had no intention of returning to school to study.


    Looking at Tsukuyomi¡¯s expression, Zhou Wen knew that they had to go. After some thought, he had an idea.


    It wouldn¡¯t be difficult for Zhou Wen to take Tsukuyomi into Sunset College, but it would be too dangerous. If Tsukuyomi ended up p*ssed and started a massacre at Sunset College, no one would be able to stop her. It would probably result in a bloodbath in Luoyang.


    However, he had to agree to Tsukuyomi¡¯s request. Otherwise, she would immediately fall out with him.


    Therefore, after weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Wen planned on taking Tsukuyomi to the Royal College and letting her experience and enjoy the school¡¯s atmosphere for two days.


    Royal College was a very famous university in the Federation. It was ranked above Sunset College.


    Royal College didn¡¯t usually recruit foreign students. It was a school that only the children of the Cape family and its vassal families could attend. The people inside were basically people related to the Cape family.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a good relationship with the Cape family. Although he didn¡¯t go so far as to destroy the Cape family, any nasty job or operation was linked to them.


    After making up his mind, Zhou Wen led Tsukuyomi to the Royal College in West District.


    The two of them had spatial powers, so they naturally didn¡¯t need to walk. After Zhou Wen explained the location, Tsukuyomi directly teleported him over. Tsukuyomi¡¯s long-distance teleportation was fast and accurate, much better than Zhou Wen¡¯s. As expected of a Calamity. Zhou Wen only sighed. His level was still lacking.


    It was definitely too late to complete the matriculation procedures now. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on really studying. All he wanted to do was take Tsukuyomi around, so he planned on just gate-crashing certain classes.


    Royal College was a sealed college. It was difficult for outsiders to enter, but to Zhou Wen, it was just a matter of teleportation.


    Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi appeared out of nowhere in Royal College without attracting anyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Is this a school?¡± Tsukuyomi looked around as though she was very curious.


    ¡°Yes, this is one of the most famous schools for humans,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Whose statue is that? Why is it placed there?¡± Tsukuyomi pointed at a spot near the entrance and asked.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw a statue erected at the school¡¯s entrance. It was a person holding a sword that was slashing at the sky.


    Although it was only a statue, it revealed a might that seemed to slice the sky into two.


    Zhou Wen looked at the statue¡¯s posture and found it somewhat familiar. When he carefully looked at the statue¡¯s face, he was immediately enlightened. Wasn¡¯t this him slicing through Di Tian¡¯s nine firmaments?


    ¡°This is a memorial statue. The engraved figure is called Human Sovereign.¡± Zhou Wen felt a little embarrassed when he introduced it to Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°The Human Sovereign who defeated Di Tian in the cube¡¯s arena?¡± Tsukuyomi clearly knew of Human Sovereign¡¯s deeds.


    In fact, as long as one went online, it was very easy to obtain information regarding Human Sovereign. It wasn¡¯t strange for Tsukuyomi to know.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered with a nod, pretending that it had nothing to do with him.


    The two of them chatted as they walked in Royal College. Zhou Wen originally believed that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to gatecrash on campus.


    Unfortunately, he had forgotten that this was Royal College. Furthermore, it only recruited students from families like the Capes, so basically everyone in this school was from the West District.


    Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi looked like people from the East District. After walking around the school for a while, they attracted the attention of many people.


    Thankfully, most of the students were only curious and looked at them a few more times without any intention of stopping them.


    After walking for a while, a female student finally walked over and stopped them. ¡°Are you students from Bright Prospects College?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t deny it as he asked.


    ¡°I especially admire your school¡¯s Professor Tomorrow. I heard that he¡¯s leading a team to our Royal College for an exchange. Is that true? Will he go on stage to give a speech? Can I ask you to help me get the signature of Professor Tomorrow?¡± the girl said it all in one breath.


    ¡°Sorry, I don¡¯t know Professor Tomorrow. It¡¯s best you ask him yourself.¡± Zhou Wen obviously didn¡¯t know Professor Tomorrow.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you students from Bright Prospects College? How can you not know Professor Tomorrow?¡± the girl said in disbelief.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know him,¡± Zhou Wen repeated before preparing to leave with Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to help. Why are you lying? You¡¯re clearly walking towards the venue,¡± the girl muttered as she followed. Zhou Wen and company were heading in the direction of the venue.

 Chapter 1145 - Swordsman Tomorrow

    The two of them saw that there were many students gathered at the venue ahead. Tsukuyomi was intrigued as she walked over.


    ¡°What are they doing?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at the students and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the student just say that a person named Professor Tomorrow is coming here to give a lecture?¡± Zhou Wen said casually.


    ¡°What do humans teach during lectures? Is it the knowledge known as science? Will it teach me how to make phones?¡± Tsukuyomi asked curiously.


    ¡°That might not be the case.¡± Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know who Professor Tomorrow was, he believed that it wasn¡¯t about scientific knowledge. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be so popular.


    Humans in this era were far more interested in Companion Beasts and cultivation than in scientific knowledge.


    ¡°Can we listen in too?¡± Tsukuyomi asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhou Wen found two seats and sat down with Tsukuyomi, preparing to attend Professor Tomorrow¡¯s class.


    To their surprise, after a while, the girl who had spoken to them came in. When she saw Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi, she took the initiative to walk over.


    ¡°Why are you sitting here? Doesn¡¯t Bright Prospects College have special seats?¡± the girl asked the two of them in puzzlement.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just sit here and watch,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    The girl looked at Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi and seemed to come to a realization. ¡°You want to know the true evaluation our Royal College students have of you, right? Actually, you don¡¯t have to worry. Although Bright Prospects College¡¯s ranking isn¡¯t high in the Federation, with an existence like Professor Tomorrow teaching there, no one dares to underestimate the students of Bright Prospects College, much less Professor Tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°You admire Professor Tomorrow?¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s curiosity was piqued by the girl. She now wanted to know what kind of person Professor Tomorrow was.


    ¡°Of course, everyone who uses a sword worships Professor Tomorrow. In the battle at East Sun Mountain, if Professor Tomorrow hadn¡¯t single-handedly entered the dimensional creature tide and killed nineteen Mythical creatures, as well as the Terror creature in the lead, I¡¯m afraid the city at the foot of East Sun Mountain would have been massacred¡­ At the bank of Futu River, Professor Tomorrow assassinated the leader of the Guardians who presided over the Futu Conference, preventing the League of Guardians¡¯s conspiracy from succeeding¡­¡± When the girl spoke of Professor Tomorrow¡¯s various deeds, she described him like a god descending to the mortal world.


    Zhou Wen broke out into a cold sweat for the girl when he heard that. She spent most of her time explaining how powerful Professor Tomorrow was and how many dimensional creatures he had killed.


    Little did she know that Tsukuyomi, who was beside her, was a genuine dimensional creature. Furthermore, she was a virtually invincible Calamity-grade existence. She could kill her countless times with a single spit.


    ¡°In short, Professor Tomorrow is handsome, has a good temper, is extremely powerful, and is very humble. He¡¯s practically a perfect Prince Charming. He¡¯s the idol of many students at our school¡­¡± The girl talked non-stop about Professor Tomorrow as if she had endless praise for him.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled when he heard that. Professor Tomorrow could actually kill a Terror-grade creature. His strength was considered top-notch among humans.


    Furthermore, from the sound of it, Professor Tomorrow didn¡¯t seem old. He could be considered young and promising.


    Tsukuyomi was also very intrigued. She waited for Professor Tomorrow¡¯s arrival, hoping to see what kind of person he was.


    The number of students at the venue gradually increased. The staff were all busy with work. In today¡¯s society, a strong person like Professor Tomorrow was even more famous than the celebrities of yesteryear. Even Royal College didn¡¯t dare to slight him.


    The venue was almost full. Before Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi saw Professor Tomorrow, they already heard the girls scream.


    ¡°Tomorrow¡­ Tomorrow¡­¡± The girls¡¯ screams were like a tsunami¡¯s roar.


    The girl beside Zhou Wen also stood up and shouted ¡®Tomorrow¡¯ with the other girls. However, she was still sweeping her gaze in search. Clearly, she hadn¡¯t seen Professor Tomorrow yet. Her vision was blocked by the person in front.


    After a while, a handsome young man walked up to the podium. At this moment, the shouting reached its climax. Thankfully, this was an outdoor venue. Otherwise, the roof would have been overturned by the tsunami-like sound waves.


    Tsukuyomi looked at the young man on stage with interest. When Zhou Wen saw the young man, he couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. This was because he actually knew Professor Tomorrow.


    Strange, isn¡¯t his name Ming Xiu? When did he change his name to Tomorrow? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Five years had changed Ming Xiu from a boy to a man. He stood on the podium calmly and elegantly. He gestured with his hands and the ear-piercing screams stopped.


    ¡°Thank you for all your love and support. What would you like to hear from me?¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    ¡°Tomorrow Sword Art¡­¡± the students said almost in unison.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback again as he recalled that the name Tomorrow Sword Art was named by him.


    ¡°Professor Ming, you are known as Swordsman Tomorrow. If swordsmen aren¡¯t talking about sword arts, are they going to teach us how to dance?¡± a bold male student joked.


    Ming Xiu didn¡¯t mind. He smiled and said, ¡°This student is right. I¡¯m a swordsman. All my life, I¡¯ve only learned how to use a sword. The only thing I can teach you is sword arts.¡±


    ¡°Professor Ming, I heard that your Tomorrow Sword Art was self-created. Is it true?¡± another boy asked.


    Ming Xiu said seriously, ¡°Tomorrow Sword Art wasn¡¯t independently created by me. The so-called self-creation is actually just a rumor. The reason I can master the Tomorrow Sword Art is because of two people.¡±


    ¡°Which two?¡± a student immediately asked curiously.


    ¡°Do you want to hear me tell a story or do you want to hear me talk about sword arts?¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    ¡°Both!¡± Noticing Ming Xiu¡¯s good nature, many students jested.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s talk about sword arts first,¡± Ming Xiu said as he began talking about sword arts.


    Ming Xiu was already one of the few sword experts in the Federation. Although most of these students came from wealthy families and had seen many experts since they were young, they still listened with relish. Many of the things Ming Xiu said were very novel and different from what they had heard in the past.


    The girl beside Zhou Wen listened attentively, her eyes filled with admiration for Ming Xiu.


    However, Tsukuyomi felt bored after listening for a while. The anticipation she had for Ming Xiu was completely gone.


    In fact, at the level of Tsukuyomi, Ming Xiu¡¯s realm was indeed much weaker. The things he said were completely unable to pique her interest.


    ¡°The famous Tomorrow Sword Art among humans is nothing much after all,¡± Tsukuyomi said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little lacking.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    Although Ming Xiu¡¯s realm was considered top-notch among humans, such a realm was still inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. Ming Xiu¡¯s realm had also improved more slowly than he had expected.

 Chapter 1146 - Meeting

    Translator: CKtalon


    When the girl beside them heard their conversation, she immediately sized them up suspiciously and asked, ¡°Are you guys students from Bright Prospects College or not?¡±


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to answer, the girl seemed to come to a realization. ¡°I get it. You aren¡¯t students at Bright Prospects College, but like Professor Ming, you are tutors at Bright Prospects College. You are jealous of Professor Ming because of his popularity, right?¡±


    ?


    With that said, the girl seemed to get where Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi were coming from. She reached out to pat Zhou Wen on the shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault that your talent and accomplishments aren¡¯t as good as others, but to speak ill of others behind their backs out of jealousy is not a good thing. I can understand your feelings. Seeing the gap between yourself and a genius grow bigger and bigger really makes one feel despair. However, one has to be honest or one will easily suffer a beating. Many of the students here are fans of Professor Ming.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked around and realized that there were indeed many students glaring at the two of them. Their conversation had already incited public anger.


    Zhou Wen smiled and didn¡¯t say another word. However, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t have the mindset of a human, nor did she care what humans thought. She continued, ¡°The sword art is indeed very ordinary. I¡¯m just telling the truth.¡±


    1


    The Tomorrow Sword Art is very ordinary? When the students beside them heard this evaluation, they were even more certain that Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen were jealous of Ming Xiu.


    That was a sword art that had once killed a Terror-grade creature. If such a sword art was considered ordinary, then were the sword arts they cultivated even called sword arts?


    All the students glared at Tsukuyomi. If it wasn¡¯t because of her beauty, they probably would have spat at her.


    The girl beside them had already confirmed that Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen were teachers from Bright Prospects College. They were jealous of Ming Xiu, so she decided to ignore them.


    Some of the more radical students were eager to teach Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen a lesson.


    Unfortunately, this was a venue on campus. They definitely couldn¡¯t get into a brawl. This, in a way, saved their lives. If they really dared to rush forward, even if the tutors and the school¡¯s leaders attacked together, they wouldn¡¯t be able to escape being completely wiped out.


    Thankfully, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t say anything else. Instead, she got up and prepared to leave the venue. She really seemed bored.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to get up and leave with her. He also knew that leaving now was the best choice. Otherwise, if those students really angered Tsukuyomi, the outcome would be unimaginable.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi leave, the students thought that they had left in embarrassment, so they ignored them.


    The commotion attracted Ming Xiu¡¯s attention. When Ming Xiu saw Zhou Wen¡¯s figure, his body immediately trembled as an unbelievable look of pleasant surprise flashed in his eyes.


    Zhou Wen felt Ming Xiu¡¯s gaze and turned his head to nod at him.


    1


    Understanding Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions, Ming Xiu held back his surprise and nodded in response. He stood on the podium and continued lecturing.


    After leaving the venue, the two of them strolled around other places in the school. It only left Tsukuyomi very disappointed. She originally imagined that she could learn more of humanity¡¯s scientific knowledge and technological products.


    To her surprise, the school was filled with people teaching Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills. It was rare to see high-tech subjects.


    In fact, ever since dimensional creatures broke through the restrictions on a large scale, humans had no choice but to retreat into dimensional zones. The importance of physics, biology, and other subjects had declined greatly. Very few people focused on studying related subjects. Most of them only completed the compulsory classes in order to pass the tests. Most of their energy was spent on cultivation and hunting dimensional creatures.


    ¡°It¡¯s boring. Let¡¯s go.¡± After circling around, Tsukuyomi was already a little sick of it. Furthermore, she didn¡¯t have the interest from before. She didn¡¯t wish to stay here any longer. This was far from the school she had imagined.


    ¡°I¡¯m meeting a friend. Let¡¯s wait a while. Let¡¯s have a break over there,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the flower bed not far away.


    ¡°That Swordsman Tomorrow is your friend?¡± Tsukuyomi seemed to have realized something. The silent communication between the two of them hadn¡¯t escaped her notice.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on hiding it. He knew that he definitely couldn¡¯t hide his prior actions from Tsukuyomi.


    If he hadn¡¯t signaled to Ming Xiu just now, Ming Xiu might have jumped down from the podium. That would have been even worse.


    The two of them sat down on the flower bed. It was rather quiet nearby.


    ¡°Your strength and realm are much stronger than that Swordsman Tomorrow. Why is he so famous, but those students don¡¯t recognize you?¡± Tsukuyomi asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like fame,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    Just as Tsukuyomi was about to say something, she saw a few students walking over. Furthermore, they were looking around as though they were searching for something.


    ¡°Why are you here? Did you see Professor Ming?¡± The girl who had been sitting beside Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi was among them. When she saw the two of them, her eyes lit up as she ran over with a few students.


    She believed that Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi were Ming Xiu¡¯s colleagues. Ming Xiu had previously headed in their direction and was likely looking for them. If she followed them, she might be able to encounter Ming Xiu.


    She also felt that she had an obligation to let Ming Xiu know that the two of them were speaking ill of him behind his back. She wanted him to be careful of Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    In her eyes, Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi were scheming b*tches who acted differently on the surface. The kind and adorable Ming Xiu must have been fooled by them. He didn¡¯t know their true colors and treated them as friends. Who knew if he might be secretly harmed by them in the future.


    The more she thought about it, the more she felt that she should let Ming Xiu recognize these two scheming b*tches. Otherwise, he would inevitably suffer in the future.


    Just as this was on her mind, she saw Ming Xiu walk over. This made the girl feel that her deduction was correct.


    The girls surrounded him, wanting to tell Ming Xiu about the two scheming b*tches.


    However, Ming Xiu¡¯s figure flashed and passed through them. He ignored them and arrived in front of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Coach, I finally get to see you again. I¡¯ve missed you so much!¡± Ming Xiu gave Zhou Wen a hug.


    Although everyone knew that Zhou Wen was in Luoyang and Ming Xiu had seen him in Luoyang over the past five years, Ming Xiu knew that it wasn¡¯t the real Zhou Wen despite the person looking identical and flawless.


    2


    However, Ming Xiu kept this matter to himself and didn¡¯t say it out loud. He felt uneasy, uncertain about what had happened to Zhou Wen. Only when he saw Zhou Wen today did he finally relax.


    The girls widened their mouths as they looked at Ming Xiu and Zhou Wen. Their expressions turned abnormally odd as an ominous thought surfaced in their minds.


    Could it be that Professor Ming likes men¡­

 Chapter 1147 - Five Years in the Federation

    ¡°Um¡­ Excuse me¡­ Professor Ming¡­ Is he your colleague?¡± a female classmate asked hopefully.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s my coach,¡± Ming Xiu answered.


    As he didn¡¯t know if Zhou Wen would expose his identity, he didn¡¯t mention his name.


    ¡°Coach?¡± Many scenes surfaced in the girls¡¯ minds.


    Time: night; location: training room; characters: Professor Ming and male coach.


    Professor Ming, who was only in sports attire, took off his top because it was too hot, revealing his sweaty, firm chest.


    The shameless male coach leaned against Ming Xiu from behind with one hand on his waist and the other hand holding Ming Xiu¡¯s sword. He even pretended to correct Ming Xiu¡¯s actions, but¡­


    It¡¯s not like that¡­ It¡¯s definitely not like that¡­ The girl from before didn¡¯t believe that Ming Xiu was such a person. She anxiously asked, ¡°Professor Ming, your relationship with him isn¡¯t what we are thinking, right?¡±


    Ming Xiu imagined that they didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen was his coach, so he said, ¡°It¡¯s exactly it. Tomorrow Sword Art was named by Coach. Without Coach, there¡¯s no Tomorrow Sword Art.¡±


    Tomorrow Sword Art is actually a love memento! The girls felt as though they had been struck by lightning as they felt their beliefs crumble instantly.


    Ming Xiu clearly wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk to them. He pulled Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Coach, this isn¡¯t a place to talk. Let¡¯s find a place with no one around to have a good chat¡­¡±


    No one around¡­ Have a chat¡­ The girls were petrified as an indescribable scene surfaced in their minds.


    Zhou Wen followed Ming Xiu out of the flower garden. Tsukuyomi silently followed behind them without doing anything out of line.


    Ming Xiu found a private lounge and used a Companion Beast with sound-proofing abilities. He looked at Tsukuyomi and saw Zhou Wen nod slightly. Only then did he chat with Zhou Wen and tell him about what had happened in the Federation over the past few years.


    In the past five years, the dimension hadn¡¯t activated the cube rankings again, nor had it chosen a new King of Earth.


    However, there were already quite a number of Guardians on Earth and they had established the League of Guardians. Many Senators were members of the League of Guardians.


    Therefore, many Federation resolutions were influenced by the League of Guardians.


    The previous president had died for some baffling reason. Many people suspected that it had something to do with the League of Guardians because the previous president was a member of the anti-Guardian faction.


    Now, President Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t openly oppose Guardians, but he had been secretly working hard, hoping to escape the League of Guardians¡¯s influence on the Federation and the Senate.


    However, from the looks of it, the efforts were fruitless.


    Although Hui Haifeng had developed the Mythical Serum, it was very difficult to rely on it to advance to the Mythical stage. It was even more difficult to advance to the Terror grade using it.


    The Federation was actually still controlled by the League of Guardians. There was no lack of powerful Terror-grade Guardians in the League of Guardians. In five years, many Guardians had grown stronger.


    ¡°You used the Mythical Serum?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ming Xiu and saw that the body under his clothes was in a strange crystalline state, like jade.


    Ming Xiu nodded slightly. ¡°I¡¯d rather become a monster than bow to those Guardians.¡±


    ¡°What about Qiuyan?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°He also used the Mythical Serum. He¡¯s stronger than me,¡± Ming Xiu answered.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. Although he knew that humans had the possibility of advancing to the Mythical stage, that path was too difficult. Apart from himself, Xia Jiuhuang was the only other person Zhou Wen knew that had taken this path.


    However, it was difficult to say if Xia Jiuhuang had truly succeeded. After all, he had ultimately borrowed the power of the Guardian in the log. It was impossible to determine if he had advanced to the Mythical stage independently.


    ¡°Who¡¯s in charge of the League of Guardians now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There are four Guardian Heavenly Kings in the League of Guardians. They are Blood Shaman, Cave Era, Hermit, and Great Skyfiend. They are all Terror-grade existences, but they aren¡¯t the true leaders of the League of Guardians. Up to now, no one has seen his true face. All we know is that the Guardians of the League of Guardians call him Immortal,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    After a pause, Ming Xiu continued, ¡°Apart from the League of Guardians, there¡¯s also an organization that specializes in hunting Guardians. It¡¯s called the Holy Spirit Association. The entire organization is very mysterious and it¡¯s very difficult to find any traces of them. The president of the Holy Spirit Association is Ya, who previously occupied first place on the cube.¡±


    ¡°From your tone, you seem to be very displeased with the Holy Spirit Association. It doesn¡¯t seem to be a problem for them to hunt Guardians, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Ming Xiu sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s just hunting Guardians, but they don¡¯t differentiate between good and bad. They don¡¯t care if the humans who contract with Guardians are good or bad either. They kill them all. They don¡¯t even spare the humans who contract with Guardians. I really can¡¯t agree with their actions. What¡¯s the difference between such indiscriminate killing and those devils?¡±


    Zhou Wen shook his head and didn¡¯t say anything else. With Zhong Ziya¡¯s character, it was really in his character to do such a thing.


    After a moment of silence, Zhou Wen asked about the situation of the people he cared about. Ming Xiu had always paid attention to them and told Zhou Wen one by one.


    Ya¡¯er was taken back to the An family by An Sheng and was pampered by Ouyang Lan. To everyone¡¯s surprise, even An Tianzuo doted on Ya¡¯er greatly. Ya¡¯er was now like a princess of the An family. She could have anything she wanted.


    Li Xuan had been wandering around. Every time he returned to Luoyang, he would visit ¡®Zhou Wen¡¯ but in fact, he was visiting Ya¡¯er.


    As for who was impersonating the An family¡¯s Zhou Wen, Ming Xiu didn¡¯t know either. He only felt that it was extremely similar. He couldn¡¯t tell the difference from his appearance. His aura and abilities were also very similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    It was almost impossible to tell unless one was especially familiar with Zhou Wen.


    The chick and antelope had also been staying at the An family¡¯s residence. The antelope hadn¡¯t changed much, but the chick now had the body of an eagle. The last time Ming Xiu went, he happened to see it burn a Mythical creature to death at Chess Mountain.


    Feng Qiuyan had been cultivating with Ming Xiu all these years. With the Life Providences of Ming Xiu¡¯s Peerless Duo, the two of them improved rapidly.


    Of course, it was mainly because their talent and efforts were rare in this world.


    Wang Lu had officially taken over the Wang family. However, no matter where she went, she would take her sister, Wang Chan.


    Wei Ge replaced Shen Yuchi as the Special Investigation Bureau¡¯s director-general. However, the Special Investigation Bureau had already severed ties with its original owner, the six families, becoming a blade in the hands of the League of Guardians.


    Many people from the six families had joined the League of Guardians, but other than the Cape family, the other families were against the League of Guardians.


    The Zhang family had a rule that as long as one contracted with a Guardian, they would be removed from the family tree.


    As the two of them were chatting, Zhou Wen suddenly sensed that someone was secretly approaching their lounge. After carefully sensing it, he realized that it wasn¡¯t a pure person, but a human who had contracted a Guardian. At that moment, he was walking towards the lounge in Guardian armor.

 Chapter 1148 - Sword of Tomorrow

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. The Guardian was clearly targeting them, and it was highly likely that he was here for Ming Xiu.


    Zhou Wen had been missing for many years and had just returned inland. Not many people knew him. Even if his enemies recognized him, they shouldn¡¯t have taken action so quickly. At the very least, they would investigate his current situation.


    ?


    The Guardian didn¡¯t deliberately hide his aura. As he approached, Ming Xiu also sensed his arrival.


    The Guardian stopped in front of the lounge door. Although the door was closed, it didn¡¯t affect his vision at all. He looked at Ming Xiu through the door and said, ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow, I¡¯ve heard so much about you. Do you dare accept my challenge?¡±


    With the Guardian¡¯s arrival, many students also discovered him. They whispered in the distance but didn¡¯t dare approach. Clearly, they knew the Guardian.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare,¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    ¡°Tomorrow and Wind Trace are known as the two peerless masters of swords and sabers. No one can surpass them with swords and sabers. I also use swords and believe that my sword arts are alright. If I can¡¯t win in ten strikes, it will be considered my loss,¡± the Guardian continued.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already won.¡± Ming Xiu was no longer the competitive youth from before. He spoke casually without any signs of being moved.


    ¡°I never expected the famous Swordsman Tomorrow to be a coward. You don¡¯t even have the courage to accept a challenge. From the looks of it, the so-called invincible Tomorrow Sword Art is just an exaggeration that serves as self-consolation for humans. A sword art created by humans ultimately can¡¯t live up to the required standards,¡± the Guardian continued goading.


    This time, Ming Xiu didn¡¯t back down. He didn¡¯t care about his reputation, but there were some things he absolutely couldn¡¯t allow others to taint.


    ¡°Coach, please wait a moment. I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Ming Xiu said to Zhou Wen before getting up to open the door.


    The students watching from afar became excited when they saw Ming Xiu come out.


    The Guardian¡¯s name was Judge, and the person he contracted was Buzz. He was a very famous Guardian of the Cape family and was also a member of the League of Guardians. Although he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade, he had already gained some fame in the Federation with the ability, Sword of Judgment.


    1


    Ming Xiu had once killed a branch leader of the League of Guardians and destroyed a plan hatched in the East District by the league. That Guardian was also a member of the Cape family.


    Although there were rumors in the outside world that Ming Xiu had once killed a Terror-grade dimensional creature, no one had seen it with their own eyes. The League of Guardians had also analyzed Ming Xiu, believing that he was still at the Mythical stage and hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade. The rumors of him killing a Terror creature previously weren¡¯t credible.


    When Buzz saw Ming Xiu come out, his eyes lit up.


    If he could defeat Ming Xiu, not only would he be able to avenge the Cape family, but his name would also resound across the Federation.


    This was because in the battle when Zhou Wen was conferred the title of sovereign, humans were totally against Guardians. Even if they could accept a half-human like Ya, even if they were willing to treat the mutated humans who used the Mythical Serum as a part of humanity, they were unwilling to accept pure humans who contracted Guardians.


    This made humans very resistant towards the League of Guardians. It also infuriated the humans who had contracted Guardians.


    They had clearly obtained powerful strength, but they were unable to obtain the recognition of their fellow species.


    For a human like Ming Xiu who used Mythical Serum, the fame and anticipation he obtained were things that a contractor like Buzz couldn¡¯t enjoy.


    Even within the Cape family, these youths from the Royal Academy were more willing to worship Ming Xiu than Buzz and his Guardian.


    Furthermore, people would only mention Judge when talking about him. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t even remember Buzz¡¯s name.


    Buzz looked forward to the reaction of those who idolized Ming Xiu after he defeated him.


    Ever since Ming Xiu accepted Royal College¡¯s invitation, Buzz had been looking forward to it. He had already asked a professional analyst in the League of Guardians to help him do the analysis. His ability had a certain restraining effect on Ming Xiu. As long as Ming Xiu didn¡¯t advance to the Terror grade, his chances of winning were more than 70%.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s Tomorrow Sword Art gave people the illusion that they could block his sword, but if they really blocked it, they would realize that the strike came later than they imagined.


    The Sword of Judgment could slice through illusions and aim right at the core. Even if Buzz made a mistake, the Sword of Judgment could accurately block Ming Xiu¡¯s sword. Therefore, Ming Xiu was at an absolute disadvantage against him.


    ¡°The Royal College¡¯s arena should be able to allow us to fight with our full strength,¡± Buzz said as he looked at Ming Xiu.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Let¡¯s do it here.¡± Ming Xiu reached out to grab his hilt.


    ¡°Here?¡± Buzz frowned slightly. This was the lounge. There were students and tutors nearby. With their strength, fighting here would probably affect many people.


    After all, the Royal College was the Cape family¡¯s school. Buzz was also a member of the Cape family, so he naturally had his reservations. He thought that Ming Xiu wanted to use this to threaten him.


    ¡°Yes, right here,¡± Ming Xiu said as he drew his sword.


    The moment the sword was unsheathed, Buzz¡¯s pupils constricted. He still wanted to retreat, but he only took half a step before stopping.


    As for Ming Xiu, he had already sheathed his sword. He turned around, pushed open the door, and entered the lounge behind him.


    Only when Ming Xiu turned around and pushed open the door did the students and tutors not far away see the sword flash, piercing through Buzz¡¯s abdomen.


    Only then did the wound on the standing Buzz¡¯s abdomen split open. Blood immediately gushed out. He hurriedly covered the wound with his hand as his face turned pale. Without a word, he turned around and left. He had to immediately treat his injuries or he would die there and then.


    The students watched in a daze as Buzz retreated in a sorry state. When they looked at Ming Xiu again, they realized that he had already entered the lounge and could only see the tightly shut door.


    ¡°The sword kills before the flash is seen. This sword is just too fast.¡±


    ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow lives up to his reputation.¡±


    ¡°Judge can be considered a famous Guardian. He actually lost in one strike. It¡¯s too terrifying.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Coach, sorry to have kept you waiting,¡± Ming Xiu said apologetically when he returned to the lounge.


    ¡°Your Tomorrow Sword Art can be considered as having achieved some level of mastery,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    If anyone else said such words, they would only be considered arrogant. However, when Zhou Wen said it, Ming Xiu¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°Coach, can you teach me how to proceed in the future?¡± Ming Xiu asked sincerely.


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, Tsukuyomi suddenly said, ¡°There are plenty of tomorrows, each one coming after the other that tomorrow never comes. When actually is your tomorrow?¡±


    2


    When Ming Xiu heard that, he was stunned. His eyes stared straight ahead, but he wasn¡¯t looking at anything. He stood there motionless as though he had lost his focus.

 Chapter 1149 - : Hermit

    In the medical room of the Cape family, a man stood in front of the bed. His palm emitted a faint glow as he pressed it above the wound on Buzz¡¯s abdomen.


    Buzz¡¯s wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Not only was it a physical wound, but even the wound on the Guardian armor rapidly healed. Soon, the wound completely vanished.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I¡¯m incompetent. I¡¯m sorry to trouble you to personally treat me.¡± Buzz stood up and bowed.


    The man retracted his palm and said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Ming Xiu¡¯s sword art has indeed reached an extremely high level. Among Mythical creatures, there aren¡¯t many who can withstand a single strike from him. This matter ends here. What happens in the future has nothing to do with you or the Cape family. Just do your job well.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­ Are you going to do it yourself?¡± Buzz¡¯s body trembled as he hurriedly asked.


    He knew very well how terrifying this person was. Among the four heads of the League of Guardians, although Hermit¡¯s reputation wasn¡¯t as great as Cave Era and Blood Shaman, anyone who knew him knew that this person might be even more terrifying than the former two.


    ¡°Just do your job well,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± Buzz hurriedly bowed his head in agreement.


    After speaking to Hermit, he happened to meet Beryl, who had come to visit him. Beryl gave Hermit a curious glance when Buzz hurriedly pulled her aside and introduced her to him. ¡°Your Excellency, this is my niece, Beryl.¡±


    Hermit nodded slightly and left the hospital without looking at Beryl.


    ¡°Uncle Buzz, who is that person? You appear to be afraid of him?¡± Beryl asked curiously.


    ¡°Child, don¡¯t ask. Why are you here?¡± Buzz hurriedly stopped before looking in the direction Hermit had left. He heaved a sigh of relief when he realized that Hermit was gone.


    ¡°Uncle Buzz, you are really heartless. I came to see you out of kindness, but you are giving me such an attitude,¡± Beryl said angrily.


    ¡°Alright, I surrender. I¡¯m fine. I won¡¯t die. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Buzz said dotingly.


    ¡°That Ming Xiu is really detestable. To think that I used to worship him so much. He actually wanted to kill you. Thankfully, you¡¯re fine,¡± Beryl said.


    Buzz shook his head and said, ¡°He didn¡¯t try to kill me with that strike. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be my abdomen that was injured.¡±


    ¡°I see. In that case, he¡¯s not too bad.¡± Beryl looked in the direction where Hermit had left. Seeing that there was no one there, she whispered, ¡°Uncle Buzz, is that person from the League of Guardians? Seeing how afraid you are of him, he must be a high-ranking member of the League of Guardians, right?¡±


    ¡°I told you not to ask. In the future, you can¡¯t mention anything about the League of Guardians. Got it?¡± Buzz repeatedly exhorted Beryl.


    Although Beryl agreed, she had something on her mind.


    After leaving the hospital, Beryl found an excuse to return to school and ran straight for the lounge where Zhou Wen and company were.


    The seated Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi were chatting in the lounge while Ming Xiu stood there motionless for quite some time.


    Due to Tsukuyomi¡¯s words, Ming Xiu seemed to have had an epiphany. The strength in his body was undergoing a tumultuous change.


    This was an extremely dangerous moment, so Zhou Wen had no choice but to guard him and not let anyone disturb him.


    Just as he was chatting with Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen suddenly sensed someone walking towards the lounge. Furthermore, the footsteps were rushed. He used Truth Listener to carefully scan the area and realized that the person was the girl they had met a few times on campus.


    ¡°Professor Ming, are you there?¡± Beryl came to the door and knocked anxiously.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen opened the door and asked.


    ¡°Leave quickly. The people from the League of Guardians want to kill Professor Ming,¡± Beryl immediately whispered when she saw Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t they here earlier?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Uncle Buzz only wanted to defeat Professor Ming. He definitely didn¡¯t have the intention to kill anyone. However, the upper echelons of the League of Guardians are different. They want Professor Ming¡¯s life. It¡¯s best you leave quickly and quietly. Don¡¯t let anyone discover you. I think he will take into account our Cape family and won¡¯t attack you on campus. You have to be careful once you leave¡­¡± Before Beryl could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by an abrupt voice.


    ¡°Why would I take into account the Cape family?¡± Hermit¡¯s voice made Beryl shiver. She turned her head and saw a familiar figure walking down the long corridor.


    He was wearing something like a cloak. Although it didn¡¯t completely cover his face, his face remained indiscernible.


    Hermit walked over. His speed wasn¡¯t fast, but his gait seemed to have a unique rhythm. Every step seemed to be in cadence with the beating of one¡¯s heart, making them feel flustered as their heart raced.


    Beryl took two steps back in fright as Zhou Wen pressed down on her shoulder and pulled her behind him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never met you before. What¡¯s your name?¡± Zhou Wen asked when he found the person unfamiliar. He definitely hadn¡¯t seen him before.


    ¡°The moment I contracted with the Guardian, my name became meaningless. The Guardian¡¯s name is my name. You can call me Hermit,¡± Hermit said as he walked.


    ¡°Hermit¡­ He¡¯s one of the four Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians¡­¡± Beryl exclaimed softly as her face turned pale.


    There were more than four Terror-grade existences in the League of Guardians, but the four Heavenly Kings were the most terrifying. Even the members of the six families felt fear just from the mention of their names.


    Beryl finally knew why Buzz had forbidden her from asking. With this person around, even if the head of the Cape family personally came, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to stop him from killing.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t his match. Run¡­¡± Beryl turned around to urge Ming Xiu to escape, but she saw Ming Xiu standing there motionless as though he hadn¡¯t heard her.


    Beryl wanted to walk over, but she was stopped by Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°He can¡¯t move now unless you want him to die,¡± Tsukuyomi said indifferently.


    Beryl was immediately stunned. She carefully observed Ming Xiu and realized that something was amiss with him.


    ¡°Could he be breaking through?¡± Beryl said with a complicated expression.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Tsukuyomi answered affirmatively.


    ¡°What should we do? Why does it have to be at this time?¡± Beryl was anxious and at a loss.


    ¡°We¡¯ll leave after he breaks through,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°How can we wait until then?¡± Beryl didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. If they could wait, she wouldn¡¯t be reeling with anxiety.


    They could wait, but Hermit wouldn¡¯t.


    Beryl turned to look outside. To her surprise, Hermit had stopped outside the door and didn¡¯t rush in.


    ¡°Hermit? I¡¯ve never heard of you. What are you doing here?¡± When Beryl heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she nearly fainted.


    To her, provoking Hermit in such a manner was equivalent to him hanging himself in front of Death.

 Chapter 1150 - Ming Xiu’s Coach

    Hermit sized up Zhou Wen with a frown. The more he looked at Zhou Wen, the more familiar he found him. It was as though he had seen him somewhere before.


    However, if it was someone he had seen before, Hermit was very confident that his memory wouldn¡¯t forget him.


    Furthermore, to be able to be so calm and composed in front of him wasn¡¯t something an ordinary person could do. After all, his entire body¡¯s pulse resonated with the heavens and the earth. It was impossible for an ordinary person to face him so easily.


    It was even more impossible to forget such a person.


    This couldn¡¯t be blamed on Hermit not recognizing Zhou Wen. It was because the person impersonating Zhou Wen had slowly changed his temperament, appearance, and figure over the past five years.


    As it was a subtle change accumulated over time, with slight adjustments each time, it made people slowly begin to recognize that that was how Zhou Wen ought to be.


    Now that the real Zhou Wen had appeared, coupled with the changes in his appearance and temperament over the past five years, it was difficult for others to associate him with ¡®Zhou Wen¡¯ unless they were very familiar with him.


    Hermit had only seen Zhou Wen¡¯s pictures and videos in the past. To be able to sense that he was familiar was already testament to his acumen.


    Hermit couldn¡¯t tell Zhou Wen¡¯s origins, nor could he tell from his clothes and the things on him. Therefore, he asked, ¡°How may I address you?¡±


    ¡°My name isn¡¯t important. What¡¯s important is who I am,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Hermit was very patient as he asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ming Xiu¡¯s coach,¡± Zhou Wen answered seriously.


    ¡°So what?¡± Hermit stared at Zhou Wen and pressed his middle finger on his thumb. Strength secretly gathered between his two fingers.


    ¡°So if you are here for Ming Xiu, you can return now,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Beryl wrote Zhou Wen off as crazy when she heard that. His tone made it seem as though he didn¡¯t think much of Hermit. It was as though as long as he was around, Hermit couldn¡¯t harm Ming Xiu at all.


    Hermit¡¯s gaze turned sharp as he stared coldly at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you want me to return, but it depends on whether you are capable of enforcing that.¡±


    With that said, the fingers in Hermit¡¯s sleeve moved.


    After all, he was one of the four heads of the League of Guardians. If he was scared off by a few words from the other party, how could he still have a foothold in the League of Guardians?


    However, Hermit didn¡¯t plan on fighting Zhou Wen head-on. In fact, that wasn¡¯t his specialty.


    As Hermit flicked his finger, an invisible particle flew towards Zhou Wen.


    Hermit was best at micro powers. In this era, many people pursued greater and stronger things. Giant monsters that resembled dragons received the attention of most people. They yearned to possess such powerful strength.


    However, it was different for Hermit. Although he also pursued becoming stronger, his pursuit was towards miniaturization.


    ¡°What determines strength and weakness are often trivial things.¡± This had always been Hermit¡¯s belief. In fact, he had never been wrong.


    Relying on his micro powers, Hermit had defeated many powerful opponents. Some of his opponents¡¯ strengths were not inferior to his, but even if their strengths were comparable, his micro powers gave him a huge advantage.


    A power that was so tiny that it was invisible to the Terror grade could erupt with terrifying power once it entered a body. It was impossible to guard against.


    This micro crystal was so small that it was at the nanometer scale. Even Terror-grade creatures might not be able to see its existence because it was just too small.


    However, such a tiny micro crystal didn¡¯t even need to enter his body. All it needed to do was approach Zhou Wen and the power that erupted would be enough to severely injure a Terror-grade creature.


    Although Zhou Wen was casually standing in front of the door, he had engraved his Life Wheel with the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Great Brahma, and Godfiend Era. He just didn¡¯t project them into existence.


    The enhancement that Great Brahma gave Zhou Wen was enough for him to see a matter at the quark scale. Although Hermit¡¯s micro crystal was tiny, it couldn¡¯t escape Zhou Wen¡¯s senses.


    The micro crystal flew towards Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth, and just as it was about to enter his mouth to blast open his head¡­


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move despite the micro crystal reaching his lips. Hermit didn¡¯t feel any joy. Instead, he felt a little uneasy.


    In the next moment, Zhou Wen opened his mouth as a clown face appeared over his face. With a strange smile, he swallowed the micro crystal.


    The unease in Hermit¡¯s heart intensified as he retreated at full speed, but it was still too late.


    The micro crystal that had been devoured by Clown Mask strangely appeared behind him. As he retreated, he immediately slammed into the micro crystal, causing it to explode.


    Bam!


    One of Hermit¡¯s arms was blasted into a bloody mist. This was still under Hermit¡¯s extremely fast reaction and control of the micro crystal. Otherwise, his entire body would have been blown to smithereens.


    Hermit held his bleeding arm and didn¡¯t say a word. He turned around and attempted to escape.


    ¡°If you have a death wish, continue fleeing,¡± Zhou Wen said casually without any intention of chasing after Hermit.


    However, Hermit didn¡¯t escape. He stopped in his tracks and didn¡¯t dare take another step.


    ¡°Whose order was it to kill Ming Xiu?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t an order. Ming Xiu is an enemy of the League of Guardians to begin with. There¡¯s no need for an order,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Does that mean you want to kill Ming Xiu?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°You could say that,¡± Hermit said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Then stay here and guard Ming Xiu. If Ming Xiu lives, you live. If Ming Xiu dies, you die too. This shall continue until Ming Xiu gives you permission to leave.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and returned to the lounge.


    Beryl watched Zhou Wen walk back in a daze as though she had seen a ghost. She couldn¡¯t help but take two steps back as she felt horror.


    She even saw the single-armed Hermit standing outside the door. He really didn¡¯t leave¡ªhe just stood guarding the door.


    ¡°You¡­ Who are you?¡± Beryl looked at Zhou Wen in surprise and finally couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    She didn¡¯t even see Zhou Wen take action. It was as though Zhou Wen had just stood there and exchanged a few words with Hermit when one of Hermit¡¯s arms suddenly exploded.


    Then, because of one sentence from Zhou Wen, Hermit, one of the Four Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians, actually stood at the door as a guard. This made her feel like she was living in a dream.


    ¡°Ming Xiu¡¯s coach.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to say his name because there was still another Zhou Wen in the An family.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡± Beryl repeated ¡®you¡¯ for a long time, but she couldn¡¯t think of anything to say. Or perhaps she wanted to ask too many questions that she didn¡¯t know where to start.


    She suddenly recalled that Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi had claimed that Ming Xiu¡¯s sword art was very ordinary. Back then, Beryl had thought that they were jealous of Ming Xiu, but now, she suddenly realized that they were speaking the truth.


    Who is he? Is there such a powerful existence among humans? I don¡¯t think I saw him use a Guardian, nor did I see any signs of dimensional creatures on him. Could he be a pure-blooded human? Impossible. It¡¯s impossible for him to be a pure-blooded human. He must have hidden it well and fused with a Guardian or dimensional creature. I just can¡¯t tell¡­ Beryl looked at Zhou Wen and then at Hermit standing outside the door. Everything was so surreal.

 Chapter 1151 - Combination Ability

    Hermit¡¯s injured arm didn¡¯t recover the entire time. In fact, Hermit was good at healing. He was the one who had previously treated Buzz¡¯s injuries.


    Nevertheless, his injuries had yet to recover. Although the bleeding from his severed arm wasn¡¯t fast, the drops of blood slowly dripped to the ground. Clearly, it hadn¡¯t healed.


    Hermit felt as though a strange force was constantly corroding his wound, preventing it from healing itself. He didn¡¯t dare escape because of the existence of this power.


    Hermit had a vague feeling that the force was like a time bomb that could explode at any moment.


    Although few people had seen Hermit¡¯s true appearance, a person with a severed arm standing at the door of the lounge and bleeding profusely attracted the attention of many students. The news quickly reached the Cape family.


    Buzz¡¯s heart skipped a beat when he heard that and his expression changed drastically. He hurriedly rushed to school.


    He didn¡¯t dare go to the lounge directly. Instead, he checked the situation through the surveillance cameras and watched the previous surveillance footage.


    After he had seen everything, the shock in his heart was unimaginable.


    Ordinary students didn¡¯t know who Hermit was or what kind of existence he was, but Buzz knew very well.


    Despite being the powerful and terrifying Hermit, the young man didn¡¯t even move his hand. Just by looking at Hermit, he had blasted off one of Hermit¡¯s arms, forcing him to obediently stand at the door as a guard. What terrifying strength was this?


    Due to Clown Mask being at the Terror grade, ordinary humans couldn¡¯t see it, much less the recording. Therefore, Buzz didn¡¯t see Clown Mask appear. All he saw was Hermit¡¯s arm suddenly explode for no reason.


    Who is he? Ming Xiu actually has such a teacher? It¡¯s no wonder he could rapidly rise in just a few years. Who is this person? He definitely didn¡¯t contract a Guardian. He doesn¡¯t look like he has fused with a Guardian or dimensional creature¡­ The more Buzz observed the situation, the more alarmed he became.


    After the observation, the clothes on Buzz¡¯s back were drenched. He was already somewhat glad that Ming Xiu had injured him and not the other way around.


    If he had angered such an existence, he didn¡¯t know what the outcome would have been. Just the thought of a person that even Hermit didn¡¯t dare disobey was terrifying.


    Thankfully, Beryl has hit it off with that person. He shouldn¡¯t make things difficult for our Cape family, right? Buzz didn¡¯t dare be negligent. He immediately got someone to seal the area near the lounge, preventing students and teachers from going there.


    Of course, he stayed far away and pretended not to know anything.


    Beryl stood in the lounge, feeling uneasy. She couldn¡¯t sit or stand. Her palms were sweaty from nervousness.


    In her eyes, Ming Xiu was already an extremely powerful existence. Hermit was an extremely terrifying expert, but in front of this young man who looked to be in his twenties, they didn¡¯t seem as grandiose as she imagined.


    So Professor Ming actually has such a powerful coach. It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s so strong. However, this person doesn¡¯t look much older than Professor Ming. Could it be that he¡¯s actually an old monster that¡¯s over a hundred years old despite looking young? That¡¯s right. That must be it. Beryl thought to herself.


    Zhou Wen ignored Beryl as he studied his Essence Energy Art.


    Previously, he had circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom, Godfiend Era, and Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder at the same time. The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder had always taken on a supportive role, so there weren¡¯t many changes.


    However, when Zhou Wen used Great Brahma and Clown Mask at the same time, there was an unexpected change.


    Zhou Wen kept using Great Brahma to lock onto the micro crystal. At the same time, he used Clown Mask¡¯s spatial teleportation ability to teleport the micro crystal behind Hermit.


    The powers of Great Brahma and Clown Mask acted on the micro crystal at the same time, producing a special effect. Even Zhou Wen never expected the two powers to combine.


    After Clown Mask¡¯s spatial ability combined with Great Brahma¡¯s karmic sinflames, it formed a spatial coordinate on the injured Hermit¡¯s arm wound. Zhou Wen could directly teleport his powers there without any intermediate processes.


    However, the only power that could teleport there was Brahma¡¯s karmic sinflames¡ªnothing else.


    Even so, it was already extremely useful. As long as he was hit by Zhou Wen¡¯s strike and his coordinates marked, the subsequent karmic sinflames could be acted on his wounds until he died.


    Zhou Wen was experimenting to see if there was any possibility of further fusion between Clown Mask and Great Brahma. If they could cooperate further, they might be able to produce even more terrifying powers.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Ming Xiu¡¯s body suddenly emitted a powerful sword intent fluctuation. Furthermore, his body began to undergo a strange transformation.


    His skin, that was originally like milky-white jade, became even more crystalline. A strange energy fluctuation gradually spread from his body.


    Slowly, Ming Xiu¡¯s body became more and more transparent before disappearing from sight. The sword intent also vanished.


    Eh! Zhou Wen looked in surprise at the spot where Ming Xiu had vanished.


    He could sense that Ming Xiu had reached the stage of Terror transformation, but even so, Zhou Wen should have been able to see him with his Wheel of Destiny activated.


    Strangely, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see Ming Xiu. He seemed to have really vanished.


    However, Ming Xiu soon appeared in his vision again. At that moment, Ming Xiu had returned to his normal human form. He was even more normal than before.


    ¡°Coach, this is your wife, right? Ma¡¯am is really amazing. She really enlightened me with one sentence. I finally understood the profundity of time and completely absorbed the Mythical Serum. If it wasn¡¯t for her, I don¡¯t know when I would have been able to completely absorb it. Coach is indeed a coach. Not only is he strong himself, but even his wife is so strong¡­¡± Ming Xiu said excitedly.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to explain, Tsukuyomi smiled and handed a sword to Ming Xiu. ¡°Take this as a gift from me then.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Ma¡¯am.¡± Ming Xiu happily received the sword. He didn¡¯t really think that the sword was good, but he was just happy.


    However, when he truly experienced the power of the sword in the future, he would realize how precious it was.


    ¡°Ming Xiu, you have to thank this student. She took a huge risk to inform you.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly changed the topic, unwilling to harp on this matter.


    Ming Xiu looked at Beryl in puzzlement, unsure what had happened.


    Zhou Wen recounted what had happened. After Ming Xiu heard that, he thanked Beryl.


    As for Hermit, Ming Xiu didn¡¯t do anything to him. Instead, after getting Zhou Wen¡¯s permission, he released him.


    Zhou Wen could roughly guess what Ming Xiu was thinking, so he didn¡¯t ask further. However, after seeing Ming Xiu, he missed his friends and family even more.


    Looking at Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and decided to take her back to Luoyang.

 Chapter 1152 - Divorce Is Very Common Nowadays

    Translator: CKtalon


    In the An family in Luoyang, a guard reported to An Tianzuo in the study. ¡°Overseer, Miss Ya¡¯er has been cooped up in her room the entire day. She is not responding to Nanny Yu at all. Madam isn¡¯t home, so Nanny Yu is afraid something will happen. Overseer, she would like to consult you on what to do?¡±


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t she eating again? Didn¡¯t I tell you that she likes desserts?¡± An Tianzuo said as he got up.


    ¡°Nanny Yu said that she bought all the best desserts in Luoyang and even hired the best dessert chefs. However, Miss Ya¡¯er won¡¯t eat anything. She didn¡¯t eat anything last night either, much less come out today,¡± the guard said.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t eaten anything since last night. How can she¡­¡± As An Tianzuo spoke, he walked out of the study and quickly walked towards Ya¡¯er¡¯s yard.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, why didn¡¯t you eat today? Is the food at home not to your liking? Shall I take you out to eat?¡± An Tianzuo knocked on the door and said gently.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry. I don¡¯t want to eat.¡± The door creaked open and a girl about seven or eight years old walked out. She was as beautiful as a doll, but her expression was cold. It didn¡¯t look like an expression a girl her age should have.


    ¡°You have to eat a little even if you don¡¯t want to. You are still growing, so you have to eat more. If you are sick of Luoyang¡¯s desserts, I¡¯ll invite the famous dessert masters from the south over. They will make desserts that will be more delicious¡­¡± An Tianzuo said with a smile.


    Ya¡¯er shook her head. ¡°Uncle, I¡¯m really not hungry. I don¡¯t want to eat.¡±


    ¡°How can you not be hungry? Wait in the living room. Uncle will personally cook something delicious for you. My signature dish. I guarantee you that you will like it,¡± An Tianzuo said as he headed for the kitchen.


    1


    Ya¡¯er sat on the sofa in the living room and held her chin in boredom.


    Although the An family¡¯s life was very comfortable and everyone treated her well, she still liked the life of adventuring with Zhou Wen.


    Suddenly, a figure flashed and two figures appeared in the living room. They were Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t shake off Tsukuyomi, but seeing that she wasn¡¯t a dimensional creature that killed at will, after much hesitation, he took her back to Luoyang.


    As he didn¡¯t know why the An family had created a fake Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t directly walk through the main door. He decided to teleport to the spot where he had eaten with Ouyang Lan to see if he could bump into her.


    After completing the teleport, he didn¡¯t see Ouyang Lan. Instead, he saw Ya¡¯er sitting on the sofa in a daze.


    Although Ya¡¯er was much older than before, he could still make out her former appearance. Furthermore, she had a unique aura that others couldn¡¯t sense. Zhou Wen had spent a lot of time with Ya¡¯er, so he was very familiar with her unique aura.


    When Ya¡¯er saw Zhou Wen, she was first taken aback before she jumped up from the sofa in pleasant surprise and threw herself into Zhou Wen¡¯s arms.


    ¡°You said you would take care of me!¡± Ya¡¯er said angrily before opening her mouth and biting Zhou Wen¡¯s neck.


    Zhou Wen felt a pain in his neck, but he didn¡¯t dodge. However, Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t really want to injure him. All she did was leave behind teeth mark without tearing his skin.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t what I wanted either, but I was locked up by someone else. I couldn¡¯t come back to find you even if I wanted,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°Who was it?¡± Ya¡¯er bit her lip and asked.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk about that later.¡± Zhou Wen stroked Ya¡¯er¡¯s head. ¡°You¡¯ve grown taller and grown up. You¡¯ve become even more beautiful and adorable.¡±


    Ya¡¯er narrowed her eyes like a kitten and leaned her hair on Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. She rubbed it gently as though she enjoyed his touch.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, Uncle has made you¡­¡± An Tianzuo walked in with a bowl of piping hot glutinous rice balls. He was wearing a white shirt and military pants. He also wore an apron and was covered in flour. There was even a pinch of flour at the tip of his nose. He looked completely different from his usual dignified appearance.


    However, when he saw Zhou Wen hugging Ya¡¯er, the gentleness on his face immediately vanished as though he had instantly returned to the cold and arrogant Overseer An.


    1


    However, he was wearing an apron and holding a bowl. His face was covered in flour, and his bearing was rather inferior to his usual self. He didn¡¯t look as arrogant as he usually was.


    Seeing Zhou Wen turn his head, An Tianzuo immediately pulled off his apron and threw it at the guard beside him. He placed the bowl of glutinous rice balls on the table beside him and wiped his face. His expression instantly turned arrogant and cold.


    ¡°When did you return?¡± An Tianzuo asked Zhou Wen coldly.


    ¡°Just,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    An Tianzuo said coldly, ¡°Since you¡¯re back, stay at home for the next few days and don¡¯t cause trouble.¡±


    With that said, An Tianzuo glanced at Ya¡¯er, who was in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms with a smile on her face. He turned around and left. When he reached the door, he paused for a moment and said, ¡°Ya¡¯er hasn¡¯t eaten much in the past two days. I¡¯ve prepared a bowl of glutinous rice balls for her in the kitchen. Give it to her. To throw a child at home and be away for so long without returning. Aren¡¯t you afraid the child will go bad?¡±


    With that said, An Tianzuo walked out of the living room without looking back.


    After leaving the living room, An Tianzuo instructed the guards beside him, ¡°Give An Sheng a message. Tell him that the person is back.¡±


    ¡°Does the order need to be transmitted?¡± the guard asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. He knows what to do.¡± An Tianzuo took a few steps and seemed to recall something. He said to the guard beside him, ¡°Go to the kitchen and get a cup of freshly squeezed orange juice for Ya¡¯er. Heat it to 43 degrees.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Overseer.¡± The guard accepted the order and left.


    Zhou Wen sat on the sofa and watched Ya¡¯er eat the glutinous rice balls. Having not seen her for five years, Ya¡¯er¡¯s language skills had improved significantly. Although she still didn¡¯t like to speak, her occasional words weren¡¯t as simple and stiff as before.


    Zhou Wen could also tell that Ya¡¯er¡¯s personality had become more cheerful. Clearly, the An family had taken good care of her in the past five years.


    Ya¡¯er had a good appetite perhaps due to Zhou Wen¡¯s return. She quickly finished the bowl of glutinous rice balls and licked her lips as though she hadn¡¯t had enough. She felt that the glutinous rice balls today were especially delicious.


    With Zhou Wen by her side, Ya¡¯er didn¡¯t wish to speak. As long as she was by Zhou Wen¡¯s side, she felt at ease and didn¡¯t need to say much.


    However, Ya¡¯er¡¯s gaze at Tsukuyomi seemed to carry some hostility.


    ¡°She¡¯s Tsukuyomi, my friend. This is Ya¡¯er, who¡¯s no different from my sister.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly introduced the two of them to prevent any trouble.


    ¡°I¡¯m not an ordinary friend. I¡¯m Zhou Wen¡¯s wife,¡± Tsukuyomi deliberately emphasized her identity as she said with a smile.


    ¡°Divorce is very common nowadays,¡± Ya¡¯er said expressionlessly.


    6

 Chapter 1153 - Battling the Planet Devourer Again

    Their gazes met in the air as though sparks were flying.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, you¡¯re back.¡± An Sheng came in at the right time, interrupting Tsukuyomi and Ya¡¯er¡¯s staring showdown.


    ¡°Ah Sheng.¡± Zhou Wen was overjoyed. On the one hand, it was a long-awaited reunion, but on the other hand, he was grateful for An Sheng¡¯s timely arrival. If they were to really fight, Zhou Wen was afraid that Luoyang would be reduced to ruins.


    He got An Sheng to sit down and have a chat, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask about the fake Zhou Wen. An Sheng didn¡¯t say anything about him either. All he did was talk about his family.


    At night, just before Zhou Wen went to sleep, he found a bookshelf in his room. Zhou Wen pulled out a book to take a look. It recorded a lot of information that Zhou Wen wanted to know. An Sheng had secretly sent him a message about the book.


    After some reading, Zhou Wen roughly knew why the An family had a fake Zhou Wen.


    After Zhou Wen had been imprisoned, Wang Mingyuan secretly visited the An family and told them that Zhou Wen would go missing for five years. He got them to create a fake Zhou Wen in these five years to replace Zhou Wen. They were not to let others discover any flaws.


    However, there were no records of the person impersonating Zhou Wen.


    How did Teacher know that I would escape in five years? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. This was because his awakening and escape seemed to be a coincidence, but the time was identical to Wang Mingyuan¡¯s inference. This made Zhou Wen suspect if his escape was a coincidence.


    However, Wang Mingyuan was now in the dimension, so his guesses were useless.


    The book contained information on another thing that Zhou Wen wanted to know. Ouyang Lan had been investigating the former principal¡¯s expedition team for the past five years.


    She had made some discoveries some time ago and Ouyang Lan had already rushed to Netherworld City. She wanted to find Chu He, who was trapped there. She wanted to confirm some of her guesses.


    If those guesses were confirmed, the disappearance of the expedition team was very likely related to the Trajectory Holy Temple of the six Holy Temples.


    Zhou Wen was shocked when he found out that Ouyang Lan had gone to Netherworld City.


    Ignoring the fact that there were break-out dimensional creatures everywhere outside, Netherworld City itself was an extremely terrifying place. It wasn¡¯t easy to enter and come out alive.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you about the situation in Netherworld City. You should know how dangerous it is. Why didn¡¯t you stop Sis Lan?¡± Zhou Wen sent a message to An Sheng.


    Soon, An Sheng replied: ¡°You know Madam¡¯s temper. Even Overseer couldn¡¯t change her mind. However, you don¡¯t have to worry too much. Overseer sent many experts from the Sunset Army to accompany her. If Netherworld City were to be explored, Madam wouldn¡¯t be the one entering personally. With the information you gave, there shouldn¡¯t be much danger.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that the present Netherworld City is different from the past.¡± Zhou Wen knew that Netherworld City wasn¡¯t simple. If he could suffer all the punishments, he would be able to see the real Netherworld City.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± An Sheng asked in puzzlement.


    Zhou Wen told An Sheng what City Lord Netherworld had said. An Sheng heaved a sigh of relief when he heard that. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No one among them can withstand all the punishments. Nothing will happen.¡±


    An Sheng explained the current situation of the Federation to Zhou Wen. It was similar to what Zhou Wen had previously gathered. Earth could now be divided into five factions.


    The Federation President and some of his supporters, the League of Guardians, the Holy Spirit Association, the overseas factions, and the local wealthy families like the An family.


    There were also some powerful freelance hunters, among which some were very powerful existences. However, compared to these large factions, an individual¡¯s strength was still relatively weak.


    The six hero families didn¡¯t decline, nor were they completely controlled by the League of Guardians. Their branches extended into the various factions. Even if one side collapsed, the six hero families wouldn¡¯t be completely destroyed.


    In fact, there were many members of the six families in the League of Guardians. Although the Zhang family nominally objected to their family members entering the League of Guardians, there were still some Zhang family members who joined the League of Guardians. No one knew if those people had really been expelled from the Zhang family.


    ¡°This is the foundation of a large family. As long as their model for survival isn¡¯t destroyed, as long as the supply chain for resources persists, it doesn¡¯t matter even if a few geniuses and powerhouses die. They have the ability to create more geniuses and powerhouses. All they need is time,¡± Ah Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen knew that Ah Sheng was right. The reason the six families were strong wasn¡¯t because a particular genius was strong, but because they already had a complete model for the family¡¯s survival. They could obtain endless resources and nurture all sorts of geniuses. To overthrow such a family, killing a few geniuses and powerhouses was useless. Unless the entire family was thrown into a situation of certain doom, they would eventually rise again.


    Just like the Cape family, many geniuses had died because of Zhou Wen, but they remained standing.


    According to An Sheng, the antelope and Chick were by the fake Zhou Wen¡¯s side. Only by doing so could they fool the people who were paying attention to Zhou Wen. Therefore, they weren¡¯t in the An family, but guarding Chess Mountain with the fake Zhou Wen.


    After chatting with An Sheng, Zhou Wen took out his mysterious phone and entered the game again.


    Snow Valley¡¯s Gu Mother hadn¡¯t respawned. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to head to the Sapphire Sky either. Instead, he chose to head to the Endless Sea of Stars dungeon to see if he could kill the Planet Devourer.


    He also farmed the Constellation Sea, but he still failed to obtain the final twenty-eight Lunar Mansions skill.


    After leaving the range of the Constellation Sea, Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate. Not long after, he sensed spatial fluctuations as the gigantic Planet Devourer appeared above them.


    The jellyfish-like Planet Devourer emitted intense starlight, but ordinary people couldn¡¯t see it.


    In its body, there was a vortex that resembled a black hole. Everything that approached it was sucked into the black hole.


    The moment the Planet Devourer descended, the terrifying suction force descended.


    Banana Fairy directly used the Supreme Yin Wind at the Planet Devourer. With the augmentation of Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind, this surge was extremely terrifying.


    However, when the Supreme Yin Wind reached the Planet Devourer, it was sucked in by the black hole in its body.


    Banana Fairy fanned out Supreme Yang Wind next, but the outcome was the same. They were all sucked into the black hole.


    Banana Fairy frowned slightly. The fan in her hand which was transformed from the banana leaf showed a half Yin and half Yang state. At the instant she fanned at the Planet Devourer, Yin and Yang combined into one, transforming into Boundless wind that swept towards the Planet Devourer.

 Chapter 1154 - Singularity Universe

    Boundless Wind swept toward the Planet Devourer, but it was unable to blow it away.


    Its body was like a black hole. No matter what kind of force surged at it, it would be swallowed into the black hole. This had nothing to do with the strength of the force. This was the characteristic of the Planet Devourer.


    Zhou Wen felt a headache come on. A dimensional creature with a black hole body couldn¡¯t be injured by typical forces. It would be useless no matter how powerful the attack was.


    No wonder it can devour planets¡­ Zhou Wen could only teleport with Banana Fairy to dodge the Planet Devourer¡¯s suction as he pondered over a solution to kill it.


    The Planet Devourer was also spatially powerful. It constantly teleported with Zhou Wen, hoping to devour him.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen, who was wearing Clown Mask, could teleport infinitely. The Planet Devourer couldn¡¯t catch up to him.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen teleported to a tiny planet. After the Planet Devourer teleported over, it devoured the tiny planet. Zhou Wen took this opportunity to teleport to another tiny planet.


    Zhou Wen thought that since the Planet Devourer was a dimensional creature, surely it couldn¡¯t devour matter indefinitely. Therefore, if he could use these small planets to ¡°feed¡± it, he might have a chance of finishing it off.


    However, Zhou Wen soon realized that his idea was ridiculously wrong. After the Planet Devourer devoured the tiny planet, not only did it not show any signs of being ¡®satiated,¡¯ but the range and suction force of the black hole increased.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that he was backwards in his thinking. The more matter the Planet Devourer devoured, the stronger it became. It didn¡¯t seem like satiation was possible.


    Since I can¡¯t satiate it, I¡¯ll starve it to death. With a thought, Zhou Wen teleported to a spot where there were fewer planets.


    Teleportation required a large amount of Essence Energy. With the massive size of the Planet Devourer, the energy expended from teleportation was even more terrifying. After repeated teleportations, Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Planet Devourer¡¯s black hole had weakened significantly. The suction range and strength were shrinking.


    It¡¯s indeed effective! Zhou Wen was delighted as he continued wandering the Endless Sea of Stars with the Planet Devourer.


    The Planet Devourer had expended quite a bit of energy. It suddenly stopped chasing after Zhou Wen and instead rushed towards a small, nearby planet. Clearly, it wanted to devour the small planet to replenish its energy.


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t let it do as it wished. He teleported to the tiny planet. The Clown Mask on his face emitted a strange aura as the surrounding space distorted.


    Zhou Wen pressed his palm on the tiny planet, hoping to teleport it away.


    Unfortunately, he quickly realized that although the Clown Mask was powerful spatially, it was still too difficult to teleport a small planet far away.


    Before Zhou Wen could successfully teleport the tiny planet, the Planet Devourer had already devoured it. All Zhou Wen could do was teleport away.


    It doesn¡¯t seem realistic to forcefully teleport planets away, but what if I use the teleportation ability of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up on his plan as he thought of a way to achieve his goal.


    Zhou Wen circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and engraved it on the Wheel of Destiny. It was a point, the Universe¡¯s singularity.


    The singularity was the beginning of the universe, as well as the eternity of the universe. It looked like a point, but inside, it seemed to be a pocket universe with countless stars revolving.


    Back when Zhou Wen condensed the Singularity Life Soul, he had already begun advancing to the Mythical stage. He hadn¡¯t had much time to study the ability of this Life Soul then.


    After being trapped for five years, his mind had experienced more than a hundred years. Over the long years, Zhou Wen had gained a deep understanding of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and Singularity.


    However, research was ultimately research. As he was trapped, he could only think about it without completing any verification. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he was right.


    Now, in the Endless Sea of Stars, Zhou Wen could test his ideas.


    With the power of Singularity Universe, Zhou Wen could freely traverse the tiny planets in the Endless Sea of Stars. However, he could only locate the tiny planets. He couldn¡¯t teleport easily like when he was using Clown Mask, but the teleportation distance was much further.


    Zhou Wen landed on a tiny planet and attempted to use the power of Singularity Universe to teleport the tiny planet to another location.


    However, the outcome wasn¡¯t that instantaneous. Although the star corresponding to the tiny planet in the Singularity Universe kept flickering, there was no movement.


    The Planet Devourer had already caught up to him. Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on the idea of teleporting the planet. He teleported to another planet.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t totally give up. He continued trying again and again, believing that he would succeed.


    Since this Essence Energy Art is called Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, there¡¯s no reason why it can¡¯t shift a tiny planet¡­ Sun-Swapping¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as his eyes lit up.


    He tried again, but this time, he didn¡¯t just want to teleport this small planet. He wanted to swap it with another small planet.


    In the Singularity Universe, two stars lit up. As the hands Zhou Wen used to press down on the tiny planet produced spatial fluctuations, the entire planet seemed to be affected.


    Boom!


    A powerful spatial energy fluctuation exploded from Singularity Universe, as though a universe had undergone a Big Bang. It instantly produced a strange pocket universe phantom that fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body, giving him a strange feeling that the universe was him and he was the universe.


    In the next second, an unbelievable thing happened. Spatial energy suddenly erupted. Then, the tiny planet under Zhou Wen¡¯s hands, with its main body composed of metal, instantly turned into a tiny stone planet. It was the one Zhou Wen had chosen to exchange with.


    Holy sh*t, it really works. Then can I exchange Earth with other planets in real life? Let Earth leave the Milky Way? Zhou Wen imagined himself traveling with Earth in the universe.


    However, on careful thought, it probably wasn¡¯t that easy.


    When the Singularity Universe advanced to the Terror grade, it could only move such a tiny planet. The size of a small planet was about the size of a mountain. It was far inferior to Earth. It was probably not that easy to swap it with a real planet.


    Furthermore, there were so many terrifying creatures and dimensional zones on Earth. It was impossible to teleport with so many terrifying things on it without expending energy.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s stats and realized that the Terror transformation condensed by the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art was called Singularity Universe. It was also an S-grade Terror transformation.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen had already condensed four S-grade Terror forms of Great Brahma, Godfiend Era, Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, and Singularity Universe. However, his level was still at the Mythical stage, and his stats hadn¡¯t exceeded 81.

 Chapter 1155 - Double Terror Strength

    The Singularity Universe¡¯s Terror transformation allowed Zhou Wen to obtain one of the abilities of Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, but this ability could only be used via an exchange. He couldn¡¯t teleport the tiny planet away.


    Sending one away and swapping to another planet that ended up being devoured by the Planet Devourer still allowed it to replenish its mass and be rejuvenated. This was clearly far from the outcome Zhou Wen wanted.


    Is there no other way? Zhou Wen constantly gained insight into the power Singularity Universe gave him.


    Zhou Wen realized that the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique didn¡¯t necessarily need a planet to be exchanged. He could exchange a planet with a paper ball. That was also possible.


    However, with the current strength of Singularity Universe, he was still unable to achieve that. This was because the positioning was too vague. The smallest unit that the Singularity Universe could locate was a planet. It was impossible to locate a paper ball from afar, so there was naturally no way to do a swap.


    Since I¡¯m already at the Terror grade, shouldn¡¯t the resolution be raised? Even if I can¡¯t see a paper ball, I should still be able to locate a mountain or river! Zhou Wen felt somewhat depressed.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred again.


    Just the Singularity Universe definitely couldn¡¯t be that precise. After all, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art was a rather macroscopic Essence Energy Art.


    However, the power of the Godfiend Era was different. It was also spatial power, but the Godfiend Era was a spatial power with relatively high precision.


    If I can use the power of Clown Mask and Singularity Universe at the same time like I can use Great Brahma and Clown Mask, what will the effects be? Will I be able to do some more precise location and exchange? With a thought, Zhou Wen circulated the two Terror form powers simultaneously.


    Since he wasn¡¯t afraid of death in-game, there was no harm trying.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen attempted to fuse the powers of the two Terror forms. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body split apart and vanished. The game screen turned black as a notification popped up: ¡®Successful Suicide.¡¯


    Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened as he thought to himself, How can this be considered suicide? I¡¯m clearly donating my body for experimentation.


    Although his attempt failed, Zhou Wen knew very well that this was only because he hadn¡¯t grasped the rhythm of the two fused Terror form powers. It didn¡¯t mean that they couldn¡¯t fuse.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen began trying again, only to be notified that he had succeeded in his suicide.


    Every death brought him some benefits. Zhou Wen knew that he wasn¡¯t far from success.


    If I can make all nine Essence Energy Arts reach the Terror form and use all nine Terror forms of power simultaneously, what will happen? Zhou Wen wondered at the back of his mind.


    After practicing hard for most of the night, Zhou Wen finally succeeded in fusing the two Terror form powers into one for the first time. Then, he attempted to teleport a tiny planet out.


    However, when he pressed his palm on the planet, a black hole appeared and swallowed the planet.


    The black hole also began devouring everything around it, nearly sucking the blood-colored avatar in. Thankfully, Zhou Wen reacted quickly and teleported out.


    This was completely different from what Zhou Wen had expected. Clearly, the fused spatial powers hadn¡¯t developed in the direction Zhou Wen wanted. Instead, they had produced a black hole.


    I wonder if I can deal with the Planet Devourer by pitting a black hole against a black hole? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he realized that the Planet Devourer had already descended on the small black hole he had created.


    The Planet Devourer rushed towards the small black hole. After the two collided, not only did they not clash, but they fused into one, making the Planet Devourer even stronger.


    That black hole betrayed me! Zhou Wen nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.


    He knew that it was because his control of the fused Terror powers wasn¡¯t good enough. Furthermore, using a black hole to resist another black hole wasn¡¯t the right solution.


    With no choice, Zhou Wen could only continue experimenting. Thankfully, he already had the experience of success, so everything went much smoother.


    Zhou Wen quickly mastered the method to create a black hole. However, all the black holes he could create were miniature black holes. Furthermore, he needed enough external matter to support them.


    Although this move was useless against the Planet Devourer, it was still very effective against other Terror creatures.


    Zhou Wen continued his research. His main goal was to truly achieve sky-stealing and sun-swapping. He wanted to teleport the planet away without giving the Planet Devourer a chance to replenish its matter.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to complete his goal until morning, but he made some progress.


    An Sheng sent a message early in the morning, telling Zhou Wen to temporarily stay in the An family residence and not go anywhere. Tonight, he could exchange identities with the fake Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that Zhou Wen?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Guess.¡± An Sheng replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea.¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself, Guess my ass! How would I know who it is?


    However, on second thought, it wasn¡¯t easy to pretend to be him without revealing any flaws.


    His signature Companion Beasts were unique. Furthermore, the person needed to have sufficient strength. Even with the chick and antelope as cover, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to find such a person.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be you, right?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°No, it¡¯d be too obvious if it was me. I¡¯d definitely be seen through.¡± An Sheng debunked Zhou Wen¡¯s guess.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure it out. There were only a few experts in Luoyang. It was impossible for Leng Zongzheng and An Tianzuo to impersonate him. Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t guess who else had such abilities.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when the time comes.¡± An Sheng clearly liked this feeling and didn¡¯t tell Zhou Wen.


    Since An Sheng didn¡¯t say anything, Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop asking. After chatting with An Sheng for a while, An Sheng got busy with work.


    Ya¡¯er pushed open the door and walked in. She was holding a plate with breakfast on it. Furthermore, it looked like it was for two.


    Ya¡¯er placed the plate on the table and sat down opposite Zhou Wen. She blinked and said, ¡°Breakfast, together.¡±


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t slept in the first place. He went to sit down and prepare to have breakfast with Ya¡¯er, but to his surprise, Tsukuyomi walked in before he even sat down. She took Zhou Wen¡¯s seat and took a bite of his breakfast. She looked at Ya¡¯er and said with a smile, ¡°Not bad. It¡¯s pretty good. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. Anyway, I feed the dogs at home every day. I¡¯m used to it.¡± Ya¡¯er pushed the remaining portion of the plate to Tsukuyomi. ¡°Eat more if you like it.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why Tsukuyomi liked to be at odds with Ya¡¯er, but when he saw that they were about to fight again, he hurriedly went over to pull Ya¡¯er away. He coughed lightly and said to Tsukuyomi, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to see how humans learn? I¡¯ll take you to the place I used to go to school, okay?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a place like the Royal College? It¡¯s boring,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°It¡¯s different. The place I attended is rather interesting, but we can only go there later.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to meet his old classmates, but on careful thought, they had already graduated. Unless they had continued studying or become a tutor, it would be impossible for him to see them again.


    I wonder how Gu Dian is now? Zhou Wen thought of the devil-like man.


    He had already roughly learned about Li Xuan and company from An Sheng. Only Gu Dian had disappeared after graduation. It was unknown where he had gone.

 Chapter 1156 - Greetings Prince Consort

    At night, An Sheng came over to invite Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er to the meal held at the front hall.


    Tsukuyomi followed Zhou Wen the entire time, so he had no choice but to take her along.


    Before the group reached the front hall, they saw a golden stream of light fly out and instantly appear in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen extended his arm and saw a strange golden-feathered bird land on it. It was Chick.


    However, Chick¡¯s body now resembled a huge eagle. Its body was also very similar in shape, leaving Zhou Wen puzzled. He thought to himself, How strange. Isn¡¯t it a descendant of a phoenix? Why does it look more and more like an eagle?


    However, being able to reunite with Chick delighted Zhou Wen. He reached out to stroke Chick¡¯s feathers and vaguely felt a heat flowing beneath them.


    Chick intimately extended its head and rubbed against Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It didn¡¯t feel unfamiliar despite the five years of separation.


    Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand why the phoenix had chosen him to deal with Chick.


    After entering the front hall, Zhou Wen saw the antelope lazily sprawled on the sofa without approaching the dining table.


    At the dining table, An Tianzuo sat at the main seat with An Jing sitting on his right.


    Having not seen her for so many years, An Jing¡¯s appearance was very different from before. She was now as tall as Zhou Wen.


    Without the baby fat on her face, she looked even more heroic. Furthermore, she looked much more composed. She sat with a straight back, a clear indication of a soldier¡¯s bearing.


    An Tianzuo and An Jing looked at Zhou Wen without a word.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, sit here.¡± An Sheng got Zhou Wen to sit on An Tianzuo¡¯s left. Ya¡¯er sat beside Zhou Wen. An Sheng had planned on arranging for Tsukuyomi to sit on An Jing¡¯s side, but Tsukuyomi sat down beside Ya¡¯er.


    An Sheng had no choice but to walk to An Jing¡¯s side and sit down. Then, he said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Young Master Wen, why don¡¯t you introduce this beautiful lady to us?¡±


    ¡°Her name is Tsukuyomi. She¡¯s a friend I met overseas.¡± Zhou Wen found it odd because An Sheng had previously said that he should be able to see the person impersonating him tonight, but there was only An Tianzuo and An Jing here.


    It¡¯s definitely impossible for An Tianzuo. Could it be that the person impersonating me was An Jing? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but glance at An Jing.


    An Jing happened to be looking at him as well. When their eyes met, the two of them subconsciously looked away, feeling uncomfortable.


    ¡°Miss Tsukuyomi, are you from overseas? Which island do you live on?¡± An Tianzuo asked Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°Bride Island,¡± Tsukuyomi answered truthfully.


    ¡°Bride Island?¡± An Tianzuo frowned slightly as he sized up Tsukuyomi.


    Clearly, he knew what kind of place Bride Island was and knew that it was impossible for humans to live there.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that An Tianzuo would continue asking, so he explained, ¡°Bride Island isn¡¯t as terrifying as the legends say. I¡¯ve been there and seen the Ghost Parade¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s topic immediately piqued An Sheng¡¯s interest. ¡°I heard that the Ghost Parade disaster has appeared overseas. A Calamity creature should have appeared, but for some reason, there was no news all of a sudden. Young Master Wen, since you¡¯ve been there, do you know what happened?¡±


    An Jing and An Tianzuo also looked at Zhou Wen. Clearly, they also wanted to know the answer.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew what had happened, but he couldn¡¯t tell them in front of Tsukuyomi that he had abducted the newly born Calamity creature, so the dimensional creatures that accompanied her had temporarily ended up settling down.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s just a rumor. Calamity creatures aren¡¯t as terrifying as the outside world described them to be. They are still very kind and reasonable. They are also very amiable. I reasoned with them, and they probably felt that what I said made sense, so they stopped their parade.¡± With Tsukuyomi beside him, he could only speak against his conscience.


    Otherwise, if he angered Tsukuyomi, Luoyang would probably be doomed.


    An Tianzuo, An Jing, and An Sheng looked at him. The look in their eyes said everything. They felt that Zhou Wen was spouting nonsense.


    Reason with a Calamity creature? Very kind and amiable. It would be a miracle if they believed it.


    An Jing said indifferently, ¡°If they are so kind and nice, why didn¡¯t you invite them back as guests?¡±


    What do you mean by not inviting them? Isn¡¯t one just beside me? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he said, ¡°It¡¯s too far. The journey¡¯s rough, so I¡¯ll see if there¡¯s a chance in the future.¡±


    An Jing curled her lips and didn¡¯t say anything else. Clearly, she felt that Zhou Wen was bullsh*tting.


    An Sheng hurriedly tried to smooth things over. ¡°Overseer, the food is ready. Why don¡¯t we get them to serve the dishes now?¡±


    An Tianzuo nodded slightly as An Sheng hurriedly instructed someone to serve the food.


    It was a great spread, but it wasn¡¯t extravagant. The most expensive food was probably the dessert that Ya¡¯er ate. The rest were ordinary home-cooked dishes, but they were made exquisitely.


    The atmosphere was especially tense as they ate together.


    An Tianzuo ate a few mouthfuls, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and asked Tsukuyomi, ¡°Miss Tsukuyomi, you live on Bride Island. Have you seen the Ghost Parade with your own eyes?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Tsukuyomi answered.


    ¡°I wonder which are the hundred ghosts in the parade. Please broaden my horizons,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Although the Ghost Parade is known as having a hundred ghosts, there are actually more than a hundred of them. Just at the Terror grade, there are already more than a hundred. For example, Great Daitengu, Yuki Onna, and Hashihime are all at the Terror grade,¡± Tsukuyomi answered.


    ¡°You are really lucky to escape alive with so many Terror creatures there.¡± An Jing clearly didn¡¯t believe Tsukuyomi¡¯s words.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Zhou Wen already say that the dimensional creatures there are very kind and amiable? We get along very well, like we¡¯re friends. There¡¯s no need to flee, right?¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s last sentence was directed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yes, they are especially friendly. They are really kind. We are all friends.¡± What else could Zhou Wen say? All he could do was echo Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°Then you should invite them back next time. Let us meet these amiable friends,¡± An Jing said casually.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to wait. I can introduce you to them now,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    An Jing felt that there was no point in continuing. Just as she was about to end the topic, the lights in the hall suddenly went off.


    It wasn¡¯t just the living room. The entire An family residence sank into darkness as all the lights were extinguished.


    An Jing and An Sheng¡¯s expressions changed. Just as they were about to get up, An Tianzuo said calmly, ¡°Sit down.¡±


    An Jing and An Sheng had no choice but to sit down again. However, just as they sat down, a cold wind blew open the door to the living room. Snowflakes swept in with the cold wind. At the same time, a woman in white floated in.


    ¡°Yuki Onna?¡± An Sheng and An Jing stared at Yuki Onna. They had already guessed her identity, but they still found it unbelievable.


    Yuki Onna walked to Tsukuyomi¡¯s side and bowed slightly at Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen. ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Consort. Greetings from your subject, Yuki Onna.¡±

 Chapter 1157 - Tsukuyomi’s Performance

    Translator: CKtalon


    An Jing and company were dumbfounded. The entire An family residence was silent.


    With the An family¡¯s defense, with such a huge commotion, the troops and hidden forces should have long rushed into the hall, but there was no movement at all.


    The dark yard was dead silent. The night was terrifyingly dark, as though a dark behemoth was entrenched in the An residence.


    The sound of wings flapping was heard. Almost at the same time, Daitengu landed in the living room. It retracted its wings and bowed at Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen. ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Consort. Greetings from your subject, Daitengu.¡±


    An Jing and company had naturally heard of the name ¡®Daitengu.¡¯ Legend had it that it was formed after an emperor died. It had a very high status in a particular country¡¯s pantheon.


    Is this really the legendary Daitengu? An Jing¡¯s body trembled as she looked at the Daitengu that resembled a winged devil. It looked very similar to the legendary depiction.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t the legendary Daitengu, just its ability to appear out of thin air made it an extremely powerful existence. Without a doubt, it was at the Terror grade.


    Boom! Boom!


    Before An Jing could figure out if it was really Daitengu, she suddenly heard a strange sound as though a behemoth had stepped into An Manor.


    Soon, she saw a strange temple appear in front of the living room. The strange temple seemed to have a life of its own. Its open door was pitch-black like the mouth of a terrifying monster.


    ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Consort. Greetings from your subject, Noderab¨­.¡± The temple rumbled as it landed in front of the hall. A ghastly voice sounded.


    An ethereal sound of a stringed instrument came from the side door. Umib¨­zu carried his lute as he walked. After arriving in the hall, he bowed slightly at Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen. ¡°Your Majesty, Prince Consort. Greetings from your subject, Umib¨­zu.¡±


    In a moment, four terrifying dimensional creatures appeared. Furthermore, there were layers of ghostly shadows in the distance, as though countless ghosts were heading their way.


    1


    An Sheng and An Jing¡¯s strength were extraordinary. They could sense that the strength of those creatures was extremely terrifying. They were definitely not ordinary Mythical creatures.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t look at Yuki Onna and company. He only stared coldly at Tsukuyomi. He had already guessed Tsukuyomi¡¯s identity when Yuki Onna appeared.


    Without a doubt, Tsukuyomi wasn¡¯t a real human, but a Calamity creature that had appeared overseas. Only she could control so many terrifying creatures.


    An Jing and An Sheng naturally thought the same. Their eyes were filled with horror as they looked at Tsukuyomi. No one expected the woman who had returned with Zhou Wen to be a Calamity creature that had appeared overseas.


    Don¡¯t tell me she wants to trigger the Ghost Parade in the An family? An Jing felt extremely uneasy.


    2


    If it was really as Tsukuyomi had said, with more than a hundred Terror creatures gathered here, once violence erupted, the entire Luoyang City would probably suffer.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, that¡¯s enough. We are eating. Let them return,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    1


    When Tsukuyomi heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she was surprisingly gentle. She didn¡¯t retort him and obediently waved her hand. Yuki Onna, Daitengu, and the other Terror creatures instantly retreated and vanished into the darkness. As for the An family, they returned to normal as the lights lit up again.


    The guards outside didn¡¯t seem to know what had happened. They were still patrolling as usual.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s brows relaxed when he saw that everyone was fine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s sit down for the meal.¡± Zhou Wen secretly heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Tsukuyomi dismiss the dimensional creatures.


    If they really came to blows, even if he could use the Immortal Culling Sword to kill Tsukuyomi, the An family and Luoyang would suffer heavy losses.


    Tsukuyomi seemed to have changed into a different person today. She was especially gentle and obedient as she picked up the bowl and chewed slowly. However, her present appearance was completely different from before in the eyes of An Jing and company.


    A Calamity creature treated Zhou Wen¡¯s words like an imperial edict. It was just too shocking.


    Only each individual knew what they were feeling while having this meal.


    ¡°I¡¯m full. I wish to get some rest.¡± Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen as though she was asking for his opinion.


    ¡°Return first.¡± After Zhou Wen said that, Tsukuyomi got up and left.


    After Tsukuyomi left, the atmosphere immediately relaxed. An Sheng whispered, ¡°Young Master Wen, is she really the one who appeared overseas¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and said helplessly, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, pretty amazing. Even a Calamity-grade creature listens to you. Could it be that you¡¯ve already advanced to the Calamity grade?¡± An Sheng asked.


    Although An Sheng, An Tianzuo, and company knew that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign, they could also tell that Zhou Wen had relied on the power of the sword to defeat Di Tian, not because Zhou Wen had advanced to the Calamity grade.


    An Jing and An Tianzuo also looked at Zhou Wen. They clearly wanted to know what level Zhou Wen had reached to make a Calamity-grade creature be so submissive.


    Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t seem to go against Zhou Wen¡¯s wishes.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said with a bitter smile, ¡°I¡¯m still at the Mythical stage. I¡¯m still very far from the Calamity grade. As for Tsukuyomi, I can¡¯t explain it for the time being. It¡¯s a long story.¡±


    An Sheng naturally didn¡¯t believe him. He said with a smile, ¡°To be able to make a Calamity-grade creature listen to you, I also want to give such a long story a try.¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t explain it clearly. No one would believe that a Calamity creature insisted on marrying him.


    After the meal, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er back.


    Chick and antelope also followed, seemingly without much reluctance.


    ¡°Overseer, it looks like we don¡¯t have to worry about Young Master Wen¡¯s safety. Even a Calamity-grade creature acts so obedient towards him. Even if Young Master Wen hasn¡¯t really advanced to the Calamity grade, he¡¯s definitely much stronger than before. It won¡¯t be easy for the League of Guardians to touch him,¡± An Sheng said.


    1


    ¡°Have we ever been worried about his safety?¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently, ¡°Furthermore, just as he said, his strength hasn¡¯t reached the Calamity grade. He hasn¡¯t even reached the Terror grade. Tsukuyomi must have another reason for following him. It might not be a good thing.¡±


    ¡°Tsukuyomi doesn¡¯t seem to have any ill intentions towards Young Master Wen,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Not having any ill intentions doesn¡¯t mean anything. You still have to continue with the previous arrangements. It¡¯s not time for wishful thinking,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do my best.¡± An Sheng stood up and saluted solemnly.


    An Jing sat by the side and ate without saying a word. She originally imagined that she had grown a lot in the past five years, but now, she suddenly realized that her growth was nothing in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and realized that Tsukuyomi was waiting for him.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen return, Tsukuyomi blinked and asked, ¡°How was my performance?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    1


    ¡°My performance at the banquet, of course. Didn¡¯t you humans say that a good wife has to give her husband face in front of outsiders? Was what I did considered giving you enough face? Was I considered a good wife?¡± Tsukuyomi asked Zhou Wen.


    2

 Chapter 1158 - Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Skill

    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless as he looked at Tsukuyomi, fully at a loss for words.


    What kind of charm does the Heavenly Happiness Token have to make a Calamity-grade creature stoop to such a level? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Back when Emperor of Shang gave him the Heavenly Happiness Token, he didn¡¯t think that there was any problem. Now, he realized how big a problem it was.


    Emperor of Shang should have been the loser back then. Is the token he gave me really that powerful? After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°Is that wrong? I read about this on the Internet.¡± Seeing Zhou Wen remain silent, Tsukuyomi thought that she had done something wrong. She opened the webpage and saw that it had the words ¡°Love¡¯s Thirty-Six Stratagems.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong. It¡¯s written like this. Is there a problem with my usage?¡± Tsukuyomi studied it again.


    Seeing that she had no intention of leaving, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up his room to her and find another place to stay.


    Chick and antelope returned to his side, making Zhou Wen feel indescribably at ease.


    He summoned Banana Fairy, Demonic Neonate, Truth Listener, and the other Companion Beasts and allowed them to move freely in the room. Zhou Wen lay in bed and continued gaming. At the same time, he studied the combination of Clown Mask and Singularity Universe.


    As he constantly failed, Zhou Wen became more and more adept at combining the two powers.


    Finally, he thought of a way to move the tiny planet away without getting another planet in return.


    When he arrived in front of a small planet again, Zhou Wen picked up a stone and pinched it before throwing it into the distance.


    After the stone flew away, Zhou Wen pressed his palm on the tiny planet. In the next second, a strange thing happened. The tiny planet under Zhou Wen¡¯s hand vanished as the stone he had thrown appeared in his hand.


    I did it! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he made a few more attempts. The success rate was rather high, and he could do the reverse as well.


    However, he had to leave his coordinates on one of the objects before he could swap them from a distance.


    The further the distance, the greater the expenditure.


    To use this method, he had to use the power of Clown Mask and Singularity Universe at the same time. Neither one could be missing.


    Zhou Wen constantly practiced to allow himself to complete the swap at faster speeds. Only this way could he finish off the Planet Devourer.


    After countless practice, when Zhou Wen felt that it was about time he found the Planet Devourer again.


    He constantly used teleportation to expend the Planet Devourer¡¯s powers. When the Planet Devourer¡¯s black hole¡¯s suction force was reduced to a certain extent, it attempted to devour the nearby tiny planets as expected.


    Zhou Wen immediately teleported to a tiny planet and teleported a stone out.


    Just as the Planet Devourer was about to devour the tiny planet, it suddenly vanished. Zhou Wen also vanished with the tiny planet, leaving behind a fist-sized stone.


    After the Planet Devourer devoured the stone, the replenishment it received was almost negligible.


    The Planet Devourer quickly teleported to another tiny planet, planning to devour it again.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen teleported over and appeared on the tiny planet. He teleported the tiny planet away again, leaving behind a stone.


    A strange battle began. No matter which tiny planet the Planet Devourer appeared on, Zhou Wen would appear in time and swap the tiny planet away, leaving behind a fist-sized stone.


    Without any replenishment, the black hole in the Planet Devourer¡¯s body became weaker and weaker. Likewise for its suction force. Even its body gradually shrank.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expenditure was greater than that of the Planet Devourer, but with Slaughterer replenishing large amounts of Essence Energy and the augmentation of the Heaven-Opening Scripture¡¯s Essence Energy recovery, it was almost equivalent to infinite Essence Energy.


    The Planet Devourer¡¯s body became smaller and smaller until it was about the size of a small planet. Then, its body suddenly collapsed and was destroyed.


    Ding! A Companion Egg dropped from where the Planet Devourer had collapsed.


    ¡®Killed Terror creature, Planet Devourer. Discovered Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen was delighted. This was the first Terror-grade Companion Egg that had dropped for him.


    He reached out to grab the Companion Egg and saw that it was crystalline. There was a strange vortex pattern in it that seemed to be constantly swirling.


    Planet Devourer: Terror


    Life Providence: Black Hole


    Life Soul: Star Core


    Wheel of Destiny: Devour


    Terror Form: Devourer


    Strength: 89


    Speed: 92


    Constitution: 94


    Essence Energy: 93


    Talent Skill: Spacetime Transfer, Energy Release.


    Companion Form: Glove


    After Zhou Wen saw the stats, he couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback. He never expected its companion form to be a glove. However, on careful thought, it did look a little like a glove, but it was just too big in size.


    He directly chose to incubate it. A large amount of Essence Energy was sucked away by the Companion Egg. It was only with Zhou Wen¡¯s double augmentation of Slaughterer and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder that he could do so. Ordinary Mythical creatures couldn¡¯t afford such enormous Essence Energy expenditure.


    With the injection of Essence Energy, the Planet Devourer gradually hatched. It was identical to the Planet Devourer from before and was extremely large.


    When the Planet Devourer was completely hatched, it transformed into a black beam that injected into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    When Zhou Wen summoned it again, the Planet Devourer had already transformed into a glove. It was a black crystalline glove. In the palm was a mysterious black vortex that emitted a powerful suction force.


    Zhou Wen tested it and realized that he could control the suction force of the black hole in his palm. He attempted to use the Planet Devourer Glove on the nearby tiny planets.


    The tiny planet that was the size of a mountain was pulled over by the black hole on the glove. The closer the tiny planet was to the black hole, the smaller it became. Finally, it was sucked into the black hole. Zhou Wen immediately felt that the power of the black hole had become much stronger after absorbing the tiny planet.


    The Planet Devourer¡¯s strength is sufficiently powerful, but the suction force of the black hole is a little too slow. Before sucking an object in, as long as one¡¯s speed is fast enough, one can still dodge it. However, if I were to use the glove to strike the enemy, I would be able to suck the enemy into the black hole. It would be impossible for them to escape again. Zhou Wen thought about the ways to use Planet Devourer.


    However, there was something that worried Zhou Wen. Planet Devourer¡¯s black hole was somewhat similar to Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World. He didn¡¯t know if he could retrieve the items that dropped if he sucked in the dimensional creatures.


    He gave Planet Devourer a spin and indeed, as he had guessed, nothing would be left behind after being sucked into the black hole.

 Chapter 1159 - Alma Mater

    The next morning, An Sheng modified Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance before letting him leave the An family.


    Zhou Wen looked at the changes An Sheng had given him and realized that the contours on his face had softened. His hairstyle had also changed a little, but the other changes weren¡¯t too big.


    He took Ya¡¯er and Tsukuyomi to Sunset College which was still considered Zhou Wen¡¯s alma mater, even though he hadn¡¯t graduated from there.


    Luoyang was relatively intact because there were dimensional zones everywhere around it. Furthermore, there were several layers of dimensional zones below Luoyang City. The whole of Luoyang was equivalent to a massive and complicated dimensional zone. It was difficult for dimensional creatures from the outside world to rush in, so it had become abnormally safe.


    As for the various dimensional zones in Luoyang, there were quite a number of dimensional creatures that had breached the restrictions. However, as people were already familiar with these dimensional creatures and with the constant battles over the past five years, they ultimately managed to preserve humanity¡¯s foundation in Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen had also read quite a bit of information regarding Luoyang on the Internet. It could be said that Luoyang was a unique existence in the Federation.


    Two of the four war gods of the new era were in Luoyang. One was An Tianzuo, and the other was Sunset College¡¯s chancellor, Leng Zongzheng.


    It was said that in the past five years, Luoyang had experienced countless break-out battles of all sizes. The biggest reason why humans could always entrench themselves was because of these two guards.


    When he arrived at the familiar school entrance again, Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions. Although it had only been five years, the campus had undergone huge changes. Many buildings were new, and even the main entrance was different from before. It had probably been recently renovated.


    Although the entire school looked brand new and looked even more grandiose than before, one could tell upon careful thought that the reason the school had undergone a large-scale renovation was definitely not because of aesthetic pursuits, but because it had to be rebuilt.


    From this, it could be seen how many terrifying battles this school had experienced to make the entire school look almost brand new.


    Just past the school entrance stood the statue of Human Sovereign with his heaven-defying strike. It was similar to the one Zhou Wen had seen before, but it looked even more majestic.


    Upon seeing the Human Sovereign statue, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and smile bitterly. Humans treated him as their savior and worshiped him like a god. However, he wasn¡¯t thinking too much back then, nor was he thinking of saving humanity. He hadn¡¯t had a choice.


    Taking out the pass An Sheng gave him, he successfully took Tsukuyomi and Ya¡¯er into the school.


    It was obvious that the guards recognized him and were very respectful. Zhou Wen gathered that this respect was meant for the Zhou Wen, who was acted by An Jing, and not him.


    From the looks of it, An Jing must have done quite a number of things while acting as me. Zhou Wen walked into the school and saw a very different scene from the Royal College.


    Although this place placed great importance on the cultivation of Companion Beasts, Essence Energy Arts, and Essence Energy Skills, one could also see the shadow of technology. There were also many things that combined Companion Beasts and technology.


    Tsukuyomi was very curious when she saw the technological components.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. The place where you attended school is indeed different from the school we went to previously,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she looked at the students practicing shooting on the field.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to admit it, he had to admit that it was mostly thanks to An Tianzuo.


    An Tianzuo always placed great importance on scientific research. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had heard that the effects were rather good. The Essence Energy compression accelerator he had created had played a vital role in the early battles during Luoyang¡¯s defense.


    However, due to the excessive expenditure of Essence Crystals, the Essence Energy compression accelerator was seldom seen in the subsequent battles.


    As An Jing, who impersonated Zhou Wen, had been in the military all year round, ordinary students did not recognize Zhou Wen, only the soldiers who were deployed on campus did.


    However, there were many legends about Zhou Wen on campus. He was considered a legend.


    When he arrived at the training grounds, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but reminisce about the times he had practiced with Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and company.


    Zhou Wen circled the training grounds with Ya¡¯er and Tsukuyomi. Just as he was about to leave, a student came in front of him and said politely, ¡°Senior, can I help you?¡±


    Zhou Wen glanced at the student in front of him. He was about seventeen or eighteen years old, probably in his sophomore or junior year. Although he wasn¡¯t as tall as Zhou Wen, he was still considered tall and handsome.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen knew that he had mistaken him for a graduate student, but Zhou Wen could indeed be considered his senior.


    ¡°Is this beautiful senior your girlfriend?¡± The student didn¡¯t answer and instead asked while looking at Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s fianc¨¦e,¡± Tsukuyomi added. This time, she didn¡¯t say that she was Zhou Wen¡¯s wife. Instead, she used the word fianc¨¦e. He did not know where she learned it from.


    ¡°Fianc¨¦e? That means you aren¡¯t married?¡± The boy¡¯s eyes lit up as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Senior, please fight me. If I win, can you agree to let me have dinner at the cafeteria with her?¡±


    Zhou Wen glanced at Tsukuyomi and saw that she wasn¡¯t angry. Then, he looked at the boy and asked, ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    This boy was actually quite bold to have thoughts of chasing after a Calamity creature. It was unknown if he still had the guts to do so after knowing Tsukuyomi¡¯s true identity.


    ¡°Qin Mu.¡± The boy¡¯s tone was very calm, but from the way he raised his eyebrows, one could tell that he was proud of his name as though he was very famous.


    In fact, many students on the training grounds were secretly discussing as they watched. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes and ears were extremely sensitive, so he quickly figured out Qin Mu¡¯s origins.


    Qin Mu was a sophomore, but his strength had already reached the peak of the Legendary stage. He was only half a step away from advancing to the Epic stage.


    Although there were many dimensional creatures now, to have such achievements at such a young age made him an outstanding elite in Sunset College.


    At this year¡¯s school ranking, Qin Mu had only lost to the president of the student council and was ranked second. From this, one could tell how strong he was.


    However, there was another reason why Qin Mu had such strength.


    This was because Qin Mu was the younger brother of the famous female sword immortal in Luoyang. Although the female sword immortal¡¯s fame wasn¡¯t comparable to a figure like An Tianzuo, she was also a well-known figure in the Federation. She had never tasted defeat when it came to sword technique.


    Speaking of sword techniques in the East District, the most outstanding ones were for males, Ming Xiu, and for females, this female sword immortal.

 Chapter 1160 - Female Sword Immortal’s Sword Art

    The female sword immortal¡¯s name was Qin Zhen. Qin Mu¡¯s relationship with Qin Zhen was very good, and he especially admired this sister. When he was at home, Qin Zhen was always the one who mentored him.


    Of course, Qin Zhen¡¯s teaching was only one aspect. Qin Mu himself was a bona fide genius, but he was a little too proud. Furthermore, his personality was more defiant and rebellious. He had caused a lot of trouble in school, giving his tutor a headache.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to fight me?¡± Zhou Wen asked Qin Mu.


    ¡°You don¡¯t dare?¡± Qin Mu returned with a question.


    ¡°I do, but I just find it unfair.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°You can date her if you win, but I won¡¯t get any benefits if I win. Do you think that¡¯s fair?¡±


    ¡°Then if you win, I¡¯ll arrange for my sister to date you. That¡¯s fair, right?¡± Qin Mu said with a grin.


    Zhou Wen was glad that he hadn¡¯t drunk any water. Otherwise, he might have spat it out. With a younger brother of this caliber, the female sword immortal was really unlucky.


    ¡°How is that? Do you dare to agree?¡± Qin Mu continued to ask.


    Qin Mu was certain that Zhou Wen would agree to it. A graduate student being provoked by a sophomore and in front of his girlfriend was something no one could tolerate.


    ¡°Here?¡± Zhou Wen looked around and asked. There were already quite a number of students who had come to watch the commotion. However, they knew Qin Mu¡¯s character very well and were no longer surprised.


    ¡°Yes, right here. Everyone can be our witnesses. Of course, if you¡¯re afraid of losing and embarrassing yourself, we can also get a private room,¡± Qin Mu said with a grin.


    ¡°Doing it here will do.¡± Zhou Wen also wanted to see what standards the top students of Sunset College had after five years. He wanted to know how they compared with his class.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll use a sword. Senior, what will you use?¡± Qin Mu took a practice sword from the weapon rack and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Since you use a sword, I¡¯ll use a sword too,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t regret posturing.¡± Qin Mu curled his lips and threw a practice sword at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen caught the sword before walking to the center of the training grounds.


    ¡°You¡¯re a senior, shouldn¡¯t you give me a three-strike handicap?¡± Qin Mu asked with a grin.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen nodded with a smile.


    ¡°Senior, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony then,¡± Qin Mu thought to himself. I know all the powerful ones among the graduate students. I haven¡¯t seen this one before, so he¡¯s definitely not at the Epic stage. He wants to beat me at the Legendary stage? To think he dares give me a three-strike handicap. He¡¯s simply blinded by greed. That¡¯s good too. If I finish you in three strikes, I can definitely make that female senior view me in a different light.


    No. Three strikes isn¡¯t cool enough. I¡¯ll finish him in one strike. Qin Mu thought for a moment and still felt that dealing a single deathblow was more handsome and could leave an impression in the eyes of the beautiful female senior.


    ¡°Senior, I¡¯m about to strike. You have to be careful.¡± Qin Mu was very confident in his sword art. Unless one¡¯s level was higher than his, there weren¡¯t many people at the same level who could dodge his full-powered strike.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded with a smile.


    Qin Mu didn¡¯t immediately strike. Instead, he took a few steps forward and found Zhou Wen standing still. He stood there with his sword in hand and allowed him to approach with no intent of retreat. He couldn¡¯t help but sneer inwardly. You know I¡¯m Qin Zhen¡¯s younger brother, yet you still dare let me come so close. You can only blame it on yourself if you can¡¯t even block one strike.


    When he reached the attack range that he was most proficient in, Qin Mu suddenly struck out with his sword. That strike was like a fleeting glimpse. Coupled with his movement technique, it was unbelievably fast, but it was also extremely elegant. It was like an immortal riding a sword for an assault on the enemy. In a flash, he could take the head of the general amidst thousands of soldiers.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when he saw Qin Mu¡¯s sword art.


    Although Qin Mu¡¯s sword art was fast, it was only fast enough among Legendaries. In Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, this strike was extremely slow. It was impossible for it to touch him.


    Zhou Wen was surprised that the sword art was very similar to his Transcendent Flying Immortal. It wasn¡¯t the present Transcendent Flying Immortal, but the Transcendent Flying Immortal from his college days. Although this strike had some changes, the core remained the same.


    Strange, why would he use my Transcendent Flying Immortal? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    This was unlike Sei Gasakai, who had only observed Zhou Wen¡¯s sword moves and sword intent before figuring out a concept similar to Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Although the two were very similar, there were still some differences in the core and details.


    However, Qin Mu¡¯s sword art was different. His sword art had details that were unique to Zhou Wen.


    Strange, I¡¯ve never taught anyone my sword art, much less someone with the surname Qin. Why does this Qin Mu know my sword art? Zhou Wen was filled with puzzlement.


    Qin Mu originally wanted to defeat Zhou Wen with one strike and had used 90% of his strength. His speed was also astonishing.


    However, to his surprise, the practice sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand blocked Qin Mu¡¯s sword, preventing him from succeeding.


    Qin Mu was slightly surprised. He didn¡¯t expect this unremarkable graduate student to be able to block the sword art his sister had taught him.


    I¡¯ll see how many strikes you can block. When Qin Mu saw that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t react, he thought that he had already used all his strength to block his attack and didn¡¯t have the ability to counterattack. Therefore, he launched a storm-like attack.


    Strike after strike, Qin Mu¡¯s sword art was elegant and ruthless. It was indeed a good sword art that was hard to come by.


    After watching a few strikes, Zhou Wen finally understood. This sword art was indeed Transcendent Flying Immortal from back when he was at school. However, it had been modified by someone and had indeed reached a very high level. It was much stronger than Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal from back then. However, the core hadn¡¯t changed. It was considered a variant of Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    However, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t recall when he had taught the sword art to a person with the surname Qin.


    After more than ten strikes, Zhou Wen had already seen through Qin Mu¡¯s sword art. There was no need for him to continue. Therefore, he struck out and sent Qin Mu¡¯s practice sword flying.


    ¡°It looks like I¡¯ve won.¡± Zhou Wen placed his practice sword back on the rack and asked Qin Mu, ¡°Who taught you your sword art?¡±


    ¡°My sister.¡± Qin Mu thought of Qin Zhen and what he had said to Zhou Wen. He immediately felt that something was amiss.


    If Zhou Wen really requested to go on a date with Qin Zhen, Qin Mu wouldn¡¯t tell her it was down to a battle. The reason he had said that was because he hadn¡¯t expected to lose.


    However, on second thought, the other party¡¯s girlfriend was here. He wouldn¡¯t suggest going on a date with his sister, right?


    ¡°Where did your sister learn her sword art from?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to know where she had learned Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    ¡°Why are you asking this?¡± Qin Mu sized up Zhou Wen warily. He imagined that Zhou Wen was eyeing Qin Zhen¡¯s sword art.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted to arrange a date between me and your sister? Can we do it today?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to meet the female sword immortal, Qin Zhen, and ask her where she had learned Transcendent Flying Immortal.

 Chapter 1161 - Female Sword Immortal

    Qin Mu¡¯s face darkened. He didn¡¯t dare take Zhou Wen to his sister. Furthermore, he never expected him to really dare visit his sister.


    Ignoring the fact that his girlfriend was here, just the fame of his sister as Female Sword Immortal was enough to scare away many suitors. Ordinary men didn¡¯t have the courage to stand in front of his sister.


    However, Qin Mu thought about it again. He had seen many outstanding men, but when they really stood in front of his sister, all of them quickly lost their confidence. They would become at a loss for words because Qin Zhen¡¯s aura was too strong.


    Even if he really took Zhou Wen to see Qin Zhen, Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t dare say anything rash in front of her. Perhaps he could bluff his way through.


    ¡°Senior, do you really want to meet my sister?¡± Qin Mu asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree on this?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright, I, Qin Mu, admit defeat. I¡¯ll take you there now. Follow me if you have the guts.¡± After Qin Mu said that, he walked out of the training grounds.


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi and saw that she didn¡¯t have any special reaction. Only then did he pick up Ya¡¯er and follow. Tsukuyomi followed behind.


    As for many students who had enjoyed the battle, they followed behind as though they wanted to see if Zhou Wen would really date Female Sword Immortal. She was the goddess that many boys in school had a crush on.


    Qin Mu walked in front for a while and saw that Zhou Wen had really followed him. Furthermore, he had brought two beauties¡ªone young, one old¡ªwith him. He couldn¡¯t help but ask in surprise, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you plan on taking them to see my sister?¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t I?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Sure, of course. As you wish.¡± Qin Mu thought to himself, Is this fellow stupid? It would be strange if he doesn¡¯t get beaten up when he takes this woman to see my sister. However, this is also good. When that happens, my sister won¡¯t be in the mood to care about me.


    Qin Zhen was a tutor at Sunset College. She lived there, so they didn¡¯t need to leave the campus.


    Luoyang had a very high status in the Federation, and Sunset College had long been famous throughout the Federation.


    Ignoring the fact that the Federation President had once studied at Sunset College, just Luoyang¡¯s present strength was enough to match the six families.


    However, these powerful figures didn¡¯t completely belong to the An family. Otherwise, the An family might have become the seventh family clan.


    Qin Mu quickly led Zhou Wen and company to Qin Zhen¡¯s residence. This place surprised Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Four Seasons Garden. Your sister lives here?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the building in front of him.


    This was the Four Seasons Garden that had previously been reserved for special admissions students. Furthermore, the building that Qin Zhen lived in was the same one that he used to live in.


    Although many small buildings in Four Seasons Garden had been rebuilt, the three buildings in the last row didn¡¯t seem to have changed much. They were about the same as before.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Are you going in?¡± Qin Mu asked Zhou Wen with a grin.


    He was very relaxed now. Zhou Wen was holding the hand of a girl who was about seven or eight years old. Behind him was a beauty who looked to be in her twenties. All he needed to do was tell Qin Zhen that this man wanted to woo her. With Qin Zhen¡¯s temper, the outcome was obvious.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Alright, wait a moment. I¡¯ll take you to see my sister now.¡± Qin Mu pushed open the door and walked in. When he arrived in front of the building, he pressed the doorbell.


    ¡°Sis, are you there?¡± Qin Mu shouted at the video doorbell.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± A cold woman¡¯s voice sounded from inside. She didn¡¯t sound old, but her attitude was very cold.


    ¡°There¡¯s a senior who wants to get to know you. I brought him over to meet you,¡± Qin Mu said as he turned his body to the side, allowing Qin Zhen to see Zhou Wen standing behind him through the video.


    ¡°By the way, Senior, what¡¯s your name?¡± Only then did Qin Mu realize that he didn¡¯t even know Zhou Wen¡¯s name.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and looked at the door. He didn¡¯t use Truth Listener to scan the situation inside. After all, she was a woman and not an enemy. It would be impolite.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer, Qin Mu asked again.


    Before Zhou Wen could answer, the door to the building opened. A young woman in her twenties walked out.


    She wore the combat uniform produced by the An family, accentuating her perfect figure. Although she wasn¡¯t too tall, her figure was very well-proportioned.


    Zhou Wen immediately found the woman¡¯s face familiar. After some thought, he immediately recalled and knew where she had learned Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    I never expected that the silent and introverted junior from back then would have already become a famous Female Sword Immortal in the Federation, Zhou Wen thought wistfully.


    Back then, he noticed that a female junior had quite a bit of talent in the way of the sword, so he had casually given her some scattered notes he had already memorized while practicing Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take this matter to heart at all. He had long forgotten about it. Furthermore, he never expected that the junior would use the scattered notes in the notebook to cultivate Transcendent Flying Immortal to such an extent. She had even become a famous Female Sword Immortal.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen¡¯s good memory, he would have found it unbelievable that Qin Zhen was the junior from back then.


    When Qin Mu saw Qin Zhen walk out, he thought that Qin Zhen wanted to chase Zhou Wen away. Therefore, he fanned the flames and said, ¡°Sis, let me introduce you. This senior wants to date you. And this person is his fianc¨¦e¡­ I don¡¯t know what relationship this little girl has with them. Senior, could this be your daughter¡­¡±


    Qin Mu was secretly delighted. He felt that Qin Zhen would definitely teach this reckless senior a lesson.


    Just as he expected, Qin Zhen walked towards Zhou Wen like a gust of wind.


    Qin Mu was already beginning to worry for Zhou Wen. If Qin Zhen was too heavy-handed and crippled him, it would be difficult to explain things to the college.


    As he was thinking, Qin Zhen stood in front of Zhou Wen. Just as Qin Mu thought that Qin Zhen¡¯s terrifying attack was coming, he saw Qin Zhen stop in front of Zhou Wen. She didn¡¯t draw her sword or attack.


    What was even more unbelievable was that Qin Zhen¡¯s face revealed an expression that Qin Mu had never seen before.


    It was difficult to describe her expression. It was as though she was pleasantly surprised, but at the same time, she seemed to be at a loss. The present Qin Zhen had no indication of the female sword immortal¡¯s killing intent and arrogance at all. She was like a girl-next-door who was secretly in love with an older boy.


    ¡°Heavens¡­ Is there something wrong with my eyes? That¡¯s definitely not my dream goddess, Female Sword Immortal Qin Zhen, right? How can she have such an expression?¡± The male students who had come to watch the commotion were dumbfounded when they saw Qin Zhen¡¯s expression.


    Qin Mu was shocked beyond words. As a younger brother, he had never seen Qin Zhen like this.


    ¡°Senior.¡± Qin Zhen bowed her head and called out bashfully, as though she had become that introverted and shy junior from back then.


    ¡°God, smite me with lightning. I don¡¯t want to live anymore. Tell me that it¡¯s not Sword Immortal Qin Zhen. It¡¯s definitely not¡­¡± Many boys wanted to kill Zhou Wen. How could a goddess show such an expression to another man? It was absolutely unforgivable.

 Chapter 1162 - Zhou Wen’s Return

    ¡°Sis, this person has a fianc¨¦e,¡± Qin Mu hurriedly reminded Qin Zhen.


    However, Qin Zhen ignored Qin Mu as if she hadn¡¯t heard him.


    ¡°Not bad with your sword practice,¡± Zhou Wen praised as he looked at Qin Zhen. His words came from the bottom of his heart. To be able to master the sword art to such an extent using just a notebook was indeed extraordinary.


    Although he hadn¡¯t seen Qin Zhen use a sword, he could roughly tell from Qin Mu, whom she had taught.


    Only Zhou Wen could say ¡®not bad.¡¯ In the eyes of others, it wasn¡¯t as simple as ¡®not bad.¡¯


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, the students and Qin Mu had the urge to roll their eyes. Was there a need for him to praise the female sword immortal¡¯s sword art? Furthermore, what did he mean by ¡®not bad?¡¯ Was he praising or criticizing her?


    ¡°I don¡¯t deserve so much praise, Senior. My sword art still has many shortcomings. It¡¯s not even a fraction of yours. If not for your guidance, I wouldn¡¯t have my achievements today¡­¡± Qin Zhen said seriously.


    Upon hearing Qin Zhen¡¯s words, the entire campus seemed to explode. Qin Mu widened his eyes and stared at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    ¡°Who is this person? Qin Zhen actually said that her sword art was thanks to his pointers?¡±


    ¡°Is there such an impressive figure in our school?¡±


    ¡°In terms of sword arts, I¡¯m afraid only Overseer An and Chancellor Leng can guide the female Sword Immortal. However, this person is so young. He definitely isn¡¯t Chancellor Leng or Overseer An.¡±


    ¡°I think Qin Zhen is being polite. This person might be the teacher who initiated her journey.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that must be it. However, he¡¯s not very old. He¡¯s not much older than Qin Zhen. How can he have initiated her journey?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s this senior¡¯s name? Does no one know him?¡±


    As everyone discussed, Qin Zhen continued, ¡°Senior, there are still many things that I don¡¯t understand about my sword art. Can you give me some pointers? I¡¯m willing to pay any price.¡±


    Everyone was dumbfounded when she said that. Qin Zhen, the Federation¡¯s female Sword Immortal, actually wanted him to give pointers for her sword art. This was definitely not something a teacher who initiated her journey could do. The only possibility was that this person¡¯s sword arts were better than Qin Zhen¡¯s¡ªand not just by a little.


    ¡°Who is he? Could he be the legendary Swordsman Tomorrow, Ming Xiu? I heard that Ming Xiu had once attended classes at our school. Perhaps he had taught Qin Zhen back then.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Professor Ming. It¡¯s not like we haven¡¯t seen Professor Ming¡¯s photo before. This senior isn¡¯t as delicate as Ming Xiu.¡±


    ¡°Ming Xiu might not necessarily be stronger than Qin Zhen, right?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Sis¡­ This¡­ Who is this senior?¡± Qin Mu stammered.


    ¡°This is Senior Zhou Wen. How can you not know him?¡± Qin Zhen finally heard Qin Mu¡¯s words and answered.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ He¡¯s the Zhou Wen who was once invincible among his peers and suppressed the younger generation of the six families!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, so it¡¯s him. No wonder. I just didn¡¯t expect Qin Zhen to have learned her sword art from him.¡±


    ¡°I heard that he has been holding down the fort at Chess Mountain for the past few years. It¡¯s no wonder I don¡¯t recognize him.¡±


    Upon hearing Qin Zhen say Zhou Wen¡¯s name, many students felt relieved. Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in school most of the time, he was one of Sunset College¡¯s legends.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Zhou Wen said to Qin Zhen before turning to leave.


    Qin Zhen immediately followed without any hesitation. Everyone wanted to follow, but Zhou Wen and company quickly left campus, while the students couldn¡¯t.


    Zhou Wen took Qin Zhen to the An family¡¯s training room and got her to showcase her sword art. She was stronger than Zhou Wen expected. Qin Zhen¡¯s talent and concept in sword arts were also better than his expectations.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Zhou Wen took out a pen and paper from the Chaos Bead and planned on writing down his experience of Transcendent Flying Immortal for Qin Zhen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care if his sword art would spread. If someone could learn his sword art, he had the hope that there would be a few more people like Qin Zhen among humans.


    Unfortunately, Transcendent Flying Immortal had extremely high requirements for cultivators. It was difficult to gain basic mastery, and it was even more difficult to achieve anything higher. Therefore, it wasn¡¯t suitable for most people to cultivate.


    Sei Gasakai had also fused the concept of Transcendent Flying Immortal into the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± that made it easy for others to pick up. Although it resolved the problem of most people finding it difficult to gain basic mastery, it also indirectly raised the difficulty of reaching the pinnacle.


    For Zhou Wen, a person like Qin Zhen was a rare inheritor who could pick up his mantle.


    ¡­


    That night, An Tianzuo sat at the dining table and saw An Sheng and An Jing sitting on both sides. He said with a frown, ¡°He¡¯s getting more and more unruly. Doesn¡¯t he know that it¡¯s time to eat? Even if he¡¯s not hungry, doesn¡¯t he know that children need to eat more during their growth spurt?¡±


    An Sheng hurriedly said, ¡°Overseer, Young Master Wen brought a guest back. He¡¯s currently busy in the training room.¡±


    ¡°What guest is more important than Ya¡¯er¡¯s body? If he wants to entertain guests, why doesn¡¯t he let Ya¡¯er come back for dinner?¡± An Tianzuo snorted coldly.


    ¡°I went to get Ya¡¯er just now. She said she¡¯s not hungry,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo couldn¡¯t help but frown. After a pause, he asked, ¡°Who did he bring back?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Qin Zhen,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°Qin Zhen?¡± An Tianzuo was slightly taken aback. ¡°That female Sword Immortal from the college?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Overseer.¡±


    ¡°What are they doing in the training room?¡± An Tianzuo asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Perhaps they are sparring,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo was no stranger to the name Qin Zhen. There were very few experts from Sunset College¡ªHui Haifeng, Feng Qiuyan, Li Xuan, and Wei Ge were all very famous figures in the Federation.


    However, there weren¡¯t many who were truly willing to stay at Sunset College for the An family and Luoyang.


    Hui Haifeng was now the Federal President, while Feng Qiuyan was the pride of the Sea Return family. Although Li Xuan¡¯s Li family was a wealthy family in Luoyang, Li Mobai was the one in charge. He wasn¡¯t an easy person to deal with. Sometimes, even An Tianzuo had a headache over him.


    Li Xuan was out most of the year and seldom returned.


    There was no need to mention Wei Ge. He was in charge of the Special Investigation Bureau and was the eyes and ears of the Federation. Now that he had joined the League of Guardians, it was even more impossible for him to be used by the An family.


    Among the experts remaining on campus, Qin Zhen was the strongest.


    However, An Tianzuo always believed that Qin Zhen was more suitable for the battlefield than teaching in school. Therefore, he had personally persuaded Qin Zhen to join the army many times, but Qin Zhen had rejected him.


    Through their interaction, An Tianzuo knew that Qin Zhen wasn¡¯t someone who was afraid of challenges, but for some reason, she was unwilling to leave the school.


    An Tianzuo found it odd that Qin Zhen had followed Zhou Wen to the An family home. After some thought, he stood up and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go take a look.¡±


    An Sheng and An Jing got up and followed An Tianzuo to the training room. They were also very curious about what Zhou Wen and Qin Zhen were doing.

 Chapter 1163 - There’s Something Very Problematic About You

    ¡°Young Master Wen, are you still busy? The food has been prepared. Overseer is here to take Miss Ya¡¯er back. Why don¡¯t you let Miss Ya¡¯er return for dinner?¡± An Sheng arrived outside the training room and pressed the video doorbell.


    Before Zhou Wen could finish writing, he got Ya¡¯er to open the door for An Sheng and company.


    Ya¡¯er opened the door and An Tianzuo and company looked inside. Indeed, they saw Qin Zhen standing there.


    However, what puzzled An Tianzuo and company was that Qin Zhen and Zhou Wen weren¡¯t sparring. It didn¡¯t even look like they had sparred. Instead, Zhou Wen was standing in front of a table, writing. Qin Zhen was watching from the side, completely engrossed.


    Does this punk know calligraphy? An Tianzuo was puzzled.


    Writing beautiful words wasn¡¯t difficult for humans at their level and their level of evolution.


    He didn¡¯t even need much practice. All he needed to do was take a look at some famous masterpieces and he could easily imitate the beautiful fonts.


    However, a nice font didn¡¯t mean it was good calligraphy. One needed to fuse their thoughts into the words to form a unique style. Only then could it be called calligraphy.


    An Tianzuo secretly glanced at it and realized that although Zhou Wen¡¯s words weren¡¯t ugly, they definitely weren¡¯t good.


    Yet, such ordinary calligraphy left Qin Zhen engrossed as she stood there motionless.


    Since it¡¯s not a problem of the text, it should be the content. An Tianzuo wanted to see what Zhou Wen had written, but Zhou Wen had already finished writing.


    After putting away the pen, Zhou Wen picked up the notebook and handed it to Qin Zhen. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    ¡°Can¡­ can I?¡± Qin Zhen didn¡¯t dare to take it.


    She had watched the entire process. Although Zhou Wen wrote quickly and the content was too profound, Qin Zhen had only taken a few general glances in many sections and hadn¡¯t read them carefully.


    However, just the content she saw made Qin Zhen understand that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t giving her parts of a sword art, but a systematic introduction to the sword art. Furthermore, it had some of Zhou Wen¡¯s own experience and insights.


    The value of this book made Qin Zhen hesitate.


    ¡°Of course. Sword arts are created for people to use. If you can learn it, take it,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Qin Zhen looked at Zhou Wen and saw that his expression was the same as when he had given her the notebook. She couldn¡¯t help but feel a little dazed as she reached out to receive the Transcendent Flying Immortal notebook that Zhou Wen had written.


    An Tianzuo also understood that what Zhou Wen had written was likely some kind of sword art. From Qin Zhen¡¯s solemn expression, he guessed that this sword art was no trifling matter.


    However, An Tianzuo didn¡¯t know if the sword art Zhou Wen had written was his or was obtained from somewhere else.


    An Tianzuo wanted to know, but he didn¡¯t ask.


    However, An Sheng didn¡¯t have any qualms. He said with a smile, ¡°Young Master Wen, are you very familiar with Sword Immortal Qin? Can you even study sword arts together?¡±


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, Qin Zhen said with a serious expression, ¡°Adjutant An, don¡¯t joke around. How am I qualified to study sword techniques with Senior? Senior Zhou is my tutor. He taught me my sword arts.¡±


    With that said, An Tianzuo and An Jing looked at each other. Qin Zhen could be said to be one of the most outstanding women in Sunset College over the years. She could go down in history for the school.


    Yet, she said that Zhou Wen had taught her sword arts, but they knew very well that Zhou Wen had been missing for five years. How could he have taught Qin Zhen sword arts?


    However, An Sheng didn¡¯t care. His eyes darted around as he said to Qin Zhen, ¡°Qin Zhen, since you learned your sword arts from Young Master Wen, you should be focusing on actual combat. Are you interested in joining the Sunset Army? On the one hand, you can protect everyone. On the other hand, you can also hone your sword arts¡­¡±


    Qin Zhen didn¡¯t answer as she looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen glared at An Sheng and said, ¡°My sword art does focus on actual combat, and it¡¯s extremely risky in actual combat. You might lose your life if you aren¡¯t careful. It¡¯s best to follow your heart and not be affected by others.¡±


    An Sheng smiled without saying a word as though he hadn¡¯t seen Zhou Wen¡¯s glare.


    Qin Zhen thought for a moment before looking at An Sheng and asking, ¡°Can I go to the place that Senior went to in the past?¡±


    ¡°Of course, but it¡¯s very dangerous there,¡± An Sheng said solemnly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of danger,¡± Qin Zhen said.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s settled. Sword Immortal Qin, Overseer has already prepared some food. Shall we have a meal with Young Master Wen?¡± An Sheng said.


    Qin Zhen nodded slightly and agreed.


    An Tianzuo was somewhat delighted when he saw Qin Zhen agree.


    With Qin Zhen¡¯s talent, it was too wasteful for her to teach on campus. After she trained in the military for a few years, she would definitely be a mighty person who could hold her own in the future.


    However, he had invited Qin Zhen to join the army several times, but he hadn¡¯t been able to succeed. Now, Qin Zhen had clearly joined the Sunset Army because of Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t even said a word, making An Tianzuo very displeased.


    However, this didn¡¯t stop him from liking Qin Zhen. He had already thought of how to train her, how to make her truly become a female Sword Immortal on the battlefield, and not just a female Sword Immortal in the arena.


    Although both represented excellent combat strength, there were still some differences.


    At the dining table, under An Sheng¡¯s guidance, Qin Zhen told them what had happened between her and Zhou Wen. An Tianzuo and An Jing were stunned.


    That punk really has good taste. Or was he lucky? He can actually produce a female Sword Immortal with just a crappy notebook? It must be luck. That punk might have only found her pretty¡­ An Tianzuo couldn¡¯t accept that the person he thought highly of was someone Zhou Wen had unintentionally nurtured.


    After the meal, An Sheng got someone to take Qin Zhen back, but Zhou Wen stopped him and pulled him to a corner. ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy to find a successor for my sword art. I don¡¯t want to see her die.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, don¡¯t worry. Qin Zhen is talented, but she lacks the baptism of the battlefield. In the future, she will definitely become an existence like a war goddess. Overseer has long made plans for her. He definitely won¡¯t let such a person die in vain.¡± An Sheng paused before saying, ¡°Furthermore, in this world, with Qin Zhen¡¯s strength, it¡¯s only a matter of time before she enters the battlefield. It¡¯s better to do so earlier rather than later, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    Zhou Wen naturally understood this principle. All he could do was sigh helplessly and say nothing else.


    He, too, had no choice. He didn¡¯t know how long he could live.


    An Sheng was right. Letting Qin Zhen enter the Sunset Army now, with An Sheng taking care of her and An Tianzuo¡¯s recognition, was better than being forced to participate in a battle in the future.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, I realize that there¡¯s something very problematic about you!¡± An Sheng suddenly sized up Zhou Wen and said in a strange tone.


    Zhou Wen felt his hair stand on end from An Sheng¡¯s gaze. ¡°Ah Sheng, don¡¯t spout nonsense. What problem can I have?¡±

 Chapter 1164 - Bad News

    ¡°We are already so familiar with each other. Young Master Wen, just admit it honestly. My lips are sealed,¡± An Sheng said with a wink.


    ¡°What do I admit?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he thought to himself, Could it be that An Sheng has discovered the secret of the phone?


    ¡°You¡¯re actually a reincarnator, right?¡± An Sheng whispered.


    ¡°What¡¯s a reincarnator? Is it some level? Or a Guardian?¡± Zhou Wen asked in a daze.


    ¡°Stop pretending. A reincarnator is someone who has lived once and returned to the past. Young Master Wen, you are a reincarnator, right? Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t tell anyone,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen finally understood what An Sheng meant. He said, at a loss whether to laugh or cry, ¡°Have you watched too much television recently? Have you been brainwashed by television?¡±


    An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°Young Master Wen, if you weren¡¯t a reincarnator, how could you do so many things that seem prescient?¡±


    ¡°What have I done that seemed prescient?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    An Sheng listed them one by one. ¡°After you became Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple, he entered the dimension and became an overlord of the dimension. You have a good relationship with Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples. Now that Hui Haifeng has become the president of the Federation, he has developed Mythical Serums. It¡¯s like he has a cheat code. Zhong Ziya might very well be the president of the Holy Spirit Association. That fellow, Liu Yun, has footprints all over Earth. He has entered countless mysterious dimensional zones and has stolen countless benefits. He¡¯s known as the number one thief.


    ¡°What¡¯s outrageous is that you have a good relationship with Li Xuan. Li Xuan is almost immortal now. Furthermore, he has an extremely good relationship with the Dugu family and has great influence. Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu both view you as their master. Now, they are known as the dual masters of swords and sabers. Their fame has shaken the Federation. They are the idols of young bladesmen. Even worse is that a random notebook you threw at her created a female Sword Immortal. Do you dare say that you aren¡¯t a reincarnator? You must have known that they had excellent talent long ago, so you established a relationship with them, right?¡±


    ¡°Ah Sheng, I think with your imagination, it¡¯s a waste of talent not to write novels.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain as he turned around and left.


    In fact, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t explain it. Thinking about it, he really did look like a f*cking reincarnator.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a joke. Young Master Wen, don¡¯t be angry!¡± An Sheng chased after him. He was indeed joking. How could there be reincarnators in this world? However, Zhou Wen¡¯s past was indeed like a bug in games.


    Tsukuyomi sat in the stone pavilion in the yard with her phone in her hand, but she wasn¡¯t looking at it. Instead, she stared blankly at the moon in the sky and sat motionless for a long while.


    Eventually, Tsukuyomi retracted her gaze and sighed softly. She muttered to herself, ¡°Must I really leave?¡±


    As she muttered to herself, Tsukuyomi switched on her phone and looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s number in the chat app. After clicking it open, she entered some words. Then, seemingly finding it inappropriate, she deleted them and wrote some words before deleting them again.


    After repeating this process a few times, Tsukuyomi ultimately didn¡¯t send the message and locked the phone.


    This is my life. Why do I have to do so much? Tsukuyomi put down her phone and stared blankly at the sky. She knew that she didn¡¯t have much time left.


    In the middle of the night, an urgent message was placed on An Tianzuo¡¯s desk. An Tianzuo read it again and again with a heavy expression.


    ¡°Overseer, did something really happen in Netherworld City?¡± An Sheng rushed over in a hurry without even buttoning his clothes.


    This was almost impossible for An Sheng. Even in a life-and-death situation, he would tidy himself up meticulously. He wouldn¡¯t be so flustered even if the sky collapsed.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s expression darkened as he nodded slightly and said, ¡°Missing. Everyone has gone missing. The people we sent found Netherworld City and saw where my mother and company had stationed themselves. However, there wasn¡¯t a single person at the camp. From the traces at the scene, I don¡¯t know why, but they entered Netherworld City.¡±


    ¡°Did anyone enter Netherworld City to look for them?¡± An Sheng hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Yes, but they didn¡¯t see anyone,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Madam and the rest are already very familiar with the situation in Netherworld City. Even if they were forced to enter, it¡¯s impossible for them to die in such a short period of time¡­¡± An Sheng said in disbelief.


    ¡°There¡¯s indeed no one. It¡¯s as though they vanished into thin air,¡± An Tianzuo said as he stood up and said calmly, ¡°Make preparations. I¡¯m going to Netherworld City. Also, don¡¯t tell An Jing about this.¡±


    After a pause, An Tianzuo added, ¡°Don¡¯t tell that punk either.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen knows Netherworld City very well. If he travels with us, the chances of rescuing Madam will be much higher,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°His surname isn¡¯t An, nor is he my mother¡¯s son. He has no obligation to risk his life for us,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°But¡­¡± An Sheng wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by An Tianzuo.


    ¡°No buts. Make the preparations. Do as I say and prepare everything as soon as possible. I have to set off before noon today.¡± An Tianzuo waved his hand, gesturing for An Sheng to prepare.


    ¡°Yes.¡± An Sheng could only leave to prepare.


    After some hesitation, An Sheng finally went to Zhou Wen¡¯s yard and told him about it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn after hearing the news.


    Ouyang Lan and company had long figured out the situation in Netherworld City. Even if they were forced to enter, they should have been able to come out.


    Even if they couldn¡¯t come out, it was impossible that they would die so quickly.


    Now that they were nowhere to be found¡ªeither dead or alive¡ªZhou Wen thought of a terrifying possibility.


    Could it be that they experienced all the punishments and saw the true Netherworld? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed.


    He remembered very clearly what City Lord Netherworld had said. The Netherworld City he saw wasn¡¯t the real Netherworld City. Only by experiencing all the punishments could one enter the real Netherworld.


    c


    ¡°Ah Sheng, I need to make a trip. Help me take care of this place.¡± Zhou Wen originally wanted to leave Ya¡¯er behind, but to his surprise, Ya¡¯er looked at him. Zhou Wen knew from her gaze that it was impossible to leave her here again.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, go to Netherworld City with Overseer. You can take care of each other,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to Netherworld City. I want to make a trip to the South District,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°South District?¡± An Sheng was slightly taken aback, unsure what Zhou Wen meant.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, I have to find someone to save Sis Lan,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Who?¡± An Sheng hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Li Xuan.¡± Zhou Wen knew that he had to find Li Xuan as soon as possible and get him to follow him to Netherworld City. If he wasted too much time, it would probably be useless even if he entered the real Netherworld.

 Chapter 1165 - Myriad Elephant Valley

    Earth had undergone serious dimensionalization. Even a Mythical expert wouldn¡¯t be able to travel from the East District to the South District as easily as they had done five years ago. Even if everything went smoothly, it would probably take more than half a month to make the trip.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was proficient in spatial teleportation and had a spatial Calamity-grade expert, Tsukuyomi, by his side.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s spatial teleportation ability wasn¡¯t enough to provide him with precise positioning from great distances, much less teleporting with Ya¡¯er and company.


    However, for the Calamity-grade Tsukuyomi, teleporting them to the Dugu family in the South District was just a matter of waving her hand.


    As he didn¡¯t know where Li Xuan was, Zhou Wen had no choice but to make a trip to the Dugu family residence to find Worm Dugu and ask him where he was.


    The Dugu family was known as the most cowardly family. Even their old residence was built directly in a dimensional zone. The large-scale break-out of dimensional creatures didn¡¯t affect the Dugu family much.


    The dimensional zone where the Dugu family¡¯s old residence was was called Myriad Elephant Valley. There were no elephants there, but the valley was strange. Without the guidance of the Dugu family, even a Mythical expert might not be able to walk out and for the rest of his life would be trapped in Myriad Elephant Valley.


    At that moment, a man and a woman were standing outside the Myriad Elephant Valley with a little girl, a golden eagle, and a white antelope. They were sizing up the stone monument outside Myriad Elephant Valley.


    This entourage was naturally Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi. The chick and antelope also followed. Zhou Wen wanted them to stay with the An family, but they refused.


    Outside Myriad Elephant Valley stood a stone monument. On the left of the stone monument were the words: ¡°Calling to the heavens and earth, none heed my call.¡± On the right were the words ¡°A life of solitude.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at it for a long time and found it odd. It wasn¡¯t a couplet, nor was it a poem. It looked odd no matter how he looked at it.


    If it¡¯s a life of solitude, it might be a name chosen because of superstition, but, when written in Chinese characters, the word ¡°solitude¡± is written in opposite order from the Dugu family¡¯s surname. It shouldn¡¯t be a human name. Zhou Wen looked outside Myriad Elephant Valley for quite some time, but he didn¡¯t see anyone from the Dugu family.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes and ears were extremely sharp. He had long discovered that there were many strange creatures lurking around. There were Gu that resembled grains of sand and dimensional creatures that resembled grass.


    The seemingly calm entrance to Myriad Elephant Valley was actually filled with killing intent. However, the strange creatures didn¡¯t attack solely because they hadn¡¯t received their master¡¯s orders.


    ¡°I¡¯m Zhou Wen, a friend of Worm Dugu. I¡¯m here to visit,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at the valley.


    ¡°You are Zhou Wen from Luoyang¡¯s An family?¡± A voice sounded from the valley, but no one could be seen.


    ¡°I¡¯m from Luoyang, but my surname isn¡¯t An. My name is Zhou Wen,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why do you want to see our Second Master?¡± That voice sounded again.


    ¡°I have something to ask him.¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback when he heard the title Second Master. Then, he recalled that Worm Dugu was ranked second in his generation. Dugu Ge called him Second Uncle. Presumably, this Second Master was what juniors called him.


    ¡°What is it?¡± the voice asked again.


    ¡°I can only say it when I see Worm Dugu,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    ¡°Second Master isn¡¯t home. Go back,¡± the person in the valley said again.


    ¡°Where did he go?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed when he heard that. If Worm Dugu wasn¡¯t around, it would be even harder to find Li Xuan. He couldn¡¯t wait that long.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the voice in the valley said.


    Since I can¡¯t find Li Xuan, I can only try to receive Netherworld City¡¯s punishment myself. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He had tried Netherworld City¡¯s punishment. If he didn¡¯t use Great Brahma to cheat, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident that he could survive all the punishments.


    However, if he used Great Brahma to cheat, he wouldn¡¯t be able to open the true entrance to the Netherworld. Therefore, it was best if he could find Li Xuan. If he couldn¡¯t, Zhou Wen could only give it a try himself.


    Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a bang. Turning his head, he saw a man covered in blood rush out of Myriad Elephant Valley and fall to the ground.


    ¡°Save me. I know where Second Master is.¡± The man seemed to use his last ounce of strength as he shouted at Zhou Wen before fainting.


    Zhou Wen immediately saw that the person¡¯s injuries weren¡¯t trivial. They weren¡¯t as simple as losing consciousness. He was about to die.


    In his body, he could see many Gu drilling around. His heart and other organs were riddled with holes. It was already a miracle that he was still alive.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t plan on crossing the Dugu family, but something was amiss about this whole thing. Furthermore, the person said that he knew of Worm Dugu¡¯s whereabouts.


    Just as Zhou Wen was watching, swarms of worms suddenly flew out of Myriad Elephant Valley like black fog and swept towards the unconscious man.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Bronze Sparrow Sword and made it fly over. Wherever the flames passed, large swaths of worms were immediately burned to death.


    ¡°This is a family matter for our Dugu family. I believe it has nothing to do with you?¡± the voice in the valley sounded again.


    ¡°Your Dugu family¡¯s matters are indeed unrelated to me, but he knows Worm Dugu¡¯s whereabouts. After he wakes up and tells me Worm Dugu¡¯s whereabouts, I¡¯ll hand him over to you,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards the unconscious man.


    The man¡¯s condition was terrible. His body was almost shutting down from the Gu¡¯s bites. The only difference from a dead person was his breathing. He needed immediate treatment.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know Second Master¡¯s whereabouts. He just wants to use you to escape,¡± the voice in the valley said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know if it¡¯s true after asking.¡± Zhou Wen stood in front of the man and began carving the Ancient Sovereign Sutra on the Wheel of Destiny.


    In his present situation, ordinary healing abilities were useless. Even if he used the Rejuvenation Pill, he could only heal some wounds. However, the Gu in his body were still there. It was useless just to heal his wounds.


    Only the Ancient Sovereign Sutra could heal this man under such circumstances and extract all the Gu in his body.


    ¡°It¡¯s not up to you to decide on the Dugu family¡¯s matters.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to help the man, he saw another person rush out of Myriad Elephant Valley.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the person¡¯s face was covered in a black veil. His entire body was wrapped up, making it impossible to see his appearance. All he knew was that it was a man.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯ve heard of your name. You are indeed an impressive person. However, this is a family matter of my Dugu family. If you insist on interfering, even if our Dugu family is unwilling, we can only treat you as an enemy and dispose of you with all our might.¡± At the moment the black-robed man appeared, a large number of Gu flew out with him. It was unknown how many of them there were. Furthermore, there were many types, not just one.


    ¡°If you trust our Dugu family, I can use the Dugu family¡¯s reputation to guarantee that this traitor doesn¡¯t know the whereabouts of Worm Dugu. He only wants to use you,¡± the black-robed man said again.


    Zhou Wen felt that the black-robed man¡¯s words made sense, but he didn¡¯t plan on returning the person. He had to personally interrogate him.

 Chapter 1166 - God of Unkilling

    Zhou Wen reached out to grab the man on the floor. The black-robed man didn¡¯t hesitate to order a large number of Gu to lunge at the unconscious man. Like a sandstorm, they were everywhere.


    The characteristics of those Gu were completely different. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely not be able to handle so many.


    Before Zhou Wen could move, Chick let out a long cry. Countless Gu instantly fell from the sky. Although they didn¡¯t die, they lay on the ground trembling, completely ignoring their master¡¯s orders.


    The black-robed man¡¯s pupils constricted as he urged the Gu, but it was completely useless. Even the Mythical Gu were trembling silently on the ground. No matter how he urged, there was no reaction.


    The man in black bit the tip of his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood. He wanted to use his Blood Essence to jolt the Gu, but the Gu remained motionless.


    How is this possible? The black-robed man was alarmed.


    Those Gu¡¯s lives were intricately connected to him. He had forcefully spewed out his Blood Essence and Essence Energy to stimulate his potential, making the Gu feel the threat of death. Usually, they would fight to the death. Even if they encountered their natural enemy, they would fight to the death.


    However, no matter how he stimulated his body¡¯s potential, the Gu didn¡¯t move as he wished¡ªthey only trembled.


    Zhou Wen had already grabbed the unconscious man by the collar and lifted him up.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you know that our Dugu family has worked with the An family for many years? Do you really want to destroy the trust and relationship the two families have built over the years because of a traitor¡¯s lies?¡± The black-robed man paused before continuing, ¡°Furthermore, he has already been poisoned by all kinds of Gu. It¡¯s impossible for him to live on. Is it worth it to do all that for a person who¡¯s about to die? Hand him over to me. Our Dugu family will think of a way to contact Second Master. You just need to wait for a period of time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you that my surname isn¡¯t An. Furthermore, if the relationship is so easily severed, there¡¯s no point maintaining it.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the man in his hand and continued, ¡°Most importantly, I don¡¯t have that much patience.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen stabbed at the man¡¯s body with his other hand. His fingers that were akin to a sharp blade stabbed into the man¡¯s body with a resplendent glow.


    His hand was like a blade as it slashed across the man¡¯s body repeatedly.


    When the black-robed man saw Zhou Wen¡¯s actions, he imagined that he was going to personally finish off the unconscious man. He said with a smile, ¡°Whoever understands the times is a great man. The Dugu family will remember your friendship. We will find Second Master as soon as possible¡­¡±


    Before he could finish his sentence, his smile froze on his face. Then, his eyes were filled with horror.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s final punch struck the unconscious man. The Gu that had drilled into his body were sent flying. Even the Brain Drilling Worms that had drilled into his brain were no exception.


    The moment the Gu were blasted out, Chick spat out a golden flame that burned all the Gu to ashes.


    The black-robed man clearly saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s attack had beaten the man into a pulp. There was no reason for him to continue living, nonetheless the man¡¯s injuries rapidly healed. In an instant, he was like a normal person. The wounds on his body were completely gone.


    The unconscious man had already woken up. He landed on the ground and crawled up. He looked at his body in surprise and delight.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, my Dugu family is being besieged by a group of unknown people. Second Master and the rest are trapped in Myriad Elephant Valley¡­¡± the man anxiously shouted at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Really?¡± Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the black-robed man.


    The black-robed man wasn¡¯t flustered at all. He said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you will listen to a traitor spouting nonsense?¡±


    ¡°Does that mean the Dugu family is fine?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re not exactly fine. It¡¯s just a matter caused by this traitor. We¡¯ll naturally be fine after capturing him,¡± the black-robed man said.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you must not believe him. He¡¯s not a member of our Dugu family¡­¡± the man said anxiously.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your method too despicable? You want to incite Zhou Wen to become enemies with my Dugu family so that you can escape in the chaos? It¡¯s useless. You are also a member of the Dugu family, so you should know the means of the Dugu family,¡± the black-robed man said indifferently.


    The man was about to say something when Zhou Wen interrupted him and said, ¡°Since the Dugu family is fine, I¡¯ll take him in to take a look. If he¡¯s a traitor, I¡¯ll personally hand him over to Worm Dugu.¡±


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do that. I¡¯ll go in with you.¡± The man was delighted when he heard that and hurriedly expressed his stance.


    ¡°Sure.¡± The black-robed man agreed without any hesitation. He even looked at the man and sneered. ¡°Unkilling Dugu, I¡¯m afraid you are mistaken to use such means to sow discord between our Dugu family and Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen and Second Master are close friends. So what if you let him enter Myriad Elephant Valley?¡±


    However, Unkilling Dugu said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, you have to be careful. Since he¡¯s letting us into the valley, there must be an ambush inside.¡±


    ¡°Your name is Unkilling Dugu?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know who was speaking the truth or who was lying. However, he knew the name Unkilling Dugu.


    This person was very famous in the Dugu family. His birth name wasn¡¯t this, but after condensing a Life Providence named God of Unkilling, he had the nickname Unkilling Dugu. Perhaps because the name of the God of Unkilling was too resounding, eventually, no one remembered his original name.


    The God of Unkilling was indeed famous, but it was famous for being a crippled Life Providence. This was because with this Life Providence, Unkilling Dugu couldn¡¯t even kill an ant. His Life Providence destined him to never be stained with blood.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Unkilling Dugu nodded.


    ¡°Your Life Providence is the God of Unkilling?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Unkilling Dugu and was somewhat suspicious. This was because the legendary Unkilling Dugu was likely in his forties or fifties, and this man looked to be in his thirties.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Unkilling Dugu saw Zhou Wen¡¯s puzzlement and explained, ¡°The Essence Energy Art I cultivate is somewhat special. It makes me look much younger than my actual age. Perhaps this is the benefit of not killing.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and didn¡¯t harp on Unkilling Dugu¡¯s identity. He looked at the black-robed man and asked, ¡°Can we enter the valley now?¡±


    ¡°Of course, you can do so anytime. I still have to thank you for helping our Dugu family capture the traitor. Our Dugu family will definitely repay you. However, you have to watch over Unkilling Dugu. He¡¯s very sinister and he¡¯s cunning. Don¡¯t let him escape.¡± As the black-robed man spoke, he made an inviting gesture before walking towards Myriad Elephant Valley.


    ¡°He can¡¯t escape.¡± Zhou Wen gestured for Unkilling Dugu to lead the way.


    Unkilling Dugu didn¡¯t hesitate. He gritted his teeth and walked towards Myriad Elephant Valley without any intention of retreating.


    Zhou Wen followed behind Unkilling Dugu into Myriad Elephant Valley. Ya¡¯er, Tsukuyomi, Chick, and the antelope followed.

 Chapter 1167 - Unable to Tell the Truth

    Translator: CKtalon


    Myriad Elephant Valley looked like a valley from the outside, but after walking in, he realized that there was a sea of clouds in front of him. Continuous mountain peaks protruded from the sea of clouds. It was a magical scene.


    As for the spot where Zhou Wen and company were standing, it was surprisingly the top of a mountain. Wherever they looked, they could see palaces in the sea of clouds. They looked like real existences, but also like mirages.


    In the sky, there were three suns and seven moons. There were even mountain peaks that grew in the opposite direction, as though they were about to plunge into the sea of clouds from above, forming an extremely bizarre world.


    Zhou Wen turned around and realized that the entrance to the valley had vanished.


    The Dugu family¡¯s old residence was extremely mysterious, unknown to outsiders. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about Myriad Elephant Valley, so he couldn¡¯t help but marvel at such a scene.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the scene of the battle, nor did he discover any signs of battle. This was different from what Unkilling Dugu had said.


    ¡°The truth is obvious. You should now know who¡¯s lying, right?¡± the black-robed man said to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    Unkilling Dugu hurriedly explained, ¡°Zhou Wen, don¡¯t believe him. There¡¯s an all-encompassing taboo in Myriad Elephant Valley. Everything here is constantly changing. Everything is a superposition of reality and illusion. Be it the mountain peaks or the palaces, they are constantly switching between reality and illusion. Second Master and the rest are trapped in the old residence. The old residence is on Boundless Mountain. At this hour, it should still be in an incorporeal state, preventing us from entering. However, as long as we reach Boundless Mountain, we can see the ethereal Boundless Mountain and those people.¡±


    ¡°Since you say so, I¡¯ll take Zhou Wen to Boundless Mountain to take a look. Let¡¯s see how long you can insist otherwise,¡± the black-robed man said as he turned around and flew in a certain direction.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to summon his flying mount, he saw Chick flap its wings and immediately fly up. It grew bigger and bigger in midair, quickly turning into a golden cloud.


    Chick chirped at Zhou Wen as though it wanted him to sit on its back.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw that Chick had such a transformation ability. He carried Ya¡¯er onto Chick¡¯s back as Tsukuyomi and the antelope followed.


    Chick glared at Unkilling Dugu when he wanted to come up.


    Unkilling Dugu wasn¡¯t in the mood to fuss over this. He summoned an avian Companion Beast and followed.


    After flying for a while, Unkilling Dugu suddenly shouted, ¡°That¡¯s not right. The direction he¡¯s heading in isn¡¯t Boundless Mountain. That¡¯s¡­¡±


    The black-robed man in front stopped and stared at Unkilling Dugu with a sneer. ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. You want to use Zhou Wen¡¯s strength to rush into the Shinra Temple. What a good plan.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. The direction you are heading in is the Shinra Temple. Zhou Wen, this is the way to Boundless Mountain. You have to believe me,¡± said Unkilling Dugu anxiously.


    Zhou Wen watched the two of them argue, momentarily unable to tell who was speaking the truth and who was lying.


    However, Zhou Wen was more willing to believe Unkilling Dugu. This was because up to now, they had not seen a second member of the Dugu family. If the black-robed man was telling the truth, why didn¡¯t a member of the Dugu family come out to help him explain?


    As long as the other members of the Dugu family came out, they could naturally convince Zhou Wen. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know them all, he knew a few important figures of the Dugu family.


    ¡°You keep saying that the Dugu family is fine. Then call the other members of the Dugu family out.¡± Unkilling Dugu had clearly thought of this.


    The black-robed man frowned and said, ¡°Boundless Mountain is in an ethereal state. No one can come out.¡±


    ¡°Are you going to tell Zhou Wen that you are the only one guarding the entire Myriad Elephant Valley today?¡± Unkilling Dugu said coldly.


    The black-robed man hesitated for a moment before explaining to Zhou Wen, ¡°Today is the day of our Dugu family¡¯s grand ceremony. Apart from me in charge of guarding the pass, everyone else is at Boundless Mountain. If you don¡¯t believe me, you¡¯ll know when you get there.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that Second Master isn¡¯t around? Now, you¡¯re saying that they¡¯re all at Boundless Mountain?¡± Unkilling Dugu caught the flaw in the black-robed man¡¯s words.


    ¡°Second Master hasn¡¯t returned at all. It¡¯s naturally impossible for him to participate in the grand ceremony,¡± the black-robed man said.


    Zhou Wen saw the two of them exchange words. Although what Unkilling Dugu said made sense, he couldn¡¯t completely believe it.


    ¡°What kind of place is Shinra Temple?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t decide who to listen to.


    ¡°Shinra Temple is the most mysterious place in Myriad Elephant Valley. There are extremely terrifying dimensional creatures suppressed inside. It¡¯s a forbidden zone for my Dugu family. No one is allowed to enter. In the past, people from my Dugu family accidentally entered, but they were never to be found. He¡¯s luring us over because he wants to use the power of the Shinra Temple to kill us,¡± Unkilling Dugu said.


    Zhou Wen looked at the black-robed man who said, ¡°Shinra Temple is indeed our Dugu family¡¯s forbidden zone. Outsiders are not allowed to enter. It¡¯s extremely dangerous inside.¡±


    ¡°In that case, why did you say that Unkilling Dugu wants to rush into the Shinra Temple?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The black-robed man answered, ¡°Others will definitely die if they enter, but it¡¯s different if Unkilling Dugu goes in. If he enters, not only will he not die, but he will also obtain extremely terrifying power. We definitely can¡¯t let him enter.¡±


    ¡°Others die if they enter, but I obtain terrifying power when I enter. Isn¡¯t that ridiculous?¡± said Unkilling Dugu.


    ¡°The matter is rather complicated. It¡¯s a long, complicated story. To put it simply, it¡¯s related to Unkilling Dugu¡¯s Life Providence. If he enters and obtains the power of the Shinra Temple, not only will our Dugu family be damaged, but the entire Federation will also be greatly affected. Therefore, we definitely can¡¯t let him succeed,¡± the black-robed man said.


    Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t tell who was speaking the truth.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, he¡¯s stalling for time. Second Master and the rest are trapped in Boundless Mountain. If we are late, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯ll be no hope,¡± Unkilling Dugu said anxiously.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I know that you have a good relationship with Second Master. If you are tricked by him and forcefully barge into the Shinra Temple, my Dugu family will be severely damaged. How will Second Master forgive himself?¡± the black-robed man said.


    ¡°What¡¯s suppressed in Shinra Temple? A dimensional creature? Guardian? Or is it something else?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue asking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. It is a secret of my Dugu family. Only the incumbent patriarchs know the truth,¡± the black-robed man said.


    ¡°Your claims are full of flaws. Since only the patriarch knows the truth, how do you know that I will obtain immense benefits if I enter? You are clearly stalling for time. Zhou Wen, quickly save Second Master and the rest. It will really be too late if you delay any further.¡± Unkilling Dugu wore an anxious expression.

 Chapter 1168 - Shinra Temple

    ¡°Going anywhere is fine,¡± Tsukuyomi suddenly said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen found it reasonable. With a Calamity-grade bigshot like Tsukuyomi with him, there was no danger to speak of no matter which route they took.


    Furthermore, there was the antelope of unknown level beside him. With such a powerful lineup, it would be difficult for anything to happen.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s character was different. He felt that the resolution of anything with force was the last resort. He had a nagging feeling that there was no way to resolve the problem with force. Once he failed, there was no way out. He didn¡¯t like that feeling.


    Today was somewhat different. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to waste. He had to find Li Xuan as quickly as possible before taking him to Netherworld City.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head over there to take a look.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and finally chose the direction that Unkilling Dugu had mentioned.


    Zhou Wen chose to head in this direction not because he believed Unkilling Dugu, but because in theory, if they were telling the truth, it either meant that the black-robed man was luring them to their deaths, while Unkilling Dugu only wanted to obtain strength. The latter was relatively less dangerous. In both cases, he would be tricked, but the latter was clearly safer.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, if he enters the Shinra Temple, the consequences will be unimaginable,¡± the black-robed man said with a heavy expression. He knew that he couldn¡¯t stop Zhou Wen, so he could only continue, ¡°If you have to go, it¡¯s best you imprison Unkilling Dugu.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head. He had his own thoughts, so there was no need to imprison Unkilling Dugu.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave quickly. I hope we can still save Second Master and the rest.¡± Unkilling Dugu rode his bird and flew in the direction he had chosen.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you know what you¡¯ve done?¡± the black-robed man asked with a frown.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he got Chick to speed up and followed behind Unkilling Dugu.


    The black-robed man followed. Although he knew that he couldn¡¯t stop Zhou Wen, it was impossible for him to do nothing. All he could do was wait for an opportunity.


    Under Unkilling Dugu¡¯s lead, the group flew through the sea of clouds, passing through various mountain peaks and palaces.


    Some palaces were just illusions. They could directly pass through the palaces, but some palaces and mountains that looked like phantoms turned corporeal moments later. It looked magical and strange.


    On many mountain peaks, the figures of dimensional creatures could be seen. However, in the illusory mountain peaks, the dimensional creatures couldn¡¯t rush out. The corporeal mountain peaks were circled by Unkilling Dugu. Clearly, he didn¡¯t wish to waste time.


    After flying for more than an hour, the man in black, who had been silently following behind, suddenly said, ¡°Shinra Temple is ahead. Now is the time. If we let him rush in, it will be too late to stop him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s inside Shinra Temple?¡± Zhou Wen asked. He felt that even if the black-robed man wasn¡¯t lying, he had to be hiding something.


    A palace appeared in the sea of clouds in front of him. Unlike the other palaces, this palace was inverted at the end of the sky above.


    There were many mountain peaks hanging down from the sky in Myriad Elephant Valley, but there was only one inverted palace. Regardless of whether this palace was Shinra Temple, it was an extraordinary place.


    At this point, seeing that Unkilling Dugu was gradually approaching the palace, the black-robed man hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know much. I only know that there¡¯s a person trapped in Shinra Temple.¡±


    ¡°A person?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°A member of our Dugu family. Furthermore, he¡¯s someone we can¡¯t let Unkilling Dugu meet. This is what the Patriarch said. There¡¯s definitely no mistake.¡± The black-robed man looked at Unkilling Dugu and continued, ¡°It¡¯s not too late to stop him now. Don¡¯t let him in.¡±


    Zhou Wen said to Unkilling Dugu, ¡°The palace ahead isn¡¯t Boundless Mountain, right? There¡¯s no need to approach it. Let¡¯s circle around it.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Unkilling Dugu agreed verbally, but he didn¡¯t change his direction. He continued charging towards the inverted palace.


    At this moment, it was obvious that Unkilling Dugu had been lying. His goal was the palace.


    Chick let out a long cry and spewed out golden flames at Unkilling Dugu.


    Although Chick now looked like an eagle, it actually had a phoenix bloodline. It spewed out phoenix flames and Unkilling Dugu and his Companion Beast were swept into the terrifying golden flames.


    The Mythical Companion Beast was burned to ashes. Even Unkilling Dugu was aflame and on the brink of turning to ashes.


    Even so, Unkilling Dugu didn¡¯t die. With his body burning with phoenix flames, he suddenly sped up and transformed into a stream of light that rushed towards the inverted palace.


    He can still live despite being burned to such a state. His ability is almost comparable to Li Xuan¡¯s. Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi. With a Calamity like Tsukuyomi around, it was impossible for Unkilling Dugu to charge into the Shinra Temple.


    However, to his surprise, Tsukuyomi had no intention of attacking at all. She only stood there and watched as the charred Unkilling Dugu tore through the door and rushed into the Shinra Temple.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, but he wasn¡¯t too surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s over.¡± The black-robed man sighed. Although he wanted to stop it, the speed that Unkilling Dugu had displayed at the end was something he couldn¡¯t stop.


    However, the black-robed man also knew that it wasn¡¯t the time to blame Zhou Wen. Solving the problem was the priority.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to trouble you to stop Unkilling Dugu later. You can¡¯t let him leave Myriad Elephant Valley. After the grand ceremony ends, our Dugu family will rush over to provide support. We are still about an hour away before the grand ceremony ends and Boundless Mountain materializes. I hope we can hold on until then,¡± the black-robed man said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll naturally answer for the trouble I¡¯ve caused,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The man in black shook his head and smiled bitterly. He thought to himself, You have no idea how big the trouble you have stirred up.


    However, since Zhou Wen was willing to stay behind to help, he didn¡¯t harp on the matter. He continued, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of power Unkilling Dugu will obtain inside. You mustn¡¯t be careless. Prepare for the worst. If you have any means to deal with it, it¡¯s best you prepare immediately.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded but didn¡¯t do anything. All he did was look at Shinra Temple.


    Shinra Temple was pitch-black like ink. There were no signs of bricks at all, as though it was carved from a complete boulder. The appearance of the palace was ancient. It was only one floor, and it was squarish. It was somewhat different from ordinary rectangular palaces.


    However, this palace had no signs or plaques. He didn¡¯t know why it was called Shinra Temple.


    ¡°Why is this place called Shinra Temple?¡± Zhou Wen asked the black-robed man.


    ¡°This is the center of Myriad Elephant Valley, the core of everything. That¡¯s why we call it Shinra Temple. If you want to ask me what¡¯s inside, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be disappointed. I¡¯ve already told you everything I know. I only know that there¡¯s a terrifying creature trapped inside, and it¡¯s a member of our Dugu family,¡± the black-robed man said helplessly.


    As the two of them spoke, Tsukuyomi suddenly walked towards the entrance of Shinra Temple.

 Chapter 1169 - Nameless Dugu

    Seeing Tsukuyomi walk over, Zhou Wen led Chick and the antelope towards Shinra Temple.


    When the black-robed man saw that Zhou Wen and company were about to enter the Shinra Temple, he hurriedly said, ¡°Shinra Temple¡¯s taboo powers are extremely strong. If someone who has killed enters, they will definitely be injured by the taboo power. If they have killed plenty, they will probably be killed on the spot.¡±


    In this era, other than special people like Unkilling Dugu, who hadn¡¯t killed before? Even vegetarians had to hunt dimensional creatures.


    Tsukuyomi acted as if she hadn¡¯t heard him and walked straight into Shinra Temple.


    Zhou Wen had already engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It was very difficult for the taboo power to have any effect on him. If needed, Zhou Wen could still use the power of the Heaven-Opening Scripture to protect Ya¡¯er and Chick.


    Ever since he had the scripture, the power of the Heaven-Opening Scripture could not only protect him, but it could also be used on others.


    The antelope and Chick rushed in, looking even more anxious than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was puzzled. He didn¡¯t know why the two of them were in such a rush to enter, so he hurriedly followed.


    After entering Shinra Temple, he saw Tsukuyomi, the antelope, and Chick inside. They weren¡¯t injured by the taboo power.


    Even Ya¡¯er, who Zhou Wen was carrying, wasn¡¯t injured by the taboo power. If it wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen¡¯s Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder converting the taboo power into Essence Energy, Zhou Wen would have wondered if the taboo power mentioned by the black-robed man existed.


    The black-robed man stood outside Shinra Temple, but he didn¡¯t dare enter. He looked inside and realized that Zhou Wen and company hadn¡¯t been injured by the taboo power. He couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    What¡¯s going on with these fellows? Could it be that they have a special Life Providence like Unkilling Dugu? The black-robed man looked at Zhou Wen and company in surprise.


    It was naturally impossible for Zhou Wen and company to have the God of Unkilling Life Providence. Apart from the antelope, who he had no idea if it had killed before, everyone else had definitely killed something.


    Furthermore, an existence like Tsukuyomi was an existence that had triggered a calamity. The number of lives she had killed was probably uncountable. The number of sins she had committed far exceeded that of ordinary creatures.


    However, Tsukuyomi was a Calamity-grade big shot. Since she had dared to enter Shinra Temple, she naturally had a way to deal with it. That wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen could understand.


    Zhou Wen could roughly guess that Chick wasn¡¯t affected by Shinra Temple¡¯s taboo power.


    It had the bloodline of a phoenix, and the phoenix itself was a nirvana creature. It wasn¡¯t tainted by powers like karmic sinflames, so it was reasonable that the taboo powers of Shinra Temple were useless against it.


    As for how the antelope did it, Zhou Wen had no idea, but he didn¡¯t find it strange.


    The only thing that surprised Zhou Wen was that Ya¡¯er wasn¡¯t affected. It looked like the taboo power hadn¡¯t descended on her at all. It was unknown how she had done it.


    Ya¡¯er had killed any humans before, so she shouldn¡¯t be unaffected.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think too much about it as he began sizing up Shinra Temple. He saw a seven-meter-tall stone furnace in the middle of the squarish stone temple which had an ancient design. There were patterns like the sun, moon, and stars engraved on it, but they were simple dots and lines. It looked very crude.


    Chains extended out from the stone furnace, trapping a strange creature on the walls.


    At that moment, Unkilling Dugu stood in front of the stone furnace and pressed his hand on the creature¡¯s body.


    The creature had a human body, but it had a bull¡¯s head. Furthermore, it was far taller than the average person. It was probably nearly three meters tall.


    Zhou Wen took a look and a Mythical figure immediately appeared in his mind. He thought to himself, Don¡¯t tell me this is Ox-Head of the Ox Head and Horse Face¡ªguardians of the underworld?


    Unkilling Dugu pressed his hands on Ox-Head¡¯s chest. It was strange. There was a strange force flowing towards Unkilling Dugu from Ox-Head.


    The power suffused a demonic golden light. After it entered Unkilling Dugu¡¯s body, it made his body glow golden. Not only was his body changing, but it even began to condense golden armor that gradually enveloped his body.


    Is that the power of a Guardian? That¡¯s not right. It¡¯s not a Guardian. It seems to have the aura of a human¡­ Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen looked at Ox-Head who was tied to the stone furnace and revealed a puzzled look.


    To simultaneously have the power of a Guardian and the aura of a human, the only possibility Zhou Wen could think of was Wang Mingyuan and Zhong Ziya¡¯s situation.


    ¡°The creature tied to the stone furnace is from your Dugu family?¡± Zhou Wen turned to ask the black-robed man outside the hall.


    The man in black shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never seen him with my own eyes. However, I think it should be him.¡±


    Clearly, the black-robed man wasn¡¯t too sure either. Perhaps he really wasn¡¯t lying.


    At this moment, Unkilling Dugu, who was covered in golden armor, spoke. ¡°That¡¯s right. He¡¯s from our Dugu family. Furthermore, everyone knows his name.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s that hero from the Dugu family?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he blurted out.


    Among the six heroes of the Federation, the only one who was still alive was the old hero of the Dugu family.


    However, what was the difference between living and dying if this was the way he lived?


    ¡°No, our patriarch is still presiding over the grand ceremony at Boundless Mountain,¡± said the black-robed man.


    However, Unkilling Dugu sneered and said, ¡°You are half right. He¡¯s our hero, but only half.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°The so-called six heroes should be seven because our Dugu family has two heroes. Furthermore, they are twins. However, these twins are somewhat special. They basically don¡¯t appear in front of outsiders at the same time. Therefore, outsiders only know that my Dugu family¡¯s Nameless Dugu is a hero, but they don¡¯t know that it¡¯s untrue that Nameless doesn¡¯t have a name. It¡¯s just that they are two different people. They have their own names and no one can replace the other. That¡¯s why they used this name,¡± said Unkilling Dugu.


    The black-robed man¡¯s eyes were filled with shock. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t known of such a thing in the past.


    ¡°Since he¡¯s the hero of the Dugu family, why is he trapped here?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s because he chose a different path and submitted to the Holy Temple. He obtained the power the Holy Temple gave him and even wanted to take the entire Dugu family with him. That¡¯s why he was imprisoned here by the other Nameless Dugu.¡± As Unkilling Dugu spoke, the golden light on the ox-headed man¡¯s body weakened.


    His extremely strong body began to shrink and quickly, it turned into a dried corpse.


    As for the golden light over Unkilling Dugu¡¯s body, it intensified. A golden helmet appeared over his face. The helmet enveloped his entire head¡ªin the shape of an ox head.

 Chapter 1170 - Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light

    ¡°From the looks of it, his strength suits you very well,¡± Zhou Wen said as he sized up Unkilling Dugu.


    ¡°You can¡¯t really talk about suitability. Apart from that old fart, I¡¯m the only one from the Dugu family who can enter Shinra Temple. He has no other choice.¡± Unkilling Dugu sized up Zhou Wen and company and said, ¡°Thankfully, you aren¡¯t from my Dugu family. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to inherit Nameless Dugu¡¯s power.¡±


    Clearly, Zhou Wen and company weren¡¯t affected by Shinra Temple, leaving Unkilling Dugu very surprised.


    If a single person wasn¡¯t affected, it could be said to be a coincidence. However, it was odd that so many people and pets weren¡¯t affected.


    However, this didn¡¯t matter. Unkilling Dugu had already obtained what he wanted. Even though Zhou Wen and company had entered, there was no way for them to stop him.


    Unkilling Dugu looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I still have to thank you for saving my life and helping me obtain true strength. After I become the owner of Myriad Elephant Valley, I will definitely repay you.¡±


    ¡°Since that half of Nameless Dugu failed to become the master of the Dugu family and is still trapped here, do you think you can do what he didn¡¯t?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°He can¡¯t, but I can,¡± said Unkilling Dugu confidently.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I can¡¯t give you such a chance. I have to resolve the trouble I caused. I can¡¯t trouble others,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡¯re making things difficult for me. No matter what, I owe you. I don¡¯t want to kill you,¡± said Unkilling Dugu with a sigh.


    ¡°Your debt to the Dugu family is greater for raising you. You don¡¯t seem to have any intention of letting them off. I¡¯m nothing,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Indeed. Since you¡¯ve chosen this path, you have no choice but to continue.¡± Unkilling Dugu nodded slightly and looked at Zhou Wen. ¡°It¡¯s still not too late for you to back out now.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he looked at Tsukuyomi and the antelope. Zhou Wen felt that the reason that the two of them had entered so eagerly wasn¡¯t just to destroy Unkilling Dugu.


    Seeing Zhou Wen remain silent, Unkilling Dugu continued, ¡°Boundless Mountain is about to corporealize. I don¡¯t have time to wait any longer. Since you aren¡¯t willing to back off, I can only send you on your way.¡±


    As he spoke, the golden light over Unkilling Dugu¡¯s body turned into a blinding light. The golden light seemed to be able to pierce into a person¡¯s soul, as though it was about to melt it.


    The black-robed man¡¯s expression changed drastically when he saw the golden light. He loudly warned Zhou Wen, ¡°Retreat quickly¡­ That¡¯s the Soul-Washing Divine Light¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Soul-Washing Divine Light?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s body was bathed in the golden divine light, but he didn¡¯t sense anything special.


    ¡°Outsiders only know that Nameless Dugu is good at movement techniques, but very few people know that his strongest trait isn¡¯t his movement technique, but the Soul-Washing Divine Light. Those who are illuminated by the Soul-Washing Divine Light will have their memories wiped. No matter how strong your body is or how strong you are, if you don¡¯t have any memories, you¡¯ll be like a newborn baby. You will forget everything. It¡¯s useless even if you have a powerful body¡­ Quickly retreat¡­ Don¡¯t be illuminated by the Soul-Washing Divine Light again¡­ You will completely lose your memories¡­¡± the black-robed man said anxiously when he saw that Zhou Wen still had no intention of moving.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to say anything, Unkilling Dugu spoke. ¡°This isn¡¯t the Soul-Washing Divine Light. It should be called the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. Nameless Dugu¡¯s original powers combined with mine produces an effect that far exceeds the original Soul-Washing Divine Light. Now, not only can this divine light wash away memories, but it can also wipe out one¡¯s souls, turning one¡¯s body into a soulless, empty shell¡­ However, I¡¯m indebted to you after all¡­ Now, I¡¯ll only erase your memories¡­ If you don¡¯t leave¡­ the next step won¡¯t be as simple as erasing memories.¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that he really couldn¡¯t recall certain things, but it wasn¡¯t his present memory.


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi again. She was the one who said that any path was fine. It was impossible for her to do nothing and leave the trouble to him, right?


    However, Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes didn¡¯t look at Unkilling Dugu at all. She kept staring at the stone furnace.


    The Ox-Head on the stone furnace had already turned into a dessicated corpse. It looked like it would turn to dust the moment the wind blew. It looked like everything had been passed down to Unkilling Dugu.


    Tsukuyomi wasn¡¯t looking at the creature, but the stone furnace itself.


    The stone furnace was ancient and the patterns on it were very crude. If it wasn¡¯t so big and in a mysterious place like Shinra Temple, Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t have taken a second look at it.


    However, Tsukuyomi seemed to be looking at it very carefully, as though she was observing the patterns inch by inch.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had no intention of retreating, Unkilling Dugu frowned and said, ¡°In that case, don¡¯t blame me. Let me use the strongest Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light to send you away.¡±


    As Unkilling Dugu spoke, his eyes suffused a golden glow. The golden glow became brighter and brighter before finally turning into a blazing white color.


    At the same time, his body gradually fused with the divine light. It was as though only the pair of eyes that resembled blazing lamps hung in the air as they stared intently at Zhou Wen and company.


    ¡°He has already reached the Terror grade¡­ He¡¯s stronger than my family¡¯s old hero back then. Perhaps it¡¯s really as he said. That divine light might be able to wipe out souls. Quickly retreat,¡± the black-robed man said in horror.


    However, just as the black-robed man finished speaking, he suddenly saw Tsukuyomi beside Zhou Wen move. She walked in the direction of the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light that illuminated the hall like it was daytime and walked towards Unkilling Dugu.


    Unkilling Dugu was slightly taken aback when he saw this. However, he was still very confident in his Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. He gathered all his strength and stared at Tsukuyomi with his blazing white eyes.


    Back then, Nameless Dugu had relied on the Soul-Washing Divine Light to take his place among the six heroes. He had never encountered anyone who could match him. Back then, Nameless Dugu was only at the Mythical stage.


    Later on, when he was trapped in the Shinra Temple, his strength improved further over time. He had already advanced to the Terror grade. Now, with the addition of his powers, Unkilling Dugu refused to believe that this once invincible divine light couldn¡¯t kill the young woman.


    The Terror-grade Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light completely bloomed, turning into two beams of divine light that shone on Tsukuyomi.


    The black-robed man outside felt his heart turn cold. He originally wanted to use Zhou Wen¡¯s strength to temporarily hold back Unkilling Dugu, but Zhou Wen had been too careless. The few of them had actually braved the attempt to withstand the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, but there was no doubt about the destined outcome.


    However, in the next second, the black-robed man¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted as his mouth gaped open as though he had been petrified.


    Unkilling Dugu¡¯s Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light shone at Tsukuyomi. With a wave of Tsukuyomi¡¯s hand, the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light immediately vanished. As for Unkilling Dugu, his body was sent flying as he slammed into the stone furnace. His golden armor shattered.


    Blood spewed out of Unkilling Dugu¡¯s mouth, but his face was filled with disbelief, finding what had happened utterly unbelievable.

 Chapter 1171 - Free Benefits

    ¡°No way¡­¡± In a daze, the black-robed man stared at Unkilling Dugu, who struggled to get up to no avail. He found it unbelievable.


    However, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t care about Unkilling Dugu at all. Her gaze was still fixed on the stone furnace. Unkilling Dugu, who was staggering as he stood up, blocked her vision again. Her eyes focused, causing Unkilling Dugu¡¯s body to fly away and slam into a stone wall to the side. He smashed his head and died on the spot.


    Tsukuyomi ignored Unkilling Dugu¡¯s death. Her gaze remained fixed on the stone furnace as she walked towards it step by step.


    As Tsukuyomi walked towards the stone furnace, the originally simple and crude stone furnace began to tremble.


    The dessicated corpse that was tied to the stone furnace turned to ashes. The chains also shattered. The patterns of the sun, moon, and stars emitted a strange black aura.


    Everyone was attracted by the sudden turn of events, but Zhou Wen felt for his mysterious phone.


    The mysterious phone vibrated violently as though it was about to jump out. Zhou Wen took it out and secretly took a look. Indeed, the Dead Man Tree was stirring.


    Seeing everyone looking in the direction of the stone furnace, Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of Unkilling Dugu¡¯s corpse. Immediately, his corpse was stored into his phone and devoured by the Dead Man Tree.


    A sprout finally grew from the Dead Man Tree that had been barren for a long time.


    I never expected to benefit from nothing. Zhou Wen was delighted, but carrying Ya¡¯er, he retreated with Chick.


    There was a limit to Unkilling Dugu¡¯s strength regardless of how strong he was; however, the stone furnace¡¯s anomaly brought about unpredictable consequences. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take risks considering how this wasn¡¯t in-game.


    However, before Zhou Wen could leave the Shinra Temple, he heard a bang as the door closed.


    Zhou Wen wanted to teleport out, but he found himself slamming into some spatial barrier and bounced back.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, what¡¯s happening?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to turn to ask Tsukuyomi. She seemed to know what the stone furnace was.


    Tsukuyomi stared at the stone furnace and said, ¡°There¡¯s a powerful creature that doesn¡¯t belong to Earth in that stone furnace.¡±


    A powerful creature that doesn¡¯t belong to Earth? Could it be a creature from the dimension? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn. To be called powerful by Tsukuyomi probably meant that it was not much weaker than her.


    Boom!


    Ghost aura spewed out from the stone furnace like a volcanic eruption. Accompanying it was a figure who rose from the stone furnace.


    It was an extremely ugly man. He wore black armor and emitted terrifying energy. Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, he felt his heart palpitate when he sensed the man¡¯s strength. He had goosebumps all over his arms.


    It wasn¡¯t fear, but a natural reaction to overwhelming power.


    However, from the aura from his body, he was indeed somewhat different from the dimensional creatures born on Earth. His aura was somewhat similar to Ice Maiden¡¯s. It was very likely that he came from the dimension.


    However, according to what Zhou Wen knew, dimensional creatures that descended on Earth would be suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. It was impossible for them to maintain their Calamity-grade strength. Otherwise, dimensional creatures would have long invaded Earth.


    ¡°You actually dare disturb a king¡¯s slumber. Do you have any idea of the consequences?¡± The terrifying creature floated above the stone furnace like a god that looked down on all living beings as it enunciated each word clearly.


    Tsukuyomi narrowed her eyes and looked at the dimensional creature. ¡°This isn¡¯t the dimension. It¡¯s not a place you can call yourself king.¡±


    The eyes of the dimensional creature moved slightly as he sized up Tsukuyomi. He said coldly, ¡°You have suffered a lot by staying on Earth, haven¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°At least I don¡¯t have to hide like a turtle,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    These words immediately infuriated the dimensional creature. Ghost aura erupted from his body like a tsunami.


    Tsukuyomi emitted a faint moonlight that shielded Zhou Wen and company behind her. The moonlight constantly clashed with the ghostly aura before silently annihilating it.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t affected by the conflict behind Tsukuyomi, but he could still sense the horror of the clash between the moonlight and the ghostly aura.


    He released Ice Maiden from the Chaos Bead and secretly asked her, ¡°Ice Maiden, do you know who that is?¡±


    Ice Maiden had been trapped in the Chaos Bead for ages. Although there was food and water inside that prevented her from starving to death, it was miserably boring. Just as she was about to berate Zhou Wen, she was alarmed by the dimensional creature she noticed from the corner of her eye. She didn¡¯t have the time to blame Zhou Wen as she whispered, ¡°How is he still alive?¡±


    ¡°Who is he?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked when he saw that Ice Maiden recognized the dimensional creature.


    ¡°Asura, the monarch of the Asura Clan, one of the Octokind,¡± Ice Maiden said with a heavy expression. ¡°What is this place? Why is he here?¡±


    ¡°Asura Clan¡¯s monarch? I remember you saying that among the Octokind, the monarchs of the Celestials and Dragons are the strongest. The others are weaker, right?¡± Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease when he heard that.


    Although Asura was strong, he was probably weaker than Di Tian, so he shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to deal with.


    Ice Maiden read Zhou Wen¡¯s mind and curled her lips. ¡°The Di Tian you defeated was only a Body Cleansing Stone avatar. It¡¯s hard to say how much strength he had. Furthermore, this Asura isn¡¯t the Asura of the present Asura Clan. He¡¯s the previous Asura. In ancient times, he once defeated Di Tian with martial strength. He also has another name¡ªNot Heaven. Like Heaven, but Not Heaven.¡±


    Ice Maiden paused for a moment before saying, ¡°However, in ancient times, his true body descended to Earth and participated in the terrifying divine battle. Legend has it that he had long died in battle. Why is he here? What kind of place is this?¡±


    Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss when he heard that. He hurriedly explained the situation to Ice Maiden.


    After Ice Maiden heard what had happened, her expression changed. After a while, she said, ¡°Something¡¯s wrong. There¡¯s something wrong with this Not Heaven. Dimensional creatures will be suppressed by the rules on Earth. Unless they use the bodies of humans, they won¡¯t be able to unleash Calamity grade powers. However, he isn¡¯t attached to a human, but he can still release the power of a Calamity-grade. That leaves only one possibility.¡±


    ¡°What possibility?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°He has given up on the dimension and betrayed it,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult to explain. All you need to understand now is that Not Heaven is already a traitor of the dimension. He definitely wouldn¡¯t dare let the terrifying existences of the dimension discover him. Therefore, for us who know that he¡¯s here¡­¡± Ice Maiden didn¡¯t continue, but her meaning was very clear.


    Not Heaven was bound to silence them; he definitely wouldn¡¯t let them walk out alive.

 Chapter 1172 - Demon God Transformation

    Translator: CKtalon


    Crack!


    As the two of them spoke, Tsukuyomi took a step back and cracked the stone bricks on the ground.


    The moonlight on her body dimmed significantly, but the ghostly aura on Not Heaven¡¯s body intensified. It occupied most of Shinra Temple and continued to suppress the moonlight.


    The moonlight on Tsukuyomi¡¯s body was slowly shrinking under the suppression of the ghostly aura, causing Tsukuyomi¡¯s body to involuntarily retreat.


    Is Tsukuyomi not his match either? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly. He knew that what Ice Maiden had said was true. Not Heaven¡¯s strength was indeed terrifying.


    Zhou Wen looked at the antelope. It always acted mysteriously and had unfathomable strength. It was very likely a Calamity-grade existence. If it provided its help, the two Calamities might have a chance of defeating Not Heaven.


    1


    However, Zhou Wen nearly exploded from anger. That fellow was standing even further back than he was. He even wanted to use his horns to slam open the door. If not for Shinra Temple¡¯s power imprisoning them here, it would have long fled.


    Zhou Wen realized that the antelope wasn¡¯t reliable. It had charged faster than anyone when it sensed benefits ahead. Now that it had discovered danger, it also ran away faster than anyone else.


    Seeing Tsukuyomi being increasingly suppressed to the point of slowly retreating, Zhou Wen knew that he had to do something.


    He was only willing to use the Immortal Culling Sword as a last resort. The price of using it was too high, and it was very easy for him to be discovered by the dimension.


    Asura had defected from the dimension while Zhou Wen¡¯s identity as Human Sovereign was a secret.


    Apart from the Immortal Culling Sword, what other powers are useful? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He had the power of a Terror-grade but the effects of Terror-grade powers were very limited in front of a Calamity-grade.


    Although it wasn¡¯t the case that only a Calamity-grade could defeat a Calamity-grade, in front of the overwhelming strength of a Calamity-grade, a Terror-grade had no chance of approaching the other party.


    Unless he could break through the Calamity domain and reach Not Heaven, Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was useless against him.


    Zhou Wen took in the present situation. Even Tsukuyomi¡¯s Moonlight Domain couldn¡¯t break through Not Heaven¡¯s Calamity Zone, so it was even more impossible for him to rush over with his strength alone.


    Since it¡¯s impossible to rush over, is there a way to help Tsukuyomi? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Although Tsukuyomi¡¯s power isn¡¯t purely spatial, it definitely contains spatial powers. Can I transfer my power to her? It should be of some use, right? What if she¡¯s just lacking a little? Zhou Wen was considering how he could transfer his power to Tsukuyomi.


    To transfer one¡¯s strength to others was a special technique¡ªit wasn¡¯t something that could be done just because one wanted to.


    Just the transmission of Essence Energy met with many restrictions. If one wasn¡¯t careful, not only would the transmission of Essence Energy fail to help the other party, it might even injure them.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen wanted to transmit spatial powers, making it even more problematic. Zhou Wen had never practiced such techniques in the past. After some thought, he couldn¡¯t come up with a good solution.


    The nine Demon Blood True Dragons can freely transmit their powers amongst themselves because their powers are one. As for Tsukuyomi¡¯s power, it isn¡¯t purely spatial. There might be some time or other attributes. If I rashly transmit the power of Clown Mask or Singularity Universe, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be of any help. Instead, it will bring her harm. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that this idea just wouldn¡¯t work. He had to find another way.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he thought about how he could help Tsukuyomi.


    Wait¡­ What kind of creature is Tsukuyomi? I wonder if the replication ability of the Demon God Body is effective on her? Zhou Wen had a crazy idea.


    The Demon God Body could scan dimensional creatures and turn himself into a dimensional creature. However, typically speaking, it could only turn into a dimensional creature of a lower level or something not much higher.


    The difficulty of transforming into a demon was the lowest. It was worse for other races, so transforming into a dimensional creature was more troublesome.


    In theory, Tsukuyomi was also a dimensional creature born on Earth. He should be able to scan and replicate her. However, her level was too high. Furthermore, she was most likely not a demon.


    It¡¯s not realistic to completely transform into Tsukuyomi, but I can still give it a try. If I can achieve a certain level of assimilation and change my attributes to be like hers, I might be able to transfer my powers to her. Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try.


    After being trapped in Fangzhang Mountain for a hundred years, Zhou Wen had done more research on the Demon God Bloodline Catalog. This was because he had a nagging feeling that the restrictions of the Demon God Transformation were too great. If he could lift the restrictions, he might be able to transform into any form at will, like the 72 Transformations in myths.


    Zhou Wen had many ideas regarding the Demon God Transformation, but due to his circumstances, they were limited to ideas. He didn¡¯t know which ideas could be realized.


    He would just have to give it a try and see how many of those ideas could be realized.


    Zhou Wen stood not far behind Tsukuyomi. Now that Tsukuyomi was resisting Not Heaven with all her might, she naturally didn¡¯t have the strength to care about anything else.


    Zhou Wen engraved the Demon God Bloodline Catalog on his Wheel of Destiny. At the same time, his body changed. His eyes became abnormally demonic as though they were glowing.


    Zhou Wen stared at Tsukuyomi¡¯s figure which reflected onto his eyes.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that things weren¡¯t as simple as he had imagined. Tsukuyomi¡¯s level was too high, and her vital state was too different from his. The Demon God Body failed to obtain any detailed information while scanning Tsukuyomi¡¯s body. All it gathered was some superficial information.


    The information could only change Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance, making him look like Tsukuyomi, but it was useless. It was just a change in appearance that wasn¡¯t much different from an illusion. It had no practical use.


    Zhou Wen made a few attempts, but none of them worked. The difference in life¡¯s natural order was too great, so it was impossible for him to scan and replicate it.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling disappointed, he suddenly realized that the Demon God Eyes had passed through Tsukuyomi¡¯s body and obtained her data. Furthermore, it was extremely detailed.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that Tsukuyomi knew what she was doing and had taken the initiative to open up her body to him. Otherwise, even if she wasn¡¯t guarding against him, it would have been difficult for him to obtain her stats.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he circulated the Demon God Bloodline Catalog with all his might. His body gradually changed.


    No¡­ It still won¡¯t work¡­ Although I have Tsukuyomi¡¯s data, it¡¯s still too much of a burden for me to replicate such data. Unless the Demon God Bloodline Catalog can improve further¡­ Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and made repeated derivations. He also constantly changed the engravings of the Demon God Bloodline Catalog.


    As the engravings deepened, the Demon God Chart that Zhou Wen engraved became even more demonic.


    1

 Chapter 1173 - You’re Right

    The Demon God Chart on the Wheel of Destiny increasingly resembled Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen¡¯s body was becoming more and more like Tsukuyomi. This wasn¡¯t just a change in appearance, even his Essence Energy attribute was beginning to change towards Tsukuyomi¡¯s.


    However, because Tsukuyomi¡¯s order in life was too high, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to completely replicate it. He focused on replicating Tsukuyomi¡¯s Essence Energy attribute, so his body wasn¡¯t completely the same as Tsukuyomi¡¯s.


    However, when the symbol on the Wheel of Destiny completely transformed into Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance, the Demon God Body instantly broke through some restrictions and transformed into a state identical to Tsukuyomi¡¯s. The two of them were like twins. Even Monkey Sun with his fiery eyes and golden pupils probably couldn¡¯t tell the difference.


    Zhou Wen extended his palm and pressed it on Tsukuyomi¡¯s back, injecting his Essence Energy into her body.


    Now, his Essence Energy attribute was identical to Tsukuyomi¡¯s. He directly injected it into her body like water entering the ocean. It directly fused with hers without causing any discomfort.


    If Zhou Wen was only an ordinary Terror-grade, his Essence Energy would be useless at helping a Calamity-grade.


    However, Zhou Wen had Slaughterer¡¯s massive amounts of Essence Energy and the Heaven-Opening Scripture¡¯s ultra-fast recovery of Essence Energy. The combination of the Essence Energy output and the fact that his body had turned into Tsukuyomi¡¯s Calamity body had quite an effect on the Calamity-grade Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen was far inferior to a Calamity-grade in every other aspect, but in terms of Essence Energy, he was able to be of some use.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s Moonlight Domain brightened significantly. Although she didn¡¯t turn the tides, she stabilized the situation. Not Heaven¡¯s ghostly aura didn¡¯t continue its domination.


    ¡°Interesting¡­¡± Not only was Not Heaven not angry, but he also sized up Zhou Wen with interest.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s support, Tsukuyomi only stabilized the situation. Furthermore, Not Heaven¡¯s Calamity Domain was constantly growing stronger.


    ¡°He seems to be able to use the power of this palace. There¡¯s no chance of defeating him here. Think of a way to rush out.¡± Ice Maiden saw the problem and told Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen naturally noticed as well, but if he could escape, he would have long done so. Why would he wait until now?


    Even Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t rush out of a god-forsaken place like the Shinra Temple, let alone him.


    As time passed, the ghostly aura once again suppressed the Moonlight Domain. As for Zhou Wen, he had to keep up his transformation and inject Essence Energy into Tsukuyomi. He was already at his limits.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Not Heaven suddenly looked at Tsukuyomi and asked.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi.¡± Tsukuyomi asked, ¡°And who are you?¡±


    ¡°Not Heaven.¡± Not Heaven reported his name and continued, ¡°I¡¯ve been asleep for too long. I never expected to encounter such a powerful creature the moment I woke up. How many existences like you are on Earth?¡±


    ¡°Why should I answer you?¡± Tsukuyomi said indifferently.


    Not Heaven didn¡¯t get angry and continued, ¡°Based on your strength, there should be quite a number of Calamity-grade creatures on Earth. If I leave the Shinra Temple, with you guys as cover, I might not be discovered. Therefore, there¡¯s no need for us to fight to the death.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Tsukuyomi knew that it wasn¡¯t that Not Heaven wanted a truce. Otherwise, he could have stopped at any time, considering how he had already gained the absolute advantage.


    ¡°I want this human. You can take the rest away. Shall we end this?¡± Not Heaven pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No,¡± Tsukuyomi said directly.


    ¡°I know what you want from him. Don¡¯t worry, I have a solution. Since he doesn¡¯t agree, we can also let the token do its job and let you complete the contract. You can stay on Earth without any restrictions,¡± Not Heaven said again.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He knew that the reason Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t attacked him was because of the Heavenly Happiness Token. If Not Heaven could do what he claimed, would Tsukuyomi have any qualms about protecting him?


    ¡°That thing can¡¯t be contracted by force,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Of course it can¡¯t be resolved by force. However, back when I was in the dimension, I once heard from an Apocalyptic existence that there¡¯s a way to reach a contract without the permission of the owner,¡± Not Heaven said. ¡°When the time comes, I¡¯ll get the person and you can take the token. We¡¯ll get what we need, so why fight with our lives?¡±


    ¡°What method?¡± Tsukuyomi asked.


    Zhou Wen felt that things were going south. With Tsukuyomi around, he still had a chance of turning the tables. If Tsukuyomi allied with Not Heaven, he would probably die today.


    Even if he could pull out the Immortal Culling Sword again, the single sword wouldn¡¯t be able to kill two Calamity-grade creatures.


    ¡°The method is a little complicated, but as long as you agree to withdraw, I can help you complete the contract and let you obtain that token,¡± Not Heaven said.


    This condition was extremely tempting. If Zhou Wen was Tsukuyomi, he really couldn¡¯t think of a reason to reject it.


    Zhou Wen retracted his palm and left his transformed state, allowing his Essence Energy to recover. At the same time, he secretly held the Immortal Culling Sword. He was already prepared to give his all.


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t agree?¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s words left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback.


    Not Heaven said indifferently, ¡°I doubt you will make such a choice. You have stayed on Earth for too long and your body has been severely damaged. There¡¯s no chance of you defeating me.¡±


    ¡°That might not be the case,¡± Tsukuyomi said calmly.


    ¡°If you forcefully break through the restrictions, you can definitely unleash all your combat strength. It¡¯s hard to say if you can defeat me, but if that¡¯s the case, you will definitely be forced to leave Earth in an extremely short period of time. When that happens, it¡¯s useless even if you have a token. This isn¡¯t what you want. You helped him because you wanted to borrow the power of that token to stay on Earth. Since this is impossible, is there any point in helping him?¡± Not Heaven smiled and said, ¡°If you cooperate with me, you can stay on Earth without being restrained by him. There are only benefits, so why not? Could it be that you are really willing to leave Earth like this? I think you should know that doing so is almost a path of certain death. If you are willing to take that path, you won¡¯t have to suffer by staying by a human¡¯s side all the time, isn¡¯t that so?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Tsukuyomi nodded slightly and turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart tightened as he gripped the Immortal Culling Sword he had taken out. At this point, he could fight it out.


    ¡°In that case, give him to me. I¡¯ll help you complete the contract. We¡¯ll take what we each need.¡± Not Heaven seemed to be confident of victory as he wanted to grab Zhou Wen.


    Boom!


    However, a terrifying force pushed Not Heaven back. Tsukuyomi¡¯s body glowed brightly as moonlight swirled around her. It constantly distorted space, making her look beautiful and demonic.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, but I don¡¯t like it,¡± Tsukuyomi said coldly.

 Chapter 1174 - It’s Meaningless

    ¡°Do you know what it means to completely release the power of the Calamity domain here?¡± Not Heaven looked at Tsukuyomi in puzzlement. He really didn¡¯t understand why Tsukuyomi was doing this. It didn¡¯t benefit her at all.


    Zhou Wen also looked at Tsukuyomi in puzzlement. He never expected her to choose to stand on his side under such circumstances.


    ¡°I know the consequences better than you.¡± As Tsukuyomi spoke, the moonlight on her body became even brighter. The moonlight formed halos that sliced the space around her into many distorted domains.


    In the domains, terrifying ghosts appeared. There was Yuki Onna, Hashihime, Daitengu, and Umib¨­zu, who Zhou Wen was familiar with. There were also many ghosts that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Instantly, the entire Shinra Temple was filled with ghosts. It was as if it had become a Moonlit Ghost Domain.


    However, Zhou Wen could tell that the ghosts weren¡¯t the real Yuki Onna or Daitengu. They were just illusions.


    However, the illusions looked extremely real. The ghosts surrounded Tsukuyomi like they were escorting royalty as they majestically marched towards Not Heaven¡¯s Calamity Domain.


    The Calamity Domain that could suppress the Moonlight Domain was now suppressed by the moonlight. As the Ghost Parade entourage advanced, the ghostly aura domain shrank even more.


    The moment the illusory Night Parade of One Hundred Demons touched Not Heaven¡¯s domain, it immediately devoured the ghostly aura in his domain.


    ¡°Are you crazy? With such explosive strength, you will soon be expelled from Earth¡­ Asura Battlefield¡­¡± Not Heaven didn¡¯t have the time to finish his sentence. Tsukuyomi¡¯s Ghost Parade was too ferocious. He had no choice but to deal with it with all his might.


    Not Heaven¡¯s surroundings turned into an Asura Battlefield domain. There seemed to be countless terrifying Asura Battle Souls roaring and fighting inside.


    While the two domains clashed, the power that erupted was unimaginably terrifying. As for the Asura Battlefield domain, it was being devoured by the Ghost Parade domain, becoming smaller and smaller.


    Not Heaven¡¯s expression was extremely nasty. He used all his strength to withstand Tsukuyomi¡¯s domain, but the ghostly aura on his body weakened as he constantly retreated.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, are you really not afraid of being expelled from Earth?¡± Not Heaven shouted as he tried his best to resist Tsukuyomi.


    There was only a tiny area left of the Asura Battlefield domain around him, and it was just moments before it was completely devoured. Not Heaven used all his strength to barely hold on, slowing down the speed at which the domain was devoured.


    The moonlight on Tsukuyomi¡¯s body became weaker and weaker. She was about to turn into light. She was like a goddess on the moon. Her clothes fluttered with moonlight.


    Something¡¯s amiss! Zhou Wen looked at the extremely powerful Tsukuyomi and felt an abnormal power fluctuation.


    A strange force gradually appeared on Tsukuyomi¡¯s body. It seemed to be pulling her body, pulling her into the endless void.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, how do you use this token?¡± Zhou Wen took out the Heavenly Happiness Token and shouted at Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that the power that wanted to pull Tsukuyomi into the infinite void was the repulsive force that Not Heaven had mentioned.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why a powerful existence like Tsukuyomi would die if she left Earth, he didn¡¯t wish for her to leave Earth.


    The Heavenly Happiness Token was useless to Zhou Wen. If he could save Tsukuyomi and make her stay, he wouldn¡¯t mind using it now.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t turn around or take the Heavenly Happiness Token. She only said indifferently, ¡°What will come will come. It¡¯s meaningless to take something that doesn¡¯t belong to me.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re mad.¡± The Asura Domain around Not Heaven¡¯s body was about to collapse. He tried his best to resist Tsukuyomi, but the Asura Battlefield domain kept shrinking.


    However, Not Heaven¡¯s eyes remained firm as steel as he stared at Tsukuyomi and said, ¡°You have no chance. Before you defeat me, you will be expelled from Earth¡­¡±


    Not Heaven wasn¡¯t being an alarmist. Tsukuyomi¡¯s entire body was about to turn into moonlight, and the force that was pulling her had already reached her head. It wasn¡¯t affected by her domain at all. Like a black hole that devoured everything, it wanted to devour Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, this token is meaningless to me. If you need it, I can cooperate with you to complete the contract,¡± Zhou Wen said again.


    Tsukuyomi suddenly turned her head and smiled brightly at Zhou Wen. ¡°If it¡¯s meaningless to you, it¡¯s meaningless to me as well. When it¡¯s meaningful, you can use it to find me.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi, unsure what she meant.


    In the next second, Tsukuyomi turned her head and infinite moonlight erupted from her body. Her entire body completely turned into light as the pure moonlight instantly shattered everything.


    Moon¡ªa pure moon. Under the moonlight, everything was purified.


    The illusory Hundred Ghosts vanished in the moonlight. The Asura Battlefield also turned to ashes. Not Heaven let out a tragic cry as his body dissipated in the moonlight as though he had melted into it.


    Boom!


    The stone furnace in Shinra Temple was shattered by the moonlight and turned to dust.


    Moonlight filled everyone¡¯s vision, but in the next second, the moon was devoured by the void and instantly vanished.


    The moonlight dissipated and Shinra Temple returned to normal. However, there was no sign of Tsukuyomi or Not Heaven. Everything seemed so unreal.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi!¡± Zhou Wen held the Heavenly Happiness Token in his hand as he looked at the spot where Tsukuyomi had vanished with a complicated expression. His face was filled with puzzlement, perplexity, shame, and indignation.


    He was ashamed for doubting Tsukuyomi, and he didn¡¯t understand why she had made such a choice. He had already agreed to cooperate with her to use the Heavenly Happiness Token, so why had she given up?


    Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t fully understand Tsukuyomi¡¯s final words.


    If an Essence Energy Art or Essence Energy Skill were placed in front of Zhou Wen, no matter how difficult it was, he could find a pattern to resolve it. However, there were some things that had no pattern. This was something Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at.


    While Zhou Wen was still in a daze, he suddenly saw a stone furnace fragment on the ground. Ghost aura rose out of it as the Ghost aura gradually condensed into Not Heaven¡¯s body, allowing him to reappear.


    He¡¯s not dead? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed drastically as he gripped the Immortal Culling Sword tightly.


    Not Heaven¡¯s body walked out of the demonic aura again as he looked coldly at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Unfortunately, she failed to kill me. No one can save you now. If you are obedient, you can suffer less. Otherwise¡­¡±


    Clang! Clang!


    Before Not Heaven could finish his sentence, two hooves suddenly descended from the sky and struck his head, smashing him to the ground.


    Not Heaven sprawled on the ground and was dumbfounded when he saw an antelope descend from the sky and shatter the stone furnace that emitted a demonic aura.

 Chapter 1175 - : Orphan

    Clang! Clang!


    Before Not Heaven could react, the antelope stomped down again. Not Heaven¡¯s head exploded as blood and brain matter splattered everywhere.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded as he stared blankly at the antelope. He felt as though curses were running through his mind.


    Not Heaven didn¡¯t revive this time. He could not be any more dead. With his death, the power that sealed Shinra Temple vanished and it returned to its original state.


    ¡°F*ck, if you could kill him, why didn¡¯t you¡­ stomp down earlier¡­¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but question the antelope.


    The antelope glanced at him and said disdainfully, ¡°Do you think he¡¯s that easy to kill? If Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t severely injured him, I¡¯m afraid all of you would have died here. It¡¯s only because he had been suppressed for so long that his strength was far from its peak.¡±


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t have been difficult to defeat him if you had joined forces with Tsukuyomi, right? Why did hold out, forcing Tsukuyomi to leave Earth?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it the same? There¡¯s no difference. Anyway, Tsukuyomi had to leave. It¡¯s something that was bound to happen sooner or later. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for not retaining her.¡± The antelope curled its lips and walked out of the Shinra Temple.


    Zhou Wen glanced at Not Heaven¡¯s corpse on the ground. It looked very similar to a human¡¯s corpse.


    When Tsukuyomi was around, Zhou Wen had thought of all sorts of methods, hoping to escape her and let her leave Earth early. But now that she was gone, Zhou Wen felt a little odd.


    When he walked out of Shinra Temple, he realized that there were already many people outside. They were likely members of the Dugu family. The leader was a person with white hair, but his face made it appear as though he was thirty. He was likely the hero of the Dugu family, Nameless Dugu.


    Of course, this was only one of the two Nameless Dugu. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he was the elder or younger brother.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s guess was right. It was Nameless Dugu. He walked into Shinra Temple alone and took Zhou Wen to a secret chamber in the Dugu family.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, I believe you have already learned about my brother,¡± said Nameless Dugu with a sigh.


    ¡°Yes, a little, but I¡¯m not too sure of the details. Furthermore, I¡¯m not interested in these things, so I won¡¯t shoot my mouth. All I want to know now is where Worm Dugu is.¡± Zhou Wen made his stance clear.


    Nameless Dugu continued, ¡°Qianqiu and I were twins. It was an era of foolishness. In our village, twins were an ominous symbol, just like Gu. In a Gu container, only one poisonous bug can survive to the end and turn into a Gu. As long as a second one is alive, they will continue fighting. Therefore, when we were born, the elders in the family wanted to drown one of the babies.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he wasn¡¯t destined to die. The drowning baby was accidentally saved by someone and luckily survived.¡± Nameless Dugu told a very long story.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t care about the Dugu family¡¯s matters, but as he listened, he couldn¡¯t help but be attracted by the story.


    He wasn¡¯t interested in the love and hate between the two brothers, but later, Nameless Dugu mentioned their entry into the Holy Land.


    The two brothers had entered the Trajectory Holy Temple. Zhou Wen had also entered the temple and experienced many strange things there.


    The Ah Lai that Li Xuan had taken in had come out of the Trajectory Holy Temple. However, there was no such person among the people who had entered the Holy Land.


    The Dugu brothers¡¯ encounter in the Trajectory Holy Temple was equally bizarre. However, after they entered the Trajectory Holy Temple, they didn¡¯t see each other despite being inside.


    Nameless Dugu only knew what he had experienced in the Trajectory Holy Temple. He had only heard what his younger brother had experienced later. However, he was unable to determine the truth.


    However, ever since they had left the Trajectory Holy Temple, his younger brother no longer showed his true face to others. Furthermore, he had convinced Nameless Dugu to share the same identity¡ªNameless Dugu, one of the six heroes of the Federation.


    Nameless Dugu was good at movement techniques, but not only was his younger brother good at movement techniques, he also had the ability to use the Soul-Washing Divine Light. He had even broken through to the Mythical stage.


    Nameless Dugu originally imagined that his brother was talented, but he later learned that it was because his brother had signed some agreement in the Trajectory Holy Temple and obtained the help of the Holy Temple that he absorbed a Guardian to advance to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°After leaving the Trajectory Holy Temple, my brother¡¯s actions became weirder and weirder. Furthermore, many of the things he did were incomprehensible to me. I secretly paid attention to him. Later, I realized that he secretly nurtured many orphans.¡± When Nameless Dugu said that, he wore a strange expression.


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about those orphans?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°In the beginning, there wasn¡¯t anything special. I thought that he only wanted to nurture a faction that belonged to him, so I didn¡¯t take it to heart. However, as those orphans grew up, I gradually discovered something extremely terrifying.¡± Nameless Dugu¡¯s expression was extremely complicated. It was indescribable.


    ¡°What happened to those orphans?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked. He was also very curious.


    ¡°Nothing happened to the orphans. They were very normal. The abnormality was with the Federation,¡± said Nameless Dugu.


    Zhou Wen was infuriated when he heard that. He thought to himself, Can¡¯t you finish what happened in one go?


    Nameless Dugu continued with a strange expression, ¡°In the beginning, I didn¡¯t pay too much attention to it. Later, the Federation developed very smoothly. Stabilizing our families and expelling those devils were many things that we needed to do. However, I¡¯d never seen my brother use the orphans he raised. I found it odd. After spending so much time and effort to nurture so many orphans, it¡¯s definitely impossible for him to just keep them without doing anything. However, twenty to thirty years have passed. I¡¯ve never seen those orphans appear. Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s strange?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that he has secretly sent them away without your knowledge?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought too, so I went to take a look again. The orphans were still there, and not only had their numbers not dropped, but there were even more. Some of them had already grown up, while some were still children. The oldest were in their thirties or forties, and the youngest were only a few months old. When I saw the faces of the older ones, I was stunned.¡± Nameless Dugu seemed to sink into his memories as he revealed a look of lingering fear.


    Zhou Wen wished he could tear open the top of Nameless Dugu¡¯s head to see what was on his mind.


    Without making Zhou Wen wait too long, Nameless Dugu continued, ¡°Those few people¡¯s faces were very similar to many of the famous people in the Federation back then. I wouldn¡¯t just call it similar, but identical. Those people were top figures in the various fields of the Federation. Some were experts in certain areas, while others were Senators of the Senate¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen felt his blood run cold when he heard that, but it also rang a bell.

 Chapter 1176 - The Invisible Hand

    ¡°Those people just changed their looks, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked with an odd expression.


    Nameless Dugu shook his head and said, ¡°I thought so too at the beginning, but I quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t the case. Those orphans had those faces from the very beginning. They did not undergo any plastic surgery. They naturally had those looks.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible¡­¡± Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his spine.


    If it was plastic surgery, it would be understandable. It was simply producing certain people via operating.


    However, if they hadn¡¯t undergone plastic surgery, how could Dugu Qianqiu be sure that they would look identical to a certain important figure when they grew up?


    ¡°I thought it impossible as well, but ever since then, I¡¯ve been secretly paying attention to those orphans. I realized that as long as the orphan existed, I would be able to find a corresponding person of status outside. Even if they weren¡¯t to be found, they were bound to appear in the future. Among them, there were a few orphans who didn¡¯t have a corresponding person of status when they were young. However, when they grew up, there were people who looked like them who rose to prominence¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen became increasingly horrified. He tried his best to think of a reasonable possibility. ¡°Could it be that your brother raised twins separately and supported one of them to become a person of status while raising the other in the orphanage?¡±


    ¡°Among those famous people, there were many of them who were members of the six families. Do you think it¡¯s possible to obtain so many twins?¡± Nameless Dugu asked.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and found it a little unrealistic. How could he get so many twins? Furthermore, all of them became famous eventually. Even an elite academy couldn¡¯t guarantee that everyone that passed through their gates would become elites, much less raise so many twins. It was too difficult to guarantee that all of them would become top figures in different fields.


    However, other than that, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t think of any other reasonable explanation. To raise orphans from a young age and have famous people who resembled these orphans after they reached adulthood, there were only two possibilities. If they weren¡¯t twins, could it be that Dugu Qianqiu had the ability to predict the future?


    Were the experts from the former principal¡¯s expedition team replaced by these orphans? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he found it strange. He asked, ¡°Among those orphans, was there an expert named Chu He¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen recounted the situation regarding the experts in the expedition team, hoping to know if the expedition team had been replaced by the orphans.


    ¡°Probably,¡± said Nameless Dugu after some thought.


    ¡°What do you mean probably?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Nameless Dugu sighed and said, ¡°After I discovered this secret, I thought of a way to secretly restrain Qianqiu and imprison him. I wanted to know the details from him, but he refused to say a word. After I imprisoned him, I went to the orphanage, hoping to bring back the orphans, but I realized that the orphanage had been burned to ashes. The orphans were also gone. They were nowhere to be seen. No corpses were found, and I never saw them again.¡±


    ¡°Your brother had been imprisoned in Shinra Temple ever since?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t know what crazy things he was plotting, so I didn¡¯t release him,¡± said Nameless Dugu.


    ¡°When was that?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Forty years ago.¡± Nameless Dugu gave a rough number.


    Zhou Wen did some calculations. Among the experts, there were young professors in their twenties to their seventies. It was difficult to infer anything from the time.


    ¡°You never saw those orphans again?¡± Zhou Wen had too many questions on his mind.


    ¡°No. Even if I did, I wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize them,¡± Nameless Dugu gave an odd answer.


    Zhou Wen understood what he meant. If the orphans appeared as impersonations, he wouldn¡¯t be able to tell them apart.


    ¡°Your brother didn¡¯t say a word despite being imprisoned for so many years?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to get to the bottom of things.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t say anything. No matter how I tried to get it out of him, he kept mum. However, according to my observations, this matter has something to do with the Trajectory Holy Temple,¡± said Nameless Dugu.


    Zhou Wen felt that it made sense. All the anomalies had begun after Dugu Qianqiu returned from the Trajectory Holy Temple. There was no way Zhou Wen would believe that this matter had nothing to do with the Trajectory Holy Temple.


    Nameless Dugu continued, ¡°Later on, I also sent quite a number of disciples from the Dugu family into the Trajectory Holy Temple, but they didn¡¯t gain anything. Or perhaps they obtained something without my knowledge.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew what Nameless Dugu was worried about. He also didn¡¯t know if the Dugu family had such an orphan or if someone had long been replaced.


    Zhou Wen found it terrifying just thinking about it. A person who had a very good relationship with his family and friends was suddenly swapped without anyone knowing. It was a terrifying idea.


    Furthermore, the people who were replaced by the orphans were basically experts and top talents in various fields.


    Just the thought of it sent a chill down Zhou Wen¡¯s spine.


    Nameless Dugu mentioned a few more matters, some pertaining to Unkilling Dugu. He was a genius, a rare genius of the Dugu family. Unfortunately, his Life Providence was the God of Unkilling, so he could only remain ordinary.


    However, geniuses were unwilling to be ordinary. That was why Unkilling Dugu had tried his best to resolve the problem of his Life Providence. For some reason, Unkilling Dugu learned of Dugu Qianqiu and even communicated with him. He took advantage of the Dugu family¡¯s grand ceremony to rush into the Shinra Temple to inherit Dugu Qianqiu¡¯s power.


    Zhou Wen gained a rough understanding of all that had happened, but he became even more puzzled.


    According to what Nameless Dugu had said, those orphans were nurtured by Dugu Qianqiu. However, Dugu Qianqiu had been imprisoned here for so many years. Who was controlling those babies behind the scenes?


    Trajectory Holy Temple, Dugu Qianqiu, orphans, expedition team¡­ What¡¯s the connection? Zhou Wen felt as though an invisible hand was secretly controlling everything.


    The Dugu family used special means to quickly contact Worm Dugu. Thankfully, Li Xuan was with him.


    Upon hearing that Zhou Wen was looking for him, Li Xuan said that he would rush back immediately and requested Zhou Wen to wait for him for two days.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t afford to wait. After asking where Li Xuan and company were, he used spatial teleportation to rush over.


    Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t too far away. Even without Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen could still teleport over with Ya¡¯er and company. However, he needed them to enter the Chaos Bead first.


    After meeting Li Xuan at the designated location, he realized that Li Xuan hadn¡¯t changed much. He still appeared frivolous, but he physically looked more mature.


    ¡°Old Zhou, it¡¯s been five years, but you still aren¡¯t as handsome as me.¡± Li Xuan walked over and hugged Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt that Li Xuan¡¯s aura was very strange. It was different from the creatures he had seen in the past, but it wasn¡¯t purely human. However, he was certain that Li Xuan was very strong.


    ¡°I need your help,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s very dangerous. It might cost you your life. Give it some thought,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Since you came to me, it means that I¡¯m the only one who can do this, isn¡¯t that so?¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°I still have a backup plan,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Enough of that. It¡¯s not like I don¡¯t understand you. Let¡¯s go,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.

 Chapter 1177 - Returning to Netherworld City

    A strange ancient city stood in the sandstorm. Outside the ancient city¡¯s entrance was a group of soldiers. One of them was a cold-looking officer who was sizing up the ancient city with a heavy expression.


    ¡°Overseer, Charlie Team has already exited the city, but nothing was discovered.¡± A soldier¡¯s report made the officer¡¯s expression turn colder.


    After An Tianzuo arrived at Netherworld City, he had immediately sent four teams to explore it in batches. According to the experience and data he had obtained, three teams had successfully cleared Netherworld City, but they hadn¡¯t brought good news.


    Although there were many of the living dead in Netherworld City¡ªpeople who didn¡¯t even know that they were dead and were being tortured day after day¡ªOuyang Lan and the accompanying soldiers hadn¡¯t been found.


    ¡°Overseer, it looks like Young Master Wen is right. Madam and the rest might have entered the true Netherworld. We need to experience all the punishments before we can open the true entrance to the Netherworld,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo glanced at the officers and soldiers behind him. At this point, there was only one possibility left.


    However, the punishments in Netherworld City weren¡¯t something anyone could withstand. Even someone as powerful as him couldn¡¯t withstand all the punishments in a day.


    Apart from the fact that his body couldn¡¯t withstand it, time was also a critical problem.


    There were three ironclad rules in Netherworld City. Those who committed murder would die, and those whose feet left the ground would die. One had to kill one person every day they entered the city, or they would die.


    There was an unresolvable contradiction, so one had to leave Netherworld City within a day. Otherwise, no matter how powerful an existence was, they would be killed by the taboo power of Netherworld City.


    One had to experience all 239 punishments in a day. Even if one¡¯s body could withstand it, there wasn¡¯t enough time.


    As powerful as An Tianzuo was, and he had countless capable people under him, no one could fulfill this condition.


    ¡°If Delta Team returns with nothing, we will enter the city,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    An Sheng whispered, ¡°Overseer, should we wait for Young Master Wen? He¡¯s gone to look for Li Xuan. He should be here soon.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no time to waste. Every minute we wait means one less chance of survival for my mom and the others,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°But if Young Master Wen isn¡¯t around, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to withstand all the punishments in a day,¡± An Sheng reminded.


    ¡°Commander Lu, you have already seen the punishments in Netherworld City. What are your thoughts about them?¡± An Tianzuo asked an officer from Charlie Team.


    The officer was fair and chubby. He had a smile on his face as his eyes narrowed into slits. He looked harmless.


    However, from his figure, he was at least two hundred kilograms. He was almost the shape of a ball. In this era, there weren¡¯t many people who could be this fat.


    Commander Lu¡¯s name was Lu Bushun, or literally ¡®awry.¡¯ As for why his parents gave him such a name, it was not something outsiders would know.


    Upon hearing An Tianzuo call him out, Lu Bushun moved his body and took a step forward. He raised his arm with great difficulty and gave a military salute. He widened his eyes and said, ¡°Overseer, I¡¯ve tried a few types of punishments. Those punishments can ignore the defenses of the body. Even a Mythical power can¡¯t withstand them. The only thing that¡¯s effective is a body¡¯s self-healing abilities. As you know, Overseer, this is my specialty. As long as there¡¯s enough time, it won¡¯t be difficult for me to withstand all the punishments.¡±


    An Tianzuo nodded slightly and looked at another young officer. ¡°Jingyu, what about you?¡±


    An Jingyu was a few years younger than An Tianzuo. He was an expert that had risen from the An family in recent years. He was extremely talented and his strength was temporal in nature, a rare power.


    Although An Tianzuo had once had an unhappy relationship with the An family¡¯s elders, he was still the leader of the An family¡¯s current generation. He still spared no effort to nurture the youths who had a chance of success.


    An Jingyu was one of the young members of the An family that he valued the most. He had brought him along this time.


    Although according to the family hierarchy, An Jingyu should address An Tianzuo as Uncle, he could only salute obediently in military fashion. ¡°Overseer, I¡¯ve already tried. I can use time acceleration to accelerate the punishment. As long as Commander Lu can withstand it, I¡¯m confident that I can make him suffer all the punishments in twenty-four hours.¡±


    An Tianzuo nodded slightly and didn¡¯t question further. He said to An Sheng, ¡°Make the preparations. We¡¯ll enter the city once Delta Team comes out.¡±


    Since he was here, he was naturally prepared. He didn¡¯t come blindly.


    It wasn¡¯t An Sheng¡¯s place to say anything else. He also knew that what An Tianzuo said made sense. Every minute wasted meant less hope for Ouyang Lan and company.


    However, he had a nagging feeling that there was a huge problem with Netherworld City. If he could wait for Zhou Wen to come along, their chances would be higher.


    However, now that they had reached the point of no return, they had no choice. This was because he didn¡¯t know when Zhou Wen would arrive. It was impossible for them to keep waiting.


    An Sheng could only pray that Zhou Wen would arrive early, but Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t arrived by the time Delta Team exited the city.


    An Tianzuo personally chose the candidates to enter Netherworld City with him. Including him and An Sheng, there were a total of sixteen people. These sixteen people might not be the strongest in the An family and the Sunset Army, but they each had their own unique abilities. They might be of use when facing different problems.


    ¡°Prepare to set off.¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t wish to delay any further.


    ¡°Ah, Overseer, please wait. I¡¯ve left something important in the camp. I¡¯ll go get it now. I¡¯ll be back soon.¡± An Sheng smiled apologetically as he ran towards the tent.


    What should I do? This is killing me. Why isn¡¯t Young Master Wen here yet? Inside the tent, An Sheng was like an ant on a hot pan. He knew that this trip was very dangerous. If they could wait for Zhou Wen, they would have a higher chance of survival.


    An Sheng circled the tent a few times, hoping to stall for more time, but he heard An Tianzuo¡¯s voice from outside. ¡°Adjutant An, if I don¡¯t see you in three seconds, you can forget about going.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± An Sheng could only leave the tent with a bitter expression. As he walked towards An Tianzuo, he held his stomach and walked especially slowly as though he was in pain.


    When he finally came close to An Tianzuo, An Sheng said, ¡°Overseer, I need to relieve myself. I want to use the bathroom¡­¡±


    ¡°Go,¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    ¡°Thank you, Overseer¡­¡± An Sheng was delighted. He could stall for time again.


    To his surprise, An Tianzuo added, ¡°You don¡¯t have to come back if you go. Just return to Luoyang.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a big deal,¡± An Sheng immediately said as he stood up.


    ¡°Can we leave now?¡± An Tianzuo asked An Sheng.


    ¡°As long as Overseer says so.¡± An Sheng stood straight and answered without looking sideways.


    ¡°Let¡¯s set off.¡± An Tianzuo glanced in the direction of the desert, but it was only for an instant. He quickly retracted his gaze and firmly walked towards the entrance of Netherworld City.


    ¡°Young Master Wen!¡± An Sheng followed An Tianzuo towards Netherworld City. Just as they were about to reach the door, An Sheng looked back and was immediately overjoyed.

 Chapter 1178 - Saw Punishment

    Translator: CKtalon


    An Tianzuo and company turned around and followed An Sheng¡¯s gaze. Indeed, they saw Zhou Wen walking out of the desert with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    Beside him was the grinning, cheeky Li Xuan. On the other side was a white antelope and a flying golden eagle.


    He made it! An Sheng secretly heaved a sigh of relief.


    Zhou Wen quickly walked over. Although he and An Tianzuo thought little of each other, they shared the same stand when it came to saving Ouyang Lan.


    ¡°Why did you bring Ya¡¯er here? Don¡¯t you know how dangerous this place is?¡± An Tianzuo frowned when he saw Zhou Wen carrying Ya¡¯er over.


    ¡°She¡¯s the safest with me,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Their gazes met in the air. An Sheng had an illusion that there were sparks flashing where their gazes met.


    ¡°If anything happens to Ya¡¯er, I won¡¯t let you off easily. Let¡¯s go,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly before turning around and walking towards Netherworld City.


    Everyone followed An Tianzuo through the gates of Netherworld City. An Sheng stayed behind him and waved at Zhou Wen, gesturing for him to follow quickly.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan exchanged looks before walking towards Netherworld City.


    Although Zhou Wen had already been to Netherworld City once and had cleared it countless times in-game, he was still somewhat nervous when he came here again.


    City Lord Netherworld, who could toy with the dead, left a very deep impression on him. Even though he already had the power of a Terror-grade, he still found City Lord Netherworld extremely terrifying when he thought about it.


    At the instant he entered the gates of Netherworld City, his body seemed to traverse spacetime. When he finished taking the step, he was already standing on the long street of Netherworld City.


    An Tianzuo and company were nearby. The antelope and Chick were also standing on a stone slab. Everyone had a number on the stone slab beneath their feet.


    As no one had moved, all the numbers were at 365. Even the antelope and Chick were no exception.


    Due to the taboo power of Netherworld City, no one could use Companion Beasts. They could only rely on their own Essence Energy Arts and Essence Energy Skills.


    If there were Guardians, they could also use the powers of Guardians. This had been confirmed through previous testing.


    Most of the officers under An Tianzuo had advanced to the Mythical stage by using the Mythical Serum. Only two officers had contracted Guardians and were wearing Guardian armor. One of them was An Jingyu.


    ¡°Ah Sheng,¡± An Tianzuo sized up the torture chamber beside him and said to An Sheng.


    ¡°Got it,¡± An Sheng answered as a strange glow suffused his body. A halo spread out from beneath his feet, forming an area with a radius of about two meters around him.


    An Tianzuo and company walked towards the halo which An Sheng had formed. When they were outside the halo, the number beneath their feet would change with every stone slab they walked on. However, when they entered An Sheng¡¯s halo, the number beneath their feet no longer changed.


    Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng in surprise. This ability was clearly similar to his Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It was an ability that could restrain taboo powers.


    However, An Sheng¡¯s ability was regional. It was likely some kind of halo.


    Seeing the surprise on Zhou Wen¡¯s face, An Sheng said with a smile, ¡°This is my Wheel of Destiny ability. It can temporarily block the taboo powers of Netherworld City. Young Master Wen, come over as well.¡±


    Zhou Wen held Ya¡¯er¡¯s hand and walked over with Li Xuan and company. Chick and the antelope also entered the halo.


    Within An Sheng¡¯s halo, not only did the number under their feet not change, but it also didn¡¯t trigger the ghosts of torture in Netherworld City. As long as they were inside the halo, they could walk around freely.


    Everyone arrived in front of the first torture chamber. The torture chamber wasn¡¯t open yet. An Sheng looked at An Tianzuo before looking at Zhou Wen. ¡°Time is limited. It¡¯s impossible for us to attempt two punishments. Who will bear the punishment here?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s me,¡± Lu Bushun said as he wobbled his fat body forward.


    ¡°Let me do it,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Commander Lu¡¯s body has infinite regeneration. Let him do it,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°It¡¯s better to let Li Xuan do it. The power of these torture chambers is very special. Just a regeneration ability alone might not result in reaching the end.¡± Zhou Wen had suffered quite a number of punishments himself, so he naturally knew how formidable they were. It wasn¡¯t just about a self-healing ability. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have specially sought out Li Xuan.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, I know you are an extraordinary person. My strength can¡¯t compare with yours, but in terms of self-healing, I¡¯m afraid no one will dare claim first place if I, Fatty Lu, claim second,¡± Lu Bushun said with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s split up,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at An Tianzuo.


    An Sheng said, ¡°Jingyu can only use Time Acceleration on one person. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be able to divert his attention.¡±


    ¡°Just do your job. Don¡¯t worry about us. We don¡¯t need Time Acceleration,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t use Time Acceleration, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t make it in time, right? Although there¡¯s supposedly twenty-four hours, the torture chamber only opens once every hour. In fact, there are only twelve hours. There¡¯s not enough time to withstand 239 punishments in twelve hours,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I have my ways.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain further.


    ¡°Let him be,¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    When the time came, the torture chambers opened. Li Xuan and Lu Bushun walked towards the first torture chamber at the same time. The torture chamber stated ¡®Saw Punishment.¡¯


    ¡°You first.¡± Li Xuan and Lu Bushun arrived at the door. Seeing that Lu Bushun had no intention of giving way, Li Xuan made way.


    Lu Bushun didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he entered the torture chamber. There was a steel saw with a wooden head in the torture chamber. The moment he entered, his body was chained to a log. When the saw landed, it began to slice his body into two.


    Lu Bushun¡¯s expression remained unchanged. The saw pulled back and forth, sawing open his stomach and revealing snow-white fat. However, after the sawing, his flesh automatically healed at an unbelievable speed.


    The saw moved back and forth from his body. It should have sliced his body into two, but after the saw finished one cycle, his body completely healed without any injuries.


    What an amazing self-healing ability! Even Zhou Wen was surprised by Lu Bushun¡¯s self-healing ability.


    After Lu Bushun came out, he gave Li Xuan a provocative look.


    Li Xuan was amused as he gave Lu Bushun a friendly greeting. ¡°Your self-healing ability is pretty good.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± Upon hearing Li Xuan, Lu Bushun stopped provoking him.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much time. Continue.¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t wish to waste a second as he urged Lu Bushun to continue heading to the next torture chamber.


    Li Xuan walked into the saw torture chamber and with a flash, he was tied to a log. The steel saw also landed.


    Others only saw the steel saw fly into the air, but Zhou Wen could tell that there was a white-robed ghost holding a saw on both sides of the steel saw. It directed the steel saw towards Li Xuan¡¯s body.

 Chapter 1179 - Give it some Oomph

    Translator: CKtalon


    On An Tianzuo¡¯s side, many people looked over. They also wanted to know if Zhou Wen and Li Xuan could really handle the sawing.


    After all, this type of torture that could saw a person into two wasn¡¯t something ordinary self-healing abilities could withstand.


    Furthermore, they also wanted to know how Zhou Wen and company would resolve the problem of insufficient time.


    After all, An Jingyu had used the Guardian¡¯s temporal ability to accelerate the saw¡¯s speed to finish the punishment quickly. Otherwise, the saw¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t fast. If the sawing was done slowly, it would probably take ten minutes for the punishment to end.


    ¡°Ah! It hurts!¡± Just as the saw touched Li Xuan¡¯s body, Li Xuan cried out when the saw tore through his skin.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Ah¡­ Ah¡­¡± With every slice, Li Xuan let out a tragic cry.


    The officers couldn¡¯t help but frown. Although they knew that such a sawing would definitely be painful, Lu Bushun had endured it all without even letting out a grunt. It wasn¡¯t very manly to shout like that.


    As Li Xuan hadn¡¯t entered the military and instead traveled around, he had spent most of his time in the South District. Therefore, they didn¡¯t know much about him. All they knew was that Li Xuan was the third scion of Luoyang¡¯s Li family, Zhou Wen¡¯s good friend and classmate.


    Seeing Li Xuan scream so tragically, Zhou Wen comforted him. ¡°Li Xuan, bear with it. It¡¯ll be fine in a while. I¡¯ll get them to saw faster so that you won¡¯t have to suffer for so long.¡±


    When An Jingyu and company heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, they found it odd. What did he mean by asking them to saw faster? Was such a matter negotiable?


    They originally imagined that Zhou Wen was only joking. He would probably use abilities similar to Time Acceleration or abilities with similar functions.


    To their surprise, Zhou Wen stood outside the door and shouted into the torture chamber, ¡°Saw faster.¡±


    If this works, why would I be needed? An Jingyu muttered. He didn¡¯t believe that this would work.


    However, as soon as Zhou Wen said that, the steel saw that was pulling back and forth suddenly became like a connected electric saw. Its speed instantly increased.


    However, despite the steel saw rapidly pulling back and forth, it couldn¡¯t split Li Xuan at the waist despite the tremendous amount of blood on the saw. It looked terrifying, but the saw just didn¡¯t go any lower.


    Li Xuan cried out even more tragically, but his self-healing ability wasn¡¯t inferior to Lu Bushun¡¯s. When the steel saw stopped, he had already healed himself and cleared the round.


    ¡°It really f*cking hurts. It nearly killed me. Old Zhou, it¡¯ll cost ya!¡± Li Xuan gritted his teeth as he walked out.


    An Jingyu and company looked at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan with odd expressions.


    This matter was negotiable? An Jingyu¡¯s face was filled with puzzlement. He couldn¡¯t help but look at the second torture chamber and hesitate. Should he try Zhou Wen¡¯s method?


    The second torture chamber was Oil Pot Punishment. There was a huge pot in the torture chamber, and the oil inside was atboiling point. Anyone who entered would probably be cooked instantly.


    Lu Bushun had already been thrown in. The fats were sizzling and he was turning golden-brown. He even emitted a fragrance.


    This punishment took at least ten minutes. An Tianzuo and company definitely couldn¡¯t wait that long, so they needed An Jingyu to use Time Acceleration to make the ten minutes pass quickly.


    But now, An Jingyu was a little suspicious. Could he negotiate with the oil pot in the torture chamber and get it to fry Lu Bushun faster?


    Since Zhou Wen could negotiate, there was no reason why they couldn¡¯t. If they could negotiate, he could save a lot of Essence Energy to deal with any subsequent problems.


    If they really experienced all the punishments and entered the true Netherworld, they would definitely encounter many problems.


    With this in mind, An Jingyu mimicked Zhou Wen¡¯s actions and attempted to shout into the torture chamber, ¡°Fry him faster.¡±


    After he shouted, An Tianzuo and company stared at the pot of oil inside. They were also very curious if this matter was negotiable.


    However, after waiting for a while, they realized that the pot remained the same. Nothing had changed.


    An Jingyu¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but turn red as he secretly spat in his heart. I must have been bewitched. There¡¯s no room for negotiation regarding such matters. It would be a miracle if the negotiation succeeded.


    ¡°An Jingyu, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and use Time Acceleration.¡± Inside, Lu Bushun urged An Jingyu. The feeling of being fried didn¡¯t feel good.


    Although Lu Bushun had been enduring it, the terrifying pain nearly made him crush his teeth to pieces from all the gritting.


    An Jingyu hurriedly used Time Acceleration to accelerate the punishment time. After two minutes, the Oil Pot Punishment was completed. Lu Buyu was teleported out of the oil pot.


    His golden-brown flesh had already recovered, but his forehead was covered in cold sweat. It looked like he had been in excruciating pain.


    Just as he walked out, Li Xuan walked in slowly. As he walked, he said, ¡°Old Zhou, you¡¯re really mean. You didn¡¯t mention any of these while we were coming over. This will definitely cost ya!¡±


    ¡°Definitely.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he thought to himself, This isn¡¯t a problem. When it¡¯s time for the Wooden Horse Punishment, you can ask for as much as you want.


    When Li Xuan entered the torture chamber, an invisible force immediately lifted his body and threw him into the boiling pot of oil.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Oil splattered everywhere as Li Xuan screamed tragically.


    However, after a while, An Jingyu and company realized that Li Xuan¡¯s body hadn¡¯t been fried golden-brown by the oil pot. Apart from some red spots, there weren¡¯t many changes.


    Li Xuan also seemed to realize that the temperature of this thing wasn¡¯t as high as he imagined. Therefore, he calmed down and leaned back against the pot. He placed his hands on the edge of the pot as though he was bathing in a bathtub.


    Lu Bushun was dumbfounded. One had to know that the punishment here ignored defensive skills. One could only rely on their bodies to withstand it. After all, he had attained a Mythical body through the use of the Mythical Serum. Furthermore, his body was especially strong; yet, he couldn¡¯t withstand the frying and was nearly fried into crispy pork.


    As for Li Xuan, he was completely fine and even had a bath inside.


    How strong is this fellow¡¯s body of flesh and blood? An Jingyu and company were secretly alarmed.


    ¡°Old Zhou, get them to give it some oomph,¡± Li Xuan shouted at Zhou Wen.


    He wasn¡¯t showing off, but he wanted to use the Oil Pot Punishment to temper his body. The more his body endured, the stronger he became.


    ¡°Give it more heat,¡± Zhou Wen shouted.


    If this works, I might as well go home, An Jingyu thought.


    However, with Zhou Wen¡¯s words, the flames under the pot suddenly intensified, nearly enveloping the entire pot. The temperature in the pot rose sharply.


    An Jingyu¡¯s eyes nearly popped out. The other officers were also dumbfounded.

 Chapter 1180 - Repeated Punishments

    ¡°Faster,¡± Zhou Wen continued.


    Time was limited, so there was no time for Li Xuan to slowly temper his body.


    From the point of view of the average person, the Oil Pot Punishment seemed to obey Zhou Wen¡¯s orders as though time was being accelerated.


    However, An Sheng was naturally different. He could see some ethereal creatures¡ªwhite-robed ghosts that were carrying out the punishments.


    When he first saw them, they were slowly throwing in chopped wood that ordinary humans couldn¡¯t see into the fire. However, when they saw Zhou Wen, the two white-robed ghosts immediately trembled in fear. At Zhou Wen¡¯s order, they quickly added more wood to the bottom of the pot.


    It was the same in the saw torture chamber. This left An Sheng very surprised, unsure how Zhou Wen had done it.


    It was indeed right to wait for Young Master Wen to come. With him and Li Xuan around, the chances of safely rescuing Madam Lan are much higher. I hope Madam Lan and company can last until we arrive, An Sheng thought to himself.


    A minute later, Li Xuan, who had completed the Oil Pot Punishment, came out. As An Jingyu and Lu Bushun had been watching Li Xuan , Lu Bushun hadn¡¯t entered the third torture chamber to be punished.


    ¡°If you aren¡¯t going, I¡¯ll go in first.¡± Li Xuan smiled at Lu Bushun before entering the third torture chamber¡ªNail Chamber.


    There were 108 foot-long steel nails in the Nail Chamber. One had to have all the nails nailed through their bodies to complete the punishment.


    After Li Xuan entered, his limbs were immediately confined to the wall. Then, a nail flew towards his left hand. On the other side, a hammer slammed into the back of the nail, smashing through Li Xuan¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Li Xuan let out a tragic cry and couldn¡¯t help but curse. ¡°It f*cking hurts!¡±


    ¡°Just bear with it.¡± As Zhou Wen consoled him, he told the torturing ghosts to be faster.


    Nails flew up one after another as the hammers brandished repeatedly, rapidly stabbing into Li Xuan¡¯s body. Li Xuan kept screaming in pain.


    In just a minute, all 108 steel nails were nailed into Li Xuan¡¯s body. One of them was nailed to his manhood, causing Li Xuan¡¯s face to turn green from the pain.


    Thankfully, although he screamed miserably, none of his injuries looked serious. His injuries automatically healed and there were no signs of any injuries when he came out.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be envious. Although he had some self-healing abilities, he was far inferior to Li Xuan.


    Without any time to daydream, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan continued heading for the next torture chamber.


    ¡°Overseer, do we continue?¡± An Sheng asked carefully.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were faster than them. If they could pass all the punishments, there was naturally no need for Lu Bushun and company to continue.


    An Tianzuo looked at Lu Bushun. Before he could say anything, Lu Bushun took the initiative to request an order. ¡°Overseer, although Li Xuan¡¯s self-healing ability is strong, he might not be stronger than me. Furthermore, it¡¯s hard to say if he can withstand all the punishments with the way he is. If he fails, we won¡¯t have the time to do it ourselves. Please let me continue.¡±


    After Lu Bushun said that, he looked at Li Xuan¡¯s back with eyes filled with determination.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue.¡± An Tianzuo nodded slightly.


    ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry. If things don¡¯t go well, I will definitely not embarrass our Sunset Army.¡± With that said, Lu Bushun walked towards the Nail Chamber.


    Li Xuan and Lu Bushun suffered tortures at the same time, experiencing the torture chambers one by one.


    The two of them had terrifying self-healing abilities. Others would experience tortures that spelled certain death every time if they were in their shoes, but the latter made one attempt after another. Their bodies didn¡¯t suffer much damage.


    The only difference was that Li Xuan kept crying out in pain, but Lu Bushun endured it quietly from beginning to end. No matter how painful the punishment was, he didn¡¯t grunt.


    Everyone watched as they walked down the torture chambers one after another. When the torture chambers closed, the two of them had experienced almost thirty punishments. However, every time they came out, their injuries were almost healed. People believed that there wouldn¡¯t be any major problems and that they would definitely be able to withstand all the punishments in a day.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that things weren¡¯t as simple as they imagined.


    The physical damage of the punishments here was only one aspect. Another aspect was the soul and psyche. Furthermore, such damage would constantly accumulate, eventually causing a mental breakdown. Li Xuan and Lu Bushun¡¯s abilities to recover physically were fine, but it was still a question if they could last to the end.


    However, Zhou Wen was still very confident in Li Xuan. Although this fellow looked frivolous on the surface, his perseverance far exceeded that of the average person.


    Back when he was in extreme rage, Li Xuan had managed to hold back from killing Li Mobai. Zhou Wen believed that he could hold out.


    As the torture chamber would open again every hour, Zhou Wen and company stood on the long street to rest.


    While Zhou Wen was resting, his eyes subconsciously glanced at the torture chamber behind him. It was the Wooden Horse Punishment torture chamber. According to his current progress, Li Xuan should enter the room in the next hour.


    ¡°Old Zhou, shouldn¡¯t you do something considering my great sacrifices?¡± Li Xuan said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What should I do?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t lack anything but a useful Companion Beast. My requirements aren¡¯t high. Just get me a Terror-grade Companion Beast.¡± Li Xuan was actually joking. He wasn¡¯t even taking himself seriously.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen agreed immediately.


    ¡°Really? You have a Terror-grade Companion Egg?¡± Li Xuan was slightly taken aback before he laughed, believing that Zhou Wen was joking.


    A Terror-grade Companion Egg wasn¡¯t something that could be obtained easily.


    Ignoring the fact that the Terror-grade dimensional creatures were in the terrifying dimensional zones, it wasn¡¯t easy to kill them. Even if one could kill them, they might not have a Companion Egg drop.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll definitely get you a Terror-grade Companion Beast. However, we have an agreement. You have to help me complete this trip through Netherworld City,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you have confidence in me? Why are you using this trick to encourage me?¡± Li Xuan said unhappily.


    ¡°Just tell me if you can complete it.¡± Zhou Wen knew that as long as Li Xuan could complete the trip, he would definitely do so. He also wanted to take this opportunity to give Li Xuan a Companion Beast.


    ¡°There¡¯s definitely no problem,¡± Li Xuan said confidently.


    Lu Bushun and company found his words unbelievable. Li Xuan¡¯s tragic cries were still ringing in their ears.


    ¡°Alright, give me your hand,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What? You want to read my fortune?¡± Li Xuan extended his hand and looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement, unsure what he was up to.


    Zhou Wen pressed his hand on Li Xuan¡¯s hand and circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art.

 Chapter 1181 - Already Sullied

    Translator: CKtalon


    In Singularity Universe, a star was destroyed. At the same time, a Companion Beast on Zhou Wen¡¯s body was transferred to Li Xuan. A strange mark appeared in Li Xuan¡¯s palm.


    The symbol was the Planet Devourer¡¯s symbol. It was the Companion Beast that Zhou Wen had planned on transferring to Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan hadn¡¯t raised any questions and came without a word when he requested his help. However, this trip was just too dangerous. No one knew what was in the true Netherworld and what dangers there were.


    Zhou Wen had transferred the Planet Devourer to Li Xuan, hoping that he would have more self-protection abilities. If anything happened to him in the real Netherworld, he might be able to use it.


    Of course, this was only the worst case scenario. With a Calamity bigshot like the antelope around, there might not be any danger even if they reached the true Netherworld.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, a Terror-grade Companion Beast?¡± After Li Xuan obtained the Planet Devourer, he also obtained some information about it. After learning of the Planet Devourer¡¯s level and abilities, he immediately looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    He wasn¡¯t only surprised that Zhou Wen had really given him a Terror-grade Companion Beast, but he was also surprised that Zhou Wen had given him a hatched Companion Beast. Such an ability was completely unheard of.


    If hatched Companion Beasts could be transferred at will without paying any price, the Federation would have long been in chaos.


    When An Jingyu and company heard Li Xuan say that, they found it unbelievable. They imagined that Li Xuan was joking.


    After all, they had never heard of casually gifting hatched Companion Beasts. Furthermore, it was a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    ¡°Why are you giving me this? Take it back,¡± Li Xuan said with a frown.


    ¡°I only know how to give it to others and not take it back. If you don¡¯t want it, why don¡¯t you give it back to me?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Fine! You are rich and have what it takes to be willful. It¡¯s a waste not to take it,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t take it for nothing. You have to help me complete this trip no matter what,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    ¡°That¡¯s nothing,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t summon the Planet Devourer. All he did was test it in its glove state without activating the Devourer ability before putting it away.


    An hour later, the torture chambers opened again. Li Xuan strode to the next torture chamber and muttered, ¡°If there¡¯s such a good deal next time, remember to get me again.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll definitely look for you,¡± Zhou Wen replied with a smile.


    They cleared one torture chamber after another. Although Li Xuan cried out tragically, he managed to hold through them all. Finally, he arrived in front of the Wooden Horse Punishment torture chamber.


    Li Xuan looked inside and his expression changed when he saw the wooden horse with horns on its back. Just as he was about to retreat, Zhou Wen kicked him into the wooden horse room.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Zhou Wen, you tricked me¡­ Ah¡­¡± Li Xuan¡¯s cursing suddenly stopped. Then, there was a tragic cry and dead silence.


    ¡°Quickly finish it.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t look inside and covered his eyes with his hand as he shouted.


    A minute later, Li Xuan limped out. His eyes were filled with tears as he wore a look of despair as though he was a maiden who had been defiled by a hundred men.


    His lips trembled as he held his buttocks with one hand and pointed at Zhou Wen with a trembling finger. After a while, he said, ¡°F*ck you.¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen lowered his head and whispered like an old monk, ¡°Ahem, form is emptiness and emptiness is form. Everything else is fleeting. It doesn¡¯t exist. It doesn¡¯t exist.¡±


    1


    ¡°F*ck your not existing. My first time is gone just like that. I feel that I¡¯m not pure anymore. I¡¯m already sullied¡­¡± Li Xuan looked up at a 45-degree angle as though he was holding back his tears.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. No one saw it. I covered my eyes,¡± Zhou Wen said with a fawning smile.


    ¡°Cover my ass! The gap between your fingers was bigger than the Grand Canyon,¡± Li Xuan said angrily.


    ¡°Ahem, aren¡¯t you able to heal yourself? It¡¯s fine. You¡¯re completely fine now. Let¡¯s forget about the past. It won¡¯t affect anything anyway,¡± Zhou Wen said carefully.


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Li Xuan glared at him. ¡°Be honest. Are there such punishments further on?¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­ Perhaps¡­ There¡¯s still¡­ some¡­ I guess¡­¡± Zhou Wen stammered.


    ¡°F*ck it, I quit,¡± Li Xuan said angrily.


    ¡°You¡¯ve taken the Companion Beast. Didn¡¯t you say that there¡¯s definitely no problem? Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯ll be alright?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan¡¯s lips moved, but he didn¡¯t say a word for a while. Finally, he said hatefully, ¡°Blame my luck for getting in too deep. Tell me honestly, how many more such punishments are there?¡±


    ¡°About three¡­ four¡­ five¡­ six¡­ seven¡­ eight¡­¡±


    ¡°How many?¡±


    ¡°Nine.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen, screw you. You will die a horrible death.¡±


    Despite cursing, Li Xuan could only bite the bullet and walk to the next torture chamber.


    An Tianzuo and company were curious as to what torture chamber it was that nearly made Li Xuan fall out with Zhou Wen. As their progress was much slower than Zhou Wen and company¡¯s, they hadn¡¯t seen the situation inside the Wooden House Punishment torture chamber.


    When they walked over to take a look, their expressions immediately changed. Their expressions when they looked at Lu Bushun became odd.


    Lu Bushun¡¯s face was also somewhat pale. He felt his throat go dry. His lips quivered, but he didn¡¯t say a word. All he did was gulp.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head over now.¡± In the end, it was An Tianzuo who gave the order. He led the others over, leaving Lu Bushun and An Jingyu in front of the Wooden Horse Punishment torture chamber.


    Lu Bushun closed his eyes and gritted his teeth before charging into the torture chamber.


    In an hour, Li Xuan could withstand more than thirty punishments, while Lu Bushun could do about twenty plus. The main reason was that An Jingyu¡¯s Time Acceleration wasn¡¯t as effective as Zhou Wen¡¯s words, so Lu Bushun was a little slower.


    After suffering more than half the tortures, everyone could clearly sense that something was amiss with Lu Bushun.


    Although his body looked like it had recovered, his expression was ugly. His expression was extremely grotesque as his body seemed to tremble slightly.


    ¡°Commander Lu, there¡¯s no need to force it,¡± An Tianzuo said to Lu Bushun.


    Lu Bushun looked at Li Xuan in front of him. Although Li Xuan kept screaming, he still persisted. Furthermore, his condition didn¡¯t seem as bad as Lu Bushun¡¯s.


    ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry. I can still persist. I won¡¯t embarrass our Sunset Army.¡± As Lu Bushun spoke, he strode towards the next torture chamber.


    However, when Lu Bushun came out, he became even more beaten.


    How did he persist all this time? Lu Bushun already knew the horror of consecutive punishments. Every time he was tortured, he felt as though he had entered hell. The pain had exceeded the limits of what humans could endure. Furthermore, as the number of punishments increased, the pain continued to increase.


    Now, whenever Lu Bushun looked at a torture chamber¡¯s door, he felt a kind of forbidding horror. It was as though it wasn¡¯t a door but the entrance to hell.

 Chapter 1182 - : The Last Torture Chamber

    Zhou Wen realized that there were fewer of the living dead in Netherworld City than the last time he came. He didn¡¯t see Chu He either.


    Could it be that Chu He¡¯s soul has already dissipated and can no longer be revived? Zhou Wen knew that the living dead in Netherworld City would constantly revive and repeat a life of torture.


    However, every time they died, a portion of their memories would be erased.


    Now that Chu He had vanished, it was highly likely that he was completely dead and had no chance of reviving.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was observing, he heard a tragic cry. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t from Li Xuan, but Lu Bushun.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw that Lu Bushun wasn¡¯t in the torture chamber. He had already arrived outside, but he was slumped there with his two hands covering his head. His body trembled violently as he let out a horrified cry.


    ¡°Old Lu, are you alright? You are already out.¡± The officer who had a good relationship with Lu Bushun immediately pounced forward and shook his hand.


    Gradually, Lu Bushun recovered. His eyes focused again as he became angry.


    He stopped screaming and his body stopped trembling. However, his hand still trembled involuntarily.


    ¡°Overseer, I¡¯ll rest for two minutes before we continue,¡± Lu Bushun said as he struggled to stand up.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to continue. Rest,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Overseer, I can do it. I just need to rest for a while,¡± Lu Bushun hurriedly said.


    ¡°That shall be all. It¡¯s an order,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Yes, Overseer.¡± Lu Bushun saluted and had no choice but to stop.


    In fact, Lu Bushun knew very well that it was very difficult for him to continue. Even if he continued experiencing the tortures, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to last more than a few chambers before he went crazy.


    Looking at Li Xuan again, he realized that he had already exceeded him by more than twenty torture chambers. Although he could hear Li Xuan¡¯s tragic cries, Li Xuan still persisted. He showed no signs of Lu Bushun¡¯s situation.


    An Tianzuo glanced at Lu Bushun¡¯s chamber. It was the 134th torture chamber. There were still more than a hundred chambers from the 239th torture chamber, but Lu Bushun was at his limits. The difference was just too great.


    And ahead, Li Xuan happened to come out of the torture chamber. He was still bickering with Zhou Wen, showing no signs of Lu Bushun¡¯s situation.


    ¡°The Li family¡¯s three brothers aren¡¯t simple. Unfortunately, the Li family¡¯s eldest brother died too early. Otherwise, the Li family would definitely have been a hegemon,¡± An Tianzuo said with a sigh.


    ¡°Li Xuan and Young Master Wen have an extremely good relationship. The Li family will likely help Luoyang in the future. This is a good thing,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°That depends on whether we can return alive.¡± An Tianzuo also knew that there would be great danger this time.


    ¡°With you and Young Master Wen around, we will definitely be able to return alive,¡± An Sheng said firmly.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t say a word as he looked at Zhou Wen and Li Xuan in front of him. Whether they could enter the true Netherworld now depended on them.


    Li Xuan entered the torture chamber again. Although he was still chatting and laughing, Zhou Wen could sense that he was under immense pressure.


    Being tortured repeatedly was different from being tortured by a random punishment. The damage to one¡¯s mind and soul constantly accumulated. Even if one rested for an hour, it was impossible to expel all the buildup.


    He could only rely on his psyche and beliefs to persist. There was no other way.


    Li Xuan¡¯s screams were still tragic, but it additionally chilled the hearts of those who heard him.


    Zhou Wen knew that he was truly in pain, and it was the kind that was produced when he was close to his limits.


    There are still 23 torture chambers left. The torture chambers will open another three times today. Adding to this instance, there¡¯s more than enough time. Let¡¯s see if Li Xuan can last to the end. Zhou Wen counted the remaining torture chambers.


    ¡°Do you want to rest for a while? There¡¯s still plenty of time,¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought when he saw Li Xuan come out.


    Li Xuan shook his head. He wasn¡¯t injured, but his face was pale. However, there was a strange red flush on his pale face.


    ¡°Continue,¡± Li Xuan said as he walked to the next torture chamber.


    An Tianzuo and company had already rushed over. When they saw Li Xuan being tortured, their hearts skipped a beat.


    Even a veteran soldier like Lu Bushun couldn¡¯t withstand the pain of the punishments. He had long broken down.


    The fact that Li Xuan could last until now had already impressed them. However, Li Xuan¡¯s situation seemed to be worsening. They were somewhat worried if Li Xuan could reach the end.


    When Li Xuan came out again, he nearly fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen was quick to react and went forward to help him up.


    Li Xuan wasn¡¯t injured and he still had strength left, but his mind was in a terrible mental state.


    ¡°How many torture chambers are there left?¡± Li Xuan asked again.


    ¡°Twenty-two,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Li Xuan pushed Zhou Wen¡¯s hand away and walked in.


    This time, the torture chamber was the torture of the hot pillar. After Li Xuan entered, he was tied to the iron pillar with his hands and feet hugging it. His face and body were stuck to it.


    Sizzle!


    White smoke rose from Li Xuan¡¯s body and a burnt smell accompanied it. In an instant, Li Xuan had lost his human form. Just looking at him made one¡¯s legs go limp, much less Li Xuan, who was being tortured. It was difficult to imagine how much pain he was in.


    But now, Li Xuan stopped screaming.


    Zhou Wen ordered the punishment ghosts to speed up, but the torture of the hot pillar needed one to endure it for ten minutes. Even if the punishment ghosts wanted to speed it up, they couldn¡¯t do so.


    ¡°Lend him to me. Any condition is fine.¡± Zhou Wen came in front of An Tianzuo and pointed at An Jingyu.


    He wasn¡¯t good at accelerating time, so he could only seek help from others to accelerate Li Xuan¡¯s torture.


    ¡°This is my family¡¯s business to begin with,¡± An Tianzuo said before ordering, ¡°Jingyu, cooperate with them to complete the remaining punishments.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± An Jingyu quickly stepped forward and used Time Acceleration on the hot pillar.


    However, Time Acceleration could only accelerate time, but it couldn¡¯t shorten it. Li Xuan still suffered the same pain.


    As time accelerated, a black carapace suddenly appeared on Li Xuan¡¯s body and quickly enveloped him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart tightened when he saw the carapace on Li Xuan¡¯s body.


    Li Xuan¡¯s Life Soul and Wheel of Destiny were unique. Other people¡¯s Life Souls and Wheel of Destiny were separate, but his was one. It was somewhat similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s situation, but it wasn¡¯t completely the same.


    The carapace could be said to be his second life. The appearance of the carapace meant that Li Xuan was indeed reaching his limits.


    After the carapace appeared, Li Xuan¡¯s condition improved significantly. After enduring the punishment of hot pillar, he walked straight to the next torture chamber.


    He was in a much better state. He went to the torture chambers one after another without any hesitation.


    One couldn¡¯t see his expression under the carapace, but one could tell from his trembling body that he was enduring the pain with all his might. He didn¡¯t even dare say a word, afraid that he would lose the grit the moment he opened his mouth, losing the courage to continue the journey.


    Seeing that there was only one torture chamber left, Zhou Wen and company were extremely nervous. The last torture chamber¡¯s door had the words ¡°Dream Punishment.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked into the room, but he didn¡¯t see the white-robed punishment ghost. All he saw was a white-haired old woman sitting inside.

 Chapter 1183 - Thousand Year Dream

    What punishment is Dream Punishment? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Apart from the white-haired granny, the stone table, and the stone bench, he didn¡¯t see anything else in the room.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any danger, but Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. He held back Li Xuan, who was about to enter the torture chamber.


    ¡°What?¡± Li Xuan¡¯s voice was somewhat hoarse.


    Zhou Wen could sense his body trembling slightly. It was an uncontrollable spasm, not because of the damage to his body, but because of the psychological pressure.


    Although Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t attempted all the punishments in the past, from his attempts, he knew that the mental pressure and damage were immense. Even Zhou Wen suffered immense pressure despite his tenacity¡ªand that was when he hadn¡¯t attempted all the punishments.


    However, even if the pressure was greater, Zhou Wen was likely able to withstand it. However, his recovery ability wasn¡¯t as strong as Li Xuan¡¯s. It was impossible for him to withstand all the punishments in such a short period of time.


    ¡°This torture chamber is the last torture chamber. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that simple. It might be very dangerous,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know if it¡¯s dangerous after I enter. Anyway, we have to clear this round. There¡¯s no need to think too much,¡± Li Xuan said as he walked into the Dream Punishment Chamber.


    Zhou Wen knew that Li Xuan was just saying that to make things appear fine, but he felt uneasy when he looked at the white-haired granny.


    There were a total of 239 torture chambers on the long street. The other 238 torture chambers were filled with ordinary punishment ghosts. Only this room had a white-haired old lady. From this, one could tell that this torture chamber was definitely not simple.


    However, just as Li Xuan had said, even if he knew that there were risks, he had to clear it.


    After Li Xuan walked into the torture chamber, he wasn¡¯t directly placed on torture equipment like before. He could still move freely as though he was outside.


    ¡°What punishment is this? Do you want me to sleep here and have a dream?¡± Li Xuan said to the white-haired granny.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng suddenly realized that something was amiss. This was because only they could see the torture ghosts from before. Others couldn¡¯t see them, but now, Li Xuan could see the white-haired granny.


    ¡°Can you see the white-haired granny inside?¡± An Sheng immediately asked Lu Bushun and company.


    ¡°I can see her. Your question is weird. Are we not supposed to see her?¡± Lu Bushun asked An Sheng in puzzlement as the others looked at him.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng exchanged looks. They knew that there was indeed a huge problem with this torture chamber.


    An Tianzuo also looked at An Sheng, wanting to know what he meant. Just as An Sheng was about to say something, the white-haired old lady inside suddenly moved. Everyone¡¯s eyes were immediately attracted to her, so An Sheng didn¡¯t say a word.


    The white-haired granny took out a tea bowl and a teapot from somewhere. She placed the tea bowl on the stone table in front of her and slowly poured water to fill it.


    The tea in the bowl was a jade-green color, as though it had been soaked in bamboo leaves. However, there wasn¡¯t a single tea leaf inside, much less a bamboo leaf.


    ¡°One dream in a thousand years; one dream for a thousand years. Drink this bowl of Thousand Year Dream. If you can walk out of it alive, you will be able to see the real Netherworld,¡± the white-haired old lady said in a strange tone that made one feel uncomfortable.


    ¡°You mean that I¡¯ll sleep for a thousand years after drinking this bowl of tea?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°It won¡¯t take that long since you don¡¯t have that long of a lifespan. Even if you do, you would starve to death before being able to sleep for a thousand years,¡± the white-haired old granny said with a smile.


    ¡°My body is fine. I don¡¯t need to sleep that much. Can I wake up early?¡± Li Xuan asked again.


    ¡°No. Even if a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal descends to the mortal world and drinks this bowl of Thousand Year Dream, he will definitely sleep for a thousand years. Not one second more, not one second less,¡± the white-haired granny said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no solution?¡± Li Xuan frowned.


    ¡°There¡¯s one.¡± The white-haired granny¡¯s answer surprised everyone.


    ¡°What?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°One dream for a thousand years; one dream in a thousand years.¡± The white-haired granny repeated what she had said with a smile.


    ¡°Li Xuan, come back.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed as he called Li Xuan out.


    An Tianzuo and An Sheng¡¯s expressions changed. Clearly, they understood what the white-haired granny meant.


    One dream for a thousand years meant that this single dream would last for a thousand years. When the white-haired granny said that there was a solution, it was implying the first half of the sentence.


    Since he could have one dream in a thousand years, he could also spend a thousand years in a dream but only spend a day or less in reality.


    From the sound of it, having one dream in a thousand years was much easier than having a dream last a thousand years. After all, it was only a thousand years in a dream. In reality, he wouldn¡¯t starve to death or be injured. It didn¡¯t seem dangerous.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case. To spend a thousand years in a dream, ignoring what kind of dream it was, just a thousand years was enough to make one¡¯s will collapse.


    Zhou Wen had been trapped on Fangzhang Mountain for only a hundred years. He had relied on his powerful willpower and focus on cultivation to last for a hundred years.


    However, that didn¡¯t mean that Zhou Wen was having a good time. If it hadn¡¯t been for his extreme focus, he would have gone crazy from being imprisoned for a century.


    Li Xuan clearly understood what the white-haired granny meant and asked, ¡°One dream in a thousand years¡­ How long is this dream?¡±


    ¡°Take the 238 prior punishments as one cycle, and one cycle lasts a day. If you want it long and have a long dream, it can be long. If you want it short, it can also be short. It all depends on your will,¡± said the white-haired granny.


    ¡°Li Xuan, come back. There¡¯s no need to continue. Sis Lan and company definitely wouldn¡¯t have been able to clear this round. It¡¯s impossible for them to have entered the true Netherworld,¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed as he said to the white-haired granny.


    The white-haired granny had already made it very clear that suffering all the prior punishments in the dream was only considered a day. Then, how many times would he have to suffer in a dream that lasted a thousand years? Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to do the math, nor did he wish to.


    No matter how resilient Li Xuan was, he had to suffer all the punishments once a day for a thousand years. To experience a thousand years like that would give a normal person a mental breakdown.


    ¡°Let¡¯s end it here,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    Although there were various signs that Sis Lan and company had indeed entered Netherworld City, they hadn¡¯t seen them in Netherworld City. It was highly likely that they had entered the real Netherworld. He wanted to enter no matter what.


    However, such punishments weren¡¯t something humans could withstand. An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t willing to see Li Xuan die for nothing.


    However, Li Xuan had no intention of leaving the torture chamber. He looked back at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Since Sis Lan and company have entered Netherworld City, there¡¯s no other possibility. They must have entered the real Netherworld. Since we¡¯re here, we have to go in and take a look regardless.¡±

 Chapter 1184 - Li Xuan’s Terror Transformation

    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he teleported into the Dream Punishment Chamber, hoping to pull Li Xuan out.


    In the past, when he activated Great Brahma, he could do whatever he wanted. Even the punishment ghosts had to obey him, but this time, it was different.


    Zhou Wen was repelled by a force, preventing him from rushing into the torture chamber.


    ¡°One dream in a thousand years¡ªliving an additional thousand years longer than others is a good thing. It¡¯s not something one can even beg for, so I lucked out,¡± Li Xuan said as he reached out to pick up the tea bowl.


    ¡°Li Xuan, don¡¯t be silly. There¡¯s no need to do this. We can think of another solution.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he condensed his strongest Terror power, hoping to rush in to stop Li Xuan.


    However, for some reason, this torture chamber was completely different from the previous torture chambers. His Terror powers couldn¡¯t penetrate it at all.


    ¡°Old Zhou, don¡¯t be anxious. I¡¯ll be out in a jiffy. If I don¡¯t come out in time, wait for me outside,¡± Li Xuan said as he drank the bowl of Thousand Year Dream without leaving a single drop.


    ¡°Nice tea.¡± Li Xuan licked his lips. Just as he finished speaking, he collapsed to the ground and fell asleep.


    ¡°Let him out.¡± Great Brahma appeared behind Zhou Wen as he attempted to order the white-haired granny to release Li Xuan.


    However, the white-haired granny remained unperturbed. She sat there calmly and looked at Li Xuan who was sleeping on the ground.


    An Tianzuo frowned as An Sheng shook his head with a bitter smile. Although one¡¯s body wasn¡¯t injured in the dream of a thousand years of torture, the mental pressure was enough to make any steel-willed human collapse.


    An Sheng and An Tianzuo were people with extremely powerful wills, but even they didn¡¯t dare claim that they could definitely withstand the torture.


    Although the white-haired granny said that the Thousand Year Dream could be short if one wanted to, they didn¡¯t have much time left in Netherworld City. If Li Xuan didn¡¯t come out in time, even if he could withstand the Thousand Year Dream, his body would be killed by the rules of Netherworld City.


    What can I do? Zhou Wen regretted inviting Li Xuan over.


    Zhou Wen tried a few times, but he failed to charge into the Dream Punishment Chamber. He had already used several Terror-grade powers. Since the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Great Brahma were useless, the rest were even more useless.


    Zhou Wen looked at the antelope. At this moment, he could only rely on this Calamity-grade fellow.


    When the antelope saw Zhou Wen look at it, it immediately turned its head to the side and pretended not to see him.


    B*stard. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. However, from the antelope¡¯s appearance, he knew that the white-haired granny in the Dream Punishment Chamber definitely had a terrifying background. She was definitely a Calamity-grade existence.


    ¡°Come on¡­ Come on¡­ Hehe¡­ All together¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen was feeling worried, he suddenly heard Li Xuan¡¯s voice.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly turned his head and realized that Li Xuan wasn¡¯t awake. Instead, he was talking in his sleep.


    However, seeing the wretched smile on his face and the lascivious voice, it didn¡¯t look like he was suffering torture in a dream.


    ¡°Harder¡­ Harder¡­¡± Li Xuan cried out in pleasure.


    Lu Bushun and company stood outside as they stared at the sleep-talking Li Xuan with a strange expression. They questioned what kind of dream he was having. Was it really as the white-haired granny had said¡ªa torture?


    What the hell is this fellow dreaming of? Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and felt that he wasn¡¯t dreaming of torture.


    However, it didn¡¯t take long before Li Xuan¡¯s face began to sweat. Not only was he sweating, but he was also heating up. His carapace mask was red as white smoke constantly emitted from his head.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that it was just a dream? Why did his body become like this?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the white-haired granny, prepared to use the Immortal Culling Sword.


    ¡°The brain of any creature has its limits. Under normal circumstances, the brain can only think about one thing. However, in the Thousand Year Dream, he¡¯s making time pass too quickly in the dream. Time in reality is too slow, and this results in his brain needing to complete the thought processes that should have taken years, even decades, or centuries in an extremely short period of time. It¡¯s already very rare that his brain didn¡¯t explode,¡± the white-haired granny said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so before?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a sullen expression.


    ¡°If you need others to explain everything to you without thinking for yourself, what use is your brain?¡± the white-haired granny said indifferently.


    Li Xuan¡¯s carapace helmet was about to turn into flames. Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Otherwise, even if he could save Li Xuan, his mind might end up fried.


    Just as he was about to draw his sword, he suddenly saw Li Xuan¡¯s carapace flash with a strange light.


    With Li Xuan¡¯s head as the starting point, points of light flowed out like a data stream, instantly flowing through Li Xuan, turning his entire body into data points of light.


    This power is¡­ Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he found the power somewhat familiar.


    Soon, Zhou Wen recalled why it looked familiar. Although this power had Li Xuan¡¯s original attributes, it also had another creature¡¯s attributes.


    Alpha! Zhou Wen immediately realized what had happened.


    Back then, the Guardian, Alpha, who resembled a nanomachine had possessed Li Xuan. In order to preserve his life, he had contracted Li Xuan in a strange manner.


    One of the reasons Li Xuan could advance to the Mythical stage was because of Alpha.


    The power that erupted from Li Xuan¡¯s body, other than his Strength stat, was Alpha¡¯s Strength stat. However, the two powers had already fused.


    Li Xuan¡¯s body seemed to turn into a data stream. His entire body seemed to be formed by countless glowing points of light, making him look extremely illusory and unreal.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s vision, he could clearly see that Li Xuan¡¯s body couldn¡¯t be called a human body. The cells in his body seemed to have turned into nanomachines.


    It was impossible for the human brain to handle so much work in such a short period of time, but now, Li Xuan¡¯s entire being was like a super-brain, rapidly processing all sorts of data streams.


    As the digitalization of his body sped up, Zhou Wen also felt the power fluctuations of the Terror grade.


    Is he advancing to the Terror grade? Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan in surprise and delight. He didn¡¯t know if Li Xuan could survive the Thousand Year Dream after advancing to the Terror grade.


    In the eyes of Lu Bushun and company, Li Xuan, who was glowing, was gradually turning transparent before completely disappearing as though he had turned invisible.


    ¡°Terror transformation?¡± An Jingyu looked in horror at the spot where Li Xuan had vanished and finally couldn¡¯t help but shout.


    Currently, there weren¡¯t many humans who could reach the Terror grade. Most of them were humans who had contracted Guardians, and had raised the Guardian to the Terror grade.


    Humans who advanced to the Terror grade on their own were very rare, even if they used the Mythical Serum.


    Li Xuan was clearly different from the people who had contracted Guardians. His body was undergoing Terror transformation, not simply letting the Guardian undergo Terror transformation.

 Chapter 1185 - River of Forgetfulness Soup

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen could see Li Xuan in his Terror form as the data stream on his body constantly shimmered like a smart-brain that was rapidly processing calculations.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about Li Xuan¡¯s Terror transformation, it didn¡¯t seem like the effects of the Thousand Year Dream on him were that intense.


    After about half an hour, the rapidly flowing data over Li Xuan¡¯s body finally stopped. His sleeping body also woke up.


    After escaping the Terror transformation, Li Xuan¡¯s body landed heavily on the ground.


    ¡°Does that count as me clearing the Dream Punishment? Do I need to do it again?¡± Li Xuan asked the white-haired granny.


    However, when he looked over, he realized that the white-haired granny was gone.


    Zhou Wen and company didn¡¯t notice when the white-haired granny had vanished either.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I guess I cleared it?¡± Li Xuan walked out of the torture chamber.


    Boom!


    Just as Li Xuan walked out of the torture chamber, he heard a loud bang. The door at the back of Netherworld City slowly opened, revealing a path that led outside.


    Zhou Wen found it odd that he hadn¡¯t seen City Lord Netherworld. The City Lord Netherworld he met previously had completely vanished. He hadn¡¯t appeared from beginning to end.


    Furthermore, as the door to Netherworld City opened, there was no desert scenery outside. Instead, a bridge appeared.


    The stone bridge led into the distance, but there was no end in sight. Yellow smoke beneath the bridge churned, and nothing beneath could be seen.


    At one end of the stone bridge sat the white-haired granny from the Dream Punishment Chamber. However, there was no stone table in front of her. There was only a huge pot. There seemed to be something boiling in the pot, but the steam was billowing above it as well. It was impossible to tell what was being cooked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this is the legendary Bridge of Helplessness and Granny Meng Soup?¡± Lu Bushun¡¯s expression turned odd when he saw the bridge and pot.


    In fact, when they saw this scene, the others also had the same thoughts as him.


    The legend of the Bridge of Helplessness and Granny Meng¡¯s soup was known by everyone in the East District.


    Legend had it that after a person died, they would turn into a ghost. If a ghost wanted to reincarnate, they had to drink a bowl of Granny Meng¡¯s soup and wash away the memories of their previous life. Only then could they undergo reincarnation as a pure soul.


    In the Six Paths of Reincarnation for the Three Realms, all living beings had to drink such a bowl of soup when they reincarnated. It was obvious how magical and strange Granny Meng¡¯s soup was.


    After crossing the Bridge of Helplessness, it would be the true Netherworld. It wasn¡¯t a place where the living were supposed to go.


    At this point, even if hell was ahead, Zhou Wen and company could only take the risk.


    An Tianzuo led his men towards the stone bridge. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan exchanged looks before heading towards it.


    ¡°The path to the Underworld must be taken without any lingering memories. If you wish to step onto the Bridge of Helplessness, you have to drink a bowl of River of Forgetfulness soup,¡± the white-haired granny said when An Tianzuo and company approached the stone bridge.


    ¡°Since this is really the River of Forgetfulness and the Bridge of Helplessness, this soup should be the Granny Meng Soup that can make people forget their past lives, right?¡± An Jingyu asked.


    ¡°I only know the River of Forgetfulness Soup, but I don¡¯t know what Granny Meng Soup is,¡± the white-haired granny answered calmly without any change in expression.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you Granny Meng?¡± Lu Bushun asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m only a bridgekeeper. All I know is to watch the bridge and sell soup. I¡¯ve long forgotten my name.¡± The white-haired granny still had the same expression as before, as though it all had nothing to do with her.


    ¡°Then, will drinking your soup make people lose their memories?¡± Lu Bushun asked again.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the white-haired granny answered.


    ¡°Can we cross the bridge without drinking soup?¡± Unwilling to give up, Lu Bushun asked again.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The white-haired granny¡¯s answer surprised everyone.


    However, the white-haired granny continued, ¡°As long as you die, you can cross the Bridge of Helplessness without drinking the River of Forgetfulness Soup.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, it looks like we can only force our way through,¡± Lu Bushun said softly to An Tianzuo.


    ¡°We mustn¡¯t,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Although he had never seen this white-haired granny, who claimed to be a bridgekeeper, attack, from the antelope¡¯s reaction, her strength was definitely at the Calamity grade. Furthermore, this was her territory. If they really fought, it was unknown how many people could survive, much less talk about saving Ouyang Lan and company.


    ¡°You forget everything when you drink the soup. What can we do if we don¡¯t barge in?¡± Lu Bushun asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen walked in front of the white-haired granny and sized up the Bridge of Helplessness. He couldn¡¯t see anything. All he could see was billowing yellow smoke. It was unknown how deep the River of Forgetfulness was.


    ¡°May I ask if a group of humans came here about ten days ago?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I forgot. I only sell soup and don¡¯t look at their faces,¡± the white-haired granny answered expressionlessly.


    ¡°Then did you sell any soup ten days ago?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t anxious as he asked after some thought.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The white-haired granny finally answered Zhou Wen¡¯s question.


    ¡°Can you tell me how many bowls you sold that day?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Eight bowls,¡± the white-haired granny answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It should be Madam Lan and company. According to the clues and information, there should have been eight who retreated into Netherworld City,¡± Lu Bushun said happily.


    An Tianzuo and An Sheng jolted. Madam Lan and company were likely still alive, so this was naturally good news.


    ¡°Did all of them drink the soup?¡± An Tianzuo asked.


    ¡°To cross the Bridge of Helplessness, they naturally have to drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup unless they¡¯re dead,¡± the white-haired granny answered.


    ¡°Is it possible to drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup without losing your memories?¡± An Tianzuo asked again.


    ¡°There¡¯s the Three-Lives Stone in the River of Forgetfulness. If you can engrave your name on the Three-Lives Stone, you won¡¯t lose your memories of your past life even if you drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup,¡± the white-haired granny answered.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Three-Lives Stone?¡± Lu Bushun hurriedly asked.


    ¡°In the River of Forgetfulness.¡± The white-haired granny¡¯s answer disappointed everyone.


    It was unknown how big or deep the river with the billowing yellow smoke was. They also didn¡¯t know what the Three-Lives Stone looked like. It was like searching for a needle in a haystack.


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡­¡± An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen. It seemed a little difficult to find the Three-Lives Stone now. If possible, it was best to barge through.


    However, Zhou Wen had previously said that they couldn¡¯t barge in, so An Sheng wanted to seek his opinion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s search for it.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the River of Forgetfulness, hoping to find the legendary Three-Lives Stone.


    The legendary Three-Lives Stone was something that recorded one¡¯s past and present lives. However, it looked different from the legends.


    Lu Bushun and company looked at An Tianzuo. They ultimately followed his lead.


    ¡°Find the Three-Lives Stone.¡± An Tianzuo glanced at Zhou Wen before looking at the River of Forgetfulness.


    ¡°Overseer, we can use Companion Beasts here. Let me give it a try,¡± an officer said.


    Zhou Wen and company also realized that this place was different from Netherworld City. There was no taboo power that prohibited flight and Companion Beasts.


    An Tianzuo nodded as the officer summoned a huge silver eagle. Under his control, the eagle flew towards the River of Forgetfulness. Just as it touched the yellow smoke in the river, it was suddenly yanked into the yellow smoke. Then, it vanished. The eagle symbol on the officer¡¯s body also vanished.

 Chapter 1186 - River of Forgetfulness

    The officers under An Tianzuo made a few more tries, but the outcome was the same every time. No matter what kind of Companion Beast it was¡ªregardless of its attributes or type¡ªas long as it approached the River of Forgetfulness¡¯s smoke, it would immediately plummet into the river without a trace. It wouldn¡¯t even cause a ripple.


    It was useless for the Companion Beasts to attack the River of Forgetfulness. They all vanished the moment they entered the river. It was unknown how deep the River of Forgetfulness was.


    It was impossible to even enter the River of Forgetfulness, much less search for the Three-Lives Stone in the river.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan also summoned some low-level Companion Beasts and made them attempt to approach the River of Forgetfulness. However, just like An Tianzuo and company¡¯s attempts, no Companion Beast could survive in the River of Forgetfulness.


    Zhou Wen listened attentively and used Great Brahma to strengthen his senses. He looked into the River of Forgetfulness, but he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    ¡°Overseer, let me give it a try.¡± An officer stood up and saluted An Tianzuo.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan glanced at the officer and saw that he was wearing a military uniform and a military coat. He wore a gas mask and a military cap.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had some impression of this officer because his attire was very odd. They didn¡¯t know what he looked like or what his name was.


    ¡°Are you confident?¡± An Tianzuo asked the officer.


    ¡°I noticed something. I can give it a try,¡± the officer answered.


    ¡°Proceed.¡± An Tianzuo nodded slightly.


    The officer saluted slightly before walking towards the River of Forgetfulness. However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, he didn¡¯t summon his Companion Beast. Instead, he walked towards the River of Forgetfulness himself.


    He walked very slowly. It could be described as being very careful, but for him to step into the River of Forgetfulness was clear madness.


    Previously, when they used Companion Beasts to scout a path, a Mythical Companion Beast had been sucked into the River of Forgetfulness without any resistance. For the officer to walk in alone was no different from suicide.


    The moment the person stepped out, his military uniform seemed to be pulled by some powerful invisible force. It was ripped from his body and dropped down into the River of Forgetfulness along with his military boots, military cap, and mask.


    As for the officer¡¯s body, it floated above the River of Forgetfulness without falling.


    However, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were alarmed when they saw the officer¡¯s appearance.


    The officer¡¯s body no longer looked like a human¡¯s. There was no flesh or blood on it. What they saw was a humanoid gray smoke. As he moved, the smoke ebbed, making him look extremely strange.


    Zhou Wen knew that this officer wasn¡¯t a monster. He had only used the Mythical Serum created from a special dimensional creature. His body had mutated to a higher level, allowing him to be in such a state.


    The smoke-like officer¡¯s feet had now stepped onto the River of Forgetfulness, but he wasn¡¯t sucked down. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°What dimensional creature¡¯s Mythical Serum did this person use? How interesting,¡± Li Xuan said as he looked at the officer in surprise.


    An Sheng explained, ¡°That¡¯s Commander Jia Nong of 413 Task Force. The Mythical Serum he used was created by a strange Mythical creature that broke out of Chess Mountain. His body mutated severely, but he also obtained a very special Mythical power. From the looks of it, his strength can restrain the power of the River of Forgetfulness.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, I¡¯ll go down and take a look.¡± Jia Nong realized that things were as he had guessed. The River of Forgetfulness¡¯s strange power was useless against him, so he sought An Tianzuo¡¯s permission.


    ¡°Safety first,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jia Nong answered and was about to fly down the River of Forgetfulness.


    However, he suddenly saw yellow smoke billowing in the distance of the River of Forgetfulness. It was as though something was burrowing beneath. Furthermore, the churning fog was approaching Jia Nong at an extremely fast speed.


    Jia Nong assumed a battle stance, but An Tianzuo suddenly shouted, ¡°Jia Nong, return!¡±


    Upon hearing An Tianzuo¡¯s order, Jia Nong retreated and left the River of Forgetfulness.


    At the instant he retreated, the yellow smoke exploded where he was standing. A blood-colored palm extended out.


    Just one finger of the blood-colored palm was more than a meter long. The huge palm seemed to be condensed from blood. With a grab, a terrifying sonic boom sounded in the air.


    After grabbing nothing, the blood-colored palm quickly retreated to the River of Forgetfulness and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    Jia Nong felt a lingering fear. Although his body wasn¡¯t afraid of ordinary physical attacks, the blood-colored palm had only swiped against his body once and had melted much of the gray fog over his body. If he had really been caught, he would probably have vanished into thin air.


    ¡°What was that?¡± Li Xuan wrinkled his nose as he smelled a strong scent of blood.


    No one could answer him because no one knew the answer. The white-haired granny guarding the bridge might know the answer, but she didn¡¯t say a word.


    Finding the Three-Lives Stone was more difficult than they had imagined. Currently, the only person who could enter the river was Jia Nong, but he couldn¡¯t withstand the blood-colored hand.


    Lu Bushun said with a strange expression, ¡°Legend has it that the River of Forgetfulness is the dividing line between life and death. There are countless wraiths lingering between life and death in the river. As those wraiths can¡¯t cross the Bridge of Forgetfulness, they can¡¯t reincarnate. They can only wander in the River of Forgetfulness forever. If a living person comes to the River of Forgetfulness, they will pull them down to replace them. From there, they can escape the restrictions of the River of Forgetfulness and obtain the chance to reincarnate. Was that blood hand from before a kind of legendary wraith?¡±


    ¡°What you said is a scapegoat in myths. You can obtain a chance of rebirth by finding a substitute to replace yourself,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Yes, a scapegoat. Could that bloody hand be that thing?¡± Lu Bushun nodded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but from the looks of it, we can only think of a way to resolve it if we want to find the Three-Lives Stone,¡± An Sheng said as he stared at the river.


    ¡°Commander Jia, only you can enter the river now. I can only request you make another trip to lure it out,¡± An Tianzuo said to Jia Nong.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± Without any hesitation, Jia Nong entered the River of Forgetfulness again.


    This time, he was rather careful, but he couldn¡¯t sense the blood-colored hand ahead of time. It was only when An Sheng warned him that he could escape in time.


    When the blood-colored hand appeared, Lu Bushun and the other officers immediately attacked it. Essence Energy of different attributes struck the blood-colored hand, scattering it.


    However, in the blink of an eye, the scattered sanguine aura condensed again, turning into a blood-colored hand that drilled back into the River of Forgetfulness.

 Chapter 1187 - Three-Lives Stone

    Everyone was dumbfounded to see their attacks rendered ineffective.


    An Tianzuo frowned and said, ¡°From the looks of it, the blood-colored hand is something like a scapegoat. It has an extreme Yin attribute. It¡¯s very difficult for ordinary strength to really injure it. Only the most extreme Yang forces can do so.¡±


    ¡°Unfortunately, Miss Jing didn¡¯t come. Her Essence Energy Art is extreme Yang. It¡¯s the nemesis of these Yin creatures,¡± An Sheng said with a sigh.


    ¡°Although I¡¯ve long expected to encounter such a creature, the Yang-type Companion Beasts we prepared aren¡¯t enough to kill the scapegoat. If there¡¯s no other way, I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to go down the river to find the Three-Lives Stone,¡± Lu Bushun said gloomily.


    ¡°Commander Jia, can I trouble you to lure the bloody hand out again? Let me give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said to Jia Nong.


    ¡°Of course.¡± What Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had done was enough to make Jia Nong and company respect them. Therefore, Jia Nong didn¡¯t think too much about it. He immediately asked An Tianzuo for permission before heading down the river.


    Perhaps angered by the previous attack, the moment Jia Nong entered the river, the blood-colored hand rushed out unexpectedly.


    As it was too sudden, An Sheng didn¡¯t have the time to warn them. Just as everyone was alarmed, they suddenly saw a golden light flash.


    Before the blood-colored hand grabbed Jia Nong, the golden beam pierced through the blood-colored hand.


    A golden monkey appeared behind the blood-colored hand. It opened its mouth and sucked in the blood mist that formed the blood-colored hand. Like red milk tea, it was sucked into the monkey¡¯s mouth. The blood-colored hand couldn¡¯t resist at all.


    The remaining portions of the blood-colored hand wanted to escape back to the River of Forgetfulness, but it was too late.


    Two earrings on the little monkey¡¯s ears shattered one after another, turning it into a dark-gold behemoth. Golden light shone everywhere over its body. Wherever the golden light went, it dispersed the yellow fog over the River of Forgetfulness, revealing a huge blood-colored ghostly shadow.


    The blood-colored ghostly shadow was neither human nor ghost. Lurking in the river, one of its palms had been severed.


    Truth Listener roared and rushed above the fleeing blood-colored shadow. It opened its mouth and swallowed it as though it was slurping jelly.


    That¡¯s¡­ the Companion Beast that fought Di Tian¡­ Human Sovereign¡­ Could Zhou Wen be Human Sovereign¡­ An Jingyu suddenly jolted when he saw Truth Listener transform. He thought of something unbelievable as he widened his eyes and couldn¡¯t help but look at Zhou Wen who was standing by the River of Forgetfulness.


    It wasn¡¯t just An Jingyu. Everyone who had seen Truth Listener fight Di Tian recognized it. After all, Truth Listener¡¯s appearance and battle had been too shocking.


    That was a terrifying existence that could withstand a Calamity-grade creature. Even five years later, no human had such a Companion Beast.


    ¡°No wonder. So that¡¯s how it is. It¡¯s no wonder that in Netherworld City, even the torture tools in the torture chambers have to obey Young Master Wen¡¯s orders. So Young Master Wen is Human Sovereign¡­ I never expected¡­¡± Lu Bushun said in delight.


    The way everyone looked at Zhou Wen changed. If it was only respect before, now, their eyes seemed to be filled with worship.


    To be able to fight alongside Human Sovereign made them feel honored.


    ¡°Adjutant An¡­ Is Young Master Wen really¡­ that person?¡± Lu Bushun wasn¡¯t sure as he whispered to An Sheng.


    ¡°If you think so, so be it. If you think otherwise, so be it,¡± An Sheng said ambiguously.


    Lu Bushun was somewhat depressed. He felt his heart itching to know the answer. Meanwhile, over the River of Forgetfulness, Truth Listener had already shown its might.


    Truth Listener charged into the River of Forgetfulness. Wherever it passed, the yellow smoke was melted by the golden light from its body. Scapegoats appeared one after another.


    However, Truth Listener was extremely effective against dimensional creatures like scapegoats. As long as the scapegoats approached it, they would immediately be devoured. It was like a god incarnate.


    The scapegoats that originally made people feel terrified now gave off a weak and pitiful feeling.


    After Truth Listener charged around for a while, it suddenly discovered a strange stone erected by the riverside where the smoke dissipated.


    The stone was thirty feet tall and stood alone near the riverbank. However, it was different from ordinary river rocks. The stone was red in color and its form resembled a baby in swaddling clothes. The stone emitted a faint red glow.


    Previously, it had been hidden by the yellow smoke and scapegoats in the river and couldn¡¯t be seen. Now that it was right in front of everyone, they immediately felt that it was extraordinary.


    ¡°Is that the Three-Lives Stone?¡± Li Xuan asked as he sized up the strange stone.


    No one could answer him. No one had seen the legendary Three-Lives Stone before, so they naturally couldn¡¯t tell if it was real or fake.


    ¡°Overseer, let me give it a try.¡± Jia Nong sought An Tianzuo¡¯s permission.


    An Tianzuo nodded slightly as Jia Nong flew towards Three-Lives Stone.


    With Truth Listener there, the surrounding yellow smoke and scapegoats didn¡¯t approach. Jia Nong successfully arrived in front of the strange stone. He extended his smoky fingers that swiped at the Three-Lives Stone.


    The white-haired granny had said that as long as they could leave their names on the Three-Lives Stone, they wouldn¡¯t be affected by the River of Forgetfulness Soup.


    However, Jia Nong¡¯s finger failed to leave any marks on the strange stone.


    Jia Nong condensed his strength again. This time, he used all his strength. The gray smoke converged into a sharp blade and slashed at the strange stone. The strange stone remained unharmed. It didn¡¯t leave a mark.


    ¡°Let me give it a try.¡± An Jingyu wanted to use his temporal powers to leave a mark on the strange stone.


    He pointed at the strange stone. Although it was only a single point, countless fingers seemed to point at the same spot.


    This move of his was called Water Droplet Penetration. It used the power of time to turn the attack of a single tap into a continuous attack. With An Jingyu¡¯s present ability, he had actually repeated the same tap more than three hundred times.


    However, despite such continuous attacks, the Three-Lives Stone remained unmoved. It didn¡¯t leave any imprints¡ªnot even a fingerprint.


    Although they had found the Three-Lives Stone, they couldn¡¯t leave their names on it. It was no different from not having found it.


    Everyone looked at An Tianzuo and Zhou Wen. They suspected that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign and felt more respect for him. They couldn¡¯t help but think of him when they encountered problems.


    Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo had no intention of making an attempt. Instead, An Tianzuo walked back and arrived in front of the Bridge of Helplessness. He asked the white-haired granny, ¡°Ma¡¯am, how can one leave their name on the Three-Lives Stone?¡±


    The white-haired granny said coldly, ¡°The Three-Lives Stone is about three lives. One naturally has to have a past and present life to leave a name on it. Without a past and present life, it¡¯s naturally impossible to leave a name on it.¡±

 Chapter 1188 - Leaving Names

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Do humans really have past lives?¡± Zhou Wen frowned inwardly. He didn¡¯t believe in reincarnation.


    Zhou Wen had always felt that it didn¡¯t matter if someone died. There wouldn¡¯t be anything like a previous life or next life.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know once we give it a try.¡± Li Xuan was intrigued. He ran to the Three-Lives Stone and made an attempt, but like An Jingyu and company, he failed to leave a mark on it.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a lie. How can I not have a previous life? I must have been an emperor in my previous life with a huge harem,¡± Li Xuan muttered hatefully.


    An Tianzuo also got the remaining officers to give it a try, but just like An Jingyu, none of them could leave a mark on the Three-Lives Stone.


    Everyone felt that it was very likely that they had been fooled by the white-haired granny. However, when it was An Sheng¡¯s turn, his finger sank in upon gently touching it. This was different from the previous attempts in which the Three-Lives Stone was extremely hard and undamageable by any weapon. It was now like sand.


    1


    An Sheng was slightly taken aback before he casually wrote down his name.


    After An Sheng finished writing his name, his finger left the Three-Lives Stone. The name on it flashed with golden light before disappearing.


    ¡°Does this count as a success?¡± Everyone looked at the Three-Lives Stone and An Sheng in surprise.


    An Tianzuo also went up to give it a try, but like the other officers, he failed to leave any marks on the Three-Lives Stone.


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. Isn¡¯t it said that all creatures can be reincarnated? Why is Adjutant An the only one with a past and present life, while we don¡¯t? We aren¡¯t any less real than Adjutant An. Why is he the only one with a past and present life?¡± Lu Bushun grumbled.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if he has a past or present life. What matters is how we cross the Bridge of Helplessness. Only Adjutant An can leave his name on the Three-Lives Stone. We can¡¯t just let him go alone, right?¡± An Jingyu said.


    An Tianzuo frowned at the thought. Clearly, he couldn¡¯t accept such an outcome.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, do you want to give it a try too?¡± Lu Bushun asked Zhou Wen.


    Lu Bushun was eager to know if Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign or if he just had a similar Companion Beast.


    The others also looked at Zhou Wen, wondering if he could leave his name on the Three-Lives Stone.


    Although reincarnation was said to be ethereal and unreal, many people still hoped that there would be a next life. It could be considered a form of spiritual sustenance.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and walked towards the Three-Lives Stone with Ya¡¯er in his arms. He also wanted to know if he could leave his name on the Three-Lives Stone like An Sheng.


    Zhou Wen extended his finger and pressed it on the Three-Lives Stone. Everyone¡¯s eyes were drawn by his finger.


    However, when Zhou Wen pressed his finger on it, the Three-Lives Stone didn¡¯t react at all. Clearly, he didn¡¯t have a past life.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to retreat, Ya¡¯er extended her finger and pressed it on the Three-Lives Stone. However, the hard rock turned extremely soft under Ya¡¯er¡¯s finger. Soon, Ya¡¯er wrote the word ¡°Ya¡¯er¡± on the Three-Lives Stone.


    Could it be that reincarnation really exists in this world? Zhou Wen felt odd when he saw this.


    Ya¡¯er was half-human and half-ghost, but when she first born, it was said that she was the reincarnation of a Gu God.


    Now, she had managed to engrave her name on the Three-Lives Stone. This made one¡¯s imagination run wild. Why was she able to engrave her name? Could she really be the reincarnation of a Gu God?


    In the end, only An Sheng and Ya¡¯er left their names on the Three-Lives Stone, but it was impossible for them to cross the bridge to save Ouyang Lan. Everyone was somewhat vexed.


    Despite knowing that Ouyang Lan and company might be ahead, they couldn¡¯t walk forward no matter what.


    ¡°From the looks of it, the only way is to storm through by force.¡± Lu Bushun rubbed his fists in eagerness.


    Everyone returned to the white-haired granny. Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible to barge in. He looked at her and asked, ¡°Apart from leaving our name on the Three-Lives Stone, is there no other way to cross the Bridge of Helplessness without losing our memories?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± the white-haired granny answered firmly.


    Everyone fell silent as Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before suddenly turning around and walking towards the Three-Lives Stone.


    Even the antelope didn¡¯t dare offend the white-haired granny; therefore, it was almost impossible for them to barge through. They might as well think of a solution regarding the Three-Lives Stone.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had only casually pressed down, so it was understandable that he hadn¡¯t left any traces.


    Now that he was at the end of his tether and he was bent on crossing the Bridge of Helplessness, he could only turn his sights back to the Three-Lives Stone again.


    As he circulated Terror-grade power, he struck the Three-Lives Stone, but the outcome was the same. Even Terror-grade power couldn¡¯t deal damage to the Three-Lives Stone.


    Zhou Wen switched to several different Terror powers and used all of them, but none of them worked.


    Demon God Body, Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Clown Mask, Singularity Universe, and Great Brahma¡¯s powers were useless.


    How can I satisfy this condition of having a past and present life? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    Lu Bushun and company were somewhat alarmed when they saw that Zhou Wen was still unable to leave a mark on the Three-Lives Stone despite all his efforts.


    If even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do it, there was probably no hope.


    I don¡¯t believe it. Can¡¯t I leave a mark on it? Zhou Wen began carving Sword Pill on his Wheel of Destiny.


    Soon, a sword pill appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s palm. He reached out to grab it, and it immediately transformed into a sword.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen held the sword transformed from Sword Pill and slashed at the Three-Lives Stone, but things remained the same.


    However, Zhou Wen had no intention of stopping. He continued slashing at the Three-Lives Stone again and again. He seemed to treat the Three-Lives Stone as a blade tester as he constantly slashed at it.


    However, no matter how terrifying Zhou Wen¡¯s strike was, it couldn¡¯t leave a mark on the Three-Lives Stone.


    Indeed, it¡¯s just a Companion Beast of the same species. From the looks of it, Young Master Wen isn¡¯t Human Sovereign. Seeing that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t even cracked the Three-Lives Stone¡¯s surface after slashing at it for so long, Lu Bushun began to doubt his previous judgment.


    Human Sovereign¡¯s slash at Di Tian was an extremely dominating force. Although the force Zhou Wen was dishing out was powerful, it wasn¡¯t as powerful as Human Sovereign¡¯s. Furthermore, the weapon in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand wasn¡¯t the legendary sword.


    Unbeknownst to them, the Immortal Culling Sword couldn¡¯t be used casually.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care what they thought as he continued slashing at the Three-Lives Stone. At the same time, he engraved the Sword Pill on his Wheel of Destiny again and again.


    He gave all his ideas a try. Not only did he push his sword techniques closer to perfection, but he also made Sword Pill begin to change.

 Chapter 1189 - Incomplete Sword Pill

    Although Sword Pill was in the form of a sword, its essence was a Qi Refinement technique. It was a technique that absorbed the Heaven and Earth energies for its own use.


    In ancient times, Qi Refinement warriors pursued Qi Refinement to strengthen themselves to reach the ethereal realm of immortality.


    Although he had never heard of any Qi Refinement warrior reaching the realm of immortality, it was an extension of humanity¡¯s pursuit of life.


    Zhou Wen condensed his energy into a sword. Instead of saying that he was practicing his sword art, it was better to say that he was converting his beliefs into a sword.


    My mind is on the sword. Life and death are separated by a thought. I only wish for my thoughts to be free in this life. What has my next life got to do with me? Zhou Wen engraved the Sword Pill repeatedly, hoping to draw it into the shape of a sword.


    At that moment, what Zhou Wen was drawing wasn¡¯t a sword, but his beliefs. The sword was akin to him as a person¡ªhis heart. The more resilient his heart was, the sharper the sword.


    I¡¯d rather be average in an aboveboard manner than compromise my values. The sword that Zhou Wen had drawn was just and moderate; its blade was straight, in the most traditional East District sword style. The sword was like its owner, and this sword was a reflection of Zhou Wen.


    However, the sword engraved on the Wheel of Destiny failed to help Sword Pill advance to the Terror grade.


    What¡¯s missing? What¡¯s missing? Zhou Wen reflected on himself. In his hundred years of meditation, he had spent relatively less time on the Qi Refinement Art and Sword Pill.


    It wasn¡¯t because Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like using swords, but because the Qi Refinement Art was too monotonous. Just practicing and comprehending summarized the essence of this Essence Energy Art.


    However, with his body trapped, Zhou Wen could only hypothesize without actual practice. Without being able to practice, he lacked the most basic step, making it very difficult for him to take the next step forward. Thus, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t spent too much time on Qi Refinement.


    Zhou Wen slashed down again and again, carving the Sword Pill over and over again. The Sword Pill he drew was somewhat different every time, but none of them could stabilize the Wheel of Destiny. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t truly found his Sword Heart.


    What¡¯s my Sword Heart? Killing? Protection? Acting recklessly? None of them seem to be the case. Zhou Wen realized that he didn¡¯t seem to understand himself.


    He failed again and again. It had been a long time since Zhou Wen had failed like this. The previous few Essence Energy Arts had successfully completed a Terror transformation, making him feel a little smug. He felt that he would achieve the remaining few Essence Energy Arts in just a matter of time.


    Does it still not work? The Sword Pill that had been engraved on the Wheel of Destiny vanished again, leaving Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    Sometimes, the hardest thing to understand wasn¡¯t one¡¯s opponent, but oneself. This was because one could see others, but not oneself.


    Before a mirror appeared, no one knew what they looked like. It could be said that they were their most familiar strangers.


    A mirror reflects the body; whereas a person reflects the heart. I haven¡¯t met a person who can let me see myself for who I am. I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult for me to condense a true Sword Heart¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced.


    He knew where his flaws were, but he had no intention of giving up. He wanted to take another path.


    Since I still don¡¯t understand my heart, can I use other methods to replace it? Zhou Wen thought of the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Back when he slew Di Tian with a single strike, he had personally experienced the terrifying sword intent of the Immortal Culling Sword. No one understood the concepts and beliefs in that sword better than him.


    As Zhou Wen recalled the Immortal Culling Sword, he continued carving on the Wheel of Destiny.


    Lu Bushun and company watched Zhou Wen slash the Three-Lives Stone countless times, but none of them left a mark. Instead, the sword condensed in his hand shattered again and again. They had lost hope.


    ¡°Overseer, can we think of a way to cross the Bridge of Helplessness without passing it?¡± Lu Bushun said as he sized up the River of Forgetfulness.


    An Sheng shook his head and said, ¡°Legend has it that the River of Forgetfulness is the boundary between the two worlds. It¡¯s no longer a matter of distance from the world of the living to the world of the dead. If we could cross the Bridge of Helplessness without taking it, there wouldn¡¯t be so many wraiths trapped in the River of Forgetfulness.¡±


    ¡°But we can¡¯t continue like this. Young Master Wen¡¯s sword art is so powerful, yet he can¡¯t leave a mark on the Three-Lives Stone. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to take this path,¡± Lu Bushun said with a sigh.


    ¡°Overseer, why don¡¯t I go over and take a look first?¡± An Sheng suggested. He wanted to cross the Bridge of Helplessness to find Ouyang Lan and company.


    ¡°Wait a little longer,¡± An Tianzuo said as he looked in the direction of the Bridge of Helplessness.


    Lu Bushun and company were somewhat puzzled. They didn¡¯t know what An Tianzuo was waiting for, but An Tianzuo¡¯s words were military orders. They didn¡¯t dare ask further and could only continue waiting.


    Meanwhile, the sword transformed from the Sword Pill in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand increasingly resembled Immortal Culling Sword.


    The more Sword Pill resembled Immortal Culling Sword, the more illusory it looked to others. It was so indiscernible that it was close to vanishing.


    Clang!


    A strange sword hum alarmed the talking Lu Bushun and company. Everyone turned their heads and saw Zhou Wen standing in front of the Three-Lives Stone bare-handed. There was a foot-long sword mark on the indestructible Three-Lives Stone.


    Following that, they saw Zhou Wen move his palm in the air as though he was holding an invisible sword.


    As Zhou Wen moved his palm, the fragments scattered from the Three-Lives Stone as sword marks appeared. Soon, Zhou Wen¡¯s name was engraved.


    The strokes of the two words were like a sword¡¯s edge. Every stroke was filled with terrifying sword intent. Just looking at the two words made Lu Bushun and company feel a chill run down their spines as they subconsciously took half a step back.


    What a terrifying sword intent! After snapping to their senses, everyone realized that it was only the sword intent contained in the words.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s name was forcefully engraved on the Three-Lives Stone. It didn¡¯t vanish like An Sheng and Ya¡¯er¡¯s names. It was unknown if engraving a name in such a way was effective.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, I¡¯ll cross the bridge with you.¡± Zhou Wen retracted the Terror form Sword Pill and secretly glanced at the information on his phone.


    Terror transformation: Incomplete Sword Pill (S-grade)


    Although there was something wrong with the name, it was within his expectations. After all, this Terror form Sword Pill was based on the Immortal Culling Sword, not his own Sword Heart.


    If it wasn¡¯t because he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have chosen this path. It was safer to advance to the Terror transformation stage with a Sword Heart he could call his own.


    ¡°Overseer, why don¡¯t Young Master Wen and I head over to take a look?¡± An Sheng requested An Tianzuo¡¯s permission again.


    ¡°Does engraving a name like that count?¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t answer An Sheng as he asked the white-haired granny.


    ¡°Just leaving a name would do,¡± the white-haired granny said calmly.


    An Tianzuo turned around and walked towards the Three-Lives Stone. As he walked towards it, a strange figure appeared behind him.


    It was a white humanoid armored creature. He floated behind An Tianzuo with a device similar to a rocket launcher behind him. He held a sword in one hand and a Gatling-like weapon in the other. He looked like a modern robot.

 Chapter 1190 - Stepping onto the Bridge

    Translator: CKtalon


    Da! Da! Da!


    The Gatling-like weapon swept crazily at the Three-Lives Stone as blue flames spewed out from its muzzle. When the bullets struck the Three-Lives Stone, they drilled in. Rows of bullets dotted out the words ¡®An Tianzuo.¡¯


    ¡°Old Zhao, you are in charge of commandeering this area. Everyone, stay put and wait for our return.¡± As An Tianzuo spoke, he walked towards the Bridge of Helplessness.


    ¡°Overseer¡­¡± Lu Bushun and An Jingyu wanted to say something, but An Tianzuo stopped them with a wave of his hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s an order,¡± An Tianzuo said as he walked to the Bridge of Helplessness.


    As he walked, the robot-like creature had already transformed into armor that enveloped his body.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen looked at An Tianzuo in surprise.


    When the armor enveloped his body, An Tianzuo¡¯s figure had already vanished from the eyes of ordinary people. Only Zhou Wen could still see him. Without a doubt, this was the result of his Terror transformation.


    However, An Tianzuo himself didn¡¯t undergo Terror transformation. Instead, the transformation came from the robot-like creature that was in the form of an armor.


    If it was a Guardian, it would be understandable. However, it wasn¡¯t a Guardian. There was no Guardian¡¯s aura.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had seen An Tianzuo use something similar in the past. It was likely his Life Soul, but this Life Soul was very different from before. This difference wasn¡¯t completely due to the Terror transformation. There seemed to be other factors mixed in.


    Could it be that An Tianzuo didn¡¯t use the Mythical Serum, but allowed his Life Soul to fuse with something similar to the Mythical Serum? Zhou Wen guessed, but he wasn¡¯t able to verify his guess.


    ¡°Overseer, I¡¯ll go first. You can come up later.¡± An Sheng hurriedly ran over, hoping to step onto the Bridge of Helplessness before An Tianzuo.


    However, a spoon stopped them. The white-haired granny held a bowl of soup in her other hand and said expressionlessly, ¡°You must drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup before stepping onto the Bridge of Helplessness.¡±


    Without any hesitation, An Sheng took the bowl and glanced at the billowing yellow smoke in the bowl. He raised it to his mouth and swallowed all the yellow smoke.


    An Tianzuo looked at An Sheng from the side without stopping him. Zhou Wen, on the other hand, was extremely nervous.


    An Sheng waited for a while and after confirming that he hadn¡¯t lost his memories, he said to An Tianzuo, ¡°Overseer, I¡¯m fine. My memories are still intact. Overseer, I¡¯ll step onto the bridge first. You can step onto the bridge when I reach the opposite bank without any problems.¡±


    With that said, An Sheng stepped onto the Bridge of Helplessness and carefully walked towards the opposite bank.


    Every few steps An Sheng took, he would turn his head and shout. However, Zhou Wen and company could only see him open his mouth without hearing anything. It was merely a short distance, but it was as though an invisible barrier had screened his voice.


    The Bridge of Helplessness was an arched bridge. When An Sheng reached the highest point of the bridge, his body suddenly vanished as though he had stepped into another world.


    When An Tianzuo saw this, he picked up a bowl of River of Forgetfulness Soup and downed it in one gulp. He turned to look at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Don¡¯t risk Ya¡¯er¡¯s life. Leave her here.¡±


    With that said, An Tianzuo walked onto the Bridge of Helplessness.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let go of Ya¡¯er. Although An Tianzuo said it for Ya¡¯er¡¯s sake, Zhou Wen still believed that it was safer to keep Ya¡¯er by his side.


    Zhou Wen reached out to get the River of Forgetfulness Soup, but to his surprise, his hand was blocked by the white-haired granny¡¯s spoon.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    An Tianzuo also stopped and looked at the white-haired granny. Lu Bushun and company also surrounded her.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to drink it,¡± the white-haired granny said expressionlessly as she retracted her spoon.


    ¡°I can step onto the bridge without drinking the soup?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the white-haired granny in puzzlement. Lu Bushun and company were also puzzled.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the white-haired granny answered.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no reason. You can choose not to step onto it if you don¡¯t want to.¡± The white-haired granny still had that dead expression as though nothing was worthy of her being moved.


    2


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. If he had known that he didn¡¯t need to drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup, he wouldn¡¯t have gone through so much trouble to leave his name on the Three-Lives Stone.


    ¡°What about her?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    The white-haired granny didn¡¯t say a word as she handed over a bowl of River of Forgetfulness Soup.


    Ya¡¯er looked like a child, but her soul wasn¡¯t. Without waiting for Zhou Wen to say anything, she took the River of Forgetfulness Soup and drank it in one mouthful.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t immediately continue forward. He watched Ya¡¯er finish the River of Forgetfulness Soup without losing her memories before turning to walk to the other side of the bridge.


    ¡°If there¡¯s any danger, head back,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll run faster than anyone if there¡¯s danger,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m relieved.¡± He turned around and carried Ya¡¯er onto the Bridge of Helplessness.


    To his surprise, not long after Zhou Wen went up the bridge, the antelope and Chick followed. The white-haired granny glanced at them and didn¡¯t stop them or get them to drink the River of Forgetfulness Soup.


    Chick landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder as the antelope slowly followed behind him. It looked like it was on a vacation as it occasionally looked at the River of Forgetfulness under the bridge.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected the antelope to follow him. He had no idea what it was up to.


    Seeing Zhou Wen walk on the Bridge of Helplessness with the bird and antelope, Lu Bushun and company¡¯s expressions turned odd.


    Lu Bushun couldn¡¯t help but run to the bridge¡¯s end. He squeezed out a smile on his fat face and asked the white-haired granny, ¡°Well, Granny, if they can cross the bridge without drinking the River of Forgetfulness Soup, can we do the same?¡±


    The white-haired granny ignored him and tapped the bowl with her spoon. The meaning was obvious¡ªif he wanted to step onto the bridge, he had to drink the soup first.


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair. Why do we have to drink the soup when they can choose not to?¡± Lu Bushun deliberately said in an unhappy manner. In fact, he wanted to get the reason from the white-haired granny.


    The white-haired granny rolled her eyes and smashed the spoon in her hand on Lu Bushun¡¯s head, smashing his body into the mud. Only his head was exposed like a radish planted in the ground.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s fair now?¡± the white-haired granny asked coldly.


    ¡°It¡¯s fair. It¡¯s very fair.¡± Unable to move, Lu Bushun could only squeeze out a fawning smile and nod.


    Zhou Wen walked onto the Bridge of Helplessness and looked into the River of Forgetfulness. The scenery he saw was different from the scene from the bank.


    Under the bridge wasn¡¯t a bottomless abyss, nor was there any billowing yellow smoke. There was only a small river below. The river water was clear, and it wasn¡¯t deep. However, beneath the bridge were piles of bones that covered the riverbed. It was like hell.


    From the outside, it looked like there was no end to the bridge, but when he really stepped onto it, he realized that it wasn¡¯t very long. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t walk far before he reached the top of the bridge. Taking a step forward, the scene in front of him changed again.

 Chapter 1191 - Six Realms

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had heard many ghost stories from his grandfather since he was young. Many of them were about the Netherworld.


    He had heard plenty of stories about Yama¡¯s Hall, Lord Yama, the judges, and small ghosts, etc. In Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, he would be at Fengdu City after crossing the Bridge of Helplessness.


    Fengdu City was also the legendary Ghost City. Legend had it that the ten Yama Kings lived in Fengdu City.


    There was an earlier Ghost Thearch, Lord of the Earth, who also lived in Fengdu City. However, in myths and legends, his residence was called Ghostly Capital.


    Regardless of which legend it was, one should be able to see some legendary eminences and a ghost city after crossing the Bridge of Helplessness. However, the scene Zhou Wen saw when he stood on the Bridge of Helplessness was somewhat different from what he had imagined.


    There was no Fengdu City or Yama Palace¡ªnot even a small temple.


    On the other side of the Bridge of Helplessness, there were only six huge doors. On them were the words ¡°Devas Realm,¡± ¡°Asura Realm,¡± ¡°Hell Realm,¡± ¡°Hungry Ghost Realm,¡± ¡°Animal Realm,¡± and ¡°Human Realm.¡±


    An Sheng and An Tianzuo were standing in front of the six doors, as though they were hesitating about which door to enter.


    Zhou Wen walked over with Ya¡¯er in his arms. An Sheng and An Tianzuo weren¡¯t too surprised when they saw Chick and the antelope coming over. In the past five years, Chick and the antelope had exhibited many strange phenomena when they followed An Jing, who was impersonating Zhou Wen.


    Furthermore, when Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been around, An Sheng had been in charge of taking care of them. With An Sheng¡¯s meticulousness, how could he not discover the strangeness of the antelope?


    Seeing Zhou Wen walk over, An Sheng said, ¡°These six gates should be the legendary Six Realms of Rebirth. Legend has it that ghosts will reincarnate when they enter, but it doesn¡¯t say what will happen when living people enter.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°If this is really the land of the six realms of rebirth and existence, with so many creatures dying every day on Earth, this place would have long been filled with ghosts. How can it be so quiet? It¡¯s probably just a dimensional zone.¡±


    An Sheng nodded slightly. ¡°Although that¡¯s the case, since there are six paths, it¡¯s very likely that there¡¯s a taboo power that corresponds to the six realms of rebirth and existence. We have to be wary of that. Furthermore, we don¡¯t know which door Madam and the others entered. If we try them one by one, it will waste too much time.¡±


    Zhou Wen sized up the six doors and said, ¡°In theory, entering the Mortal Realm door is naturally the most normal choice.¡±


    ¡°She would not choose the Human Realm,¡± An Tianzuo, who had been silent all this while, suddenly said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t answer. An Sheng hurriedly explained, ¡°Madam¡¯s personality is somewhat different from ordinary people. If it were an ordinary person, they would definitely choose the most reliable Human Realm. However, if it were Madam, she would definitely think of something else. Perhaps she would think an obvious hint like the Human Realm is a trap, and choose another door.¡±


    ¡°Of course, this is only an example. In fact, Madam might go one step deeper. With her personality, the possibility of her choosing to enter the Human Realm is indeed very low,¡± An Sheng added.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that what An Sheng said made sense. From the looks of it, Ouyang Lan was indeed an unpredictable person.


    The first time Zhou Wen went to her place to eat, she had hoodwinked her daughter. Zhou Wen was truly alarmed back then.


    ¡°Then which door would Sis Lan choose?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the other five doors.


    His understanding of Ouyang Lan was limited. He really couldn¡¯t guess which path she would choose.


    ¡°This¡­ Didn¡¯t I just say that Madam has a unique personality? It¡¯s really difficult to guess which path she took,¡± An Sheng said helplessly as he spread out his hands.


    An Tianzuo suddenly said, ¡°Although her personality is strange and unique, she¡¯s definitely not the type to act rashly without any reason. She will definitely choose a path that we can guess.¡±


    An Sheng looked at An Tianzuo and asked, ¡°Overseer, in your opinion, which path would Madam choose?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about it,¡± An Tianzuo answered.


    An Sheng looked at the doors and said, ¡°I doubt it would be the Beast Realm. Madam is someone who loves beauty, so it¡¯s impossible for her to have any desire of becoming another creature. The Hungry Ghost Realm and the Hell Realm are collectively known as the Three Evils with the Beast Realm. They aren¡¯t great candidates either. I believe the chances of Madam choosing them aren¡¯t high. The remaining Devas Realm and Asura Realm seem to be possible. Typically, ordinary people would choose the Heaven Realm that legends foretell good fortune, but with Madam¡¯s personality, she might also choose the Asura Realm.¡±


    ¡°What kind of place is the Asura Realm in legends?¡± Zhou Wen only knew the name of six realms, so he didn¡¯t understand it in detail.


    ¡°The Asura Realm is a fiendish path. Typically, when one sinks into the fiendish path, it refers to the Asura Realm. However, the Asura Realm is also listed as one of the Three Goods. The reason is very complicated. I don¡¯t understand it in detail either,¡± An Sheng explained.


    An Tianzuo looked at the door of the Asura Realm and said, ¡°Asuras spread across the six realms. There¡¯s Deva Asuras in the Devas Realm, Human Asuras in the Human Realm, Hell Asuras in the Hell Realm, and Hungry Ghost Asuras in the Hungry Ghost Realm. Asuras are different across the different realms. The only similarity is that Asuras are warlike. It¡¯s the same no matter which realm they are in.¡±


    ¡°Ah Sheng, you¡¯re right. With her personality, she most likely chose the Asura Realm. Furthermore, she can only choose the Asura Realm,¡± An Tianzuo said as he walked towards the door of the Asura Realm.


    ¡°Why?¡± An Sheng asked in puzzlement.


    Although the possibility of Devas Realm was smaller, it wasn¡¯t impossible.


    An Tianzuo said without turning his head, ¡°That¡¯s because she doesn¡¯t have a good impression of things with the character ¡®tian¡¯ after watching a particular battle1 in the past. She even wanted to change the ¡®tian¡¯ in my name, so she definitely wouldn¡¯t choose the Devas Realm.¡±


    ¡°Which battle? Why don¡¯t I know?¡± An Sheng asked.


    However, An Tianzuo didn¡¯t answer him as he walked through the door of the Asura Realm.


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat curious as to which battle made Ouyang Lan dislike the character ¡°tian.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, let¡¯s go in as well.¡± When An Sheng saw that An Tianzuo had vanished, he called out to Zhou Wen and immediately rushed through the Asura Realm¡¯s door.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to follow him in, he suddenly felt a force pulling at his clothes, pulling him to the other side.


    Looking down, he saw the antelope biting the corner of his shirt and pulling him to the other side.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope.


    The antelope wrote a few words on the ground with its hooves. ¡°Ouyang Lan didn¡¯t enter the Asura Realm. Follow me.¡±


    ¡°How do you know that she didn¡¯t enter the Asura Realm?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe the antelope as he stared at him and asked.


    ¡°Why do you think Ouyang Lan entered this place?¡± the antelope asked in return.


    ¡°She was forced to enter after encountering danger,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Since she knows that there¡¯s danger and knows that you will definitely come to save her, she will guess that An Tianzuo will think that she entered the Asura Realm. If she enters the Asura Realm, it¡¯s very likely that you will face the same danger. What do you think she would choose?¡± the antelope said.


    ¡°You mean that in order to prevent us from being in danger, she would do the opposite and take a path that An Tianzuo would never think of?¡± Zhou Wen immediately understood the antelope¡¯s intentions and couldn¡¯t help but look at the Devas Realm.


    An Tianzuo had said that Ouyang Lan hated the character ¡°tian.¡± It was impossible for her to choose the Devas Realm. If the antelope¡¯s deduction was right, Ouyang Lan had most likely entered the Devas Realm.

 Chapter 1192 - Deva

    Although this was only the antelope¡¯s guess, Zhou Wen felt that it made sense. Since An Tianzuo and company had entered the Asura Realm, it was a form of double insurance if he headed for the Deva Realm.


    The antelope led the way into the Deva Realm as Zhou Wen followed, carrying Ya¡¯er as he led Chick.


    The Deva Realm¡¯s door was like water. The moment Zhou Wen¡¯s body touched the door, he sank in and arrived in front of a huge mountain.


    How big could a mountain be? In Zhou Wen¡¯s imagination, the largest was an existence like the Himalayas.


    But the mountain in front of him gave Zhou Wen the feeling that there was no end or peak. Looking left and right, he couldn¡¯t see the land beyond the mountain. Looking up, he couldn¡¯t see the top that penetrated the clouds.


    Then, Zhou Wen realized that he was actually very far from the mountain. It was only because the mountain was so huge that it gave an oppressive feeling, making him feel like he was at its base.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen used teleportation to arrive near the mountain. However, despite doing so several times, he was astonished to discover that the mountain remained so far away. It was as though he hadn¡¯t approached it in any way.


    ¡°Walk over.¡± The antelope wrote on the sand.


    Zhou Wen nodded and carried Ya¡¯er forward. After walking for a short distance, he suddenly saw a figure fly over.


    ¡°A Fairy?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the figure in the air¡ªan extremely beautiful woman. Her clothes fluttered like an otherworldly fairy, but she had the aura of a dimensional creature. She was somewhat similar to the Fairies Zhou Wen had seen before.


    There was a strange glow over the Fairy-like woman¡¯s body, making her skin look moist and crystalline like milk.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Deva.¡± The antelope wrote on the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯ve really been here before?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope.


    The antelope didn¡¯t answer, but the female Deva had already flown over. Before Zhou Wen could decide what to do, Chick spat out a golden flame and burned the female Deva to ashes.


    An Essence Energy Crystal dropped from the sky and landed in the sand.


    Zhou Wen picked up the Essence Energy Crystal and looked at it on his phone. He realized that it was a 64-valued Essence Energy Crystal. Clearly, the female Deva had been at the Mythical stage.


    The group continued walking forward and soon saw a few more Devas. There were men and women among them. All of them were extremely handsome, and they were Mythical creatures.


    Unfortunately, Chick thought nothing of the beauty. It spewed out golden flames and burned all the Devas it saw to death. Two more crystals dropped. One of them was an 80-valued Constitution Crystal, allowing Zhou Wen to boost his stats.


    Although he had advanced to the Mythical stage for quite some time, his stats hadn¡¯t maxed out. Up to now, only one of his stats had reached 81 points.


    ¡°These Devas are clearly at the Mythical stage. Why do they look so weak?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope in puzzlement.


    Although Chick was very strong, those Devas were at the Mythical stage after all. It didn¡¯t seem reasonable for them to be burned to death without any resistance.


    The antelope curled its lips and wrote on the ground, ¡°Weak? In a while, you will know if they are weak or strong.¡±


    When Zhou Wen asked again, the antelope didn¡¯t say anything else and walked towards the mountain.


    Along the way, they encountered a few more Devas which were burned to death by Chick. These Devas weren¡¯t the fastest nor were they strong. They lined the bottom of the Mythical stage, similar to the Mythical fake immortals in Deer Terrace Pavilion, only weaker.


    Zhou Wen previously hadn¡¯t managed to come close to the mountain despite teleporting several times, but he was now getting closer and closer to the foot of the mountain. Just as he was about to reach the foot of the mountain, he suddenly saw a red-dressed female Deva surrounded by red flowers.


    After discovering Zhou Wen and company, the female Deva flew over. Chick spat out a golden flame without any mercy.


    However, this time, Chick¡¯s flames failed to burn the female Deva to death. She actually dodged Chick¡¯s flames.


    Chick flapped its wings angrily and rushed forward to spew out more golden flames.


    However, the female Deva¡¯s movement technique was outstanding. She danced in flight, dodging all of Chick¡¯s flaming attacks.


    When she danced, the red glow over her body flowed like petals. It looked extremely beautiful. When Chick rushed over, it touched the red light petals, causing the petals to automatically vanish like bubbles.


    The female Deva only dodged without counterattacking. She didn¡¯t seem to take the initiative to attack.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen became more and more puzzled. This female Deva¡¯s movement technique was very good, and even on par with Zhou Wen¡¯s former Transcendent Flying Immortal movement technique, but Chick¡¯s movement technique and speed were higher than female Deva¡¯s. With them both being at the Mythical stage, it didn¡¯t make sense that Chick failed to finish her after so long.


    However, the truth was that the female Deva easily dodged all of Chick¡¯s attacks, making Zhou Wen frown.


    This was no longer a matter of movement techniques or speed. Zhou Wen had already noticed that the female Deva had strangely dodged Chick¡¯s attack several times in virtually impossible situations.


    Chick looked like it was about to succeed several times, but still failed. Its ferocious nature was immediately triggered. It raised its head and let out a long cry as golden light emitted from its mouth. Golden flames spewed out like a tidal wave, turning into a surging sea of flames that enveloped a large area, burning the female Deva to ashes on the spot.


    Unfortunately, the female Deva didn¡¯t leave anything behind.


    How strange. Do the Devas here not hurt people? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    From the battle just now, the female Deva hadn¡¯t launched any attacks from beginning to end. It wasn¡¯t that she hadn¡¯t had a chance, but it was as though she had no intention of attacking. This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen such a dimensional creature.


    ¡°She has already attacked. It¡¯s just that you didn¡¯t see it. If it were any other Mythical creature fighting her, this wouldn¡¯t be the situation you¡¯re seeing.¡± The antelope wrote on the ground.


    She¡¯s not at the Terror grade. There¡¯s no reason why I can¡¯t see her attack. Even if she is at the Terror grade, I should be able to see her¡­ Wait¡­ Could her attack be the red light over her body? Zhou Wen immediately understood that there was definitely something wrong with the red light. It was only because Chick¡¯s physique was too strong that it hadn¡¯t been affected.


    ¡°This is just the beginning. The fun lies ahead.¡± After the antelope finished writing, it headed for the mountain.


    Before long, he saw another Deva that emitted a red glow. However, this time, it was a man. Chick went up to fight again.


    Just like before, the Deva dodged the attacks that certainly should have hit several times. It infuriated Chick to spew out a sea of flames, burning the Deva to ashes.

 Chapter 1193 - Devas’ Ability

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although Chick still wielded the absolute advantage, it was very odd that Chick, who was nearly invincible among its peers, found it so difficult to deal with a Mythical creature.


    Although there weren¡¯t many Devas here, they weren¡¯t rare. The glowing-red Devas weren¡¯t a rare species, so Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that they could fight Chick to such an extent.


    Zhou Wen had already noticed that the problem lay with the Devas¡¯ movement technique. After plenty of observation, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what the strange movement technique was.


    As he walked up the mountain path, he quickly saw another glowing-red Deva appear. Chick no longer had its previous spirit. Although the expenditure was nothing to it, fighting glowing-red Devas left Chick somewhat depressed. It no longer charged forward eagerly.


    Zhou Wen wanted to figure out what was going on with the glowing-red Devas¡¯ movement techniques, so he summoned two Golden Battle God Halberds and made them fly towards the glowing-red Deva in a pincer attack.


    The Golden Battle God Halberd was extremely sharp. Its offensive strength was rather good among Mythical creatures, but they were just too clumsy. The two Golden Battle God Halberds failed to touch the Red-Flow Deva in their pincer attack.


    At the same time, a strange scene happened. In the battle, red rust appeared on the Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s golden body. Furthermore, the red rust increased, making the two originally golden divine weapons look like scrap metal that had been thrown in a pile for years.


    Is this the glowing-red Deva¡¯s ability? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. He had never seen such an ability. Thankfully, Chick could resist this power; otherwise, the outcome would be unimaginable.


    Clang!


    A rusted Golden Battle God Halberd smashed at the glowing-red Deva, but it missed him. Then, it failed to stop in time and smashed into the mountain wall beside him. The Golden Battle God Halberd snapped and Zhou Wen lost a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Holy sh*t, what¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen widened his eyes. After all, that was a Mythical creature. To shatter from smashing into a rock was somewhat bizarre.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally understood what the antelope meant. It wasn¡¯t that these Devas weren¡¯t strong, but their strength was different from ordinary dimensional creatures.


    ¡°What kind of power is this?¡± Zhou Wen retreated a distance to ensure that he wasn¡¯t affected by the red glow before asking the antelope.


    He was ultimately at the Mythical stage. Although he had the strength of the Terror grade, he hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade. It was best to be careful. Before figuring out what the strange power was, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to be touched.


    Clang!


    Before the antelope could answer, the other Golden Battle God Halberd broke due to the excessive rust. It made Zhou Wen feel the pinch of losing two Mythical Companion Beasts.


    Although it was relatively easy to have Golden Battle God Halberds drop, and Zhou Wen still had two of them on him, their skills were still pretty good. No one would complain about having too many of the necessary skills in a combined attack.


    After the Golden Battle God Halberds died, the glowing-red Deva flew towards Zhou Wen again. Now, looking at the red glow that appeared to be dancing like flowers over her body, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it beautiful. He felt horrified.


    Not daring to let the glowing-red Deva approach, Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy. She blew out a gust of Supreme Yin Wind, freezing the glowing-red Deva in midair before she slammed into the mountain wall. Her body was reduced to ice shards and she died on the spot.


    A Companion Egg that suffused a red glow dropped. Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly picked it up and incubated it.


    A Mythical Companion Egg wasn¡¯t enough to delight Zhou Wen. However, with this Companion Egg, he could know what stats and skills a Deva had. It would be of great help to his future plans.


    Zhou Wen refused to believe that there wasn¡¯t a Terror-grade Deva in a place like this. If he could figure out what the abilities a Terror-grade Deva had before encountering one and the way to restrain them, the danger would be greatly minimized.


    With the injection of Essence Energy, the glowing-red Deva Companion Beast transformed into a red stream of light that rushed into Zhou Wen¡¯s body, forming a picture of a Fairy on his shoulder.


    Although Zhou Wen had already received some information from the Fairy, he still looked at the mysterious phone¡¯s data. He was more used to getting direct data.


    Crimson Deva: Mythical


    Life Providence: Deva Blessing


    Life Soul: Crimson Body Glow


    Wheel of Destiny: Lesser Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay


    Strength: 63


    Speed: 78


    Constitution: 62


    Essence Energy: 71


    Talent Skill: Fairy, Luck, Fortune


    Companion Form: Deva Robe


    After Zhou Wen had studied all the abilities of the Crimson Deva, he finally understood why Chick had failed to hit her so many times.


    Not only was a Crimson Deva¡¯s movement technique good, but what was even more terrifying was that it had powers like Luck, Blessings, and Fortune. Although these abilities didn¡¯t seem to have any offensive power, their effects were definitely terrifying.


    As for the Wheel of Destiny ability¡ªDeva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay¡ªbecame even more ridiculous when combined with abilities like Luck and Fortune.


    Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay could make an enemy unlucky. Not only would they be unlucky, but they would also age and perish.


    With the enemy becoming unlucky, while they enjoyed good luck and fortune, it was obvious how difficult it would be for an opponent to hit them.


    Although this Crimson Deva isn¡¯t strong in combat, these skills and abilities are really strong. If skills like Luck and Fortune can be transferred to a combat pet, it will be even better. Zhou Wen finally understood why a Crimson Deva could sometimes dodge attacks in an unbelievable manner. It wasn¡¯t because their movement techniques were good, but because their opponent was unlucky while they were very lucky.


    The only pity was that the Luck and Fortune skills of a Crimson Deva were only effective on themselves and wouldn¡¯t affect the people around them.


    Everything else is fine. No matter how lucky she is, she won¡¯t be able to dodge area-of-effect attacks. However, this Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay is somewhat troublesome, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Legend had it that Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay was an ominous omen before the death of a Deva. It was also divided into a Lesser and Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. Now, it had become the Wheel of Destiny ability of a Deva.


    Just the power of the Lesser Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay was strange enough. If he encountered a Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay or a Terror-grade Deva, perhaps a single Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay would plague them with bad luck. They would be unlucky and die without knowing why.


    What kind of power can crack the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay? Zhou Wen carefully ran through the list of Companion Beasts he had.


    Among the few at the Terror grade, Banana Fairy likely didn¡¯t have a promoting and inhibiting relationship with Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. Ice Maiden was about the same. Jade Rabbit and the Seven Seas Dragon King were most likely going to be inhibited.


    There didn¡¯t seem to be any power that could restrain the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. Truth Listener was the one most likely to inhibit it.


    2


    Among Zhou Wen¡¯s few powers, perhaps only the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder was useful.

 Chapter 1194 - Terror Deva

    Zhou Wen planned on experimenting on a Crimson Deva to see if Truth Listener and Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder were of any use.


    It was better to try it on a Mythical Crimson Deva than a Terror-grade Deva.


    He continued walking along the mountain path, hoping to find another Crimson Deva. However, after walking for a short while, he saw a female Deva emitting a lotus-like golden light flying towards him.


    As he hadn¡¯t seen the gold-glowing Deva enter her Terror transformation, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if she was at the Terror-level. He hesitated without charging forward. Instead, he summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and made it charge at her.


    Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try. He wanted to see if the attributes of Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay, Luck, and Fortune were effective against the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, a Companion Beast filled with negative powers.


    In any case, the Jinxes Master skill was a sore point for Zhou Wen. He wouldn¡¯t feel the pinch even if the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General died.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General charged forward, brandishing the Demonic Spear to stab at the gold-glowing Deva. Like the others, she did not attack; she only circled around the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and dodged its attack.


    However, the golden lotus flower that emitted from her body fused into the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body upon contact. It was probably the same as the ability of the Crimson Deva. It had the effects of the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay, but it was unknown if it was the Lesser or Greater version.


    After a while, Zhou Wen revealed a look of pleasant surprise. Not only was the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General unaffected by the gold-glowing Deva, but the demonic purple flames in its body became even more exuberant due to the infusion of the golden lotus.


    From the looks of it, not only can the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay not bring misfortune to the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, but it will also accelerate his strengthening. Zhou Wen observed for a while and found the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General becoming stronger and stronger. The gold-glowing Deva was in a sorry state from the pursuit, with several wounds over her body.


    Her Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay didn¡¯t have much effect on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Luck and Fortune skills didn¡¯t seem to be of much use either. They were completely restrained by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Before long, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General slew the gold-glowing Deva with his spear. Unfortunately, nothing dropped.


    The gold-glowing Deva¡¯s speed and strength were stronger than the Crimson Deva, but it was still within the range of the Mythical stage. It hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade.


    Knowing that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General could also restrain Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay, Zhou Wen felt much better. He charged forward with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and later encountered several Crimson Devas and gold-glowing Devas.


    After experimenting, Zhou Wen found that although Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Annihilation was effective against the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay, it couldn¡¯t completely eliminate it.


    As for the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, it could perfectly restrain the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. As long as he activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, the Devas didn¡¯t pose any harm to Zhou Wen.


    This put Zhou Wen at greater ease. Even if he encountered a Terror-grade Deva, he would be invincible against them.


    However, along the way, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any clues related to Ouyang Lan. This made him suspect if Ouyang Lan had come to Deva Realm.


    ¡°Were we wrong? Did Sis Lan predict that An Tianzuo would have the same thought process as us, so she did the opposite and went to the Asura Realm?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    The antelope looked at the mountain path ahead and wrote on the ground, ¡°It¡¯s also possible. However, we are already here. Don¡¯t you want to go up and take a look?¡±


    ¡°You are the one who wants to go up, right? What¡¯s up there?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the antelope might not have taken this path to save Ouyang Lan from the beginning.


    The antelope seemed to know that it had to say something. It wrote, ¡°There¡¯s something on the mountain that can help Chick complete a Terror transformation. Even if the person you are looking for isn¡¯t there, this trip won¡¯t be for nothing.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if that thing is still there. Let¡¯s go up and take a look first.¡± The antelope refused to say anything as it continued walking with its head lowered.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and followed. He wasn¡¯t sure if Ouyang Lan had come to Deva Realm, but since he was already here, he decided to continue his search.


    As Zhou Wen walked, he carved on the Wheel of Destiny, maintaining his Terror form to deal with any unexpected situations.


    With the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General leading the way, he killed quite a number of Crimson Devas and a few gold-glowing Devas. A skill crystal dropped from a Crimson Deva.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately absorb it. Instead, he put it away and continued on the path.


    It was unknown how high the mountain was. Zhou Wen estimated that they had already climbed a few thousand meters, but they still couldn¡¯t see the peak. It was difficult to imagine how huge the mountain was.


    Clang!


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General killed another gold-glowing Deva and a Companion Egg dropped.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he picked up the Companion Egg and hatched it. The Companion Beast he hatched was called Golden Deva.


    The Golden Deva¡¯s attributes were very similar to that of Crimson Immortal. The only difference was that its Life Soul was called Golden Body Glow. The other attributes were basically the same.


    Even the Wheel of Destiny was the Lesser Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. The Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay that Zhou Wen had expected didn¡¯t appear.


    He continued on his way and when he arrived at a platform, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t help but skip a beat. He saw a divine altar on the platform. Sitting on it was a Deva. The Deva was clearly different from the previous ones.


    The glow over his body was black. Furthermore, without using the Wheel of Destiny, he couldn¡¯t be seen.


    Terror-grade Deva! Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. He originally wanted the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to return, but to his surprise, it charged forward as though it could see the Terror-grade Deva.


    The Devas from before didn¡¯t seem to attack, but the black-glowing Deva was different. Just as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General charged over, he threw a slap.


    A black beam tore out of his palm and instantly struck the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, sending it flying back. He slammed into the mountain wall, and his fiend armor caved in.


    When Zhou Wen saw this, he hurriedly retracted the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Although he had the urge to kill it at times, he couldn¡¯t stand seeing it suffer serious injuries.


    After condensing the Sword Pill, Zhou Wen used the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and used Clown Mask to teleport. He arrived behind the black-glowing Deva and slashed at his head.


    Unfortunately, the black-glowing Deva turned his body in a seemingly prescient move and dodged Zhou Wen¡¯s strike.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated, but he didn¡¯t stop. As he constantly teleported, he thrust out Sword Pill again and again. Every strike was extremely bizarre, making it impossible to dodge.


    Strangely, no matter how fast Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation was or how accurate his strike was, it was dodged by the black-glowing Deva. It was as though he could predict the future. He could dodge any of Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks ahead of time. No matter how fast the sword was, it was difficult for it to injure him.

 Chapter 1195 - Another Companion Egg

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. This was the result of the Heaven-Opening Scripture¡¯s protection. From the Essence Energy that was rapidly converted by the Heaven-Opening Scripture, he could tell how terrifying the black-glowing Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay was.


    If it were anyone else, not only would they not be able to hit the black-glowing Deva, but they would probably have their lives taken by the power of the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay.


    None of his hits connected. Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique was already as fast as lightning, but he couldn¡¯t touch even a strand of the black-glowing Deva¡¯s hair.


    How can I crack the black-glowing Deva¡¯s Luck and Fortune skill? Zhou Wen knew that if he couldn¡¯t crack it, it was useless no matter how fast his sword was.


    The opposite of luck is misfortune or bad luck. Speaking of bad luck, Tai Sui should be the best choice. However, Tai Sui¡¯s combat strength isn¡¯t strong. It¡¯s fine against microorganisms, but it probably won¡¯t be of much use against a Deva. Furthermore, this is a Terror-grade Deva. A Mythical Tai Sui is probably useless¡­ As Zhou Wen thought, he suddenly had an idea and took out the Bamboo Blade.


    Bamboo Blade was one of the Four Gentlemen Blades. Legend had it that it was a blade with the curse of misfortune. It was unknown if it was of any use.


    Now, Zhou Wen could only make a last-ditch effort. He didn¡¯t have any other solutions. If it still didn¡¯t work, he would have to get Banana Fairy to take action and see if an area-of-effect attack was effective against the black-glowing Deva.


    However, after slashing a few times, he failed to injure the black-glowing Deva. Just as Zhou Wen was feeling disappointed, the Bamboo Blade tore through the black-glowing Deva¡¯s sleeve.


    Eh, looks like it¡¯s still useful. Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he injected his Terror powers into the Bamboo Blade and slashed at the black-glowing Deva again and again.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that the chances of the Bamboo Blade hitting the black-glowing Deva were very low. It took more than a hundred strikes to hit, and it was very difficult to strike a vital spot.


    Even so, Zhou Wen was overjoyed. As long as he could touch the black-glowing Deva, there was a chance of killing him. It was better than nothing.


    If a hundred slashes didn¡¯t work, he would use a thousand slashes. If a thousand slashes didn¡¯t work, he would use ten thousand slashes. There would come a time when he could successfully kill him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal was already fast enough. Coupled with the Clown Mask¡¯s teleportation ability, it was unbelievably fast. Blade beams flashed as though they were slashing at the black-glowing Deva from all directions. It was unknown how many strikes he had delivered.


    The wounds on the black-glowing Deva gradually increased. Although they weren¡¯t vital spots, they still affected him. In the end, the black-glowing Deva¡¯s body was covered in blade wounds¡ªsuffering a death from abrasions.


    A unique Terror-grade creature was killed by Zhou Wen just like that. All that was left was a pile of white bones. Its flesh had been sliced clean.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to be so cruel, but he had no choice. He wouldn¡¯t have been able to kill the black-glowing Deva if not for this strategy.


    With a clang, a Companion Egg that emitted a black glow dropped out of black-glowing Deva¡¯s body, delighting Zhou Wen.


    A Terror-grade Companion Egg! Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the Companion Egg. He never expected it to come so easily. Furthermore, the black-glowing Deva¡¯s ability was very special. It would definitely be of great use in the future.


    The Companion Egg¡¯s black glow flowed as though it contained infinite mystery. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to hatch it.


    As large amounts of Essence Energy surged in, the Companion Beast transformed into a black stream of light that entered Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone and looked at the information inside.


    Deva Asura: Terror


    Life Providence: Like Heaven Not Heaven


    1


    Life Soul: Destiny¡¯s Return


    Wheel of Destiny: Lesser Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay


    Terror transformation: Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay


    Speed: 94


    Strength: 91


    Constitution: 93


    Essence Energy: 91


    Talent Skill: Luck, Fortune, Not Heaven, Asura Transformation


    Companion Form: Saber


    So the Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay is the power of the Terror transformation. It¡¯s no wonder I didn¡¯t see it on the Golden Deva or the Crimson Deva. However, this fellow is actually called Deva Asura. That¡¯s Asura of the Deva race¡­ Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed when he saw his stats.


    His companion form is a saber. If I use the saber transformed from Deva Asura to slay other Deva Asuras, what will happen with the augmentation of Luck and Fortune? Zhou Wen thought as he summoned Deva Asura in its saber form.


    The Asura Saber was a long and narrow saber that was slightly curved. It was pitch-black, but it suffused a cold glow. It looked cold and mysterious, like the arc of the moon left behind during a lunar eclipse.


    Zhou Wen held the saber and continued walking up the mountain. He couldn¡¯t wait to see if it could restrain Deva Asuras.


    Soon, Zhou Wen and company encountered another Deva. Unfortunately, it wasn¡¯t a Deva Asura, but a Crimson Deva.


    Zhou Wen slashed out with the Asura Saber, slaying the Crimson Deva under his blade. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use much strength and even deliberately held back. Yet, the Crimson Deva was still beheaded in one strike.


    It¡¯s indeed useful. Zhou Wen still wanted to know if it was effective against Deva Asuras. He continued walking up the mountain.


    At first, he didn¡¯t wish to encounter Devas, but now, he couldn¡¯t wait to meet them. However, he only encountered some Crimson Devas and Golden Devas. He didn¡¯t encounter Deva Asuras.


    After slaying eleven Devas, quite a number of stat crystals dropped, but he didn¡¯t obtain any Companion Eggs or see a Deva Asura. This left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    As he walked forward, he suddenly saw a tree growing on the mountain wall in front of him.


    Ever since Zhou Wen and company had entered the Deva Realm, they hadn¡¯t seen any plants. There was sand and mountain rocks everywhere. But not a single blade of grass grew.


    However, there was a crooked tree growing on the mountain wall in front of him. The crooked tree¡¯s roots were embedded in the mountain wall, and the tree¡¯s body was hanging outside.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what type of tree it was, but he could see that there were some red fruits on it. The fruits were about the size of a fist and looked a little like the fruits of a paper mulberry tree.


    When the antelope saw the tree and fruits, its eyes immediately lit up. As for Chick, it was even more direct. It flapped its wings and flew towards the tree.


    The antelope pressed Chick down from the sky with its hoof and wrote on the ground with its other hoof, ¡°That tree is extraordinary. It has already entered the saint stage and can¡¯t be easily desecrated.¡±


    ¡°That tree is what you are looking for?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The tree is useless. The fruit on the tree is what¡¯s very useful. I never expected it to still be there, but it¡¯s somewhat difficult to pluck them.¡± The antelope continued writing.


    Zhou Wen looked at the fruit on the tree and frowned slightly. If even a Calamity-grade like the antelope said it was difficult, then it was truly difficult.


    ¡°What are those fruits? How can I pluck them?¡± Zhou Wen looked for a while and didn¡¯t discover any danger, leaving him puzzled.


    There were no Devas near the tree, nor were there any other dimensional creatures. If the fruits on the tree were so precious, why didn¡¯t the numerous Devas not pluck the fruits? Why would they still be there?

 Chapter 1196 - Meru Mustard Seed

    Chapter 1196: Meru Mustard Seed


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Do you know what mountain this is?¡± The antelope wrote down a question in return.


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen had no idea what mountain it was. He had never been here before, nor were there any rock monuments at the foot of the mountain stating its name.


    ¡°The terror of being uneducated. Since you know that this is the Deva Realm, have you never heard of Mount Meru?¡± The antelope wore a disdainful expression.


    ¡°This is Mount Meru? Then is the mountaintop where the legendary ?akra Buddha lives?¡± Zhou Wen looked up at the mountaintop, but he still couldn¡¯t see its end.


    ¡°You sure read too much into things. That¡¯s not something you should be thinking about now. It¡¯s best that you come up with a way to pluck the fruit.¡± The antelope continued writing. ¡°Since you¡¯ve heard of the word Meru, you should know of the Meru Mustard Seed.¡±


    ¡°This¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve taken note of this word¡­ What does Meru Mustard Seed mean?¡± Zhou Wen really hadn¡¯t kept abreast of such knowledge. Mount Meru was something he had chanced upon when reading Buddhist scriptures. He had only read it as a story without studying it in detail.


    The antelope was somewhat astounded as it explained, ¡°Mustard Seed refers to an extremely tiny space. Meru refers to Mount Meru. Meru Mustard Seed refers to a tiny space that can accommodate a mountain.¡±


    ¡°A storage space?¡± Zhou Wen immediately thought of a word.


    ¡°Something like that. It¡¯s mostly that.¡± The antelope nodded slightly.


    ¡°What has this got to do with that crooked tree?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the tree again.


    ¡°That¡¯s a Mustard Tree. The fruit on it is the Mustard Seed,¡± the antelope answered.


    ¡°The fruit is a Mustard Seed? Didn¡¯t you say that the Mustard Seed is extremely small? Why is the fruit so big?¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Who told you that the fruit is a mustard seed?¡± The antelope wrote in disdain.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he understood what the antelope meant. He stared at the fruit and said, ¡°You mean that there are many mustard seeds in that fruit?¡±


    ¡°A mustard seed can hold one Mount Meru. There are many mustard seeds in the fruit. If you reach out to pluck them, you will immediately fall into an endless space. You might not be able to escape even if it takes the rest of your life.¡±


    ¡°Then how do I pluck it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. If it was that easy to pluck it, it wouldn¡¯t still be there. Even a Calamity-grade creature might not be able to escape if it fell into the endless Meru pocket space,¡± the antelope said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t even know how to pluck it, what¡¯s the point of bringing us here?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Solutions are thought up by people. You are also considered a person, so can¡¯t you use your brain?¡± The antelope rolled its eyes at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I want that mustard seed fruit. I¡¯m only here to find someone. Why should I think about it? If you want it, think of a solution yourself.¡± Zhou Wen ignored the antelope and prepared to leave the mountain.


    From the looks of it, Ouyang Lan hadn¡¯t come here at all. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to leave no traces when they passed by Deva Asura.


    Even if they had a way to avoid fighting Deva Asura, they should have left some traces from using their skills. However, there was nothing along the way.


    ¡°If Chick eats those fruits, it can advance to the Terror grade.¡± The antelope wrote calmly.


    ¡°Chick has fire-elemental attributes. If it wants to eat it, it should be eating Fire Dragon Fruits. Why would it eat something that clearly has spatial attributes?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the antelope was trying to trick him into plucking the Mustard Fruit.


    The antelope patiently explained, ¡°You¡¯re right that phoenixes are fire-elemental, but have you ever thought about why phoenixes can constantly undergo Nirvana Rebirth without truly dying?¡±


    ¡°Phoenix¡¯s Nirvana and resurrection are naturally fire-elemental abilities. What¡¯s there to say?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°From this, it can be seen that you don¡¯t understand phoenixes at all. It¡¯s too superficial. Fire represents destruction and an end, as well as a new life. However, a phoenix¡¯s Nirvana can¡¯t just rely on the renewal power of fire.¡±


    The antelope pointed at the Mustard Fruit and continued writing, ¡°A Mustard Fruit is a Mustard Seed World. A thousand Mustard Seed Worlds make a small chiliocosm. A thousand small chiliocosms make a medium dichiliocosm. A thousand medium dichiliocosms makes a great trichiliocosm. Look at how many Mustard Fruits there are on that tree.¡±


    ¡°Three,¡± Zhou Wen said after taking a look at the Mustard Tree and confirming it.


    ¡°Three Mustard Fruits represent the three thousand worlds. If Chick can swallow three Mustard Fruits, it will obtain the spatial powers of the three thousand worlds. Only then can it truly obtain the ability to undergo nirvana and be reborn. As the saying goes, there are no rootless fruits in the world. If it wants to undergo nirvana and be reborn, it needs to have some kindling. If Chick leaves kindling in the three thousand worlds, then it will have the possibility of nirvana and rebirth in the future.¡± The antelope wrote.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the antelope, momentarily unsure if it was bluffing him or telling the truth.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you to believe it or not. After all, without the Mustard Fruit, Chick will probably need hundreds of years to advance to the Terror grade. And this is under the circumstances of being sufficiently lucky. If you have the patience, keep waiting.¡± With that mentioned, the antelope released its hoof that was pressing down on Chick.


    Chick wanted to fly towards the Mustard Fruit, but Zhou Wen called it back.


    From Chick¡¯s reaction, although what the antelope said might not be true, there was no doubt that Chick wanted the Mustard Fruit.


    ¡°How can I pluck the Mustard Fruit? Furthermore, even if I pluck it, as you said, if there are really three thousand worlds inside, how can Chick consume it?¡± Zhou Wen asked the antelope.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to think of a way to pluck it, but you don¡¯t have to worry about the consumption. Three Mustard Fruits only represent three thousand worlds, not real ones. As long as you can pluck them, that will cut off their energy supply and the spatial powers will naturally converge. When the time comes, they will only be three fruits. How difficult would it be for Chick to eat them?¡± The antelope had clearly thought it through.


    Even if it¡¯s not the real three thousand worlds, the spatial powers of the Mustard Fruits are too terrifying. It won¡¯t be easy to pluck them. Zhou Wen thought about how he could pluck the Mustard Fruits.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t have had the chance if it was easy. They would have long been plucked clean by the Devas.¡± The antelope wrote.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and managed to come up with a solution. Therefore, Zhou Wen said, ¡°There¡¯s a solution, but I don¡¯t know if it will work. Let¡¯s give it a try.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen plucked a mountain rock from the ground beside him. He weighed it in his hand before throwing it at a Mustard Fruit.


    Zhou Wen was naturally using the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. As long as the stone touched the Mustard Fruit, he could swap them.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if this method was effective against spatial-type Mustard Fruits.

 Chapter 1197 - : Mustard Fruits

    The stone quickly flew close to a fruit. Just as it was about to approach the fruit, it suddenly vanished, similar to when Zhou Wen used teleportation.


    The antelope didn¡¯t lie to me this time. The Mustard Fruit is indeed spatial in nature. There¡¯s a huge space inside. The mark Zhou Wen left on the stone still existed. He could sense that the stone had been teleported to a special space.


    I wonder if it will work! Zhou Wen could still sense the spatial label on the stone. He planned on trying the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique, but he didn¡¯t know if he could succeed under the present circumstances. After all, the stone had been sent into another space. It was difficult to say if the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art would work.


    Clown Mask that represented the Godfiend Era and the Singularity Universe that represented the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art circulated at the same time, producing a strange resonance. Zhou Wen sensed the spatial label on the stone and used the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique.


    This technique combined two spatial Terror powers. The instant he used it, Zhou Wen found the fruit undergoing a strange change.


    The Mustard Fruit that was originally growing on the tree branch, suddenly turned into a fist-sized stone. In the next second, the stone shattered and the Mustard Fruit dropped.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed¡ªhe had succeeded. He had exchanged the Mustard Fruit with the stone in the Mustard Space. As there was no space in the stone, the Mustard Fruit naturally dropped.


    However, the Mustard Fruit had already left the Mustard Tree. Without an energy supply, the spatial powers within the Mustard Fruit clearly became weaker.


    Before Zhou Wen could catch the Mustard Fruit, Chick rushed out excitedly. Like a golden bolt of lightning, it swallowed the Mustard Fruit in midair.


    After Chick swallowed the Mustard Fruit, it suddenly vanished. However, it immediately appeared in another place before disappearing again. It was elsewhere when it appeared again.


    Chick seemed to constantly teleport as its figure blinked in and out of existence. It took a while before it gradually stabilized.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Chick slowly return to normal. He picked up another stone and used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to get another Mustard Fruit.


    Chick was very greedy as it flew over and swallowed the second Mustard Fruit. This time, its figure shimmered even more as it constantly vanished and appeared in different spots.


    It lasted longer this time. Chick didn¡¯t completely return to normal. Even if it stood there motionless, its figure would suddenly vanish before suddenly appearing again.


    ¡°Oh no, a terrifying fellow is coming. Quickly pluck the third fruit.¡± The antelope suddenly made a sound and didn¡¯t write on the ground. Its expression turned extremely solemn.


    Zhou Wen also felt that something was amiss. He saw dark clouds billowing over the mountain, instantly darkening the world as though it was doomsday.


    Almost at the same time, a beam of light tore through the dark clouds. It illuminated the area where Zhou Wen and company were.


    The light was too fast. Before Zhou Wen could pluck the third fruit, the light had already scattered, brightly illuminating the area.


    ¡°Paradise Domain¡­ F*ck you¡­ I¡¯m not done with life¡­ I don¡¯t want to go to the Western Paradise¡­¡± The antelope cried out as a third vertical eye at its glabella suddenly opened. Its entire body emitted a crackling sound.


    Originally, the antelope was thin and weak, making it look like a malnourished antelope, but at that instant, its body became as strong as a bull. The horns on its head were snow-white and crystalline like curved blades. A sanguine glow spewed out from its vertical eye, turning into a blood-colored barrier that enveloped the nearby area.


    Boom!


    The brilliance collided with the sanguine barrier. The latter quaked and abruptly shrank. However, it ultimately resisted the terrifying beam and prevented it from descending.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen had already used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to remove the last Mustard Fruit.


    However, Chick was still constantly shuttling through space. It couldn¡¯t control its body. It tried flying towards the third fruit, but as it flew, it involuntarily entered a spatial teleportation state. When it appeared again, it was somewhere else.


    After several attempts, Chick failed to approach the falling Mustard Fruit.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Quickly take the fruit and run. When that fellow comes down, we will all be doomed,¡± the antelope cried out.


    Blood tears were already flowing out of its vertical eye. The eye looked like it was about to crack open. The sanguine barrier quaked as it shrank, as though it would shatter at any moment.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen teleported over and grabbed the falling Mustard Fruit. Then, he went over to grab Chick, hoping to take it away.


    However, just as he grabbed Chick, Chick¡¯s body automatically tore through space and vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, appearing elsewhere.


    Zhou Wen realized things were going south. Chick¡¯s situation was too unstable, so it was impossible for him to grab it and escape. He made a prompt decision and took out the Chaos Bead.


    When Chick phased into existence again, Zhou Wen stuffed it into the Chaos Bead¡¯s space and stuffed the remaining Mustard Fruit inside.


    After confirming that Chick hadn¡¯t tunneled out of it, Zhou Wen fled down the mountain at full speed.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had succeeded, the antelope turned around and ran. It ran much faster than him and overtook him in moments.


    Rumble!


    However, the brilliance kept targeting the antelope. Furthermore, it became more and more resplendent. It blasted the antelope¡¯s sanguine barrier. It kept crackling and fractures appeared. The brilliance was seeping in.


    Struck by such a heavy blow, blood spewed out of the antelope¡¯s vertical eye. Its eyeball was about to burst.


    ¡°F*ck you. Do you really think I have nothing?¡± The antelope cursed and suddenly opened its mouth to spit something out. At the same time, it shouted, ¡°Supreme Venerable Sovereign, be quick, as if this were a command! Seal¡­¡±


    Upon saying the sutra, the antelope spat out another mouthful of blood on the thing it had spat out previously.


    It was a yellow paper talisman. After the blood spewed out, the yellow paper talisman emitted a sanguine glow. A blood-colored Dao talisman lit up like a lamp.


    The yellow paper talisman flew to the sanguine barrier and stuck to it like a seal. The sanguine barrier that was about to shatter stabilized and wasn¡¯t shattered by the brilliance.


    Zhou Wen was still reeling in astonishment at the might of the yellow paper talisman when the antelope suddenly rushed over. With a flick of its horn, it sent Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er flying. It leaped into the air and let Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er land on its back.


    In the next instant, it galloped forward without any regard for its life. Its speed was so fast that even Zhou Wen felt the scenery on both sides rapidly sweep backward, turning extremely blurry.


    Boom!


    An apocalyptic beam descended and struck the sanguine barrier. Even with the power of the yellow paper talisman, the sanguine barrier shattered as a terrifying beam of brilliance fell.

 Chapter 1198 - Asura Realm

    ¡°Pui! Pui! Pui!¡± The antelope shouted as it spat out three mouthfuls of blood. The three mouthfuls of blood bloomed into three blood flowers that rose up and shielded their heads.


    Boom!


    The terrifying brilliance collided with the three blood flowers, producing a terrifying shockwave that sent the antelope, Zhou Wen, and company flying.


    The antelope¡¯s majestic body was already covered in blood patterns as its vertical eye surged with blood.


    It transformed into a sanguine beam in midair and carried Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er out of Mount Meru, heading straight for the exit of the Deva Realm.


    Only then did the three blood flowers shatter. The brilliance continued chasing after the antelope and company, and just as it was about to catch up, the antelope had already rushed to the entrance of the Deva Realm and leaped out.


    However, the brilliance couldn¡¯t leave the Deva Realm; it couldn¡¯t chase after them.


    The antelope landed on the ground and its forelimbs went limp as it collapsed.


    Zhou Wen landed on the ground and hurriedly turned to look at the antelope. He saw that it had already gotten up. The vertical eye on its forehead had vanished, but there was a bloody mark between its brows. Its body had returned to its normal antelope form.


    Even so, its body was still stained with blood, and blood was still seeping from the corner of its mouth.


    After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the antelope cursed, ¡°That bastard on Mount Meru made me lose a bet. When I recover, I¡¯ll definitely storm my way up Mount Meru and capture those turtles and let some blood spill.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the antelope in shock. Its appearance overturned his former impression of it.


    This fellow used to be lazy and ignored anyone while sprawled on the sofa. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t speak at all. Occasionally, he would write a few words with its hooves, looking aloof.


    But now, the antelope was like a hooligan. It kept spewing out vulgarities.


    ¡°Um, do you need me to treat you?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the antelope¡¯s body.


    ¡°Even Mount Laojun¡¯s Nine Revolutions Golden Pill can¡¯t treat my injuries. Can you treat it?¡± The antelope was clearly in a bad mood. It glared at Zhou Wen and spat in the direction of the Deva Realm¡¯s door. ¡°Pui.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned a bet. What bet was it?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    The antelope rolled its eyes unhappily. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. Stay out of it.¡±


    After a pause, the antelope asked, ¡°How¡¯s Chick? Did it eat the third Mustard Fruit?¡±


    Zhou Wen looked inside the Chaos Bead. He also wanted to know how Chick was.


    However, his expression immediately changed from the scene he saw. He scanned the Chaos Bead several times, but he didn¡¯t find Chick.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Chick is missing. Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s still in the Deva Realm?¡± Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed.


    The antelope was very calm and after some thought it asked, ¡°Is the third Mustard Fruit still there?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he somewhat understood the antelope¡¯s intentions. He hurriedly looked into the Chaos Bead and realized that the Mustard Fruit was indeed gone.


    ¡°The Mustard Fruit is gone,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s fine. After some time, Chick will naturally complete its evolution and return¡­ Ugh¡­¡± As the antelope spoke, it suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Its body staggered and it nearly fell. It looked like it had suffered serious injuries.


    ¡°I have a Dragon Tiger Pill Essence here. It has a resurrective effect. Take a look and see if it¡¯s of any use.¡± Seeing that the antelope¡¯s situation was terrible, Zhou Wen summoned the Mythical Dragon Tiger Pill Essence.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the antelope going all out, they probably wouldn¡¯t have made it out alive. Although the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence was rare, there was still a chance of it dropping in the future. In such a dangerous place, having the antelope with such combat strength was far more useful than a pill essence.


    ¡°That low-grade item is useless to me. Keep it for yourself.¡± The antelope glanced at the door of the Asura Realm and continued, ¡°The person you are looking for is probably in the Asura Realm. If you want to go, be careful. I¡¯m injured, so I won¡¯t join you in the fun.¡±


    The antelope was straightforward. With that said, it turned around and walked towards the Bridge of Helplessness to leave the strange six realms of rebirth and existence.


    As it walked, it cursed. ¡°What a huge loss. Sooner or later, I¡¯ll skin those b*stards and hang them on a flagpole and use them as lanterns¡­¡±


    As Zhou Wen watched the antelope walk onto the Bridge of Helplessness, a thought suddenly flashed across his mind. Could it be that this fellow¡¯s bet was to not speak?


    Without any time to think, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and turned to walk towards the door of Asura Realm. Since Ouyang Lan and company weren¡¯t in Deva Realm, the most likely possibility was the Asura Realm.


    The Asura Realm was fiendish, so it wasn¡¯t safer than the Deva Realm. It might even be more dangerous.


    Since there were Calamity-grade existences in the Deva Realm, it was definitely the same for the Asura Realm. Zhou Wen only hoped that An Sheng and company were fine.


    Taking a deep breath, Zhou Wen walked into the Asura Realm.


    The moment he entered, Zhou Wen was immediately given a fright. He saw a cold saber cleave down, almost hitting his face.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was prepared. The Asura Saber in his hand blocked the saber in front of him.


    Crack!


    The Asura Saber was transformed from Deva Asura. How could an ordinary weapon compare to a Terror-grade weapon? When the blade touched the Asura Saber, it immediately snapped into two.


    The Asura Saber didn¡¯t stop there as it split the saber-wielding figure into two.


    Only then did Zhou Wen identify the creature slashing at him¡ªa humanoid creature wearing a ghoul mask. It bared its muscular upper body and revealed a strange bird tattoo on its back.


    The strange bird symbol occupied almost all of his entire back and left shoulder. It looked like a peacock, but it was blood-red.


    As for his lower body, he was wearing a black feathered piece of clothing that resembled a skirt and pants. It was difficult to tell what it was.


    ¡°Kill!¡± A tsunami-like battle cry sounded, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s eardrums to buzz.


    Looking ahead, there were creatures everywhere on the dilapidated land that resembled an ancient battlefield. They held long sabers and their eyes were filled with killing intent as they swept toward Zhou Wen like a tidal wave.


    Zhou Wen brandished the Asura Saber and instantly killed countless nearby creatures, but the other creatures continued charging forward fearlessly.


    Zhou Wen slew the aggressors as he advanced, hoping to find An Sheng and company. However, before long, he discovered a problem.


    The creatures he had killed came to life again. Even if their bodies were diced up, they could automatically reconnect. In the blink of an eye, they were no longer injured as they continued their charge.


    Strange? The Deva Asura is a Terror-grade saber. It can slay even Mythical, much less these creatures who don¡¯t even have combat strength at the Mythical stage. Yet, they are completely fine. Something¡¯s amiss. Zhou Wen realized the problem as he rushed forward.


    An Sheng and company would probably be in trouble if they were entangled by these undying and indestructible monsters. Zhou Wen¡¯s number one desire was to find them quickly.


    With his previous experience, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t teleport. All he did was constantly charge across the land. With the Asura Saber in hand, the tidal-like creatures couldn¡¯t stop him.

 Chapter 1199 - Saint

    When An Sheng and An Tianzuo entered the Asura Realm, their encounter was identical to Zhou Wen¡¯s. Under such circumstances, it was impossible for them to wait for Zhou Wen to enter and move together. All they could do was charge in.


    An Sheng suspected that Ouyang Lan and company had entered the Asura Realm. It was so dangerous here that even if Ouyang Lan and company had really entered, they might have retreated.


    After all, such a battlefield was too dangerous. There were Asuras everywhere, giving one no time to rest.


    However, An Tianzuo seemed to be certain that Ouyang Lan had taken this path. He kept rushing deeper into the Asura Realm.


    Wearing his armor, An Tianzuo was a Terror-grade existence. He held a Gatling firearm in his hand as he crazily swept at the ghoul-like Asuras. Wherever he passed, large swaths of Asuras fell, their bodies peppered with holes.


    Unfortunately, the Asuras stood up again shortly after. Their bodies returned to their original states as they lunged forward again.


    Among the Asuras, there was no lack of Mythical existences, but when faced with An Tianzuo¡¯s firepower, their bodies exploded before they could even charge forward. Occasionally, one or two would slip to the cracks, but they were killed by An Sheng.


    The two of them charged forward and after an unknown distance, they saw a strange altar in front of them.


    The altar was made of twelve black stone pillars, and on the stone pillar in the middle stood a flag.


    The flag fluttered in the wind, and there was an anchor symbol drawn on it.


    However, An Tianzuo and An Sheng didn¡¯t look at the flag. Their eyes were focused on the stone pillars.


    A few people were tied to the different stone pillars. On one of the stone pillars was Ouyang Lan. The people on the other stone pillars were the Sunset Army generals who had followed Ouyang Lan to Netherworld City.


    They were chained to the stone pillars. All of them were on their last breaths and most of them had already fainted.


    When he saw the whip marks on Ouyang Lan and company and their ripped clothes with blood seeping out of the cracks, An Tianzuo¡¯s eyes instantly turned cold.


    Gatling flames spewed out as the firepower seemed to become even more violent. It blasted the horde of Asuras ahead, turning them into sieves. Even existences as powerful as Mythical creatures were as weak as paper in the storm of bullets.


    An Tianzuo flew up and wanted to rush up the altar to save Ouyang Lan and company.


    Suddenly, a cold beam of light appeared and shot towards An Tianzuo¡¯s chest like a phantom. The cold beam was too fast and reached his heart in the blink of an eye. An Tianzuo didn¡¯t have the time to adjust the Gatling gun¡¯s muzzle.


    Clang!


    The broadsword in An Tianzuo¡¯s other hand struck the cold beam like a ghost.


    Sparks flew, revealing the cold beam¡¯s true face¡ªan arrow. As the tip of the arrow collided with the hilt, sparks flew everywhere. An Tianzuo uncontrollably took a step back as the arrow deviated from its trajectory and hit the ground beside him.


    Boom!


    A huge crater was blasted into the ground, but the arrow vanished.


    An Tianzuo frowned as he looked in the direction of the altar. He saw a person wearing purple armor and a ghoul mask standing on a stone pillar.


    He held a hunting bow in his left hand with his other palm open. The arrow that vanished appeared in his palm and was gently pinched by his fingers.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here? I¡¯ve been waiting for you for a long time,¡± the person said indifferently as he looked at An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± An Tianzuo asked slowly as he stared at the person.


    The person had the aura of a Guardian, but there was no inkling of a human aura. It was unknown if there was a human inside the armor.


    ¡°Saint¡­ Xiao¡­¡± the person said calmly.


    ¡°You were waiting for me?¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t immediately rush towards the altar but asked coldly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao nodded slightly.


    ¡°You forced them here to lure me here?¡± An Tianzuo continued asking.


    Xiao nodded before shaking his head. ¡°Partially. You need to die; likewise for them.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t outraged as he continued asking.


    Xiao didn¡¯t answer, but he suddenly laughed. ¡°People say that one should give birth to a child like An Tianzuo. From what I see today, you¡¯re nothing much. Your mother is hung here by me, her fate unknown, but you still have the mood to chat with me.¡±


    An Tianzuo¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he looked at Xiao and said, ¡°Since you aren¡¯t willing to tell me, let me guess.¡±


    ¡°Oh, please be my guest.¡± Xiao looked at An Tianzuo with interest.


    ¡°You want to kill us because we investigated the expedition team.¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t a question, but an affirmative description.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Xiao didn¡¯t deny it. It wasn¡¯t difficult to guess this conclusion.


    ¡°You come from the Holy Land,¡± An Tianzuo continued.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Xiao nodded in acknowledgment. He looked at An Tianzuo with a smile and said, ¡°From the word ¡®Saint¡¯ I just mentioned, you can confirm that I¡¯m from the Holy Land. This isn¡¯t difficult to guess.¡±


    ¡°You come from the Trajectory Holy Temple,¡± An Tianzuo said again, unmoved.


    Xiao was somewhat surprised as he looked at An Tianzuo and asked, ¡°How did you know that I came from the Trajectory Holy Temple?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to guess. Figure it out yourself,¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    Xiao laughed. ¡°You are indeed an interesting person. I can¡¯t bear to kill you. Unfortunately, you have to die here today. An Tianzuo will no longer exist in this world.¡±


    With that said, Xiao raised the hunting bow in his hand and nocked the arrow. However, he wasn¡¯t aiming at An Tianzuo, but Ouyang Lan on the stone pillar.


    ¡°It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t move. You should know that with my arrow speed, I can kill her before you arrive. If you want her to live for now, break an arm. Then, I can give you a chance to fight me,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already lost. You don¡¯t have the confidence to defeat me,¡± An Tianzuo said as he looked at Xiao.


    Xiao said indifferently, ¡°I just don¡¯t like trouble.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s hand that was holding the sword suddenly moved. He slashed at his right arm and severed the arm that was holding the Gatling.


    Clang!


    The Gatling along with the arm fell to the ground together, blood flowing everywhere.


    ¡°Overseer!¡± An Sheng was alarmed and furious.


    ¡°Do you still want my left arm? I can give it to you as well,¡± An Tianzuo stopped An Sheng and said coldly.


    Xiao¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly as he slowly moved the bow in his hand away from Ouyang Lan and slowly aimed it at An Tianzuo. He said coldly, ¡°An Tianzuo, Overseer An, Luoyang¡¯s God of War. You have the right to be arrogant, but you chose the wrong time and place to be arrogant. You even chose the wrong person.¡±


    ¡°Many people have said such words to me, but they are all dead,¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.

 Chapter 1200 - Xiao

    Chapter 1200: Xiao


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Xiao pointed his bow and arrow at An Tianzuo. The tip of the arrow gradually lit up like a light bulb. As time passed, the light on the tip of the arrow became brighter and more intense, like a sun.


    ¡°Sun True Body, Sun Strafe Art?¡± An Tianzuo was slightly taken aback.


    The Sun True Body was nothing; one had a chance of obtaining it as long as one went to the Sun God Holy Temple. However, according to what he knew, An Jing was the only one who knew the Sun Strafe Art. He originally imagined that Zhou Wen had also practiced it, but he later realized that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t practicing the Sun Strafe Art.


    The crux of the matter was that the Sun Strafe Art was essentially exclusive to the An family. It didn¡¯t seem like it should be passed on to outsiders.


    At the instant An Tianzuo fell into a daze, the arrow shot out. It was like the descent of a heavenly sun as it charged at An Tianzuo with an extremely blazing power.


    An Tianzuo only had one arm left as he held the broadsword. His eyes were firm and determined as he raised the sword and slashed at the sun.


    Boom!


    The sun-like dazzling light was sliced apart by the broadsword. The blade collided with the tip of the arrow, and the terrifying light exploded like a hydrogen bomb.


    The surrounding Asuras were instantly annihilated as An Sheng was sent flying by the shockwave.


    Thankfully, although An Sheng hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade, his skills and Companion Beasts were very good. He managed to leverage himself in the air as he traveled through it, all the while reducing the impact on his body.


    After the light faded, An Tianzuo stood in his spot with the broadsword in hand. A large area around him had turned into a deep pit as the wrecked Asuras squirmed and recovered.


    ¡°Where did you learn the Sun Strafe Art?¡± An Tianzuo asked as he stared at Xiao.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you good at guessing? Guess,¡± Xiao teased.


    An Tianzuo clearly wasn¡¯t a person who liked to waste his breath. He slashed his broadsword at Xiao.


    Xiao stood motionlessly on the stone pillar until the broadsword was in front of him. Just as it was about to touch his hair, his body seemed to warp. Not only did he not retreat, but he charged at An Tianzuo.


    As space distorted, the broadsword seemed to automatically avoid him as it brushed past him. Instead, Xiao used the hunting bow¡¯s bowstring as a blade to slash at An Tianzuo¡¯s neck.


    The broadsword was clumsy to begin with, and the two of them were too close. An Tianzuo had lost an arm, so he had no time to block.


    Everyone believed that An Tianzuo would dodge, but he didn¡¯t. At the instant the bowstring approached, he opened his mouth and bit the bowstring with his teeth, snapping it instantly.


    Almost at the same time he snapped the bowstring, An Tianzuo slashed horizontally at Xiao.


    Xiao did a twist and drew an arc. It didn¡¯t seem fast, but he dodged the sword¡¯s attack. The sword¡¯s trajectory seemed to be distorted. It should have been able to hit Xiao¡¯s blade, but it slashed past him.


    ¡°The Dugu family¡¯s movement technique,¡± An Tianzuo said as he slashed at Xiao again without stopping.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that I came from the Trajectory Holy Temple? What¡¯s so strange about me knowing the Dugu family¡¯s movement techniques?¡± Xiao¡¯s figure moved erratically as he dodged An Tianzuo¡¯s repeated attacks.


    An Tianzuo knew that the truth wasn¡¯t as Xiao said.


    The Dugu family¡¯s movement technique was indeed from the Trajectory Holy Temple, but what the Trajectory Holy Temple had given them was only the tricks to the Trajectory movement technique. The Dugu family¡¯s present achievements were due to their continuous research on the Trajectory movement technique.


    The Dugu family¡¯s Trajectory movement technique had already been imprinted with their own unique trademarks.


    Even if he had learned the Trajectory movement technique from the Trajectory Holy Temple, it would be impossible for it to be identical to the Dugu family¡¯s.


    However, Xiao¡¯s Trajectory movement technique clearly had the inklings of the Dugu family¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t purely the Trajectory movement technique.


    ¡°Your sword art isn¡¯t as arrogant as you.¡± Xiao dodged a few strikes before finally counterattacking.


    As he dodged the broadsword, frost appeared on the bow that had its string snapped. It swept at An Tianzuo like an ice popsicle.


    ¡°The frost battle aura of the Ultimate Family Clan?¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s broadsword clashed with the bow. A cold aura immediately spread from the broadsword, forming frost on half the blade.


    An Tianzuo blasted the bow away, but Xiao used the bow like a staff in an extremely strange manner. An Tianzuo¡¯s broadsword had no choice but to constantly clash with the bow.


    Every time they clashed, the frost battle aura on the bow was transmitted into the broadsword, and traveled through the broadsword up to An Tianzuo¡¯s hand. His sword-wielding arm was already covered in frost that was spreading towards his body.


    ¡°Now, are you still sure that I¡¯m from the Trajectory Holy Temple?¡± Xiao said as he attacked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± An Tianzuo answered very calmly, but his tone was very certain.


    He brandished his sword and sent Xiao retreating. The frost on his body instantly shattered and splattered everywhere. Ice shards fell to the ground, but An Tianzuo¡¯s body wasn¡¯t affected by the freezing.


    ¡°You are actually immune to the freezing forces of the frost battle aura. You shouldn¡¯t have revealed it so early. If you had waited a little longer and suddenly attacked when I was close, you would have been able to cause me some trouble,¡± Xiao said as he retreated.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± An Tianzuo struck again and again.


    His sword art was domineering and orthodox. Ordinary people would have some evil aura when their sword art was so domineering.


    It was just like how Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal was domineering. But, despite being domineering, An Tianzuo¡¯s sword art gave off an upright feeling. It was truly odd.


    Xiao¡¯s movement technique was ever-changing, and his moves were varied. It appeared as though he could freely use the famous techniques of the six families as if he had practiced them since he was young.


    Even An Tianzuo was alarmed.


    He knew that this was definitely not an mime ability, but something he had truly cultivated with great effort. He could sense that something was different.


    Who is this fellow? An Tianzuo was momentarily unable to gain the upper hand.


    An Sheng hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade yet. Although his talent was special and he could vaguely see some shadows¡ªblurry ones. It wasn¡¯t much different from not being able to see them. He only roughly knew where they were fighting.


    Gritting his teeth, An Sheng avoided the area where they were fighting and rushed towards the altar, hoping to save Ouyang Lan and company.


    Bam!


    An Sheng wanted to rush up the altar. There was clearly no obstruction, but when he rushed over, it was as though he had slammed into a wall. He bounced back, his face swollen and his nose bleeding.


    An Sheng summoned his Companion Beast and transformed it into a dagger that stabbed into the air. There was only a clang, and the hand holding the dagger went numb¡ªthe dagger failed to break through.


    He tried various methods to break through the invisible barrier, but none of them worked.


    Meanwhile, An Tianzuo and Xiao were fighting evenly. Neither of them had the absolute upper hand.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s figure suddenly froze as he pointed the broadsword at Xiao. Instantly, the entire world seemed to vanish, leaving only the broadsword in the world.


    Xiao was wearing a mask. It was unknown what expression he had, but his body stopped moving as he stared intently at An Tianzuo. The purple armor on his body emitted a golden glow as the Light of Terror above his head condensed into a crown.


    ¡°Holy Emperor Body?¡± An Tianzuo recognized what it was and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.


    The Holy Emperor Body originated from the Divine Emperor Holy Temple. It had always been the heritage of the Cape family.


    ¡°Your Terror powers are similar to nomological powers. They can destroy all evil, but this power of imperial authority should be your nemesis, right?¡± Xiao looked down at An Tianzuo like a supreme god emperor.

 Chapter 1201 - Inside the Altar

    The broadsword that originally occupied the world seemed to become tiny in an instant. Instead, when Xiao¡¯s hand slammed down, the sword beam immediately disintegrated in a rapid collapse.


    The broadsword in An Tianzuo¡¯s hand hummed as though it would snap at any moment.


    Under the immense pressure, every step Xiao took made An Tianzuo take a step back. The broadsword¡¯s blade began to bend under the pressure.


    ¡°In front of the imperial authority, the law is just a toy. Your nomological sword can¡¯t defeat imperial authority, so you can¡¯t win against me either.¡± Xiao constantly oppressed An Tianzuo while verbally disturbing his will.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t say a word as he drilled his feet into the rocks like nails. He didn¡¯t retreat any further as the broadsword in his hand forcefully resisted the power of Xiao¡¯s imperial authority. It bent further and further under the pressure. The broadsword seemed to turn into bamboo as it bent to a ninety-degree angle.


    ¡°An Tianzuo, you lost because you were too confident and arrogant. If you had both your hands, I might not have been able to clinch victory so easily. Unfortunately, you are too weak with only one hand.¡± As Xiao spoke, the divine imperial authority from his body completely erupted. He threw a punch and the golden light snapped the broadsword, drowning An Tianzuo in a brilliant golden light.


    However, at that moment, Xiao¡¯s expression suddenly changed drastically. He circulated his Trajectory movement technique and quickly retreated, but it was too late.


    Boom!


    The glorious golden imperial authority shattered. An Tianzuo instantly appeared in front of Xiao with the snapped sword, stabbing at his heart.


    Xiao¡¯s trajectory movement technique changed strangely. Just as he thought he could escape the snapped sword¡¯s attack, it suddenly flew out from An Tianzuo¡¯s hand and penetrated his heart.


    The force from the broadsword didn¡¯t stop as it slammed into the stone pillar behind him, pinning him to it.


    Xiao reached out to pull out the broken sword, but when his fingers touched it, they were immediately repelled by the power of the broken sword as though they had been electrocuted. At the same time, the broken sword was nailed deeper.


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s imperial authority? In my eyes, there¡¯s only right and wrong, nothing else. Ignoring the fact that there aren¡¯t any emperors in this era, even if there are, they still have to accept the punishment of the law.¡± As An Tianzuo spoke, he rushed towards the altar to rescue Ouyang Lan and company.


    Xiao, who was nailed to the stone pillar, suddenly cackled crazily. He grabbed the broken sword at his chest with both hands and allowed its nomological power to slice through his body, but he remained unperturbed.


    His armor and flesh were lacerated by the nomological power, but he managed to pull the broken sword out of his chest.


    Clang!


    Xiao threw the broken sword to the ground. His almost shattered heart and the wounds on his body were rapidly healing at an unbelievable speed. In the blink of an eye, he had completely recovered.


    ¡°Invincible Connate Divine Art?¡± An Tianzuo frowned as he looked at Xiao. He recognized the power.


    Floating in the air, Xiao stopped laughing and said coldly, ¡°Your so-called law is just a product of the strong¡¯s circlejerk. Only by being strong enough can you set the law and ignore imperial authority. If you aren¡¯t strong enough, talking about the law and sanctions is just a joke. If you, An Tianzuo, say that there are laws, there can be laws. That¡¯s because you are strong enough, but what¡¯s the difference between that and imperial authority? It¡¯s just a difference in name. An Tianzuo, your nomological sword is ultimately a sword of authority. Why are you fooling yourself?¡±


    At their level, battle was no longer a battle of pure technique. It was a battle of faith.


    If a person knew that he was in the wrong, he could fight with all his might without any distractions. But even a momentary lapse in concentration could become a fatal flaw.


    On the other hand, if one believed that they were in the right, their beliefs unbreakable, they could deliver 120% of their original strength.


    An Tianzuo remained unmoved as he extended his hand and beckoned. The broken sword automatically flew back into his palm. An Tianzuo held the broken sword and said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ve never believed in equality for everyone. My methods are for the law, and only for the law.¡±


    With that said, An Tianzuo walked towards Xiao step by step. The broken sword in his hand produced the nomological law that constantly condensed on it like a chain. It mended the damaged sword body and made its power stronger.


    Xiao held the broken bow. His Terror power was strange and unpredictable. He had used many powers, so it was difficult to tell which power he had.


    At the instant An Tianzuo raised his sword, Xiao took a step forward. With this step, the entire world seemed to press down on An Tianzuo. This wasn¡¯t the Dugu family¡¯s Trajectory movement technique, but the Xia family¡¯s Path to Snatching Heaven.


    No matter how Xiao¡¯s movement technique and strength changed, the broken sword in An Tianzuo¡¯s hand remained the same. It didn¡¯t have many tricks or various magical abilities, but all opposing might was destroyed by his sword force. No matter how Xiao transformed, he couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand.


    ¡°Xiao, there¡¯s no time for you to continue playing.¡± A voice sounded from the altar as a figure walked out from behind a stone pillar with a flag planted.


    The person was dressed very similarly to Xiao. He was also wearing armor and a mask, but his figure was even taller and brawnier. He was nearly three meters tall and no longer looked like a normal human.


    An Tianzuo and An Sheng¡¯s hearts tightened. What they were most worried about had happened.


    The other party had spent so much effort to lure them here. There was no reason for Xiao to be alone.


    In fact, it was true. The man walked out from behind the stone pillar and slowly walked to the stone pillar where Ouyang Lan was. He glanced at the nearly unconscious Ouyang Lan who was chained to the stone pillar.


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to interfere either, but they have to die,¡± the man said as he raised his fist. His fist emitted a sun-like glow as it blasted at Ouyang Lan with scorching power.


    ¡°Stop¡­¡± An Sheng slammed into the altar with all his might. He wasn¡¯t strong enough to break through the altar¡¯s barrier as it only resulted in him fracturing his bones. Blood seeped out of his mouth and nose.


    Knowing that it was impossible to rush in, An Sheng gritted his teeth as his eyes emitted a demonic glow. It was as though numbers were flowing in his pupils.


    Inside the altar, the man¡¯s arm seemed to be bound by an invisible rope. He paused slightly and turned to look at An Sheng.


    An Sheng bled from his seven orifices as the strange light in his eyes intensified.


    ¡°Annoying worm.¡± The man turned his arm and threw a punch at An Sheng.


    Boom!


    An Sheng didn¡¯t have the time to dodge. As his body was drowned by the sun-like punch, a huge crater was blasted open in the ground.

 Chapter 1202 - Supreme Yin Cracks Supreme Yang

    Chapter 1202: Supreme Yin Cracks Supreme Yang


    Translator: CKtalon


    The armor on An Sheng¡¯s body shattered as his body was severely burned. His flesh was almost charred as he collapsed into the huge crater, smoking. It was difficult to tell if he was dead or alive.


    The man turned around and was about to attack Ouyang Lan again when he realized that the force had wrapped around his arm again. He turned his head and saw An Sheng struggling to get up from the ground. His injuries were so serious that it was difficult for him to even stand up, but the demonic glint in his eyes didn¡¯t weaken.


    ¡°What a disgusting worm. It¡¯s as nauseating as a cockroach.¡± The man glanced at An Sheng in disgust. The power of Supreme Yang over his fist became stronger and stronger, and soon, it was so intense that one couldn¡¯t look straight at it.


    Even outside the altar, one could sense the terrifying heat from his fist. Clearly, the man wasn¡¯t interested in wasting time with An Sheng and wanted to finish him off in one strike.


    This time, the power of the Supreme Yang over his fist was more than a hundred times stronger than before. It was power at the Terror grade, unlike the casual strike from before.


    An evil glint flashed in the man¡¯s eyes. He didn¡¯t turn his fist towards An Sheng but continued aiming at Ouyang Lan.


    If An Sheng gave up now, his fist would blast at Ouyang Lan. If he didn¡¯t give up, he wouldn¡¯t even have a chance of escaping¡ªhe would be killed.


    An Sheng had already seen through the man¡¯s plan, but he had no other choice. He stood in the crater with great difficulty as the numbers in his eyes constantly streamed, transforming into a strange force that wrapped around the man¡¯s arm, preventing him from attacking Ouyang Lan.


    An Sheng knew very well that his strength wasn¡¯t enough to restrain the man. The reason the man didn¡¯t attack Ouyang Lan directly was to deliberately put him in a dilemma and watch him suffer mental torment.


    An Sheng wasn¡¯t outraged; instead, he felt lucky because his strength wasn¡¯t enough to really stop the man and he couldn¡¯t rush into the altar. The man¡¯s actions allowed him to stall for time.


    ¡°Your time is up.¡± Seeing that An Sheng was unmoved, the man lost his interest in continuing the game. The terrifying sun-like punch blasted at An Sheng. The entire world seemed to be drowned by the incandescent punch. Even the air seemed to melt.


    An Tianzuo wanted to rush over a few times, but he was held back by Xiao. Unable to help, he shouted at An Sheng, ¡°Ah Sheng, leave!¡±


    ¡°Overseer, I hope that I can still be your adjutant in my next life.¡± An Sheng faced the sun-like punch calmly. He no longer had the chance to leave, nor did he want to.


    The terrifying light and heat melted everything. Just as An Sheng¡¯s figure was about to be overwhelmed by it, a breeze suddenly blew over.


    1


    When the terrifying flames encountered the breeze, not only did they fail to intensify, but they were instantly extinguished. In an instant, the sun-like punch silently extinguished. Wherever the breeze blew, frost formed on the ground.


    A girl who was as graceful as a fairy flew to An Sheng¡¯s side on a banana leaf.


    When An Sheng saw the girl, he was immediately overjoyed. He turned his head and saw Zhou Wen carrying Ya¡¯er over. ¡°Young Master Wen, you¡¯re finally here. What took you so long?¡±


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen, An Tianzuo¡¯s expression eased as he stared intently at Xiao.


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad that I managed to arrive alive.¡± Zhou Wen came in front of the altar and looked at the man on it.


    The man sized up Zhou Wen and Banana Fairy and asked coldly, ¡°You are Zhou Wen, right? You came at the right time; you saved me the trouble of making another trip.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked the man.


    ¡°Saint¡­ Blaze¡­¡± the man answered arrogantly.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, they are from the Holy Temple. The disappearance of the expedition team is related to them,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Got it. Leave it to me.¡± Zhou Wen summoned some pill essences and threw them to An Sheng before walking towards the altar.


    ¡°You sure are confident. Are you just banking on that Terror-grade Supreme Yin Companion Beast? Her strength indeed restrains me. She might be able to stop me for a moment, but unfortunately, you can¡¯t even enter the altar. You don¡¯t even have the right to stop me,¡± Blaze said coldly as he threw a punch at Ouyang Lan and company. He didn¡¯t want any further trouble. He wanted to kill Ouyang Lan and company immediately.


    However, before Blaze¡¯s fist could land, he suddenly heard a boom. The barrier outside the altar instantly shattered as a sword beam tore through the air.


    In his horror, Blaze threw a punch at the sword beam, but his Supreme Yang punch failed to withstand it. The bones in his hand were instantly torn through. If he hadn¡¯t ducked to the side, even his body would have been penetrated.


    The sword beam passed through Blaze¡¯s fist bone and circled around it before flying back to Zhou Wen¡¯s side, transforming into a sword that floated beside him.


    Zhou Wen had already arrived beside Ouyang Lan. He held the sword transformed from Sword Pill and slashed thrice, severing all the chains that bound her. He reached out to catch Ouyang Lan and fed her a pill essence he summoned.


    Ya¡¯er and the antelope stayed by An Sheng¡¯s side. When An Sheng saw that Ouyang Lan had been saved, he finally heaved a long sigh of relief.


    1


    Blaze looked at the Sword Pill in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, no longer as arrogant as before.


    The Supreme Yang glow over Blaze¡¯s body constantly condensed as his entire body emitted light and heat like the sun. At the same time, he said loudly, ¡°Xiao, didn¡¯t they say that the only Terror-grades in Luoyang are An Tianzuo and Leng Zongzheng? What¡¯s the matter with this fellow?¡±


    ¡°How would I know? I know as much as you do,¡± Xiao said indifferently. ¡°But that¡¯s good. It¡¯s more interesting this way. Don¡¯t tell me you can¡¯t even deal with an adopted son of the An family?¡±


    Blaze wasn¡¯t in the mood to waste his breath on Xiao. The Supreme Yang glow over his body became stronger and stronger.


    ¡°You have the power of Supreme Yang. Are you from the Sun God Temple?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Blaze and asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t compare me to worms like you. I¡¯m a saint of the Sun God Holy Temple,¡± Blaze said coldly.


    ¡°In that case, you aren¡¯t human?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Blaze in surprise. As the Guardian aura on Blaze¡¯s body was intense, he couldn¡¯t be sure if there was anyone inside the armor. However, he had a feeling that Blaze wasn¡¯t a pure Guardian.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Blaze constantly gathered his strength, making him look like a nuclear bomb that could explode at any moment.


    ¡°Were you the ones who captured Professor Ouyang and the expedition team?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    ¡°Ask him in hell,¡± Blaze said as the power accumulated in his body instantly erupted. The terrifying power of Supreme Yang exploded like a supernova, producing a terrifying blast of light and fire.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move as Banana Fairy spat out another mouthful of Supreme Yin Wind.


    The power of Supreme Yang that Blaze had accumulated for a long time was blown out by the Supreme Yin Wind, as well as the flames over his body. He was swept up by the Supreme Yin Wind, and only stopped when he slammed into the stone pillar.


    When he fell to the ground, frost had already formed over his body, almost turning him to an ice sculpture.


    Blaze struggled to stand up, but his eyes were filled with horror. He knew that Banana Fairy was a Companion Beast with the Supreme Yin attribute, but he never expected such intensity. She was his nemesis. His Supreme Yang power was completely suppressed and useless.

 Chapter 1203 - Different Asuras

    Zhou Wen teleported to Blaze¡¯s side planning on capturing him alive. After investigating for so long, he finally had clues, so he naturally had to get to the bottom of it.


    ¡°Come to hell with me.¡± However, before Zhou Wen could touch Blaze, Blaze¡¯s body suddenly bloated up. Light and fire spewed out from his body as he chose to self-destruct without any hesitation.


    Damn it! Zhou Wen could teleport away, but there were other people chained in the altar. If Blaze self-destructed here, the others would definitely die.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen made a decision. Almost at the same time Blaze¡¯s body exploded, he reached out and pressed down on him, transferring his body away.


    Boom!


    In the distant Asura horde, a terrifying explosion happened. The explosive force exploded like a hydrogen bomb, instantly wiping out countless Asuras.


    When Xiao saw this scene, his figure flashed and drew a strange trajectory as he charged towards the exit of the Asura Realm.


    An Tianzuo chased after Xiao and held him back. Under An Tianzuo¡¯s attacks, Xiao couldn¡¯t escape for the time being.


    Ouyang Lan woke up after consuming the pill essence. Zhou Wen placed her by An Sheng¡¯s side and waved his sword to rescue the other prisoners. Only then did he rush over, planning on helping An Tianzuo take down Xiao.


    They could only make headway on the former principal¡¯s disappearance through these people. He wanted to know if the former principal was still alive.


    Zhou Wen held Sword Pill and joined the battle. His sword art wasn¡¯t inferior to An Tianzuo¡¯s, but their styles were different. Although they had never fought together, it didn¡¯t affect their performance at all. They had good teamwork.


    Facing the siege of the two, Xiao was immediately at a disadvantage. He was in imminent danger.


    Xiao was a ruthless person. He endured An Tianzuo¡¯s full-powered strike and forcefully broke out of the encirclement. However, to his surprise, he didn¡¯t rush in the direction of the Asura Realm¡¯s exit. Instead, he charged towards An Sheng, Ouyang Lan, and company.


    Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo rushed over to stop him when Xiao suddenly did an about-turn and landed on the altar beside him.


    The two of them immediately knew that something was amiss. Xiao¡¯s target was the altar. He had rushed towards An Sheng and company only to divert their attention.


    This person still has such a clear train of thought under such circumstances and has such executional ability. He¡¯s really good. Zhou Wen teleported over and continued slashing at Xiao.


    Xiao suffered An Tianzuo¡¯s strike, but he recovered extremely quickly. Zhou Wen also recognized that it was the Xia family¡¯s Invincible Connate Divine Art. He knew that ordinary injuries were useless against him. Zhou Wen even hid Great Brahma¡¯s power in this strike.


    Xiao didn¡¯t dodge. Instead, he raised his chest and allowed it to face Sword Pill. The extremely sharp Sword Pill penetrated his body, causing blood to gush out and drip onto the altar.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly as he guessed the reason for Xiao¡¯s actions. However, he had no other choice. He brandished Sword Pill, hoping to slice Xiao¡¯s body into two.


    Xiao¡¯s body strangely retreated as Zhou Wen slashed out a foot-long wound in his chest, but he failed to slice him into two.


    A large amount of Xiao¡¯s blood landed on the altar. After the altar came into contact with the blood, it began spinning like a wheel.


    As the altar spun, the stone pillars began to move.


    Zhou Wen knew that something bad would definitely happen, so all he wanted was to quickly take down Xiao. The Sword Pill in his hand struck out at ever-increasing speeds.


    However, Xiao wasn¡¯t bad at movement techniques either. Its Trajectory movement technique wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal. Its speed was in no way inferior, and he was even faster than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was still at the Mythical stage after all. His stats hadn¡¯t reached the Terror grade, so he was definitely at a disadvantage.


    As the altar spun, something strange happened. The Asuras, who weren¡¯t afraid of death, suddenly retreated like a tide and quickly left the altar.


    When all the stone pillars formed a circle, a hole opened in the middle of the altar. Endless demonic aura spewed out from below as though a volcano had erupted.


    An Asura rushed out with a demonic aura effusing from him. He looked similar to the ordinary Asuras.


    He wore a mask and was half-naked. He wore a feathered dress with a strange bird tattoo on his back. He held an Asura Saber in his hand.


    The difference was that this Asura¡¯s hair, mask, feather skirt, strange bird tattoo, and Asura Saber were all purple, while ordinary Asuras were black.


    A Terror-grade Asura? Just as Zhou Wen was in thought, the Asura slashed at him.


    It was unknown what Xiao had done, but despite both of them being on the altar, the Asura ignored him and slashed at Zhou Wen.


    This strike was filled with a demonic aura. Be it its Strength stat or ability, it was completely different from Deva Asura.


    Zhou Wen brandished his sword to block as the Sword Pill collided with the Asura Saber. A strange thing happened. The Asura Saber was like a phantom as the Sword Pill passed through it while the Asura Saber continued slashing at Zhou Wen.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen teleported away from the altar, having no plans on testing the saber with his body.


    When Zhou Wen appeared below the altar, the Asura actually chased after him and slashed at his neck like a ghost.


    ¡°Let¡¯s meet again if fate allows it,¡± Xiao said with a chuckle before flying up. He drew a strange trajectory in the air and headed for the Asura Realm¡¯s exit.


    An Tianzuo immediately chased after him, hoping to stop him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare chase after him. He might be able to shake off the Asura with teleportation, but if he and An Tianzuo left, An Sheng and company would be in danger if the Asura changed targets.


    Zhou Wen could only hope that An Tianzuo could capture Xiao while he fought Asura.


    This Asura was very strange. Zhou Wen used teleportation to dodge his attacks and the Sword Pill had stabbed him several times, but it was as though he had stabbed an illusion. The Asura didn¡¯t suffer any damage.


    Could this be an illusion? Zhou Wen was puzzled. When the Asura slashed over again, he deliberately summoned a Poison Bat to block the Asura Saber.


    The Poison Bat was cleaved into two by the Asura Saber. It couldn¡¯t be more dead.


    Zhou Wen secretly rejoiced that he hadn¡¯t experimented using his body of flesh and blood. At the same time, he felt a headache. His attacks were useless against the Asura, so it was equivalent to his adversary being invincible.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s a power similar to a Spirit Body. I can only try Great Brahma. Zhou Wen summoned Great Brahma.


    The four-faced, eight-armed Great Brahma with a spinning black hole on his back appeared in front of Asura. The Asura didn¡¯t know what fear was as it slashed over.


    Great Brahma automatically counterattacked and struck Asura¡¯s saber. With a clang, Asura¡¯s saber was blocked.


    Seeing that Great Brahma could block Asura, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    However, Great Brahma wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to attack. As the Asura slashed down with his saber, Great Brahma blocked with his palm successfully, albeit unable to kill him.

 Chapter 1204 - Carving the Ancient Sovereign Sutra Again

    Chapter 1204: Carving the Ancient Sovereign Sutra Again


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Asura was blocked by Great Brahma. Zhou Wen looked at the altar and saw that the exit in the middle of the altar had been sealed. The stone pillars had also returned to their original spots. He heaved a sigh of relief when no other dimensional creatures rushed out.


    ¡°Sis Lan, are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen went to Ouyang Lan¡¯s side and asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Ouyang Lan felt much better after eating some pills. She said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Little Wen, my father might still be alive.¡±


    ¡°You found the former principal?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up as he asked excitedly.


    ¡°We previously saw the undead Chu He in Netherworld City. We used some special abilities to extract some memories from him. Although the memories are incomplete, we still gained something,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°What did you discover?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    Ouyang Lan pointed at the flag on the stone pillar. ¡°This¡­ Before Chu He was replaced, he had seen this symbol more than once on those fake expedition members.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this had anything to do with the conclusion that the former principal remained alive. This only meant that they came from such an organization.


    Ouyang Lan continued, ¡°Now, we have learned that this symbol is related to the Holy Temple. And after those two fellows captured us, they kept asking about my father. It¡¯s very likely that they are looking for something. If my father has something they need and they haven¡¯t found it, would you kill my father if you were in their shoes?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen finally understood why Ouyang Lan said that the former principal might still be alive.


    In other words, the former principal might be in the Holy Temple? Zhou Wen was somewhat excited. After such a long investigation, he finally knew where the former principal might be.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s only a possibility, it¡¯s better than blindly searching. Unfortunately, entering the Holy Land isn¡¯t an easy task,¡± Ouyang Lan said with a sigh.


    The Holy Land had a restriction on the level of entry. High-level humans couldn¡¯t enter, and low-level humans were useless even if they entered. They would only have their fates toyed inside.


    Zhou Wen had entered the Holy Land before, so he naturally knew that the six Holy Temples there looked like guardians of humanity, but in fact, it was an extremely strange place. If someone of a lower level were to investigate this matter, it would be no different from courting death.


    ¡°Sis Lan, this isn¡¯t a place to talk. Get some rest. We¡¯ll return together after I finish off Asura.¡± Zhou Wen got An Sheng to take care of Ouyang Lan and company before walking towards the Asura.


    Zhou Wen yearned to chase after Xiao, but with An Tianzuo already chasing after him, he couldn¡¯t join in the chase. Otherwise, Xiao might suddenly do an unexpected return, causing even more trouble if he captured Ouyang Lan as a hostage.


    Xiao¡¯s Trajectory movement technique was too bizarre. Even Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t 100% confident that he could intercept him. Among the few Terror-grade creatures on him, only Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate could match Xiao¡¯s speed.


    Jade Rabbit and Ice Maiden were slow. It would be impossible for them to stop Xiao if they were released.


    And when Zhou Wen fought the Asura, Banana Fairy had to guard Ouyang Lan and company to prevent Xiao from launching a sneak attack. It was difficult for her to simultaneously take on another role.


    As for Demonic Neonate, she had always been good at sneak attacks. Direct combat wasn¡¯t her forte.


    Zhou Wen was good at movement techniques to begin with. He knew how terrifying an enemy like Xiao was. Zhou Wen could kill a Strength-type enemy like Blaze without any qualms.


    Killing Xiao wasn¡¯t that easy. He was very similar to Zhou Wen in every aspect. He was the type of person that wasn¡¯t easily killed.


    The power of Asura was extremely bizarre. Among the few Terror form powers Zhou Wen had, only Great Brahma could deal with him.


    However, after observing for a while, Zhou Wen had other ideas.


    If he used the back-facing side of Great Brahma, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to kill the Asura. However, its power was similar to Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World. Once it was used, even if he could kill the enemy, he wouldn¡¯t obtain anything.


    Since it was too late to rush over, Zhou Wen could only choose to trust An Tianzuo. He would stay behind to kill the Asura and see if he could get something good.


    The power of this Asura should be demonic in nature. However, it also exudes a smell of death. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what kind of power it was.


    I¡¯ll give it a try. I wonder if the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra can restrain the Asura¡¯s power. Zhou Wen engraved the Ancient Sovereign Sutra on his Wheel of Destiny.


    The Mythical Ancient Sovereign Sutra naturally wouldn¡¯t be of much use against Terror-grade creatures. Therefore, Zhou Wen wanted to attempt to let the Ancient Sovereign Sutra break through to the Terror grade. Only then could it be effective against the Asura.


    As the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was engraved on the Wheel of Destiny, a figure that resembled an Ancient Sovereign appeared.


    An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t slow, at least not slower than Xiao. However, An Tianzuo had a serious problem. His straight line speed was very fast, but his variability was inferior.


    Once he changed directions, his speed would drop drastically.


    As for Xiao, it was the opposite. No matter what kind of turns he did, it didn¡¯t affect his speed, preventing An Tianzuo from catching up to him.


    However, Xiao wasn¡¯t able to shake An Tianzuo off. An Tianzuo had a good idea of Xiao¡¯s general direction of escape, making it difficult for Xiao to shake him off.


    An Tianzuo was ultimately one step ahead of Xiao. He occupied the exit of the Asura Realm and stood there with his broadsword, staring coldly at Xiao.


    Xiao naturally understood that he had to rush out before Zhou Wen arrived. He couldn¡¯t be entangled with An Tianzuo here, so not only did he not slow down, but he also rushed over even faster.


    With his Terror-grade speed and excellent movement techniques, Xiao¡¯s movement had long exceeded the limits of human vision.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t move, as though he was an extremely precise instrument. He didn¡¯t move at all, but once he did, it would trigger a chain reaction.


    In Xiao¡¯s eyes, although An Tianzuo was just standing there, his entire aura was like an invisible net. The net seemed to be woven by a fairy without any flaws.


    ¡°The law shows no kindness, but so what? I¡¯ll use kindness to break it.¡± Xiao¡¯s eyes shimmered with a strange glint. He held the bow with the broken string and followed a profound trajectory, instantly arriving in front of An Tianzuo.


    An Tianzuo slashed down with the broken sword as though an invisible net had fallen. Countless criss-crossing sword beams sealed off Xiao¡¯s path of retreat.


    Crack! Crack!


    Under the ruthless nomological net, the bow in Xiao¡¯s hand and the armor on his body were shattered inch by inch.


    Blood spewed out from Xiao¡¯s wounds, but he remained undeterred. He charged straight at An Tianzuo like a person covered in blood, as though he wanted to perish together with him.


    His eyes were peeled to An Tianzuo as though he was provoking him: ¡°Don¡¯t dodge if you have the guts.¡±

 Chapter 1205 - Ancient Sovereign Battles Asura

    Translator: CKtalon


    An Tianzuo had already slashed out with all his might with the broken sword in his left hand, almost shaving a piece off Xiao, but he ultimately failed to kill him.


    If An Tianzuo still had both his hands, he could smash the bloody Xiao into meat paste with one palm. Unfortunately, An Tianzuo only had one hand left.


    Even so, An Tianzuo had no intention of retreating as he stood there like a mountain and looked into Xiao¡¯s blood-stained eyes.


    The blood that spewed out of Xiao¡¯s body seemed to have a life of its own as it charged towards An Tianzuo. The bloody Xiao was like a blood-colored devil. Its ferocity made one shudder.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t retreat. At the instant Xiao slammed into him, An Tianzuo headbutted Xiao¡¯s head.


    Bam!


    The two unreserved Terror powers collided as Xiao¡¯s head exploded. After his bloody body slammed into An Tianzuo, he was sent retreating. Blood splattered everywhere, no longer able to cling on to Xiao¡¯s ravaged body.


    The machine armor on An Tianzuo¡¯s head shattered as his forehead kept bleeding. However, he ultimately guarded the Asura Realm¡¯s exit and didn¡¯t take a step back.


    Seeing Xiao¡¯s corpse fall, An Tianzuo¡¯s expression suddenly changed. He immediately turned to look at the Asura Realm¡¯s exit and saw a drop of blood that had spewed out of Xiao¡¯s body falling towards the door.


    An Tianzuo drew his sword and slashed, but he was still a step too late. The drop of blood landed on the door like a stone thrown into a lake, causing spatial ripples to appear before it vanished.


    ¡­


    Li Xuan, Lu Bushun, An Jingyu, and company waited beyond the Bridge of Helplessness.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t Overseer and the rest out after so long?¡± Lu Bushun¡¯s fat body paced around without stopping.


    ¡°Can you stop pacing around? My head is spinning from watching you,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°What has your dizziness got to do with me? That¡¯s because your kidney is weak,¡± Lu Bushun retorted.


    ¡°Get out of the way!¡± Just as Li Xuan was about to say something, he suddenly heard a loud shout.


    Lu Bushun and company immediately recognized An Tianzuo¡¯s voice. All of them stood up warily and looked in the direction of the Bridge of Helplessness.


    However, they didn¡¯t see anything. There was nothing on the Bridge of Helplessness.


    Li Xuan saw An Tianzuo rush out of the Bridge of Helplessness. At the same time, he saw a drop of blood shoot towards Lu Bushun at an unbelievable speed.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t have the time to completely turn into his Terror form. All he could do was Terror transform his palm and block Lu Bushun¡¯s forehead.


    Bam!


    The drop of blood penetrated Li Xuan¡¯s Terror-form palm like a bullet.


    Thankfully, with Li Xuan blocking him, he bought Lu Bushun time. The latter¡¯s reaction was fast enough. He did a roll as the drop of blood brushed past his head.


    In midair, the drop of blood took Xiao¡¯s form. Sucking two officers towards him, each of his hands grabbed one by the head. If he were to exert a little more force, their heads would explode.


    ¡°An Tianzuo, take another step and I¡¯ll crush their heads,¡± Xiao said calmly.


    An Tianzuo stopped. He knew that Xiao wasn¡¯t joking. A person like him didn¡¯t bluff.


    ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry about us.¡± The two officers struggled with all their might, but they were like chickens. No matter how they struggled, they couldn¡¯t escape the butcher¡¯s hands.


    ¡°An Tianzuo, what do you say?¡± Xiao narrowed his eyes as he looked at An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Let them go and you can leave,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    Without a word, Xiao released his hand, but he didn¡¯t leave immediately.


    The officers surrounded Xiao, but An Tianzuo said indifferently, ¡°Let him go.¡±


    ¡°As expected of An Tianzuo. I hope I can truly determine the outcome of the battle with you another time,¡± Xiao said as he reached out and grabbed at the air. A wisp of black gas rushed out from the heads of the two officers he had grabbed and landed in Xiao¡¯s palm before disappearing.


    ¡°See you again,¡± Xiao said to An Tianzuo. When he turned around, he glanced at Li Xuan before flying away and disappearing in the blink of an eye.


    ¡°Overseer, who was he?¡± Lu Bushun said in shock.


    ¡°An enemy, try your best to avoid him the next time you encounter him.¡± An Tianzuo glanced in the direction Xiao had left as though in thought.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t chase after him, knowing that he couldn¡¯t catch up no matter how hard he tried.


    ¡°Li Xuan, do you know that person?¡± An Tianzuo finally cast his gaze on Li Xuan.


    ¡°He wore a mask, so I didn¡¯t recognize him. However, if I knew such a powerful fellow, I would have an impression of him, but I have none,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange,¡± An Tianzuo said after some thought.


    Li Xuan knew that An Tianzuo implied that the matter was likely related to him, so he asked, ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡±


    An Tianzuo looked at Li Xuan and said, ¡°These people know our An family very well. They should know that our family values Jingyu very much. In that situation, his best choice of hostages should have been Jingyu and you, but he didn¡¯t do that. Instead, he chose to distance himself and abducted two officers that even he might not know. This clearly goes against common sense.¡±


    Everyone felt that it made sense when they heard that. In that situation, anyone would have targeted An Jingyu, followed by Li Xuan¡ªwho was physically closest to An Jingyu.


    ¡°Perhaps he knows how powerful I am and saw that An Jingyu was too close to me, so he didn¡¯t dare attack him?¡± Li Xuan also agreed with An Tianzuo¡¯s speculation.


    ¡°His goal was very clear. It wasn¡¯t you from the beginning, but Lu Bushun. You only used your Terror powers after the target was chosen. Your advancement to the Terror grade happened in Netherworld City, so it was impossible for them to know about that, much less avoid you from the beginning. It still doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± An Tianzuo said with a shake of his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m stumped. I really don¡¯t know that person,¡± Li Xuan said as he spread out his hands.


    ¡°Yes.¡± An Tianzuo nodded and didn¡¯t say anything else as he frowned.


    ¡°Overseer, where are Young Master Wen, Adjutant An, and company? Do we need to help them?¡± Lu Bushun asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Just wait here for them to return.¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t return to the Asura Realm. Firstly, he was afraid that Xiao would return, and secondly, he was confident in Zhou Wen.


    ¡­


    In the Asura Realm, Zhou Wen¡¯s body emitted a glow like a sun god. He had already fused with the Primordial Human Sovereign and was constantly transforming.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen landed on the top of Great Brahma¡¯s head. When the Asura attacked again, his fist emitted a virile glow as he struck at the Asura.


    The Asura¡¯s attack was completely blocked by Great Brahma. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to strike with his fist, leaving him no room to dodge.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s punch struck the chest of the spirit-like Asura body which seemed impervious to any force. A fist-sized hole melted into existence when it was struck by Zhou Wen¡¯s punch.

 Chapter 1206 - Alive

    It works! Zhou Wen was delighted.


    Unfortunately, the Asura quickly recovered from the dent produced by the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power. This left Zhou Wen somewhat vexed.


    The power of the Primordial Human Sovereign gave Zhou Wen the ability to heal. No matter how badly he beat his opponent or how serious the damage was, they would ultimately recover.


    This was because the usage of the Primordial Human Sovereign¡¯s power to beat someone was actually saving them.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that since there were traces of death powers in the Asura¡¯s body, the power of Human Sovereign might possess true lethality.


    From the looks of it, Zhou Wen was overthinking things.


    Could it be that the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra really doesn¡¯t have any lethality? Zhou Wen had thought of this problem back when he was trapped, but he failed to come up with an answer.


    In fact, the Ancient Sovereign Sutra wasn¡¯t necessarily without lethality. It was just that Zhou Wen¡¯s own insights and advancement direction had made the Ancient Sovereign Sutra lean towards this aspect. This eventually led him to condensing a strange Life Soul like the Primordial Human Sovereign.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the Asura lunged forward again. Fortunately, it was blocked by Great Brahma.


    Zhou Wen stood on Great Brahma¡¯s head. No matter how the Asura attacked, Great Brahma could withstand his attacks. Even if Zhou Wen stood there in a daze, he wouldn¡¯t be injured at all.


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, he put theory into practice. From time to time, he would throw a punch at Asura. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power grew stronger, making Zhou Wen feel as though he was about to turn into light.


    However, the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra remained the same. It didn¡¯t have any true destructive power. The wounds that were inflicted healed in a short while.


    Furthermore, the power of the Mythical Ancient Sovereign Sutra couldn¡¯t really harm the Asura.


    Zhou Wen kept pursuing lethality, but he realized that it was counterproductive. Not only did the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power undergo Terror transformation, but it also weakened. The marks left on the Wheel of Destiny became shallower and shallower.


    Realization dawned on Zhou Wen. He knew that he had been too stubborn. Some things couldn¡¯t be forced.


    After giving up on forcefully changing the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s characteristics, Zhou Wen restarted his deductions on the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He engraved all his thoughts and insights into the Wheel of Destiny.


    The sovereign forged from blood and fire led humanity to defy the heavens and seek the true meaning of life.


    This was Zhou Wen¡¯s previous understanding of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, but being trapped for a hundred years had given him a deeper understanding of life.


    Even if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t deliberately think about it, he inevitably thought of this problem during his time in imprisonment.


    What was life? In the past, Zhou Wen felt that as long as one was alive, it was life. However, after a hundred years of imprisonment, Zhou Wen realized that life wasn¡¯t as simple as being alive.


    Living happily, living in sorrow, living while traveling the world and taking in the world¡¯s scenery¡ªeven lying in bed like a vegetable was living.


    There were many ways of living. Ten thousand people had ten thousand ways to live, but which way was meaningful?


    Different people might have different answers. Such questions might crop up in a person¡¯s extreme boredom. Zhou Wen would occasionally have such thoughts and had seriously considered this question, but he hadn¡¯t obtained a final answer.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, there was no such thing as a better, more outstanding way to live. Some people were very happy just lying there under the sun, eating peanuts and drinking a bottle of beer. Some people put in all their efforts and only achieved happiness when they obtained higher achievements and status.


    In fact, there was no right or wrong. As long as one could make themselves feel happy, they would be living their dream.


    Such an understanding didn¡¯t allow the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to advance to the Terror grade. Therefore, Zhou Wen knew that he hadn¡¯t grasped the core.


    What kind of life does the Ancient Sovereign Sutra pursue? Longevity? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he felt that this wasn¡¯t the answer.


    Qi Refinement Warriors pursued immortality, but not the Ancient Sovereign. From the beginning, the Ancient Sovereign only wanted survival.


    If the conditions for survival are satisfied, what should I do next? Zhou Wen planned on considering the problem from a different angle.


    An Sheng and company watched Zhou Wen fight Asura. Although they couldn¡¯t see the Terror-form Asura and Great Brahma, they could see the shockwaves produced by their battle.


    From their point of view, Zhou Wen floated in the air and spent most of his time thinking. He would occasionally deliver a punch, but even if he stood there motionless, the Terror-grade Asura failed to injure him at all. The terrifying shockwaves shattered everything nearby.


    ¡°Madam, Young Master Wen¡¯s strength is probably not inferior to Overseer¡¯s,¡± an officer who had been rescued said to Ouyang Lan.


    ¡°My sons naturally won¡¯t be bad,¡± Ouyang Lan said matter-of-factly.


    An Sheng also nodded and said, ¡°Young Master Wen is extremely talented. His future achievements will definitely not be limited to this. In the future, with Overseer and Young Master Wen presiding over Luoyang, it will definitely be as stable as a mountain.¡±


    The other officers felt something amiss when they heard that.


    As the saying went, a mountain couldn¡¯t accommodate two tigers. In the past, they felt that any genius was an underling in front of An Tianzuo. There was always a main and a support, so there was naturally no need to worry about the two tigers fighting.


    However, the ability Zhou Wen displayed made them worry. What if Overseer can¡¯t suppress Zhou Wen? Will Luoyang become a battle between dragons and tigers in the future?


    Experiences from the ancients and cruel reality told them that such things were too common. They naturally couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    However, Ouyang Lan and An Sheng didn¡¯t have such concerns. This was because they knew that Zhou Wen¡¯s ambition wasn¡¯t that small. At the very least, Luoyang wasn¡¯t enough.


    At that moment, the light on Zhou Wen¡¯s body stopped growing stronger. Instead, it gradually dimmed.


    The Primordial Human Sovereign was still fusing with him, but the sun-like glow was converging as though Zhou Wen was degenerating from a god to a mortal.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s aura didn¡¯t weaken as a result. Instead, it grew stronger.


    A thousand people have a thousand ways of survival. With my intelligence, I¡¯m unable to tell which way of survival is the correct one. However, I¡¯m certain of one thing. The form of living I want depends on age. The things done at different ages should be things done at that age. At the age of five, I wanted an ordinary plush toy. That would be my greatest joy, but I failed to obtain it back then. This was because the money my father left me was only enough for my daily meals. If I used the money to buy a toy, I would starve for a week. Therefore, I chose to give up on the toy.


    At this point, it¡¯s easy for me to buy thousands of toys, but that happiness, that desire back then, can never be retrieved again. Zhou Wen closed his eyes as the past surfaced in his mind like a movie.

 Chapter 1207 - Human Sovereign

    Every compromise, every concession, every act of tolerance in the past¡ªthe reasons that seemed imposing to him in the past¡ªappeared pathetic and laughable when he recalled them.


    Life is long, but it doesn¡¯t regress. No matter how ridiculous the things you wish to pursue today are, it will only be meaningful if you do it today. If you miss this day, even if there are countless tomorrows in the future, you won¡¯t gain the satisfaction you get today¡­ The glow over Zhou Wen had completely vanished. He didn¡¯t seem to have the god-like halo of a sovereign, but there was an indescribable aura over him.


    Perhaps they might be very humble and laughable, but that¡¯s what I only want to do today. I only live in the now, not tomorrow. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes gradually became firm as the Ancient Sovereign in his body produced a strange resonance.


    On the Wheel of Destiny, the mark that belonged to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra became more and more resplendent. It nearly illuminated the entire Wheel of Destiny space, but Zhou Wen¡¯s body didn¡¯t emit any light that could be seen with the naked eye.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body didn¡¯t vanish. An Sheng and company could still see him, but Zhou Wen knew that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra had completed its Terror transformation.


    Some Terror forms were invisible to others. Or rather, some powers weren¡¯t something humans could see with their naked eyes.


    If Zhou Wen had only understood the Ancient Sovereign¡¯s superficialities in the past, he now grasped the Ancient Sovereign¡¯s spirit.


    The Asura slashed out again. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let Great Brahma stop him. He even unsummoned Great Brahma and allowed the Asura to charge at him.


    The bizarre Asura Saber came with a monstrous demonic aura. However, from Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, the Asura wasn¡¯t as ferocious and terrifying as before. It could even be said to be fun.


    When one¡¯s heart had no fear, there would no longer be any fear in the world. Even when facing death, fear was something that only brushed past.


    At the instant the Asura Saber slashed in front of Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen finally moved. He extended his bare hand and grabbed the Asura Saber.


    The sharp blade sliced into his palm as blood flowed out and stained the blade. The Terror-form Asura Saber lost its Terror powers and gradually appeared in An Sheng and company¡¯s eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t just Asura Saber. The Asura, who was holding the Asura Saber, also slowly regressed from his Terror form, allowing everyone to see him.


    After losing his Terror transformation powers, although the Asura was still at the Terror grade, his stats dropped drastically in every aspect¡ªit was no longer as powerful and invincible as before.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s palm snapped the Asura Saber and punched the Asura.


    The powerful Asura was sent flying by Zhou Wen¡¯s punch. His chest exploded as his body flew out like a cannonball and slammed into the Asura altar. His body shattered into pieces as blood and bones splattered across the ground.


    Ouyang Lan and company looked at Zhou Wen in a daze. Although there was no divine light or glorious brilliance, his figure was even more shocking.


    The wise man¡¯s saying is right: All demons and ghosts are paper tigers that can¡¯t withstand a single blow. Zhou Wen sighed and retracted his fist, having the melancholic feeling of loneliness by being at the very top.


    However, in the next second, the Asura that Zhou Wen had blasted apart instantly recovered under the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. He condensed his body again without any injuries.


    Holy sh*t¡­ Zhou Wen nearly staggered and fell from the sky. After all this time, the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra couldn¡¯t really injure anyone. He had already forgotten about it.


    Seeing the Asura charge over again, Zhou Wen felt so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood.


    A certain part of his body emitted heat as Demonic Neonate rushed out. The demonic sword in her arms automatically unsheathed and instantly penetrated the Asura¡¯s heart.


    In the next second, the demonic aura over the Asura¡¯s body was crazily devoured by the demonic sword. In the blink of an eye, it was completely devoured. Only a skill crystal and a stat crystal dropped.


    After the demonic sword devoured the Asura, it circled around and returned to the scabbard in Demonic Neonate¡¯s arms. Then, Demonic Neonate automatically returned to his body and transformed into a tattoo.


    What¡¯s going on? That¡¯s it? Zhou Wen was still stunned.


    He had gone through all the trouble only to have Demonic Neonate kill the Asura with a single strike. This was completely different from his expectations.


    ¡°Eh¡­ Young Master Wen, why don¡¯t we head back now?¡± An Sheng ran over and picked up the skill crystal and stat crystal dropped by the Asura before handing them to the stunned Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Ahem, alright. Let¡¯s head back.¡± Zhou Wen coughed lightly and accepted the skill crystal and stat crystal.


    ¡°Sis Lan, how did you pass Netherworld City and the Bridge of Helplessness?¡± Zhou Wen asked on the way back.


    Without suffering all the punishments of Netherworld City, it was impossible for them to reach the Bridge of Helplessness. They wouldn¡¯t be able to leave their names on the Three-Lives Stone and retain their memories to enter the six realms of rebirth and existence.


    It was understandable that one or two of Ouyang Lan¡¯s entourage were special. However, Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that all of them were special.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t very sure either. After we were forced into Netherworld City by them, we were captured and knocked unconscious. When we woke up, we were already tied to the altar,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°So entering the Asura Realm wasn¡¯t your choice?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    Xiao and company could even determine which path An Tianzuo would choose, so it was obvious that they knew the An family like the back of their hands. Such an enemy made one shudder.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen stole a glance at the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s Terror transformation information on his phone.


    Terror transformation: Human Sovereign (S-grade)


    It was very simple. Even the word ¡®primordial¡¯ had been dropped. It felt like it was regressing.


    Demon God Body, Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Godfiend Era, Singularity Universe, Great Brahma, Sword Pill, and Human Sovereign. Only the Chaos Egg and Slaughterer haven¡¯t undergone Terror transformation. The path to advancing to the Terror grade shouldn¡¯t be far for me, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    After walking off the Bridge of Helplessness, he saw An Tianzuo sitting there. An officer was treating his severed arm, but it didn¡¯t seem to be effective.


    Regeneration of severed limbs wasn¡¯t easy for ordinary people, but not for a person like An Tianzuo who had all sorts of officers with him. There were also many who had healing abilities, so it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for him to regrow the severed limb.


    However, when such power was used on An Tianzuo, it didn¡¯t seem to be effective. Although the wound had healed, he couldn¡¯t regrow his severed arm.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, don¡¯t you have a healing ability? Why don¡¯t you treat the Overseer?¡± An Sheng handed the arm he had picked up to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± An Tianzuo said directly before Zhou Wen could say a word. His tone was firm, without any intention of it just being an act of politeness.

 Chapter 1208 - Treatment

    Chapter 1208: Treatment


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Little Zuozuo, there¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony. We are family,¡± Ouyang Lan said as she took the arm from An Sheng and stuffed it into Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. She continued, ¡°Little Wenwen, ignore him. If he¡¯s sick, he needs to be treated. Who doesn¡¯t let doctors treat them? Please, treat him.¡±


    With that said, Ouyang Lan winked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to what Ouyang Lan¡¯s wink meant.


    When the others heard Ouyang Lan call An Tianzuo Little Zuozuo, their expressions changed, but they didn¡¯t dare say a word.


    ¡°I said there¡¯s no need.¡± An Tianzuo got up to leave. He knew Ouyang Lan too well.


    However, it was already too late. Ouyang Lan had already pressed down on An Tianzuo¡¯s shoulder. An Tianzuo didn¡¯t dare to shake her off by force. All he could do was say, ¡°It¡¯s just one arm. It¡¯s no big deal. There¡¯s no need to treat it.¡±


    Ouyang Lan ignored An Tianzuo and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Little Wenwen, I call the shots. Ignore him and quickly treat him. I saw that you were great at treating wounds, so please treat Little Zuozuo.¡±


    1


    When Zhou Wen heard Ouyang Lan¡¯s words, he immediately came to a realization. Ouyang Lan was referring to the time he beat up the Asura.


    Then does she mean that she wants me to take the opportunity to beat up An Tianzuo? Zhou Wen held the severed arm and looked at An Tianzuo, understanding what Ouyang Lan meant.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that even if he wanted to beat An Tianzuo up, he should have done it openly without using such tricks.


    However, on second thought, I¡¯m not beating him up; I¡¯m treating him.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen no longer hesitated. He walked in front of An Tianzuo with the severed arm.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m fine. There¡¯s really no need to treat me.¡± An Tianzuo wanted to convince Ouyang Lan, but it was useless.


    ¡°Overseer An, bear with it. It does hurt a little during the treatment, but you¡¯ll be fine soon,¡± Zhou Wen said as he threw a punch at An Tianzuo¡¯s face.


    Everyone was stunned. That was An Tianzuo, Overseer An, the War God from Luoyang.


    An Tianzuo was stunned. He never expected Zhou Wen to suddenly hit him, so he failed to react.


    ¡°Little Zuozuo, this is a treatment. Don¡¯t move.¡± When An Tianzuo reacted and tried to stand up, Ouyang Lan pressed down on his shoulder.


    Zhou Wen felt every cell in his body crackle with exuberance and ignored everything else. He quickly threw out a punch that rained down on An Tianzuo¡¯s face and stump, causing his angular face to cave in.


    If looks could kill, Zhou Wen would have died ten thousand times over. If Ouyang Lan hadn¡¯t held An Tianzhuo back, he would have long turned hostile.


    An Tianzuo could tell that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t treating his injuries. He was clearly abusing the mandate he received for personal revenge.


    Bam!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s final punch struck An Tianzuo¡¯s high nose, causing it to collapse.


    Seeing that An Tianzuo couldn¡¯t hold back, Zhou Wen took two steps back and muttered to himself, ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s mostly done.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen shattered the broken arm in his hand and threw it at An Tianzuo. The broken arm automatically connected to the wound that had also been shattered by Zhou Wen.


    In a moment, An Tianzuo¡¯s severed arm recovered. His face that had caved in from Zhou Wen¡¯s strike also returned to its original state. The injuries from his battle with Xiao had completely vanished.


    ¡°Little Wenwen¡¯s treatment is really excellent. You don¡¯t look injured at all. We¡¯re family, so there¡¯s no need to thank him.¡± Ouyang Lan didn¡¯t dare tease An Tianzuo further when she saw his cold expression. She hurriedly released her grip and pulled Zhou Wen away. ¡°The weather today is rather fine, don¡¯t you think so, Ah Sheng?¡±


    ¡°Indeed, Madam. The weather is excellent today. Why don¡¯t we go back and have a good meal?¡± An Sheng hurriedly followed Ouyang Lan, not daring to stay behind to face the fuming An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, you are most considerate. Little Zuozuo just doesn¡¯t understand me.¡± Ouyang Lan walked as she spoke without stopping.


    The group left Netherworld City and rushed back to Luoyang.


    The stat crystal left behind by the Asura was a 96 Constitution Crystal. After Zhou Wen absorbed it, his Constitution only reached 81 points without any further breakthroughs.


    The other skill crystal was named ¡°Asura¡¯s Evil¡±. It was a Terror-grade skill crystal that required 81 Constitution. It also required one to cultivate an Essence Energy Art with a demonic attribute, as well as a demonic Wheel of Destiny.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and realized that he had never cultivated a demonic Essence Energy Art. After giving it a try, he realized that he couldn¡¯t absorb it. All he could do was temporarily put it away.


    2


    Should I open up Netherworld City in-game? Zhou Wen was very interested in the dimensional creatures in the Six Realms. There were many Mythical creatures there, and there were also Terror-grade ones that could be killed. It was an excellent place for farming resources.


    However, when he thought of Netherworld City¡¯s punishments, Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up.


    Ignoring everything else, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to clear the final dream chamber. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have Li Xuan¡¯s ability that was similar to an AI brain and datastream powers. Just the thought of being punished in a dream for more than a thousand years made even someone as determined as Zhou Wen shiver.


    After returning to Luoyang, the An family began to study the possibility of entering the Holy Land.


    At the very least, they had to let a Terror-grade human enter the Holy Land. Otherwise, they would only be sending themselves to their deaths.


    ¡°Sis Lan, do you know what they want from the former principal?¡± Zhou Wen privately asked Ouyang Lan when no one else was around.


    Ouyang Lan shook her head slightly. ¡°I don¡¯t know either. From what they said, I¡¯m guessing that my father obtained something from Zhuolu.¡±


    Zhou Wen whispered, ¡°Could it be the silver-haired Companion Beast in Xiyuan¡¯s shop?¡±


    Ouyang Lan was slightly taken aback. ¡°Why would you have such thoughts? Typically, Companion Beasts can¡¯t be traded. The chances of them seeking a Companion Beast isn¡¯t high.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that Ouyang Lan was right. The Companion Beast they wanted was probably the strongest Companion Beast on Earth. The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t seem to make the cut.


    The thing they are looking for is definitely related to the strongest Companion Beast on Earth, but what is it? What did the former principal take out from Zhuolu? Zhou Wen thought about it but couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    ¡°Why did you think of that silver-haired Companion Beast?¡± Ouyang Lan was a shrewd person. Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s question, she felt that there was something amiss.


    Zhou Wen recounted the matter about the passcode. Ouyang Lan was the former principal¡¯s daughter, so she should know the former principal better.


    ¡°That actually happened? Are you sure that the passcode was given to you by my father?¡± Ouyang Lan was very surprised when she heard that.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head. He really couldn¡¯t be sure.


    ¡°This matter is odd. There¡¯s something wrong with that silver-haired Companion Beast. It¡¯s right that you didn¡¯t rashly open it.¡± Ouyang Lan pondered and was about to say something when she heard hurried footsteps from outside.


    ¡°Madam, the Cube has been activated again..¡± An Sheng¡¯s voice sounded from outside.

 Chapter 1209 - The Cube Starts Again

    ¡°Why would the Cube activate at such a time?¡± Ouyang Lan and Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Ever since Human Sovereign slew Di Tian, there hadn¡¯t been any more Battles of the Cube. Due to the existence of Human Sovereign, the dimension didn¡¯t dare to randomly activate the Battle of the Cube.


    He switched on his phone for the livestream. Indeed, everywhere in the Federation was reporting the restarting of the Cube.


    However, the opening of the Cube this time was different from the previous times. There was no ranking. All the Cubes showed the same scene.


    It was a red planet, and most of it was covered in hard rock. There were some spots on the planet¡¯s surface that were bubbling with boiling magma. The heat made space seem distorted, making it look very strange.


    ¡°This is¡­ Venus?¡± Ouyang Lan looked at it for a while before recognizing the planet on the screen. She looked at An Sheng in puzzlement.


    An Sheng hurriedly said, ¡°Yes, Madam. Many astronomers have confirmed that the planet on the Cube is undoubtedly Venus. However, it¡¯s still unknown why the Cube is showing Venus.¡±


    After a pause, An Sheng pointed at a corner of the Cube¡¯s screen and said, ¡°There¡¯s a 72-hour count here. We don¡¯t know what its use is for now. Everyone is guessing.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to a Cube. There¡¯s too little we can gather from a phone,¡± Ouyang Lan said to Zhou Wen as she walked. ¡°From Earth, Venus¡¯s brightness is second only to the moon. In ancient times, Venus was also known as Changgeng, Taibai, Qiming, Evening Star, and so on. The name Venus comes from the West District. Now that it¡¯s suddenly appearing on Cube, I wonder if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse.¡±


    ¡°Nothing good has ever come from the Cube¡¯s appearance, right?¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    Ouyang Lan asked An Sheng again, ¡°Has anyone attempted to use the Cube to enter the rankings?¡±


    ¡°Someone has already tried, but they can¡¯t enter the rankings,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°Cannot enter the rankings? What are those fellows from the dimension up to?¡± Ouyang Lan frowned even more.


    When Zhou Wen and company rushed to the Cube, An Tianzuo and An Jing were already there. Seeing Zhou Wen follow Ouyang Lan over, An Tianzuo¡¯s gaze met Zhou Wen¡¯s for less than a second before he immediately turned to the side without looking at him again.


    ¡°Little Zhou, we meet again.¡± Qin Wufu was also there as he greeted Zhou Wen with a smile.


    ¡°Governor Qin, what¡¯s the situation now?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to ask An Tianzuo, so he asked Qin Wufu.


    Qin Wufu explained, ¡°It¡¯s been about half an hour since the Cube lit up. The various factions in the Federation are actively probing it, but there¡¯s no movement from it. We can¡¯t enter the rankings, nor is there a combat arena. There¡¯s only the image and countdown of Venus.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me they want to use Venus as a combat arena?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Qin Wufu said, ¡°Many people think so. There are large amounts of basalt on the surface of Venus. Furthermore, the surface temperature is extremely high. The amount of carbon dioxide in the air exceeds 97%. There will often be sulfuric acid rain¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen carefully listened to Qin Wufu¡¯s introduction. He didn¡¯t know much about Venus. He had heard that the surface temperature of Venus could reach more than 500¡ãC. Even at the Mythical stage, it was very difficult to stay on Venus for long.


    Furthermore, with current aerospace technology, it wasn¡¯t easy to reach Venus. Some teleportation abilities could speed up interstellar traveling.


    However, not many people had interstellar teleportation abilities. They were considered rare in the Federation.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up Venus through the Cube. At the same time, he used Great Brahma¡¯s power to strengthen his vision, hoping to see something.


    After some observation, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression gradually turned solemn.


    Ouyang Lan noticed that Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was odd, so she asked, ¡°Little Wen, did you discover something?¡±


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen as he pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°There seems to be a shadow slowly surfacing in the magma. However, I can only see a shadow. I can¡¯t tell what it is.¡±


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, An Tianzuo and company looked at the scene of Venus in the Cube, but they couldn¡¯t see anything.


    An Sheng¡¯s heart stirred as he looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Young Master Wen, look at the countdown. Could it be the countdown to when the shadow surfaces?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s very likely, but I can¡¯t be sure. The distance from the Cube is too far. Furthermore, the magma has blocked my vision. There¡¯s too little I can see,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Everyone¡¯s mood was somewhat heavy. For the dimension to suddenly activate the Cube and have it hosted on Venus, they were definitely up to no good.


    As they couldn¡¯t verify any of their hypotheses, they could only wait for time to pass and wait for the shadow Zhou Wen mentioned to appear.


    Luoyang City had already entered a state of high alert. The citizens who could be evacuated into the dimensional zones began to move into them. If a terrifying creature appeared on Venus, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for it to reach Earth from that distance.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to leave, he suddenly heard someone shout, ¡°Someone¡­ There¡¯s someone on Venus¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen and company, who were chatting, hurriedly looked at the Cube. The scene was still Venus, but a humanoid creature appeared on the screen. It floated above Venus and stared at the magma as though it was observing something.


    After taking a closer look, Zhou Wen was certain that it wasn¡¯t a human. Although the figure looked like a human, his entire body was like gold. It wasn¡¯t in the form of armor, but his body was like a golden sculpture.


    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t sense his aura through the Cube. He didn¡¯t know what kind of creature he belonged to.


    As Zhou Wen and company were watching, the unknown creature suddenly plunged into the magma and quickly vanished.


    Others only knew that the creature had burrowed into the magma, but Zhou Wen could roughly tell that it was heading for the shadow.


    After the golden person entered the magma, it didn¡¯t come out again. After waiting for almost an hour, there was still no movement.


    After a while, another dragon from Western legends flew over and similarly arrived beside the magma. Like the golden person, it quickly rushed into the magma.


    Zhou Wen suddenly felt that the shadow might not be a creature. Instead, it might be some treasure. Although the two fellows that had appeared hadn¡¯t undergone Terror transformation, they were most likely at the Terror grade to be able to enter the magma so easily.


    No matter how low their intelligence was, it was impossible for a Terror-grade creature to tempt fate, right?


    Should I take a look? Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. His Singularity Universe had interstellar teleportation abilities, so it would be very easy for him to reach Venus.

 Chapter 1210 - Successful Birth

    Zhou Wen was originally worried that this was the dimension¡¯s ploy as a way to lure him over.


    However, Zhou Wen quickly dispelled this thought because he saw Tsukuyomi on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    However, Tsukuyomi arrived at Venus in her Terror form. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see her at all. Zhou Wen nearly exclaimed when he saw Tsukuyomi dressed in white like a goddess of the moon.


    However, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t enter the magma. She only looked at it for a while before turning around and disappearing again.


    In the next few hours, Zhou Wen saw two strange creatures appear. One was an angel with black wings, while the other was a skeleton creature that resembled the Grim Reaper.


    They arrived near Venus¡¯s magma, but just like Tsukuyomi, they quickly left.


    Not long after, the golden person and dragon that had entered the magma came out one after another before disappearing again.


    Zhou Wen was already very curious. He wanted to know what was in Venus¡¯s magma that could attract so many powerful creatures. Even the Calamity-grade Tsukuyomi had come.


    Although he was extremely curious, Zhou Wen held back and continued gaming at home. Thankfully, he obtained a Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Egg.


    Now, Zhou Wen had eight Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Eggs. All that was left was the Wu dragon pearl.


    Ding!


    Just as Zhou Wen was grinding the Pill Furnace Mountain dungeon, he suddenly heard a notification on his phone. Then, a message popped up.


    ¡®Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword have had a successful birth. Obtained a Companion Egg.¡¯


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback before he realized that thirty-six days had passed without him realizing it. Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword had really produced a Companion Egg.


    He hurriedly opened the Birth interface and indeed, he discovered a Companion Egg. The Companion Egg was somewhat different from the Light Concealment Sword and the Night Immaculate Sword. It wasn¡¯t completely transparent, nor was it in vapor form like the Night Immaculate Sword. Instead, it was like a shadow, only a shadow without any form.


    Could this be the Shadow Concealment Sword? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he opened the Companion Egg¡¯s information. It was indeed the Shadow Concealment Sword.


    Shadow Concealment Sword: Mythical


    ¡­


    The stats of the Shadow Concealment Sword were very similar to the Light Concealment Sword and Night Immaculate Sword. Its skills and Life Providence were somewhat different, but it was also a very good Mythical Companion Beast. Its abilities weren¡¯t inferior to Light Concealment and Night Immaculate.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. If the Birth ability could only give birth to Companion Eggs of the same grade, the birth of Mythical Companion Eggs wouldn¡¯t be of much help to him.


    Zhou Wen was originally looking forward to it. Even if the function couldn¡¯t produce a Terror-grade Companion Egg, it wouldn¡¯t be bad if it could produce an evolvable Companion Egg. However, it was just an ordinary Mythical Companion Egg.


    A Mythical sword was indeed of little use to Zhou Wen with the Terror-grade Asura Saber.


    He suddenly recalled that he could try out and see the effects a fusion of the three swords would have.


    Zhou Wen had been looking forward to obtaining the nine Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Beasts because he wanted to fuse them, but he didn¡¯t know if there would be any special effects after fusing them.


    Light Concealment, Shadow Concealment, and Night Immaculate were said to be a set of swords. Furthermore, Light Concealment and Night Immaculate had an extremely high compatibility when matched to each other. Perhaps he could give it a try.


    After incubating the Shadow Concealment Sword, he launched the synthesis interface and placed Light Concealment, Shadow Concealment, and Night Immaculate together. After the three swords were in place, a beam of light flashed on the synthesis column. The synthesis compatibility reached 99%. Furthermore, the three swords were glowing as though they were covered in a layer of divine light.


    However, other than that, there was nothing special. There were no special hints.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and pressed the fusion button.


    In the next second, the three swords glowed brightly and instantly occupied the entire screen, preventing him from seeing anything.


    After a while, the light converged. However, after the light vanished, Zhou Wen looked again and realized that a Companion Beast wasn¡¯t the product.


    In the fusion interface, a Companion Egg appeared. There were words under the fusion and a percentage indicator. It was only at 1%.


    Zhou Wen waited for more than ten minutes, but the percentage was still 1%. It didn¡¯t move. He didn¡¯t know how long the fusion would take.


    After about an hour, it finally jumped to 2%. Zhou Wen estimated that it would take four days to reach 100%. He had no choice but to ignore it and continue grinding Pill Furnace Mountain.


    His luck today was pretty good. Zhou Wen had actually obtained another Resurrection Pill Essence. Although its effects were inferior to the Dragon Tiger Elixir, it was still a good healing item. Even if his heart shattered, he could be revived with one pill.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t really die. At the very least, it would only be effective if he ate it on his last breath.


    After that, Zhou Wen¡¯s luck seemed to run out. He farmed many Mythical creatures, but nothing dropped.


    Zhou Wen had already figured out the respawn pattern of the Terror-grade creatures he had killed. They could respawn in a week, but the drop rate of Companion Eggs wasn¡¯t high, so he didn¡¯t gain anything.


    As time passed, the shadow in the magma became more and more obvious. Zhou Wen was no longer the only one who could see it¡ªmany people in the Federation could see the shadow.


    There were also impressive people who managed to deduce that the shadow was likely a building.


    Furthermore, it was certain that the shadow would appear when the countdown was up.


    Now, people were guessing that the building in the magma was likely the arena for the Battle of the Cube. When the building appeared, it would be the true beginning of the battle.


    However, some people believed that the building wasn¡¯t a combat arena. It was very likely a dimensional zone¡ªa dimensional zone on Venus.


    There were also all sorts of random guesses. Zhou Wen also read some of them, but he didn¡¯t really find them plausible.


    Tai Sui has eaten all kinds of good stuff. Why isn¡¯t there any reaction? Zhou Wen realized that most of the Dragon King Gu in the calabash had been eaten by Tai Sui. Only a segment about four meters long was left of its huge body. It wouldn¡¯t be able to last much longer.


    He was somewhat conflicted about Tai Sui¡¯s advancement. Tai Sui was too infamous. If it advanced to the Terror grade and brought disaster to Zhou Wen, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    After grinding all the dimensional zones he could with no harvest to speak of, all he could do was wait for the respawn time and study the shadow on Venus.


    It had been two days since Venus appeared on the Cube. There were less than twenty-four hours left on the countdown. When Zhou Wen went to the Cube to take a look, he could see the true appearance of the shadow despite it not having surfaced.

 Chapter 1211 - : Done

    Chapter 1211: Done


    Translator: CKtalon


    Beneath the magma, one could see a metal palace. It was completely bronze and mixed with the magma, making it difficult to see it at its core.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed it for a while before roughly figuring out that the metal palace looked like a hemisphere. However, this was only the upper half. He couldn¡¯t see the lower half, nor did he know how big it was.


    The front of the hemispherical building appeared more than a thousand meters in diameter. There were latitude-like grooves along its parallels. At the topmost parallel, a platform could be seen. It was also circular and about twenty to thirty meters in diameter. It looked like an entrance, but it was sealed. There were no gaps, buttons, or handles.


    Zhou Wen looked at it for a while, unsure what the building was.


    When his gaze accidentally swept across a corner of the hemisphere, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. In the grid divided by the longitude and latitude meridians and parallels, there was a tiny palm symbol engraved at the bottom periphery. In the palm was a golden circle symbol. It looked like Venus.


    There¡¯s actually a tiny palm symbol! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    He held his phone up at the Cube¡¯s screen to see if he could snap it, but he realized that it was useless. Even if he really stood on Venus, it was too far away. He had to dive into the magma and take a close-up shot.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t originally planned on taking the risk on Venus, but when he saw the tiny palm symbol, he knew that the metal building was definitely not a combat arena, but a dimensional zone.


    Furthermore, the creatures that had appeared previously had safely come out after entering. Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t too dangerous, so he planned on making a trip and snapping the tiny palm symbol.


    However, before that, Zhou Wen needed to be fully prepared.


    After the antelope returned, it slept on the sofa all day. Zhou Wen used to think that it was lazy, but now, he knew that it was heavily injured and was recuperating.


    Without a Calamity-grade protecting him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take Ya¡¯er on adventures. He made her stay with the An family so that they could take care of her.


    Although Zhou Wen¡¯s relationship with An Tianzuo was terrible, he had to admit that An Tianzuo¡¯s care for Ya¡¯er was even more meticulous than his own.


    He took Jade Rabbit and Ice Maiden with him, but Zhou Wen felt that Ice Maiden wasn¡¯t of much use. That place was too hot, so Ice Maiden¡¯s strength would be greatly weakened. Her combat strength would definitely plummet.


    Deva Asura, Banana Fairy, and Demonic Neonate should be of considerable use. There was also the Seven Seas Dragon King. It was unknown if the fellow¡¯s mucus was susceptible to high temperatures.


    He put on the Invisibility Cloak, put on the earrings, and had Doctor Darkness possess him.


    Although Doctor Darkness was only at the Mythical stage, his Light of Penetration and Darkness Right Hand were still very useful.


    After making sufficient preparations, Zhou Wen used Singularity Universe¡¯s ability and chose Venus as his teleportation target. He instantly arrived above Venus.


    Singularity Universe allowed for distant teleportation, but it wasn¡¯t precise enough. When Zhou Wen appeared on Venus, he didn¡¯t land near the magma.


    He was in a huge mountain range. The mountain was even taller than the Himalayas.


    After gathering his bearings, Zhou Wen was about to head for the magma when he suddenly realized that there was a faint sound coming from the rift valley at the foot of the mountain.


    What¡¯s there? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly activated the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s complete invisibility ability before carefully listening to the commotion in the rift valley.


    After using Truth Listener to listen for a while, he realized that there weren¡¯t any creatures in the rift valley. What made the sound was a fake flower.


    The reason it was called a fake flower was that it had three red leaves. Above those were white petals. Its entire body was metal, looking nothing like a living plant at all. It looked like a work of art.


    However, after listening carefully for a while, Zhou Wen realized that the metal flower wasn¡¯t an artwork, but a living plant. Its roots were embedded in the rocks, and it seemed to survive rather well in the high temperatures and air that was filled with carbon dioxide. As the heat flowed, the leaves rustled slightly and emitted a strange sound.


    The sound Zhou Wen had heard was from the leaf.


    A metal flower? Zhou Wen was especially sensitive to flowers and didn¡¯t dare head straight into the rift.


    With a flash, he summoned a Golden Battle God Halberd and sent it flying into the rift valley.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to use ordinary Companion Beasts to probe. The temperature of Venus was just too high. Typical Companion Beasts would probably be killed by the high temperature before reaching the rift valley.


    The Golden Battle God Halberd flew down the mountain and into the rift valley. Not long after it entered, the Golden Battle God Halberd suddenly disintegrated before it could approach the metal flower.


    It was somewhat similar to the shattering of tempered glass. The Golden Battle God Halberd immediately disintegrated into countless fragments. The fragments were much smaller than tempered glass shards¡ªonly the size of sesame seeds.


    Before the fragments fell to the bottom of the valley, they vanished. The Golden Battle God Halberd¡¯s name also vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast list.


    Zhou Wen felt his heart ache, but at the same time, he was somewhat puzzled. He only knew that the metal flower¡¯s power had disintegrated the Golden Battle God Halberd. As for what kind of power it was, he couldn¡¯t tell.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen dispelled his plans to continue exploring. After determining where he was, he teleported towards the magma abyss.


    Clown Mask¡¯s teleportation ability was already very powerful. His teleportation distance was much further than before, so it didn¡¯t take him long to arrive in the vicinity of the magma abyss.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t walk over directly because it was within the confines of the Cube¡¯s field-of-view. Even if he went in his Terror form, ordinary people might not be able to see him, but he could still be seen by Terror-grade experts.


    Therefore, after Zhou Wen determined the distance, he teleported into the magma to prevent himself from being discovered.


    The moment he entered the magma, he experienced the terrifying temperature. Thankfully, he had already fused with the Terror-form Human Sovereign. Although Human Sovereign could only heal others and not himself, just the increase in strength produced by the fusion was enough to withstand the high temperature.


    Not daring to stay for too long, Zhou Wen continued teleporting inside the magma and quickly arrived in front of the metal building.


    Just as he had seen on the screen, there was a huge metal hemisphere at the front. However, in front of it, it looked even more spectacular, making him feel tiny.


    What was even more terrifying was that the temperature emitted by the metal building was even more terrifying than the temperature of magma.


    Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror-grade power protecting him, he still felt a burning sensation.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on searching the metal building. He found the tiny palm symbol and forcefully dispersed the surrounding magma. He took out his phone and snapped a picture of it.


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief when the long-awaited download screen appeared.. He put away his phone and let it download slowly.

 Chapter 1212 - New Mythical Serum

    He didn¡¯t dare stay for too long. Since a Calamity-grade creature like Tsukuyomi had appeared, there might be other Calamity-grade existences.


    It would be a tragedy if he encountered a Calamity-grade who wanted his life.


    Using Singularity Universe, Zhou Wen returned to Earth. The coordinates of his destination were similarly inaccurate, so he didn¡¯t return to Luoyang.


    This is¡­ Holy City? Zhou Wen carefully observed his surroundings and realized that he was standing in an alley. People were coming and going on the streets.


    He used Truth Listener to scan the area and realized that this was Holy City.


    Back then, Wang Mingyuan had used the power of the six Holy Temples to break through the barrier between Earth and the dimension and forced his way into the dimension. At the same time, he nearly destroyed the Holy Land.


    This was Holy City, but it was different from the tragic scene back then. Holy City had been rebuilt¡ªalthough it was slightly smaller than before, it could be considered a medium-sized human city.


    However, Holy City¡¯s defensive barrier hadn¡¯t been repaired. It had lost its greatest defense and could only rely on human experts to protect it.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, the federal government led by Hui Haifeng had its headquarters in the Holy Land. Hui Haifeng had chosen this place himself. As for why he didn¡¯t use the former president¡¯s office, the reason wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen was privy to.


    He took out his phone and took a look. It was still downloading, and it didn¡¯t look like it would be done quickly.


    Since I¡¯m already here, it won¡¯t be a bad idea to visit Hui Haifeng. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to identify the buildings in Holy City and easily found the building for the president¡¯s office.


    However, Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan the interior of the building, hoping to find Hui Haifeng. He teleported over and realized that Truth Listener¡¯s power couldn¡¯t infiltrate the building.


    The ring-shaped building was screened by an unknown force. Truth Listener was completely unable to probe the interior.


    Interesting. I wonder if it was made by Hui Haifeng or an expert from the Federation. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t find Hui Haifeng, so after some thought, he gave up on the idea of looking for him.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to teleport away from Holy City, a boy with a backpack walked over. He looked to be about five or six years old. He wore a pair of wide black-framed glasses that covered most of his face.


    At that moment, the boy was looking at him in puzzlement, his eyes constantly sizing him up.


    ¡°I¡¯m passing by,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Passing by?¡± The boy looked back at the alley before returning his gaze to Zhou Wen¡¯s face. His expression seemed to say: Are you an idiot?


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that the alley was a dead end. Furthermore, there was only one house in the entire alley, and there was only one door. Zhou Wen¡¯s excuse of passing by seemed a little forced.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind the details and said with a smile, ¡°I took the wrong path. I¡¯ll leave now.¡±


    ¡°Wait,¡± the boy said as he placed his backpack on the ground. After opening it, he took out something and threw it at Zhou Wen. ¡°Consider yourself lucky. Take this.¡±


    Zhou Wen caught it and saw that it was a palm-sized crystal bottle with a golden liquid inside.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Why are you giving it to me?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the golden liquid in the tiny bottle before looking at the boy in puzzlement.


    From the looks of it, the boy didn¡¯t seem to be deliberately plotting against him. Ignoring the fact that he wasn¡¯t suitable for such matters at his age, even if someone really wanted to scheme against Zhou Wen, no one knew that he had come to Holy City. It would be impossible for them to plot a scheme against him in advance.


    ¡°I forgot that ordinary people like you have never seen exclusive Mythical Serums before.¡± The boy revealed a look of enlightenment before saying to Zhou Wen, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t know what it is. This is Mythical Serum. It¡¯s very high-level and is somewhat different from the ones circulating on the market. Children above the age of three can use it. The effects aren¡¯t as intense as ordinary Mythical Serums. It won¡¯t completely fuse with the consumer from the beginning. There will be a long process. This reduces the burden on your body. The effects of the fusion will be better and it will be more suitable for your body. However, you are a little too old. Even if you use it, the chances of you advancing to the Mythical stage are very slim. I suggest you give it to any children of yours. It¡¯s best if they are between three and six years old. Of course, you can use it yourself. It will still be beneficial.¡±


    With that said, the boy packed his bag and picked it up again before turning to leave.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Zhou Wen found the boy odd. He didn¡¯t know whose child it was.


    ¡°Is there something else you don¡¯t understand?¡± The boy turned around and asked Zhou Wen without any signs of impatience.


    ¡°Why are you giving me this Mythical Serum?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he pointed at the tiny bottle.


    The boy didn¡¯t answer him and only asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you want it?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    The boy nudged his glasses with his finger and looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. ¡°According to what I know, ordinary Mythical Serum is difficult to find. Many people are fighting to buy a bottle. Such a new Mythical Serum is priceless. Do you really not want it?¡±


    As the boy spoke, he seemed to come to a realization. He looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to doubt it. This Mythical Serum is genuine. It¡¯s from the Hui family. Look at the mark at the bottom of the bottle. No one will dare forge the mark of the Hui family in Holy City.¡±


    ¡°Your surname is Hui?¡± Zhou Wen asked the boy.


    ¡°This has nothing to do with you. If you don¡¯t want it, you can return the Mythical Serum to me,¡± the boy said.


    From his expression, Zhou Wen had zero doubts that the boy¡¯s surname was Hui. However, he didn¡¯t know what relationship he had with Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°I believe this is a Mythical Serum and I want it. However, I didn¡¯t put in any effort. I can¡¯t take something from others for nothing. If there¡¯s anything you need me to do, we can make a deal. This way, it won¡¯t be me getting it for nothing.¡± Zhou Wen knew that there had to be a reason for the boy¡¯s odd actions. If he really had something to do with Hui Haifeng, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t just ignore him.


    The boy nodded as though he felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s words made sense. However, he lowered his head and thought for a moment before muttering to himself, ¡°But I don¡¯t have anything I need you to do.¡±


    ¡°Anything is fine. If you have any difficulties, you can tell me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The boy shook his head. ¡°If it¡¯s something I find difficult, it¡¯s even more impossible for you to complete.¡±


    Why isn¡¯t this fellow cute at all? He doesn¡¯t sound like a child his age. Zhou Wen was somewhat exasperated.


    The boy thought for a moment and said again, ¡°How about this? You can¡¯t do something if it¡¯s too difficult. Lead the way. I¡¯m going to Fireworks Lane to find a woman.¡±

 Chapter 1213 - Fireworks Lane

    Fireworks Lane? Find a woman? Zhou Wen looked at the boy with an odd expression before using Truth Listener to scan Holy City. Soon, he found Fireworks Lane.


    However, after figuring out where Fireworks Lane was, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned even odder.


    He originally believed that the name of the place was just something prone to misunderstanding. It was likely a normal place where the boy was looking for his family and friends.


    However, Zhou Wen realized that Fireworks Lane was really as he first imagined. It was filled with colorful neon lights and strange men coming and going. Other than that were a bunch of strange women.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t even know where Fireworks Lane is? I heard from Ah Quan that all men in Holy City know where it is,¡± the boy said with a frown.


    ¡°I know, but who are you looking for at a place like that?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s my business. Just lead the way. Take me to the place and the Mythical Serum will be yours.¡± The boy clearly didn¡¯t wish to say too much to a stranger.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask further. He wanted to go with him to see what he was up to.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name? I have to know how to address you, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked the boy.


    ¡°Hui Wan.¡± The boy hesitated for a moment before giving his name.


    ¡°Did I catch it right? Hui Wan[1]? Is that your name?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the boy with an odd expression.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go now. I don¡¯t have much time. In two hours, I have to return for piano lessons. There¡¯s also the violin, zither, and erhu after that¡­¡± The boy raised his wrist and looked at his watch.


    ¡°Why are you learning all that?¡± Zhou Wen was even more curious. In this era, he had heard of people forcing their children to cultivate in Essence Energy Arts. He had never heard of anyone letting their children practice so many musical instruments.


    ¡°Why do you have so many questions? If you aren¡¯t going, I¡¯ll go by myself.¡± As Hui Wan spoke, he walked towards the lane.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked. ¡°Fireworks Lane is very long. Do you have the exact address?¡±


    Hui Wan shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then do you know the name of the woman you are looking for?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I only know that others call her Ah Cai,¡± Hui Wan said after some thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s much easier with a name. We can ask around when we get there. Why are you looking for Ah Cai?¡± Zhou Wen continued probing.


    However, Hui Wan didn¡¯t answer him this time. He just walked by himself.


    Seeing Hui Wan ignore him, Zhou Wen stopped asking. Since he already knew that he was going to find Ah Cai, he could just follow him and not let anything happen to him.


    This was the central area of Holy City, and Fireworks Lane was in a relatively remote area. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that it was a slum.


    To save time, Zhou Wen summoned an inconspicuous Companion Beast mount and took Hui Wan over.


    To his surprise, Hui Wan didn¡¯t sit on Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast. He took out a blanket from his backpack which had a Companion Beast sealed using some unknown method.


    Although the Companion Beast didn¡¯t belong to Hui Wan, he could control the blanket to fly with a few buttons on the blanket. As a five-year-old child, Hui Wan could easily steer it.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Zhou Wen looked curiously at Hui Wan¡¯s flying carpet.


    ¡°This is a Pet Flying Carpet that our family recently developed. It hasn¡¯t been mass-produced yet, and is not sold on the market. If you want it, you have to wait at least three months. However, there will only be some trial products then. It won¡¯t be sold on a large scale,¡± Hui Wan explained.


    The Hui family sure knows how to rile things up. This thing is interesting. Zhou Wen sized up the flying carpet and roughly knew how it was done.


    Although the method wasn¡¯t difficult, the person who could do it was undoubtedly a genius.


    Soon, the two of them arrived at Fireworks Lane. The combination of the adult and child, together with the flying carpet, was very eye-catching.


    Many ladies standing at the entrance were looking at them. The bolder ladies even wanted to get their business.


    Hui Wan wasn¡¯t shy at all. He didn¡¯t look like a five-year-old child at all.


    ¡°Little friend, you¡¯re so cute. Wanna come to my shop to play?¡± A woman came over to tease Hui Wan.


    ¡°Hello, Sister. I¡¯m looking for Ah Cai. Do you know where she is?¡± Hui Wan asked.


    The woman who had reached out to pinch Hui Wan¡¯s cheek suddenly had a drastic change in expression. As though she had been electrocuted, she retracted her hand and turned to leave. She even whispered, ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ I don¡¯t know¡­¡±


    ¡°Sister, do you know where Ah Cai is?¡± Hui Wan asked as he went shop to shop to ask while sitting on the flying carpet.


    However, anyone who was asked by him, be it men or women, seemed to be bitten by a scorpion. They turned around and left. Some shops even pulled down their shutters as though they were the plague.


    Interesting! Zhou Wen originally wanted to ensure that Hui Wan could return safely, but now, he realized that this matter was much more interesting than he had imagined.


    No matter if it was the women or the guests who entered the pubs, as long as Hui Wan asked about Ah Cai, all of them wanted to escape immediately.


    Even Zhou Wen was somewhat interested in Ah Cai, considering how her name had such magical power.


    As the two of them walked, the originally lively Fireworks Lane suddenly turned bleak and empty. Almost all the bars and clubs closed.


    The reason why it was ¡®almost¡¯ was that one pub remained open.


    The signboard of the pub was still lit and the door wasn¡¯t closed. Zhou Wen saw that the signboard said ¡°Non-Alcoholic Pub.¡±


    Hui Wan was still a child after all. Although he was a little odd, he was only bent on finding Ah Cai.


    Seeing that the Non-Alcoholic Pub was still open, he decided to go in and ask if the person inside knew where Ah Cai was.


    However, before Hui Wan could enter, someone drew the curtains open and came out.


    It was a middle-aged man. His face was fierce and he looked a little ferocious.


    ¡°Go back. The one you¡¯re looking for isn¡¯t here,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    ¡°Do you know where Ah Cai is?¡± Although Hui Wan was young, he was very smart. He could immediately tell that there was something odd with the middle-aged man¡¯s words.


    The middle-aged man ignored Hui Wan and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°It¡¯s still not too late to leave now. I¡¯m afraid it will be too late if you wait any longer.¡±


    He believed that Zhou Wen had been sent by Hui Wan¡¯s family to protect him, but he was mistaken.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s too late.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he turned his head and saw that on both sides of the street, a large number of people had appeared with weapons. They filled up both ends of the street.


    They didn¡¯t say a word as they surrounded Zhou Wen and Hui Wan. It looked like they wanted to trap them here.


    ¡°Come in.¡± The middle-aged man frowned slightly and moved aside to open the door.


    [1] A homophone to playboy.

 Chapter 1214 - Faceless Buddha

    Chapter 1214: Faceless Buddha


    Translator: CKtalon


    Before Hui Wan could say anything, Zhou Wen had already pulled him in.


    Although he didn¡¯t think much of these people, he couldn¡¯t just massacre them in Hui Haifeng¡¯s territory.


    After entering the Non-Alcoholic Pub, Zhou Wen realized that it was empty. Apart from a male bartender and a waitress, he didn¡¯t see a single customer.


    ¡°Little kid, what would you like to drink?¡± A girl in a bunny costume walked over and bent down to ask Hui Wan with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m not drinking anything. I¡¯m here to find Ah Cai. Is she here?¡± Hui Wan said.


    ¡°Give him a cup of warm milk,¡± the bartender said.


    The bunny girl responded tersely and quickly placed a cup of hot milk in front of Hui Wan. ¡°Little kid, try it. It¡¯s delicious.¡±


    ¡°What would you like to drink?¡± the bunny girl asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Hot milk, iced milk, and yogurt,¡± the bunny girl answered.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a pub?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the bunny girl in puzzlement. Why was everything milk-based? Was this a pub or a milk shop?


    ¡°Is this your first time in Fireworks Lane?¡± the bunny girl asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s my first time here.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°No wonder. Didn¡¯t you see that our shop¡¯s name is Non-Alcoholic Pub? In other words, we don¡¯t sell alcohol. We only sell milk products here,¡± explained the bunny girl.


    Selling milk at Fireworks Lane¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was odd. This was the first time he had heard of such a shop. Furthermore, it did business in a place like Fireworks Lane. It would be odd if business was good. It was no wonder it was so empty.


    ¡°Then give me a cup of warm milk.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to order a cup of warm milk.


    The moment the bunny girl brought the milk over, the people outside had already blocked the entrance of the Non-Alcoholic Pub.


    ¡°Hand him over.¡± Zhou Wen heard someone shouting outside.


    However, it wasn¡¯t random shouting. Only the leader spoke.


    ¡°Hand who over?¡± the middle-aged man standing at the door said coldly.


    ¡°Old Demon, stop pretending. Do you think we are blind?¡± When the leader said that, the crowd behind him was immediately enraged. Instantly, shouts reverberated across the sky as the huge crowd seemed eager to rush in.


    ¡°Is it convenient for us to be here?¡± Zhou Wen asked the bartender. He could naturally tell that the bartender was the head of the Non-Alcoholic Pub. Perhaps he was the boss here.


    ¡°Since you¡¯ve ordered milk, you are my customers. No one can bully my customers here,¡± the bartender said calmly.


    ¡°But something doesn¡¯t seem right outside.¡± Zhou Wen heard the commotion outside.


    The bartender glanced at the door and said loudly, ¡°Old Demon, let them in.¡±


    With the bartender saying that, the clamoring outside immediately quietened down.


    After a while, Old Demon led the leader in. However, he was the only one who entered. Even though there were many people outside, they only stood outside obediently. No one dared to enter.


    ¡°Brother Milk.¡± The leader saw the bartender and squeezed out a smile.


    ¡°Brother Jin, they are just two insensible children. They don¡¯t have any ill intentions. Don¡¯t make things difficult for them,¡± said Brother Milk.


    ¡°Brother Milk, aren¡¯t you mocking me? Just call me Old Jin. Since you¡¯ve already said the word, I won¡¯t say anything. I can choose not to capture them. However, Brother Milk, don¡¯t make things difficult for us. We can¡¯t let them stay in Fireworks Lane any longer,¡± said Old Jin.


    Before Brother Milk could say anything, Hui Wan said directly, ¡°Why can¡¯t I stay in Fireworks Lane? I want to find Ah Cai. I won¡¯t leave without finding her.¡±


    ¡°Brother Milk, as you can see, it¡¯s not that we don¡¯t aren¡¯t cutting you some slack and want to make things ugly, but we really can¡¯t answer our boss when we return,¡± Old Jin said with a bitter expression.


    ¡°Sorry to trouble you. Give me some time,¡± Brother Milk said as he looked at Zhou Wen. ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you take him back?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of my business if he wants to come or leave,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shrug. He didn¡¯t mind watching the matter escalate. It was getting more and more interesting.


    Brother Milk was taken aback when he heard that. Old Jin read the situation well. Seeing what was happening, he got up and said, ¡°How about this, Brother Milk? I¡¯ll wait for you outside. I reckon my boss won¡¯t be able to make it here in half an hour. I really can¡¯t guarantee anything after that. You know my boss¡¯s temper.¡±


    ¡°Sorry to trouble you, Old Jin,¡± said Brother Milk.


    ¡°Brother Milk, there¡¯s no need for that! I¡¯m just doing my part.¡± As Old Jin spoke, he left the Non-Alcoholic Pub. However, he didn¡¯t retreat. He let his men wait outside.


    ¡°Are you really not leaving?¡± Brother Milk asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You have to ask him.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Hui Wan.


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving. I won¡¯t go back unless I find Ah Cai,¡± Hui Wan said firmly.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you from the Hui family?¡± Brother Milk asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Brother Milk said, ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re from the Hui family. Since you brought him here, you have the obligation to take him back safely. Leave now. You heard what Old Jin said. In half an hour, if that person really comes, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have a chance to leave.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s just looking for someone. Is there a need to go that far? This child is from the Hui family after all,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Old Demon said coldly, ¡°It looks like you are a greenhorn who doesn¡¯t know anything. It¡¯s because he¡¯s from the Hui family that it¡¯s dangerous. Why would the Hui family let a person like you bring a child out?¡±


    ¡°I was just about to ask; what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen was also extremely curious.


    Hui Haifeng was now the federal President, and Holy City was now the Hui family¡¯s territory. It was too strange for him to say that it was dangerous because Hui Wan was from the Hui family.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t know anything? That old saying is right. The ignorant are fearless.¡± The bunny girl smiled and roughly explained the situation.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s jaw nearly dropped when he heard the story. He never expected such a thing.


    Someone had actually gone to the Hui family to snatch a woman. Furthermore, the Hui family didn¡¯t dare demand her return. The woman who had been taken away was the Ah Cai that Hui Wan had mentioned. The person who snatched her was the boss of Fireworks Lane. No one knew his real name, but they knew that he had a nickname¡ªFaceless Buddha.


    ¡°Is it possible for a person to go to the president¡¯s residence to take a woman away without the president having the guts to demand her return?¡± Zhou Wen felt like he was listening to a fantasy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a possibility, but a fact. Don¡¯t underestimate Fireworks Lane. This is Holy City¡¯s underground market. There are countless good things flowing here from all over the Federation every day. The number of transactions is unimaginable for you. If the president is the ruler of Holy City¡¯s day, then Faceless Buddha is the king of Holy City¡¯s night.¡± Old Demon snorted coldly. ¡°Old Jin and company gave you a chance to leave Fireworks Lane on account of Brother Milk. If you don¡¯t leave now, when that Faceless Buddha comes, even the heavens won¡¯t be able to save you.. Even if Hui Haifeng comes personally, he might not be able to take the two of you back.¡±

 Chapter 1215 - Super Genius

    Zhou Wen still found it unbelievable. He dares to fight the entire Federation with his strength alone, and in such a blatant manner?


    Old Demon said coldly, ¡°Hui Haifeng only represents the federal government. Now, there¡¯s not only the federal government on Earth, but there are also the League of Guardians, the Holy Spirit Association, the overseas faction, and others. And these factions need a place to exchange resources. And that¡¯s the underground market at Fireworks Lane. Here, as long as you have money, you can exchange for anything you want. Even the six families need resources that they don¡¯t have. There aren¡¯t many people who can balance the relationships between the various factions and complete this matter. Do you think the Hui family can touch such a person?¡±


    With Old Demon giving this explanation, Zhou Wen understood that the Faceless Buddha in Fireworks Lane didn¡¯t only represent himself. It also represented the interests of the League of Guardians, the Holy Spirit Association, overseas, and even the Federation itself.


    Ignoring the fact that the federation president didn¡¯t control the entire federal government, even if he could fully control the federal government, he still needed to consider carefully if he wanted to touch Fireworks Lane and Faceless Buddha.


    However, Zhou Wen still found it ridiculous for Faceless Buddha to abduct a woman from the Hui family. There had to be another reason.


    ¡°Who¡¯s that Ah Cai? Why would Faceless Buddha abduct her?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid only Faceless Buddha knows why. Perhaps you can ask the Hui family. However, Faceless Buddha once ordered that no one from the Hui family is allowed to enter Fireworks Lane. He¡¯s a man of action. Previously, there were people from the six families who refused to believe his claim and were killed in Fireworks Lane.¡± Old Demon glanced at Hui Wan. Clearly, the Hui family member he was referring to was Hui Wan.


    ¡°Faceless Buddha is a big baddie. He snatched Ah Cai away,¡± Hui Wan said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if Faceless Buddha is a big baddie, but ever since he came to Fireworks Lane, this place, which was at the bottom of society and suffered bullying, is no longer having women like us suffer random bullying. No one dares to wantonly kill for fun,¡± the bunny girl said seriously.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but fall silent when he heard that. He had previously heard of it and knew that what the bunny girl said was very pragmatic.


    As the Earth¡¯s anomalies became more and more intense, and the environment became worse, many women who didn¡¯t have the ability to protect themselves or even obtain food had to engage in special work.


    However, those who could come to such a place to enjoy themselves were people with power or money. Furthermore, the mental pressure was too great. Under the circumstances where the laws were weak, it was very common for women to be bullied. They weren¡¯t paid for their service and might even be beaten or killed.


    It wasn¡¯t just Holy City. Many human cities had the same problem.


    ¡°In that case, Faceless Buddha is not a bad person,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°He¡¯s not human. He¡¯s the Buddha of Fireworks Lane, the god here,¡± the bunny girl corrected him seriously.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s time for us to leave.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to be embroiled in such a complicated matter. All he wanted was to take Hui Wan back safely.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going back until I see Ah Cai.¡± Hui Wan was very insistent. However, he wasn¡¯t like ordinary children who did things purely out of spite. He had his own independent thoughts.


    ¡°I want to see Faceless Buddha and ask him what¡¯s needed for him to release Ah Cai. As long as he¡¯s willing to release Ah Cai, I¡¯m willing to pay any price. He can take anything within the confines of my abilities¡ªmoney or the research products of our Hui family,¡± Hui Wan continued.


    ¡°Then how great is the range of your abilities? How much say do you have?¡± Old Demon asked Hui Wan with contempt.


    He didn¡¯t believe that a five-year-old child could have many resources at his disposal. Even if his surname was Hui¡ªeven if he was Hui Haifeng¡¯s son¡ªhe would at most have some pocket money that ordinary children couldn¡¯t have.


    If such money could settle Faceless Buddha, Ah Cai wouldn¡¯t have been forced to leave the Hui family.


    It looked like Hui Wan had come prepared. He opened his bag and took out some documents.


    ¡°These are the shares of the dimensional zones that I have in Holy City. There are also some shares of the dimensional zones in the North and South District that I bought from the six families. As long as the six families don¡¯t collapse, the profits should be very stable. There¡¯s also my company here. I own 73% of the shares¡­¡± Hui Wan gave a general introduction.


    Everyone was dumbfounded when they heard that. Even Brother Milk¡¯s expression changed when he looked at Hui Wan. He picked up some documents and looked at them before saying with a strange expression, ¡°These are all genuine.¡±


    Old Demon also picked up one of the documents and took a look. He immediately shouted, ¡°Is the Great Fun Group yours?¡±


    Hui Wan nodded. ¡°Strictly speaking, it belongs to me after I acquired it half a year ago.¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised when he heard that. He had recently heard of the name ¡°Great Fun Group.¡± Its main business was a project that combined Companion Beasts and technology. For example, the construction of some Companion Beast power stations was the business of the Great Fun Group. The An family and the Great Fun Group had business partnerships, so it could be said that it was a large corporation that covered the Federation.


    ¡°You¡¯re still so young. Is your family at ease handing such a huge corporation to you?¡± the bunny girl said to Hui Wan in disbelief.


    However, Hui Wan corrected her seriously. ¡°No, it¡¯s not from my family. I bought it myself.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the money you used to acquire it come from your family?¡± Old Demon said.


    ¡°No, my money was obtained by selling my inventions and investments. Apart from the experimental equipment and materials that my mother gave me in the beginning, I didn¡¯t take a single cent from my family for nothing,¡± Hui Wan said.


    ¡°What inventions do you have?¡± Old Demon asked.


    ¡°A recent invention that has been pushed to the market. It¡¯s called a Companion Egg backpack. You should have heard of it, right?¡± Hui Wan said.


    ¡°You invented the Companion Egg backpack?¡± The bunny girl and Old Demon widened their eyes as they looked at Hui Wan as though they were looking at a monster.


    They really couldn¡¯t believe that the thing had been invented by such a young child.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can take a look at the contract I signed with the six families. The Companion Egg backpacks made by the six families have all purchased my technology.¡± Hui Wan took out some documents from the thick stack of documents for them to see.


    After Old Demon and company read it, they couldn¡¯t treat Hui Wan as a child when they looked at him again.


    ¡°As long as Faceless Buddha is willing, I can use all of this to exchange for Ah Cai,¡± Hui Wan said.


    ¡°Although you are very sincere, there are some things that can¡¯t be resolved with money. It¡¯s best you leave quickly,¡± said Brother Milk.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that if money could resolve the problem, Faceless Buddha wouldn¡¯t have abducted Ah Cai from the Hui family.


    ¡°Why? The combined value of these can buy half of Holy City. Can¡¯t it satisfy Faceless Buddha?¡± Hui Wan clearly didn¡¯t understand.


    He might be a super genius in some aspects, but in most aspects, he was still a child.

 Chapter 1216 - Faceless Buddha

    Chapter 1216: Faceless Buddha


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Not enough.¡± Brother Milk didn¡¯t explain much. He only said two simple words.


    ¡°How much more is needed?¡± Hui Wan asked seriously.


    ¡°A hundred times more.¡± Brother Milk gave a number only because he wanted Hui Wan to return. He didn¡¯t believe that Hui Wan could really do it, at least not in a short period of time.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll earn more money. When I return, I can exchange it for Ah Cai.¡± Hui Wan was only a child after all, so he took Brother Milk¡¯s words seriously.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll send you out.¡± Brother Milk sent Zhou Wen and Hui Wan out.


    When Old Jin saw Brother Milk take them out, he couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief. He didn¡¯t wish to clash with Brother Milk.


    ¡°Everyone, they are just children. Can you not make things difficult for them and give them a way out?¡± Brother Milk said as he looked at the crowd.


    ¡°Since you said so, it must be a misunderstanding,¡± Old Jin hurriedly added.


    Most people took Brother Milk¡¯s prestige into consideration and automatically made way.


    Zhou Wen thanked Brother Milk and company. Just as he was about to leave with Hui Wan, he suddenly heard the strange sounds of hooves.


    With the sound of hooves, everyone¡¯s expression changed. Even the color in Brother Milk¡¯s face drained.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized what had happened. He turned his head and looked in the direction of the sound of hooves. He saw a person slowly walking over on a two-headed dragon.


    The two-headed dragon¡¯s body was pitch-black, as though it was carved from black gemstones. Every scale emitted a dark light, as though it was an abyss in a mirror.


    The person sitting on the double-headed dragon¡¯s back was extremely majestic. He was nearly three meters tall and looked like a giant. However, although he was majestic, he didn¡¯t appear clumsy. His body was in a muscular, streamlined shape, making him exude explosive strength.


    Compared to the tight black armor, he looked even more domineering and mysterious.


    No one could see the face underneath the faceless mask. Upon seeing the mask, Zhou Wen roughly guessed who he was.


    Actually, there was no need to guess. The reaction of the people in Fireworks Lane was enough to explain everything. The person who had arrived was likely Faceless Buddha¡ªa godlike existence in Fireworks Lane.


    Wherever Faceless Buddha passed, everyone automatically retreated to the sides of the street. They pressed their palms together and bowed their heads as though they were praying to Buddha. No one dared to look up at Faceless Buddha.


    Old Jin¡¯s face was pale. When he saw Faceless Buddha approach from afar, he immediately knelt down and said, ¡°Your Excellency, I saw that they were only children and thought it was a prank, so I wanted to spare them¡­¡±


    Even Brother Milk, who was rather respected, was less carefree in front of Faceless Buddha. He said with a heavy expression, ¡°Your Excellency, this matter has nothing to do with Old Jin and company. I forced Old Jin to release them. The two of them are only children. You won¡¯t hold anything against two children, right?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say that the Hui family isn¡¯t allowed to enter Fireworks Lane?¡± Faceless Buddha said indifferently.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Brother Milk answered bitterly.


    ¡°Are they from the Hui family?¡± Faceless Buddha asked again.


    Brother Milk opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m from the Hui family. My name is Hui Wan. I came independently. It has nothing to do with them,¡± Hui Wan said as he came in front of the horse. He took out the various contracts in his backpack and introduced the value of the items.


    ¡°As long as you release Ah Cai, these will all be yours. If you think it¡¯s not enough, you can name a price. It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s ten times or a hundred times more; I¡¯ll give it to you as soon as possible.¡± Hui Wan¡¯s tiny body stood in front of the majestic double-headed dragon, showing zero fear.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s a thousand or ten thousand times, it won¡¯t be enough to exchange for Ah Cai,¡± Faceless Buddha said indifferently.


    Hui Wan froze. Although he was good at earning money, it would still be too difficult to earn a thousand or ten thousand times more. Furthermore, even if he could amass that fortune, the other party wasn¡¯t willing to exchange Ah Cai for it. This made him feel unprecedented helplessness.


    Only then did Hui Wan look like an ordinary child. He looked at Zhou Wen, at a loss, his eyes filled with helplessness and unease.


    The two-headed dragon continued walking forward and was about to touch Hui Wan. Brother Milk thought that Faceless Buddha was really going to attack Hui Wan, so he hurriedly pulled Hui Wan away. However, he didn¡¯t dare attack Faceless Buddha. He pleaded, ¡°Your Excellency, he¡¯s only a child. Even if his surname is Hui, what the Hui family has done has nothing to do with him. Please spare him.¡±


    Only Brother Milk had the guts to speak. The others, like Old Jin and Old Demon, didn¡¯t even dare breathe. The pressure Faceless Buddha gave was too terrifying. This person seemed to be born with a terrifying pressure.


    Despite Brother Milk¡¯s pleas, the two-headed dragon didn¡¯t stop. However, Faceless Buddha didn¡¯t attack Hui Wan either. The two-headed dragon walked past them and arrived in front of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°When did your surname become Hui?¡± Faceless Buddha looked at Zhou Wen and asked out of the blue. It left Brother Milk, Old Demon, and company taken aback.


    ¡°When did my surname become Hui? Don¡¯t you know my surname?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile. He had already recognized the person the moment Faceless Buddha appeared.


    ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Faceless Buddha asked again.


    ¡°I just arrived today,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°When are you leaving?¡± Faceless Buddha asked again.


    ¡°I originally planned on leaving now, but since you are here, I have to let you bleed a little. I¡¯ll leave after having a feast,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Come on up.¡± Faceless Buddha turned the two-headed dragon around, clearly letting Zhou Wen sit on it.


    This action made everyone in Fireworks Lane widen their eyes. Although Faceless Buddha was the king of Fireworks Lane, he had always been a loner. He never took anyone with him. No one had ever been to his residence, much less ride with him.


    ¡°I brought this child here. I have the responsibility to take him back safely. Can I bring him with me?¡± Zhou Wen knew that this person wasn¡¯t someone who would attack a child.


    ¡°Whatever. It¡¯s up to you.¡± Faceless Buddha¡¯s answer left everyone gaping in surprise.


    Old Demon, Old Jin, and company stole glances at Zhou Wen. They had never heard of anyone who could make Faceless Buddha make such a concession.


    Back when the Cape family beat up a woman in Fireworks Lane, Faceless Buddha broke all their limbs and ordered that the Cape family was not to enter Fireworks Lane for three months.


    However, a young man from the Cape family ignored him and came to Fireworks Lane. In the end, he was mercilessly killed by Faceless Buddha. The Cape family failed to do anything to him.


    Now, because of Zhou Wen¡¯s words, not only did Faceless Buddha let Hui Wan go, but he was also willing to let Hui Wan, a member of the Hui family, go to his house. This was unbelievable.


    Hui Wan also looked at Zhou Wen in a daze as he stood there motionless. It was unknown what he was thinking.


    Zhou Wen grabbed Hui Wan and got onto the two-headed dragon¡¯s back.. Under the gazes of everyone in Fireworks Lane, the two-headed dragon carried them and vanished deep into the long street.


    1

 Chapter 1217 - : Reunion

    Chapter 1217: Reunion


    Translator: CKtalon


    In an ordinary-looking yard, there were many plants¡ªall kinds of grass and flowers. Most of them were edible vegetables.


    These weren¡¯t plant-type dimensional creatures, but the most ordinary plants on Earth.


    ¡°Do you still have to wear a mask at home?¡± Zhou Wen said to Faceless Buddha who was sitting on the stone bench in the yard.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to scare others,¡± Faceless Buddha said as he took off his mask, revealing a face that wasn¡¯t ugly, but was extremely ferocious. Just a look from him was enough to make one shiver.


    1


    ¡°Ah!¡± When Hui Wan saw that face, he immediately retreated in fright as though he had seen a ferocious serial killer.


    The person known as the Faceless Buddha was none other than Zhou Wen¡¯s classmate, Gu Dian. In the past, Gu Dian had also been a member of the Xuanwen Club. Zhou Wen never expected him to become the famous Faceless Buddha of Fireworks Lane.


    ¡°Why did you come here to become Faceless Buddha?¡± Zhou Wen ignored the terrified Hui Wan and asked Gu Dian.


    ¡°To survive.¡± Gu Dian said it very casually as though it was something extremely normal. However, Zhou Wen could sense the pain and helplessness contained within.


    ¡°Ah Cai!¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, Hui Wan shouted excitedly.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw Hui Wan excitedly rushing towards a beautiful girl in a cloak. Zhou Wen finally saw the legendary Ah Cai.


    She was a delicate and gentle woman who looked to be less than twenty years old. She had a sweet smile that warmed a person¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Ah Cai, you don¡¯t have to be afraid. I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Hui Wan mustered his courage and stood in front of Ah Cai. He glanced at Gu Dian and his legs went limp again, but he didn¡¯t retreat. He remained very firm.


    ¡°Little Wan, no one will hurt me,¡± Ah Cai said gently as she stroked Hui Wan¡¯s head.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he force you here?¡± Hui Wan wanted to point at Gu Dian, but when he saw him, he didn¡¯t dare do so.


    ¡°No, I came here willingly with him. Although he looks very fierce, he¡¯s very nice and gentle,¡± Ah Cai said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. I¡­ Zhou Wen and I will protect you.¡± Hui Wan didn¡¯t believe her. No matter how he looked at Gu Dian, he didn¡¯t seem like a very nice and gentle person.


    ¡°Take him out to play,¡± Gu Dian said to Ah Cai.


    Ah Cai responded and took Hui Wan out of the yard.


    Only then did Gu Dian say to Zhou Wen, ¡°Is it a coincidence that you came here, or are you here specifically for me?¡±


    ¡°A coincidence. After I returned to school, I asked around for your whereabouts, but no one knew where you were. What happened? Why did you become Faceless Buddha?¡± Zhou Wen opened the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Great Brahma. One blocked any possible nomological forces, while the other prevented anyone nearby from eavesdropping on their conversation.


    Gu Dian said, ¡°Many factions need a place where they can conduct transactions. And the person presiding over this place has to be unrelated to any party. At the same time, he has to be trusted by many parties.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to find such a person,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to find such a person, but there aren¡¯t many people who aren¡¯t human,¡± Gu Dian said expressionlessly.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but fall silent. Half of Gu Dian¡¯s bloodline wasn¡¯t human. Although Zhou Wen and the members of the Xuanwen Club didn¡¯t mind, he would still be categorized as an anomaly among the human race.


    However, Gu Dian didn¡¯t seem to mind this as he continued, ¡°Most importantly, the dimension also needs a non-human person like me to work for them. That¡¯s why I became Faceless Buddha of Fireworks Lane.¡±


    ¡°Dimension?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s body trembled.


    If Gu Dian were to surrender to the dimension, how would he deal with him when Zhou Wen fought the dimension in the future?


    ¡°There¡¯s something here. Take a look. Destroy it after you¡¯re done. If there¡¯s nothing else, don¡¯t come again.¡± Gu Dian took out a package and handed it to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°See for yourself when you return.¡± With that said, Gu Dian got up and walked out of the yard.


    Seeing that he was determined to see him off, Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the package and get up to walk out of the yard with Gu Dian.


    ¡°Ah Cai, you really don¡¯t have to be afraid. I¡¯ll definitely save you.¡± Hui Wan still didn¡¯t believe that Ah Cai had stayed here willingly.


    Ah Cai still wanted to explain, but Gu Dian grabbed Hui Wan¡¯s head and pulled him in front of him.


    ¡°Come on, I¡¯m not afraid of you. I¡¯m saving Ah Cai.¡± Hui Wan punched and kicked in the air, but his tiny arms and legs couldn¡¯t touch Gu Dian.


    ¡°Come again when you have the ability to save her.¡± Gu Dian casually threw Hui Wan to the ground. Hui Wan¡¯s buttocks nearly split open as he cried out in pain.


    Then, Gu Dian took Ah Cai back to the yard and closed the door. Hui Wan gritted his teeth and got up, but he didn¡¯t chase after them again. He also didn¡¯t clamor to save Ah Cai.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back.¡± Zhou Wen left Fireworks Lane with Hui Wan. This time, Hui Wan didn¡¯t insist on staying.


    When they passed by Fireworks Lane, everyone consciously made way for them.


    Not long after leaving, Hui Wan suddenly asked Zhou Wen seriously, ¡°Faceless Buddha is very polite to you. You must be very powerful, right?¡±


    ¡°So-so. It¡¯s passable,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shrug.


    ¡°Who¡¯s stronger between you and Faceless Buddha?¡± Hui Wan asked again.


    ¡°We¡¯ve never competed, so I don¡¯t know. Why are you asking?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Hui Wan in surprise.


    ¡°I want to defeat Faceless Buddha. No one in the Hui family is stronger than him. I want you to teach me. Tell me whatever conditions you have; I¡¯ll meet them as long as I can.¡± Hui Wan¡¯s expression was very serious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t lack money,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Hui Wan immediately panicked and hurriedly said, ¡°Do you have any Companion Beasts or Mythical Serums you want? I can think of a way to help you obtain them.¡±


    ¡°Can you obtain such a Companion Beast? If you can, I¡¯ll teach you.¡± Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy.


    Hui Wan watched as Banana Fairy¡¯s beautiful figure gradually vanished in front of him. He couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes. A humanoid Terror-grade Companion Beast?


    ¡°How is that? Do you still want to learn from me?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Hui Wan lowered his head, but he quickly looked up and said with a serious expression, ¡°I can work for you. I¡¯m still very young. I can¡¯t obtain such a Companion Beast now, but I¡¯ll definitely be able to obtain it in ten or twenty years. In those ten years¡­ No¡­ twenty years¡­ I can work for you¡­¡±


    Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s expression remain unchanged, Hui Wan continued guiltily, ¡°What about¡­ 30 years¡­¡±


    ¡°Would you be willing to work for me your entire life?¡± Zhou Wen asked Hui Wan with a smile.


    Hui Wan¡¯s body trembled, but his gaze quickly turned firm. He looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°If you can promise to help me defeat Faceless Buddha, I will work for you for the rest of my life.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Hui Wan in surprise and asked, ¡°Is Ah Cai that important to you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just for Ah Cai. I can¡¯t let my family be harmed like Ah Cai. I want to have the power to protect them.. Just having money isn¡¯t enough,¡± Hui Wan said.

 Chapter 1218 - Imparting the Qi Refinement Art

    Chapter 1218: Imparting the Qi Refinement Art


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I can teach you, but to what extent you can learn depends on your talent and hard work. It¡¯s not guaranteed that you can defeat Faceless Buddha,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I understand. In that case, are you willing to teach me?¡± Hui Wan said happily.


    ¡°I can teach you, but I don¡¯t need you to work for me forever. I just need you to help me do three things,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What are they?¡± Hui Wan hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t thought of them yet. I¡¯ll tell you when I think of them.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on getting Hui Wan to help him. He had only made a passing remark.


    To his surprise, Hui Wan was very serious. ¡°I¡¯ll do anything it takes, as long as it¡¯s moral and doesn¡¯t harm my family or friends. Even if I have to give up everything, I will definitely do the three things you want.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°When are you going to teach me?¡± Hui Wan pressed anxiously.


    ¡°What do you want to learn?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    This question stumped Hui Wan. Although his knowledge far exceeded his peers, he didn¡¯t know what he should learn to defeat Faceless Buddha.


    ¡°Of course I want to learn what you¡¯re best at. I want to have the strength to defeat Faceless Buddha.¡± Hui Wan thought for a moment and said, ¡°Does the Essence Energy Art you cultivate require a special physique? I don¡¯t have a special physique, but I can use the Mythical Serum to change my physique.¡±


    ¡°Let me take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said as he grabbed Hui Wan¡¯s hand and injected his Essence Energy into his body.


    Zhou Wen used the Demon God Body. He didn¡¯t need to transform into Hui Wan¡¯s appearance. All he needed to do was understand his body.


    Moments later, Zhou Wen dispelled his Demon God Body and said to Hui Wan, ¡°Your body really doesn¡¯t have any special physiques. I can give you two choices. Both of these Essence Energy Arts suit you. The first choice is to cultivate the Qi Refinement Art. This Essence Energy Art is very difficult to cultivate. Not only do you need massive amounts of resources, but you also need perceptivity and hard work. If you cultivate it well, you can become a first-rate expert or a top expert in the future. If you don¡¯t cultivate it well, as long as you have large amounts of resources, you can barely become a third-rate expert. Everything depends on your effort and hard work. There¡¯s also another one called the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. This Essence Energy Art requires fewer resources than the Qi Refinement Art, but it has extremely high requirements for one¡¯s talent and perceptivity. If you can succeed, you might soar to the sky. If you can¡¯t, you won¡¯t even be considered a third-rate expert. It will be difficult for you to achieve anything in this lifetime. Which one do you choose?¡±


    Hui Wan thought for a while and quickly made a choice. ¡°Qi Refinement Art.¡±


    ¡°Why did you choose the Qi Refinement Art?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Typically, geniuses who were confident in themselves would choose the latter.


    Hui Wan answered, ¡°Talent is something that can¡¯t be controlled. I don¡¯t like things that can¡¯t be controlled, so I want to cultivate an Essence Energy Art that¡¯s within my control.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll teach you the Qi Refinement Art.¡± Upon hearing Hui Wan¡¯s words, Zhou Wen began to like this child. He indeed had the mind and qualities that were rare in ordinary children.


    Although his cultivation talent might not be top-notch, as long as he could maintain such a mindset and with the Hui family¡¯s immense capital, constantly cultivating the Essence Energy Arts would lead to a certain level of achievements in the future.


    Zhou Wen immediately taught the Qi Refinement Art to Hui Wan. Hui Wan was really smart. His memory was excellent¡ªhis photographic memory was just a basic trait of his.


    ¡°Can the Qi Refinement Art really make me an expert who can defeat Faceless Buddha?¡± After Hui Wan memorized the Qi Refinement Art that Zhou Wen had imparted to him, he couldn¡¯t help but have some doubts.


    It wasn¡¯t that Hui Wan was doubting Zhou Wen. He only wanted him to demonstrate the might of the Qi Refinement Art so that he could have some confidence.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. Whether you can defeat Faceless Buddha depends on your effort and hard work. The more effort you put in, the greater your future achievements will be. The more likely it is to defeat Faceless Buddha.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of demonstrating its prowess.


    ¡°Then can you use the Qi Refinement Art to defeat Faceless Buddha?¡± Hui Wan asked again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Hui Wan was slightly disappointed, but not knowing was better than definitely not being able to defeat him.


    As the two of them spoke, they had already walked out of Fireworks Lane. Not long after they walked out, they were surrounded by a group of soldiers. One of them was a well-dressed man with glasses. He walked in front of Zhou Wen and stared at him. ¡°Who are you? Why did you take Young Master to Fireworks Lane?¡±


    ¡°Secretary Liu, this is the coach I hired. Arrange for him to stay in my yard,¡± Hui Wan said.


    When Secretary Liu heard Hui Wan¡¯s words, he couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. ¡°Young Master, you already have many coaches. If you still want to learn something new, I can hire the best experts in the Federation for you. You can¡¯t casually bring someone of unknown origins into the residence. This is against the rules. Otherwise, we won¡¯t be able to answer to the president.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain this matter to my father myself,¡± Hui Wan said as he pulled Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and walked forward. He knew that Liu Yujin was a very strict person. He maintained a suspicious attitude towards everything. In his eyes, anyone was either a criminal or a suspect.


    It wasn¡¯t only Zhou Wen; even if the family heads of the six families came, Liu Yujin would treat them as suspects. As far as Hui Wan could remember, he had never seen any changes in Liu Yujin¡¯s ice-cold face.


    Secretary Liu called for an officer and whispered a few words into his ear. Then, he led his men and followed. Instead of calling it protection, it was more like a tight surveillance.


    ¡°May I know how to address you?¡± Secretary Liu walked beside Zhou Wen and asked.


    Liu Yujin didn¡¯t underestimate Zhou Wen because of his young age, but he was familiar with the young geniuses from all over the Federation.


    He compared Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance to similar-aged experts of the Federation and even overseas and realized that he was momentarily unsure of Zhou Wen¡¯s identity.


    It was no wonder Liu Yujin didn¡¯t know Zhou Wen. Liu Yujin knew Zhou Wen¡¯s name and had even seen his old photo. However, the photos he had seen were of An Jing¡¯s impersonation of Zhou Wen. There was already a difference in their temperaments. Furthermore, in the past five years of impersonating Zhou Wen, An Jing had been guarding Chess Mountain and had chosen to keep a low profile. Therefore, Zhou Wen¡¯s name had been silent for too long.


    ¡°Zhou Wen,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Liu Yujin was slightly taken aback when he heard that. After carefully sizing up Zhou Wen, he frowned and said, ¡°You are Zhou Wen from Luoyang?¡±


    He was very confident in his memory. Although he had only seen the Zhou Wen in the photo and the Zhou Wen in the photo was somewhat similar to the Zhou Wen in front of him, he still felt that they weren¡¯t the same person.


    ¡°I attended school in Luoyang and stayed for quite some time,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Are you and Overseer An family?¡± Liu Yujin asked again.


    ¡°No, not really..¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s answer left Liu Yujin slightly taken aback as he sized up Zhou Wen again in surprise.

 Chapter 1219 - I’m Not Good At Movement Techniques

    Under Liu Yujin¡¯s ¡°escort,¡± Zhou Wen arrived in front of a mansion again. However, Hui Wan had taken the side door previously; this time, they were taking the main entrance.


    This was the Hui family¡¯s private residence, not Hui Haifeng¡¯s office.


    However, the area it covered was still rather sizable. After passing through the entrance, the first thing he saw was a large empty space. It was like a field with many soldiers training.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the soldiers who were practicing and realized that they were practicing a movement technique that looked familiar.


    Isn¡¯t this Hui Haifeng¡¯s Double True movement technique? Zhou Wen quickly recalled.


    Seeing Zhou Wen watch the soldiers practice their movement techniques, Hui Wan said proudly, ¡°Zhou Wen, what do you think of the movement technique?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s average,¡± Zhou Wen said casually.


    Zhou Wen had partial responsibility for naming the Double True movement technique. Hui Haifeng also said that half of the movement technique was Zhou Wen¡¯s. He was embarrassed to praise the potency of the movement technique as it would be akin to praising himself.


    Furthermore, this movement technique was only considered average to Zhou Wen.


    Hui Wan originally wanted to say that this movement technique was created by his father, but when he heard Zhou Wen say that, the latter half of the sentence was stuck in his throat as his face flushed red.


    Liu Yujin couldn¡¯t accept what he was hearing. He said coldly, ¡°The Double True movement technique originated from the Hui family, but it¡¯s used by many families in the Federation¡¯s four districts. It¡¯s a compulsory movement technique for the military. It has been verified by countless soldiers in numerous battles. Even an army as strong as Luoyang¡¯s Sunset Army practices the Double True movement technique on a large scale. Sir, you said that this movement technique is average. I believe you possess a better movement technique than the Double True movement technique?¡±


    Hui Wan also looked at Zhou Wen. Although he believed that Zhou Wen was very strong, his father was also his pride.


    ¡°I¡¯m not good at movement techniques.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to argue with them, nor was there a need to. Doing so would be no different from having his left hand fight his right.


    It was to Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise that the Double True movement technique was widely used in the military.


    He had to admit that Hui Haifeng was a genius. Unfortunately, he had spent most of his energy on research and later became president. Otherwise, with his talent, his cultivation level would have been top-notch.


    Seeing Zhou Wen admit defeat, Liu Yujin didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Hui Wan was somewhat disappointed. He had mixed feelings. Although he didn¡¯t wish for his father¡¯s reputation to be damaged, he also hoped that Zhou Wen would be as strong as possible. As long as that was the case, the value of what he learned from Zhou Wen would be higher.


    With Zhou Wen admitting that his movement technique was lacking, Hui Wan naturally wasn¡¯t happy.


    ¡°Young Master, His Excellency will be back soon. You and Mr. Zhou can wait in the living room for the time being.¡± Liu Yujin stopped Hui Wan from taking Zhou Wen to the backyard.


    Hui Wan also knew that this matter needed Hui Haifeng¡¯s permission. After some thought, he nodded in agreement and entered the living room with Zhou Wen as they waited for Hui Haifeng¡¯s return.


    ¡°May I know which aspect you are good at? What would you be teaching Young Master?¡± Liu Yujin asked again after instructing someone to pour Zhou Wen some tea.


    Zhou Wen thought seriously for a moment before answering, ¡°I¡¯m best at life-preservation. However, I can¡¯t teach this ability to others. Even if I teach it, they won¡¯t be able to learn it. Therefore, I only plan on teaching Hui Wan Essence Energy Arts.¡±


    ¡°Life-preservation?¡± Liu Yujin was slightly taken aback. When he heard that Zhou Wen was going to teach Hui Wan an Essence Energy Art, he couldn¡¯t control his expression. He said seriously, ¡°Essence Energy Arts are the foundation of everything. How can one randomly learn one? Even the scions of the six families have to go through repeated selections to find the most suitable Essence Energy Art for their cultivation. Is your Essence Energy Art better than the Essence Energy Arts of the six families?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say it¡¯s better for sure. The quality of an Essence Energy Art depends mainly on a cultivator¡¯s talent and ability,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yujin couldn¡¯t help but sneer; he felt that Zhou Wen was resembling a charlatan.


    Just as Liu Yujin was about to say something, he saw someone enter. It was none other than Hui Haifeng, who was dressed in formal attire.


    ¡°Your Excellency, this¡­¡± Liu Yujin was just about to warn Hui Haifeng that Zhou Wen was very problematic.


    However, to his surprise, when Hui Haifeng saw Zhou Wen, he went over and punched him in the chest. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you inform me before coming to Holy City? You even abducted Little Wan. What¡¯s the meaning of this? Are you jealous that I have a son? If you¡¯re jealous, say it. I¡¯ll get Little Wan to be your godson to prevent you from getting jealous.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s best if you keep him for yourself. I can¡¯t afford handling someone like him,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­¡± Liu Yujin was somewhat surprised. From Hui Haifeng¡¯s expression, he seemed to be certain that this was the real Zhou Wen.


    Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t wait for Liu Yujin to finish before introducing, ¡°Yujin, this is my junior, Zhou Wen. Make a pass for him so that he can enter and leave freely to avoid trouble in the future.¡±


    With that said, Hui Haifeng said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, I don¡¯t care if you want it or not. Anyway, Little Wan is your nephew. Do as you see fit and teach him something. Let me think about it. Let¡¯s start with movement techniques¡­¡±


    ¡°Dad¡­¡± Hui Wan¡¯s expression was odd as though he wanted to say something.


    ¡°Little Wan, what are you waiting for? Hurry up and give your Uncle Zhou your new year¡¯s greetings. A red packet is definitely in order,¡± Hui Haifeng said with a smile.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you shameless? It¡¯s only the middle of the year, alright? New year¡¯s greetings? Isn¡¯t that too early?¡± Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. In any case, you have to teach him. I only have this one son. Do as you deem fit.¡± Hui Haifeng sat down and poured himself a cup of tea, ignoring Zhou Wen. He looked as though he was a scoundrel and that he was proud to have a son.


    ¡°Dad¡­ He said that he¡¯s not good at movement techniques¡­¡± Hui Wan found an opportunity and whispered.


    Hui Haifeng nearly spat out the mouthful of tea he had just drunk when he heard that. ¡°He isn¡¯t good at movement techniques? If his movement technique isn¡¯t good, is there anyone on Earth who has good movement techniques? He¡¯s partially responsible for naming the Double True movement technique. Part of this movement technique was imitating him. Do you think his movement technique isn¡¯t good?¡±


    Standing beside them, Liu Yujin was dumbfounded. The Double True movement technique that Hui Haifeng had created had spread throughout the various military circles of the Federation. Even many people overseas were learning it, but it was actually an imitation of Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say so. He said it himself,¡± Hui Wan waved his hand and pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of lying to a child? This won¡¯t do; my son¡¯s young heart has suffered a heavy blow. This will leave an indelible shadow in his life. You have to pay¡­¡± Hui Haifeng looked like he was about to extort Zhou Wen¡¯s last coin.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already taught your son an Essence Energy Art. Is that enough compensation?¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter expression.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Hui Haifeng pressed Hui Wan¡¯s head and asked, ¡°Cultivate the Essence Energy Art your Uncle Zhou taught you. You don¡¯t have to cultivate other Essence Energy Arts in the future.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, we spent so much effort to obtain the Essence Energy Art from the Family Clan of Gods and created the corresponding Mythical Serum¡­¡± Liu Yujin hurriedly reminded Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°With my junior¡¯s Essence Energy Art, what do you need that crap for?¡± Hui Haifeng¡¯s words left Liu Yujin¡¯s mouth agape.


    That wasn¡¯t what Hui Haifeng had said in the past. The crap he was talking about was a top Essence Energy Art he had paid a huge price to obtain from the Family Clan of Gods.


    Furthermore, in order to allow Hui Wan to cultivate it, he had specially created a Mythical Serum that could bestow a special physique on him. The price was unimaginable.


    Now, without even knowing what Essence Energy Art Zhou Wen had imparted, Hui Haifeng had described it as crap. This change was too surprising.


    ¡°Junior, you can¡¯t only teach him Essence Energy Arts, right? You have to teach him your movement techniques. I only have one son and you only have one nephew. You have to make sure he stays alive¡­¡± Hui Haifeng continued trying to squeeze Zhou Wen dry.

 Chapter 1220 - Venusian Dungeon

    Chapter 1220: Venusian Dungeon


    Translator: CKtalon


    In a chamber, there was only Zhou Wen and Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°Where have you been for the past five years?¡± Hui Haifeng asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°How did you know that I wasn¡¯t the one at Chess Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise. For Hui Haifeng to accurately say five years was clearly not a wild guess.


    Hui Haifeng rolled his eyes. ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know your character? Just a glance at a photo was sufficient for me to tell that it wasn¡¯t you.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly. ¡°I was trapped by Teacher. It was no different from being dead. I only came out after five years.¡±


    Hui Haifeng nodded. ¡°I roughly guessed it. You are Human Sovereign, right? The dimension wouldn¡¯t let your killing of Di Tian rest. If you hadn¡¯t died, the past five years wouldn¡¯t have been so peaceful. However, with Teacher¡¯s personality, he probably wouldn¡¯t just let you die for five years. There must be some scheme, right?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. Time passed very slowly in the place where I was trapped. It felt like more than a hundred years had passed,¡± Zhou Wen said


    Hui Haifeng said jealously, ¡°Teacher really dotes on you the most. Five years for a hundred years. If I had so much time, I might have even developed a Calamity-grade dimensional serum.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s only time for the mind. Your body can¡¯t even move. What can you research?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Hui Haifeng chuckled.


    ¡°In just five years, you became the Federation President. Impressive,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s considered a multifaceted coincidence. On the one hand, it¡¯s because of my research. Also, didn¡¯t Teacher give us some things before he went to the dimension? Those things were very helpful to me.¡± Hui Haifeng paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°However, as the president, it¡¯s all in name with no actual power. In fact, most of the Federation¡¯s power is in the hands of the League of Guardians and the six families. As the president, I can¡¯t even completely control Holy City.¡±


    ¡°Then why are you still the president?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Why not? Although I¡¯m only a figurehead, I¡¯m already in this position. I can slowly change some things and think of ways to realize my dreams. Just like an actor, only by appearing on stage can you let others see your acting skills and infect others with your emotions. If I were to only stand offstage, no matter how good my acting skills were or how much I fantasized, I wouldn¡¯t be able to affect anyone,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°I want to make sure that there are no more orphans in this world,¡± Hui Haifeng said seriously. ¡°You might find it ridiculous, and I know that this is almost an impossible goal, but I just want to give it a try.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not funny at all.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat moved. Although he didn¡¯t have such lofty goals, it didn¡¯t stop him from admiring such a person.


    ¡°Of course, I also want to see what it¡¯s like to stand at the peak of the world,¡± Hui Haifeng chuckled and continued.


    Hui Haifeng¡¯s change in attitude left Zhou Wen at a loss whether to laugh or cry. ¡°Now that you¡¯ve almost done it, how does it feel to be president?¡±


    ¡°Not good at all. There¡¯s many things I wish to do but can¡¯t.¡± Hui Haifeng shook his head, clearly not wanting to say too much.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask further. This wasn¡¯t his specialty. He couldn¡¯t help Hui Haifeng with anything, so asking was useless.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on between you and Gu Dian?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Some fellows don¡¯t wish for me to get too close to Gu Dian, or rather, they don¡¯t wish for me to get too close to the underground market, so this happened,¡± Hui Haifeng said vaguely, but Zhou Wen still understood.


    The two of them chatted about some matters, but they didn¡¯t chat for long. Hui Haifeng was just too busy. Soon, he had to leave to handle some matters.


    Hui Haifeng got Zhou Wen to stay and wait for him to come back for dinner.


    Zhou Wen returned to the temporary room Hui Haifeng had arranged for him. He took out his phone and realized that he had successfully downloaded the Venusian instance dungeon. It took much less time than he had imagined.


    After tapping open the Venusian instance dungeon, the blood-colored avatar quickly appeared on the top platform of the hemispherical metal building. It was likely the entrance to the metal building, but it didn¡¯t open.


    Zhou Wen knew that such an entrance that couldn¡¯t be opened needed a special method to enter.


    Using Human Sovereign¡¯s power, he attempted to forcefully break through the entrance, but he failed. The metal building was unimaginably hard. Even a Terror-grade power couldn¡¯t damage it.


    He tried using Truth Listener and Eyes of Penetration, but he failed to see what was happening inside the metal building.


    After carving out Clown Mask, Zhou Wen used teleportation to enter. He succeeded. The scene in front of him changed as the blood-colored avatar found itself inside the hemispherical metal building.


    However, the scene he saw left him slightly taken aback.


    Beneath the entrance was a hexagonal room. In the middle of the room stood a metal statue that was four to five meters tall.


    The metal statue was bright silver in color and looked very strange. It was like a huge human wearing modern metal armor. However, he was certain that there was no human inside. It was a pure metal statue.


    In his left hand, he was actually holding a weapon. No matter how he looked at it, the weapon looked like a submachine gun but it looked more technologically advanced. The body of the gun was also bright silver metal.


    Just as Zhou Wen was planning what to do with the strange metal statue, its eyes suddenly lit up with a golden glow.


    Click! Click!


    Following that, Zhou Wen saw the spear in the metal statue¡¯s hand spew fire at the blood-colored avatar. Large amounts of metal bullets spewed out at an unbelievable speed.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar and teleported to the back of the metal statue. He slashed down with the Asura Saber in his hand, splitting the metal statue into two.


    ¡®Killed Mythical creature, Metal Guard. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    A Strength Crystal dropped. Before Zhou Wen could pick it up, a door appeared on each of the six walls of the hexagonal room. A large number of Metal Guards rushed in with guns in hand.


    At the same time, a large number of bullets shot from all directions. Their firepower covered the entire room, leaving almost no room for dodging.


    Zhou Wen was an expert who could teleport after all. However, he didn¡¯t choose to teleport. He underwent Terror transformation and allowed the bullets to hit him. They passed through his body as though his body was an illusion. The bullets couldn¡¯t injure him at all.


    The bullets hit the wall and many of them hit the Metal Guards, but they quickly melted into the walls or the Metal Guards. They didn¡¯t harm themselves.


    If one isn¡¯t at the Terror grade, a Mythical human would probably have been killed instantly. This is just the beginning. This dungeon is interesting.. Zhou Wen now wanted to know what was deep inside the dungeon.

 Chapter 1221 - Golden Gun

    Chapter 1221: Golden Gun


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Metal Guards that rushed out of the six doors came wave after wave. Zhou Wen slashed out and large swaths of Metal Guards were killed. The tinkling sounds of dimensional crystals dropping could be heard.


    Among them was a silver metal Companion Egg. Zhou Wen picked it up.


    Metal Guard: Mythical


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Metal Armor


    Wheel of Destiny: Bullet Storm


    Strength: 78


    Speed: 71


    Constitution: 80


    Essence Energy: 67


    Talent Skill: Precision Shooting, Armor-Piercing Bullets, Crazy Sweep


    Companion Form: Metal Submachine Gun


    Zhou Wen attempted to summon it in the form of a submachine gun. The Metal Guard transformed into a bright silver submachine gun that was the same as the ones in his opponents¡¯ hands.


    He pulled the trigger at the Metal Guard that was rushing over. Flames spewed out, and under the continuous recoil, bullets shot out one after another, hitting a Metal Guard, riddling his body with holes and turning him into a hornet¡¯s nest.


    1


    However, the Metal Guard¡¯s injuries quickly recovered. The metal bullets were completely useless against him.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible to use the Metal Guard to kill the other Metal Guards. I can only use it elsewhere in the future. Zhou Wen needed to continue using the Asura Saber to kill the Metal Guards that rushed in.


    Finally after killing more than a hundred Metal Guards, no new Metal Guards poured in. Zhou Wen wanted to walk through the six doors.


    However, just as he approached the door, his body was repelled by a force. It was as though an invisible force was blocking the door, preventing him from passing.


    Zhou Wen tried using teleportation again, but he was similarly unable to teleport over. Even spatial teleportation was blocked by some force.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering how he could enter, an alarm sounded above one of the doors.


    Accompanying the shrill alarm, a figure walked out of the door.


    It was also a metal lifeform, but this fellow was more than ten meters tall. His entire body was gold in color and he held a golden revolver in each hand. His body was burning with golden flames.


    After coming out, he began firing at the blood-colored avatar crazily. Bullets with golden beams rained down on the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen teleported behind the golden guard and slashed at its head.


    However, the golden guard¡¯s joints spewed out golden flames that quickly propelled his body, allowing him to dodge Zhou Wen¡¯s strike.


    A Terror-grade creature appeared so quickly? Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes flashed as his saber continued accelerating in midair. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, he caught up to the golden guard and split its head into two.


    Half of the golden guard¡¯s head was sliced off, revealing a large number of metal components¡ªbut it didn¡¯t immediately die.


    The Asura Saber in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand slashed repeatedly. As he dodged the twin golden guns¡¯ firing, he diced up his adversary¡¯s body into several pieces, revealing a golden energy source in his chest.


    After destroying the golden energy source with one strike, the golden guard finally collapsed.


    ¡®Killed Terror-grade creature, Golden Battle God Mark I. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    Zhou Wen picked it up and realized that it was an 89-Speed Crystal. He hurriedly picked it up and absorbed it.


    Before he could finish absorbing it, he heard another alarm. Another Golden Battle God walked out from another door. He was very similar to the Golden Battle God Mark I from before, but the golden guns in his hand were somewhat different.


    Another Terror-grade! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He was just worrying about finding a place to grind a large number of Terror creatures. The Venusian dungeon was an answer to his dreams.


    The Golden Battle God here had powerful offensive strength and extremely strong defense. Its speed wasn¡¯t slow either. It was considered a very powerful Terror-grade dimensional creature.


    However, in front of Zhou Wen who was good at teleportation and had powerful offensive strength, these Golden Battle Gods were basically lambs to be slaughtered.


    The second Golden Battle God didn¡¯t last long before being slain under Zhou Wen¡¯s blade.


    ¡®Killed Terror-grade creature, Golden Battle God Mark II.¡¯


    Unfortunately, nothing dropped this time, leaving Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    Thankfully, the third Golden Battle God quickly appeared. These Golden Battle Gods looked similar. They couldn¡¯t touch Zhou Wen at all before being killed.


    This time, the Golden Battle God Mark III dropped another dimensional crystal, allowing Zhou Wen¡¯s four stats to successfully reach 81 points, but there were no signs of him advancing to the Terror grade.


    One Golden Battle God after another was killed by Zhou Wen. When the Golden Battle God that walked out of the sixth door was killed by Zhou Wen, a Companion Egg dropped.


    The Companion Egg was made of gold. It was burning with golden flames and there were magma-like cracks that lined the surface of the Companion Egg. It looked extremely cool.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly picked up the Companion Egg and chose to hatch it.


    Golden Battle God Mark VI: Terror grade.


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Metal Armor


    Wheel of Destiny: Infinite Bullets


    Terror transformation: Golden Battle God


    Strength: 97


    Speed: 94


    Constitution: 98


    Essence Energy: 98


    Talent Skill: Explosive Bullets, Crazy Sweep, Rapid Fire


    Companion Form: Golden Gun Mark VI


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. A golden revolver appeared in his hand. It looked gorgeous and beautiful, identical to the one in the Golden Battle God Mark VI¡¯s hand. However, the model was clearly much smaller, making it suitable for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wanted to test the might of the Golden Gun, but the Golden Battle Gods didn¡¯t continue appearing. The six doors fell silent as though there were only six Golden Battle Gods.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the doors, the alarm on the six doors suddenly sounded. The ear-piercing sound made him nervous.


    What the hell will it be this time? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly heard a gunshot.


    Before Zhou Wen could react, a hole in the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head blasted open. Its head exploded and the phone screen went black.


    1


    Thankfully, I¡¯m in-game. Zhou Wen secretly rejoiced that he hadn¡¯t entered this dungeon in real life. The person who had killed him with a bullet was most likely a Calamity-grade creature.


    He wanted to drip his blood into the Venus instance dungeon again, but he was notified by the system that the instance dungeon could only be reopened after 24 hours.


    Hui Haifeng hadn¡¯t returned, so Zhou Wen had nothing to do. He took out the package Gu Dian had given him.


    Opening the package, he saw a set of clothes inside.


    The clothes were naturally not the run-of-the-mill clothes, but a high-tech combat uniform. This combat uniform was typically used for ordinary soldiers. It was basically useless for humans at Zhou Wen¡¯s level.


    Zhou Wen felt that Gu Dian wasn¡¯t the kind of person who would gift clothes, so he scanned the combat uniform and quickly found a hidden memory card in the first-aid kit that came with it.

 Chapter 1222 - Live Broadcast of the Cube Battle

    Chapter 1222: Live Broadcast of the Cube Battle


    Translator: CKtalon


    He inserted the memory card into his phone and read the contents. After he was done, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    The content was very simple. There were no videos or pictures. There was only some short text.


    The Cube¡¯s activation this time wasn¡¯t initiated by the dimension? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    According to Gu Dian¡¯s intelligence, the dimension couldn¡¯t completely control the Cube¡¯s operations. Venus¡¯s appearance was an operation initiated by the Cube.


    According to Gu Dian¡¯s analysis, the dimension seemed bent on clearing the dimensional zone on Venus first. Furthermore, it was secretly pushing for this to happen. The League of Guardians had already taken action. Many Guardians that had contracted humans were secretly preparing for battle and buying many items they needed.


    The dimension is determined to clear the dimensional zone on Venus? What do they want from Venus¡¯s dimensional zone? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned even more solemn after he was done reading.


    Zhou Wen destroyed the memory card, not daring to leave any traces of it. Otherwise, it might be restored by some special ability.


    I naturally can¡¯t let the dimension obtain what they want. Since they can¡¯t interfere with the operation of the Cube, that makes things simpler. I¡¯ll first explore Venus and might be able to succeed before them. Zhou Wen wanted to enter the dungeon, but the countdown wasn¡¯t up.


    When Hui Haifeng returned, the two of them had a meal together. Hui Wan was beside them, chatting as they ate. After the meal, Hui Haifeng left again.


    Zhou Wen stayed for half a day and taught Hui Wan the key to cultivating the Qi Refinement Art before letting him practice it himself.


    Little could go wrong with an Essence Energy Art like the Qi Refinement Art. As long as he had Essence Energy Crystals, there wouldn¡¯t be too many problems with his cultivation.


    After leaving the Hui residence, Zhou Wen repeatedly teleported all the way back to Luoyang, hoping to reach his destination before the countdown ended.


    However, Earth had suffered drastic anomalies, so it took longer to return to Luoyang than Zhou Wen had expected. By the time he returned, the huge metal building had already surfaced.


    Only the hemispherical metal part was exposed above the magma. No one knew how deep it went.


    Just as the Venusian instance dungeon appeared, the golden person from before came in front of the metal building again. He landed on the platform at the top of the hemispherical building without any hesitation.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had already arrived at a place with a phone signal and could watch the live broadcast on his phone.


    I teleported in, whereas that golden person doesn¡¯t look like he knows spatial skills. How is he going to enter? As Zhou Wen was pondering, he saw the golden person slice off a piece of gold from his body and place it on the platform.


    After the piece of gold touched the platform, it seemed to sink like it had dropped into a swamp and was quickly devoured by it.


    As the gold was devoured, the platform automatically opened.


    The golden person immediately rushed over. As he entered the hemispherical building, the platform¡¯s entrance automatically closed.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see anything, but to his surprise, the scene of the Cube changed to the interior of the building. He could see the golden person standing inside the hemispherical building.


    Just as Zhou Wen had encountered in-game, there was a Metal Guard inside the building. After seeing the golden person, he immediately raised his metal submachine gun and shot at him.


    The golden person extended a palm that emitted golden light, transforming into a light shield in front of him. All the bullets that struck the light shield were blocked.


    When the Metal Guard stopped shooting, the golden person¡¯s figure blinked and appeared in front of him. He blasted the Metal Guard¡¯s body apart with a punch, turning it into fragments.


    Following that, the situation was identical to Zhou Wen¡¯s. The six doors opened as hordes of Metal Guards rushed out and shot at the golden person from different directions.


    The ferocious firepower terrified the spectating humans. It was virtually impossible to dodge.


    The golden person¡¯s light shield couldn¡¯t block all the bullets from every direction. In the next second, the golden person¡¯s body turned translucent like a visible Spirit Body.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he saw the bullet pass through the golden person¡¯s body without injuring him at all. This was likely a Terror transformation.


    However, after a Terror transformation, he should be completely invisible. Why was he still visible?


    Could it be that his Terror transformation is a relatively rare type? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss. I get it. It¡¯s not that the Terror transformation of the golden person is rare, but the Cube deliberately allows ordinary creatures to see the golden person despite the Terror transformation.


    The subsequent battle was a one-sided massacre. The Terror-form golden person slaughtered Mythical Metal Guards like livestock. He didn¡¯t even pick up the dimensional crystals that fell to the ground.


    Many of the spectating humans widened their eyes as they looked at the shimmering dimensional crystals on the ground. They wished they could help the golden person pick them up.


    ¡°He¡¯s really not picking them up. They are all Mythical dimensional crystals!¡±


    ¡°A Companion Egg¡­ A Companion Egg dropped¡­ He¡¯s still not picking it up¡­¡±


    The golden person quickly finished off all the Metal Guards. Following that, a familiar scene appeared. The alarm sounded as the Golden Battle God Mark I appeared.


    Bam!


    The Golden Battle God raised a golden revolver and shot a bullet at the golden person.


    The golden person clearly didn¡¯t have Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation ability. The bullet was too fast, so he couldn¡¯t shoot and deflect it. He condensed a golden shield again, hoping to block the Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet.


    The bullet struck the light shield, but it failed to penetrate it. Instead, the bullet shattered.


    However, in the next moment, something shocking happened. The shattered bullet turned into a mist of white frost. The frost mist froze whatever it touched.


    First was the light shield, then the golden person¡¯s body. Moments later, it was covered in thick frost.


    Although the golden person wasn¡¯t really frozen, its mobility was severely affected and its speed slowed down significantly.


    The Golden Battle God fired both his guns at the same time, and bullets hit the golden person. Every bullet strengthened the freezing effect on the golden person.


    Under a barrage of firing, the golden person¡¯s body exploded, turning into ice shards and gold.


    I never expected the Golden Battle God to have such a move! Zhou Wen was alarmed because he had attacked too quickly. The Golden Battle God hadn¡¯t had the chance to use his full strength and was easily dispatched.


    Now, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn¡¯t that the Golden Battle God was weak, but that he was too fast.


    Once the golden person died, the Cube¡¯s screen returned to its previous point of view, returning to a zoomed out shot of Venus.


    Now, Zhou Wen understood that the Cube would broadcast the battle in the dungeon.


    Since the Cube isn¡¯t controlled by the dimension, what¡¯s its goal? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.

 Chapter 1223 - A Way to Take Advantage

    Everyone was discussing the death of the golden person and the terror of the Golden Battle God. Zhou Wen thought more about it.


    Tsukuyomi was forced to leave Earth not because she entered the dimension. She didn¡¯t even leave the Solar System. Then, if she said that leaving Earth would be dangerous, where does the danger come from? Zhou Wen thought further.


    There¡¯s a Companion Egg in the Moon. Now that Venus has produced such a dimensional zone, could the danger they mentioned be referring to this? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss when he thought about it. There had to be something he didn¡¯t know, but he couldn¡¯t figure it out from speculation. It made him feel terrible.


    I¡¯ll just ignore it. No matter what, I can¡¯t let the dimension succeed. I have to think of a way to obtain the item in the Venusian instance dungeon. Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang as everyone discussed the matter.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what do you think is going on with the dimensional zone on Venus? Why was it live-streamed by the Cube?¡± Li Xuan came to Zhou Wen and raised the matter.


    ¡°How would I know?¡± Zhou Wen also wanted to know why the Cube was doing this.


    Unfortunately, the Cube was beyond the dimension¡¯s control; humans knew nothing about it.


    ¡°I think the Cube loves to watch people fight to the death. It definitely doesn¡¯t have any good intentions for coming out with a Venusian dimensional zone. Could it be that it wants to lure humans to explore Venus and watch the thrill of humans being killed?¡± Li Xuan said jokingly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not impossible.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was speaking, he suddenly saw the live broadcast stir again.


    A human figure appeared on the platform of the hemispherical building. On careful look, it was a human covered in armor.


    ¡°Eh, a human actually went?¡± Li Xuan looked and quickly recognized him. ¡°That¡¯s a fellow from the League of Guardians. How did he get there?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s likely through the Cube,¡± Zhou Wen guessed.


    As the two of them were talking, the Guardian scratched his finger and dripped a drop of blood on the platform. Then, the platform automatically opened and sucked the Guardian in.


    After the Guardian entered, he didn¡¯t encounter the Golden Battle God. The one who came out was still the Metal Guard.


    When the Metal Guard shot the bullets, the Guardian released a terrifying frost power that froze the bullets in midair.


    The Guardian was like a figure skater walking on ice as he shuttled through the Metal Guards. Wherever he passed, the Metal Guards would be frozen into ice sculptures.


    When all the Metal Guards had turned into ice sculptures and the Guardian had retreated to a distance, the ice sculpture-like Metal Guards¡¯ bodies suddenly shattered, turning into ice cubes.


    Unlike the golden person, the Guardian picked up the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs on the ground. However, before he could finish picking them up, the Golden Battle God had already rushed out of the door.


    The bullets shot out again at terrifying speeds. The Guardian also underwent Terror transformation, but under the effects of the Cube, humans could still see a transparent figure that didn¡¯t completely vanish.


    He quickly moved and dodged some bullets, but his speed was clearly not as fast as the Golden Battle God¡¯s shooting. Just as he was about to fail at dodging a few bullets, the Guardian grabbed the bullets with both hands and actually squeezed them between his fingers.


    The bullets exploded and turned into a terrifying ice mist.


    However, this ice mist didn¡¯t injure the Guardian. Instead, it strengthened the Guardian¡¯s freezing power.


    ¡°The League of Guardians¡¯ idea isn¡¯t bad. They can use ice-type Guardians to fight those strange dimensional creatures.¡± Li Xuan watched for a while and knew that the outcome was decided.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that things weren¡¯t that simple. Although the Guardian¡¯s ice-elemental powers did restrain the Golden Battle God Mark I, there were a total of six Golden Battle Gods. Their bullets were different.


    This Guardian was purely ice-type. He could restrain one type, but he would probably be at a disadvantage if he encountered others.


    The Guardian fought bitterly for more than an hour before finally killing the Golden Battle God. Unfortunately, his luck wasn¡¯t good. Not to mention Companion Eggs, not a single dimensional crystal dropped.


    Soon, the Golden Battle God Mark II rushed out again and shot crazily at the Guardian.


    The Guardian didn¡¯t dare let his guard down. He condensed an ice wall to block the bullets.


    The bullets struck the ice wall and immediately exploded. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t a bullet of frost. Terrifyingly high temperature flames quickly swept through the room.


    Such terrifying flames were the nemesis of the Guardian. His ice-elemental abilities were greatly suppressed as the situation became more and more dangerous.


    Unfortunately, the room was sealed¡ªit was impossible for him to escape. In the end, he was burned to death in the room.


    After that Guardian, no one entered the Venusian dimensional zone. The dragon, the black-winged angel, and skeleton monster that had previously visited Venus didn¡¯t appear again, nor did Tsukuyomi appear again.


    It was unknown if they were no longer interested or if they were waiting for an opportunity.


    Soon, Zhou Wen received confirmed news that it was possible to reach the hemispherical building through the Cube.


    However, no one dared to head over for the time being. Only Mythical creatures could survive on Venus. However, if they entered the Venusian dimensional zone, the two Terror-grade creatures before them were examples of the outcome.


    It was easy to enter, but not so easy to come out again.


    Zhou Wen looked at Venus on the screen and suddenly had an idea.


    In the game, one had to wait 24 hours after dying in the Venusian instance dungeon. However, in reality, there didn¡¯t seem to be such a restriction.


    The interval between the golden person and the Guardian wasn¡¯t 24 hours, but there were equally many Metal Guards.


    If he only killed the Metal Guards and the Golden Battle God before leaving the Venusian instance dungeon, he could kill large numbers of Mythical creatures and Terror-grade creatures in a short span of time. The chances of Companion Eggs and good items dropping would greatly increase.


    Although Zhou Wen had such thoughts, he wasn¡¯t in a rush to take the risk. He still needed to confirm something.


    It was an excruciating 24-hour wait before he could enter the Venusian instance dungeon again. Zhou Wen immediately entered and grinded the Metal Guards and the Golden Battle Gods inside.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t that lucky. He didn¡¯t have a Golden Battle God Companion Egg drop and only obtained a skill crystal.


    The skill crystal required 81 Constitution and 41 Fire stat. He also needed a Metal Essence Energy Art to absorb it. Zhou Wen had no choice but to give it up since he couldn¡¯t meet the requirements.


    When the six alarms sounded at the same time, Zhou Wen used spatial teleportation to leave the Venusian dungeon and arrive at the entrance¡¯s platform.


    It does work! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    Following that, Zhou Wen made another attempt. He got the blood-colored avatar to drip a drop of blood on the platform and used the normal method to enter Venus.


    After entering again, the alarm on the six doors stopped ringing. However, there were no more Metal Guards or Golden Battle Gods. The six doors remained open. The dungeon clearly hadn¡¯t refreshed.

 Chapter 1224 - Son of Heaven’s Three Swords

    Zhou Wen immediately used spatial teleportation to leave the dungeon, but it didn¡¯t work this time. The blood-colored avatar failed to teleport out.


    Bam!


    In the next second, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head exploded before the gunshot rang. The game screen went black again.


    In that case, it means that any creature that enters by normal means can only fight to the death. They won¡¯t have a chance to come out until the end.


    Zhou Wen frowned in thought. If that¡¯s the case, I can¡¯t get my allies to enter. I can only wait for others to enter and pick up the spoils after them.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up. That¡¯s right. I can definitely enter to pick up the spoils. After all, those fellows won¡¯t survive after entering and won¡¯t be able to take anything out. It would be a waste if I don¡¯t take the spoils.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen looked forward to someone quickly entering the Venusian dimensional zone.


    However, after a day and a half, no creature challenged the Venusian dimensional zone.


    This was also normal. Be it contracting a Guardian or using Mythical Serum, there were very few Terror-grade humans. The death of one in the League of Guardians was probably enough to deeply upset them. Before figuring out the situation, no one would send someone in rashly.


    Seeing the lack of opportunity, Zhou Wen could only continue grinding at home. As long as he ensured that the League of Guardians didn¡¯t clear the Venusian dungeon first and that the dimension couldn¡¯t obtain anything, he was in no rush.


    ¡®Progress: 100%. Synthesis complete.¡¯


    Just as Zhou Wen was grinding, a message suddenly popped up. Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that the fusion synthesis of Light Concealment, Shadow Concealment, and Night Immaculate had completed.


    Let me see what the outcome of the fusion is. Zhou Wen opened the fusion window and saw an ancient sword floating there.


    It wasn¡¯t the formless Light Concealment Sword, nor was it the shadow of the Shadow Concealment Sword, nor was it the aura of the Night Immaculate Sword. It was an ordinary sheathed ancient sword.


    Zhou Wen checked the ancient sword¡¯s stats and saw the words ¡°Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.¡±


    Strange, I¡¯ve clearly fused a sword. Why is it called the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he looked at the detailed stats of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.


    Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords: Terror-grade (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Sword of the Son of Heaven


    Life Soul: Dao Sword


    Wheel of Destiny: Sword of Unkilling


    Terror Form: Son of Heaven


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: Sword of the Son of Heaven


    What the hell are these attributes? Sword of Unkilling? Could it be that this sword can¡¯t kill? It¡¯s a Terror-grade Companion Beast after all. It doesn¡¯t even have a single skill. Isn¡¯t this too extreme¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. The only thing that left him gratified was that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords had an evolutionary attribute.


    This meant that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords might reach the Calamity grade in the future.


    Furthermore, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords¡¯ stats were rather impressive. All four stats were 99. This was the highest stats among Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts.


    Summoning the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, Zhou Wen held the hilt and wanted to pull it out to take a look. However, after a few attempts, the sword remained motionless as though it was stuck from all the rust.


    It can¡¯t be¡­ I can¡¯t pull this thing out? It really lives up to its Sword of Unkilling name¡­ Zhou Wen fiddled with it for a while, hoping to figure it out.


    However, he tragically realized that no matter what strength he used, he couldn¡¯t pull the sword out. Furthermore, the sword didn¡¯t have any special strength. It was no different from a hard rod.


    When it appeared in its own form, it was like a dead object. It didn¡¯t even move, much less fly up to fight.


    Are you kidding me? Zhou Wen was depressed. It was difficult to imagine that this was a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    Unable to figure it out, Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword. He would slowly study it in the future.


    Zhou Wen also knew that there was definitely something special about the sword, but he was momentarily stumped.


    In the next few days, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any creatures enter the Venusian instance dungeon. He stayed home to grind.


    Ding! When Zhou Wen grinded the underground sea again, a crisp sound of a drop sounded, causing his body to tremble.


    When he focused his gaze, he realized that it was a Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Egg.


    It¡¯s finally here! Zhou Wen¡¯s hands trembled in excitement. After grinding for so long, he had finally obtained the nine Demon Blood True Dragon Companion Eggs.


    He picked up the Companion Egg and saw that it was indeed the Wu Dragon¡¯s Companion Egg. Zhou Wen hurriedly hatched it.


    The Wu Dragon Companion Egg¡¯s stats were about the same as the others. It wasn¡¯t too special, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect it to be very powerful. What he wanted to know the most was whether he could fuse the nine Demon Blood True Dragons together.


    He first placed the Wu Dragon in the window. The game immediately indicated that it could be fused. Zhou Wen attempted to put the remaining eight dragons on it, and it really worked. There was no indication that it lacked a core.


    When Zhou Wen pressed the Fusion button, the intense light devoured the nine Demon Blood True Dragons and flooded the entire phone screen.


    When the light dissipated, a black crystal-like Companion Egg appeared in the Fusion window. There was also a percentage progress bar below.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to wait another two days. Zhou Wen really wanted to know what the outcome of the fusion was, but all he could do was wait.


    Now, he only hoped that there wouldn¡¯t be a strange Companion Egg like the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.


    It just so happens that I don¡¯t have any particularly good armor. I hope they fuse into some good Terror-grade armor. Zhou Wen¡¯s body was only at the Mythical stage after all. He was somewhat inferior to a true Terror-grade. For instance, Demonic Neonate seldom participated in head-on battles because of her weak body.


    If he had Terror-grade armor, it would greatly enhance Zhou Wen¡¯s strength. At the very least, his life-preservation abilities would be elevated.


    With another wish fulfilled, what depressed Zhou Wen the most was his failure to obtain the last of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions¡¯ skills.


    The main reason was that the Endless Sea of Stars was just too huge. It took a lot of time just to grind it once, so Zhou Wen could only rely on luck.


    ¡°Living quite a good life recently, eh?¡±


    A message made Zhou Wen, who had been enjoying his days, shiver involuntarily. The message was from The Thearch, who had been silent for a long time.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen replied, but he felt extremely worried. Every time The Thearch came to him, nothing good would happen.


    Even with his Terror-grade strength, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare rashly head to Chess Mountain.


    The stronger he was, the more he could understand how terrifying The Thearch was. After obtaining powerful strength, Zhou Wen knew how terrifying the power of wishes was.


    ¡°I want to make a deal with you.¡± The Thearch quickly sent another message.

 Chapter 1225 - Here Comes the Opportunity

    Chapter 1225: Here Comes the Opportunity


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt his scalp tingle when he saw the word ¡°deal.¡± A deal with The Thearch definitely didn¡¯t end well. John was a perfect example that remained fresh in his mind.


    ¡°Ahem, The Thearch, I recently saw quite a number of powerful fellows among humans. The Great Skyfiend and Hermit in the League of Guardians are especially strong¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to change the topic.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you say that there¡¯s Blood Shaman and Cave Era?¡± The Thearch replied.


    ¡°Those two are also super strong. I didn¡¯t have the time to tell you.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly replied.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I help you destroy the League of Guardians? What say you?¡± The Thearch replied mockingly.


    ¡°Uh! The League of Guardians has nothing to do with me. Whether it¡¯s destroyed or not is up to you.¡± Zhou Wen was no longer the kid from before. He didn¡¯t blush even when his thoughts were seen through.


    The Thearch clearly wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk to him about this. She directly sent a message and asked: ¡°You didn¡¯t contract a Guardian or fuse with other creatures, so how did you advance to the Mythical stage?¡±


    ¡°I just cultivated an Essence Energy Art, and as time went by, I advanced,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    The Thearch naturally didn¡¯t believe him. In fact, it was impossible.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to say, I can just let it pass. However, if you continue talking to me like this, do you believe that I¡¯ll let your fifth limb grow on your head?¡± The Thearch replied.


    Zhou Wen really wanted to see if his present ability could withstand The Thearch¡¯s wish powers. However, considering the immense risk of his fifth limb growing on his head, he decided to see what The Thearch wanted of him.


    ¡°What deal do you want to make with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I won¡¯t ask how you advanced. But tell me, did you advance to the Mythical stage purely as a human?¡± The Thearch asked again.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and answered truthfully.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Help me get something. After it¡¯s done, I¡¯ll tell you a secret,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Can you be more detailed? What do I need to get? What¡¯s the secret you want to tell me?¡± Zhou Wen was working on a way to reject The Thearch.


    ¡°Your hometown is in Guide City, right? There¡¯s a Fire God Platform in Guide Ancient City. There¡¯s a stone saber on it. Pull it out and give it to me,¡± The Thearch sent a message.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. The Thearch actually wants that stone saber. What does she want? Could it be that the stone saber can help her escape?


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that stone saber, but I¡¯ve heard that no one can pull it out¡­¡±


    ¡°As long as you are a pure human who advanced to the Mythical stage, you will definitely be able to pull it out.¡± The Thearch seemed very confident and ignored Zhou Wen¡¯s excuse.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, The Thearch sent another message. ¡°You should have seen the situation in the Venusian dimensional zone. However, you might not know what that dimensional zone implies.¡±


    ¡°You know about the Venusian dimensional zone?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°If you can help me retrieve the stone saber, I can tell you how to obtain the item inside through the Venusian dimensional zone.¡± The Thearch threw out the bait.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside the Venusian dimensional zone?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Help me retrieve the stone saber and you will know everything.¡± The Thearch immediately sent another message. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. You can think about it. However, if the fellows from the dimension obtain the thing from the Venusian dimensional zone, I¡¯m afraid the Earth Federation will really become a breeding ground for the dimension.¡±


    ¡°Let me consider it.¡± Since The Thearch didn¡¯t elaborate, Zhou Wen knew that it was useless to ask further.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen would definitely have rejected it without any hesitation. However, the bait The Thearch threw out was too much; it left Zhou Wen somewhat tempted.


    Zhou Wen had already learned from Gu Dian that the dimension placed great importance on the item in Venus. If he really couldn¡¯t clear the Venusian instance dungeon before the dimension did, he might really have to rely on The Thearch¡¯s strength.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t confirm if The Thearch was telling the truth, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t easily believe her.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I can divulge some information first. There are six Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods in Venus who can fire bullets of different attributes. After them, there will be a Calamity-grade metal creature. Help me get the stone saber. I have a way that will allow you to kill that Calamity-grade metal creature.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the name of that Calamity-grade metal creature?¡± Zhou Wen knew that The Thearch wasn¡¯t spouting nonsense. He had already verified the existence of the subsequent Calamity-grade creature.


    ¡°Bring the stone saber to Chess Mountain when you¡¯ve thought it through.¡± The Thearch didn¡¯t answer him. She didn¡¯t send any more messages after that.


    Zhou Wen frowned in thought. From the looks of it, The Thearch really knows something about the Venusian instance dungeon, but she doesn¡¯t want the item in the Venusian instance dungeon. Instead, she wants the stone saber. Could it be that the stone saber is more precious than the item in the Venusian instance dungeon? Or can the stone saber help her escape?


    After some thought, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what The Thearch was up to.


    The stone saber in Guide Ancient City couldn¡¯t be pulled out. Otherwise, not only would Guide Ancient City undergo a breakout, but a large number of high-level dimensional creatures would appear. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what would ensue if he completely pulled out the stone saber.


    Zhou Wen had previously investigated its origins.


    The Fire God Platform was also known as the Yanbo Platform. It was the first place in the East District used for astronomy, and Yanbo was the Fire God, also the founder of the Shang Dynasty. Speaking of which, it was somewhat related to Chess Mountain.


    However, when it came to a Fire God, the first thing most people in the East District thought of was Zhurong, not Yanbo.


    Although Zhou Wen was born and raised in Guide City, the Fire God he recognized wasn¡¯t Yanbo Consort, but Suirenshi, who introduced fire to humans. He was the leader of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors.


    Could the Ancient Sovereign Sutra engraved on Fire God Platform be related to Suirenshi? If the stone saber is related to Suirenshi, it¡¯s easier to understand. The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more convinced he was of its likelihood.


    With The Thearch¡¯s request, Zhou Wen had the urge to return to Guide Ancient City to take a look.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t head to Guide Ancient City to prevent himself from being exploited by The Thearch.


    He stayed at home and continued grinding dungeons. He grinded the Venusian instance dungeon once a day, but it was too slow. He couldn¡¯t farm Companion Eggs on a large scale. Instead, he obtained a few Terror-grade dimensional crystals which he fed to Banana Fairy. Her stats had increased significantly, averaging above 90 points.


    Unfortunately, he could only farm it once a day. Most of the time, Zhou Wen could only farm ordinary dungeons.


    Suddenly, the phone¡¯s live broadcast stirred. Another creature arrived in front of the Venusian dimensional zone. It was the black dragon that had appeared previously.


    Here¡¯s my chance. Zhou Wen¡¯s spirits were lifted. Farming the Venusian instance dungeon once a day was just too slow.. Now was the best time to pick up freebies.

 Chapter 1226 - Limitless Demon Dragon King

    Chapter 1226: Limitless Demon Dragon King


    Translator: CKtalon


    Let me wait and see. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to head over. He planned on understanding the situation first.


    His main goal was to determine the black dragon¡¯s level. Although it didn¡¯t seem like a Calamity-grade creature, the old saying was right. One couldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover. If it was a Calamity-grade, Zhou Wen might very well be killed if he went to pick up the spoils.


    It wasn¡¯t only Zhou Wen. Many people in the Federation had their eyes peeled to screen. Many bigwigs from various factions wanted to figure out what was so special about the Venusian dimensional zone and why the Cube was broadcasting it.


    The black dragon entered the dimensional zone. The situation inside was the same as before¡ªthe six doors were closed, and a Metal Guard was in the room.


    This was just as Zhou Wen had imagined. Every time a creature entered the Venusian dimensional zone in reality, the same number of dimensional creatures would appear. It felt like a game refreshing its map, but it also felt different.


    The black dragon spat out dragon breath and killed the Metal Guard. It looked easy, definitely placing it in the ranks at or above the Terror grade.


    Just as Zhou Wen saw the six doors open, his fingers suddenly vibrated. He took out his phone and saw that the nine Demon Blood True Dragons¡¯ fusion had reached 100%.


    He hurriedly opened the fusion window and saw a black demon dragon appear inside.


    However, this demon dragon was somewhat different from the previous Demon Blood True Dragon.


    This demon dragon¡¯s body seemed to be carved from black gemstones. There was no sign of it having nine heads. It had only one dragon head with a pair of corresponding dragon horns.


    It only had one pair of eyes as well, but the pupils were in the form of the Eight Trigrams Taiji symbol. Apart from that, its body wasn¡¯t any smaller than the typical Demon Dragon True Dragon, but it looked much more mightier.


    1


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at its detailed information, hoping that it was a Terror-grade armor. After all, the original Demon Blood True Dragons had armor forms. The possibility of this Demon Dragon being an armor was very high.


    Limitless Demon Dragon King: Terror


    Life Providence: Dragon King


    Life Soul: Demon King


    Wheel of Destiny: Limitless Wheel


    Terror Form: Omega Dao


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Dragon Breath, Limitless Eyes, Demon Dragon Transformation


    Companion Form: Armor


    The armor companion form was expected, but the Limitless Demon Dragon King didn¡¯t have an Evolvable attribute. This left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    Apart from that, Zhou Wen was very satisfied with the Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s various skills and stats.


    Companion Beasts that form a complete set don¡¯t necessarily produce one with an evolvable attribute. Zhou Wen carefully looked at the Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s various abilities.


    The Dragon King Life Providence had an extremely strong immunity to all sorts of elements. It was a little overboard to say it was immune to all elements, but it was at least immune to 80-90% of them.


    The Demon King could demonize bodies to give them physical immunity. Although it wasn¡¯t completely immune, with the Dragon King Life Providence, it had a high immunity to all sorts of powers. Its defense was astonishing.


    The Limitless Wheel was an ability that Zhou Wen valued the most. This was a skill that allowed him to freely transfer his strength. When combined with the use of Limitless Eyes, he could achieve the exchange of strength between different creatures, just like the nine Demon Blood True Dragons.


    However, Zhou Wen needed to cast the Limitless Wheel on other creatures ahead of time. Furthermore, he needed the cooperation of the creatures to complete it. At the same time, he could only form a Limitless connection with eight creatures.


    The Terror form¡¯s Omega Dao seemed to be a super state. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t experimented with it yet, so he didn¡¯t know how useful it was.


    Demon Dragon Transformation could make it¡¯s body stronger. Its effects also needed to be tested in actual combat.


    After summoning the Limitless Demon Dragon King in its companion form, a mysterious black crystal armor appeared on Zhou Wen.


    The black crystal scale armor enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body without leaving any gaps. The helmet was in the shape of a dragon¡¯s head, and there was a pair of dragon horns on his head.


    Zhou Wen, who was wearing the Dragon King armor, was like a humanoid dragon carved from black gems. He exuded mystery and bizarreness, but he also emitted a terrifying aura.


    I wonder how its defense is. I¡¯ll find an opportunity to test it later. Zhou Wen felt that the armor¡¯s appearance was a little exaggerated, but it likely wasn¡¯t lacking in ability. After all, its stats and skills were amazing.


    On the Cube¡¯s screen, the black dragon had already finished off a large number of Metal Guards. Its body was extremely strong, so the bullets from the Metal Guards were useless against it. They were torn to pieces by the black dragon.


    Many dimensional crystals dropped to the ground, as well as two Metal Guard Companion Eggs. The Earthlings were envious, but the black dragon didn¡¯t pick them up.


    Soon, the Golden Battle God Mark I appeared. His freezing bullets hit the Terror-form black dragon. Although the freezing effect showed some effects, it was obvious that it wasn¡¯t very effective.


    The black dragon pounced forward to engage the Golden Battle God in melee combat. Both of their bodies were especially powerful, but the black dragon ultimately gained the upper hand. After fighting for more than an hour, it finally killed the Golden Battle God.


    The Golden Battle God Mark II appeared next. His flaming bullets weren¡¯t very effective against the black dragon, so it ended up in a melee battle again.


    The black dragon obtained final victory again, but it was obvious that it had suffered some damage and was rather drained.


    A third Golden Battle God appeared. This Golden Battle God had lightning bullets which had a paralyzing effect. When it struck the black dragon, it caused a portion of its body to be paralyzed. Compounded by its earlier injuries and exhaustion, the situation didn¡¯t look good.


    Zhou Wen was already certain that the black dragon was at the Terror grade. It would be difficult for it to defeat all the Golden Battle Gods. It was time to pick up the spoils.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used Singularity Universe¡¯s teleportation ability and arrived on Venus again. He wore his new Dragon King armor.


    Many humans in the Federation and overseas were watching this battle. As neither side was human, they didn¡¯t show obvious support for either party.


    However, the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs on the ground were tantalizing. As they watched, the black dragon went into berserk mode and withstood the paralyzing effects of the lightning bullets as it charged at the Golden Battle God.


    After biting at its opponent crazily and paying a considerable price, it finally killed the Golden Battle God Mark III. A golden Companion Egg dropped.


    ¡°A Terror-grade Companion Egg!¡± Everyone widened their eyes as they looked at the golden Companion Egg. Their drool was about to drip down.


    That was a Terror-grade Companion Egg. Furthermore, it had such powerful strength. Who wouldn¡¯t want it? Unfortunately, no one could enter.


    The black dragon wasn¡¯t interested in the Companion Egg either. It had no intention of picking it up, making the allure even more irresistible. They wished they could run in and grab it with their mouths before running out.


    Suddenly, a black figure appeared on the screen, stunning all the spectating beings.

 Chapter 1227 - The Treasure Looter

    Chapter 1227: The Treasure Looter


    Translator: CKtalon


    Everyone was stunned when they identified the figure.


    ¡°Strange, the ones that came out previously were all golden robots. Why did something made of black crystal suddenly appear? It¡¯s much smaller. Is it a new type?¡±


    ¡°This fellow doesn¡¯t seem to have walked out of the door.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Even the black dragon in the room was taken aback. It didn¡¯t attack immediately.


    Just as everyone was feeling puzzled, the Golden Battle God Mark IV walked out, leaving them dumbfounded. They didn¡¯t know what was going on. Why were there two different creatures? Previously, only one Golden Battle God appeared at a time.


    Before they could react, Zhou Wen had already flashed across the room and stored away the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs on the ground, including the Golden Battle God Mark III Companion Egg.


    The people watching the Cube¡¯s live stream immediately broke out into an uproar. They understood what had happened.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that fellow isn¡¯t from the Venusian dimensional zone. He¡¯s there to loot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not looting, it¡¯s called picking up treasures, alright?¡±


    ¡°That works too? Didn¡¯t they say that the Cube¡¯s teleportation function is disabled when someone is challenging the Venusian dimensional zone? How did he enter?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps he¡¯s an otherworldly creature to begin with. Like the gold person and the black dragon, he¡¯s from the cosmos.¡±


    ¡°But he shouldn¡¯t be able to enter the dimensional zone, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Why does he look human? The thing he¡¯s wearing is Companion Beast armor, right?¡±


    ¡°Human? That¡¯s impossible, right?¡±


    ¡°The key is how did he enter?¡±


    As people discussed, the Golden Battle God had already attacked. However, as Zhou Wen retreated behind the black dragon, the Golden Battle God¡¯s first target was still the black dragon.


    The black dragon roared and spewed out dragon breath, hoping to block the Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet.


    However, the Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet was somewhat special. It had a powerful spinning and drilling effect. It penetrated the black dragon¡¯s dragon breath and shot into its body. The bullet drilled into its flesh, causing blood to immediately gush out. The black dragon roared in pain.


    The Golden Battle God Mark IV bullet¡¯s destructive power was very strong. It was the nemesis of the black dragon¡¯s element-immunity attribute. Furthermore, the black dragon was already quite injured, so it was quickly thrown into a dangerous situation.


    As though it knew that it was doomed, the black dragon had the intention to go all out. It charged forward, meeting the blanketing bullets.


    Its abdomen was almost riddled with holes, but it didn¡¯t die. It pounced on the Golden Battle God and wanted to bite off its head.


    Unfortunately, it was already gravely injured, and its strength was greatly reduced. The Golden Battle God held its chin up with one hand, preventing it from biting down.


    The black dragon still held on to the Golden Battle God, but it was no longer of much use. The other gun in the Golden Battle God¡¯s hand was already aimed at its head.


    Crack!


    A black figure appeared behind the Golden Battle God like a ghost. A narrow saber stabbed through the Golden Battle God¡¯s chest, piercing through the energy source inside.


    The Golden Battle God¡¯s body immediately lost its strength. The black dragon roared repeatedly and ruthlessly tore the Golden Battle God¡¯s corpse apart.


    A dimensional crystal dropped and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to put it away. Then, he retreated to the other corner of the room and maintained a certain distance from the black dragon.


    The black dragon glanced at Zhou Wen but didn¡¯t attack. Clearly, its intelligence wasn¡¯t low.


    ¡°That works? What¡¯s that fellow¡¯s background?¡±


    ¡°How did he get in?¡±


    People from the various factions were guessing Zhou Wen¡¯s origins. In the League of Guardians, Blood Shaman, Cave Era, Great Skyfiend, and Hermit were all present.


    Many Guardians were also watching the battle. Sitting high on the main seat was a masked man. His face couldn¡¯t be seen, but his eyes seemed to be so clear that one could see a reflection.


    Without a doubt, this man was the master of the League of Guardians, Immortal.


    ¡°Cave Era, what are your thoughts?¡± Immortal looked at the scene on the Cube and asked casually.


    ¡°It¡¯s undoubtedly a human. Furthermore, he has very powerful spatial powers,¡± said Cave Era.


    Uesugi Nao, who had contracted Great Skyfiend, said, ¡°In that case, as long as one has spatial powers, even if one doesn¡¯t open the entrance to the Venusian dimensional zone, they can still enter?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, that¡¯s right,¡± Cave Era answered.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we only need to find a Guardian with spatial teleportation powers to enter the Venusian dimensional zone like that person. Now, the chances of us clearing the dimensional zone are much higher,¡± Uesugi Nao said.


    Hermit continued, ¡°That might not be the case. There are many types of spatial powers. Perhaps not all spatial powers can enter. Furthermore, there aren¡¯t many Guardians who have spatial abilities like interstellar teleportation. There are even fewer who have reached the Terror grade. If we only rely on flying, it will take too long to reach Venus. When that happens, the Venusian dimensional zone might have long been cleared.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell who this person is?¡± Immortal asked again.


    Hermit shook his head slightly. ¡°I can¡¯t tell. However, I¡¯m certain that it¡¯s not someone from the Holy Spirit Association. The Holy Spirit Association only has one Terror-grade expert who specializes in spatial powers. We¡¯ve all seen him before. It¡¯s not him.¡±


    ¡°Could it be Thief Sage?¡± asked Blood Shaman.


    ¡°That¡¯s very likely. Thief Sage is best at spatial teleportation. Furthermore, such actions are in line with his actions. However, there¡¯s no way to confirm that it¡¯s him or someone else,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Regardless of whether he¡¯s Thief Sage, find him. It¡¯s naturally best if it¡¯s him. If it¡¯s not him, we can also use his spatial teleportation ability to send our people in,¡± Immortal said.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll do it now.¡± Hermit bowed and left.


    ¡­


    Far away in the South Pole, Liu Yun, who was standing on the snow watching the Cube, suddenly felt his nose itch for no reason. He couldn¡¯t help but sneeze.


    ¡°Who¡¯s missing me?¡± Liu Yun rubbed his nose as he muttered to himself.


    1


    ¡­


    The Golden Battle God Mark V appeared, and the black dragon could only drag its severely injured body to fight.


    While the Golden Battle God was distracted, Zhou Wen teleported behind it and stabbed at its energy source again.


    The six Golden Battle Gods energy sources appeared in different locations. It wasn¡¯t easy to stab them with one strike. However, for someone like Zhou Wen who was familiar with the Golden Battle Gods, it wasn¡¯t difficult.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s help, the black dragon killed the Golden Battle God Mark V, but unfortunately, nothing dropped.


    Zhou Wen used the same method to help the black dragon kill the Golden Battle God Mark VI, but unfortunately, nothing dropped again.


    The alarms on the six doors sounded at the same time.. Something truly terrifying was coming.

 Chapter 1228 - The One and Only Looter King

    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay for long as he teleported back to Earth. Zhou Wen¡¯s luck was pretty good¡ªhis teleportation took him to a city. He removed the Companion Beasts over him, returning to his original appearance.


    It looked like a city in the West District. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t carefully identify where he was. He took out his phone and watched the live broadcast of the Venusian dimensional zone.


    The alarms on the six doors were ringing. The black dragon was heavily injured. Although it looked at the doors warily, it didn¡¯t even know which door the other party would come out from.


    Bam!


    Before the gunshot was heard, the black dragon¡¯s head exploded from a bullet. Dragon blood and brain matter splattered as the dragon body collapsed. Then, the Cube¡¯s scene switched. Without a doubt, the Terror-grade black dragon had died inside.


    Humanity didn¡¯t even manage to get a gander at the person who killed the black dragon. Zhou Wen then found some high-speed slow-motion cameras on the Internet and could barely see that the bullet had shot out from one of the doors. He couldn¡¯t even see what it looked like¡ªit was only a blurry shadow.


    The various factions analyzed the information obtained from this battle. They had pretty much analyzed the first four of the six Golden Battle Gods¡¯ abilities. As for the last two, due to Zhou Wen¡¯s interference, the information wasn¡¯t complete, but they could roughly think of a reliable solution.


    However, everyone shook their heads when they saw the final shot. For the time being, no one had the confidence to block it.


    Most people were discussing Zhou Wen, who had taken advantage of the situation. They were very curious as to what kind of person had the ability and guts to snatch food from the tiger¡¯s mouth under such circumstances and retreat in time.


    As they didn¡¯t know his origins, many media outlets gave Zhou Wen a nickname when writing reports about him.


    There were all sorts of nicknames such as ¡°Looter King¡±, ¡°Adventurer King¡±, ¡°Shameless Thief¡±, ¡°Person Best At Taking Advantage¡±, and ¡°Space Transporter.¡±


    In the end, most people used the term ¡°Looter King.¡± Furthermore, many media outlets determined that Looter King might be human, but there were also many people who didn¡¯t think of him as human.


    Many factions on Earth had the same idea. They could naturally tell that Zhou Wen was using spatial teleportation to enter the Venusian dimensional zone. The factions with such talents were eager to have a share of the loot.


    After Liu Yun finished watching the entire process, he was very tempted. However, after careful consideration, he didn¡¯t dare head to Venus. Like Zhou Wen, he waited for the other creatures to enter before taking advantage of the opportunity.


    Liu Yun¡¯s patience didn¡¯t mean that everyone was patient.


    Overseas, there was a contractor with a spatial Guardian who chose to enter the Venusian dimensional zone through the Cube.


    Not all spatial powers had interstellar teleportation abilities, much less a Mythical Guardian.


    When he reached the entrance to the Venusian dimensional zone, the Cube began its live broadcast again.


    When people saw him use spatial teleportation to enter the dimensional zone and fight the Metal Guards inside, they immediately realized that he was a Mythical Guardian who was here to take advantage of the situation.


    His goal was probably to kill a few Metal Guards before teleporting out.


    Due to footage from the previous battles, the Guardian knew the Metal Guard very well. He had already thought of a way to restrain it and easily killed the Metal Guard. Furthermore, he was very lucky to have a Companion Egg drop.


    The Guardian gleefully picked up the Companion Egg and wanted to teleport away before the six doors opened. His idea of taking advantage of the situation was to simply kill one Metal Guard.


    However, to his surprise, after attempting to teleport, the Guardian¡¯s expression changed drastically. He couldn¡¯t leave the dimensional zone and was still trapped in the room.


    In the next second, the six doors opened. Groups of Metal Guards rushed out with guns in hand. The bullets intertwined into an inescapable net.


    The Guardian teleported a few times and summoned a Companion Beast to block them, but in the end, he was riddled with bullets that killed him along with his Companion Beasts.


    Instantly, all the humans watching the live broadcast were stunned. They didn¡¯t know what was happening.


    Liu Yun was secretly glad that he had held back from teleporting in.


    ¡°Heavens, what happened just now? Why didn¡¯t the Guardian teleport away?¡±


    ¡°Do you think anyone can be the Looter King? Looter King is at the Terror grade¡ªan existence who can work with the black dragon to kill the Golden Battle Gods. Isn¡¯t it courting death for a Mythical creature to want to loot?¡±


    ¡°Looter King is really powerful. He managed to escape after looting, but this fellow couldn¡¯t even return alive.¡±


    ¡°For the same spatial teleportation ability, the effects of the Terror-grade and Mythical-grade should be about the same. Why can Looter King escape, but not the Guardian?¡±


    ¡°There must be some other restriction. Looter King is somehow able to break the restrictions.¡±


    ¡°There can only be one Looter King after all. There¡¯s a risk when looting. One has to be careful.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. This also alarmed the factions who wanted to use their spatial powers to take advantage of the situation like Zhou Wen. They didn¡¯t dare act rashly.


    Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons in-game and didn¡¯t know about the Guardian. Otherwise, he would have taken advantage of it.


    However, after watching the recording, Zhou Wen knew what the problem was. It wasn¡¯t that the Mythical spatial transmission ability couldn¡¯t be used, but that people who used the Cube to reach Venus were incapable of leaving the dimensional zone. They could only fight to the end.


    The spatial ability he used wasn¡¯t special. However, he couldn¡¯t teleport through the Cube or use his blood to open the Venusian instance dungeon.


    After this incident, no one dared to take advantage of the loopholes in the rules.


    Zhou Wen farmed the Venusian instance dungeon again in-game, but he still failed to dodge the bullet. The shot was just too terrifying. Even the Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s helmet exploded. His powerful damage immunity couldn¡¯t withstand the bullet¡¯s headshot. Clearly, the difference in strength was too great.


    10% or even 5% of the destructive power wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen¡¯s body could withstand.


    From the looks of it, there¡¯s no doubt that it¡¯s a Calamity-grade creature. Do humans nowadays really have the ability to defeat a Calamity-grade to clear the Venusian instance dungeon? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t optimistic at all.


    After more than a day, another creature entered the Venusian instance dungeon.


    Zhou Wen had seen this creature before. It was the skeleton that resembled the Grim Reaper. It wore a cloak and held a scythe in its hands. It had opened the dungeon using the normal method.


    Zhou Wen watched it kill the Metal Guard and realized that its strength was likely only at the Terror grade. However, the previous battle had already proven that the survival rate of a Terror-grade creature in the dungeon was pathetically low.


    Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure out why the skeleton would choose to enter the Venusian dimensional zone under such circumstances.


    Wait. What if entering Venus¡¯s dimensional zone wasn¡¯t of their free will but a result of coercion? An idea flashed in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Combining Tsukuyomi¡¯s forced departure from Earth and the continuous attempts of these creatures into the Venusian instance dungeon, Zhou Wen thought of a possibility. Perhaps these creatures had their reasons for entering the Venusian dimensional zone. They hadn¡¯t entered willingly.


    If that¡¯s the case, will Tsukuyomi ultimately enter? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but worry when he thought of Tsukuyomi.


    Although Tsukuyomi was a Calamity-grade creature and might have the possibility of defeating the Venusian Calamity-grade creature, who could guarantee her victory?

 Chapter 1229 - Skeleton

    The Grim Reaper-like skeleton shuttled through the bullets like a ghost. The bullets struck its cloak, but they passed through it without injuring its body.


    Instead, the scythe in the skeleton¡¯s hand sliced through the horde of Metal Guards like it was culling chives. Soon, many dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs dropped to the ground.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to enter as he continued watching the battle in front of a Cube.


    Soon, the skeleton welcomed the Golden Battle God Mark I. When the frost bullet hit the skeleton¡¯s body, it penetrated its body like an ordinary bullet.


    Even if the Golden Battle God took the initiative to detonate the Frost Bullet, the skeleton wasn¡¯t affected at all amidst the cold fog. Instead, it was like a devil in hell. The scythe in its hands turned into an ice scythe and split the Golden Battle God¡¯s body into two.


    ¡°What creature is that? It¡¯s so powerful. It killed the Golden Battle God with one strike!¡±


    ¡°This fellow looks like he has a chance of fighting to the end.¡±


    ¡°Who knows? Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    ¡°Could that Grim Reaper-like fellow be a Calamity-grade existence?¡±


    As people discussed, the Golden Battle God Mark II appeared. Flames exploded as terrifying flames devoured the entire room.


    However, the skeleton rushed out from the flames. Its body and scythe were covered in flames, making it appear like a flaming devil. It culled the Golden Battle God Mark II under its scythe.


    How powerful! Even Zhou Wen was surprised by the skeleton¡¯s strength.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that it was at the Calamity grade. The skeleton was very strong, but it was still a distance away from the Calamity grade. At the very least, from the Calamity-grade creatures he had seen, the skeleton wasn¡¯t at that level.


    After the Golden Battle God Mark II was killed, a Companion Egg dropped.


    Just as the skeleton was about to pick up the Companion Egg, he suddenly saw a black shadow flash. A figure snatched the Companion Egg in front of him.


    The skeleton was slightly taken aback. While he was in a daze, Zhou Wen had already taken away the other Mythical dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Looter King has appeared again!¡±


    ¡°Is this fellow addicted to looting?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he afraid that the skeleton will kill him from pissing him off?¡±


    ¡°Another Terror-grade Companion Egg has been taken by him. This killing is way too easy.¡±


    Everyone was envious and jealous. As for the skeleton, it was clearly different from the black dragon. When it saw Zhou Wen snatch the Companion Egg, it didn¡¯t hesitate to slash at him.


    Its figure was like a ghost, so fast that one couldn¡¯t see it clearly. However, Zhou Wen teleported and dodged the skeleton¡¯s attack.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave the room because there was no place on Venus where he could view the Cube. There was no signal on his phone either. Even if he teleported back to Earth, he might not be able to teleport to a place with a signal. If he went out, he wouldn¡¯t know what was happening in the room. The best way was to stay in the room and leave after picking up all the loot.


    The skeleton wanted to attack Zhou Wen, but the Golden Battle God had already appeared. Lightning bullets spewed out crazily, giving the skeleton no chance to pay attention to Zhou Wen.


    Of the Golden Battle God Companion Eggs, I already have three¡ªMark II, III, and IV. If I can gather all six, will I be able to fuse a set? What can a Terror-grade Companion Beast set produce through fusion? A Calamity-grade creature? Zhou Wen was filled with anticipation.


    A Mythical set fused to form a Terror-grade creature, so it did seem reasonable that a Terror set would fuse into a Calamity-grade creature.


    The skeleton was really strong. When facing the Golden Battle God Mark III, it quickly gained the upper hand again. The bullets with special attributes couldn¡¯t injure it at all.


    Even with the lightning around him, the skeleton could draw upon the power of the lightning as his own. It ended up increasing his strength.


    This fellow¡¯s skill is very powerful! Zhou Wen looked at the skeleton and made a plan. Since this fellow is definitely doomed, why don¡¯t I kill it? Perhaps a Companion Egg will drop?


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on taking action now. He continued watching the battle from a corner in the room.


    The third, fourth, fifth, and sixth Golden Battle Gods were killed by the skeleton¡¯s scythe. They didn¡¯t cause too much trouble for him. It could be seen that the skeleton¡¯s strength was probably top-notch among the Terror-grade existences.


    Unfortunately, after killing four Golden Battle Gods, only one stat crystal dropped. Naturally, it was snatched by Zhou Wen again.


    The alarms on the six doors sounded at the same time. Zhou Wen took a deep breath. This time, he didn¡¯t teleport away. Instead, he took out a Substitute Talisman and stuck it on his head.


    The success rate of producing a Substitute Talisman was too low, but it was indeed useful for preserving his life. Zhou Wen would draw a few whenever he was free, but unfortunately, he had too few successes.


    Up to now, he only had two. Typically, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to use them.


    This time, he had only taken it out as a form of insurance. This was because Zhou Wen had already tested it when he entered the Venusian instance dungeon. If two creatures were present at the same time, the monster behind the door would target one at a time.


    Zhou Wen had previously summoned Banana Fairy, Golden Battle God, and Asura to accompany him, but the three Terror-grade Companion Beasts were each shot and killed on the spot. He didn¡¯t even see what the creature looked like before the blood-colored avatar was killed.


    However, when Zhou Wen summoned his Mythical Companion Beast, the first to be killed was the blood-colored avatar.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could roughly determine that the creature inside the door would target the most powerful creature first.


    Zhou Wen was only at the Mythical stage, so if there was a Terror-grade creature present, the first to be killed would be the Terror-grade creature. And without a Terror-grade creature present, he would be killed for standing out.


    Of course, just in case, Zhou Wen stuck a Substitute Talisman on himself.


    The skeleton was on high alert as he stared intently at one of the doors. It was where the last bullet had shot out.


    However, according to Zhou Wen¡¯s experience, the bullets might not shoot out from the same door. If he focused his attention on the door, he would probably suffer greatly.


    Now, Zhou Wen wanted to know if the skeleton could withstand the shot. If a top Terror creature like him couldn¡¯t even withstand a single shot, without a Calamity-grade assistant, the chances of him clearing the Venusian instance dungeon were almost zero.


    Bam!


    Before the gunshot, the cloak on the skeleton¡¯s head was lifted by a powerful force, revealing a bald skull.


    One side of the skull¡¯s head shattered and, along with the entire head, exploded like a watermelon.


    The skeleton¡¯s body was also slammed into the wall by the powerful force. All his bones scattered.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to teleport away, but he suddenly realized that all the bones of the shattered skeleton were trembling. As for the door, it didn¡¯t immediately fire a second shot.


    In the next second, under everyone¡¯s gaze, the bones emitted gray gas before flying up and condensing into the skeleton.

 Chapter 1230 - Grim Reaper No. 10

    He withstood the shot! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    Although he had withstood the shot at the cost of his life, it was still a huge improvement compared to other Terror-grade creatures.


    Bang!


    Another gunshot sounded as the skeleton was reduced to dust. However, its body quickly reformed and walked towards the door that shot the bullet.


    ¡°He blocked it again?¡± In the League of Guardians, Immortal¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    The four Heavenly Kings were also surprised. As long as one could withstand the shots, there was still hope. The most terrifying thing was the inability to withstand the shots at all. That would imply zero chance.


    It wasn¡¯t just the League of Guardians. Many big shots had strange looks in their eyes when they saw this scene. They were secretly considering the various possibilities.


    Everyone¡¯s first thought was to find an existence like the skeleton to block the gunshots.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The skeleton was blasted apart again and again, but it repeatedly stood up. It was obvious that the skeleton possessed very special abilities. It wasn¡¯t as simple as self-healing; otherwise, he would have long died.


    Just as everyone believed that they had finally seen a ray of light, the skeleton¡¯s body was once again blasted apart from the seventh gunshot. However, this time, the skeleton¡¯s body directly disintegrated.


    Clang! Clang!


    An oval bone object dropped from the skeleton¡¯s dispersed body, producing a series of crisp and ear-piercing sounds.


    Zhou Wen reacted extremely fast. He instantly sobered up and teleported over to grab the bone object before teleporting out of the Venusian dimensional zone.


    ¡°That actually works¡­ He takes advantage of both sides¡­ He loots both parties¡­¡± Everyone was dumbfounded.


    ¡°All the advantages have been taken by Looter King.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s his ability to loot. If you have the ability, try doing so too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Looter King¡¯s spatial teleportation ability is really powerful.¡±


    ¡°The Guardian from before serves as a lesson. It¡¯s not that easy to take advantage of the situation.¡±


    Ordinary people were discussing the matter of the Looter King, but existences like the League of Guardians¡¯ upper echelons weren¡¯t focused on Zhou Wen. They wanted to know why the skeleton had died.


    Did the skeleton¡¯s abilities reach their limits, or did the dimensional creature¡¯s abilities behind the door undergo new changes?


    ¡°Cave Era, can you analyze the seventh shot?¡± Immortal asked Cave Era.


    Cave Era was good at time. If anyone could figure out something, it would be her.


    ¡°I need to give it a try. I need to use some supplementary items to circulate the power of time to reforge the gunshot¡¯s progression,¡± Cave Era said after some hesitation.


    ¡°How long will it take?¡± Immortal asked.


    ¡°At least three days,¡± Cave Era answered.


    ¡­


    The Ultimate Family Clan of the North District.


    ¡°Sadie, did you see it?¡± Lance and company looked at Sadie. Sadie, who had the Eye of Odin, was the person who was most likely to see the seventh shot clearly.


    ¡°That shot was too fast. It¡¯s still difficult to discern it clearly when I slow it down. I need some time to analyze it,¡± Sadie said helplessly.


    ¡­


    The same situation kept happening in the various major powers. The analysts of the various factions began taking action.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t analyze the shot. At that moment, he was hugging a bone and smiling foolishly.


    I¡¯ve made a killing¡­ I¡¯ve made a huge killing this time¡­ Zhou Wen hugged the oval bone and was just short of kissing it.


    This was actually the skeleton¡¯s Companion Egg. Furthermore, his stats and abilities were so powerful that Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    Grim Reaper No. 10: Terror


    Life Providence: Undying Body


    Life Soul: Grim Reaper¡¯s Scythe


    Wheel of Destiny: Immortality


    Terror form: Grim Reaper¡¯s Tenth Memorial.


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Grim Reaper¡¯s Cull, Shadow of the Underworld, Dance of the Dead, Grim Reaper¡¯s Backlash


    Companion Form: None


    There was no need to mention how powerful Grim Reaper No. 10¡¯s combat strength was. Its strongest point was that it had an undying body and indestructibility. This was the key to its ability to withstand the Calamity-grade forces.


    In terms of offensive strength, Grim Reaper No. 10 was top-notch among the Terror grade, but compared to the Calamity grade, he was still slaughtered.


    However, its Life Providence and Wheel of Destiny allowed it to have extremely powerful survival abilities.


    Zhou Wen hatched Grim Reaper No. 10 and took it into the game. This time, he wasn¡¯t going to the Venusian dungeon, but to have his Terror-grade Companion Beasts attack Grim Reaper No. 10.


    Grim Reaper No. 10¡¯s body was destroyed again and again. It was repeatedly destroyed seven times, but it still managed to recover.


    Zhou Wen kept trying, but no matter how many times he tried, Grim Reaper No. 10 could recover. Clearly, the reason it was killed by the seventh shot wasn¡¯t because its abilities had reached their limits, but because the Calamity-grade power had undergone a special change.


    The various factions could only use their present information to analyze it, but Zhou Wen had an additional advantage. With Grim Reaper No. 10, he could enter the game to experiment again and again.


    This was much more effective than using other Terror-grade Companion Beasts to forcefully withstand the attack. It was also more likely for him to figure out the secret of the seventh shot.


    Unfortunately, the twenty-four hours weren¡¯t up. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t immediately take Grim Reaper No. 10 into the Venusian dungeon.


    As for entering the Venusian dimensional zone in real life, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t go unless he tailed others to loot the spoils.


    The various families were secretly taking action. Their targets were basically locked onto Guardians or Companion Beasts with spatial and powerful immortality abilities.


    Only with these two powers could one successfully take down the Venusian dimensional zone. Otherwise, no matter how many people went, they would only be sending themselves to their deaths.


    After Grim Reaper No. 10, no creature challenged the Venusian dimensional zone again.


    Zhou Wen kept grinding and finally managed to wait out the twenty-four hours . He immediately led Grim Reaper No. 10 into the game¡¯s Venusian instance dungeon.


    Perhaps he had used up all his luck in reality, but when he attempted the Venusian instance dungeon again, not even a Metal Guard Companion Egg dropped. much less a Golden Battle God Companion Egg.


    However, none of this was important. All Zhou Wen wanted to know was why Grim Reaper No. 10 died from the seventh shot.


    The alarm sounded as Zhou Wen used Great Brahma¡¯s power. At the same time, he pushed Truth Listener¡¯s ability to its limits. He also wanted to analyze the secret of the seventh shot.


    Bam!


    The sound of a gunshot rang out. Even someone as powerful as Grim Reaper No. 10 had his body blasted apart.


    Thankfully, Grim Reaper No. 10 quickly recovered. Just like in reality, he received the shots over and over again. Grim Reaper No. 10 was repeatedly killed and revived.


    The first six shots were identical to the ones in reality, but Zhou Wen still observed them carefully. He had to find the difference between the seventh shot and the first six shots.


    Bang!


    Finally, the seventh gunshot sounded. Grim Reaper No. 10 died as his body was reduced to ashes. Just like in reality, he couldn¡¯t revive.

 Chapter 1231 - Seventh Shot That Spells Certain Death

    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned Banana Fairy, the three Golden Battle Gods, Deva Asura, Limitless Demon Dragon King, and Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, allowing them to rush towards the door that shot out the bullets.


    A series of gunshots sounded. Apart from the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords held by Zhou Wen, the other Terror-grade Companion Beasts were shot and killed one by one. They didn¡¯t even have the chance to dodge as they were almost immediately wiped out.


    The reason why it was ¡®almost¡¯ was because Deva Asura dodged the first bullet that was aimed at him. However, with another shot, Deva Asura was still killed.


    He can actually dodge it? Zhou Wen was surprised that Deva Asura could dodge the shot. He originally imagined that it would be difficult for him to fight a Calamity-grade expert, like Grim Reaper No. 10, head-on.


    However, Deva Asura¡¯s successful dodge made Zhou Wen see another possibility.


    The reason Deva Asura could dodge was naturally due to luck and good fortune. Deva Asura definitely couldn¡¯t dodge the shot from speed alone. After all, he couldn¡¯t even dodge Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation in time. No matter how fast Deva Asura was, he couldn¡¯t be faster than Zhou Wen.


    If I can dodge using luck and fortune, I might have a solution. Zhou Wen thought of the Devas in the Deva Realm. Those Devas had luck and fortune skills, and their companion form was Heavenly Robe.


    Zhou Wen thought that if the luck and good fortune of the Heavenly Robe and the Deva Asura Saber augmented him, he might be able to dodge the Calamity-grade bullets.


    The augmentation effect of luck and fortune was weakest against large area-of-effect attacks, but from the looks of it, the Calamity-grade creature behind the door didn¡¯t seem to have any area-of-effect attacks. If he only needed to dodge the bullets, luck and fortune were extremely useful.


    I wonder if the Devas in the Deva Realm have any other Companion Forms. If they are in the form of gloves, hats, boots, or stuff like that, I can get a set of equipment that augments luck and good fortune. With my beloved baby tiger, I might be able to continuously dodge the Calamity-grade bullets. With this in mind, Zhou Wen felt an unbearable desire. He wished he could go to Deva Realm to farm some more Devas.


    However, the trials in the in-game Netherworld City were too difficult. Without Li Xuan¡¯s help, Zhou Wen could barely give the other punishments a try. The final millennium dream was just too difficult. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident.


    Is there no other way to clear Netherworld City? Zhou Wen opened the Netherworld City dungeon and planned on studying it.


    While Zhou Wen was studying Netherworld City, the various factions were analyzing the seventh shot.


    In the past few days, no one had challenged the Venusian dimensional zone again. They were all thinking of solutions.


    From the present situation, the dimension indeed didn¡¯t have much control over the Cube¡¯s operation. Otherwise, they would have definitely given the League of Guardians the green light in everything. The League of Guardians didn¡¯t receive such preferential treatment based on the situation.


    The various factions were also searching for the whereabouts of Looter King. They wanted to figure out who he was and if he could be used by them. If he couldn¡¯t be used by them, it was best to eliminate him.


    This ability to come and go freely in the Venusian dimensional zone was just too terrifying. If he could come and go to Venus, he could go anywhere on Earth.


    With such a person around, many people couldn¡¯t eat or sleep in peace.


    Many commoners also discussed Looter King. Many media outlets had specially produced special videos of Looter King. They even tabulated and listed the numerous good items Looter King had picked up.


    According to the statistics, Looter King had already picked up two Golden Battle God Companion Eggs and the skeleton¡¯s bone. It was unknown if it was a Companion Egg or a dimensional crystal.


    He had also picked up seven Mythical Companion Eggs, but there were even more dimensional crystals.


    With this tabulation, many people¡¯s eyes turned red with envy. In just a few days, the benefits obtained by Looter King had exceeded the savings of the Federation¡¯s top experts.


    Many people came forward to denounce Looter King, claiming that he was of reprovable character and that he shouldn¡¯t have done such despicable things.


    There were also experts who said that Looter King should donate the Companion Eggs he had obtained for the Federation¡¯s research efforts. It would aid humans in conquering the Venusian dimensional zone.


    This caused another huge debate on the Internet. Some people believed that Looter King should donate his spoils or at least cooperate with research.


    Some people believed that they were things that Looter King had obtained with his own abilities. He had risked his life to obtain them. Why should he hand it over to the Federation?


    When Zhou Wen occasionally paid attention to the Cube, he also saw these discussions. He had no intention of donating them at all.


    It wasn¡¯t entirely because he couldn¡¯t bear to part with them. Another reason was that no one on Earth knew the Venusian dimensional zone better than him. Who could research it faster than him?


    However, this matter gave Zhou Wen a wake-up call.


    It¡¯s indeed a little troublesome to grind the Deva Realm. Furthermore, there might not be a complete set of gloves, boots, and other equipment. Instead of going through so much trouble, why don¡¯t I try to purchase Companion Beasts with luck and good fortune traits? Zhou Wen only had an idea, but he didn¡¯t know how to go about doing it.


    Furthermore, luck and good fortune were rare abilities. Even an Epic Lucky Baby Tiger could be sold for an astronomical price. Mythical and Terror-grade ones were even more priceless. Even if others had them, they might not be willing to exchange them for something else.


    He couldn¡¯t think of a good way to complete the trade for the time being. All he could do was continue seeking a way to clear Netherworld City. At the same time, he waited for the Venusian instance dungeon to refresh or for other creatures to rush into the Venusian dimensional zone.


    For two consecutive days, no creature entered the Venusian dimensional zone. Zhou Wen farmed the Venus instance dungeon twice. Each time, Grim Reaper No. 10 died at the seventh shot.


    Even if the other Companion Beasts were to block the first few shots for it, Grim Reaper No. 10 would still die when it took the seventh shot.


    Zhou Wen made another attempt. If he could stall for time and last out the seventh shot and let Grim Reaper No. 10 take the hit from the eighth shot, would something special happen?


    With this attempt, Zhou Wen discovered a problem.


    After outlasting the first seven bullets, the eighth bullet failed to kill Grim Reaper No. 10. Grim Reaper No. 10 died at the seventh shot during a new round of firing.


    As for Deva Asura¡¯s dodging ability, its effectiveness was variable. It wasn¡¯t very reliable.


    From the looks of it, only the seventh shot in every round is fatal to Grim Reaper No. 10. As long as I can hold out, Grim Reaper No. 10 can actually last a long time¡­ Zhou Wen immediately saw hope of clearing the dungeon.


    Although it hadn¡¯t been verified, it was theoretically feasible. Now, Zhou Wen still had a problem to resolve.


    Just holding out wasn¡¯t enough. He had to rush in and find the dimensional creature inside. Only by finding it could he kill it. Otherwise, it would be useless no matter how long he held on.


    Zhou Wen tried teleporting to the door that shot out the bullets, but he didn¡¯t see the dimensional creature inside. The bullets shot out from the other doors and killed the blood-colored avatar.


    After trying several methods, he still failed to find the dimensional creature.

 Chapter 1232 - One Step Ahead

    After a few days, another creature challenged the Venusian dimensional zone. However, no human had seen this creature before. It had never appeared around the Venusian dimensional zone when the latter was first born.


    The creature looked like a huge turtle. Its shell was more than three meters in diameter and its body was crystalline like jade.


    However, its head was like a dragon. It had horns and whiskers, but it couldn¡¯t shrink back into its shell.


    As no one knew where this dimensional creature came from, the attention on it increased. However, more people wanted to know if Looter King would come in to loot again.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what level the turtle was and didn¡¯t dare rashly enter.


    He wasn¡¯t in a rush. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to enter after the huge turtle killed the Golden Battle Gods. His life was still the most important thing.


    After the huge turtle entered the Venusian dimensional zone, the Metal Guard launched an attack. However, when the bullets struck the huge turtle¡¯s body, not only did they fail to injure it, the bullets even bounced back and penetrated the Metal Guard¡¯s body.


    Originally, these metal bullets couldn¡¯t injure the Metal Guard, but from ricocheting from the huge turtle, the bullets seemed to be augmented with some strange power that killed the Metal Guard.


    Numerous Metal Guards rushed out and swept at the huge turtle with their submachine guns. The bullets failed to injure the huge turtle at all. The ricocheting bullets killed all of them.


    ¡°What a powerful ricocheting ability!¡± Everyone was surprised.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Zhang Yuzhi were watching the live broadcast together. Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s gaze was fixed on the huge turtle as he frowned as though he was thinking about something.


    ¡°This turtle looks a little familiar,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said after watching for a while.


    When Zhang Chunqiu heard that, he said, ¡°In ancient times, there was a Dragon Turtle. Legend has it that it was the son of the Dragon God. It carried the Chart of the Yellow River and Writ of the Luo River and appeared in the world, illustrating the cosmos and gave clues for its ordering. It possesses infinite mystery.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I was wondering why it looked so familiar. The Dragon Turtle looks very similar to the pictures in the library at home.¡± Zhang Yuzhi thought for a moment and said, ¡°If this is really a Dragon Turtle, then it¡¯s a creature from Earth?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps, perhaps not. Who knows?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said meaningfully.


    The Golden Battle God appeared, but his bullet also ricocheted from the Dragon Turtle. A dimensional crystal dropped¡ªa skill crystal.


    Zhou Wen saw that the huge turtle didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of taking the initiative to attack others or pick up the items on the ground. Without any hesitation, he teleported to Venus and headed for the dimensional zone, planning on picking up the items.


    To his surprise, just as Zhou Wen teleported into the room, he realized that a figure had already picked up the Golden Battle God¡¯s dimensional crystal on the ground.


    On careful look, it was a person wearing Astral Armor. He looked familiar.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and immediately recalled that this person had previously participated in the ranking battle of the Cube. He was one of the earlier batch of Guardians, and his strength back then was rather impressive.


    However, he didn¡¯t participate in the battle much. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t paid much attention to him either. He couldn¡¯t even remember his name, but he remembered the person.


    At that moment, the people watching the livestream saw that Looter King had been beaten to the chase by someone else. Some gloated, while others watched with relish. There were also people who looked forward to their fight.


    ¡°Sorry, you¡¯re late.¡± The person put away the skill crystal and picked up the other crystals on the ground.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t slow either. Seeing that the huge turtle had no intention of attacking them, he quickly snatched the dimensional crystals on the ground.


    However, Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that the other party¡¯s teleportation was faster than his. Every time he phased into existence after teleportation, the other party would have already snatched the dimensional crystal.


    However, this way, Zhou Wen immediately discovered the other party¡¯s identity.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen¡¯s judgment was strong, but that he had cultivated the other party¡¯s Essence Energy Art before. The direction the other party cultivated was somewhat different from his. However, their foundations were the same, so it was very easy to tell.


    Unless there¡¯s a third person in the world who cultivates the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, this fellow is undoubtedly Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun. Zhou Wen sized up the person and thought to himself, This fellow seems more well-rounded despite us cultivating the same Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art.


    Zhou Wen had always taken the path of a grand universe for the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. It allowed him to continuously teleport in a short period of time apart from a lack of accuracy.


    Liu Yun¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability was relatively weaker, but it was more accurate than Zhou Wen¡¯s. It could also be used for short-distance teleportation.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t developed the potential of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art in this aspect. Instead, he had replaced it with the ability of the Godfiend Era. One focused on short range, while the other focused on interstellar teleportation. They went to two extremes.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen learned too many things. He wasn¡¯t as focused on the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art as Liu Yun.


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry. From the looks of it, I¡¯ve made you come here for nothing.¡± Liu Yun was extremely smug as he didn¡¯t forget to tease Zhou Wen.


    As Zhou Wen had used the Godfiend Era when he teleported, Liu Yun didn¡¯t realize that Looter King was Zhou Wen. He was feeling smug that he had stolen Looter King¡¯s limelight in front of all of humanity.


    ¡°You may live to snatch it, but you need to leave alive,¡± Zhou Wen deliberately changed his voice.


    ¡°You can scare others, but you can¡¯t scare me, the Thief Sage.¡± Liu Yun first reported his name before continuing, ¡°I¡¯ve already observed and understood that as long as you don¡¯t use the Cube to teleport over and don¡¯t enter the Venusian dimensional zone through the main entrance, you can teleport out at any time, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He wasn¡¯t surprised that Liu Yun could guess the truth, but he was somewhat puzzled. He didn¡¯t know why Liu Yun had said it in front of all the Earthlings. It looked like he had done it on purpose.


    With Liu Yun¡¯s greed, there was no reason for him not to secretly plunder the fortune and expose this secret.


    ¡°That¡¯s if you can leave alive,¡± Zhou Wen repeated coldly as he held the Asura Saber in his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m so afraid!¡± Liu Yun patted his chest as though he was a fearful little child, but his eyes were filled with mockery.


    Without a word, Zhou Wen slashed at Liu Yun. He didn¡¯t really want to kill Liu Yun to snatch the dimensional crystal back, but he wanted to see how strong Liu Yun was.


    Like him, Liu Yun was very good at movement techniques. Zhou Wen guessed that his movement technique wasn¡¯t inferior to his.


    However, to his surprise, Liu Yun didn¡¯t dodge his saber. He placed one hand behind his back as though he was invincible.


    At the instant the Asura Saber arrived in front of him, Zhou Wen saw Liu Yun¡¯s right hand flash as his two fingers clamped onto the blade.


    Not good! Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for him to use his fingers to clamp down on the Asura Saber that was slashing down. Even a peak Terror expert who specialized in physical and finger strength couldn¡¯t do it, much less Liu Yun.


    Even though Liu Yun¡¯s body wasn¡¯t strong, he still had the Star Stealer skill.

 Chapter 1233 - Collaboration

    Zhou Wen had always wanted to have Star Stealer¡¯s skill crystal drop, but he didn¡¯t know if he was unlucky or if the skill wasn¡¯t fated to be his.


    Although Zhou Wen had never practiced Star Stealer before, he knew from past experiences that Star Stealer had a certain probability of stealing Companion Beasts. Furthermore, it was a random theft.


    However, when he saw Liu Yun¡¯s present state, Zhou Wen knew that something was amiss. This fellow¡¯s Star Stealer had probably undergone a new transformation.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen instantly retracted the Asura Saber. At the same time, a Legendary Companion Beast sword that had dropped from the Ancient Sword Tomb appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand as he continued slashing. The series of actions were completed in an instant.


    Liu Yun¡¯s fingers were fast and accurate. As he gripped the blade, Zhou Wen felt the sword in his hand disappear. Furthermore, the sword-type Companion Beast had severed its connection with Zhou Wen. Even the tattoo had vanished.


    ¡°Haha¡­ You didn¡¯t expect that, right¡­¡± Liu Yun laughed out loud as Zhou Wen¡¯s sword was in his hand.


    Liu Yun had been planning this for a long time. He had previously seen Zhou Wen easily slice open the Golden Battle God¡¯s body with the Asura Saber. He knew that the Asura Saber was definitely the transformation of a Terror-grade Companion Beast. He had plotted meticulously, hoping to steal the Asura Saber while Looter King knew nothing about him.


    Over the years, Liu Yun hadn¡¯t been idle. Star Stealer was only a foundation, but now, he had cultivated it to an unprecedented level. He had broken through the level and ability restrictions of Star Stealer. He no longer counted on chance for stealing Companion Beasts. As long as his fingers touched a Companion Beast, he could steal it.


    Of course, there were restrictions. Therefore, Liu Yun planned on stealing the Asura Saber while the other party didn¡¯t know anything about him.


    However, halfway through his laughter, Liu Yun realized that something was amiss. The weapon in his hand didn¡¯t look like the Asura Saber, but a sword.


    After carefully sensing it, Liu Yun immediately had the urge to vomit blood. How was this a Terror-grade Companion Beast? It was actually a Legendary sword.


    Strange, what¡¯s wrong with this fellow? Under such circumstances, why would he suddenly change his weapon? Could it be that he already knows about my Star Stealer¡¯s prowess? Who is he? Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen in surprise as he felt that something was amiss.


    The people watching the livestream didn¡¯t have as many thoughts as Liu Yun, nor did they have such good eyesight.


    They only saw Zhou Wen slash at Liu Yun before the saber in his hand vanished. However, Liu Yun had an additional weapon in his empty hand. They were alarmed.


    ¡°Thief Sage really lives up to his reputation. He actually snatched away Looter King¡¯s weapon in battle.¡±


    ¡°That actually works? How did he do it? To be able to steal the other party¡¯s Companion Beast, isn¡¯t this ability too sick?¡±


    ¡°Thief Sage is too terrifying. With such an ability, wouldn¡¯t he be able to steal from anyone? Who would dare use a Companion Beast in front of him?¡±


    ¡­


    Liu Yun has indeed cultivated to the point where he can steal Companion Beasts as he wishes. He¡¯s really impressive. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly, but he didn¡¯t stop.


    He secretly circulated his Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique and instantly exchanged a Companion Beast with the sword in Liu Yun¡¯s hand.


    Bam!


    Liu Yun realized that the sword in his hand had suddenly become another sword. He immediately realized that something was amiss and threw the sword out.


    The sword exploded in midair, sending Liu Yun flying with a tragic cry.


    When people realized what was happening, they realized that Liu Yun, who had been blasted away, had vanished. When they looked at Looter King again, he was gone. Only the huge turtle was still fighting the Golden Battle God.


    On Venus, two figures constantly blinked in and out of existence. Soon, they left the Venusian instance dungeon and arrived at a rift valley.


    ¡°Junior Brother, how have you been?¡± Liu Yun had already guessed who Zhou Wen was. Although half of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique was the Godfiend Era¡¯s power, half of it was the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art¡¯s power.


    ¡°Give it back,¡± Zhou Wen said as he extended his hand.


    Liu Yun said seriously, ¡°Junior Brother, these dimensional crystals are limited in value. I have a big transaction that might interest you. If we succeed, the benefits we can obtain will be far more than just a few dimensional crystals.¡±


    ¡°What big transaction?¡± Zhou Wen knew that this fellow definitely had some plans. Otherwise, why would he expose the secret of entering and exiting the Venusian dimensional zone for no reason?


    Liu Yun chuckled and said, ¡°We definitely can¡¯t defeat the Calamity-grade creature. No matter how many spoils you loot, you can only pick up the Golden Battle God Companion Eggs. You were already very lucky to have picked up two Golden Battle God Companion Eggs. The chances of you picking up Companion Eggs in the future will only drop.¡±


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that the first dimensional creature to appear in a dimensional zone had a much higher chance of dropping a Companion Egg. The more he killed, the lower the drop rate.


    ¡°I¡¯ve revealed the secret of entering and exiting the Venusian dimensional zone. The League of Guardians and the various factions will definitely not be able to hold back and attempt to conquer the Venusian dimensional zone. At the very least, they will want to kill the Golden Battle Gods first. When the time comes, we can mug them. The benefits we can obtain will be much better than having a Companion Egg drop,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°What if they refuse to give in? We can¡¯t just kill them all, right? I don¡¯t want to be enemies with the entire world,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if they don¡¯t offer them up. There¡¯s still me,¡± Liu Yun said with a nasty smile.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he realized that Liu Yun was carrying out the theft openly.


    ¡°If the League of Guardians were to come, there would definitely be more than one or two. Would you be able to gain an advantage from them?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Liu Yun. He didn¡¯t believe that Liu Yun had the ability to fight a crowd alone and rob the fellows from the League of Guardians.


    Cave Era, Hermit, Great Skyfiend, and Blood Shaman were not people to be trifled with.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I originally wanted to find an opportunity to make a single heist, but since you¡¯re here, we can do a bigger one. How about it? Do you want to work together and do something big?¡± Liu Yun continued trying to rope Zhou Wen in.


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯ll determine who we are mugging.¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t care about benevolence or morality when it came to the League of Guardians.


    ¡°Alright, no problem. I¡¯ll be under your command. How about 50-50 after the matter is done?¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°Sure. Return the dimensional crystals you just took.¡± Zhou Wen felt that this was something doable, so he discussed the details with Liu Yun.


    The risk wasn¡¯t high. After all, the two humans who were best at spatial dimension were here. Although there were other spatial experts, there weren¡¯t many who were stronger than them. Even if the heist failed, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for the two of them to escape with their lives.


    As the two of them were discussing, the huge turtle had already ricocheted the bullets of the six Golden Battle Gods, killing them. No bullets of any attribute could injure it at all.

 Chapter 1234 - Greed

    Clang!


    The gunshot was deafening. It was somewhat different from the usual gunshots.


    In the past, the bullets that flew out of the door destroyed everything with one shot. Even Grim Reaper No. 10 could only revive after being killed.


    However, this time, the bullet that flew out of the door failed to penetrate the huge turtle¡¯s body. A metal bullet struck the spot between the huge turtle¡¯s eyebrows, but only appeared as though it had been embedded in a steel plate. The entire bullet didn¡¯t penetrate its flesh. One could see that the end of the bullet was red metal, but it was impossible to see the complete appearance of the bullet.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, it actually failed to penetrate!¡± Everyone looked at the huge turtle in disbelief.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    One gunshot after another rang out as they struck different spots on the huge turtle¡¯s body. Every bullet was embedded in its body, but they failed to penetrate its body or kill it.


    The huge turtle wasn¡¯t able to send the bullets ricocheting either. It only walked towards the door while taking the bullets head on.


    ¡°That turtle isn¡¯t a Calamity-grade creature, right?¡±


    ¡°It looks very strong, but it doesn¡¯t seem to have a Calamity Zone.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps it¡¯s just not using it. Look at the creature behind the door. It isn¡¯t using a domain either.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly as Zhou Wen wore a look of surprise. He was also watching this battle, and it was right outside the Venusian dimensional zone.


    It was very difficult to see directly into the dimensional zone from the outside. Zhou Wen was somewhat envious that Liu Yun had obtained a mirror from somewhere that could project the scenes from inside the dimensional zone.


    However, with this mirror, it saved him a lot of trouble. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to return to Earth to use the Cube to watch the battle inside.


    ¡°This Dragon Turtle¡¯s carapace is so hard. It has already blocked six consecutive shots. I wonder if it can block the seventh shot?¡± Liu Yun said in surprise as he looked at the projection in the mirror.


    ¡°From the looks of it, that turtle should be at the Calamity grade. Furthermore, it¡¯s a defensive one. However, it¡¯s still hard to tell if it can withstand the seventh shot. This is the shield and spear paradox. It depends on who¡¯s stronger.¡± Although Zhou Wen said that, he was thinking of another problem.


    This turtle was most likely a Calamity-grade creature. If it was killed inside, it was unknown if a Companion Egg or dimensional fruit would drop.


    If something dropped, it would be too tempting.


    Zhou Wen had never touched a Calamity-grade Companion Egg before.


    Although Truth Listener could barely enter the Calamity grade, the price it had to pay was too great. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want to do things to repeat itself, considering how he needed Wang Mingyuan¡¯s help to get Truth Listener under control again.


    The Venusian instance dungeon was clearly different from the dungeons on Earth. Any creature that entered the dungeon could drop a Companion Egg. The huge turtle was probably no exception.


    However, even if a Companion Egg dropped, it was still a question whether he dared to take it.


    If he entered without any cover, he might suffer a head shot.


    Many powerful creatures on Earth were also watching the seventh shot.


    ¡°What a pity.¡± In a cave on Chess Mountain, a chained woman was watching the live broadcast. She looked at the huge turtle with a look of pity and muttered to herself, ¡°Such a rare creature has to die not long after being born. If it had time to continue growing, I¡¯m afraid the Venusian dimensional zone wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it.¡±


    Under the attention of everyone, the fatal seventh shot finally sounded. This shot that could even kill Grim Reaper No. 10 struck the huge turtle¡¯s neck with a bang.


    This shot wasn¡¯t aimed at its head. When the bullet struck the huge turtle¡¯s neck, it was as though it had hit a steel plate, producing a plethora of sparks.


    However, in the midst of the sparks and flashes, the bullet slammed into the huge turtle¡¯s body and drilled into its shell. In the next instant, it drilled out from behind its body with sparks.


    Bam!


    The huge turtle¡¯s body fell to the ground as turtle blood immediately gushed out from the two gun wounds like spring water.


    ¡°Even a Calamity-grade can¡¯t block that shot!¡± Everyone was alarmed as a chill arose in their hearts.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun exchanged looks and saw the greed in each other¡¯s eyes. They had thought of the same thing.


    Although the huge turtle looked like it was about to die, it wasn¡¯t completely dead. It still had a breath of life left. To be able to withstand a terrifying Calamity-grade attack without being directly killed, the huge turtle¡¯s identity as a Calamity-grade could basically be confirmed.


    If a Companion Egg really dropped, they were considering taking the risk to snatch it.


    The huge turtle struggled to get up, but after struggling a few times, it fell to the ground again. More and more turtle blood flowed out. It was unlikely to live. Death was only a matter of time.


    The creature behind the door seemed to know that huge turtle wouldn¡¯t survive, so it didn¡¯t continue shooting. This left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    In-game, the creature would continue shooting until the enemy was completely dead.


    However, in reality, the other party would stop firing. This action appeared very intelligent. The huge turtle was doomed, so there was no need for him to fire another shot.


    If he fired another shot, it would expose the fact that only his seventh shot was fatal, making it easier for others to deal with him.


    After all, he¡¯s a creature in real life. It¡¯s understandable that he has high intelligence. He¡¯s not as inflexible as in-game, but this makes it even more difficult to kill him. Furthermore, the method I previously thought of might not work against him. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    In-game, this creature first fought the creature with the highest level. Therefore, as long as there was a Terror-grade present, it wouldn¡¯t target a human with a Mythical body like Zhou Wen.


    However, in reality, the other party had high intelligence. He would definitely be able to tell his importance. When the time came, he would be doomed if he was first targeted.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, the turtle struggled to crawl towards the door, leaving a long trail of blood on the ground. The blood in its body was almost drained.


    There was still some distance from the door. The huge turtle looked like it was on its last breath and couldn¡¯t crawl further.


    Suddenly, the huge turtle that looked like it could no longer move raised its head as though it experienced a spurt of strength in its final moments of life, giving everyone watching a fright.


    In the next second, the huge turtle¡¯s actions gave everyone a shock. It opened its dragon mouth and spat out something. After the thing spewed out, all of the huge turtle¡¯s essence, vitality, and spirit dissipated. Its final breath was taken as it collapsed to the ground.


    Most people¡¯s eyes were attracted by the thing that the huge turtle spewed out. It was a round jade ball the size of a soccer ball. The jade ball was milky-white and translucent. There seemed to be clouds flowing and churning inside. It looked magical.


    That thing¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a Companion Egg¡­ Zhou Wen and Liu Yun exchanged looks. Almost at the same time, the two of them teleported into the dimensional zone.


    A Calamity-grade Companion Egg was something that could drive anyone crazy.

 Chapter 1235 - Fighting for the Jade Ball

    Chapter 1235: Fighting for the Jade Ball


    Translator: CKtalon


    The moment Zhou Wen appeared in the room, he locked onto the soccer-sized jade ball and reached out to grab it.


    Liu Yun¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t slower than Zhou Wen¡¯s. He also extended his hand to grab the jade ball. Their fingers touched it almost at the same time.


    The spectators were alarmed when they saw that Looter King and Thief Sage had appeared to snatch the jade ball simultaneously.


    They shared the same thoughts as Zhou Wen and Liu Yun. They felt that the jade ball was very likely a Dragon Turtle Companion Egg. If they could really get it, its value was inestimable.


    When Zhou Wen saw Liu Yun touch the jade ball, he suddenly sucked at it, hoping to pull it over.


    To his surprise, Liu Yun had the same thought.. The two of them sucked hard at the same time, but they failed to pull the jade ball towards them.


    1


    Clang!


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen¡¯s Asura Saber and Liu Yun¡¯s dagger slashed at each other, hoping to force the other party back, but they only managed to collide.


    With this collision, the two of them exerted too much force. The terrifying force forced the two of them to retreat as their fingers left the jade ball.


    Seeing the jade ball fly out again, everyone¡¯s hearts rose to their throats as their gazes involuntarily followed the jade ball.


    However, in the next moment, everyone felt their vision blur. The jade ball had somehow landed in Liu Yun¡¯s hand.


    ¡°As expected of the Thief Sage. His hands are just too fast,¡± Zhang Chunqiu exclaimed. With his eyesight, he failed to see how Liu Yun had taken the jade ball.


    Bang!


    A gunshot sounded as Liu Yun¡¯s head exploded after obtaining the jade ball. The Guardian armor on his body was like paper¡ªcompletely useless.


    However, a strange scene happened. Liu Yun, whose head had exploded, turned into quicksand and scattered on the ground. Another Liu Yun held the jade ball and vanished in the blink of an eye. He had likely teleported out of the dimensional zone.


    Everyone was dumbfounded. This series of actions left everyone flabbergasted. Before anyone could react, Liu Yun had already left with the jade ball.


    When they turned to look at Looter King, he was nowhere to be seen. Furthermore, the live broadcast of the Cube had stopped and returned to the scene outside the dimensional zone.


    Without a doubt, the Dragon Turtle was already dead.


    ¡°As expected of the Thief Sage. He¡¯s too awesome. His hands are so fast that it makes one¡¯s hair stand on end. I didn¡¯t see how he took the Companion Egg.¡±


    ¡°If you could see it, would he still be called the Thief Sage?¡±


    ¡°Thief Sage is really impressive. That¡¯s a Calamity-grade Companion Egg!¡±


    ¡°If he really hatches it, won¡¯t he be invincible?¡±


    ¡°How can a Calamity-grade Companion Egg be hatched so easily? If he¡¯s not careful, he might even lose his life.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. If the Thief Sage can¡¯t hatch it in a short period of time, I¡¯m afraid he will encounter grave danger.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I reckon many powerful fellows have already taken action. As long as it isn¡¯t hatched, Thief Sage won¡¯t have a moment of peace.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no longer an issue of peace. I¡¯m just afraid he won¡¯t live long enough to hatch the Companion Egg.¡±


    In fact, just as most people guessed, many factions had already begun tracking Liu Yun¡¯s whereabouts.


    They knew that a Calamity-grade Companion Egg wasn¡¯t that easy to incubate. As long as they could kill the Thief Sage before he hatched it, the Companion Egg would be theirs.


    Who wouldn¡¯t be tempted by a Calamity-grade Companion Egg? Even in the dimension, a Calamity-grade was already an overlord. Apart from Human Sovereign, they had never heard of a second human possessing a Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    Liu Yun wasn¡¯t stupid. Therefore, he immediately used interstellar teleportation to leave Venus. After returning to Earth, he plunged into an uninhabited desert.


    At that moment, Liu Yun was extremely excited. That was a Calamity-grade Companion Egg. As long as he could hatch it, he, Liu Yun, would be a virtually invincible existence on Earth. The League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association had nothing on him.


    As for the agreement with Zhou Wen, Liu Yun threw it out. He definitely couldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen have any chance of coming into contact with such a good item.


    When I, Liu Yun, appear again, it will be time to change the world. Liu Yun also knew that this wasn¡¯t the time to be happy. He had to quickly escape to a safe place.


    The temptation of a Calamity-grade Companion Egg was just too great. It was likely that the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association had already taken action. Even the six families might have sent people to snatch the Companion Egg from him. He had to find a safe place to think of a way to hatch it.


    What kind of Companion Beast will it be? From the looks of the dragon carapace, it should be armor, right? Liu Yun was already imagining himself wearing the Dragon Turtle armor and facing the experts who came to hunt him. He would stand steadfast with his hands behind his back. No matter if they hit him until exhaustion, they couldn¡¯t injure him at all. Instead, he would rebound any force directed at him back at them until they were dead.


    ¡°I really do live up to the nickname ¡®Thief Sage.¡¯ In the future, when I wear the Calamity armor to mug others, they will obediently hand over their spoils to me. Would I need to be sneaky? As a thief, I should have the demeanor of a thief. I¡¯m a role model among thieves. I¡¯m a gentleman among thieves, the elegant and charming Thief Sage¡­¡± Liu Yun was about to drool. He imagined the scene of thousands of beautiful girls falling for him in the future. He could make those beautiful girls faint from excitement with just a look.


    ¡°With a pet in hand, the world is my¡­ my¡­ my¡­¡± Liu Yun subconsciously touched the jade ball in his arms. With this touch, his expression changed drastically as he stuttered.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why did it turn into stone?¡± Liu Yun threw the stone ball in his arms to the ground.


    1


    The stone ball shattered the moment it landed. It was clearly an ordinary stone¡ªnot a Companion Egg.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Where¡¯s my Companion Egg? Where¡¯s my ball?¡± Liu Yun was dumbfounded when he saw the shattered stone ball.


    Soon, Liu Yun came to a realization and immediately knew what had happened.


    ¡°That bastard Zhou Wen tricked me again!¡± An extremely furious roar sounded in the wilderness, scaring the surrounding animals into retreating. The wild birds scattered in all directions.


    He had paid such a huge price to use the only Quicksand Substitute he had, but he ended up with this crap.


    Zhou Wen also returned to Earth with a ball in his arms. It was the jade ball spat out by the Dragon Turtle.


    When he first touched the jade ball, he had already left a mark on it. The reason he didn¡¯t use Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to retrieve it immediately was that he wanted Liu Yun to take it away. He was afraid that the dimensional creatures behind the door would target the person who obtained the jade ball first. The outcome was as he had expected. Liu Yun was first to be hit.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, Eldest Senior Brother, you were the one who wanted to vie for it with me. You can¡¯t blame me.¡± Zhou Wen hugged the jade ball and found it more and more pleasing to the eye. He was just short of kissing it.


    This was a Calamity-grade treasure. Perhaps he would have a true Calamity-grade Companion Beast soon, not a disobedient defective creature like Truth Listener.


    ¡°Come on, baby. Let me see your stats.¡± Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the jade ball.

 Chapter 1236 - : Strange Jade Ball

    Chapter 1236: Strange Jade Ball


    Translator: CKtalon


    Eh, what¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen held his phone and aimed it at the jade ball. He aimed the camera from every angle, but his phone didn¡¯t react at all.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized that something was amiss. If it was a Companion Egg, the phone would definitely have reacted. It should be able to be stored in-game.


    Now that there was no reaction from the phone, there was only one possibility¡ªthis thing wasn¡¯t a Companion Egg.


    No way? Zhou Wen looked at the jade ball gloomily. He had taken such a huge risk and taken so much effort to obtain it, but it wasn¡¯t a Companion Egg.


    What is this? Since it was spat out by the Calamity-grade Dragon Turtle before it died, even if it¡¯s not a Companion Egg, it should be something good, right? Zhou Wen carefully studied it for a while but failed to figure it out.


    This thing looked like a ball both from afar and up close.. Even after fiddling with it for a long time, it remained a ball.


    It didn¡¯t have the ability to release energy, nor was there any special reaction. It was like a dead object.


    Could this be a gallstone from the Dragon Turtle¡¯s stomach? It was stuck in its throat before it died, so it spat it out? Zhou Wen wore an odd expression. He was already beginning to wonder if the jade ball was of any use.


    Looking around, he realized that he was in a mountainous area. There were no creatures around, so he released Ice Maiden, Jade Rabbit, Demonic Neonate, and company.


    ¡°Ice Maiden, take a look at this,¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the jade ball.


    Ice Maiden glanced at the jade ball on the ground, but she ignored Zhou Wen. She looked as though she didn¡¯t want to bother with him. It was unknown if she recognized it.


    Zhou Wen knew that Ice Maiden was pissed. She had been trapped for five years and hadn¡¯t had a chance to come out until recently. If it were Zhou Wen, he would definitely be extremely pissed as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to see the Demon God Bloodline Catalog? I can tell you where it is.¡± Zhou Wen threw out a bait.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll still believe you?¡± Ice Maiden curled her lips and said disdainfully.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always kept my word. I could do nothing about it since I was trapped for five years.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°To show my sincerity, I can tell you that the Demon God Bloodline Catalog is in Chess Mountain. If you are confident, you can enter the mountain to take a look now.¡±


    ¡°Chess Mountain? You aren¡¯t lying to me?¡± Ice Maiden sized up Zhou Wen suspiciously.


    Although she had been enslaved by Zhou Wen ever since she came to Earth, she hadn¡¯t been idle. She had used a phone and the Internet to gain a good understanding of Earth.


    Zhou Wen had mentioned Chess Mountain many times. Ice Maiden had a vague sense that Zhou Wen was afraid of it.


    A place that made Zhou Wen¡¯s expression change was definitely abnormally dangerous.


    ¡°The reason I didn¡¯t tell you in the past is that it¡¯s too dangerous there. Even if you are at the Terror grade, there¡¯s not much chance of you seeing the Demon God Bloodline Catalog alive. Therefore, I thought of taking you there only when I have the strength¡­¡± Zhou Wen comforted Ice Maiden.


    Although Ice Maiden didn¡¯t believe Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she still glanced at the jade ball in his hand and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter what you say now. I don¡¯t know what it is.¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly disappointed. If even Ice Maiden didn¡¯t know what it was, it would be difficult to identify it.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll keep my word. When I have the strength to enter Chess Mountain, I¡¯ll definitely take you to see the Demon God Bloodline Catalog,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside Chess Mountain?¡± Ice Maiden pressed.


    Zhou Wen told Ice Maiden some of The Thearch¡¯s deeds. As he was speaking the truth, Ice Maiden knew that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t lying after listening to him. Some things weren¡¯t something humans at Zhou Wen¡¯s level could know. He had definitely seen them before.


    ¡°You said that The Thearch can use the power of wishes to change your body thousands of kilometers away and turn you into another species?¡± Ice Maiden asked Zhou Wen in shock.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It completely transformed me into another creature. I didn¡¯t have any strength left,¡± Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    Ice Maiden fell silent. After a while, she said, ¡°If it¡¯s really as you said, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s impossible for us to storm in to take a look at the Demon God Bloodline Catalog.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked as he had some guesses.


    ¡°If The Thearch really possesses that power, even the kings of the Octokind might not be able to benefit in there, much less us,¡± Ice Maiden said with a heavy expression.


    ¡°Are you saying that The Thearch might be at the Apocalypse grade?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    He originally guessed that The Thearch might be at the peak of the Calamity grade. It was unlikely for an Apocalypse grade to appear on Earth.


    However, from Ice Maiden¡¯s expression, she seemed to think so.


    Ice Maiden shook her head slightly. ¡°It¡¯s hard to say, but creatures with that kind of power are definitely not ordinary Calamity-grade creatures.¡±


    After a pause, Ice Maiden said, ¡°Is there no other way to enter Chess Mountain?¡±


    ¡°I have no other methods now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    Seeing that Ice Maiden didn¡¯t seem to know what the jade ball was, Zhou Wen got Demonic Neonate to summon Grim Demon.


    ¡°Old Grim, do you know what this is?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the jade ball and asked Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon looked it over and finally shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this might be a Companion Egg?¡± Zhou Wen asked again, unwilling to give up.


    ¡°Are you crazy? How can such a stone be a Companion Egg?¡± Grim Demon looked at Zhou Wen as though he was a lunatic who was crazy about riches.


    Zhou Wen was greatly disappointed. This thing didn¡¯t seem to be as valuable as he imagined.


    Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t interested in the jade ball, nor did Jade Rabbit react. Some of the main Companion Beasts didn¡¯t have any special reaction to the jade ball.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up. He summoned the Companion Beasts he seldom used to see if there was any reaction to the jade ball.


    This was a last-ditch effort. These Companion Beasts basically didn¡¯t have any Evolvable attributes, nor did they need to eat. Even the evolvable Companion Beasts didn¡¯t react, so how could they react?


    Zhou Wen summoned even the Seven Seas Dragon King, but there was still no reaction. It was as though the jade ball was really useless.


    At this point, Zhou Wen had already given up. He planned on storing the jade ball in the Chaos Bead as a possible trump card for the future.


    However, to his surprise, the summoned Galaxy Shell Dragon suddenly arrived in front of the jade ball. Its lobster-like body bent down and hugged the jade ball with its many tiny claws. Its body curled up into a ball and wrapped the jade ball tightly.

 Chapter 1237 - Assassination

    Chapter 1237: Assassination


    Translator: CKtalon


    The way it hugged the ball reminded Zhou Wen of the shrimp ball meal during Ouyang Lan¡¯s treat.


    The Galaxy Shell Dragon held the jade ball motionless as though it was dead. When Zhou Wen summoned it, it didn¡¯t respond.


    Seeing the Galaxy Shell Dragon in such a state, Zhou Wen decided to put it into the Chaos Bead.


    In any case, I don¡¯t know what use that jade ball has. If the Galaxy Shell Dragon can evolve once, it will be quite worth it. Zhou Wen thought to himself that if the Galaxy Shell Dragon could advance to the Calamity grade, he would have made a killing.


    Although the Galaxy Shell Dragon wasn¡¯t as powerful as the Dragon Turtle, its Absolute Defense was also a very powerful Wheel of Destiny. If its level increased, it would be a very powerful aid.


    Zhou Wen also knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to advance to the Calamity grade..


    However, if it could advance to the Terror grade, it would become very useful. If it could constantly activate Absolute Defense, its defense would be so strong that it should be ranked at the top of the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen looked into the Chaos Bead again and saw that the Galaxy Shell Dragon was hugging the jade ball as though it was dead. There was still no movement or any special changes. It was unknown if it was evolving.


    Seeing that the situation wouldn¡¯t change anytime soon, Zhou Wen decided to ignore it. He first found a place with a phone signal to study the situation.


    Zhou Wen was immediately amused.


    Liu Yun had now become a rat that everyone was hunting. All the major factions were searching for his whereabouts. There were even people who publicly posted a bounty on the Internet. Those who could provide clues about Thief Sage could obtain an Epic Companion Egg. If they could lead them to Thief Sage, they could even obtain a Mythical Companion Egg.


    This was only the provisions of clues that didn¡¯t require the informant to take any risks. The generosity of the rewards made it obvious how tempting the Calamity-grade Companion Egg was.


    The entire population on Earth was probably looking for Liu Yun. If he wasn¡¯t careful, Thief Sage¡¯s reputation would be ruined. He might even die.


    This was something Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t expected. However, Liu Yun had already advanced to the Terror grade and was good at spatial teleportation. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to capture him.


    As long as he hid in the Endless Sea of Stars, few people would be able to find him.


    When can I learn Eldest Senior Brother¡¯s Star Stealer move? It¡¯d be really useful. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless as he couldn¡¯t get the Star Stealer¡¯s skill crystal to drop.


    Even if it dropped, Star Stealer¡¯s skill level wasn¡¯t high. It wasn¡¯t easy to cultivate it to Liu Yun¡¯s level.


    ¡­


    In the An family¡¯s old residence, Ya¡¯er was squatting in the garden with her head lowered as she watched ants shuttling through the grass.


    ¡°Miss Ya¡¯er, Overseer wants me to take you to eat something delicious,¡± a person in officer attire came to Ya¡¯er¡¯s side and said with a smile.


    Ya¡¯er ignored the officer and didn¡¯t even raise her head. She continued looking at the ants on the ground.


    ¡°Miss Ya¡¯er, let¡¯s leave now. Don¡¯t make Overseer wait any longer,¡± the officer urged again.


    Only then did Ya¡¯er stand up and turn to size up the officer.


    The officer smiled and said, ¡°Overseer has prepared a lot of delicious food for you. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re lying,¡± Ya¡¯er said slowly.


    The officer¡¯s expression changed slightly, but he immediately returned to normal. He said with a smile, ¡°Miss Ya¡¯er, stop joking. Overseer is still waiting for you.¡±


    However, Ya¡¯er said calmly, ¡°Uncle will either deliver the items here or take me there himself. He won¡¯t let anyone else do it for him, much less a stranger I don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m the Overseer¡¯s staff officer. Deputy An happened to have something on today, so he got me to pick you up,¡± the officer explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s even more impossible. If you were really sent by Uncle, you should know that Uncle never rushes me. He will wait quietly until I decide to go,¡± Ya¡¯er said.


    The officer¡¯s expression turned nasty, but he still forced a smile and explained, ¡°I already said that today is a special situation. Overseer still has an important meeting later. Time is tight¡­¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, Uncle wouldn¡¯t have let you come. He¡¯s the kind of person who¡¯s gentle enough to tolerate everything, but he won¡¯t make things difficult for others,¡± Ya¡¯er said.


    The officer was already somewhat flustered. He didn¡¯t have that much time. While An Tianzuo and An Sheng were out and Ouyang Lan wasn¡¯t at home, he had to take Ya¡¯er with him. He couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    Gritting his teeth, the officer reached out to grab Ya¡¯er¡¯s arm, hoping to abduct her.


    However, just as the officer¡¯s hand moved, he heard a gunshot. His arm was penetrated and blood spewed out.


    The officer held his wound and turned his head. The color in his face immediately drained.


    He saw the slender An Tianzuo standing at the entrance of the garden. He was wearing a military uniform and a military coat. He held a pistol in his hand and smoke was coming out of the muzzle as he looked at him coldly.


    ¡°Over¡­ Overseer¡­¡± The officer¡¯s legs were trembling as though all his strength had vanished. He couldn¡¯t even stand properly.


    ¡°Why?¡± An Tianzuo asked the officer.


    ¡°Overseer, I¡¯m sorry. I was forced into a corner. If I wasn¡¯t at my wits¡¯ end, I wouldn¡¯t have done anything to let you down¡­ Please give me another chance on account of me risking my life for you in the past.¡± The officer plopped to his knees.


    ¡°Will you live if I spare you?¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    The officer immediately froze. If he was forced into a corner, he would die even if An Tianzuo spared him.


    If An Tianzuo spared him, he might still have a way out that meant that he wasn¡¯t forced into a corner.


    An Tianzuo walked towards Ya¡¯er. When he passed the officer, he placed the gun in his hand and said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you live or die.¡± Then, he continued walking towards Ya¡¯er.


    The officer raised his gun and aimed it at his head, but at the instant he pulled the trigger, he aimed the gun at An Tianzuo¡¯s back.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The officer fired three times in a row, but the gun didn¡¯t sound. There was only the sound of the hammer hitting. The gun wasn¡¯t loaded.


    At that instant, the officer¡¯s face was filled with shock, puzzlement, embarrassment, and other complicated expressions.


    Without looking back, An Tianzuo gently carried Ya¡¯er and turned to walk towards the garden gate.


    After walking past the officer, An Tianzuo said indifferently, ¡°You¡¯ve been with me for so long. When have you seen me let Ya¡¯er see blood?¡±


    The officer froze. His body and lips trembled¡ªhe couldn¡¯t even speak. He knew that he had personally given up his final chance.


    After An Tianzuo carried Ya¡¯er out of the garden, he cupped her ears with his black leather gloves. A gunshot sounded in the garden before everything returned to silence.


    ¡°How many times has this happened this month?¡± An Tianzuo lifted his hands from Ya¡¯er¡¯s ears and asked An Sheng.


    Beside him, An Sheng answered with a helpless expression, ¡°It¡¯s already the eighth time, and it was also the most dangerous. I never expected that even Staff Officer Zhao, who you nurtured, would be bribed by the enemy. He even attempted to attack Ya¡¯er. The enemy has really been unscrupulous.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s time to do something and let them know that I, An Tianzuo, am still alive,¡± An Tianzuo said as he carried Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°Overseer, instruct me.¡± An Sheng stood up as a terrifying killing intent flashed in his eyes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give that fierce look. You will scare Ya¡¯er,¡± An Tianzuo said with a smile. ¡°Killing isn¡¯t the goal, nor is it a necessary method. I just want them to be so sad that they can¡¯t even cry.¡±

 Chapter 1238 - Luoyang Storm

    Chapter 1238: Luoyang Storm


    Translator: CKtalon


    While everyone was hunting down Thief Sage, a piece of news that resembled the dropping of the atomic bomb suddenly broke out. The Sunset Army had captured Thief Sage and had secretly escorted him to Luoyang.


    When Zhou Wen heard the news, he couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback as he hurriedly rushed back to Luoyang.


    Although he didn¡¯t have a good relationship with An Tianzuo, his father and many people close to him were in Luoyang. He couldn¡¯t let anything happen to them.


    Zhou Wen knew very well how attractive a Calamity-grade Companion Egg was. Even he had rushed in despite the risk when he first discovered the jade ball.


    Now, An Tianzuo had actually captured Liu Yun, who hadn¡¯t obtained anything. Wasn¡¯t he looking for trouble?


    Countless unscrupulous people in the Federation were eyeing the jade ball that wasn¡¯t a Calamity-grade Companion Egg. Instantly, Luoyang became the target of public scrutiny.. If it wasn¡¯t handled well, it might even bring disaster to the An family.


    By the time Zhou Wen rushed back to Luoyang, the situation was already very delicate. Foreigners were everywhere on the streets, but the locals were almost nowhere to be seen. The An family was being watched by countless people.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare ask An Sheng over the phone. After returning to Luoyang, he immediately went to see him.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, let¡¯s talk when we get back. It¡¯s not safe here.¡± An Sheng took Zhou Wen to the An family residence.


    Along the way, many pairs of eyes were trained on them. Zhou Wen had no choice but to remain silent. When he arrived at the An family home, he realized that the entire residence had been fortified like a metal bucket. Even a mosquito wouldn¡¯t be able to fly in.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, things are rather tricky now. There are all sorts of people outside. The factions with some level of capability have sent people to Luoyang. I¡¯m afraid it will be very troublesome this time,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Where¡¯s An Tianzuo?¡± Zhou Wen scanned the area and realized that Ouyang Lan and Ya¡¯er were there, but there was no sign of An Tianzuo.


    As for Zhou Lingfeng, he had left Luoyang due to some work matters and hadn¡¯t returned. He wasn¡¯t in the Overseer Manor.


    ¡°The Overseer isn¡¯t here,¡± An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen. ¡°As long as those fellows outside don¡¯t see the Overseer and the thing they are looking for, they won¡¯t dare act rashly.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he consider the possibility that those people would threaten him with the lives of Sis Lan and you guys? Or did he think of it, but he still did it?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, Overseer is definitely not that kind of person. He has his reasons for doing so. Please believe in Overseer,¡± An Sheng said solemnly.


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when a soldier came in to report that someone was trying to barge into Overseer Manor.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, rest now. I¡¯ll go take a look,¡± An Sheng said as he stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat exasperated. Ya¡¯er and Ouyang Lan were here, how could he stay out if a conflict ensued?


    ¡°Alright.¡± An Sheng laughed.


    The two of them arrived at the door and saw a group of officials standing at the entrance. The soldiers guarding Overseer Manor aimed their guns at them.


    Upon seeing An Sheng come out, the leader of the officials said, ¡°Adjutant An, I¡¯m Director Smith of the Federation¡¯s Security Bureau. I¡¯ve received orders from the Senate to ask Overseer An some questions. I hope you can assist in the investigations.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, Overseer isn¡¯t in the manor. Please come again another day.¡± An Sheng had already dealt with many similar incidents over the past two days and casually dismissed them.


    ¡°I wonder when Overseer An will return?¡± Smith¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he asked calmly.


    ¡°As subordinates, we only obey orders. How would we dare probe into matters of our superiors?¡± An Sheng said patronizingly.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s wait inside for Overseer An¡¯s return,¡± Smith said as he led his men into the residence.


    The guards immediately raised their guns and undid the safety, ready to shoot at them at any moment.


    ¡°Mr. Smith, I¡¯m afraid this isn¡¯t appropriate?¡± An Sheng said to Smith.


    Smith faced the black muzzles without showing any signs of panic. He remained calm as he said, ¡°Luoyang is the Federation¡¯s Luoyang, and Overseer An is also the Federation¡¯s Overseer. Could it be that you will disobey the orders of the federal Senate?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, we are only soldiers. We only know how to obey our superior¡¯s orders. The Overseer ordered us to guard Overseer Manor, so we can¡¯t let anyone in, not even a fly. Mr. Smith, if there¡¯s anything, please wait for the Overseer to return before discussing it with him. Don¡¯t make things difficult for ordinary soldiers like us,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if he returns or not. This is a warrant from the Senate. Unless you wish to betray the Federation, get out of the way.¡± After Smith showed the warrant, he prepared to barge in.


    Zhou Wen could tell that these people were clearly forcing An Sheng and company to take action.


    The so-called Senate was basically controlled by the League of Guardians. As for the League of Guardians, they had long viewed the An family in Luoyang as a thorn in their side. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult for them to use this opportunity to destroy the An family.


    After all, the An family had never accepted the olive branch extended by the League of Guardians. They even became unspoken enemies with the Guardians.


    Bang!


    An Sheng held the pistol and shot at Smith¡¯s toes, causing Smith and company to pause for a moment. Then, he coldly ordered, ¡°All soldiers, heed my command. Anyone who takes another step forward will be executed on the spot.¡±


    The soldiers answered loudly without any hesitation. Their eyes were firm as their fingers were already on the trigger. They were just waiting for someone to take another step forward before they fired immediately.


    ¡°Everyone says that the An family is colluding with the overseas faction and wants to betray the Federation. I didn¡¯t believe it at first, but from the looks of it, I have no choice but to believe it,¡± Smith said coldly.


    An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°Speaking of colluding with overseas, shouldn¡¯t you investigate the League of Guardians? I hope you arrest Uesugi Nao¡ªthe famous demoness from overseas¡ªas soon as possible.¡±


    A cold glint flashed in Smith¡¯s eyes as he stared at An Sheng and enunciated each word clearly. ¡°The An family must be searched today. If you wish to betray the Federation, feel free to shoot.¡±


    With that said, Smith led the way.


    Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng. This matter wasn¡¯t an ordinary matter. It wasn¡¯t something that could be resolved by force. Since it involved the relationship between Luoyang¡¯s An family and the Federation, he couldn¡¯t casually take action.


    An Sheng seemed to be in a dilemma. Although he aimed the gun at Smith, he didn¡¯t immediately fire.


    ¡°Take them all down.¡± A cold voice suddenly sounded. On the long street, An Tianzuo, who was dressed in a military uniform, rode a white Qilin Beast that appeared like a jade statue. Behind him were many famous generals of the Sunset Army. Even Qin Wufu was among them.

 Chapter 1239 - Battle of Mount Laojun

    Chapter 1239: Battle of Mount Laojun


    Translator: CKtalon


    No one expected An Tianzuo to be so unyielding.


    Everyone knew that Smith and company were just pawns sent by the League of Guardians to test them. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that they were cannon fodder. Touching them wouldn¡¯t affect the League of Guardians at all, but if that happened, the An family would be charged with treason against the Federation.


    This was clearly not worth it, but An Tianzuo didn¡¯t hesitate to take down everyone. Those who wanted to escape were executed on the spot. Even the spies of the various families weren¡¯t spared.


    After that, the entire Luoyang was placed on lockdown. None of the foreigners who had come to Luoyang were able to escape. All the information networks were severed in a short period of time.


    Instantly, Luoyang became a blind spot.. No one knew what was happening there.


    Many people were originally wondering if An Tianzuo had really captured Thief Sage. After all, this news was too sudden, but now, these people came to a realization.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s actions had made it very likely that he had captured Thief Sage. He was trying to abscond.


    If he hadn¡¯t obtained a Calamity-grade Companion Egg, An Tianzuo wouldn¡¯t have risked being a public enemy or be willing to bear the name of a traitor and become enemies with the entire Federation.


    This was equivalent to committing suicide, leaving no room for negotiation. Not only would the An family not gain any benefits from this, but they would also be targeted by the entire Federation. It was possible that they would be wiped out.


    This was practically staking his life as a bet¡ªno one would be that foolish.


    The only reasonable explanation was that An Tianzuo had really obtained the Calamity-grade Companion Egg, so he had gone all out. Once he hatched the Companion Egg, he could return as a king. When that happened, no one could do anything to him. He might even rule the world.


    Hermit, who was in charge of this matter, immediately thought of this possibility. He secretly rushed to Luoyang to check on the situation and realized that the An family residence had long been emptied. Only some commoners and people from Sunset College remained in Luoyang.


    As they had left in a hurry, many of the troops belonging to the Sunset Army hadn¡¯t been transferred away. However, officers at the level of Qin Wufu had already vanished. No one even cared about the Essence Gold mines. They were without a leader, and Luoyang was in chaos.


    Damn it, it¡¯s actually real. Upon seeing this situation, it was obvious to Hermit¡ªAn Tianzuo had really obtained the Calamity-grade Companion Egg and escaped.


    I have to find him as soon as possible. Hermit knew that it was useless even if he caught up to An Tianzuo.


    Ignoring the fact that An Tianzuo was one of the four war gods of the new era with unfathomable strength, there were also many experts of the Sunset Army and Zhou Wen around him. It was useless even if he caught up to him.


    Hermit immediately contacted the League of Guardians headquarters. Unfortunately, Immortal wasn¡¯t at the headquarters. Cave Era was presently in charge of the League of Guardians.


    ¡°Cave Era, the possibility of An Tianzuo obtaining the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg is already very high. It¡¯s still not too late for us to chase after him.¡± Hermit¡¯s meaning was obvious. He needed reinforcements.


    Upon hearing that, Cave Era frowned and said, ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I need your and Blood Shaman¡¯s help,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Immortal isn¡¯t around. I have to stay at the headquarters. It¡¯s impossible for me to leave. Blood Shaman and Uesugi are in charge of the construction of Skysplit Tower. I can¡¯t leave,¡± said Cave Era.


    ¡°Just leave the Skysplit Tower to Uesugi. Blood Shaman has to go. Zhou Wen has too many Companion Beasts. Together with An Tianzuo and the Sunset Army, only Blood Shaman can restrict them.¡±


    Hermit paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°The chance to obtain a Calamity-grade Companion Egg again is probably impossible. Even if we don¡¯t snatch it, the six families won¡¯t let it go. I believe you know the consequences of them obtaining it better than me. If the six families don¡¯t succeed, will An Tianzuo let us off after hatching a Calamity-grade Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°Alright, I can get Blood Shaman to help you.¡± The temptation of a Calamity-grade Companion Beast was just too great. Cave Era finally relented.


    ¡°I still need to gather a batch of elites from the alliance, especially those who are good at tracking and reconnaissance. We have to find An Tianzuo as soon as possible,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Failure is not an option,¡± Cave Era said in a deep voice.


    ¡°Just in case, I hope you can leave a time mark on Blood Shaman. It¡¯s best if we don¡¯t use it, but if there¡¯s a need for your help, I hope you will provide me with your help. I must obtain the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg.¡± Hermit still planned for the worst.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s fame was just too resounding. The Federation was huge, and there were countless families. There were very few people who could reach An Tianzuo¡¯s level or even match the six families.


    If not for Sunset College¡¯s Leng Zongzheng not escaping with An Tianzuo, Hermit wouldn¡¯t have been able to guarantee that he could snatch the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg even with so many reinforcements.


    Cave Era knew the significance of this operation, but she didn¡¯t dare be careless. Just as Hermit had said, she left a time mark on Blood Shaman. If needed, she could appear beside Blood Shaman at any time.


    Many of the elites in the alliance were gathered. Under Blood Shaman¡¯s lead, they used the teleportation tunnel established by the alliance and quickly arrived near Luoyang to meet Hermit.


    After Blood Shaman met Hermit, he immediately began tracking An Tianzuo and company.


    Many Guardians with special abilities quickly found traces that originally didn¡¯t exist. The group chased without stopping.


    ¡°Your Excellency Hermit, it shouldn¡¯t be wrong. An Tianzuo and company should have fled in the direction of Mount Laojun,¡± a Guardian said after carefully observing the surroundings.


    ¡°An Tianzuo is indeed cunning. Even if we find them in Mount Laojun, there¡¯s a taboo power there. We can¡¯t use force to kill him. It won¡¯t be easy to capture him,¡± said Blood Shaman.


    Hermit sneered and said, ¡°That might not be the case. Mount Laojun¡¯s taboo power is indeed terrifying, but we don¡¯t need to kill on it.¡±


    Under Hermit¡¯s lead, the group arrived at Mount Laojun.


    ¡°From the looks of it, An Tianzuo concealed his tracks very well. The six families didn¡¯t find his trail.¡± Blood Shaman looked around Mount Laojun and didn¡¯t discover anyone from the other families.


    ¡°Are you sure they are on the mountain?¡± Hermit asked the Guardian beside him.


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. They must be on the mountain. Although they erased their auras and severed all traces, they can¡¯t hide from my senses. They have been here,¡± the Guardian said with certainty.


    ¡°Up the mountain.¡± Hermit had great confidence in the Guardian¡¯s abilities. He immediately led the way up the mountain and soon arrived in front of the Wordless Monument.


    Without seeing anyone here, everyone continued walking up the mountain. When they were about to reach the golden peak, they finally saw many people gathered on the nearby stone steps and stone platforms. It was An Tianzuo and company; among them were Smith and the vanished spies from the various families.

 Chapter 1240 - Battle of Mount Laojun 2

    Chapter 1240: Battle of Mount Laojun 2


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Overseer An, how have you been?¡± Hermit¡¯s gaze swept across Zhou Wen¡¯s face before landing on An Tianzuo¡¯s face.


    Although the An family had many experts, there were only two people he cared about.


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor to have two Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians take action together,¡± An Tianzuo said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s only right. After all, it¡¯s Overseer An.¡± Hermit looked at Smith and company. Seeing that they were only chained up and the situation wasn¡¯t bad, he continued, ¡°Overseer An, it looks like you aren¡¯t determined to betray the Federation. Why don¡¯t we do this? Return with us and explain things to Congress. There¡¯s no need to make a big fuss over a misunderstanding. What do you think, Overseer?¡±


    ¡°Are we going to the Federation¡¯s Congress or the Alliance¡¯s Congress?¡± An Tianzuo asked.


    .


    ¡°From the looks of it, Overseer is bent on becoming enemies with the Federation.¡± Hermit¡¯s expression changed slightly. Everyone knew that only the Federation had a Congress. How could there be an Alliance Congress?


    An Tianzuo¡¯s words were clearly mocking the League for secretly controlling the Federation Congress.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you come here for the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg and Thief Sage? If I were to tell you that I didn¡¯t capture Thief Sage or obtain the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg, would you believe me?¡± An Tianzuo said slowly.


    ¡°Overseer, you must be joking. If you didn¡¯t obtain it, why go through so much trouble? A smart person like you wouldn¡¯t joke around with the An family¡¯s lives, right?¡± Hermit naturally didn¡¯t believe him.


    ¡°Of course not. I don¡¯t like to mess around either. However, you have shown your preference to mess around with me. You always get people I don¡¯t like to mess around with me at times I dislike.¡± An Tianzuo looked at Hermit and said, ¡°Therefore, I have to do something to let you know that I¡¯m not someone who likes to mess around. It¡¯s to prevent you from having any further misunderstandings.¡±


    At this point, Hermit didn¡¯t deny anything. He only said indifferently, ¡°Then, Overseer, what do you plan on doing to let those people know that you don¡¯t like to mess around?¡±


    ¡°Tell them loudly that I don¡¯t like fooling around,¡± An Tianzuo said solemnly.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that just saying it won¡¯t work,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Who knows? It might be useful,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Overseer, if you wish to say something, you can say it in Congress. There are people there who are very willing to listen to you. If you can move them, it might be of some use,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°What if I don¡¯t?¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°That¡¯s our duty,¡± Hermit said solemnly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve long heard that the four Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians are invincible. I¡¯ve always wanted to verify that.¡± An Tianzuo remained unperturbed.


    ¡°If Overseer is interested, I¡¯m willing to accompany you down Mount Laojun.¡± Unless it was a last resort, Hermit didn¡¯t wish to take action on Mount Laojun.


    ¡°Sure,¡± An Tianzuo said as he walked down the steps.


    Hermit and Blood Shaman were slightly taken aback as they exchanged looks. Seeing that An Tianzuo had already walked down, they could only retreat down the mountain.


    ¡°Stay here and wait for me,¡± An Tianzuo instructed. He stopped the Sunset Army from following him down the mountain before walking down alone.


    Although Hermit and Blood Shaman were somewhat puzzled as to why An Tianzuo would give up on Mount Laojun and follow them down the mountain alone, it was clearly beneficial to them. There was no reason for them not to accept it.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled as well. He didn¡¯t know what An Tianzuo was up to, but since An Sheng wasn¡¯t around, he couldn¡¯t ask anyone. All he could do was whisper to Ouyang Lan who was carrying Ya¡¯er. ¡°Sis Lan, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Zhou Wen already realized that something was amiss. He believed An Tianzuo¡¯s words. Perhaps An Tianzuo really hadn¡¯t captured Liu Yun.


    This was because he knew very well that Liu Yun didn¡¯t have the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg. Even if An Tianzuo captured Liu Yun, it was impossible for him to obtain a Companion Egg. However, he didn¡¯t understand why An Tianzuo would do this. The outcome of his actions was making the entire world believe that he had obtained the Companion Egg.


    Could it be that he wants to lure all the members of the League of Guardians over and wipe them out? Zhou Wen felt that An Tianzuo was crazy enough to carry that out.


    Ignoring the fact that the League of Guardians was extremely powerful, there were many Terror-grade experts other than the four Heavenly Kings. An Tianzuo was the only Terror-grade expert in the An family, so they had no chance of winning.


    Even if they had a chance of winning, the League of Guardians had the dimension behind them. When the time came, if the dimension really wanted to destroy the An family at all costs, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to gather more Terror-grade Guardians.


    Zhou Wen had heard from An Sheng that not all the Terror-grade Guardians in the League of Guardians came from the Guardian cocoons. Many Guardians were sent over from the dimension using special means. The League of Guardians would subsequently choose suitable humans to contract them.


    After all, Guardians were created from the dimension. It wasn¡¯t difficult to create more.


    However, the Guardians that were sent directly from the dimension seemed to possess flaws. Despite being at the same Terror grade, those that were sent from the dimension couldn¡¯t compare to the Guardians that had grown up on Earth.


    Even so, it was already terrifying. The Terror grade was nothing to scoff at after all. Only a Terror grade could match it. It was already a top combat power on Earth.


    Just like the Guardians that came with Blood Shaman and Hermit, there were seven to eight at the Terror grade. Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare underestimate such terrifying combat strength.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Little Zuo didn¡¯t say, but you don¡¯t have to worry. Little Zuo knows his limits. He naturally has his plans,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Why would I be worried about him? I¡¯m worried about you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Ouyang Lan smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s all the same.¡±


    Blood Shaman and Hermit found it unbelievable that An Tianzuo followed them down the mountain alone. Even Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t come down with him.


    ¡°Overseer, you have such boldness and magnanimity. I¡¯ll warm up with you.¡± Hermit glanced at Blood Shaman, signaling him to attack at any time.


    ¡°Attack together, all of you.¡± As An Tianzuo spoke, he had already summoned his strange Life Soul to fuse with him.


    His slender figure was wrapped in white metal armor. A blood-colored cape fluttered behind him like a blood-colored rainbow. He held a huge sword over his shoulder and a Gatling in his other hand. His appearance was indescribably domineering.


    Zhou Wen was also watching An Tianzuo. He had yet to see An Tianzuo¡¯s true strength. The last time An Tianzuo fought Xiao, he had already lost an arm. His combat strength had been greatly affected, so it hadn¡¯t been his true strength.


    ¡°Since Overseer wishes so, we can only agree.¡± Hermit didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he called for Blood Shaman to attack with him.


    He vaguely felt that something was amiss and began to worry. He planned on ending the battle quickly and taking down An Tianzuo first.

 Chapter 1241 - Battle of Mount Laojun 3

    Chapter 1241: Battle of Mount Laojun 3


    Translator: CKtalon


    Blood Shaman underwent Terror transformation and used the strength he was best at. Nobody within the blood-colored halo¡¯s envelopment could summon their Companion Beasts for battle.


    Hermit condensed a micro crystal and prepared to join forces with Blood Shaman to attack An Tianzuo. Hermit had even secretly sent out a signal for all the Guardians to attack together.


    However, while they were still formulating their plan of attack, the Gatling in An Tianzuo¡¯s hand had already begun firing crazily. Terrifying blue flames spewed out from the muzzle.


    Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta! Ta!


    The bullets were like a roaring meteor shower that instantly enveloped everyone.


    The firing was very fast. Hermit¡¯s figure blinked in and out of existence like a ghost as he dodged the bullets.


    .


    However, Blood Shaman wasn¡¯t that fast. His body emitted a sanguine glow as he punched at the bullets, hoping to send them flying.


    Clang! Clang!


    The bullets struck Blood Shaman¡¯s fist and shattered the armor over his fist. At the same time, it sent the Blood Shaman retreating as he raised his arms uncontrollably.


    The bullets rained down on him, causing Blood Shaman to retreat step by step. His feet cracked the ground as his armor shattered, revealing charred bullet holes.


    Some of the Guardians behind him dodged in a panic while others used their own strength to block.


    Some Guardians used their shields to block the bullets and were sent retreating. Some ducked the sweeping bullets, but there were also Guardians who failed to dodge. Their bodies were torn apart by the bullets as their blood and organs exploded and spewed to the ground.


    The Mythical Guardians¡¯ armor shattered. The humans inside had no chance of survival. Their lives were as fragile as paper.


    In just an instant, all the Mythical Guardians were killed. One of the Terror-grade Guardians was killed and three or four were injured. The rest were more or less in a sorry state.


    What domineering offensive power! Zhou Wen was slightly surprised by An Tianzuo¡¯s destructive power. An Tianzuo, who now had both hands, was much stronger than the one-handed An Tianzuo.


    The destructive power of the Gatling was something ordinary weapons could not contend with.


    Hermit appeared behind An Tianzuo like a ghost. At the same time, he flicked out an indiscernible micro crystal. The micro crystal was as tiny as bacteria, but it contained the full strength of a Terror-grade power. If one didn¡¯t sense it and accidentally touched it or had it invade their bodies, even a Terror-grade creature would be blasted to death.


    However, as An Tianzuo fired the bullets crazily, it was as though he had eyes at the back of his head. He dodged the Hermit¡¯s micro crystal while the Gatling in his hand continued firing. The bullets rained down on a Guardian like a volcanic eruption, blasting the Terror-grade Guardian¡¯s body apart in midair.


    Elsewhere, Blood Shaman rushed to An Tianzuo¡¯s other side and punched at the back of his head with a strange blood beam.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t even turn his head as he struck out with the huge sword in his other hand, slashing at Blood Shaman¡¯s fist. He forcefully shattered Blood Shaman¡¯s violent fist and repelled him.


    The constantly rumbling Gatling sent a Terror-grade Guardian who was charging at him into a retreat. Its shield was filled with circular indentations formed by the bullets.


    The other Terror-grade Guardians spread out and attacked An Tianzuo from different directions.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s expression was cold, but his body moved rapidly. At the same time, he slashed with his broadsword, unleashing all his Gatling firepower. Despite being surrounded, his powerful firepower suppressed Hermit and Blood Shaman¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°Overseer, kill those bastards!¡± an officer, who wore his heart on his sleeve, shouted excitedly.


    However, most people couldn¡¯t see the battle. They didn¡¯t even have the ability to see Terror-grade power.


    Zhou Wen naturally saw it clearly. Although he didn¡¯t like An Tianzuo, he had to admit that An Tianzuo was almost inhuman. He looked more like a combat mecha.


    His every move seemed to be calculated by a computer. There was no sign of him making mistakes in battle.


    Even in such a high-intensity battle, there was nothing wrong with his actions.


    Hermit and Blood Shaman were alarmed and furious. They had so many Guardians attacking An Tianzuo together, but they couldn¡¯t even touch his clothes. Now, only the two of them and the five Terror-grade Guardians were left. Furthermore, they looked even more pathetic than An Tianzuo.


    Blood Shaman was the most depressed. He was best at restraining humans who relied on Companion Beasts, but An Tianzuo didn¡¯t use any Companion Beasts from beginning to end. He purely relied on his destructive power to suppress them.


    Hermit was also secretly alarmed. Although he had long known that An Tianzuo was very strong, or he wouldn¡¯t have been named one of the four war gods, he never expected him to be this strong. In terms of offensive strength, there weren¡¯t many at the Terror grade who could fight him.


    Worse still, not only was An Tianzuo¡¯s offensive strength off the charts, but his movement techniques were as powerful as his melee abilities. Hermit had tried to sneak an attack on An Tianzuo several times, but he failed.


    Blood Shaman¡¯s melee attacks were repelled by An Tianzuo¡¯s broadsword again and again.


    ¡°Blood Shaman, get Cave Era over. Her ability can restrain An Tianzuo.¡± Hermit couldn¡¯t care less. He had to capture An Tianzuo as soon as possible.


    Blood Shaman also knew that they had underestimated the horror of the four war gods. Without any hesitation, he activated the time mark that Cave Era had left on him.


    A clock mark lit up on Blood Shaman¡¯s forehead. At the instant the clock mark peeled off his forehead, it strangely transformed into Cave Era¡¯s figure.


    Cave Era¡¯s expression turned nasty. She was about to ask Blood Shaman why he had used the time mark¡ªshe had clearly told him not to use it unless it was absolutely necessary.


    However, before she could ask, the bullets that swept over made Cave Era realize what had happened.


    Without any hesitation, Cave Era used her temporal powers. The rampaging bullets seemed to slow down as Cave Era slowly dodged the slow-moving bullets.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± Cave Era was equally alarmed when she saw the situation. Killing intent flashed in her eyes as she activated the temporal power. Her speed increased to an unbelievable level as she arrived in front of An Tianzuo and pointed at his forehead.


    Cave Era¡¯s ability was indeed somewhat effective against An Tianzuo. At such speeds, An Tianzuo was unable to control the Gatling¡¯s sweeping fire. All he could do was retreat while using his broadsword to block the finger strike.


    However, Cave Era¡¯s fingers didn¡¯t touch the sword at all. With another acceleration of time, she circled behind An Tianzuo and tapped at the back of his head again.


    An Tianzuo threw the Gatling in his other hand back and smashed the gun barrel at Cave Era¡¯s head, hoping to exchange a devastating blow.


    How could Cave Era let him do as he wished? With a flash, she appeared on the other side of An Tianzuo with the temporal acceleration. Hermit and Blood Shaman also surrounded him.


    An Tianzuo was immediately thrown into danger. The situation had gone south.


    ¡°Uncle is in danger.¡± Ya¡¯er looked eagerly at Zhou Wen, clearly asking Zhou Wen to save him.

 Chapter 1242 - Battle of Mount Laojun 4

    Chapter 1242: Battle of Mount Laojun 4


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Little Wen.¡± Although Ouyang Lan couldn¡¯t see the situation in the arena, she looked eagerly at Zhou Wen when she heard Ya¡¯er.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try.¡±


    If An Tianzuo was killed, it would be their turn next. Zhou Wen felt that it was better to take action now. At the very least, things would be easier.


    He only needed to deal with Cave Era. The abilities of the other Guardians weren¡¯t much of a threat to An Tianzuo. It was best to let An Tianzuo deal with them himself. Zhou Wen had never liked to kill.


    Zhou Wen walked down Mount Laojun and was about to enter the battlefield when he suddenly frowned and quickly retreated..


    A ghost-like arrow flew past Zhou Wen¡¯s hair and vanished mid-flight.


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw Xiao holding a bow in one hand and casually grabbing the air with the other. An arrow appeared in his hand and he nocked it. He aimed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Little brother, don¡¯t interrupt such an exciting performance, alright?¡±


    ¡°Xiao!¡± Ouyang Lan exclaimed. She naturally knew how powerful Xiao was.


    Back when Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo were present and had the upper hand, they had failed to keep Xiao.


    Beside Xiao were two people. From their attitude, they were likely not Xiao¡¯s subordinates. They were probably saints from the Holy Temple like Xiao.


    Zhou Wen said nothing as he summoned Sword Pill and held it in his hand.


    ¡°Why are you in such a rush to leave?¡± The arrow in Xiao¡¯s hand flew out like a ghost, forcing Zhou Wen to dodge it.


    From different directions, the other two saints also blocked the path Zhou Wen needed to take to help An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Let me do the introductions. This is Thunderstorm, a saint from the Connate Holy Temple,¡± Xiao said with a smile as he pointed at a fellow wearing Guardian armor. He wasn¡¯t tall, but his figure was wide like a tank.


    Thunderstorm snorted coldly and remained silent.


    Xiao then pointed at another saint who had a relatively normal figure, but was wearing gorgeous golden armor. He looked like an emperor out on an inspection. ¡°This is the Divine Emperor Holy Temple¡¯s saint, Yellowright.¡±


    Yellowright looked down at Zhou Wen from above like an emperor looking at a slave. He said coldly, ¡°Xiao, I¡¯m here to kill An Tianzuo. It¡¯s best if you deal with such a fellow yourself.¡±


    However, Xiao said seriously, ¡°Brother Yellowright, you mustn¡¯t underestimate the enemy. His strength isn¡¯t inferior to An Tianzuo¡¯s. I¡¯m not his match alone. It¡¯s safer for the three of us to attack together.¡±


    Yellowright and Thunderstorm revealed looks of contempt when they heard Xiao.


    ¡°The saints of your Trajectory Holy Temple are best at avoiding the important and making light of the trivial. To deal with such a person, you even need three of us saints to join forces. Aren¡¯t you embarrassed?¡± Yellowright said disdainfully.


    ¡°It¡¯s better to be embarrassed than lose your life.¡± Xiao thought nothing of it. From the looks of it, if Yellowright and Thunderstorm left, he would immediately flee. He definitely wouldn¡¯t fight Zhou Wen head-on.


    ¡°Fine. It won¡¯t be much of a waste of time to deal with an inferior fellow. An Tianzuo won¡¯t be able to escape anyway. It won¡¯t be too late to kill him after taking this guy down,¡± Yellowright said as he walked towards Zhou Wen.


    With every step he took, the golden light on his body intensified. Although the light was intense, it wasn¡¯t scorching hot. It only emitted an indescribable pressure.


    The Sunset Army officers watching the battle on the mountain seemed to be affected by some force despite being so far away. They had the urge to kneel down and worship him.


    Thankfully, the officers who came with An Tianzuo were all military bigwigs. All of them had reached the Mythical stage, and their willpower had been tempered to an extremely tenacious level during the wars they were involved in. This allowed them to resist the urge to kneel.


    ¡°Holy Emperor Body¡­ Isn¡¯t that a power unique to the Cape family? Could this person be from the Cape family? It doesn¡¯t look like it. He should be from the East District, right?¡± An officer who wasn¡¯t in the know was secretly surprised.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that Yellowright was definitely not from the Cape family, but from the Divine Emperor Holy Temple.


    Zhou Wen had always suspected that the secrets he had heard from the Dugu family seemed to be related to these saints.


    He also suspected that some of the orphans nurtured by Dugu Qianqiu had later entered the Holy Temple and become saints.


    Otherwise, the spots to enter the Holy Land were in the hands of the six families every year. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t enter, so the Holy Temples had no chance of finding suitable candidates.


    As for the orphans, they were different. If there was an existence among the orphans who looked identical to the youths of the six families, they could replace them without anyone noticing and enter the Holy Land.


    Otherwise, saints like Xiao and Blaze definitely couldn¡¯t be nurtured overnight. It was also impossible for the Holy Temple to randomly make someone a saint.


    However, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. He wasn¡¯t sure if the saints were related to the orphans nurtured by Dugu Qianqiu.


    Now, what Zhou Wen wanted to know was the relationship between the Holy Temples and the League of Guardians.


    It didn¡¯t seem like they were in cahoots. Cave Era and the others were also somewhat surprised by the arrival of the three saints.


    However, from Cave Era and company¡¯s reaction, Zhou Wen felt that they didn¡¯t treat Xiao and company as enemies. There wasn¡¯t much animosity. This also meant that things weren¡¯t that simple between them. At the very least, they weren¡¯t strangers.


    Yellowright walked towards Zhou Wen step by step. Not only was his power of imperial authority rising from his body, but golden chains also began to appear around Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The golden chains gradually materialized and bound Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Like shackles, they bound him tightly.


    ¡°Thunder, let¡¯s attack together,¡± Xiao said to Thunderstorm.


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessary. I alone am enough.¡± Yellowright rejected him arrogantly. As he got closer and closer to Zhou Wen, the shackles on Zhou Wen¡¯s body became more and more corporeal. The restrictions on his body also became stronger.


    Zhou Wen increasingly felt that these saints resembled the orphans. They were indeed very powerful, but they also seemed to be lacking in character. They were somewhat different from ordinary people.


    Zhou Wen felt that it was very likely the result of growing up in that special environment. He originally wanted to observe for a while longer, but Yellowright had already walked in front of him and raised the golden sword condensed from golden light in his hand. The mighty power of imperial authority emitted by the golden sword was much stronger than when Xiao used the Holy Emperor Body.


    Perhaps this is the difference between professionals and amateurs. As Zhou Wen was thinking, Yellowright slashed down. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to waste his breath on Zhou Wen. An Tianzuo, one of the four war gods, was his desired opponent.


    Naive child. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly as he gripped the Sword Pill in his hand.


    1

 Chapter 1243 - Battle of Mount Laojun 5

    Chapter 1243: Battle of Mount Laojun 5


    Translator: CKtalon


    Just as the golden sword was about to slash at Zhou Wen, he finally moved.


    The golden chains that bound him were like rotting ropes. As Zhou Wen slashed, they shattered one by one and turned to dust.


    The sword formed by Sword Pill drew a beautiful arc, but it was so fast that no one could react.


    Sword Pill collided with the golden sword, but the blade didn¡¯t stop. It didn¡¯t even pause as it continued slashing forward.


    Clang!


    When Zhou Wen retracted his sword, everyone heard the hum of the sword. They couldn¡¯t help but look at Yellowright. As the strike was too fast, they failed to see if the strike had hit him.


    .


    Yellowright stood there, looking uninjured. He still maintained the stance of slashing forward, and the sword of imperial authority also appeared unharmed.


    However, for some reason, Yellowright stood there motionless as his eyes were filled with horror.


    Suddenly, he moved. No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that Yellowright moved. More accurately, Yellowright¡¯s body was sliding apart.


    Like a fractured iceberg, the upper half of Yellowright¡¯s body and the lower half slowly slid away. It was the same for his golden sword. The sword broke from the middle.


    ¡°Yellowright¡­¡± Thunderstorm watched Yellowright¡¯s corpse collapse with a look of shock.


    Although Yellowright wasn¡¯t the strongest among the saints, he wasn¡¯t weak either. Despite him attacking first, he was killed by a human with a single strike. This was unimaginable.


    ¡°Sigh, why was he sick of living? Why were you so disobedient?¡± Xiao sighed.


    Among the many officers of the Sunset Army, the officers who had been to Netherworld City had better reactions. However, those who hadn¡¯t seen Zhou Wen showcase his might there were in a daze.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strike gave off a unique sense of shock when compared to An Tianzuo¡¯s powerful firepower.


    Although it wasn¡¯t as ferocious as the full-powered firepower, it sent chills down one¡¯s spine and gave one goosebumps.


    Most people failed to see Zhou Wen¡¯s strike, but after Yellowright was killed, his body appeared. The scene of half Yellowright¡¯s body slowly sliding down made it difficult to forget.


    Zhou Wen glanced at An Tianzuo and saw that although An Tianzuo¡¯s situation was dire, he wasn¡¯t in immediate danger of death. He didn¡¯t rush over immediately.


    As for Cave Era and company, they were alarmed when they saw Zhou Wen kill Yellowright with one strike. Their attacks became even crazier.


    They originally imagined that An Tianzuo was already very terrifying, but they never expected another person to be even more terrifying than him.


    If they couldn¡¯t finish off An Tianzuo before Zhou Wen rushed over, how terrifying would it be to have the two of them join forces? They didn¡¯t dare imagine it, nor were they willing to think about it.


    The pressure on An Tianzuo increased exponentially. The armor on his body suffered some injuries as blood seeped out.


    However, An Tianzuo¡¯s eyes remained calm the entire time. Despite being on the brink of death, he still looked at his watch.


    He was actually wearing a watch on his wrist. While looking at the time, An Tianzuo dodged Cave Era¡¯s attack at the critical moment and said, ¡°10.¡±


    Nobody knew what An Tianzuo meant. Why did he suddenly say such a number?


    ¡°9,¡± An Tianzuo continued as he fought.


    Only then did everyone realize that An Tianzuo was counting down.


    ¡°8.¡± An Tianzuo continued counting.


    Hermit and Blood Shaman didn¡¯t know why An Tianzuo was counting down, but as An Tianzuo counted down, they couldn¡¯t help but become nervous. Their attacks became even more ferocious.


    Zhou Wen had already realized something, so he wasn¡¯t in a rush to join the battle. Instead, he aimed his sword at Xiao and Thunderstorm.


    ¡°Will you be escaping this time as well?¡± Zhou Wen asked Xiao.


    Although his movement technique was excellent, it was still very difficult for him to retain Xiao if he was desperate to escape.


    ¡°Escape? How is that possible?¡± After Xiao said that, his figure suddenly drew a strange trajectory and flew backward like a ghost. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace. Only his voice still echoed in place.


    ¡°This is called a tactical retreat.¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised, but Thunderstorm was already dumbfounded.


    The three saints had besieged a young man and one of them was killed with a single strike. The other fled without fighting, leaving him rooted to the ground. Before he came here, he never expected such a huge change to happen in less than twenty seconds.


    The officers of the Sunset Army looked at Zhou Wen with odd expressions.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s strength was shocking, but Zhou Wen left their hearts chilling.


    They had previously believed that Zhou Wen had been besieged by three people, but now, they suddenly realized that it was Zhou Wen besieging the three saints alone.


    1


    They were still worried for Zhou Wen, worried that he would die from the siege, but now, they suddenly felt that it was a pity that Xiao had escaped.


    Thunderstorm gritted his teeth as the Connate aura on his body transformed into the power of lightning. His surroundings were instantly drowned by lightning. He didn¡¯t have Xiao¡¯s speed, nor was he good at escaping. Therefore, he could only fight with his life.


    Just as Thunderstorm raised his fist, Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Pill arrived in front of him. Wherever the blade passed, the lightning dissipated and Thunderstorm¡¯s corpse collapsed.


    ¡°Was the saint Young Master Wen killed really at the Terror grade?¡± an officer asked in puzzlement.


    Many officers were puzzled. Thunderstorm and Yellowright looked too weak. They didn¡¯t look like they were at the Terror grade.


    Qin Wufu sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not that those two saints aren¡¯t at the Terror grade, but that Zhou Wen seems inhuman.¡±


    Everyone agreed with him. Many officers subconsciously nodded. Qin Wufu¡¯s words had hit the nail on the head.


    ¡°Governor Qin, why are you cursing?¡± Ouyang Lan was displeased.


    If Zhou Wen was inhuman, what was she as a mother?


    1


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t participate in An Tianzuo¡¯s battle, everything that happened here had a huge impact on the battle.


    Cave Era and company originally wanted to finish off An Tianzuo before Zhou Wen rushed over.


    However, no one expected that everything would happen so quickly. The sudden appearance of the three saints only resulted in two deaths and one escape. Everything happened so quickly that they couldn¡¯t react in time. They found it unbelievable.


    However, at the instant Thunderstorm collapsed, their fighting spirit fell to rock bottom. They knew very well that there was no chance. Zhou Wen, who had been hiding in the An family, was even more terrifying than An Tianzuo.


    ¡°3¡­¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s countdown continued like a haunting spell.


    Now, Cave Era and company were beginning to regret chasing after An Tianzuo. However, who would have expected such a situation?


    They wanted to retreat, but under An Tianzuo¡¯s terrifying firepower, it wasn¡¯t that easy.


    Cave Era and Hermit might have a way to retreat immediately, but once they did, doom was a certainty for the other Terror-grade Guardians.


    ¡°2¡­¡±


    Cave Era had already made plans to retreat, but she didn¡¯t immediately implement them. She wanted to know what An Tianzuo¡¯s countdown meant.


    ¡°1¡­¡± Finally, An Tianzuo spat out the last number.


    1

 Chapter 1244 - Aurora

    Chapter 1244: Aurora


    Translator: CKtalon


    With An Tianzuo saying that, Blood Shaman and the other Guardians subconsciously retreated. No one attacked again.


    If it were anyone else counting down, they probably wouldn¡¯t have bothered. However, it was An Tianzuo. That made things completely different. They still felt a little afraid deep down.


    The moment they retreated, An Tianzuo attacked with all his might. At the same time, he said, ¡®0.¡¯


    Holy sh*t, isn¡¯t this a scam? Zhou Wen was also waiting for the outcome, but to his surprise, there was a 0 after 1.


    As no one attacked An Tianzuo again, An Tianzuo no longer needed to be restrained. He aimed all his firepower at a Terror-grade Guardian and riddled it with holes before blasting it in midair..


    Cave Era and company were furious, but since 0 had already been said, they didn¡¯t dare charge forward.


    What was even more infuriating was that after 0 was said, everyone was waiting for something to happen, but nothing happened. It only gave An Tianzuo the opportunity to kill two more Guardians.


    2


    ¡°An Tianzuo!¡± Cave Era was infuriated. If they hadn¡¯t been fooled by him, they wouldn¡¯t have been thrown into a panic. They might have already forced An Tianzuo into a corner.


    ¡°The legendary four great war gods are only this and nothing more. They are just treacherous people,¡± Hermit said coldly.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he said indifferently, ¡°Did you hear that?¡±


    ¡°Hear what?¡± When Cave Era realized that An Tianzuo didn¡¯t look like he was joking, she felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°My voice,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°What about your voice?¡± Hermit¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he hurriedly asked.


    An Tianzuo said indifferently, ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be heard yet. However, I can only say that the four, only the four Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians are only this and nothing more.¡±


    Many officers of the Sunset Army found it odd. They didn¡¯t hear anything special. An Tianzuo was speaking, but the voice he was referring to clearly wasn¡¯t his.


    Zhou Wen could roughly guess what An Tianzuo had done, but he couldn¡¯t tell the exact location.


    When Cave Era and Hermit heard that, their expressions changed drastically. Hermit shouted, ¡°Not good. Cave Era, quickly return and take a look.¡±


    Cave Era reacted faster than Hermit. She had already grabbed Blood Shaman and vanished under the effects of temporal powers, returning to the headquarters of the League of Guardians.


    Hermit also escaped without any hesitation. An Tianzuo knew that Hermit¡¯s strength was strange. If he was focused on escaping, it would probably be difficult to stop him. Therefore, he didn¡¯t try.


    However, the remaining Terror-grade Guardians were doomed. An Tianzuo unleashed a massacre as he killed all the Guardians that were fleeing in all directions. In the end, not a single one of them escaped.


    Cave Era used temporal powers to bring Blood Shaman back to the headquarters of the League of Guardians. When she saw that the headquarters was safe and sound, she heaved a sigh of relief. However, her expression turned extremely ugly the next moment.


    A strange sound spread in the air and pierced her eardrums, causing them to hurt.


    1


    Cave Era instantly flew into the air and looked in the direction of Skysplit Tower. This glance made her shiver from head to toe as she hovered there in a daze.


    The so-called Skysplit Tower was an unfinished spatial teleportation station that the League of Guardians had spent a huge price and a massive amount of resources to build with the help of the dimension. Up to now, it had yet to be completed.


    However, in recent years, some basic functions had been usable. Many Guardians of the League of Guardians had teleported here using the Skysplit Tower.


    It could be said that the Skysplit Tower was the greatest capital of the League of Guardians. Without the Skysplit Tower, there were no dimensional resources, so the foundation that allowed the League of Guardians to dominate the other factions was gone.


    The Skysplit Tower was near the headquarters of the League of Guardians. It was like a huge cylinder that passed through the clouds and into the sky.


    Due to the importance of the Skysplit Tower, Blood Shaman and Uesugi Nao would take turns guarding it. In addition, there were many Terror-grade Guardians nearby.


    With Cave Era guarding the headquarters, it was impossible for anyone to approach Skysplit Tower.


    However, for this excursion, most of the Guardians who were good at reconnaissance and tracking had been deployed to pursue An Tianzuo. Blood Shaman had also been deployed. Apart from Uesugi Nao, who was left in Skysplit Tower, Cave Era had also left the headquarters.


    Without a doubt, this was the period when Skysplit Tower¡¯s defense was at its weakest. But even so, it wasn¡¯t something that an ordinary person could approach.


    Indeed, no one approached Skysplit Tower. However, an aurora-like beam streaked across the sky from the south, turning the night into day. When the aurora struck Skysplit Tower, it seemed to pierce through the huge Skysplit Tower like a drill. It had already fractured and collapsed. The tilting tower fell to the ground.


    Boom!


    Amidst the strange rumbling, the ground trembled like an earthquake. The shockwave stirred up rocks and mud, sweeping out like a tsunami.


    Everything within dozens of kilometers was reduced to ruins as though the end of the world had arrived.


    Cave Era watched as the aurora streaked across the sky like a rainbow. It lasted for nearly thirty seconds before it completely vanished. The sky turned dark again.


    Cave Era rushed to the ruins of Skysplit Tower and saw that the originally thousand-meter-tall Skysplit Tower was now less than a hundred meters tall. The other parts had already collapsed.


    And in Skysplit Tower, there were no signs of life. There should have been many members of the League of Guardians inside, but now, not a single person could be seen.


    Even the signatures of life remained pathetic dozens of kilometers away. Very few of the Guardians situated along the lines of defense were left.


    Many alarmed Guardians crawled out of the rubble with ashen faces. They still didn¡¯t know what had happened. They no longer had their usual arrogance. Their faces were filled with confusion and horror.


    Looking at the scene in front of her, Cave Era could only feel a bone-chilling coldness spreading in her heart.


    ¡°This is his voice?¡± Cave Era muttered to herself as her body involuntarily trembled.


    Thinking of the man¡¯s casual words, Cave Era found it akin to a devil¡¯s curse.


    ¡°Cough.¡± Uesugi Nao, who was wearing the Great Skyfiend armor, crawled out of the Skysplit Tower¡¯s base. Her Terror-grade Guardian armor was covered in cracks. Filthy blood mixed with mud stained her body and messy hair. Even standing up from the ground looked very difficult.


    ¡°Cave Era, what happened?¡± Uesugi Nao asked in agitation. She had nearly died in the Skysplit Tower.


    ¡°I also want to know what happened.¡± Although Uesugi Nao wasn¡¯t dead, Cave Era couldn¡¯t bring herself to feel happy. The coldness in her heart continued spreading.


    The cost of building the Skysplit Tower was great. The damage was too much for them to bear. Furthermore, no one knew if there would be a second aurora, nor did they know where it would descend next.


    The humans and beasts within a few hundred kilometers saw the aurora that penetrated the sky and the destruction of the towering Skysplit Tower. Instantly, the entire Federation was in an uproar.


    All sorts of videos instantly filled the Internet. The aurora shocked the entire world.

 Chapter 1245 - Intimidating the Federation

    Chapter 1245: Intimidating the Federation


    Translator: CKtalon


    All the major factions were studying the aurora¡¯s recording. Someone had recorded it clearly. A beam of the aurora streaked across the sky and penetrated Skysplit Tower.


    Then, Skysplit Tower seemed to instantly heat up, producing terrifyingly high temperatures that turned the entire tower into a red-hot piece of metal.


    Then, the tower shattered and collapsed¡ªthe explosion producing a powerful shockwave that destroyed everything in a radius of nearly fifteen kilometers. It was as though the end of the world had arrived.


    ¡°That¡¯s Skysplit Tower. How many people have designs on Skysplit Tower? Even a Terror-grade powerhouse can¡¯t return on a trip there. It was destroyed with just one shot?¡± Xia Liuchuan was dumbfounded. It was a while before he could speak.


    ¡°The intensity of that aurora beam should be comparable to a Calamity-grade¡¯s strength.. However, it doesn¡¯t seem to be a skill of a Calamity-grade creature. It¡¯s more like a laser weapon fired by humans,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a strange expression.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be. Can humans create weapons of that magnitude?¡± Xia Liuchuan found it incredulous.


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Zhang Chunqiu wasn¡¯t sure either.


    The entire world was discussing the aurora¡¯s origins. At the same time, many people cast suspicious gazes at Luoyang¡¯s An family.


    The League of Guardians chased after An Tianzuo with all their might, but at that moment, Skysplit Tower had been blasted apart. This was too much of a coincidence.


    However, people were very suspicious if An Tianzuo really had that much power. Even someone as powerful as the four war gods couldn¡¯t possess such potent strength.


    Furthermore, An Tianzuo hadn¡¯t been near Skysplit Tower then. He was far away at Mount Laojun.


    However, soon, more suspicious points appeared. As Luoyang was closely monitored by various factions, someone discovered that An Sheng had brought a group of men and escorted a behemoth into Luoyang.


    It wasn¡¯t strange to escort something into Luoyang, but at the critical moment of the An family¡¯s life and death, An Sheng, a loyalist of the An family, hadn¡¯t been at Mount Laojun. Furthermore, after investigations, they discovered that the path he had used to return was likely in the direction of the Skysplit Tower.


    What was even more suspicious was that someone had discovered traces of Thief Sage in the desert. The An family didn¡¯t seem to have caught him at all.


    All the evidence pointed at the An family, but no one dared to touch them. The League of Guardians, who had suffered greatly, didn¡¯t act rashly.


    Even the spies of the various factions in Luoyang were ordered to temporarily evacuate. Many of their plans for the An family were temporarily put on hold.


    No one wanted such a terrifying strike to land on their home. If a place like Skysplit Tower could be destroyed, no one dared to imagine the consequences if the target was their lair.


    Instantly, the An family turned into a ferocious beast. Everyone¡¯s expression changed at the mention of it. Before confirming if the An family could still use such terrifying power, it was unlikely anyone would dare to attack them.


    However, many people tried to investigate the An family and figure out the aurora¡¯s origins. This was the best outcome An Tianzuo wanted. At the very least, no one dared to harm his family.


    An Sheng returned to An Tianzuo¡¯s side at the An family residence.


    ¡°Overseer, I didn¡¯t let you down and successfully completed the mission.¡± An Sheng led the soldiers to report to An Tianzuo.


    ¡°Did you enjoy it?¡± An Tianzuo asked with a smile.


    ¡°Yes,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°Did it give you a kick?¡± An Tianzuo asked again.


    ¡°Yes!¡± all the soldiers who participated in this operation answered loudly.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. In the future, if anyone makes us unhappy, we¡¯ll have a kicking good time. All members participating in this operation will be awarded the Sunset Tristar Medal. All of you will be promoted by a rank¡­¡± An Tianzuo rewarded the participating members and all the members of the Sunset Army.


    During the period An Tianzuo had strategically evacuated Luoyang, there hadn¡¯t been any unrest. All the troops who had stayed behind without knowing the situation carried out their duties, preventing any major upheavals in Luoyang.


    Li Mobai, who had always given An Tianzuo a headache, had helped stabilize the situation in Luoyang. This surprised An Tianzuo.


    An Tianzuo originally wanted to take this opportunity to clean up Luoyang. Li Mobai was his greatest threat, but he never expected that Li Mobai had no intention of occupying Luoyang during the chaos.


    ¡°It was really close this time.¡± Li Xuan had been staying in the Li family the entire time. After hearing the news of An Tianzuo¡¯s return, he felt relieved.


    He wasn¡¯t worried about An Tianzuo, but he was glad that Li Mobai hadn¡¯t taken the opportunity to forcefully occupy Luoyang.


    Li Mobai glanced at Li Xuan in contempt. ¡°To think you¡¯re so close to the An family. You can¡¯t even see through such a trivial trick from An Tianzuo. What else can you do?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not someone who does big things.¡± Li Xuan shrugged indifferently.


    However, he was truly impressed by Li Mobai. He knew very well how much Li Mobai wanted the Li family to replace the An family as the kings of Luoyang, but in the face of such a huge temptation, Li Mobai had actually seen through An Tianzuo¡¯s intentions. Furthermore, he firmly believed that An Tianzuo could return. This was indeed something no ordinary person dared to do.


    ¡­


    Not long after An Sheng returned, he went to look for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had also seen the video online. He had long guessed that it was An Sheng¡¯s doing. Furthermore, he had already guessed what had produced the aurora.


    2


    Back then, An Sheng had taken him to see the huge compression accelerator. However, Zhou Wen never expected it to be so terrifying. Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare withstand the might of the strike. It was probably comparable to the Calamity grade.


    An Sheng didn¡¯t hide anything from Zhou Wen and told him the entire story.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, Overseer didn¡¯t mean to hide it from you. It¡¯s just that this operation was too risky. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. If people noticed something amiss, we wouldn¡¯t have been able to lure Cave Era and the rest over. It¡¯s actually very difficult to power up the accelerator at that distance without being discovered by Cave Era,¡± An Sheng explained.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind this matter and nodded. ¡°It¡¯s indeed very risky. Not only did you lure Cave Era over, but you even lured the people from the Holy Temple over too.¡±


    An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°Actually, Chancellor Leng was nearby. As long as Overseer gave the signal, he would rescue us.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. This was An Tianzuo¡¯s style. There was no reason for him to take such a huge risk without any preparations.


    ¡°However, although Overseer won¡¯t say it, I can tell that he¡¯s very touched that you helped him at the critical moment,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want anything to happen to Sis Lan and company. It has nothing to do with him,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°We¡¯re family. There¡¯s no need to draw the lines so cleanly.¡±


    After a pause, An Sheng said with a bitter expression, ¡°However, this blast wiped out years of the An family¡¯s savings. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that we have returned to a state of poverty overnight. We will have to tighten our belts in the future.¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. ¡°That thing consumes so many resources?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a huge amount. It should be called a terrifying amount. If we don¡¯t chance upon a large number of unexpected resources, it will be impossible for a second shot to happen in the next few years,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that the League of Guardians will seek revenge?¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°That depends on whether they have the guts to take the bet. Overseer said that they don¡¯t have the guts.¡± An Sheng looked very relaxed as he said to Zhou Wen, ¡°However, Overseer said that we can¡¯t let anyone other than our family know about this. Otherwise, it will be terrible.¡±


    ¡°I can only guarantee that the news won¡¯t leak from me,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.


    An Sheng laughed. ¡°If he didn¡¯t trust you, Overseer wouldn¡¯t have tacitly allowed me to tell you.¡±


    As the two of them were talking, An Sheng suddenly received news that another creature had entered the Venusian dimensional zone.

 Chapter 1246 - Moon Goddess?

    Chapter 1246: Moon Goddess?


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone and opened a mainstream livestream app. Soon, he saw the scene of the Cube.


    Zhou Wen was stunned the moment he saw it.


    The creature in the scene was dressed in a white muslin robe. On the scorching Venus, the sleeves fluttered slightly. Its body emitted a faint luster, making one feel cool and peaceful for some reason.


    Tsukuyomi! Although ordinary people couldn¡¯t discern Tsukuyomi¡¯s true appearance due to the veil that covered her face and the light that blurred her figure, Zhou Wen still recognized her at a glance.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s temperament was unique. After spending a long time with her, it was easy to recognize her.


    Is Tsukuyomi really going in? Zhou Wen sighed.. He finally understood why Tsukuyomi was unwilling to leave Earth.


    However, Tsukuyomi had rejected his help in the end and had chosen to leave Earth. This puzzled Zhou Wen.


    1


    Tsukuyomi landed on the platform of the hemispherical metal building. She didn¡¯t drip her blood onto the platform. Instead, she took a step and arrived inside the room.


    ¡°Is this a fairy from myths? She¡¯s so beautiful!¡±


    ¡°She can¡¯t be a human, right? I can¡¯t tell if she¡¯s a dimensional creature.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too blurry. I can¡¯t see clearly. Perhaps her face is extremely ugly.¡±


    ¡°With that figure and temperament, she can¡¯t be ugly.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. The focus was actually Tsukuyomi¡¯s looks.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s clothes fluttered as she floated in the room. The Metal Guard¡¯s bullets immediately shot over.


    Tsukuyomi slowly landed on the ground and ignored the bullets. However, the bullets gradually vanished as they flew, like snowflakes melting in the sunlight.


    What was even more terrifying was that it wasn¡¯t just the bullets. Even the Metal Guard¡¯s body was slowly disappearing.


    In the blink of an eye, the Metal Guard had vanished like the bullet.


    The six doors opened at the same time. Groups of Metal Guards rushed out of the six doors and kept firing at Tsukuyomi.


    When the rain of bullets flew towards her, they strangely vanished again. The Metal Guards¡¯ bodies were the same. In just a while, more than a hundred Metal Guards vanished one by one, leaving nothing on the ground.


    There were no dimensional crystals or Companion Eggs. The room was spotless.


    The spectating humans didn¡¯t dare say a word. Ever since the live broadcast of the Cube, everyone¡¯s horizons had gradually broadened. They had also seen many powerful creatures.


    An existence as powerful as the Dragon Turtle still needed to reflect the enemy¡¯s attack, but this was the first time they had seen an existence standing there without moving.


    What humans were most afraid of wasn¡¯t the terrifying power they could see, but the fear of the unknown. They couldn¡¯t understand how Tsukuyomi had killed the Metal Guards, so the fear in their hearts would subconsciously multiply.


    ¡°Professor Gu, what do you think of this new mysterious creature? Who do you think is stronger when compared to the Dragon Turtle?¡± The host of the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau interviewed an old professor for his opinion.


    Professor Gu was a permanent guest on the Cube¡¯s live broadcast. He was quite powerful and was knowledgeable. His previous analyses were accurate and the audience thought highly of him.


    Professor Gu thought for a moment and said, ¡°The Dragon Turtle¡¯s level in East District mythology is rather high. It¡¯s very difficult for ordinary dimensional creatures to compare with it.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, do you think that this mysterious woman¡¯s ability is inferior to the Dragon Turtle?¡± The host wanted to further confirm what Professor Gu meant.


    To his surprise, Professor Gu shook his head and said, ¡°On the contrary, I think this mysterious woman is stronger.¡±


    The host asked in puzzlement, ¡°Professor Gu, I don¡¯t quite understand. You just said that Dragon Turtle has a rather high status in East District mythology, but now, you are saying that the mysterious woman is stronger than Dragon Turtle. Could it be that you have already recognized the mysterious woman¡¯s origins? Is her level in mythology above Dragon Turtle?¡±


    Professor Gu said, ¡°You could say that. According to my judgment, this mysterious woman might be a famous figure in the myths and legends of the East District. She¡¯s the kind that everyone knows.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just too curious. I believe the viewers are also very curious. Professor Gu, can you announce the answer now?¡± the host said.


    ¡°Of course. If my judgment is correct, this mysterious woman might very well be the one on the moon in myths and legends,¡± Professor Gu said with certainty.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Could it be that¡­ that mysterious woman is the legendary fairy, Chang¡¯e¡­¡± the host said in surprise.


    It wasn¡¯t just the host. Many spectators in the East District were already excited when they heard Professor Gu.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, with that figure and aura, it¡¯s really possible.¡±


    ¡°No way, even Fairy Chang¡¯e has appeared!¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s really Fairy Chang¡¯e, I¡¯d rather live an hour less just to see her true appearance.¡±


    ¡­


    Fairy Chang¡¯e was just too famous in the East District. The audience¡¯s enthusiasm was instantly ignited.


    Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when he heard that. He was a man who had seen the real Chang¡¯e. He wondered what they would think if they saw the real Chang¡¯e.


    Although Professor Gu wasn¡¯t right about Tsukuyomi¡¯s identity, his train of thought was correct. He had only guessed the wrong pantheon.


    As people were discussing, the Golden Battle God Mark I had already rushed out and shot at Tsukuyomi.


    Unfortunately, his bullets didn¡¯t have a better effect than the Metal Guard¡¯s bullets. They gradually vanished as he flew.


    The Golden Battle God shot a few more times, but the outcome was the same. Not only did the bullets disappear, but even the Golden Battle God¡¯s body vanished.


    The next Golden Battle Gods that appeared were basically the same. Tsukuyomi just stood there without doing anything. The Golden Battle Gods vanished one after another.


    ¡°She¡¯s too amazing. As expected of the moon goddess,¡± an uncultured man shouted at the top of his lungs.


    ¡°Is Fairy Chang¡¯e that strong? I don¡¯t think she¡¯s that strong in myths and legends, right?¡±


    ¡°From the myths of the East District, although Chang¡¯e is very famous, her status is far inferior to Dragon Turtle.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it too arbitrary to say that she¡¯s Chang¡¯e now? Even if she¡¯s really Chang¡¯e, I don¡¯t think she¡¯s stronger than the Dragon Turtle.¡±


    The women were more rational. Most of them insisted that the Dragon Turtle was stronger.


    When the host saw that many people were doubting Professor Gu, he continued asking, ¡°Professor Gu, many people in the audience believe that the Dragon Turtle¡¯s status in mythology is higher than Chang¡¯e¡¯s. What do you think?¡±


    Professor Gu nodded and said, ¡°Just from its mythological status and contributions, the Dragon Turtle is indeed higher. However, you can¡¯t just look at one aspect¡­¡±


    While Professor Gu was explaining, the alarms at the six doors had already sounded. The sound drowned Professor Gu¡¯s voice, so he had no choice but to stop explaining.


    In fact, no one was listening to his explanation. Everyone wanted to know if this fairy-like figure from the Moon Palace could withstand the fatal seventh strike.


    Of course, there were also people who suspected that Tsukuyomi might not even be able to withstand the first shot.


    Bang!


    Only after a gunshot did the humans realize that the creature behind the door had shot its first bullet.

 Chapter 1247 - Blocking Bullets

    Everyone¡¯s eyes were trained on Tsukuyomi. Basically, no one could see the trajectory of the bullet. They could only see the outcome.


    Tsukuyomi was still standing there as before. Her figure hadn¡¯t moved at all, but her left hand was raised. Her slender middle finger and index finger held a long, sharp bullet. The sides of the bullet were dented by her fingers.


    Clang! Tsukuyomi released her finger and allowed the bullet to fall to the ground. Her gaze remained calm as she looked at the door that the bullet came from.


    ¡°She actually caught it!¡± Everyone was alarmed. After watching the battles for so long, this was the first time they had seen what the bullet looked like.


    Although the bullet had already been deformed, one could still roughly tell that it was a bullet made of black metal and there were some strange patterns on its surface.


    However, the patterns couldn¡¯t be identified due to the bullet¡¯s deformity.


    Bang! Bang!


    Gunshots sounded one after another. As Tsukuyomi walked towards the door, she gently waved her jade-like palm and bullets were caught between her fingers. In an instant, the first six shots had been fired, but the seventh shot didn¡¯t immediately sound.


    Tsukuyomi had already walked to the door and extended her palm. Five bullets fell to the ground like the previous bullets.


    ¡°Too powerful¡­ Professor Gu is right. This fairy is much stronger than Dragon Turtle¡­¡±


    ¡°Such a beautiful creature and at the Calamity grade. Do you think a Companion Egg will appear if she¡¯s killed?¡±


    ¡°If a Companion Egg appears, I¡¯ll be the first to snatch it.¡±


    ¡°What right do you have to snatch it? If anyone wants to snatch it, it can only be Thief Sage and Looter King.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to read the comments, nor did he want to hear Professor Gu and the host¡¯s analysis. All his attention was on Tsukuyomi. He was somewhat nervous, unsure if Tsukuyomi could withstand the fatal seventh strike.


    No creature had been able to survive the seventh shot to date. Be it Grim Reaper No. 10¡ªwho possessed an undying body and immortality, or the Calamity-grade Dragon Turtle, all of them died when hit.


    Tsukuyomi walked to the door and was about to enter when the seventh shot rang.


    Upon hearing the gunshot, everyone shuddered before looking at Tsukuyomi.


    Some people didn¡¯t even dare to look at Tsukuyomi, afraid that they would see her head explode.


    Zhou Wen kept staring at her. After the gunshot, he couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed when he saw her situation.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s fingers had already clamped onto the seventh bullet, but the bullet didn¡¯t lose its strength because of Tsukuyomi¡¯s clamp.


    The bullet spun violently between Tsukuyomi¡¯s fingers and rubbed against Tsukuyomi¡¯s Moonlight Force. The head of the bullet lit up due to the excessive heat. From afar, it looked like Tsukuyomi¡¯s fingers were clamping a constantly changing light shuttle.


    Her Moonlight Force constantly collided with the bullet, and Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t completely control the bullet, nor could the bullet continue its trajectory.


    Clang!


    Tsukuyomi raised her fingers slightly and forcefully changed the trajectory of the bullet, allowing it to fly past her.


    As it was too fast, most people couldn¡¯t see clearly after the bullet left Tsukuyomi¡¯s finger. They thought that Tsukuyomi had successfully blocked the fatal seventh shot.


    However, Zhou Wen saw that after the bullet flew over, it circled in the air like a living creature and shot at the back of Tsukuyomi¡¯s head at an even faster speed.


    Bang!


    Almost at the same time, the eighth shot sounded. Not only did this shot have powerful offensive power, but it also concealed the seventh bullet that had circled back, throwing Tsukuyomi into a pincer attack situation.


    Almost at the moment Zhou Wen discovered the turning bullet, he had already used spatial teleportation to arrive on Venus.


    Bang! Clang!


    After two gunshots, the spectators realized that Tsukuyomi¡¯s fingers had clamped the eighth bullet. And behind Tsukuyomi, an ancient sword blocked the seventh bullet that circled back.


    Strangely, when the bullet that could blast apart everything struck the ancient sword¡¯s scabbard, it failed to shatter it. It only sent the ancient sword flying, and the bullet changed its trajectory.


    The ancient sword flew out and landed in someone¡¯s hand. When everyone took a closer look, they realized that the person holding the ancient sword was none other than Looter King.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what¡¯s that ancient sword in Looter King¡¯s hand? It can actually block a Calamity-grade bullet?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not an ordinary bullet, but the sure-kill seventh bullet.¡±


    ¡°Could that be a Calamity-grade sword?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what background does Looter King have? He can withstand a Calamity-grade bullet, so why is he looting the spoils of others? Wouldn¡¯t it be fine for him to clear the dimensional zone himself?¡±


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen in surprise. Zhou Wen was also somewhat surprised.


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t block the bullet, and had originally planned on using a harder piece of equipment to block it for Tsukuyomi.


    The so-called blocking was only to stall for time. He didn¡¯t expect the sword to really block the bullet. All he needed to do was give Tsukuyomi a little extra time.


    However, to his surprise, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, which Zhou Wen had treated as a sacrifice, surprisingly didn¡¯t shatter. It managed to take on the brunt of the seventh bullet.


    Is the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords that hard? Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted.


    Ever since he fused the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been able to pull it out. He didn¡¯t know how to use it, so he hadn¡¯t used it. Now, using it as cannon fodder had a miraculous effect.


    Tsukuyomi glanced at Zhou Wen and nodded at him with a smile.


    Zhou Wen knew that Tsukuyomi had likely recognized him, but in the next second, Tsukuyomi turned around and rushed through the door. She was too fast. Zhou Wen wanted to follow her, but there were already several gunshots inside before it suddenly fell silent.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat. There was dead silence behind the door. Zhou Wen knew that it was probably too late for him to rush in, but he still wanted to take a look and use teleportation to rush in.


    However, there were tunnels that extended in all directions. The six doors were connected. Zhou Wen had also rushed in previously in-game.


    However, he was killed not long after charging in. He failed to find the dimensional creature that shot the bullets.


    This time, Zhou Wen stuck a Substitute Talisman on himself. If he was shot, he would immediately escape.


    However, after he rushed into the tunnel and searched for a while, no one attacked him.


    When Zhou Wen passed through the criss-crossing corridors and arrived in front of a metal palace, he realized that Tsukuyomi was standing there. She didn¡¯t look injured, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the corpse of the dimensional creature.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, the metal palace¡¯s door opened with a bang, emitting a resplendent glow.


    The people on Earth also saw this scene through the Cube. They were as puzzled as Zhou Wen, unsure what had happened.


    Zhou Wen retreated into the tunnel, afraid to be illuminated by the light from the palace. As for Tsukuyomi, she stood there without any intention of dodging.

 Chapter 1248 - The Only Name on the Rankings

    The light shone on Tsukuyomi¡¯s body, but nothing abnormal happened. The fiery-red light didn¡¯t seem to have any lethality.


    Just as all sorts of questions arose in everyone¡¯s minds, they saw something fly out of the metal palace amidst the crimson red light and slowly land in front of Tsukuyomi.


    It was a metal ball. What was surprising was that the metal ball looked very similar to Venus.


    The moment Tsukuyomi obtained it, the screen of Cube began to change. People couldn¡¯t see the scene in the dimensional zone, nor could they see the scene outside Venus.


    The scene that appeared on the Cube wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to everyone. It was the Cube ranking that they had often seen in the past.


    From the rankings of one to one hundred, there was only one name.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi!¡± People couldn¡¯t help but recite the name. Only then did they realize that it wasn¡¯t the Chang¡¯e they thought. Few people in the Federation knew this name, but many people overseas knew it.


    After all, she was a top deity in a particular pantheon. As long as one knew of this pantheon, there was a high chance that they had heard of her name.


    Behind Tsukuyomi, five shiny golden stars appeared.


    No one knew what the golden stars meant, nor did anyone know what the situation was.


    However, most people had already guessed that the Cube ranking still existed. However, only creatures who had cleared the Venusian dimensional zone had the right to appear on the rankings.


    Such a requirement frightened many people.


    What was even more infuriating was that they didn¡¯t see the situation after Tsukuyomi entered. This was because after Zhou Wen entered the Venusian dimensional zone, the Cube¡¯s ¡®camera¡¯ followed him, so they saw as much as Zhou Wen did.


    After Tsukuyomi obtained the metal ball, Zhou Wen suddenly felt a strange force. Then, he found himself at the entrance of the Venusian dimensional zone.


    Tsukuyomi also appeared there, still holding the metal ball in her hand.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Before Zhou Wen could say a word, Tsukuyomi walked over and grabbed his hand, teleporting him away.


    However, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t teleport back to Earth. Instead, she arrived on an asteroid. Zhou Wen¡¯s knowledge of astronomy was ordinary, so he didn¡¯t know which asteroid it was.


    However, after using the Singularity Universe to compare, Zhou Wen already knew where he was. They were still in the Solar System and hadn¡¯t left.


    ¡°Thank you for saving me,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile¡ªher eyes curving into crescents¡ªas she released her hand.


    ¡°Even without me, you could still have caught that bullet, right?¡± When the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords blocked the bullet, Zhou Wen saw Tsukuyomi¡¯s other hand move.


    If his guess was right, Tsukuyomi had actually discovered the bullet that had circled back. Even if Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t saved her, she could have caught it with her strength.


    ¡°Without you, I¡¯m afraid it wouldn¡¯t have been that easy to reach the Golden Palace. You¡¯ve been a great help,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen thought nothing of it, but from Tsukuyomi¡¯s tone, she didn¡¯t seem to be able to kill the dimensional creature.


    ¡°Can you tell me what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Naturally not others, but if you want to know, sure.¡± Tsukuyomi recounted the matter regarding the Venusian dimensional zone.


    Just as Zhou Wen had imagined, Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t killed the dimensional creature. In fact, there was no need to kill it. As long as one could reach the Golden Palace like Tsukuyomi, they would be considered as clearing the Veniusian dimensional zone. The dimensional creature wouldn¡¯t hunt them down any further.


    As for the metal ball, it was indeed a reward for passing the Venusian dimensional zone.


    ¡°Is that metal ball a Companion Egg?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the metal ball in Tsukuyomi¡¯s hand.


    Tsukuyomi threw the metal ball to Zhou Wen. ¡°Take a look.¡±


    Zhou Wen caught the metal ball and realized that the tiny metal ball was shockingly heavy. Furthermore, it had a scorching heat. It was unlikely anyone below the Mythical stage could lift it. Even if one forcefully picked it up, they would be scalded by the high temperature.


    Although the metal ball looked very strange, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any vital signs from it. He only saw five golden star-shaped symbols on the metal ball.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look like a Companion Egg. What is it?¡± Zhou Wen returned the metal ball to Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°It can be said to be a Companion Egg, but also not one,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she played with the metal ball.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, unsure what Tsukuyomi meant.


    Tsukuyomi explained, ¡°This metal ball is a product of the Venusian dimensional zone, but it¡¯s not the only one. All creatures who can reach the Golden Palace can obtain a similar ball.¡±


    After a pause, Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile and said, ¡°If you can reach the Golden Palace, you will also be able to obtain such a ball. When the time comes, many creatures will obtain the same metal ball. After everything ends, most of the metal balls will become useless. Only a few of them will become Companion Eggs, but there¡¯s only one true Companion Egg.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s only one true Companion Egg. Could it be¡­¡± Zhou Wen realized something as his expression changed slightly.


    Tsukuyomi saw through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts. ¡°From the looks of it, you¡¯ve probably figured it out. That¡¯s right. The Venusian dimensional zone¡¯s appearance isn¡¯t for killing, but to find a home for the Companion Beast inside Venus. Only the strongest creature has the right to obtain its recognition and become its host.¡±


    ¡°What will happen to Venus when that Companion Beast has an owner?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a heavy expression.


    ¡°What do you think will happen if a Companion Beast breaks out of its shell?¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Will Venus will be destroyed?¡± Zhou Wen knew that he had guessed correctly.


    Tsukuyomi nodded. ¡°Perhaps this is a path that every planet has to experience. The billions of planets in the universe are actually huge Companion Eggs, but brute force is insufficient to obtain them. Every planet has its own unique way of survival. When the Companion Beasts inside them are about to hatch, they will find an owner for themselves.¡±


    ¡°Is it the same for Earth?¡± Although Zhou Wen already knew the answer, he couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°In theory, all the planets in the Universe are the same. However, Earth seems to be somewhat special because there are too many dimensional zones there. Up to now, no one knows which dimensional zone is the one to obtain Earth¡¯s Companion Beast,¡± Tsukuyomi said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen finally had a clear idea in mind. If Earth was like Venus¡ªa huge Companion Egg¡ªthen the dimensional zones on Earth might be the same as the Venusian dimensional zone. They were produced to select the ownership of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    However, for some reason, there were too many dimensional zones on Earth. There were so many that it was unknown which dimensional zone was the true test for Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    The dimension kept searching, but they clearly failed to find it.


    ¡°What¡¯s the level of the true Venusian Companion Beast? A Calamity-grade?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought. He was very curious about this matter.

 Chapter 1249 - Sword of Unkilling

    ¡°Who knows? I just came out and don¡¯t know much,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Previously, those creatures seemed to know that they were doomed, but they still rushed into the Venusian dimensional zone. Do you know why?¡± Zhou Wen had always been concerned about this matter.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Perhaps they weren¡¯t happy and had a death wish,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi for a while without saying a word. He felt that Tsukuyomi definitely knew something, but was unwilling to tell him. He didn¡¯t have the ability to read minds, so all he could do was give up.


    ¡°Thank you for saving me. I¡¯m very happy, but this place isn¡¯t suitable for you. Go back,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she stood up.


    ¡°What dangers are there in the Universe?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°You will naturally know when you obtain Calamity grade power.¡± Tsukuyomi turned around and flew away from the asteroid. Only her cold voice passed through the vacuum and entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. ¡°Don¡¯t leave Earth unless it¡¯s really necessary.¡±


    Zhou Wen wanted to ask why, but Tsukuyomi had already vanished.


    What¡¯s in the Universe that can make a powerful Calamity-grade existence so afraid, to the point of being terrified? Zhou Wen looked up at the cosmos, but he couldn¡¯t see anything from the asteroid.


    After entering the Universe more times, Zhou Wen learned something. The stars that he could see on Earth were invisible on many other planets.


    After teleporting back to Earth, Zhou Wen was lucky to appear near Luoyang and quickly returned.


    Perhaps it was Zhou Wen¡¯s imagination, but Luoyang seemed to have become more prosperous than before. People came and went as shops lined the streets.


    Zhou Wen quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t an illusion. Many shops were newly opened, ones he had never seen before.


    After some thought, he roughly gathered what was going on. The various factions were definitely trying their best to figure out what the An family¡¯s aurora was.


    If tough tactics didn¡¯t work, they would have to think of other ways. Now, in the massive Luoyang, there were countless people from all walks of life who were spies of other factions.


    After returning to his room, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to summon the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. He wanted to figure out why the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords could block the fatal seventh bullet.


    In theory, it was impossible for the Terror-grade Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to withstand a Calamity strike without suffering any damage. Furthermore, the bullet wasn¡¯t an ordinary Calamity strike.


    Even so, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords hadn¡¯t been damaged.


    Zhou Wen studied the various abilities and skills of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords one by one, hoping to find the reason why it hadn¡¯t shattered. This also meant that he could reverse engineer the seventh bullet¡¯s ability.


    In fact, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t the only one studying the matter. The various factions were also studying how Looter King could block the seventh bullet.


    Through Tsukuyomi¡¯s battle, many people realized that the seventh bullet was especially powerful. The eighth bullet she subsequently caught wasn¡¯t as potent.


    Yet, a bullet as strong as the seventh had been blocked by the ancient sword. They wanted to know what Companion Beast the ancient sword was, what abilities it had, and if they could find a replacement.


    The various factions were studying this aspect, but no one recognized the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    In fact, there was no such thing as the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords in reality. Even if they went to the Ancient Sword Tomb and had heaven-defying luck, they would, at most, obtain the Light Concealment, Shadow Concealment, or the Night Immaculate Sword.


    Zhou Wen obtained the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords through fusion, so it was impossible for it to drop.


    Unable to figure out the origins of the ancient sword, the various factions attempted to find Looter King, even if they had to cooperate with him.


    Unfortunately, no one knew who Looter King was. The members of the media were guessing, but no one guessed Zhou Wen.


    The information regarding the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was very vague and had little value for reference. Zhou Wen studied it for hours and felt that it might have something to do with its Wheel of Destiny¡ªSword of Unkilling.


    Could it be that this Sword of Unkilling doesn¡¯t mean that it can¡¯t kill, but that it can¡¯t be killed? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that this was the most likely possibility.


    In fact, its Life Providence, Life Soul, and Terror Transformation were all abilities related to the Son of Heaven. He didn¡¯t know what they were for, but they didn¡¯t seem to have anything to do with immortality.


    If it¡¯s really as I guessed, this sword can¡¯t be killed. It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t use it to kill, so why can¡¯t I pull it out? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss.


    Unable to figure it out, and it being the time for the Venusian instance dungeon to respawn, Zhou Wen took the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords into the Venusian instance dungeon to see if he could use it to block the Calamity-grade bullet and thereby, rush to the Golden Palace.


    He had already learned the route to the Golden Palace from Tsukuyomi. As long as he could block a few bullets, he could rush in.


    As for killing the dimensional creature that was firing, Zhou Wen no longer held any hope.


    Even Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t kill it, so Zhou Wen could forget about it. After all, he wasn¡¯t even at the Terror grade.


    Using the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to kill the Metal Guard was the same as before. He couldn¡¯t pull it out and could only use it as a pole. With Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, he had to use it to whack the Metal Guard.


    One thing was certain. This sword could kill¡ªit wasn¡¯t a sword that couldn¡¯t kill as Zhou Wen had previously imagined.


    However, other than being hard, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords didn¡¯t have any other augmented abilities.


    It was difficult for Zhou Wen to even kill the Golden Battle God with it. He failed to kill the Golden Battle God despite ¡®slashing¡¯ at it several times.


    Despite both being at the Terror grade, the destructive power of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was much weaker than the Asura Saber formed by Deva Asura.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect to use it for killing. He only hoped to use its strength to block the Calamity-grade existence¡¯s bullets.


    Although the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was hard enough, Zhou Wen still needed to be able to hit the bullet to block the Calamity-grade existence¡¯s bullets.


    Due to the difference in speed, Zhou Wen would be killed by a single shot when he accurately teleported or phased into existence from a teleportation. It wasn¡¯t easy to use the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to block the bullets.


    I have to focus and use all means to determine the trajectory of the bullet. I have to prepare to block the bullet in advance. Otherwise, it will definitely be too late by the time I see it. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one way to block the Calamity-grade existence¡¯s bullets.


    When fighting the Golden Battle Gods, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use all his strength to quickly kill them. Instead, he used their shots to practice blocking bullets.


    Zhou Wen engraved all the Terror-grade powers that could strengthen his perceptive abilities.


    Great Brahma and Human Sovereign appeared at the same time. One protected the blood-colored avatar while the other fused with its body.

 Chapter 1250 - Practice Method

    Although the bullets shot by the Golden Battle God were very fast and powerful, they had different attributes.


    However, such attacks didn¡¯t pose much of a threat to Zhou Wen. His reaction and speed could keep up with the bullet¡¯s speed, so after practicing for a while, Zhou Wen knew that there was no point in continuing. There wouldn¡¯t be any improvement.


    After using the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to block all sorts of bullets, he was very certain that the sword was hard. When bullets of different attributes hit the ancient sword, even the scabbard wasn¡¯t damaged.


    From the looks of it, I can only get an effect by receiving the Calamity-grade bullets. Otherwise, it would be a waste of effort no matter how much I train. After thinking through everything, Zhou Wen killed the Golden Battle Gods one by one, prepared to see if he could block the Calamity-grade bullet.


    Now, Zhou Wen really wished that he had the Eye of Odin. That way, he could have recorded the firing process and slowly replayed it.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have that ability, so he had to figure it out during the process.


    Zhou Wen had already tried quite a number of times, but he was killed every time. None of it was an accident. Not only could he not block it, but he couldn¡¯t even keep up with its speed. He couldn¡¯t even dodge.


    Now that he had the tough Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, he should be able to block it, but it was a problem if he could get the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to make contact with the bullet.


    Under normal circumstances, it was impossible to touch it, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on giving up. Before finishing off the last Golden Battle God, Zhou Wen summoned his Terror-grade Companion Beasts.


    After Banana Fairy, the three Golden Battle Gods, Deva Asura, and Grim Reaper No. 10 were summoned, Zhou Wen started carving marks.


    Terror power immediately surged through Zhou Wen. No, to be precise, it surged into the armor formed by the Limitless Demon Dragon King.


    The black crystal-like armor emitted a terrifying glow due to the immense energy. It was as though the black crystal was burning.


    The Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s functions played a role, sharing their powers with Zhou Wen. Now, he had an additional six Terror-grade powers. Together with his Terror transformation powers, Zhou Wen now grasped unprecedented power.


    With this power, Zhou Wen held the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords tightly and welcomed the Calamity-grade bullets.


    Bang!


    Although Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction was very fast, the shot blasted his head apart before he could swing his sword.


    Furthermore, because the Dragon King armor had gathered immense strength, the Calamity creature treated him as its first target. After one shot, nothing was left.


    It still doesn¡¯t work? Zhou Wen deeply understood the difference between a Calamity and a Terror-grade existence.


    He had obtained the augmentation of six Terror-grade powers, but he couldn¡¯t even block an ordinary bullet, much less the sure-kill seventh bullet.


    However, it wasn¡¯t as though Zhou Wen had gained nothing. With the augmentation of powerful strength and the enhancement of Great Brahma and Human Sovereign¡¯s perception, Zhou Wen could roughly see the trajectory of the bullet, but he couldn¡¯t dodge it.


    Strange. Previously, when I used the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords to block the bullet for Tsukuyomi, I could clearly do it. Why don¡¯t I have time to block an ordinary bullet for myself? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and understood why he couldn¡¯t block it.


    Previously, helping Tsukuyomi block the bullet was actually a form of prediction. When he saw the bullet turn, he had already predicted that the bullet would shoot towards the back of Tsukuyomi¡¯s head. Therefore, he could throw the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords ahead of time.


    However, when it was his turn to block the bullet, although he knew that the bullet would definitely shoot at him, he didn¡¯t know where it would go. The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords couldn¡¯t block his entire body. Without any predictions, it was impossible for him to block a Calamity-grade bullet by relying on reaction alone.


    The Limitless Demon Dragon King armor allows me to draw upon the powers of eight creatures. This time, I only used six. I¡¯ll try getting eight next time. Perhaps I can block it then. Zhou Wen was considering what Companion Beasts to use.


    As Zhou Wen grinded the dungeons, he thought about the trajectory of the bullet he had seen today, as well as his prediction when helping Tsukuyomi block the bullet.


    That bullet appears and disappears unpredictably. I can¡¯t even see the shooter, making it difficult to predict the trajectory. Is there no way to predict the trajectory of the bullet without seeing the shooter? Zhou Wen practiced in-game as he thought.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, what are you doing?¡± When An Sheng came to find Zhou Wen, he saw him gesturing with his bare hands. He did not know what he was doing, so he asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m practicing my swordplay,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How can you train like that? What¡¯s the point of gesturing with your fingers? How can it compare with real weapon practice?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I also want to practice with something real, but no one has such a fast attack speed that can pressure me.¡± Zhou Wen was telling the truth, but it sounded arrogant to others.


    An Sheng understood Zhou Wen¡¯s character and knew that he wasn¡¯t an arrogant person. He asked in puzzlement, ¡°How fast do you want it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s about the same as the bullet fired by the Calamity-grade creature in the Venusian dimensional zone,¡± Zhou Wen said casually. He didn¡¯t believe that An Sheng could help him find a Calamity-grade sparring partner.


    ¡°You only want speed, and have no other requirements on strength?¡± An Sheng asked again.


    ¡°No, as long as it¡¯s fast enough. However, with such speed, it¡¯s definitely at the Calamity grade. It¡¯s impossible for creatures below the Calamity grade to have such speed,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to use humans for this matter. Just machines can resolve it. Humans definitely can¡¯t reach such speeds, but machines can. If you only need speed and not strength or other requirements, you don¡¯t need complicated machinery. Just a torchlight will do,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve thought of that as well. The speed of light is naturally fast, but it¡¯s impossible for the person using the flashlight to be that fast. As long as I see him use a flashlight to illuminate me, I can easily dodge the beam from determining his actions.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a model of the compressed accelerator in the military laboratory. Although it¡¯s a model, the principle is the same as the real deal. As long as you input the procedure properly ahead of time, it will shoot out light according to that procedure. You can¡¯t tell what the machine is doing, right?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Is it convenient for you to lend me that thing?¡± After Zhou Wen listened to An Sheng¡¯s detailed description of the model¡¯s principle, he felt that this method might really work.


    He followed An Sheng to the military laboratory of the Sunset Army and began a new round of practice.

 Chapter 1251 - Speed of Light

    ¡°You call this a model?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the device in front of him that was the size of a tractor and asked An Sheng with an odd expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s a model. It¡¯s only 1/25th the size of the real deal. However, because it¡¯s used in simulation experiments, its basic theory and functions are about the same as the real one. The only difference is that it¡¯s a little weaker and doesn¡¯t have the functions that are used in practice.¡± An Sheng pointed at the device and explained, ¡°Although it¡¯s a little weaker, you can¡¯t say the same about its speed. It can¡¯t even be dodged at the Terror grade. It¡¯s perfect if you want to practice with it.¡±


    ¡°How do I operate this thing?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the device that resembled a tractor¡¯s cockpit and had a headache.


    ¡°Although there¡¯s a computer that can set the launch parameters, it¡¯s still an experimental product. In order to prevent any accidents, someone needs to be at the operating console. However, this thing can¡¯t be seen by others at the moment, so there are only four non-staff who have the authority to come here. Only I can help you.¡± An Sheng went to the operating console.


    Soon, the front end of the device that looked like a tractor lit up. In front of it was a black crystal in the shape of a fence. On careful look, the fence was made of tiny hexagonal crystals.


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡­ I¡¯m going to start firing¡­ You have to be careful¡­¡± An Sheng shouted.


    ¡°Bring it on.¡± Zhou Wen chose a suitable distance to stand and looked at the shiny crystal opposite him.


    There was no sound, nor were there any signs as one of the hexagonal crystals shot out a beam. It was different from the light-type skills used by ordinary humans. It was the true speed of light.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s chest was struck by the light¡ªhis body didn¡¯t even move.


    The might of the beam wasn¡¯t high. Most of it was equivalent to a Legendary attack. Even Zhou Wen¡¯s armor wasn¡¯t injured.


    The speed of light is indeed about the same as that Calamity-grade bullet. Zhou Wen was very satisfied with the model¡¯s beam speed.


    Furthermore, the hexagonal crystals were akin to gun barrels. Under An Sheng¡¯s control, beams shot out from different crystals. As they were controlled by the computer, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t predict them in advance. All he could do was wait for the beams to shoot out before reacting.


    He tried many times, but he failed every time. Even if Zhou Wen used the Demon Dragon King armor and used the power of the Terror-grade Companion Beasts, he could only see the beams shoot out, but it was already too late to dodge.


    The speed of light is just too fast. With my present speed, I can¡¯t even dodge, much less block it with my sword¡ªunless the other party directly targets the Son of Heaven Sword. Zhou Wen repeated his attempts and quickly confirmed that it was impossible to block the beam with speed unless he advanced to the Terror grade and had the help of eight Terror-grade Companion Beasts. Only then could he react and block the beam in time.


    Since speed isn¡¯t enough, I¡¯ll have to think of another way. As Zhou Wen thought, he attempted to block the beam with his reaction.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, it¡¯s not feasible to rely on human reaction and speed to block the speed of light at such a distance. The Overseer has also tried, but he can¡¯t dodge the speed of light,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Sheng knew very well that such attempts were futile. If one wasn¡¯t fast enough, they just weren¡¯t fast enough. If one was too lacking, it wasn¡¯t something that could be made up through hard work.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that training alone wasn¡¯t enough. However, after hearing An Sheng¡¯s words, his eyes suddenly lit up. He looked at An Sheng and asked, ¡°Ah Sheng, what did you just say?¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, I¡¯m not trying to put you down about your speed, but at your present speed, it¡¯s impossible for you to dodge a light-speed attack,¡± Ah Sheng said truthfully. He didn¡¯t give any unrealistic flattery just because he had a good relationship with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No, you just said that you can¡¯t block the speed of light at such a distance. In other words, if you are far enough away, you can block the speed of light?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If we assume that the distance is far enough, there will be a time difference, so you should be able to block it. However, the distance needed is just too great. It¡¯s very difficult to pull away to such a distance. Furthermore, there¡¯s another drawback. At such a distance, you won¡¯t be able to see it before the light arrives. When you can see the light, it will already be there. Therefore, this is only a hypothesis,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s only a hypothesis, it¡¯s not impossible. It¡¯s still possible to exchange space for time,¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    However, just as An Sheng had said, the speed of light was too fast. Light could travel sufficiently far with just a tenth of a second.


    Interstellar teleportation could open up such a distance in a short period of time, but there was no such distance available for Zhou Wen in the Venusian dimensional zone.


    However, Zhou Wen was good at spatial powers. Perhaps he could give it a try and use spatial skills to widen the distance.


    Zhou Wen carefully considered the various abilities of the Godfiend Era and Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. From his present spatial skills, he couldn¡¯t extend space.


    Zhou Wen had previously seen Jiuyue use spatial extension. Since someone could do it, it meant that there was definitely such a spatial skill.


    ¡°Where can I get such a spatial skill?¡± Zhou Wen told An Sheng his idea.


    An Sheng thought for a moment and said, ¡°I don¡¯t know if this method works, but we don¡¯t have dimensional zones that produce such spatial skills here. Even if other places produce them, they will definitely be very rare. Furthermore, we can only buy Mythical skill crystals at most. No one at the Terror grade will sell them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s at the Mythical stage. How can I buy it?¡± Zhou Wen thought that since Liu Yun could cultivate Star Stealer to the Terror grade, he could give it a try.


    ¡°We can only try our luck at the Holy City¡¯s Fireworks Lane. It¡¯s the only place that¡¯s most likely to have it. Even if the other families have it, they won¡¯t casually sell it,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the Holy City¡¯s Fireworks Lane. He had been there before. The Faceless Buddha in Fireworks Lane was his classmate, Gu Dian.


    Upon hearing An Sheng¡¯s words, Zhou Wen attempted to send Gu Dian a message, explaining his intention of buying a spatial skill crystal.


    Before long, Gu Dian replied to his message. ¡°There are spatial skill crystals. The ones you mentioned don¡¯t exist. No one will sell them even if they do.¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately disappointed. Although spatial skills weren¡¯t something that couldn¡¯t be created by oneself, the difficulty of creating them was as difficult as humans discovering the periodic law of elements in the past. It required luck and constant research to achieve it. It wasn¡¯t something that could be done with just a thought.


    To his surprise, Gu Dian sent a second message. ¡°I know of a place that can produce such spatial skill crystals. The drop rate is very low. If you aren¡¯t afraid of trouble or death, you can give it a try.¡±


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°West District, Time Hut.¡± Gu Dian quickly replied.

 Chapter 1252 - Time Hut

    Zhou Wen¡¯s smile froze when he saw the words ¡®Time Hut.¡¯


    He had heard of this dimensional zone before, and it wasn¡¯t just him. There were probably very few people on Earth who didn¡¯t know about the Time Hut dimensional zone.


    Many mainstream media had reported on the Time Hut dimensional zone. In that dimensional zone, the flow of time was completely different from the outside world.


    There had been people who went in for a moment¡ªturning from young men to dying old men. There were also old men who turned into babies after entering.


    Furthermore, the flow of time inside was unpredictable. Whether one could come out after entering didn¡¯t depend on how powerful one was, but on one¡¯s luck.


    It might be better for experts who were proficient in temporal powers to enter the Time Hut, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at temporal abilities.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Time Hut a temporal dimensional zone? Why does it have a spatial skill?¡± Zhou Wen asked Gu Dian for more detail.


    Gu Dian sent the information regarding Time Hut to Zhou Wen. It was clearly confidential information. Most of the content hadn¡¯t been reported by the media, and it was highly detailed.


    Although the Time Hut was called a hut, there were actually many rooms inside. The flow of time in every room was different. Some of the rooms had been explored before and the flow of time inside was known.


    As for some rooms, none of the humans who entered had managed to come out. Therefore, no one knew the situation inside.


    Even in the known rooms, the flow of time was variable.


    The spatial skill crystal Gu Dian mentioned belonged to a Mythical creature named Spacetime Piglet in one of the rooms.


    According to Gu Dian¡¯s information, Spacetime Piglet had temporal and spatial skills. Someone had obtained a spatial skill after killing a Spacetime Piglet. Later on, that skill was sold to Cave Era. Cave Era had once used that skill, and it indeed had the ability to extend space.


    Zhou Wen planned on heading to the Time Hut to take a look. It was too risky to enter the Time Hut, but he wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol there.


    If he had the tiny palm symbol and could download the dungeon, he could farm in-game to his heart¡¯s content. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to obtain a skill crystal.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, aren¡¯t you going to continue?¡± An Sheng hurriedly shouted when he saw that Zhou Wen was about to leave.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be heading out for a while. I¡¯ll train when I¡¯m back.¡± Zhou Wen was in a rush to head to the Time Hut as he continued walking out.


    An Sheng moved his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but he ultimately didn¡¯t.


    After leaving the base with Zhou Wen, An Sheng shook his head helplessly when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s figure vanish. ¡°Doesn¡¯t this fellow have any human needs like entertainment or emotion?¡±


    The distance to the West District was relatively far, but to Zhou Wen who had the ability to teleport, it was virtually nothing. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t as risky for him compared to others.


    He took Ya¡¯er with him to the West District as a vacation.


    ¡­


    Ever since Tsukuyomi had cleared the Venusian instance dungeon, no other creatures had entered. All the major factions were making preparations. The most important job was to capture Thief Sage.


    Apart from obtaining the Dragon Turtle Companion Egg, they also wanted to use Thief Sage¡¯s spatial teleportation ability to help them clear the Venusian dimensional zone.


    The creatures in space never appeared again. The angel with black wings from before never reappeared.


    Strange; even Tsukuyomi has appeared. Why didn¡¯t the black-winged angel enter the Venusian dimensional zone? Could it be that not all creatures in space are restricted? Zhou Wen guessed.


    In fact, after Zhou Wen obtained Grim Reaper No. 10, he had been wondering if he could obtain another angel Companion Beast. To his surprise, the black-winged angel hadn¡¯t appeared.


    Zhou Wen released Ice Maiden and Jade Rabbit, while Demonic Neonate and Ya¡¯er sat on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back. They weren¡¯t far from the Time Hut and there weren¡¯t many people around, so Zhou Wen let them out for a breather.


    ¡°What¡¯s this place? It looks pretty good.¡± Grim Demon was seldom released. He had the excitement of having just been released from prison. Everything looked fresh.


    ¡°The Peninsula of Gods,¡± Zhou Wen answered casually.


    Zhou Wen had been to the Peninsula of Gods before. He had obtained Medusa and the Golden Battle God Halberd, as well as the Invisibility Cloak here.


    Meeting Zhong Ziya seemed like yesterday, but now, the two of them were separated. No one knew if they would have the chance to meet again in the future.


    I wonder how Lucas is now. Zhou Wen thought of the fellow known as a hero.


    Five years ago, Lucas often sent him messages, but ever since Zhou Wen had been trapped for five years, he hadn¡¯t received any messages from him.


    Speaking of which, Zhou Wen really missed that fellow. Such a person would always leave an indelible impression.


    When they arrived at the human city closest to the Time Hut, they saw many humans walking on the streets with their Companion Beasts.


    Trolls, elemental sprites, sea demons, and so on. There were all sorts of strange Companion Beasts that were too much for the eyes to take in. In contrast, the Companion Beasts Zhou Wen brought looked rather ordinary.


    ¡°How do I get to Time Hut?¡± Zhou Wen bought some things from a shop and asked the boss the way to Time Hut.


    He only knew that the Time Hut was in a forest, but he didn¡¯t know its exact location.


    ¡°As a foreigner, it¡¯s best to hire a guide to lead you to the Time Hut. Otherwise, it¡¯s very easy to get lost in the strange forest.¡± The boss was very enthusiastic when he saw how generous Zhou Wen was with his purchases.


    ¡°Do you have a map?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s cheap. Twenty bucks for one, but the path in the strange forest always changes. Having a map isn¡¯t much different from not having one. Only an experienced guide can quickly find the location of the Time Hut.¡± The boss handed a map to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took the map and looked at it. He saw that the map was rather detailed. It indicated the path to the strange forest. However, although the map in the strange forest was very detailed, there were many annotations. It indicated that paths might not exist at times and could only be used as a reference.


    This was enough for Zhou Wen. After putting away the map, Zhou Wen asked, ¡°Where in the Peninsula of Gods is Hero Lucas in?¡±


    ¡°What Hero Lucas?¡± The boss was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°It¡¯s that famous hero who once killed Medusa.¡± Zhou Wen was slightly surprised that someone on the Peninsula of Gods didn¡¯t recognize Lucas.


    When the boss heard that, he thought carefully for a while before saying in enlightenment, ¡°There seems to be such a person. However, it happened many years ago. There are so many heroes nowadays. We don¡¯t remember people from so long ago that well. Now, the most famous hero on our Peninsula of Gods is Boss¡­¡±

 Chapter 1253 - Tai Sui’s Evolution

    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled as he asked a few more people. He realized that none of them knew about Lucas. Even if they knew, they only had a vague awareness of him. No one knew what had happened to Lucas.


    Strange. With Lucas¡¯s personality, it¡¯s impossible for him to lead a quiet life, right? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and sent a message to Lucas, but he didn¡¯t get a reply.


    Could something have happened to this fellow? Zhou Wen flipped through the news. The reports regarding Lucas were from four years ago. There weren¡¯t any reports about him in the past four years.


    It was as though Lucas had vanished, but there was no report of what had happened to him.


    Although it was normal for humans to die accidentally in this era, it still made Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable when he thought of how he had lost someone he knew.


    He took the map and headed for the strange forest. The strange forest was a dimensional zone, and the Time Hut could be considered a part of the strange forest.


    As it was very dangerous, not many humans came here.


    The only good thing about the strange forest was that there were only plant-type dimensional creatures here. Plant-type dimensional creatures were typically unable to move, so as long as one didn¡¯t enter a specific radius, there wouldn¡¯t be much danger.


    However, plant-type dimensional creatures were mixed among ordinary plants. It wasn¡¯t easy to discover them, so it was normal to accidentally approach them.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s senses were extremely sharp, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to distinguish plant-type dimensional creatures. After walking into the strange forest, he immediately discovered many plant-type dimensional creatures.


    Their sizes ranged from a blade of grass, a mushroom to a towering tree¡ªall of them could be a dimensional creature.


    Furthermore, plant-type dimensional creatures typically didn¡¯t have powerful auras. It was difficult for ordinary people to tell which were dimensional creatures and which were ordinary plants.


    Zhou Wen realized that some mosses were dimensional creatures. With a thought, he summoned Tai Sui.


    After Tai Sui discovered the moss, it excitedly rushed over and quickly devoured a large patch of it.


    It had been eating the Dragon King Gu for the past few years and seemed to be sick of it. Now that there was a change in flavor, it looked very happy.


    Tai Sui, who was like a huge white ball, bounced ahead and led the way. The spore-type dimensional creatures in the air were also devoured by Tai Sui.


    To others, the strange forest might be a death zone, but to Zhou Wen, it wasn¡¯t that dangerous. It was similar to a vegetable plot he could call his own.


    Ya¡¯er even plucked a few dimensional creature flowers. They didn¡¯t dare resist or attack.


    ¡°The scenery here isn¡¯t bad. It would be better if there was some alcohol.¡± Having been finally released, Grim Demon found everything pretty good.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t react at all. She was completely uninterested in the beautiful vista.


    Ice Maiden carried Jade Rabbit in its smallest form and sized up her surroundings with her beautiful eyes, wary of any danger that might appear. She didn¡¯t like this place that was filled with vitality. Only the ice world made her feel comfortable.


    Such a place made her feel uncomfortable. The thought of the various bacteria caking the plants left her in distress.


    Zhou Wen compared the map and walked forward. He realized that the map was indeed wrong. There were many routes and references marked on the map, but didn¡¯t exist in reality.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to use Truth Listener¡¯s ability to search for the Time Hut. Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t discover it within Truth Listener¡¯s range of detection.


    The entourage could only slowly search. After walking for a short distance, Tai Sui, that was bouncing in front, suddenly stopped.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen and company walked over and realized that there was a tree in front of Tai Sui. There was a fist-sized hole at its root. Tai Sui seemed to be very interested in the tree hole.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that it didn¡¯t dare take action without Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, it would have long burrowed in.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to observe what was inside the tree hole and quickly realized that it extended deep underground. The roots below were intertwined, and a huge cavern appeared more than ten meters below.


    The empty space was rather large. The entire top was the tree¡¯s roots, and there were some strange dimensional creatures growing below that looked like some mushroom variant but appeared harder.


    It didn¡¯t look like a Ganoderma lingzhi. Above the jade-like stem, there were some green teeth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what dimensional creature it was, but Tai Sui had already rushed in.


    Its body was much bigger than the hole, but Tai Sui could change its size at will. Its body liquefied, turning into long, snake-like strips that drilled into the hole.


    After entering the tree hole, Tai Sui began devouring the strange creatures without restraint. The strange creatures didn¡¯t dare resist as they trembled and were devoured by Tai Sui without any resistance.


    Before Zhou Wen could figure out what they were, Tai Sui had already devoured them all.


    Tai Sui burrowed out of the ground and black-gray matter secreted from its body before Zhou Wen could figure out what it had devoured.


    Before long, Tai Sui¡¯s entire body was enveloped by a layer of extremely hard black ash, as though it had turned into a black-gray ball of rock.


    Has Tai Sui evolved? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. This had happened too suddenly and too easily. He was a little at a loss.


    Seeing that Tai Sui didn¡¯t react, nor did he know when it could complete its evolution, he stored it in the Chaos Bead.


    ¡°There¡¯s someone over there,¡± Grim Demon said as he looked in a direction in the forest.


    ¡°Go over and take a look. If there¡¯s really someone, I might be able to find out where the Time Hut is.¡± Zhou Wen also sensed a group of humans as he walked over with Ya¡¯er in his arms.


    Before long, they saw a group of people walking over. When they saw Zhou Wen and company, they wore wary expressions.


    It might not be a good thing for humans to encounter their kind in a strange forest.


    ¡°May I ask where the Time Hut is?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care what they thought as he asked.


    The leading elder sized up Zhou Wen and company for a while before saying, ¡°Are you foreigners? If you want to go to the Time Hut, it¡¯s best you hire a guide. Otherwise, something might happen.¡±


    ¡°If possible, can you tell me the general direction and location of the Time Hut?¡± Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t afraid of any danger. Unless a Calamity-grade creature appeared, it was hard for any ordinary dimensional creature to injure him.


    The elder was about to say something when a young man in the team pointed in a direction and said, ¡°The Time Hut is over there. If you aren¡¯t afraid of death, feel free to head over.¡±


    Zhou Wen could tell from his tone that something had happened at the Time Hut.

 Chapter 1254 - Lucas’s Friend

    ¡°Did something happen at the Time Hut?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The elder leading the group was very friendly. When he heard that, he said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with the Time Hut. However, on the path to the Time Hut, a terrifying Piranha Flower King appeared. Our team suffered great losses, so it¡¯s best that you don¡¯t proceed.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for the heads up, but we still want to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the troll Companion Beast behind their team.


    It was a blue-skinned troll. It was four to five meters tall and looked extremely majestic.


    On the troll¡¯s back was a box. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t noticed it at first, but Zhou Wen¡¯s sharp senses noticed it when a sound suddenly came from the box. He immediately realized that there was a woman tied up inside the box.


    The woman¡¯s hands and feet were tied up, and she was gagged. At that moment, she seemed to realize that there were others outside. Therefore, she struck the inner wall of the box with all her might, making a sound to let others discover her.


    Seeing Zhou Wen look at the box, the elder said, ¡°If you insist on going, be careful. We are in a hurry to return.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment. What¡¯s with the box?¡± Zhou Wen stopped the elder and asked.


    Although he didn¡¯t like being a busybody, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t hold back if he could save a life.


    Of course, before that, Zhou Wen had to figure out the whole story to prevent a misunderstanding.


    ¡°What has it got to do with you?¡± The young man glared at Zhou Wen unhappily.


    However, the elder stopped the young man and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°To be honest, the person in the box is our employer. She spent money to get us to take her to the Time Hut, but now that the Piranha Flower King has appeared on the road, none of us will go past it. A few people have already died, but she still insists on advancing. We don¡¯t want to see her die, so we are forcefully taking her back.¡±


    ¡°Can I ask her a few questions?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the elder didn¡¯t seem to be lying, but it was better to make things clear as it concerned a life.


    ¡°Don¡¯t push your luck.¡± The young man was very unhappy.


    However, the elder stopped the young man from acting up further. He turned his head and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Of course. Actually, what we did wasn¡¯t right. Since we took her money, we should have taken her to her destination even if death was on the cards. However, it was a clear case of sending her to her death. There was no point in continuing. I¡¯m already an old bag of bones. It¡¯s fine if I die, but I can¡¯t watch these young people die with us. We will refund her the money and double the compensation.¡±


    With that said, the elder got someone to get the box down and open it for Zhou Wen and company to see.


    ¡°Dad, what are you doing? Is there a need to explain so much to an outsider?¡± When Zhou Wen and company looked at the box, the young man complained to the elder unhappily.


    The elder whispered, ¡°You¡¯re being silly. These foreigners know nothing about the strange forest. They don¡¯t even know the location of the Time Hut, but they were able to reach here safely. There must be extremely powerful existences among them. We can¡¯t be rash.¡±


    The young man was alarmed as he came to a realization. He glanced at Zhou Wen and company who were sizing up the box and whispered, ¡°I see. I was too careless.¡±


    ¡°You are still young. After gaining more experience, you will naturally be able to see a clearer picture of things. Just think before you act in the future.¡± The elder patted the young man on the shoulder and led him towards Zhou Wen and company.


    The box had already been opened. Inside was indeed a woman tied up.


    The elder went over and removed the gag from the woman¡¯s mouth. The woman immediately shouted, ¡°Hatu, you ungrateful bastard. Lucas took good care of you back when he was still around, right? Yet, you are treating me like this?¡±


    ¡°Philo, it¡¯s not that we don¡¯t want to take you there. We really can¡¯t deal with that Piranha Flower King. If we go, we¡¯ll just be sending ourselves to our deaths. What¡¯s the point?¡± the elder said helplessly as he spread out his hands.


    ¡°If you¡¯re afraid of death, that¡¯s your business. Why are you stopping me?¡± Philo struggled to get out of the box.


    However, her body was tied up like a worm. She couldn¡¯t even stand up and could only lie in the box and talk.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want you to die either,¡± the elder explained.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because you don¡¯t want your reputation to be damaged, right?¡± Philo snorted coldly.


    ¡°What¡¯s your relationship with Lucas?¡± Zhou Wen asked Philo. He was somewhat surprised to hear her mention Lucas¡¯s name.


    Philo knew that she had a chance to speak because of Zhou Wen. When she saw Zhou Wen ask about Lucas, she hurriedly said, ¡°I¡¯m Lucas¡¯s fianc¨¦e. Do you know Lucas?¡±


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t heard Lucas mention a fianc¨¦e. After some thought, he asked, ¡°Why are you going to the Time Hut?¡±


    ¡°To find Lucas, of course. He went to the Time Hut four years ago and hasn¡¯t returned since. I have to find him.¡± Philo gritted her teeth and said, ¡°If all of you are afraid of death and aren¡¯t willing to go, let me go. I¡¯ll go myself. I won¡¯t implicate you.¡±


    ¡°Let her go,¡± Zhou Wen said to the elder.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The elder was somewhat hesitant. Although part of the reason was to not have his employer die for his team¡¯s reputation, the primary reason was that he didn¡¯t want Philo to die. After all, just as she had said, Lucas had taken good care of him in the past.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We¡¯ll take her to the Time Hut,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You know Lucas?¡± the elder looked at Zhou Wen and asked carefully.


    ¡°I¡¯m proud to have the Great Lucas as a friend,¡± Zhou Wen said sincerely. A person like Lucas was indeed worthy of respect.


    The elder was still hesitating when Philo shouted in delight, ¡°Quickly release me. I¡¯ll go with them.¡±


    The elder sized up Zhou Wen for a while and sighed. He got someone to remove the chains on Philo.


    After Philo jumped out of the box, she said to Zhou Wen, ¡°What¡¯s your name? I¡¯ve basically seen all of Lucas¡¯s friends, but I¡¯ve never seen you before.¡±


    ¡°My name is Zhou Wen. Perhaps he hasn¡¯t mentioned me, but I¡¯m indeed his friend,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You are Zhou Wen?¡± Philo¡¯s eyes widened as she pointed at Zhou Wen and asked in surprise and delight.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m Zhou Wen. Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled as to why Philo had such a huge reaction.


    ¡°Which school did you attend in the past?¡± Philo asked.


    ¡°East District¡¯s Sunset College. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯ve heard of it.¡± Zhou Wen roughly guessed that Lucas had mentioned him in front of Philo.


    ¡°Ah, there¡¯s no mistake then. You are really Zhou Wen. That¡¯s great.¡± Philo was overjoyed.


    ¡°Philo, is he really Lucas¡¯s friend?¡± the elder asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a friend. He¡¯s the person Lucas admires the most. No, Lucas said that he¡¯s a godlike person,¡± said Philo solemnly.

 Chapter 1255 - Greenhouse

    Chapter 1255: Greenhouse


    Translator: CKtalon


    Everyone was stunned when they heard that. Many of them were like the elder who had known Lucas for many years. They also knew him very well.


    Lucas was an extremely narcissistic person. In his eyes, he was the only hero who could save the world. Although he wasn¡¯t someone difficult to get along with, it wasn¡¯t easy to hear praises of another person from Lucas.


    What Philo said didn¡¯t sound like it came from Lucas.


    ¡°Lucas said that he¡¯s a godlike person?¡± The elder looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. He really didn¡¯t believe that the great Lucas would praise others like that.


    Philo ignored the elder and said excitedly to Zhou Wen, ¡°You¡¯re here to save Lucas, right? It¡¯s great that you came.¡±


    .


    ¡°Er, is the reason for going to the Time Hut that you discovered something?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat embarrassed. He realized that he couldn¡¯t be called a competent friend. He actually knew nothing about what had happened to Lucas.


    Philo shook her head and said, ¡°Lucas said that he¡¯s the greatest hero, so he had to contract the strongest Guardian. And the most terrifying dimensional zone on the Peninsula of Gods is the Time Hut. He heard from somewhere that there¡¯s a Guardian in there, so he decided to head there to contract it.¡±


    ¡°He never returned. In the past few years, I¡¯ve tried my best to organize people to go to the Time Hut to find him, but my abilities are limited after all. There aren¡¯t many people I can find. I went a few times, but nothing came of it. I had to find stronger people. But how many people do I know? I just thought that after so many years, Lucas¡¯s chances of survival weren¡¯t high. I couldn¡¯t find any powerful experts to save him, so I thought I might as well go in myself. It¡¯s best if I can see him. If I can¡¯t, I¡¯ll just pass on with him.¡±


    After Philo roughly explained the situation, Zhou Wen realized that she had already made up her mind to die. If the elder hadn¡¯t brought her back, she would probably have died in the Time Hut.


    ¡°Great, even Lucas said that you are a godlike person. You can definitely save him, right?¡± Philo looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to rescue Lucas,¡± Zhou Wen said, but he knew that Lucas was probably dead.


    Four years was just too long. If Lucas had really encountered danger in the Time Hut, he would have died long ago.


    Philo naturally understood this as well, but she still held onto a glimmer of hope. She had relied on this hope to survive for the past few years.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s not waste any more time,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to continue.


    ¡°Philo, let¡¯s make the trip together,¡± the elder said after some hesitation.


    Although Lucas said that Zhou Wen was his friend, who could guarantee that this young man was really the Zhou Wen that Lucas had mentioned? After all, Zhou Wen looked too young. No matter how one looked at it, he didn¡¯t seem like the mighty godlike person Lucas had mentioned.


    Although he wasn¡¯t willing to risk the lives of his own people, he also didn¡¯t wish to see Philo deceived.


    ¡°You wish to go now?¡± Philo looked at the elder in surprise.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take you to the Piranha Flower King. If you can¡¯t pass, we can bring you back. If you can pass, there¡¯s still a distance to the Time Hut, so it will be faster if someone leads the way,¡± the elder said.


    Philo nodded and didn¡¯t refuse the offer.


    The group set off again. The elder led the way and soon arrived at the place they had mentioned.


    It was a canyon between two mountains. The originally wide canyon was now blocked by a flower.


    The petals of the flower seemed to be carved from ice. They were crystalline and shimmering under the sunlight.


    It¡¯s no wonder the elder calls it a Piranha Flower King. This flower is indeed huge. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that it¡¯s the king of flowers. Zhou Wen sized up the flower and asked the elder beside him, ¡°How does this Piranha Flower eat humans?¡±


    The elder said, ¡°In the past, there was nothing in this canyon. This huge flower suddenly appeared recently. I sent someone to use a Companion Beast to scout the way. I originally wanted to see if the Piranha Flower King would injure anyone, but I never expected¡­¡±


    The elder recounted what had happened. They couldn¡¯t help but feel sad.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see how those people vanished?¡± Ice Maiden suddenly asked after the elder finished speaking.


    ¡°No. After the Companion Beast awoke the Piranha Flower King, the companions closest to it disappeared one after another. We had no choice but to retreat with Philo,¡± the elder said.


    Ice Maiden continued asking, ¡°When they disappear, which disappears first¡ªtheir heads or bodies?¡±


    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± the young man asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Of course there¡¯s a difference.¡± Ice Maiden had no intention of explaining. She continued looking at the elder.


    The elder thought for a moment and looked at his companions beside him. He said with uncertainty, ¡°I vaguely remember the heads disappearing first. However, I only saw one of my companions being devoured. I didn¡¯t see the others.¡±


    ¡°It was the head first; no mistake about it. I saw it too. Their heads vanished, but their bodies seemed to be pulled into the air by something. Soon, even their bodies vanished,¡± a middle-aged man said.


    Those who saw it said that the head was the first to disappear.


    After Ice Maiden heard that, she revealed a thoughtful expression.


    ¡°Do you know the origins of this flower?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ice Maiden.


    Ice Maiden nodded slightly. ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this flower isn¡¯t the Piranha Flower King, but the greenhouse of the Flower race.¡±


    ¡°Greenhouse?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the flower. No matter how he looked at it, it was a living flower and not a building that had been built into the shape of a flower.


    ¡°A greenhouse is a place for the Flower race to reside. It¡¯s similar to my ice castle. The true Flower race member is inside the flower. However, the Flower race seldom interacts with the outside world. I haven¡¯t seen many members of the Flower race, but I¡¯m basically certain that this is from the Flower race.¡± Ice Maiden paused before saying, ¡°It¡¯s clearly a problem for the Flower race to suddenly arrive on Earth at this time. Perhaps it has something to do with the Venusian dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s really the Flower race, he should be able to see us, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked the flower.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely possible under normal circumstances. However, typically speaking, the Flower race shouldn¡¯t appear in such a place. After this Flower race came to Earth, they clearly encountered some problems. Perhaps they were injured,¡± Ice Maiden said after some thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that they¡¯re injured.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the huge greenhouse and was already considering how to capture the Flower race member inside.


    ¡°You mean that the flower isn¡¯t a creature from Earth but a creature from the dimension?¡± The elder finally understood after listening for a while. His expression changed drastically.


    Although Human Sovereign¡¯s slaying of Di Tian had proven humanity¡¯s strength, creatures from the dimension were still godlike existences to ordinary people.

 Chapter 1256 - Flower Girl

    Chapter 1256: Flower Girl


    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    In the minds of ordinary people, creatures from the dimension were still lifeforms that humans couldn¡¯t touch. After all, there was only one Human Sovereign, and most people were ordinary.


    ¡°Is there a way to cross it?¡± Philo looked at Zhou Wen, feeling uneasy, afraid that he would shake his head.


    Zhou Wen remained composed as he looked at Ice Maiden and asked, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Ice Maiden answered, ¡°Even if the Flower race descends into the human world, it¡¯s impossible for them to be Flower King-grade experts. Furthermore, they will be greatly suppressed by the rules of Earth. They shouldn¡¯t be too much of a threat.¡±


    Everyone wore odd expressions when they heard Ice Maiden¡¯s relaxed tone. This was because Ice Maiden¡¯s tone was just too arrogant. It was like an ordinary person eating a bowl of noodles at a streetside noodle shop when suddenly, they heard someone eating peanuts and noodles at the table discussing if they should buy a few aircraft carriers for fun this year.


    Beside them, Grim Demon also said, ¡°It¡¯s just a mere Flower race.. If it dares block the way, just kill it. Why waste your breath?¡±


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s go,¡± Zhou Wen said as he carried Ya¡¯er and Demonic Neonate towards the greenhouse.


    Philo gritted her teeth and followed. The others were somewhat hesitant and didn¡¯t dare follow them.


    The elder coughed dryly. ¡°Philo, be careful. Don¡¯t force yourself.¡±


    ¡°Without Lucas around, there¡¯s no happiness in this world. At most, I¡¯ll die. It¡¯s nothing,¡± said Philo as she strode forward and followed closely behind Zhou Wen.


    Lucas had said that Zhou Wen was the most trustworthy person he had ever met. Lucas trusted Zhou Wen, and Philo was willing to believe him. Furthermore, she had no other choice.


    Apart from Zhou Wen, no one else would dare take her to the Time Hut.


    The elder and his employees watched from afar. No one dared to follow them. It wasn¡¯t because they were cowardly. They had their own families and many of them were the financial backbone of their families. They didn¡¯t dare risk their lives.


    When they approached the valley, the petals swayed in the breeze, looking beautiful.


    The average person would find it beautiful, but Zhou Wen, Ice Maiden, and Grim Demon saw crystalline stamens extend out of the greenhouse and attack them.


    The stamens were like snakes. Their bodies were slender, but their heads could be split into four petals, like the mouths of monsters.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to take action, Grim Demon, who was already itching from boredom, charged forward. Demonic aura condensed into a saber that instantly sliced through the flower stamen that extended out.


    The flower stamens that had been severed lost their strength and immediately appeared, falling to the ground.


    ¡°He¡¯s at the Terror grade!¡± The young man looked at Grim Demon in horror.


    Grim Demon had been following Zhou Wen like a lackey, so he never expected such terrifying strength from him.


    The elder looked at Grim Demon in thought as though he had thought of something. However, he couldn¡¯t be sure. He asked a red-nosed man beside him, ¡°Big Nose, do you find that fellow familiar?¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it, it does seem so, but I can¡¯t remember where I¡¯ve seen him before,¡± the big-nosed man said after some thought.


    ¡°You think so too. Doesn¡¯t he look like the Guardian who appeared invincible in the Cube battle five years ago?¡± the elder said again.


    ¡°Five years ago¡­ Guardian¡­ Ah¡­¡± The big-nosed man exclaimed as though he had figured it out. ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s very similar. That Guardian¡¯s name is Grim Demon, right? He seems to be with Human Sovereign¡­ That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. It¡¯s him¡­¡±


    The elder nodded. ¡°If you think so too, then we can¡¯t be wrong. I never expected to see him here. Five years ago, he was already a top Guardian. He¡¯s probably stronger five years later. It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s not afraid of creatures from the dimension.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s said that Grim Demon is Human Sovereign¡¯s servant. If he¡¯s following Zhou Wen now, could Zhou Wen be¡­¡± The big-nosed man widened his eyes in disbelief as he looked at Zhou Wen who was walking towards the greenhouse.


    1


    ¡°It can¡¯t be possible. How old is he? He was probably in his teens five years ago. It¡¯s unlikely he¡¯s Human Sovereign.¡± The elder¡¯s son understood what the big-nosed man was getting at, but found it unlikely.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If he were a little older, he might really be Human Sovereign. However, even if he isn¡¯t Human Sovereign, he definitely has a great background to be treated like this by a Guardian like Grim Demon. Perhaps the elders in his family are related to Human Sovereign,¡± the elder said.


    The big-nosed man and company shared the same thoughts. It was no wonder they had such guesses. The Zhou Wen from five years ago was just too young. No one believed that a teenage boy could reach such a level and kill Di Tian who was like the lord of a universe.


    Grim Demon unleashed his might as his demonic aura transformed into a hundred-meter-long saber. He slashed at the greenhouse in the valley, hoping to split it open and carve out a path to the heavens.


    As though sensing Grim Demon¡¯s terror, the greenhouse in the valley shook violently. Flower stamens that resembled light snakes extended out and swept towards the demonic aura saber.


    However, under Grim Demon¡¯s overwhelming demonic aura, the stamens were sliced apart. The dense flower stamens failed to block the demonic aura saber and were diced up.


    Crack!


    The demonic aura saber slashed at the petal, leaving a huge crack.


    Just as the saber was about to strike the bottom of the petal, it was finally blocked.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze and saw a flower fairy-like girl sitting cross-legged in the stamen. Her eyes were like petals that emitted a silver glow. Her muslin clothes were translucent like some heavenly robe.


    A pair of jade-like hands blocked Grim Demon¡¯s demonic aura saber. Even someone as powerful as Grim Demon couldn¡¯t complete the slash.


    The girl held the demonic aura saber with both hands and slowly stood up. Her jade-like legs were long and straight. As she moved, the greenhouse converged and transformed into a flower dress that gathered over the girl¡¯s body, making her look even more beautiful and noble.


    Grim Demon¡¯s eyes flashed with killing intent as the demonic aura on his body constantly surged into the demonic saber, increasing its might. However, it failed to slash down.


    ¡°Do you know her?¡± Zhou Wen asked Ice Maiden.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know her but I¡¯m certain she¡¯s from the Flower race,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough.¡± Zhou Wen condensed Sword Pill and shot it at the Flower race woman.


    The Flower race woman was fighting Grim Demon with all her might, so she didn¡¯t have the strength to deal with Sword Pill. Sword Pill penetrated her chest and slammed her into the mountain wall behind her.


    Philo and company couldn¡¯t see the Terror-grade battle. All they saw was Grim Demon rushing towards the greenhouse before it vanished.


    When Zhou Wen waved his hand, the mountain wall collapsed. The beautiful woman¡¯s chest was penetrated by a crystalline sword as she was nailed to the mountain wall.


    ¡°He¡¯s indeed a Terror-grade existence. He¡¯s still so young.¡± The elder sighed.


    Philo was overjoyed as she thought to herself, Lucas really didn¡¯t lie to me. Zhou Wen is just so powerful. Perhaps he can really save Lucas.

 Chapter 1257 - : Trouble

    Chapter 1257: Trouble


    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Transparent blood constantly flowed out of the flower girl¡¯s chest, but her clothes were gradually withering. She couldn¡¯t even open her eyes. She looked like she was about to die.


    Zhou Wen wanted to walk over and see if he could pick up anything from her.


    After all, she was from a dimension. She might have some treasures on her.


    Ice Maiden followed Zhou Wen. Just as Zhou Wen was about to plunder the items, Ice Maiden saw something on the flower girl¡¯s neck. Her pupils suddenly constricted as she hurriedly said to Zhou Wen, ¡°We can¡¯t let her die. Quickly save her.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do you know her?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ice Maiden in puzzlement.. He had previously asked her, but she had clearly said that she didn¡¯t know her.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s no time to explain. Save her first. Don¡¯t let her die. I¡¯ll explain it to you later.¡± Ice Maiden looked very anxious.


    Zhou Wen seldom saw Ice Maiden with such an expression. Furthermore, the flower girl was indeed on the brink of death. If he didn¡¯t save her now, it would be too late. There was no time for questions.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen pulled out his Sword Pill from her body and used the power of Human Sovereign. At the instant the flower girl dropped down, his fist mercilessly struck her chest, leaving a hole in the wound that was the result of the sword¡¯s penetration.


    Philo looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. She had clearly heard Ice Maiden asking Zhou Wen to save her, but Zhou Wen had ruthlessly attacked.


    The others looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement. Zhou Wen punched through the flower girl¡¯s chest and slammed her body into the mountain wall, producing cracks in the wall.


    However, the next scene made Philo and company widen their eyes. The flower girl¡¯s chest wound, which had been punched through by Zhou Wen, healed at a discernible pace. In a moment, she was as good as new.


    Just as the flower girl recovered, Ice Maiden struck out with the power of ice, freezing the flower girl and sealing her in ice.


    Zhou Wen looked at Ice Maiden, unsure of her intentions¡ªshe wanted her saved, yet she sealed her up.


    Ice Maiden used a strange ability to transmit her voice into Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. No one else could hear her.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid we¡¯ve gotten into big trouble.¡± Ice Maiden didn¡¯t wait for Zhou Wen to ask further as she continued, ¡°This flower girl has the Tear of the Flower Goddess on her. She definitely has an extremely intimate relationship with the Flower Goddess. If we kill her, the Flower Goddess will be furious. If that happens, we will probably have to face unimaginable horror. However, we can¡¯t release her. We nearly killed her, so she will bear a grudge. Releasing her will only make things worse for us.¡±


    ¡°Flower Goddess?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of existence Flower Goddess was, but from Ice Maiden¡¯s expression, she seemed to have an extremely high status in the dimension.


    Ice Maiden explained in a voice that only Zhou Wen could hear, ¡°Among the dimension¡¯s Apocalypse experts, the Flower Goddess can be ranked in the top five. Furthermore, there are many experts in the Flower race. If they risk everything to forcefully descend, it will be a calamity that will wipe out all life.¡±


    Zhou Wen used his spatial powers to send his voice into Ice Maiden¡¯s ear. ¡°Will the Flower Goddess risk everything for a clansman who has entered Earth? That will probably cost a lot, right?¡±


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, the clansmen sent to Earth in recent years were only cannon fodder. Most of them were Guardians and not pure dimensional creatures.


    Ice Maiden said with a bitter smile, ¡°That¡¯s what makes it bad. This flower girl isn¡¯t an ordinary member of the Flower race. The Tear of the Flower Goddess is extremely rare among them. Only a few very special members have been bestowed the Tear of the Flower Goddess. If the life of a Flower race member with the Tear of the Flower Goddess is threatened, the Flower Goddess will be able to sense it. This is the final defense mechanism to protect them. As this is Earth, it¡¯s too isolated from the dimension, so the Flower Goddess might not have sensed her injuries. However, once she dies, the Flower Goddess will definitely sense it. When that happens, it will be troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Even if she can sense it, she won¡¯t know who killed her, right?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°If only it were that simple. That Tear of the Flower Goddess isn¡¯t simple. Although I¡¯ve only heard of it and don¡¯t know its exact use, it¡¯s definitely possible for her to discover that we killed her. At the very least, in the dimension, no one dares to kill Flower ladies who possess the Tear of the Flower Goddess.¡± Ice Maiden showed an abnormal look of disgust.


    She never expected that a random Flower race member on Earth would have the Tear of the Flower Goddess.


    Did the Flower race member with the Tear of the Flower Goddess have nothing better to do. Why did she come to Earth? There were billions of Flower race members and plenty of cannon fodder. She never expected such a fellow to come.


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like trouble, and this clearly spelled huge trouble.


    ¡°How would I know? We definitely can¡¯t kill her, but it¡¯s not good to let her go.¡± After a pause, Ice Maiden continued, ¡°How about this? Let¡¯s bring her along and see if we can think of a way to change her mind and rope her in.¡±


    ¡°What kind of people possess the Tear of the Flower Goddess? This one doesn¡¯t look that strong,¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°The future Flower Goddess, or a descendant that the Flower Goddess values, or even the Flower Goddess¡¯s very own daughter. These are all possible. I¡¯ve only heard of them, but I¡¯ve never seen them before. How would I know which one it is?¡± Ice Maiden felt disgusted at the situation she was in as though she had eaten a fly.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s bring her along.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and stored the frozen flower girl in the Chaos Bead.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too worried. If the dimension could conquer Earth so easily, they would have long taken Earth for themselves. They wouldn¡¯t have waited until today and caused so much trouble.


    No matter how strong the Flower Goddess was, it obviously wasn¡¯t easy for her to descend to Earth.


    However, he could keep this flower girl alive. He might be able to obtain more information regarding the dimension from such an important figure.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Time Hut,¡± Zhou Wen said as he continued walking.


    The ability to kill and save people at the wave of his hand was truly shocking. The elder ran over with the others and continued leading the way for Zhou Wen and company. He didn¡¯t dare be negligent, and his words and actions were much more restrained.


    Even Philo didn¡¯t dare be as casual as before when she spoke to Zhou Wen again.


    Ice Maiden didn¡¯t say a word along the way. She was having a headache over how to deal with the flower girl. It didn¡¯t seem easy for her to not bear a grudge after beating her up to a pulp.


    Nothing major happened along the way. Some minor problems could be resolved with the guide and his subordinates. They were very familiar with the area.


    After traveling for two to three hours, Zhou Wen finally saw the legendary Time Hut.

 Chapter 1258 - Sweetie’s Wooden Hut

    Chapter 1258: Sweetie¡¯s Wooden Hut


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Time Hut really lives up to its name! Zhou Wen looked at the Time Hut and finally knew why it was given that name.


    On a tree in the forest, there was an inconspicuous treehouse. It was made from wood from the forest.


    On the treehouse, there were plants similar to ivy, making the entire wooden hut exude vibrancy.


    If not for Philo and company being very certain that this was the Time Hut, Zhou Wen would have imagined that this was a temporary residence built by hunters. It was a little too small. From the outside, it looked as if it could only accommodate two to three adults.


    The door of the hut was nailed with wooden planks and looked like it had quite a number of cracks. There was a plaque with tree bark covering parts of it hanging on the door. It was irregularly shaped, and one could see the holes left by worms and the tree rings.


    .


    And on the plaque, there was a line of words: ¡°Sweetie¡¯s Wooden Hut.¡±


    Zhou Wen had previously seen these words on the Internet. Many people were guessing the meaning behind the word ¡°Sweetie¡±, but no matter how many western myths they ran through, they couldn¡¯t figure out who or what Sweetie was.


    Someone guessed that Sweetie was the name of a creature, and the Time Hut belonged to it.


    Some people guessed that to mythical creatures, the Time Hut was like candy.


    There were also people who guessed that there was some kind of candy hidden in the wooden hut. One could immediately advance to the Mythical stage after eating it. There were all sorts of guesses, but no one knew the reason for its name.


    People were more used to calling it Time Hut. After all, the name ¡®Sweetie¡¯s Wooden Hut¡¯ wasn¡¯t suitable for such a terrifying place. It was also quite a mouthful.


    Zhou Wen sized up the wooden hut and wasn¡¯t in a rush to enter. It was useless to be anxious. Lucas had been missing for four years. If he was in danger of dying, he would have died long ago. If he remained alive, the additional few minutes wouldn¡¯t matter.


    He circled the wooden hut, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol.


    To enter a place like the Time Hut in real life was equivalent to risking one¡¯s life to try one¡¯s luck. If one was unlucky, even a Terror-grade entity might not be able to exit.


    Even a temporal expert like Cave Era had to buy spatial skill crystals from others instead of farming them inside the Time Hut. It could be imagined how terrifying this place was.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen was delighted. He discovered the tiny palm symbol on the wooden plank near the roof of the Time Hut.


    It was engraved on the bark of the wooden board. Under the elements, it had become blurry, like a child¡¯s scribble.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and took a picture of the tiny palm symbol that held a wooden hut. His phone immediately entered the download screen. He then pretended to take a few pictures elsewhere.


    ¡°Are we going in now?¡± Philo asked Zhou Wen. She knew that she wasn¡¯t capable enough, but she still planned on entering. If she couldn¡¯t find Lucas, she hoped to quickly spend the rest of her remaining life in the Time Hut.


    ¡°Not for now. We need to make some preparations.¡± Zhou Wen planned on waiting for the Time Hut dungeon to be downloaded before entering the game to take a look.


    To randomly enter such a dangerous place would be at odds with the original intention of saving Lucas¡ªnot only would he not be saved, but many lives would be lost as well.


    Although Philo wanted to enter immediately, she knew that without Zhou Wen, the chances of her rescuing Lucas were slim. All she could do was wait patiently.


    ¡°Thank you for bringing us here. If you have things to do, you can head back now,¡± Zhou Wen said to the elder.


    The elder hurriedly said, ¡°There¡¯s no rush. The strange forest is unpredictable. The path we came from will be somewhat different when we return. Only people who are very familiar with it can rely on experience to find a way out. We¡¯ll wait for you and Philo to rescue Lucas before taking you out.¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly frowned slightly and looked deeper into the strange forest.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen turned his head and asked the elder, ¡°Is there an animal-type dimensional creature in the strange forest?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. They are basically plant-type dimensional creatures. We have never seen animal-type dimensional creatures before. Only the Time Hut has some animal-shaped dimensional creatures, but they aren¡¯t real animals. They are puppets that look like animals,¡± the elder said.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange.¡± Zhou Wen looked deep into the strange forest as his expression turned solemn.


    With his hearing, he could only hear a faint panting sound. Furthermore, it gave off an extremely dangerous feeling that made Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitate.


    ¡°The strange forest isn¡¯t safe. It¡¯s best you return,¡± Zhou Wen said to the elder.


    Although he didn¡¯t know where the thing was, Zhou Wen was certain that there was definitely some terrifying creature in this strange forest.


    The creature¡¯s non-appearance didn¡¯t mean that it wouldn¡¯t appear.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that the creature was eyeing them. This was just a feeling¡ªhe couldn¡¯t determine where it was.


    ¡°You can rest assured about that. My father has been traversing the strange forest for decades, but he has never encountered any animal-type creatures. Instead, there are some plant-type dimensional creatures that can move. The most common ones are the Devil Treants. Their roots can move in the soil and rocks.¡± As the elder¡¯s son spoke, he summoned a Devil Treant Companion Beast. It looked like a strange tree with eyes and a trunk as thick as a water vat.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a Devil Treant. It should be some kind of animal.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. He was certain that the panting was bestial.


    Most of these people had been in the strange forest for more than ten years. They had never seen any animal-type dimensional creatures, so they naturally didn¡¯t believe Zhou Wen.


    However, they didn¡¯t dare refute Zhou Wen¡¯s words. It still left them extremely uneasy, believing that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any use for them.


    The elder smiled and said, ¡°Then we¡¯ll head back.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s probably too late now.¡± Zhou Wen stared deep into the forest as his expression turned solemn. He could already sense that the panting was approaching.


    However, he didn¡¯t discover any traces of the creature. With his senses, he could only hear panting sounds approaching, but he couldn¡¯t discover its location. This made him extremely wary.


    The elder and company were somewhat puzzled, unsure what Zhou Wen meant.


    Grim Demon and Ice Maiden also sensed something as they looked around¡ªthey also heard panting. Like Zhou Wen, they couldn¡¯t tell where the panting was coming from.


    Ya¡¯er leaned into Zhou Wen¡¯s embrace as though she was afraid.


    Demonic Neonate showed no fear. Her large eyes stared deep into the forest as though she was looking at something.


    Boom!


    The ground trembled as a large portion of the trees in the distance snapped. The rows of trees collapsed like dominoes as they crashed down.

 Chapter 1259 - A Non-Existent Opponent

    Chapter 1259: A Non-Existent Opponent


    Translator: CKtalon


    As large swaths of trees fell, a clearing appeared in the forest. Philo and company also heard the oppressive panting, but they couldn¡¯t see anything.


    ¡°Terror creature?¡± The elder¡¯s expression changed slightly.


    However, Zhou Wen, Ice Maiden, and company knew that things weren¡¯t that simple. If the other party was an ordinary Terror-grade creature, they would have long seen him. However, up to now, they couldn¡¯t see anything either. Only the panting constantly echoed in their ears, as though there were wild beasts that had red eyes from killing.


    Grim Demon emitted a terrifying demonic aura that surged towards the clearing in the forest like a tidal wave. Presumably, he didn¡¯t see where the other party was and wanted to use this method to force him out.


    However, after the surging demonic aura swept over, all the trees and vegetation were leveled, but they still didn¡¯t discover traces of the other party. Only the extremely oppressive breathing could be heard from time to time, almost driving one crazy..


    Zhou Wen had long activated Great Brahma and had been observing his surroundings, but he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    Grim Demon had rather rich combat experience. After his first probe failed, he immediately launched a second attack. However, this time, he didn¡¯t use a large area-of-attack demonic aura. Instead, he roared at the sky and emitted a demonic sound that was filled with killing intent.


    The demonic sound spread in all directions. When the elder, Philo, and company heard the demonic sound, they immediately covered their ears and fell to the ground. Soon, they began bleeding from their seven orifices as they rolled around in pain and let out tragic cries.


    If this continued, their companions would die before they found the opponent. Zhou Wen had to get Grim Demon to stop the demonic aural attack.


    Grim Demon had no choice but to stop. He frowned and said, ¡°It¡¯s not an invisibility ability. If it¡¯s an invisibility ability, my demonic voice should have feedback when it touches it.¡±


    Zhou Wen saw Philo and company crawl to their feet. Although they were in a sorry state, there wasn¡¯t much of a problem. He knew that Grim Demon had deliberately controlled the lethality of the demonic sound. Otherwise, ordinary people like them would have died.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an invisibility ability, but we can¡¯t see it. What kind of ability is this?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t asking Grim Demon, but thinking aloud to himself.


    When Ice Maiden heard that, she said, ¡°According to what I know, there are several possibilities. Creatures like Phantoms, Nightmares, and Ghosts can achieve such an effect. However, these creatures aren¡¯t very aggressive and focus more on psyche attacks. The strike that destroyed the forest was an undiscounted strength-type attack. I can¡¯t think of any creature that has both of these abilities.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect it to be an ability, but he had his own way. He summoned his army of Musical Note Sprites as tens of thousands of them flew in all directions, covering all the nearby areas.


    No matter what kind of creature it was, if it wanted to come over, it had to pass through the Musical Note Sprites. When the time came, it would naturally be exposed.


    Seeing countless Musical Note Sprites cover a large area, Philo and the others felt a lot more at ease. At least in such a situation, they felt that it was safe in the Musical Note Sprites¡¯ coverage.


    Even if there was danger, it was the Musical Note Sprites that would be killed first.


    However, they had clearly underestimated how terrifying the creature was. The Musical Note Sprites that produced the music weren¡¯t touched, but a member of the team suddenly vanished.


    The person had stood not far from the elder. In an instant, he had vanished as though he had learned instant transmission.


    However, the terrifying panting that sounded in the elder¡¯s ear made him realize that it wasn¡¯t that the person had learned instant transmission, but that the terrifying creature had taken him away.


    Zhou Wen, Ice Maiden, and Grim Demon had ugly expressions. He had vanished not far from them, but they hadn¡¯t discovered the opponent.


    Zhou Wen suspected that the other party was a tiny dimensional creature, but despite using Great Brahma¡¯s Minute Subtlety observation ability, he didn¡¯t discover any special microorganisms nearby.


    ¡°We have to leave this place immediately and split up,¡± Ice Maiden suggested.


    They didn¡¯t even know where the enemy was, so there was no way to fight this battle. They could only passively take a beating. If they stayed behind, only death awaited them.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush? If a few more people die, we will definitely be able to capture it,¡± Grim Demon said coldly. Such an opponent infuriated him.


    The dead people he was referring to were naturally the guides. It wasn¡¯t just Grim Demon. Zhou Wen and Ice Maiden could also tell that the creature didn¡¯t prioritize its attack on them. Instead, it targeted the weaker guides. It was also apprehensive and likely wouldn¡¯t attack them first.


    Grim Demon naturally didn¡¯t care about the lives of the guides.


    If one was slow-witted, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to survive for long while being a guide to the strange forest. The guides were all smart people, so how could they not know that staying behind would only lead to death? Without any hesitation, they ran back the way they came, hoping to escape.


    Grim Demon wanted to stop them from escaping, but Zhou Wen stopped him.


    ¡°Come back.¡± Zhou Wen got Demonic Neonate to summon Grim Demon back. At the same time, he got Ice Maiden and Jade Rabbit to return to the Chaos Bead. Ya¡¯er was also sent into the Chaos Bead.


    Philo gritted her teeth and rushed towards the Time Hut.


    Zhou Wen reached out and grabbed at the air, pulling Philo back and throwing her into the Chaos Bead.


    Only Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate remained. The reason Zhou Wen did so was because he realized that Demonic Neonate seemed to be able to see the creature.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s eyes kept turning. No panting could be heard after she looked at a spot.


    ¡°Can you see where that thing is?¡± Zhou Wen asked Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate nodded slightly before shaking her head. ¡°I can only sense its location. I can¡¯t see it.¡±


    ¡°Left,¡± Demonic Neonate suddenly said.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood and instant transmitted to the right.


    Boom!


    A huge hoof mark appeared where Zhou Wen had been. The deep pit that it created was the size of a room.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Battle God Spear in his hand and struck the hoofprint, but he failed to hit anything. He failed to sense the other party¡¯s location.


    ¡°Behind,¡± Demonic Neonate said again.


    Zhou Wen instant transmitted again. The spot he had been standing on was attacked again. It was as though something like a saber had slashed across the sky. The nearby trees were sliced apart like grass.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned nasty. In such an intense battle, he was still unable to sense the other party¡¯s existence.


    However, the other party was clearly a creature with immense strength. It wasn¡¯t a spirit body with weak offensive strength.


    Thankfully, Demonic Neonate could sense the other party¡¯s location and acted as Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. A special battle unfolded in the strange forest.

 Chapter 1260 - Spacetime Bandit

    Chapter 1260: Spacetime Bandit


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen held the two golden guns in hand as he constantly shot at the spot Demonic Neonate indicated, but none of the bullets hit the target.


    Not only was his opponent invisible, but he also didn¡¯t seem to have a corporeal body. As he constantly attacked, Zhou Wen felt as though he was fighting the air.


    However, the other party¡¯s attack had a powerful destructive force. If Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t helped Zhou Wen determine the location of the adversary, he probably would have suffered countless heavy blows.


    Since the golden guns of three different attributes were useless, Zhou Wen put away the golden guns and summoned the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords and Asura Saber to continue fighting the air.


    Zhou Wen originally hoped that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword would be able to play a special role, but he regretfully realized that it couldn¡¯t injure his opponent.


    As the battle continued, Zhou Wen suddenly felt his hand sink. The Asura Saber¡¯s blade seemed to slice through something. Then, Zhou Wen realized that red blood had appeared on the blade..


    It hit? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    However, when he focused his gaze, he didn¡¯t find any traces of his opponent. The blood on the blade quickly vanished as though it had never existed.


    Zhou Wen immediately began to think about why the Asura Saber had suddenly struck the target. It had previously slashed at least a thousand times, but not once had it hit. Why had it worked that one time?


    Coincidence? Clearly not.


    Could it be the Luck and Fortune stat of Deva Asura? The first thing Zhou Wen thought of was naturally Deva Asura¡¯s most special ability.


    However, after careful thought, he felt that it might not be that simple. Luck would only produce a certain chance of injuring the opponent.


    As for this opponent¡¯s body, it was as though it didn¡¯t exist. He couldn¡¯t even slash at it, so there was naturally no question about hitting it.


    It¡¯s not the effect of the Luck stat. Could it be the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay? Zhou Wen immediately thought of another possibility.


    Deva Asura had the ability of the Greater and Lesser Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay. Although Zhou Wen had never discovered any use for these two abilities when it was in the Asura Saber state, Zhou Wen felt that it was very likely that these two abilities had played a role, causing him to injure the nonexistent enemy.


    After a while, Zhou Wen struck again. This time, it took even less time than before.


    Zhou Wen was increasingly certain that the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay had some effect. Otherwise, if he were to rely on luck, the chances would be about the same without much deviation.


    Now, Zhou Wen clearly felt that it was becoming easier and easier for him to slash his opponent. It was highly likely that the Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay had taken effect on him.


    As Zhou Wen slashed more times, although he still couldn¡¯t see the strange creature, he could sense that it was becoming weaker and weaker.


    Finally, when Zhou Wen slashed down again, there was a tragic cry as a creature collapsed in a pool of blood on the ground. Half its head had been chopped off.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized it up and realized that the creature wasn¡¯t as big as he imagined. It was only about two meters tall. Its lower body was that of a horse, while its upper body was that of a human. Its arms were blades, and its entire body was metal. And inside his body, there were many mechanical gears and components. It looked strange and mysterious, giving off the feeling of a mechanical creature.


    He brandished his saber and slashed at the creature¡¯s corpse. The metal body couldn¡¯t withstand the sharpness of the Asura Saber. All sorts of mechanical parts dropped and Zhou Wen quickly discovered a dimensional crystal.


    It was a strange metal crystal. Its shape was like a metal pocket watch with a spinning minute hand.


    Zhou Wen used his phone to snap a picture and immediately saw its information.


    Spacetime Bandit Dimensional Crystal: Terror


    Requirements: Temporal Terror transformation, Spatial Terror transformation, Constitution 81, Essence Energy 81, Strength 81, Speed 81


    So this fellow is called Spacetime Bandit. It¡¯s at the Terror-grade of the dual-elemental powers of time and space. I wonder what kind of skill this skill crystal will be. Could it be an ability that makes it impossible to be sensed or seen? Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have a Temporal Terror transformation¡­ Wait¡­ I might¡­ If I can use the Demon God Body and the Godfiend Era at the same time, I can use the Demon God Body to become a temporal creature. Together with the spatial powers of the Demon God Era, can I meet the requirements? Zhou Wen looked at the corpse of the Spacetime Bandit on the ground.


    The Demon God Body could only simulate living creatures. There was no way to simulate the dead.


    I¡¯ll definitely encounter a temporal creature when I enter the Time Hut later. I¡¯ll give it a try when the time comes. Without sensing any other danger, Zhou Wen released Ice Maiden and company.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let Philo out to prevent her from rashly entering the Time Hut to find Lucas.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to save Lucas, but if he entered without confidence, not only would he be in danger, but he would also waste more time.


    It was Zhou Wen¡¯s style to think before acting. He believed that it wasn¡¯t because he was afraid of death.


    ¡°Do you know what this is?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the Spacetime Bandit on the ground and asked Ice Maiden and Grim Demon.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯ve never seen such a creature before, nor have I heard of one.¡± Ice Maiden and Grim Demon said that they had never seen it before. They had never even heard of the Spacetime Bandit.


    Zhou Wen saw that the Spacetime Bandit was very special. Furthermore, his corpse didn¡¯t vanish like a typical creature. It was as though his body had already undergone Terror transformation and all the parts were Terror items.


    This was very similar to the Ice Dragon King. It was rare among Terror creatures, making it rather special.


    He summoned all the Companion Beasts he thought highly of and let them see if anyone was interested in these Terror items.


    Demonic Neonate clearly wasn¡¯t interested in the pile of metal components and fragments, and among the evolvable Companion Beasts, Truth Listener and Banana Fairy didn¡¯t react either.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Explosive Fiend Man became interested in the Terror-transformed metal parts. He walked in front of one of the components and picked it up. He gestured at it as though he wanted to put it on himself.


    After gesturing for a long time, he still couldn¡¯t fit it in.


    When Zhou Wen saw this, he decided to send the pile of parts and Explosive Fiend Man into the Chaos Bead and let him slowly mess around with them. It might even produce something.


    With all this time passing, the Time Hut dungeon had long been downloaded. However, the Time Hut¡¯s name in the game wasn¡¯t Time Hut, but Sweetie¡¯s Wooden Hut.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care what it was called. After summoning Ice Maiden and Grim Demon back, he immediately activated the dungeon and entered the game.


    The blood-colored avatar entered the wooden hut. The scene he saw was similar to the information he had found online. In the tiny wooden hut, there was a wooden table, wooden chair, wooden bed, and a wooden horse. It looked like a wooden hut for children.

 Chapter 1261 - : Time Hut

    Chapter 1261: Time Hut


    Translator: CKtalon


    At the instant he entered the wooden hut, Zhou Wen felt a strange force descend on him. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was rapidly aging.


    The time flow in the Time Hut wasn¡¯t fixed. As Zhou Wen entered, he realized that the time flow in the hut was rather fast. His body had aged significantly.


    Without any hesitation, he rushed towards the wooden door at the back of the wooden hut.


    From the outside, the Time Hut was only a wooden hut, but in fact, there were many rooms inside. After passing through the wooden door, there was a corridor behind it. Behind the corridor was a row of four wooden doors. The last door might contain the Spacetime Piglet.


    In reality, the Spacetime Piglet would occasionally, but not necessarily, appear.. Zhou Wen had to test if it existed every time in-game.


    After rushing through the wooden door, he saw a corridor. However, the flow of time inside was even faster than inside the wooden hut. Zhou Wen switched to the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, but he failed to stop the blood-colored avatar from aging.


    Before he reached the last wooden door, the blood-colored avatar had already aged and died.


    It doesn¡¯t seem like I can use instant transmission in the Time Hut. It¡¯s not a restriction of the rules, but spatial chaos. I wonder where I¡¯ll be teleported to if I use spatial teleportation. Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive again and entered the Time Hut dungeon.


    Thankfully, the Time Hut dungeon didn¡¯t have a 24-hour restriction. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief.


    After entering again, the time flow in the wooden hut slowed down significantly, giving Zhou Wen plenty of time to enter the corridor. The time flow in the corridor wasn¡¯t fast either.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t happy because of this. If he only wanted to farm for the Spacetime Piglet¡¯s skill, he could return now.


    However, now that he wanted to save Lucas in reality, the time flow in the Time Hut was so irregular. He could still try his luck in-game. Did he have to try his luck in reality?


    If he was unlucky and time flowed too quickly, he would probably die inside.


    There were four wooden doors in the corridor. Each wooden door had a wind chime hanging on it. There were words written on each wind chime.


    ¡°Past, Present, Future, and Chaos.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate when he saw that the words were the same as what was said on the Internet. He pushed open the last wooden door with the word ¡°Chaos.¡±


    The space inside the wooden door was chaotic. Even if the door was open, he couldn¡¯t see what was inside. Even Truth Listener and Great Brahma¡¯s powers couldn¡¯t peek inside.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to walk in. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to use his Companion Beasts to explore, but in a place like the Time Hut, every wooden door was equivalent to an independent space. If he sent his Companion Beast in, the Companion Beast would lose contact with him. Therefore, he wouldn¡¯t know what had happened inside, so it wouldn¡¯t be of any use as a scout.


    After stepping into the Chaos Hut, a wooden hut appeared in front of Zhou Wen. The wooden table, wooden chair, wooden table, and wooden horse were identical to the previous hut.


    In the hut, there was a little piglet carved from wood. It wasn¡¯t big, only the size of a baby piglet. It looked chubby and adorable.


    Spacetime Piglet! Before Zhou Wen could rejoice, his body suddenly aged and died. The game screen turned black.


    The flow of time in the Chaos Hut is just too fast. Just me taking a few breaths was enough for at least a century or two to pass. If I were to go in real life, I wouldn¡¯t have the chance to escape if I entered a room with an extremely fast flow of time. Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned heavy.


    He knew that he had to think of a way to turn luck into something he could control. Otherwise, entering was equivalent to risking his life akin to buying a lottery ticket.


    However, even the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder can¡¯t stop the flow of time. I¡¯m not good at temporal powers. How can I avoid being affected by the flow of time? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a good solution.


    He entered the Time Hut again. This time, his luck wasn¡¯t good. The moment he entered, he felt the blood-colored avatar rapidly age. By the time he pushed open the door and entered the corridor, the blood-colored avatar was already on the brink of death.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly and summoned the Chaos Egg. It was an egg-shaped ball that enveloped the blood-colored avatar.


    The Chaos Egg was still at the Mythical stage, and it was purely a defensive ability. Even if it could be effective, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move while inside the Chaos Egg. It was useless.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t originally planned on using it, but after trying all sorts of powers, he realized that it was difficult to stop the flow of time from changing. All he could do was give it a try.


    This attempt succeeded. Inside the Chaos Egg, the blood-colored avatar didn¡¯t continue aging. The Chaos Egg managed to completely block the flow of time outside at the Mythical stage.


    It¡¯s really possible, but I can¡¯t move after using the Chaos Egg. I can only stay inside. It¡¯s useless even if I¡¯m not affected. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this was an opportunity.


    He planned on trying to advance the First Order of Chaos to the Terror grade. Perhaps when the time came, he would only be able to move while hiding inside the Chaos Egg.


    This was rather difficult. After being trapped for a hundred years, the First Order of Chaos was the Essence Energy Art that Zhou Wen had spent the shortest time on. Otherwise, it would have reached its Terror transformation by now.


    The difficulty of the First Order of Chaos was in no way inferior to the Dao Sutra. Furthermore, there was something about it that left him very displeased. This Essence Energy Art didn¡¯t have any offensive capabilities. The concept of the Essence Energy Art itself determined that it was an extremely passive power.


    Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a very proactive person, he couldn¡¯t stand such extreme passive concepts.


    From a portion of the concepts Zhou Wen had comprehended, if he were to compare the First Order of Chaos to a person, he would be the type of person who wouldn¡¯t be angry from being slapped on the left cheek, but would even smile and offer the right.


    This concept didn¡¯t suit Zhou Wen¡¯s personality, so even if he wanted to learn it, his comprehension would be very slow. He didn¡¯t even want to cultivate it.


    I still have to clear this obstacle in the end. Zhou Wen felt that this wasn¡¯t a bad opportunity. Since he had to master it sooner or later, he might as well take this opportunity to see if he could turn it into a Terror form.


    The Time Hut¡¯s flow of time was helpful in gaining insight into the First Order of Chaos.


    During the high-speed flow of time, Zhou Wen constantly engraved and gained insights into the First Order of Chaos, but his gains weren¡¯t as great as he imagined. This Essence Energy Art indeed didn¡¯t suit him. If not for the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s effects, Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t even have gained basic mastery.


    Without any progress, Zhou Wen had no choice but to retreat from the Chaos Egg. After being killed by the Time Hut, he dripped his blood into the game again. He planned on farming for the Spacetime Piglet¡¯s skill first or exploring all four rooms to see if he could use the Demon God Body to transform into a temporal dimensional creature before learning the Spacetime Bandit¡¯s skill crystal.


    If it was a temporal skill, he might be able to enter the Time Hut freely without the Chaos Egg advancing to Terror transformation stage.


    After trying three or four times, he finally entered the Chaos Hut alive. Indeed, the Spacetime Piglet was there, slumped on the ground.

 Chapter 1262 - Past, Future, Present

    The time flow in the Chaos Hut wasn¡¯t too high; it didn¡¯t cause the blood-colored avatar to die immediately at the very least.


    As he didn¡¯t know the exact speed of the time flow, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare waste any time. He held the golden double guns in his hand and shot at Spacetime Piglet.


    Spacetime Piglet immediately reacted as it stared at the blood-colored avatar with widened eyes. Something strange happened. The golden bullets seemed to have a spell cast upon them as they became extremely slow, as though one could pick the golden bullets from midair at any time.


    What a powerful spatial skill. Is this the legendary spatial extension? Zhou Wen was somewhat pleasantly surprised. The Spatial Piglet was only at the Mythical stage and already had a certain influence on Terror-grade bullets. This meant that this skill was indeed very powerful.


    Unfortunately, the Mythical stage was ultimately limited. Even though it could slow down the bullets, it still couldn¡¯t see where they were. Soon, it was blasted apart by Zhou Wen¡¯s random shots.


    What depressed Zhou Wen was that the Spacetime Piglet only dropped an Essence Energy crystal on his first kill. After that, there was nothing.


    Thankfully, he could respawn in the Time Hut dungeon without limitations. If it couldn¡¯t be done once, he just needed to pile on more attempts. The only uncertain matter was how long it would take for the Spacetime Piglet to respawn.


    Not wanting to waste the dungeon attempt, Zhou Wen turned around and left the Chaos Hut. He looked at the remaining three huts and hesitated over which one to enter.


    Although the mortality rate of the Chaos Hut was very high, there was still a chance of survival. As for the people who entered the other three huts, there were no survivors. Occasionally, someone would come out alive. The descriptions of the other three huts varied, making it difficult to tell the authenticity.


    The path to the future ultimately depends on myself. It¡¯s in my hands now. The only thing that can¡¯t be changed is the past. I¡¯ll enter the Past Hut and see what¡¯s inside. After Zhou Wen thought about it, he pushed open the wooden door and walked into the Past Hut.


    At the instant he entered the hut, Zhou Wen realized that he had appeared in an area with terrifyingly high-temperature lava. Thankfully, the blood-colored avatar was wearing the Dragon King armor, so the magma at this level didn¡¯t injure him.


    However, in the next second, a huge object suddenly appeared in the lava. It opened its mouth and attempted to devour Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly teleported upwards and dodged the behemoth¡¯s devouring attempt.


    Standing in midair, Zhou Wen realized that he was surrounded by lava and volcanoes. He didn¡¯t know where he was, but in the lava river below, there was a human with a dragon tail. His head was neither human nor dragon. He had dragon horns on his head, but his face looked like a huge human monster. He held a black flaming fork and stood in the lava, staring at him.


    This was the monster that wanted to devour the blood-colored avatar. Seeing Zhou Wen appear in midair, the monster raised the flaming fork in its hand. The entire world immediately turned into a sea of flames as red flames rose up like a tsunami.


    Zhou Wen used the two golden guns to shoot at the monster. At the same time, he quickly retreated to dodge the monster¡¯s attack.


    However, the speed of the flames was even more terrifying than Zhou Wen imagined. It instantly drowned the entire world. Even though the blood-colored avatar used teleportation, the screen went black when it phased out of the teleportation. The game ended with death.


    The battle had been too intense. Only then did Zhou Wen see the warning window in-game. It repeatedly indicated Danger! Danger! Danger!


    That thing is definitely at the Calamity grade. Furthermore, why does his appearance look a little familiar? I seem to have seen it somewhere. Zhou Wen had definitely never seen such a powerful dimensional creature before, or he wouldn¡¯t have forgotten it.


    This sense of familiarity was most likely because he had seen something similar somewhere. Therefore, Zhou Wen carefully recalled and finally remembered where he had seen such a creature.


    It wasn¡¯t a creature from reality, but from the information Zhou Wen had garnered from the Fire God Platform.


    There was actually more than one fire god in Eastern mythology. There were many different fire gods in different legends. The terrifying creature he had seen was very similar to the Fire God Zhurong who had defeated the Water God Gonggong.


    Gonggong had knocked down Mt. Buzhou, causing the world to collapse. It was obvious how terrifying his strength was. Yet, the Fire God, Zhurong, could defeat him. His divine might was even stronger.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that the monster he had encountered resembled the mythical Fire God, Zhurong.


    This is the West District, and the dungeon is also a West District dungeon. It¡¯s impossible for there to be a mythical figure from the East District here, right? It probably just resembles one. However, there¡¯s actually a Calamity-grade creature in the Time Hut dungeon. This doesn¡¯t make sense. How can there be such a powerful creature? Zhou Wen felt that it was too much.


    He had never seen many dungeons with Calamity-grade creatures.


    Even the Venusian dungeon was an elite dungeon of a planet. There seemed to be only one Calamity-grade in it. It was odd that there was a Calamity-grade creature in this tiny Time Hut.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, Zhou Wen entered the Time Hut dungeon again. This time, his luck wasn¡¯t bad¡ªhe didn¡¯t die instantly. He rushed into the Chaos Hut, but didn¡¯t see the Spacetime Piglet. From the looks of it, it wouldn¡¯t respawn so quickly. Typical Mythical creatures only respawned once every twenty-four hours.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and went to the Future Hut.


    Zhou Wen had already made sufficient preparations, but after entering the Future Hut, he was somewhat dumbfounded. Before he could see anything, his phone screen went black.


    How did I die? Zhou Wen frowned inwardly, but he quickly realized that something was amiss. He wasn¡¯t dead. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s senses were still present, but there was absolute darkness around him. He couldn¡¯t see or sense anything. It looked like his phone screen was completely black as though he was dead.


    Zhou Wen used the power of Human Sovereign to illuminate his surroundings. Just as light suffused his body, his phone screen went black again.


    This time, he was really dead. As for Zhou Wen, he had no idea what had happened.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen originally imagined that dying in the Past Hut was depressing enough, but he never expected the Future Hut to be even more unacceptable. He had no idea how he died.


    Gritting his teeth, he entered the dungeon again. This time, Zhou Wen¡¯s luck wasn¡¯t that good. He dripped his blood and revived five times before finally arriving in front of the Present Hut.


    Zhou Wen had already seen the Past Hut and the Future Hut. All that was left was the Present Hut. It was a perfect opportunity to enter and see what was inside.


    Pushing open the door and walking into the hut, Zhou Wen was already fully prepared to withstand any terrifying attack, but nothing happened.


    What he saw was still the wooden hut. The wooden table, wooden chair, wooden bed, and wooden horse were identical to the first time Zhou Wen entered the Time Hut.


    There was no Spacetime Piglet here, no terrifying creature from the Past Hut, nor was there the strange darkness of the Future Hut. Even the flow of time was normal, and the blood-colored avatar showed no signs of aging.

 Chapter 1263 - Chaos Egg that Likes to Suffer

    Chapter 1263: Chaos Egg that Likes to Suffer


    Translator: CKtalon


    Strange, from the information on the Internet, no one has been able to come out of the Present Hut alive. This should be the most terrifying one among the four huts, but from the looks of it, it¡¯s nothing. There¡¯s no danger at all. Zhou Wen circled the wooden hut a few times and didn¡¯t discover any danger.


    Unable to find anything, Zhou Wen waited for a while, but there was still nothing. All he could do was walk out of the hut.


    However, the moment he walked out, the phone screen went black, indicating that the blood-colored avatar had died.


    1


    Could it be that the Present Hut is a hut that can¡¯t be walked out of? I¡¯ll die if I walk out? Zhou Wen immediately realized what had happened.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was heavy. It wasn¡¯t because he had died so many times, but on careful thought, the possibility of Lucas being alive was very low.


    .


    Lucas was only at the Epic stage when he entered. Even if he was lucky, it was almost impossible for him to survive if he entered the Past and Future Huts.


    The Present Hut was even more dangerous¡ªjust exiting meant death. It was very unlikely that he would survive in the hut if he had chosen it.


    The only chance of survival was probably to enter the Chaos Hut. However, if he encountered Spacetime Piglet, he would still die. After all, it was very difficult for an Epic to defeat a Mythical.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that the chances of Lucas surviving were too low.


    ¡°Lucas, Lucas, why did you come to such a place? Did you have nothing better to do? Isn¡¯t it good to get married and have children?¡± Although Zhou Wen said that, he could understand. It was very difficult for a person like Lucas to live his life in peace.


    Among the four huts, Zhou Wen was most interested in the Future Hut. He wanted to figure out what was going on with the darkness.


    As for the Past Hut, Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength wasn¡¯t enough to fight a Calamity-grade. It was useless even if he entered.


    It was also useless entering the Present Hut. There were no dimensional creatures inside and he would die the moment he came out. It was of no value.


    He entered the game again, and this time, Zhou Wen entered the Future Hut. It was still dark, but this time, he didn¡¯t immediately illuminate his surroundings. Instead, he wanted to use his perception to sense what was around him.


    The outcome was the same. Before he could sense anything, the game¡¯s screen truly went black.


    Strange, it doesn¡¯t seem like I was attacked. How did I die? Is it the nomological forces? Zhou Wen entered again and activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    In the darkness, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder immediately burned like a torch, instantly turning to ashes. At the same time, Zhou Wen was killed.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Without a doubt, the effects of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder proved that the power in the darkness was indeed a nomological force, but it instantly reduced the Heaven-Opening Scripture to ashes. The strength of the nomological force was unimaginable.


    After entering again, Zhou Wen used the dual powers of the Chaos Egg and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    Something surprised Zhou Wen. Although the Chaos Egg was suppressed by some strange force in the darkness, it wasn¡¯t as intense as the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It wasn¡¯t reduced to ashes immediately. It lasted for more than ten minutes before it cracked and was corroded by the darkness.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s strength is clearly much weaker than the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It¡¯s not even at the Terror grade, so why can it last much longer? Zhou Wen entered the Future Hut again and again with the question in mind.


    After countless deaths, Zhou Wen gradually understood something.


    The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder was an active power. It tried to control the nomological forces. Therefore, when it entered the Future Hut, it would directly resist them. Either one of them would die, and there was no other way.


    Therefore, the disadvantaged Heaven-Opening Scripture was instantly wiped out.


    However, the Chaos Egg was different. It didn¡¯t resist any nomological forces. It was only passively enduring them. It was self-sufficient and was happy to be in its snug little world.


    Therefore, its existence didn¡¯t trigger a strong counterattack from the nomological force. Furthermore, the nomological force it was affected by was actually very small. However, because the nomological force was just too powerful, even a tiny bit was something the Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t withstand. In the end, it was destroyed.


    However, in the process of the Chaos Egg being destroyed time and time again, Zhou Wen surprisingly discovered that it was growing.


    The First Order of Chaos is really odd. Why can¡¯t it be trained properly? Must it be beaten up to improve? This discovery surprised and delighted Zhou Wen. He was originally vexed over how to advance a Chaos Egg. He never expected there to be some progress.


    Zhou Wen entered the Future Hut again and again, causing the Chaos Egg to be destroyed again and again. At the same time, Zhou Wen felt the changes in the Chaos Egg.


    This First Order of Chaos seems to make sense. Although not fighting back is wrong, not fighting back has its benefits. Zhou Wen gradually discovered the profundity of the First Order of Chaos.


    Zhou Wen had previously described the First Order of Chaos as something that chose to be beaten without retaliating, but as Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of it deepened, he realized that the analogy wasn¡¯t appropriate.


    To humans, being beaten was suffering a loss.


    However, to the world, collisions represented the transmission of energy. The birth of any life was inseparable from energy.


    Instead of calling it a beating, it was better to say that the Chaos Egg was absorbing the energy transmitted to it from the outside world. Regardless of whether the energy was mild or violent, as long as it was energy, the Chaos Egg wouldn¡¯t reject it.


    It used the energy from the outside world to build its own snug little world. Instead of calling it a goody-two-shoes who didn¡¯t fight back when beaten, it was better to call it a miser who only allowed income and not expenditure.


    The energy¡ªno matter the kind of energy absorbed¡ªcould forget about escaping. The Chaos Egg was an energy container that only allowed entry and not exit.


    As his comprehension deepened, the Chaos Egg gradually changed.


    In the past, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t liked this Essence Energy Art and hadn¡¯t been able to comprehend its true meaning. Now, Zhou Wen finally understood it. The First Order of Chaos also advanced rapidly in a short period of time.


    Zhou Wen engraved the Chaos Egg on the Wheel of Destiny again and again. The appearance of the Chaos Egg didn¡¯t change, but its interior had undergone a tremendous change.


    Perhaps Da Vinci hadn¡¯t drawn an egg back then, but the concept of drawing an egg wasn¡¯t wrong. Many times, when one looked at something from different angles, they would discover a different principle.


    Something that seemed to be a loss might translate to immense benefits on another level.


    The moment Zhou Wen understood that suffering losses was a blessing, the Chaos Egg underwent a qualitative change and finally advanced to the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen watched as the Chaos Egg advanced, but its appearance didn¡¯t change¡ªit was still a ball.

 Chapter 1264 - Chaos Egg Terror Transformation

    Terror Form: Chaos Egg (S-grade)


    With its name remaining the same, it didn¡¯t look like it had changed much, but Zhou Wen knew very well that the Chaos Egg was completely different from before.


    If the past Chaos Egg was only a firm shell, the present Chaos Egg was a huge energy absorption converter.


    Any power that acted on the Chaos Egg would be absorbed and converted by it.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding, the Chaos Egg was divided into three levels. When the amount of energy absorbed was low, it would directly convert into Essence Energy and store it inside the Chaos Egg.


    If the power used on the Chaos Egg was too potent, the energy converted by the Chaos Egg would further condense into liquid Essence Energy.


    If the power was even greater, the converted Essence Energy would condense further and directly transform into a solid body.


    If the entire Chaos Egg was filled with solid Essence Energy, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the outcome would be. It would probably explode.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t attempted it because the nomological energy in the Future Hut wasn¡¯t enough to fill the Chaos Egg with solid Essence Energy.


    It had only just reached the liquid state. Furthermore, it required a few minutes to produce a drop of liquid Essence Energy. Only a Chaos Egg full of liquid Essence Energy could condense into a solid Essence Energy particle.


    Although the Chaos Egg didn¡¯t have any offensive strength, it couldn¡¯t attack any creature beyond it.


    However, the Terror-form Chaos Egg finally gave him the ability to move and spy on the outside. It was no longer a pure sitting duck. At the very least, it could run now.


    The sphere constantly moved in the darkness, but no matter where it moved, one could sense nothing.


    What kind of place is this? Zhou Wen spent a long time exploring the Future Hut but found nothing. It left him depressed.


    After entering the Future Hut, there was no way to return alive. Zhou Wen could only let the blood-colored avatar leave the Chaos Egg before dying.


    It¡¯s really strange. If it¡¯s a maze, there has to be a path, but the darkness is infinite. What¡¯s the meaning of its existence? Zhou Wen thought for a while but failed to figure it out.


    He entered the Time Hut dungeon again. This time, Zhou Wen protected his body with the Chaos Egg. The flow of time no longer affected Zhou Wen inside the Chaos Egg; instead, it produced Essence Energy that filled the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen suspected that even if his Essence Energy attribute hadn¡¯t reached 81 points, cultivating in such thick Essence Energy would automatically break through to 81 points.


    With the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen had the capital to stay alive in the Time Hut. Even if time flowed very quickly, it didn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen.


    As long as he didn¡¯t enter the Future, Present, and Past Huts, the Time Hut wasn¡¯t too difficult for him.


    It hadn¡¯t been twenty-four hours, so the Spacetime Piglet hadn¡¯t respawned. Zhou Wen entered the hut again and attempted to use the Chaos Egg to protect himself. He wanted to see if he could leave the hut.


    This time, the blood-colored avatar successfully walked out of the hut alive without dying.


    Although being able to enter and exit the hut didn¡¯t help Zhou Wen with his farming of dimensional creatures, he was very happy.


    If Lucas was in the Present Hut, he could enter to take a look.


    Zhou Wen attempted to enter the Past Hut again. He was originally prepared to fight the Calamity-grade creature, but to his surprise, he didn¡¯t see the creature after entering.


    He was now deep in a river. Although there was little light here, Zhou Wen could still see his surroundings with his eyesight.


    He sized up his surroundings and was suddenly alarmed to discover a huge skeleton on the sandy bottom of the river not far away. The bone marrow looked like a mammal¡¯s. It had a spine and ribs, but it also had a bone-like object that resembled a fin.


    The entire skeleton was the size of a corvette. He did not know what type of creature it was. It had horns on its head, but no bones of the expected four limbs could be seen.


    All the bones were crystalline like jade and they emitted a terrifying pressure. Even Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate. It was difficult to imagine how terrifying it would have been when it was alive.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what creature the skeleton was, he suddenly felt the surrounding river water flow in reverse. Furthermore, it was terrifyingly fast, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s body to involuntarily flow backward with the river.


    It was as though a terrifying force was attracting the river to flow backward. Even the terrifying monster¡¯s bones were being sucked along as the river flowed in reverse. It was unimaginably fast.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used teleportation to rush out of the water and appear in midair.


    Floating in midair, Zhou Wen looked around warily. When he saw everything in front of him, his mouth couldn¡¯t help but widen. He didn¡¯t close it for a while.


    A huge river surged without any end in sight. It seemed to connect to the left and right horizon, far beyond what the eyes could see.


    However, there was a giant who was buried in the river, guzzling the water non-stop.


    Every time he drank a mouthful, the water level of the river would drop dozens of feet. In a few mouthfuls, the tiny tributary of the river had already dried up. After drinking a few more mouthfuls, the main river¡¯s main channel also stopped flowing.


    Zhou Wen had felt the river flow in reverse because the giant was drinking water.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s dumbfounded gaze, the giant sucked the river dry and ran towards the sun with his head held high.


    When his huge foot landed, the ground trembled and mountains collapsed. The dust and air waves that stirred up were akin to an atomic bomb¡¯s explosion.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body couldn¡¯t withstand the blast. Under the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection, he was still sent flying. After tumbling for several kilometers, Zhou Wen controlled the Chaos Egg to stop and float in midair.


    Before he could figure out his direction, he suddenly heard a buzz that sounded like a dragon¡¯s tendon vibrating. Then, he saw a stream of light flash as the Chaos Egg was penetrated.


    The last thing Zhou Wen saw was the Chaos Egg clamping onto an arrow and flying into the sky like a meteor. Then, the phone screen went black again.


    Past Hut¡­ Could it be that I¡¯d really returned to the past? Zhou Wen thought of an extremely terrifying possibility.


    This was because the scene he had just seen was too familiar. The giant, the river that had been drained¡ªeverything was too similar to the myths Zhou Wen had heard from his grandfather.


    They are only myths after all. Even if the Past Hut can really return to the past, it shouldn¡¯t be depicting those myths¡­ Unless the myths aren¡¯t just myths¡­ But is it possible¡­ that there was a mythological era in the past? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed as he felt terrible.


    If the Past Hut is capable of returning to the past, what is the Future Hut¡¯s dark world? Is the future world like that? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.

 Chapter 1265 - Spacetime Mugging

    Chapter 1265: Spacetime Mugging


    Translator: CKtalon


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt a chill run down his spine. If Earth were to be reduced to a pitch-black void in the future, what terrifying battle would have happened to turn Earth into such a state?


    It can¡¯t be a real scene from the future, right? If the Time Hut can really see the future, wouldn¡¯t everyone be able to predict the future? Zhou Wen felt that he couldn¡¯t count on it.


    Regardless, Zhou Wen could now enter the Chaos Hut and Present Hut without any danger. He could only enter but not exit the Future Hut and the Past Hut for the time being.


    Zhou Wen decided to enter the Chaos Hut and Present Hut to see if he could find Lucas.


    I hope Lucas is still alive. Zhou Wen walked towards the Time Hut and pushed open the wooden door to enter.


    Before entering, Zhou Wen had already used the Chaos Egg. If he used it after entering, he would probably die before he could use the Chaos Egg if he had terrible luck and encountered a time flow that took an instant for a millennium to pass.


    .


    The Time Hut in reality was the same as in the game. The wooden table, wooden chairs, wooden bed, and wooden horse looked like a child¡¯s room.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stay for long as the Chaos Egg slammed open the subsequent wooden door and allowed him passage to the Time Corridor.


    When he arrived at the Time Corridor, the Chaos Egg immediately formed some liquid Essence Energy. Based on Zhou Wen¡¯s experience, the flow of time in such a situation would probably have decades pass in a second. If not for the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection, he would probably die of old age in just a few steps.


    Indeed, I can¡¯t count on luck. Zhou Wen controlled the Chaos Egg to float towards the Chaos Hut.


    As no one had come for a long time, after Zhou Wen entered the hut, not only was there a Spacetime Piglet, but there was also a cloth doll.


    The doll was wearing a beautiful princess gown and had long golden hair. It looked beautiful.


    Zhou Wen had never seen the doll before, nor had he seen any information about her on the Internet. He didn¡¯t dare rashly come out of the Chaos Egg.


    When Spacetime Piglet and the doll saw a huge ball slam into the hut, they immediately moved.


    The light in the Spacetime Piglet¡¯s eyes shot out like a spotlight and shone on the Chaos Egg. The Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg immediately increased significantly, condensing a drop of liquid Essence Energy.


    After all, it was only at the Mythical stage. Even if it attacked with all its might, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use against the Chaos Egg.


    The doll also launched an attack. She held a wand in her hand and raised it above her head as her body spun a few circles with the wand.


    The princess dress fluttered due to the spinning, but that wasn¡¯t the main point. As the doll spun, a large amount of liquid Essence Energy was produced in the Chaos Egg. In a moment, it filled half the Chaos Egg.


    A temporal Terror creature? Zhou Wen was delighted.


    Previously, the Spacetime Bandit skill crystal required dual temporal and spatial Terror transformation. Zhou Wen was just wondering where he could find a temporal Terror creature. This cloth doll was very likely one.


    In the past, before he had the Chaos Egg, the only thing Zhou Wen would have been able to do was first capture the cloth doll alive and completely subdue it over time before he used the Demon God Body to scan her body and transform into her.


    Now that he had the Chaos Egg, there was no need to go through so much trouble. Although he couldn¡¯t use offensive powers in the Chaos Egg, it didn¡¯t stop Zhou Wen from observing it.


    After carving the Demon God Bloodline Catalog on the Wheel of Destiny, Zhou Wen¡¯s body underwent a strange change. His eyes turned extremely demonic as they suffused a strange glow.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze on the cloth doll as his body gradually began to change.


    The cloth doll and Spacetime Piglet kept attacking the Chaos Egg. Unfortunately, other than adding some Essence Energy liquid to the Chaos Egg, the attacks were futile.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t injured in the Chaos Egg at all, and the Demon God Body wasn¡¯t interrupted.


    However, there was too much data needed to be scanned to become a Terror-grade creature. The Demon God Eyes constantly scanned it. After a while, Zhou Wen¡¯s body gradually transformed into the doll.


    It took him half an hour to fully transform.


    Indeed, it¡¯s temporal. Even without looking at the information, Zhou Wen knew the details of the doll from the data he had obtained from the scan. He was immediately overjoyed as he engraved the Godfiend Era, allowing Clown Mask to appear on his face.


    Now, I have both Time and Space. I hope I can absorb the Spacetime Bandit skill crystal. Zhou Wen took out the Spacetime Bandit crystal and attempted to absorb it.


    The Spacetime Bandit crystal was easily absorbed by Zhou Wen. It transformed into an endless stream of energy that was injected into Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Furthermore, a new Essence Energy circulation path was opened up in his body.


    It¡¯s done! Zhou Wen felt the skill crystal¡¯s information constantly surge into his brain as the pleasant surprise on his face intensified.


    After the skill crystal was completely absorbed, Zhou Wen eagerly switched on his phone to look at his skill information.


    Although he had already grasped the skill information of Spacetime Bandit, Zhou Wen still habitually read the text.


    Spacetime Bandit (Terror-grade): Slaughtering that can travel through spacetime.


    The information was very simple, but Zhou Wen, who had obtained the information regarding Spacetime Bandit, knew very well that the simple description represented really terrifying meanings.


    Spacetime Bandit was an extremely strange spatio-temporal skill. It could delay a person¡¯s actions by 0 to 3 seconds.


    This delay didn¡¯t mean that one¡¯s actions would slow down. Instead, they would complete their actions 0 to 3 seconds in advance and use the completed attack to attack the present.


    It was a little troublesome to describe. To put it simply, it was like having an avatar. This avatar was the past you from a second or two ago.


    At this moment, one could complete the skill, but this skill would be delivered only a second or two later. By then, the real person would have long fled.


    Only the attack would injure the opponent, but the opponent¡¯s attack couldn¡¯t touch one because they weren¡¯t there.


    In practice, the variations were much more complicated than this. There were also more possibilities. Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to fully express his understanding.


    However, he knew very well that this was a very useful skill. If used well, it could be said to be a divine skill.


    Spacetime Bandit should have other spatio-temporal skills. Unfortunately, I only encountered one. If more skills had been dropped, I might be able to kill people like a Spacetime Bandit¡ªcompletely catching people off guard. Zhou Wen felt regretful.


    However, Zhou Wen was already very satisfied.


    He attempted to use the Spacetime Bandit skill before using Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal didn¡¯t immediately take effect and Zhou Wen left his previous spot.


    In less than a second, the spot¡ªwhere Zhou Wen had been¡ªerupted with Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s streams of light that slashed in the direction of the Spacetime Piglet.


    1


    Spacetime Piglet used a spatial extension skill, but unfortunately, it was only at the Mythical stage. It failed to escape Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s strike and was killed on the spot.

 Chapter 1266 - Candy Box

    Ding!


    A dimensional crystal dropped. It was a wooden crystal with the appearance of the Spacetime Piglet carved on it.


    Spacetime Piglet¡¯s skill crystal. Could it be spatial extension? Zhou Wen was delighted.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t pick up the skill crystal while inside the Chaos Egg.


    Spacetime Bandit resolved the problem of Zhou Wen being unable to attack while inside the Chaos Egg. As long as he used the characteristics of delayed attacks, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the attacks hitting the Chaos Egg and not being able to leave.


    Zhou Wen continued attacking the doll. After transforming into the doll, he had a good understanding of her various skills. He gained a huge advantage in battle.


    Furthermore, with the Chaos Egg protecting him, Zhou Wen was in an invincible position.


    Using Spacetime Bandit¡¯s ability, he constantly delayed his attacks. As Zhou Wen still wasn¡¯t very proficient, the delay was very short at the beginning. The delay seldom exceeded a second.


    With increased proficiency, he could only produce a delay of two to three seconds at maximum. There was no way to continue delaying unless he had the skill to break through to the Terror grade.


    However, it wasn¡¯t that the longer the delay, the better. The longer the delay, the higher the requirement on one¡¯s judgment. After all, the other party wasn¡¯t dead¡ªthey could move. The longer the delay, the harder it was to hit the opponent.


    Of course, if one could predict the opponent¡¯s trajectory, they could attack the opponent¡¯s future position in advance. When the delay time was up, the opponent would be right in that area, making for a spectacular show.


    Zhou Wen had just begun using this skill, so it wasn¡¯t at that level. He only tried his best to reduce the delay to increase the accuracy of his attacks.


    Finally, the cloth doll was sliced into two by the Asura Saber. With a clang, something dropped from the cloth doll¡¯s ruptured body.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that even if it wasn¡¯t a Companion Egg, it should be a crystal or something, but on careful look, he was somewhat puzzled when he saw what it was.


    What fell out was a rather unique-looking box. It was made of wood and had exquisite patterns engraved on it. It was accompanied by a small and cute bronze lock.


    There were a few words engraved on the front of the box.


    Sweetie¡¯s candy box? Zhou Wen made the Chaos Egg vanish for an instant and sucked the Spacetime Piglet¡¯s dimensional crystal and the tiny box over. Then, he activated the Chaos Egg again and silently read the words on the box. It felt extremely odd.


    He reached out to touch the bronze lock, but it wasn¡¯t locked. It opened the moment he touched it. Zhou Wen removed the bronze lock and opened the small box. Inside the small box was a candy.


    The candy was wrapped in pink plastic wrapping paper with the words ¡°Lemon Candy¡± printed on it.


    Zhou Wen took out the candy and gave it a closer look. No matter how he looked at it, it was packaging produced by a factory. The words were printed mechanically. No matter how he looked at it, it looked like it was artificially produced and not something a dimensional creature should have.


    As for the small box, it looked like a man-made product. It wasn¡¯t a dimensional item.


    Strange, why would a dimensional creature have these human things? Zhou Wen looked at the candy box again and realized that there was a note at the bottom of the box.


    Zhou Wen saw at a glance that there was a line of crooked words written on the paper. It looked like it had been written by a child who had just learned how to write.


    ¡°Sweetie hates lemon candy the most.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the words and thought to himself, Could it be that someone brought these things in and was killed by the doll before having them snatched away? But that¡¯s not right. The Time Hut¡¯s name is Sweetie¡¯s Hut. Could it be that Sweetie is a human and the Time Hut is hers? The Spacetime Piglet and the doll are her toys¡­


    Zhou Wen felt that his idea was ridiculous. How could a human treat a Terror creature as a toy?


    If Sweetie isn¡¯t a human, what could she be? A creature from the dimension? Or a powerful creature born on Earth? But from her words, she doesn¡¯t seem to be such a powerful creature. She¡¯s clearly a child¡­ Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. No matter how he thought about it, he felt that something was amiss. All he could do was put this matter aside. It was more important to find Lucas.


    He placed the lemon candy back into the candy box and wanted to store it in the Chaos Bead, but to his surprise, he couldn¡¯t place the lemon candy in the Chaos Bead.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen tried a few more times and realized that every time he wanted to put it in, there seemed to be a strange force repelling the candy box, preventing it from entering the Chaos Bead.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he took out the lemon candy and tried putting it into the Chaos Bead. This time, he succeeded.


    Is this candy box actually a spatial item? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly took out some items to see if he could put them inside.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the items couldn¡¯t be placed inside. The space in the candy box didn¡¯t expand either.


    It¡¯s not a spatial item? Then why can¡¯t it be placed inside the Chaos Bead? Zhou Wen frowned in thought. Suddenly, he thought of something and took out some chocolate candy from the Chaos Bead. The candy was for Ya¡¯er. He had made a huge one-time purchase and occasionally took some out for her to eat.


    Zhou Wen tried putting the chocolate candy into the candy box. In the next second, Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    The large pieces of chocolate were easily placed in the candy box that was much smaller than the chocolate.


    Zhou Wen took out a pile of various candies and tried putting them in. He succeeded in placing a large pile of candy into the candy box. Once the candy approached the box, they automatically shrank and didn¡¯t occupy any space inside.


    Who¡¯s so bored as to make such a spatial item that specializes in storing candy? They went through so much just to store candy. Isn¡¯t that too extravagant? Zhou Wen was at a loss for words.


    It was clearly a rare spatial item with quite a large capacity, but it could only be used to store candy. It was useless to Zhou Wen.


    It¡¯s fine, I guess. I¡¯ll give it to Ya¡¯er. This thing is very small. It¡¯s not bad to use it to store candy for Ya¡¯er. She doesn¡¯t have to ask me for candy whenever she wants to eat some. Zhou Wen placed the candy inside and thought for a moment before taking out the lemon candy.


    He did not know if there was anything wrong with this piece of lemon candy. He had to be wary. It was best not to eat it randomly.


    He didn¡¯t immediately give the candy box to Ya¡¯er. Zhou Wen wanted to wait a little longer. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to give it to Ya¡¯er if the candy in the candy box remained fine.


    After packing up, Zhou Wen left the Chaos Hut and walked towards the Present Hut.


    Since Lucas wasn¡¯t in the Chaos Hut, Zhou Wen could only place his last hope on the Present Hut. If he couldn¡¯t find him, there was no need to continue the search.


    The Future Hut and Past Hut were places that spelled no return. At the very least, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t found a way to return.


    The Chaos Egg slammed open the wooden door and Zhou Wen entered the Present Hut.

 Chapter 1267 - A Different Present Hut

    The Present Hut was the same as in-game. It was in the standard Time Hut style¡ªwooden table, wooden chair, wooden bed, and a wooden horse. It was the same as the ordinary Time Hut¡¯s layout.


    However, there was something in the Present Hut that wasn¡¯t in-game.


    There were more than ten people in the hut. They were either standing, squatting, or sitting. They were clearly breathing, living people made of blood and flesh, but for some reason, they stood there motionless like puppets. Their eyes were fixed in one direction.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he didn¡¯t dare come out of the Chaos Egg. He felt unease even inside the Chaos Egg. He hurriedly donned the Dragon King armor and used all sorts of skills like the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    After doing all of this, Zhou Wen sized up the situation in the hut again.


    The dozen or so people in the hut made the originally small hut seem a little crowded. Zhou Wen quickly realized that Lucas was among them, but he stood there motionless like a realistic wax statue.


    Like the others, Lucas stared intently at the only bed in the wooden hut.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare use his eyes to look at the bed. He used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to scan it and realized that the bed in the room was somewhat different from what he had seen in-game.


    The wooden bed in-game was an ordinary wooden bed, but this bed had a translucent veil that enveloped the entire bed.


    And on the bed was a person. Lucas and company were looking at the person on the bed.


    Zhou Wen listened carefully and realized that the person lying on the bed was likely a beautiful woman. As she lay there, he could still see her graceful figure. Her face was so exquisite that she didn¡¯t look human.


    Human? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Although the woman was so beautiful that she didn¡¯t look human, Zhou Wen could sense a human aura from her. She was definitely not a dimensional creature. At the very least, she had some human bloodline.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare go over, much less attempt to call out to Lucas. This was because he didn¡¯t know what had happened. Not only would he fail to save Lucas if he acted rashly, but he might also harm him or even himself.


    Just like a person who had been electrocuted, one couldn¡¯t just pull him away. One had to use some insulation tools to save him.


    Lucas wasn¡¯t suffering from a case of electrocution, so all the more Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t act rashly. He had to figure out how to save him and not harm him.


    Everything was normal with the Chaos Egg¡ªit didn¡¯t produce any Essence Energy. This meant that the Present Hut was the same as in-game. It didn¡¯t have the ability to harm people, nor did it change the flow of time.


    The reason Lucas and company had become like this was most likely because of that woman.


    Just as Zhou Wen was observing, someone suddenly moved.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked over and saw a man standing by the bed. He looked to be in his thirties or forties. He was originally standing there motionless, but for some reason, he suddenly moved.


    His eyes were blood-red; his eye whites seemed flush with blood as though they were about to explode.


    He continued to stare at the woman on the bed and pounced on the wooden bed like a beast.


    However, just as his hand touched the muslin bed curtain, his entire body seemed to suffer electrocution. His body stopped immediately as it terminated its charge forward. His body was still convulsing as though it was suffering a fit.


    As he constantly convulsed, dried powder kept dropping from his body. In a moment, he turned from a human with flesh and blood into a skeleton. The skeleton didn¡¯t exist for long before it turned to ashes. Then, nothing was left.


    Even his clothes and armor seemed to have undergone the ravages of time, turning into dust.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he didn¡¯t dare look at the woman on the bed.


    However, Truth Listener¡¯s ability made Zhou Wen realize that the woman lying on the bed had become even more exquisite and rosy. She looked even more beautiful.


    Indeed, it¡¯s because of that woman! Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. He couldn¡¯t tell how the woman had attacked the man.


    Unfathomable enemies were the most terrifying. Zhou Wen only wanted to take Lucas out without any intention of provoking the woman.


    However, taking Lucas out was a problem. Ignoring the question of whether he could touch Lucas, even if he could, how could he take him out of the Present Hut?


    Without the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection, leaving the Present Hut was a dead end. However, Zhou Wen was the only one who could use the Chaos Egg¡ªhe couldn¡¯t pull Lucas in.


    I can only put him in the Chaos Bead. Zhou Wen looked around with some hesitation.


    He definitely couldn¡¯t touch Lucas. If anything happened, he wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to remedy the situation.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could only place his sights on the remaining people. He wanted to try putting someone into the Chaos Bead and see if he could take them out of the Present Hut.


    Zhou Wen had previously tried doing so in-game. Companion Beasts would die if they entered and exited independently. However, they wouldn¡¯t die if stored inside the Chaos Bead.


    However, that was only a Companion Beast test after all. It was safer to use humans as an experiment.


    However, if the experiment failed, it was equivalent to killing a person. This left Zhou Wen in a dilemma since choosing anyone appeared inappropriate.


    I¡¯m sorry. Since you are ultimately doomed standing here, I¡¯ll make the bet for you. If you win, you can escape and live and I won¡¯t need your gratitude. If you lose, blame your bad luck. Zhou Wen randomly chose a person and was about to deactivate the Chaos Egg and forcefully pull him into the Chaos Bead.


    However, before Zhou Wen could do anything, someone suddenly moved. A young man standing beside the table pounced at the wooden bed with bloodshot eyes like the middle-aged man from before.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he immediately deactivated the Chaos Egg. He extended his hand and sucked the young man over before stuffing him into the Chaos Bead.


    Zhou Wen activated the Chaos Egg again to protect himself. Just as he was about to leave the Present Hut, something terrifying happened.


    After Zhou Wen stuffed the young man into the Chaos Bead, his body rapidly aged. In the blink of an eye, he turned from a young man to a dying old man.


    He struggled with all his might, but his body quickly dried up and turned to dust. In a moment, he was reduced to ashes that scattered everywhere.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He hadn¡¯t left the Present Hut and had only placed the person in the Chaos Bead; yet, he had died.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he immediately felt that something was amiss. His first reaction was to drive the Chaos Egg to leave the Present Hut.


    However, when he turned to look at the wooden door, he saw a beautiful and tall woman standing in front of it. Her beautiful eyes were devoid of any human emotions as she stared at the Chaos Egg.

 Chapter 1268 - Battle of the Wooden Hut

    ¡°Come out,¡± the woman said expressionlessly.


    Zhou Wen knew that the woman wanted him to come out of the Chaos Egg, but how could he be willing to? If he didn¡¯t come out of it, he might be able to withstand a few attacks. If he went out, he might die.


    The woman was straightforward. In less than two seconds after speaking, she slapped out at the Chaos Egg with her palm.


    Zhou Wen was inside the Chaos Egg. Even with all sorts of flight maneuvering skills, he couldn¡¯t fly with the Chaos Egg as it was rather slow, so he immediately felt a terrifying invisible force lash at the Chaos Egg, sending it flying like a ball.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Chaos Egg was like a bouncing ball as it quickly bounced back and forth in the wooden hut. It slammed into the people in the room. As for the wooden table and chair in the room, even though they had been struck, they didn¡¯t budge, nor were they damaged in the slightest.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, diamond-like solid Essence Energy appeared. Each one was the size of a cat¡¯s eye, shocking Zhou Wen.


    Previously, the doll¡¯s attack could only transform into a small amount of liquid Essence Energy, but this woman¡¯s casual strike had condensed so much solid Essence Energy.


    If she were to attack with all her might, the kind of power involved alarmed Zhou Wen. Perhaps the Chaos Egg would really explode from the Essence Energy.


    Calamity grade. This woman is definitely at the Calamity grade, but are there really Calamity-grade humans? Zhou Wen suspected that she wasn¡¯t a real human.


    Currently, the only human Calamity that Zhou Wen knew of was Wang Mingyuan. Strictly speaking, Wang Mingyuan was no longer human. It was obvious that he had an inhuman aura. As for the human aura on this woman, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what difference she had from ordinary humans.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly shouted when he saw that the woman was about to silently attack again.


    The woman stared at Zhou Wen indifferently and said, ¡°Come out.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and guessed that his Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t withstand a Calamity-grade attack. At most, it could last a little longer. It didn¡¯t mean much, so he deactivated the Chaos Egg and revealed his true body.


    However, he was still wearing the Dragon King armor and Clown Mask. When he came out of the Chaos Egg, she still couldn¡¯t see what he looked like.


    ¡°Human?¡± The woman sized up Zhou Wen as though she was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you also human?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    The woman ignored him and stared at his body before saying indifferently, ¡°Strip.¡±


    ¡°Strip?¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily taken aback, but he quickly understood that she wanted him to take off the Dragon King armor.


    ¡°Why do you want me to take it off?¡± Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t take it off.


    ¡°Die or strip.¡± The woman gave Zhou Wen two choices.


    ¡°Alright¡­ I¡­¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, his body suddenly moved rapidly. He pushed his Transcendent Flying Immortal stance to its limits and instantly circled around the woman and rushed towards the wooden door.


    The woman didn¡¯t chase after him, but Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. He had an ominous feeling as he hurriedly summoned the Chaos Egg to protect himself.


    Bang!


    It was as though a heavy hammer had smashed into the Chaos Egg. The Chaos Egg was almost flattened before it bounced up and shot around the room.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, solid Essence Energy condensed and fell, filling up about a sixth of the space.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He had never expected such a sicko to appear in the hut. He originally imagined that the Present Hut was safe, but now, it was as though he was doomed. His plans couldn¡¯t keep up with the changes.


    Another seven or eight of those strikes would probably fill the Chaos Egg with solid Essence Energy.


    This can¡¯t continue. Many solutions flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but few were effective against a Calamity-grade entity.


    However, the woman didn¡¯t care. She slapped the Chaos Egg in the air again and again, slamming it against the wall as it bounced back. The terrifying force nearly flattened the Chaos Egg, but it resisted the pressure and didn¡¯t explode.


    However, a large amount of solid Essence Energy appeared in the Chaos Egg. After a few instances, it nearly buried Zhou Wen.


    Although the Chaos Egg was better at storage than Zhou Wen had imagined, it was already half full after seven or eight strikes. At this rate, it couldn¡¯t escape the fate of being filled.


    Absorb, absorb, I¡¯ll just keep absorbing! Zhou Wen desperately absorbed the solid Essence Energy inside as he used Spacetime Bandit.


    The ability of Spacetime Bandit was very strange. When using it, he could use other skills simultaneously. Those skills wouldn¡¯t be released immediately.


    After a delay of 0 to 3 seconds, even if Zhou Wen had already left the area, it was as though an invisible avatar was releasing the skill Zhou Wen had used.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s crazy casting, sword beams appeared where the Chaos Egg flew over and shot at the woman like a rain of swords.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Heart Defying Sword Art was considered a powerful sword technique. With three thousand sword intents in one body, every sword beam¡¯s sword intent was different.


    The sword beams arrived in front of the woman and her eyes narrowed. As though frightened by her gaze, the sword beams immediately stopped in midair.


    The sword beams naturally weren¡¯t frightened. Instead, the woman¡¯s eyes contained a terrifying power that forced the sword beams to stop.


    The look in the woman¡¯s eyes changed as the sword beams that filled the sky shattered, turning into countless specks of light.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and rushed out of the Chaos Egg. However, he didn¡¯t charge at the woman. Instead, he charged at the people lying on the ground.


    In order to survive, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t care less about the consequences. He grabbed two people on the ground and threw one in each hand at the woman.


    The woman didn¡¯t kill the people Zhou Wen had thrown with a glance. Instead, she darted her eyes and the two of them froze in midair before landing to the side.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop as he constantly grabbed the puppet-like people on the ground and threw them at the woman.


    The woman didn¡¯t harm those people. She only controlled them to land behind her, leaving Zhou Wen with nothing to grab.


    Soon, more than ten people had been thrown over by Zhou Wen. With nothing to grab, he reached out to grab the chair. However, it was as though it had been nailed to the ground. He couldn¡¯t move it no matter how hard he tried.


    He wanted to flip the table, but the outcome was the same. After using all his strength, the table remained motionless. As the woman¡¯s gaze landed on him, Zhou Wen immediately felt his body being controlled by an invisible force, preventing him from moving.


    The woman walked towards Zhou Wen step by step, her eyes turning sharper. Under the woman¡¯s gaze, the Dragon King armor on Zhou Wen¡¯s body cracked and was about to shatter.


    Suddenly, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder appeared above Zhou Wen¡¯s head. It flipped open page after page, and some mysterious scriptures shimmered with a profound divine light.


    Zhou Wen, who couldn¡¯t move, suddenly leaped up and slashed at the woman just inches from him with the Asura Saber.

 Chapter 1269 - Zhou Wen’s Specialty

    The wooden hut was small to begin with, and the woman was already very close to Zhou Wen. This strike was just too close to the woman. With Zhou Wen¡¯s saber speed, he only needed an instant to strike the woman.


    However, at such a close distance, the Asura Saber stopped. Under the woman¡¯s gaze, the Asura Saber trembled and couldn¡¯t advance another inch. It stopped in front of the woman and trembled incessantly. It was no different from a struggling, dying fish.


    Zhou Wen used his other hand to press on the saber¡¯s back, but the Asura Saber was still unable to proceed forward any further.


    Bang!


    The woman¡¯s eyes narrowed as Zhou Wen was sent flying with his saber. He slammed into the wooden bed and several parts of the Dragon King armor shattered. Zhou Wen spewed out a mouthful of blood as he felt a bone-chilling pain in his chest.


    At some point in time, the woman had walked to the bed and reached out to grab the Clown Mask on Zhou Wen¡¯s face.


    Zhou Wen suddenly widened his eyes as a shadow that resembled Great Brahma appeared. The fourth face with its back facing the black hole slowly turned. As the face turned, the black hole behind it grew bigger and bigger, as though it wanted to devour everything.


    Countless wraiths screamed inside as countless hellspawn roared as though they wanted to turn the world into purgatory.


    The woman glared at the black hole that resembled the entrance to hell, but the corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she revealed a look of disdain. She pressed her palm at the black hole.


    Her fingers were smooth and flawless, as perfect as the world¡¯s most perfect white jade.


    This palm contained unparalleled power, as though it could suppress all worlds. The terrifying black hole gradually shrank under the palm.


    The wraiths in the black hole screamed as the terrifying roars became weaker and weaker until they could no longer be heard.


    As for the black hole, it was compressed to the point of becoming a rift. Great Brahma¡¯s huge body became as tiny as an ant under the suppression.


    The terrifying palm had already occupied the world and was about to smash Great Brahma and Zhou Wen into pieces.


    However, Great Brahma and Zhou Wen suddenly vanished. They vanished from the woman¡¯s terrifying palm, leaving the woman somewhat alarmed.


    It was impossible for a Terror-grade spatial ability to break through her suppression. In fact, spatial teleportation wasn¡¯t that easy to use in the hut. It was very easy to have problems entering the spatial passageway.


    However, Zhou Wen vanished just like that. Furthermore, another humanoid creature appeared almost at the same time under the woman¡¯s palm. The woman failed to retract her palm in time as the terrifying power in her jade hand crushed the humanoid creature into ashes.


    Although it was only a fleeting glance, the woman could already see that the humanoid creature she had crushed to death was one of the people standing in the room.


    After Zhou Wen threw the person over, she had placed him behind her, near the wooden hut¡¯s entrance.


    The woman realized something and turned her head to see that Zhou Wen had already rushed out of the Present Hut under the protection of the Chaos Egg.


    The woman¡¯s eyes were filled with anger. The mere human had actually escaped under her nose. Furthermore, she had accidentally killed her prey. This was something her pride couldn¡¯t accept.


    Without any hesitation, the woman rushed out of the Present Hut.


    Although there was only a wooden door between the Present Hut and the Time Corridor, it was like a teleportation door that separated two worlds. Even if the woman wanted to leave, she needed the same time to pass through the door.


    When she arrived at the Time Corridor, she saw Zhou Wen passing through another wooden door and returning to a Time Hut.


    The woman chased after him again. She was furious, but the time she passed through the wooden door prevented her from using her powerful strength and speed.


    When she entered the Time Hut, she saw Zhou Wen pass through the wooden door and leave.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see where you can run to. No matter where you go¡ªbe it heaven or hell¡ªyou will definitely die today.¡± Almost no one could see the woman move as she had already entered the wooden door and rushed out of the Time Hut.


    After Zhou Wen rushed out of the Time Hut, he turned his head and saw the woman¡¯s face coming out of the door, but her body was still inside the door enveloped by light.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability and arrived above Venus.


    When he threw those people at the women, he had already left coordinates on them. Then, he used Great Brahma to attract the woman¡¯s attention, making her think that he was in a hopeless situation. Finally, he swapped positions with one of them using Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    He originally imagined that the woman wouldn¡¯t discover that he wasn¡¯t the one who had died, but her eyesight and reaction were much better than he had imagined. She immediately discovered Zhou Wen¡¯s exchange with the person and chased after him without giving him any time.


    Zhou Wen teleported to Venus as a precaution. If the woman could still catch up, he could use the dungeon on Venus to fend her off.


    After arriving on Venus, Zhou Wen realized that he was near the rift valley where he had previously discovered the metal flower. He couldn¡¯t help but have a thought as he immediately instant transmitted towards it.


    It would be fine if the woman couldn¡¯t catch up. If she could catch up, perhaps he could try to use the metal flower¡¯s power to stop her for a period of time.


    Just as Zhou Wen finished instant transmission, a tall woman appeared where he had been. Like a ghost, she gradually materialized from an illusion. She was none other than the woman who had been pursuing him.


    Zhou Wen sensed the woman¡¯s appearance, but he wasn¡¯t flustered. Although she was a Calamity-grade expert with overwhelming strength, she might not be able to kill him.


    Zhou Wen might not be the strongest in other aspects, but his ability to survive and escape made him an expert among experts.


    The experience of dying countless times in-game was definitely not a waste of time. Having experienced countless deaths, Zhou Wen definitely knew how to avoid death.


    After instant transmitting to the edge of the rift valley, Zhou Wen instant transmitted into the valley again without any hesitation.


    The Chaos Egg appeared outside his body the moment he finished instant transmission. It fell to the bottom like a huge ball, and that was where the metal flower was.


    As the Chaos Egg fell, the solid Essence Energy in it suddenly increased greatly. Soon, it filled half the Chaos Egg, making Zhou Wen delighted instead of being alarmed.


    The greater the reaction of the Chaos Egg, the more terrifying the metal flower was.


    If it were any other time, Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t wish to encounter such a terrifying creature, but at this moment, he hoped that the metal flower would be as strong as possible.


    The woman followed closely into the valley. Without the restrictions of the teleportation door, she was much faster than Zhou Wen. She instantly arrived beside the Chaos Egg and reached out to grab it. She appeared even faster than Zhou Wen had imagined. The Chaos Egg hadn¡¯t reached the bottom of the valley and was only halfway in its descent.


    Heaven bless me! Zhou Wen could only pray to the heavens, hoping that the metal flower would react.


    In theory, when any creature¡¯s territory was invaded by unfamiliar creatures, they would first pay attention to the creatures that could threaten them.


    As for the Chaos Egg itself, it posed very little threat. If the metal flower didn¡¯t cower, it might treat the woman as its first target.

 Chapter 1270 - Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping

    Chapter 1270: Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping


    Translator: CKtalon


    The woman¡¯s fingers were long, but they were much smaller than the Chaos Egg. However, when her fingers grabbed the Chaos Egg, it was as though an invisible finger force extended out and held it.


    Under the invisible pressure of the fingers, the Chaos Egg peeled off as if it was about to explode.


    Is there no reaction from the metal flower? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He was about to be buried alive by the constantly produced solid Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg.


    Just as Zhou Wen was planning on using the second, third, or fourth backup plan to escape, he suddenly felt the pressure on the Chaos Egg decrease significantly.


    Buzz!


    A strange buzzing sound entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. The woman holding the Chaos Egg seemed to weaken her grip. She looked at the bottom of the valley and saw the metal flower. The buzzing sound seemed to come from there..


    The woman stared at the bottom of the valley. Her clothes were trembling slightly like ripples in water.


    Zhou Wen felt the surface of the Chaos Egg tremble as well, but the power of the vibrations didn¡¯t enter the Chaos Egg. Instead, many solid Essence Energy particles appeared inside.


    Has the metal flower reacted? Zhou Wen was delighted, but this feeling soon ended. This was because the Essence Energy in the chaos was about to be filled. Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body was already buried in solid Essence Energy.


    As solid Essence Energy couldn¡¯t be compressed further, the Chaos Egg began to expand after it was filled.


    Situated in the middle of the massive amount of pure Essence Energy, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any happiness from obtaining Essence Energy.


    The woman seemed eager to rush out of the rift valley, but for some reason, her body retreated a distance, as she failed to escape the rift valley.


    An invisible force seemed to suppress her body, preventing her from rushing out of the rift valley.


    ¡°To think I fought countless battles in the past and killed countless Terror-grade experts. Now, a mere flower actually dares to provoke me.¡± The woman seemed to be truly furious. Her muslin clothes fluttered and transformed into pillars of light that descended from the sky and struck the rift valley.


    At that moment, the woman was like a reincarnating saintess, purifying all the evil in the world. The beams of light were shocking, as though they wanted to flatten the entire rift valley.


    The terrifying pillars of light struck the bottom of the valley, but they didn¡¯t produce any rumbling sounds. Before they approached the metal flower, they suddenly disintegrated and shattered into specks of light.


    Zhou Wen noticed something. There was a strange vibrational force in the rift valley. Anything that entered the rift valley would be affected by this vibrational force and quickly disintegrated, disintegrating into extremely tiny particles that scattered across the bottom of the valley.


    What power is this? This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen such power. Although he was curious, he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to be curious.


    As it was simultaneously affected by the woman¡¯s finger pressure and the vibrational force of the metal flower, the Chaos Egg had already expanded to the size of a hot air balloon. It was filled with solid Essence Energy that had nearly squashed Zhou Wen flat.


    Although Zhou Wen was already desperately absorbing the Essence Energy, the bit of Essence Energy he could absorb was only a drop in the ocean. It didn¡¯t affect the overall situation.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to use Plan B. Zhou Wen knew that he was in the crossfire of two Calamity Zones. He could only survive using the Chaos Egg. If the Chaos Egg exploded, he probably wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to teleport out.


    The Chaos Egg grew bigger and bigger until it was almost transparent. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare wait any longer. He put on his armor and various equipment before using Spacetime Bandit to use Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    When Zhou Wen rushed down the rift valley, he had deliberately touched a stone outside, leaving behind the mark of Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. Now, he could use it to exchange positions to escape the rift valley.


    However, Zhou Wen was also prepared for failure. With the two Calamity Zones overlapping, it was still a question if Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping would work.


    Zhou Wen used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, but due to Spacetime Bandit¡¯s delayed effect, Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping showed its effect when he deactivated the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen felt his armor tremble as though it was about to disintegrate. Thankfully, in an instant, he vanished from the rift valley and returned to the mountain ridge outside.


    As for the woman, a Venusian rock appeared in her hand. The rock couldn¡¯t withstand the woman¡¯s and the metal flower¡¯s power and shattered.


    I¡¯m finally out! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique, which combined the powers of the Godfiend Era and the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping powers, was even more bizarre than he had imagined. Even the Calamity Zones couldn¡¯t hold him back.


    It lives up to its name. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay any longer as he quickly instant transmitted in the direction of the Venusian dimensional zone.


    If the woman chased after him again, he would rush into the Venusian dimension and use the Calamity creature inside to deal with the strange woman.


    However, after a few instant transmissions, he realized that the woman wasn¡¯t following him. As for the rift valley, terrifying energy fluctuations erupted. Holy light bombarded the area as ear-piercing rumbles sounded from time to time. Large swaths of rocks cracked as mountains collapsed, as though it was the end of the world.


    That woman actually failed to escape and chase after me? Zhou Wen was delighted. Ignoring the woman, he used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping again.


    A tiny blade of grass appeared where Zhou Wen was, and he returned to the door of the Time Hut.


    This was also the mark he had left behind after rushing out of the Time Hut. However, he hadn¡¯t dared to return previously because he was afraid that the woman would follow him. Now, with the woman fighting the metal flower, she shouldn¡¯t be able to catch up so quickly.


    He summoned the Chaos Egg again. It was still filled with solid Essence Energy, bulging the Chaos Egg greatly. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t care less as he barely made the Chaos Egg enter the Time Hut.


    Soon, Zhou Wen arrived in the hut, but the scene inside gave him a fright.


    The dozen or so people from before were mostly young adults. They were at most in their forties or fifties, but now, most of them had turned into wrinkled old men who were dead on the ground.


    Only five people were still alive. Two of them looked very old. Lucas and the other two looked rather normal¡ªthey hadn¡¯t aged drastically.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he placed the younger person into the Chaos Bead and attempted to leave the hut.


    This time, the young man didn¡¯t die of old age quickly. Nothing happened after Zhou Wen took him out of the Present Hut. Instead, he woke up shortly after.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. After confirming that he was fine, he rushed back to the Present Hut and stored the people and corpses away, including Lucas.

 Chapter 1271 - Battle Spectating

    Chapter 1271: Battle Spectating


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Ah! Why am I here?¡± Lucas looked at Zhou Wen and Philo in puzzlement.


    ¡°Zhou Wen saved you. Hurry up and thank him.¡± Philo was delighted. She was originally a little angry at Zhou Wen for forcefully imprisoning her.


    However, she never expected Lucas to be in front of her after Zhou Wen released her. Although he looked a little groggy, he didn¡¯t seem to have any problems. She couldn¡¯t help but feel grateful and ashamed. She never expected Zhou Wen to take the risk to enter the Time Hut and rescue Lucas. She had previously suspected that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare enter to save Lucas because he was afraid of death.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, how did you get me out of the Present Hut? I thought I was doomed,¡± Lucas said with lingering fear.


    .


    Although Zhou Wen wanted to ask what he had experienced in the Present Hut, it wasn¡¯t the time for a chit chat.


    ¡°Now, the terrifying existence in the hut is pursuing us. Everyone, split up and escape. We¡¯ll talk later,¡± Zhou Wen said as he instant transmitted away.


    He wasn¡¯t sure when the woman would catch up. He had already scattered the people and corpses in different places.


    Now that he was separated from Lucas, even if the woman really caught up, she wouldn¡¯t be in the mood to capture Lucas.


    ¡°The mighty Lucas shall fight alongside you¡­¡± Zhou Wen vaguely heard Lucas¡¯s voice, but he ignored him.


    Zhou Wen teleported to Venus again, but he didn¡¯t appear near the rift valley. However, he could sense the energy fluctuations coming from it. Despite being so far away, he could still feel the ground tremble. Clearly, the battle was still ongoing.


    What¡¯s the origin of that metal flower? It can actually fight that terrifying woman to such an extent. It looks like it¡¯s on par with her. Zhou Wen sensed the power fluctuations and realized that the metal flower¡¯s vibrational forces were still very powerful. It wasn¡¯t suppressed by the woman.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare get too close. He only sensed the Essence Energy fluctuations from afar and roughly determined the battle situation.


    As it was too far away, it was beyond Great Brahma and Truth Listener¡¯s range.


    Sensing the power fluctuations weakening, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and dived towards the rift valley. The terrifying woman wanted him dead. If there was a chance, Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t let her off.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t her match, so this seemed to be an excellent opportunity. The woman¡¯s and the metal flower¡¯s powers seemed to be fading, so Zhou Wen decided to take the risk to take a look.


    If he let the woman escape safely, she might chase after him when she recovered. Therefore, Zhou Wen knew that this was a rare opportunity. He had to take a look.


    He put on the Invisibility Cloak and used the invisibility function. Although he didn¡¯t know if it was useful against a Calamity-grade existence, it gave him a sense of comfort.


    As Zhou Wen constantly approached the rift valley, he realized that the energy fluctuations there were still extremely terrifying. Holy light descended and the rift had long been reduced to a basin, not a narrow rift valley.


    The power of Calamity-grade existences is too terrifying. Thankfully, this is Venus. If this were Earth, I wonder how many people would die. Zhou Wen moved towards the energy fluctuations. As they were so powerful, he couldn¡¯t see the situation inside if he was too far away.


    He had to know what was happening inside before he knew if there was a chance.


    The woman¡¯s Holy Light was fine. The power of the Holy Light was very dense. It basically struck the basin and what spread out were only the aftershocks. Zhou Wen wore the Dragon King armor and with Great Brahma¡¯s power, it wasn¡¯t difficult to withstand it.


    However, the metal flower¡¯s vibrational power was range-based. It spread far into the distance, but the vibrations remained potent. It made Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable because the Dragon King armor was close to shattering.


    This won¡¯t do. If I continue approaching, the armor will disintegrate. Zhou Wen felt the Dragon King armor creaking. It was about to collapse, so he had to stop approaching.


    He was still dozens of kilometers away from the basin, and he still couldn¡¯t sense the situation inside. However, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was wait patiently, hoping that he could approach again when the surging forces weakened.


    After waiting for more than half an hour, the battle over there was still abnormally terrifying. There was no way of approaching.


    ¡­


    At this moment, the humans on Earth also discovered this terrifying battle.


    The Cube didn¡¯t stream the battle. It only seemed interested in the creatures that had entered the metal dimensional zone. It ignored all other creatures.


    The reason humans were able to discover this battle was thanks to the various factions using spatial teleportation to place some artificial satellites near Venus.


    Originally, the artificial satellites were only used to observe the situation in the Venusian dimensional zones. They never expected to see such a huge battle.


    However, by the time they discovered this battle, it was already towards the end.


    The artificial satellite of the Special Investigation Bureau was the first to discover the terrifying Holy Light there. As the director of the bureau, Wei Ge immediately attempted to get the artificial satellite to film the situation there.


    Although they could only capture the Holy Light and the collapsing rocks, it was still shocking. Such power was clearly not caused by Venusian internal movement. It had to be a result of some creatures fighting, but they couldn¡¯t see it.


    After this news spread, many factions quickly used their artificial satellites to observe the situation. However, the scene they could see was similar to the bureau¡¯s.


    ¡°What terrifying power. It¡¯s a Calamity-grade battle, right?¡± Blood Shaman said with lingering fear as he looked at the projection obtained from the artificial satellite.


    Cave Era said, ¡°The two parties involved in the battle are undoubtedly at the Calamity grade. If we were present, we might be able to figure out something. Although the artificial satellite¡¯s filming capabilities are good, it will probably be very difficult to capture the true body of Calamity-grade creatures.¡±


    ¡°Why are they fighting there and not in the Venusian dimensional zone? Could there be something special about that place?¡± Hermit said in thought.


    ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. Perhaps there will be an answer soon,¡± Immortal said as he looked at the projection calmly, as though he wasn¡¯t anxious at all.


    Although Hermit had the intention to suggest sending people to watch the battle, he recalled that his radical actions had caused Skysplit Tower to collapse, causing the League of Guardians to be disadvantaged. He didn¡¯t dare make the request.


    While everyone was paying attention to this battle, Zhou Wen was also waiting. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t found a chance to approach.


    Just as Zhou Wen was fretting, he suddenly felt a consciousness tremble in the Chaos Bead. It left him slightly taken aback as he probed the Chaos Bead with his consciousness. He immediately realized that it was the Galaxy Shell Dragon.


    1


    The moment Zhou Wen opened the Chaos Bead, the Galaxy Shell Dragon flew back and returned to Zhou Wen, transforming into a tattoo.


    However, the current Galaxy Shell Dragon was somewhat different from before. The sphere it was hugging had also vanished.

 Chapter 1272 - Prisoned Dragon

    The original Galaxy Shell Dragon was crystalline, resembling an Australian lobster.


    But now, although it was still in its tattoo form, it was very different from before.


    The color had turned into a translucent jade-white color. It was crystalline and there seemed to be fog flowing inside. It looked dreamlike, as though it didn¡¯t exist in the mortal world.


    The Galaxy Shell Dragon¡¯s appearance had also changed. Although it still looked like a lobster, its head looked more like a dragon¡¯s. Its body had clearly broadened, and the carapace on its back had become thicker. Furthermore, it appeared to have many edges like a diamond. It looked hard and beautiful, resplendent like stars.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he sensed the information from the Galaxy Shell Dragon. He hurriedly took out his phone to take a closer look.


    Prisoned Dragon: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Unbreakable


    Life Soul: Courses Reverse At Extremes


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Defense


    Terror Form: Prisoned Dragon


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Death Cage, Ghost Armor, Prisoned Dragon Lock, Trapped Dragon Ascension


    Companion Form: Armor


    It wasn¡¯t unexpected that the Galaxy Shell Dragon had advanced to the Terror grade. After all, the jade pearl it had absorbed belonged to the Calamity-grade Dragon Turtle. It would be strange if it couldn¡¯t advance to the Terror grade.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, things weren¡¯t as simple as Prisoned Dragon advancing to the Terror grade. Even its species had changed.


    Now, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was the advancement of the Galaxy Shell Dragon or if the jade ball¡¯s power had occupied its body, allowing it to carry on its life in another form.


    Regardless of the situation, it only brought Zhou Wen benefits. Prisoned Dragon¡¯s stats were undoubtedly top-notch at the Terror grade, especially its defense. Zhou Wen felt that it was even possible to vie for the position of the number one defensive Companion Beast at the Terror grade.


    Absolute Defense could be used indefinitely now. There was no longer a time limit.


    With the augmentation of the Unbreakable Life Providence, its defense was crazy. With the Courses Reverse At Extremes Life Soul, it could reflect all sorts of attacks. It was even more porcupine-like than a porcupine.


    The Terror transformation of Prisoned Dragon and the various skills that were different from before still needed to be tested in actual combat.


    Zhou Wen immediately replaced the Dragon King armor with the Prisoned Dragon armor. The black armor was instantly replaced by a crystalline, translucent white armor. Clouds rose from the armor as endless starlight surrounded it. It looked gorgeous and dazzling like a hero¡¯s amazing appearance.


    Isn¡¯t this a little too exaggerated? It¡¯s so ostentatious that I can see it from afar. How can I launch a sneak attack and hide while escaping? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like such gorgeous armor. It was the inconspicuous armor like the Dragon King armor that suited Zhou Wen¡¯s aesthetic standards.


    However, the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s defense was clearly much higher than the Dragon King armor. Zhou Wen wore the Prisoned Dragon armor and couldn¡¯t sense the effects of the vibrations.


    As expected of Absolute Defense¡­ Zhou Wen was delighted as he attempted to approach the basin.


    As he got closer and closer to the battlefield, Prisoned Dragon¡¯s Absolute Defense had already taken effect. It forcefully endured the shockwaves of the Calamity-grade power as he advanced. The armor wasn¡¯t damaged at all, and the impact on Zhou Wen¡¯s body had been greatly reduced.


    Zhou Wen finally sensed the situation on the battlefield. The rift valley had turned into a huge depression that was bigger than a city.


    The spot beneath the flower had turned into a long pillar that was probably a few hundred meters tall. It was like an unreachable lighthouse.


    The metal flower looked very small, but its roots were bottomless. The entire pillar was filled with its roots that extended deep underground. It was unknown how long they were.


    Venus had many metal ores, and it was especially rich with metallic elements. The ground below was almost like an alloy. It was unimaginable that such a tiny flower could take root so deeply in the metal.


    The Holy Light on the woman¡¯s body became more and more intense as beams of Holy Light blasted down. It couldn¡¯t just be called Holy Light. Instead, it was like the descent of angels filled with Holy Light. Every Holy Light Angel that descended carried unparalleled Holy Light power as they charged at the flower as though they were sacrificing themselves.


    However, the flower remained motionless. It only emitted a buzzing sound. No matter how terrifying the power of the descending Holy Light Angels was, it failed to reach the flower. The strongest Holy Light Angel automatically disintegrated into particles two to three meters away from the flower.


    How powerful! Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the origins of the metal flower, but this ability was just fantastic. Anything that approached it would disintegrate. It looked invincible.


    The flower wasn¡¯t human. It didn¡¯t know arrogance. Otherwise, it would proudly look down on the woman. The woman had used all sorts of methods, but she had failed to injure the flower at all.


    This flower¡­ Could it be the legendary Withered Flower? That¡¯s not right. The Withered Flower can only reduce life to dust, but this metal flower can disintegrate things through vibrational forces¡­ What the hell is this¡­ The woman frowned. She couldn¡¯t tell the metal flower¡¯s ability.


    The crux of the matter was that she didn¡¯t wish to fight the metal flower, but she couldn¡¯t rush out of the metal flower¡¯s domain. The other party had already locked her down firmly. Once she revealed her weakness, she would suffer a calamity.


    That darn bastard. Don¡¯t let me catch him. Otherwise, I¡¯ll definitely rip him to pieces. The woman hated Zhou Wen to the core. If it wasn¡¯t for him, she wouldn¡¯t have encountered such an unknown and thorny metal flower.


    As she was thinking, the woman suddenly felt someone touch her Calamity Zone. After carefully identifying it, she realized that a human had entered the battlefield.


    The woman couldn¡¯t be sure if it was Zhou Wen. The armor on him was completely different from the one he had previously worn. She couldn¡¯t tell if the person inside was Zhou Wen.


    However, on second thought, the woman thought that it didn¡¯t matter if it was the human from before. For a person to suddenly barge in and withstand the assault of the Calamity Zone, this seemed to be good news for her.


    A few thoughts flashed through the woman¡¯s mind as she quickly made up her mind. Regardless of whether the human was the one she had been pursuing, she could use him now.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare get too close. He stopped at the edge of the battlefield where he could spy. Not long after, he suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    He saw the woman take out something. Before Zhou Wen could see what it was, his body involuntarily flew towards the woman.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s limbs flailed wildly as he tried to instant transmit away or stop himself from flying towards the woman, but it was to no avail. Even Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping failed to bring him back to the spot he had previously marked.


    Oh no! Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. He saw that the woman was holding a yellow paper talisman.

 Chapter 1273 - Plan C

    Chapter 1273: Plan C


    Translator: CKtalon


    The yellow paper talisman looked somewhat similar to the Substitute Talisman that Zhou Wen had drawn. From the patterns, they seemed to come from the same lineage, but the runes and paper were somewhat different.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the runes meant, but the power of the runes sucked him towards the woman. He couldn¡¯t escape no matter how hard he tried. His body flew faster and faster as he instantly stuck to the runes and was grabbed by the woman.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen reacted quickly and activated the Chaos Egg in time. The woman only grabbed the Chaos Egg and didn¡¯t grab Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    However, the solid Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg was already full. If the woman used any more strength, he would probably explode.


    The woman didn¡¯t pinch the Chaos Egg but grabbed it and threw it at the metal flower like she was throwing a baseball.


    .


    Zhou Wen wanted to use the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique to return to the mark he had left far away, but he was alarmed to discover that the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique was still unusable. As for the yellow paper talisman, it was stuck to the Chaos Egg, suppressing his strength.


    As the Chaos Egg rapidly flew towards the metal flower, the vibrations it endured intensified. The solid Essence Energy inside increased greatly and was about to burst it.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to use Plan C. Zhou Wen had already considered this problem. It wasn¡¯t impossible to quickly expend the Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg. There was still a way.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen took out the Immortal Culling Sword and held the hilt. He fused with Slaughterer and used Immortal Slaying to forcefully pull it out.


    Just a slight movement from the Immortal Culling Sword sucked away a massive amount of Essence Energy. The solid Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg vanished in large chunks. The Essence Energy that the Chaos Egg produced wasn¡¯t enough for the absorption of Immortal Culling Sword.


    The Essence Energy required by the Immortal Culling Sword was massive. Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how much it required. The last time he used the Immortal Culling Sword, it was the Sigh of the King that provided most of the energy. The energy he provided was almost negligible.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s calculations, Terror-grade Essence Energy was just a drop in the ocean for the Immortal Culling Sword. Only Calamity-grade creatures could provide the Essence Energy needed.


    Zhou Wen had already made up his mind when he came. It would be best if he could find an opportunity to kill the woman. If she caught him again, he would try to use the converted Essence Energy to draw the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that he had underestimated the amount of Essence Energy needed by the Immortal Culling Sword. Half of the solid Essence Energy Crystals that had been accumulated in the Chaos Egg were instantly sucked away by the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Egg was getting closer and closer to the metal flower. The vibrations it suffered also became stronger and stronger. The Essence Energy it converted also increased significantly, preventing the Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg from drying up.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s current situation was like the act of boiling water.


    The metal flower¡¯s vibrational force was like fire, and the Chaos Egg was a pot that boiled water. If the fire was too intense, the pot would melt, but because there was water in the pot, it wouldn¡¯t break down before the water dried up.


    Now, the Immortal Culling Sword played the role of water. The pressure the metal flower gave the Chaos Egg transformed into Essence Energy and was absorbed by the Immortal Culling Sword. Before the Immortal Culling Sword was fully absorbed, the Chaos Egg wouldn¡¯t be damaged.


    Although the Chaos Egg wasn¡¯t damaged, it didn¡¯t mean that the its strength could really withstand the metal flower. When the woman¡¯s throw lost all its momentum, the Chaos Egg was immediately repelled by the vibrational force. It charged even faster in the woman¡¯s direction.


    The woman originally wanted to exploit the Chaos Egg¡¯s disturbance of the metal flower to escape, but she realized that in this strange domain, her body seemed to resonate with the vibrations. Once she attempted to leave this area, her body¡¯s frequency was different from the outside world. She was repelled by the Universe¡¯s natural frequency. Even if she didn¡¯t die, she would be severely injured.


    Seeing the Chaos Egg bounce back, the woman¡¯s palm erupted with Holy Light. She struck the Chaos Egg and smashed it back.


    The solid Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg quickly depleted, but the Immortal Culling Sword hadn¡¯t been pulled out. It was still crazily absorbing his Essence Energy.


    Zhou Wen was originally grumbling inwardly. He never expected the Essence Energy converted from a Calamity-grade power to be insufficient. To pull out the sword, he probably would have to come up with a way to activate the Sigh of the King.


    However, to his surprise, when the woman¡¯s strength struck the Chaos Egg, it immediately transformed into a large amount of solid Essence Energy. It could last a while longer.


    As for the Chaos Egg, it was struck by the force and flew towards the metal flower like a comet. During the process, it was affected by the vibrations, producing large amounts of solid Essence Energy as well.


    The Chaos Egg was sandwiched between the two Calamity-grade creatures and was constantly attacked by both powers. It allowed Zhou Wen to obtain enough Essence Energy to barely satisfy the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s needs.


    Now, Zhou Wen was most worried that they would suddenly stop fighting or not hit his Chaos Egg. Then, the Immortal Culling Sword would suck him dry.


    Thankfully, what Zhou Wen was worried about didn¡¯t happen. The woman didn¡¯t seem convinced that her strength was insufficient to shatter the strange ball. She struck the Chaos Egg even harder, hoping to blast it apart.


    He was a mere human¡ªat most at the Terror grade. The woman refused to believe that her strength couldn¡¯t break through the Chaos Egg.


    Even if she couldn¡¯t affect the metal flower, she had to kill this detestable human first.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Chaos Egg was like a ping pong ball as it bounced between the woman and the metal flower.


    The humans who were paying attention to this battle were trying their best to figure out what kind of creatures were on both sides of the battle. However, the interference from the forces there was just too strong. Apart from the burst of light, they couldn¡¯t see anything else through the satellites.


    ¡°Could such a holy power be the descent of the Holy Son or Holy Mother?¡± Someone in the West District guessed.


    In the terrifying holy light, some Terror-grade experts could vaguely see angels formed by the holy light.


    ¡°It¡¯s also possible that a powerful angel has descended. Could it be the legendary archangel, Michael?¡±


    ¡°Probably not. Do you still remember? Among the dimensional creatures that went to Venus previously, there was a black-winged angel. Perhaps one of the personnel involved in the battle is him.¡±


    ¡°That black-winged angel looks like a fallen angel no matter how you look at it. It shouldn¡¯t have such holy powers, right?¡±


    ¡°Who said that fallen angels can¡¯t have holy powers? Doesn¡¯t the legendary Lucifer have holy powers?¡±


    As everyone discussed, they suddenly saw Holy Light erupt like a volcano in the projection¡¯s battlefield, illuminating the entire battlefield.


    And in the light, one could vaguely see the shadow of a six-winged seraphim. The face and form of the shadow was very similar to that woman.

 Chapter 1274 - : Six-Winged Seraphim

    ¡°Heavens¡­ That¡¯s Seraph¡­¡±


    ¡°The Burning One!¡±


    ¡°This world is really about to undergo a huge change. Even Seraph has appeared!¡±


    Many believers who saw this scene began praying to the six-winged seraphim.


    The six-winged seraphim represented the head of angels in the Old Testament. All believers were proud to see seraphim.


    ¡°The emergence of Seraph and showing his holiness marks the moment for our Church to save the world again,¡± an archbishop cried in excitement.


    This was an era of collapsed faith. All sorts of immortals, saints, and devils had been slaughtered. Humanity¡¯s religious faith turned more and more indifferent, and the number of devotees had decreased.


    However, there were still many pious believers who believed that their true god definitely existed.


    Now that the six-winged seraphim had appeared, many pious believers believed that the true angel had descended. Their true god was about to save them.


    The upper echelons of the various factions had different expressions when they saw the angel¡¯s figure. Some were happy, while others were sad.


    The people of the West District naturally believed that it was a powerful existence that belonged to their region. If it really descended, it might bring good changes to the West District.


    However, even the bigwigs of the Cape family and the Family Clan of Gods were not happy at all.


    Their thoughts were completely different from ordinary people. Even if there were powerful existences in their own districts, as long as they weren¡¯t under their control, they were only a threat.


    Who cared about angels or demons? In this era, they no longer believed in such things.


    Xia Liuchuan happened to be a guest at the Zhang family¡¯s residence. When he saw this scene, he asked Zhang Chunqiu, ¡°Make a guess. Is the creature in the battle really the legendary Seraph of the West District?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. After all, it¡¯s not something from our district. I don¡¯t know much about it,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Xia Liuchuan curled his lips and continued, ¡°According to what I know, in the West District¡¯s Old Testament, the Seraph described should have four or two heads. This looks too normal. Furthermore, if it¡¯s just a shadow, I wonder if it¡¯s really Seraph. Perhaps it¡¯s just the effects of the lighting.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not lighting effects. It should be the manifestation of a Calamity-grade power.¡± Zhang Chunqiu paused for a moment before saying, ¡°If such power appears on Earth, it will be a miracle. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that a true god has descended.¡±


    However, Xia Liuchuan said, ¡°Actually, I want to know who her opponent is. Regardless of whether she¡¯s really Seraph or not, to be able to fight her to such an extent without seeing the full display of strength, her opponent might be stronger.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± Zhang Chunqiu wasn¡¯t as curious as Xia Liuchuan. He only hoped that a battle of this level wouldn¡¯t appear on Earth. Otherwise, it would be a disaster for humanity.


    Originally, only a few people could see this battle, but due to the archbishop¡¯s excitement and eagerness to spread this miracle, he broadcast the scene transmitted by satellite. It immediately attracted many people from the Federation and overseas.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what¡¯s that? Seraph?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s Venus, right? Seraph is fighting on Venus? Who is she fighting?¡±


    ¡°Why is this outside Venus? Shouldn¡¯t she be challenging the Venusian dimensional zone?¡±


    More and more people joined in the spectacle. Through word of mouth, many people knew that Seraph had appeared. Many fanatical believers immediately got onto the Internet to watch the livestream. Some even prostrated themselves before the angel.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think there was anything to worship. He knew better than anyone how vicious that woman was. Zhou Wen wished he could kill her with one strike, much less worship her.


    However, the Immortal Culling Sword hadn¡¯t absorbed enough Essence Energy. It still hadn¡¯t been pulled out.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s pleasant surprise, the power that the woman erupted with suddenly increased significantly, causing the solid Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg to rapidly condense. Instantly, it caught up to the absorption speed of the Immortal Culling Sword.


    This woman is strong! Zhou Wen originally imagined that the woman had already displayed her strongest combat strength, but he never expected her to suddenly unleash her full power.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that the woman didn¡¯t want to unleash her power earlier, but if she used this power, it would result in serious consequences for her. Unless it was absolutely necessary, she didn¡¯t want to use it.


    Under normal circumstances, the woman wouldn¡¯t have used such power.


    Even if she couldn¡¯t kill the metal flower, the metal flower wouldn¡¯t be able to defeat her. At the end of the day, both parties would have their strength depleted. When the Calamity Zone¡¯s strength was weakened, she would be able to rush out.


    What she couldn¡¯t tolerate was that she couldn¡¯t even deal with a mere human. He was clearly a weak fellow, but she had no idea what the ball he had condensed was. Despite hitting it so many times, it didn¡¯t break. She couldn¡¯t tolerate letting Zhou Wen off.


    Even if she had to make some sacrifices, she had to break the Chaos Egg and kill the detestable Zhou Wen on the spot to restore her calm.


    At that moment, the woman had six angelic wings spread out from her back. An angelic halo appeared above her head as her entire body spewed out Holy Light that was as hot as flames.


    Holy Light filled the entire battlefield, forming the silhouette of the six-winged seraphim. Even the metal flower¡¯s vibrational domain was suppressed.


    It would be very easy for the woman to leave the battlefield now, but she no longer wanted to leave.


    Anyone would feel terrible if they couldn¡¯t vent the frustration after paying a huge price for the massive strength. It was the same for the woman.


    She stared coldly at the Chaos Egg that had bounced back. She clenched her hand as blazing Holy Light condensed into a flaming sword.


    The Holy Light over the Blazing Flame Sword was thousands of times stronger than the Holy Light over her body. It slashed at the Chaos Egg and a sword beam that seemed to split the heavens and earth apart slashed down, splitting open the metal flower¡¯s Calamity Zone and slashing at the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw this. He was somewhat worried if the Chaos Egg could withstand such a terrifying force, but at this point, he could only take a gamble.


    Boom!


    The people watching the live broadcast saw the six-winged seraphim emit a sword-like Holy Light. The Holy Light split the ground, forming a long ditch that spanned hundreds of kilometers. It was like the Sword of Judgment of the Apocalypse.


    As the metal flower¡¯s Calamity Zone was slashed open, they finally saw the situation inside.


    The rift that had been slashed open by the Holy Light stretched on endlessly while the six-winged seraphim floated in the air. In the rift was a huge tower-like pillar. Atop the pillar was a metal flower.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, the creature fighting Seraph is actually a flower. What¡¯s the origin of that flower? It can actually fight a six-winged seraphim?¡±


    ¡°Unbelievable. A plant-type dimensional creature has such powerful combat strength?¡±


    ¡°A plant that can fight Seraph?¡±

 Chapter 1275 - That Sword Looks Familiar

    Chapter 1275: That Sword Looks Familiar


    Translator: CKtalon


    Seeing that the one fighting Seraph was a metal flower, even Cave Era and company in the League of Guardians were very surprised.


    ¡°Plant-type dimensional creatures have always been relatively weak. Even if they have some kind of ability, they can only be effective in certain areas. This plant on Venus can actually fight the six-winged seraphim. I wonder what kind of origin it has,¡± Blood Shaman said.


    Hermit stared at the flower for a while before saying emotionally, ¡°That flower looks like the legendary Withered Flower.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Withered Flower?¡± Blood Shaman asked in puzzlement.


    Cave Era looked at the metal flower on the projection and said, ¡°Legend has it that every Withered Flower represents a single life. At the end of that life, the Withered Flower will wither. Therefore, the Withered Flower is actually the Flower of Life. It can control life and death. However, the Withered Flower should be of natural origins. This metal body doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±


    Hermit thought for a moment and said, ¡°There is indeed something amiss, but it really looks like a Withered Flower.¡±


    Immortal, who was sitting on the seat of honor, finally spoke. When he spoke, everyone fell silent. Even people like Blood Shaman and Cave Era didn¡¯t dare make a sound, afraid that they would interrupt him.


    ¡°That¡¯s the legendary Withered Flower. However, it¡¯s not a normal Withered Flower. If I¡¯m not wrong, someone must have brought the seed of the Withered Flower from Earth to Venus, allowing it to absorb the metallic elements of Venus and grow. It mutated, resulting in such a strange Withered Flower,¡± Immortal said slowly.


    ¡°Who has the ability to not only find a Withered Flower, but also bring it to Venus and let it grow in such an environment without dying?¡± Hermit found it an insurmountable task.


    ¡°Who knows? However, he must be an extremely interesting person,¡± Immortal said with piqued interest.


    At that moment, the metal flower began to show its might. From the tower-like pillar, flower roots extended out.


    Although the flower was tiny and could be held with one hand, its roots were unimaginably huge. They were like dragons as they tore through the rocks and drilled out from the ground, causing the ground to crack. The rocks flipped open as the mountain range constantly trembled like a magnitude 12 earthquake.


    Flower roots extended out and covered an area of hundreds of kilometers. Some of them curled towards the mountains and uprooted them.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    The mountain peaks shattered as though an invisible force had blasted all the mountain peaks and rocks into tiny particles. Wherever the flower roots passed, the entire space trembled violently.


    It wasn¡¯t an earthquake, but space in its entirety was trembling.


    Everyone was dumbfounded. They had never seen such a ferocious plant before. It was like an interstellar monster. Just a random root from it could shatter a mountain. What terrifying strength was this?


    Now, many people were secretly glad that this battle hadn¡¯t happened on Earth. Otherwise, many humans would definitely be implicated.


    Just as everyone was shocked by the metal flower¡¯s terrifying strength, the woman attacked again. The Blazing Flame Sword in her hand slashed down again.


    However, her target this time wasn¡¯t the Chaos Egg, but the metal flower.


    The metal flower also sensed the danger. The flower roots swept towards the Blazing Flame Sword like metal monsters, attempting to block it.


    However, when the Blazing Flame Sword slashed at the flower roots, it was like slicing through tofu as it sliced through the terrifying dragon-like flower roots.


    Any flower roots that touched the Blazing Flame Sword melted instantly, turning into liquid metal that fell to the ground.


    Boom!


    The stone pillar, which was already more than a thousand meters tall and resembled a giant tower, was split in half by the Blazing Flame Sword and collapsed to both sides.


    The leaves beside the metal flower were chopped off. Almost all the roots below were severed and burned.


    ¡°Her Excellency Seraph is invincible!¡±


    ¡°This is a true angel, an omnipotent Emissary of God.¡±


    ¡°She killed such a terrifying monster with one strike. As expected of the strongest Seraph!¡±


    People exclaimed in amazement and marveled at the strength of the six-winged seraphim. Many believers treated the woman as a true seraph.


    At that moment, at the end of the chasm, a person walked out of the rubble. He held the hilt of his sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other. His aura was almost nonexistent.


    Just now, the Chaos Egg had been cleaved by the strike and slammed hundreds of kilometers away. This chasm was created by the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen was originally worried that the Chaos Egg wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the powerful impact and would be sliced apart. Even he wouldn¡¯t be spared.


    In fact, the Chaos Egg was ultimately destroyed. Thankfully, the remaining force was blocked by the Prisoned Dragon armor with Absolute Defense.


    However, before it shattered, the Chaos Egg had already converted a massive amount of solid Essence Energy to supplement the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s needs.


    Even so, the Immortal Culling Sword didn¡¯t immediately stop after absorbing all the Essence Energy in Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It only truly stopped when it was done.


    Zhou Wen had been in for a shock with Slaughterer about to be drained. Thankfully, the Immortal Culling Sword was finally satisfied and stopped devouring his Essence Energy.


    Zhou Wen wore the Prisoned Dragon armor and held the Immortal Culling Sword as he walked towards the woman.


    Just as people were exclaiming the strength of the seraphim, they suddenly realized that the figure had turned its head and was looking in a direction as though it was staring at something.


    ¡°Is there something over there?¡± People were somewhat puzzled, but they didn¡¯t find anything suspicious on the projection. There were snapped roots and shattered rocks everywhere.


    ¡­


    At the bureau, Wei Ge¡¯s heart stirred as he instructed, ¡°Old Xu, adjust the satellite angle and see if you can see the end of the chasm.¡±


    Old Xu immediately adjusted the data. Soon, the scene changed. After swiveling a few times, they suddenly saw a figure walking in the chasm.


    ¡°Zoom in.¡± Wei Ge¡¯s eyes focused as he ordered again.


    Old Xu and the staff did the adjustments again. The scene gradually magnified and became clearer.


    ¡°That¡¯s a person¡­ The sword in his hand looks familiar¡­ Human Sovereign¡­¡± After Old Xu saw the scene, he immediately jumped up from his chair and pointed at the screen without closing his mouth.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Wei Ge narrowed his eyes in thought. Moments later, Wei Ge gave another order. ¡°Send the signal to the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau. Aren¡¯t they livestreaming? Contact them and get them to use our signal source.¡±


    Although they were puzzled as to why Wei Ge was doing this, Wei Ge¡¯s words were like an imperial edict in the bureau. No one dared to question him. Old Xu immediately contacted the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau.


    When the editor-in-chief of the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau saw the signal that Old Xu had sent over, he also jumped up from his chair.. His fat body had never been so agile. He stood on the chair and pointed at the screen for a long time before saying, ¡°Holy sh*t¡­ Human Sovereign¡­¡±

 Chapter 1276 - Killing an Angel with a Sword

    After the slaying of Di Tian, there was probably no one among the humans who didn¡¯t recognize the Immortal Culling Sword, even though many people in the Federation were selling replicas.


    However, for a human to dare enter a Calamity-grade battlefield on Venus with such a sword, the possibility of him being Human Sovereign was undoubtedly very high.


    ¡°Oh my goodness, Boss, is this really Human Sovereign?¡± The staff by the side became excited.


    ¡°The possibility is very high. To be able to appear in a place like Venus, and for the signal to come from the bureau¡­ Immediately switch the signal source¡­ By the way¡­ Be more careful¡­ Use the word ¡®suspected¡¯ in the press release later¡­¡±


    The news media outlet, the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau, soon started operating at full speed. Not long after, the people who were watching the other media outlets turned to the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau because they heard a particular name.


    ¡°F*ck¡­ Is this really Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°That sword looks like it.¡±


    ¡°To be able to go to a place like Venus and even dare to enter a Calamity-grade battlefield, I really can¡¯t think of anyone other than the Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god, Human Sovereign has finally appeared again. It¡¯s been five years. He¡¯s finally back.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s Human Sovereign doing there? It looks like he¡¯s walking towards Seraph!¡±


    ¡°No way¡­ Could it be¡­¡±


    ¡°No¡­¡± The angels¡¯ believers felt mixed emotions to the extreme.


    Human Sovereign was the spiritual pillar of humanity, but angels were also their faith and spiritual pillar. They were unwilling to see the scene that they were guessing was about to happen.


    However, what would come, would come. Everyone could tell that Human Sovereign was walking towards the seraph, and the seraph was also staring at Human Sovereign.


    ¡°This fellow hasn¡¯t done anything in the past few years, but the moment he appears, he causes such a huge commotion. Does he like to be in the limelight that much?¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a strange expression.


    ¡°Does he need to rely on causing commotions to be in the limelight?¡± Zhang Chunqiu shook his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan thought for a long time and said helplessly.


    If Human Sovereign really wanted to be in the limelight, he didn¡¯t need to do anything.


    ¡°What is he trying to do?¡± In the League of Guardians, Cave Era, Hermit, and company had mixed expressions. They were both respectful and afraid of Human Sovereign.


    From the standpoint of humans, they believed that Human Sovereign had indeed fought for humanity, preserving humanity¡¯s last dignity in the face of the dimension¡¯s creatures.


    However, they were now in the League of Guardians and were working for the dimension. Without a doubt, they were at odds with Human Sovereign.


    Immortal just sat there and watched. He didn¡¯t show any expression, nor did the look in his eyes change. It was unknown what he was thinking.


    ¡°That fellow finally can¡¯t stand the loneliness.¡± In the president¡¯s office of the Holy Spirit Association, Zhong Ziya was wearing a white bathrobe and hugging a sword. He was leaning diagonally against the window with a glass of wine in his hand. He was watching the live broadcast.


    The number of viewers watching the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau stream increased exponentially. Out of the people who could go online, more than 70% of them were watching their live broadcast. The words ¡®Human Sovereign¡¯ were just too attractive.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that many people were watching him. Even if he knew, he wouldn¡¯t take it to heart. All he wanted to do now was see if the Immortal Culling Sword could slay the woman and end this scourge.


    Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s only worry was that the woman would run away when she saw the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand. After all, many people had seen the Immortal Culling Sword and knew how powerful it was.


    Zhou Wen was clearly overthinking things. The woman didn¡¯t know about the Immortal Culling Sword due to her long tenure in the Present Hut. She didn¡¯t know about the battle with Di Tian, so she naturally didn¡¯t know how powerful it was.


    The woman frowned slightly when she saw Zhou Wen alive. She immediately raised her Blazing Flame Sword and slashed at Zhou Wen who was walking out of the chasm.


    Being in her six-winged seraphim state was just too draining on her. She had to resolve the problem as soon as possible, or the consequences would be dire. All she wanted to do now was kill Zhou Wen as soon as possible.


    In the corner of the woman¡¯s eyes, there were already some fine patterns that made her look at least ten years older than before. This was already a sign that something was wrong with her body.


    This strike was even more terrifying than the previous two strikes. The six-winged seraphim¡¯s strength continued to increase with time.


    The sword beam shot down from the heavens as though it wanted to split apart the cosmos. It was a spectacle when it slashed down¡ªas though even Venus would be split into two by this strike.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Those who cared about Human Sovereign couldn¡¯t help but worry when they saw such a terrifying attack.


    Some of the more timid women didn¡¯t even dare watch further. They turned their heads and waited nervously for the outcome.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is still human after all. He shouldn¡¯t be enemies with Seraph. That¡¯s a true Apostle of God¡­¡± the archbishop muttered to himself.


    Most believers ultimately felt that their faith was more important and more powerful.


    Ordinary eyes were unable to keep up with the sword beam¡¯s speed. All they could see was the terrifying sword beam cleaving into the ground like it was chopping at a watermelon. The entire world seemed to be illuminated by the sword beam¡¯s radiance, making it impossible to see anything.


    Hum!


    A sword hum resounded through the universe as a black rift opened in the world that was almost occupied by the sword beam.


    The crack streaked across the sky like a straight black line on white paper.


    Crack!


    The white paper split open from top to bottom as the sword beam disintegrated. Everyone¡¯s vision returned to normal.


    Human Sovereign was still standing in his spot. His hand was still holding the hilt of his saber as though he had never moved.


    As for the six-winged seraphim projection in the sky, it remained motionless as though it had never moved.


    Just as people were wondering what was going on, they suddenly saw the angel¡¯s projection shatter like glass. A figure fell out. It was a woman with six wings and a halo above her head like an angel.


    However, at that moment, she didn¡¯t look like a noble angel. Her body was covered in blood, and four of the angel wings on her back had been sliced off. Her body had also been sliced in two as she plummeted deep into the rift.


    ¡°Impossible¡­¡± The archbishop was dumbfounded, almost unable to believe what he had seen.


    The believers who had been holding on to their beliefs felt something in their hearts collapse. They were rendered speechless as they stared blankly at the live broadcast.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is invincible¡­ Even Seraph was killed in one strike¡­ He¡¯s so powerful¡­¡±


    ¡°Haha, so what if it¡¯s angels or demons? They are inferior to Human Sovereign¡¯s sword.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency Human Sovereign, why not clear the Venusian instance dungeon while you¡¯re at it? Only you are worthy of first place.¡±


    Everyone was overjoyed. Although most people didn¡¯t even have the ability to fight, they could rejoice in the victory because of Human Sovereign.


    In the League of Guardians, Hermit and company wore ugly expressions as they subconsciously touched their waists. They were very worried that the next time Human Sovereign¡¯s sword slashed, it would be at their waists.


    Many would be fated to suffer from insomnia tonight.

 Chapter 1277 - Reappearance of the Dead Man Tree

    Chapter 1277: Reappearance of the Dead Man Tree


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt his body emptied. Despite having so much external power supplementing him, using the Immortal Culling Sword still placed quite an immense burden on him.


    Thankfully, it only weakened him a little¡ªa lot better than previously. It didn¡¯t injure his body and didn¡¯t pose much of a hindrance. With the circulation of the Dao Sutra, Essence Energy surged endlessly and he recovered significantly.


    He flew into the rift with the Immortal Culling Sword in hand. Although it was unlikely that a creature that had been slashed by the Immortal Culling Sword would survive, Zhou Wen still wanted to confirm it with his own eyes. It was best if he could deliver another strike or two to nip the possibility of the woman¡¯s survival.


    Zhou Wen flew down the rift and saw the woman¡¯s severed body. She had lost her life.


    The reason why the Immortal Culling Sword was terrifying wasn¡¯t just because it was powerful. The creatures it killed had a very low chance of survival even if they had powerful self-healing or revival abilities.


    Otherwise, how could it cull immortals? Those immortals had the Art of Longevity, so self-healing wasn¡¯t difficult for them.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, although there was zero vitality in the woman¡¯s body, her head continued emitting life force. Her soul hadn¡¯t been wiped away by the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s power.


    Zhou Wen clearly saw the woman¡¯s eyes widen. On her forehead was a tiny red lipstick mark.


    The lipstick mark was very cute. It should have come from a child and not an adult. At that moment, the lipstick mark shimmered with a strange glow. It actually resisted the power of the Immortal Culling Sword, allowing the woman to cling on to survival.


    Her body had already begun to decay, but her head remained alive. Her head flew up in a bid to escape.


    Unfortunately, with only her head left, she was clearly no longer as powerful as a Calamity-grade existence. Her speed was even slower. With Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen slashed at the woman¡¯s head with his sheathed Immortal Culling Sword, slashing it to the ground.


    Unfortunately, the unsheathed Immortal Slaying Sword was only equivalent to a hard metal pole. Zhou Wen¡¯s full-powered strike failed to shatter the woman¡¯s head.


    The head landed on the ground, shattering a large area of the rocky ground and sinking into the rocks.


    Due to Zhou Wen¡¯s strike, the lipstick mark on her forehead became incomplete. The light on it gradually dimmed as her head¡¯s life force weakened. The flesh on her neck had already begun to decay.


    What¡¯s the origin of that lipstick mark? It can actually withstand the power of the Immortal Culling Sword? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised, but now wasn¡¯t the time to think about that. He wanted the woman completely dead to prevent any future trouble.


    The woman seemed to know that she was doomed. She shouted at Zhou Wen sternly, ¡°No matter who you are, no matter where you are, you are doomed. No matter where you hide¡ªbe it the sky, the ground, or the endless universe¡ªMistress will avenge me and smite you down to endless hell, never to reincarnate¡­ Lowly human¡­ You will soon know¡­ What true horror means¡­¡±


    Following the woman¡¯s sharp cry, a strong holy light suddenly erupted from her head and exploded. The shockwave instantly obliterated everything around her.


    The intense light made the image transmitted by the satellite turn white¡ªnothing could be seen. The light continued without any reduction, as though it was eternal holy brilliance.


    Zhou Wen instant transmitted away and wasn¡¯t affected by the self-destruction. Although he was still enveloped by the light, the power of the light couldn¡¯t injure the Prisoned Dragon armor at such a distance.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. With the woman¡¯s strength, she was an extremely powerful existence even in the dimension.


    However, from her tone, she was only a slave. Then, how powerful was her mistress?


    Apocalypse level? Zhou Wen guessed inwardly. But so what if it¡¯s at the Apocalypse level? The Apocalypse powerhouses of the dimension wouldn¡¯t dare enter Earth personally.


    Zhou Wen thought of the metal flower and instant transmitted nearby, hoping to see if it was completely dead. If it wasn¡¯t completely dead, he could take the opportunity to deliver the killing blow. Perhaps a dimensional crystal would drop.


    It would be awesome if a Companion Egg dropped. He still didn¡¯t have a Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    When he arrived at the flower, he saw that the metal flower¡¯s roots were almost completely severed. Its leaves had also been chopped off, leaving only its stem and flower on the ground. The metallic luster had become very faint. It didn¡¯t look like it would survive.


    Seeing the metal flower in such a state, he didn¡¯t even need to deliver the killing blow. Just as he was about to pick up a petal to see if it was of any use, he suddenly felt the mysterious phone vibrate as though it wanted to come out.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he scanned the area with his consciousness. He didn¡¯t discover any other creatures nearby, and due to the holy brilliance¡¯s existence, he couldn¡¯t see anything beyond. He took out his phone and took a look. Indeed, the Dead Man Tree automatically appeared and took a shot of the metal flower.


    The metal flower¡¯s corpse and countless roots instantly vanished. An additional flower bud appeared on the Dead Man Tree.


    Strange, hasn¡¯t the Dead Man Tree always absorbed special humans? Why would it absorb this metal flower? Zhou Wen felt increasingly puzzled.


    However, it was ultimately a good thing. Without staying any longer, Zhou Wen teleported back to Earth.


    The people watching the livestream had only seen a blazing white color all this while. The Venusian temperatures were already very high, but the temperature on the battlefield was even higher. The blazing white color made it appear like a huge white lake of holy flames. It burned without end and would continue for decades without extinguishing.


    From space, it looked like a glowing white eye. People in the future called the lake of holy flames on Venus the Eye of Human Sovereign to commemorate the battle.


    ¡­


    At the instant the woman¡¯s head exploded, the red lipstick mark vanished as a stream of light.


    In an ancient castle somewhere in the universe, a blonde girl was lying in a crystal coffin. She was wearing white dress-type pajamas and her face was ruddy. She looked like she was sleeping.


    Suddenly, red lips appeared on the crystal coffin¡¯s lid. The girl was jolted awake. When she saw the red lipstick mark on the crystal coffin lid, her eyes immediately revealed a sad expression.


    ¡°Yana¡¯s dead?¡± The girl pushed away the crystal coffin lid. The red lipstick mark automatically flew in and landed on her lips. The girl bit her lip as her eyes gradually became firm, as though she had made a major decision.


    A giant, who was more than ten meters tall and wearing a servant uniform, came in front of the crystal coffin and knelt down. His face approached the crystal coffin as he asked softly, ¡°Mistress, why are you up?¡±


    ¡°Yana¡¯s dead,¡± the little girl said sadly.


    ¡°Which Yana? Oh, I remember now. It¡¯s that dishonest maidservant. She¡¯s already been exiled.. So what if she¡¯s dead? It¡¯s not worth your concern, Mistress,¡± the giant manservant said indifferently.

 Chapter 1278 - Absolute Space

    Chapter 1278: Absolute Space


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°But Yana is my friend,¡± the little girl said.


    The servant giant immediately said, ¡°Mistress, Yana is only a lowly creature in the Ancient Forbidden Land. What right does she have to be your friend? When you were out touring the Ancient Forbidden Land, you made her your maid. It was already a great blessing for her to be by your side and serve you. Yet, she was disrespectful towards you and had the nerve to become your friend. She even stole your things. She deserves death.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± The little girl¡¯s mouth moved, wanting to say something, but in the end, she didn¡¯t say anything. She hugged a panda doll that was about her height and lay down again. After closing her eyes, she said, ¡°Little Chrysanthemum, I¡¯m tired and need some rest. You may take your leave.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Mistress.¡± The servant giant carefully closed the coffin lid again before carefully leaving the room, as though he was afraid of disturbing the girl¡¯s rest.


    After the giant left, the girl opened her eyes again and blinked. She secretly opened the crystal coffin lid and crawled out.


    After taking a few steps, she seemed to think of something. She looked back at the empty crystal coffin and the panda doll in her arms. Finally, she reluctantly placed the panda doll into the crystal coffin.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ll be back as soon as I resolve Yana¡¯s matter,¡± the girl said as she reached out and kissed the panda¡¯s forehead. A petite and cute lipstick mark was left on it.


    Instantly, the panda doll took on the little girl¡¯s looks and lay peacefully in the crystal coffin.


    ¡­


    People originally imagined that Human Sovereign would attempt the Venusian dimensional zone and obtain first place, but this didn¡¯t happen. Human Sovereign vanished after slaying the six-winged seraphim.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t lucky on his return to Earth. He arrived at a desolate swamp with many dimensional zones around him. He was contemplating a route back to a human city. At the very least, he had to go to a place with a network signal to know if there were any creatures challenging the Venusian dimensional zone again.


    However, before Zhou Wen could return to human territory, a creature had already entered the Venusian dimensional zone.


    The person who entered the Venusian dimensional zone this time was the previously-seen black-winged seraphim. He wasn¡¯t as noble as Yana, nor was he as holy.


    His black wings had a few white feathers in them. He wasn¡¯t wearing any armor, but he was wearing a robe that didn¡¯t look very clean. It was similar to priest robes.


    The Cube lit up. When people saw that it wasn¡¯t Human Sovereign who had entered the dimensional zone, they couldn¡¯t help but be disappointed.


    However, what happened next shocked everyone.


    The black-winged seraphim held a black leather-bound book. After entering the Venusian dimensional zone, he didn¡¯t even look up when facing the bullets shot out by the Metal Guard. All he did was calmly flip open the black leather-bound book.


    It was completely uneventful. People only saw him flip through the book. No one saw what happened next. The Metal Guard and his bullet vanished.


    This kept repeating. The Metal Guards, Golden Battle Gods, came out one after another and then mysteriously vanished.


    Finally, the Calamity bullet shot out. People only saw the black-winged seraphim flip open the book¡ªthey didn¡¯t see how the black-winged seraphim entered the maze and how he arrived in front of the Golden Palace. But they found him standing there eventually.


    The Cube showed the rankings again. The words ¡®The Fallen¡¯ appeared in second place. Behind The Fallen were four golden stars.


    ¡°Professor Gu, what do you think of the newly-appeared Fallen?¡± Everyone in the Federation was discussing The Fallen. The Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau was naturally doing programs regarding The Fallen.


    Professor Gu said, ¡°The situation now is relatively clear. Only creatures that have reached the Golden Palace can enter the rankings. Up to now, a total of two have been on the rankings. The first is Tsukuyomi. There are five stars behind her. The second is The Fallen. There are four stars behind him, so he¡¯s second while Tsukuyomi is first. The number of stars should determine the rankings.¡±


    ¡°Many people believe that from the performance of the dimensional zones, Tsukuyomi is weaker than The Fallen, but her ranking is higher than The Fallen. What do you think about this?¡± the host asked again.


    ¡°Superficially, it¡¯s indeed true that The Fallen appears to be stronger and more mysterious. Furthermore, Tsukuyomi reached the Golden Palace with the help of Looter King. However, this doesn¡¯t mean that The Fallen is really stronger than Tsukuyomi. The Fallen¡¯s abilities are still presently unknown. It¡¯s difficult to determine what happened after he opened the black leather-bound book. It¡¯s still difficult to make conclusions,¡± Professor Gu said ambiguously.


    When Zhou Wen returned to inhabited areas, he learned about The Fallen. However, there was clearly nothing to pick up this time. It was useless even if he returned early.


    Zhou Wen continued grinding in-game. He grinded the Venusian instance dungeon once a day, hoping to find a way to clear it.


    Zhou Wen even tried using the Prisoned Dragon armor to block the Calamity-grade bullets and really managed to block them. Although the armor was riddled with bullet holes and dents, the bullets failed to penetrate.


    Of course, this was only referring to the first six bullets. The seventh bullet blasted open the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head. Even Absolute Defense failed to withstand it.


    It¡¯s already quite impressive to be able to withstand the first six Calamity-grade bullets. From the looks of it, I need to think of another way to deal with the seventh bullet. Zhou Wen took out the Spacetime Piglet Crystal he had obtained from the Chaos Hut.


    I hope it¡¯s a spatial extension skill. Zhou Wen absorbed it. It was a Mythical crystal of a spatial type, so Zhou Wen easily met the absorption requirement.


    Seeing the Spacetime Piglet Crystal fuse into his body and open up a new Essence Energy circulation, Zhou Wen vaguely felt that his wish had come true.


    Absolute Space: Mythical


    After Zhou Wen carefully studied it, he realized that it was indeed similar to spatial extension, but it was still somewhat different.


    This ability couldn¡¯t really extend space. It could only create a special space¡ªAbsolute Space.


    In Absolute Space, space could be changed. Absolute Space was like a spatial map. It was to scale with reality.


    What appeared only a meter long in reality still looked like a meter in Absolute Space, but in fact, this space had already become a thousand meters.


    In fact, Zhou Wen still wasn¡¯t capable of such a feat. He had just learned Absolute Space and could only reach a ratio of 1:10. Furthermore, the Absolute Space he could create was only the size of a chicken egg.


    Even if the space inside such a tiny space is ten times bigger than in reality, it¡¯s impossible for it to withstand the Calamity-grade bullet. Zhou Wen knew that he had to raise Absolute Space to the Terror grade to even have an iota of hope.


    It was still hope nonetheless, so Zhou Wen began practicing.

 Chapter 1279 - Isn’t the Terror-grade Enough?

    Chapter 1279: Isn¡¯t the Terror-grade Enough?


    Translator: CKtalon


    As he had already cultivated two spatial-type Essence Energy Arts, Zhou Wen was rather familiar with spatial powers. It could even be said that he was adept in it.


    Although he had never come into contact with Absolute Space before, Zhou Wen was quickly able to master it after understanding its circulation method. Furthermore, he rapidly improved.


    In just a day, Absolute Space that was originally the size of a chicken egg had already reached the size of a cubic meter. Furthermore, the space inside had already reached hundreds of times the size of the outside world.


    What looked like a distance of a meter was in fact, entering a space a few hundred meters across. A corporeal object had to travel the same distance in Absolute Space.


    A few hundred meters was enough to fight ordinary opponents, but to fight a Calamity-grade expert, that was still lacking.


    To the speed of light, a few hundred meters wasn¡¯t much different from a few thousand meters. Zhou Wen had to think of a way to extend Absolute Space even further to slow the Calamity-grade¡¯s attack by a tiny bit so that he could dodge it.


    In the next few days, Zhou Wen constantly pondered over how to make Absolute Space stronger. However, when the ratio between Absolute Space and an actual distance reached about a thousand, he was unable to improve further.


    Zhou Wen knew that he had reached a bottleneck. The bottleneck of a divine skill had to exceed the Mythical stage in order to continue growing and strengthen Absolute Space.


    Li Xuan had nothing better to do, so he came to chat with Zhou Wen. Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s worried frown, he asked curiously, ¡°I seldom see such an expression on your face. What happened?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about how to raise a skill¡¯s level and make it stronger,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s very easy. Just train more and think more.¡± As Li Xuan spoke, he asked, ¡°What skill do you want to raise? What level is the skill originally at? Tell me and I¡¯ll help you think of a solution.¡±


    ¡°Spatial-type. It¡¯s now at the Mythical stage,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed very difficult to advance a Mythical skill. Furthermore, it¡¯s a spatial-type that¡¯s very difficult to begin with. It¡¯s no wonder you are fretting. In that case, I have a solution. Go to dimensional zones with spatial creatures and fight them. Experience their spatial powers more and you might be able to gain some insight and break through to the Terror grade.¡± Li Xuan shared his experience. He had been constantly fighting, getting beaten, and being tortured for the past five years, allowing him to have his present achievements.


    Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to advance to the Terror grade. It will only take two more days, but I¡¯m afraid that a Terror-grade skill won¡¯t meet my requirements. It will be difficult to advance further.¡±


    Li Xuan¡¯s face darkened as he said gloomily, ¡°Is this how you chat? Even a Terror-grade skill isn¡¯t enough for you? Why don¡¯t you just drop dead!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about it. If I want to clear the Venusian dimensional zone, I have to master this skill,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You want to use this spatial skill to dodge the Calamity-grade bullet?¡± Li Xuan guessed what Zhou Wen was up to.


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, ¡°This is the only way to reach the Golden Palace before being killed by the Calamity-grade bullet.¡±


    ¡°Then take your time training. I don¡¯t know how to push your skill to the Calamity grade. Speaking of which, your level should only be at the Mythical stage, right?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Sigh, it¡¯s indeed difficult.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that his level was too low. If he was at the Terror grade, there might be a chance of advancing Absolute Space to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen was also frustrated over this. If the Terror-grade Absolute Space couldn¡¯t meet his requirements, it would probably be difficult for him to advance to the Calamity-grade.


    However, Zhou Wen still had no clue about his advancement to the Terror grade. His four stats were already at 81 points and the eight Essence Energy Arts had already reached the Terror transformation stage, but Slaughterer didn¡¯t stir. He couldn¡¯t attain Terror transformation at all.


    ¡°If one needs to kill to advance, what kind of reasoning could it be that I didn¡¯t get any reaction when I¡¯ve already killed a Calamity-grade creature? Must I kill a Guardian?¡± Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that things weren¡¯t that simple.


    ¡°Fat chance.¡± A man¡¯s voice sounded as An Sheng accompanied An Tianzuo into the yard. The person who had spoken was An Tianzuo.


    An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t far from the yard. His hearing was excellent, so he had heard Li Xuan and Zhou Wen¡¯s conversation clearly. He knew that Zhou Wen wanted to advance a Mythical skill to the Calamity grade, and it was a spatial one at that. Therefore, he made that statement to himself. Although he wasn¡¯t speaking to Zhou Wen, anyone could tell that he was talking about him.


    Zhou Wen pretended not to hear him and ignored An Tianzuo. He looked at An Sheng and asked, ¡°Ah Sheng, why are you so free? Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°Young Master Wen, here¡¯s the situation. Overseer and I have been purchasing Essence Crystal ores recently. You also know how much that thing needs Essence Crystals. We have already acquired most of the Essence Crystals on the market. Even if the other families have the goods, they will just hold back on selling to sell them at a higher price in this situation. It¡¯s impossible for them to easily sell them to us. Therefore, Overseer and I plan on heading out to open up a dimensional zone that might have an Essence Crystal mine.¡±


    Ah Sheng paused for a moment before saying, ¡°You know the situation in Luoyang recently. All the major factions are watching us. I don¡¯t know how many spies are in the city. If anything happens when we are out, there has to be a person at home to take care of everything. Do you think it¡¯s convenient for you to temporarily take care of the family?¡±


    ¡°How long will it take?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    If he wanted to watch over the area, he definitely couldn¡¯t leave Luoyang before Ah Sheng and company returned.


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. We will return in a week or so at the earliest. If something crops up, it¡¯s hard to say. We¡¯ll try our best to rush back in a month,¡± Ah Sheng said.


    ¡°A month!¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly. If any creature entered the Venusian dimensional zone in a month, he wouldn¡¯t be able to take advantage of it.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, tell him not to force himself if he doesn¡¯t want to,¡± An Tianzuo said expressionlessly.


    An Tianzuo was standing just beside him, so Zhou Wen could naturally hear him. An Tianzuo also knew this, but he refused to speak directly to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What Overseer means is that if you have something to do, there¡¯s no need to force yourself. We can think of another solution. It¡¯s just that Madam feels that we should rely on ourselves and not have outsiders come here.¡± An Sheng passed the message. It sounded the same as what An Tianzuo had said, but the feeling was completely different.


    ¡°Please help me inform the Overseer that if he wants me to stay, I definitely won¡¯t force myself. However, this matter concerns Sis Lan and my father, so I won¡¯t ignore it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Overseer, Young Master Wen said that he¡¯s Madam¡¯s son. He will definitely take care of Madam and won¡¯t let anything happen to the family..¡± An Sheng wiped the sweat off his forehead as he translated.


    5

 Chapter 1280 - Handwritten Copy

    ¡°Tell him to do something proper if he¡¯s going to do anything. He shouldn¡¯t be wasting his time on frivolities. If anything happens to the family, the one at home, Little Jing, or Ya¡¯er because of this, I won¡¯t let him off easily,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, the various families have been keeping a close eye on our family recently. Furthermore, those spies are everywhere. They will stoop to nothing to obtain the secret of the accelerator. They might even attack you, Madam, Ya¡¯er, and Miss Jing while we aren¡¯t around to threaten us. Overseer is very worried about everyone¡¯s safety. You have to be careful. It¡¯s fine if the An Estate is damaged. If necessary, you can give up on the An Estate. As long as the people are fine,¡± An Sheng translated again.


    An Tianzuo glared at An Sheng as though he was saying: ¡°Did I say that much?¡±


    ¡°Please tell Overseer that since I¡¯ve agreed, I¡¯ll naturally ensure their safety. There¡¯s no need for him to spend time worrying. It¡¯s best you get him to put in more effort and think about how to obtain some Essence Crystal mines,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Tell him that he doesn¡¯t have to care about me¡­¡±


    ¡°Help me tell him that he doesn¡¯t have to interfere in my matters¡­¡±


    Li Xuan was dumbfounded by the side. He had seen quarrels before, but this was unprecedented.


    ¡°Um, can you speak for yourselves?¡± An Sheng¡¯s head was about to explode from all the translation and he couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Humph.¡± An Tianzuo turned around and left without even sparing Zhou Wen a glance.


    After An Tianzuo left, Li Xuan patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder and sighed, as though they were in the same boat. ¡°Old Zhou, your days at the An family haven¡¯t been good either.¡±


    Back home, he was often criticized by Li Mobai, but he wasn¡¯t as bold as Zhou Wen¡¯s opposition to An Tianzuo.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing bad either. I just don¡¯t treat him as a human,¡± Zhou Wen said without a change in expression as he held his teacup.


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Li Xuan spat out the mouthful of tea he had just drunk.


    He was probably the only person in the Federation who dared dismiss An Tianzuo.


    As An Tianzuo walked, he said, ¡°He¡¯s frivolous, arrogant, self-important, and ignorant. He thinks he¡¯s impressive just because he has some meager achievements. If all of humanity is like him, how are we to fight the dimension¡­¡±


    An Sheng didn¡¯t dare say a word as he listened while staying by An Tianzuo¡¯s side.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything?¡± An Tianzuo spoke for a long time, but when he saw that An Sheng didn¡¯t say a word, he stopped and turned to look at him.


    ¡°Overseer, you¡¯re right,¡± An Sheng hurriedly said with his head lowered.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what you¡¯re thinking.¡± An Tianzuo snorted coldly.


    ¡°I¡­¡± An Sheng wanted to explain, but An Tianzuo interrupted him. ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear a patronizing explanation.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t beat about the bush. Just tell me. Isn¡¯t that fellow infuriating?¡± An Tianzuo interrupted him again.


    I think Young Master Wen thinks the same way too. An Sheng thought so, but he didn¡¯t dare say it out loud. ¡°That¡¯s right. Young Master Wen has crossed the line. How can he only think about Madam and Ya¡¯er? He has to consider the welfare of you and Miss Jing as well.¡±


    An Tianzuo stopped again and glared at An Sheng as he said coldly, ¡°Who said he has to consider our welfare? Do we need it?¡±


    An Sheng could only lower his head and smile apologetically. ¡°There¡¯s definitely no need. I was just joking.¡±


    ¡°If you can¡¯t control your tongue, I don¡¯t mind helping you tame it. If you soak it in formalin, it should become obedient and not spout nonsense,¡± An Tianzuo said with a cold expression.


    An Sheng hurriedly covered his face with his hand, as though indicating that he definitely wouldn¡¯t spout nonsense. Please spare his tongue.


    Only then did An Tianzuo continue walking in satisfaction. After leaving the Overseer¡¯s residence, An Tianzuo came to the car. An Sheng pulled open the back door and covered the door frame with his hand.


    However, An Tianzuo didn¡¯t take a seat. Instead, he walked to the driver¡¯s seat and pulled open the door. He didn¡¯t immediately get in. He stopped and said to An Sheng, ¡°Teacher got someone to return the information I sent him previously, right?¡±


    An Sheng thought for a moment. There wasn¡¯t any information sent recently, so he said, ¡°The information I sent to Teacher was delivered more than a month ago. It was personally returned by Chancellor Leng. Have you forgotten?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Teacher has read the information, so it¡¯s useless. Throw it away. I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± With that said, An Tianzuo got into the car and drove off.


    Throw it away? An Sheng was slightly taken aback. The information wasn¡¯t ordinary information, but stone monuments that were discovered in a mysterious dimensional zone.


    Ignoring the content on them, even the stone monuments themselves were extremely precious items.


    Although Leng Zongzheng had sent back a handwritten copy, that meant even more.


    An Sheng remembered that Leng Zongzheng had said that the content recorded on it was useless to ordinary people, but was extremely precious for a spatial expert like him.


    Back then, Leng Zongzheng had kept the original copy and had even specially made a copy before sending it over. The content was the same, but had Leng Zongzheng¡¯s annotations. An Tianzuo had deliberately kept it in his private collection.


    On second thought, An Sheng immediately understood something. He hurriedly turned around and returned to the An family. He was the only one who could enter the room where An Tianzuo stored his private collection.


    ¡­


    After Li Xuan left, Zhou Wen continued studying Absolute Space. It was only a matter of time before he broke through to the Terror grade, but the more he studied, the more he felt that Absolute Space would hardly be able to play the role he imagined if it was only at the Terror grade.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, are you there?¡± An Sheng knocked on Zhou Wen¡¯s door.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you leave? Why are you back?¡± Zhou Wen opened the door and asked An Sheng in puzzlement.


    ¡°Not yet. There¡¯s some information here. It¡¯s been copied and annotated by Chancellor Leng. Take a look and see if it¡¯s useful.¡± An Sheng handed Zhou Wen four thick diaries.


    Chancellor Leng¡¯s annotated copy? Zhou Wen took the diary and casually flipped through a few pages. He was immediately mesmerized by the content.


    ¡°Where did this come from?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he flipped through it.


    ¡°Apparently someone obtained it from a mysterious dimensional zone. I¡¯m not too sure about the details. If it¡¯s useful, give it a read.¡± An Sheng opened his mouth as though he wanted to say something, but after some hesitation, he didn¡¯t say anything. He bade farewell and left.


    This is clearly the insight and experience written by a spatial expert. I¡¯m afraid the person who wrote this might very well be a Calamity-grade expert. For Chancellor Leng to be able to explain so much with his annotations, his understanding of spatial powers is extremely profound¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised by the content.


    Furthermore, he also knew why it had to be copied by hand and not stored using electronic equipment. The meaning contained in each stroke was something electronic equipment couldn¡¯t present.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to just look at the content. One had to look at the concepts within the words.

 Chapter 1281 - Nether Lotus

    Zhou Wen was a spatial expert, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to understand the content and annotations. Although Zhou Wen already knew a lot of the content, there were indeed some unique points that gave him many thoughts and ideas.


    Based on the content, the person who wrote it had to be an existence with extremely high attainments in space. Only then could they stand at a high vantage point to explain certain problems.


    Leng Zongzheng¡¯s annotations were also very precise. Furthermore, he had written quite a number of his understanding and insights into spatial powers. It was quite an inspiration to Zhou Wen.


    Combining his insights and experience, Absolute Space broke through to the Terror grade in just a few hours. Furthermore, it was constantly improving.


    Although he didn¡¯t know if he could really break through to the Calamity grade, the speed at which he improved was already rather shocking.


    Zhou Wen was obsessed with studying Absolute Space. Apart from the necessary dungeon respawns every day, he spent the rest of his time studying it.


    However, Ice Maiden wasn¡¯t in a good mood. She had been worried about the flower girl all this time.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about the dimension and didn¡¯t know how terrifying the Flower Goddess was, but Ice Maiden knew her all too well. She was a true dimensional big shot, a supreme existence at the Apocalypse level.


    Even if she wasn¡¯t willing to personally descend to Earth, just mobilizing a large number of Flower race experts and Guardians to descend was enough to cause a huge calamity for Earth.


    Ice Maiden was so worried mainly because she was a dimensional creature. She ultimately had to return in the future. Zhou Wen could ignore the repercussions, but she couldn¡¯t.


    If the Flower Goddess knew that she, an ice demon, had captured the flower girl and wanted to kill her, the ice demons might suffer greatly. It was even possible that the demons would abandon her to appease the Flower Goddess¡¯s rage.


    Of course, this was only the worst case scenario. It might not come to that.


    What should I do? How can I make that flower girl let bygones be bygones? Ice Maiden racked her brains, hoping to come up with a perfect solution.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I want to have a chat with that flower girl.¡± Ice Maiden failed to come up with a good solution despite racking her brains. She planned on understanding the flower girl¡¯s current state of mind and why she had come to Earth.


    In fact, Ice Maiden was very puzzled. Logically speaking, even if members of the Flower race were sent to Earth, they would be cannon fodder. How could one with the Tear of the Flower Goddess be sent here?


    ¡°Sure.¡± Although Zhou Wen felt that the possibility of the Flower Goddess descending wasn¡¯t high, he didn¡¯t wish to provoke trouble if there was a better solution.


    Just in case, Zhou Wen got Ice Maiden and flower girl to meet in the Chaos Bead to prevent her from escaping or sending a message to the Flower race.


    Ice Maiden had the same thought. She was more afraid of something happening.


    The space in the Chaos Bead was huge. The space of every item could be independent. All one could see was a chaotic fog. No matter how one traversed the chaos fog, they couldn¡¯t really make any substantial movement. In fact, they were just going in circles.


    Zhou Wen sent Ice Maiden to the flower girl. With a wave of her hand, she defrosted the ice that encased the flower girl¡¯s body and restored her freedom.


    The flower girl had remained conscious while frozen, so she knew what had happened. After being defrosted, she only looked at Ice Maiden and didn¡¯t do anything else, much less attack her.


    Ice Maiden couldn¡¯t help but frown when she saw this.


    If the flower girl had attacked immediately, that meant that she was a mere boor. That would have made it easier to deal with her.


    However, from the flower girl¡¯s expression, it was clear that she was a very calm person. Such a person was clearly even harder to deal with. Even if she verbally agreed to a reconciliation, Ice Maiden wouldn¡¯t easily believe her.


    ¡°How may I address you?¡± Ice Maiden probed as she looked at the flower girl.


    ¡°Nether Lotus.¡± The flower girl looked at Ice Maiden and continued, ¡°You should be an ice demon, right? As a dimensional creature, why are you opposing us by helping the humans?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to be your enemy. You initiated the attack.¡± Ice Maiden paused and asked, ¡°Why did you come to Earth?¡±


    ¡°And why did you come to Earth?¡± Nether Lotus didn¡¯t answer as she returned the question ad verbatim.


    ¡°I¡¯m just an unimportant person among the ice demons. It¡¯s very normal for me to be sent to Earth as cannon fodder. However, you have the Tear of the Flower Goddess. Clearly, you hold a special status in the eyes of the Flower Goddess. You shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± Ice Maiden continued probing.


    Nether Lotus sneered. ¡°Is that why you don¡¯t dare to kill me?¡±


    ¡°No matter how strong the Flower Goddess is, it¡¯s difficult for her to directly interfere in Earth¡¯s affairs. Earth isn¡¯t as terrible as you imagine. Even if the Flower race really attacks Earth on a large scale, they might not be able to gain an advantage when the time comes. Furthermore, the Flower Goddess might not make a big fuss over you.¡± Ice Maiden looked at Nether Lotus and said in a serious manner, ¡°I didn¡¯t kill you because I¡¯m curious why you came to such a place. This isn¡¯t a place you should be.¡±


    Nether Lotus wore a hesitant expression. She seemed to know that it wasn¡¯t easy for dimensional creatures to descend to Earth. Furthermore, they were restricted by Earth¡¯s rules. She had already experienced this herself.


    Furthermore, the Flower Goddess didn¡¯t know that she had come to Earth. If she really died here, it was difficult to say if the Flower Goddess could sense it. After all, this was Earth, an ancient forbidden land. It was very difficult for information to be transmitted.


    Nether Lotus¡¯s expression made Ice Maiden realize something, so she said, ¡°It¡¯s impossible for a Flower race like you to be sent to a place like Earth. There¡¯s only one possibility. You sneaked in here yourself.¡±


    ¡°Who said I sneaked in? The Flower Goddess sent me to Earth for a mission,¡± said Nether Lotus immediately.


    However, her reaction had already betrayed her. How could she deceive a shrewd person like Ice Maiden?


    ¡°Actually, we¡¯re all the same. I came to Earth secretly just for that thing.¡± Ice Maiden felt relieved.


    Nether Lotus looked experienced, but in fact, she was still too young. She was just pretending to be calm. She wasn¡¯t as difficult to deal with as she imagined. She was like a flower who grew up in a greenhouse flower, one that had never experienced storms.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about.¡± Nether Lotus wasn¡¯t experienced enough, but she wasn¡¯t retarded. It was impossible for her to be easily tricked by Ice Maiden.


    Ice Maiden didn¡¯t say anything. However, she suddenly unleashed her Ice Demon Monarch¡¯s bloodline and transformed into an Ice Demon Queen.


    ¡°Ah! Ice Demon Monarch¡¯s bloodline¡­ You are the Ice Demon Monarch¡¯s descendant¡­ Why are you here¡­ Could it be that you came to obtain Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts?¡± Nether Lotus widened her eyes. Her understanding was the same as Ice Maiden¡¯s. They both believed that with an identity like theirs, it was impossible for her to be sent to Earth unless there were special circumstances.


    And there was only one special exception that Nether Lotus knew¡ªit was the same reason that she had for secretly coming to Earth.

 Chapter 1282 - Embodiment of Evil

    Nether Lotus seemed to realize that she had slipped up and immediately shut up.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ I heard from my elders that that dimensional zone might be where Earth¡¯s Companion Beast resides, but I was captured by that evil human just as I arrived on Earth,¡± Ice Maiden said pretentiously.


    In fact, her situation was similar to what she had said. Her emotions were also rather real.


    ¡°You were also captured by him?¡± Nether Lotus seemed to find it unbelievable.


    Ice Maiden said with a shameful look, ¡°You will not believe the evil humans are capable of. It¡¯s practically perverted, and he¡¯s even worse than a pervert. If I don¡¯t obey his orders, he will first sever my limbs and then cook them before forcing me to¡­¡±


    The more Nether Lotus heard, the more horrified she became. She was really frightened. Although death was very frightening to her, she could still overcome some psychological barriers.


    However, what Ice Maiden said was something she couldn¡¯t tolerate. Just the thought of it made her shudder as her body trembled.


    If she were to be treated that way, she would rather die. Nether Lotus had constructed Zhou Wen as an evil super pervert inwardly.


    ¡°Before me, many dimensional creatures had already suffered his abuse. They lived a life worse than death. In the end, they were killed and made into xiaolongbao when he got sick of them¡­ Don¡¯t you know what xiaolongbao is? It¡¯s the kind of mincemeat stuffing¡­¡± As Ice Maiden spoke, she thought to herself, It¡¯s better to have one dead than both. If the Flower Goddess descends, you will die no matter what. Just shoulder my blame for me.


    ¡°Despicable human, how dare he treat us like this? When my mother comes, she¡¯ll definitely rip him to pieces. No, we¡¯ll let him have a taste of his own medicine before killing him,¡± said Nether Lotus through gritted teeth.


    This Nether Lotus can¡¯t be the Flower Goddess¡¯s daughter, right!? Ice Maiden was secretly alarmed, but she pretended not to notice anything amiss. She continued, ¡°Now that we are in his hands, we can only feign civility and preserve our usefulness. When we find an opportunity, we can kill him together. During this period of time, you mustn¡¯t disobey him. I don¡¯t wish to see my kind die again.¡±


    Nether Lotus was already beginning to believe Ice Maiden. When she heard that, she said, ¡°I understand. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll pretend to obey him and find an opportunity to join forces with you to kill him.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s it. Preserve our lives and maintain our usefulness. Then, wait for an opportunity to kill him and avenge ourselves and our dead dimensional compatriots,¡± Ice Maiden said righteously.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad I met you¡­¡± Nether Lotus nodded repeatedly.


    ¡°By the way, don¡¯t try to escape. He has cast an evil curse on us. Once we escape, he will activate the curse. When that happens, our bodies will fester bit by bit, but we won¡¯t die until our bodies are riddled with holes and we wail in agony for three years¡­¡± Ice Maiden continued tricking Nether Lotus.


    In Nether Lotus¡¯s mind, Zhou Wen¡¯s evilness had increased exponentially. He was already an existence at the level of a super unparalleled demon king.


    ¡°Bear with it for the time being. I¡¯ll quickly think of a way to get him to release you. When the time comes, you must not disobey his orders, or all our efforts will be in vain.¡± Before Ice Maiden left, she specially exhorted Nether Lotus.


    ¡°Got it. Thank you.¡± Nether Lotus¡¯s eyes were filled with gratitude.


    ¡°When did I do those things to you?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly as he released Ice Maiden.


    ¡°I had no choice. I just wanted to get some information out of her. Now, we can confirm that she¡¯s very likely the Flower Goddess¡¯s daughter. However, she had sneaked out. The Flower Goddess doesn¡¯t know that she¡¯s on Earth. Also, she might have eavesdropped on the news regarding Earth¡¯s Companion Beast from Flower Goddess and knows which dimensional zone has Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast,¡± Ice Maiden said as she looked around.


    Zhou Wen could tell what she was up to; there was no need for her to repeat herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have to take the blame for you if the Flower Goddess really descends, right?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°If the Flower Goddess really descends, you will be a dead man regardless. It doesn¡¯t matter if you take additional blame,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember this. If you can¡¯t get any information about that dimensional zone from her, I¡¯ll try all those methods of torture you mentioned on you,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Ice Maiden¡¯s expression changed before she forced a smile and said, ¡°I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want you to try your best. I want you to guarantee it.¡± Zhou Wen had to figure out the dimensional zone.


    If it was really as the dimension said¡ªthat dimensional zone was where Earth¡¯s Companion Beast was¡ªthen he had to protect it at all costs. He definitely couldn¡¯t let the fellows from the dimension succeed.


    If they really lured Earth¡¯s Companion Beast out, Earth would be doomed.


    After handing such a mentally-taxing task to Ice Maiden, Zhou Wen began studying Absolute Space. Now, it was already ten thousand times bigger.


    However, Absolute Space still remained a cubic meter in size. It didn¡¯t continue to expand as though this was its limit.


    Ten thousand times meant ten thousand meters. To light, this distance was nothing. It wasn¡¯t enough time for Zhou Wen to react, much less dodge.


    From the looks of it, even if I reach the peak of the Terror grade, I probably won¡¯t be able to extend space sufficiently. Is there any other way? Zhou Wen felt that he couldn¡¯t only place his hopes on Absolute Space. There wasn¡¯t much hope of advancing it to the Calamity grade.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up on studying it. He still tried his best to perfect it, but at the same time, he began searching for more possibilities.


    For a similar spatial Terror-grade skill, what if I combine Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping and Absolute Space, I wonder if it gives rise to some possibilities? Zhou Wen kept thinking about this problem.


    Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping could ignore spatial distances to exchange objects, and Absolute Space was similar to a spatial bubble. Zhou Wen felt that there was a possibility stemming from the combination of the two, but he had yet to figure out how the two could be combined.


    During the few days he stayed in Luoyang, there weren¡¯t many problems with the Overseer Manor. Typically, with Qin Wufu presiding over it, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to deal with the details.


    Ding!


    One day, when Zhou Wen was grinding the Venusian instance dungeon, another Golden Battle God Companion Egg dropped. Now, he was just short of Mark I and Mark IV before he gathered all six Golden Battle Gods.


    Can six Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods fuse into a Calamity-grade Companion Beast? Zhou Wen was filled with anticipation.


    If he could obtain a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, all the problems would be resolved. He wouldn¡¯t have to go through so much trouble.


    The Cube stirred again as an unfamiliar creature appeared on the platform of the Venusian dimensional zone.

 Chapter 1283 - Dwarf

    Chapter 1283: Dwarf


    Translator: CKtalon


    It was a red-skinned dwarf, only about a meter tall. He wore a grass skirt and had a green leaf on his head. He looked very strange.


    After he entered the Venusian dimensional zone, the Metal Guard immediately launched an attack. When the bullet arrived in front of him, the dwarf suddenly opened his mouth and revealed his serrated teeth to bite the bullet.


    Crack!


    The bullet was actually crushed by his teeth. The dwarf quickly gritted his teeth and crushed the bullet in a few bites before stretching his neck and swallowing it.


    Before the Metal Guard could fire a second shot, the dwarf rushed in front of him and bit off half the barrel. After chewing twice, he stretched his neck and swallowed it.


    What happened next shocked the people watching the battle through the Cube.


    The dwarf swallowed the Metal Guard alive. It was unknown how such a small body could contain the Metal Guard¡¯s huge body.


    Hordes of Metal Guards rushed out, but the dwarf was like a tiger in a flock of sheep. His body kept moving like a ghost, biting the Metal Guards to death.


    The Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet was also bitten by the dwarf. Be it freezing, flames, explosions, or lightning bullets, they were all crushed and swallowed by the dwarf, completely unable to injure his body.


    ¡°Those teeth are really good!¡± Li Xuan said as he shivered.


    Zhou Wen, who was watching the livestream with Li Xuan, looked thoughtfully at the dwarf. With that frown, what was on his mind?


    ¡°Hey, what are you doing? I¡¯m talking to you?¡± Li Xuan extended his hand and shook it in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen snapped to his senses and said, ¡°Why do you think this dwarf can devour so much metal with his tiny body?¡±


    ¡°It probably has organs similar to storage spaces in its body, or perhaps its stomach has a super melting function, melting all the metal?¡± Li Xuan guessed.


    ¡°Both are possible, but here¡¯s what I¡¯m thinking. Tell me if you agree.¡± Zhou Wen glanced at the dwarf who was still chewing the Golden Battle God and continued, ¡°He¡¯s like a trash processor or a shredder. After something passes through his body, it will ultimately land in a trash bag.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t conflict with my guess. The trash bag could be an organ similar to a storage space that can hold large amounts of things.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t understand the difference between Zhou Wen¡¯s explanation and what he had said.


    ¡°But what if the trash bag is full?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it won¡¯t be that easy to fill it up. Even if it¡¯s really full, he can choose not to eat. He can just eat after digesting what¡¯s inside him.¡± Li Xuan still didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen meant.


    ¡°What if he has to eat despite being full?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°That goes without saying. Of course he will burst,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°We previously said that if he¡¯s a shredder, he needs to change the trash bag when it¡¯s full. He just needs to change the trash bag.¡±


    Li Xuan found what Zhou Wen was saying baffling. The dwarf wasn¡¯t really a shredder. How could there be a new trash bag to replace it?


    Zhou Wen seemed to be talking to Li Xuan, but he also seemed to be muttering to himself, ¡°Where should I find a second trash bag? Should I create a second trash bag? However, even if there¡¯s a second, third, or even a tenth trash bag, it¡¯s still unsatisfactory¡­ Right¡­ Wheels¡­ If they¡¯re in the form of wheels, they can be repeatedly used¡­¡±


    ¡°Old Zhou, what are you talking about?¡± Li Xuan failed to understand what Zhou Wen was saying despite listening for a long time.


    However, Zhou Wen ignored him. He got up and gathered his strength with both hands, as though he was producing something in front of him. Li Xuan only saw the space in front of Zhou Wen distort, but was unsure what he was doing.


    Why is this fellow only thinking about these strange things all day? He doesn¡¯t know how to enjoy life at all. Li Xuan knew that Zhou Wen had thought of something regarding cultivation and was trying to break through. He watched from the side and didn¡¯t disturb him again. He also helped watch over him to prevent others from disturbing him.


    Zhou Wen had been considering the problem of Absolute Space all this while. Under normal circumstances, it was impossible for a Terror-grade Absolute Space to withstand a bullet at the speed of light. It was difficult even to stall for time, so he had to take a different approach.


    When he saw the scene of the dwarf devouring the Metal Guards, he suddenly thought of a possible solution. He felt that he might be able to create multiple Absolute Spaces and arrange them like wheels before quickly spinning them. This would allow the bullets to repeatedly pass through multiple Absolute Spaces without reaching Zhou Wen.


    Of course, the spinning speed of the wheels was a problem. If Absolute Space¡¯s rotation speed wasn¡¯t fast enough, it couldn¡¯t connect to the preceding Absolute Space. It would be impossible to achieve a cycle.


    However, Zhou Wen had the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique as well. If he could constantly swap three or more Absolute Spaces, he might be able to resolve this problem.


    Of course, this was only a theory. Whether it could really succeed depended on actual operation.


    Now, he was trying to create multiple Absolute Spaces, but the outcome was disappointing. Creating multiple Absolute Spaces wasn¡¯t easy.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have enough Essence Energy, but the characteristics of Absolute Space itself were very special. Zhou Wen could only maintain the existence of a single Absolute Space, so he couldn¡¯t create a second.


    It was as though there was a force that restrained the existence of Absolute Space. A second Absolute Space couldn¡¯t exist at the same time.


    If I can¡¯t create a second Absolute Space, what about letting Absolute Space spin itself? No, no. This isn¡¯t right. I have to create multiple Absolute Spaces. Zhou Wen stopped and fell into deep thought. He thought about how to resolve the problem of having multiple Absolute Spaces. He flipped through the book An Sheng had sent over, hoping to obtain some inspiration from it.


    After thinking for a while, he still couldn¡¯t find a solution. Meanwhile on the livestream, the Calamity-grade bullet had already been fired and hit the dwarf¡¯s face.


    The dwarf¡¯s body flew out and slammed into the metal wall. Everyone thought that he had been killed, but on careful look, they realized that the dwarf¡¯s teeth had clenched the Calamity-grade bullet.


    Smoke was still emitting from between the teeth and the bullet, as though the friction was very intense. However, the Calamity-grade bullet had been caught.


    ¡°These teeth¡­ are so hard¡­¡± Everyone felt their teeth ache.


    Then, the dwarf rushed through the door. The bullets shot over and were bitten by him again, but his body was also sent flying by the bullets as he slammed into the wall again.


    Time and time again, the first six bullets were all caught by the dwarf with his teeth. He was like an agile beast.. No matter which direction the bullets flew from, they would be precisely caught by his teeth.

 Chapter 1284 - Good Junior Brother

    Chapter 1284: Good Junior Brother


    People watched the live broadcast nervously. Although the first six bullets were powerful and beyond human, several creatures had proven to humanity that they could dodge or even block them head-on.


    However, no creature seemed to be able to resist the seventh bullet head-on.


    Bang!


    When the seventh gunshot sounded, everyone couldn¡¯t help but tremble. When they took a careful look, they realized that the dwarf¡¯s body had slammed into the wall again.


    However, this time, even the metal wall had caved in, forming a circular pit.


    The dwarf¡¯s body was embedded in the circular pit. The powerful shockwave had sent his hair flying. His mouth was covered in blood, and between his teeth, a bullet that looked like a spark was spinning rapidly. It ground against his teeth and produced ear-piercing sounds and smoke.


    Just this scene left one¡¯s teeth tingling in pain.


    The dwarf bit the bullet, but the bullet was still spinning like a drill. Perhaps the moment he relaxed, the bullet would drill into his head and penetrate it.


    This was the first time humans had seen the seventh bullet clearly, but it was only relative. In fact, due to the spinning speed and the intense sparks, they couldn¡¯t see what the bullet looked like. All they could see was a general outline.


    It was completely different from the first six bullets. After the first six bullets were shot out, their momentum would slowly diminish.


    However, the momentum within the seventh bullet didn¡¯t diminish. It was as though it wouldn¡¯t stop unless it killed someone. The momentum showed no signs of weakening.


    The dwarf¡¯s teeth were smoking, and his gums were bleeding profusely. He used his hands and feet to support himself and jumped out of the hole with difficulty. With the bullet between his teeth, he walked towards the door step by step.


    Bang! Bang!


    The sound of firing rang again. Before the dwarf could resolve the bullet between his teeth, the eighth and ninth bullets came at him.


    This time, he didn¡¯t have the ability to bite down again. As his body was resisting the seventh bullet, it was difficult for him to move quickly. All he could do was dodge the eighth bullet. The ninth bullet hit his arm, causing blood to gush out.


    Bang! Bang!


    Bullets kept firing over, leaving bullet holes in the dwarf¡¯s body. Blood quickly stained his already red skin.


    The dwarf finally couldn¡¯t keep the seventh bullet between his teeth. The moment his teeth relaxed slightly, the seventh bullet bounced off and shot into his head.


    The sound of a head exploding made one¡¯s heart run cold. The powerful dwarf had ultimately died due to the seventh bullet.


    As the dwarf died, the seventh bullet vanished, as though Death¡¯s mission of reaping a life had been fulfilled.


    As there were no outsiders in the dimensional zone, the Cube stopped broadcasting. It was unknown if the dwarf left anything behind, so no one dared to enter to take a look.


    ¡­


    ¡°It appears it¡¯s impossible to withstand the seventh bullet with brute force,¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there are roughly three ways to withstand the seventh bullet. The first way is to reach the Golden Palace before the seventh bullet is shot, preventing the seventh bullet from coming out. The second way is to find someone to die in their stead. As long as the seventh bullet kills, the calamity would be met. There¡¯s also another way¡ªRely on something hard like the Looter King and one can forcefully fend off the bullet and cause the trajectory of the bullet to deviate. However, this only stalls for time. The bullet will still fly back. It¡¯s just a temporary solution,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    Zhang Chunqiu nodded slightly. ¡°After this battle, the various factions have more or less figured out the ability of the seventh bullet. I believe it won¡¯t be long before people begin challenging the Venusian dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°Which method do you think they will employ?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and didn¡¯t say a word. As an old friend of his, Xia Liuchuan already understood what he meant. When the time came, most people would use the second method. There would be people using human lives to force their way to the Golden Palace.


    After all, only the seventh bullet required death. The other bullets could be dealt with through other means.


    ¡­


    In the Taklamakan Desert, Liu Yun¡¯s body was buried in the sand, motionless as though he had melded with the desert.


    Streams of light streaked across the air several times before disappearing into the distance.


    ¡°Son-of-a-b*tches, you ain¡¯t got nothing on me.¡± Liu Yun crawled out of the sand and spat in the direction of the streams of light.


    Suddenly, Liu Yun¡¯s body stiffened as his expression turned extremely ugly.


    A sword had been placed on his neck at some point in time, but Liu Yun didn¡¯t know who was holding the sword and standing behind him.


    ¡°Friend, don¡¯t joke around. There¡¯s always room for negotiation.¡± Liu Yun said with a smile.


    ¡°I never like to joke,¡± the person behind him said.


    When Liu Yun heard the voice, he was slightly taken aback. He carefully turned his body to look at the person holding the sword and saw a young man. He was fair and clean with good facial features. He wore a purple trench coat that exuded a sinister beauty.


    ¡°Junior Brother Zhong, you scared me to death. Don¡¯t joke around like that. You nearly gave me a heart attack.¡± Liu Yun recognized the person in front of him and wanted to push the blade away with his finger.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. I don¡¯t like to joke.¡± Zhong Ziya had no intention of retracting the sword. The blade pressed closer to Liu Yun¡¯s neck and immediately sliced into his skin. Blood trickled down the blade.


    ¡°We are fellow disciples. Why can¡¯t we talk things out nicely? Is there a need for this?¡± Liu Yun¡¯s body stiffened as he forced a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you two choices. Help me do something, or I¡¯ll tie you up and throw you into the headquarters of the League of Guardians,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°You might as well kill me,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    ¡°You¡¯re my senior brother after all. It¡¯s not appropriate to kill you personally,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°Thanks a lot.¡± Liu Yun almost blew a gasket. He rolled his eyes and said, ¡°You want me to help you go to the Venusian dimensional zone, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhong Ziya nodded.


    ¡°I can help you, but I have a condition,¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°Speak,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°I want Junior Brother to accompany us,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°He can¡¯t go.¡± Zhong Ziya directly rejected Liu Yun.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you think that the success rate will be much higher if Junior Brother comes along?¡± Liu Yun asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°He can¡¯t die, but you can,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°Thanks A LOT. You are really my good junior brother,¡± Liu Yun said through gritted teeth.

 Chapter 1285 - Humanity’s First Attempt

    Nothing major happened for half a month. The Federation and overseas faction seemed quiet. Apart from the occasional news of dimensional creatures breaking through on a large scale, the world enjoyed some level of peace.


    Over the past few days, Zhou Wen had two Golden Battle God Halberds drop, one Rejuvenation Pill, and a Golden Battle God Mark I. Now, of the six Golden Battle Gods, Zhou Wen had five. The only thing he lacked was Mark IV.


    Although Zhou Wen had the intention of figuring out the Founding Emperor Tomb, Chess Mountain, Mount Laojun, Ant City, and other dungeons, his focus wasn¡¯t on them. He had been studying the problem of Absolute Space.


    Under his constant research, he had resolved the problem of not simultaneously having two Absolute Spaces.


    Using the Spacetime Bandit¡¯s delay function, Zhou Wen successfully made two Absolute Spaces appear at the same time.


    This was the result of experimentation, to which the principle behind it eluded Zhou Wen.


    He first used Spacetime Bandit to cast Absolute Space. Due to the delay, Absolute Space didn¡¯t immediately appear. And without using Spacetime Bandit, he cast another Absolute Space.


    When the delayed Absolute Space appeared, two Absolute Spaces would coexist.


    However, this only allowed two Absolute Spaces to simultaneously exist. If he continuously released a few Absolute Spaces within the time window of Spacetime Bandit, the outcome would only be a delay in the appearance of an Absolute Space. It would disappear in succession, replacing the previous one and leaving only the final delayed one.


    Only two Absolute Spaces could coexist with each other through the use of a delay and zero delay.


    Although two Absolute Spaces were lacking, it gave him more maneuverability.


    Now, the new problem was how to spin the two Absolute Spaces. The speed of moving Absolute Spaces definitely couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed of light, so he had to use a special method to allow the two Absolute Spaces to switch and connect.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique could only swap between two Absolute Spaces, but it couldn¡¯t form a wheel pattern unless he had a third Absolute Space.


    Furthermore, it took too long to use Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. It was very difficult to achieve a seamless effect.


    How can I make two Absolute Spaces automatically connect seamlessly? Zhou Wen could only continue his research.


    He had also watched the battle of the dwarf and knew that if his spatial skill could succeed, it was very likely that he could trap the seventh bullet in the spatial wheel. Then, the sure-kill seventh bullet would never be able to injure him.


    Under Ice Maiden¡¯s efforts, Nether Lotus was completely brainwashed.


    In Nether Lotus¡¯s mind, Zhou Wen was an evil human pervert. Furthermore, he had placed an inescapable curse on her and Ice Maiden. All she could do was feign civility and obey Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    Recently, there had been many large-scale break-out of dimensional creatures in the dimensional zones near Luoyang. Zhou Wen got Ice Maiden and Nether Lotus to help Qin Wufu deal with them to prevent them from constantly appearing in front of him.


    Although Ice Maiden wanted to go to Chess Mountain, she knew that there was a horrifying existence there and needed Zhou Wen¡¯s strength to enter. Therefore, she had no intention of running.


    With her watching Nether Lotus, Zhou Wen felt at ease. Ice Maiden was an ambitious woman. She wouldn¡¯t give up on the Demon God Bloodline Catalog so easily.


    Furthermore, ever since she had learned that Nether Lotus had information regarding Earth¡¯s Companion Beasts, Ice Maiden had been pondering over how to get the information out of her.


    ¡°Chess Mountain¡­ Chess Mountain actually has this¡­ It¡¯s no wonder you came here¡­ So you¡¯ve already decided¡­¡± When Nether Lotus came to Chess Mountain to help the Sunset Army clean up the break-out creatures, she immediately exclaimed.


    Ice Maiden realized that the place Nether Lotus was referring to was Chess Mountain.


    Ice Maiden was pleasantly surprised, but she wore a poker face. ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t spout nonsense.¡±


    Nether Lotus now wholeheartedly trusted Ice Maiden. She believed that Ice Maiden definitely knew of the news, so she whispered, ¡°This is a good opportunity. We can go in and take a look. Perhaps we can really find Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast. With such an existence, we don¡¯t have to be afraid of that evil human.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Chess Mountain is filled with danger. There must be a Calamity-grade existence inside. With our present strength, it¡¯s impossible for us to obtain any benefits even if we enter. We might even die inside,¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Nether Lotus hadn¡¯t expected Earth to be so horrifying. Her understanding of Earth came from the previous Cube ranking battle.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. I¡¯ve already thought of a solution. As long as we do it well, we can lure that evil human into Chess Mountain. When the time comes, he and the creature in Chess Mountain will suffer an internecine outcome, and we can reap the benefits¡­¡± Ice Maiden said.


    ¡°Can we really do that? We can¡¯t have that evil human obtain the strongest Companion Beast,¡± said Nether Lotus worriedly.


    ¡°Therefore, we need to wait for an opportunity. The plan needs to be meticulous. There can¡¯t be any mistakes.¡± Ice Maiden continued the bluff.


    ¡°I guess that¡¯s the only way.¡± Nether Lotus was somewhat vexed. If she had known that this would happen, she wouldn¡¯t have sneaked over alone. At the very least, she would have brought a Calamity-grade helper.


    ..


    After more than half a month in the doldrums, a figure finally appeared on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    All the major media outlets immediately rushed to report. When people saw the person on the Cube screen, they were stunned.


    ¡°Human¡­ It¡¯s a human¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Thief Sage? What¡¯s he doing there?¡±


    ¡°No, look at that person. He has horns on his head. He¡¯s not human.¡±


    ¡°Ah! That¡¯s the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s Ox Demon.¡±


    ¡°Heavens, there¡¯s also Fairy Peacock and True Martial. Could that fellow be¡­ Ah¡­ That¡¯s Ya¡­ The line up consists of the elites of the Holy Spirit Association¡­ Are they trying to clear the Venusian dimensional zone?¡±


    ¡°That will be tough. Although they are all Terror-grade powerhouses, it¡¯s still too difficult to pass through the defense of the Calamity-grade creature.¡±


    The people were quickly recognized. Although the various factions had long expected someone to make an attempt, they never expected the Holy Spirit Association to be the first.


    Everyone talked excitedly. Although the Holy Spirit Association was half-human, people weren¡¯t absolutely against it due to Ya.


    The Holy Spirit Association was also a very strange organization. At the very least, ordinary people didn¡¯t have much hatred or resistance towards it.


    However, because the Holy Spirit Association had been constantly trying to kill the Guardians and subvert the Federation, it had been designated as an evil organization by the Federation. This was how it had always been promoted.


    However, the publicity wasn¡¯t very good. People didn¡¯t have a good impression of the League of Guardians either, so they didn¡¯t believe that what they said was true.


    With the main heads of the Holy Spirit Association appearing one after another, and with them all ranked at the top of the wanted list, it gave people a very odd feeling.


    Was a group of federal wanted criminals, who weren¡¯t purely human, capable of representing humanity?

 Chapter 1286 - Level Clearing

    The Holy Spirit Association didn¡¯t drip their blood to enter the Venusian dimensional zone. Instead, with Liu Yun¡¯s help, they directly teleported into the dimensional zone.


    Liu Yun first brought Ox Demon into the room. As the Metal Guard fired, Ox Demon¡¯s tall figure charged forward suddenly. With a single punch, he blasted the bullet along with the Metal Guard apart. His strength was shocking.


    The more powerful a person in the Holy Spirit Association was, the higher their bounty on the Federation¡¯s wanted list. Without a doubt, the Ox Demon was the one with the highest bounty in the Holy Spirit Association other than Ya.


    The number of Guardians he had killed was probably in the triple digits. Most of them were members of the League of Guardians.


    Ya, Fairy Peacock, and True Martial were sent over by Liu Yun one by one. As for Ox Demon, he had already started a massacre inside. The Metal Guards that came out of the six doors were killed with his punches one after another, no different from crushing ants.


    Without needing the others to do anything, Ox Demon finished off all the Metal Guards.


    The Golden Battle God Mark I came out of the door and shot a freezing bullet at Ox Demon. Ox Demon was a hot-tempered individual and had no intention of retreating. His armor-covered body tore through the air and his fist smashed into the freezing bullet.


    As the fist collided with the freezing bullet, the freezing bullet shattered, turning into a large icy fog that spread out. Ox Demon broke through the ice fog and arrived in front of the Golden Battle God. His body was covered in frost, but he thought nothing of it. He punched at the Golden Battle God again and again.


    As the fist hit the metal, the Golden Battle God¡¯s metal body failed to withstand Ox Demon¡¯s punches. His entire body caved in as fist imprints appeared everywhere. Finally, his chest was shattered by the punch, and even his energy source exploded.


    ¡°What terrifying power,¡± said Xia Liuchuan.


    Zhang Chunqiu thought for a moment and said, ¡°Ox Demon¡¯s original name was Zhang Jing. He was originally the son of a local tycoon. Back then, his father¡¯s influence locally wasn¡¯t inferior to An Tianzuo¡¯s status in Luoyang. Unfortunately, for some reason, the Zhang family collapsed without good reason. Most of the Zhang family¡¯s direct descendants died. Zhang Jing vanished and when he appeared again, he was already the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s Ox Demon. The Guardian he fused with should be of pure Strength and Constitution. He doesn¡¯t have any long-range attacks, but his Strength, Constitution, and Speed are alarmingly powerful.¡±


    After a pause, Zhang Chunqiu said, ¡°According to some clues, the Zhang family¡¯s decline might be related to the dimension, but it hasn¡¯t been confirmed.¡±


    ¡°You know very well,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    ¡°After all, we share the same Zhang surname. I do pay a little attention,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    As the two of them spoke, Ox Demon had already killed three Golden Battle Gods. His bravery was awe-inspiring.


    ¡°Is this the strength of the Holy Spirit Association? Just an Ox Demon is already so terrifying. I wonder how strong Ya is now.¡±


    ¡°After all, he¡¯s an expert who once made a name for himself on the same battlefield as Human Sovereign. Ya¡¯s strength is definitely extraordinary.¡±


    ¡°Back then, Ya could already defeat a Calamity-grade entity who descended with a borrowed body. Now, he might be able to defeat a true Calamity-grade existence.¡±


    People were very curious about Ya. Outsiders only knew Ya, but they didn¡¯t know that he was Wang Mingyuan¡¯s student, Zhong Ziya.


    In the League of Guardians, Blood Shaman wore a nasty expression. The way he stared at Ox Demon was somewhat terrifying.


    Over the past few days, the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association had fought quite a number of times. Blood Shaman and Ox Demon were old rivals. Their combat methods were somewhat similar. They relied on their bodies to fight, but Blood Shaman had never been able to gain an advantage over Ox Demon.


    ¡°Your Excellency, if the Holy Spirit Association manages to leave its name on the rankings, the influence it has on the Federation cannot be underestimated. It will be very disadvantageous for us,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°They found Thief Sage ahead of us. Without a spatial expert at Thief Sage¡¯s level, it will be very troublesome for us to enter the Venusian dimensional zone,¡± Cave Era said.


    ¡°Actually, we can use Jiuyue,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°We would have used him if he could be used. Jiuyue has a good impression of the Holy Spirit Association. Although he¡¯s a Guardian, he has always refused to join the League of Guardians. How can he be used? Do you dare use his services?¡± Cave Era said.


    ¡°There will be a way. Your Excellency, please leave this matter to me. I will definitely be able to make Jiuyue work for us.¡± Hermit requested Immortal¡¯s permission.


    Immortal said indifferently, ¡°To clear the Venusian dimensional zone, one needs flawless cooperation.¡±


    ¡°I understand. I will definitely make Jiuyue willingly serve us.¡± Hermit understood what Immortal meant and promised.


    As they spoke, Ox Demon had already destroyed six Golden Battle Gods with his own strength. It left everyone amazed.


    However, everyone knew that this was only the beginning. What followed was the true test of the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s strength. Not anyone could block a Calamity-grade bullet.


    After the six Golden Battle Gods died, Ya led his team towards the door.


    Fairy Peacock and True Martial flanked him, while Ox Demon walked behind. Liu Yun followed right at the back.


    Everyone stared at Ya, wanting to know how he was going to block the Calamity-grade bullet.


    Bang!


    A gunshot sounded. When everyone saw it, they realized that Ya had already raised the Primordial Immortal Sword in front of him. Sparks flew as a bullet was blocked.


    ¡°How is this possible? He actually blocked it? How did he react?¡± Li Xuan, who was watching, gaped in shock.


    Zhou Wen was also watching the battle. He pointed at Peacock Fairy and True Martial and said, ¡°That¡¯s not Ya¡¯s strength alone. He has been augmented by the powers of the other two. They seem to have some kind of halo-like power.¡±


    ¡°I see. I wonder what power they augmented Ya with. It actually allowed Ya to react under such circumstances and even pull out his sword to block the bullet.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t pay attention to Peacock Fairy and True Martial. After taking a careful look, he realized that they were responsible for the feat.


    The average person couldn¡¯t tell that Peacock Fairy and True Martial had played a major role. They just saw Ya quickly brandish his Primordial Immortal Sword, blocking three bullets.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, as expected of Ya. He¡¯s too powerful. He feels even more powerful than those Calamity-grade creatures.¡±


    ¡°We have strong ones among us humans. He looks even more ferocious than the dwarf and Dragon Turtle.¡±


    ¡°This is too powerful. Could it be that Ya is already at the Calamity grade?¡±


    While everyone praised the team, Zhang Chunqiu observed the cracks beneath True Martial¡¯s feet and said lightly, ¡°True Martial is a talent.¡±


    ¡°That Peacock Fairy is quite interesting.¡± Xia Liuchuan looked at the fan in Fairy Peacock¡¯s hand with piqued interest.


    The members of the League of Guardians didn¡¯t look too good. It looked like the Holy Spirit Association had made ample preparations. Perhaps they could really leave their names on the rankings.


    However, everyone knew that the seventh shot was the true test. Whether one could withstand the seventh shot was key to reaching the Golden Palace.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried for Zhong Ziya. He could naturally tell that Zhong Ziya was only at the Terror grade and hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade. He had also designed a special skill combination to block the bullet. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this method was effective against the seventh bullet.


    However, their battle gave Zhou Wen some hope.


    The Calamity-grade creature kept firing at Ya, but it didn¡¯t attack Peacock Fairy and True Martial. This meant that the creature still followed the same behavioral pattern as in-game. It would first kill creatures with higher levels and strength.


    If that was the case in real life, his Companion Beasts like Grim Reaper No. 10 could be put to use. They could be used to block bullets at critical moments.


    Of course, perhaps the creature was in a good mood and didn¡¯t want to kill them all.


    The Holy Spirit Association members had already rushed into the tunnel. As they advanced, they blocked the bullets. Soon, they finished blocking the first six bullets.


    Everyone held their breaths as their hearts raced uncontrollably. They were like criminals awaiting judgment. Regardless of whether they were friend or foe, all of them wanted to know if the Holy Spirit Association could block the critical seventh shot.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to block the seventh sure-kill strike with a Terror-grade power. I¡¯m afraid they¡¯ll throw a life at it. I wonder who will die?¡± Hermit sneered.


    Most of the people who knew the inside story had similar thoughts as Hermit. The seventh shot could only be neutered with death.

 Chapter 1287 - Blocking the Bullet

    ¡°Although it¡¯s said that throwing lives at the seventh shot can effectively mitigate it, not any random life can mitigate the offensive power of a Calamity-grade bullet. Even a Terror-grade life might not be able to meet the requirement. The power of a bullet will definitely not dissipate after a typical Terror-grade is killed. It still needs some special Terror-grade creature to fill this hole. From their abilities, Ox Demon should be the most suitable person to fill this hole,¡± said Blood Shaman.


    ¡°Ox Demon is part of the backbone of the Holy Spirit Association. To sacrifice Ox Demon for a ranking seems unlikely, right?¡± Cave Era said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible. The thing in the Venusian dimensional zone isn¡¯t merely something Ox Demon can compare with,¡± said Blood Shaman.


    Bang!


    As they spoke, the seventh gunshot sounded. Everyone jolted and hurriedly looked at Ya and the others, wanting to know what the outcome would be. Who would block this shot with their lives?


    When things turned clear for everyone, they realized that Ox Demon had appeared in front of Ya at some point in time. This outcome wasn¡¯t unexpected.


    No matter how one looked at it, Ox Demon seemed to be the best person to block the shot.


    However, when people took a closer look, they couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed. It was true that Ox Demon was standing in front of Ya, but he wasn¡¯t hit by the seventh bullet. His body was completely unharmed.


    And in front of Ox Demon, there was another creature.


    The creature looked like a Guardian. It had a majestic body and was wearing resplendent heavy armor. Its limbs and body were chained, but one could no longer identify it since its head had been shattered by the bullet.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Giant Armor God¡­¡± Cave Era stood up immediately and stared angrily at the screen. Her eyes nearly spewed out flames.


    Giant Armor God was a rather important member of the League of Guardians. Unlike the Guardians that were sent through the Skysplit Tower, Giant Armor God was a Guardian that grew up on Earth. He was one of the few elites that could advance to the Terror grade. His status in the League of Guardians was second only to the four Heavenly Kings.


    Even though his head had exploded, Cave Era still recognized Giant Armor God at a glance. The armor and powerful physique were not something ordinary people could imitate.


    ¡°Those bastards from the Holy Spirit Association!¡± Hermit¡¯s eyes flashed with a cold glint. The Giant Armor God had always been in charge of the League of Guardians¡¯ fieldwork. It had only been two to three days since he left the headquarters, but he had been captured by the Holy Spirit Association and used as a shield.


    The Giant Armor God¡¯s physique and defense weren¡¯t inferior to Ox Demon¡¯s. Although its overall strength wasn¡¯t as strong as Ox Demon, it wasn¡¯t that much weaker. Using him as a shield successfully nullified the seventh sure-kill bullet.


    Ox Demon grabbed the Giant Armor God¡¯s corpse with both hands and threw it to the side. Ya, Peacock Fairy, and company continued rushing towards the Golden Palace.


    Another gunshot sounded. The might of the next bullet returned to the level of the first six shots. It was blocked by Ya¡¯s Primordial Immortal Sword again.


    As everyone charged in, they fended off the bullets. However, they were still a long way from the Golden Palace. The sixth shot of the second round was fired, spelling the dawn of the sure-kill seventh shot.


    Giant Armor God was dead. Without any vitality or strength, it was impossible for him to block another shot even if his corpse was still around.


    Without the Giant Armor God, who could withstand the seventh shot?


    Everyone was guessing if the Holy Spirit Association had captured other Guardians or who would be used as a shield.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to find a powerful Guardian like the Giant Armor God. It was even harder to capture it. It was difficult to believe that the Holy Spirit Association could capture a second one.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door was already in sight. It seemed a pity to give up now.


    This concerned the ownership of the Venusian Companion Beast. No one would give up at this moment.


    As long as they blocked the shot again, they could arrive in front of the Golden Palace. And among them, there was Ox Demon who could block the shot. His physique and abilities weren¡¯t weaker than Giant Armor God and were perhaps even stronger. Since Giant Armor God could withstand the shot, Ox Demon could likely do the same.


    Using an Ox Demon¡¯s life to exchange for a chance of obtaining the Venusian Companion Beast seemed to be their only choice.


    Ox Demon gritted his teeth and rushed in front of Ya again. He roared, ¡°President, I¡¯ll pave the way for you. I¡¯ll use my life to exchange for the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s chance to become the ruler of Earth. It¡¯s worth it.¡±


    ¡°Without the people, what fun is there in ruling this world?¡± Ya said indifferently. He pressed his palm on Ox Demon¡¯s shoulder and leaped up. He flew over Ox Demon¡¯s head and, like an immortal riding a sword, transformed into a long beam that shot towards the Golden Palace¡¯s door.


    ¡°No way. Although this speed is fast, it¡¯s not as fast as the Calamity-grade bullet!¡±


    ¡°Just now, he used the power of Fairy Peacock and True Martial to block the first six bullets. Now, without the augmentation of Fairy Peacock and True Martial¡¯s powers, he won¡¯t be able to block ordinary Calamity-grade bullets, much less the seventh shot, right?¡±


    ¡°Although it¡¯s very stupid and naive, I like such a person.¡±


    ¡°As expected of Ya. That man who fought the dimension alone. If he hadn¡¯t been forcefully kicked out of the competition, Ya might have been able to obtain first place without Human Sovereign taking action.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Some were disdainful, some were contemptuous, and some were admirers. There were all sorts of emotions.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was in his throat. He could naturally tell that Ya¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t allow him to reach the Golden Palace before the seventh shot hit him.


    Even if he wanted to rush to Venus to save him, it was already too late.


    After all, his teleportation skill wasn¡¯t precise enough to teleport him directly into the Venusian dimensional zone.


    Bang!


    The sure-kill seventh shot sounded again, and Ya¡¯s figure was at least a hundred meters away from the Golden Palace. This hundred meters was like an untraversable chasm.


    Blocking the shot is impossible.


    You have to survive!


    Kill him!


    Different people roared different thoughts in their hearts, hoping for different results.


    Everyone¡¯s attention was focused on Ya. Seeing Ya¡¯s figure rapidly fall, the hearts of his supporters sank.


    As for Ya¡¯s head, it exploded. Even his body exploded.


    Just as some people were overjoyed and some were sad and disappointed, they suddenly saw Ya¡¯s figure appear in front of the Golden Palace¡¯s door. He stood in front of the Golden Palace gates and casually held the Primordial Immortal Sword over his shoulder. The white trench coat imprinted with a black ¡®Ya¡¯ swayed with the shockwave as his long hair danced.


    There weren¡¯t many times when a man could be described as beautiful, but the present Ya was not only beautiful, but had a sort of wildness to him.


    His wild and evil beauty was like a famous saber. It was beautiful and artistic, but it also made one unable to control their fear.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened and a metal ball landed in Ya¡¯s hand. The scene in the Cube also changed to a ranking. Ya¡¯s name was shockingly on it.

 Chapter 1288 - : Immortal

    Chapter 1288: Immortal


    Translator: CKtalon


    Ya¡¯s name appeared in third place. It was a single Ya character, and behind Ya was a golden star.


    ¡°Ah! Only one star?¡±


    ¡°What are you fantasizing about? It¡¯s not bad to have one star. Ignoring having a star, which human on Earth can clear the Venusian dimensional zone and make it onto the rankings?¡±


    ¡°Ya is so impressive. He can even go on the rankings like this. Two Calamity-grade creatures have already perished.¡±


    ¡°The Holy Spirit Association is invincible!¡±


    The entire Federation¡¯s Internet seemed to explode with furor. Everyone was discussing Ya¡¯s appearance on the rankings, but Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    Others might not be able to tell, but Zhou Wen could tell that Ya¡¯s Substitute skill hadn¡¯t been able to completely block the fatal shot. He was injured.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how bad Ya¡¯s injuries were. With the Cube putting his name on the rankings, it meant that he wasn¡¯t dead.


    However, even if he wasn¡¯t dead now, it didn¡¯t mean that his injuries weren¡¯t eventually fatal. Perhaps he just hadn¡¯t died immediately.


    Zhou Wen was more worried that he wasn¡¯t the only one who could tell that Ya was injured. If the League of Guardians could tell as well, Ya might not be able to return alive if they took the opportunity to pursue him.


    Ya¡¯s act of using Giant Armor God to block the shot had definitely infuriated the League of Guardians. It wasn¡¯t impossible for the four Heavenly Kings and even the legendary Immortal to take action.


    Although Liu Yun¡¯s teleportation ability was amazing, it wasn¡¯t easy to take someone to Venus.


    Previously, when they went to Venus, Liu Yun could slowly send them there one by one. It wasn¡¯t a problem for him to take a long time. No one knew that they were heading there ahead of time.


    However, in this situation, the League of Guardians already knew that they were on Venus. It was impossible for them to immediately teleport back to Earth as a group. There was a high chance of being intercepted.


    Now, Zhou Wen only hoped that the League of Guardians didn¡¯t have a way to quickly reach Venus.


    However, Zhou Wen felt uneasy. After some thought, he summoned Jade Rabbit and got it to stay in Overseer Manor. Then, he left a Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping mark on a brick by the garden.


    After doing all of this, Zhou Wen teleported to Venus. He was wearing the Dragon King armor.


    The members of the Holy Spirit Association had just been sent out of the Venusian dimensional zone and appeared on the platform of the hemispherical metal building. Before they could leave, they saw a figure floating in the air and staring at them.


    Others had yet to discover the figure above, but Zhong Ziya seemed to sense something as he looked up.


    Everyone felt somewhat puzzled as they looked in the direction of Zhong Ziya¡¯s gaze. They immediately discovered the figure floating there and warily gathered their strength to prepare for battle.


    The figure¡¯s armor was almost pure light. It was like the purest light in the world, crystallizing into an armor that enveloped his body.


    His body flowed with a deity¡¯s halo. His entire body seemed to be blessed by the gods. He was surrounded by halos, making him look holy and godlike.


    He stood in midair and looked at Zhong Ziya without a word.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Ox Demon stared at the godlike figure and asked.


    At that moment, the image of the rankings had ended. It returned to the scene outside the Venusian dimensional zone and people immediately saw the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s group and the godlike figure.


    Ox Demon¡¯s question was what they wanted to know as well.


    For such a figure to suddenly appear at this moment and block the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s path, it was obvious that he had come for a reason.


    However, the Holy Spirit Association had just entered the rankings and was in its prime. To dare provoke them at such a time, the person¡¯s origins were probably not small.


    The godlike figure didn¡¯t answer Ox Demon. He continued looking at Zhong Ziya calmly.


    The act of ignoring him immediately enraged Ox Demon. He gathered his strength and was about to leap up to strike the figure.


    However, before he could move, Zhong Ziya pressed down on his shoulder.


    ¡°You are Immortal?¡± Zhong Ziya asked as he looked at the figure.


    Everyone was alarmed when he said that. Almost everyone on Earth had heard of the League of Guardians¡¯ Immortal, but only a few had actually seen him.


    There were many rumors that Immortal was very likely a Calamity-grade Guardian.


    ¡°You have to pay the debt of Giant Armor God¡¯s life.¡± The figure finally spoke. Although he didn¡¯t directly admit it, it was equivalent to tacit agreement.


    ¡°How do I return it?¡± Zhong Ziya asked.


    ¡°Ten times,¡± Immortal said.


    Zhong Ziya smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s really something we can¡¯t repay. We only have five people here.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t count me in. I¡¯m not from the Holy Spirit Association. It has nothing to do with me. I was coerced by them,¡± Liu Yun hurriedly corrected.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take five first. The remaining can be owed.¡± Immortal ignored Liu Yun and still counted him, leaving Liu Yun depressed.


    ¡°Additional debt doesn¡¯t matter once it reaches a certain threshold. Since it can be owed, why not keep it that way for the entire debt?¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not possible.¡± Immortal¡¯s voice didn¡¯t have any change in emotion. It was like a robot.


    ¡°Return now. I¡¯ll have a good chat with this Immortal,¡± Zhong Ziya ordered Ox Demon and company.


    Just as Ox Demon and company were about to accept the order, they heard Immortal say, ¡°Your injuries are too serious. You no longer have the ability to fight. Your life is mine. Likewise for the rest. Leave your lives behind.¡±


    ¡°President!¡± Ox Demon and company were alarmed as they looked at Zhong Ziya in disbelief.


    ¡°Is this little trick enough to make you lose your sense of propriety?¡± Zhong Ziya held the Primordial Immortal Sword and pointed it at Immortal. At the same time, he said indifferently, ¡°Do what¡¯s required of you. Immortal of the League of Guardians, I¡¯ve long wanted to see what tricks you have.¡±


    As he spoke, the sword intent on the Primordial Immortal Sword surged. It was unimaginably terrifying.


    ¡°Old Ox, it¡¯s just a Guardian. It¡¯s not worth it for the president to personally take action. Just take him down.¡± Peacock Fairy, who had not said anything, suddenly spoke.


    At the same time, she patted Ox Demon with one hand as a force immediately injected into his body.


    Ox Demon was slightly taken aback. On the other side, True Martial also patted his other shoulder. Another strange force was injected into his body.


    Although Ox Demon wasn¡¯t as smart as Fairy Peacock, he immediately understood something when he saw her and True Martial¡¯s actions. Without looking at Zhong Ziya, he gathered his strength and tore through the air to attack Immortal.


    Ox Demon knew very well that Fairy Peacock and True Martial¡¯s loyalty to Zhong Ziya was no less than his. It was absolutely impossible for them to disobey Zhong Ziya¡¯s orders, unless it was as Immortal had said¡ªZhong Ziya had been severely injured.


    With the augmentation of Fairy Peacock and True Martial, Ox Demon¡¯s strength and speed were pushed to unimaginable heights.. The power he emitted was like a destructive meteor that struck at Immortal.

 Chapter 1289 - Godlike

    The might of this punch was so powerful that it probably exceeded the limits of the Terror grade. Its pure strength caused space to tremble and warp.


    Not only was the punch terrifying, but it was also unbelievably fast. It approached the speed of light.


    ¡°The powers of Fairy Peacock and True Martial are really useful. They can actually raise Ox Demon¡¯s strength to such a level. Although they aren¡¯t comparable to a Calamity-grade, they aren¡¯t too far off,¡± Xia Liuchuan exclaimed.


    Before he could say anything else, Xia Liuchuan¡¯s mouth gaped open.


    Ox Demon¡¯s terrifying punch missed.


    What was ridiculous was that Immortal stood there without moving. Ox Demon¡¯s punch flew past the side of his face without touching Immortal.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he can¡¯t even hit him. They must be in cahoots. Could Ox Demon be a spy planted by the League of Guardians in the Holy Spirit Association?¡±


    ¡°Ox Demon is definitely a traitor. His acting sucks.¡±


    ¡°Bro, can you put in more effort in your acting?¡±


    ¡­


    Even an expert like Xia Liuchuan was somewhat puzzled as to why Ox Demon¡¯s punch missed.


    They had thought of ten thousand possibilities prior to this, even considering the possibility of Ox Demon being suppressed by Immortal with one finger, but they never expected Ox Demon to miss.


    Following that, something even more ridiculous happened. Ox Demon¡¯s punches came one after another. Even half a planet would probably be destroyed by his crazy bombardment.


    However, Immortal was completely fine. Even his hair didn¡¯t stir. All of Ox Demon¡¯s attacks and his violent fists brushed past Immortal as though he had deliberately missed.


    At that moment, anyone could tell that something was amiss. The power in Ox Demon¡¯s fist wasn¡¯t fake, nor was it acting. It looked like he just couldn¡¯t hit his target.


    However, Immortal had never moved. How could he not be able to hit him?


    Everyone felt that Ox Demon should be able to hit him, but every punch he threw with all his might missed. It was as though he had deliberately avoided Immortal.


    ¡°Legend has it that saints have the protection of the heavens. All Dharma can¡¯t touch them. Could it be that Immortal of the League of Guardians is already powerful enough to be considered a saint?¡± Xia Liuchuan muttered to himself as he looked at the godlike Immortal.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s a saint, but this power is really terrifying. It makes the opponent completely unable to hit him. This power is very similar to one of the legendary powers of our Zhang family, but no one in the Zhang family has mastered it,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°What power?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked curiously.


    ¡°Evil Annihilation Retreat,¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered.


    On the Cube, Immortal finally moved. He raised his hand but didn¡¯t move quickly. He pressed his thumb to his middle finger and flicked Ox Demon¡¯s head.


    Ox Demon¡¯s eyes were filled with horror as he attacked with all his might. However, his attacks still seemed to deliberately avoid Immortal. He didn¡¯t even touch Immortal¡¯s clothes.


    Bang!


    Immortal¡¯s middle finger flicked Ox Demon¡¯s forehead, sending him flying like a cannonball. He slammed into Venus, creating a huge crater in the rocky ground.


    The shockwave constantly tumbled out like a nuclear blast.


    After the blast passed, people saw Ox Demon¡¯s mighty body. He had collapsed inside the rock pit, his body contorted. His forehead had caved in, and his body was covered in blood.


    Struggling, Ox Demon barely managed to get up from the pit. After taking two steps, he staggered and fell to the ground.


    Everyone fell silent. Such a powerful Ox Demon failed to even withstand Immortal¡¯s finger strike. He was already half-dead.


    ¡°Thief Sage, take the president away now.¡± Fairy Peacock and True Martial rushed in front of Zhong Ziya and shielded him behind them as they shouted at Liu Yun.


    However, just as they finished speaking, they suddenly realized that Immortal, who had been far away in midair, had appeared in front of them at some point in time. His eyes were less than a foot away from theirs.


    Pa! Pa!


    Immortal extended his hand and slapped Fairy Peacock and True Martial in the face. The two of them immediately flew out like cannonballs. Their faces contorted as they slammed into the ground, creating two deep ravines that were thousands of meters long.


    Pfft!


    True Martial struggled to get up. His head was covered in blood and he spat out a mouthful of blood.


    On the other side, Peacock Fairy was in an even worse state. There was no movement from her under the rubble. It was unknown if she was dead or alive.


    In an instant, the three core members of the Holy Spirit Association, who had accompanied Ya to rush to the top of the rankings, appeared so weak that they were easily beaten by Immortal.


    ¡°How powerful!¡± Everyone felt their scalps tingle. The power of Immortal carried an overbearingness that made it difficult for others to resist.


    ¡°He¡¯s a Calamity-grade, right?¡±


    ¡°I think he¡¯s more like a god. An omnipotent god.¡±


    ¡°Nothing less expected of a god¡¯s possession. Even an enemy¡¯s attack will automatically avoid him. What a miracle!¡±


    Ordinary people were amazed, but those who wanted to liberate themselves from the League of Guardians¡¯ rule felt heavy emotions after seeing the horror of Immortal.


    Liu Yun was alarmed as well. He gritted his teeth and instant transmitted behind Zhong Ziya, about to teleport away from Venus with him.


    However, before he could touch Zhong Ziya, the Primordial Immortal Sword in Zhong Ziya¡¯s hand was already at his throat, forcing Liu Yun to stop.


    ¡°What are you doing? I¡¯m helping you,¡± Liu Yun shouted angrily.


    ¡°Find an opportunity to take them away,¡± Zhong Ziya said as he stared at Immortal. The Primordial Immortal Sword in his hand and his body emitted an unimaginably terrifying sword intent.


    His aura constantly rose, almost no weaker than Immortal¡¯s. However, at his chest, the white robe gradually turned blood-red. The blood-red flower bloomed on the white robe like a flower. Clearly, there was constant bleeding underneath.


    ¡°He¡¯s indeed injured. Even with the Substitute technique, it¡¯s not that easy to dodge the seventh sure-kill shot,¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed as though he had noticed the problem long ago.


    ¡°If he wasn¡¯t injured, he might really be able to fight Immortal. Now, I¡¯m afraid he can at most risk his life to stall for time. I just don¡¯t know how long he can last.¡± Xia Liuchuan shook his head.


    Immortal looked at Zhong Ziya, whose chest was already blood-red, and said, ¡°If you continue, I don¡¯t need to do anything. That injury will take your life. I don¡¯t like people I wish to kill dying in front of me.¡±


    ¡°Is that so? Then accompany me to hell to see the scenery there.¡± Zhong Ziya ignored everything and continued releasing the remaining energy in his body, about to give up on suppressing his injuries.


    ¡°Sirs, do you need a fighter substitute service?¡± A voice suddenly sounded.

 Chapter 1290 - Based on Honesty and Integrity

    ¡°Looter King? What¡¯s he doing here? Doesn¡¯t he only like to pick up scraps? Is there anything for him to loot here?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you hear him say that he wants to be a fighter substitute?¡±


    ¡°Fighter substitute? How does that work? Who is he substituting? Fight the League of Guardians in place of the Holy Spirit Association?¡±


    ¡°Is he crazy? He actually wants to take advantage of such a situation? Isn¡¯t he afraid that he won¡¯t have the life to spend the money he earns? Ignoring the fact that he can fight the terrifying, godlike Immortal, even if he can, will he have a peaceful life after offending the League of Guardians?¡±


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s the League of Guardians? If even Immortal is defeated, who in the League of Guardians can touch him? They will only be throwing themselves at death.¡±


    ¡­


    The person who appeared on Venus was naturally Zhou Wen. However, he didn¡¯t wish to participate in the battle between the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association with his personal identity to prevent the League of Guardians from targeting his family. Although he wasn¡¯t afraid, it would be very troublesome. It was better to save the trouble.


    Zhou Wen appeared in the middle of Immortal and Ya, seemingly both unintentionally and intentionally. It made the battle that was about to break out between them calm down slightly as the auras on both sides converged.


    ¡°Looter King, are you also a member of the Holy Spirit Association?¡± Immortal said with a frown.


    Back when Zhou Wen used his sword to block the seventh Calamity-grade bullet, even Immortal didn¡¯t dare belittle him.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯ve always been a loner. I never share my earnings with others, so how can I join an organization to split the money with others? Now that I¡¯m providing fighter substitute services, I wonder if you are interested in my services. My prices begin at a Mythical Companion Egg,¡± Zhou Wen said, having changed his voice.


    Immortal didn¡¯t say a word as he looked at Zhou Wen. He was already confident of victory, so he naturally didn¡¯t need Zhou Wen to fight on his behalf. However, if he said that he didn¡¯t need him, the Holy Spirit Association, which was in a very disadvantageous situation, would definitely need such a strong ally.


    The problem was that Immortal didn¡¯t know the origins of Looter King. Perhaps he was a member of the Holy Spirit Association and was only pretending.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Think about it carefully.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he looked at Zhong Ziya and asked, ¡°President, do you need a fighter substitute service? The price is fair and honest.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the price?¡± Zhong Ziya didn¡¯t retract his sword as he asked coldly.


    ¡°That depends on who you want me to fight,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That irritating fellow opposite me,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a major figure from the League of Guardians. He¡¯s very powerful,¡± Zhou Wen said, seemingly afraid.


    ¡°You don¡¯t dare to accept the job?¡± Zhong Ziya asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯ll accept it as long as I¡¯m paid, but the price definitely won¡¯t be cheap,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Name your price,¡± Zhong Ziya said again.


    ¡°I just started business today. I¡¯ll give you a reasonable price, so don¡¯t haggle. A Terror-grade Companion Egg. Service is rendered after payment,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Deal.¡± Zhong Ziya extended his hand and threw a Companion Egg at Zhou Wen. ¡°Terror-grade Flaming Monarch, you can check the goods first.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I trust the president of the Holy Spirit Association.¡± Zhou Wen caught the Companion Egg and stroked it lovingly.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve taken my Companion Egg, it¡¯s time to work,¡± Zhong Ziya said.


    ¡°No rush.¡± Zhou Wen held the Companion Egg and turned to Immortal. ¡°Lord Immortal, as you can see, President Ya spent a Terror-grade Companion Egg to get me to fight for him. If you think the price of a Companion Egg is too low, you can offer a higher price. I¡¯ll help you beat him up.¡±


    ¡°F*ck, he¡¯s too shameless. This fellow actually raised the price so brazenly.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by raising the price? This is called extortion, alright?¡±


    ¡°Looter King is too shameless. He doesn¡¯t have any professional ethics.¡±


    ¡°There are benefits to being shameless. Look at him. He has already obtained a Terror-grade Companion Egg. At the very least, he can earn a Terror-grade Companion Egg. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t have the chance to encounter such a high-grade item in our lives. He earned it with just a few words. I call that skill.¡±


    ¡°Although he¡¯s capable, he¡¯s really too shameless.¡±


    As people discussed, Immortal looked at Zhou Wen and said without any fluctuations in his voice, ¡°How do I know that you will definitely work for me after taking my payment?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll do the work for whoever gives me the most benefits. However, don¡¯t worry. I have my professional ethics. As long as I receive benefits, I¡¯ll definitely do the work. If I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll refund it in full. I guarantee it with my reputation. Otherwise, I¡¯ll be struck by lightning and die without a complete corpse¡­¡± Zhou Wen swore as though he was serious.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a Terror-grade Companion Egg. There¡¯s a Terror-grade skill crystal here. It¡¯s produced by a spatial creature, Void Bird. It¡¯s definitely a spatial skill. Its value is above the Flaming Monarch,¡± Immortal said as he took out a skill crystal.


    When people heard the name Void Bird, they were immediately taken aback.


    Void Bird came from overseas. It was said to be a bird that never landed on the ground. It soared above the sea all its life. Furthermore, it was said that Void Bird had the ability to travel to the future. Wherever it appeared, there was a high possibility of a huge storm happening the next day. Therefore, Void Bird was known as the Bird of Prophecy or the Bird of Calamity.


    Although there were also people who wanted to hunt the Void Bird, it was a top-notch spatial creature. Its ability to traverse space was extremely strong. Several bigwigs overseas ultimately failed at capturing the Void Bird.


    Since Immortal had produced a skill crystal of the Void Bird, it naturally meant that he had killed one.


    ¡°It¡¯s good stuff, but it¡¯s only at the same level after all. The Flaming Monarch Companion Egg isn¡¯t much worse. Why don¡¯t you top it up a little more?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Take it if you want it. If not, do the work,¡± Immortal said calmly.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take this job. Services are rendered after payment,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Immortal expressionlessly threw the skill crystal to Zhou Wen and looked coldly at him to see what he was up to.


    Zhou Wen caught the crystal and stroked it twice before putting it away. He looked at Immortal and asked, ¡°Lord Immortal, don¡¯t worry. Now that I¡¯ve taken payment, I¡¯ll definitely help you settle the matter. I¡¯ll definitely beat him to the ground and make him unable to get up. What do you think?¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± Immortal answered.


    After receiving an affirmative answer, Zhou Wen turned to Zhong Ziya and said, ¡°President Ya, you heard it too. The other party¡¯s price is higher than yours. Why don¡¯t you raise it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not gonna top up. Return the Companion Egg to me,¡± Zhong Ziya said as he extended his hand.


    Zhou Wen instantly put away the Flaming Monarch Companion Egg and said with a smile, ¡°How can I return it to you after closing the deal?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhong Ziya frowned.


    It wasn¡¯t only Zhong Ziya. Everyone was stunned, unsure what Zhou Wen was up to.


    Zhou Wen continued with a smile, ¡°After receiving your benefits, I¡¯ll naturally help you beat up that Lord Immortal. However, I¡¯ve also received something good from Lord Immortal. Furthermore, the benefits he gives me are better than yours, so I must beat you up first. After I¡¯m done beating you up, I¡¯ll beat him up. It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m a person who values integrity the most. I¡¯m based on honesty and integrity. I guarantee satisfaction to all my employers for all closed transactions.¡±


    Everyone¡¯s jaws dropped. They were stunned for a long time.

 Chapter 1291 - Sword Against Two Bigwigs

    ¡°A scam¡­ This is too much of a f*cking scam¡­ He wants to scam both sides¡­¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he afraid that he will bite off more than he can chew? At the same time, he¡¯ll be offending both the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association. Can he still survive on Earth in the future?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already on Venus. There¡¯s no need for him to stay on Earth.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t about being shameless anymore. It¡¯s a scam!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he really wants to defeat the president of the Holy Spirit Association and Lord Immortal of the League of Guardians at the same time?¡±


    ¡°In any case, I don¡¯t believe it. That¡¯s too ridiculous. Ignoring Ya¡¯s injuries, that Immortal is like a god. It¡¯s hard to say if he can defeat him.¡±


    When people came to a realization of what was happening, the Internet immediately broke out into a furor. All sorts of messages kept appearing as the scrolling text on the screen overlapped layer by layer. It made it impossible to read the messages.


    ¡°Impressive¡­ Really impressive¡­ To be able to claim that he¡¯s honest despite scamming both sides¡­ I¡¯m not as thick-skinned as him¡­¡± Liu Yun sighed.


    Zhou Wen had already moved and instantly charged at Ya like a phantom.


    Zhou Wen held the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword with both hands and slashed at Ya.


    Although Zhou Wen wanted to help Ya, he couldn¡¯t give others the impression that he was a member of the Holy Spirit Association because of him aiding Ya. He also couldn¡¯t have others make the connection that Looter King was Zhou Wen, so he had tried his best to craft an image of Looter King.


    Thankfully, due to the matter of him picking up items in the Venusian dimensional zone, Looter King¡¯s reputation wasn¡¯t that good to begin with. It was very easy for people to accept his current image.


    Clang!


    The Primordial Immortal Sword in Ya¡¯s hand blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, but due to his serious injuries, the strength he accumulated had begun to decline. How could he be Zhou Wen¡¯s match? He was sent flying by the strike.


    Zhou Wen showed no mercy as the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword in his hand slashed at Ya like a tempest.


    Ya held Primordial Immortal Sword and fought Zhou Wen with all his might, but his injuries were just too serious. Blood constantly flowed out of his chest. The bleeding was secondary; the injuries caused by the Calamity-grade bullet had weakened his vitality. His strength and speed naturally began to weaken.


    Bang!


    Ya¡¯s body exploded from Zhou Wen¡¯s strike, turning into a shattered puppet.


    Ya couldn¡¯t withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s attack and could only use Substitute.


    This was only an ordinary Substitute Skill. It was different from the Substitute he used to block the seventh Calamity shot. The Substitute that blocked the seventh Calamity shot was an Intrinsic Substitute of his. It was different from ordinary one-time Substitutes.


    Ordinary Substitutes could block the first six shots, but it was impossible for them to block the fatal seventh shot. Although the Intrinsic Substitute could block the seventh shot, it only did so barely. It had even left Ya seriously injured.


    If it were anyone else, Ya¡¯s Substitute spell would be very useful, but Zhou Wen also knew the Substitute spell very well. He knew how to draw Substitute Talismans himself. Although his wasn¡¯t as powerful as Ya¡¯s Substitute spell, it followed the same principle.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen knew the minute signs of the Substitute spell. When Ya used Substitute Puppet again, Zhou Wen circled around it and instantly appeared in front of Ya. The Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword stabbed into his chest like a bolt of lightning, piercing through his already injured chest.


    Then, he sent Ya flying with a kick. Blood spewed out of Ya¡¯s chest as his body flew out and slammed into Venus. It left a huge crater in the ground like a meteor.


    Everyone was dumbfounded. They never expected the Looter King to be so straightforward. He attacked as he pleased. The dignified president of the Holy Spirit Association had been beaten to a pulp in the blink of an eye. From the looks of his injuries, it was unlikely he could survive.


    ¡°President¡­¡± Ox Demon struggled to get to his feet in a bid to fight Zhou Wen to the death, but his injuries were too serious. After taking a few steps, he fell to the ground and again tried his best to get up. He looked at Zhou Wen as though he wanted to eat him alive.


    True Martial struggled to stand up, but when he saw Ya¡¯s penetrated chest, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fainted from anger.


    Liu Yun was also dumbfounded. He never expected Zhou Wen to be ruthless to the point of killing Zhong Ziya.


    However, Liu Yun felt that something was amiss. He frowned and fell silent.


    ¡°Lord Immortal, are you satisfied with my work?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and flew towards Immortal as he asked with a smile.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Immortal said.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re satisfied. Now that I¡¯ve completed the deal with you, it¡¯s time to complete the deal with President Ya. I¡¯m a person who values integrity the most. I¡¯ll definitely do a good job once I accept the deal. Don¡¯t blame me,¡± Zhou Wen said as he thrust the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword at Immortal.


    His strike was somewhat different from the sword technique he had used in the battle with Ya.


    Zhou Wen had already noticed something from Immortal¡¯s battle with Ox Demon. Immortal was also a spatial-type expert. Even if he didn¡¯t employ a pure spatial-type Essence Energy Art, he at least had spatial-type abilities.


    Ox Demon failed to touch Immortal despite his terrifying punch. It looked like he had taken the initiative to avoid Immortal.


    In fact, that wasn¡¯t the case. Zhou Wen, who was rather proficient in spatial powers, knew that it wasn¡¯t that Ox Demon had avoided Immortal, but that Immortal had used spatial powers to distort the space around him. It looked like Ox Demon had avoided him, but in fact, space had changed the direction in which he hit.


    To be able to do so, Immortal¡¯s spatial powers were rather terrifying. However, his spatial powers clearly went in a different direction from Zhou Wen and Liu Yun¡¯s.


    When Zhou Wen stabbed out, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword already contained the power of the Singularity Universe which pinpointed Immortal¡¯s location. Even if he distorted space, he couldn¡¯t change the final destination of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword.


    After the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword approached Immortal, it looked like it followed the same deviant trajectory as Ox Demon.


    However, when fighting Ox Demon, Immortal¡ªwho stood there and allowed Ox Demon to attack him without moving¡ªmoved because of Zhou Wen¡¯s strike. He dodged Zhou Wen¡¯s strike by moving to the side.


    ¡°Looter King is really strong. He¡¯s not just capable of looting treasures. Ox Demon had attacked so many times, but not once did he force Immortal to move. Just one strike from Looter King has forced Immortal to dodge. This is the difference.¡±


    ¡°Who is this Looter King? Why was there no sign of him before? It¡¯s as though he jumped out from a crack in a rock. Isn¡¯t he too strong?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, among the humans I know, other than Human Sovereign, this Looter King is the strongest.¡±


    As people discussed, Zhou Wen had fully unleashed his sword technique. Like a surging heavenly river, it slashed at Immortal.


    Immortal¡¯s figure was elegant as he calmly dodged Zhou Wen¡¯s attack. Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique failed to touch the corner of his clothes, but under the pressure of Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique, Immortal also failed to find a chance to counterattack.

 Chapter 1292 - Battle Against Immortal

    Chapter 1292: Battle Against Immortal


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Heart Defying Sword followed his true desires. It wasn¡¯t limited to one concept. People wouldn¡¯t be able to recognize it even when he delivered a random strike.


    At that moment, the sword intent Zhou Wen used was like a surging river. When he stabbed out, the subsequent sword combos were endless. With the Singularity Universe¡¯s spatial power pinpointing Immortal, Immortal¡¯s spatial distortion lost its effect. All he could do was fight Zhou Wen head-on.


    Immortal¡¯s movement technique was also extremely amazing. The seemingly unintentional subtle movement seemed to contain many unexpected and magical aspects, preventing Zhou Wen from touching him.


    The sword missed again. With a thought, Zhou Wen threw the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword out of his hand.


    Immortal dodged the strike and had already arrived at a spot that made it difficult to dodge another. Seeing the sudden appearance of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, he had no time to dodge. All he could do was extend his hand and slap the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword.


    Just as Immortal¡¯s palm was about to slap the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, the sword suddenly transformed into Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen struck out at Immortal¡¯s palm as his other hand clenched into a fist that struck at his waist.


    Bang! Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s palm clashed with Immortal¡¯s palm as his fist was blocked by Immortal¡¯s other hand, producing a dull thud.


    Zhou Wen felt as though his fist and palm had struck a resilient rubber ball and his strength was sharply reduced.


    On careful look, Zhou Wen realized that his palm and fist hadn¡¯t touched Immortal¡¯s body. The halo, which resembled a god¡¯s protection, had blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s punch and completely dispelled the powerful punch like a spring.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s hands didn¡¯t stop as they turned into a barrage of attacks that he constantly threw at Immortal.


    Although the halo over Immortal¡¯s body could withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s punches, Immortal continued blocking Zhou Wen¡¯s moves. He didn¡¯t let down his guard.


    Pa!


    Zhou Wen only attacked without defending. He attacked crazily as though he was punching a sandbag, pouring all his strength into Immortal.


    When the average person watched this, it was as though Zhou Wen had the upper hand, suppressing Immortal and forcing him to retreat repeatedly. They were alarmed by how powerful Looter King was.


    However, the true experts among humans wore looks of puzzlement. Although Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks were ferocious, he had too many flaws because he had abandoned defense and focused on the offense.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t really break through Immortal¡¯s defense. As long as Immortal ignored Zhou Wen¡¯s attack and targeted his weakness in a counterattack, Zhou Wen would definitely be in a tragic state.


    However, Immortal didn¡¯t counterattack. He continued defending with an airtight defense.


    ¡°What are these two doing? One is attacking with all his might, while the other is defending with all his might.¡± Xia Xuanyue looked at Xia Liuchuan and asked in puzzlement.


    She also felt that Looter King was in a very disadvantageous situation, but for some reason, Immortal didn¡¯t counterattack.


    Xia Liuchuan said, ¡°Any counterattack from Immortal is built on the fact that Looter King can¡¯t break through his defense, but Looter King has been deliberately showing him his flaws as though he¡¯s telling him, ¡®Come on, hit me. I¡¯ve a hidden skill that can break through your defense.¡¯ This way, Immortal won¡¯t dare to act rashly.¡±


    ¡°Then, can Looter King break through Immortal¡¯s defense?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked.


    ¡°Who knows? Perhaps he can. Perhaps he¡¯s just bluffing. Apart from Looter King himself, I¡¯m afraid no one knows,¡± Xia Liuchuan said as he spread out his hands.


    The duo was very patient. Immortal was really like an otherworldly immortal. No matter how Zhou Wen seduced him or revealed flaws, he didn¡¯t counterattack or give Zhou Wen any chance.


    Zhou Wen was even worse. If Immortal didn¡¯t counterattack, he would go all in when it came to offense and expose more flaws.


    In the eyes of the average person, Zhou Wen was like a demonic god that had descended to the mortal world. He suppressed Immortal and beat him back repeatedly.


    ¡°Looter King is amazing. He has completely suppressed Lord Immortal.¡±


    ¡°The virtue is one foot tall, the devil ten feet. Immortal is still not as powerful as the devil.¡±


    ¡°Looter King should be a human. What has he got to do with devils?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t see his true appearance. Who knows if he¡¯s pure human. Even if he is a pure human, with his actions, he can be considered a devil. It¡¯s not too much to call him a devil.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of which, the nickname ¡®Looter King¡¯ doesn¡¯t seem to suit him. In the past, I only felt that he was picking up scraps, but from the looks of it, he¡¯s terrifyingly powerful. Even Lord Immortal is being suppressed by him. Such strength is basically invincible on Earth, right?¡±


    ¡°The words ¡®Looter King¡¯ are indeed a little inappropriate.¡±


    ¡°But this fellow¡¯s actions don¡¯t make him appear like a proper person. Titles like god or saint don¡¯t seem to suit him.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Zhou Wen¡¯s domineering performance broadened the horizons of the average person.


    Seeing how the godlike Immortal¡ªwho had crushed the Holy Spirit Association¡ªwas being suppressed by Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen¡¯s standing in everyone¡¯s hearts seemed to elevate.


    However, his previous actions made it impossible for people to respect him like Human Sovereign.


    The host and Professor Gu, who were livestreaming, were also discussing this problem. Professor Gu said, ¡°This person is indeed very strong. He doesn¡¯t rely on luck, but his thoughts are a little different from ordinary people. It¡¯s quite odd. To call him Looter King is definitely wrong. He relies on true talent, but to call him a god or saint doesn¡¯t seem right either.¡±


    After a moment of silence, Professor Gu added, ¡°His style of doing things is somewhat similar to Thief Sage. Why don¡¯t we call him Deceit Sage in the future?¡±


    ¡°Deceit Sage? This name sounds a little indecent,¡± the host said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°A deceptive person might not be a thief. Those who steal the hearts of others and plunder countries are considered deceptive. Since ancient times, there have been instances of decent deception. Although this person can¡¯t be described as decent, it shouldn¡¯t be too much to call him a deceptive person, right?¡± Professor Gu said with a smile.


    The host muttered, ¡°His actions don¡¯t seem to match a sage¡¯s. He¡¯s more like a Deceit King.¡±


    Unexpectedly, Deceit King quickly became popular and became a new nickname that Zhou Wen was widely known as.


    As everyone spoke, something finally changed on the battlefield. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s constant pressure, Immortal finally attacked a flaw that Zhou Wen revealed.


    The flaw was too great. Immortal¡¯s hand reached at Zhou Wen¡¯s abdomen in an incredulous manner. It was like a straight knife that wanted to stab into his abdomen and rip it open.


    As for Zhou Wen, he had no intention of retreating or defending. In fact, it was too late to defend. He had used too much force in his attacks.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s palm struck Immortal¡¯s head at the same time, hoping to shatter it. It was as though he was determined to succeed with that single strike.


    Zhou Wen was ultimately one step behind. Immortal¡¯s palm was about to pierce through his abdomen¡ªeven if Zhou Wen had the ability to break through Immortal¡¯s defense, it was probably useless.


    Just as Immortal¡¯s finger was about to touch Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen¡¯s body transformed into the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword. As for Zhou Wen, he appeared where the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword was.


    Immortal¡¯s reaction was extremely fast. Just as his finger was about to collide with the tip of the sword, he changed from stabbing to grabbing and grabbed the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword.


    However, when he grabbed something firm, he realized that he was grabbing Zhou Wen¡¯s arm. The Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword had vanished again.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s other palm struck Immortal¡¯s head. At this close distance, Immortal couldn¡¯t dodge in time and was struck in the head.


    However, at that moment, Immortal revealed a strange smile.


    1

 Chapter 1293 - Immortal Break

    Chapter 1293: Immortal Break


    Translator: CKtalon


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s palm touched the armor on Immortal¡¯s head, an unbelievable scene happened. Their bodies strangely swapped.


    This swapping didn¡¯t refer to exchanging bodies, but their positions.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s palm had originally struck the top of Immortal¡¯s head, but Immortal was already powerless to dodge. However, now, Zhou Wen was standing in Immortal¡¯s original spot, while Immortal appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s spot.


    Even their actions were identical. Zhou Wen stood there with his hands far from his head. As for Immortal¡¯s palm, it had already struck Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    Everyone felt their hearts turn cold. Immortal was also proficient in the art of swapping. It was very similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. However, his swapping was done together with his opponent. Therefore, it was somewhat different from Zhou Wen¡¯s Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    As everything had happened too suddenly, it was too late for Zhou Wen to use Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. Immortal¡¯s palm had already pressed down on his head.


    Bang!


    Immortal slapped down, but he realized that he had struck the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword that had been swapped. He sent the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword flying and couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed.


    As Immortal was proficient in similar techniques, he knew that this swapping technique needed to be prepared ahead of time. Zhou Wen had clearly made such preparations to be able to swap the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword.


    Immortal¡¯s expression changed slightly. If all of this had been within Zhou Wen¡¯s calculations, he would be in danger.


    Just as Immortal was about to move, he felt an intense pain coming from the back of his head. His head felt like it had exploded as his body involuntarily fell forward.


    As for Zhou Wen, despite being clearly far away, he had swapped to the spot where the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword had been, but an invisible avatar seemed to strike the back of Immortal¡¯s head.


    Zhou Wen had actually used Spacetime Bandit to produce a delayed Ashen Palm.


    1


    After Immortal switched to Zhou Wen¡¯s position and attacked him, he naturally took Zhou Wen¡¯s spot, just in time to be hit by the delayed Ashen Palm in the back of his head.


    Despite all his calculations, he was still one step short¡ªhe was struck by Ashen Palm. The strange force penetrated the halo and helmet around him and nearly burst his brain.


    This was only because Zhou Wen¡¯s Ashen Palm was only at the Mythical stage. Although it contained the power of the Terror-grade Singularity Universe, it was ultimately lacking. Otherwise, this strike might really have wrecked Immortal¡¯s brain.


    Ashen Palm was a skill that Zhou Wen had often used in his early days, but with more powerful skills, he seldom used it. His level had risen to the Mythical stage without any special cultivation.


    Even so, the extremely soft characteristic of Ashen Palm could still help some of Singularity Universe¡¯s powers penetrate Immortal¡¯s defenses.


    All of this was a wordy description, but it all happened in a split second. The Terror-grade experts could still see the gist of it. The ordinary humans only saw Zhou Wen strike Immortal¡¯s head before Immortal was sent flying.


    Just as Immortal was sent flying, Zhou Wen instant transmitted over and unleashed a barrage of attacks at Immortal. He wanted to strike while he was down.


    With Immortal¡¯s brain injured, it was probably difficult for him to react. This was the best opportunity to kill him.


    Zhou Wen was right. Unless a creature didn¡¯t need a brain to think, once their brain was severely damaged, death was basically certain in such a battle. Having thoughts and becoming demented weren¡¯t even needed in the picture.


    However, Immortal actually endured the pain in his brain and reacted instinctively.


    Although he couldn¡¯t block all of Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks, he protected his head, preventing Zhou Wen from hitting it again.


    Zhou Wen struck Immortal on the arm, sending him flying again. His other palm struck his chest as he instant transmitted again and repeatedly struck him in midair.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen struck the godlike, haloed Immortal again and again, sending him flying as he spewed out blood.


    The final palm strike made Immortal disappear. It was as if it had struck Immortal into nothingness. Immortal disappeared just like that.


    People stared blankly at the Cube¡¯s screen, momentarily at a loss as to how to react.


    Of the two strongest factions on Earth, the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians, the former¡¯s president had his heart pierced through by Zhou Wen. It was unknown if he was dead or alive. The League of Guardians¡¯ Lord Immortal had also been reduced to nothingness.


    ¡°He¡¯s so f*cking strong!¡± It was unknown who said this, but this sentence became the most commonly used adjective to describe experts in the future.


    The title of Deceit King also officially resounded across Earth and the dimension.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that he hadn¡¯t been able to kill Immortal in the end. Under such circumstances, Immortal instinctively protected his vital spots. When he was capable of thinking, he used a void mystic technique to escape.


    What a powerful fellow. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly. If he encountered Immortal again, the same move would definitely be useless.


    This time, it was Immortal¡¯s miscalculation. It was also because he didn¡¯t know that Zhou Wen was adept at Spacetime Bandit. It would be impossible for him to injure Immortal again the next time he used it.


    I have to practice Ashen Palm well. If there¡¯s a chance in the future, I¡¯ll smack him into an idiot. In comparison, I still like harmless idiots, not smart people. Without sparing the Holy Spirit Association on Venus a glance, he returned to Earth.


    He naturally didn¡¯t kill Ya. Not only did he not kill him, but he even used the power of Human Sovereign to treat Ya¡¯s injuries.


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword couldn¡¯t be unsheathed, nor did it have the ability to kill. It was similar to holding an iron rod, but it was surprisingly compatible with the power of Human Sovereign.


    The power of Human Sovereign could typically be used by Zhou Wen¡¯s fist. It was very difficult to transmit it through weapons. The Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword was currently the only weapon that could work well with the power of Human Sovereign.


    However, for some reason, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword could transmit the power of Human Sovereign, but it was still impossible to unsheath it.


    The strike that Zhou Wen had stabbed through Zhong Ziya¡¯s chest looked like it had killed him, but in fact, it had treated his injuries. However, outsiders couldn¡¯t tell. Even if they later learned that Zhong Ziya was still alive, they would only write it off as Zhong Ziya¡¯s life-saving mystic technique and wouldn¡¯t suspect Zhou Wen.


    After this battle, the name of Deceit King spread across Earth. The battle between him and Immortal was analyzed frame by frame by the various factions. It was a bizarre battle that could be described as textbook material.


    After all sorts of slow playback analysis, people realized that so many things had happened in the blink of an eye. Immortal and Deceit King had pulled off all sorts of schemes and psychological games, but in the end, it was still Deceit King who had the last laugh.


    However, even the reaction of Immortal¡¯s defeat could be considered textbook material.. Many colleges later used the analysis videos of this battle to educate students on the difference between using brute force and using techniques to fight.

 Chapter 1294 - Chick Returns

    Zhou Wen teleported to Earth before returning to the garden through the swapping of a brick in the garden with Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    He didn¡¯t directly do the swap because he was afraid that others would notice something from the brick.


    After returning, Zhou Wen continued researching Absolute Space.


    After watching Zhong Ziya and company clear the level, Zhou Wen felt that it was pointless to barely clear the Venusian dimensional zone. It was useless to obtain one or two stars. He had to obtain first place, which was above five stars, to obtain the true Venusian Companion Beast.


    Tsukuyomi, The Fallen, and the Holy Spirit Association used three different methods to arrive in front of the Golden Palace. From the looks of it, Tsukuyomi was the fastest, and The Fallen was also faster than the Holy Spirit Association. Based on this, the less time it takes to reach the Golden Palace, the higher the chance of obtaining a starred rating. However, the time difference between The Fallen and the Holy Spirit Association wasn¡¯t that great. The Fallen received four stars, while the Holy Spirit Association only received one star. This means that other than taking less time, there should be other criteria¡­ Zhou Wen analyzed the various possibilities to make it easier for him to clear the level in the future.


    The various factions were also analyzing this problem, but they had one more thing to analyze than Zhou Wen¡ªthe battle between Deceit King and Immortal.


    As Ya was already severely injured to begin with, everyone knew that the battle didn¡¯t showcase Ya¡¯s true strength. It was useless to analyze it, so they were just analyzing the battle between Zhou Wen and Immortal.


    ¡°No matter how many times I watch it, I still feel that these two people are too strong. Just a mistake that isn¡¯t considered a mistake ended the battle.¡± Xia Xuanyue repeatedly watched the battle replay and couldn¡¯t help but praise.


    ¡°People who are good at spatial abilities are thorny characters,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just a matter of spatial abilities. Such a fellow will be very terrifying no matter which faction he belongs to,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but Deceit King is really shameless. He took advantage of both sides and obtained benefits from both sides. He wanted people from both sides dead. He¡¯s really ruthless,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°Brother, who do you think this Deceit King is?¡± Xia Xuanyue said after some thought. She had a vague feeling that she found Deceit King familiar.


    However, it was only an inkling. Xia Xuanyue didn¡¯t know why she had such a feeling.


    ¡°Who knows? There are too many powerful people in this world. We have to be careful. If we aren¡¯t careful, our Xia family might fall and never be able to make a comeback.¡± Xia Liuchuan sighed.


    Although the six families had their heritage and were still top-notch forces on Earth, they no longer had the absolute advantage like before.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible that Human Sovereign and Deceit King are the same person?¡± Xia Xuanyue said after some thought. She wasn¡¯t sure, but she felt they were vaguely similar.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If Deceit King has the domineering strength of the Human Sovereign, he could have directly destroyed Immortal. Why would he go through so much trouble?¡± Xia Liuchuan felt that the possibility wasn¡¯t high.


    The various factions had similar guesses, but after some analysis, they felt that the possibility of Deceit King and Human Sovereign being the same person wasn¡¯t high.


    Zhou Wen was at home fiddling with the Flaming Monarch Companion Egg and the Void Bird skill crystal.


    Flaming Monarch: Terror


    Life Providence: Sovereign of Fire


    Life Soul: Power of Fire


    Wheel of Destiny: Flaming Nation


    Terror transformation: Eternal Flame


    Strength: 86


    Speed: 93


    Constitution: 91


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Fire Cage, River of Flames, Burning Body, Road of Ashes


    Companion Form: Flaming Monarch King Sword


    This was a very pure fire-elemental Companion Beast. Its offensive strength was off the charts and it was highly lethal, but its flaws were relatively obvious. If a pure fire-elemental Companion Beast were to encounter one that countered it, it would be very easy to restrain it.


    However, in some special environments, Companion Beasts like Flaming Monarch were invincible.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to hatch the Flaming Monarch, he suddenly heard a bird¡¯s cry. A golden stream of light appeared out of thin air and flashed in front of him. The Flaming Monarch Companion Egg in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand vanished.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly prepared for combat. However, on careful look, he realized that a golden chick had landed on a tree branch in the garden. It had the Flaming Monarch Companion Egg in its mouth.


    It swung its head and threw the Flaming Monarch Companion Egg into the air. Then, it raised its head and opened its mouth, swallowing the Companion Egg that was two to three times bigger than its head.


    ¡°Chick?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the chick in surprise. Its aura resembled Chick¡¯s, but he wasn¡¯t sure.


    This chick was only the size of a parrot. It was covered in pale golden fur and was much smaller than before. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t look as ferocious as before. Now, it didn¡¯t look like an eagle, but a parrot.


    Furthermore, Chick was inside the Chaos Bead. Without Zhou Wen¡¯s strength to open it, it was impossible for Chick to come out even if it had evolved to the Terror grade.


    The chick burped after swallowing the Flaming Monarch Companion Egg. When it heard Zhou Wen¡¯s voice, it spread its wings. Before Zhou Wen could clearly discern its actions, it had already landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and rubbed its tiny head intimately against his neck.


    It¡¯s really Chick! Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Just come out if you want to, but why eat my Flaming Monarch Companion Egg? It wasn¡¯t easy to obtain it.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen knew that Chick was much more useful than the Flaming Monarch, so he didn¡¯t mind. He held Chick in his hand and carefully looked at it. He realized that feathers had grown on its head. The tail feathers behind it had also grown longer. It looked a little like a parrot.


    This fellow seems to be slowly growing towards the appearance of a phoenix. Could it be that it has to advance to the Calamity grade before it can return to the appearance of a phoenix? Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed.


    Chick bounced around and flew back to Ya¡¯er¡¯s hand to play with her.


    Having lost his Companion Egg, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take out the skill crystal of the Void Bird.


    What kind of spatial skill will it be? Zhou Wen was somewhat expectant. After all, it was a spatial skill crystal. Furthermore, it was at the Terror grade. It was too rare.


    He snapped a picture with his phone and saw that it was indeed a Void Bird crystal.


    At the same time, he circulated the Godfiend Era and Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art in an attempt to absorb the skill crystal. He easily absorbed it into his body, opening up a new Essence Energy circulation path.


    When the skill crystal was completely absorbed, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd.


    Wings of Tomorrow: Wings that fly towards tomorrow.


    What¡¯s going on? Is this a spatial skill? It looks like a temporal skill no matter how I look at it! Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that this thing could really fly to tomorrow.

 Chapter 1295 - Lady Luck’s Necklace

    Zhou Wen carefully studied the skill, Wings of Tomorrow, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what kind of skill it was.


    Its literal meaning made it appear to be a skill that allowed one to travel into the future. Perhaps one could see tomorrow¡¯s scenes, or one could really head straight for tomorrow.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that traveling into the future wasn¡¯t something a Calamity-grade could do, much less a Terror-grade. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that a Terror-grade Void Bird could travel into the future.


    Furthermore, when he absorbed the skill, the information transmitted from the skill crystal seemed to indicate that it was a teleportation ability. It left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    Won¡¯t I know once I give it a try? Zhou Wen originally wanted to give it a try, but on second thought, he decided to wait for An Sheng and company to return.


    If this skill really allowed him to travel into the future¡ªtomorrow¡ªit remained a question whether he could return and if he could, to which time period.


    Suppressing his curiosity, Zhou Wen continued studying Absolute Space.


    The problem regarding the movement of the two Absolute Spaces had yet to be resolved. The swapping method via Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping failed to form an effective cycle.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s prior battle with Immortal gave him a new idea.


    Immortal had used an exchange spell before. It was very similar to Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, but the target of the exchange was the enemy.


    If I can exchange the bullet¡¯s location with one of the Absolute Spaces, will that work? Zhou Wen tried a few times and realized that it was impossible.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique needed a mark first. It was impossible to mark the bullet traveling at the speed of light. At the very least, Zhou Wen definitely couldn¡¯t do it to date.


    Since this didn¡¯t work, Zhou Wen had to think of another solution.


    Just as he was in the midst of research, his phone rang. Zhou Wen picked it up and realized that it was from Liu Yun.


    ¡°Junior, there¡¯s a big deal.¡± Liu Yun said in his message.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to reply to him. He didn¡¯t believe that this fellow would have anything good to offer.


    ¡°Someone wants to clear the Venusian dimensional zone and plans on seeking my help and Deceit King¡¯s help. Are you interested?¡± Liu Yun sent another message.


    Zhou Wen continued studying his skills without replying.


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely some absolute nouveau riche. As long as Deceit King is willing to take action and can guarantee that his family can enter the rankings, even if it¡¯s just one star, any price is negotiable.¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t give up.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that he was already considered a nouveau riche. Even the six families didn¡¯t have as many Terror-grade Companion Beasts as him. No matter how wealthy the family Liu Yun mentioned was, what could they offer that would tempt him?


    Getting no response from Zhou Wen, Liu Yun sent another message: ¡°Although the other party isn¡¯t an existence like the six families, he¡¯s still at the level of a local emperor. His status is similar to your family¡¯s An Tianzuo, and he¡¯s even richer. The price he can offer will definitely satisfy you.¡±


    ¡°Have you heard of the Lady Luck Companion Beast? It¡¯s from his place. It¡¯s the only one on Earth. If you can help them get on the rankings, they are willing to use Lady Luck for payment.¡±


    Liu Yun¡¯s last message garnered Zhou Wen¡¯s attention and tempted him.


    Zhou Wen had naturally heard of the Lady Luck Companion Beast. Luck-type Companion Beasts were rare to begin with, and Lady Luck was one of the best. She was considered famous, so it was difficult for Zhou Wen not to know.


    However, the so-called Lady Luck Companion Beast wasn¡¯t a goddess, but a lucky pixie with transparent wings on its back and a petite body the size of a finger.


    The lucky pixie¡¯s companion form was a necklace. The necklace was beautiful, and the pendant was a gorgeous pixie ornament. It looked like an ornament of a goddess, so it was also known as Lady Luck Necklace.


    It was said that after wearing the necklace, one could easily find Companion Eggs and crystals if they went out to hunt dimensional creatures. Although it was unknown how much Luck had been added, it was still one of the best Companion Beasts known to add Luck.


    There was one thing in the East District which could match the effects of the Lady Luck Necklace. It was said to be called Lucky Star. It was owned by the Zhang family, but no one had really seen what it looked like. It was only rumored that the Zhang family owned such a Companion Beast.


    ¡°Is the other party really willing to use the Lady Luck Necklace as payment?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°It¡¯s 100% real. I¡¯ve seen the Lady Luck Necklace with my own eyes. It¡¯s worn around that big shot¡¯s neck. He said that as long as you can help them get on the rankings, he will think of a way to transfer the Lady Luck Necklace to you,¡± Liu Yun immediately replied.


    If it¡¯s really the Lady Luck Necklace, that¡¯s very generous. If I obtain that necklace, my Luck points will increase significantly. Perhaps I can obtain a large number of Terror-grade Companion Eggs during my random grinding. Although Zhou Wen really wanted to obtain the Lady Luck Necklace, unfortunately, he didn¡¯t have the ability to clear the Venusian instance dungeon. He didn¡¯t have the ability to obtain it even if he wanted it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the means. Get him to find someone else,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°If they could find others, they wouldn¡¯t have come looking for us. They really had no choice, so they took the risk to seek our help,¡± Liu Yun replied.


    ¡°What do you mean there¡¯s really no other way? Will they die if they don¡¯t go to the Venusian dimensional zone?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°Not really, but that tycoon made a bet with someone else. He has to be on the rankings in three months. Otherwise, he will kowtow and admit his mistake. Now, that tycoon is almost going crazy. He¡¯s looking for help everywhere.¡± Liu Yun explained the situation in detail.


    Zhou Wen had imagined that someone who had the Lady Luck Necklace was from the West District because the necklace was originally produced there.


    However, after hearing Liu Yun¡¯s description, he realized that the person with the Lady Luck Necklace was actually from the East District.


    The person¡¯s name was Song Guojia. As the name Song Guojia wasn¡¯t a nice-sounding name, he gave himself the nickname of Lord Fourth.


    Zhou Wen had heard of this name before. In a certain area in the East District, the name of Lord Fourth was as terrifying as Luoyang¡¯s An Tianzuo.


    Unlike An Tianzuo, Lord Fourth had a good relationship with the six families. Furthermore, he was very popular with people, unlike the An family.


    Zhou Wen felt that if he was as rich and generous as Lord Fourth, he would also have friends all over the world.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, there were especially many Companion Beasts like Ginseng Babies produced in the dimensional zones of Lord Fourth. Every one of them cost an astronomical amount. There were also quite a number of similar Companion Beasts that had healing abilities.


    Such a healing Companion Beast was in high demand. Even if one couldn¡¯t buy a top-notch one, just getting a random one would do.


    Rumors had it that Lord Fourth had a Terror-grade Ginseng Baby. Even a dead person could pull back their soul from Lord Yama if they drank a mouthful of the Ginseng Baby¡¯s blood.

 Chapter 1296 - Another Way to Get on the Rankings

    The reward was good, but one had to have the ability to get it. Although people called Zhou Wen Deceit King, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone without a bottom line. He definitely wouldn¡¯t do something he wasn¡¯t confident of.


    After rejecting Liu Yun¡¯s invitation, Zhou Wen decided to do further studies. Regardless of how many stars he could obtain in the end, he would first clear the Venusian instance dungeon.


    To be honest, Zhou Wen really coveted the Lady Luck Necklace. There were too few Companion Beasts that added Luck.


    If one was lucky, not only would there be a higher chance of a Companion Eggs dropping while grinding dungeons, but the effect of flawless evasion would also become stronger.


    Is there a better way to clear the level if I don¡¯t want to fight the Calamity-grade bullet head on? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    In fact, there was a method, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if it was useful in reality.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had always wanted to kill the Calamity entity that shot the bullet, so he had studied the method to resist the seventh bullet. However, if he only wanted to reach the Golden Palace, it wouldn¡¯t be that troublesome.


    Grim Reaper No. 10 could withstand the first six shots. The seventh shot could be avoided using a Terror-grade Companion Beast as a scapegoat. Following that would be six more shots.


    Such a long period gave him sufficient time to run to the Golden Palace.


    Of course, the premise was that Calamity-grade bullets were the same as in-game¡ªit prioritized the creatures with the highest levels first.


    If I do it that way, I still have to sacrifice a Terror-grade Companion Beast to reach the Golden Palace. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that this was the only solution for now. Furthermore, he still needed to give it a try.


    In-game, there was no such thing as a reward from reaching the Golden Palace. The Golden Palace¡¯s door didn¡¯t open either. It seemed like he had to kill the Calamity-grade creature.


    However, Zhou Wen felt that clearing the level in real life wasn¡¯t a problem. After watching the Holy Spirit Association clear the level, he was basically certain that Calamity-grade bullets would target the strongest creature. However, he couldn¡¯t rule out any special circumstances.


    Liu Yun sent a few more messages, constantly attempting to persuade Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I can take this job, but there are two conditions.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and replied.


    ¡°Tell me.¡± Liu Yun was delighted. Although Lord Fourth was mainly inviting Deceit King, if he helped close the deal, he as Thief Sage could obtain valuable benefits.


    ¡°I want the Lady Luck Necklace. In addition, prepare a Terror-grade Companion Beast for me. I¡¯ll take payment before doing anything. Furthermore, I¡¯m only in charge of issuing orders. If anyone doesn¡¯t follow instructions, I won¡¯t be responsible for the results, nor can I guarantee absolute safety.¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°This¡­ Typically, people get a 50% down payment first and receive the rest after the matter is done.¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°These are my rules. If you want to work with me, you have to follow my rules. Otherwise, let him find someone else.¡± Although Zhou Wen really wanted the Lady Luck Necklace, he wouldn¡¯t give in.


    Furthermore, such matters couldn¡¯t be accommodated. Since he was leading people in, he hoped to bring them out alive.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll talk to Lord Fourth and see what he has to say.¡± After Liu Yun sent the message, there was no response from him for a long time.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush. After all, he had to make some preparations. Safety first. If Lord Fourth really wanted to go, he had to prepare a few Substitute Talismans. Life-preservation was of utmost priority.


    How do I reach the six paths behind Netherworld City? I¡¯ll try to see if I can grind some Heavenly Robe. Wearing Heavenly Robe inside my armor might save me at critical moments. Zhou Wen had always wanted to go to Netherworld City, but he was at a loss regarding the last thousand-year dream.


    Zhou Wen was just about to take out a piece of paper and a pen to see if he could draw some Substitute Talismans when he heard his phone chime again.


    ¡°Lord Fourth has agreed to your conditions. He hopes to meet you and have a detailed chat. The time and place will be decided by you. Lord Fourth will come alone.¡± Liu Yun sent an update over.


    ¡°That fast?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    Liu Yun understood Zhou Wen¡¯s concerns and sent a message. ¡°With my understanding of Lord Fourth, this shouldn¡¯t be a problem. However, one can¡¯t let down their guard. It¡¯s best if you choose a place that can guarantee your safety.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and sent a message. ¡°I don¡¯t have time now. I¡¯ll contact you when I do.¡±


    He had promised An Sheng to take care of the family. He couldn¡¯t leave randomly before An Sheng and company returned. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to go after they returned.


    ¡°Then when will you be free? Lord Fourth is very anxious,¡± Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t reply. Liu Yun was somewhat depressed, but it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to tell Lord Fourth straight to the face. All he could do was send a message to Lord Fourth, saying that Deceit King had something important to do first. He would contact him after he was done.


    Lord Fourth was very straightforward. He said that he would wait for Deceit King¡¯s schedule to clear up. He had already prepared the Lady Luck Necklace and a Terror-grade Companion Beast. Deceit King could have them whenever he wanted.


    Liu Yun sent a message to Zhou Wen, conveying Lord Fourth¡¯s intentions, but he didn¡¯t receive a reply.


    Zhou Wen grinded dungeons daily and studied the use of Absolute Space, waiting for An Sheng to return.


    Before An Sheng returned, someone challenged the Venusian dimensional zone. This time, it was the League of Guardians. However, Immortal wasn¡¯t among the people who came.


    Cave Era, Uesugi Nao, and Jiuyue appeared in the Venusian dimensional zone. There were only three of them.


    Everyone was puzzled as to why Immortal hadn¡¯t come. He was the core of the League of Guardians. It seemed a little too rash for him to be missing for a huge matter like attempting the Venusian dimensional zone.


    However, the performance of the trio made people realise that there was more than one path in the world. There was also more than one way to resolve the problem.


    After Cave Era and Jiuyue augmented Uesugi Nao with the power of time and space, Uesugi Nao¡¯s Great Skyfiend Guardian unleashed unparalleled speed.


    After the sixth Golden Battle God was killed, Uesugi Nao¡ªor perhaps Great Skyfiend¡ªrushed into the pathway like a phantom.


    When the Calamity-grade gunshot sounded, Great Skyfiend wasn¡¯t hit. She seemed to have dodged it. As she was so fast, few people saw how she had dodged.


    Following that, it was time for Uesugi Nao to perform. She was really like a divine devil. Her body was like a phantom as she dodged the bullets again and again. She rushed to the Golden Palace before the seventh bullet shot out and obtained the golden ball from the Golden Palace. At the same time, she entered the rankings.


    Everything happened too quickly. Before anyone could react, Great Skyfiend¡¯s name had already appeared on the rankings. There were two stars behind her name.


    ¡°How did she do it?¡± Everyone widened their eyes in disbelief as they looked at the name that was third on the rankings.

 Chapter 1297 - Another Invitation

    Chapter 1297: Another Invitation


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°This is what a foundation begets. The Holy Spirit Association paid such a huge price to enter the rankings, but the League of Guardians didn¡¯t even deploy their most powerful Immortal to enter the rankings. Furthermore, they obtained two stars and rank above the Holy Spirit Association.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, the League of Guardians is still too powerful.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. With so many preceding examples, the League of Guardians can come up with a corresponding strategy. It doesn¡¯t mean that their strength is definitely stronger than the Holy Spirit Association¡¯s. It¡¯s just that the people and skills they use are just right.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but they are ultimately too strong.¡±


    ¡°They reached the Golden Palace at such a fast speed, but they only obtained two stars. It looks like the speed of reaching the Golden Palace doesn¡¯t seem to be the standard for obtaining stars?¡±


    Everyone was somewhat surprised by the blitz strategy the League of Guardians used to enter the rankings.


    Regardless of the reason¡ªbe it strategy or strength¡ªthey could only be said to be very strong for being capable of this feat.


    Zhou Wen also looked at their method of clearing the level. This method wasn¡¯t worth referencing because it required the cooperation of three abilities.


    Each aspect of the trifecta of time, space, and Great Skyfiend¡¯s speed was indispensable.


    Zhou Wen had Great Skyfiend¡¯s speed and wasn¡¯t slower than her. He also had spatial abilities, but he didn¡¯t have temporal abilities. Unless he could find a temporal expert like Cave Era to augment his temporal abilities, he would not be able to reach the Golden Palace before the seventh shot.


    Zhou Wen had already tried many times in-game. It was difficult to reach the Golden Palace by relying solely on speed.


    Unfortunately, there was no reward for reaching the Golden Palace in-game, nor could he open the door. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in such a method. He still had to think of a way to crack the seventh bullet and kill the hidden Calamity-grade creature.


    After the League of Guardians, no other creatures entered the rankings.


    Tsukuyomi, The Fallen, Great Skyfiend, and Ya. There were only four creatures on the rankings.


    I wonder how many stars the Cube will give if I kill that Calamity creature? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    A message notification sounded. Zhou Wen imagined that it was Liu Yun, but to his surprise, it was from Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, is there a way to reach the Golden Palace?¡± Hui Haifeng¡¯s message was very direct.


    ¡°Yes.¡± After watching Great Skyfiend and company¡¯s battle, Zhou Wen was even more certain that the Venusian dimensional zone in reality was the same as in-game. The Calamity-grade bullets only targeted the creature whose order in life was highest.


    ¡°Do me a favor and lead a team to enter the rankings,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°What for?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement. He didn¡¯t know why people liked to be on the rankings so much. What was the point in getting onto the rankings when they couldn¡¯t get first place?


    Hui Haifeng explained, ¡°People in the Federation now have a weaker sense of belonging to the Federation. If we don¡¯t do anything, who will be proud of being a member of the Federation in the future? Perhaps in a few years, people will only know about the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association. There will be no Federation in their hearts.¡±


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a sense of belonging to the Federation, so he didn¡¯t think there was a problem.


    Hui Haifeng sighed and said, ¡°Humans are creatures that like to fight. They want to vie for everything. With the Federation as a system, they can still coordinate in various aspects. If this fig leaf is gone one day and all sides fall out to vie for the right to rule, who do you think will suffer the most?¡±


    Zhou Wen understood what Hui Haifeng meant. Once that happened, countless people would die from the various factions vying for supremacy. The ones suffering the most were still ordinary people.


    ¡°I can only think of a way to get on the rankings, but I can¡¯t guarantee that the results will be good.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for such a situation to happen.


    ¡°As long as you can get on the rankings, there¡¯s no need to worry about anything else,¡± Hui Haifeng said. ¡°When can you go? Any preparations needed?¡±


    ¡°Let me think about it again. There are some things I haven¡¯t figured out yet. I need to be fully prepared,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Alright. Give me a list of anything you need.¡± Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t lack money. He controlled the Mythical Serum business, and the Hui family was now one of the richest families.


    In terms of money, the Hui family might have more money than the six families, but its heritage and accumulated resources were lacking. Some things couldn¡¯t be bought even with the Mythical Serum.


    ¡°Do you have any Luck Companion Beasts?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Luck Companion Beasts are relatively rare. We can find them, but the highest is at the Mythical stage. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to find any higher,¡± Hui Haifeng said.


    ¡°Any level is fine.¡± Zhou Wen still wanted to see if he could gather a set of lucky equipment.


    ¡°Alright, wait for my news.¡± Hui Haifeng hung up.


    Zhou Wen knew that this matter wasn¡¯t easy. The requirements of Lord Fourth weren¡¯t high¡ªhe just needed to get on the rankings. That wasn¡¯t difficult.


    However, if he wanted to help Hui Haifeng get on the rankings, it wouldn¡¯t be that simple. If he was ranked below the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association, there wasn¡¯t much point in getting on the rankings.


    Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t send any messages for the next two to three days. It was probably because it was really difficult to find Luck Companion Beasts. Even if others had one, they would hatch it themselves and seldom sell it.


    The only good news was that An Sheng and An Tianzuo had finally returned. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t stay in Overseer Manor forever.


    ¡°Has it been settled?¡± Zhou Wen noticed that An Sheng didn¡¯t seem happy.


    ¡°In a way. We did find an Essence Crystal mine there, but the stores are much lower than expected. I reckon there are only tens of thousands of cubes,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°That¡¯s too little?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask when he heard that there were tens of thousands of cubes.


    ¡°To ordinary people, it¡¯s indeed a lot. However, to the accelerator, the materials refined from tens of thousands of crystals are only enough for half a shot.¡±


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he heard that. In the past, he only knew that the accelerator must have expended a lot of energy. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to be that powerful. However, he never expected it to be so expensive. Tens of thousands of Essence Crystals could only be used for half a shot. If they were to fire two or three shots, the An family would definitely go bankrupt.


    ¡°However, it¡¯s better than nothing. Let¡¯s take it slow. The accelerator is only a form of deterrence after all. I don¡¯t think there will be many opportunities to use it in the future.¡± An Sheng still had something to do. After chatting with Zhou Wen for a while, he went off.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to stay in the Overseer Manor any longer. He contacted Liu Yun and got him to arrange for a meeting with Lord Fourth.


    It was naturally impossible for him to choose an area near Luoyang for his meeting with Lord Fourth. Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s instant transmission was superb, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to switch to a distant place.


    Finally, Zhou Wen chose the West District¡¯s Dossier Island to meet Lord Fourth. The island was very close to the mainland and was one of the few islands controlled by the Federation.


    It had a dimensional zone that produced Lucky Birds. Zhou Wen planned on taking the opportunity to have a look.


    Lord Fourth agreed readily. Zhou Wen decided the time and place.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t tell him the location ahead of time. He only told him when and where to go before telling him the exact location when they met.


    Thankfully, nothing happened. When Zhou Wen saw Lord Fourth, he couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    He was somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. The name ¡®Lord Fourth¡¯ sounded like an elder, but the person Zhou Wen saw was a middle-aged man. He looked refined, making it impossible to associate him with the word ¡°lord.¡±


    ¡°We meet again,¡± Lord Fourth said with a smile.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed when he heard his voice.

 Chapter 1298 - You Apparently Call Him Teacher

    ¡°Not bad. You can still tell from my voice,¡± said Lord Fourth with a smile.


    ¡°I never expected the famous Lord Fourth, who has a wide circle of friends, to be the devil of the Federation, Jing Daoxian.¡± Zhou Wen stared at him warily as he sized him up. He increasingly felt that this person was Jing Daoxian. He had a special aura that others couldn¡¯t imitate.


    ¡°Others didn¡¯t expect that the famous Deceit King, who suppressed the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians and is currently wanted by both officials and renegades, as well as being the number one person on the bounty list is actually you, Zhou Wen,¡± Lord Fourth mimicked Zhou Wen¡¯s tone.


    Zhou Wen knew that Jing Daoxian had long seen through his identity. It was useless even if he changed his voice in the Dragon King armor. He did not know how he had recognized him.


    ¡°How did you know it was me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°You did a very good job changing your temperament, physique, voice, and even your personality. Others didn¡¯t recognize you, but I¡¯m different. The only people who have obtained the Lost Immortal Sutra and haven¡¯t gone mad or died are the two of us. Back then, I used some means to transfer the Lost Immortal Sutra to you. Although I didn¡¯t master it, I still know a little about it. That¡¯s how I was able to determine clues from you.¡± Lord Fourth paused before saying, ¡°You should just call me Lord Fourth. The appearance of Jing Daoxian isn¡¯t suitable yet.¡±


    ¡°You will feel fear too?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat curious. He didn¡¯t know who a devil like Jing Daoxian would be afraid of.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m afraid. It¡¯s just unsuitable.¡± Lord Fourth explained very patiently, ¡°Back when I saw you, I was seriously injured and nearly died. That was why the bureau caught up to me. Otherwise, you wouldn¡¯t have seen me. Speaking of that injury, a large part of the reason was because of the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    ¡°In my life, I am bent on completing anything I set my mind to. However, there are two things I haven¡¯t done. One is that I lost to that hypocrite. The second is that I failed to master the Lost Immortal Sutra.¡±


    ¡°Hypocrite?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Zhang family¡¯s Hero King as you people call him,¡± said Lord Fourth.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that Jing Daoxian¡¯s loss to the Hero King was probably referring to the matter of the number one beauty of the Federation.


    Lord Fourth continued, ¡°Back then, all those who came into contact with the Lost Immortal Sutra went crazy. However, I refused to have my beliefs shaken. Others can¡¯t master it, but I insist on mastering it. What others can¡¯t do is fun for me. I originally thought that it was only an Essence Energy Art. Even if it¡¯s meant to be cultivated by an Immortal Emperor or Buddha, I would still be able to find a way to make it serve me.¡±


    ¡°I never expected to fail at taming it. I almost died in the Holy Land because of it,¡± Lord Fourth said with a sigh.


    ¡°You entered the Holy Land back then? How did you enter? Isn¡¯t it said that only low-level humans can enter the Holy Land?¡± Zhou Wen had always wanted to enter the Holy Land to take a look because the former principal was likely inside a particular Holy Temple there, but he hadn¡¯t found a way to enter.


    ¡°I naturally have my means if I wish to enter.¡± Lord Fourth smiled and said, ¡°However, it¡¯s best you don¡¯t go. Even if you have the power to suppress the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association, you still won¡¯t be able to leave alive.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s inside? What¡¯s going on with the six Holy Temples?¡± Zhou Wen had never figured out the relationship between the six Holy Temples and the dimension. All he knew was that it seemed to be the dimension¡¯s contact point on Earth, similar to a temple or church in the human world.


    ¡°Do you know the phrase ¡®concession settlement?¡¯¡± Lord Fourth asked a question instead of answering.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of it. It¡¯s a rather ancient saying. It seems to be an office rented by a country in another country.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a while before recalling what the phrase was about. When he had studied history in the past, there had only been a few mentions of it in textbooks.


    ¡°The Holy Land is equivalent to a concession settlement of the dimension on Earth. Nothing there is restricted by the rules of Earth. The dimensional creatures can descend freely. Even Calamity-grade or Apocalypse-grade creatures can appear there and unleash their full might. You¡¯ve been there before. Thankfully, you weren¡¯t qualified to let them take a second gander at you back then. That¡¯s why you were able to return alive. If you were to go again now, I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t be so lucky anymore,¡± said Lord Fourth.


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed. If that was the case, he was considered lucky to return alive.


    ¡°If you can return alive, why can¡¯t I?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t convinced. He wanted to know more from Jing Daoxian.


    Lord Fourth looked at Zhou Wen with a teasing look and said, ¡°I came back alive because I could steel my heart. I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t be able to be ruthless when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen looked at him in puzzlement.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know if you go there in the future.¡± Lord Fourth was clearly unwilling to talk about the Holy Land. He must have done something unspeakable there.


    Zhou Wen thought for a while but failed to figure out what he was talking about.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you came to talk to me about this? What do you want?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I get Liu Yun to tell you a long time ago? I want you to help me leave my name on the rankings,¡± said Lord Fourth.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you do it yourself?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Lord Fourth doesn¡¯t have the ability to enter the rankings,¡± said Lord Fourth.


    His words were a little awkward, but Zhou Wen still understood what he meant. What he meant was that with the status of Lord Fourth, he shouldn¡¯t have the ability to enter the rankings. Others would definitely suspect him if he really did it.


    ¡°Did you really make a bet with someone?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Lord Fourth nodded.


    ¡°What did you bet on?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Someone on my side has to be on the rankings within three months. Otherwise, I¡¯ll have to kowtow and admit my mistake,¡± Lord Fourth said casually.


    ¡°Who did you make the bet with?¡± Zhou Wen had heard from Liu Yun that Lord Fourth had made a bet with someone, but he had no idea who he had made the bet with.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t curious about this matter previously, but he was somewhat curious now that he knew that Lord Fourth was Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian was definitely not someone who would do something for no reason. He had definitely made a bet with someone, so if he knew who he was betting with, Zhou Wen might figure out what he was up to.


    ¡°Regarding the person who made the bet with me, you apparently call him teacher,¡± Lord Fourth said with a faint smile.


    ¡°Who did you say?¡± Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he looked at Lord Fourth. His eyes were about to pop out as his face filled with disbelief.


    He naturally knew who Jing Daoxian was talking about, but he couldn¡¯t believe it.

 Chapter 1299 - Suspicious of Everything

    Chapter 1299: Suspicious of Everything


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°His reputation on Earth isn¡¯t any better than mine. There¡¯s no need to mention his name.¡± As Lord Fourth spoke, he took out two boxes and placed them in front of Zhou Wen. He continued, ¡°These two boxes contain the Luck Pixie and a Terror-grade Black Bear Spirit. Feel free to take them.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at him and said, ¡°And you are certain I¡¯ll help you?¡±


    Lord Fourth laughed. ¡°Why won¡¯t you? Because the person I¡¯m betting with is your teacher? Are you still not disavowing a sinner like him?¡±


    ¡°Whether I disavow him or not has nothing to do with helping you,¡± said Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Then even more you should help me. Aren¡¯t these what you want?¡± Lord Fourth pointed at the two boxes.


    Zhou Wen looked at Lord Fourth with an odd expression, unclear what he was up to.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t wish for Wang Mingyuan to lose. A shrewd and experienced fellow like Jing Daoxian knew as well, but he had deliberately told Zhou Wen ahead of time who his counterpart was.


    Could it be that his goal isn¡¯t for me to clear the level? Or could it be that his bet with Teacher isn¡¯t as simple as clearing the level? Zhou Wen racked his brains, but failed to come up with an answer.


    ¡°It isn¡¯t as complicated as you imagine. It¡¯s just a bet. Even if you choose not to do it, there will be others to take your place. It¡¯s just getting on the rankings, nothing difficult,¡± said Lord Fourth.


    ¡°What will happen if you win?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°If I win, he¡¯ll need to give me something to aid in extending my lifespan,¡± Lord Fourth said.


    Only then did Zhou Wen recall that Jing Daoxian had a problem with his lifespan. Previously, he had wanted Banana Fairy to help him refine some medicine, but he hadn¡¯t done so for the past few years. He probably hadn¡¯t found the ingredients required.


    ¡°So are you game or not?¡± Lord Fourth asked again.


    Zhou Wen was still hesitant. Just as Jing Daoxian said, getting on the rankings wasn¡¯t that difficult. Even if he didn¡¯t do it, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Jing Daoxian to find others to help him¡ªgiven his strength.


    However, even if others helped Jing Daoxian get onto the rankings, that person ought not to be Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen kept thinking about it. What if I take Jing Daoxian¡¯s items, but do not help him get onto the rankings. What if I keep stalling for time?


    As though reading Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, Lord Fourth said with an insincere smile, ¡°You can take the items if you want them; likewise, you can choose not to do the job.¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. ¡°What do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°After I give you the items, they are yours. You can keep them or throw them away. The bet¡¯s deadline is still two months and eight days away. I¡¯ll be at Lunar Deer Alley and I¡¯ll wait for you for two months and eight days. You can choose to come or not.¡± Lord Fourth turned around to leave after saying those words.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Lord Fourth¡¯s back, perplexed as to what he was up to.


    Lord Fourth ignored him. He returned to his ship and got the captain to steer the ship away from Dossier Island.


    Zhou Wen looked at the two boxes in front of him with great suspicion. Could Jing Daoxian have placed a bomb inside, thus the reason why he was so anxious to leave?


    However, boxes like this were no different from being transparent to Zhou Wen. Just by carefully listening, he could tell that a necklace and Companion Egg was placed inside. There were no bombs.


    The necklace was likely the Lady Luck Necklace. There was a seal on it, as though a particular method had been used to forcefully extract it from the original owner.


    Under the necklace was a card. On it were the instructions for recontracting.


    The Companion Egg inside the other box was a black furry ball. Jing Daoxian said that it was a Black Bear Spirit. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of Companion Beast it was, but from the aura it emitted, he knew that it wasn¡¯t something of inferior quality.


    Could it be that Jing Daoxian is lying? Their bet isn¡¯t about getting on the rankings but has something to do with me? If I choose not to go, will Teacher lose? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but become suspicious. This matter was just too bizarre.


    What kind of person was Jing Daoxian? The number one devil in the Federation. Was he someone who would be willing to lose? He could easily produce two precious items to give to Zhou Wen. Furthermore, he had said that he left the completion of the job up to Zhou Wen.


    But viewing it from a different angle, this could be a trap laid by Jing Daoxian. He deliberately made him read too much into it, hoping to exploit such thoughts of his.


    If only I could get to meet Teacher. At least I can figure out whether he had made a bet with Jing Daoxian. Zhou Wen became overly suspicious of everything because of Jing Daoxian. He even suspected whether the person who Jing Daoxian had made a bet with was Wang Mingyuan.


    Jing Daoxian might have said that on purpose to make Zhou Wen conflicted so as to achieve his goal.


    Zhou Wen thought for a while but failed to come up with a reason. He decided to put away the Lady Luck Necklace and Companion Egg.


    They are definitely good things. There won¡¯t be any problems taking them. I¡¯ll consider the rest later. After Zhou Wen put away the items, he turned around and went to the dimensional zone on Asiri Island.


    After circling the island and killing many avian dimensional creatures, he didn¡¯t see any Lucky Birds or the tiny palm symbol. All Zhou Wen could do was return resentfully.


    On the way back, Zhou Wen kept thinking about Jing Daoxian. The more he thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. It didn¡¯t make sense for Jing Daoxian to give him such a huge benefit for no reason.


    Could it be that there¡¯s something wrong with these two Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen took out the Lady Luck Necklace and the Black Bear Spirit Companion Egg and carefully studied them, but he didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    How strange. Has Jing Daoxian suddenly changed? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t trust the situation.


    ¡°Liu Yun, do you know who Lord Fourth is?¡± Zhou Wen sent a message to Liu Yun, hoping to figure out if Liu Yun knew the truth.


    ¡°Lord Fourth is Lord Fourth. Why? Is there a problem?¡± Liu Yun quickly replied.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask further.


    If Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t wish for others to know that it was him, it was normal that Liu Yun couldn¡¯t tell. Even Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been able to tell at the beginning. It was only when Jing Daoxian deliberately spoke in his own voice that Zhou Wen had identified him.


    ¡°What happened? Are you alright?¡± Liu Yun sent another message.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Let¡¯s put the matter of Lord Fourth aside for now. I¡¯ll inform you when I¡¯ll carry out the job in the future.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and sent another message: ¡°Do you have a way to contact Teacher?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ Why don¡¯t you ask Zhong Ziya? Perhaps he has a solution,¡± Liu Yun replied.


    ¡°Got it.¡± Zhou Wen opened his contact list and found Zhong Ziya. He sent a message: ¡°Is there a way to contact Teacher?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhong Ziya quickly replied. It was a simple word, and he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Zhou Wen sent Hui Haifeng and Jiang Yan the same message. Hui Haifeng said that he hadn¡¯t seen Wang Mingyuan since the Holy City incident.


    Jiang Yan didn¡¯t reply.. His situation was unknown.

 Chapter 1300 - Wings of Tomorrow

    Chapter 1300: Wings of Tomorrow


    Translator: CKtalon


    Since he couldn¡¯t contact Wang Mingyuan, Zhou Wen had no solution. He felt that there was something fishy about this matter. If Jing Daoxian had really made a bet with Wang Mingyuan, there was no reason for Jing Daoxian to come looking for him, but he had heard nothing from Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put this matter aside. He planned on testing the Wings of Tomorrow skill and see what it was all about.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that a Terror-grade skill wasn¡¯t likely to be able to travel into the future. Ignoring tomorrow, even a minute into the future was unlikely.


    He used Wings of Tomorrow and felt a force spew out from his back. Like a rocket¡¯s thruster, it pushed his body up.


    The altitude he could fly was very low, like a swallow¡¯s low flight, but it was very fast.


    Such a speed was extremely fast even at the Terror grade. It wasn¡¯t slower than Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Is that all? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. Although such speed was fast, it was no different from his Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Zhou Wen wanted to stop, but he was suddenly alarmed to discover that he couldn¡¯t stop the Essence Energy circulation in his body. The Wings of Tomorrow seemed to lose control as it carried him forward like a cannonball.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly circulated his Essence Energy Art in a bid to stop his body¡¯s flight.


    A huge mountain appeared in his vision. At this speed, he would crash into it in less than a minute.


    However, the more Zhou Wen circulated his Essence Energy, the faster he flew. It was as though his Essence Energy would automatically be absorbed by the Wings of the Tomorrow. Not only could he not stop it, but he also aided it.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t stop, Zhou Wen attempted to change his flight path. At the very least, he couldn¡¯t let himself crash into the mountain.


    The outcome was the same. After trying several methods, his body continued flying straight forward. He was getting closer and closer to the mountain, and the granite wall was right in front of him.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen released the Seven Seas Dragon King and placed it in front of him, hoping to use its body to buffer the collision.


    The Seven Seas Dragon King spewed out white mucus at Zhou Wen, hoping to stop him from continuing his flight. When the white mucus landed on Zhou Wen, his body rushed through it without it sticking to him.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and prepared to slam into the Seven Seas Dragon King, but his vision blurred as his body tunneled through its body and headed straight for the mountain wall.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Zhou Wen brandished his fist and struck the mountain in front of him.


    However, he realized that all the Essence Energy in his body had been drained by the Wings of the Tomorrow. Without any Essence Energy to provide his other skills, his body continued on its collision course.


    It¡¯s over! Am I going to be the first human to kill himself with his own skill? Zhou Wen was so depressed that he nearly vomited blood.


    However, his flying speed was too fast. Without giving him any time to think, he had already slammed into the mountain wall.


    Zhou Wen subconsciously closed his eyes and gathered all his strength, preparing to withstand the pain of the collision, but the pain didn¡¯t come.


    Zhou Wen opened his eyes and realized that he was tunneling through the mountain. The strange scene was somewhat similar to the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s Earth Escape technique.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell if the mountain had turned into an illusion or if his body had turned into an illusion. When the two overlapped, there was no collision. It was like the images projected by two projectors. They overlapped and changed, but they didn¡¯t collide.


    What¡¯s going on? The power of the Wings of Tomorrow? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    His body kept flying forward, unable to stop. He charged through the mountain, the forest, and even a dam.


    However, none of this could touch Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen¡¯s body appeared to be an incorporeal ghost. He could pass through anything he touched.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered something even more terrifying. As he couldn¡¯t control his body, he naturally couldn¡¯t choose a flight path and slammed straight into a dimensional zone.


    This dimensional zone was deep in the mountains, and Zhou Wen had never been there before. It didn¡¯t seem like anyone had come here. He saw groups of strange dimensional creatures.


    They looked like cats, but their bodies were as large as tigers. They basked in the warm sun on the grass in groups, as though they couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen flying over their heads.


    Soon, Zhou Wen flew through the dimensional zone. The dimensional zone didn¡¯t restrict his body, so he didn¡¯t need to take the main entrance.


    Wings of Tomorrow is quite interesting. Could it be that I¡¯m using tomorrow¡¯s body to do something today, that¡¯s why I¡¯m not affected? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss.


    Even tomorrow¡¯s body couldn¡¯t pass through the mountain wall without a collision. The mountain wall had been there for hundreds of millions of years and it would continue to exist for a long time into the future. Be it yesterday or tomorrow, it was impossible for it to suddenly vanish. It was impossible for him to pass through it no matter when.


    What¡¯s going on with this skill? Could it be that I have to fly like this until tomorrow? The possibility only made him even more depressed.


    He kept flying as his body passed through dimensional zones one after another. He flew for a long time in the dimensional zones. Due to his extreme speed, it didn¡¯t take long for him to pass through ordinary zones. Therefore, Zhou Wen had the illusion that he was flying continuously in dimensional zones.


    In those dimensional zones, Zhou Wen saw terrifying snakes that resembled dragons, behemoths that were as large as mountains, and strange treants.


    Zhou Wen was quite knowledgeable. He had experienced many dimensional zones and seen many dimensional creatures, but the number of dimensional creatures he had seen today was more than in his previous years combined.


    Thankfully, no matter what dimensional zone he entered, the Wings of Tomorrow would fly past it with Zhou Wen appearing like a ghost without attracting the attention of any creatures.


    Although I don¡¯t know what¡¯s up with this skill, it seems interesting. If this move can¡¯t even be discovered by a Calamity-grade creature, can I use it to get a ranking on Venus? Zhou Wen was already somewhat relaxed.


    Since no one could discover him and he didn¡¯t have to worry about hitting anything while he just kept flying, apart from physically moving, it didn¡¯t seem to affect him.


    Zhou Wen even had the urge to take out his phone and game while flying, but before he could really take it out, he suddenly heard a bang.


    2


    He felt as though his head was about to explode from the collision. His entire body bounced back as his head spun. His head buzzed as he nearly fainted on the spot.


    When Zhou Wen finally regained clarity of mind, his vision was still blurry.. He tried his best to widen his eyes, hoping to figure out where he was.

 Chapter 1301 - Accidentally Entering a Land of Peril

    As if he had suddenly plunged into the sun from the darkness, Zhou Wen¡¯s vision became clearer. However, the scene in front of him made his hair stand up, and he had goosebumps all over his body.


    Swoosh!


    Zhou Wen quickly jumped up and retreated like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.


    In front of him was a creature bigger than a tyrannosaurus. It was a white-furred ape. Its fur was snow-white, but its skin was as black as cast iron.


    It was probably more than a hundred meters tall and unimaginably muscular. Its hands were raised high as if it were holding something, like a giant that could hold up the sky.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what level it was at, but he had most likely stopped from slamming into it. He had passed through so many places, but he couldn¡¯t make the Wings of Tomorrow stop. Yet, when he slammed into it, he almost blew up his head. However, it was completely fine. Just its physical strength alone proved how extraordinary it was.


    At this moment, the white ape was staring at Zhou Wen with a gaze like a demon king looking at a mortal.


    Alarmed, Zhou Wen retreated quickly. However, he didn¡¯t retreat far before he bumped into something and had to stop.


    As Wings of Tomorrow had been interrupted, Zhou Wen regained control of his body. With this collision, he felt something soft behind him as if he had slammed into a soft animal. He was so frightened that he immediately retreated again.


    He turned around and saw a golden glow behind him. It was a leg, a leg covered in golden fur.


    Zhou Wen looked up and quickly saw the owner of the leg. It was also a giant ape with a body comparable to the white ape. However, it was covered in golden hair that resembled satin, and its skin was yellow.


    As Zhou Wen had bumped into it, its golden crystal-like eyes stared at Zhou Wen like the white ape. There was an extremely cold look in its eyes.


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ll definitely watch where I¡¯m going next time.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and wanted to run to the side, but he realized that there was also a giant ape there. The hair on that giant ape was blackish-gray, making it look even more terrifying.


    ¡°No way¡­¡± Zhou Wen swept his gaze around. Just as he imagined, there was a giant ape in all four directions. In the other direction was a giant ape with red fur. Like the other three giant apes, they raised their hands as if they were holding something. They stood there motionless as they looked at him.


    Zhou Wen forced himself to calm down and carefully sized up the four apes and the situation.


    That glance left him even more confused and horrified.


    This was a huge underground cave. There was actually a lot of seawater around it, like an underground sea.


    The spot where Zhou Wen was standing wasn¡¯t a small island, but a gigantic turtle shell.


    The four giant apes stood on the turtle shell. Their hands were raised high as they collectively held up a stone-like object.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what it was. It was carved from gray stone and looked very crude. It looked a little like a tripod, but it was too large.


    The four giant apes were more than 100 meters tall. It was obvious how large the stone artifact was if lifting it required their combined strength.


    What was even stranger was that Zhou Wen realized that there was an iron collar around each ape¡¯s neck. The collar was connected to several chains, linking their bodies to the turtle shell and the stone artifact.


    What kind of place is this? Zhou Wen took a Rejuvenation Pill and felt his mind clear up. He was even more shocked and confused.


    The reason for that was because he discovered a stone cocoon in the stone artifact.


    Guardian! There¡¯s actually a Guardian here! Zhou Wen used Truth Listener and scanned the stone cocoon in the stone artifact repeatedly. There was indeed no mistake; it was indeed a Guardian cocoon.


    Although Zhou Wen was very curious, he knew very well that the four devil-like apes were definitely not benevolent creatures. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t make a habit of risking his life.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used Godfiend Era¡¯s instant transmission to escape.


    However, he was clearly moving toward the underground sea, but he still appeared above the turtle shell.


    The results were the same after a few attempts. Be it instant transmission or Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation abilities, Zhou Wen would appear on the turtle shell when he blinked out of existence.


    Apes are vegetarians, right? They shouldn¡¯t want to eat human flesh, right? Zhou Wen looked at the four apes and carefully walked through the gap between one of the apes¡¯ legs. He wanted to see if he could directly walk beyond the turtle shell.


    As Zhou Wen walked, he kept sizing up the golden-haired ape. The golden-haired ape looked the most amiable out of the four apes. Zhou Wen thought that it might not like eating meat.


    As Zhou Wen moved, the four giant apes didn¡¯t move, but their eyes kept following his movements. The golden-furred ape was no exception.


    Zhou Wen braced himself and prepared to walk between the golden-haired ape¡¯s legs. He gathered all his strength. If the golden-haired ape suddenly attacked, he could only risk it.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like to participate in battles with such unknowns, he knew that it was best to take the initiative when facing an unknown opponent.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had already made a plan. As long as the ape did not do anything abnormal, he would immediately attack with all his might and finish off one first.


    Rumble!


    Before Zhou Wen could reach the golden-furred ape¡¯s legs, he suddenly felt the turtle shell beneath his feet tremble. The seawater around him churned as if something had happened.


    Zhou Wen quickly summoned his Terror-level Companion Beasts and surrounded himself with them.


    There were Golden Battle Gods around him, and Banana Fairy was sitting on a banana leaf above him. He also carried Demonic Neonate in his arms, prepared to fight to the death at any moment.


    The surrounding seawater churned for a while, but it didn¡¯t affect the turtle shell. After a while, the turtle shell stopped trembling, and the seawater gradually calmed down.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what had happened, he suddenly saw the golden-furred ape lower one of its claws and use only one claw to hold up the stone artifact.


    The lowered claw swiped at the sea.


    With a boom, the seawater thousands of meters away spewed out. A flood dragon broke out of the water like a loach that had been caught. Its body twisted and struggled, but it couldn¡¯t escape.


    The flood dragon was pulled into the golden-furred ape¡¯s claw from thousands of meters away.


    The flood dragon¡¯s body spewed out dragon breath. Its strength was probably not inferior to the True Blood Demon Dragon, but it was like a loach in front of the golden-furred ape. It grabbed the flood dragon by the mouth and bit down. The dragon¡¯s head, together with a small portion of its body, was bitten off. With a few bites, the dragon¡¯s blood gushed out and the dragon bones broke.


    In just a moment, a flood dragon was swallowed alive and whole, into the golden ape¡¯s stomach.

 Chapter 1302 - Four Dimitrios Monkeys

    Chapter 1302: Four Dimitrios Monkeys


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt his scalp tingle. Although there were indeed many creatures that ate dragons in the ancient myths of the East District, hearing about them and seeing them with his own eyes were two different matters.


    Having seen a flood dragon being eaten alive, Zhou Wen¡¯s hopes of a vegetarian ape were dashed.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t pull a living flood dragon out of the deep sea.


    The golden-haired ape was already so terrifying, but there were four of such monkeys here. Zhou Wen felt that things were going south now that he was being watched by four terrifying apes while he was under their noses.


    Thankfully, the four terrifying apes hadn¡¯t attacked him yet.


    I have to think of a way to leave this godforsaken place. Zhou Wen looked at the golden-haired ape¡¯s legs, but he didn¡¯t have the courage to run through them.


    They still had no intention of taking action. Perhaps they planned on storing him as food. If their food were to escape, they might be displeased.


    Who wouldn¡¯t feel the pinch after losing more than fifty kilograms of meat? Anyway, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the risk or rashly move about. Even with the four Golden Battle Gods surrounding him and Banana Fairy overseeing him, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t feel safe.


    With Zhou Wen staying motionless, the four terrifying apes didn¡¯t move either. They just stared at him as though they had no intention of attacking.


    Could it be that they really plan on storing me as food? That¡¯s not right. I¡¯m only a tiny bit of meat to them. I¡¯m probably not even enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. A flood dragon has been eaten up in one go. What¡¯s the point with storing a pittance like me? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    If I had known, I would have brought Ice Maiden over. We would have been able to negotiate. Perhaps she knows what the four apes are. Zhou Wen regretted leaving Ice Maiden and Nether Lotus in Luoyang.


    In the myths and legends of the East District, there were many apes. The most famous one was naturally the Handsome Monkey King that wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace.


    However, these four apes had looks which had nothing to do with beauty.


    The Handsome Monkey King was an Intelligent Stone Monkey, and among the Four Dimitrios Monkeys, there were also the Six-Eared Macaque, Long-Armed Ape Monkey, and Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey. There were also four apes here, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think of the Four Dimitrios Monkeys.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized them up, hoping to see if he could find the characteristics of the Four Dimitrios Monkeys on them.


    After some observation, he failed to discover any ape with especially long arms, nor did he discover any ape with six ears.


    These four apes don¡¯t seem to be the Four Dimitrios Monkeys. Furthermore, I¡¯ve never heard of monkeys standing on a turtle¡¯s back holding a stone artifact in myths. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be curious when he thought of the stone artifact.


    These four apes were definitely at the Terror grade or even stronger. How powerful was the Guardian cocoon they protected?


    Zhou Wen had previously heard that there were still differences between Guardians. Some Guardians¡¯ potential might be at the Terror grade, making it difficult for them to advance any further. As for other Guardians, they might reach the Calamity grade or even the Apocalypse grade.


    And according to An Sheng, the strangest point was that Guardians hatched from Earth all seemed to have considerable potential.


    In contrast, the Guardians that were directly teleported over from the dimension were at the Terror grade when they arrived¡ªthey didn¡¯t seem to have any room for growth. Their strength would basically stagnate. Advancing to a higher grade wasn¡¯t even the main problem¡ªthere were very few examples of them undergoing slight improvements.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had always been unsure of the relationship between Guardians and the dimensional creatures. Most of the Guardian cocoons on Earth had a powerful dimensional creature guarding them.


    However, having seen so many Guardian cocoons, Zhou Wen felt that the dimensional creatures weren¡¯t just simply protecting it.


    Just like when he went to contract Fairy Burial with Jiang Yan, the dimensional creature suspected to be Bai Ze didn¡¯t seem to care too much about the Fairy Burial he was protecting and easily gave up.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that Bai Ze was seriously obsessed with cleanliness and had to leave because he was disgusted by the two of them.


    Without anyone else to discuss it with, Zhou Wen got Demonic Neonate to release Grim Demon. This fellow was rather knowledgeable, so he might be able to recognize the four monkeys.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t recognize the monkeys, as a Guardian, he might be able to tell something from the Guardian cocoon.


    ¡°It¡¯s so boring. Can you let me come out more often in the future? After all, I was once¡­¡± After Grim Demon came out, he protested unhappily. However, when he saw the scene in front of him, he halted the words he was about to say. He wore a look of horror and quickly retreated, hoping to return to the demonic sword.


    However, without Demonic Neonate¡¯s orders, how could he return?


    ¡°From the looks of it, you know these four monkeys?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted and shocked when he saw Grim Demon¡¯s reaction.


    He was delighted that Grim Demon seemed to know them. He was shocked because Grim Demon¡¯s reaction undoubtedly meant that the four monkeys were terrifying existences. It seemed even more difficult for him to escape alive.


    Grim Demon stood there with a nasty expression. Although his legs weren¡¯t trembling, it was obvious that his legs were a little limp.


    ¡°Why did you come to such a godforsaken place? Can¡¯t you just lead a peaceful life?¡± Grim Demon had always been considered Demonic Neonate the boss, while he was second. He thought nothing of anything else. For him to speak in such a tone now made Zhou Wen feel even more uneasy.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Do you think I¡¯m willing to come to such a godforsaken place? No matter how free I am, wouldn¡¯t it be nice if I just stayed at home and gamed? Who wants to come here to die? I didn¡¯t expect that darn Wings of Tomorrow to be so strange.


    ¡°Cut the crap. What are these four monkeys?¡± Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t tell Grim Demon that he had used a skill to get himself into such a situation. It would be too embarrassing.


    Grim Demon said gloomily, ¡°I don¡¯t know what they are, but I¡¯m certain that they are Calamity-grade creatures or worse.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    ¡°The collars and chains on their bodies are clearly a form of imprisonment. Their strength must have been suppressed, but even so, the Essence Energy fluctuations they emit are still at the Calamity grade. I really don¡¯t know if they will become stronger if they aren¡¯t suppressed¡­¡± As Grim Demon spoke, he sized up the four apes from time to time. He looked a little afraid.


    ¡°Are you saying that they are at the Apocalypse level?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying that it¡¯s possible. It¡¯s not that easy to reach the Apocalypse stage, but they are definitely top existences among Calamity-grade existences,¡± Grim Demon explained.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression became even more complicated. Top Calamity creatures were chained here to guard a Guardian cocoon; that meant that the Guardian cocoon was definitely extraordinary.


    In any case, Zhou Wen had never seen a Guardian cocoon with such a luxurious lineup of defenders.

 Chapter 1303 - Strange Guardian Cocoon

    Chapter 1303: Strange Guardian Cocoon


    Translator: CKtalon


    For some reason, the ape that could swallow a flood dragon only stared at Zhou Wen without taking action.


    Although they didn¡¯t move, Zhou Wen still felt uneasy. He felt like an infant that had fallen into a tiger¡¯s den and was surrounded by a group of tigers.


    Grim Demon was also trembling in fear. Although he said that he was fearless, he was only at the Terror grade. There was no way to compete with an existence at the level of the Four Monkeys.


    The ignorant were fearless. The more one knew about something, the more they would feel reverence.


    Grim Demon was clearly a knowledgeable person. He knew how terrifying the four ferocious monkeys were.


    ¡°Do you recognize the Guardian cocoon¡¯s species?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon was slightly taken aback. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s instructions, he realized that there was a Guardian cocoon inside the stone artifact.


    ¡°Strange!¡± Grim Demon didn¡¯t dare approach to take a look. He only peeked from below, but his expression became puzzled.


    ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Grim Demon frowned and said, ¡°That Guardian cocoon is a little strange. Typically, a Guardian cocoon that hasn¡¯t hatched will be sent to a dimensional zone that matches its stats after being teleported to Earth. The power of the dimensional zone will have a certain effect on the Guardian cocoon, causing the Guardian¡¯s growth to undergo a certain mutation. However, it won¡¯t change his fundamental stats.¡±


    ¡°For example, if it¡¯s a Guardian created from the genes of the angels, no matter how this Guardian mutates, be it into a fire-elemental angel or ice-elemental angel, he will still be in an angel form.¡± Grim Demon continued with an odd expression, ¡°But this Companion Beast is somewhat different.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s different? Do you know what species the Guardian in the cocoon is?¡± Zhou Wen was spying on the Guardian cocoon, but he couldn¡¯t see anything.


    Grim Demon shook his head slightly. ¡°I can¡¯t see what¡¯s inside the cocoon either. However, the power from the cocoon is clearly incompatible with the power attributes of this dimensional zone. Didn¡¯t you notice?¡±


    Zhou Wen had previously felt that the Guardian cocoon was somewhat strange, but he had been thinking of a way to escape without thinking too much about other things. Now that Grim Demon had mentioned it, he realized that the attributes of the Guardian cocoon were indeed somewhat incompatible with the attributes of this dimensional zone.


    Although he couldn¡¯t tell what attributes the Guardian cocoon had, it repelled the Essence Energy in the dimensional zone.


    Grim Demon looked at the four apes and continued, ¡°Furthermore, typically speaking, the dimensional creatures that stay beside the Guardian cocoon do so voluntarily. As for these four fellows, they seem to be chained here and have no choice but to guard this Guardian cocoon. Such a situation definitely has a special reason.¡±


    ¡°What could be the reason?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about Guardians, so he could only ask Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon shook his head. ¡°There might be many reasons. Perhaps someone didn¡¯t want this Guardian cocoon to hatch, so they sealed it in a place that doesn¡¯t match the Guardian cocoon¡¯s attributes to prevent it from hatching. The four apes might be used to prevent someone from contracting the Guardian cocoon or taking it away. It¡¯s also possible that there¡¯s something special about this Guardian cocoon such as it being only hatchable in such a place. There¡¯s also a possibility that someone found this Guardian cocoon elsewhere and moved it here¡­¡±


    Grim Demon listed a few possibilities, but he couldn¡¯t determine which one it was.


    ¡°Someone imprisoned four Calamity-grade creatures and placed the Guardian cocoon in such a place. With such strength, it¡¯s unlikely he¡¯s human, right?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°That might not be the case. During the war in ancient times, there were quite a number of humans who reached the Calamity grade by combining with Guardians. There was even¡­¡± Grim Demon suddenly seemed to realize something and shut up.


    ¡°There was even an Apocalypse grade?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Grim Demon with interest. He had previously had the notion that Grim Demon might not be purely arrogant. Now, from the looks of it, he knew many things. It was very likely that he was a powerful Guardian that had survived the ancient era.


    ¡°I heard so.¡± Grim Demon was clearly being patronizing.


    Seeing that Grim Demon had no intention of continuing, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t press further. Instead, he asked, ¡°Then, do you think that this Guardian cocoon might be a Guardian that survived the ancient era?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like it. This should be a Guardian cocoon that hasn¡¯t hatched.¡± After a pause, Grim Demon continued, ¡°However, it¡¯s really possible that it was left behind from that era. Only an environment like this allows one to not hatch after such a long period of time.¡±


    ¡°How long ago was the ancient era you mentioned?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°To you humans, it¡¯s the prehistoric Mythical Era.¡± Grim Demon suddenly frowned and said, ¡°Strange!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Did you discover anything special?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see anything amiss. The four ferocious apes were still staring at them without doing anything different.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that it¡¯s strange that there¡¯s nothing special about it. Regardless of the possibility, these four fellows were chained here to guard this Guardian cocoon. We¡¯ve been here for so long, but they haven¡¯t reacted at all. This is too strange,¡± Grim Demon said.


    Zhou Wen had previously found it odd that they were here to protect the Guardian cocoon, but they ignored him, an intruder. This was clearly odd.


    ¡°Could it be that they have been suppressed for too long and have lost the ability to attack?¡± Grim Demon pondered out loud.


    ¡°I saw with my own eyes that the golden-haired ape grabbed the air with one hand and sucked a flood dragon out of the sea. Then, it chewed it alive.¡± Zhou Wen rejected Grim Demon¡¯s theory.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Then why don¡¯t they attack us? That doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Grim Demon frowned.


    ¡°Could it be that they are restricted by some taboo power and are unable to attack creatures on the turtle shell?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Impossible. No one is that foolish. Unless¡­¡± Grim Demon seemed to think of a possibility, but he was somewhat unsure.


    ¡°Unless what?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Unless there¡¯s someone among us who can hatch the Guardian cocoon and meet the requirements of the person who designed all of this; only then will they not attack.¡± The person Grim Demon was referring to was naturally Zhou Wen. He was the only human here.


    ¡°No way?¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. How could it be so coincidental that he met the conditions for hatching the Guardian cocoon?


    ¡°Apart from that, I really can¡¯t think of any other possibility.¡± The more Grim Demon thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. He said to Zhou Wen, ¡°You don¡¯t have to belittle yourself. To be able to obtain Master¡¯s favor, you aren¡¯t too bad. Perhaps it¡¯s really possible.¡±


    No matter how Zhou Wen tried to interpret Grim Demon¡¯s words, something seemed amiss.. It sounded like he was praising him, but it also didn¡¯t feel right.

 Chapter 1304 - Give it a try

    Zhou Wen thought about it and felt that it was true.


    If he hadn¡¯t met the requirements, how could these ferocious beasts ignore him?


    Since their mission here was to protect the Guardian cocoon, be it voluntary or not, the person who designed all of this definitely had a way to make them eliminate anyone who came here.


    Up to now, they had no intention of attacking him. Grim Demon¡¯s words seemed to make sense.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t lose his rationality because of Grim Demon¡¯s speculation. He felt that it was only a possibility. If he guessed wrongly and randomly touched the Guardian cocoon, the apes who had no intention of killing him might immediately turn hostile.


    However, being trapped here wasn¡¯t a solution. Zhou Wen planned on probing the way.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned a Poison Bat and got it to fly towards the gap between the golden-haired ape and the black-gray ape.


    Zhou Wen was extremely nervous and his nerves were taut. If the Poison Bat angered the four apes, he could only fight to the death. He might have to use the Immortal Culling Sword again.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it could kill the four apes. After all, he was too weak. He could only use the most basic ability of the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Thankfully, what Zhou Wen was worried about didn¡¯t happen. The Poison Bat flew out of the turtle shell¡¯s range without the four apes attacking it.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw this. He got the Poison Bat to scout the sea surface and made it fly a distance away. The four apes still didn¡¯t react.


    There¡¯s a chance! Zhou Wen was still worried as he experimented with a few different Companion Beasts. The outcome was the same. They ignored him.


    Even Jade Rabbit was released by Zhou Wen. The fellow ran and hopped across the sea, but the four apes didn¡¯t attack it.


    Zhou Wen felt relieved as he attempted to walk out.


    God bless me. If I can return safely this time, I guarantee that I¡¯ll offer three incense sticks every day and do the ritual of bathing and eating vegetarian food for a month¡­ Zhou Wen felt uneasy.


    Although the four apes didn¡¯t attack him, their eyes followed his path.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine looking as long as you don¡¯t attack. We are all gentlemen here. A gentleman uses his tongue, not his fists¡­ Pui¡­ Don¡¯t use your tongue either¡­¡± Zhou Wen suddenly thought of the flood dragon¡¯s outcome and hurriedly changed his words.


    Slowly, he took three steps. Zhou Wen carefully moved out as he observed the four apes¡¯ reactions. If they had any nasty reaction, Zhou Wen would immediately stop and think of another solution.


    However, the four apes didn¡¯t react. They just watched him slowly move.


    Grim Demon, who was following Zhou Wen, couldn¡¯t help but break out into a cold sweat. If it was different from what he had guessed, resulting in the angering of the four apes, their outcome would probably be tragic.


    Finally, Zhou Wen walked to the golden-haired ape¡¯s side and walked past its legs. He finally left the island-like turtle shell.


    Zhou Wen flew to the surface of the sea, feeling delighted. He didn¡¯t care if he met the requirements. Since he could come out, he had to escape.


    Due to the earlier lesson, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare use instant transmission. He was afraid that he would return to the turtle shell. He summoned his Companion Beasts and Jade Rabbit back before using the Transcendent Flying Immortal movement technique to transform into a stream of light and flew into the distance. In the blink of an eye, he flew thousands of meters away.


    Zhou Wen was feeling excited that he had finally escaped. All he needed to do was leave this dimensional zone.


    However, just as he smiled, he suddenly felt the world spin. When he snapped to his senses, he realized that he was on a furry claw.


    The owner of the claw was the black-gray-haired ape.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had clearly sensed spatial powers. Furthermore, it was a spatial power that was at a higher level than his Singularity Universe and Godfiend Era.


    To be able to teleport something from thousands of meters away was no mean feat¡ªit was something Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do.


    Even if he used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, he had to leave a mark. Yet, the black-gray ape had teleported him into its palm. This was much harder than Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    Zhou Wen was a living person with Terror-grade strength¡ªa person who was good at spatial powers. He wasn¡¯t that easily transported.


    Zhou Wen already had plans to fight for his life. He quickly flew out of the ape claw and grabbed the hilt of Immortal Culling Sword.


    However, the black-gray ape had no intention of continuing. It retracted its claw and returned to the stance of raising the stone artifact with both claws.


    This left Zhou Wen taken aback as he thought to himself, What¡¯s the meaning of this? He captured me and ignored me. Could it be that he feels too bored being trapped here and wants me to stay behind to chat?


    ¡°Um¡­ Brother Ape¡­ Do you need any help? Just say the word and I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Zhou Wen probed the four apes.


    No one answered him. The four apes didn¡¯t seem to hear him at all. They continued standing there expressionlessly, staring at him as before.


    What¡¯s the meaning of this? Don¡¯t you want to talk to me? Could it be that Grim Demon was right? I¡¯m a person who meets the requirements. I have to contract the Guardian before I can leave? Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and tried to leave the turtle shell again.


    The four apes still didn¡¯t stop him, but when he wanted to leave, he was caught by the black-gray ape again.


    The black-gray ape¡¯s spatial technique was much better than Zhou Wen and Liu Yun¡¯s. It was clearly on a higher level.


    You aren¡¯t letting me leave, nor do you kill me; yet you allow me to leave the turtle shell. From the looks of it, it¡¯s very likely that they want me to contract the Guardian¡­ Zhou Wen felt somewhat depressed.


    He guessed that once the Guardian was contracted and hatched, the four apes would be liberated. It wasn¡¯t easy for them to encounter a human that met the requirements, so they had to keep him behind.


    ¡°My dear ape brothers, do you want me to contract the Guardian in the cocoon?¡± Zhou Wen asked again as he stared at them, hoping to figure out something.


    However, they remained silent without any expression. They looked like old monks in meditation. Apart from staring at Zhou Wen, they didn¡¯t do anything else.


    Zhou Wen could tell that the four of them thought nothing of him. They had no intention of communicating with him.


    Since they don¡¯t seem to want me dead, I¡¯ll give it a try. Zhou Wen left the turtle shell again and flew out from the middle of the four apes. However, this time, he didn¡¯t escape. Instead, he flew towards the stone artifact.


    When he arrived above the stone artifact, he saw the Guardian cocoon inside with his own eyes. The Guardian cocoon was also a piece of rock, about the same color as the stone artifact. If one didn¡¯t look carefully, they would mistake the stone as part of the stone artifact.

 Chapter 1305 - Forced Contract

    Zhou Wen landed on the edge of the stone artifact and glanced at the four apes. They didn¡¯t move at all, as though they didn¡¯t mind in the least about Zhou Wen¡¯s actions.


    ¡°Do you really want me to contract the Guardian?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the stone cocoon in the stone artifact as his expression changed.


    Contracting a Guardian wasn¡¯t difficult. As long as one reached the Guardian¡¯s requirement for physique, one only needed a drop of blood to complete the contract.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t meet the Guardian¡¯s requirements, as long as the Guardian was willing, he could still contract it.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in contracting a Guardian. He even felt averse to it. After all, Guardians were tools used by the dimension to colonize Earth.


    It was a little similar to cyborgs that humans had once imagined. Contracting such a creature might result in betrayal at any time. It wasn¡¯t a pleasant feeling.


    It was mainly because Zhou Wen had too many secrets. If the Guardian learned of such a secret and informed the dimension, who knew what the dimension would do to him.


    If there was another way, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have contracted a Guardian. Even if he wanted to, it had to be a master-slave contract like Demonic Neonate and Grim Demon.


    However, now that Zhou Wen thought about it, there didn¡¯t seem to be any other way. This dimensional zone was very strange. It didn¡¯t seem like he could leave without making a contract.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that if he could leave, he could just contract it. After all, the Guardian contract was an equal contract. He could escape first and think of a way to terminate the contract later.


    This was the good thing about an equal contract. It wasn¡¯t particularly difficult to remove it. He could still come up with something.


    Staying alive comes first. With this in mind, Zhou Wen skillfully condensed a finger beam and stabbed a needle-like wound on the finger of his other hand. He squeezed out a drop of blood and prepared to drip it onto the stone cocoon.


    Before he dripped his blood, Zhou Wen specially glanced at the four apes below. Seeing that they had no intention of stopping him, he steeled his heart and dripped the blood onto the stone cocoon.


    Sigh, I was forced. I didn¡¯t really want to contract a Guardian. Ancestors, please don¡¯t blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame the genes you handed me for being too outstanding, Zhou Wen thought plaintively.


    Blood had already dripped onto the stone cocoon. It was too late for regrets.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen awkwardly realized that when his blood landed on the cocoon, it was as though water droplets had landed on a pot of oil. It slid down without touching the cocoon at all.


    Zhou Wen gaped in shock.


    What¡¯s going on? Didn¡¯t you want me to contract it? When Zhou Wen gradually calmed down, he was even more puzzled.


    If he wasn¡¯t the one to make the contract, why did they get him to come up here? The four apes had clearly agreed for him to be there. To have such a performance meant that they thought highly of Zhou Wen.


    However, his blood was completely unable to trigger a reaction from the Guardian cocoon. This meant that he hadn¡¯t obtained the recognition of the Guardian cocoon. Or rather, his bloodline and stats couldn¡¯t meet the Guardian¡¯s requirements.


    Could it be that the four apes were mistaken? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but when he looked at the four apes, he felt that something was amiss.


    If Zhou Wen were one of those apes, he would probably have swallowed him to prevent himself from being embarrassed. However, the apes didn¡¯t have such plans. They continued waiting for something.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen sized up the stone cocoon again. On careful look, he realized that the stone cocoon was indeed different.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had discovered that there were faint gray patterns on the stone cocoon¡¯s surface. They didn¡¯t look eye-catching and he couldn¡¯t see them without careful inspection. Zhou Wen had thought that the gray patterns were natural patterns of the stone cocoon.


    Now, after taking a closer look, he realized that it didn¡¯t seem to be the case. He realized that the gray patterns had been drawn by someone.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of paint it was. It was gray like burnt paper ash. It was very closely connected to the stone cocoon and the color was similar. That is why he had thought they were part of the stone cocoon.


    However, on careful observation, he realized that there were many spots where the gray patterns were drawn with a brush. It was the same kind of brush used in the East District¡¯s ancient times. The paintings also looked a little like ink paintings, but they were much lighter. It was as though they had been gone through the ravages of time and were about to become indiscernible.


    Drawing on the Guardian cocoon? Zhou Wen felt that this wasn¡¯t the doing of someone who had nothing better to do. The paintings on it likely had some use.


    He circled the edge of the stone artifact and carefully studied the gray patterns on the Guardian cocoon. Although they were very faint, he could roughly see them.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand it. He realized that the gray patterns were a strange symbol. It was like a series of encryption numbers that filled the entire Guardian cocoon¡¯s surface.


    The symbols were unfamiliar. In any case, they weren¡¯t words or symbols that Zhou Wen knew.


    However, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that the symbols were like chains that circled around the stone cocoon as though they were sealing it.


    Zhou Wen guessed inwardly, Could it be that these gray patterns are sealing the stone cocoon, preventing my blood from being absorbed by it?


    The more he thought about it, the more convinced he was. Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try to see if he could wipe off the gray pattern before trying to contract it.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that touching the stone cocoon would anger the apes, so he asked, ¡°My dear ape brothers, is the plan to get me to wipe away the gray patterns before contracting the Guardian cocoon?¡±


    However, they remained silent as though they hadn¡¯t heard Zhou Wen.


    These four fellows are too detestable. They clearly want me to do something, but they don¡¯t say a word or express anything. Zhou Wen wished he could kill them all. It was best if four Companion Eggs dropped.


    In the future, he would buy a car without wheels and get the four of them to carry him every day.


    Despite his thoughts, Zhou Wen felt that he could give it a try seeing that they didn¡¯t react. Therefore, he carefully flew into the stone artifact and slowly approached the stone cocoon.


    As he flew, he paid attention to their reactions. Seeing that they had no intention of stopping him, Zhou Wen finally landed on the stone cocoon.


    This stone cocoon was about four to five meters in diameter. It wasn¡¯t small, and it was unknown what kind of Guardian was inside. Since there were four apes guarding it, it was likely that there was a stone monkey inside.


    The legendary Handsome Monkey King was said to have jumped out of a stone. Could this Guardian be the Handsome Monkey King? Zhou Wen was somewhat expectant.


    As a person from the East District, there didn¡¯t seem to be anyone who didn¡¯t like the Handsome Monkey King. Among the Four Dimitrios Monkeys, it was much more famous than the others.

 Chapter 1306 - Shattering the Stone Cocoon

    Chapter 1306: Shattering the Stone Cocoon


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen put on the Prisoned Dragon armor and landed on the stone cocoon. He didn¡¯t sense any energy fluctuations, nor did the gray patterns react.


    This made Zhou Wen doubt his judgment again. If the gray patterns really sealed the stone cocoon, there should be a protection mechanism. Now that there was no reaction, Zhou Wen felt uneasy.


    He squatted down and bent down to stroke the stone cocoon. He had only wanted to wipe the dust so that he could observe the gray patterns more clearly, but when he stroked it, many of the gray patterns were wiped away. This gave Zhou Wen a fright.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he flew up again. He warily sized up the stone cocoon, the stone artifact, and the four apes.


    He remembered watching some movies in the past. Once a seal was destroyed, the big boss inside would be released. At the same time, there would be some cool lighting effects. There might also be earthquakes and mountain crumbling.


    However, after some observation from midair, nothing happened. The four apes didn¡¯t react, and the stone cocoon remained very stable, just like before.


    Are these gray patterns really seals? Why are they dropping the moment I wipe them? I didn¡¯t use any strength! Zhou Wen wore an odd expression as he returned to the stone cocoon and attempted to wipe it.


    The gray patterns looked like they were really just dust. They fell off easily without any effect.


    After wiping a small area, the stone cocoon was already very clean. Zhou Wen dripped another drop of blood on it and thought to himself, It should work this time.


    Swoosh!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s blood slid down again without any intention of seeping in.


    The corners of Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes twitched. This was completely different from what he had imagined.


    I don¡¯t believe it. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and reached out to wipe the other gray patterns. As he wiped, he observed the reactions of the four apes and the Guardian cocoon.


    There was no reaction at all. It made Zhou Wen suspect that the gray patterns were really just dust. They weren¡¯t what Zhou Wen had imagined.


    As the gray patterns were wiped away, neither the four apes nor the stone cocoon reacted. However, Zhou Wen suddenly felt that the Truth Listener earring was gradually heating up.


    This heat was very strange. It was different from Truth Listener¡¯s previous effects of converting curses into Essence Energy. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any converted Essence Energy from Truth Listener. Instead, Truth Listener itself conveyed its thoughts.


    Zhou Wen looked at the stone cocoon in a daze before sensing Truth Listener¡¯s thoughts.


    Could it be that the four apes aren¡¯t eyeing me, but Truth Listener? With this in mind, Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener.


    The petite Truth Listener that resembled a golden-silk monkey landed on the stone cocoon.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to give the order, Truth Listener grabbed at the stone cocoon.


    Its claws were extremely sharp. Even if it didn¡¯t shatter the earrings, it still had the strength of a peak Mythical. However, when its claws touched the stone cocoon, there was a clang. Sparks flew between its nails and the stone cocoon, but it failed to leave any marks on it.


    Truth Listener seemed to be in a hurry as it automatically shattered an earring without Zhou Wen¡¯s order.


    As the earring shattered, Truth Listener¡¯s figure began to change. It became huge and ferocious, completely different from its adorable mini form.


    Bang!


    Truth Listener attacked the stone cocoon again, but the outcome was the same. It didn¡¯t leave any marks on the stone cocoon.


    Without any hesitation, he shattered the second earring. Truth Listener¡¯s figure became even more ferocious and ghostly.


    Zhou Wen watched Truth Listener attack the stone cocoon. Although he didn¡¯t know what was going on, he could tell that Truth Listener seemed to be very interested in the Guardian inside the cocoon.


    However, he didn¡¯t know if its interest was a blessing or a curse to the Guardian inside.


    As Truth Listener attacked the stone cocoon, Zhou Wen observed the four apes below. Although the four apes remained motionless, their eyes were clearly different from before. They seemed to be glowing.


    Furthermore, their gazes finally stopped staring at Zhou Wen. Instead, they stared at Truth Listener.


    No, it should be said that they had been staring at Truth Listener from the beginning. However, Truth Listener had always been on Zhou Wen¡¯s ear, so he mistakenly believed that they were looking at him.


    I should have figured. Monkeys only know how to look at monkeys. How can they appreciate the beauty of humans? Zhou Wen rubbed his lips in a self-deprecating manner, feeling that his lips were a little dry.


    In the past, Truth Listener would completely lose control only when it shattered more than four earrings. It would then refuse to listen to Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    However, this time, it shattered its earrings independently. This was unprecedented. After the earrings shattered, Zhou Wen felt his connection with Truth Listener weaken. He couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    If this continues, it will probably be difficult for me to unsummon Truth Listener if it completely loses control. Zhou Wen was hesitant about whether he should take the opportunity to forcefully unsummon Truth Listener.


    Crack!


    The fourth earring shattered. Truth Listener was already as terrifying as an ancient demon god. Its strength instantly reached the peak of the Terror grade. It was just a sliver short of advancing to the Calamity grade.


    And this time, its claws finally penetrated the stone cocoon.


    Zhou Wen saw a golden light emit from the crack in the stone cocoon. The golden light was crystalline and pure, making him tremble.


    Purity made one find something beautiful, but if it was too pure, it made one feel fear and evil.


    For example, a pure-hearted parishioner would make others feel that she was good and kind, but if she treated the teachings as the only principle in the world, it would make one shudder.


    The golden light in the cocoon gave Zhou Wen such a feeling. It was so pure that it made him feel afraid.


    However, Truth Listener seemed to enjoy it. Its nostrils twitched as the golden light that seeped out of the stone cocoon¡¯s cracks condensed towards its nostrils like smoke and was sucked in.


    When the golden light entered Truth Listener¡¯s body, the golden fur on its body seemed to come alive as it was covered in a layer of pure, glass-like golden light.


    Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that his connection with Truth Listener seemed to have recovered somewhat.


    Truth Listener seems to be able to control its violent consciousness¡­ Is it due to the golden light? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the golden light inside the cocoon. He didn¡¯t know if it was a blessing or a curse.


    As Truth Listener twitched its nose and sucked in the golden light that seeped out, it used its claws to crazily attack the stone cocoon. It widened the crack in the stone cocoon and the golden light that seeped out increased.


    Zhou Wen stared at the crack, hoping to see what was inside.


    However, other than the pure golden light, he couldn¡¯t see anything. It was clearly a small space, but it was shockingly deep.


    Crack!


    Truth Listener tore open a huge hole as its strong body burrowed into the cracked stone cocoon.

 Chapter 1307 - Breaking Out

    Chapter 1307: Breaking Out


    Translator: CKtalon


    The light inside came from the deep depths, but after Truth Listener entered, the light inside rapidly weakened.


    Soon, the golden light inside the cocoon dimmed. Instead, the golden light over Truth Listener¡¯s body intensified.


    Under Great Brahma¡¯s enhancement, Zhou Wen¡¯s vision could already penetrate the golden light and see what was happening inside.


    Zhou Wen saw something in the golden light, but he didn¡¯t see the Guardian he had imagined. All he saw was an eyeball, a golden crystal-like eyeball.


    The golden light in the cocoon came from the golden eyeball.


    The eyeball itself was so pure that it chilled one¡¯s heart, as though it was the purest, most sanctified object in the world.


    When Zhou Wen stared at the eyeball, it moved as though it had sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze. The golden iris in it spun and looked at Zhou Wen.


    With just a glance, Zhou Wen felt as though all his clothes had been stripped off. He stood there like a nude model, allowing others to observe and paint. He subconsciously raised his hand to cover his vital spots.


    Roar!


    Truth Listener roared like thunder as golden light bloomed from its body. It extended its claws and grabbed at the golden eyeball.


    However, the light outside the golden eyeball had almost solidified. The closer Truth Listener¡¯s claws were to the eyeball, the slower its progress.


    When it was nearly a foot away from the golden eyeball, its claws couldn¡¯t advance any further.


    Crack!


    The fifth earring on Truth Listener¡¯s ear shattered as its claws continued forward. However, it only advanced about ten centimeters before its speed slowed down again. Finally, it couldn¡¯t move at all.


    Truth Listener¡¯s last earring shattered and fell, turning into golden light that scattered.


    Zhou Wen saw that Truth Listener¡¯s six-ringed body didn¡¯t continue expanding. Instead, it shrank significantly. The golden fur on its body emitted a resplendent and pure golden light that nearly condensed into something corporeal. It was like a Super Saiyan transformation.


    Now, Truth Listener was only half a head taller than Zhou Wen. Its fingernails were like golden crystal daggers that tore through the golden light outside the eyeball and penetrated it.


    As the golden eyeball was pierced, the golden light in the cocoon seemed to lose the power it relied on. Truth Listener gently inhaled and the light surged towards his nose like a tumultuous river.


    However, this time, Truth Listener didn¡¯t deliberately suck the golden light. It just sniffed the eyeball.


    Truth Listener stabbed the eyeball using its middle finger¡¯s nail as it held it in front of its nose and inhaled. It looked like Zhou Wen when he was eating skewers.


    Then, Zhou Wen saw Truth Listener open its mouth and suck at the eyeball. After chewing a few times, it swallowed.


    Following that, it opened its mouth and crazily sucked the golden light in the cocoon. In the blink of an eye, it had completely sucked the golden light inside dry. The golden light over its body had already reached a peak. The intense golden light prevented Zhou Wen from seeing it.


    However, he could vaguely sense his connection with Truth Listener. Truth Listener didn¡¯t completely lose control this time. It still maintained a weak connection.


    Crack! Crack!


    As the eyeball and the golden light were devoured by Truth Listener, cracks appeared on the stone artifact that contained the stone cocoon.


    It wasn¡¯t just the stone artifact. The chains that were connected to the stone artifact, as well as the collars on the four apes¡¯ bodies and the huge turtle shell beneath their feet, began to crack.


    Roar!


    The four apes roared excitedly in unison as they exerted strength with their eight claws. The stone artifact that was already covered in cracks instantly shattered, and the chains on their bodies broke inch by inch.


    The sea and the entire underground space were affected by their powers. The seawater surged and the stone dome shattered. Sunlight shot into the sky as though it had broken the barrier between hell and the human world¡ªsunlight entered hell.


    The aura that erupted from the four apes was terrifying and unimaginable. Zhou Wen had never experienced such a terrifying aura.


    This power¡­ This power¡­ It¡¯s not at the Calamity grade, right? Amidst the terrifying aura, Zhou Wen¡¯s body involuntarily trembled.


    It wasn¡¯t because Zhou Wen was afraid. At the critical moment, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid. This was because fear was useless. His mind raced as he tried to come up with a way to survive.


    That trembling was an instinct of life. It was an instinctive reaction when facing an irresistible calamity. It was a physical spasm triggered by powerlessness and despair.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used interstellar teleportation and teleported to Venus.


    Due to the loss of the turtle shell and the stone artifact¡¯s suppression, there was no longer a spatial lock. Zhou Wen¡¯s Singularity Universe¡¯s powers played its role, allowing him to arrive above Venus.


    However, before Zhou Wen could stand firm, he felt the world spin. He knew that something was amiss as he hurriedly circulated all sorts of powers, hoping to escape his present predicament.


    Then, in the next instant, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appeared in the black-gray ape¡¯s claw. At that moment, the black-gray ape¡¯s aura was as terrifying as a devil king.


    Due to its strength, its ape arms became as huge as two metal towers. It was as if it could crush the planet with one swipe of its claws if it wanted.


    Taking the sun and moon, shrinking a thousand mountains, switching the positions of stars¡­ This fellow is the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡­ Could these four apes really be the Four Dimitrios Monkeys? Zhou Wen was alarmed. To be able to pull him back from Venus, and with an ape¡¯s body, Zhou Wen could only think of the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    The black-gray ape suspected to be the Long-Armed Ape Monkey pinched Zhou Wen¡¯s body between its fingernails. The Prisoned Dragon armor that Zhou Wen was wearing with Absolute Defense cracked and severely deformed under its strength.


    Even Zhou Wen¡¯s body was nearly flattened. His chest collapsed as blood spewed out of his mouth.


    However, from the looks of it, the Long-Armed Ape Monkey didn¡¯t seem to use much strength. It was just casually pinching Zhou Wen.


    ¡°F*ck you,¡± Zhou Wen cursed as he suddenly unleashed his strength. He pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword and slashed at the black-gray ape¡¯s face.


    Clang!


    Halfway through the slash, the Immortal Culling Sword froze in midair. The Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s other claw grabbed the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s blade, preventing it from going any further.


    With a flash of light, Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy automatically rushed out of Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Banana Fairy held the banana fan and fanned out Chaos Wind at the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    The Demonic Sword in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand vanished as well. It strangely appeared beside the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s ear and stabbed at its ear hole.


    However, the Chaos Wind with the augmentation of the Three Realms¡¯ Best Wind could only make the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s fur stand up vertically. It didn¡¯t injure it at all, nor did it make it move a step.


    Just as the Demonic Sword was about to stab into the ear hole, it suddenly lost control and deviated from its trajectory. It instantly vanished. When it appeared again, it was already in the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s claws.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey didn¡¯t seem to care about all of this.. It picked up Zhou Wen¡¯s body in the wind and was about to throw him into its mouth.


    1

 Chapter 1308 - The Sound of Heaven and Earth All in One’s Ears

    Chapter 1308: The Sound of Heaven and Earth All in One¡¯s Ears


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt that he had no choice but to have his beliefs shaken. Every time he entered a dimensional zone in real life, there was a high chance that something would happen.


    This time, he was even more exasperated. He was only trying out a skill, but he had ended up causing such a huge mess. Now, he was probably going to lose his life.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think about anything else. Just as he was about to be thrown into the Long-armed Ape¡¯s mouth, his last thought was to terminate the contract with his Companion Beasts and allow them to regain their freedom to prevent them from dying with him.


    For Companion Beasts like Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy, it was better for them to escape than to die with him.


    However, the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s actions were too fast. While it was still a thought in his mind, he was thrown into the mouth that was filled with fangs before he could execute it. The jagged teeth were about to bite down.


    Boom!


    A golden beam flashed like a phantom. The Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s teeth bit down, but it missed.


    A golden figure appeared opposite the Long-Armed Ape Monkey amidst swirling light.


    The golden figure was wearing armor that resembled crystalline gold. It was tall and slender, but he gave off an explosive sense of power and might.


    Its long, golden hair hung down to its ankles. Its golden eyes were as pure as flawless crystals, and its face was like flawless jade.


    It was as though the most beautiful thing in the world had landed on this man. The beauty of the world paled in comparison.


    The perfect combination of strength and beauty was like a perfect god that only existed in fantasies.


    However, such a pure and perfect man gave off an extremely evil feeling. It was as though one would fall into the demonic realm if they looked at him one more time.


    At that moment, the man was princess-carrying a person, and that person was none other than Zhou Wen, who had nearly been devoured by the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    Zhou Wen looked at the man¡¯s face in a daze. He had already figured out who the man was based on his aura and the connection between the two of them, but he still found it unbelievable.


    Truth Listener has actually changed into this! Zhou Wen was alarmed. If not for the contractual connection between the two of them, Zhou Wen would have found it unbelievable that the man in front of him was Truth Listener.


    Roar! The Long-Armed Ape Monkey roared at Zhou Wen and Truth Listener. The roar blasted the seawater up, forming a tsunami-like wave that surged in all directions.


    Its gigantic arms slowly raised as though it wanted to attack Zhou Wen and Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener carried Zhou Wen as the golden light over its body flickered like flames. Its crystalline long hair danced with the flames as it stared intently at the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey swung its huge arms and instantly vanished.


    Zhou Wen knew that it hadn¡¯t really vanished, but that the Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s strength and speed were so fast. It had already broken through the restrictions of space.


    Boom!


    Truth Listener seemed to suffer a heavy blow as its body flew out like a golden stream of light. It streaked across the sea and slammed into a crumbling mountain wall, causing it to collapse.


    Golden blood seeped out of Truth Listener¡¯s mouth as it tore through the rubble and stood up. It was carrying Zhou Wen with both hands and Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t injured at all.


    Roar! The Long-Armed Ape Monkey roared at Truth Listener again.


    However, Truth Listener didn¡¯t seem to hear anything. It only stood there with Zhou Wen in its arms as it stared coldly at the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey roared a few more times as though it was telling Truth Listener to mind its own business. However, Truth Listener ignored it and continued protecting Zhou Wen.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey seemed to be infuriated by Truth Listener¡¯s persistence and rudeness. It raised its arms, hoping to attack again.


    However, it wasn¡¯t as decisive as before. It seemed to be somewhat hesitant.


    Boom!


    A loud bang shook the surroundings. The sky seemed to split into two as sunlight poured in, warming the apocalyptic world.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey looked up. Sunlight shone on its face, making its ferocious face appear much gentler.


    The other three apes roared at the sky. Their roars were filled with indescribable excitement and madness.


    After the golden-haired ape roared, it glanced at Truth Listener and Zhou Wen. It spoke in human language and said ¡°Thanks.¡± Then, it tore through the air and produced a cloud beneath its feet before disappearing into the sky.


    The white-furred ape also looked at Truth Listener and Zhou Wen, but it didn¡¯t say a word. All it did was shake its head before disappearing like a ghost.


    The Long-Armed Ape Monkey glared fiercely at Zhou Wen, but it didn¡¯t attack again. It extended its arms and pulled the two sides of the rift-like stone dome with its claws. It pulled the stone dome completely apart as though it was tearing apart the sky. It exerted strength into its feet and shot into the sky like a cannonball, instantly disappearing.


    At its feet, the ground cracked and seawater gushed out. It was an apocalyptic scene.


    Zhou Wen looked at the red-furred ape. The other monkeys had left, but it hadn¡¯t. It floated in the air with a pair of heterochromic eyes. It was sizing up Truth Listener and Zhou Wen as it revealed a vexed expression that looked extremely human-like.


    After a long while, the red-furred ape suddenly sighed and looked at Truth Listener. ¡°Will you regret it if you exchange your life for his?¡±


    Truth Listener didn¡¯t say a word. However, its resolute eyes said everything.


    ¡°Whatever then. All is fated in life. It¡¯s not up to us. Remember, you only have one life. And you can only live once.¡± With that said, the red-furred monkey slowly walked towards the sky.


    Under its feet, there seemed to be an invisible staircase. After taking 49 steps, the red-furred monkey¡¯s figure became fainter as it vanished as though it had turned into nothingness.


    Pfft!


    After the red-furred monkey vanished, Truth Listener placed Zhou Wen on the ground and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The golden light on its body quickly converged as its body gradually turned from a human to an ape.


    One earring after another appeared out of thin air and returned to Truth Listener¡¯s ear. When the sixth earring returned to his ear, he had already transformed back into the Six-Eared Golden Silk Monkey. He was no longer the godlike man from before.


    Zhou Wen took out the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence and wanted to feed it to Truth Listener, but Truth Listener shook its head and suddenly transformed into a stream of light that returned to Zhou Wen¡¯s ear, turning back into an earring.


    When the earring returned, Zhou Wen felt the world become extremely complicated. All sorts of sounds entered his ears that threatened to blow up his head.


    Countless voices entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. There were so many that it was incalculable. They came from afar, extremely far away, as though they were coming from the end of the horizon. They were extremely close, as though countless people were whispering in his ear. There were so many voices that it was unimaginable. If a drop of water represented a different sound, Zhou Wen would receive even more sounds than the water in the Pacific every second.


    The sounds of the world were all in his ears. Zhou Wen¡¯s body could sense this magical power, but at the same time, he realized that this might not be a f*cking good thing.


    There were too many useless sounds. To find the sounds he needed to hear amidst the massive amount of sounds was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.. At the very least, Zhou Wen was still unable to adapt to this situation.

 Chapter 1309 - Hot

    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t used to receiving the sounds of everything in the world, but he wasn¡¯t in the mood to think about it. He planned on leaving first.


    Flying out of the ripped stone dome, Zhou Wen looked back and couldn¡¯t help but widen his mouth.


    The place he had flown out of was originally a huge underground space, but when he looked back, he realized that it was only a stone in the shape of a calabash. It was only about a foot tall and looked very crude. It looked like it was naturally formed and had sharp edges. It was in a cobblestone by a stream.


    At that moment, the calabash-shaped stone had already been split into two. One could see that water was flowing out, but the amount that flowed out was only small. It was around the amount stored in a bottle of mineral water.


    I was inside this thing? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. He walked to the two halves of the calabash and reached out to pick them up.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, it seemed to be a very ordinary stone. Apart from its strange form, there was nothing special about it.


    Zhou Wen pinched hard and the stone shattered and fell to the ground.


    Was I dreaming? Zhou Wen looked around and saw a babbling brook. Green bamboo cast a shadow as the bright sunlight shone on him. It was so warm and comfortable that he couldn¡¯t tell if it was reality or a dream.


    Soon, Zhou Wen knew that he wasn¡¯t dreaming. The sound of the world in his ears made him uncomfortable due to the massive amount of information. He couldn¡¯t even distinguish the sound that was inches away.


    Zhou Wen first attempted to get his bearings. He never expected to have reception here. Using his phone¡¯s positioning function, he realized that he was still in the East District. However, it was south of the East District. There was a human city about fifty kilometers away.


    Zhou Wen followed the phone¡¯s map and quickly arrived at the human city. He confirmed that he was in the correct spot using his phone.


    On the way, he kept trying to deactivate Truth Listener¡¯s power, but he couldn¡¯t. The sounds constantly surged into his ears.


    Ordinary people could tell what a sound came from based on its size and location, but Truth Listener¡¯s listening mode was somewhat different.


    Regardless of the distance, be it loud or soft, even if it was as far as Venus, Zhou Wen could hear it clearly. Furthermore, there were unimaginable sounds coming from the same spot. Despite there being nothing in front of him, Zhou Wen heard countless sounds.


    Now, if Zhou Wen wanted to hear a particular sound clearly, he had to switch channels like on a television. Only by switching to a fixed channel could he accurately hear the sound. Otherwise, with so many sounds mixed together, his brain couldn¡¯t process them all. The outcome was the same as not hearing anything.


    However, there were only a few hundred television channels. The choices Zhou Wen needed to face were as numerous as infinite grains of sand. It wasn¡¯t easy to make the right selection. He needed to slowly adapt.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was because his ability was too weak and Truth Listener¡¯s ability was too powerful that it had resulted in such hearing difficulties. When he reached a level that matched Truth Listener¡¯s ability, he probably wouldn¡¯t have such problems again.


    He took out his phone again and looked at Truth Listener¡¯s information.


    Truth Listener: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven¡¯s Senses


    Life Soul: Evil Nullification


    Wheel of Destiny: Nirvana of Ultimate Hell


    Terror Form: Holy Evil


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Vajra Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    Truth Listener¡¯s evolution was far lower than Zhou Wen imagined.


    An existence like the Long-Armed Ape Monkey was most likely at the Apocalypse grade. It was truly unexpected for Truth Listener to withstand its strike head-on while being only at the Terror grade. Zhou Wen imagined that it could directly jump to the Calamity grade.


    However, when he thought of Truth Listener¡¯s six earrings, he knew that this fellow¡¯s Terror grade was likely only at the level after being sealed by the earrings. It definitely wasn¡¯t at that level after the earrings were removed.


    What¡¯s Truth Listener¡¯s origins? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He planned on visiting the Small Buddha Temple after returning. Perhaps he could find some clues.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to return as soon as possible, but he realized that something was amiss.


    Although the weather in the south was warmer, it shouldn¡¯t be that hot, right?


    On the streets here, people were wearing shorts and vests, but they were still covered in sweat from the heat. When he looked up at the sun, it didn¡¯t seem that scorching.


    Zhou Wen counted the days. It wasn¡¯t even summer yet, so it shouldn¡¯t be that hot.


    The situation outside was even worse. The rice paddies had all dried up, and the soil was showing signs of cracking. The rice that had been planted with great difficulty had already dried up in the ground before it even reached maturity.


    Zhou Wen went to a small shop and bought some things. He asked when he was paying, ¡°Is the weather here always this hot?¡±


    However, at such a close distance, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear what the shop owner was saying. This was because there were too many sounds coming from his position. The sounds of bacteria squirming in the air and dust colliding were unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen only saw the shop owner open his mouth, but he didn¡¯t know what he was saying. He was somewhat anxious.


    He was momentarily unable to find the correct channel. He wanted to see if he could tell what he was saying from the shape of his mouth, but he was disappointed. He didn¡¯t know if it was because the other party spoke in a dialect or if his lip-reading sucked, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t interpret it.


    Zhou Wen looked around and saw that there was a pen and paper used by the shop owner on the counter. He took them and wrote on them. ¡°I¡¯m deaf. Can you tell me in writing?¡±


    ¡°Deaf? That¡¯s really rare. Usually, deaf people are mute, right?¡± The shop owner wrote in a notebook.


    ¡°I lost my hearing later in life,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s no wonder.¡± As there was no business the shop owner was free to chat with Zhou Wen.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the weather nearby had suddenly turned hot. It happened nearly half a month ago. In the past few months, although there had been a few abnormally hot days, they didn¡¯t last long. Typically, they would return to normal in a few hours.


    However, the recent high temperature had lasted for half a month. It was so hot that it was almost unbearable. Ordinary people would probably die from the heat.


    Many people had already begun to migrate to other areas. It was strange that such dry and hot weather only affected the nearby hundreds of kilometers. It wasn¡¯t as if the entire south was hot. Everything was fine as long as they left this area.


    Many people guessed that a large dimensional zone had broken out nearby, so they fled. For instance, this city didn¡¯t have many people left. This was why the owner was so free to talk.


    ¡°A few hundred kilometers of the vicinity?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly skipped a beat.

 Chapter 1310 - Joining the Zhang Family Again

    Zhou Wen quickly took out his phone and checked the map to confirm his memory.


    The Zhang family is within the area! Zhou Wen opened his contact list and sent a message to Zhang Yuzhi: ¡°I happen to be nearby. Do you have the time to meet?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Yuzhi quickly replied, surprising Zhou Wen.


    The Zhang family had protected Zhang Yuzhi too well. It was rare for Zhang Yuzhi to communicate with others.


    ¡°Did something happen to the Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen asked directly.


    ¡°Yes, something did happen,¡± Zhang Yuzhi replied.


    ¡°Do you need help?¡± Zhou Wen felt uncomfortable. Although Zhang Yuzhi sounded relaxed, Zhou Wen knew that once something happened to the Fiend Tomb, it wouldn¡¯t be a small problem.


    The person inside was likely the legendary Drought Demon. If she were to be born, there was a high chance that she would be accompanied by a calamity.


    Unlike ordinary Guardians, she was a Guardian that had survived the Mythical era. Her level was very high to begin with. Although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if a Calamity-grade Guardian would trigger a calamity phenomenon, legend had it that when the Drought Demon appeared, it would have the world in flames.


    Furthermore, the weather in the nearby area seemed to be affected. This was terrifying.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s Ghost Parade was already very terrifying, but it was nothing compared to Drought Demon.


    When she lit the world in flames, everything within a 500-kilometer radius would be reduced to scorched earth. Not a single blade of grass would remain. As long as Drought Demon passed through an area, all humans would probably become extinct.


    However, from the present situation, Drought Demon had yet to appear. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as the weather turning hot.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a small problem. My family is trying to think of a solution, but it¡¯s rare for you to take the initiative to help. I won¡¯t stand on ceremony. I happen to have something to do and need help. Come to my place now.¡± Zhang Yuzhi even sent a cheeky wink emoji.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll head over now.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw that Zhang Yuzhi was in a good mood. From the looks of it, there wasn¡¯t much of a problem.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the Zhang family residence, Zhang Yuzhi was already waiting for him at the door. Zhang Chunqiu was with her.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, it¡¯s really difficult to meet you these days,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t I here now?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t explain himself. In the past few years, Zhang Yuzhi had sent him quite a number of messages, but he had been trapped for five years without having the chance to read the messages.


    However, because An Jing had replaced him for five years, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t expose this matter.


    ¡°Brother Zhang, how¡¯s the situation at the Fiend Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen was very concerned about the Fiend Tomb.


    This was because once Drought Demon appeared, it wouldn¡¯t only affect the Zhang family, nor would it only be a city or area. When the time came, the entire East District might suffer a terrifying calamity. It was impossible for Zhou Wen and his family to stay out of it.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of a way to resolve it. The area affected won¡¯t be too great,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease hearing Zhang Chunqiu say that. After some thought, he asked, ¡°Brother Zhang, I¡¯ve only heard that the birth of a Calamity-grade dimensional creature will be accompanied by a calamity phenomenon. I wonder if a Calamity-grade Guardian will also trigger a calamity phenomenon?¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered for a moment and said, ¡°Typically, the appearance of any Calamity-grade creature doesn¡¯t trigger a calamity phenomenon. It only happens when a creature advances to the Calamity grade. No matter what creature it is, it¡¯s the same. Guardians are naturally no exception.¡±


    Upon hearing Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s words, Zhou Wen felt that this matter wasn¡¯t serious. Drought Demon should have been at the Calamity grade in the Mythical era. It was impossible for her to trigger another Calamity phenomenon unless she used the Calamity Zone herself.


    However, from the Zhang family¡¯s attitude, it was unlikely that Drought Demon would appear so easily. Otherwise, they would have long evacuated. It was impossible for them to stay here and wait for death.


    ¡°Are you here to help or to chat?¡± Zhang Yuzhi smiled.


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything you need my help with, I¡¯ll do it to the best of my abilities,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then follow me.¡± Zhang Yuzhi turned around and entered the Zhang residence.


    ¡°Go on. I still have something on, so I won¡¯t be accompanying you,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile as he looked at Zhou Wen.


    Only then did Zhou Wen follow Zhang Yuzhi into the Zhang residence. As the Zhang family doted on Zhang Yuzhi to the extreme and with Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s own specialness, the Zhang family typically didn¡¯t allow outsiders to interact with her.


    Zhou Wen followed Zhang Yuzhi through the corridors and courtyards and arrived at a small yard.


    This yard wasn¡¯t very big, but it was decorated very elegantly. There were many flowers planted inside, but it didn¡¯t feel complicated or redundant. It was as though every blade of grass and flower ought to be there.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about flowers and plants, but he could tell that the person who had set up the yard was amazing. It was the kind of extraordinary person who had his own creative thoughts.


    ¡°My garden isn¡¯t bad, right?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked Zhou Wen smugly.


    ¡°You set this up?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°Why? Can¡¯t I?¡± Zhang Yuzhi curled her lips.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s great. I never expected you to be so accomplished in this area,¡± Zhou Wen said sincerely.


    He had always wanted to learn the Dao of Nature, hoping to use it to comprehend the true meaning of Slaughterer. This was because Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that Slaughterer¡¯s foundation wasn¡¯t as simple as killing.


    To live from death, perhaps the Slaughterer¡¯s foundation was related to the way of life.


    Since Slaughterer couldn¡¯t transform into its Terror form, Zhou Wen had thought of using the Dao of Nature, but he really wasn¡¯t adept in this area, so he hadn¡¯t achieved much.


    ¡°It¡¯s really rare to receive your praise. However, your level of praise kinda sucks,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said happily.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not good at that. Let¡¯s talk about something I can help with,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡¯re really boring. I don¡¯t think you have any friends, right?¡± Zhang Yuzhi curled her lips.


    ¡°Indeed¡­ I don¡¯t have many friends¡­¡± Zhou Wen thought carefully and realized that it was true. He really couldn¡¯t think of many people who could be considered friends.


    ¡°What has this got to do with the help you want from me?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°You¡¯re really hopeless. Wait for me here.¡± Zhang Yuzhi rolled her eyes at him before turning around and walking into the room. Soon, she came out with a bucket.


    ¡°Come on, help me plant flowers today.¡± Zhang Yuzhi took out a shovel from the bucket and handed it to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You wanted my help just to plant flowers?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Why? Are you reneging on your words?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do whatever you say.¡± Zhou Wen felt that this was a good thing. Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s relaxed attitude meant that the matter with the Fiend Tomb wasn¡¯t too serious.


    Hence, under Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s command, Zhou Wen began his career as a gardener.


    ¡°Loosen the soil¡­ Sigh¡­ Why are you so stupid¡­ It¡¯s loosening the soil, not digging up a pit¡­ Water that area¡­ It¡¯s watering, not dripping eye drops. How long will it take if you drip it drop by drop¡­ Ah¡­ Why are you pouring it all in? Do you want to drown my poor flowers¡­¡±

 Chapter 1311 - Zhang Chunqiu’s Request

    Chapter 1311: Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s Request


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen kept smiling as though he didn¡¯t care what Zhang Yuzhi said.


    In fact, Zhou Wen basically couldn¡¯t hear Zhang Yuzhi. Along the way, he tried to get used to the world¡¯s sounds Truth Listener brought to him.


    However, this was just too difficult. Ignoring the fact that he could receive all kinds of the sounds, Zhou Wen could only occasionally hear the right channels even if it was a sound coming from right in front of him.


    When he listened to Zhang Yuzhi, it was basically two parts listening and seven parts guessing. The other ten percent was completely wrong, so he kept messing up Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s instructions.


    With his control over his powers, even if he didn¡¯t know any gardening, he wouldn¡¯t have made so many mistakes.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Zhang Yuzhi would be angry at his actions. After all, it was obvious that she had put in a lot of effort into this garden. Every blade of grass and tree looked ordinary, but they were actually carefully selected.


    However, although Zhang Yuzhi kept nagging at Zhou Wen, she wasn¡¯t really angry. Instead, she patiently told him what to do.


    However, as Zhou Wen could barely understand half of it despite listening and guessing, he appeared very clumsy. Zhang Yuzhi often repeated it a few times, but Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what to do.


    Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t in a rush. She seemed to treat teaching the clumsy Zhou Wen how to garden and her nagging as a form of enjoyment.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush either. After all, he had to practice adapting to the abilities Truth Listener had given him. However, he felt somewhat embarrassed doing something at odds with the instructions.


    That day, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do anything but help Zhang Yuzhi with the garden.


    In fact, it should be said that he was destroying the garden. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand the instructions, so he made many mistakes. For example, the water that should have been poured at the roots ended up being poured on the leaves. Although it wasn¡¯t a big deal, there were many mistakes. The originally perfect and immaculate garden lost a little of its luster.


    Despite knowing this, Zhang Yuzhi refused to do it herself. She continued commanding Zhou Wen.


    Only when the sun went down and Zhang Chunqiu called them for dinner did Zhang Yuzhi let Zhou Wen off.


    Although Zhou Wen kept trying to listen and speak less, Zhang Chunqiu and Zhang Yuzhi were extremely smart. They could naturally tell that Zhou Wen¡¯s hearing was problematic.


    However, since Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything, they didn¡¯t ask. They continued chatting with Zhou Wen with a smile. Even if Zhou Wen¡¯s answer didn¡¯t seem to make sense, they would still continue chatting as though they hadn¡¯t discovered his abnormality.


    ¡°It¡¯s getting late. I should take my leave.¡± After eating, Zhou Wen planned on returning to Luoyang.


    ¡°No way. The garden work isn¡¯t done yet. Are you leaving just like that? Are you giving up halfway?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with widened eyes.


    Even though Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear what Zhang Yuzhi said, he could tell what she had said from her expression.


    Zhou Wen realized that not being able to hear what the other party said wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing. Some people said that if one closed their eyes and listened to this world, they would discover many beautiful things that had been neglected in the past.


    In fact, it was the same the other way around. Without sound, it was impossible to hear the other party¡¯s words. Without the modification of words, one could only silently look with their eyes and discover many things that were previously difficult to discover.


    Human expressions and body language are interesting. Zhou Wen realized that he easily ignored the other party¡¯s emotions in the past. He only determined the other party¡¯s thoughts from their words.


    Now, he realized that many times, words could lie, but the emotions of the body language¡¯s reaction didn¡¯t lie.


    While he couldn¡¯t hear the other party¡¯s words, Zhou Wen¡¯s ability to read body language rapidly improved.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay here forever to help you take care of the garden, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Being able to read someone¡¯s emotions didn¡¯t mean that Zhou Wen¡¯s EQ improved. In fact, reading and understanding were two different matters.


    ¡°At the very least, you have to correct the parts you destroyed, right?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    Zhou Wen heard that. After some thought, he felt that it made sense. He was clearly here to help, but he had ended up wrecking the garden. It wasn¡¯t nice.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s continue tomorrow.¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself that he had roughly learned the gardening trade. It wouldn¡¯t take long tomorrow to correct everything.


    Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t feel well, so Zhang Chunqiu got someone to take her back to rest after the meal.


    ¡°Don¡¯t try to go back on your words and run away.¡± Before leaving, Zhang Yuzhi turned her head and teased Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear what she was saying, nor could he guess what her expression meant. All he could do was respond with a smile.


    Zhang Yuzhi burst into a peal of laughter before turning to leave.


    Zhou Wen was helpless. He didn¡¯t know what Zhang Yuzhi was talking about, much less what she was laughing at. He felt like a fool.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to your guest room.¡± After Zhang Chunqiu took Zhou Wen to the guest room, he didn¡¯t leave immediately. Instead, he sat down beside the table.


    Zhang Chunqiu extended his index finger, dipped it into the teacup, and wrote: ¡°Zhou Wen, do you need help?¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯ll recover after some time.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. It would be strange if Zhang Chunqiu couldn¡¯t tell.


    ¡°I do have something that I really need your help with.¡± Zhang Chunqiu wrote solemnly.


    ¡°Could it be that the Fiend Tomb¡¯s situation is very bad?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly asked.


    Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and wrote again. ¡°I hope you can stay in the Zhang family for four more days.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Chunqiu in puzzlement. He wanted him to stay, but he didn¡¯t say what he wanted him to do. This left Zhou Wen puzzled.


    ¡°Help me protect my sis for the next four days.¡± The sis Zhang Chunqiu mentioned was Zhang Yuzhi.


    As Zhang Yuzhi was the only woman in the Zhang family¡¯s current generation, Zhang Chunqiu and company were used to calling her sis.


    ¡°Is Yuzhi in danger?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    Zhang Chunqiu nodded. ¡°There¡¯s an internal problem with the Zhang family. I¡¯m afraid that someone will harm sis. You should understand that it¡¯s not convenient for me to use my family¡¯s manpower at such times.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Four days shouldn¡¯t be difficult. ¡°Four days. No problem.¡±


    Although the Zhang family was powerful, they ultimately didn¡¯t have a Calamity-grade expert. It shouldn¡¯t be too difficult to protect Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhang Chunqiu said the words with his mouth.


    Zhou Wen happened to hear this and shook his head. ¡°Yuzhi is my friend. She once saved me too. It¡¯s only right.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say anything else. He smiled at Zhou Wen and got up to leave his room.


    After Zhang Chunqiu left the yard, Zhang Xiao walked over and said in puzzlement, ¡°Why did you want to keep Zhou Wen behind at such a time?¡±


    ¡°Sis has sacrificed too much for the Zhang family. She doesn¡¯t even have a normal friend. Since she¡¯s happy, let Zhou Wen stay and accompany her for a few days,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a sigh.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is just a dimwit. Since you want to make sis happy, you should tell him and get him to do his best to please her. Otherwise, with Zhou Wen¡¯s personality, he will only make her unhappy,¡± Zhang Xiao said.


    ¡°Are you doubting sis¡¯s intelligence, or do you think sis is the kind of person who will happily accept pity?¡± Zhang Chunqiu glanced coldly at Zhang Xiao.

 Chapter 1312 - Zhang Yuzhi’s Talent

    Zhang Xiao was alarmed as he hurriedly lowered his head and said, ¡°I was too anxious. I also wish for sis to be happy.¡±


    ¡°Happy? I do hope that she can be sad.¡± Zhang Chunqiu looked up in a particular direction and said with a complicated expression, ¡°Born in the Zhang family, she doesn¡¯t even have the right to be sad. If possible, I hope that she can understand what sadness is. That way, at the very least, she will still be sis.¡±


    Zhang Xiao said gloomily, ¡°If I had a choice, I would rather bear this on behalf of sis, but the one in the Fiend Tomb¡­¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± Zhang Chunqiu, who had always been gentle and calm, suddenly flew into a rage. He stared at Zhang Xiao with a gaze akin to a saber.


    Zhang Xiao was alarmed as his body trembled and he involuntarily took two steps back.


    Although they were brothers of about the same age, Zhang Xiao had deep respect for Zhang Chunqiu. Usually, he would snap back at Zhang Chunqiu or even deliberately argue with him.


    However, once Zhang Chunqiu was serious, Zhang Xiao didn¡¯t dare say anything else. Zhang Xiao had never seen such a situation of Zhang Chunqiu being angry. He was alarmed and almost didn¡¯t dare look up at him.


    Zhang Chunqiu stared coldly at Zhang Xiao and said, ¡°You have to remember that you are alive because of sis. You have no right to say anything about replacing her. It¡¯s the same for everyone in the Zhang family. Sis doesn¡¯t owe anyone in the Zhang family. Only the Zhang family owes her. If you really want to save her so much, leave your life behind. Without the Zhang family and us, sis wouldn¡¯t have to suffer any of this.¡±


    ¡°Brother, I got it. That¡¯s not what I mean¡­¡± Zhang Xiao¡¯s face turned livid and pale after hearing Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s words, but he didn¡¯t dare argue. Even his words were incoherent.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say anything else, nor did he listen to Zhang Xiao. He turned around and left.


    Only when Zhang Chunqiu vanished from Zhang Xiao¡¯s sight did Zhang Xiao¡¯s expression gradually return to normal. He gritted his teeth and muttered, ¡°Aren¡¯t you the same? What right do you have to be angry at me?¡±


    The next day, Zhou Wen went to Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s garden again.


    The Zhang Yuzhi today was like a different person from the Zhang Yuzhi yesterday.


    She had dressed very formally yesterday, like a daughter of a rich family. When she was in front of outsiders, she was very polite. It was obvious that she came from a rich family and was like a high and mighty princess.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that Zhang Yuzhi was a princess. The Zhang family¡¯s influence was much greater than any ancient country.


    However, today, Zhang Yuzhi had her hair tied up in a ponytail. She wore jeans and a short sleeve black t-shirt. She also wore a long hat.


    Although her figure was still very good and her long, slender legs were very attractive, she looked like a completely different person from yesterday.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen noticed a pile of things in the middle of the garden. It was covered by a large black silk cloth. He didn¡¯t know what it was.


    Zhou Wen remembered that the garden didn¡¯t have these things yesterday.


    ¡°This is good stuff. Have you heard of the saying that music makes plants happy?¡± Zhang Yuzhi blinked.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s words, nor could he tell what she was saying. All he could do was remain silent.


    Zhang Yuzhi seemed to have guessed that Zhou Wen would have such a reaction, so she continued mysteriously, ¡°Based on research in ancient times, it¡¯s said that plants can grow better after listening to nice music. According to research, ordinary vegetables would grow better, becoming fresher and more vibrant than those vegetables that didn¡¯t listen to music.¡±


    Zhou Wen occasionally heard a few words. He only knew that Zhang Yuzhi seemed to be saying things like ¡°vegetables,¡± ¡°music,¡± and ¡°happiness.¡± He couldn¡¯t figure out what she meant.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin work,¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    Zhang Yuzhi curled her lips as though she wasn¡¯t satisfied with Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction. However, she still pulled Zhou Wen to the pile of items and lifted the black silk cloth.


    Only then did Zhou Wen see that there was a set of drums.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say you wanted to clean up the garden? Why did you bring these things here?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the drums.


    Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s eyes were crafty as she sat down in front of the drums and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Music will make flowers happy.¡±


    Zhou Wen finally heard this and immediately guessed what Zhang Yuzhi had said.


    ¡°Let me perform for you now. I¡¯ve carefully practiced playing music. I have a nickname in the Zhang family¡ªLittle Mozart of the Zhang family,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she picked up the drumstick and began striking the drums.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear what Zhang Yuzhi was saying, nor did he know who Mozart was. All he could do was listen attentively to the drumbeats.


    Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi as his expression turned odder.


    Zhang Yuzhi was engrossed in playing, but even if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know music, even if he had never heard the drum music before, and even if he could only occasionally hear a small part of it, this didn¡¯t affect his belief that the flowers wouldn¡¯t be happy hearing such ¡°music.¡±


    No, it didn¡¯t deserve being called music. It was more appropriate to call it noise.


    However, Zhang Yuzhi seemed to be intoxicated. As she drummed hard, she seemed to shout at Zhou Wen.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear a single word this time. The drumming caused a huge obstacle to his hearing.


    It wasn¡¯t just the sound of the drums itself. The sound of the drums affected the various plants in the garden. Petals, leaves, grass, insects, and even dust and bacteria produced more sounds due to the tremors.


    The amount of sound in the garden increased exponentially, preventing Zhou Wen from hearing Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s words. It was difficult for him to capture her voice amidst the chaotic cacophony.


    Zhang Yuzhi said many things, but when she saw that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t react at all, she didn¡¯t get angry. Instead, she revealed a meaningful smile.


    Zhang Yuzhi stopped the drumstick in her hand and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re really smart. You¡¯re so smart that it¡¯s like¡­ Clang¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen focused all his attention on Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice. As the drumming stopped, the amount of sounds decreased drastically. He was lucky to capture Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice and hear her.


    However, when Zhang Yuzhi spoke, she casually drummed again. Her voice immediately disrupted Zhou Wen¡¯s hearing, preventing him from hearing what she said next.


    However, from the first half of her sentence, she was probably praising him for being smart.


    ¡°Thank you. You flatter me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    When Zhang Yuzhi heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, her expression appeared serious, but her eyes turned into crescents. This was because her last words were ¡°as smart as a pig.¡±

 Chapter 1313 - The Last Musical Instrument

    ¡°Zhou Wen, you are a huge fool. You are simple-minded, all brawn and no brains, and are as stupid as a pig¡­¡± When Zhang Yuzhi cursed, her face was filled with adoration.


    However, as she spoke and struck the drums, Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t hear anything she said. He felt somewhat depressed.


    Only when Zhang Yuzhi stopped drumming did Zhou Wen finally hear half a sentence.


    ¡°I really adore you¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice finally entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears.


    ¡°I¡¯m not that good!¡± Zhou Wen scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. He never expected Zhang Yuzhi to be praising him with such a long speech.


    Zhou Wen felt that perhaps Zhang Yuzhi was too embarrassed to praise him directly, so she had used such a tactful method.


    ¡°I really adore you¡­ You¡¯re so stupid¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi continued striking the drums.


    Zhou Wen saw that when Zhang Yuzhi struck the drums as she spoke, her expression seemed innocent and kind. Yet, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    No, I have to think of a way to hear what she¡¯s saying. Zhang Yuzhi kept speaking to Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear anything. This left him depressed.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was bent on hearing Zhang Yuzhi, but he felt that something was amiss. Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s drumbeat was clearly interfering with his hearing.


    However, it was difficult to capture Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice to begin with. It was even more difficult with the interference of the drums.


    Zhou Wen made repeated attempts, but the outcome wasn¡¯t ideal. As the interference was so severe, it was almost impossible for him to capture Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice.


    It¡¯s impossible to try my luck to capture the useful sounds, and I can¡¯t tell the source of the sound from its position and amplitude. Is there any other way to lock onto a particular sound? Zhou Wen¡¯s first thought was naturally the frequency of sounds.


    Using frequency, he could indeed determine some special frequencies, but the frequency of human voices was just too ordinary. It was overwhelmed by many other sound frequencies. Even if Zhou Wen locked onto Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s vocal frequency, he would still receive a massive amount of information.


    Finding Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice was no different from finding a needle in a haystack.


    If frequency doesn¡¯t work, are there any other characteristics to the sound? The frequency, pitch, and tone of human voices are indeed very recognizable within a certain range, but this information is hidden in the massive amount of sound information. There are too many similarities. Just humans alone have billions. The interference is too serious¡­ Zhou Wen had no choice but to listen carefully to Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice again and again.


    He hoped to discover something different from the other voices, but the outcome naturally wasn¡¯t that desirable. Human voices weren¡¯t that recognizable in the massive amount of information.


    Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t constantly strike the drums. When she wasn¡¯t striking, she would also instruct Zhou Wen to take care of the flowers.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen could easily capture Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice and use it to constantly compare and make judgments.


    Although Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear her when she struck the drums, his ability to capture her voice increased during normal periods.


    Zhou Wen spent the next few days with the Zhang family.


    Zhang Yuzhi made a fool of Zhou Wen in different ways. In the morning, she played the drums; in the afternoon, she played the piano; and at night, she played the violin.


    No matter how slow Zhou Wen was, he knew that Zhang Yuzhi had definitely said something unexpected. However, he didn¡¯t know what she was talking about.


    Progress hadn¡¯t been smooth over the past few days. Be it the frequency, pitch, or tone, there was no way to truly lock onto a sound from the various aspects.


    Although with his proficiency, Zhou Wen could occasionally hear a sound he wanted to hear, it required a certain amount of luck and a relatively quiet environment.


    If Zhang Yuzhi made some complicated sounds, Zhou Wen basically couldn¡¯t hear anything clearly. The overlapping of sound was just too chaotic.


    This situation didn¡¯t improve after four days. Zhou Wen ultimately couldn¡¯t hear what Zhang Yuzhi had said when she spoke.


    However, Zhou Wen knew one thing very well. Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t know anything about musical instruments.


    Time passed in the blink of an eye. Soon, it was time to meet Zhang Chunqiu, but Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Zhang Chunqiu was afraid that someone would harm Zhang Yuzhi, but nothing had happened for the past four days. Apart from Zhang Chunqiu and a few others, no one had approached the garden.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for anything to happen.


    Zhang Chunqiu came to Zhou Wen and told him that the matter had been resolved. He could leave the Zhang family.


    Zhou Wen went to the garden to bid Zhang Yuzhi farewell. Zhang Yuzhi likely knew that Zhou Wen was leaving today and was waiting for him in the garden.


    ¡°I still have one last instrument I¡¯m good at. You can leave after listening,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt somewhat helpless when he heard that. He was about to leave, but Zhang Yuzhi still wanted to tease him.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how to reject Zhang Yuzhi, she had already sat down in front of a zither.


    Closing her eyes, Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s fingers hung above the strings. After a while, she finally strummed the zither strings.


    Her eyes were closed the entire time as her fingers seemed to dance. Even if he couldn¡¯t hear the zither music, Zhou Wen knew that Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t randomly playing. She really knew how to play.


    After playing for a while, Zhang Yuzhi spoke again. However, this time, she wasn¡¯t speaking, but singing.


    Looking at Zhang Yuzhi, who was playing and singing with her eyes closed, Zhou Wen suddenly wanted to know what she was playing and what she was singing.


    For some reason, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel anything despite Zhang Yuzhi getting so many musical instruments and producing all those sounds with an extremely rich expression on her face. However, this time, when he looked at Zhang Yuzhi, who had her eyes closed and had no expression, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred.


    As he watched, Zhou Wen suddenly heard a gentle voice. Amidst the cacophony, it sounded very soft and weak. However, Zhou Wen gradually felt that the other sounds around him were gradually receding like a tidal wave, and this sound was becoming clearer.


    ¡°The familiar face¡­ in my dreams¡­ Is the tenderness that I await¡­ Even though tears flood the world¡­ I will never let go¡­ Every moment¡­ passes in loneliness¡­ Only because I promised¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen finally heard Zhang Yuzhi singing and playing something. The music and singing were very moving, but for some reason, Zhang Yuzhi gradually turned into a little girl in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. She hugged her knees with both arms and curled her body, trembling in the boundless darkness.


    There was no light in her world.

 Chapter 1314 - Thoughts

    Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi in a daze. Zhang Yuzhi was still Zhang Yuzhi. In his eyes, Zhang Yuzhi was still playing the zither with her eyes closed as she immersed herself in her singing.


    However, for some reason, the scene of a little girl curled up in the darkness surfaced in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. He could even hear her trembling and tragic voice.


    ¡°Since the heavens have already destined me to walk into the darkness¡­ I¡¯ll exchange for everyone¡¯s light using the darkness I suffer alone¡­ This is what I deserve¡­ They all treat me as a friend¡­ They would rather die than let me suffer any harm¡­ Yet, I caused their deaths¡­ Such a filthy me¡­ I¡¯m not worthy of embracing the light¡­ Zhang Yuzhi¡­ You deserve death¡­ What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡±


    The little girl looked up as tears flowed down her face. She looked ahead and in front of her, there was a sliver of light in the darkness.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. The light came from a figure that emitted light like an angel. However, it didn¡¯t have wings or an angel¡¯s halo. It only had the appearance of a human, and its appearance was identical to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    The girl looked at the figure as though she wanted to extend her hand to grab something, but when her hand was halfway out, she slowly retracted it cowardly.


    ¡°A person like me¡­ only brings misfortune to friends¡­ only harms them¡­ I don¡¯t deserve to have friends¡­¡± The little girl looked at the figure reluctantly and slowly retracted her hand. Finally, she buried her head in her arms and curled up, sobbing softly.


    The only figure that brought the sliver of light scattered in the darkness. The world instantly returned to its despairing darkness.


    At that moment, Zhang Yuzhi had finished singing. She opened her eyes and the scene of the girl in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind vanished as though everything was just a dream.


    The various sounds that had vanished returned to Zhou Wen¡¯s ears, plummeting him into a sea of noise again.


    ¡°How¡¯s my singing?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked Zhou Wen.


    Perhaps it was because the sea of noise had just surged over and hadn¡¯t completely occupied Zhou Wen¡¯s hearing, he heard the sentence clearly.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear you clearly.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    Strangely enough, he did hear Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice. Furthermore, he heard it very clearly and wasn¡¯t affected by the sea of noise. However, he couldn¡¯t remember what she had sung. All he could remember was the scene and voice of the little girl.


    ¡°You idiot who doesn¡¯t know how to appreciate art. Just seeing you makes me angry. Go, go, go. Don¡¯t let me see you again.¡± Zhang Yuzhi looked very upset. With that said, she got up and returned to her building.


    ¡°Sorry, we spoiled Yuzhi. She¡¯s a little willful, but she doesn¡¯t have any ill intentions. Don¡¯t blame her,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I know.¡± Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that the chances of him accurately capturing sounds had increased significantly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll walk you out,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before asking Zhang Chunqiu, ¡°Is the Fiend Tomb really fine?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think that the weather these two days has been much cooler?¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t answer directly.


    Zhou Wen understood what he meant. The scorching hot weather had gradually returned to normal over the past few days. It seemed to indicate that the Fiend Tomb had come under control.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have had any negative thoughts. He would have felt that this matter was over. However, when he recalled the scene of the girl he had seen, he felt that something was amiss.


    The scene I saw wasn¡¯t an illusion. If I¡¯m not wrong, it should be the ability Truth Listener gave me. Legend has it that Truth Listener can listen to the sounds of the world and hear the good and evil of the human heart. In other words, it has the ability to hear what the heart has to say. What I heard might very well be Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s inner voice¡­ Zhou Wen guessed.


    However, for some reason, Zhou Wen could hear Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s thoughts a moment ago, but he couldn¡¯t hear anything now. He tried, but he couldn¡¯t hear Zhang Chunqiu and the others¡¯ thoughts. It made Zhou Wen suspect that his judgment was right. Perhaps it was really an illusion.


    ¡°My hearing hasn¡¯t completely recovered. Can you let me rest here for two more days? I¡¯ll leave after I recover.¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡°I do wish for you to stay a few more days, but Yuzhi said that she doesn¡¯t want to see you. When she sees you again, she will definitely lose her temper,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡°I do wish for you to stay a few more days¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu had no choice but to repeat himself.


    However, just as he said that, Zhou Wen said, ¡°I can¡¯t stay for too long. I still have something to do when I return. A few days really won¡¯t do. I¡¯ll stay for another two days.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m saying that Yuzhi doesn¡¯t want to see you. If she sees that you haven¡¯t left, she will lose her temper again¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°What? You will lose your temper? I really have something on. I can¡¯t stay for too long. I can only stay for three days at most, not any longer¡­¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he pulled Zhang Chunqiu out. As he walked, he said,¡± I never expected you to be so hospitable. If I had known this would happen, I would have come to you often in the past¡­ You¡¯re really too nice¡­¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu looked at Zhou Wen, unsure if he really couldn¡¯t hear him.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why hasn¡¯t Zhou Wen left?¡± Zhang Xiao asked after Zhang Chunqiu and Zhou Wen separated.


    ¡°His hearing hasn¡¯t recovered yet. He wants to stay another two to three more days,¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered.


    ¡°How can we have that? The day after tomorrow is¡­¡± Zhang Xiao stopped talking.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Just ignore him,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°What the uncles mean is that they are afraid that Zhou Wen will hinder our matters. If anything happens, the Zhang family will never have peace. It¡¯s best to let him leave early,¡± Zhang Xiao said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to chase him away, nor do I think he will hinder us. If you think there¡¯s something wrong with him, chase him away yourself,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he turned around and left.


    Zhang Xiao looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s yard, but he didn¡¯t dare really head over. All he could do was return and tell his elders Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s words.


    The Zhang family¡¯s elders were also worried. If it were an ordinary person, the Zhang family could chase them away, but the person living in the Zhang family residence was Zhou Wen.


    The Zhang family knew Zhou Wen¡¯s strength. If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave, they wouldn¡¯t dare use force to chase him out.


    When the Eldest Uncle Zhang got Zhang Xiao to chase Zhou Wen away, Zhang Xiao hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Uncle, I think Zhou Wen really just wants to recover his hearing before leaving. It probably has nothing to do with our Zhang family.¡±


    Even Zhang Chunqiu couldn¡¯t chase Zhou Wen away. What could he do?


    ¡°Forget it. He¡¯s not a hindrance. Let him stay there.¡± In the end, it was Zhang Siyou who spoke. This matter was left unsettled.

 Chapter 1315 - Returning to the Fiend Tomb

    Chapter 1315: Returning to the Fiend Tomb


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen attempted to enter that state again when back in his room.


    In that state, he could directly hear the inner voice and even turn it into an image. As long as he had that ability, he might be able to figure out the truth from the Zhang family.


    However, it was unknown if Truth Listener¡¯s ability hadn¡¯t truly reached that stage or if Zhou Wen¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t enough to match Truth Listener¡¯s. In any case, he tried many times, but failed to enter that state again.


    However, ever since he heard the inner voice, Zhou Wen¡¯s ability to capture sounds improved significantly. Distance, proximity, and amplitude weren¡¯t a problem for Zhou Wen. As long as he found the right channel, no matter how far away he was or how soft the voice was, Zhou Wen could hear it clearly on Earth even if someone was whispering on Venus.


    Since he couldn¡¯t accomplish telepathy, Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could find the Zhang family¡¯s voice channel and eavesdrop on them.


    This clearly wasn¡¯t an easy task. When facing each other, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to accurately capture the sound. Furthermore, there were so many people in the Zhang family. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know which person¡¯s words were useful, so it was easy to miss them.


    With no other choice, Zhou Wen could only slowly try. After all, he had to practice controlling his hearing, so he just treated it as practice.


    After listening for a long time, he occasionally heard some of the Zhang family¡¯s conversations. They were just a few sentences, and some of them were just a few words. He didn¡¯t discover anything useful.


    Zhou Wen could only continue practicing. He realized that ever since he heard Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s thoughts, his control over the sound he received had become stronger. He improved very quickly.


    Outside the building, Eldest Uncle Zhang coughed and said, ¡°Yuzhi, are you sleeping?¡±


    ¡°Uncle, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhang Yuzhi opened the door and asked Eldest Uncle Zhang in puzzlement.


    ¡°Nothing much. I just feel uncomfortable and want to chat with you,¡± Uncle Zhang said.


    ¡°Uncle, have a seat. I¡¯ll pour you a cup of tea.¡± As Zhang Yuzhi spoke, she prepared to get the teapot.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll do it myself.¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup, but he didn¡¯t drink it.


    Putting down the teapot, he sighed and said, ¡°Yuzhi, it was really hard on you. If there was another way, we wouldn¡¯t have agreed to her conditions. If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d rather go in your stead. After all, I¡¯m already old and useless. You are still young and talented. The Zhang family is still counting on you for the future.¡±


    ¡°Uncle, there¡¯s no need to say anything. This is my life. I accept my fate. What she wants is me. I won¡¯t implicate the family,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with her head lowered.


    ¡°What do you mean by implicating? We are family,¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang said. ¡°I only hate myself for being useless. I can¡¯t replace you, nor can I save the Zhang family. Yuzhi, if you need anything, just tell me. Even if I have to risk my life, I will definitely help you complete it.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Uncle. I¡¯m fine now. I don¡¯t have any other needs.¡± Zhang Yuzhi shook her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Just tell Uncle when you think of it.¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang paused and said excitedly, ¡°Yuzhi, you know that this matter concerns the life and death of our clan. Nothing must go wrong. If anything happens, it¡¯s fine for us old fellows to die. If something happens to Chunqiu and company, how can I answer to my ancestors in the netherworld? How can I face my ancestors¡­¡±


    ¡°Uncle, did something happen?¡± Zhang Yuzhi couldn¡¯t help but frown when she heard Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s name.


    ¡­


    ¡°What are you still doing here?¡± The next morning, just as Zhou Wen opened the door, he saw Zhang Yuzhi standing outside. It was unknown when she had arrived.


    ¡°What?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi in puzzlement with a blank expression.


    ¡°I already told you to leave. Don¡¯t stay here and annoy me. Why don¡¯t you understand human language?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said again.


    Zhou Wen dug his ears and said helplessly, ¡°My hearing is getting worse. What did you say?¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t say a word as she pulled Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and walked out. It looked like she wanted to forcefully pull him out of the Zhang family residence.


    Seeing that Zhang Yuzhi was serious, Zhou Wen knew it was pointless to feign ignorance. He couldn¡¯t just shake off Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s hand and just insist on staying. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to do such a thing.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over what to do, he suddenly realized that the sea of noises around him was gradually receding. He had once again entered a state where he could hear one¡¯s inner thoughts.


    I knew it. It was definitely not an illusion. Truth Listener¡¯s power can really hear one¡¯s inner thoughts. Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly listened, hoping to know what he could hear.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense Zhang Yuzhi turn into a girl. She was still the same, but Zhou Wen heard two voices from her.


    A voice came from her mouth. Zhou Wen could hear it, but he didn¡¯t seem to remember it.


    Another voice came from her. It was weak at first, but it later became clearer.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, leave. Don¡¯t ever come back. Staying here will only harm you. I don¡¯t wish to harm my friends again¡­ I¡¯m not worthy of being your friend either¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odder as he listened.


    ¡°Quickly return. Stop fooling around.¡± Zhang Yuzhi pulled Zhou Wen out of the door and gritted her teeth. With that said, she turned around and returned. The Zhang family guards closed the door.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tightly shut door and turned to leave.


    When the Zhang family saw Zhou Wen really leave, many people heaved a sigh of relief.


    They weren¡¯t afraid of Zhou Wen, but they were afraid that he would interfere with their matters.


    Zhang Chunqiu stood beside a stone pavilion and looked at Zhang Yuzhi who was sitting numbly in the garden. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    ¡­


    Two days later, many people from the Zhang family were nervous. Many people left the Zhang family residence and headed for the Fiend Tomb.


    At noon, a car was pushed out of the Zhang family residence.


    The reason it was said to be pushed out wasn¡¯t because the car was out of gas, but because it was a wooden carriage.


    The wooden carriage¡¯s design was very strange. Even the axle and wheels were made of wood. There was a white cloth that resembled a bed curtain covering the carriage. It was impossible to see inside.


    If one could see through the white cloth, they would see that there was a black wooden coffin inside and many yellow paper talismans stuck to the coffin.


    Under the protection of the Zhang family, the wooden carriage with the coffin was pushed all the way to the Fiend Tomb.


    2

 Chapter 1316 - Drought Demon

    Chapter 1316: Drought Demon


    Translator: CKtalon


    If Zhou Wen saw the Fiend Tomb now, he would definitely be alarmed.


    It could no longer be called a grave. Not only was there no grave, but there was also a bottomless pit.


    The flames in the pit rose up as blazing white flames spewed out dozens of meters high. If not for the suppression of the Zhang family¡¯s seal, the flames would have long surged into the sky, making it known to the world.


    Even though it was suppressed by the seal, the flames were still unimaginably terrifying. It made the bottomless pit look like the entrance to hell. The constantly burning flames turned the surrounding rocks into crystalline objects that shimmered with a demonic light under the flames.


    The wooden carriage stopped not far from the deep pit. Almost all the core members of the Zhang family had arrived. Under Zhang Siyou¡¯s lead, they reached the edge of the seal.


    The last time Zhou Wen had seen Zhang Siyou was only five years ago. If Zhou Wen saw him again, he probably wouldn¡¯t recognize him.


    Zhang Siyou looked much older now. It wasn¡¯t that his face had changed much, but that his mental state looked terrible.


    Zhang Siyou looked at the fiery pit that resembled the entrance to hell. He was in a daze for a while, as though he was in a trance.


    ¡°Family Head, it¡¯s time to begin,¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang reminded. Although he was Zhang Siyou¡¯s elder brother, he could only respectfully address him as family head.


    Zhang Siyou seemed to wake from a dream with a start. He looked at the flaming pit again before retracting his gaze and turning to look at the wooden carriage.


    All the Zhang family members looked at the wooden carriage with Zhang Siyou, their expressions extremely complicated.


    ¡°Family Head, it¡¯s almost time,¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang reminded again.


    ¡°Whatever. Lower it,¡± Zhang Siyou said.


    When Eldest Uncle Zhang heard that, he waved his hand. Eight members of the Zhang family immediately brought the coffin from the wooden carriage to them.


    Zhang Siyou walked to the coffin and touched the yellow paper talismans on the coffin lid. He said with a strange expression, ¡°Ever since the ancestral Celestial Master obtained the heavens¡¯ teachings and established our Celestial Master lineage, the Zhang family has never suffered such humiliation.¡±


    Eldest Uncle Zhang said, ¡°Family Head, you can¡¯t say that. Ever since the ancestral Celestial Master was around, our Zhang family has been embroiled with her. We have also been guarding the Fiend Tomb and have been severely affected by her aura. The Zhang family¡¯s bloodline has already been seeded with demonic aura. This is the karma our Zhang family deserves. If she really returns to this world, all of our Zhang family members will be bedeviled. Yuzhi naturally won¡¯t be an exception.¡±


    Everyone from the Zhang family was depressed. Although Eldest Uncle Zhang was right¡ªthe Zhang family was deeply affected by the Drought Demon, and the Drought Demon could no longer be suppressed¡ªthey could no longer stop her return.


    As long as the Drought Demon appeared, the Zhang family would be infected by the Fiend Tomb¡¯s aura, having guarded the Fiend Tomb for so many years. The demonic nature hidden in their bodies would erupt. When that happened, they would become monsters that were neither human nor demonic.


    After experiencing the corruption and heredity of the demonic aura for countless years, the demonic nature had already penetrated deep into the bones of the Zhang family. If the Drought Demon appeared, it would be useless even if the Zhang family fled to the ends of the world.


    The Zhang family had been searching for a way to resolve this problem, but they didn¡¯t have a good solution. With the Fiend Tomb changing day by day, Drought Demon was about to be resurrected once more.


    Just as the Zhang family thought that they were really going to be wiped out, Drought Demon in the Fiend Tomb raised a condition to their surprise.


    As long as Zhang Yuzhi fused with it, the demonic nature in the Zhang family¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t be triggered even if she was resurrected, allowing them to maintain their human nature.


    It was a fusion, not a contract. This was unacceptable to many people in the Zhang family.


    If it was a contract, at the very least, Zhang Yuzhi would still be alive. However, fusion was opposite of what Wang Mingyuan did when fusing with the Guardian. The Guardian would be the main body that fused with Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s body.


    Although the Drought Demon would still retain some of Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s characteristics, its thoughts would be completely the Drought Demon¡¯s. Zhang Yuzhi would be in a state no different from death.


    However, reality was cruel. The entire family would die or only Zhang Yuzhi would die. Although this question was difficult, the answer was obvious.


    ¡°Family Head, let me send sis off one last time,¡± Zhang Chunqiu whispered.


    ¡°Can you do it?¡± Zhang Siyou was slightly taken aback as he asked Zhang Chunqiu.


    The Zhang family doted on Zhang Yuzhi, and Zhang Chunqiu had the best relationship with her. Zhang Siyou originally didn¡¯t want Zhang Chunqiu to come, but he had insisted on coming.


    ¡°I can. I want to accompany sis on this final journey,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Let Chunqiu send her off. Chunqiu and Yuzhi have the best relationship. With Chunqiu sending her off, Yuzhi can feel more at ease,¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang persuaded.


    In fact, Eldest Uncle Zhang was willing to speak up for Zhang Chunqiu because many people in the Zhang family didn¡¯t agree with using Zhang Yuzhi to make a deal with the Drought Demon.


    If Zhang Chunqiu, who had the best relationship with Zhang Yuzhi, personally sent her to the Drought Demon, the others would have nothing better to say.


    ¡°Go. No matter how difficult the path ahead is, you have to continue. Take care of yourself,¡± Zhang Siyou said as he patted Zhang Chunqiu on the shoulder.


    ¡°I understand. You too.¡± Zhang Chunqiu bowed respectfully before walking to the coffin. He stroked the coffin and said, ¡°Sis, I¡¯m here to send you off. I¡¯ll accompany you on this final journey.¡±


    With that said, Zhang Chunqiu lifted the coffin and placed it on his shoulder.


    The people who had previously carried the coffin wanted to help, but Zhang Chunqiu stopped them. ¡°I can do it myself.¡±


    Then, Zhang Chunqiu carried the coffin and walked towards the flaming pit.


    When the coffin reached the crystallized rock, the flames in the deep pit suddenly erupted, instantly burning the seal set by the Zhang family to ashes.


    Thousands of yellow paper talismans rose in the flames and turned to ashes.


    Blazing white flames shot into the sky like an aurora, illuminating the nearby mountains. At the same time, the scorching power cooked all the plants. Ordinary animals were no exception.


    Amidst the flame pillar, a huge flower that seemed to be condensed from flames appeared.


    The flower looked like a lotus flower, but it was somewhat different. Every petal was pure white and crystalline without any impurities. However, the immense power contained in them seemed to be able to turn the entire world into a flaming hell.


    ¡°Place her in the flower. My grudge with the Zhang family shall be written off. From now on, you don¡¯t have to endure the pain of the demonic nature.¡± A strange woman¡¯s voice sounded from the flaming pit.


    Zhang Chunqiu carried the coffin and stared at the flower. He said calmly, ¡°Legend has it that the Drought Demon was originally a fairy who had once helped Yellow Emperor defeat Count of the Wind and Lord of the Rain. As she wasn¡¯t able to return to the Heaven Realm in time, she ended up in the north. However, the power of fire from the Drought Demon Fairy was too powerful. Wherever she passed, she left scorched earth. As a result, she was cursed by the masses. In the end, the deities punished her, turning her into a corpse that was buried deep underground. From then on, she never saw the sun.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a legend.¡± The woman¡¯s voice answered Zhang Chunqiu.


    Zhang Chunqiu nodded and continued, ¡°In our Zhang family, there¡¯s another legend.. Back when the ancestral Celestial Master died, he once said that if the Drought Demon wants to reincarnate, it has to satisfy three conditions. I wonder if that¡¯s true?¡±

 Chapter 1317 - Zhang Family

    ¡°Chunqiu, what are you doing? Do what you have to do.¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang felt that something was amiss.


    Zhang Chunqiu ignored him. Without hearing the woman¡¯s answer, he continued, ¡°Stirring of the Earth fire, growth of the Corpse Flower, and the rise of the dead. Only with these three conditions can the Drought Demon Fairy be resurrected.¡±


    ¡°Even if I¡¯m not resurrected, destroying the Zhang family will be as easy as flipping my hand.¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice finally sounded again. Her words seemed to tacitly affirm the three conditions Zhang Chunqiu mentioned.


    Zhang Chunqiu continued, ¡°That¡¯s natural. If you want to destroy my Zhang family, there¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. All you need to do is trigger the demonic nature in our bodies. However, I heard that the Earth fire is an extreme Yin flame. It wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration to say that it¡¯s the flames of hell. The Corpse Flower born amidst the Earth fire is the source of all Yin. It¡¯s most compatible with your strength.


    ¡°You were suppressed here. One-half of you is suppressed, but the other half probably wants to use the Earth fire and Corpse Flower to advance further.¡±


    ¡°Are these also the last words of that Zhang fellow?¡± Drought Demon Fairy asked.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t answer as he continued, ¡°From the looks of it, you have more or less succeeded. However, this extreme Yin power can¡¯t break through the power of the rules. It¡¯s not a power that should exist in this world. Therefore, you have to rely on a human¡¯s body to descend into this world again.


    ¡°But this person isn¡¯t an ordinary person. What you need is a physique that can withstand extreme Yin flames, but it can¡¯t be of the pure Yin attribute. And this physique is extremely rare. Even in the Zhang family that has been invaded by demonic aura for countless years, I¡¯m afraid only my sis has such a physique.¡±


    ¡°So what?¡± Drought Demon Fairy didn¡¯t deny it.


    ¡°Therefore, no matter how strong you are, even if you can destroy our Zhang family without even moving a finger, if you can¡¯t obtain my sister¡¯s body, you won¡¯t be able to truly stand tall in this world. You can only hide and live an abject life,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Chunqiu, what are you doing?¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang¡¯s voice was excited. Clearly, he was infuriated.


    If Drought Demon Fairy was angered, the entire Zhang family¡ªeven the Zhang family¡¯s children¡ªwho had been separated from the main family¡ªwould not be able to escape the calamity. This was because the demonic nature had already penetrated deep into the Zhang family¡¯s genes.


    ¡°Family Head¡­¡± Seeing that Zhang Chunqiu was ignoring him, Eldest Uncle Zhang wanted Zhang Siyou to give the order to stop Zhang Chunqiu from spouting nonsense.


    Zhang Siyou said indifferently, ¡°Chunqiu is a child who knows his limits. He knows what to do and what not to do.¡±


    Just as Eldest Uncle Zhang was about to say something, Drought Demon Fairy spoke again. All he could do was hold it back for the time being.


    ¡°You are right. Then, do you dare use the lives of your family to prevent my resurrection?¡± Drought Demon Fairy said indifferently.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare. I only have a small condition. If you are resurrected, my Zhang family did something after all. It¡¯s not too much to make a small request, right?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Speak; what are your conditions?¡± Drought Demon Fairy asked.


    ¡°I want to contract you.¡± Zhang Chunqiu seemed to have already thought of it as he said it out loud.


    ¡°That really is a tiny request,¡± Drought Demon Fairy said sarcastically. ¡°Don¡¯t you know that once I fuse with a human¡¯s body, I don¡¯t need to contract with humans like ordinary Guardians? I can also break through the restrictions of Earth¡¯s rules?¡±


    ¡°I know. You don¡¯t need a contract, but that doesn¡¯t mean that you can¡¯t. My condition is that you have to contract with me and become my Guardian for up to ten years. You are free to make a choice of staying or leaving after ten years. Otherwise, even if the Zhang family is wiped out, you can forget about obtaining her,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said as he stroked the coffin.


    ¡°Zhang¡­ Chun¡­ Qiu¡­¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang was alarmed and furious. He never expected Zhang Chunqiu to have such plans. He was using the entire Zhang family¡¯s lives to satisfy his selfish desires.


    ¡°Do you think you have the qualifications to negotiate with me?¡± Drought Demon Fairy asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said firmly. ¡°If you can forcefully snatch her away, you wouldn¡¯t need to negotiate with us. Since you are negotiating with us, we naturally have what it takes to negotiate, right?¡±


    Whoosh!


    The Earth fire suddenly expanded and instantly enveloped the nearby area. It wasn¡¯t just Zhang Chunqiu. Everyone in the Zhang family was enveloped by the Earth fire.


    Strangely, the Zhang family members weren¡¯t burned to death. Even their clothes weren¡¯t ignited. However, many of the Zhang family members¡¯ hair and eyes began to turn white. Their fingernails also turned into jade as they rapidly grew.


    Many members of the Zhang family hugged their heads and fell to the ground in agony. It was as though something was gnawing at their brains.


    Zhang Chunqiu was the first to bear the brunt. Others¡¯ hair slowly turned white, but his hair instantly turned completely white. His eyes also turned jade-white. From afar, he looked like a blind man.


    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s body trembled violently, but he didn¡¯t cry out tragically like the others. He didn¡¯t collapse to the ground and hug his head to wail. He continued standing there with the coffin, silently enduring everything.


    His hair, eyes, nails, and even his skin turned snow-white in the blazing white flames. Amidst the flames, even his life force seemed to be rapidly drained.


    ¡°You will die in thirty seconds.¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice sounded again like a lofty monarch.


    ¡°Chunqiu, stop fooling around. You will kill all of us¡­¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang endured the excruciating pain and wanted to rush over and replace Zhang Chunqiu to send the coffin into the Corpse Flower.


    However, just as he stood up, he was stopped by Zhang Siyou.


    ¡°Second Brother, what are you doing? Do you want this to be the end of our Zhang family?¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang said angrily. He didn¡¯t even call him family head.


    Zhang Siyou said expressionlessly, ¡°The Zhang family only has people who live standing, not ghosts who die on their knees. If conditions are negotiable, then it has to be fair. Since she¡¯s taking someone from our Zhang family, she has to return one as well.¡±


    ¡°Nonsense. Go and capture Zhang Chunqiu,¡± Eldest Uncle Zhang ordered his trusted aides.


    However, just as his trusted aides stepped forward, they were stopped by the Zhang family.


    ¡°You¡­ Do you have a death wish?¡± Uncle Zhang was alarmed and furious.


    ¡°Our Zhang family had the ancestral Celestial Master and the Hero King. Just as the family head said, from ancient times, there are only Zhang family members who live as heroes. There shall not be any trash from the Zhang family who kneel before death. Even if we become the devil, the Zhang family members have to be the devil incarnate, not the devil¡¯s lap dogs who live abject lives¡­¡± An old man from the Zhang family, who was on the brink of death, collapsed to the ground. He grabbed the walking stick with both hands and propped himself up. He shouted at Zhang Chunqiu, ¡°Child, do your best. The Zhang family can be afraid of death, but we can¡¯t be cowardly. Even if we die, we will die an honorable death. I¡¯ll pave the way for you.¡±


    Bang!


    The elder raised his cane and smashed it on his head. Immediately, blood flowed down from his head and he died on the spot.

 Chapter 1318 - Not Necessarily

    ¡°Do you want to see the Zhang family wiped out?¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice sounded again.


    ¡°Twenty years.¡± Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s voice remained as firm as steel. ¡°Every death of the Zhang family adds ten years. You have to return what you have taken from the Zhang family.¡±


    ¡°You still have ten seconds.¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s cold voice wafted over again.


    Time ticked by, but Zhang Chunqiu remained unmoved. He pressed his palm on the coffin and calmly muttered to himself, ¡°Sis, I¡¯ll accompany you in the journey of death.¡±


    Just as Zhang Chunqiu was about to be demonized and he was about to destroy the coffin, the surrounding Earth fire suddenly converged. Although the Zhang family didn¡¯t recover from the symptoms of the demonic transformation, it didn¡¯t worsen.


    ¡°Twenty years. I¡¯ll permit it.¡± Drought Demon Fairy ultimately submitted. Just as Zhang Chunqiu had said, if she had the ability to snatch Zhang Yuzhi away, she wouldn¡¯t have negotiated with the Zhang family.


    Killing Zhang Yuzhi was easy, but to fuse with her required Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s willing cooperation. If she really killed all the Zhang family members, it would be impossible for Zhang Yuzhi to fuse with her willingly.


    ¡°Then make an oath.¡± Zhang Chunqiu remained calm. He didn¡¯t feel any joy from escaping death.


    ¡°Do you really have a death wish?¡± Drought Demon Fairy said coldly.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to die for no reason,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said indifferently.


    ¡°I, Drought Demon, swear on my name that I¡¯m willing to contract with this human for twenty years. If I violate this oath, I will incur the world¡¯s contempt.¡± Drought Demon ultimately couldn¡¯t resist the temptation of escaping and made the oath.


    ¡°Sis, don¡¯t blame me. I had no choice.¡± After hearing Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s oath, Zhang Chunqiu walked towards the Corpse Flower with the coffin.


    The Corpse Flower was snow-white and crystalline. It looked spotless, but it emitted a demonic aura that left one shuddering.


    Eldest Uncle Zhang finally heaved a sigh of relief. Although the process was harrowing, the Zhang family was finally safe. Furthermore, to be able to contract an existence like Drought Demon for twenty years, the Zhang family¡¯s meteoric rise was only a matter of time.


    In the future, he might even become the true ruler of Earth, not just one of the six hero families.


    At that moment, Eldest Uncle Zhang suddenly felt that although Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s actions were too risky, he had obtained huge benefits.


    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, Zhang Chunqiu carried the coffin to the Corpse Flower and slowly placed the coffin on it.


    Just as the Corpse Flower was about to devour the coffin and Uncle Zhang believed that it was finally over, he suddenly saw a golden glow in Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Supreme Venerable Sovereign¡­ be quick, as if this were a command¡­ Limitless Heaven and Earth¡­ Borrowing from the Universe¡­ Heavenly Five Thunders¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s white hair and clothes fluttered. He still had the protection of a spirit as the yellow paper talisman in his hand emitted a golden glow.


    He was just too close to the Corpse Flower. No one could stop him in time. The moment the yellow paper talisman that emitted a golden light touched the Corpse Flower that was inches away, golden lightning erupted.


    The golden lightning carried an extreme Yang force that instantly charred the Corpse Flower into ashes.


    Eldest Uncle Zhang¡¯s mouth gaped open. He was dumbfounded. He muttered to himself nervously, ¡°No¡­ No¡­ Impossible¡­ How can this be¡­ No¡­ Impossible¡­ We can¡¯t die¡­ We can¡¯t die¡­¡±


    Many people from the Zhang family were also alarmed. They never expected Zhang Chunqiu to dare do such a thing. No one knew that Zhang Chunqiu would do such a thing.


    However, Zhang Siyou seemed to feel relieved. The Celestial Master Five Thunders Talisman that the ancestral Celestial Master had left behind was something he had given to Zhang Chunqiu to protect him. Zhang Chunqiu had used it to destroy the Corpse Flower. Although he hadn¡¯t informed Zhang Siyou, Zhang Siyou felt that this was how the usual Zhang Chunqiu acted. Although he knew that the Zhang family would not be able to escape calamity, he wasn¡¯t to be blamed.


    ¡°Do you know what you have done?¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s cold voice sounded.


    ¡°Stirring of the Earth fire, growth of the Corpse Flower, and rise of the dead. None of the three conditions can be missing. Now that you don¡¯t have the Corpse Flower, it¡¯s useless even if you rise from the dead. All I know is that you can¡¯t be resurrected.¡± Zhang Chunqiu remained calm.


    ¡°Your rashness will cost the entire Zhang family,¡± Drought Demon Fairy said again.


    ¡°Death? It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯ve already done what I wanted. Even if everyone in the Zhang family dies, one person won¡¯t die and that¡¯s enough¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s white robe fluttered as he pressed his hands on the coffin. A net-like golden light filled the coffin, causing it to instantly disappear.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid death is only an extravagant hope for you.¡± Accompanying Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice, the Earth fire expanded again and enveloped the Zhang family.


    ¡°Go. Go as far as we can.¡± Although Zhang Siyou knew that escaping was useless, it was better than standing there and waiting for death.


    Some of the members of the Zhang family fled. Some were still hesitating when they saw their seventh great-uncle, who had committed suicide, crawl up from the ground. He wiped the blood from his head and quickly flew back. As he flew, he shouted, ¡°What are you waiting for? Why aren¡¯t you running? It¡¯s always the Zhang family who busts ghosts. Do you want to become ghosts?¡±


    Everyone was stunned before they were overjoyed and fled with their seventh granduncle.


    Unfortunately, although they fled quickly, how could they be faster than an existence like Drought Demon Fairy? As they flew into the sky, the Earth fire had already enveloped them.


    Many Zhang family members fell to the ground. Their hair, skin, nails, and pupils rapidly turned white as they demonized.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t escape. He knew that he couldn¡¯t escape either. As he looked at the Zhang family members who had been painfully demonized, Zhang Chunqiu felt somewhat guilty, but he didn¡¯t regret his decision.


    He had done what he wanted to do and saved the person he wanted to save. It was enough for the Zhang family to have one person live, and one who wasn¡¯t affected by the demonic nature.


    ¡°Everyone in the Zhang family will become devils because of your actions. They will no longer have any human feelings. They will neither be human or ghost. They will devour blood like their lives depend on it and feed on their own kind¡­ Do you regret sacrificing everyone for just one person?¡± Drought Demon Fairy asked coldly.


    ¡°Despite knowing the bedevilment, there are things that need to be done. What¡¯s there to regret?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said calmly.


    ¡°Is that so? Some people might not think so.¡± Drought Demon Fairy seemed to be implying something.


    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s expression changed slightly. This was because he had already seen Zhang Yuzhi, who he had sent away using the Five Ghosts Transfer, walk back.


    ¡°Yuzhi, don¡¯t come over. Leave this place immediately.¡± Zhang Chunqiu wanted to rush towards Zhang Yuzhi, but his body had been severely demonized. He fell to the ground.


    Zhang Yuzhi looked at the Zhang family members who had turned into ghostly demons. As she walked over, she cried and said, ¡°Brother, if I live like this, my life will be more painful than death.¡±


    ¡°Fool, it¡¯s useless even if you return now. Without the Corpse Flower, Drought Demon can¡¯t be resurrected. She won¡¯t let us off either. You will be sending yourself to death for nothing by returning¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice was filled with mockery. As she spoke, a Corpse Flower condensed in the flames again.

 Chapter 1319 - Spare Your Life

    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s face instantly turned ashen as he looked at Zhang Yuzhi in despair.


    ¡°Yuzhi¡­ Don¡¯t¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu tried his best to stand up and stop Zhang Yuzhi, but his body had been severely demonized. He couldn¡¯t even stand up.


    ¡°You only want me. Let them go and I¡¯ll agree to fuse with you,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°Of course. To me, they are no different from ants by the side of the road. There won¡¯t be any benefits even if I stomp them to death, but there won¡¯t be any harm either. As long as you fuse with me, I guarantee you their safety and recovery,¡± Drought Demon Fairy said.


    ¡°Child, go. You¡¯ve done enough for the Zhang family. Now, you are the only one in the entire Zhang family who isn¡¯t affected by the demonic nature. You are the only person in the Zhang family that should live,¡± Zhang Siyou said.


    ¡°Yuzhi¡­ No¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s eyes were filled with despair. This was because he knew that with Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s personality, it was impossible for her to leave now.


    ¡°Brother, I¡¯ve been a jinx to begin with. I should have died a long time ago. I¡¯m satisfied to be able to do something for you in the end.¡± Zhang Yuzhi walked towards the Corpse Flower with tears in her eyes.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu struggled with all his might. His fingers pressed against the ground, almost to the point of snapping. The blood at his fingertips dyed the ground.


    Zhang Siyou and company were also shouting at the top of their voices, but they couldn¡¯t stop Zhang Yuzhi from walking towards the Corpse Flower.


    ¡°The one who deserves death isn¡¯t you, but the people who made you cry.¡± A voice sounded from nearby.


    Everyone was taken aback as they turned to look in the direction of the voice. They saw an armored figure that seemed to be bathed in light walk towards the Fiend Tomb.


    ¡°Human¡­ Human Sovereign¡­¡± Immediately, someone recognized the figure and couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed.


    The Prisoned Dragon armor on Zhou Wen and the Immortal Culling Sword at his waist were too eye-catching. Almost everyone on Earth knew them.


    Zhang Yuzhi turned to look at Zhou Wen. When she saw him clearly, she was slightly taken aback. Her eyes were filled with pleasant surprise and an odd feeling.


    Zhou Wen walked over step by step into the Earth fire. The strange Earth fire didn¡¯t cause any damage to his body as though it didn¡¯t exist.


    He walked past Zhang Yuzhi and towards the Corpse Flower. As Zhou Wen walked, he held the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice sounded from the deep pit.


    ¡°Someone who finds you a sore sight and wants to kill you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why are humans always so ignorant? Why do they always say such arrogant things?¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s voice was filled with anger, as though she was really angry.


    ¡°That¡¯s because there are too many idiots. They won¡¯t understand if you don¡¯t speak clearly.¡± With every step Zhou Wen took, the sword intent over his body intensified. At that moment, the sword intent was already unimaginably powerful. Before the Immortal Culling Sword was unsheathed, the sword intent seemed to condense into something corporeal, as though it wanted to split the ground apart.


    Amidst the flames, a figure appeared. The Corpse Flower automatically flew towards the figure¡¯s glabella and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    The figure was wearing a white dress and a white veil. It was impossible to tell what she looked like, but from her voice, she was undoubtedly Drought Demon Fairy.


    ¡°Even in the Mythical Era where Calamity entities were everywhere, no one dared to speak to me like that.¡± Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s eyes turned cold. Clearly, she was infuriated by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be clearer. If you can withstand my strike without dying, I¡¯ll spare your life. I¡¯ll permit you to continue being imprisoned in the Fiend Tomb,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Die!¡± The already enraged Drought Demon Fairy transformed the flames over her body into a monstrous aura that filled the entire sky with flames. It was as though the entire world was only left with flames.


    Infinite heavenly flames scorched everything within.


    The Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s flames could incinerate everything. They weren¡¯t inferior to the Sun True Flames and were even more bizarre and terrifying.


    As she watched the towering flames devour the world and suppress Human Sovereign, Human Sovereign¡¯s glowing figure seemed to become much smaller under the flames.


    The Zhang family was worried if Human Sovereign could withstand the heavenly fire of Drought Demon. It was a terrifying flame that could defeat the two gods, Count of the Wind and Lord of the Rain.


    ¡°You¡­ Don¡¯t¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s expression was mixed as though she wanted to say something.


    However, before she could finish her sentence, Zhou Wen had already unsheathed his sword.


    At the instant the Immortal Culling Sword was unsheathed, everything in the world seemed to freeze. The rainbow-like sword beam sliced through everything in the void, splitting the heavenly flames into two as though it was slicing apart the sky.


    A single sword cleaved through the nine heavens.


    Zhang Yuzhi and company only saw a sword flash. The sky that was covered by the heavenly fire split into two, revealing the originally clear sky.


    When they looked at Drought Demon again, they saw a purple magma-like liquid appear over her snow-white clothes..


    The purple liquid dripped to the ground, each drop carrying scorching hot energy. The crystals that came into contact with them would immediately be burned through, forming a deep, indiscernible hole. It was unknown what depth it reached.


    ¡°Drought Demon is injured!¡± The Zhang family was pleasantly surprised.


    They were delighted that the Zhang family might be saved, but they were alarmed that Human Sovereign had injured the legendary Drought Demon with one strike. He lived up to his title of the strongest human.


    If he delivered a few more strikes, wouldn¡¯t he be able to kill Drought Demon Fairy?


    Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. He originally wanted to use the Immortal Slaying and the power of the Immortal Culling Sword to severely injure Drought Demon Fairy or even kill her.


    However, his strike only injured her, not causing her any severe injuries, much less killing her. Zhou Wen could sense that Drought Demon Fairy wasn¡¯t seriously injured.


    As expected of the legendary Drought Demon Fairy. She¡¯s just too strong. Zhou Wen marveled inwardly.


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s eyes emitted a ferocious glint as she glared at Zhou Wen as though she wanted to eat him.


    Even in the Mythical era, she had never been injured when fighting other powerful Guardians and dimensional creatures. Yet, she had been injured by Zhou Wen.


    Although part of the reason was that she had yet to fuse with humans and was severely suppressed by the rules of Earth, preventing her from fully unleashing her strength, Drought Demon Fairy still couldn¡¯t tolerate such an outcome. Her killing intent surged as she steeled her heart to kill Zhou Wen.


    Drought Demon Fairy was naturally someone who could identify the strong. She could tell that the Immortal Culling Sword was extraordinary and felt some fear.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that the Immortal Culling Sword was just a decoration in his hand.


    Zhou Wen hung the Immortal Culling Sword back on his waist and glanced at Drought Demon Fairy and spoke seemingly casually, ¡°It¡¯s quite rare to endure my strike without dying. It¡¯s not easy to evolve to this stage. It¡¯s a pity to kill you. I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s words filled Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s chest with such anger that she almost blew up. Even in the Mythical era with countless experts, no one had dared to speak to her like that.

 Chapter 1320 - Ba Killing Technique

    Chapter 1320: Ba Killing Technique


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had attempted to anger the Drought Demon Fairy from the beginning. It was not because he was really arrogant, nor did he really believe that he could surpass a Calamity-grade creature.


    It was true that the Immortal Culling Sword was very strong, but Zhou Wen was too weak. He wasn¡¯t able to utilize all of the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s abilities. It was fine if he occasionally delivered a strike, but if he failed, he basically didn¡¯t have the ability to continue fighting.


    The reason why he wanted to anger Drought Demon Fairy from the beginning was because of Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    Zhou Wen had basically figured out Truth Listener¡¯s ability. Just as he had imagined, Truth Listener could indeed hear people¡¯s thoughts.


    However, it wasn¡¯t perfect. Under normal circumstances, one couldn¡¯t hear the other party¡¯s thoughts. Only when the other party¡¯s emotions were especially intense could he hear their thoughts.


    Drought Demon Fairy had never been the victim of such wrath. At that moment, her emotions were in extreme undulation. Zhou Wen finally felt the voices around him gradually dissipate. Although Drought Demon Fairy didn¡¯t say a word, a voice sounded from her body.


    I want to roast him inch by inch. I want him to experience all the pain in the world until he begs for death and regrets being born into this world¡­ However, the sword in his hand is a little odd. It can actually injure me¡­ I can¡¯t leave the Fiend Tomb without fusing with a human due to the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules¡­ Drought Demon Fairy didn¡¯t say a word, but her thoughts betrayed everything to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed when he heard Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s inner thoughts. However, his face remained unperturbed as he wore a composed look.


    He had plans of escaping if he couldn¡¯t fight the Calamity grade creature after his single strike failed and Truth Listener couldn¡¯t be summoned.


    At best, he could escape with Zhang Yuzhi. With a limit to his abilities, that was all he could do.


    He immediately felt relieved knowing that Drought Demon Fairy couldn¡¯t fully unleash her full combat strength due to her inability to leave the Fiend Tomb and the suppression by Earth¡¯s rules.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Since you can¡¯t come out and can¡¯t use your full strength, and I can hear your thoughts, this matter might still be feasible.


    At that moment, Drought Demon Fairy was calculating in her heart. That sword is somewhat strange. It can even slice through my Drought Demon Body. It¡¯s really impressive. However, that human¡¯s strength shouldn¡¯t have reached the Calamity grade yet. He only borrowed the power of the sword. I don¡¯t have to fight that sword. As long as I kill that human, the sword will naturally be useless.


    Drought Demon Fairy sized up Zhou Wen and thought to herself, I can¡¯t leave, but if I use a large area of Heavenly Fire, it might be too slow and incapable of injuring him. From the looks of it, I can only expend some of my Intrinsic True Essence and use the Ba killing technique to kill that human.


    Drought Demon Fairy stared at Zhou Wen as her Essence Energy flowed towards her fingers.


    Zhou Wen sensed the gradual weakening of Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s inner voice. He knew that it had been a while, and her emotions were gradually stabilizing. Therefore, he continued provoking her. ¡°Why are you still standing there? I already told you that I¡¯ll spare your life since I can¡¯t kill you with one strike. However, although you can be spared from death, a punishment still needs to be meted out. Return to the Fiend Tomb and reflect on your mistakes. As long as I¡¯m alive, you¡¯ll never be resurrected. Go.¡±


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s anger was instantly stirred up by Zhou Wen despite having already calmed her emotions.


    She was a hot-tempered person to begin with. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been able to defeat two terrifying existences like Count of the Wind and Lord of the Rain alone in the Mythical era.


    However, it was also because of that battle that Drought Demon Fairy was severely injured. She had no choice but to recuperate in the Earth fire. Later on, she was sealed by the Zhang family¡¯s ancestral Celestial Master.


    Ba killing technique¡­ Die¡­ Drought Demon Fairy was already enraged. One of her hands turned invisible as she grabbed at the void.


    At the instant Drought Demon Fairy attacked, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure gracefully moved to the side. After he moved away, the rocks that had turned to crystals beneath him suddenly split apart. A cylindrical crystal several meters in diameter was pulled out of the crystal.


    The crystal pillar was pulled hundreds of meters high before it strangely vanished. All that was left was a circular hole that was hundreds of meters deep.


    Drought Demon Fairy was alarmed. Her Ba killing technique was unique. It killed people without any warning. The enemy wouldn¡¯t sense any attack and it would be too late to escape when the Ba killing technique showed itself.


    Previously, Drought Demon Fairy had relied on her Ba killing technique to dominate the world. She had killed countless terrifying Guardians and dimensional creatures, making people tremble in fear at the sound of her name. The name Drought Demon was synonymous with death.


    Even if there were people who could withstand it, they were powerful beings who were in the extreme minority. Almost all of them were invincible powerhouses of their era, but most of them could only barely withstand the Ba-Killing Technique.


    Drought Demon Fairy only had one person in her memories who could dodge it like Zhou Wen.


    Could this fellow be related to that empress? Drought Demon Fairy sized up Zhou Wen in surprise.


    However, from the Essence Energy fluctuations emitted by Zhou Wen, he didn¡¯t have any similarities to the one in Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s recollection. Or rather, they were two completely different powers. They had nothing to do with each other.


    Is it a coincidence? Drought Demon Fairy activated her Ba killing technique again.


    Drought Demon Fairy never expected that the reason Zhou Wen could dodge her Ba killing technique was because of her inner thoughts. She had already told Zhou Wen the timing and location of the Ba killing technique. All Zhou Wen needed to do was dodge it ahead of time.


    If he only relied on his senses, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to dodge the Ba killing technique.


    Zhou Wen naturally dodged Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s Ba killing technique again.


    Impossible¡­ Drought Demon Fairy was alarmed when she saw Zhou Wen successfully dodge again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. If you can withstand one strike of mine and survive, I¡¯ll spare your life. However, if you insist on courting death, I can fulfill your wish.¡± Zhou Wen slowly walked towards Drought Demon Fairy. As he walked, he said, ¡°If you haven¡¯t returned to reflect on yourself by the time I reach the Fiend Tomb, there¡¯s no need for you to return.¡±


    Drought Demon Fairy was alarmed and furious. She steeled her heart and struck out repeatedly with her Ba killing technique.


    Unfortunately for her, Zhou Wen had already heard all her thoughts. It even formed an image in his mind, allowing him to know where her next strike would land.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure floated like an immortal as though he was taking a stroll. Every step he took happened to dodge Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s Ba killing technique. Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s crazy attacks failed to touch Zhou Wen at all.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had already arrived in front of the Fiend Tomb, Drought Demon Fairy was extremely alarmed. Could it be that he really has a great divine power? He¡¯s so powerful that he has hidden all that power deep down, preventing me from telling¡­ Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to easily dodge my Ba killing technique¡­ It¡¯s like he can predict the future¡­


    The way Zhou Wen dodged the Ba killing technique made Drought Demon Fairy think of the empress. Although their Essence Energy fluctuations were completely different, the way they dodged the Ba killing technique was very similar.. This only served to alarm her even more.

 Chapter 1321 - I’ll Wait for the Day You Die

    Chapter 1321: I¡¯ll Wait for the Day You Die


    Translator: CKtalon


    The people of the Zhang family saw that Human Sovereign did not even draw his sword¡ªhe just walked casually and resolved Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s ghostly attack. They were thrilled.


    However, some people did not agree with Human Sovereign¡¯s actions. They felt that Human Sovereign should not have been soft-hearted. He should have just killed Drought Demon Fairy. There was no need to give her a chance. This was equivalent to allowing a tiger to return to the mountain.


    Drought Demon Fairy was confused. If the person in front of her was really strong, why did he bother spouting all that nonsense with her? He could have just drawn his sword and killed her. Why did he give her a chance?


    Seeing Zhou Wen walking over step by step, Drought Demon Fairy remained hesitant. After all, she was once an invincible existence. In that era, humans were inferior to ants in front of her. She traveled a thousand kilometers in a day, not sparing them a glance wherever she passed. Tens of thousands of humans were burned to ashes by the Heavenly Fire from her body, and that was just a result of her unconscious actions.


    Yet in this era, she had to admit defeat to a human and reflect on her mistakes. She could not take this lying down.


    Drought Demon Fairy felt that even if Human Sovereign really had the ability to kill her, it would just be a fight to the death. It was simply a wishful dream of others to make her bow her head before a human.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really want to kill Drought Demon Fairy. He didn¡¯t have the ability even if he really wanted to kill her.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability could scare Drought Demon Fairy and make her think twice, but if they really came to blows, he was no match for her.


    Drought Demon Fairy showed no intention of returning to the Fiend Tomb despite him being only a few steps from the Fiend Tomb and closing in.


    Three steps¡­ two steps¡­ one step¡­


    Zhou Wen was already standing in front of the Fiend Tomb, but Drought Demon Fairy still had no intention of returning. She continued attacking, clearly determined to risk her life.


    Seeing this, the Zhang family felt that Human Sovereign had no choice but to fight Drought Demon Fairy. They even looked forward to seeing whether Human Sovereign could kill her.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s hand grabbed the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword again, but he didn¡¯t pull it out. Instead, he sighed softly and said regretfully, ¡°I am supreme in the world. All the gods and devils in the world want to worship me. Do you think I can¡¯t accept your bow?¡±


    Everyone from the Zhang family was slightly taken aback when they heard Zhou Wen¡¯s sudden words. Although Human Sovereign was powerful and was publicly acknowledged as the number one expert of humanity, it was a little overboard for him to claim supremacy and that all the gods and devils in the world had to worship him. It was too arrogant.


    Moreover, anyone could tell that Drought Demon Fairy was prepared to fight to the death. How could she bow before him?


    However, when Drought Demon Fairy heard that, her body trembled as she stared at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    She was all too familiar with those words. Back then, the empress had also stood before her and said those same words.


    Although she couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen¡¯s face, Zhou Wen¡¯s tone and expression when he spoke resembled the empress back then. Only she and that empress were present back when it happened. No one else would have known.


    For a moment, Drought Demon Fairy felt her thoughts go adrift, as if she was seeing the empress again.


    ¡°Why are you still standing there? Are you waiting for me to send you off?¡± Zhou Wen had only said that because he had read her thoughts and knew about her encounter with the empress.


    These words struck Drought Demon like lightning. She looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression as though she had seen a ghost.


    Something unexpected happened. Drought Demon Fairy, who was ready to fight to the death, gave Human Sovereign a perfunctory bow that showed no signs of reverence and disappeared into the Fiend Tomb.


    The Earth fire that soared into the sky also quickly converged with the disappearance of Drought Demon Fairy. In a moment, the flames that filled the sky returned to the Fiend Tomb. Only a voice echoed in the sky. ¡°I¡¯ll wait for the day you die.¡±


    Zhang Siyou and the others were shocked. Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s words were no different from acknowledging what Human Sovereign had previously said. She would not seek resurrection as long as Human Sovereign was alive.


    With Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s return to the Fiend Tomb, the Zhang family¡¯s demonization showed signs of amelioration, but they didn¡¯t fully recover. Especially those who had been seriously demonized like Zhang Chunqiu, they didn¡¯t show much change. Their hair remained white, and their eyes and nails were as white as jade.


    Their complexions just looked much better, no longer as pale as a corpse like before.


    ¡°The Zhang family is unable to repay your kindness. If you need the Zhang family¡¯s help in the future, just say the word. As long as it doesn¡¯t violate human ethics, I, Zhang Siyou, will definitely be there.¡± Zhang Siyou only said his name, but did not mention the Zhang family.


    Although his words sounded like he was avoiding the crux of the matter, on the other hand, it sounded like a serious promise.


    ¡°I hope the Zhang family can do as you say in the future¡ªa Zhang family that lives standing on their feet.¡± After Zhou Wen said that, he glanced at Eldest Uncle Zhang before turning around and tearing through the air, instantly transforming into a stream of light that vanished.


    Eldest Uncle Zhang¡¯s face flushed red. He was undoubtedly the representative of the Zhang family who wanted to live on his knees.


    Zhang Yuzhi helped up Zhang Chunqiu as she looked in the direction where Zhou Wen had vanished as though in thought.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is really beyond our reach. In the past, I felt that Human Sovereign was just one step ahead of me. Sooner or later, I would be able to reach the same level as him. From the looks of it today, it¡¯s not just one step.¡± Zhang Chunqiu praised before smiling. ¡°Thankfully, that¡¯s the case. Otherwise, our Zhang family would be doomed. Human Sovereign is indeed interesting. I wonder if his true identity is pure human. If he¡¯s pure human, he really deserves the title Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Probably¡­ yes¡­¡± There was a complicated look in Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s eyes as though she was somewhat distracted.


    On the way back, Zhang Yuzhi suddenly thought of something. She took out her phone and sent a message.


    Zhou Wen was riding the Earth Elemental Beast when he arrived at a place where there was reception. When he heard the message chime, he took out his phone to take a look.


    He saw that it was from Zhang Yuzhi and almost fell off the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back when he opened the message.


    ¡°Your Majesty Human Sovereign¡­ Come help me garden¡­ and listen to my music next time¡­


    It should be a guess, right? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled. He didn¡¯t know how Zhang Yuzhi could tell that he was Human Sovereign, so he hurriedly replied: ¡°You sent it to the wrong person, right? You know Human Sovereign?¡±


    After Zhou Wen sent the message, he nervously waited for Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s reply. However, after waiting for a while, his message was like a rock sinking into the sea. There was no response at all.


    Zhang Yuzhi looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s reply on her phone and revealed a sly smile. She closed the chat box and held her phone to her chest. She closed her eyes and muttered to herself with a smile, ¡°With you around, I won¡¯t be afraid of the darkness anymore.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s mind kept echoing the words: ¡°The one who deserves death isn¡¯t you, but the people who made you cry.¡±

 Chapter 1322 - Luck Companion Egg

    Chapter 1322: Luck Companion Egg


    Translator: CKtalon


    After waiting for a long time, Zhou Wen finally received a message. It wasn¡¯t from Zhang Yuzhi, but Hui Haifeng.


    ¡°Junior Brother, I¡¯ve obtained all the lucky Companion Beasts I can. Take a look and see if it¡¯s enough.¡± Behind Hui Haifeng¡¯s message was a list of names.


    Zhou Wen took a look and realized that there were a total of eleven different Luck Companion Eggs. Two of them were at the Mythical stage, six were at the Epic stage, and two were at the Legendary stage. There was even one at the Mortal stage.


    ¡°Mortal Companion Beasts are already very rare, and it actually has a Luck stat. This is really rare. However, even if a Mortal Companion Beast adds Luck, it shouldn¡¯t add much, right?¡± Zhou Wen replied: ¡°That¡¯s enough. Give me two days to prepare and I¡¯ll contact you when I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Just stay in Luoyang. I¡¯ve already sent the men over and the Companion Beasts will come with them. They should be able to reach Luoyang tonight.¡± Hui Haifeng replied.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t insist. His entry into the Venusian dimensional zone didn¡¯t depend on his location as long as there was a Cube.


    ¡°Junior Brother, I¡¯m handing them over to you. They¡¯re my best men. Don¡¯t lose them.¡± Hui Haifeng sent another message.


    ¡°Actually, I can enter alone.¡± Zhou Wen felt that it was safer for him to be alone.


    ¡°Alright, then you have to wear the Federation uniform. Then, wear a small red flag over your head which says ¡®Federation Soldier¡¯ on it¡­¡± Hui Haifeng replied.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s better I take others along.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn¡¯t an image he wanted to be associated with.


    ¡°Hehe, whatever you say. I spent a huge sum of money obtaining these lucky Companion Beasts for you. I believe no one can gather such a powerful lineup of lucky Companion Beasts again. Why do you need so many? According to what I know, although lucky Companion Beasts can increase the chances of obtaining dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs in some way, this possibility actually has a threshold value. Once it exceeds a certain luck value, no matter how many lucky Companion Beasts you equip, it won¡¯t increase much,¡± Hui Haifeng asked curiously.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know in the future.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to talk nonsense with him. He wanted to rush back to Luoyang to see the lucky Companion Beasts. This was because ordinary people could only rely on the information and experience transmitted by the Companion Beasts to determine their stats. They couldn¡¯t see any accurate information.


    Therefore, Hui Haifeng only knew that they were Companion Beasts with Luck augmentation, but he wasn¡¯t sure how much Luck would be added.


    ¡°Master¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang¡¯s An family, he saw Hui Wan rush over.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that Hui Haifeng was willing to let Hui Wan come over.


    Now that there were broken-out dimensional zones everywhere on the road, it was difficult to guarantee safety. Hui Wan could be said to be the future hope of the Hui family. It was too risky to let him out now.


    ¡°Father agreed to let me come when I said I wanted to learn from you,¡± Hui Wan said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Learn from me? What can you learn from me? It¡¯s more like me learning from you.


    Hui Wan¡¯s talent was extremely high. He could grasp concepts from learning things once. Things like an eidetic memory and speed reading were nothing to him.


    Zhou Wen suspected that Hui Haifeng had used some advanced technology to produce such a brainy son.


    Back when Zhou Wen was in the Hui family, he had taught Hui Wan, but most of the things he knew could only be understood and not instructed. Zhou Wen had already taught him everything that could be instructed. Now, he really didn¡¯t have anything left to teach.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, these are the items the president instructed us to bring you. Please check them.¡± An officer in his thirties came in front of Zhou Wen with a few officers.


    He looked very strange as he wore zero facial expression. His eyebrows, beard, and facial features looked fake, but Zhou Wen was certain that it was just a feeling. There was no special disguise on his face. He just had such looks.


    There were eleven of them, and each of them had a safe handcuffed to their wrist.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to guess to know that they were the eleven Luck Companion Eggs that Hui Haifeng had sent over. These eleven officers were likely Hui Haifeng¡¯s men.


    When the officers opened the safes, they used the keys they had to open the safes for the others. And in the safe, there were special devices that seemed to be able to destroy the Companion Eggs in the safes if they were touched.


    It was understandable that Hui Haifeng would do such a thing. Although these Companion Eggs weren¡¯t of high levels, they were very valuable. He had to be careful.


    After Zhou Wen took receipt of the items, the expressionless officer who looked like he was wearing a mask said, ¡°Under the president¡¯s orders, we will obey your orders from now on, Mr. Zhou. Even if you want us to die, we will definitely carry out your orders immediately.¡±


    ¡°Very good. Go back and rest.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°Yes sir.¡± The soldier didn¡¯t ask further and directly led his men back to rest.


    ¡°Master, the things that the coaches at home teach are so boring. I¡¯ve long wanted to find you. What can you teach me?¡± Hui Wan asked as he followed behind Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You¡¯ve already done a good job with your learning. Play for the next two days,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Master, I know that you know things in depth. I might not be able to learn them now, but I¡¯ll definitely work hard¡­¡± Hui Wan said with a serious expression.


    Zhou Wen looked at Hui Wan¡¯s serious expression and really couldn¡¯t come up with any excuses.


    However, he wasn¡¯t good at teaching others. Despite racking his brains, he couldn¡¯t think of anything that he could teach him.


    Just as he was feeling stumped, he suddenly saw Li Xuan walk out of the manor. He had no idea why this fellow had come to the An family residence.


    Zhou Wen was delighted as he coughed lightly and said to Hui Wan, ¡°Verbal instruction can¡¯t compare to actual practice. When you were at home, you should have learned a lot of theories. It¡¯s time to do some combat training.¡±


    ¡°Master, you want to spar with me?¡± Hui Wan¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°I taught you everything. I know you like the back of my hand. Sparring with me won¡¯t have any effect,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then what should we do?¡± Hui Wan said anxiously.


    ¡°See that person? He¡¯s also your father¡¯s junior. Based on the generation, you should call him Uncle-Master. Train with him first,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Is he very powerful?¡± Hui Wan sized up the sloppy Li Xuan and was very suspicious.


    ¡°Average I guess. He can only last three moves against me, but it¡¯s enough as your sparring partner,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Master. I¡¯ll work hard.¡± Hui Wan couldn¡¯t muster up any energy when he heard that, but he couldn¡¯t refute Zhou Wen. He only thought to himself, He can only last three moves against Master. He¡¯s not that strong. I¡¯ll think of a way to defeat him later and let Master see my improvement. He should personally spar with me then.


    ¡°Old Zhou, whose child is this? What¡¯s he doing?¡± Li Xuan walked over and asked.


    ¡°Hui Haifeng¡¯s son. I was requested to teach him for fun. I happen to have something on. Help me teach him,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Old Hui¡¯s son? Then I have to teach him well. Don¡¯t worry. Leave him to me,¡± Li Xuan said as he patted his chest.


    3


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave it to you then. I¡¯ll get back to work.¡± Before Zhou Wen left, he exhorted Hui Wan, ¡°Little Wan, learn well from your Uncle Li. It will be beneficial for you forever.¡±


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and eagerly took out the eleven Companion Eggs and used his phone to appraise their stats.

 Chapter 1323 - Lucky Dodge

    The two Mythical Companion Beasts were the Lucky Stone Sprite and the Lucky Clover King. Like the Baby Tiger, they had a Luck Life Providence, but they added more Luck than the Baby Tiger.


    Stone Sprite +9 Luck, Lucky Clover King +7 Luck. The six Epic Companion Beasts added 3 to 6 Luck.


    As for the two Legendary Companion Beasts, they were both +1 Luck.


    The Lucky Stone Sprite¡¯s Companion Form was a bracelet, the Lucky Clover King was a ring, and the Epic and Legendary Companion Beasts were myriad in nature. Zhou Wen did some calculations. Apart from two Companion Beasts that conflicted with the Companion Beasts he had to use, there was one that didn¡¯t have a Companion Beast form. The rest could be used together.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised by the Mortal Companion Beast. This was because the Companion Beast didn¡¯t have a Luck stat. As for why it was sent over as a Luck Companion Beast, Zhou Wen guessed that it had something to do with its skill.


    It was obvious that a Mortal Companion Beast didn¡¯t have a Life Providence, so it was naturally impossible for it to have a Luck Life Providence. After carefully reading the Companion Beast¡¯s information, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn¡¯t the case.


    Death Harbinger Crow: Mortal stage.


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Necrology


    Companion Form: Wings


    After Zhou Wen carefully looked at its stats, he cursed his bad luck. He hurriedly looked at the list Hui Haifeng had given him. He didn¡¯t remember seeing any crows on the list.


    Indeed, the only Mortal Companion Beast on the list was Fortuitous Magpie, also known as the bird that delivered good news. It wasn¡¯t the Death Harbinger Crow.


    On careful comparison, Zhou Wen knew that Hui Haifeng must have made a mistake when he purchased it. The Death Harbinger Crow Companion Egg was very similar to the Fortuitous Magpie¡¯s. Just by looking at its appearance, it was identical. He had probably mistaken the Death Harbinger for it.


    As for whether the person who sold the Companion Egg to Hui Haifeng really didn¡¯t know or was doing it on purpose, that wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen could know.


    This Death Harbinger Crow is a little odd. It¡¯s clearly a low-level Mortal Companion Beast and doesn¡¯t have any Evolvable stat, but it actually has all its stats at 11. This is really rare. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and hatched the Death Harbinger Crow and the other Luck Companion Eggs.


    Although being a harbinger of death was indeed annoying, Zhou Wen had always heard from the former principal that good medicine was bitter and the bitter truth hurts. It wasn¡¯t a good thing to be a harbinger, but it was a pretty good ability that gave advance warning.


    After the incubation was completed, Zhou Wen entered the game and put on all the lucky equipment he could wear.


    Of course, the most important thing was the Heavenly Robe. It had a special Lucky Dodge ability. As long as the Luck stat worked, it could dodge attacks that were originally impossible to dodge.


    However, the Heavenly Robe¡¯s luck was limited, and its chance of dodging was very low. Zhou Wen had already tested it before. When facing the Golden Battle God¡¯s bullets, there was only a 10% chance of dodging.


    In the face of a Calamity-grade bullet, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t successfully dodged it once.


    What Zhou Wen wanted to test was whether the other pieces of Luck equipment on him would affect Heavenly Robe¡¯s ability to dodge.


    After entering the dungeon, the Metal Guard¡¯s bullets shot at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen stood there without moving. The Heavenly Robe on his body seemed to move without any wind, making him look like an immortal. The bullet strangely circled around Zhou Wen¡¯s body and missed.


    A large number of bullets shot over, but none of them hit Zhou Wen. All of them automatically deviated from their trajectories.


    Zhou Wen was slightly delighted. Although the Heavenly Robe could easily dodge the Metal Guard¡¯s bullets, it wasn¡¯t that exaggerated. Previously, the Heavenly Robe would still yank Zhou Wen¡¯s body aside to dodge the bullets.


    Now, Zhou Wen could stand there without moving. Just the fluttering of the Heavenly Robe allowed all the bullets to miss him. Clearly, Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodging abilities had been enhanced.


    I wonder how efficient Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodging is when facing the Terror-grade Golden Battle God. Zhou Wen casually killed all the Metal Guards and waited for the Golden Battle God to appear.


    Soon, the Golden Battle God Mark I rushed out. His freezing bullets were fired at a speed that the vision of ordinary humans couldn¡¯t keep up with.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move. He had come purely to experiment. Even if he was shot to death, he had no intention of moving.


    The Heavenly Robe fluttered as the Terror-grade Frost Bullet brushed past his sleeve and struck the metal building¡¯s wall, producing an ice fog.


    It dodged the first shot. This effect is quite strong. I think there¡¯s at least a 50% chance. Zhou Wen was even more delighted.


    He didn¡¯t attack and allowed the Golden Battle God to shoot at him. A scene that surprised and delighted Zhou Wen happened. No matter how crazy the Golden Battle God¡¯s shots were, even if Zhou Wen stood still, none of the Golden Battle God¡¯s bullets could hit him.


    Amazing! Could it be that with the augmentation of all this lucky equipment, Heavenly Robe¡¯s Lucky Dodge has reached 100%? Zhou Wen dodged more than a hundred bullets without being hit.


    Without continuing the test, Zhou Wen killed the Golden Battle Gods one by one. He wanted to see if the Heavenly Robe could dodge the Calamity-grade bullets.


    The alarm blared as Zhou Wen felt somewhat nervous. He failed to react in time when the gunshot rang.


    However, the bullet didn¡¯t hit Zhou Wen. The Heavenly Robe yanked Zhou Wen¡¯s body a little and allowed him to fortuitously dodge the Calamity-grade bullet.


    Holy sh*t¡­ I really dodged it¡­ I¡¯ve hit the jackpot now¡­ With this divine artifact on me¡­ What¡¯s there to be afraid of a Calamity-grade bullet... Zhou Wen had died too many times in the Venusian instance dungeon. He couldn¡¯t help but be excited by this sudden discovery.


    However, he didn¡¯t dare make confirmation. He took another shot as an experiment, and he actually dodged it again.


    Ah! This is really awesome. With the Heavenly Robe in hand, I have luck. Who else¡­ Let me ask the world, who else can kill me? Zhou Wen felt as though he had eaten a Ginseng Fruit as he felt so comfortable.


    Bang!


    With a gunshot, Zhou Wen saw the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head explode as the screen went black.


    The smile on his face instantly turned into shock as his mouth remained agape.


    Are you kidding me? I can be hit by the third shot? Zhou Wen calmed down and thought carefully. He could dodge the first two shots and the third shot was about the same strength as the first two shots. He felt that since the third shot wasn¡¯t the sure-kill seventh, the reason he couldn¡¯t dodge this shot was most likely because he didn¡¯t have enough luck. When facing the Calamity-grade creature, his Lucky Dodge wasn¡¯t 100% effective.


    I have to get some more lucky equipment to give it a try. Perhaps I can really dodge the Calamity-grade bullets with 100% certainty. Zhou Wen thought about where he could get some more lucky equipment.


    He had even used the Lady Luck Necklace that Jing Daoxian had given him to achieve such an effect. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know where he could get lucky Companion Beasts.

 Chapter 1324 - Borrowing A Pet

    Chapter 1324: Borrowing A Pet


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen checked a lot of information and realized that Luck Companion Beasts were indeed very rare. They were basically things that could only be chanced upon by luck. Ignoring Mythical Luck Beasts, even Epic Luck Beasts were rare.


    After asking Gu Dian for information, the outcome wasn¡¯t too good. Previously, there were two lucky pets on the black market. Due to the high price, no one was willing to buy them. They had been auctioned off a few days ago.


    Gu Dian refused to say who had successfully bid for them due to his professional ethics.


    However, even if he didn¡¯t say it, Zhou Wen already knew that the two Companion Beasts were on him.


    After doing a round of investigations, Zhou Wen knew that he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to find a lucky pet. Hui Haifeng had basically swept away all the lucky pets he could obtain. Ignoring the huge expenditure, it was very likely that he had used his connections and special items to trade. It was almost impossible for Zhou Wen to obtain a Luck Companion Beast from the market.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of Wang Lu. Wang Lu had a Luck Life Providence to begin with, and she had quite a number of lucky pets. He wondered if any of them had yet to hatch.


    ¡°Do you have time? I have something to ask you.¡± Zhou Wen sent Wang Lu a message.


    ¡°So you only think of me when something¡¯s up!¡± Soon, Wang Lu sent a message.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to explain, but on second thought, it did seem to be the case. Every time he took the initiative to send a message to Wang Lu, he seemed to require her help. He couldn¡¯t help but blush and couldn¡¯t bring himself to ask Wang Lu for help.


    ¡°Fine, I know you¡¯re a busy person. If there¡¯s anything, just say it. After all, you haven¡¯t paid off the meals you owe. It won¡¯t hurt to pile on more.¡± Wang Lu sent another message.


    ¡°I¡¯ll treat you to a meal in a few days,¡± Zhou Wen replied in embarrassment.


    ¡°Then I have to rip you off good. I have to make you bleed.¡± Wang Lu asked again, ¡°What¡¯s the matter? Make it quick.¡±


    ¡°I just want to ask if you still have any Luck Companion Beasts. I want to buy a few,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I have lucky pets, but they aren¡¯t for sale.¡± Wang Lu quickly sent a message back.


    Zhou Wen was only somewhat disappointed, but he didn¡¯t fault Wang Lu. Luck Companion Beasts meant more to Wang Lu than ordinary people.


    Ordinary people could only increase their luck by a little when they obtained a Luck Companion Beast, but they enhanced Wang Lu¡¯s Life Providence. Its effects were much stronger than ordinary people. It could be said that a Luck Companion Beast was similar to Wang Lu¡¯s exclusive Companion Beast.


    I¡¯m being too silly. Wang Lu doesn¡¯t even have the time to collect Luck Companion Beasts. Why would she sell them? Zhou Wen felt that he was a little stupid for not thinking of this before. He shouldn¡¯t have asked Wang Lu. This question put her in a difficult position.


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking. It¡¯s not of much use. I¡¯ll look for you in a couple of days and treat you to a feast.¡± Zhou Wen sent a message.


    ¡°I¡¯m definitely not selling it, but if you need it urgently, I can lend it to you for the time being. Why do you need a lucky pet?¡± Wang Lu sent another message.


    ¡°Can I borrow it?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted as he hurriedly said, ¡°I want to use lucky pets to attempt the Venusian dimensional zone. Is it convenient to borrow it?¡±


    Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to return the Companion Eggs after hatching them, but Zhou Wen had the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to return them.


    ¡°Alright, come to my place to get it. It¡¯s not convenient for me to go out at the moment,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Wait for me.¡± Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he immediately rushed to the Wang family home.


    Zhou Wen left without a word. The officers Hui Haifeng had sent couldn¡¯t help but grumble inwardly.


    They had their doubts about whether Zhou Wen could lead them to the rankings. They only trusted Hui Haifeng, but that didn¡¯t mean they trusted Zhou Wen completely.


    At the very least, Zhou Wen¡¯s present performance wasn¡¯t reassuring.


    They had been here for two days and had only seen Zhou Wen once on the first day. Then, they hadn¡¯t seen him again. There was no training, no discussion for cooperation¡ªnot even a plan. They didn¡¯t have any confidence in attempting the Venusian dimensional zone together. Anyone would feel uneasy. After all, this was a matter that risked their lives.


    ¡°Captain Wei, can we count on Zhou Wen?¡± an officer whispered to Wei Yang.


    Wei Yang was the soldier with a stiff face. His facial features looked like they had been drawn on. He was the captain of this special ops team.


    Without waiting for Wei Yang to reply, the officer continued, ¡°The creatures that can enter the rankings are either Calamity-grade or large organizations like the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians. The Holy Spirit Association has the augmentation of Fairy Peacock and True Martial, as well as an invincible existence like Ya. The League of Guardians has the guarantee of temporal and spatial powers. What do we have? Can Zhou Wen really lead us into the rankings by himself?¡±


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just him. Many officers had such concerns. Zhou Wen was indeed famous, but there was still a certain gap between him and large organizations like the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians.


    Furthermore, it seemed difficult for one person¡¯s strength to beat any collective strength.


    As soldiers, they could only obey orders, but to say that they weren¡¯t nervous or afraid was a lie.


    Wei Yang said expressionlessly, ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s strength is undoubtedly top-notch among humans. From his past achievements, we can tell that this person isn¡¯t simple. Furthermore, even the president holds him in such high esteem. I believe he¡¯s definitely a person with true talent. We don¡¯t need to worry about this. All we need to do is make preparations and help him get into the rankings.¡±


    ¡°How do we prepare? The president told us to listen to his orders, but we don¡¯t even see him now,¡± the officer said gloomily.


    Wei Yang¡¯s expression remained unchanged as he said calmly, ¡°The president has always been meticulous and comprehensive. If the president says that Zhou Wen can do it, he definitely can. Zhou Wen probably has his own plans for not meeting us now. All we need to do is stay sharp and unleash our greatest abilities when the time comes.¡±


    Although the officers were somewhat uneasy, they didn¡¯t let this uneasy feeling continue spreading due to Wei Yang¡¯s influence. Instead, it weakened significantly. However, they were still displeased with Zhou Wen¡¯s actions.


    Zhou Wen rushed to the Wang family home that very night, but unfortunately, there were too many dimensional zones along the way. With his abilities, he couldn¡¯t directly reach the Wang family. All he could do was constantly use instant transmission to travel and circle around some dimensional zones that had yet to be explored by humans.


    Thankfully, nothing happened along the way. In less than two days, Zhou Wen reached the Wang family home.


    Wang Lu curled her lips when she saw Zhou Wen. ¡°If you weren¡¯t borrowing a Companion Beast, would you have ever taken the initiative to repay the debt?¡±

 Chapter 1325 - Transfer

    ¡°As the saying goes, there¡¯s no disadvantage to having too much debt. I¡¯ll owe you more so that I can repay you later in one shot,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Wang Lu burst out laughing as she rolled her eyes at Zhou Wen. ¡°Which planet did you get that saying from?¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s from Earth,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°On Earth, there¡¯s no disadvantage to having too many skills. I¡¯ve never heard of the phrase that there¡¯s no disadvantage to having too much debt,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen asked, feigning ignorance.


    ¡°Alright, stop pretending. Since you¡¯re here today, you have to pay some interest,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Alright, tell me where you want to eat. I still have enough money to buy you a bowl of seafood noodles¡ªthe kind that doesn¡¯t have seafood.¡± After not seeing her for a long time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel unfamiliar with her at all. Wang Lu was still the same Wang Lu as though he had met her not long ago.


    ¡°At the very least, you are now Luoyang¡¯s number three figure. Can you not be so stingy?¡± Wang Lu said angrily.


    ¡°What number three figure?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Apart from Leng Zongzheng and An Tianzuo, Luoyang is counting you. If you aren¡¯t number three, what are you?¡± Wang Lu paused before continuing, ¡°Don¡¯t just stand outside. Go in. Tell me, how do you plan on clearing the Venusian dimensional zone?¡±


    Zhou Wen followed Wang Lu into the Wang family residence and realized that it was a back door. There was a garden inside, but he didn¡¯t see anyone.


    As Wang Lu led the way, Zhou Wen roughly explained how Hui Haifeng had entrusted him with the mission of entering the rankings and his plans.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of using luck to dodge attacks. Are you confident? Against a Calamity-grade creature, if your dodging fails, you will die,¡± Wang Lu said worriedly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know me well. I have other backup plans. Even if I can¡¯t dodge it, I won¡¯t end up being killed. I¡¯ll definitely return alive,¡± Zhou Wen said confidently.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you have a plan.¡± Wang Lu sized up Zhou Wen and suddenly said, ¡°Give me your hand.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement as he extended his hand in front of Wang Lu.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to borrow a Companion Beast?¡± Wang Lu said as she pressed her hand on Zhou Wen¡¯s right palm, her palm facing his.


    A dazzling light flashed between their palms.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen felt waves of energy enter his palm and was alarmed.


    He wasn¡¯t surprised because he was afraid, but because he was worried about Wang Lu.


    He originally wanted to borrow Wang Lu¡¯s Companion Eggs and return them to her after using them.


    However, he never expected Wang Lu to transfer a contracted Companion Beast to him.


    With him possessing the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, it wasn¡¯t a problem to transfer a Companion Beast, but Wang Lu didn¡¯t know the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. God knew what price she had to pay to transfer a Companion Beast to Zhou Wen.


    If an ordinary person transferred a Companion Beast, they would at least lose half their life. If they were unlucky, they might even die.


    Although he knew that Wang Lu likely had some special means, there was typically a price to pay. Techniques like the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art were just too rare.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want me to lend you my pet?¡± Wang Lu said with a smile, but her actions didn¡¯t stop. The light from her palm intensified as it constantly transformed into a stream of light that stabbed into Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    ¡°If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have come,¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    Now that things were midway, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t stop it abruptly. If he forcefully stopped it, not only would he injure Wang Lu, the Companion Beast that was being transferred midway would probably be lost.


    ¡°It¡¯s just transferring a Companion Beast. It¡¯s not difficult for me. However, I definitely take note of this debt. You have to repay it in the future,¡± Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and didn¡¯t say a word as he waited for the Companion Beast¡¯s transfer to be completed.


    The transfer of Companion Beasts seemed to take a long time. The transfer didn¡¯t complete despite half an hour passing.


    What Companion Beast is this? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. However, the energy that had been transmitted wasn¡¯t as simple as the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a lucky Companion Beast. Would I give you an unlucky Companion Beast?¡± Wang Lu curled her lips.


    ¡°Terror grade?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Wang Lu and asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I won¡¯t be able to produce any inferior Companion Beasts,¡± Wang Lu said.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown. The higher the level of a Companion Beast, the more difficult it was to transfer it. The price to transfer a Terror-grade Companion Beast was definitely not trivial.


    Zhou Wen felt deep regret. He couldn¡¯t bear the responsibility if anything dire happened to Wang Lu.


    About an hour later, the light in Wang Lu¡¯s palm gradually converged until it vanished, revealing an additional star pattern in the middle of Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t look at the Companion Beast as he kept sizing Wang Lu up.


    ¡°What can happen to me? Are you hoping that I¡¯ll vomit blood and faint? Then, you can take the opportunity to save the damsel in distress and obtain both me and my wealth, so there¡¯s no need to pay the debt of the Companion Beast and all the past debts?¡± Wang Lu smiled and said, ¡°Stop dreaming. I won¡¯t accept anything less.¡±


    Seeing that Wang Lu was indeed fine, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t dare say that I¡¯ll return you double, but I¡¯ll definitely return what I owe.¡±


    ¡°Alright, stop wasting time. Make your preparations. You mustn¡¯t be careless and must have complete confidence. If you feel that something is amiss, don¡¯t force yourself,¡± Wang Lu exhorted.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll head back now. I¡¯ll touch base with you again after I¡¯m done.¡± Zhou Wen stood up and prepared to leave.


    Wang Lu walked Zhou Wen to the door and waved goodbye. Only when he disappeared from her sight did she turn around and return.


    After closing the back door, Wang Lu leaned against it and suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. Her face turned pale as though she had been enervated. She slowly leaned against the door and sat down, as though she didn¡¯t even have the strength to stand up.


    The light and shadows in the garden changed as a dream-like figure walked out of the void. Her figure was holy and charming, like a combination of a devil and an angel. She slowly came in front of Wang Lu¡ªshe was actually a Guardian like a goddess from Greek mythology.


    ¡°You¡¯re a very strange person. I¡¯ve seen many humans. They yearn to tell the entire world the modicum they¡¯ve done. You paid such a huge price to transfer him the Lucky Star that is of great importance to you. Not only did you suffer serious injuries, you even insisted on sending him out, causing your injuries to aggravate. Do you have masochistic tendencies?¡± The Guardian used her finger to lift up Wang Lu¡¯s chin and whispered into her ear with her seductive red lips.


    Wang Lu turned her head forcefully and shook off the Guardian¡¯s finger. She said calmly, ¡°I don¡¯t need gratitude or pity. I naturally don¡¯t need him to know of such meaningless things.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you need? That man? As long as you are willing to contract with me and have our powers combined, a glance from you will be enough to make all men prostrate before you, much less him.¡± The Guardian¡¯s eyes shimmered, but her body emitted a holy glow. She reached out to touch Wang Lu¡¯s forehead.

 Chapter 1326 - Loss of Luck

    Translator: CKtalon


    Wang Lu reached out and swatted away the Guardian¡¯s hand. She said calmly, ¡°I said that I won¡¯t contract with you. Not in the past, not now, and not in the future.¡±


    The Guardian didn¡¯t flare up. She retracted her hand and said with a smile, ¡°Don¡¯t forget that you¡¯re not an ordinary person. It¡¯s very difficult for others to injure you, but once you¡¯re injured, it¡¯s very difficult for you to recover. No external force can treat you. You can only rely on your own body to slowly recover.¡±


    ¡°It will eventually recover,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although your injuries are very serious, they still won¡¯t take your life. Given time, you¡¯ll eventually recover.¡± The Guardian¡¯s eyes gradually narrowed. ¡°However, you¡¯ve probably never been injured before. You don¡¯t know much about what will happen after you¡¯re injured. Then let me tell you. After you¡¯re injured, your luck will decrease. With your current injuries, your luck might have already reached a nadir.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to take the opportunity to kill me? Then do it,¡± Wang Lu said nonchalantly.


    ¡°Baby, how can I bear to kill you? If I kill you, where can I find another human like you to contract with? There probably isn¡¯t a second human in this world who is more suitable to contract with me than you.¡± The Guardian¡¯s expression gradually turned cold. ¡°But without your luck to suppress your sister¡¯s power of misfortune, she will produce the expected effects. With me aiding her, I¡¯m afraid the Wang family will only have the two of you left remaining. Wouldn¡¯t that be fun?¡±


    Wang Lu¡¯s expression changed. She didn¡¯t know that her luck would greatly weaken after she was injured because this was unprecedented.


    If the Guardian strengthened Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune as she claimed, the Wang family might really suffer a calamity.


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll believe you?¡± Wang Lu forced herself to calm down.


    Perhaps the Guardian was just bluffing. There was no such thing as having her luck drop because of an injury.


    ¡°You don¡¯t believe me?¡± The Guardian flicked a coin into Wang Lu¡¯s hand and said, ¡°Try flipping it ten times. Under normal circumstances, you should be able to get tails ten times in a row, right? Let me see how many times you can get tails. Five or six times? With your injuries, six times should be your limit, I suppose?¡±


    Wang Lu caught the coin and took a look. Then, she flipped it into the air. When she caught it, she realized that it wasn¡¯t heads, but the number ¡°1¡±.


    ¡°Heh heh, looks like your luck is much lower than I thought.¡± The Guardian smiled.


    Wang Lu¡¯s expression changed as she flipped the coin again. She wanted to get tails, but when the coin landed, it was still 1.


    Wang Lu flipped the coin a few times, but she didn¡¯t get a single tails. All she got was 1.


    The Guardian sighed and said, ¡°Even I miscalculated. I didn¡¯t expect your sister¡¯s power of misfortune to be so strong. Now that your luck has weakened, her power of misfortune is sufficient to suppress your luck because of her existence. Perhaps Wang Chan¡¯s power can completely bury your Wang family even without my help.¡±


    Wang Lu¡¯s expression was extremely ugly. She knew that the Guardian was right. Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune had escalated so quickly that it exceeded everyone¡¯s expectations.


    When her luck was still present, she couldn¡¯t sense it. Now that her luck had greatly weakened, Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune appeared.


    ¡°You have no other choice. Sign a contract with me and, using my power, restore your body. You can suppress Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune and return everything to normal. Otherwise, even if Wang Chan¡¯s power isn¡¯t enough to destroy the Wang family, I will help her¡­¡± The Guardian was like the devil. Her words were as tempting as the abyss.


    Wang Lu¡¯s expression was colored by different emotions. She was momentarily unable to make a decision.


    Suddenly, shouts came from the Wang family¡¯s courtyard. It seemed like there was a fire somewhere. The fire was very strong, and soon, thick smoke could be seen rising into the sky from the garden.


    ¡°What a potent power of misfortune. It took effect so quickly.¡± The Guardian looked at Wang Lu and continued, ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve never understood why you aren¡¯t willing to contract with me.¡±


    ¡°The Guardian contract is an equal contract. I won¡¯t affect your body or hinder your life. However, with my strength, you can do many things that you couldn¡¯t do in the past. The contract is only beneficial to you¡­¡±


    Wang Lu bit her lip and didn¡¯t answer. However, when she heard the various shouts coming from the Wang family¡¯s yard, her eyes gradually lost their firmness.


    The Guardian struck while the iron was hot and continued, ¡°Now, if you humans want to become true powerhouses, there aren¡¯t more than three paths. Use the Mythical Serum or fuse with a Guardian. The two are actually similar. They will make you half-human. If you want to keep your human body, contracting with me is undoubtedly the best choice.¡±


    ¡°No, there¡¯s another way,¡± said Wang Lu.


    ¡°Oh, what path?¡± the Guardian asked.


    ¡°Advance to the Mythical stage as a human,¡± Wang Lu said.


    The Guardian laughed. ¡°What a joke. You humans have innately flawed bodies. It¡¯s impossible for you to advance to the Mythical stage. Advancing to the Mythical stage as a human only exists in the imagination of humans. You don¡¯t really think that¡¯s possible, do you?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an imagination on my part, but I¡¯m sure it can be done. This is because humans have already advanced to the Mythical stage through their own abilities,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Are you talking about Human Sovereign? It¡¯s unknown if Human Sovereign is a pure human, but I¡¯m guessing that he definitely isn¡¯t. At most, he¡¯s half-human, half-Guardian like Ya.¡± As the Guardian walked towards Wang Lu, she said with a smile, ¡°Instead of having unrealistic dreams, why don¡¯t you spend some time thinking about how to resolve the problem in front of you? I¡¯m your only choice.¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Wang Lu wanted to say something, but she was interrupted by a voice.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s good to dream. What if it comes true?¡± A figure appeared out of thin air in front of Wang Lu, blocking the Guardian who was about to reach her.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ Why are you¡­¡± Although she could only see his back, Wang Lu still recognized him at a glance.


    ¡°I naturally have to settle the trouble I caused.¡± In the past, Zhou Wen might have been fooled by Wang Lu, but as Truth Listener¡¯s strength increased, Wang Lu¡¯s bluff in front of him had been betrayed by her strong inner voice.


    It was only because Zhou Wen had heard her thoughts and knew that her injuries couldn¡¯t be treated by external forces that he didn¡¯t immediately treat Wang Lu. He never expected such a thing to happen.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you can¡¯t handle the trouble here..¡± The Guardian looked at Zhou Wen and curled her lips. ¡°You probably don¡¯t know who I am, right?¡±

 Chapter 1327 - Outbreak of Misfortune

    ¡°Who are you? Is that important? In my opinion, it doesn¡¯t matter who you are,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°The ignorant are fearless. Do you think I¡¯m one of those trash Guardians sent over from the dimension? I¡¯m a Guardian who survived the Mythical era. Even if you can use the Mythical Serum to advance to the Terror grade, in my opinion, you¡¯re just a baby holding a big knife,¡± the Guardian said as she stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Are you done? If you¡¯re done, prepare to die,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned the Dragon King armor and Asura Saber.


    Zhou Wen knew a lot about Guardians. A truly powerful Guardian, even a Guardian who had survived the Mythical era, would still be suppressed by Earth¡¯s laws.


    Was Drought Demon Fairy impressive? All she could do was be trapped in the Fiend Tomb. Without a human contract, she was suppressed to the point of being unable to leave the Fiend Tomb.


    No matter how powerful this Guardian was in the past, the fact that she could stand here without a contract and not be suppressed meant that she couldn¡¯t be at the Calamity grade. At best, she was at the Terror grade.


    ¡°You are Deceit King?¡± Upon seeing the Dragon King armor and Asura Saber, the Guardian immediately recognized Zhou Wen and her expression changed uncontrollably.


    The name ¡®Deceit King¡¯ was known by all on Earth now. Even the Guardians knew this name.


    The Dragon King Armor and Asura Saber were like the Prisoned Dragon Armor and the Immortal Culling Sword of Human Sovereign. They were easily recognized.


    Of course, the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword was also easily recognized, but Zhou Wen usually didn¡¯t use it because it lacked offensive power.


    Deceit King had consecutively defeated Ya and Immortal¡ªboth top Terror-grade Guardians. Although this Guardian believed that she wasn¡¯t inferior to them, she didn¡¯t dare say that victory was a cinch.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the only thing that alarmed the Guardian. This was because Zhou Wen was clearly a pure human. He had easily broken through to the Terror grade without any external help.


    Only then did the Guardian realize that the person Wang Lu had mentioned wasn¡¯t Human Sovereign. It was likely Zhou Wen who was right in front of her.


    Can pure humans really advance to the Mythical stage by themselves? That¡¯s impossible. He must have used some external force. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t tell. Perhaps it¡¯s a Mythical Serum that doesn¡¯t have obvious characteristics of dimensional creatures, the Guardian thought.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to speak to her as he slashed with the Asura Saber.


    The Guardian¡¯s figure blinked, and many illusions appeared. In an instant, her figure was everywhere in the courtyard. It was impossible to tell which was real and which was fake.


    The phantoms from all directions attacked Zhou Wen. They had terrifying auras and powerful Essence Energy fluctuations. It was impossible to tell which attack was real and which attack was fake.


    It was naturally impossible for a single person to simultaneously defend against all attacks.


    ¡°I have the power of all things. You can¡¯t even tell which one is my real body, so how can you fight me?¡± The phantoms spoke at the same time¡ªeven their voices were the same.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he ignored all the attacks. The Asura Saber slashed at an empty spot. With a domineering stance, Transcendent Flying Immortal instantly split a fake mountain in half.


    The attacks that filled the sky landed on Zhou Wen, but they turned into bubbles and failed to injure him at all.


    Behind the rockery, the Guardian¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief as she retreated uncontrollably. In the middle of her forehead, a bloody gash was slowly spreading.


    She had only taken a few steps back when her leg hit a rock. Her body immediately split into two and she fell to the ground, her blood staining the grass beside her.


    Amongst Mythical creatures, even the transformation technique of the Six-Eared Macaque of the Four Dimitrios Monkeys couldn¡¯t fool Truth Listener, let alone the Guardian.


    Zhou Wen retracted the Asura Saber and Dragon King armor. Without looking at the corpse, he came in front of Wang Lu and asked, ¡°Is there really no other way to treat your injuries?¡±


    Wang Lu shook her head. ¡°No. The power of luck makes it very difficult for me to be injured, but once I¡¯m injured, I can only recover on my own. I can¡¯t undergo treatment. I¡¯ve tried using pill essences and healing powers before, but it was useless.¡±


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh. If not for her lending him the Companion Beast, Wang Lu wouldn¡¯t have been injured.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you help me now? We¡¯re even.¡± Wang Lu turned to look at the Wang family¡¯s smoking area and said anxiously, ¡°Now¡¯s not the time to talk about this. I have to think of a way to resolve Little Chan¡¯s bad luck¡­¡±


    ¡°Leave this to me. I¡¯ll take Wang Chan away for a period of time. When you recover, I¡¯ll send her back,¡± Zhou Wen said as he flashed away.


    ¡°How can you¡­¡± Wang Lu wanted to stop him, but Zhou Wen was already gone.


    ¡­


    After five years, Wang Chan had grown into a slender and elegant girl.


    At that moment, Wang Chan was in a panic. She could sense that the power of misfortune in her body was producing the effects. The commotion in the Wang family was closely related to her power of misfortune.


    ¡°Wang Chan, do you still recognize me?¡± Zhou Wen instant transmitted in front of Wang Chan and called out softly.


    ¡°Zhou Wen!¡± Wang Chan was first delighted when she saw Zhou Wen. She wanted to walk over, but she immediately retreated and said anxiously, ¡°Don¡¯t come over. Leave quickly. Don¡¯t approach me. It¡¯s dangerous.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I know something is wrong with you. Your sister asked me to come over to resolve the problem with you. Come with me.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Wang Chan.


    Wang Chan only hesitated for a moment before giving her hand to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen held Wang Chan¡¯s hand and used Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability to arrive on the moon.


    ¡°Stand beside me. Don¡¯t be too far away.¡± Zhou Wen used Human Sovereign¡¯s power. The powerful life force emitted by Human Sovereign¡¯s power allowed Wang Chan to survive on the moon despite the lack of oxygen.


    ¡°Is this the Moon?¡± Wang Chan looked around curiously. This place was different from what she had imagined.


    ¡°Yes, follow me.¡± Zhou Wen led Wang Chan towards Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s temple.


    Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune was too strong. It wasn¡¯t appropriate for Zhou Wen to take her anywhere, so he could only come up to the moon first, hoping that Lady Supreme Yin could take Wang Chan in for a while.


    As long as Wang Lu¡¯s injuries recovered and her luck powers were activated again, Wang Chan could return.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t manage to walk far before he suddenly tripped himself and fell to the ground with a plop.


    Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how he failed to respond to that momentary confusion.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you alright?¡± Wang Chan hurriedly came over to help Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen said that he was fine, Wang Chan slammed into his face because she wasn¡¯t used to the Moon¡¯s different gravitational strength.

 Chapter 1328 - Invincible Lucky Star

    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s physique was sufficiently strong, so his face was fine. Otherwise, if he was hit on the nose, he would probably tear up from the pain. He might even have a nosebleed.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Wang Chan apologized profusely, not daring to approach Zhou Wen again as she tried her best to maintain her distance.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Zhou Wen silently summoned his Luck Companion Beasts and wore them. He thought to himself, Luck and Misfortune are really very special abilities. Wang Chan¡¯s level clearly isn¡¯t high, but she can produce such a huge impact. Even I¡¯m affected by her. Perhaps luck can really help me dodge the fatal seventh shot.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen thought of the Companion Beast that Wang Lu had transferred to him. Previously, he hadn¡¯t had the mood to take a look because of Wang Lu, so he wasn¡¯t sure what Companion Beast it was.


    Invincible Lucky Star: Terror-grade (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Lucky Star


    Life Soul: Super Lucky Star


    Wheel of Destiny: Invincible Lucky Star


    Terror Form: Luck Descent


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Great Wheel of Fortune, Lucky Time, Lucky Hand.


    Companion Form: Soul


    Zhou Wen was stunned seeing the stats. They were just too terrifying. It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have top-notch Terror Companion Beasts that could evolve, but he really didn¡¯t have one that added luck.


    The key was that ordinary lucky pets¡ªin other words, their Life Providence¡ªadded luck. This thing actually added luck to every ability. It was simply an excellent-grade Companion Beast with the luck attribute.


    Just its Life Providence added 36 points of luck. With the augmentation of the Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and Terror transformation, Zhou Wen estimated that his luck would exceed 100.


    Even if it did not exceed 100, it must have reached the limit of his luck value.


    This isn¡¯t right. Wang Lu didn¡¯t even contract a Guardian and hasn¡¯t advanced to the Mythical stage. How did she obtain this Terror-grade Companion Beast? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    However, with a Companion Beast like Invincible Lucky Star¡ªwhich could almost be considered a divine artifact¡ªif he couldn¡¯t dodge the Calamity-grade bullets, he could basically give up on the strategy.


    Unless there was an even more overpowered dodging skill than Heavenly Robe, it was impossible to dodge the bullets.


    Zhou Wen looked at his phone as he walked. Wang Chan carefully followed behind him, not daring to get too close, afraid that her power of misfortune would affect him.


    Croak! A huge toad suddenly appeared, startling Wang Chan. She took a few steps back, stepped on Zhou Wen¡¯s foot, and bumped into him.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Wang Chan apologized profusely.


    ¡°Don¡¯t apologize to me in the future, understand? With my relationship with your sister, there¡¯s no need for you to apologize to me.¡± Zhou Wen felt pity for Wang Chan when he saw her like this.


    Living under such pressure all the time, one would either explode in despair and become an extremely evil person who didn¡¯t care about anything, or one would always have to bear the pressure and suffer mental problems.


    Over the years, it was already quite good that Wang Chan had remained unchanged.


    When Wang Chan heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she widened her eyes and asked in surprise, ¡°Could it be¡­ you¡¯re going to be my brother-in-law?¡±


    Zhou Wen nearly choked on his saliva. He took a deep breath and said, ¡°I mean, I have a good relationship with your sister. She has helped me a lot. You don¡¯t have to be polite with me.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen was just about to greet Chang¡¯e when she flicked out her tongue and swept Zhou Wen and Wang Chan over. She placed them on her back and headed for Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s temple.


    In next to no time, the two of them arrived before Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s temple.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, I¡¯m here to visit you.¡± Zhou Wen got off the toad¡¯s back and shouted into the temple.


    ¡°You call this visiting me? It¡¯s more like you want my life!¡± Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s angry voice came from inside.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, what do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen feigned ignorance.


    Lady Supreme Yin said coldly, ¡°You brought a natural Body of Bane to my Moon. Do you think that I¡¯m living too comfortably on the Moon and want the Moon to explode right now?¡±


    ¡°Lady Goddess, don¡¯t say that. She¡¯s just a little girl. She¡¯s not as powerful as you make her out to be. You are very resourceful. This little trouble of hers can easily be resolved by you,¡± Zhou Wen flattered, but his boot-licking skills were clearly lacking.


    Lady Supreme Yin laughed and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard on you. From the sound of it, you haven¡¯t flattered anyone before. This flattery is too fake. However, since you have said so, let her stay.¡±


    ¡°You are agreeable to it?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He never expected Lady Supreme Yin to be so affable.


    ¡°Why? You plan on taking her away?¡± Lady Supreme Yin said with a faint smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean that. I just think that her physique is a little special. Will she cause you trouble if she stays here? In fact, I have a golden apple that can change her Life Providence, so I was thinking of using your place to change it for her?¡± Zhou Wen said as he took out the golden apple.


    He had yet to use it. Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence wasn¡¯t very good. Even if he resolved the current situation, the same thing would happen again if Wang Lu was injured again.


    ¡°Change her Life Providence? Has your head been kicked by a donkey? Or did your head get clipped by a door when you were young? You want to change a natural Body of Bane that¡¯s impossibly rare?¡± Lady Supreme Yin said angrily.


    ¡°Although this thing is very rare, it only has disadvantages and no benefits. What¡¯s the point of keeping it?¡± Zhou Wen deliberately said so when he heard Lady Supreme Yin mention how Wang Chan¡¯s Body of Bane wasn¡¯t simple.


    Lady Supreme Yin said, ¡°You are really ignorant. Don¡¯t you know that extreme Yang gives birth to Yin and extreme Yin gives birth to Yang? A Body of Bane does not seem to have any benefits, but haven¡¯t you ever wondered why as the owner of a Body of Bane, she has never been affected? Is this normal?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just an ignorant mortal. Please enlighten me.¡± Zhou Wen was secretly delighted. He never expected to accidentally find someone who knew the ropes.


    If he could resolve Wang Chan¡¯s problem, he could provide an explanation when meeting Wang Lu.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finally said something pleasant.¡± Lady Supreme Yin pushed open the door and walked out. She sized up Wang Chan and said, ¡°In the division of dimensional creatures, there are no Mortal, Legendary, or Epic stages. There¡¯s only the Mythical stage. However, Mythical creatures are also divided into three levels. Terror, Calamity, and Apocalypse. These are the three levels of Mythical creatures. Your so-called Mythical creatures are only the nascent form of Mythical creatures.¡±


    ¡°I know all of that,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Since you know everything, why don¡¯t you do the talking.¡± Lady Supreme Yin rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°Please continue. I¡¯ll shut up.¡± Zhou Wen shut his mouth.


    ¡°But regardless of whether it¡¯s Terror, Calamity, or Apocalypse, do you know the source of these?¡± Lady Supreme Yin didn¡¯t want Zhou Wen to speak, but she still raised a question for him.


    Zhou Wen closed his mouth and shook his head.


    ¡°That is a bane. Only when humans encounter a bane will they be filled with terror. Only then will they realize how terrifying a calamity is. Only then will they fear the arrival of the apocalypse. In essence, a bane is actually the source of myths. Now, do you understand how precious the attribute of bane is?¡± said Lady Supreme Yin.

 Chapter 1329 - Invincible Dodge

    Chapter 1329: Invincible Dodge


    Translator: CKtalon


    This was also the first time Wang Chan had heard someone say that her Body of Bane was good. This was unprecedented. She widened her eyes as she looked at Lady Supreme Yin with an expression filled with anticipation and fear of disappointment.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, according to what you said, wouldn¡¯t Wang Chan, who has the Body of Bane, be very powerful? Then can she use the Body of Bane to advance to the Calamity or Apocalypse level in the future?¡± Zhou Wen asked on Wang Chan¡¯s behalf.


    Unexpectedly, Lady Supreme Yin rolled her eyes at him and said, ¡°Are you dreaming? I only said that the attribute of Bane is very precious, but I didn¡¯t say that one would definitely be very strong if they had a Bane physique. Not to mention the Calamity-grade, you humans can¡¯t even reach the Mythical¡­¡±


    Halfway through her sentence, Lady Supreme Yin glanced at Zhou Wen and suddenly paused. Then, she continued, ¡°Generally speaking, it¡¯s unlikely for humans to advance to the Mythical stage unless they obtain external help.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s put it this way. The attributes of Bane, Hope, Luck, and Lust are very precious and special. With these attributes, one will naturally be much stronger than ordinary people and have greater potential. However, how far one can go depends on one¡¯s cultivation,¡± explained Lady Supreme Yin.


    Wang Chan revealed a look of disappointment when she heard that.


    Since it was difficult to advance to the Mythical stage like the average person, and the power of the Bane Body would become stronger and stronger, resulting in an increasing effect on the people around her, it was useless no matter how strong this attribute of hers was.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, although the Bane attribute is very strong, it has a very bad influence on the people around you. Is there any way to resolve this?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to completely eliminate the effects. However, it¡¯s not difficult to control them slightly and not cause too much trouble,¡± said Lady Supreme Yin confidently.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Chan were overjoyed. Wang Chan knelt down and kowtowed to Lady Supreme Yin, but before she could do so, she was lifted up by an invisible force.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kowtow me. I still want to live a few more years.¡± Lady Supreme Yin turned to Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Take your golden apple and get lost as far as you can. Leave this young lady to me.¡±


    ¡°Wang Chan, are you willing to stay?¡± Zhou Wen first sought Wang Chan¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°I want to stay.¡± Wang Chan was very opinionated.


    Since Wang Chan was willing to stay, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. He stayed on the Moon for another day. Firstly, he wanted to see how Lady Supreme Yin planned on modifying Wang Chan. Secondly, he wanted to see if the Invincible Lucky Star was useful.


    Entering the game again, Zhou Wen summoned all the Luck Companion Beasts, including the Invincible Lucky Star. He wore whatever he could wear and had whatever he couldn¡¯t wear by his side to boost his courage.


    Once again, he saw the Metal Guards and the Golden Battle Gods. Just like before, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move at all. His Heavenly Robe danced as he dodged all the bullets.


    However, the real test had only just begun. When the Calamity-grade gunshot sounded, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart nearly jumped out of his chest.


    I dodged it¡­ Zhou Wen saw the Heavenly Robe move by itself. It yanked the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body to the side, dodging the Calamity-grade bullet.


    However, this did not prove anything. He had previously dodged the first two shots and was still killed in the end.


    Shot after shot¡ªall six consecutive shots missed. None of them hit the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body.


    The crucial seventh shot is finally here¡­ Can I dodge it? Zhou Wen was extremely nervous.


    Bang!


    The gunshot sounded again. Zhou Wen had already used all his means, but he couldn¡¯t see the trajectory of the seventh shot.


    However, after the gunshot, Zhou Wen saw a white halo appear around the blood-colored avatar. It was as though the blood-colored avatar was wearing a large hula hoop. It floated around the blood-colored avatar¡¯s chest, but it failed to injure it at all.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and was immediately alarmed. It wasn¡¯t a halo at all, but the seventh bullet. It spun around the blood-colored avatar at the speed of light, but it couldn¡¯t touch its body.


    This is the power of the Heavenly Robe augmented by the Invincible Lucky Star? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The seventh bullet refused to give up unless someone was killed. It kept flying at the speed of light, trying to approach the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body.


    However, every time the bullet tried to approach the blood-colored avatar, the Heavenly Robe would use its powers to yank Zhou Wen¡¯s body to the side. Since the bullet couldn¡¯t hit him, it could only chase after the blood-colored avatar. Therefore, it looked like a halo.


    Bang! Bang!


    The Calamity-grade gunshots sounded again, but they still failed to touch Zhou Wen. The bullets were dodged by the Heavenly Robe.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave as he stood there experimenting. He wanted to know how many times he could dodge the shots with the help of Invincible Lucky Star and other lucky equipment. He wanted to know how likely it was to achieve such an effect.


    The outcome made Zhou Wen even happier. After a second round of the seventh bullet, the Calamity-grade bullets still failed to hit the blood-colored avatar protected by the Heavenly Robe. The second round¡¯s seventh sure-kill bullet was also like the first round¡¯s sure-kill bullet. It constantly circled the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body, but it failed to injure the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen experimented again and again, but the results left him pleasantly surprised. He dodged the set of six bullets in a row. Up to now, not a single one of them could injure the blood-colored avatar. Instead, the blood-colored avatar seemed to have six additional halos around it.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed. The sure-kill bullets had been circling him, wanting his life. A single mistake could result in an irreversible outcome. This was a burdensome worry. No one knew if the bullets would penetrate the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body the very next second.


    With such a powerful dodging ability, it was not difficult to reach the Golden Palace. Even an ordinary person could complete the task.


    Unfortunately, there was no such thing as a reward for reaching the Golden Palace in-game. It was useless even if Zhou Wen arrived there.


    Seeing that he had nothing special to do with Wang Chan on the Moon and that there was no danger, Zhou Wen got up and returned to Earth.


    Now, he was completely confident that he could lead Hui Haifeng¡¯s men to enter the rankings, so there was no need to delay any longer.


    After returning to Earth, Zhou Wen first sent Wang Lu a message, telling her not to worry about Wang Chan. He also explained the general situation.


    Upon hearing that Wang Chan was fine and might even be able to stop the power of calamity, Wang Lu was also very happy. She even exhorted Zhou Wen to be careful. She was fine on her side and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to worry.


    Only then did Zhou Wen heave a sigh of relief, but he was thinking about something else.


    I¡¯m finally going to put an end to this! Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t very lucky for some reason.. After traveling for nearly 72 hours, he returned to Luoyang.


    2

 Chapter 1330 - : Federation Suicide Squad

    Chapter 1330: Federation Suicide Squad


    Translator: CKtalon


    Wei Yang and the other officers were a little anxious. They had been ordered to help Zhou Wen ascend the rankings, but ever since they arrived, they had only seen Zhou Wen once. It was no wonder they had such thoughts.


    When they knew that Zhou Wen had returned, the officers immediately came to see him.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, when are we leaving for Venus?¡± Wei Yang was the calmest among the officers, but he was the commander and had an obligation to speak on behalf of all the officers. His question was mostly asked on the behalf of those officers.


    ¡°Tomorrow.¡± Zhou Wen naturally hoped that it would be as soon as possible. After completing this matter, he had other things to do.


    With more and more powerful creatures appearing, he had to think of a way to quickly allow Slaughterer to undergo a Terror transformation. He felt uneasy if he didn¡¯t advance to the Terror grade.


    ¡°Tomorrow?¡± The officers were stunned.


    Although they hoped that Zhou Wen could complete the mission as soon as possible, they didn¡¯t have much time to research and practice if it was happening tomorrow.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, isn¡¯t tomorrow too rushed?¡± Wei Yang frowned.


    ¡°Not at all. Get ready. We¡¯ll set off at seven tomorrow morning. It won¡¯t affect breakfast.¡± Zhou Wen planned on eating breakfast after returning.


    Wei Yang and company misunderstood him, thinking that Zhou Wen was referring to them getting up early to have breakfast before going.


    Wei Yang and company looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°Mr. Zhou, how are we going to practice tonight?¡±


    ¡°Practice? What practice?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he asked Wei Yang in puzzlement.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to Venus tomorrow morning. Don¡¯t we need to make sure we can cooperate well?¡± Wei Yang¡¯s expressionless face revealed a rare trace of doubt.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for practice.¡± Zhou Wen could do it alone. Furthermore, his order in life would be the highest. The Calamity-grade bullets would only attack him and not Wei Yang and company. There was no point in practicing.


    ¡°Then how do you want us to prepare?¡± Wei Yang asked.


    ¡°Just make some preparations. Go back and take a shower and change into clean clothes. It¡¯s best if they have the presidential palace¡¯s emblem on them, so that it¡¯s easy to tell that you are from the presidential palace. That¡¯s all.¡± Zhou Wen recalled Hui Haifeng¡¯s suggestion from before, so he said to them, ¡°It¡¯s best if you put a flag on your back and write something like Federation Enlisted. It¡¯s easier to let people know who you are representing.


    ¡°We are all officers, at least colonels. How can there be any enlisted?¡± an officer said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that you have to be called Federation Enlisted. You can write a name like the Federation Suicide Squad¡­ Of course, this is just my suggestion.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said something else when he realized that the officers¡¯ gazes didn¡¯t look right.


    The name ¡®Suicide Squad¡¯ was too unlucky. No wonder the officers looked at him strangely.


    Zhou Wen ignored them and returned, leaving Wei Yang and company staring at each other.


    ¡°Commander, is this Zhou Wen reliable? He didn¡¯t make any plans or do any team building with us. How is he going to lead us? To send us to our deaths?¡± an officer said indignantly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What does he take us for? A suicide squad? He¡¯s clearly sending us to our deaths!¡± The officers didn¡¯t believe that they could enter the rankings without anyone at the Terror grade.


    Now, seeing how casual Zhou Wen was, they became even more distrustful.


    ¡°Follow what Mr. Zhou said. Go back and prepare. We¡¯ll gather tomorrow morning,¡± Wei Yang said expressionlessly.


    Although he had his doubts, he was still willing to believe Hui Haifeng¡¯s orders.


    The next morning, Wei Yang and the other soldiers had already gathered before seven o¡¯clock. When Zhou Wen arrived, they had already lined up and were ready to go.


    ¡°You really wrote it!¡± Zhou Wen realized that everyone was indeed carrying a flag on their backs. The flag was the Federation flag, but on the flag were the words ¡°Federation Suicide Squad¡± written in white paint. Clearly, they had been added later.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this your order, Mr. Zhou?¡± Wei Yang said.


    They had previously felt that this name was unlucky, but when they thought of how their chances of returning alive were slim if they followed Zhou Wen to take a shot at the rankings, they decided to use the name ¡®Suicide Squad.¡¯


    ¡°Very good. Let¡¯s set off then. It won¡¯t be too late to come back for breakfast after we get on the rankings.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen took the lead and walked towards the Cube.


    Only then did everyone understand that when Zhou Wen said that it wouldn¡¯t affect breakfast, he meant that he would eat when he returned.


    ¡°Damn, now we can only be hungry ghosts,¡± an officer muttered softly.


    Zhou Wen heard it, but he didn¡¯t process it. This was because Truth Listener provided him with too many voices. He wasn¡¯t interested in listening to what the officers were saying as he walked towards the Cube.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen and company left the Overseer Manor, An Sheng immediately secretly reported to An Tianzuo, ¡°Overseer, they have set off.¡±


    ¡°Do you think those people can really make it onto the rankings?¡± An Tianzuo stared in the direction Zhou Wen had left. He held a cup of tea but didn¡¯t drink it.


    ¡°Of course. With Young Master Wen around, they can definitely do it. Now it depends on what method they use,¡± An Sheng replied firmly.


    ¡°You sure are confident in him,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m confident, but I¡¯m especially confident. Young Master Wen¡¯s strength is obvious. If the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians can get on the rankings, Young Master Wen can definitely do it. Furthermore, his ranking will definitely be above them,¡± An Sheng said firmly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope so,¡± An Tianzuo said calmly.


    ¡­


    The Cube lit up again, immediately attracting the attention of many humans.


    ¡°Someone is going to challenge the Venusian dimensional zone again. Who will it be this time?¡± Everyone was nervous as they watched the live-stream in anticipation.


    When they saw more than ten officers carrying the Federation flag on their backs, everyone was stunned.


    ¡°Federation Suicide Squad¡­ They really¡­ weren¡¯t particular with this name¡­¡±


    ¡°Not only are they not particular, they are simply tired of living!¡±


    ¡°I recognize those officers. They should be from the president. Their appearance here means that the presidential palace finally wants to enter the rankings.¡±


    ¡°I know those officers as well. They are all elites from the president¡¯s side, but they should only be at the Mythical stage, right? With just these people, aren¡¯t they dreaming if they want to enter the rankings?¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s that youth in casual clothes? Why does he look familiar?¡± Finally, someone focused their attention on Zhou Wen, who wasn¡¯t wearing a military uniform.


    Zhou Wen was wearing the Heavenly Robe. Although it was wrapped tightly, it didn¡¯t cover his face. Soon, someone recognized him.


    ¡°That¡¯s Zhou Wen from Luoyang. He¡¯s an existence second only to the two war gods, An Tianzuo and Leng Zongzheng.¡±


    ¡°So the president hired Zhou Wen. But even if it¡¯s Zhou Wen, it¡¯s impossible for him to appear on the rankings with such Mythical officers? Isn¡¯t the president being too casual with his decision?¡±

 Chapter 1331 - Zhou Wen Clears the Level

    The Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians were also paying attention to this battle. They naturally weren¡¯t as shallow as the average person and believed that Hui Haifeng would not make such a silly mistake. However, they were very puzzled by Hui Haifeng¡¯s lineup.


    Although there weren¡¯t many Terror-grade entities in the presidential palace, they wouldn¡¯t use a group of Mythical entities to make up the numbers, right? This wasn¡¯t something that could be settled with numbers.


    Zhou Wen unhurriedly led Wei Yang and company to the platform of the metal hemispherical building and entered the dimensional zone by dripping his blood.


    ¡°Dripping a drop of blood to enter¡­ This is a situation where they won¡¯t rest until one of them is dead¡­ The presidential palace can¡¯t even find a spatial-type expert¡­ And they actually dared to challenge the rankings?¡±


    As people discussed, Zhou Wen had already given the order to kill the Metal Guard.


    Hui Haifeng was right. Wei Yang and company were indeed elites. Not only were they well-trained, but they were also very powerful. Due to the usage of the Mythical Serum, all of them had already advanced to the Mythical stage.


    In a one-on-one or even one-on-two situation, they were not at a disadvantage when fighting the Metal Guards.


    Zhou Wen saw them skillfully blocking the door. The Metal Guards that rushed out were quickly dispatched by them. Occasionally, one or two escaped, but they were killed by an officer who dealt the finishing blow.


    With a glance, Zhou Wen knew that they had worked hard to practice and study the dungeon. Furthermore, their research was quite on point.


    This method was still effective against the Metal Guards, but it was useless against the Golden Battle Gods, much less the Calamity-grade creature.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen felt that this speed was too slow. Ya¡¯er was still waiting for him to return for breakfast.


    Pulling out his Bamboo Blade, Zhou Wen used the saber as a sword and executed the Heart Defying Sword Art. With a slash, all the Metal Guards piled behind the door were killed.


    After six slashes, all the Metal Guards were killed. The alarm on one of the doors sounded.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, what should we do?¡± Wei Yang asked. The soldiers looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Wait.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen walked towards the door with the Bamboo Blade in hand.


    The Golden Battle God¡¯s tall and majestic body walked out and shot at Zhou Wen. The Terror-grade bullet was many times faster than the Metal Guards¡¯ bullets.


    Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade and ignored the bullets as he charged forward.


    Just as everyone thought that Zhou Wen had gone crazy, they saw that the bullet seemed to turn by itself as it avoided Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Without giving the Golden Battle God a chance to fire a second shot, Zhou Wen¡¯s Bamboo Blade had already stabbed into the Golden Battle God¡¯s body.


    With just one strike, it shattered the energy source in its body, causing the Golden Battle God to lose its strength and die. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to deliver a second strike.


    Zhou Wen knew the Golden Battle Gods too well. It was difficult for others to find the location of the energy source immediately, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to look for it to know where it was.


    Although they were displeased with Zhou Wen, the officers still exclaimed in admiration when they saw him kill a Golden Battle God so cleanly.


    ¡°That bullet just now acted a little strange!¡± Cave Era said with a frown.


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s a little strange? This is only a Terror-grade Golden Battle God. In front of a Calamity-grade bullet, this move will probably be useless,¡± Hermit said.


    The Golden Battle Gods came out one after another. Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade and quickly charged forward, killing all of them with one strike. It was so clean that it left one¡¯s heart cold. No Golden Battle God could withstand a single strike from him.


    Furthermore, the situation was rather strange. It was as though every Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet automatically circled around Zhou Wen.


    Of course, being able to kill them in one strike was mainly because Zhou Wen knew the Golden Battle Gods too well. Not only could he attack their weaknesses, but he could also destroy the energy source. If it were anyone else, even if they were stronger, it would be difficult for them to achieve Zhou Wen¡¯s effect.


    It seemed like an ordinary matter to Zhou Wen, but it shocked the Federation.


    Zhou Wen was wearing the Heavenly Robe, and no one discovered any traces of him fusing with a Guardian or using the Mythical Serum. He seemed to be a pure human.


    However, a pure human had killed six Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods in the blink of an eye with a single slash. Such a scene was unprecedented.


    Although Human Sovereign was known as the strongest human, no one knew if he was a pure human.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s performance was obvious to all.


    ¡°Professor Gu, Zhou Wen should be a pure human, right? Apart from Human Sovereign, I¡¯ve never heard of a pure human having such achievements. He killed six Golden Battle Gods using one strike each. Is such a level really something a pure human can achieve?¡± The host of the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau said excitedly with twinkling eyes.


    Professor Gu coughed lightly and explained, ¡°After using the Mythical Serum, there are obvious signs of mutation, but there are also some that aren¡¯t too obvious, especially the Mythical Serum created by humanoid dimensional creatures. After using it, almost no characteristics of the creatures are transferred over. Zhou Wen might also have used such Mythical Serums.¡±


    ¡°Is there no possibility of him being pure human?¡± The host asked, refusing to give up. Obviously, she was also a patriot and hoped for a high-level pure human powerhouse.


    ¡°Of course, the possibility still exists. However, based on the information humans currently have, it¡¯s very difficult. There has yet to be a successful precedent.¡± Professor Gu seemed to feel that there was no need to continue this topic. He continued, ¡°The information on the Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods has almost been grasped. Killing them isn¡¯t difficult for the top experts of the Federation. The next Calamity-grade bullet is Zhou Wen¡¯s greatest test.¡±


    After a pause, Professor Gu said, ¡°I have a guess. Although it¡¯s just a guess, I can¡¯t think of a greater possibility.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, what¡¯s your guess?¡± the host asked.


    Professor Gu said, ¡°The Mythical stage clearly doesn¡¯t play an important role in the Venusian dimensional zone, so why did they bring so many Mythical officers in? Furthermore, we¡¯ve already analyzed it in the past. This Calamity-grade creature can only kill one person at a time. Even the sure-kill seventh shot can¡¯t kill a second person.¡±


    ¡°You mean to say that these Mythical officers are actually there as meat shields? To ultimately achieve the goal of getting Zhou Wen on the rankings?¡± The host¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I¡¯m just stating the questions in my heart for everyone¡¯s reference,¡± Professor Gu said indifferently.


    However, Professor Gu¡¯s guess immediately gave many viewers a bad feeling. They felt that it was definitely the case. Otherwise, why would Zhou Wen bring so many useless Mythical officers? They were clearly about to be used as meat shields.


    Instantly, there was an outrage on the Internet. To actually use the lives of so many soldiers to get onto the rankings was clearly something that many people could not tolerate.


    Hui Haifeng instantly became the target of online criticism. He received even more attention than the day he became the Federation President.


    Even some officers had similar thoughts. They couldn¡¯t help but secretly retreat, not daring to get too close to Zhou Wen, afraid that he would use them as meat shields.


    Bang!


    The Calamity-grade gunshot finally sounded.

 Chapter 1332 - Bullet Halo

    Chapter 1332: Bullet Halo


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯ll go in first. You guys can enter later. At the very least, maintain a distance of more than 100 meters from me. Remember not to stand behind me. It¡¯s best if you enter through another door,¡± Zhou Wen said to Wei Yang and company before walking towards one of the doors. After taking a few steps, he heard a gunshot.


    The Calamity-grade bullet was too fast for people¡¯s vision. They only saw Zhou Wen¡¯s figure instant transmit a distance away, and behind him, a hole was punched through the metal wall.


    ¡°He dodged it? Instant transmission? This doesn¡¯t make sense!¡± The hearts of the spectators jumped as Xia Liuchuan said in surprise.


    It was no wonder Xia Liuchuan was surprised. Instant transmission was indeed very fast, but it took a certain amount of time to activate it. This time was enough to kill him countless times.


    Xia Xuanyue¡¯s tense nerves relaxed slightly. She thought for a moment and said, ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be instant transmission. It looks like he¡¯s very fast.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to dodge a Calamity-grade bullet with pure speed. No matter how fast a Terror-grade is, it¡¯s impossible to be faster than a Calamity-grade. Furthermore, the speed of a bullet is even considered fast among Calamity-grades,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°If it was instant transmission, there wouldn¡¯t be any traces left behind, but I saw the remnant traces,¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. From the current data, a Calamity-grade attribute has a crushing advantage over a Terror-grade¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan naturally trusted Xia Xuanyue because she had a very strong vision.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Xia family. Many large factions found it unbelievable that Zhou Wen had dodged a Calamity-grade bullet.


    ¡°Spatial ability?¡± Cave Era looked at Jiuyue.


    Jiuyue shook his head and said, ¡°No, instant transmission isn¡¯t that fast. He can¡¯t dodge a Calamity-grade bullet unless he can predict the bullet¡¯s arrival time. That¡¯s impossible. There¡¯s no pattern to the Calamity-grade bullet¡¯s timing.¡±


    ¡°Speed? That¡¯s unlikely, right?¡± Cave Era looked at the screen with a solemn expression.


    Such conversations kept repeating among the various factions. No one believed that Zhou Wen could dodge the Calamity-grade bullets with his speed.


    The various factions had Terror-grade existences that were known for their speed, but none of them were as fast as Calamity-grade existences. They weren¡¯t even close.


    Zhou Wen dodged the bullet and walked through the door.


    Wei Yang and company now knew why Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let them stand behind him. Wei Yang led them through another door and took another path.


    Indeed, with Zhou Wen attracting the attention of the Calamity-grade creature, no bullets attacked Wei Yang and company as they headed for the Golden Palace.


    Not long after Zhou Wen entered the tunnel, a second bullet shot over, but he still managed to dodge it.


    With Heavenly Robe¡¯s stats of over 100 Luck, Lucky Dodge was probably maxed out. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to move; Heavenly Robe would move his body to dodge the bullet.


    Various factions were observing carefully. With their focused attention, it was easier to come to a judgment. They were certain that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use instant transmission-type abilities. Instead, he dodged the bullet with pure speed.


    ¡°This is impossible¡­ How can he be so fast?¡± Cave Era couldn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had such speed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not speed,¡± Immortal who had been silent all this time suddenly said.


    Bang! Bang!


    Gunshots kept sounding as Zhou Wen dodged the bullets again and again. None of the bullets hit his body.


    ¡°Magical. It¡¯s really magical. This speed is probably comparable to the speed of light, right? It¡¯s a miracle that a human can reach this speed. Professor Gu, what do you think?¡± the host said excitedly.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s very fast. However, no matter how fast he is, he can¡¯t dodge the fatal seventh shot.¡± Professor Gu continued deconstructing the situation. ¡°It will definitely consume a lot of energy for a Terror-grade to burst out with the speed needed to dodge a Calamity-grade bullet. According to previous analyses, the seventh shot is a bullet that will never stop unless it kills. Therefore, it¡¯s impossible for Zhou Wen to dodge the seventh shot. From the looks of it, his existence is probably just to be bait. With Zhou Wen stalling for time, the other members of the suicide squad will have a chance of charging into the Golden Palace¡­¡±


    ¡°You mean to say that Zhou Wen will die under the seventh shot?¡± the host asked in disbelief.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any possibility of him surviving,¡± Professor Gu replied with certainty.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s wait and see if Zhou Wen will fall under the seventh shot. Regardless, it¡¯s already very impressive for him to reach this stage. For the glory of the Federation and humanity, they have sacrificed too much¡­¡± The host seemed to have a good impression of Zhou Wen.


    Upon hearing Professor Gu¡¯s analysis, most people found it reasonable, but those who truly understood Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for him to do such a thing. He wasn¡¯t that kind of person.


    However, many people were still worried for Zhou Wen. At the very least, he looked no different from a human. Compared to the Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association, they were more inclined to support Zhou Wen.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen represented the federal government. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that he represented humanity.


    Soon, Zhou Wen had dodged the first six shots. There was silence in front of the screens. Everyone held their breaths as they heard their hearts beating wildly.


    Bang!


    When the seventh gunshot rang out, many people couldn¡¯t help but tremble. There were even some soft-hearted girls who screamed and covered their faces, not daring to look at the result.


    ¡°This¡­ This¡­¡± Blood Shaman looked at the scene and his tongue was tied. He couldn¡¯t even say a word.


    The other members of the League of Guardians widened their eyes and contracted their pupils as though they had seen something unbelievable.


    The people who saw this scene all had the same expression. They opened their mouths and wanted to say something. However, they did not know what to say to express their current feelings.


    In the Venusian dimensional zone, the Heavenly Robe on Zhou Wen¡¯s body fluttered like an immortal¡¯s. A shiny halo surrounded him as it constantly flashed.


    ¡°What¡­ What¡¯s that¡­ Could it be that the bullet is revolving around Zhou Wen?¡± someone stammered.


    Although ordinary people could only see the halo and not the spinning bullet, as long as they were not stupid, they could roughly guess what it was.


    ¡°What the hell? The bullets are circling Zhou Wen, but they aren¡¯t hitting him. Could it be that he has some fling with the Calamity-grade creature on Venus?¡± Li Xuan widened his mouth in shock. It was enough to swallow a goose egg.


    ¡°How did he do it?¡± Xia Xuanyue was surprised and delighted.


    Professor Gu¡¯s eyes were about to pop. He did not speak for a long time.


    Different people had the same question.. However, no one was able to answer them.

 Chapter 1333 - The Unstoppable Bullets

    Chapter 1333: The Unstoppable Bullets


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen rushed towards the Golden Palace with the spinning bullet around him. The Calamity-grade bullets shot over again, but he dodged them. Before the seventh shot from the second round of bullets was fired, Zhou Wen had already rushed to the steps of the Golden Palace.


    However, he did not ascend the steps. Instead, he stopped in front of them.


    Zhou Wen had to thank Hui Haifeng for being here. Since he was working for him, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to go up himself, nor could he put his name on the rankings.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the Cube would directly determine their names when they entered the rankings, or if they could write their own names.


    It would be better if they could write it themselves. If the Cube determined who he was, Zhou Wen would have to be careful. He couldn¡¯t casually use his other identities to appear on the rankings in the future.


    Everyone saw Zhou Wen dodge one bullet after another and finally arrive in front of the Golden Palace. They were excited that Zhou Wen was finally about to reach the destination, but to their surprise, he stopped in front of the steps.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing? He could have gone up before the second round¡¯s seventh shot. Now he¡¯s stopped, won¡¯t he have to take the sure-kill bullet from the second round?¡± While everyone was puzzled, a gunshot rang out again.


    In the blink of an eye, another halo formed by a rapid spinning bullet appeared around Zhou Wen.


    ¡°F*ck¡­ That actually works¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan jumped up.


    No one had ever seen anyone do something like that before. There was no need for him to take the sure-kill bullet, but he chose to stop.


    ¡°You¡¯re too showy¡­ We¡¯re both children of our parents, but why are you so showy¡­¡±


    ¡°What is he trying to do? Who is he showing off to?¡±


    ¡°Is Zhou Wen related to that dimensional creature? Why didn¡¯t he kill him?¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen stood in front of the steps as his body danced with the Heavenly Robe. The halo around him shimmered, making him look like an immortal descending to the mortal world.


    He dodged one bullet after another. The third sure-kill bullet formed a halo around him again, but it still failed to hurt him. Everyone began to turn numb towards such a turn of events.


    Wei Yang and company were only at the Mythical stage after all, so they weren¡¯t as fast as the Terror grade. They only reached Zhou Wen when the sixth bullet halo formed around him.


    Wei Yang and company couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when they saw Zhou Wen dancing in front of the steps like an immortal with bullet halos around him.


    ¡°Go up,¡± Zhou Wen said to Wei Yang.


    Only then did the spectators know that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t going up himself because he was waiting for Wei Yang and company to do the honors.


    ¡°F*ck, what¡¯s the meaning of this? He doesn¡¯t want to go up, but he wants to wait for the others to do it¡­ Is he providing a fighting-substitute service?¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t being a fighter-substitute. It should be guaranteed placement, right?¡±


    ¡°Guaranteed placement into the rankings? You can even give that away?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s way too showy!¡±


    Everyone was rendered speechless as they looked at Zhou Wen, who was surrounded by the halo like a true immortal. Their expressions turned abnormally odd.


    This scene was a little different from before. The creatures that had attempted the rankings had tragic outcomes. Each died more miserable than the last. The Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians managed to get on the rankings after a thrilling attempt.


    However, when it came to Zhou Wen, it was like escorting a primary school student across the road. The scene became extremely discordant.


    2


    Wei Yang nodded at Zhou Wen before taking off the Federation flag on his back.


    The other members of the ¡®Suicide Squad¡¯ followed Wei Yang¡¯s example. They held their flags and followed Wei Yang up the steps.


    After Wei Yang and the others reached the top, they raised their flags and waved them¡ªa grand display of ten flags flying high.


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Hui Haifeng spat out the mouthful of water he had just drunk when he saw this scene.


    Previously, he had only been joking when he told Zhou Wen to take a flag up. He never expected Zhou Wen to really do it. However, this scene that should have made one¡¯s blood pump with zeal and ardor felt a little funny.


    After Wei Yang and company reached the top, the Calamity-grade creature immediately stopped firing. According to the program, a metal bead flew out of the door and landed in Wei Yang and company¡¯s hands. The Cube¡¯s screen switched back to the rankings.


    On the ranking board, another name appeared: Federation Suicide Squad.


    People didn¡¯t pay attention to what the name was. They were all looking at the end of the words ¡®Federation Suicide Squad.¡¯ They wanted to know how many stars they would obtain from this attempt.


    ¡°Three stars!¡± Everyone found three shining stars tailing the name. They immediately crushed the rankings of the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians, and were ranked third.


    ¡°Awesome!¡± Hui Haifeng felt rejuvenated. He originally felt that a single star was sufficient, but now that they had surpassed the Holy Spirit Association and the League of Guardians, he felt very relieved.


    Everyone knew the influence of the League of Guardians on the Federation. The presidential palace had little influence, so perhaps a ranking like this was a good start.


    Soon, the presidential palace arranged a press conference. Many reporters raised sharp questions on the spot.


    For example, was hiring Zhou Wen to get onto the rankings considered a humiliation to the federal government? After all, everyone knew that Zhou Wen was Luoyang¡¯s number three figure.


    However, after this battle, many people felt that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t just ranked third in Luoyang.


    Hui Haifeng wasn¡¯t angry at all. He looked at them and answered the question, ¡°This question is very silly. Could it be that Zhou Wen isn¡¯t human? Isn¡¯t he a member of the Federation? As a member of the Federation, is it wrong to make contributions to the Federation?¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, is Zhou Wen a pure human?¡±


    ¡°Mr. President, why were those bullets revolving around Zhou Wen?¡±


    ¡°What kind of mystical ability does Zhou Wen have¡­¡±


    ¡­


    While Hui Haifeng was holding a press conference, Zhou Wen was very vexed. The six bullets kept revolving around him. Even after leaving the Venusian dimensional zone, the bullets didn¡¯t stop attacking him.


    In the past, as long as he exited the game, the bullets would naturally disappear. In reality, it was obviously different. These bullets would not disappear into thin air.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s plan to have breakfast was ruined. He could only think of a way to deal with the six bullets around him. Otherwise, he would have to keep wearing the Heavenly Robe and the Luck equipment.


    He definitely had to return the Invincible Lucky Star¡ªhe couldn¡¯t keep wearing it.


    He tried all kinds of methods¡ªeven to the point of walking by the side of a mountain and letting the bullets hit the mountain, but it was useless.


    The Calamity-grade bullets seemed to be able to penetrate everything. Nothing could stop them. They would not stop until they killed their target.


    The only solution was apparently to find a scapegoat and use their life to take the bullet.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred. Wait¡­ This might not be a bad thing¡­ These Calamity-grade bullets will constantly revolve around me. Viewing this from another angle, they are equivalent to a weapon of mine¡­ Six Calamity-grade bullets¡­


    2


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, his face almost bloomed with joy.

 Chapter 1334 - Returning to Settle Scores

    Chapter 1334: Returning to Settle Scores


    Translator: CKtalon


    These are six sure-kill bullets. Even the Calamity-grade Dragon Turtle couldn¡¯t withstand them. If I can find a Calamity-grade creature¡­ The premise is that if it can¡¯t kill me, all I need to do is rush up and hug it. The six bullets should be enough to kill a Calamity, right? Zhou Wen thought as he took out his phone and entered the dungeon.


    However, to his disappointment, there were no bullets surrounding the blood-colored avatar.


    In that case, I can only search for Calamity-grade creatures in reality. Zhou Wen immediately felt that the risk factor was too high.


    Heavenly Robe¡¯s Lucky Dodge was indeed amazing, but there was a limit to it. Single-target attacks like bullets were fine, and they might even be very effective against the rain of arrows that covered a wide range.


    However, if he encountered an AOE flaming or icy power, there was no room for him to dodge. No matter how high his Lucky Dodge was, it was impossible for him to dodge those attacks.


    With this in mind, there were fewer places he could go. The few known Calamity-grade creatures were not easy to approach.


    It¡¯s best if I don¡¯t go to Chess Mountain. Drought Demon Fairy couldn¡¯t leave the Fiend Tomb and was only frightened by my words. If I really rush up, I won¡¯t be able to hide once she releases her Heavenly Fire¡­ Zhou Wen thought about it and felt that no matter which Calamity-grade he provoked in reality, it would be very dangerous.


    After all, Calamity-grades had their own Calamity Zones, and only a few of them attacked individually.


    Is there no Calamity-grade creature like the Dragon Turtle? Zhou Wen searched through his memories, hoping to find a suitable target.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen thought of a place¡ªthe Forbidden City he had previously been to.


    Now, the owner of the Forbidden City was likely the one inside the log. From what Zhou Wen knew, she had the power of lightning and liked to use lightning for smiting.


    That attack seemed dodgeable. With Zhou Wen¡¯s lucky equipment and Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodging abilities, he should be able to dodge it.


    I nearly died last time. It¡¯s time to settle this score. Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn¡¯t dare immediately head to Forbidden City.


    After returning to the Overseer Manor, Zhou Wen went to find the antelope.


    This guy was still lazy all day. Other than eating and sleeping, he did nothing else.


    Bullets surrounded Zhou Wen. When he entered, the wall near the door instantly shattered. The antelope looked up at him and looked at the bullets in surprise.


    ¡°Ahem, Brother Antelope, have you been feeling better recently? Do you want me to buy you some supplements?¡± Zhou Wen said with a light cough.


    ¡°I can¡¯t deal with the bullets around you. Find someone else.¡± The antelope lazily closed its eyes again.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not what I meant. I just want to ask you. Look at my equipment. Can I dodge the lightning from the fellow in Forbidden City?¡± Zhou Wen knew that the antelope knew a lot about that fellow. For safety¡¯s sake, he decided to consult it.


    ¡°The Heavenly Robe can indeed dodge a Calamity-grade attack with high Luck, but it¡¯s only limited to attacks that can be dodged. It¡¯s useless against large-scale indiscriminate attacks¡­¡± The antelope seriously looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s equipment and the six bullets before continuing, ¡°The one from Forbidden City doesn¡¯t just produce single-target attacks.¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling somewhat disappointed, he heard the antelope say: ¡°But it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t stand a chance. If your plan is good, your six bullets might really make her suffer.¡±


    ¡°What do you plan on doing?¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. The antelope seemed to be putting way too much effort into this matter, so he stared at it warily.


    The antelope chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m not afraid to tell you the truth. My injuries are too serious. I nearly lost my life back on Mount Laojun. Although I¡¯ve recovered a little, the recovery process is too slow. Furthermore, without external help, it¡¯s very difficult for me to fully recover. There are many good things in Forbidden City, and a few of them are of great help to my injuries. If you cooperate with me, how about we split the items obtained from Forbidden City equally?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by even? I¡¯m taking the risk and I have to fight her. All you need to do is speak theory and you want 50% of the spoils?¡± Zhou Wen naturally disagreed.


    ¡°Without me, there¡¯s no chance of getting close to her. I¡¯m providing key technology. As an investor providing the technology, 50% isn¡¯t much,¡± the antelope said with a smile. ¡°If you¡¯re not afraid of death, you can try doing it yourself.¡±


    ¡°Tell me about the way to safely approach her?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely impossible to fight her head-on. She can activate the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. When the time comes, you probably won¡¯t even see her, let alone get close to her. It¡¯s even a question if you can escape from the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.¡± The antelope lowered its voice and said, ¡°The only way is to ambush her and use the power of the six bullets to finish her off when she¡¯s unprepared.¡±


    ¡°Are you crazy? Sneak an attack on a Calamity-grade? Do you think it¡¯s possible to do so undiscovered?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that it was as simple as the antelope said.


    ¡°You definitely can¡¯t do it yourself. You need my help, so it¡¯s really not much for me to take 50%,¡± the antelope said.


    ¡°What good things are in Forbidden City?¡± Zhou Wen wondered if he should take the risk.


    ¡°There are plenty. After Starlady Polestar returns to the Forbidden City, many hidden dimensional zones there will open¡­¡± The antelope¡¯s saliva flew as it recounted what good things were inside.


    Zhou Wen listened for a while and was really tempted.


    ¡°Alright, fifty-fifty. However, you have to tell me the complete plan first. I¡¯ll decide if I want to go. If I do, I¡¯ll definitely give you fifty percent.¡± Zhou Wen ultimately failed to resist the temptation.


    The antelope was very straightforward as it told Zhou Wen its plan in detail.


    ¡­


    The weather was terrible during this season in the capital. It was very dry, and there were dust storms. When the wind blew, one¡¯s face would feel itchy because there was too much sand in the air.


    Most people were unwilling to go out at this time. Even the shops by the roadside would mostly be closed, and the pedestrians would be in a hurry.


    However, there was a blonde girl who looked to be twelve or thirteen years old on the street. Her body was abnormally clean as she slowly sauntered. As she walked, she looked around as if she was looking for something.


    The girl was very beautiful. No matter how one looked at her, one could not find a single flaw. She was so perfect that she did not seem like a human. Instead, she looked like a work of art.


    ¡°Little girl, the sandstorm outside is strong. Come in and have a cup of milk tea to avoid the wind.¡± The owner of a milk tea shop seemed to have noticed the blonde girl very early on. When she walked past his shop, he opened the door against the wind and greeted her.


    ¡°Ahem, Brother Antelope, have you been feeling better recently? Do you want me to buy you some supplements?¡± Zhou Wen said with a light cough.


    1

 Chapter 1335 - Sweetie

    ¡°Young lady, what would you like to drink? The most famous thing in my shop is stockings milk tea¡­ Of course, the pearl milk tea here is also very good¡­¡± The boss offered with a smile.


    ¡°Can I have both?¡± The blonde girl looked at the beautiful pictures on the brochure and asked expectantly.


    ¡°Of course, let¡¯s get you a cup of my best stockings milk tea first.¡± The smile on the boss¡¯s face deepened as he began to make the milk tea.


    Soon, the boss brought a cup of milk tea to the blonde girl and placed it on the table. ¡°Try it. I guarantee you that you won¡¯t be disappointed. You definitely won¡¯t be able to drink a second cup of milk tea that¡¯s this smooth in the capital.¡±


    The blonde girl took a sip of the milk tea and closed her eyes with a blissful expression.


    ¡°Is it delicious?¡± the boss asked.


    ¡°Yes, yes, it¡¯s really delicious.¡± The blond girl took one sip after another and quickly finished the cup of milk tea. She then looked at the shop owner and asked, ¡°You just said that there¡¯s also pearl milk tea. Is it as delicious as this?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll know once you try it.¡± The boss smiled and made a cup of pearl milk tea for the blonde girl.


    ¡°This tastes good too!¡± The blonde girl held the cup, her eyes almost melting from happiness.


    Soon, the girl finished another cup of milk tea.


    ¡°Do you want to drink something else?¡± The boss came over and asked.


    ¡°Thank you, but there¡¯s no need. I should go,¡± the blonde girl said as she walked out.


    ¡°Wait, you haven¡¯t paid the bill yet?¡± The boss quickly stopped the blonde girl.


    ¡°Bill? What¡¯s that?¡± The girl looked at the milk tea shop owner in confusion.


    Sweetie genuinely didn¡¯t know what money was. The last time she came to Earth was a long time ago. Moreover, at that time, someone took care of her, and Sweetie had never tried to use money.


    ¡°Don¡¯t play dumb with me.¡± The boss¡¯s expression changed immediately. The kind look from before disappeared and was replaced with a fierce look. He reached out to grab Sweetie¡¯s arm and said fiercely, ¡°How dare you drink milk tea when you are penniless? You better¡­¡±


    The boss¡¯s palm touched Sweetie¡¯s arm, and his voice came to an abrupt halt. A golden light lit up at his fingertips. The golden light instantly spread to his entire body and turned him into gold.


    It was real gold that even shone with a golden light. It was like a 24K pure gold statue. It still maintained a fierce expression while reaching out to grab Sweetie.


    Sweetie looked at the boss who had turned into a golden statue. She sighed and shook her head, then walked out of the shop.


    Soon, a customer came into the milk tea shop and was shocked to see the golden statue.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er, Chick, and the antelope to the capital. As he walked, he browsed the news on the Internet.


    He originally wanted to see the recent situation in Forbidden City. He wanted to know if humans had already explored the interior. It would be best if he could obtain information about the interior of Forbidden City.


    However, he didn¡¯t find any information about the Forbidden City. Instead, he saw many media headlines reporting about golden statues.


    Zhou Wen took a casual look and realized that there were suddenly many golden statues in the capital. These golden people looked identical to the real people in real life, and the gold was pure gold.


    However, according to the investigation of the capital¡¯s police station, every golden statue was built using real people as the template, and those who looked identical to the golden statue had all gone missing.


    Everyone was discussing this matter. Some people suspected that a powerful dimensional creature had entered the capital and turned those people into golden statues.


    Some people said that this was a prank. Some even said that this was a sign that a Calamity-grade creature was about to appear.


    In any case, there were all kinds of things being said, causing everyone in the capital to be in a panic. Many people did not dare to go out, afraid that they would also turn into golden statues.


    No wonder there are so few people on the streets in the capital. So that¡¯s why. Zhou Wen came to a realization. He had previously found it odd that the capital looked much more desolate than before.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen thought that after Xia Jiuhuang died, the Xia family declined, which led to the capital¡¯s decline. It turned out that it was caused by the golden statues.


    ¡°Antelope, what do you think of these golden statues?¡± Zhou Wen read the news about the golden statues to the antelope.


    After the antelope heard that, it frowned and pondered. ¡°Although turning a person into gold isn¡¯t a very powerful ability, it¡¯s still a very rare ability. If a creature really has such an ability, it¡¯s probably at the Mythical stage or above. The possibility of it being at the Terror grade is higher.¡±


    ¡°Since it¡¯s possible to be above the Mythical stage, why is the possibility of being at the Terror grade higher? Can¡¯t it be at the Calamity grade?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°If it¡¯s a Calamity-grade, it wouldn¡¯t be just these few people turning into gold. Besides, unless a Calamity-grade has nothing better to do, why would they run around turning ordinary people into gold?¡± the antelope said.


    Zhou Wen thought about it and realized that it made sense. However, this had nothing to do with them. Their destination was Forbidden City and they wouldn¡¯t stay in the capital for long. Their luck was unlikely to be so unlucky to encounter the monster that could turn people into gold.


    ¡­


    As Sweetie walked, she sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s aura. After arriving on Earth, she first went to Sweetie¡¯s Hut before heading to the capital.


    As Yana had sent information on Zhou Wen to Sweetie before she died, she could sense Zhou Wen¡¯s aura and knew that he was approaching that direction. Therefore, she planned on waiting for him.


    Sweetie had only wanted to wait quietly for Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival, but she never expected humans to have declined to such a state. Every human who touched her turned into a golden statue without exception.


    In fact, it was not Sweetie who intentionally turned them into golden statues. It was just an additional power that was automatically generated from her body. As long as it was a creature with evil intentions or a sinful person, they would turn into golden statues when they touched her.


    If it was a kind-hearted person, there wouldn¡¯t be any problems if they touched her. However, up until now, everyone who touched Sweetie had turned into gold.


    Has humanity fallen to such a state? I can¡¯t even find a kind person. It¡¯s no wonder that bad person killed Yana. He must be a super bad person. Sweetie had already sensed Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival and walked towards him.


    From afar, she saw Zhou Wen carrying Ya¡¯er and walking down the street with the antelope and bird. Sweetie walked towards him.


    Such a baddie will definitely turn into gold the moment he touches me. It can be considered revenge for Yana, Sweetie thought as she deliberately walked towards Zhou Wen.


    When Zhou Wen saw Sweetie, he couldn¡¯t help but take a few more looks. The blonde girl was just too beautiful. She was like a doll, one that looked flawlessly beautiful.


    When Sweetie brushed past Zhou Wen, she seemed to accidentally slip. She staggered and fell towards Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1336 - Entering the Forbidden City Again

    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen dodged to the side. Without looking to see if Sweetie had fallen, he turned around and instant transmitted.


    Do you think I¡¯m a fool? I¡¯ve always been in my Terror form. Ordinary people can¡¯t see me at all. Besides, there are Calamity-grade bullets spinning around me. Not only can this girl see me, but she can even pass through the bullets and fall towards me. How can such a person slip? Are you kidding me? Zhou Wen carried Ya¡¯er and instant transmitted away with Chick on his shoulder.


    The antelope wasn¡¯t slow either. It ran immediately, so fast that its shadow couldn¡¯t be seen. It was in no way slower than Zhou Wen¡¯s instant transmission.


    The two of them unanimously ran in the same direction, towards Forbidden City.


    Clearly, they all believed that Sweetie¡¯s strength was extremely terrifying. If they were to try to escape normally, there was a high chance they wouldn¡¯t make it. If they fled to the Forbidden City, they might be able to pit the enemy against another and obtain a chance to catch their breath.


    Sweetie was still in a daze. She thought that a normal person would definitely help her up, but in her eyes, something normal was not normal at all.


    Normal people couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen, much less pass through the bullet halo. To Sweetie, this couldn¡¯t be any more normal.


    Bam! Sweetie fell to the ground and watched in a daze as Zhou Wen and the antelope vanished. After a while, she got up hatefully. He¡¯s indeed a bad person. He didn¡¯t even help me up.


    This made Sweetie even more determined to avenge Yana. After sensing Zhou Wen¡¯s location, Sweetie chased after him.


    When Zhou Wen reached Forbidden City with instant transmission, he realized that the antelope had already arrived. It was even faster than him.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t chase after us?¡± Zhou Wen asked when he saw the antelope standing outside Forbidden City without entering. It didn¡¯t look flustered.


    ¡°Probably not. I didn¡¯t sense her following us,¡± the antelope said firmly. Clearly, it was very confident in its senses.


    ¡°Could that girl be the culprit who has turned humans into gold?¡± Zhou Wen guessed.


    ¡°Maybe. Anyway, she¡¯s not simple. Even I can¡¯t see through her. She¡¯s definitely at the Calamity grade.¡± The antelope looked around but didn¡¯t find any traces of Sweetie.


    ¡°Let¡¯s enter the city now. Even if she catches up, she will suffer limitations inside,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards the entrance of Forbidden City.


    ¡°Don¡¯t take the main entrance. Follow me.¡± The antelope stopped Zhou Wen and headed in another direction along the city walls.


    They walked in front while Sweetie followed not far behind them. However, Zhou Wen and the antelope didn¡¯t see her. It was as though she was invisible.


    What are the two of them sneaking around for? Sweetie walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side. She originally wanted to push him and turn him into gold, but when she saw the two of them sneaking around, her curiosity was piqued. She retracted her hand.


    Sweetie squatted by the side and watched the antelope and Zhou Wen crawl through a dog hole. She thought to herself, What are they trying to do?


    Zhou Wen had tried his best to be careful when he crawled in, but the dog hole was just too small. A portion of the wall¡¯s bricks shattered as a result of the bullets around him.


    Fortunately, after they crawled in, it was an empty courtyard. Other than some plants, there were no other living creatures.


    That blonde girl shouldn¡¯t have caught up. Zhou Wen lay prone in the grass and used Truth Listener to listen. Having not discovered any traces of the blonde girl in the vicinity, he felt slightly relieved.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that Sweetie was crouched beside him. She was less than a foot away from him and could reach out to touch his hair.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like she was coming for us. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have given up so easily.¡± The antelope lay in the grass and looked around. It didn¡¯t notice Sweetie and spat on the ground. It cursed, ¡°Nothing good comes from following you out.¡±


    Sweetie crouched there and listened in on their conversation with great interest.


    ¡°How do you know that the girl was coming for me? Perhaps she was coming for you,¡± Zhou Wen said with a pout.


    ¡°Pui! I haven¡¯t been out and about for millennia, but the moment I did, I encountered you, an unlucky piece of trash. How could I possibly have the opportunity to offend such a powerful enemy?¡± The antelope said in a very displeased manner.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about that for now. After all, she didn¡¯t chase after us. Let¡¯s stick to the plan and deal with Starlady Polestar first,¡± Zhou Wen suggested.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s act according to the plan. We mustn¡¯t make any mistakes. Otherwise, both of us will suffer greatly. The current Starlady Polestar is nothing like last time when she just freed herself,¡± the antelope exhorted again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know what to do.¡± Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan his surroundings.


    Truth Listener received too much sound information. Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t analyze what all the sounds were, but he could accurately pinpoint a portion of the sounds he wanted to hear. It was much better than before.


    Soon, Zhou Wen heard everything around him.


    Forbidden City was indeed very different from before. Although its layout still followed the Eight-Arm Nezha¡¯s setup, there were many independent dimensional zones in the city now.


    The situation was roughly similar to Dragon Gate Grotto. They were both large dimensional zones that contained many smaller dimensional zones.


    Thankfully, Truth Listener¡¯s strength had improved greatly. Otherwise, Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hear the situation outside the courtyard because it was a dimensional zone.


    ¡°Strange, what is this place? There¡¯s not a single dimensional creature. Why is this area only a small independent dimensional zone?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he glanced at the dog hole they had crawled through and continued, ¡°Furthermore, why would a dog hole exist in Forbidden City, which has already transformed into a dimensional zone?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be surprised. The dog hole was a part of Forbidden City, so of course it can exist. As for this place, you should have seen the map of Forbidden City before, right? Don¡¯t you know that this is the legendary Cold Palace?¡± the antelope said.


    Cold Palace! Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    Of course, he had heard of the Cold Palace. It was the place where the emperor banished concubines who had committed crimes. However, it was empty here and there were no concubines.


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for the fact that the Cold Palace is isolated from other areas, we would have long been discovered by Starlady Polestar after causing such a huge commotion here. This is one of the few places where Starlady Polestar won¡¯t pay attention to. However, we have to move quickly. If she has a sudden impulse to look over here, we¡¯ll be in trouble,¡± the antelope said as it slammed its head into the door of the Cold Palace. After shattering the door, it ran out.


    The dimensional creatures outside were immediately attracted by it and chased after the antelope.


    As per the agreement, Zhou Wen waited for the antelope to lure the dimensional creatures away and cause chaos before sneaking in another direction.


    Sweetie looked in the direction the antelope left in, then at Zhou Wen, before walking towards him.

 Chapter 1337 - Successfully Completed the Plan

    Chapter 1337: Successfully Completed the Plan


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Starlady Polestar, is this how you treat your old friend and savior?¡± the antelope shouted as it ran.


    From time to time, it would stomp at the dimensional creatures blocking the way, shattering the soldiers in Star Armor. It looked very impressive.


    However, there were just too many soldiers in Forbidden City. The ones killed by the antelope were only a drop in the ocean. Soldiers wearing all kinds of Star Armor constantly surged over, and more and more of them appeared.


    Those soldiers were quite strange. When there were only one or two soldiers, they looked quite ordinary and did not have much combat strength. However, as more soldiers gathered, each soldier¡¯s combat strength became stronger and stronger, seemingly limitless.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you just stay on Mount Laojun to await death? Why did you come here?¡± Starlady Polestar¡¯s voice came from the Hall of Supreme Harmony.


    ¡°Pui, pui, pui. I¡¯m still in my prime. It won¡¯t be a problem for me to live for another thousand lifetimes. Even if you die a hundred times, I still won¡¯t be dead,¡± said the antelope as it spat.


    ¡°Since you are speaking, it means that you have already lost your bet with him. What¡¯s the use of living for so long? You might as well die. If I were you, I would just kill myself to avoid making a fool of myself,¡± said Starlady Polestar coldly.


    Starlady Polestar seemed to hit the antelope¡¯s sore spot. The antelope immediately flew into a rage out of humiliation. ¡°That¡¯s because I think there¡¯s no point in winning. I deliberately let him win once. Otherwise, how could I lose? Besides, what has this got to do with you? Since when was it your turn to spout nonsense? You¡¯d better mind your own business. Open your eyes wide and take a good look into the future to prevent yourself from being deceived again.¡±


    ¡°Say that again?¡± Starlady Polestar also seemed infuriated.


    ¡°I¡¯m advising caution. Don¡¯t be deceived by others again. Is that wrong? This is for your own good. I don¡¯t want you to be deceived again. For the dignified Starlady Polestar to be abandoned by someone and to lead a depressing life worse than death, that¡¯s just too sad. Even a bystander like me can¡¯t stand watching¡­¡± Not only did the antelope repeat those words, it added more.


    Boom! Boom!


    Purple lightning descended from the sky and struck the antelope.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Little Star, are you serious?¡± The antelope jumped and dodged the lightning strikes again and again in a sorry state. As it jumped, it shouted, ¡°Little Star, no matter what, I¡¯m your savior. Without me, you would still be buried and eating dirt. Now that you¡¯ve grown capable, you actually dare to smite me with Firmament Lightning. Do you want me to spank your butt¡­¡±


    Boom!


    The lightning exploded like a bolt from the blue. Purple lightning descended from the sky as though a sea of lightning was pouring down¡ªit would not stop until it diced the antelope into pieces.


    ¡°I came to visit you out of goodwill, but you¡¯re actually so heartless. If I knew this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten that punk to carry that bag of sh*t over¡­¡± The antelope kept spewing all sorts of vulgarities.


    With a clang, the door of the Hall of Supreme Harmony was smashed open. A piece of charred wood tore out and stood erect on the roof like a lightning rod.


    After the charred wood appeared, the entire sky above Forbidden City emitted purple light. Clouds gathered and the stars in the sky emitted a brilliance which overlapped and descended from the sky, illuminating the entire Forbidden City.


    Now, it was no longer just lightning that descended, but the brilliance of thousands of stars. They were like countless crisscrossing beams of light that sliced at the antelope.


    ¡°Little Star, do you really want my life!?¡± The antelope cried out as it moved rapidly like a phantom. It used the buildings in Forbidden City to avoid the terrifying starlight assault.


    The buildings that were originally protected by the dimensional zone¡¯s nomological powers¡ªthus making them virtually indestructible¡ªwere easily penetrated by the starlight. Soon, the starlight struck the antelope, causing it to scream.


    Zhou Wen followed the agreement with the antelope and constantly changed his location and route. He traveled unobstructed amidst the starlight array and quickly sneaked to the Hall of Supreme Harmony¡¯s vicinity.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately take action. He hid nearby and waited for the opportunity the antelope mentioned.


    Sweetie walked over with Zhou Wen. The starlight failed to injure her at all. It was as though the starlight¡ªlike Zhou Wen¡ªfailed to discover her.


    There was another explosion in the sky. The stars shifted and the stars in the sky changed. One of the purple stars was like the core of the world. It was surrounded by the other stars and shone with strange starlight.


    Upon seeing the purple star appear, looking identical to the antelope¡¯s description, Zhou Wen no longer hesitated. He instant transmitted in front of the charred wood and hugged it.


    Zhou Wen was very familiar with this log. Back then, he had carried it all the way to Forbidden City. However, although the current log¡¯s size and appearance were the same as before, its texture was completely different.


    It still looked charred, but it was as hard and smooth as jade. It was also abnormally cold.


    Perhaps it was because all her attention was on the antelope, or because she was at a critical moment controlling the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Starlady Polestar, who was inside the charred wood, failed to react in time and was hugged by Zhou Wen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The six Calamity-grade bullets that surrounded Zhou Wen like a stellar ring slammed into the charred wood, producing six bullet holes.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhou Wen immediately heard a woman¡¯s tragic cry from the charred wood. The Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array in the sky immediately collapsed.


    ¡°It¡¯s done!¡± Zhou Wen was delighted when the six Calamity Bullets didn¡¯t fly out again.


    ¡°Get out of the way.¡± The antelope descended from the sky and kicked the charred wood, toppling it from the roof. Then, it opened its mouth and spat out a yellow paper talisman, sticking it on the charred wood.


    Zhou Wen had already retreated to the side and sized up the charred wood that had been pasted with a yellow paper talisman by the antelope. He saw the charred wood constantly tremble violently as though it would shatter at any moment.


    He couldn¡¯t help but feel shocked. Starlady Polestar remained alive despite being hit by six sure-kill bullets. Her strength was unimaginably terrifying for her to still resist at this stage.


    Now, Zhou Wen was very glad that he hadn¡¯t come alone to settle the score with her. Otherwise, he might not have returned alive today.


    The yellow paper talisman on the charred wood kept flickering with golden light as though it was suppressing Starlady Polestar.


    However, seeing the charred wood shake so violently, Zhou Wen asked worriedly, ¡°Is there a problem with your yellow paper talisman?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I guarantee that nothing can go wrong with my stuff. She definitely won¡¯t be able to rush out in at least 24 hours. Don¡¯t write this yellow paper talisman off just because it doesn¡¯t look remarkable. It has a great origin. As long as it¡¯s pasted on, unless someone helps her tear it off, it¡¯s impossible for anyone to rush out in a short period of time. Besides, she suffered six bullets from you. She must be seriously injured. Just follow me to pick up the treasures in peace,¡± the antelope said smugly.


    These two guys are really big baddies! With me, Sweetie, around, how can I let you evil people have your way? I must make you pay for your evil deeds.. Sweetie came in front of the charred wood and reached out to tear off the yellow paper talisman.


    1

 Chapter 1338 - Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array

    Zhou Wen and the antelope were just about to head to Forbidden City to make a clean sweep of the treasures when they suddenly felt that something was amiss. It was as though the vibration of the charred wood had stopped. They felt that something was wrong as a chill ran down their back. They turned their heads involuntarily.


    With a glance, Zhou Wen and the antelope¡¯s expressions changed drastically. They saw the yellow paper talisman that had been stuck to the log gently float down.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, did you forget to apply glue?¡± Zhou Wen gulped and asked with some difficulty.


    ¡°That thing doesn¡¯t seem to need glue, if I recall correctly?¡± The antelope was a little unsure. It could not figure out why the yellow paper talisman would fall. It should not have fallen after it was stuck on it.


    ¡°Can you stick it on again?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    Before the antelope could answer him, an explosion in the sky gave him an answer. Purple lightning descended from the sky and directly reduced the yellow paper talisman to ashes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me that talisman of yours is fake?¡± Zhou Wen retreated as he spoke, already having thoughts of escaping.


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t have happened!¡± The antelope was also retreating.


    The human and antelope turned to run, but the starlight in the sky gathered. Thousands of stars enveloped the Forbidden City, and the starlight seemed to isolate the Forbidden City in its entirety from the mortal world.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed to discover that Singularity Universe¡¯s teleportation ability couldn¡¯t teleport him out of here. All he could do was desperately run in the direction of the Forbidden City¡¯s gates.


    Crack!


    He heard the sound of wood cracking behind him. When he turned his head, he saw that the charred wood had already split into two. A female Guardian dressed in purple armor and an ink-black cape that resembled a monarch floated in midair. Her eyes that seemed to contain the stars of the universe were staring angrily at Zhou Wen and the antelope.


    There were six bullet holes on her armor that were oozing blood.


    However, it seemed that such an injury was not fatal.


    With the appearance of Starlady Polestar, the starlight in the sky gathered on her body. It was as if she had become the focus of the spotlight. The other places became dim, and she had the starlight from thousands of stars gathered over her.


    In the intense starlight, blood spewed out from the bullet holes. At the same time, the spinning bullets were sucked out by the starlight and floated in front of Starlady Polestar.


    Starlady Polestar¡¯s eyes narrowed. Starlight fell and turned into swords of starlight. They poured down like a galaxy¡¯s slide down and flew past Starlady Polestar.


    The six bullets were instantly slashed to pieces in the starlight river. As for the countless swords of starlight, they surged towards Zhou Wen and the antelope at an unbelievable speed, reaching the speed of light.


    ¡°Wind, pull¡­¡± The antelope shouted and spat out a talisman. The talisman turned into clouds and enveloped its four hooves, causing its speed to increase drastically as it charged towards the gates of Forbidden City.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. The antelope could produce the speed of a Calamity-grade. Perhaps it could match Starlady Polestar¡¯s speed.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have that ability. All he could do was charge forward with all his might.


    However, the swords of starlight weren¡¯t slower than the Calamity-grade bullets. How could Zhou Wen outrun them? Soon, a large number of swords of starlight stabbed into his back.


    Thankfully, his Luck attributes and Heavenly Robe¡¯s Lucky Dodge showcased their effects. Zhou Wen¡¯s Heavenly Robe fluttered as he constantly dodged the rain of swords. None of the swords of starlight could hit him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any joy. Although he hadn¡¯t been stabbed to death for the time being, Starlady Polestar appeared even more terrifying than the Calamity-grade creature in the Venusian dimensional zone. It wasn¡¯t impossible for her to crack Lucky Dodge.


    As long as they didn¡¯t rush out of Forbidden City, everything was still unknown. It wasn¡¯t time to rejoice.


    The antelope ran very quickly and arrived in front of Forbidden City¡¯s gates in almost an instant. However, the swords of starlight descended from the sky and transformed into layers of airtight sword walls, completely sealing off the way out.


    The antelope¡¯s body glowed brightly as it opened its mouth to spit out a cloud. The cloud hit the sword wall, and although it repelled quite a number of swords of starlight, it ultimately failed to break through and was dispersed by the river of starlight swords.


    The endless stream of swords that resembled a galactic river rushed towards the antelope, instantly causing it to fall into the dense array of swords. It tried to charge in various directions but failed to escape.


    ¡°Ahem, Starlady, it¡¯s just a joke. There¡¯s no need to take it seriously, right?¡± the antelope said to Starlady Polestar in the air as it blocked the endless sword streams.


    ¡°Then continue your joke.¡± With Starlady Polestar¡¯s cold voice, the starlight sword river became even more violent. It transformed into a terrifying sword array that surrounded Zhou Wen and the antelope.


    Greed is indeed an original sin. I shouldn¡¯t have been greedy and followed Antelope to this godforsaken place. Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    Although Lucky Dodge could temporarily save Zhou Wen¡¯s life, it was only an evasion ability. It didn¡¯t allow Zhou Wen to forcefully break through the sword wall.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. With the antelope¡¯s personality, it definitely wouldn¡¯t fight a battle it wasn¡¯t confident in. Since it was willing to take the risk, it was definitely confident.


    However, it was peculiar that the yellow paper talisman would fall.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to consider this. Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he tried to think of a way to escape.


    Lucky Dodge could save his life, but it was impossible to crack the starlight sword array. Furthermore, the swords formed from starlight had already reached the speed of light. Zhou Wen¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t keep up, so it was impossible to crack the sword array.


    Zhou Wen tried his best to use Truth Listener¡¯s ability. In the sword array, the amount of sound he received was much lesser. Most of the sound information was related to the starlight sword array.


    After listening for a while, Zhou Wen suddenly realized that the starlight sword array seemed very familiar to him.


    Isn¡¯t this the twenty-eight Lunar Mansion skill? Zhou Wen immediately realized something.


    When he was in the Endless Sea of Stars, he had always wanted to obtain two skills. One was Star Stealer, and the other was the twenty-eight Lunar Mansion skill.


    It was the lowest-level skill, but it was abnormally difficult to have it drop. Out of the 28 skills, Zhou Wen only had 27. He hadn¡¯t had the last one drop.


    The 27 Lunar Mansion skills that Zhou Wen knew were all protective skills. They weren¡¯t offensive, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t connect the two in the beginning.


    The peculiarity he felt allowed him to realize that although the starlight sword array was an offensive sword array, it was in a similar vein as the Lunar Mansion skills.


    If the pattern of changes in this sword stance is the same as the Lunar Mansion skills, then wouldn¡¯t I be able to predict the future? Even if my speed can¡¯t keep up with the speed of the swords of starlight, I can still predict their positions¡­ However, I¡¯m still lacking one Lunar Mansion skill¡­ As Zhou Wen thought, he used Truth Listener to secretly observe the sword array.

 Chapter 1339 - Comprehending the Lunar Mansions

    Zhou Wen could still rely on his Lucky Dodge to protect himself, but the antelope relied on its own strength to withstand the sword array. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the antelope was quite powerful.


    Although the antelope couldn¡¯t rush out of the sword array, it managed to withstand wave after wave of sword array attacks. It had all sorts of means¡ªone moment, it would spew lightning, and the next moment, it would use wind and fire. It was unknown what attributes it had, but it seemed to be able to easily control all kinds of elemental abilities.


    Although the antelope was already very impressive, it could only barely protect itself in the sword array. It was still in a sorry state.


    ¡°Starlady, no matter what, we suffered together back then and were good comrades who fought bosses together. There¡¯s no need to be so ruthless, right? If you¡¯re really angry, you can just beat that punk up to vent your anger. Why make things difficult for an old friend? If it doesn¡¯t appease you, I¡¯ll help you beat him up.¡± The antelope spoke with emotion and reason.


    Unexpectedly, Starlady Polestar didn¡¯t buy it at all. She snorted and said, ¡°We suffered together? I never expected that from you? When we were trapped in the Crystal Palace, we were almost exhausted, but you secretly ate and drank well. Afraid of being discovered by us, you pretended to be on your deathbed and wanted to trick us into handing over our inheritance. I can¡¯t afford to have a friend like you, nor do I have a comrade like you.¡±


    The antelope blushed, but it was thick-skinned after all. Having experienced all kinds of upheavals, it coughed to hide its embarrassment and changed the topic. ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about the past. Last time, I got that punk to dig you out and take you back to Forbidden City. It was really out of good intentions. I originally planned to get that punk to form a contract with you and help you find a good contractor, but who knew that things would turn out this way? I still treat you as a friend from the bottom of my heart and consider your wellbeing, Starlady. That punk is a rare genius. Others fought over each other for him, but I couldn¡¯t bear to give him to them. Instead, I brought him to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Him? You have the nerve to call a person who relies on luck a rare genius?¡± Starlady Polestar mocked.


    She could long tell that Zhou Wen relied on his Lucky Dodge to dodge the sword array¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°Starlady, let¡¯s not talk about anything else, but how many people can advance to the Mythical stage as humans? Even in our era, you haven¡¯t seen many, right? He hasn¡¯t contracted a Guardian yet. It¡¯s not too late for you to contract him now.¡± The antelope tried its best to persuade her, but its situation was getting worse. Sword beams had already swept past its body and shaved off its fur.


    ¡°Oh, he advanced to the Mythical stage purely as a human?¡± Starlady Polestar finally sized up Zhou Wen seriously.


    ¡°It¡¯s absolutely true. If I lie, I¡¯ll give my head to you to kick like a ball.¡± The antelope swore an oath, wishing it could bear its heart to Starlady Polestar.


    ¡°So what if I am? Do I need to borrow the power of humans? As long as I am willing, even if I contract with a piece of trash, I can rule the world.¡± Starlady Polestar said indifferently, ¡°You don¡¯t have to waste your breath. No matter what you say, you will die without a doubt today.¡±


    After she finished speaking, a star crown appeared on her forehead. The stars in the sky resonated with it. The stars that were originally hidden in the universe and couldn¡¯t be seen appeared one after another, almost occupying the entire sky.


    Starlight descended the very next moment as if the end of the world had arrived. Everything visible to the naked eye was occupied by starlight.


    ¡°F*ck, you old b*tch, am I not submissive enough?? Do you really think that I have nothing on me?¡± When Ol¡¯ Ante saw this scene, it immediately ripped off its facade and returned to how it was previously¡ªa hooligan. It opened its mouth and spat out a talisman. At the same time, the blood it spat out landed on the talisman, causing it to emit a bright light and forcefully block the sky above.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The starlight fell on the canopy-like spiritual talisman. Like steel nails piercing into a steel plate, half of them pierced through. Soon, the spiritual talisman was like a hedgehog.


    Blood kept gushing out of the antelope¡¯s mouth as it frantically injected its Essence Energy into the spirit talisman to prevent it from shattering.


    However, every starlight that stabbed the spirit talisman caused the antelope¡¯s body to tremble. The more starlight that fell, the more the antelope trembled, and the more blood it bled from its mouth.


    Starlady Polestar originally didn¡¯t pay attention to Zhou Wen. She knew what kind of ability Lucky Dodge was and how to crack it. Under the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, starlight fell en masse and there was no space to dodge. It was useless no matter how high the probability of Lucky Dodge was. It was ultimately difficult to escape death.


    However, moments later, Starlady Polestar realized that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t dead. She was somewhat surprised; she took a closer look and couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed.


    Starlight shimmered around Zhou Wen as though he was surrounded by a galaxy. The stellar sword beams that landed on him were like rain falling into the sea. They fused into the stellar halo around him, causing it to glow brighter and stronger.


    ¡°The twenty-eight Lunar Mansions?¡± Starlady Polestar looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    She was the Lady of the Stars, so how could she not recognize the power Zhou Wen used?


    Due to the lack of one Lunar Mansion skill, Zhou Wen had never used the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. By observing Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, he found the part he was lacking. He reverse engineered the Lunar Mansion skill he lacked and finally gathered all twenty-eight.


    Using Singularity Universe to power the twenty-eight Lunar Mansion skills and constantly observing the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, he finally understood why the twenty-eight Lunar Mansion skills were so difficult to obtain despite their low levels.


    These skills were not as simple as individual skills. Like the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, they could form an array, and its power would increase by several times. Even if it was a low-level skill, after combining 28 skills into an array, its power was immeasurable.


    However, it was somewhat different from Starlady Polestar¡¯s starlight sword array which focused on offense. Zhou Wen¡¯s Lunar Mansion skills focused on defense.


    The defensive net formed by the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions array could not only resist the external forces, but it could also absorb external Essence Energy.


    If it were any other Guardian¡¯s power, the Lunar Mansions array might not have been able to withstand it in the beginning, nor would it have absorbed the powers so smoothly.


    However, the starlight sword array and the Lunar Mansions array shared the same origin. They were almost of the same attribute. After the starlight fell into the Lunar Mansions array, it was immediately absorbed without any rejection.


    This made Zhou Wen¡¯s Lunar Mansions array stronger and stronger. Furthermore, by observing the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Zhou Wen constantly perfected the Lunar Mansions array.


    After Starlady Polestar watched for a while, the surprise on her face deepened. Zhou Wen¡¯s Lunar Mansions array wasn¡¯t limited to the variations of the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions. It had even begun to evolve in the direction of the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.

 Chapter 1340 - Death Everywhere

    As they stemmed from the same origin and their circulation trajectories were becoming more and more similar, coupled with the absorption characteristics of the Lunar Mansion Array, it failed to kill Zhou Wen, even though Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was much stronger than Zhou Wen¡¯s. Instead, a lot of starlight was sucked away.


    Of course, this was also because Starlady Polestar wasn¡¯t targeting Zhou Wen. She had focused most of her attention on the antelope, planning on killing Zhou Wen in passing.


    That antelope wasn¡¯t completely lying. It¡¯s fine if he knows the Lunar Mansion Array, but he can actually reverse engineer the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. That isn¡¯t easy. Starlady Polestar looked at Zhou Wen with a hint of hesitation.


    Starlady Polestar naturally wouldn¡¯t agree to contract a good-for-nothing. If she could find a powerful partner, why lead a fool to conquer the world?


    She had only said those words to the antelope to show her determination.


    Upon seeing that not only did Zhou Wen know the Lunar Mansion Array, but he could also reverse engineer the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Starlady Polestar was somewhat tempted.


    The Essence Energy Arts and skills Zhou Wen used were very compatible with her abilities. Coupled with Zhou Wen¡¯s outstanding perception, it would indeed save her a lot of time and trouble if she could contract with him.


    There was another important point. Zhou Wen was already at the Mythical stage. After contracting with him, Starlady Polestar no longer needed to hide in the log inside Forbidden City, nor would she be rejected and suppressed by Earth¡¯s laws.


    However, when she recalled how Zhou Wen had ruined her plans back then and how she had been schemed against by Zhou Wen again, she couldn¡¯t take it lying down if she let him off just like that.


    Starlady Polestar came up with an idea. She thought to herself, So you are perceptive and fond of learning? Then I¡¯ll teach you a good lesson.


    Starlady Polestar powered the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, making it constantly transform in a deliberate attempt to show Zhou Wen its variability.


    Starlady Polestar wasn¡¯t doing this out of good intentions. The universe was endless and there were countless stars. It was almost impossible to fully comprehend the changes in all the stars in the universe.


    There was a limit to life, and there was a limit to one¡¯s brain power. However, the universe was infinite. To comprehend the infinite universe with limited life and brainpower, it was fine if he only wanted to steal some insight from it, but if he really wanted to completely comprehend it, then it was equivalent to forcefully filling a water bottle with only a capacity of one liter with the seawater of the Pacific Ocean. It was needless to say that the bottle would explode.


    Starlady Polestar was able to master the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array because of her innate talent. If she didn¡¯t have such talent, even she wouldn¡¯t dare to say that she could remember all the variations in the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    It was also impossible to remember them all, because there were infinite variations.


    She made up her mind. If Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t comprehend the various profundities of the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and gave up midway, it meant that Zhou Wen¡¯s talent was nothing much. It didn¡¯t matter if he was killed. There was no need to feel pity.


    If Zhou Wen really continued comprehending, he would probably go crazy without her doing anything.


    At the end of the day, Starlady Polestar didn¡¯t plan on letting Zhou Wen off. He would die either way.


    Due to the interference, Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t know of Starlady Polestar¡¯s plan. However, the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array constantly changed in front of him as beams of starlight fused into his Lunar Mansion Array. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he absorbed them and fully comprehended their profundities.


    With limited comprehension, one might indeed go crazy in the end. However, Starlady Polestar had overlooked an important problem.


    It couldn¡¯t be said that it was an oversight on her part. It should be said that she didn¡¯t know much about Zhou Wen¡¯s Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and Singularity Universe.


    The Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art itself was a clever Essence Energy Art that could deceive anything. It focused on viewing matters from an overarching manner, and the Singularity Universe simulated the Big Bang¡ªthe birth and operation of the universe.


    When it came to the grand view of the universe, Zhou Wen¡¯s theoretical knowledge wasn¡¯t necessarily inferior to Starlady Polestar¡¯s.


    However, Singularity Universe gave Zhou Wen a large framework. There weren¡¯t many details or content inside¡ªexactly what Zhou Wen lacked.


    To determine the framework based on the details and to slowly fill in the content while knowing the framework were two completely different concepts.


    The former was truly calculating the infinite with finite limitations. It consumed too much brain power, while the latter was just filling up a framework. The more knowledge he filled up, the more beneficial it was for Zhou Wen.


    From Starlady Polestar¡¯s point of view, Zhou Wen was inferring from the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions to the Stellar Heavenly Cycle, but in fact, both the twenty-eight Lunar Mansions and the Stellar Heavenly Cycle were within Zhou Wen¡¯s framework.


    From a certain point of view, Zhou Wen was actually standing at the same height as Starlady Polestar, so it didn¡¯t produce the situation that Starlady Polestar had imagined.


    The changes in the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array that Starlady Polestar displayed for Zhou Wen were fully absorbed by him. He directly employed it in his system, causing the Lunar Mansion Array to become stronger and more complex.


    At that moment, countless stars circled around Zhou Wen as though he was being protected by them. Although they weren¡¯t as dazzling as Starlady Polestar¡¯s, they couldn¡¯t be underestimated.


    It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that Zhou Wen¡¯s current technique was the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    Starlady Polestar couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly when she saw the array formation around Zhou Wen grow stronger and stronger. The various changes in the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array were fused into his array formation.


    Is this fellow really human? Based on Starlady Polestar¡¯s estimates, even if Zhou Wen had ten heads, he should have exploded from all the changes afforded by the Stellar Heavenly Cycle.


    However, Zhou Wen appeared as though nothing had happened. He continued trying to study her Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    The variations in the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array are endless. I want to see how much you can remember. I don¡¯t believe that you have a hundred heads¡­ Even if you really have a hundred heads, there will come a time when they will be filled¡­ Starlady Polestar accelerated the changes in the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    However, no matter how the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array changed, Zhou Wen seemed indifferent. He completely merged the changes into his system, found the corresponding spots, and used them for himself.


    The antelope was fighting desperately. Many parts of its fur had been shaved off by the starlight, and its body was stained with blood. It looked pathetic.


    Not only was Zhou Wen uninjured, but he had also obtained immense benefits. The Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array around him became stronger and stronger. It could even compete with the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array at close distances.


    Of course, it only looked more beautiful. The stars surrounded Zhou Wen as though the universe was revolving around him.


    In fact, its might was much weaker than the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. If Starlady Polestar had really used all her strength to kill Zhou Wen, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array would have long exploded.


    However, at that moment, Starlady Polestar still didn¡¯t suppress Zhou Wen with all her might. Instead, she looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression.


    Although his strength was still very far from hers, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array around Zhou Wen had already made her waver.


    Could it be that this person is really as that antelope said, a rare genius? Starlady Polestar started having different thoughts.

 Chapter 1341 - Who Dares to Retain You?

    Chapter 1341: Who Dares to Retain You?


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Stellar Heavenly Cycle was infinite. No matter how many changes Zhou Wen could learn, it was only a portion. It could only be called a Minor Heavenly Cycle, but it couldn¡¯t reach a Major Heavenly Cycle like Starlady Polestar.


    The true Major Heavenly Cycle was not something that could be mastered through learning, but a realm of comprehension.


    Zhou Wen was ultimately only at the Mythical stage. Although his realm far exceeded his peers, it wasn¡¯t easy to attain the realm required of the Major Heavenly Cycle.


    Zhou Wen quickly realized that although he had learned many variations, they were only accumulations in quantity¡ªthere were no qualitative changes.


    No matter how many variations my self-taught Minor Heavenly Cycle Array has, it can¡¯t compare to Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Array. This is a difference in level, not a difference in variation¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself, pondering over how he could truly reach Starlady Polestar¡¯s level.


    As Zhou Wen constantly studied and pondered, the antelope couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. The wounds on its body increased, and the spirit talisman above its head couldn¡¯t withstand the starlight¡¯s attacks. It was about to shatter.


    ¡°Polestar, don¡¯t force me to go all out. It won¡¯t do anyone any good when the time comes,¡± shouted the antelope at Starlady Polestar.


    ¡°I¡¯m really curious to know how well you have recovered.¡± Polestar¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as she spoke calmly.


    Seeing that it couldn¡¯t convince Starlady Polestar, the talisman above its head shattered. Swords of starlight rained down like a storm, and the horns on the antelope¡¯s head suddenly lit up. The originally blackish gray horns became like crystal lamps. Not only were they transparent, but they also emitted intense light.


    ¡°F*ck you!¡± the antelope shouted. Before the starlight descended, the lightning from its two shiny horns collided. It was like a collision of lightning, causing a potent spark to erupt and envelop its body.


    The terrifying swords of starlight poured down, reducing the area around the antelope to ruins. The ground was peppered with swords of starlight which stacked together like a mountain of sword beams.


    Boom!


    An unbelievable power erupted from the mountain of sword beams, shattering instantly.


    A slender figure walked out from the shattered sword mountain. A pure luminance moved with the figure. Even the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array could not suppress the luminance¡¯s power.


    Even amidst the starlight, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were illuminated by the pure light. He looked at the light and saw a man in a snow-white fur robe walk out.


    He wore snow-white clothes and looked handsome. His eyes were like obsidian, deep and bottomless. His long black hair cascaded down over his snow-white fur robe.


    The beauty of a person is like jade and the looks of the gentleman are unparalleled.


    Zhou Wen felt that this sentence was meant for such a person.


    However, when he thought about how this person was very likely transformed from the antelope, such thoughts immediately vanished. He couldn¡¯t connect the two together.


    1


    The lazy antelope, the rogue-like antelope, could actually transform into such a form. It made Zhou Wen find it highly discordant.


    1


    The man walked in the light, and all the swords of starlight that stabbed at him were melted by the pure power of light, as if they were not swords condensed from starlight, but just snowflakes.


    With every step the man took, the power of light over his body became stronger. Even the starlight in the sky seemed to pale in comparison.


    Polestar was no longer as relaxed as before. Her expression became serious as she stared at the man. The purple gas over her body also bloomed wildly and collided with the man¡¯s light. For a moment, it was difficult to tell who was stronger.


    ¡°It seems that you¡¯ve recovered quite well. You can actually return to your human form.¡± Starlady Polestar stared at the man.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me? Let me see if your Polestar Killing Technique can kill me or not.¡± The man looked straight at the levitating Starlady Polestar. He looked calm, but there seemed to be an indescribable power gathering over his body. It was like an invisible, peerless saber that could be unsheathed at any time and destroy everything.


    Starlady Polestar stared at the man. When she saw the man¡¯s stirring aura and how he was about to step out, she suddenly smiled and said, ¡°I was just joking. You told me not to take it seriously, but you took it seriously instead.¡±


    Starlady Polestar swept her cape back and the starlight disappeared. The Forbidden City returned to its original peace.


    ¡°It seems that you have mostly recovered from your injuries. Congratulations,¡± said Starlady Polestar as she looked at the man.


    ¡°It¡¯s still far from finished, but it¡¯s enough for me to go all out.¡± The man stared at Starlady Polestar, but he didn¡¯t restrain his luminance.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly returned to the man who was transformed from the antelope the moment the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array dissipated.


    ¡°You and I aren¡¯t enemies. There¡¯s no need to fight to the death. I¡¯m relieved knowing that you can take on your human form again.¡± As Starlady Polestar spoke, she glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You helped me return to Forbidden City and helped me seek out a contractor. I still remember this favor. Now that your injuries haven¡¯t healed, it¡¯s best you don¡¯t overexert yourself. It¡¯s best you return early to recuperate. I¡¯ll accept this contractor and I¡¯ll remember this favor.¡±


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he immediately cursed inwardly. This Starlady Polestar is also a scheming b*tch. Seeing that she can¡¯t defeat the antelope, she actually wants to vent her anger on me!


    ¡°You didn¡¯t want him when I offered him to you previously. Now that you want him, I¡¯m not giving him to you. Zhou Wen, come with me. Let¡¯s see who dares to retain you.¡± The antelope snorted coldly and turned to walk towards the entrance of Forbidden City.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly followed. He thought that the antelope would abandon him, but he never expected it to transform into a human. Even its personality had become much more unyielding, unlike the beast it used to be.


    Starlady Polestar watched Zhou Wen follow the antelope towards the gates with some doubts in his eyes. Her lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but she ultimately didn¡¯t say anything as she watched the two of them leave Forbidden City.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, you¡¯re awesome. I didn¡¯t expect you to be so unyielding today¡­¡± After leaving Forbidden City, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and patted the antelope¡¯s shoulder.


    However, to his surprise, the antelope rolled forward like a calabash. As he rolled, he transformed from a human back to an antelope. Its body convulsed as blood kept gushing out of its mouth.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he reached out to touch the antelope, but before his hand touched it, he felt a heat scald his hand.


    The antelope¡¯s body constantly emitted hot steam from its pores. The temperature was much higher than water vapor. It was clear how terrifying the temperature was considering how Zhou Wen could feel the heat despite his physique.


    The antelope¡¯s eyes rolled back and its limbs twitched. It looked like it had lost consciousness.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the antelope had been putting on a front in Forbidden City. If Polestar had really attacked, both he and the antelope would probably have ended up dead.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and fused with Human Sovereign.. With intense anger, he punched the antelope again and again.


    3

 Chapter 1342 - An Tianzuo Isn’t the Only One

    Human Sovereign¡¯s power allowed Zhou Wen to use his powerful vitality to heal injuries. Apart from being unable to heal himself, ordinary injuries could be treated.


    However, when Zhou Wen¡¯s fist struck the antelope, he felt as though its body was a huge furnace. The moment his vitality entered, it was devoured without a trace.


    Zhou Wen had never encountered such a situation. The antelope¡¯s condition didn¡¯t show any signs of improvement, but Zhou Wen felt his vitality severely drained. Human Sovereign¡¯s brilliance was becoming weaker and weaker.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to feed the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence and other pills to the antelope before continuing to use the power of Human Sovereign to inject it into its body.


    Seeing the pill essences enter the antelope¡¯s mouth like candy, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart ached so much that it was about to bleed. It was fine if it was the other pill essences, but the drop rate of the Dragon Tiger Pill Essence was too low. After grinding Pill Furnace Mountain for so long, he had only obtained one. He also fed the other Mythical pill essences, such as the Vital Dragon Pill, to the antelope.


    It was unknown if it was because of the pills or Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Sovereign powers, but the terrifying temperature in the antelope¡¯s body decreased slightly.


    Its convulsing body gradually calmed down.


    ¡°Stop beating me. With that tiny bit of vitality of yours, it won¡¯t be of much use even if you send it all into my body.¡± The antelope regained consciousness and struggled to get up from the ground.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s hands were about to break from the punching. The Human Sovereign brilliance over him was almost gone, so he could only stop and decouple with Human Sovereign.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we get back.¡± The antelope looked around and saw that they were still near Forbidden City.


    Although Starlady Polestar was suppressed by the rules of Earth and shouldn¡¯t dare to come out, this couldn¡¯t be confirmed. It was better to stay away.


    As the antelope¡¯s injuries were too serious and Zhou Wen was exhausted from expending too much of his vitality, he decided to summon the Earth Elemental Beast and use Earth Escape to travel.


    After leaving the capital, the antelope suddenly said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Release Chick.¡±


    Zhou Wen released Chick and Ya¡¯er from the chaos space. Chick glanced at the antelope and automatically landed on its head.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that the antelope¡¯s temperature was slowly decreasing. As for Chick, it was in high spirits. Its feathers seemed much brighter.


    So Chick can absorb the heat from Antelope. It¡¯s no wonder Antelope likes to bring Chick around. Zhou Wen was enlightened.


    ¡°Ol¡¯ Ante, I heard from Starlady Polestar that you have returned to your human form. Could it be that you were a human in the past?¡± Zhou Wen had questions that he couldn¡¯t help himself from asking.


    The antelope said lazily, ¡°Not really.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand what it meant.


    However, the antelope ignored him. It lay on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back as though it was asleep.


    Since the antelope wasn¡¯t willing to say anything, Zhou Wen had no choice but to swallow his questions and focus on driving the Earth Elemental Beast.


    ¡°Today¡¯s matter is a little strange. It¡¯s impossible for the Spirit Suppression Talisman to fall by itself. Under those circumstances, it¡¯s impossible for Starlady Polestar to break free,¡± the antelope suddenly said with its eyes closed.


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°I know, but I was paying attention the entire time. I didn¡¯t discover any other creatures nearby.¡±


    The antelope didn¡¯t say anything else and continued to rest with its eyes closed. It was unknown if it had fallen asleep.


    If Zhou Wen could see it, he would discover a blonde girl standing on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back. Furthermore, she was behind him, less than an arm¡¯s length away.


    The golden-haired maiden was naturally Sweetie. She had thought that Starlady Polestar would be able to avenge Yana on her behalf, but who would¡¯ve thought that they would still be able to come out alive?


    Looks like I¡¯ll have to avenge Yana myself, the blonde thought, but she didn¡¯t attack immediately.


    As the Earth Elemental Beast had been burrowing underground, if Zhou Wen touched her and turned into gold, the Earth Elemental Beast would naturally die as his Companion Beast.


    When that happened, Ya¡¯er and the others would be trapped underground. Sweetie was afraid of hurting her.


    It won¡¯t be too late to make a move after they return to the surface, Sweetie thought to herself as she continued to stand there and wait.


    ¡­


    Ever since Zhou Wen helped Hui Haifeng¡¯s people get on the rankings, many factions had secretly contacted the An family, hoping to get Zhou Wen to help them get on the rankings. They also wanted to figure out what ability Zhou Wen had used to dodge the Calamity-grade bullets.


    From their point of view, Zhou Wen was a member of the An family. If they couldn¡¯t contact Zhou Wen, they could contact An Tianzuo.


    However, An Tianzuo had no say in Zhou Wen¡¯s matters, nor could he offend all the factions. He could only stall for time, but it also gave An Tianzuo a headache.


    ¡°Overseer, the League of Guardians has also sent their men over. Although they didn¡¯t say it explicitly, from what they said, they also want to know how Young Master Wen dodged the Calamity-grade bullets.¡± An Sheng pushed open the door and saw An Tianzuo leaning back in his chair with his hands massaging his temples.


    ¡°Overseer, are you alright?¡± An Sheng hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± An Tianzuo lowered his hand and frowned. ¡°That fellow always causes trouble. He always does thankless things without considering the consequences.¡±


    An Sheng explained with a whisper, ¡°Overseer, this isn¡¯t a bad thing. With Young Master Wen¡¯s showcase, the various factions won¡¯t dare touch our Luoyang easily. Even the people from the League of Guardians are polite this time. Their attitude is much better than before.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of having a good superficial attitude? They yearn to kill him deep down,¡± An Tianzuo said with a cold snort.


    An Sheng thought to himself, If you want to talk about the people the League of Guardians wants to kill, you should be ranked ahead of Young Master Wen. Young Master Wen didn¡¯t do anything to the League of Guardians, but you blew up their Skysplit Tower. Aren¡¯t you still alive and well?


    An Sheng naturally didn¡¯t dare say that. He only whispered, ¡°Overseer, you¡¯re right. However, with Young Master Wen¡¯s current strength, even Calamity-grade bullets can¡¯t injure him. They are unlikely to rashly attack Young Master Wen.¡±


    An Tianzuo clearly wasn¡¯t fond of this topic. He didn¡¯t continue the conversation with An Sheng and instead, picked up the document on the table to read it.


    ¡°Overseer, we have some clues about the situation in the Holy Land. According to what we know, many Saints like Xiao have appeared from the Holy Land. They are actively contacting the various factions. I wonder what they are up to,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Capture one alive,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°We¡¯ve tried, but we failed. After that saint was captured, he chose to commit suicide. He didn¡¯t give us a chance to question him,¡± An Sheng said in distress.


    ¡°Did you find out how those saints entered and exited the Holy Land?¡± An Tianzuo asked again.


    ¡°We did. They also use teleportation nexuses, but for ordinary humans to enter through them, it¡¯s still the same as before. There¡¯s a level restriction. Even Mythical creatures can¡¯t pass through, much less Terror-grade ones. However, those saints don¡¯t have such restrictions. They can enter and exit from the teleportation array at will,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo pondered for a moment before suddenly looking at An Sheng and asking, ¡°Does anyone else know about the saint¡¯s suicide?¡±


    An Sheng was alarmed when he heard that. ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t tell me you want to disguise yourself as that saint to gain entry into the Holy Land?¡±


    ¡°We can give it a try,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Absolutely not. It¡¯s too dangerous. Besides, what will happen to Luoyang if you leave?¡± An Sheng immediately objected.


    ¡°An Tianzuo isn¡¯t the only one in Luoyang, right?¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.

 Chapter 1343 - Fighting Over Chocolate

    ¡°I want to eat this¡­ This¡­ And this¡­¡± They passed by a city which was already very far from the capital. Zhou Wen got everyone to take a break and took Ya¡¯er to buy some snacks.


    As he had been occupied with numerous matters recently, he hadn¡¯t had much time to accompany Ya¡¯er. He originally thought that his trip to the capital would be relatively easy and that he could take Ya¡¯er on a vacation. Who knew that something like this would happen again?


    After Zhou Wen and company exited Earth Escape, Sweetie wanted to attack Zhou Wen, but Ya¡¯er got him to buy her all sorts of snacks.


    As Sweetie watched Ya¡¯er eat cotton candy one moment and ice cream the next, she couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.


    That¡­ looks delicious¡­ Sweetie couldn¡¯t help but swallow her saliva when she saw Ya¡¯er constantly trying all kinds of delicacies. It seemed like every one of them was delicious.


    Zhou Wen followed behind Ya¡¯er, carrying bags of snacks for her.


    From the looks of it, no matter how bad a person is, there are times when they are still alright. Sweetie saw that no matter what Ya¡¯er wanted, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t hesitate to buy it for her. She thought to herself, If he dies now, how sad would that young lady be? It¡¯s better to wait for him to finish shopping before ending his sinful life.


    ¡°I want that¡­¡± Ya¡¯er came to a chocolate shop and pointed at a box of chocolates.


    Zhou Wen traced Ya¡¯er¡¯s finger and realized that the box of chocolates was placed in a very obvious spot. Furthermore, there was a special booth. With the lighting, the exquisite chocolate box looked even more eye-catching. It was no wonder Ya¡¯er had taken a fancy to it.


    ¡°Please help me get that box of chocolates.¡± Zhou Wen saw that there was no price tag on the chocolate box and it was obvious that it was very expensive, but that wasn¡¯t important. Money didn¡¯t mean much to Zhou Wen anymore.


    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m really sorry. I can¡¯t sell you that box of chocolates for the time being,¡± the shop assistant said politely.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement when he heard the store assistant¡¯s words.


    The shop assistant explained, ¡°Sir, that box of chocolates was personally made by our boss. It¡¯s also his proudest work. You can call it the centerpiece of our shop. Only one box is made a month. Because it¡¯s so delicious and very popular, many people want to buy it. However, we can only make one box of such chocolates a month. Many people get their friends to get us to sell the chocolates to them. With so many people begging for it, our boss had no choice. He just can¡¯t produce that many. Therefore, our boss made a rule. That box of chocolates can only be sold to the person who knows the most about chocolate.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean by knowing the most about chocolate?¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t understand how one was to determine if someone knew chocolate or not.


    When the shop assistant heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, he knew that he didn¡¯t know anything about chocolate. However, he still said politely, ¡°It¡¯s actually very simple. Every time the chocolate is produced, the boss will set three questions. Those who can answer the three questions correctly are qualified to obtain that box of chocolate for free.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty good deal. What are the three questions?¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself, With my ability, I can easily see through things. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to clear it. I¡¯ll even get that box of chocolates for free.


    The shop assistant pointed to the three boxes next to him and said, ¡°There are three different kinds of chocolates in the three boxes. As long as you can determine the specific ingredients of the three chocolates, you can get our store¡¯s centerpiece chocolate.¡±


    Zhou Wen was taken aback as he was immediately put in a spot.


    If he had to guess the brand and type of chocolate in the box, he would be able to guess it even if it was locked in a safe.


    However, Zhou Wen had no way of guessing the ingredients in the chocolate. He could see what was inside, but he couldn¡¯t put a name to them.


    ¡°Let me try.¡± Ya¡¯er was very interested in chocolate. She walked over and wanted to reach out for it.


    ¡°Wait a minute.¡± The shop assistant quickly said, ¡°You have to blindfold yourself when eating the chocolate. Moreover, each of these three chocolates is worth three to four hundred bucks. If you eat one, it will be 350. If you eat all three, it works out cheaper¡ªa thousand bucks¡­¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that it¡¯s free if we can tell the ingredients?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The store¡¯s centerpiece will be free, but the chocolate used for the test isn¡¯t. Regardless of whether you can tell the ingredients, you have to pay. If you aren¡¯t agreeable to it, you don¡¯t have to make the attempt,¡± the shop assistant said.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly at the profiteer. Although they claimed that the centerpiece would be given for free, they were actually taking the opportunity to sell ordinary chocolate.


    However, it was peanuts to Zhou Wen, so he didn¡¯t care. Just as he was about to pay for Ya¡¯er¡¯s attempt, he suddenly heard a sweet voice behind him say, ¡°I want to give it a try.¡±


    Zhou Wen found the voice familiar and was alarmed. He turned his head and saw that it was indeed the blonde girl he had met previously.


    Previously, the blonde girl had wanted to scam him. Her presence here evoked many thoughts in Zhou Wen.


    This place is more than 500 kilometers from the capital. It¡¯s definitely not a coincidence to meet her here. What does she want? Zhou Wen stared at the blonde girl, but he couldn¡¯t see through her. No matter how he looked at her, she looked like an ordinary person who had never cultivated.


    Sweetie came prepared. She already knew what money was. She took out a thousand-dollar bill and handed it to the shop assistant.


    ¡°Wait a minute. There should be a first-come, first-served rule, right? We came first. If there¡¯s an attempt, we should go first,¡± Ya¡¯er said.


    ¡°You guys only came to the shop first, but you didn¡¯t pay. I paid first, so I naturally get to go first.¡± Sweetie¡¯s logic was very clear.


    In fact, after following Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er for so long, her appetite was whet. She had swallowed countless mouthfuls of saliva, and when she heard how delicious that box of chocolates was, she couldn¡¯t help but appear, wanting to eat it.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. You¡¯re still serving us. You shouldn¡¯t be taking her money now, right?¡± Ya¡¯er asked the shop assistant.


    The shop assistant was in a dilemma. He felt that what both Sweetie and Ya¡¯er said made sense. They seemed to be right, and he couldn¡¯t find a reason to refute them.


    Seeing that neither Sweetie nor Ya¡¯er was willing to budge, the shop assistant coughed and said, ¡°In the past few years, many people have made the attempt every month. However, the chances of them taking our store¡¯s centerpiece is less than one in a hundred. It¡¯s very difficult. Why don¡¯t you try one by one¡­¡±


    As he spoke, he glanced at Ya¡¯er. Seeing that Ya¡¯er had no intention of backing down, he looked at Sweetie. Sweetie stood there without moving, her eyes equally determined.


    The shop assistant could only throw a pleading look at Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen ignored him. All his attention was on Sweetie. I clearly remember that this girl is an existence that can pass through Calamity-grade bullets.


    ¡°Since both of you want the centerpiece, let¡¯s have a chocolate competition. Whoever wins will get my centerpiece. Of course, it¡¯s also possible that neither of you will succeed and you¡¯ll end up eliminated. It¡¯s not that easy to get my centerpiece,¡± someone said as he walked out of a different room.

 Chapter 1344 - Gao Dawei

    The person who came out was a large man who was almost as rotund as a ball. He wore a white uniform and a white hat. At first glance, he looked like a chef, but upon closer inspection, there were some differences.


    ¡°This is our boss, Mr. Gao Dawei,¡± the store assistant introduced.


    ¡°How should we compete?¡± Ya¡¯er asked Gao Dawei.


    ¡°I¡¯ve recently developed a few types of chocolate. Try them together. Whoever can tell what ingredients I used will win if they guess correctly. If you don¡¯t, you will be eliminated.¡± When Gao Dawei saw that Sweetie and Ya¡¯er were staring at him, he hurriedly explained, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. The taste test this time is completely free. Whether you win or lose, you don¡¯t have to pay a single cent.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. What if both of us are right?¡± Ya¡¯er asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that easy. I know the chocolate I made. Even I wouldn¡¯t be able to tell if I hadn¡¯t eaten them in advance,¡± Gao Dawei said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, just eat it. I don¡¯t think either of you will be able to get it all right.¡±


    As he spoke, Gao Dawei entered the back room and soon brought out a plate of chocolate.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t usually fond of snacks. His impression of chocolate was still those of black squarish bars.


    However, the plate of chocolate that Gao Dawei brought out was different from the chocolate in Zhou Wen¡¯s memory.


    The chocolate was in the shape of a puppy, a gentleman playing a piano, and a chocolate that seemed to have a layer of snow over it. They looked exquisite.


    Ya¡¯er and Sweetie¡¯s gazes were also attracted by the unique-looking chocolate. They looked eager to taste it.


    Gao Dawei was very pleased with the three people¡¯s reaction. He said proudly, ¡°For absolute fairness, you have to taste the same kind of chocolate at the same time. Then, write your answer on a piece of paper and give it to me. I¡¯ll be the judge.¡±


    Gao Dawei got the shop assistant to bring paper, pen, and a knife specially used to cut chocolate.


    ¡°I call the first chocolate Snowy Mountain. Please try it.¡± Gao Dawei personally cut two pieces of the snow-covered spherical chocolate and placed them on a small plate before handing them to Ya¡¯er and Sweetie.


    Zhou Wen saw that sandwiched within the chocolate was white puffing that flowed out¡ªit seemed to be ice cream.


    Ya¡¯er and Sweetie each tasted it. It was delicious. They finished it in a few chomps. Then, the two of them seemed to have an answer. They looked at each other and turned their heads. With their backs facing each other, they found a table and wrote their answers on the paper.


    They almost finished writing the answer at the same time and handed them to Gao Dawei.


    Gao Dawei took a closer look at their answers and nodded. ¡°Not bad, both of you got it right. Apart from the cocoa and sugar in the chocolate, Snowy Mountain also uses condensed milk, honey, hazelnuts, and ice cream. You even managed to tell the dates that I used in extremely small amounts. Not bad, it seems that your sense of taste is very sensitive. However, don¡¯t get haughty. This is just the simplest and most basic one. Most people can taste it. The ones later are each more difficult than the last. It won¡¯t be that easy to guess.¡±


    Seeing that Ya¡¯er and Sweetie didn¡¯t respond, Gao Dawei had no choice but to cough lightly to ease the awkwardness. He picked another chocolate and said, ¡°This chocolate is called Nature¡¯s Pianist. It¡¯s my latest invention. Try it.¡±


    Zhou Wen sized up the chocolate curiously. The pianist, bench, and piano formed an exquisite piece of art. It was a pity to eat it.


    It was hard to imagine that such exquisite chocolate was made by a rotund man like Gao Dawei.


    After the previous round, Zhou Wen had gained a little understanding of chocolate. The suit, bench, and piano were likely made from ordinary chocolate.


    The person¡¯s skin and piano¡¯s white keys were likely made from milk.


    Zhou Wen also knew that it was definitely not that simple. It was impossible for Gao Dawei to pose such a simple problem.


    Sniffing, Zhou Wen seemed to detect a familiar smell. He carefully looked at the dark-colored chocolate and immediately made a discovery.


    There seems to be something mixed in those dark areas. Zhou Wen only knew that there was something mixed in, but he didn¡¯t know what it was. Although the taste was a little familiar, he couldn¡¯t remember where he had tasted it before.


    Ya¡¯er and Sweetie both ate the chocolate that Gao Dawei had cut. Their faces were filled with satisfaction and happiness. One could imagine how delicious this chocolate must be.


    This time, Sweetie immediately wrote the answer, but Ya¡¯er hesitated.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried that Ya¡¯er would lose. He was just wondering what Sweetie was up to.


    Ya¡¯er lowered her head and thought for a while before finally writing down her answer. Meanwhile, Sweetie had already handed the answer to Gao Dawei.


    Gao Dawei was surprised by their answers. ¡°Cream and butter taste great, but they can easily mask other flavors. Most people¡¯s taste buds are affected by the taste of chocolate and cream at the same time. Coupled with the rum and the cocoa powder sprinkled over it, it forms a complicated combination, making it difficult to notice the hint of black truffle hidden in it. Most people know that there is no black truffle in black truffle chocolate, but I did the opposite and deliberately added a small amount of black truffle. I didn¡¯t expect you to taste it. What good taste buds you have.¡±


    Only then did Zhou Wen remember that the familiar taste was black truffle. Once, Ouyang Lan had taken him out for a meal, and there were a few flakes of black truffle. Ouyang Lan had specially picked some for Zhou Wen to taste and told him that they were called black truffles.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s mind wasn¡¯t on eating at that time. He was only thinking about how to clear the dungeons when he returned. Therefore, his memory was too vague. Furthermore, he ate very little¡ªjust a few thin slices¡ªso he almost couldn¡¯t recall it.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be easy for you to guess the next chocolate.¡± Gao Dawei seemed very confident as he cut open the puppy-shaped chocolate.


    He was rather careful when he sliced it, as though he was trying his best to control the cut. Then, he handed the two pieces of chocolate to Ya¡¯er and Sweetie.


    Due to their previous two experiences, Ya¡¯er and Sweetie had greater anticipation for the next chocolate. The moment they received it, they couldn¡¯t wait to bite it.


    However, after the two of them took two bites, their expressions changed. They chewed slower and slower. Almost at the same time, they spat out the chocolate they had eaten.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er, are you alright?¡± Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t eat it, he knew that something was wrong with the chocolate when he smelled it. He couldn¡¯t help but stare at Gao Dawei, prepared to attack at any moment.

 Chapter 1345 - Snow White

    ¡°Calm down¡­ Calm down¡­ There¡¯s no poison in my chocolate¡­ I just added some stinky tofu¡­¡± Gao Dawei immediately waved his hand and explained when he saw Zhou Wen and company¡¯s unfriendly expressions.


    Zhou Wen sniffed carefully and realized that the stench was really similar to the smell of stinky tofu he had smelled on the streets when he was young.


    ¡°Stuffing chocolate with stinky tofu? Are you messing with us?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t ease because of Gao Dawei¡¯s explanation.


    Gao Dawei shook his head and said with a serious expression, ¡°How is that possible? I¡¯m a professional chocolate chef. I definitely won¡¯t make a mockery of my work. Since the bitterness of cocoa powder can turn into a memorable fragrance, the smell of stinky tofu shares the same principle. I thought about mixing these two extreme flavors together and perhaps creating a new and unique taste¡­¡±


    Seeing the look in Ya¡¯er and Sweetie¡¯s eyes, Gao Dawei hurriedly said, ¡°Unfortunately, it failed. Combining these two flavors isn¡¯t as easy as I thought. However, this is how experiments are. If you can succeed in one try, it can¡¯t be called an experiment.¡±


    Zhou Wen saw Gao Dawei¡¯s serious expression and realized that he didn¡¯t seem to be lying. Furthermore, there was no need to pull such a prank on them. Besides, it hadn¡¯t been long since they entered the store. It was impossible for Gao Dawei to immediately produce such a thing to mess with them.


    Zhou Wen sniffed it and looked at the puppy-shaped chocolate. He originally found the puppy rather adorable, but now, he found it odd.


    Why do I feel like it¡¯s¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare think further.


    After this development, Ya¡¯er and Sweetie¡¯s expressions didn¡¯t look too good. They looked at the remaining two pieces of chocolate and hesitated about eating them.


    Who knew what kind of strange chocolate Gao Dawei would come up with next? The unknown evoked the most terrifying fears.


    Even if one could see what was inside the chocolate, one might not know what it was and what taste it would have without eating it. Some subtle components still needed to be distinguished through tasting.


    If Gao Dawei were to create some spicy mala chocolates or something even more outrageous, there might be even more terrifying outcomes.


    Ya¡¯er and Sweetie wanted to give up, but after looking at each other, they immediately raised their heads. Neither of them was willing to admit defeat.


    ¡°Well¡­ Although it tastes awful, you still need to write down what ingredients were used in it so that I can know if you can advance to the next round,¡± Gao Dawei said carefully.


    Ya¡¯er and Sweetie quickly wrote down the answer. Although they only chewed it a few times and spat it out, they still wrote down the ingredients correctly. Apart from the stinky tofu, Gao Dawei had also added durian.


    This fellow is really sick. It¡¯s no wonder he said that it¡¯s free from the onset. If he were to take money for this, he would probably be beaten to death. Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. An ordinary chocolate chef would definitely not experiment in such a way unless they had a screw loose.


    In the following competition, although Ya¡¯er and Sweetie tried their best not to withdraw and only competed to uphold their pride, they no longer had the anticipation from before.


    Eating Gao Dawei¡¯s chocolate felt like they were heading to the execution grounds.


    Fortunately, there wasn¡¯t much of a problem with the fourth chocolate. It was a kind of chocolate with alcohol in its center. However, Gao Dawei had used a few special wines to concoct the alcohol. They had to be able to tell which wines were used.


    Zhou Wen imagined that Ya¡¯er would not answer correctly this time. Although Ya¡¯er ate a lot of snacks, Zhou Wen never allowed her to drink. Ya¡¯er probably couldn¡¯t even tell the difference between red and white wine. It was indeed impossible for her to tell what wines were inside.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, not only did Sweetie answer correctly, but Ya¡¯er also answered correctly.


    Has Ya¡¯er been drinking behind my back? Furthermore, is she an alcoholic? Otherwise, how would she know the names of the dozens of alcohols that even I haven¡¯t heard of? She can even tell it through taste. How odd! Zhou Wen frowned inwardly.


    When it was time for the last piece of chocolate, Gao Dawei perked up. ¡°I didn¡¯t expect your senses to be so sharp. However, it¡¯s impossible for you to taste what the last piece of chocolate is made of. It¡¯s better to give up early.¡±


    ¡°Can we begin?¡± Ya¡¯er asked expressionlessly.


    Ever since she ate the puppy chocolate, she had been nasty to Gao Dawei.


    Sweetie was the same. She said impatiently, ¡°Can you hurry up?¡±


    ¡°No rush; we¡¯ll start now.¡± Gao Dawei pointed at the last piece of chocolate and said, ¡°This is a piece of work that I¡¯ve been particularly proud of recently. It¡¯s called Snow White.¡±


    Zhou Wen took a look and saw that it was made of ordinary white chocolate. However, it was made into the appearance of a woman in a princess dress. Apart from looking good, there was nothing special about it.


    Zhou Wen directly used his x-ray vision to see the inside of the white chocolate. He realized that it was still white chocolate inside. There was nothing else.


    Gao Dawei cut two pieces for Ya¡¯er and Sweetie before asking Zhou Wen, ¡°Do you want to try it? This piece should taste the best of the five chocolates.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Gao Dawei and nodded slightly.


    Gao Dawei cut a piece and handed it to Zhou Wen on a plate. Zhou Wen picked it up and threw it into his mouth, swallowing it in one bite.


    ¡°What a waste. You should taste it properly. This taste is unique in this world. Apart from me, no one can produce chocolate with this taste,¡± Gao Dawei said regretfully.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just an ordinary white chocolate? What¡¯s so special about it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know anything about chocolate. That piece of chocolate I gave you just now was akin to feeding Pigsy with ginseng fruit. It¡¯s a waste.¡± Gao Dawei stood up straight and said smugly, ¡°But there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. It¡¯s better than trouble.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Gao Dawei and asked.


    Plop!


    Before Gao Dawei could say anything, Sweetie fell to the ground as if she had fainted. Although she was still breathing, she was virtually motionless.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly as he sized up Gao Dawei.


    ¡°I¡¯m me, Gao Dawei, a saint of the Sun God Holy Temple. I originally wanted to take a break before going to Luoyang to deal with you guys. I didn¡¯t expect you to come knocking on my door and save me a lot of trouble,¡± Gao Dawei answered with a smile.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with the chocolate?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? That chocolate is called Snow White. Haven¡¯t you heard of Snow White¡¯s story? After eating my chocolate, you will fall into an eternal sleep.¡± Gao Dawei smiled and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to force it. Although your body is much stronger than an ordinary person¡¯s and you can stand for a while longer, you will still fall eventually. Why be in pain?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not in any pain.¡± Zhou Wen outstretched his palm and the chocolate that Gao Dawei had given him was lying in his palm.

 Chapter 1346 - Chat After Lying Down

    Chapter 1346: Chat After Lying Down


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What¡¯s it doing there? I clearly saw you eating it!¡± Gao Dawei¡¯s expression changed slightly.


    ¡°What the eyes see might not be the truth,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Gao Dawei smiled again in the blink of an eye. He pointed at Ya¡¯er and said, ¡°Even if you can remove the chocolate, she ate it¡­¡±


    Before Gao Dawei could finish his sentence, he saw Zhou Wen outstretch his other hand. There was another piece of chocolate there, the one Ya¡¯er had put in her mouth.


    Zhou Wen was becoming more and more adept at using Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping.


    In the past, he could only make a mark before exchanging. Now that he had the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, there was no need to go through so much trouble. As long as it was within the range of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Zhou Wen could directly do a swap.


    ¡°You¡­ When did you realize that there was something wrong with me?¡± Gao Dawei immediately knew that he had been exposed. Otherwise, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have taken Ya¡¯er¡¯s chocolate away in advance.


    ¡°Not long ago. It was when you offered me Snow White.¡± Zhou Wen was telling the truth.


    Gao Dawei had done everything too naturally without any flaws. In order to lower Zhou Wen and company¡¯s guard, he had even used the smelly chocolate in advance.


    If it was an ordinary person, they would write it off as a false alarm. They would have a period when they would let their guard down, making any ploy easier to succeed.


    Gao Dawei hadn¡¯t done anything wrong. Everything was fine and natural. However, when he gave Zhou Wen the chocolate in the end, he was too eager for him to accept it.


    Although he didn¡¯t show it superficially, he was eager to get Zhou Wen to accept it deep down. Therefore, Zhou Wen heard his thoughts and confirmed that there was something wrong with him.


    Of course, even if he didn¡¯t hear his thoughts, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on letting Ya¡¯er eat the last piece of chocolate. Zhou Wen already felt that something was amiss when he saw the stinky chocolate, but he just didn¡¯t have any substantial evidence.


    ¡°As expected, I was greedy. I shouldn¡¯t have given you the chocolate. I should have known that you, Zhou Wen, wouldn¡¯t be killed so easily by me,¡± Gao Dawei said with a sigh.


    Before Zhou Wen could say anything else, Gao Dawei suddenly flared up and grabbed the unconscious Sweetie.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen unsheathed his Bamboo Blade and slashed at Gao Dawei¡¯s arm, forcing him to retreat.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strike wasn¡¯t to save Sweetie, but to save Gao Dawei.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to encounter a saint, so Zhou Wen naturally wanted to capture him alive. He hoped to obtain some information. It would be even better if he could obtain information about the former principal.


    As for how terrifying Sweetie was, Zhou Wen had seen it with his own eyes. The Calamity-grade bullets that used to surround him had failed to injure her.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that a piece of chocolate from Gao Dawei could take Sweetie down.


    He was afraid that Gao Dawei would be killed by her and he would not be able to get anything out of him.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that his strike had improved Sweetie¡¯s impression of him. She thought to herself, This person isn¡¯t too bad. He¡¯s good to that young lady and is willing to save me¡­


    Sometimes, being too high-leveled was also a kind of frustration.


    It was like an emperor in ancient times: Upon hearing that the victims of a natural disaster did not have rice to eat and had starved to death, he asked them why they didn¡¯t eat meat.


    To Sweetie, it was a matter of course, but she didn¡¯t know that she had already exposed her terrifying strength because of those incidents.


    Of course, Sweetie was, in fact, even more terrifying than Zhou Wen imagined.


    The Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand slashed repeatedly, but Gao Dawei¡¯s fat body was shockingly fast. He was like a legendary flying pig. When he rushed into the air, his chef¡¯s uniform had already turned into a chocolate armor that enveloped his body.


    The Bamboo Blade struck skyward and slashed toward Gao Dawei again. Gao Dawei surprisingly grabbed the Bamboo Blade with his hands that were wrapped in chocolate.


    The moment the Bamboo Blade touched Gao Dawei, the hard blade turned into melted chocolate and dripped to the ground.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t retracted his saber fast enough, the entire Bamboo Blade would probably have turned into melted chocolate. Even though he retracted it fast enough, a lot of the chocolate-turned blade had already dripped to the ground, making the Bamboo Blade¡¯s blade turn into a sawtooth.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly. The Bamboo Blade had been with him for so long, but this was the first time it had been damaged so badly. He had previously used the Bamboo Blade to fight a Terror-grade without it suffering so much damage.


    Gao Dawei¡¯s body moved quickly and wherever his body touched, the walls, tables, and chairs would turn into chocolate¡ªmelting chocolate.


    Zhou Wen put away the Bamboo Blade. It had been with him for so long, so he had some feelings for it. He didn¡¯t want it to be destroyed just like that.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he dodged Gao Dawei¡¯s repeated attacks. At the same time, he transformed his aura into a sword and used the sword beam to attack Gao Dawei¡¯s vital points.


    As he did not dare to touch his body, he could only use sword beam techniques.


    Like Xiao, Gao Dawei was at the Terror grade. His movement technique and means were in no way inferior. Furthermore, despite his figure, his movement technique was surprisingly good.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that only saints from the Trajectory Holy Temple were good at movement techniques. He never expected that Gao Dawei, who came from the Sun God Holy Temple, was also good at movement techniques. Furthermore, he had a completely different style from the Trajectory Holy Temple.


    Zhou Wen used his finger as a sword and brandished his sword aura wantonly, forcing Gao Dawei back.


    Gao Dawei wanted to rush out of the shop, but he realized that Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beams seemed random, but they sealed off all his paths of retreat. He couldn¡¯t attack or even escape.


    The more Gao Dawei fought, the more discomfort he felt. He felt as if he had been locked up in a cage filled with metal spikes and could not move at all.


    ¡°Gao Dawei, I see that you are somewhat different from the other saints. Why don¡¯t we make a deal? Answer a few questions of mine and I¡¯ll ensure your safe departure,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± Gao Dawei¡¯s eyes flickered. Clearly, he wanted to stall for time.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s chat slowly after you lie down,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Gao Dawei was first taken aback before he laughed out in anger. ¡°Zhou Wen, you are indeed impressive, but if you think you have me in your grasp, you are sorely mistaken. You can dodge a Calamity-grade bullet, but you might not be able to dodge my strike.¡±


    With that said, Gao Dawei¡¯s body suddenly turned into a coffee-colored liquid like high-temperature chocolate. Like a swamp monster or a liquid demon, he transformed into a tornado that swept towards Zhou Wen.


    Clearly, Gao Dawei knew very well that single-target attacks were useless against Zhou Wen. Only AOE attacks could hit him.. As long as Zhou Wen had a drop of chocolate liquid on him, he would turn into chocolate.

 Chapter 1347 - Some Clues

    Chapter 1347: Some Clues


    Translator: CKtalon


    Despite the tornado-like molten chocolate being close at hand, Zhou Wen had no intention of retreating. He used his fingers as a sword and stabbed forward.


    Gao Dawei didn¡¯t know why Zhou Wen was stabbing. In his chocolate demon form, he wasn¡¯t afraid of physical attacks. Although the sword beam wasn¡¯t a physical attack, its effects wouldn¡¯t be much different.


    However, in the next second, Gao Dawei was alarmed to discover that as Zhou Wen stabbed forward, invisible sword beams appeared around him and they spun at high speeds.


    The number of invisible sword beams was uncountable as they enveloped Zhou Wen. When the molten chocolate transformed by Gao Dawei collided with the terrifying vortex of sword beams, the molten chocolate tornado was sucked in by the sword beam tornado.


    The invisible sword beam tornado seemed to be quickly dyed with a layer of chocolate. Gao Dawei wanted to escape from the sword beam tornado, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t.


    There was an extremely strong suction force in the vortex. No matter how he struggled, he was still firmly sucked into it. Furthermore, countless sword beams spun and diced the molten chocolate into smaller blobs.


    Gao Dawei was shocked. Although chocolate demons were unafraid of physical attacks, there was a limit. If the molten chocolate could not even maintain its most fundamental particle state, he would equally die.


    Ordinary Terror-grade creatures shouldn¡¯t have such an overwhelming advantage. Ordinary slicing attacks posed little threat to a chocolate demon. Even if a portion of the chocolate could be reduced to its fundamental particle form, it wouldn¡¯t have much of an effect on the overall situation.


    A chocolate demon¡¯s true nemesis was the power of ice. Zhou Wen clearly wasn¡¯t proficient in ice, so Gao Dawei wasn¡¯t too worried.


    However, he suddenly realized that the invisible sword beams around Zhou Wen were just too terrifying. They kept slicing the molten chocolate, quickly reducing them to their fundamental particles.


    Gao Dawei had never seen such abnormal sword beams before. How could he know that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t purely using sword beams? It was the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. The sword beams were only the foundation for forming the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    Zhou Wen was considered to be blessed by the heavens. The Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was very powerful, but it also needed sufficient stellar power or sword energy to form its foundation. The stronger the foundation, the stronger the array formation.


    If it were an ordinary person, even if they were at the Terror grade, the Essence Energy they had was limited. It was impossible for them to condense that much sword energy to form the foundation in a short period of time. Or perhaps it was because their Essence Energy was too scattered and the sword energy they condensed was too weak. It would definitely greatly weaken the strength of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy was nearly infinite. Every sword beam from the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array could match a full-powered strike of the same level. The sword array formed was enough to crush a peer at the same level.


    Although the chocolate demon was very strong, it could only be crushed when facing thousands of Terror-grade sword beams.


    ¡°No¡­ that¡¯s impossible¡­ ah¡­¡± Gao Dawei was horrified to discover that the molten chocolate form he was in had already begun to vaporize under the attack of the sword beams.


    ¡°Stop¡­ what questions do you have¡­ I¡¯ll tell you everything¡­ Ah¡­¡± Gao Dawei screamed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s finger froze as an invisible sword beam that resembled a tornado stood fixed in the air like a star in the night sky.


    Only then did Gao Dawei fall to the ground and return to his human form. However, the chocolate armor on his body had shattered in many places. Gao Dawei himself was covered in wounds and bleeding profusely.


    Around Gao Dawei¡¯s body, countless sword beams surrounded him like a spherical prison. The tips of the swords were aimed at his body.


    ¡°I¡¯m a very impatient person, so it¡¯s best you cherish this opportunity. Don¡¯t give me an answer that displeases me. You only have one chance.¡± Zhou Wen paused before immediately asking, ¡°Do you know someone named Xiao?¡±


    ¡°I know of this person, but I¡¯m not familiar with him. I only know that he¡¯s a Saint of the Trajectory Holy Temple,¡± Gao Dawei said.


    ¡°How many Saints like Xiao are there in the Trajectory Holy Temple?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m from the Sun God Holy Temple. I don¡¯t know much about the Trajectory Holy Temple. From what I know, there are 13 to 14 Saints there,¡± Gao Dawei answered without hesitation.


    ¡°Where did those Saints come from?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    Gao Dawei hesitated and did not answer immediately.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Gao Dawei let out a miserable scream as one of his arms was chopped off. In an instant, a bloody mist bloomed thanks to the invisible sword beams before it was vaporized.


    ¡°Orphanage! We all came from the orphanage!¡± Gao Dawei yelled.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be your head next.¡± Zhou Wen continued coldly, ¡°Which orphanage?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where it is. I was too young at that time. I only know that it was an orphanage built in a valley. There were many orphans there. I have seen many of the Saints I know back in the orphanage. However, the orphanage is also divided into several different districts. They are separated from each other. I don¡¯t know Xiao. Maybe he is an orphan from another district, or maybe he is younger and came later than me. But I can be sure that he came from the orphanage as well.¡± Gao Dawei did not dare to hesitate and finished his answer in one breath.


    ¡°Oh, since you¡¯ve never seen him, how can you be sure that he came from the orphanage?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Gao Dawei with interest.


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to explain. People from the orphanage have a special air about them. Others can¡¯t tell, but I can tell at a glance.¡±


    ¡°Can the air be seen?¡± Zhou Wen snorted coldly.


    Gao Dawei hurriedly explained, ¡°I didn¡¯t make myself clear. Air is just a metaphor. It means that everyone who comes out of the orphanage has a special¡­ how should I describe it¡­¡±


    ¡°Bearing?¡± Zhou Wen finished his sentence.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s bearing. It¡¯s that kind of air that they exude. It¡¯s just like how soldiers have the air of soldiers. Even if they¡¯re wearing home clothes, you can tell at a glance that they have been in the military. The people from the orphanage have a special air. Ordinary people can¡¯t feel it, but I can. They¡¯re the same kind,¡± Gao Dawei explained.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, From the looks of it, it¡¯s very likely. These Saints are most likely orphans nurtured by Dugu Qianqiu.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen asked, ¡°Which Holy Temple is Professor Ouyang in?¡±


    ¡°Which Professor Ouyang?¡± Gao Dawei was stunned.


    ¡°How many Professor Ouyangs are there in your Holy Land?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Two or three,¡± Gao Dawei answered after some thought.


    ¡°Then brief me on all of them.¡± Zhou Wen was delighted.. After investigating for so long, he was finally close to the truth.

 Chapter 1348 - An Tianzuo Has Left

    ¡°Then let¡¯s start with Professor Ouyang Ting¡­¡± Gao Dawei¡¯s words immediately attracted Zhou Wen¡¯s attention as his pupils subconsciously constricted.


    As Gao Dawei spoke, he lowered his head as though he was thinking. When Zhou Wen focused and listened, he suddenly saw Gao Dawei¡¯s figure transform into his molten chocolate form again. Then, he seeped into the ground like water.


    In an instant, the chocolate demon crawled out of the ground again. However, the spot where he crawled out was where Zhou Wen was standing. The molten chocolate instantly enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s shoes and legs and quickly spread upwards. Zhou Wen¡¯s shoes and clothes had already turned into chocolate as it constantly dripped.


    ¡°You¡¯re still too inexperienced to fight me!¡± The chocolate enveloped most of Zhou Wen¡¯s body as Gao Dawei¡¯s smug laughter sounded from the boiling molten chocolate.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s indifferent voice suddenly sounded, causing Gao Dawei¡¯s smug laughter to stop.


    In the next second, the chocolate wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s body gathered in his hand like dust absorbed by a vacuum cleaner and instantly vanished without a trace.


    Pa!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers moved slightly as he closed the exquisite candy box in his hand. It was Sweetie¡¯s candy box that had sucked away Gao Dawei.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had spent considerable time studying the candy box and realized that it was a spatial item. However, this spatial item could only store sweets like candy. Apart from that, nothing else could be placed inside.


    Later, when Zhou Wen learned spatial skills, he wondered if he could modify the candy box. If he could modify it into something that could store anything, he would have another spatial artifact.


    He studied the candy box, but the outcome wasn¡¯t satisfactory. He didn¡¯t know what method the person who created the candy box had employed, but no matter what spatial skill Zhou Wen used, it couldn¡¯t affect its candy-only characteristic.


    At most, it could suck in candy from the outside world. Other than that, there was nothing special.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the candy box was useless, but when he saw Gao Dawei¡¯s chocolate demon state, he recalled the candy box.


    Killing a person like Gao Dawei wouldn¡¯t affect the Holy Land much, but if he could dig out more secrets of the Holy Land from him, it would be of great help to Zhou Wen.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had always wanted to keep Gao Dawei alive and not kill him.


    Zhou Wen had long expected Gao Dawei¡¯s sudden attack, thus he took the opportunity to suck him into the candy box. After all, the candy box could only suck in candy after coming into contact with it. It couldn¡¯t suck candy from a distance.


    After putting away Gao Dawei and closing the candy box, Zhou Wen turned to look at Sweetie on the ground.


    Sweetie had been pretending to be unconscious, but she was alarmed when she saw Zhou Wen take out the candy box.


    The candy box had been lost the last time she came to Earth. No matter how she searched, she couldn¡¯t find it. She never expected it to be in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    He shouldn¡¯t have been born back when I came to Earth. It can¡¯t be that he stole it. Then, where did he get the candy box? Sweetie felt that it was imperative that she figured out the problem, so she decided to delay Zhou Wen¡¯s punishment. She wanted to figure out the origins of the candy box first.


    When he saves me later, I can take the opportunity to approach him and figure out where he got the candy box from. However, if he tries to save me, he will touch my body and immediately turn into gold¡­ But if I don¡¯t let him touch me, how can I get close to him? Sweetie was in a dilemma as countless thoughts flashed through her mind. She was thinking of how she could prevent Zhou Wen from touching her when he came to help her and use the opportunity to approach him.


    He¡¯s here¡­ What should I do¡­ He¡¯s coming¡­ Should I wake up on my own¡­ Sweetie sensed Zhou Wen looking over and immediately became nervous. She still couldn¡¯t think of a way to wake up naturally and approach Zhou Wen.


    However, what happened next stunned Sweetie. Zhou Wen turned around and picked up Ya¡¯er, who was beside her. He turned around and instant transmitted away.


    He¡¯s definitely a scumbag¡­ baddie¡­ He needs to be punished¡­ Sweetie got up from the ground and looked in the direction Zhou Wen had left. Her eyes were about to spew fire.


    If not for wanting to figure out where the candy box came from, she would have gone up to touch Zhou Wen and turn him into gold.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er to find the antelope and Chick who were resting. He told them about his encounter with Sweetie. The antelope also concurred that Sweetie wasn¡¯t simple and suggested that Zhou Wen escape immediately.


    Zhou Wen had the same thought. He took the antelope and Chick with him and didn¡¯t immediately return to Luoyang. Instead, he went to several places, hoping to shake off Sweetie.


    Zhou Wen and the antelope remained on high alert the entire time, but they heaved a sigh of relief when they didn¡¯t discover Sweetie chasing after them.


    Little did they know that Sweetie had been following Zhou Wen all this while. At that moment, she was sitting on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back, just inches from Zhou Wen.


    Unfortunately, none of them could see Sweetie. They used all sorts of methods to scan their surroundings, but they did not detect her. They imagined that she had not followed them.


    After rushing back to Luoyang, Zhou Wen felt physically and mentally exhausted. He originally imagined that he would be able to reap some benefits from this trip, but to his surprise, not only did he fail to reap any benefits, he was nearly killed by Starlady Polestar. He had also provoked a blonde girl who had appeared out of nowhere.


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan on going out for the time being. Don¡¯t invite me on your trips to places like dimensional zones,¡± Zhou Wen said to the antelope.


    ¡°Would I still dare to invite you? When did nothing happen when I¡¯m out with you? I almost lost my life this time. Do you think I¡¯ll invite you again?¡± the antelope said angrily.


    ¡°Ahem, it was purely an accident. Get some rest. Let me know if you need anything. I¡¯ll head back now.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly left the antelope¡¯s room. He really had no answer to the problem.


    Just as Zhou Wen left the room, he saw An Sheng standing not far away, as though he was waiting for him.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, do you have time to chat?¡± An Sheng came over and asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen saw that An Sheng¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t right.


    An Sheng nodded. ¡°Let¡¯s talk in Overseer¡¯s study. It¡¯s not convenient to talk here.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go there, right?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Overseer isn¡¯t around,¡± An Sheng said meaningfully.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. The meaning behind An Sheng¡¯s statement that the Overseer wasn¡¯t around was somewhat subtle. Zhou Wen knew that something had definitely happened, so he didn¡¯t say anything else and followed An Sheng to An Tianzuo¡¯s study.


    This was where An Tianzuo usually worked. There were many special contraptions. Be it using Essence Energy Skills or high-tech methods, it wasn¡¯t easy to eavesdrop on the people inside.


    ¡°Overseer has left Luoyang. It might be some time before he returns. Overseer hopes that you¡¯ll take charge of the Overseer Manor while he¡¯s away,¡± An Sheng said.

 Chapter 1349 - Astonishing Price

    ¡°How can the Overseer not preside over the Overseer Manor? Why does he keep running about elsewhere?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    He had no interest in taking charge of Luoyang. Even if An Tianzuo really wanted him to be the Overseer and give him Luoyang, Zhou Wen would find it troublesome. Furthermore, Zhou Wen was really unwilling to help him guard Luoyang.


    An Sheng said with a solemn expression, ¡°Overseer has entered the Holy Land.¡±


    Alarmed, Zhou Wen hurriedly asked, ¡°Entered the Holy Land? Isn¡¯t he already at the Terror grade? How did he enter the Holy Land?¡±


    ¡°Madam Lan is still brooding over the professor¡¯s death. She hasn¡¯t had a good night¡¯s sleep in recent years. Overseer can¡¯t bear to see Madam Lan continue like this. There¡¯s no other way, so he plans on pretending to be a Saint and entering the Holy Land to take a look. He hopes to figure out something.¡± An Sheng told Zhou Wen what had happened.


    ¡°Even if he can take on a Saint¡¯s appearance, his body is still his. He won¡¯t be able to enter the Holy Land. What¡¯s the use of impersonating?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. Overseer¡¯s impersonation as a Saint isn¡¯t only limited to looks. We also used some special means. Overseer has successfully entered the Holy Land. During this period of time, we hope that you can help guard Luoyang. Actually, just like last time, you can leave the trivial matters to us subordinates. It won¡¯t take up too much of your time,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen agreed.


    Since An Tianzuo had taken the risk to investigate the former principal¡¯s matters, it was only right for him to guard Luoyang. Furthermore, his family and friends were here.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, do you think we should settle the urgent matters first?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°What urgent matters? Could it be that someone has come knocking on our door?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. The last time he guarded Luoyang, nothing urgent had happened.


    ¡°Not really, but the representatives sent by the various factions wish to meet you. They also wish to hire you to help them get into the rankings. Of course, many people want to know how you dodged the Calamity-grade bullets. After all, such an ability is so shocking.¡± An Sheng explained the matter.


    Previously, An Tianzuo had held them back. Now that An Tianzuo was gone, Zhou Wen could only deal with these matters himself.


    ¡°How will I have the time to help them get on the rankings? Get them to leave,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Ahem, Young Master Wen, I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s not appropriate, right?¡± An Sheng stammered.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng.


    ¡°When they came, they brought huge gifts. Even if you aren¡¯t willing to see them, it won¡¯t be good to just send them back,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°What did you receive? I should have a share, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    An Sheng seemed to be prepared as he took out a list for Zhou Wen to see.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but widen his eyes when he saw this. From the list, the gifts weren¡¯t trivial. People knew that the An family needed Essence Crystals, so they basically gifted them tons.


    Of course, one to two tons of Essence Crystals would not be especially helpful to the An Family either. But with so many people gifting, it was quite a sizable amount.


    ¡°You sold me off for just these Essence Crystals?¡± Zhou Wen said unhappily.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just for these few Essence Crystals. It¡¯s mainly because even the six families have sent people over. If we offend all of them, the An family¡¯s days in the future won¡¯t be easy. You also know what kind of environment Earth is in now. The things that Luoyang can produce are very limited. Many things have to be purchased from other places. For example, the most commonly used toilet paper can¡¯t be manufactured in Luoyang now. It can only be imported. Salt is another one. If we offend all of them, we won¡¯t die, but life will be very troublesome in all aspects¡­¡±


    After saying that, An Sheng took out another piece of paper and handed it to Zhou Wen. ¡°Also, this is the price they offered. I think you should take a look even if you want to refuse their requests.¡±


    ¡°What price can they offer? They can¡¯t offer me a Terror-grade Companion Egg, right?¡± When Zhou Wen took the piece of paper and read it, his eyes nearly popped out.


    ¡°Is this for real?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng as he read.


    The high price offered exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    A tycoon had offered a sky-high price of 1,000 tonnes of Essence Crystals just to get Zhou Wen to help him get on the rankings.


    There was also the Zhang family of the six major families who offered ten Vital Dragon Pills, a thousand Rejuvenation Pills, and a Fate Reversing Talisman.


    Although there were no Terror-grade Companion Eggs, their combined value wasn¡¯t inferior to a Terror-grade Companion Egg.


    The Vital Dragon Pill and Life Recovery Pill were both Mythical pill essences. The healing effects were very good. Although the Rejuvenation Pill¡¯s level was low, it was very good for treating external injuries.


    The most precious thing was the Fate Reversal Talisman. It was said that it could change one¡¯s fate.


    Of course, changing one¡¯s fate was only an exaggeration. However, if a person who was destined to lose every round when gambling used a Fate Reversal Talisman before going to a casino, then they would be able to win every single time. This type of effect was amazing.


    Previously, Liu Yun was able to steal the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General because of the effects of the Fate Defying Talisman.


    It was said that they were all left behind by the Zhang family¡¯s ancestral Celestial Master. Now, no one knew how to make them. There were only a few left in the Zhang family.


    The prices offered by the other families and local wealthy families were also ridiculously high. There were indeed families that obtained Terror-grade Companion Eggs¡ªthe Family Clan of Gods in the West District.


    If Zhou Wen helped them get on the rankings, he would immediately become rich.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s real. As long as you give the nod, they are even willing to pay first,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t they know that it¡¯s useless to be on the rankings? Only by being first can they become the final winner?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng in puzzlement.


    ¡°Of course they do. However, their goal isn¡¯t to obtain a Venusian Companion Beast. Firstly, even if they can¡¯t obtain a Venusian Companion Beast, the metal eggs they obtain after clearing the level will be able to hatch a Companion Beast in the future. It¡¯s just that their level will definitely be lower than a Venusian Companion Beast. We don¡¯t know what it would be when hatched. It won¡¯t be a loss if they get a Terror-grade Companion Beast. Even if they don¡¯t get one, it won¡¯t be a loss. They want the fame of being on the rankings,¡± An Sheng explained.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of fame?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand. Without strength, what was the use of fame?


    ¡°It¡¯s very useful. Do you know what we lack the most now?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°High-level Companion Beasts?¡± Zhou Wen guessed casually.


    ¡°No, what we lack the most now is people,¡± An Sheng explained. ¡°It¡¯s not just us. All the major factions are lacking people. As the dimensional zones¡¯ restrictions are becoming more and more severe, the isolation in various places is becoming more and more serious. In addition, there are constantly people sacrificing themselves. For example, our Luoyang is already considered good, but the population growth has always been negative. If this continues, the number of people in Luoyang will only decrease. The city will undergo a depression, and the economy will decline. All industries will find it difficult to survive. When the time comes, we will probably have to fight dimensional creatures together because there¡¯s nothing else that can be done. Then, the number of people fighting will only decrease. After all, it¡¯s a life-and-death struggle. No one can guarantee that there won¡¯t be any accidents.


    ¡°Although we have already started to formulate policies to encourage childbirth, the effects take a while to show. We will only see the initial results after at least ten years. The fastest way is to attract people from other smaller places. For example, our Luoyang is quite famous, and there are many people who come because of its reputation. For other places, it is not so easy to attract people. However, if they are able to enter the rankings, no matter how you get there, at least the people nearby will know that there is a place that has the ability to hire someone formidable like you. Once they consider moving over, they will have naturally chosen that place.¡±


    An Sheng smiled and continued, ¡°Of course, they have other considerations. For example, the six families have their own ideas. I can¡¯t guess what they are.¡±


    ¡°Then do you think I should take on these jobs?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng.

 Chapter 1350 - Breaking into the Rankings Again

    Chapter 1350: Breaking into the Rankings Again


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°You have the final say in Luoyang now. You are the king of Luoyang. If you want to accept it, accept it. If you don¡¯t want to, just let them wait. If anyone dares to fall out with you, just beat them up and chase them away,¡± An Sheng said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment. ¡°Then I won¡¯t accept it. Prepare yourself. Pick someone to follow me to the Venusian dimensional zone. Let¡¯s get a ranking first.¡±


    ¡°What are your requirements?¡± An Sheng asked solemnly.


    ¡°As long as they run fast,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. As long as they ran fast and saved some time, he could also lower the number of Calamity-grade bullets circling him.


    Without a suitable target, even with Calamity-grade bullets, it wasn¡¯t easy to kill a Calamity-grade. Zhou Wen planned on returning the Invincible Lucky Star to Wang Lu after this.


    In the future, even if he wanted to rush to the top of the rankings, he would have to rely on his own abilities. After all, Lucky Dodge was not a long-term solution.


    Recently, Zhou Wen had a new idea when studying spatial skills. He felt that he might have a chance of dealing with a Calamity-grade bullet.


    Although he had used Spacetime Bandit and Absolute Space, he was still unable to form an infinitely looping space. Moreover, he was unable to completely fuse it with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique. He kept feeling like something was missing.


    However, after learning the Minor Heavenly Stellar Array, Zhou Wen had a new idea.


    If it was not possible to simply cast a skill, then he could use an array to achieve the behavior of an infinitely looping space. By combining the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, he might be able to achieve the method of producing infinite space.


    However, this required a lot of time for experimentation and modification; it was not something that could succeed quickly.


    ¡°Then do you think Miss Jing is up to it?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°Anyone is fine.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel anything special about An Jing. It made no difference to him whether it was An Jing or someone else from the Sunset Army.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s have Miss Jing do it. Her speed is considered extremely fast among the Mythical grade,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen recalled something and asked An Sheng, ¡°How did An Jing advance to the Mythical stage?¡±


    Zhou Wen still remembered that An Jing had previously contracted a Guardian, but he had killed the Guardian she had contracted with. Ever since then, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t paid much attention to An Jing.


    After returning five years later, he learned that An Jing had advanced to the Mythical stage. Furthermore, she had been pretending to be Zhou Wen for five years.


    An Sheng hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s hard to say. Miss Jing relied on her own hard work to advance to the Mythical stage. There¡¯s also another thing¡­¡±


    After a long pause, An Sheng whispered, ¡°Holy Land.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng in surprise, hoping that An Sheng could explain himself. There were too many possibilities with what he had just said, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t guess.


    ¡°In short, it¡¯s not easy for me to say anything about this. It¡¯s better to let Miss Jing tell you herself when there¡¯s an opportunity in the future. Just feign ignorance and don¡¯t mention this in front of her,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Alright, make the preparations. We¡¯ll head to Venus tomorrow morning.¡± Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t plan on having much interaction with An Jing. He was just curious.


    An Jing¡¯s advancement to the Mythical stage was actually related to the Holy Land. This implied something subtle.


    An Sheng informed An Jing that Zhou Wen was going to Venus to obtain a ranking. An Jing was slightly taken aback when she heard that. ¡°Is he taking me along?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. After all, we¡¯re family. Of course, we have to keep such benefits for ourselves,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he get the rankings himself?¡± An Jing frowned.


    ¡°Young Master Wen doesn¡¯t plan on getting on the rankings yet. He¡¯s only helping Luoyang get a ranking,¡± An Sheng explained.


    ¡°What do I need to prepare?¡± An Jing asked again.


    ¡°Young Master Wen said that after dealing with the six Golden Battle Gods, you have to reach the Golden Palace as quickly as possible. The faster you reach the Golden Palace, the less pressure he will suffer.¡± An Sheng naturally wouldn¡¯t tell An Jing that Zhou Wen wanted speed to save him some time.


    ¡°Got it.¡± An Jing nodded.


    The next morning, Zhou Wen, An Sheng, and An Jing arrived in front of the Cube.


    An Jing stood behind and looked at Zhou Wen with mixed feelings. Over the past few years, she had been using Zhou Wen as her goal to improve herself. She hoped that one day, she could surpass Zhou Wen and use her actions to tell everyone that she wasn¡¯t inferior to him.


    However, not only did the disparity between the two of them not decrease, it had instead increased.


    She hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade, but Zhou Wen was already able to participate in a Calamity-grade battle. The difference wasn¡¯t small.


    However, An Jing didn¡¯t have any thoughts of giving up. Previously, she had been at the Legendary stage while Zhou Wen was at the Mortal stage. Zhou Wen had been able to catch up from behind. Her current situation was very similar to the former Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    An Jing believed that since Zhou Wen could do it, as long as she worked hard, she would definitely be rewarded.


    After all, the higher one went, the slower the advancement. When Zhou Wen stopped advancing, she still had a chance of catching up, and she believed that she had the ability to do so.


    ¡°Activate the Cube,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Jing.


    An Jing¡¯s body naturally reacted. She listened to Zhou Wen¡¯s orders and walked towards the Cube.


    After An Jing came to a realization of what she had done, she couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. This was because she had subconsciously listened to Zhou Wen¡¯s orders as though it was a matter of course. Such a reaction shouldn¡¯t have happened to her.


    This was because she was a maverick. There was only one person who could make her carry out orders without thinking¡ªAn Tianzuo.


    Even Ouyang Lan¡¯s words had to be thought through by An Jing before she decided if she complied.


    Logically speaking, her relationship with Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good, and she viewed him as an opponent. It was impossible for such a situation to happen.


    After walking up to the Cube, An Jing turned her head to look at Zhou Wen who was standing on it.


    Zhou Wen stood there casually without any powerful aura, but he made people feel abnormally at ease. It was as though even if the sky collapsed, it wasn¡¯t a big deal as long as he stood there.


    An Jing had only felt such a feeling from An Tianzuo in the past, but now, she felt it from Zhou Wen.


    In a daze, An Jing looked at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at An Tianzuo; it was a rather strange feeling.


    ¡°Drip some blood in,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Jing snapped to her senses as she lowered her head and dripped a drop of blood into the entrance of the Cube.


    The Cube instantly shone with brilliant light. All of the Cubes in the world activated simultaneously.


    ¡°Another creature has entered the Venusian dimensional zone¡­ Who is it? Could it be a human?¡±


    ¡°Damn, why is it him again? He even brought a beauty with him this time. Who is that beauty?¡±


    ¡°The An family¡¯s An Jing. She¡¯s said to be very talented and is in no way inferior to An Tianzuo. In a few years, she might become another An Tianzuo.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if she will become another An Tianzuo, but that Zhou Wen is too much. Don¡¯t tell me he wants to lead someone onto the rankings again?¡±


    ¡°Only An Jing is following. Looks like it.¡±


    ¡°This person¡­ can only be described with two words¡­ utterly outrageous¡­¡±


    1


    Amidst everyone¡¯s discussion, Zhou Wen and An Jing entered the Venusian dimensional zone.


    It was like a replay of what happened previously.. Zhou Wen dealt with the Metal Guards and the Golden Battle Gods as he entered the corridor.

 Chapter 1351 - Give It to Them If They Want It

    Chapter 1351: Give It to Them If They Want It


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Calamity-grade bullet sounded as Zhou Wen dodged it without any suspense.


    Just like last time, none of the bullets could touch Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The seventh sure-kill bullet could only fly around him.


    When Zhou Wen dodged the first round of bullets, An Jing didn¡¯t immediately rush out.


    An ancient bow appeared in her hand as she aimed at one of the doors. The arrow that shot out was actually connected to a thin thread. The other end of the thread was in An Jing¡¯s hand.


    After the arrow flew out, it immediately pulled An Jing¡¯s body out as she instantly disappeared through the door.


    The arrow¡¯s speed had almost reached the limits of the Mythical stage. It was even close to the Terror grade.


    What was even stranger was that the arrow could actually turn by itself. It flew through the maze-like passage like lightning, but it did not touch any walls.


    Only one sure-kill bullet appeared around Zhou Wen. Just as the second round¡¯s sure-kill bullet was about to be fired, An Jing had already arrived in front of the Golden Palace.


    Landing in front of the Golden Palace, An Jing exerted force with her fingers and the bow returned to her hand.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened as a metal ball flew out and landed in An Jing¡¯s hand.


    The scene switched back to the rankings. The name of ¡®Sunset Army¡¯ appeared on the rankings. Just like the Federation Suicide Squad, it had three stars.


    However, despite having the same three stars, the Sunset Army was actually ranked ahead of the Federation Suicide Squad.


    It was obvious that the Cube¡¯s main evaluation criterion was still Zhou Wen. However, An Jing¡¯s performance also played a significant supporting role. Therefore, they were awarded three stars overall, but their ranking was ahead of the Federation Suicide Squad.


    Ordinary people weren¡¯t in the mood to care about this. They only felt that Zhou Wen had crossed the line; he was even worse than Deceit King.


    At least Deceit King put in some effort to snatch the loot.


    However, Zhou Wen only needed to take one trip to reach the rankings. Not only did he obtain a Venusian Companion Egg, but he could also receive a private carry fee. It was like doing a zero capital business to the extreme.


    When the various factions saw Zhou Wen pull off this stunt, they were envious and depressed.


    ¡°Investigate. We have to investigate how Zhou Wen dodged the Calamity-grade bullet. It must be a special Companion Beast¡¯s ability.¡± An old woman from the Cape family stared at the screen and repeatedly watched the video of Zhou Wen dodging the Calamity-grade bullet.


    ¡°We have to figure out what Companion Beast Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes are.¡± A similar order sounded in the Family Clan of Gods.


    It wasn¡¯t just the six families. Even the League of Guardians was studying what Companion Beasts Zhou Wen had on him to achieve such an effect.


    They could tell that Zhou Wen¡¯s ability was definitely related to the clothes. However, no one knew what kind of Companion Beast the clothes were.


    Few people had been to Netherworld City, and even fewer could enter the Six Realms. Apart from Zhou Wen and company, only Xiao and the other two Saints had entered. However, they had not entered the Devas Realm and had not obtained the Heavenly Robe.


    After this battle, Luoyang became even more chaotic. All kinds of methods, both done in the open and in the dark, kept Overseer Manor busy.


    Thankfully, An Tianzuo had already done a purge before he left. It wasn¡¯t easy to find new spies to infiltrate the Overseer Manor. Most people could only think of solutions from the periphery.


    ¡°How many has it been today?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked at the intruder he had just captured.


    ¡°It¡¯s the eleventh one. From the looks of it, they are determined. No matter what, they have to figure out your mojo, Young Master,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°It appears we need to have a solution. Otherwise, trouble will keep coming,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°If it¡¯s Overseer, he will teach them a lesson they will remember and make them not dare to be so brazen,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Unfortunately, I¡¯m not An Tianzuo. How about this? Spread the word that I want to sell the Heavenly Robe Companion Beast that can dodge the Calamity-grade bullets,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Are you really selling it?¡± An Sheng was somewhat surprised. After all, with such a Companion Beast in hand, no one would be willing to sell it. The benefits involved were too great.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Since they want it so much, I¡¯ll give it to them. I don¡¯t want them to keep bothering me.¡± Zhou Wen smiled and continued, ¡°However, I still need you to do this. You have to make them beg to buy it. You can¡¯t drop the price.¡±


    An Sheng understood and asked softly, ¡°Young Master Wen, is there something wrong with the Heavenly Robe?¡±


    ¡°Would I sell it to them if there was no problem?¡± Zhou Wen told An Sheng that the Heavenly Robe needed to synergize with a Luck Companion Beast.


    ¡°Although Luck Companion Beasts are very rare, those large factions can still obtain some¡­ What if¡­¡± An Sheng was somewhat worried.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. They definitely won¡¯t be able to gather Luck Companion Beasts that allow a 100% evasion rate.¡± Zhou Wen knew very well that without Wang Lu¡¯s Invincible Lucky Star, there was no 100% chance. It was useless even if one obtained more ordinary Lucky Companion Beasts. No matter how high the chance was, it wasn¡¯t 100%.


    One had to use the Invincible Lucky Star¡¯s Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and Terror transformation to achieve a 100% evasion rate.


    Zhou Wen had tried it in-game. If he didn¡¯t activate its Terror transformation, or if he didn¡¯t use its Life Soul or Wheel of Destiny, there would be flaws. There was also a chance of dodging the Calamity-grade bullet, but even if he dodged the seventh sure-kill bullet at the beginning, there was still a chance of being hit later. It wouldn¡¯t keep circling around, and it was only a matter of time before the target was hit.


    Even if they could gather a high-luck Companion Beast, it was impossible for them to constantly dodge the sure-kill bullets.


    ¡°Young Master, it¡¯s good that you¡¯re confident. Leave this to me¡­¡± An Sheng¡¯s lips curled up slightly as though he was a devil who had found his prey.


    While An Sheng was handling this matter, Zhou Wen took the time to visit the Wang family to return the Invincible Lucky Star to Wang Lu.


    Sweetie had been following Zhou Wen all this while, hoping to find an opportunity to figure out where Zhou Wen¡¯s candy box had come from. However, after Zhou Wen returned to the Overseer Manor, there were many people following him. Sweetie failed to find an opportunity to approach him.


    Finally, when Zhou Wen came out of the Overseer Manor alone, Sweetie immediately followed him as she planned on how to approach him.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Sweetie to kill Zhou Wen. The difficult part was getting the answer she wanted.


    Zhou Wen carried out instant transmission constantly. As he wanted to rush back to the An family as soon as possible, he didn¡¯t rest at all. Sweetie failed to find an opportunity as a result.


    When he arrived at the Wang family residence, Zhou Wen teleported to Wang Lu¡¯s building. Wang Lu, who had already received Zhou Wen¡¯s message, opened the door and let Zhou Wen enter before closing it.


    What¡¯s he doing? Sweetie followed curiously.. Like a ghost, she passed through the wall and arrived beside Zhou Wen and Wang Lu.

 Chapter 1352 - One Takes on the Color of One’s Company

    This fellow, Zhou Wen, is extremely bad. He wanted to use the Heavenly Robe to scam others, and now, he has secretly run into a woman¡¯s room¡­ What does he want to do? Sweetie walked through the building and couldn¡¯t help but feel slightly disappointed when she saw Zhou Wen and Wang Lu sitting at a table and talking. Their clothes were still intact.


    ¡°What are you doing here in the middle of the night?¡± Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to return the Companion Beast,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t plan on entering the Venusian dimensional zone again?¡± Wang Lu asked in surprise.


    She knew how great of a benefit it was for Zhou Wen to be able to carry people up the rankings. Just doing so led to plenty of resources, resources that couldn¡¯t be bought with money.


    ¡°In the future, even if I want to get on the rankings, I want to use my own abilities. I don¡¯t need the Lucky Companion Beasts.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Wang Lu. ¡°Give me your hand.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the tone a gentleman should use when speaking to a girl.¡± Wang Lu smiled and placed her finger on Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    Zhou Wen held Wang Lu¡¯s finger and immediately circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, transferring five Companion Beasts to her.


    Other than the Invincible Lucky Star, there was also the Heavenly Robe, the Lady Luck Necklace, the Lucky Stone Sprite, and the Lucky Clover King.


    Zhou Wen transferred all his Mythical Luck Companion Beasts to Wang Lu.


    Without the Invincible Luck Star, Lucky Dodge was already useless. It was useless keeping so many Luck Companion Beasts.


    However, in Wang Lu¡¯s hands, they could play a huge role.


    Of course, Luck Companion Beasts could still increase his drop rate. If not for the fact that he wanted to return Wang Lu¡¯s favor, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have handed them to her so easily.


    ¡°Is this what you call a fivefold return?¡± After Wang Lu received the Companion Beasts, she sensed the information from them. Her expression suddenly changed. ¡°If you give me the Heavenly Robe, what about you?¡±


    ¡°You have the Invincible Lucky Star, so the effects of the Heavenly Robe can be maximized. It¡¯s not very useful for me to keep it. Besides, I have more than one Heavenly Robe.¡± Zhou Wen paused and exhorted, ¡°However, don¡¯t let anyone know that you have the Heavenly Robe and Luck Companion Beasts for the time being.¡±


    ¡°You want to sell the Heavenly Robe?¡± Wang Lu was extremely smart and immediately figured out what Zhou Wen wanted to do.


    ¡°Smart,¡± Zhou Wen praised.


    ¡°In that case, I can take the opportunity to make a killing,¡± said Wang Lu.


    ¡°You want to sell some Luck Companion Beasts?¡± Zhou Wen also guessed what Wang Lu wanted to do.


    After the Heavenly Robe was sold, the person who obtained it would definitely want to exploit it to its fullest. They would go around collecting Luck Companion Beasts like Zhou Wen had done in the past.


    When the time came, the price of Luck Companion Beasts would definitely skyrocket. Zhou Wen prepared to sell the low-level Luck Companion Beasts he kept when that happened.


    In any case, without the Invincible Lucky Star, there wasn¡¯t much use in keeping so many Luck Companion Beasts.


    Just as An Sheng had said, there was actually an upper limit to the luck attribute. It meant that the luck attribute wouldn¡¯t stack indefinitely if one brought more Luck Companion Beasts.


    ¡°I¡¯ve collected quite a number of Luck Companion Eggs in the past, but because they are duplicates and don¡¯t add much luck, I haven¡¯t hatched them. I only keep them as backup. I can use this opportunity to sell them at a high price. I might be able to earn tens or hundreds of times more,¡± Wang Lu said with a smile.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll congratulate you in advance for making a killing,¡± Zhou Wen said as he raised his teacup.


    ¡°To us, for the killing we will make together.¡± Wang Lu also raised her teacup.


    What a shameless couple! Sweetie understood their conversation. She originally thought that Wang Lu was quite pure and pretty, but she never expected her to be so nasty. She couldn¡¯t help but mutter.


    Looking at the two of them smiling at each other, Sweetie felt as if her soul had been corrupted.


    No, I have to think of a way to find out the origins of the candy box as soon as possible. Sweetie felt that her heart wouldn¡¯t be pure anymore if she continued following Zhou Wen.


    After some thought, she felt that it was impossible to approach Zhou Wen under normal circumstances.


    There¡¯s no need to worry so much when dealing with such despicable villains. I should fight fire with fire and use some extreme methods. Sweetie already had an idea and planned on using methods similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    It was a pity that Sweetie didn¡¯t understand the principle of taking the color of one¡¯s company. Once she was tainted by the color, it would be difficult for her to revert.


    When a person used the same method to take revenge on a bad person, she could no longer revert to a pure slate. Moreover, Sweetie¡¯s previous living environment was too clean. It was so clean that she was like a piece of white paper, and white paper was the easiest to dye with color.


    After Zhou Wen left the Wang family, he spent the entire night traveling, hoping to return to Luoyang as soon as possible.


    An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t in Luoyang, so he couldn¡¯t stay outside for long. If something happened, he wouldn¡¯t be able to deal with it in time.


    It was a dark night with strong winds. Zhou Wen was instant transmitting when he suddenly saw a blonde girl in white standing at the edge of the forest in front of him. However, on a careful look, the blonde girl had vanished like a ghost.


    Zhou Wen almost imagined that he was seeing things. Just as he was about to rub his eyes, he suddenly saw the blonde girl appear in front of him again. She was so close that he could see her eyelashes clearly. Her hair was disheveled and her face was pale. She was as terrifying as a malicious ghost.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he immediately instant transmitted in retreat. He kept doing so in an attempt to escape as he muttered inwardly, Why is that blonde girl chasing after me again? How did she find me? Could she be a ghost?


    Just as Zhou Wen finished instant transmission, he realized that the blonde girl was in front of him. He was immediately alarmed as he teleported in another direction.


    But no matter where he instant transmitted to, the blonde girl would be standing there, looking at him expressionlessly like a ghost.


    After his instant transmission failed to evade her, Zhou Wen teleported to Venus.


    However, when he stood on Venus, he realized that the blonde girl was still standing in front of him, staring at him like a vengeful ghost.


    Zhou Wen had goosebumps as he looked at the blonde girl and forced a smile. He coughed lightly and said, ¡°Um, we don¡¯t seem to have any grudges, right? Why are you chasing me?¡±


    ¡°My death was so unjust. You caused my death. I want you to go to hell with me,¡± the blonde girl said with a voice that sounded like a malicious spirit.


    ¡°When did I cause your death?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he asked the blond girl.


    ¡°Back at the chocolate shop, you could have saved me. It was because you left me in the lurch that I died. Now, I want you to die with me.¡± As the blonde girl spoke, her figure constantly flashed around Zhou Wen. It was impossible for Zhou Wen to determine her location.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even notice the blonde girl standing behind him.


    Could there really be ghosts in this world? Zhou Wen¡¯s legs turned to jelly.


    He could only be considered half an atheist because he had heard too many ghost stories from his grandfather when he was young. Therefore, although he knew logically that there were no ghosts in the world and that they were at most dimensional creatures, he still felt fear sometimes.


    Furthermore, with the hearing that Truth Listener had provided him, it was impossible for him not to sense any movement even if it was a Calamity-grade. It was even more impossible for him not to notice someone standing behind him.


    This blonde girl really did seem like a ghost.

 Chapter 1353 - I’m Not Sweetie

    Chapter 1353: I¡¯m Not Sweetie


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I died so tragically¡­ I died so tragically¡­¡± The blonde girl¡¯s hair was disheveled as she floated towards Zhou Wen and let out a terrifying cry. She looked like a haunting ghost.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he couldn¡¯t help but take two steps back. He wanted to escape, but he couldn¡¯t think of where to run. Since the other party could keep up with his interstellar teleportation ability, it didn¡¯t seem like there was anywhere he could run.


    When a person was forced into a corner, they would not know how to be afraid. Or rather, they would be numb with fear.


    Zhou Wen was just about to go all out when the blonde girl floated over like a ghost. Perhaps it was because she was too excited, or perhaps it was because she had failed to notice her surroundings after successfully frightening Zhou Wen¡ª


    As she flew in the air, she didn¡¯t notice that her blonde hair had been caught by a sharp rock protruding from the side. When she charged forward, her hair was yanked back and she immediately fell to the ground in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at the blonde girl who had fallen to the ground. When their eyes met, the air seemed to freeze.


    Swoosh!


    The blonde girl seemed to instant transmit back into the air as though nothing had happened. She continued floating towards Zhou Wen and once again shouted, ¡°I died so tragically¡­ I died so tragically¡­¡±


    However, for some reason, Zhou Wen no longer had any fear. He looked at the blonde girl and felt like laughing.


    The blonde girl was clearly still terrifying and Zhou Wen was definitely no match for her, but he couldn¡¯t feel the same fear as before.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen could tell that the blonde girl seemed to have some concerns. She only circled around him to scare him and didn¡¯t really attack.


    Otherwise, with the strength the blonde girl had just displayed, she could have attacked him from behind without him noticing. There was no need for her to go through all this trouble.


    Zhou Wen stood motionless and all the blonde girl did was appear and disappear around him as she let out terrifying cries. Apart from that, she didn¡¯t do anything else.


    ¡°Then what should I do to let you die in peace?¡± Zhou Wen felt that he should give her a way out. After all, she was a big shot.


    If she really didn¡¯t have an out, she might really kill him out of embarrassment.


    When the blonde girl heard Zhou Wen, she immediately stopped and pointed at the candy box in his pocket. Without any hesitation, she said, ¡°Tell me, where did you get your candy box from?¡±


    The blonde girl was just too inexperienced. She immediately revealed her goal.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he sized up the blonde girl. He seemed to realize something and blurted out, ¡°You are Sweetie, right?¡±


    ¡°How do you know¡­ I¡¯m not the beautiful and cute Sweetie¡­ You¡¯ve got the wrong person¡­¡± The blonde girl waved her hand in a hurry to draw a line.


    ¡°That¡¯s a pity. I picked up this candy box in Sweetie¡¯s Hut and thought that it should be Sweetie¡¯s. I kept thinking of returning it to the beautiful and cute Sweetie, but I couldn¡¯t find her¡­¡± Zhou Wen took out the candy box and held it in his hand.


    ¡°Which hut did you find it in?¡± Sweetie hurriedly asked.


    ¡°On a doll in the Chaos Hut.¡± Zhou Wen had already guessed that the blonde girl was most likely Sweetie.


    Thinking back to what the woman in the wooden hut had said, Zhou Wen roughly knew that the blonde girl was probably the terrifying existence the woman had mentioned.


    ¡°You¡¯re lying. How could my doll steal the candy box?¡± Sweetie said in disbelief.


    That terrifying doll is just her toy doll? What¡¯s the origin of this Sweetie? A dimensional zone like the Time Hut is actually named after her¡­ As Zhou Wen thought, he said, ¡°Why would I lie? You won¡¯t be able to verify it even if I randomly said that I picked it up from a table. Besides, if I didn¡¯t find it on a doll, how would I know that there was a doll?¡±


    Sweetie was stunned by the question. She thought carefully and realized that it was true.


    ¡°Give me the candy box,¡± said Sweetie.


    ¡°I can¡¯t give you the candy box,¡± Zhou Wen said as he retracted the candy box and shook his head.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you give it to me? It¡¯s not yours,¡± said Sweetie.


    ¡°It¡¯s not mine, but it¡¯s not yours either. This is the beautiful, kind, and cute Sweetie¡¯s candy box. I was in danger back in the Chaos Hut. I nearly fell into a hopeless situation. When I was about to give up, it was this candy box that gave me hope. It allowed me to have the courage to continue forging forward. Only then did I come out alive¡­ I have to personally return it to the gentle and kind Sweetie¡­ Even if you want to kill me, I won¡¯t give it to you.¡± Zhou Wen had been with Li Xuan and the antelope for a long time, so he had clearly been led astray by them.


    2


    Sweetie¡¯s face flushed red. Her oppressive aura seemed to dissipate instantly.


    ¡°Did you eat the lemon candy inside?¡± Sweetie pretended to be fine as she asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What lemon candy? I just got an empty box.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    That¡¯s strange. Although the lemon candy has the ability to break one¡¯s order in life, it should be useless for the doll¡­ Sweetie frowned in thought.


    She originally imagined that the candy box had been lost in the Past Hut, resulting in her inability to find it. It turned out to be in the Chaos Hut, and it was in the hands of her doll.


    It meant that things weren¡¯t as simple as just losing it.


    There was no reason why she couldn¡¯t find it in the Chaos Hut. There was only one possibility for not finding the candy box back then¡ªsomeone had hidden it.


    Back then, the only people in the Time Hut were her, Little Chrysanthemum, Yana, Spacetime Piglet, and the doll. Spacetime Piglet and the doll were Sweetie¡¯s toys. The lemon candy was useless to them.


    Little Chrysanthemum was a loyal servant. It was impossible for her to steal the candy box and lemon candy. Even if she wanted them, she only needed to ask. There was no need to steal them.


    ¡°It can¡¯t be Yana!¡± Although Sweetie thought of the most likely conclusion, she was unwilling to believe it.


    ¡°Is Yana a rather beautiful woman who can grow six wings¡­¡± Zhou Wen described Yana.


    ¡°Did you kill Yana?¡± Sweetie bit her lip and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°If the Yana you mentioned is that woman, I killed her,¡± Zhou Wen admitted readily.


    ¡°Why did you kill her?¡± Sweetie asked with a complicated expression.


    ¡°Because she¡¯s evil. If I didn¡¯t kill her, she would¡¯ve killed me,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.


    ¡°Why would she kill you?¡± Sweetie didn¡¯t believe that Yana was such a person.


    ¡°How would I know? She was completely unreasonable. She wanted me dead the moment we met. However, now that I think about it, it might have been because she knew that the candy box was with me and wanted to snatch it away..¡± Zhou Wen connected the dots, but he deliberately skipped on some of the details.

 Chapter 1354 - I Don’t Want To Eat It

    Chapter 1354: I Don¡¯t Want To Eat It


    Translator: CKtalon


    Sweetie was hesitant. She treated Yana as a friend, so it was unlikely that she would steal her candy box.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s sincere expression didn¡¯t seem like he was lying.


    ¡°If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll take my leave now. I¡¯m still in a hurry to find the gentle and beautiful Sweetie. I need to return the candy box to its rightful owner,¡± Zhou Wen said as he turned around and left.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Sweetie stopped Zhou Wen and walked towards him.


    Zhou Wen felt stifled, but he could only stop and ask Sweetie, ¡°Anything else?¡±


    ¡°If what you said is true, can you¡­¡± Sweetie extended her hand as though she wanted Zhou Wen to shake it.


    However, Sweetie seemed to realize something and quickly retracted her hand.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Sweetie in puzzlement, unsure what she meant.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Sweetie and I are good friends. In order to prevent you from secretly taking the candy box, I¡¯ve decided to follow you until we find Sweetie and return the candy box to its rightful owner.¡± Sweetie said it very naturally. She didn¡¯t realize that she seemed to be getting better at lying. Even her face didn¡¯t blush.


    ¡°But you are a ghost? How can you follow me?¡± Zhou Wen felt his head ache. If he really kept such a time bomb by his side, who knew when she would explode?


    ¡°Why not? Of course. From now on, I¡¯ll follow you closely. If I discover that you lied to me, I¡¯ll take you to hell with me,¡± Sweetie said, acting all fierce.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Since he couldn¡¯t beat her, he had to think of a way to let her leave on her own accord.


    Thankfully, Sweetie looked like a gullible girl. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to fool her.


    Zhou Wen turned around and continued on his way. With Sweetie¡¯s abilities, he didn¡¯t have much room to resist if she really wanted him dead. It was useless to be afraid, so he decided to do whatever he needed to do.


    Sweetie followed behind Zhou Wen. No matter how fast Zhou Wen was, be it instant transmission or Earth Escape, he couldn¡¯t shake her off. Every time he turned his head, he would see Sweetie standing silently behind him like a ghost.


    As Zhou Wen walked, he thought to himself, Sweetie said that the lemon candy has the effect of breaking one¡¯s order in life. I wonder what this order in life refers to? Is it the level? Will eating that thing advance me from the Mythical stage to the Terror grade?


    Zhou Wen had the urge to take out the lemon candy to give it a try, but with Sweetie by his side, taking it out now was equivalent to having a death wish. Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t do such a foolish thing.


    Sweetie followed Zhou Wen like a haunting ghost. She didn¡¯t say a word and just followed. Her thoughts were a mystery.


    Sweetie actually didn¡¯t believe Zhou Wen¡¯s words, but she couldn¡¯t find any evidence to prove that Zhou Wen was lying. Therefore, she thought of following Zhou Wen first. If he was lying, his flaws would show sooner or later.


    Previously, Sweetie had thought that if Zhou Wen had lied, he would immediately turn into gold the moment he touched her.


    However, when she thought of what Zhou Wen had done, Sweetie felt that even if he wasn¡¯t lying, he would definitely turn into gold if he touched her. Therefore, that method was useless to test him. Zhou Wen would turn into gold regardless.


    After arriving in a city, Zhou Wen planned on resting and getting some food.


    Of course, eating was secondary. The main reason was that he didn¡¯t dare take Sweetie back to Luoyang. He had to think through it.


    Zhou Wen walked on the streets for a while before choosing a dessert shop to enter. He also ordered some cake, cookies, and pizza.


    Sweetie caught a whiff of the sweet fragrance and her eyes widened. The corners of her mouth turned slightly moist.


    ¡°Do you want to eat anything? It¡¯s my treat¡­¡± Zhou Wen handed the dessert menu to Sweetie.


    Don¡¯t think that you can bribe me with just this¡­ Sweetie only said it in her heart without saying it out loud. The main reason was that she really didn¡¯t have any resistance towards desserts.


    ¡°Oh, right, you are a ghost. How can a ghost eat desserts? It¡¯s my fault for not being inconsiderate. When I pass by an incense shop, I¡¯ll buy you some paper money¡­¡± Sweetie was already about to reach out to take the dessert menu when Zhou Wen retracted it and placed it on the table before he began eating.


    Sweetie was immediately petrified. When she saw Zhou Wen swallow the adorable pudding, her heart ached so much that it almost bled.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Of course I won¡¯t eat these things¡­ Of course¡­ I won¡¯t¡­¡± As Sweetie spoke, the corners of her eyes and mouth twitched.


    Zhou Wen pretended not to see Sweetie staring intently at the desserts in front of him. He quickly finished all the desserts.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go settle the bill. Wait outside for me,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked over to make payment.


    Unable to eat despite wanting to, Sweetie felt that she was better off dead. All she wanted was to leave this place quickly and walk out without looking back.


    Soon, Zhou Wen walked out.


    Sweetie saw that Zhou Wen was holding a box in his hand. When she used her penetrative vision, she saw that it was a very beautiful mini cake. Although it was only a small piece, it was layered and looked very beautiful. It even emitted a rich milky fragrance.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you have your fill just now? Why did you get another piece as takeaway?¡± Sweetie wished she could stomp Zhou Wen in the face. Not only had he eaten that much, but he had even gotten takeaway while she couldn¡¯t even get a single bite.


    ¡°Oh, this piece was an extra. They forgot to serve it. When I made payment, I realized that I had ordered this. I¡¯m stuffed, so I could only do takeaway,¡± Zhou Wen said as he suddenly handed the bag to Sweetie.


    Sweetie was immediately delighted as she thought to herself, Is he giving it to me? Should I accept it? How can I accept something given to me by such a baddy¡­ However, it doesn¡¯t seem appropriate to reject the good intentions of others¡­


    ¡°Help me throw it away,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Sweetie¡¯s expression immediately darkened as she stared at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Isn¡¯t it a waste to throw away such nice dessert?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about it. I can¡¯t eat anymore. If you find it troublesome and don¡¯t wish to help me, I¡¯ll throw it away myself,¡± Zhou Wen said as he retracted his hand.


    However, Sweetie¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. She hurriedly reached out and snatched the bag over. As she turned around and walked to the side, she said, ¡°Let me help you. Don¡¯t throw it randomly. It won¡¯t be good if you dirty the streets.¡±


    As she spoke, Sweetie¡¯s figure drifted away and disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    After turning a corner, Sweetie sneaked a peek of Zhou Wen. Seeing that he wasn¡¯t paying attention to her and was walking forward slowly, she heaved a sigh of relief. She turned her head and leaned against the wall. She opened the box in the bag and raised the cake in front of her.


    It¡¯s not that I want to eat it, but it¡¯s a waste to throw it. It will also pollute the environment. I can only force myself for the better good¡­ Sweetie convinced herself. She puffed up her cheeks and bit off a large piece, filling up her cheeks. She was so happy that she was about to cry.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t turn his head as the corners of his mouth twitched.. He took out his phone and sent several messages.

 Chapter 1355 - Clear Answer

    ¡°I¡¯ve found myself ensnared by a terrifying creature that likes to eat desserts. Help me investigate which powerful mythical existence likes desserts. It should be a Mythical creature from the West District.¡± Zhou Wen sent the message out en masse.


    ¡°Old Zhou, good luck to you,¡± Li Xuan replied.


    ¡°I¡¯ll investigate now. Wait.¡± It was An Sheng.


    ¡°A terrifying creature that likes desserts. Why would a bastard like you be afraid?¡± Hui Haifeng teased.


    ¡°An hour.¡± Gu Dian¡¯s reply was somewhat reliable.


    ¡°Other than liking desserts, is there any other information?¡± Wang Lu also replied.


    ¡°Do you need my help?¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s answer was very direct.


    ¡°Where are you? I¡¯ll head over immediately.¡± Feng Qiuyan was very direct.


    ¡°Coach, wait for me.¡± Ming Xiu also sent a message.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen scanned the messages and didn¡¯t receive any useful answers. Clearly, no one knew of such a Mythical creature.


    Suddenly, a message popped up in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. When he saw the shimmering flower avatar, his heart skipped a beat.


    The person using the flower as an image was naturally The Thearch. Zhou Wen hurriedly opened the message to take a look.


    ¡°Is it a blonde girl?¡± Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed when he saw The Thearch¡¯s message. From the looks of it, The Thearch knew about Sweetie.


    ¡°Yes, do you know her origin?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly replied while Sweetie was still sampling the cake.


    ¡°Prepare your funeral as soon as possible. If there¡¯s anything you want to eat, do so quickly. If you have any unfulfilled wishes, well¡­ I reckon it¡¯ll be too late to fulfill them.¡± The Thearch¡¯s message left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    ¡°The Thearch, are you going to tell me that as long as we carry on with our previous deal, I¡¯ll be able to live?¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for any deal. What deal can you make with a dead person?¡± The Thearch quickly replied.


    Zhou Wen really felt that something was amiss. The Thearch didn¡¯t think of taking the opportunity to make a deal with him. It seemed a little serious.


    ¡°What¡¯s her background?¡± Zhou Wen asked directly.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t answer. Instead, she asked Zhou Wen a question. ¡°Are you a believer of any faith?¡±


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he saw this. He didn¡¯t know if his beliefs had anything to do with this matter, but he thought carefully and couldn¡¯t say for the moment if he had any.


    When it came to faith, he didn¡¯t believe in any religion, nor did he pray to gods. At most, he was a fair weather atheist who turned to god in a pinch.


    However, it was actually wrong to say that he had no faith. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t respect ghosts and gods, he had his own beliefs. He wasn¡¯t a complete atheist.


    ¡°That depends on what you mean by faith. If you mean a particular religion, I don¡¯t have any,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you don¡¯t have one,¡± The Thearch replied ambiguously, making Zhou Wen confused.


    Thankfully, The Thearch immediately sent another message. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t have any faith, you should have heard of the name God, right?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯ve heard of it. I just don¡¯t know which church the God you mentioned is from. According to what I know, the God of our East District refers to the God of Heaven. As for the God of the West District, he¡¯s the omniscient and omnipotent god.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he immediately sent another message. ¡°Could that blonde girl be related to God of the West District?¡±


    One had to know that God was the ruler of a pantheon¡ªa supreme existence.


    Tsukuyomi was only a demigod of a pantheon, but she was already that powerful. If the God of the West really existed, his strength was obvious. To be able to be related to him definitely made one an extremely terrifying existence.


    From the six-winged seraphim powers that Yana showed and Sweetie¡¯s appearance, it was not strange that they had something to do with God.


    ¡°It does have something to do with it.¡± The Thearch gave an affirmative answer.


    Zhou Wen thought carefully. With his meager knowledge of West District myths, the women related to God were likely angels.


    However, it was really difficult to say if angels were considered women. Although many angels were given the appearance of women, angels were actually genderless.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he immediately sent a message to The Thearch. ¡°Could it be that the blonde girl is Eve or her child?¡±


    He could only think of one woman, and she was the one that resulted in Original Sin.


    ¡°Your imagination is quite rich, but unfortunately, you guessed wrongly. I¡¯ll give you two more chances. Guess again.¡± The Thearch rejected Zhou Wen¡¯s guess.


    ¡°I¡¯m stumped. Could she be an angel?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    ¡°Sometimes, you are very smart, but sometimes, you are very stupid. Can¡¯t you see such an obvious answer?¡± The Thearch¡¯s message was filled with mockery.


    ¡°How can I tell? How is there an obvious answer?¡± Zhou Wen asked. His understanding of the West District myths was limited, so it was normal that he couldn¡¯t guess it.


    Beep! Beep! A message was immediately sent. Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that the message The Thearch had sent was a voice message.


    Zhou Wen clicked on the message and immediately heard a very charming female voice. Upon hearing this voice, it generated images of a charming and powerful mature lady in his mind, or a lofty queen sitting on a throne with crossed legs¡ªones wrapped in black stockings.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to appreciate the voice because the words left him stunned.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you her name, but you ignored it. What a fool.¡±


    The corners of Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes twitched as he stared intently at the phone screen. The Thearch had only mentioned one name¡ª¡±God.¡±


    ¡°Are you telling me that God is a blonde girl? And she especially likes desserts?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe it at all.


    ¡°Otherwise?¡± The Thearch mocked.


    Although I don¡¯t know much about West District¡¯s God, I also know that God is a trinity. Holy Father, Holy Son, and Holy Spirit, there¡¯s no Holy Lady. How can God be a girl? Zhou Wen felt that The Thearch was probably bluffing him.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you believe me or not. As you are doomed, enjoy whatever¡¯s left of your life. Also, I¡¯ll give you a friendly reminder. Under no circumstances are you to touch her.¡± After The Thearch said that, she went offline and her avatar dimmed.


    God is a blonde girl who likes desserts? Zhou Wen found it a little unreal. No matter how he looked at it, Sweetie didn¡¯t look like God.


    If God is really a naive blonde girl, wouldn¡¯t this world be in chaos? Zhou Wen thought.

 Chapter 1356 - Terrifying Sweetie

    Chapter 1356: Terrifying Sweetie


    Translator: CKtalon


    Just as Zhou Wen was ruminating over the problem, Sweetie walked over from afar. She wore a guilty expression, and he could even see tiny breadcrumbs staining the corner of her mouth.


    Seeing Zhou Wen look at the corner of her mouth, Sweetie seemed to realize something. She reached out and quickly wiped the corner of her mouth as she said, ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡±


    ¡°Nothing. I just found you a little familiar all of a sudden.¡± Zhou Wen compared Sweetie¡¯s appearance to the legendary God and really couldn¡¯t find any similarities between the two.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you before,¡± Sweetie said immediately.


    ¡°Mm, that¡¯s alright. It¡¯s time for us to continue on our way.¡± Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions.


    According to The Thearch, as long as he touched Sweetie, there was almost no chance of survival. If he accidentally touched her along the way, wouldn¡¯t he be doomed?


    Thinking of the golden statues that had strangely appeared in the capital, Zhou Wen had already guessed what had happened.


    The most terrifying thing was that if he took Sweetie back, it would be even more troublesome if the people around him touched her.


    No, I can¡¯t return to Luoyang before resolving this problem. Zhou Wen frowned as he thought to himself. But if I don¡¯t return to Luoyang, where can I go? With Sweetie around, it¡¯s not safe for me to go anywhere¡­ Wait¡­


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he thought to himself, The Thearch described Sweetie so well. She seems to be afraid of her. What will happen if I take Sweetie to Chess Mountain?


    He couldn¡¯t suppress this thought in his mind once he had it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how powerful The Thearch was, nor did he know how powerful Sweetie was. He couldn¡¯t predict what would happen if the two of them met.


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, he turned to look at Sweetie with mixed feelings.


    Sweetie felt a little nervous. She thought that her mouth was still stained with breadcrumbs, so she hurriedly wiped it again. She deliberately turned to Zhou Wen¡¯s other side and avoided his gaze.


    Zhou Wen hesitated when he saw Sweetie¡¯s expression.


    Sweetie really didn¡¯t look like God. She was clearly a little girl.


    I¡¯ll figure out if she¡¯s God first. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment and didn¡¯t immediately head for Chess Mountain.


    ¡°By the way, I still don¡¯t know your name?¡± Zhou Wen deliberately asked.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Sweetie said before pausing. Although her disguise was full of flaws, she didn¡¯t think so herself. She believed that she couldn¡¯t say that she was Sweetie. Furthermore, she wasn¡¯t good at lying. She couldn¡¯t think of an answer and was stunned.


    ¡°I know your name,¡± Zhou Wen suddenly said when she didn¡¯t answer.


    ¡°What do you know?¡± Sweetie jumped in fright as she looked at Zhou Wen nervously.


    ¡°You¡¯re so cute and beautiful like an angel, so your name must be related to an angel, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Sweetie immediately heaved a sigh of relief and said with a smile, ¡°Angels aren¡¯t cute. They have cold faces like puppets¡­ Not entirely¡­ A few of them are rather interesting¡­¡±


    ¡°Which ones?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking, his heart sinking.


    Angels were usually considered apostles of God. The more Sweetie knew about angels, the higher the possibility of her being God.


    ¡°Lu¡­¡± Sweetie had just said a syllable when she suddenly became alarmed. She glared at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Why should I tell you?¡±


    ¡°Just a casual chat. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t want to say. However, aren¡¯t you a ghost? How do you know about angels? Ghosts and angels are natural enemies, right?¡± Zhou Wen deliberately asked.


    ¡°Can¡¯t I have heard stories about them?¡± Sweetie didn¡¯t know how to lie, but she couldn¡¯t tell the truth either. She shouted angrily out of embarrassment.


    Zhou Wen smiled and didn¡¯t say anything else. He kept walking and stopping along the way. It didn¡¯t seem like he was traveling, but like he was having a holiday.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like these. Help me throw them away.¡± Every time they ate, Sweetie could only watch from the side. After eating, he would give her some of her favorite food.


    It was easy to see through Sweetie. Everything she liked and disliked was written all over her face.


    ¡°It¡¯s such a waste. You will go to hell for that.¡± Although Sweetie said that, she was secretly delighted. Thankfully, he¡¯s such a wasteful person.


    Every time Sweetie secretly hid to eat, Zhou Wen would receive a message.


    Up to now, no one had found any western mythical figures who liked to eat desserts. There were a few demons, but they weren¡¯t at the required levels. It was naturally impossible for them to be Sweetie¡¯s true identity.


    ¡°Young Master, the matter with the Heavenly Robe has been settled. In a few days, it will be time to take action.¡± An Sheng sent a message.


    ¡°Can you wait a little longer?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take Sweetie back to Luoyang.


    ¡°This matter has already been set in motion. It won¡¯t be easy to stop. I can only give it a try to stall for a few more days,¡± An Sheng replied.


    ¡°Alright, try your best to stall for a few days and maintain contact. If you really can¡¯t stall any longer, tell me.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that such matters couldn¡¯t be stopped just like that.


    After discussing with An Sheng for a while, Zhou Wen sent messages while paying attention to Sweetie.


    Although he couldn¡¯t precisely sense Sweetie¡¯s location, he could determine where she was and what she was doing through the changes in his surroundings.


    After all, anyone who saw such a beautiful blonde girl would take a few more glances, allowing Zhou Wen to determine what Sweetie was doing.


    A youth¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw Sweetie by the side of the road. He walked to her and said, ¡°Why is such a beautiful girl squatting by the side and eating alone? Are you homeless? Follow me. I guarantee that you won¡¯t have to worry about food and clothes.¡±


    Sweetie ignored him and turned to leave.


    When the youth saw that he had been ignored, he was immediately infuriated. He reached out and grabbed Sweetie¡¯s shoulder. At the same time, he said coldly, ¡°Who let you leave? In West Song City, no one dares to not give me, Ximen Leng¡­¡±


    As he spoke, his fingers had already touched the clothes on Sweetie¡¯s shoulder. A golden light immediately lit up at his fingertips like a lit match.


    Almost instantly, the youth¡¯s body turned into gold amidst the golden light. He still maintained the stance of extending his hand and speaking.


    Zhou Wen stared at this scene and felt his heart turn cold. Although he had already guessed it, he was still extremely shocked to see it with his own eyes.


    Ximen Leng was likely at the Mythical stage after using the Mythical Serum. He was considered a top-notch expert among humans, but just by touching Sweetie¡¯s clothes, he turned into gold.


    Now, Zhou Wen was very glad that he hadn¡¯t touched Sweetie before.

 Chapter 1357 - Soul Mirror

    Chapter 1357: Soul Mirror


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had second thoughts and felt that Sweetie being so strong wasn¡¯t necessarily a bad thing for him.


    Sweetie definitely doesn¡¯t want me dead now that she wants to figure out the story behind the candy box and lemon candy. Should I take her around those terrifying dimensional zones? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Whether he died or not was a matter of the future. With God by his side, it didn¡¯t seem right not to carry out some exploitation.


    However, where he went was something worth considering.


    If he went to Chess Mountain, the risk was still too high. The Thearch knew who Sweetie was. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to control her. He might even have things backfire.


    To the Fiend Tomb? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he should skip it.


    It wasn¡¯t that easy to deal with Drought Demon Fairy. More importantly, Drought Demon Fairy was a Guardian. There was no benefit in killing her.


    I have to think of a way to kill a Calamity-grade dimensional creature with Sweetie. If a Companion Egg drops or something, I¡¯ll make a killing. Just as Zhou Wen was pondering about it, he suddenly felt the mysterious phone vibrate. He took it out and realized that the fruit produced by the Dead Man Tree after absorbing Unkilling Dugu had ripened.


    A golden beam tore through the fruit and fused into the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen opened the blood-colored avatar¡¯s Companion Beast window and saw a new Companion Beast.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that the Companion Beasts that the Dead Man Tree transformed into after the absorption were related to their owners when they were alive.


    However, the Companion Beast transformed by Unkilling Dugu wasn¡¯t in the form of a human. It had nothing to do with humans.


    It was a golden mirror. The mirror was oval in shape, and there were hollowed flower patterns on the edge. Its entire body was like colored glass made of gold.


    However, the mirror may look smooth, one would realize that although it was flat, it had the feeling of a multi-faceted surface like a diamond. It seemed to have been cut from different angles.


    When one stood in front of the mirror, the figure inside appeared disjointed and distorted. It was impossible to tell that it was a person.


    Soul Mirror: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Soul-Washing Divine Light


    Companion Form: Mirror


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he was delighted. Although he didn¡¯t know what abilities the Soul Mirror had after obtaining a Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny. He didn¡¯t know if they were very strong, just the Soul-Washing Divine Light was worth nurturing.


    Zhou Wen had previously heard from Unkilling Dugu that this skill was an ability that could directly attack the soul and cleanse human souls.


    The so-called cleansing wasn¡¯t to purify the heart and make people change for the better. It was to wash away memories and make them forget the past.


    There was an even higher level Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. It was an ability that could completely eliminate one¡¯s soul. If one was hit by the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, they would either become an idiot or a vegetable.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any extravagant hopes of obtaining the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. Just the Soul-Washing Divine Light was enough.


    This skill was already powerful enough. An archenemy would suddenly have his memories wiped after using the Soul-Washing Divine Light. When the time came, it might even fool the opponent into thinking that he was one¡¯s son. How sick was this skill? It was practically a brainwashing skill.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and glanced at Sweetie. It would be great if he could brainwash her. He could make her forget about avenging Yana, and all the problems would be resolved.


    Of course, Zhou Wen knew very well that it was impossible.


    Now, the Soul-Washing Divine Light was still at the Mortal stage. It was probably not of much use. Even if it could advance to the Terror grade, it was still unknown if it could be effective against a big shot like Sweetie.


    However, that spelled some hope. It might be useful if he slowly raised its level in the future.


    The Evil Spirit King he had previously reared had only reached the Mythical stage. He hadn¡¯t found a way to advance it to the Terror grade.


    Evil Spirit King: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Spirit Thought Body


    Life Soul: Evil Spirit King


    Wheel of Destiny: Evil King¡¯s Kill


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Spirit Devouring (Inferior)


    Companion Form: Soul


    Spirit Devouring had helped the Evil Spirit King plunder many Essence Energy Skills from other dimensional creatures. The Evil Spirit King had more Essence Energy Skills than Zhou Wen, making him an all-round fighter.


    Unfortunately, his level was a little low. The Mythical stage wasn¡¯t very useful for the present Zhou Wen. If he could advance to the Terror grade, he would become an extremely powerful addition to Zhou Wen¡¯s combat strength.


    As it had absorbed all sorts of different skills, the Evil Spirit King could almost deal with most situations.


    The Spirit Thought Body Life Providence had also allowed the Evil Spirit King to enter a Spirit Thought Body state. Typical attacks were useless against the Evil Spirit King in its Spirit Thought Body state.


    Only psyche or soul-type attacks could injure the Evil Spirit King in its Spirit Thought Body form.


    The Life Soul, Evil Spirit King, was an extremely powerful self-strengthening ability. It was equivalent to entering a super state.


    2


    Under the super Evil Spirit King state, not only would its various stats increase, but the Evil Spirit King¡¯s Spirit Devouring Skill could even devour creatures that exceeded its level and plunder the skills of high-level creatures.


    However, the success rate wasn¡¯t high. Zhou Wen had previously attempted to beat a Terror-grade creature to its last breath and let the Evil Spirit King absorb it, but after dozens of attempts, he only succeeded in absorbing the Precision Shooting of the Terror-grade Golden Battle God.


    The Evil Spirit King didn¡¯t have a gun. What was the use of Precision Shooting?


    1


    From then on, Zhou Wen lost his enthusiasm. He let it absorb skills if there was a chance. It was fine if there wasn¡¯t a chance, nor did he deliberately let him absorb all sorts of higher-level skills.


    I wonder what Companion Beast that metal flower will give birth to? Zhou Wen was rather expectant of the metal flower. After all, it was the first creature to be absorbed. It was a creature other than humans.


    Unfortunately, the metal flower¡¯s fruit had only just appeared. It looked like there was still some time before it ripened.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, his phone suddenly rang. This time, it wasn¡¯t a message, but a phone call.


    He picked up his phone and took a look. He realized that it was An Sheng. Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. If it wasn¡¯t urgent, An Sheng wouldn¡¯t call him, knowing that Sweetie was very likely beside him.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen asked directly after the call connected. He was still thinking, Did something happen with the sale of the Heavenly Robe?


    ¡°Young Master, there¡¯s trouble. Our Luoyang seems to be producing a Calamity-grade creature¡­¡± An Sheng said with a bitter smile.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. Then, his expression changed drastically as he said, ¡°I¡¯ll rush back immediately. How¡¯s the situation now?¡±


    Zhou Wen knew very well what it meant for a Calamity-grade creature to appear. It would bring about a large-scale calamity. It was impossible for an ordinary person to withstand such a calamity. It was very likely that it would cause a large number of casualties. If things weren¡¯t handled properly, the entire Luoyang would become a dead city.. It was no longer up to him to delay his return.

 Chapter 1358 - Military Disaster

    The situation wasn¡¯t as bad as Zhou Wen imagined. This was because Luoyang¡¯s defenses and emergency response were very well-planned. Furthermore, it was only the precursor to a calamity. The true Calamity hadn¡¯t descended, so the losses weren¡¯t too great.


    Some ordinary citizens had been injured, although the number of deaths was still within single digits. This was also thanks to the rapid deployment of the Sunset Army.


    The precursor to the Calamity didn¡¯t come from Dragon Gate Grotto, but from Luoyang City itself.


    Recently, ancient soldiers had often appeared in the ancient city ruins. At first, people thought that they had broken out from one of the dimensional zones.


    It was later discovered that the ancient soldiers had crawled out from beneath the ancient city like ghosts. Their ever-increasing numbers made people realize that something was amiss.


    After An Sheng, Qin Wufu, and company¡¯s investigations, they confirmed that it was a sign that a Calamity-grade creature was about to appear.


    However, up to now, they had yet to determine what kind of Calamity creature would appear. They didn¡¯t know which dimensional zone it was from.


    Luoyang had been known as the Ancient Capital for thirteen generations. There were multiple ancient cities in the underground ruins. No one knew how many soldiers and imperial generals were buried there.


    The spectral soldiers that appeared all wore different clothes. They came from all ages. It was difficult to determine who had triggered their appearance.


    Logically speaking, no matter how powerful the emperors and generals in ancient times were, they only had powers of the human world. They weren¡¯t even Mythical, much less Calamity.


    However, everything indicated that a Calamity-grade creature related to ancient soldiers was about to appear.


    An Sheng and company perused through historical data, but they didn¡¯t find out who the Calamity-grade existence was.


    This was because the spectral soldiers that appeared hadn¡¯t reached a very high level. Some spectral generals were only at the Epic stage. Occasionally, a Mythical general would appear. The Sunset Army could still keep the situation under control, but as time passed, under the influence of the Calamity-grade creature, the spectral soldiers and generals¡¯ levels would become higher and higher until the Calamity grade appeared and formed a terrifying military disaster. When that happened, it would probably be difficult to defend Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident that he could defeat a Calamity-grade, but when he thought of Sweetie beside him, he felt that there was still a chance.


    Even God is by my side. I don¡¯t believe that I can¡¯t deal with a mere Calamity. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue wandering around as he headed straight for Luoyang with Sweetie. He couldn¡¯t be bothered anymore.


    Sweetie had been following Zhou Wen all this time, hoping to discover his flaws and find the truth about the candy box, so she naturally didn¡¯t give up.


    Before Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, he saw a group of armored soldiers with spears wandering in the forest.


    The soldiers¡¯ armor was tattered and their bodies looked like zombies. They were ugly with many rotting spots.


    However, they weren¡¯t as stiff as zombies. Not only were they able to move freely, but they were also very agile.


    When the soldiers saw Zhou Wen, they immediately charged forward. Zhou Wen slapped them in the air, immediately dismembering them and causing their flesh to fall to the ground.


    However, one of the ancient soldiers, who had his lower body severed and only had its upper body left, was still crawling towards Zhou Wen with both hands. It looked extremely strange.


    Zhou Wen struck again and blasted the ancient soldier¡¯s body apart before killing him.


    This place is still dozens of kilometers away from Luoyang City. Even soldiers have appeared here. From the looks of it, the Calamity is approaching. Zhou Wen continued towards Luoyang City.


    Along the way, he saw more and more ancient soldiers. When the numbers increased to the point of him not being able to quickly dispatch them, Zhou Wen decided to ignore them and continuously instant transmitted towards the city.


    The vicinity of Luoyang had turned into an ancient battlefield. There were ancient soldiers everywhere. The closer they were to the city, the more ancient soldiers there were.


    Zhou Wen saw from afar that the Sunset Army was relying on defensive fortifications to engage the soldiers in an intense battle. Gunshots sounded incessantly.


    The bullets made of Essence Gold constantly shot into the ancient soldiers¡¯ bodies, but the ancient soldiers continued charging at them crazily. Many bullets were needed to knock them to the ground.


    Even if their heads exploded, the headless ancient soldiers would still charge over crazily.


    The best way to kill them was to penetrate their hearts. As long as their hearts exploded, the ancient soldiers would fall to the ground and never get up again.


    However, the ancient soldiers weren¡¯t slow. It wasn¡¯t easy to strike the heart.


    Bullets whistled through the air and shells exploded from time to time. There were also Companion Beasts that charged into the battlefield and fought the ancient soldiers under the command of their owners. Although there weren¡¯t any human casualties, it was already rather tragic.


    From time to time, Companion Beasts would fall from their injuries or be summoned back by their owners.


    Sweetie followed Zhou Wen and couldn¡¯t help but frown when she saw this scene. She seemed extremely uncomfortable.


    Zhou Wen returned to Overseer Manor. An Sheng was already waiting for him at the entrance, so he asked, ¡°Ah Sheng, have you found the source of the Calamity-grade existence?¡±


    An Sheng shook his head. ¡°As we can¡¯t find out which Calamity-grade creature it is, it¡¯s very difficult to determine which dimensional zone it¡¯s coming from. All we know now is that it¡¯s definitely a dimensional zone in the dungeon. Deputy Governor Qin and I studied it and found four dimensional zones in the dungeon to be the most suspicious. We¡¯ve already sent investigators out. We¡¯re hoping for good news.¡±


    The two of them chatted as they walked. Zhou Wen naturally knew that it was best to nip a Calamity-grade creature in the bud. If they didn¡¯t allow it to appear, the damage it caused would naturally be minimized.


    However, now that they didn¡¯t even know which dimensional zone it came from, they clearly couldn¡¯t count on this plan. The Sunset Army was actually already prepared to deal with the Calamity.


    The only thing he was afraid of was that the Calamity creature would stay on Earth for too long. If they couldn¡¯t hold out until it left Earth, Luoyang would be doomed.


    Some even suggested that they temporarily evacuate Luoyang.


    It may be easy for the Sunset Army and Zhou Wen to evacuate, but it wasn¡¯t easy to evacuate the ordinary citizens.


    It wasn¡¯t that they couldn¡¯t leave, but how could ordinary citizens survive outside without the city¡¯s protection?


    Now that there were break-out creatures everywhere outside, ordinary citizens had no chance of survival. Furthermore, the military couldn¡¯t safely evacuate so many citizens.


    ¡°There¡¯s another thorny problem. Due to the Calamity, we have no choice but to distribute our manpower. The Overseer Manor¡¯s defense is much weaker. The fellows who wanted to get your help previously are now stirring. The Overseer Manor isn¡¯t safe anymore.¡± An Sheng¡¯s eyes were terrifyingly cold.

 Chapter 1359 - Capital of the Gods

    Chapter 1359: Capital of the Gods


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t problems. Tell me, which are the four possible dimensional zones?¡± Zhou Wen knew a little about the dungeon, but because there were too many dimensional zones there, he couldn¡¯t guess which was a viable candidate.


    An Sheng said, ¡°After a discussion between a few mythical scholars and historians, we believe that there are four dimensional zones which are most likely. The first is Luoyi City. This city is deep in the underground dungeon. Up to now, we haven¡¯t been able to completely explore it. The area that humans have explored is only its periphery.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°King Wu¡¯s expedition against Zhou. After King Wu destroyed the Shang dynasty, he established a city here named Luoyi. In West Zhou, a one-country, two-capital system was enacted. Luoyi City had a total of ten emperors for West Zhou, while East Zhou had twenty-five emperors. That era was the period closest to the Mythical era. If there¡¯s an emperor or general in the human world that can trigger a calamity, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s only from that era.¡±


    An Sheng nodded. ¡°That¡¯s what we thought too. The second dimensional zone is called Yang City. It¡¯s the lowest-level dimensional zone in the known dungeon. Legend has it that the founding monarch of the Xia Dynasty, Yu the Great, settled in Luoyang City. Back then, it was called Yang City. However, we have all heard of the legend of Yu the Great¡¯s controlling of waters. It happened around the end of the Mythical era. No one has been able to enter Yang City to date. It¡¯s also a suspicious candidate.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. It was the dungeon at the bottom. Now that there were ancient soldiers from all dynasties, this meant that every part of the dungeon was affected. The lower dimensional zones were a greater suspicion.


    ¡°The third dimensional zone is called the Capital of the Gods. During the reign of the only empress in history, she changed the name of Luoyang to Capital of the Gods. It¡¯s also the only place with the official name, Capital of the Gods, in history. It has the meaning of being the capital under the heavens.¡± An Sheng stopped here, but he didn¡¯t explain why the historian and the theologian had listed it as a candidate.


    After a pause, An Sheng continued, ¡°We were very suspicious of the fourth dimensional zone, but the people who went to investigate have already returned. It¡¯s rather stable. It shouldn¡¯t be the birthplace of the Calamity.¡±


    ¡°In that case, the most likely place is Luoyi City, Yang City, or the Capital of the Gods?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°The people we sent to the three places to investigate haven¡¯t returned. There¡¯s been no news,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°You¡¯ll guard Luoyang. I¡¯ll visit the three dungeons,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t¡­ There¡¯s very little information about those three dimensional zones to begin with¡­ In this situation¡­ I won¡¯t be able to answer Madam Lan and Uncle Zhou¡­ if anything happens¡­¡± An Sheng stopped him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll be fine. Give me your hand,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng.


    ¡°What for?¡± An Sheng extended his hand in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and pressed it on An Sheng¡¯s palm. Immediately, golden streams of light entered An Sheng¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Golden Battle Gods¡­ Five of them¡­ Young Master, what are you doing?¡± An Sheng asked Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°Luoyang must hold before I return. This is just a precaution.¡± Having failed to obtain the last Golden Battle God, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t fuse them. He didn¡¯t usually use such Companion Beasts to begin with, so he temporarily gave them to An Sheng to protect himself.


    If something really happened, An Sheng would have the ability to adapt and handle the situation with five Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods in hand.


    ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t worry. As long as I¡¯m still around, I won¡¯t let anyone trample over Luoyang,¡± An Sheng said solemnly.


    ¡°I¡¯m not An Tianzuo. Why are you telling me this? Don¡¯t force things. If things go south, run. Take Sis Lan and my father with you. Luoyang isn¡¯t that important to me,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Okay, I understand.¡± An Sheng nodded.


    Time was of the essence. They had to figure out the origins of the Calamity creature as soon as possible to make targeted preparations. Only then could they stand a chance of surviving the calamity.


    Zhou Wen left Overseer Manor with Sweetie and took a detour to the dungeon.


    ¡­


    In a yard outside Luoyang City, Hermit was leisurely drinking tea.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already checked. As you said, the origin of the Calamity is the Capital of the Gods,¡± Cave Era said with a look of delight when she returned.


    Hermit smiled and said, ¡°Speaking of which, it was all thanks to luck. Back then, I accidentally entered the Capital of the Gods and saw something unbelievable. I had an inkling that something had happened in the Capital of the Gods recently, but I never really expected it to be the case.¡±


    Cave Era said, ¡°With the information we have on hand, it won¡¯t be difficult for us to make a deal with the An family or Zhou Wen. This information is enough for the An family to survive the calamity. I believe they will be tempted.¡±


    ¡°So what if I make a deal with them? Can we get that Heavenly Robe? If the An family is destroyed, won¡¯t the effect be better than obtaining the Heavenly Robe?¡± Hermit¡¯s eyes shimmered with a strange glint.


    Cave Era was slightly taken aback as she looked at Hermit and said, ¡°Even if the information is accurate, it will at most deal a heavy blow to Luoyang. It probably won¡¯t be that easy to destroy the An family and Sunset College¡¯s Leng Zongzheng, right?¡±


    ¡°What if we secretly give it a push?¡± Hermit said with narrowed eyes.


    Cave Era fell into deep thought as she considered the feasibility of this matter.


    ¡°Think about it. As long as the An family falls, we don¡¯t have to worry about the threat of that cannon. We can also finish off troublesome fellows like Leng Zongzheng and Zhou Wen. Furthermore, we don¡¯t have to do all of this ourselves. All we need to do is secretly push for it to happen. Is there a better chance than this? It¡¯s not too much to say that it¡¯s a rare opportunity,¡± Hermit persuaded.


    To guide a Calamity-grade creature to destroy Luoyang, he still needed to use the temporal powers of Cave Era.


    ¡°Are you confident?¡± Cave Era was somewhat tempted.


    ¡°I need your help. I also need another person.¡± Hermit seemed to have thought it through.


    ¡°Who?¡± Cave Era was somewhat curious. If it was a member of the League of Guardians, Hermit would have directly taken the person with him. From his tone, he wasn¡¯t a member of the League of Guardians.


    ¡°The Special Investigation Bureau¡¯s director-general,¡± Hermit said.


    Cave Era was slightly taken aback. ¡°Wei Ge? He¡¯s only at the Epic stage. The Guardian he contracted is only at the Mythical stage, and one that was teleported over using the Skysplit Tower. What can he do that the members of our League of Guardians can¡¯t?¡±


    Hermit explained, ¡°Wei Ge is a very utilitarian person. He has been unscrupulous in his climb up the ranks. In the past few years, our League of Guardians has been able to firmly control the Federation¡¯s Senate. This person¡¯s ruthlessness was indispensable. Furthermore, he has one ability that others don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°What ability?¡± Cave Era was somewhat puzzled. She didn¡¯t remember what special abilities the Guardian that Wei Ge had contracted had. It was only a very ordinary fire-elemental Guardian. Back then, the fire-elemental Guardian had been given to him by the League of Guardians to win Wei Ge over.. Cave Era knew very well what abilities it had.

 Chapter 1360 - The Monarch Bee of People

    ¡°He knows how to use people,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°How so?¡± Cave Era knew that using people sounded simple, but it depended on how they were used and who was used.


    ¡°He has a nickname, Monarch Bee. Do you know what that nickname means?¡± Hermit asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t his intelligence network as dense as a bee¡¯s hive?¡± Cave Era had also heard of Wei Ge¡¯s nickname.


    ¡°That¡¯s only a part of it. In fact, the reason he has the nickname of Monarch Bee wasn¡¯t because of his intelligence network, but because of his ability to control his subordinates.¡± Hermit looked at a honey bee that flew into flower shrubs at the corner of the yard and said meaningfully, ¡°With the existence of the Monarch Bee, all the bees will offer everything they have to the Monarch Bee. They will not betray him even if they die.¡±


    Cave Era traced Hermit¡¯s gaze and looked at the bee. For some reason, she felt a chill.


    There was only one queen bee in a hive. Be it the soldier or worker bees, they only served the queen bee. They were willing to give up everything, even their lives. They didn¡¯t have a life of their own at all, as though they were born to serve the queen bee.


    However, humans weren¡¯t bees. They had their own desires and selfishness, but for there to be people who treated Wei Ge as a monarch bee, just the thought of it made one¡¯s heart turn cold. It was difficult to imagine what methods Wei Ge had employed to make his subordinates offer up so much that it seemed against humanity.


    ¡°Before Wei Ge, there were many spies for the various families in the bureau, but ever since Wei Ge became director-general, the spies of the various families came under his employ. The entire bureau slowly became Wei Ge¡¯s hive.¡± Hermit¡¯s words were filled with admiration.


    ¡°How did he do it?¡± Cave Era hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the bureau.


    From her point of view, the bureau was just a tool. Just like a police hound, they could be replaced.


    However, after hearing Hermit¡¯s words, Cave Era felt for the first time that Director-General Wei was really a capable fellow.


    A fellow who had only contracted a Mythical Guardian was actually able to firmly hold the bureau in his grasp. Even the six families, who had treated the bureau as their eyes and ears, could no longer extend their tentacles into the bureau. This wasn¡¯t something an ordinary person could do.


    ¡°That¡¯s because everyone has a weakness and has something they are afraid of. No one is better at using others¡¯ weaknesses than Wei Ge. If there¡¯s really a devil in this world, Wei Ge will definitely be the most vicious one.¡±


    Hermit continued, ¡°Previously, Lord Immortal gave Wei Ge two choices. One was to contract the Terror-grade Guardian, Ice Demon, while the other was to contract the Mythical Balrog. Although Ice Demon was at the Terror grade, that was the limit to his potential. He couldn¡¯t advance any further. As for Balrog, although it was only at the Mythical stage, there was a possibility of advancing further. The Terror grade isn¡¯t the end. Although the chances of advancing are very low, Wei Ge still chose to contract Balrog. From this, one can tell how ambitious this person is.


    ¡°Unfortunately, he still fell into Lord Immortal¡¯s scheme. Balrog does have a possibility of advancing further, but he has a flaw that¡¯s not considered a flaw. Ignoring advancing to the Calamity grade, even advancing to the Terror grade is extremely difficult. It¡¯s almost impossible for him to advance to the Terror grade on Earth. That¡¯s also the reason Wei Ge¡¯s Balrog hasn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade yet.¡±


    Cave Era nodded. ¡°I know about that. Lord Immortal felt that this person was too vicious and was afraid that he would have ulterior motives, so he used such a blatant scheme. Wei Ge naturally knows that it won¡¯t be easy for Balrog to advance to the Calamity grade, but his greed made him make such a choice. It¡¯s not anyone¡¯s fault.¡±


    ¡°Wei Ge hasn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade, but some of his subordinates have already obtained Terror-grade Guardians. There are even some who advanced to the Terror grade through the Mythical Serum. However, the director-general of the bureau is still Wei Ge, not the Terror-grade ones whose strength is above him. What do you think?¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°This person really can¡¯t be underestimated.¡± Cave Era agreed with Hermit.


    ¡°To lure a Calamity-grade creature to appear and destroy Luoyang, I need the help of a Terror-grade from the bureau. And that person only obeys Wei Ge¡¯s orders, so I need Wei Ge. Of course, he doesn¡¯t only have one subordinate. And we also need some cannon fodder. If we use them as cannon fodder, there¡¯s no need to use our own people. Isn¡¯t it better to use the people from the bureau?¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Would a person like him be willing to do something so damaging to himself?¡± Cave Era frowned.


    ¡°A person like him would sacrifice everything for himself. If I tell him that I can help him advance Balrog to the Terror grade, he would probably even sell his father to me, much less his subordinates,¡± Hermit said with a smile.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, Wei Ge also came from Sunset College. Aren¡¯t you afraid that there¡¯s something wrong with him?¡± Cave Era asked.


    ¡°Over the past few years, this Director-General Wei¡¯s hands have been stained with the blood of the Sunset Army. He was the one who personally wiped out the An family¡¯s intelligence network in Holy City. The An family hates him to the core. Of course, it¡¯s not just the An family. In fact, other than our League of Guardians, the six families and many wealthy families wish to rip him to pieces. He has no way out and can only be our dog,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°In that case, call him over.¡± Cave Era nodded slightly. In fact, although she wasn¡¯t in charge of such matters, she had heard of Director Wei¡¯s style of doing things. She didn¡¯t find it problematic.


    ¡°He won¡¯t work for us so easily. I still have to make a trip personally and let him see hope.¡± As Hermit spoke, he stood up and extended his hand to suck the bee into his palm. He crushed it to dust and scattered it in the wind.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen rushed to the dungeon with Sweetie. However, there were too many dungeons, and not all the entrances were in one place. After some thought, he decided to visit Luoyi City.


    It was the dimensional zone that was closest to the Mythical era period-wise. If there was no problem there, he could head to the nearest Yang City.


    As for the Capital of the Gods, there didn¡¯t seem to be any existences that could become Calamity-grade existences in that era. As for the First Empress, she probably hadn¡¯t reached that level.


    Luoyi City was ancient and eerie, like the Shinra Temple in hell. Zhou Wen had never been here before. He had only heard from An Sheng that many humans who had come here to explore had failed to return alive.


    Those who fortunately escaped only saw the periphery of the city. They said that there was a terrifying, invisible force in the city that killed many of their companions.


    Now that he thought about it, it was definitely an existence above the Terror grade, but he didn¡¯t know what level it was.


    However, with Sweetie by his side, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of a Calamity-grade creature. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have rashly come here.


    When he was outside the city gates, Zhou Wen first searched to see if there was a tiny palm symbol that allowed him to download the dungeon. However, after circling the area, he didn¡¯t find one.


    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± Sweetie asked in puzzlement when she saw Zhou Wen wandering around the city gates without entering.

 Chapter 1361 - Lady in the City

    Chapter 1361: Lady in the City


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°To see if there are any baddies,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you a baddie?¡± Sweetie looked at Zhou Wen and asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°To see if there¡¯s anyone worse than me,¡± Zhou Wen explained casually before walking towards the gates of Luoyi City.


    ¡°Probably not,¡± Sweetie muttered.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word. When he looked up at the city gates, he suddenly saw a woman standing on them. The woman was staring at him expressionlessly. She looked extremely beautiful, but her coldness was terrifying.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had just looked at the city gates moments ago and hadn¡¯t discovered anyone. Now that a woman had suddenly appeared, he couldn¡¯t help but focus his gaze on her.


    However, he realized that the woman standing on the city gate had vanished. Zhou Wen thought he was seeing things.


    He rubbed his eyes and took a closer look. There was indeed nothing on the city gates.


    ¡°Did you see a person?¡± Zhou Wen asked Sweetie.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see a person,¡± Sweetie answered.


    Could it be that I was seeing things? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he heard Sweetie continue, ¡°I only saw a beautiful dimensional creature.¡±


    The corners of Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes twitched as he held back the urge to lash out at her. ¡°That dimensional creature looks like a woman and is wearing strange clothes¡­¡±


    After Sweetie listened attentively, she nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s her. You saw her too. Why are you asking me?¡±


    ¡°Did you see where she went?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°She went down the city gate from that spot,¡± Sweetie answered.


    That woman¡¯s speed is so fast that I can¡¯t see her trajectory. Could she be a Calamity? Zhou Wen thought.


    Thankfully, Sweetie could see her. This meant that the other party¡¯s ability didn¡¯t exceed Sweetie¡¯s. This relieved Zhou Wen.


    Could the Calamity that¡¯s about to appear be that woman? Zhou Wen thought as he pushed open the gates and walked into Luoyi City.


    The scene in the city left him alarmed. There was a straight main street leading from the city gate, but there were no living creatures on the street.


    The only things he could see were many soldier corpses and destroyed buildings. The already ghastly Luoyi City looked more like a Shinra Ghost Domain.


    The soldiers had died in very different ways. Some had sabers plunged into them, sticking them to the walls, some had their heads chopped off, and some had been crushed to death by wheels. The entire city was filled with dead soldiers.


    Although he hadn¡¯t experienced the battle, he could imagine how tragic the battle had been just from the scene of the aftermath.


    Not far from Zhou Wen were two standing ancient soldiers. One of them had stabbed the other through the throat, while the other soldier¡¯s sword had penetrated his heart. The two of them provided each one support as they stood there, dead.


    Zhou Wen scanned his surroundings the entire time, but he didn¡¯t find any traces of the woman. All he could do was ask Sweetie again.


    ¡°Over there.¡± Sweetie pointed deep into the ancient city where he could vaguely see the palace-like buildings.


    Zhou Wen blinked and in a few flashes, he was close. He saw a long stone staircase that led to the entrance of the palace-like hall.


    Only then did Zhou Wen see a woman advancing on the stone steps. As he could only see her back and robe, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if this woman was the woman he had seen on the city gate tower.


    However, the situation in Luoyi City was different from the information An Sheng had obtained. Zhou Wen was already beginning to suspect that the Calamity-grade dimensional creature that was about to appear was in Luoyi City. Furthermore, it was very likely the woman in front of him.


    The woman on the steps walked very slowly. Her long robe was dragged over the steps. Her back was beautiful.


    Thinking of her face, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel a little regretful. Although she¡¯s very beautiful, she¡¯s just too cold. It makes it difficult for people to get close to her.


    The woman didn¡¯t seem to know of Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival as she slowly walked towards the palace. The flight of stairs was long. She walked up step by step like an ordinary person. It would probably take her quite some time to reach the palace.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious what she¡¯s doing?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and asked Sweetie, hoping that she could go over and see what was going on.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t she just heading back to her room to get some rest? What¡¯s there to be curious about?¡± Sweetie asked in puzzlement.


    Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. All he could do was stand at the bottom of the steps and watch the woman slowly walk up. He didn¡¯t dare rashly head up.


    After walking for a while, the woman finally reached the top of the stairs and arrived in front of the palace.


    She stood at the top of the steps and slowly turned around. Zhou Wen immediately felt his eyes light up. It was an extremely beautiful face. Indeed, it was the person he had seen on the city gate tower.


    Apart from her cold expression, she was indeed a peerless beauty.


    The moment she stood on the steps, shouts suddenly shook the firmaments from the originally silent Luoyi City.


    The soldier corpses everywhere in the city seemed to revive as they stood up. They held their weapons and looked at Zhou Wen with dull eyes.


    ¡°Charge!¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. Before he could think carefully, he heard shouts and killing intent.


    Then, he saw the ancient soldiers rush towards him from all directions.


    Seeing the ancient soldiers reaching him, Zhou Wen waved his hand and immediately reduced the group of ancient soldiers to dust.


    These ancient soldiers¡¯ levels weren¡¯t high. Most of them were at the Legendary stage. Occasionally, some generals would be at the Epic stage. Such a level was nothing in front of Zhou Wen. He could kill a row of them with a finger.


    However, the ancient soldiers charged forward fearlessly. No matter how many Zhou Wen killed, there were more ancient soldiers that replaced their fallen ranks.


    As he had killed so many ancient soldiers, a large number of dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs dropped to the ground. However, their levels were too low for Zhou Wen to bother picking them up.


    Why are the levels of the ancient soldiers here so low? If this is really the birthplace of Calamity-grade creatures, shouldn¡¯t there be many Mythical and even Terror-grade creatures appearing? These are all at the Legendary and Epic stage, other than their huge numbers. It doesn¡¯t look like the scene predating a Calamity-grade creature¡¯s appearance. Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°You¡¯re indeed a big baddie. Why did you kill them for no reason?¡± Sweetie suddenly said unhappily.


    ¡°If they want to kill me, why can¡¯t I kill them?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°But they don¡¯t want to kill you,¡± Sweetie said with a frown.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he suddenly recalled the feeling that something was amiss. He stopped attacking.


    The moment Zhou Wen stopped, the soldiers immediately charged forward like a tidal wave. They quickly rushed in front of him, but they didn¡¯t attack him. They ignored him and charged past him like rapids.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized that their target wasn¡¯t him, but the peerless beauty standing at the top of the stone steps.

 Chapter 1362 - Mud City

    The horde of ancient soldiers resembling ants rushed up the steps, towards the beauty standing at the end of the stairs. It was as if the beauty had an endless grudge with them.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. It wasn¡¯t like he had never seen dimensional creatures fight dimensional creatures before, but to ignore humans who had killed many of their kind and risk their lives to kill another dimensional creature was a first for Zhou Wen.


    As there were too many soldiers charging at him, Zhou Wen had no choice but to fly into the air and watch them swarm forward.


    The few generals who were leading the charge were about to reach the top of the steps. They looked eager to leap up and stab the beautiful woman with all sorts of weapons.


    The beautiful woman didn¡¯t dodge despite facing the legion. She only looked at the soldiers indifferently as though all of this had nothing to do with her.


    Just as the swords, sabers, spears, and halberds were about to stab the beauty, the door to the palace behind her suddenly opened. A bright divine light shot out from inside. The ancient soldiers immediately disintegrated when they came into contact with the divine light.


    The beauty remained motionless. Her back was facing the divine light, like a fairy bathed in the morning light.


    The ant-like ancient soldiers were akin to ghosts encountering light as they screamed and turned to dust. Instantly, gray smoke rose everywhere in Luoyi City. The scene was eerie, bizarre, and spectacular.


    Zhou Wen gathered his strength to resist the dazzling divine light, but he realized that the divine light didn¡¯t affect him at all.


    Sweetie stood there without any intention of resisting the divine light. Similarly, she was fine.


    The woman bathed in divine light glanced at Zhou Wen and Sweetie before turning to walk into the palace.


    ¡°Are you about to be unleashed onto the world?¡± Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and asked.


    With Sweetie by his side, if he didn¡¯t ask her now, it would be useless asking her alone in the future.


    The woman stopped, but she didn¡¯t turn around. She only stood in the brilliant divine light and said, ¡°If I were to be unleashed, it wouldn¡¯t just be such a scene.¡±


    With that said, the woman walked through the door. The door creaked and automatically closed, cutting off the world inside the palace from the outside.


    Without the light, Luoyi City immediately became eerie and terrifying. The ancient soldiers in the distance, that weren¡¯t illuminated by the divine light, seemed to finally regain their rationality. After discovering Zhou Wen, they roared and charged forward.


    The ordinary ancient soldiers were at most at the Mythical stage, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take them to heart. With a casual wave of his hand, he reduced the approaching ancient soldiers to dust. Many dimensional crystals dropped.


    What does that woman mean? If she were to be unleashed, it wouldn¡¯t be such a scene? From what she¡¯s saying, it doesn¡¯t seem like she¡¯s going to be released. However, there¡¯s something very problematic with what she¡¯s saying. Does she mean that if she were to appear, the disaster would be even more terrifying? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    The birth of a Calamity had already plunged Luoyang into a deep abyss. If another one were to appear, Zhou Wen felt that his days would really be numbered.


    There¡¯s not much to say about Luoyang. There are too many legends and too many dangers, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he glanced at Sweetie. Seeing that she was indifferent, there was nothing he could do.


    He wanted Sweetie to help him kill the woman and even rush into the palace to purge all the dimensional creatures inside so as to eliminate this future threat.


    However, Sweetie wasn¡¯t at his beck and call. She even had a grudge with him. Zhou Wen could only sigh helplessly.


    ¡°From the looks of it, the dimensional zone where the Calamity creature will be unleashed isn¡¯t this,¡± Sweetie said.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard Sweetie. ¡°If we find the released Calamity creature, will you help me eliminate it?¡±


    ¡°Of course not,¡± Sweetie immediately answered with certainty and without any hesitation.


    ¡°You are so kind. Can you bear to see the Calamity creature appear and cause suffering and misery?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°This is a natural law. Don¡¯t you humans brutally kill many dimensional creatures? You even have to eat large numbers of creature corpses every day. According to your logic, I should kill all of you humans first to prevent any suffering and misery,¡± Sweetie said seriously.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily rendered speechless. After some thought, he realized that she wasn¡¯t wrong.


    If humans could hunt other creatures, why couldn¡¯t dimensional creatures hunt humans?


    After taking a deep look at the tightly shut door of the palace, Zhou Wen turned around and walked out of Luoyi City. He knew very well what was happening.


    If he wanted to stay in Luoyang in the future, he would probably have to face the horror and the woman in Luoyi City sooner or later.


    After leaving Luoyi City, Zhou Wen went to Yang City that was relatively close.


    Yang City was at the bottom of the dungeon. None of the known dungeons were deeper than Yang City.


    Legend had it that Yang City had once been the capital of Yu the Great. Instead of saying that Yu the Great was human, it was more accurate to say that it was a myth or legend.


    The legend of Yu the Great¡¯s control of waters was known by everyone in the East District. Zhou Wen had naturally heard the stories from his grandfather when he was young.


    Zhou Wen even guessed that Yu the Great¡¯s control of waters was likely related to the prehistoric flood.


    According to the information Zhou Wen now had, the continent was a whole back then. In order to find Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast, a dimensional ship had torn through the air and plunged through the continent to enter the depths of Earth.


    As for the continent, it had been torn apart due to the heavy damage, forming the four major districts.


    The four districts all had legends of a prehistoric flood. Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t a coincidence.


    Sometimes, Zhou Wen wondered if the flood regarding Yu the Great was really related to that flood. If it were true, things wouldn¡¯t be as simple as he imagined.


    The battles of Zhuolu and the Investiture of the Gods were indeed the most famous legendary battles in the East District.


    However, if one thought about it carefully, it seemed to be a very well-concealed legendary war. For some reason, the details hadn¡¯t been passed down.


    During Yu the Great¡¯s control of the water, he led the human clans, splitting mountains and rivers along the way, slaying countless terrifying creatures. If the legend was true, where did those terrifying creatures come from? Why did Yu the Great have the ability to kill them?


    In the myths that Zhou Wen knew, the Godly Sea Steadying Needle used by the Monkey King was a tool that Yu the Great had used to measure the water¡¯s depth.


    The legendary Godly Sea Steadying Needle weighed 13,500 jin. It was impossible for an ordinary person to lift it, much less use it to measure the depth of the water.


    It was an unsettling thought. Zhou Wen felt even more reverent towards the Yang City dimensional zone. If Sweetie hadn¡¯t been with him, he wouldn¡¯t have dared enter regardless.


    He arrived at the deepest dungeon in Yang City. It was somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined. This city wasn¡¯t built with bricks or rock, but a mud city.

 Chapter 1363 - Unable to Snap Photos

    The city walls of Yang City were basically made of clay bricks, but they looked extremely hard. The red-yellow clay bricks seemed rather hard. Although they had been through the ravages of time, they only appeared mottled. The entire structure looked extremely strong, giving it a simple and grand aura.


    ¡°There¡¯s something iffy about this place,¡± Sweetie suddenly said before Zhou Wen could approach the Yang City gates.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he turned to look at Sweetie. He saw her staring at the Yang City door with a look of disgust.


    ¡°How so? Is there danger inside?¡± Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed. Sweetie was God. If even God felt that it was dangerous, then Yang City was probably even more terrifying than he imagined.


    ¡°No, I just sense an irritating aura,¡± Sweetie said after some thought.


    ¡°An irritating aura? What do you mean?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he carefully sized up Yang City.


    The architectural style of Yang City could be considered crude and spartan from a modern perspective.


    A large number of buildings were made of clay. From the outside, one could vaguely see the roofs of some wooden buildings, but they didn¡¯t look exquisite. Most of them were ancient and simple.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t extend into Yang City. All it could do was observe its external appearance.


    There was redness in the clay bricks and a faint fragrance. Zhou Wen sniffed carefully and confirmed that the very faint fragrance was coming from the clay bricks and not the wood.


    ¡°Are you talking about the smell in the mud city walls?¡± Zhou Wen asked Sweetie.


    He also felt a little uneasy, but if the Calamity creature was really born in Yang City, he could only enter to take a look.


    Of course, that was under the premise that Sweetie was willing to enter. If she wasn¡¯t willing to enter, Zhou Wen planned on returning.


    In a land that even God wasn¡¯t willing to step into, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t so fearless as to sacrifice himself.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s something in the city that I hate,¡± said Sweetie.


    ¡°What is it? A creature or something?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Anyway, I don¡¯t like it.¡± Sweetie looked at Yang City in disgust. She didn¡¯t seem to want to look at it a second time.


    Sweetie only said that she didn¡¯t like it, making Zhou Wen feel a little more at ease. Although Sweetie didn¡¯t like looking at Yang City, he carefully sized it up again and again.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up. In front of the mud city gate was an erected log. He originally imagined that it was a flag pole.


    On closer inspection, he realized that there was a tiny palm symbol engraved on the log.


    I¡¯ve finally found it! Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to enter Yang City to begin with. Now that he had found the tiny palm symbol, there was no need for him to take the risk. He could download Yang City and slowly grind when he returned.


    ¡°Stand over there,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed at the log.


    ¡°What for?¡± Sweetie looked over. There was only a log, nothing else.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a picture for you as a commemoration.¡± Zhou Wen picked up his ordinary phone and took a picture of Sweetie.


    ¡°What¡¯s taking pictures?¡± Sweetie asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s leaving your appearance on the phone¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, he realized that he couldn¡¯t continue because he couldn¡¯t snap a picture of Sweetie on his phone.


    ¡°You used your Terror form?¡± Zhou Wen asked Sweetie.


    ¡°No.¡± Sweetie shook her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Why can¡¯t I take a picture of you?¡± Zhou Wen attempted to take another picture, but the outcome was the same. It was as though Sweetie didn¡¯t exist. Apart from Sweetie, there was everything else in the picture.


    ¡°Why do you take photos?¡± Sweetie looked at the photo taken on Zhou Wen¡¯s phone and roughly understood what a photo was.


    ¡°There are many reasons. Most of them are for the sake of retaining beautiful scenes. For example, when one encounters a beautiful scene, he wants to take a picture to let himself see it in the future. Or perhaps it¡¯s something that¡¯s very meaningful. For example, when a child is young, his parents would take pictures of him. When he grows up, he can still see his childhood. Or perhaps it¡¯s a couple taking pictures of each other. When they have no choice but to separate, they can take a look at each other¡¯s pictures when they miss each other¡­¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°I see. Then take another picture for me.¡± Sweetie¡¯s interest seemed piqued.


    Zhou Wen took a few more photos of Sweetie, but the outcome was the same. No matter how many photos he took, Sweetie couldn¡¯t be captured.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to snap a picture of the tiny palm symbol with his mysterious phone before putting it away to slowly download the dungeon.


    Sweetie seemed to be trying as well. She tried to let herself be captured, but it was completely impossible. Even if she restrained her strength, she still couldn¡¯t be captured.


    ¡°I remember now. Ghosts can¡¯t be captured by cameras.¡± Sweetie wanted to continue trying, but Zhou Wen was tired of taking pictures. He hadn¡¯t wanted to take pictures of Sweetie to begin with. He was just afraid that Sweetie would be interested in his snapping of the tiny palm symbol. He just wanted to mislead her.


    ¡°No, I have to take a picture.¡± Sweetie was pumped. She wanted Zhou Wen to give her the phone so that she could take a picture herself.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Thankfully, I was afraid that my phone would be damaged so I stocked up quite a number of phones in the chaos space.


    He handed a phone to Sweetie. While watching Zhou Wen operate it, she had already learned how to take pictures. She let the phone hang in the air as she took pictures of herself.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. There¡¯s a front-facing camera installed in your phone. You just need to switch to the selfie mode.¡± Zhou Wen walked over and taught Sweetie how to take selfies on her phone.


    Sweetie naturally learned it quickly, but the photos she took didn¡¯t show her body.


    Zhou Wen waited for a while. Seeing that the dungeon hadn¡¯t been downloaded, he planned on returning. He still had some places he hadn¡¯t been to.


    Before he could persuade Sweetie, he saw a figure rushing over.


    ¡°Thank heavens I¡¯ve finally found you, Young Master Wen. Adjutant An told me to find you and tell you to return immediately.¡± The person was an officer traveling at extremely fast speeds. Beneath the military cap was a pair of wolf ears. He had probably advanced to the Mythical stage using a wolf-type Mythical Serum.


    ¡°Something happened in Luoyang?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°No, Adjutant An told me to tell you not to worry. It¡¯s fine at home, but you have to return immediately. He has something important to discuss with you,¡± the officer said as he panted.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen turned around and left. An Sheng knew the reason for him being here, but he was in such a rush to send someone to him. Clearly, it was an emergency.


    When Zhou Wen got back, Hermit, Cave Era, and company were already in the dimensional zone in the Capital of the Gods. Furthermore, they had ventured rather deep.


    ¡°Director-General Wei, it¡¯s up to your bureau next,¡± Hermit said to Wei Ge, who was standing beside him in front of a strange building that was as huge as a tower.

 Chapter 1364 - Evil is One Thought Away From Good

    Chapter 1364: Evil is One Thought Away From Good


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Follow the plan,¡± Wei Ge ordered expressionlessly.


    ¡°Yes.¡± A few Censors from the bureau carefully walked towards the tower.


    Hermit and Cave Era watched from the side. Only after the Censors entered the tower did Cave Era look at Wei Ge and say, ¡°Director-General Wei, those are likely the capable generals of the bureau, right? If they were to die here, the bureau would probably suffer heavy losses.¡±


    Wei Ge said respectfully, ¡°Your Excellency, you are reading too much into it. As a Censor, they understand the Federation¡¯s need for sacrifices. Furthermore, I¡¯m very confident in my subordinates. They will definitely return safely.¡±


    Cave Era and Hermit exchanged looks and didn¡¯t say anything else.


    In fact, they knew very well that it was impossible for the Censors to return. They were offerings to begin with. Only with their sacrifices could the plan continue.


    Wei Ge knew this very well, but in order to advance his Guardian, he would rather have his subordinates die. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t even blink. It was as though the deaths of his subordinates were no different from the death of an ant.


    Cave Era found it difficult to understand how such a cold, selfish, and cruel fellow could make all the inspectors follow him loyally. Furthermore, they obeyed his orders wholeheartedly.


    Not long after, they heard tragic cries coming from the tower. A strange light lit up at the top of the strange tower.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally here¡­¡± Hermit looked at the light at the top of the tower as excitement flashed in his eyes.


    ¡°Is that the legendary Heaven?¡± Wei Ge narrowed his eyes as he looked at the gradually glowing tower and muttered to himself.


    Hermit nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. That place is indeed Heaven. The empress used Devas to sense the land where Buddha is worshiped. It¡¯s known as the place closest to Heaven. There are also people who call him the Skysplit Buddha.¡±


    Wei Ge stared at Heaven and continued asking, ¡°According to what I know, that empress is only an ordinary human. No matter how honorable her status was back then, she shouldn¡¯t have become an existence like an immortal or Buddha, right?¡±


    ¡°An empress of the human world really doesn¡¯t have the right to become a Mythical, much less be an existence that can reach the Calamity grade after death.¡± Hermit paused and said, ¡°But the one in Heaven isn¡¯t that empress.¡±


    ¡°Not the empress?¡± Wei Ge was slightly taken aback, his face filled with puzzlement.


    Be it Capital of the Gods or Heaven, they were both unique to the empress. It was hard to believe that the owner of this place wasn¡¯t her.


    Apart from her, who else had the right to claim sovereignty in the Capital of the Gods and occupy Heaven?


    As the two of them spoke, the light in Heaven intensified, almost enveloping the huge tower-like Heaven.


    Hermit was in a good mood as he stared at Heaven and explained, ¡°No matter how strong a human is, they are at most Legendary or Epic. It¡¯s impossible for them to advance to the Mythical stage. That empress is also a human, so she naturally won¡¯t be an exception. Furthermore, even if she becomes a Mythical, it¡¯s impossible for her to live to this day, much less advance to the Calamity grade.¡±


    When Wei Ge heard Hermit¡¯s words, he looked at the light around Heaven. It seemed to stir something in him, but he had no intention of saying it.


    Hermit saw Wei Ge¡¯s expression and knew that he had guessed something. Therefore, he said, ¡°Since you have already thought of something, say it out and let me see if you are right.¡±


    Wei Ge pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a Buddha statue in Dragon Gate Grotto named Lochana Buddha. It¡¯s carved with the likeness of the empress.¡±


    Hermit immediately laughed when he heard Wei Ge say that. ¡°You are indeed a smart person. Losana means shining light, and the name that the empress gave herself has the word Zhao. It basically has the same meaning as Lochana.¡±


    2


    ¡°So there¡¯s really a Lochana Buddha in Heaven?¡± Wei Ge¡¯s expression changed slightly.


    If the person in heaven was really Lochana Buddha, it would be terrifying.


    Buddha had three bodies, and Lochana Buddha was one of them. It was known as Reward Body Buddha, and it was an intelligent Buddha that signified absolute truth.


    To put it in layman¡¯s terms, the Lochana Buddha and the famous Gautama Buddha were two of the three Buddhas in one body. They could be considered one of the top Buddhas in Buddhism.


    ¡°Buddha has a benevolent heart. If it¡¯s really Lochana Buddha, why would he need to use living people as a sacrifice?¡± Wei Ge felt that Hermit¡¯s words were somewhat flawed.


    ¡°Director-General Wei, have you never heard of the saying that Buddha comes from the heart?¡± Hermit continued, ¡°The so-called Buddha is a mirror, but this Buddha mirror reflects not a person but the heart. If you are kind-hearted, Buddha is good. If you are evil-hearted, Buddha is a hundred times more evil than you¡­ Evil is just one thought away from good¡­¡±


    Wei Ge said as though he had figured something out, ¡°Therefore, if this Calamity creature were to appear peacefully, he might be a kind Buddha that won¡¯t cause too much of a disaster?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± Hermit said with a smile. ¡°That¡¯s naturally not what I want to see. Therefore, I got you to bring someone here to prevent him from becoming a kind Buddha. I need him to become a terrifying devil.¡±


    As the two of them spoke, the Buddhistic glow in Heaven was so intense that it was unbearable to look at. There was a door opening, as though someone had walked out of Heaven.


    Wei Ge focused his gaze. The person he discovered was a bhikkhuni wearing a white monk robe.


    She walked over step by step as though cleansed the pure moonlight, she didn¡¯t look like the devil Hermit had mentioned.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t look like a devil,¡± Wei Ge said as he looked at the bhikkhuni.


    ¡°Of course not. If she¡¯s already a devil, we won¡¯t be able to escape death,¡± Hermit said indifferently. ¡°However, after she leaves the Capital of the Gods, she will definitely become a devil.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Wei Ge was even more puzzled.


    ¡°Because you are here.¡± Hermit laughed.


    ¡°Me?¡± Wei Ge was slightly taken aback.


    Hermit looked at Wei Ge and said, ¡°Yes, it¡¯s you. If your heart is like Buddha, Buddha will be here. If your heart is like a devil, the devil will naturally descend into this world. If a person with a devil¡¯s heart like Director-General Wei were to have an affinity with that bhikkhuni, she would definitely become a devil¡­¡±


    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± Wei Ge asked.


    ¡°Nothing at all. All you need to do is wait for her to leave the Capital of the Gods and let her see you.¡±


    Seeing Wei Ge¡¯s confused expression, Hermit said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t understand? Then don¡¯t bother thinking about it. When the time comes, you will naturally understand. Let¡¯s wait for her outside the Capital of the Gods.¡±


    Cave Era had already activated her temporal powers to take Wei Ge and Hermit out of the Capital of the Gods.


    As for the bhikkhuni, she continued walking forward slowly.. Wherever she passed, the ghost-like ancient soldiers turned back to dust as though they had been liberated.

 Chapter 1365 - Two Birds With One Stone

    ¡°Director-General Wei, go. As long as you are in Luoyang, Luoyang will become a dead city. No one will be able to escape. Everyone will sense the brilliance of Buddha and be sent to Paradise,¡± Hermit said to Wei Ge as he looked at the ancient soldiers crawling out of the ground.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m very willing to sacrifice my life for the Federation, I still wish to remain useful and dedicate my life to the Federation and you. Therefore, I still wish to return alive.¡± Wei Ge didn¡¯t budge his feet at all.


    Hermit knew that it was impossible to get Wei Ge to take such a risk if he couldn¡¯t convince him. Therefore, he explained, ¡°The Censors who sacrificed themselves to Buddha are all your men. You were also the one who gave the order to let them enter Heaven. By using them as sacrifices, the bhikkhuni, who has awakened, is already tainted by their obsession. Although they haven¡¯t reached the point of becoming devils, a sliver of a catalyst has been planted. As for you, you are the person who can spark off the catalyst because of that obsession. Therefore, as long as you are in Luoyang City, the bhikkhuni will definitely go to Luoyang City. Once she sees you and senses you, a person ridden with sin, becoming a devil is inevitable.


    ¡°Of course, you don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ve already prepared a path of retreat for you. When the bhikkhuni becomes a devil, it will be time for you to retreat with your job done,¡± Hermit said as he looked at Cave Era.


    Cave Era took out a pocket watch and handed it to Wei Ge. ¡°This is a temporal pocket watch I made. After bhikkhuni becomes a devil, you can use it to return to a designated time and place I set¡ªthe headquarters of our League of Guardians.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Excellency Cave Era.¡± Wei Ge solemnly put away the pocket watch.


    ¡°Go. When I return to the headquarters, I¡¯ll help your Balrog advance to the Terror grade. Your future achievements will be limitless,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°I still have to thank the two of you for your help. I¡¯ll go now.¡± Wei Ge took a few steps and suddenly turned his head. ¡°Your Excellency, is there any taboo when using this temporal watch? I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll use it wrongly later.¡±


    ¡°If you are worried, you can give it a try,¡± Cave Era said indifferently.


    ¡°Please enlighten me.¡± Wei Ge was very careful. How could he be careless in matters that determined life and death?


    Cave Era gave him the usage details. Wei Ge pressed it and his body immediately vanished. After a few seconds, his figure appeared again.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡¯s temporal powers are indeed divine. You can travel great distances in an instant. It¡¯s like a god¡¯s help,¡± praised Wei Ge.


    ¡°If there¡¯s no problem, go quickly. The bhikkhuni is about to come out,¡± Cave Era said with a cold expression, as though she was very unhappy that Wei Ge hadn¡¯t trusted her.


    Wei Ge knew that she was unhappy, so he didn¡¯t ask for a snub. He bowed and headed for Luoyang City.


    After Wei Ge vanished into Luoyang City, Cave Era said, ¡°You were right. This person is too cautious. Thankfully, the temporal pocket watch I gave him was real, or it would have been troublesome.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with the temporal pocket watch, right?¡± Hermit asked.


    ¡°No problem. Everything is under my control. Without my power to activate it, the temporal pocket watch is useless. It¡¯s useless even if he has it. Furthermore, he can let me know his location.¡± Cave Era hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Why must he die? Although such a person is very annoying, he¡¯s indeed very useful.¡±


    ¡°If he doesn¡¯t die at the hands of the bhikkhuni, how can she truly become a devil?¡± Hermit said indifferently. ¡°He¡¯s just a dog. As long as we are willing, there will be more people willing to work for us at any time. Furthermore, he¡¯s too ambitious. It¡¯s not suitable for such a person to stay in this position for long. Otherwise, the bureau will become his private property. Must we go through him when we use the bureau in the future?¡±


    Cave Era thought that it made sense. From this operation, it could be seen that Wei Ge¡¯s title of Monarch Bee was definitely not groundless.


    The Censors were almost subservient to Wei Ge. They even went against their orders. Without Wei Ge¡¯s orders, it would probably be difficult for them to do anything.


    ¡°This time, we can deal with the An family in Luoyang and reshuffle the bureau. It will be killing two birds with one stone. We should celebrate later,¡± Hermit said with a smile.


    As the two of them spoke, the bhikkhuni had already walked out of the dungeon. At the instant she walked out, a large number of the undead crawled out of the ground in Luoyang.


    Luoyang City was immediately thrown into pandemonium. The ancient soldiers outside could still withstand the attacks, but at their feet, many ancient soldiers suddenly crawled out. It immediately threw the Sunset Army into disarray. They began engaging in melee combat, and the battle situation became extremely tragic.


    Just as Hermit had expected, the bhikkhuni headed for Luoyang City, as though she was pursuing Wei Ge.


    Wherever she passed, the dead people who crawled out of the ground transformed into a Buddhistic glow that rose into the sky. Their faces revealed looks of relief as though they had been liberated.


    As for the living people near her, they weren¡¯t affected. When they saw this scene, the soldiers and experts guarding the city were overjoyed. They imagined that rescue had arrived.


    ¡°The present bhikkhuni will only redeem the dead, but after she becomes a devil, she will redeem the living as well. I hope they can still smile when that happens,¡± Hermit said indifferently.


    ¡°If An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t so overbearing and domineering and ignorant of the times, he wouldn¡¯t have implicated everyone in this city,¡± said Cave Era with a sigh.


    ¡°The success of a general is built up of ten thousand bones. Fate has never been one¡¯s. If anything is to be blamed, blame them for following the wrong person,¡± Hermit said coldly and mercilessly.


    The bhikkhuni walked towards Luoyang step by step. Large swaths of ancient soldiers were being sent to their deaths. When she arrived outside Luoyang City, people imagined that their savior had arrived. They opened the gates to welcome the bhikkhuni in.


    ¡°Humans are just that ignorant,¡± Hermit said with an odd expression.


    After the bhikkhuni entered the city, the large number of undead that had crawled out of the ground was redeemed by her strength as they ascended to heaven. The pressure on them immediately decreased.


    Although the power of the dead wasn¡¯t enough to destroy Luoyang, they were everywhere. They could appear from anywhere, causing a huge impact on ordinary people. Even someone as strong as Li Xuan couldn¡¯t ensure the safety of the entire Li family.


    Many dead people crawled out from the ground. He couldn¡¯t flatten the Li family¡¯s residence with a single punch after all. Furthermore, many people from the Li family were fighting the dead.


    The bhikkhuni¡¯s power ignored everything and purified the dead, sending them to heaven. As for the living, they weren¡¯t injured at all.


    ¡°Stay happy. The happier you are now, the more miserable you will cry in a while.¡± Hermit snorted coldly and asked Cave Era, ¡°Where¡¯s Wei Ge?¡±


    ¡°Somewhere closer to the back.¡± Cave Era sensed the location of the pocket watch.


    ¡°Why did he run so far?¡± Hermit frowned slightly.


    ¡°He probably doesn¡¯t dare to approach Overseer Manor too closely for fear of being discovered. It¡¯s good to be careful to prevent him from being discovered and chased out,¡± said Cave Era.


    The two of them could only watch bhikkhuni walk across the streets and redeem large swaths of the undead. She walked faster and faster, and her strength increased. She was almost completely transformed.

 Chapter 1366 - The Devil Who Wants to Annihilate the Devil

    Chapter 1366: The Devil Who Wants to Annihilate the Devil


    Translator: CKtalon


    With the bhikkhuni making the trip, most of the undead in Luoyang City had been cleared. The remaining few who were relatively far away and hadn¡¯t been cleared didn¡¯t pose much of a threat.


    ¡°He¡¯s almost there,¡± Cave Era said to Hermit as she sensed the location of the temporal pocket watch.


    Hermit¡¯s eyes were filled with excitement as though he was looking forward to seeing the process of the bhikkhuni becoming a devil.


    Just as the bhikkhuni was about to reach Wei Ge, she suddenly stopped.


    Here it comes! Hermit¡¯s heart raced as adrenaline involuntarily pumped through his veins. His palms turned moist from excitement.


    Suddenly, the bhikkhuni turned around without any warning and walked back the way she came.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Isn¡¯t Wei Ge there?¡± Hermit was slightly taken aback as he hurriedly asked Cave Era.


    ¡°He should be there¡­ The temporal pocket watch is there¡­¡± Cave Era felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s not there,¡± Hermit said with certainty. He kept looking around, but he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    As for the bhikkhuni, she was getting faster and faster. She had already rushed out of Luoyang and was heading straight for them.


    ¡°Wei Ge, come out. I know you are here,¡± Hermit shouted with a frown.


    ¡°Since you know where I am, come over yourself.¡± Wei Ge¡¯s voice came from behind them.


    Hermit¡¯s body was like a phantom as he shot out a cold beam. The cold beam shattered the forest, but Wei Ge was nowhere to be seen.


    ¡°Your Excellency Hermit, that¡¯s not right of you. You actually treat one of your own like this. From the looks of it, I should let you have my title of Monarch Bee.¡± Wei Ge¡¯s voice came from another spot.


    This time, Cave Era used Time Acceleration to reach the spot, but she still didn¡¯t see anyone.


    Hermit and Cave Era exchanged looks and saw the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes.


    It was impossible for Wei Ge to have such abilities. The Guardian, Balrog, he had contracted was fire-elemental. Its explosive strength was very potent, but it shouldn¡¯t be good at speed.


    ¡°Balrog, come out,¡± Hermit shouted coldly.


    Balrog was a Guardian who came from the League of Guardians. He was a member of the League of Guardians to begin with. Even if Wei Ge wanted to betray him, Balrog would still accept the order.


    Without Balrog, Wei Ge was nothing.


    ¡°Are you looking for it?¡± Wei Ge¡¯s voice sounded again, but this time, he walked out from behind a boulder.


    He extended one hand and pointed his fingers at the sky. In his palm was a dancing, mysterious flame. The flame looked like an enchanting woman dancing. It exuded danger and mystery.


    ¡°Terror grade?¡± Hermit and Cave Era¡¯s expressions changed when they saw the flames. Wei Ge had actually advanced Balrog to the Terror grade. This was originally impossible. Balrog¡¯s weakness didn¡¯t seem to be resolvable to date.


    ¡°Balrog, what are you doing? Immediately terminate the contract with Wei Ge.¡± Cave Era still wanted to order Balrog, but Balrog didn¡¯t react at all. It continued dancing in Wei Ge¡¯s palm.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to say another word. Why do you think I chose the Mythical Balrog? It¡¯s not because she will be strong in the future, but because only then will I have a chance of controlling her. I like to be in control of everything,¡± Wei Ge said calmly.


    ¡°A pity. You did something dangerous that you can¡¯t control,¡± Hermit said as a collapsible fan appeared in his hand. With a move of the fan, a fan-shaped beam shot at Wei Ge.


    Wei Ge retracted his fingers as the flames in his palm shattered, turning into purple flames that enveloped his body.


    At that moment, the beam had already arrived in front of him. Beams of light shot into the purple flames, boring open huge holes through the humanoid figure inside, but there weren¡¯t any of Wei Ge¡¯s tragic cries.


    Soon, the purple flames returned to their humanoid form. They appeared like a fluid purple-flamed robe that Wei Ge donned.


    ¡°The first impression flames give is heat and explosion, but that¡¯s not all of it. Flames also have a gentle side.¡± As Wei Ge spoke, Cave Era had already used Time Acceleration to appear in front of him. With her hands and feet, she struck Wei Ge repeatedly with Terror-grade power.


    Wei Ge¡¯s body swayed like flames as he dodged Cave Era¡¯s extremely fast attack. The attack that he couldn¡¯t dodge struck Wei Ge, but it only shook the flames and quickly returned to its original state.


    Wei Ge seemed to be dancing a gorgeous tango amidst the flames. Hermit and Cave Era¡¯s combined attacks failed to injure him at all.


    The flames were like nothingness and didn¡¯t have any strength. Any force that struck it only made the flames bend around and not injure him.


    ¡°I only extracted the nothingness of fire, not its fiery intensity. I do what¡¯s unexpected. Even you won¡¯t be able to harm me after I turn into nothingness,¡± Wei Ge said calmly.


    ¡°Why have you betrayed us?¡± Hermit knew that he had to finish off Wei Ge before the bhikkhuni arrived. Otherwise, once she came, she would become a devil upon approaching Wei Ge. When that happened, even they would probably perish.


    ¡°The temporal pocket watch you gave me can¡¯t save my life,¡± Wei Ge said.


    ¡°If you betrayed us because of this, we can negotiate nicely. Now that you have the right to negotiate with us, you can naturally receive the treatment you deserve. In the future, the league will still need talent like you,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling you that I know of this matter, but that isn¡¯t the cause.¡± Wei Ge directly denied Hermit.


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the reason?¡± Cave Era couldn¡¯t help but ask. She originally imagined that Wei Ge had betrayed them because he knew of their plan.


    Wei Ge looked up at the starry sky and said, ¡°Because from the beginning, I was just a devil who wanted to destroy devils.¡±


    ¡°Haha, what a joke. Aren¡¯t your hands stained with human blood? Are you going to tell me that you are actually a good person?¡± Hermit laughed.


    Wei Ge said indifferently, ¡°I¡¯ve never been a good person. I¡¯m just a devil who likes to play games with devils. Now, it¡¯s time to end this game.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s time to end this game.¡± Hermit took a step forward. The surrounding mountain ranges, forests, and rivers suddenly lit up.


    The matter in the natural world¡ªmountains, rivers, wind, and fire¡ªactually formed a formation similar to the Eight Trigrams.


    ¡°Do you think I came to Luoyang without making any preparations? I originally left a backup plan to deal with An Tianzuo and Zhou Wen, but now, I¡¯ll use it on you. Wind, fire, and everything in the world are in my Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array. Even if you turn into nothingness, flames need a medium. A flame wisp like yours won¡¯t be able to escape my Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array. It will only lead to destruction!¡± Accompanying Hermit¡¯s voice, the surrounding mountains and rivers lit up. The power formed by everything surrounded Wei Ge from all directions.


    ¡°Have you ever heard of a single spark wrecking a plain?¡± The flaming muslin over Wei Ge¡¯s body fluttered like the purple flames of a bonfire that surged into the sky.. It was beautiful and dangerous.

 Chapter 1367 - Becoming a Devil or Buddha?

    The flames on the muslin robe turned into butterflies that flew out. Everything that touched the flames burned. The surroundings instantly turned into a purple flaming world: flaming forest, flaming rivers, flaming mountains¡ªeverything was ignited. The original Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array had turned into a pure flaming array.


    Hermit¡¯s expression changed drastically as he attempted to stop the Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array from circulating, but he realized that it was completely useless. It brought with it endless energy, making it unstoppable.


    Seeing that the bhikkhuni was already approaching, Hermit and Cave Era attempted to rush out, but they realized that they were trapped in the Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array. Unable to rush out, they were truly trapped.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just say that the Myriad Form Eight Trigrams Array contains all matter in the world? Your strength is naturally included, so you can¡¯t leave either. Don¡¯t you remember what you said?¡± Wei Ge said with a smile.


    ¡°Wei Ge, why aren¡¯t you uncasting your fire powers to escape? After the bhikkhuni becomes a devil, the first person to be killed will be you,¡± Hermit said.


    ¡°Have you seen a devil who¡¯s afraid of death? To have two of you die with me is considered a blessing for me,¡± Wei Ge said indifferently.


    The bhikkhuni was close. Hermit and Cave Era couldn¡¯t afford to waste any more time. They attacked Wei Ge with all their might, hoping to break through the array and escape.


    However, Wei Ge¡¯s Nihility Fire didn¡¯t focus on powerful explosive strength. Instead, it focused on burning and nothingness. It took an unorthodox path and reached an extreme effect.


    If it was a fair battle, Wei Ge might not be able to defeat Cave Era, but it wouldn¡¯t be easy for them to injure Wei Ge.


    Furthermore, they didn¡¯t have the time. Cave Era and Hermit were alarmed and furious as they shouted, ¡°Wei Ge, why aren¡¯t you uncasting the array? Do you really want to die together?¡±


    ¡°What benefits will mutual destruction bring you? I¡¯ll tell you a secret regarding Balrog, allowing your Balrog to really have a chance of advancing to the Calamity grade¡­¡±


    ¡°Open¡­¡±


    The veins on Hermit¡¯s forehead protruded as he roared.


    However, Wei Ge remained unmoved. He danced in the flaming world like a flaming butterfly. No matter how terrifying Hermit and Cave Era¡¯s attacks were, they couldn¡¯t injure him at all.


    At that moment, the bhikkhuni finally walked into the array, but the flames of the array were surprisingly unable to touch her robes. She walked all the way as though she was untainted by the mortal world.


    It¡¯s over! Hermit and Cave Era¡¯s hearts turned cold.


    However, Wei Ge remained calm as before. He transformed into flames and arrived near the bhikkhuni.


    ¡°Come. It¡¯s extremely comforting to know that I¡¯m lucky enough to let a Buddha degenerate into a devil.¡± Wei Ge spread open his hands and waited for the bhikkhuni to become a devil, like a devil lord who nurtured devils with blood.


    Hermit and Cave Era were alarmed. Even they couldn¡¯t completely suppress their fear of death.


    The bhikkhuni was a Calamity-grade existence. If she became a devil here, all of them would die. They wouldn¡¯t even have a chance to escape.


    However, in the next second, the bhikkhuni¡¯s actions left everyone dumbfounded. Wei Ge froze.


    The bhikkhuni looked at Wei Ge and calmly sat down. She slowly closed her eyes as her body emitted a Buddhistic glow. Her body gradually changed into the appearance of Buddha.


    The Buddhistic glow illuminated everything. Everything that encountered the Buddhistic glow returned to its original natural state.


    The flames extinguished as the trees bloomed and the river flowed. Greenery spread over the mountains as flowers bloomed everywhere.


    ¡°She¡­ is about to become a Buddha¡­¡± Hermit was indescribably shocked.


    He really couldn¡¯t believe such a ridiculous thing. A person like Wei Ge who had his hands stained with blood had actually made her become a Buddha instead of a devil when facing him.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Wei Ge was dumbfounded as well. How could a person like him be someone who could make the bhikkhuni Buddha? Even he didn¡¯t believe that he was a good person.


    More importantly, once the bhikkhuni became a Buddha, she would be harmless and wouldn¡¯t harm anyone. It was very likely that she would tear through the air and leave Earth immediately.


    Without the help of the bhikkhuni, Wei Ge was no match for Cave Era and Hermit. All his plans were in vain.


    Wei Ge gritted his teeth and rushed forward to use his flames to burn the bhikkhuni, hoping to use violence to degenerate her into a devil.


    However, when his flames burned on the bhikkhuni, her Buddhistic glow intensified as her body rapidly transformed into a Buddha.


    ¡°F*cking become a devil!¡± Wei Ge angrily threw a punch at the bhikkhuni¡¯s face, but his fist was blocked by the Buddhistic glow over the bhikkhuni¡¯s body.


    The bhikkhuni had already transformed into Buddha. She nodded at Wei Ge with a smile before slowly rising into the void under the Buddhistic glow. She tore out of Earth and vanished. The scene of calamity that accompanied her vanished.


    F*ck¡­ The feeling in Wei Ge¡¯s heart was indescribable. He mechanically turned to look at Cave Era and Hermit, only to see them looking at him with killing intent written all over their faces. Furthermore, they had already surrounded him.


    ¡°Will you believe me if I say that this is all a misunderstanding?¡± Wei Ge said wryly.


    ¡°Guess?¡± Hermit stared coldly at Wei Ge and blocked his escape.


    Cave Era stood in front of Wei Ge with a nasty expression. If not for the accident, their lives would have been ended by Wei Ge.


    ¡°Director-General Wei, I¡¯ve really underestimated you. However, don¡¯t worry. This time, I¡¯ll definitely do my best to send you to the place you wish to go.¡± Hermit¡¯s expression was sinister as a strange light swirled around his body. The power of his Terror transformation had already been pushed to its limits.


    Wei Ge cursed inwardly. The heavens really want me dead. To think that I wanted a close victory, but I lost before I could even start.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to trouble the two of you about sending him where he wants to go.¡± A figure appeared beside Wei Ge.


    ¡°Zhou Wen!¡± Hermit and Cave Era¡¯s expressions changed.


    ¡°What a coincidence. I thought you wouldn¡¯t make it.¡± Wei Ge finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Wen.


    As Wei Ge had received the news too late and couldn¡¯t contact Zhou Wen, he had no choice but to think of a way to take the risk to send the news to An Sheng. It was unknown if An Sheng believed him, the Monarch Bee. It was also a question if he could contact Zhou Wen and get him to return. He originally didn¡¯t have much hope, but he never expected Zhou Wen to really rush back.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been back for quite some time. I couldn¡¯t bear to disturb you when I saw how engrossed you were in your performance, so I watched for a while,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    Wei Ge looked at Zhou Wen in a daze. Now, he had the urge to get the female Buddha to take Zhou Wen away.


    ¡°One each. You get first dibs.¡± Zhou Wen gripped his Bamboo Blade tightly and looked at Cave Era and Hermit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a particular person, nor am I a gentleman. Leave hitting women to me,¡± Wei Ge said as he looked at Cave Era.


    ¡°Alright, this is mine.¡± Zhou Wen walked towards Cave Era.

 Chapter 1368 - Battling Hermit

    Chapter 1368: Battling Hermit


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Let¡¯s go,¡± Hermit said before turning into a beam of light to escape.


    ¡°Did I say that you can leave?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t chase after him as he said coldly.


    Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Hermit stopped.


    Hermit floated in midair with a look of horror. His left arm was severed at the shoulder as blood spewed out from his stump.


    When the severed arm fell from the sky, it was like tofu that had landed on invisible blades. When it landed on the ground, it had already turned into a pile of fragments.


    The reason Zhou Wen didn¡¯t appear immediately wasn¡¯t that he wanted to watch Wei Ge¡¯s performance. During that period of time, he had already used the invisible sword aura to set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and seal off the area.


    Thankfully, Hermit was lucky. His arm was the first thing that slammed into it; if his head had hit it, he would have been split into two. He wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to react.


    Hermit didn¡¯t dare move because he didn¡¯t know where the motionless invisible sword beams were. Rashly charging over was no different from courting death.


    Cave Era¡¯s figure flashed as she attempted to approach Hermit. She wanted to take him back to the headquarters of the League of Guardians with her temporal powers.


    ¡°I¡¯m your opponent.¡± Purple flames danced like butterflies that filled the sky, sealing Cave Era¡¯s path. Wei Ge¡¯s flaming figure appeared behind her.


    Previously, because he knew that he wasn¡¯t a match for Cave Era and Hermit¡¯s combined forces, Wei Ge had only dodged and had never taken the initiative to attack.


    Cave Era counterattacked. Under the effects of Time Acceleration, the palm was unbelievably fast. When it struck Wei Ge, it immediately penetrated a hole in his body.


    However, Wei Ge only smiled. Instead of retreating, he advanced as though he didn¡¯t feel any pain. He came in front of Cave Era and reached out to grab her face. As for Cave Era¡¯s entire arm, it penetrated Wei Ge¡¯s body.


    Alarmed, Cave Era quickly retreated, causing Wei Ge¡¯s extended palm to miss. Wei Ge¡¯s body was like flames. After Cave Era¡¯s arm retreated, his body was automatically restored as one.


    The flames flickered as Wei Ge seemed to really transform into flames. Wherever the fire butterfly appeared, he could instantly reach it like a ghost.


    Unfortunately, Cave Era¡¯s temporal powers couldn¡¯t be underestimated. Although Wei Ge¡¯s attacks were strange, he failed to touch Cave Era.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you have to think it through carefully. Do you really want to become enemies with the League of Guardians? Do you know how many Guardians there are in the entire Federation? Do you know how many people want to have Guardians? As long as you are willing, you can become one of us and have the best Guardian,¡± Hermit said to Zhou Wen with a changing expression.


    ¡°Guardian? What kind of Guardian can you provide me? Mythical? Terror? Or Calamity?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move, but the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Sword Array formed by invisible sword beams had already begun circulating as it tore through the air and attacked Hermit.


    The airflow and sonic booms caused by the moving invisible sword beams gave Hermit a way to determine the attacks. As he dodged and blocked the invisible sword beams, he said, ¡°A powerhouse like you naturally has to contract with the top Terror-grade Guardian. It also won¡¯t be difficult for you to advance to the Calamity grade in the future.¡±


    Zhou Wen said indifferently, ¡°I didn¡¯t even agree to contract a Calamity-grade Guardian. Do you think I¡¯ll want your Terror-grade Guardian?¡±


    Hermit suddenly transformed into a stream of light and flew away. Instantly, he passed through the layers of invisible blades and arrived hundreds of meters away.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you are still too young. It¡¯s the unknown that people fear. You shouldn¡¯t have let those invisible sword beams circulate and let me figure out their location. The next time we meet will be your death,¡± Hermit said as he accelerated.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Just as Hermit finished speaking, he let out a tragic cry. His face seemed to slam into an invisible blade as half his facial skin was sliced off.


    As he couldn¡¯t dodge in time, a piece of his shoulder was sliced off. Blood gushed out like a fountain.


    ¡°Keep talking,¡± Zhou Wen said to Hermit.


    Hermit¡¯s face was livid. He was already severely injured before Zhou Wen had really struck. His combat strength had been halved.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, don¡¯t force me.¡± Hermit knew that he was in a hopeless situation when he saw that Cave Era was held back by Wei Ge and was unable to help him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen others fight to the death. I just want to see it for myself,¡± Zhou Wen said unhurriedly.


    With the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Sword Array trapping Hermit, it was impossible for Hermit to escape. Zhou Wen wanted to know how strong the four Heavenly Kings of the League of Guardians were.


    ¡°Fine!¡± Hermit¡¯s eyes turned ferocious as the Guardian armor on his body emitted a demonic glow.


    Behind the armor, arm after arm formed. In the blink of an eye, a wheel made of more than a thousand arms appeared behind Hermit.


    The palm on the arm was clenched. When the palm opened, one could see eyes growing in the palm. They looked extremely demonic and terrifying.


    Why does this fellow¡¯s Guardian armor look a little like the one in myths and legends¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the thousand-handed, thousand-eyed Guardian armor and revealed a thoughtful expression.


    2


    As for Cave Era, who was fighting elsewhere, she was pleasantly surprised when she saw the changes in Hermit¡¯s armor. Hermit has already reached such a stage without anyone noticing. The Guardian has already completely undergone Terror transformation. He¡¯s just one step away from advancing to the Calamity grade!


    Such a Hermit gave Cave Era a sliver of hope. If Hermit could defeat Zhou Wen, their plan today wouldn¡¯t be considered a complete failure.


    As Zhou Wen was in thought, Hermit¡¯s body emitted a strange glow that condensed into a thousand-handed, thousand-eyed Bodhisattva projection.


    The figure was hundreds of meters tall and its glow illuminated a hundred kilometers. Even Luoyang City in the distance could clearly see the terrifying figure.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The legendary thousand-handed, thousand-eyed Bodhisattva¡­ Doesn¡¯t that mean¡­¡±


    ¡°Then who¡¯s fighting?¡±


    ¡­


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. The terrifying might emitted by the thousand-handed, Thousand-Eyed Bodhisattva made one¡¯s heart tremble.


    ¡°Should we reinforce Young Master Wen?¡± An Sheng couldn¡¯t help but worry when he saw that Hermit could produce such terrifying strength.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Leng Zongzheng said indifferently as he continued sitting in the city.


    Hermit muttered something as the thousand-handed, thousand-eyed Bodhisattva spoke like it was reading scriptures. It held the sky with its palms as its eyes emitted divine light.


    Destruction was left in the wake of the terrifying divine light as though it wanted to destroy the world.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, go to hell!¡± With Hermit¡¯s roar, the thousand hands and thousand eyes aimed at Zhou Wen. Instantly, divine light condensed as a beam that resembled a blazing sun instantly arrived in front of Zhou Wen. The dazzling light seemed to devour everything.


    Boom!


    While everyone was reeling in shock, they saw sword beams cascade down like a galaxy.

 Chapter 1369 - The Sunlight Here Is Too Glaring

    Countless sword beams condensed into something corporeal as if a galaxy was pouring out and colliding with the terrifying beam of light.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The sound of steel nails piercing wooden planks sounded. Countless sword beams tore through the beam of light and surged upward, shattering the beam of light.


    The noble and terrifying figure¡ªwhich resembled a thousand-armed and thousand-eyed Bodhisattva¡ªinstantly shattered like glass under the countless sword beams¡¯ impact.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Under the assault of countless sword beams, Hermit¡¯s body was drowned by the sword stream. His tragic scream stopped just as his body and his Guardian armor shattered and dissipated in the torrent.


    The terrifying Bodhisattva¡¯s figure vanished. Only the galaxy-like sword stream revolved around Zhou Wen like a dazzling star.


    Cave Era was horrified. She had never seen such a terrifying attack at the Terror level in her life. Even Immortal probably didn¡¯t have such terrifying destructive power.


    Hermit¡¯s thousand-handed, thousand-eyed power was considered top-notch destructive power at the Terror grade, but it was as weak as tofu around Zhou Wen¡¯s sword stream. What terrifying power was this?


    Without any hesitation, Cave Era used her temporal powers and instantly vanished. She didn¡¯t dare stay another second.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array had already scared her guts out.


    ¡°Hermit, one of the four Heavenly Kings, is nothing much. Can¡¯t he last a little longer?¡± Zhou Wen said in disappointment.


    He said such a thing because he hadn¡¯t considered that using the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was no longer a one-on-one battle. It was equivalent to countless Terror-grade creatures ganking Hermit. It would be strange if Hermit could withstand them.


    Wei Ge looked at Zhou Wen and couldn¡¯t help but shake his head and smile bitterly. He thought to himself, I originally thought that I had done extremely well over the years and might have a chance to compete with this fellow. I never expected this fellow to have already reached this stage¡­


    ¡°President, I really have to thank you for this. If you hadn¡¯t sent the news in time, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to rush back in time. Without you attracting the bhikkhuni to finish off the undead in the city, Luoyang would have suffered heavy losses. I wonder how many people would have died.¡± Zhou Wen still used the title he used to address Wei Ge in school instead of using his present official title.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. I¡¯m just doing what I want to do to satisfy my selfish desires. Saving them was only in passing.¡± Wei Ge looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°You should be advancing to the Calamity grade soon, right?¡±


    Calamity? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback before he shook his head and said with a bitter smile, ¡°Let¡¯s not even talk about the Calamity grade, I don¡¯t even know how to advance to the Terror grade.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ are still at the Mythical stage?¡± Wei Ge was stunned as he looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    Zhou Wen nodded. ¡°I also want to advance to the Terror grade, but I haven¡¯t been able to do so.¡±


    Wei Ge looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. After a while, he sighed and said, ¡°You advanced to the Mythical stage as a human?¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded again. ¡°Yes, this path is too difficult. I¡¯m still figuring it out.¡±


    ¡°Continue on. I¡¯m beginning to look forward to the day you advance to the Terror grade.¡± With that said, Wei Ge turned around and left.


    ¡°Where are you going? Why don¡¯t you stay in Luoyang?¡± Zhou Wen extended an invitation.


    Wei Ge had helped Luoyang through the calamity and completely severed ties with the League of Guardians. It was too dangerous for him to return now. The League of Guardians probably wouldn¡¯t let him off.


    Wei Ge looked at the sky and said indifferently, ¡°Devils can survive anywhere, even in hell. Besides, I don¡¯t like sunlight. The sunlight here is too blinding.¡±


    Sunlight¡­ Blinding¡­ Zhou Wen looked up at the sky. It seemed to be nighttime, and it was cloudy. There wasn¡¯t even a moon.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, Wei Ge vanished into the distance. Only the specks of smoke from his flaming robe hadn¡¯t completely dissipated, like fireflies.


    Zhou Wen shook his head. He had discovered a very serious problem.


    None of the students from their generation who had graduated from Sunset College seemed to be a sociable bunch. Apart from Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan who were considered to be close, most of them were from different factions. There was no talk of cooperation.


    After Luoyang¡¯s calamity was over, Zhou Wen returned to Overseer Manor.


    Sweetie had followed Zhou Wen to Overseer Manor. Zhou Wen had no choice but to get An Sheng to take good care of her, but he definitely couldn¡¯t let anyone touch her.


    However, An Sheng didn¡¯t give Sweetie special attention. He treated her like any ordinary guest. He didn¡¯t even prepare the desserts that Zhou Wen wanted him to prepare for her.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, and when he asked An Sheng why he was doing this, An Sheng only told him, ¡°You won¡¯t find it sweet if you add too much sugar.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a while before finding An Sheng¡¯s words interesting.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I see Ice Maiden and Nether Lotus?¡± Zhou Wen had been somewhat puzzled as to why he hadn¡¯t seen them. However, there had been too many things on his plate that he hadn¡¯t had the time to ask.


    ¡°They previously helped suppress Chess Mountain, but they recently disappeared. They must have entered Chess Mountain,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°They entered after all?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised.


    Ice Maiden wanted the Demon God Bloodline Catalog, while Nether Lotus wanted to enter to take the strongest Companion Beast on Earth. It would be strange if they could remain well-behaved.


    However, with their strength, they couldn¡¯t cause much of a stir in Chess Mountain. Now, Zhou Wen was afraid that the two of them would end up in The Thearch¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Forget it. Let them be.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered anymore.


    Now, the most pressing matter for him was the advancement to the Terror grade. He still needed to master the infinite spatial circulation skill. Otherwise, it would be impossible to kill the Calamity-grade in the Venusian instance dungeon.


    Slaughterer, Slaughterer, how do you advance? Zhou Wen had killed quite a number of high-level creatures, but he had been unable to trigger Slaughterer¡¯s growth. This made Zhou Wen suspect that it wasn¡¯t as simple as killing to advance Slaughterer to the Terror grade.


    Since killing doesn¡¯t work, I might as well change my train of thought. Zhou Wen felt that he had to find another way out.


    Sweetie¡¯s question gave Zhou Wen a headache. With such a time bomb by his side, no one knew when it would explode. It would be very troublesome when that happened.


    Should I give it a try and eat that lemon candy? Zhou Wen was already tempted.


    It was just too difficult for him to advance. If the lemon candy could really advance him, all the difficulties would be resolved.


    However, after some thought, Zhou Wen gave up on the idea.


    Firstly, Sweetie had been following him the entire time. If he took out the lemon candy, it was hard to guarantee that Sweetie wouldn¡¯t discover it immediately and give him no chance to eat it.


    Secondly, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that if he couldn¡¯t truly understand Slaughterer, it would be a hidden danger even if he advanced to the Terror grade.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, Chancellor Leng has invited you over,¡± An Sheng knocked on the door and said.


    ¡°Why is Chancellor Leng looking for me?¡± Zhou Wen opened the door and asked in surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. However, Chancellor Leng doesn¡¯t like to be disturbed. Even a proud student like Overseer won¡¯t have an easy time meeting him. There¡¯s no harm in meeting him,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen felt that An Sheng was right, so he followed the address An Sheng had given him to Leng Zongzheng¡¯s residence.

 Chapter 1370 - Heart Slaying

    Chapter 1370: Heart Slaying


    Translator: CKtalon


    Although Leng Zongzheng had a residence on campus, the place Zhou Wen was heading to wasn¡¯t on campus, but in an inconspicuous yard in the old district of Luoyang City.


    The yard was very ordinary. As it was very humid nearby, moss grew at the base of the walls. There were also many plants that looked like creepers on the walls.


    Underneath all this, a building was constructed of red bricks that were often seen in the past. Although it was very clean, it couldn¡¯t hide the ravages left by time. Some of the bricks on the walls were already showing signs of erosion.


    ¡°Chancellor Leng, it¡¯s Zhou Wen. Are you home?¡± Zhou Wen knocked on the door.


    ¡°Come in.¡± Leng Zongzheng¡¯s voice sounded from the building. When Zhou Wen pushed the door open and entered, Leng Zongzheng had brought out a pot of cactus.


    ¡°Chancellor Leng, is this your home?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the room and saw that the various decorations were very outdated, but they weren¡¯t considered ancient. They gave off a mediocre and dilapidated feeling.


    This was very different from the feeling Leng Zongzheng gave Zhou Wen. Be it his looks or actions, Leng Zongzheng had the demeanor of a nobleman. Furthermore, his Life Soul was something that looked very grand like the Demonic Organ Throne, so it made one feel that Leng Zongzheng was a person who placed great importance on the quality of life and details. He shouldn¡¯t be living in such a mediocre home.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see anything special in the yard. No matter how he searched, they were just daily necessities. There were even many items easily obtainable from street stalls.


    ¡°I lived here when I was young. This is my grandfather¡¯s old residence.¡± Leng Zongzheng placed the cactus by the side and patted the dust off his hands. He continued, ¡°In the past, I hated this place. I always felt that I had to stand out and live in a beautiful big house. I had to live like a decent human. However, I didn¡¯t know when it started, but I suddenly felt that living here was more comfortable, so I moved back.¡±


    ¡°This is about returning to the basics, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Leng Zongzheng glanced at Zhou Wen and curled his lips. ¡°What do you mean by returning to the basics? To put it bluntly, I¡¯ve had too much braised meat and want to eat some vegetables to get rid of the cloying taste. I haven¡¯t reached that stage yet. I haven¡¯t tried many good things and I¡¯m not sick of them.¡±


    With that said, Leng Zongzheng sat down on a wooden stool in the yard. As he basked in the sun, he continued, ¡°I¡¯ve also considered why I wanted to move back. In terms of comfort, this place definitely can¡¯t compare to any place I¡¯ve lived in. In terms of convenience, it¡¯s not convenient here either. If you want to say that it has a nice environment and that it¡¯s quiet enough, this place is far inferior to the villa I bought in the past. To say that I have good neighbors and how conducive it is to stay here, it¡¯s not the case either. No one stays here anymore. The old neighbors have long vanished. Even if they are still here, I don¡¯t have a good impression of them. I never really liked them.¡±


    ¡°Then why do you like living here?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought about this question for a long time. Later, I confirmed that the reason I like living here is that I¡¯m afraid,¡± Leng Zongzheng said.


    ¡°Afraid?¡± Zhou Wen was even more puzzled.


    In terms of safety, this place was far inferior to the college. There were no defensive measures. It was just a dilapidated old city district. Any Terror-grade could reduce this place to ruins with one swoop.


    ¡°Yes, afraid,¡± Leng Zongzheng said. ¡°People are afraid of death to varying degrees. Some people put the fear of death first, while others put the fear of death behind some other things. Therefore, when they encounter certain things, they appear to be unafraid of death. However, no one is unafraid of death. It¡¯s just that he has encountered something that terrifies him more than death, making death pale in comparison.¡±


    As Leng Zongzheng spoke, he took out a lighter and cigarette box and flicked out a cigarette with great familiarity. He held it in his mouth and lit it up. Then, he took a drag and closed his eyes as though he was enjoying it.


    Zhou Wen looked at Leng Zongzheng in a daze. This was very different from the impression Leng Zongzheng usually gave him. If he didn¡¯t know that this was Leng Zongzheng, he would have imagined him to be a decadent middle-aged man who liked to gamble and drink.


    After a while, Leng Zongzheng closed his eyes. Basking in the sun, he continued, ¡°Later on, I thought carefully. My fear of death should be ranked third. There are two things that rank before death. If I were to encounter those two things, I would rather choose death.¡±


    ¡°Are you here because you are afraid of those two things happening?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    To his surprise, Leng Zongzheng shook his head and said, ¡°No, those two things have already happened.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Leng Zongzheng in a daze, unsure what he was getting at.


    Leng Zongzheng continued, ¡°In the past, I was very afraid that I would become someone like my parents, but now, I¡¯m fundamentally no different from them. In the past, I was very afraid that Grandpa would leave me. That way, I would be alone in this world, but that day still came. I live here because I¡¯m afraid of loneliness, but in fact, I¡¯ve always been alone.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. He had occasionally had some thoughts about what Leng Zongzheng had said, but he didn¡¯t think them through as clearly as Leng Zongzheng.


    However, looking at Leng Zongzheng, Zhou Wen felt that Chancellor Leng wasn¡¯t as difficult to get along with as he had imagined.


    Leng Zongzheng took another drag of his cigarette and pressed the remaining half of it on the cement flower bed beside him. He extinguished the cigarette butt and reached out to flick it into the trash can.


    ¡°Living here gives me an inexplicable sense of security. I feel that this is my tiny world. As long as I hide here, I don¡¯t have to worry about anything, nor do I have to worry about anything. As long as I sleep, it¡¯s as though anything bad will disappear.¡±


    With that said, Leng Zongzheng laughed self-deprecatingly. ¡°But in fact, nothing is resolved. I¡¯m just fooling myself.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. Humans need a place for their hearts to seek refuge. A place that allows their minds to recover and be nurtured. Perhaps this place doesn¡¯t provide you with any substantial help in resolving problems, but it can calm your mind and allow you to face those problems with a calm mind. That is very important,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.


    ¡°You¡¯re right,¡± Leng Zongzheng said as he suddenly extended his palm and pressed it on the wall beside him. The entire yard and house instantly shattered, turning into fragments that rose up.


    ¡°W-what are you doing¡­¡± Standing in the ruins, the rubble around him kept rising. Zhou Wen looked at Leng Zongzheng in a daze, unsure why he was doing this.


    Amidst the shattered and rising fragments, Leng Zongzheng turned around and left. As he walked, he said, ¡°Just as you said, everyone has a place they seek refuge with. It¡¯s a place of terror that¡¯s closer to the heart than death. If you encounter an enemy that doesn¡¯t rank the terror of Death first one day, you should think about how to find that place that belongs to him. Killing someone is about slaying the heart. Sometimes, the slaying of the heart is even more terrifying than death. You are overall good, but you are too kind. Sometimes, kindness is a sin.¡±


    1


    Killing someone¡­ is the slaying of the heart¡­ Zhou Wen stood in the ruins and looked at Leng Zongzheng¡¯s departing figure as emotions stirred in his heart.

 Chapter 1371 - There’s No What Ifs

    Zhou Wen¡¯s talent was having focus; it gave him extraordinary focus.


    However, there were pros and cons to everything. Zhou Wen could quickly devote himself to everything he did. This made him learn everything faster than the average person. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to be distracted, so he was very difficult to obstruct.


    On the contrary, due to his focus, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a person with a repertoire of feelings like the average person. He wasn¡¯t that sensitive, so it was very difficult for him to notice things regarding emotion.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s knowledge, defeating an enemy was similar to adding and subtracting. He would only consider the losses between him and his opponent.


    In his calculations, killing his opponent was already the enemy¡¯s greatest loss.


    However, Leng Zongzheng¡¯s words opened up a new world to Zhou Wen. Killing an opponent wasn¡¯t the greatest loss to the opponent.


    Of course, this theory was only effective on some people. Or rather, it was effective at a particular point in time, not an eternal, immutable condition.


    Heart Slaying? Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. He actually felt the Slaughterer in his body vaguely respond as though it was telling him that he had found the right path.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction Leng Zongzheng had left with a complicated expression. Leng Zongzheng had clearly noticed his problem in his battle with Hermit. He had called him over to make him understand this reason.


    Although it was enlightening, Leng Zongzheng¡¯s words came from the bottom of his heart. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have stirred Zhou Wen so much.


    When he destroyed the yard before he left, it was obvious that Leng Zongzheng wasn¡¯t telling a story, but something that had really happened to him.


    It was because of this that he wanted to destroy the yard. Since he had said it, this weakness would be known sooner or later. Therefore, he definitely couldn¡¯t leave it behind.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but bow in the direction Leng Zongzheng had left. The yard was Leng Zongzheng¡¯s last hope of kinship. It had been destroyed because of Zhou Wen. It left him at a loss on how to return the favor.


    All Zhou Wen could do now was advance to the Terror grade as soon as possible.


    How can I achieve Heart Slaying? How can I know what¡¯s more important to the enemy than life? As Zhou Wen walked back, he thought about this problem.


    ¡­


    ¡°Hermit is dead?¡± In the League of Guardians, Immortal looked down at Cave Era and asked.


    ¡°I was incompetent. Please mete out your punishment.¡± Cave Era lowered her head.


    ¡°Your Excellency, this matter can¡¯t be blamed on Cave Era and Hermit. Who would have expected that the Monarch Bee Wei Ge, whose hands are covered in blood and almost despised by the entire Federation, is actually a man who can make bhikkhuni a Buddha,¡± said Blood Shaman.


    ¡°Hermit has only himself to blame for not utilizing people properly,¡± Uesugi Nao said.


    Blood Shaman frowned slightly and was about to say something when Cave Era beat him to it. ¡°This battle was indeed my oversight. A loss is a loss. There¡¯s no excuse. I¡¯ll take responsibility.¡±


    Immortal just sat there without moving from beginning to end, like a lifeless statue.


    After everyone quietened down, Immortal slowly said, ¡°How¡¯s the reconstruction of Skysplit Tower going?¡±


    Uesugi Nao answered, ¡°As too many resources are needed, and there aren¡¯t any excess reserves due to previous expenditure, the progress is very slow now. We can only wait for most of the materials. It¡¯s estimated to take another four months or so to recover to its previous progress.¡±


    ¡°How long would it take to only build the Heavenly Ascension Platform?¡± Immortal asked again.


    ¡°As we were preparing to build the Heavenly Ascension Platform last previously, the materials are still in the warehouse. They aren¡¯t damaged. If we start building it now, we can build the Heavenly Ascension Platform in about two years. However, without the main body of the Skysplit Tower and only the Heavenly Ascension Platform, we won¡¯t be able to connect to the dimension. It¡¯s useless even if we have the Heavenly Ascension Platform, right?¡± Uesugi Nao said after some thought.


    ¡°I want to see a complete Heavenly Ascension Platform in a month,¡± Immortal said.


    Uesugi Nao immediately felt stumped, but Immortal¡¯s words probably didn¡¯t allow her to refute. Therefore, she said, ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I need the full support of the Federation.¡±


    ¡°Cave Era, Blood Shaman, from now on, all of you will help Nao build the Heavenly Ascension Platform. Nao has priority with all the resources in the alliance,¡± Immortal said.


    ¡°Yes, Your Excellency.¡± Cave Era and Blood Shaman answered at the same time.


    ¡°Your Excellency, do you want to use the Heavenly Ascension Platform to connect to the dimension to think of a way to deal with Zhou Wen and the An family?¡± Blood Shaman asked.


    Immortal said indifferently, ¡°In this era, all kinds of heroes have risen. The six families are definitely not weak. There¡¯s the Hui family in the Federation, and the Holy Spirit Association beyond. Human Sovereign, Deceit King, and Luoyang¡¯s An family are all our greatest problems. However, these aren¡¯t important. What¡¯s really important is the Venusian dimensional zone. As long as we get first place on the rankings and obtain the Venusian Companion Beast, these threats won¡¯t be considered much.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, do you mean that you want to borrow the dimensional forces to enter the Venusian dimensional zone again?¡± Blood Shaman immediately understood that Immortal¡¯s attention was never focused on Zhou Wen or Luoyang¡¯s An family. He thought further.


    ¡°Since you want to succeed, you have to pay a price. Be it on Earth or in the dimension, it¡¯s the same principle,¡± Immortal said indifferently. ¡°In a month, you have to build the Heavenly Ascension Platform.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Excellency,¡± Uesugi Nao and company answered.


    ¡­


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what are you doing sitting there?¡± Sweetie was feeling uncomfortable. She hadn¡¯t had desserts for days.


    Zhou Wen often got people to buy desserts in the past, so she could enjoy the remaining desserts.


    However, over the past few days, Zhou Wen had been sitting there in a daze. He didn¡¯t even eat, much less get someone to buy desserts for him.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking about something,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± Sweetie pressed.


    ¡°You ghosts don¡¯t understand these things,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How do you know that I don¡¯t understand? Let me tell you, there¡¯s nothing I don¡¯t understand,¡± Sweetie said angrily.


    Zhou Wen ignored her. He couldn¡¯t tell Sweetie that he was thinking about how to kill someone, right?


    Sweetie was God. To tell God to her face that he wanted to kill someone and wanted to make the other party suffer a fate worse than death would mean that Zhou Wen was crazy.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. I want to eat cake, I want pudding, I want milk tea¡­¡± It wasn¡¯t the first time Sweetie had been exposed. She had already given up.


    Zhou Wen looked at the exasperated Sweetie and seemed to think of something. His eyes gradually lit up as he sized her up.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Sweetie was a little frightened by Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze. She took two steps back and asked Zhou Wen warily.


    ¡°If you have an illness that kills you as long as you take one mouthful of something sweet, would you still want something like a cake?¡± Zhou Wen asked Sweetie.


    ¡°I won¡¯t get sick,¡± Sweetie said.


    ¡°I¡¯m saying if.¡±


    ¡°Even so, I still wouldn¡¯t get sick.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s just an analogy. If you get this illness¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no what ifs. It¡¯s impossible for me to get sick.¡±


    Zhou Wen felt a little uncomfortable being rendered speechless by Sweetie. He couldn¡¯t say his original thoughts. It was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, something he couldn¡¯t swallow or spit out.

 Chapter 1372 - Yang City

    Chapter 1372: Yang City


    Translator: CKtalon


    This discomfort gave Zhou Wen new ideas.


    That¡¯s right. The so-called Heart Slaying doesn¡¯t necessarily have to make the other party wish they were dead. From a broader picture, it¡¯s to make one wish they were dead. But drilling down, as long as it can make the enemy feel uncomfortable, it can also be said to be a destruction of heart. The so-called Heart Slaying is actually pointing at the weakness of the other party¡¯s humanity. In other words, what I need to do is to see through the other party¡¯s weaknesses in human nature.


    It¡¯s easy to find flaws in a move because the move is right there. I can study ways to crack it at any time, but how can I figure out the weakness in human nature of an enemy I¡¯m not familiar with? Zhou Wen fell into deep thought again.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen was in a daze again, Sweetie lowered her head in a daze. Her eyes were focused elsewhere as she gloomily turned around and left the yard. She had the urge to head out to have some desserts.


    ¡°Young Master Wen specially told me to buy this for you. Eat it while it¡¯s hot.¡± Just as Sweetie stepped out, she saw An Sheng walk over with a box in his hand.


    ¡°This is¡­ the plum blossom cake from Yun¡¯s¡­¡± Sweetie¡¯s eyes lit up when she saw the box. She nearly drooled.


    The last time she ate with Zhou Wen and Madam Lan, she had seen Zhou Wen eat such a plum blossom cake. Back then, her appetite had been whet, but Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t left any for her. It left Sweetie depressed the entire day.


    ¡°Why would I want his things?¡± Sweetie turned her head to the side as though it was beneath her, but she couldn¡¯t help but glance at the box of plum blossom cake.


    ¡°Young Master Wen said that you like it, so he got me to specially buy it for you. Since you don¡¯t like it, I¡¯ll throw it away.¡± An Sheng turned around and left.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ It¡¯s a waste to throw it away¡­ Although I really don¡¯t like plum blossom cake¡­ I can¡¯t waste food¡­ I¡¯ll just¡­ accept it¡­¡± Sweetie said with a red face.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave it to you.¡± An Sheng handed the box to Sweetie before turning to leave.


    After An Sheng left, Sweetie found an empty garden. She opened the box and leaned in to take a sniff. The sweet smell immediately made her face beam with happiness.


    Soon, Sweetie¡¯s mouth was filled with plum blossom cake. Her cheeks were full, and the corners of her mouth were stained with red bean stuffing. As she ate, she muttered to herself, ¡°That baddie, Zhou Wen, isn¡¯t too bad at times. He¡¯s not hopeless¡­ Uh¡­ Nice¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen was still pondering over his problems. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to instruct An Sheng to prepare those. However, An Sheng had found an opportunity to prepare the plum blossom cake for her when he saw that Sweetie liked it a lot.


    If it¡¯s someone I¡¯m familiar with, I know their temperament and might discover their weakness in human nature¡­ That¡¯s not right either¡­ No matter how close a person is to me, they will bury secrets in their hearts. Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t show their weakest side to others, much less strangers¡­


    Zhou Wen thought hard. Since it¡¯s impossible to know the weakness of the other party¡¯s human nature from their words, I can only rely on observation. But what kind of observation can point straight at the human heart?


    Zhou Wen felt that he definitely couldn¡¯t figure it out by just thinking about it. He had to personally observe it to discover it.


    Who should I observe? Zhou Wen thought for a moment. Although Sweetie was with him all day and he could observe her at any time, she was like a blank piece of paper. Everything was written on her face. He didn¡¯t need to observe to know what she was thinking.


    As for people close to them, it didn¡¯t seem appropriate to observe the weaknesses in their nature.


    I have to find an enemy, Zhou Wen muttered to himself before creating a list in his heart.


    The first to bear the brunt was naturally the League of Guardians. Zhou Wen felt that it was time for him to make a trip to the League of Guardians.


    Others were afraid of the Terror-grade Guardians of the League of Guardians, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid at all. With the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of a siege.


    As long as he was given enough time in advance to set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, it was useless no matter how many Terror-grade Guardians there were unless someone could crack it.


    Of course, it would be different if a Calamity-grade creature came. Thankfully, the League of Guardians still didn¡¯t have any Calamity-grade creatures.


    It was as though the dimension couldn¡¯t create a Calamity-grade Guardian. The Guardians that were teleported to Earth were at most at the Terror grade.


    Since they can come to Luoyang, why can¡¯t I go to the League of Guardians? Even if I can¡¯t defeat them, it¡¯s good to see how strong they are. Zhou Wen had no intention of killing anyone on his trip.


    Firstly, killing people didn¡¯t benefit him. It didn¡¯t allow Slaughterer to advance. What was key was to figure out a method to discover the weakness of one¡¯s human nature. Secondly, with Sweetie by his side, if he really started a massacre, Sweetie wouldn¡¯t be able to watch on and would represent the kind and righteous Heaven to destroy him. Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t even have the time to cry.


    Zhou Wen told An Sheng about his intention to go to the League of Guardians. He originally imagined that An Sheng would persuade him not to take the risk.


    To his surprise, An Sheng¡¯s eyes lit up as he said, ¡°You should have done this a long time ago. Young Master Wen, I¡¯ve long wanted to say that you¡¯re good at everything, but you¡¯re too kind-hearted. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Blood for blood. If others slap you, you have to slap them back. That¡¯s what makes it awesome.¡±


    ¡°You have to continue with the matter of the Heavenly Robe.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°I want to sell the Heavenly Robe to the League of Guardians.¡±


    ¡°At this stage, is it still possible?¡± An Sheng felt that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to sell the Heavenly Robe to the League of Guardians.


    ¡°Where there¡¯s a will there is a way. Just continue making preparations. There¡¯s no need to deliberately interact with the League of Guardians. Let¡¯s first interact with other people who are interested in the Heavenly Robe. Have the necessary discussions.¡± Zhou Wen already had plans.


    ¡°Alright, I know what to do.¡± An Sheng understood what Zhou Wen meant.


    After making arrangements for Luoyang, Zhou Wen set off for the headquarters of the League of Guardians.


    Sweetie naturally wouldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen off. She continued following him as though she wouldn¡¯t stop until she found a reason to kill him.


    Zhou Wen sat on the Earth Elemental Beast¡¯s back and took out his phone. He switched on the downloaded Yang City to see what was inside Yang City that even Sweetie¡ªGod¡ªwasn¡¯t willing to enter.


    1


    Yang City was a mud city. The blood-colored avatar pushed open the door and entered. With a turn of the camera, many buildings made of clay bricks and wood appeared on the screen. They looked ancient and backward.


    The city wasn¡¯t small. Strangely, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any living dimensional creature. The whole of Yang City was dead silent, like a ghost city.


    What¡¯s that? Zhou Wen sized up the buildings in Yang City and quickly discovered something strange.

 Chapter 1373 - Blood Bone Temples

    Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss with the buildings here, even though they had mud bricks and wooden roofs from the outside.


    However, Zhou Wen saw a gigantic pillar that resembled a femur in the nearest building. It was definitely not made of wood or mud.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the room again and realized that not only were the pillars in the room made of bone, but even the ceiling beam and spine were bones.


    Or it should be said that the entire roof was a gigantic spine and rib cage? The columns were leg bones. The interior of the room was propped up by the bones of an unknown beast.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he quickly looked at the nearby buildings and realized that it was as he had imagined.


    He saw the bones of various beasts in buildings of various sizes. Or rather, these buildings were built according to the bones of the beasts.


    Those with relatively smaller bones had smaller buildings. Some of the small houses were only half the height of a person, looking like models. However, the bones inside were real.


    The large buildings were like a palace, and the bones inside were astonishingly large. It was difficult to imagine how terrifying a ferocious beast the bones were from when it was still alive.


    According to the different skeletal structures, each building had a different appearance. Some were long, some were short, and some were tall. They looked very strange.


    The more Zhou Wen looked at it, the more he felt that something was amiss. This place shouldn¡¯t be called a city, but a temple complex.


    Of course, the temples here didn¡¯t worship deities but the strange beast bones.


    The inside of the temple is the bones of mutated beasts¡­ Then, these mud walls and wooden roofs¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the yellowish-red mud bricks and couldn¡¯t help but associate them with something.


    Don¡¯t tell me those mud bricks are formed from mixing mutated beast blood? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more fearful he became.


    If this Yang City was really built using mutated beast blood mixed with soil, how much blood was needed?


    There was also something that puzzled Zhou Wen. It was said that no one left Yang City alive. However, he had yet to encounter any danger.


    Since he was already here, he naturally couldn¡¯t return empty-handed. Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and made it head for a blood bone temple. He wanted to try destroying the blood bone temple or see if there was anything hidden inside.


    Tyrant Behemoth pounced at the small blood bone temple fiercely. The highest point of the building only reached Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s waist. Tyrant Behemoth activated its Absolute Strength and punched down from above, striking the wooden roof of the blood bone temple.


    Boom!


    Before Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s fist could smash into the wooden roof, an evil glow erupted from the blood bone temple. A black sanguine flame soared into the sky and forcefully blasted Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s gigantic body into the air.


    The blackish-red flames entrenched themselves above the blood bone temple and actually transformed into a blackish-red blood shadow. It looked like a large tortoise, but its claws were like that of a tiger or wolf. Its head was like a bird¡¯s, and its tail was like an alligator¡¯s with a tip resembling a scorpion¡¯s stinger.


    The blood figure looked sinister, evil, and oppressive.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body was in midair when the blood figure jumped up as if it had disappeared. When it appeared again, it had already grabbed Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body and torn it into two.


    Terror-grade! Zhou Wen was surprised.


    The blood bone temple he had Tyrant Behemoth attack was already a very inconspicuous one. He didn¡¯t expect a Terror-grade existence to be hidden inside.


    If this weren¡¯t a coincidence, it would be shocking enough with so many blood bone temples in Yang City¡ªeven if only half of them were at the Terror grade.


    After the blood figure killed Tyrant Behemoth, it turned its gaze to the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wait for it to launch another attack; he summoned Banana Fairy.


    Banana Fairy sat on the banana leaf that resembled a small boat. Her muslin clothes fluttered despite the lack of wind. She really looked like a fairy that had descended to the mortal world.


    The blood figure went berserk again and swept toward Zhou Wen as a bloody beam. Banana Fairy¡¯s red lips opened slightly as she exhaled a gust of Supreme Yin Wind.


    The blood figure moved against the wind, and its charging speed became slower and slower. Furthermore, frost formed over its body. Finally, its entire body was wrapped in ice and blown away.


    Bang!


    The frozen blood figure slammed into the wall of another blood bone temple, but it failed to break the mud brick wall. Instead, the blood bone temple lit up as a blood figure rushed out.


    The blood figure that rushed out looked like a large snake, but its body was as large as a dragon¡¯s. However, it didn¡¯t have claws. Instead, it had a horn on its head.


    The moment the blood-red snake appeared, it showed its prowess. It opened its mouth and spewed out blood-like river water that surged toward Zhou Wen and the others like a mountain flood.


    Another Terror-grade! Zhou Wen was surprised and delighted.


    Any creature that came out of the blood bone temples looked to be at the Terror grade. There were so many blood bone temples here, meaning that there were at least 200 to 300 Terror-grade creatures.


    To Zhou Wen, this was a holy land for grinding Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals.


    However, it was unlikely that there weren¡¯t any Calamity-grade creatures in such a terrifying place. If he encountered a Calamity-grade creature, Zhou Wen¡¯s means of resistance would be very limited without the help of the Heavenly Robe.


    After the blood shadow beast slammed into the wall, the ice around it shattered. Its body wasn¡¯t too affected, but its actions looked a little stiff.


    It got up from the ground and shook the ice fragments from its body. It opened its beak-like mouth and let out a strange scream, forming an aural ring that quickly spread out.


    Banana Fairy was clearly a little peeved as she jumped down from the banana leaf and danced in front of Zhou Wen. She fanned the two monsters with the banana fan that was transformed from the banana leaf with one hand.


    A terrifying Supreme Yin Wind swept out as the torrent-like blood froze. Even the sound waves were frozen in midair. With Banana Fairy as the origin, a fan-shaped area of ice was instantly formed. The two blood shadow-like Terror-grade creatures were frozen into ice sculptures and sent flying.


    Their bodies slammed into the wall of a blood bone temple. This time, they failed to shatter the ice around them, but they also failed to destroy the temple.


    Boom! Boom!


    Due to Banana Fairy¡¯s fanning, the hundred-plus blood bone temples in the frozen area emitted terrifying black sanguine flames. Terrifying black and red blood shadows rushed out of the temples.


    Every black and red blood shadow emitted a terrifying aura. Without a doubt, they were definitely at the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t see a single creature below the Terror grade. He was alarmed. What¡¯s going on in Yang City? Why are there so many Terror-grade creatures?

 Chapter 1374 - Classic of Mountains and Seas Mutated Beasts

    More than a hundred devil-like Terror-grade creatures swept over as though they had a blood feud with Zhou Wen. They wished they could chew him up.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Prisoned Dragon armor. He quickly instant transmitted, but he only managed to dodge a portion of the attacks. Many attacks still landed on him.


    Thankfully, Absolute Defense was indeed powerful. It fended off many fatal attacks and even reflected damage, sending a few devil-like blood shadows flying.


    Banana Fairy waved the banana fan in her hand and used Chaos Wind to form countless tornadoes, sweeping up all the forces and blood shadows that approached her.


    One of the bird-shaped blood shadows stood out by moving against the wind, unafraid of Banana Fairy¡¯s Chaos Wind. It tore through the tornadoes that filled the sky and arrived near Banana Fairy. It spread its wings and blood beams shot at Banana Fairy like a rain of arrows.


    Banana Fairy rode the wind and used the banana fan in her hand as a weapon. She blocked all the sanguine light that approached her and fought the blood shadow that resembled a giant bird.


    However, she had clearly met her nemesis. The giant bird seemed to be born with the ability to fix the wind. Be it the Supreme Yang Wind, Supreme Yin Wind, or Chaos Wind, they would immediately stop the moment they reached the giant bird.


    Zhou Wen used the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s defense to constantly set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, but before the invisible sword beams he set up could stabilize, they were shattered by the overwhelming power. He was unable to form a sword array.


    Seeing that setting up the sword array was not going to work, Zhou Wen was just about to go all out when he heard a strange cry that resembled a bull or dragon. Before he could react, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s eardrums ruptured before its entire body exploded, turning into a bloody mist.


    Calamity-grade creature! Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    It wasn¡¯t unexpected that there was a Calamity-grade creature in Yang City. However, he didn¡¯t even see what the Calamity-grade creature was before he was killed by the sound. He was truly displeased.


    He wanted to enter again, but the notification indicated that he had to wait 24 hours.


    Since he couldn¡¯t enter, Zhou Wen used his memories to search for information online. Soon, he realized that the blood shadows he saw in Yang City seemed to be extremely similar to some creatures in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.


    Take the blood shadow that appeared in the beginning for instance, it was very similar to the Whirl Turtle in the Classic of Mountains and Seas. The other blood shadows also had inklings of the mutated beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas.


    Could it be that the blood bone temples in Yang City are built with the bones of the mutated beasts in the Classic of Mountains and Seas? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that he was right.


    Back then, Yu the Great had controlled the waters, splitting mountains and rivers along the way. He had killed countless flood beasts. If there was anyone who was qualified to build such a city, it was probably only Yu the Great.


    When Zhou Wen thought of this, he was alarmed and delighted. He was delighted that he would definitely gain a lot from grinding Terror-grade Companion Beasts and dimensional crystals in such a treasure land in the future.


    What was shocking was that if a Calamity-grade creature was about to appear in Yang City, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to defend Luoyang.


    Is there no safe place in the world that can let me game in peace? Zhou Wen sighed before throwing himself into grinding work again.


    Unfortunately, there were many places that Zhou Wen wanted to grind, but he didn¡¯t have the ability to clear them.


    For example, he could grind the first part of the Venusian instance dungeon and Chess Mountain, but he would die when he reached the end.


    Zhou Wen had previously attempted to kill the Ant City Guardian, but ended up being killed. The growth of the Ant City Guardian had probably placed it at the Calamity grade, making it seem to be faster than Zhou Wen.


    Once, when Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t have any dungeons to grind, he ran to Mount Laojun. After entering Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak, he saw an immortal crane that ignored him.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t there to sightsee, so it was naturally impossible for him to just take a look. He went up to kill the immortal crane, but he was killed on the spot by a single wing. The game screen instantly turned black.


    This can¡¯t continue. I have to think of a way to kill a Calamity-grade Companion Beast. As long as I kill them enough times, a Calamity-grade Companion Beast will drop no matter what. A Calamity-grade Companion Beast makes everything easy. Zhou Wen really wanted to count on Truth Listener, but it had been in the form of an earring all this while. He couldn¡¯t summon it no matter what.


    Zhou Wen planned on thinking of a way to kill a Calamity-grade in-game after this trip to the League of Guardians.


    From the looks of it, the Calamity-grade he had highest hopes of killing was the one on Venus.


    The Calamity-grade¡¯s offensive strength was indeed very strong. The seventh shot was almost a sure kill.


    However, his weakness was obvious. His offensive abilities were single-target. Also, his defense was definitely mediocre, and his melee abilities were lacking. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have hidden the entire time.


    Up to now, no one had seen what he looked like.


    As long as one could deal with his bullets, killing him probably wasn¡¯t difficult after finding him.


    Zhou Wen had more or less finished his research on the infinite spatial circulation skill. The progress was very smooth. He believed that it wouldn¡¯t be long before he could withstand the Calamity-grade bullets. When that happened, he would have the confidence to kill the Calamity creature.


    Sweetie was rather curious about everything on Earth. She found everything fresh and fun, so she didn¡¯t find it boring.


    Finally, they arrived near the League of Guardians. Zhou Wen tried his best to hide his whereabouts and planned on secretly approaching the League of Guardians to set up his Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    However, with Sweetie by his side, it wasn¡¯t that easy for him to hide.


    ¡°Shall we play a game?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said to Sweetie.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a child. Why are we playing games?¡± Sweetie immediately followed up with a question. ¡°What game do you have in mind?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s play hide-and-seek. The two of us will hide ourselves. Whoever gets discovered first loses,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Sweetie rolled her eyes at him. ¡°Are you afraid of being discovered when attempting something evil?¡±


    ¡°Wow, you actually saw through me. Alright, I can only tell you the truth. I¡¯m actually here to find treasure,¡± Zhou Wen whispered to Sweetie.


    ¡°What treasure?¡± Sweetie¡¯s eyes lit up as though she was interested.


    ¡°In the city over there, there¡¯s a group of villains known as the Forty Great Bandits. They pillage everywhere and gather many treasures, hiding them somewhere in the city. I came here this time to find the treasure of the Forty Great Bandits and distribute it to good people who need it,¡± Zhou Wen said in all seriousness.


    ¡°You want it for yourself, right?¡± Sweetie seemed to see through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important. What¡¯s important is to punish those bad people.¡± Zhou Wen wore a righteous expression as though he was a modern version of Justice Bao.


    Noticing Sweetie¡¯s hesitance, Zhou Wen hurriedly added, ¡°With so many treasures, even if most of them are distributed to good people who need them, one-thousandth of the remaining can buy a few plum blossom cake shops.¡±

 Chapter 1375 - Clear Plan

    Chapter 1375: Clear Plan


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen and Sweetie sneaked to the headquarters of the League of Guardians.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s persuasion and lies, Sweetie ended up tempted. She hid herself and followed Zhou Wen to the headquarters of the League of Guardians.


    Zhou Wen still needed to hide along the way, but it was easy for Sweetie. As long as she didn¡¯t want anyone to see her, no one could see her.


    How strange. Why isn¡¯t Sweetie¡¯s strength suppressed on Earth? Sweetie¡¯s potent abilities puzzled Zhou Wen.


    Logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t have been like this. A Calamity-grade would be suppressed on Earth. If Sweetie was really an Apocalypse-grade big shot, she should be suppressed even more.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, Sweetie didn¡¯t seem to be suppressed by the rules.


    The headquarters of the League of Guardians was huge. It was already considered a city. Many humans who had contracted Guardians could be seen coming and going.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array wasn¡¯t strong enough to envelop such a huge city, so he could only enter its core first. He originally wanted to use the Invisibility Cloak to sneak in, but he felt that it wouldn¡¯t work.


    The Invisibility Cloak was only at the Mythical stage after all. There were many Terror-grade Guardians here, so it was difficult to guarantee that no one could see him.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate. ¡°te, get Grim Demon out.¡±


    With a thought, Demonic Neonate automatically unsheathed the Demonic Sword in her arms. Grim Demon also flew out.


    ¡°Grim Demon, you should be able to transform into a Guardian armor and possess me, right?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon and asked with uncertainty.


    Typical Guardians could transform into armor, but Grim Demon had never done so. He was always inside the Demonic Sword, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°Yes, I can, but you haven¡¯t contracted with me and can¡¯t use my power,¡± Grim Demon said smugly. ¡°Why? Do you need to use my power having encountered something that can¡¯t be resolved? Didn¡¯t I tell you so? If you had contracted with me back then¡­ Of course¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have taken a fancy to you¡­¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap. Just transform into armor and attach yourself to me.¡± Zhou Wen glared at him.


    Grim Demon naturally didn¡¯t care if Zhou Wen glared at him, but when he turned his head and saw Demonic Neonate glaring at him, he immediately cowered. He smiled apologetically and said, ¡°Of course. I¡¯ll do it immediately.¡±


    With that said, Grim Demon transformed into armor and enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    A black armor enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body, making his slender and muscular body exude strength. It was as though he could shoot out like a cannonball with a single step.


    ¡°Piece of cake.¡± Zhou Wen decided to swagger into the League of Guardians.


    After unsummoning Demonic Neonate, Zhou Wen led Sweetie to the entrance that resembled a toll booth on a highway. That was the only way to enter the League of Guardians. Unless Zhou Wen forcefully barged in, he had to go through there.


    As for using instant transmission, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that with Cave Era and Jiuyue around, they would allow anyone to teleport into the headquarters of the League of Guardians.


    As there were many humans who had contracted Guardians entering and exiting, Zhou Wen felt that there shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem since he was wearing authentic Guardian armor.


    ¡°See that? There are solutions to everything. You don¡¯t have to force it. It¡¯s not easy for me to sneak in. You still have a lot to learn.¡± Zhou Wen walked among the Guardians and no one paid attention to him. There were people wearing Guardian armor everywhere. Zhou Wen was inconspicuous, so he happily lectured Sweetie.


    However, just as he entered, he heard an ear-piercing alarm.


    Instantly, the Guardians around him looked over. The Guardians in charge of sentry duty also surrounded Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your pass?¡± one of the guards asked Zhou Wen with an unfriendly expression.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. He never expected the League of Guardians to have such high-tech stuff. He was secretly depressed. Why are a bunch of Guardians dabbling with high-tech stuff? There¡¯s actually such a thing as an entry pass!?


    1


    Sweetie¡¯s face turned red from holding back her laughter. However, she ultimately failed to hold it in and laughed out loud.


    However, no matter how she laughed, no one else reacted other than Zhou Wen. It was as though they couldn¡¯t see Sweetie at all.


    Zhou Wen had no choice. There was no time for him to get the entry card now. Since he had already been exposed, he planned on rushing in.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to take action, he heard a person squeeze out from the crowd beside him. As he squeezed over, he said, ¡°Sorry, his entry pass is with me. I was holding it for him. I forgot to return it to him when I returned.¡±


    As the person spoke, he stuffed a card into Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    Zhou Wen caught the card and the shrill alarm immediately stopped.


    ¡°Be careful next time. Don¡¯t randomly leave the entry pass around. If anything happens, you won¡¯t even know how you died.¡± The leading guard saw that the entry passes on Zhou Wen and the person were fine, so all he did was lecture them.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry,¡± the person apologized.


    ¡°Alright, go in. Don¡¯t delay others from entering.¡± Only then did the guard let them in.


    Zhou Wen followed the person in. When they came to an area with fewer people and no one was paying attention to them, Zhou Wen approached the person and lowered his voice. He asked in puzzlement, ¡°Jiang Yan, why are you here?¡±


    The person who helped Zhou Wen out was none other than Jiang Yan, one of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s students when Zhou Wen was learning from him.


    Jiang Yan said, ¡°I contracted a Guardian, so I¡¯m naturally considered a member of the League of Guardians. I¡¯m now doing some idle work in the headquarters. As for you, you are one of the League of Guardians¡¯ greatest enemies. Why didn¡¯t you stay in Luoyang? Why did you come here yourself?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, you are here. If it wasn¡¯t for you, I would be in trouble.¡± Zhou Wen was telling the truth.


    Although he wasn¡¯t afraid of the League of Guardians and it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to escape, he wouldn¡¯t be able to set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array ahead of time if he was discovered ahead of time. It would also make the League of Guardians wary. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to attack again.


    ¡°You¡¯re my junior brother after all. I can¡¯t just ignore you when I notice that you¡¯re in danger.¡± Jiang Yan smiled and said, ¡°No matter what you¡¯re doing here, you have to be careful. It¡¯s beyond imagination how many Terror-grade Guardians are here. If anything happens, it won¡¯t be easy to escape.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t plan on fighting those Guardians to the death,¡± Zhou Wen said to Jiang Yan. ¡°What do you do in the League of Guardians? If you encounter an enemy attack, will you fight?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a guard. I¡¯m just a clerk. Under normal circumstances, I don¡¯t have to fight,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. When I fight them later, don¡¯t you come out. Think of a way to leave this place. It¡¯s best if you apply for leave in advance¡­¡± Zhou Wen exhorted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll hide far away. What do you want to do? Don¡¯t tell me you really think that you can send shockwaves through the League of Guardians alone?¡± Jiang Yan asked curiously.


    ¡°Why not? I want to turn the League of Guardians upside down and smash that so-called Immortal¡¯s lair singlehandedly,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.

 Chapter 1376 - Immortal

    ¡°You really have what it takes to do that.¡± Jiang Yan laughed. ¡°However, you still have to be careful. Immortal¡¯s strength is extraordinary, and he has so many helpers. He¡¯s not easy to deal with.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry about that. Even if I can¡¯t beat them, I can still run. As for you, you helped me out today. Will they investigate you in the future? Also, will there be a problem with the card you gave me?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That card isn¡¯t registered with a name. They won¡¯t be able to find me easily. Even if they do, no one can do anything to me without actual evidence. After all, I¡¯m Cave Era¡¯s younger brother,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°You are Cave Era¡¯s younger brother? Blood-related?¡± Zhou Wen widened his eyes.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Jiang Yan said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself that it was a close call. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t had the chance to kill Cave Era; otherwise, he would probably have had a death grudge with Jiang Yan.


    Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s expression, Jiang Yan seemed to guess what he was thinking. He said to Zhou Wen, ¡°She¡¯s my sister after all. If there¡¯s no deep grudge between the two of you, let her live if you encounter her in the future.¡±


    After a pause, Jiang Yan smiled and said, ¡°If it were anyone else, I definitely wouldn¡¯t make such a request. However, you¡¯re different. You aren¡¯t someone who likes to kill, and you have the ability to do so.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded without saying anything else.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since we last met. I wanted to chat with you, but the present time and place don¡¯t allow for it. Let¡¯s chat in the future.¡± Jiang Yan looked up and pointed in a direction. ¡°If you encounter a hopeless situation, run in that direction. There might be a way out.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Zhou Wen also looked in that direction, but he didn¡¯t see anything there. It wasn¡¯t the center of the city.


    ¡°If I tell you what¡¯s there, it won¡¯t work. If you don¡¯t need to take that step, it¡¯s useless even if you know. If you need to take that step, you will naturally know when the time comes.¡± With that said, Jiang Yan reached out and pressed his hand on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder. He said seriously, ¡°You aren¡¯t a killer. The past you resembles your true self.¡±


    ¡°I also wish to game in peace every day, but this world doesn¡¯t leave me any peace,¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Life is unpredictable. Who can stay away from that all? I¡¯m leaving. Be careful.¡± Jiang Yan lowered his hand and turned to leave.


    ¡°I¡¯ll later¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Jiang Yan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me anything. I don¡¯t want to know. At least not now.¡± Jiang Yan left without looking back.


    Zhou Wen shrugged. He hadn¡¯t planned on explaining his plan to begin with. He only wanted to tell Jiang Yan not to get too close to the sword array he would set up.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the treasure you mentioned?¡± Sweetie couldn¡¯t help but ask. She scanned the area for a while but didn¡¯t find any treasure.


    ¡°If it was that easy to find it, it wouldn¡¯t be called a treasure. Follow me.¡± Zhou Wen led Sweetie towards the center of the League of Guardians as he secretly set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    After Jiang Yan and Zhou Wen separated, he didn¡¯t head to the center of the headquarters. Instead, he left the headquarters and headed for the location of Skysplit Tower.


    Just as he was about to reach Skysplit Tower, Jiang Yan summoned the Guardian armor and put it on. At the same time, he extended his hand and a cloak-like robe appeared in it.


    He draped the robe over his shoulder and a mask appeared in his other hand at some point in time. Although he was protected by the face armor, Jiang Yan still put the mask on his face and finally put the hood up.


    After doing all of this, Jiang Yan walked towards Skysplit Tower.


    ¡°Lord Immortal,¡± the Guardians guarding the area immediately bowed and said respectfully when they saw Jiang Yan.


    Zhou Wen probably never expected Jiang Yan to be Immortal. He had even said in front of Jiang Yan that he wanted to destroy Immortal¡¯s den.


    ¡°Where are Uesugi and Cave Era?¡± Jiang Yan asked.


    ¡°Lord Immortal, Lord Uesugi and Cave Era are supervising the seventh floor of Skysplit Tower. Lord Blood Shaman is also here,¡± the guard answered.


    Jiang Yan nodded slightly before walking into Skysplit Tower.


    Zhou Wen set up the sword array as he walked through the headquarters of the League of Guardians, but he quickly realized that there weren¡¯t as many high-level Guardians as he imagined.


    Although the League of Guardians had suffered heavy losses previously and had lost the ability to bring Guardians to Earth through Skysplit Tower, it wouldn¡¯t be the case of him not seeing a single Terror-grade Guardian after walking for so long, right?


    Strange, there doesn¡¯t seem to be any ambushes. Why don¡¯t I see any high-level Guardians? Where did those Guardians go? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to listen carefully for a while and realized that there weren¡¯t any high-level Guardians nearby. And this was already the center of the headquarters.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before his eyes lit up. I get it. The League of Guardians must be rebuilding Skysplit Tower. Apart from Skysplit Tower, there shouldn¡¯t be any other huge project that can make the League of Guardians mobilize so many high-level Guardians.


    I wonder if Skysplit Tower is still where it used to be? Zhou Wen only knew where its former location was.


    However, according to An Sheng, the compressed and accelerated Essence Energy Bomb which had wiped out the An family¡¯s savings had completely destroyed Skysplit Tower. It was almost impossible to repair it.


    The construction of Skysplit Tower took several years previously. Considering the many materials needed, it was no longer easy to obtain them. It would probably take at least eight to ten years to rebuild Skysplit Tower.


    If they really went to repair Skysplit Tower, it means that it definitely won¡¯t take that long to rebuild it. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to invest so much manpower. Zhou Wen knew very well.


    The League of Guardians needed a large number of people to operate. It was fine to temporarily deploy so many high-level Guardians. If they were to spend eight to ten years building Skysplit Tower, the League of Guardians would probably be crippled.


    There was only one possibility for such a situation to happen. Skysplit Tower could be repaired in a short period of time. At the very least, a portion of it could be repaired, allowing Skysplit Tower to play a certain role.


    This won¡¯t do. I have to visit Skysplit Tower. Otherwise, there¡¯s no point in destroying their headquarters. Zhou Wen gave up on his previous plans and headed for the old Skysplit Tower.


    Now, Zhou Wen only hoped that they were repairing the original Skysplit Tower. If they were to switch locations to repair it, he might not be able to find the new Skysplit Tower.


    ¡°Where are you going? Aren¡¯t you looking for treasure here?¡± Sweetie asked in puzzlement when she saw Zhou Wen walking out of the city.


    ¡°I thought of a place. Perhaps those fellows hid the treasure there,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards Skysplit Tower.


    When Zhou Wen saw the Skysplit Tower which was being repaired from afar, he knew that his guess was right.

 Chapter 1377 - : I Need Help

    ¡°Your Excellency.¡± Blood Shaman, Uesugi Nao, and Cave Era immediately bowed when they saw Immortal walking over.


    Jiang Yan passed by the three of them and walked to the fence. He looked up at a pillar in the middle of Skysplit Tower. The pillar was made of metal and crystal. Although it was erected in the middle of Skysplit Tower, its current height had exceeded the completed seventh floor.


    Jiang Yan stood by the fence on the seventh floor. He had to look up at the Heavenly Ascension Platform to barely see its peak.


    ¡°Your Excellency, it should be completed in twenty days at the current progress,¡± Uesugi Nao said from behind.


    ¡°That¡¯s too late,¡± Jiang Yan muttered to himself.


    ¡°Your Excellency, taking another twenty days makes it only twenty-seven days. It won¡¯t even be a month,¡± Uesugi Nao said in puzzlement.


    Jiang Yan didn¡¯t explain as he said calmly, ¡°All of you can leave. Guard Skysplit Tower outside and don¡¯t let anyone approach.¡±


    The three of them were alarmed as Blood Shaman hurriedly asked, ¡°Your Excellency, what happened?¡±


    ¡°Go. Just guard it well,¡± Jiang Yan said indifferently as he looked at the Heavenly Ascension Platform without explaining.


    ¡°Yes.¡± With Jiang Yan saying that, Uesugi Nao and company didn¡¯t dare ask further as they left Skysplit Tower together.


    Before walking down from the seventh floor, Cave Era looked at Jiang Yan as though she wanted to say something, but she ultimately didn¡¯t. She followed Blood Shaman and company down Skysplit Tower.


    Although Jiang Yan didn¡¯t say anything, they knew that something must have happened. Otherwise, Immortal wouldn¡¯t have said that. Therefore, they immediately gathered all the Guardians in Skysplit Tower and began setting up defenses around it.


    After all the people who had rebuilt Skysplit Tower left, Jiang Yan walked to the bottom of the huge heavenly pillar and climbed the steps that surrounded the stone pillar, walking towards the top of the Heavenly Ascension Platform.


    Now, only a third of the Heavenly Ascension Platform had been built. The highest point was still under construction, but when Jiang Yan arrived at the highest point, he could already look down at his surroundings.


    There¡¯s too little time. Although ascending to the heavens in a single step is difficult, I can only give it a try. Jiang Yan looked up into the void, and on the forehead of the Guardian armor he wore, there was a crystal that was as mysterious as a vertical eye that emitted a strange light.


    The crystal that resembled an eye seemed to be an endless abyss. Any ray of light that landed on it would be absorbed. However, it emitted a faint light that resembled tentacles. When the light reached it, it was like hair-like tentacles stabbing into the void.


    The unfinished pillar at Jiang Yan¡¯s feet came into contact with the tentacle-like beam. The crystal embedded in the metal that looked like a pattern gradually lit up.


    As the sky above the Heavenly Ascension Platform lit up, the crystal that resembled an eye on Jiang Yan¡¯s forehead became darker. As for the tentacle-like rays of light, they increased in number, spreading out like countless transparent strands of hair. They filled the void and spread to unknown areas.


    The rays of light would flash with strange streams of light from time to time, like cables that transmitted signals. The stronger the light from the Heavenly Ascension Platform, the stronger the streams of light.


    As for Jiang Yan, he seemed to be enduring extreme pain as his body involuntarily trembled slightly. His eyes were bloodshot and even the capillaries under his skin began to rupture.


    Blood Shaman and company, who were guarding outside Skysplit Tower, were alarmed when they saw the Heavenly Ascension Platform glowing brightly, but the top seemed to be enveloped by darkness.


    ¡°We¡¯ve only completed a third of the Heavenly Ascension Platform, so its effects are greatly discounted. Isn¡¯t it too risky for Lord Immortal to use it to contact the dimension?¡± Blood Shaman exclaimed.


    ¡°In order to contact the dimension, one needs to pay a huge price with energy. Skysplit Tower itself is an energy-gathering device, while the Heavenly Ascension Platform is like a signal amplifier. Even without the energy-gathering effects of Skysplit Tower, as long as one has enough energy, one can use the Heavenly Ascension Platform¡¯s signal amplification ability to contact the dimension. However, even if there¡¯s an amplification effect, one needs extremely potent energy to succeed. Now, there¡¯s only a third or even lower magnification effect. It¡¯s difficult to say if the signal can be sent to the dimension. If something goes wrong and the energy isn¡¯t sent out, Lord Immortal will be in danger if the energy rebounds on him,¡± Uesugi Nao said worriedly.


    Cave Era seemed to have already figured out what Jiang Yan was up to. At that moment, she was the calmest person.


    ¡°Since Lord Immortal dares to do so, he naturally has his own plans. Let¡¯s guard Skysplit Tower and not let anyone disturb him, lest we fail, bringing everything to naught.¡± Cave Era knew that Jiang Yan¡¯s words weren¡¯t without reason.


    Uesugi Nao and Blood Shaman nodded slightly and increased their vigilance. At the same time, they informed the headquarters to transfer the high-level Guardians stationed at the headquarters.


    Now, even if the headquarters of the League of Guardians was flattened, it wouldn¡¯t be a loss.


    ¡­


    On the Heavenly Ascension Platform, cracks began to appear on Jiang Yan¡¯s Guardian armor. As his body suffered the terrifying power that seeped through the cracks, his skin rapidly turned gray. His originally crystalline skin instantly turned to dust as specks flew out with the spatial fluctuations.


    The Heavenly Ascension Platform hadn¡¯t been completed. It wasn¡¯t as simple as only having a third of its operational effects. The incomplete Heavenly Ascension Platform was extremely harmful to the user.


    Jiang Yan ignored his body that was turning gray as he continued staring at the void that was penetrated by the light.


    Kacha!


    Cracks appeared on the crystal on the Guardian¡¯s forehead. This was due to the direct impact of the Heavenly Ascension Platform¡¯s amplification.


    Please, it¡¯ll be done soon. Hold on a little longer. Jiang Yan prayed silently.


    However, the cracks on the crystal continued to increase. Soon, they filled the entire crystal. The crystal was like a glass ball that had been burned by fire before being soaked in cold water. Countless cracks crisscrossed. With just a little more energy, it would instantly disintegrate.


    Just a little more¡­ Just a little more¡­ Jiang Yan stared intently into the void. At the spot where his armor had cracked, the exposed parts of his body had already turned gray and revealed white bones, but he still didn¡¯t notice anything.


    Suddenly, a strange light spread out from the spot where the light penetrated, forming a humanoid figure of light. It was as though a god that couldn¡¯t be stared at by humans had descended.


    ¡°Jiang Yan, is this the answer you are giving me?¡± The figure looked down from above and coldly stared at the unfinished Skysplit Tower and Heavenly Ascension Platform.


    ¡°I¡¯ve encountered some trouble and need help,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°I¡¯ve given you enough help. If I need to resolve everything myself, what else do I need you for? Are you telling me that I need another representative in the human world?¡± the figure of light said coldly.

 Chapter 1378 - A Human

    Chapter 1378: A Human


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I believe in your foresight and know what I can do. Even if you were to change to another representative, they wouldn¡¯t do better than me,¡± Jiang Yan said without fear.


    ¡°Ranked second last on the Cube, the destruction of Skysplit Tower. Even the federal government can¡¯t be fully controlled. Is this what you can do?¡± the figure of light said disdainfully.


    ¡°What¡¯s so important about controlling the federal government? What¡¯s the point of me controlling the federal government? Even the Holy Temple hasn¡¯t been able to completely control the six families that we really need to control after so many years, much less me, who has only controlled the League of Guardians for a few years.¡±


    After a pause, Jiang Yan continued, ¡°The Cube¡¯s current ranking doesn¡¯t mean anything. If I¡¯m willing, I can be ranked in the top three now, but so what if I¡¯m in the top three? My goal is first place, and it¡¯s the same for you, isn¡¯t that so? Without first place, it¡¯s useless no matter how high my ranking is. Therefore, I need more time to observe. Of course, if you are willing to provide me with potent strength, I believe it won¡¯t be difficult for me to reach first place now.


    ¡°As for the destruction of Skysplit Tower, it¡¯s indeed my fault. However, from the fact that Skysplit Tower can be destroyed, you should be able to understand what kind of enemy I¡¯m facing. You should have seen human powerhouses like Human Sovereign and Deceit King through the Cube. It¡¯s very difficult for Terror-grade powerhouses to fight such a human powerhouse. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to do anything, but our strength is indeed lacking.¡±


    ¡°What else do you want? A Calamity-grade Guardian? If I can send a Calamity-grade Guardian into Earth, what do I need you for? Even if I were to give you a pig, it could sweep through all of humanity,¡± the figure said coldly.


    ¡°If that¡¯s what you think, please wait a moment and decide if you want to change the spokesperson after watching everything.¡± Jiang Yan wasn¡¯t affected by the figure of light, still looking indifferent.


    ¡°What do you want me to see?¡± the figure asked with a frown.


    ¡°A human. My opponent,¡± Jiang Yan answered.


    ¡°Human Sovereign or Deceit King? You want me to help you deal with them? That¡¯s your job to begin with. Otherwise, what would I need you for?¡± the figure said indifferently.


    ¡°Neither.¡± Jiang Yan cast his gaze outside Skysplit Tower. At that moment, there seemed to be a strange change happening clandestinely outside Skysplit Tower. After taking a look, Jiang Yan continued, ¡°One¡¯s strength dictates what they can do. I can deal with a single Human Sovereign. Even with another Deceit King, I can also think of a solution, but what if there are more and more humans like them? Don¡¯t you think that the help you provide isn¡¯t as useful as you imagine in front of such humans?¡±


    ¡°Are you joking? How many humans like Human Sovereign and Deceit King can you find?¡± the figure said unhappily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how many there are, but one has already arrived,¡± Jiang Yan said calmly as he looked into the distance.


    The figure couldn¡¯t help but follow Jiang Yan¡¯s gaze and indeed, he saw something flying over from afar.


    On careful look, he immediately realized that a banana leaf that resembled a tiny boat was slowly sliding across the sky. The sky resembled water, like a boat cruising across the sky.


    At the stern of the ship, a beautiful girl dressed in muslin clothes that made her look like a fairy was waving her sleeves like a boatman rowing a boat.


    A young man stood at the bow of the ship, staring at the unfinished Skysplit Tower.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that human the one who relied on luck to clear the Venusian dimensional zone? Don¡¯t tell me that you can¡¯t even deal with such a person and you want me to help you? If that¡¯s the case, your existence has no more value,¡± the figure recognized Zhou Wen and snorted coldly.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Keep watching,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    Upon realizing Zhou Wen¡¯s appearance, Blood Shaman, Cave Era, and Uesugi Nao¡¯s hearts tightened. However, when they saw that Zhou Wen was alone, they heaved a sigh of relief. The girl who had carried him over was a Companion Beast.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you actually dare come here?¡± Cave Era stared at Zhou Wen and said through gritted teeth.


    With Hermit killed, Zhou Wen could be considered the archenemy of the League of Guardians. Cave Era yearned to skin him alive.


    Zhou Wen smiled without a word. He stood on the banana leaf and observed Cave Era¡¯s expression, hoping to guess her thoughts.


    The thoughts Truth Listener could hear needed to be from extremely intense psychological fluctuations. If not for the emotional upheavals, Truth Listener would hardly be able to hear their thoughts.


    Furthermore, even if he could hear them, it was only an ability. What Zhou Wen needed wasn¡¯t just an ability, but innate sharp senses and the ability to manipulate the enemy¡¯s state of mind. Just knowing what the enemy was thinking wasn¡¯t enough.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen still needed to rely on himself to reach the realm of Heart Slaying.


    As he observed Cave Era¡¯s words and actions and the minute expressions on her face, Zhou Wen realized many things that he hadn¡¯t noticed before.


    It turned out that a person¡¯s emotions weren¡¯t what he had imagined. Although their facial expressions were the most varied, their body language was richer than their expressions when it came to emotions.


    Apart from anger, it was difficult to see any other emotions on Cave Era¡¯s face. However, from her body language, he could interpret more.


    For example, Zhou Wen noticed something. Although Cave Era was expressing her anger, her legs were in a posture of retracting. This wasn¡¯t a sign of a preparatory attack. At the very least, her posture wasn¡¯t beneficial for attacking.


    From this, it could be inferred that Cave Era was subconsciously afraid of Zhou Wen.


    Of course, this was something that ordinary people with meticulous sensitivity could tell. It wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to notice this. It wasn¡¯t that easy to improve further by perfectly interpreting one¡¯s thoughts through body language.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this was the right path. Regardless, it was a good start. With a goal, no matter if the path was right or wrong, the scenery along the way was a boon.


    Seeing Zhou Wen remain silent as he stood on the banana leaf that resembled a tiny boat and looking down at her with a teasing expression, she couldn¡¯t help but be enraged. ¡°Shoot him down. This place isn¡¯t a place for an outsider to act all presumptuous.¡±


    After the dozens of Terror-grade Guardians gathered nearby received the order, they began gathering their strength to strike Zhou Wen down from the sky.


    What should I do to make my opponent feel a fear worse than death? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as invisible sword beams appeared.. They appeared and disappeared like shimmering stars that instantly filled the nearby space, enveloping the entire area near Skysplit Tower.

 Chapter 1379 - Infinite Sword Beams

    Getting Zhou Wen to consider how to defeat the enemy or how to defeat the enemy most effectively was much easier than letting him consider how to stoke fear in people.


    In essence, Zhou Wen was a pacifist. If he hadn¡¯t been born in such an era, he wouldn¡¯t even be willing to kill a chicken, much less kill a human.


    However, this was how the times were. It brought about heroes. Many times, people who ended up heroes might not be people who wanted to become heroes.


    Alright, let¡¯s start with the basics. Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure out how to make the enemy feel a fear worse than death. He decided to start with the simplest solution.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array stirred as the star-like invisible sword beams fell crazily.


    Zhou Wen had arrived late because he had spent a lot of time condensing invisible sword aura to set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    The universe was infinite; same for the stars. It was the same for the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. The more invisible sword beams that formed the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, the stronger it became. There was nothing redundant, nor would it be uncontrollable.


    However, there was still a flaw between the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array and the real Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    The true Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array could automatically reform. In other words, all the shattered powers in the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array would automatically reform and be put to combat again.


    The Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array didn¡¯t work. Once the invisible sword beam was shattered, it couldn¡¯t reform itself. Zhou Wen had to condense it himself a second time.


    In contrast, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array had its advantages. The Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array could absorb all the energy and reform itself, but the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array couldn¡¯t. As for the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array being a protective stellar array, it could absorb large amounts of energy and provide it for Zhou Wen to use.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The dense rain of invisible sword beams constantly descended, attacking all the Guardians, including the Skysplit Tower. The invisible sword beams were everywhere.


    The Guardians who were about to attack Zhou Wen suddenly realized that they were facing invisible sword beams that resembled a flood. They couldn¡¯t divert their attention.


    With such a large-scale attack, no one believed that Zhou Wen would be able to last long. They even believed that there would only be one round of invisible sword beams.


    Such Essence Energy expenditure was not something a Terror-grade could withstand. To them, it was already unbelievable that Zhou Wen could release one round of invisible sword beams.


    Every Guardian used all their strength to shatter the invisible sword beams that were rushing at them. With the determination to fight to the death, they wanted to break through the sword array and charge at Zhou Wen.


    However, they soon realized that they had been too naive. The invisible sword beams constantly fell without any gaps as though they were infinite.


    Pfft!


    Just a few hits by the invisible sword beams left some Guardians collapsing. Blood spewed out of their mouths as the Guardian armor on their bodies was penetrated by the invisible sword beams.


    Once they lost their ability to resist, they were constantly struck by the invisible sword beams and nailed to the ground.


    Cave Era wanted to penetrate the invisible sword beams to attack Zhou Wen by using her Time Acceleration ability, but she was alarmed to discover that the invisible sword beams were so dense that it was almost gapless. Even if there was a gap, the narrow gap wasn¡¯t enough to fit her body.


    Helpless, Cave Era could only use all her strength to resist the invisible sword beams. She didn¡¯t even have room to dodge.


    The Guardians were like drowning in a torrent, alarmed and helpless.


    This was under the condition that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the intention to kill. Otherwise, more than half of these Terror-grade Guardians would have been killed.


    Zhou Wen spared their lives not because of his kindness. He only wanted to observe their emotions and advance Slaughterer.


    Just because he didn¡¯t kill didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t do anything else. As he attacked the Guardians, a large number of invisible sword beams struck Skysplit Tower and the Heavenly Ascension Platform.


    In just a moment, the Skysplit Tower that had just been rebuilt to seven levels was nailed with dense, invisible sword beams.


    Boom!


    The seven-story Skysplit Tower finally collapsed under the relentless bombardment of invisible sword beams. The ground quaked as though it was the dawn of the apocalypse.


    The Terror-grade Guardians that should have left others terrified were filled with terror.


    Never had there been a human who was as terrifying as Zhou Wen. He had blasted apart Skysplit Tower with his own strength and suppressed dozens of Terror-grade Guardians.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen was no longer human in their eyes.


    Impossible¡­ That fellow is definitely not a pure human¡­ Blood Shaman¡¯s body was covered in injuries as he was horrified.


    He could seal Companion Beasts, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t using them at all. Just the power of the invisible sword beams gave him an overwhelming advantage.


    Amidst the invisible sword beams, Blood Shaman felt like a tiny boat rocking in a stormy sea that could shatter at any moment.


    Is the advancement as a pure human that strong? Uesugi Nao¡¯s body was like a phantom. The invisible sword beams passed through her body without injuring her.


    Great Skyfiend¡¯s Terror transformation gave her the power and ability to ignore the invisible sword beams.


    However, Uesugi Nao was reeling in shock and didn¡¯t dare approach Zhou Wen.


    More and more Guardians fell in the sword array. Skysplit Tower had already mostly collapsed. Even its foundation was about to be flattened.


    They didn¡¯t register any feelings during Skysplit Tower¡¯s previous destruction because of the short time span in which it happened. It had been destroyed in one shot.


    However, this time, it was blasted apart by invisible sword beams. The visual impact and shock of those who witnessed this scene far exceeded the previous time.


    In their eyes, the present Zhou Wen was like a terrifying devil¡ªnothing like a human.


    The only thing that wasn¡¯t affected by the invisible sword beams was the Heavenly Ascension Platform. All the invisible sword beams that struck the Heavenly Ascension Platform seemed to collide with a mysterious force. They shattered before they touched its pillars.


    The figure on the rooftop was also surprised.


    ¡°Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array? That¡¯s not right. It¡¯s a little different. Strange. Without the power of a Calamity-grade Zone, how can one set up the Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array at such scale? It¡¯s impossible for one¡¯s Essence Energy to keep up with the expenditure. Even dimensional creatures born from Essence Energy can¡¯t have such abundant Essence Energy¡­¡± The figure seemed to understand Jiang Yan¡¯s words.


    It wasn¡¯t that Jiang Yan was lacking, but that the enemy was too terrifying.


    Thinking of Human Sovereign, Deceit King, and Zhou Wen, it was indeed not easy for Jiang Yan to last until now with such humans as enemies of the League of Guardians.


    ¡°I think you can understand my predicament, right? I do need support,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°Calamity-grade Guardians can¡¯t enter Earth. Even if they do, their strength will be greatly suppressed. It won¡¯t be of any use,¡± the figure said after some thought.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t mind, I¡¯m willing to use myself as a container to welcome you into the world and cleanse the filth here.¡± Jiang Yan held his hand to his chest and bowed slightly as he spoke sincerely.

 Chapter 1380 - Perfect Sword Immortal

    ¡°Do you know that if I were to descend upon you, your body would definitely be severely damaged or even irreversibly damaged?¡± the figure said as it stared at Jiang Yan.


    ¡°I do,¡± Jiang Yan said calmly. ¡°An existence like you has power that far exceeds the limits of Earth¡¯s rules. It¡¯s naturally not something my body can withstand. It¡¯s inevitable that there will be damage.¡±


    ¡°Since you know, why do you want me to use your body to descend?¡± The figure clearly doubted Jiang Yan¡¯s request.


    However, Jiang Yan smiled and said, ¡°So what? Compared to this tiny sacrifice, I can obtain more, right?¡±


    ¡°Oh, what do you want to obtain?¡± the figure asked.


    ¡°My Guardian, Skyimmortal, is a Guardian created by the genes of the Immortals, and you are a powerful existence of the Immortals. If you were to descend on me, with your strength, you should be able to advance Skyimmortal to the Calamity grade in an extremely short period of time. After you leave, as the contractor of the Skyimmortal, I naturally will have the power of the Calamity grade. In comparison, that tiny injury is nothing,¡± Jiang Yan said calmly.


    The figure stared at Jiang Yan for a while before saying, ¡°As expected of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. You¡¯re indeed a smart person. I can help you advance to the Calamity grade, but this is the last time I¡¯ll make an exception to help you. If you have any similar problems that can¡¯t be resolved in the future, I¡¯ll consider changing the representative.¡±


    ¡°If I have the power of a Calamity-grade and still can¡¯t dominate everything, there¡¯s no need for you to do anything. I¡¯ll just commit suicide,¡± Jiang Yan said firmly.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll use your body to temporarily descend to Earth. Remember, my name is Perfect Sword Immortal.¡± As he spoke, the figure slowly walked towards Jiang Yan, his gaze fixed on him.


    Perfect Sword Immortal was taking the initiative to use Jiang Yan¡¯s body. Theoretically speaking, he had the absolute initiative. Furthermore, with his strength and realm, it was enough to crush Jiang Yan. Even if Jiang Yan had ulterior motives, it would be difficult for him to do anything.


    However, Perfect Sword Immortal was still very careful. If he discovered anything amiss, he would directly kill Jiang Yan.


    However, Jiang Yan didn¡¯t do anything abnormal. He spread out his arms as though he was a fanatic who was wholeheartedly sacrificing himself. He didn¡¯t hold back at all as he completely presented his body in front of Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Seeing that Jiang Yan was so unreserved, Perfect Sword Immortal felt relieved. The figure formed by light walked in front of Jiang Yan and overlapped with his body.


    As immortal light flowed, the immortal armor around Jiang Yan¡¯s body emitted an immortal aura as it rapidly transformed.


    Dimensional creatures would be suppressed by the rules of Earth, but humans weren¡¯t beholden to the rules. With Jiang Yan¡¯s body, Perfect Sword Immortal descended on Earth. Although Jiang Yan¡¯s body was too weak and he couldn¡¯t unleash 100% of his combat strength, he could still unleash the combat strength of a Calamity-grade through the Skyimmortal armor.


    Immortal light flowed as sword beams flowed like a river. Jiang Yan¡¯s eyes changed. They were completely different from the deep, calm eyes from before. Replacing them was a gaze that was as sharp as a sword.


    Perfect Sword Immortal extended his palm and clenched his fingers. He muttered to himself, ¡°Jiang Yan is a tactful fellow. It¡¯s quite rare for him to offer up his body without any reservations. In comparison, his abilities aren¡¯t weak. He can be considered a usable person. Human Sovereign, Deceit King, Zhou Wen, and the rest are indeed powerful. I wonder where they came from. Ordinary Terror-grade creatures can¡¯t compare with any of them. It¡¯s indeed difficult for Jiang Yan to resolve the problem with such strength. I do need to help him advance to the Calamity grade¡­¡±


    Outside Skysplit Tower, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword array constantly attacked as Guardians were struck down by the invisible sword beams.


    However, they weren¡¯t killed. Their bodies were pierced by the invisible sword beams and they were nailed to the ground. Only five or six Guardians remained to resist.


    Blood Shaman was covered in blood as his body was stabbed by many invisible sword beams. His situation was the most tragic.


    Cave Era relied on the magical powers of time. Although she wasn¡¯t injured, her situation wasn¡¯t good either.


    Uesugi Nao controlled the Great Skyfiend armor as her figure passed through the numerous invisible sword beams and circled behind Zhou Wen. Her hand was like a ghastly claw as she stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    Zhou Wen moved his body and dodged Uesugi Nao¡¯s attack. Uesugi Nao followed up with a deluge of attacks after her first strike.


    Her movement technique made her appear and disappear like a ghost as she constantly appeared around Zhou Wen. Her attacks were unpredictable.


    However, no matter how her attacks changed, she failed to touch Zhou Wen at all.


    Upon seeing this scene, the Guardians felt their hearts turn cold. Only then did they recall that Zhou Wen¡¯s Heavenly Robe could even dodge a Calamity-grade attack, much less Uesugi Nao, who was only at the Terror grade.


    In fact, it was purely because Zhou Wen¡¯s movement technique was excellent that he dodged all the attacks. It wasn¡¯t because of the Heavenly Robe.


    Of course, Heavenly Robe still played a role. However, without the Invincible Lucky Star, the chances of Heavenly Robe¡¯s Lucky Dodge weren¡¯t high. Zhou Wen had to dodge most of it himself.


    Cave Era and company didn¡¯t know this. They only believed that the Heavenly Robe was still the same as before¡ªcapable of dodging Calamity-grade attacks. They couldn¡¯t help but feel despair.


    The extremely terrifying destructive invisible sword beams and the Heavenly Robe which could dodge any attack, and the perfect, strong Zhou Wen left them without any hope.


    Zhou Wen felt that Slaughterer seemed to tremble because of his actions, but the vibrations weren¡¯t too great. It wasn¡¯t as intense as the last time Zhou Wen had comprehended the Heart-Slaying principle.


    Clearly, this method of intimidation didn¡¯t have much effect on Slaughterer¡¯s advancement.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how to improve, he suddenly realized that the black hole on the Heaven Ascension Platform had vanished. The light on the Heaven Ascension Platform dimmed as a figure tore through the air.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that the person walking over was wearing a mask and a white robe. His attire was very similar to the League of Guardians¡¯ Lord Immortal he had seen before.


    The reason it was only very similar was that the Guardian armor on his body now seemed to be somewhat different.


    The Guardian armor emitted a golden immortal glow, making him look like an immortal that had walked out of the immortal clouds.


    This fellow seems a little odd. Why does it feel a little different from before? With a thought, Zhou Wen sent a large number of invisible sword beams sweeping towards Perfect Sword Immortal like a tsunami.


    Although a lot of the invisible sword beams had been expended, the remaining invisible sword beams were still like a tidal wave. At that moment, they attacked Perfect Sword Immortal at 100% strength. Their might was in no way inferior to a meteorite bombardment.


    Countless invisible sword beams rushed in front of Perfect Sword Immortal, but in the next second, something shocking happened.


    A strange force field rose up from Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s body. In the force field, the invisible sword beams remained motionless as though they had frozen in midair.

 Chapter 1381 - True Sword Beam

    ¡°Do you think you are worthy of using sword beams with that incomplete Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array?¡± Step by step, Perfect Sword Immortal walked towards Zhou Wen. As he moved, the invisible sword beams began moving again.


    However, this time, the invisible sword beams didn¡¯t charge at Perfect Sword Immortal. Instead, their tips spun around and aimed at Zhou Wen. The sword beams that filled the sky surrounded him.


    Calamity-grade! Zhou Wen was alarmed. Without any hesitation, he used Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability, hoping to leave this place first.


    However, Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that the connection between Singularity Universe and the stars seemed to be blocked. He couldn¡¯t sense the location of the stars at all, so he naturally couldn¡¯t teleport out.


    ¡°Ignoring you, even if Starlady Polestar were to come personally, she wouldn¡¯t be able to escape my Perfect Sword Immortal Domain,¡± Perfect Sword Immortal said coldly as he saw through Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions.


    Calamity-grade? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to think because the invisible sword beams had already descended.


    Although the invisible sword beams were condensed by Zhou Wen himself, he had spent a lot of time condensing them one by one.


    Now that they had descended together, other Terror-grade creatures couldn¡¯t withstand them, and neither could Zhou Wen.


    Ignoring the fact that the Heavenly Robe on him no longer had a 100% dodge rate, even if it could, there was no space to dodge amidst such dense invisible sword beams.


    The so-called 100% dodge rate required space to dodge. It wasn¡¯t something that allowed him to dodge any attack.


    Many thoughts flashed through his mind as he immediately made a decision. At this moment, if he didn¡¯t immediately make a decision, death was certain.


    At the instant the sword beams landed on him, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure suddenly vanished into thin air. He didn¡¯t retreat. Instead, he instant transmitted to the back of Perfect Sword Immortal and pulled out his Bamboo Blade to stab at his back.


    After falling into the Calamity-grade Zone, if he couldn¡¯t use interstellar teleportation to escape, the chances of him escaping were almost zero. It wasn¡¯t that he could go from a passive position to an active position. If he could catch his opponent by surprise and have him reveal a flaw, Zhou Wen could take the opportunity to use Singularity Universe¡¯s teleportation to leave during a lapse in the Calamity Zone.


    Clang!


    Without looking back, the Perfect Sword Immortal flicked his finger, flicking Bamboo Blade¡¯s blade and causing it to bend. The tip of the blade almost ended up stabbing Zhou Wen¡¯s arm.


    Zhou Wen felt as though his palm couldn¡¯t grip the hilt of the saber any longer. The force was surprisingly powerful, completely exceeding the power of a Terror-grade entity.


    Just as Zhou Wen¡¯s arm was about to be snapped by the force, Zhou Wen suddenly flung his arm and went along with the force to spin his arm and body. His body spun like a drill as the Bamboo Blade stabbed at Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Clang!


    Perfect Sword Immortal flicked the tip of the blade with his finger again, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s saber to tremble as his bones seemed to shake loose.


    If not for Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of strength and sword art exceeding this level, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the two simple finger flicks.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen spun like a spinning top and used the momentum to move the saber out. His figure appeared by the side of Perfect Sword Immortal and slashed at his neck.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s spinning figure was like a ghost as he pushed the Heart Defying Sword Art to its limits. He appeared everywhere around Perfect Sword Immortal, and his sword moves were even stranger and unpredictable. However, every strike was easily repelled by Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s casual flick. Not a single strike could touch him.


    ¡°Your sword art isn¡¯t bad. You have the right for such pride on Earth. Unfortunately, as my enemy, you are far inferior.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal flicked the Bamboo Blade again. However, this time, a firefly-like light lit up at his fingertip.


    Clang!


    When his fingertip collided with the blade, a light wave rapidly spread out like water ripples.


    After the wave of light, the Bamboo Blade that had been with Zhou Wen for a long time instantly shattered. Zhou Wen¡¯s body flew backward like a cannonball. After slamming into the ground, he left a ravine hundreds of meters long.


    Zhou Wen spat out a mouthful of blood. Due to the high-speed friction, the Heavenly Robe produced smoke due to the extremely high temperature.


    ¡°Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, Lucky Dodge¡ªthose are just external forces akin to tricks. It might be a little useful against trash, but it¡¯s useless against me.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal wasn¡¯t in a rush to immediately finish him off. As he spoke, the invisible sword beams that Zhou Wen condensed were controlled by him again as they swept out like a tidal wave.


    However, his words embarrassed Cave Era and company. Their expressions didn¡¯t look good.


    If it was still a little useful against trash, wouldn¡¯t they be inferior to trash if they were nearly killed by Zhou Wen?


    Zhou Wen endured the pain from his injuries and leaped up from the ground. However, the sword beams that filled the sky had already arrived, giving him no chance to dodge.


    He used instant transmission again, but this time, when he appeared, Perfect Sword Immortal seemed to have determined his landing spot. Countless sword beams were already there. At the instant Zhou Wen phased into existence, several invisible sword beams stabbed into his body, immediately dyeing the Heavenly Robe red with blood.


    Even more invisible sword beams were already inches away as they tore towards him from all directions.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg.


    Instantly, the Chaos Egg was stabbed like a reverse hedgehog. Invisible sword beams constantly stabbed at it as they collided with each other.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense was good. The Chaos Egg, which could even withstand temporal and spatial powers, managed to withstand the terrifying sword stream¡¯s impact.


    Holy sh*t! Why isn¡¯t Sweetie doing a thing at this point in time? Don¡¯t tell me she¡¯s going to watch me die? Zhou Wen crushed the invisible sword aura that had stabbed him and swallowed a Mythical Dragon Resurrection Pill Essence. His injuries immediately healed at a discernible pace. In a moment, his damaged organs recovered and his external injuries were almost healed.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t dead yet?¡± After all the invisible sword beams struck the Chaos Egg and exploded, Perfect Sword Immortal couldn¡¯t help but be surprised that the strange ball hadn¡¯t been pierced through.


    However, his surprise only lasted for a moment. To Perfect Sword Immortal, the invisible sword beams that Zhou Wen condensed were still too weak. They just had the numbers.


    From the point of view of a Terror grade, so many invisible sword beams were terrifying, but they were nothing to Perfect Sword Immortal.


    ¡°Since you aren¡¯t dead, I¡¯ll let you see what a true sword beam is,¡± said Perfect Sword Immortal as he raised his index and middle fingers together and stabbed at the Chaos Egg.


    A purple sword beam took form at his fingertip. Like a purple beam of light, it shot at the Chaos Egg and instantly struck it.


    Boom!


    The Chaos Egg was forced back by the purple sword beam. After slamming into the ground, the purple sword beam continued its onslaught, slamming the Chaos Egg deep into the ground.


    The shockwave produced by the sword beam blasted open the ground spanning thousands of meters. Cave Era and the other Guardians had no choice but to quickly retreat.


    After the terrifying purple sword beam completely dissipated, a huge crater thousands of meters in diameter appeared in the ground. Even Cave Era and company felt their hearts tremble when they saw it.

 Chapter 1382 - : Battling Perfect Sword Immortal

    Zhou Wen¡¯s Chaos Egg had been put to the test. It didn¡¯t explode back when it was used as a ping pong ball between Calamity-grade existences.


    However, the sword beam from Perfect Sword Immortal was truly indomitable. The might of the strike caused many solid Essence Energy Crystals to form in the Chaos Egg, but it failed to shatter it.


    At the bottom of the deep pit, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Chaos Egg and summoned the Earth Elemental Beast. He wanted to use its Earth Escape powers to escape.


    However, the Earth Elemental Beast didn¡¯t escape far before it suddenly let out a tragic cry. Its body seemed to have been penetrated by invisible swords.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he immediately knew that it wasn¡¯t safe underground. He was still in the Calamity Zone, so the Earth Elemental Beast probably couldn¡¯t escape.


    However, this allowed Zhou Wen to roughly determine the range of Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s domain and gain some confidence.


    Since the Earth Elemental Beast was about to die, Zhou Wen could only order it to escape from the soil before immediately unsummoning it.


    Even so, he failed to keep the Earth Elemental Beast alive. The pattern on Zhou Wen¡¯s body gradually faded before disappearing. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense its existence.


    F*ck you! Zhou Wen gritted his teeth.


    Perfect Sword Immortal took a step forward and appeared above Zhou Wen. He looked down at him and said, ¡°You actually survived. You really surprised me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll outlive you.¡± Zhou Wen instant transmitted to the back of Perfect Sword Immortal and swung his arm in a slash.


    However, just as he raised his arm, Perfect Sword Immortal turned around and kicked him in the abdomen like a phantom, sending him flying.


    ¡°Cough!¡± Zhou Wen spat out a mouthful of blood. The kick had severely injured him, nearly causing his stomach to explode. As it was so fast, Zhou Wen failed to react in time.


    Like a flash, Perfect Sword Immortal was unbelievably fast. He came in front of Zhou Wen and grabbed his head with his palm before squeezing it.


    The scene in Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s mind of his head exploding didn¡¯t happen. His fingers ended up sinking into white rubber-like matter.


    The fingers that were originally holding Zhou Wen were now holding the Chaos Egg.


    Perfect Sword Immortal squeezed again, hoping to crush the Chaos Egg. However, he was somewhat surprised to discover that the Chaos Egg was soft and pliable. He failed to crack it and only managed to distort it greatly.


    ¡°I want to see how strong this ball¡¯s defense is.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal exerted strength in his palm and lifted the Chaos Egg before throwing it into the air.


    At the instant it was thrown into the air, a purple lotus flower bloomed in Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s hand.


    If one looked carefully, they would realize that it wasn¡¯t a lotus flower, but purple sword beams.


    The lotus flower-like purple sword beams stabbed at the Chaos Egg. Sword beams struck the Chaos Egg from different directions. As the sword beams came from different directions, the impact kept the Chaos Egg suspended in midair. The sword beams struck it one after another as it remained stuck in place.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After being repeatedly struck by several sword beams, the Chaos Egg¡¯s form was distorted beyond recognition. It was very worrying that it would explode at any moment.


    However, no matter how distorted the Chaos Egg was, there were a few times when it was like a balloon that had been pricked by a needle. It seemed to explode, but it ultimately didn¡¯t.


    Cave Era and company were alarmed. In the past, Zhou Wen had relied on his Lucky Dodge to dodge the Calamity-grade bullets and help others enter the rankings. They felt that Zhou Wen was lucky to have such a Companion Beast.


    Yet, Zhou Wen was now withstanding a barrage of Calamity-grade attacks with his own strength. This wasn¡¯t as simple as luck.


    Cave Era and company asked themselves. If it were them, would they have died on the spot from the sword beams?


    Back when the metal flower fought Yana, Zhou Wen had also used the Chaos Egg. The shockwaves from the battle between the two Calamity-grade creatures were too intense, so the satellites failed to capture the Chaos Egg on the battlefield. Therefore, this was the first time Cave Era and company had seen the powerful defense of Chaos.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t having it easy either. The sword beams of Perfect Sword Immortal were just too powerful. Sword beams struck the Chaos Egg, making it condense a large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals.


    If this continued, Zhou Wen would be buried alive by the solid Essence Energy crystals.


    No, I can¡¯t have this continue. I have to think of a solution. Zhou Wen¡¯s mind kept racing, but the solutions he could think of when facing a Calamity-grade creature seemed very limited.


    It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have anything that could fight a Calamity-grade. Truth Listener and Immortal Culling Sword had the power to fight a Calamity-grade.


    The problem was that he couldn¡¯t summon Truth Listener. Using the Immortal Culling Sword required a large amount of Essence Energy to support it. Every use made Zhou Wen lose his combat strength.


    As for the strength of Perfect Sword Immortal, it was clearly not a problem that could be resolved with one strike.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had some concerns that prevented him from using the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Previously, Perfect Sword Immortal had been able to control his invisible sword beams. Clearly, the other party was very proficient in sword-type powers. If the Immortal Culling Sword was controlled by the other party when he used it, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t even have the time to cry.


    What should I do? What should I do? Where did Sweetie go? Is she really going to watch me die? Zhou Wen was at his wits¡¯ end as he thought of Sweetie.


    Zhou Wen found it odd. Logically speaking, Sweetie shouldn¡¯t allow him to die before figuring out the true situation of the candy box. However, Sweetie hadn¡¯t taken action up to now as though she had no intention of saving him.


    Although he didn¡¯t know what was happening, Zhou Wen knew very well that he couldn¡¯t count on her.


    At that moment, Sweetie was in the sky with an anxious expression. She was indeed very powerful, and wasn¡¯t really restricted while on Earth. However, there were some rules that she had to abide by. She was in a dilemma as to whether she should break the rules to save Zhou Wen.


    If the rules were broken, the effect on Earth would be unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know this, but he was somewhat glad. He was glad that he had discovered that Sweetie wouldn¡¯t help him. If he really went to Chess Mountain and realized that Sweetie didn¡¯t care about his survival, it would be troublesome.


    Although Perfect Sword Immortal was terrifying, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find him as terrifying as The Thearch.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had seen a few Calamity-grade existences at the level of Perfect Sword Immortal. For example, Tsukuyomi, Drought Demon Fairy, Ant City¡¯s Guardian, and so on. They didn¡¯t feel any weaker than Perfect Sword Immortal.


    The difference was that Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t fought Zhou Wen seriously. Drought Demon had held back for some reason. This made them appear less strong than Perfect Sword Immortal.


    As for the Ant City Guardian, Zhou Wen had never defeated her before. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how strong she was or how strong she would become in the future.


    Quick, think of a solution¡­ I have to think of a solution¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to let his imagination run wild. There were too many solid Essence Energy crystals and they were about to fill the Chaos Egg. If this continued, the Chaos Egg would probably explode.


    It¡¯s¡­ It¡¯s useless even if I absorb them¡­ Even if my entire body is filled with a sea of energy, how much can I absorb¡­ I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll die from excessive eating before the Chaos Egg cracks¡­ Hold on¡­ Speaking of eating¡­ I seem to have a glutton here¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as he thought of Tyrant Behemoth.

 Chapter 1383 - Fight to the Death

    Chapter 1383: Fight to the Death


    Translator: CKtalon


    There was a very difficult technical problem for Tyrant Behemoth to devour the solid Essence Energy crystals in the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen had recognized this problem the last time the Chaos Egg was about to explode, but he ultimately chose to use the Immortal Culling Sword.


    This was because the Chaos Egg was only effective against Zhou Wen. Furthermore, the space was extremely small. Even as Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast, it was impossible for it to enter the Chaos Egg and directly devour the solid crystals inside.


    In the past, Zhou Wen had always absorbed the Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg before transferring it to his Companion Beasts. This problem had never been resolved.


    However, things were somewhat different now. Although he hadn¡¯t succeeded with his research on the infinite spatial circulation skill, the parts regarding spatial swapping and teleportation could resolve the current problem.


    Zhou Wen only needed to leave a spatial mark in Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s mouth. Even if he didn¡¯t summon it, he could constantly send solid Essence Energy crystals into its mouth.


    The only problem was that Zhou Wen still needed to summon Tyrant Behemoth first before leaving a spatial mark in its mouth. Then, he could constantly teleport solid Essence Energy crystals in.


    Of course, this spatial mark couldn¡¯t be exchanged with Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body. Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s research results had resolved this problem.


    Zhou Wen could use the mark as the item of exchange instead of the marked item.


    The sword beams outside shot out one after another. To unsummon the Chaos Egg and summon Tyrant Behemoth at such a time was clearly not an easy task. He had to do so under the risk of dying.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen still knew Spacetime Bandit. He could use it to cast the skill before unsummoning the Chaos Egg.


    If he did it in tandem, he might be able to complete a series of actions at the same time and summon the Chaos Egg out again. This way, he would just be exposed for a short period of time and the risk would be minimized.


    Of course, this was only a theory. Whether it could be done perfectly was still a question.


    I can only take a gamble. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too confident, but the solid crystals in the Chaos Egg were about to fill up. He had to take a gamble.


    Thankfully, the lotus flower sword beams released by Perfect Sword Immortal were almost depleted. Zhou Wen planned on using the moment when the lotus flower sword beams were expended and before Perfect Sword Immortal released a new skill to carry out his risky operations.


    Now, Zhou Wen could only silently pray that Perfect Sword Immortal didn¡¯t immediately cast other skills. Otherwise, he could only take the blow head-on.


    Perfect Sword Immortal didn¡¯t do anything new. He kept looking at the Chaos Egg. The lotus flower sword beams he released were probably something even ordinary Calamity-grade entities could hardly withstand.


    Zhou Wen, who was at the Terror grade, was actually able to last for so long. Although he was using pure defensive powers, it was already extremely shocking. It made him increasingly feel that he had to strengthen Jiang Yan. Jiang Yan¡¯s opponents were really powerful.


    Zhou Wen silently waited for the last sword beam to strike the Chaos Egg as his heart involuntarily pounded.


    There was nervousness and excitement. This extreme challenge in the face of danger made his numbed nerves abnormally active.


    How fast is a Calamity-grade creature¡¯s reaction speed? 100 milliseconds? 10 milliseconds or 1 millisecond? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how fast Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s reaction was. Perhaps after he came out, he wouldn¡¯t have the time to use any skills before he was blasted to death by a sword beam from Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen needed to consider everything and try his best to push each operation to the limit.


    Boom!


    The final sword beam struck the Chaos Egg, causing it to distort and shake. It was like a balloon that was filled with water that was being struck by a fist.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Egg ultimately survived and wasn¡¯t blasted apart by the sword beam.


    Perfect Sword Immortal frowned slightly. Just as he was about to use a stronger attack to blast the Chaos Egg apart, he suddenly saw the Chaos Egg vanish at the moment the sword beam vanished.


    When Perfect Sword Immortal saw Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appear, he prepared to attack and eliminate him.


    As Jiang Yan was relatively weak and was only at the Epic stage, he couldn¡¯t withstand his possession for long. Therefore, he had to end the battle quickly. Otherwise, even if he won, Jiang Yan¡¯s body would be crippled.


    However, before Perfect Sword Immortal could take action, he heard Zhou Wen¡¯s voice almost at the same time the Chaos Egg vanished. Zhou Wen had shouted with a roar: ¡°Come out. Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast.¡±


    Perfect Sword Immortal wasn¡¯t interested in what Zhou Wen had to say. All he wanted to do was kill Zhou Wen immediately, but when he heard Zhou Wen shout out the words ¡°Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast,¡± he subconsciously paused.


    He naturally knew that it was impossible for Zhou Wen to have the strongest Companion Beast on Earth, but the entire dimension wanted Earth¡¯s strongest Companion Beast. This name made him subconsciously want to see what Companion Beast Zhou Wen had summoned.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth was summoned by Zhou Wen. Its strong body landed on the ground, causing an earthquake.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw that Perfect Sword Immortal hadn¡¯t immediately attacked. He immediately used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to inject the mark into Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s mouth.


    When Perfect Sword Immortal saw Zhou Wen¡¯s actions, he immediately realized that something was amiss. He instantly condensed a sword beam and shot it out. The sword beam flashed and vanished without a trace.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth back almost at the same time and used the Chaos Egg again.


    Even so, he was still a step too slow. The sword beam from Perfect Sword Immortal stabbed into Zhou Wen¡¯s heart before the Chaos Egg appeared.


    The Chaos Egg enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but his chest was penetrated by the sword beam. The sword beam looked like a purple ancient sword as Zhou Wen seemed to be wrapped in lightning.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was pierced, but he didn¡¯t feel any pain.


    Ah! Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt an electric current flow out of the sword beam, causing his entire body to twitch as though he was having a fit.


    To be fooled by Zhou Wen made Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s expression turn cold. He stared at the Chaos Egg and said coldly, ¡°The sword beam you are struck with is the Heavenly Tribulation Sword. Although it won¡¯t kill you immediately, it will release nine Heavenly Tribulation lightning bolts. The first bolt will destroy your body; the second bolt will slice through your bones; the third bolt will kill you, and the fourth bolt will destroy your soul¡­ Even an Apocalypse-grade expert can¡¯t withstand the pain of the nine Heavenly Tribulations. If you come out now, you can die a quick death. If you continue hiding, you will probably wish you were dead¡­¡±


    ¡°At the very least, I¡¯m not dead,¡± Zhou Wen said through gritted teeth.


    He had done his best, but had still been injured by Perfect Sword Immortal. This was a difference in strength that was out of Zhou Wen¡¯s control.


    Thankfully, as Perfect Sword Immortal hadn¡¯t attacked immediately, he didn¡¯t have the time to release his other skills. He only used the fastest Heavenly Tribulation Sword, or Zhou Wen would have already been dead.


    At the end of the day, Zhou Wen had managed to win himself a chance for survival.. Just as he said, he wasn¡¯t dead yet.

 Chapter 1384 - Nine Swords of Heavenly Tribulation

    Chapter 1384: Nine Swords of Heavenly Tribulation


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead was covered in cold sweat as his face contorted in pain.


    The lightning that surged out of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword wasn¡¯t ordinary lightning. If it were ordinary lightning, it would at most electrocute a person to death. However, this lightning seemed to be able to penetrate deep into his cells, making Zhou Wen feel as though every cell in his body was being stabbed by needles. The pain that seeped into his soul was indescribable.


    The claim that the first bolt would destroy his body wasn¡¯t the destruction of a body in the traditional sense. Instead, it meant that the pain one suffered would make one embark on a path of self-destruction.


    Ordinary people would probably commit suicide if they were struck by the first bolt.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t commit suicide. His body trembled as he gritted his teeth. However, as he continued circulating the Chaos Egg, he circulated the Human Sovereign Sutra and continued using Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to transmit a portion of the solid crystals in the Chaos Egg to Tyrant Behemoth.


    Perfect Sword Immortal could hear Zhou Wen¡¯s tragic cries in the beginning, but he stopped hearing them after some time. He couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.


    ¡°To be able to withstand the pain of the Heavenly Tribulation without screaming, you do have some backbone.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal believed that Zhou Wen was doomed. Even a Terror-grade creature with great perseverance could at most hold through the first three tribulations. The fourth tribulation spelled almost certain death.


    Taking ten thousand steps back, even if Zhou Wen was lucky enough to survive the fourth tribulation, there were still the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth tribulations ahead. Each tribulation was more terrifying than the last. It was definitely not something humans could withstand.


    However, every tribulation lasted for a period of time. Since Perfect Sword Immortal had possessed Jiang Yan¡¯s body, he naturally couldn¡¯t wait that long.


    Without any hesitation, Perfect Sword Immortal condensed another sword beam. It streaked across the sky like a white beam as it charged at the Chaos Egg.


    Boom!


    The Chaos Egg was drowned by the sword beam as though it had melted into it.


    The column-like sword beam continued without end. As for the Chaos Egg amid the sword beam, it was being penetrated from every angle.


    From Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s point of view, Zhou Wen was suffering the ravages of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword, so he definitely couldn¡¯t put his all into withstanding the sword beam. Furthermore, the sword beam had a very powerful penetrative ability. Even a defensive skill at the Calamity grade couldn¡¯t withstand it for long.


    The Chaos Egg around Zhou Wen would definitely be pierced quickly. When that happened, Zhou Wen would die.


    However, under the continuous impact of the sword beam, the Chaos Egg remained intact despite being distorted.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen endured the pain brought by the Heavenly Tribulation and constantly sent solid Essence Energy crystals to Tyrant Behemoth. A large number of solid Essence Energy crystals were devoured by Tyrant Behemoth.


    Of course, there were two preconditions. Firstly, Tyrant Behemoth was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast. It was equivalent to a part of Zhou Wen¡¯s body, so it could devour the solid Essence Energy crystals condensed from the Chaos Egg.


    Secondly, although Tyrant Behemoth was in its tattoo form, it was still inside the Chaos Egg. If these two conditions couldn¡¯t be satisfied, even if Zhou Wen had the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique, he couldn¡¯t move the solid Essence Energy Crystal out.


    Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s attack made large amounts of solid Essence Energy condense. Its speed was several times faster than before.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t teleported a large number of solid Essence Energy crystals to Tyrant Behemoth, the Chaos Egg would have long exploded.


    However, Zhou Wen was still very worried. This was because after Tyrant Behemoth devoured a large number of solid Essence Energy crystals, the tattoo began to glow and burn like a red-hot brand.


    Hold on! Zhou Wen could only hold on. If he were to leave the Chaos Egg, death was almost certain.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth was only at the Mythical stage after all. It hadn¡¯t reached the legendary realm of eating a thousand mountains daily. And the solid Essence Energy crystals it ate were not as simple as one or two mountains in terms of energy.


    Just as Zhou Wen was worried that Tyrant Behemoth would explode, the Tyrant Behemoth tattoo began to change.


    This fellow¡­ is evolving while eating? Zhou Wen was surprised and delighted to discover that Tyrant Behemoth had begun evolving. Furthermore, it was directly evolving. It didn¡¯t have the inoculation process that ordinary Companion Beasts needed when evolving.


    As expected of Glutton Behemoth. It evolves as it eats. Awesome! Zhou Wen was delighted as he teleported more solid crystals over.


    He had no choice. Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s offensive strength was just too potent. If he didn¡¯t teleport the solid Essence Energy crystals out as quickly as possible, the Chaos Egg would explode at any moment.


    Even with the constant teleportation, the Essence Energy crystals in the Chaos Egg remained in a state that occupied most of the space.


    This was because the energy of Essence Energy crystals was so high-level and pure. Tyrant Behemoth¡ªwhich was only at the Mythical stage¡ªcompleted its evolution because of the high purity and high-level Essence Energy.


    The Tyrant Behemoth tattoo was a little indiscernible now. It used to be black, but now, it was the color of a black hole that absorbed all light. One¡¯s gaze was sucked in upon landing on it, making it impossible to see what the Tyrant Behemoth tattoo looked like.


    After completing its evolution, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s devouring capability increased greatly. The solid Essence Energy crystals that Zhou Wen teleported over couldn¡¯t make Tyrant Behemoth glow like before.


    This change made Zhou Wen, who was enduring the pain of the Heavenly Tribulation, feel much better.


    Although the Heavenly Tribulation lightning made him suffer, Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower was just too tenacious. Such pain couldn¡¯t make him waver.


    Zhou Wen reached out to pull the Heavenly Tribulation Sword out of his chest, but when his palm touched it, it passed through it as though it didn¡¯t exist.


    Instead, when his palm passed through the Heavenly Tribulation Sword, the pain intensified several times.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen circulated several powers but failed to produce any alleviating effects. He could only rely on his willpower to resist it.


    Three minutes later, the pain of the lightning piercing through his body suddenly vanished. It receded like the tide.


    Before Zhou Wen could take a deep breath, lightning suddenly surged out of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword. However, this time, it was different from before. The lightning didn¡¯t cause Zhou Wen any pain. It didn¡¯t even hurt.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen felt something worse than pain.


    Itchiness!


    The bone-chilling itch felt as though thousands of ants were crawling under his skin. It made Zhou Wen¡¯s body tremble.


    Sometimes, pain could be endured, but not itchiness.


    The Perfect Sword Immortal outside was no longer just surprised. His Destruction Sword Flash, which had the strongest destructive power, still failed to shatter the Chaos Egg.


    It¡¯s already time for the second Heavenly Tribulation. The present him shouldn¡¯t be able to focus.. It will be difficult for him to resist the Major Destruction Sword Flash, right? Perfect Sword Immortal thought.


    1

 Chapter 1385 - Slaying the Human Heart

    Chapter 1385: Slaying the Human Heart


    Translator: CKtalon


    Uesugi Nao stood at the top of a mountain and watched the battle from afar with a complicated expression.


    She had contracted Great Skyfiend to obtain strength. Indeed, she had obtained extremely powerful strength in a short period of time.


    For a while, Uesugi Nao even believed that her actions would become mainstream and she, a pioneer of humanity¡¯s future.


    However, things didn¡¯t seem to develop in the direction she had expected. Although there were indeed many humans who chose to contract with Guardians and become contractors, Guardians didn¡¯t become humanity¡¯s mainstream. The Holy Spirit Association advanced with Spirit Casting and Hui Haifeng produced Mythical Serum. There were also humans like Human Sovereign and Deceit King who had advanced to the Mythical stage using some unknown method.


    As no one had seen the true faces of Human Sovereign and Deceit King, it was impossible to determine if they had used methods like Spirit Casting or the Mythical Serum. All they knew was that they hadn¡¯t contracted Guardians.


    However, the Zhou Wen in front of her most likely didn¡¯t use anything like a Mythical Serum. This was because he didn¡¯t have any characteristics of a dimensional creature, nor could any auras other than a human¡¯s could be sensed.


    A human can actually reach such a level and even fight a Calamity-grade powerhouse. This dealt a huge blow to Uesugi Nao¡¯s heart.


    Can the strength of humans really be that strong? Uesugi Nao¡¯s firm beliefs wavered slightly.


    Although she was a very opinionated person and had always done as she wished, Zhou Wen¡¯s performance made Uesugi Nao, who was determined, begin to doubt herself.


    Even if the four Heavenly Kings attacked together, they probably wouldn¡¯t last a minute against such a powerful Calamity-grade power. Yet, Zhou Wen had managed to last until now without being completely defeated.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t doing well though. Although the bone-chilling itch didn¡¯t affect him much, it was still troublesome.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s focus was unparalleled. If it was just an itch, it wouldn¡¯t affect him as long as he didn¡¯t think about it.


    He was only afraid that the Calamity-grade power wasn¡¯t that simple. If the subsequent Heavenly Tribulations attacked his body, Zhou Wen¡¯s body wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the impact of the Calamity-grade power and would be instantly killed.


    In a battle with a Calamity-grade, I can only summon Truth Listener or use the Immortal Culling Sword. Otherwise, there¡¯s no chance of victory. I don¡¯t even stand a chance at fighting. There might still be a chance if I advance to the Terror grade¡­ Zhou Wen thought of Slaughterer.


    Slaughterer could only advance by making the opponent feel fear, but he was the one being suppressed. The opponent held the absolute advantage. It was impossible to even injure the opponent, much less make him feel fear.


    Three minutes quickly passed, but Zhou Wen still failed to think of a solution. As for the Heavenly Tribulation, it changed again. This time, Zhou Wen no longer felt itchy, but something even more terrifying happened to him.


    Zhou Wen instantly felt that his various senses were being magnified countless times. They were even sharper than when he used Great Brahma.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but cry out. Pain, numbness, soreness, and itchiness surged at him under the stimulation of the lightning.


    This stimulation was something Zhou Wen could tolerate. He usually wouldn¡¯t even grunt. However, as his perception had been magnified, he became extremely sensitive. The pain was also magnified several times.


    This stimulation had already reached the limits of human endurance when it came to pain, but once Zhou Wen focused on other things, the pain in his body weakened.


    It couldn¡¯t be said to be weakened. It could only be said that he didn¡¯t feel the pain because of his distraction.


    How can I advance Slaughterer to the Terror grade? What should I do? Although Zhou Wen knew that it was difficult, this was the most viable opportunity for him to save himself.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen was thinking about how to advance Slaughterer. The pain he felt became weaker and weaker.


    Three minutes was neither short nor long. The third Heavenly Tribulation passed.


    In these three minutes, Tyrant Behemoth began glowing and heating up again because it had swallowed too many Essence Energy crystals. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t as hot as before. It probably wasn¡¯t at its limit.


    The fourth Heavenly Tribulation lightning surged out. This time, it wasn¡¯t as simple as physical pain. It penetrated deep into his soul and affected Zhou Wen¡¯s emotions.


    Typically, the fourth Heavenly Tribulation would trigger illusions, allowing people to see what they were most afraid of. Many people would die at this stage.


    This was because humans often didn¡¯t lose to powerful enemies, but to themselves.


    However, this tribulation was easier for Zhou Wen to deal with than the previous ones. As his mind was so focused, the Heavenly Tribulation lightning couldn¡¯t affect his brain or make him hallucinate.


    Zhou Wen kept thinking about how to advance Slaughterer without realizing the fourth Heavenly Tribulation. As time ticked by, Zhou Wen still failed to come up with a solution after three minutes of the fourth Heavenly Tribulation.


    However, at that moment, Zhou Wen felt a reaction from Slaughterer. Furthermore, the reaction was very intense.


    What¡¯s going on? Why would Slaughterer react at such a time? I¡¯m clearly at an absolute disadvantage now. It¡¯s impossible for me to cause fear to the enemy¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised, but Slaughterer¡¯s reaction couldn¡¯t be faked.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t know how shocking it was for Perfect Sword Immortal to see him survive the fourth Heavenly Tribulation.


    This time, Slaughterer¡¯s reaction was stronger than ever before. Zhou Wen could even sense that Slaughterer¡¯s aura was burgeoning rapidly.


    Why is this happening? Could it be that my enemy feels fear? But he¡¯s clearly at an absolute advantage¡­ Wait¡­ Heart Slaying¡­ Having an advantage doesn¡¯t mean that he doesn¡¯t feel fear¡­ Zhou Wen recalled a story his grandfather had told him when he was young.


    There was an ancient person who was very worried that the sky would collapse. Every time it rained on a cloudy day, he would try his best to run, afraid that the sky would collapse and kill him.


    When Zhou Wen thought of this story and connected it to the present situation and Slaughterer¡¯s reaction, he suddenly seemed to understand something.


    Humans might be afraid of known dangers, but as they came into contact with them, their fear would gradually decrease. Instead, they were extremely afraid of things that hadn¡¯t happened or had no chance of making contact with.


    For example, when one stood at the edge of a rooftop, even if they were tethered to a rope, their legs would still go limp despite knowing that they wouldn¡¯t fall.


    Or perhaps many people would be afraid that no one would care for them when they were old. No matter how bad their children were, they would be submissive towards them and not dare disobey them.


    Heart Slaying¡­ So that¡¯s how it is¡­ I seem to understand¡­ The slaying of the human heart¡­ lies in them doing it themselves¡­ Zhou Wen gained new insights.. Many things that clouded him previously cleared up.


    1

 Chapter 1386 - Natural Enemy

    It was almost impossible to guess the weakness of a stranger.


    Every human or creature¡¯s weakness was different. Unless God personally came, it was impossible to know what anyone¡¯s weakness was.


    Furthermore, if Sweetie was really God, as God, even she couldn¡¯t identify the weakness of one¡¯s human nature, much less a mortal.


    Although it was indeed effective to guess a person¡¯s weakness in human nature based on their actions and reactions, it was impossible to have enough opportunities to observe and understand the opponent in a real battle.


    Not every powerful enemy was like Shangguan Jinhong, a powerful adversary that ended up losing to his weaker opponent, Li Xunhuan[1].


    Zhou Wen had previously wanted to interpret one¡¯s weakness in human nature through observation. This path couldn¡¯t be said to be wrong, but it was a very long path.


    He now understood something. Perhaps he didn¡¯t need much observation to obtain the desired outcome. All he needed to do was go from a microscopic view to a macroscopic view.


    For example, rats were afraid of cats. Some plants liked water, while others were afraid of water. Some metals were easily oxidized, while others were difficult to oxidize.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to understand what a person or creature was afraid of. All he needed to do was grasp what restrained them thanks to nature, making it much easier.


    This should be called a natural enemy, right? As his insights deepened, Zhou Wen realized that Slaughterer¡¯s reaction was even more intense. It was unknown if it was because the enemy outside had produced fear that affected Slaughterer or if it was the result of his own epiphany.


    Slaughterer constantly released Essence Energy. Zhou Wen felt his body being transformed by a strange force as his flesh and blood gradually changed.


    Although it was still a body of flesh and blood, the modified parts seemed to have been given a new characteristic.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what kind of characteristic it was. His body was still the same, and his appearance hadn¡¯t changed, but there was another qualitative change. It was magical and strange.


    Slaughterer had fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen could clearly sense that his transformation was happening at the same time as him. The feeling was indescribable. If he had to describe it, it was like a twin that was telepathically connected.


    In the past, Zhou Wen¡¯s connection with Slaughterer wasn¡¯t tight. In the beginning, he couldn¡¯t even control Slaughterer because his personality was very different from Slaughterer¡¯s. It could be said that they were antithesis to one another and incompatible.


    Only today did Zhou Wen realize that he was truly one with Slaughterer¡ªyou are me and I am you. There was no distinction between them.


    Zhou Wen only reached the level that ordinary humans could reach today.


    The reason it was so difficult for Zhou Wen to advance to the Terror grade was not only because the Lost Immortal Sutra was difficult to advance, but also because of the conflict between Slaughterer and his personality.


    However, at that moment, the two finally found a balance, or rather, a hub that connected them together. Slaughterer finally completely opened itself to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like killing, but Slaughterer was born from killing. Zhou Wen shouldn¡¯t have condensed such a Life Soul, but did so because of the influence of the Lost Immortal Sutra and the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s owner.


    The two constantly fused and adapted to each other until this opportunity appeared. Finally, there was no gap between them.


    Perfect Sword Immortal was extremely surprised. For a mere human to withstand five Heavenly Tribulations without collapsing was unimaginable.


    Although Perfect Sword Immortal had exaggerated the claim that the Nine Tribulations could destroy Apocalypse-grade powerhouses, very few Calamity-grade creatures could withstand the Heavenly Tribulation Sword.


    I have to eliminate this fellow. Otherwise, it will definitely be a calamity for our race. A cold glint flashed in the eyes of Perfect Sword Immortal as killing intent subconsciously appeared.


    Previously, Perfect Sword Immortal had some qualms and didn¡¯t wish to damage Jiang Yan¡¯s body too much. However, now that he realized how terrifying Zhou Wen was, he immediately made a decision.


    I can still find another representative, but I definitely can¡¯t have this Zhou Wen stay alive. Sword aura rose from Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s body as sword beams surged from his hair and skin. His clothes and long hair fluttered. The Skyimmortal armor that had advanced to the Calamity grade constantly emitted sword beams as terrifying sword intent surged out.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­ Don¡¯t continue¡­ Immortal¡¯s body can¡¯t hold on much longer¡­¡± Cave Era kept paying attention to Jiang Yan. She was Jiang Yan¡¯s sister and knew how dangerous it was to be possessed by dimensional creatures.


    Now, she realized that Immortal¡¯s body had already shown signs of producing Essence Energy Crystals. This meant that Jiang Yan¡¯s body couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. If this continued, his body would completely crystallize. Even if he killed Zhou Wen, Jiang Yan would die.


    However, Perfect Sword Immortal ignored her. Now, Perfect Sword Immortal only wanted Zhou Wen, a thorn in his side, dead. Everything else was secondary.


    Seeing the sword intent and sword beam over Perfect Sword Immortal rapidly strengthen, Cave Era¡¯s heart turned cold.


    Uesugi Nao and Blood Shaman wore mixed expressions. Anyone could tell that Perfect Sword Immortal was sacrificing Immortal. If Immortal could be sacrificed, what about them?


    Cave Era instantly made a decision. Temporal power rapidly condensed over her body as time seemed to freeze.


    ¡°Cave Era, what are you trying to do?¡± Uesugi Nao and Blood Shaman looked at Cave Era in surprise.


    ¡°Immortal can¡¯t die. You can stop me, but today¡¯s Immortal might be you tomorrow,¡± said Cave Era.


    Blood Shaman exchanged looks with Uesugi Nao. Blood Shaman said, ¡°Even if we don¡¯t stop you, will your Guardian help you?¡±


    Blood Shaman spoke gloomily. Guardians were created by the dimension after all. Would they become enemies with dimensional powerhouses for humanity?


    After all, a Guardian contract was an equal contract. Guardians could terminate the contract unilaterally at any time.


    Cave Era extended her palm and looked at her Guardian armor as she muttered to herself, ¡°Are you¡­ still willing to follow me¡­ This trip might result in death¡­ If you aren¡¯t willing, leave¡­¡±


    ¡°Why¡­ fight¡­ when¡­ you¡­ know¡­ you¡¯ll¡­ die¡­¡± A voice that sounded ancient sounded from Cave Era.


    ¡°Because living like this will be more painful than death,¡± Cave Era answered.


    After a second of silence, it wasn¡¯t just Cave Era. Uesugi Nao and Blood Shaman also held their breaths nervously as they stared at the Guardian armor on Cave Era.


    The voice that seemed to come from the ashes of history sounded again. ¡°Instead of eternal life in infinite time, why don¡¯t you turn eternal for a limited time? Since you want to fight, as you wish¡­ Time¡­ is infinite¡­¡±


    The sound seemed to break through the sealed door of history. The entire armor began to emit temporal powers, instantly pushing them to their limits. Everything around them seemed to freeze as they went into super slow motion.


    [1] Characters from The Little Li Flying Dagger, novel by Gulong.

 Chapter 1387 - The Traitorous Cave Era

    ¡°Thank you!¡± Cave Era felt the power of Infinite Time erupt from her body. Although she couldn¡¯t reach Infinite Time in the true sense of the word due to her level and make time truly stop, such power was already the limit of the Terror grade. In some aspects, she had even broken through the limits of the Terror grade.


    Without any hesitation, Cave Era knew that this was the power produced by the Guardian consuming her body. It wouldn¡¯t last long. She could only do something¡ªno matter how negligible¡ªduring this period of time.


    Attack Perfect Sword Immortal? Of course not. Cave Era knew very well that her strength was far inferior. Even if the Guardian consumed her body for power, it wouldn¡¯t be enough to leave Perfect Sword Immortal flinching.


    ¡°Therefore¡­¡± Cave Era¡¯s eyes flashed as she ran towards Zhou Wen.


    Under the influence of Infinite Time, time in the surroundings seemed to come to a standstill. Even the Calamity-grade sword beam didn¡¯t appear fast. At the very least, Cave Era could keep up with the speed of the Calamity-grade sword beam.


    Cave Era¡¯s figure shuttled through the sword beam like a ghost in the river of time. She rushed in and landed on the Chaos Egg.


    ¡°Do you know what the outcome of betrayal will be?¡± Perfect Sword Immortal stared coldly at Cave Era. The sword intent on his body was still expanding crazily. Jiang Yan¡¯s body was already half crystallized.


    ¡°I only know that Immortal is the owner of the League of Guardians.¡± As Cave Era spoke, she pressed her hands on the Chaos Egg. The condensed temporal powers instantly erupted, causing the surrounding time to distort and change, producing a phenomenon of temporal chaos. Even the Calamity-grade sword beam seemed to be stuck.


    ¡°Time¡­ Samsara¡­¡± Cave Era screamed as though it was the only way to squeeze out the last bit of her strength.


    She knew that she couldn¡¯t injure Perfect Sword Immortal, much less stop him from unleashing his strength. The only thing she could do was take Zhou Wen away.


    As long as she took Zhou Wen away, there was no reason for Perfect Sword Immortal to continue unleashing his might. Then, Jiang Yan might be able to live.


    Time for the Chaos Egg was distorted as Cave Era and the Chaos Egg vanished into thin air, leaving the range of Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s domain.


    However, less than three kilometers away from Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s domain, the Chaos Egg and Cave Era fell to the ground.


    The glow over the Guardian armor on Cave Era¡¯s body vanished as though it had fossilized.


    With Terror-grade strength, Cave Era couldn¡¯t withstand such expenditure required to continuously use two top temporal skills¡ªInfinite Time and Samsara.


    Zhou Wen saw everything from inside the Chaos Egg. At the instant the Chaos Egg and Cave Era dropped, Zhou Wen rushed out of the Chaos Egg and grabbed the enervated Cave Era. He wanted to use interstellar teleportation and head straight for Venus.


    However, he soon realized that interstellar teleportation was still unusable. The surroundings lit up as Zhou Wen looked up and saw that the sky was completely enveloped by sword beams.


    At some point in time, Perfect Sword Immortal was already floating in the sky like a sun. The light emitted from his body was the omnipresent sword beams.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t make it after all?¡± Cave Era smiled bitterly. She had already tried her best to evacuate Zhou Wen, but the expenditure needed to escape the Calamity Zone was just too great. The spot she had brought Zhou Wen to was still too close.


    Now that Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s Calamity Zone had expanded, she no longer had the strength to take Zhou Wen out.


    ¡°Traitor, it¡¯s time to atone for your sins.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal looked down at Zhou Wen and Cave Era like a true immortal from the nine heavens.


    At that moment, his gaze was mostly on Cave Era. At the same time, his body emitted blinding sword beams that illuminated everything like the sun. They were everywhere.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade and wanted to send Cave Era into the Chaos Bead, but the Chaos Bead required creatures to enter willingly. Cave Era was worried about Jiang Yan and had no intention of escaping, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t able to send her in.


    However, the Chaos Egg could only protect Zhou Wen. If he used the Chaos Egg now, he would have to leave Cave Era outside.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a goody two-shoes, but he wasn¡¯t willing to watch Cave Era die. She was, after all, Jiang Yan¡¯s sister and had tried to save him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just make a Hail Mary effort. If it works, you¡¯ll live. If it doesn¡¯t, I¡¯ve done my best. Don¡¯t blame me for escaping when the time comes.¡± Zhou Wen grabbed Cave Era and quickly instant transmitted.


    When they phased into existence, Zhou Wen had already produced the Chaos Egg and shielded Cave Era behind him.


    The sun-like sword beams were everywhere. They were struck the moment they phased into existence.


    Thankfully, with the Chaos Egg in front of them, Cave Era wasn¡¯t injured. Otherwise, with her present state, she would probably be dead.


    Boom!


    The Chaos Egg slammed into Cave Era and flew out like a cannonball. It slammed into a mountain range, snapping a mountain peak and smashing into a valley, thereby creating another huge hole at the bottom.


    Zhou Wen came out of the Chaos Egg and pulled up Cave Era, who was coughing out blood. When he looked up, he realized that the sun-like Perfect Sword Immortal had already arrived less than five meters in front of them. He was staring coldly at them.


    Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan, I hope you weren¡¯t joking with me. Zhou Wen looked around, but he didn¡¯t discover anything special.


    This was the place where Jiang Yan had pointed out to Zhou Wen. He had tried his best to bring Cave Era here, hoping that there was something special here that he could utilize in his defense.


    However, no matter how he looked at the area, he couldn¡¯t see anything special about it. There wasn¡¯t even a dimensional zone, so it was impossible for him to escape into one.


    Perfect Sword Immortal didn¡¯t wish to waste any more time. He once again unleashed a sword beam that resembled the sun, hoping to kill Zhou Wen and Cave Era together.


    Zhou Wen had already planned on hiding in the Chaos Egg, but he suddenly realized that the sword beams stopped less than a meter away from them.


    Jiang Yan really didn¡¯t lie to me, but what¡¯s going on? I didn¡¯t discover any special powers nearby. What stopped this sword art? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised as he looked at the sword beam that resembled sunlight. He looked up at Perfect Sword Immortal and saw him pressing his face with one hand, his body trembling slightly, as though he was in a battle with the heavens.


    ¡°You are too naive to think that you can vie for control of your body from me. Everything that belongs to you already belongs to me. What else can you use to vie with me?¡± Perfect Sword Immortal seemed to be muttering to himself. His tone was ruthless as he gradually lifted his face.


    Although one couldn¡¯t see his face under the mask, his eyes seemed to be returning to normal.


    Suddenly, a petal that resembled a rose flew out of the valley. It passed through the layers of sword beams and landed on the forehead of Perfect Sword Immortal.

 Chapter 1388 - Jiang Yan’s Plan

    The strength of Perfect Sword Immortal was immense. Even the Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t withstand the increasingly powerful sword beam.


    As for the petal that looked extremely weak, it didn¡¯t fly very fast. It actually passed through the layers of sword beams and landed on the forehead of Perfect Sword Immortal. This was somewhat unbelievable.


    What was even more surprising was that after the petal landed on the forehead of Perfect Sword Immortal, it melted like snowflakes and seeped into his Guardian armor.


    In the next second, purplish-red petals appeared over Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s body. In the blink of an eye, they enveloped his entire body, forming a floral armor.


    Fairy Burial! Zhou Wen immediately widened his eyes.


    He never expected Immortal to be Jiang Yan because Immortal¡¯s Guardian wasn¡¯t Fairy Burial.


    Previously, he had joined Jiang Yan in his trip to contract his Guardian. How could he not be familiar with it? He recognized it at a glance.


    So that¡¯s how it is¡­ It¡¯s no wonder Cave Era wanted to save me¡­ She was actually trying to save Jiang Yan¡­ Zhou Wen finally understood. He had been puzzled as to why Cave Era would take such a huge risk to save him.


    Just because he was her brother¡¯s junior didn¡¯t seem to make sense.


    ¡°You¡­ You actually contracted two Guardians¡­¡± Perfect Sword Immortal already understood what had happened and knew why the sword beam couldn¡¯t injure the petal.


    He used Jiang Yan¡¯s body to fight. In essence, the current Perfect Sword Immortal was actually Jiang Yan.


    As for Fairy Burial, it had a contract with Jiang Yan. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary Guardian contract. It was a Life-and-Death contract that went one step further. Jiang Yan¡¯s injuries were equivalent to Fairy Burial being injured. Likewise for the converse. Therefore, Perfect Sword Immortal couldn¡¯t injure Fairy Burial. Otherwise, he would be injuring himself.


    Unless he abandoned Jiang Yan¡¯s body, it was impossible for him to injure Fairy Burial.


    That¡¯s not right¡­ What Guardian is this¡­ Perfect Sword Immortal frowned slightly. The floral armor formed by the Guardian was actually absorbing and devouring his Calamity power.


    Perfect Sword Immortal naturally sensed that the floral armor was only at the Terror grade, but for some reason, it could absorb his Calamity-grade power.


    Although the absorption speed wasn¡¯t fast, it was very rare to absorb something at a higher level. Perfect Sword Immortal vaguely felt that the power of the floral armor seemed to restrain him.


    Under normal circumstances, he would have been able to control the Guardian that Jiang Yan had contracted since he had already occupied Jiang Yan¡¯s body. However, the floral armor rejected him and refused to be under his control.


    ¡°Fairy Burial.¡± Jiang Yan obtained the power of Fairy Burial again and finally regained some control. However, he could only speak. Control over the rest of his body was still in the hands of Perfect Sword Immortal.


    ¡°Just this act deserves death. You¡¯ve been hiding and plotting for so long because you want to use its power to devour me?¡± Perfect Sword Immortal said coldly. ¡°I pity your ignorance. Although I don¡¯t know why this Guardian¡¯s power has a faint restraining effect on me, it¡¯s still too weak. As long as I leave your body, I can easily destroy your body along with it.¡±


    ¡°But do you dare leave my body?¡± Jiang Yan said indifferently.


    Perfect Sword Immortal understood what Jiang Yan meant. Without Jiang Yan¡¯s body as support, he would be ostracized by Earth¡¯s rules. When that happened, his strength would be greatly weakened.


    With Zhou Wen near him, he would probably die if he was weakened to the Terror grade. It would be useless even if he destroyed Jiang Yan¡¯s body.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter; I can kill you after I¡¯m done with him.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    Fairy Burial¡¯s powers couldn¡¯t deal much damage to him in a short period of time. The power it absorbed was only a tiny portion that didn¡¯t affect his combat strength much.


    All Perfect Sword Immortal needed to do was stick to his original plan and kill Zhou Wen before leaving Jiang Yan¡¯s body to kill Jiang Yan and Fairy Burial.


    However, Perfect Sword Immortal was still somewhat puzzled as to why Jiang Yan could contract two Guardians. In theory, an individual shouldn¡¯t be able to contract two Guardians. Furthermore, Guardians wouldn¡¯t be willing to share their contractors with other Guardians.


    This was because Guardians were natural enemies with each other. They had been created to defeat each other. Guardians of different species shouldn¡¯t be able to contract with the same person.


    ¡°Jiang Yan, what other plans do you have? Quick, tell me,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at Jiang Yan.


    Since Jiang Yan had set up such a trap, there was likely a way to deal with Perfect Sword Immortal.


    ¡°My plan was for you to hold him back while I absorb his strength,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback before he flew into a rage. ¡°F*ck you. Are you human? You call this a f*cking plan?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. That¡¯s just Plan A. I still have Plan B.¡± Jiang Yan added.


    ¡°How can you still be in the mood to joke at a time like this? Quick, tell me,¡± Zhou Wen felt a little relieved as he retreated with Cave Era.


    ¡°Plan B is for you to severely injure Perfect Sword Immortal. This way, my absorption will be faster and the danger will be resolved faster,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°Are you really speaking anything human?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened.


    ¡°Don¡¯t feel so inferior. You have to have confidence in yourself. I¡¯m very confident in you. Work hard and kill him. Also, protect my sister.¡± Jiang Yan¡¯s tone was very relaxed, as though Perfect Sword Immortal was some random character that could be killed with a single strike.


    ¡°Are you done?¡± Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s voice seemed to emit a cold aura. It was obvious how furious he was.


    Jiang Yan didn¡¯t think much of him. He actually said that he wanted Zhou Wen to kill him.


    ¡°Should I say that you are optimistic or ignorant? Humans can¡¯t even leave Earth. From the looks of it, it¡¯s not without reason.¡± As Perfect Sword Immortal spoke, the sword beams on his body erupted like the sun again in a bid to kill Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Enter this.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand and pulled Cave Era. Cave Era didn¡¯t resist this time as she was pulled into the Chaos Bead by Zhou Wen.


    Almost at the same time, the Chaos Egg enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Boom!


    The omnipresent sword beams struck the Chaos Egg, instantly filling it up. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to transfer it to Tyrant Behemoth as the continuous sword beams stabbed a few spots into the Chaos Egg.


    In the blink of an eye, the Chaos Egg was about to become a porcupine.


    Inside the Chaos Egg that was riddled with holes, solid Essence Energy immediately vaporized when it encountered the outside air, turning into white Essence Energy that spewed out.


    Zhou Wen saw the sword beams penetrate the Chaos Egg and knew that it was difficult to dodge them. However, he was still a little short of breaking through the final barrier needed to advance to the Terror grade.


    What am I short of? More and more sword beams appeared in front of Zhou Wen as some of them nearly stabbed him in the face.


    ¡°Die!¡± Perfect Sword Immortal squeezed out the last bit of his strength, hoping to kill Zhou Wen as quickly as possible.


    The blazing sword beam seemed to devour the entire world, destroying everything around it. Even dust particles were sliced apart by the sword beam.

 Chapter 1389 - Terror-grade

    The indestructible sword beams illuminated everything, wiping out everything. The already riddled Chaos Egg immediately shattered as Zhou Wen was no longer able to hold out.


    Instant transmission was useless under such circumstances because the sword beam was everywhere. No matter where Zhou Wen instant transmitted to, he would be killed by the sword beam unless he could leave Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s Calamity Zone. That was naturally impossible.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t advanced to the Terror grade, but he had no choice but to make a last-ditch effort. He took out the Immortal Culling Sword, but his heavy heart kept sinking.


    This was because the Immortal Culling Sword could only be used once. As for his surroundings, they were filled with sword beams. He would be penetrated by the myriad swords after slashing out.


    What was even worse was that Zhou Wen knew very well that even if he used Immortal Slaying, he wouldn¡¯t be able to slay such a powerful Perfect Sword Immortal.


    His strength was too weak; he was unable to unleash the full might of the Immortal Culling Sword. A full-powered strike was equivalent to a Calamity-grade strike. Such an attack couldn¡¯t hit Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Zhou Wen even realized that the speed at which he could draw out his sword couldn¡¯t keep up with his thoughts. The sword beam had already arrived in front of him before he could pull out the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Am I just dying like that? Zhou Wen held his sword and looked at the dazzling sword beam that was everywhere. He felt fear and indignation.


    Although there was no time for him to think too much, the instinctive fear arose spontaneously.


    Suddenly!


    The sword beam that could destroy everything stopped in front of Zhou Wen. The tip of the sword beam was almost in contact with Zhou Wen¡¯s cornea.


    To suddenly live in the face of impending death, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but tremble. It was as though a gust of cold air instantly rushed to his head from the soles of his feet and spread to his entire body. It made Zhou Wen feel a little hot. His face warmed up as though he had a fever; his legs went limp as his head spun.


    The feeling of having made a trip to the gates of hell was something that only those involved could understand.


    As the saying went, there was great horror between life and death, but it was very difficult to experience it.


    This was because the person would already be dead when they experienced it. It was useless even if they experienced it.


    Those who could experience the horror of life and death and survive were extremely lucky. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that it was a rebirth.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen experienced the horror of life and death. His mind immediately became clear as a mirror. Many things that he usually cared about were nothing when he thought about them. It was ridiculous to be sad over them.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen finally understood why he couldn¡¯t take the final step to advance to the Terror grade. This was because he had never experienced true fear, so how could he understand the terror of others?


    Only people who had truly experienced fear understood what fear was.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Use your sword to kill him!¡± Jiang Yan¡¯s voice boomed in almost a roar, but he knew that it was already too late when he shouted.


    Zhou Wen still hadn¡¯t reacted; Jiang Yan¡¯s heart immediately turned cold.


    The best he could do was use this split second to use all the power Burial Immortal had gathered and its unique abilities. He could regain control from Perfect Sword Immortal while his control over the body was weakest during his delivery of a full-might attack.


    He originally imagined that there was this unspoken understanding between him and Zhou Wen. That instant was enough for Zhou Wen to slash out with an earth-shattering strike. The strike that had once killed a dimensional Calamity¡ªthe strike that belonged to Human Sovereign.


    However, Zhou Wen blanked out at such a critical moment and missed that instant.


    ¡°What a pity. You sure are scheming and resourceful.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal had already regained control of his body. He too broke out into a cold sweat.


    He never expected Jiang Yan to be able to regain control of the body. Although it was only for an instant, it was enough to shock him.


    If Zhou Wen had reacted in time, he might have been severely injured.


    When he saw the Immortal Culling Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, he recognized Zhou Wen¡¯s identity and knew that Zhou Wen indeed had the ability to severely injure him.


    ¡°So Zhou Wen is Human Sovereign. What a pity. Humans are only humans after all. They are ultimately unable to face the extreme fear of death calmly. He missed his only chance and wasted your efforts,¡± Perfect Sword Immortal said with a sneer. ¡°Jiang Yan, my dear Jiang Yan, you are indeed a talent. However, you chose the wrong person and stood on the wrong side.¡±


    Jiang Yan was exhausted from unleashing all his strength. He didn¡¯t even have the ability to control the body and make sounds.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make the wrong choice again in your next life.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal once again controlled his sword beam to shoot out, hoping to kill Zhou Wen.


    However, when he looked at Zhou Wen, he was surprised to discover that Zhou Wen¡¯s body was emitting a strange aura. The aura made him extremely disgusted and even somewhat afraid.


    Terror transformation? Wasn¡¯t that ball his Terror transformation power? Perfect Sword Immortal sized up Zhou Wen suspiciously, having originally believed that the Chaos Egg was Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror-grade power.


    However, from the changes in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it was a sign that he had just advanced to the Terror form. This left him in disbelief.


    He couldn¡¯t believe that a human who had fought him for so long wasn¡¯t even at the Terror grade.


    However, Perfect Sword Immortal couldn¡¯t care less. He drove ten thousand sword beams downwards. Regardless of whether he was at the Terror or Mythical stage prior to this, that could be discussed after he was dead.


    The sun-like sword beams devoured Zhou Wen, and in the blinding sword beam, a very discordant light suddenly appeared.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    The ten thousand sword beams shattered like glass and scattered in all directions. The thousands of sword beams rose up and deflected light, making the surroundings appear dreamy.


    A sword beam tore through everything, splitting the shattered sword beams that filled the sky into two. It was as though the sea had been parted as a sword beam charged straight at Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Perfect Sword Immortal condensed a sword with his fingers, converging the sword beams around him into one as he faced the sword beam.


    ¡°All the swords in this world obey my orders. You have a death wish to fight me with a sword¡­¡± As Perfect Sword Immortal spoke, his sword beam had already collided with his adversary¡¯s sword beam.


    Boom!


    The sword beams collided, producing a terrifying shockwave.


    Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s heart palpitated as he dodged to the side, but he was still a little slow. A bloody mark immediately appeared on his cheek when the sword beam swept past him. A drop of blood slowly dripped down his cheek.


    What¡¯s wrong with that sword¡­ Why is its power able to restrain my sword beam¡­ Impossible¡­ How can there be a sword in the world that I can¡¯t control¡­ The eyes of Perfect Sword Immortal widened into a contortion as he stared opposite him. He saw Zhou Wen walking over with the Immortal Culling Sword in hand. The Heavenly Robe on his body fluttered in the wind. He had not been injured.


    ¡°Why wait for the next life? I think I can choose again now.¡± Zhou Wen felt the power in his body and the sword intent that roared like an evil spirit from Immortal Culling Sword. This was the first time he had been able to freely control the Immortal Culling Sword and not just draw it and slash it once.

 Chapter 1390 - Terror-grade Combat Strength

    Chapter 1390: Terror-grade Combat Strength


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°All the swords in the world might be under your jurisdiction, but this sword of mine isn¡¯t,¡± Zhou Wen said as he slashed out with the Immortal Culling Sword again.


    It was an onslaught of sword aura!


    Zhou Wen felt Slaughterer constantly spew out Essence Energy. After the Immortal Culling Sword¡ªwhich had extremely high Essence Energy requirements¡ªaccepted the endless Essence Energy, it trembled and hummed.


    It was like a parched land¡¯s desire for rain, the satisfaction of a hungry wolf when it ate meat.


    The Immortal Culling Sword had been thirsty and hungry for too long. Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy in the past wasn¡¯t enough to power it. Every time Zhou Wen had used the Immortal Culling Sword, it was like giving a person dying of thirst a drop of water. Not only did this drop of water not quench his thirst, but it only made him yearn for more.


    Hum! Hum!


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s brandishing, the Immortal Culling Sword produced a humming sword hum as it slashed out sword beams.


    Perfect Sword Immortal condensed sword beams to fight Zhou Wen, but he was alarmed to discover that his sword beams were restrained by Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beams. It was like a mortal weapon encountering a divine weapon that could slice through steel as though it was mud. Anything would be sliced apart the moment it came into contact with it.


    Retreat! Another retreat!


    Perfect Sword Immortal was alarmed to discover that he could only retreat again and again under Zhou Wen¡¯s sword.


    He wanted to counterattack with his sword, but for some reason, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique made him uncomfortable. It was like a sword beam restraining his sword radiance. It made him feel uncomfortable¡ªhe was unable to unleash his full combat strength.


    Perfect Sword Immortal suddenly had a feeling¡ªa subconscious feeling¡ªas though he was afraid of Zhou Wen. This fear was in his bones, like it was a part of his nature.


    What¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ A Terror-grade¡­ Just a Terror-grade human¡­ How can this be¡­ How can this be¡­ The eyes of Perfect Sword Immortal flickered as cracks appeared in his defenses. Terror constantly spread in his heart.


    Blood Shaman and Uesugi Nao, who were watching from afar, stared blankly.


    Zhou Wen is Human Sovereign! Uesugi Nao watched as Zhou Wen¡¯s sword forced Perfect Sword Immortal into a retreat. The powerful Perfect Sword Immortal that left one in despair was completely suppressed, as though he didn¡¯t even have the chance to counterattack.


    1


    ¡°He¡­ is at the Terror grade, right?¡± Blood Shaman said with a strange expression.


    No one could answer him. Only the earth-shattering sword aura and sword hum echoed in the world.


    Zhou Wen felt as though he was in an invincible state. It wasn¡¯t just because the Immortal Culling Sword had erupted with powerful combat strength, but more because of the power Slaughterer and the advancement to the Terror grade had given him.


    In the past, Zhou Wen needed to make all kinds of observations and plans to deduce the enemy¡¯s weakness, but now, it seemed very natural. Without needing much observation, he could attack his opponent¡¯s weakness as though it had become an instinct.


    This instinct wasn¡¯t without reason, but a judgment based on some rules.


    It was like learning a math formula. No matter how varied the questions were, as long as one grasped the formulas, they could obtain answers without looking at all possible questions.


    1


    Now, Zhou Wen was such an example. He didn¡¯t need to see the weaknesses of all creatures to determine his opponent¡¯s weaknesses.


    This feeling was simply intoxicating. It was as though he could see through everything at a glance. It felt like God.


    2


    Together with the power unleashed by the Immortal Culling Sword, as well as its ability to restrain immortals, along with Zhou Wen¡¯s Heart Defying Sword Art, he forcefully suppressed Perfect Sword Immortal to the point of him being unable to counterattack.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the body belonged to Jiang Yan, the Immortal Culling Sword would have killed Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Perfect Sword Immortal seemed to notice this as well. He stopped defending and transformed into a sword beam, hoping to escape.


    Although Zhou Wen¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t as fast as Perfect Sword Immortal, he had the help of spatial teleportation. After Slaughterer advanced to the Terror grade, Zhou Wen experienced a tremendous change.


    This change didn¡¯t only improve his physique a little. In fact, it had a greater effect on his other Terror transformation abilities.


    For example, in his true Terror form, he could use the Godfiend Era¡¯s instant transmission almost instantly. It wasn¡¯t like before where there was an obvious pause.


    For example, using Singularity Universe¡¯s teleportation ability greatly increased accuracy.


    The other Terror transformation abilities seemed to be augmented by a halo under Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror transformation. They were greatly enhanced.


    Zhou Wen could virtually instant transmit an infinite number of times, so he managed to catch up to the Calamity-grade Perfect Sword Immortal. He constantly slashed out with the Immortal Culling Sword, forcing Perfect Sword Immortal to dodge in a sorry state.


    Perfect Sword Immortal had also attempted to let the Immortal Culling Sword slash at Jiang Yan¡¯s body, but he was alarmed to discover that after the Immortal Culling Sword injured Jiang Yan¡¯s body, it carried a strange power. The power directly injured his immortal body, but it didn¡¯t injure Jiang Yan¡¯s body. It was as though it was a power born to deal with immortals.


    Perfect Sword Immortal was alarmed, unhinged with anger. He never expected to end up in such a sorry state on his descent to Earth.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, Jiang Yan, I¡¯ll remember you.¡± Perfect Sword Immortal wanted to escape Jiang Yan¡¯s body and return to the dimension.


    However, he was even more alarmed to discover that he couldn¡¯t leave Jiang Yan¡¯s body. The floral armor-like Fairy Burial seemed to have some mysterious power that imprisoned the soul that had descended into Jiang Yan¡¯s body.


    How can this be! Perfect Sword Immortal felt extreme regret. He never expected that his casual decision would result in his death.


    It was already impossible to destroy Fairy Burial.


    This was because the Fairy Burial armor had already fused with the Skyimmortal armor. As for the Skyimmortal armor, it was a Calamity-grade armor that the Perfect Sword Immortal had helped advance. Furthermore, in the battle with Zhou Wen, he had sent a large amount of Immortal Essence sword aura into the Skyimmortal armor. Now, the Skyimmortal armor was truly at the Calamity grade.


    Coupled with the fusion with Fairy Burial, it had the power to restrain Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s Essence Energy, preventing him from suicidally destroying Jiang Yan¡¯s body.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think it¡¯s too late to leave now?¡± Jiang Yan said, finally regaining partial control.


    Perfect Sword Immortal immediately felt that things were going south, but it was too late. Jiang Yan unleashed the power of Fairy Burial again and temporarily regained control of his body.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t miss the opportunity. The Immortal Culling Sword left his hand and transformed into a sword beam that instantly pierced through Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s body, pinning him to the mountain wall.


    The power of Immortal Culling Sword instantly spread across Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s body. The power was extremely harmful to him, but it didn¡¯t deal much damage to Jiang Yan¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen had already discovered this in the battle just now. Although the Immortal Culling Sword could kill other creatures with similarly powerful destructive power, it had a special lethality against Perfect Sword Immortal.


    When it injured ordinary creatures, the wound wouldn¡¯t continue extending, but it was different for Perfect Sword Immortal.. After injuring him, the wound would continue to damage his immortal body.

 Chapter 1391 - The Disqualified

    Chapter 1391: The Disqualified


    Translator: CKtalon


    Perfect Sword Immortal was severely injured by the Immortal Culling Sword. Although Jiang Yan¡¯s body was also injured, it wasn¡¯t as serious as Perfect Sword Immortal, nor did he suffer from constant damage.


    Under such circumstances, he finally regained control of most of his body. At the same time, Fairy Burial, who had fused with the Skyimmortal armor, crazily plundered and absorbed Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s energy.


    Facing the pincer attack of the Immortal Culling Sword and Fairy Burial, Perfect Sword Immortal lost his voice bit by bit amidst the painful roars. Finally, he was completely absorbed by Fairy Burial.


    The floral armor on Jiang Yan¡¯s body was red to the point of turning purple. It was extremely beautiful, like red spider lilies that had fallen into hell.


    Jiang Yan reached out to grab the hilt of Fairy Burial and pulled it out of his body before throwing it back to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You came too early. If you had given me more time for preparations, I wouldn¡¯t be in such a sorry state.¡± Jiang Yan looked at the wound on his body. The blood armor seemed to have a life of its own as it rooted itself in the wound and quickly healed his injured body.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t inform me. How would I know what you were up to?¡± Zhou Wen rolled his eyes.


    ¡°If I had told you in advance, even if you could fool everyone, I wouldn¡¯t be able to fool Perfect Sword Immortal who possessed me. Only when everything is real can Perfect Sword Immortal sink deeper and not have the chance to escape again,¡± Jiang Yan said with a smile. ¡°Thankfully, you didn¡¯t disappoint me. Although there were some tiny mishaps, the goal was finally achieved.¡±


    ¡°My heart isn¡¯t too good. Please get someone else if you are doing this again,¡± Zhou Wen said angrily.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t the one looking for you, alright? You came knocking by yourself!¡± Jiang Yan said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback, but he knew that what Jiang Yan said made sense. Jiang Yan was only taking advantage of the situation. Even without Jiang Yan, the League of Guardians would still deal with him. A figure like Perfect Sword Immortal would still descend. It was only a matter of time.


    ¡°What plans do you have for the future?¡± Zhou Wen released Cave Era and asked Jiang Yan.


    ¡°I¡¯m the owner of the League of Guardians. I was in the past and will be in the future.¡± Jiang Yan looked at Uesugi Nao, Blood Shaman, and the other Guardians.


    Uesugi Nao, Blood Shaman, and the other Guardians flew over and said in unison, ¡°We are willing to continue following you, Your Excellency.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that the dimensional fellows will deal with you?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I was afraid in the past, but now that my Skyimmortal and Fairy Burial have advanced to the Calamity grade, there¡¯s no need to be afraid. It¡¯s not that easy for dimensional creatures to come to Earth. Even if they do, they will be greatly suppressed. Up to now, only humans can allow Calamity-grade creatures to exist on Earth. They can¡¯t even send Calamity-grade creatures over. Even if they descend with the help of a body, they will at most be at the Calamity grade. Do you think I need to be afraid?¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°Alright, take care. Goodbye¡­ No¡­ There¡¯s nothing good about it. It¡¯s best we don¡¯t meet again¡­¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and prepared to leave.


    ¡°Do you want me to help you finish that?¡± Jiang Yan pointed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He looked down and realized that the Heavenly Tribulation Sword he had been hit with was still embedded in his chest. It was still emitting lightning.


    ¡°Well, if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it, I would have forgotten. This thing can¡¯t really injure people. I wonder how Perfect Sword Immortal managed to master such a useless skill.¡± Zhou Wen felt that although the Heavenly Tribulation was still ongoing, it didn¡¯t affect him much. He had already forgotten about it as he was focused on the battle. It was obvious how useless the Heavenly Tribulation Sword was to Zhou Wen.


    Jiang Yan glanced at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. He had absorbed Perfect Sword Immortal, so he knew some of his abilities. The Heavenly Tribulation Sword¡¯s attack wasn¡¯t targeted at the body, but the mind. Under the nine instances of Heavenly Tribulation, even a Calamity-grade creature would most likely become an idiot or lunatic. They might even be erased or turned into a vegetative state. There were many who couldn¡¯t withstand it and committed suicide.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t react to the nine tribulations of the Heavenly Tribulation Sword. Others didn¡¯t know how terrifying it was, but Jiang Yan knew very well that this wasn¡¯t a reaction a human should have.


    It¡¯s no wonder Teacher said that about him, Jiang Yan thought.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and turned to leave. He didn¡¯t get Jiang Yan to help him pull out the Heavenly Tribulation Sword. After advancing to the Terror grade, his understanding of various powers had improved significantly. He knew that the Heavenly Tribulation Sword would quickly dissipate.


    After using teleportation to leave, with the augmentation of his Terror state, Singularity Universe¡¯s location-locking was much more accurate. Zhou Wen teleported to the vicinity of Luoyang, and the deviation was only about five kilometers. It was much better than before.


    When he arrived at an empty spot, Zhou Wen eagerly took out his phone and checked his stats.


    Zhou Wen: Terror


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Life Soul: Slaughterer


    Wheel of Destiny: No Engravings (One Spin)


    Terror Form: The Disqualified (Beyond S)


    4


    Strength: 82


    1


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen looked at his information and fell into a daze.


    He originally imagined that his Terror grade was the upgraded version of Slaughterer, but from the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case. Slaughterer had indeed undergone Terror transformation, and its name was Slaughterer. Like the other eight Terror transformation abilities, it had an S-grade Terror transformation ability.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s true Terror transformation ability wasn¡¯t Slaughterer, but The Disqualified. Although it had a certain relationship with Slaughterer, it was somewhat different.


    After Zhou Wen entered The Disqualified state, he gained an extremely powerful augmentation for the other nine Terror states. He also had the ability to spy on weaknesses like before. However, this ability wasn¡¯t constant. It varied according to the different target creatures.


    This ability was relatively powerful for common lifeforms. The effects on rare creatures would be weaker, but it wasn¡¯t completely ineffective.


    Apart from that, The Disqualified had a very strong augmentation on various parts of his physique, including his senses. Otherwise, even if Zhou Wen¡¯s strength could keep up with Perfect Sword Immortal in battle, his eyesight and reaction would be far inferior¡ªit would still be difficult for him to match him.


    In fact, Zhou Wen¡¯s various abilities were very close to the Calamity grade in The Disqualified state.


    Zhou Wen still needed to continue studying the other abilities of The Disqualified. After all, he had just condensed it, so he didn¡¯t understand it fully.


    Zhou Wen pulled out Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s information, hoping to see how far it had advanced.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength


    Life Soul: Violent Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Strength


    Terror Form: Tyrant


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    He switched on his phone and randomly chose a dungeon.. Zhou Wen wanted to see what changes Tyrant Behemoth would undergo when it entered its Terror form.

 Chapter 1392 - Blood Spirits

    The Yang City dungeon had happened to finish refreshing, so Zhou Wen entered it with Tyrant Behemoth.


    Due to his previous experience, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare touch the blood bone temples. All he did was make Tyrant Behemoth enter its Terror form¡ªthe Tyrant state.


    The Terror-form Tyrant Behemoth instantly became as huge as a mountain. A crown appeared on its head as its black iron-like body suffused a red glow.


    Its eyes suffused a red glow as a red glow also shimmered in its mouth. It looked like a devil that shimmered with a sanguine glow in the dark night.


    Boom!


    Tyrant Behemoth landed. As it was so huge, it stepped onto a blood bone temple.


    Terror-grade creatures immediately rushed out of the blood bone temple, transforming into terrifying blood shadows that charged at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Although Zhou Wen felt that Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t defeat the dozen or so Terror-grade creatures, he had no intention of helping. He wanted to see how powerful Tyrant Behemoth was.


    More than ten Terror-grade blood shadows rushed over from different directions. Tyrant Behemoth roared at the sky as the sanguine light over its body transformed into blood flames that burned around its body.


    Tyrant Behemoth suddenly exerted strength at a terrifying speed. As its massive body moved, it produced afterimages.


    Bang!


    A Terror-grade blood shadow suspected to be a Whirl Turtle was pierced through by Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s claw. Its sharp claws sank into its body as it roared and ripped its body apart. Then, it picked up the corpse and threw it into its mouth. It chewed a few times before swallowing. It was as violent as a devil.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Zhou Wen watched Tyrant Behemoth fight the group alone with no inkling of what retreat was. It ignored the enemy¡¯s attacks and seemed to only have eyes for its opponents.


    Absolute Strength at the Terror grade was too powerful. In a head-on clash, no Terror-grade creature was Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s match. They were either torn apart by Tyrant Behemoth or smashed into meat paste.


    However, Tyrant Behemoth kept attacking without delivering any defensive manuveurs. It was also hit by many forces. Although its body was very powerful, it didn¡¯t have Absolute Defense. It still suffered quite a number of injuries and some of them were rather serious.


    A blood shadow that resembled an ox or a goat slammed into Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s waist. The horns that were more than ten meters long stabbed right in.


    Tyrant Behemoth let out a tragic cry before grabbing the blood shadow and pulling it in front of it. It grabbed its head with one hand and its tail with the other before pulling.


    Zhou Wen watched as the blood shadow¡¯s body gradually extended. Amidst the inhuman screams, its body snapped like a rubber band as blood spewed everywhere.


    Tyrant Behemoth fought crazily. What surprised Zhou Wen was that its injuries healed extremely quickly. It could even be said to be abnormally fast.


    Under the siege of the Terror-grade creatures, Tyrant Behemoth became more and more ferocious. It didn¡¯t weaken because of its injuries. Instead, as the blood shadows¡¯ numbers decreased, their position of disadvantage became more and more obvious.


    After carefully observing for a while, Zhou Wen realized that Tyrant Behemoth could quickly recover from its injuries not because its physique was strong, but because it had devoured many opponents in battle.


    The energy obtained from its opponent quickly healed its body. It was simply nourishing itself with food. As long as the injuries on its body weren¡¯t fatal and as long as it had something to eat, it was almost a perpetual motion machine.


    This fellow¡¯s combat style is so strange! However, Absolute Strength is really useful. At the same level, Tyrant Behemoth is almost an invincible existence. The more Zhou Wen watched, the more he liked it. He only felt that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body was a little weak. If it could have Absolute Defense, it would be perfect.


    Unfortunately, Absolute Defense was Prisoned Dragon¡¯s ability. It was unlikely it would appear on Tyrant Behemoth.


    After understanding Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s true strength, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. Tyrant Behemoth had already killed nearly ten Terror-grade blood shadows, but no items had dropped.


    There wasn¡¯t even a single dimensional crystal, much less Companion Eggs.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the game¡¯s notification box and realized that the in-game notifications were ¡®Killed XXX¡¯s Blood Spirit.¡± Only then did Zhou Wen come to a realization. The blood shadows here weren¡¯t the true legendary Terror creatures. They were just undead.


    There was no problem with being undead, but the problem was that nothing dropped. This left Zhou Wen depressed. He attempted to activate some blood bone temples and killed the blood shadows, but the outcome was the same. Nothing dropped.


    What crappy dungeon is this? It doesn¡¯t drop anything. Zhou Wen was greatly disappointed.


    He originally imagined that he had found a treasure ground that could spawn some Terror-grade Companion Eggs, but nothing dropped.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that there was definitely something impressive in such a strange place. More importantly, he didn¡¯t know if he could kill the Calamity creature guarding it.


    Without the Immortal Culling Sword in-game, Zhou Wen could only rely on himself and his Companion Beasts in battle.


    Since I¡¯m already here, let me see what secrets are hidden in Yang City. Zhou Wen summoned Banana Fairy, Demonic Neonate, and other Companion Beasts and stormed in.


    There were many Terror-grade blood shadows here, and Zhou Wen had quite a number of Terror-grade Companion Beasts. Furthermore, they were all excellent. Every one of them could fight a group alone.


    Zhou Wen watched for a while before he suddenly thought of something.


    The Blood Spirits here were likely transformed from the wraiths of the Classic of Mountains and Seas beasts killed during the reign of Yu the Great. The strength of the Blood Spirits is naturally far inferior to the true Classic of Mountains and Seas beasts.


    Zhou Wen even saw a phoenix-like Blood Spirit, but its strength was only considered top-notch at the Terror grade. It was probably much weaker than a real phoenix.


    Such a Blood Spirit didn¡¯t drop anything, so it could be said to be useless to others.


    However, Zhou Wen had The Disqualified which had the ability to sense his opponent¡¯s weakness. This ability actually required a certain level of support. If it was a creature that Zhou Wen had never seen before, the effects of the ability would be much weaker.


    Although the Blood Spirits here were much weaker than their original versions, their abilities weren¡¯t fake. All Zhou Wen needed to do was familiarize himself with their abilities and attributes. When he encountered a true Classic of Mountains and Seas beast, he could directly sense their weaknesses. It was equivalent to knowing their weaknesses in advance.


    This ain¡¯t too bad. Zhou Wen originally found it pointless, but after this discovery, he became interested and carefully observed the abilities of every Blood Spirit.


    As he was observing, a strange temple appeared in front of him.


    In Yang City, the buildings Zhou Wen had seen were made of blood bones, but the temple in front of him wasn¡¯t made of bones or clay bricks. It was a stone temple.


    Tyrant Behemoth was still burning with its killing fervor as it charged forward. Just as it was about to approach the stone temple, its door suddenly opened. A bull was lying inside.

 Chapter 1393 - Kui

    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated when he saw the bull. He immediately knew that something was amiss and wanted to unsummon his Companion Beasts.


    Unfortunately, he was still a step too late. The bull opened its mouth and let out a thunderous roar.


    The roar was like a bull¡¯s or dragon¡¯s, but it also sounded like a clap of thunder. Zhou Wen even saw light that resembled the sun and moon spew out from its mouth. As the roar sounded, it instantly illuminated half of Yang City.


    Why was it half a Yang City? It was because the stone temple was in the middle of Yang City. Only the front of the stone temple was illuminated.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he made a decision without any hesitation. He immediately instant transmited to the area behind the stone temple.


    When he phased into existence again, his body was immediately thrown to the ground by the terrifying sound wave. His innards churned as though his blood vessels were about to explode.


    However, this was already considered good. Tyrant Behemoth and the other Companion Beasts suffered the power of the terrifying sound wave in the area in front of the stone temple. Their bodies exploded and turned into a bloody mist.


    Even a Terror-grade creature with a powerful body like Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t withstand it. Only Banana Fairy acted fast. Like Zhou Wen, she fled to the area behind the stone temple to avoid being killed by the sound waves.


    Her situation was similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s. She was also injured from the shock, and her injuries were worse than Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    As for Demonic Neonate, she kept hugging the Demonic Sword while sitting on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder. Although she had also been attacked by the sound waves, she looked fine.


    I was probably killed by this fellow¡¯s roar the last time. I have to investigate what it is. As Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar, he took out his other phone and opened the browser to search online.


    This thing¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a Kui¡­ The more Zhou Wen looked at it, the more it looked like it.


    Although he had only taken a glance, he knew that the bull in the stone temple didn¡¯t have horns and was still lying there.


    According to the information he had found on the Internet, Kui didn¡¯t have horns on its head and only had one leg.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see how many legs it had, but it was lying there and not standing. It was very likely that it didn¡¯t want to keep standing because it only had one leg.


    This discovery excited Zhou Wen because the bull was clearly not a Blood Spirit. It was a creature with flesh and blood.


    According to the information on the Internet, every time the Kui appeared, it would be accompanied by a storm. Furthermore, it had the light of the sun and moon on its body as it roared like thunder.


    Legend has it that when Yellow Emperor discovered the Kui, the Mysterious Maiden used its hide to make a drum and its bones as drumsticks. One strike of the drum quaked 250 kilometers out, no one could stop it.


    This thing was definitely an excellent-grade music-type Companion Beast. Now, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any music-type Companion Beasts. If he could obtain Kui, it would make up for the weakness.


    Zhou Wen was still fantasizing when he heard another clap of thunder. It gave him a fright, making him believe that the Kui had roared again.


    However, when he looked up, he realized that it was true thunder, not the sound of the Kui.


    Dark clouds gathered above Yang City as thunder rumbled. Then, without any warning, it began to pour heavily.


    Zhou Wen turned his head to look in the direction of the stone temple and indeed, he saw the bull exit. Its upper body was raised as it hopped forward. On careful look, it really only had one leg.


    It walked with one leg as the light on its body resembled the sun and moon. It was very similar to the information Zhou Wen had obtained.


    Kui stood in the rain and looked at Zhou Wen before roaring again.


    Zhou Wen already knew that Kui¡¯s sound wave attack was directional. Although sound could spread in all directions, being right in front of the wavefront would deal the greatest damage. As long as he dodged the wavefront, the damage he suffered would be minimized.


    After unsummoning Banana Fairy, he instant transmitted again. This time, he appeared in a sport furthest behind Kui. The sound waves he suffered were indeed greatly reduced.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror transformation ability, he was basically unaffected by the sound waves.


    Kui jumped up and turned its body to face Zhou Wen as it roared again.


    Zhou Wen continued instant transmitting in another direction. Kui kept blasting out sound waves, but Zhou Wen dodged them all. He couldn¡¯t help but be furious.


    Kui stopped looking for Zhou Wen. It looked up and let out an unhinged roar into the sky.


    The dark clouds and storm were dispersed by its roar. The roar was accompanied by light as it radiated in all directions like a sound wave, forming an indiscriminate attack.


    This time, Zhou Wen had nowhere to dodge. All he could do was forcefully resist the sound waves.


    He summoned the reformed Chaos Egg and the sound waves struck the Chaos Egg, immediately producing many solid crystals. Unfortunately, Tyrant Behemoth was already dead. Otherwise, he could have used them to feed it.


    Kui roared a few times consecutively, causing the Chaos Egg to tumble out. It slammed into the city wall and bounced back. It slammed into the various temples like a ball.


    In the blood bone temples that Zhou Wen had slammed into, Blood Spirits quickly rushed out, but they had nothing on the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity when Kui was exhausted from the roar to instantly appear behind it. Using his hand as a blade, he delivered Immortal Slaying.


    Even without the augmentation of the Immortal Culling Sword, Zhou Wen¡¯s Immortal Slaying was still very powerful. The power that erupted was almost comparable to a Calamity-grade.


    However, when he struck Kui¡¯s neck, it only produced a shallow wound. Furthermore, the wound quickly healed itself. It was useless.


    Zhou Wen and Kui constantly fought. Neither side could do a thing to the other.


    The Chaos Egg could withstand Kui¡¯s sound blast, and Kui couldn¡¯t catch up to Zhou Wen. There were no other means to injure Zhou Wen or kill him.


    Although Zhou Wen could injure Kui, due to its powerful physique and how Zhou Wen¡¯s offensive strength was only able to touch the threshold of the Calamity grade, he couldn¡¯t severely injure it. Likewise, he couldn¡¯t kill it.


    Finally, Zhou Wen gave up by quitting the game. There was no point in continuing. The injuries he dealt Kui weren¡¯t as fast as its self-healing speed.


    This won¡¯t do. I have to think of a way to get a good weapon. Zhou Wen was thinking about where to get a Calamity-grade weapon.


    If he couldn¡¯t obtain a Calamity-grade weapon, he had to obtain a Terror-grade weapon with extremely powerful destructive power. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be able to kill Kui.


    The Bamboo Blade has shattered, and the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword can¡¯t be pulled out. Although the Immortal Culling Sword is useful, it can¡¯t be brought into the game. Where can I get a weapon? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that only the boxing glove transformed by Tyrant Behemoth could be counted on.


    After all, with the augmentation of Absolute Strength, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s boxing glove¡¯s offensive strength was undoubtedly top-notch among Terror-grade weapons.


    The only flaw was that it wasn¡¯t augmented by skills, so it couldn¡¯t produce effects similar to Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable.


    If I don¡¯t have one, I¡¯ll fuse one and let Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s boxing glove have those skills. Zhou Wen made up his mind to add all sorts of augmentation skills to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s boxing glove.

 Chapter 1394 - Sword Immortal

    Chapter 1394: Sword Immortal


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Who dares to barge into the Octokind¡¯s land?¡± The Yaksha and Garuda, who were guarding the Octokind Holy Mountain, immediately berated when they saw an outsider walking towards the Holy Mountain.


    The person looked like a man in his thirties, but his hair was white; his white clothes were whiter than snow. He walked over step by step. He clearly walked on the ground, but he gave off the feeling that he was walking on clouds.


    It was as if the ground beneath his feet was no longer dirty, but pure white clouds.


    The man didn¡¯t answer and continued walking over.


    The Yaksha and Garuda were immediately enraged. Those who were sent to guard the Holy Mountain were the cream of the crop among the Octokind. They could be said to be elites, so when had they ever been belittled?


    They erupted with Terror-grade power and attacked the white-robed man from both sides.


    The white-robed man continued walking forward as though he hadn¡¯t seen them. As for the Yaksha and Garuda, they flew up with tragic cries.


    It was as though invisible sword intents flashed, slicing their strength and bodies to pieces, turning them into a rain of blood.


    The white-haired man stepped onto the stone steps of the Holy Mountain as though nothing had happened. The spot where he stood was clean and flawless, but behind him was blood-stained yellow sand.


    The Yaksha and Garuda¡¯s tragic cries before they died had already alarmed the Octokind on the mountain. Many rushed down the mountain and were enraged when they saw the blood on the ground and the white-haired man who was climbing the mountain.


    Many irascible Asuras and Yakshas had already charged at the white-haired man. The sky was filled with a strange light as though countless stars were crashing down at him.


    The white-haired man didn¡¯t even raise his eyelids as he continued walking up the stone steps.


    Without exception, the Octokind that charged at him were all killed by the invisible sword intent. Sabers, swords, spears, musical instruments, and all sorts of broken weapons were sent flying with bloodied flesh.


    Wherever the white-haired man passed, no Octokind survived.


    On the huge Holy Mountain, more than ten thousand members of the Octokind had gathered, but no one dared to approach the white-haired man.


    With every step the white-haired man took, the Octokind that filled the sky involuntarily retreated. No one dared to resist him.


    ¡°We Octokind have always had a good relationship with the Immortals. As a member of the Immortals, why are you slaughtering the creatures of our Octokind? Could it be that the Immortals are violating the dimensional agreement?¡± A dancing, lute-wielding Gandharva floated in the air and stared at the white-haired man who was ascending the mountain as she asked.


    The Immortal ignored her and continued walking up the mountain as though he was deaf.


    ¡°I¡¯m talking to you. Didn¡¯t you hear me? I¡¯m the Queen of the Gandharva. If there¡¯s anything you need, you can tell me. If there¡¯s nothing, don¡¯t blame me for being heartless if you take another step forward,¡± said the Gandharva as her expression turned cold. She hugged her lute and stared at the Immortal.


    The Immortal ignored her and continued walking forward.


    The Gandharva was immediately enraged. She strummed the strings with her finger, and the resonating music transformed into an invisible killing intent that wrapped around the Immortal.


    Crack! Crack!


    There was no sword beam or sound of sword beams, but there was an invisible force that minced the music. All the strings on the lute in the Gandharva¡¯s hand snapped at the same time.


    The Gandharva was alarmed. It was too late to retreat. She could already sense a terrifying sword intent approaching her. Perhaps she would be beheaded in the next second.


    As Queen of the Gandharva, she was a Calamity-grade expert after all. She never expected the other party to force her to such a disadvantageous state without even touching her.


    A dragon¡¯s roar resounded through the clouds. Dragon aura that resembled a waterfall cascaded down from the top of the Holy Mountain. It circled around the body of Queen of the Gandharva, as though it was colliding with some divine weapon. The dragon aura instantly shattered.


    Thankfully, the sword intent had already vanished. The Queen of the Gandharva hurriedly retreated and distanced herself from the Immortal.


    Apart from the monarchs of the Celestials and Dragons, the other six monarchs had already appeared and blocked the Immortal¡¯s path as though they wanted to take him down.


    Tens of thousands of Octokind had already rushed over. They surrounded him from all directions. They held weapons in their hands and pointed them at the Immortal.


    The tens of thousands of Octokind royalty and six Calamity-grade monarchs didn¡¯t seem to exist in the eyes of the Immortal. He continued walking forward, his gaze fixed on a figure standing at the top of the stairs.


    When the six monarchs saw him in such a state, they were enraged as they prepared to kill him.


    ¡°Let him pass.¡± A voice sounded from the top of the stone steps. The person standing there was none other than Wang Mingyuan, who had already become the Dragon King. He was also the one who had saved the Gandharva with his dragon aura.


    When the six monarchs heard Wang Mingyuan¡¯s words, they had no choice but to order their men to retreat and make way.


    However, the tens of thousands of Octokind were eyeing them covetously from both sides. They were everywhere. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably be terrified.


    However, the Immortal didn¡¯t notice anything as he walked towards the top of the stone steps.


    ¡°Sir, why are you here?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked when the Immortal came close.


    The Immortal ignored him and walked past him. His fluttering white hair brushed past Wang Mingyuan¡¯s face.


    Wang Mingyuan stood there and watched the Immortal walk into the divine temple before sitting down at the main seat.


    It was originally the seat of the Lord of the Octokind. Even Di Tian, who had been the leader of the Octokind, wasn¡¯t qualified to sit there. Now, Wang Mingyuan was only taking the deputy¡¯s seat. Only the king of the Exalted which the Octokind relied on had the right to sit there.


    Seeing that the Immortal was sitting in that spot, be it the royalty or ordinary members of the Octokind, all of them rushed into the hall to kill the Immortal, but they were stopped by Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Sir, what do you want?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked as he looked at the Immortal sitting high on the platform.


    ¡°From today on, the Octokind shall be sealed in the mountain for three years. No Octokind shall take half a step out. All who disobey shall be executed.¡± The Immortal looked down at Wang Mingyuan and continued, ¡°In the past, Damo faced the wall for nine years and finally gained enlightenment on some principles. You don¡¯t have to face the wall. Just stand there and reflect for three years. No matter how slow-witted you are, you should be able to understand something.¡±


    ¡°What gives you the right to dictate that?¡± The Yaksha King questioned. Instantly, the masses were enraged. Some of the Octokind couldn¡¯t help but rush into the hall.


    Just as the battle was about to begin, a blob of golden light tore through the air.


    ¡°Supremacy¡­ He¡­¡± When the golden light landed, it was a Buddha with a golden glow. Yaksha King and company hurriedly went forward to bow. Before they could say anything, they were cut off by the Buddha.


    Buddha walked in front of the Immortal and pressed his palms together. He bowed slightly and said, ¡°Sword Immortal, please calm down. From today onwards, the Octokind will stay sealed for three years. The Dragon King will reflect on himself for three years and will not be allowed to move half a step. Do you have any other requests?


    ¡°A disciple of my Sword Immortal lineage can¡¯t die for nothing. The ones who killed him have to pay with their lives.¡± As the man spoke, he kept looking at Wang Mingyuan.. He knew that Jiang Yan was Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple.

 Chapter 1395 - Unhappy About It? Put Up With It

    ¡°Definitely.¡± Buddha nodded slightly and looked at Wang Mingyuan.


    The news of Perfect Sword Immortal¡¯s downfall on Earth had spread to the higher-ups of the dimension. Although not many people knew the exact situation, most of the higher-ups knew that Perfect Sword Immortal had been tricked by Jiang Yan.


    Buddha didn¡¯t find it strange that someone from the Sword Immortal lineage came to settle scores with Wang Mingyuan. However, Wang Mingyuan was now considered the leader of the Octokind. It was still acceptable for him to self-reflect for three years. If he really killed Wang Mingyuan, not only would the reputation of the Octokind be ruined, but even the Exalted whom the Octokind relied on would have their reputation marred.


    This matter was done by Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. It was the best outcome to have Wang Mingyuan answer to the Sword Immortal lineage.


    Seeing Buddha look at him, Wang Mingyuan naturally knew what he meant.


    ¡°How may I address you?¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression was as calm as ever. What the Immortal had said seemed to have nothing to do with him.


    ¡°Berserker,¡± the Immortal finally answered casually.


    When he mentioned his name, the expressions of the Octokind changed drastically.


    Few people in the dimension didn¡¯t know the name of Berserker. He was just too infamous and was known as the number one Calamity under the Apocalypse grade.


    Furthermore, this name wasn¡¯t an empty one. Berserker had once killed an Apocalypse as a Calamity, shocking the entire dimension. Everyone knew about it.


    Although Wang Mingyuan also had the strength of a Calamity-grade and had impressive combat strength, he was still much weaker than a powerful Calamity like Berserker.


    Even most of the Octokind believed that the monarchs of the Octokind were on a completely different level from Berserker. No one treated Berserker as a Calamity-grade. Many people even treated him as an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse.


    Previously, due to the Berserker¡¯s insolence, the members of the Octokind were still very indignant. However, after hearing the name of Berserker, they seemed to be doused with a bucket of ice water. It chilled their hearts, and the indignation in their hearts vanished for some reason.


    Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t show any surprise after learning Berserker¡¯s name. He only nodded slightly before walking towards him.


    ¡°Did I give you permission to move?¡± Sword Intent surged around Berserker as it slashed at Wang Mingyuan.


    As Wang Mingyuan walked, he said, ¡°I believe your race is still determined to retrieve that immortal sword left behind on Earth during the Mythical era, right?¡±


    ¡°You know where that sword is?¡± The sword intent around Berserker paused as he stared at Wang Mingyuan and asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Wang Mingyuan shook his head frankly.


    ¡°If what you say next doesn¡¯t satisfy me, the resolution won¡¯t just involve three years of self-reflection,¡± said Berserker coldly.


    However, Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t seem to hear him. As he walked towards Berserker, he said, ¡°To retrieve that immortal sword, you need the help of humans on Earth. You don¡¯t have any objections about that, right?¡±


    ¡°Continue,¡± said Berserker with a frown.


    If they could directly descend to Earth to retrieve the immortal sword, the Immortals wouldn¡¯t have to go through so much trouble. They wouldn¡¯t have had to secretly nurture Jiang Yan and the League of Guardians; they could have gone to Earth to find it themselves.


    Wang Mingyuan continued, ¡°Then I¡¯ll provide you with an analysis. Now, the factions on Earth are divided into five major factions. The first faction is the Holy Temple and the six human families. I don¡¯t think this faction will be used by the Immortals. You know the reason better than me.¡±


    Wang Mingyuan had already walked into the hall, but he had no intention of stopping. He continued walking towards Berserker who was sitting on the seat of honor. As he walked, he said, ¡°The second faction is the League of Guardians. Currently, Jiang Yan is the leader. According to what I know, his Guardian has already advanced to the Calamity grade. Furthermore, he is no longer under the Immortals¡¯ control.¡±


    ¡°Continue.¡± Berserker looked at Wang Mingyuan with killing intent brewing in his eyes.


    ¡°The third faction is the Holy Spirit Association. The president, Ya, is also my disciple,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    Berserker was slightly taken aback. He was unaware that Ya was actually Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. He wasn¡¯t responsible for the matters on Earth. If his disciple, Perfect Sword Immortal, hadn¡¯t died, Berserker wouldn¡¯t have been involved in this matter.


    ¡°The fourth faction is the federal government. Compared to the first three, the current federal government is a little weaker. However, due to the appearance of the Mythical Serum, this faction has the greatest potential. Given enough time, more and more powerhouses will definitely be born to this faction in the future. It will definitely become mainstream.¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he arrived in front of the platform of honor. He still had no intention of stopping.


    ¡°Hui Haifeng is your disciple. This isn¡¯t a secret. You don¡¯t have to flaunt it,¡± said Berserker.


    Wang Mingyuan smiled. ¡°The fifth faction is made up of local elites. Among them, Luoyang¡¯s An family is the strongest. Their strength can already match the six families.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that you came from Luoyang, but your Wang family is nothing in Luoyang. Don¡¯t tell me you want to say that An Tianzuo is also your disciple?¡± Berserker said coldly.


    ¡°No, but the number three figure in Luoyang now is Zhou Wen, who has some ties with the An family. He¡¯s also my disciple. You should know this very well, right?¡± Wang Mingyuan was already standing within reach of Berserker.


    ¡°So what?¡± Berserker said contemptuously.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples might be powerful figures on Earth, but in the eyes of Berserker, they were nothing.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that they were born on Earth and were protected by Earth, he wouldn¡¯t even need to raise his hands to kill them.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a big deal. It¡¯s just that beyond the five factions, may I ask who else can the Immortals use to find the immortal sword?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked Berserker.


    Berserker was slightly taken aback before his expression gradually changed.


    These people were nothing in the dimension, so much so that Berserker couldn¡¯t even be bothered to spare them a glance.


    However, on Earth, the energy these people possessed was unimaginable.


    Now, Earth¡¯s situation was basically stable. There was no need to think about the Holy Temple. The Holy Temple was originally the enemy of the Immortals. If the Holy Temple hadn¡¯t controlled Earth in the past, the Immortals wouldn¡¯t have been in such a disadvantageous position.


    However, that immortal sword had an extraordinary meaning to the entire Immortal race. They had to retrieve it no matter what. The Immortals had gathered resources for so long and paid a huge price to teleport so many Guardians into Earth¡ªall done to retrieve that immortal sword.


    In this era, Earth had undergone a large-scale aberration. The situation in which the six families ruled had been overthrown. Only then did the Immortals finally usher in an opportunity.


    They originally imagined that they could control the League of Guardians for their own purposes, but to their surprise, they ended up being plotted against by Jiang Yan. One could only blame Perfect Sword Immortal for being stupid. He had managed to turn the fine situation into its present state.


    Without the League of Guardians, the Immortals could only support another human faction. However, based on the distribution of the present factions, it was probably very difficult for new factions to emerge. Furthermore, the Skysplit Tower was still in the hands of the League of Guardians. Without the Skysplit Tower¡¯s help, there weren¡¯t many resources that the Immortals could send to Earth. It wasn¡¯t that they lacked resources, but there was no stable channel.


    Berserker thought carefully and realized that the Immortals had reached a point where no one could be used. The people who they could use were actually Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples.


    Even if the Immortals weren¡¯t afraid of wasting time and effort to support a new faction, it was probably impossible for them to grow with Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples and the Holy Temple around.


    Wang Mingyuan had already made his hint clear¡ªwith his disciples around, it was impossible for the Immortals to retrieve the immortal sword from Earth.


    Pa! Wang Mingyuan slapped Berserker in the face, causing his face to jerk to the side.


    Everyone was alarmed as their eyes widened. Berserker also widened his eyes as he turned his head back and stared at Wang Mingyuan. He was like a beast that was about to devour him. The sword intent over his body stirred crazily as though it wanted to tear the world apart, but he ultimately didn¡¯t attack Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Unhappy about it?¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he slapped Berserker in the face again. With a slap, his face jerked to the other side.


    ¡°Put up with it,¡± Wang Mingyuan said casually as he looked at the enraged Berserker.

 Chapter 1396 - Seeking Perfection

    Chapter 1396: Seeking Perfection


    Translator: CKtalon


    Berserker ultimately didn¡¯t attack Wang Mingyuan as he tore through the air and left the Octokind.


    Although the sword intent around him was terrifying when he returned, it no longer delivered the shock and awe from before. Instead, it made him appear to be in a sorry state. The Octokind looked at Wang Mingyuan with strange emotions.


    Buddha seemed to acquaint himself with Wang Mingyuan for the first time as he sized him up deeply before leaving the Octokind without a word.


    Although Berserker didn¡¯t take action, his departure left a huge impact on the Octokind and their Buddha race. Buddha didn¡¯t know how to deal with it, so he could only choose to do nothing and rush back to report the matter to the Buddha race.


    In an ancient temple, the Buddha reported the matter to an ancient Buddha.


    The ancient Buddha¡¯s eyebrows were connected and drooped all the way to the ground. His skin was wrinkled like tree bark and his body was covered in dust. He looked like a clay statue as he sat there.


    After hearing what had happened, the ancient Buddha finally opened his eyes. The eyes weren¡¯t like an elder¡¯s eyes. They were bright and deep, as though billions of grains of sand were flowing in them.


    His entire body was ancient and deathly still. Only his eyes were filled with vitality, making him look like a youth.


    ¡°Supreme One, for Berserker to be able to tolerate this and not kill Wang Mingyuan on the spot, there should still be room for negotiation, right?¡± the Buddha asked with a bow.


    However, the ancient Buddha said indifferently, ¡°It¡¯s not that he doesn¡¯t want to kill, but he doesn¡¯t know if he can.¡±


    The Buddha was taken aback, unsure what the ancient Buddha meant. If Berserker wanted to kill someone, there was no one beneath the Apocalypse grade that he couldn¡¯t kill.


    The ancient Buddha continued, ¡°Berserker is known as the number one Calamity under the Apocalypse grade. It¡¯s definitely not a lie. Do you think an ordinary Calamity can slap his face just like that? Even if he was momentarily distracted, how could he be slapped a second time?¡±


    Only then did Buddha come to a realization as he said in surprise, ¡°Supreme One, you mean that Wang Mingyuan is stronger than Berserker?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Berserker might not know either. Furthermore, Wang Mingyuan is right. There are only so many humans on Earth who can be used, so Berserker didn¡¯t take action,¡± said the ancient Buddha.


    However, the more the Buddha thought about it, the more alarmed he became. ¡°Apart from the Holy Temple and the six families, the factions that can be used are basically under the control of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples. Did he do it intentionally? If he did, isn¡¯t this too terrifying? The Holy Temple has been plotting for so long, but they ultimately failed to control the situation. Wang Mingyuan only used a few disciples¡­ If it¡¯s unintentional, is that possible?¡±


    ¡°Regardless of whether it was intentional or not, this person will play a decisive role in the future competition for Earth. He can¡¯t be underestimated,¡± said the ancient Buddha.


    ¡°Now that he is a subsidiary of our race, can we¡­¡± the Buddha said with suppressed excitement.


    ¡°Fortune and disaster are two sides of the same coin. Why bother yourself? Go.¡± As the ancient Buddha spoke, he slowly closed his eyes and returned to his clay statue-like appearance.


    The Buddha looked at the ancient Buddha in a daze before bowing and leaving.


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a good mood. He had already attempted pet fusion several times.


    As he was afraid of failure, Zhou Wen used Companion Eggs as supplementary fusion materials every time. Such fusion only allowed him to fuse the skills without changing Tyrant Behemoth.


    Furthermore, they were all combinations of species with higher success rates. They ensured that Tyrant Behemoth wouldn¡¯t be damaged because of failure.


    However, no matter how he tried, Zhou Wen failed to obtain the skills he wanted.


    Every time one skill was added, the next skill added would erase the previous skill.


    Through repeated fusions, one skill or the other would vanish. It nearly drove Zhou Wen crazy.


    He tried the Bloodline function again which allowed Tyrant Behemoth to have a second Life Providence, but he failed many times as well. Thankfully, the Bloodline function only expended supplementary materials and didn¡¯t harm the main pet.


    After repeated failures, Zhou Wen had the urge to fuse Deva Asura and Tyrant Behemoth together.


    Deva Asura¡¯s offensive strength was very strong, but it was still much weaker than Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Absolute Strength. However, Deva Asura¡¯s lucky critical strike was very useful. It wasn¡¯t bad to be able to fuse it.


    However, with so many failures, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the risk. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t of much use.


    He had to farm for Companion Eggs while fusing. If he couldn¡¯t obtain suitable Companion Eggs, he wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to fuse them.


    Now, Zhou Wen had given Tyrant Behemoth five skills from all his attempts¡ªArmor Breaker, Penetration, Ripping, Unstoppable, and God of Combat Blessing. Previously, it had Ever-Victorious, but it was wiped out when he was trying for Unstoppable.


    Up to now, he still hadn¡¯t been able to have Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable together. He either lacked this or that.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had already spent money to buy quite a number of Companion Eggs for fusion. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take for him to obtain one from farming.


    This is the last Companion Egg with Ever-Victorious. Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Egg in his hand and hesitated about fusing it.


    To be honest, the five skills were already very good. They basically boosted Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s offensive strength, but without Ever-Victorious, Zhou Wen found it a little incomplete.


    However, Zhou Wen had bought all the Companion Eggs he could. He wasn¡¯t afraid of spending money, but now, he couldn¡¯t buy them even if he had the money.


    Life is about completion and being at ease. I¡¯ll fuse them. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and slotted in the last Companion Egg with Ever-Victorious.


    Amidst the light, the Companion Egg fused with Tyrant Behemoth, shimmering with a successful fusion glow.


    Zhou Wen was uneasy as he glanced at Tyrant Behemoth that had completed its fusion. He immediately felt a chill run down his spine.


    Not only did it fail to fuse Ever-Victorious, but it also wiped out Unstoppable and God of Combat¡¯s Blessing. Apart from Armor Breaker, Penetration, and Ripping, a Poison Fang skill was fused.


    My Tyrant Behemoth isn¡¯t a poison-type creature. What¡¯s the point of fusing Poison Fang? Return my Unstoppable! Zhou Wen wanted to cry.


    Now, there were no more Unstoppable or Ever-Victorious Companion Eggs. It was over.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, is there anyone else selling Overlord Snake Companion Eggs?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to ask An Sheng.


    ¡°Young Master, the Overlord Snakes that can be used and bought have all been bought by me. The Overlord Snakes in Dragon Gate Grotto have all been cleaned out. The price of Overlord Snake Companion Eggs has doubled, yet there are none for sale,¡± An Sheng answered helplessly.


    Zhou Wen asked about the few more Companion Beasts he needed, but the answer was the same. They couldn¡¯t be bought.


    What should I do? Zhou Wen was extremely depressed. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have gone with the fusion. At the very least, there was Unstoppable. The augmentation of the God of Combat¡¯s Blessing wasn¡¯t bad either. It augmented his surroundings pretty well.


    Sweetie watched Zhou Wen from the side the entire time, having been by his side all this while. However, she didn¡¯t let him see her. This was because she hadn¡¯t been able to help him when he was in danger, so she was somewhat embarrassed to appear in front of him again.


    Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s depressed look, Sweetie seemed to come to a decision.

 Chapter 1397 - A Piece of Candy

    Chapter 1397: A Piece of Candy


    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    Although he¡¯s a baddie¡­ Mother said that everyone is equal in front of God¡­ He should have the right to be saved¡­ Sweetie muttered to herself as though she was convincing herself.


    Zhou Wen was extremely displeased that his fusion hadn¡¯t succeeded. Putting away his phone, he wanted to take a breather, so he entered the garden.


    Sitting on the bench, he summoned Banana Fairy, Demonic Neonate, and other Companion Beasts. He got Banana Fairy to fan him. Evil Spirit King massaged his legs while the other Companion Beasts came out to take a breather.


    1


    Demonic Neonate held the Demonic Sword and stood motionless by the side. Those who didn¡¯t know better would think that she was a wax statue.


    I can only put the matter of fusing skills for Tyrant Behemoth aside for now. I¡¯ll think about it when I obtain the Companion Eggs. Since I can¡¯t do anything here, I can only head to Venus to kill the Calamity-grade creature who fires the bullets. If I can kill him, I might be able to have a Calamity-grade gun drop. Then, all my problems will be resolved. Zhou Wen¡¯s infinite looping space had basically taken form. He was just short of the final test in combat. He still needed to experiment to see if he could trap the Calamity-grade bullet in the infinite looping space.


    The Venusian instance dungeon hadn¡¯t refreshed. He could only wait until tomorrow to experiment.


    Zhou Wen leaned against the bench and closed his eyes to relax, allowing himself to escape the depressing feelings of failure.


    At that moment, Sweetie stood not far from him. She was sizing up the Companion Beasts Zhou Wen had summoned. She held a piece of candy in her hand.


    Seeing how pitiful he is, I¡¯ll give him a piece of candy. This is to return him the plum blossom cake that he treated me to. I¡¯ll still avenge Yana¡­ Sweetie muttered as she sized up Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts.


    The first thing Sweetie saw was Demonic Neonate. However, a sense of disgust immediately arose in her heart when she saw Demonic Neonate, as though it was innate hate.


    Soon, Sweetie rejected Demonic Neonate and looked at Banana Fairy.


    Sweetie¡¯s gaze landed on Banana Fairy¡¯s chest before she looked at her flat chest. She then gave up on Banana Fairy and looked at the other Companion Beasts.


    2


    She didn¡¯t like Evil Spirit King either. The other Companion Beasts seemed to have their own problems.


    Zhou Wen had quite a number of Companion Beasts. Although he hadn¡¯t completely summoned them, there were more than ten outside. Sweetie swept her gaze and hesitated for a moment before walking towards the Soul Mirror that Zhou Wen had placed to the side.


    Sweetie silently came in front of the Soul Mirror. Although the Soul Mirror was on the bench and was extremely close to Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover her when she came in front of the mirror.


    Even the Soul Mirror failed to reflect Sweetie¡¯s figure.


    It¡¯s just a mirror. It shouldn¡¯t be lethal, right? I¡¯ll just give him some life-preservation abilities. They won¡¯t be used to harm others, Sweetie muttered as she peeled the wrapper from the candy in her hand and placed it on the mirror.


    When the milk candy touched the mirror, it immediately melted and strangely flowed into the mirror.


    At that moment, a faint shadow appeared in the mirror. The shadow swallowed the milk candy in one mouthful.


    Zhou Wen was comfortably sunbathing when he suddenly sensed the unnatural vibrations of the Soul Mirror. He opened his eyes and realized that the Soul Mirror had undergone a tremendous change.


    At that moment, the Soul Mirror had already turned jade-white. The mirror¡¯s surface also turned crystalline. It was clearly a smooth mirror, but it appeared to have many angles as though it was the cut surfaces of a diamond.


    That wasn¡¯t all. The Soul Mirror kept changing. The jade layer on the surface gradually melted into milky-white liquid that dripped.


    Every drop of liquid reduced the jade color of the Soul Mirror, making it even more crystalline and transparent.


    Why is this happening? Zhou Wen watched as the Soul Mirror constantly evolved. He was alarmed and puzzled because in a short period of time, the Mortal Soul Mirror had already advanced to the Epic stage and was constantly evolving.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t remember giving the Soul Mirror anything good. In fact, the Soul Mirror didn¡¯t eat anything. It could only absorb some Essence Energy dimensional crystals, but it didn¡¯t absorb much.


    Zhou Wen wanted the Soul Mirror to evolve, but he never expected it to evolve on its own.


    Could it be that the Soul Mirror¡¯s evolution is triggered by basking in the sun? Zhou Wen looked at the sun in the sky. Apart from this, he really couldn¡¯t figure out why the Soul Mirror would evolve so quickly.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, the Soul Mirror advanced again and reached the Mythical stage.


    Zhou Wen realized that he could see a faintly discernible figure in the mirror. It seemed to be the shadow of a woman. He couldn¡¯t see her facial features clearly, but he could see her figure and clothes. She looked very beautiful.


    Why is it still evolving! Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd when he saw that the Soul Mirror was still evolving.


    Now, even a fool knew that the Soul Mirror¡¯s evolution trigger wasn¡¯t as simple as basking in the sun. Something must have happened to evolve it.


    What happened? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to pay attention to his surroundings. After advancing to the Terror grade, he had adapted to Truth Listener¡¯s ability and could hear all sorts of sounds he wanted to hear.


    However, after listening for a while, he didn¡¯t discover anything. It was as though the Soul Mirror could evolve just by sunbathing.


    Looking at Zhou Wen¡¯s surprised expression, Sweetie felt a little smug. Isn¡¯t it too early to be surprised? What would you do next?


    As the Soul Mirror turned crystalline, the figure in the mirror became clearer. It looked like a woman in a white muslin dress. From her appearance, she looked a little like a fairy.


    However, for some reason, Zhou Wen felt that the figure seemed a little ghostly. It wasn¡¯t as elegant and ethereal as a true fairy.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t just shocked because he felt that the Soul Mirror was about to break through to the Terror grade.


    No way. It¡¯s about to advance to the Terror grade? Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded. He originally imagined that it was An Sheng¡¯s doing.


    Now, it couldn¡¯t be An Sheng. No matter how capable An Sheng was, it was impossible for him to obtain something so good and directly advance the Mortal Soul Mirror to the Terror grade.


    If there was really such a good item, he should have given it to An Tianzuo first. It was impossible for An Sheng to prioritize him.


    Why isn¡¯t An Tianzuo back yet? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but grumble when he thought of An Tianzuo.


    He had no intention of guarding An Tianzuo¡¯s home for long. There were many things waiting for him to do. Luoyang was too small for him.


    As expected, the Soul Mirror advanced to the Terror grade. Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised when he saw it emit a strange light like glass.


    He was delighted that the Soul Mirror had directly advanced to the Terror grade, reducing the trouble of him feeding it. However, he was alarmed that the Soul Mirror continued advancing without any signs of stopping its evolution.


    No way¡­ Could it really be advancing to the Calamity grade? Zhou Wen was alarmed and afraid.

 Chapter 1398 - Evolving to the Calamity Grade

    Zhou Wen knew that ordinary creatures needed to trigger a Calamity when advancing to the Calamity grade. He just didn¡¯t know if such a situation would happen when a Companion Beast advanced to the Calamity grade.


    Regardless, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk. He stored the Soul Mirror into the chaos space.


    Zhou Wen sank his consciousness into the chaos space and continued observing the changes in the Soul Mirror.


    If the Soul Mirror can really advance to the Calamity grade, what kind of ability will it have? Can the Calamity-grade Soul-Washing Divine Light directly turn a Calamity-grade creature into an idiot? Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    The Soul Mirror became more and more transparent, but the woman¡¯s figure wasn¡¯t completely revealed. She remained blurry and indiscernible despite being visible.


    Not long after, the Soul Mirror¡¯s mirror was about to turn transparent. Zhou Wen was worried that he wouldn¡¯t be able to see it when it subsequently turned invisible. What if he accidentally shone it onto himself?


    Suddenly!


    Rainbow beams of light spewed out from the Soul Mirror, instantly melting a large area of the chaos fog in the chaos space. Zhou Wen felt a pain in his consciousness and couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed as he hurriedly retracted his consciousness.


    Even so, he still felt dizzy and his mind went blank for a moment. His consciousness had suffered quite a bit of damage. If he had retreated any later, his consciousness might have been completely destroyed. He would probably have become an idiot.


    Thankfully, I put away the Soul Mirror. Otherwise, based on the range of the rainbow beam, the An family would definitely have been wiped out, even if it didn¡¯t affect Luoyang. Zhou Wen felt a lingering fear when he thought about it.


    Although he didn¡¯t have a good impression of An Tianzuo, it would be too much to destroy the An family. Furthermore, his father, Ouyang Lan, An Sheng, and company were all here.


    In the future, when Companion Beasts advance to the Calamity grade, I have to place them in the chaos space. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know when the Soul Mirror would finish its evolution, nor did he dare spy on the situation in the chaos space. All he could do was temporarily wait.


    Zhou Wen carefully recalled the entire process of the Soul Mirror¡¯s advancement. Before he could figure out why it had suddenly advanced to the Calamity grade, he saw An Sheng walk into the garden.


    ¡°Young Master, someone has entered the Venusian dimensional zone again,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng¡¯s expression and knew that the person was likely someone he knew.


    ¡°Immortal of the League of Guardians,¡± An Sheng answered.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t told anyone that Jiang Yan was Immortal, so An Sheng didn¡¯t know that Immortal was Jiang Yan.


    However, even if he knew, the animosity between Jiang Yan and the An family wouldn¡¯t change much. This was because Zhou Wen already knew that Jiang Yan was Cave Era¡¯s younger brother, and both Cave Era and Uesugi Nao came from overseas. Jiang Yan was likely from overseas as well which made him an enemy of the Federation.


    Jiang Yan¡¯s previous attendance at Sunset College was probably not just for studying. It was very likely that he was a spy.


    Zhou Wen and An Sheng went to the Cube to watch Jiang Yan attempt again.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the Cube, Jiang Yan had already entered the Venusian dimensional zone. Furthermore, he had killed all the Metal Guards. The first Golden Battle God was about to come out.


    The last time someone from the League of Guardians challenged the level, Jiang Yan didn¡¯t come personally. This time, only Jiang Yan came.


    After the Golden Battle God came out, he attacked Jiang Yan. Frost bullets shot at him like streams of light.


    Jiang Yan was still wearing the Skyimmortal armor. Fairy Burial was not seen.


    However, just the Skyimmortal armor was rather terrifying. When the freezing bullets struck the Skyimmortal armor, they exploded into an icy mist, but they failed to injure it at all.


    As expected of a Calamity-grade Guardian. Zhou Wen was secretly envious.


    An Sheng had obtained five Golden Battle God Companion Beasts from Zhou Wen, so he naturally knew how powerful the Golden Battle God was. Seeing that the Frost Bullets couldn¡¯t injure Immortal, he was immediately alarmed. ¡°Calamity-grade? Immortal¡¯s Guardian has actually advanced to the Calamity grade!¡±


    ¡°Is there a need to be so surprised? The League of Guardians took so many dimensional resources. Isn¡¯t it normal to advance to the Calamity grade?¡± Zhou Wen said guiltily. He didn¡¯t dare say that Jiang Yan had advanced to the Calamity grade because of him.


    An Sheng suddenly turned to look at Zhou Wen and sized him up.


    ¡°Why are you looking at me?¡± Zhou Wen forced himself to calm down.


    ¡°Young Master, didn¡¯t you make a trip to the League of Guardians previously? I didn¡¯t hear you mention that Immortal is at the Calamity grade,¡± An Sheng said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t something honorable for me to profess. What¡¯s there to say?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. It doesn¡¯t seem like you, Young Master. When you saw that Immortal was at the Calamity grade, your emotions didn¡¯t change at all. You should have known long ago. It¡¯s obvious that you saw him in the League of Guardians. To be able to see the Calamity-grade Immortal and return in one piece, as well as him not coming to Luoyang to cause trouble, there¡¯s a huge problem in all of this,¡± An Sheng said slowly as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What problem can there be?¡± Zhou Wen pretended not to care.


    An Sheng seemed to see through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts as he revealed a strange smile. ¡°Young Master, with your temper, if there¡¯s danger, you will definitely give a warning. However, you didn¡¯t mention anything about Immortal being a Calamity-grade when you returned. This means that you don¡¯t think it¡¯s a threat. However, how can a Calamity-grade Immortal not be a threat? I believe there are only two possibilities. One is that your strength has already exceeded the Calamity-grade Immortal. Immortal isn¡¯t your match, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t dare come to Luoyang to cause trouble. There¡¯s no need to give the warning. Another possibility is that you know Immortal and are aware that Immortal won¡¯t attack you or Luoyang, so you didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng with an ambivalent expression as he thought to himself, Can An Sheng read minds? How did he guess it right?


    An Sheng continued, ¡°Young Master, you are relatively cautious. Even if you have the ability to defeat Immortal, you should have given me the warning. I think the latter is more likely.


    ¡°Young Master, are you really very familiar with Immortal? Can you tell me who he is?¡± An Sheng seemed to have turned his doubts into affirmation as he pressed on.


    ¡°Since you are so good at guessing, guess it yourself,¡± Zhou Wen said expressionlessly.


    ¡°I¡¯m stumped. Young Master, you are still the best. You have a wide social circle.¡± An Sheng lowered his head.


    When Zhou Wen heard An Sheng¡¯s words, he knew that An Sheng had most likely guessed it. This was because Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a wide social circle. He only knew a few people, so it wasn¡¯t difficult to work it out.


    Zhou Wen pretended not to hear him as he continued watching Jiang Yan clear the level.


    The Golden Battle God was blasted apart by Immortal with a wave of his hand. The Golden Battle Gods that appeared next were the same. They couldn¡¯t injure Immortal at all as they were all destroyed with a wave of his hand.


    None of this was surprising. What Zhou Wen really wanted to know was how Jiang Yan planned on dealing with the sure-kill seventh bullet.


    Does he want to rush to the Golden Palace before the seventh bullet? As Zhou Wen was pondering, Immortal had already walked into the opened tunnel.


    His speed didn¡¯t seem fast. Every step he took made him look like a normal person walking, but with every step he took, his figure had already traveled extreme distances. His speed was even faster than ordinary Terror-grade creatures running at full speed.


    The first shot finally sounded. When their eyes focused, people realized that Immortal had a bullet between his fingers. He had actually used his fingers to clamp down on the Calamity-grade attack.

 Chapter 1399 - The Person Who Gives A Friendly Nudge

    Gunshots constantly sounded. Six consecutive shots were caught by Immortal¡¯s fingers. Furthermore, they were unable to stop him from advancing.


    Others might think that Immortal¡¯s Guardian was extremely powerful, but Zhou Wen knew that this fellow still had Fairy Burial hidden within. In fact, it was the power of two Guardians. Furthermore, it was two Calamity-grade creatures, so it was naturally not something ordinary Calamity-grade creatures could compare with.


    However, Zhou Wen still wanted to know how Jiang Yan was going to deal with the sure-kill seventh bullet.


    The seventh bullet wasn¡¯t something that could be blocked with strength. Unless Jiang Yan¡¯s strength had exceeded the Calamity grade, it was impossible.


    The people from the other factions were also paying attention to Immortal.


    Many people were alarmed, especially the factions that had once been enemies of the League of Guardians. They yearned for Immortal to die in the Venusian dimensional zone.


    After all, the various factions didn¡¯t have Calamity-grade combat strength. A Calamity-grade like Immortal was like a nuclear bomb. Who wouldn¡¯t be afraid?


    In the Venusian dimensional zone, before the Calamity could deliver the fatal seventh shot, Jiang Yan had already arrived in front of the Golden Palace. All he needed to do was take a step onto the steps to successfully clear the dungeon.


    However, Jiang Yan didn¡¯t do so. Instead, he stopped in front of the stairs. It was obvious that he was waiting for the sure-kill seventh shot.


    Bang!


    The seventh shot finally sounded. Everyone widened their eyes as they stared intently at Jiang Yan, wanting to see how he would deal with it.


    When everyone saw the seventh bullet, it had already hit Jiang Yan¡¯s palm. The Skyimmortal armor failed to completely block it.


    The bullet tore forward crazily like a drill. Sparks and lightning drilled through the Skyimmortal armor as it continued, almost piercing through Jiang Yan¡¯s palm.


    However, Jiang Yan closed his fingers the next second and grabbed the bullet. Sparks flew out between his fingers, but the bullet failed to escape.


    Jiang Yan held the bullet and walked up the stairs, opening the Golden Palace door as a metal ball flew out.


    The scene switched back to the rankings. Everyone stared at the rankings, wanting to know what rank Immortal would receive.


    From Immortal¡¯s performance, his ranking was definitely not low. He had grabbed the Calamity-grade bullet with his bare hands, and it was the sure-kill seventh bullet. Previously, even the Dragon Turtle¡¯s defense couldn¡¯t withstand it, but Immortal had done it.


    Others might not know, but Zhou Wen knew that the Skyimmortal hadn¡¯t been able to block the fatal seventh bullet. Jiang Yan had still used Fairy Burial, so the bullet was probably resisting its power.


    From the final scene, Fairy Burial wasn¡¯t able to completely suppress the bullet either.


    ¡°Five stars¡­ It¡¯s five stars¡­¡± someone exclaimed.


    Immortal¡¯s name appeared on the rankings, followed by five shiny golden stars. Furthermore, despite both being five stars, Immortal¡¯s name was higher than Tsukuyomi¡¯s, putting him first on the rankings.


    This ranking made many people feel uncomfortable.


    After all, many factions were secretly competing with the League of Guardians. From their point of view, the League of Guardians was just a lackey of the dimension. Immortal had advanced to the Calamity grade and obtained first on the rankings. It was a greater blow to the average person than Tsukuyomi getting first.


    It was especially so for humans who had worked hard and even risked their lives to use the Mythical Serum or Spirit Casting. At that moment, their hearts felt as though a boulder was pressing down on them.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t concerned. After the last battle, he realized that Guardians weren¡¯t necessarily all tools of the dimension.


    Just like the Guardians of Cave Era and Jiang Yan, although they were created in the dimension, they were born on Earth. They had independent thoughts, and the dimension couldn¡¯t completely control them.


    Thinking back to a Guardian like Drought Demon Fairy, it wasn¡¯t that easy for the dimension to control her either.


    Of course, although Zhou Wen¡¯s view of Guardians had changed, that didn¡¯t mean that he wanted to contract them.


    He had been used to being alone since he was young. Companion Beasts like Demonic Neonate and Banana Fairy had already been considered a part of him, so he didn¡¯t feel an aversion towards them.


    However, Guardians were independent entities. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t used to having such an existence inseparable from him, afraid that his secrets would be exposed.


    After this battle, the reputation of the League of Guardians was pushed to its peak again. Many youths from the new generation had thoughts of contracting a Guardian.


    Compared to the other paths to the Mythical stage, contracting a Guardian was undoubtedly the easiest and fastest way to increase one¡¯s strength.


    ¡°Young Master, do you plan on obtaining the Venusian Companion Beast?¡± An Sheng suddenly asked.


    Zhou Wen saw that An Sheng¡¯s expression was extremely solemn when he spoke. It was rare to see him speak in such a manner, so he asked, ¡°I did, but I don¡¯t know if it will succeed.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s possible, let¡¯s take first place now,¡± An Sheng said seriously.


    ¡°Why now?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Because humans need confidence. Humans nowadays lack confidence.¡± An Sheng¡¯s expression was solemn as he continued, ¡°In this era, most humans are at a fork in the road where they are at a loss. At this moment, someone needs to step forward to give them a nudge, but the person who steps forward might nudge them to a different path. Now that Immortal has stepped forward, he has nudged many. It might even affect the future choices of an entire generation.¡±


    ¡°That might not be a wrong path,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. He didn¡¯t believe that contracting a Guardian was definitely the wrong path.


    An Sheng nodded and sighed. ¡°It¡¯s true that it might not be the wrong path, but at the very least, we have to let the next generation see that there are other paths to take, not just one. The path might be a good one, but with more people taking it, it will become the sole path.¡±


    Zhou Wen lowered his head and pondered over An Sheng¡¯s words. After a while, he looked up and said, ¡°Then let me open up a new path.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, go break a leg!¡± An Sheng¡¯s expression changed instantly when he received Zhou Wen¡¯s affirmative answer. He looked like a fanatic who was rooting for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng and was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He suddenly understood An Tianzuo. An Tianzuo was clearly very satisfied with An Sheng¡¯s capabilities, but he still kept lecturing him.


    An Sheng was a person who didn¡¯t let others live in peace. Sometimes, Zhou Wen had the urge to strangle him to death.


    ¡°However, I can only give it a try. It¡¯s hard to say what rank I¡¯ll get. Furthermore, I still need some time to prepare.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what rank he would get if he tried his best.


    If he wanted to maximize the chances of getting first place, it was best if he waited for the Soul Mirror to complete its evolution. Furthermore, Zhou Wen still had one final step to complete the skill he had created.


    Since he wanted to do it, he had to do it big.


    ¡°If Young Master needs anything, the Sunset Army will definitely provide you maximum support,¡± An Sheng said solemnly.


    ¡°If you really want to support me, help me get some Companion Eggs. You have the list,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng¡¯s expression immediately turned bitter. ¡°Young Master, I¡¯ve already tried all means. There really aren¡¯t any.¡±

 Chapter 1400 - Fusing Skill

    Zhou Wen entered the Venusian instance dungeon when it finished refreshing. This time, he wanted to see if he could crack the fatal seventh bullet.


    Spacetime Bandit, Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, Absolute Space, Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, and other skills were used according to his repeated practice.


    A miniature Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array formed around Zhou Wen. This Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array had the Lunar Mansion Array as its core. With the augmentation of spatial skills, it formed a small periodic space around Zhou Wen.


    In theory, any attack that entered would be trapped in the looping space forever. It was like walking into the orbit of a M?bius loop.


    Of course, in fact, it didn¡¯t have such a powerful effect. It only used the tricks of array formation and spatial swapping to make the prey enter alternating spaces.


    When the bullet shot by, the Metal Guard was within three feet of Zhou Wen. It immediately changed from taking a straight line to exhibiting circular motion around Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    A large number of bullets spun around Zhou Wen like a galaxy.


    Zhou Wen had already done the experiments. Typical Mythical bullets were indeed unable to break through the restrictions of the looping space, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if they could withstand a Calamity-grade bullet.


    After killing all the Metal Guards, the Golden Battle God appeared. The Terror-grade bullets failed to break through Zhou Wen¡¯s protective array. The bullets could only revolve around his body.


    After killing all the Golden Battle Gods, he obtained two stat crystals. One had 89 Strength and the other 91 Essence Energy, raising Zhou Wen¡¯s two stats. He was still a distance away from his 99 stat limit.


    An ear-piercing alarm sounded. Zhou Wen felt a little uneasy, unsure if he could block the Calamity-grade bullet.


    Bang!


    A bullet shot out from the tunnel. With Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, he could already see the trajectory of the bullet when he activated The Disqualified.


    However, he didn¡¯t block it and allowed the bullet to reach his body.


    When the bullet was three feet from his body, it underwent a distortion. However, it continued advancing, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s heart to sink.


    Thankfully, after advancing less than a foot, the trajectory of the bullet finally changed. It spun into an arc that revolved around Zhou Wen like a satellite.


    There¡¯s a chance! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    Bang! Bang!


    Bullets shot over one after another. No matter where they shot at Zhou Wen, they would eventually turn into satellites that orbited him. They would only fall to the ground when all their strength was expended.


    However, Zhou Wen soon discovered a problem. The Calamity-grade bullets shot out one after another. Before the first bullet¡¯s force was completely eliminated, they were followed by subsequent shots.


    As the number of bullets increased, there was a problem with the looping space. The bullets entered with increasing distance, but they got closer and closer to Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Bang!


    When the fifth bullet shot in, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array around Zhou Wen immediately disintegrated. Due to the impact of the force, a gap appeared in the alternating space. Unable to swap them accurately, the balance was broken, and the entire system instantly collapsed.


    Without waiting for the sixth shot to be fired, Zhou Wen exited the game.


    There was still a problem with his ability. If he didn¡¯t resolve it, there was no benefit in fighting again.


    Just five bullets caused problems in the alternating space. I didn¡¯t even see the seventh bullet. There appears to be a huge problem with this skill. Zhou Wen¡¯s goal had always been to kill the Calamity creature on Venus, not just clear the level.


    Zhou Wen switched dungeons and constantly used skill combinations in-game to figure out where the problem was.


    After some extended research, Zhou Wen finally gained a rough understanding of the problem.


    It was because Zhou Wen¡¯s alternating space was a combo formed from the combination of several skills. Once the combo deviated, its stability would be affected, easily causing the combo to crack or even collapse.


    After trying a few times, he wanted the combo to be more perfect and optimized, but the outcome wasn¡¯t ideal. Once he suffered a strong impact, the combo would produce slight deviations. This was something that couldn¡¯t be completely avoided.


    The sure-kill seventh bullet has the characteristic of perpetual attacking, but my combo can¡¯t withstand too much pressure. In other words, it¡¯s impossible for me to block the sure-kill seventh bullet. Zhou Wen was somewhat vexed.


    Now that he knew that this combination could form an alternating space, but was unable to withstand the Calamity-grade bullet, Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue thinking of a different plan.


    Since there¡¯s no way to avoid the gap between skills, I¡¯ll fuse them into one skill. After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that this was the only way.


    ¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s Little Wen doing? Why haven¡¯t I seen him recently?¡± Ouyang Lan called An Sheng over and asked.


    ¡°Young Master Wen has been studying something recently. He hasn¡¯t left his room in days,¡± An Sheng answered.


    Ouyang Lan looked at the empty dining table and sighed. ¡°I clearly have a husband, two sons, and a daughter, but there¡¯s no one to eat with me. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Madam, did Uncle Zhou go out again?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Dugu family discovered an ancient site in a dimensional zone. They don¡¯t understand some words, so they invited him to take a look,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he discuss it with Young Master Wen before going?¡± An Sheng whispered.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know his temper. He usually does whatever I say, but once there are those strange ancient texts, he won¡¯t listen to me. I can¡¯t do anything about him,¡± Ouyang Lan said helplessly.


    ¡°Although the Dugu family has a good relationship with us now, Uncle Zhou¡¯s identity is special. If someone tries to use him, it will be very disadvantageous for Young Master Wen. It¡¯s best to be careful. If we really don¡¯t want to trouble Young Master Wen, I can get someone to accompany Uncle Zhou,¡± An Sheng said.


    Ouyang Lan said with a bitter smile, ¡°It¡¯s useless. I did send someone to protect him, but if the Dugu family really wants to touch him, how can the typical person stop them? Unless he doesn¡¯t leave, such matters can¡¯t be done just by providing him with bodyguards. Thankfully, nothing serious has happened up to now. He¡¯s only a scholar after all. His cultivation is very ordinary, so ordinary people won¡¯t make things difficult for him.¡±


    An Sheng also knew that this matter was thorny. He couldn¡¯t come up with a good solution even after some thought.


    If they didn¡¯t let Zhou Lingfeng out, what was the difference between that and sending him to jail? However, he couldn¡¯t let Zhou Wen follow him 24/7, right? Typical bodyguards would be of little use when encountering powerful enemies.


    ¡°Go and see how Little Wen is doing. If he has the time, get him to come over to have a meal with me and have a chat. He shouldn¡¯t stay cooped up in his room all day. He¡¯ll end up with depression,¡± Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go now,¡± An Sheng agreed and turned to leave the hall, heading for Zhou Wen¡¯s yard.

 Chapter 1401 - Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation

    Chapter 1401: Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation


    Translator: CKtalon


    When An Sheng arrived at Zhou Wen¡¯s yard, he saw Jade Rabbit and Banana Fairy in the yard, but he didn¡¯t see Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Is Young Master around?¡± An Sheng knocked on the door and attracted Banana Fairy¡¯s attention before saying.


    Banana Fairy nodded before shaking her head.


    This action was very confusing, but An Sheng understood what she meant.


    Zhou Wen was around, but he couldn¡¯t see him.


    ¡°What¡¯s Young Master doing? He hasn¡¯t come out for days.¡± An Sheng was somewhat curious, but it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to disturb Zhou Wen, so he had no choice but to leave.


    After walking for a short distance, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the yard. He couldn¡¯t help but stop and turn around to leap up. He landed on the wall and looked into the yard.


    Upon seeing the situation inside, An Sheng was alarmed. He saw that the room Zhou Wen was in was spinning crazily like a huge top.


    ¡°Young Master, are you alright!?¡± An Sheng immediately jumped into the yard and shouted in the direction of the house.


    No one answered him. The room continued spinning faster and faster.


    An Sheng gritted his teeth as his body shimmered with a strange glow. He held a Golden Battle God Gun in each hand and timed it before making a charge.


    An Sheng¡¯s grasp of timing was really impressive. Under such a rapid spin, he grabbed the moment when the door flashed past him and slammed it open, entering the spinning room.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± An Sheng landed in the room and realized that everything was still. It was completely different from the situation outside.


    However, the strange thing was that the originally squarish room had bent into an arc. Furthermore, standing in the room, he could only see less than half the room¡¯s space. Then, as though it was isolated by a mysterious force, he couldn¡¯t see anything.


    He clearly felt that there was something there, but he just couldn¡¯t see it.


    ¡°Young Master¡­¡± An Sheng called out a few more times, but there was still no response. He walked to the side of the curved room, hoping to find something.


    The room wasn¡¯t big, but after An Sheng walked for a while, he realized that he seemed to be walking in circles. He was still near the door.


    Spatial power? An Sheng immediately rushed towards the door, hoping to rush out of the room.


    However, when he rushed out of the door, he realized that he wasn¡¯t in the yard. In front of him was still the room from before.


    An Sheng¡¯s expression changed immediately as he turned his head to take a look. Indeed, the door was behind him. He gritted his teeth and rushed out of the door again, only to see the same room again.


    An Sheng tried several times, but the outcome was the same. No matter where he rushed out from, even if he broke through the wall, he found himself still in the room.


    The entire room was like a sealed spatial cage, trapping him inside forever.


    Boom!


    An Sheng¡¯s expression changed constantly. Just as he was thinking about a way to escape, he heard a boom. Then, the curved room returned to normal.


    He could now see the room that he couldn¡¯t see previously. Zhou Wen was sitting at his desk gaming on his phone.


    ¡°Young Master, what happened?¡± An Sheng was pleasantly surprised as he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°What do you mean what happened? I¡¯ve been gaming and didn¡¯t notice anything,¡± Zhou Wen said as he put away his phone.


    ¡°This room just now¡­¡± An Sheng didn¡¯t know how to describe it.


    ¡°Oh, perhaps I was too engrossed in the game and was a little excited. I accidentally exerted some strength and affected the room a little. Don¡¯t worry, it¡¯s not an enemy invasion,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression, momentarily at a loss for words.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Madam said that if you have the time, go over and have a meal with her. Overseer isn¡¯t at home, and Miss Jing has been cultivating hard. Uncle Zhou is also out. Madam is home alone, so she can¡¯t help but worry. Young Master, if you have the time, spend more time with her,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stood up.


    He was in a good mood because he had finally successfully created a new skill, not just a skill combination.


    Although he hadn¡¯t experimented with it, Zhou Wen was already certain that his skill could trap the Calamity-grade bullet.


    As he walked, Zhou Wen glanced at his phone¡¯s information. Indeed, a new skill had appeared in the skill column.


    Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation: Calamity (Rank 10)


    Calamity-grade? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. He had experimented countless times in-game and knew that the effects of this skill had indeed exceeded the Terror grade.


    The only flaw of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was that it required a certain amount of time to gather strength. Although it wasn¡¯t a long time, it was very difficult to use it in actual combat. It had to be released ahead of time.


    However, this was enough for Zhou Wen. Releasing the Minor Heavenly Cycle killing formation ahead of time was enough to clear the Venusian instance dungeon. This was his best weapon for clearing the dungeon. However, it lacked adaptability in the face of an emergency.


    When the Venusian instance dungeon refreshed, Zhou Wen would experiment again. If he succeeded, he could directly challenge the Cube¡¯s ranking in reality.


    While having a meal with Ouyang Lan, Ouyang Lan complained to Zhou Wen about An Tianzuo and company. Zhou Wen knew very well that it was a manifestation of her worries.


    In this era, there were no guarantees that even a powerhouse like An Tianzuo wouldn¡¯t die.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at consoling others, so he could only sit and listen.


    ¡­


    After the meal, he returned to his room. Zhou Wen attempted to sink his consciousness into the Chaos Bead to see if the Soul Mirror¡¯s evolution was completed.


    This time, Zhou Wen was prepared. He made his consciousness stay far away from the Soul Mirror. The space in the Chaos Bead was huge, almost infinite. It was impossible for the rainbow beams emitted by the Soul Mirror to illuminate everything.


    Indeed, Zhou Wen¡¯s consciousness wasn¡¯t injured by the Soul Mirror. However, he could see from afar that an area was enveloped by rainbow beams. He couldn¡¯t see anything in that area.


    From the looks of it, it hasn¡¯t completed its evolution. Zhou Wen checked the things in the chaos space. Thankfully, he had already deliberately placed the Soul Mirror in a relatively distant space, so it didn¡¯t cause any damage to the other things in the Chaos Bead.


    Zhou Wen roughly did a scan and was taken aback when he saw Explosive Fiend Man.


    Explosive Fiend Man had previously been interested in metal, so Zhou Wen placed him and metals into the chaos space together. Now, Explosive Fiend Man looked like a metal robot. It was completely enveloped by a metal carapace, with only two transparent crystal jars on its back. One could see a strange purple liquid in the jar.. The purple liquid was bubbling like boiling water, giving off the feeling that it would explode at any moment.

 Chapter 1402 - Spacetime Fiend Man

    When did this fellow evolve? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see the metal parts. When he sensed Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s aura, he realized that it had already reached the Terror grade.


    After unsummoning Explosive Fiend Man, he used his phone to look at his information.


    Explosive Fiend Man: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Unlawful


    Life Soul: Destroyer


    Wheel of Destiny: Annihilation


    Terror Form: Spacetime Fiend Man


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Death List, Time-Blast


    Companion Form: Self-detonation Device


    Zhou Wen carefully studied his stats. The power of the Wheel of Destiny augmented his explosive power, greatly enhancing his destructive forces.


    As for the Terror transformation ability of Spacetime Fiend Man, it was probably tied to the metal parts.


    After Zhou Wen carefully studied the notes of Spacetime Fiend Man, he was pleasantly surprised to discover that this was the most terrifying ability of Explosive Fiend Man.


    Spacetime Fiend Man was actually an ability similar to resurrection, but it wasn¡¯t true resurrection. Perhaps calling it a replica would be more accurate, but it wasn¡¯t completely accurate.


    To put it simply, after Explosive Fiend Man used the Self-detonation Device, he could revive again.


    Or rather, Explosive Fiend Man from another spacetime would come to this spacetime and replace the previous Explosive Fiend Man. Unfortunately, in the same spacetime, only one Explosive Fiend Man could exist. Therefore, it was equivalent to a resurrection skill.


    With such a Terror transformation ability, Explosive Fiend Man is equivalent to a big boss who can self-destruct infinitely. If I don¡¯t like anyone, I can just send him charging forward and self-destruct¡­ Zhou Wen knew how terrifying Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s self-destruction was. It was a one-time release of all his energy.


    It was very difficult for creatures of the same level to withstand such self-destruction.


    Zhou Wen entered the game excitedly, hoping to see how powerful Explosive Fiend Man was.


    The Venusian instance dungeon¡¯s cooldown hadn¡¯t ended, so Zhou Wen took Explosive Fiend Man to Yang City, planning on using the Blood Spirits for testing.


    When the Blood Spirits appeared, Explosive Fiend Man charged forward under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders. Zhou Wen realized that his actions seemed to have some spatial compression or temporal acceleration effect. He became very fast.


    Explosive Fiend Man rushed past a Blood Spirit and reached out to press it down, installing a time bomb. When he pulled away, the time bomb immediately exploded, shattering the Blood Spirit into pieces.


    This fellow was like a punctual time bomb installer. Anything touched by his hands would turn into a bomb and detonate its energy.


    Zhou Wen also noticed that when Explosive Fiend Man¡¯s fingers touched something, a purple liquid would drill out. It was likely the liquid in the bottles behind him. The liquid turned whatever he touched into a bomb.


    This fellow is a little strong! Zhou Wen was delighted.


    Unless one was faster than Explosive Fiend Man and could avoid contact with him or had a stronger defense, preventing the purple liquid from being effective, anyone he touched would die.


    Let¡¯s try the Self-detonation Device. Zhou Wen got Explosive Fiend Man to charge at a Blood Spirit.


    As Explosive Fiend Man hugged a Blood Spirit, his body turned into a Self-detonation Device device that enveloped the Blood Spirit¡¯s body. In the next second, there was a boom.


    A purple sun rose in Yang City and devoured a large area. Wherever the power of self-destruction passed, everything was reduced to ashes.


    Holy sh*t, it¡¯s so powerful! The power of this self-destruction is almost at the Calamity grade! Zhou Wen was so overjoyed that he could hardly close his mouth.


    However, he was somewhat depressed. Although the Spacetime Fiend Man had shown its effects, Explosive Fiend Man couldn¡¯t be revived immediately. He had to wait twenty-four hours.


    Forget it. Twenty-four hours is good as long as he can be revived. Otherwise, the Self-detonation Device would be a useless skill. I wouldn¡¯t dare use it in reality. I don¡¯t have so many qualms now. Zhou Wen was very satisfied.


    When the Venusian instance dungeon refreshed, Zhou Wen entered it again and activated the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    When the Calamity-grade bullets shot in front of Zhou Wen, they immediately circled around his body. The first six bullets didn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen at all. Instead, Zhou Wen absorbed their energies and they quickly fell to the ground.


    The sure-kill seventh bullet similarly failed to penetrate the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. It kept spinning in the formation, its power absorbed by the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation that was transferred to Zhou Wen.


    As its strength was rapidly drained, the seemingly perpetual seventh sure-kill bullet ultimately fell.


    I¡¯ve finally succeeded! Zhou Wen quickly instant transmitted into the tunnel, hoping to find the Calamity-grade creature.


    Now that the bullet could no longer injure him, as long as he could find the Calamity-grade creature, there was a high chance of killing him.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s guess, the Calamity-grade creature¡¯s body definitely wasn¡¯t strong. Perhaps he didn¡¯t need a powerful weapon to kill him.


    However, Zhou Wen failed to find the Calamity-grade creature despite constantly instant transmitting in the tunnel.


    He found nothing every time he rushed in the direction of where the bullet came from.


    Zhou Wen suffered countless Calamity-grade bullets, but he still failed to find the Calamity creature. He came up with all kinds of solutions. Zhou Wen pushed Truth Listener¡¯s abilities to their limits, but he still couldn¡¯t find his location.


    This Calamity-grade¡¯s body definitely isn¡¯t strong. As long as I can find him, killing him shouldn¡¯t be difficult. Zhou Wen was increasingly certain that his previous guess was right.


    Unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t find him. It was useless even if he knew that he could kill him.


    Although I can¡¯t find him, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation should be enough to clear the dungeon. I wonder what rank I¡¯ll get. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure what rank he would receive.


    From a practical point of view, his method of level clearing was actually in the same vein as using the Heavenly Robe to clear the level. Both prevented the bullets from hitting him.


    Therefore, in theory, if he couldn¡¯t kill the Calamity creature, it was very likely that he could only obtain a three-star grading like before.


    No, I have to think of a way to kill him no matter what. If I don¡¯t get first place, what¡¯s the point of getting on the rankings? After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that getting a three-star was meaningless. He had to get first if he wanted to be on the rankings.


    ¡°Young Master, someone has offered a high price for the Heavenly Robe. Unfortunately, he¡¯s not from the League of Guardians.¡± An Sheng called.


    ¡°Is the price very high?¡± Zhou Wen had previously told An Sheng that he wanted to sell the Heavenly Robe to the League of Guardians. Yet, An Sheng had even informed him under such circumstances, indicating that the price offered was probably extraordinary.


    ¡°Very high.¡± An Sheng enunciated each word clearly.


    ¡°Who¡¯s buying? What¡¯s the price?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°The Cape family. The starting price is enough for us to use the accelerator again. We can discuss the exact price later,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s meet and talk.¡± Zhou Wen was originally determined to sell it to the League of Guardians, but he didn¡¯t feel strongly about it anymore. It didn¡¯t matter who he sold it to.


    As for the Cape family, they had always been at odds with Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind letting them bleed.

 Chapter 1403 - Negotiation

    Chapter 1403: Negotiation


    Translator: CKtalon


    The Cape family also knew that they had a deep grudge with Zhou Wen, so they planned on paying a high price to obtain the Heavenly Robe.


    Zhou Wen went to the meeting room and saw the Cape family¡¯s negotiator.


    The person¡¯s name was Wood. He wasn¡¯t a direct descendant of the Cape family. An Sheng had heard that the Wood family¡¯s ancestor was the head butler of the Cape family, and he slowly became a part of the Cape family.


    ¡°What a promising young man you are, Mr. Zhou. I¡¯ve always wanted to meet you, and my wishes have come true today.¡± When Wood saw Zhou Wen and An Sheng stand up, he immediately stood up and walked over to shake Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Mr. Wood, thank you for the compliments. Let¡¯s get down to business.¡± Zhou Wen shook Wood¡¯s hand before walking to the main seat and sitting down.


    An Sheng and another officer sat on both sides of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get straight to the point. Mr. Zhou, can you name a price for your Heavenly Robe? It will also let us know if we have the capital to obtain it. If we have the funds, we can continue negotiating. If we don¡¯t have the funds, no one needs to waste time. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± said Wood.


    ¡°A thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals. That¡¯s my bottom line. Not one gram less.¡± Zhou Wen had already discussed it with An Sheng before coming.


    He had originally thought that Wood and the other representatives would bargain. After all, a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals was just too much. Even Zhou Wen felt that it was impossible to sell it at such a price.


    However, to his surprise, Wood didn¡¯t haggle and agreed immediately. ¡°Sure, we are willing to exchange a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals for Heavenly Robe.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good. When¡¯s the deal?¡± Zhou Wen and An Sheng exchanged looks. They felt that things weren¡¯t that simple.


    Indeed, Wood said, ¡°However, Mr. Zhou, Adjutant An, you should know that a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals is a staggering amount. Ignoring our Cape family, even if the six families combine their resources, it¡¯s a question if they can gather that many Essence Crystals.¡±


    ¡°Then what did you mean? Are you messing with me?¡± Zhou Wen deliberately said with a heavy expression.


    ¡°How dare I mess with you, Mr. Zhou? We do have a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals, and we are willing to use a thousand tonnes to buy Heavenly Robe. However, Mr. Zhou, you¡¯ll need to dig up these thousand tonnes himself,¡± said Wood.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°So here¡¯s the problem. It¡¯s true that we can¡¯t take out a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals immediately, but we do have a high-quality Essence Crystal mine. Furthermore, the reserves of Essence Crystals definitely won¡¯t be less than a thousand tonnes. It might even be two thousand or three thousand tonnes¡­¡± Wood¡¯s tone was very provocative.


    ¡°You mean to say that you want to exchange the Essence Crystal mine for my Heavenly Robe? Do you think we have the ability to dig Essence Crystal ores in the West District?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, don¡¯t worry. The Essence Crystal mine I¡¯m talking about isn¡¯t in the West District. It¡¯s in the East District. However, other than our Cape family, no one knows its location. However, we¡¯ve already specially explored it. The Essence Crystal mine there definitely has more than a thousand tonnes. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can send professionals to explore the Essence Crystal mine during the transaction. After confirming the reserves, you can give us the Heavenly Robe,¡± said Wood.


    ¡°Mr. Wood, that¡¯s not what we agreed upon. We¡¯ve been talking about physical item exchanges,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Of course. If we had a thousand tonnes of Essence Crystals, we would definitely want to buy the Heavenly Robe. However, in fact, the Essence Crystals we can offer now amount to only about 800 tonnes. We really can¡¯t afford to pay such a huge sum. If possible, we can use money or Companion Beasts to cover the rest,¡± Wood said with a sincere expression.


    ¡°How about this? We didn¡¯t know about your suggestion before. We need to hold another meeting to study the feasibility. How about we continue tomorrow?¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Of course. We sincerely hope that we can complete this deal.¡± Wood and company left the meeting room.


    ¡°The Cape family sure is scheming. They want to use our East District¡¯s Essence Crystal mine to exchange for the Heavenly Robe. This is equivalent to them doing a business without any capital. They definitely won¡¯t be able to mine the Essence Crystal mine on a large scale. Over time, it will definitely be discovered by others. Sooner or later, they would lose its ownership,¡± An Sheng said with a cold snort after they left.


    ¡°You mean you don¡¯t plan on doing the exchange?¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng.


    ¡°No, if you agree, Young Master Wen, it¡¯s best we continue the trade. Although the mine is in our East District, we don¡¯t know where it is. We can¡¯t guarantee that our people will discover it first in the future, so we have to do the exchange if possible. However, before that, we have to ensure that the mine can be safely mined and the goods transported back safely,¡± An Sheng answered straightforwardly.


    Zhou Wen understood what An Sheng meant. Most of the Essence Crystal ores were in dimensional zones. If that dimensional zone was too dangerous and humans couldn¡¯t stay in there for long, it was useless no matter how many Essence Crystals there were.


    Furthermore, if the Essence Crystal mine was too far from Luoyang and was in an area that Luoyang¡¯s power couldn¡¯t reach, even if it was mined, it would be easily snatched away by others midway.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll leave the negotiation to you.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to waste time on such matters. He still had many things to do.


    Now that he had advanced to the Terror grade, he needed a plan on how to advance to the Calamity grade.


    His stats definitely had to increase first, but if he only increased his stats, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to advance to the Calamity grade even if he reached the limits of the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen had already seen a few Calamity grade advancements. Tsukuyomi had relied on the power of a dimensional zone to advance to the Calamity grade. When she advanced to the Calamity grade, the dimensional zone had nearly collapsed due to excessive expenditure.


    There was also Jiang Yan¡¯s Skyimmortal and Fairy Burial¡¯s advancement to the Calamity grade with the help of Perfect Sword Immortal.


    Then there was Zhou Wen¡¯s Soul Mirror. He had clearly sensed powerful energy infuse into it, allowing it to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen summarized that advancing to the Calamity grade required immense energy. Furthermore, this energy wasn¡¯t ordinary Essence Energy. No matter how much Essence Energy ordinary people had, it was impossible for them to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Now, Zhou Wen hoped that a Calamity-grade dimensional zone would appear. When the time came, he could observe how dimensional creatures used the dimensional zones to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen vaguely felt that he could use their method to use the dimensional zones¡¯ powers to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Dimensional zones¡­ Calamity Zones¡­ No matter how I think about it, these two are related¡­ Perhaps dimensional zones are the key to my advancement to the Calamity grade¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself, but as he hadn¡¯t heard of any Calamity creatures appearing recently, he didn¡¯t have the chance to observe it even if he wanted to.


    In the next few days, An Sheng kept negotiating with Wood and company, but Wood and company weren¡¯t willing to compromise on some key issues. There was no progress in the negotiations.


    Finally, Wood raised a condition for Zhou Wen to attempt the Venusian dimensional zone again. He was not to use any other Companion Beasts and could only use Heavenly Robe.. If Zhou Wen could clear it, they were willing to compromise.

 Chapter 1404 - The Unbelievable Heavenly Robe

    ¡°It looks like the Cape family has been suspicious of the Heavenly Robe¡¯s effects from the beginning. They have long planned to make this request, and to do it now, if we don¡¯t agree to this condition that seems to be beneficial to us at this step in the negotiations, it¡¯s equivalent to telling them that there¡¯s a problem with the Heavenly Robe. When the time comes, I¡¯m afraid no one will buy our Heavenly Robe. But if we agree¡­¡±


    An Sheng paused for a moment to which Zhou Wen replied, ¡°Then agree to it.¡±


    An Sheng was taken aback. ¡°Young Master, didn¡¯t you say that only Companion Beasts with high luck can bring out the effects of the Heavenly Robe? Now, the Cape family wants you to only use the Heavenly Robe. How are you going to clear it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not a problem. If they want to see the Heavenly Robe, let them. I can now achieve the same effect even without the Heavenly Robe,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s great. In that case, I need to work harder.¡± An Sheng¡¯s eyes revealed a cold glint.


    Zhou Wen knew that it wouldn¡¯t be wrong to leave such matters to An Sheng. He wouldn¡¯t suffer any losses, so all he needed to do was prepare to clear the dungeon.


    After a day, An Sheng had already finished negotiating with Wood and company.


    Zhou Wen could do the attempt, but other than the Essence Crystal mine, the Cape family needed to provide an additional hundred tonnes of Essence Crystals.


    This hundred tonnes of Essence Crystals was equivalent to a deposit. After Zhou Wen completed the test, they would hand over the Essence Crystal mine.


    Under An Sheng¡¯s arrangements, Zhou Wen signed a contract with the Cape family¡¯s representative. If Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t rely on Heavenly Robe to clear the Venusian dimensional zone and enter the rankings, he would have to pay an additional hundred tonnes of Essence Crystals for the breach of contract.


    The moment the contract was signed, the Cape family released the contract¡¯s content through their official channels.


    If Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do it and refused to refund the deposit, the entire Federation would know of this matter. Even if the An family did refund the Essence Crystals, it would deal a huge blow to Zhou Wen and Luoyang¡¯s An family¡¯s reputation. It would still spell quite a loss and setback.


    Regardless, Zhou Wen had to clear it.


    ¡°Zhou Wen actually agreed to the Cape family¡¯s request?¡± Xia Liuchuan wore a look of surprise after reading the press release.


    Anyone would find it unbelievable that a Terror-grade Companion Beast¡ªHeavenly Robe¡ªcould perfectly withstand a Calamity-grade attack. There had to be other supplementary means and Companion Beast abilities augmenting it to reach that level.


    Many people had the same thoughts as Xia Liuchuan. After Zhang Chunqiu finished reading, he revealed a pensive expression. Clearly, he didn¡¯t believe that a Terror-grade Heavenly Robe could clear the Venusian dimensional zone.


    However, Zhou Wen had agreed to such a request. This left Zhang Chunqiu somewhat puzzled.


    With the same question in mind, many people focused on the Cube, hoping to see how Zhou Wen would handle it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t make them wait too long. Soon, the Cube lit up and a projection of the Venusian dimensional zone¡¯s external platform appeared.


    Zhou Wen, who was wearing the Heavenly Robe, stood on the platform.


    He was only wearing the Heavenly Robe. Apart from that, he didn¡¯t have anything else on him. He didn¡¯t even have accessories like rings. He looked extremely clean and tidy.


    Here it comes. Could it be that the Heavenly Robe is really that effective against the Calamity creature in Venus? Xia Liuchuan found it unbelievable when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s attire. He clearly didn¡¯t plan on using other Companion Beasts.


    The Cape family paid more attention to this battle. If Heavenly Robe could really perfectly dodge the Calamity-grade attack, they naturally wanted to obtain it.


    Ignoring the value of being on the rankings, just dodging a Calamity-grade attack made it priceless.


    However, they were also very suspicious. If it really had such powerful abilities, why did Zhou Wen want to sell it? Although the reason given by the An family made sense, they were still somewhat suspicious.


    Zhou Wen dripped his blood to activate the Venusian dimensional zone as everyone watched him enter.


    Upon seeing the Metal Guard, Zhou Wen summoned Sword Pill and killed it with one strike.


    Large numbers of Metal Guards rushed out and were wiped out by Zhou Wen in the blink of an eye. Their bullets couldn¡¯t injure him at all.


    After a Golden Battle God rushed out, the bullets that shot out could only circle around Zhou Wen without touching him.


    Zhou Wen charged forward and killed it with one strike. He didn¡¯t even dodge the bullet.


    The six Golden Battle Gods were killed by Zhou Wen, and a Companion Egg dropped. It made one envious and jealous.


    Zhou Wen put away the Companion Egg and charged into the tunnel.


    Zhang Yuzhi and company, who were watching the Cube¡¯s live broadcast, couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous. After all, it was still doubtful if the Terror-grade Heavenly Robe could single-handedly block a Calamity-grade bullet.


    Bang!


    After the gunshot, a Calamity-grade bullet appeared around Zhou Wen. It spun around him like a bolt of lightning. It looked very similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s previous attempts at clearing the level, perhaps even stronger.


    Previously, it was only the sure-kill bullet that had spun around Zhou Wen, but now, even the bullets at the beginning were spinning around him.


    Zhou Wen ignored the bullets as he quickly traversed the tunnel and headed for the Golden Palace.


    Bang! Bang!


    Gunshots sounded as bullets appeared around Zhou Wen one after another, but they could only circle around him and failed to injure him, nor could they stop him from advancing.


    Zhou Wen was very fast. Before the sure-kill seventh bullet shot out, he had already arrived in front of the Golden Palace.


    But Zhou Wen stopped in front of the stairs just like Immortal. He didn¡¯t ascend the Golden Palace but waited for the seventh bullet to arrive.


    Bang!


    The sure-kill seventh shot finally sounded as a bullet with lightning sparks appeared around Zhou Wen. It was more dazzling than the halo formed by the other six bullets.


    Zhou Wen stood there without moving, allowing the seven bullets to circle around him.


    That Heavenly Robe¡­ can actually perfectly restrain the Calamity-grade bullets¡­ It wasn¡¯t just the Cape family. Many people who had been very interested in the Heavenly Robe widened their eyes.


    This wasn¡¯t the end. Zhou Wen, who had already proven his Heavenly Robe¡¯s abilities, still hadn¡¯t left.


    The Calamity-grade bullets kept firing over, but none of them could injure Zhou Wen. When the second round of sure-kill bullets circled around Zhou Wen, the Overseer Manor¡¯s phone and An Sheng¡¯s phones nearly exploded from all the ringing.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use any other Companion Beasts, nor did he use any offensive or defensive means. This undoubtedly meant that the Heavenly Robe was the best of the best. It had unbelievable dodging abilities. Obtaining it not only allowed one to enter the rankings, but it also greatly ensured their safety. How could anyone who had the means to acquire it not want it?


    Instantly, the Overseer Manor¡¯s phone was busier than a particular brand¡¯s after-sales service call.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen finally walked up the stairs and arrived in front of the Golden Palace. The scene that happened next drove people crazy.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s name appeared on the rankings, but it wasn¡¯t a three-star. Behind his name were five shiny golden stars. Furthermore, he was ranked first, squeezing out Immortal, who had only been in first place for a few days.


    Thankfully, only one phone connection could be established at any one time; otherwise, the Overseer Manor would definitely be flooded with calls.

 Chapter 1405 - Essence Crystal Mine

    Chapter 1405: Essence Crystal Mine


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Adjutant An, when is it convenient for Mr. Zhou? Let¡¯s trade the Heavenly Robe as soon as possible.¡± Wood and the other representatives of the Cape family couldn¡¯t sit still any longer. They took the initiative to look for An Sheng.


    ¡°Sorry, something happened here¡­¡± An Sheng wore a difficult expression.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Wood asked patiently, but he was already burning with anxiety.


    After watching Zhou Wen¡¯s performance, everyone believed that the Heavenly Robe was an excellent-grade Companion Beast. The master of the Cape family had already ordered them to bring it back as soon as possible.


    ¡°Well, someone offered a higher price than your family¡­ As you know¡­ My Young Master is already a little impatient with your many requests¡­ Furthermore, others are handing over the physical goods directly¡­¡± An Sheng stammered.


    ¡°Adjutant An, we do have a contract. With the An family¡¯s status, you wouldn¡¯t go so far as to violate the contract for such trivial gains, right?¡± Wood immediately reeled in anxiety.


    He also knew that the display of Heavenly Robe¡¯s abilities was shocking. Furthermore, the Cube had given a five-star evaluation, allowing Zhou Wen to reach first place. Who in the Federation didn¡¯t want the Heavenly Robe?


    The headlines of the various media outlets were all reporting about Zhou Wen and Heavenly Robe. Anyone with the means was probably eyeing the Heavenly Robe now.


    ¡°We don¡¯t want to break the contract either, but you know the abilities of the League of Guardians. Now that they want the Heavenly Robe, do we dare not give it to them?¡± An Sheng sighed.


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s the League of Guardians? Even if Immortal himself comes, he has to be reasonable, right? Why don¡¯t we do this? Adjutant An, get Mr. Zhou to complete the handover as soon as possible. If the League of Guardians wants to force it, get them to cause trouble for our Cape family¡­¡± Wood said.


    ¡°This¡­ The risk we take is too great¡­¡± An Sheng looked conflicted.


    ¡°Adjutant An, help us settle this matter. The Cape family definitely won¡¯t treat you unfairly¡­ This is a token from our Cape family¡­¡± Wood stuffed something into An Sheng¡¯s hands.


    ¡°No, no, no. This isn¡¯t appropriate, right?¡± An Sheng said, but he turned sideways and unzipped a pocket on his jacket with one hand.


    ¡­


    Wood had already requested permission several times. Now, it wasn¡¯t just Wood. The upper echelons of the Cape family were filled with regret.


    If they had known this would happen, they would have just bought the Heavenly Robe back then without all the fuss. However, by making a fuss, the price they had to pay now was ten percent higher than before.


    Even so, the Cape family was willing to pay. They were now afraid that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t sell the Heavenly Robe to them.


    From their point of view, it was only because the An family needed a large number of Essence Crystals for the accelerator. Otherwise, no faction would exchange such a Companion Beast for Essence Crystals.


    Finally, they reached a new agreement. Even an important member of the Cape family, Woods, rushed over overnight and prepared to personally receive the Heavenly Robe.


    ¡°As long as we can bring the Heavenly Robe back, it will all be worth it. We have to be fast and not delay any further. Otherwise, the problem with the Essence Crystal mine will be exposed. When the time comes, it won¡¯t be that easy to exchange for the Heavenly Robe again.¡± When Woods arrived, the family head¡¯s exhortations were still ringing in his ears.


    Woods knew that this matter couldn¡¯t be delayed. After rushing to Luoyang, he immediately contacted An Sheng and Zhou Wen to head to the Essence Crystal mine with him to carry out the transaction.


    The location of the Essence Crystal mine wasn¡¯t very far from Luoyang. Coincidentally, it was near Guide City. The dimensional zone was originally under Guide City¡¯s jurisdiction, but it was no longer inhabited. There were dimensional zones everywhere.


    I never expected there to be an Essence Crystal mine here. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with this place. His grandfather had brought him here a few times when he was young.


    Back then, this was a mausoleum. It had turned into a valley at some point in time. Flowers bloomed everywhere in the valley as butterflies fluttered in the air.


    As there were many dimensional zones nearby, there were many break-out creatures everywhere. The nearby humans had long moved away and headed for relatively large human cities. The vicinity was uninhabited.


    Woods led Zhou Wen and company into the valley. It was unknown when the valley had become a dimensional zone. Strangely, there were only ordinary butterflies in the valley. There wasn¡¯t a single dimensional creature.


    ¡°The reserves of Essence Crystals here are plenty. Furthermore, the Essence Crystal mine is very close to the surface, and the purity is high¡­¡± As Woods led the way, he explained. Soon, everyone saw exposed Essence Crystal ores on the nearby mountain wall.


    An Sheng hurriedly got the experts to investigate. The preliminary conclusion was better than what the Cape family had said. The reserves here were probably far more than a few thousand tonnes.


    Although Woods looked calm on the surface, he felt uneasy. He knew that this place looked good, but at a certain time, it wouldn¡¯t be as beautiful and peaceful as it was now.


    He was now hoping that An Sheng and company would quickly finish the inspection and complete the handover so that they wouldn¡¯t notice anything.


    Zhou Wen had only taken a casual look and didn¡¯t discover any problems, but the emotional fluctuations in Woods¡¯s heart were too intense. It triggered Truth Listener¡¯s inner thoughts.


    Soon, Zhou Wen knew that the Cape family didn¡¯t have any good intentions. This place wasn¡¯t as peaceful as it looked.


    It¡¯s no wonder the Cape family doesn¡¯t mine it themselves. So there¡¯s actually something odd about it. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry.


    After all, he and An Sheng didn¡¯t have any good intentions either. The Heavenly Robe wasn¡¯t as perfect as it looked.


    Zhou Wen remained unperturbed as he circled the valley. After weighing the pros and cons, he planned on pretending not to know anything and continue completing the deal.


    Woods¡¯s heart was in his throat while Zhou Wen wandered around, but he pretended to not care and didn¡¯t rush Zhou Wen and An Sheng.


    It had to be said that Woods was indeed a wily old fox. He was extremely worried, but his expression remained stoic. If not for Truth Listener¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell that there was anything wrong.


    After all, even An Sheng couldn¡¯t tell what was wrong, much less someone as inexperienced as Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, Adjutant An, are there any problems?¡± Woods said when Zhou Wen and An Sheng returned.


    An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen. Clearly, he hadn¡¯t discovered any problems. He was very satisfied with the reserves and purity of the Essence Crystals here, nor did he discover any potential danger factors in the dimensional zone.


    ¡°Mr. Woods, you should know that I¡¯m from Guide City, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with a faint smile.


    Woods¡¯s heart skipped a beat, but his expression didn¡¯t change at all. He said with a smile, ¡°I¡¯ve heard that Guide City is indeed an illustrious place. To be able to produce someone like Mr. Zhou and such an Essence Crystal mine means that this place is extraordinary. Unfortunately, our Cape family¡¯s base is in the West District.. Otherwise, we would have come here to develop.¡±


    1

 Chapter 1406 - Completing the Transaction

    Chapter 1406: Completing the Transaction


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Since you know that I¡¯m from Guide City, do you think I¡¯m unaware that this place was originally Master Zhuang¡¯s Mausoleum?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°Is there a problem with this being Master Zhuang¡¯s Mausoleum?¡± Woods asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°As one of the representatives of Daoism, will such a dimensional zone be as safe as it looks? I¡¯m just afraid that we might end up dying here before we get to mine the Essence Crystal ores here.¡± Zhou Wen left some leeway as he still wanted to close the deal.


    Woods turned somewhat nervous when he heard Zhou Wen say that. If Zhou Wen really noticed something amiss, it would be impossible for him to return with the Heavenly Robe.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, you can¡¯t have your subjective thoughts color the issue. It¡¯s been quite a while since our discovery of the Essence Crystal ores. As you can see, there¡¯s no problem here. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can stay another two days or even attempt to mine the Essence Crystals. Our Cape family will definitely not lie and do something that¡¯s at odds with the contract,¡± Woods said solemnly.


    ¡°Then we¡¯ll do as you say. We¡¯ll stay here for a few more days. If there¡¯s really no problem, I¡¯ll transfer the Heavenly Robe to you immediately,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Woods cried inwardly. He only wanted to dispel Zhou Wen¡¯s doubts verbally, but he never expected Zhou Wen to really choose to stay for a few days. If that happened, something would probably happen.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Although Woods said that, he was burning with anxiety. He was thinking about how he could get Zhou Wen to hand over the Heavenly Robe as soon as possible.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, make some preparations. Find a good place to set up camp and entertain Mr. Woods and the rest. They are guests from afar. We can¡¯t slight them,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng.


    An Sheng understood what Zhou Wen was getting at and got someone to find a place to set up camp. He even got someone to return to transport supplies over, as though they wanted to stay here permanently.


    Woods was anxious, but there was nothing he could do.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, you can stay here and watch for as many days as you want, but we can¡¯t keep delaying this deal, right? We know that you aren¡¯t the kind of person who abides by contracts, but you have to give us a deadline, right? The family head is still waiting. We have to return and answer to him.¡± Woods patiently beat around the bush.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s give it five days. As long as nothing happens in these five days, I¡¯ll immediately transfer the Heavenly Robe to you and complete our deal,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Woods knew that they couldn¡¯t wait five days. In another four days, this dimensional zone would undergo an anomaly. When that happened, everything would be for naught.


    However, Woods couldn¡¯t think of any way to get Zhou Wen to immediately transfer the Heavenly Robe to him.


    Just as Woods¡¯s brain was about to steam from an overdrive, an officer suddenly rushed over on a Companion Beast. He looked extremely disheveled and had several injuries. He looked like he had just been in a massive battle.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, Adjutant An, bad news. A large number of break-out creatures have appeared in Dragon Gate Grotto. Governor Qin is leading the Sunset Army to mount a full defense. There are heavy casualties. Please return immediately to provide support.¡± The officer jumped off his Companion Beast and rushed to Zhou Wen as he stumbled and shouted.


    ¡°What!¡± Zhou Wen and An Sheng were alarmed as they got up to return.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, you can¡¯t leave. According to our agreement, we have already led you to the Essence Crystal mine. Before you hand over the Heavenly Robe Companion Beast, you mustn¡¯t leave this place.¡± Woods and company immediately stopped Zhou Wen.


    At that moment, Woods was overjoyed. Heaven is really helping me!


    ¡°Young Master Wen, why don¡¯t you stay here? I¡¯ll lead the others back to provide support,¡± An Sheng said anxiously.


    ¡°Adjutant An, that won¡¯t do. Governor Qin said that a Calamity creature might appear. Young Master Wen has to return. Otherwise, I¡¯m afraid Luoyang won¡¯t hold¡­ Young Master Wen, quickly return¡­ It will be too late if you delay any further¡­¡± The officer was about to cry.


    ¡°Young Master Wen!¡± An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen anxiously.


    Zhou Wen was still hesitant. ¡°This was Master Zhuang¡¯s Mausoleum in the past. I have a nagging feeling that things aren¡¯t that simple here.¡±


    ¡°Sigh, Mr. Zhou, you are really overthinking things. Why don¡¯t we do this? Now that Luoyang is in trouble, we will give you a hand. We still have a portion of the Essence Crystals left, so we can give them to you. There are also some Companion Eggs here. Take them back with you as a token of our appreciation. We hope to help Luoyang tide through this crisis.¡±


    Woods pointed into the valley and said, ¡°This place is only so big. You can see everything at a glance. If there¡¯s anything amiss, you would have long seen it. Even if you can¡¯t see it, with so many people walking around, something would have already happened if there was danger. If you are still worried, you can circle around the area a few more times and confirm that there¡¯s no problem. After the deal is completed, we will go to Luoyang with you to help you resist the break-out creatures. We can also stay in Luoyang for a few days. If there¡¯s really a problem, it won¡¯t be too late for you to come back to us.¡±


    Now, all Woods wanted to do was get the Heavenly Robe in his hands as soon as possible. He would leave the rest to later.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, the bigger picture is more important,¡± An Sheng urged anxiously when he saw Zhou Wen still hesitating.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do as Mr. Woods says.¡± Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and walked to him. He held Woods¡¯s hand and said, seemingly touched, ¡°I¡¯ll cut the niceties, but thank you for your help. Mr. Woods, you¡¯re really a nice guy.¡±


    Without waiting for Woods to say a word, Zhou Wen released his grip and said to An Sheng, ¡°Ah Sheng, quickly move everything back. We¡¯ll head back immediately to provide support.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, about the Heavenly Robe¡­¡± Woods was a little anxious.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get them to move the things. I¡¯ll transfer it to you now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he began circulating his Essence Energy. His face flushed red as though he was using a forbidden ability.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen was about to transfer the Heavenly Robe, Woods didn¡¯t think it was right to stop An Sheng and company from moving things. All he could do was stand in front of Zhou Wen and wait for him to transfer the Heavenly Robe.


    As transferring a Companion Beast required one to pay a considerable price, Woods felt that even if Zhou Wen had any special abilities, it was impossible for him to do so without paying a price. It was normal for Zhou Wen to look like this.


    Zhou Wen constantly circulated his Essence Energy, but he had no intention of doing the deed. When they finished moving most of the things, Woods couldn¡¯t help but ask only for Zhou Wen to suddenly reach out and press his hand on his chest.


    Here it comes! Woods immediately swallowed the words he was about to say and waited to receive the Companion Beast.


    However, after waiting for a while, he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s face turn redder and redder. However, Woods didn¡¯t sense any Companion Beast transfer. As for the things there, An Sheng and company had almost finished moving them.


    Woods felt that something was amiss. Just as he was about to say something, he heard Zhou Wen roar, ¡°Go!¡±


    Woods immediately felt a force enter his body as the energy of a Companion Beast surged into his body. He was immediately overjoyed.


    Soon, the Companion Beast was transferred to Woods. Zhou Wen said with a pale face, ¡°Mr. Woods, take a look. Is it the Companion Beast we were talking about? Don¡¯t make a mistake.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong about it. Perfect. It¡¯s a Terror-grade Deva Companion Beast. Thank you, Mr. Zhou. Are you alright?¡± Woods repeatedly made confirmation. The skill was the same as what was written in the contract. He was still worried, so he summoned it and wore the robe transformed from the Deva. Seeing that it was identical to what Zhou Wen wore, he felt relieved.


    ¡°Since we have closed the deal, I¡¯ll head back to provide support. Let¡¯s do business again if there¡¯s a chance in the future..¡± Zhou Wen completed the handover and signed off the contract with Woods before leaving with An Sheng.

 Chapter 1407 - With Heavenly Robe in Hand… Ouch…

    Woods was overjoyed. Although he had paid more in the end, as long as he could obtain the Heavenly Robe, everything was worth it.


    ¡°Mr. Woods, something seems amiss. Why did Zhou Wen and company leave so quickly without getting us to join them in Luoyang?¡± Wood said suspiciously.


    However, Woods seemed to be overly excited. ¡°The Heavenly Robe is real. There won¡¯t be any problems. Besides, if we were to go to Luoyang, would they dare to really allow us to join them? When the time comes, not only will they not get help, but they will also have to get someone to watch us. Cut the chatter. Quick, let¡¯s test the Heavenly Robe¡¯s abilities.¡±


    Woods stroked the Heavenly Robe on his body with an eager expression.


    Wood summoned a bow and aimed it at Woods, but he didn¡¯t dare to aim at his vital spots. All he did was shoot at his arm.


    With a whoosh, the arrow tore through the air and arrived in front of Woods. Woods didn¡¯t dodge. When the arrow arrived in front of him, the Heavenly Robe moved autonomously, pulling his body to dodge the arrow.


    ¡°Haha, as expected of the Heavenly Robe. With this robe in hand, it will be easy for our Cape family to enter the rankings. In the future, even if a Calamity-grade expert wants to make things difficult for our Cape family, with this robe around, we might still have the strength to put up a fight. Come, come, shoot a few more arrows at me. Let me experience the magical power of the Heavenly Robe,¡± said Woods excitedly.


    When Wood saw that the Heavenly Robe was indeed magical, he was overjoyed. He immediately drew his bow and strafed a few arrows without any worries.


    As he had confirmed that the Heavenly Robe was indeed useful, Wood didn¡¯t target any special spots. He just randomly shot them at Woods.


    Woods stood there without any intention of dodging. He believed that since the Heavenly Robe had allowed him to dodge the first arrow, and the subsequent arrows had the same strength as the first arrow, it would be impossible for him not to dodge them.


    However, how could he know that the Heavenly Robe had a dodge chance? He was lucky to trigger the Heavenly Robe¡¯s Lucky Dodge for the first arrow, but without the augmentation of lucky equipment, the Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodge chance wasn¡¯t high.


    Everyone was in a festive mood as they waited for the Heavenly Robe to showcase its magical powers. However, they suddenly heard Woods scream.


    Out of the eight arrows that Wood shot out, five of them hit Woods, of which four hit the Heavenly Robe. Being Terror-grade equipment, the Heavenly Robe¡¯s defense was pretty good, allowing it to block four arrows. However, one arrow hit Woods¡¯s face; there was nothing obstructing it. It shot right into his nose, causing him to fall to the ground and roll around in pain.


    ¡°How can this be!¡± Wood and company were dumbfounded. After they reacted, they hurriedly ran to Woods and pulled out the arrow to treat his injuries.


    ¡°Woods, is this Heavenly Robe fake? Did you check it properly?¡± Wood¡¯s expression changed as he looked at the bloody hole in Woods¡¯s nose.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fake. The information transmitted by the Heavenly Robe isn¡¯t wrong. It¡¯s a Terror-grade Heavenly Robe. It does have the ability to dodge. As you saw just now, the first arrow was dodged by the Heavenly Robe¡­ But how did the subsequent arrows¡­¡± Woods was alarmed and unsure. He repeatedly confirmed the information transmitted by the Heavenly Robe. All the skills and abilities were identical to the one Zhou Wen had written in the contract. Their levels weren¡¯t bad either.


    ¡°Try sensing the detailed information of those skills again. See if there¡¯s any problem based on whatever you can sense,¡± Wood said.


    Woods hurriedly sensed the information. After a while, his expression turned ugly as his body began to tremble.


    ¡°This dodging skill has a certain chance. Not all attacks can be dodged. We¡¯ve been scammed.¡± Woods was trembling in anger.


    ¡°How did this happen? How did Zhou Wen use it to dodge all the Calamity-grade attacks?¡± Wood asked in a daze. He now understood that they had been fooled. There were probably no break-out creatures in Luoyang. Zhou Wen and company were deliberately scamming them.


    ¡°How would I know!¡± Woods was beyond tears. He suddenly struggled to get up and took out his phone to call An Sheng. As he called, he said hatefully, ¡°No, this matter isn¡¯t over between us and the An family. We have to make them give us an explanation.¡±


    After the phone rang a few times, An Sheng¡¯s voice sounded. ¡°Mr. Woods, do you have any business to offer us?¡±


    ¡°An Sheng, that Heavenly Robe can¡¯t dodge attacks 100%. You guys were pulling off a scam,¡± said Woods angrily.


    Although he knew that being angry was useless, he couldn¡¯t hold it in.


    They originally thought that they had exchanged an unmineable mine for a huge bargain, but they never expected that the thing they had exchanged for was equally useless. They had even lost nearly two hundred tonnes of Essence Crystals.


    He originally only needed to pay an additional hundred tonnes, but with the bribe he had given An Sheng and Zhou Wen¡¯s subsequent scam, it was almost worth an additional hundred tonnes.


    An Sheng said calmly, ¡°Mr. Woods, please don¡¯t say that. Our An family has always been trustworthy. It¡¯s impossible for us to sell you fake goods. Is the level and ability of the Heavenly Robe identical to what¡¯s written in the contract? If there¡¯s no discrepancy, how can it be a fake Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°But this Heavenly Robe only has a chance of dodging. Even a Mythical attack can¡¯t be completely dodged, much less a Calamity-grade attack,¡± said Woods in exasperation.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re talking about that? Of course. The dodging ability of the Heavenly Robe requires the augmentation of the Luck stat. The higher the Luck stat, the higher the success rate of dodging. If you need it, we also have Luck Companion Beasts for sale,¡± An Sheng said.


    Woods, Wood, and company were taken aback when they heard that. Woods said in disbelief, ¡°It still needs the augmentation of the Luck stat? Didn¡¯t Zhou Wen only use Heavenly Robe previously? How did he dodge all of them?¡±


    ¡°Mr. Woods, you can¡¯t make such a comparison. My young master is a lucky person blessed by the heavens. He received the favor and care of the heavens and was born with abundant luck. No matter how low the chances are, it¡¯s a hundred percent chance when it comes to my young master. However, it¡¯s different for ordinary people. They still need some lucky equipment to achieve the ideal effect of the Heavenly Robe.¡± An Sheng¡¯s words were clearly saying: ¡°How can you unlucky fools compare to my young master? Don¡¯t you know what kind of trash you are?¡±


    ¡°Adjutant An, are you sure that lucky equipment can increase the dodge chance? What kind of lucky equipment can achieve a 100% dodge chance?¡± Woods suppressed the urge to curse An Sheng and asked softly.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can experiment with lucky equipment. As for how many Luck stat augmentations are needed, I know that too well. Previously, my young master had bought quite a lot of lucky equipment. It was thanks to that equipment that he was able to reach a 100% dodge chance. Now that the Heavenly Robe has been sold to you, those lucky Companion Beasts are useless. If you want them, I can persuade my young master to transfer them to you. I¡¯ll definitely give you a discount on the price. After all, you are old customers,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a try first. We¡¯ll talk about the Luck Companion Beast later.¡± Woods hung up and braced himself to contact the head of the Cape family to tell him the entire story.


    ¡°Come back and try using the Luck Companion Beasts first before we discuss the necessary countermeasures.¡± The Cape¡¯s family head knew that it was pointless saying anything now. All he could do was let them return first. If they could achieve a 100% dodge chance with the augmentation of the Luck stat, it wasn¡¯t unacceptable.

 Chapter 1408 - : It’s Really Nothing

    After the Heavenly Robe was brought back to the Cape family by Woods, they quickly experimented. After using Luck Companion Beasts to augment it, its dodge chance increased, but it was still far from 100%.


    However, they confirmed that the Luck stat had an augmentation effect on the Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodge chance. An Sheng wasn¡¯t lying.


    However, as there were very few lucky Companion Beasts to begin with, the typical person would hatch them upon obtaining one. Therefore, the Cape family didn¡¯t have any Luck Companion Eggs available. They could only buy them on the market.


    However, when they wanted to buy Luck Companion Eggs, they realized that they couldn¡¯t buy any on the market with Luck stat and skills. There were only a few Luck Companion Eggs on sale. Even those at the Legendary and Epic stage were sold at astronomical prices.


    ¡°Damn it. It must be those bastards from the An family,¡± Woods cursed hatefully.


    ¡°We should have known this long ago. Since the Heavenly Robe has such a requirement, Zhou Wen must have already plundered all the Luck Companion Eggs on the market. It¡¯s normal for the price of Luck Companion Beasts to increase.¡± The Cape family head thought for a moment and said, ¡°However, as long as we can gather enough Luck equipment and make the Heavenly Robe dodge chances 100%, everything will be worth it. Let¡¯s talk to the An family and see if we can buy Luck Companion Beasts from them. We have to try our best to buy the Luck Companion Beasts from other places as well. I reckon the An family won¡¯t sell all their Luck Companion Beasts to us.¡±


    At this point, the Cape family head could only continue. Otherwise, the Heavenly Robe he had spent a large sum of money to buy would be useless. It could even be said to be trash.


    The Heavenly Robe¡¯s defense was much weaker than armor of the same level. Its dodge chance wasn¡¯t 100%, so it was unknown when one would be hit if they wore it. Who dared to use their lives to test their luck? It was equivalent to being useless.


    Now, they still believed that the Heavenly Robe could achieve a 100% dodge chance. After all, Zhou Wen had relied on the Heavenly Robe on clearing the dungeon. There was unlikely to be anything wrong with that assumption.


    They were right, but unfortunately, they didn¡¯t know that the augmentation of ordinary lucky equipment could only increase the dodge chance to a very high percentage, but it wouldn¡¯t ever reach 100%. One needed Wang Lu¡¯s Invincible Lucky Star to obtain a 100% dodge chance.


    The Cape family contacted An Sheng again and proposed to buy some Luck Companion Beasts. However, the price An Sheng offered nearly made them curse.


    ¡°Adjutant An, the Heavenly Robe was bought from you. Luck Companion Beasts should be considered accessories. It¡¯s not appropriate for you to demand such a high price, right? If this matter were to spread, would anyone dare to do business with the An family in the future?¡± Wood, who was in charge of this matter, said as he suppressed his anger.


    As for Woods, he had been temporarily abandoned by the Cape family due to his previous mistake. Wood was fully in charge of buying Luck Companion Beasts.


    ¡°We strictly followed the contract and completed the transaction. We didn¡¯t do anything against our conscience. There¡¯s nothing we can¡¯t let others know. Besides, there are countless people vying for a good item like the Heavenly Robe. You shouldn¡¯t go against your conscience and smear it, right?¡± An Sheng said with a chuckle.


    Wood was first taken aback before he understood what An Sheng meant. He immediately felt choked.


    An Sheng¡¯s meaning was very clear. Now that the Heavenly Robe was in the hands of the Cape family, if they revealed the problem with the Heavenly Robe, its value would crash. It would also let others know the weakness of the Heavenly Robe. The Cape family would end up being on the losing end.


    If the Cape family didn¡¯t tell others, others would still be afraid of the Heavenly Robe. Perhaps there would be a chance to sell it in the future.


    Wood had no choice but to suppress his anger and negotiate with An Sheng. This was because there were too few Luck Companion Beasts that could be bought on the market. No matter how angry he was, he could only buy them from the An family. Otherwise, the Heavenly Robe would only be a piece of Terror-grade equipment with ordinary effects.


    ¡°Has the Heavenly Robe been sold to the Cape family?¡± As Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons, Wang Lu called.


    ¡°The Companion Eggs have been sold? How much did you get?¡± Zhou Wen immediately knew that the Cape family had definitely bought a Luck Companion Egg from Wang Lu.


    ¡°Only a few dozen times more expensive than the purchase price,¡± Wang Lu answered easily. After knowing that Zhou Wen was selling the Heavenly Robe, she began acquiring all the Luck Companion Eggs on the market. Most of them were in her hands.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯ve earned so much, the debt I owe you should be written off, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Those are two separate matters. Furthermore, I earned it with my own abilities. Why should I count it as payment?¡± Wang Lu curled her lips.


    ¡°You¡¯ve earned so much, yet you¡¯re still so greedy?¡± Zhou Wen was helpless.


    ¡°You¡¯re already first on the rankings, but aren¡¯t you still working hard to advance?¡± Wang Lu paused and asked, ¡°How¡¯s Little Chan?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s still on the Moon. Don¡¯t worry. I just went to visit her two days ago and she¡¯s learning from Lady Supreme Yin. Lady Supreme Yin is an impressive existence. If Little Chan learns from her, there¡¯s a high chance that she will become an impressive figure in the future.¡± Zhou Wen had indeed visited Wang Chan, but her situation wasn¡¯t as optimistic as he had said.


    Wang Chan had suffered quite a bit under Lady Supreme Yin. She cried and shouted about returning with Zhou Wen. It wasn¡¯t easy for Zhou Wen to get her to continue staying there.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I don¡¯t really have extravagant hopes that she will become an impressive figure. As long as she won¡¯t be troubled by misfortune in the future and can live happily, that¡¯s enough.¡± Wang Lu also knew that Wang Chan definitely wouldn¡¯t have it easy. Success didn¡¯t come easy in this world.


    To be able to follow a powerhouse at the level of Lady Supreme Yin was indeed an opportunity for Wang Chan. If Wang Chan could control her abilities in the future, be it for Wang Chan herself or the entire Wang family, it would be an excellent outcome.


    ¡°By the way, when are you going to repay the debt you owe me? Don¡¯t just give me lip service every time, alright?¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Have you had dinner?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Not yet. Why? Do you want to treat me to dinner? You are still in Luoyang, so you won¡¯t make it in time, right?¡± As Wang Lu spoke, she suddenly heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I say not to call me over for dinner?¡± Wang Lu said in puzzlement.


    There was no answer from the door. The person outside continued knocking.


    ¡°I already said not today¡­¡± As Wang Lu spoke, she opened the door. Before she could finish her sentence, she was stunned. The person standing outside the door was Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be too late to treat you to dinner, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    After advancing to the Terror grade, the teleportation accuracy of Singularity Universe was much higher with the activation of The Disqualified. Typically, teleportation only had a deviation of twenty to thirty kilometers. Zhou Wen¡¯s luck was pretty good this time. He landed only a few kilometers away from Wang Lu¡¯s house, so he quickly rushed over with instant transmission.


    ¡°That depends on what you are treating me to. I¡¯m very picky,¡± Wang Lu said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do the cooking. It should be alright,¡± Zhou Wen said as he took out utensils and ingredients from the Chaos Bead.


    He set up a stove in the yard and quickly made a few dishes. He even took out the sake wine that An Sheng had prepared for him and decorated the dining table beautifully.


    Seeing Wang Lu walk over, Zhou Wen hurriedly went over and pulled out a chair for her.


    Wang Lu sat down and looked at the spread that Zhou Wen had meticulously prepared. She curled her lips and said, ¡°Speak. What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    ¡°How can there be anything the matter? I¡¯m just treating you to a meal,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to say it now, don¡¯t say it today. I don¡¯t like to hear nonsense while eating.¡± Wang Lu rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°Ahem. Actually, it¡¯s really nothing serious. I just haven¡¯t been very lucky recently. I keep failing at fusion when I¡¯m gaming. I want to rub off some good luck from you,¡± Zhou Wen said with a light cough.

 Chapter 1409 - I’m Not Your Tool

    Chapter 1409: I¡¯m Not Your Tool


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Dream¡­ On¡­¡± Wang Lu said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Just pretend I didn¡¯t say anything. Hurry up and eat.¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up.


    Over the past two days, Zhou Wen had finally obtained a Mutated Overlord Snake Companion Egg. An Sheng had also helped him collect some relatively suitable Companion Eggs.


    However, considering the low success rate from before, it was very difficult to fuse Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable with just one Mutated Overlord Snake.


    If he had Wang Lu¡¯s luck, the success rate would be much higher.


    However, if Wang Lu wasn¡¯t willing, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t force her. He would try fusing again when he returned.


    ¡°How¡¯s the Wang family¡¯s situation now? If you need help, just inform me.¡± Zhou Wen sat down opposite Wang Lu and uncapped the wine. He poured a glass for Wang Lu and one for himself.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem to survive, but the Wang family hasn¡¯t found a path that we can call our own. Standing at a fork in the road, we don¡¯t know how to proceed.¡± Wang Lu smiled and raised her wine glass, clinking it gently with Zhou Wen¡¯s. ¡°Cut the crap. How did you get on the rankings? Don¡¯t tell me you relied on Heavenly Robe.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve mastered a spatial circulation skill. The effects are similar to Heavenly Robe. It can prevent the Calamity-grade bullets from injuring me,¡± Zhou Wen answered truthfully.


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder you don¡¯t need my Invincible Lucky Star,¡± said Wang Lu.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t need it. After all, it¡¯s yours. How can I keep hoarding it? Besides, you have to keep safe. With the Invincible Lucky Star and Heavenly Robe, at least you won¡¯t be injured so easily in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Has the sun risen in the west? You are actually worried about me?¡± Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile.


    ¡°Of course. If anything happens to you, who can lend me their luck?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    If looks could kill, Zhou Wen would probably have been diced by Wang Lu¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°Go to hell. Don¡¯t come looking for me again. I¡¯m not your tool,¡± Wang Lu said through gritted teeth as she stood up angrily.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly went over to press down on her shoulders and made her sit down again.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be angry. I didn¡¯t mean that. Even if you don¡¯t have luck, I don¡¯t wish for you to be injured. Luck and whatnot are just a bonus. If you don¡¯t like it, you don¡¯t have to lend it to me,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly explained.


    ¡°Humph, that¡¯s more like it.¡± Only then did Wang Lu sit down and continue eating.


    The two of them chatted about what had happened during their school days and recalled their beautiful youth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mention using Wang Lu¡¯s luck again. He wasn¡¯t someone who liked to force things.


    ¡°Do you still have records of the debt?¡± Zhou Wen asked Wang Lu after the meal.


    ¡°It¡¯s all in my notebook. Don¡¯t even think about reneging on it.¡± Wang Lu took out a small notebook from her pocket and patted it smugly.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s strike off one using today¡¯s meal and I¡¯ll slowly repay the rest in the future. I have to return now.¡± Zhou Wen packed his things and prepared to return to Luoyang.


    He couldn¡¯t leave Luoyang for too long during An Tianzuo¡¯s absence.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to leave, Wang Lu stopped him.


    ¡°What?¡± Zhou Wen turned to look at Wang Lu.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it cloying to eat so much meat? Eat an apple to detox your stomach.¡± Wang Lu threw a clean apple at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like apples.¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t like apples.


    ¡°Eat it.¡± Wang Lu glared.


    ¡°Why are you glaring at me? I¡¯ll eat it, alright?¡± Zhou Wen took a bite. It was rather sweet. Zhou Wen waved his hand as he ate the apple. ¡°I¡¯m returning. I¡¯ll pay you back your meals another time.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be waiting.¡± Wang Lu smiled.


    Zhou Wen teleported back to Luoyang, but his luck wasn¡¯t good. He landed more than fifteen kilometers away. Thankfully, this distance was nothing to Zhou Wen. He quickly returned to Luoyang.


    Since I can¡¯t borrow Wang Lu¡¯s luck, I can only fuse them myself. However, I can¡¯t have too much hope. I just need to fuse Ever-Victorious or Unstoppable. I don¡¯t have any extravagant hopes of having both skills. Zhou Wen returned to his room and took out his phone before putting Tyrant Behemoth into the fusion column.


    Now, Tyrant Behemoth had four skills¡ªPenetration, Tearing, Armor Breaker, and Poison Fang. Apart from Poison Fang, the other three skills were good skills that could increase its destructive power.


    Let¡¯s see if I can fuse Unstoppable. Zhou Wen placed the Companion Egg on it.


    As he had two Unstoppable Companion Eggs thanks to An Sheng, he could try twice. If he failed to fuse Unstoppable, he could try Ever-Victorious next.


    Although he knew that the chances of both skills succeeding were very low, Zhou Wen still wanted to give it a try. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to give up.


    However, even if he failed this time, it would likely leave behind one of the skills. If he didn¡¯t fuse it with other Companion Eggs, he wouldn¡¯t have both skills wiped out.


    As the Unstoppable Companion Egg had three skills, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare guarantee that he could fuse Unstoppable on the first try. All he could do was try his luck.


    After tapping on fusion, Tyrant Behemoth and the Companion Egg lit up and fused together, leaving only Tyrant Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s skills and was immediately delighted. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s skill had an additional Unstoppable. The other skills didn¡¯t change. The Armor Breaker, Penetration, and Ripping that Zhou Wen needed hadn¡¯t been wiped out.


    I succeeded in one try. From the looks of it, my luck isn¡¯t bad. I have to strike while the iron is hot. Zhou Wen placed the Mutated Overlord Snake on it and clicked on the fusion.


    Zhou Wen felt a little uneasy. It probably wasn¡¯t easy to retain both skills. Furthermore, this Mutated Overlord Snake had two skills. Apart from Ever-Victorious, it also had a Bite skill.


    It felt like a useless skill. In theory, Bite might replace other skills, so there was still quite a risk.


    However, since he had the goods, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t feel at ease if he didn¡¯t give it a try.


    As the light lit up, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart hung higher and higher, almost jumping out of his throat.


    When the light dissipated, Tyrant Behemoth appeared again. From its appearance, it was no different from before.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at its information and his mouth gaped open.


    Armor Breaker, Penetration, Ripping, Poison Tooth, Biting, Ever-Victorious, Unstoppable. Zhou Wen counted several times. There was no mistake about it. There were a total of seven skills. Both Ever-Victorious and Unstoppable were present.


    It actually succeeded. There are even seven skills. Great! Zhou Wen nearly jumped up in joy as though he had eaten a ginseng fruit. He felt refreshed and indescribably comfortable.


    He hadn¡¯t succeeded despite all the fusions in the past. Now, not only had he succeeded, but he had also ended up with seven skills. Although Poison Fang and Bite didn¡¯t seem to be of much use, they were better than nothing.


    Should I try fusing a bloodline again? With everything going so smoothly today, Zhou Wen was eyeing the bloodline function again.. If he succeeded, he could allow Tyrant Behemoth to have two Life Providences.


    1

 Chapter 1410 - The Great Tyrant Behemoth

    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s Life Providence gave it immense strength, augmenting it greatly. It was very compatible with Tyrant Behemoth who had Absolute Strength.


    Zhou Wen was wondering what Life Providence he should add to Tyrant Behemoth if he could make it have dual Life Providences.


    He wondered whether to add an offensive Life Providence, a defensive Life Providence, or a support-type Life Providence.


    If it was a defensive-type, Life Providences like Undying Body and Unbreakable were very useful. If one could be obtained, it would be of great help to Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s survivability.


    However, the owners of these two Life Providences were Zhou Wen¡¯s main Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to use them as bloodline materials for Tyrant Behemoth.


    It was fine if he succeeded, but if he failed, it would be a huge loss.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could only choose low-level Companion Beasts as fodder. Life Providences of low-level Companion Beasts weren¡¯t necessarily bad. In fact, many low-level Companion Beasts had very powerful Life Providences. It was only because their levels were too low that they couldn¡¯t showcase their true might.


    For example, the Mutated Overlord Snake¡¯s Born Overlord was a very powerful Life Providence. It augmented one¡¯s physique, especially their strength.


    Tyrant Behemoth was a Strength-type Companion Beast. If it had the Life Providence of Born Overlord, its Strength would probably be off the charts.


    There was also the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell¡¯s Mountain River Absorption. Coupled with a glutton like Tyrant Behemoth, it would be rather impressive. However, during the fusion process, Zhou Wen had wiped out Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s default Mountain Consuming skill. Otherwise, it would be a pretty good choice.


    Apart from that, there was Primordial Spore¡¯s Eternal Immortality and the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s Extreme Might, Extreme Strength Life Providence¡ªboth extremely powerful Life Providences.


    However, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t bear to use these rare Companion Beasts as supplementary material. They were unique existences that would probably be difficult to find after fusing them.


    I should check all of my low-level Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen looked through all the low-level Companion Beasts he had obtained and saw quite a number of powerful Life Providences, but there weren¡¯t many that were compatible with Tyrant Behemoth.


    After some choosing, Zhou Wen still felt that Born Overlord or Mountain River Absorption were most suitable.


    However, Zhou Wen had used all the Mutated Overlord Snake Companion Beasts for skill fusion. He didn¡¯t have any on hand. Instead, he had the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell. As its level was relatively low, it was useless now.


    I¡¯ll try using the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell. After all, the success rate of the bloodline function is very low. If I fail, I¡¯ll farm Mutated Overlord Snakes in the future. Zhou Wen found the Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell and placed it in the Bloodline fusion column as a material before clicking on ¡®fuse.¡¯


    The Yin-Yang Purple Air Bell immediately transformed into a ball of light that flew towards Tyrant Behemoth and fused into its body.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much hope because he had previously attempted the Bloodline function many times to no avail. Today, he was just taking advantage of his good luck and was happy to give it a try.


    System Notice: Tyrant Behemoth has successfully fused a bloodline. Obtained Life Providence: Mountain River Devouring. Activated Tyrant Behemoth Bloodline. Obtained Talent Skill: Mountain Devouring. Obtained Talent Skill: Rampage. Obtained Talent Skill: Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. After a while, he reacted and hurriedly opened Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s information.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength, Mountain River Absorption


    Life Soul: Violent Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Strength


    Terror Form: Tyrant


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming, Rampage, Behemoth, Armor Breaker, Penetration, Ripping, Poison Fang, Bite, Ever-Victorious, Unstoppable.


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    This¡­ This is way too strong¡­ Zhou Wen was so happy that he couldn¡¯t close his mouth.


    With ten skills and two Life Providences, Tyrant Behemoth was now a unique excellent-grade Companion Beast. It was almost impossible for it to exist in reality.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait to know how powerful Tyrant Behemoth was.


    After opening the Yang City dungeon and entering the game, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let Tyrant Behemoth turn into a glove and instead had it appear in its original form.


    A hundred-meter-long snake Blood Spirit rushed out of a blood bone temple. Tyrant Behemoth took a step forward and its body instantly became as huge as a mountain. Its claws extended out like lightning and grabbed the snake¡¯s neck.


    The originally gigantic snake body was like a loach in Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s claw. No matter how it struggled, it couldn¡¯t escape.


    The snake¡¯s body wrapped around Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s arm. Tyrant Behemoth used all its strength to snap the snake¡¯s bones, separating the snake¡¯s head from its body.


    Way too violent! With a thought from Zhou Wen, sword beams shot out and struck many blood bone temples like a storm. Immediately, hundreds of Terror-grade Blood Spirits roared and charged out.


    Among the Blood Spirits were many primordial behemoths. They were huge, but in front of Tyrant Behemoth in its behemoth form, they didn¡¯t seem big at all.


    It was as though some ordinary behemoths were attacking a behemoth king. Tyrant Behemoth looked like a super boss no matter how one looked at it.


    Zhou Wen watched as Tyrant Behemoth tore the Blood Spirits into pieces with a swipe of its claws. It swallowed several Blood Spirits with a single mouthful. Such a boss-like demeanor made him have the urge to fight the boss and loot whatever drops he had.


    Despite both being at the Terror grade, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s suppression of the Blood Spirits was like a Calamity-grade suppression of a Terror-grade creature. It looked like a creature on a completely different level.


    This fellow is too powerful! My luck is so good today. I should try it again! Zhou Wen got Tyrant Behemoth to kill the Blood Spirit while he activated the Bloodline function. He wanted to see if he could fuse Prisoned Dragon¡¯s Life Providence.


    Prisoned Dragon had the Unbreakable Life Providence. If he gave it a Life Providence like Vajra Body, its defense would definitely rise to a whole new level.


    Zhou Wen used the Vajra Malla as material and used the Bloodline function on Prisoned Dragon.


    ¡®Bloodline fusion failed¡­ Bloodline fusion failed¡­ Bloodline fusion failed¡­¡¯


    Zhou Wen tried several times and used up all the Vajra Malla Companion Beasts he had, but he failed to succeed.


    Why is my luck gone just like that! Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    Tyrant Behemoth was surrounded by hordes of Blood Spirits. As it was too large, it couldn¡¯t deal with every angle. Many Blood Spirits pounced on it and bit it.


    Zhou Wen was just about to help Tyrant Behemoth when he suddenly saw a sanguine glow emit from Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body. A blood-colored crown appeared on its head as it opened its mouth and sucked at its surroundings.


    The surrounding Blood Spirits were sucked into its bottomless mouth. Without even chewing, it swallowed them.


    Sick! Despite being at the same Terror grade, Zhou Wen felt that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s destructive power was more powerful than his.

 Chapter 1411 - Drop Galore

    Chapter 1411: Drop Galore


    Translator: CKtalon


    Finally, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s killing alarmed the Kui in the stone temple. The stone temple¡¯s door opened as the Kui lay inside and opened its mouth to roar at Tyrant Behemoth.


    Rumble!


    Tyrant Behemoth opened its mouth and wanted to rush forward to devour the Kui, but unfortunately, before it could reach it, its body was struck by the thunderclap-like roar. Blood gushed out as all the bones in its body constantly shattered.


    Just as it reached the front of the stone temple, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body exploded. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere¡ªit ultimately failed to withstand the Kui¡¯s sonar wave attack.


    After all, it¡¯s still a Terror-grade body. Compared to a true Calamity-grade, its physical strength and defense are much weaker. However, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s offensive strength should be infinitely close to the Calamity grade. In its boxing glove form, it should have a chance of killing the Kui. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t depressed about Tyrant Behemoth not being Kui¡¯s match.


    He directly used a drop of blood to respawn and revive Tyrant Behemoth in-game before entering Yang City again. This time, Zhou Wen made Tyrant Behemoth turn into the boxing glove.


    A black boxing glove wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s palm. To his surprise, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s boxing glove form had changed. It was somewhat different from before.


    In the past, there were two ox horn-like spikes at the front of the fist, but now, there were four spikes. However, they had become much smaller and extended out from the joints like four tusks.


    When Zhou Wen punched, the four tusks would stab into the enemy¡¯s body first.


    Furthermore, the tusks were black-red in color and looked like they contained poison. It was likely caused by the Poison Fang skill.


    Zhou Wen stormed all the way in and stirred the Kui again. It roared from the stone temple, but unfortunately, it couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen. With the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation protecting him, even the terrifying sonar wave attack was trapped in the looping space, preventing it from reaching Zhou Wen.


    After the Kui came out of the stone temple, Zhou Wen took the opportunity to instant transmit onto its back while it roared, striking at its neck with the Tyrant boxing glove.


    Typical creatures had harder skulls, but their necks were relatively weak. With Zhou Wen¡¯s punch, the four tusks at the front of the Tyrant¡¯s boxing glove tore through the Kui¡¯s hide and stabbed into its flesh.


    ¡°Roar!¡± Kui let out a painful cry as it unleashed a sonic attack.


    Zhou Wen had already instant transmitted into the distance. After the Kui¡¯s sound wave passed, he teleported behind it and threw another punch at its neck.


    Bang! Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed as he constantly vanished and appeared around the Kui. The fist wrapped in the Tyrant boxing glove struck the Kui¡¯s neck again and again.


    Although the Kui constantly released sound waves, it couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen with the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation around. All it could do was passively take a beating.


    In a certain sense, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was far better than the Heavenly Robe¡¯s dodging. The Heavenly Robe could only dodge single-target attacks, but the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation could even block area-of-effect attacks.


    However, if the strength exceeded the limits of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, then it wouldn¡¯t be as effective as Heavenly Robe¡¯s 100% dodging. There were pros and cons.


    The Tyrant boxing glove¡¯s offensive strength could indeed injure the Kui, but it wasn¡¯t easy to kill it with a few punches.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that with the Kui¡¯s self-healing ability, it would take more time to kill it, but he soon realized that the wound caused by the tusks constantly bled black blood. The Kui¡¯s self-healing ability seemed to have been greatly reduced. Its self-healing speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the injuries Zhou Wen caused.


    The Kui¡¯s neck was riddled with holes. Many of its bones had already fractured. In its rage, it roared at the sky, sending sound waves through the entire Yang City dimensional zone.


    It was still unable to break through Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. After it roared, Zhou Wen instant transmitted behind it and punched the back of its mangled neck.


    Crack!


    The Kui¡¯s neck, which had already fractured in many places, couldn¡¯t withstand it any longer. Its head drooped down.


    Even so, the Kui wasn¡¯t dead. It jumped up with its single leg in a rage, wanting to slam into Zhou Wen with its body.


    Unfortunately, it couldn¡¯t even touch Zhou Wen when it was perfectly fine, much less with its neck broken. It couldn¡¯t even make a sound.


    Zhou Wen constantly instant transmitted and attacked. After more than half an hour, the Kui¡¯s body finally collapsed. Then, there was a tinkling sound as several crystals dropped.


    Holy sh*t! Drop galore! Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed.


    Zhou Wen roughly scanned the area and saw Essence Energy Crystals, Constitution Crystals, and Strength Crystals. Furthermore, their values exceeded a hundred. One of the crystals with the Kui shadow was the most eye-catching.


    Unfortunately, no Companion Egg dropped. Zhou Wen picked up the Kui skill crystal, but he didn¡¯t pick it up himself. Instead, he got Tyrant Behemoth to take form and absorb the stat crystals.


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s stats were 82. After absorbing one Essence Energy, Constitution, and Strength Crystal, its stats reached 99. Only its Speed stat was not maxed out.


    With Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s stats increased, its offensive strength would increase. It would be beneficial for Zhou Wen when killing Calamity creatures in the future.


    There was only one Essence Energy Crystal left on the ground. After Zhou Wen absorbed it, his Strength stat reached 99. Like Tyrant Behemoth, he was unable to break three digits.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to study the Kui skill crystal, but he realized that there was something else on the ground. It was a black-and-white stone. It wasn¡¯t eye-catching and there were words on it: Samsara Stone.


    The Samsara Stone has finally appeared! Only then did Zhou Wen recall that there was another Samsara function in-game. However, as he hadn¡¯t obtained a Samsara Stone, he didn¡¯t know what it was for.


    After studying the information on the Samsara Stone, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd.


    The Samsara Stone can only send Companion Beasts back to their Companion Egg form, but what¡¯s the point? It wasn¡¯t easy for me to nurture a Companion Beast. If I were to return it to its Companion Egg form, wouldn¡¯t I have to nurture it again? It would be a complete waste of time and energy. Zhou Wen looked at the Samsara Stone in his hand and was momentarily at a loss.


    Since he couldn¡¯t take out the items in-game, and refreshing the instance dungeon would wipe out the item, the Samsara Stone would probably disappear if he didn¡¯t use it now.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for a Samsara Stone to drop. I have to give it a try. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and planned on trying with an unimportant Companion Beast. Apart from turning a Companion Beast back into a Companion Egg state, what other uses did the Samsara Stone have?


    Zhou Wen looked at his Companion Beasts and chose one to have the Samsara Stone. After the Companion Beast ate the Samsara Stone, its body immediately emitted a black-and-white glow.. Like a distorted vortex, it sucked in the Companion Beast¡¯s body and quickly shrank into a Companion Egg.

 Chapter 1412 - Tripod Cauldron

    Chapter 1412: Tripod Cauldron


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen originally had plans of trying it out with a random Companion Beast, but considering how difficult it was to receive the Samsara Stone as a drop, it didn¡¯t seem right for it to be used on trash. After some thought, he found a relatively useful Companion Beast¡ªGreat Mighty Vajra Bull¡ªto experiment with.


    After the Great Might Vajra Bull turned into a Companion Egg, Zhou Wen looked at its stats.


    Great Vajra Bull: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Great Might Divine Horns, Fury of Thunder, Infallible Vajra, Buddha Flames.


    Companion Form: Mount


    Although the Great Might Vajra Bull was at the Mythical stage, it didn¡¯t have any evolvable attributes. Now that it has an evolvable attribute, it has a chance of breaking through to the Mythical stage in the future. So this is the effect of the Samsara Stone. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that this might not only be the sole effect of the Samsara Stone. Perhaps there were other effects that weren¡¯t apparent to him yet. After all, the Great Might Vajra Bull had been reduced to the Mortal stage. There were still plenty of unknowns.


    However, a Mortal Companion Beast with four skills was considered one of the best at the Mortal stage.


    After hatching the Great Might Vajra Bull again, Zhou Wen began studying the Kui skill crystal.


    Kui Crystal: Requires music-type Terror transformation ability, Essence Energy 99, Constitution 99.


    This wasn¡¯t a high requirement, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any music-type Terror transformation ability. He remembered that music-type skills in the past required spatial abilities. Why did the Kui only require music-type abilities? This made him lose the possibility of absorbing it.


    Although he couldn¡¯t bear to part with the skill crystal, Zhou Wen had no choice but to throw it away since he couldn¡¯t absorb it.


    In any case, he already had the ability to kill the Kui. He still had a chance of getting it in the future, so he didn¡¯t feel the pinch.


    After packing up, Zhou Wen walked towards the stone temple.


    With Yang City being so strange, it was definitely not an ordinary dimensional zone. Perhaps there was some peerless treasure.


    If there was really any treasure, it was probably in the stone temple. The other places were all blood bone temples.


    When he arrived in front of the stone temple, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation around Zhou Wen activated. He stood at the door and looked inside.


    The decorations in the ancient temple were very simple¡ªstone platforms and stone tables. The accessories and objects inside were basically all stone.


    However, there was a bronze tripod cauldron on the stone platform that looked out of place with the surrounding stone tools.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the bronze tripod cauldron and saw that there were patterns of mountains and beasts engraved on it. The mountains and beasts looked familiar as though he had seen them somewhere before.


    Could this thing be a Nine Province Tripod? Zhou Wen thought of the legend regarding Yu the Great.


    After Yu the Great controlled the waters, he established the first hereditary dynasty in the history of the East District, Xia, so Yu the Great was also known as King Yu of the Xia Dynasty.


    All the vassals fought to present their gifts and gathered all the bronze in the world, bringing them to Yang City. Yu the Great melted all the bronze in the world into one furnace and forged the Nine Province Tripods, completing an unprecedented achievement.


    This was Yang City. There was another bronze tripod cauldron in the stone temple. Furthermore, according to what Zhou Wen knew, every Nine Province Tripod had the famous mountains and rivers of the state engraved on it. They were mutated beasts and birds.


    The symbols on the bronze tripod cauldron looked rather familiar. It was likely famous landscapes and beasts. However, due to the abstract carvings, Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to put his finger on them.


    However, there were nine Nine Province Tripods. Zhou Wen searched the stone temple a few times, but there was only one tripod cauldron. He didn¡¯t find any of the other eight.


    If it¡¯s really the Nine Province Tripod, it should be a huge treasure! Zhou Wen carefully walked into the ancient temple with the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation activated.


    Truth Listener constantly scanned the stone temple, but it didn¡¯t discover anything abnormal. Zhou Wen circled the temple with the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, but he didn¡¯t trigger any danger.


    Strange. Is there only one Calamity-grade Kui in Yang City? Zhou Wen was very suspicious.


    Although the Calamity-grade Kui was very strong, Yu the Great had once killed many monsters from the Classic of Mountains and Seas. There were so many Blood Spirits and this was his lair. There shouldn¡¯t be only one Calamity-grade creature guarding it.


    I remember now. It¡¯s said that King Xia of the Yu Dynasty moved the capital out of Yang City. Could it be that the other eight tripod cauldrons were also moved away? Only this tripod cauldron and a guarding Kui were left behind? Zhou Wen guessed as he reached out to touch the bronze tripod cauldron.


    Regardless of whether the bronze tripod was a Nine Province Tripod, it was definitely extraordinary for it to appear in such a place and be consecrated in the stone temple.


    Zhou Wen carefully touched the bronze tripod cauldron, but when his fingertip reached it, he didn¡¯t touch anything. His fingertip went through it.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he realized what was happening. He extended his hand and touched the bronze tripod cauldron a few more times, but the bronze tripod cauldron was like a phantom. He swept his arm randomly, but he couldn¡¯t touch it at all.


    This bronze tripod cauldron is likely the same as the Fire God Platform¡¯s stone saber. Only in reality can I touch it. Zhou Wen looked at the bronze tripod cauldron with a complicated expression.


    Zhou Wen had seen a few similar things before. They were all extraordinary things. Even The Thearch wanted the stone saber on Fire God Platform. Unfortunately, no one could pull it out.


    Zhou Wen could only pull out the stone saber after cultivating the Human Sovereign Sutra. Without cultivating the Human Sovereign Sutra, no matter how strong he was, it was impossible for him to pull it out.


    Although I know that these things are treasures, they should be things that hold down a dimensional zone. If I really take them away, I¡¯m afraid it will immediately cause chaos, Zhou Wen thought.


    He even wondered that if he really took away the bronze tripod cauldron, would the blood bone temples in Yang City result in the revival of real Classic of Mountains and Seas creatures? If that was the case, anyone would die upon contact. Ignoring Luoyang, the entire Federation would be doomed.


    A real Classic of Mountains and Seas creature was definitely not something those Blood Spirits could compare with.


    Forget it. It¡¯s best I don¡¯t cause trouble. Zhou Wen gave up on the idea of heading to Yang City in real life to retrieve the tripod cauldron. He circled the stone temple a few more times and didn¡¯t find anything good. All he could do was leave Yang City and continue grinding other dungeons.


    ¡­


    In a hall in the Holy Land, many Saints knelt on the ground. On the throne in the hall sat a figure wearing holy armor. Holy light surrounded him, making him look like a holy god.


    However, the helmet and visor covered his face, preventing anyone from seeing his face. They could only sense his holiness and strength, making them involuntarily prostrate themselves in worship.


    ¡°The Venusian Companion Beast must belong to the Holy Land. Who is willing to bring it back?¡± the holy powerhouse swept his gaze at the Saints and said indifferently.


    ¡°We are willing to go.¡± All the Saints looked up and requested to be deployed. Only one Saint remained kneeling there with his head lowered without a word.


    ¡°Xiao, are you unwilling?¡± Holy God¡¯s gaze landed on the Saint as he asked with interest.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m unwilling, but I¡¯m unable to do so.¡± Xiao had his head lowered, but his tone was neither obsequious nor supercilious.


    ¡°If I say you can, you can.¡± Holy God got up and walked down the jade platform. He came in front of Xiao and extended his right palm. He placed it in front of Xiao and said, ¡°Do you believe me?¡±


    ¡°I believe you.¡± Xiao looked up with a firm gaze. He extended his right hand and placed it on Holy God¡¯s palm.


    A strange light rose between their palms.

 Chapter 1413 - Tai Sui God

    Chapter 1413: Tai Sui God


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen held a metal ball in his hand and was taking pictures with his phone.


    This metal ball was a reward that flew out of the Golden Palace after he cleared the Venusian dimensional zone. It was said to be a Companion Egg.


    However, when Zhou Wen attempted to hatch it, there was no reaction at all. He used his phone to snap a picture, but there was no reaction. He couldn¡¯t store it in-game, nor could he see its information.


    Is this thing really a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious.


    However, it was said that every creature that cleared the dungeon obtained a metal ball. Only the metal ball obtained by the final victor was the Venusian Companion Beast.


    Although the other metal balls would also hatch Companion Beasts, there was no guarantee of their levels and qualities. They might have decent levels, but they might also be very low-level Companion Beasts.


    If this is really a Companion Egg, it¡¯s impossible for the mysterious phone to not react to it. Furthermore, it was obtained from getting first place. It¡¯s just the difference in order. It should be difficult for Venus to tell who will get first in the end. It so happens that I can give him the Venusian Companion Egg¡­ After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that the metal ball was likely not a Companion Egg but a carrier. Only when it determined who was first would Venus inject the true strongest Companion Beast into one of the metal balls.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess.


    After putting away the metal ball, Zhou Wen was about to grind when he suddenly felt a strange heat coming from his body. After carefully sensing it, he realized that the heat was from Tai Sui.


    Tai Sui has advanced? Zhou Wen was delighted. On careful look, it had indeed completed its evolution.


    Using his phone to look at Tai Sui¡¯s information, it had advanced to the Terror grade.


    Tai Sui: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Clashing Tai Sui


    Life Soul: Twelve Tai Sui Gods


    Wheel of Destiny: Longevity Seed


    Terror Form: Tai Sui God


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Earth Escape


    Companion Form: Mimicry


    Apart from another Terror transformation, there didn¡¯t seem to be much of a change.


    When he summoned Tai Sui, it was still white and tender. It was like a white rubber ball as it rolled around on the ground and bounced around. People who didn¡¯t know better would think that it was a toy ball for children. They would never expect it to be a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    Tai Sui¡¯s defense isn¡¯t bad and its self-healing ability is excellent, but its offensive strength is too weak. Apart from having a strong restraining effect on microorganisms, it doesn¡¯t have much lethality against slightly bigger creatures. Could this Tai Sui God skill be targeted at microorganisms? Zhou Wen ordered Tai Sui to use its Terror transformation ability.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what was different about the Terror-form Tai Sui, he saw its body emit a golden glow.


    How blinding! Even Zhou Wen had no choice but to cover his eyes with his hand. The light was just too blinding.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, From the looks of it, Tai Sui will undergo a huge change after it transforms into its Terror form. Don¡¯t tell me it will directly take human form? What will it look like if it transforms into a human form? From its original appearance, it should look fair and chubby when it transforms into a human. Perhaps it¡¯s a fatty¡­ That¡¯s not right. Its Terror transformation is Tai Sui God. To be called a god, it should be an extremely mighty existence, right? From the golden light, it might be a handsome god in golden armor¡­


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, the golden light over Tai Sui¡¯s body gradually dimmed. Soon, it completely vanished, revealing Tai Sui¡¯s true body.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and nearly vomited blood. Tai Sui was still as white and fat as before. Ignoring the fact that it hadn¡¯t transformed into a human, its size hadn¡¯t changed at all.


    Zhou Wen circled Tai Sui a few times before finally discovering a golden symbol on its body. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t recognize the symbol. It felt like a musical note, but it wasn¡¯t completely the same.


    Attack! After entering Chess Mountain¡¯s instance dungeon, Zhou Wen got Tai Sui to attack. He wanted to see what changes there would be after the Terror transformation.


    Although its appearance hadn¡¯t changed much, it might have become very powerful internally. The golden symbol might be able to shoot out terrifying lasers or something.


    Upon receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s order, Tai Sui immediately jumped up with all its might and charged at the group of fake immortals in Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Tai Sui bounced off the fake immortals one by one with great might. Its speed was really fast. It bounced several times on each fake immortal like it was a billiard ball.


    Zhou Wen watched Tai Sui bounce back as the fake immortals stood there motionless. He thought to himself, Could it be that Tai Sui has gained a strange offensive power after advancing? It can kill others in bizarre ways. They will be killed as long as they touch it? In that case, I¡¯ve made a killing.


    As he was in thought, the fake immortals suddenly moved. They weren¡¯t dead at all.


    Not only did they not die, but they also became even more ferocious. They cried out as though they had gone berserk and charged at Tai Sui.


    Bam!


    One of the fake immortals kicked Tai Sui away.


    Holy sh*t¡­ What the hell¡­ Not only has it not become stronger¡­ Why do I feel like it has become weaker¡­ Those fake immortals are only fox demons or chicken spirits. They are at most at the Mythical stage¡­ Zhou Wen nearly blew a gasket.


    He originally hoped that Tai Sui could undergo a qualitative transformation after advancing to the Terror grade and become an important combat force for him, but to his surprise, this fellow became weaker after the evolution. He couldn¡¯t even defeat some ordinary lesser demons.


    Great! Zhou Wen killed the fake immortals in Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    However, Zhou Wen still discovered some problems. The combat strength of these fake immortals seemed to be much stronger than before. This was new.


    Could it be that Tai Sui¡¯s Terror transformation has the effect of augmenting one¡¯s combat strength? But why would this effect augment the enemy? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Thankfully, although Tai Sui¡¯s offensive strength wasn¡¯t very good, its body was indeed top-notch at the Terror grade. It wasn¡¯t injured at all after being kicked out. It quickly bounced back.


    Zhou Wen got the blood-colored avatar to touch Tai Sui, hoping to see if it really had the ability to enhance one¡¯s combat strength. If it could enhance one¡¯s combat strength, it would make for very good support.


    When the blood-colored avatar touched Tai Sui, it immediately felt a strange force augment its body. The feeling was indescribable as though a god had possessed it.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to charge into Deer Terrace Pavilion and casually killed the group of fake immortals, Nine-Headed Pheasant Spirit, and Lute Spirit. He felt that his Speed, Strength, and other aspects had been greatly augmented. Even his skills had become ferocious, making him twice as strong as usual.


    Tai Sui¡¯s ability actually augments every aspect.. That¡¯s very powerful! Zhou Wen went from sadness to joy as he couldn¡¯t stop smiling.


    1

 Chapter 1414 - Tai Sui Symbol

    Chapter 1414: Tai Sui Symbol


    Translator: CKtalon


    Tai Sui¡¯s ability can enhance skills and even Terror transformation abilities. Even Companion Beast equipment on me has been augmented. Under such circumstances, my Speed and Strength are comparable to a Calamity-grade. Can I use Tai Sui¡¯s strength to kill the Venusian Calamity? Zhou Wen felt that he was really about to take off and soar.


    With Tai Sui¡¯s powerful augmentation ability, he could fight a Calamity-grade creature head-on. He might not be at a disadvantage.


    With the augmentation of Tai Sui and The Disqualified, Zhou Wen could even instant transmit seamlessly. The chances of finding the Calamity creature in the Venusian instance dungeon were much higher.


    The so-called seamless instant transmission was actually a skill that had virtually zero casting time. By continuously instant transmitting, he could almost constantly be in a state of instant transmission. It was impossible for others to attack Zhou Wen as they couldn¡¯t lock onto his location or even see him.


    If the Calamity creature couldn¡¯t see him and he could quickly instant transmit to find the target, there was a high chance of finding the Calamity creature.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen had just grinded the Venusian instance dungeon and ended up dying. All he could do was wait for the Venusian instance dungeon to respawn tomorrow.


    1


    ¡°My dear Tai Sui, you¡¯re really outstanding.¡± Zhou Wen raised the fair and fat Tai Sui and felt blissful. With Tai Sui by his side, he really didn¡¯t think much of ordinary Calamity-grade creatures.


    To be safe, Zhou Wen led Tai Sui into Deer Terrace Pavilion again. He wanted to try a few more times to prevent any miscalculations.


    Tai Sui¡¯s ability was really impressive. Zhou Wen killed all the way. The Terror-grade creature that he needed to expend some effort to kill was instantly killed. The thrill left Zhou Wen somewhat mesmerized.


    However, when he came to the four generals of the Mo family and activated them, even with Tai Sui¡¯s augmentation, the blood-colored avatar was quickly killed.


    Although he had the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation protecting him, after the four statues were activated, thousands of pearl beads shot out from the umbrella the Demonized General opened like a vortex, filling the entire space. The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was actually affected and couldn¡¯t circulate normally.


    Then, Zhou Wen was ganked and killed. These four fellows were all Calamity-grade existences, and they were top-notch ones. Any one of them had very special abilities that made Zhou Wen envious. He wished he could kill them all and have Companion Eggs drop.


    It¡¯s no wonder The Thearch got me to steal the pearl instead. These four fellows are indeed ferocious. Zhou Wen had previously stolen the beads from the umbrella. Back then, he didn¡¯t know that they were so ferocious.


    He couldn¡¯t defeat the four generals of the Mo family for the time being, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any intention of targeting them. He still focused on killing the Calamity creature on Venus.


    As long as he could kill the Calamity creature, a Calamity Companion Beast would drop sooner or later. When the time came, with the sure-kill seventh bullet, he could sneak an attack on the four Mo family generals from afar.


    As long as I obtain the Companion Beast on Venus, it will be much easier to kill a Calamity creature. Although Zhou Wen also had his sights on the Kui, nothing dropped.


    After respawning, Zhou Wen grinded other dungeons before sleeping. When he woke up, the Venusian instance dungeon had already refreshed.


    After killing me so many times, it¡¯s time for me to kill him. Zhou Wen led Tai Sui into the Venusian instance dungeon and made it undergo Terror transformation.


    As a golden light flashed, Tai Sui entered a Terror state as the golden symbol appeared on its body.


    Filled with confidence, Zhou Wen wiped out the Metal Guards with a wave of his hand. He wasn¡¯t in a rush to use the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. After all, with Tai Sui¡¯s augmentation, he could set it up almost instantly. There was no need to prepare in advance. This was what Zhou Wen was most satisfied with.


    When the Golden Battle God appeared, Zhou Wen wanted to kill it with a wave of his hand, but he suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t paid much attention due to his excitement. Now that he had summoned Sword Pill to kill the Golden Battle God, he realized that his summoning speed was much slower.


    Bang!


    The Golden Battle God¡¯s bullet shot out. Zhou Wen wanted to dodge, but his actions were much slower. He failed to dodge and was hit by the bullet.


    What was even more unbelievable was that with his physique, it was fine even if he took a shot head-on. It was impossible for the freezing bullet to freeze his body.


    However, when the freezing bullet struck the blood-colored avatar, it froze his body, preventing him from moving.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Golden Battle God continued firing as freezing bullets struck the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body. Finally, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body shattered into pieces as the game screen went black.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he felt extremely humiliated.


    He could kill the Golden Battle God even before he advanced to the Terror grade. Now that he had advanced to the Terror grade, he had been killed by the Golden Battle God. It was a great humiliation.


    Tai Sui¡­ is problematic¡­ Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive. He launched the game again and carefully looked at Tai Sui.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that after Tai Sui transformed into its Terror form, the golden symbol on its body was different from yesterday¡¯s. It looked very similar, but it was indeed different.


    Zhou Wen tried a few more times and indeed, he realized that the problem was with Tai Sui. After touching it, not only was he not augmented, but his body was greatly weakened. In a head-on clash, he couldn¡¯t even defeat ordinary Terror-grade creatures.


    He got Tai Sui to exit its Terror form before using it again. This time, there was no golden light, and it was the same symbol.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a long time before finally discovering that the symbol on Tai Sui wasn¡¯t fixed. After twenty-four hours, the symbol on Tai Sui changed when it used the Terror transformation ability again.


    The symbol that appeared this time was different from the previous two times. After Zhou Wen touched them, he wasn¡¯t augmented or weakened. However, no matter what dimensional creature he killed, none of them dropped dimensional crystals, much less Companion Eggs.


    ¡°Bro, are you kidding me? Tell me honestly. How many of those crappy symbols do you have? Quickly give me the first one,¡± Zhou Wen threatened Tai Sui.


    Tai Sui continued bouncing around, unable to understand Zhou Wen.


    1


    Zhou Wen was exasperated. Before figuring out how many symbols Tai Sui had and what effects came with each symbol, he didn¡¯t dare touch them.


    As Zhou Wen was studying Tai Sui, the Cube lit up again. The scene of Venus appeared as someone challenged the Venusian dimensional zone.


    This time, it was really a person. Zhou Wen immediately recognized the person when he saw him. It was Saint Xiao, but the present Xiao seemed to be different from the Xiao he had seen previously.


    Xiao emitted a holy aura, as though he was a saint who had just had his soul cleansed.

 Chapter 1415 - Unique

    Chapter 1415: Unique


    Translator: CKtalon


    Xiao is the representative of the Holy Land. Since he¡¯s appearing in the Venusian dimensional zone, he will definitely be able to clear it. However, I wonder what method he will use. Zhou Wen guessed how Xiao would clear the Venusian dimensional zone.


    In theory, Xiao was only at the Terror grade. Only by using some special techniques could he clear the level.


    However, the Holy Land was not to be trifled with. It was the only place on Earth that wasn¡¯t bound by Earth¡¯s rules. The powerhouses of the dimension could freely control their powers there.


    Although they didn¡¯t dare leave the Holy Land, the help they could give the saints was beyond what the typical person could imagine.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. The various factions were also paying attention to every move the Holy Land made.


    After all, the Holy Land was the first faction to rule Earth. Although the six families¡¯ overt opposition and open strife made the Holy Land lose absolute control of Earth, no one dared to underestimate the Holy Land¡¯s influence on Earth.


    The six families that had gradually escaped the Holy Land¡¯s control still didn¡¯t dare to openly say that they had betrayed the Holy Land. From this, one could tell how terrifying the Holy Land was.


    Now, everyone wanted to know how much strength and influence the Holy Land had on Earth without the support of the six families.


    Under the attention of everyone, Xiao entered the Venusian dimensional zone.


    The Metal Guard that appeared in the beginning was naturally nothing to a powerhouse at Xiao¡¯s level. No one believed that the Metal Guard could deal any damage to Xiao. What people really wanted to see was how Xiao could fend off the Calamity-grade bullet.


    However, what happened next surprised many people.


    The Metal Guard didn¡¯t attack Xiao. It seemed to stand there in a daze.


    Xiao watched as the Metal Guard did nothing, but the Metal Guard suddenly aimed its gun at itself.


    Da! Da! Da! Da!


    The Metal Guard riddled its body with holes.


    ¡°Body control or mind control?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°The Metal Guard¡¯s body didn¡¯t look like it was under control. It¡¯s more likely to be a mind-control technique,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng.


    ¡°No.¡± An Sheng shook his head with a bitter smile. ¡°Let¡¯s watch and see. Perhaps we can find some clues.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu and Zhang Yuzhi from the Zhang family were also discussing this problem, but they didn¡¯t have an answer.


    In fact, the various factions were also studying and analyzing the situation, but they had no results.


    Hordes of Metal Guards rushed out, but they only rushed out without shooting at Xiao.


    Following that, the Metal Guards raised their guns and aimed them at themselves. Soon, they succeeded in killing themselves and dropped metal fragments on the ground.


    After the Golden Battle Gods rushed out, Zhou Wen originally imagined that Xiao wouldn¡¯t clear them so easily, but the Golden Battle Gods raised their guns and committed suicide once again.


    The entire Federation was in an uproar.


    ¡°Who is this person? Why haven¡¯t I seen him before? He¡¯s just too powerful.¡±


    ¡°This is sick. His opponent committed suicide without him even moving his hand. Is he a god?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, he seems to be stronger than Immortal, Tsukuyomi, and Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s still too early to say that he¡¯s strong. It¡¯s nothing to make the Golden Battle God commit suicide. It will be truly impressive if he can make that Calamity-grade creature commit suicide.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. The typical citizen only knew that Xiao showed a strong performance, but no one could tell how strong he was.


    However, when the various factions saw the Golden Battle Gods commit suicide, they jumped in fright. Their expressions turned nasty.


    Those who were truly knowledgeable were alarmed at the strength that could make Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods commit suicide.


    One had to realize that other than Immortal, the strongest combat strength among humans now was at the Terror grade. If Terror-grade creatures would commit suicide when they saw Xiao, Xiao alone could probably destroy all the factions.


    ¡°He can¡¯t be that strong, right? There must be a limit,¡± Xia Xuanyue said as she looked at the Cube¡¯s screen in surprise.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t seem to have any restrictions.¡± Xia Liuchuan also frowned.


    Now, the Holy Land¡¯s control over the various families was weakening. It wasn¡¯t just the Xia family. The six families were deliberately or unintentionally trying to completely escape the Holy Land¡¯s control over them.


    However, after seeing Xiao¡¯s performance today, the fear in their hearts deepened.


    Like the Metal Guards from before, all six Golden Battle Gods committed suicide. None of the Golden Battle Gods shot at Xiao. Their bullets were aimed at themselves.


    The alarms on the six doors sounded at the same time, snapping the bewildered people back to their senses. They stared at Xiao, wondering if Xiao¡¯s power was effective against the Calamity-grade creature.


    Xiao walked towards the door leading to the tunnel as though he hadn¡¯t heard the alarms.


    He didn¡¯t walk quickly, as though he was taking a stroll. He ignored the ear-piercing alarm.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts pounded with his footsteps. Soon, they were alarmed to discover that Xiao had already walked into the tunnel, but they didn¡¯t hear any gunshots.


    No way¡­ Even a Calamity-grade creature can be affected¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed.


    He didn¡¯t know how Xiao had done it, but from the looks of it, Xiao was really terrifying.


    And he was undoubtedly Xiao¡¯s enemy. If Xiao came knocking on his door that very moment, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he could withstand Xiao¡¯s power.


    If he couldn¡¯t withstand it, he would commit suicide like the Golden Battle Gods. When that happened, that was it.


    Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s expression turned abnormally solemn. Xia Liuchuan stood up and stared at the Cube¡¯s screen without saying a word. However, his brows were furrowed.


    Xiao was still walking in the direction of the Golden Palace. Every step he took made everyone¡¯s hearts beat as though they were silently keeping pace with his steps.


    Many people were looking forward to the gunshot, but they didn¡¯t hear any even when Xiao reached the Golden Palace¡¯s entrance.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened as a metal ball flew out and landed in Xiao¡¯s hand.


    The Cube¡¯s screen returned to the rankings. The words ¡®Saint Xiao¡¯ appeared at the top of the rankings, outranking Zhou Wen who had only been first for a short period of time.


    ¡°Ah! I thought that the maximum would only be five stars. Why are there six stars!?¡±


    People were surprised to discover that behind the words ¡°Saint Xiao,¡± there were six golden stars.


    Regardless of whether it was Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen, The Fallen, or Immortal, the most they received was five stars via using all sorts of methods to clear the level. Therefore, people felt that the maximum was five stars.


    However, the six golden stars behind ¡®Saint Xiao¡¯ clearly told everyone that five stars wasn¡¯t the limit, and he was the only existence with such an achievement.


    Everyone¡¯s expression, including Zhou Wen¡¯s, turned solemn as they looked at Xiao¡¯s name on the rankings.

 Chapter 1416 - Doing Something For All Life

    Six stars. I wonder if that Calamity-grade gunman is dead. I didn¡¯t hear any gunshots. He probably isn¡¯t dead. If I kill the Calamity-grade gunman, I should have a chance of exceeding six stars, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    If other humans had obtained first place, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t put in so much effort. However, it was intolerable for someone from the Holy Land to obtain first place.


    Now, Zhou Wen was more vexed about how to find the Calamity-grade gunman.


    Killing him was unlikely to be difficult. The difficult part was finding him. Zhou Wen had tried many times and tried all sorts of methods, but he failed to find him.


    That Calamity-grade gunman might very well have an invisibility ability like the Invisibility Cloak. Furthermore, it¡¯s high-level invisibility. Otherwise, it shouldn¡¯t be able to escape Truth Listener¡¯s notice, or perhaps it¡¯s some concealment ability. After some thought, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a way to find the Calamity-grade gunman.


    ¡­


    In the Federation, people were discussing Xiao¡¯s domineering ascension to the apex. After all, he was the only six-star. It rekindled their curiosity and anticipation for the Holy Land.


    ¡°These people are really easily incited. Yesterday, they swore that they would learn from you and raise Companion Beasts, but today, they are all thinking of joining the Holy Land,¡± Li Xuan came to Zhou Wen and sat on his couch as he gloated.


    An Sheng said, ¡°Isn¡¯t that what humans are? It¡¯s very easy to abandon things like faith, bottom lines, and morals that don¡¯t benefit them.¡±


    ¡°Brother Sheng, don¡¯t tar everyone with the same brush. I¡¯m a person with morals and a bottom line. I¡¯m different from ordinary people,¡± Li Xuan immediately retorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s only because you haven¡¯t received enough benefits. It¡¯s hard to say how you would choose if I gave you enough benefits,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Brother Sheng, you are doubting my character. Nothing can shake my bottom line,¡± Li Xuan said righteously.


    ¡°Is that so? Then if your brother is severely injured and will definitely die, but you realize that killing someone who has some grudge with you despite not deserving death will allow your brother to completely recover. Will you kill him?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°About that¡­¡± Li Xuan was somewhat hesitant.


    ¡°Another example is the instance where everyone in your Li family has fallen into the hands of a serial killer. If you don¡¯t help him steal something, he will kill your entire family. Will you carry out the theft?¡± An Sheng asked again.


    ¡°I say, Brother Sheng, can you not curse me? Can¡¯t you think of something better?¡± Li Xuan said gloomily.


    ¡°I can come up with positive ones, but your enemy won¡¯t. The so-called beliefs and morals of a human are relative. Therefore, if you want to have a moral bottom line, you have to do and think more than others. Don¡¯t give yourself the chance to cross your moral bottom line. What¡¯s that saying again? If you want to be a clean official, you have to be more sinister than a corrupted official.¡± An Sheng paused before continuing, ¡°Of course, there are also people who can maintain their beliefs and bottom lines under any circumstances, but I think there are very few saints. It¡¯s best if we ordinary people don¡¯t let ourselves fall into such a situation, nor do we test the bottom lines of others.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense. Brother Sheng, let me toast you.¡± Li Xuan seemed to agree with An Sheng as he poured him a cup and clinked it with his.


    ¡°What are the two of you up to?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the two of them and asked with a frown.


    The two of them had been sitting at his place for a long time and were mentioning things that seemed to imply something. He didn¡¯t know what they were up to.


    ¡°Nothing. Isn¡¯t this just a casual chat?¡± Li Xuan smiled and continued asking, ¡°Old Zhou, do you have plans on getting first place again?¡±


    ¡°The reason that the two of you have been talking all this while is so that I¡¯ll challenge the level again?¡± Zhou Wen seemed to understand.


    An Sheng sighed and said, ¡°Humans are selfish creatures. Previously, there was Immortal from the League of Guardians, and now there¡¯s Xiao from the Holy Land. If this continues, I¡¯m afraid everyone will want to join the Holy Land to contract Guardians in the future. Who will take the difficult path? At this moment, someone has to step forward and attract them back.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have what it takes. Find someone else,¡± Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    He really had no solution. If he couldn¡¯t find the Calamity gunner, he would at most obtain five stars like the last time. It was impossible for him to obtain six stars.


    ¡°You might not be able to do so, but Human Sovereign definitely can,¡± An Sheng said with a wink.


    ¡°Even Human Sovereign won¡¯t be able to do it this time.¡± Immortal Culling Sword was indeed very strong, but without finding the Calamity-grade gunman, it was useless no matter how strong it was.


    Zhou Wen suddenly sized up Li Xuan and said, ¡°That¡¯s strange. I can understand why Ah Sheng wants me to get first. Why do you want me to get first?¡±


    ¡°Hey, what kind of person do you think I am? I¡¯m also a nice guy. I also want to do something for all life in the world,¡± Li Xuan said stubbornly.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. This isn¡¯t like you. There¡¯s definitely something going on here.¡± Zhou Wen stared at Li Xuan, giving him the creeps.


    ¡°Stop staring at me like that. It¡¯s terrifying. I really want to do something good for all life in the world. However, I also want to earn some pocket money.¡± Unable to withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s questioning gaze, Li Xuan revealed his intentions.


    ¡°Pocket money? What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Realizing that he couldn¡¯t hide it, Li Xuan could only say, ¡°Actually, it¡¯s nothing. Someone made a bet on who will take first on the Cube. I placed a heavy bet on you. No, on Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°You want me to risk my life just for that bit of money? Are you even human?¡± Zhou Wen cursed.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t just a bit of money. After Xiao¡¯s recent appearance, the odds for others have increased significantly, especially those who haven¡¯t been on the rankings. Human Sovereign is one of them. If Human Sovereign takes first place in the end, I¡¯ll be able to obtain a large sum of resources. Take note, it¡¯s resources, not money. They are paying with resources, paying whatever is bet,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°You dare buy into such a bet? Aren¡¯t you afraid that they will abscond with the money?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°They won¡¯t run. The Family Clan of Gods is the bookmaker.¡± Li Xuan was very certain.


    ¡°You bought in too?¡± Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng.


    ¡°I bought a little,¡± An Sheng said shyly.


    ¡°How much is a little?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°500 tonnes of Essence Crystals,¡± An Sheng answered.


    ¡°You call that a little?¡± Zhou Wen was rendered speechless. 500 tonnes of Essence Crystals was probably the total amount of Essence Crystals Luoyang had on hand.


    Although the Butterfly Valley where Master Zhuang¡¯s Tomb was located had Essence Crystal ores, there was no way to mine them. People could only enter at specific times. Therefore, they had yet to obtain any Essence Crystals from there.


    ¡°I really have no means of getting first place now. Good luck to both of you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t have the means. We do,¡± Li Xuan suddenly said.

 Chapter 1417 - He Who Must Not Be Named

    Chapter 1417: He Who Must Not Be Named


    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What means do you have?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and An Sheng in puzzlement. Clearly, the two of them had discussed it beforehand.


    Li Xuan said, ¡°Actually, our family has been researching ways to clear the level. We have come up with a few solutions, but the requirements are too high. No one in our family can meet such high requirements, but it would be different if it were you.¡±


    ¡°What solution?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to beat around the bush with Li Xuan.


    Li Xuan finally said straightforwardly, ¡°You can fend off the Calamity bullet and have enough strength to kill the Calamity creature. Based on our family¡¯s judgment, the Calamity gunner¡¯s flesh shouldn¡¯t be too strong, so you already have the basic conditions to kill him. Although Xiao is very strong, he failed to kill the Calamity gunner after all. You can, so you have a chance to surpass him and obtain first place.¡±


    ¡°The family you are talking about is your brother, Li Mobai, right? He sure is scheming. He wants me to risk my life while he benefits in the comforts of his home.¡± Zhou Wen glared at Li Xuan and said, ¡°Go back and tell your brother not to fantasize. If I could kill that Calamity gunner, I would have done so a long time ago. Would he even be able to take advantage of me?¡±


    ¡°Listen to me. It¡¯s true that you are capable, but you can¡¯t find the Calamity gunner, right? Li Mobai has a solution that you can use to find it,¡± Li Xuan hurriedly said.


    ¡°He has a solution? What solution does he have? He hasn¡¯t even been to the Venusian dimensional zone and knows how to find that Calamity gunner? Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s trying to scam me?¡± Zhou Wen refused to believe it.


    He had been grinding the Venusian domain for so long, but he hadn¡¯t been able to find the Calamity gunner. He really didn¡¯t believe that Li Mobai, who didn¡¯t even dare enter the Venusian dimensional zone, could tell where it was.


    ¡°You also know that my relationship with Li Mobai isn¡¯t good. How can I help him scam you? This time, he really has a way to get you to find the Calamity gunner. Trust me. Go meet him and hear what he has to say. If you think it¡¯s infeasible, it won¡¯t be too late to reject him when the time comes.¡± Li Xuan seemed very confident in Li Mobai¡¯s method.


    ¡°You also believe in Li Mobai?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Sheng.


    An Sheng shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t believe Li Mobai. I only believe in Overseer. Overseer sent a message asking me to cooperate with Li Mobai.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s news from An Tianzuo?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious.


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake about it.¡± An Sheng was very certain.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. He seemed to realize something, but he couldn¡¯t connect the dots.


    Although Li Mobai re-cultivated after the problem with his body, it will definitely take a lot of time. He won¡¯t be able to catch up so quickly. With his eyesight, it¡¯s hard to say if he can see the Calamity-grade figure. Furthermore, finding a Calamity-grade that¡¯s good at hiding definitely isn¡¯t something he can do.


    Besides, why would An Tianzuo want to cooperate with Li Mobai? An Tianzuo should be in the Holy Land now. Why would he be in contact with Li Mobai?


    Zhou Wen combed through his thoughts for a while before his heart suddenly stirred. I get it. If all of these things are valid, there¡¯s definitely a missing link. This link might be something or a person. If An Tianzuo discovers the location of the Calamity gunner, he should have directly informed An Sheng without needing to cooperate with Li Mobai. In that case, it¡¯s very likely that the Li family discovered the location of the Calamity gunner, but it¡¯s unlikely that Li Mobai has such eyesight, nor can he be in contact with An Tianzuo while he¡¯s inside the Holy Land. The remaining possibility is that the Li family has someone in the Holy Land.


    Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and An Sheng thoughtfully. He didn¡¯t believe that Li Xuan and An Sheng hadn¡¯t thought of this. They had figured it out, but they kept mum. This could only mean that this person¡¯s identity was very important. They were afraid that the Holy Land would catch wind of him, so they couldn¡¯t even say it out loud. They could only use this hint to let Zhou Wen know of his existence.


    Zhou Wen exchanged looks with An Sheng before saying, ¡°In that case, let me meet Li Mobai first.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s already waiting outside the manor. I¡¯ll invite him in.¡± Li Xuan ran out.


    ¡°Young Master, safety first. These were the last words Overseer sent back,¡± An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It must be very difficult to send a message from the Holy Land, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    An Sheng said, ¡°Every Saint has a special power. Their every word and action, even if it¡¯s something related to them, or even just mentioning them might be sensed by the terrifying existences in the Holy Land. However, the further away they are from the Holy Land, the less effective this power is.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that his guess was right. He probably couldn¡¯t even say the person¡¯s name, so it was best not to mention it. That meant that he was likely one of the Saints. Furthermore, he was the real deal, not an imposter like An Tianzuo.


    ¡°If there really is such a power, wouldn¡¯t An Tianzuo be easily discovered?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t worry. Overseer has used a special method to successfully infiltrate the Holy Land. There¡¯s no danger for the time being.¡± An Sheng was about to say something when a voice sounded from outside. It was Li Xuan and Li Mobai.


    ¡°Even if Overseer says that the Li family can be trusted, Young Master, you have to make your own judgment. You have to make the decision on what can and cannot be done. Don¡¯t be influenced by anyone. As long as you think there¡¯s a problem, don¡¯t listen to anyone, no matter who says it¡ªincluding me. Stay true to yourself,¡± An Sheng whispered the last sentence.


    Zhou Wen nodded. Li Xuan had already led Li Mobai in.


    ¡°Can I have a private chat with Zhou Wen?¡± After Li Mobai entered, his gaze didn¡¯t land on Zhou Wen but on An Sheng.


    ¡°Of course.¡± An Sheng led Li Xuan out and closed the door. He also activated the room¡¯s defense system.


    ¡°I never expected to meet you again in such a place,¡± Li Mobai said with a smile as he sat down on the sofa without standing on ceremony.


    ¡°Just get straight to the point.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in chatting with Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai didn¡¯t mind, but his body gradually changed. His eyes turned whiter and whiter as his black pupils shrank before completely disappearing.


    At that moment, Li Mobai¡¯s eyes were white¡ªghastly white¡ªeven more terrifying than a blind person¡¯s eyes.


    Mythical Serum? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. Li Mobai¡¯s aura was a little strange. It seemed to be the result of advancing through the use of Mythical Serum, but it also seemed different.


    ¡°Mythical Serum made from the Calamity-grade creature, Ghost Eyes, in the South District,¡± Li Mobai said.


    ¡°You have the ability to kill a Calamity-grade creature?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°It was slain during its advancement to the Calamity grade. When it was made into Mythical Serum, it could and could not be considered a Calamity-grade creature. I still haven¡¯t been able to completely unleash the power of the Ghost Eyes Mythical Serum. I¡¯m only at the Mythical stage now,¡± Li Mobai answered.


    Li Mobai didn¡¯t claim to be the one killing Ghost Eyes. Zhou Wen could roughly guess that it was likely done by the undercover Saint.


    ¡°My Ghost Eyes can help you find the Calamity gunner,¡± Li Mobai continued.


    ¡°You want to clear the level with me?¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Mobai.


    ¡°No, from what I¡¯ve reckoned, if two creatures were to challenge the level together, their ratings would be lower than if it was done by one. If you want to surpass Xiao, you can only clear the level alone.¡± Li Mobai¡¯s answer exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°Then how can you help me find that Calamity gunner? Communication with the outside world is impossible after entering the Venusian dimensional zone,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Therefore, you have to take my eyes with you,¡± Li Mobai said as he extended his finger and stabbed it into his eyes.. Blood immediately gushed out like a blooming flower.


    3

 Chapter 1418 - Final Countdown

    Zhou Wen watched helplessly as Li Mobai dug out his eyes and held the crystalline snow-white eyeballs in his palm. His hand was covered in blood, and there were only bloody holes in his eye sockets.


    However, Li Mobai¡¯s expression was as calm as ever. It was as though what he had dug out wasn¡¯t his eyes, but something unimportant.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t agreed to it, right? Can your eyes be restored?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°No, they can¡¯t,¡± Li Mobai said indifferently. ¡°You will go not because of the eyes in my hand, but because you were going anyway.¡±


    ¡°Is it worth it?¡± Zhou Wen fell silent for a moment before asking Li Mobai.


    Li Mobai was right. He had originally wanted to go, but he hadn¡¯t gone because he couldn¡¯t find the Calamity gunner.


    ¡°Whether it¡¯s worth it depends on how you look at it. From my point of view, it¡¯s very worth it.¡± Li Mobai extended his palm that was holding the two eyeballs in front of Zhou Wen. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been long since I consumed the Ghost God Eyes¡¯ Mythical Serum. I absorbed very little of its energy, and most of the power of the Ghost God Eyes is stored in these eyes. Pure white is the Ghost Eye, and a speck of red is the God Eye. When the Ghost God Eyes touch, it will be difficult for any creatures in a radius of five kilometers to hide. They will definitely be discovered. When the time comes, the Ghost God Eyes will naturally guide you. However, remember that the Ghost God Eyes can only be used once. After using them, the power will erupt wantonly. If you can¡¯t keep it under control, destroy it.¡±


    ¡°Why are you doing this?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why Li Mobai was doing this. Even if Xiao obtained first place, it wouldn¡¯t affect their Li family. Why was there a need to go all out?


    ¡°Because I don¡¯t wish to be forced to cross my bottom line one day. I¡¯m only doing things ahead of time.¡± Li Mobai got up and left. His words were clearly what Li Xuan and An Sheng had said previously.


    The blood in Li Mobai¡¯s eyes had already coagulated and stopped bleeding. However, the lost eyes couldn¡¯t regrow.


    ¡°I¡¯ll walk you out.¡± Zhou Wen held the Ghost Eye and wanted to help Li Mobai guide the way.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I just don¡¯t have eyes,¡± Li Mobai said indifferently as he walked out of the room.


    ¡°Your¡­ Your eyes¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± Li Xuan¡¯s expression changed when he saw Li Mobai come out and discovered his bloody eye sockets. He pointed at Li Mobai¡¯s eye sockets and spoke incoherently.


    ¡°I gave them to Zhou Wen,¡± Li Mobai answered as he walked, seemingly unfazed.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what you said before. You said that you would challenge the level with Old Zhou¡­¡± Li Xuan exclaimed in agitation.


    ¡°You¡¯re still so naive. Isn¡¯t it obvious? I lied.¡± Li Mobai walked towards the door of Overseer Manor without looking back.


    Losing his eyes didn¡¯t seem to affect his mobility much, but looking at his straight back, there was a tinge of sadness.


    ¡°I¡­ You¡­ I, he¡­ F*ck you¡­¡± Li Xuan was filled with hatred as his face contorted. He wanted to curse, but he didn¡¯t know who to curse. Finally, he slapped himself in the face. His face swelled, but his physique instantly healed his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Even without you, a person like him will ultimately do what he wants. No one can stop him.¡± An Sheng understood Li Xuan¡¯s inner struggle as he patted him on the shoulder to console him.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading back.¡± Li Xuan shook his head and left Overseer Manor dejectedly.


    When An Sheng returned to his room, Zhou Wen was holding the pair of Ghost God Eyes.


    ¡°Is Li Mobai a friend or foe?¡± Zhou Wen looked at An Sheng and asked with an ambivalent expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± An Sheng shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°I can¡¯t read Li Mobai either. Even Overseer doesn¡¯t dare underestimate him. Young Master, you have to be careful.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and put away the pair of Ghost God Eyes. He had the ability to protect himself, so he could try to see if it was of any use. Even if it was useless, he was more than capable of protecting himself.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on making the trip immediately. He still wanted to wait until the Soul Mirror advanced to the Calamity grade before challenging the level.


    Furthermore, Li Mobai had also said that Ghost God Eyes could only be used once, but he didn¡¯t need to use it immediately. Zhou Wen needed to choose a suitable opportunity himself.


    What is Li Mobai up to? Zhou Wen was extremely puzzled, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the crux of the matter.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s recent observations, the rainbow beam emitted by the Soul Mirror was converging. It was likely about to advance to the Calamity grade. It would definitely advance in a few days at most.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to wait a few days, but after more than a day, he couldn¡¯t wait any longer.


    That night, the Cube suddenly lit up. People imagined that someone had entered the Venusian dimensional zone, but when they saw the scene on the Cube, they realized that it wasn¡¯t the case.


    There were no other creatures on the Cube¡¯s screen. All it showed was a countdown¡ªa 72-hour countdown. Beside it was the rankings.


    Anyone could tell that this spelled the last 72 hours. The Venusian Companion Beast would choose its owner in 72 hours. And its owner was naturally the person first on the Cube¡¯s rankings.


    72 hours. Will the Soul Mirror make it in time? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure. All he could do was wait. If he really couldn¡¯t wait, he could only try his luck with the Ghost God Eyes.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, he saw the scene on the Cube change. It returned to the outside of the Venusian dimensional zone, and a figure was already standing at the entrance. It was none other than The Fallen who had cleared the level and obtained a ranking previously.


    The Fallen attempted again. This time, not only did he flip open the black leather-bound book, but the pair of mixed-feathered angel wings on his back also emitted a terrifying glow, making him look like a devil that had descended to the world.


    Everything that touched the brilliance instantly turned to dust. Even the Golden Battle Gods were no exception. When the Calamity-grade bullet was still in the air, it had already turned to dust.


    The Fallen reduced the seventh sure-kill bullet to dust as he walked into the Golden Palace in an indomitable manner.


    However, he only obtained five stars. Although there was an additional star than the last time and he was ranked second, pushing Zhou Wen, Immortal, and Tsukuyomi down, he ultimately failed to obtain six stars.


    ¡°Such terrifying power can¡¯t even obtain six stars?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, Xiao¡¯s way too formidable to receive six stars.¡±


    ¡°This time, the Venusian Companion Beast will most likely fall into Xiao¡¯s hands.¡±


    ¡°After all, he comes from the Holy Land. The Holy Land is still strong.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid no one can produce another six-star result.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Even such a powerful Calamity-grade creature couldn¡¯t surpass Xiao¡¯s ranking. From the looks of it, Xiao¡¯s first place was secured.


    No one from the humans attempted. Even Immortal didn¡¯t appear. He probably knew that it was very difficult to obtain six stars and it was useless to make the attempt, so he gave up.


    Half a day passed. At noon, the Cube finally stirred again. Tsukuyomi¡¯s figure appeared in the Venusian dimensional zone again.

 Chapter 1419 - No

    Zhou Wen carefully sized up Tsukuyomi and saw that her aura had become more tranquil and mysterious. It was hazy like moonlight partially veiled by clouds.


    Although he couldn¡¯t see her clearly, he couldn¡¯t help but be attracted to her. He almost couldn¡¯t move his eyes away from her. The more he couldn¡¯t see her clearly, the more he wanted to.


    Tsukuyomi seems to have become stronger. Zhou Wen¡¯s present eyesight wasn¡¯t what it used to be. With the augmentation of The Disqualified and the sensual enhancement from Great Brahma, the things he could sense were much stronger than the typical Terror-grade.


    It wasn¡¯t much weaker than some Calamity-grade creatures.


    Although Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t used her strength, just the change in her aura made Zhou Wen feel that she had definitely improved significantly.


    Strange, how did she improve? What is out there in the universe that allows her to improve? Zhou Wen thought to himself. Up to now, Zhou Wen knew too little about the universe.


    Apart from guessing that every planet might be a Companion Egg, the universe was still a mysterious unknown to Zhou Wen.


    Why did the Calamity creatures on Earth head out into the universe the moment they were born? Why was it that a powerful Calamity creature like Tsukuyomi was reverent towards the universe and might even die?


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still hadn¡¯t figured out the answer to the questions.


    Tsukuyomi had already entered the Venusian dimensional zone. Before the Metal Guard could shoot at her, its head was suddenly bitten off by a white monster that appeared out of thin air.


    The monster¡¯s front half looked like a white dog, but its body behind its forelimbs was coiled like a snake¡¯s. It looked very strange.


    After it bit off the Metal Guard¡¯s head, it swallowed the Metal Guard¡¯s energy core and vanished. All of this only took a moment.


    That¡¯s Inugami from the Ghost Parade, right? Zhou Wen had previously studied the legends of Tsukuyomi and the Ghost Parade, so he knew a lot about the Ghost Parade in Tsukuyomi¡¯s pantheon. He recognized it at a glance.


    The six doors opened as hordes of Metal Guards rushed out. However, before they could fire, Inugami¡¯s figure appeared again and bit off the head of a Metal Guard.


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just Inugami who appeared. There was also Hashihime, who Zhou Wen had seen before. She appeared along with a wooden bridge that connected to the door. After the Metal Guards that appeared from the door walked onto the wooden bridge, they seemed to lose their minds. They didn¡¯t shoot as though they were in a daze as they walked towards Hashihime.


    Hashihime stood on the bridge, wearing a floral kimono and holding a paper umbrella. Although her face couldn¡¯t be seen due to the umbrella, her beautiful figure was enough to make one fantasize.


    When the Metal Guard walked in front of Hashihime, she finally turned her head. The moment she turned her head, the paper umbrella in her hand flew up. Her face was like a ghost¡¯s. She had sharp teeth, blood-red eyes, and sharp claws. Her face was as white as powder, and there were streaks of blood tears around the corners of her eyes.


    In the next moment, the ferocious Hashihime¡¯s body was like a ghost. Wherever her sharp claws and ghastly hands went, she dug out the Metal Guard¡¯s energy sources and crushed them to pieces.


    Ghosts appeared and disappeared as hordes of Metal Guards were slaughtered. Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t need to do it herself.


    After the Golden Battle God appeared, he couldn¡¯t withstand the attacks of the ghosts. He wanted to shoot, but a phantom-like ghost appeared over him as though it had possessed him. It made the Golden Battle God lose control of his body and he couldn¡¯t pull the trigger.


    Bang!


    A ghost with a huge hammer smashed down, cracking the Golden Battle God¡¯s body. The energy source was also shattered.


    The six Golden Battle Gods were like six helpless orphans amidst the ghosts that appeared and disappeared from time to time. They were quickly wiped out.


    Tsukuyomi walked towards the tunnel as ghosts constantly appeared around her, like guards escorting a princess.


    Everyone watched with relish. They originally wanted to see how Tsukuyomi would deal with the Calamity-grade bullets. They were not certain that the ghosts could withstand them.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, Tsukuyomi, who was escorted by the hundred ghosts, wasn¡¯t attacked by the Calamity-grade bullets. Even when she came in front of the Golden Palace, not a single bullet appeared.


    ¡°Goddess Tsukuyomi is too powerful. Even the Calamity gunner is frightened and doesn¡¯t dare fire.¡±


    ¡°In that case, I wonder if the Cube will give a high or low evaluation?¡±


    ¡°If one doesn¡¯t undergo the test of the Calamity-grade bullets, their score won¡¯t be too high, right?¡±


    ¡°Bullsh*t. Goddess Tsukuyomi is invincible. Even the Calamity gunner doesn¡¯t dare fire. How can her score not be high? I think it¡¯s definitely going to be six stars. Furthermore, it will be higher than Xiao¡¯s ranking.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly, but this time, the Golden Palace¡¯s door didn¡¯t open, nor did a metal ball fly out. However, when the Cube¡¯s screen switched back to the rankings, the golden stars behind Tsukuyomi¡¯s name changed from five to six. However, her ranking still failed to surpass Xiao¡¯s. She was only ranked second.


    Such powerful strength still isn¡¯t enough to surpass Xiao? Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    He could clearly tell that Tsukuyomi¡¯s ability had increased significantly. Under such circumstances, her failure to surpass Xiao¡¯s ranking meant that Xiao¡¯s strength was even more terrifying than Zhou Wen imagined.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen used Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability to arrive on Venus.


    As his teleportation precision was much higher than before, Zhou Wen appeared not far from the Venusian dimensional zone and saw Tsukuyomi who was about to leave.


    Tsukuyomi also sensed that someone had appeared and turned her head. After discovering that it was Zhou Wen, she stood there and smiled at him. The white-robed Tsukuyomi appeared especially beautiful and ethereal with the dark universe in the background. Her entire body seemed to emit an intoxicating halo.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, can we have a chat?¡± Zhou Wen went forward and asked.


    ¡°No.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s lips curled up slightly as a crafty look appeared in her eyes.


    Zhou Wen was feeling somewhat depressed when he saw Tsukuyomi walk in front of him. She said with a smile, ¡°It¡¯s boring to just have a chat. Why don¡¯t we do something else?¡±


    With that said, Tsukuyomi extended her slender and fair fingers and pressed them on Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead. Instantly, she vanished with him.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that his spatial powers were already impressive, but he realized that Tsukuyomi¡¯s spatial powers were even better. During the spatial teleportation, Zhou Wen almost didn¡¯t sense the fluctuations and vibrations brought about by spatial teleportation.

 Chapter 1420 - Cruel Universe

    When Zhou Wen landed on the ground, he felt softness beneath his feet as though he had stepped on something extremely soft. He hurriedly flew up and stabilized himself.


    Only then did he look down and see that it was a large asteroid. The shape of the asteroid looked like a bowl held up diagonally. And in the crater, there was a soft bed.


    At that moment, Tsukuyomi was already lying on the bed. She was lying diagonally with one hand supporting her cheek as she looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile.


    ¡°Is this where you live?¡± Zhou Wen looked around curiously and saw that it was an asteroid belt. There were strange asteroids everywhere.


    Apart from Tsukuyomi and this bed, there were no signs of life.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. What do you think?¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°The environment¡¯s a little lacking. Why don¡¯t you find a better place?¡± Just as Zhou Wen said that, Tsukuyomi suddenly flicked her sleeve. The sleeve transformed into a white ribbon that wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s body and pulled him down.


    Zhou Wen fell onto the bed as his expression changed slightly. He wanted to ask Tsukuyomi what she was doing, but before he could say a word, she leaned against him and covered his mouth with her hand.


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s pink lips were almost by Zhou Wen¡¯s ear. Her voice was so soft that even Zhou Wen could hardly hear her. Her breath made Zhou Wen¡¯s ears itch.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense Tsukuyomi using strength, so he didn¡¯t retaliate. He lay there quietly and used Truth Listener to probe his surroundings.


    Soon, Zhou Wen discovered a problem. Not far from the asteroid belt was a huge alien beast patrolling the area.


    The alien beast¡¯s body was like a stingray, but it was many times bigger than the stingrays on Earth. Furthermore, its entire body was transparent like crystal. There were thin threads that emitted blue light in its body, like a human¡¯s vascular network.


    Zhou Wen felt a terrifying aura from the strange creature and immediately held his breath.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare mess around with something that even Tsukuyomi was afraid of.


    The alien beast swam through the asteroid belt. There were a few times when it was less than a thousand meters away from the asteroid they were on. Tsukuyomi remained motionless as though she had been petrified. Zhou Wen could only mimic her.


    After a while, the alien beast slowly left and vanished into the distant asteroid belt.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen could only sense that it was a dimensional creature, but he didn¡¯t know what kind it was.


    ¡°A Calamity-grade creature whose level is much higher than mine. If it discovers us, we might become food.¡± Tsukuyomi lay diagonally beside Zhou Wen with one hand supporting her cheek. Her other hand was still pressing down on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest as though she had no intention of letting him get up.


    ¡°Level?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°Although we are both at the Calamity grade, there¡¯s still a difference in strength. There¡¯s a huge difference in strength between levels; the strength of one¡¯s domain will experience a qualitative leap likewise,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°What levels are they?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly pressed. He knew too little about the Calamity grade, and he could take this opportunity to understand more. Perhaps he could find a way to advance to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°Human Realm, Hell, and Heaven correspond to three different domains. I¡¯m still at the level of the Human Realm,¡± Tsukuyomi answered.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t any Calamity-grade experts among us humans, right? Why would Calamity-grade levels be named after humans?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    According to what he knew, there didn¡¯t seem to be any pure Calamity-grade humans. Ignoring that, he had never heard of pure Mythical humans either.


    ¡°How would I know? This is the division of the Calamity grade according to ancient legends. If you want to know, you can return to countless years ago and find the answer yourself.¡± Tsukuyomi continued with a smile, ¡°A Calamity creature like me that was just born on Earth doesn¡¯t even count as the Human Realm¡ªa pure Calamity rookie. I¡¯m only at the Human Realm now, but there are Calamity creatures at the Hell and Heaven levels in the universe. The difference is huge.¡±


    ¡°Why are there so many powerful Calamity creatures in the universe?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    ¡°Some of them came from Earth, while others came from other planets,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Just like the dimensional creatures on Venus? However, the dimensional creatures on Venus don¡¯t leave Venus. That so-called Venusian Companion Beast needs to reach a contract with other creatures to leave Venus.¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable that so many Calamity-grade creatures had reached a contract.


    ¡°It¡¯s not wrong to say that they need to reach a contract, but there are also situations where there¡¯s no need to reach a contract. For example, when a planet¡¯s lifespan reaches its end, which means that the Companion Beasts inside have already grown to their limits. Even if they don¡¯t need to contract with others, they will automatically be released because of the planet¡¯s destruction. That way, the Companion Beasts that appear will become ownerless Companion Beasts. Typically speaking, due to the long period of growth, these Companion Beasts are very powerful. Most of them are at the Heaven level when they are liberated. Of course, there are also planets that are accidentally destroyed before they reach the end of their lifespans. Then, the Companion Beasts produced will be weaker.¡±


    After a pause, Tsukuyomi continued, ¡°Of course, a portion of them are able to come out via reaching contracts. However, only creatures from Earth can contract with Companion Beasts. If those fellows from the dimension want to contract with Companion Beasts in the universe, they need to do it through the bodies of Earthlings.¡±


    ¡°Wait, in other words, that powerful Calamity creature was actually a Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly came to a realization.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Tsukuyomi nodded slightly.


    ¡°Then I should be able to contract it, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked with widened eyes.


    If he could contract a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, he would really make a killing.


    ¡°Of course. However, such an ownerless Companion Beast is equivalent to a feral beast. It¡¯s different from cats and dogs reared at home. It doesn¡¯t like to be restrained. As long as you aren¡¯t afraid of being killed, you can give it a try.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s finger slid to Zhou Wen¡¯s cheek and pinched his face with her fingers. With a smile, she continued, ¡°You are so thick-skinned. Perhaps those powerful wild Companion Beasts will be moved by your shamelessness. They might really contract with you.¡±


    ¡°Even so, the universe is an excellent place for a Calamity creature born from Earth like you. As long as you can contract a few Companion Beasts, your strength will greatly increase. Why are you so afraid?¡± Zhou Wen was still somewhat puzzled.


    Even if there were many Calamity-grade creatures in the universe, they wouldn¡¯t hunt other Calamity-grade creatures for no reason, right?


    ¡°Do you know how Calamity creatures grow?¡± Tsukuyomi asked instead of answering.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade, so I¡¯m not sure.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°Ignoring growth, just maintaining one¡¯s existence requires a large amount of energy. The higher one¡¯s level is, the more energy one needs. And the best way to obtain energy is to devour other Calamity creatures.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s words immediately made Zhou Wen understand the cruelty of the universe. The competition for survival was even crueler than Earth¡¯s.

 Chapter 1421 - Human Sovereign Attempts the Level

    Chapter 1421: Human Sovereign Attempts the Level


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen chatted with Tsukuyomi for a while and gained a deeper understanding of the dangers of the universe.


    Apart from being food for other Calamity creatures, there was the constant danger of Essence Energy expenditure. One needed to constantly replenish their Essence Energy to maintain their combat strength.


    If one expended too much energy, it wouldn¡¯t only be a problem of a decline in combat strength. One might even starve to death.


    Apart from hunting other Calamity creatures, one could also obtain Essence Energy from dimensional zones on different planets. There was also an important source of Essence Energy¡ªCompanion Beasts born on those planets.


    Only then did Zhou Wen understand that Calamity creatures like Tsukuyomi and The Fallen wanted the Venusian Companion Beast to increase their strength, but also use it as food.


    An existence like the Dragon Turtle had risked entry into the dimensional zone because it was starving¡ªtypical Essence Energy couldn¡¯t satisfy its survival requirements.


    ¡°Are you hungry?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi with an odd expression.


    Tsukuyomi stared at Zhou Wen and suddenly licked her lips. This action gave Zhou Wen a fright as he nearly jumped out of bed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be afraid. I still don¡¯t plan on eating you. You¡¯re too thin. I should be fattening you up before I eat you.¡± Tsukuyomi burst out laughing.


    Zhou Wen smiled awkwardly. He also knew that if Tsukuyomi wanted to eat him, she would have done so long ago. There was no need to wait until now to tell him this.


    ¡°If you have the need, I can provide you with some Essence Energy Crystals,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Typical Essence Energy Crystals aren¡¯t of much use to Calamity-grade creatures. It doesn¡¯t matter if we eat them or not. I need Calamity-grade Essence Energy Crystals. Do you have them?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as he looked at Tsukuyomi and said, ¡°You entered the Venusian dimensional zone for the second time and tried your best to obtain a ranking because you wanted to obtain the Venusian Companion Beast as food, right? In that case, you should have reached the point of needing to replenish your Essence Energy, yes?¡±


    ¡°I do need to replenish my Essence Energy, but it looks like it won¡¯t work this time. That Xiao¡¯s strength should be at the Human Realm, but his attributes are very strange. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s difficult to surpass him,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Apart from the Venusian Companion Beast, is there no other place to replenish Essence Energy?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°You can hunt other dimensional creatures or Companion Beasts. Not all creatures are that strong. There are still some weaker fellows. There are still opportunities,¡± Tsukuyomi said indifferently.


    ¡°Can you go to the Moon? If there¡¯s anything you need my help with, go to the Moon to find Lady Supreme Yin,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be such a need,¡± Tsukuyomi said indifferently.


    ¡°Go if there¡¯s ever such a need.¡± Zhou Wen got up and said, ¡°I should return. Let¡¯s chat another time if fate allows it.¡±


    After Zhou Wen used spatial teleportation to leave, Tsukuyomi licked her lips again and rubbed her stomach with her palm. She muttered to herself, I¡¯m really hungry. I wonder how long I can last.


    1


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen returned to Luoyang, he planned how to kill the Calamity gunner and clinch first place on the Cube.


    Ever since he spoke to Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen realized that a Calamity-grade Companion Beast was good stuff. It could be used for fighting usually and be eaten when one was hungry. It was a necessary divine artifact for traveling.


    After he advanced to the Calamity grade, he would definitely need to use them.


    There were many resources in the universe that required the strength of a Calamity-grade to vie for them. Otherwise, entering the universe was equivalent to courting death.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted the Venusian Companion Egg, but now, he was even more eager to obtain it.


    I wonder if Ghost God Eyes can really find the location of the Calamity gunner. If Soul Mirror isn¡¯t done before the countdown ends, I can only give it a try using Ghost God Eyes. Zhou Wen looked at the time. There were still more than fifty hours left on the countdown. He could still afford to wait.


    The colorful light from the Soul Mirror weakened, but it didn¡¯t seem like it would completely converge anytime soon.


    Time ticked by. No other creature reached six stars. In fact, no other creature challenged the rankings.


    When there was only an hour left before the countdown ended and the Soul Mirror still hadn¡¯t completed its evolution, Zhou Wen decided not to wait any longer.


    Firstly, he couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Secondly, even if the Soul Mirror advanced to the Calamity grade, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if it was effective against the Calamity gunner.


    After making sufficient preparations, Zhou Wen donned the Prisoned Dragon armor and held the Immortal Culling Sword. In the disguise of Human Sovereign, he arrived at the Venusian dimensional zone again.


    Seeing that the countdown was about to end, everyone stared at it.


    Now, most people felt that there was no suspense and Xiao would retain first place. After all, it was very difficult to obtain six stars.


    ¡°Professor Gu, there¡¯s less than an hour left on the countdown. Do you think there will be any surprises or suspense we should expect regarding the Cube¡¯s rankings?¡± the host asked Professor Gu in the live broadcast.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any surprises¡­¡± Before Professor Gu could finish his sentence, he suddenly saw the Cube screen light up. A figure stood in the Venusian dimensional zone.


    ¡°It¡¯s Human Sovereign! He finally appeared!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with Professor Gu¡¯s mouth, right?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he¡¯s finally here. I thought he didn¡¯t plan on appearing.¡±


    ¡°So what if he¡¯s here? Although Human Sovereign is a little strong, I¡¯m afraid he can¡¯t reach Xiao¡¯s level.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about? Our Human Sovereign is invincible. Xiao and whatever six-stars are all trash in front of our Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign will definitely win!¡±


    Most humans supported Human Sovereign. Although humans were motivated by self-interest, humans were also sentimental creatures.


    Emotionally, most humans still hoped that Human Sovereign would obtain first place, not Saint Xiao, who represented the Holy Land.


    ¡°Bro, do you think Human Sovereign has a chance of reaching first place?¡± Zhang Yuzhi looked at Zhang Chunqiu.


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult. Even if he¡¯s Human Sovereign, that Xiao¡¯s strength is too powerful and strange. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s very difficult to surpass him. Zhang Chunqiu knew very well that although Human Sovereign was very strong, he relied on his sword¡ªhis body wasn¡¯t at the Calamity grade. It was impossible for him to reach Xiao¡¯s level.


    ¡°Sigh, I know it¡¯s very difficult, but I really don¡¯t want the Holy Land to get first,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°No one wishes so, but that¡¯s reality. It won¡¯t change because of our personal feelings.¡± Zhang Chunqiu stared at Human Sovereign on the screen and said, ¡°But that person¡­ Perhaps a miracle will really happen¡­ After all, he¡¯s Human Sovereign¡­¡±


    Jiang Yan led the core members of the League of Guardians to gather in front of the Cube. Zhong Ziya sat on the sofa, drinking and listening to the radio.


    Hui Haifeng was in the meeting hall of an office building, watching the livestream with a group of federal officials. His expression was rather solemn.


    ¡°This should be the last hope for pure humans, right?¡± Xia Xuanyue from the Xia family sighed.


    ¡°We still don¡¯t know if he¡¯s pure human.¡± Although Xia Liuchuan said that, he hoped that Human Sovereign could amount to something.. At the very least, he wanted to take the wind out of the fellows from the Holy Land.

 Chapter 1422 - Possibility of Six Stars

    Chapter 1422: Possibility of Six Stars


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen ignored the Metal Guard¡¯s attacks and walked towards the tunnel¡¯s door.


    The Metal Guard¡¯s bullets swept across Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but they were blocked by the Prisoned Dragon armor, not even leaving a mark. Instead, the bullets ricocheted from the Prisoned Dragon armor and shattered the Metal Guard¡¯s energy source.


    The Metal Guard wasn¡¯t afraid of the bullets, so it was useless even if the bullets riddled its body with holes. However, once the energy source exploded, the Metal Guard was dead.


    The six doors opened as hordes of Metal Guards rushed out. Bullets fired at Zhou Wen crazily, but all of them ricocheted from the Prisoned Dragon armor. They all had their energy sources blasted apart.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t attack. He only relied on the ricocheting to finish off the Metal Guards.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t as extravagant as the others. He stored the dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs that the Metal Guards dropped, regardless of whether they were good or bad.


    After all, he usually grinded in-game, and he couldn¡¯t take out the things he obtained in-game. If there was a chance to pick up something, he wouldn¡¯t miss it.


    ¡°Look at Human Sovereign. He¡¯s already such an invincible powerhouse, yet he¡¯s still so diligent and thrifty. He¡¯s really a perfect man. He will definitely be a good husband in the future. I really want to marry him,¡± a girl said dreamily as her eyes suffused hearts.


    ¡°Cut it out. What thrifty? You just want his body¡­¡± the girl beside her curled her lips.


    The Golden Battle God appeared and fired, but Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t dodge. He secretly circulated his strength and used the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s reflective force to increase the bullet¡¯s strength, causing the bullet to fly back even faster and blast apart the Golden Battle God¡¯s energy source.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that works? Even a Terror-grade Golden Battle God can be ricocheted to death. What armor is that?¡±


    ¡°This reflective ability seems to be even more domineering than the Calamity-grade Dragon Turtle from before!¡±


    ¡°As expected of Human Sovereign. He¡¯s too domineering.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just this and nothing more. He¡¯s only relying on the Companion Beast armor. Look at how Tsukuyomi and Xiao obtained six stars. They didn¡¯t use any of these ricocheting parlor tricks. It¡¯s all useless.¡±


    ¡­


    The six Golden Battle Gods were ricocheted to death one by one, but it wasn¡¯t all thanks to the Prisoned Dragon armor. The force Zhou Wen secretly used was also key. Otherwise, just the ricocheting bullets wouldn¡¯t deliver such a strong effect.


    The alarms on the six doors sounded at the same time. Everyone immediately focused as they stared intently at Zhou Wen¡¯s figure, hoping to see how he would deal with the Calamity-grade bullets. This was the true crux.


    ¡°When Xiao cleared the level, the Calamity-grade gunner didn¡¯t fire. The Calamity-grade gunman didn¡¯t fire for Tsukuyomi either. Only they obtained six stars. The other strong ones like The Fallen failed to obtain six stars. It¡¯s obvious that the key is to prevent the Calamity-grade gunner from firing. If Human Sovereign were to let the Calamity-grade gunman fire a shot, I¡¯m afraid he wouldn¡¯t have a chance to obtain six stars,¡± Xia Liuchuan analyzed.


    ¡°But from the looks of it, Human Sovereign shouldn¡¯t have such an ability. His ability is more reflected in his combat strength. He doesn¡¯t have the ability to make his opponent commit suicide, nor does he have Tsukuyomi¡¯s Ghost Parade ability. It¡¯s probably very difficult to make the Calamity-grade gunner not shoot, right?¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°It¡¯s very difficult, but it has to be done. It¡¯s not that easy to obtain six stars,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    In fact, there were many people with the same thoughts as Xia Liuchuan. After watching so many attempts, most people had a certain understanding of how the Venusian dimensional zone scored the attempt. How the Calamity-grade gunner was dealt with was key.


    From the looks of it, preventing the Calamity-grade gunner from firing was the most effective way to get a high score. There likely wasn¡¯t a better way of obtaining six stars.


    Bang!


    Just as people were discussing if Human Sovereign could scare the Calamity-grade gunner into not firing, a gunshot sounded.


    Almost at the same time the gunshot sounded, the Immortal Culling Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand moved, but it didn¡¯t leave its scabbard. All he did was use the hilt of his sword to block the Calamity-grade bullet and change the direction of the bullet.


    After the Calamity-grade bullet changed direction and shot elsewhere, Zhou Wen walked over to the tunnel and ventured inside.


    Bullets shot over one after another, but Zhou Wen¡¯s arm only moved slightly as he struck the bullets with the hilt. It looked like he was easily changing the direction of the bullets, preventing any of them from hitting him.


    It looked easy, but in fact, it wasn¡¯t that easy.


    To do so, not only did he need to have good eyesight and timing, but he also needed to have sufficient strength and top-notch control over his force. Under the impact of the light-speed bullet, he would ingeniously strike the side of the bullet from a certain angle. By exerting a tiny bit of strength, he could change the direction of the bullet.


    ¡°As expected of Human Sovereign. His eyesight, force control, and timing are all top-notch. From the looks of it, he likely hasn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade. I¡¯m afraid there aren¡¯t many humans other than Human Sovereign that can accomplish such a feat with Terror-grade strength.¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed softly and continued, ¡°Unfortunately, no matter how good his technique is, as long as that Calamity-grade gunner fires, it will be difficult to get a rating of six stars.¡±


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± Zhang Yuzhi still hoped that Human Sovereign could obtain first place.


    ¡°Not at the moment.¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed.


    ¡°There shouldn¡¯t be any suspense. Although Human Sovereign is very strong, he hasn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade after all. Without the effects of a domain, he can¡¯t stop the Calamity-grade gunner from firing. It¡¯s impossible for him to reach six stars. If there aren¡¯t any other stronger creatures attempting the level, Xiao should end up in first place,¡± Professor Gu explained in the program.


    ¡°Professor Gu, since a powerhouse like Human Sovereign has stood up to the challenge, he definitely has his own ideas. Could he have other tricks up his sleeve?¡± The host was a fan of Human Sovereign, so she still held onto a sliver of hope.


    ¡°There¡¯s always a limit to human strength. It can¡¯t be done if it just can¡¯t be done. No matter how strange a move is, it has to be within a certain set of rules. The Calamity-grade gunner has already fired. The rules governing the Cube¡¯s ratings make it impossible for him to obtain six stars. It¡¯s useless no matter what move he has. Now, Human Sovereign can only vie for third place. If he can surpass The Fallen and obtain third place, he should be able to obtain a good Companion Beast. This isn¡¯t a bad choice. The reason Human Sovereign is here this time is likely to vie for third place. As a Terror-grade, it¡¯s already very impressive to be able to come in at third place. Human Sovereign hasn¡¯t shamed our human pride,¡± Professor Gu answered with certainty.


    ¡°What a pity. Even he can¡¯t shake Xiao¡¯s position,¡± Cave Era said in disappointment as she looked at the Cube¡¯s screen.


    ¡°He¡¯s not someone who does things randomly without confidence,¡± Jiang Yan said indifferently.


    In the room, Zhong Ziya, who was hugging his sword and looking a little dazed from drinking, leaned on the sofa. After hearing Professor Gu¡¯s explanation, the corners of his mouth involuntarily curled up as he muttered to himself, ¡°That fellow doesn¡¯t like something like third place.¡±


    Bang!


    The seventh gunshot rang.


    1

 Chapter 1423 - Only Chance

    Chapter 1423: Only Chance


    Translator: CKtalon


    With Zhou Wen using The Disqualified and with the augmentation of Great Brahma and Truth Listener, it was difficult for the Calamity-grade bullet trajectories to escape his notice.


    At the instant the seventh sure-kill bullet shot out, Zhou Wen unsheathed the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand.


    Immortal Slaying slashed at the tip of the sure-kill bullet with unparalleled sword aura.


    Sparks flew as the Immortal Culling Sword cleaved through the sure-kill bullet. The two halves of the bullet flew past Zhou Wen¡¯s body and slammed into the wall before sinking in. It failed to return.


    What a powerful attack! Xiao, who was watching the Cube, narrowed his eyes when he saw this scene.


    ¡°It¡¯s because that sword is powerful. I heard from Lord Holy God that that sword once killed countless Calamity creatures in the Mythical era. Even the invincible powerhouses at the Apocalypse level are very afraid of it. Thankfully, Human Sovereign only has one. If it¡¯s as Lord Holy God said, with all four swords in his hand, I¡¯m afraid no one on Earth can match him,¡± a Saint watching the battle said.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter how strong that sword is. No matter how strong he is, he can only obtain five stars even if he reaches the Golden Palace now. The Cube¡¯s first place is already Xiao¡¯s,¡± another Saint said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily true.¡± Xiao looked at the scene and whispered in a voice that only he could hear.


    This was the first time they had seen the sure-kill bullet being severed. It excited many humans.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is indeed invincible. So what if it¡¯s at the Calamity grade? So what if it¡¯s a sure-kill bullet? Isn¡¯t it still split in one strike?¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency Human Sovereign, I want to have children with you.¡±


    ¡°Uncle, stop fooling around!¡± The young man beside him flushed red as he pulled the man with the beard¡ªthe one clamoring to have children with Human Sovereign¡ªout of the crowd.


    2


    The Immortal Culling Sword had already been sheathed. Zhou Wen continued walking forward¡ªhe wasn¡¯t walking very quickly because he needed to determine the gunner¡¯s general location before using Li Mobai¡¯s Ghost God Eyes to ensure the highest success rate.


    There was only one chance, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t fail.


    Just as everyone thought, even if Zhou Wen were to reach the Golden Palace, he would at most be rated five stars. If he couldn¡¯t kill the Calamity gunner, it would be impossible for him to obtain a six-star rating.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Zhou Wen constantly sent the Calamity-grade gunner¡¯s bullets flying as he searched for his location.


    Zhou Wen had already tried many times in-game, but every time he felt that his judgment was right, the Calamity-grade gunner would be gone when he instant transmit over to where he should be. He couldn¡¯t sense the location of the Calamity-grade gunner at all.


    However, from the direction of the bullet, the Calamity-grade gunner was definitely there.


    Zhou Wen had also attempted to attack the spot he had determined regardless of whether he could see it or not, but it was useless. His attack didn¡¯t touch anything and it only slammed into the wall.


    ¡°What a pity. If such a human powerhouse can advance to the Calamity grade, people like Xiao and Tsukuyomi might not be able to compete with him,¡± said Worm Dugu with a sigh.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t know if he¡¯s pure human. If he advances to the Calamity grade, it might not be a good thing for humanity.¡± Dugu Ge¡¯s expression was ambivalent.


    Now, the various factions knew very well that if Human Sovereign was really pure human, it would undoubtedly be a potent stimulant for the Federation and humanity. It was very likely to make humans regain the confidence and pride they had long lost.


    However, if Human Sovereign wasn¡¯t pure human, it was very likely that the last bit of humanity¡¯s beliefs would be crushed.


    In the entire Federation, there were quite a number of human powerhouses, but there really weren¡¯t many pure humans. Only Zhou Wen could enter the rankings, but Zhou Wen virtually relied on Companion Beasts. Furthermore, there was the suspicion that he resorted to trickery. It made people feel that he wasn¡¯t very strong.


    Only Human Sovereign could fight all sorts of powerful creatures head-on. Not only was he not at a disadvantage, but he even had the advantage.


    It could be said that in the hearts of many people, Human Sovereign was their final bottom line and dignity as humans.


    If Human Sovereign was no longer pure human, that bottom line would be breached. When that happened, more and more people would choose to contract with Guardians.


    Those who could have taken their own paths might have chosen to become contractors because of this.


    Zhou Wen had already determined the location of the Calamity gunner, but he knew very well that even if he instant transmited over, it would be impossible for him to find him.


    With a slight movement of his fingers, two crystalline eyeballs appeared in his palm. Zhou Wen held the pair of Ghost God Eyes tightly and made them collide.


    ¡°Quickly end it. The rating will only be lower if he wastes any more time. No matter how many times he uses the same move, no matter how many bullets he splits, it won¡¯t improve his rating. It will only lower it. If Human Sovereign has this intention, I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s wrong¡­¡± Professor Gu continued analyzing, but he suddenly saw a strange change in the Cube¡¯s screen.


    Human Sovereign¡¯s entire head was within a helmet, preventing anyone from seeing his appearance, much less his facial features.


    However, at that moment, one could see Human Sovereign¡¯s eyes glowing resplendently. The light from his eyes penetrated the steel-like face armor like two searchlights emitting a red glow. Just a glance at it made one¡¯s heart turn cold as though they had been targeted by the devil.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes stared at the spot he had determined. The wall in front of him suddenly seemed to turn transparent. His gaze passed through several walls and he realized that there was no sign of the Calamity gunner.


    However, in the metal wall at the back, there was a humanoid creature. The creature¡¯s body was identical to the metal wall. He had perfectly fused with the metal wall and was standing inside. Furthermore, he could move freely inside the wall.


    The extremely hard metal was like water for him.


    Zhou Wen could clearly see that the creature on the wall was holding a gun inside the wall and aiming it at him.


    So that¡¯s how it is¡­ So this fellow can move freely in the metal and even use the metal to escape. It¡¯s no wonder I couldn¡¯t find his location¡­ Zhou Wen knew that he had to kill him in one strike.


    He could now see that fellow with the help of the Ghost God Eyes, but the power of the Ghost God Eyes couldn¡¯t last long. If he missed, he wouldn¡¯t have a second chance if the Calamity gunner escaped with the help of the Metal Escape technique.


    For a potent force like the seventh sure-kill shot, it definitely needs some channeling time. At the moment before the bullet is shot, all his strength will probably be focused on the sniper gun. When that happens, it will definitely be difficult for him to use Metal Escape at the same time. This is the only chance. Zhou Wen was already prepared, but he didn¡¯t know if his plan would succeed.


    Everyone watched as Human Sovereign¡¯s eyes lit up. In the next instant, his figure suddenly vanished.


    Even the Cube¡¯s camera paused for a moment, unable to immediately keep up with his movement. When Human Sovereign¡¯s figure appeared on the screen again, people saw him standing in front of a metal wall.. He held the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand, and its blade had already completely sunk into the metal wall.


    1

 Chapter 1424 - Reaching the Peak With Seven Stars

    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. Human Sovereign aimed to kill the Calamity gunner. Unfortunately, he underestimates it too much. This is the home ground of the Calamity gunner to begin with. Even existences like Tsukuyomi, Xiao, and The Fallen found it difficult to find the location of the Calamity gunner. They could only choose to obtain as high a score as possible instead of killing it. The possibility of Human Sovereign successfully killing the Calamity gunner is slim, so it¡¯s reasonable that the attack missed¡­¡± Professor Gu¡¯s analysis was as most people thought.


    However, before Professor Gu could finish his sentence, inch by inch, Human Sovereign pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword that was embedded in the wall.


    As the Immortal Culling Sword was pulled out, energy spewed out like flames from the gap between the sword and the wall, illuminating the entire tunnel.


    ¡°No¡­ No way¡­¡± In the Holy Land, the Saints widened their eyes in disbelief.


    Professor Gu, who was commenting, had his mouth agape, but he couldn¡¯t finish his sentence. All he could do was watch as the light on the Cube¡¯s screen intensified. The light reflected in his pupils nearly filled his entire eyes.


    Boom!


    When the Immortal Culling Sword was completely pulled out, the energy source that spewed out exploded, blasting apart the metal wall. A humanoid metal creature¡¯s chest exploded as the energy source shattered. It fell out of the blasted wall and collapsed in front of Zhou Wen.


    A metal crystal dropped from his blasted chest. Zhou Wen picked it up and turned to walk towards the Golden Palace.


    Without any Calamity-grade bullets appearing again, Zhou Wen walked up to the Golden Palace under everyone¡¯s stunned gazes.


    However, before reaching the Golden Palace, Zhou Wen switched to his Terror form. He had already experimented before. The Golden Palace relied on two aspects to rate the challenger.


    Firstly, it was bloodline. If he dripped his blood in before entering, judgment would be based on his bloodline. Another attempt would only raise his stars and ranking, and he wouldn¡¯t be given a metal ball.


    However, other than dripping blood to enter the Venusian dimensional zone, one could also enter using spatial powers. As creatures that entered like this didn¡¯t have any reference bloodline, the Venusian dimensional zone determined a rating using Life Providences, Life Souls, Wheel of Destiny, and Terror transformation powers.


    Zhou Wen had dripped his blood the last time he came in. The Terror transformation powers he used when he stepped up were The Disqualified, Singularity Universe, and Godfiend Era.


    This time, Zhou Wen had used spatial powers to enter. He had converted all his attributes to Human Sovereign¡¯s before ascending the Golden Palace.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened again as a blinding light shone from within. A metal ball slowly flew out and landed in front of Zhou Wen.


    The Cube¡¯s scene changed and switched to the rankings. Everyone looked eagerly at the top of the rankings. When they saw the two words in their imagination, they felt an indescribable feeling in their hearts. It was as though it was only natural for it to appear, but it was also unbelievable. It was complicated and difficult to describe.


    Then, everyone quickly swept their gazes behind the name.


    One¡­ Two¡­ Three¡­ Someone counted silently in his heart. Someone directly counted out loud. Even if they were not physically in the same place, they were unbelievably in sync.


    ¡°Four¡­ Five¡­ Six¡­ Seven¡­ Stars¡­¡± Someone finally couldn¡¯t help but shout hoarsely,¡± Seven stars¡­ Human Sovereign has seven stars¡­ F*ck¡­ It¡¯s seven stars¡­ Who the hell said that Human Sovereign can¡¯t get first place¡­¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, what are your thoughts?¡± The host couldn¡¯t help but ask the stunned Professor Gu. As a fan of Human Sovereign, she was very displeased with Professor Gu¡¯s previous analysis. If it wasn¡¯t because of her professional ethics, she would have long retorted.


    ¡°This¡­ is indeed a little unexpected¡­¡± Professor Gu couldn¡¯t think of anything to say, so he coughed awkwardly.


    ¡°Haha, as expected, our Human Sovereign is invincible. What Saint Xiao? What¡¯s so awesome about him? If he has the ability, kill the Calamity gunner.¡±


    ¡°I knew it. I knew that Human Sovereign would definitely do it. As Human Sovereign, wouldn¡¯t killing a Calamity be child¡¯s play?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. That wasn¡¯t what you said a moment ago?¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°How did this happen? Didn¡¯t Lord Holy God say that it¡¯s virtually impossible for Calamity-grade creatures to kill the Calamity gunner in the Venusian dimensional zone? How did he do it?¡± A Saint was still in disbelief as he looked at the seven golden stars behind Human Sovereign¡¯s name with a look of appalled surprise.


    ¡°Lord Holy God only said that it¡¯s virtually impossible, but that¡¯s not an ordinary person,¡± Xiao said indifferently.


    ¡°But what do we do now? Lord Holy God said that we have to obtain first place and obtain the Venusian Companion Beast¡­ Now¡­¡± the Saint said in a panic.


    Thinking of the consequences of Holy God¡¯s wrath, many Saints trembled slightly.


    ¡°What do you mean what should we do? Can¡¯t I just snatch back first place? Since Lord Holy God chose me, I naturally have to do the deed well. If Human Sovereign can do it, I can also do it,¡± Xiao said as he walked towards the Cube.


    ¡°Well said. Just snatch it back.¡± A voice sounded from a distant palace. A holy deity walked over step by step. Wherever he passed, all the Saints genuflected. No one dared to look at him.


    ¡°Lord Holy God.¡± Xiao also genuflected.


    ¡°Not only do I want you to snatch back first place, but I also want you to kill that human. Can you do it?¡± Holy God asked as he looked down at Xiao.


    ¡°If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Xiao said in a deep voice.


    ¡°I can give you a chance, but failure is not an option,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°Only one of us will live,¡± Xiao answered firmly.


    ¡°Remember your words. If Human Sovereign doesn¡¯t die, don¡¯t even bother returning.¡± Holy God walked towards the Cube. When he stood on the Cube, the entire Cube lit up.


    Everyone looked at the ranking on the Cube and discussed what Companion Beast Human Sovereign would obtain.


    The Cube that had already switched to the ranking screen suddenly changed again. It returned to the scene in the Venusian dimensional zone.


    Furthermore, the scene didn¡¯t show the entrance to the Venusian dimensional zone. It was still the scene in front of the Golden Palace. Zhou Wen was still standing in front of the Golden Palace and hadn¡¯t been teleported out.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Everyone was somewhat puzzled.


    This was unprecedented. Furthermore, the countdown hadn¡¯t ended. There were still dozens of minutes left. It was still premature to say that Human Sovereign had obtained first place.


    Zhou Wen realized that he hadn¡¯t been teleported out of the Golden Palace and knew that something was amiss. He immediately wanted to use spatial teleportation to leave the Golden Palace, but he realized that the space in the Golden Palace was isolated from the outside world. He couldn¡¯t teleport out.


    At the same time, a figure entered the Venusian dimensional zone. It was none other than Xiao.


    Everyone immediately understood what had happened. The entire Federation broke into a furor.


    ¡°F*ck, again? Do you have any shame? It was Di Tian the last time. This time, it¡¯s the Holy Land. If you can¡¯t win, play dirty. Is everyone from the dimension so shameless?¡±

 Chapter 1425 - Only One Person Can Leave Alive

    When Zhou Wen saw Xiao, he immediately engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    Since Xiao could make the Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods commit suicide and Zhou Wen was only at the Terror grade, he had to mount a full defense to not succumb to Xiao¡¯s abilities.


    Even with the double protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Truth Listener, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare be careless. He focused his gaze on Xiao and grabbed the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword again.


    ¡°In our battle today, only one person can leave alive. Please do your best. Let Venus see who has the right to be the owner of the Venusian Companion Beast,¡± Xiao said as he walked over step by step.


    Zhou Wen never liked to waste his breath, much less talk nonsense with enemies. He immediately unsheathed the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand and slashed down with Immortal Slaying.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Speed and Strength were infinitely close to the Calamity grade. With Immortal Slaying combined with the Immortal Culling Sword, he could produce the power to kill a Calamity-grade creature.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the Immortal Culling Sword couldn¡¯t be taken into the game, Zhou Wen would have long used it to kill the Kui. He wouldn¡¯t have needed to go through so much trouble using the Tyrant Behemoth boxing glove.


    Zhou Wen had previously seen Xiao. Back then, he was still very far from the Calamity grade. Now, it was certain that he had only recently advanced to the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that he could withstand the power of the Immortal Culling Sword.


    However, Xiao didn¡¯t dodge. When the Immortal Culling Sword reached him, he reached out to his waist. There was also a sword there, but it was different from the East District-like Immortal Culling Sword. The sword in his hand was a western-styled rapier.


    The rapier was silver in color; even the scabbard was the same. It looked like it was made of pure silver, and the patterns on it were exquisite.


    At the instant the rapier was unsheathed, Zhou Wen saw silver light collide with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Clang!


    When the two swords clashed, the shockwave produced forced Zhou Wen and Xiao to retreat. The shockwave constantly spread out and struck the metal wall with a boom.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he looked at the silver rapier in Xiao¡¯s hand. According to what he knew, a West District weapon like the rapier wasn¡¯t steeped in history. It was unlikely to appear in myths and legends.


    However, the silver rapier didn¡¯t show any damage after clashing with the Immortal Culling Sword. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t an ordinary item, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out its origins.


    ¡°Lord Holy God is right. The sword forged from Holy Metal can indeed block that Immortal Culling Sword.¡± The Saints watching were delighted when they saw the Immortal Culling Sword blocked.


    ¡°Of course. When has Lord Holy God ever been wrong? That¡¯s the Holy Sword that Lord Holy God personally bestowed to Xiao. The Holy Metal used to create the Holy Sword is the foundation of the Holy Temple. It was baptized by Holy Energy for countless years and has long been a supreme Holy item. It¡¯s virtually indestructible. How can it be easily damaged?¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign is only at the Terror grade. All he relies on is the Immortal Culling Sword. Now that the Holy Sword can withstand its blow, it will be a piece of cake for Xiao to defeat him.¡±


    The Saints discussed spiritedly, but inside the Venusian dimensional zone, Xiao didn¡¯t immediately counterattack.


    He levitated in midair with his rapier casually held in front of his chest. He looked extremely elegant and natural, like an otherworldly swordsman.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t reached the Calamity grade. If I defeat you with the Calamity Zone, I¡¯m afraid you will die with a grievance,¡± Xiao said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why? Do you plan on not using the Calamity Zone?¡± Zhou Wen asked calmly.


    ¡°Indeed. I¡¯ll let you see the true strength of a Saint,¡± Xiao said as he instantly stabbed out with his rapier. The blade vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s vision, preventing him from seeing the trajectory of the strike.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he instantly moved horizontally. At the instant he moved, a silver beam flashed from his head, almost brushing past his hair.


    If Zhou Wen had been any slower, his head would have been penetrated by the sword.


    That was fast! Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s heart nearly popped out when she saw this.


    An Sheng, Li Xuan, An Jing, and company were also watching the battle. They were so nervous that their palms were sweating.


    Xiao gracefully followed as he stabbed out again and again. The rapier and his figure were unbelievably fast. His usual speed could reach the speed of light, but the instant he struck out, he was so fast that even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the trajectory of the sword.


    Even Tsukuyomi¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Boom! Boom!


    The clashing sounds of the blades and the impacts of the shockwave constantly echoed. Xiao¡¯s terrifying rapier had been completely blocked by Zhou Wen. None of the strikes could injure him.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ Although Human Sovereign is strong¡­ it¡¯s all thanks to the power that the sword gives him. That¡¯s how he can kill a Calamity-grade. However, his speed and reaction shouldn¡¯t reach the level of a Calamity-grade. Furthermore, Xiao¡¯s stabbing speed probably can¡¯t even be seen by ordinary Calamity-grade creatures. How did Human Sovereign block it?¡± The Saints were alarmed.


    Li Xuan and the others who were on good terms with Zhou Wen, as well as the ordinary humans, were pleasantly surprised. Wang Lu also heaved a sigh of relief as she held her hands in front of her chest. Unknowingly, she was already covered in a cold sweat.


    ¡°I knew it. What kind of existence is Human Sovereign? A mere Calamity-grade can¡¯t do anything to him.¡± The people who had held their breaths while watching were immediately overjoyed when they saw that Human Sovereign remained calm and composed under the unbelievable rapier. He had blocked all of Xiao¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°I¡¯m starting to doubt if Human Sovereign is really pure human. Such an ability really doesn¡¯t seem like what a pure human is capable of,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said jokingly.


    ¡°Indeed. He can actually see the trajectory of the sword. Such eyesight should have exceeded the limits of a Terror-grade?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°No, he didn¡¯t see it, nor can he see it. The ability I¡¯m referring to isn¡¯t this,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°He can¡¯t see it?¡± Zhang Yuzhi was taken aback as she asked in disbelief, ¡°How does he block it if he can¡¯t see it? Furthermore, he looks to be at ease. It doesn¡¯t look like it was luck.¡±


    ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t luck. True, you can¡¯t say that he can¡¯t see it. It can only be said that he can¡¯t see the rapier¡¯s trajectory, but he can see Xiao¡¯s movements.¡± Noticing Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s incomprehension, Zhang Chunqiu continued explaining, ¡°Xiao¡¯s rapier is unbelievably fast. It might also be a spatial ability. No matter what ability it is, it¡¯s impossible for the Terror-grade Human Sovereign to see the trajectory of the rapier. Even if he can see it, it¡¯s impossible for him to react.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, Human Sovereign isn¡¯t looking at the rapier at all. He fixes his eyes on Xiao¡¯s actions. Although Xiao¡¯s speed is very fast, he isn¡¯t as fast as the rapier. It¡¯s still within Human Sovereign¡¯s reaction speed. Human Sovereign uses Xiao¡¯s actions to determine his target and block his attack.¡± After Zhang Chunqiu explained, he couldn¡¯t help but praise, ¡°It sounds simple, but a battle at that level is ever-changing. To be able to accurately block an almost invisible sword with just the other party¡¯s actions is truly shocking. Even if I had the same strength as him, I might not be able to do it to such an extent. This fellow doesn¡¯t look human at all.¡±

 Chapter 1426 - Sword Combat

    Zhou Wen¡¯s The Disqualified had the ability to spy on the weakness of everything, so he naturally understood immediately that it was impossible to see Xiao¡¯s sword clearly, but he could determine the necessary actions he needed from Xiao¡¯s actions.


    To others, it was impossible to block all attacks with just judgment in such a fast battle. However, Zhou Wen was relaxed and at ease.


    All things had their strengths, but they definitely had their weaknesses. Unless the other party¡¯s overall standard was strong enough to crush Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen would ultimately grasp their weaknesses.


    Xiao naturally discovered the problem as his sword art suddenly changed.


    Xiao wanted to use an ever-changing sword art to make Zhou Wen make a mistake. Just one mistake, even if it was just a millisecond slower, would be enough to deal a fatal blow.


    ¡°Why is Xiao¡¯s sword art¡­ Why is it¡­ a little strange¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s eyesight wasn¡¯t good enough, so she could only make out a blur. This allowed her to feel that Xiao¡¯s sword art was somewhat different, but she couldn¡¯t tell what was different.


    Zhang Chunqiu said with a heavy expression, ¡°It looks like an incorrectly done jigsaw puzzle, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the feeling. What¡¯s going on? With the standards Xiao displayed, his sword art should have already entered a sublime realm. It¡¯s impossible for him to make such a mistake,¡± Zhang Yuzhi hurriedly said with a nod.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a mistake, but a deliberate action on Xiao¡¯s part. The first move he¡¯s using now comes from different sword arts. The previous move is completely different from the next move¡¯s style. It¡¯s even diametrically opposite. It¡¯s to make it difficult for Human Sovereign to determine the angle and position of his sword.¡±


    Zhang Chunqiu paused for a moment before continuing with a frown, ¡°This Xiao is really extraordinary. There aren¡¯t any flaws despite using all sorts of sword arts; yet, it makes one feel as though there¡¯s something misaligned. What¡¯s even more terrifying is that the sword techniques he¡¯s proficient in almost encompass all the types of sword techniques I know. To be able to master all sorts of sword arts to such an extent is testament to this fellow¡¯s immense talent.¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t Human Sovereign be in grave danger? You previously said that Human Sovereign relied on determining his actions to withstand his attacks. Now, with the combination of such random swords, and with it being difficult to distinguish what¡¯s real, wouldn¡¯t Human Sovereign immediately be severely injured if he makes a mistake?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said worriedly.


    ¡°In theory, it¡¯s indeed very difficult not to make any mistakes. However, Human Sovereign probably can¡¯t leave even if he wants to. He has to not make any mistakes or think of a way to counterattack. Otherwise, he¡¯s a sitting duck,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    An Sheng and Li Xuan were already so nervous that they were mute. They naturally could tell that Zhou Wen was in a terrible situation.


    There were thousands of sword arts in the world. It was impossible for a person to have seen all the sword arts in the world even if he spent his entire life doing so.


    Furthermore, there was a technique of faking moves in sword arts. If Zhou Wen made a wrong judgment once, his outcome would be tragic. From their point of view, Zhou Wen was dancing on the tip of a blade. Any carelessness would immediately lead to a bloody calamity.


    ¡°Where did the Holy Land find this Xiao? He¡¯s terrifying. To be able to cultivate his sword art to such a level, even without the help of the Holy Land and Guardians, he definitely won¡¯t be ordinary,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a heavy expression.


    Xia Xuanyue could also tell that Xiao¡¯s sword art had indeed reached a sublime realm. It was probably difficult to find humans in the world who could cultivate sword arts to such a level.


    Xiao was in no way inferior to the few most famous swordsmen. Furthermore, Xiao was better than them in one aspect.


    Ya from the Holy Spirit Association was also a sword expert. The female sword immortal from Luoyang and Swordsman Tomorrow were all sword experts, but their sword art had been cultivated to the extreme in one particular style.


    However, Xiao seemed to have cultivated all the sword arts in the world to the limit. Even a slightly less talented swordsman could not match the sword moves he casually unleashed despite practicing his entire life.


    However, in Xiao¡¯s hands, such sword arts seemed basic.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, Xiao is indeed talented. He¡¯s probably the only Saint who can cultivate sword arts to such a level,¡± the old Saint by Holy God¡¯s side whispered.


    ¡°His sword arts are indeed very good, but such sword arts can¡¯t kill Human Sovereign,¡± said Holy God indifferently.


    The Saint was immediately alarmed when he heard that. ¡°Such a sword art, coupled with the Trajectory technique that even a Calamity-grade might not be able to see clearly, still can¡¯t kill Human Sovereign?¡±


    Even a Calamity-grade creature would probably find it difficult to last long in a melee battle with Xiao. There would ultimately be times when they made miscalculations.


    ¡°This Human Sovereign is indeed a hero among humans. It¡¯s a pity I didn¡¯t discover him in the past,¡± Holy God said with interest.


    The old Saint naturally understood that the pity the Holy God mentioned was that Human Sovereign couldn¡¯t be nurtured into a Saint.


    ¡°If Lord Holy God is interested in him, you can let Xiao spare his life. It won¡¯t be difficult for him to join the Holy Temple and become a Saint,¡± the old Saint said.


    Holy God turned his head to look at the old Saint. The old Saint¡¯s body immediately trembled as he hurriedly knelt down and prostrated on the ground. With a trembling voice, he said, ¡°I spoke too much. Your Excellency, please mete out punishment.¡±


    ¡°You are not allowed to say a word for three years. Commit suicide if you violate it,¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    The old Saint didn¡¯t dare say a word as he kowtowed.


    Holy God ignored him and continued, ¡°All Saints have to be nurtured from birth. There can be no exception.¡±


    ¡­


    Those who could truly tell what was happening were worried about Human Sovereign¡¯s ability to block Xiao¡¯s sword arts.


    Or perhaps Human Sovereign could reverse the situation by using internecine methods.


    However, they soon realized that Human Sovereign didn¡¯t do so. He relied on his sword arts to fight Xiao, and the battle continued. The harrowing scene they had imagined didn¡¯t happen.


    No matter how Xiao¡¯s sword arts changed, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t make any mistakes. He accurately blocked all the attacks. Furthermore, his attacks caused Xiao some trouble.


    ¡°Can he really not see Xiao strike?¡± Xia Liuchuan, who was originally very worried, gradually wore a strange expression after watching for a while.


    Human Sovereign didn¡¯t seem to be relying on judgment to fight Xiao. Otherwise, how could he do it without making any mistakes under Xiao¡¯s complicated sword arts?


    However, they knew very well that it was impossible to see Xiao¡¯s strike. Even if they could see it, it would be too late. Action had to be taken before Xiao thrust his sword to block it. Therefore, Human Sovereign definitely didn¡¯t rely on sight.


    ¡°This fellow is really a monster. He¡¯s definitely not a pure human.¡± Even the head of the Cape family couldn¡¯t help but say.


    ¡°I really want to fight Human Sovereign. I¡¯ll be happy even if I die.¡± In the Ultimate Family Clan in the North District, Lance stared at Zhou Wen with his eyes glowing.


    The Heart Defying Sword that Zhou Wen had comprehended from the three thousand sword intents covered all kinds of sword arts. With the ability of The Disqualified, no matter how Xiao¡¯s sword arts changed, it didn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen much.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be impressed by Xiao¡¯s strength. Up to now, he had never used two sword arts that were identical. It greatly weakened the ability of The Disqualified.

 Chapter 1427 - Worship

    Chapter 1427: Worship


    Translator: CKtalon


    Since you aren¡¯t using the Calamity Zone, I¡¯ll kill you before you start using it. Zhou Wen was just about to take the opportunity to deal a ruthless blow when he suddenly felt the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder react.


    In his consciousness, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder lit up. The book¡¯s surface automatically opened as golden runes appeared.


    Zhou Wen also felt immense mental pressure. Thankfully, his willpower was terrifyingly strong. The mental suppression didn¡¯t shake his willpower.


    What happened to not using the Calamity Zone? He didn¡¯t even say a word and directly used it. It¡¯s indeed the shameless Saint Xiao! Thankfully, Zhou Wen was prepared and wasn¡¯t affected. Just as he was about to curse, a thought flashed in his mind, but he immediately gave up on the idea.


    Zhou Wen stood there blankly as his expression turned livid. He held the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand and swiped it at his neck.


    ¡°No good! That bastard Xiao went back on his word. He used the Calamity Zone when Old Zhou wasn¡¯t prepared!¡± Li Xuan was alarmed as he jumped up, but there was nothing he could do.


    Wang Lu was also given a fright as she widened her eyes and covered her mouth, not daring to look any further.


    Everyone recalled the scene of the Metal Guards and Golden Battle Gods committing suicide when Xiao attempted the level.


    Human Sovereign was only at the Terror grade after all. It was definitely not impossible for him to commit suicide under Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone.


    However, Human Sovereign still looked like he was struggling. He didn¡¯t directly swipe at his neck as though he wasn¡¯t completely controlled. He was still resisting.


    Xiao didn¡¯t hesitate as he stabbed at Zhou Wen quickly.


    His sword was unbelievably fast to begin with, and this strike was so fast that it almost vanished along with him.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes regained clarity as his body suddenly spun. The Immortal Culling Sword that was aimed at his neck spun with his body before slashing down into the void.


    Chi!


    The sound of silk being sliced through was heard. As it was too fast, no one saw what had happened.


    After a slight pause, people realized that Xiao had already returned to his original spot. A patch from his robe had been sliced off, and Zhou Wen was still standing there with the Immortal Culling Sword in hand. His eyes were clear, and he didn¡¯t have any intention of committing suicide.


    Holy sh*t, he nearly frightened me to death! Li Xuan immediately understood that Zhou Wen had lured Xiao into a trap. However, from the looks of it, he hadn¡¯t really injured Xiao.


    ¡°How shameless. Didn¡¯t you say that you won¡¯t use the Calamity Zone? You want to have a fair battle with Human Sovereign? How long has it been and you¡¯re already going back on your word.¡±


    ¡°How is this going back on his word? It¡¯s a premeditated scheme to cause harm. Thankfully, my Human Sovereign is strong enough and wasn¡¯t harmed by him.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign is amazing as ever. Unfortunately, he failed to kill him with one strike.¡±


    People like Zhang Chunqiu had also been given a fright. They heaved a collective sigh of relief.


    Wang Lu was still nervously staring at the live broadcast, but she didn¡¯t relax.


    ¡°You are despicable,¡± Xiao said as he looked at his sleeve. Thankfully, he hadn¡¯t used all his strength to kill Zhou Wen. Otherwise, he might not have been able to escape unscathed.


    ¡°Takes one to know one,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at Xiao.


    At that moment, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder in his body was crazily converting Essence Energy. Even Truth Listener was converting Essence Energy, indicating that the power of Evil Nullification was working.


    Even so, Zhou Wen could sense a powerful mental pressure. Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone was rather complicated. It wasn¡¯t a lone power.


    Only Zhou Wen could withstand it. If it were any other ordinary Terror-grade creature, they would probably have committed suicide.


    ¡°I originally wanted you to die without pain. Since you don¡¯t appreciate my kindness, I can only let you die in pain,¡± Xiao said as the Calamity Zone power from his body grew stronger.


    As the domain¡¯s power increased, Xiao became more and more holy. He was like a deity, as though taking another look at him was desecrating him.


    Many of the ordinary people watching the battle through the Cube seemed to be possessed. They prostrated on the ground and worshiped Xiao.


    In front of the Cube all over the world, there was a black mass of people kneeling.


    Even the people watching the broadcast through the television did the same. All of them prostrated in front of the television¡ªbefore Xiao.


    In the beginning, this was only limited to ordinary people. Later on, humans at the Legendary and Epic stage began to succumb. They gradually knelt down uncontrollably.


    ¡°What a powerful domain power. Its influence can actually spread to such a large area!¡± Zhang Chunqiu realized that many members of the Zhang family nearby were beginning to worship things like phones and television.


    Even Zhang Chunqiu felt a very strong mental influence.


    Li Xuan and An Sheng were fine. Their mental fortitude was very strong. Just watching the live broadcast didn¡¯t affect them much.


    An Jing could also withstand it, but many soldiers and workers in Overseer Manor were already prostrating on the ground as long as they watched the battle. They were like pious believers.


    Even a Mythical officer had a ferocious expression as though he was in a battle. His knees bent bit by bit and he was close to kneeling on the ground.


    ¡°Is that fellow¡¯s Calamity Zone that powerful? It can actually affect something so far away? They are on Venus, and this is Earth!¡± Li Xuan could also sense the pressure. He looked at the soldiers and officers outside and was secretly alarmed.


    ¡°That should be a domain that focuses on mental strength. Therefore, it can be transmitted through videos without any distance restriction. There¡¯s no need to worry about this. Young Master¡¯s mental fortitude isn¡¯t something an ordinary person can compare with. If he wants to use this power to deal with Young Master, he¡¯s gravely mistaken,¡± An Sheng said coldly.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t as relaxed as An Sheng imagined.


    Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone had a very potent psyche power. The psyche power was also one of the strongest powers that could affect humans elsewhere.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the only power in Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone. There was also a power that made the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Truth Listener react.


    Or perhaps there were other powers. In this complicated Calamity Zone, Zhou Wen realized that his body was still affected.


    Although it wasn¡¯t to the point of committing suicide or completely losing control of his body, it still had a negative effect. His actions deviated slightly.


    It was just like a patient with Parkinson¡¯s disease. There would be signs of fingers trembling uncontrollably, albeit very mild.


    However, Zhou Wen was fighting Xiao. Xiao¡¯s rapier didn¡¯t stop. Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers only needed to tremble a few times before he found himself in immediate danger.


    The tip of the rapier slashed across his shoulder. On the Prisoned Dragon armor with Absolute Defense, there was a sword mark. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t penetrated.


    However, Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone powers were still strengthening. The effects on Zhou Wen became more and more intense. It wasn¡¯t just his hands, face, body¡ªeven his legs and feet would spasm from time to time.


    Although it only happened once in a while and wasn¡¯t a constant influence, it already left Zhou Wen in a dire situation.


    Not good! Zhou Wen could still forcefully control his body and not cause any major problems.. However, as Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone became stronger, it was only a matter of time before Xiao found an opportunity.

 Chapter 1428 - Gods’ Zone

    Chapter 1428: Gods¡¯ Zone


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Things aren¡¯t good.¡± Hui Haifeng frowned. Anyone at a certain level could sense that Human Sovereign¡¯s rhythm had turned problematic.


    Originally, Human Sovereign could easily block Xiao¡¯s sword without making any unnecessary movements. But now, people could clearly sense that Human Sovereign¡¯s actions weren¡¯t as clean as before.


    Zhou Wen had no choice. In order to ensure that there was a backup plan when a part of his body encountered a problem, he had to make more preparations. Therefore, his actions weren¡¯t clean anymore.


    Although he could just withstand Xiao¡¯s attacks, Zhou Wen knew that this wasn¡¯t a long-term solution. He had to resolve the present situation before his body encountered an irreversible problem.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he thought about how he could crack the current situation.


    It wasn¡¯t impossible for a Terror-grade to fight a Calamity-grade, but he had to resolve the huge problem of the Calamity Zone.


    The Calamity-grade creatures that Zhou Wen had previously killed had Calamity Zones which didn¡¯t affect him much, but Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone was somewhat different. It was a very complicated domain power.


    There were nomological powers, curses, psyche attacks, and other things.


    The nomological powers had already been restrained by the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. The curses had been resolved by Truth Listener. Zhou Wen could withstand psyche attacks with his willpower.


    Now, there was still an unknown power that affected Zhou Wen¡¯s body. He had to resolve this power before he could truly fight Xiao fairly.


    Crack!


    Due to his fingers twitching uncontrollably, Zhou Wen failed to block Xiao¡¯s sword in time. Although he had retreated in time, Xiao had still stabbed him in the shoulder.


    The sword stabbed through the Prisoned Dragon armor, leaving a tiny hole. As Zhou Wen retreated, blood spewed out when the tip of the sword separated from his body.


    Thankfully, with the Prisoned Dragon armor in between him and the sword, Zhou Wen had the time to retreat. This strike only slightly injured him. It didn¡¯t pierce through his bones.


    Many people¡¯s hearts tightened. Human Sovereign being injured was a very bad sign.


    Zhou Wen was at a disadvantage as Xiao¡¯s attacks became more and more ferocious. He was like an elegant swordsman as he stabbed out repeatedly with his rapier. He was so fast that nobody could see the sword beam.


    Zhou Wen retreated as he fought, but due to his body being affected by the Calamity Zone, he kept making mistakes and getting injured. More and more bloody holes appeared on the Prisoned Dragon armor.


    Zhou Wen was constantly carving all sorts of Essence Energy Arts to see if there was any power that could restrain the unknown power in the Calamity Zone.


    However, after trying all the Essence Energy Arts he was good at, there was no power that could restrain that unknown power.


    If my guess is right, Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone should be related to faith. As Zhou Wen fought, he constantly thought. Many times, brute force couldn¡¯t change the outcome. Instead, it might make the situation worse. Zhou Wen needed to find a better solution.


    Now, Zhou Wen determined that Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone was a power that depended on something like faith. It had the nomological power of a deity and the nature of a curse. It could also control one¡¯s mind. No matter how he thought about it, it was related to faith.


    If it¡¯s a faith zone, what kind of power can affect one¡¯s body? I¡¯m not his believer, and my will won¡¯t be affected. With Truth Listener around, curses are useless against me¡­ In theory, I should be able to withstand the power of faith. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss.


    Xiao¡¯s attacks became more and more ferocious. More and more wounds appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body as blood constantly spewed out from the blade¡¯s thrusts. Furthermore, his injuries were getting closer and closer to his vital spots.


    This was because the Calamity Zone¡¯s power was affecting Zhou Wen more and more. Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s actions would sometimes result in serious mistakes. Once, one of his legs had nearly been sliced off by Xiao.


    ¡°Save him!¡± Wang Lu held her hands in front of her chest. She didn¡¯t dare look any further as she closed her eyes and prayed.


    ¡°Not good. Human Sovereign has been greatly affected by the Calamity Zone. His body is beginning to show signs of losing control,¡± Xia Liuchuan said worriedly.


    It wasn¡¯t just Xia Liuchuan. Even ordinary people could tell that Human Sovereign¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t good. Even if one didn¡¯t have the eyesight to see the battle, the blood that splattered made it obvious how terrible Human Sovereign¡¯s situation was.


    Furthermore, there was a slow-motion replay by the media. Under the slow-motion replay, one could vaguely see Human Sovereign being stabbed. This made one¡¯s heart ache even more.


    Silence prevailed in front of the Cubes and televisions everywhere around the world. Some women and children couldn¡¯t help but clasp their hands together and pray for Human Sovereign.


    Most humans didn¡¯t wish for Human Sovereign to lose, much less die.


    Could it be the power of misfortune? In many myths and legends, not only can deities cast curses, but they can also inflict humans with misfortune! With a thought, Zhou Wen secretly summoned a few Luck Companion Beasts in their equipment form and wore them within his armor.


    However, the lucky equipment didn¡¯t do a thing. Zhou Wen¡¯s lack of control over his body kept increasing in frequency.


    Zhou Wen immediately knew that he had been wrong. It wasn¡¯t the power of misfortune. If it was the power of misfortune, even if his luck wasn¡¯t good enough, it would still show a certain effect.


    However, as this lucky equipment was useless, it was definitely not because of the power of misfortune.


    If it¡¯s not misfortune, what could it be? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced. Although his injuries were constantly increasing, his mind was extremely calm. There weren¡¯t many fluctuations. The dense sword holes and blood that bloomed on his body didn¡¯t seem to be from him.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is rather interesting.¡± Holy God sized up Human Sovereign with interest and muttered to himself, ¡°I used my avatar to help Xiao advance to the Calamity grade. Although that avatar is only at the Human Realm, the Gods¡¯ Zone formed by the power of Xiao¡¯s Guardian has an absolute suppressive effect on creatures below the Calamity grade. Even creatures at the Human Realm will be greatly affected. They might even become servants. Human Sovereign is only at the Terror grade, but he can actually last so long in the Gods¡¯ Zone without completely losing control of himself. It¡¯s quite surprising.¡±


    ¡°Lord Holy God, there¡¯s not much time left. Will Xiao be fine?¡± Saint looked at the time and realized that there were less than twenty minutes left before the Cube¡¯s countdown ended.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough. Under the Gods¡¯ Zone, Human Sovereign no longer has the possibility of turning the tables,¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    He was very confident because half of Xiao¡¯s Calamity-grade power came from his avatar.

 Chapter 1429 - Huge Club

    Zhou Wen was indeed in a terrible state. He had tried all sorts of powers, but he was ultimately unable to crack the influence Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone had on him.


    Even if he wasn¡¯t afraid of his identity being exposed, using the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was still unable to change his present disadvantage.


    The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation needed Zhou Wen¡¯s control. If Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even control his body, how could he control the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation? When that happened, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation would collapse on its own and be useless.


    If it¡¯s not the power of misfortune, what could it be? Zhou Wen was puzzled. He really couldn¡¯t figure out what kind of power eluded him.


    This made Zhou Wen suspect that his judgment was wrong. Xiao¡¯s domain power had nothing to do with faith.


    However, he quickly eliminated this possibility. No matter how he looked at it, the domain was definitely related to the power of faith.


    He¡¯s almost at his limit. He shouldn¡¯t be able to last much longer. Sweetie stood not far from Zhou Wen with a rather ambivalent expression.


    The wounds on Zhou Wen¡¯s body worsened. There were sword holes everywhere on the Prisoned Dragon armor. The armor was almost completely dyed blood-red.


    Thankfully, it was the Prisoned Dragon armor. If it were any other armor, Zhou Wen would have long been stabbed to death.


    Even with the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s Absolute Defense, it was on the brink of collapse. If this continued, it would probably shatter.


    I can¡¯t break the rules¡­ But¡­ But¡­ But¡­ I can¡¯t let Zhou Wen die at the hands of others¡­ Yes¡­ I need to avenge Yana¡­ I can¡¯t let others kill him¡­ Sweetie seemed to convince herself as she thought to herself, Besides, I¡¯m not helping him. I¡¯m just maintaining fairness. Mommy said that maintaining fairness is God¡¯s responsibility; it¡¯s not breaking the rules.


    That human using the Calamity Zone to deal with a person without a domain is unfair in itself. Furthermore, I¡¯m not trying to crack his domain. I¡¯m just wiping away the blessing power within. This isn¡¯t helping Zhou Wen at all. It¡¯s wrong to use blessing powers on the enemy to begin with. This isn¡¯t giving Zhou Wen an advantage. I¡¯m just helping him get back on course. Yes, that¡¯s right. In fact, I¡¯m helping that person defeat Zhou Wen and avenge Yana. Sweetie finally mentally steeled herself and was about to eliminate the blessing power in the Gods¡¯ Zone.


    However, before Sweetie did anything, Zhou Wen suddenly did something unexpected.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned as a white club appeared in his hand.


    Sweetie couldn¡¯t help but stop. For Zhou Wen to suddenly summon such a white club at such a time meant that he likely had some idea. Perhaps it was a secret weapon.


    ¡°That club looks a little big. Its offensive strength must be very powerful, right?¡±


    ¡°It looks very strong. It¡¯s definitely Human Sovereign¡¯s secret weapon.¡±


    ¡°Quickly kill that Xiao. It¡¯s too stifling.¡±


    Everyone widened their eyes as they wanted to see how Zhou Wen could turn the tables. Although the chances weren¡¯t high, Human Sovereign must have some special use for summoning such Companion Beast equipment.


    ¡°Bro, do you know what Companion Beast that huge club is?¡± Zhang Yuzhi looked at Zhang Chunqiu. She had a deep understanding of Companion Beasts, but she didn¡¯t know what Companion Beast it was.


    ¡°You are a Companion Beast expert yourself. If you don¡¯t know it, I wouldn¡¯t know either.¡± Zhang Chunqiu was being humble. His knowledge wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s, but he didn¡¯t recognize what Companion Beast it was.


    ¡°However, for Human Sovereign to take it out at this moment and how it looks like a very domineering weapon, Human Sovereign is probably going to go all out,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said after some thought.


    Many people shared the same thoughts as Zhang Chunqiu. They felt that at this stage, Human Sovereign was definitely going to risk his life.


    All eyes were focused on the white club. It looked like it was made of crystal jade. It was thick and huge, bigger than an extra-large baseball bat.


    In Human Sovereign¡¯s hand, it looked especially imposing. It looked even more ferocious than the Immortal Culling Sword in his other hand.


    ¡°He¡¯s moving!¡± someone shouted.


    The club in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand finally moved. Everyone held their breaths as they waited for Human Sovereign¡¯s next shocking strike.


    Some people even wondered if the huge club would destroy Xiao¡¯s Calamity Zone.


    Although people knew that it was almost impossible, they couldn¡¯t help but fantasize.


    Bang!


    The club struck with all its might, but this strike left everyone dumbfounded. Their mouths gaped open as though they had swallowed a huge invisible duck egg. They stared blankly at the live broadcast.


    Human Sovereign¡¯s club wasn¡¯t directed at Xiao, but at himself.


    ¡°What¡­ What¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­ Human Sovereign knows that he can¡¯t win¡­ Is he trying to commit suicide?¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s mouth was agape for a long time before he finally said those words. His face was filled with disbelief.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t wish to commit suicide. The huge club was actually transformed from Tai Sui. It looked rather domineering, but its offensive strength wasn¡¯t strong. To Zhou Wen, who was wearing armor, such an attack couldn¡¯t injure him at all.


    The reason Zhou Wen did so was that he had thought of another possibility.


    Xiao¡¯s domain power was definitely related to faith. Zhou Wen had gone through all the various powers related to faith, and he finally thought of blessing powers.


    The most direct want humans had when having faith in deities was naturally to obtain blessings. This was also the most basic power of deities.


    Previously, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t thought of blessing because the power of blessing clearly had benefits. However, when he was stumped, he thought carefully about it.


    After all, he had seen The Thearch¡¯s power of wishes. Making wishes was beautiful, but The Thearch¡¯s power of wishes could also be used for evil.


    Then, blessing powers might not necessarily be absolutely positive. For example, words like ¡°I wish your entire family XXX¡± often appeared on the Internet. Clearly, they weren¡¯t very pleasant.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    Only such a seemingly friendly but actually very sinister power could bypass the Evil Nullification of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Truth Listener and directly affect Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen¡¯s body had been affected by the Calamity Zone for so long without being injured at all. Instead, he could vaguely sense that his muscles had strengthened a little.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen began considering how to crack the power of blessing.


    Luck definitely wouldn¡¯t work because a blessing was a seemingly pleasant power to begin with. Luck would only strengthen the power of blessing and not weaken him.


    The higher the value, the greater the influence of the power of blessing. Good things might not necessarily have a good outcome.


    In theory, he should use misfortune or some power to block blessing powers. Unfortunately, the Bamboo Blade had already shattered. Otherwise, it might have been of some use.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before looking at Tai Sui¡¯s Terror form. He realized that Tai Sui¡¯s Terror form was something he had already seen before. A negative symbol would drop his luck, causing nothing to drop. He immediately had a thought and summoned Tai Sui after it turned into a huge club. He planned on giving it a try.

 Chapter 1430 - Final Countdown

    Chapter 1430: Final Countdown


    Translator: CKtalon


    Tai Sui¡¯s attack needed to hit someone to produce effects. As the saying went, breaking ground where Tai Sui presided required touching Tai Sui. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to break ground, he had to touch Tai Sui.


    Zhou Wen had previously experimented. The stronger Tai Sui¡¯s attack was and the more attacks it delivered, the greater the effects of the Tai Sui God symbol.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any pain when he struck his head with Tai Sui, but the feeling of having lost control immediately weakened. The automatic strengthening of his muscles also decreased significantly.


    It works! He was immediately delighted as he smashed the club on his head again.


    The main reason was that Tai Sui¡¯s strength was too weak. Zhou Wen could use more strength if he did the smashing for it. On the other hand, holding Tai Sui would also affect him to a certain extent.


    Hence, everyone saw a shocking scene. Human Sovereign held a huge club in one hand and smashed it on his head. His other hand held the Immortal Culling Sword as he fought Xiao.


    Xiao, who had the upper hand, gradually had Zhou Wen turn the tide. Soon, he found it difficult to gain the upper hand.


    ¡°How¡­ How do you explain this?¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Is this the legendary meme of you wouldn¡¯t like me when I¡¯m angry; I¡¯ll beat myself?¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign is freaking amazing! Is he giving Xiao a few club strikes as a handicap before beating him to the ground?¡±


    ¡°Could this be the legendary Great Sadomasochistic technique? The more self-mutilation, the stronger one becomes?¡±


    2


    Everyone was amused when they saw Human Sovereign smashing himself with a club with one hand and fighting Xiao crazily with the other. The more he fought, the more ferocious he became. He seemed to be about to suppress Xiao.


    Holy God looked at Zhou Wen in a daze and didn¡¯t say a word. The Saints beside him were even more silent. They didn¡¯t even dare look up or watch the battle, much less speak.


    Without the power of blessing to cause trouble, Zhou Wen brought Xiao back to the beginning with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Xiao watched as Human Sovereign kept smashing himself while smashing him. He was clearly surprised.


    1


    However, when he looked at the time, his expression immediately turned solemn. There were only sixteen minutes left.


    How troublesome! Xiao frowned inwardly. At the same time, his figure flashed as he left the battlefield. He didn¡¯t continue attacking Zhou Wen as he raised the rapier in his hand. The blade was right in front of his eyes.


    ¡°The reason Calamity-grade creatures can be called Calamity-grade creatures is definitely beyond your comprehension.¡± With Xiao¡¯s voice, a strange power rose from the rapier in his hand.


    Zhou Wen stared at Xiao as he continued smashing himself with the Tai Sui club. However, he felt a little apprehensive.


    The rapier in Xiao¡¯s hand seemed to gradually fuse with his Calamity Zone. The feeling was indescribable as though the entire domain was attached to the rapier.


    In the next moment, the rapier in Xiao¡¯s hand moved again.


    If Xiao¡¯s previous sword art only had a strange trajectory, then his present sword art was no longer as simple as its trajectory being difficult to understand.


    Many people could see the trajectory of the thrust clearly, but despite being able to see it clearly, it made them feel like slamming their heads into it.


    It was as though the rapier was a shimmering flame, while others were like the moths flying towards the fire.


    There seemed to be a devil¡¯s voice saying, ¡°How satisfying would it be to rush forward and let the blade pierce through your chest.¡±


    This was an unreasonable matter, but even the people watching the battle through the live broadcast had the urge to charge at the rapier and let it pierce through their chests.


    If not for the fact that they couldn¡¯t rush over, many people would have already slammed into the rapier.


    ¡°He has just advanced to the Calamity grade and advanced with the help of external forces; yet, he can actually comprehend the way to become one with the domain. Such talent is rare.¡± Holy God revealed a look of surprise.


    After an ordinary creature advanced to the Calamity grade, it was already very difficult for them to stably use their domain powers. To use domain powers as freely as Xiao required a long period of comprehension and training.


    It was akin to a person who had never ridden a bicycle before managing to drive an F1 car at professional standards after recently getting an F1 car or just knowing how to drive one. It was no wonder that Holy God was surprised.


    However, what surprised Holy God even more was that even though Xiao had already done so, Human Sovereign still managed to block all of Xiao¡¯s attacks.


    Furthermore, Human Sovereign was fighting with a sword in one hand and striking himself with the club in the other.


    Although Xiao was very strong, Zhou Wen was immune to his domain¡¯s power. With the effects of The Disqualified, unless Xiao was so fast that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see his actions, no matter how powerful the rapier was, it would be blocked by the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Time ticked by. Xiao¡¯s attacks became more and more ferocious, but he ultimately failed to injure Zhou Wen. As for the Cube¡¯s countdown, there was less than a minute left.


    Xiao¡¯s eyes revealed a look of worry. His eyes shimmered as though he was secretly thinking about something.


    ¡°Sigh¡­ Xiao¡­ What a pity¡­ If I had known this would happen¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have chosen you¡­¡± Holy God sighed as though he was feeling wistful, but it was unknown what he was feeling regretful about.


    Zhou Wen used all his strength to fight Xiao. To fight a Calamity-grade creature at the Terror grade, especially such a Calamity-grade creature, Zhou Wen could only block Xiao¡¯s attack despite using all his strength. It was difficult to defeat him.


    In fact, Zhou Wen realized that Xiao¡¯s various techniques, be it his movement techniques or sword arts, weren¡¯t inferior to his. If not for The Disqualified and various Essence Energy Arts, it would be difficult for him to be Xiao¡¯s match even with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Furthermore, for some reason, after such a long battle, Zhou Wen felt a sense of familiarity¡ªone which he couldn¡¯t explain.


    Suddenly!


    Zhou Wen realized that Xiao¡¯s attacks were happening faster again. This time, it wasn¡¯t just his sword speed. Even Xiao¡¯s speed had increased. It was much faster than before. This left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    If he couldn¡¯t even see Xiao¡¯s actions clearly, it would be impossible for him to block his subsequent strikes.


    Zhou Wen sized up Xiao and realized that the armor on Xiao¡¯s body was emitting a holy light. The light was pure and flawless, like glass that purified all the impurities in the armor. It made the armor gradually turn transparent and crystalline.


    As the holy light intensified, Xiao¡¯s strength became stronger and stronger; likewise for his speed. It was so fast that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even see Xiao¡¯s actions clearly.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Zhou Wen blocked three strikes in a row. Even with the augmentation of the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s power, Zhou Wen was still forced to retreat. The hand holding the sword kept trembling as the flesh between his thumb and index finger ruptured with gushing blood.


    ¡°If you want to survive, kill Human Sovereign before the countdown. Otherwise, descend into Samsara with Human Sovereign.¡± Holy God watched the battle without any emotion in his eyes.


    Xiao was able to advance to the Calamity grade because he had fused with Holy God¡¯s avatar. Holy God had already activated his avatar. If Xiao failed to kill Zhou Wen before the Cube¡¯s countdown ended, Xiao, who had fused with his avatar, would self-destruct.. The power of self-destruction was enough to destroy any creature below the Calamity grade.

 Chapter 1431 - Self-Destruction

    Chapter 1431: Self-Destruction


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen pushed Truth Listener and Great Brahma¡¯s powers to their limits. With the augmentation of The Disqualified, he forcefully blocked and dodged Xiao¡¯s attack.


    However, Xiao¡¯s strength and speed had exceeded the limits of Zhou Wen¡¯s abilities. The light shimmering over his body illuminated the entire Venusian dimensional zone.


    The intense silver sword beams crisscrossed. The blinding light made it impossible to see what was happening inside. All one could see was the blinding sword beams on the screen intensify. Apart from that, nothing else could be seen.


    Zhou Wen kept retreating. He could only constantly move and position himself to deal with Xiao¡¯s attacks by relying on his judgment and blind guesses.


    Crack! Crack!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Prisoned Dragon armor was penetrated again and again. This time, not only did it penetrate the armor, but even his bones and flesh were penetrated. It nearly injured Zhou Wen¡¯s vital spots several times.


    Although the spectators couldn¡¯t see the battle inside, the powerful sword beam was enough to let everyone know what was happening.


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡­ Hold on¡­¡± Everyone found it difficult to speak. All they could do was pray inwardly. They clearly couldn¡¯t see anything, but they still stared intently at the screen. Their eyes were blinded by the light as they cried. They just couldn¡¯t bear to look away.


    The countdown ticked by, and Xiao had yet to kill Zhou Wen when there were less than ten seconds left.


    Ten¡­ Nine¡­ Eight¡­ Seven¡­ Zhou Wen kept counting silently in his heart. He could also tell that Xiao¡¯s rampage would only result in one outcome¡ªdeath.


    He was counting the time. As long as he waited for Xiao to self-destruct, he would activate the Chaos Egg to forcefully block the energy of the self-destruction. He would then clinch the final victory.


    In the Holy Land, Holy God also looked at the Cube¡¯s countdown. At the same time, he stared at Xiao.


    If Xiao could kill Human Sovereign before the countdown ended, he could stop Xiao¡¯s self-destruction. Otherwise, he could only let Xiao die.


    However, it was probably impossible for Xiao to kill Human Sovereign before the Cube¡¯s countdown based on the present situation.


    Forget it. It¡¯s his fate. With only two seconds left on the countdown, Holy God was unwilling to wait any longer. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t wish for any accidents to happen. He was just one thought short of detonating Xiao.


    In the Venusian dimensional zone, the light on Xiao¡¯s body had already materialized. Zhou Wen felt his strength instantly swell and knew that it was time. Just as Zhou Wen was about to summon the Chaos Egg to withstand it, an unexpected change happened.


    Xiao¡¯s power came from his Guardian armor. As for the Guardian armor, it had advanced to the Calamity grade because it had fused with Holy God¡¯s avatar.


    In theory, Xiao was only at the Epic stage. With the Guardian armor being controlled by the Holy God, he couldn¡¯t escape the Guardian armor.


    This was because his strength was too weak. The Guardian armor was the foundation of his strength.


    However, just as the Guardian armor was about to explode, the Guardian armor on Xiao¡¯s body seemed to be teleported out and instantly vanished.


    1


    As Zhou Wen had been paying attention to Xiao, the intense Holy Light was unable to affect his Truth Listener and Great Brahma. Therefore, he could clearly see Xiao¡¯s true body appear after the Guardian armor on his body vanished, but he didn¡¯t see his true appearance.


    Almost at the same time, a white armor enveloped his body. A red cape fluttered in the wind as he held a huge sword behind him, crossed with a Gatling.


    1


    Although it only took an instant for the figure to rush into the maze, Zhou Wen knew very well who the figure belonged to.


    How could it be him! Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    The figure was clearly An Tianzuo. Apart from him, no one had such strange armor or weapons. It looked like a soul or Guardian, but it was neither.


    1


    Xiao¡¯s Guardian armor had already been detonated by Holy God, but when he saw the Guardian armor and An Tianzuo¡¯s figure, Holy God immediately seemed to understand something. His expression changed drastically as his figure flashed.


    Xiao¡¯s Guardian had fused with his avatar. The moment the Guardian was teleported away, he had already sensed its location. It was actually in the Holy Land, where Xiao lived. It was also the residence of the Saints.


    Boom!


    When Holy God arrived, the Guardian armor had already exploded. Energy was blooming like fireworks.


    Holy God stood in Xiao¡¯s room and saw the imprisoned Xiao enveloped by the exploded Guardian armor. His body was instantly destroyed by the immense energy impact of the Guardian armor. The flesh and blood on his skin rapidly melted away in the explosion.


    Holy God¡¯s eyes narrowed as time seemed to freeze. The fragments on the ground and bed that had been blasted apart froze in midair.


    Holy God walked in front of Xiao, who was undergoing the explosion. He reached out and pressed his hand on the Guardian armor that was exploding. Then, with a casual flick of his hand, the Guardian armor, along with all the energy produced by the explosion, were thrown into the void.


    Boom!


    In the void, a terrifying explosion was like the final brilliance of a supernova-destruction, illuminating the void for an instant.


    Holy God looked at Xiao, who was no longer in human shape. Instead, he looked like a bloody person that had been skinned. A trace of anger couldn¡¯t help but flash in his eyes.


    He hadn¡¯t discovered that Xiao was being impersonated by An Tianzuo and had been screwed over. Thankfully, he had rushed over in time at the final moment. Otherwise, not only would Xiao have died, but all the Saints here would have died with him.


    1


    Holy God knew very well that the Guardian was Xiao¡¯s to begin with. The imprisoned Xiao had definitely been trying to summon his Guardian back. Therefore, An Tianzuo could use Xiao to transfer the Guardian back. Otherwise, no matter how capable he was, it would be impossible for him to teleport the Guardian that was about to explode.


    The unskinned Xiao, who was covered in blood, squirmed like a worm. The strange sounds coming from his ruptured throat weren¡¯t just filled with pain, but also infinite hatred.


    An Tianzuo sure taught me a lesson. Holy God glanced at Xiao, who was curled up on the ground like a worm as he constantly convulsed in pain. His eyes gradually calmed down.


    Xiao¡ªwho had seemed to have a layer of himself shaved off¡ªwas like a skeleton that was covered in blood and chunks of flesh. The pain he felt was unimaginable to humans.


    ¡°Do you want revenge?¡± Holy God asked as he looked at Xiao, who was enduring inhuman pain.


    Xiao¡¯s neck was also mangled. His throat had already ruptured, preventing him from making a sound. He desperately opened his mouth, but no sound came out.


    ¡°Are you afraid of death?¡± Holy God asked again.


    Xiao¡¯s mangled and trembling body tried his best to shake his head. However, his head was trembling terribly. It was difficult to even shake it. Just moving made his entire body ache to the core. Even so, he shook his head with all his might.


    If not for Holy God¡¯s fast reaction and unimaginable abilities that were beyond human imagination, he would have been a dead person.


    ¡°Then hand your life to me. Only then can you obtain the power to kill your enemy..¡± Holy God extended his hand in front of Xiao.

 Chapter 1432 - Eternal Carving on Venus

    Chapter 1432: Eternal Carving on Venus


    Translator: CKtalon


    The light on the screen suddenly vanished when the sword beam reached its maximum intensity. The humans watching the battle couldn¡¯t adapt to the sudden change in brightness. They took a second to recover their vision.


    The scene displayed on the Cube¡¯s screen remained on the area in front of the Golden Palace. However, at that moment, only Human Sovereign stood in front of the Golden Palace with his sword in hand. Xiao was gone; his whereabouts unknown.


    Before people could figure out what had happened, whether Human Sovereign had won or not, and where Xiao had gone, the Cube¡¯s countdown came to an end.


    The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened as a golden beam instantly shot out almost at the same time.


    Boom!


    The power of the golden beam reached an unimaginable level as the entire Golden Palace exploded from the golden beam in an instant, turning into countless flying fragments.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Golden Palace. All the dimensional zones on Venus exploded as golden beams shot into the sky.


    Zhou Wen wanted to teleport away, but before he could use his teleportation ability, the golden beam had already struck him.


    The Cube¡¯s screen was completely occupied by the golden light. Then, there was the sound of a terrifying explosion.


    The Cube¡¯s screen gradually pulled out from the Venusian dimensional zone. It slowly retreated all the way until the golden blast of light shrank to a point where it couldn¡¯t occupy the entire screen.


    Only then could people finally see something. Venus was emitting a terrifying glow, like a huge ball-shaped firework that was spewing energy.


    At the instant Zhou Wen was struck by the beam, he believed that he was doomed.


    Such terrifying energy was even more terrifying than Xiao¡¯s Calamity Guardian¡¯s self-destruction. Even the Chaos Egg might not be able to withstand it, much less him who had yet to summon it.


    Yet, Zhou Wen¡¯s body wasn¡¯t injured despite being bathed in the golden beam. The beam¡¯s energy seemed to have its own consciousness as it drilled into the metal ball Zhou Wen had just obtained.


    This is the prelude to Venusian Companion Beast¡¯s birth! Zhou Wen immediately understood what had happened.


    From the looks of it, the Venusian Companion Beast had already chosen him as its master. It was now entering his metal ball.


    I wonder if the other metal ball still has any use? Zhou Wen recalled that he still had another metal ball. He had obtained it with his identity as Zhou Wen before putting it into the chaos space.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and took out the metal ball. After all, he had heard that all metal balls could hatch Companion Beasts. It apparently needed energy infusion before it could become a true Companion Egg.


    Even if this metal ball couldn¡¯t become a true Venusian Companion Beast, it could still receive some remnant energy and hatch an ordinary Companion Beast.


    To his surprise, just as Zhou Wen took out the metal ball, the golden energy that had surged into the other metal ball split into two and injected into the two metal balls.


    Everyone looked at the scene inside the Cube as Venus constantly spewed out beams of light. There was a sudden boom after a while. The terrifying explosion made their eardrums seem to split open. Many people became deaf temporarily. As for the Cube, it was completely occupied by the golden light produced by the explosion. No one could see anything.


    Even without looking at the Cube¡¯s screen, a golden beam of light appeared in the real sky, illuminating the night sky.


    After a while, the light in the sky vanished. The Cube¡¯s screen gradually returned to normal. Everyone looked at the screen and realized that Venus was still the same Venus. It didn¡¯t seem to have changed much.


    However, when the camera angle in the Cube gradually spun, people saw an unbelievable scene. On the other side of Venus, half the planet had been blasted apart¡ªonly half of Venus was left. The other half was riddled with holes like the scene of an apocalypse.


    That was all for the Cube as it returned to the ranking board.


    The last name lit up like golden flames. It then gradually vanished before returning to nothingness.


    The penultimate name lit up next. One after another, the names on the rankings constantly vanished. Finally, when Saint Xiao¡¯s name vanished, only Human Sovereign was left in first place.


    The name of Human Sovereign lit up as well, but it didn¡¯t disappear like the other names. It instead grew brighter and bigger before finally occupying the entire screen.


    Human Sovereign¡¯s figure appeared on the screen amidst the light.


    After that, scenes of Human Sovereign clearing the level appeared. There was also the battle with Xiao. It was also a fast scroll through.


    The Cube¡¯s camera gradually zoomed out as the various scenes of Human Sovereign played. The scenes became smaller and smaller until only Human Sovereign¡¯s two golden shimmering names were left.


    This name also gradually shrank. At that moment, people realized that the location of the word ¡°Human Sovereign¡± was within a massive and complicated star chart. The shiny words ¡°Human Sovereign¡± were placed where Venus was¡ªthe name permanently marked on Venus.


    The Cube stopped showing any more scenes. The star chart vanished and the screen gradually returned to darkness. Finally, the Cube turned completely black and no longer showed any reaction.


    ¡°So Human Sovereign obtained first place after all?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s no other way about it. Xiao ultimately failed to stop Human Sovereign. My Human Sovereign is indeed invincible.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I knew it. Human Sovereign won¡¯t be defeated.¡±


    ¡°Could Xiao have been killed by Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°Most likely. Otherwise, how could Human Sovereign obtain first place?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, will the name Human Sovereign forever represent Venus in the future? This is interesting.¡±


    ¡°In that case, does every planet have something similar? Will we have a chance to mark our names on other stars and planets in the future?¡±


    ¡°Dream on. Even if that¡¯s the case, it won¡¯t be your turn.¡±


    As people discussed, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned solemn.


    He floated in the void and looked at the remaining half of Venus. He thought that if Earth¡¯s Companion Beast were to appear in the future, no one on Earth would be spared.


    I definitely can¡¯t let Earth¡¯s Companion Beast appear. This was the only thought Zhou Wen had.


    If Earth was really like Venus, how many people on Earth could survive? It was probably less than ten in a billion.


    Zhou Wen held two metal balls that had already transformed into Companion Eggs. Just as he was about to use his phone to see what attributes the two Companion Eggs had, he suddenly saw a galactic behemoth approaching from afar.


    The galactic behemoth¡¯s body was transparent as blue light shimmered within.. It was the one Zhou Wen had seen with Tsukuyomi.


    1

 Chapter 1433 - Venusian Companion Beast

    ¡°What are you waiting for? Leave quickly.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s figure appeared beside Zhou Wen. Without any explanation, she grabbed Zhou Wen and left using spatial teleportation. In the blink of an eye, they returned to the asteroid belt.


    ¡°What were you waiting for? If I were any later and you ended up trapped by its Calamity Zone, you wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to escape. You could only wait for death when that happened,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she rolled her eyes at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Ahem, I just didn¡¯t expect it to appear there,¡± Zhou Wen said in embarrassment.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you that a Calamity creature needs immense energy to advance? It¡¯s naturally no exception. Were you even listening?¡± Tsukuyomi said angrily.


    ¡°Since it wants it, shouldn¡¯t it be challenging the Venusian dimensional zone itself? With its strength, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to obtain first place, right?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°It does, but it¡¯s a Companion Beast. Do you think a Venusian Companion Beast will give itself to Companion Beasts from other planets?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at a nerd.


    ¡°So there¡¯s such a restriction.¡± Only then did Zhou Wen realize that wild Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t obtain planetary Companion Beasts. Therefore, the galactic behemoth was camping near Venus, waiting for someone to take it out.


    ¡°Go back. As long as you return to Earth, you will be safe. No Calamity creature can enter Earth without being punished. The cosmos is too dangerous. It¡¯s not suitable for you,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°How about you? Did you gain anything?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t gain much, but at least I won¡¯t starve to death,¡± Tsukuyomi said casually.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. This is for you.¡± Zhou Wen took out a Companion Egg and handed it to Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°Why are you giving me this?¡± Tsukuyomi took the Companion Egg and curled her lips. ¡°You are too insincere. If you really want to thank me, shouldn¡¯t you give me the Venusian Companion Egg you just obtained? What¡¯s the use of giving me a Metal Guard Companion Egg? Don¡¯t tell me you think this thing can fill my stomach?¡±


    ¡°Take it with you,¡± Zhou Wen said before getting up to teleport back to Earth.


    He had exchanged his life for the Venusian Companion Egg, so how could he give it away so easily? Zhou Wen had left a spatial mark on the Metal Guard Companion Egg. If Tsukuyomi needed him in the future, he could directly reach her.


    ¡­


    After returning to Luoyang, Zhou Wen got An Sheng over.


    Before Zhou Wen could ask, An Sheng said, ¡°Young Master, Overseer is back.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, No doubt about it; he was definitely the one impersonating Xiao.


    An Tianzuo hadn¡¯t held back in the previous battle. Zhou Wen could sense that he had used all his strength. This made Zhou Wen suspect that An Tianzuo was taking the opportunity to finish him.


    As though he had seen through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts, An Sheng hurriedly whispered, ¡°Young Master, Overseer said that if you hadn¡¯t fought with all your might, you wouldn¡¯t have been able to fool the person in the Holy Land. However, he believed that you would definitely be able to hold out.¡±


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t, would he have just slaughtered me?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°Definitely not. Overseer knows his limits,¡± An Sheng hurriedly said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Who knows what his limits are. Perhaps his limits are to kill me.


    However, Zhou Wen knew that if An Tianzuo had intended to eliminate him, he would have had plenty of opportunities when he first came to Luoyang to study. He wouldn¡¯t have waited until now.


    Just as An Sheng was about to say something, Zhou Wen added, ¡°By the way, do you know the expert who forged the Essence Gold weapons?¡±


    ¡°Our An family has many blacksmiths. A few of them have pretty good skills. Young Master, do you want to forge an Essence Gold weapon?¡± An Sheng asked curiously.


    ¡°My Bamboo Blade has shattered. I¡¯ve brought back the fragments and scabbard. See if you can think of a way to recover or reforge them.¡± Zhou Wen handed the Bamboo Blade¡¯s fragments and scabbard to An Sheng.


    Zhou Wen was used to using the Bamboo Blade. Furthermore, the Bamboo Blade had a Jinxes Master effect. It should be of some use against powers like blessing. Zhou Wen wanted to see if it could be restored.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it can¡¯t be restored now that it¡¯s shattered to such a state. I can only try to reforge it,¡± An Sheng said as he looked at the shards.


    ¡°Then reforge it.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the Bamboo Blade would still have any Jinxes Master effect after reforging it. However, he still wanted to carry a weapon that he was used to.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take all of these pieces back and let the masters study them. I¡¯m not sure yet, but it shouldn¡¯t take long.¡± An Sheng put away the fragments and scabbard.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in a rush to use it. Do it slowly. It¡¯s best if it can be recovered to its original state,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get them to try their best to find the original blueprint of Bamboo Blade and reforge it according to it.¡± With that said, An Sheng left with the fragments.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and had just taken out the Venusian Companion Egg when he saw the antelope and Chick run over and stare intently at the Venusian Companion Egg in his hand.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly stored the Companion Egg away into the Companion Egg and looked warily at the antelope.


    ¡°Look at you. Isn¡¯t it just a Venusian Companion Egg? Who would snatch it from you?¡± The antelope curled its lips and said disdainfully, ¡°I¡¯m just here to see what the Companion Egg can hatch.¡±


    ¡°I see. That¡¯s easy. I¡¯ll show you when I hatch it.¡± Zhou Wen took out the Venusian Companion Egg again.


    Whoosh!


    The antelope charged over like a phantom and opened its mouth to bite the Companion Egg. Zhou Wen was already prepared as he retracted his palm and quickly retreated, causing the antelope to miss.


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Zhou Wen mocked the antelope.


    The antelope showed no embarrassment at all as it said without a blush, ¡°Give me the Companion Egg. I¡¯ll take you to Mount Laojun to retrieve the treasure. The treasures there are much better than this Companion Egg.¡±


    ¡°Go get it yourself. I¡¯m not interested.¡± Zhou Wen teleported to the Moon with the Venusian Companion Egg without giving the antelope a chance.


    Without heading to Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s place, he used his phone to scan the Venusian Companion Egg in an uninhabited spot.


    Golden Wyrm: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Gold Essence


    Wheel of Destiny: Love is Stronger than Gold.


    Terror Form: Yin Blade (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: True Gold Fire Refinement (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Midas Touch, Strangle, Unstoppable, Dominance Body


    Companion Form: Shear (Yin)


    Zhou Wen was rather satisfied with these stats. It was born at the Calamity grade. Although it was only at the Human Realm, it was enough for him. Now that he had a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, there was no need for him to risk his life the next time he encountered a Calamity-grade opponent.


    The only surprise was that this thing¡¯s companion form wasn¡¯t a gun. From the creatures in the Venusian dimensional zone, Zhou Wen imagined that it would be a gun.


    He took out the other Venusian Companion Egg and was immediately alarmed.

 Chapter 1434 - Yin Yang Wyrms

    Golden Wyrm: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Gold Essence


    Wheel of Destiny: Love is Stronger than Gold.


    Terror Form: Yang Blade (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: True Gold Fire Refinement (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Midas Touch, Strangle, Unstoppable, Dominance Body


    Companion Form: Shear (Yang)


    The stats and skills of the two Companion Beasts were the same. However, the first one¡¯s Terror transformation was Yin Blade. The companion form was also a Yin attribute, and this one¡¯s Terror transformation was Yang Blade. The companion form was a Yang attribute.


    They were clearly Companion Beasts born from the same energy. One was of the Yin attribute, while the other was of the Yang attribute. Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t understand how it was split.


    In any case, Zhou Wen had the Companion Beasts on hand, so he couldn¡¯t be bothered to think through it. He hatched the Companion Eggs.


    Calamity-grade Companion Beasts were potent. Zhou Wen felt the Essence Energy in his body surge into the Companion Egg as though a dam had been breached. If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have Slaughterer¡¯s massive amounts of Essence Energy to support him, he would have been sucked dry if he were an ordinary Terror-grade entity.


    Now, Zhou Wen suspected that if the energy in Venus hadn¡¯t split into two and injected into the two metal balls, he would have been sucked dry.


    Thankfully, nothing like that happened. The Companion Egg had its fill of Essence Energy after a while and transformed into Golden Wyrm beams that condensed on Zhou Wen¡¯s right finger.


    Soon, a metal-colored wyrm tattoo appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s middle finger on his right hand. After a moment of shimmering light, it gradually hid under his skin.


    Zhou Wen hatched the other Yin-elemental Golden Wyrm Companion Egg. Before long, a metallic wyrm tattoo wrapped around his right hand¡¯s index finger. It shimmered for a while before gradually disappearing.


    With a thought, two Golden Wyrms appeared over his fingers, transforming into gold-like wyrms that tore out of his fingers and danced in the air.


    The two Golden Wyrms weren¡¯t bodies of flesh and blood, but of gold. Their whiskers, scales, claws, and bodies were all golden in color, but they only looked like gold. It wasn¡¯t really gold. Their density far exceeded gold, and their hardness and toughness also far exceeded gold.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. The two Golden Wyrms instantly transformed into two strange golden weapons that landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    Zhou Wen held the weapons and carefully sized them up. The Shears were really strange. They were four feet long and looked like a wyrm-shaped blade. It was wide at the front and narrow at the back. The wyrm¡¯s head was the blade¡¯s head, and its tail was curved into a bracer.


    From the looks of it, it was somewhat similar to a rapier, but there was a huge difference. After all, it was a saber, not a sword. Furthermore, the handle and blade were at a very strange angle. When Zhou Wen held the blade, he felt that the angle of the blade was a little wrong.


    Why does this look a little familiar? The more Zhou Wen looked at the two Shears, the more familiar they looked. With a thought, he overlapped the two Shears and immediately shouted, ¡°Holy sh*t, isn¡¯t this a pair of scissors?¡±


    When the two Shears were stacked together, they looked like scissors with long blades. However, because there was no fixed pivoting spot in the middle, they couldn¡¯t be used as real scissors.


    Although it looks a little ugly, it¡¯s fine as long as it¡¯s useful. Zhou Wen turned on his phone, having had the intention of testing the might of the Golden Wyrm scissors in a dungeon.


    However, before he could open the dungeon, a notification popped up on his phone.


    ¡°Discovered reproductive Companion Beast. Proceed with Birth?¡±


    Zhou Wen tapped it open and realized that the Companion Beasts that his phone had upgraded were the Golden Wyrms. Their Birth criterion was the other Golden Wyrm, and their Yin and Yang attributes matched perfectly.


    That works too! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he clicked on Birth without any hesitation.


    Back when Light Concealment and Night Immaculate gave birth to Shadow Concealment, it was a Companion Beast of the same level. Now that two Golden Wyrms were reproducing, they would definitely give birth to a Calamity-grade Companion Beast. Wouldn¡¯t that mean he would have another Calamity-grade Companion Beast?


    Give birth. You must give birth. It¡¯s best if you produce a few more. Zhou Wen watched as the two Golden Wyrms entered their Birth states. Since the progress bar didn¡¯t show any movement, he temporarily ignored them. He just needed to wait for a Calamity Companion Beast to be born, and he could lead a group of Calamity Companion Beasts to crush the various dungeons. He might even have a chance of killing the four Mo family generals at Chess Mountain.


    The four Calamity-grade fellows were really difficult to deal with, especially the Demonized General that Zhou Wen had once stolen the pearl from. The Chaos Umbrella was terrifyingly powerful. Even the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation would be destroyed, so Zhou Wen had no chance.


    Now, Zhou Wen was waiting for the Soul Mirror and the Golden Wyrm to be done before he killed the four Demonized Generals.


    Since he was here on the moon, Zhou Wen decided to visit Wang Chan.


    When Wang Chan saw him, she was covered in tears. She strongly requested Zhou Wen to take her back to the Wang family. Zhou Wen coaxed her repeatedly before she reluctantly agreed to stay longer.


    Lady Supreme Yin told Zhou Wen that Wang Chan¡¯s power of misfortune could only be effectively controlled after she reached the Calamity grade. However, it was almost impossible for humans to advance to the Calamity grade, so they had to make a choice.


    Lady Supreme Yin believed that it was best to use the Mythical Serum or Spirit Casting. Contracting a Guardian was the worst choice.


    However, the Mythical Serum needed to be created using dimensional creatures with the attribute of misfortune. The Guardians used for Spirit Casting also had the same requirements. It was really difficult to find one.


    Lady Supreme Yin couldn¡¯t leave the moon, so this task naturally landed on Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to figure out where to find high-level dimensional creatures and Guardians with the attributes of misfortune.


    According to Lady Supreme Yin, the creature of misfortune couldn¡¯t be too high or too low a level. It was best if it was at the Mythical stage, but it had to have immense potential.


    Zhou Wen felt his head ache when he heard those requirements.


    ¡­


    In Luoyang¡¯s An family¡¯s weapon factory, An Sheng and a few Essence Gold forgers were looking at the blueprint of the Bamboo Blade and studying how to reforge it.


    Although the Bamboo Blade was also made of Essence Gold, the Essence Gold used by the Bamboo Blade wasn¡¯t ordinary Essence Gold, but a type of Refined Essence Gold produced from a particular type of Essence Gold mine.


    It was impossible for ordinary Essence Gold to reach such hardness, nor could it be used in high-intensity battles.


    The biggest problem now was that it wasn¡¯t easy to melt the Bamboo Blade¡¯s fragments. It was said that when smelting the materials of the Four Gentlemen Blades in the past, the blacksmith had taken the risk to enter a dimensional zone and used the Earth fire in the dimensional zone to melt the Refined Essence Gold.


    As they couldn¡¯t find the blacksmith who forged Bamboo Blade, nor did they know where the Earth fire he had used came from, they could only think of other ways to melt it.


    A few blacksmiths tried several methods, but they failed to completely melt the Bamboo Blade fragments. Ordinary Essence Gold forging methods were definitely impossible. They could only report the matter to An Sheng and get him to think of a solution.


    ¡°If the temperature of the flames isn¡¯t high enough, I have a solution.¡± An Sheng thought of Chick. That fellow was a descendant of a phoenix. When it came to fire, there weren¡¯t many fires in this world that were stronger than phoenix flames.

 Chapter 1435 - Reforging Materials

    After An Sheng discussed with the blacksmiths, he planned on returning to Overseer Manor and borrow Chick. He wanted it to spew out some fire to melt the Refined Essence Gold.


    However, before An Sheng could find Chick, he was summoned by An Tianzuo.


    ¡°There¡¯s been so much to deal with recently. Yet, you aren¡¯t focusing on work and instead spend all your time at the weapons factory?¡± An Tianzuo said with a frown.


    An Sheng was afraid that An Tianzuo would be displeased if he knew that he had gotten the few blacksmiths with the best skills to help Zhou Wen forge the saber. Therefore, he said, ¡°The effects of the Essence Gold bullets recently developed by the weapons factory can¡¯t keep up with the evolution speed of dimensional creatures. I just want to see if there¡¯s a way to modify the bullets to improve their effects.¡±


    ¡°And what solution have you come up with?¡± An Tianzuo said as he read some documents.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little difficult. Just pure Essence Gold bullets alone results in great expenditure. Our production of Essence Gold is far from enough. Since using Essence Gold bullets like now while the effects aren¡¯t too good, I¡¯ve been wondering if there are any other materials that are compatible with Essence Gold. Creating an Essence alloy can reduce the quantity of Essence Gold used and guarantee the quality of the bullets.¡± An Sheng had been considering this problem all this while.


    Using pure Essence Gold for the bullet had good effects, but the An family didn¡¯t have that much Essence Gold reserves. It was too extravagant.


    However, the laboratory in the weapons factory had tried many materials. The compatibility between ordinary metal and Essence Gold wasn¡¯t high. It wasn¡¯t even of any help. The only thing that worked was the Essence Gold plating.


    It seemed impossible to develop an alloy that had an effect equivalent to pure Essence Gold.


    ¡°Then what material do you plan on using to make the alloy?¡± An Tianzuo continued asking without looking up.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t found any suitable materials for the time being. The best candidates for the alloy are the bodies of metal-type dimensional creatures¡­¡± An Sheng was somewhat helpless.


    ¡°I have a material here. Study it and see if it¡¯s compatible with Essence Gold.¡± An Tianzuo took out a long, flat box from beside his chair and casually placed it on the table. Then, he said casually, ¡°There¡¯s a problem with the origins of this material. It mustn¡¯t be exposed to the public. See if we can make it into an alloy or forge it into a weapon. If it doesn¡¯t work, destroy it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Overseer.¡± An Sheng was somewhat curious. He wanted to open the box to see what material it was.


    ¡°Take it back before taking a look. Don¡¯t disturb me while I¡¯m working here. You have to quickly settle the matter I instructed you to do. If you delay your work, scram to Chess Mountain to guard it,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly.


    ¡°Yes, I will have it done.¡± An Sheng didn¡¯t dare stare any further. He picked up the box and walked out.


    After leaving An Tianzuo¡¯s office, An Sheng dashed into a meeting room and closed the door and windows. Only then did he open the box to see what material was inside.


    When the box opened, An Sheng saw what was inside and was immediately taken aback.


    Inside the box was a silver rapier.


    Isn¡¯t¡­ Isn¡¯t this the rapier that remained undamaged in the battle with the Immortal Culling Sword? An Sheng reacted and carefully sized up the rapier in surprise.


    The silver rapier looked narrow and thin, but it didn¡¯t feel light when he weighed it in his hand. It could even be said to be very heavy. It was a little cold to the touch, like silver made of ice.


    On the blade, there were many tiny holes. The small ones were like needles, while the big ones were the size of rice grains.


    There¡¯s no mistake about it. It¡¯s definitely that rapier. These holes should have been left behind from the battle with the Immortal Culling Sword. Although it suffered some damage, to be able to resist an existence like the Immortal Culling Sword, the material of this sword is unimaginable. It¡¯s a pity to destroy such a sword even if it can¡¯t be exposed¡­ An Sheng¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up as though he had understood something. He hurriedly stored the rapier back into the box, picked it up, and rushed to the weapon factory.


    The rapier was made of the Holy Temple¡¯s cornerstone, Holy Metal. Not any random Holy Temple cornerstone was called Holy Metal. In fact, the so-called Holy Metal was the bedrock of a Holy Temple and also a core component. If the bedrock of the Holy Temple was destroyed, it would no longer have the foundation to be a Holy Temple again.


    The cornerstone Holy Metal was very strong. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been used as a bedrock. Furthermore, after being baptized by the power of the Holy Temple, the cornerstone Holy Metal was considered top-notch. Even Calamity-grade creatures could hardly damage it.


    The Immortal Culling Sword only left a few notches in it, a testament to how powerful this material was.


    Unfortunately, no matter how strong the material was, it was only a dead sword. It didn¡¯t have its own consciousness, nor did it have any energy augmentation effects. It was just that the material was stronger.


    Holy God gave the sword to Xiao to fend off the sharpness of the Immortal Culling Sword. The power used in combat was still thanks to the Guardian.


    Even so, the cornerstone Holy Metal was a top-notch material. How could he throw it away?


    An Sheng was smart. After seeing the rapier, he understood what An Tianzuo meant.


    From the looks of it, Overseer already knows that I¡¯m helping Young Master Wen repair the Bamboo Blade. That¡¯s why he produced this rapier. I wonder how compatible this material is with Essence Gold Essence. If the combination of the two materials isn¡¯t suitable for forging a weapon, wouldn¡¯t I be letting down Overseer¡¯s intentions? No, I have to think of a way to forge it into a weapon¡­ After An Sheng thought it through, he turned around and returned to Overseer Manor to find Chick.


    Refined Essence Gold Essence was difficult to melt without Chick. Needless to say for this rapier¡ªit was a material that even the Immortal Culling Sword couldn¡¯t slice through.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Wen returned from the Moon, he tried to figure out where he could obtain a misfortune dimensional creature or find a misfortune-type Guardian.


    It wasn¡¯t viable to keep Wang Chan on the Moon the entire time. He had to resolve this problem sooner or later.


    As he could teleport, he could travel to Earth¡¯s four districts in a short period of time. Furthermore, An Tianzuo had already returned, so he didn¡¯t need to stay in Luoyang forever.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen studied the dungeons in the various districts and discovered dimensional creatures that were suspected to have powers of misfortune.


    However, there weren¡¯t many of such dimensional creatures to begin with. They needed to be at the Mythical stage and have great potential. Zhou Wen searched around and studied them for a long time, but he still couldn¡¯t make any confirmation.


    He had a few targets, but he could only take a look to see if they met Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s requirements.


    Zhou Wen chose from among the few targets and finally chose to head to the Pandora Palace dimensional zone in the West District. There were a few dimensional creatures there that were suspected to have the power of misfortune.


    As it wasn¡¯t too dangerous this time, Zhou Wen took Ya¡¯er along as a vacation for her.

 Chapter 1436 - Frustration

    Chapter 1436: Frustration


    Translator: CKtalon


    Inside the Holy Land, Holy God dragged Xiao¡¯s severely injured body with both hands and walked down the stone steps towards the abyss.


    2


    The abyss was bottomless and there was only endless darkness. The more Holy God walked down, the more intense the darkness around him became. It was as though the stone steps would suck everything dry. All light would vanish without a trace.


    If not for the Holy Light emitted from Holy God¡¯s body, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to see fingers even if he placed his hand in front of him.


    Even someone as powerful as Holy God could only illuminate an area three feet around him.


    As it was too dark, he couldn¡¯t see the surrounding mountain walls at all. He didn¡¯t know if there was anything else beside him. Only the steps beneath Holy God¡¯s feet could be seen. Due to the Holy Light, he could still make out some blurry shadows.


    Finally, even the Holy Light over Holy God¡¯s body was devoured by the darkness. The surroundings were as dark as the world of the dead.


    After an unknown period of time, Holy God arrived in front of a lake.


    The surroundings remained dark, but the water in the lake emitted a crystalline glow, like diamonds glowing in the darkness.


    ¡°After walking into the lake, you might be reborn and have the power to defeat the enemy,¡± Holy God said calmly as he placed Xiao¡¯s body by the lake.


    1


    Xiao was still skinned and covered in blood. His injuries hadn¡¯t healed.


    Struggling to his feet, Xiao walked towards the lake without a word.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know what that lake is?¡± Holy God suddenly said.


    ¡°I just need to know that this place has the strength I need to defeat An Tianzuo for revenge.¡± The wounds around Xiao¡¯s throat had healed significantly. Although his voice was still hoarse and ear-piercing, he could already speak.


    ¡°Dimensional creatures are unable to gain a foothold on Earth. Any dimensional creature that comes to Earth will be suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. Even invincible powerhouses at the Apocalypse grade are no exception. Therefore, any dimensional creature that wishes to descend must use the bodies of Earth¡¯s native creatures to retain a portion of their combat strength.¡±


    Holy God paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°However, a dimensional powerhouse later discovered a place. There, he was actually able to use his strength freely without being suppressed by the rules of Earth.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the Holy Land?¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°In the beginning, there was no Holy Land, only a lake.¡± Holy God continued, ¡°Within a certain range of the lake, the powers of dimensional creatures will no longer be suppressed. However, once they are far from the lake, the suppression of Earth¡¯s nomological powers will appear again. Therefore, that dimensional powerhouse did some research, hoping to use the water in the lake to help dimensional creatures completely escape the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules.


    ¡°However, any dimensional creature that came into contact with the lake, no matter how powerful they were, melted into the lake like snowflakes. After that, the powerhouse experimented on many dimensional creatures and Earth¡¯s native creatures. The outcome was surprising. None of the powerful dimensional creatures could withstand the power of the lake, but Earth¡¯s native creatures weren¡¯t affected. To you humans, this terrifying lake is no different from ordinary lake water. It doesn¡¯t cause any harm to your bodies.¡±


    Xiao only listened quietly without interrupting Holy God.


    Holy God looked at the lake and continued, ¡°However, the native creatures of Earth that entered the lake died one after another. None of them returned alive.¡±


    ¡°Why? Didn¡¯t you say that there¡¯s a power here that can allow me to exact revenge?¡± Xiao turned around and questioned Holy God with an ear-piercing voice.


    ¡°Later, that powerhouse checked many human historical resources and myths and finally learned that this lake is called Frustration,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°Frustration? I¡¯ve never heard of such a lake in myths and legends in any district,¡± Xiao said after some thought.


    ¡°You might not have heard of this lake, but you must have heard of the other side of the lake.¡± Holy God looked into the distance.


    Xiao couldn¡¯t see anything since his eyes were destroyed. All he could do was ask, ¡°What¡¯s the other side?¡±


    ¡°Paramita.¡± Holy God¡¯s answer left Xiao alarmed.


    ¡°This lake leads to the Paramita?¡± Xiao was pleasantly surprised. He knew what the word ¡°Paramita¡± meant. ¡°The Paramita that treats life and death as one bank and nirvana as the other, the place to attain boundless merit and wisdom by abandoning all frustrations?¡±


    1


    ¡°This is just a guess. No one knows if the other side of the lake is Paramita because no one has ever reached it. Although this lake is small, even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses can¡¯t reach the other side. Only by swimming through the lake can one reach the other side. However, no creature that has entered the lake has returned alive.¡±


    ¡°Then what¡¯s the point of me entering the lake?¡± Xiao asked.


    ¡°I once saw a person who had absolutely no chance of living swim across Lake Frustration and reach the other bank alive. Furthermore, as a human which makes it impossible for him to advance to the Mythical stage, he actually broke the restrictions and advanced to the Mythical stage with a pure human body,¡± Holy God said calmly.


    ¡°Who is he? What happened in the end?¡± Xiao asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know this. All you need to know is that it¡¯s very difficult for you to completely recover from your injuries. Even if you don¡¯t die, you will only be a cripple in the future. There are only two paths placed in front of you now. Swim to Paramita across Lake Frustration and be reborn, or¡­¡±


    Before Holy God could finish his sentence, Xiao had already jumped into the lake.


    Strangely enough, the lake looked clear and transparent, like a flawless crystal. One could clearly see the bottom of the lake. It wasn¡¯t too deep.


    However, after Xiao jumped in, no matter how hard he struggled, his body couldn¡¯t float above the water surface as he kept sinking.


    It looked like the lake had no buoyancy at all. No, it should be said that not only was there no buoyancy, but it was also like an abyss with a terrifying suction force that constantly pulled Xiao down.


    Furthermore, no matter how Xiao struggled, the lake remained calm. There was no sound of water splashing. It was dead silent.


    ¡°It¡¯s really not a good habit to not wait for someone to finish their sentence.¡± Holy God looked at Xiao, who was constantly sinking in the lake, and muttered to himself, ¡°Even Calamity-grade Earthlings will be entangled by countless invisible wraiths when they enter the lake. They will be pulled to the bottom of the lake and eventually perish to become a part of the lake. Over the years, only one person reached the opposite bank. There are no less than a hundred thousand creatures that drowned.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen had planned on traveling with Ya¡¯er in the West District, but after Li Xuan learned of this, he offered to follow him.


    ¡°Old Zhou, I heard that an extremely popular female host lives in this city.¡± Li Xuan drooled as he looked around.


    ¡°Which female host?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°The one that hosts the program with Professor Gu. Her name¡¯s Su Yi. She¡¯s crazy popular now..¡± Li Xuan kept looking around as though he was looking for something.

 Chapter 1437 - Rumors

    Chapter 1437: Rumors


    Translator: CKtalon


    There weren¡¯t many pedestrians on the streets. The mortality rate on Earth had been terrifyingly high in recent years, but the birth rate was pitifully low. Most human cities didn¡¯t have many people now.


    However, the population of this city was clearly abnormally low. Only one or two people would occasionally rush by such a large city.


    Li Xuan was very disappointed. ¡°I originally thought that with the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau¡¯s headquarters here in New De City, it should be a rather lively and prosperous city. I never expected it to be so desolate.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little abnormal. Before coming, I read the news on the Internet. There are still three to four million people in New De City. It¡¯s impossible for there to be so few people. I wonder what happened.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    ¡°Just ask.¡± Li Xuan saw pedestrians passing by on the street in front of him. He flashed to a person and took out a large bill. He extended his hand and waved it in front of the person. ¡°Why are there so few people in New De City? Tell me what happened here and this is yours.¡±


    The person was immediately delighted as he reached out to grab the money in Li Xuan¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Tell me first.¡± Li Xuan retracted his hand, causing the person to miss.


    ¡°Most people have moved to New Horse City. The remaining population in New De City isn¡¯t even a tenth of what it originally was,¡± the person said as he stared at the money in Li Xuan¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Why are people moving?¡± Li Xuan continued asking.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of the rumors.¡± The person said something that left Zhou Wen and Li Xuan somewhat surprised. This matter was related to Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace.


    In the myths and legends of the West District, Pandora was a beautiful woman created by god and was given to humans as a gift.


    At the same time, the gods gave a magic box to her. Every god left a gift in the magic box.


    After she arrived in the human world, Pandora was driven by curiosity and opened the magic box. However, the magic box didn¡¯t have any real gifts. Instead, disasters, plagues, wars, and other curses flew out.


    Terrified, Pandora hurriedly closed the magic box, but she locked up ¡°hope¡± that Goddess Athena had left in the box.


    From then on, the human world was filled with all sorts of calamities. Disasters, plagues, and illnesses ran rampant. War constantly broke out, and there was no peace.


    It was said that Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace was the residence of Pandora. However, no one had seen her before.


    Someone had recently spread the news that Pandora had already appeared and would soon open the magic box. The nearby area would probably become a dead zone.


    Therefore, many people from New De City moved to other human cities if they could do so. Most of them went to the nearby New Horse City and chose to watch the development from there.


    After saying that, the person reached out and snatched the money. He turned around and ran. As he ran, he said, ¡°You guys should leave quickly. There are only a few days left before Pandora opens the magic box.¡±


    ¡°I want to see what that woman looks like. I heard that the mythical version of Pandora is an extremely beautiful woman,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    However, Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile, ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rash. From the myths and legends, it¡¯s very likely that she¡¯s a Calamity-grade existence. Otherwise, there wouldn¡¯t be legends of all sorts of disasters.¡±


    Zhou Wen was rather cautious in reality. Even if he already had the strength to fight a Calamity, a Calamity still had the possibility of killing him. It wasn¡¯t worth risking his life.


    He originally wanted to enter Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace to take a look, but since there was such a development, Zhou Wen gave up on entering. After all, something would happen nine times out of ten he entered a dimensional zone in reality.


    The circumstances made Zhou Wen even more afraid of entering.


    Now, Zhou Wen planned on heading to the periphery of Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace to take a look. If he could find the tiny palm symbol, he would download the dungeon. If not, he didn¡¯t plan on entering. After all, there were dimensional creatures suspected to be of the Misfortune attribute elsewhere. There was no need to be inflexible and stubborn.


    Li Xuan was just saying. If Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t entering, he didn¡¯t really plan on taking the risk.


    Zhou Wen held Ya¡¯er¡¯s hand. When the three of them arrived near Magic Palace, they saw a program team filming at the entrance.


    ¡°It¡¯s Su Yi!¡± Li Xuan¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw the host.


    Zhou Wen traced his gaze and indeed, he saw the female host he often saw on television and on the Internet. Zhou Wen recognized her, but he didn¡¯t know her name.


    She looked even more beautiful in real life than on television. She had long brown hair and fair skin. Her facial features were well-defined and she looked charming. She had a femme fatale style and one could in no way describe her as quiet and demure.


    As the program team was at the entrance, Zhou Wen and company stood far away without heading over. They wanted to wait for them to leave before heading over to prevent any trouble.


    Free media like the Federation Freedom Investigation Bureau was very well-informed. Zhou Wen had previously been in the limelight on the Cube¡¯s rankings. If they saw him, they would definitely come over to take pictures.


    ¡°It¡¯s not convenient for you to go over. I¡¯ll go take a look first. After all, I¡¯m not a famous person.¡± Li Xuan informed Zhou Wen before walking towards the program team.


    Zhou Wen looked around and saw that Magic Palace was built between two mountains. Only one side of the door was exposed. The other part was in the valley.


    After observing from afar for a while, he discovered the tiny palm symbol on the stone wall beside the door.


    There really is one. Zhou Wen was delighted. He planned on downloading the dungeon after the program team left. Then, he would figure out the situation in Magic Palace in-game before deciding if he should enter.


    Zhou Wen turned to look at Li Xuan and saw that he was having a good chat with Su Yi. It was unknown how he managed to hit on her.


    After a while, Li Xuan walked over with Su Yi.


    ¡°Old Zhou, let me do the introductions. This is the most popular female host in the Federation, Su Yi¡­ Su Yi¡­ This is my best friend¡­¡±


    Before Li Xuan could finish his sentence, Su Yi took the initiative to say, ¡°There¡¯s probably no one in the Federation who doesn¡¯t know you, am I right, Mr. Zhou? What¡¯s more, we work in news. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. Mr. Zhou, you are the pride of humanity.¡±


    ¡°Just call me Zhou Wen.¡± Zhou Wen glanced at Li Xuan and blamed him for this. Why did he bring Su Yi over for no reason?


    ¡°Old Zhou, here¡¯s the situation. I heard from Su Yi that it¡¯s just a rumor that Pandora wants to open the magic box. They are now doing a program to dispel the rumors,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Rumors? Are you sure?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. If it was just a rumor, it was way too potent to make nearly the entire population in New De City leave.


    Su Yi said, ¡°Although we can¡¯t be a hundred percent sure, nor do we know who spread the rumors, there are clearly traces of a mastermind and hype. It¡¯s not news that came from the normal channels. Furthermore, we haven¡¯t found the source of the news yet. Previously, we had companions enter Magic Palace to film the area, but we didn¡¯t discover any abnormalities.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s odd.. What¡¯s the benefit of creating such a rumor?¡± Zhou Wen frowned in thought.

 Chapter 1438 - Entering the Crew

    Chapter 1438: Entering the Crew


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°If the two of you wish to enter Magic Palace, will you be interested in joining our program team?¡± When Su Yi saw Zhou Wen frown, she immediately said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. We are a professional media outlet. Without your permission, we won¡¯t release any news related to you, nor will we take pictures or recordings.¡±


    Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen and from the look in his eyes, he knew that he wanted to go.


    ¡°Sorry, we just came by to take a look. We had no intention of entering.¡± Zhou Wen still rejected Su Yi.


    Although the matter about the magic box¡¯s opening being close at hand might only be a rumor, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t wish to take the risk. Furthermore, from his past experience, there was a high chance that something would happen if he entered a dimensional zone. If he followed the program team in, he might end up harming them.


    Su Yi was deeply disappointed. ¡°That¡¯s such a pity. We still have to do some filming outside. If the two of you change your minds and wish to enter, you are welcome to join us at any time. I can be your guide. I know the interior of Magic Palace well.¡±


    With that said, Su Yi bade farewell and returned to the program team. She didn¡¯t try to persuade him further.


    ¡°We were planning on entering anyway. With such a beauty as a guide, why not? Why reject her?¡± Li Xuan was puzzled.


    ¡°I originally planned on entering, but now that there¡¯s the matter regarding the magic box, it¡¯s best to be careful. I¡¯ll not enter for the time being.¡± Zhou Wen paused before smiling. ¡°Besides, you can¡¯t touch women, right? No matter how beautiful Su Yi is, it has nothing to do with you, right?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean I can¡¯t touch women? That¡¯s because I don¡¯t fancy them, and have no intention of touching them. If I really find someone suitable, I¡¯m up to it in any way that¡¯s better than you,¡± Li Xuan shouted as he jumped.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you are up to it, but it¡¯s best we don¡¯t enter Magic Palace for the time being. Let¡¯s walk around its surroundings.¡± Zhou Wen walked towards Magic Palace¡¯s door.


    Since Su Yi already knew of his presence, there was no need to hide. It was more important to download the dungeon.


    Su Yi had already informed the production team. Although they could clearly sense that the production team had recognized Zhou Wen, no one came to disturb them.


    Zhou Wen looked at the door and took many pictures. He took the opportunity to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol and successfully entered the download screen.


    Meanwhile, Li Xuan watched their filming. As he watched, he said regretfully, ¡°It¡¯s a pity not to join them when such a beautiful chick is willing to be our tour guide.¡±


    Zhou Wen put away his phone and ignored Li Xuan. He looked at the filming crew. He was just taking a casual look when he realized that something was amiss.


    The videographer who was filming Su Yi¡¯s frontal shot seemed to be avoiding his gaze.


    Although it wasn¡¯t obvious and it was normal for the videographer to have his face obstructed by the camera, Zhou Wen felt that his actions were a little awkward. Furthermore, the videographer gave him a familiar feeling.


    After secretly using Truth Listener to observe for a while, Zhou Wen immediately discovered the problem. The videographer was Liu Yun.


    Although he had changed his appearance and even his figure was a little different from before, Zhou Wen still recognized him. This was all thanks to his sharp senses.


    If not for his sharp senses, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to tell that it was Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun is a person who doesn¡¯t do things without benefits. He changed his appearance and sneaked into the program team, but he¡¯s deliberately hiding from me. What¡¯s he up to? Zhou Wen suddenly thought. Could he be the one who spread the rumors of Magic Palace?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. Liu Yun had sneaked into the program team because he wanted to enter Magic Palace.


    However, there was something Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out. The Magic Palace wasn¡¯t controlled by a large faction, so anyone could enter. If Liu Yun wanted to enter, he could have entered himself. Why did he have to sneak into the program team?


    Could it be that there¡¯s something in the program team that¡¯s helpful to him? Zhou Wen carefully scanned everyone in the program team.


    There were more than ten people in the program team. Apart from the host, director, camera crew, there were a few human experts who were in charge of clearing dimensional creatures.


    The few human experts were at the Mythical stage. It was obvious that three of them had advanced using Mythical Serums. They had obvious dimensional creature characteristics and one had likely contracted a Guardian.


    Apart from that, there was also a special guest. In fact, he was Su Yi¡¯s host partner. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with this person. He was Professor Gu, who often partnered with Su Yi.


    Zhou Wen watched for a while but didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    What is Liu Yun plotting? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and suddenly said to Li Xuan, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to go in and take a look? Then tell Su Yi that we want to follow their program team in to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Old Zhou, it sure wasn¡¯t easy. You¡¯ve finally thought it through.¡± Li Xuan was overjoyed as he patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. Life is only a short few decades. It¡¯s only right to enjoy it in a timely fashion. It¡¯s pointless thinking about all kinds of nonsense all day.¡±


    ¡°Are you going? If not, I¡¯ll tell them myself,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t, let me do it. It¡¯s not like you like dealing with people. Leave such troublesome matters to me.¡± Li Xuan ran to the program team.


    After a while, Li Xuan walked over with Su Yi and another middle-aged man wearing a hat.


    Zhou Wen learned from Li Xuan¡¯s introductions that the middle-aged man¡¯s name was Evan¡ªthe director of this production team. He had agreed to let Zhou Wen and Li Xuan join the production team, but because they had filming work, they could only follow their designated path. They sometimes had to stop to film, making it impossible for them to have the freedom to constantly wander around.


    After agreeing to these conditions, Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Ya¡¯er officially joined the program team.


    ¡°Is this little girl going in too? Although the matter regarding the magic box is just a rumor, Magic Palace is rather dangerous. She¡¯s still so young¡­¡± Su Yi said as she looked at Ya¡¯er.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll watch over her,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I was just overthinking things. With your strength, Mr. Zhou, it¡¯s naturally impossible for the dimensional creatures in Magic Palace to injure you and this little girl,¡± Su Yi said with a smile.


    After the filming at the entrance was completed, the group officially entered Magic Palace. Past the door was a large square.


    The dimensional creatures inside hadn¡¯t been completely wiped out due to the drop in humans entering Magic Palace recently. There were many strange dimensional creatures wandering around the square.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen and company enter Magic Palace, the dimensional creatures immediately rushed over.


    One of the Mythical humans didn¡¯t spend much effort to finish off the dimensional creatures that rushed over.


    Zhou Wen secretly observed Liu Yun the entire time. He didn¡¯t pull off any tricks. He was akin to a professional videographer who was always loyal to his work.. He captured all the scenes the director needed.

 Chapter 1439 - A Gift for Pandora

    It was rather normal inside Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace. At the very least, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    The dimensional creatures that appeared were things Zhou Wen had read about on the Internet. There was nothing abnormal about them.


    The program team recorded and compared some places where humans often went. They wanted to prove that nothing abnormal had happened to Magic Palace.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan followed them as they filmed. At noon, they finished filming about four places that people often went.


    When the program team was having lunch, Liu Yun, who was disguised as a videographer, found an opportunity to come to Zhou Wen¡¯s side. He said with a smile, ¡°Mr. Zhou, the scenery over there is pretty good. Do you want me to take a picture for you?¡±


    When he came close to Zhou Wen, he whispered, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen pulled Ya¡¯er to the side.


    After leaving the production team, Liu Yun gritted his teeth and said, ¡°Why are you following me?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean why am I following you? Didn¡¯t you ask me to take a picture?¡± Zhou Wen feigned surprise.


    ¡°Cut the act. Leave quickly. Don¡¯t cause trouble here.¡± Liu Yun was a sharp person. He knew that Zhou Wen had definitely recognized him.


    ¡°Why should I leave? This isn¡¯t your house,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Liu Yun was helpless against Zhou Wen. All he could do was restrain his temper and say, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth. It¡¯s now very dangerous in Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace. Pandora¡¯s box can open at any time. When that happens, the whole of Magic Palace will be breached. A terrifying Calamity creature will appear. If something goes wrong, there won¡¯t even be a chance to escape.¡±


    ¡°Were you the one who spread the rumors?¡± Zhou Wen asked casually.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a rumor. It¡¯s the truth.¡± Liu Yun wore a sincere expression.


    ¡°I can see for myself if it¡¯s a rumor. After observing the area for so long, why haven¡¯t I discovered any signs of the magic box opening?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Liu Yun tried his best to explain, ¡°Pandora¡¯s box is sealed. There will naturally be no warning signs when it isn¡¯t opened. After it opens, it will be too late to leave. I spread the news ahead of time to give ordinary people a chance to escape. Otherwise, anyone in New De City would die. Ordinary people won¡¯t have a chance of escaping.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here since it¡¯s so dangerous?¡± Zhou Wen remained unmoved as he asked with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m just trying to get rid of the scourge for the people. I plan on investigating the situation first. If the conditions allow it, I¡¯ll think of a way to permanently seal the magic box before it opens.¡± Liu Yun looked like he was baring his heart. ¡°Junior Brother, listen to me. Take the child and leave quickly. It¡¯d be fine if you were alone. I can¡¯t watch you take the child to such a dangerous place.¡±


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, you actually have such noble thoughts. You are virtually a hero who acts in the interest of the country and its citizens. It¡¯s really impressive. Forget it. As your junior brother, I can¡¯t hold you back. I¡¯ll do as you say,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Take Li Xuan with you and quickly return to Luoyang¡­¡± Liu Yun was immediately overjoyed when he saw how easy it was to convince Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No, what I mean is to do as you say. I¡¯ll go with you and see if we can seal the magic box before it opens¡­¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun¡¯s smile gradually froze. In the end, his face turned livid. He pointed at Zhou Wen and said fiercely, ¡°Do you have to make things difficult for me?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered with certainty.


    Liu Yun pointed at Zhou Wen with a ferocious expression. He wagged his finger a few times and looked like he was about to kill him when he suddenly retracted his hand. He forced a smile and said, ¡°Junior Brother, we are all fellow disciples. Why make things difficult for one of your own? Go back now. I¡¯ll treat you to a feast when I¡¯m in Luoyang.¡±


    ¡°I want half,¡± Zhou Wen said directly, ignoring him.


    ¡°Half what?¡± Liu Yun said blankly.


    ¡°60%,¡± Zhou Wen said directly.


    ¡°Junior Brother, I really¡­¡± Before Liu Yun could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen opened his mouth, prepared to raise the price again.


    When Liu Yun saw the shape of Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth, he knew that he was about to say 70. He hurriedly interrupted, ¡°Half it is, but you have to work for it.¡±


    ¡°How do I work for it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Liu Yun looked at the production crew and saw that no one was paying attention to them. Therefore, he lowered his voice and said, ¡°The opening of the magic box is true. I¡¯m not lying. I spread the news because I really want to help them. I don¡¯t want them to die without knowing why.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Wen look at him in disbelief, Liu Yun said helplessly, ¡°Alright, I admit that part of the reason I sent them away was for this operation, but I also want to save their lives. This is an undeniable fact.¡±


    ¡°Get to the point,¡± Zhou Wen said impatiently.


    ¡°Have you heard of the legend of Pandora?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? Has anyone not heard of it? Even a three-year-old knows the legend of the magic box,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Pandora¡¯s box was something that happened later. Before Pandora¡¯s box, the gods gave some gifts to her. Do you know what they were?¡± Liu Yun whispered.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen only knew of such a myth, but he didn¡¯t know the exact details.


    ¡°Prometheus stole fire from the sun and gave it to humans, bringing light to humans. In order to punish humans, the gods used a Goddess as a blueprint to create a beautiful woman, Pandora. The Goddess of Love and Beauty gave her a mesmerizing perfume. Athena gave her a silvery gown, the Fire God gave her a sash, necklaces, rings, and other divine items. Hermes gave her the gift of language, making her the most perfect woman in the world¡­¡± As Liu Yun spoke, his drool was about to drip out.


    Wiping the corner of his mouth, Liu Yun continued, ¡°Think about it. Those divine clothes, ribbons, necklaces, rings, and so on are all true divine items. They aren¡¯t the calamity in the magic box. According to my speculation, I¡¯m certain that Pandora is at the Calamity grade. Then, the things on her must be good things at the Calamity grade. If I can get them all¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. You want to kill a Calamity-grade creature?¡± Zhou Wen felt that there was something wrong with Liu Yun¡¯s words.


    ¡°Not kill, steal,¡± Liu Yun corrected.


    ¡°The things on a Calamity creature are one with her. How can you steal them?¡± Zhou Wen found it unreliable.


    ¡°That might not be the case. If it were an ordinary Calamity creature, it might be the case. However, it¡¯s different for Pandora. She¡¯s just a tool that was created. Those things were given to her by the gods. They aren¡¯t things that she comes with. I should be able to steal them,¡± Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen frowned inwardly. He had a nagging feeling that things weren¡¯t as simple as Liu Yun had said.


    ¡°If you want to steal something, do it yourself. Why did you sneak into the program team?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Liu Yun and asked.

 Chapter 1440 - The Door Opener

    ¡°If you want to reach the shrine where Pandora lives, you have to be with the program team,¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun in surprise. Liu Yun¡¯s spatial teleportation skill wasn¡¯t inferior to his. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that the program team could do something Liu Yun couldn¡¯t.


    Liu Yun explained, ¡°There¡¯s a special defensive mechanism in Pandora¡¯s shrine. Not anyone can enter. Even Calamity-grade powerhouses will find it difficult to enter. There¡¯s only one way of entry. Find someone suitable to open the door to Pandora¡¯s shrine.¡±


    ¡°Someone suitable?¡± Zhou Wen had a guess.


    Liu Yun glanced in the direction of the program team before explaining under his breath, ¡°Based on my research, entry to the shrine requires a woman with a special Life Providence to open the door. I searched for a long time before I finally found a woman with that special Life Providence. It¡¯s the female host, Su Yi. Only she can open the door to the shrine. When the time comes, we can enter and steal what¡¯s on Pandora.¡±


    ¡°Your words are too contradictory. Since you haven¡¯t entered before, how do you know that Su Yi¡¯s Life Providence can open the door? Even if Su Yi can open the door, how do you know that you can steal the items from Pandora?¡± Zhou Wen still felt that there were many loopholes in this matter.


    ¡°Why are you asking so many questions? Just tell me if you want a part in this or not. If not, I¡¯ll do it myself. Just don¡¯t be in my way to wealth,¡± Liu Yun said impatiently.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a partnership, it¡¯s best we make things clear. It¡¯s fine if you don¡¯t wish to cooperate. After all, Li Xuan is rather interested in Su Yi. If he knows, he probably won¡¯t let Su Yi take the risk, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°You want to kick me to the curb when I¡¯ve outlived my usefulness?¡± Liu Yun glared at Zhou Wen angrily.


    ¡°Explain clearly if you want cooperation,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liu Yun pondered for a moment before saying with a bitter smile, ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to tell you, but I¡¯m afraid that you won¡¯t believe me if I told you the truth. It will be even more troublesome when the time comes.¡±


    ¡°How do you know I won¡¯t believe you if you don¡¯t tell me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I obtained the information from Jing Daoxian,¡± Liu Yun said directly.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian?¡± Disbelief immediately rose in Zhou Wen.


    ¡°See? I knew you wouldn¡¯t believe me.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was too obvious. Liu Yun shrugged.


    Zhou Wen fell silent. Jing Daoxian might have really been to Pandora¡¯s palace and might really know about the situation there, but why was he telling Liu Yun this?


    Jing Daoxian couldn¡¯t do much in the past due to his injuries.


    However, Jing Daoxian¡¯s injuries should have healed by now. Furthermore, he had a Companion Beast like the Yin Yang Mirror. Why didn¡¯t he take the treasure from Pandora but instead told Liu Yun?


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t believe you, but Jing Daoxian is just too difficult to figure out. Why would he give you that information?¡± Zhou Wen said to Liu Yun.


    ¡°I made a deal with him. As for what deal it is, I can¡¯t tell you. What I can tell you is that this information is very trustworthy. If you believe me, cooperate with me. If you don¡¯t believe me, don¡¯t be in my way. After this matter is over, regardless of whether it succeeds or not, I¡¯ll treat you to a feast.¡± Liu Yun seemed very confident that the information Jing Daoxian had given him was real.


    Since Liu Yun had already said so, Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t ask further.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s give it a try. How do you plan on getting Su Yi there? Don¡¯t tell me you plan on kidnapping her?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to take a look.


    Liu Yun was a careful person. If he wasn¡¯t completely confident, he wouldn¡¯t show that much confidence.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen did eye the stuff on Pandora.


    However, he was different from Liu Yun. Liu Yun wanted the treasures on her, but Zhou Wen was interested in Pandora¡¯s magic box.


    When it came to Misfortune-type items, Pandora¡¯s magic box was definitely ranked first. If the magic box was a dimensional creature, using it to create a Mythical Serum might be of great help to Wang Chan.


    ¡°There¡¯s obviously no need. They were going to the shrine to begin with. However, no one has opened the shrine¡¯s door in the past. Su Yi doesn¡¯t know that she can open it either. When the time comes, we just need to create some chaos and nudge Su Yi in the right direction. Once the door opens, we will enter without causing any trouble for the program team,¡± Liu Yun explained.


    Zhou Wen felt that it was feasible, but he felt that if only Su Yi could open the door, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to escape so easily.


    The two of them discussed for a while before Liu Yun pretended to take a few photos of Zhou Wen and Ya¡¯er before returning to the program team.


    Li Xuan was still chatting with Su Yi and company. Li Xuan was talented. In just a short period of time, he had already become very familiar with the production team as though he was a staff member.


    After resting for a while, the production team began filming again. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find the two dimensional creatures he wanted along the way, so he didn¡¯t take action.


    Zhou Wen found an opportunity to inform Li Xuan about his partnership with Liu Yun.


    ¡°How can you do that?¡± Li Xuan immediately shouted.


    ¡°Stop shouting. Do you want everyone to hear you?¡± Zhou Wen tugged at Li Xuan.


    When Li Xuan saw that the production team was looking at him, he hurriedly smiled apologetically, indicating that he was fine. Then, he squatted down and whispered to Zhou Wen, ¡°Old Zhou, that Liu Yun isn¡¯t reliable. If only Su Yi could open the door, would Su Yi be able to escape after opening it?¡±


    Zhou Wen also whispered, ¡°Of course I know that it won¡¯t be easy for Su Yi to escape, but think about it. The source is Jing Daoxian. Even if we stop Liu Yun today and don¡¯t get Su Yi to open the door, what will happen in the future? What if Jing Daoxian wants to enter the shrine himself?¡±


    Li Xuan was taken aback when he heard that. He said gloomily, ¡°Then what should we do?¡±


    ¡°Instead of thinking of a solution when the matter isn¡¯t under our control, why don¡¯t we figure things out while we still have the situation under control? If something really happens to Su Yi, we can help her. It¡¯s better than letting her open the door only when she¡¯s threatened, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but isn¡¯t it too risky?¡± Li Xuan was still hesitant.


    ¡°Then marry her and protect her 24/7. Furthermore, you have to be certain that you can defeat Jing Daoxian,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What do you plan on doing?¡± Li Xuan felt that this wasn¡¯t a viable solution. He didn¡¯t have any ideas and could only ask for Zhou Wen¡¯s opinion.


    ¡°There¡¯s no other way. Let¡¯s escort Su Yi in and figure out what¡¯s going on inside. We¡¯ll completely resolve this matter.¡± On the way, Zhou Wen had already attempted to enter Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace dungeon, but strangely, the blood-colored avatar couldn¡¯t enter Pandora¡¯s final shrine.


    It was likely as Liu Yun had said. One had to have a special Life Providence to be able to open Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace.

 Chapter 1441 - Pandora Shrine

    Pandora¡¯s Magic Palace was a large maze, but to people who were familiar with it, as long as they could clear the dimensional creatures in Magic Palace, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to traverse it.


    The only place that humans stepped into in the entire Magic Palace was Pandora Shrine.


    The glorious palace that resembled a miracle stood in a corner of Magic Palace. There were many carvings regarding divine miracles engraved on its walls.


    Basically, they were scenes of gods carrying out miracles and receiving human worship.


    On the murals, Zhou Wen discovered carvings suspected to be the Sun God, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, the God of Metalworking, the Goddess of Wisdom, and even Hades.


    These murals were extremely beautiful. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but wonder. If the gods really exist, do they really look like this?


    ¡°Good afternoon, I¡¯m your host, Su Yi. It¡¯s 4:12 p.m., 2nd June. I¡¯m now in front of Pandora Shrine. This is the legendary place where Pandora sleeps. Recently, there have been rumors that Pandora will open the magic box and cause New De City to suffer¡­¡± Su Yi stood in front of the shrine¡¯s door and introduced the situation.


    As a videographer, Liu Yun was the closest to Su Yi. When Zhou Wen saw that Su Yi was about to reach Pandora Shrine¡¯s door, they exchanged looks and hurriedly approached.


    They naturally couldn¡¯t stand in front of the camera, but at that moment, a powerful beam of light suddenly exploded, causing everyone to lose their vision.


    The bright light had zero effect on Zhou Wen. Li Xuan was already prepared. After his Terror transformation, light was useless for his eyes.


    The two of them saw that Liu Yun had already rushed in front of Su Yi and pushed her towards the door of the shrine.


    Su Yi¡¯s strength was considered pretty good among ordinary people. She had reached the peak of the Epic stage, but against an expert like Liu Yun, she was nothing.


    She didn¡¯t even see Liu Yun as she involuntarily lunged towards the shrine¡¯s door.


    Liu Yun controlled his strength very well. When Su Yi pressed her hands against the door, she touched two unicorn symbols.


    Her palm was pierced by the protruding horn, and blood immediately dyed the horn red.


    Boom!


    The door emitted a dull rumble as it slowly opened.


    Li Xuan rushed over to pull Su Yi away. Since the door had already been opened, she was useless to them now. Liu Yun and Jing Daoxian wouldn¡¯t cause trouble for her again.


    Liu Yun rushed towards Su Yi at the same time Li Xuan rushed over.


    Zhou Wen seemed to sense something as he flashed to Su Yi¡¯s side with Ya¡¯er. The three of them grabbed onto Su Yi¡¯s body within a second of each other.


    In the next second, a beam shot out from the opened door, instantly causing Su Yi, Zhou Wen, and company to vanish. The shrine door closed with a boom.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The four of them fell to the ground one after another. Li Xuan got up and grabbed Liu Yun by the collar and said angrily, ¡°Scoundrel, how dare you lie to us?¡±


    Liu Yun had only said that Su Yi could open the door, but he didn¡¯t say that the door would close itself. Furthermore, it was obvious that they could only enter together with Su Yi.


    If they hadn¡¯t wanted to save Su Yi and arrived by her side in time, they would have been left behind by Liu Yun.


    ¡°Calm down. I didn¡¯t know that this would happen.¡± Liu Yun explained without any sincerity.


    ¡°What¡­ What do you want?¡± Su Yi looked at them in panic. Blood was still flowing from her palm and her face was pale. She was clearly frightened.


    ¡°Su Yi, Old Zhou and I don¡¯t have any ill intentions¡­¡± Just as Li Xuan was about to say something, they heard a boom.


    The few of them jumped in fright and couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction of the rumbling. They were alarmed by what they saw.


    The place they landed in was actually a huge garden. The garden was circular, and in the middle was a small circular patio. The garden had paths that went horizontally, vertically, and diagonally that demarcated different flower beds.


    However, the flowers in the flower beds looked terrifying.


    There were sparse flower trees planted in the flower bed, but they didn¡¯t have a single leaf. Their branches were twisted like venomous snakes in a withered gray color.


    Each flower tree only had one flower. It was different from ordinary flowers. The flowers didn¡¯t face the sky but towards the ground. Furthermore, the petals were closed.


    What was even stranger was that the flowers looked like people hanging off the trees from afar.


    The rumbling sound came from the top of the garden. It was the palace¡¯s dome. It was a standard dome with layers of statues.


    A gorgeous crystal chandelier hung down from the middle of the dome. There were many lamps of various sizes on the crystal chandelier like blobs of flowers and its diameter exceeded ten meters.


    The flower-like lamps were all lit up. The sound should have come from the crystal chandelier, but they didn¡¯t see anything that could make such a loud sound.


    ¡°Those crystal lamps seem a little odd!¡± Liu Yun looked up for a while and suddenly frowned.


    ¡°Don¡¯t pull any of your tricks.¡± Li Xuan still refused to let go of Liu Yun.


    ¡°Old Li, let him go. Protect Su Yi.¡± Zhou Wen knew that with Liu Yun¡¯s spatial teleportation ability, it was useless for Li Xuan to grab him.


    Li Xuan glared at Liu Yun before letting go and retreating to Su Yi¡¯s side.


    However, Su Yi retreated and maintained a certain distance from Li Xuan. She no longer trusted anyone. No matter how she looked at it, Li Xuan, Zhou Wen, and Liu Yun were in cahoots.


    Li Xuan was somewhat helpless. It was useless explaining anything now. All he could do was stand beside Su Yi without a word.


    ¡°Look at the crystal chandelier¡¯s flames,¡± Liu Yun straightened his clothes and pointed.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with the flames?¡± Li Xuan asked coldly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you feel that the flames seem to be alive?¡± Liu Yun said with a strange expression.


    ¡°Alive?¡± Li Xuan and Zhou Wen carefully looked at the flames.


    Li Xuan¡¯s eyesight was average, so he didn¡¯t discover any problems. However, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight was extraordinary. After taking a closer look, he realized that there was indeed something wrong with the flames.


    The flames came from a small crystal ball inside the lamps. There was nothing wrong with the small crystal ball at first glance. It was a transparent, colorless crystal ball the size of a fist.


    However, after Zhou Wen carefully scanned it, he realized that it wasn¡¯t a crystal ball, but a huddled crystal creature.


    As their bodies were flawless, transparent crystals without any impurities or colors, it was almost impossible to tell when they curled up.


    Zhou Wen was still watching when he heard a boom. The huge crystal chandelier moved as though wooden blocks were being reorganized, causing the crystal chandelier¡¯s shape to undergo a huge change. In the blink of an eye, it completely changed into another shape.

 Chapter 1442 - Su Yi’s Guess

    ¡°9!¡± Li Xuan protected Su Yi as he muttered in puzzlement.


    After the crystal chandelier transformed, it turned into the shape of a number 9, still hanging under the dome.


    ¡°It might also be 6,¡± Liu Yun said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care if it was 9 or 6. He looked around and didn¡¯t discover the door he had come from. He attempted to teleport out, but realized that the space in the temple was isolated. Unless he found the door that he had entered, it was impossible for him to leave.


    However, there was only one garden in the palace. There was no path that led elsewhere.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, where¡¯s Pandora?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun scratched his head and said gloomily, ¡°Jing Daoxian only said that Pandora is in the temple, but he didn¡¯t say exactly where. I¡¯m not too sure either.¡±


    As he spoke, Liu Yun¡¯s gaze landed on the hanging flowers. ¡°Do you think it¡¯s possible that Pandora is inside those flowers? Those flowers aren¡¯t small, and their shapes are human-like. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem to hide a person inside, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of Pandora being made of mud by the gods, but I¡¯ve never heard of her being born from flowers,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s best not to touch those flowers.¡± Zhou Wen had already scanned the flowers with Truth Listener, but he couldn¡¯t see the situation inside. Furthermore, the hanging flowers gave him a sense of danger.


    ¡°Why did you bring me in?¡± Su Yi couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°Miss Su, Zhou Wen and I definitely don¡¯t have any ill intentions towards you. As for whether he has any ill intentions towards you, we don¡¯t know,¡± Li Xuan said as he glanced at Liu Yun.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Am I the kind of person who will hurt women?¡± Liu Yun shouted unhappily.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen and Li Xuan answered simultaneously with great certainty.


    Liu Yun said angrily, ¡°You can¡¯t blame me for this. After all, we are fellow disciples in the same school, right? Zhou Wen, the two of us were taught by the same teacher. I¡¯m your eldest senior brother after all. Why are you always glaring at me? It¡¯s only right for me to shake you off, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m used to it. There are benefits following you,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Liu Yun nearly blew a gasket when he heard Zhou Wen¡¯s answer. He said hatefully, ¡°You were the one who insisted on coming. Don¡¯t blame anyone if anything happens. As for Miss Su, I really don¡¯t have any ill intentions towards you. Only you can open this door. Only you can enter. After we obtain the item, I¡¯ll have to trouble you to take us out. Don¡¯t worry. Even if I kill those two fellows, I won¡¯t let you suffer any harm. Instead, it¡¯s those two shameless fellows whom you have to be careful about. Don¡¯t be foolishly exploited by them.¡±


    ¡°Miss Su, the two of us don¡¯t have any ill intentions towards you. We were afraid that you would be harmed by him, so we followed you in,¡± Li Xuan hurriedly said.


    ¡°What do you mean by afraid of being harmed by me? If you really want to be a goody two shoes, shouldn¡¯t you have stopped me outside¡­¡±


    ¡°Alright, cut it out. Let¡¯s figure out the situation.¡± Zhou Wen interrupted their argument.


    Zhou Wen had carefully scanned the area in the garden. There was no door and no way out, only the flower bed and crystal chandelier.


    ¡°Do any of you know the origins of these flower trees and the crystal chandelier? Or are they related to myths?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he sized up the flower trees.


    There were only a limited number of objects in the garden. Whether it was to find the way out or to find Pandora and the magic box, he had to start with them.


    Liu Yun scratched his head and said, ¡°Before I came, I did a lot of research on Pandora. The gods did reward her with many things, but nothing seemed related to flowers, nor were there any legends about a crystal chandelier.¡±


    Li Xuan also said, ¡°I only know that there¡¯s another name for Pandora. It means the woman who offers a gift. I¡¯m wondering if there¡¯s any connection with flowers since part of her name in Chinese means flowers. Could it be that Pandora is actually one of those flowers and the magic box is inside a flower?¡±


    ¡°Cut it out. That¡¯s transliterated! It has nothing to do with flowers,¡± Liu Yun said with a pout.


    Just as the two of them were about to fight again, Su Yi suddenly said, ¡°Do you know who Pandora¡¯s daughter is?¡±


    The few of them were taken aback as they looked at Su Yi.


    Su Yi was indeed a little afraid in the beginning, but now, she didn¡¯t seem to be that afraid. She was holding her phone and filming from every angle in the garden. At this moment, she didn¡¯t forget her job. Her professionalism was perfect.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Seeing Su Yi look over, the few of them shook their heads.


    They were here to find Pandora. Who cared who her daughter was? They had never cared.


    Su Yi smiled and said, ¡°According to what I know, Pandora¡¯s daughter is named Pyrrha. She later married Deucalion.¡±


    The few of them were at a loss. These names were unfamiliar¡ªnames that they had never heard of before. They didn¡¯t know what Su Yi¡¯s sudden mention of this had to do with their current situation.


    Su Yi felt pleased seeing their blank expressions. She smiled and said, ¡°You might not have heard of these two names, but you should have heard of Noah¡¯s Ark, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of this before. It¡¯s the person who survived the flood, right? However, Noah should be a legend of another pantheon, right? What has he got to do with Pandora?¡± Liu Yun said.


    Su Yi said, ¡°Myths of a Great Flood appear in many pantheons. Pyrrha and Deucalion are Noah in Pandora¡¯s pantheon. After Pandora opened the magic box, humans suffered all sorts of disasters. The final flood nearly drowned the entire world. Only Pyrrha and Deucalion created the ark and avoided the disaster of the flood. In order to revive humanity, Pyrrha and Deucalion had to find the bones of Mother Earth. And in the end, they realized that the so-called bones of Mother Earth are actually a type of crystal.¡±


    Upon hearing that, Zhou Wen and company couldn¡¯t help but cast their gazes at the crystal chandelier hanging above them.


    The crystal chandelier was made of crystals. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had already discovered that the crystal chandelier was actually a living creature. Therefore, the crystal chandelier was likely the bones of Mother Earth which Su Yi had mentioned.


    Su Yi continued, ¡°After Deucalion threw out the Mother Earth bone, it transformed into a man, and the Mother Earth bone that Pyyrha threw out became a woman. These people became the ancestors of the ancient Greeks.¡±


    Boom!


    A loud boom sounded as Su Yi spoke. The crystal chandelier above their heads changed again, its form rapidly changing.


    Zhou Wen and company clearly saw that it was in the shape of the number ¡°8.¡± This way, they could confirm that the previous shape was 9, not 6.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was somewhat odd. According to what he knew, anything related to a flood wasn¡¯t simple.

 Chapter 1443 - The Object in the Flower

    ¡°Could this thing be a countdown? If this thing reaches zero, what will happen?¡± Li Xuan said as he looked at the eight-shaped crystal chandelier.


    ¡°Are there any records of these numbers in the myths and legends of Deucalion?¡± Liu Yun asked Su Yi.


    Su Yi was also at a loss as she shook her head and said, ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡±


    She felt convinced that the crystal chandelier was the legendary bones of Mother Earth, but she had never heard of all these variations. She vaguely felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°Regardless of whether the crystal chandelier is made of the bones of Mother Earth, we have to quickly figure out this place. The change in the crystal chandelier numbers gives me a bad feeling,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then let me give it a try. Perhaps that crystal chandelier is the key.¡± As Li Xuan spoke, he wanted to transform into his Terror form and rush towards the crystal chandelier.


    ¡°Now isn¡¯t the time to risk your life.¡± Zhou Wen stopped Li Xuan and summoned a Golden Battle God.


    Zhou Wen now had two Golden Battle Gods. He had given An Sheng five Golden Battle Gods that had dropped previously. These two had dropped recently. Furthermore, the types were the same as before. He hadn¡¯t managed to collect all six different types of Golden Battle Gods.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, is there anything you¡¯s like to say?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun before ordering the Golden Battle God to fire.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of solutions at the moment. We can only give it a try,¡± Liu Yun said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate any further as he ordered the Golden Battle Gods to fire. The target wasn¡¯t the crystal chandelier, but the flower on the flower tree.


    Explosive bullets struck the hanging flower. There was only a dull thud, like the sound of leather being penetrated, but there were no explosions.


    The bullets seemed to vanish upon entering the flower. If not for the bullet holes on the petals, Zhou Wen would have wondered if he had scored a hit.


    Terror-grade Explosive Bullets had a destructive power capable of blowing up a building. After a few consecutive shots, they failed to blast apart the flower that was as tall as a person. It was truly shocking.


    The few of them stared nervously at the flower. Li Xuan shielded Su Yi behind him as Zhou Wen picked up Ya¡¯er and summoned the Death Harbinger Crow.


    Although this fellow¡¯s level was very low, it might be useful.


    Caw! Caw!


    Death Harbinger Crow landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s head the moment it appeared and let out an ear-piercing caw.


    ¡°Why did you summon this out? It¡¯s so noisy,¡± Liu Yun jumped in fright and said unhappily.


    Before Zhou Wen could explain, he heard a splattering sound from the flower. White smoke spewed out from the bullet holes as though water had boiled inside.


    ¡°Be careful of the gas. Don¡¯t be poisoned,¡± Liu Yun said as he retreated. He even stuffed a few pills into his mouth.


    Zhou Wen also summoned a few antidote pill essences and gave them to Li Xuan and Su Yi. Although they were only Epic pill essences, they might be of some use.


    However, the white smoke wasn¡¯t poisonous. Zhou Wen confirmed it by summoning a Companion Beast to probe.


    As the white gas spewed out, the flower gradually withered like a deflated balloon.


    However, the flower wasn¡¯t empty. After the petals collapsed, they stuck to something. Soon, all the petals stuck to the object tightly.


    If it looked like a hanging corpse before, it looked like a mummy now. The thing inside the petal was a shriveled humanoid.


    ¡°There¡¯s really someone inside the flower. Could it be Pandora?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s really Pandora, there can only be one. There must be more than ten flowers in this garden. What a coincidence. A random shot and we hit Pandora?¡± Liu Yun clearly didn¡¯t agree with Li Xuan¡¯s guess.


    Bang!


    Amidst their conversation, the flower¡¯s stalk snapped. The object that was wrapped in petals like a mummy fell and landed in the garden.


    What was even more terrifying was that the thing was really like a mummy. It twisted its body and tottered as it walked towards them.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The Golden Battle Gods fired again. No explosions ensued after the bullets penetrated the petals and shot into its body. It was still that dull sound of defeat.


    The Golden Battle Gods¡¯ bullets failed to stop it. The thing withstood the Explosive Bullets and staggered out of the flower bed, walking towards the Golden Battle Gods.


    Li Xuan and Liu Yun were secretly alarmed. They had seen the power of the Golden Battle God many times. Although it wasn¡¯t top-notch at the Terror grade, the destructive power of the Explosive Bullets was definitely the cream of the crop.


    That thing could withstand the Explosive Bullets as though nothing had happened. Its strength was at least at the top Terror grade.


    The few of them subconsciously retreated because they didn¡¯t know what kind of power that thing possessed. No one dared to take the risk.


    Realizing that the Golden Battle Gods were basically useless, Zhou Wen decided to turn the Golden Battle God into a revolver and let it land in his hand.


    Bang! Zhou Wen held the golden revolver and shot at it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s shot was augmented with his Essence Energy, so the bullet¡¯s strength increased significantly. When it struck the thing, it immediately retreated a few steps.


    But that was all. After the bullet lost its forward momentum, the mummy walked towards Zhou Wen again.


    ¡°Watch me.¡± Li Xuan saw that the thing was only walking forward without retaliating. He summoned an Ice Silkworm.


    The Ice Silkworm produced two pairs of transparent wings and flapped them to fly above the thing. It opened its mouth and spat out a ball of icy gas that enveloped the thing.


    Li Xuan wanted to use the Ice Silkworm¡¯s freezing power to freeze it. Even if he failed, he could slow it down.


    However, the scene he imagined didn¡¯t happen. The thing actually walked out of the ice fog. Although there was frost on the petals, it failed to be frozen.


    Liu Yun also secretly released a few poison needles that silently pierced through the petals, but they still failed to affect its actions.


    ¡°What the hell is that? Could it really be an immortal body?¡± Liu Yun¡¯s expression changed when he saw that the poison needles were useless. He retreated even faster.


    The three of them used many methods to attack the thing, but they didn¡¯t have much of an effect. It was as though it really had an immortal body.


    ¡°Junior Brother, you are the strongest here. I¡¯ll leave this thing to you. I¡¯ll come up with something.¡± Liu Yun retreated quickly.


    However, Zhou Wen had no intention of retreating. He stood there and sized up the thing in puzzlement.

 Chapter 1444 - Way to Use the Death Harbinger Crow

    Harbinger crows only spelled sorrow, never anything good. They were diametrically opposite to magpies.


    However, the Death Harbinger Crow¡¯s ability was very useful. Zhou Wen had been thinking of a way to raise its level.


    Unfortunately, it didn¡¯t have an Evolvable attribute. Zhou Wen thought of many ways, but he couldn¡¯t raise its level even by one. He probably had to rely on a Samsara Stone to advance it to a higher level in the future.


    The drop rate of Samsara Stones was unfortunately just too low. Zhou Wen had only had one drop up to now, but he had already used it.


    However, even if it hadn¡¯t advanced, it still looked useful. Zhou Wen had summoned it to see if its abilities were useful.


    Zhou Wen knew that this fellow was of some use when he heard its caw.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that the Death Harbinger Crow wasn¡¯t cawing at the thing that was charging at him. It was clearly cawing in the direction of the other flower trees.


    Strange, by calling it a Death Harbinger Crow, it¡¯s clearly telling me that this thing shouldn¡¯t be a threat. However, from the way it looks, it doesn¡¯t look like it poses zero threat. Zhou Wen shot a few more times and riddled the petals around the thing with holes, but he still failed to stop it.


    Zhou Wen was considering whether he should retreat just as the thing arrived in front of him. It suddenly plopped down and lunged over in front of him.


    After it fell, the petals outside automatically fell off, revealing what was inside.


    The fiery-red glow nearly blinded them. They widened their eyes. Inside was a gorgeous golden-red robe, and it was feminine.


    ¡°Could this be the robe that the gods gave to Pandora according to legends? There are legends that the robe was given to Pandora by the Goddess of Wisdom, and there are also legends that the Fire God gave it to her. From the looks of this robe, the possibility of it being the Fire God is higher¡­¡± Su Yi was indeed a news reporter. She immediately thought of what it was.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, the robe automatically flew up and floated towards him.


    Zhou Wen reached out and caught it. The robe landed on his arm before transforming into thousands of fire threads that fused into his body. They formed a flaming golden tattoo on his body before gradually disappearing.


    ¡°Old Zhou, are you alright?¡± Li Xuan hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. This thing seems to be a Companion Beast!¡± Zhou Wen sensed the information and nearly laughed out loud.


    That thing was called the Fire God Golden Silk Robe. It was actually a Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    Li Xuan wanted to ask what level it was, but when he glanced at Liu Yun and Su Yi, he swallowed the words he was about to say.


    Liu Yun¡¯s mind raced as he immediately rushed towards one of the flower trees without any hesitation.


    Now, anyone could tell that the flowers on the flower trees were likely treasures that the gods had given to Pandora. Whatever he grabbed was profit.


    ¡°Liu Yun, don¡¯t do anything rash.¡± Li Xuan reacted and wanted to stop Liu Yun, but it was too late.


    Although Li Xuan¡¯s movement technique wasn¡¯t bad, it was much weaker than Liu Yun¡¯s instant transmission.


    Liu Yun had already arrived in front of a flower tree while Li Xuan shouted. As he reached out to grab the flower, he said, ¡°The items have been found. It¡¯s up to your own abilities. Finders keepers!¡±


    Liu Yun was afraid that Zhou Wen would not distribute it fairly. He was alone, and Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were two people. Wouldn¡¯t that mean that two-thirds of the goods would be taken? He might as well strike first to gain the upper hand and take as much as he could.


    With his godly thieving skills, even Zhou Wen might not be able to out-snatch him.


    ¡°Old Zhou, quickly stop him. This fellow is very fast. He¡¯ll snatch everything!¡± Li Xuan said anxiously.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of stopping him.


    This was because the flower that Liu Yun touched was one of the flowers that the Death Harbinger Crow cawed at.


    Zhou Wen wanted to know if the Death Harbinger Crow¡¯s cawing was accurate. However, Zhou Wen secretly condensed the power of Human Sovereign. If Liu Yun really encountered danger, he had to help him.


    Liu Yun¡¯s face was filled with excitement as he reached into the flower to grab the treasure. However, just as his palm reached in, he suddenly let out a strange cry and retracted his palm.


    Liu Yun¡¯s retracted hand had completely turned black. It was as though it was dyed with ink. Black gas was still emitting from it. No matter how Liu Yun shook it, the black gas couldn¡¯t be shaken off.


    The black gas over Liu Yun¡¯s hand rapidly decreased, but it wasn¡¯t eliminated. Instead, it seeped into Liu Yun¡¯s body.


    The black gas in Liu Yun¡¯s hand vanished in moments, but his forehead darkened, as though it was enveloped by dark clouds.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun¡¯s forehead and found it familiar.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, this is a curse! That¡¯s not right. Why did you get a Fire God Robe while I got a curse!¡± Liu Yun looked at his face in the mirror and immediately, his face turned livid as he screamed.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, everything is fated in life. Don¡¯t force it. This item isn¡¯t destined to be yours,¡± Zhou Wen said as he shot at another flower.


    After the flower was hit, it spewed out white gas and quickly shriveled. However, it didn¡¯t take human form this time. After it dried up, it turned into a ribbon.


    The flower fell from the tree and automatically flew in front of Zhou Wen. The withered petals on it dropped as a headband floated towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen reached out and grabbed the headband. It automatically landed in his hand before transforming into threads of light that fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body, forming a new tattoo.


    Another Calamity-grade Companion Beast. Don¡¯t tell me this place is filled with Calamity-grade Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised when he sensed the information from the headband.


    If they were all Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, he would really be rich.


    I see. It cannot be taken by hand¡­ I understand¡­ Liu Yun¡¯s nose bled from the curse. He summoned a dart and shot it at one of the flowers.


    Zhou Wen originally thought that since he had agreed to split it 50-50, he couldn¡¯t let Eldest Senior Brother return empty-handed. He would let him take whatever he could.


    It was unknown if it was because of the previous curse or if Liu Yun¡¯s luck wasn¡¯t good. His dart actually hit a flower tree that the Death Harbinger Crow had called out to.


    Pfft!


    The flower was penetrated by the dart. Indeed, just like Zhou Wen¡¯s two attempts, the flower withered and automatically fell, flying towards Liu Yun.


    Just as Liu Yun was about to grab the treasure, he saw a gray gas fly out and envelop his head. It was so fast that he couldn¡¯t dodge in time.


    Liu Yun¡¯s forehead was black to begin with, but now his entire face turned gray. He looked almost no different from a corpse that was about to be buried.

 Chapter 1445 - Gifts from the Gods

    ¡°My head is spinning¡­¡± Liu Yun felt dizzy. His legs seemed to go limp and he couldn¡¯t stand properly.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he heard a boom. The crystal chandelier above him turned into a 7.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan exchanged looks as their expressions turned solemn.


    It was difficult to come up with a countermeasure in advance without knowing what the countdown meant.


    I¡¯ll deal with those flower trees first. Zhou Wen held the golden revolver and shot at the flowers that the Death Harbinger Crow didn¡¯t caw at. A few bullets penetrated them.


    Liu Yun was a little dizzy from the curse. His nose was still bleeding, so he couldn¡¯t afford to snatch the items.


    The flowers fell and transformed into different shapes that headed for Zhou Wen.


    One of them looked like a necklace, while another looked like a ring. He couldn¡¯t tell what the other four were, but their shapes were rather strange.


    The first petal to fall was a flower that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t identify. After the petal fell, there was a stream of water inside.


    The water immediately drilled into Zhou Wen¡¯s body upon contact and spread throughout his body. Zhou Wen felt as though all his cells had been cleansed by holy water as they emitted shocking vitality.


    Does this enhance my physique? Zhou Wen immediately realized that this wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast, but something that strengthened his physique. Even without looking at the game¡¯s data, he could sense that his physique had greatly improved.


    Following that, the necklace and ring flew out of the petal, turning into streams of light that left a tattoo on Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Another two Calamity-grade Companion Beasts! Zhou Wen nearly cried out in happiness. These were Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, not run-of-the-mill items. Having obtained four Calamity-grade Companion Beasts at once, the number of Calamity-grade Companion Beasts on Earth combined probably wasn¡¯t as many as his alone.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling excited, the remaining three flowers opened one by one. The items inside flew towards him.


    The three items were a blob of white gas, a crystal slice, and a water droplet.


    Could those things enhance Essence Energy, Speed, and Strength? Previously, the water had strengthened his physique. Now, there were three things he couldn¡¯t identify. Zhou Wen felt that it was very likely to enhance the other three attributes.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the three items had already landed on him and fused into his body.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, after the three items fused into his body, his Essence Energy, Strength, and Speed didn¡¯t increase, nor did he obtain any Companion Beasts.


    Instead, he felt some strange characteristics appear on his body. After the water droplet fused into his body, Zhou Wen immediately produced a strange fragrance.


    Zhou Wen only found the fragrance nice. It was fragrant, but not overwhelming. It was thick and not cloying, but he didn¡¯t know what use it had.


    After the crystal slice entered his body, it immediately transformed into two strange energy streams that flowed to his eyes. Zhou Wen felt his eyes turn cool, but his vision didn¡¯t improve.


    The white gas was the strangest. After entering Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it quickly fused into him and vanished without a trace. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any changes in his body.


    ¡°Holy sh*t¡­ Old Zhou¡­ Amazing¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what the effects of the three items were, he heard Li Xuan shout.


    ¡°What¡¯s amazing?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Old Zhou, why do you look so beautiful all of a sudden? Your eyes look like they can hook people¡­ If you were a woman¡­ I might have married you¡­¡± Li Xuan said as he swallowed.


    ¡°What the hell are you talking about!¡± Zhou Wen suddenly realized that something was amiss.


    This was because Su Yi and the cursed Liu Yun were staring intently at him. Their eyes were like lechers who had seen a beauty, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    ¡°No good!¡± Zhou Wen exclaimed. He immediately took out a mirror from the chaos space and looked at himself.


    At a glance, Zhou Wen nearly failed to recognize himself in the mirror.


    The first impression the person in the mirror gave him was that he was fair and beautiful. In particular, his eyes had an indescribable charm that made one take a second glance. Those with poor self-restraint would find it difficult to move their gaze away from him.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood what the three items were for. The gifts the gods had given Pandora were for her to seduce Prometheus¡¯s younger brother.


    Therefore, other than the precious divine artifacts, the gifts given to her by the gods were also gifts like temptation, fragrance, wisdom, curiosity, and so on.


    Zhou Wen had already guessed that the drop of water was definitely the aphrodisiac perfume from the Goddess of Love and Beauty. The crystal slice likely gave his eyes some special charm.


    Although he couldn¡¯t figure out what the white gas was, it definitely had some special effects.


    If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have been greedy! Zhou Wen regretted it. It was impossible to get those things out now.


    On the other side, the way Su Yi and Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen made him shudder.


    Thankfully, Li Xuan was rather special to begin with. The Essence Energy Art he cultivated was also rather special, so he wasn¡¯t too affected. All he felt was that Zhou Wen had become better looking.


    Boom!


    The crystal chandelier changed again, turning into a number 6.


    ¡°Liu Yun, do you know what this crystal chandelier is?¡± Zhou Wen never believed Liu Yun¡¯s words.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that he would solely trust Jing Daoxian¡¯s words, resulting in him spending so much effort and using so many means to enter the Pandora Temple without knowing anything.


    Liu Yun was already a little confused due to the curse. Now, he was affected by Zhou Wen¡¯s fragrance and charm. He stared intently at Zhou Wen and said in a daze, ¡°I¡¯m guessing that it¡¯s the countdown to the opening of the magic box. If we can¡¯t stop it before the countdown ends, the magic box might open. When that happens, everyone will die.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier?¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that there was no need to ask why. Therefore, he hurriedly asked, ¡°Do you know how to stop the countdown?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Liu Yun shook his head and looked at Zhou Wen with an even more infatuated look. Then, he added, ¡°Junior Brother, don¡¯t worry. Even if I die, I¡¯ll protect you.¡±


    Zhou Wen had goosebumps all over his body when he heard that. He had the urge to give him a headshot.


    ¡°Wen, it¡¯s the same for me. Even if I have to sacrifice my life, I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Su Yi also looked at Zhou Wen in a daze.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Old Zhou, when did you learn the art of seduction? Even men are mesmerized?¡± Li Xuan was dumbfounded as he realized the problem with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of those things. Let¡¯s not talk about this now. We have to quickly think of a way to stop the countdown.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart raced.

 Chapter 1446 - Pandora

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try and see if we can blast this crystal chandelier apart?¡± Li Xuan suggested.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch the crystal chandelier for now. I¡¯ll think of another way.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s intuition told him that the crystal chandelier was too dangerous. Unless it was absolutely necessary, he wasn¡¯t willing to touch it.


    However, Zhou Wen had removed all the flowers on the tree. He originally wondered if the crystal chandelier would stop the countdown if he took everything.


    That was now apparently not the case. At the very least, him grabbing the benefits was useless.


    In theory, the gifts given to Pandora by the gods actually include those curses, right? If I don¡¯t make any distinction and remove all the flowers, will I stop the countdown of the crystal chandelier? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of curses thanks to Truth Listener. Even if he opened a cursed flower, there shouldn¡¯t be much of a problem.


    After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate and shot down a flower that the Death Harbinger Crow had cawed at.


    The flower fell and flew towards Zhou Wen. Inside it was a red mist. After it came out, it immediately landed on Zhou Wen, preventing him from dodging.


    As expected, it¡¯s still a curse. Zhou Wen felt Truth Listener on his ear constantly heat up as it crazily converted large amounts of Essence Energy. It was obvious that the curse was very high-level.


    Although Truth Listener had resolved the curse, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare be careless. He didn¡¯t dare strike down the remaining flowers at once. If the flowers weren¡¯t filled with curses but a few terrifying dimensional creatures, it would be troublesome.


    Now that they couldn¡¯t leave and there was a haunting countdown, any mistake could kill them.


    Zhou Wen was already used to it. After all, every time he entered an unknown dimensional zone, it was highly unlikely that it would be easy. It was more important to resolve the problem.


    I can only hope that there aren¡¯t any hell-grade Calamity creatures in Pandora¡¯s shrine. Zhou Wen had considered it before entering.


    The legendary Pandora wasn¡¯t strong in combat. She was just a tool created by the gods, so there shouldn¡¯t be any powerful dimensional creatures here.


    The flowers were blasted apart by Zhou Wen one after another, producing all sorts of curses. No matter how fast he was or how fast he instant transmitted, as long as he was in the garden, he would definitely be hit. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dodge when he saw that it was a curse. He allowed the curse to land on him before resolving it with Truth Listener¡¯s powers.


    Bang!


    Another flower dropped, but this time, the falling flower was different from the previous ones. After the petals contracted, it actually took on a human form.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he hurriedly said to Li Xuan and company, ¡°Be careful. The item this time is somewhat different.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you!¡± Liu Yun and Su Yi jumped out almost at the same time. They jumped in front of Zhou Wen from both sides, as though they wanted to risk their lives for him and fight to the last drop of blood.


    ¡°Protect my ass.¡± Zhou Wen chopped at them, knocking Su Yi and Liu Yun unconscious and throwing them into the chaos space.


    Su Yi was bewitched because her cultivation level was too low, while Liu Yun was affected by the curses. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been so easily bewitched.


    After resolving the two problems, Zhou Wen sent Ya¡¯er into the chaos space to prevent her from being injured.


    He summoned Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate. The Death Harbinger Crow was still standing above Zhou Wen¡¯s head as it cawed at the flower that had contracted into a human form, as though it wanted to scream out its trachea.


    Zhou Wen unsummoned it. He already knew that there was danger, so it was useless keeping it outside. It was irritating.


    Banana Fairy floated beside Zhou Wen as Demonic Neonate ran to a corner of the garden without standing with him.


    Li Xuan had already entered his Terror form. His body looked like it was made of data streams. He summoned Planet Devourer and summoned it in its glove form.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare call Tai Sui out at such a time. If it imbued any negative effects on him, he would die a grievous death.


    He activated the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation just in case.


    The human-shaped flower walked over step by step. The petals on its body gradually withered and peeled off, gradually revealing a woman¡¯s figure.


    The woman was wearing a gorgeous Fire God Golden Silk Robe and had a headband that resembled silk made from clouds. The necklace on her neck and the ring on her hand shimmered. Her entire body emitted a soul-stealing charm.


    There was a heart-wrenching fragrance lingering over her body. Before he could see her face clearly, he already felt that she was warm and intoxicating.


    When the petals that covered her face fell, even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be attracted to her. He couldn¡¯t move his gaze away from her.


    He really couldn¡¯t believe that there was a woman in the world who was so beautiful. Zhou Wen hated that he didn¡¯t have enough words to describe her beauty.


    If he had to describe her, Zhou Wen felt that this woman¡¯s beauty was enough to make a chain smoker quit smoking. As long as he could see her, he wouldn¡¯t smoke again.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Old Zhou, when did you have a twin sister?¡± Li Xuan looked at the woman and then at Zhou Wen as his mouth gaped in surprise.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen looked like the woman, but that their scents and charms were very similar.


    ¡°F*ck, you¡¯re the one who¡¯s twins with her,¡± Zhou Wen cursed, but he was secretly surprised.


    Unless something went terribly wrong, this woman was very likely the legendary Pandora. However, even if she was really Pandora, Zhou Wen had already taken the gift that the gods had given her. Why did she have another set?


    Could it be that the gods are so generous to give two sets of gifts? I reckon the gods aren¡¯t that generous. Could one of them be fake? Zhou Wen suspected.


    He wanted to summon the four Calamity Companion Beasts he had and see if there was a problem, but with this attempt, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed.


    He couldn¡¯t summon the Companion Beasts that he had clearly contracted.


    Could it be that they are really fake? Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. The thought just came to him, but he didn¡¯t really believe so. After all, he was unlikely to be able to contract fake ones. Furthermore, after the contract, the information the Companion Beasts gave him was undoubtedly at the Calamity grade.


    Even now, the feedback from the four Companion Beasts was still at the Calamity grade, but for some reason, he couldn¡¯t summon them.


    Boom!


    The crystal chandelier changed again, turning into a 5.


    As for the woman suspected to be Pandora, the petals on her body had completely fallen off. Her eyes opened, and the moment Zhou Wen saw them, he felt as though the entire world had been smitten by her.


    Zhou Wen now seemed to understand why Epimetheus would fall out with his brother for her in the myths and legends.

 Chapter 1447 - Rubik’s Cube

    Zhou Wen had the urge to sacrifice everything for the woman, even if it meant sacrificing his life.


    Thankfully, his willpower was strong to begin with. He immediately sensed that something was amiss and focused his mind to sever his thoughts, preventing himself from succumbing to temptation.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that Pandora¡¯s allure came from her fragrance, eyes, and beauty. It was also a special skill.


    Even with Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower, he felt immense pressure. He had to focus to control his mind.


    Thinking of Li Xuan still beside him, Zhou Wen thought to himself, Li Xuan is such a lecher. I hope he doesn¡¯t get attracted to Pandora.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried as he turned to look at Li Xuan, but was greatly surprised. Li Xuan didn¡¯t seem to be affected much despite being a lecher. Although he was also looking at Pandora, his eyes were still clear. He didn¡¯t look like he had been mesmerized.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen asked, afraid that he had made a mistake. With Li Xuan¡¯s personality, he couldn¡¯t believe that he hadn¡¯t pounced at Pandora.


    ¡°She hasn¡¯t rushed over yet. What can happen to me?¡± Li Xuan said in puzzlement.


    ¡°You don¡¯t find her beautiful?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and knew that he wasn¡¯t affected by Pandora¡¯s seduction. That only served to surprise him even more.


    ¡°She¡¯s beautiful, but no matter how beautiful she is, she¡¯s not as important as one¡¯s life. I can¡¯t just bed her now, right?¡± Li Xuan found Zhou Wen¡¯s words odd. No matter how beautiful a dimensional creature was, it couldn¡¯t be eaten or married. What was there to say?


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Could it be that a virgin¡¯s Essence Energy Art makes him invulnerable to such skills?


    After confirming that Li Xuan wasn¡¯t affected, Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease. Since they were going to fight, he had to strike first to gain the upper hand. He summoned his two golden guns and shot at Pandora.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s two golden guns fired Explosive Bullets and Frost Bullets. Their destructive power was considered pretty good at the Terror grade.


    Pandora did not dodge. When the bullet hit her Fire God Golden Silk Robe, layers of flames immediately appeared. Before the bullets touched her, they melted into a liquid and vaporized.


    The freezing power of the Frost Bullets was useless against the Fire God Robe.


    What a powerful Fire God Robe. As expected of a Calamity-grade Companion Beast! Why can¡¯t I summon mine? None of the bullets Zhou Wen shot out injured Pandora.


    Li Xuan flashed behind Pandora and struck the back of her head with Devourer¡¯s palm.


    Pandora¡¯s headband moved by itself and wrapped around Li Xuan¡¯s arm like a snake. Then, it swam up and bound Li Xuan up tightly.


    Furthermore, the headband was automatically shrinking, trying to snap Li Xuan¡¯s body.


    Thankfully, after Li Xuan¡¯s body underwent Terror transformation, he was almost immortal. Li Xuan¡¯s damaged body automatically healed the moment the headband tightened.


    Li Xuan, who should have been sliced into several pieces by the headband, remained intact when the headband passed through his body.


    ¡°Die!¡± Zhou Wen saw that the crystal lamp was counting down to four. He didn¡¯t dare waste any more time as he pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword and slashed at Pandora.


    Pandora waved her sleeve, and the flaming cloud-like sleeve met the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Chi!


    The powerful defense of the Fire God Cloak was ultimately sliced apart by the Immortal Culling Sword. After the blade touched the golden silk robe, it tore through the sleeve.


    Pandora retreated like a ghost, preventing herself from being hit by the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Pandora smiled and Zhou Wen immediately felt the terrifying temptation greatly increase. However, it was still useless to Zhou Wen. It couldn¡¯t shake his willpower.


    Li Xuan wasn¡¯t affected. The two of them attacked Pandora one after another.


    Pandora was a Calamity-grade existence after all. Her movement speed was above the two of them. With the help of the Fire God Robe, headband, necklace, and ring, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan weren¡¯t able to gain the upper hand.


    Pandora danced in the air like a fairy as her beautiful leg flicked out from under her dress and kicked Li Xuan in the abdomen, sending him flying.


    Bang!


    Li Xuan slammed into the wall like a cannonball. His flesh and bones were severely deformed as he almost turned into a pancake.


    However, when Li Xuan broke free from the wall, his body rapidly recovered. His body completely recovered by the time he landed on the ground. He charged at Pandora again.


    Zhou Wen pushed his sword art to its limits and used instant transmission to constantly blink around to hold back Pandora.


    In fact, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan had the upper hand. Pandora¡¯s strongest strength wasn¡¯t her combat strength, and her Calamity Zone wasn¡¯t a combat-type domain, but the power of temptation.


    However, Zhou Wen and Li Xuan didn¡¯t buy it. Pandora¡¯s Calamity Zone was basically useless to the two of them; thus, she could only rely on her own strength and divine artifacts to fight them.


    If not for the four divine artifacts protecting her, Zhou Wen would have long slain her.


    The Fire God Robe focused on defense, while the hairband focused on offense. The necklace had the ability to produce a sun-like flash that blinded her opponents, but this ability didn¡¯t have much effect on Zhou Wen.


    As for the ring, it seemed to have some kind of augmentation effect on Pandora. It wasn¡¯t a weapon that attacked proactively.


    Zhou Wen soon became familiar with Pandora¡¯s various techniques. He struck out more ruthlessly with the Immortal Culling Sword in hand.


    Boom!


    The crystal chandelier¡¯s countdown was already at 3. However, Zhou Wen was confident that Pandora wouldn¡¯t be able to last until the countdown ended.


    After being held back by Li Xuan, Pandora¡¯s figure came to a momentary halt. The Immortal Culling Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand had already stabbed at her chest in a bid to instantly execute her.


    Clang!


    The Immortal Culling Sword had already pierced through the Fire God Robe and was about to pierce through Pandora¡¯s body, but a metallic clang sounded. Something blocked the Immortal Culling Sword, preventing it from piercing through.


    Zhou Wen retracted his sword and instant transmitted, dodging Pandora¡¯s counterattack. He saw something appear from the spot where the sword blade pierced.


    It was a black square box that looked similar to a Rubik¡¯s Cube. Furthermore, it was pure black. It was very similar to the huge Rubik¡¯s Cubes that had appeared all over the world, but it was much smaller.


    Could that be Pandora¡¯s magic box? Zhou Wen stared at the box and thought.


    Without any time to think, the countdown continued. Zhou Wen slashed at Pandora at an even faster speed with his sword art.


    However, what happened next left Zhou Wen somewhat alarmed.


    The magic box seemed to have a life of its own as it floated around Pandora. No matter where Zhou Wen¡¯s Immortal Culling Sword slashed, the magic box would instantly appear and block it.


    Zhou Wen had several sure-kill Immortal Slaying moves, but they were all blocked by the Rubik¡¯s Cube.

 Chapter 1448 - Don’t Crowd Around

    The Rubik¡¯s Cube appeared and disappeared unpredictably. No matter what angle Zhou Wen attacked from, the Rubik¡¯s Cube could appear in time to block the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Although the Immortal Culling Sword could leave some sword marks on the Rubik¡¯s Cube, it seemed difficult to slice it open.


    Boom!


    Time passed without them realizing it. The crystal chandelier¡¯s countdown had already reached 2. There wasn¡¯t much time left for Zhou Wen and Li Xuan.


    Zhou Wen secretly used Time Bandit¡¯s ability to delay the Immortal Culling Sword from stabbing at Pandora. The outcome was the same. The Rubik¡¯s Cube still appeared accurately and blocked the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Banana Fairy and the Golden Battle God also attacked from afar, but their attacks were useless against the Calamity-grade Pandora in the Fire God Robe.


    Now, the only threat to Pandora was the Immortal Culling Sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Li Xuan!¡± Zhou Wen kept attacking Pandora as he suddenly shouted.


    Li Xuan was very familiar with Zhou Wen. When he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, he knew what he was up to. He immediately gathered his strength and struck the back of Pandora¡¯s head while she was restrained by Zhou Wen.


    As Pandora¡¯s attention was completely focused on Zhou Wen, she no longer had the time to block Li Xuan¡¯s palm.


    Li Xuan wore the Planet Devourer glove on his palm. When he struck Pandora¡¯s head, the Devourer Glove forcefully sucked away a lot of her flames, forming a breakthrough point.


    Clang!


    Li Xuan¡¯s palm struck down, but it failed to hit Pandora¡¯s head. The magic box strangely appeared and blocked Li Xuan¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Perfectly timed!¡± Li Xuan was waiting for this moment. Strength erupted from his body as the suction force of the Planet Devourer glove increased. He grabbed the magic box and prevented it from budging.


    Zhou Wen took advantage of the moment when the magic box was grabbed by Li Xuan; he slashed down with Immortal Slaying, producing a rainbow-like beam. The sword beam instantly tore through the Fire God Gold Silk Robe on Pandora.


    Hum!


    The magic box erupted with terrifying power, hoping to escape Li Xuan¡¯s palm. However, Li Xuan desperately held the magic box as the Planet Devourer sucked at it, trying to pull the magic box into the black hole.


    Crack! Crack!


    Li Xuan¡¯s fingers snapped as the Planet Devourer glove was damaged. The magic box moved to block Zhou Wen¡¯s sword again while stained with blood.


    However, it was too slow this time.


    Pfft!


    When the magic box moved over, the Immortal Culling Sword had already slashed into Pandora¡¯s head. It slashed down from above like a bolt of lightning.


    Zhou Wen retracted his sword and retreated. Li Xuan¡¯s injured palm automatically healed.


    On the other side, Pandora levitated in midair with the magic box floating in front of her. Both of them were motionless.


    A moment later, a bloody gash appeared on Pandora¡¯s forehead. Then, the blood trail quickly spread downwards. Pandora¡¯s body suddenly split into two and fell from the sky.


    Pandora left nothing, unfortunately. There wasn¡¯t even a dimensional crystal. The divine artifacts on her body quickly shattered after she died, leaving only fragments on the ground.


    After Pandora died, the magic box seemed to lose its life. It fell from the sky and rolled to the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s finally done.¡± Li Xuan heaved a long sigh of relief. Just as he was about to pick up the magic box on the ground, he heard a boom.


    The crystal chandelier changed again¡ª1.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Pandora is already dead; why is the crystal chandelier still counting down?¡± Li Xuan was alarmed. Some countdowns would already activate certain mechanisms when the countdown reached 1.


    Even if it did so at 0, there wasn¡¯t much time left.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen realized that there were two flowers that hadn¡¯t been shot down. He hurriedly summoned the two golden guns again and shot at the two flowers at the same time, striking them down.


    After the two flowers fell to the ground, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wait for them to float over as he charged forward and shot at them.


    When he arrived in front of the flowers, he reached both hands into them.


    Thankfully, there were no dimensional creatures inside. It was still a curse. When it crept up Zhou Wen¡¯s arm, it immediately triggered Truth Listener¡¯s power and was directly converted into Essence Energy that nourished Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan looked up and nervously stared at the crystal chandelier to see if it would continue counting down.


    Time ticked by. When it was about time for the crystal chandelier to change again, it moved.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan¡¯s faces darkened as their hearts nearly stopped.


    Who knew what would happen after the countdown.


    Just as the two of them were about to go all out, they saw the crystal lamp¡¯s shape change from 1 to 2. It didn¡¯t turn into 0 as they had imagined.


    Their eyes nearly popped out. It was so thrilling as though they had been on a roller coaster.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what the hell? It nearly scared me to death!¡± Li Xuan cursed.


    ¡°From the looks of it, we have stopped the crystal chandelier¡¯s countdown. If nothing goes wrong, we should be able to leave when the crystal chandelier returns to its original state.¡± Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Those two shots weren¡¯t bad. When did you start training? Not bad,¡± Li Xuan joked.


    ¡°Please call me a marksman.¡± Zhou Wen pretended to blow at the muzzle and spun the two golden guns a few times before holstering them. He lowered his head and picked up the Rubik¡¯s Cube on the ground.


    ¡°Old Zhou, be careful. That¡¯s the legendary Pandora¡¯s box. Opening it might bring a calamity to the world.¡± Li Xuan was immediately given a fright when he saw Zhou Wen casually grab the magic box.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It won¡¯t be opened so easily. I struck it with the Immortal Culling Sword so many times without splitting it open. It¡¯s even harder to open with just my hand.¡± Zhou Wen held the magic box and sized it up.


    On careful look, the magic box really looked like a three-dimensional cube. Although its color was the same, every face was divided into nine parts. There were almost indiscernible gaps between each part.


    ¡°This magic box looks like a Rubik¡¯s Cube no matter how I look at it. Zhou Wen twisted his hand and the magic box really moved. Just like a Rubik¡¯s Cube, Zhou Wen spun it ninety degrees.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, don¡¯t do anything rash!¡± Li Xuan jumped up in fright.


    Zhou Wen never expected that this thing could really be twisted. He had struck so many times without moving it at all, so he never expected it to be twistable.


    Zhou Wen held the Rubik¡¯s Cube and didn¡¯t dare move. Cold sweat oozed out of his forehead.


    If this thing was really like the legends, he would really be a sinner if all sorts of disasters, plagues, and diseases ravaged the world after it was opened.


    Thankfully, the Rubik¡¯s Cube had only been twisted a little and showed no signs of opening. It still quietly rested in Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    ¡°Thank god.¡± Zhou Wen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and realized his body had broken out into a cold sweat. His clothes were drenched.

 Chapter 1449 - New Bamboo Blade

    Zhou Wen held the magic box and didn¡¯t dare move as he waited for the crystal chandelier¡¯s time to change.


    The number on the crystal chandelier gradually changed and it soon returned to 9 before finally returning to its original state. Then, he saw the door to the shrine appear on one side of the garden.


    Zhou Wen went up to push the door, but he couldn¡¯t budge it. Knowing that this thing could only be opened by Su Yi, he released Su Yi and Liu Yun.


    Su Yi was still attracted by Zhou Wen¡¯s fragrance and other powers. Liu Yun was much better. The curses inflicted on him had clearly weakened. He also had a certain resistance against Zhou Wen¡¯s attractiveness. At the very least, he no longer had hearts in his eyes. However, he was clearly a little exhausted.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, how can we open the door?¡± Zhou Wen got the obedient Su Yi to give it a try, but she failed to push the door open.


    ¡°You have to get her to press both hands on the unicorn horn on the door and have it pierce through her skin. Only her blood can open the door,¡± said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen got Su Yi to give it a try. Indeed, when she pressed her hands on the unicorn symbol¡¯s horn at the same time, her palms were pierced by the horn and they stained it with blood. The door immediately opened a crack.


    Zhou Wen and company hurriedly grabbed Su Yi and teleported out of the shrine.


    After exiting the shrine, Zhou Wen directly took on his Terror form, preventing the program team who were searching outside from seeing him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave the matters here to you. I¡¯ll deal with the magic box first,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan before heading for the exit of the Magic Palace.


    After instant transmitting out of the Magic Palace, Zhou Wen teleported to the Moon.


    ¡°Lady Supreme Yin, do you know what this is?¡± Zhou Wen brought the magic box to Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s temple.


    Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s voice drifted out of the temple. ¡°It looks like a spatial item.¡±


    Zhou Wen recounted the origins of the magic box to her. After listening, she pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°According to myths and legends, there are two possibilities for the magic box. One is that the magic box is a Calamity-grade creature, but it doesn¡¯t look like one. The second possibility is that there¡¯s a Calamity creature trapped in the magic box. Once the magic box is opened, the Calamity creature inside will escape and cause a huge disaster. The latter possibility is very likely in my opinion.¡±


    ¡°In that case, there¡¯s a high chance that there¡¯s a dimensional creature with the attribute of Misfortune inside. Is it possible to use the Calamity creature in the Rubik¡¯s Cube to make a Mythical Serum and give it to Little Chan?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Unless you have the ability to suppress the unknown numbers of Calamity creatures inside, you can abandon that thought. From the vantage point of myths, the Calamity creatures in the magic box are probably not ordinary Calamity-grade creatures. Furthermore, it¡¯s very unlikely that there¡¯s more than one. Otherwise, it¡¯s impossible for them to cause such a huge disaster.¡± Lady Supreme Yin paused before saying, ¡°Besides, I¡¯ve already said it before. It¡¯s best to use Mythical creatures to create Mythical Serum. Otherwise, Wang Chan¡¯s body might not be able to withstand it.¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. He held the magic box and asked, ¡°Any ideas on how we should deal with this thing?¡±


    ¡°What else can you do? If you don¡¯t have the ability to destroy the things inside, seal it forever and never attempt to open it,¡± said Lady Supreme Yin.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was best not to open the magic box. He sent it into the Chaos Bead and sealed it in a corner.


    After leaving the Moon, he took Ya¡¯er back to Luoyang.


    Zhou Wen finally had the time to look at the four newly obtained Calamity-grade Companion Beasts when he returned to his room.


    Fire God Golden Silk Cloak: Calamity (Limited to Lady of Misfortune Life Providence)


    War Headband: Calamity (Limited to Lady of Misfortune Life Providence)


    Helios Necklace: Calamity (Limited to Lady of Misfortune Life Providence)


    Hades Ring: Calamity (Limited to Lady of Misfortune Life Providence)


    After Zhou Wen saw the stats of the four Calamity-grade Companion Eggs, he immediately felt so depressed that he nearly blew a gasket. These four Companion Beasts were limited in their usage. Even if he obtained them, he wouldn¡¯t be able to summon them without a special Life Providence.


    What a pity! Zhou Wen carefully studied the stats of the four Calamity-grade Companion Eggs. They were indeed pretty good, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t use them.


    Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence has the attribute of Misfortune, but it doesn¡¯t seem to be the Lady of Misfortune. I wonder if she can summon these four Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen thought that he could give it a try if he had the opportunity in the future.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on trying. Firstly, Wang Chan¡¯s level was too low. It wasn¡¯t a good thing for her to have these Calamity-grade Companion Beasts.


    Secondly, Zhou Wen had a very serious problem to resolve. After being augmented inside Pandora¡¯s shrine, no matter where Zhou Wen went, anyone who saw him would be like a beast in heat. The look in their eyes left Zhou Wen shuddering.


    Creatures at the Terror grade and above had a slight resistance to his powers.


    I have to resolve this problem. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare leave the house. He had to come up with a solution.


    Even Truth Listener and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder were unable to resolve his problem.


    After all, these powers were beneficial to Zhou Wen. They weren¡¯t malicious powers like curses. Evil Nullification and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder weren¡¯t of much use.


    Despite racking his brains, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of any way to completely eliminate the strange powers in him.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, your Bamboo Blade has been reforged.¡± An Sheng brought a rectangular box to Zhou Wen¡¯s yard.


    Thankfully, the powers didn¡¯t affect An Sheng at all. An Sheng had been delivering meals over the past few days, and he didn¡¯t dare let anyone enter the yard.


    ¡°Leave it there.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about the Bamboo Blade.


    ¡°It¡¯s best you take a look. If there¡¯s anything that¡¯s unsuitable and needs modification, I can take it back and get them to modify it,¡± An Sheng said as he placed the box in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense and opened the box.


    He took a look and didn¡¯t pick it up. However, Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement, ¡°Was the Bamboo Blade¡¯s scabbard also reforged?¡±


    ¡°Yes, the blade and scabbard are one. A reforged blade will be somewhat incompatible with the previous scabbard, so we decided to reforge them together,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen reached out for the Bamboo Blade and couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed.


    The former Bamboo Blade was already heavy enough, but now, it was heavier than before. Zhou Wen found it very heavy.


    This was despite his strength. It was obvious that the Bamboo Blade¡¯s weight was extremely terrifying.


    The Bamboo Blade¡¯s size appeared to have enlarged. It was about four feet long together with the scabbard. Its entire body was gray, unlike the former Bamboo Blade which was closer to black. It looked very strange, but the quality was excellent.

 Chapter 1450 - Influence

    The blade was inserted into the scabbard without any gaps. It was like a piece of gray bamboo.


    Zhou Wen held the hilt and slowly pulled out the Bamboo Blade from its scabbard. He saw that the blade inside was the same as the scabbard. It was grayish-white in color and looked heavy.


    However, a careful look indicated that the blade wasn¡¯t as thick as it looked. The heaviness came from the material itself.


    The blade was very thin, but one could only sense its sharpness when facing the blade. Just looking at the blade made one find it excessively heavy.


    ¡°Were other materials added to the Bamboo Blade?¡± Zhou Wen pulled out the Bamboo Blade and brandished it twice. He could clearly sense that the Bamboo Blade¡¯s characteristics were somewhat different from before.


    ¡°As there are limited amounts of Essence Gold, we¡¯ve been researching alloys recently. It happened to bear fruit, so we used it on Bamboo Blade,¡± An Sheng explained. ¡°Be it hardness or toughness, this new alloy has experienced a qualitative leap compared to the former Bamboo Blade. Chick¡¯s help and many technological methods were used during the forging. Only then could we heat the alloy to a state where it could be forged¡­¡±


    ¡°This shouldn¡¯t be an ordinary alloy, right? Zhou Wen reached out and flicked the blade.¡± The blade trembled, but it didn¡¯t make any sound. It was rather strange.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that if there was really such a brilliant alloy technology, the Sunset soldiers would have one in each hand or the technology would be used to create bullets. The dimensional zones near Luoyang would have long been wiped out, making the situation different.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t much of the material used to make this alloy. There¡¯s no way to scale up production for the time being. Using it on the Bamboo Blade can be considered an attempt. The outcome isn¡¯t bad.¡± An Sheng was telling the truth. It was indeed an attempt.


    During this period of time, they had also used many methods to fuse the Refined Essence Gold and Holy Metal together. They hadn¡¯t completely relied on Chick¡¯s phoenix flames.


    Pure phoenix flames couldn¡¯t completely melt the two.


    ¡°How much did you spend on the materials?¡± Zhou Wen sheathed the Bamboo Blade. Now that there was no suitable dimensional creature to test the saber, he could only test it in the future.


    ¡°They are all materials from our own research. They aren¡¯t worth much, so you don¡¯t have to think about it. However, there¡¯s something you have to be careful about,¡± An Sheng changed the topic.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Although Zhou Wen knew that An Sheng was changing the topic, he was somewhat curious.


    ¡°There¡¯s news from the Li family that Xiao isn¡¯t dead. Furthermore, he has advanced to the Calamity grade. There¡¯s a high chance that he will come to seek revenge on you and Overseer,¡± An Sheng said with a solemn expression.


    ¡°Even that explosion didn¡¯t kill him?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    Zhou Wen felt that he might not have been able to survive the Guardian¡¯s final explosion. It was indeed surprising that Xiao hadn¡¯t been blasted to death.


    ¡°In short, be careful. Even Overseer said that Xiao is very terrifying. If you aren¡¯t careful, he might grab onto your weakness.¡± An Sheng repeatedly exhorted Zhou Wen to be careful. He couldn¡¯t afford to be careless.


    Zhou Wen had fought Xiao before and knew that Xiao was indeed terrifying. An Tianzuo had actually managed to finish Xiao off without anyone noticing in such a dangerous place like the Holy Land. He had even pulled off such a beautiful ruse, leaving Zhou Wen very surprised.


    In fact, even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t guarantee that he could do better than An Tianzuo.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen still hadn¡¯t figured out how An Tianzuo had done it.


    Even if he had subdued Xiao, it was unimaginable to be able to control his Guardian and use it like it was his. Furthermore, he had to make the dimensional powerhouses in the Holy Land not notice any flaws.


    ¡°Got it.¡± Zhou Wen knew that even if he offered to pay for the Bamboo Blade, An Sheng probably wouldn¡¯t accept it. Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t easy to estimate the value of such precious materials.


    He planned on returning the favor when Luoyang encountered a problem in the future.


    What can I do to eliminate these strange powers? Zhou Wen was still fretting over what had happened.


    Beep! Beep!


    His phone suddenly rang. Zhou Wen picked up his phone and realized that it was a message from The Thearch.


    ¡°Have you considered the previous suggestion?¡± The Thearch¡¯s message puzzled Zhou Wen.


    Previously, The Thearch wanted him to pull out the stone saber on Fire God Platform, but The Thearch had offered him help in clearing the Venusian dimensional zone back then.


    However, he had already obtained the Companion Beast in the Venusian dimensional zone. Furthermore, the Venusian dimensional zone and half of Venus had already shattered. The Thearch¡¯s message now was puzzling.


    ¡°The Thearch, how long has it been since you read the news? Don¡¯t you know that the Venusian dimensional zone has been cleared?¡± Zhou Wen sent a message.


    ¡°Of course I do. Not only do I know that Venus has been destroyed, but I also know that the Venusian Companion Beast is with you.¡± The Thearch quickly sent a message.


    ¡°You must be joking. I do want it, but unfortunately, I don¡¯t have the standards,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think you can rest easy just because you have the Venusian Companion Beast. Don¡¯t forget that Venus isn¡¯t the only planet in the Solar System.¡± The Thearch had clearly determined that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign.


    ¡°That has nothing to do with me. Even if another Companion Beast from another planet appears, a powerhouse like Human Sovereign will naturally snatch it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Your abilities have increased significantly, but unfortunately, you¡¯re still too short-sighted,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Any advice then? Let me see further.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind and took the opportunity to get some information.


    ¡°Do you think you will be fine after snatching the Venusian Companion Beast? I suggest you take a look at the recent news in the Federation.¡± The Thearch quickly sent another message.


    ¡°What news?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    However, The Thearch didn¡¯t reply. Zhou Wen had no choice but to go online to take a look. Soon, he knew what news The Thearch wanted him to read.


    Although the matter of Human Sovereign obtaining the Venusian Companion Beast plastered the headlines of all the major media outlets, one could still see many news reports of large-scale break-outs in particular dimensional zones.


    Zhou Wen searched and realized that ever since Venus had shattered, breakouts happened across dimensional zones at a large scale. Although there had been such cases in the past, it hadn¡¯t happened so frequently.


    In particular, the frequency at which Calamity creatures appeared increased significantly.


    ¡°Are the recent break-out creatures related to Venus?¡± Zhou Wen sent another message to The Thearch.


    ¡°What else could it be? The shattering of any planet in the Solar System will have a huge impact on Earth. If the Companion Beasts in the Sun appear, it won¡¯t be as simple as an influence. If the Sun also shatters, it will be a question if Earth is still suitable for human survival.¡± The Thearch finally replied.

 Chapter 1451 - Metal Seed

    Chapter 1451: Metal Seed


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen had previously considered this problem. It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. After Venus shattered, many people were thinking about the possibility of Companion Beasts existing inside the other planets or even the sun, as well as worrying what would happen if they were released.


    Ignoring everything else, if there was no sun, humans below the Mythical stage would probably find it difficult to survive on Earth.


    Furthermore, if the sun exploded, the energy produced would have an immeasurable influence on Earth.


    ¡°So what if you obtain all the Companion Beasts after they appear?¡± The Thearch¡¯s message came again.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what The Thearch was up to.


    ¡°Help me do a few things and I¡¯ll teach you how to prevent such a situation from happening,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Zhou Wen wanted to know what The Thearch was up to.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already told you the first matter. I want that stone saber. There are a few other things I need your help with. Of course, with your unyielding character, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be willing to do it now. It¡¯s fine. I can wait. When the planets shatter, you will naturally beg to cooperate with me.¡± The Thearch knew Zhou Wen¡¯s character quite well, so she wasn¡¯t anxious.


    ¡°I do wish to cooperate with you. Why don¡¯t you tell me what you need?¡± Zhou Wen still wanted to ask.


    The Thearch ignored him. There were no more messages from her.


    Let¡¯s take it one step at a time. Zhou Wen also knew that the possibility The Thearch mentioned existed, but he could do nothing about it.


    Zhou Wen continued studying how to eliminate the strange power on him. Otherwise, it would be too troublesome. Affected by this power, he had no way of concealing himself. It was impossible for him to use other identities.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible to remove it. Is there any way to hide the power of this fragrance? Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, the mysterious phone vibrated.


    Could it be that the Golden Wyrm¡¯s Birth has completed? Zhou Wen picked up his phone and realized that it wasn¡¯t the Golden Wyrm, but a fruit on the Dead Man Tree that had ripened.


    The fruit was born after the metal flower was absorbed. It was the first time the Dead Man Tree had absorbed a creature that wasn¡¯t human. Therefore, Zhou Wen had always been looking forward to seeing what kind of Companion Beast the metal flower would give birth to.


    Seeing that the metal flower Companion Egg had finally ripened, Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at its information.


    Metal Seed: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Metal Evolution


    Companion Form: Ring


    A ring-type Companion Beast is rather rare, but what does this Metal Evolution mean? Zhou Wen studied the annotation and only knew that it was an ability for metal lifeforms to evolve. He didn¡¯t know what it meant.


    He hatched it and summoned Metal Seed. Then, a purple metal seed appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. The seed was only the size of a quail egg and was covered in blood-colored patterns. It looked beautiful and mysterious.


    However, it appeared to be a dead object. It couldn¡¯t move, nor did it have any offensive or defensive abilities. Zhou Wen studied it for a long time but failed to discover its use.


    After making Metal Seed take its ring form, Zhou Wen put the purple metal ring on his left pinky, but he didn¡¯t feel any special effects.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll only know what it¡¯s used for when it advances to a higher level. Zhou Wen attempted to use Essence Crystals to accelerate the ripening of Metal Seed, but he realized that it was useless. Metal Seed didn¡¯t absorb Essence Energy.


    ¡­


    While Zhou Wen was studying Metal Seed, Xiao was half-kneeling in front of Holy God in the Holy Land.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, I¡¯ve successfully advanced to the Calamity grade. Please permit me to head to Luoyang and eliminate An Tianzuo.¡± Xiao¡¯s tone was calm, but the raging hatred in his heart was unconcealed.


    ¡°An Tianzuo naturally has to be eliminated. However, before that, there¡¯s something I need you to do. After doing this, it won¡¯t be too late to eliminate him,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, what are your orders?¡± Xiao lowered his head.


    Holy God glanced at him. ¡°It was a testament of your talent to return from the Lake Frustration alive, but you ultimately failed to reach the Paramita.¡±


    ¡°I was reborn thanks to you, Lord Holy God. I¡¯ll do whatever you say,¡± Xiao said.


    He had ultimately failed to reach Paramita and needed Holy God to pull the dying him out of Lake Frustration.


    However, Holy God said, ¡°You lived because of your own abilities. If you couldn¡¯t persist until you had a Mythical body, it would have been difficult for me to pull you back from Lake Frustration even with my supreme means.¡±


    ¡°That may be true, but if it wasn¡¯t for you, Lord Holy God, I would have long sunk to the bottom of the lake. Furthermore, you extended me such great help. To be able to return to the Calamity grade in such a short period of time¡­ No¡­ I should say that I¡¯ve now truly advanced to the Calamity grade¡­¡± Xiao had now advanced to the Calamity grade by himself without using any Guardians.


    ¡°You have just advanced to the Calamity grade, and with existences like Zhou Wen and An Tianzuo in Luoyang, you might not necessarily succeed. The place I want you to go this time isn¡¯t only for you to complete a mission, but to also boost your strength and give you a chance to improve further. When the time comes, no one will be able to stop you in Luoyang,¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    ¡°Lord, where are you sending me?¡± Xiao couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    ¡°I want you to go down to Lake Frustration again and reach Paramita,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°But my previous attempt has already proven that I can¡¯t reach Paramita,¡± Xiao said in a dilemma.


    ¡°It was impossible back then, but it doesn¡¯t mean it can¡¯t be done now. You previously used the power of Lake Frustration to advance to a Mythical body. Your body already has the power of Lake Frustration. Its effects on you will be minimized. With your current Calamity-grade power, you will definitely be able to reach Paramita if nothing goes wrong.¡±


    ¡°What happens after I reach Paramita?¡± Xiao asked.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you before that I saw a person whose survivability was nil swim across Lake Frustration and reach Paramita? After you reach Paramita, find him. No matter what method you use, you have to bring him back.¡± When Holy God mentioned the person, his eyes looked somewhat strange.


    Xiao was slightly surprised. ¡°If that person can really swim to Paramita by himself, he must be an extremely terrifying existence. Can my strength bring him back?¡±


    ¡°Humans are only humans after all. No matter how strong they are, they can¡¯t withstand the power of time. At his age, even if he¡¯s still alive, he¡¯s probably on the brink of death. He¡¯s definitely not your match. Even if he¡¯s dead, bring his corpse back,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°What kind of person is he?¡± Xiao couldn¡¯t help but ask curiously.

 Chapter 1452 - Battle of the Strongest

    Chapter 1452: Battle of the Strongest


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°You will naturally know when you see him. Dead or alive, you have to bring him back. After the matter is done, I¡¯ll give you the right to temporarily hold the Trajectory Holy Temple¡¯s Holy Artifact in the name of Holy God,¡± Holy God said.


    ¡°Can I really wield the Holy Artifact?¡± Xiao was pleasantly surprised. Each of the six Holy Temples had a Holy Artifact. Xiao was from the Trajectory Holy Temple. If he could be in possession of one, his strength would significantly increase. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult to destroy Luoyang.


    ¡°The Holy Artifact can¡¯t leave the Holy Temple for long, nor can it stay on Earth for long. You can be in possession of it for a day,¡± Holy God said.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough,¡± Xiao said through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Go,¡± Holy God said calmly.


    Xiao jumped into Lake Frustration again. He still felt his body sink as though many invisible wraith hands were pulling at his body.


    However, compared to the first time he entered Lake Frustration, the strength was much weaker. Xiao swam forward with all his might in a desperate attempt to prevent himself from sinking into the bottomless abyss.


    The secular world was filled with frustrations.


    Strength came from a lack of desire. No desire led to zero frustrations.


    However, humans were humans after all. If they didn¡¯t have any desires, what was the difference between living and being a walking corpse?


    It was impossible for everyone to not have frustrations. If they had frustrations, it was impossible for them to swim across Lake Frustration alive, much less reach Paramita.


    Paramita did not appear far away, but no matter how hard Xiao swam, it remained right in front of him¡ªunreachable.


    His body seemed to be entangled by threads in the lake, making it harder and harder for him to move. He slowly sank to the bottom of the lake. It was the ultimate resting place of all mortals.


    Xiao felt his consciousness gradually blur. He had long known that even if he had advanced to the Mythical stage in Lake Frustration, reaching Paramita was still a perilous endeavor.


    I can¡¯t die yet! Xiao bit the tip of his tongue hard, hoping to use the pain to sober up.


    It was useless. He felt numb despite tearing the tip of his tongue. Blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth, but he didn¡¯t realize it.


    It¡¯s still not enough to cross the lake? Holy God watched from afar as Xiao gradually sank to the bottom of the lake. He couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    No matter how many powerful creatures there were, it was difficult for them to swim across Lake Frustration. Even dimensional powerhouses were no exception. However, that weak human had managed to swim across Lake Frustration in what was a situation of certain death. Holy God had seen it with his own eyes.


    Therefore, Holy God had always attempted to use humans to reach Paramita. Xiao wasn¡¯t the first person to attempt it, nor would he be the last.


    What a pity. This person¡¯s talent and will are the best among the Saints. Even Holy God couldn¡¯t rescue Xiao at that depth. Therefore, Holy God felt a little regretful, but it was only a fleeting thought.


    After all, he was only a human. He could slowly nurture one in the future. If one died, more Saints would take his place. He had plenty of time.


    Just as Xiao was about to sink to the bottom of the lake and Holy God was about to turn around to leave, he suddenly saw Xiao struggling with all his might in the lake.


    As he struggled, the invisible threads of frustration that bound his body gradually receded. Just as he was about to sink to the bottom, Xiao gradually floated up.


    His consciousness is actually so pure? Could hatred really make a person so pure? Holy God looked at Xiao who was swimming towards Paramita again and was somewhat surprised.


    However, he really couldn¡¯t think of any power that could make Xiao¡¯s mind so pure other than that.


    Xiao slowly recovered memories buried deep within.


    On the grassland in the suburbs, two children were fighting.


    ¡°I¡¯m the strongest.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m the strongest.¡±


    As the two children were fighting, a tall and thin middle-aged man passed by and watched with interest.


    After watching for a while, the middle-aged man lost interest. His figure suddenly flashed as he picked up the two children who were fighting each other by the collar.


    ¡°Who are you? What are you trying to do? Let go of me!¡± The two children kicked and struggled with all their might, but the lanky middle-aged man¡¯s arms were especially long, and their short legs couldn¡¯t reach him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to determine who¡¯s stronger? That won¡¯t give you an answer. Let me tell you of a way to determine who¡¯s stronger.¡± As the middle-aged man spoke, his figure flashed and quickly moved towards the distant forest.


    On the tip of a mountain that resembled a sword¡¯s edge, someone had placed a plank. It was like a see-saw, other than the fulcrum being the mountain peak.


    On both sides of the plank stood a child. Their weight affected the log¡¯s balance, causing it to undulate as though it would fall into a bottomless abyss at any moment.


    The middle-aged man stood on an ancient tree¡¯s branch that protruded from a cliff and said to the two children, ¡°If you want a duel, you have to do it in such a place. As long as you strike your opponent down, the other one will naturally be the strongest without any dispute.¡±


    Ordinary youths would probably have peed their pants in fear. They might even fall down due to their fright.


    However, although the two children were young and uneasy, they didn¡¯t show the fear of ordinary children. They slowly moved their bodies and tried their best to maintain the plank¡¯s balance so that it wouldn¡¯t fall due to the tilt.


    To be able to act so calmly at their age piqued the middle-aged man¡¯s interest.


    ¡°It¡¯s actually very simple to kill the opponent. All you need to do is run to the middle faster than the other party. Once the plank is in nonequilibrium, the other party will naturally fall. I¡¯ll send the surviving one back,¡± the middle-aged man said.


    The two children exchanged looks and charged towards the center almost at the same time.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± The middle-aged man found it more and more interesting.


    The two children reached the center at almost the same time, but the mountain peak was just too sharp. The bottom was filled with slippery cliffs, making it inconducive for standing.


    One of the children didn¡¯t hesitate to reach out to push the other child down.


    However, to his surprise, the other child didn¡¯t push forward like him. Instead, he turned his body slightly and jumped up.


    The child, who had reached out for the push, never expected such a move. He exerted too much strength and found himself falling forward. Without any counterweight to balance the other side, the plank immediately slid down.


    The child plummeted with the plank.

 Chapter 1453 - One Life

    The child¡¯s eyes widened in despair.


    However, at that moment, a pair of hands reached over and grabbed his hands, pulling him back to the top of the mountain.


    The mountain peak was sharp, preventing the two children from standing alongside each other. However, they grabbed each other with both arms and lodged themselves on the mountain peak, temporarily saving themselves from the clutches of death.


    ¡°Why¡­ Why did you save me?¡± The rescued child looked at the opposite boy¡¯s chubby face in puzzlement.


    ¡°You are my opponent, but not my enemy.¡± As the boy spoke, he glanced in the middle-aged man¡¯s direction and said, ¡°He¡¯s the enemy. If someone is to be killed, it¡¯s him.¡±


    The middle-aged man smiled when he heard that. ¡°You¡¯re right. In theory, I¡¯m your enemy, but not only do you not have the ability to kill me, but your fate remains in my hands. If I want you dead, you will be dead. If I want you alive, you can remain alive. Only by killing the other can you have a chance to live.¡±


    ¡°You may be right, but I won¡¯t do as you wish.¡± As the boy spoke, he suddenly pulled the other child with all his might, allowing him to lie over the mountaintop. He released his grip and turned to jump down the cliff.


    ¡°Even if I die, it¡¯s done on my own terms. It¡¯s not something others can control.¡± The boy spread out his arms and fell down the mountain.


    The child at the top of the mountain was first taken aback, but without any hesitation, he leaped up without a word and jumped in the direction of the boy¡¯s plummet.


    The middle-aged man was slightly surprised when he saw the two children throw themselves off the cliff.


    Just as the two children were about to fall to the bottom of the valley, their bodies stopped the moment they reached the ground.


    Their faces were almost touching the rocks on the ground, but they ultimately didn¡¯t.


    The middle-aged man released his grip and the two of them landed on the rocks.


    ¡°You may not want to be controlled by me, but I insist on controlling your fate. Our game has just begun.¡± The middle-aged man glanced at the child who had thrown himself off first and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think that you can easily survive with those tricks. I can give you a chance to live, but whether you can walk out of here alive depends on the two of you. If you can exit here alive, we still have a chance to continue this game in the future.¡±


    With that said, the middle-aged man turned around and vanished into the forest, leaving the two children in the middle of the forest.


    ¡°Are you stupid? Why did you jump down?¡± the boy asked the child.


    ¡°From now on, I, Uncrying Li, share the same life as you, An Tianzuo,¡± the child said seriously.


    ¡°In that case, what¡¯s yours is mine?¡± An Tianzuo said as he looked at Uncrying Li.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Uncrying Li nodded.


    ¡°Since it is all mine, can I change your name? I don¡¯t like the name Uncrying. I¡¯ve disliked it for a while,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Uncrying Li was somewhat stunned.


    ¡°Uncrying gives me sad vibes. I don¡¯t like it. Let¡¯s do it this way. Instead of not crying, why not laugh. Just call yourself Laughing Li. In the future, when there¡¯s no one else, I¡¯ll call you Laughing Li,¡± An Tianzuo said with a smile.


    Uncrying Li raised his eyebrows and said spitefully, ¡°I don¡¯t like your name either. I¡¯ll call you Tianyou from now on.¡±


    ¡°Tianyou as in being protected by the heavens? That¡¯s nice. I hope the heavens can really protect us,¡± An Tianzuo said as he got up from the rubble and looked at the distant forest.


    Four days later, someone discovered the two dying children on a mountain trail. They were covered in injuries and were being gnawed by dogs. They were almost unrecognizable.


    One of the children protected the other child tightly. His entire back was mangled from the bites. He didn¡¯t budge even when he fainted.


    ¡°Live on. Only by living on will we have a chance to make the enemy pay the price.¡± The person who saved them heard one of the children sleep-talking through gritted teeth.


    ¡­


    I have to swim over! Xiao swam forward with all his might. He didn¡¯t have any other thoughts. All he knew was that he had to swim over to the other side.


    He gradually approached Paramita that seemed to be enveloped by fog and impossible to approach.


    Holy God watched Xiao¡¯s figure disappear into the fog of Paramita and muttered to himself, ¡°He really crossed the lake. There¡¯s finally hope of bringing him back.¡±


    Xiao crawled ashore and knelt in a flowerbed like a sea¡ªan endless sea of flowers¡ªpanting heavily.


    The spots where his body touched the flowers rapidly recovered. His originally exhausted body instantly returned to its optimal state.


    Xiao felt that his body was filled with vitality as though he had been reborn. He stopped panting and sized up the flowers with a strange expression.


    Only then did he discover something strange. The flowers here had no stem or leaves. They grew on the ground and covered the entire land. They stretched as far as the eye could see, and there were only flowers.


    Xiao walked above the sea of flowers and had a strange feeling. It was as though his nerves were connected to the flowers. When he stepped on the flowers, he could actually feel the pain of the flowers being stepped on.


    This feeling was very strange. It felt like he was one with the world, one with nature.


    Perhaps this strange power had taken effect. Xiao seemed to sense something and walked in a specific direction.


    After walking for a short distance, he saw a shackled old man lying in the flowers.


    The elder¡¯s hair and beard were completely white. His body was restrained by shackles. From the material of the shackles, one could tell that they were made of Holy Metal.


    The elder looked like he was about to die. His body that was covered by the foliage of the sea of flowers grew many flowers. He looked like he was about to become a part of the land.


    This scene was extremely strange. Even the knowledgeable Xiao was alarmed.


    A living person had flowers parasitizing him. What kind of terrifying experience was that?


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The elder didn¡¯t say a word or make any sound¡ªhe couldn¡¯t even open his eyes. However, Xiao sensed his words.


    Just like Xiao could sense the emotions of the flowers, he could also sense the information transmitted by the elder¡¯s brain through the flowers.


    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m Laughing Li. You are indeed here.¡± Xiao squatted down and brushed away the hair and flowers on the elder¡¯s face. After carefully identifying him, he was immediately overjoyed.


    overjoyed.


    ¡°Laughing[1. Note that Laughing in Chinese is also Xiao, but with a different intonation.]¡±Laughing¡­¡± The elder reached out with great effort to touch Xiao¡¯s cheek. Flowers had already grown on his arm, making it rather difficult for him to move.


    Xiao hurriedly grabbed his hand and placed it on his face. He continued, ¡°Sir, Tianyou got me to find you. Don¡¯t worry, we will definitely save you.¡±


    ¡°Laughing¡­ It¡¯s really you¡­¡± The elder was immediately overjoyed when he heard Xiao say the word ¡°Tianyou.¡± This was because there was only one person who would call An Tianzuo that. The elder struggled to get up, but most of his body seemed paralyzed. He couldn¡¯t stand up.


    Xiao wanted to help the elder up, but the elder said, ¡°It¡¯s too late. I¡¯m already at the end of my rope. If it wasn¡¯t for that thing, I would have long died. Laughing, there¡¯s something you have to help me take to Tianzuo. No matter what, you have to personally hand it to him.¡±


    [1] Note that Laughing in Chinese is also Xiao, but with a different intonation.

 Chapter 1454 - : Hair

    ¡°Sir, calm down. Tianyou and I have already made plans. We will save you,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late. As long as I leave Paramita, I will definitely die without the help of the Paramita Flowers,¡± Ouyang Ting said.


    ¡°Why!?¡± Xiao was alarmed.


    ¡°I should have died a long time ago. It was these Paramita Flowers that sustained me to this day, but at the same time, I endure indescribably inhuman pain at every moment. If I didn¡¯t know that Little Lan and Tianzuo would definitely come for me, I wouldn¡¯t have wanted to live any longer.¡± Ouyang Ting paused before continuing, ¡°Don¡¯t speak. Listen to me. Even if you take me back, the monsters in the Holy Temple won¡¯t let me off. Only by handing me over to them will you have a chance to expose that matter. Anyway, I¡¯m already a dead person. After I die, it doesn¡¯t matter where this useless body lays. As long as you take the thing to Tianzuo, I can die in peace.¡±


    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be that easy to take the thing out,¡± Xiao sighed softly.


    ¡°Therefore, only by giving me to Holy God will you have a chance to take the item out,¡± Ouyang Ting said.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Xiao asked.


    In fact, Xiao was puzzled. The old sir had already been captured and imprisoned previously. What could he still have on him?


    Not only could he not hide it on him, even if it was hidden in his flesh and blood, but it was also impossible to hide it from an existence like Holy God.


    ¡°Pull my hair,¡± Ouyang Ting said.


    Xiao reached out to brush away his white hair, but he didn¡¯t discover anything inside.


    There was nothing that could be hidden. Even a flea or a flake of dandruff couldn¡¯t be hidden. Perhaps it was because he was in Paramita, but other than the flowers, there wasn¡¯t a speck of dust.


    ¡°Sir, there¡¯s nothing,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°Cut off the hair on my head,¡± Ouyang Ting continued.


    ¡°Is it here?¡± Xiao touched the white hair on Ouyang Ting¡¯s head in puzzlement.


    ¡°It¡¯s about there.¡± Ouyang Ting didn¡¯t explain much.


    Xiao used his finger as a blade and swept across the white hair. Ouyang Ting¡¯s white hair was immediately sliced off by a finger beam.


    ¡°Eh!¡± Xiao realized that a strand of hair couldn¡¯t be sliced off by his finger beam.


    That strand of hair looked no different from the rest. Xiao couldn¡¯t tell what was different. No matter how he looked at it, it was just an ordinary strand of hair. It had originally grown on Ouyang Ting¡¯s head and definitely hadn¡¯t been transplanted.


    However, this strand of hair could actually withstand his finger beam. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t ordinary.


    Xiao suddenly understood why Holy God hadn¡¯t discovered that there was something wrong with this strand of hair. It was because Holy God was too confident. He believed that he could see everything clearly, but he never expected Ouyang Ting¡¯s strand of hair to be problematic.


    ¡°See that? Pull it out and store it well. Take it to Tianzuo,¡± Ouyang Ting said.


    Xiao nodded and pulled out the white hair.


    This strand of hair was extremely tenacious. When Xiao pulled it out, he pulled it up by the root. The hair follicle was pulled open and drops of red seeped out.


    However, due to the effects of the flowers, the wound was quickly healed.


    ¡°Sir, is there anything else you need to tell Tianzuo?¡± Xiao asked again.


    ¡°Tell Tianzuo to take good care of his mother and Little Jing. I, Ouyang Ting, owe them too much in this life. If they don¡¯t mind, I¡¯ll be their children in my next life¡­¡± Ouyang Ting sighed.


    ¡°How is this repayment? This is a debt collection, right?¡± Xiao was speechless.


    Ouyang Ting chuckled and said, ¡°Regardless of whether it¡¯s to repay a debt or to collect a debt, as long as we have this affinity, even if it¡¯s a negative one, it¡¯s better than being strangers.¡±


    ¡°Sir, don¡¯t be so tragic. What about you? Just wait here. We¡¯ll rescue you when we come up with a plan,¡± Xiao said.


    Ouyang Ting shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ve said what needs to be said. A person who should be dead will only suffer endless pain if they continue living. Just help me take the thing to Tianzuo. Furthermore, without me as your cover, it¡¯s impossible for you to take the strand of hair out.¡±


    ¡°Sir, do you have anything else to say about this strand of hair?¡± Xiao asked again.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. When that strand of hair reaches the right person, it will naturally show its use,¡± Ouyang Ting said.


    ¡°Alright, Sir, bear with it here. I¡¯ll think of a way to save you soon.¡± Xiao put away the hair, placed Ouyang Ting down, and prepared to leave.


    ¡°No, without me, those monsters from the Holy Temple won¡¯t let you off. You can¡¯t escape their surveillance with the item on you,¡± Ouyang Ting said anxiously.


    ¡°I have my ways. Furthermore, things are ultimately worldly possessions. Even if we forgo this thing, we have to keep you alive,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°No, absolutely not. That thing concerns the fate of Earth¡¯s future¡ªthe lives of billions of people. That thing must not fall into the hands of the Holy Temple no matter what. Only by taking me back can you obtain their trust and have a chance to take my hair out. You mustn¡¯t take the risk,¡± Ouyang Ting said anxiously.


    Xiao looked at Ouyang Ting and was momentarily at a loss.


    ¡°Child, outsiders think that you and Tianzuo are at odds. They even suspect that Tianzuo harmed you. However, only I know that you are his best friend. Even if the entire world is against Tianzuo, you won¡¯t be. Accept my request on behalf of Tianzuo, I beg you to take me to the Holy Temple.¡± Ouyang Ting¡¯s voice was trembling.


    ¡°We aren¡¯t friends. We are opponents.¡± Xiao paused before saying, ¡°If I take you to the Holy Temple, Tianyou will probably hate me forever.¡±


    ¡°Then are you willing to bear this grudge?¡± Ouyang Ting asked.


    ¡°Sir, you are already forgoing your life. Such resentment is nothing,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°Then take me back,¡± Ouyang Ting said firmly.


    Xiao bowed three times at Ouyang Ting before lifting him up from the flowers. ¡°Sir, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen had been studying the fragrance for days, hoping to mask it, but the invisible allure didn¡¯t change much. All he could do was restrain it a little.


    Now, I finally understand why it¡¯s said that the most deceptive people are never enemies, but people who say that it¡¯s for your own good, but do despicable things. Zhou Wen was very depressed.


    If the strange powers on him were negative, he would have eliminated them long ago. However, these strange powers, of all things, were beneficial to him, so it was very difficult to eliminate them.


    Just as he was pondering over his next step, Zhou Wen suddenly winced. He used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping¡¯s teleportation method. The coordinates were the Companion Egg he had left with Tsukuyomi. He sensed that the Companion Egg had been injured.

 Chapter 1455 - That’s Not How You Use It

    As Zhou Wen used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping, he wore the Prisoned Dragon armor and gripped the Immortal Culling Sword tightly.


    With Tsukuyomi¡¯s strength, an existence that could threaten her was definitely not an ordinary creature. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare let his guard down lest it killed him.


    When Zhou Wen teleported over and saw the situation in front of him, his mouth gaped open in shock. Words failed him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what planet it was¡ªit looked huge and its gravity was much stronger than Earth¡¯s. It also had an atmosphere, but it was clearly different from Earth¡¯s.


    There were rocks everywhere here, and between the two mountains ahead, there was a rod made of some unknown material. Pierced through the rod was a huge alien beast.


    Flames flared into the sky between the two mountains. It looked like they were roasting the alien beast.


    However, Zhou Wen had seen the alien beast before. Its body was like a cosmic stingray. Its flesh was transparent with blue veins circulating through its body.


    Although Zhou Wen had only seen it twice, the powerful Calamity aura from its body had left a deep impression on him. It was definitely not an ordinary Human Realm Calamity creature.


    For it to be roasted and wafting out a vague meat fragrance clearly meant that it was dead.


    Tsukuyomi sat on a rock by the side with one hand supporting her chin. In her other hand, she held the Companion Egg that Zhou Wen had given her. The Companion Egg was already damaged. From the nail marks on it, it was obvious that Tsukuyomi had cracked it herself.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Barbecue. There are no barbecue condiments or alcohol here. You should have some, right?¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s not how you should use the Companion Egg¡­¡± Zhou Wen said as he took out the condiments and alcohol he had placed in the chaos space.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like red wine. Is there any sake?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at the red wine Zhou Wen took out and shook her head.


    ¡°I thought women liked that.¡± Zhou Wen put away the red wine and took out a large bottle of sake. He also took out a tokkuri flask and cups.


    At the foot of the mountain where the beast was barbecued, Hashihime cut off a piece of meat from the beast¡¯s body and delivered it over on a tray.


    The meat that was crystalline and transparent like a river shrimp was charred yellow with milky-white insides after being roasted by the fire. Although it wasn¡¯t laced with seasonings, it was already emitting a fragrant combination of meat and oil.


    The difference between the alien beast meat and shrimp meat was that it had a lot of fat. After the roasting, the fat melted and dripped into the firm flesh. Not only did it keep the meat juicy, but it also made the meat even more fragrant and tender.


    Hashihime placed a wooden table between Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi. She knelt in front of the table and sliced the roasted meat. As it wasn¡¯t ordinary meat, the temperature was extremely high. Hashihime opened the alcohol flask and poured some sake into it. Immediately, there was a sizzling sound, as well as the rising vapor and the fragrance of the melted fat.


    When the temperature of the meat dropped to a certain level, Hashihime began to add seasonings.


    After preparing the roasted meat, Hashihime placed the cups and poured Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi some sake before waiting by the side.


    ¡°Thank you for the alcohol.¡± Tsukuyomi pinched the jade-like sake cup and covered her face with her sleeve. She downed the alcohol and smiled at Zhou Wen before placing the sake cup on the table.


    ¡°Thank you for the meat.¡± Zhou Wen raised his sake cup and downed it in one mouthful.


    The kneeling Hashihime picked up the sake flask and filled their cups.


    ¡°Try it and see if it¡¯s delicious,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Then I won¡¯t stand on ceremony.¡± Zhou Wen was hungry. He took the chopsticks offered by Hashihime and picked up a piece of roasted meat and placed it in his mouth.


    Zhou Wen had heard that in ancient times, immortals cultivated to a point where they didn¡¯t need to eat or drink.


    Zhou Wen felt that it was just a gimmick that had no truth in it. The higher the evolution of a creature¡¯s body, the stronger the explosive power it could produce. The more energy it needed, the more it had to eat.


    Of course, it might not be food. Those immortals might have higher-level food, such as concentrated Essence Energy serums.


    In any case, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t capable of inedia. Although he could fast for a long period of time, it required him to expend the energy he had accumulated. There were no benefits.


    When the roasted meat entered his mouth, he bit into the meat and immediately felt the juices seep out. It mixed with the seasoning and filled Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth with fragrance.


    ¡°Delicious!¡± Zhou Wen chewed a few times and found the meat fragrant, tender, and smooth. It was indescribably delicious.


    ¡°Have more. I can¡¯t finish so much.¡± Tsukuyomi pinched the sake cup with her fingers and stopped after taking a sip.


    ¡°This meat is pretty good,¡± Zhou Wen praised as he ate.


    In any case, the alien beast¡¯s body was as huge as a mountain. He couldn¡¯t eat all of it even if he let himself go. It wasn¡¯t even a drop in the ocean, so there was no need to stand on ceremony.


    Tsukuyomi watched Zhou Wen eat from the side without touching her chopsticks. Occasionally, she would take a sip of sake.


    Zhou Wen had eaten four or five slices of roasted meat when he felt that something was amiss. In his stomach, cold air seeped out and spread to his limbs as though he had swallowed ice in summer.


    Why does this meat contain so much Essence Energy? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised to discover that it was Essence Energy that surged out. Furthermore, it was extremely pure Essence Energy.


    No, it wasn¡¯t just pure. It was a kind of high-level Essence Energy. The Essence Energy had a strange characteristic that was of a much higher level than Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy.


    When the Essence Energy fused into his body, it affected him significantly. He could clearly sense that his physique was improving.


    Zhou Wen was increasingly alarmed. Typically, after a dimensional creature died, most of its Essence Energy would dissipate. Only a very small portion could be stored in a corpse.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ask Tsukuyomi, but it was too late. The roasted meat he had eaten erupted with large amounts of Essence Energy as it swept through his body.


    Zhou Wen could only focus on circulating his Essence Energy Art to direct the Essence Energy. Otherwise, his body would probably be destroyed by the massive amounts of Essence Energy.


    Due to the influence of the Essence Energy, Zhou Wen¡¯s body became crystalline. He was still constantly emitting Essence Energy.


    Tsukuyomi waved her sleeve and Hashihime immediately flew towards the alien beast. The hundred ghosts descended at the same time and pounced at the alien beast¡¯s corpse.


    Under the devouring of the hundred ghosts, the alien beast¡¯s flesh rapidly decreased. As for the hundred ghosts, they emitted a strange glow.


    Tsukuyomi only looked at Zhou Wen with a smile as she drank. It was unknown what was on her mind.


    Zhou Wen felt that his various qualities had probably reached the limit of the Terror grade. There was no way of raising it any further.


    However, the Essence Energy continued fusing into his body, making him feel that some quality of his was still becoming stronger.

 Chapter 1456 - Stone-Elemental Zone

    After Zhou Wen had completely digested the Essence Energy, he opened his eyes and realized that Tsukuyomi was still sitting opposite him, looking at him with a smile.


    ¡°Is the flesh and blood of Calamity creatures so nutritious?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    He had killed Calamity-grade creatures before, but he didn¡¯t realize that their flesh was so invigorating.


    ¡°That¡¯s not always the case.¡± Tsukuyomi put down her sake cup and said, ¡°Only a portion of Human Realm creatures can preserve most of their energy in their bodies after death. It¡¯s always the case for Hell level creatures.¡±


    ¡°This fellow is at the Hell level?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he turned to look at the roasted alien beast, but he realized that there was no sign of the alien beast¡¯s corpse. The flames below had vanished, leaving only two bare stone mountains.


    ¡°You¡¯re done eating?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like meat, but the ghosts in my domain like it very much,¡± Tsukuyomi answered.


    ¡°I never expected a Companion Beast to be edible. Furthermore, it¡¯s so delicious!¡± The image of the Great Might Vajra Bull surfaced in his mind. He wondered if he could turn it into steak.


    As though reading Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, Tsukuyomi said with a smile, ¡°Typical Companion Beasts are pure energy bodies. They can be treated as Essence Energy Crystals, but if you want to eat them, they have to at least reach the Human Realm. They might not be edible even at the Human Realm.¡±


    ¡°I see!¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    ¡°Are you full?¡± Tsukuyomi put down her sake cup and asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m stuffed. Thank you.¡± Zhou Wen thanked Tsukuyomi for treating him to the meat. It was very likely Hell-level meat. Ordinary people didn¡¯t have a chance to eat it.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that there were differences between Hell-level meat. The few pieces he ate weren¡¯t meat from the ordinary parts.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to thank me. Follow me if you¡¯re done.¡± Tsukuyomi got up and led him to a mountain range.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s a dimensional zone here that I can¡¯t deal with myself. You will help me, right?¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    ¡°What kind of dimensional zone is it? Let¡¯s study it first. How far have you explored it?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t reject it since he had just eaten the meat.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already explored the situation inside. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s not easy to kill a particular dimensional creature. Your sword should be useful. You just need to help me with the sword,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    Zhou Wen felt relieved when he heard Tsukuyomi¡¯s words. Since Tsukuyomi was so confident, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems.


    He followed Tsukuyomi deeper into the mountain range. There were rocks everywhere, and there were no signs of life.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. Apart from Earth, Zhou Wen had never heard of any planet having ordinary lifeforms. Even if there were, they were basically dimensional creatures.


    Tsukuyomi stopped in front of a cave and pointed inside. ¡°This is the entrance to the dimensional zone. The dimensional creatures inside are all stone-elemental. You can deal with the ordinary dimensional creatures, but leave the final Calamity-grade creature to me. After I hold it down, you can kill it with that sword.¡±


    Zhou Wen naturally nodded in agreement and followed Tsukuyomi into the cave. He didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creatures at first. When the rocks in the cave came to life and transformed into stone beasts, Zhou Wen realized that the dimensional creatures here were purely stone-elemental.


    These ordinary stone beasts were at least at the Mythical stage. Occasionally, he would encounter a Terror-grade stone beast.


    It gave Zhou Wen the perfect opportunity to test the new Bamboo Blade. He drew his blade and started slashing. The Mythical stone beast¡¯s defense was rather powerful, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use much strength before the Bamboo Blade sliced through their bodies.


    The blade of the Bamboo Blade was very thin, making it non-optimal to use against stone beasts with all sorts of defensive skills. However, the new Bamboo Blade¡¯s performance left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised.


    A jade-like stone beast pounced at him. It was like a Luck Beast. It remained visible after its Terror transformation, but its body was extremely hard. The defensive halos on its body made it obvious that it was a dimensional creature that was very good at defense.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it would be difficult for the new Bamboo Blade to kill such a creature.


    However, Zhou Wen managed to behead the beast by slashing out the saber with all his might.


    What alloy did Ah Sheng add to the Bamboo Blade? The strength of this Bamboo Blade is probably comparable to the Immortal Culling Sword! Zhou Wen looked at the blade and couldn¡¯t help but be surprised that it wasn¡¯t damaged at all.


    ¡°That blade isn¡¯t bad,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she glanced at the blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    Even an existence like Tsukuyomi acknowledged its quality, exceeding Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. He knew that it wouldn¡¯t be easy to return the favor.


    After slicing open the Terror-grade stone beast¡¯s body, he discovered a stone egg.


    Zhou Wen took out the stone egg and looked at Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi said indifferently, ¡°That thing is useless to me. Keep it if you want it.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he put away the Companion Egg and continued following Tsukuyomi deeper into the cave.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen picked up quite a number of dimensional crystals and Companion Beasts, but only one Terror-grade Companion Egg dropped.


    The stone-type dimensional creatures here had very high Strength and Constitution. There were many defensive and Strength-type skills, but they weren¡¯t the types Zhou Wen needed.


    Boom!


    When they arrived at a huge underground space, the underground rocks trembled as a stone behemoth crawled out of the cracks.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and realized that it was a huge stone turtle. However, it wasn¡¯t strictly one. Its head was covered in horns and there was a stone beard under its chin.


    Furthermore, there was a huge stone monument on its back.


    This appearance made Zhou Wen recall the mythical son of the dragon, Ba Xia. The dragon had given birth to nine sons, and each one was different. Ba Xia had the image of a turtle carrying a stone monument¡ªit looked rather similar to this huge fellow.


    The stone monument on the stone beast¡¯s back lit up while Zhou Wen was still observing it.


    There were many symbols engraved on the stone monument that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand. The symbols emitted a strange glow.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation to block the light, but Tsukuyomi remained motionless.


    Zhou Wen soon realized that the light emitted by the stone monument wasn¡¯t lethal to them, but the rocks that were illuminated by the light grew strangely.


    The originally huge underground space shrank due to the growth of the rocks. The stone tunnel they had entered was completely blocked by the burgeoning rocks.


    This fellow¡¯s strength is really special, Zhou Wen thought.


    Tsukuyomi had already activated her Hundred Ghost Zone, and her surroundings seemed to turn black. Only Tsukuyomi¡¯s body emitted a holy light like the bright moon.


    Ghouls appeared in the cave and charged at the stone beast.

 Chapter 1457 - I Won’t Make It

    Translator: CKtalon


    Despite being besieged by all sorts of strange ghosts like Crow Tengu, Hashihime, and Umib¨­zu, the stone beast remained motionless like a mountain. When all sorts of forces struck it, it was like a water spray gun hitting a steel plate¡ªno damage was dealt.


    What powerful defense! Zhou Wen began to worry if the Immortal Culling Sword could kill the stone beast.


    Since Tsukuyomi could kill a Hell-level alien beast, it meant that even if she hadn¡¯t reached the Hell level, she was definitely a top powerhouse at the Human Realm.


    In her domain, all the ghosts possessed Calamity-grade power.


    However, it wasn¡¯t sufficient to injure the stone beast at all. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if he could slice open such a defense with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    The Immortal Culling Sword was very strong, but its true might could only be unleashed when matched with a sufficiently strong user.


    All Zhou Wen could do now was to pull it out and use it in battle. There was no need to talk about unleashing its true might; it was already a problem for him to rouse its might. It was really difficult to say if he could kill a Calamity stone beast with such powerful defense.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask Tsukuyomi when he saw that the attacks of the hundred ghosts were ineffective against the stone beast.


    The stone beast¡¯s domain was showing its effects. The surrounding space became smaller and smaller. When the entire space was filled with rocks, their movements would be greatly restricted.


    Even if the rocks didn¡¯t crush them, tearing through the rocks would clearly slow them down. Instant transmission was not even an option.


    There were rocks everywhere. In an instant, his body would be stuck in the rocks.


    No, it shouldn¡¯t be said he would be stuck. To be precise, the rocks would be him, and he would be the rocks. The situation would only turn even more perilous.


    ¡°I just need to hold it down, not kill it, so its strong defense is useless,¡± Tsukuyomi said calmly.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to ask Tsukuyomi how she was planning on holding down the stone beast, he saw a ghost suddenly fly above it.


    The stone beast had been fighting the ghosts the entire time and had killed many ghosts, but in Tsukuyomi¡¯s domain, the ghosts were immortal. It killed the ghosts again and again, but the ghosts continued to revive. They kept pestering the stone beast, preventing it from attacking its true opponent, Tsukuyomi.


    The ghost that flew above the stone beast was a wrinkled granny ghost. She extended her withered hands that resembled bird claws and pulled.


    Zhou Wen immediately noticed fine threads that resembled strands of hair appearing on the stone beast¡¯s body. The threads were countless and quickly intertwined. Soon, they weaved into hair ropes that bound the stone beast.


    The hair ropes formed a net again, trapping the stone beast. The stone beast tried to tear the net, but like a fish, the more it struggled, the tighter the net became. The hair rope bound its limbs, making it abnormally difficult to move.


    The hundred ghosts split into four teams and each team grabbed one end of the hair net. No matter which direction the stone beast charged in, the ghosts would exert their strength to hold it back.


    The stone beast charged left and right, but found it difficult to escape. The hair net was extremely tenacious and elastic, perfectly restraining a powerful creature like the stone turtle.


    More importantly, after being caught by the net, the stone turtle could no longer use the power of the Stone Escape to teleport. It lost its most effective teleportation method.


    ¡°That¡¯s the legendary Kokuri bab¨¡, right?¡± Zhou Wen had previously studied the Ghost Parade. He roughly guessed her identity from her abilities.


    Kokuri bab¨¡ was the wife of a monk. Due to her dishonorable actions, she became a demon and specially gathered the hair of the dead to braid.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The attack of the hundred ghosts is only to create time for Kokuri bab¨¡. Only with enough ghost hair forming a net can we trap the stone beast,¡± Tsukuyomi explained.


    Zhou Wen naturally understood what was happening as he thought to himself, The ghosts in Tsukuyomi¡¯s domain have their own characteristics and abilities. Such a Calamity Zone is clearly more terrifying than the stone beast¡¯s singular domain. I wonder what kind of domain power I can produce in the future.


    If Zhou Wen were to make a choice, he would definitely be biased towards Tsukuyomi¡¯s domain. It had more variation and allowed him to use different methods to restrain different enemies.


    However, a domain wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen could decide.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the type of domain was related to his talent, bloodline, and Essence Energy Art. He also needed to see what dimensional zone he used to advance to the Terror grade.


    However, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand how to use the dimensional zones¡¯ powers to advance to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Let¡¯s see if your sword can kill it now,¡± Tsukuyomi warned when she saw Zhou Wen standing there in a daze.


    Only then did Zhou Wen snap to his senses. Realizing that the stone beast had been restrained, its speed no longer fast among Calamity-grade creatures, it was impossible for it to dodge Zhou Wen¡¯s attack thanks to the ghost hair net¡¯s restraints.


    Zhou Wen pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword without any hesitation and slashed at the stone beast¡¯s neck with Immortal Slaying.


    Clang!


    The Immortal Culling Sword slashed at its neck, leaving a gash. Rubble splattered, causing the stone beast to roar in pain.


    Although the injury wasn¡¯t serious to the stone beast, killing it was only a matter of time since damage was possible. It was a matter of how many strikes were needed.


    Zhou Wen gripped the Immortal Culling Sword tightly as his figure flashed erratically. He slashed at the stone beast¡¯s neck again and again, causing the wound to widen.


    The stone beast was a dimensional creature that focused on physical attacks after all. Unable to close the distance with Stone Escape, it could only be thrashed by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°This fellow¡¯s defense is really terrifying. If this continues, I¡¯ll probably need another thirty to forty strikes to sever its neck!¡± Zhou Wen had already slashed dozens of times, but he only managed to slice off a small chunk of the stone beast¡¯s neck.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to slash again, he saw the stone beast suddenly roar at the sky. The stone monument on its back flew up by itself. Without the stone monument¡¯s suppression, the stone beast¡¯s Strength and Speed increased drastically. It shook its body crazily and sent the ghosts that were pulling the net flying.


    He dragged the ghost hair net into the rocks. Some of the remaining ghosts continued clinging onto the ghost hair net, but were unable to stop it. They slammed into the rocky ground.


    The stone beast vanished. Only the stone monument floated in the air and emitted a strange light. The surrounding rocks grew crazily.


    ¡°Be careful!¡± Zhou Wen was searching for the stone beast when Tsukuyomi suddenly instant transmitted to his side and pushed him away.


    Almost at the same time, the stone beast tore out from the rocks below. The horn on its head slammed into Tsukuyomi, sending her flying.


    Bang!


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s body slammed into a stone wall, causing a large chunk to collapse. The ghosts and domain also vanished.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi!¡± Zhou Wen instant transmitted into the rubble and swept away the surrounding rocks. He realized that Tsukuyomi was held down on the ground and was on her last breath. He reached out to pull her body and realized that her body was limp as though she had no bones. Her bones had probably been shattered by the stone beast¡¯s strike.


    ¡°I¡­ I won¡¯t make it¡­ Before I die¡­ Can you satisfy my last wish¡­¡± Tsukuyomi forced her eyes open and said with great difficulty..

 Chapter 1458 - : Last Wishes

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Don¡¯t talk; I¡¯ll help treat you,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to use the power of Human Sovereign to treat Tsukuyomi.


    Tsukuyomi reached out to grab Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and coughed out blood. ¡°It¡¯s useless¡­ Cough¡­ I know my situation¡­ Cough¡­ A body of Calamity¡­ Cough¡­ It¡¯s not something that can be treated with powers below the Calamity grade¡­ Cough¡­ Zhou Wen¡­¡±


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s fingers tightened their grip over Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, but because her fingers were fractured, she couldn¡¯t grip it tightly no matter how hard she tried.


    ¡°I¡¯m here. Tell me.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly held her hand with both hands and sent the power of Human Sovereign over.


    ¡°I¡­ never knew what fear was in the past¡­ but I¡¯m afraid now¡­ I¡¯m really afraid¡­¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s face was pale and her breathing was weak. Her dim eyes were filled with fear. ¡°You humans have this saying of reincarnation¡­ That there¡¯s a next life¡­ Cough, cough¡­ However, creatures like us have no family or friends. We have no connection to this world. Once we die, we will truly vanish into thin air. We won¡¯t leave any traces in this world¡­ Cough, cough¡­ No one can prove that I existed in this world. It¡¯s as if I never existed¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m afraid¡­ so, so afraid¡­ I don¡¯t know if I had ever existed¡­ Cough, cough¡­ Or should I say¡­ My existence¡­ was just a meaningless dream¡­¡±


    ¡°No, you exist.¡± Zhou Wen felt Tsukuyomi¡¯s vitality weaken. It was useless even if he injected the power of Human Sovereign into her body. It was difficult to stop her vitality from weakening.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ You humans won¡¯t understand¡­ I¡¯m not afraid of death¡­ But I¡¯m really afraid¡­ I¡¯m so afraid that I¡¯ll be completely forgotten by this world¡­ Can you help me leave something in this world¡­ Even if it¡¯s the most trivial thing¡­¡± Tsukuyomi spoke between breaths. From her situation, she seemed to be losing herself, her eyes about to close at any moment for all eternity.


    ¡°Tell me, what should I do?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I should have been satisfied¡­ to be able to die in the arms of the person I love¡­ Cough¡­ But I¡¯m a little greedy¡­ I want more¡­ I want to leave something in your life¡­ Am I too greedy?¡± It felt like Tsukuyomi would stop breathing several times.


    ¡°No, humans are greedy to begin with. Your greed means that you are already someone like me,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh when he saw that Tsukuyomi¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t looking good.


    ¡°I¡¯m really happy to hear you say that¡­ Cough¡­ Only you are willing to treat me as a person¡­ If possible¡­ I want to die as a person like you¡­ As your wife¡­ Even if it¡¯s only in name¡­ Cough¡­ Even if there aren¡¯t any traces of my existence in this world¡­ At the very least, I¡¯m still Mrs. Zhou¡­¡± As Tsukuyomi spoke, she kept coughing out blood.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He never expected Tsukuyomi to make such a request.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ I¡¯ve made things difficult for you¡­ I¡¯m ultimately an anomaly¡­ How am I qualified to be your wife¡­ I¡¯m not worthy of being Mrs. Zhou¡­ Sorry¡­ I¡­ shouldn¡¯t¡­ have¡­ said¡­ these¡­¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s voice gradually weakened as her vitality was on the brink of drying up.


    ¡°No¡­ You can of course¡­¡± Zhou Wen felt upset. He felt that he shouldn¡¯t let Tsukuyomi die like this as he hugged her tightly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t just talk¡­ Use the ways you humans do it¡­ to tell me the answer¡­ It¡¯s also the final farewell¡­¡± Tsukuyomi closed her eyes and pursed her blood-stained lips slightly.


    Zhou Wen felt ambivalent. Seeing Tsukuyomi¡¯s pale face which seemed to have blood receding from it, he couldn¡¯t help but pity her. He lowered his head slightly and was about to plant it on her red lips.


    Roar!


    Just as Zhou Wen lowered his head, the stone beast that hadn¡¯t rushed over for some reason suddenly roared and swept down from the sky like a huge meteor that could destroy a planet.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to carry Tsukuyomi and instant transmit away to dodge the stone beast¡¯s pounce.


    ¡°I¡­ won¡¯t¡­ make it soon¡­¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s breathing quickened as though her throat was stuffed.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Zhou Wen hugged Tsukuyomi and reached out to stroke her hair.


    Roar!


    The stone beast roared again, but this time, it didn¡¯t lunge over. The stone monument that had been emitting light in midair suddenly shimmered as beams shot into the rocks. Stone pillars protruded from the surrounding stone walls and ground as they constantly struck Zhou Wen from all directions.


    Zhou Wen continued his instant transmission, but the stone pillars were almost everywhere. The moment Zhou Wen phased into existence, a large number of stone pillars bombarded him, giving him no time to stop.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­ I¡­¡± Tsukuyomi repeated the word a few times, but she failed to continue because Zhou Wen kept dodging the attacks of the stone beast and stone pillars.


    She looked like she would stop breathing at any moment, but she didn¡¯t expire.


    ¡°I¡­¡± Zhou Wen instant transmitted again. Tsukuyomi, who was about to speak, was interrupted again. Her face flushed red as she suddenly struggled out of Zhou Wen¡¯s embrace. Her body floated in the air as her long hair danced. Her body emitted terrifying moonlight as she stared at the stone beast with eyes like a cold moon.


    ¡°Die!¡± Tsukuyomi gritted her teeth in extreme anger.


    Accompanying her furious cry, the Calamity Zone was unleashed again. The surroundings turned black as she stood in midair like a bright moon. Countless ghosts appeared under the moonlight.


    Crack! Crack!


    The stone pillars that rushed out were shattered by the ghosts. The ghosts pounced at the stone beast and surrounded it, biting and attacking it.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    More than a hundred ghosts struck the stone beast with all sorts of strange forces, shattering the rocks on its body.


    Although the offensive strength of every ghost wasn¡¯t enough to severely injure the stone beast, more than a hundred ghosts kept bombarding it. The dense forces of various colors struck the stone beast, riddling it with holes.


    Boom!


    In just a few minutes, the stone beast¡¯s body exploded, and the shattered rocks fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open as he looked at Tsukuyomi in a daze. The power of the ghosts was clearly much stronger than before.


    More importantly, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t associate the present Tsukuyomi with the dying Tsukuyomi from a few minutes ago.


    ¡°What¡­ What¡¯s going on¡­¡± Zhou Wen stared at Tsukuyomi and asked.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s angry emotions calmed down from shattering the stone beast. When she saw Zhou Wen¡¯s questioning gaze, her body immediately turned limp. Like a weak and delicate princess, she held her forehead and fell into Zhou Wen¡¯s arms.


    ¡°That was my last burst of strength¡­ I really can¡¯t make it now¡­ Cough¡­¡± Tsukuyomi said as she leaned towards Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Then continue with that final burst.¡± Zhou Wen was rendered speechless as he dodged and instant transmitted to the stone monument.


    The stone beast¡¯s body exploded as the stone monument fell to the ground. However, the symbols on it were still emitting light, allowing the surrounding rocks to continue growing.


    If he didn¡¯t finish off the stone monument, the entire dimensional zone would soon be filled with rocks..

 Chapter 1459 - Source of Calamity

    Tsukuyomi twisted her waist and did a spin, preventing herself from falling. She was extremely depressed.


    If the stone beast had broken through her restrictions a little later, she would have succeeded. All was for naught now. She couldn¡¯t accept it.


    Zhou Wen pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword and slashed at the stone monument, leaving a sword mark. However, the stone monument instantly healed as though it had never been injured.


    ¡°What¡¯s engraved on the stone monument is its merits it has done for all eternity. No power can erase it. Not even the power of a mighty immortal can do so,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she walked over.


    Zhou Wen had just raised his sword to slash at the stone monument again. Upon hearing Tsukuyomi¡¯s words, he had thoughts of unsummoning his sword when, to his surprise, a force was suddenly released from the Immortal Culling Sword. It tugged at his hand and drove him to slash at the stone monument.


    The Immortal Culling Sword struck the stone monument, splitting it apart instead of just leaving a sword mark like before. What was even stranger was that after the Immortal Culling Sword slashed, the engraved words on the stone monument appeared out of thin air.


    The stone monument turned into a stone slab. There were no longer any signs of carving on it, as though the engravings had never existed.


    The two halves of the stone monument fell onto the rocks and shattered, turning into rubble.


    Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t help but be stunned as she looked at the rocks on the ground.


    ¡°What¡¯s the origin of that sword?¡± Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t help but look at the Immortal Culling Sword.


    The Immortal Culling Sword automatically returned to its scabbard after the slash. Zhou Wen held it in surprise.


    He had always treated the Immortal Culling Sword as a nuke that was in the form of a cold weapon. He didn¡¯t expect the Immortal Culling Sword to have such special effects other than its powerful destructive power.


    Furthermore, this effect clearly needed triggering. The numerous strikes he had delivered hadn¡¯t triggered such a strange effect.


    Could it be that Tsukuyomi¡¯s words triggered its power? In that case, the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s intelligence is probably much higher than I imagined, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The moment the stone monument collapsed, the growing rocks slowly shrank back. The underground space gradually returned to its original state as the passageway that allowed departure from the dimensional zone appeared again.


    Tsukuyomi walked to the shattered stone beast¡¯s corpse and picked up a fist-sized crystalline jade. She walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and handed it to him. ¡°Unfortunately, there aren¡¯t any Companion Eggs or dimensional crystals. This is the part of its body that has undergone the Calamity grade. It¡¯s usually known as the Source of Calamity. It contains immense energy and can enhance the special attributes of one¡¯s body.¡±


    Zhou Wen reached out to take the Calamity jade and looked at it before throwing it to Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°I was just joking. Are you still mad?¡± Tsukuyomi caught the Source of the Calamity and said.


    ¡°This item is your food, right? I can live without it, but you can¡¯t,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Are you concerned about me?¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes were filled with joy.


    ¡°I just don¡¯t want to see you die.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and headed for the exit of the dimensional zone.


    Tsukuyomi smiled and put away the Source of Calamity before following him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word along the way. After leaving the dimensional zone, Tsukuyomi said, ¡°There are some beautiful planets nearby. Furthermore, there shouldn¡¯t be any other creatures on them for the time being. Do you want to take a look?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I still have matters waiting for me on my return.¡± Zhou Wen rejected Tsukuyomi and was about to teleport back to Earth.


    Tsukuyomi was somewhat disappointed, but there was nothing she could do. All she could do was watch Zhou Wen leave as she sighed inwardly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t damage it for no reason. It¡¯s the last one.¡± Zhou Wen turned his head and threw a Companion Egg with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping mark to Tsukuyomi before teleporting back to Earth.


    Tsukuyomi caught the Companion Egg and was taken aback. After a while, she revealed a smile and muttered to herself, ¡°The ancient humans didn¡¯t lie to me. There¡¯s some use to reading after all.¡±


    After Zhou Wen returned to Earth, he took out his phone to look at his stats.


    Indeed, he realized that his four basic stats had reached 99 points. That wasn¡¯t all. The spatial attribute in the special attribute column had also reached 99 points. This was the first time Zhou Wen¡¯s special attribute had reached the maximum value of his current level.


    I never expected the Origin of Calamity to have such benefits. I have to think of a way to obtain some in the future. Zhou Wen organized his Companion Beasts again.


    Quite a number of Companion Eggs had dropped during his recent grinding of dungeons. He had already obtained four Mythical Golden Battle God Halberds and three Terror-grade Golden Battle Gods.


    Zhou Wen suddenly realized that Companion Eggs with the word ¡°Golden Battle God¡± seemed to drop especially easily. The other Mythical and Terror-grade Companion Eggs didn¡¯t drop that easily.


    Just after obtaining a Terror-grade Stone Beast Companion Egg, Zhou Wen looked at its stats and saw that it was indeed a strength- and defense-type Companion Beast. It had an armor form, but he didn¡¯t lack such Companion Beasts.


    The stone beast¡¯s stats were inferior to Prisoned Dragon¡¯s, so Prisoned Dragon remained a prime choice.


    Sell them? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to give the batch of stone beast eggs to An Sheng. He could leave it to him.


    For the new Bamboo Blade to have such an effect, the materials used were definitely not simple. The value of this batch of Stone Beast Companion Eggs was far from enough. And this defensive armor-type Companion Beast could save the lives of many soldiers.


    What¡¯s the use of this Metal Seed? Don¡¯t tell me I should bury it in the ground? Zhou Wen played with the Metal Seed Companion Beast.


    He had studied this thing for a long time, but he didn¡¯t find any way to grow it.


    Thinking of the might of the metal flower on Venus, Zhou Wen felt that it was a waste to not do anything to it. He had to think of a way to advance it.


    After some thought, he felt that he might need to plant it and produce a metal flower. Therefore, Zhou Wen dug a hole in his yard and buried the Metal Seed to see if he could end up with a metal flower.


    After planting the Metal Seed, Zhou Wen deliberately poured some water on it, but he didn¡¯t discover any reaction.


    It shouldn¡¯t grow so quickly. I¡¯ll wait a few days. Zhou Wen turned around and prepared to find An Sheng to give him the Stone Beast Companion Eggs.


    To his surprise, just as Zhou Wen walked out of the yard, the Metal Seed tore out of the ground and flew back to him, returning to its tattoo form.


    It doesn¡¯t work? Zhou Wen summoned the Metal Seed again and saw zero changes.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up. He thought to himself, This thing is a Metal Seed. Do I have to plant it in metal?


    Seeing that there wasn¡¯t any metal around him, Zhou Wen touched the Bamboo Blade with Metal Seed. He was only giving it a try and didn¡¯t expect it to be of any use.


    However, to his surprise, after the Metal Seed came into contact with the Bamboo Blade, it stuck to it firmly like a magnet..

 Chapter 1460 - Fusion

    Zhou Wen hurriedly retracted his hand, hoping to separate Metal Seed from the Bamboo Blade. A precious weapon like the Bamboo Blade couldn¡¯t be used as fertilizer.


    However, it was too late. The Metal Seed seeped into the scabbard like water, preventing Zhou Wen from grabbing it.


    No! Zhou Wen was beyond tears. If Bamboo Blade was really expended as fertilizer, he would be beyond anguish.


    After Metal Seed fused with the Bamboo Blade, the originally grayish-white Bamboo Blade scabbard rapidly darkened. In the blink of an eye, Bamboo Blade turned black.


    Zhou Wen reached out to pull the Bamboo Blade out of its scabbard, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t.


    After the entire Bamboo Blade turned black, the color gradually lightened. Soon, it turned pure white.


    What¡¯s going on now? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, the Bamboo Blade flicked out of his hand. The originally extremely hard Bamboo Blade scabbard that couldn¡¯t bend at all was now twisting in the air like a noodle.


    After gyrating for a while, the Bamboo Blade curved into a circle with its head and tail connected, turning into a bamboo ring.


    The bamboo ring shrank until it became the size of a ring that floated in front of Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen extended his finger with an odd expression. The bamboo ring automatically wrapped around his pinky. It was the finger he wore Metal Seed when it was in the form of a


    ring.


    Bamboo Blade has become fertilizer just like that? Zhou Wen attempted to unsummon the ring. Indeed, it was like the Metal Seed from before. It returned to his body and became a tattoo. The tattoo looked like a straight piece of bamboo.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone to take a look and his mouth gaped open.


    Metal Bamboo Blade: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Jinxes Master


    Life Soul: Inauspicious Wheel of Destiny: Holy Saber


    Terror Form: Ferocious Saber


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99


    Talent Skill: Metal Evolution, Blood Calamity, Jinxes Master, Fusion


    Companion Form: Ring


    This¡­ Zhou Wen nearly blew a gasket. It would be fine if Bamboo Blade was really absorbed as fertilizer, but this thing had actually fused with Metal Seed and become a Companion Beast.


    What was even more terrifying was that there was a Jinxes Master in this skill. It was fine if there was a Jinxes Master in the skill, but its Life Providence was also Jinxes Master. This meant double Jinxes Master. It was way worse than the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Taking a step back, it was fine if it had double Jinxes Master, but its Life Soul was Inauspicious. It looked ominous regardless. Furthermore, the Terror transformation power


    ¨C Ferocious Saber-didn¡¯t make things any better.


    There was also a Bloody Calamity skill? Apart from Holy Saber that looked a little acceptable, this saber was practically a suicide weapon. Anyone who got sick of living could just bring it along with them.


    Although Zhou Wen had already verified that Jinxes Master didn¡¯t seem to be of much use to him, he still felt a little unconfident when he saw such a ferocious saber.


    However, Jinxes Master definitely couldn¡¯t be removed through fusion. Furthermore, Zhou Wen was used to using Bamboo Blade. He couldn¡¯t bear to destroy it.


    Metal Seed made Bamboo Blade a Companion Beast. As for Metal Seed, it directly advanced to the Terror grade because of Bamboo Blade. This can be considered mutually beneficial, but these attributes¡­ Zhou Wen was in a dilemma when he looked at the Metal Bamboo Blade¡¯s stats.


    However, what¡¯s done was done. Zhou Wen could only silently put away the Bamboo Blade. It was best not to use such an ominous blade. Who can withstand the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and the Metal Bamboo Blade! Zhou Wen felt that it was best not to summon the two at the same time unless necessary. After putting away the Metal Bamboo Blade, Zhou Wen went to look for An Sheng. Unfortunately, An Sheng wasn¡¯t in Overseer Manor. Zhou Wen asked a few elders in Overseer Manor and learned that An Sheng had gone out to do something. It was unknown when he would return.


    Forget it. I¡¯ll wait for Ah Sheng¡¯s return. Zhou Wen wanted to give the Stone Beast Companion Egg to An Tianzuo, but just the thought of An Tianzuo made him uncomfortable. It was impossible for Zhou Wen to go to him.


    Zhou Wen returned to his yard and took out his phone again, planning on finding a dungeon to stroll around.


    This dungeon wasn¡¯t a random choice. Zhou Wen¡¯s four stats had reached their limits. He needed to break through to the Calamity grade to continue advancing, so advancing to the Calamity grade was an imminent problem. From the looks of it, the only way to advance to the Calamity grade was to rely on a dimensional zone. Therefore, Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could find a way to advance to the Calamity grade in a dimensional zone. I¡¯ve entered quite a number of dimensional zones, but I¡¯ve never seen anything that can advance a Terror-grade to the Calamity grade. Now, I can only try my luck and see if I can find any clues. After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to head to Mount Laojun.


    The reason he chose Mount Laojun was that the Dao Sutra came from Mount Laojun. Perhaps the opportunity for the Dao Sutra to advance to the Calamity grade was there.


    After launching the Mount Laojun instance dungeon, Zhou Wen felt somewhat uneasy.


    It wasn¡¯t because he was afraid of death. Death in-game was nothing. It was mainly because he had attempted to enter Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak in the past, but the outcome was somewhat wanting. Even though he had advanced to the Terror grade, he still felt that Mount Laojun wasn¡¯t a place where he could do whatever he wanted.


    If Mount Laojun is really the place where Taishang Laojun has secluded himself, I¡¯m afraid even an Apocalypse-grade creature might not be able to gain the upper hand. Zhou Wen entered the dungeon and activated the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder before walking to Golden Peak.


    With the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of the taboo pressure from the Golden Peak. He walked all the way up the stairs and saw jade buildings everywhere. Beautiful clouds surrounded him as immortal cranes danced in the clouds. It was like a paradise on earth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare have any thoughts about the immortal cranes. He had come here when he was at the Mythical stage, hoping to kill one for fun. The outcome was extremely tragic. Ever since then, Zhou Wen no longer had any intention of killing the immortal cranes.


    Clouds swirled above Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak as Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to walk between the pavilions. The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder emitted a mysterious glow as it converted the taboo power into Essence Energy and injected it into the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body.


    Just from the amount of Essence Energy received, he knew how terrifying the taboo in Golden Peak was. If not for the protection of the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, Zhou Wen would have long died.


    From the looks of it, mastering the Dao Sutra is a necessary condition to enter Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak. However, I wonder if Taishang Laojun is really on Mount Laojun, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The blood-colored avatar came to a stone pavilion. Along the way, other than the immortal cranes, there were no other dimensional creatures.


    However, there was a dimensional creature in front of the stone pavilion.

 Chapter 1461 - Azure Bull

    Azure Bull! Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw the dimensional creature.


    Sleeping soundly in the stone pavilion was an Azure Bull. Although he didn¡¯t know its level, an Azure Bull that appeared on Mount Laojun was undoubtedly terrifying.


    Legend had it that the Azure Bull was Taishang Laojun¡¯s mount. Back when he rode the bull out of seclusion, he engraved his name in the history books.


    Although it was only a mount, it depended on whose mount it was. Taishang Laojun was the founder of the universe, the ancestor of chaos, the parent of the world, the ruler of Yin and Yang, and the imperial lord of the myriad gods. His mount was much more terrifying than ordinary immortals.


    Even the weakest possibility placed it as a Calamity creature, and definitely not a low-level Calamity creature at the Human Realm.


    If it were in reality, Zhou Wen would immediately turn around and run as fast as he could. However, in-game, he didn¡¯t have any qualms.


    Let me see if this is Taishang Laojun¡¯s Azure Bull. Zhou Wen summoned the three Golden Battle Gods and retreated a little. He activated the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation and held the Bamboo Blade, prepared for the ensuing battle.


    The three Golden Battle Gods used their golden pistols and aimed at the sleeping Azure Bull as they fired together.


    The three bullets of different attributes hit the Azure Bull only to ricochet. The characteristics of freezing, exploding, and lightning were completely useless.


    The Golden Battle Gods kept firing, but the bullets were like flies. They were useless. They couldn¡¯t even wake the Azure Bull.


    That¡¯s way too powerful! Zhou Wen was even more alarmed.


    The Golden Battle Gods were Terror-grade existences after all, but they failed to do a thing to the Azure Bull.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯m no match for the Azure Bull. I should head elsewhere to take a look. Zhou Wen decided to ignore the Azure Bull. Even if it wasn¡¯t Taishang Laojun¡¯s mount, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t its match with such terrifying strength.


    He controlled the blood-colored avatar and turned to walk towards the stone steps on the other side.


    However, just as the blood-colored avatar turned around, Zhou Wen heard a snap. A whip-like azure shadow flashed before the blood-colored avatar was diced to pieces. The game screen dimmed.


    Holy sh*t, that Azure Bull is sinister! Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the Azure Bull had definitely woken up, but it continued feigning sleep. It only attacked when Zhou Wen lowered his guard and turned to leave.


    Although it was a sneak attack, to be able to penetrate the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation with one strike, such strength was definitely not ordinary at the Calamity grade. No matter how strong you are, you definitely have a weakness. I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t kill you. Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive and entered Mount Laojun again. Zhou Wen rushed to the stone pavilion where the Azure Bull was and summoned his Companion Beasts. He also attacked by summoning the Bamboo Blade and slashing out.


    Zhou Wen finally saw the Azure Bull look up. It looked like an ordinary bull with a huge steel hoop attached to its nose.


    Pa!


    With an azure flash, the Companion Beasts and the blood-colored avatar were torn apart. Zhou Wen finally saw the weapon the Azure Bull used for its attack¡ªits tail.


    This fellow is a little too powerful. Could it be that I can¡¯t even withstand a single strike? Zhou Wen refused to believe it as he entered the dungeon again.


    Zhou Wen died again and again. It had been a long time since he had suffered such deaths. He resigned himself after the Azure Bull¡¯s repeated kills. He had lost count of his attempts. At best, he could only dodge one tail strike. The second tail strike meant certain death.


    If he used instant transmission, the bull¡¯s tail would whip him to death when he phased into existence. Even the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation couldn¡¯t defend against it.


    The bull¡¯s tail could extend and retract freely. It was like a divine whip.


    If this is really that Azure Bull, then the bull ring on its nose might be Taishang Laojun¡¯s Vajra Bracelet. That thing is an invincible treasure. If I can obtain it, I¡¯ll really be able to live in the lap of luxury in the future. But how can I kill the Azure Bull? Zhou Wen tried again and again. Although he had The Disqualified that allowed him to spy on the Azure Bull¡¯s weakness, the Azure Bull was too fast. Even though Zhou Wen saw an opportunity, he still couldn¡¯t dodge the bull¡¯s tail. Zhou Wen could only patiently carry out all sorts of tests in exchange for more understanding of the Azure Bull through death.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to circle around the Azure Bull, but the fellow seemed to be guarding the path that led behind it. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t circle around it no matter what. As long as he stepped onto that path, he would be killed by the Azure Bull even if he used instant transmission.


    What¡¯s behind Mount Laojun? The more he couldn¡¯t cross the obstacle, the more Zhou Wen wanted to know what lay ahead. This required him to deal with the Azure Bull.


    Zhou Wen stayed at home the next few days and hardly left his room. Before he figured out how to kill the Azure Bull, the Soul Mirror had completed its evolution.


    Soul Mirror: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: God of Unkilling


    Life Soul: Mirror Immortal


    Wheel of Destiny: Soul Mirror


    Terror Form: Mirror Deflection (S-grade) Calamity Zone: Mirror World (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Soul-Washing Divine Light, Soul-Suppression Divine Light, Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, Soul-Illuminating Divine Light.


    Companion Form: Mirror


    The stats and abilities of this Companion Beast are rather interesting. Zhou Wen carefully studied the various skills of the Soul Mirror and realized that it was indeed interesting.


    Firstly, the Soul Mirror itself couldn¡¯t kill any creature. The existence of the God of Unkilling Life Providence had already severed the possibility of it being a lethal weapon.


    Furthermore, the Soul Mirror itself didn¡¯t have the ability to kill.


    The four types of divine light didn¡¯t possess any physical lethality, but their effects on the soul were very obvious.


    The Soul-Washing Divine Light could wash away memories. The Soul-Suppression Divine Light could suppress the soul, preventing the soul from controlling the body. It could achieve a near immobilization effect.


    The Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light was the most domineering of all. It could directly destroy souls. Once the soul was destroyed, what remained was basically an empty shell.


    However, Zhou Wen suspected that the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light¡¯s ability would clash with the God of Unkilling.


    The Soul-Illumination Divine Light was the strangest. This divine light didn¡¯t harm the soul, but it could pull the other party¡¯s soul into the Soul Mirror.


    Of course, the strength of the four divine lights depended on the strength of the other party¡¯s soul and whether there were any soul-type Companion Beasts putting up a defense.


    The Mirror Deflection ability of the Terror form could reflect the opponent¡¯s attack. The Mirror Realm was also a very strange domain. It could turn everything nearby into a mirror world, but Zhou Wen was still studying its exact effects.


    As expected of a Calamity. This ability is too sick! Zhou Wen experimented for a period of time and figured out the various abilities of the Soul Mirror. He planned on taking the Soul Mirror to Mount Laojun to give it a try. Perhaps he could use the Soul Mirror¡¯s power to kill the Azure Bull.

 Chapter 1462 - Soul Mirror

    Before heading to Mount Laojun, Zhou Wen went to Venus.


    Although the Venusian dimensional zone in reality had been destroyed and half of Venus was gone, the Venusian dimensional zone in-game still existed. Everything in the dungeon was intact.


    In reality, Zhou Wen could use Li Mobai¡¯s Ghost God Eyes to lock onto the Calamity gunner¡¯s location.


    However, after using the Ghost God Eyes once, they became inoperative and turned into two jade eyeballs that showed zero reaction. Zhou Wen got Li Xuan to take them back and return them to Li Mobai.


    He still didn¡¯t understand why the Li family would help them up to this day.


    Although his relationship with Li Xuan was indeed good, Li Mobai¡¯s various actions couldn¡¯t be explained by this relationship.


    Ignoring the fact that the Ghost God Eyes were useless, even if they could still be used, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t take them into the game. Therefore, he still couldn¡¯t kill the Calamity gunner in-game.


    The Calamity gunner had the ability to escape through the metal. Furthermore, his body could fuse with the metal. It was very difficult for Zhou Wen to catch him in the Venusian instance dungeon.


    However, things were different with the Soul Mirror. Zhou Wen believed that the Soul Mirror¡¯s ability could restrain the Calamity gunner very well, but he still needed to test it to verify his idea.


    After entering the Venusian instance dungeon, Zhou Wen summoned the Soul Mirror and shot a white beam at the Metal Guard. It moved at the true speed of light¡ªthe standard speed of a Calamity-grade.


    When the white light shone on the Metal Guard, the latter immediately revealed a look of confusion and stopped firing at Zhou Wen.


    Unfortunately, the Soul Mirror can¡¯t kill. Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon the Golden Battle God to finish off the Metal Guard.


    A group of Metal Guards rushed out. Zhou Wen tried the effects of the Soul-Suppression Divine Light next. A black beam shot out from the mirror. The Metal Guards that were illuminated immediately froze as they stood there motionless.


    However, once the Soul-Suppression Divine Light moved away from them, they would immediately regain their mobility.


    Zhou Wen then tried the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. The moment the rainbow beam appeared, the Metal Guard that was illuminated by the beam suddenly collapsed to the ground as though it had lost its soul. It didn¡¯t get up again.


    The effects of the Soul-Suppression Divine Light seem to be much weaker than the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. There¡¯s some overlap between the abilities, so it doesn¡¯t seem like there¡¯s any need for it to exist. I wonder if the Soul-Suppression Divine Light has other uses, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen used the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light on a Metal Guard. He originally imagined that he would only pull his soul into the mirror, but to his surprise, the Metal Guard¡¯s entire body was moved into the mirror.


    Zhou Wen could see the Metal Guard spinning in the mirror as though it was sleepwalking.


    Zhou Wen found it fun, he used the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light to suck the Metal Guards into the mirror. Soon, the Golden Battle Gods came out, but they failed to escape the might of the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light. They were all sucked in.


    Seeing the Golden Battle Gods and the Metal Guards spinning in the mirror world like trapped ants on a circle was amusing.


    Wait! Zhou Wen looked at the Golden Battle Gods and Metal Guards circling the mirror world as a thought suddenly flashed in his mind. If I suck dimensional creatures in-game, can I release the dimensional creatures I suck in reality?


    Zhou Wen wished he could quit the game immediately to give it a try, but he decided against it after some thought. He could do it later. He quickly walked into the tunnel.


    The Calamity gunner¡¯s bullets were blocked by Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation as they spun around him.


    Zhou Wen quickly moved. By analyzing the trajectory of the Calamity gunner¡¯s bullet, he determined its general location.


    After locking onto a certain area, Zhou Wen suddenly used instant transmission. At the same time, he got the Soul Mirror to activate its Mirror World domain.


    At that instant, all the nearby metal walls turned into mirrors. The mirrors reflected the blood-colored avatar, but there was no sign of the Soul Mirror.


    As there were mirrors everywhere, they reflected each other as though countless blood-colored avatars had appeared.


    Pa!


    A mirror shattered as a black metal robot rushed out of it with a large sniper rifle.


    As all the metal walls had turned into mirrors, the Calamity gunner¡¯s Metal Escape technique failed. It was stuck in the mirror-like wall and could only rush out.


    It was useless for him to rush out. There were mirrors everywhere and with him unable to use Metal Escape, the Calamity gunner¡¯s mobility was much weaker.


    The Soul Mirror shot out the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light at the Calamity gunner, but the latter quickly dodged. Despite both being at the Calamity grade, the Soul Mirror¡¯s mirror light was not faster than the Calamity gunner.


    Zhou Wen was originally somewhat disappointed, believing that he had to rely on himself to kill the Calamity gunner.


    To his surprise, the Soul Mirror beside the blood-colored avatar vanished the next second.


    The Soul Mirror soon appeared in a wall that had turned into a mirror. It used the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light on the Calamity gunner¡¯s back.


    The Calamity gunner reacted very quickly as he moved and dodged the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. The last time Zhou Wen could stab him, he had used the opportunity of him being unable to move the moment he fired.


    It wasn¡¯t that easy to stab him when he wasn¡¯t shooting


    Bang!


    As the Calamity gunner moved, it even fired a shot. The bullet flew towards the Soul Mirror, shattering the mirror wall. Mirror shards flew everywhere.


    Zhou Wen was still worried that the Soul Mirror would die just like that, but he suddenly realized that a Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light had shot out from the mirror shards that flew into the sky.


    The Calamity gunner clearly didn¡¯t expect such a development. It was too late to react as it was illuminated by the rainbow beam.


    Zhou Wen clearly saw the Calamity gunner freeze for a moment, but it didn¡¯t collapse like the Metal Guard. As it roared in pain, it forced itself to move and rushed out of the range of the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light.


    The Soul Mirror was like a ghost in a mirror. It moved in different mirrors and shot out the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light from different spots from time to time, making it impossible to guard against.


    The Calamity gunner could still withstand the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light in the beginning, but as time went on, after repeatedly being illuminated by the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, its resistance became increasingly weaker. It started to become more sluggish. The Calamity gunner finally lost the ability to dodge the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. Under the continuous illumination of the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, it finally collapsed to the ground.


    Zhou Wen summoned Bamboo Blade and chopped off the Calamity gunner¡¯s head.


    The Calamity gunner¡¯s defense wasn¡¯t high. It was much easier than killing Kui. With a full-powered Immortal Slaying, he managed to behead him.


    With the Calamity gunner dead, Zhou Wen was still wondering if a Companion Egg would drop when he heard a boom. The Golden Palace¡¯s door opened.

 Chapter 1463 - Something Happened in Guide Ancient City

    Chapter 1463 Something Happened in Guide Ancient City


    Zhou Wen had never entered the Golden Palace in reality. In reality, even if he succeeded in clearing the level, the metal ball would automatically fly out of the Golden Palace before transferring out of it.


    Even during the final attempt, a stream of energy spewed out of the Golden Palace and injected into the metal ball before the Golden Palace self-destructed. Up to now, no one knew what the Golden Palace looked like.


    That was clearly not the case in-game. He wouldn¡¯t obtain the metal ball before reaching the Golden Palace, nor would there be any energy gushing out. In-game, this was the first time the Golden Palace had opened its door, but nothing came out. There was only a resplendent golden light inside, and nothing could be seen.


    The Calamity gunner dropped a Strength Crystal which Zhou Wen fed to a Companion Beast. Without any hesitation, he walked through the door and quickly blended into the golden light.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared for battle as he pushed the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation to its limits.


    He guessed that there might be a Golden Wyrm in the Golden Palace, and it might not only be at the Human Realm.


    However, Zhou Wen was taken aback when he saw the situation in front of him.


    The huge metallic palace was cylindrical. On the surrounding circular walls, there were huge Golden Wyrm statues hanging down at fixed distances. There were a total of thirteen.


    All the Golden Wyrms looked down towards the center of the palace with their tails up.


    There was a strange metal artifact there. It looked a little like a tripod cauldron, but it didn¡¯t have feet. Furthermore, it was wide at the top and very narrow at the bottom.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the strange metal artifact, the door automatically closed. He then saw the Golden Wyrm statues come to life.


    The Golden Wyrms swooped down at Zhou Wen. In the air, they transformed into shears.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out the Soul Mirror, but the Soul Mirror only managed to illuminate one of the shears with the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. The other scissors had already arrived beside him.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    A few shears snipped at the Soul Mirror, shattering it.


    The shears possessed potent destructive power. The Soul Mirror¡¯s defense wasn¡¯t weak at the Human Realm, but it couldn¡¯t even withstand three strikes.


    Zhou Wen knew that summoning other Companion Beasts wasn¡¯t of much use now, so he decided to circulate the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation with all his might and donned the Dragon King armor.


    The Dragon King armor was transformed from the Limitless Demon Dragon King. Although its defense couldn¡¯t compare to the Prisoned Dragon armor, it had a very powerful ability. It could combine the powers of different creatures.


    With the Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s Limitless Wheel, Zhou Wen could share the strength of eight Companion Beasts. With their strength, he was essentially nine in one. Unfortunately, the Soul Mirror had just been shattered. Otherwise, with the power of the Soul Mirror, Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation would have been even stronger.


    Now, Zhou Wen had borrowed the power of eight Terror-grade Companion Beasts and had similarly obtained a huge improvement. The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation¡¯s range was much bigger.


    The shears formed by the Golden Wyrms rushed in front of Zhou Wen and ended up trapped by the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. They constantly spun around Zhou Wen, failing to injure him.


    There¡¯s a chance! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    The thirteen shears charged one after another into the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, but they failed to break through.


    Thirteen sharp golden beams rapidly spun around Zhou Wen like circles of golden light.


    My Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation is the nemesis of such physical offensive weapons. As expected of a skill I developed. It only needs one word to describe it-strong. Zhou Wen was somewhat smug.


    A Terror-grade creature could withstand the siege of thirteen Calamity-grade creatures without being damaged at all. Anyone would be somewhat smug.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen could only trap them and didn¡¯t have the ability to kill them. All he could do was watch them charge left and right in the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Array.


    Unfortunately, my Golden Wyrm is still giving birth. Otherwise, I could have tried killing them. Bamboo Blade is only at the Terror grade after all. I probably won¡¯t be able to gain an advantage when facing a Calamity-grade shear. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and ignored the shears as he walked towards the metal artifact in the middle of the hall.


    Apart from the thirteen Golden Wyrms, there was only one artifact in the hall. Zhou Wen wanted to see if there was anything inside. His senses were sharp, much less Truth Listener¡¯s, but he couldn¡¯t sense what was inside the metal artifact.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to approach the metal artifact. After taking a few steps, he suddenly saw a strange light flash from it. Before Zhou Wen could figure out what had happened, the game screen went black.


    What the hell was that? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He didn¡¯t even understand how he had died.


    Unfortunately, he could only enter the Venusian instance dungeon once a day. Even if Zhou Wen wanted to continue studying it, he had to wait until tomorrow.


    He summoned the Soul Mirror but didn¡¯t discover the Metal Guards or the Golden Battle Gods in it. Zhou Wen was even more disappointed.


    From the looks of it, the dimensional creatures that are stored in the mirror world in-game can¡¯t be brought to the real world. Zhou Wen put away the Soul Mirror and was about to head to Mount Laojun to take a look when he suddenly heard An Sheng¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Young Master, there¡¯s news from Guide City. It¡¯s said that a large number of break-out creatures have rushed out of Guide Ancient City,¡± An Sheng said outside his room.


    ¡°Guide Ancient City has been breached? How¡¯s the situation now?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed as he hurriedly opened the door and asked An Sheng


    Guide Ancient City was called Ancient Sovereign City in-game. Even The Thearch wanted the stone saber there.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even dare pull out the stone saber. With the stone saber¡¯s suppression, it was unlikely for Guide Ancient City¡¯s seal to undergo a break-out. Now that a large number of break-out creatures had suddenly appeared, Zhou Wen was afraid that someone had pulled out the stone saber.


    It didn¡¯t matter if others pulled out the stone saber. Zhou Wen was most afraid that the stone saber would fall into The Thearch¡¯s hands.


    ¡°The situation isn¡¯t good. In the past, there were only some low-level dimensional creatures in Guide Ancient City. Even Epic creatures were rare. However, among the dimensional creatures that rushed out this time, there are many Mythical creatures. The local garrison can¡¯t deal with them at all. They are retreating in defeat. Overseer has already sent reinforcements.¡± An Sheng gave a situation report. ¡°Ah Sheng, help me inform Sis Lan that I won¡¯t be eating with her tonight. I need to return to Guide City.¡± Zhou Wen walked out of the door and wanted to teleport over, but after some hesitation, he decided to take Chick along.


    There were many skeleton creatures in Guide Ancient City. Chick¡¯s phoenix flames were the nemesis of such creatures.


    I hope the stone saber is still there! Zhou Wen used his teleportation ability and headed for the vicinity of Guide Ancient City.

 Chapter 1464 - Rainstorm Cleansing

    Chapter 1464 Rainstorm Cleansing


    Zhou Wen¡¯s long-distance teleportation still had some level of deviations. He teleported to a spot about fifteen kilometers away from Guide Ancient City.


    There were a large number of skeleton soldiers wandering around. Dozens of them rushed over when they saw Zhou Wen appear. Zhou Wen waved his hand and killed all the nearby skeleton soldiers before quickly instant transmitting. However, he wasn¡¯t instant transmitting in the direction of Guide Ancient City, but his alma mater, Guide High School.


    With so many skeleton soldiers appearing, it meant that the situation in Guide City was probably terrible. Compared to the stone saber, he was more worried about Yu Qiubai¡¯s safety.


    After the former principal left, Yu Qiubai had taken good care of him. If not for Yu Qiubai¡¯s introduction, he wouldn¡¯t have known Li Xuan.


    Although Ouyang Lan would definitely let him enter Sunset College even if he didn¡¯t team up with Li Xuan, that wasn¡¯t what Zhou Wen wanted. He wanted to enter through his own efforts. Otherwise, he would rather not be enrolled.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, Yu Qiubai lived in the school¡¯s staff dormitory. He had a wife, but he didn¡¯t have any children. If he hadn¡¯t moved out, he could be found the moment Zhou Wen returned to school.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s speed, it only took him the blink of an eye to travel twenty to thirty kilometers. When he arrived at Guide High School, he saw that it had turned into a battlefield. Soldiers were fighting Skeleton Soldiers on the streets.


    With the school as the base, the soldiers and the teachers were fighting waves of Skeleton Soldiers and Skeleton Generals.


    There were hordes of Skeleton Soldiers everywhere on the streets. There were also quite a number of Skeleton Generals. There were even some Skeleton Generals that were emitting flames. They were all Epic existences.


    The school¡¯s defense line was retreating in defeat and could collapse at any moment.


    Zhou Wen saw Yu Qiubai at a glance. Yu Qiubai was only at the Epic stage, but now, he was riding on a wild goose and shooting arrows from midair. He was engaged in a battle with a blood-colored caped and blood-stained armor-wearing general riding a skeleton horse.


    Although it was called a battle, Yu Qiubai was only trying to attract the general¡¯s attention and prevent him from rushing towards the school. The general had already reached the Mythical stage. This was only a high school. Among the teachers and reinforcing soldiers, there was no one who could match him.


    The general raised the spear in his hand into the sky as the blood flames tore through the air. Yu Qiubai had to use all his might to dodge the attack.


    Yu Qiubai was already injured in several spots. The wild goose beneath him had also been injured, making the battle extremely strenuous. As he attracted the general¡¯s attention, he shouted, ¡°Run¡­ Take the back door¡­¡±


    The students on campus retreated from the back door under the cover of the soldiers. However, although there weren¡¯t any Mythical generals at the back door, there were still hordes of skeletons. Most of the soldiers and teachers were fighting at the main entrance. Only a small number of soldiers were here. After a few attempts, they failed to charge out.


    Many timid girls were already crying. Many of the men were on the brink of collapse. The soldiers also knew that under such circumstances, it was only a matter of time before the defense line was breached. If there were no reinforcements, probably no one here could escape alive.


    However, there were skeleton creatures everywhere in Guide City. Reinforcements were needed everywhere. Who could spare their forces to help them?


    ¡°Old Wu, lead Bravo Team to the back door and forge a path. Help those students rush out and lead them to the administrative area in the east.¡±


    ¡°Captain, we can¡¯t hold on any longer. If we leave, are we going to give up on this defense line?¡± Old Wu, who was covered in blood, shouted as he killed.


    ¡°The defense line will be breached sooner or later. When the time comes, we will all die. Let¡¯s hold on for a while. Escape with them and forge a way out. Every life saved is an achievement in itself.¡± The captain¡¯s Essence Gold bullets had been used up. He held his Companion Beast saber and slashed with all his might. ¡°If we leave, you are all dead!¡± Old Wu refused to retreat. ¡°If you don¡¯t leave, all of us will be dead. Go. This is an order. Take those students east. They should be able to last for a while longer. As long as we can last until the reinforcements arrive, a few of us will survive¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯m not leaving. If we die, we die together. Death is only a matter of time. Wait for reinforcements? My ass! Who around Guide City can reinforce us?¡± Old Wu continued fighting with all his might as he roared.


    The captain still wanted to say something, but after opening his blood-stained lips, he ultimately held his tongue.


    In the nearby area, the strongest military force was in Guide City. Now that Guide City couldn¡¯t even fend for itself, who could reinforce them?


    The only exception was the Sunset Army¡¯s reinforcements. However, Luoyang was too far from Guide City. They wouldn¡¯t be able to last long enough for the Sunset Army to arrive.


    ¡°Captain, I heard that there was a famous general in Guide City, Zhang Xun, who defended the city without retreating. He defended the city without any rations internally or any reinforcements externally. With hundreds of soldiers, he held off tens of thousands of rebel soldiers outside the city and fought more than four hundred bloody battles without being defeated. He managed to defend half of the Great Tang dynasty. Although we don¡¯t have Zhang Xun¡¯s abilities, to be able to die in battle on the same land as him, we might not be considered heroes, but we can be considered as people following in the footsteps of heroes, right?¡± Old Wu shouted as he continued killing.


    The captain gave a wry smile and said, ¡°If it¡¯s possible, I¡¯d rather you not be that hero.¡±


    ¡°So what if we die? Who doesn¡¯t die? We brothers will have company in our eternal peace. We won¡¯t be lonely on the way¡­¡± As Old Wu spoke, he saw the defense line breach. A tide of skeletons surged into the school.


    ¡°It¡¯s over!¡± The soldiers and teachers looked at the skeleton legion that charged in like predators. They knew that the situation was hopeless, and their eyes were filled with despair. Yu Qiubai sighed and looked into the school. Not only were his students there, but his wife was also there.


    Hum!


    Suddenly, a strange buzzing sound sounded in the air. It was as though countless bees were flapping their wings and flying, but no one saw them.


    Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The horde of skeletons that rushed into the school was instantly shattered by an invisible force that descended from the sky. Large swaths of them were instantly diced into fragments.


    It wasn¡¯t just the school. The tidal-like skeletons outside were also diced to pieces by the power that descended from the sky. Be it the lowest-level Skeleton Soldiers or the flaming Skeleton Generals, none of them could withstand a single strike.


    It was as though an invisible sword rain had enveloped the entire land, instantly destroying all the skeletons as though it was purging the land.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Everyone watched in a daze as the waves of skeletons were killed. Even the seemingly invincible Mythical skeleton general failed to withstand the invisible force. His body was sliced into pieces by the invisible sword beams that descended from the sky.


    Everyone looked into the sky and saw a figure levitating there. His clothes and black hair fluttered in the wind. He was the one who had released the invisible sword beams that purged the land like a storm.


    ¡°Zhou Wen.¡± Yu Qiubai couldn¡¯t help but feel pleasantly surprised when he saw the figure.


    ¡°Sir, I¡¯m sorry for being late,¡± Zhou Wen said in embarrassment when he arrived in front of Yu Qiubai. All the skeletons within his reach had been killed. The distant skeleton legion had yet to charge over.

 Chapter 1465 - Ancient City Anomaly

    Chapter 1465 Ancient City Anomaly


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re back.¡± Looking at the youth in front of him, Yu Qiubai had a thousand things to say, but he was momentarily at a loss for words.


    The youth who had painstakingly left this place had finally returned. However, he was no longer the same Zhou Wen from back then. No one had expected such a scene to happen today.


    ¡°Sir, guard the school for now. Don¡¯t leave the area to go out. I¡¯ll be back soon,¡± Zhou Wen said as he summoned two Terror-form Golden Battle Gods to stand guard outside the school. He then flew towards the distant skeleton horde.


    As the Golden Battle Gods had already undergone Terror transformation, ordinary people couldn¡¯t see them.


    The soldiers and teachers saw Zhou Wen fly into the sky and charge at a skeleton legion in the distance. Wherever he passed, the skeleton legion collapsed like dust washed away by a storm.


    ¡°That¡­ looks like Zhou Wen, right? Why is he here?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Zhou Wen graduated from our school.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, for real? Zhou Wen was from our school?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? Didn¡¯t you hear how he greeted our principal? He used to be a student under him.¡±


    ¡°In that case, Zhou Wen is our senior?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, I think that Mythical creature dropped a Companion Egg. He didn¡¯t even pick it up!¡±


    ¡°There are many dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs outside. They are everywhere!¡±


    Old Wu held a wrinkled cigarette in his mouth as he took a deep drag and spat it out. He looked in the direction Zhou Wen had flown in and said, ¡°Talent is really desirable! Talent allows you to do whatever you want. I love it.¡±


    Zhou Wen wiped out the nearby skeleton legion, but he still saw skeleton creatures rushing out of Guide Ancient City. He knew that if he didn¡¯t resolve the problem of Guide Ancient City, it would be useless no matter how many skeletons he killed.


    Thankfully, most of the skeleton creatures had been wiped out by him with only a few escaping. The skeletons that rushed out of Guide Ancient City were unable to form a legion.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen flew in the direction of Guide Ancient City, hoping to root out the problem.


    Guide Ancient City hadn¡¯t had any obvious changes to its appearance since Zhou Wen first entered. However, there were skeleton creatures everywhere. Even the moat was filled with skeletons, as though it was a river that led to hell.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure streaked across the sky as large swaths of skeleton creatures were culled. Plenty of dimensional crystals dropped.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to pick up the low-level dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs as he charged straight for the ancient city¡¯s door. After rushing into the ancient city, Zhou Wen realized that ancient buildings stretched out like a mountain range. The ancient city was many times bigger than before with no end in sight.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the skeleton creatures had come out from inside the ancient city, but after entering, he realized that there weren¡¯t any skeleton creatures in the ancient city. In fact, most of the skeleton creatures had crawled out from the ground and moat outside the city.


    Strange, why don¡¯t I see a single skeleton creature? Zhou Wen looked around. Unlike the flames of war outside, the ancient city was terrifyingly quiet. It was virtually silent, as though it was a different world from the outside.


    Zhou Wen failed to discover a single creature in the city the entire time.


    He found it somewhat odd. All he could do was don the Prisoned Dragon armor and stick the Substitute Talisman on him. He continued keeping the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation around at its limits before heading for the Fire God Platform.


    As the ancient city was many times bigger than before, the possibility of the Fire God Platform still being in its original spot wasn¡¯t high, but the general direction couldn¡¯t be wrong.


    Zhou Wen swept past the roofs of the ancient buildings. To his surprise, they seemed to be enveloped by a mysterious force. Truth Listener¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t hear anything inside.


    There was nothing. Apart from the ancient buildings that resembled a palace complex, this place seemed to be a ghost city. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see anything as he traveled.


    I¡¯ve finally found it! Zhou Wen finally discovered the Fire God Platform. It hadn¡¯t changed much and still looked the same. It didn¡¯t seem different from the last time he came.


    Zhou Wen went straight to the Fire God Platform and couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when he found the stone saber still embedded in the furnace.


    Strange, the stone saber is still there. It wasn¡¯t pulled out. Why did the ancient city undergo such a large-scale breakout? Furthermore, the ancient city itself has undergone a huge change? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    The first reason Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t pulled out the saber was that he was afraid that it would lead to the destruction of Guide City. Secondly, it was also because of The Thearch.


    However, there was another important reason. Zhou Wen knew that only people who had cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra could pull out the stone saber. It wasn¡¯t that easy to gain basic mastery in the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Furthermore, to pull out the stone saber, one needed to reach the Mythical stage with the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Otherwise, The Thearch wouldn¡¯t have specially negotiated with him.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra wasn¡¯t a Qi Refinement Art. One couldn¡¯t raise it by loading up resources, so Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too worried about the stone saber being pulled out.


    From the looks of it, the stone saber hadn¡¯t been pulled out.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He subconsciously turned around.


    A figure was standing on the roof of an ancient building amidst the stretch of buildings, staring at him.


    Humanoid dimensional creature? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart tightened. Among dimensional creatures, there weren¡¯t many that were similar to humans in size, but the more human-like a dimensional creature was, the more terrifying it was. For example, the main gods of many pantheons were in human form. Although there were some exceptions, Zhou Wen still paid attention to humanoid creatures. The dimensional creature on the roof was no different from a human. He was tall and muscular, and his hair was disheveled. He was covered in animal hide, and his exposed skin showed a healthy tan.


    None of these mattered. The main point was that Zhou Wen sensed a special aura from him. This aura was something only people who cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra had. The other party was a dimensional creature; yet, he actually had the aura of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. This was somewhat strange.


    The dimensional creature was casually standing on the roof, but it had an aura that made it appear like an apex predator. It made Zhou Wen feel uneasy.


    Zhou Wen flicked his finger and the Bamboo Blade that had transformed into a ring bounced out. Like a bent spring, it instantly returned to its straight form. It was already the size of the normal Bamboo Blade by the time it landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade and stared at the humanoid dimensional creature. The ominous feeling didn¡¯t weaken.

 Chapter 1466 - Terrifying Humanoid Dimensional Creature

    Chapter 1466 Terrifying Humanoid Dimensional Creature


    Zhou Wen took out the Immortal Culling Sword as well. He held the Bamboo Blade in one hand and the Immortal Culling Sword in the other as he stared intently at the humanoid dimensional creature.


    The humanoid dimensional creature stared at Zhou Wen as it exerted strength in its legs. Instantly, its figure blurred and vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s sight.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Without any hesitation, he used instant transmission and headed for the ancient city¡¯s exit.


    How terrifying was a speed that even his vision couldn¡¯t keep up?


    Just as Zhou Wen finished instant transmission, his heart skipped a beat. He saw the humanoid creature standing in front of him with its nose almost touching his. Its black pupils met Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils as its long gray hair swayed slightly in the wind.


    The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation failed to show an effect? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he quickly retreated. He wanted to simultaneously draw both the Bamboo Blade and Immortal Culling Sword.


    There was only one possibility for his opponent to ignore the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. The other party¡¯s strength was enough to tear through the void.


    However, before Zhou Wen could draw the saber and sword, the humanoid creature pressed down with both hands and forcefully sheathed the saber and sword back. At the same time, it turned around and kicked Zhou Wen in the chest.


    These actions were done in one fell swoop, so fast that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t react despite seeing him move. His body flew out like a cannonball and slammed into a wall.


    Boom!


    An ancient building collapsed under Zhou Wen¡¯s weight. Despite having Absolute Defense, his Prisoned Dragon armor had a footprint-shaped hole.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sternum fractured in numerous areas. All his bones seemed to have fallen apart during the collision. If not for the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s protection, all his bones would have shattered.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen endured the pain from his injuries and instant transmitted away. Almost at the same time, the collapsed building was blasted apart by a terrifying force.


    Zhou Wen ducked left the moment he finished instant transmission. At the same time, he pointed an ancient mirror at the spot where he had appeared, shooting out rainbow beams.


    The humanoid creature was already there as expected. At such a close distance and with the Soul Mirror¡¯s mirror beam traveling at the speed of light, the humanoid creature¡¯s reaction time was minute, almost negligiblein theory.


    Despite being so close, the humanoid creature managed to react. Its figure blurred in Zhou Wen¡¯s vision as it dodged the Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light.


    Without waiting for the Soul Mirror¡¯s divine light to stop, Zhou Wen used instant transmission. He knew that he was in deep sh*t.


    To be able to dodge the Soul Mirror¡¯s light at such a distance meant that he was at least at the Hell level or above. He might even be at the Heaven Realm.


    What was even more terrifying was that the other party¡¯s strength came from the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. It was unadulterated physical strength. To be able to cultivate his body to such a level, be it speed or strength, was not something Zhou Wen could match.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen wanted to follow up his instant transmission with another. The gap between them wasn¡¯t even a tenth of a second, but in that split second, he was grabbed by the humanoid creature and punched in the face.


    Half of the Prisoned Dragon helmet cratered in, along with half of Zhou Wen¡¯s face as his body flew to the side.


    In midair, before Zhou Wen even slammed into the wall, the humanoid creature appeared in front of him again and kicked his head.


    Half of Zhou Wen¡¯s face was deformed as his cheekbones collapsed. His head had been severely injured and the other party¡¯s speed was very fast, but Zhou Wen ultimately reacted. When he was in midair, he used another instant transmission.


    Clang!


    The humanoid creature had already sent a punch over the moment he phased into existence, giving him no chance to dodge. However, Zhou Wen crossed his saber and sword and blocked the incoming punch.


    Unfortunately, the humanoid creature had immense strength. The saber and sword slammed into Zhou Wen¡¯s chest, sending him flying. He lost his grip on the saber and sword as they fell. Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to draw them out of their scabbards. Otherwise, the saber and sword would have sliced him apart. He might have been diced to pieces.


    ¡°Come out!¡± Zhou Wen summoned a Golden Battle God and shielded himself.


    Indeed, the humanoid creature had already arrived behind him and struck at the Golden Battle God. The Terror-grade Golden Battle God was shattered by his strike as his palm continued in its trajectory towards Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    Using the instant he won from sacrificing the Golden Battle God, Zhou Wen finally instant transmitted out again. The Soul Mirror he had thrown into the air also shot out the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light at the humanoid creature.


    It was useless. His speed was too fast. The Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light couldn¡¯t keep up with him.


    The humanoid figure flashed behind the Soul Mirror and threw a punch at it.


    With the strength of his fist, even the Soul Mirror probably couldn¡¯t withstand it. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had expected this and had already unsummoned the Soul Mirror ahead of time. When his fist struck down, the Soul Mirror transformed into a stream of light that returned to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen immediately summoned it again. He held the Soul Mirror with both hands and activated the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light.


    The four types of divine light traveled at the speed of light. In theory, their speeds were the same, but Zhou Wen felt that the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light was clearly faster than the other three types of divine light.


    Zhou Wen directed the Soul Mirror to emit divine light in the direction where the humanoid creature wasn¡¯t standing, but when the divine light shot out, the humanoid creature appeared in its path.


    Success! Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw that he had successfully predicted the humanoid creature¡¯s movement.


    If the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light could store the humanoid creature in the Soul Mirror, his life would be saved.


    However, when the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light shone on the humanoid creature, he only paused for a moment before immediately rushing out of its range. What the hell is this fellow? Why would such a creature appear in Guide Ancient City? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t just want to vomit blood-in fact, blood kept gushing out of his mouth as half his face was mangled. He threw out the Soul Mirror with his left hand and grabbed the Immortal Culling Sword with his right hand. Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword and slashed backwards with Immortal Slaying.


    The humanoid creature was indeed there. When it saw Zhou Wen slash at it, it didn¡¯t dodge. It extended its hand and grabbed at the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Crack!


    The sword beam shattered like glass. The humanoid creature¡¯s palm grabbed the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s blade without suffering any damage.


    It¡¯s over! Just as Zhou Wen had this thought, he felt an unstoppable force coming from the hilt.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was thrown into the air and smashed into the ground, shattering the stone slabs there. The stone fragments mixed with the armor fragments flew up. As for Zhou Wen who was spitting out blood, his eyes were bloodshot as his body rapidly plummeted into the ground.

 Chapter 1467 - A Narrow Escape

    Chapter 1467 A Narrow Escape


    As he was smashed into the ground, Zhou Wen used the Chaos Egg to protect himself. This was his strongest defense.


    Zhou Wen used Spacetime Bandit inside the Chaos Egg and slashed out Immortal Slaying.


    Bang!


    The Chaos Egg bounced upon hitting the bottom. The power of Immortal Slaying under the effects of Spacetime Bandit was simultaneously released from its previous spot and slashed at the spot where the humanoid monster was standing.


    Even the Soul Mirror¡¯s speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the humanoid monster, much less Immortal Slaying¡¯s speed.


    The humanoid monster¡¯s body flashed. Not only did he dodge the power of Immortal Slaying, but he also appeared above the Chaos Egg. He clenched his fingers into a fist and punched the Chaos Egg.


    Bang!


    The Chaos Egg was severely deformed and nearly turned into an awl. It slammed into the ground, blasting open a huge crater. The Chaos Egg didn¡¯t shatter as it bounced back and bounced everywhere in the ancient building.


    The Chaos Egg was instantly filled with solid Essence Energy crystals. They inflated the Chaos Egg, pushing it to the brink.


    Bang!


    Another punch struck the Chaos Egg, causing it to explode. The Essence Energy Crystals inside exploded like stars as Zhou Wen¡¯s body fell out.


    Blood spewed out of Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth amidst his horror. Even the Chaos Egg had only managed to block two punches. With his damaged body, he probably couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike. Even if he wasn¡¯t hit in a vital spot, he would probably die. Sigh of the King¡­ I¡¯ll really die if you don¡¯t come out¡­ From the looks of it, I can only use that move¡­ Zhou Wen had already predicted the location of the humanoid monster¡¯s appearance, but in his present state, he couldn¡¯t even dodge. Even if he barely teleported, he would probably be killed by the humanoid monster the moment he phased into existence.


    Instead of dying when the time came, he might as well risk it and use his ultimate move.


    The humanoid monster instantly arrived at a speed beyond Zhou Wen¡¯s senses. Zhou Wen stopped looking and summoned all his Companion Beasts.


    ¡°Truth Listener¡­ Come out¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s will shouted crazily, but Truth Listener in its earring form remained unmoved. It had no intention of coming out.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    In an instant, countless Companion Beasts that stood in front of the humanoid monster were killed.


    Thankfully, when Zhou Wen summoned his Companion Beasts, he deliberately placed them like the Golden Battle God Halberd on the front. His main combat pets like Banana Fairy and Demonic Neonate were summoned to the side.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare hesitate. He bent his legs and wanted to kneel down to force the silent Sigh of the King out. At this critical moment, he couldn¡¯t care less.


    However, the humanoid monster was too fast. Just as Zhou Wen¡¯s knees bent, the humanoid monster¡¯s fist arrived in front of him.


    Oh no, it¡¯s too late! Zhou Wen was alarmed. Although Banana Fairy and the other Companion Beasts had already attacked the humanoid monster¡¯s location with all their might, Banana Fairy¡¯s terrifying Chaos Wind and Torch Dragon¡¯s Bright Torch Vision World failed to injure him. To the humanoid monster, the Chaos Wind was no different from a breeze in spring. It couldn¡¯t even stop him for an instant.


    Just as the blurry fist was about to land on Zhou Wen¡¯s face, it suddenly stopped as though something had blocked it. However, there was nothing in front of Zhou Wen.


    That humanoid monster suddenly showed kindness? Or did he suddenly realize that I resemble his long-lost father and can¡¯t bear to attack me? Zhou Wen saw the monster stop there with its fist hanging in front of him without advancing. Many thoughts flashed through his mind.


    Ring!


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, the attacks of Banana Fairy and the other Companion Beasts landed on the humanoid monster, but they were useless.


    However, when a strange chime sounded, the humanoid monster suddenly hugged his head as though he was in extreme pain.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he was delighted. He looked up and saw Demonic Neonate holding the Heaven Shrouding Bell in her hand. She was rapidly shaking it. The sound waves that undulated from the Heaven Shrouding Bell spread out like water ripples, forming a strange spatial barrier. No senses could pass through the barrier formed by the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    Banana Fairy, Torch Dragon, Limitless Demon Dragon King, and other attacks constantly struck the humanoid creature, but he didn¡¯t dodge or counterattack. All he did was hug his head with both hands as his body constantly trembled.


    However, the attacks were useless against the humanoid monster. Even when the Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-Extinguishing Light shone on the humanoid monster, it only made him roar as though he was in extreme pain. It didn¡¯t wipe away his soul.


    ¡°Neonate, well done!¡± No matter how stupid Zhou Wen was, he could tell that the power that really affected the humanoid monster was the Heaven Shrouding Bell in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand.


    Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t used the Heaven Shrouding Bell much since she had obtained it. She had never used it against powerful creatures.


    Zhou Wen imagined that the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s power had weakened in her hands. After all, Demonic Neonate¡¯s level was too low. It was normal for the Heaven Shrouding Bell she had absorbed to suffer a loss in level.


    He never expected the Heaven Shrouding Bell to be effective at such a critical moment.


    ¡°Neonate, continue maintaining it.¡± Zhou Wen unsummoned his Companion Beasts and only left Soul Mirror and Demonic Neonate out. The Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light was still effective against the humanoid monster.


    Zhou Wen retreated towards the ancient city¡¯s exit as Demonic Neonate rang the bell. At the same time, he picked up the Immortal Culling Sword that had flown out of his hand.


    Zhou Wen observed the humanoid monster as he retreated. The Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s power didn¡¯t injure him, but what puzzled Zhou Wen was that the Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s power wasn¡¯t a psyche attack, but from the looks of it, the humanoid monster seemed to be suffering from a psyche attack.


    Strange, the Heaven Shrouding Bell is clearly a spatial power. How can it have such an effect? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    The Soul Mirror¡¯s attacks were clearly psychic in nature, but its effects weren¡¯t as good as the Heaven Shrouding Bell.


    Although the Heaven Shrouding Bell was indeed effective, it didn¡¯t seem like it could kill the humanoid monster. All Zhou Wen wanted to do now was leave Guide Ancient City and survive.


    The humanoid monster kept hugging his head and trembling. In the beginning, he would let out a low roar due to the power of the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. However, behind him, only his body trembled. There was silence.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean that his vitality had weakened. On the contrary, the humanoid monster showed no signs of dying. Instead, his vitality increased.


    Zhou Wen was about to reach the entrance. Just as he was about to unsummon Demonic Neonate and the Soul Mirror before escaping, he suddenly heard a voice. ¡°Wait, child.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s body shook as he realized that the humanoid monster had stopped trembling. He straightened his back and stared at him. The person who spoke was none other than the humanoid monster.

 Chapter 1468 - Demonstrating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra

    Chapter 1468 Demonstrating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra


    ¡°Child, don¡¯t be afraid. I won¡¯t harm you. At least not now,¡± the humanoid monster said faintly as he stood there without any intention of attacking Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen kept his back against the door. Although he didn¡¯t immediately rush out, he was fully focused. If anything went wrong, he would immediately rush out the door.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the humanoid monster. He could sense that the humanoid monster was somewhat different from before, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was different.


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer worthy of having a name.¡± The humanoid monster sighed and said, ¡°Child, I don¡¯t have much time. I have some questions for you. In this world, are humans still human?¡± ¡°What else can humans be if they aren¡¯t humans?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    The humanoid monster seemed to understand something as he said in enlightenment, ¡°Are there still pure-blooded humans in this world?¡±


    ¡°Am I not a pure-blooded human?¡± Seeing that the Soul Mirror was useless against him, Zhou Wen wanted to unsummon it. ¡°Don¡¯t unsummon the mirror. Its existence gives me more time,¡± the humanoid monster seemed to see through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts and spoke first.


    The Heaven Shrouding Bell in Demonic Neonate¡¯s heart continued to shake without any intention of stopping.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as though he had figured out something. He got the Soul Mirror to continue spewing out the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light at the humanoid monster.


    The humanoid monster sized up Zhou Wen and shook its head. ¡°No, you aren¡¯t a pure human. Although I can¡¯t sense the dimension¡¯s bloodline in you, pure humans are unable to break through the limits of the Deva Realm. As for you, you have long passed the limits of the Deva Realm.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Deva Realm? Are you referring to the advancement to the Mythical stage?¡± Zhou Wen pondered.


    ¡°Mythical? You can say that.¡± The humanoid monster thought for a moment and nodded slightly. Then, it asked, ¡°Are there any pure-blooded humans left in this world?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Can you tell me who you are?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯m ashamed to continue having a name.¡± The humanoid monster refused to say anything. He sighed and said, ¡°As long as there are pure-blooded humans, there¡¯s still hope. Although the chances are slim, there¡¯s still a chance.¡±


    After a pause, the humanoid monster pondered and said, ¡°Child, I don¡¯t have much time left. Now, you have to remember every word I say. Although you aren¡¯t a pure human, human blood flows in you. Remember my words. Tell it to every human. This will affect the fate of the entire human race.¡± ¡°Tell me.¡± Zhou Wen sized up the humanoid monster in puzzlement, guessing his origins and how trustworthy his words were.


    ¡°Firstly, humans have to maintain a pure bloodline. Under no circumstances are they to fuse with dimensional bloodlines. Otherwise, the entire human race will be wiped out.¡±


    Zhou Wen gaped his mouth to say something, but he was interrupted by the humanoid monster. Then, he continued, ¡°Secondly, kill all the invading dimensional creatures. We can¡¯t let them control the land.¡±


    ¡°Third, find a ship with such a mark. There¡¯s a woman on that ship. Kill her,¡± the humanoid monster said as he extended his finger and drew a symbol on the ground.


    Zhou Wen nearly cried out when he saw the symbol.


    This was because the symbol drawn by the humanoid monster was the symbol of the anchor and the woman¡¯s side profile.


    ¡°The woman you want killed is the woman in the symbol?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he pointed at the drawing on the ground.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The humanoid monster nodded slightly. ¡°You have to do these three things. If you can¡¯t do any of them, the entire human race might very well be destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Why must these three things be done? Who¡¯s that woman?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I don¡¯t have that much time. I¡¯ll next demonstrate the Ancient Sovereign Sutra for you. This is the second half of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. With this second half, pure humans will have a chance to break through the limit of the Deva Realm. Although it¡¯s still extremely unlikely, there¡¯s still that rare chance¡­¡±


    As the humanoid monster spoke, the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra over his body bloomed. One could clearly sense the Essence Energy circulation in his body. ¡°Everything in the world has its specialty. The tiger has claws; the bird has wings; the fish has scales and gills, but only humans don¡¯t have any specialties. They don¡¯t have sharp claws or teeth, nor do they have wings that can fly, nor do they have the ability to secrete poison, much less survive in water. Humans are so incompatible in this world as though they don¡¯t belong to this world.¡±


    The humanoid monster continued while circulating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, ¡°As long as everything in the world evolves to a certain level, they can easily break through the limits of the Deva Realm. However, no matter how hard humans work, they are unable to break through this step. Countless human sages have tried their best their entire lives, but they failed to take that step.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign once comprehended the Dao. He said that the land is a cage for humans. Humans are trapped here to suffer all kinds of suffering. It¡¯s difficult for them to transcend even across generations. They are nothing but prisoners.¡± The power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra over the humanoid monster became stronger and stronger. He was like a sun that emitted a terrifying vitality.


    ¡°Only by exceeding the limits of the Deva Realm can one be liberated from this cage of suffering. However, the human body seems to be shackled, or perhaps it has some flaws. Even a genius can¡¯t break through the limits of the Deva Realm by themselves.¡±


    When the humanoid monster said that, he became spirited. ¡°I transformed into a devil and broke through the limits of the Deva Realm. Although this body has been crippled and I can¡¯t recover my human body, I¡¯ve also figured out a way to help my race break through the shackles. I¡¯ve completed the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and obtained a sliver of life for the human race. You have to remember this method and pass it on to the world. As long as a pure human can advance to the Mythical stage, it will be the hope of all humanity¡­¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ Can I interrupt¡­¡± Zhou Wen said with an odd expression.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say anything else. Listen to me and sense my realm. Although you can no longer cultivate the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, as a human evangelist of the Dao, you will definitely leave your name in history¡­¡± The humanoid monster then demonstrated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra as he chanted.


    Zhou Wen wanted to tell the humanoid monster that he was a pure-blooded human, but he failed to interject.


    The humanoid monster¡¯s strength was unimaginably terrifying. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra he demonstrated had a domineering aura that defied the heavens. Zhou Wen could even sense the scene of a battle forged through blood and fire, one that could collapse the world.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra he recited was something that wasn¡¯t on the monument.


    Zhou Wen however realized that the supplementary parts of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra were clearly different from what he had figured out.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra only had content after the Mythical stage, so Zhou Wen¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra was a path he had taken himself. The other party had also taken a path himself. The two paths were completely different.


    Despite having the same foundation, the Essence Energy Art developed in two completely different directions.

 Chapter 1469 - Two Versions of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra

    Chapter 1469 Two Versions of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra


    Zhou Wen watched the humanoid monster demonstrate. Although the humanoid monster¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra was different from his, the other party¡¯s realm and level were much higher than his. He could draw some experience from him.


    Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss after watching for some time. Although the humanoid monster¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra was indeed very powerful and high-level, it was too different from Zhou Wen¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra. There wasn¡¯t much point in referencing it. ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to ask the question on his mind.


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak. Engrave every word I say firmly in your soul. These are the fruits of labor earned from the sacrifices of generations of human sages. You have to pass it down. It doesn¡¯t matter if you don¡¯t understand it. Just remember it¡­¡± The humanoid monster¡¯s expression was solemn as he continued demonstrating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue listening as he thought to himself, Even if it¡¯s useless for me, I can find a human to inherit this Essence Energy Art in the future.


    Towards the end of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s demonstration, the aura of the humanoid creature was so powerful that it nearly broke through the firmaments.


    This was thankfully a dimensional zone. If they were outside, it would probably quake areas thousands of kilometers away.


    Zhou Wen, however, vaguely felt that with the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s demonstration, the aura of the humanoid creature gradually began to turn odd. If it was purely the Ancient Sovereign¡¯s aura in the beginning, it was almost impossible to tell if he was a human or a dimensional creature. The dimensional creature¡¯s aura became more and more obvious with time.


    The humanoid creature finally finished demonstrating the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and stopped. The aura from his body continued surging like a stormy sea.


    ¡°Have you memorized it? There¡¯s not much time left. If there¡¯s anything you can¡¯t remember, quickly ask.¡± The humanoid creature seemed to be enduring some pain as his voice trembled.


    ¡°I¡¯ve memorized it, but I have an important question to ask,¡± Zhou Wen said as he switched his Essence Energy Art to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to prevent the humanoid creature from interrupting him again.


    The sun-like Ancient Sovereign appeared in front of Zhou Wen before he asked, ¡°I¡¯ve also cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra on the stone monument, but the path I took later was somewhat different from what you demonstrated. It¡¯s even at odds with yours. Can you tell me why?¡±.


    The humanoid monster wanted to interrupt him when he heard the first half of the sentence, hoping to finish explaining everything as soon as possible.


    However, his eyes widened as he lost control of his emotions and cried out when he saw the Human Sovereign projection that Zhou Wen had summoned. ¡°How is this possible? You managed to raise the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to the Terror grade? But I can¡¯t sense any dimensional power from you. That¡¯s impossible!¡±


    Sovereign Sutra was actually simulated in the beginning. As long as he didn¡¯t switch to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, he wouldn¡¯t possess the aura of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Although the humanoid monster had cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to an extremely high realm, he still couldn¡¯t sense it.


    He couldn¡¯t believe it when he suddenly saw Zhou Wen summon the Human Sovereign projection.


    ¡°Yes, it hasn¡¯t been long since my Ancient Sovereign Sutra advanced to the Terror grade, but there¡¯s a problem with it. Anyone injured by the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra will rapidly recover from their injuries. Even an ant can¡¯t be killed. Is there any way to resolve this problem?¡± Zhou Wen had always found the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s characteristic depressing. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s augmentation of strength was potent, but it couldn¡¯t kill anyone. It was useless no matter how much it strengthened him.


    The humanoid monster looked at Zhou Wen with an ambivalent look. He was clearly the monster, but now, he looked at Zhou Wen like he was looking at a monster.


    ¡°Are humans nowadays like you? How many people have mastered the Ancient Sovereign Sutra? How many have relied on the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to break through the limits of


    with a complicated expression.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of anyone. Perhaps there might be some, but I don¡¯t know of them.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if anyone else had cultivated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. The stone monument was sitting right there after all. Anyone could see it. Perhaps someone had mastered it.


    ¡°In other words, you learned the Ancient Sovereign Sutra completely independently. No one guided you to reach basic mastery?¡± the humanoid monster asked again. ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°Is there a problem? Could it be that my Ancient Sovereign Sutra can¡¯t injure others because I¡¯ve cultivated it wrongly?¡± The humanoid monster said with a strange expression, ¡°The ancient Human Sovereign is the sovereign of humanity. Every Human Sovereign is the sovereign that humanity pins its hopes on, and they are willing to sacrifice everything for humanity. Every Human Sovereign has the determination to sacrifice themselves to achieve righteousness. What they want is not to kill, but to let humanity live.¡±


    With that said, the humanoid monster sighed softly. ¡°However, this path isn¡¯t feasible. Even the sovereigns of humanity like Suirenshi and Shennong, who had risked everything for humans, were unable to break through the limits of the Deva Realm. In the end, they had no choice but to sacrifice themselves to transform into a devil and seek other paths. That¡¯s how I have the Ancient Sovereign Sutra I cultivate now.¡±


    The humanoid monster gave Zhou Wen and Human Sovereign a deep look before sighing. ¡°If I had known that someone could cultivate the Ancient Sovereign Sutra with a pure human body, I wouldn¡¯t have taken so many detours.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Since they are the sovereigns of humanity, they have to lead the human race to fight foreign enemies. If they can¡¯t kill the enemy, wouldn¡¯t the Ancient Sovereign Sutra be mostly crippled?¡± Zhou Wen still felt that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra he cultivated was somewhat problematic.


    ¡°Sovereigns are different from emperors. Emperors kill, but sovereigns subdue the enemy without fighting. Killing is just a temporary solution, a highly ineffective plan. If one can really make the opponent submit and be used, wouldn¡¯t that be a boon? Rearing livestock and planting food are all ways to turn enemies into friends. They are many times stronger than the person who only knows how to kill. How can they be on the same level?


    ¡°Wrong¡­ It¡¯s all wrong¡­ I never expected that the efforts of generations of people, who even


    have taken the wrong path¡­¡± The humanoid monster¡¯s voice gradually became strange. It was as though he had gradually lost his feelings and had become cold and heartless.


    ¡°GO¡­ Live on with your Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡­ I¡¯m almost unable to control this body¡­ Remember the three things I said¡­ If you can¡¯t do it¡­ Don¡¯t ever return to Ancient Sovereign City¡­ Find someone suitable to pass on the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡­ until someone can do it¡­ Then, let him return to Ancient Sovereign City¡­¡± The humanoid monster¡¯s eyes became more and more ferocious as though he had changed into a different person.


    Although Zhou Wen still had many questions to ask, he could tell that the humanoid monster was about to lose control. The Heaven Shrouding Bell¡¯s isolation ability couldn¡¯t help the humanoid monster resist the control of some force.


    ¡°Farewell!¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare hesitate. He wasn¡¯t the humanoid monster¡¯s match, so he could only escape.


    At the instant Zhou Wen unsummoned Demonic Neonate and the Soul Mirror, the humanoid monster completely lost control and vanished. Thankfully, Zhou Wen had already instant transmitted with Spacetime Bandit. As he unsummoned his Companion Beasts, he rushed out of Guide City.


    The interior and exterior of the city were almost two different worlds. Large numbers of skeleton creatures constantly crawled out of the moat outside the city. There was no lack of Mythical creatures among them.


    Zhou Wen used the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation to clean up the nearby skeleton creatures. When he arrived at an uninhabited area in the city, he suddenly shouted, ¡°Come out!¡±

 Chapter 1470 - Touch

    Chapter 1470 Touch


    Zhou Wen waited for a while, but no one came out. He said, ¡°Sweetie, I know you¡¯re here. Come out.¡±


    Sweetie walked out of a tree not far away after a while. She lowered her head and avoided eye contact like a child who had made a mistake.


    ¡°You were the one who helped me block that punch, right?¡± Zhou Wen immediately understood that his guess was right when he saw Sweetie.


    Before Demonic Neonate could ring the Heaven Shrouding Bell and before Zhou Wen could kneel, the humanoid monster¡¯s fist had suddenly stopped. It definitely wasn¡¯t a coincidence.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that Sweetie was the most likely candidate.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to save you. It¡¯s just a coincidence. Yes, a coincidence.¡± Sweetie lowered her head and fiddled with her clothes, not daring to look up at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but pity Sweetie when he saw that she was like a child who wasn¡¯t good at expressing herself. He reached out to stroke her hair.


    This was because Zhou Wen was an introverted person. Even though he treated others well, he wasn¡¯t willing to say it out loud. Sweetie reminded Zhou Wen of himself.


    Sweetie was flustered and didn¡¯t think too much. When Zhou Wen touched her hair, she suddenly recalled that sinners couldn¡¯t be touched-they would be turned into gold.


    ¡°No!¡± Sweetie exclaimed as she retreated. However, she knew that it was too late. She looked at Zhou Wen and was alarmed to discover him standing there with his hand still in the air. He looked extremely puzzled as though he was surprised by Sweetie¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡¯re fine?¡± Sweetie realized that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t turned into gold. He didn¡¯t have any metal on him, much less turn into gold.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Only then did Zhou Wen recall that the people who had turned into gold seemed to be related to Sweetie. He couldn¡¯t help but break out into a cold sweat.


    ¡°Try touching me again.¡± Sweetie still couldn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t turned into gold when he touched her.


    Zhou Wen was a big baddie from every angle she could tell. He was definitely riddled with sins, but she found it unbelievable that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t turn into a golden statue.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need, right?¡± Zhou Wen took half a step back. He was afraid that it had been an accident. An adverse outcome would be bad if he touched her again.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be fine.¡± Sweetie stubbornly walked in front of Zhou Wen and reached out to grab his hand before placing it on her head.


    Indeed, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t show any signs of turning into gold. Not only did he not turn into gold, but there was also a mysterious force that quickly healed Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries.


    Such serious injuries recovered in just moments. There were no longer any signs of injury.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed, but he heaved a sigh of relief. He bent his fingers slightly and ruffled Sweetie¡¯s hair. ¡°Thank you for saving me. Tell me what you want. I¡¯ll definitely deliver it to you as long as I can obtain it.¡± Sweetie shook her head and said with a strange expression, ¡°I don¡¯t want anything. Furthermore, I¡¯ve already broken the rules. Someone will soon take me away. I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t have the chance to meet again in the future.¡±


    ¡°What rules did you violate? Who will take you away? With your abilities, who can take you away if you don¡¯t wish to leave?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Sweetie only shook her head and didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen¡¯s question. She pushed away his hand that was pressing on her head and glared at him. ¡°Don¡¯t let me know about any evil you do in the future, or I won¡¯t spare you.¡± With that said, Sweetie turned around and left.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and stopped Sweetie.


    ¡°What for?¡± Sweetie turned her head and asked.


    ¡°This is yours, right?¡± Zhou Wen took out the candy box and lemon candy and threw them at Sweetie.


    ¡°So it was with you. Where did you get it?¡± Sweetie caught the candy box and the lemon candy and couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.


    Zhou Wen recounted the process of obtaining the candy box and the lemon candy. After Sweetie heard that, she muttered to herself thoughtfully, ¡°I see. So that¡¯s how it is. It¡¯s no wonder I couldn¡¯t find it despite searching for so long. So she stole it.¡±


    ¡°Now that the item has returned to its rightful owner, you should be at ease,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about? I¡¯ve never been worried.¡± Sweetie didn¡¯t know why, but she suddenly felt angry. She threw the candy box and lemon candy at Zhou Wen and said angrily, ¡°Who wants your things? Since you painstakingly obtained them, keep them for yourself.¡±


    With that said, she vanished without giving Zhou Wen a chance to speak.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re here to find these things, why don¡¯t you want them?¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure out what Sweetie was up to. However, since it was Sweetie¡¯s, the candy probably wasn¡¯t ordinary. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare use it recklessly as he put away the candy and candy box.


    When Zhou Wen stormed back to the city, he saw that Luoyang¡¯s reinforcements had arrived. They were setting up the defenses, gradually bringing the skeleton army in the vicinity of Guide Ancient City under control.


    ¡°Young Master, the situation is already under control. You don¡¯t have to worry.¡± An Sheng had personally led his men over to provide support. It was obvious that Luoyang valued this matter greatly. ¡°Guide Ancient City has a terrifying creature inside. Don¡¯t let anyone in,¡± Zhou Wen said to An Sheng.


    ¡°What creature is it?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what kind of creature the humanoid monster was. Perhaps he had been human in the past, but now, he existed as a dimensional creature.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand what the three conditions he mentioned meant. Why were there three conditions?


    ¡°Young Master, I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be easy to stay in Guide City. Overseer has the intention of migrating everyone in Guide City to Luoyang,¡± An Sheng whispered.


    ¡°Why? Isn¡¯t the situation under control now?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Young Master, you are from Guide City. You should know how many terrifying legends there are in this place. Guide Ancient City is only the beginning. Places like Butterfly Valley will definitely suffer a breakout in the future. Ignoring the fact that Guide City¡¯s military can¡¯t hold the line now, if all the mysteries here break out, they probably won¡¯t be able to hold on even if all of Luoyang¡¯s army is deployed,¡± An Sheng said.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew how terrifying the myths in Guide City were. From the ancient mythical era to the feudal dynasty, this place had once been under the dazzling spotlight. The Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors were more or less related to this area. There were also countless famous and virtuous paragons like Lao Tze who were born in this area. The Butterfly Valley with the Essence Crystal mine was also near Guide City. Zhou Wen had always suspected that it had something to do with Master Zhuang.

 Chapter 1471 - Sovereign Sui’s Tomb

    Chapter 1471 Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb


    Are we abandoning Guide? Zhou Wen looked at the distant Guide Ancient City as he guessed.


    Humans were at a disadvantage and were unable to gain a foothold in the vicinity. However, as humanity grew stronger, a place with rich dimensional zones like Guide City would definitely become a place the various factions would vie for.


    Compared to Luoyang, Zhou Wen actually wished to stay in Guide City. After all, this was his hometown.


    It¡¯s indeed impossible to defend Guide City now. Is there a way to first settle down inside a dimensional zone? Zhou Wen kept thinking.


    However, the nearby dimensional zones didn¡¯t have suitable locations. Even if Zhou Wen wanted to occupy a dimensional zone, he couldn¡¯t find a suitable place.


    Originally, Guide Ancient City was most suitable, but there was an extremely terrifying existence inside. Even Zhou Wen would die if he entered, much less ordinary people.


    He didn¡¯t stay any longer and headed for school since the situation had stabilized.


    Zhou Wen was immediately recognized by the students and people who had come to seek refuge after he entered the school. However, they didn¡¯t dare surround him. They only whispered from afar and secretly discussed him.


    Seeing that there was no threat here, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Golden Battle God that was guarding the area. Just as he was about to seek out Yu Qiubai, he saw him walk over.


    ¡°It¡¯s quieter over at my side. Let¡¯s have a seat over there,¡± Yu Qiubai said consolingly as he looked at Zhou Wen.


    Back then, the school¡¯s management had persuaded him not to interfere with Zhou Wen¡¯s matters to prevent him from offending Overseer An. Despite the immense pressure, he had still helped Zhou Wen get into Sunset College.


    No one expected that the student back then would now stand at the top of the human pyramid and would even save the school from destruction.


    Even Yu Qiubai himself sometimes wondered if this was a dream-it was simply too beautiful.


    ¡°Sir, have some tea.¡± Zhou Wen served the brewed tea to Yu Qiubai before interrupting his thoughts.


    ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your timely return. Otherwise, none of these students would have survived,¡± Yu Qiubai said as he held the teacup.


    ¡°This is what I, as a student, should do.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked, ¡°Sir, Luoyang plans on moving all the people from Guide City to Luoyang. What are your thoughts on this?¡±


    ¡°Guide City has plenty of dimensional zones. However, no one can hold down these dimensional zones at present. However, with humanity¡¯s overall strength increasing, it will definitely be a treasure land in the future. It¡¯s best if we occupy it sooner rather than later,¡± Yu Qiubai said.


    ¡°Sir, I share your thoughts, but I¡¯m just one person. I don¡¯t have people under me, so I¡¯m afraid we won¡¯t be able to have a foothold,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to occupy the entire Guide City now even if there are people and food. Furthermore, those dimensional zones are changing. It¡¯s hard to tell what will happen in the future. If we want to seek quick success, I¡¯m afraid it will end in failure.¡± Yu Qiubai added after some thought, ¡°If you really wish to stay in Guide City, I have a suggestion. You can first occupy a dimensional zone and gain a foothold before slowly developing it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I had in mind too, but I wonder which dimensional zone is more suitable. Do you have any suggestions?¡± Zhou Wen really wanted to stay in Guide City.


    Ignoring everything else, just the humanoid monster and stone saber in Guide Ancient City was worth Zhou Wen staying behind.


    ¡°I do have an idea.¡± Yu Qiubai got up and took out a map of Guide City from a bookshelf. Then, he spread it out on the table and pointed at a location. ¡°If you can take down this dimensional zone, it will be a boon for both offense and defense in the future. Even if a powerful enemy attacks, you can use the dimensional zones¡¯ powers to fend them off¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction Yu Qiubai had pointed, and saw that the name was ¡°Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb.¡±


    ¡°Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Yu Qiubai in surprise.


    Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was Suirenshi¡¯s mausoleum. It was very close to the ancient city and was almost right beside Fire God Platform. Later on, after the dimensional zones transformed, Fire God Platform ended up connected to Ancient City. However, the Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb wasn¡¯t connected to Ancient City, forming an independent dimensional zone.


    Although Sovereign Sui had brought fire to humanity, Fire God Platform wasn¡¯t his territory. Fire God Platform was actually the earliest star observatory in the East District. It belonged to E Bo.


    The reason Zhou Wen was surprised was that ever since the dimensional storms, Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb had become extremely mysterious. It was said that one couldn¡¯t even enter, so how could one build a base there?


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb.¡± Seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s puzzled look, Yu Qiubai laughed heartily. ¡°Over the years in Guide City, I haven¡¯t done much, but I¡¯ve studied Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Although I don¡¯t know it like the back of my hand, I do know it well. If you have any ideas, I can take you in to take a look.¡±


    ¡°Sir, do you have a way of entering? That¡¯s great.¡± Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was beside Ancient City and was considered the center of Guide City. With this as a base, it would be convenient for him to develop his surroundings in the future.


    Being close to Ancient City was what Zhou Wen wanted the most.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll take you there.¡± Yu Qiubai stood up with a smile. ¡°Sir, sorry for troubling you.¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly got up. ¡°I don¡¯t wish to leave after living here for so many years either. It¡¯s naturally best if I can stay,¡± Yu Qiubai said with a sigh.


    Zhou Wen followed Yu Qiubai to Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Along the way, he encountered some sporadic skeleton creatures that he easily killed.


    Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was perennially enveloped by clouds. It was impossible to fly in directly. Those who did never came out.


    Although Zhou Wen had spatial powers, he didn¡¯t dare use instant transmission.


    Strangely, Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb didn¡¯t have a door. It was said that there was a door in the past. After it became a dimensional zone, the door vanished. All that could be seen was a long wall.


    Even if one circled Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, they wouldn¡¯t find any entrance.


    ¡°Sir, how do we enter?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Yu Qiubai.


    Yu Qiubai said with a smile, ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Zhou Wen followed Yu Qiubai forward, but Yu Qiubai didn¡¯t approach Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Instead, he arrived in front of a very short stone temple.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that it was an Earth temple, but when he got closer, he realized that it wasn¡¯t earth, but a tiny strange beast.


    The tiny beast was carved from stone. The workmanship was very crude, and it had been weathered by the ravages of time.


    It looked like a fox squatting there.

 Chapter 1472 - Sovereign Sui’s Tomb Transformation

    Chapter 1472 Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb Transformation


    Yu Qiubai took out incense sticks he had prepared and lit three of them. He then handed the remaining three sticks to Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Offer the incense with three bows and you¡¯ll be teleported into the tomb.¡±


    ¡°Offer incense with three bows?¡± Zhou Wen took the incense sticks as his expression turned odd.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of this and was willing to offer incense, but based on his past experience, nothing good would come from him offering incense.


    Only those who offer incense can enter. If I blow up the stone statue, will I be able to enter? Zhou Wen hurriedly stopped Yu Qiubai when he saw that he was about to offer incense.


    ¡°Sir, it¡¯s best you let me go first.¡± Zhou Wen was afraid that Yu Qiubai would be trapped inside if he blew up the stone statue.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Although he didn¡¯t know why Zhou Wen wanted to bow first, Yu Qiubai stepped aside.


    Zhou Wen lit the incense sticks before walking towards the stone temple. He held the incense sticks with both hands and was about to bow to the stone statue.


    He heard a boom just as he bent his waist slightly. The stone statue had shifted several feet to the side, revealing a stone staircase that led down.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Yu Qiubai had entered Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb quite a number of times, but he had never encountered such a situation. He had no idea that there was a passageway behind the stone statue.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue bowing as he turned to ask Yu Qiubai, ¡°Sir, is this the path to Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve no idea. When I previously entered Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, I would enter the tomb like I was riding on clouds as long as I offered incense. I¡¯ve never seen this stone staircase,¡± Yu Qiubai said hesitantly.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll go in and take a look. Sir, wait for me outside,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked into the stone temple and walked down the stone steps.


    The stone steps weren¡¯t wide, allowing only one person to walk through. Furthermore, the tunnel¡¯s height was too short, so Zhou Wen had to bend his body to walk through. Thankfully, he didn¡¯t discover anything dangerous. When he reached the end of the stone steps, he discovered a pool.


    Zhou Wen scanned it and knew that the pool was connected to the outside. After diving into the water, he quickly crawled out of a fountain.


    This is Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb? Zhou Wen sized up his surroundings and discovered many strange statues. The statues were split into two rows that lined the sides of the stone path. Their shapes were extremely strange, making it impossible to tell what creatures they were.


    Zhou Wen looked at the end of the stone path and saw a huge stone statue. It was a statue of a man holding a torch.


    Is that Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue? Zhou Wen realized that although Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was huge, there wasn¡¯t a single dimensional creature inside.


    The stone statues didn¡¯t seem like anything else. Even if Zhou Wen reached out to touch them, nothing happened.


    Yu Qiubai walked in and looked around as he said, ¡°How¡¯s this place? Only by passing through the small temple can one enter. It¡¯s very difficult for outsiders to enter, and there aren¡¯t any dimensional creatures inside. The dimensional creatures outside can¡¯t enter either, so it shouldn¡¯t be too much of a problem to use it as a residential area.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if there will be any changes in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the stone statues and Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue.


    ¡°Suirenshi is a sovereign of humanity. Even if something happens, it shouldn¡¯t be too dangerous, right?¡± Yu Qiubai said.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen would have shared the same thoughts as Yu Qiubai, but ever since he met the humanoid monster in the ancient city, he no longer had such thoughts.


    Suirenshi was indeed a sovereign of humanity, but it was hard to say if he would harm humans after his demonization.


    Furthermore, although Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb looked safe, there was actually a hidden danger. Zhou Wen had already scanned the entire cemetery several times, but he didn¡¯t even find any bugs.


    How strange. It¡¯s such a huge cemetery that¡¯s big enough to build a city, but there aren¡¯t any dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen felt that this place wasn¡¯t as safe as it looked.


    ¡°After I discovered a way to enter Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, I studied it many times, but failed to find any dimensional creatures. Furthermore, dimensional creatures from other dimensional zones seldom approach Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb,¡± Yu Qiubai explained.


    Zhou Wen also noticed this. They had encountered quite a number of skeleton creatures on their trip here, but they didn¡¯t see a single one near Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. ¡°Let¡¯s talk outside.¡± Without discovering any problems, Zhou Wen left Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb with Yu Qiubai. He planned on searching the vicinity to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol.


    After leaving via the stone passageway, he arrived in front of the stone temple again. Zhou Wen scanned the stone temple several times, but he didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol.


    He circled the outer wall of Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb to no avail. He couldn¡¯t help but feel somewhat disappointed.


    Could this Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb really be a cemetery used to commemorate ancient sages? Although Zhou Wen felt that it couldn¡¯t be that simple, he really couldn¡¯t tell what was wrong.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what do you think?¡± Yu Qiubai asked.


    ¡°It does look very suitable for human habitation. The space is large enough and the entrance is hidden. Dimensional creatures don¡¯t seem to approach this place. It¡¯s very safe,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°If you plan on building a human city here, I believe many people will be willing to stay,¡± Yu Qiubai said.


    ¡°Let me think it through again.¡± After Zhou Wen sent Yu Qiubai back, he returned to Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb alone. He set up a lounge chair and a table under the statue. As he rested, he observed the situation inside.


    Zhou Wen also released Chick. He originally brought it here hoping that it could help, but he didn¡¯t manage to use it in the beginning. Later on, the humanoid monster was too powerful, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare release it.


    Chick was standing on the table, pecking at the nuts Zhou Wen had placed on the plate.


    Zhou Wen waited for more than ten hours without discovering any problems when Chick suddenly flapped its wings and flew up.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Chick wanted to get some exercise, but to his surprise, Chick flew towards Sovereign Sui¡¯s and landed on the torch held by it.


    Chick spat out a ball of phoenix flames. When the phoenix flames touched the torch, the torch that was originally made of stone started burning ¡°Chick, what are you doing?¡± Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, he suddenly realized that the entire cemetery seemed to undergo a strange change due to the burning of the torch.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly summoned his Companion Beast in alarm and prepared for combat.


    However, no dimensional creature appeared in the cemetery even after a while. Instead, the weeds and trees in the cemetery seemed to grow at a speed visible to the naked eye.

 Chapter 1473 - Zhou Wen’s Decision

    Chapter 1473 Zhou Wen¡¯s Decision


    In a corner of the cemetery, there was a wild pear tree. It hadn¡¯t been long since the fruiting season, but now, it was beginning to bloom again. Furthermore, it didn¡¯t take long before fruits began to fall.


    The various vegetation in the cemetery grew crazily. The originally short weeds had grown to the height of a person. The entire cemetery was covered in green.


    Not long after, pears grew on the wild pear tree. It took only slightly more than half an hour. At the speed the pears grew, they would completely ripen in less than an hour.


    Zhou Wen waited for a while and indeed, he saw the pear ripen. It looked plump and juicy. He reached out and plucked one and took a bite. Immediately, his mouth was filled with sweetness as though he had drunk honey.


    It¡¯s so sweet! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    He was delighted that the Sovereign Sui statue had such might, allowing vegetation to grow rapidly. If they could occupy this place, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food in the future. They would be self-sufficient and no one could besiege the people in here. It was the best place to build a base.


    What was surprising was that this power wasn¡¯t only effective against plants. If humans were also affected by this power, then what humans welcomed wasn¡¯t rapid growth, but rapid aging.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how many times a pear tree bore fruit a year. Even if it happened twice a year, it was very likely that half a year had passed in less than an hour.


    If humans experienced time with similar ratios, how long could they last?


    This was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. Perhaps the power of Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue didn¡¯t make animals age, but it was better to be safe than sorry.


    Furthermore, there wasn¡¯t a single dimensional creature or animal in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. This didn¡¯t seem to be a coincidence. According to these points of suspicion, the power of Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue might very well have an effect on animals. Therefore, no dimensional creature dared to stay in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Or rather, those dimensional creatures had already died due to the influence of the statue.


    What was even more terrifying was that this power wasn¡¯t as simple as a temporal power. If time was accelerated, Zhou Wen would definitely be able to sense it. However, other than sensing the blazing vitality emitted by the torch, he couldn¡¯t sense any negative energy.


    After being affected by the power of blessings, Zhou Wen knew that the most terrifying power in the world wasn¡¯t necessarily the ferocious and vicious ones.


    Instead, some seemingly beneficial powers were likely terrifying murderers hidden in the shadows.


    ¡°Chick, put out the fire,¡± Zhou Wen shouted at Chick who had landed on the top of Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue. He didn¡¯t dare take the risk. If the accelerating power was equally effective on him, wouldn¡¯t he quickly become an old man?


    When Chick heard Zhou Wen, it opened its mouth and sucked at the flames. The flames on the torch immediately transformed into a thin pillar that charged into Chick¡¯s mouth like a fountain.


    Moments later, all the flames were devoured by Chick. The torch in the hand of the Sovereign Sui statue stopped burning, and the plants in the cemetery stopped growing crazily. Zhou Wen waited for a while and was pleasantly surprised when he saw that nothing abnormal had happened to the plants. They just stopped growing rapidly. Such accelerated ripening would usually result in a rapid decline after losing the energy supply.


    The plants didn¡¯t show any signs of withering. This meant that they hadn¡¯t been excessively drained of their vitality, and was undoubtedly good news.


    Zhou Wen left Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, grabbed some wild animals, and sent them inside before getting Chick to light the torch.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. He left with Chick and planned on returning in a few days to take a look. If the animals died of old age, it would mean that Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb wasn¡¯t suitable as a human base.


    Of course, even if it couldn¡¯t be used as a human base, the power of Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was still very useful. Zhou Wen already planned on staying in Guide City. Regardless, he had to have Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb under his control.


    After returning to the Sunset Army¡¯s temporary command post and meeting An Sheng, Zhou Wen told him about his wish to stay in Guide City.


    ¡°Young Master, with your strength, it¡¯s not a problem for you to stay anywhere. However, have you ever thought that if you were the only one, what¡¯s the difference between staying or not? You are just one person, so even if you stay here, Guide City doesn¡¯t belong to you,¡± An Sheng said. Zhou Wen understood what An Sheng meant. If no one else worked for him and defended the plundering of the resources from the area, it didn¡¯t matter if he stayed or not. Even if he didn¡¯t stay, he could come over anytime he needed in the future. There was no point in staying here. ¡°I want to establish a human city here.¡± Zhou Wen had already thought it through. There was the stone saber here that even The Thearch coveted. There was the humanoid monster, Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, Butterfly Valley, and other dimensional zones. He didn¡¯t know how many dimensional zones had yet to be explored.


    It was undoubtedly most suitable to establish a human city here.


    It might be a little difficult in the beginning, but the value would increase with time. If it were only Zhou Wen himself, he had no intention of establishing a human city that belonged to him. However, the three conditions mentioned by the humanoid monster weren¡¯t something he could complete alone. This required the efforts of many humans.


    Zhou Wen only had the thought of establishing a city after leaving Ancient City.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to build houses, but to truly make those houses a city needs people. With Guide City¡¯s present dire environment, how many people will be willing to stay here?¡± An Sheng persuaded.


    ¡°I know it¡¯ll be very difficult, but I still want to give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°Young Master, since you¡¯ve already decided, I won¡¯t say another word. Just tell me what resources you need and how many people you need. I¡¯ll do my best to help you obtain them.¡±


    ¡°Thanks, Ah Sheng. However, I wish to do it by myself to the greatest extent.¡± Although Zhou Wen was very grateful, he still rejected An Sheng ¡°Alright, but you have to remember that we are family. No matter where you are, the people from Overseer Manor and I are always worth relying on. Don¡¯t shoulder burdens alone,¡± An Sheng said seriously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I can¡¯t do it, I¡¯ll definitely head to Luoyang to freeload. If there¡¯s really a need, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you and Sis Lan,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    An Sheng laughed out loud. ¡°Young Master Wen, how long are you going to keep up your spite with Overseer?¡±


    ¡°You have to ask An Tianzuo that. I¡¯m very easygoing. I never get into trouble with anyone, nor have I ever taken that particular person to heart,¡± Zhou Wen said seriously.


    An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen without a word, but his eyes seemed to have a hint of contempt, making Zhou Wen feel uncomfortable.

 Chapter 1474 - Reality

    Chapter 1474 Reality


    ¡°Preposterous!¡± An Tianzuo slammed his palm on the desk, nearly smashing it to pieces. It was obvious that he was in a bad mood.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a bad thing for Young Master Wen to stay in Guide City. It has plenty of dimensional zones and resources. It will definitely be an important place for all parties to vie for in the future. If Young Master Wen can successfully gain a foothold there, the benefits he will receive in the future will be hundreds of times greater,¡± An Sheng explained on the phone. ¡°Who doesn¡¯t know that Guide City will definitely become one of the most important places in the world in the future? But look at the six families. Who dares to occupy it? Without the corresponding strength, entering too early will only make them cannon fodder for the other factions,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly.


    ¡°Young Master Wen isn¡¯t an ordinary person. His strength isn¡¯t something the six families can compare with. Perhaps he can gain control of Guide City ahead of time.¡± An Sheng continued speaking up for Zhou Wen.


    ¡°No matter how strong a person is, he¡¯s only one person. What¡¯s the point of him staying there alone?¡± An Tianzuo thought nothing of An Sheng¡¯s words. ¡°Yu Qiubai has the intention of staying in Guide City. He¡¯s lobbying the other teachers and locals to stay behind. If it really succeeds, it will be a good starting point. There will be a chance for development in the future.¡± An Sheng reported the situation in Guide City to An Tianzuo in detail.


    An Tianzuo snorted coldly. ¡°You don¡¯t need to wait for the outcome to know that it¡¯s impossible. 99% of people won¡¯t choose to stay in Guide City.¡±


    An Tianzuo said it with certainty, sounding very confident.


    An Sheng naturally knew that the success rate of this matter was very low. It was useless even with Zhou Wen¡¯s reputation. Most people would still choose to move to Luoyang. It wasn¡¯t that people didn¡¯t have confidence in Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, but everyone knew very well that no matter how strong Zhou Wen was, it was impossible for him to stay in the city 24/7 to protect them.


    The average person needed a stable and orderly society. This was something Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t provide to them now, but Luoyang had everything Even if An Tianzuo wasn¡¯t in Luoyang, Luoyang still had the strength to withstand a large-scale attack from the dimensional creatures. There was a comprehensive city defense system, the famous Sunset Army of the Federation, and many famous experts in the Federation.


    Luoyang was basically safe as long as the Sunset Army didn¡¯t fall.


    Humans were selfish. No one was willing to bet their lives, so An Tianzuo and An Sheng knew very well that most people wouldn¡¯t stay in Guide City.


    The reality was as they imagined. Things didn¡¯t go well when Yu Qiubai went to discuss with the teachers. Although most of the teachers respected him, they still tactfully rejected him.


    Even the school management who had a good relationship with Yu Qiubai privately persuaded him not to risk his life and said that he should join everyone in Luoyang for future development.


    If even the teachers acted this way, it was even more impossible for the people from Guide City who didn¡¯t have a good relationship with Yu Qiubai to stay.


    Most people had already registered with the Sunset Army and were waiting to migrate to Luoyang. Yu Qiubai was very anxious, but there was nothing he could do. The situation in Guide City was indeed wanting. Furthermore, they had yet to confirm if they could build a human city in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, so they were unable to use it as a bargaining chip.


    This was within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations, but he never expected the results to be so tragic. Up to now, there were only a handful of people who were willing to stay. Humans are indeed pragmatic. Zhou Wen originally imagined that with Yu Qiubai¡¯s reputation, he would be able to retain a few hundred people. He never expected there to be so few.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take it to heart. Although he really needed people, it wasn¡¯t unacceptable if there weren¡¯t any. As long as he could establish the city, he still had a chance of attracting other humans to join in the future.


    However, if there was no one in the early stages, it would indeed be more difficult, making many things inconvenient. No matter how strong Zhou Wen was, he wasn¡¯t omnipotent. Some things needed professionals, and those professionals were what Zhou Wen wanted the most.


    For example, for the construction of buildings, Zhou Wen could build a wooden hut or stone building, but the dense buildings with well-planned layouts weren¡¯t something Zhou Wen could do.


    An Sheng already knew the outcome of this matter from the applications the Sunset Army received, but he had no solution.


    It wasn¡¯t just An Sheng. The various factions in Guide City had long known about this matter. ¡°Zhou Wen sure has wild ideas to dare think of establishing a human city in Guide City.¡± Xia Liuchuan couldn¡¯t help but laugh when he heard the news.


    Xia Xuanyue pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°I wonder if this is An Tianzuo¡¯s idea. If it¡¯s his idea, he has really taken a terrible step. Guide City is great, and the surroundings are like a breeding ground for myths and legends. Although there aren¡¯t any clear pantheons, what¡¯s available to them is in no way inferior to Jerusalem in terms of dimensional zone resources. They are even more terrifying in certain aspects. However, the overall strength of humanity isn¡¯t enough to establish a human city in such a place. If we were to interfere too early, we would only become the target of public criticism. The An family has already done their best to defend Luoyang. If they still wish to interfere with Guide City, they will probably suffer a double loss.¡±


    Xia Liuchuan said, ¡°With my understanding of An Tianzuo, he definitely wouldn¡¯t do such a thing. Furthermore, Zhou Wen comes from Guide City. This matter is probably his idea.¡± ¡°Although Zhou Wen is strong, establishing a city isn¡¯t something a single person can do. I wonder what he plans on doing.¡± Xia Xuanyue sighed. Xia Liuchuan suddenly stopped smiling and said to Xia Xuanyue, ¡°Zhou Wen must be lacking manpower now. Are you interested in having a vacation over there?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Xia Xuanyue knew that it wasn¡¯t as simple as sending her on a vacation.


    ¡°No one wants Guide City now, but people will be vying for it in the future. If that kid, Zhou Wen, really occupies it, we might be able to reap immense benefits by helping him when he¡¯s most in need. It doesn¡¯t cost us much after all. Just treat it as an investment,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay a visit then.¡± Xia Xuanyue thought for a moment and nodded.


    An Sheng was thinking of a way to help Zhou Wen retain some people. Otherwise, it would be too difficult for him. However, no matter how much he racked his brains, there was no good solution.


    It was not like he could force the unwilling to stay at gunpoint.


    ¡°You¡¯re so mean¡­ You¡¯re so mean¡­ You¡¯re so mean¡­¡± An Sheng heard a ringtone and knew that it was from An Tianzuo. He hurriedly answered the call.


    ¡°Overseer, what are your orders?¡± An Sheng asked.


    An Tianzuo¡¯s voice didn¡¯t have any emotion as he said indifferently, ¡°Recently, an unknown break-out creature appeared around Luoyang. We are suffering from a shortage of manpower. Quickly return with the troops to provide support.¡±


    ¡°All of them?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°Do you still want to leave some of them there?¡± An Tianzuo grunted coldly.


    ¡°Then what about Guide City? There are still many people who haven¡¯t registered. Furthermore, it¡¯s impossible to take all of them away at once. Even if we split them into batches, it will probably require dozens of batches for the evacuation¡­¡± An Sheng felt that there was a problem.


    They couldn¡¯t take so many people with them. Those who couldn¡¯t leave would probably find it difficult to survive. After all, there were still skeleton creatures constantly charging out of Ancient City.


    Now, it was all thanks to their suppression that such a situation could be maintained.


    ¡°At this point in time, are those people or Luoyang¡¯s safety more important?¡± An Tianzuo said angrily.


    An Sheng seemed to understand something as he carefully asked, ¡°Overseer, are you implying?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious enough? Don¡¯t bring any of them. Return as quickly as possible. If anything happens to Luoyang, I¡¯ll behead you,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly.


    ¡°Got it. I¡¯ll send the troops back now. I won¡¯t take anyone with me and leave them in Guide City.¡± An Sheng¡¯s expression was odd as he thought to himself, Overseer is really ruthless! There¡¯s still much to learn.

 Chapter 1475 - Sovereign Sui’s Statue

    Chapter 1475 Sovereign Sui¡¯s Statue


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ Not good¡­¡± Yu Qiubai anxiously sought out Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Yu Qiubai in puzzlement, unsure what had happened to make him so nervous.


    ¡°A large-scale break-out has happened in Luoyang. An Sheng has returned to Luoyang with his troops to provide reinforcements. The troops have already left Guide City¡­¡± Yu Qiubai said worriedly.


    ¡°How many people did An Sheng and company take with them?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought. ¡°As they left in a hurry, they didn¡¯t take anyone with them. After the skeleton creatures lost their suppression, they charged out en masse. With our present strength, it¡¯s very difficult to stop all the skeletons from rushing out¡­¡± Yu Qiubai explained the situation clearly.


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he knew what had happened. The so-called situation of break-out creatures in Luoyang wreaking havoc everywhere was just an excuse. An Sheng had long made up his mind to keep them behind.


    ¡°Sir, lead your men to the school¡¯s main entrance and set up a signboard. If anyone wishes to enter the school and receive our protection, get them to sign this contract.¡± Zhou Wen handed a document to Yu Qiubai.


    Yu Qiubai unfolded the document and carefully read the content. Then, his expression gradually turned odd.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this a little inhuman?¡± Yu Qiubai said hesitantly.


    ¡°Since they had already chosen to leave, they naturally have to pay a price if they wish to stay. Otherwise, they will think that we are a place that only takes in the rejected in the future, a place they can come and go as they wish. Then how can rules be implemented?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Zhou Wen could only use the school as his base as a front to recruit people. He could then establish his city when he found a suitable place. Zhou Wen¡¯s idea was good, but there were too few people under him who could carry out his vision. There were too many people who came to seek refuge under him. Many of them entered secretly. They did not take the initiative to sign a contract with Zhou Wen, believing that they could bluff their way through. Zhou Wen also knew that many people had sneaked in. It could even be said that less than a tenth of the people had signed a contract. Most of them had sneaked in without signing a contract.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take it to heart. All he did was tell Yu Qiubai to give more classes and tell them the consequences of not signing a contract.


    Zhou Wen got his Companion Beasts to guard the area near the school. Humans from the nearby area kept coming to seek refuge.


    Most people had no choice but to join Zhou Wen. It was impossible to travel the distance between Guide and Luoyang without sufficient strength. All they could do was join him. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about such matters. When he arrived at Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb again, it had been about four days since he had left the animals inside.


    In theory, if the power of the torch could really affect them, they should be close to death. Or rather, they should be dead.


    Don¡¯t die¡­ Please don¡¯t die¡­ Zhou Wen prayed silently as he walked into Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb.


    If those tiny animals died due to the influence of the torch¡¯s power, it would be impossible for them to build a human city here. Zhou Wen would have no choice but to find other suitable dimensional zones which might not exist.


    After entering Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, the scene Zhou Wen saw left him stunned.


    Not only had the animals not died, but they were also shockingly healthy and energetic. What was even more terrifying was that there were many babies in the grass.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. From the looks of it, the power of Sovereign Sui¡¯s torch wasn¡¯t Time Acceleration, nor would it kill animals.


    On the contrary, the vitality emitted by the torch made animals stronger and healthier.


    I¡¯ll experiment a few more times. If there aren¡¯t any accidents, I should be able to begin building the city. Zhou Wen watched as Chick sucked away the flames on the torch. He clearly saw that the feathers on Chick¡¯s body seemed to glow brighter. Not daring to be careless, Zhou Wen carried out a few more tests. The results showed that the power in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb had a very potent effect on plants and animals, but it didn¡¯t age them.


    This is somewhat similar to my Human Sovereign power. Zhou Wen suspected that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was likely created by Sovereign Sui. And his original intention was similar to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra that Zhou Wen had comprehended. However, because no human could take this path, he took another.


    Zhou Wen took the opportunity to study Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue. Typical flames couldn¡¯t ignite a torch. The torch looked like it was carved from stone and didn¡¯t have any fuel. Typical flames naturally couldn¡¯t make the stone burn.


    When Chick¡¯s phoenix flames touched the torch, it would immediately ignite. However, no matter how long it burned, it wouldn¡¯t damage the torch carved from stone.


    Furthermore, Chick was very interested in the phoenix flames that burned on the torch. Every time Zhou Wen made it absorb the flames, Chick would appear thrilled.


    Zhou Wen used a few fire abilities, but he failed to ignite the torch. Unwilling to give up, he switched to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and the sun-like Human Sovereign appeared in front of him.


    The moment Human Sovereign appeared, Zhou Wen immediately discovered something strange.


    The originally motionless Sovereign Sui statue began to emit vitality.


    Previously, when Chick used its phoenix flames to ignite the torch, it only emitted vitality and flames. The Sovereign Sui statue¡¯s main body didn¡¯t undergo an anomaly.


    However, the Sovereign Sui statue¡¯s body now began emitting vitality. Although it wasn¡¯t as intense as before, it delighted Zhou Wen. With a thought, Human Sovereign reached out and pressed down on the flaming torch in the statue¡¯s hand.


    The torch that ordinary flames couldn¡¯t ignite immediately ignited upon contact with Human Sovereign.


    It wasn¡¯t just the torch. The entire Sovereign Sui statue burned as though gasoline had been poured over it.


    The flames and vitality over Sovereign Sui¡¯s body transmitted to Human Sovereign at the same time, making the originally dazzling Human Sovereign even more dazzling.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra in his body was circulating crazily as the surrounding vitality constantly surged into his body.


    Boom!


    A deafening boom suddenly entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears as the burning Sovereign Sui statue moved.


    The statue that was clearly made of stone slowly raised its leg and stood up from its stone throne. The flames of vitality on its body intensified, making it difficult to see its body clearly.


    In particular, the pair of eyes stared at Zhou Wen and Human Sovereign like two two-million-watt searchlights.

 Chapter 1476 - Extinguishing Hope

    Chapter 1476 Extinguishing Hope


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he instantly transmitted to dodge the flames from Sovereign Sui¡¯s statue, but the flames were too fast, giving him no room to dodge. Before he could activate instant transmission, the flames had already shone on him.


    Zhou Wen seldom drank, nor did he have any experience of getting drunk. However, when the flames shone on him, he felt intoxicated.


    Boom!


    All of Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb began spewing flames. The flames here were very strange. Although they were hot, they didn¡¯t injure anyone.


    Infinite flames condensed towards Zhou Wen and Human Sovereign. The Ancient Sovereign Sutra in Zhou Wen¡¯s body seemed to circulate uncontrollably.


    As the flames surged into him, Zhou Wen felt the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and Human Sovereign crazily absorb the flames from Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised when he felt Human Sovereign¡¯s transformation.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra had already reached the Terror grade. If it could improve further, it would definitely be the Calamity grade. Human Sovereign¡¯s sun-like body had already turned into a blob of magma after absorbing a large amount of flames. His body was no longer limited to just being a projection; instead, it became more and more corporeal.


    As the Ancient Sovereign Sutra circulated and absorbed large amounts of flames, Zhou Wen vaguely understood something.


    Previously, the humanoid monster had demonstrated the Calamity-grade Ancient Sovereign Sutra. However, his Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s path was different from the Ancient Sovereign Sutra Zhou Wen had comprehended, so it wasn¡¯t worth much as a reference.


    The power of fire in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb had a similar attribute to Zhou Wen¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra, but it wasn¡¯t completely the same. It had its own unique traits.


    Due to the similar attributes, Zhou Wen¡¯s Ancient Sovereign Sutra was perfectly compatible with these flames. It was very easy for him to resonate with it.


    Now, Zhou Wen vaguely understood that to use the dimensional zones¡¯ powers to raise his Essence Energy Art didn¡¯t require any special methods. All he needed to do was find a dimensional zone that was compatible with his Essence Energy Art.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean that finding such a dimensional zone was considered a success. Just like how Essence Energy Arts varied in strength, dimensional zones were the same.


    There were countless fire-elemental dimensional zones in the four districts of the Federation, but not every dimensional zone could help a Terror-grade creature advance to the Calamity grade.


    There was another key point. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to call an existence like the Human Sovereign statue, but only by finding it and using an Essence Energy Art to resonate with it could he use the dimensional zones¡¯ powers to advance to the Calamity grade. Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb was filled with flames that resembled bonfires that had flames surging into the sky. From the outside of the cemetery, it looked like a huge grave made of flames.


    However, inside Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, the plants that had rapidly grown due to the influence of Sovereign Sui¡¯s flames were also ignited. Soon, they were burned to ashes. They didn¡¯t grow again due to the powerful vitality in the flames.


    Zhou Wen observed all of this and came to a realization. To humans, Sovereign Sui created the way to create fire from rubbing wood. It brought light and fire to humans, but to plants, it¡¯s a destructive blow. Problems should be viewed from different angles-good things might not necessarily be good.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s comprehension, the flames in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb spewed out more and more violently as they surged towards Zhou Wen and Human Sovereign.


    Yu Qiubai was filled with zeal. When he previously tried to persuade people to stay, they had ignored him and even rejected him. Those were the better ones. Those whose moral standards were lacking nearly cursed Yu Qiubai in the face.


    Yet, in just a few days, the people who had been berating him cried and begged to stay. The changes were so fast that Yu Qiubai found it unbelievable.


    This also gave Yu Qiubai hope. With Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, so many people, and with Zhou Wen presiding over it, Guide City might be rebuilt.


    As there were too many people, the school couldn¡¯t accommodate them anymore. Even the school¡¯s vicinity was filled with people. The weather wasn¡¯t too cold now, so they could stay outside for the time being.


    Even if the skeleton legion didn¡¯t mount an attack, it would be difficult for them to survive once the weather worsened.


    Furthermore, with so many people, food, lodging, and transportation were problems. They had to quickly resolve the problem of the base. With a base, everyone could take up their own responsibilities to ensure order.


    Yu Qiubai was thankfully the principal of the school. He had previously been in charge of managing the school¡¯s various operations. The teachers and school management immediately came back under Yu Qiubai¡¯s management.


    Yu Qiubai could temporarily maintain order with their help.


    After making the arrangements, Yu Qiubai went to Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb to look for Zhou Wen. He wanted to discuss with him if he could get a group of people to enter Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb to carry out the early construction work.


    Yu Qiubai arrived at Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Before he could head to the stone temple, he saw the flaming tomb.


    What¡¯s going on? Could something have happened in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb? Yu Qiubai was alarmed because Zhou Wen was still inside. If something had happened to him, everyone in Guide City would be doomed.


    Yu Qiubai turned around and ran towards the stone temple, hoping to rush in to see what had happened. If Zhou Wen needed help, he might be able to do something.


    However, before Yu Qiubai could rush to the stone temple, he heard a loud boom coming from Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. Turning his head, he saw rows of collapsed walls.


    The flames in the wall had already vanished. In the past, when he looked at Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb from the outside, he could only see the walls and fog. Now, he could take in everything inside with a glance.


    The scene inside left Yu Qiubai stunned.


    The cemetery that was originally filled with all sorts of weeds and vegetation had now turned into scorched earth. There was no sign of life.


    Furthermore, the various stone sculptures in the cemetery had already been charred black. Even the Sovereign Sui statue had vanished, leaving behind a pile of rubble. Only Zhou Wen was standing in the cemetery unharmed.


    It¡¯s over! Yu Qiubai was delighted when he saw that Zhou Wen was fine, but when he saw Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb present state, his face turned ashen.


    They originally wanted to establish a human city in Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, but now that it was in such a state, they naturally couldn¡¯t count on it.


    He didn¡¯t know if he could find another suitable dimensional zone. Even if he could find one in the future, with so many people waiting outside the school and constantly being harassed by the skeleton legion, who knew how many people could last until then.


    Helpless, Yu Qiubai was just about to head over to take a look at Zhou Wen when he suddenly saw him emit a sun-like brilliance.

 Chapter 1477 - Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens

    Chapter 1477 Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens


    Although Zhou Wen knew that the birth of every Calamity-grade creature would be accompanied by the descent of a Calamity, he never expected that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s advancement to the Calamity grade would destroy the Sovereign Sui Tomb dimensional zone.


    At the instant the Ancient Sovereign Sutra advanced to the Calamity grade, Human Sovereign automatically fused with Zhou Wen, causing his entire body to emit light and heat. It was like a spring sun that brought warmth to the world, but it wasn¡¯t too hot.


    Under the illumination from Zhou Wen¡¯s body, tender sprouts crawled out of the ashes of Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb that had already turned into a charred ruin.


    In just moments, the sprouts grew into different plants. There were weeds that were more than a meter tall and saplings that constantly grew until they soon reached into the sky, blooming with flowers.


    The cemetery that had turned into scorched earth now looked like a flora paradise in a short amount of time.


    Yu Qiubai stood outside, staring blankly at the oasis-like existence in front of him. The vegetation inside grew lusher and luxuriant. It was unimaginable that a moment ago, it was still scorched earth.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ Are you okay¡­¡± Finding it all bizarre, Yu Qiubai worried for Zhou Wen. Yu Qiubai had heard some stories in the past. For example, the death of a whale would give many lifeforms in the sea a chance of survival.


    There were also similar records in many myths. For example, after Pangu split the heavens and earth, he transformed into all things. Only when a powerhouse died would all things obtain the chance to grow.


    Now that everything was growing here, Yu Qiubai was truly afraid that something untoward had happened to Zhou Wen. He rushed into the forest worriedly as he searched for him, constantly calling out his name.


    Yu Qiubai squeezed through the grass and trees, traversing a few hundred meters before finally arriving at a circular clearing.


    Zhou Wen stood there, emitting a sun-like brilliance. He looked almost inhuman.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ Zhou Wen¡­¡± Yu Qiubai called out a few times, but when he didn¡¯t receive a response from Zhou Wen, he suddenly felt something amiss.


    He was advanced in age. Although he couldn¡¯t be considered ailing, he wasn¡¯t young anymore.


    Coupled with the previous battles and recent work, it was normal for him to feel exhausted.


    But now, he felt as though his entire body was filled with energy. It was similar to when he woke up in his prime. It was as though he had infinite energy. Even the pain and side effects from the previous battle had unknowingly vanished. It was as though he had healed himself.


    Just as Yu Qiubai was feeling alarmed, he saw the light in front of him dim. Zhou Wen had already returned to his original appearance and was looking at him.


    ¡°Sir, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen was first alarmed when he saw that it was Yu Qiubai. Only when he saw that Yu Qiubai was fine did he relax.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra had just advanced to the Calamity grade and formed a domain. He didn¡¯t know if the Calamity Zone would harm humans, so he was given a fright when he saw Yu Qiubai.


    ¡°I came to look for you to discuss if we can send a group of people into Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb. From the looks of it, there¡¯s no need for any discussion.¡± Yu Qiubai asked with a bitter smile, ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. In short, there¡¯s no way to build a human city here. We have to find another place as soon as possible. Teacher Yu, do you have any other suggestions?¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    He didn¡¯t know that things would turn out this way. With Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb destroyed, he could only find another place.


    However, for the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to condense a Calamity Zone, such a price was worth it.


    The only thing that displeased Zhou Wen was that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s Calamity Zone was still a domain similar to strengthening and healing. It still didn¡¯t seem to have any offensive properties.


    Of course, Zhou Wen had just condensed the Calamity Zone and had yet to completely figure it out. He still needed time to familiarize himself with it.


    He took out his phone and took a look. He realized that when he switched to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, there was indeed an additional Calamity Zone row.


    Zone: Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens (Human Realm)


    Why does the name of this domain give off an ominous feeling¡­ I have a nickname, Human Sovereign¡­ If Human Sovereign sacrifices to the heavens¡­ Doesn¡¯t that mean I¡¯ll be sacrificed to the heavens¡­ Zhou Wen felt a little awkward when he saw the name of the domain.


    The name was given by the game system, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t change it even if he wanted to. All he could do was silently accept it. ¡°There are indeed quite a number of dimensional zones near Guide City, but there are many that are very strange. They aren¡¯t suitable for human habitation¡­¡± After some thought, Yu Qiubai couldn¡¯t think of a suitable place. ¡°Let¡¯s talk when we¡¯re back.¡± Zhou Wen was a local, so he naturally knew that Yu Qiubai was right. The dimensional zones near Guide City were indeed very strange.


    He didn¡¯t dare enter Ancient City. He hadn¡¯t been able to enter Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb in the past. There were many Essence Crystal ores in Butterfly Valley, but according to the information Zhou Wen knew, Butterfly Valley had a time limit.


    It was fine to enter Butterfly Valley at certain times, but there were certain periods when one couldn¡¯t come out. The people who entered would never be found again. There were also some dimensional zones that had their own uniqueness. In short, there weren¡¯t many dimensional zones that were suitable for human habitation.


    ¡°Under the present circumstances, we have to find a dimensional zone as soon as possible and give everyone a place to stay. With so many people crowding around the school, it¡¯s only a matter of time before something bad happens¡­ If there¡¯s really no other way¡­ We can only give that place a try¡­¡± Yu Qiubai said after some thought.


    ¡°Where?¡± Zhou Wen could tell from Yu Qiubai¡¯s words that there was a dimensional zone suitable for humans.


    Yu Qiubai appeared to be in a dilemma, but he also knew that he had to think of a solution. Therefore, even if he was somewhat apprehensive, he still said, ¡°In the dimensional zones I previously investigated, there¡¯s one that might be able to accommodate a large number of humans. However, there¡¯s a problem with that dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the problem?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    Since Yu Qiubai had suggested the dimensional zone, it meant that it wasn¡¯t completely unsolvable.


    Yu Qiubai said, ¡°I¡¯ve previously been to Taiqing Palace and Laojun Platform. Although Taiqing Palace is huge, too many strange things happen inside. It¡¯s not suitable for humans to gather there en masse. On the other hand, Laojun Platform¡¯s dimensional zones are more suitable for humans, but there¡¯s something strange about it¡­¡±


    The Laojun Platform that Yu Qiubai mentioned was also known as the Immortal Ascension Platform. Legend had it that it was the place where Taishang Laojun ascended to immortality. After the dimensional storms, it also became a dimensional zone.


    Laojun Platform wasn¡¯t just an ancient myth. In recent times, there were also some magical legends.


    Legend had it that when the Japanese army attacked Luyi County City, which was also the county city where Mount Laojun was located, the county city was filled with short, dilapidated buildings with no tall buildings in sight, the most obvious building in the distance was Laojun Platform.


    Before the attack, the Japanese soldiers had first bombarded the county city with artillery. Furthermore, they had targeted the most outstanding spot, Laojun Platform. In the end, after thirteen consecutive blasts, they only heard the sound of shells being fired, but not the sound of explosions.


    The Japanese army rushed into the city only to find that the commoners in the city had safely retreated. There was no one in the city. When the Japanese army arrived in front of Laojun Platform, they realized that their target had been Taishang Laojun¡¯s Immortal Ascension Platform.

 Chapter 1478 - Laojun Platform

    Chapter 1478 Laojun Platform


    After the war, Umekawa Taro, the gunner responsible for bombarding Laojun Platform, came to Luyi again and kowtowed in repentance. According to him, he had fired the shells very accurately back then. The shells had hit Laojun Platform, but why hadn¡¯t the shells exploded? Even he couldn¡¯t explain it.


    Umekawa Taro believed that Taishang Laojun had blessed the area. He even erected a monument of repentance at Laojun Platform, but it was later changed to a monument of peace.


    No one could verify it now.


    However, after Laojun Platform became a dimensional zone, it indeed became a magical land.


    Typical dimensional zones had dimensional creatures, but there were no dimensional creatures on Laojun Platform.


    That wasn¡¯t entirely accurate. There were just no native dimensional creatures. Instead, many dimensional creatures from other dimensional zones had fled to Laojun Platform to seek refuge.


    Typical dimensional zones didn¡¯t reject humans, but they had a strong rejection effect on creatures from other dimensional zones. Creatures from different dimensional zones seldom ran around. However, this wasn¡¯t the case with Laojun Platform. Any dimensional creature, including humans, could freely enter and exit Laojun Platform, but there was one point-killing was prohibited.


    This was very similar to Mount Laojun. Both places forbade killing. The difference was that if one killed on Laojun Platform, the consequences would be worse than on Mount Laojun.


    Legend had it that a group of humans had chased after a rare dimensional creature all the way to Laojun Platform. The group only managed to kill it when the dimensional creature placed one foot on Laojun Platform.


    They also knew the taboo of Laojun Platform, so they were somewhat hesitant. However, that dimensional creature was very rare to begin with. Back then, they realized that it seemed to have a Companion Egg in its body. They ultimately failed to resist the temptation and ran to loot the corpse.


    A beam ended up descending from the sky and took them all away. No one saw them again. The locals claimed that Laojun had personally taken action to finish them off, sending them to heaven as he couldn¡¯t stand them. It was impossible to determine the veracity of this matter. From then on, no one dared to kill at Laojun Platform. They didn¡¯t even dare to cause injuries.


    Of course, dimensional creatures that escaped into Laojun Platform wouldn¡¯t harm humans there either.


    Laojun Platform became one of the few dimensional zones that allowed humans to coexist peacefully with dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen had previously heard of it, but Luyi was a county under Guide City. Zhou Wen had never been there, so he had never entered Laojun Platform.


    ¡°In that case, Laojun Platform is indeed very suitable for establishing a human city. Is the space there big enough?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Space in Laojun Platform wasn¡¯t too big, but after it became a dimensional zone, it expanded. It shouldn¡¯t be a problem to house a million people.¡± Yu Qiubai sighed and continued, ¡°However, I¡¯ve already said that there¡¯s still a problem with Laojun Platform. If we don¡¯t resolve this problem, it¡¯s useless even if we build a city there. No one will dare live there.¡±


    ¡°The killing prohibition isn¡¯t the problem you are talking about?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He had never heard of any other taboos in Laojun Platform.


    ¡°Of course not. That condition is extremely beneficial to humans, so how can it be a problem? If that¡¯s the case, people would have long fled to seek refuge there. However, in fact, no one dares to head to Laojun Platform,¡± Yu Qiubai said.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Because Laojun Platform has been occupied by a dimensional creature that doesn¡¯t abide by its rules. That dimensional creature can kill as it pleases without being punished. Any human who dares enter has been wiped out by it, so no one dares to enter.¡± Yu Qiubai sighed. ¡°If we wish to build a city here, we have to kill that dimensional creature or chase it out.¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t I know that? When did that dimensional creature appear? What does it look like?¡± Zhou Wen was surprised.


    At the very least, Laojun Platform was where Taishang Laojun had ascended. Although he didn¡¯t know how true it was, could a place that was related to Taishang Laojun be destroyed by an ordinary dimensional creature? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Zhou Wen had a deep understanding of how terrifying Mount Laojun was either way. Laojun Platform was somewhat similar to Mount Laojun. Zhou Wen felt that the dimensional creature that could wreak havoc there wasn¡¯t simple.


    ¡°I don¡¯t dare to enter. I heard from others that the dimensional creature looks very strange. It looks like a cross between a lion or tiger, but not exactly so. It has scales all over its body like the legendary Qilin. It¡¯s more than three meters tall and moves like the wind. No one can escape its bite.¡± Yu Qiubai told Zhou Wen all the information he had gathered.


    However, the information he gathered was from a few survivors. It likely didn¡¯t differ from the ground truth.


    Zhou Wen thought carefully for a while, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the origins of the dimensional creature. He only felt that since a person could see it, its level couldn¡¯t be too high.


    Could it be that the abilities of that dimensional creature are similar to my Dao Sutra? It can crack taboo powers, so it can kill as it pleases at Mount Laojun? Zhou Wen guessed.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to head to Laojun Platform to take a look. Since ordinary people had a chance of escaping, even if he couldn¡¯t beat the opponent, escaping shouldn¡¯t be a problem for him.


    The situation was dire. There were still hundreds of thousands of people in Guide City who had nowhere to go. They couldn¡¯t just stay outside the school all night. Things would go wrong once the food and water ran out.


    He had to find a place to settle them down as soon as possible and get them to have something to do. At the very least, he had to provide them with their meals. Otherwise, once something went wrong, it would be difficult to clean up the mess.


    Yu Qiubai returned to school after a discussion to stabilize the situation with those people. Those who signed the contract were given priority. He would employ a divide and conquer strategy, by giving carrots to some and using the stick on others. He didn¡¯t want to cause too much of a conflict. Regardless, he had to persist until Zhou Wen found a suitable dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen rushed to Laojun Platform alone. Before he left, he handed Chick to Yu Qiubai. Chick would be able to hold the fort if anything really happened as long as no Calamity-grade entity interfered.


    The distance between regions increased significantly as Earth¡¯s dimensionalization deepened, but Luyi was very close to begin with, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t spend much time reaching Laojun Platform.


    From afar, Laojun Platform looked like a paradise on earth. There were buildings made of green bricks and tiles amidst the white clouds, making it look like a fairyland.


    There were many buildings along the periphery of Laojun Platform that came under the dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen could only see the outline of the buildings outside, but he couldn¡¯t see what was inside.


    When he arrived at the entrance of the dimensional zone, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to enter. He first circled the area, hoping to find the tiny palm symbol.

 Chapter 1479 - Mingdao Palace

    Chapter 1479 Mingdao Palace


    Zhou Wen came in front of the memorial archway and saw the words ¡°Door of Perception¡± engraved on it. After passing through the archway, he entered Mingdao Palace which housed Laojun Platform inside.


    Zhou Wen searched the area outside the archway for a while, but he didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. All he could do was pass through it and continue walking in.


    The area around the archway wasn¡¯t a dimensional zone. Entry into the dimensional zone started from entering Mingdao Palace.


    The door to the Mingdao Palace wasn¡¯t grand. Instead, the two corner towers were more eye-catching


    Although the two corner towers weren¡¯t big, they were rather antiquated. The corner tower on the right had a huge bell, and the corner tower on the left had a huge drum.


    Zhou Wen had heard from others that killing wasn¡¯t allowed in Mingdao Palace. All kinds of creatures could coexist peacefully. Apart from killing, one couldn¡¯t just climb the bell and drum towers, much less strike them. If one didn¡¯t do it properly, they might very well die.


    Others said that striking the bell would bring about something good.


    In any case, there were all sorts of opinions. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know which were true and which were fake. He wouldn¡¯t strike them even if he had nothing better to do.


    He failed to find the tiny palm symbol after circling the area a few times. This left Zhou Wen depressed, but he thought of something else. It¡¯s useless even if there¡¯s a tiny palm symbol. There aren¡¯t any dimensional creatures in Mingdao Palace to begin with. The dimensional creatures inside are all foreign. Even if I download the dungeon, foreign dimensional creatures won¡¯t appear in the game dungeon. In the end, I have to enter to see how powerful the dimensional creature is. Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too afraid. The dimensional creature may not abide by the rules of Laojun Platform, but he had the Dao Sutra and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, so he too could also disobey the rules.


    Of course, the real reason for Zhou Wen¡¯s confidence was that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra had advanced to the Calamity grade. Although his true level was still at the Terror grade, once the Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens Zone was activated, he was no different from a true Calamity.


    Together with the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation and the Soul Mirror, even if that creature was really at the Calamity grade, it was still an unknown who would end up being killed.


    There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. Just do it! Zhou Wen summoned the Prisoned Dragon armor and put it on. At the same time, he used the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and Dao Sutra. He summoned the Soul Mirror and hugged it before walking towards the door of Mingdao Palace.


    After passing through the door, he saw a small square. There were pavilions and buildings that extended like a mountain range. He didn¡¯t know how many buildings there were.


    Before Zhou Wen came here, Yu Qiubai had given him a map, but from the looks of it, many of the buildings inside didn¡¯t match the map.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t because Yu Qiubai wanted to harm him or give him a fake map. Instead, it was because the dimensional zone itself was constantly changing. The interior space would expand and new buildings would appear. The layout would naturally change.


    No matter how the interior environment changed, the general layout didn¡¯t change much. Laojun Platform was likely at the back of Mingdao Palace.


    Zhou Wen swept his gaze and saw many avian dimensional creatures roosting nearby, along with some tiny beasts frolicking on the grass. He couldn¡¯t help but think. Fighting and killing isn¡¯t the goal. The key is to deal with that dimensional creature. A cultured person like me isn¡¯t suitable for fighting and killing. It¡¯s best to use my brain. I heard that that dimensional creature only kills humans and doesn¡¯t harm other dimensional creatures. From the looks of it, it¡¯s true. Now that I¡¯m using the ability of the Demon God Bloodline Catalog to mimic one of the dimensional creatures, I can be at ease and search for its traces. Perhaps I might even have a chance to defeat it with my intelligence.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it made sense. Therefore, he secretly crawled through the grass and engraved the Demon God Bloodline Catalog.


    With the help of The Disqualified, the Demon God Body¡¯s ability to simulate transformations was not as inept as before. The Disqualified had a huge augmentation effect on the Demon God Body.


    Although Zhou Wen had already tried his best to converge his aura and expose the aura of the Demon God Body, the little beasts on the grassland still retreated into the forest warily when they saw him approach. Clearly, they were still very wary of him.


    A few of the little beasts looked rather clumsy and ran very slowly. One of them accidentally tripped over a tree root that protruded from the ground. Its fleshy head and furry body fell to the ground. It resembled Garfield.


    Of course, the tiny beast wasn¡¯t Garfield. It was probably some kind of feline. It was only about the height of Zhou Wen¡¯s knees, but because it was too fat, its movements were very clumsy. Its face was fat and rotund, and its eyes were big and round. It looked like it was in a daze. It wasn¡¯t as ferocious as felines like tigers, but rather like a panda. Its fur wasn¡¯t black or white though. It was gray, almost blue. I¡¯ll transform into it. Zhou Wen saw that it was the stupidest and ran the slowest, so he used the Demon God Body. As his eyes scanned its body, his body also changed.


    In just a moment, two clumsy little beasts appeared on the grass. Be it their appearance or aura, they were identical, like twins.


    The little beast that had wanted to escape sniffed the air and looked back. It realized that there was a creature that looked identical to it. It immediately stopped running.


    This fellow definitely wasn¡¯t smart. It turned its head and sized up Zhou Wen curiously. It even approached and sniffed him.


    Even Zhou Wen was somewhat impressed with his transformation ability. The little beast sniffed for a while and actually treated Zhou Wen as one of its kind. It even came up and leaned against Zhou Wen as though it wanted hugs.


    ¡°Good boy¡­ You are already an adult. Let¡¯s go to a more exciting place to play.¡± Zhou Wen used it as a cover. As he played with it, he walked to the right of Mingdao Palace. He might encounter the creature if he went straight. Zhou Wen planned on walking down the long corridor on the right. It was best not to alarm the dimensional creature that killed any human he saw.


    The dimensional creatures along the way were no longer afraid of Zhou Wen in his dimensional creature form. They acted normally as though he didn¡¯t exist.


    Zhou Wen lured the tiny beast all the way to the bell tower. From afar, he could see that the huge bell on the bell tower seemed to be made of raw metal. It was taller than a person and had the words ¡°Mingdao Palace¡± engraved on it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on looking for trouble, so he naturally didn¡¯t head up the bell tower. After walking for a while, he saw a stone pavilion in the forest to the side.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising to find a stone pavilion here. In the anomalous Mingdao Palace, there were at least 80 stone pavilions, if not 100. However, there was a behemoth in the stone pavilion. It was staring at him with its blood-red eyes that resembled wheels.

 Chapter 1480 - Holy Spring Well

    Chapter 1480 Holy Spring Well


    It can¡¯t be that coincidental, right!? Zhou Wen muttered inwardly.


    The behemoth in the stone pavilion looked like a bear no matter how he looked at it. It was a giant bear with grayish-blue fur. Zhou Wen¡¯s present appearance was somewhat similar to it.


    This little beast isn¡¯t a cat! It¡¯s a bear? Aren¡¯t you too deceptive looking like that? Zhou Wen sensed that the bear¡¯s aura was extremely terrifying. Before it flew into a rage, its aura surged like a tsunami. Even Zhou Wen was alarmed. It was definitely at the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen had always been reverent towards creatures like bears.


    Many people found bears stupid, nothing but fools that were easily bullied. Zhou Wen had thought so too when he was young.


    However, in middle school, Yu Qiubai had given a lecture about bear legends. It completely overturned Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of bears. This made him subconsciously take more care every time he saw bear-type dimensional creatures.


    In fact, in the early myths and legends of the East District, bears occupied a very important position.


    Yellow Emperor Xuan Yuan had a bear lineage. In the legends of Yu the Great¡¯s control of water, Yu the Great had also transformed into a bear and fought all sorts of water beasts. Before the Spring and Autumn War, there were many legends regarding divine bears¡ªthey were also the earliest form of totem worship. The rise of dragons only happened in the later generations.


    The reason why ancient people worshiped bears so much was not only because of their immense strength and impressive combat prowess, but also because of the bears¡¯ hibernation habits. A bear could avoid food and water for months. When it appeared again, it would give people the feeling that life had returned. Therefore, ancient people worshiped bears very much.


    Even the legendary Chaos Beasts were very likely to be created using bears as blueprints in certain versions.


    After hearing Yu Qiubai¡¯s lecture, Zhou Wen¡¯s impression of bears changed significantly. Therefore, when he saw a Calamity-grade bear, he subconsciously became cautious and didn¡¯t attack immediately.


    The giant bear only stared at him without attacking


    The giant bear¡¯s blood-red eyes looked at the tiny beast beside it before looking at Zhou Wen as though it was in a dilemma.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred. So that¡¯s how it is. It can¡¯t tell who its child is. That¡¯s why it¡¯s so hesitant and hasn¡¯t taken action.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over the matter, the giant bear got up and walked out of the stone pavilion. It circled around Zhou Wen and the baby bear a few times before reaching out its claws and throwing Zhou Wen and the baby bear onto its back.


    Zhou Wen was given a fright. Thankfully, his mental fortitude was sufficiently robust. He resisted the urge to attack as he found himself on the bear¡¯s back.


    Which bastard said that the Calamity creature here looks something like a lion or tiger, but not like either? It¡¯s a freaking bear! Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as he sat on the bear¡¯s back.


    With his current position, it was undoubtedly the best opportunity to assassinate the bear. All he needed to do was pull out the Immortal Culling Sword and strike the bear¡¯s neck or other relatively weaker spots. Perhaps he could have Calamity-grade bear meat for his meal today.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but gulp.


    However, Zhou Wen quickly rejected this thought. A Calamity-grade creature doesn¡¯t have negative intelligence, right? Even if it can¡¯t tell who¡¯s its child, doesn¡¯t it know how many children it has?


    This clearly didn¡¯t make sense. The bear placed both creatures on its back despite knowing that one creature wasn¡¯t its child. That meant that something had to be wrong. From the looks of it, this bear definitely wants to trick me. There must be a conspiracy. That must be the case. I can¡¯t act rashly. I can¡¯t let it see through me. I¡¯ll figure out its scheme first. Zhou Wen resisted the urge to assassinate the bear.


    The bear shook its body from side to side as it slowly walked through the forest.


    Its body was huge, but as it moved, its body seemed to turn into a blue phantom. When its body slammed into the trees or other vegetation, it passed right through them.


    Even Zhou Wen and the baby bear were affected by this power.


    Zhou Wen watched as the trees passed through his body as though they were illusory. It left him greatly surprised.


    Zhou Wen was proficient in spatial powers. He was also proficient in spatial teleportation and spatial traversal. He was very certain that this was not a spatial ability.


    How strange. What are the origins of this bear? With its level and ability, there aren¡¯t many creatures on Earth that can fight it. Does it need to hide from its enemies and come to a place like Laojun Platform? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more puzzled he became.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that there was something wrong with the bear¡¯s origins, so he didn¡¯t dare attack haphazardly.


    The bear carried Zhou Wen and the baby bear as it slowly walked deeper into Mingdao Palace. Be it the forest or various buildings, nothing could stop the bear from advancing.


    It was like a ghost that didn¡¯t exist in the world. It walked through the mortal world without being bound by anything in it.


    Zhou Wen saw all sorts of buildings and ancient trees. There were many dimensional creatures lurking around, but they didn¡¯t dare approach the bear. They quickly retreated once they discovered it.


    They retreated, but not in fear. Furthermore, after retreating, they looked at the giant bear from afar. It was obvious that they weren¡¯t especially afraid.


    Could it be that this fellow wants to take me to Laojun Platform? What motives does it have? How does this benefit it? Could it be that there¡¯s something on Laojun Platform that allows it to determine who its real child is? Just as Zhou Wen was guessing, the bear slowly stopped and didn¡¯t continue walking forward.


    Zhou Wen looked around and realized that he hadn¡¯t arrived at Laojun Platform. In front of the giant bear was an ancient well with a water pump and a wooden bucket.


    At this point, the bear sprawled down and lifted Zhou Wen and the baby bear down to the side of the well. Then, like a human, it picked up the wooden bucket and placed it in the well. It shook the wooden rack, hoping to draw some water.


    What¡¯s this fellow up to? Zhou Wen sized up the surroundings and saw the words ¡°Holy Spring Well¡± engraved on a rock. He immediately knew where he was.


    Holy Spring Well was rather famous. Legend had it that when Laojun was about to ascend, his mount, Azure Bull, who was chained to the side of the well, seemed to know that its master was about to leave. It couldn¡¯t help but moo and cry as tears of blood flowed down its eyes.


    Laojun couldn¡¯t bear to part with the Azure Bull either, but the Azure Bull was mortal, so it was impossible for it to ascend with him.


    Helpless, Laojun poured a calabash of Golden Cores he had personally refined into the well, causing the ordinary water well to surge.


    The Azure Bull drank the Holy Spring Water daily, allowing it to ascend and reunite with its master in the future.

 Chapter 1481 - The Baffling Giant Bear

    Chapter 1481 The Baffling Giant Bear


    Holy Spring Well had apparently dried up in the past. After Mingdao Palace transformed into a dimensional zone, Holy Spring Well surged with spring water again. After the spring water appeared, someone had tried drinking the spring water from the Holy Spring Well, but there were no special effects. Not only did he not ascend to immortality, but there weren¡¯t even any healing effects.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering, the bear had already raised the bucket. It was filled with water.


    wouldn¡¯t be too clear, but now, the water in the bucket looked purer than pure water. One could even smell the sweetness of the spring water.


    Earth¡¯s environment is many times better than before. Speaking of which, can this be considered a form of self-repair for Earth? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think.


    The giant bear placed the bucket between Zhou Wen and the bear as the baby bear lowered its head to lick the water.


    When Zhou Wen saw this, he had no choice but to move his head over. Otherwise, if the giant bear saw through him, all his prior forbearance would have been in vain.


    Now, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too interested in killing the bear. With the huge changes in Mingdao Palace, all he wanted to know was if there had been any changes to Laojun Platform.


    In the past, Laojun Platform had a total of 33 steps from bottom to top. It meant that Taishang Laojun had ascended to the 33 Heavens. It was unknown what Laojun Platform had become.


    In fact, Zhou Wen was still looking forward to it before coming


    The Dao Sutra he cultivated came from Mount Laojun. This place was called Laojun Platform. Perhaps they had some connection and he could use Laojun Platform to advance the Dao Sutra to the Calamity grade.


    However, along the way, he didn¡¯t discover anything that could advance the Dao Sutra. At the very least, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder in his body didn¡¯t resonate.


    As Zhou Wen thought about it, he drank the water. Soon, the bucket was finished by him and the baby bear. Finally, the baby bear hugged the bucket and rolled on the ground, pouring the remaining water into its mouth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t notice anything special when he drank the water. There wasn¡¯t any rich Essence Energy contained in it, nor did he discover any special attributes. Apart from the refreshing taste, he didn¡¯t discover any benefits from the water.


    Seeing that the bucket was empty, the giant bear carried the bucket away and quickly scooped another bucket of water. It placed it between Zhou Wen and the baby bear again. It apparently wanted them to continue drinking. The baby bear obediently drank the water, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too willing. Although he could drink it, he wasn¡¯t an aquatic animal. What was the point of drinking so much water?


    Despite his thoughts, he still had to drink. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t drink less than the baby bear.


    If the baby bear drank a lot every day and he only drank a little, it would inevitably arouse the giant bear¡¯s suspicion.


    Zhou Wen never expected the giant bear to draw bucket after bucket. It had no intention of stopping Once the water in the bucket was finished, the giant bear would immediately draw another bucket of water.


    Zhou Wen foolishly fought with the bear for more in the beginning. After a few buckets, he couldn¡¯t take it anymore. All he could do was drink as little as possible and let the baby bear drink more.


    After ten buckets, Zhou Wen was at his limits. All he did was extend his tongue and lick it a few times. He really couldn¡¯t drink anymore.


    Zhou Wen was even willing to fight the bear to the death rather than drink any more water.


    To his surprise, the giant bear ignored Zhou Wen¡¯s obvious difference. It only watched from the side and waited for the baby bear to finish drinking before drawing more water.


    Zhou Wen had only heard of people who couldn¡¯t be satiated. This was the first time he was seeing someone like the baby bear who could drink indefinite amounts of water.


    The baby bear was like a bottomless pit. It drank more than half of the ten buckets of water, but it still looked like it wasn¡¯t enough. Its stomach didn¡¯t expand either.


    Could it be that the water in the Holy Spring Well really has some benefits? But I¡¯ve also drunk quite a bit. Why don¡¯t I feel anything? Logically speaking, there should be some benefits after drinking for so long, right? But if there aren¡¯t any benefits, why is this baby bear so gluttonous? It¡¯s as though it can¡¯t be satiated. Zhou Wen considered drinking more. What if there were benefits?


    However, this thought was instantly rejected by him. He really couldn¡¯t drink anymore. He nearly vomited when he saw the water.


    Forget it. If the Holy Spring Well¡¯s water really has benefits, I¡¯ll just find an opportunity to extract some and place it in the chaos space. I¡¯ll use Holy Spring Water to eat, cook, and boil soup. I¡¯ll even use Holy Spring Water to wash my clothes¡­ It was just a thought on Zhou Wen¡¯s part. He wouldn¡¯t really bear to use Holy Spring Water to wash his clothes.


    What¡¯s that giant bear trying to do? When Zhou Wen saw that the giant bear was constantly drawing water for the baby bear to drink, he had more questions. However, he didn¡¯t know who to ask.


    In the end, Zhou Wen stood by the side and watched without even continuing the act.


    Zhou Wen kept counting by the side. The baby bear finally seemed full when it drank more than thirty buckets. It burped before it could finish the remaining half of the bucket.


    Seeing that the baby bear was full, the giant bear didn¡¯t continue drawing water. It extended its claws and picked up Zhou Wen and the baby bear before placing them back on its back. Then, it turned around and walked into the forest.


    The giant bear passed through the forest and soon arrived in front of a mountain-like building


    Laojun Platform? Zhou Wen took a careful look. Although the building was somewhat different from the pictures he had seen of Laojun Platform, it looked mostly correct.


    Laojun Platform was many times taller than before. Conservatively speaking, it was already more than a hundred meters tall.


    Although Laojun Platform was much taller, it scaled in the same ratio, so it didn¡¯t look too different. Even the steps were the same-only 33 steps.


    One step was now two to three meters tall. It would be difficult for ordinary people to climb


    It was no problem for the giant bear. It used all its limbs and climbed up step by step.


    I was planning on going up Laojun Platform to take a look. Perfect, I don¡¯t even have to walk on my own. I¡¯m riding a bear up. This treatment can be considered unique, right? Zhou Wen sat stably on the giant bear as the baby bear kept pestering him, constantly leaning against him.


    Laojun Platform was almost right in front of him. Zhou Wen sized up the top of the door and saw that the words engraved on it weren¡¯t Laojun Platform, but Immortal Ascension Platform.


    The door to the Immortal Ascension Platform was closed. He couldn¡¯t see anything inside from the outside. The giant bear had already sprawled at the door instead of rushing in immediately. Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze was attracted by a pair of doors on both sides of the entrance. The door was shaped like a vertical drum. The drum¡¯s surface was engraved with the symbol of two dragons playing with a pearl. And above the door was a beast-like sculpture. It had deformed due to age, making it impossible to tell what creature it was.


    Zhou Wen was studying the strange beast on the door when the giant bear suddenly leaped up and pounced at the door. In the next second, there was a boom.

 Chapter 1482 - Smashing the Door

    Chapter 1482 Smashing the Door


    The giant bear stood on its hind legs and threw its front claws at the door, causing it to rumble. The door shook violently as though it would fly off at any moment, but it ultimately held still.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam! The giant bear slammed the door with its claws again and again.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, This is Laojun Platform, the place where Taishang Laojun ascended. It would be strange if you could open it with brute force.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen was still having this thought when he suddenly heard something amiss. He hurriedly crawled onto the giant bear¡¯s shoulder and looked in the direction of the door. He saw that there were already many cracks on it.


    Holy sh*t! No way? This can be opened with brute force? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart chilled.


    Although Zhou Wen had never tried striking the door on Laojun Platform, he had tried many things at Mount Laojun. Ignoring the door, even the grass and trees on Golden Peak seemed to be protected by immortal power, preventing him from dealing any damage.


    A place like Laojun Platform was definitely not inferior to Mount Laojun. It could only be stronger than Mount Laojun based on the taboo powers. As the place where Laojun ascended, it was unimaginable that the door would crack.


    It couldn¡¯t be said that the door wasn¡¯t firm enough, nor could it be said that the protection of Laojun Platform wasn¡¯t potent enough. It could only be said that this bear was too terrifying


    Where did this bear come from? Zhou Wen was somewhat glad that he hadn¡¯t attacked earlier on. His mind raced as he searched for myths related to bears.


    However, the myths related to bears were basically from ancient times. Too few were passed down, so Zhou Wen only knew a few.


    There were myths like the dream-entering flying bear, Yu the Great¡¯s transformation into a bear, and so on. However, when he compared them, they didn¡¯t look like this blue bear.


    I¡¯ve heard legends of red and black bears. For example, the Black Bear Spirit in Journey to the West is a black bear, but I¡¯ve never heard of a blue bear. Could it be from another district? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about the myths and legends of the other districts. No special bear-type Mythical creature came to mind.


    The famous Frost Bear was white. Even if it was blue, it was still frost-blue. This bear was grayish-blue and didn¡¯t have any ice-elemental attributes.


    Pa! Pa! Pa!


    As the bear struck, more and more cracks appeared on the door-it was almost on the brink of shattering.


    Zhou Wen and the baby bear lay on the giant bear¡¯s shoulder as the splattering wood splinters hit them. Zhou Wen picked up a piece of wood and saw a faint golden glow flowing in it. It didn¡¯t look like an ordinary piece of wood.


    Zhou Wen pinched it hard. His strength was infinitely close to the Calamity grade. Logically speaking, it was just a piece of wood. Many of the fibers had been destroyed, but he failed to deform the wooden splinter.


    Boom! A hole was smashed through by the bear¡¯s claws. The giant bear kept exerting its strength as it widened the hole. In just moments, the two door panels were smashed to pieces by the giant bear.


    The giant bear clawed at the ground and crawled through the broken door.


    The space on Laojun Platform wasn¡¯t big to begin with. After dimensionalization, it was only a few hundred square meters. On the right was the Numinous Treasure Hall, and on the left was the God of Fortune Hall. Together with the main hall, there were only three halls. Doors to all three halls were tightly shut. It was unknown what gods were consecrated inside.


    As Zhou Wen was still observing the area, the giant bear turned right the moment it entered and arrived in front of a metal column that was embedded in the ground.


    The metal column was thicker than a person¡¯s thigh. It revealed a portion above ground that was more than a meter long. Its top was oval in shape and it looked somewhat strange overall.


    The metal column was covered in rust and had probably been here for countless years.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about Laojun Platform. He had never been here before, so he didn¡¯t know what the metal column was.


    The bear stood up again and hugged the metal column with its claws, about to pull it out.


    Boom! Boom!


    The giant bear suddenly exerted strength that could uproot a mountain, but it only managed to raise the metal column slightly.


    Laojun Platform shook as though there was an earthquake.


    The giant bear continued exerting its strength, roaring as it tried to pull out the metal column. It crossed its claws and hugged the metal column tightly, pulling it up bit by bit.


    Laojun Platform kept trembling as the three palace halls shook. However, their doors remained tightly shut as though there was no one guarding the area. Zhou Wen wore an odd expression as he thought to himself, Isn¡¯t it said that Laojun Platform is personally protected by Taishang Laojun? Why isn¡¯t there any reaction at this moment? Could it be that the legend is wrong? This isn¡¯t the true place Taishang Laojun ascended?


    Zhou Wen thought of something else. Could it be that this bear is so terrifying that the power protecting Laojun Platform doesn¡¯t dare stop him?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he found it possible. The taboo power of Laojun Platform couldn¡¯t be faked. It was very similar to the taboo power at Mount Laojun. With so many terrifying creatures guarding Mount Laojun, it was impossible for there to be none


    here.


    The only possibility was that the guards here were afraid of the giant bear and didn¡¯t dare stop it.


    The giant bear had already pulled out more than a meter of the metal column. It didn¡¯t take long to fully pull it out.


    The huge metal column was like a toy in the giant bear¡¯s hands. It sniffed it for a while before looking as though it had been exposed. It grabbed the metal column and threw it out with both paws.


    With a boom, the metal column tore through the main hall¡¯s wall. It stabbed through most of the way, with only the end exposed.


    Even so, the door to the hall remained tightly shut.


    What are the origins of this bear? Zhou Wen found it even more terrifying.


    He hadn¡¯t managed to cause much damage when grinding the Mount Laojun dungeon. A few steps were enough to get him killed.


    It seemed silent despite the bear being close to destroying the place. It seemed abnormal.


    The giant bear seemed furious as it rushed to the door of the main hall. It extended its bear paw and slapped it a few more times as it roared angrily.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead broke out into a cold sweat. To mess with Taishang Laojun¡¯s place was akin to having a death wish. Was he tired of living?


    If he were to give the deities a ranking, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of anyone who could be ranked above him even if the bear wasn¡¯t first.


    Thankfully, the main hall¡¯s door was much sturdier than the mountain entrance. The bear slapped it a few times, but the door wasn¡¯t damaged. All it did was produce a loud bang.


    As though it knew that it couldn¡¯t smash open the door, the giant bear clawed at the ground and circled the door a few times before walking to the left.


    On the left side of the main hall was a stone platform with a stone calabash on it. The giant bear came in front of the stone platform and circled it twice.


    Just as Zhou Wen imagined that it was about to strike the stone calabash and stone platform again, the bear suddenly extended its claws and lifted Zhou Wen and the baby bear with one swipe of its claws before placing them in front of the stone platform.


    The baby bear unhappily turned around and crawled towards the giant bear. The giant bear extended its claws and carried it to the stone platform. It even nudged the baby bear and Zhou Wen. From the looks of it, it wanted them to do something to the stone platform.


    What¡¯s the meaning of this? Could it be that it doesn¡¯t feel satisfied smashing things alone and wants us to hone our skills and smash things with it? Zhou Wen thought to himself.

 Chapter 1483 - Stone Calabash

    Chapter 1483 Stone Calabash


    The giant bear flared up when it saw Zhou Wen and the baby bear remain motionless. It pushed Zhou Wen and the bear to the side and stood in front of the stone platform. Its claws formed a hug before it moved up and down in the air a few times. Then, it turned its head and roared at Zhou Wen and the baby bear.


    What do you mean? Teaching us how to wreak havoc via example? Do you want us to smash this calabash and stone platform? Zhou Wen felt that the giant bear was using its actions to get them to carry the calabash and stone platform and lift them up before throwing them to the ground.


    As Zhou Wen was still thinking, the giant bear roared at the two of them again and nudged them with its claws, almost pushing them onto the stone platform.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, That baby bear is silly. It probably can¡¯t comprehend the giant bear¡¯s intentions. Now is the time for me to showcase myself.


    Roar! With this in mind, Zhou Wen mimicked the giant bear and roared. He even extended his claws, wanting to pound his chest.


    But on second thought, that was a gorilla¡¯s action. Bears probably didn¡¯t do such things. He hurriedly lowered his hands and stole a glance at the giant bear.


    Thankfully, the giant bear didn¡¯t mind. Only then did Zhou Wen feel relieved. He extended his claws and hugged the calabash, hoping to lift it up and smash it.


    Since the giant bear was around, Laojun Platform would pin the blame on the giant bear even if it wanted to settle scores.


    Zhou Wen believed that he was quite good at wreaking havoc. As he tried to pick up the stone calabash and smash it to the ground, the stone calabash remained motionless despite him exerting his strength. It had no intention of being lifted.


    The stone calabash was only about two feet tall and didn¡¯t look too heavy. In order to pull off his act as a baby bear, Zhou Wen used very little strength. Seeing that he couldn¡¯t move it, he secretly used more strength.


    The calabash didn¡¯t budge as though it had been welded to the stone platform below.


    Zhou Wen increased his strength and tried a few more times, but the outcome was the same every time. The calabash didn¡¯t show any movement.


    What¡¯s up with this stone calabash? Could it be that this thing is a treasure? But if it¡¯s really a treasure, why would it be placed outside? It should be stored in the hall. Zhou Wen sized up the stone calabash and was momentarily unsure of its origins.


    Zhou Wen regretted not carefully studying what was present on Laojun Platform before coming


    He never expected such a situation. Laojun Platform wasn¡¯t a threat to him. He had come here to deal with the giant bear, but things had turned out this way.


    The baby bear seemed intrigued by Zhou Wen¡¯s actions. It tottered over with its plump body and pushed Zhou Wen to the side. It wrapped its four paws around the stone calabash.


    It must be a joke if you can lift it while I can¡¯t, Zhou Wen thought.


    However, now that the baby bear had taken the initiative, it could be considered as helping him out. Zhou Wen was rather grateful to it.


    While the baby bear was hugging the calabash, Zhou Wen realized that there were clouds and dragon patterns engraved on it. A dragon shuttled through the clouds-its body mostly hidden. It emitted a refreshing and elegant aura.


    The baby bear was a simpleton. It hugged the stone calabash and had no intention of lifting it up. It even wanted to bite it as though it wanted to know if it could be eaten.


    After biting it twice to no avail, it even gestured at the calabash with his front claws as though it wanted to know if it could swallow the calabash.


    If you can eat this thing, I¡¯ll respect you as a man! Just as Zhou Wen had this thought, he suddenly saw the calabash glow.


    Golden light seeped out from the cloud patterns. There was seemingly something inside the originally solid stone calabash.


    It was naturally impossible for the stone calabash to have a hole, but now, there was a golden glow at the top of the calabash. Then, a golden object spewed out from the calabash¡¯s mouth amidst the luminance.


    Zhou Wen only saw a Golden Elixir Pill spew out before the baby bear opened its mouth and swallowed it.


    After swallowing it, the baby bear even smacked its lips as though it wasn¡¯t satisfied.


    The baby bear wanted more. It hugged the calabash and began gnawing. It was unknown how it did it, but soon, another pill spewed out.


    The baby bear opened its mouth and swallowed it. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even see what the pill looked like as it shimmered with golden light.


    Perhaps it was because of the pill, Zhou Wen saw a faint golden luster appear on the baby bear¡¯s fur. Furthermore, it emitted a refreshing fragrance.


    Don¡¯t tell me that the pills that fly out of the calabash¡­ are Taishang Laojun¡¯s Golden Elixir Pills¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes nearly popped out.


    The baby bear chewed and chewed one pill after another. It left Zhou Wen envious.


    This was Taishang Laojun¡¯s territory. The pills that appeared were likely immortal pills. Even if they weren¡¯t the famous Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Pill, they were definitely not ordinary.


    Now, Zhou Wen understood that the giant bear wasn¡¯t here to wreak havoc, but to eat the immortal pills.


    Zhou Wen wanted to slap himself. He had failed to seize such a good opportunity. He was the one who had hugged the calabash first.


    Who knew that this would happen? That giant bear was so violent the moment it came here. I thought it wanted¡­ Zhou Wen was filled with regret, but it was useless. All he could do was wait by the side, hoping that the baby bear would quickly release the calabash and give him the opportunity to get two immortal pills.


    However, the baby bear seemed to have a huge appetite. It didn¡¯t seem satiated despite eating seven or eight pills. It continued gnawing away.


    Eat, eat, eat. All you know is to eat. Look at your figure. How are you going to find a life partner in the future? Which bear chick will like you? Get yourself together. Stop eating and start losing weight. Zhou Wen kept muttering inwardly.


    It was unknown if the baby bear heard his thoughts or if it was really full, but it released the stone calabash and rolled to the side. It lay on its back, panting. Its belly swelled up as though it was stuffed.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly crawled over and hugged the calabash with his claws. Ignoring the saliva of the baby bear on the calabash, he opened his mouth and chewed.


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t bite through the stone calabash. He was only imitating the baby bear¡¯s actions.


    After a while, the calabash shimmered with golden light as a pill spewed out.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed when he saw this. He hurriedly opened his mouth and swallowed the pill.


    When the pill entered his stomach, a strange force immediately spread out. It was an extremely strange feeling-he couldn¡¯t put his finger on whether it was hot or cold.

 Chapter 1484 - The Mysterious Laojun Platform

    Chapter 1484 The Mysterious Laojun Platform


    A cold yet hot force spread through his body. The feeling was indescribable as his body seemed to turn ethereal as though he was about to ascend to immortality. It became lighter and lighter. Zhou Wen felt that his body would be blown away by a mere breeze.


    Of course, that was only what Zhou Wen felt. He naturally wasn¡¯t blown away.


    Not only was he not blown away, but his body also became heavier¡ªthe bricks beneath him shattered.


    Zhou Wen lowered his head to bite the calabash and got a few more pills out for eating, but as he lowered his head, his body gradually turned to stone.


    Before Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth touched the calabash, his body was completely petrified, turning into a stone beast statue hugging the stone calabash.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move, but he was still conscious. He felt as light as a feather, so he failed to react to the petrification.


    Holy sh*t, what¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He clearly felt ethereal and airy, as though a gust of wind could blow him away at any time, but he had petrified into an immobile rock.


    What was even more terrifying was that he couldn¡¯t use any of his Essence Energy Arts, nor could he circulate his Essence Energy. It was as though he had really become a rock.


    Could it be that the giant bear knew that this would happen, so it deliberately brought us here to eat the pills? If I were really its cub, I wouldn¡¯t have turned into a rock, so it can distinguish who its child is. Zhou Wen felt extremely ambivalent.


    Seeing Zhou Wen turn into a stone statue, the giant bear lifted the baby bear onto its back before turning to head out the door. It walked down the stone steps as though it had verified Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts.


    As for the baby bear, it would occasionally turn its head to look at Zhou Wen. It even called out twice as though it wanted him to follow.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move, so how could he follow? All he could do was watch helplessly as they descended Laojun Platform and vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s senses.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to calm down and attempt to use all sorts of powers to escape the present predicament.


    However, he couldn¡¯t use Essence Energy Arts or summon Companion Beasts. He couldn¡¯t even move his body, so there was nothing he could do.


    Could it be that I¡¯ll become a stone statue just like that and be alone for millennia? Zhou Wen was depressed, but he didn¡¯t give up on survival. He only hoped for beneficial developments.


    Time ticked by, but Zhou Wen failed to recover from his stone statue state.


    Why was the baby bear fine after eating it, but I ended up turning into a rock? That baby bear doesn¡¯t look like a stone-elemental creature. In terms of immunity, with Truth Listener and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, I shouldn¡¯t be that weak¡­ What kind of powers do the Golden Elixir Pills have? Zhou Wen kept thinking, hoping to find the crux of the problem.


    However, even when the sky darkened and the moon rose, he still couldn¡¯t figure out what kind of power the Golden Elixir Pills possessed.


    The cold moonlight shone on Laojun Platform, as though it had covered the originally mysterious Laojun Platform with a veil.


    There was complete silence. Zhou Wen could still hear, but the range was limited to the vicinity of Laojun Platform. Furthermore, it was only normal hearing, not Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    He could see with his eyes, but all he could see was what was in front of him.


    Sir is still waiting for me to return. I have to think of a way to quickly escape. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly heard something strange.


    It sounded like someone was speaking, but it was indiscernible. It was like murmurs one heard in their reverie, but it was impossible to tell what was being said.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sleeping, so he naturally wasn¡¯t daydreaming. He listened attentively. He could clearly hear the sound, and it wasn¡¯t so soft that it was indiscernible, but he couldn¡¯t hear what was being said clearly. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even be sure if the sound was human. Unfortunately, his body couldn¡¯t move, and the direction of the sound wasn¡¯t in his field of vision.


    After listening for a while, Zhou Wen could tell that the sound was coming from the main hall.


    With that giant bear around, ordinary people wouldn¡¯t dare come to Laojun Platform. Even if they dared, I wouldn¡¯t be unable to hear anything when they ascended Laojun Platform. Could it be that the sound comes from the main hall? With this in mind, Zhou Wen felt a sliver of hope.


    He didn¡¯t know what was inside the hall, but he believed that it was most likely Taishang Laojun. If the sound really came from the main hall, it might be something profound.


    However, no matter how Zhou Wen listened, he couldn¡¯t tell what the voice was saying. After a while, the voice gradually vanished.


    In the morning, Zhou Wen saw a purple glow land in front of him. It was indescribably beautiful.


    The purple light came from the east. Zhou Wen was on the west side of the main temple, and he couldn¡¯t see what was emitting the purple light either.


    After a while, the purple light deviated and shone on him.


    No, it should be said that it shone on the stone calabash. Zhou Wen was surprised to discover the stone calabash automatically emitting a golden glow as it sucked the purple gas into the calabash.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was illuminated by the purple light by virtue of him hugging the calabash. He felt his body warm up. His mind, which had been in disarray the entire night, immediately felt refreshed as though he had just woken up. The purple light didn¡¯t last long. After a while, the angle of the purple light deviated, preventing it from reaching this spot. The stone calabash returned to its original state, and Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t illuminated by the purple light again. For the next two to three days, Zhou Wen failed to think of a way to escape. He would hear that strange whisper every night at midnight. And in the morning, he would see the purple light.


    When the purple light shone on him, he vaguely felt that his body was showing signs of recovery. However, the time for the illumination was too short. Before he could be treated of the petrification, the purple light had already disappeared.


    Although he knew that time was of the essence and that Yu Qiubai was definitely having a hard time holding on, there was nothing he could do. All he could do was patiently listen to the murmurs every night and try his best to absorb the purple light like the calabash.


    However, this wasn¡¯t easy. It was clearly difficult to take the initiative to absorb the purple light without using an Essence Energy Art. Zhou Wen kept trying, but he failed.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see any traces of the giant bear or the baby bear again. Instead, the door that had been destroyed by the giant bear automatically returned to normal the next day.


    Zhou Wen occasionally heard dimensional creatures wandering around Laojun Platform, but no dimensional creature dared to ascend it.


    There weren¡¯t even any dimensional creatures that went up the stairs. At most, they would circle around the steps for a while before leaving

 Chapter 1485 - Someone’s Here

    Chapter 1485 Someone¡¯s Here


    In the morning, Zhou Wen was enjoying the purple light when he suddenly heard footsteps coming from below Laojun Platform.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that he had heard wrongly, but he immediately heard someone speak.


    ¡°Old man, are you sure it¡¯s here?¡± A lazy man¡¯s voice sounded.


    Zhou Wen found the voice familiar and his expression immediately turned odd. This was because the voice sounded like Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun.


    No way? Why is Liu Yun here? Zhou Wen was puzzled. Although Liu Yun was his eldest senior brother, it was difficult to describe their relationship. After all, Liu Yun had often tried scamming Zhou Wen in the past, but he always suffered losses every time. Zhou Wen was only passively counterattacking in the beginning, but over time, he couldn¡¯t help but take the initiative to bully this eldest senior brother.


    Their relationship couldn¡¯t be considered good, but it wasn¡¯t necessarily bad. No matter what Liu Yun thought, Zhou Wen had never thought of doing anything to Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun. He had never even treated him as an enemy.


    This feeling was very strange. He was clearly someone who wanted to scam him the moment they met, but he didn¡¯t think of him as an enemy.


    ¡°The place where Laojun ascended should be here. There¡¯s no mistake about it.¡± An elderly voice sounded.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard the voice. This was because he was familiar with the voice. It was likely Jing Daoxian.


    Why is Liu Yun still with Jing Daoxian? Hasn¡¯t he suffered enough from colluding with him? Could it be that Jing Daoxian pulled some trick on Liu Yun, forcing him to obey his orders? Zhou Wen had always been puzzled as to why Liu Yun often ended up working with Jing Daoxian.


    Later on, on careful thought, Liu Yun had been captured by Jing Daoxian in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang. It was very likely that he had been tricked by Jing Daoxian and was coerced by him. ¡°That might not be the case. Many places claim to have a relationship with Taishang Laojun. You said the same thing back in my hometown. What happened in the end?¡± Liu Yun mocked.


    ¡°This great immortal is the founder of Daoism. Everyone wants to rub off some blessings, causing the information to be messy. We need to slowly verify them. This Laojun Platform is indeed the place where Laojun ascended. As long as no one comes before us, that thing should still be here,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly. ¡°Let¡¯s wait and see. I don¡¯t dare have such high hopes.¡± Liu Yun still didn¡¯t seem to believe Jing Daoxian¡¯s judgment. As he spoke, he walked up the stairs, but he was stopped by Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°The 33 steps of Laojun Platform represent the 33 Heavens. Every step is a heaven. It¡¯s not something that can be easily ascended,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing special about it.¡± Liu Yun sized up the steps and felt that other than being a little taller, there was nothing special.


    The more Zhou Wen listened, the more puzzled he became. He had been carried up here by the giant bear and didn¡¯t find the stairs impressive. However, Jing Daoxian¡¯s tone made it seem like even he didn¡¯t dare underestimate the 33 steps.


    ¡°Daoism emphasizes returning to the basics. The more inconspicuous a place is, the more careful you have to be. Otherwise, you having ten lives wouldn¡¯t be enough if I¡¯m not by your side,¡± Jing Daoxian said solemnly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been traveling alone for so many years. Ain¡¯t I still living well?¡± Liu Yun said disapprovingly. ¡°You can give it a try if you don¡¯t believe me,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly.


    ¡°Sure.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he jumped up the stairs.


    Zhou Wen suddenly couldn¡¯t hear him after Liu Yun landed on the steps. However, Liu Yun had clearly landed on the first step, so how did he suddenly vanish and go completely silent?


    From the looks of it, those stairs are indeed as Jing Daoxian said. They possess unbelievable power. It¡¯s only because I was carried by the giant bear which broke through the stairs¡¯ restrictions that I didn¡¯t sense the existence of that power. As Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly heard a tragic cry.


    Liu Yun, who seemed to have vanished, fell to the ground away from the steps with a tragic cry as though he had appeared out of thin air. ¡°Of the 33 steps, you couldn¡¯t even last past the seventh step. Aren¡¯t you too weak?¡± Jing Daoxian mocked.


    Liu Yun got up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He said stubbornly, ¡°To be able to reach the seventh step shows heavenly talent. A genius like me is already rare in this world. You probably won¡¯t find many in the human world capable of this feat.¡±


    ¡°Which one of your junior brothers isn¡¯t stronger than you?¡± Jing Daoxian said airily.


    ¡°I¡¯m just letting them have it easy. I don¡¯t want to bully the weak on account of us being fellow disciples,¡± Liu Yun said as he cracked his neck.


    ¡°Luoyang¡¯s An Tianzuo, the Dugu family¡¯s Dugu Ge, the Zhang family¡¯s Zhang Chunqiu, and the Xia family¡¯s Xia Liuchuan, none of them should be inferior to you, right? There¡¯s also that punk from the Feng family in the south sea and the Ming family¡¯s kid that uses a sword. They aren¡¯t much weaker than you, right? Geniuses like you don¡¯t seem to be that rare.¡± Jing Daoxian listed down several examples.


    Liu Yun was immediately displeased. ¡°How can Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu be my match? An Tianzuo can at most fight me to a draw. They can barely be considered on the same level. I¡¯m not afraid of the others.¡±


    ¡°When you mention a draw, is it like that time at Dragon Gate Grotto in Luoyang? He chased as you ran, but that he failed to catch up to you? That¡¯s right. As long as you aren¡¯t dead, it¡¯s a draw,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Liu Yun was alarmed as he glared at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°I know plenty.¡± Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t answer him. He looked at the steps in front of him and said, ¡°These 33 steps are the distance between heaven and earth. It¡¯s the process of advancing from a mortal to an immortal. If you can reach the 33rd step at the Epic stage with your own abilities, you can break through the limits of the Deva Realm and advance to the Mythical stage with your body. Unfortunately, no one in the world can do it.¡±


    After a pause, Jing Daoxian said, ¡°Follow me. Let¡¯s head up now.¡±


    With that said, Jing Daoxian walked up the steps. Liu Yun followed closely behind him.


    Soon, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear their voices as though they had vanished into thin air.


    When Zhou Wen heard their voices again, it was more than an hour later. Jing Daoxian and Liu Yun had already arrived at the door.


    The door that had been smashed by the giant bear had returned to its original state. It was impossible to tell that it had been smashed before.


    ¡°This door can¡¯t be opened with brute force. If one tries to force their way in, they might be thrown out of Laojun Platform.¡± Jing Daoxian looked at the door and slowly walked to it before knocking on it.


    He knocked on the door with a strange rhythm. After knocking a few times, the door automatically opened.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that the door is very difficult to open? Why did it open just by knocking?¡± Liu Yun naturally knew that something was amiss. He had said that to get Jing Daoxian to explain the oddity.


    As Jing Daoxian walked into the yard, he said, ¡°This is the Door of the Deva Realm. As long as one breaks through the limits of the Deva Realm, they will naturally be able to open it. Therefore, I can open it, but you can¡¯t.¡±

 Chapter 1486 - Grandson

    Chapter 1486 Grandson


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be proud of?¡± Liu Yun muttered as he followed Jing Daoxian into the yard.


    When they arrived in the yard, Jing Daoxian¡¯s expression changed when he saw the metal column that the giant bear had stabbed into the wall. ¡°Someone was here before us.¡±


    With that said, Jing Daoxian walked to the wall and reached out to gently stroke the exposed parts of the metal column. At the same time, he carefully sized it up.


    ¡°It should be Teacher, right? It looks like you¡¯re one step too late,¡± Liu Yun said gloatingly.


    ¡°Whose grandson are you?¡± Jing Daoxian glared at him.


    ¡°Who knows if you¡¯re bluffing me. How do I know that you¡¯re telling the truth?¡± Liu Yun curled his lips.


    ¡°If you weren¡¯t my only grandchild, I would have already slapped you to death,¡± Jing Daoxian said coldly. Then, he released his hand that was caressing the metal column and took two steps back. ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll disappoint you. It¡¯s not Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan wouldn¡¯t do something so senseless.¡±


    Zhou Wen was stunned. Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun is actually Jing Daoxian¡¯s grandson? It¡¯s no wonder I had a nagging feeling that something was amiss-why is Liu Yun always with Jing Daoxian? That explains it! After his shock, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but feel a burning desire for gossip. Liu Yun is sing Daoxian¡¯s grandson, so who¡¯s his grandmother? Didn¡¯t they say that Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t marry and have children?


    ¡°What¡¯s senseless?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°This metal column is called the Mountain-Driving Whip. It should have been something good, but unfortunately, this one is fake. The person who came before us realized that this metal column was fake and flew into a rage, smashing it into the wall. With Wang Mingyuan¡¯s personality, he definitely wouldn¡¯t do such a thing,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. If it¡¯s Teacher, he would put it back when he discovers that it¡¯s fake,¡± said Liu Yun.


    Jing Daoxian gave a strange smile. ¡°That¡¯s also possible. However, if I were to guess, I believe he would take away this fake Mountain-Driving Whip.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Liu Yun asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Because I will do the same,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he reached out to pull out the metal column.


    It was difficult to stick the metal column in, but it was equally difficult to pull it out. Jing Daoxian pulled a few times, but the metal column seemed to be firmly stuck in the wall.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s fake, why waste time pulling it out?¡± Liu Yun asked again.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand.¡± Jing Daoxian summoned a Companion Beast. Zhou Wen could tell that it was a humanoid Companion Beast. Without Truth Listener¡¯s augmentation, he couldn¡¯t turn the sound he heard into an image. All he could do was make a general judgment. With the help of the humanoid Companion Beast, the metal column was slowly pulled out


    Jing Daoxian used some unknown method to stroke the metal pillar, causing it to vanish.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time. If we don¡¯t get down to business, I¡¯m afraid we will lose our lives here when that bear returns,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°That Luck Stone should be on the west side of the main hall. You can see it if you take a look,¡± Jing Daoxian said. Liu Yun walked west and immediately saw the stone platform, calabash, and Zhou Wen. Now that Zhou Wen was in the form of a stone beast, Liu Yun naturally couldn¡¯t recognize him. He was even given a fright as he pointed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°That¡¯s strange. Didn¡¯t you say that the Luck Stone is with a treasure calabash? Why is there a stone beast there? Could it be that there¡¯s a Luck Beast that comes with it?¡±


    ¡°What Luck Beast?¡± Jing Daoxian frowned slightly as he walked to Liu Yun¡¯s side and was slightly taken aback when he saw the stone beast Zhou Wen had transformed into. ¡°Strange. The Luck Stone is a stone roller used by Taishang Laojun to grind medicine. The treasure calabash is used to store pills, but I¡¯ve never heard of any guardian beast. Even if there is one, it should be a child guarding the furnace. It shouldn¡¯t be such a strange stone beast¡­¡± As Jing Daoxian sized up Zhou Wen, he pondered and said, ¡°Furthermore, this stone beast looks somewhat similar to that bear¡­¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself, I don¡¯t think Jing Daoxian has seen the baby bear before. The baby bear doesn¡¯t resemble the giant bear either. To be able to tell, Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes are indeed a little sharp.


    ¡°Who cares? Anyway, what you want is the Luck Stone and the treasure calabash. Just take them away,¡± Liu Yun said as he moved the stone calabash.


    However, after exerting some strength, the calabash remained motionless. Liu Yun exerted so much strength that the veins on his forehead protruded.


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste your efforts. Although the treasure calabash isn¡¯t a purple-gold calabash, it¡¯s no ordinary item. It won¡¯t be easy to take it away. If we could use brute force to take it away, the people who came before us would have long done so without giving us a chance.¡± Jing Daoxian paused before saying, ¡°From the looks of it, we came at the right time. These are all genuine.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a solution?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°These two treasures are used for alchemy. If you want to take them away, you naturally have to work from a pill angle,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he took out something


    It was a small bottle that was only the size of a palm. Jing Daoxian carefully opened the bottle and poured out a tiny pill before throwing it at the stone calabash.


    The stone calabash that would only react in the morning suddenly shimmered with golden light as it sucked in the tiny pill.


    Jing Daoxian threw the tiny bottle to Liu Yun. ¡°Feed that calabash with a pill every ten minutes. In a few hours, you should be able to move the treasure calabash.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you feed it yourself?¡± Liu Yun seemed to enjoy arguing with Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian said indifferently, ¡°If that bear returns, I¡¯ll have to think of a way to stop it outside. We have to be wary of the people from before in the event that they haven¡¯t left.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that there aren¡¯t more than five creatures on Earth who can fight that bear? And none of them are human? Then how are you going to stop it?¡± Liu Yun was puzzled.


    ¡°Silly child, you sometimes have to use your brain. Something that can¡¯t be done with brute force might be easily done with some trivial means. In short, stay here and feed that treasure calabash. No matter what happens outside, don¡¯t come out,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he walked out the door and closed it.


    ¡°Who knows if all these opinionated things you say are true.¡± As Liu Yun muttered, he waited before throwing a pill at the calabash.


    Strangely, every time he threw a pill and pushed the treasure calabash, he felt that it was a little lighter.


    ¡°Old man, are you outside?¡± Liu Yun was a person who couldn¡¯t sit idle. After waiting for a while, he felt bored and shouted outside.


    No one answered him. Liu Yun asked a few times, but when Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t respond, he stopped shouting, probably because his voice couldn¡¯t be heard.


    Liu Yun¡¯s eyes darted as he looked at Zhou Wen. As though he had thought of something fun, he got up and walked towards him.


    Holy sh*t, what are you going to do? Zhou Wen immediately felt that things were going south, but he couldn¡¯t move or make a sound. He couldn¡¯t do anything but watch as Liu Yun walked to his side.

 Chapter 1487 - Liu Yun’s Concerns

    Liu Yun circled Zhou Wen a few times before standing in front of him. He stared at his face carefully and gradually frowned.


    ¡°Strange. It¡¯s clearly a stone statue. Why does it have a sense of familiarity while inducing some hate?¡± Liu Yun looked at the stone beast and muttered to himself.


    This punk¡¯s spiritual perception is so sharp! Zhou Wen was given a fright, afraid that Liu Yun would notice.


    He had scammed Liu Yun many times. If Liu Yun knew that he couldn¡¯t move after becoming a stone statue, who knew how he would take revenge on him.


    ¡°The more I look at it, the more I find it irritating.¡± Liu Yun¡¯s eyes darted around as he walked in front of him and reached out to pull his pants.


    No¡­ No way¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed as he had the urge to turn around and escape. He guessed what Liu Yun was up to.


    However, he couldn¡¯t escape at all. He couldn¡¯t even close his eyes.


    Piss!


    A clear fountain drenched the stone beast¡¯s front legs, giving Zhou Wen the urge to kick Liu Yun to death.


    What was even more terrifying was that Liu Yun was constantly raising the angle of the fountain launcher, causing the liquid to spray even higher.


    ¡°How is it? Are you ashamed? You¡¯ve never seen such a majestic treasure, right? An existence as talented as me is one in a billion among humans. It¡¯s your good fortune to be able to see my treasure. If you have the chance to be reincarnated in your next life, remember to grow like me. Don¡¯t be as irritating as you are now. However, you don¡¯t have to think about having such a huge asset like me. To have a third of it is something you will enjoy for the rest of your life¡­¡± Liu Yun boasted as he sprayed.


    Why don¡¯t the heavens smite this fellow to death! Zhou Wen was extremely disgusted. It was fine if his body was defiled, but he had to endure Liu Yun¡¯s psychological attacks.


    Zhou Wen used all his strength to escape the petrification¡¯s restraints, but it was useless. The Essence Energy and strength in his body didn¡¯t obey his orders as though they had also been petrified.


    ¡°Watch my Sea-Emerging Twin Dragons¡­ Fountain to the Nine Heavens¡­¡± Liu Yun sprayed higher and higher until he was about to spray Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    Die¡­ Die¡­ Die¡­ Zhou Wen screamed inwardly as he struggled with all his might, but it was useless.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen suddenly felt his body turn heavy. The ethereal feeling vanished as his body was dispelled of its petrified state.


    After a plume of white smoke appeared, Zhou Wen returned to his original appearance from his petrified state.


    This sudden development left Zhou Wen and Liu Yun stunned.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Two screams nearly overlapped as Zhou Wen quickly retreated. Liu Yun zipped up as he retreated, but in his panic, his flesh was caught in the zipper. ¡°Holy sh*t¡­ Holy sh*t¡­¡± Liu Yun¡¯s face turned livid from the pain as he held his crouch and jumped.


    Zhou Wen quickly took off his shirt and threw it far away. One of his sleeves was wet.


    ¡°Are you f*cking sick? You turned into a stone statue to peep at me pee!?¡± Liu Yun composed himself and pointed at Zhou Wen as he stomped his feet.


    ¡°Pui! You¡¯re the f*cking sick one. You¡¯re a human, not a beast. Instead of using the bathroom, you came all the way here to Laojun Platform to relieve yourself? Aren¡¯t you afraid Lord Laojun will smite you?¡± Zhou Wen immediately retorted.


    ¡°It¡¯s my business where I want to relieve myself. Why? Are you feeling inferior because of my asset? It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s only right for the senior brother¡¯s to be bigger than the junior brother¡¯s¡­ Besides, you are the youngest junior brother¡­¡± Liu Yun deliberately emphasized the word ¡®youngest.¡¯


    ¡°Asset? You mean that bean sprout?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°F*ck you. You¡¯re just jealous. Can that bean sprout of yours¡­¡±


    The two of them cursed each other for a while until they were out of cuss words. Both their mouths were dry.


    Zhou Wen leaned against the wall and panted while Liu Yun took out a pill to feed the treasure calabash.


    ¡°I never expected you to be Jing Daoxian¡¯s grandson. It¡¯s no wonder you were so certain that Jing Daoxian wouldn¡¯t harm you,¡± Zhou Wen said with an odd expression after taking a deep breath.


    After Liu Yun finished feeding the treasure calabash, his expression turned odd when he heard Zhou Wen.


    Looking at the door and seeing that it was tightly shut, Liu Yun lowered his voice and said, ¡°Jing Daoxian is very certain that I¡¯m his grandson. He treats me pretty well, but Teacher said that I¡¯m not Jing Daoxian¡¯s grandson.¡±


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that. ¡°How can a person like Jing Daoxian not know who his family is? But Teacher isn¡¯t someone who speaks nonsense¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I don¡¯t know who to believe. Logically speaking, it¡¯s impossible for the old man¡­ I mean Jing Daoxian to make a mistake, but Teacher¡¯s words have never been wrong.¡± Liu Yun was also depressed.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask your parents?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°My parents are long dead. How am I to ask? Should I slit my throat and find them?¡± Liu Yun rolled his eyes at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Then how can Jing Daoxian be sure that you are his grandson?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°How would I know? After we met him in the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, he made the baffling statement that I was his grandson, but he didn¡¯t tell me the reason. I originally thought that he was deliberately taking advantage of me, but later, he gave me quite a number of benefits. His actions made it seem like it was true,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    With that said, Liu Yun suddenly came to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and grabbed his collar. He stared at him and almost stuck to his face. He said with a heavy expression, ¡°Let me ask you a question. You have to answer me honestly.¡±


    ¡°Just shoot. Why are you grabbing me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t let go. He continued grabbing him and asked, ¡°Why did you suddenly come here and become a stone beast? Did Teacher ask you to come?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t plan on transforming into a stone beast. Here¡¯s what happened.¡± Zhou Wen recounted what had happened.


    After Liu Yun heard that, his expression softened a little. However, he still asked worriedly, ¡°Was it really not Teacher who asked you to come?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen answered with certainty. Then, he looked at Liu Yun and asked, ¡°Are you suspecting that Teacher is up to something?¡±


    Liu Yun released Zhou Wen¡¯s collar and said with an odd expression, ¡°It¡¯s not that I¡¯m suspicious, but I find it terrifying. Don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s something wrong with Teacher?¡±


    ¡°Of course something¡¯s amiss. He has already become the Dragon King of the dimension,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯m not talking about that. I¡¯m talking about us disciples. I¡¯ve been treated as a grandson by Jing Daoxian, and Hui Haifeng has become president. Little Ya is the president of the Holy Spirit Association. If I¡¯m not wrong, that Immortal from the League of Guardians is very likely Jiang Yan. Together with you, all the disciples he took in don¡¯t seem simple. He took in those few disciples after all those years, but they all have achievements that ordinary people can¡¯t achieve. Don¡¯t you find it very unlikely? Apart from our teacher, have you seen anyone else with such abilities?¡± Liu Yun said with a strange expression.


    Zhou Wen had actually had such a feeling before, but he didn¡¯t say it out loud like Liu Yun.

 Chapter 1488 - The Truth Behind the bet

    ¡°You suspect that it wasn¡¯t a coincidence that Teacher took us in as students?¡± Although Zhou Wen was somewhat suspicious, he still felt that it was unlikely. ¡°Who knows? Anyway, I have a nagging feeling that there¡¯s something wrong.¡± Liu Yun paused before saying, ¡°Do you still remember the time the old man came to you?¡±


    ¡°The time he made the bet with Teacher?¡± Zhou Wen naturally remembered the matter.


    Jing Daoxian had used an alias to get him to help him get on the Cube¡¯s rankings. Zhou Wen had even taken his Companion Beast, but he ultimately didn¡¯t help him get on the rankings.


    Jing Daoxian acted oddly as well. He said that it was fine if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t help him get on the rankings, and Jing Daoxian really didn¡¯t cause trouble for him. He didn¡¯t even take back the Companion Beast he had given Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Liu Yun nodded and said, ¡°Although my meeting with the old man was a coincidence, Teacher got to know the old man because of me. That resulted in the bet. I keep finding it a little odd.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with that bet?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out why Jing Daoxian would bluntly tell him the contents of the bet. Jing Daoxian would definitely lose once Zhou Wen learned of the bet after all.


    Zhou Wen had always felt that their bet wasn¡¯t as simple as Jing Daoxian had said.


    ¡°The content of the bet is actually very simple. Just as the old man told you, if you help him get on the rankings, he wins. If you don¡¯t help him, Teacher wins.¡±


    ¡°Is it really that simple?¡± Zhou Wen still found it unbelievable.


    Liu Yun inhaled before continuing, ¡°The simplicity of the matter depends on how you view it. The final outcome of the bet is this, but there are some additional conditions. Teacher can¡¯t tell you anything about the bet. Only the old man can contact you.¡±


    Zhou Wen roughly understood something, but he still looked at Liu Yun and waited for him to explain.


    ¡°The old man clearly told you everything, but he¡¯s Jing Daoxian. Do you dare trust him?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t dare completely trust Jing Daoxian. In fact, he had previously suspected him.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. No one would believe the words of the number one devil in the Federation, Jing Daoxian. Therefore, the more he tells you the truth, the more you will suspect him. Furthermore, Teacher can¡¯t explain it to you in person, so the average person might think too much and help him get on the rankings,¡± said Liu Yun with a smile. ¡°The old man was betting that you wouldn¡¯t believe him, that you would have some doubts and end up approaching the matter wrong. Unfortunately, he lost the bet. He never expected you to be so determined and not give him a chance.¡±


    Zhou Wen smiled bitterly to himself. He wasn¡¯t that determined, but he had been plagued with problems back then that forced him to work on them. He didn¡¯t pay attention to the matter at all.


    By the time he recalled this matter, Venus had already exploded. Naturally, the matter was left unsettled.


    He never expected his inaction to help Wang Mingyuan defeat Jing Daoxian. This unexpected development was purely unintentional.


    ¡°What¡¯s their bet?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Only they know the bet. I don¡¯t know what they were betting on,¡± Liu Yun said helplessly.


    In this world, there weren¡¯t many secrets that Liu Yun couldn¡¯t eavesdrop on. There weren¡¯t many people who could stop him from eavesdropping either. However, this matter happened to involve the two people who could stop him, so Liu Yun really hadn¡¯t heard anything.


    ed


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if Liu Yun was lying, but when he thought of Wang Mingyuan and Jing Daoxian¡¯s way of doing things, he felt that the possibility of Liu Yun knowing was slim.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to ask, ¡°Why did you follow Jing Daoxian to Mount Laojun to take this calabash?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the old man tell you last time that he won¡¯t live long? He has to find a way to extend his lifespan. The simplest and most direct method is naturally to create the Elixir of Immortality. This calabash and millstone are, according to myth, treasures used by the Laojun for alchemy. They have magical powers. The old man wants to use them for alchemy.¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t hesitate as he explained Jing Daoxian¡¯s goal.


    As the two of them were chatting, Zhou Wen suddenly heard a roar from below Laojun Platform. A ferocious beast was running towards them.


    ¡°Strange!¡± Zhou Wen circulated Truth Listener to scan the foot of the mountain and realized that the dimensional creature wasn¡¯t the giant bear.


    It was a golden monster that looked between a cross of a tiger and lion but neither. It was covered in scales and had horns on its head.


    From afar, it looked like the mythical Qilin, but upon closer inspection, it didn¡¯t look like it. He couldn¡¯t tell what kind of creature it


    was.


    Could it be that the terrifying creature that the survivors mentioned is this one? It¡¯s not the giant bear? Zhou Wen immediately realized that he had been wrong from the beginning


    He instinctively believed that there was only one Calamity creature on Laojun Platform, but he never expected there to be another. As the saying went, two tigers couldn¡¯t share one mountain. This principle didn¡¯t seem to exist here.


    The monster roared as it rushed up the steps of Laojun Platform before disappearing from Zhou Wen¡¯s senses as though it was invisible.


    Rumble!


    Before long, Zhou Wen sensed a terrifying power erupt on the seventh step. It caused the entire Laojun Platform to tremble violently.


    Bang! Bang!


    Eighth step¡­ Ninth step¡­ Tenth step¡­


    Terrifying explosive forces were released with every step, causing Laojun Platform to constantly shake.


    ¡°I wonder if the old man can withstand it. I have to be quick.¡± Liu Yun continued feeding the treasure calabash. Every time he fed one pill, he tried moving the treasure calabash. Although it still couldn¡¯t be lifted, it could already be moved. It looked like it wouldn¡¯t take long to lift it.


    The terrifying sounds outside continued, but the higher the entity was on the stairs, the slower the pace of explosions.


    Zhou Wen listened carefully for a while before saying in surprise, ¡°Jing Daoxian seems to have used the power of the 33 steps to block that dimensional creature. Although that dimensional creature is very strong, it probably won¡¯t be able to rush up anytime


    soon.¡±


    Roar!


    To his surprise, Zhou Wen heard another roar after finishing his sentence. He saw the blue giant bear storm over and rush up the stairs.


    There was a series of crackling sounds as the stone steps were breached. The giant bear charged forward crazily, and Zhou Wen could even see a smoke trail that resembled a dragon behind the giant bear.


    ¡°My good grandson, how¡¯s the treasure calabash feeding? I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to last much longer,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he pushed open the door and looked inside. ¡°I¡¯m about to be able to lift it. I reckon it can be done after another two or three pills,¡± Liu Yun answered.

 Chapter 1489 - It’s Too Late

    ¡°My good grandson, I can¡¯t last another half an hour. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to last that long. I¡¯ll give you another ten minutes. You have to take the item away no matter what.¡± With that said, Jing Daoxian closed the door again.


    ¡°Do you think this is buying vegetables off the streets? You can¡¯t take it away as you wish. Is this something I can control?¡± Liu Yun was somewhat depressed, but there was no other way.


    Laojun Platform kept shaking as the explosions outside approached. He also knew that Jing Daoxian wouldn¡¯t be able to last long.


    Gritting his teeth, Liu Yun poured out the pills in the bottle. There were a total of eight pills. Jing Daoxian had instructed him to feed one every ten minutes, but now, he couldn¡¯t care less. He fed one every minute.


    Although he knew that such actions might not be of any use and that his previous efforts would be in vain, he had no other choice now. He could only make a Hail Mary effort.


    In any case, if he didn¡¯t risk it, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to lift the treasure calabash in ten minutes, much less the millstone below.


    Liu Yun fed the treasure calabash while Zhou Wen paid attention to the situation outside. The explosions had already reached the 23rd step. Although its speed had slowed down, it only slowed a little.


    His estimates were similar to Jing Daoxian¡¯s. It would take at most ten minutes for the two Calamity-grade creatures to rush over.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel burdened. Regardless of whether Jing Daoxian and company succeeded or not, it had nothing to do with him. Zhou Wen no longer dared to eat the pills that spewed out of the calabash.


    Il.


    Liu Yun made attempts as he fed the calabash, but even though he fed it a lot more pills, the weight of the treasure calabash only continued to slowly become lighter. There weren¡¯t any changes.


    Zhou Wen even felt that the treasure calabash¡¯s lightening was slowing down.


    Liu Yun clearly realized the situation as he said gloomily, ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible for me to take the treasure calabash back today.¡±


    Indeed, after Liu Yun finished feeding the remaining eight pills, he still failed to lift the calabash.


    On the steps outside, the terrifying sonic booms had already reached the 30th step. In a few more steps, the two Calamity-grade dimensional creatures would arrive.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, if you still want to carry it, take your time. I¡¯m leaving.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to find a way to escape Laojun Platform.


    However, instant transmission and spatial teleportation were useless. Unless one left through the door, any Essence Energy Art or power was useless.


    ¡°Junior Brother, don¡¯t waste your time. Laojun Platform is where Laojun ascended to the Immortal Realm. If you really force the use of spatial powers, it will be your good fortune if you can¡¯t teleport out. If you really ended up doing so, I¡¯m afraid you will find yourself in the Immortal Realm,¡± Liu Yun said as he attempted to move the calabash.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that the Immortal Realm is a nice place? It¡¯s not bad to be able to teleport there,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Junior Brother, are you really naive? Or are you really stupid? If that place is really that perfect, would you need to be taken there? I¡¯m afraid everyone would be vying to enter,¡± Liu Yun curled his lips.


    Zhou Wen declined to comment. He knew that the Immortal Realm was most likely the dimension, but if it really came to a crisis, he couldn¡¯t care less.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how powerful the Qilin-like dimensional creature was, but he had seen the terror of the giant bear with his own eyes. Even if Zhou Wen fought with all his might, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to gain the upper hand with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    ¡°My good grandson, are you done?¡± Jing Daoxian pushed open the door again.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do a thing. It can¡¯t be moved,¡± Liu Yun said helplessly.


    ¡°Stop the attempt. Follow me.¡± Jing Daoxian also knew that it would be too late to say anything if the two dimensional creatures rushed over. Therefore, he would rather not have the calabash.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, let¡¯s go.¡± Liu Yun looked at the calabash reluctantly and beckoned for Zhou Wen to leave.


    ¡°You guys leave first. I have my ways of leaving.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head and rejected Liu Yun¡¯s offer.


    Jing Daoxian definitely wanted to take the opportunity to rush down when the two dimensional creatures rushed forward and use the stone steps to shake them off.


    However, Zhou Wen knew the giant bear¡¯s strength too well. This escape method might not work and it was too dangerous. He might as well think of a way out himself.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had some ideas about the treasure calabash. After being fed so many pills, the treasure calabash had become much lighter. Just because Liu Yun couldn¡¯t lift it didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t.


    If Liu Yun was still here, he didn¡¯t think it was right to snatch it in front of him. However, he couldn¡¯t be blamed if Liu Yun had already given up and left.


    ¡°Junior Brother, don¡¯t tell me you still have your sights on the treasure calabash?¡± Liu Yun clearly knew Zhou Wen too well and immediately saw through his thoughts. He curled his lips and continued, ¡°I advise you to leave quickly. I don¡¯t want you dying before you can enjoy your spoils.¡±


    ¡°You should mind your own business,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Cut the crap. Leave quickly. It will be too late if we delay any further. We have to rush down the moment the two of them rush forward.¡± Jing Daoxian shouted again from outside. From his voice, one could tell that the situation wasn¡¯t optimistic. ¡°Junior Brother, good luck to you.¡± Liu Yun knew that he couldn¡¯t delay any further. He gritted his teeth and rushed out the door, approaching Jing Daoxian.


    Seeing him leave, Zhou Wen turned around and instant transmitted to the calabash. He hugged the calabash with both hands, hoping to see if he could lift it up a little.


    As long as he could lift it up by even a millimeter, he could put it into the chaos space and take it away. That was impossible if he couldn¡¯t lift it up at all.


    When Zhou Wen hugged the calabash with both hands and exerted strength, he nearly fell to the ground.


    He easily picked up the stone calabash which required no effort-it felt as light as a bubble.


    Strange, how did it become so light? It¡¯s like a bubble? Could it be that Liu Yun was too unlucky and the pills he fed only took effect after he left? Zhou Wen guessed.


    Zhou Wen quickly rejected this thought. The stone calabash¡¯s weight was only reducing slowly. It was impossible for it to become so light all of a sudden.


    It¡¯s not that Liu Yun¡¯s luck is bad, nor is it a problem with the pills. Could it be because¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he placed the stone calabash into the chaos space before reaching out to take the stone wheel below.


    Legend had it that it was a millstone that Taishang Laojun had used to grind medicine. Humans called it the Luck Stone. In fact, the millstone might be even more precious than a calabash.


    The treasure calabash was only used to store medicine, but the millstone could automatically grind the medicine. The two had very different functions.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers touched the millstone before he tugged at it. The millstone was easily lifted by Zhou Wen, about the same as when he picked up the treasure calabash.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. He didn¡¯t know why he could obtain the treasure calabash and millstone so easily.

 Chapter 1490 - Golden Qilin

    Zhou Wen clearly remembered that he had already made an attempt back when he was brought up here by the giant bear. He couldn¡¯t lift the calabash at all, much less the millstone below.


    He originally wanted to see if he could pick up the calabash that had been fed numerous pills, but to his surprise, he easily picked up the millstone along with it.


    Could it be because I ate that Golden Elixir Pill? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one possibility. Otherwise, it would be impossible for the millstone and calabash to become lighter for no reason.


    The Golden Elixir Pill turned Zhou Wen to stone. After a baffling recovery, he seemed to be able to lift the millstone and calabash.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to think too much because the terrifying explosions outside were approaching the main entrance.


    Thankfully, Liu Yun had closed the door when he left. Otherwise, the two terrifying dimensional creatures would have already rushed in.


    Zhou Wen kept paying attention to the situation outside. At the instant the two Terror creatures charged forward, Jing Daoxian pulled Liu Yun and charged down the stairs. The timing was perfect.


    The two terrifying creatures rushed to the door as the two of them rushed down.


    The giant bear roared and turned to chase after them.


    When Zhou Wen saw this scene, he knew that his previous worries were correct.


    The giant bear¡¯s intelligence wasn¡¯t ordinary. Zhou Wen had previously turned into a stone statue thanks to his deceit. He didn¡¯t believe that it would watch them escape.


    Just as Zhou Wen expected, the giant bear chased after them.


    Unfortunately, the Golden Qilin-like dimensional creature didn¡¯t chase after them. It sized up the door of Laojun Platform and paced beside it a few times.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, This door is the door to Laojun Platform after all. That giant bear is an extremely terrifying existence. It¡¯s fine if it can smash through the door, but it¡¯s impossible for a random dimensional creature to smash through the door, right?


    Boom!


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the Golden Qilin pounced forward and slammed the door with its sharp claws, causing it to rumble with a terrifying sound.


    Golden light bloomed from the Golden Qilin¡¯s body. Its golden body was as crystalline as glass. It seemed to be augmented by some divine power as it struck the door again and again.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat flustered in the beginning, but after a few strikes, he realized that although the Golden Qilin¡¯s power was an onslaught and Zhou Wen was far from its match, it couldn¡¯t crack the door like the giant bear.


    The Golden Qilin struck crazily for a while, but it failed to damage the door at all. In the end, it had no choice but to stop.


    Indeed, it¡¯s impossible for an existence like the giant bear to randomly appear. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief.


    He guessed that the Golden Qilin was very likely a Hell-level existence. Zhou Wen was indeed much weaker than it. If it rushed in, Zhou Wen would probably have a hard time fighting it. All he could do was think of a way to escape. Now that the Golden Qilin couldn¡¯t enter, Zhou Wen had more choices. It was best if he waited for it to leave before thinking of a way to leave Laojun Platform.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat worried if he could successfully walk down the 33 steps.


    Previously, the giant bear had brought him up here. It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to go down


    now.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly realized that the Golden Qilin was acting abnormally again. It walked to the door and didn¡¯t strike it this time. Instead, it raised its front claw and tapped the door with a golden claw.


    Oh no! Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed drastically when he heard the Golden Qilin knock on the door.


    The rhythm was identical to Jing Daoxian¡¯s knocking. It was clearly the way to open the door to Laojun Platform


    .


    Holy sh*t, this fellow actually knows how to use such a method to open the door. How high is its intelligence? Zhou Wen was alarmed as the door slowly opened.


    The extremely ferocious face, that resembled a tiger and lion but was neither one, immediately appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. He had heard it previously, but now that he saw it with his own eyes, he found it somewhat different. The ferocious gaze and domineering aura made him feel like it stood at the top of a food chain.


    It wasn¡¯t because it was beautiful, but because of its unparalleled power.


    Zhou Wen held the Immortal Culling Sword as he wore the Prisoned Dragon armor. At the same time, he circulated the Calamity-grade Ancient Sovereign Sutra.


    Although the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s Calamity Zone couldn¡¯t kill and could only heal living beings, the Calamity-grade Ancient Sovereign Sutra could greatly improve Zhou Wen¡¯s various qualities, making him comparable to a true Calamity-grade creature.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of retreating as he stared down the Golden Qilin with his sword.


    Laojun Platform was a small place, so there was definitely no place to hide. He could only lure the Golden Qilin in first. It would be best if he could kill it.


    If he couldn¡¯t kill it, he would find an opportunity to rush down Laojun Platform.


    After the Golden Qilin opened the door, it didn¡¯t immediately attack Zhou Wen. Instead, it slowly walked through the door and stared at him.


    Zhou Wen imagined that it was about to launch an attack, but to his surprise, the fellow swung its tail and closed the door.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart sank. This action proved that this fellow¡¯s intelligence was extremely high. Furthermore, it was extremely sinister and vicious.


    The place became an independent space the moment the door was closed. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t leave even with spatial instant transmission unless he opened the door first.


    Although Zhou Wen had already memorized the method Jing Daoxian used to open the door, opening it required time. It wasn¡¯t an easy task to open the door in front of such a terrifying creature.


    The Golden Qilin didn¡¯t immediately attack Zhou Wen after closing the door. Its body shook as golden light bloomed from its body. A golden glow instantly enveloped the entire


    yard.


    Zhou Wen gathered his strength to resist the golden light, but when the golden light touched Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, it didn¡¯t cause any damage. However, the golden light was distorted by the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, forming a golden halo around Zhou Wen. It failed to illuminate him.


    Zhou Wen knew that the golden light was likely the domain of the Golden Qilin, but he didn¡¯t know what use it had. It didn¡¯t look like an offensive domain.


    Zhou Wen felt even warier towards such kinds of domains.


    He could tell what kind of power an offensive domain had at a glance, but he couldn¡¯t figure out the effects of such a domain. He might end up screwing up somehow.


    The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Truth Listener were already in place to prevent him from being affected by some unknown force.


    The Golden Qilin walked over step by step amidst the golden light. Its eyes seemed to condense into something corporeal. It was ferocious and domineering. If it were anyone with a weaker mental fortitude, they would probably lose the battle of wits.


    Under such circumstances, the Golden Qilin still didn¡¯t choose to lunge forward. Instead, it approached step by step, hoping to force Zhou Wen into a corner, preventing him from escaping


    This fellow is really sinister and terrifying! This was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered such a dimensional creature. He knew that he couldn¡¯t retreat, or the situation would only worsen.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen suddenly exerted strength with the hilt of his sword and pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword.

 Chapter 1491 - Battling the Golden Qilin

    The terrifying sword aura that erupted from the Immortal Culling Sword couldn¡¯t be ignored even by the Golden Qilin.


    The Golden Qilin¡¯s sharp claws welcomed the Immortal Culling Sword with a dazzling golden light. Its speed was so fast that it was a blur in Zhou Wen¡¯s vision. He almost couldn¡¯t tell the true trajectory of the claws.


    Clang! The Immortal Culling Sword collided with the claw beam with the former¡¯s sword beam tearing apart. However, when the claw beam touched the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s blade, it was severed. Even the Golden Qilin¡¯s blade-like nails were sliced apart by the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s blade.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that his strength was much weaker than the Golden Qilin. The reason he could sever the claw beam¡¯s nails was because of the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s sharpness.


    With the Immortal Culling Sword in hand, Zhou Wen used the Heart Defying Sword Art. Coupled with the ability of The Disqualified, he slashed at the Golden Qilin, again and again, targeting each strike at its vital spots.


    The Golden Qilin seemed to realize the sharpness of the Immortal Culling Sword and didn¡¯t clash with it head-on. Its figure moved like a phantom as it constantly moved around Zhou Wen, causing his attacks to miss.


    Even though Zhou Wen used instant transmission, he couldn¡¯t keep up with the Golden Qilin¡¯s speed.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that the Golden Qilin didn¡¯t seem to attack with all its might. It seemed to be waiting for something.


    What¡¯s it waiting for? Zhou Wen was puzzled. He knew that he couldn¡¯t delay any further. He had to finish off the Golden Qilin as soon as possible or escape Laojun Platform.


    The Immortal Culling Sword slashed apart the golden beams as it delivered a barrage of attacks at the Golden Qilin. An ancient mirror appeared the instant the Golden Qilin dodged, Zhou Wen having predicted its next location.


    The rainbow beam in the ancient mirror shone out and landed on the location of the Golden Qilin.


    On the left was the Numinous Treasure Hall, and on the right was a wall. Although the Golden Qilin was very fast, Zhou Wen had predicted its location. It had to either resist the Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light or the Immortal Culling Sword.


    In its horror, the Golden Qilin twisted its body and jerked its body to duck the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light. However, the Immortal Culling Sword had already arrived above its head.


    At the instant the Immortal Culling Sword slashed down, Zhou Wen felt a strong sense of unease.


    Clang!


    The Golden Qilin headbutted the Immortal Culling Sword, its golden horn colliding and sending it backward.


    The Immortal Culling Sword failed to slice through its golden horn. Instead, Zhou Wen involuntarily retreated due to the powerful impact. The Immortal Culling Sword nearly flew out of his hand.


    The Golden Qilin¡¯s eyes were ferocious as it shot out golden beams that struck Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    Zhou Wen had already lost his balance from the powerful shockwaves. At that close distance, he was unable to control his body to quickly duck.


    How sinister! Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    The Golden Qilin clearly had a long-range attack, but it pretended to be a melee creature while fighting Zhou Wen. It could clearly block the Immortal Culling Sword, but it pretended that it couldn¡¯t fight him head-on.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered such a wretched and sinister dimensional creature with such powerful strength.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had already realized that something was amiss. As the Immortal Culling Sword slashed down, he used Spacetime Bandit and instant transmission.


    Due to Spacetime Bandit, instant transmission only took effect now. Zhou Wen instant transmitted and when he arrived beside the God of Fortune Hall, the Golden Qilin¡¯s golden beam immediately missed and struck the wall of the Numinous Treasure Hall.


    The golden light on the wall of the Numinous Treasure Hall exploded, producing a shockwave that sent the distant Zhou Wen retreating. If he was struck head-on, the outcome was obvious.


    When the Golden Qilin saw its attack miss, it didn¡¯t conceal its strength any further. It unleashed its explosive speed as the golden beam in its eyes constantly swept at Zhou Wen.


    Combining his movement techniques and instant transmission, Zhou Wen dodged the golden beam as he found an opportunity to approach it. He wanted to use the Immortal Culling Sword to kill it.


    However, the golden horn on its head was abnormally hard. It blocked several of the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s strikes. He only left some shallow marks on the golden horn, so it probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to sever it.


    The man and beast fought crazily on Laojun Platform. The Soul Mirror occasionally shot out the Soul-Extinguishing Divine Light, but it was difficult to hit the Golden Qilin.


    Before long, Zhou Wen sensed something amiss. He didn¡¯t know what effect the Golden Qilin¡¯s domain had, nor did he discover any effects the golden light had on him during the battle.


    However, with the passage of time, Zhou Wen finally discovered the effects of the golden light. Furthermore, he realized that he was in danger.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the radiance was intensifying wherever the golden light shone, gradually condensing into something corporeal.


    Moving in the golden light felt like he was moving in water. The resistance increasingly became immense. Zhou Wen suspected that he would be trapped in the golden light and unable to move to a certain extent.


    Damn it! Zhou Wen knew that he was in big trouble.


    This domain power was similar to a type of control or imprisonment, but this power didn¡¯t directly affect him. Instead, it filled the nearby space. Therefore, Evil Nullification and the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder were useless.


    What should I do? Zhou Wen could already sense the pressure the golden light gave him.


    Even if he used the Immortal Culling Sword to slash at the golden light, it was only like a blade slicing through water. He couldn¡¯t truly sever it. After the Immortal Culling Sword slashed at it, the golden light would return to normal.


    Zhou Wen found it harder and harder to move. Finally, Zhou Wen failed to dodge in time. The golden light shot out from the Golden Qilin eyes struck his chest.


    Bang!


    At the instant Zhou Wen¡¯s chest was struck, the Soul Mirror appeared. The golden beam shot into the mirror and was reflected back, landing on the Golden Qilin itself.


    The golden light sliced through its golden scales. The Golden Qilin roared in pain as blood gushed out from its wound.


    Immortal Slaying! Zhou Wen knew that this was his last chance. It was very difficult for the same tricks to be effective on the Golden Qilin again. Whether he could escape alive after this strike was a question.


    The Golden Qilin roared in pain as its neck was completely exposed in front of Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen instantly slashed at its neck with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Just as he was about to hit its neck, the Golden Qilin suddenly lowered its head and bit the Immortal Culling Sword. At the same time, it lowered its head and slammed into Zhou Wen¡¯s body with its golden horn.


    Ding!


    The ring on Zhou Wen¡¯s other hand flicked out and transformed into the Bamboo Blade. Zhou Wen drew his saber and stabbed forward, meeting the eye of the Golden Qilin that came falling right onto it.


    Blood gushed out as the Bamboo Blade tore through its eye. The Golden Qilin shook its head crazily and sent Zhou Wen flying with the saber.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body slammed into the wall of the main hall. The Prisoned Dragon armor on his body caved in, but the wall remained undamaged.


    Roar! The Golden Qilin¡¯s eye bled as it stared at Zhou Wen with its other eye and roared angrily.


    With its roar, the surrounding golden light instantly froze. It was like a golden jelly that trapped Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1492 - Unimaginable Power

    Zhou Wen felt as though his body had sunk into solidified concrete. It was impossible to budge an inch.


    The Golden Qilin walked over step by step amidst the golden light. Its eye, which had been stabbed by Zhou Wen, remained bleeding. It bared its teeth with its mouth agape as though it wanted to eat Zhou Wen whole.


    It¡¯s over! Zhou Wen wanted to use instant transmission, but the entire Laojun Platform was filled with the frozen radiance. There was no space for him to carry out instant transmission. All he could do was watch helplessly as the Golden Qilin gradually approached.


    Even the Soul Mirror was frozen in midair. It could only emit divine light in one direction, but that meant that it was already useless.


    Ding!


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling despair, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from his pocket.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he realized that it likely came from the mysterious phone. However, he didn¡¯t know why it was making such a strange sound.


    However, Zhou Wen knew what happened next because the two Golden Wyrms that were giving birth returned to him.


    Without any time to think, the Golden Qilin opened its mouth and bit down at Zhou Wen.


    If it had managed to bite him, Zhou Wen¡¯s head would probably have said goodbye to his body.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the two Golden Wyrms and transformed them into shears.


    At the instant the Golden Qilin¡¯s mouth bit down, the two Golden Wyrm Shears pierced through the frozen golden light and reached straight into its mouth. Then, they sliced down like a hot knife through butter.


    Zhou Wen saw blood spew out of the Golden Qilin¡¯s mouth as golden blood splattered all over his face.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the pair of Golden Wyrm Shears were crazily wrecking the Golden Qilin¡¯s stomach, grinding its organs into a mess.


    Haha, the heavens are really helping me to have the Golden Wyrms appear at this moment! Zhou Wen knew that he had to thank his good luck.


    Any later and Zhou Wen would have died. If the Golden Wyrms had appeared earlier, they might not have had the chance to rush into the Golden Qilin¡¯s stomach.


    Although the Golden Wyrms were also at the Calamity grade and were sharp enough, they were only at the Human Realm. If they hadn¡¯t entered the Golden Qilin¡¯s stomach by chance, they might not have been able to severely injure it.


    The pair of Golden Wyrm Shears twisted crazily in the Golden Qilin¡¯s stomach. It cried out tragically as it rolled on the ground, blood spewing out from its mouth like a fountain.


    The Golden Qilin attempted to lunge at Zhou Wen a few times amidst its struggling, but it ultimately collapsed due to the excruciating pain.


    Kill it¡­ Kill it¡­ Zhou Wen was still trapped in the frozen golden light and couldn¡¯t move. All he could do was secretly cheer the two Golden Wyrms on.


    Just as the Golden Qilin was about to die, Zhou Wen suddenly felt a dangerous aura.


    The Golden Qilin¡¯s entire body emitted a golden glow as its body turned into a golden crystal. One could clearly see the pair of Golden Wyrm shears that were entangled inside.


    That didn¡¯t matter. What mattered was that the Golden Qilin¡¯s ferocious face was filled with determination. Its transparent body resembled a golden crystal and had a strange energy surge as though it would explode at any moment.


    It¡¯s self-destructing! Zhou Wen was alarmed. He wanted to escape, but it was too late.


    The solidified golden light bloomed with the Golden Qilin, emitting extremely terrifying energy. It was about to self-destruct with the Golden Qilin.


    The terrifying energy fluctuations were enough to make Zhou Wen realize that even the Prisoned Dragon armor¡¯s Absolute Defense couldn¡¯t withstand the might of the self-destruction.


    The might produced by the self-destruction of a Hell-level creature far exceeded the limits of Zhou Wen¡¯s tolerance.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg.


    Splat!


    A huge palm descended from the sky, instantly shattering the frozen golden light like glass as the fragments fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body fell as well. He watched helplessly as the huge palm struck down at the Golden Qilin that was about to self-destruct.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the Golden Wyrms instantly returned to Zhou Wen before he heard a clap. The Golden Qilin that had gathered terrifying power was slapped to the ground. Its body was pressed down by the huge palm as though it had been flattened. Pfft!


    Zhou Wen heard a sound similar to firecrackers coming from beneath the palm. After the crisp sound, there was silence.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction of the furry palm and saw the giant bear¡¯s head extend in from the periphery wall. Its two front paws were already inside the wall, and the back half of its body was still outside.


    As for the baby bear, it was lying on the giant bear¡¯s shoulder.


    The giant bear raised the flattened Golden Qilin¡¯s claw. The tiles beneath the claw had shattered as though something had exploded. The Golden Qilin¡¯s body had already vanished, leaving only a golden horn in the rubble.


    Zhou Wen was horrified. How terrifying was the Golden Qilin? It was very likely a Hell-level existence, but the power of its self-destruction was suppressed by the giant bear¡¯s claw. It was unimaginable what kind of power it had.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even defeat the Golden Qilin. Now that he was targeted by the giant bear, he naturally didn¡¯t feel any joy from escaping death.


    Boom!


    The giant bear climbed over the wall and walked in. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the giant bear didn¡¯t need to enter through the door. It could directly climb over the wall.


    It wasn¡¯t as simple as flipping over a wall. If it was really just a wall, Zhou Wen could fly over it no matter how high it was.


    However, Laojun Platform¡¯s yard was an independent space. It was also protected by Laojun Platform¡¯s rules. To be able to gain forceful entry not only required the ability to tear through space, but also the ability to clash head-on with Laojun Platform¡¯s rules.


    Zhou Wen was temporarily unable to estimate how much of this terrifying power was needed.


    He watched the giant bear flip into the yard. Although he knew that it was useless, he subconsciously retreated. Countless thoughts flashed through his mind, but he couldn¡¯t think of a way to save his life at the giant bear¡¯s paws.


    After the giant bear entered the yard, its body became much smaller. It wasn¡¯t as huge as before.


    The baby bear got off its back and ran towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t alarmed but delighted. Many thoughts flashed through his mind. Can I use this baby bear as a hostage? But do bears know what a hostage is? Will it be threatened?


    The baby bear reached Zhou Wen amid his dilemma. It circled him a few times as though it was taking in his scent.


    After circling a few times, the baby bear seemed to confirm something as it pounced on Zhou Wen and licked his face. It looked extremely affectionate.


    Does this fellow still recognize me? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed. He didn¡¯t know if it was a blessing or a curse.

 Chapter 1493 - Appearance of the Daytime Stars

    The baby bear pounced at Zhou Wen who didn¡¯t dare move. He spread open his arms, afraid to touch the baby bear.


    Zhou Wen was afraid that if he reached out to touch the baby bear, the giant bear would mistake him for trying to harm the baby bear. The outcome would definitely be tragic.


    The baby bear seemed oblivious. It snuggled up to Zhou Wen as though it wanted to play with him.


    Zhou Wen looked at the giant bear, unsure if he should move.


    The giant bear moved its claw and swatted the horn on the ground, throwing it to Zhou Wen¡¯s side.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this? Is it for me?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. It felt like it, but he found it unbelievable.


    The giant bear definitely knew about his transformation into the baby bear. It was already considered benevolent that it hadn¡¯t smacked him to death. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it likely that it would give him something left behind by the Golden Qilin.


    The giant bear glanced at him and stood up. Zhou Wen jumped in fright and had the urge to turn around and escape, but he couldn¡¯t escape Laojun Platform at all.


    After the giant bear stood up, it moved its gaze away from Zhou Wen and looked up into the sky as though it was looking at the cosmos.


    However, it was daytime. The sun was out, so what stars were there to speak of?


    The giant bear kept looking up. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but look up. What he saw made his jaw drop.


    Stars appeared one after another in the sky with the scorching sun. The light from the stars was equally visible during the day. Furthermore, they became brighter and brighter.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen looked at the stars in the sky before looking at the giant bear.


    Without a doubt, the stars that appeared were definitely related to the giant bear. This was because Zhou Wen had already seen starlight land on it.


    Starlight from the clear, blue sky shone on the giant bear like searchlights. Even an idiot knew that this matter was definitely related to the giant bear.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. Many people in the Federation saw the star-filled sky that day, but they didn¡¯t know the reason for it.


    All the major factions were paying attention to this strange phenomenon. The media likewise reported about it.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what was happening outside, he could imagine that with such a strange phenomenon happening, the Federation would definitely be in chaos.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know that this was only the beginning. The chaos outside far exceeded his imagination.


    This was because the Cubes that were scattered across the world lit up at the same time.


    After the Venusian battle, the Cubes had been dormant. Now that they were activated again, the scene on the Cubes was none other than the daytime stars.


    The Cube has started up again. I wonder if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse? Zhang Chunqiu sighed softly. Too many things had happened recently for him. He felt like he was treading on thin ice as he led the Zhang family through the complex situation, afraid that he would steer the Zhang family into a bottomless abyss if he wasn¡¯t careful.


    Is it starting again? Which planet¡¯s Companion Beast is it this time? Xia Liuchuan looked eager.


    Ever since Xia Jiuhuang died, the Xia family had kept a low profile and secretly developed, constantly strengthening themselves. Now, they had already recovered quite a bit, but to return to the Xia family¡¯s peak needed more resources and hard work. The battle of the Cube was undoubtedly the fastest way to obtain top-notch resources.


    ¡°Strange, why are there so many stars shining? Which planet¡¯s Companion Beast is next?¡± Dugu Ge muttered to himself as he watched the scene.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Dugu Ge. Everyone watching the Cube found it strange. This was because only Venus had appeared on the Cube during the last Venusian battle.


    There were more than ten stars in this daytime phenomenon. These scenes were projected on the Cube, leaving people to guess what was happening.


    Even Holy God in the Holy Land frowned as he looked at the stars in the sky.


    Zhou Wen watched as the starlight on the giant bear¡¯s body intensified, as though it was about to ascend with the starlight. He couldn¡¯t help but feel alarmed. What¡¯s going on? Could it be that the giant bear isn¡¯t a dimensional creature from Earth, but from the Universe? That¡¯s not right either. Earth has its own rules of self-protection. Ignoring the creatures in the Universe, even the creatures on Earth are greatly restricted. For example, Tsukuyomi has no choice but to leave Earth. This giant bear¡¯s level should be higher than Tsukuyomi¡¯s. If it isn¡¯t a creature from Earth, how can it not be restricted when it¡¯s here?


    Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. If the giant bear was an Earthling, why was it able to trigger the stars in the universe? Furthermore, it wasn¡¯t just one. Many stars seemed to be responding to it.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the baby bear seemed to realize something as it pounced over to throw itself into the giant bear¡¯s arms.


    However, the starlight isolated it outside like an invisible barrier, preventing it from approaching the giant bear.


    The giant bear looked at the baby bear with a gentle gaze that had some emotions Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Wu¡­ Wu¡­¡± The baby bear cried out as it wanted to rush into the starlight. Its claws scratched at the starlight but to no avail.


    The giant bear didn¡¯t stop the baby bear or do anything. It only looked at it lovingly.


    As the starlight intensified, the giant bear¡¯s body gradually floated up thanks to the starlight¡¯s attraction.


    The giant bear is about to be forced to leave Earth? Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    If the giant bear left just like that, he would be completely out of danger. However, on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    If the giant bear left Earth, why didn¡¯t it take the baby bear with it? With its powerful strength, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to leave with the baby bear.


    The giant bear wasn¡¯t surprised at all that the baby bear was blocked outside the starlight. Clearly, it was within the giant bear¡¯s expectations.


    The giant bear¡¯s body rose higher and higher. The baby bear jumped and scratched anxiously, wanting to approach the giant bear, but it was blocked by the starlight. It couldn¡¯t get an inch closer.


    The giant bear had already risen above Laojun Platform. It suddenly retracted its gaze and looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart subconsciously raced as it stared at him. Although its gaze wasn¡¯t ferocious, it made him feel an inexplicable pressure.


    ¡°Wu¡­ Wu¡­¡± The baby bear jumped up and slammed into the starlight, but it was stopped by Laojun Platform¡¯s power. After falling, it fell to the ground.


    The giant bear¡¯s body had already exceeded the range of Laojun Platform. Its speed of ascension became faster and faster.


    Before Zhou Wen could figure out why the giant bear was looking at him, the giant bear¡¯s figure had already risen into the sky like a meteor. In a blink of an eye, it vanished into space.


    The shiny stars also gradually dimmed as the giant bear ascended into the universe. The phenomenon of the daytime stars also vanished. Only the baby bear continued to whimper at the sky.


    Although the phenomenon of the daytime stars vanished, the Cubes didn¡¯t stop. The scene inside them was changing.

 Chapter 1494 - Reopening of the Cube

    Finally, the Cube¡¯s scene froze on a strange planet that emitted a strange glow. It was entirely orange-red, and there seemed to be a dazzling rainbow swirling inside.


    Due to the intense light, one couldn¡¯t see what was inside.


    The Cube¡¯s screen froze on this scene. It didn¡¯t change or close.


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Some factions even began studying the planet that appeared on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    Zhou Wen looked up into the sky and couldn¡¯t see the giant bear at all. The sky was blue.


    The baby bear¡¯s eyes were brimming with tears as it constantly cried towards the sky. Seeing Zhou Wen look at it, the baby bear pounced over and burrowed its head into Zhou Wen¡¯s arms as it hugged him and wailed.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen was still in a daze.


    From the looks of it, the giant bear meant for him to adopt the baby bear.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why the giant bear believed that he would adopt the baby bear and not kill it.


    Since the giant bear had already left Earth, it was unlikely it would return. Even if he killed the baby bear, the giant bear couldn¡¯t do anything to him.


    However, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t bring himself to kill it when he saw the crying baby bear.


    Could it be that the giant bear¡¯s intelligence has already reached such a stage that it can tell that I won¡¯t attack the baby bear? Zhou Wen patted the baby bear¡¯s head. He still felt that something was amiss, but he couldn¡¯t pinpoint it.


    Thankfully, the baby bear was easy to coax. It stopped crying after a while.


    ¡°I have to leave. Are you coming with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked the baby bear.


    The baby bear looked at him in puzzlement. Clearly, it didn¡¯t understand what Zhou Wen was saying


    Zhou Wen gestured and talked for some time, but he failed to make the baby bear understand him. However, when Zhou Wen walked out, the baby bear followed him.


    This fellow is so stupid. If I leave it here alone, it probably won¡¯t survive. Forget it. I¡¯ll take it back. Zhou Wen put away the golden horn and left Laojun Platform with the baby bear.


    When he stepped onto the 33rd step, Zhou Wen immediately felt that it was different from before. With a single step, the world changed as though he had stepped into a void. He felt his body rapidly plummet towards an unknown destination.


    Strangely, the baby bear didn¡¯t fall into the void with Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t even see its shadow.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen circulated the Dao Sutra and engraved the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen realized that he was still standing on the steps. There was no void, nor was he falling. The baby bear was beside him.


    Zhou Wen walked down with the baby bear. With the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, the 33 steps had nothing against him. The baby bear didn¡¯t seem to be restricted by the Dao steps as it followed Zhou Wen and kept leaning its head towards him.


    After leaving Laojun Platform, Zhou Wen circled Mingdao Palace. There were many dimensional creatures here, but they didn¡¯t attack humans. Clearly, they were affected by Mingdao Palace¡¯s nomological forces. They weren¡¯t as fearless as the Golden Qilin and the giant bear.


    With the giant bear gone and the Golden Qilin dead, I can consider using this place to build a human city. However, killing inside Laojun Platform is prohibited. Food in the future will be a problem. Furthermore, any creature can enter and exit Laojun Platform as they please. If another creature like the giant bear appears, it will be a huge problem. Zhou Wen thought it through and felt that Laojun Platform could be used as a temporary refuge.


    However, permanently using it to build a human city for residence didn¡¯t seem like a good choice.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that his Dao Sutra might be able to rely on Laojun Platform to advance to the Calamity grade. When that happened, wouldn¡¯t the human city built here be very dangerous if Laojun Platform was destroyed?


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find anything on Laojun Platform that could advance the Dao Sutra to the Calamity grade. All he could do was return to take a check on the situation.


    The baby bear followed Zhou Wen closely. It would panic if it lost sight of him. It looked like the giant bear¡¯s departure had left a huge psychological trauma on it.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be afraid. You will have many friends soon.¡± Zhou Wen stroked the baby bear¡¯s head and returned to Guide City with it.


    Guide City¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t bad. In the past few days when Zhou Wen was at Laojun Platform, there had been a few large-scale attacks by the skeleton legions.


    Yu Qiubai was originally very worried, but to his surprise, with Chick spitting out a mouthful of flames, the skeleton legion was like dried pieces of wood. The flames spread across a large area.


    The skeleton legion was nothing in front of Chick. It left Yu Qiubai pleasantly surprised.


    Thanks to Chick showcasing its prowess, those who were still hesitant quickly gathered towards the school. Many people even signed an agreement and were willing to become a part of the new city.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, this bird of yours is amazing. People outside treat it as a divine bird and say that it¡¯s the legendary Mystic Bird.¡± Yu Qiubai excitedly recounted how Chick had unleashed its might and how much it had been worshiped.


    Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry when he heard that. It was true that the Mystic Bird was the Shang dynasty¡¯s divine bird, but it was supposed to be a black bird.


    Chick was a phoenix, and its body was already pale golden. It didn¡¯t look like a Mystic Bird no matter how one looked at it.


    However, Chick was very pleased with itself. As Yu Qiubai recounted its heroic deeds, it raised its chin to the sky as though it was invincible.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Only then did Yu Qiubai see the baby bear behind Zhou Wen.


    The baby bear was actually very timid. It had been hiding behind Zhou Wen the entire time. Occasionally, it would extend half its head to peek at Yu Qiubai and Chick.


    The reason Yu Qiubai asked was that the baby bear didn¡¯t look like a bear. Its body was different from that of the giant bear, and it was closer to a four-foot beast that resembled a lion or tiger.


    ¡°This is a pet I adopted. It¡¯s rather feral and isn¡¯t as obedient as Chick. Don¡¯t approach it,¡± Zhou Wen exhorted Yu Qiubai.


    Yu Qiubai nodded and asked, ¡°How¡¯s the situation at Laojun Platform?¡±


    ¡°That dimensional creature has been resolved, but I don¡¯t think Laojun Platform is suitable for building a human city. Although it¡¯s temporarily safe there, we can¡¯t kill in there. This means that we need to obtain food from the outside world. Furthermore, any creature in Mingdao Palace can enter freely. This is very disadvantageous for us,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Yu Qiubai sighed and said, ¡°I also know that it¡¯s not a suitable place, but there are so many people counting on us. They need a stable home.¡±


    ¡°With Chick guarding this place, there shouldn¡¯t be any problems for the time being. We still have time. Let¡¯s think about it again and see if there are any suitable dimensional zones.¡± Zhou Wen still felt that he shouldn¡¯t choose Laojun Platform and Mingdao Palace just for a moment of peace.


    ¡°Let me think about it again.¡± Yu Qiubai paused before suddenly saying, ¡°By the way, do you know about the Cube¡¯s reopening?¡±


    ¡°Is there a Cube here?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.

 Chapter 1495 - Discovery Under the Cube

    There were many places where the Cube appeared. Most of them were places where large numbers of humans gathered. There were also some ancient cities or dimensional zones that might have the Cubes appear.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it surprising that Guide Ancient City had a Cube, but with the city¡¯s continuous outflow of population, it surprised him that the Cube would appear outside a dimensional zone. ¡°We also found it odd in the past. I¡¯ve also read reports about the Cube. The Cubes in other cities appear in the center of cities where humans gather. However, even back then, Guide City¡¯s Cube was located in the suburbs. There weren¡¯t many people there, nor were there any dimensional zones. There¡¯s no one there now. I wonder why the Cube appeared there,¡± Yu Qiubai said.


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the location of the Cube definitely wasn¡¯t for no reason. Perhaps there was something there that hadn¡¯t been discovered.


    Yu Qiubai took out a map and gave Zhou Wen directions.


    It wasn¡¯t far from Ancient City. It used to be the suburbs of Guide City, a place where crops were planted.


    It was once a place where lots of wheat was planted, but it had long been abandoned. There were weeds everywhere, almost as tall as a person.


    This place didn¡¯t have any dimensional zones. It looked like a barren land.


    A huge Cube stood in the middle of the weeds. From afar, one could see the lit Cube¡¯s screen. On it was the shimmering orange-red planet.


    This should be a star, right? Zhou Wen looked at it for a while and was roughly certain that it was a star that resembled the sun, not a planet like Earth.


    Stars emitted a large amount of light and heat. It was almost impossible for creatures to survive on it.


    The sun had a surface temperature that could reach 5,500¡ãC. Its interior temperature was higher beyond imagination. Even a Calamity-grade creature couldn¡¯t withstand the high temperature inside.


    If the dimensional zone is on that planet, the dimensional zone this time will probably be much more difficult than Venus. Zhou Wen was roughly certain that it wasn¡¯t the sun, so he heaved a sigh of relief.


    If it wasn¡¯t a planet in the Solar System, the impact on Earth would be much smaller.


    The scene on the Cube didn¡¯t move, nor was there anything interesting to watch. Zhou Wen circled the Cube and used Truth Listener to scan the nearby area, hoping to figure out what was different about it.


    Strange, there aren¡¯t any special Essence Energy fluctuations here, nor are there any dimensional zones. However, this isn¡¯t a place where humans gather. Why would the Cube be here? Zhou Wen plucked some weeds and carefully observed them.


    Although the weeds here had mutated due to the environment, they didn¡¯t exceed the normal range of mutation. They hadn¡¯t evolved into dimensional creatures.


    Such mutations were everywhere in the world. There was nothing special about them.


    There must be a reason for the Cube¡¯s appearance here. Unfortunately, the Earth Elemental Beast has already been killed by Perfect Sword Immortal. Otherwise, I might discover something if I let the Earth Elemental Beast venture deep underground. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed as he summoned Tyrant Behemoth who was also good at digging.


    After Tyrant Behemoth came out, it followed Zhou Wen¡¯s order and lowered its head to burrow into the ground. The strange horn on its head spun like a drill, drilling a huge hole through the weeds.


    Tyrant Behemoth failed to discover any underground dimensional zones despite burrowing a few hundred meters. Just as Zhou Wen was feeling disappointed, he saw the baby bear run to a grass patch near the Cube. It crouched down and dug something with its front paws.


    Zhou Wen walked over curiously and saw the baby bear¡¯s front paws quickly dig open a huge hole. ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Zhou Wen realized that the baby bear had really dug out something.


    He still couldn¡¯t tell what it was. It looked yellowish-brown with some fine patterns on it. It wasn¡¯t gold, jade, or stone.


    The baby bear¡¯s actions became very gentle. It used its paws to remove the soil on it, allowing the thing to gradually appear. Eh¡­ This is¡­ a hive¡­ Zhou Wen finally saw what it was.


    It was a hive resembling a lotus with a diameter of more than fifty centimeters. The baby bear tore open the hive with its paws, and honey flowed out.


    The baby bear licked the honey and sucked quite a bit. It even gestured for Zhou Wen to eat the honey with it.


    Zhou Wen dabbed a little with his finger and tasted it. It was really sweet honey.


    Strange, this hive should be on a tree. The hive of the Scoliidae isn¡¯t like that. Why would this hive appear underground? Zhou Wen called Tyrant Behemoth over and got it to continue digging in the pit dug by the baby


    bear.


    The baby bear made another discovery after a short dig. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t a hive, but some rotting bronze tools.


    As most of them had already rotted, from the remnant parts, they were likely something similar to a tripod cauldron.


    Tyrant Behemoth damaged many bronze tools while digging due to its potent strength, making it even more difficult for Zhou Wen to identify them. Therefore, Zhou Wen decided not to let it dig any further and dug with his hands.


    Soon, Zhou Wen dug out some gray pottery and some jade-like decorations. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the decorations were for, he could tell from the jade¡¯s texture that they were very inferior jade. These things look like antiques, but antiques aren¡¯t of much value to this era. Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of history was limited. He didn¡¯t know what era these things came from, so he guessed that they were likely from the Shang dynasty.


    Zhou Wen continued digging and dug out some strange items. Most of them were gray pottery and bronze. Although there were other things, most of them had rotted due to the passage of time.


    As he dug, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes suddenly lit up. Beneath his fingers, a hard object appeared. It looked like jade, but upon careful inspection, he realized that it was actually bone.


    What creature do these bones belong to? Zhou Wen slowly wiped the soil from the bones. Soon, he realized that the bones were connected. They didn¡¯t look like ordinary bones. Bones would scatter after the flesh rotted.


    The bones beneath were connected, but the flesh was long gone. For some reason, the bones hadn¡¯t split apart. They had remained firmly stuck together.


    When Zhou Wen dug out the entire skeleton, he realized that it was the skeleton of a giant bird. Furthermore, it was complete without any missing bones.

 Chapter 1496 - Giant Bird Skeleton

    The skeleton was almost fossilized. Some spots still maintained a bony luster like crystalline jade, but some places were already as dim as fossils. There were also many potholes.


    From the skeleton, the bird was probably four to five meters tall when upright. There had never been such a huge bird in history.


    Which era had such a huge bird? Zhou Wen suspected that it was the legendary Mystic Bird.


    After all, no one had seen such a huge bird. It was normal to treat such a huge bird as a divine bird.


    Unfortunately, there were only bird bones left. There were no feathers, so it was unknown if its feathers were black.


    He didn¡¯t discover any Essence Energy fluctuations from the bird bones. It was like an ordinary skeleton. Zhou Wen placed it to the side and continued digging.


    He dug out some gray pottery shards and even discovered some stone tools. They were stone tools that resembled sabers and axes. They were very crude.


    If he saw these stone tools by the side of the road, Zhou Wen would definitely think that they were just ordinary but strangely-shaped rocks.


    Zhou Wen had dug up all the places nearby. Apart from the damaged relics, only the bird bones were interesting.


    He was somewhat disappointed that he hadn¡¯t found a dimensional zone or a mysterious item.


    Turning his head, Zhou Wen wanted to tidy up the derelict items he had dug out and store them in the chaos space. Although they were useless to him, they were likely irreplaceable treasures to historians.


    Zhou Wen planned on putting them away. After Earth truly became peaceful in the future, these things might become priceless treasures.


    Eh! Zhou Wen came in front of the pile of junk and couldn¡¯t help but frown after taking a look.


    He had dug out quite a number of things and piled them up like a small hill. However, Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the pile of junk was much smaller than before.


    In order to confirm that he hadn¡¯t remembered wrongly, Zhou Wen went through the derelict items one by one and placed them elsewhere.


    There¡¯s indeed a significant decrease. The bronze artifact that looks like a radish is gone. Many gray pottery items and tools are also gone. As many of the tools were strange in shape, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what they were, so he had a deep impression of them. He couldn¡¯t find them no matter how hard he tried.


    Looking around, he didn¡¯t find any traces of dimensional creatures or humans.


    Zhou Wen used Great Brahma to observe the particles in the air, but he didn¡¯t discover any particles left behind by other lifeforms on them.


    What the hell? Did those things grow legs and run? Zhou Wen combed through the pile again, hoping to confirm that he hadn¡¯t remembered wrongly.


    He realized that there were even fewer things than before after a second count. The few things he had just held were gone.


    What the hell! Zhou Wen looked around warily, imagining that a terrifying existence had sneaked over.


    However, after waiting for quite some time, he didn¡¯t discover anything. Truth Listener didn¡¯t find any traces.


    If that thing can really prevent me from sensing it at such a close distance while secretly removing the items, plucking out my head wouldn¡¯t be a problem. There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble. Zhou Wen thought carefully and felt that something was amiss. He decided to count again.


    Something was missing again this time. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t work out how so many things were going missing under his nose.


    He summoned his Companion Beasts and got them to guard his surroundings while he paid close attention to the pile of junk.


    The baby bear had been licking the honey the entire time. Having just finished its meal, it crawled back to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and looked curiously at the derelict items on the ground.


    After waiting for a while, nothing happened. Even the Soul Mirror and the two Golden Wyrms didn¡¯t react.


    Zhou Wen kept staring at the pile of junk, but he didn¡¯t discover anything missing


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover any stirrings or anything missing after some time. He counted the derelict items again, but he realized that a few more items were missing.


    Holy sh*t, what the hell? How did this decrease? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded as he searched the ground, but he still didn¡¯t find anything


    With a thought, he summoned a large group of Musical Note Sprites. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, the Musical Note Sprites attached themselves to the derelict items.


    Every bronze artifact, every gray pottery, and even the fragments had a Musical Note Sprite attached to them. Zhou Wen had to figure out how those things had vanished.


    Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he stared intently at the pile of items. At the same time, he used his connection with the Musical Notes to monitor all the junk.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen felt one of the Musical Note Sprites vanish. Before he could carefully see what the vanished Musical Note Sprites was attached to, a few more lost contact with him. He couldn¡¯t sense them no matter what.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly ordered the remaining Musical Note Sprites to fly up with the items they were attached to before trying to search for the few Musical Note Sprites he had lost contact with.


    He didn¡¯t find the missing Musical Note Sprites, but he realized that everything else was flying together with the rest of the Musical Note Sprites. Only the skeleton of the giant bird remained on the ground.


    Could it be that the missing item has something to do with it? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the skeleton and realized that the Musical Note Sprite that had been attached to it had vanished.


    The disappearance of the Musical Note Sprites wasn¡¯t a problem, but the few Musical Note Sprites that were attached to the items had gone missing at the same time. Only the Musical Note Sprite attached to this skeleton was gone, but the skeleton remained.


    Zhou Wen summoned another Musical Note Sprite and got it to attach itself to the giant bird¡¯s skeleton. Then, Zhou Wen kept staring at it.


    After a while, something strange happened. The Musical Note Sprite on the giant bird¡¯s skeleton vanished into thin air. It happened without warning, nor were there any spatial fluctuations.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen widened his eyes in disbelief.


    On a careful recall, he realized that the things that had gone missing previously were beside the giant bird¡¯s skeleton.


    Zhou Wen placed a few pieces of bronze and gray pottery on the giant bird¡¯s bones. After a while, the fragments magically vanished.


    Zhou Wen watched helplessly as they vanished, but he still didn¡¯t know what kind of power made them vanish. It was as though they had vanished into thin air.


    There seems to be something wrong with this giant bird¡¯s skeleton! Zhou Wen carefully sized up the giant bird¡¯s skeleton, but he still didn¡¯t discover anything different about it. However, after what had happened, Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t believe that it was just an ordinary bird¡¯s skeleton.

 Chapter 1497 - Star Chart

    Zhou Wen experimented a few more times and was certain that anything that came into contact with the giant bird¡¯s skeleton would vanish into thin air.


    Strangely, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any spatial fluctuations.


    Zhou Wen could understand if it was a spatial teleportation power, but it was somewhat strange that the items vanished without any spatial fluctuations.


    Now, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know where the missing items had gone.


    If they had disintegrated, there should have been remnants, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even see the remaining particles after the disintegration.


    If it was teleportation, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure what had happened to the Companion Beasts after they vanished due to the loss in connection. He naturally didn¡¯t know where they had been teleported to.


    Unable to figure it out, Zhou Wen had no choice but to bury the giant bird skeleton again.


    He didn¡¯t dare place it into the chaos space. It would be a huge loss if he lost the Chaos Bead.


    Strangely enough, anything that touched the giant bird skeleton would vanish, but the soil here didn¡¯t.


    Zhou Wen got some soil from elsewhere and placed it on the giant bird¡¯s skeleton. After a while, it vanished.


    This place is indeed not ordinary. Zhou Wen dug some nearby areas and discovered many gray pottery and bronze items, but they were only ordinary antiques and weren¡¯t of much value.


    The various factions were studying the celestial bodies that had recently appeared on the Cube. Some factions had already attempted to send people over, but they only sent suicide warriors or death row convicts.


    They wanted to figure out what kind of dimensional zone existed on the celestial body.


    Strangely, after the various factions made their attempts, they realized that the Cube could be activated, but they couldn¡¯t teleport people over.


    This happened until someone dripped the blood of four people on the Cube. Amidst the Cube¡¯s brilliance, the four of them vanished together.


    However, the Cube¡¯s screen only shook for a moment before returning to normal. It was as though nothing had happened. It was unknown if the four of them were still alive.


    Before long, many factions discovered this phenomenon. Only four people could activate the Cube together¡ªno more, no less.


    However, the people who were teleported were considered to die an instant death. There was no news from them. The Cube¡¯s screen only shook for a moment before it fell silent.


    ¡°The temperature on that celestial body is too high. Ordinary humans can¡¯t withstand it. It¡¯s useless even if we teleport over.¡± A Censor briefed Wei Ge in the bureau.


    The Censors had done the most experiments. A large number of prisoners had already died.


    Wei Ge didn¡¯t look up as he continued reading the information in his hand. It was a star chart, but it wasn¡¯t a modern star chart. It was a star chart used in ancient times to distinguish celestial bodies.


    ¡°End the experiments. Don¡¯t touch the Cube for the time being,¡± Wei Ge said to the Censor as he looked at the star chart.


    ¡°Yes, Director-General,¡± the Censor answered. He hesitated for a moment before saying, ¡°Director-General, everyone is looking to us for more information. The League of Guardians is pressing us the most. How do we reply?¡±


    Wei Ge placed the star chart in his hand on the table and pushed it in front of the Censor. He said indifferently, ¡°Make a few copies of this star chart. If anyone comes to ask for more information, give them this start chart once they pay the price.¡±


    ¡°Will that work?¡± The Censor picked up the star chart and looked at Wei Ge in puzzlement.


    Although this star chart was an ancient copy, it wasn¡¯t too rare. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult to obtain it.


    ¡°Go.¡± Wei Ge didn¡¯t explain and got him to do the job.


    After the Censor left, Wei Ge held his chin with his hand and thought for a moment. As though he had thought of something interesting, he picked up his phone and edited a picture of the star chart he had taken. He clicked on a friend and sent it.


    Zhou Wen was studying the giant bird skeleton when he suddenly heard his phone ring. He took it out and realized that it was a message from Wei Ge.


    What¡¯s the meaning of this? Zhou Wen opened the message and took a look. He realized that it was a very crude star chart. The stars labeled on it weren¡¯t as detailed as modern-day star charts. Furthermore, there weren¡¯t any labels for the stars¡¯ names.


    However, on the star chart, a star was circled in red.


    Zhou Wen held the star chart and compared it to his Singularity Universe, but he failed to tell which area of the cosmos these stars belonged to.


    As Zhou Wen¡¯s Singularity Universe was very detailed, and this star chart had too many missing stars, it was difficult to make a comparison.


    ¡°Is this star the celestial body on the Cube¡¯s screen?¡± Zhou Wen sent a message to Wei Ge.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Wei Ge replied succinctly. ¡°What¡¯s the name of this celestial body?¡± Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue sending messages. ¡°Think about it yourself.¡± Wei Ge was even more straightforward this time.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it simpler if you tell me?¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    ¡°I like seeing your thirst for knowledge without getting it. How about this? Beg me and I¡¯ll show some kindness and tell you.¡± After Wei Ge sent the message, the corners of his mouth curled up smugly.


    Zhou Wen closed the chat window the moment he read Wei Ge¡¯s message.


    ¡°What a joke. I have so many teachers here. I don¡¯t believe they can¡¯t recognize a single star chart.¡± Zhou Wen took the star chart to Yu Qiubai.


    After Yu Qiubai took a look at the star chart, he glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Little Wen, while cultivating, you still have to take some time to gain some cultural knowledge. This star chart is a division of the Arctic Sky in ancient times. The star that¡¯s circled in red is the first star of the Big Dipper. It¡¯s called Dubhe and also known as the Ravenous Wolf.¡±


    This is the Big Dipper? Zhou Wen looked at the star chart again and realized that with Dubhe as the starting point, it indeed connected to six other stars in the shape of a ladle. He couldn¡¯t help but feel ashamed.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s not your fault. The star charts that were drawn by the ancients naturally aren¡¯t as detailed as they are now. However, a celestial body as obvious as the Big Dipper should be recognized.¡± Yu Qiubai asked curiously, ¡°Why are you suddenly interested in the star chart?¡±


    The celestial body on the Cube is very likely Dubhe. Zhou Wen checked the information on the Big Dipper on the Internet and suddenly discovered something very magical.


    The Big Dipper was the brightest celestial body at the North Pole. This was the way the sky was divided in the East District during ancient times. And according to the division of the West District, the Big Dipper belonged to the Ursa Major constellation.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but recall the giant bear that had ascended to the cosmos from Laojun Platform. He thought to himself, Could that giant bear be related to this dimensional zone?


    However, the constellations were from the West, while the giant bear was a dimensional creature from the East. Furthermore, it had ascended from Laojun Platform, so it just felt somewhat odd.

 Chapter 1498 - Dubhe

    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t the only one who knew of this news, but to most people, it didn¡¯t seem to matter whether the celestial body on the Cube was Dubhe or not.


    ¡°Charlatan, the rumors floating about point to that celestial body being Dubhe of the Big Dipper. What do you think?¡± Xia Liuchuan immediately called Zhang Chunqiu. The Zhang family was better at these things.


    Zhang Chunqiu said, ¡°That¡¯s Dubhe of the Big Dipper all right. However, I advise you not to have any ideas about it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°You should know that Dubhe is also called the Ravenous Wolf Star, right?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°I do. Although I¡¯m not as good at astronomical observation as you are, I¡¯ve heard of Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Isn¡¯t it synonymous with the Wisdom Star and the Auspicious Star?¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you don¡¯t know much about Ravenous Wolf or what it entails. Dubhe is indeed auspicious, but under certain circumstances, the Ravenous Wolf is a very ominous sign. It¡¯s best not to touch it before things are clear,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said solemnly. ¡°For real?¡± Xia Liuchuan still didn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you whether you believe it or not.¡± Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say anything else and hung up.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that I doubt you. Why get so worked up?¡± Xia Liuchuan muttered and put down the phone.


    Many people asked Zhang Chunqiu about it, but Zhang Chunqiu only said some ambiguous words to the average person. He only persuaded a few people not to touch Dubhe.


    ¡°We have to retrieve the Companion Beast of Dubhe no matter what.¡± Berserker Immortal¡¯s figure appeared in the unfinished Skysplit Tower as he ordered Immortal and the Guardians.


    ¡°Your Excellency, we will definitely do our best to fight for it, but you should know that with the rise of the heroes on Earth, our League of Guardians hasn¡¯t been able to gain an absolute advantage. Together with the uncertain variables like cosmic creatures, it¡¯s really unknown if we can obtain Dubhe¡¯s Companion Beast,¡± Immortal said with a bow.


    ¡°I only care about the results,¡± Berserker Immortal said coldly.


    ¡°I also hope for a good outcome,¡± Immortal said neither obsequiously nor superciliously.


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s gaze was like a sword as he stared at Immortal, as though he wanted to split his body apart. However, Immortal only stood there with his eyes lowered as though he hadn¡¯t seen anything.


    ¡°Whoever can retrieve Dubhe¡¯s Companion Beast can become the representative of our Immortals in the mortal world. I will personally bestow him as the strongest Guardian of the Immortals,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    The Immortals had always respected the strong. Berserker Immortal believed that it was the same for humans. He wanted to use this to incite an internal division among the League of Guardians.


    However, Blood Shaman and the other Guardians didn¡¯t seem to hear him as they continued to stand by Immortal¡¯s side.


    A cold glint flashed in Berserker Immortal¡¯s eyes, but he suppressed his killing intent. Just as Wang Mingyuan had said, the situation on Earth was already relatively clear. Even if the Immortals began nurturing new factions now, it wouldn¡¯t be of any use anytime soon.


    If he wanted to maintain his competitiveness on Earth, he had to continue using the League of Guardians. There weren¡¯t many other options.


    The six families had always been vassals of the Holy Land. Although the six families wanted to escape the Holy Land¡¯s control, it wasn¡¯t necessarily possible for them to completely escape it. Secondly, even if they could really escape, it might be a result of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.


    There was also the federal government, the Holy Spirit Association, and the various warlords. Under Hui Haifeng¡¯s leadership, the federal government had been developing the strength of humans, so it was even more impossible for them to be used by the Immortals.


    The Holy Spirit Association directly devoured Guardians. If the Immortals worked with them, they would probably only be feeding them. It would be difficult to truly control them.


    As for the warlords from the various lands, if there was a chance, Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t mind giving them some benefits and getting them under the Immortal¡¯s employ. However, there weren¡¯t many warlords who could truly achieve the level of the six families. Gaining control of them couldn¡¯t be done anytime soon.


    At this stage, Berserker Immortal could only get the League of Guardians to continue working for the Immortals.


    However, Berserker Immortal had already made up his mind to establish a faction that completely obeyed the Immortals as soon as possible and kick the League of Guardians out.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. My race will definitely help you when needed. Skysplit Tower has to be repaired as soon as possible. Otherwise, even if my race wants to help you, we won¡¯t be able to deliver the items to you.¡± Although Berserker Immortal said that, he thought to himself, All I need is a portion of Skysplit Tower repaired and I can use it to enter Earth and reestablish a human faction that belongs to the Immortals. Once I succeed, I¡¯ll kill that bastard Wang Mingyuan first.


    ¡°Skysplit Tower has been attacked twice in a row. Many materials are nowhere to be found. It¡¯s very difficult to repair it. Your Excellency, I wonder if you have a way to repair it?¡± Immortal kicked the ball back to Berserker Immortal¡¯s court.


    Although Berserker Immortal wanted to kill Immortal with one strike, he couldn¡¯t do so. All he could do was say, ¡°There¡¯s naturally a way. Previously, my race placed Guardian cocoons in many mystic realms. Now, those mystic realms have already transformed into dimensional zones. I¡¯ll send you the information regarding the Guardian cocoons. After you find them, use the Guardian inside to help you and you can naturally easily occupy those dimensional zones and obtain the resources inside.¡±


    ¡°We will definitely do our best to serve you, Your Excellency.¡± Immortal bowed with the Guardians.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t figured out what was going on with the land and the giant bird¡¯s skeleton, but he didn¡¯t dare take the risk to experiment. All he could do was ignore it for the time being.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen was studying his Companion Beasts.


    After the two Golden Wyrms gave birth, another Golden Wyrm appeared. However, this Golden Wyrm seemed a little different from its parents.


    Golden Wyrm: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Gold Essence


    Wheel of Destiny: Love is Stronger than Gold. Terror Form: Stator (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: True Gold Fire Refinement (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Midas Touch, Strangle, Unstoppable, Dominance Body


    Companion Form: Stator


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what a Stator Companion Form was. He made the Golden Wyrm appear in its companion form and realized that its body had turned into a coiled dragon pillar.


    It was clearly a pillar, but for some reason, it was called a stator.


    With the experience from the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, Zhou Wen tried putting the three Golden Wyrms into the fusion frame. Indeed, he could fuse them. Furthermore, the success rate was 99.9%. There was almost no chance of failure.


    Should I fuse them? Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant. After all, these were three Calamity-grade creatures. If he fused them, even if a Hell-grade creature appeared, it would only be a Companion Beast. It didn¡¯t seem worth it.

 Chapter 1499 - Good Luck Comes

    Chapter 1499 Good Luck Comes


    The stats and skills are about the same. If I can¡¯t deal with an opponent with a single Golden Wyrm, having two more Golden Wyrms shouldn¡¯t be of much use. Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before pressing the fusion button.


    A golden light flashed as the three Golden Wyrms emitted a shocking glow. Finally, the entire screen was occupied by the golden light.


    When the light gradually dissipated, the three Golden Wyrms vanished, leaving only a golden pair of scissors on the screen.


    Two Golden Wyrms became shears, while a single Golden Wyrm was a stator. Together, they fused into Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Golden Wyrm Scissors: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Metal Life


    Life Soul: Gold Essence Wheel of Destiny: Love is Stronger than Gold.


    Terror Form: Golden Wyrm Scissors (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: True Gold Fire Refinement (Hell)


    Strength: 200 Speed: 200


    Constitution: 200


    Essence Energy: 200


    Talent Skill: Midas Touch, Strangle, Unstoppable, Dominance Body, Clean Break


    Companion Form: Golden Wyrm Scissors


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be overjoyed when he saw the stats of the Golden Wyrm Scissors. Although it was a three-for-one exchange, the stats of the Golden Wyrm Scissors were definitely greater than the three Golden Wyrms.


    Ignoring everything else, the Human Realm Golden Wyrm only had 100 for its stats, but the Hell-level Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ stats doubled.


    Its abilities didn¡¯t seem to have changed much, but with the addition of Cleaned Break, it looked very powerful.


    Who should I test it on? Zhou Wen looked at his phone dungeon and realized that the Venusian instance dungeon had respawned an hour ago. He could try it out.


    Crack! Crack!


    The moment the Golden Wyrm Scissors appeared, all the Metal Guards and Golden Battle Gods were sliced into two with one strike. No one could withstand its might.


    However, the Golden Wyrm Scissors had a weakness. It could only snip one creature at a time-it didn¡¯t have any AOE attacks.


    Zhou Wen used the Soul Mirror to make the Calamity gunner appear. With a golden flash, the Calamity gunner, whose speed couldn¡¯t be considered slow, was split into two before he could react.


    Ding!


    A Companion Egg dropped with a crisp sound. Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to fly over and pick it up.


    Zhou Wen had been eyeing the Calamity gunner¡¯s Companion Egg for a long time. Its long-range offensive strength was truly impressive, especially the seventh shot. Without a countermeasure, one couldn¡¯t escape the sure-kill shot.


    Nothing can really stop you when luck befalls you. Zhou Wen excitedly checked the Calamity gunner Companion Egg¡¯s stats.


    Golden Sniper: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Sharpshooter


    Life Soul: Firearms God


    Wheel of Destiny: Sure-kill Seventh Strike (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Bullet Zone (Human Realm)


    Strength: 168


    Speed: 179


    Constitution: 107


    Essence Energy: 178


    Talent Skill: Infinite Bullets, Metal Escape, Ultra Rapid Fire, Ultra Long-Distance Fire, Life-Extinguishing Bullets.


    Companion Form: Sniper Rifle


    Haha, it¡¯s indeed a sniper rifle! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He had indeed been eyeing it for a long time.


    Compared to melee weapons, Zhou Wen preferred to shoot from afar. He only fought in melee combat when he had no choice. If he could kill the enemy from afar, why would he have to rush out and risk his life?


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen hatched Golden Sniper. This kind of Companion Beast that didn¡¯t require growth from the beginning had stats reaching a certain level. There was no need for him to waste crystals to raise its stats. It was very useful to Zhou Wen.


    Apart from the lacking Constitution, the other stats of the Golden Sniper were pretty good. It was already considered pretty good at the Human Realm.


    A massive amount of Essence Energy was absorbed by the Companion Egg. Soon, the Companion Egg transformed into golden streams of light that landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s palm, forming the symbol of a golden sniper rifle.


    After flashing for a while, the golden sniper rifle symbol slowly vanished.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and a golden sniper rifle appeared in his hand.


    However, the sniper rifle was a little bigger than Zhou Wen imagined. It looked like a Barret M82A1 sniper rifle but even bigger. It wasn¡¯t impossible to fire it using one hand, but it was a little uncomfortable.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s inhuman physique, he could still shoot from the hip, but it looked like shooting with a mount would be more reliable.


    Zhou Wen switched dungeons and entered Chess Mountain. He mounted the sniper rifle in the cave and aimed it at a fake immortal on Deer Terrace Pavilion.


    After aiming slightly, Zhou Wen squeezed the trigger.


    Bang!


    A fake immortal¡¯s head exploded as she returned to her original fox spirit body and collapsed in a pool of blood.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen shot one after another, blasting apart the heads of the fake immortals. With the butt of the gun pressed against his shoulder, Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder involuntarily trembled as he fired.


    He watched as the fake immortals spun about and huddled together, but they couldn¡¯t find the enemy. All they could do was have their heads explode one after another. This thrill was indescribable.


    Great stuff¡­ This thing¡¯s shooting range is awesome¡­ It¡¯s much further than the range of ordinary sniper rifles on Earth. It¡¯s impossible for ordinary creatures to discover where the bullet came from. The more Zhou Wen looked at it, the more he liked it. It was like the best assassination weapon.


    In the future, if Zhou Wen wanted to cause trouble for the League of Guardians, he didn¡¯t need to approach the headquarters of the League of Guardians. A bullet from fifty kilometers away could send the Guardians to the afterlife. With the bullets traveling at the speed of light, fifty kilometers was nothing.


    However, on second thought, the League of Guardians was Jiang Yan¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to kill another Guardian.


    I should find an opportunity to make a trip to the Holy Land. I¡¯ll stand guard outside the Holy Land. I¡¯ll headshot every Saint that comes out. Let¡¯s see who else dares to work for the Holy Land. With this in mind, Zhou Wen wished he could grow wings and fly to the Holy Land.


    Of course, that was just a thought on his part. It was clearly impossible for him to raid the Holy Land with just a sniper rifle.


    Now, I have the golden sniper rifle for long-range combat and the Golden Wyrm Scissors for close combat. With the Soul Mirror¡¯s help, as long as I don¡¯t encounter a Heaven-level dimensional creature, I should be able to put up a fight. Zhou Wen searched his dungeon again and realized that Yang City had already respawned.


    He entered Yang City and released the Golden Wyrm Scissors. Every Blood Shadow that appeared was severed. The sniper was even more merciless. It was one shot, one kill, as simple as shooting balloons at a street fair.


    After the Kui came out, the Golden Wyrm Scissors flew up and snapped it into two. Even the Kui¡¯s powerful defense couldn¡¯t withstand a single snip. The Golden Wyrm Scissors were so sharp that it chilled one¡¯s heart.


    Too powerful! Zhou Wen realized that he had too many weapons, but his defense now couldn¡¯t keep up.


    Kui only dropped one Essence Energy Crystal. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any room to raise his Essence Energy stat for the time being, so he fed it to the Soul Mirror which had a relatively low attribute.


    Zhou Wen was just about to find a few more places to test the might of the Golden Wyrm Scissors and sniper rifle when he suddenly received a message: ¡°Are you interested in cooperating?¡±

 Chapter 1500 - A Guest Arrives

    Chapter 1500 A Guest Arrives


    ¡°Cooperate in what?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement when he saw that it was Jiang Yan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know? Four people are needed to enter Dubhe; no more, no less.¡± Jiang Yan said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you are really that suicidal? Everything on Dubhe is an unknown, wouldn¡¯t entering be courting death?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that now was a good time to enter Dubhe.


    If he rashly entered without knowing the situation inside, even a Calamity-grade creature might not be able to come out alive.


    ¡°Of course not now. I just want you to be mentally prepared. I¡¯ll inform you when the opportunity comes,¡± Jiang Yan said. ¡°I really have to think about it,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Nothing to ask?¡± Jiang Yan sent another message.


    ¡°You¡¯ll tell me what you can and won¡¯t tell me what you can¡¯t.¡± Zhou Wen replied calmly.


    ¡°There are many things that we haven¡¯t confirmed. There¡¯s no point in saying anything. However, this might be a chance to reverse the passive situation.¡± Jiang Yan replied.


    ¡°What passive situation?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what Jiang Yan meant.


    ¡°Think about it yourself.¡± Jiang Yan replied after sending a message. Zhou Wen held his phone and carefully read Jiang Yan¡¯s message again. He found the sentence interesting. It had a myriad of possibilities that ranged from something trivial to something major.


    If it¡¯s something that¡¯s most important¡­ Zhou Wen thought carefully and found it unlikely.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before an idea came to him. He wanted to visit Dubhe.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t do so using the Cube. Other humans might find it difficult to reach Dubhe, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t one of them. Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability would easily allow him to reach Dubhe.


    With his defenses, he could reach the vicinity of Dubhe without entering it. The high temperature of Dubhe shouldn¡¯t be able to injure him.


    Zhou Wen mainly wanted to see if there was a tiny palm symbol in Dubhe¡¯s dimensional zone. This was the most important thing to him.


    However, space was just too dangerous. Who knew if there were terrifying cosmic creatures waiting for an opportunity near Dubhe.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to take Chick with him. The Dubhe was hot, a perfect stage for Chick.


    However, without Chick, it would be too dangerous for Guide City if the skeleton legion appeared again. Typical Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t be too far from their owners. The Dubhe was too far away. It was impossible for him to leave a Companion Beast to watch over the base.


    This is troublesome. The baby bear looks silly and I don¡¯t know how strong it is. I definitely can¡¯t let it watch over the base. Unfortunately, the antelope didn¡¯t come to Guide City. Otherwise, I would be at ease with it in school. After some thought, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a good idea. He was afraid that something would happen to Guide City while he was away.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what¡¯s going on? Why didn¡¯t you invite me over when there was such a fun place?¡± Just as Zhou Wen was considering the matter, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.


    Before long, Li Xuan kicked open the yard door and swaggered in.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you wait for me to open the door?¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily, but he realized that Li Xuan hadn¡¯t come alone. There was someone behind him.


    ¡°Qin Zhen? Why are you together?¡± Zhou Wen saw that the person who had followed Li Xuan was the famous Female Sword Immortal, Qin Zhen.


    ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand. We were heading in the same direction. She¡¯s here for you,¡± Li Xuan said with a cheeky smile.


    ¡°Senior, I heard that you are establishing a human city in Guide City. Is the school still lacking teachers?¡± Qin Zhen asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yes, of course. However, the remuneration we provide here can¡¯t compare to Sunset College¡¯s. As you can see, there¡¯s no answer to when the school will return to normal,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I just need a place to stay,¡± Qin Zhen said seriously.


    ¡°What are you considering? Hurry up and arrange a place for her to stay,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Alright. As long as you are willing to stay, I won¡¯t treat you unfairly in the future.¡± Zhou Wen was in need of help. A sword expert like Qin Zhen had been a tutor at Sunset College to begin with. It was a rare opportunity.


    Qin Zhen didn¡¯t say anything else and only nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find you a place to stay.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to settle them in elsewhere, he heard a voice coming from outside the yard.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, if you don¡¯t mind, count the two of us in.¡± Two more people walked in following the man¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Tian Xiangdong, Fang Ruoxi, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when he saw his two former classmates.


    Just like Zhou Wen, they had been admitted into Sunset College. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t graduate. The two of them had left Luoyang after graduation. As they hadn¡¯t contacted each other, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know where they had gone after graduation.


    However, having not seen them in Guide City, Zhou Wen imagined that they had moved to another city.


    ¡°What are you talking about? This is our hometown. When our hometown is in trouble, we naturally have to come back to support it.¡± Tian Xiangdong chuckled. ¡°Actually, I¡¯m working in the Federation¡¯s political commentary department now. The higher-ups want me to be their informant and report any information gathered.¡±


    Fang Ruoxi also said bluntly, ¡°My situation is about the same. If there¡¯s anything that¡¯s not too important, leave it to me. I will do what I can for my hometown.¡±


    The two of them made themselves clear and handed the choice to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s naturally best to have free labor. Come with me. I¡¯ll find a place for you to stay.¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid that the other factions would send spies. It was pointless fearing that. Even if it wasn¡¯t Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong, there would be other spies.


    Instead of wasting time guessing who the spy was, it was better to keep Fang Ruoxi and Tian Xiangdong. Regardless of whether they were doing it on account of sentiment or not, they were still very good workers. They were all elites who had graduated from Sunset College and were in the government departments.


    The school didn¡¯t have plenty of room left, but Zhou Wen still managed to arrange a single room for them. Although it was a room changed from a school office, it was the best he could offer under the present conditions.


    Qin Zhen didn¡¯t mind at all. She tidied up the room and put down her luggage before going over to Zhou Wen and asking, ¡°Senior, what can I do?¡±


    ¡°No rush. Get some rest for today. There will be many things waiting for you in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Qin Zhen nodded and surprisingly returned to her room to rest.


    ¡°This junior isn¡¯t bad,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile as he walked.

 Chapter 1501 - Dubhe

    When Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were alone at Zhou Wen¡¯s residence, Li Xuan said, ¡°Old Zhou, what are your plans? Don¡¯t tell me you really want to establish a human city here? Although this is your hometown, there¡¯s no barrier here. There are unexplored dimensional zones everywhere. You can¡¯t stay here forever, right?¡±


    ¡°I originally wanted to find a dimensional zone to establish a city, but unfortunately, I haven¡¯t found a suitable place for the time being. I can only make do here for the time being,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stroked the baby bear¡¯s back.


    ¡°I did some research on the nearby dimensional zones before coming here. There really aren¡¯t any suitable places to build a city. Originally, Guide Ancient City was a good choice. Once the city gates are closed, it wouldn¡¯t be easy to storm in. But that place is now too dangerous. There¡¯s no way to enter, much less build a city,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°If it was that easy to establish a city, this place would have long been occupied by others. The various factions are eyeing this place covetously, but they haven¡¯t done anything yet. I know how difficult it is to establish a city here.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that it wasn¡¯t easy to establish a city here.


    ¡°Since you are aware of all of this, why are you erecting a city here?¡± Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point if it¡¯s easy?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Li Xuan curled his lips and said disdainfully, ¡°Do you think I don¡¯t know what kind of person you are? If it wasn¡¯t for something interesting, would you be setting up a city here? I think if you have the time and energy, you¡¯d rather play games in bed.¡±


    Zhou Wen laughed. ¡°You know me the best. I won¡¯t hide it from you. Guide Ancient City has something very important to me, but I currently don¡¯t have the ability to retrieve it. Therefore, I have to establish a city here and guard it, so as to prevent the item from falling into the hands of others. Do you still remember what you said back then about establishing a city that belongs to us? How about it? Stay behind. This city will be ours.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re full of nonsense. Why else would I be here? Do you think this is a tourist attraction?¡± Li Xuan curled his lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. I can be relieved with you around,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°What do you mean? From what you¡¯re saying, you want to be the boss that shirks responsibility?¡± Li Xuan immediately felt that something was amiss.


    ¡°That¡¯s not what I meant. However, I do wish to make a trip to Dubhe to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Sure, but don¡¯t enter,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I know. Familiarize yourself with the situation here. I¡¯ll make a trip when you are done.¡± Zhou Wen planned on giving Li Xuan some time.


    ¡°Do you think our Li family¡¯s intelligence network is useless? I¡¯m afraid I know the situation here better than you. Alright, go do what you need to do. Leave this to me. With Qin Zhen¡¯s help, nothing will happen as long as a Calamity doesn¡¯t descend,¡± Li Xuan said smugly.


    ¡°Is your brother alright?¡± When Li Xuan mentioned the intelligence network, Zhou Wen thought of Li Mobai. The Li family¡¯s intelligence network had nothing to do with Li Xuan. It was all built by Li Mobai.


    ¡°He¡¯s fine. He¡¯s doing very well. He eats, sleeps, and curses. If it wasn¡¯t for his eyes still in the cabinet at home, I would have wondered if he was blind. He¡¯s even more normal than a normal person, so normal that he appears a little sick,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°I cultivate in an Essence Energy Art with healing abilities. I can try to see if I can heal his eyes,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. He said it himself. His eyes are Ghost God Eyes. Healing abilities can¡¯t treat it, and he¡¯ll be like that for the rest of his life. However, he also said that looking at things doesn¡¯t necessarily need eyes. It¡¯s even more useless looking at people with eyes. Therefore, it doesn¡¯t matter if he has eyes or not.¡± When Li Xuan said that, he looked somewhat helpless.


    Zhou Wen guessed that Li Mobai was definitely educating him in a reprimanding tone when he said that.


    The two chatted a lot more. The next morning, Zhou Wen summoned Qin Zhen, Fang Ruoxi, and company and introduced Yu Qiubai and the other core members to them, making it easier for them to work in the future.


    Before leaving, Zhou Wen took Chick away, but he didn¡¯t tell the others that he was leaving for a period of time.


    Apart from Li Xuan, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on letting anyone know about this matter.


    He would be back soon if everything went well. There was no need to alarm the others.


    After returning to his room, Zhou Wen used Singularity Universe¡¯s teleportation ability with Chick. With Dubhe as his target, he teleported over.


    When Zhou Wen finished his teleportation, his vision was filled with light and flames. The temperature was terrifyingly high. Despite wearing the Prisoned Dragon armor, Zhou Wen still felt his body heat up.


    Chick seemed excited as it opened its mouth and sucked. Large swaths of flames around it surged into its mouth and into its stomach like spring water.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the temperature around him drop significantly. He focused his gaze and realized that he was very close to Dubhe. The flames that surged upwards from the planet were like fountains that reached a height that exceeded where Zhou Wen was levitating. Even steel would instantly melt.


    Zhou Wen pushed Truth Listener¡¯s ability to its limits and flew close to the huge planet with Chick.


    This planet was many times bigger than the sun. Wherever Zhou Wen flew, there were flames everywhere. The dazzling light made his eyes feel uncomfortable.


    With Chick around, the high temperature was bearable. The nearby flames were swallowed by Chick.


    He didn¡¯t discover any dimensional zones within his detectable range. However, the light and fire Essence Energy on this planet were extremely terrifying. What was even more terrifying was that there was a planet nearby that emitted a terrifying glow.


    Although Zhou Wen had long heard that Dubhe was a binary star-meaning that it had a companion star-he was still shocked when he saw it.


    However, Zhou Wen failed to find any dimensional zones after circling the two stars for quite some time, much less the tiny palm symbol.


    Strange. Could it be that the dimensional zone is inside the planet? If that¡¯s the case, it will be difficult to find the dimensional zone without entering through the Cube. Zhou Wen looked at the planet that was even more terrifying than the sun. If he wanted to rush in, he wasn¡¯t sure if the Prisoned Dragon armor could withstand it.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over how to find the dimensional zone, he suddenly saw Chick¡¯s feathers stand up as it stared intently at the flames below.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen traced its gaze and saw a huge shadow flickering in the flames.


    It was like a giant whale in the sea. He could only see a shadow, not enough to determine what it was.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take the risk as he watched it swim in the flames. The shadow looked bigger than an aircraft carrier. He planned on returning to Earth with Chick.


    However, to his surprise, Chick suddenly let out a long cry and spread its wings to rush towards the shadow in the flames.

 Chapter 1502 - Chick Starting A Fight

    ¡°Don¡¯t be rash!¡± Zhou Wen wanted to stop Chick, but it was already too late. Chick was too fast as it rushed into the flames.


    Chick¡¯s entire body burned with phoenix flames. It was still dazzling amidst the already dazzling flames as it quickly charged at the gigantic figure.


    Roar! The liquid on the planet spewed out, producing a terrifying glow and releasing massive amounts of energy. The explosion and radiation were accompanied by a terrifying shockwave and light spots. Instantly, all Zhou Wen saw were all sorts of strange light blasts. His vision became useless.


    The Prisoned Dragon armor was affected by the terrifying energy. The armor turned red like a piece of red-hot metal at high temperatures.


    The constantly erupting shockwaves sent Zhou Wen¡¯s body into a retreat. As he retreated, Zhou Wen saw a monster¡¯s head that resembled a rainbow crystal extend out from the various energy explosions. Just its head was comparable to an aircraft carrier.


    It widened its mouth and devoured Chick who had flown into the flames. It was unimaginably huge.


    Chick was like an ant in the monster¡¯s mouth. It was close to being devoured.


    A phoenix cry tore through space as Chick flapped its wings. Its phoenix flames burgeoned as every golden feather spewed out golden phoenix flames, instantly melting Chick¡¯s body.


    A huge golden flaming phoenix appeared, flapping within the monster¡¯s mouth. Space seemed to distort as Chick slid out of its mouth the instant the monster closed it.


    Its actions were extremely elegant and light. It didn¡¯t seem fast, but it managed to escape the monster¡¯s lightning-like bite.


    The monster¡¯s figure rushed out of the liquid. Its body was like a rainbow-colored glass whale. It had horns on its head and wings on its back. It looked strange and beautiful.


    Although it was huge, it didn¡¯t appear bloated. Its contours were smooth as they exuded indescribable power.


    Chick dodged the monster¡¯s bite and circled around the flames. The surrounding flames condensed towards its body, causing the phoenix flames on its body to burn brighter and brighter.


    It went from slow to fast, from stillness to movement, from grace to swiftness. Instantly, Chick¡¯s speed increased to its limits. It was like a golden blade of light that crisscrossed the monster.


    Chick appeared behind the monster, and a long golden burn mark appeared on its abdomen, as though it was a melted magma dyke.


    Nicely done! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Chick¡¯s strike seemed to have sliced open the monster¡¯s abdomen. The monster had probably been severely injured.


    Zhou Wen saw the monster¡¯s flames burn as the wound on its abdomen rapidly healed the very next second. It flapped its wings and infinite flames rose, forming a huge flaming barrier that enveloped the nearby area.


    The barrier¡¯s range was too large. It was already too late by the time Zhou Wen realized it. His body was trapped in the barrier as the energy inside constantly erupted. It was as though countless hydrogen bombs were exploding as they filled the area with light blasts.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body slammed into the barrier as the Prisoned Dragon armor turned redder. If not for its Absolute Defense, it would have long been destroyed.


    What level is this fellow at? Just the power in the domain is already so terrifying! Zhou Wen used spatial instant transmission to rush out of the barrier to avoid the outcome of both armor and human dying.


    Thankfully, this barrier can¡¯t block spatial powers. Zhou Wen stood outside the barrier domain and could still sense the terrifying energy inside.


    The fire phoenix formed by Chick constantly danced in the light, leaving behind golden phantoms that constantly flashed around the monster. It left a long burn mark on the monster every time.


    However, as fire-elemental creatures, the monster¡¯s fire-elemental immunity and self-healing abilities were equally terrifying. The injuries Chick left on its body weren¡¯t enough to injure it.


    After the monster unleashed the barrier, it stopped attacking Chick. It floated in the barrier and allowed Chick to attack it.


    However, the barrier constantly shrank. As the barrier shrank, Chick¡¯s range of activity decreased, and the energy blast within the barrier intensified.


    If one looked at it with their naked eyes, the barrier was like a miniature sun, and it was a miniature sun that was constantly shrinking.


    Zhou Wen realized that Chick¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t going south. Chick looked very strong, but it ultimately hadn¡¯t reached the Calamity grade.


    The reason Chick could exchange blows with the monster was that it was a phoenix with a top-notch fire-elemental bloodline. This could almost be considered its home ground. The monster also had fire-elemental powers, so Chick was immune to its fire-elemental powers. It could even absorb them, allowing it to fight the monster.


    The problem was that no matter how strong Chick was, it was still much weaker without entering the Calamity grade. If it was imprisoned, it would be impossible for it to fight the monster head-on.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and threw them at the barrier.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors instantly cut a hole in the barrier and rushed into it, but the hole in the barrier was immediately filled with flames.


    None of this was important to Zhou Wen. His target wasn¡¯t the barrier to begin with, but the unknown monster.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors transformed into a golden beam that slashed at the rainbow-colored glass-like monster. With a crack, the monster¡¯s massive body couldn¡¯t withstand the Golden Wyrm Scissors. It was sliced into two.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors is too amazing! Zhou Wen was gratified. It was worth combining the three Calamity-grade creatures.


    However, Zhou Wen immediately realized that something was amiss. The monster had been sliced into two, but the barrier domain didn¡¯t vanish. Furthermore, it was still shrinking. This meant that the monster wasn¡¯t dead.


    Indeed, large amounts of flames spewed out from the monster¡¯s severed body. The flames on both sides intertwined, causing its body to fuse together again.


    ¡°Golden Wyrm Scissors, kill it.¡± Zhou Wen ordered the Golden Wyrm Scissors to attack again.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors was activated again as they transformed into golden beams of light that slashed at the monster.


    The monster didn¡¯t dodge. The Golden Wyrm Scissors snipped off its head into two, but still failed to kill it. Its head quickly fused again.


    Chick also used its wings to attack the monster again and again. The blade- like wings left wounds on the monster¡¯s body, but they quickly recovered.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown. The Golden Wyrm Scissors was very powerful, but due to the limitations of his Essence Energy, he could only produce a maximum of three Clean Breaks when he used all his strength. Then, he needed time to recover his Essence Energy


    He had already used Clean Break twice in a short period of time. If he still couldn¡¯t kill the monster with a final strike, he could only give up.


    As Zhou Wen was in thought, the Golden Wyrm Scissors had already used all its strength to slice apart the monster¡¯s tail using their third Clean Break.

 Chapter 1503 - The Golden Wyrm Scissors Shows Its Prowess

    Zhou Wen reeled with anxiety. He couldn¡¯t help but feel greatly disappointed when he saw the monster¡¯s tail heal.


    However, Zhou Wen saw the Golden Wyrm Scissors split into two the next second. Their might didn¡¯t show any signs of weakening. It looked like their Essence Energy remained abundant, and there wasn¡¯t any problem of Essence Energy depletion.


    How did this happen? Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he immediately thought of the reason.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ Calamity Zone was called True Gold Fire Refinement. Zhou Wen never understood what use this Calamity Zone had.


    This was because no flames were produced when he got the Golden Wyrm Scissors to use its Calamity Zone.


    Zhou Wen finally understood that the power of the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ domain seemed to be effective only in flames.


    How can there be such a strange domain? Wouldn¡¯t this domain be useless if the place didn¡¯t have any flames? Yet, it really came in handy. I¡¯ll write this off as luck. Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors exerted its powers again and again, as though it didn¡¯t need to worry about Essence Energy.


    Zhou Wen also discovered a strange phenomenon. The Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ body was slowly changing. The golden scissors became heavier and heavier as the scales on the wyrm¡¯s body became more and more crystalline.


    He took out his phone and took a look. Indeed, he realized that the various stats of the Golden Wyrm Scissors had increased.


    Only then did Zhou Wen understand that the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ Calamity Zone wasn¡¯t a combat domain. It was considered a zone that allowed self-evolving through the power of the flames.


    The monster was probably at the Hell level as well. Coincidentally, it was fire-elemental. Under the high temperature of Dubhe, it allowed the Golden Wyrm Scissors to unleash its strongest might.


    Upon seeing this scene, Zhou Wen hoped that the monster could be killed later. He wanted to use its Calamity Zone to help the Golden Wyrm Scissors raise its stats.


    Even if it couldn¡¯t advance to the Heaven level, he could raise its basic stats to the peak of the Hell level.


    Zhou Wen had already summoned his sniper rifle, but he put it away when he saw this situation.


    After being attacked again and again, the monster also realized the danger. It no longer suffered a beating passively. High-temperature beams shot out from its eyes as it spat out high-temperature energy bullets.


    However, such an attack wasn¡¯t of much use to Chick and the Golden Wyrm Scissors. Instead, it gave the Golden Wyrm Scissors better tampering, significantly increasing its stats.


    Zhou Wen became fonder of the Golden Wyrm Scissors as he watched on. It was very suitable for combat in such an environment. Their powerful offensive strength, coupled with the evolutionary domain, only made them stronger. I¡¯ll probably need the Golden Wyrm Scissors to be my primary force when clearing the Dubhe dimensional zone in the future, Zhou Wen thought.


    The monster could only blame it on its luck. It was clearly at the Hell level, but of all creatures, it encountered Chick and the Golden Wyrm Scissors. It couldn¡¯t unleash the combat strength and suppression it should have.


    This also made Zhou Wen understand that even if one reached the Calamity grade, creatures with the strength of a single system would find it difficult to unleash their full combat strength when facing their nemesis.


    There was no absolutely invincible power in this world. Every power had a nemesis. The ability the Lost Immortal Sutra gave Zhou Wen undoubtedly gave him a huge advantage.


    Although he might not be able to crush peers at his level and there might be someone who could match Zhou Wen in some aspects, Zhou Wen would have a huge advantage in relatively complicated environments and battles. It was almost impossible for him to be restrained as he could adapt to various combat situations.


    Ordinary people definitely couldn¡¯t fight like Zhou Wen. They could only use Companion Beasts and other methods to make up for their flaws.


    However, compared to Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen had a greater advantage. Few people on Earth had a Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    It¡¯s no wonder so many people wanted Venus¡¯s Companion Beast. There are many stars in the Universe. As long as I fight in such an environment, the Golden Wyrm Scissors can produce extremely powerful combat strength. Unless there¡¯s an overwhelming disadvantage, they¡¯ll become stronger the more they fight. Zhou Wen looked at the stats on his phone. As the barrier domain shrank, the energy in it erupted stronger. The Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ stats increased.


    Crack!


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors snipped off the monster¡¯s body again, but this time, the sound was somewhat strange.


    As the monster¡¯s body cracked, the barrier shattered. The energy inside scattered and quickly vanished.


    The monster¡¯s body had already been snipped into two several times, but this time, it was somewhat different. Its two halves were rapidly collapsing rather than fusing.


    The massive glass-like body constantly shattered as the crystal turned to dust. It melted under the celestial body¡¯s high temperature as its body gradually plummeted.


    Chick let out a long cry as it grabbed half of its crumbling body with one claw and dragged it into space.


    Even without the high temperatures, the monster¡¯s body rapidly disintegrated. Soon, there were only two halves of a crystal ball. The crystal ball didn¡¯t collapse as strange energy flowed inside.


    It was likely that the monster died only after the crystal ball was hit by the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ Clean Break.


    Chick cried out in joy as it flew over and swallowed the two halves of the crystal ball.


    Soon, the phoenix flames on Chick¡¯s body became thicker and thicker. Finally, they formed an egg-shaped barrier that constantly shimmered with light.


    Is it about to advance to the Calamity grade? Zhou Wen called out a few times, but he didn¡¯t receive any response from Chick. He knew that Chick might have entered an evolutionary state again.


    He reached out and stored Chick in its egg form into the Chaos Bead. Zhou Wen looked at the Golden Wyrm Scissors floating beside him. Although he couldn¡¯t count on Chick anymore, with the Golden Wyrm Scissors, there shouldn¡¯t be much danger as long as he didn¡¯t enter the dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen decided to continue searching to see if he could find the dimensional zone on Dubhe.


    As he searched, he checked the information on the Golden Wyrm Scissors and realized that its four stats had already reached 267. If that monster hadn¡¯t died too early, it would have increased even more.


    Zhou Wen attempted to get the Golden Wyrm Scissors to enter the high-temperature area of Dubhe, but as Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t be too far from their owners and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare go too close, the Golden Wyrm Scissors also found it difficult to venture deep. The surface temperature wasn¡¯t of much help to its evolution.


    The Dubhe was massive. Zhou Wen searched for a long time but didn¡¯t find any traces of the dimensional zone. All he could do was teleport to the other companion star to take a look, but he still didn¡¯t find anything.


    Strange, why can¡¯t I find the dimensional zone? Zhou Wen knew that there had to be a dimensional zone that could be reached through the Cube, but he couldn¡¯t find it outside.


    Could it be that the entire dimensional zone is inside Dubhe? In that case, I probably won¡¯t be able to enter the dimensional zone without sufficient fire-elemental defensive equipment. Zhou Wen was already thinking about where to get such immunity-providing equipment. It would be best if it was at the Calamity grade.

 Chapter 1504 - Four-Star System

    It wasn¡¯t completely impossible for Zhou Wen to enter, but he didn¡¯t wish to take the risk.


    It took quite some time to search both celestial bodies. Just as Zhou Wen was about to return, his heart suddenly stirred. The Dubhe is one of the Big Dipper stars. Now that Dubhe has changed, have the other six stars changed as well?


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to take a look.


    The stars that humans could see in the night sky were mostly stars, not planets or other celestial bodies. The other six stars of the Big Dipper were also stars. Although they were somewhat different from Dubhe, the environment of the stars was somewhat similar.


    After Zhou Wen teleported over, he only took a look from a close distance, but he didn¡¯t discover any dimensional zones.


    When he arrived at the sixth star, Mizar, he didn¡¯t discover anything beyond it. He even deliberately looked at the companion star, Alcor.


    Mizar was a famous binary star. Its companion star, Alcor, was one of the few binary stars that could be resolved with the naked eye on Earth. As Alcor had a lower magnitude, it was used in ancient times to test the eyesight of soldiers. To be able to see this star was believed to have a visual acuity of 20/12.5.


    When Zhou Wen found Alcor, he realized that there wasn¡¯t only one companion star nearby, but three.


    The two pairs of stars revolved around each other. It was far more complicated than what he had seen on Earth. It was a four-star system.


    The four stars revolved according to a certain trajectory, allowing for a scene of four suns rising at the same time. It looked extremely magical. Earth was in a single star system, so it was impossible for it to see such a scene.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of an ancient myth. Legend had it that the sun was a Golden Crow. And in the past, there wasn¡¯t only one Golden Crow, but ten. Under the restrictions of the Celestial Thearch, only one Golden Crow came out every day to provide light to the land.


    However, there was once a time when ten Golden Crows appeared together, nearly roasting the ground dry.


    A god, Hou Yi, shot down nine Golden Crows with divine arrows, leaving only one Golden Crow to bring light to the land.


    If this wasn¡¯t just a legend, but an actual event, Zhou Wen wondered if it was possible that the Solar System was a ten-star system that possessed nine other Companion Beasts at some point in time.


    Of course, Zhou Wen was only musing. After all, Companion Beasts didn¡¯t randomly appear, much less come and go as they pleased. Even if they really existed, who could really shoot down nine stars?


    Furthermore, a 7-star system was the most that had been found to date. 10-star systems had yet to be found.


    Zhou Wen chose one of the stars because he wanted to take a look. However, when he teleported near the celestial body, he was surprised to discover a monument erected on


    it.


    The monument didn¡¯t look like metal or jade. It was unknown where it was made. Erected on the celestial body, the terrifyingly high temperature and energy blasts couldn¡¯t damage it at all.


    Most of the monument was enveloped by flames and high-temperature magma, but the exposed parts were thousands of meters tall. It was black like metal, and it was densely engraved with symbols that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t recognize.


    The tiny palm symbol! Zhou Wen looked at it for a while and realized that there was a tiny palm symbol on the side of the monument. He was overwhelmed with a pleasant surprise.


    He quickly took out his phone and snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol. Immediately, the phone entered the download screen.


    Unfortunately, I only have one of Mizar¡¯s stars. It¡¯s not Dubhe that appeared on the Cube, Zhou Wen thought regretfully.


    As the download didn¡¯t show any signs of completion and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to waste any time, he circled all four stars before heading to the last of the seven stars-Eta Ursae Majoris.


    In the end, the stone monument was found only on one celestial body, not elsewhere.


    Zhou Wen took quite some time to make such a huge trip. Based on Earth¡¯s calendar, it took him a few days, but the dungeon didn¡¯t finish downloading.


    Downloading the Venusian instance dungeon didn¡¯t take that long previously! Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    There was no point in staying any longer. Zhou Wen teleported back to Earth and looked at the time. He realized that he had been away for more than half a month.


    However, compared to interstellar travel that could easily be measured in light-years, Zhou Wen¡¯s teleportation ability was already crazy enough. His trip wasn¡¯t long at all.


    Zhou Wen realized that Guide City had changed drastically when he returned.


    The people who were originally crowding near the school were living in the nearby city. They weren¡¯t camping outside the school.


    Li Xuan is pretty good. I never expected him to have such talent! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed when he saw that everyone was behaving in an orderly manner without the panic from before.


    Zhou Wen returned to school and went straight to Li Xuan. He realized that there were two people who were chatting with Li Xuan in his room. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the two of them. One was Feng Qiuyan, and the other was Ming Xiu.


    When Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan saw Zhou Wen, they stood up and shouted in unison, ¡°Coach.¡±


    ¡°Why are you guys here?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Coach, I heard that you wish to establish a city. My family got me to come over to take a look. If possible, they plan on moving over,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    Feng Qiuyan also nodded and said, ¡°My family plans to do the same. Coach, if you establish the city, I hope you can leave some space for my Feng family.¡±


    ¡°Are you guys joking?¡± Zhou Wen knew that the two of them had terrifying strength. Furthermore, with the strength of their families, they had their own cities to begin with. There was no need for them to join Zhou Wen.


    Even if they really wanted to choose a place to settle in, the conditions the six families and even the various warlords could provide them were much better than Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    ¡°Coach, I¡¯m really not joking,¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile. ¡°Although our Ming family is in quite a comfy environment, it¡¯s a pity that there isn¡¯t much room for development in that area. The lack of dimensional zones¡¯ resources has already limited the Ming family¡¯s future achievements. We have long been searching for suitable locations. Since you want to establish the city, I naturally won¡¯t miss such an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know much about Guide City¡¯s situation, right? It¡¯s not that easy to survive here. It¡¯s still unknown if it can be built.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t completely confident that he could build a city here, nor did he wish to lie to them.


    ¡°Danger and opportunity are two sides of the same coin. How can we gain anything if we don¡¯t take risks? Our Ming family has long studied the situation in Guide City. To be honest, our Ming family had considered occupying Guide City in the past, but we ultimately gave up because of a lack of confidence. Ignoring our Ming family, even the six families wouldn¡¯t dare set up a city here.¡±


    Ming Xiu paused for a moment before saying solemnly, ¡°Now, all the major factions are waiting to see your outcome. No one thinks that you can really establish a city here, but I think that you will definitely be able to get a foothold here. Therefore, no matter what the family chooses, I will stay here.¡±


    ¡°Me too,¡± Feng Qiuyan added succinctly.

 Chapter 1505 - The Strangeness of the Wind God Cave

    ¡°The two of you¡­ Don¡¯t blindly¡­ make a decision¡­ Think about it again¡­¡± Zhou Wen originally wanted them not to blindly believe in him, but after some thought, it didn¡¯t seem appropriate to say that. He changed his mind at the last minute.


    Ming Xiu smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s not blind faith. We know that there are risks, but all investments carry risks; high risk, high reward. We think we can bet on you, Coach.¡±


    ¡°Whatever suits you. Don¡¯t regret it if you lose the bet.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan, ¡°What¡¯s your cultivation level now?¡±


    Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s eyes lit up while their expressions turned solemn. Ming Xiu said, ¡°I¡¯ve already advanced to the Terror grade. The Mythical Serum I used was created from a temporal dimensional creature. It¡¯s quite a coincidence. It was originally a Calamity creature, but when it was released, something happened. It was invaded by an enemy and was severely injured. I lucked out by touching it while it was on its deathbed. I got Senior Haifeng to help me create the Mythical Serum. Now that I¡¯ve advanced to the Terror grade, the Terror transformation ability I obtained is Temporal Arbitration¡­¡±


    Everyone¡¯s Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and Terror transformation abilities were their greatest secrets. However, Ming Xiu explained his abilities in detail in front of Zhou Wen without any intention of hiding them.


    ¡°Coach, do you think there¡¯s anything I need to correct?¡± Ming Xiu looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation.


    ¡°You have your own ideas and cultivation direction. Furthermore, I¡¯m not good at temporal powers. It¡¯s not appropriate for me to give you any suggestions.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°However, if you want to advance to the Calamity grade, you can pay attention to temporal dimensional zones. You might gain something.¡± ¡°Coach, you actually know how to advance to the Calamity grade. That means you should have already advanced to the Calamity grade, right? I understand, Coach. In the future, I¡¯ll especially search for some temporal dimensional zones to train myself. I hope I can comprehend time. I hope I can advance to the Calamity grade as soon as possible like you.¡± Ming Xiu nodded in enlightenment.


    Feng Qiuyan continued, ¡°Coach, I¡¯ve also advanced to the Terror grade, but my situation is somewhat special. My Mythical Serum comes from the Wind God Cave that our Feng family guards¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too surprised when Feng Qiuyan told him the details of his situation.


    Back then, Feng Qiuyan had summoned a very strange Companion Beast. It was said to be from the Wind God Cave protected by the Feng family. Zhou Wen had long felt that it wasn¡¯t simple.


    Feng Qiuyan originally wanted to hunt a dimensional creature that was suitable for him in the Wind God Cave before creating the Mythical Serum.


    However, to his surprise, the magical Companion Beast on him led him deep into the Wind God Cave. There was a strange cave there with a small pool at its bottom. It had a little spring water inside.


    Feng Qiuyan was pushed into the pool by his Companion Beast. When he came out, the spring water in the pool had already dried up, and he had advanced to the Mythical stage.


    Later, Feng Qiuyan went to look for Hui Haifeng. After Hui Haifeng helped him check his body, he told him that his physical condition had advanced after using the Mythical Serum. The clear spring water was likely a natural or man-made Mythical Serum. Even Hui Haifeng couldn¡¯t tell what type it was.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s Essence Energy didn¡¯t seem to have any special attributes, but at times, it could produce unbelievable power.


    Feng Qiuyan himself wasn¡¯t too sure of the attributes of his powers. He had always cultivated with the wind elemental in mind, but the power of his Terror form had nothing to do with wind. Its name was Rebellious.


    Ming Xiu still had some traces of influence from a dimensional creature¡¯s bloodline. For example, his ears looked a little like cat ears. As for Feng Qiuyan, there was no sign of the effects of the Mythical Serum. He was no different from a human who hadn¡¯t used one.


    ¡°Coach, should I cultivate in a wind-elemental dimensional zone?¡± Feng Qiuyan asked Zhou Wen in anticipation after explaining his situation.


    In fact, Feng Qiuyan had previously been to dimensional zones where many wind-elemental creatures appeared, but the effects weren¡¯t ideal.


    ¡°Let¡¯s find a place to first show me your powers.¡± With Feng Qiuyan¡¯s description, he couldn¡¯t tell what Feng Qiuyan¡¯s powers were, so he decided to take a look.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that he could teach Feng Qiuyan anything. He only wanted to help him figure out what attributes his powers belonged to.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since I received your personal guidance. Count me in,¡± Ming Xiu said excitedly.


    When Li Xuan saw Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan looking extremely excited, he thought to himself, Could it be that these two fellows are born masochists? Do they feel uncomfortable not being beaten up? If that¡¯s the case, they should learn from me. Why are they looking for Old Zhou? My skill at enduring beatings suits them better. However, it¡¯s too late for them to change to my Essence Energy Art now. What a shame for these two good seedlings.


    The four of them and a bear arrived at an uninhabited spot in the wilderness. When the baby bear saw Zhou Wen return, it had stuck to him and refused to leave.


    While Zhou Wen was away, he got Li Xuan to help take care of the baby bear. The baby bear was barely willing to let Li Xuan approach it, but the moment Zhou Wen returned, he ignored him.


    ¡°An ingrate¡­ To think I fed you so many good things¡­ Pui¡­¡± Li Xuan muttered gloomily.


    ¡°Coach, please enlighten me.¡± Feng Qiuyan summoned his saber. At the same time, a mysterious force circulated around his body as though the wind was flowing around him, causing his clothes and long hair to dance.


    What kind of power is this? It even has a hairdryer effect? Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan in envy. He looked like an immortal riding the wind, exuding an indescribable elegance.


    However, Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t think too much about it as he slashed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight was definitely top-notch at the Terror grade, but at the instant Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber slashed out, it vanished from his vision, making it difficult for him to keep up with the saber¡¯s speed.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat alarmed. However, even though Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber could make Zhou Wen¡¯s vision unable to keep up, he couldn¡¯t escape Truth Listener¡¯s enhanced hearing.


    Zhou Wen extended two fingers and instantly clamped the blade that Feng Qiuyan had slashed out. The blade was less than three centimeters away from Zhou Wen¡¯s neck.


    ¡°Again,¡± Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan as he released his fingers.


    Feng Qiuyan seemed to expect it. After sheathing his saber, he attacked Zhou Wen again. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber was terrifyingly fast. It was already close to the speed of a Calamity-grade. Furthermore, as he constantly struck out with his saber, his saber speed constantly increased.


    However, this speed wasn¡¯t enough to injure Zhou Wen, but it already left him somewhat alarmed.

 Chapter 1506 - Coach’s Gift

    Zhou Wen only defended without attacking. He could handle the attacks easily in the beginning, but at any moment, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber speed would become faster and faster. This gave Zhou Wen no choice but to activate the power of Human Sovereign and raise his physical stats to the Calamity grade. Only then could he suppress Feng Qiuyan in terms of speed, preventing him from hitting him.


    This fellow¡¯s saber is really fast-abnormally fast. It should be related to his Terror transformation ability, right? However, his powers don¡¯t seem to be purely wind-elemental¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s eyes lit up as he watched from the side. He subconsciously moved his toes back and forth, having the urge to join the battle.


    ¡°As expected of Coach. If I want to defeat Old Feng, I can¡¯t let him have a chance to deliver more than three strikes. Otherwise, I¡¯ll definitely lose. However, no matter how many strikes Old Feng strikes, he can¡¯t even touch Coach¡¯s clothes. This is no longer an existence on the same level,¡± praised Ming Xiu.


    Li Xuan curled his lips and said, ¡°Aren¡¯t you spouting nonsense? You and Little Yanyan were taught by Old Zhou. It would be strange if you could hit him.¡±


    However, Li Xuan had spoken too soon. He originally imagined that no matter how fast Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber was, there was ultimately a limit. It was impossible for it to reach the speed of a Calamity-grade.


    However, this pattern clearly didn¡¯t apply to Feng Qiuyan. In the end, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber speed really broke through the speed of light. It was a speed that only a Calamity-grade could reach.


    How does this fellow do it? From the looks of it, the Wind God Cave isn¡¯t simple. There¡¯s more to the thing inside. Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. To reach the speed of light at the Terror grade was definitely not something an ordinary Terror creature could


    do.


    Zhou Wen wanted to visit the Wind God Cave. If he could find the tiny palm symbol, he would be in for a killing.


    If I let Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber speed increase as he continues slashing like this, I might not be able to dodge it. I should quickly end it. With a thought, Zhou Wen extended two fingers into the saber beam and grabbed the blade that resembled a stream of light.


    Instantly, the swift saber came to an abrupt halt.


    At the same time that Zhou Wen grabbed the saber, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s legs went limp as he fell to the ground. He panted heavily as sweat gushed out. It made him look like he had just come out of a bathtub. His clothes were drenched and he looked like he had been enervated.


    ¡°As expected of Coach. You could even tell that I had reached my limit and ended the battle at the right time, preventing me from over-exerting myself.¡± Feng Qiuyan felt somewhat ashamed and felt that he shouldn¡¯t have continued fighting.


    Zhou Wen released his fingers that were holding the saber and used Truth Listener to scan Feng Qiuyan¡¯s body. Seeing that he had just expended too much energy and hadn¡¯t injured his body, he immediately felt relieved. However, he muttered inwardly, What are the attributes of Feng Qiuyan¡¯s powers?


    Zhou Wen failed to figure out what Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attributes were despite the long observation. It looked like the power of wind, but it was somewhat different.


    They aren¡¯t anything like Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, nor are they spatial or temporal. There don¡¯t seem to be any special attributes. They seem to be somewhat similar to my Dao Sutra and Qi Refinement Sutra, but there are also some differences. If I have to give an answer, they are much more similar to the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. However, my Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation has the power of an array formed from multiple skills combined. His power is singular, but it¡¯s so similar to the power of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. This is somewhat odd.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too sure because Feng Qiuyan¡¯s powers were actually very different from his Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. It wasn¡¯t completely the same.


    ¡°Coach, how can I make myself stronger?¡± Feng Qiuyan was still panting as he asked Zhou Wen eagerly. His stamina had yet to recover.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Feng Qiuyan¡¯s powers belonged to, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to spout nonsense. However, when he saw Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expectant gaze, he couldn¡¯t bear to say that he didn¡¯t know.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen said to Feng Qiuyan, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a small item. Take it and take a look. Perhaps you will gain something.¡±


    As he spoke, Zhou Wen took out a coin and circulated the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation to attach to the coin.


    The coin instantly spun like a spinning top. When Zhou Wen released his hand, the coin floated in the air and kept spinning as though it was being propelled by infinite power. It showed no signs of falling.


    ¡°Coach, don¡¯t worry. I definitely won¡¯t disappoint you. I¡¯ll figure out the mystery behind this,¡± Feng Qiuyan said as he stared at the spinning coin as though he had obtained a treasure.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a trinket. Just take a look. There¡¯s no need to mind it too much.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this could help Feng Qiuyan figure out his powers. However, studying the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was definitely not a bad thing. With Feng Qiuyan¡¯s high talent, he might gain some insight.


    ¡°Coach, you¡¯ve already given Old Feng something. Shouldn¡¯t you give me something too? You can¡¯t favor one over the other!¡± Ming Xiu shamelessly asked for something.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not good at temporal powers. I¡¯ll give you one move.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Ming Xiu.


    Ming Xiu extended his hand to block, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t block Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers. The sword beam that bloomed on Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers appeared half a beat later and flew past Ming Xiu¡¯s cheek.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this my Tomorrow Sword Art? Coach, you¡¯ve made it much stronger than mine!¡± Ming Xiu couldn¡¯t help but be secretly delighted. Zhou Wen had actually practiced his Tomorrow Sword Art. Although he had higher attainments than him, it was still his sword art after all. He felt honored that Zhou Wen was willing to practice it.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t Tomorrow Sword Art. Its name is Spacetime Bandit. You can use it to verify your Tomorrow Sword Art. Perhaps you will gain something.¡± Zhou Wen told Ming Xiu some key points of Spacetime Bandit.


    As he didn¡¯t have the skill crystal, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t teach it to Ming Xiu. All he could do was tell him some of his experience. Whether he could use it depended on him.


    Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan acted as though they had obtained a treasure and stopped pestering Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen led the baby bear and Li Xuan back as Li Xuan explained the situation in Guide City in detail.


    It turned out that in the past half a month, Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan weren¡¯t the only ones who had come. Many experts had come to Guide City as well. Only then could Li Xuan stabilize it. Otherwise, just the manpower they had wouldn¡¯t have been enough to defend such a large area.


    Those experts came from different places. Most of them were sent over by the various factions. Hui Haifeng had also sent quite a number of people over. There were more than ten Mythical experts who had advanced using the Mythical Serum. What gave Zhou Wen a headache was that Hui Wan had also come.


    Is Hui Haifeng crazy? He sent his only son to such a place? Zhou Wen felt his head ache.


    ¡°Hui Haifeng got Hui Wan to deliver a message. He said that it¡¯s safer for his son to be with you than with him,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°From the looks of it, Hui Haifeng isn¡¯t that comfortable being president.¡± Zhou Wen could only shake his head with a bitter smile.

 Chapter 1507 - Descent Through the Corpse

    Boom!


    Dark clouds gathered in the sky as bolts of lightning crisscrossed. A bolt struck the ground, creating a huge crater in the wilderness which revealed coffins.


    Crack!


    Another bolt of lightning struck one of the coffins.


    The coffin was made of some unknown wood. When the lightning struck it, sparks flew and enveloped the entire coffin, but it didn¡¯t damage it at all.


    Lightning bolts descended one after another, but as though they were individually sentient, they landed on five different coffins.


    Lightning flashed over the five coffins. After a while, the lightning surrounding the coffins vanished. The dark clouds and storm in the sky also dissipated.


    With a few soft sounds, the lids of the five coffins were slowly pushed open. The corpses sat up in the coffins.


    Although they were corpses, their bodies were no different from living people. There were no signs of decay. Apart from the lack of a heartbeat, it was impossible to tell that they were dead.


    The five corpses crawled out of the coffins. Four of them bowed at another corpse and said, ¡°Your Excellency Berserker Immortal, those fellows from the League of Guardians must have never expected that we had long left a backup plan on Earth. They thought that we had to rely on them and Skysplit Tower. Do you want to visit the League of Guardians to teach them a lesson?¡±


    Berserker Immortal glanced at his body and said coldly, ¡°The power these five ancient corpses can withstand is limited. The power of a Calamity-grade will cause irreversible damage to them. Once we lose the protection of these ancient corpses, the rules of Earth will deal too much damage to us. Therefore, our goal is to find a new representative. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future to teach them a lesson. Furthermore, we still need them to rebuild Skysplit Tower. It¡¯s not appropriate to let them know that we have other methods to descend to Earth for the time being.¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency, according to the information we previously received, there are many warlords on Earth, but many are wanting. In the East District, the An family in Luoyang is the strongest. Their strength is enough to fight the big families like the six families. It even vaguely feels like it can surpass them. If it can be used by us, it will naturally be the best choice. However¡­¡± One of the ancient corpses didn¡¯t finish his sentence.


    ¡°If you have something to say, just say it. It¡¯s not the style of the four immortals of the arts.¡± Berserker Immortal said indifferently.


    Due to the League of Guardians¡¯ slow progress in repairing Skysplit Tower, Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t want to be limited by others. In order to escape Wang Mingyuan¡¯s restrictions, he didn¡¯t hesitate to use the Immortals¡¯ trump card in the Mythical era. He wanted to find a new representative as soon as possible to replace the League of Guardians.


    As he had used an ancient corpse to descend, his strength was limited by the ancient corpse¡¯s physique, preventing him from unleashing Berserker Immortal¡¯s true strength. To be safe, Berserker Immortal had even invited the four immortals of the four arts to descend with him.


    The four immortals¡ªZither, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting-were all at the Calamity grade. Although they hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven level like Berserker Immortal, they were still existences at the Hell level. Even if they were affected by the ancient corpses and couldn¡¯t unleash their full strength, they were not to be underestimated.


    Calligraphy Immortal who had just spoken continued, ¡°However, Wang Mingyuan comes from Luoyang. It¡¯s difficult to guarantee that he has nothing to do with the An family. Furthermore, Zhou Wen, who is hand in glove with the An family, is one of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples. It doesn¡¯t seem appropriate to choose the An family.¡±


    Painting Immortal continued, ¡°Although the An family didn¡¯t resist contracting Guardians, they are more inclined towards developing technology. They aren¡¯t very enthusiastic about contracting Guardians. The chips in our hands aren¡¯t that attractive to the An family.¡±


    Berserker Immortal quietly listened to them before saying, ¡°The An family has already reached such a state. It won¡¯t be easy to rope them. Furthermore, there¡¯s the risk of exposing our trump cards to Wang Mingyuan.¡±


    The four immortals believed that Berserker Immortal had no intention of targeting the An family, but to their surprise, Berserker Immortal changed the topic and continued, ¡°Now that Zhou Wen has already left the An family and wants to establish a city in Guide City, this is an opportunity. To establish a city in a place like Guide City, even the An family might not be able to succeed. Furthermore, Zhou Wen is alone. Now is the most difficult time for him. It¡¯s also our best chance.¡±


    ¡°But Zhou Wen is Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. Isn¡¯t that inappropriate?¡± The four immortals looked at each other, clearly doubting Berserker Immortal¡¯s decision.


    Berserker Immortal said indifferently, ¡°The best way to defeat an enemy is to destroy his confidence. The reason Wang Mingyuan shows such arrogance in the dimension is that his disciples control almost all the strongest factions on Earth. We have no other choice. If we can destroy the assets he¡¯s so proud of, Wang Mingyuan will definitely be in a mess. It will be up to us whether we kill him or not.¡±


    Thinking back to Wang Mingyuan¡¯s slap, an indiscernible killing intent flashed in Berserker Immortal¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple after all. How can we ensure that he will be used by us and not go against us like Jiang Yan?¡± Calligraphy Immortal said after some thought.


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because even Wang Mingyuan can¡¯t think of it that it¡¯s more valuable. In comparison, Zhou Wen, who has left the An family, is the easiest to deal with among Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples. As long as I can crush his will, I¡¯ll take him for myself using the Art of Immortal Opportunity. I definitely won¡¯t allow any accidents to happen,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    When the four immortals heard that, they revealed looks of enlightenment. Painting Immortal said with a smile, ¡°I never expected you to be able to use the Art of Immortal Opportunity. We are relieved.¡±


    Calligraphy Immortal pondered for a moment and said, ¡°I heard that the Art of Immortal Opportunity is somewhat similar to a contractual art. It can only be used if the other party is willing to accept it. Your Excellency, how do you plan on subduing Zhou Wen?¡±


    ¡°The easiest moment to breach a person¡¯s defenses is when they are in danger. It¡¯s very easy for something to happen in a place like Guide City, isn¡¯t it? When he is facing an insurmountable problem, we will descend from above to save him from danger. It will naturally be effective,¡± Berserker Immortal said as he headed for Guide City.


    The four immortals understood what Berserker Immortal meant and hurriedly followed.


    At that moment in Guide City, Zhou Wen looked at Hui Wan with a headache.


    The Essence Energy Art Hui Wan cultivated was Zhou Wen¡¯s Qi Refinement Art. The greatest characteristic of this Essence Energy Art was the need for extravagance. As long as one had enough Essence Energy Crystals, there was basically no threshold that prevented one from advancing all the way to the Epic stage.


    Hui Wan¡¯s family was so poor that all they had left was money. He could use all sorts of high-level Essence Energy Crystals. At a young age, Hui Wan had already advanced to the Epic stage. He was just short of advancing to the Mythical stage.


    Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t rashly get Hui Wan to use a Mythical Serum. He had sent Hui Wan over firstly to ensure his safety, and secondly, to get Zhou Wen to help him choose a path.


    Hui Wan was Hui Haifeng¡¯s only son. Apart from Zhou Wen, Hui Haifeng was worried about leaving Hui Wan¡¯s future to others.

 Chapter 1508 - Super AI

    Zhou Wen could roughly guess Hui Haifeng¡¯s thoughts, but this matter gave him a headache.


    It was impossible to gather the nine Life Providences and nine Life Souls and advance to the Mythical stage as a pure human. At the very least, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t discovered any other method other than the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    The only path left was Spirit Casting, Mythical Serum, and Guardian contracting.


    In the past, Spirit Casting and Mythical Serum were indeed good choices. Hui Haifeng was also an expert in producing Mythical Serums. It wasn¡¯t difficult to create a Mythical Serum that was suitable for Hui Wan to raise his success rate.


    However, Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t do it. Instead, he handed Hui Wan over to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen roughly guessed that Hui Haifeng wasn¡¯t completely confident of success. Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t wish to take it even if there was only a 1% risk.


    This wasn¡¯t the crux of the problem. The crux was that Zhou Wen had heard from the humanoid monster in Ancient Sovereign City that it was best if humans could ensure the purity of their bloodline.


    If the premise was to ensure the purity of the bloodline, contracting a Guardian was a more suitable path.


    Therefore, after some thought, Zhou Wen felt somewhat stumped.


    ¡°Master, I¡¯ve tried many times and used a large number of high-level Essence Energy Crystals, but I just can¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage. Did I do something wrong?¡± Hui Wan came in front of Zhou Wen and took out his notebook. As he asked Zhou Wen, he recorded his teachings.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, It would be a surprise if you could advance to the Mythical stage. In ancient times, this was called the limits of the Deva Realm. Since ancient times, there haven¡¯t been many humans who could break through the limits of the Deva Realm with their pure human bodies. As far as Zhou Wen knew, even Human Sovereigns like Suirenshi couldn¡¯t do it. Among the people Zhou Wen knew, other than himself, only Jing Daoxian had that possibility, but it was impossible to confirm that he advanced to the Mythical stage with a pure human bloodline.


    ¡°Show me your Life Providence and Life Soul,¡± Zhou Wen said, unwilling to dampen Hui Wan¡¯s enthusiasm.


    Hui Wan put away the notebook and stood up. He circulated the Qi Refinement Art and quickly condensed his Qi, turning it into a Life Soul that floated in front of him.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Hui Wan¡¯s Life Soul and found it odd.


    When Zhou Wen cultivated the Qi Refinement Art, the Life Soul he condensed was Sword Pill. The Life Soul Hui Wan condensed was completely different from his. Not only was it not Sword Pill, but it wasn¡¯t a blade or saber. It looked like a phone no matter how he looked at it.


    ¡°Your Life Soul is a cell phone?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the Life Soul and asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a phone. You can call it a Super AI.¡± Hui Wan explained the detailed abilities of his Life Soul.


    The more Zhou Wen listened, the more he found it odd. Hui Wan said that it wasn¡¯t a phone, but many of the functions of this Life Soul were similar to a phone. Hui Wan could even connect to the Federation¡¯s Internet through his Life Soul.


    What was even more terrifying was that this thing could also quickly crack all kinds of passwords. Opening an electronic lock was very simple. The bank vaults that used high-tech protective equipment were no different from naked beauties in front of Hui Wan¡¯s Life Soul.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the only effect of the Super AI Life Soul. There were many other uses, but they had nothing to do with combat.


    ¡°Your Life Soul is somewhat special. Can you enter the Zhang family¡¯s server to search for information with this Life Soul?¡± Zhou Wen asked Hui Wan.


    Currently, the server controlled by the Zhang family had the highest encryption and defense in the Federation. No one had been able to hack into it to search for information.


    ¡°Of course. I¡¯ve accessed it a few times before, but there wasn¡¯t much interesting content inside. I only found a few pill formulas and spirit talisman creation methods. There wasn¡¯t much else of value,¡± Hui Wan said to Zhou Wen as he skillfully got the Super AI Life Soul to connect to the Internet.


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, he saw plenty of data appear on the Super Al¡¯s screen. Clearly, it had succeeded.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done this a lot in the past, right? Have you seen the private servers of the other families?¡± Zhou Wen knew that Hui Wan had done this quite a number of times when he saw how adept he was.


    ¡°I¡¯ve taken a look, but there aren¡¯t many interesting things. The various families have the intention of keeping important information in equipment without network access. Most of the information I can find is useless,¡± Hui Wan said casually.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, You sure are gutsy. It¡¯s no wonder the Hui family has been doing so well recently. Although Hui Haifeng doesn¡¯t have much power in the Federation, he has been advancing step by step. He has been doing well and hasn¡¯t made any major decision mistakes. I reckon some of this is thanks to Hui Wan.


    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a Life Soul like yours. I need to consider it before giving you some suggestions. Before that, you should learn more combat techniques,¡± Zhou Wen said half-truthfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m already very familiar with my combat techniques¡­¡± Hui Wan said confidently.


    ¡°Actual combat techniques aren¡¯t something that can be mastered with practice. Actual combat naturally needs to be honed through actual combat. How about this? Go to your Uncle Li Xuan and get him to arrange for you to participate in the defense. You can continue training on the battlefield.¡±


    When Hui Wan heard that he could enter the battlefield, his eyes lit up. ¡°Can it really be done? Dad has always refused to let me participate in real battles. He only wants me to fight those dimensional creatures at home. It¡¯s so boring.¡±


    ¡°Of course. I call the shots here. It¡¯s useless even if your father comes,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Long live Master! I can finally go on the battlefield!¡± Hui Wan immediately became excited. At that moment, he looked like a child.


    After sending Hui Wan to Li Xuan, Zhou Wen was still worried. He deliberately gave Li Xuan a call to ensure Hui Wan¡¯s safety. This was Hui Haifeng¡¯s only heir. He couldn¡¯t die here.


    After hanging up, Zhou Wen picked up the mysterious phone and realized that the dungeon hadn¡¯t been downloaded successfully. It was still the download screen.


    Strange, why is this dungeon so huge? Could it be that the dungeon I downloaded this time isn¡¯t a single Alcor, but a dimensional zone of the entire Big Dipper? Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have taken so long to download a single dungeon. Zhou Wen was very suspicious.


    While Zhou Wen was studying it, he received a message from Li Xuan saying that something had happened in the Dubhe instance dungeon.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly launched the livestream app on his phone. On the homepage, there were many streamers livestreaming the Cube. He clicked on one and indeed, he discovered a problem.


    Previously, the scene of the Cube had been fixed on Dubhe that constantly emitted flames. However, at that moment, the scene of the Cube seemed to rapidly sink into Dubhe¡¯s extremely hot celestial body.


    Soon, the scene was completely filled with dazzling bursts of light. However, not long after, the scene suddenly darkened, and a strange palace appeared on the Cube¡¯s screen.

 Chapter 1509 - Dubhe Dimensional Zone

    The palace was purple, as though it was carved from purple jade. Only a door was revealed. The subsequent parts were in the high-temperature liquid that constantly radiated light.


    There were only strange patterns on the door, but no words were found. It was unknown what the name of the dimensional zone was.


    In front of the door stood a majestic creature.


    Is that thing a dinosaur? Zhou Wen looked at the creature in front of the palace in surprise.


    It had long hind legs and short front claws. Its tail looked like a lizard¡¯s and its mouth was filled with razor-sharp teeth. No matter how one looked at it, it looked like a Tyrannosaurus from Earth¡¯s prehistoric civilization, not a western dragon or flying dragon.


    There were many dinosaur fossils on Earth, but up to now, there was no uniform explanation as to why the dinosaurs had gone extinct.


    The creature that had appeared at the palace¡¯s entrance was like the Tyrannosaurus in movies. However, what was different from the movies was the Tyrannosaurus¡¯s red body that was burning with red flames.


    The dimensional zone on Dubhe is indeed in its interior. That Tyrannosaurus can break through the high temperature and radiation outside to reach the entrance of the dimensional zone, so it should be at the Human Realm at the very minimum, right?


    The Tyrannosaurus had already slammed into the palace door while Zhou Wen was still in thought.


    The door to the palace was slammed open by the Tyrannosaurus with a loud boom. However, there was a resplendent orange-red light inside. Nothing could be seen.


    The Tyrannosaurus rushed through the door without any hesitation. The Cube¡¯s screen finally became clearer, allowing everyone to see the scene inside the palace.


    Huge pillars propped up the massive palace. There were a total of twenty-four pillars in two rows. Each pillar seemed to be carved from amethyst and was more than a meter in diameter.


    Furthermore, every amethyst pillar had a mysterious symbol engraved on it. One couldn¡¯t tell what the mysterious symbol represented for the time being.


    At the end of the two rows of pillars, at the back of the palace, sat a creature wearing amethyst armor. As his entire body was enveloped by amethyst armor, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what he looked like or if he looked like a human.


    The Tyrannosaurus roared and charged at the amethyst-armored creature sitting there the moment it rushed into the palace.


    Its hind legs exerted strength as it charged forward like light. Its speed wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    Zhou Wen had long expected it to be at the Calamity grade. It wasn¡¯t surprising that it had such speed.


    The Tyrannosaurus rushed in front of the amethyst-armored creature, but the latter continued sitting as before. It was like an old monk in meditation, motionless. The Tyrannosaurus¡¯s gaping mouth was lined with razor-sharp teeth. It was about to bite the helm.


    The amethyst-armored creature raised its hand and pressed it on the Tyrannosaurus¡¯s chin in a split second.


    This was the last scene Zhou Wen saw. In the next second, a light blast erupted like a volcano. The Tyrannosaurus¡¯s body and the entire palace were drowned by it.


    When the light dimmed, the Cube¡¯s screen had already returned to the outside of Dubhe. It meant that the Tyrannosaurus was dead and hadn¡¯t successfully cleared the level.


    The Calamity-grade Tyrannosaurus wasn¡¯t even able to withstand a single strike. What¡¯re the origins of that fellow in the amethyst armor? Zhou Wen was secretly surprised. At the same time, he was somewhat glad that he hadn¡¯t rashly entered Dubhe¡¯s dimensional zone. Otherwise, he would have been vaporized by the terrifying strike.


    Although the footage inside the palace was very short, the amethyst armor on the creature left a deep impression on Zhou Wen.


    The mysterious purple color appeared noble and beautiful in the radiance. It was as crystalline as the divine battle armor worn by gods, but it was impossible to see what kind of creature was inside the armor.


    That armor should be at the Calamity grade, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted. The armor looked like it had a very powerful defense against the fire element.


    Of course, that was only a musing thought. Before figuring out the origins of the amethyst-armored creature, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk to head to Dubhe.


    Although the Tyrannosaurus was killed in one strike, it finally allowed people to see the dimensional zone of Dubhe. All the major media outlets scrambled to report the amethyst-armored creature.


    People were guessing the origins of the amethyst-armored creature and whether it had anything to do with the myths involving Dubhe.


    Some people studied the killed Tyrannosaurus. They wanted to verify if the Tyrannosaurus was related to the dinosaurs on Earth. They hoped to crack the mystery of the dinosaurs¡¯ extinction.


    Mount Mandang, also known as Fairy Peak.


    It was here that the Han dynasty¡¯s Liu Bang slew the White Snake uprising and became the hegemon of history.


    After the dimensional storms, Mount Mandang became an extremely complicated large dimensional zone. It contained many small dimensional zones that were somewhat similar to Dragon Gate Grotto.


    This was originally under Guide City¡¯s jurisdiction, but few people came here after the dimensional storms. Even if someone came here, it was highly unlikely that they would return.


    At that moment, there were five expressionless people standing in front of the Snake Slaying Monument. The person in the lead was reading the tablet text on it. It was none other than Berserker Immortal and company. ¡°Zither Immortal, I¡¯m counting on you,¡± Berserker Immortal said indifferently as he looked at the Snake Slaying Monument.


    Zither Immortal, behind him, responded and sat in front of the Snake Slaying Monument. He took on a zither-playing posture, but there was no zither in front of him.


    Zither Immortal strummed his fingers in the air. Despite having nothing but air, Zither Immortal¡¯s fingers produced faint music from his finger plucking.


    The sound of the zither was like immortal music. Even someone who didn¡¯t know music could sense the beauty of the zither music.


    Accompanying this beautiful zither music was a strange sound coming from Mount Mandang. Not long after, dimensional creatures that looked like wandering ghosts walked out of the mountain, and their numbers constantly increased.


    When the wandering dimensional creatures passed by Berserker Immortal and company, they didn¡¯t even spare them a glance. It was as though Berserker Immortal and company didn¡¯t exist as they headed straight for Guide High School. More and more wandering and wild ghosts rushed out of Mount Mangdang, forming a tidal wave-like army. Their numbers were uncountable.


    Boom! Boom!


    A terrifying sound suddenly came from the depths of Mount Mandang. Before long, a huge white snake that resembled a dragon swam out from the mountain range¡¯s depths. Wherever it passed, wandering ghosts either automatically ducked or were crushed by it.


    The white snake was crystalline-white. It wasn¡¯t ugly¨Cwhen it raised its head, it gave off an elegant beauty.


    ¡°I never expected that there would be a Calamity creature in Mount Mandang.¡± Upon seeing the white snake, Berserker Immortal was somewhat surprised. He hadn¡¯t known that there were Calamity creatures here. He had originally just planned on releasing the wandering ghosts inside to attack Guide High School.

 Chapter 1510 - Danger

    A few soldiers in charge of sentry duty were surrounding a bonfire on the roof and cooking with metal basins.


    A young man held a hard pancake in his hand. He used his hand to break it into small pieces before soaking them in a bowl of boiling water. As he ate, he asked the middle-aged man beside him, ¡°Old Gang, how long do you think we have to endure days like this?¡±


    Old Gang said, ¡°Don¡¯t read too much into it. If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t come here, Guide City would have long fallen. There wouldn¡¯t even be food to eat.¡±


    ¡°Of course I know that this is already the best situation, but we can¡¯t continue like this. My parents and sister live in a temporary building. If a dimensional creature rushes in, the consequences will be unimaginable,¡± the young man said.


    Old Gang sighed and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing we can do about that. I heard that other places use dimensional zones as natural barriers to build human cities, but the dimensional zones in Guide City are too strange. Where do you think we can build a city?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true¡­ What¡¯s that?¡± The young man suddenly exclaimed in surprise.


    The few soldiers hurriedly got to their feet and looked into the distance. They saw ghosts on the streets in the distance. There seemed to be countless wraiths wandering around as they approached.


    ¡°Are my eyes playing tricks on me?¡± Old Gang rubbed his eyes and realized in horror that a ferocious ghost was already in front of him. He fell back in fright.


    The ferocious ghost followed like a shadow and pounced at Old Gang.


    ¡°Old Gang!¡± The young soldier beside him summoned his Companion Beast saber and slashed at the ferocious ghost.


    However, the steel saber transformed from a Companion Beast slashed across the ferocious ghost¡¯s body without any obstruction. It was as though the ferocious ghost was only an illusion.


    The ferocious ghost pounced on Old Gang and immediately vanished. However, Old Gang¡¯s eyes changed. His eyes glowed red. It was terrifyingly strange. His body was like a puppet as he stood up straight.


    ¡°Old Gang¡­ What¡¯s wrong¡­¡± Before the young man could figure out what had happened to Old Gang, ghosts landed.


    The few soldiers brandished their weapons with all their might, but they were unable to injure the ghosts. Soon, they were pounced on by the ghosts and behaved strangely like Old Gang It wasn¡¯t just that. There were wandering ghosts everywhere in Guide City. They rushed to Guide High School from all directions, and anyone they encountered was quickly possessed by them. ¡°What the hell are these¡­ Ah¡­¡± There were screams everywhere. In a short period of time, all hell had broken loose in Guide City.


    The dimensional creatures on Mount Mandang had special attributes. They were pure souls. Typical attacks didn¡¯t seem to have any effect on them. In a short period of time, a large number of people were possessed as they charged towards Guide High School with the legion of ghosts. The troops in charge of suppressing the ancient city were also possessed by ghosts. Not only did they stop suppressing the skeleton legion, but they also charged towards the city they were guarding.


    The skeleton legion rushed out and wreaked havoc on the ground again.


    At the top of an abandoned building, Berserker Immortal and company were admiring the dance of the monsters. The city was filled with screams and explosions.


    ¡°It¡¯s difficult for ordinary powers to injure soul-type creatures. Although the levels of these soul-type creatures aren¡¯t very high, it¡¯s not that easy to destroy them. Furthermore, it will be even more difficult to destroy them after being possessed. Unless Zhou Wen is willing to kill the humans that have been possessed¡­¡± Painting Immortal said with a smile.


    Zither Immortal added, ¡°Originally, just these soul-type creatures were enough to leave Zhou Wen in a terrible fix. Now that the Calamity-grade white snake has appeared, even if Zhou Wen can withstand it, Guide City will definitely fall. Hundreds of thousands of people will be possessed by wandering ghosts, turning them into monsters that are neither human nor ghost. When the time comes, Your Excellency will appear to save them. Zhou Wen will have no choice but to yield.¡±


    Berserker Immortal said indifferently, ¡°To make a person like Zhou Wen serve me, this isn¡¯t enough. I need greater pressure to completely destroy his psychological defense.¡±


    ¡°Do you plan on taking action personally?¡± Chess Immortal asked in surprise.


    ¡°Not yet. Just y¡¯all are enough.¡± Although Berserker Immortal felt that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone ordinary humans could compare with, it wasn¡¯t to the point of him personally taking action.


    From Berserker Immortal¡¯s point of view, Wang Mingyuan was worth him taking action. After all, Zhou Wen was only Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple. The strength of any one immortal was enough to suppress him.


    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s no need for us to do anything. Just those soul-type creatures and the white snake are enough to make Zhou Wen collapse,¡± Calligraphy Immortal said as he looked at the burning city. Tens of thousands of people had already been possessed by wandering ghosts. At this rate, the entire Guide City would fall in less than an hour.


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and company had already rushed out from Guide High School. They were alarmed when they saw the wandering ghosts everywhere on the streets.


    Seeing a few wandering ghosts rush over, Feng Qiuyan drew his saber and slashed. His saber wasn¡¯t an ordinary saber, but his Life Soul. This strike sliced through the ghosts, dissipating their souls. A dimensional crystal dropped.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s sword also stabbed at one of the ghosts, but it passed through its body without injuring it.


    ¡°These are soul-type creatures. Typical physical attacks are useless.¡± Zhou Wen had seen such creatures before. They were basically pure spirit bodies. Physical attacks were useless.


    Truth Listener and Chick were best at dealing with such creatures. Unfortunately, Truth Listener was still in earring form and couldn¡¯t be released. Chick was also evolving, so it wasn¡¯t able to be used anytime soon.


    However, even without Truth Listener and Chick, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to deal with these soul-type creatures. What really worried Zhou Wen was the people who had been possessed by ghosts.


    Their bodies were controlled by the ghosts as they attacked their family. They were in a dilemma as to whether to kill them or not.


    Due to the lack of defensive barriers, Guide City had fallen too quickly. There were too many people possessed by ghosts. This was a thorny issue.


    ¡°Old Zhou, these dimensional creatures are too f*cking annoying¡­ The Zhang family is best at dealing with these things¡­ But it¡¯s too late to hire them now¡­¡± Li Xuan¡¯s physical attacks weren¡¯t of much use against the ghosts. All he could do was use Planet Devourer to devour them.


    However, there were too many people here. Many people had been possessed by ghosts, and Li Xuan couldn¡¯t devour them all. It would be too troublesome to find the ghosts one by one.


    It was even more troublesome with the possessed ones. Li Xuan was thrown into a dilemma.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned Great Brahma.


    The Terror-form Great Brahma appeared behind Zhou Wen like a four-faced, eight-armed Buddha. He was as huge as a mountain.


    Great Brahma had four sides. There was no sadness or joy on the front, and the back was enveloped by a black hole. The left side smiled meaningfully, while the right side wore a look of pity.

 Chapter 1511 - Zhou Wen Defends the City

    Apart from Great Brahma¡¯s back, the other three faces didn¡¯t have powerful offensive strength, but that wasn¡¯t an absolute fact. They had different effects.


    Under normal circumstances, Zhou Wen used Great Brahma¡¯s frontal defense and the terrifying black hole-like power on its back. He seldom used the power from both sides.


    Now that he saw many soul-type creatures, he could use the power of the compassionate face on the right.


    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see the Terror-form Great Brahma at all, but as his lips trembled, he let out a chant.


    Everyone heard the chanting of Buddhas. Although it wasn¡¯t loud, nor did it have a mighty force, preventing ordinary people from feeling much when they heard it, it was enough to make the wandering ghosts let out painful wails. The low-level ghosts couldn¡¯t withstand the pain and tumbled on the ground. White gas spewed out from their bodies as they quickly dissipated.


    The ghosts within a radius of dozens of kilometers were reduced to white mist amidst the chanting, filling Guide City with rising white gas. Many dimensional crystals and Companion Eggs landed on the ground, but the average person wasn¡¯t affected. ¡°Hmph, I never expected Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple to master the ability of deliverance. He must have obtained Wang Mingyuan¡¯s help,¡± Zither Immortal said with a frown.


    Deliverance powers were the nemesis of ghosts. Among the Buddha race, only a few experts had mastered them.


    Wang Mingyuan was only a subsidiary of the Buddha race, not a member of the Buddha race, and he didn¡¯t seem to have mastered the ability to provide deliverance. Zither Immortal and company never expected Zhou Wen¡¯s Terror form to have a deliverance ability.


    From their point of view, Wang Mingyuan was a vassal of the Buddha race. Zhou Wen had definitely received Wang Mingyuan¡¯s help to master such an ability.


    The people who had been possessed by ghosts also spewed out white gas. After the white gas spewed out, they fainted. Instantly, the entire city was littered with unconscious humans.


    The people who weren¡¯t possessed by the ghosts and the people who had woken up from their unconsciousness saw Zhou Wen floating in midair. The Buddha-like chanting came from him.


    As for the wandering ghosts that rushed over from all directions, once they entered the range of the chanting, they quickly turned into white mist. No one could approach the vicinity of Guide High School.


    The wandering ghosts rushed over like a tidal wave. They looked extremely terrifying, but none of the ghosts could take half a step into the pool of destruction.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is still the best. As expected of a human expert who can enter the Cube¡¯s ranking. He¡¯s just too powerful.¡±


    ¡°How terrifying. It¡¯s like a Buddha¡¯s descent into the world.¡±


    ¡°With Zhou Wen guarding Guide City, perhaps we really don¡¯t have to think of a way to flee to other cities.¡±


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s might, everyone felt a lot more at ease. Many people who were in a panic gradually calmed down.


    The troops that Li Xuan had just established were organized again to suppress the skeleton legion that rushed out of the ancient city.


    Everything seemed to be improving. Just as everyone thought that the crisis was about to end, they saw a behemoth approaching from afar.


    The moonlight-like brilliance easily attracted everyone¡¯s attention. They saw an extremely huge snake with a body seemingly carved from white jade. It separated from the tide of ghosts and swam over. Just raising its head was enough to make it look like a skyscraper. The surrounding buildings looked as laughable as toys.


    Everyone retreated in horror. Even if such a huge snake¡¯s level wasn¡¯t high, its physical strength was something ordinary people couldn¡¯t match.


    ¡°The Buddha race¡¯s deliverance powers are effective against ghosts, but against a creature like the white snake, they won¡¯t be able to gain the upper hand. The chances of a Terror-grade against a Calamity-grade are slim,¡± Chess Immortal said.


    The white snake flicked its tail and split a thirty-story building. Half of the building flew up and smashed in the direction of Guide High School. Humans scrambled to dodge it.


    Such divine might left the humans dumbfounded. The power of its tail was already so terrifying. The students and ordinary people in the school fled the school in horror.


    The entire school or even the school¡¯s surroundings would be reduced to ruins if half a building smashed down at such terrifying speeds. Death was a certainty if they didn¡¯t escape.


    However, with their speed, it was impossible for them to escape the school before the building flew over. Seeing the building¡¯s shadow rapidly envelop the school, everyone revealed looks of horror and despair. Some of the more timid girls screamed and cried.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen appeared in front of the building as Great Brahma¡¯s god-like body appeared. He sat cross-legged behind Zhou Wen.


    The face at the back had already turned around. Eight palms blocked the building. At the same time, the black hole at the back constantly devoured the crumbling building, preventing the fragments from shooting out and injuring the people in the school.


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen and Great Brahma which was floating in front of him as though they were looking at an immortal with a demonic slave.


    ¡°What powerful Terror transformation power! Thankfully, he¡¯s only at the Terror grade. If he were to advance to the Calamity grade, I¡¯m afraid that the white snake wouldn¡¯t be his match,¡± Painting Immortal exclaimed.


    ¡°The stronger he is, the more beneficial it will be for us. In the future, it will be much more convenient for you to use Zhou Wen,¡± Calligraphy Immortal said.


    ¡°That¡¯s precisely the logic. When he¡¯s no match for the white snake in battle, His Excellency will take action. He won¡¯t have a choice when it comes to submission,¡± Chess Immortal echoed.


    As the few of them conversed, the white snake had already leaped up. Its body was huge, but its speed was unbelievably fast. It transformed into a huge white beam that rushed toward Zhou Wen in a bid to devour him.


    Just the shockwave caused by its body breaking through the sound barrier shattered the glass in the surrounding buildings. Many buildings collapsed from the shockwave as trees were uprooted.


    Thankfully, there were only ghosts. Otherwise, countless people would have died. Zhou Wen remained levitating in midair without any intention of dodging. He watched as the white snake arrived in front of him.


    Just as Chess Immortal and company were wondering why Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dodge, they saw a golden light flash from Zhou Wen¡¯s body that met the white snake.


    Before anyone could see what had happened, they saw that the white snake¡¯s head had been chopped off. Blood spewed out like a fountain as Zhou Wen remained floating there without even moving his hand.


    As for Great Brahma behind him, he extended his palm and grabbed the white snake¡¯s head and body, preventing it from falling and smashing into the humans below.


    ¡°Long live Zhou Wen!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s utterly invincible!¡±


    ¡°So other than Human Sovereign, there are other humans who are this powerful. I was right to stay in Guide City.¡± ¡°Pui! You stayed because you couldn¡¯t leave. Do you have the shame?¡±


    Everyone was amazed at Zhou Wen¡¯s strength. The four immortals¡ªZither, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting¡ªas well as Berserker Immortal were somewhat alarmed. Although they felt that the white snake might not necessarily be able to kill Zhou Wen, they never expected the white snake to be killed by Zhou Wen in one strike. It was a Calamity creature after all. It was already shocking enough to be at the Human Realm.

 Chapter 1512 - Drawing A Circle

    ¡°He actually has such a powerful Calamity-grade Companion Beast?¡± Chess Immortal said in surprise.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing strange about that. Earth is rapidly changing. Humans have already found a way to break through to the Mythical stage. It¡¯s not impossible for top humans to obtain a Calamity Companion Beast,¡± Berserker Immortal said indifferently.


    ¡°Your Excellency, are we still going to other dimensional zones to lure dimensional creatures over?¡± Painting Immortal pondered.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. We aren¡¯t familiar with the other dimensional zones, so we might not be able to lure the dimensional creatures out. Besides, we don¡¯t have that much time. It¡¯s best we meet Zhou Wen directly.¡± Berserker Immortal glanced at Zhou Wen in the distant sky and slowly walked towards the stairs.


    Zhou Wen placed the white snake down and quickly realized that there was a Companion Egg and a dimensional crystal in its body.


    The Companion Egg was obviously the white snake¡¯s Companion Egg. As for the dimensional crystal, it was crystalline like a dragon pearl with a white snake shadow swirling inside-a skill crystal.


    Zhou Wen grabbed the Companion Egg and dimensional crystal, but the Companion Egg was a little too big. It was half the height of a person and was crystalline like white jade.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone to see what attributes the white snake Companion Beast had.


    Although it had been sliced apart by the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ Clean Break, it was a Calamity-grade Companion Beast after all. Its skills hadn¡¯t seemed strong when fighting the Golden Wyrm Scissors, but that didn¡¯t mean that it wasn¡¯t strong. There weren¡¯t any useless Companion Beasts; their potential was fully dependent on the user. Therefore, Zhou Wen placed great importance on this Companion Beast.


    Before taking out his phone, Zhou Wen suddenly frowned slightly and turned to look in a direction.


    Five people came from afar. They walked in the crowd and didn¡¯t look too conspicuous, nor did they have any special auras.


    However, for some reason, the people in front of them would subconsciously make way for them as though this was how it should be.


    Are these fellows human? Zhou Wen carefully observed them and didn¡¯t discover any dimensional creature auras on them. They looked like humans.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear their heartbeats. How could humans not have a heartbeat?


    Zhou Wen realized that the arrival of the ghosts and the white snake might not be as simple as a break-out of an ordinary dimensional zone.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Li Xuan saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t right. He traced his gaze and saw Berserker Immortal and company.


    Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu also walked over. Clearly, they had also sensed the abnormality of the five of them.


    This was because even the soldiers in charge of guarding the area subconsciously made way and didn¡¯t stop the five of them.


    ¡°What¡¯s their background?¡± Li Xuan looked at Berserker Immortal and company and whispered to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly.


    Berserker Immortal and company came nearby just as Li Xuan was about to say something


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Li Xuan stared at them and shouted.


    Berserker Immortal ignored Li Xuan and walked to Zhou Wen. He stopped and looked at him. ¡°I have good news and bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?¡±


    ¡°Good news. I don¡¯t like tragedies,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I can help you clear Dubhe¡¯s dimensional zone and enter the Cube¡¯s rankings to take first place,¡± said Berserker Immortal seriously.


    ¡°Who do you think you are? Even Immortal from the League of Guardians wouldn¡¯t dare say such things in front of us brothers,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    ¡°Immortal? He¡¯s nothing. As long as you are willing to cooperate with me, Immortal can only bow before you,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°Do whatever you need to do. We don¡¯t have time to listen to your nonsense.¡± Li Xuan naturally didn¡¯t believe it. Apart from Human Sovereign, the publicly recognized strongest faction on Earth was the League of Guardians.


    As for the Holy Land¡¯s strength, no one knew.


    ¡°What¡¯s the bad news?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    Berserker Immortal said, ¡°The bad news is that you will have to spend more time thinking about how to manage Earth¡¯s Federation in the future.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. How may I address you?¡± Zhou Wen narrowed his eyes and asked Berserker Immortal.


    Although Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t emit any aura and looked like an ordinary person, Zhou Wen sensed extreme danger from him.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to know who I am. All you need to know is what I can give you,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    Li Xuan was amused as he walked over and patted Berserker Immortal on the shoulder. ¡°Brother, you sure are good at bragging. Did you not ask around who us brothers are before you came? There¡¯s no one on Earth who can brag in front of us brothers. Go do whatever you need to do.¡±


    When the four immortals saw Li Xuan patting Berserker Immortal¡¯s shoulder, they were immediately enraged. Just as they were about to attack, they were stopped by Berserker Immortal with a wave of his hand.


    ¡°I know you are considered top figures in the Federation. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to convince you without showing some feats.¡± Berserker Immortal gestured at Painting Immortal.


    Painting Immortal tacitly understood and walked in front of Zhou Wen and summoned a brush. Then, he drew a circle on the ground. He stood in the circle and looked at Zhou Wen. ¡°I¡¯ll stand here motionless. You can try your best to see if you can injure me.¡±


    Others might not understand, but Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised when he saw the circle drawn by Painting Immortal.


    The circle drawn by Painting Immortal was actually similar to his Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. They were both periodic spatial skills.


    The circle drawn by Painting Immortal was static. It borrowed the space on the ground and was far inferior dynamically to Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    It could be said that the skill Painting Immortal used was actually one level lower than Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, wasn¡¯t your Companion Beast quite powerful? You can try to see if it can injure me.¡± Painting Immortal stood in the circle with his hands behind his back. He looked like a sage as though he didn¡¯t take Zhou Wen seriously.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that a weapon like the Golden Wyrm Scissors was useless against such periodic spatial skills. Even if he released the Golden Wyrm Scissors, it would only circle around the ring and not injure the Painting Immortal inside.


    Of course, Zhou Wen was good at such skills. It wasn¡¯t difficult to crack Painting Immortal¡¯s skill.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you dare?¡± Painting Immortal provoked Zhou Wen smugly when he saw him remain motionless.


    ¡°Coach, this level of competition isn¡¯t worth you personally taking action. Let me do it.¡± Feng Qiuyan suddenly stood forward, hoping to request permission to fight. The Immortals didn¡¯t think much of humans to begin with. Even Zhou Wen was only of value to them because he had been born on Earth. Without eyeing Zhou Wen, would they even think anything of Feng Qiuyan?


    Since Feng Qiuyan addressed Zhou Wen as Coach, he was clearly a student taught by Zhou Wen. How could Painting Immortal take a fancy to him?


    ¡°Young man, this isn¡¯t playing house. It will kill you,¡± Painting Immortal said coldly.


    ¡°Give it a try.¡± Zhou Wen saw the determination in Feng Qiuyan¡¯s eyes as though he was very confident, so he nodded in agreement.

 Chapter 1513 - My Saber Is Very Fast

    After receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s approval, Feng Qiuyan turned around and walked towards Painting Immortal.


    Painting Immortal was at the Hell level. He could only barely produce strength at the Human Realm due to his possession of an ancient corpse; otherwise, it would be destroyed by Earth¡¯s rules as punishment. He was still at the Calamity grade after all. If Zhou Wen were to fight personally, he would be more concerned with the might of the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    However, Zhou Wen had actually allowed his student to fight him. From Painting Immortal¡¯s point of view, this was an insult.


    If not for the fact that he still needed Zhou Wen, he would have already punished him, letting him know how terrifying Calamity-grade Immortals were.


    Zhou Wen ignored what was on Painting Immortal¡¯s mind. Zhou Wen knew that his strength wasn¡¯t stronger than his from the circle drawn by him.


    Instead, Feng Qiuyan¡¯s initiative to fight and confidence surprised Zhou Wen.


    I gave Feng Qiuyan the coin with the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. He should have figured out something, right? If he can figure out the trick to it, he might be able to crack the looping space. Zhou Wen looked at Feng Qiuyan, hoping to see what he had figured out from the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much hope. It hadn¡¯t been long since he had given Feng Qiuyan the coin. Even if Feng Qiuyan figured out something, it couldn¡¯t be much.


    Feng Qiuyan stopped outside the circle and held his saber in his hand. He looked at Painting Immortal and said, ¡°My saber is very fast. You have to be careful.¡±


    Painting Immortal laughed and said in contempt, ¡°Feel free to slash. Even a thousand slashes won¡¯t be able to touch my clothes, much less one.¡±


    Feng Qiuyan had already warned him. If Painting Immortal continued being careless, it was not on him. He immediately stopped talking and held his saber as he stared at the Painting Immortal in the circle.


    ¡°Impressive aura. I hope your saber can live up to that aura.¡± Painting Immortal thought nothing of Feng Qiuyan.


    Looping space was a high-level skill. Even among Calamity-grade creatures, there weren¡¯t many who grasped such a skill. Even for spatial-type creatures, it was difficult to say if they could master such a skill. How could it be easily cracked by a human?


    Feng Qiuyan didn¡¯t say a word. He drew the saber as the look in his eyes changed.


    Fast-it was unbelievably fast.


    Ignoring the fact that ordinary humans couldn¡¯t see it clearly, even Immortal Painting saw a blur. The blade seemed to vanish from his vision.


    However, Painting Immortal didn¡¯t take it to heart. No matter how fast the saber was, it would be trapped in the looping space. It was impossible for it to injure him.


    What a fast saber! It¡¯s not easy for a Terror-grade human to master such a fast saber. I never expected Zhou Wen to have such a person by his side. Berserker Immortal was somewhat surprised.


    However, he was more delighted. Having both Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan under his control would be a great boon to the establishment of the Immortals¡¯ new faction. Berserker Immortal also didn¡¯t believe that Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber could break through the looping space.


    ¡°You can¡­ be a little faster¡­¡± Painting Immortal was still teasing Feng Qiuyan, but before he could finish his sentence, his expression changed.


    The golden circle on the ground magnified, forming a strange distorted space. It was as though a painting was circling around the Painter Immortal.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber slashed at the distorted picture as the saber beam sliced right through and went for Painting Immortal without stopping


    Painting Immortal quickly retreated upon sensing the anomaly, but he was still half a beat too slow. The clothes on his chest had been sliced open by the saber, leaving a deep wound that reached his bones.


    If he hadn¡¯t reacted in time and retreated a distance, the saber would have already sliced his body into two.


    ¡°How is that possible!¡± The four immortals widened their eyes in disbelief as they looked at Feng Qiuyan.


    That was a looping spatial skill. It wasn¡¯t impossible to use some special ability to pass through. However, to be able to slice open the looping space with a saber-a Terror-grade human at that¡ªmade them almost believe that they were dreaming.


    Even Berserker Immortal looked at Feng Qiuyan in a daze, momentarily at a loss for words.


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat surprised. From Feng Qiuyan¡¯s performance, he knew that Feng Qiuyan had almost comprehended his Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation and had even independently created a way to crack it.


    Of course, this method of cracking was very ineffective against the variable Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    However, the effect on the static looping space used by Painting Immortal was excellent.


    ¡°So that¡¯s all you have after bragging all day.¡± The glance and faint smile that Li Xuan gave Painting Immortal nearly made him find a hole to hide in embarrassment.


    Feng Qiuyan returned to Zhou Wen and said in embarrassment, ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Coach. I¡¯ve already tried my best, but I still haven¡¯t completely understood what you taught me. My strike is still lacking and has let down your teachings.¡±


    From Feng Qiuyan¡¯s point of view, the looping space that Painting Immortal had set up was much simpler than the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation that Zhou Wen had instructed him to comprehend. He had actually failed to crack it cleanly and even gave Painting Immortal time to react. This was a huge oversight.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t had much time to practice. To be able to do so is already considered a pass. Keep up the training when you return. Don¡¯t make the same mistake again.¡± What else could Zhou Wen say? All he could do was tell him to train well in the future.


    In any case, Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t have anything to teach him. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s learning aptitude was just too good.


    Lacking? Hadn¡¯t had much time to practice? A pass? Needs more practice? Painting Immortal and company were somewhat dumbfounded. If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the ancient corpses didn¡¯t have any expressions, his face would have long twitched and deformed.


    Berserker Immortal frowned as he looked at Zhou Wen and Feng Qiuyan. He thought to himself, This Zhou Wen seems somewhat different from the intelligence I have on him. It¡¯s really strange that one of his students has such standards.


    Immortal Painting and company even suspected that Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t a student taught by Zhou Wen, but Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple.


    It was shocking enough to have such standards even as Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple.


    However, from Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attitude towards Zhou Wen, the respect and worship he showed were definitely not faked.


    ¡°Everyone, the performance has ended. If there¡¯s nothing else, go do whatever you need to do,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Painting Immortal and company looked at each other before looking at Berserker Immortal. Their emotions were somewhat odd, especially Painting Immortal. His eyes were filled with embarrassment and indignation.


    He was a mighty Hell-level powerhouse, but he was nearly split into two by a Terror-grade human. This was a great humiliation.


    Berserker Immortal thought for a moment and gestured at Calligraphy Immortal.


    Painting Immortal had already lost, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to take action again. Furthermore, Berserker Immortal could already tell that Feng Qiuyan was very knowledgeable about looping spaces. At Painting Immortal¡¯s present strength, even if he tried to attack again, it probably wouldn¡¯t be of much use considering how his abilities were restrained.


    Calligraphy Immortal tacitly understood and took a step forward. He came in front of Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I have a technique that I wish to seek your advice on.¡±


    At that moment, Calligraphy Immortal¡¯s attitude towards Zhou Wen was very different from before-he no longer had that condescending contempt from before.

 Chapter 1514 - My Sword Is Very Slow

    ¡°Coach, take a break. There¡¯s no need for you to take action against such a goon,¡± Ming Xiu said as he walked forward.


    Ming Xiu knew from watching that Berserker Immortal led the group of five. Since Berserker Immortal hadn¡¯t personally taken action, Ming Xiu didn¡¯t wish for Zhou Wen to weaken his stance.


    Furthermore, after watching Feng Qiuyan¡¯s battle, he felt his hands itch. He also wanted to try out his insights.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly. Ming Xiu stood in front of Calligraphy Immortal and said with a faint smile, ¡°You don¡¯t have to be afraid. Although I studied under Coach, I¡¯m much weaker than the previous guy. My sword is also much slower than his saber. As long as your reaction speed isn¡¯t too bad, you should be able to block it.¡±


    Calligraphy Immortal no longer underestimated his enemy like Painting Immortal. After all, the possibility of another Feng Qiuyan appearing was relatively lowthere couldn¡¯t be many existences among the humans like Feng Qiuyan. It was already impressive for any one of the six families to produce one or two such existences. Zhou Wen was just one man. It was already shocking to have Feng Qiuyan by his side. It was unbelievable that there would be another similar expert around him.


    Even so, Calligraphy Immortal didn¡¯t underestimate his enemy. He thought to himself, He and that Feng Qiuyan were taught by Zhou Wen. Although one uses a saber and the other uses a sword, they probably study the same path. They should be focused on speed. Even if he¡¯s bluffing me and his sword techniques are actually faster than Feng Qiuyan¡¯s, I can block his attacks as long as I don¡¯t underestimate my enemy like Painting Immortal¡­


    Calligraphy Immortal thought it through and was about to say something to Ming Xiu when he suddenly saw Ming Xiu draw his sword and thrust forward. The sword was unbelievably fast, almost as fast as Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s sword wasn¡¯t slower than Feng Qiuyan¡¯s saber. In fact, his first few strikes were slightly faster than Feng Qiuyan¡¯s. However, Feng Qiuyan was a battle maniac. The more he fought, the stronger he became. This was a trait Ming Xiu didn¡¯t possess.


    If Ming Xiu wanted to defeat Feng Qiuyan, he could only rely on the first few strikes. If he couldn¡¯t defeat Feng Qiuyan after five strikes, there was basically no need for him to continue fighting. He would definitely lose.


    When Calligraphy Immortal saw how fast Ming Xiu¡¯s sword was, he couldn¡¯t help but sneer inwardly. No matter how scheming you are, it¡¯s useless in front of absolute strength.


    In a split second, Calligraphy Immortal summoned a book. The page opened and faced Ming Xiu¡¯s sword.


    Once the sword was clamped by the book, the text in the book would be imprinted on the sword, sealing the power of the sword.


    Humans ultimately only know some tricks¡­ Calligraphy Immortal watched as his book was about to grab Ming Xiu¡¯s sword.


    Calligraphy Immortal¡¯s eyes widened the next moment. He had clearly calculated the speed and timing. The Book of Seal was just short of clamping Ming Xiu¡¯s sword when he realized that Ming Xiu¡¯s sword was a little slower than he had expected. He had already closed his book, but Ming Xiu¡¯s sword hadn¡¯t arrived.


    It was too late for Calligraphy Immortal to open the pages again. The sword that looked a beat slower suddenly experienced a speed burst and flashed like a stream of light.


    Pfft!


    Ming Xiu¡¯s sword stabbed into Calligraphy Immortal¡¯s chest as the latter watched helplessly as the sword penetrated him, his body failing to dodge. This was because his strength was limited by the ancient corpse, preventing him from unleashing his fastest speed. He couldn¡¯t dodge the strike that was so close to him.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s successful strike instantly made him retreat gracefully. It was like a pleasing piece of art.


    Calligraphy Immortal had intended to severely injure Ming Xiu while taking the blow, but he wasn¡¯t given the chance. Ming Xiu had already retreated, leaving only the wound on his chest.


    Although his wound looked terrifying, no blood flowed out due to the lack of blood in the ancient corpse. Zhou Wen and company had already noticed this when Feng Qiuyan injured Painting Immortal.


    ¡°Thank you for thinking so highly of me. I¡¯ve already said that my sword is very slow. You don¡¯t have to be so fast. Just slow down and you¡¯ll be able to block it,¡± Ming Xiu said coolly as he sheathed his sword.


    Calligraphy Immortal was even more depressed than Painting Immortal from before. At the very least, he had used his Art of Cage Etching, but he hadn¡¯t used any of his abilities. He had lost for no reason.


    Apart from being depressed, Calligraphy Immortal and company were even more surprised.


    Without a doubt, Ming Xiu was also a most talented and top-notch human like Feng Qiuyan. However, such human powerhouses were top-notch existences among the other major factions on Earth.


    For example, Ya from the Holy Spirit Association and Immortal from the League of Guardians. These were existences that even the dimension knew of.


    Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan couldn¡¯t be much weaker even if they were weaker than Ya and Immortal. Even Berserker Immortal found it unbelievable that such people were Zhou Wen¡¯s students.


    They originally imagined that Zhou Wen was the weakest amongst Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciples. After all, Zhou Wen was alone, and the others had their own massive factions.


    However, from the looks of it, just Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan had made Zhou Wen a faction that couldn¡¯t be underestimated.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Only then did Berserker Immortal seriously size up Zhou Wen.


    Although Berserker Immortal hadn¡¯t advanced to the Apocalypse grade, he had once defeated an Apocalypse-grade creature. He indeed looked down on Zhou Wen and Earth¡¯s strength and qualifications.


    Berserker Immortal originally wanted a puppet. He wasn¡¯t too interested in Zhou Wen as a person.


    But now, Berserker Immortal had no choice but to seriously examine Zhou Wen. To be able to produce students like Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan, Zhou Wen¡¯s strength seemed to be severely incongruent with the intelligence he had previously obtained.


    The four immortals looked at each other, momentarily at a loss.


    Before coming here, they didn¡¯t even think much of Zhou Wen, believing that anyone could suppress him.


    However, two Immortals had already been defeated by Zhou Wen¡¯s students. Even though their strength was suppressed, they still felt humiliated.


    Zither Immortal and Chess Immortal hesitated and didn¡¯t take action. Calligraphy and Painting Immortal weren¡¯t weaker than them. They couldn¡¯t even defeat Zhou Wen¡¯s students, so how could Zither and Chess Immortal dare challenge him?


    They had witnessed Zhou Wen using his Companion Beast to kill the white snake with their own eyes. Their bodies weren¡¯t any stronger than the white snake¡¯s. If the ancient corpses were destroyed, exposing them to Earth, their bodies would suffer serious injuries.


    The four immortals couldn¡¯t help but cast their gazes at Berserker Immortal. After all, this trip was mainly led by him. They were only assisting him, so they had to wait for him to make the decision.


    Berserker Immortal looked at Zhou Wen and company. He wasn¡¯t as depressed as the four immortals. Instead, he was somewhat excited.


    The stronger the people around Zhou Wen were, the faster he could establish a new Immortal faction after they came under his control. The strength Zhou Wen and company displayed was almost comparable to the League of Guardians.


    I want these people for sure. Berserker Immortal stared at Zhou Wen with a burning gaze.

 Chapter 1515 - Immortal Vanquishing Palm

    ¡°So that¡¯s all there is after saying so much? Shall I entertain you? So that you can return home in peace?¡± Li Xuan felt his heart itch when he saw Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu in the limelight. He also wanted to be in the limelight, so he stepped forward and spoke to Berserker Immortal.


    Li Xuan¡¯s appetite was much bigger than Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu¡¯s. He wanted to finish off the leading Berserker Immortal.


    Zither Immortal and Chess Immortal were enraged, having the urge to rush forward to teach Li Xuan a lesson, but they were stopped by Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll entertain you.¡± Berserker Immortal¡¯s voice was calm and even carried a smiling tone, but he was already filled with killing intent.


    He knew that it was impossible for him to easily subdue Zhou Wen and company today. He needed to suppress them with absolute strength, and Li Xuan was his opening gambit.


    ¡°Let¡¯s begin,¡± Berserker Immortal said to Li Xuan as he stood there casually.


    Although all of them were using ancient corpses, Berserker Immortal¡¯s body was slightly stronger than the four immortals. It could constantly pump out strength at the Human Realm, and he could just produce a burst of strength at the Hell level.


    Furthermore, Berserker Immortal¡¯s realm far exceeded his peers. Even if he could only produce strength at the Human Realm, his combat strength was not something ordinary humans could compare with.


    He got Li Xuan to attack first to give him a chance to strike.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll kill you with one punch. It¡¯s best you attack first,¡± Li Xuan said proudly as he stood still like a mountain. At the same time, he thought to himself, You are still too young to posture in front of me. I never lose when it comes to posturing.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Berserker Immortal¡¯s eyes narrowed as they landed on Li Xuan.


    ¡°When¡­¡± Li Xuan¡¯s eyes suddenly widened just as he said a word. His eyes nearly popped out as he opened his mouth and spat out blood. His body curled like a shrimp.


    Berserker Immortal was already standing in front of him at some point in time and had struck his chest with a hand.


    Bang!


    Li Xuan¡¯s chest sank as he hunched his body and flew backward like a cannonball. He slammed into the wall and toppled it, his body plowing a deep ravine that was hundreds of meters long.


    Due to the speed and immense friction, the soil and bricks in the deep ditch emitted smoke. The attenuated ends of the steel columns turned dark red as though they had been burned.


    ¡°Silence at last. Now, we can have a good chat,¡± Berserker Immortal said to Zhou Wen.


    The surrounding people had already caught wind of the commotion, but with the soldiers stopping them, no one could come over. They could only watch from afar.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about? I¡¯m all ears.¡± A voice sounded from a distant ravine, leaving Berserker Immortal slightly taken aback.


    Berserker Immortal turned his head and indeed, he saw Li Xuan walk out of the deep ravine. His armor had shattered, but there were no injuries on his bare chest.


    His firm chest and abs were exposed. They were smooth and majestic, so perfect that they didn¡¯t look like a human¡¯s, but like a marble statue.


    ¡°You should be proud to be able to withstand my strike without dying,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    Li Xuan walked over step by step and stared at Berserker Immortal. ¡°Your strength isn¡¯t bad, but it¡¯s still too soft. You can try using more strength.¡±


    When Berserker Immortal heard Li Xuan, his eyes sank as he broke through the sound barrier. The sonic boom blasted a huge crater in the ground.


    Li Xuan wanted to block, but he was ultimately too slow. He was once again hit in the chest by Berserker Immortal.


    However, this time, Berserker Immortal¡¯s strength didn¡¯t send Li Xuan flying. Li Xuan remained standing in his original spot, but the terrifying force penetrated his body, instantly rupturing his bones and organs.


    Berserker Immortal gracefully retracted his palm and waited for Li Xuan¡¯s body to reduce to mud.


    He was very confident in his strength. Although Li Xuan¡¯s body was very powerful, even a Human Realm creature would be reduced to meat paste under his palm¡¯s hidden force.


    Berserker Immortal stood there waiting for Li Xuan to collapse, but Li Xuan remained standing there motionless even after some time. There were no signs of him collapsing. There wasn¡¯t even any blood seeping out of his seven orifices. This made Berserker Immortal feel that something was amiss.


    ¡°Is that all you got? I told you to use more strength. Why is it softer than the first palm strike? Have you not eaten? Do you want to eat something before continuing?¡± Li Xuan looked at Berserker Immortal and said provocatively.


    The four immortals looked at Li Xuan in surprise. They knew about Berserker Immortal¡¯s Immortal Vanquishing Palm.


    Although Berserker Immortal¡¯s palm force wasn¡¯t as terrifying as his sword, it didn¡¯t mean that his palm force wasn¡¯t strong. On the contrary, it was extremely sinister. Very few creatures of the same level could withstand the hidden force of the Immortal Vanquishing Palm.


    Berserker Immortal had already used his Calamity-grade strength; yet, he failed to kill Li Xuan. Li Xuan didn¡¯t even look injured. This left the four immortals somewhat incredulous. They even wondered if this was a dream.


    The four immortals looked at each other and saw the shock in each other¡¯s eyes.


    They never expected such a situation to happen before coming here.


    They originally imagined that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to suppress a factionless Zhou Wen, but the people who were beside him were each more terrifying than the last.


    Even the League of Guardians and the Holy Spirit Association might not have so many terrifying figures. ¡°What the hell. Where did these people come from? Why isn¡¯t there any intelligence on them? Are the fellows from the League of Guardians doing their job?¡± Painting Immortal said angrily.


    ¡°Immortal must be up to no good. He deliberately didn¡¯t report it,¡± said Zither Immortal.


    However, Chess Immortal shook his head and said, ¡°I don¡¯t think so. If they are really very famous, even if the League of Guardians doesn¡¯t report it, it¡¯s impossible to not have any news from the Holy Temple. For there to be no news from the Holy Temple as well, it can only mean that they aren¡¯t very famous.¡±


    The attention that the dimension paid to humans was concentrated on the especially famous people like Immortal, Ya, or the Zhang family¡¯s Zhang Chunqiu.


    Although Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan were somewhat famous in the Federation, they hadn¡¯t reached that level.


    There was no need to mention Li Xuan. At home, outsiders only knew that Li Mobai was the head of the Li family.


    When out, Li Xuan was always with Zhou Wen. He basically didn¡¯t have any chance to showcase himself. Outsiders didn¡¯t know that there was a figure like the Li family¡¯s third scion.


    But in fact, even Zhong Ziya and Qin Yan weren¡¯t completely confident of defeating Li Xuan.


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s eyes turned serious as he looked at Li Xuan and said, ¡°It¡¯s not bad for a human to cultivate the Invincible Connate Divine Art of the Connate Holy Temple to such an extent. Unfortunately, it¡¯s only an incomplete fake. Ignoring a fake Invincible Connate Divine Art like yours, even if you were to master the real Invincible Connate Divine Art, you wouldn¡¯t be able to live if I wanted you dead.¡±

 Chapter 1516 - Berserk Sword Immortal

    Chapter 1516 Berserk Sword Immortal


    Li Xuan¡­ Zhou Wen could already tell that Berserker Immortal¡¯s strength was extremely terrifying. He was definitely not at the ordinary Human Realm.


    Although Li Xuan¡¯s body was extremely powerful, there was ultimately a limit. Zhou Wen was afraid that something would happen to him, so he wanted him to stand down. There was no need for him to take the risk.


    However, Li Xuan cut off Zhou Wen and said with a smile, ¡°How can I share half of your city without showing something? Take a good look at my performance. I won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    Zhou Wen read Li Xuan¡¯s thoughts through his eyes. Li Xuan clearly knew that Berserker Immortal was extraordinary. He was using him as a target to force Berserker Immortal to show his strength, giving Zhou Wen a chance to observe from the side and understand the enemy.


    What Li Xuan meant by taking a good look at him wasn¡¯t for Zhou Wen to look at him, but to focus on Berserker Immortal as he forced his strength out.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s real or fake. All I know is that you are a coward who only knows how to spout nonsense. Kill me if you have the ability.¡± Li Xuan suddenly unleashed his strength and threw a punch at Berserker Immortal¡¯s nose.


    He deliberately didn¡¯t use the Planet Devourer because he had already realized that the Planet Devourer probably couldn¡¯t withstand Berserker Immortal¡¯s power. It might be destroyed if he summoned it.


    Berserker Immortal was an arrogant person to begin with. Despite knowing that Li Xuan was being provocative, he was still filled with killing intent.


    Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t have any qualms, nor did he need to tolerate it. At the instant Li Xuan rushed in front of him, he pointed out. It was so fast that Li Xuan couldn¡¯t see his finger move, and his finger had already touched his forehead.


    Thousands of sword beams erupted from Berserker Immortal¡¯s fingertip as they surged towards Li Xuan like a galaxy


    Berserker Immortal wanted to reduce Li Xuan to dust. Under the galaxy-like sword beams, his body would be torn into tiny fragments. No matter how strong his self-healing ability was, it was impossible for him to recover under such circumstances.


    Berserker Immortal wasn¡¯t lying. Even a Terror-grade creature that cultivated the complete Invincible Connate Divine Art would definitely be reduced to dust under his sword stream. Self-recovery was useless.


    When the sword beams rushed into Li Xuan¡¯s body, his entire body lit up as though his body had turned into a holographic projection.


    The sword beams that resembled a river of stars surged through his body.


    Zhou Wen activated the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation that he had set up ahead of time. The sword beams constantly circled around an area spanning hundreds of meters, preventing any from flying out.


    ¡°Is this Imperial Lord Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Array?¡± Painting Immortal was immediately given a fright when he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    Although his strength was spatial, it was still much weaker than the Major Heavenly Cycle Array.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the Major Heavenly Cycle Array. It¡¯s somewhat different, but it¡¯s already very similar. Furthermore, there are some strange powers combined with it. Strange, very strange!¡± Chess Immortal said with an odd expression.


    He knew the Major Heavenly Cycle Array well. Now that he was in it, he could easily tell what was happening.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was somewhat different from the Major Heavenly Cycle Array. Chess Immortal couldn¡¯t completely understand it.


    Bang!


    Everyone suddenly heard the sound of a fist colliding with flesh. They turned their heads and saw Li Xuan¡¯s fist smash into Berserker Immortal¡¯s face, causing his face to contort. The latter staggered and nearly fell to the ground.


    The four immortals were filled with disbelief. It was unimaginable that Berserker Immortal had been punched in the face by a human.


    That was Berserker Immortal, the one who had once defeated an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse.


    Although he was now restricted by the ancient corpse¡¯s body and could only maintain his strength at the Human Realm, it was still difficult for them to accept such an outcome.


    In fact, this couldn¡¯t be blamed on Berserker Immortal. He had always believed that Li Xuan cultivated an incomplete Invincible Connate Divine Art. He knew the path of the Invincible Connate Divine Art very well, making its cultivator an existence with an invincible body.


    However, he never expected Li Xuan¡¯s incomplete Invincible Connate Divine Art to take a completely new path. It was already very different from the true Invincible Connate Divine Art. It was almost two completely different Essence Energy Arts.


    The sword beams failed to injure him when Li Xuan¡¯s body digitalized. Berserker Immortal imagined that it was an illusion, but in fact, it was Li Xuan¡¯s actual body.


    Be it Calligraphy and Painting Immortal, or Berserker Immortal, they subconsciously looked down on humans. If they were to fight dimensional enemies, even if it was just an illusion, Berserker Immortal wouldn¡¯t let them get close to him.


    However, he didn¡¯t retreat immediately after his sword beams failed to injure Li Xuan. That was how Li Xuan managed to punch him in the face.


    Having succeeded in his punch, Li Xuan showed no mercy. He unleashed a barrage of attacks on Berserker Immortal with his fists and legs.


    However, before his punches and kicks landed on Berserker Immortal, a sword beam that resembled a volcanic eruption suddenly erupted from his body. The sword beam was somewhat different from before. It was the color of blood.


    A blood-colored sword beam spewed out and shot into the sky. Li Xuan¡¯s digitalized body was corroded upon contact with the blood-colored sword beam. His hands and legs turned blood-red and quickly exploded.


    In his horror, Li Xuan hurriedly retreated, but his retreating speed couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed at which the blood-colored sword beam spread. His body was about to be devoured by it.


    His Terror transformation ability didn¡¯t really turn him into an ethereal holographic projection. Even a real holographic projection wasn¡¯t completely incorporeal. In fact, it was made of fundamental particles.


    As for Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword beam, it was so minute that it could destroy neutrinos. Li Xuan¡¯s Terror transformation powers were unable to survive such a sword beam.


    Just as Li Xuan was about to be devoured by the sword beam, Zhou Wen instant transmitted behind him. He grabbed his body and instant transmitted out of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    And in the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation, Berserker Immortal slowly turned his face back and stood up straight. The sanguine light in his eyes was like a blade as the blood sword beam on his body constantly erupted like a crazy devil.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s previous slap had already pushed Berserker Immortal to the brink of going berserk. If not for the interests of the entire Immortal race, he would have killed Wang Mingyuan long ago.


    However, Wang Mingyuan was the Dragon King after all, and he was now the leader of the Octokind. He had some status in the dimension, so Berserker Immortal had to put up with it.


    Now, a Terror-grade human had actually hit him in the face. This made Berserker Immortal instantly rage.


    As the blood sword beam on his body erupted, the ancient corpse¡¯s body began to crack. Sanguine sword beams filled the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation as the looping space that was constantly formed by the array formation kept being torn apart.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­¡± The four immortals shouted in horror as they unleashed their strength to withstand the sanguine sword beams.


    They were still inside the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. They were the first to bear the brunt of the terrifying sword beams produced by Berserker Immortal.

 Chapter 1517 - Battling Berserker Immortal

    Chapter 1517 Battling Berserker Immortal


    The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation is about to be torn apart! Zhou Wen watched as the terrifying sword beams filled the entire Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. Even though the space in the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation could loop, there was limited space. The other party¡¯s sword beams were so powerful that they could fill all space. It was only a matter of time before the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was torn apart.


    ¡°Where did this fellow come from? He¡¯s terrifying!¡± Li Xuan¡¯s injuries rapidly healed. He had mostly recovered, but he still felt alarmed.


    If Zhou Wen had been any slower, his self-healing ability wouldn¡¯t have been of any use.


    ¡°Thankfully, you made him expose his true strength ahead of time and gave us time to prepare. Now, we can think of a solution. Otherwise, the consequences will be unpredictable.¡± Zhou Wen sincerely felt that Li Xuan had done a good job.


    If Li Xuan hadn¡¯t forced Berserker Immortal to such an extent that gave Zhou Wen a chance to understand his abilities and even set up the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation ahead of time, the consequences would have been unimaginable. If Zhou Wen had really fought Berserker Immortal himself, once the latter suddenly used such strength, few nearby humans would survive even if Zhou Wen could dodge the attack.


    ¡°Hehe, I may not be many things, but when it comes to taking a beating, no one can be better than me,¡± Li Xuan said smugly.


    ¡°Stop bragging. Disperse the crowd. My Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation won¡¯t last long,¡± Zhou Wen said to Li Xuan.


    The Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation was on the brink of collapse. Blood-like sword beams constantly surged out from the cracked array. Everything that touched the blood-colored sword beams¡ªbe it plants or rocks¡ªwas instantly dyed red before exploding.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that the objects weren¡¯t really dyed red. It was a result of the blood sword beams being too tiny. They could directly drill into objects and destroy them at the fundamental particle level, producing such a visual effect.


    Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and company evacuated the crowd. Without waiting for the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation to completely shatter, Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and transformed it into a golden beam that slashed at Berserker Immortal in the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation.


    Berserker Immortal had already seen the might of the Golden Wyrm Scissors. When he saw it flash over, he immediately pointed at it with his finger, producing a sword art.


    Following his finger were blood sword beams that surged like a tidal wave towards the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Ding!


    The vibrational sounds produced by the collision went on and on. The tiny, neutrino-like, blood sword beams constantly struck the Golden Wyrm Scissors but failed to penetrate it.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors went against the tide as the scissors opened up. Like scissors cutting through red cloth, it tore a hole through the blood sword beams and slashed at Berserker Immortal like a hot knife through butter. Berserker Immortal was slightly surprised. He had already unleashed his Hell-level strength, but he was still unable to block the Golden Wyrm Scissors. All he could do was quickly duck.


    e


    Meanwhile, the four immortals were already in terrible shape. Parts of their ancient corpse bodies had been destroyed by Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword beams, while other parts were crumbling after being forced to unleash immense strength way beyond the limits of the body.


    Bang!


    At the instant Berserker Immortal dodged the Golden Wyrm Scissors, he heard a gunshot. A bullet was aimed at his face, going straight for his head.


    However, the bullet was shattered by the blood sword beams before it reached Berserker Immortal.


    Zhou Wen mounted the sniper rifle on a collapsed wall and shot in Berserker Immortal¡¯s direction six times, but the six bullets were shattered by the blood sword beams. They couldn¡¯t approach him at all.


    Instead, the might of Berserker Immortal¡¯s blood sword beams increased greatly, tearing apart the originally tottering Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation. Blood sword beams that blotted out the sky rushed out like a sea of blood that enveloped the world.


    The four immortals rushed out as well, but most of their ancient corpses had been destroyed, forcing them to be suppressed by the rules of Earth. Their bodies trembled as they moaned in pain. It was as though invisible chains were strangling them, making it difficult for them to move. Their throats emitted strange sounds as though they were about to stop breathing.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that their powerful auras were rapidly weakening.


    These fellows are from the dimension! Zhou Wen immediately understood that they weren¡¯t Earthlings. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have suffered such severe rejection and pressure.


    Although the four immortals suffered immense pressure, the pressure wasn¡¯t enough to take their lives. It only constantly dropped their level in life.


    They, who were originally at the Hell level, had fallen to the Calamity grade in just moments. Now, they only had strength at the Terror grade, and it was still dropping.


    On the contrary, Berserker Immortal¡¯s blood sword beams became more and more terrifying. The ancient corpse¡¯s body cracked like a withered field, but it didn¡¯t truly crumble.


    Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t waste any time on the Golden Wyrm Scissors. As he dodged the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attacks, he controlled the blood sword beams that filled the sky to sweep towards Zhou Wen from all directions.


    The blood sword beams were just too terrifying¡ªthey were almost everywhere. They enveloped most of Guide City. The roofs of skyscrapers were the first to come into contact with the sword beam before being wrecked.


    The buildings began to turn red from the top before exploding. The blood-like sword beams constantly pressed down as though the end of the world was approaching.


    People screamed and cried, or they tried their best to escape, but under such terrifying power, ordinary people couldn¡¯t escape at all. They could only wait for death to arrive.


    Zhou Wen could escape, but if he did, the hundreds of thousands of people in Guide City would be instantly killed. Even the entire city would be completely destroyed, leaving nothing behind.


    Zhou Wen held his sniper rifle and continued aiming at Berserker Immortal, ignoring the blood sword beams that filled the sky.


    Bang!


    The seventh gunshot sounded as a bullet shot out from the chamber, piercing through the blood sword beams like a beam of light.


    The sure-kill seventh shot was a sure-kill bullet that used all the Golden Sniper¡¯s strength. The bullet shuttled through the blood sword beams crazily. It wasn¡¯t shattered by them like the first six bullets.


    This bullet needed to see blood. It charged through the blood sword beams alone, but the blood sword beams were just too powerful as they struck it, dropping its speed until it almost stopped.


    Hum!


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors flew over and tore through space in front of the bullet as it charged at Berserker Immortal.


    The bullet shot at Berserker Immortal at the speed of light using the space torn by the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Berserker Immortal warped into the distance and dodged the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack. As for the sure-kill seventh bullet, it automatically made a turn and continued pursuing Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°The seventh bullet in the Venusian dimensional zone might be fatal to others, but to me, such strength is still too weak.¡± Berserker Immortal recognized the origins of the seventh bullet. He clamped the bullet between his fingers the instant the bullet reached him.


    The bullet spun between his fingers like a drill, but it couldn¡¯t advance even an inch.

 Chapter 1518 - Threat

    Chapter 1518 Threat


    Berserker Immortal exerted strength again. The sure-kill bullet couldn¡¯t continue spinning under his immense pressure. The bullet kept trembling, but it couldn¡¯t move at all. It was almost flattened under the terrifying forces of his fingers.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors charged over again. Unwilling to fight the Golden Wyrm Scissors head-on, Berserker Immortal could only duck again.


    As Berserker Immortal dodged, the bullet in his hand turned into an ancient mirror.


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s reaction was already very fast. He threw out the ancient mirror in his hand, but he was too close to it. The light from the ancient mirror continued shining on him.


    When the strange light shone on Berserker Immortal, his body and the blood-colored sword beam that filled the sky suddenly vanished, leaving nothing behind.


    The horrified people stared blankly at the sky. If not for the fact that the buildings were halved in height, they would have imagined that the terrifying blood sea sword beams were just a dream.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned for the Soul Mirror to return to his hand. He saw a sanguine glow in the mirror as though it was about to seep out.


    Cracks began to appear on the originally smooth mirror surface, and they were rapidly spreading


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave this place to you.¡± Zhou Wen roared at Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and company before vanishing with the Soul Mirror, thanks to interstellar teleportation.


    Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, and Ming Xiu understood what Zhou Wen meant and immediately charged at the four immortals.


    The four immortals¡¯ faces turned livid. They hadn¡¯t accomplished anything, but their ancient corpse bodies had been destroyed by their companion, Berserker Immortal. Being severely suppressed by the rules of Earth, they could barely maintain their Terror-grade standards-one that just met the mark.


    They originally imagined that no one could withstand Berserker Immortal¡¯s explosive strength, but to their surprise, he vanished for no reason, leaving the four of them lamenting inwardly.


    They had seen the strength of Li Xuan and company. If they were in the dimension, it would be too easy to kill them, but not here and now.


    Zhou Wen teleported to Dubhe. The cracks on the Soul Mirror had spread like spiderwebs, an indication that it was about to shatter.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen picked up the Soul Mirror and aimed it at Dubhe. When the Soul-Illuminating Divine Light shone on it, Berserker Immortal and the blood sword beams that filled the sky immediately appeared again.


    However, he was no longer in Guide City, but in the hot plasma of Dubhe. Light pulses constantly exploded around him like countless hydrogen bombs.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Dubhe¡¯s terrifying light pulses would affect Berserker Immortal and might even damage his body.


    However, to his surprise, the blood sword beams around him resisted the high temperature, radiation, and energy explosions. They protected his body as he rushed out of Dubhe.


    What a terrifying fellow! Zhou Wen knew that Berserker Immortal was definitely suppressed by hellish rules. His true strength wasn¡¯t just that.


    To be able to produce such power under such circumstances was truly terrifying.


    After Berserker Immortal rushed out, he didn¡¯t attack Zhou Wen immediately because he was certain that Zhou Wen was good at spatial teleportation.


    If Zhou Wen were to teleport away, there was nothing he could do about him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, let¡¯s make a deal,¡± Berserker Immortal said as he stood amidst the blood that filled the sky and looked down at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What deal?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to leave as he asked calmly.


    ¡°You are Deceit King, right?¡± Although Berserker Immortal was asking, his tone was certain.


    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Zhou Wen knew that the spatial ability he had exposed had made Berserker Immortal connect him to Deceit


    King.


    ¡°Yes, it really doesn¡¯t matter. Your spatial powers are very strong. Even in the dimension, there aren¡¯t many people at your level who are stronger than you.¡± Berserker Immortal paused before continuing, ¡°I really can¡¯t kill you here, but even if you can escape, your family can¡¯t. Your friends and the hundreds of thousands of people in Guide City won¡¯t be able to escape either.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± Zhou Wen looked coldly at Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°I¡¯m just stating a fact. Don¡¯t you think so?¡± Berserker Immortal asked.


    ¡°What are you getting at?¡± Zhou Wen was already filled with killing intent.


    He was a person who seldom had the intention to kill. Even when facing an opponent who wanted him dead, Zhou Wen could calmly do what he needed to do.


    This was because he knew very well that the other party was his enemy. Wanting him dead was very normal. There was no need to be enraged about it.


    However, Berserker Immortal was different. His actions were no longer as simple as an enemy.


    ¡°Cooperate with me. From now on, you will be my race¡¯s representative in the human world,¡± said Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°Which race are you from?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If you are willing to cooperate, you will naturally know in the future.¡± Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen.


    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°No one related to you will live,¡± said Berserker Immortal coldly.


    Zhou Wen suddenly laughed happily. Berserker Immortal stared coldly at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°What¡¯s so funny? If you weren¡¯t proficient in spatial powers, killing you wouldn¡¯t have been difficult. Although I can¡¯t kill you now, your family and friends don¡¯t have spatial powers like yours. Killing them is too easy. It wouldn¡¯t take much more effort than squashing an ant.¡±


    Zhou Wen stopped laughing and looked at Berserker Immortal with a blade-like gaze. ¡°You¡¯re right. It¡¯s indeed very simple for you to kill them.¡±


    ¡°Now that you are clear on that, what¡¯s your choice? Do you want them to die or do you want to cooperate with me?¡± Berserker Immortal asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want them dead, nor do I want to cooperate with you,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°You have no other choice. You can only choose one,¡± said Berserker Immortal coldly.


    However, Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°I naturally have other paths to take.¡± ¡°Oh, what path is it?¡± Berserker Immortal asked.


    ¡°As long as I kill you, all the problems will be resolved. That is the third path.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors again.


    However, this time, Zhou Wen held the Golden Wyrm Scissors in his hand instead of letting it attack autonomously.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors was very powerful and was at the Hell level. Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was far inferior to the Golden Wyrm Scissors, but the strength of the Golden Wyrm Scissors wasn¡¯t enough to kill Berserker Immortal either.

 Chapter 1519 - Sword Dao Competition

    Chapter 1519 Sword Dao Competition


    Berserker Immortal was as cold as before. He wasn¡¯t angered by Zhou Wen¡¯s words. Zhou Wen¡¯s actions were in line with his thoughts.


    His Calamity Zone had an extremely powerful offensive power, but it didn¡¯t stop Zhou Wen from using spatial teleportation. What he was most afraid of was Zhou Wen escaping.


    Now that Zhou Wen planned on fighting to the death and not escaping, it was naturally in line with Berserker Immortal¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°If you want to kill me, come on. Give it your best shot.¡± Berserker Immortal extended his hand and the blood sword beams that filled the sky gathered towards his palm.


    Thousands of blood sword beams gathered together, forming a Sword of Blood that Berserker Immortal held in his hand.


    Although killing Zhou Wen was easier using the blood sea-like sword beams, Berserker Immortal¡¯s goal wasn¡¯t to kill Zhou Wen, but to make him submit.


    The ancient corpse¡¯s body couldn¡¯t withstand Berserker Immortal¡¯s descent for long. Now that it had suffered such serious injuries, Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t have much time left. He had to choose the new representative of the Immortals in the human world before returning


    It was probably too late to find others. Furthermore, Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t believe that anyone was more suitable than Zhou Wen to be the new representative.


    Zhou Wen held the Golden Wyrm Scissors and got the Golden Wyrm Scissors to fuse together as a broadsword without any sharpened edges.


    Zhou Wen followed the sword as it became one with the Golden Wyrm Scissors and transformed into a stream of light that stabbed at Berserker Immortal.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to lead while the sword followed; the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ strength was far stronger than his. If he made the Golden Wyrm Scissors follow according to his strength, it would only weaken the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ might.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen chose to use his strength to support the Golden Wyrm Scissors. He was the support, and the sword was the main offensive force.


    If an ordinary person were to use such a sword art, they would inevitably fall into a disadvantageous position. This was because the person practicing the sword was human. Humans were the main offensive force, and the sword was auxiliary. If the sword was the main force while the human was controlled by the sword, it was equivalent to an unorthodox path-it was very easy for something negative to happen.


    Berserker Immortal moved slightly and dodged the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack. He slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s head with the Sword of Blood and said, ¡°Your abilities aren¡¯t bad, but your temperament is lacking. The Sword Dao is the heart. Your heart is controlled by the sword. How can a heartless person become a true expert?¡±


    Berserker Immortal clearly believed that Zhou Wen¡¯s method of using the sword was too clumsy and wasn¡¯t a top-notch Sword Dao.


    Zhou Wen ignored Berserker Immortal as he struck out again and again.


    Even though Berserker Immortal had condensed the Sword of Blood, he didn¡¯t dare clash head-on with the Golden Wyrm Scissors. All he did was constantly dodge, hoping to defeat Zhou Wen with his sword techniques.


    However, over time, Berserker Immortal was surprised to discover that he couldn¡¯t suppress Zhou Wen.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors was very powerful, but Zhou Wen¡¯s strength hadn¡¯t reached that level. However, under Zhou Wen¡¯s usage, the might emitted by the Golden Wyrm Scissors was much stronger than when the Golden Wyrm Scissors fought alone.


    Berserker Immortal was surprised to discover that although Zhou Wen seemed to be using himself as a support, he could use very tiny amounts of strength to influence the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    It looked like the Golden Wyrm Scissors was in charge, but in fact, Zhou Wen was the one controlling everything.


    A human can actually cultivate his Sword Dao to such a level? Berserker Immortal was known as a sword immortal; therefore, his attainments in the Sword Dao were naturally extremely high. He had realized what was happening.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art today surprised him. He couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand in a clash of sword techniques.


    ¡°What sword art is this?¡± Berserker Immortal asked as he fought Zhou Wen.


    ¡°A sword art doesn¡¯t necessarily need a name.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s Heart Defying Sword Art was born from the three thousand sword intents. He could use the style of any sword technique freely.


    However, the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ situation was somewhat special. It wasn¡¯t a real sword, so Zhou Wen had to use a special method to control it. It was very different from the sword techniques Zhou Wen usually used.


    Berserker Immortal originally wanted to quickly defeat Zhou Wen, but after seeing Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art, he had the urge to watch further. He didn¡¯t immediately fight Zhou Wen with all his might.


    Berserker Immortal was famous for being a sword immortal. He was a fanatic of the way of the sword. When he saw an excellent sword art he didn¡¯t know, he couldn¡¯t help but take a second gander.


    Zhou Wen had already pushed the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ strength to its limits. His body cooperated with the Golden Wyrm Scissors as he constantly instant transmitted and attacked, but all his attacks were dodged by Berserker Immortal.


    The Sword of Blood in Berserker Immortal¡¯s hand similarly failed to injure Zhou Wen.


    Moments later, Berserker Immortal suddenly said, ¡°Your sword technique isn¡¯t bad, but unfortunately, you haven¡¯t truly mastered it. Today, I¡¯ll let you see what a true sword technique is.¡±


    With that said, Berserker Immortal¡¯s hand moved as he stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s heart. He was so fast that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see him clearly.


    Before Berserker Immortal¡¯s Sword of Blood reached his chest, Zhou Wen felt as though his heart had already been pierced.


    Zhou Wen brandished the Golden Wyrm Scissors to block, but just as the Golden Wyrm Scissors moved, the Sword of Blood changed its position and stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s glabella.


    Berserker Immortal fought Zhou Wen purely with his sword techniques. After more than ten strikes, Zhou Wen was forced to retreat without any room to counterattack.


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword art could no longer be described as domineering. When it came to being domineering, there would be traces of it-domineering when needed and restrained when unneeded.


    However, Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword art was now completely different. He was domineering when it should be domineering, and still domineering when it shouldn¡¯t be. He was practically suicidal.


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s every strike was aimed at the enemy¡¯s vital spots, forcing his opponent to defend or retreat with no chance of counterattacking.


    Zhou Wen actually knew such a sword art that attacked the enemy¡¯s vital spots, but he quickly realized that the two were completely different. When he used such a method to deal with Berserker Immortal, he nearly lost his cadence several times.


    Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t dodge when facing his opponent, but he wasn¡¯t without flaws. It could even be said that he had many flaws. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t take these flaws seriously at all. All he cared about was killing his enemy. He didn¡¯t care about the flaws in his sword art as he constantly attacked.


    It didn¡¯t deserve being called a sword art. It was better to call it a gamble of life.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally understood what it meant to be fearless. Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword art was the fearless kind.


    Zhou Wen was forced to retreat under Berserker Immortal¡¯s attacks despite wielding a divine weapon like the Golden Wyrm Scissors. He couldn¡¯t gain an advantage in a pure clash of swords.


    It had been a long time since Zhou Wen had been at a disadvantage in battle. His Heart Defying Sword Art was seldom suppressed by others, so he never expected there to be another sword art that wasn¡¯t included in the three thousand sword intents.

 Chapter 1520 - Let’s Do It Here

    Chapter 1520 Let¡¯s Do It Here


    The feeling Berserker Immortal gave Zhou Wen was like an upgraded version of Zhong Ziya. He was equally crazy and domineering. Although the sword arts were different, the feeling they exuded when using swords was very similar.


    Their usage of swords was different from ordinary people¡¯s. If one drew the analogy of using swords to driving, the first reaction of ordinary people when they saw a situation ahead would be to slow down; however, they would choose to accelerate and rush over before the route was sealed.


    If one¡¯s judgment was accurate and fast enough, they could pass through. However, if one made a mistake or if one¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t fast enough, they would die.


    However, Berserker Immortal was an extremely experienced veteran. In a harrowing battle, he could rush over before Zhou Wen could seal off the area. This threw Zhou Wen into an extreme disadvantage.


    On the one hand, Zhou Wen¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t as fast as Berserker Immortal¡¯s. On the other hand, the Golden Wyrm Scissors wasn¡¯t a real sword to begin with. Its body was a little too big, so it wasn¡¯t suitable during a speed competition.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s instant transmission was already very powerful with the augmentation of The Disqualified. Coupled with his movement technique and The Disqualified¡¯s ability to automatically sense the enemy¡¯s weakness, it wasn¡¯t easy for Berserker Immortal to defeat Zhou Wen with his sword art.


    Berserker Immortal was equally surprised. As the dignified Berserker Immortal, a Heaven-level sword expert who had once defeated an Apocalypse-grade existence, he still found it difficult to truly suppress Zhou Wen despite his advantage in Strength and Speed. Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Dao and combat strength far exceeded his expectations.


    A Terror-grade human can actually cultivate a Sword Dao to such a level. How many humans like him are there on Earth? Berserker Immortal was somewhat worried.


    In the past, humans were limited by their inherent flaws. After so many years, their growth remained highly restricted. Now, not long after they broke through the restrictions, many experts like Human Sovereign, Wang Mingyuan, and Zhou Wen had already appeared.


    If humans were allowed to continue growing like this, even if the boundary between Earth and the dimension was broken one day, and the dimensional creatures would no longer be suppressed by the cosmic rules of Earth, it would still be a question if they could suppress humanity.


    I have to establish a human faction on Earth that can control everything as soon as possible. I need to control humanity. The Sword of Blood in Berserker Immortal¡¯s hand became more and more violent.


    Zhou Wen could clearly see the sword stab over, but when he used the Golden Wyrm Scissors to block, it would slow down every time, preventing him from touching Berserker Immortal¡¯s sword.


    Even the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation around him couldn¡¯t completely block the Sword of Blood. More and more wounds appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me? Come on? How can you kill me if you keep retreating? Attack!¡± Berserker Immortal mocked as he attacked.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he continued fighting Berserker Immortal. Although his injuries increased, he didn¡¯t use any other Companion Beasts.


    Using a Companion Beast could indeed give Zhou Wen a breather, but it couldn¡¯t help him clinch victory. If he only wanted to survive, Zhou Wen could teleport away immediately, but this wasn¡¯t what he wanted.


    The Disqualified needed a large amount of information to carry out its inference. Every time Zhou Wen was injured, the Disqualified would gain a deeper understanding of Berserker Immortal, allowing him to deduce more weaknesses.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know Berserker Immortal¡¯s weakness, but Berserker Immortal had cultivated a sword art to its limits. He used one advantage to mask all his weaknesses.


    Although Zhou Wen knew that Berserker Immortal had many weaknesses, he couldn¡¯t even protect himself under such an onslaught. He had no chance of exploiting those weaknesses.


    Even if he¡¯s really an immortal and really doesn¡¯t make mistakes, it¡¯s impossible for him to use one advantage to deal with all the problems. Zhou Wen knew that all he needed to do was continue enduring. As long as The Disqualified obtained enough information, it would definitely be able to analyze his opponent¡¯s weakness.


    Berserker Immortal had the constant belief of suppressing Zhou Wen and making him suffer a mental breakdown. However, despite his injuries increasing, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t show any signs of panic.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible to make him yield just by injuring him. Then, I can only let him sample the taste of death. When Berserker Immortal saw that Zhou Wen had no intention of surrendering, he brandished the Sword of Blood in his hand again. It transformed into sword beams that filled the sky as they attacked from all directions.


    The terrifying sword beam instantly dyed the nearby void red. The area within Zhou Wen¡¯s instant transmission range was filled with sword beams. Apart from blocking, there was no other way.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen used instant transmission again. However, this time, he instant transmitted in the direction of Dubhe.


    The Dubhe was massive, far bigger than Earth. The last time Zhou Wen searched Dubhe, he could only use interstellar teleportation to head to different locations around Dubhe. After a general search, he couldn¡¯t even figure out where the dimensional zone was on Dubhe.


    However, after seeing the scene of the Tyrannosaurus clearing the level, Zhou Wen knew that as long as he didn¡¯t open the door to the palace, there shouldn¡¯t be much danger. He would be fine even if he encountered Dubhe¡¯s dimensional zone.


    The moment he instant transmitted into Dubhe, Zhou Wen felt the terrifyingly high temperature, radiation, and shockwaves. All sorts of energy erupted. Even his body had trouble withstanding them. He was still on Dubhe¡¯s surface and had yet to venture too deep.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra erupted without any reservations as Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens was activated. Although this domain didn¡¯t heal Zhou Wen, it could greatly enhance his physique, making him comparable to a Human Realm creature.


    Without any hesitation, Berserker Immortal charged in with the sword beams that resembled a river of blood. The flames outside Dubhe were washed away by the sword beams as high-temperature liquid splattered everywhere.


    Zhou Wen realized that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was augmented to a certain extent in such a high-temperature environment. After the Human Sovereign Life Soul in his body was augmented, the light intensified and his vitality became stronger.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t summon the Human Sovereign Life Soul, nor did he fuse with it. In that case, anyone could easily tell that he was Human Sovereign.


    Even without summoning it, the augmentation of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra had already strengthened Zhou Wen¡¯s vitality His physique had clearly become stronger.


    Instead, Berserker Immortal was clearly affected by Dubhe¡¯s high temperature. Although the effects weren¡¯t too great, the time the sword beams tore through the high-temperature liquid gave Zhou Wen a chance.


    Zhou Wen turned around and continued charging into Dubhe. The high temperature of Dubhe not only augmented his Ancient Sovereign Sutra, but it also tempered the Golden Wyrm Scissors, making it stronger.


    Berserker Immortal pursued relentlessly as his sword beams tore through the high-temperature liquid and constantly struck Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen brandished the resplendent Golden Wyrm Scissors and shattered the blood sword beams that surged behind him. None of the sword beams came close to him.


    Before long, the blood sword beams formed a circle again, trapping Zhou Wen in the sword beams that filled the sky.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it here,¡± Zhou Wen suddenly stopped and said to Berserker Immortal.

 Chapter 1521 - Berserker Technique

    Chapter 1521 Berserker Technique


    ¡°Why? Have you thought it through?¡± Berserker Immortal stood in the sea of blood sword beams and said to Zhou Wen who was also surrounded by them.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve figured it out.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°What have you figured out? Do you want to fight to the bitter end and wait for your family and friends to go to hell together, or do you want to cooperate with me?¡± Berserker Immortal asked.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t what I figured, but how to kill you.¡± Zhou Wen gripped the Golden Wyrm Scissors in his hand tightly as all his Essence Energy crazily condensed into it.


    ¡°You said something similar previously. It doesn¡¯t seem to be effective,¡± Berserker Immortal said indifferently.


    ¡°Perhaps the effects will be better now.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind Berserker Immortal¡¯s mockery as he continued injecting his Essence Energy into the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    ¡°Some things shouldn¡¯t be randomly experimented on. If you want to try, you have to be prepared to die. I won¡¯t give you a chance to live.¡± Berserker Immortal was already filled with killing intent.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength had exceeded Berserker Immortal¡¯s expectations. He found it difficult to truly control him. Even if he barely subdued him, he might be the next Jiang Yan.


    Therefore, if Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t yield, Berserker Immortal planned on killing him. Then, he would choose Li Xuan, Ming Xiu, and Feng Qiuyan as the new representatives of the Immortals in the human world.


    ¡°Death is nothing to humans. Ever since humans were born, they knew that they would die. Humans cherish their lives more because life is short, but that doesn¡¯t mean they are afraid of death. As for you, you are different. You have never imagined dying, right? That¡¯s why you should be mentally prepared to die,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Humph!¡± Berserker Immortal snorted coldly as he retracted his finger. Thousands of sword beams slashed at Zhou Wen.


    Is


    Berserker Immortal had already made up his mind. If this strike couldn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen, he would turn around and return to Earth¡¯s Guide City before bringing Ming Xiu and company under control.


    To Berserker Immortal¡¯s surprise, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to continue using spatial skills to escape.


    Zhou Wen ignored the blood sword beams that surged over from all directions like a tidal wave. He raised the Golden Wyrm Scissors in his hand and fused with it as he stabbed at Berserker Immortal.


    A golden beam tore through the tidal-like blood sword beam and instantly appeared in front of Berserker Immortal.


    ¡°You are still too naive. That strange Companion Beast weapon can withstand my sword beams, but your body can¡¯t¡­ Enclose¡­¡± Berserker Immortal retreated as he spoke softly and clenched his fingers.


    Zhou Wen and the Golden Wyrm Scissors, who were surrounded by the blood sword beams, were immediately enveloped by them.


    The sword beams that were as tiny as neutrinos were everywhere as they struck Zhou Wen and the Golden Wyrm Scissors. The Golden Wyrm Scissors was extremely strong, so the sword beams couldn¡¯t injure it. It could still tear through the sword beams ahead of it.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have such a strong physique. The infinite sword beams tore through the Minor Heavenly Cycle Killing Formation and when they touched his body, they immediately stabbed in. In an instant, Zhou Wen¡¯s armor and flesh were dyed blood-red by the sword beams.


    It was the phenomenon of the sword beams entering his body. Following that, Zhou Wen¡¯s body would shatter into dust.


    Zhou Wen seemed to be at the end of his rope against the endless blood sword beams.


    Although Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t let down his guard, he couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief. It was best not to keep a human like Zhou Wen around. Zhou Wen choosing to fight him to the death suited his intentions.


    Although things didn¡¯t work out the way I expected, it¡¯s best if this human dies. Berserker Immortal watched as the countless blood sword beams stabbed into Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen¡¯s death seemed to be a foregone conclusion, but for some reason, he still felt uneasy.


    Berserker Immortal was very confident in his sword beams. Even a Calamity-grade creature would definitely be doomed if so many sword beams entered their bodies, much less a Terror-grade creature.


    However, he was still somewhat uneasy. Berserker Immortal didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen would be so foolish as to let him kill him in such a manner based on Zhou Wen¡¯s previous actions.


    However, Berserker Immortal couldn¡¯t figure out how Zhou Wen could reverse such a hopeless situation.


    Just as Berserker Immortal was pondering over it, he suddenly realized that Zhou Wen¡¯s body had undergone a strange change.


    The armor on Zhou Wen¡¯s body had already exploded. His already red body should have exploded with the armor, but it didn¡¯t.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body instantly turned into a blinding white liquid. It was the same liquid that was everywhere on Dubhe. The liquid exploded as energy and sword beams scattered everywhere like a blood sun.


    As for Zhou Wen and the Golden Wyrm Scissors, they appeared in the area behind Berserker Immortal. Then, they used instant transmission to appear right behind him. The Golden Wyrm Scissors tore through the sword beams and slashed at Berserker Immortal¡¯s head again.


    Berserker Immortal immediately reacted as he moved at high speeds. Infinite sword beams enveloped Zhou Wen again.


    However, this time, the sword beams remained useless. When the sword beams invaded Zhou Wen¡¯s body, his body turned into a blob of liquid.


    Zhou Wen had used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to an extremely ingenious level. He charged all the way and left a large number of spatial marks in Dubhe¡¯s liquid. Every time the sword beams entered his body, he would swap with a blob of liquid and have the intrusive sword beams be trapped inside the liquid. His true body would arrive at a safe spot.


    Zhou Wen constantly switched positions and constantly instant transmitted. Like a ghost, he attacked Berserker Immortal crazily.


    Berserker Immortal was surprised to discover that Zhou Wen¡¯s attack technique was 90% similar to his Berserker Technique.


    ¡°You must be dreaming if you think you can defeat me using my sword technique.¡± Seeing that his sword beams had lost their effect, Berserker Immortal extended his hand and beckoned. Thousands of sword beams condensed into the Sword of Blood again.


    Clang!


    However, when Berserker Immortal swung his sword and stabbed at Zhou Wen again, the Golden Wyrm Scissors blocked his Sword of Blood and sliced off a portion of it.


    ¡°How is this possible!¡± Berserker Immortal was shocked.


    His Berserker technique should have been one step ahead of Zhou Wen¡¯s Golden Wyrm Scissors, but Zhou Wen had actually blocked his sword. This left Berserker Immortal in disbelief.


    The broken Blood Sword transformed into thousands of sword beams before fusing into one again. Berserker Immortal struck again and again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Berserker Immortal¡¯s every strike was blocked by Zhou Wen¡¯s Golden Wyrm Scissors. Every time the Sword of Blood was sliced off, Zhou Wen pressed forward step by step as Berserker Immortal retreated.


    Impossible! How is this possible! He has already seen through my Berserker technique in such a short period of time? This is definitely impossible! Berserker Immortal was extremely shocked.


    It wasn¡¯t that there weren¡¯t any experts in the dimension who could fight him or even crack the Berserker technique, but they were all existences at the same or higher level than him. Furthermore, they often needed to study the Berserker technique for an extended period before cracking it.


    A human-a Terror-grade human-had actually cracked his Berserker technique in a short battle. This was even more magical than myths.

 Chapter 1522 - Unexpected

    Chapter 1522 Unexpected


    No matter how much Berserker Immortal refused to believe it, all his attacks were blocked by Zhou Wen. Berserker Immortal kept speeding up his sword, but they were still intercepted by Zhou Wen every time.


    It was as though a car was repeatedly overtaking another only to end with a collision. The Sword of Blood scattered in all directions. Although it would ultimately return to Berserker Immortal, the situation had already made a 180-degree turn.


    Zhou Wen held the absolute initiative as he struck again and again, forcing Berserker Immortal to retreat.


    Berserker Immortal had already changed his sword art, hoping to suppress Zhou Wen again, but no matter how his sword art changed, it was impossible to take back the advantage.


    Zhou Wen seemed to see through everything. No matter how his sword art changed, Zhou Wen could strike at his most uncomfortable spot and attack his weakness. It made him so uncomfortable that he nearly vomited blood.


    Berserker Immortal found it unacceptable that his sword art had been defeated by a human. This was even more intolerable than Wang Mingyuan slapping him twice. After the previous battle, The Disqualified had completely deduced all the weaknesses of Berserker Immortal. Zhou Wen now knew Berserker Immortal¡¯s weaknesses better than Berserker Immortal himself.


    ¡°I want you dead!¡± Berserker Immortal¡¯s strength erupted crazily, exceeding the limits of the ancient corpse¡¯s body. The ancient corpse¡¯s body constantly cracked as withered flesh fell from its body. It was about to collapse.


    Berserker Immortal seemed to have gone mad as he brandished the Sword of Blood and slashed at Zhou Wen crazily. He no longer cared if he would be injured by the Golden Wyrm Scissors. He wanted to split Zhou Wen¡¯s body before the Golden Wyrm Scissors could snap him.


    The two of them were vying for that initiative. No one was willing to retreat at this moment.


    Clang!


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand suddenly spread open as the scissors that were originally stabbing at Berserker Immortal split into two. The top part blocked the Sword of Blood that was slashing at Zhou Wen and instantly snapped it. The bottom part continued stabbing at Berserker Immortal without stopping, piercing through his chest.


    Not only did the heavily injured Berserker Immortal not show any signs of panic, but his lips even suffused a ferocious smile.


    ¡°Berserker Devouring the Heavens. The Door of Immortality seals one¡¯s life. You underestimate me too much. Enjoy your last moments.¡± A chain-like sword beam spewed out from Berserker Immortal¡¯s wound, instantly wrapping around the Golden Wyrm Scissors and Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The sword aura in Berserker Immortal¡¯s ancient corpse expanded like a balloon that was about to explode. Furthermore, it burgeoned constantly.


    W


    Zhou Wen struggled a few times, but he failed to escape. He felt as though his body was chained by the sword beam. He couldn¡¯t even escape the restrictions with teleportation.


    Even a powerful Companion Beast like the Golden Wyrm Scissors was firmly bound and unable to escape.


    ¡°Human, this is your destiny. You chose the wrong enemy. The power of this body¡¯s self-destruction will consign you to eternal damnation. As for me, I will leave this body and return to the dimension unharmed. The next time I return, I will turn all your family and friends into servants or send them to hell to accompany you¡­¡± Berserker Immortal¡¯s eyes were ferocious and smug, like a wolf that had caught its prey.


    However, before Berserker Immortal could finish his words, he suddenly frowned slightly. He looked down and saw that Zhou Wen had stabbed a sword into his body with his other hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. Your attack will only make this body explode faster. No matter how injured this body is, it won¡¯t affect me¡­¡± As Berserker Immortal spoke, his expression suddenly turned nasty.


    He realized that the immortal body attached to the ancient corpse was suffering damage. The source of the damage was the sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s left hand.


    ¡°This is¡­ the Immortal Culling Sword¡­ You are Human Sovereign¡­¡± Only then did Berserker Immortal seriously size up the sword. He was alarmed by what he saw.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer. The Immortal Culling Sword in his hand erupted with power as it sliced up from the ancient corpse¡¯s abdomen, tearing open its entire chest along with the sword beam chains.


    The Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s ability to restrain Immortals was just too powerful. The Immortal Culling Sword easily severed the Immortal Gate Life Lock that could seal the Golden Wyrm Scissors. It was not much different from slicing through tofu.


    What was even more terrifying was that the wound delivered by Immortal Culling Sword didn¡¯t only affect the ancient corpse. Berserker Immortal, who was attached to the ancient corpse, was also injured. Furthermore, the injuries were rapidly spreading


    Even someone as powerful as Berserker Immortal couldn¡¯t stop the injury inflicted by the Immortal Culling Sword from spreading.


    After Zhou Wen severed the Immortal Gate Life Lock, he slashed at Berserker Immortal with the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand again and again. At the instant the ancient corpse exploded, he instant transmitted into the distance.


    Boom!


    The ancient corpse exploded, triggering a large-scale energy explosion on Dubhe. Terrifying energy blasts and radiation made the nearby cosmos seem to burn.


    A red sword beam rushed out of the explosions on Dubhe.


    The sword beam hadn¡¯t gone far before it was intercepted by Zhou Wen who had instant transmitted over.


    The red glow was none other than Berserker Immortal who had escaped the ancient corpse¡¯s body. At that moment, his body seemed to be bound by invisible chains. The chains tightened as the sword beams on the red glow weakened.


    Furthermore, there were sword marks on the humanoid body condensed from the red glow. The sword marks constantly extended as they tore through Berserker Immortal¡¯s body.


    Berserker Immortal unleashed a barrage of sword beams in a bid to break through Zhou Wen¡¯s obstruction. Unfortunately, his Heaven-level strength was almost unable to reach the Hell level under the suppression of Earth¡¯s cosmic rules.


    Clang!


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors flashed as one of Berserker Immortal¡¯s arms was sliced off, making his already terrible situation even direr.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for this darn place, you would have died ten thousand times over. How could you injure me?¡± Berserker Immortal knew that it would be difficult for him to escape today, so he stopped fleeing and gathered his remaining strength to fight Zhou Wen to the death.


    ¡°Then why did you come?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he mercilessly slashed with the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand.


    Berserker Immortal was slightly taken aback. He had never expected such a situation when he came.


    If he had known that Zhou Wen was so ferocious, he wouldn¡¯t have given him a chance. If he had known that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign and possessed the Immortal Culling Sword, he wouldn¡¯t have used the Immortal Gate Life Lock that gave Zhou Wen a chance to approach him.


    It was too late. There were no what-ifs.


    At this point, Berserker Immortal was somewhat relieved. He looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I never expected Zhou Wen, Deceit King, and Human Sovereign to be the same person. You¡¯re very good. My loss wasn¡¯t in vain, but don¡¯t think that you won just like that. If you want my life, you have to pay the price.¡±


    With that said, without waiting for Zhou Wen to react, Berserker Immortal¡¯s red body suddenly transformed into thousands of sword beams. They bloomed in space like blood-red flowers.

 Chapter 1523 - Unknown Land

    Chapter 1523 Unknown Land


    Zhou Wen charged at Berserker Immortal, hoping to completely kill him to prevent any future trouble.


    The change caught him by surprise as the myriad sword beams appeared too quickly. Unable to use instant transmission, he could only brandish his sword to meet the sword beams.


    Thankfully, the sword beams spewed out in all directions, instead of being concentrated at Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen brandished the Immortal Culling Sword and the Golden Wyrm Scissors, hoping to shatter the sword beams ahead of him.


    However, to his surprise, the sword beams were like phantoms. Be it the Immortal Culling Sword or the Golden Wyrm Scissors, they failed to touch the sword beams.


    The sword beams even passed through Zhou Wen¡¯s body, forming a blood-red chrysanthemum that bloomed before instantly disappearing. Zhou Wen immediately checked his body and didn¡¯t discover any remnant imprints. He secretly heaved a sigh of relief. At the same time, he was puzzled as to what use the skill that Berserker Immortal had sacrificed himself for was.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked around, he couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback.


    This wasn¡¯t Dubhe at all. It was no longer scorching hot. Wherever he looked, there was an endless sea of beautiful flowers.


    What is this place? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked around. He felt that this was Earth. The composition of the air was very similar to Earth.


    However, after trying Singularity Universe, he realized that he couldn¡¯t determine his location, nor could he teleport out.


    Berserker Immortal sacrificed himself to teleport me here. It¡¯s definitely not a good place. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan his surroundings, but other than the sea of flowers, there was nothing here.


    What was even stranger was that there were only flowers here. Furthermore, there were no animals, no bees, no butterflies, not even a single insect, much less animals.


    The flowers looked very ordinary and didn¡¯t seem to be anything special. They weren¡¯t dimensional plants.


    What is this place? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out. All he could do was converge his aura, put on the Invisibility Cloak, and fly in a certain direction, hoping to discover some useful information.


    As he didn¡¯t know where he was, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare fly too quickly. He slowly flew forward. The endless sea of flowers remained after flying for about fifty kilometers. However, a creature finally appeared in the sea of flowers.


    That¡¯s¡­ the Devil? Zhou Wen looked at the creature sitting cross-legged in the sea of flowers and his heart sank.


    The creature was covered in red skin and had horns on its head. On its back was a pair of bat-like wings. Its face was like an ox and it looked ugly and strange. It was very similar to the legendary Devil in the West District.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of the devil, but he thought of a serious problem.


    If that was really a devil and this wasn¡¯t Earth, could it be the dimension?


    Don¡¯t tell me that fellow teleported me to the dimension¡¯s Devils? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that something was amiss.


    He had been to the dimension once. The spatial rules there were completely different from Earth¡¯s universe. Mythical creatures found it difficult to move there.


    Now that Zhou Wen was already at the Terror grade and could even match a Calamity-grade creature, there was definitely no problem with movement. However, it wasn¡¯t to the point of not feeling anything.


    The environment here didn¡¯t seem like the dimension. Instead, it was very close to Earth¡¯s.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the devil creature sitting cross-legged in the sea of flowers opened its eyes. Its black eyes immediately lit up as it stood up. It was more than four meters tall. To humans, it was considered a giant.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. The devil-like creature flapped the wings on its back, causing the flowers around it to splatter everywhere. The devil¡¯s figure vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s sight.


    Clang!


    The devil creature appeared above Zhou Wen and slashed at his head with its claw. Zhou Wen used the Golden Wyrm Scissors to block its claw.


    It was so fast that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the time to open the Golden Wyrm Scissors. All he did was use the scissors to block the claw.


    Zhou Wen felt a huge force coming from the Golden Wyrm Scissors. Unable to hold onto the Golden Wyrm Scissors, it was snatched away by the devil.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly ordered the Golden Wyrm Scissors to fly back.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors trembled incessantly in the devil¡¯s claws, but it failed to escape its claws and fly back.


    Zhou Wen was flabbergasted. The Golden Wyrm Scissors was a Hell-level Companion Beast, but it was actually immobilized. How powerful was that?


    Berserker Immortal has indeed teleported me to a terrifying place! Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and turned around to instant transmit. He didn¡¯t even want the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want it, but if the devil could even control the Golden Wyrm Scissors, then Zhou Wen was on a completely different level from it. He would probably die if he went over to snatch the Golden Wyrm Scissors from it.


    Just as Zhou Wen phased into existence, he saw a red light flash in front of him. The devil had already arrived in front of him. One of its claws grabbed the Golden Wyrm Scissors as its other claw swiped at Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    The blade-like nails looked like they might pierce through Zhou Wen¡¯s head and body if they really hit him.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Prisoned Dragon armor and donned it. He also pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword and stabbed at the devil¡¯s claw.


    Chi!


    The Immortal Culling Sword pierced through the devil¡¯s claw. Although the devil didn¡¯t cry out in pain, it subconsciously retracted its claw. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to instant transmit elsewhere.


    However, just like the last time, just as Zhou Wen phased into existence, he saw a red shadow flash. The devil had caught up to him again, and its injured claws had already healed. It grabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s head again.


    Zhou Wen now understood why Berserker Immortal hadn¡¯t sent him to the dimension¡¯s Immortals but to such a godforsaken place.


    The Immortal Culling Sword had a very strong restraining effect on Immortals. If Immortals were injured by the Immortal Culling Sword, it would be very difficult for their wounds to heal. It was even possible for the wound to constantly spread.


    However, against the devil, the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s effects weren¡¯t that obvious. At the very least, it didn¡¯t have any restraining effects.


    Zhou Wen was extremely depressed. This devil wasn¡¯t stronger than Berserker Immortal, who had been suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. However, Zhou Wen had had his most powerful weapon, the Golden Wyrm Scissors, snatched away from him. Previously, when he fought Berserker Immortal, the Soul Mirror had suffered serious damage. Now, it was still self-repairing and couldn¡¯t be used for the time being.


    He failed to gain the upper hand even with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to summon the Golden Sniper and have him shoot from afar to aid him in his battle with the devil.


    Zhou Wen thought that as long as the Golden Sniper fired the seventh bullet, he could cause a certain level of restraining effect on the devil. He might even severely injure it.


    To his surprise, just as the Golden Sniper fired the second bullet, the devil strangely appeared behind him and swatted the Golden Sniper who was hiding in the flowers, sending him and the sniper rifle flying.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t reacted fast enough and unsummoned the Golden Sniper, the Golden Sniper would probably have died if the devil dealt another blow.

 Chapter 1524 - Colorful Devil

    Chapter 1524 Colorful Devil


    Zhou Wen could only constantly move and use instant transmission to dodge the devil¡¯s attacks.


    The devil held the Golden Wyrm Scissors in one hand, making it difficult for it to escape. However, its combat strength was still terrifying. It was undoubtedly a Hell-level creature.


    The sea of flowers was boundless. Just as Zhou Wen was instant transmitting, he suddenly realized that another devil had appeared in front of him.


    The devil in front of him looked almost identical to the red devil that was pursuing Zhou Wen. It was also sitting cross-legged in the sea of flowers. The only difference was that the devil¡¯s skin was blue.


    When the blue devil sensed the commotion, it opened its eyes and looked in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction. Suddenly, it flapped its wings and flew into the air, transforming into a blue shadow that appeared in front of Zhou Wen and grabbed at his head.


    Zhou Wen already had a plan. At the instant the blue devil¡¯s claw was about to touch his head, his figure vanished and he instant transmitted in another direction.


    Seeing the blue devil almost collide with the red devil behind him, Zhou Wen looked forward to seeing them fight.


    However, to his surprise, the red and blue devils stopped their attacks and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Holy sh*t, isn¡¯t it said that devils are most territorial? Why didn¡¯t these two different-looking devils fight? Zhou Wen was depressed, but he could only continue fleeing.


    It was already very difficult to fight a single devil. Now that he was being pursued by two devils, Zhou Wen¡¯s situation became even more difficult. All he could do was summon the Chaos Egg.


    As he used the Chaos Egg to block the devils¡¯ attacks, he used instant transmission to escape.


    What kind of crappy place is this? Apart from the sea of flowers, can¡¯t there be anything else? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how far he had fled. He estimated it to be more than ten thousand kilometers. Apart from the sea of flowers, he didn¡¯t see anything.


    Zhou Wen originally hoped to leave the sea of flowers and have a place like a mountain range that could provide him with concealment. Perhaps, he could find a place to hide. To his surprise, this godforsaken place was an endless plain. There weren¡¯t any undulations, much less a mountain range.


    This definitely isn¡¯t the Devil realm. Why are there so many flowers in the Devil realm? It should be a hellish scene. Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed, he was alarmed to discover another devil in front of him.


    This devil had purple skin. Its appearance was similar to the other two devils. It also charged over.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly, Did Berserker Immortal transport me to a rainbow devil lair? Can I summon Shenron to grant me a wish after I gather all seven devils? If I¡¯m given a wish, I have to get Shenron to change my luck. Even if I can¡¯t be as lucky as Wang Lu, it will allow me to live a peaceful life.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen was ganked by three devils as the Chaos Egg flew around like a baseball. The solid Essence Energy Crystals in it rapidly increased, and in a short period of time, it nearly filled the Chaos Egg.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was prepared. He used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to transfer the solid Essence Energy crystals condensed from the Chaos Egg to Tyrant Behemoth.


    Thankfully, the three devils¡¯ strength and speed were terrifying, but they weren¡¯t to the point of directly blasting apart the Chaos Egg. Zhou Wen could barely preserve his life.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare run further. After running for so long, he hadn¡¯t found an opportunity to escape. Instead, he attracted two more devils. Who knew how many more devils there would be if he continued running?


    I don¡¯t have many cards that I can use. Only the Immortal Culling Sword and the Golden Sniper are still useful, but under the siege of three devils, it¡¯s too difficult to deliver a counterattack. Zhou Wen thought about it and didn¡¯t think of a way to resolve his current predicament.


    If Truth Listener can come out, there might still be hope. Zhou Wen tried summoning Truth Listener again. Although he could sense the connection with Truth Listener, he couldn¡¯t get Truth Listener out of its earring form.


    As for Tyrant Behemoth, after devouring a large number of Essence Energy Crystals, it showed signs of breaking through.


    This glutton is still the best. As long as there¡¯s food, it can evolve. Zhou Wen was very envious, but even if Tyrant Behemoth advanced to the Calamity grade, it would only be at the Human Realm. Under such circumstances, it wasn¡¯t of much use.


    Furthermore, Tyrant Behemoth only showed signs of evolution. It was unknown how long it would take for it to truly evolve.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen thought of Demonic Neonate, but he was somewhat hesitant.


    In fact, when he first saw the devil, Zhou Wen had already thought of Demonic Neonate. Demonic Neonate seemed to have an inextricable connection with the creatures of the demonic realm, but Demonic Neonate looked like she was related to the East District¡¯s demonic realm. Grim Demon was also a Guardian of the East District¡¯s demonic realm.


    As for devils, they were devils from the West District. He didn¡¯t know if Demonic Neonate would be useful.


    After all, she was only at the Mythical stage. If they didn¡¯t acknowledge her, she probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand a single slap.


    However, Zhou Wen was protected by the Chaos Egg. Demonic Neonate was petite, so she could be summoned inside the Chaos Egg. He could summon her to take a look.


    Since there was no other way, Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms while carrying the Demonic Sword. Her clear eyes seemed to be able to penetrate the Chaos Egg as she stared at the devils attacking the Chaos Egg.


    The purple devil¡¯s claws stabbed into the Chaos Egg, severely deforming it before it bounced off at the speed of light.


    In the air, the red devil had already caught up. He kicked the Chaos Egg and sent it flying like a baseball.


    The spatial compression in the Chaos Egg pressed Demonic Neonate¡¯s face against Zhou Wen¡¯s chest, causing it to deform. The Essence Energy Crystals that condensed landed on Demonic Neonate¡¯s body, almost burying her.


    Zhou Wen was just about to teleport the Essence Energy Crystal to Tyrant Behemoth and get Demonic Neonate to take a good look to see if it was possible to placate the three devils when Demonic Neonate¡¯s figure surprisingly flashed as she rushed out of the Chaos Egg. As though she had teleported, she appeared outside the Chaos Egg.


    Why did she leave! Zhou Wen was alarmed because the red devil was charging at Demonic Neonate. Its dagger-like nails were about to stab Demonic Neonate¡¯s face.


    Zhou Wen wore a look of horror. He wanted to pull Demonic Neonate back, but it was too late.


    Unbeknown to him, the red devil also wore a look of horror. Its high-speed body came to an abrupt halt, stopping in front of Demonic Neonate before its nails touched her.


    Its nails were less than a centimeter away from Demonic Neonate¡¯s face.


    Zhou Wen could even see the red devil¡¯s forehead sweating.


    The scene froze for a second before the red devil seemed to come to its senses. It suddenly retracted its claws and took two steps back. Then, with a plop, it knelt in front of Demonic Neonate and prostrated on the ground. It wasn¡¯t just the red devil. The blue and purple devils on the other two sides also prostrated.

 Chapter 1525 - Land of the Fallen

    Chapter 1525 Land of the Fallen


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. He never expected Demonic Neonate to be so useful. These three devils were likely existences at the Hell level. It was truly surprising that they were so afraid of the Mythical Demonic Neonate.


    Hum!


    The red devil released its claw and the Golden Wyrm Scissors returned to Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    With the Golden Wyrm Scissors in hand, Zhou Wen regained some of his confidence. He stood behind Demonic Neonate and sized up the three trembling devils who were prostrating on the ground.


    From their present state, it was difficult to imagine that they were Hell-level existences.


    Demonic Neonate reached out to grab the hilt of the Demonic Sword, but she didn¡¯t pull it out. Together with the scabbard, she slammed it on the red devil¡¯s head.


    The red devil didn¡¯t dare move. It allowed Demonic Neonate to smash it a few times, but it still lay there, not daring to resist.


    After hitting it a few times, Demonic Neonate seemed to be appeased. Only then did she retract the Demonic Sword and hug it in her arms again. She floated in the air and looked around for a while.


    ¡°Over there.¡± Demonic Neonate landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder and pointed in a direction. Clearly, she wanted Zhou Wen to head over.


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously as he walked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Demonic Neonate shook her head.


    Zhou Wen wore an odd expression, but at that moment, he could only listen to Demonic Neonate and fly over.


    The three devils didn¡¯t dare get up. They were like monkeys on all fours as they crawled behind Zhou Wen. They didn¡¯t dare get too close, nor did they dare stay too far. They looked very nervous and awkward. ¡°Neonate, do you know where this is?¡± Zhou Wen asked Demonic Neonate again.


    Demonic Neonate shook her head again. This time, she didn¡¯t even say a word.


    That¡¯s true. Demonic Neonate was originally a muddle-headed toddler. After I killed her, she was absorbed by the Dead Man Tree and reborn as a Companion Beast. She no longer has her former memories. Even if she knew where this place was in the past, she shouldn¡¯t know now. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he said to Demonic Neonate, ¡°Neonate, release Grim Demon. I have something to ask him.¡±


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Demonic Neonate automatically unsheathed the Demonic Sword in her arms. A demonic aura surged out and quickly transformed into Grim Demon.


    ¡°Boohoo, I¡¯m finally out. The air outside is so sweet¡­¡± After Grim Demon came out, he greedily took a breath, so excited that he was on the brink of tears.


    ¡°Ah!¡± When Grim Demon saw the three devils behind him, he was immediately given a fright. He flew backward and was about to escape into the Demonic Sword.


    Bang!


    Demonic Neonate struck him on the head with the sword, knocking Grim Demon to the ground.


    Grim Demon got up from the ground as though his mind had cleared up. He stood up and shouted majestically at the three devils, ¡°Three puny devils. How dare you act so presumptuously in front of your Grandpa Grim Demon? Quickly kneel down and apologize to me.¡±


    The three devils ignored him and only looked at Demonic Neonate¡¯s expression from afar.


    ¡°Cut the crap. Grim Demon, do you know where this is?¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    ¡°What else could it be? Of course it¡¯s the territory of the Devils. Why are you here? Why did you come to the dimension for no reason? Do you think you¡¯ve lived too long? Isn¡¯t it nice to live a comfortable life? Thankfully, this is a place for the Devils. With my lady here, she can protect you. If you were anywhere else, you would have been chopped up countless times. It¡¯s fine if you die, but don¡¯t implicate my lady¡­¡± Grim Demon shouted unhappily. Zhou Wen thought to himself, Do you think I want to come to this crappy place? I was forcefully sent in here, alright!?


    ¡°You said that this is the dimension? Then why don¡¯t I sense the dimension¡¯s laws suppressing me?¡± The last time Zhou Wen came to the dimension, he couldn¡¯t see anything. Everything around him seemed distorted and abstract. Furthermore, there was a huge pressure, but that didn¡¯t exist here.


    ¡°It¡¯s different here.¡± Grim Demon looked at the surrounding sea of flowers and said with a strange expression, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this should be the Land of the Fallen.¡±


    ¡°Land of the Fallen?¡± Zhou Wen had never heard of such a place.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of the myths and legends of the fallen angels from the West District?¡± Grim Demon frowned.


    ¡°Are you talking about Satan or Lucifer?¡± Zhou Wen knew that there were actually several versions of the Fallen Angel. He knew more about Satan and Lucifer¡¯s versions. Some people also said that Satan was Lucifer.


    Satan, the lord of all evil, originally lived in Heaven, but due to his defeat in the war with God, he was banished to hell.


    Legend had it that Lucifer was an angel, and he was the angel closest to God. Later, God created the progenitor of humanity, Adam, and named him the Messiah. He requested angels to kneel and worship Adam.


    Michael and the other angels followed God¡¯s orders and knelt in front of Adam. Only Lucifer didn¡¯t kneel.


    Lucifer believed that angels had lost their freedom by serving God. If they knelt before humans again, even their dignity and pride would be lost. Therefore, he refused to kneel before Adam.


    The angels behind Lucifer also refused to kneel to Adam. They abandoned their faith and fear and plucked up their courage to fight God. Although they were ultimately defeated and banished to hell, Lucifer became synonymous with the terms pride and dignity. He was also the King of Hell.


    ¡°Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven¡±¡ªthis was Lucifer¡¯s famous saying.


    Of course, there were also people who said that Satan and Lucifer were the same person. There were also various versions of legends that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand in detail. That was all he knew.


    ¡°In fact, I¡¯ve never been to the dimension¡¯s Land of the Fallen, nor do I know if Satan and Lucifer are the same person. However, in the divine wars during Earth¡¯s mythical era, there were once fallen angels and demons participating in the battle. One of the fallen angels was extremely terrifying. Under the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules, it still killed countless deities. As it was dyed with too much divine blood, its pure white feathers were dyed black by layers of blood. It was one of the few existences that could barely match me¡­¡±


    After a pause, Grim Demon continued, ¡°I heard them say that they come from the Land of the Fallen. It¡¯s a place of imprisonment that grants them immortality. There are endless flowers that never wither. It represents eternal life, but it also represents eternal damnation.¡±


    ¡°Since the Land of the Fallen is the territory of the fallen angels, it shouldn¡¯t be the same place as yours, right? Why are these devils afraid of Neonate?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Grim Demon and asked. Grim Demon clearly knew something about Demonic Neonate.


    Grim Demon looked at Zhou Wen in contempt and said, ¡°Don¡¯t use your narrow and ignorant standards to measure my lady. Ignoring mere devils, even¡­¡±


    As though realizing that he had said too much, Grim Demon changed the topic and said, ¡°However, in my lady¡¯s present state, it¡¯s best not to let those terrifying fellows see her. It will be troublesome if she¡¯s recognized. Why did you come here for no reason? Are you courting death?¡±

 Chapter 1526 - Satan?

    Chapter 1526 Satan?


    Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon a few more questions, but Grim Demon wasn¡¯t willing to elaborate on Demonic Neonate. It was useless no matter how Zhou Wen threatened him.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t seem to care about her origins. She sat on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder as though she was listening to something that had nothing to do with her.


    Zhou Wen proceeded in the direction Demonic Neonate had pointed. As for what was there, even Grim Demon didn¡¯t know. This was the first time Grim Demon had come to the Land of the Fallen. He had only heard of it in the past, so he had no idea what was there. He couldn¡¯t sense what was in the direction Demonic Neonate had pointed in either.


    After Zhou Wen walked for some time, he found another devil in front of him. This time, it was a golden devil.


    The golden devil¡¯s reaction when it saw Demonic Neonate was the same as the three previous devils. It immediately prostrated as though it had seen its god.


    Demonic Neonate ignored him and pointed in another direction. Zhou Wen had no choice but to continue walking over.


    The places Demonic Neonate pointed each had a devil-red, blue, purple, gold, green, white, and black. All seven devils were really gathered.


    Could these things really be used to summon Shenron? That¡¯s not right. Even if something can be summoned, it should be summoning the devil king himself, Satan. Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he didn¡¯t stop walking. He continued walking in the direction Demonic Neonate had pointed.


    As the sea of flowers was boundless, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t know where the exit was without following Demonic Neonate¡¯s directions.


    Furthermore, without Demonic Neonate suppressing those devils, there was almost no chance of Zhou Wen fighting seven alone.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that another devil would appear, but he didn¡¯t encounter another devil after a long walk. Even Grim Demon felt a little impatient.


    This place was beautiful, but no matter how beautiful it was, it felt infinitely repetitive after being inundated by the same sights. It slowly became terrifying. This sea of flowers was the same. It was beautiful at first glance, but the longer it lasted, the more eerie and terrifying it became. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think it was wrong to call it hell.


    After walking for an unknown period of time, a different scene finally appeared in front of them¡ªa strange building.


    The building looked like a foundation, like the bottom of an incomplete pyramid. However, a pyramid wasn¡¯t in the same system as angels and devils. It didn¡¯t seem to belong here.


    Demonic Neonate seemed to sense something as she pointed at the strange building and said, ¡°There.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Demonic Neonate shook her head again.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to fly up. He wanted to see what was inside the building from afar.


    He flew into the air and carefully observed the building. Although the building looked like the bottom of a pyramid, it was still somewhat different.


    The building looked like it was made of rocks, but upon careful inspection, the rocks were somewhat special. They didn¡¯t seem to be real rocks, but more like some kind of concrete. Many of the rocks were mixed with gravel and shells.


    There were many broken walls on it. He couldn¡¯t tell if they had not been completed or if they had been destroyed after completion. However, he was certain that this building looked nothing like the original building. There should be at least one floor or more above it. For some reason, there was only the lowest floor left.


    Zhou Wen was still observing the strange building when Demonic Neonate jumped down and walked towards the door on the side of the building.


    This building¡¯s style was very strange, and it was difficult to tell where it came from. Seeing Demonic Neonate walk towards the door, the seven devils quickly circled the door and prostrated in front of it. They kowtowed to Demonic Neonate as though begging her not to enter.


    Demonic Neonate ignored them as Grim Demon charged forward and kicked the devil in front of Demonic Neonate to the side.


    With Demonic Neonate around, the few devils didn¡¯t dare resist. They only knelt by the side and kowtowed repeatedly. They whispered as though they were pleading.


    ¡°Scram, scram, what are you screaming for?¡± Grim Demon led the way and protected Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen watched from behind with an odd expression. No matter how he looked at the scene, it felt like a landowner bullying the poor with his servants.


    However, when he thought of how these bullied fellows were terrifying existences at the Hell level, Zhou Wen found it odder.


    Grim Demon pushed open the sealed door and air rushed into the building as dust flew everywhere. It was unknown how long it had been since someone had entered.


    Zhou Wen followed Demonic Neonate into the building and immediately realized that there were no statues or murals related to religions in the huge building.


    There were only some simple symbols and words inside the building. In the middle of the building was a platform with many flowers on it.


    From the looks of the flowers, they must have been plucked from outside and placed on the platform. It was unknown how long they had been lying there, but the flowers were still fresh and beautiful. There were no signs of them withering.


    And on the flowers lay a girl with long silver hair.


    The girl looked no different from a human. She wore a white nightgown as though she was asleep. However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear her breathing, nor did he sense any vitality from her.


    However, when Zhou Wen saw the girl¡¯s face, his mouth gaped open. He was speechless.


    The long-haired woman¡¯s looks were very similar to Sweetie¡¯s. However, Sweetie was blonde while she had silver hair. The other parts of her were very similar. Even her height and weight were very similar. If Sweetie is really God¡­ Then this silver-haired girl¡­ Could she be the legendary Satan¡­ Zhou Wen found it increasingly odd.


    Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t in the mood to size up the girl like Zhou Wen. She walked straight to the platform.


    The seven devils also crawled in and knelt in front of the stone platform. They kept kowtowing to Demonic Neonate as they let out sobbing sounds. It was obvious that they were pleading


    Demonic Neonate ignored them and walked onto the stone platform. She stepped on the petals and reached out to touch the girl.


    Bang!


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s body seemed to be suddenly repelled by a force. Like a cannonball, she slammed into the distant wall.


    Zhou Wen instant transmitted over and pressed a hand on Demonic Neonate¡¯s back. Immediately, he felt a massive force surge over.


    Zhou Wen used Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to draw the force acting on Demonic Neonate into his body before pressing one hand on the wall.


    Boom!


    The rocks under Zhou Wen¡¯s palm shattered as cracks radiated outward.


    Demonic Neonate seemed extremely indignant as she flashed to the front of the platform and stared intently at the girl¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen followed her and traced Demonic Neonate¡¯s gaze. He saw the girl¡¯s finger. On her finger was a ring with a gem embedded in it.


    The gem was crystalline and shimmered like a star. The brilliance was clear but not cold.

 Chapter 1527 - The Gem on the Ring

    Chapter 1527 The Gem on the Ring


    Demonic Neonate wanted to reach out to pluck the girl¡¯s ring, but after some hesitation, she didn¡¯t extend her hand. She turned to look at Zhou Wen with a pleading look in her eyes.


    ¡°Grim Demon, do you know the origins of this girl?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen her before. At the very least, she didn¡¯t appear in the wars of the Mythical era.¡± Grim Demon looked carefully for a while and said after some thought, ¡°However, to be protected by these seven extraordinary devils, she must have a huge background. It¡¯s best not to touch her if possible.¡±


    Zhou Wen also felt that it was best not to touch her if he could. She resembled Sweetie too much. If she was really as powerful as Sweetie, it would be impossible to take anything from her.


    However, this girl looked lifeless. The huge commotion just now hadn¡¯t woken her up. She might already be dead.


    Zhou Wen decided to give it a try after looking down at Demonic Neonate and seeing her expectant gaze. Zhou Wen knew that although his level was higher than Demonic Neonate¡¯s, it wasn¡¯t that much safer for him to retrieve something that Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t.


    After summoning and putting on the Prisoned Dragon armor, Zhou Wen gathered all his strength to defend himself. Only then did he reach out to take off the girl¡¯s ring.


    The seven devils bared their teeth as though they wanted to skin Zhou Wen alive. Demonic Neonate glared at them before they immediately shrank back, only to glare at Zhou Wen from below.


    Bang!


    Just as Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers touched the ring, he felt a powerful expelled force. His body slammed into the wall like a pellet.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg in time. It bounced back and forth between the walls before slowly stopping.


    Why is this power much stronger than when Demonic Neonate made the attempt? Zhou Wen spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Although Demonic Neonate had been repelled by the force when retrieving it, the force was clearly much weaker than Zhou Wen¡¯s attempt. Otherwise, Demonic Neonate¡¯s body probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand the instantaneous force that sent her flying


    Zhou Wen returned to the platform and looked at the silver-haired girl with a frown; he had no idea if she was alive or dead.


    He had pretty good recovery abilities, so his injuries were slowly recovering, but even if he recovered, he probably couldn¡¯t take the ring if he tried the same method.


    Demonic Neonate was still staring at the ring. Clearly, she was very concerned about it.


    Zhou Wen stared at the ring for a while longer. The ring was made of metal, but he didn¡¯t know what metal it was. The gem wasn¡¯t a diamond. Amidst its crystalline appearance, there was a faint blue tinge.


    It was clearly transparent, but no matter how he looked at it, he couldn¡¯t see the gem¡¯s interior.


    ¡°Do you want the ring or the gem?¡± Zhou Wen asked Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Gem,¡± Demonic Neonate hurriedly said.


    ¡°That makes things easier.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and got it to snip at the ring¡¯s metal ring with Clean Break.


    Clang!


    With a metallic clang, the Golden Wyrm Scissors, which could split Hell-level creatures and weapons into two, failed to leave a mark on the metal ring.


    Instead, the Golden Wyrm Scissors was sent flying, nearly grazing Zhou Wen¡¯s cheek. If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t dodged quickly, half his head would have been chopped off.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors stabbed into the wall, leaving only the handle outside. The Golden Wyrm Scissors trembled for a while before flying back out.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. The powerful destructive power of the Golden Wyrm Scissors failed to injure the ring. It was probably very difficult to remove the ring.


    Demonic Neonate wanted the ring so much, so it was probably essential to her. It was very likely to help her evolve. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to give up just like that.


    It was too difficult to evolve Demonic Neonate. She didn¡¯t eat crystals at all. Ordinary things couldn¡¯t help her evolve. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to find something she needed, so he had to give it another try.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and summoned the Immortal Culling Sword again. He slashed at the ring with all his might.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Immortal Culling Sword flew out, but the ring remained unharmed.


    What¡¯s this ring? Is this girl really Satan? Zhou Wen increasingly felt that the possibility of the girl being Satan was very high.


    In many legends, Satan was a monster like a snake or a crimson dragon, but the girl in front of him was abnormally beautiful. If she was Satan, Zhou Wen was more willing to believe that Satan and Lucifer were the same person.


    Sweetie is God, so Lucifer, the fallen angel, is this girl. It seems reasonable. After all, angels are also created by God. Perhaps Lucifer was created in God¡¯s image. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and decided to give it another try.


    Since it was impossible to forcefully snap the ring, Zhou Wen could only think of a way to remove it from the girl¡¯s finger.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen cultivated in many Essence Energy Arts. He circulated different Essence Energy Arts, hoping that there was a power that prevented the ring or the girl¡¯s powers from rejecting him. Perhaps he could successfully remove the ring.


    Bang!


    The First Order of Chaos failed to succeed as Zhou Wen was sent flying.


    Bang!


    The Dao Sutra failed as well.


    Bang! Bang!


    The Qi Refinement Art, Demon God Bloodline Catalog, Godfiend Era, and other Essence Energy Arts failed one after another. As long as he touched the ring, Zhou Wen would immediately be repelled.


    Zhou Wen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and walked to the girl¡¯s side again. This time, he circulated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. This was already his last Essence Energy Art. If it didn¡¯t work, he would probably have to give up.


    The Human Sovereign glow on Zhou Wen¡¯s body bloomed, turning him into a blob of light. He extended his glowing palm and touched the ring again.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen was sent flying faster than ever, almost at light speed. He slammed into the wall before he could even summon the Chaos


    Egg.


    With a loud boom, even the extremely hard and thick wall collapsed.


    Cracks appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s Prisoned Dragon armor as a large area on his back shattered.


    Pfft! Blood spewed out of Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth as he struggled to get onto his feet a few times, but to no avail. He felt as though his body had fallen apart with an unknown number of bones shattering.


    Demonic Neonate came to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and sized up his injuries. Her eyes were filled with anxiety as she shook her head at him as though she wanted to tell him not to try again. She didn¡¯t want the gem anymore.


    Zhou Wen summoned a Mythical pill essence and swallowed it as a pill. His injuries rapidly healed and he quickly recovered.


    Zhou Wen stood up and wanted to walk towards the girl, but Demonic Neonate grabbed his clothes.


    ¡°Don¡¯t want.¡± Demonic Neonate shook her head at Zhou Wen with a firm gaze.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already tried so many times, so one more won¡¯t make a difference.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to try again without using any other powers; he would only use the Lost Immortal Sutra this time.

 Chapter 1528 - Success

    Chapter 1528 Success


    The Lost Immortal Sutra itself was very pure without any special attributes. It didn¡¯t have much augmentation effect on the body. Only its usage of Essence Energy was very powerful.


    However, this strength wasn¡¯t targeted at combat. Therefore, Zhou Wen seldom used the Lost Immortal Sutra in combat. He would basically add a simulated Essence Energy Art to it.


    I hope it¡¯s of some use. Zhou Wen was only making a last-ditch effort. At this stage, he couldn¡¯t give up unless he tried all the possibilities.


    In fact, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to circulate the Lost Immortal Sutra himself. It constantly circulated in his body.


    He removed the various augmentation powers and restored the most primitive state of the Lost Immortal Sutra. ¡°Even her lady can¡¯t take it. It¡¯s useless even if you try again. It¡¯s best you leave quickly. I have a nagging feeling that something is amiss here.¡± Grim Demon didn¡¯t wish to stay in such a dangerous place any longer and urged Zhou Wen to leave quickly.


    Zhou Wen ignored him. After returning the Lost Immortal Sutra to its original form, he unsummoned the Prisoned Dragon armor on his body and extended his hand to touch the girl¡¯s hand.


    In fact, Zhou Wen knew that the chances of success weren¡¯t high. Even the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping technique couldn¡¯t remove the ring. The chances of an Essence Energy Art like the Lost Immortal Sutra without any special augmentation succeeding were slim.


    Zhou Wen wanted to see if the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s simulation ability was effective. Perhaps it could simulate the girl¡¯s aura.


    Of course, this was just a wild hope. The Demon God Bloodline Catalog couldn¡¯t even scan the girl¡¯s body and transform him into her appearance. An Essence Energy Art like the Lost Immortal Sutra that purely simulated auras probably had nothing when the other party had zero aurae.


    With all sorts of thoughts flashing through his mind, Zhou Wen¡¯s finger touched the ring on the girl¡¯s finger.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared to be sent flying, but nothing happened when his fingertip touched the ring.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡± Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    Although the Lost Immortal Sutra couldn¡¯t simulate the girl¡¯s aura, the girl was like a dead person. There was no aura, nor was there any way to simulate it.


    However, the ordinary Lost Immortal Sutra allowed Zhou Wen to finally touch the ring.


    ¡°Gal, the ring is useless with you anyway. Lend it to me. If you need anything in the future, tell me in a dream. If you want clothes, houses, or money, I¡¯ll burn them all for you,¡± Zhou Wen said as he carefully lifted the girl¡¯s finger and slowly removed the ring with his other hand.


    Roar! Seeing the ring slide across the girl¡¯s slender fingers, the seven devils immediately flew into a rage. All sorts of light spewed out from their bodies, transforming into devil phantoms that enveloped their bodies. All of them roared ferociously, gearing to rush over and tear Zhou Wen apart.


    ¡°Scram!¡± Demonic Neonate shouted softly. The auras of the seven enraged devils immediately extinguished. Although they didn¡¯t immediately retreat, they didn¡¯t dare rush forward anymore. They stood there with conflicted expressions.


    Taking this opportunity, Zhou Wen took the ring from the girl¡¯s finger. Nothing happened.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhou Wen placed the ring in his palm and pressed his palms together. He bowed at the girl before throwing the ring to Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°How did you remove it? Don¡¯t tell me you were deliberately putting on an act to win my lady¡¯s favor?¡± Grim Demon looked at Zhou Wen suspiciously.


    Zhou Wen had unleashed all sorts of powers without being able to remove the ring. Yet, he now managed to remove the ring without doing anything special. It made Grim Demon suspect that his previous actions were just an act.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered with him. When the seven devils saw the ring land in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand, they deflated and didn¡¯t rush forward again.


    Demonic Neonate caught the ring in her left palm. The ring itself didn¡¯t reject her. When Demonic Neonate¡¯s finger touched the gem on the ring, the gem was like a water droplet that landed on Demonic Neonate¡¯s fingertip. It shook slightly like water droplets on a lotus leaf or transparent jelly.


    Demonic Neonate threw the ring on the ground and placed the jelly-like gem into her mouth.


    What a prodigal! Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the ring when he saw Demonic Neonate throw it to the ground.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Immortal Culling Sword had failed to scuff the ring. It was obvious that it was extraordinary.


    Zhou Wen held the ring and wiped the dust off it with his hand, planning on putting it in the chaos space. Perhaps it would be of some use in the future.


    Before putting it in, Zhou Wen tried pinching it, but to his surprise, the metal ring snapped with a crack.


    Zhou Wen was immediately dumbfounded when he saw the ring break into several pieces.


    What the hell is this? It was clearly so hard just now. Why did it suddenly become so weak! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t accept this outcome. He picked up the fragments and pinched them again, only to have them shatter into smaller pieces.


    Isn¡¯t this just ordinary metal? Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. After all this trouble, this thing was basically ordinary metal. The only good thing was the gem. The ring¡¯s former hardness was either a result of the gem or the strangeness of the girl¡¯s body.


    After Demonic Neonate ate the gem, she staggered as though she was drunk and fell.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly flashed to Demonic Neonate¡¯s side and picked her up.


    ¡°Neonate, are you alright?¡± Zhou Wen patted Demonic Neonate¡¯s cheek, hoping to wake her up.


    ¡°I¡¯m about to sleep¡­¡± Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t even open her eyes as she said in a daze. She turned around and curled up in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms. She grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes and quickly fell asleep.


    Zhou Wen called out a few more times, but Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t respond at all. She fell asleep just like that.


    What¡¯s going on? Is she evolving? Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate in his arms and was momentarily at a loss.


    Typically, when Companion Beasts evolved, their bodies would rapidly mutate. Even the types with slower mutations would form an energy barrier, allowing them to slowly evolve in an energy environment.


    However, Demonic Neonate only looked drunk and asleep. There were no intense energy fluctuations from her body, nor did her body undergo any abnormal changes.


    What was even stranger was that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t unsummon Demonic Neonate when he tried


    ¡°Grim Demon, what¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon and asked with a frown.


    ¡°This¡­ I¡¯m not too sure either¡­ I told you to leave¡­ You randomly gave her lady food¡­ Look, there¡¯s a problem now¡­¡± Grim Demon wasn¡¯t sure what was going on.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan Demonic Neonate¡¯s body, but he didn¡¯t discover any problems. It was as though she had really fallen asleep.


    Crack!


    The stone platform beneath their feet suddenly shook as Zhou Wen and Grim Demon hurriedly flew up. The stone platform where the silver-haired girl lay slowly sank.

 Chapter 1529 - A Lost Paradise

    Chapter 1529 A Lost Paradise


    The stone platform slowly sank, revealing a bottomless abyss beneath it. There was no light in the deep hole below. Even looking into it made one feel as though they were being devoured.


    As the stone platform descended, the girl lying on it gradually became blurry.


    Zhou Wen was sizing up the bottomless pit when he suddenly saw the girl open her eyes and smile at him strangely. She opened her mouth as though she was saying something.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hear anything, nor did he know what she was talking about.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but tremble as the girl and the stone platform sank into the bottomless abyss, nowhere to be seen again.


    ¡°Was that an illusion?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if he had really seen the girl open her eyes and speak.


    However, he remembered the pair of silver irises and the strange smile very clearly.


    It shouldn¡¯t be an illusion, right? Zhou Wen tried his best to recall the girl¡¯s mouth shapes, hoping to guess what she was mouthing.


    However, before Zhou Wen could give it much thought, the entire building collapsed as though there was an earthquake. The seven devils glared at Zhou Wen and jumped into the bottomless abyss. In the blink of an eye, the seven devils were gone.


    Zhou Wen and Grim Demon didn¡¯t dare take the risk to jump in. All they could do was escape the building. Not long after they came out, the building completely collapsed as though it had been sucked into a bottomless abyss. Soon, even the ruins vanished. The bottomless abyss-like crater was nowhere to be seen.


    The spot where the building was originally located turned into a mud pit. Soon, ageless flowers grew out of the pit as though the building and the bottomless abyss had never existed.


    ¡°Grim Demon, did you see that girl open her eyes?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°No, when did she open her eyes?¡± Grim Demon asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Not long after the stone platform sank into the crater and was about to enter the darkness, she seemed to open her eyes and mouth something. Didn¡¯t you see it?¡± Zhou Wen explained in detail.


    ¡°Were you seeing things? I was staring at her from beginning to end. I didn¡¯t see her open her eyes even when she vanished, much less speak,¡± Grim Demon said with certainty.


    Zhou Wen frowned silently. Although he felt his mind go adrift for a little moment as though he was dreaming, his brain still remembered it clearly. It was unlikely to be a mistake.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask further since Grim Demon didn¡¯t see her. He looked at Demonic Neonate in his arms. She was still sleeping soundly. Her lips were even sucking her thumb.


    ¡°We have to think of a way to return.¡± Zhou Wen looked around, hoping to find a way to return to Earth.


    Zhou Wen had previously been to the dimension, but he had Ice Maiden leading the way, allowing him to return. He didn¡¯t know how to return now.


    ¡°I think we should stay here and wait for my lady to wake up. It might be more dangerous to run around in such a place,¡± said Grim Demon.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that Grim Demon was right, but he didn¡¯t know when Demonic Neonate would wake up.


    If Demonic Neonate was really evolving, according to Zhou Wen¡¯s previous experience, the higher the Companion Beast¡¯s level, the longer it took to evolve. It would be considered quick if a Companion Beast took about half a month to advance to the Terror grade.


    It could take as long as months. It was impossible for Zhou Wen to wait that long and do nothing.


    There was still an endless sea of flowers around him. Apart from that, there was nothing else. Apart from flowers, there was no vitality in the world.


    The vitality of the flowers was very strange. They looked brimming with vitality, but they also had a deathly aura that resembled ashes.


    ¡°Grim Demon, what else do you know about the Land of the Fallen?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°Nothing much¡­ By the way¡­ I seem to remember hearing an angel mention it¡­ The Land of the Fallen is also called a Lost Paradise¡­ It¡¯s a place without happiness with eternal misfortune¡­¡± Grim Demon said as he tried his best to recall.


    When Zhou Wen heard the words ¡°Lost Paradise,¡± he thought of a mythical epic called ¡°Lost Paradise.¡± The story was related to Satan.


    After Satan was defeated, he was banished to hell by God, but Satan was unwilling to admit defeat. He waited for an opportunity to seek revenge.


    Satan finally found an opportunity to turn into a snake and entered the Garden of Eden. He tempted Adam and Eve to secretly eat the forbidden fruit. In the end, Adam and Eve were expelled from the Garden of Eden.


    This was only a mythical epic. Even if there was really the Garden of Eden, it was difficult to say if there was Adam and Eve.


    Is Sweetie living in the Garden of Eden? Zhou Wen suddenly thought of Sweetie, but he couldn¡¯t associate her image with the omnipotent God.


    Grim Demon recalled some hearsay information, but it didn¡¯t help Zhou Wen¡¯s present situation. He still couldn¡¯t think of a way to leave.


    ¡°Hell is a prison used to imprison devils. Even in the dimension, this is an extremely special place. It¡¯s definitely not that easy to leave this place. Let¡¯s wait for my lady to wake up before making plans.¡± Grim Demon tried his best to persuade Zhou Wen not to act rashly.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of loneliness. It wasn¡¯t a problem for him to stay here for a few years, but something could happen at Guide City at any time. Zhou Wen was afraid that Li Xuan and company wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen carried Demonic Neonate and walked away. He decided to give it a try.


    However, as Zhou Wen walked, he discovered something very magical. When he walked forward, the flowers in front of him automatically parted to make a path.


    These flowers can move on their own? Then why didn¡¯t I see them move before? Zhou Wen attempted to walk in another direction.


    However, no matter where Zhou Wen went, the flowers in front of him automatically made way as though they were avoiding him.


    Zhou Wen glanced at Demonic Neonate in his arms and said to Grim Demon, ¡°Walk to the other side.¡±


    Grim Demon walked to the side, but the flowers didn¡¯t make way for him.


    ¡°Take her.¡± Zhou Wen handed Demonic Neonate to Grim Demon and tried it himself. Like Grim Demon, the flowers didn¡¯t make way for him.


    It was obvious that the flowers were making way for Demonic Neonate.


    This didn¡¯t happen when I summoned Demonic Neonate. From the looks of it, it¡¯s because Demonic Neonate ate that gem. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and carried Demonic Neonate as he continued walking forward.


    Wherever Zhou Wen or Demonic Neonate went, the flowers avoided them, forming a path between the flowers. Zhou Wen walked along with it.


    Not long after, Zhou Wen and Grim Demon were surprised to discover that they had reached the end of the sea of flowers. In the distance, they could see a continuous mountain range.


    They could see smoke billowing. A small city sat at the foot of the mountain.

 Chapter 1530 - Eat Me If You Want To Eat

    Chapter 1530: Eat Me If You Want To Eat


    Translator: CKtalon


    Humans! There are humans there? Zhou Wen saw humans in the city from afar. Furthermore, there were quite a number of them.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to carefully scan the area a few more times. After confirming that the other party were humans and not humanoid dimensional creatures, he looked at Grim Demon and asked, ¡°Grim Demon, are you sure this is the dimension¡¯s Land of the Fallen?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Grim Demon was originally very certain, but he became somewhat unsure upon seeing the humans in the city.


    The creatures that could survive in the dimension were at least at the Mythical stage. How many Mythical creatures could there be among humans? In the small city ahead, there were at least a hundred thousand people. It was unknown if all the elites in Earth¡¯s Federation added up could gather that many Mythical humans.


    Furthermore, the small city was bordering the Land of the Fallen. Ignoring humans, even powerful dimensional creatures wouldn¡¯t choose to build a city here.


    Seeing that Grim Demon wasn¡¯t sure, Zhou Wen immediately walked towards the city.


    The sea of flowers stopped at a cliff. Beneath it was a bottomless abyss. On the other side of the cliff was a continuous mountain range. The small city was built on the mountain opposite.


    There was no path to the small city on the other side. However, the bottomless abyss wasn¡¯t a problem for Zhou Wen and Grim Demon. They could easily fly over it.


    For safety¡¯s sake, Zhou Wen even released a Musical Note Sprite to probe. The Musical Note Sprite flew freely in the air without discovering any danger. Only then did Zhou Wen fly towards the human city opposite with Demonic Neonate in his arms.


    The city was built on a mountain. On the side facing the cliff, there were gates. Outside the gates was a platform. Some humans were setting up stalls on the platform. It was a lively market with many people.


    When Zhou Wen flew over with Demonic Neonate in his arms, he didn¡¯t conceal himself with his Terror transformation powers. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t want to hide, but Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t be hidden. It was pointless for him to hide.


    Soon, many people saw Zhou Wen fly over with Demonic Neonate in his arms. As for Grim Demon, ordinary people couldn¡¯t see him due to his Terror transformation.


    Everyone stood up and widened their eyes, staring blankly at Zhou Wen when they saw him.


    They seemed to have seen something unbelievable. Their eyes widened as they stood rooted to the ground in shock.


    Everyone who saw Zhou Wen had the same expression.


    The stall owners stopped peddling their wares and the buyers forgot the items in their hands as they looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°May I ask where this is?¡± Zhou Wen flew to a spot near the platform and greeted while asking.


    He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss with this city and these humans, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was amiss.


    ¡°Ah!¡± At that moment, everyone seemed to awaken from a dream. As though they had seen something terrifying, they screamed and turned to flee into the city.


    Someone even threw out the things in their hands. Instantly, the market was in a frenzy. When Zhou Wen snapped to his senses, the huge market was empty. The ground was in a mess.


    ¡°Do I look that terrifying?¡± Zhou Wen touched his face and asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°You are a little ugly compared to me, but it¡¯s not to the point of being terrifying. The residents of this small city probably haven¡¯t seen much, so they haven¡¯t seen anything uglier. Don¡¯t make a fuss,¡± Grim Demon said smugly.


    If Demonic Neonate could still move, Zhou Wen would have gotten her to send Grim Demon back into the Demonic Sword. This fellow was born shameless.


    Zhou Wen carried Demonic Neonate into the city. When the humans realized that he had entered the city, they were even more alarmed. All of them fled with all their might. Even the humans in the city who didn¡¯t know what had happened scrambled to escape.


    The shop owners on both sides of the road shuttered their doors and windows tightly.


    Soon, the long street was empty. The streets were filled with trash.


    Is there something wrong with their heads? Zhou Wen took out a mirror and looked at himself, but he didn¡¯t discover anything to be afraid of.


    He had a nose and two eyes, just like them¡ªa normal human.


    ¡°Are the humans in this city all mentally ill? What¡¯s there to be afraid of when seeing a human?¡± Grim Demon clearly found it very strange.


    ¡°They aren¡¯t mentally ill. They are just afraid of something.¡± Zhou Wen frowned in thought. Before he could figure it out, he saw the people who had escaped walking back in fear.


    The person in the lead was an old man with white hair and a beard that almost reached his waist. He held a walking stick in his hand. His walking looked unstable as though he would fall at any moment.


    Many people followed behind the elder and walked towards Zhou Wen and company. Their eyes were clearly filled with fear, but despite being so afraid, they slowly walked over with the elder.


    Zhou Wen stood on the long street and waited for them to walk over. Since they were willing to come to him, it meant that they could still communicate. All he needed to do was make things clear.


    Although they were in the dimension, they were humans after all. They should be easier to communicate with than dimensional creatures.


    Although the elder¡¯s eyes were filled with fear, he still walked over step by step. When he was still dozens of meters away from Zhou Wen which wasn¡¯t conducive for face-to-face communication, the elder suddenly threw away his cane and plopped to the ground with a grunt before bowing at Zhou Wen.


    With the elder prostrating, the crowd behind him did the same.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, please spare that child¡¯s life. If you want to eat her, eat me¡­¡± the elder said as he kowtowed with tears in his eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    How did he become the His Devilish Excellency? Furthermore, he was only carrying Demonic Neonate. Such a gentle posture didn¡¯t look like he wanted to eat her.


    Are these people nuts? Zhou Wen looked at the people who were prostrating before him while begging him not to eat the child. Zhou Wen now agreed with Grim Demon¡¯s view. Perhaps these people were really nuts.


    Zhou Wen felt that explaining to a group of lunatics that he wasn¡¯t a devilish king or that he didn¡¯t eat children was clearly a very difficult task. Therefore, he planned on going along with the conversation and figuring things out.


    ¡°How do you know that I¡¯m the devil king?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the white-haired elder and asked.


    The white-haired elder¡¯s body trembled, but he quickly answered respectfully, ¡°Apart from you, Your Devilish Excellency, who else can come out of the Lost Paradise? Apart from you, who else can transform into something looking so much like a human¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen opened his mouth and suddenly realized that it wasn¡¯t easy to explain this matter.


    It didn¡¯t seem like these people would believe him even if he said that he was human.

 Chapter 1531 - Cemetery

    Chapter 1531: Cemetery


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I know who these people are!¡± Grim Demon suddenly shouted.


    Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon. As Grim Demon had always been in his Terror form, the others couldn¡¯t see him.


    Therefore, the elder and the group of fearful people only saw Zhou Wen turn his head to the side as though he was staring into the void. This made them panic even more. They increasingly found Zhou Wen incomprehensible. He was capricious, solid proof that he was the Lost Paradise¡¯s devil king.


    ¡°They call this place Lost Paradise, not the Land of the Fallen, nor is it hell. If this place is really related to the myths and legends of Lost Paradise, it¡¯s not difficult to guess the origins of these people. Adam and Eve were tempted by Satan and secretly ate the forbidden fruit before being expelled from the Garden of Eden. If the location of this story isn¡¯t Earth but the dimension, then all of this can be explained,¡± Grim Demon said.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood what Grim Demon meant. Grim Demon meant that these people were the descendants of Adam and Eve.


    However, on second thought, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. In the myths and legends of the pantheon of God, Adam and Eve should be the founders of humanity. According to Grim Demon¡¯s guess, it didn¡¯t seem right.


    If Adam and Eve had reproduced here after being chased out of the Garden of Eden and they had never been to Earth, why would there be such legends on Earth?


    As though reading Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, Grim Demon said, ¡°Adam and Eve betrayed God and secretly ate the forbidden fruit. After being banished, where could they go? Apart from a place like the Garden of Eden, the dimension wasn¡¯t suitable for humans to survive. The only place they could go to was probably Lost Paradise. Look at their bodies. You can tell that there aren¡¯t any Mythical humans among them. They are all Legendary or Epic creatures based on your standards. Yet, such standards can build a city in the dimension. Only by being protected by the Lost Paradise can this be possible.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that Grim Demon was right. He could already vaguely sense the dimensional nomological powers in this small mountain city, but it was much weaker than the true dimensional laws Zhou Wen had previously encountered.


    This place was clearly affected by Lost Paradise, allowing these humans to survive here.


    However, this was only Grim Demon¡¯s guess. Perhaps these humans were sent over from Earth by dimensional experts as experimental subjects.


    It was even possible that some humans on Earth had some fortuitous encounters and accidentally ended up here.


    ¡°You are the king of this city?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the elder and asked.


    The elder was feeling uneasy and guessing what the devil king wanted after not getting a reply from Zhou Wen after quite some time. He jumped with fright at Zhou Wen¡¯s abrupt question. He knelt on the ground and said in fear, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, you are the only king. I¡¯m only the city lord of this city and your slave. If you need a living sacrifice, please take my life and spare the child.¡±


    ¡°Since you know that I¡¯m the only king here, tell me. Who gave you the guts to negotiate with me?¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself, Instead of wasting my breath explaining, why don¡¯t I use my identity as the devil king to figure things out?


    Everyone was immediately alarmed and afraid. The elder kowtowed repeatedly. ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, we definitely don¡¯t have any intention of offending you, much less negotiating with you. We only wish to obtain your pity. Our ancestors were able to survive here because of your benevolence. Our lives are yours, and everything here is yours. How can we have the right to negotiate with you? We only hope that Your Devilish Excellency will be magnanimous¡­¡±


    As Zhou Wen listened to the elder¡¯s drone on, he increasingly felt that Grim Demon¡¯s guess was right. These people might really be descendants of Adam and Eve.


    ¡°Take me around this city,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he declined to comment on the elder¡¯s pleas.


    ¡°Yes, Your Devilish Excellency. I¡¯ll show you around. What do you want to see?¡± the elder hurriedly asked.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Zhou Wen glanced at him indifferently.


    The elder immediately broke out into a cold sweat as his mind raced. Soon, he seemed to think of something and hurriedly said, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, I understand. Please follow me.¡±


    The elder led the way while the others hurriedly retreated to the sides, not daring to be in Zhou Wen¡¯s way.


    The style of this city was very similar to the ancient style of the West District. Zhou Wen remembered that the word to describe it was ¡®gothic.¡¯


    It was obvious that this place was very backward. There were no electronic devices or even lights. Clearly, there was zero technology here.


    When he walked to the middle of the city, Zhou Wen was surprised to discover a Cube. Like the Cube on Earth, the Cube here also displayed the scene of Dubhe.


    There¡¯s actually a Cube here. That makes things easier. I just need to pass through the Cube and reach Dubhe before I can teleport back to Earth. Zhou Wen was first delighted before he rejected this method.


    Through the Cube, one could indeed reach Dubhe, but to reach it in such a way, one had to clear Dubhe¡¯s dimensional zone or they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave.


    This was previously verified in the Venusian dimensional zone. As long as one entered the dimensional zone through the Cube, they could only fight to the death. Unless one cleared the level, there was no chance of leaving.


    The elder didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was thinking. He led the way with his back hunched, not daring to look back at him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word, so he didn¡¯t dare spout nonsense.


    Although the city was ancient, it was filled with an artistic aura. There were many carvings on the buildings. Statues of humans and strange creatures could be seen everywhere.


    After walking for a while, the elder took Zhou Wen to a garden. There were many flowers planted in the garden, making it look beautiful.


    Toward the back of the garden stood two tombstones. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t recognize the words on them. When Grim Demon saw them, he immediately shouted, ¡°There¡¯s no mistake about it. These fellows are the descendants of Adam and Eve. They are the tombstones of Adam and Eve.¡±


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, our ancestors were your friends. Unfortunately, they don¡¯t have the mighty power of immortality like you. They can only be buried here.¡± As the elder spoke, he felt abnormally uneasy, unsure if his guess was right.


    The outcome was unknown if he guessed wrongly and angered the devil king.


    ¡°Get out,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°Yes, Your Devilish Excellency.¡± The elder glanced at Demonic Neonate in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms, but he didn¡¯t dare say a word of defiance. He retreated with his men and closed the garden¡¯s gates.


    ¡°See? Those fellows are the descendants of Adam and Eve,¡± Grim Demon said smugly to Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1532 - Big Dipper Dungeon

    Chapter 1532: Big Dipper Dungeon


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it a little strange?¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the two tombstones.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about it? Why can¡¯t I tell?¡± Grim Demon looked around but didn¡¯t see any problems.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the words on the tombstones. As you said, one tombstone belongs to Adam, while the other belongs to Eve. There¡¯s nothing wrong with that, right?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the tombstone.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Grim Demon nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. They are husband and wife, right? Shouldn¡¯t husband and wife be buried together? Why are they buried in two graves with two tombstones erected?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Grim Demon wasn¡¯t human, so he wasn¡¯t very sensitive to this matter. However, he had seen humans being buried together in the past. It was as Zhou Wen had said, so he found it odd.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we dig up this grave and see if it¡¯s Adam and Eve inside?¡± Grim Demon said as he stared at the tombstone.


    ¡°I¡¯m not interested in knowing if it¡¯s Adam and Eve inside. I just want to know how we can return to Earth.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to verify the existence of Adam and Eve.


    The spatial teleportation ability of Singularity Universe couldn¡¯t be used between the dimension and Earth.


    If he wanted to return, other than going through the Cube, he could only return to the buffer zone between Earth¡¯s universe and the dimension like Zhou Wen had previously done.


    However, without Ice Maiden leading the way, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how he could reach there. Even if she was there and was willing to lead the way, this wasn¡¯t where Ice Maiden had been. It was difficult to say if he could return.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the further away he was from the sea of flowers, the greater the influence of the dimensional laws. The dimensional forces became stronger in the mountain range behind the city.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask me. It¡¯s useless. I¡¯ve only been to the dimension before I was born,¡± Grim Demon said as he spread out his hands.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Then aren¡¯t you spouting nonsense? Guardians are created by the dimension. When all Guardians are in their cocoon form, they come from the dimension.


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about it, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate. He took it out and realized that the dungeon he was downloading had finally finished.


    This dungeon sure took a long time to download. Zhou Wen tapped into the home screen and searched for the newly generated dungeon.


    After searching the home screen for a while, he was surprised to discover that there was no Alcor dungeon. The new dungeon was a symbol of the Big Dipper. The name below was ¡°Big Dipper.¡±


    No way. It took so long because it was downloading the entire Big Dipper? Zhou Wen was shocked as he hurriedly opened the dungeon and allowed the blood-colored avatar to enter.


    After entering the dungeon, Zhou Wen immediately recognized that it was the Dubhe dungeon that the Tyrannosaurus had entered.


    Could it be that the Dubhe dimensional zone that appeared this time isn¡¯t a single celestial body¡¯s dimensional zone? The entire Big Dipper is a large multi-celestial-body dimensional zone? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    Having entered, Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Golden Sniper. He also got Tyrant Behemoth to rush over and slam open Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    Inside the palace, there was indeed a creature that looked identical to the one in reality. It wore amethyst armor and sat inside the palace. However, it looked cartoonish in-game. It looked rather cute and didn¡¯t give off the same vibes as in real life.


    Tyrant Behemoth rushed in, but Zhou Wen knew very well that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s present strength wasn¡¯t enough to fight Dubhe¡¯s creature.


    Therefore, when Tyrant Behemoth rushed in front of the amethyst-armored creature, Zhou Wen secretly got the Golden Wyrm Scissors to fly over as well. From the palace¡¯s entrance, he placed his finger on the sniper rifle¡¯s trigger and shot at the amethyst-armored creature.


    Tyrant Behemoth led the charge and arrived in front of the amethyst armor and opened its mouth to swallow it.


    The amethyst armor finally moved. It raised its hand and pressed down. Immediately, a terrifying purple light shot out in all directions, instantly forming an omnipresent light blast.


    The blood-colored avatar standing at the door was instantly killed as the game screen dimmed.


    This attack is a little too powerful. It¡¯s clearly an area-of-effect attack, but the Prisoned Dragon armor on me failed to defend against it at all. I was instantly killed, Zhou Wen thought with a frown.


    Although he had been instantly killed, Zhou Wen still obtained quite a bit of intelligence and information. This was thanks to The Disqualified.


    From the information I obtained from dying, the power that killed the blood-colored avatar should be a high-temperature power. Furthermore, it¡¯s accompanied by terrifying radiation. The lethality of this radiation power can¡¯t be weaker than high-temperature heat. It might even be the main reason why the blood-colored avatar died instantly¡­ Zhou Wen guessed as he recalled the feeling of death.


    After studying it for a while, Zhou Wen felt that the Chaos Egg would be able to withstand that attack for a short period of time. However, it was useless blocking the attack¡ªhe needed to kill the dimensional creature.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give it another try.¡± Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive and entered the Dubhe instance dungeon again.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, he entered again. The Dubhe instance dungeon didn¡¯t have a time limit. He could enter at any time.


    That makes things easier. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill it after obtaining enough information from a few deaths. Zhou Wen had the Golden Wyrm Scissors in hand, so he still had a chance.


    Zhou Wen only summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and made it rush into the palace this time.


    Zhou Wen hid inside the Chaos Egg. His current mission wasn¡¯t to help, but to ensure that he wasn¡¯t killed. Otherwise, once he died, it was useless no matter how powerful the Golden Wyrm Scissors was. It would vanish with him.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors transformed into a golden beam of light that headed for the amethyst-armored creature. The creature raised its palm again as a purple blast of light instantly filled the entire dimensional zone.


    The Chaos Egg immediately produced a large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals, nearly causing it to explode. Zhou Wen hurriedly transferred the solid Essence Energy Crystals to Tyrant Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen constantly moved as solid Essence Energy Crystals were produced. Despite risking his life, the Chaos Egg remained just short of exploding.


    After enduring for a second, the light blast weakened. Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief. Just a second felt too long for him. If it continued for another second, he didn¡¯t know if the Chaos Egg could withstand it.


    Clang!


    A terrifying collision sounded from the palace. At the same time, a light blast appeared again. Before Zhou Wen could figure out the situation inside, a large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals appeared in the Chaos Egg again. Zhou Wen could only crazily move them again and use Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping to feed the solid Essence Energy Crystals to Tyrant Behemoth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the chance to watch the battle between the two terrifying existences in the palace. All he could do was try his best to survive.. Only by surviving could the Golden Wyrm Scissors have a chance of killing the amethyst-armored creature.

 Chapter 1533 - Inauspicious

    Bang!


    The Chaos Egg exploded as there were too many solid Essence Energy Crystals that couldn¡¯t be sent away in time.


    The phone screen went black. The game ended, but Zhou Wen obtained quite a bit of information.


    What left Zhou Wen most satisfied was that although the Chaos Egg exploded in-game, Tyrant Behemoth had devoured many solid Essence Energy Crystals before the Chaos Egg exploded. It was showing signs of evolving.


    As he couldn¡¯t find a way to leave the dimension for the time being, Zhou Wen decided to constantly grind the Dubhe instance dungeon.


    If he could clear the Dubhe dungeon, he might be able to use the Cube to return to Earth.


    However, to use the Cube to return to Earth, there was still a problem that needed to be resolved. Four people had to drip their blood on the Cube to use it to enter the Dubhe instance dungeon.


    Now that Zhou Wen was alone, he had to find three others to enter with him.


    As Zhou Wen gamed, he used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to monitor the conversations of the people in the city.


    It didn¡¯t take long for Zhou Wen to roughly understand the situation in the city.


    This city built on the mountain was named ¡°Regretless City.¡± Grim Demon was right. After Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden, there was nowhere to go. It was Satan who gave them a way out and settled down beside Lost Paradise.


    After generations of reproduction, only today did Regretless City reach its present scale. In fact, in the beginning, there were only a few caves.


    Although these humans were born in the dimension, they looked no different from Earth¡¯s humans. Even their physical flaws were the same. No one could advance to the Mythical stage with their own strength, so the strongest human in the city was only at the Epic stage.


    For them to survive here, other than the protection of the Paradise Lost, they still needed to gather supplies for living. They were humans, not gods. They had to eat, drink, and poop every day.


    They didn¡¯t dare enter the Lost Paradise. Even if they entered, there was nothing to eat other than flowers.


    Therefore, the people of Regretless City could only search for food in the mountain range. However, after entering the mountain range, the dimensional forces would become stronger. Ordinary citizens couldn¡¯t withstand it, so they couldn¡¯t go very far.


    Zhou Wen learned that their food came from plants in the forest. There was something very peculiar¡ªin the mountain range, there was a plant whose leaves couldn¡¯t be plucked no matter how hard one tried. However, those plants couldn¡¯t be seen at any time. One would be very lucky to occasionally chance upon them.


    While Zhou Wen was studying these things, Grim Demon wasn¡¯t idle. He kept studying the tombstone, hoping to find some clues.


    However, the words on the tombstone didn¡¯t reveal anything. After studying it for a long time, Grim Demon couldn¡¯t find any problems.


    Finally, Grim Demon made up his mind and planned on digging up Eve¡¯s grave to take a look.


    Zhou Wen clearly didn¡¯t like digging up other people¡¯s ancestral graves. Grim Demon was afraid that Zhou Wen would stop him, so he didn¡¯t inform Zhou Wen. Taking advantage of Zhou Wen¡¯s lack of focus, he began digging.


    Pushing the tombstone away, he revealed the stone coffin below. Grim Demon made a prompt decision and lifted the lid of the stone coffin.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Zhou Wen was eavesdropping on the conversation between the elder and his friend when he suddenly heard Grim Demon¡¯s cry. He hurriedly turned his head and realized that Grim Demon had opened Eve¡¯s stone coffin.


    At that moment, Grim Demon¡¯s expression was somewhat complicated. He stared intently into the stone coffin as though he had seen something bizarre.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡± Zhou Wen walked to Grim Demon¡¯s side and traced his gaze. When he saw what was inside the stone coffin, he was immediately taken aback.


    There were no corpses in the stone coffin¡ªnot even bones. There was only one thing inside.


    ¡°What¡¯s this? Why is this here?¡± Zhou Wen realized that there was a princess-like puppet inside the stone coffin.


    This puppet was huge. It was almost a 1:1 live person. It wore a princess dress and was placed in the stone coffin. It looked like it was sleeping.


    No one could answer him. Grim Demon was also at a loss. ¡°Guardians don¡¯t need graves. You should ask yourself. If it were you, under what circumstances would you have this thing in your grave?¡±


    ¡°Dig up Adam¡¯s tomb and take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said to Grim Demon.


    Grim Demon pushed away Adam¡¯s tombstone and indeed, he saw the stone coffin inside.


    When he opened the stone coffin, there was indeed a puppet inside. However, this time, it was a puppet that looked like a boy. It wore a tailcoat and looked very gentlemanly.


    ¡°These are clearly two puppets. There¡¯s no skeleton inside. In other words, this can¡¯t be Adam and Eve¡¯s tombs,¡± Grim Demon said.


    Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to carefully scan the stone coffin. Apart from the two puppets, he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    That¡¯s strange. If the real Adam and Eve didn¡¯t die of old age here, where did they go? Are the people in Regretless City their descendants? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Grim Demon wanted to take out the two puppets to take a closer look, but no matter how hard he tried, the puppets inside remained motionless.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with these two puppets. With my strength, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for me to take them out even if they are forged from gold, much less puppets¡­ Ah¡­¡± As Grim Demon spoke, he suddenly let out a tragic cry and fell to the ground.


    ¡°Grim Demon, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhou Wen saw Grim Demon collapse beside the tombstone without moving as though he was dead. Alarmed, he didn¡¯t dare go close. He shouted Grim Demon¡¯s name from the side.


    However, after shouting a few times, Grim Demon didn¡¯t respond at all.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that digging up graves is inauspicious. It¡¯s very easy for something to happen, but you didn¡¯t listen to me and insisted on digging.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the two puppets with an odd expression. He summoned the Golden Battle Gods and got them to restore the grave. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare approach them.


    After closing the coffin lid and pushing the grave back to its original spot, the Golden Battle Gods weren¡¯t attacked, but Grim Demon remained motionless. It was useless no matter how Zhou Wen shouted.


    There was no reaction even if he was electrocuted or smashed with ice. However, Grim Demon¡¯s vitality remained. It didn¡¯t look like he was dead.


    After a while, Grim Demon got up in a daze.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Grim Demon asked Zhou Wen after waking up.


    ¡°I should be the one asking you that.¡± Zhou Wen recounted his sudden collapse.


    Grim Demon¡¯s expression turned nasty after hearing that. ¡°How did this happen? I don¡¯t have any memories of it happening..¡±

 Chapter 1534 - Another Samsara Stone

    Chapter 1534: Another Samsara Stone


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°It¡¯s best you don¡¯t touch this thing.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to be nosy as he exhorted Grim Demon not to touch anything else.


    Grim Demon also felt a lingering fear. Even if he was made to touch it again, he wouldn¡¯t dare do so.


    ¡°This place should be relatively safe. Let¡¯s stay here for the time being. Go and ask what¡¯s on the other side of the mountain.¡± Zhou Wen got Grim Demon to gather information while he gamed in the cemetery.


    Tyrant Behemoth was close to advancing to the Calamity grade thanks to having a large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals being fed to it.


    After Grim Demon left, Zhou Wen repeatedly grinded Dubhe Palace. Although he still couldn¡¯t withstand the power of the purple blast of light, he gained a deeper understanding of the abilities of the amethyst-armored creature.


    Unless the Chaos Egg can advance to the Calamity grade, it will be very difficult for it to withstand the power of the light blast. I have to think of another way. Zhou Wen was thinking of a way to kill the amethyst-armored creature in a short period of time. In that case, it didn¡¯t matter even if the Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t last long.


    As he pondered, he moved solid Essence Energy crystals into Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s mouth, but he suddenly couldn¡¯t move anymore. Before Zhou Wen could figure out what was going on, the Chaos Egg exploded.


    Without entering the dungeon again, Zhou Wen opened Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s information and realized that it had indeed entered an Evolved state.


    Without a glutton like Tyrant Behemoth to hold out and with no Companion Beast being able to digest so many Essence Energy Crystals, the Chaos Egg will only last for a shorter period of time. Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s evolution into the Calamity grade was a good thing, but before it advanced successfully, Zhou Wen had to think of other solutions.


    Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate. She had been sleeping the entire time, looking like a normal sleeping person. There were no signs of a Companion Beast¡¯s evolution, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t wake her up.


    Grim Demon returned after a while. It was unknown what method he used, but he had already figured out the situation here.


    The people from Regretless City didn¡¯t go too far from it. Their only food was some plants on the mountain. Some had entered the mountain range, but most of them died inside. It was unknown how they died.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there are Terror-grade creatures in the mountain range. They are only ordinary people, so they naturally can¡¯t see Terror-grade creatures.¡± Grim Demon paused before continuing, ¡°However, someone once saw a terrifying scene in the mountain range. Countless large snakes swam through the mountain. One of them was a red snake that was coiled on a mountain peak. Its body was even bigger than the mountain peak. From their description, it¡¯s similar to the snake that Satan transformed into when he tempted Adam and Eve.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not going to be easy leaving the mountain range. Even if we successfully leave, we might not be able to find a way back. Let¡¯s stay here for the time being. When Neonate wakes up, we¡¯ll see if she has any way of taking us back,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°We should have done that from the beginning.¡± Grim Demon paused before saying, ¡°When I was reading the memories of the citizens, I discovered something. Although this place is protected by the Lost Paradise, it¡¯s not in the Lost Paradise after all. Occasionally, dimensional creatures will come to the city and eat quite a number of people. It¡¯s probably that snake.¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s not safe here. I hope Neonate can wake up as soon as possible.¡± Zhou Wen felt that Demonic Neonate likely had a way to take them back.


    After all, the Heaven Shrouding Bell was in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hands. Previously, Ice Maiden had used the Heaven Shrouding Bell to travel through space and reach the buffer zone between Earth¡¯s universe and the dimension.


    Zhou Wen continued gaming and grinding dungeons. Grim Demon didn¡¯t have anyone to talk to. It almost drove him mad.


    After less than two days, Grim Demon couldn¡¯t help but tell Zhou Wen that he was going deep into the mountain range to scout and see if there was any other way out.


    After Grim Demon left, Zhou Wen continued grinding dungeons every day. After killing the Golden Sniper again, he suddenly heard a chime. The sound was different from the usual dimensional crystals dropping, nor did it sound like a Companion Egg.


    Samsara Stone! When Zhou Wen saw what it was, he was immediately overjoyed.


    After grinding for so long, this was the second Samsara Stone. He had given the previous one to the Great Might Vajra Bull. Back then, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what use the Samsara Stone had and was only experimenting.


    Zhou Wen now knew that the Samsara Stone gave unevolvable Companion Beasts an Evolvable attribute. Furthermore, their stats might be enhanced to a certain extent. They might even awaken some new skills.


    Zhou Wen had many good Companion Beasts, but because they didn¡¯t have an Evolvable attribute, their levels couldn¡¯t be raised. They no longer satisfied Zhou Wen¡¯s current needs.


    He couldn¡¯t bear to use such rare special pets for fusion. But if he didn¡¯t do so, they were useless, collecting dust. With the Samsara Stone, the Companion Beasts were redeemed.


    Let me see which Companion Beast to use. Zhou Wen hoped to raise many Companion Beasts, but there was only one Samsara Stone. He had to make a choice.


    The Death Harbinger Crow¡¯s skill is actually very useful. If it were to use the Samsara Stone, it might be able to evolve into a powerful Companion Beast. Medusa isn¡¯t bad either. She doesn¡¯t seem to be of much use now, but after she evolves, her skills might become especially powerful. There¡¯s also the Ancient Splitting Tadpole. If it can evolve to the Calamity grade, I wonder how powerful its Split Explosion ability will be¡­ Zhou Wen sorted out his Companion Beasts and realized that there were too many Companion Beasts that needed the Samsara Stone. He was momentarily unsure.


    Zhou Wen thought for a while before finally choosing to give the Samsara Stone to Doctor Darkness.


    1


    Zhou Wen actually liked Doctor Darkness¡¯s skills very much. Furthermore, it had a soul state. It could be attached to Zhou Wen and all the skills could be used by him.


    However, his level was too low. He couldn¡¯t keep up with Zhou Wen¡¯s current level and combat needs. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have an Evolvable attribute. Zhou Wen had always wanted to raise his level.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s do Doctor Darkness.¡± Zhou Wen summoned Doctor Darkness and handed the Samsara Stone to him.


    After using the Samsara Stone, Doctor Darkness¡¯s body immediately underwent a magical change. Instead of calling it a change, it was more like molting.


    The Mythical Doctor Darkness quickly molted and reached the starting Mortal stage.


    Doctor Darkness, who was at the Mortal stage, looked rather adorable. He was a handsome boy who looked to be about five or six years old. He was deadpan like a robot. He wore a black robe and didn¡¯t look like a doctor. Instead, he looked like a priest.


    He opened Doctor Darkness¡¯s stats and indeed, he had returned to the Mortal stage.


    Doctor Darkness: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Scalpel, Fight Poison With Poison, Light of Penetration, Famous Killer Doctor


    1


    Companion Form: Soul

 Chapter 1535 - Companion Beast Advancement Plan

    Chapter 1535: Companion Beast Advancement Plan


    Translator: CKtalon


    All the skills remain with an additional Famous Killer Doctor. I wonder what it¡¯s used for. How can killing be related to medical skills? Zhou Wen carefully read the introduction of Famous Killer Doctor.


    1


    Famous Killer Doctor: Kill one person to save another, save one person to kill another.


    Zhou Wen stared at it for a long time without understanding what the skill introduction meant.


    2


    Could it be that if I want to use Doctor Darkness to save people in the future, I have to kill someone first? Isn¡¯t that bullshit? Zhou Wen felt that this skill was definitely not that simple.


    He wanted to test the consequences of saving someone, but there was no one that needed Doctor Darkness¡¯s saving. After all, Doctor Darkness mostly used Fight Poison With Poison to save others. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t kill someone with poison first, right?


    With the Companion Beast in hand, it now became a problem of raising his level.


    Previously, the Mighty Vajra Ox had returned to the Mortal stage. All he needed to do was feed it some Essence Energy Crystals and it would naturally advance. It had already returned to the Mythical stage, but to advance further was not that easy. It was unknown for the time being how it could advance to the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen tried feeding Doctor Darkness Essence Energy Crystals. Although it allowed Doctor Darkness to grow a little, the growth wasn¡¯t fast. Furthermore, Doctor Darkness could only absorb a very small portion of the Essence Energy Crystals. They weren¡¯t of much use, unlike Tyrant Behemoth which could eat them as it pleased.


    From the looks of it, evolving Doctor Darkness with Essence Energy Crystals is unlikely. Then, what does he need to evolve? After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that he should give it a try at a poisonous place.


    2


    Doctor Darkness¡¯s skill was related to poison. Apart from that, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t think of any other way to evolve him.


    In the dungeons that Zhou Wen had already downloaded, there were many poisonous insects and Gu in the Valley of No Return. It was likely the most ideal place.


    Apart from that, there was the Poison Wyrm Pool in Pool City. It was also a place of poison, so he could give it a try.


    After some consideration, Zhou Wen chose Poison Wyrm Pool. The water in the Poison Wyrm Pool was poisonous, so he decided to test it with the poison water inside.


    He took Doctor Darkness to Poison Wyrm Pool. Without waiting for Zhou Wen to experiment, Doctor Darkness autonomously walked to the side of Poison Wyrm Pool and took out a syringe. He drew a tube of poison water and injected it into his veins.


    Zhou Wen was soon surprised to discover that Doctor Darkness had advanced to the Legendary stage and obtained a new Life Providence. His Life Providence was the same as before¡ªGolden Left Hand.


    It¡¯s so easy to evolve. If he injects a few more syringes, won¡¯t he be able to quickly advance to the Mythical stage? However, after just injecting one tube of poison water, Doctor Darkness stopped moving.


    The Poison Wyrm in the Poison Wyrm Pool stirred, only to be instantly killed by Zhou Wen. The previously powerful dimensional creature was too weak in front of the present Zhou Wen.


    After confirming that Doctor Darkness no longer needed the poison water here, Zhou Wen had no choice but to take him to other dungeons.


    Zhou Wen circled Zhuolu, the Valley of No Return, and other dungeons with poison. Every time Doctor Darkness saw a new poison, he would directly extract it and inject it into himself.


    He seemed to have a physique that was invulnerable to all poisons, or perhaps even stronger. Others were immune to all poisons, but Doctor Darkness could use poison to strengthen his body.


    Some poisons could allow Doctor Darkness to evolve, while others didn¡¯t have much of a reaction. Furthermore, at a low level, any random poison could advance his level. Towards the end, it required him to inject several types of poisons to advance.


    After lots of hard work, Doctor Darkness finally returned to the Mythical stage. His Life Soul and Wheel of Destiny were the same as before.


    Zhou Wen tried a few more poisons, but none of them allowed Doctor Darkness to continue evolving. He temporarily failed to find any new poisons and couldn¡¯t continue experimenting.


    From the looks of it, ordinary poison shouldn¡¯t be able to evolve Doctor Darkness to the Terror grade. I have to find some powerful poison-type creatures and use their poison to evolve Doctor Darkness. Zhou Wen felt that if he could find a Calamity-grade poison-type creature, he should be able to advance Doctor Darkness to the Terror grade.


    Where can I find a poison-type Calamity creature? Zhou Wen immediately thought of the one in the Zhuolu Sapphire Sky. However, that dimensional creature had been inside the Sapphire Sky the entire time. It wasn¡¯t easy to kill, and he didn¡¯t know if it was considered poison-type.


    Zhou Wen ran through all the dungeons again, but he failed to find a suitable candidate.


    Taking this opportunity, Zhou Wen picked his Companion Beasts again. As low-level Companion Beasts weren¡¯t of much use, a number could be used as supplementary materials for fusion.


    As for those that were very special which Zhou Wen found useful and was unwilling to fuse, he had to think of a way to raise them. It was best if they could be raised to the Calamity grade, or at worst, the Terror grade. Otherwise, they would be useless in battle at this stage.


    I have to think of a way to raise Doctor Darkness. The Evil Spirit King has recently absorbed quite a number of Terror-grade creatures. It should be advancing to the Terror grade soon¡­ Banana Fairy has to advance further¡­ Should I raise the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul again¡­ Zhou Wen listed out the few Companion Beasts he thought highly of and immediately felt a headache. There were too many Companion Beasts that needed to be upgraded. Each of them had their own unique traits and he couldn¡¯t bear to use any of them as materials.


    What left Zhou Wen most conflicted was the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. This Companion Beast was really strong, but his Jinxes Master skill couldn¡¯t be removed. Zhou Wen was somewhat afraid.


    With the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and Bamboo Blade which jinxed their master, Zhou Wen was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand them if they advanced to the Calamity grade.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was really useful, especially in the stellar dungeon. To the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, it was practically a home-ground battle.


    In the past, there were definitely many stellar dimensional zones. It was a waste not to use the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    I¡¯ll try raising it again. The Bamboo Blade¡¯s Jinxes Master ability is even stronger than the Tiger Soul General. There shouldn¡¯t be any problems. Zhou Wen hesitated for a while before deciding to raise the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General again.


    Some dimensional zones did require the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to lead the charge.


    Of course, the main reason was that it was very difficult for other Companion Beasts to advance. Even if Zhou Wen wanted them to advance, it wasn¡¯t something that could be done immediately.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was different. If he used it for fusion, it wouldn¡¯t be lost no matter how low the chances were. In other words, as long as he fused with a Terror-grade Companion Beast, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had a chance of advancing to the Terror grade. By fusing with a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, the Tiger Soul General could quickly reach the Calamity grade. This ability was not something other Companion Beasts possessed.


    Bamboo Blade also had the Jinxes Master attribute; Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know if it had such an ability.


    Calamity-grade Companion Beasts were still useful. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to fuse them. All he could do was use Terror-grade Companion Beasts to raise the Tiger Soul General to the Terror grade.


    Which one should I use? Zhou Wen looked at all the Terror-grade Companion Beasts he had.


    The most worthless Terror-grade Companion Beast was the Golden Battle God, but the Golden Battle God¡¯s skills had no synergy with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.

 Chapter 1536 - : New Tiger Soul General

    Chapter 1536: New Tiger Soul General


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have many Terror-grade Companion Beasts. The Golden Battle God dropped most easily. The other Terror-grade Companion Beasts were relatively rare.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to fuse Companion Beasts like Grim Reaper No. 10, Limitless Demon Dragon King, Prisoned Dragon, and Banana Fairy. The remaining Golden Battle Gods, Flaming Monarch, and so on didn¡¯t seem to be a good fit for Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    After some choosing, he didn¡¯t find a suitable Terror-grade Companion Beast to fuse with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    In terms of skill compatibility, Grim Reaper No. 10 and Prisoned Dragon are more compatible with the Tiger Soul General, but these two Companion Beasts have something special about them. It would be a waste to use them as fusion material. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and couldn¡¯t bear to part with them. Finally, he decided to try with a Golden Battle God first.


    At most, he would be swapping for some skills that weren¡¯t compatible with the Tiger Soul General. This was unlikely to affect him much as long as he could advance the Tiger Soul General to the Terror grade.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate any further. He placed the Tiger Soul General in the fusion column and placed a Golden Battle God as material before clicking on ¡®Fuse.¡¯


    With a flash of light, the Golden Battle God in the material column vanished. As for the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, something amazing was about to happen.


    The purple-armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s armor had turned into a purple metal-like texture. The armor¡¯s envelopment of the Tiger Soul General and mount was even more complete. It looked like a heavy-armored Metal Knight.


    These were only minute changes that were not much different from before. The biggest change was the spear in Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand.


    He was originally holding a spear and although it was still a spear, it was no longer in an ancient style. It had become a spear with a very modern feel to it. Its design was very exaggerated.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t describe what the spear looked like, but it looked really beautiful. The spearhead was three-dimensional and wider. It didn¡¯t look like an ancient spear. There were some holes on it, but he didn¡¯t know what they were for.


    Its appearance wasn¡¯t important. Zhou Wen only wanted to know if the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had advanced to the Terror grade or if its skills had been wiped out.


    Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul Runes


    Wheel of Destiny: Ferocious and Evil


    Terror Form: Devil Knight (S-grade)


    Strength: 82


    Speed: 82


    Constitution: 82


    Essence Energy: 82


    Talent Skill: Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Magic Stone Curse, One with Horse, Penetrating Pierce, Evil Deeds Everywhere, Badlands, Jinxes Master, Crazy Sweep.


    Companion Form: None


    After reading the information on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Ghost General, Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed. Indeed, he had advanced to the Terror grade. Furthermore, his skills hadn¡¯t been wiped out with the addition of Crazy Sweep.


    The Tiger Soul General used an ancient spear, not a modern firearm. Crazy Sweep was probably a useless skill that was not usable by Tiger Soul General.


    This was the best outcome Zhou Wen could think of. Having another useless skill was better than having one less skill.


    I¡¯ll give it a try and see what the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General looks like after he transforms into his Terror form. Zhou Wen chose to enter the Yang City dungeon before summoning the Tiger Soul General and having him transform into his Terror form.


    At the instant the Tiger Soul General descended, Zhou Wen felt that he wasn¡¯t gaming, but watching a science fiction movie.


    The Tiger Soul General and mount, who were completely wrapped in heavy metal armor, were like mechanical knights in a sci-fi movie. The armor was dark purple, and there was a purple glow at the gaps akin to having purple light outline the curves of the armor.


    The Tiger Soul General¡¯s body was still burning with purple demonic flames. The spear in its hand also had billowing purple flames, especially the spearhead. Purple light spewed out from the hole in an extremely technological manner.


    ¡°It looks pretty good, but I wonder how your actual combat strength is. Let me see your abilities. Attack with all your might.¡± Zhou Wen ordered the Tiger Soul General to attack the blood bone temples.


    The eyes of the Tiger Soul General and mount lit up at the same time as they shimmered with a shocking purple flame. In the next second, the Tiger Soul General raised the spear in his hand.


    What happened next left Zhou Wen dumbfounded. Purple bullets spewed out from the hole in the spear like a storm.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    This commotion was similar to the effect of a Gatling gun, but the might of the purple bullets was much more powerful.


    After a series of explosions, bullet holes appeared on the walls and doors of many blood bone temples. Blood Spirits rushed out of the blood bone temples and angrily lunged at the Tiger Soul General.


    The Tiger Soul General continued his sweep with his spear, blasting apart many Blood Spirits that were charging at him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open. After a while, he snapped to his senses and muttered in surprise, ¡°Holy sh*t, has the Tiger Soul General actually become a mecha knight?¡±


    Zhou Wen soon realized that his thoughts were too simple and naive.


    When a Blood Spirit rushed close to the Tiger Soul General, the Tiger Soul General used the spear to stab the Blood Spirit¡¯s chest, raising it into the sky.


    It sounded contradictory, but in fact, it was true. Not only could the spear be used as a modern-day weapon, but it could also be used as an ancient spear.


    Zhou Wen watched the Tiger Soul General¡¯s performance from the side. The spear in his hand went from being brandished wildly to raining hell. It stormed a path through the horde of Blood Spirits.


    Unfortunately, there were no flames here to augment the Tiger Soul General. Otherwise, he would have been even stronger.


    1


    Haha, the fusion this time was perfect. The Tiger Soul General can now engage in melee and long-range attacks. Furthermore, it can sweep across a large area. It¡¯s perfect. Zhou Wen was excited.


    The Tiger Soul General became stronger the more he fought. The interior of the metal armor seemed to be a huge furnace with the flames inside burning brighter and brighter. The Tiger Soul General also became stronger. No matter how many Blood Spirits appeared, they were mercilessly killed by the Tiger Soul General.


    When the Tiger Soul General rushed to Kui who let out a thunderous roar, the Tiger Soul General managed to bear the brunt of the sonar attack and arrive in front of Kui. He fought it crazily without being at a disadvantage.


    Amazing. This is only the result of constant combat. If he can fight in flames, he should be even stronger. Zhou Wen had the urge to immediately take the Tiger Soul General to a fire-elemental instance dungeon for testing.


    The Tiger Soul General became stronger the more he fought, but Kui didn¡¯t have such an ability. It gradually became at a disadvantage. After more than two hours, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General used its Terror-grade body to damage the Calamity-grade Kui until it was covered in wounds and on its last breath. It eventually died from the torturous attacks.


    Unfortunately, only a Speed Crystal dropped. Zhou Wen fed it to his Companion Beast.


    Should I take the Tiger Soul General to the Dubhe instance dungeon to give it a try? Although Zhou Wen felt that the Tiger Soul General shouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the light blast, dying in-game wasn¡¯t a loss.. He could give it a shot.

 Chapter 1537 - : Returning to the Hut

    Chapter 1537: Returning to the Hut


    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the light blast used by the Calamity creature on Dubhe was considered a high-temperature power that the Tiger Soul General could accept. Logically speaking, it was a power similar to high-temperature radiation. It should be within the range of the Tiger Soul General¡¯s absorption.


    If the Tiger Soul General couldn¡¯t absorb and convert that power for its own use, it would probably die instantly if it relied on its own strength.


    After all, even the Prisoned Dragon armor with Absolute Defense couldn¡¯t withstand it for long. Although the Tiger Soul General¡¯s defense was very strong, it was still inferior to Prisoned Dragon¡¯s Absolute Defense.


    After launching the Dubhe dungeon, Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors as per his previous plan. He used the Chaos Egg as protection and wore the Prisoned Dragon armor. It allowed him to last a little longer when the Chaos Egg exploded.


    The difference this time was that the Tiger Soul General was standing beside Zhou Wen.


    The moment the door opened, the Golden Wyrm Scissors charged at the amethyst-armored creature. The amethyst-armored creature didn¡¯t hesitate to release an omnipresent, sun-like light blast.


    I hope the Tiger Soul General can hold on for a little longer. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have extravagant hopes of the Tiger Soul General lasting as long as the Chaos Egg; he just didn¡¯t want him to be instantly killed.


    Zhou Wen kept sensing the Tiger Soul General to see when he would be killed by the light blast, but to his surprise, the Tiger Soul General wasn¡¯t killed despite Zhou Wen waiting for quite some time.


    Instead, it was Zhou Wen himself. Without Tyrant Behemoth as a trash can for his transferred solid crystals, the Chaos Egg lasted for a much shorter period of time.


    The Tiger Soul General remained alive when the Chaos Egg was destroyed and the game screen went black.


    From the looks of it, the Tiger Soul General can also absorb the power of the amethyst-armored creature¡¯s light blast and use it for himself. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to last so long. Zhou Wen was delighted and alarmed.


    For the Tiger Soul General to last so long, he must have become very strong. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the limits of the Tiger Soul General¡¯s strength. If he could become stronger without end, it would be terrifying. Perhaps he could defy the heavens and kill Dubhe¡¯s dimensional creature.


    1


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s beautiful wish. In fact, any skill had its limits. It was impossible for Tiger Soul General to become stronger indefinitely. His body couldn¡¯t withstand such terrifying power.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the chance to give it a shot and try his luck. This was because he couldn¡¯t last until the Tiger Soul General became stronger. Once Zhou Wen died, the game would end, depriving the chance for Tiger Soul General to become that strong.


    Zhou Wen suddenly realized that he was the one who was the greatest burden.


    No, I have to think of a way to live a little longer. It¡¯s fine if I can¡¯t fight, but I can¡¯t even protect myself. That makes me a little too useless. Zhou Wen thought hard, hoping to become stronger.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible to last that long with just the Chaos Egg. Even when Tyrant Behemoth was still around, it only lasted a little longer. It doesn¡¯t mean much. I have to last longer,¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    1


    The best solution he could think of was to advance the Chaos Egg to the Calamity grade, but this was the dimension. Ignoring finding a suitable dimensional zone, there were no dimensional zones here.


    I can¡¯t return now. What should I do? As Zhou Wen thought about it, his eyes suddenly lit up. I wonder if I can use the dungeon¡¯s power to advance to the Calamity grade in-game?


    He tried it the moment he thought of it, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know which of the dungeons he had downloaded could be used to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the game dungeons would work. All he could do was slowly experiment.


    Zhou Wen thought of the game dungeons he had which corresponded to the Essence Energy Arts he cultivated. If there was a similar type, Zhou Wen would try his luck.


    The First Order of Chaos is an Essence Energy Art from the West, but I haven¡¯t downloaded many Western game dungeons. None of them seem to be compatible with it. If I had known this would happen, I would have downloaded more dungeons from the West District¡­ Zhou Wen regretted it too late.


    Wait¡­ Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a dimensional zone. It was Sweetie¡¯s Hut¡ªthe Time Hut.


    There were four rooms¡ªPast, Present, Future, and Chaos. Zhou Wen wondered if the latter had anything to do with the First Order of Chaos since it had the name ¡®Chaos.¡¯


    However, Sweetie is God. The Time Hut is a dimensional zone under God. The First Order of Chaos is an Essence Energy Art from Zeus¡¯s pantheon. The two aren¡¯t of the same type. I wonder if they can be used together. Zhou Wen decided to try his luck.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had already used the Chaos Egg to enter the Time Hut a long time ago. Only the Chaos Egg could withstand the temporal powers of the Time Hut.


    However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t thought in that direction back then, so he hadn¡¯t paid attention.


    Once again, he entered the Time Hut under the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection. Nothing here had changed much. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare enter the Past Hut or the Future Hut.


    He went to the Chaos Hut to take a look, but he didn¡¯t find anything.


    There weren¡¯t many things in the room to begin with. Zhou Wen touched them all, but he didn¡¯t sense any abnormal changes.


    Is the power of the Chaos Hut incompatible with the First Order of Chaos, or can I not just advance to the Calamity grade in-game? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be sure of the possibilities.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat unwilling to return just like that.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to visit the Future Hut again.


    The Past Hut allowed him to return to the past, and the Future Hut likely sent him to the future. However, the Future Hut was an empty void.


    Zhou Wen had always been brooding over this matter. He didn¡¯t know what it meant.


    If that was the future of humanity, wouldn¡¯t it mean that humanity would perish in the future?


    Now that Zhou Wen was much stronger than before, he wanted to enter again to take a look. Perhaps he could see something.


    When he entered the Future Hut again, the scene Zhou Wen saw was the same as before. The phone screen was pitch-black as though it had been switched off.


    Due to his experience, Zhou Wen directly activated the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and used Human Sovereign¡¯s power to illuminate his surroundings.


    The Ancient Sovereign Sutra was already at the Calamity grade, so its energy was much stronger than before. In the past, Zhou Wen could only illuminate a very small area, but now, he could illuminate dozens of meters.


    However, light couldn¡¯t fully illuminate the Future Hut. What truly illuminated the darkness was the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s potent vitality.


    The moment his surroundings were illuminated, Zhou Wen carefully observed them. The scene he saw delighted him.


    This was because Zhou Wen realized that this wasn¡¯t a completely empty world.. Beneath him were some objects, but Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to tell what was below.

 Chapter 1538 - Fire-Armored God

    Chapter 1538: Fire-Armored God


    Translator: CKtalon


    As the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s lighting range was limited, and the things below were too large, the area he could see was only a portion of it.


    Just like blind people touching an elephant, based on what he saw, Zhou Wen was unable to determine what it was.


    What he could see was an uneven stone platform. It was pockmarked as though it had been bombed by a bomber.


    Zhou Wen was just about to land and get closer to the stone and see where he was when he realized that the stone platform below had moved before he did.


    The stone platform was slowly spinning. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t land. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have spun.


    As the stone spun, Zhou Wen gradually saw some signs of artificial carving. He realized that it looked like a huge statue.


    However, the parts he could see were limited. He didn¡¯t know what the carving was.


    When most of the stone spun to the other side, Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that it was a statue of a Buddha.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the Buddha statue. It was the biggest Buddha statue in Dragon Gate Grotto. Zhou Wen had often been to Dragon Gate Grotto, so he was naturally familiar with it.


    However, half of the Buddha statue¡¯s body had blasted away.


    Clearly, the Buddha statue was floating in the void.


    How did this happen? Why did this Buddha statue become like this? Who shattered half of it? Is Dragon Gate Grotto still around? Zhou Wen was alarmed. If this was the future of the world, wouldn¡¯t it mean that Luoyang was doomed?


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the phone screen suddenly turned black. Zhou Wen imagined that the Human Sovereign Sutra had failed. After checking, he realized that the blood-colored avatar had died. He didn¡¯t even know how it had died. Zhou Wen could only smile bitterly to himself.


    Past, Present, Future, Chaos, First Order of Chaos¡­ Will there be a connection between these? As Zhou Wen thought about it, his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Right, the First Order of Chaos is Chaos¡¯s Essence Energy Art. Chaos¡¯s status in that Mythical system is probably similar to the egg that trapped Pangu. If I treat it as Chaos, then Chaos has no concept of time and space. There shouldn¡¯t be a past, present, or future¡­ Zhou Wen kept thinking.


    ¡­


    While Zhou Wen was in Regretless City, Earth wasn¡¯t very calm.


    Some creatures appeared on the Cube again. No matter how one looked at them, these creatures looked like Earth¡¯s dinosaurs. Some looked like tyrannosaurus rexes and some looked like triceratops or pterosaurs.


    These creatures wanted to enter the Dubhe dimensional zone, but without exception, they were killed by the amethyst-armored creature. Even though they knew that the difference in strength was huge, some creatures still rushed in from time to time.


    Although none of these creatures suspected to be dinosaurs cleared the level, their appearance and strength became a hot topic.


    ¡°Do you think those dinosaur-like fellows came from Earth?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the dinosaurs¡¯ extinction is very bizarre. Don¡¯t tell me they chose to leave Earth and develop in the universe?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really hard to say. Anyway, I find it strange why the dinosaurs went completely extinct. Not even one survived. From the perspective of probabilities, it doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°If those dinosaurs really came from Earth, aren¡¯t they a little too strong?¡±


    ¡°Dinosaurs have extremely powerful bodies to begin with¡­¡±


    Whether or not dinosaur-like creatures had left Earth, the various media outlets expressed their views. The ordinary citizens also had their own views.


    However, no matter what kind of dinosaur it was, they ultimately died in the dungeon. There were no exceptions.


    As people discussed, the Cube¡¯s screen lit up again. Other creatures were challenging the Dubhe dimensional zone.


    The challengers were surprisingly not dinosaurs.


    They were creatures suspected to be human. Their entire bodies were covered in armor, preventing anyone from seeing what was inside.


    The black armor looked like it was made of raw metal, but there was nothing special about it.


    Just like the tyrannosaurus from before, the armor-clad creatures arrived outside Dubhe¡¯s palace. They pushed open the door and walked over.


    Boom!


    The amethyst-armored creature in the palace erupted with the purple flames that Zhou Wen was more familiar with.


    Unlike the dinosaurs, the creatures that came this time weren¡¯t instantly killed. Amidst the terrifying purple blast, they walked towards the amethyst-armored creature.


    People quickly realized that the challengers weren¡¯t here to kill the amethyst-armored creature, but to circle around it and reach the back of the palace.


    There was a teleportation nexus there. The creatures stood on the teleportation nexus before disappearing. The Cube¡¯s screen switched to the ranking interface. A name appeared in first place.


    ¡°Fire-Armored God.¡± Zhang Chunqiu softly repeated the word as he frowned, as though he was thinking about something difficult.


    After this battle, people realized that if they wanted to pass through the palace and reach the teleportation nexus, they could do so without killing the amethyst-armored creature inside.


    Even so, no one dared to give it a try. The light blast produced by the amethyst-armored creature was just too powerful. It wasn¡¯t that simple to bypass it.


    Zhou Wen was studying how to kill the amethyst-armored creature and wasn¡¯t in the mood to look at the Cube. Therefore, he didn¡¯t know that clearing the level didn¡¯t require killing the amethyst-armored creature.


    After Fire-Armored God entered the rankings, the various families began a new round of tests. It was impossible for humans to kill the amethyst creature, but it didn¡¯t seem impossible as long as they made a run for it.


    Everyone was searching for a way to withstand the light blast. The price of light and fire-elemental defensive Companion Beasts increased several times overnight. However, it was limited to high-level Companion Beasts. Low-level ones were useless.


    Some powerful factions began deliberately heading to fire-elemental dimensional zones to hunt dimensional creatures. Some people also thought of Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb, but when they arrived, they realized that it had vanished.


    While others were desperately searching for fire-elemental Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was undergoing a strange change.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen was standing in front of Sweetie¡¯s hut. He hadn¡¯t entered it. The First Order of Chaos circulated in his body, and his hand was pressing down on the wooden tablet with the words ¡°Sweetie¡¯s Hut.¡±


    As the First Order of Chaos circulated, the words on the wooden tablet slowly vanished as though they had been sucked away by some force.


    While Zhou Wen studied the First Order of Chaos, he realized that the power of the Time Hut didn¡¯t come from the hut itself, but from these words.

 Chapter 1539 - Heaven-Opening Words

    Chapter 1539: Heaven-Opening Words


    Translator: CKtalon


    What are these words?


    Zhou Wen had been considering this question the entire time. All this time, he had been observing the Time Hut, but nothing in the hut was abnormal enough to cause a reaction from the First Order of Chaos. Only the words on the hut were somewhat special.


    Sweetie¡¯s Hut, Past, Present, Future, and Chaos¡ªwhy do these words have a special power? What is the foundation of this power? Why is this power related to the First Order of Chaos?


    In the beginning, there was only Chaos, and it drew the curtains to all things. What is the First Order?


    While pondering over this problem, Zhou Wen checked some explanations regarding the words on the Internet. Typical resources stipulated that text were symbols.


    2


    This explanation was naturally correct, but when one thought about it deeper, words were actually a set of coordinates. A single text represented a set of coordinates. Two words were like the latitude and longitude of Earth, so it could more accurately define a set of coordinates.


    Three words might be the length, breadth, and height of a three-dimensional world. They gave a more precise positioning.


    The more words there were, the more precise the coordinates would be. The spatial dimensions they represented might also be higher.


    Words were very magical. Originally, no one knew what the things in this world were. Everything was chaotic and unknown. Only with text could people come to a common agreement on what something was.


    The use of words was to give all things¡ªthings that could and couldn¡¯t be seen¡ªa coordinate defined by humans. As long as one said the coordinates, anyone who knew the word would know what it was.


    This was equivalent to giving the chaotic world order. The world itself didn¡¯t need order because existence was order in itself. Humans needed order. Humans were the ones who discovered order, and words were the best carrier for human-established order.


    When Zhou Wen comprehended this and touched the engraved wooden plaques, the First Order of Chaos automatically circulated.


    The words on the wooden tablet transformed into a strange force that flowed into his body and fused with the First Order of Chaos, causing it to undergo a shocking transformation.


    After Zhou Wen absorbed the words¡ªPast, Present, and Future¡ªhe vaguely felt that the First Order of Chaos had reached the edge of Calamity transformation, but it was still lacking that final step.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen went to the door and attempted to absorb the words ¡°Sweetie¡¯s Hut.¡± However, the words also had magical powers.


    It left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled. The power of the words ¡°past, present, and future¡± clearly had traces of time and space. However, the power transmitted by Sweetie¡¯s Hut didn¡¯t seem to have much to do with time and space.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what was going on, the Chaos Egg appeared and enveloped the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen and the blood-colored avatar were one. Everything the blood-colored avatar felt was happening to Zhou Wen himself. At that moment, he could clearly sense that the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was undergoing a strange change.


    The Chaos Egg in the past was a form of protection for Zhou Wen. It was a breeding ground for nutrition.


    However, as the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body changed, Zhou Wen felt that the Chaos Egg had become an obstacle. Or rather, a shackle that bound his body, making him feel abnormally uncomfortable.


    It was like a person being locked in a cramped closet for an entire night. He needed to curl up his entire body into a ball and have his knees pressed against his chest to squeeze in.


    After a night of torture, what this person wanted the most was to leave.


    Zhou Wen felt the same way. Now, he had the urge to break through the Chaos Egg and rush out to take a breath of fresh air. He felt extremely uncomfortable.


    Pangu split the heavens and earth apart to allow all things to live. Could it be that this Chaos Egg can only form the Calamity Zone through its destruction? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right.


    Therefore, he gathered his strength, hoping to break through the Chaos Egg¡¯s restraints.


    However, only now did Zhou Wen clearly realize how terrifying the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense was.


    His physical strength and Essence Energy were already comparable to a Human Realm creature, but when such power struck the Chaos Egg, it hardly left a scuff, much less break it.


    Zhou Wen unleashed his Essence Energy again and again to strike the Chaos Egg, but he failed to shatter it.


    Why are you so tenacious? Aren¡¯t you giving me trouble? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to realize that if it wasn¡¯t for the Chaos Egg¡¯s powerful defense, he would have been dead several times over.


    However, the advantage of the Chaos Egg now became his greatest obstacle. Zhou Wen had liked the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense in the past, but now, it was tormenting.


    He kept at it, be it ten times, hundred times, a thousand times, or even ten thousand times, but despite Zhou Wen not giving up, the Chaos Egg had no intention of shattering.


    Ignoring the shattering of the Chaos Egg, he couldn¡¯t even scrape the Chaos Egg¡¯s membrane.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that persistence was very important, but sometimes, persistence needed brains.


    How can I break the Chaos Egg? I¡¯m not the real Pangu. Even if I were Pangu, I don¡¯t have that ax that split the heavens and earth apart. Wait¡­ Where did Pangu¡¯s ax come from? Nothing had been born amidst the Chaos, so there shouldn¡¯t be the concept of an ax. The so-called Pangu Ax might not be an ax. Perhaps myths and legends have objectified some kind of power. Then, what¡¯s the power that can split the heavens and earth? Zhou Wen thought about it. He wasn¡¯t willing to aimlessly do something futile.


    Since words are a carrier of human order, when words give the originally unknown world a definition, it¡¯s equivalent to splitting apart the heavens and earth¡­ The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more convinced he was.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t wrong. The fault was that he was from the East District. The culture he was familiar with was a little different from the West District¡¯s Chaos mythology.


    It couldn¡¯t be said to be wrong. It was just that his understanding was somewhat different, so the direction he took was somewhat different.


    The Chaos Egg should have advanced to the Calamity grade in another way, but Zhou Wen had taken a completely different path. The West District¡¯s Essence Energy Art had been imbued with the culture and spirit of the East District. Even the founder of the First Order of Chaos probably never expected the First Order of Chaos to be comprehended in such a manner.


    Above the Chaos Egg, shimmering words gradually appeared. Stroke by stroke, shimmering words¡ªmountains, rivers, wind, fire, sun, moon, and stars¡ªappeared, and a portion of the Chaos Egg disintegrated and melted.


    The words vanished with the Chaos Egg.


    When the final Chaos Egg shard melted, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was liberated. In the next second, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body lit up as countless words spewed out from his body like a data stream.. They spun around his body like blocks, forming the appearance of a Chaos Egg that enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body.

 Chapter 1540 - Chaos’s First Order

    Chapter 1540: Chaos¡¯s First Order


    Translator: CKtalon


    It¡¯s done! Zhou Wen looked at the Chaos Egg around him. Although it still looked the same as before, it was completely different.


    The previous Chaos Egg was a Chaos Egg, and the present Chaos Egg was Zhou Wen¡¯s Calamity Zone.


    However, to Zhou Wen¡¯s dismay, this Calamity Zone was a little too small. Just like the Chaos Egg in the past, it could only accommodate him.


    Taking out his phone, he took a look at his stats and realized that the First Order of Chaos had indeed reached the Calamity grade.


    Calamity Zone: Chaos¡¯s First Order


    Zhou Wen recognized these words, but he didn¡¯t understand what the ability of the First Order of Chaos Calamity Zone, which had the same name as the Essence Energy Art, was.


    I¡¯ll give it a try. Zhou Wen activated the Big Dipper instance dungeon and entered Dubhe¡¯s palace.


    Chaos¡¯s First Order was quite interesting. It was equivalent to the Chaos Egg, so using it was equivalent to the summoning of the Chaos Egg.


    It looked no different from when it was at the Terror grade. It was still the same Chaos Egg that enveloped his body. He couldn¡¯t tell that the Chaos Egg was made of words.


    Ignoring everything else, its defense should be much stronger, right? Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Tiger Soul General and got them to slam open Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    After the Golden Wyrm Scissors charged at the amethyst-armored creature, a terrifying purple light blast appeared.


    When the Chaos Egg was struck by the light blast, many solid Essence Energy Crystals immediately appeared. Just like before, they quickly piled up inside the Chaos Egg.


    This is no different from before! Zhou Wen was depressed. He only hoped that the Chaos Egg was more resilient than before and wouldn¡¯t explode so quickly.


    Soon, Zhou Wen was certain that the Chaos Egg was indeed much tougher than before after being strengthened by the Calamity Zone. The solid crystals inside nearly filled the Chaos Egg, but it didn¡¯t explode.


    Although the Chaos Egg didn¡¯t explode, Zhou Wen¡¯s body couldn¡¯t take it. His body was almost flattened from the solid crystals¡¯ squeezing.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t thought of this problem previously, but now, he suddenly realized that the toughness of the Chaos Egg was useless. His body couldn¡¯t withstand such pressure. If the solid Essence Energy Crystals continued to increase, he would definitely be squeezed to death.


    I¡¯m afraid I¡¯m the first person in this world to be squeezed to death by Essence Energy Crystals, right? People clamor amidst tears, hoping to obtain some high-level Essence Energy Crystals, but I¡¯m squeezed to death because of having too many. This is ridiculous¡­ If only this could be like the real world, allowing me to exchange the Essence Energy Crystals for vouchers. A single voucher is equivalent to thousands of Essence Energy Crystals¡­ Unfortunately, Essence Energy Crystals aren¡¯t money, nor are they vouchers. They can¡¯t be stacked. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he suddenly saw the Chaos Egg light up. A word lit up inside the Chaos Egg.


    It was the word ¡°one.¡± When the word lit up, Zhou Wen realized that a word had appeared in all the crystals.


    This is something! If there¡¯s one, there will be two and three. Could it be¡­ With a thought, Zhou Wen immediately saw a few words light up inside the Chaos Egg.


    One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, hundred, thousand, ten thousand¡­ The words that represented numbers lit up.


    Every time a number lit up, the Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg would change.


    When the number in the Essence Energy Crystals turned to two, the Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg suddenly decreased by half, leaving plenty of space.


    When it became three, there were fewer Essence Energy Crystals. The bigger the number in the Essence Energy Crystals, the fewer crystals there were.


    Holy sh*t, I can really stack numbers like money! Zhou Wen was immediately excited. He picked up a crystal that had the word ¡®thousand¡¯ on it and immediately felt that the Essence Energy contained in the crystal was as terrifying as the energy in a nuclear reactor. Clearly, the Essence Energy contained in this crystal was very likely equivalent to a thousand crystals.


    Under such circumstances, surely I don¡¯t have to worry about the Chaos Egg exploding? After all, it can be stacked constantly. Even if there are 100 million Essence Energy Crystals, they can be stacked into one. Zhou Wen felt that everything was worth it.


    However, he soon realized that his idea was nice, perhaps too good to be true. The number in the Chaos Egg only reached ten thousand, but there weren¡¯t any words like billion.


    The Essence Energy Crystals ultimately stacked to ten thousand.


    Zhou Wen attempted to activate the other words, but it was useless. Apart from the words that represented numbers, the other words couldn¡¯t be activated.


    However, even so, it was already of great boon to Zhou Wen. Just the amount of space saved from stacking ten thousand Essence Energy Crystals together was enough to help him greatly. It prevented him from being squeezed to death by them.


    As such, Zhou Wen realized that he could easily withstand the damage of the light blast with the help of the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen sized up the situation outside while inside the Chaos Egg. All he could see was a dazzling purple light¡ªnothing else. All he could sense was that the Golden Wyrm Scissors was fighting the amethyst-armored creature inside.


    Occasionally, he could see golden beams flash in the purple light. It was likely the radiance of the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    As for the Tiger Soul General by the side, his aura became stronger and stronger. He had already roughly reached the Calamity grade and was constantly becoming stronger.


    I should be able to know the limits of the Tiger Soul General this time, right? Zhou Wen thought.


    After a while, Zhou Wen realized that he could see a purple flame plume where the Tiger Soul General was. The purple color was somewhat different from the purple color of the light blast.


    As the flames became stronger, he could already tell that it was the outline of the Tiger Soul General.


    Such power should already be stronger than the power of the light blast, right? That¡¯s why the flames can be seen. Is the Tiger Soul General really that strong? It¡¯s only at the Terror grade, but it can withstand the power of a Calamity-grade creature? Furthermore, it¡¯s not an ordinary Calamity-grade creature. With a thought, Zhou Wen ordered the Tiger Soul General to help attack the amethyst armor.


    The Tiger Soul General charged forward without any hesitation, but due to the intense battle energy fluctuations inside, he couldn¡¯t hear the exact situation even with Truth Listener¡¯s power.


    Bang!


    After a loud bang, Zhou Wen sensed Tiger Soul General¡¯s body fly out and slam into the ground. It tore the ground into the distance and slammed into something before stopping.


    However, in the next second, the Tiger Soul General got up and charged in again.


    Again and again, every time the Tiger Soul General was thrown out, he would quickly rush back in. As for Zhou Wen, he could clearly sense that the Tiger Soul General¡¯s aura was getting stronger.


    The Tiger Soul General is quite an oddity. He¡¯s clearly only at the Terror grade and doesn¡¯t even have a Calamity Zone, but he can rely on the combination of various skills to resist a powerful Calamity creature¡­ Zhou Wen felt that he needed to pay attention to the problem of skills.. If there was a chance, he should learn more useful skills.


    3

 Chapter 1541 - Wolf Kiss

    Chapter 1541: Wolf Kiss


    Translator: CKtalon


    Crack!


    With the sound of scissors opening and closing, Zhou Wen saw the light blast in the palace suddenly vanish as the world in front of him became clearer.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors stood there, levitating in the hall. The Tiger Soul General with armor that resembled burning crystals also stood in the hall. As for the amethyst-armored creature, it had already collapsed. Its head and body had been separated.


    His body quickly dissipated into purple streams of light. With a tinkling sound, a few crystals fell to the ground. They were all high-valued ones with values exceeding 200.


    One of them was a skill crystal, but no Companion Egg dropped.


    ¡®Killed Hell creature, Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    Zhou Wen picked up the skill crystal and took a look. The stat requirements weren¡¯t high¡ª99 Constitution, Strength, Essence Energy, and Speed. Zhou Wen met all of these, but he needed a light-elemental Essence Energy Art which he could come up with a solution for. The only difficulty was the 99 Light-elemental stat.


    The Light stat was a special attribute, so the chances of it dropping weren¡¯t high. Zhou Wen had never downloaded a Light-elemental zone, so he hadn¡¯t had many Light-elemental crystals drop. He was far from reaching the Light stat requirements.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed, he suddenly realized that one of the dimensional crystals that Starlord Ravenous Wolf dropped was Light-elemental.


    1


    Without any hesitation, he absorbed the Light stat crystal that nearly reached 300 in value.


    Zhou Wen achieved 99 Light stat points. This was the limit at the Terror grade as he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade. No matter how high the stat crystals he absorbed were, it was impossible for him to continue raising his stats.


    This really doesn¡¯t make sense. The limit of the Mythical stage¡¯s stats is 81, but the limit of the Terror grade¡¯s stats is 99. Isn¡¯t the difference too small? Zhou Wen found it odd. The difference in values between the other levels was huge. It was about double. Only the difference between the Mythical stage and the Terror grade was tiny. He didn¡¯t know why.


    That was what he thought, but he could only come to terms with the reality. No matter how unreasonable it was, it couldn¡¯t be changed. He could only adapt.


    Thankfully, with 99 points of Light stats, he satisfied the requirements needed to absorb the skill crystal. What was lacking now was a Light-stat Terror transformation ability.


    Among the Essence Energy Arts I simulated, the only one that can be associated with light is the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. That flame of life should be considered light, right? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure as he switched his Essence Energy Art to the Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Then, he picked up the skill crystal and attempted to absorb it.


    Immediately, a hot and numbing force flowed out of the skill crystal and rushed into Zhou Wen¡¯s body, making his entire body feel like it was being baked by high temperatures.


    Thankfully, he was in-game. If he were outside, Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes would have been burned to ashes by the high temperature.


    The terrifying energy barbarically opened up a new Essence Energy circulation in Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The terrifyingly high temperature and radiation energy made Zhou Wen believe that the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was about to collapse.


    Thankfully, he ultimately survived and absorbed Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s skill crystal.


    ¡®Absorbed Starlord Ravenous Wolf Crystal. Attained Hell-level Essence Energy Skill: Wolf Kiss.¡¯


    Wolf Kiss! Zhou Wen sensed the skill information from the Essence Energy Crystal and his expression turned odd. He opened the skill column and saw that it was indeed Wolf Kiss.


    Wolf Kiss (Hell): The Ravenous Wolf Star is the Star of Desire. The Ravenous Wolf¡¯s Kiss is earth-shattering.


    What the hell! Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. He originally imagined that with Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s powerful abilities, any random skill like a light blast, radiation, or high temperature would greatly increase the destructive power of his skills. To his surprise, he ended up with Wolf Kiss.


    The skill introduction sounded very strong, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be hugging the enemy and kissing them amid his battle, right?


    Zhou Wen imagined a scene of him fighting An Tianzuo. At the brink of losing, he could only use the only Hell-level skill he had¡ªWolf Kiss¡ªto turn the tables.


    1


    He then took the opportunity to hug An Tianzuo¡¯s head and use Wolf Kiss. It was an unbearable sight.


    Zhou Wen definitely hadn¡¯t misunderstood the language describing the skill¡¯s usage because the information had been transmitted to his brain by the Essence Energy Crystal. That was exactly how Wolf Kiss was used.


    How can I use this skill! Zhou Wen was so depressed that he nearly vomited blood.


    This skill wasn¡¯t suitable to be used against men. If it was used on monsters, even if Zhou Wen could bring himself to kiss them, many monsters¡¯ mouths would be extremely large. Ignoring kissing, Zhou Wen would just be giving them more protein if he really leaned his head over.


    1


    Although he didn¡¯t know how powerful Wolf Kiss was, Zhou Wen was certain that he couldn¡¯t use it casually.


    Just like kowtowing could trigger the Sigh of the King¡ªsomething Zhou Wen knew was useful¡ªbut he really couldn¡¯t bring himself into such embarrassment. Most of the time, Zhou Wen was embarrassed to use that move.


    Wolf Kiss was about the same, but Zhou Wen realized that he could use it at times after some thought.


    He distributed the other stat crystals to the Companion Beasts that needed them. Banana Fairy¡¯s stats were already maxed out. It was useless eating them without leveling up. The Soul Mirror was almost maxed as well. Raising stats wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen. The difficult part was how to raise the level.


    ¡°If Banana Fairy can advance to the Calamity grade, she might be able to extinguish the sun with a gust of Supreme Yin Wind. I wouldn¡¯t need to go through so much trouble!¡±


    Zhou Wen was just musing. If he wanted to extinguish the sun, it was unknown if the Apocalypse grade could do it, much less the Calamity grade.


    After tidying up everything, Zhou Wen circled the palace again and realized that there was only one hall. There were no other exits behind it, nor were there any other palaces.


    At the back of the palace was a strange altar. On it seemed to be some kind of runes used for rituals.


    Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to stand on it as a notification popped up in-game: Do you want to teleport to Merak Star Palace?


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the Big Dipper instance dungeon was indeed a serial dungeon. He guessed that there was a dungeon on each of the Big Dipper stars. He had to clear all seven dungeons to clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf in the first dungeon is at the Hell level. Typically, dungeons become stronger the further one goes. I wonder how strong the dimensional creatures in the next six dungeons will be. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and chose no.


    He wanted to see what would happen if he chose no.


    System Notice: Do you want to teleport out of Dubhe Palace?


    Zhou Wen immediately chose ¡®yes¡¯ to see where he would teleport to.


    The teleportation nexus flashed as the scene in front of Zhou Wen changed. There were dazzling flames everywhere. Zhou Wen looked around and realized that he was at the periphery of Dubhe.


    There¡¯s a way to return! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.

 Chapter 1542 - Starlord Titan Gate

    Chapter 1542: Starlord Titan Gate


    Translator: CKtalon


    Since the seven dungeons of the Big Dipper were separated, Zhou Wen could freely choose to continue heading to the next Star Palace after completing Dubhe. That was his chance.


    All he needed to do was use the Cube to enter Dubhe Palace and clear it in reality. Then, he could teleport out and return to Earth.


    From the looks of it, this was the only way to return to Earth before Demonic Neonate woke up.


    It was no longer difficult for Zhou Wen to clear Dubhe Palace and kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    The more troublesome thing was Demonic Neonate and Grim Demon. Furthermore, he needed to find three people to ascend the Cube with him before he could activate the Cube and enter Dubhe Palace.


    Demonic Neonate was still sleeping and showed no signs of waking up. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t unsummon her. He couldn¡¯t even send her into the chaos space.


    It wasn¡¯t impossible for him to carry her into Dubhe Palace, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for so many people to see Demonic Neonate through the broadcast.


    The most troublesome thing was to find three people to enter Dubhe Palace with him. The three would definitely die.


    Although there were many people in Regretless City and it wasn¡¯t difficult to find three people to send themselves to their deaths, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t such a person. He really couldn¡¯t bring himself into forcing people with whom he had no grudge to die.


    I¡¯ll wait another two days before reassessing. It¡¯s best if Demonic Neonate wakes up. If she doesn¡¯t, I can only use the Cube to return. Zhou Wen launched the Big Dipper instance dungeon again.


    After entering Dubhe Palace again, there was no Starlord Ravenous Wolf guarding it. From the looks of it, it hadn¡¯t respawned.


    Zhou Wen arrived at the teleportation nexus and chose to enter the next Merak Star Palace.


    Merak was the second star of the Big Dipper. Merak was also known as the Titan Gate Star. According to what Zhou Wen knew, although Merak was several times bigger than the sun, there didn¡¯t seem to be any planets around Merak. There was only a ring of relatively cold dust.


    When the teleportation nexus was activated, the scene in front of Zhou Wen changed. When he regained his vision, he realized that a huge door had appeared in front of him. The door looked like the Arc de Triomphe, but it was even more majestic. It was probably a thousand meters tall and was carved from golden crystal. Standing in front of the extremely majestic door, Zhou Wen found himself as tiny as an ant.


    And this was only the entrance to the Merak Star Palace. It was unimaginable how big the entire Star Palace was.


    The Merak Star Palace had an entrance without a door. Zhou Wen stood on the steps outside the entrance and could see the scene inside.


    The interior of the Star Palace was equally huge. It was more than enough to fly a helicopter inside. There were resplendent crystal pillars and walls everywhere.


    Unlike Dubhe Palace¡¯s simplicity, this Star Palace was extremely beautiful. The various carvings were opulent.


    And at the back of the Star Palace, there was a huge crystal throne. A giant wearing golden crystal armor was sitting on the crystal throne with one hand supporting his chin as though he was deep in thought.


    What a tall giant. Just sitting there makes it look about two hundred meters tall! Zhou Wen guessed what dimensional creature it was from the its appearance.


    Since the guardian of Dubhe was Starlord Ravenous Wolf, this person was undoubtedly Starlord Titan Gate.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Starlord Titan Gate opened his eyes. The eyes that were much bigger than car wheels opened as they emitted a terrifying golden glow. He stared at the spot where the blood-colored avatar was standing and slowly stood up.


    Zhou Wen had never seen a dimensional creature¡¯s aura as terrifying as Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s. Perhaps other creatures were stronger than him, but in terms of aura, they might not be able to suppress him.


    Looking at Starlord Titan Gate, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think of the word ¡°indomitable.¡±


    Zhou Wen was already prepared to fight a tough battle. From the size of Starlord Titan Gate, he knew that his body was definitely extremely powerful with extremely violent strength.


    The Chaos Egg could withstand the blast of light because it was an area-of-effect attack, resulting in greatly scattered strength. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if the Chaos Egg could withstand a Strength-type dimensional creature like Starlord Titan Gate.


    If I really can¡¯t block his attacks, I can only place my hopes on dodging. Unfortunately, I gave my Heavenly Robe and lucky equipment to Wang Lu. Otherwise, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for me to dodge Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s attack¡­ Zhou Wen was still thinking of a countermeasure when he suddenly saw Starlord Titan Gate open his mouth.


    In the next moment, a terrifying roar burst out of Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s mouth, forming a sonic boom that instantly struck Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen never expected such a move. He imagined that Starlord Titan Gate was a Strength-type, so he never expected him to have a sonar attack.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had fast reflexes. He summoned the Chaos Egg and protected himself.


    When the sonic boom struck the Chaos Egg, a large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals were immediately produced inside. The number was about the same as when Starlord Ravenous Wolf attacked.


    From the looks of it, Starlord Titan Gate should also be at the Hell level. That¡¯s good. Zhou Wen felt relieved.


    If the Star Palaces were each stronger than the last in the Big Dipper instance dungeons, it was unimaginable how strong the guardian inside the final Star Palace would be. It would be impossible to clear it.


    Starlord Titan Gate wasn¡¯t much stronger than Starlord Ravenous Wolf. This gave Zhou Wen hope. Perhaps the seven Starlords of the Big Dipper were all at the Hell level, so he still had a chance of clearing the Big Dipper.


    Although similar in strength to Starlord Ravenous Wolf, Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s abilities were completely different. His sonic attack and Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s sonic booms were from completely different systems.


    Zhou Wen relied on the Chaos Egg to take a beating. At the same time, he summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and ordered it to attack Starlord Titan Gate.


    However, not long after the Golden Wyrm Scissors flew out, its flying speed became slower and slower. Before it reached Starlord Titan Gate, the Golden Wyrm Scissors stopped.


    No way? Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s howl is so powerful that even the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack can¡¯t completely tear through it? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Something even more unbelievable happened next. The Golden Wyrm Scissors flew back and fiercely rushed at the Chaos Egg.


    The Chaos Egg had no chance of dodging amidst the sonic booms. As for the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ destructive power, even the Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t completely withstand it. A hole was torn open at the snipping point.


    The howl rushed in through the hole, and then the phone screen went black.


    What happened? Why did the Golden Wyrm Scissors suddenly turn against me? Zhou Wen hurriedly checked the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ information and realized that it was still intact. It was still his Companion Beast, so there wasn¡¯t any problem.


    However, he couldn¡¯t figure out why the Golden Wyrm Scissors had suddenly lost control and attacked him.

 Chapter 1543 - Jiuyang

    Chapter 1543: Jiuyang


    Translator: CKtalon


    Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s body doesn¡¯t appear to be Strength-type, but sound-type. That¡¯s quite surprising, Zhou Wen thought to himself. Furthermore, it should be Epsilon Ursae Majoris that represents sound, so why is Starlord Titan Gate a sound-type dimensional creature?


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss. However, he was certain that the sonar shockwave alone wasn¡¯t enough to make the Golden Wyrm Scissors attack its owner. There had to be other forces behind this.


    Zhou Wen entered the dungeon a few more times and quickly figured out what was going on.


    Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s roar was indeed a sound-type ability. Furthermore, this sound-type power wasn¡¯t just a vibrational attack. It also had powers similar to bewitchment.


    That power was useless against Zhou Wen who was wearing the Truth Listener earring, but the Golden Wyrm Scissors and other Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t seem to withstand the assault of that power. As long as they were too far from Zhou Wen, they could easily betray him.


    This left Zhou Wen depressed. His strength wasn¡¯t enough to fight Starlord Titan Gate. Now, he was relying on his Companion Beasts to keep him going. It was a serious problem if his Companion Beasts betrayed him if they were too far from him.


    From the looks of it, I¡¯ll have to grind a few more times to study Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s other weaknesses. Zhou Wen repeatedly grinded the Merak Star Palace. Although he was killed by Starlord Titan Gate every time, he still enjoyed it.


    While Zhou Wen was studying Starlord Titan Gate, the various factions on Earth were still working hard on how to enter Dubhe Palace alive. All the fire-elemental dimensional creatures were repeatedly slaughtered by the various factions, pushing the prices of high-level fire-elemental defensive Companion Beasts to ridiculous levels.


    Just as the various factions were gathering fire-elemental armor, the Cube¡¯s screen stirred again. Someone had entered Dubhe Palace, and it was a human.


    It was a young man in gorgeous armor who looked to be in his twenties or thirties.


    ¡°Human? How did he enter? How did he withstand such high temperatures?¡± No one knew the young man as they whispered.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Isn¡¯t it said that only four people can enter? Why is he alone?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of entering? Under that blast of light, even the extremely powerful dinosaurs can¡¯t withstand it. Death simply awaits him. From the looks of it, it should be a suicide squad from some faction used to scout the way, right?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no doubt about it.¡±


    ¡°What a pity. He¡¯s so handsome, but he¡¯s dying just like that.¡± Women tended to focus on different things from men.


    ¡°Damn! I wonder which family¡¯s the one letting such a young man die.¡±


    The handsome young man couldn¡¯t hear the discussions. Even if he heard them, he couldn¡¯t be bothered.


    He walked towards the Star Palace¡¯s door one step after another, extended his flawless hands that were even more beautiful than a woman¡¯s, and pushed open Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    Looking at Starlord Ravenous Wolf in the Star Palace, the young man walked in without any hesitation. When Starlord Ravenous Wolf saw someone enter the Star Palace, he unleashed a terrifying blast of light without a word.


    The entire Star Palace and the square outside were instantly enveloped by the purple light blast. There were no blind spots.


    The live broadcast of the Cube had been processed by the Cube. Even an ordinary person could see the young man¡¯s figure in the blast of light.


    Everyone thought that he was doomed, but in the blast of light, the young man didn¡¯t show the horror and shock they had imagined.


    The blast of light didn¡¯t reduce his body to ashes. It didn¡¯t even damage his hair. The armor on the young man¡¯s body emitted a blinding light that was even more dazzling than the light blast. It was as though he was augmented by the sun.


    ¡°How¡­ How is this possible¡­ He¡¯s actually fine¡­ under such high temperatures and radiation¡­ Is he still human?¡±


    ¡°When did such a young powerhouse appear among us humans?¡±


    ¡°Could he be Human Sovereign?¡±


    Ordinary people discussed spiritedly as they guessed the young man¡¯s origins. As for factions like the six families, they had already identified the young man¡¯s background.


    ¡°Solar Holy Body. That young man should be from the Holy Land¡¯s Sun God Holy Temple. I never expected the Holy Land to take action so quickly,¡± Zhang Chunqiu muttered to himself.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t the Family Clan of Gods also have the Solar Holy Body? Why can¡¯t he be from the Family Clan of Gods?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked in puzzlement as she watched the live broadcast.


    ¡°The Family Clan of Gods does have the Solar Holy Body from the Sun God Holy Temple, but the Family Clan of Gods doesn¡¯t have that piece of armor he¡¯s wearing. If I¡¯m not wrong, that armor was transformed from a Guardian. Furthermore, it possesses the extremely pure power of the Sun. It¡¯s even purer than the Solar Holy Body¡¯s. I¡¯m afraid only the fellows from the Sun God Holy Temple can create such a Guardian. The Family Clan of Gods doesn¡¯t have it,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    The armor on the Saint from the Sun God Holy Temple emitted a divine solar glow, absorbing the power of the blast.


    Under the attention of everyone, the Saint walked to the teleportation nexus and teleported out of Dubhe Palace.


    Soon, the Cube¡¯s screen switched to the rankings. It showed a new name. Furthermore, it was ranked ahead of Fire-Armored God¡ªhaving obtained first place.


    ¡°Saint Jiuyang. He¡¯s indeed from the Sun God Holy Temple,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a frown.


    Upon seeing this name, people realized that this young man was a Saint of the Holy Land.


    ¡°The Holy Land is indeed powerful. Any Saint can enter the rankings.¡±


    Humans indeed rely on Guardians.


    ¡°That depends on who it is. Our Human Sovereign doesn¡¯t need a Guardian.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid Human Sovereign can¡¯t enter. Otherwise, why hasn¡¯t he appeared?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious why that Jiuyang can enter the dimensional zone alone?¡±


    No one answered his question. Some thought of a possibility, but it was so cruel that they couldn¡¯t say it out loud.


    A human had not only cleared Dubhe Palace, but he had also overtaken the Fire-Armored God, clinching first place. Instantly, he was in the limelight. The entire Federation was discussing Jiuyang.


    ¡°Only Saints from the Sun God Holy Temple can pass through Dubhe Palace so easily, right?¡±


    ¡°Jiuyang is too cool.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this is another powerhouse at the Human Sovereign level.¡±


    Most people weren¡¯t stingy with their praises. Even Professor Gu, who had always thought negatively, said in a program that Dubhe Palace was a dimensional zone tailor-made for Saint Jiuyang. It was unlikely any human could reach Jiuyang¡¯s level.


    If nothing went wrong, Jiuyang might very well obtain first place on the Cube¡¯s rankings.

 Chapter 1544 - Humans Who Worship the Devil King

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Jiuyang, well done.¡± Xiao looked at Jiuyang who walked out of the Cube and greeted him with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s no need for compliments. Even a pig can accomplish such a feat while wearing this Solar Holy Armor,¡± Jiuyang said coldly.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. There are so many Saints in the Sun God Holy Temple. Only you were chosen to possess it. That¡¯s your strength,¡± Xiao said.


    Jiuyang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change. ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be happy about. My opponents aren¡¯t them to begin with. I only want to defeat Human Sovereign. Do you think Human Sovereign will appear this time?¡±


    ¡°Probably. Since he claims to be Human Sovereign, he¡¯s not likely to sit back and watch us obtain the Dubhe Companion Beast,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± After saying that, Jiuyang turned around and left, ignoring Xiao.


    Seeing Jiuyang leave, Xiao sighed softly and muttered to himself, ¡°I hope that fellow doesn¡¯t go. Jiuyang and the Guardian on him are practically invincible in a place like Dubhe.¡±


    Zhou Wen, who was grinding, suddenly sneezed. He wiped his nose and muttered to himself, ¡°Ya¡¯er must be missing me. It¡¯s been so long since I went back to visit her. I wonder how she¡¯s doing.¡±


    Before Zhou Wen could find a way to kill Starlord Titan Gate and continue grinding, he heard screams and shouts coming from the city.


    What¡¯s happening? Zhou Wen turned his attention and immediately detected a huge snake that was as red as fire in Regretless City. It slithered across the streets and roofs, opened its mouth, and swallowed a human.


    This is the Devil Snake they mentioned, right? Zhou Wen immediately thought of the information Grim Demon had previously obtained.


    As the snake was at the Terror grade, the humans in Regretless City couldn¡¯t see it after its Terror transformation. They could only be devoured by it.


    Many people knelt on the ground and loudly prayed to the Devil King instead of God.


    Seeing that the snake still wanted to devour more people, Zhou Wen instant transmitted over. He held the summoned Golden Wyrm Scissors in his hand and snipped the snake into two.


    Splash! Splash!


    After the snake died, its body exited its Terror form and fell to the ground. Large amounts of snake blood dyed the nearby streets red as though it had just rained blood.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency¡­ Long live¡­¡± When people saw the snake corpse and Zhou Wen floating in the air, they immediately knelt towards him like pious believers, thanking him for saving their lives.


    They seemed to be certain that Zhou Wen was Lost Paradise¡¯s Devil King.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to explain. He searched the snake corpse and found an Essence Energy Crystal.


    There are Essence Energy Crystals in dimensional creatures as well? Then, could there be Companion Eggs? Zhou Wen suddenly had the urge to kill all the dimensional bigwigs to see if he could find Companion Eggs.


    1


    Zhou Wen was just musing. At the very least, he wasn¡¯t in the mood to experiment.


    The humans only dared to get up after he returned to the cemetery. They looked at each other with mixed expressions.


    ¡­


    Not long after Zhou Wen returned to the cemetery¡ªbefore he could even take out his phone¡ªhe saw Grim Demon fly back.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Grim Demon and couldn¡¯t help but frown when he realized that he was injured in several places.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. That snake didn¡¯t get the better of me either.¡± Grim Demon recounted his experience.


    There was indeed a red snake in the mountain range behind Regretless City. Furthermore, there were many of them. Grim Demon wanted to visit somewhere further away, but after a few roundabouts, he was still discovered by the red snake.


    The average red snake was naturally not Grim Demon¡¯s match. Grim Demon even killed those at the same Terror grade. However, when a Calamity-grade red snake appeared, Grim Demon had no choice but to escape.


    ¡°These red snakes are extraordinary. They must be related to the legendary Satan. Their bodies are much stronger than the typical creature at the same level,¡± Grim Demon said.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly realized that the elder had arrived outside the cemetery with a few people.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency¡­ I wish to seek an audience¡­¡± the elder said respectfully after knocking on the door.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Zhou Wen walked to the door and opened it.


    The elder hurriedly led the humans beside him to kneel and kowtow. After kowtowing, he pointed at the two girls beside him and said, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, these are the most beautiful girls in our city. I hope you like them.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the two girls beside the elder. They looked to be about seventeen or eighteen years old. They were extremely beautiful. Their noses were high and their big eyes were deep. They had West District features.


    With long brownish-red hair, they exuded a different charm.


    What was even more shocking was that the two girls looked identical. They were twins.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, you have protected our Regretless City for so many years, preventing us from being harmed by creatures from the outside world. We only wish to repay you. Your Devilish Excellency, you haven¡¯t brought any maids with you. That must be very inconvenient for you. If there¡¯s anything you need, just instruct them¡­¡± the elder said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Zhou Wen rejected it immediately. What day and age was it? Humans weren¡¯t inferior to anyone. There was no need for them to kneel to others.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the two girls would be happy that they didn¡¯t have to serve him, but to his surprise, their faces turned pale when they heard his rejection.


    One of the girls rushed forward and hugged Zhou Wen¡¯s calf. ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, please let us follow you. Do as you wish. Leave everything to us. Even if you want us dead, we will be absolutely willing. If you don¡¯t like us, take our lives. We are willing to do anything for you¡­¡±


    Looking at the sincere girl who looked like a crazy fangirl, Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless.


    From the determined looks in the two girls¡¯ eyes, they would immediately commit suicide if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let them stay.


    ¡°Leave the two of them behind. You are dismissed,¡± Zhou Wen said to the elder.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, rest well. I won¡¯t disturb you any further.¡± Only then did the elder relax. He didn¡¯t dare look up as he kept his head lowered and bowed before leaving the cemetery. He even closed the door behind him.


    ¡°What are your names?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he sized up the two girls.


    ¡°I¡¯m Liz. She¡¯s my younger sister, Leem,¡± the girl who had hugged Zhou Wen¡¯s leg pointed at her sister.


    ¡°What can you do?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, we can do anything you instruct us to do,¡± Liz and Leem said at the same time with their heads lowered.. Their cheeks were abnormally red.

 Chapter 1545 - The Omniscient Devil King

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I can get you two to do anything?¡± Zhou Wen sized up Liz and Leem and asked thoughtfully.


    Liz and Leem trembled as their cheeks flushed even redder. Their bodies trembled as they lowered their heads and said, ¡°It¡¯s our honor to be able to offer ourselves to the Devil King.¡±


    Before the two of them came, the City Lord had already explained plenty of things to them. It was because of this that they had such a vivid imagination.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, you are the king of Lost Paradise. If we can give birth to Your Devilish Excellency¡¯s son, we can break through the restrictions of the human body and let our descendants reach the Mythical stage. We can fight those gods and devils and no longer be fish on the chopping block. Whether our race can control our fates in the future will be up to you¡­¡±


    Upon thinking of the City Lord¡¯s serious tone, Liz and Lee couldn¡¯t help but grit their teeth. Although they were still very afraid, they puffed up their chests and displayed their beautiful faces in front of Zhou Wen amidst trembling fear.


    ¡°If I were to let you die, would you be willing?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    He could only use the Cube to return, but four people were needed to enter the Cube. Zhou Wen still needed three, so he was still vexing over the numbers.


    Liz and Leem immediately teared up when they heard that. They were extremely afraid. His Devilish Excellency is an omniscient existence. How can our schemes deceive him?


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, we were wrong. It¡¯s both our fault. It has nothing to do with our clansmen. If you want to punish us, punish us. It doesn¡¯t matter even if you want our lives,¡± Liz and Leem said as they knelt on the ground and trembled.


    ¡°What did you do wrong?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t¡­ shouldn¡¯t have wanted¡­ wanted¡­¡± Liz said ¡®wanted¡¯ a few times, but she couldn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown. He imagined that the people from Regretless City were secretly plotting to harm him.


    Zhou Wen was clearly reading too much into it. The people of Regretless City respected the Devil King like a god, so how could they dare harm him?


    ¡°We shouldn¡¯t have wanted to use Your Devilish Excellency¡¯s seed¡­¡± Leem said through gritted teeth.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t drinking water. Otherwise, he would have choked to death. He widened his eyes as he looked at Liz and Leem kneeling in front of him, unable to believe his ears.


    Zhou Wen even believed that he had heard wrongly. He wanted them to say it again, but on second thought, it was impossible for him to hear wrongly. It was pointless saying it again. It would only make him feel even more awkward.


    ¡°Since you know your mistake, tell me. How should I punish you?¡± Zhou Wen deliberately asked in a cold manner.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, please forgive our clansmen. We are willing to commit suicide to atone for our sins.¡± Liz and Leem¡¯s faces were filled with determination. They pulled out daggers, hoping to end their lives.


    ¡°Did I say I want you two dead?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s indifferent voice sounded. Liz and Leem looked at Zhou Wen in surprise, unsure what he meant.


    Only now did they realize how capricious the Devil King was. They couldn¡¯t infer anything via common human thought processes. They felt increasingly afraid and uneasy.


    ¡°Your lives no longer belong to you from now on,¡± Zhou Wen said to them.


    ¡°Yes, our lives are yours, Your Devilish Excellency.¡± Liz and Leem immediately knelt.


    ¡°Get up. Prepare some food before cleaning up this place.¡± Zhou Wen kept them because he wanted to use them when he entered the Cube in the future. He didn¡¯t need them for the time being.


    However, Zhou Wen was very curious about the food they ate. It was a perfect chance for him to sample it.


    Liz and Leem left the cemetery gratefully as though they had been pardoned.


    They went back and told the City Lord about the matter. The City Lord and company were so frightened that their faces turned pale and they nearly peed their pants. Only when they heard the whole story did they feel a lot better.


    ¡°The Devil King is indeed an omniscient existence. How can he not know my scheme? I nearly harmed all the clansmen in the city¡­ Thankfully, the Devil King gave us a chance¡­ Liz, Leem¡­ Prepare the best food in our city. No matter what, we have to satisfy the Devil King¡­¡± After the elder said that, he felt worried. He personally made the preparations and meticulously did everything to perfection. Finally, he handed the finished product to Liz and Leem and got them to take the food into the cemetery.


    Zhou Wen was grinding when he saw each of them bring in a basin. The basins contained clear water with a few crystalline green leaves soaked in them.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, please have your meal.¡± Liz and Leem knelt in front of Zhou Wen and raised the two basins above their heads.


    Are these leaves delicious? Zhou Wen was puzzled, but he still reached out to take a leaf and put it in his mouth to chew a little.


    Just one mouthful made Zhou Wen frown. Although the leaf wasn¡¯t terrible, it definitely wasn¡¯t delicious. It tasted similar to the vegetable leaves on Earth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like western food or raw vegetables. He looked at the two sisters and asked, ¡°Do you usually eat this?¡±


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, this is a precious leaf of the Jadeite Grass. It¡¯s a very rare and delicious food. It¡¯s very rare to gather it, and it¡¯s impossible for ordinary people to eat it. Only during ceremonies and rituals will everyone get a little¡­¡± Liz answered.


    ¡°Then what do you usually eat?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Usually we eat the roots of the stone grass,¡± Liz answered.


    ¡°Bring me the roots of the stone grass.¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t imagine that such vegetable-like leaves were the precious food they were talking about. How terrible would the food they usually ate be?


    The two sisters were horrified, believing that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t satisfied with their hospitality and wanted to beg for mercy.


    Zhou Wen repeatedly said that he didn¡¯t blame them and got them to retrieve the stone grass¡¯s roots before they left in disbelief.


    When they brought the stone grass¡¯s roots over, Zhou Wen found them not bad¡ªthe roots were jade-white and were as thick as a finger. They were rather beautiful.


    However, when Zhou Wen bit it, he immediately felt a bitter liquid flow into his mouth.


    Is this thing edible at all? Zhou Wen suspected that the people of Regretless City were messing with him. How could something even more bitter than bitter melon be the food they usually ate?


    However, Zhou Wen roughly scanned the area with Truth Listener and knew that they weren¡¯t lying to him. Most of the people in Regretless City were eating this.


    Looking at the trembling sisters, Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. The people in Regretless City have it worse than the people on Earth.


    Humans had stood at the top of the food chain for thousands of years on Earth. At the very least, they had experienced enjoyment. These people were at the bottom of the food chain in the dimension. They couldn¡¯t even eat meat, much less have enjoyment. Any dimensional creature was at the Mythical stage. Who could they kill?


    ¡°This is for you..¡± Zhou Wen took out two pieces of bread and threw them at the sisters.

 Chapter 1546 - Ancient Snake

    Translator: CKtalon


    Liz and Leem caught the bread and looked at Zhou Wen in fear. They didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen had given them.


    At Zhou Wen¡¯s gesture, they realized that it was food. When they took a bite, their eyes widened in disbelief.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency¡­ You¡­ You are too good to us¡­ This is the food of gods and devils, right? You actually rewarded us with the food of gods and devils¡­ Even if we die, we won¡¯t be able to repay your kindness¡­¡± Liz and Leem were so touched that tears came to their eyes as they repeatedly thanked him.


    How pitiful. They are so touched just from eating bread. If I were to give you two meat buns, wouldn¡¯t you be so touched that your entire family would willingly become servants¡­ Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°Clean up the cemetery after you are done eating.¡± Zhou Wen returned to the rocking chair he had taken out and continued grinding.


    He wanted to give it another try and see if there was a way to bring people in and out alive. These people had suffered terribly. Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t bear to exchange their lives for his chance to return home.


    ¡°Master, we shall take our leave.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t notice that Liz and Leem addressed him differently.


    They couldn¡¯t bear to eat the bread at all. They carefully put it away before cleaning the cemetery. From time to time, they would steal glances at Zhou Wen, who was lying in the rocking chair, gaming.


    To them, everything about Zhou Wen was novel and mysterious.


    ¡°How naive. They actually sold their lives for two loaves of bread. What a joke,¡± Grim Demon said with a twitch of his lips.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing funny about it. It¡¯s the same for you Guardians, much less them,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Nonsense. How can I be like them?¡± Grim Demon was immediately displeased.


    ¡°How is it different? To them, bread is something they have never had before. Therefore, they will be touched. To you, the rare items that can enhance your strength will also make you work hard. In essence, they are just rare items. There¡¯s no difference,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How can it be the same? It¡¯s completely different, alright?¡± Grim Demon retorted.


    ¡°Then tell me. What¡¯s different?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There are many differences. The value of the items is different, and the effects are different¡­¡± Grim Demon retorted.


    Zhou Wen ignored Grim Demon and continued gaming.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you saying anything? Are you faking death just because you can¡¯t win the argument? Speak!¡± Grim Demon circled around Zhou Wen, but Zhou Wen ignored him. He was so anxious that he flew into a rage.


    Zhou Wen treated him as air and ignored him.


    Grim Demon kept talking in a huff; if he hadn¡¯t realized that he couldn¡¯t beat Zhou Wen, he would have long slapped him.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen frowned and looked up at the sky above the mountain city.


    ¡°You worms actually dare to kill my race¡¯s living beings. I originally wanted to raise you as food, but now that you have a death wish, all of you can die.¡± A sharp and strange eunuch-like voice sounded. On the mountain peak behind Regretless City was a huge red snake. Its body was coiled around the mountain, and its huge head was hanging above Regretless City as it occasionally flicked its tongue.


    The snake was massive. Just its head was about half the size of Regretless City.


    The humans in the city were alarmed and many of them collapsed to the ground in fright. Such a huge snake only needed one mouthful to devour them all. Running was futile.


    ¡°Not good. Why is this fellow here!¡± Grim Demon was alarmed when he saw the huge snake. He called out to Zhou Wen, hoping to get him to escape.


    Grim Demon had previously encountered this huge snake and nearly failed to return.


    ¡°Master¡­ Please save our clansmen¡­¡± Liz and Leem rushed over and repeatedly kowtowed to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a chance now. You worm-like creatures have no ability to kill my race. Tell me, who killed it? Today, I can spare half of you. I¡¯ll only eat half.¡± The snake¡¯s voice sounded again.


    Everyone was even more alarmed. The snake imagined that these humans would quickly yield and tell it who had killed the ancient snake.


    However, although everyone was trembling, no one exposed the culprit. All of them knelt on the ground and prayed in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction as they muttered something about the Devil King.


    ¡°It looks like none of you wish to live.¡± The snake was enraged. It opened its mouth and was about to devour a portion of the humans. They would naturally speak once they felt fear.


    However, before the snake could exert its strength, it heard a voice say: ¡°I killed that snake.¡±


    The snake stopped and looked down at the source of the sound.


    A human stood on the roof of a stone building. The voice had come from that human.


    ¡°A mere human actually dares to lie in front of me. You do seem to have a death wish, and I¡¯ll fulfill your wish,¡± the snake said as it sucked at Zhou Wen.


    A huge suction force sucked everything near Zhou Wen into the snake¡¯s mouth like a tornado.


    Liz, Leem, and the nearby humans were swept into the air as they screamed while flying towards the snake¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Master!¡± Liz and Leem were still shouting, while the others were calling ¡®Devil King.¡¯


    At this moment, no one exposed Zhou Wen. It was obvious that their fear of the Devil King was above the huge snake.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. The Golden Wyrm Scissors transformed into a golden beam of light that slashed at the snake.


    The snake never expected a human to have such powerful strength. It was too late by the time it saw the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Blood spewed out from the snake¡¯s body as it opened its mouth to bite at the Golden Wyrm Scissors, hoping to swallow it.


    However, the Golden Wyrm Scissors sliced the snake¡¯s head into two. The blood in the snake¡¯s body immediately flowed down the mountain like a waterfall.


    Boom!


    The snake¡¯s body also plummeted, just seconds away from crashing into the city.


    The snake¡¯s body was even bigger than Regretless City. If it was hit, the entire city would probably be destroyed.


    Roar! Tyrant Behemoth was summoned by Zhou Wen. Its huge body stood at the foot of the mountain as it held the snake¡¯s body with its claws, preventing it from falling.


    ¡°Long live the Devil King¡­¡± The City Lord led everyone to kneel in Zhou Wen¡¯s direction. They naturally regarded Tyrant Behemoth as a devil summoned by Zhou Wen.


    From their point of view, as long as the Devil King was in the city, they wouldn¡¯t have to worry about the threat of dimensional creatures in the future. How could there be an existence stronger than the Devil King in the world?


    ¡°Master!¡± Liz and Leem¡¯s eyes glistened as they knelt there and looked at Zhou Wen with adulation.

 Chapter 1547 - Devil King’s Food

    Translator: CKtalon


    Tyrant Behemoth placed the huge snake at the foot of the mountain. Tyrant Behemoth easily tore apart the huge snake after it lost its energy and life.


    Not long after, Zhou Wen saw that a portion of the snake¡¯s bones was blood-red and emitted strange energy. It was likely the body of a Calamity-grade creature.


    These parts were stored in the Chaos Bead by Zhou Wen. They were good items obtained from a Calamity-grade creature. After advancing to the Calamity grade, he needed such high-energy flesh and bones to replenish his energy. Otherwise, he might really starve to death.


    Tsukuyomi and company were examples. After leaving Earth, they had to hunt Calamity creatures to maintain their energy.


    Inside the snake¡¯s corpse, he discovered a Companion Egg. It excited Zhou Wen greatly. This was a Calamity-grade Companion Beast¡ªan extremely rare drop.


    There was too much snake meat left. Zhou Wen only stored a portion in his chaos space. The rest was used to improve the lives of the people in Regretless City.


    Many people here had never eaten meat in their lives. They didn¡¯t even know how to barbecue. It was only when Zhou Wen taught them barbecuing methods that they began eating roasted snake meat.


    Just a mouthful of snake meat without any seasoning was sufficient to make many people cry in excitement.


    ¡°Long live the Devil King¡­¡± Many people praised Zhou Wen as they ate the snake meat.


    In the distant valley, a tiny snake peeked its head out from the crack in the mountain. After watching for a while, it burrowed into the mountain and vanished.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, this meat is delicious. I left you the best part.¡± Liz ran over with a bowl of snake meat and offered it to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You can have it.¡± Calamity-grade snake meat was definitely delicious, but they were like barbarians. They ate it directly after roasting it. Ignoring cumin and chili powder, they didn¡¯t even sprinkle any salt. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t used to this.


    Furthermore, their roasting standards were terrible. Some spots weren¡¯t properly cooked while other spots were charred.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, this is specially for you. If Liz were to eat it, she would definitely be cursed to death by everyone.¡± Leem was much more lively. Although she still respected Zhou Wen, she wasn¡¯t as reserved as before.


    Perhaps because he had saved Regretless City, the sisters felt that the Devil King already treated them like family.


    ¡°Come over,¡± Zhou Wen called out to Liz.


    Liz came over with a bowl and picked up a piece of snake meat. ¡°Master, let me serve you.¡±


    ¡°Put it on the table.¡± Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. This place was too backward. There wasn¡¯t even a knife or fork to eat, much less chopsticks. All they did was grab food with their hands.


    Right, all they eat are grass, roots, and leaves. There¡¯s no need for utensils. Zhou Wen thought about it and understood their difficulties.


    All Liz could do was place the bowl on the table. Zhou Wen took out his fork and knife and sliced off the parts that weren¡¯t cooked and charred, leaving only a portion that was better roasted.


    Then, he took out his barbecue seasonings and sprinkled them on the meat before cutting it into small pieces and slowly eating with chopsticks.


    Zhou Wen preferred skewers, but these fellows roasted the meat in large chunks. He could only make do.


    Liz and Leem widened their eyes as they watched Zhou Wen. They had never seen anyone eat like Zhou Wen. They felt that the chopsticks were like divine artifacts.


    Master is indeed the Devil King. He looks so beautiful and elegant even when eating, Liz thought.


    As for Leem, she was in a daze as she looked at the meat. She had an acute sense of smell. The fragrance emitted by the seasoned roasted meat was completely different from the original meat. The smell made Leem¡¯s saliva involuntarily secrete quickly. She couldn¡¯t help but gulp as her stomach rumbled.


    They tried roasting meat and when their technique was passable, they immediately delivered Zhou Wen a piece of meat that was better roasted. They hadn¡¯t even had a bite.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to eat this. Eat it. Don¡¯t waste it.¡± Zhou Wen put down his chopsticks and walked back to his rocking chair. He lay down and took out his phone to check his information.


    ¡°Thank you, Master.¡± Liz and Leem saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s chopsticks and fork were placed there, but they didn¡¯t dare use them. All they did was carefully lift the roasted meat with their hands.


    When the roasted meat entered their mouths, they first felt the saltiness from the salt and the spiciness from the chili powder, then the freshness of cumin. Finally, the tender meat and the fragrance of the meat juices seeped out and instantly filled their entire mouths.


    This complex taste in the two sisters¡¯ mouths inundated their taste buds. It was an experience they had never had. They felt as though their hearts had melted with this mouthful of roasted meat.


    Is this the food the Devil King eats? It¡¯s really delicious. It¡¯s great to be serving the Devil King. Even if I were to die now, I wouldn¡¯t have any regrets. The two girls felt that they had lived all those years in vain.


    If Zhou Wen knew what they were thinking, he would probably be at a loss whether to laugh or cry. Just a bit of roasted meat was enough to exchange for two lives. It was as though human lives were worth nothing.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to pay attention to them. He didn¡¯t know what they were thinking either.


    Zhou Wen was checking Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s stats. The stats after Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s evolution didn¡¯t exceed Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    Tyrant Behemoth: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength, Mountain River Absorption


    Life Soul: Violent Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Strength (S-grade)


    Terror Form: Tyrant


    Calamity Zone: Overlord Zone (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming, Rampage, Behemoth, Armor Breaker, Penetration, Ripping, Poison Fang, Bite, Ever-Victorious, Unstoppable.


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    The stats and skills were within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. He mainly wanted to see what the Calamity Zone was. From the introduction, the Overlord Zone was likely a domain that enhanced strength.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t study it too much. He would slowly experiment when he had the chance in the future. Now, what Zhou Wen mainly wanted to study was the huge snake Companion Egg.


    Zhou Wen had already stored the Companion Egg in-game and checked its stats.


    Ancient Snake: Calamity


    Life Providence: Devil


    Life Soul: Snake Devil


    Wheel of Destiny: Devil¡¯s Tongue (S-grade)


    Terror Form: Blood Shadow


    Calamity Zone: Temptation Zone (Hell-level)


    Strength: 278


    Speed: 267


    Constitution: 245


    Essence Energy: 232


    Talent Skill: Whale Devouring, Poison Fangs, Rend


    Companion Form: Staff


    Zhou Wen carefully studied the Ancient Snake¡¯s information and realized that it was a surprising Companion Beast. This was the first time he had seen a staff as a companion form.


    Previously, he had heard that there were magic staff-type Companion Beasts in the West District. The magic staff itself came with magical spells.


    However, the staff formed by the Ancient Snake was still somewhat different from ordinary magic staffs.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think much of the Ancient Snake¡¯s skill, but its Calamity Zone seemed rather interesting.

 Chapter 1548 - Accidental Kill

    Translator: CKtalon


    Legend has it that Satan transformed into an ancient snake and lured Adam and Eve into depravity. Is the Temptation Zone of this Ancient Snake related to that legend? Zhou Wen guessed.


    To know the exact effects of the Temptation Zone, he had to give it a try. Zhou Wen hatched the Ancient Snake and summoned it in its staff form.


    A snake-headed staff appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. It was about two meters long. The head of the staff was a snake¡¯s head, and its end was a snake¡¯s tail. In the middle was a coiled snake¡¯s body that was as red as blood. Its eyes were like two rubies that shimmered with a demonic glow. It looked extremely bizarre.


    Zhou Wen waved it a few times and injected Essence Energy into it, but he realized that the staff didn¡¯t have any long-range attacks or any spells.


    What kind of crappy staff is this? Is it expecting a mage to use a staff like a daibo? Will that make me a mage or a warrior? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He entered a dungeon in-game with the Ancient Snake and allowed it to take form. A huge ancient snake appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    With such a huge body, it was definitely powerful in melee combat. However, what Zhou Wen wanted to know wasn¡¯t its melee abilities, but the capabilities of its domain.


    Dimensional creatures rushed towards Zhou Wen. Although the dimensional creatures were low-level creatures without even a single Mythical creature, Zhou Wen still got the Ancient Snake to use its domain as a test of its abilities.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that a Companion Beast like the Ancient Snake would cause quite a stir when it released its domain, but to his surprise, it didn¡¯t have any lighting effects. All he heard was a faint sound coming from the Ancient Snake¡¯s mouth. Although it wasn¡¯t loud, it was like the murmur of a devil. It left Zhou Wen vexed.


    Zhou Wen just felt frustrated. The other dimensional creatures that approached the Ancient Snake seemed to go mad as they fought each other. The scene devolved into pandemonium.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Clearly, the Temptation Zone was a domain that could throw the enemy into disarray. It could even make the enemy kill each other. This reminded Zhou Wen of the dimensional creature on Merak Star. Its sound-type ability made the Golden Wyrm Scissors switch sides. There seemed to be some similarities.


    He walked deeper into the dungeon with the Ancient Snake. This feeling was indeed great. There was no need for him to do it himself as the dimensional creatures began fighting themselves. He felt like a god playing with life.


    However, the Temptation Zone wasn¡¯t invincible. Zhou Wen attempted to get the Ancient Snake to use the Temptation Zone on him, but it was useless. All it did was pressure him mentally.


    The creature on Merak seems to have similar abilities, but the effects are stronger than the Ancient Snake¡¯s Temptation Zone. I wonder if using the Ancient Snake¡¯s Temptation Zone can resist Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s strength.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen immediately launched the Big Dipper instance dungeon. Starlord Ravenous Wolf of the Dubhe Palace hadn¡¯t respawned, so Zhou Wen went straight to the Merak Star Palace and faced Starlord Titan Gate again.


    Starlord Titan Gate let out another terrifying roar as a powerful shockwave surged over. Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Ancient Snake while he protected himself with the Chaos Egg.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors went against the sound wave, but the Ancient Snake stayed in place. It flicked its tongue, letting out a strange murmur.


    The Ancient Snake¡¯s murmurs weren¡¯t lethal. Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s roar vanished upon clashing with the murmurs. It was almost inaudible.


    The Ancient Snake had thick skin and flesh, so it could temporarily withstand it. What Zhou Wen was most worried about was the Golden Wyrm Scissors flying back and attacking him ruthlessly.


    Strangely, nothing like that happened. The Golden Wyrm Scissors quickly rushed over and chopped off Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s head with one strike.


    ¡®Killed Starlord Titan Gate. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    He died just like that? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    Starlord Titan Gate only dropped two stat crystals¡ªthere were no Companion Eggs. It left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    However, killing Starlord Titan Gate was already a pleasant surprise. He couldn¡¯t demand any more.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors is really useful. As long as it can get close, it can slice apart anything at the same level. Zhou Wen¡¯s fondness for the Golden Wyrm Scissors increased.


    Zhou Wen had also attempted the Venusian instance dungeon. He was killed by the strange artifact every time. Up to now, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the artifact was, nor had he won once.


    It was useless even if he had the Hell-level Golden Wyrm Scissors. He died the same way.


    After feeding the stat crystal to the Companion Beast, Zhou Wen arrived at the back of the Merak Star Palace. Indeed, there was a teleportation nexus there.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen chose to head to the third star, Phecda.


    There was little information about Phecda. It wasn¡¯t as famous as Dubhe and Merak. Zhou Wen only knew its name, but he wasn¡¯t too sure about its legends.


    Phecda Star Palace wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as the Merak Star Palace. It looked like an ordinary temple on Earth.


    Opening the door to Phecda Star Palace, he saw a person in green armor inside. Zhou Wen only remembered Phecda, but he couldn¡¯t recall the corresponding Starlord¡¯s name.


    Regardless of what Starlord the other party was, Zhou Wen only had one set of moves. He used the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Ancient Snake¡¯s Temptation Zone.


    The green-armored Starlord didn¡¯t seem to be as ferocious as Starlord Ravenous Wolf and Starlord Titan Gate. When the Golden Wyrm Scissors flew over, he didn¡¯t seem to react at all.


    Crack!


    The green-armored Starlord was sliced into two by the Golden Wyrm Scissors. Zhou Wen imagined that he had successfully passed the test and could head to the next Star Palace when he heard a crack. The Golden Wyrm Scissors had snapped.


    How did that happen? Zhou Wen was alarmed. The Golden Wyrm Scissors was one of the strongest at the Hell level. Even a Heaven-level creature would find it difficult to snap it.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover anything lunging at the Golden Wyrm Scissors. It looked like it had snapped on its own.


    Thankfully, it was in-game. Otherwise, it would have been a huge loss if the Golden Wyrm Scissors had snapped.


    As for the green-armored Starlord that had been sliced into two, his body strangely recovered when the Golden Wyrm Scissors snapped as though he had never been injured.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he got the Ancient Snake to charge over.


    The Ancient Snake¡¯s Temptation Zone didn¡¯t seem to be of much use to the green-armored Starlord. He stood there without being affected. The Ancient Snake bit down and swallowed him.


    The tiny body of the green-armored Starlord wasn¡¯t even enough to fill the gaps between the Ancient Snake¡¯s teeth.


    Before Zhou Wen could rejoice, the Ancient Snake¡¯s massive body suddenly shrank rapidly. The green-armored Starlord appeared out of thin air from the Ancient Snake¡¯s body. Instead, it opened its mouth wide and swallowed the now minified Ancient Snake.


    What¡¯s going on? What¡¯s wrong with this fellow? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.

 Chapter 1549 - Something’s Not Right

    Translator: CKtalon


    The green-armored Starlord stood there without any intention of taking the initiative to attack. He stared coldly at the blood-colored avatar as though he was saying: ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me? Bring it on.¡±


    Zhou Wen summoned Bamboo Blade and slashed at the green-armored Starlord.


    The green-armored Starlord didn¡¯t dodge. He stood there, allowing Zhou Wen free rein to slash at him.


    The Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand was as fast as lightning as he slashed at the green-armored Starlord repeatedly. With the Bamboo Blade¡¯s destructive power and Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, he had strength equivalent to the Calamity grade.


    He only left scuffs on the armor after slashing more than a hundred times. He failed to really injure the green-armored Starlord.


    Wounds appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body one after another. The spot where his body was injured was where the Bamboo Blade had left a saber mark on the green-armored Starlord.


    Bang!


    Just as Zhou Wen stopped his saber, the green-armored Starlord suddenly punched the blood-colored avatar, killing it. The game screen went black.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately enter the game again. Instead, he closed his eyes to recall the battle.


    The power of the green-armored Starlord appears reflective, but it¡¯s definitely not as simple as a reflection. No matter how strong a reflection is, it¡¯s impossible for him to identically transfer his injuries to someone else¡­ The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more excited he became.


    He liked such novel dungeons. It was very boring to always grind repetitive dungeons.


    He failed to figure out the problem despite plenty of thinking. All he could do was continue grinding dungeons.


    He didn¡¯t know how many times he tried, but the outcome was the same. No matter what kind of attack hit the green-armored Starlord, the injuries would return to him. It was unbelievable.


    He came up with all sorts of methods. He could only defend without attacking; otherwise, just injuring the green-armored Starlord would doom him.


    It was useless to blindly send himself to his death again and again, so Zhou Wen decided not to grind the Big Dipper instance dungeon. He switched to other dungeons to change his train of thought.


    However, even if he couldn¡¯t kill the green-armored Starlord, Zhou Wen still had a chance of returning home. He was probably the only one on Earth who could kill two Starlords in a row.


    ¡°Master, here¡¯s your roasted meat.¡± Leem delivered roasted meat during meal time.


    ¡°You can have it.¡± Zhou Wen had been having a lot of roasted meat recently and was sick of it. He really couldn¡¯t force himself to eat it.


    ¡°That¡¯s not too nice, right? This is for you, Master,¡± Leem said.


    ¡°I told you to eat it. Do you dare say no? Just eat it in peace,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Thank you, Master.¡± Although Leem said that, she didn¡¯t eat the roasted meat. She continued looking at Zhou Wen eagerly.


    When Zhou Wen saw Leem¡¯s expression, he immediately understood what she was up to. He took out some seasonings and handed them to her. ¡°Sprinkle them yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the reward, Master.¡± Leem held the seasoning bottles and was so excited that she nearly couldn¡¯t say a word.


    Humans here are easily satisfied. When they come into contact with the flourishing Earth, I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be such simple happiness, Zhou Wen thought.


    Leem took the seasonings and ran to Liz. The two of them sprinkled seasonings on the roasted meat and ate until their mouths were covered in oil.


    You¡¯re at the Epic stage after all. There¡¯s no need for you to eat so messily. Zhou Wen shook his head with a wistful smile.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen realized something. He looked at Liz and Leem again. Something¡¯s amiss. Liz and Leem are at the Epic stage. To be able to reach the Epic stage at their age means they are extremely impressive geniuses based on my experience on Earth. But how did they advance to the Epic stage?


    The humans in Regretless City were too weak, so weak that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even realize a problem with them.


    However, on careful thought, most of the humans in the city were at the Legendary stage. There were also quite a number of Epic experts, but how had they advanced?


    There were no low-level dimensional creatures in a place like Regretless City. The weakest dimensional creature outside was at the Mythical stage, but Regretless City couldn¡¯t even find a single Mythical creature. How could they hunt?


    ¡°Liz, let me ask you something. You need to answer truthfully,¡± Zhou Wen called her over and asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer anything, Master,¡± Liz hurriedly said.


    ¡°How do the humans in your city advance all the way from the Mortal stage? What tools do they usually use?


    ¡°What does advancing mean?¡± Liz asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Do you know about Life Providences and Life Souls?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Yes, isn¡¯t that something that comes with birth? There¡¯s no need to advance,¡± Liz answered.


    ¡°You have them from birth? Are you sure?¡± This time, Zhou Wen was truly excited. It was unimaginably simple. Humans here were born at the Legendary or Epic stage.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. Everyone in our city has a Life Providence after being born. Some stronger children will even have a Life Soul at birth,¡± Liz said after some thought.


    How did these fellows do it? From the looks of it, I have to investigate. Zhou Wen decided to figure out why the people in Regretless City received such treatment.


    ¡°Liz, what¡¯s your Life Providence and Life Soul?¡± Zhou Wen asked her first.


    Liz and Leem walked over. Upon hearing Zhou Wen ask them, they explained their Life Providences and Life Soul abilities in detail.


    The more Zhou Wen listened, the more alarmed he became. Their Life Providences and Life Souls were very special. They were better than the Life Providences and Life Souls of many humans on Earth.


    ¡°Get the City Lord over.¡± Seeing that Liz and Leem couldn¡¯t explain it clearly, Zhou Wen planned on summoning someone useful over. Perhaps he could explain it clearly.


    Zhou Wen learned some useful information from the City Lord.


    It was said that the humans in Regretless City were indeed very weak in the past, but as time passed, they slowly became stronger.


    In the past, babies born were very normal. They were all at the Mortal stage, but over the generations, babies born in Regretless City now had extremely powerful abilities at the Legendary stage. There were even terrifying existences at the Epic stage.


    The City Lord couldn¡¯t explain the exact reason.


    ¡°I had a few guesses before, but I couldn¡¯t confirm them,¡± the City Lord said after some thought.


    ¡°Share them with me.¡± Zhou Wen was now very interested in these things.


    ¡°There are three reasons according to legend. One is that because we often eat grass roots, they improve our physiques and make us better.¡±


    ¡°What about the second?¡± Zhou Wen felt that this theory wasn¡¯t reliable. He had recently tried everything they ate. There was nothing special about the grass roots. They weren¡¯t even considered ordinary dimensional plants. At most, they were considered mutated plants.


    ¡°The second theory is related to a treasure in Regretless City. Legend has it that there¡¯s a treasure buried there.. Two ancestors brought it out of the Garden of Eden,¡± the City Lord said after some hesitation.

 Chapter 1550 - Treasure Hunting in Regretless City

    Translator: CKtalon


    A treasure from the Garden of Eden? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    Legend has it that Adam and Eve were banished from the Garden of Eden because they secretly ate the forbidden fruit. What could they have taken out of the Garden of Eden? The forbidden fruit? This was the only thing Zhou Wen could think of.


    However, there were definitely many good things in the Garden of Eden. If they took something else along the way, it wouldn¡¯t be something Zhou Wen could guess.


    Regretless City looks very ordinary, but it has evilness lurking in it. There are two puppets in Adam and Eve¡¯s tombs. It also said that there¡¯s some treasure buried under the city that allows humans to have Life Providences and Life Souls. This place is really odd, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The City Lord stole a glance at Zhou Wen and said cowardly, ¡°There¡¯s also a third guess. It¡¯s said that this place is protected by your magical power, allowing us to have everything we have now. I believe that this is the truth. Everything we have is given to us by you, Your Devilish Excellency.¡±


    ¡°Alright, you may leave.¡± After Zhou Wen sent the City Lord away, he thought about what he had said.


    The third possibility wasn¡¯t high, and the first was even more ridiculous. Zhou Wen had also eaten the roots of the stone grass. They were the roots of ordinary plants. Even if they had any effects, they could at best be treated as herbs. It was impossible to use them to evolve humans to such significance.


    The second possibility was most likely. However, Zhou Wen was very interested in what treasures lay beneath Regretless City. He wanted to know what kind of treasure could make humans have such a high starting point.


    How can I find it? Zhou Wen planned on trying.


    Truth Listener¡¯s ability was very strong. It could even pass through a thick mountain and hear a cave¡¯s interior. However, beneath Regretless City was just pure mountain. There were no caves.


    Since the item isn¡¯t in the mountain body, the most likely possibility is that it¡¯s in Regretless City. Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to constantly scan the area, not missing out on any detail, hoping to find some clues.


    Buildings in Regretless City had rather interesting styles. There were all sorts of statues, carvings, and murals. Zhou Wen repeatedly scanned them, but he didn¡¯t discover any power that could allow humans to evolve.


    Could it be that the treasure in Regretless City is related to the two puppets? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that the most mysterious thing in Regretless City was likely the two puppets.


    If it was really because of the two puppets, Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t dare dig them out. Grim Demon¡¯s lesson was still fresh in his mind. Who knew what strange things would happen if he got the two puppets out?


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to give up just like that. Now that he was establishing a city in Guide City, if there was really such a treasure, it would bring unimaginable benefits if he buried it in his city.


    Ignoring the improvements of newborns, just advertising the effects would bring Zhou Wen huge benefits.


    Which parent didn¡¯t want their descendants to gain an early advantage? Who didn¡¯t want their children to be better than others? The stronger one was, the stronger their descendants would be.


    When they learned that the children in Zhou Wen¡¯s city were born at the Legendary or even Epic stage, how many people would rack their brains to come up with ways to enter his city to have babies?


    Just this point alone was sufficient for Zhou Wen to gather a large number of human experts. Even if those human experts weren¡¯t willing to join Zhou Wen¡¯s city, he could take the opportunity to earn large amounts of benefits. He could even exchange for resources that couldn¡¯t be obtained with money.


    In short, with this treasure, it was impossible for Zhou Wen not to develop his city.


    The crux of the matter was how to find this treasure. Also, he had to find a safe place to build a city and prevent easy entry.


    I¡¯ll do a search first. If there aren¡¯t any treasures, it¡¯s useless no matter how much I fantasize. Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and took out a tiny beast from the chaos space.


    The little beast looked like a cross between a ferret and a rat, with a squirrel-like tail. It looked very strange.


    The origins of this little beast were not simple. Previously, Tai Sui was bitten out of the metal walnut by this little beast. Furthermore, it could replicate a weapon like the Orchid Blade with identical material and effects. It was very magical.


    Back when Zhou Wen obtained this little beast, he had kept it in the chaos space. His subsequent research on its origins came up to nothing.


    However, Zhou Wen knew the beast¡¯s abilities very well. It had a rare Earth Escape technique and was good at finding treasures.


    Now, Zhou Wen had no choice but to try using it.


    After all, he had raised it for so many years. This little beast¡¯s feral nature had decreased dramatically. It was considered close to Zhou Wen, but it was a little too cunning. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too confident in its loyalty.


    The moment the little beast came out, it looked around furtively. Perhaps because it hadn¡¯t come out for a long time, it felt a little uncomfortable and appeared a little reserved.


    However, after it sized up its surroundings, it gradually revealed its true nature and peeked everywhere.


    ¡°There¡¯s a treasure in this city. If you can find it, we¡¯ll split the treasure equally. In addition, I¡¯ll give you a Mythical Companion Egg as a reward.¡± Zhou Wen first promised the little beast benefits.


    The little beast wasn¡¯t his Companion Beast, nor was it as loyal as Chick. It was difficult to entice it without offering some benefits.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, the little beast stood up like a human and gestured at him with its two tiny paws.


    Its actions were very simple. It extended its claws and flipped back and forth several times.


    ¡°You want twenty? Isn¡¯t that a little too greedy? My final offer is two,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    However, the little beast was very insistent. It waved its claws and gestured twenty again. It refused to give in at all.


    ¡°Three¡­ Four¡­ Five¡­ Ten¡­¡± Zhou Wen kept raising the price, but the little beast was very willful. It didn¡¯t lower its asking price at all. It kept at twenty.


    ¡°Fine, twenty it is. However, the thing you find has to be the one I want. You can¡¯t randomly find something to fool me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The little beast nodded and looked around for a while. It sniffed the air and ran off in a certain direction.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly followed the little beast and watched it sniff around. It looked like a police hound.


    After leaving the cemetery, the people on the streets immediately prostrated themselves at the ¡®Devil King¡¯ when they saw Zhou Wen. Wherever Zhou Wen went, people knelt on the ground, making him uncomfortable.


    The little beast didn¡¯t care much. It circled the city randomly.. After circling for a while, it actually headed for a cliff.

 Chapter 1551 - Digging Up a Treasure

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen came from the cliff¡ªacross the cliff was Lost Paradise. He had previously observed the cliff and didn¡¯t discover anything amiss.


    However, the little beast ran firmly towards the edge of the cliff, leaving Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled. Could it be that the treasure is at the bottom of the cliff?


    Soon, Zhou Wen dispelled this thought because the little beast stopped by the cliff and sniffed a stone.


    Could it be that there¡¯s something wrong with that stone? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind locked onto the stone, but he didn¡¯t discover any problems. It was as though it was a very ordinary mountain rock that was no different from the stones beside it.


    ¡°It looks like this little fellow of yours isn¡¯t very reliable,¡± Grim Demon said.


    The tiny beast seemed to understand him. It bared its teeth at Grim Demon and squealed as though it was cursing him. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the chance to answer.


    ¡°You can see me?¡± Grim Demon was slightly taken aback. He was in his Terror form, so it was impossible for others to see him without reaching the Terror grade.


    This little beast¡¯s level was clearly very low. It was impossible for it to be at the Terror grade. For it to see Grim Demon left him incredulous.


    The little beast continued squealing at him, clearly able to see him.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about them. He walked to the stone and carefully sized it up. The stone was likely an ordinary mountain rock, but there was something very strange.


    The area around the cliff was a platform. The other parts were flat. Only this stone protruded a foot tall and its surface was very smooth from the weathering.


    ¡°You, come over.¡± Zhou Wen called out to a person kneeling not far away and asked, ¡°Why is there a protruding stone here?¡±


    The person thought for a moment and answered, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, this stone has been here for a long time. I don¡¯t know when it appeared because it¡¯s on the edge of the cliff. We usually tie a rope around it and use the rope to go down the cliff to find some edible plants and fungi.¡±


    ¡°Call your City Lord over,¡± Zhou Wen instructed when he saw that he couldn¡¯t get much from him.


    Not long after, the elder jogged over. After meeting him, he knelt again.


    ¡°Enough, stop prostrating. Tell me, when did this stone appear here?¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand to stop the elder from kneeling.


    He wasn¡¯t used to such etiquette to begin with, and it was a waste of time.


    Only then did the elder stand properly and say, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, I¡¯ve only heard from the elders that there was a monument erected here before Regretless City was established. As my elders didn¡¯t know who erected it here, they didn¡¯t dare to randomly remove it. Nothing special came out of this monument over time; therefore, from my elders onwards, they used this monument as a pillar, tying ropes to it to aid our descent to search for food.¡±


    The elder paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°Much later, due to the elements and a few accidents, the stone monument snapped. Later on, it underwent a few problems, leaving only this tiny piece in our generation. We aren¡¯t too sure of its origins.¡±


    A stone monument? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the protruding stone that was a foot tall. It was very difficult to associate it with a stone monument.


    Furthermore, this monument had actually shattered. If it was really that magical, how could it shatter so easily?


    The people from Regretless City didn¡¯t know much about the stone. Zhou Wen waved his hand and dismissed them.


    The tiny beast ran in front of Zhou Wen and extended its claws. From the looks of it, it was asking Zhou Wen for its Companion Eggs.


    This fellow was like a weasel, but what it liked to eat wasn¡¯t chicken eggs, but Companion Eggs. It loved eating the higher-level ones.


    Zhou Wen had previously fed it quite a number of Companion Eggs. Although their levels weren¡¯t high and most of them were at the Epic stage, it hadn¡¯t evolved over the years.


    ¡°Are you sure this stone is a treasure?¡± Zhou Wen asked the little beast.


    The little beast pointed at the stone with its claws and made another digging motion.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that the treasure wasn¡¯t the stone, but beneath it.


    Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to dig up the stone. It was most suitable for such manual labor.


    Tyrant Behemoth didn¡¯t transform into its huge form. It shrank to a height of four to five meters, extended its claws, and swiped down, slicing open the stone like tofu.


    After moving its claws a few times, the protruding rock was dug out completely, leaving a hole more than a meter deep.


    Clang!


    Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s claws seemed to touch something as they emitted a metallic clang.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly walked over and looked into the pit. He realized that there was a green metal object. It looked like a bronze artifact.


    He summoned Bamboo Blade and removed the rocks beside the bronze artifact. Soon, the bronze artifact was completely exposed.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen sized up the bronze artifact that had been taken out of the pit, but after looking at it for a while, he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was.


    This item looked very strange. Zhou Wen had never seen such a bronze artifact.


    Typical bronze tools, such as tripod cauldrons, furnaces, and spoons were nothing to speak of. Even some unknown bronze artifacts looked somewhat similar.


    However, this bronze artifact was different from the bronze artifacts Zhou Wen had seen in the past.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen a bronze artifact that looked like a radish. Furthermore, it was a short and fat radish. It was more than a meter tall. More importantly, there were three leaves at the top. It looked like a huge radish no matter how he looked at it.


    What¡¯s this? Could it be a radish planted in the Garden of Eden? Zhou Wen reached out and tapped it, producing a metallic sound. It was hard to tell if it was bronze.


    There were many mysterious symbols engraved on the bronze artifact, but unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what they meant.


    Zhou Wen increased his strength bit by bit and finally, despite using all his strength, he failed to leave a dent in the bronze artifact that looked like a radish.


    It¡¯s really something good. His strength was already comparable to a Human Realm creature. Even his strength couldn¡¯t damage it. Just the material¡¯s worth alone was definitely something good.


    The radishes planted in the Garden of Eden are indeed extraordinary. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t store the bronze artifact in the chaos space. Instead, he got Grim Demon to guard it.


    He wanted to see if there were any problems with it to prevent himself from bringing trouble back.


    ¡°Is that all there is here? Are there any other treasures?¡± Zhou Wen turned to ask the little beast.


    The little beast hesitated for a moment and looked in the direction of the cemetery.. In the end, it shook its head as though it was afraid of something.

 Chapter 1552 - Four Dinosaurs Battling the Ravenous Wolf

    Translator: CKtalon


    Upon seeing the little beast¡¯s actions, Zhou Wen knew that it had definitely discovered the two puppets in the grave. However, from its appearance, it was difficult to tell if the puppets were a blessing or a curse.


    Zhou Wen walked back, but the tiny beast didn¡¯t leave. It circled the bronze artifact many times, but it didn¡¯t lunge forward.


    Could it be that there¡¯s something inside this radish-like bronze artifact? Zhou Wen guessed.


    Previously, the little beast had gnawed the metal walnut, producing Tai Sui. If this radish was the same as the metal walnut, there might be a Companion Beast inside. That would be interesting.


    However, the reason the little beast could bite through the metal walnut in the past was that it wasn¡¯t too hard. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even leave a dent in this thing, so it was impossible for the little beast to bite through it.


    Therefore, although the little beast was very greedy, it didn¡¯t want to take the bronze artifact for itself. It was probably because it couldn¡¯t bite through it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the bronze artifact had anything to do with how the people in Regretless City were born at the Legendary or Epic stage, but other than that, he couldn¡¯t find anything else. He couldn¡¯t really tear down Regretless City, right?


    Even if he dug three feet deep, he might not be able to find any treasures. This was because Zhou Wen might not even recognize a treasure when he saw one.


    Those that could glow weren¡¯t necessarily treasures. Most likely, it was an electric lamp. Even if it sounded by itself, it might not be a treasure. It was also possible that it was a phone. Finding treasures was a technical job. It was useless looking at its appearance. One had to understand its nature.


    After returning to the city, before Zhou Wen could walk back to the cemetery, he saw the Cube in the middle of the street vibrate. The screen lit up and the scene of Dubhe Palace appeared.


    Another person is challenging the Star Palace? Zhou Wen stopped in front of the Cube to take a look.


    There were only two names on the rankings now. One was Saint Jiuyang, and the other was Fire-Armored God from before. They had only chosen to challenge Dubhe Palace. After passing, they didn¡¯t head for the next Star Palace.


    This time, a triceratops appeared in Dubhe Palace. It was silver-white in color, as though it was made of white gold. As its body was too heavy, the ground seemed to tremble with every step it took.


    The triceratops on Earth should be vegetarians, right? Zhou Wen muttered inwardly.


    Before he could continue thinking, he saw another dinosaur appear. It was a pterosaur. Its entire body was golden, like a flying golden statue.


    Following that, two more dinosaurs appeared. One looked like a tyrannosaurus, while the other looked like a stegosaurus. The tyrannosaurus looked like black iron, and the stegosaurus looked like it was made of bronze.


    The appearance of the four dinosaurs immediately attracted the attention of many people.


    ¡°Where do these dinosaurs come from? Isn¡¯t it said that dinosaurs went extinct a long time ago?¡±


    ¡°They are definitely not dinosaurs from Earth.¡±


    ¡°These four dinosaurs look very strong.¡±


    As everyone was discussing, the triceratops had already taken the lead and rushed over to slam open Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    The four dinosaurs charged into Dubhe Palace together. When Starlord Ravenous Wolf saw them, he threw a punch as a terrifying blast of light shone on them.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, they actually survived!¡± Everyone was alarmed. The four dinosaurs had actually survived the damage from the light blast. Furthermore, they didn¡¯t rush towards the teleportation nexus, but towards Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    A huge battle immediately broke out in the Star Palace. The four dinosaurs attacked Starlord Ravenous Wolf who was no weakling. Although the blast of light failed to kill the four dinosaurs, his speed and strength weren¡¯t inferior to the four dinosaurs. Despite fighting four alone, he remained impressive and wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage.


    Although the Cube allowed ordinary people to see battles between high-level creatures in the past, human eyesight couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed of the battle. In fact, when it really began, all the average person saw was shimmering light, not the exact scenes of the battle.


    Zhou Wen watched with relish. The four dinosaurs were clearly at the Human Realm, one level lower than Starlord Ravenous Wolf. However, their abilities were very special. They used four different Calamity Zones to cooperate with each other. Together with the various skills they were good at, they were actually able to fight the Hell-level Starlord Ravenous Wolf without being at a disadvantage.


    They even had a slight advantage. If they continued fighting, they might really have a chance of defeating Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    Furthermore, it was apparent that the four dinosaurs had extremely high intelligence. it was obvious that these fellows were even cleverer than most humans from the way they cooperated.


    The pterosaur ¡®s attack was as fast as lightning, but Zhou Wen paid more attention to its Calamity Zone. It seemed to be a wind-elemental domain. In its domain, the speed of the four dinosaurs increased. They were actually comparable to the Hell-level Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    The triceratops¡¯s Calamity Zone was very strange. After watching for a while, Zhou Wen could only tell that it was likely a power similar to a gravity domain. It greatly limited Starlord Ravenous Wolf, making it difficult for him to make full use of his advantage.


    The tyrannosaurus¡¯s Calamity Zone increased the offensive strength of the four dinosaurs. The stegosaurus¡¯s Calamity Zone was a recovery-type Calamity Zone. Once the four dinosaurs were injured, they would quickly heal under the influence of the stegosaurus¡¯s Calamity Zone.


    The stegosaurus¡¯s Calamity Zone played a huge role in allowing the four dinosaurs to withstand the blast of light.


    Under the combined forces of the four Human Realm dinosaurs, Starlord Ravenous Wolf, who was at the Hell level, was restrained.


    This was also the first time Zhou Wen had seen Starlord Ravenous Wolf fight. When he had been in the middle of the battle, he couldn¡¯t see anything. He didn¡¯t know how Starlord Ravenous Wolf and the Golden Wyrm Scissors fought. All he knew was that the Golden Wyrm Scissors had snipped off Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s head.


    Now, after watching Starlord Ravenous Wolf fight, he realized that this fellow was crazy. He was very strong in every aspect. His entire body was almost a combat weapon. He was an existence that could even kill someone with his buttocks.


    Just any random move by Starlord Ravenous Wolf was a unique move that ordinary people could spend their entire lives studying and practicing.


    Even Zhou Wen was inspired when he saw it. Starlord Ravenous Wolf was like a martial arts library.


    In a one-on-one battle, unless it¡¯s a fellow like the Golden Wyrm Scissors who can¡¯t be killed in one strike, it¡¯s really difficult to defeat Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Zhou Wen had to admit that Starlord Ravenous Wolf was too powerful in combat.


    Its only weakness was that it was easily restricted by external forces. Just like the triceratops¡¯s gravity domain, it restrained him greatly, making it difficult for him to unleash his full strength.


    What a pity. Even the strong can¡¯t beat a numbers game. No matter how strong an individual is, they ultimately can¡¯t defeat a team. For some reason, Zhou Wen hoped that Starlord Ravenous Wolf would win.


    Unfortunately, the miracle didn¡¯t happen.. With the cooperation of the four dinosaurs, after fighting for more than thirty hours, the triceratops¡¯s long horn pierced through Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 1553 - Domain Stacking

    Translator: CKtalon


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s corpse was quickly torn apart by the four dinosaurs. A purple dimensional crystal dropped and was swallowed by the tyrannosaurus. It was impossible to see what crystal it was.


    After the four dinosaurs killed Starlord Ravenous Wolf, they roared at the sky and rushed into the teleportation nexus before disappearing.


    They didn¡¯t choose to enter the next Star Palace either. Instead, they left. The Cube¡¯s screen returned to the Cube¡¯s ranking.


    The first place which was originally occupied by Saint Jiuyang was now occupied by the name ¡®Four Dinosaur Kings.¡¯ Saint Jiuyang and Fire-Armored God were ranked second and third.


    ¡°These fellows are really dinosaurs. Could they be dinosaurs that left Earth?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really possible. It¡¯s a mystery why the dinosaurs went extinct on Earth. Perhaps the dinosaurs didn¡¯t go extinct at all. They only evolved to a certain extent and rushed out of Earth to enter a Universe Era.¡±


    ¡°In that case, how many dinosaurs are there in the universe?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you find it strange? Previously, in the Venusian dimensional zone, every clearer obtained a metal Companion Egg, but these clearers didn¡¯t seem to obtain anything?¡±


    Someone discovered the crux of the problem. Just this comment was quickly drowned by the news regarding the dinosaurs.


    The various families also saw new hope from these dinosaurs. Through the cooperation of various domains, they could actually kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf. This was clearly a shortcut.


    Zhou Wen was also very interested in the cooperation of such domains. He was the owner of multiple domains, so he had been studying how to maximize the effects of his various abilities.


    However, this was because the Essence Energy Arts he cultivated had their own characteristics. Although it wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t have them working together, they lacked in synergy. Typically, he matched a few abilities such as Godfiend Era and the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art.


    However, once he obtained the Calamity Zone, things might turn for the better.


    The stacking of multiple domains might have unexpected benefits.


    Apart from the Chaos Egg¡¯s Calamity Zone that¡¯s inconvenient to stack, the other domains should be able to stack. I have to think of a way to get those dimensional zones out as soon as possible. Perhaps I can kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf at the Terror grade via stacking them. Zhou Wen thought to himself about how he could get the other Essence Energy Arts to produce a domain.


    The First Order of Chaos and the Ancient Sovereign Sutra have already condensed domains. Among the remaining Essence Energy Arts, the ones that are easier to match with dimensional zones should be the Dao Sutra and the Demon God Bloodline Catalog. The Dao Sutra comes from Mount Laojun, while the Demon God Bloodline Catalog comes from Chess Mountain. They have a clear origin. Presumably, the opportunity for them to advance to the Calamity Zone lies in these two places. Unfortunately, the dimensional creatures in these two places are too powerful. I¡¯m still unable to clear them up to now. It will probably be very difficult to find the key object to condense a domain. Zhou Wen had no choice but to temporarily give up on the two Essence Energy Arts.


    Of the remaining Essence Energy Arts, Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art came from the Endless Sea of Stars. However, despite repeatedly grinding the Endless Sea of Stars, Zhou Wen failed to find any key objects.


    Most importantly, the Endless Sea of Stars was just too huge. It was unknown how long it would take to traverse its entirety. Finding something inside was no different from finding a needle in a haystack. The difficulty was in no way inferior to Chess Mountain and Mount Laojun.


    The Godfiend Era and Qi Refinement Art didn¡¯t have any corresponding dimensional zones for the time being. Zhou Wen had also gone to the Small Buddha Temple corresponding to the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra many times, but he failed to find the key object needed to advance to the Calamity grade.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen felt that he could continue searching Small Buddha Temple. After all, that place was relatively small. If there was really something that could advance to the Calamity grade, the chances of finding it were higher.


    He could also give the Qi Refinement Art a shot. It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to find a dimensional zone that corresponded to the Godfiend Era, but with the Qi Refinement Art, Zhou Wen already had a goal in mind.


    Although the Qi Refinement Art was mainly focused on Qi Refinement, everyone had different cultivation directions. They determined the huge differences amongst people despite being the same Qi Refinement Art.


    Taking Zhou Wen¡¯s Qi Refinement Art as an example, the Life Soul he condensed was a sword, while Hui Wan condensed an AI that resembled a phone. They were two completely different things, and the subsequent styles would deviate further.


    With his current insights, Zhou Wen felt that his Qi Refinement Art was actually rather suitable for the Ancient Sword Tomb. He wanted to go to the Ancient Sword Tomb to see if he could condense a domain with the Qi Refinement Art.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had a goal in mind. He wasn¡¯t speaking without reason.


    In the Ancient Sword Tomb, there was a sword that Zhou Wen had been unable to pull out. Furthermore, every time Zhou Wen pulled out the sword, the entire Ancient Sword Tomb would tremble as though all the swords were about to fly out by themselves.


    It was a grayish-black vine sword embedded in a small mound. Zhou Wen had been unable to pull it out when his level was low. He still failed to pull it out when he reached the Terror grade.


    He didn¡¯t make any attempts after that. If it wasn¡¯t for the problem of the Qi Refinement Sword, Zhou Wen would have forgotten about pulling out the sword.


    Now, he suspected that the vine sword was likely the core of the Ancient Sword Tomb, the key to advancing to the Calamity grade.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. Even if the vine sword was really the core of the Ancient Sword Tomb, it was still a question if it could match his Qi Refinement Art.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if it was an item that could allow him to advance to the Calamity grade. Perhaps it was because it was too powerful that he couldn¡¯t pull it out.


    He came to the Ancient Sword Tomb again. It had been a long time since Zhou Wen had grinded there. He found it somewhat unfamiliar.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s memory wasn¡¯t bad. He quickly found the tiny grave. The vine sword embedded in it was the same as before. It looked like a withered vine had been stabbed into it.


    I hope it works. Otherwise, I really don¡¯t know where I can find a dimensional zone that matches the Qi Refinement Art. Although Zhou Wen also wanted to go to the Founding Emperor Tomb, there was nothing there that matched Qi Refinement Arts, much less something that matched the Qi Refinement Art that Zhou Wen cultivated. He felt that the chances were very slim.


    He came in front of the vine sword and circulated the Qi Refinement Art. Immediately, sword beams seeped out from his body. The Sword Pill condensed from Essence Energy also emitted sword intent in his consciousness.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, Sword Pill immediately transformed into something very similar to the Immortal Culling Sword. The sword intent on the sword became even sharper and more ferocious.


    With a terrifying sword aura and sword intent, Zhou Wen reached out to grab the hilt of the vine sword. He immediately exerted strength, hoping to pull the vine sword out of the tiny grave.


    The vine sword was originally grayish-black and withered, making it look like a dead vine.. Now that Zhou Wen was pulling at it, the vine sword emitted a strange sword intent that resembled a blooming flower.

 Chapter 1554 - Pulling out the Sword

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen pulled up the vine sword inch by inch. The sword intent on the vine sword became stronger and stronger. It began to spew out fireworks. In the end, it was like a volcanic eruption that nearly tore through the sky.


    Zhou Wen was a swordsman himself and was proficient in the three thousand sword intents, but he had never seen the vine sword¡¯s sword intent.


    Instead of calling it a sword intent, it was more like a concept of life.


    Rumble!


    The entire Ancient Sword Tomb shook as countless swords hummed above the grave, as though they would fly out at any moment, heading straight for Zhou Wen who was pulling at the sword.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised as he looked at the Ancient Sword Tomb that was shaking and surging with sword beams. He was delighted because the vine sword was likely the core of the Ancient Sword Tomb. Perhaps the Qi Refinement Art had a chance of advancing to the Calamity grade.


    However, from the looks of the Ancient Sword Tomb¡¯s situation, if all the swords really tore out of the grave and attacked Zhou Wen, he might not be able to handle the countless swords while pulling at the sword.


    Amitabha. Please bless me to pull out the vine sword safely. Before I advance to the Calamity grade, don¡¯t let those swords come out, Zhou Wen prayed inwardly.


    However, the worst of his fears happened. Halfway through pulling the vine sword, Zhou Wen suddenly heard a crisp and dull sword hum. It was like the sound of thousands of swords being unsheathed in a kill zone.


    Oh no! Zhou Wen cursed inwardly as he took a glance. Indeed, he saw the swords in the grave fly out and float in the sky like a sea of stars. At a glance, the sky was filled with resplendent sword beams. He couldn¡¯t see the end, nor did he know how many swords there were.


    Just as Zhou Wen took a glance, he saw the swords that filled the sky had their tips pointed at him from all directions.


    At that instant, Zhou Wen suddenly felt as though the entire world was his enemy. The feeling of being alone and helpless left him shuddering in fear.


    Without any pause, all the swords erupted with all sorts of sword auras, sword beams, and sword intents. The sword beams that filled the sky intertwined and rained down from above.


    At this point, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t give up. All he could do was continue pulling at the sword as he prepared to withstand the onslaught of the swords.


    ¡°Activate!¡± Zhou Wen activated the First Order of Chaos domain. Glimmering words appeared and enveloped his body, forming the shape of a Chaos Egg.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen held the hilt with both hands as he pulled upwards with all his might. Outside, countless swords rained down on the Chaos Egg.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    It was better to die in glory than live in dishonor¡ªthe swords seemed to have the determination to destroy indiscriminately. They used all their strength to slam into the Chaos Egg, not sparing themselves at all.


    The low-level swords slammed into the Chaos Egg and shattered. The high-level swords slammed into it and drilled in with all their might until their bodies collapsed under the immense pressure.


    Sword beams rained down in waves, crazily striking the Chaos Egg as large amounts of solid Essence Energy condensed inside.


    If it were the Chaos Egg before it advanced to the Calamity grade, it would have long exploded. Thankfully, after advancing to the Calamity grade, the Essence Energy Crystals in it could be stacked, so he wasn¡¯t worried about it exploding.


    I¡¯m still one-third away from pulling it out. From the looks of it, I should be able to withstand it, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he pulled. Although the sword attacks outside were ferocious, they weren¡¯t enough to break through the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense.


    While having this thought, he suddenly heard a tearing sound. A sword blade pierced through the Chaos Egg¡¯s outer shell before a portion of the sword stabbed into Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    If not for the Chaos Egg blocking most of its strength, Zhou Wen¡¯s chest would have been penetrated.


    Even though the Chaos Egg blocked most of the blade¡¯s strength, a terrifying sword beam still rushed out of the blade and wreaked havoc in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The sword beam was extremely terrifying. Apart from the Immortal Culling Sword, Zhou Wen had never seen such a violent sword beam. The moment the sword beam entered his body, it immediately spread out like a virus, wanting to destroy all the cells in his body, in a bid to not even leave ashes.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly circulated the Qi Refinement Art and condensed sword beams to resist the terrifying destructive sword beams.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beams were considered extremely condensed against sword beams at the same level. As they were constantly compressed from Essence Energy, it was very difficult for ordinary sword beams to withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    However, when compared to the destructive sword beams, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beams appeared somewhat lacking in precision. It was like the difference between tempered steel and ordinary raw metal.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beams retreated in defeat as his cells were constantly destroyed. His body couldn¡¯t withstand such terrifying sword beams after his sword beams collapsed.


    And this is with the Chaos Egg blocking most of the force. There¡¯s actually such a terrifying sword in the Ancient Sword Tomb? Zhou Wen was alarmed. Thankfully, this was in-game. If it was in reality, he would have long abandoned the sword and fled. He wouldn¡¯t have the time to pull out the sword.


    However, Zhou Wen was still willing to take the risk in-game. He gathered all his strength and suddenly exerted all his strength to pull out the sword. He wanted to pull out the vine sword before he was destroyed.


    Only a small portion of the vine sword remained in the grave. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s chest collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    Outside the Chaos Egg, the thousands of swords continued attacking crazily. Although Zhou Wen knew that even if he pulled out the vine sword, it would be difficult for him to escape death, he still wanted to see if there was a chance of advancing to the Calamity grade after pulling it out.


    Will I die first, or will I pull out the vine sword first? Zhou Wen could sense that the flesh on the blood-colored avatar¡¯s chest had almost completely collapsed. Thankfully, his physique was sufficiently powerful. If it were an ordinary person, they would have long died.


    Even Zhou Wen¡¯s body was at its limits. The game could go black at any moment.


    At the instant Zhou Wen thought he was about to die, he finally pulled out the vine sword. As he had used so much strength, he ended up lifting it above his head.


    The extremely powerful sword intent on the vine sword exploded like a nuclear bomb at that instant.


    Wherever the sword intent passed, the thousands of swords that were attacking Zhou Wen seemed to lose their souls as they fell like snowflakes.


    Even the sword embedded in Zhou Wen¡¯s chest strangely and slowly retreated.


    The sword beams that could destroy everything receded like a tidal wave as the blade pulled out of Zhou Wen¡¯s chest and left the Chaos Egg.


    In the next second, the sword intent emitted by the vine sword surged towards the Sword Pill that Zhou Wen had condensed.

 Chapter 1555 - : It’s Not What I Want

    Translator: CKtalon


    The sword intent from the vine sword surged into Sword Pill, shattering all of Sword Pill¡¯s three thousand sword intents.


    Sword Pill that had already transformed into the Immortal Culling Sword gradually returned to its sword pill form.


    Zhou Wen felt as though Sword Pill had turned into a huge furnace. Its three thousand sword intents seemed to melt as they gradually fused into one.


    And what melted the three thousand sword intents into one was the sword intent on the vine sword.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any sword aura from the vine sword from beginning to end, but its sword intent was unimaginably powerful.


    He had never seen a sword intent this powerful. Even without the sword aura, just the sword intent alone could probably affect one¡¯s heart.


    As the sword intent constantly fused, Zhou Wen sensed that Sword Pill had begun to evolve and condense a domain.


    However, this domain was condensed rather strangely. It was a pure sword intent domain without any sword auras participating.


    A pure sword intent domain? Is that really good? Zhou Wen wore an odd expression, unsure if it was suitable for him.


    The Qi Refinement Art was clearly an Essence Energy Art that focused on cultivating Essence Energy, but the Calamity Zone that condensed was a pure sword intent domain.


    No matter what Zhou Wen thought, the Qi Refinement Art didn¡¯t have synergy with such a domain.


    As the sword intent in the vine sword fused into Sword Pill, the vine sword itself began to shatter, turning into scattering dust.


    The thousands of swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb fell to the ground like subjects who worshiped their monarch. Only a few swords returned to the Sword Tomb without trembling like the other swords.


    This included the sword that had pierced through the Chaos Egg and nearly killed Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see this. He was pondering if such a domain was what he needed.


    Pure sword intent domains weren¡¯t bad. As long as a domain existed, it had to have a reason for its existence. Zhou Wen was considering if such a domain suited himself and the Qi Refinement Art.


    The domain was slowly taking form. Zhou Wen could already sense how powerful it was. Just the nascent domain had made thousands of swords submit.


    Most of the swords in the sword intent domain had lost their effects. If someone were to fight Zhou Wen with a sword in hand, the sword in the enemy¡¯s hands would suddenly lose the effects they originally had. It would be too easy for Zhou Wen to defeat his opponent.


    Such a domain was very strong, but Zhou Wen felt that it wasn¡¯t the domain he needed.


    Perhaps others might find it satisfying to enfeeble their opponent, thereby crushing them, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like that.


    Even if he wanted to defeat his opponent, Zhou Wen hoped to defeat an opponent at peak condition and not an opponent whose ability to resist had been stripped away. That would only make Zhou Wen find it boring.


    This isn¡¯t the domain I want. Zhou Wen already understood what he really wanted.


    However, how could he reverse the domain that was forming? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know. He had never had such experience, nor did he know if he could change the domain that was taking form.


    If it were in reality, Zhou Wen would only wait for the domain to be completed. It would be equivalent to courting death to do something at such a critical stage.


    However, in-game, no matter how much nonsense he did, he would only die. He could revive from a drop of blood.


    At most, I¡¯ll fail at condensing a domain. I¡¯d rather fail than have a domain I don¡¯t like. Zhou Wen steeled his resolve as his strength erupted crazily. He forcefully stopped the transmission of sword intent, hoping to throw out the remaining half of the vine sword.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s desperate attempt failed to throw out the vine sword. Instead, his sword intent clashed with the broken sword¡¯s sword intent.


    The Sword Pill, that was already on track and was fusing to form a domain, instantly warped. The sword intent domain that had already been produced began to collapse.


    Thousands of swords that had already submitted to the ground gradually raised their tips again. As though they were attracted by a magnet, their tips pointed at Zhou Wen.


    The domain constantly collapsed as the swords gradually floated up again, surrounding Zhou Wen.


    Once Zhou Wen¡¯s incomplete domain completely collapsed, the swords would kill him just like before.


    So what if I die? It¡¯s better than having a domain I don¡¯t like. It¡¯s best if you kill me quickly to prevent the domain from condensing successfully. Zhou Wen wanted the domain to collapse faster, but now, all sorts of sword intents were running amok in his body as though he had been possessed. He couldn¡¯t even control his body, so there was no chance of dying even if he wanted to.


    The vine sword¡¯s sword intent was still gushing in, but the sword intent in Sword Pill was flowing out and surging into Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The sword intent originally formed from three thousand sword intents had already become countless fragments that were about to fuse into one after being struck by the vine sword¡¯s intent.


    Under normal circumstances, when the three thousand sword intents completely fused with the vine sword intent, it would be when the domain was successfully condensed.


    When that happened, all the sword intents would no longer be distinguishable. They would become one, having no effect on Zhou Wen.


    However, after the three thousand sword intents were shattered while in an incomplete fused state, all sorts of sword intent fragments rushed out and affected Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    It felt like a movie¡¯s editing had gone wrong. An action movie, a romance movie, a wuxia movie, a science fiction movie had been edited and stitched together. Scenes would switch to completely unrelated scenes when played. It was a confusing sight.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s firm willpower thankfully prevented him from being affected by the psychedelic sword intent.


    However, as the vine sword intent surged in, Zhou Wen realized that the sword intent fragments seemed to slowly return to their previous trajectories. It was as though they were about to begin condensing a domain again.


    No, you can¡¯t do that! Zhou Wen attempted to use his mental strength to control the sword intent fragments. He didn¡¯t have a certain goal¡ªhe just wanted to mess things up.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to stop the domain from condensing, but Zhou Wen thought that as long as he could restrain the vine sword¡¯s sword intent and prevent the domain from taking form, he could wait for the swords to kill him.


    At that moment, the swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb had already flown up again and were aimed at Zhou Wen.


    With a hum, thousands of swords shot out at Zhou Wen.


    Here they come! Zhou Wen was overjoyed. He didn¡¯t have a Chaos Egg around him now. The swords would probably be able to kill him very quickly if they attacked, so it was impossible for him to condense the Calamity Zone successfully.


    Just as the thousands of swords rushed in front of Zhou Wen who was already awaiting death with his eyes closed, his face filled with a smile, something unexpected happened.

 Chapter 1556 - No Submission

    Translator: CKtalon


    The remaining half of the vine sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand suddenly became even more terrifying. It was as though a sword emperor had descended. The terrifying sword intent pressure instantly caused the thousands of swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb to fall to the ground. Some swords couldn¡¯t even withstand the pressure of the sword intent as they constantly trembled and shattered with a bang.


    The few swords that weren¡¯t affected by the vine sword trembled non-stop. Sword hums sounded incessantly as though they were competing for supremacy.


    An ancient sword that was originally unmoved exploded inside the grave. The ancient sword also fell from the exploded grave and hit the ground, motionless. Like a subject prostrating in worship, the other swords began to shake.


    Zhou Wen felt the sword intent the most directly. He could clearly sense that it wanted to bring its will into Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy Art and form a Calamity Zone that was completely compatible with it.


    The sword intent that had already been thrown into disarray in Zhou Wen¡¯s body was rapidly restoring order under the intense restraints of the vine sword intent. It began building the Calamity Zone again.


    Zhou Wen was a stubborn person. Now that the vine sword was forcefully condensing a Calamity Zone, how could he accept it?


    Since I can¡¯t use the power of those swords to commit suicide, I¡¯ll kill myself. With a thought, the Golden Wyrm Scissors immediately flew out and transformed into a golden beam that snipped at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s head.


    Clang!


    The halved vine sword moved autonomously and blocked the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ strike. A powerful Hell-level weapon like the Golden Wyrm Scissors could slice apart creatures of the same level, but it was blocked by the halved vine sword and failed to continue its snip.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors attacked a second time after failing to deliver a conclusive strike, but the halved vine sword was extremely magical. It blocked the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack again and again. Even if the Golden Wyrm Scissors slashed at it with all its might, it was still blocked by the vine sword.


    Zhou Wen tried his best to control his hands, but it was useless. Under the influence of the vine sword, his hands involuntarily moved with the vine sword, blocking the Golden Wyrm Scissors again and again.


    As for the sword intent fragments in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, they were gradually sucked back into Sword Pill.


    ¡°Even if you are really a sword immortal from the heavens, you can¡¯t force me to do something I don¡¯t like.¡± Seeing that the Golden Wyrm Scissors couldn¡¯t be used, Zhou Wen summoned all his pets.


    If people were to see so many high-level Companion Beasts, they would probably be extremely envious and jealous. However, they would probably be shell-shocked to see the Companion Beasts desperately attacking their master.


    Perhaps many people had never seen Companion Beasts attack their master in their lives.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s various Companion Beasts¡ªGolden Wyrm Scissors, Golden Sniper, Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Golden Battle God, Tyrant Behemoth, and so on¡ªwere summoned by Zhou Wen as long as they were above the Terror grade. He made them attack him with all their might.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    However, the vine sword was invincible. It blocked all the attacks from so many Companion Beasts and even killed many of them.


    The Golden Sniper¡¯s bullet shattered as the Golden Battle God was instantly parted at its waist. Tyrant Behemoth, who had just advanced to the Calamity grade, was forced back hundreds of meters by the strike despite using Absolute Strength and Overlord Zone.


    Holy sh*t, what the hell is this vine sword? Is it that powerful? It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen had never seen a ferocious dimensional creature, but he had never seen one as ferocious as the vine sword.


    The vine sword seemed determined to fuse into Zhou Wen¡¯s Calamity Zone. The shocking sword intent raged out, causing the Companion Beasts to retreat.


    I really don¡¯t believe it. It¡¯s not easy to live, but can it be difficult to die? Zhou Wen summoned the Ancient Splitting Spore and made it explode in his body. Doctor Darkness attached himself to Zhou Wen in his soul form, but he didn¡¯t help him fight. Instead, he spread poison within Zhou Wen.


    Unfortunately, their levels were a little low, so they failed to severely injure Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t dead, but due to the explosion of the Ancient Splitting Spore, Zhou Wen¡¯s body suffered a serious shock. The Qi Refinement Art that was circulating immediately lost its Essence Energy, causing Sword Pill to lose control.


    Elsewhere, the Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-Suppression Divine Light shone on the vine sword, causing a black halo to appear over it. It looked like it had played a certain role.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was driven by the vine sword. He appeared in front of the Soul Mirror as though he had instant transmitted and shattered it with one strike.


    This fellow is a little afraid of the Soul Mirror? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    After fighting for so long, the vine sword only guided Zhou Wen¡¯s arm to fight, killing or repelling any Companion Beasts that approached.


    That was done with Zhou Wen standing in the same spot previously. Only when the Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-Suppression Divine Light descended did the vine sword take the initiative to attack. It was somewhat different from the passive battle from before.


    The Soul Mirror was shattered by it. I don¡¯t have a second Companion Beast of the same type. Even if I know that the vine sword is afraid of the Soul Mirror¡¯s power, I don¡¯t have any means to restrain it. Could it be that it¡¯s really condensing a domain just like that? Zhou Wen was depressed.


    He no longer had any other means to use. His body was controlled, and his Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t defeat the vine sword. All he could do was condense the domain.


    Just as Zhou Wen believed that the outcome was set and that there was no way to reverse the situation, a sword flew over.


    Strange, why would a sword fly over at such a time? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    As the vine sword¡¯s sword intent was so powerful, it suppressed all the swords, preventing them from even moving. None of them dared to approach Zhou Wen.


    However, the sword didn¡¯t seem to be suppressed by the vine sword¡¯s sword intent. It flew straight at Zhou Wen and with an unsheathing sound, the sword flew out of its scabbard and stabbed at Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    That¡¯s¡­ Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed. The sword that flew over was actually the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t been able to pull out.


    Although the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was only at the Terror grade, Zhou Wen had yet to pull it out to date. Now that it had unsheathed itself, how could Zhou Wen not be alarmed?


    Something¡¯s amiss! Previously, when I used it against enemies, I couldn¡¯t pull it out no matter what. Now that I¡¯m letting it kill me, it actually unsheathed itself. What the hell is this? Zhou Wen, who was supposed to be pleasantly surprised, became even more depressed when he thought of this.


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was formed from the fusion of Light Concealment, Shadow Concealment, and Night Immaculate. However, it didn¡¯t seem to have inherited the ability of invisibility from the three swords. It was always visible with the scabbard.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords didn¡¯t have the ability to turn invisible, but when he saw it unsheathed, he realized that he couldn¡¯t see its blade.. All he felt was a powerful sword intent condense in front of the hilt, stabbing sharply at Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.

 Chapter 1557 - Works Hard At Killing Master

    Translator: CKtalon


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords¡¯ offensive strength wasn¡¯t very strong among Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts. The Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack was far stronger than it. Even among Terror-grade Companion Beasts, there were many that were stronger than it.


    However, the vine sword actually clashed with the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords first. The vine sword struck the body of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords and sent it flying.


    When the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords flew out, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss. He saw the thousands of swords that had been suppressed by the vine swords slowly fly up.


    However, in the past, the swords had flown independently without any pattern. The only similarity had been their target.


    But now, it was somewhat different. The swords were clearly centered around the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. No matter how one looked at it, they seemed to be controlled by it.


    Hum!


    With the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords hum, the thousands of swords ignored the sword intent pressure of the vine sword and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was indeed working hard to carry out his orders, but when Zhou Wen fought the enemy in the past, it had never helped him. Now that Zhou Wen wanted to commit suicide, it was putting in so much effort.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen knew that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords could control other swords.


    More ridiculous was the ancient sword that had dropped previously. It was probably at the Calamity grade¡ªa level higher than the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. Logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t be controlled by the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.


    Yet, the ancient sword charged at Zhou Wen with the other swords.


    There were also a few other swords of similar strength that rushed over.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    As the vine sword fought the Golden Wyrm Scissors and other Companion Beasts, it had to withstand the bombardment of thousands of swords. The situation immediately became terrible.


    Even something as powerful as the vine sword couldn¡¯t gain the upper hand under such circumstances. Zhou Wen also began to suffer injuries.


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords levitated there motionless as the swords charged forward without any regard for their lives.


    Faster! Or it¡¯ll be too late! Zhou Wen felt that the domain in his body was about to be completed. It would be useless if he was killed after its completion.


    However, the swords had already used all their strength, but they still failed to kill Zhou Wen. They had only injured some unimportant spots.


    Hum!


    Another sword hum sounded. This time, Zhou Wen could clearly hear a sword hum coming from a huge grave.


    Up to now, all the swords had basically flown out. However, he never expected that there would still be a sword embedded in a grave.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and immediately recognized that the sword in the grave was clearly the one that had nearly killed him in the past.


    Later on, when the vine sword emitted a sword intent, that sword returned to the grave and didn¡¯t fly out again.


    At that moment, the sword was resonating incessantly as though it was about to rush out.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the vine sword¡¯s sword intent was surging towards the sword on the grave. Clearly, it thought highly of the sword.


    As for the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, it was even more direct. It had already flown to the back of the huge grave and floated beside the ancient sword. The sword hum from its body didn¡¯t stop.


    However, the sword intent emitted by the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords wasn¡¯t as domineering as the vine sword. It didn¡¯t seem to be controlling the sword, but more like using persuasion.


    The sword in the grave didn¡¯t break out of the grave. It looked like it was hesitating.


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords is only at the Terror grade after all. I¡¯m afraid it¡¯ll be at a disadvantage. Zhou Wen felt that things were going south. In a fight for the sword, the higher-level vine sword was naturally at an advantage.


    If I had known that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords was so powerful, I would have thought of a way to get it to the Calamity grade earlier. Perhaps I would still have a chance of fighting that vine sword. As Zhou Wen sized up the sword in the grave, he secretly felt regret.


    The sword in the grave looked like an ordinary ancient sword. The three-foot-long sword didn¡¯t look gorgeous. The patterns on the sword were very ordinary. It didn¡¯t look like a famous sword at all. Instead, it looked like a standard issue for ancient soldiers.


    However, after seeing it pierce through the Chaos Egg, he knew how terrifying its offensive strength was. It was probably not inferior to the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he heard a sword hum. The sword rushed out of the grave and floated in the air.


    At the instant the sword appeared, all the swords seemed to subconsciously retreat a little.


    Who is it helping? Although Zhou Wen felt that the possibility of the sword helping the vine sword was higher, he couldn¡¯t help but have some fantasies. He hoped that the power of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords would move it.


    Of course, Zhou Wen also knew that it was unlikely, but there was no other way. All he could do was pray.


    The sword floated in the air for a while before suddenly turning into a stream of light that flew towards the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.


    It¡¯s over! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he knew that the situation was hopeless.


    The destructive power of that sword was too terrifying. It had chosen to help the vine sword, so it was likely that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords would be snapped.


    However, to his surprise, the sword only circled the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords once before charging at Zhou Wen.


    The sword¡¯s flying speed was unbelievably fast and shockingly ruthless. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even see how it shot over when the tip of the sword touched his chest.


    The vine sword¡¯s reaction wasn¡¯t slow either. It blocked the blade, preventing it from really stabbing down.


    A shocking sword clang sounded as Zhou Wen felt his body involuntarily fly backward. The vine sword was actually no match for the sword as it flew back with Zhou Wen.


    Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, oh Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword. You¡¯re really a f*cking good master killer. Such a powerful sword can actually be used by you¡­ Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised, but he couldn¡¯t describe what he felt.


    He was still happy, overall. He saw hope.


    Indeed, just as the vine sword flew out, the ancient sword that came out of the grave transformed into a beam of light that penetrated the blood-colored avatar¡¯s chest.


    This time, there was no Chaos Egg to help Zhou Wen withstand it. Zhou Wen used his body of flesh and blood to directly experience the ancient sword¡¯s might.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was already comparable to a Human Realm creature, but at the sword¡¯s blade, he was no different from tofu as he was penetrated.


    A huge hole appeared in the blood-colored avatar¡¯s chest as the ancient sword passed through. Furthermore, its sword aura tore through Zhou Wen¡¯s body from the wound.


    Zhou Wen had already had a taste of such a destructive sword aura before. However, most of the sword aura back then had been blocked by the Chaos Egg. This time, when it rushed into Zhou Wen¡¯s body without any reservations, Zhou Wen felt as though all his cells were about to be destroyed. There was no buffer at all.


    I¡¯m finally liberated! Zhou Wen secretly heaved a sigh of relief, but he never expected another accident to happen.


    The remaining half of the vine sword suddenly disintegrated as terrifying sword intents were released. They drilled into Zhou Wen¡¯s body from all directions.


    Half of the vine sword¡¯s sword intent had previously fused into Sword Pill.. After the remaining half entered, Sword Pill immediately lit up as sword intent spewed out, forcefully stopping the terrifying sword aura from spreading through Zhou Wen¡¯s body.

 Chapter 1558 - : Intangibility and Corporeality

    Translator: CKtalon


    The Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords¡¯ hum turned sharper when it realized that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t completely dead. The swords that filled the sky immediately struck down, hoping to dice Zhou Wen¡¯s body to pieces.


    On the other side, the ancient sword also realized that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t dead. It flew over again. This time, its target wasn¡¯t his chest, but Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t Li Xuan. It was impossible for him to live with his head pierced.


    He completely gave up on resistance. He had no intention of controlling the blood-colored avatar, but the blood-colored avatar began moving under the driving force of the sword intent in his body.


    Sword Pill appeared and transformed into the vine sword. It was held in the blood-colored avatar¡¯s hand as it fought the swords.


    Zhou Wen had previously been the one gaming, but now, he felt like he was having a bot play for him. As he watched the blood-colored avatar automatically fight, the weapons that were killed would occasionally drop dimensional crystals or Companion Eggs.


    Seeing a Mythical Companion Egg drop, Zhou Wen wanted to pick it up, but he couldn¡¯t. All he could do was watch.


    The vine sword¡¯s body had already turned to dust, but now, it was using Sword Pill as its new vessel. Sword Pill¡¯s strength became stronger and stronger, as did its domain.


    Many of the swords that approached Sword Pill fell to the ground uncontrollably. Only the especially powerful swords could reach the blood-colored avatar, but the power of the swords became limp as though they lacked strength.


    The vine sword¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t weaker than the ancient sword. It only had half its strength left previously to fight the ancient sword. Now, its strength was all inside Sword Pill, so it didn¡¯t appear as weak in battle as before.


    However, as Sword Pill¡¯s domain hadn¡¯t completely taken form, it was still difficult for it to fight the ancient sword head-on. Therefore, Sword Pill kept dodging and stalling for time while pulling Zhou Wen¡¯s body along.


    Once its strength perfectly fused with Sword Pill, allowing it to advance to the Calamity grade, it would truly have the capital to fight the ancient sword.


    Dream on. How can it be as you wish? Zhou Wen sneered inwardly. It was finally time for him to put in the effort.


    Previously, the vine sword was independent of his body, but it was different now. The vine sword¡¯s sword intent had completely fused into Sword Pill. It no longer had a body that could be used as a foundation to exert strength, so it relied solely on its will to control Sword Pill.


    Sword Pill belonged to Zhou Wen; it was condensed using Zhou Wen¡¯s body as a foundation, making it easier for him to control it.


    The vine sword believed that its sword intent was powerful enough that no one could withstand it. It believed that its sword intent could crush Zhou Wen¡¯s will and easily obtain control of Sword Pill.


    Under normal circumstances, it was indeed the case. The vine sword could easily shatter the three thousand sword intents. Such intent was indeed very strong, so strong that Zhou Wen found it unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen was far from reaching that stage, but this didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t have the ability to resist. Zhou Wen¡¯s realm might be lacking, but in terms of willpower, he was invincible. Perhaps defeating the vine sword¡¯s intent was difficult, but it was still possible to hold it back.


    The vine sword intent controlled Sword Pill for the battle when it suddenly stopped. Sword Pill, which was supposed to slash right, paused for a moment, failing to block the ancient sword.


    The ancient sword stabbed into the blood-colored avatar¡¯s abdomen as a terrifying sword aura immediately surged in, wreaking havoc in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The sword intent and sword aura in Sword Pill immediately surged over, hoping to withstand the sword aura that invaded his body. However, only the sword intent rushed over without the sword aura.


    Zhou Wen was temporarily unable to control the sword intent brought about by the vine sword, but it wasn¡¯t that simple for the vine sword to borrow the sword aura in Sword Pill. It had to first suppress Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower.


    The ancient sword¡¯s aura rapidly spread through Zhou Wen¡¯s body as the sword intent retreated in defeat. Sword intent was only sword intent after all. Without the fusion with corporeal powers like sword aura, sword intent was far inferior to sword aura in terms of destructive power.


    The Calamity Zone that it had painstakingly condensed quickly collapsed.


    It should be ending soon, right? Zhou Wen felt that he was doomed this time. It was unlikely there would be a turnaround.


    It was indeed as Zhou Wen had imagined. The sword aura constantly tore through the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body, putting it on the brink of collapse. In at most twenty to thirty seconds, the body under the corrosion of the sword aura would completely lose its vitality.


    Zhou Wen waited for death to arrive while admiring the hopelessness of the vine sword intent.


    Why aren¡¯t you showing your arrogance anymore? Where did the arrogance from before go? Zhou Wen was somewhat smug, but on second thought, he was the one who wanted to use the power of the vine sword to advance to the Calamity grade. It didn¡¯t seem wrong for it to give him strength. It was just a little too assertive.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen immediately felt disinterested. This clearly couldn¡¯t be considered a victory. He just didn¡¯t like it and wanted to change the Calamity Zone.


    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t do anything about it. Your strength is different from the power I want. I have no choice.¡± Zhou Wen watched as the sword intent was constantly eliminated. As he watched, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind.


    While the ancient sword¡¯s sword aura destroyed Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it also destroyed the resisting sword intent. During this process, Zhou Wen discovered an interesting phenomenon.


    Sword auras and sword intents were actually two completely different things. Sword auras were corporeal, while sword intents were intangible.


    Under normal circumstances, sword intent couldn¡¯t directly affect matter itself. It could only affect one¡¯s psyche. However, because of the potency of the vine sword¡¯s sword intent, it affected tangible objects. Therefore, it could resist the sword aura.


    The clash between tangible and intangible objects made Zhou Wen discover something very interesting.


    Is an intangible object really formless and intangible? Zhou Wen had thought so in the past, but after seeing the clash between the sword auras and sword intents, he realized that it wasn¡¯t that simple.


    The sword intent affected his body. It was originally impossible for his body to resist such a terrifying sword aura, but under the effects of the intangible sword intent, his body¡¯s strength was strengthened to the point of being able to withstand the sword aura slightly.


    This enhancement was extremely shocking. It was clearly an illusion that was similar to a dream, but it could be used in reality.


    Could it be that intangible objects can really be transformed into something corporeal? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he released his control over Sword Pill. Then, he used his willpower to influence Sword Pill and stimulate its sword intent.


    With the vine sword intent receiving help, it stabilized the crumbling situation, preventing Zhou Wen from immediately dying.


    Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t doing this to help the vine sword intent.. He just wanted to observe for a while and see what the secret between intangibility and corporeality was.

 Chapter 1559 - In Between Intangibility and Corporeality

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen only tried his best to maintain the situation. He didn¡¯t wish for the vine sword intent to turn the tables. He only wanted to stall for time so that he could see the profundity between intangibility and corporeality.


    However, sword intent was something ethereal to begin with. It could only be sensed, not seen or touched.


    Even inside Zhou Wen¡¯s body, he could only sense the sword intent changing his body, but he still couldn¡¯t see it.


    It has a powerful influence, but I can¡¯t see or touch it. This feeling is somewhat similar to something I¡¯m familiar with. Zhou Wen thought about what it was.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen thought of what the sword intent was similar to.


    The thing Zhou Wen thought of was deities that humans worshiped. However, on careful thought, deities and sword intents could be considered one and the same thing. They were fantasies derived from human thoughts.


    Sword intent was actually a form of thought, and deities were also products of human thought. The difference was that sword intent was one¡¯s understanding of the world, while deities were the entrustment of the unknown and fears.


    Humans are sentimental creatures. The existence of an intangible object like a deity does sometimes affect the actions and abilities of humans, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    He had heard a story in the past that mentioned a student. Although he studied hard, his results weren¡¯t that good, especially during exams. He failed to be on form every time.


    There was once when he went to a nearby temple with his classmates to pray. He didn¡¯t have any plans and thought that he could pray to the deity in passing. In the end, not only did he get an auspicious divination lot, but he also heard a divine voice that the other students didn¡¯t hear. It said that he would definitely be able to learn well and even be admitted into a good university.


    However, when he asked the other students, they claimed to not have heard anything.


    After returning, not only did the student work harder, but his results also improved significantly. His test results also increased drastically, and he even got into a famous university.


    Later on, when they were having a class reunion, they chatted about this matter. Only then did he realize that it was a setup by his few classmates. The drawing of divination lots was rigged in advance, and the divine voice was a played recording. The other students had all heard it.


    The reason they did this was that they found this student very hardworking. He just lacked confidence; therefore, they thought of using this method to boost his confidence and dig into his potential. The outcome was indeed very good.


    However, what the sword intent had done so far exceeded the influence of pure thought.


    If it¡¯s not just an emotional influence, what¡¯s the principle behind it? Zhou Wen constantly observed and pondered, but no matter how he looked at it, it was difficult to observe the true core.


    The corporeal sword aura constantly clashed with the sword intent that imperceptibly affected Zhou Wen¡¯s body. All Zhou Wen could see was his body being destroyed by the sword aura, preventing him from truly capturing the existence of the sword intent.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen discovered a problem.


    Previously, he had only observed the clash between the two and couldn¡¯t find the true crux of the matter. However, when Zhou Wen focused his gaze on the changes after his body was wrecked, he immediately discovered something different.


    The sword aura¡¯s destructive power was extremely potent. It wrecked the body of flesh and blood, disintegrating it into its individual, extremely tiny elements. They were split and split until they were completely invisible as though they had vanished.


    Zhou Wen knew that they hadn¡¯t vanished. It was only because they were too tiny that he couldn¡¯t see or sense them.


    However, during this process, a very small portion of the matter wasn¡¯t diced to the point of invisibility.


    The other flesh and blood were split apart again and again. Finally, nothing could be seen. However, there were wisps of something that resembled smoke or fog that scattered out and vanished at an extremely fast speed.


    Although it only existed for a brief period, Zhou Wen was certain that the wisp of smoke wasn¡¯t split by the sword aura. It had vanished by itself.


    He carefully observed and realized that after every cell was destroyed, there would be wisps of smoke dissipating, instead of being reduced to smaller parts.


    What is that inside the body? It wasn¡¯t split by such a powerful sword aura. The more Zhou Wen sensed it, the more he found the smoke magical.


    In the smoke, Zhou Wen felt the existence of the sword intent and the sword aura. However, it only existed for an extremely short period of time like a fleeting meteor.


    That wisp of smoke has the specialness of a sword intent and the characteristics of a sword aura, but it¡¯s clearly different from the two. It has a corporeal body that sword intent doesn¡¯t have, and it also has the thought processes that sword aura doesn¡¯t possess¡­ The more Zhou Wen observed the more he found the smoke magical.


    However, the smoke only appeared when it was destroyed by the sword aura. It didn¡¯t always exist. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover the smoke when he destroyed some of his flesh by himself.


    This is interesting. Zhou Wen wanted to see if he could capture the smoke.


    The smoke could be touched when it appeared, but even if one enveloped it with sword aura, the smoke would still vanish into thin air. It made capturing it difficult.


    He met with failure despite many attempts.


    It¡¯s clearly a corporeal object, but it can turn intangible. This is a very bizarre characteristic. Zhou Wen made repeated attempts and failed.


    Zhou Wen gradually realized that it wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t capture it, but the smoke didn¡¯t exist at all.


    Since it can go from corporeal to intangible, can it do the reverse? Zhou Wen felt that he could give it a try. The crux seemed to be the clash between sword aura and sword intent.


    As sword intent didn¡¯t have a corporeal body, it couldn¡¯t engage in a direct collision¡ªhis body was the medium.


    Zhou Wen switched methods and kept trying after repeated attempts, hoping to truly figure out what the smoke that was a superposition of corporeality and intangibility was.


    This clearly wasn¡¯t an easy task. Zhou Wen had yet to figure out how the smoke was formed, and his body was about to collapse.


    Although Zhou Wen had been helping the vine sword maintain its sword intent, he ultimately couldn¡¯t withstand the invasiveness of the sword aura. His body was already on the brink of death.


    Sword Pill was covered in cracks and could shatter at any moment.


    Can I try it again later? Zhou Wen thought to himself. He would pull out the vine sword again later and experience it again.


    Crack!


    Sword Pill finally couldn¡¯t withstand the pressure and exploded.


    As Sword Pill was about to completely transform into sword intent, Zhou Wen immediately saw a large amount of smoke spread out from his body like fireworks.


    At the instant he died, Zhou Wen suddenly had an inexplicable realization.

 Chapter 1560 - Beginningless Sword Domain

    Translator: CKtalon


    Due to Sword Pill¡¯s explosion, there was too much matter that was in a state of superposition of intangibility and corporeality. It magnified the sensations Zhou Wen experienced by a thousand times, causing his body and mind to be affected.


    Zhou Wen clearly sensed the existence of the smoke. No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that it was smoke, but a type of particle. A particle that Zhou Wen had never seen before. The characteristics of this particle were very strange. It had two sides like Yin and Yang. When it switched to Yang, it would exhibit the characteristics of a corporeal object. And when it switched to Yin, it would exhibit the characteristics of an intangible object.


    Zhou Wen could only previously sense its Yang aspects, but not the Yin aspect. He finally sensed the Yin aspect due to the intense effects of Sword Pill¡¯s explosion.


    Instantly, every sensation Zhou Wen experienced seemed somewhat different. The smoke that he believed had vanished hadn¡¯t really vanished. It had only switched to Yin. The particles still existed; Zhou Wen just couldn¡¯t see them.


    If I treat these particles as sword pills, then¡­ With a thought, all the particles that separated from Zhou Wen¡¯s body instantly switched from Yin to Yang and appeared again, filling the holes in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. The particles were like countless Sword Pills that welcomed the invading sword aura as he wished.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this was considered finding success through failure. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Sword Pill. Even his body had undergone changes.


    Under the effects of the countless Sword Pill particles that were in a superposition of corporeality and intangibility, Zhou Wen¡¯s body seemed to change, heading in this direction. The particles that formed his body seemed to be transforming into a superposition of particles.


    The infinite Sword Pill particles constantly resisted the sword aura, but the sword aura was just too powerful. The Sword Pill particles were constantly destroyed.


    However, Zhou Wen realized that the Sword Pill particles hadn¡¯t really been destroyed. They only appeared to be destroyed. In fact, they had only switched to Yin. With a thought from Zhou Wen, the Sword Pill particles would switch again, turning into a corporeal sword aura.


    Therefore, even if the Sword Pill particles weren¡¯t the sword aura¡¯s match, they still managed to stall for time. It gave Zhou Wen a chance at survival.


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s body completely transformed into the Sword Pill particles that were in a superposition, a strange sword intent rose from his body. Zhou Wen¡¯s body vanished instantly.


    Only the ancient sword that had penetrated his body as well as the sword aura remained in place. Zhou Wen¡¯s body appeared elsewhere as sword intent surged from his body.


    Buzz!


    The swords that had been affected by the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords fell to the ground one by one, producing a humming sound as though they were worshiping Zhou Wen.


    Only a few Calamity-grade ancient swords remained flying.


    As for the other swords, the influence of the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords prevented them from getting up again.


    Only the ancient sword that fought Zhou Wen remained levitated, but it didn¡¯t attack again. It only faced Zhou Wen as though it was hesitating.


    Zhou Wen waved his hand at the distant Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. It seemed extremely unwilling, but under the pressure of the sword intent, it had no choice but to return to Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had held the unsheathed Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. He already understood why he couldn¡¯t unsheathe it.


    If the Son of Heaven fought, corpses would be strewn for miles. There was no need for him to draw his sword. If there came a day when the Son of Heaven drew his sword, the only use was probably for him to commit suicide.


    This didn¡¯t mean that the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords could only be used for suicide. Its effects weren¡¯t in combat but on the psyche.


    Therefore, despite the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords being only at the Terror grade, it could affect the powerful ancient sword. This didn¡¯t mean that it was stronger than the ancient sword, but because it was the sword of the Son of Heaven.


    The Son of Heaven didn¡¯t necessarily have very powerful martial strength, but he could commandeer generals with invincible combat strength.


    When Zhou Wen held the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords, sword intent emitted from it. The extremely terrifying sword intent on his body instantly elevated.


    The Calamity-grade ancient swords that could still fly also landed on the ground one by one. Although they weren¡¯t trembling, they no longer showed their original arrogance.


    Only the ancient sword that fought Zhou Wen remained floating.


    Zhou Wen faced it with his sword as he walked towards it step by step. The ancient sword suddenly emitted a sword hum as it transformed into a sword beam that flew away and returned to the grave.


    With the sword hum emitted by the ancient sword, the other ancient swords flew away and returned to their respective graves.


    Even the Son of Heaven has things he can¡¯t obtain. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he looked at the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords in his hand and sheathed it.


    He tried pulling it out again. This time, it was very easy to pull it out. It wasn¡¯t like before.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you disallow me to unsheathe you? Ain¡¯t I unsheathing you now? Ha!¡± Zhou Wen sheathed and unsheathed it repeatedly to vent his former frustrations of not being able to unsheathe the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords.


    Every time Zhou Wen unsheathed the Son of Heaven¡¯s Sword, the swords in the Ancient Sword Tomb would hum. After sheathing it, the sword hum would stop as though they were remote-controlled.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to kill the swords. He looked at the blood-colored avatar¡¯s information, and indeed, the Qi Refinement Art had a Calamity Zone.


    Calamity Zone: Beginningless Sword Domain (Human Realm)


    This works. Although this was somewhat different from what Zhou Wen had imagined, it wasn¡¯t a bad choice.


    As the saying went, man proposes, God disposes. There weren¡¯t many things in life that completely followed a predetermined trajectory. Perhaps the Beginningless Sword Domain wasn¡¯t what Zhou Wen wanted, but it wasn¡¯t something he didn¡¯t want. This was already a very good outcome.


    Show me how strong this Beginningless Sword Domain is. Zhou Wen activated the Sword Domain as the ancient swords within the Sword Domain flew out of their graves.


    Countless threads of sword aura appeared out of thin air, destroying the swords in the vicinity. One of the Calamity-grade ancient swords emitted a terrifying sword beam, hoping to fight the sword aura.


    Under the impact of the infinite sword aura that resembled a galaxy, the sword shattered and a Companion Egg dropped.


    For a moment, there was no complete sword in the Sword Domain. There were only dimensional crystals shimmering on the ground.


    Even the Calamity-grade ancient sword seemed to lose the courage to resist when Zhou Wen unsheathed the Son of Heaven¡¯s Three Swords. It could only allow Zhou Wen to attack without daring to retaliate.


    Only the ancient sword that had fought Zhou Wen remained unmoved.

 Chapter 1561 - Heaven Defying Slaying

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to provoke it either. Although the Qi Refinement Art had advanced to the Calamity grade, it was still no match for the ancient sword in terms of combat strength.


    He picked up the Companion Eggs that had dropped from the Calamity-grade ancient swords and absorbed the other useful Companion Eggs and dimensional crystals.


    Now that he had the Beginningless Sword Domain, other than the ancient sword, the other ancient swords were free for slaughter. It felt great farming them.


    After farming the entire Ancient Sword Tomb once, four Mythical and one Terror-grade Companion Eggs dropped. Together with the Calamity-grade Companion Egg, Zhou Wen was very satisfied with his harvest.


    Red Night: Calamity-grade.


    Life Providence: Sword of the Emperor


    Life Soul: Red Dragon


    Wheel of Destiny: Meridian Slaying


    Terror Form: Red Night


    Calamity Zone: Heaven-defying Slaying (Human Realm)


    ¡­


    The stats of Red Night weren¡¯t very high. Among Zhou Wen¡¯s few Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, it was considered the weakest. It couldn¡¯t evolve, nor did it have an S-grade Terror transformation. Its skills were very ordinary, and its combat strength wasn¡¯t very good.


    However, its Calamity Zone was rather interesting when Zhou Wen gave it a try. This Heaven-defying Slaying Zone sounded like an offensive domain, but it wasn¡¯t.


    It was a very strange domain. If Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the data of characters, it would have been difficult for him to sense the effects of this domain.


    The Heaven-defying Slaying Zone was actually a domain that controlled the light shone from providence. It could eliminate the negative and boost the positive.


    Usually, the effect of this domain was to increase the light one received from providence depending on the situation. For example, the drop rate would be higher. It wasn¡¯t of much use.


    If someone used powers related to providence to secretly deal with Zhou Wen, the sword would show its usefulness.


    However, Zhou Wen had Dao Sutra and Truth Listener. Even without this sword, the techniques involving the light from providence weren¡¯t of much use to him. However, with this sword, Zhou Wen could not only defend against it, but he could also counterattack.


    The sword¡¯s good, but unfortunately, its combat strength is a little weak. Its various attributes are slightly higher than the Calamity grade standard. It¡¯s considered the weakest Calamity-grade creature. Zhou Wen looked at the Red Night and had some other thoughts.


    The most useful thing about this sword is its Calamity Zone. The other abilities are very ordinary. If I fuse it with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, wouldn¡¯t I be able to push the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to the Calamity grade? It¡¯s best if it can inherit the Heaven-defying Slaying Calamity Zone. If it can¡¯t, having a new Calamity Zone can¡¯t be a loss, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, when he thought of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s Jinxes Master skill, Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant.


    A Calamity-grade Jinxes Master was no joking matter.


    However, on the other hand, the temptation of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General advancing to the Calamity grade was too great for Zhou Wen. It was practically born for the Big Dipper dungeon. In a high-temperature area like a star, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was an invincible existence.


    It could already withstand Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s blast of light at the Terror grade. If it advanced to the Calamity grade, Zhou Wen might be able to clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon with just this Companion Beast.


    Of course, the green-armored Starlord on Phecda was an exception. He had a very strange ability, and a special ability was probably needed to deal with him. He wasn¡¯t likely to be killed simply with powerful offensive strength.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen placed Red Night and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General in the fusion column. Seeing that the compatibility was only 2%, he steeled his heart and clicked on ¡®Fusion.¡¯


    With a flash of light, Red Night which was in the supplementary material column vanished. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General underwent a new change.


    The change this time wasn¡¯t significant. His appearance didn¡¯t seem to have changed much, but the purple flames inside his armor flickered erratically. It seemed to have changed, but it wasn¡¯t too obvious.


    Could it be that he hasn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade? Zhou Wen hurriedly looked at the information on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Tiger Soul Runes


    Wheel of Destiny: Ferocious and Evil


    Terror Form: Devil Knight (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Heaven-defying Slaying (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Tempered Steel Cauldron, Rampage, Magic Stone Curse, One with Horse, Penetrating Pierce, Evil Penetration, Badlands, Jinxes Master, Crazy Sweep, Life Slaying.


    Companion Form: None


    Seeing that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had really advanced to the Calamity grade, Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. This was a fusion at the cost of a Calamity-grade Companion Egg. If he hadn¡¯t advanced, it would have been a huge loss.


    Thankfully, the outcome wasn¡¯t too bad. The Calamity Zone was inherited, and there was an additional Life Slaying skill. This skill seemed to be a skill that was compatible with the domain. It could only be used when the Heaven-defying Slaying Zone was activated.


    ¡°Tiger Soul General, o¡¯ Tiger Soul General. It wasn¡¯t easy for me to raise you up. You should give me something in return, right?¡± Zhou Wen left the Ancient Sword Tomb and dripped his blood to refresh the dungeon. He planned on grinding the Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon a few more times. Perhaps he could farm another Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    However, after Zhou Wen entered the dungeon, he realized that the vine sword was gone. The swords above the Mythical stage were also gone. Only the powerful ancient sword remained.


    I reckon it will take 24 hours to respawn like other Mythical creatures. Zhou Wen had no choice but to leave the Ancient Sword Tomb dungeon.


    I wonder how Guide City is doing. With Li Xuan and company around, there shouldn¡¯t be any major problems, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat vexed. Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t woken up, and he didn¡¯t know how long she would be sleeping.


    It was impossible for Zhou Wen to keep waiting. He was now prepared to think of a way to return through the Cube.


    Now, there was another problem that Zhou Wen found troublesome. Demonic Neonate was Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast and was one with him, but she couldn¡¯t return to Zhou Wen. If he took her into the Cube, he didn¡¯t know if she would be considered a person.


    If she counted as one, he only needed to bring Liz and Leem along to enter the Cube. If she didn¡¯t count, he would have to find another person.


    Regardless of whether he wanted to find someone else, Zhou Wen had to ensure their safety.


    Previously, when Jiuyang and company entered the Cube, there were definitely four people in the beginning. However, the other three were probably just tools.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the three of them definitely weren¡¯t of a high level and were there just to make up the numbers. After entering, they couldn¡¯t withstand the high temperature and had no chance of appearing on the Cube¡¯s screen before turning to ashes.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t that ruthless, so he definitely couldn¡¯t do such a thing.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s safety wasn¡¯t difficult to resolve. He could protect her within the Chaos Egg.


    The main problem was Liz, Leem, and company. The Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t accommodate them.


    I guess this is the only way. Zhou Wen thought for a moment before calling Liz and Leem over.


    ¡°Do you know how to use Companion Beasts?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liz and Leem.


    ¡°Master, what¡¯s a Companion Beast?¡± The two sisters were taken aback as they asked in puzzlement.

 Chapter 1562 - Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen

    That¡¯s right. In such a place, they don¡¯t have the ability to hunt dimensional creatures. How can they have Companion Beasts? It¡¯s only normal to be unaware of them, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°Companion Beasts are pets that help you in combat. Furthermore, these pets are loyal. Even if you get them to carry out a mission that they know they will die, they won¡¯t hesitate to carry it out,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Master, we are willing to sacrifice everything for you. If you want us to die, we will not hesitate¡­ If we do anything wrong, please punish us.¡± The two girls clearly misunderstood Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions and immediately knelt down.


    ¡°Get up.¡± Zhou Wen knew that there was no way to explain it to them as he gave the order.


    The two girls¡¯ eyes were still brimming with tears as though the tears would fall at any moment. However, they still obeyed Zhou Wen¡¯s orders and stood up.


    ¡°I want to bestow each of you a Companion Beast. Take in the feelings of having a Companion Beast.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art could transfer Companion Beasts to other humans.


    However, Liz and Leem weren¡¯t humans from Earth. He didn¡¯t know if they could use Companion Beasts, so an experiment was needed.


    He transferred two Heavy-Armored Warriors to Liz and Leem, making them feel a little nervous and amazed. They were even somewhat alarmed. From their expressions, Zhou Wen knew that he had succeeded. Like ordinary humans, they had the ability to use Companion Beasts.


    ¡°Master, is this a Companion Beast? It¡¯s really magical. Thank you for the reward. I will definitely be like a Companion Beast, working hard for you until my death.¡± Liz took in the sensations awarded by the Companion Beast and looked at Zhou Wen with admiration.


    ¡°Master, me too.¡± Leem was very excited. She had already summoned the Heavy-Armored Warrior and was curiously sizing him up.


    Things will be simple since they can use Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen only needed to give them Companion Beasts that could withstand high temperatures and make them persist until they entered the dungeon. Then, as long as they didn¡¯t die, Zhou Wen could send them into the chaos space and clear the dungeon alone.


    The main problem was that there was no way to store them in the chaos space before he entered the Cube¡¯s dungeon. They had to withstand the high temperature for a brief period after being teleported in.


    Of course, ordinary armor couldn¡¯t withstand such high temperatures, but this wasn¡¯t too much of a problem for Zhou Wen.


    Let me see. What should I fuse to form highly fire-resistant armor? Zhou Wen began studying the Companion Beasts he had, especially the ones in the fire-elemental instance dungeons.


    There were many fire-elemental Companion Beasts in the Metalwork Temple. A single fire-elemental Companion Beast definitely couldn¡¯t withstand such high temperatures, but Zhou Wen had Fusion.


    As long as he turned a Companion Beast¡¯s Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny into some form of fire-elemental resistance, they would be able to use some fire-elemental resistance skills to withstand the high temperature.


    Of course, Zhou Wen still needed to experiment after completion. If it didn¡¯t work, he could think of a way to fuse the armor until they reached the Terror grade. That would solve all problems.


    Firstly, Zhou Wen planned on using the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior as a foundation. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had fused with it, making it an important part of him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect the newly fused Companion Beasts to be as strong as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. All he needed was enough fire-elemental resistance.


    He chose some fire-elemental Companion Beasts that had higher compatibility with Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior before attempting to fuse them.


    There were many Companion Beasts with fire-elemental abilities. Furthermore, they could replicate the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s pathway and obtain some useful skills.


    After a few attempts, Zhou Wen realized that it was impossible to replicate the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s pathway. As the compatibility was too low, it was impossible to succeed without Jinxes Master.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to choose a new fusion pathway again. He fused the Steel Cauldron Sprite, Fire Furnace Queen, Fire Giant, and other Companion Beasts with the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior.


    The outcome wasn¡¯t optimal. The initial compatibility wasn¡¯t bad and the success rate was rather high. Even if there were occasional failures, he could start all over again. After all, Zhou Wen had quite a number of such Companion Beasts.


    However, the most critical step was the fusion with Fire Furnace Queen.


    Fire Furnace Queen had a Fire Elemental Body Life Providence, Fire Crown Life Soul, and Fire Elemental Affinity skills. These skills were very suitable for Fire Resistance armor.


    However, Fire Furnace Queen¡¯s compatibility with the Runic Heavy-Armored Warrior was only a pitiful 12%. The fusions met with repeated failures.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had farmed plenty of Companion Beasts. He would keep trying after each failure. There was bound to be an instance when he would succeed.


    It was great to be rich. After dozens of fusions, he managed to obtain four. However, among the four, only two had their Life Providences and Life Souls inherited from Fire Furnace Queen. Furthermore, only one of the two had an armor companion form.


    Zhou Wen could only continue fusing. It was only because Zhou Wen had many Companion Beasts that he had kept over the years. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand such losses.


    After almost 80 fusions, a total of three met Zhou Wen¡¯s minimum requirements¡ªarmor form, a Fire Elemental Body Life Providence, and a Fire Crown Life Soul. Two of them had Fire Elemental Affinity.


    With these three foundations, Zhou Wen began choosing highly compatible fire-elemental Companion Beasts to continue the fusion. For the advancement to the Mythical stage, Zhou Wen chose Fire Giant.


    This Mythical fire-elemental Companion Beast had Flaming Rebirth as its Wheel of Destiny.


    However, Fire Giant¡¯s Flaming Rebirth was different from a phoenix¡¯s Nirvana. A phoenix¡¯s Nirvana was a form of true rebirth, but Flaming Rebirth was having its thick skin reborn amidst the flames. It had a powerful fire affinity. Although it wasn¡¯t a true rebirth, it was very useful for flaming armor.


    With a compatibility score of 74, he failed once when he fused the three with the Fire Giant. The one that failed was the one with Fire Elemental Affinity. It made Zhou Wen¡¯s heart ache.


    Thankfully, there were two more. It was still acceptable if one failed.


    Following that, Zhou Wen became even more cautious. When he chose skills to fuse, he didn¡¯t dare fuse those below 90% compatibility. He even chose those above 95%.


    After more than a day, Zhou Wen finally succeeded in fusing two armor Companion Beasts with extremely high fire-elemental resistance.


    Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen: Mythical


    Life Providence: Fire Elemental Body


    Life Soul: Flaming Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Flaming Rebirth


    Strength: 67


    Speed: 72


    Constitution: 61


    Essence Energy: 80


    Talent Skill: Fire Elemental Affinity, Divine Runes, Flaming Armor, Fire Shield, Fire Furnace.


    Companion Form: Armor


    The other¡¯s attributes and skills were similar, but it lacked Fire Elemental Affinity.


    Let¡¯s see if this armor can withstand Dubhe¡¯s high temperature. If it can¡¯t, I¡¯ll have to think of a way to fuse it with Terror-grade creatures, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he summoned the Fire-Runic Queen in her armor form..

 Chapter 1563 - Fire-Elemental Defense Armor

    Translator: CKtalon


    Red flames immediately enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body as the black armor clung tightly to his skin, perfectly outlining his muscular body.


    On the black armor, there were some red crystal-like lines embedded, forming a crystalline pattern. The flames enveloped the armor, making Zhou Wen look like a flaming dark rider from the abyss.


    It looks pretty good, but I wonder how useful it is. I hope that this one without Fire Elemental Affinity can withstand it. Zhou Wen launched the dungeon and entered Dubhe with the Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen.


    The high temperature of Dubhe was enough to burn ordinary Mythical creatures to ashes. It was indeed difficult for Mythical armor to protect two Epic humans.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have high requirements. As long as the Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen could last for two to three seconds, it would be enough to prevent Liz and Leem from being killed by the high temperature.


    At the instant he entered Dubhe, Zhou Wen, who was wearing the Fire-Runic Queen armor, felt the temperature instantly rise. However, the Fire-Runic Queen armor didn¡¯t immediately melt. Instead, the flaming patterns on his body lit up as the flames on the armor¡¯s exterior burned crazily.


    The black parts of the armor were like red-hot metal pieces that suffused a slight red glow. However, not only did the temperature inside the armor not continue to rise, but it also slowly decreased.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. The effects of the Fire-Ruinc Divine Armor Queen were much better than expected. It lived up as a fire-elemental resistant armor. Such an effect was probably comparable to a fire-elemental Terror-grade armor.


    This wasn¡¯t exactly surprising. Typical fire-elemental armor only had one or two fire-elemental defensive skills. It was almost impossible to find one which had every attribute being fire-elemental.


    Although the temperature inside is still a little high, it should still be within the limits of an Epic stage human, right? Zhou Wen felt that he could return to Earth this time.


    However, before that, Zhou Wen had to confirm if Demonic Neonate was considered a human. If she wasn¡¯t, Zhou Wen needed to find another human and fuse another Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen.


    He took Demonic Neonate to the Cube and stabbed Demonic Neonate¡¯s finger with a needle, dripping a drop of blood. The blood dripped onto the Cube and was immediately absorbed by it. The Cube lit up as the number ¡®3¡¯ appeared. Clearly, it required the blood of three creatures to truly activate it.


    Since Demonic Neonate is considered a person, that¡¯s simple. I can return to Earth now. After Zhou Wen returned to the cemetery, he summoned Liz and Leem over.


    ¡°If I were to go somewhere very, very far away, perhaps never to return, are you willing to follow me?¡± Zhou Wen asked the two girls.


    Although Zhou Wen could have taken them away without saying a word, he didn¡¯t wish to do so.


    After all, this was their home. The chances of them returning in the future were slim. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to force them if they were unwilling to leave. In fact, there was no need to force them. With Regretless City¡¯s present situation, as long as Zhou Wen threw out some bait, many people would definitely be willing to return to Earth with him.


    Leaving this place could even be considered an opportunity for Liz and Leem.


    Of course, Zhou Wen still hoped that Liz and Leem would return with him. This was because their Life Providences and Life Souls were somewhat special. They would be of help to Zhou Wen when he built the city in the future.


    Liz¡¯s Life Providence was Goddess of Blessing, while her Life Soul was Blessing Halo. As for Leem¡¯s Life Providence, it was Goddess of Curses, and her Life Soul was Curse Halo. One would receive a huge boost when the former used a blessing-type skill, while the other¡¯s curse would attain terrifying levels.


    The two of them were practically born for large-scale battles. One could bless their allies while the other could curse their enemies. They were a perfect match.


    The premise was that they were willing to follow Zhou Wen. If they were tricked to join him, they might fall out with Zhou Wen after seeing what kind of world was out there on Earth. It wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    ¡°Master, our lives are yours. You can take us anywhere.¡± To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Liz and Leem answered firmly without any hesitation.


    ¡°Go back and prepare. Say farewell to your family and friends before leaving with me. If you haven¡¯t thought it through, you don¡¯t have to return. I won¡¯t blame you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liz and Leem exchanged looks as Leem said, ¡°Master, please wait. We¡¯ll be right back.¡±


    ¡°Regardless of whether you return or not, tell your City Lord to come over,¡± Zhou Wen added.


    After the two girls agreed, they left the cemetery. Zhou Wen turned to look at the two graves. After some hesitation, he decided not to touch the puppets below.


    ¡°Have you really decided to return using the Cube?¡± Grim Demon still hoped to wait for Demonic Neonate to wake up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already decided. Come back,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Grim Demon knew that it was impossible for him to convince Zhou Wen, so he obediently returned to the Demonic Sword.


    Zhou Wen placed the sheathed Demonic Sword in Demonic Neonate¡¯s arms and waited for the City Lord to arrive. Furthermore, he also wanted to know if Liz and Leem would return.


    Liz and Leem came to the cemetery with the City Lord. The City Lord knelt on the ground and said with tears in his eyes, ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, are you returning to Lost Paradise? Did we do something wrong? If so, please punish me. Don¡¯t abandon us, your citizens!¡±


    ¡°You did nothing wrong. It¡¯s just that it¡¯s time for me to return,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°I see. Then please take Liz and Leem with you and let them serve you in our stead¡­¡± the City Lord immediately said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll take them along.¡± Zhou Wen agreed, having never planned on rejecting the offer.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wouldn¡¯t be nice if he didn¡¯t leave anything behind after taking away two extremely talented people.


    Furthermore, the humans here had a very difficult time surviving. They didn¡¯t even stand a chance.


    ¡°You should already know what a Companion Beast is, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked the City Lord.


    ¡°What Companion Beast?¡± The City Lord was taken aback.


    Zhou Wen could tell that his expression wasn¡¯t faked as he looked at Liz and Leem in surprise. He was somewhat puzzled as to why they hadn¡¯t told the City Lord about Companion Beasts.


    ¡°Without your permission, we won¡¯t leak anything regarding you,¡± Liz and Leem said seriously.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Zhou Wen was very satisfied with their performance, so he got them to explain what Companion Beasts were.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bestow you a Companion Beast, giving you the ability to fight ordinary dimensional creatures,¡± Zhou Wen said after the City Lord got a better understanding.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, can you bestow a Companion Beast to my clansmen?¡± To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, the City Lord said such words.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked the City Lord.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m already old and don¡¯t have much time to live. Your Excellency, you are giving us hope. I hope to leave it to the most promising youth in Regretless City. That will be our future,¡± said the City Lord.


    ¡°Alright, summon him over.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly. This City Lord was indeed not bad.. At the very least, he wasn¡¯t a selfish person.

 Chapter 1564 - Collision

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± Zhou Wen asked the kneeling youth.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency, my name is Cain.¡± The youth looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation. There was no fear in his eyes, only adoration.


    ¡°Cain?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the youth in front of him in a daze. He had delicate features. Although he was still a youth, he was extremely handsome. His facial features were well-defined, and one could tell that he would grow up to be a very handsome man in the future.


    ¡°Yes, Your Devilish Excellency. My name is Cain,¡± the youth repeated.


    It¡¯s probably just a coincidence, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the name Cain. In the bible, there were also people who said that he was the ancestor of evil. Others said he was the ancestor of vampires.


    However, Cain was unlikely to be the son of Adam and Eve. This youth¡¯s seniority was clearly much lower. It was impossible for him to be the son of Adam and Eve.


    Furthermore, if he was really Cain, he was likely an evil person. The City Lord wouldn¡¯t treat him as the hope of Regretless City, much less offer him the Companion Beast.


    ¡°Cain, I¡¯ll bestow you a Companion Beast. I hope you can use it to protect your home, family, and friends. Don¡¯t disappoint the City Lord¡¯s expectations of you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Yes, Your Devilish Excellency. I¡¯ll abide by your teachings.¡± The youth looked at Zhou Wen with admiration as he listened attentively.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to give the Golden Battle God to the City Lord. The Terror-grade Golden Battle God was also a long-range offensive Companion Beast. In the future, he would have a chance of hunting some Mythical dimensional creatures. Slowly, he might have a chance of improving the lives of the humans in Regretless City.


    However, when he saw the youth and heard his name, Zhou Wen suddenly had an idea. He called Grim Demon out again.


    ¡°What do you want? Getting me to return one moment and wanting me to be out the next,¡± Grim Demon shouted unhappily.


    ¡°Give me a Terror-grade Ancient Snake Companion Egg.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand in front of Grim Demon.


    ¡°How could I have that?¡± Grim Demon shook his head.


    Zhou Wen stared at Grim Demon and didn¡¯t say another word. Grim Demon forced a smile and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t! Don¡¯t look at me like that. I really don¡¯t have one. If you don¡¯t believe me, search¡­¡±


    Finally, Grim Demon took out a Terror-grade Ancient Snake Companion Egg as though it was a magic trick and placed it in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m downright unlucky to have encountered you.¡± Grim Demon grumbled as he returned to the Demonic Sword, ignoring Zhou Wen¡¯s subsequent calls.


    Zhou Wen hatched the Ancient Snake Companion Egg and glanced at the kneeling youth before transferring it to him.


    With his Epic strength, it was impossible for him to incubate a Terror-grade Companion Beast. This was the only way for him to possess a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency!¡± The youth took in the information transmitted to him by the Ancient Snake Companion Beast. He was immediately pleasantly surprised as he looked at Zhou Wen with even more admiration.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen turned to Liz and Leem and transferred the two Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queens to them.


    ¡°Master!¡± Liz and Leem were pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°Put them on and leave with me. You need their strength,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Liz and Leem summoned their Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queens. Armor burning with flames enveloped their bodies. Amidst the flickering flames, their petite bodies were accentuated by the armor, making them look like succubi from hell.


    The City Lord and the youth looked at the two sisters in a daze as though they didn¡¯t know them.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen carried Demonic Neonate and led the two sisters to the Cube.


    Zhou Wen and company walked into the Cube. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, they dripped their blood and activated the Cube. They vanished, having instantly been teleported away by the Cube.


    The people of Regretless City knelt in front of the Cube and worshiped it. Some even cried as they called out to the Devil King.


    When he arrived at Dubhe Palace, Zhou Wen immediately looked at Liz and Leem. Seeing their armor burning with raging flames, he stored them in the chaos space straight away.


    Only he stood in front of Dubhe Palace and looked at its door. The Chaos Egg around him had already appeared.


    The Cubes all over the world lit up at the same time.


    Everyone¡¯s eyes were immediately attracted by this commotion. The various factions had been paying attention to the Cube¡¯s situation. When they saw the Cube light up, people immediately began filming.


    However, when they saw the scene on the Cube, they couldn¡¯t help but be stunned.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Xia Liuchuan, who was a guest at the Zhang family residence, said with a strange expression when he saw the projection on the Cube.


    Zhang Chunqiu, who was accompanying Xia Liuchuan, had a strange expression.


    It wasn¡¯t just them. Everyone in the Federation was surprised and puzzled.


    On the Cube¡¯s screen stood a person and an egg the height of a person floating in the air.


    Everyone knew that person. He was Saint Jiuyang, who had previously cleared Dubhe Palace and obtained first place.


    However, many people didn¡¯t know what the egg was.


    Ordinary people might not know, but Zhang Chunqiu, Xia Liuchuan, and others who were more familiar with Zhou Wen recognized that the egg was Zhou Wen¡¯s ability. Zhou Wen was undoubtedly inside.


    ¡°When did Zhou Wen mix with the Holy Land?¡± Xia Liuchuan said in puzzlement.


    ¡°He wouldn¡¯t.¡± Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and said, ¡°I reckon it¡¯s a coincidence. He entered the Cube dungeon at the same time as Jiuyang.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this too much of a coincidence? Furthermore, will this work?¡± Xia Liuchuan wasn¡¯t sure either.


    It wasn¡¯t just Xia Liuchuan who didn¡¯t believe it. Zhou Wen also found it unbelievable. Just as he put the sisters in and summoned the Chaos Egg, he saw a figure appear not far away.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it said that only four people can enter this Cube dimensional zone at a time? Why can others enter?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Jiuyang in puzzlement.


    Jiuyang looked at Zhou Wen in equal puzzlement.


    The three people who had entered with him had already turned to dust. It was impossible for anyone to be here. Furthermore, he had never seen the egg in front of him.


    ¡°Strange, why are there other creatures here?¡± Jiuyang frowned as he stared at the Chaos Egg.


    Just as everyone was feeling puzzled, the Cube suddenly flashed. A line of words appeared: ¡°Two groups of creatures activated the Cube at the same time. PVP mode activated.¡±


    Zhou Wen and Jiuyang also saw the glowing words floating in the air. Although there was no deeper explanation, they could roughly guess that the two groups could fight in the dimensional zone. They might even have to kill each other.


    ¡°Chunqiu, this isn¡¯t good. Zhou Wen was actually so unlucky to encounter Jiuyang. A place like Dubhe Palace is basically Jiuyang¡¯s home ground. He has already cleared it once, and now he¡¯s here again. It¡¯s highly likely that he has the confidence to kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf and snatch first place. Zhou Wen is in trouble. I hope he doesn¡¯t realize that it¡¯s Zhou Wen. The Holy Land doesn¡¯t have a good impression of Zhou Wen.. They will definitely want to kill him¡­¡± Xia Liuchuan was secretly worried for Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1565 - Unlucky Egg

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen and Jiuyang stared at each other. Although they didn¡¯t know the rules of the PVP match, they could guess that the two of them were definitely opposing competitors. Finishing off the opponent was definitely not wrong.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t know that the Chaos Egg belonged to Zhou Wen, nor did he know what it was. However, he had a natural advantage in a place like Dubhe Palace. With the Sun God Armor, killing Starlord Ravenous Wolf was a possibility, so he naturally wouldn¡¯t retreat.


    Zhou Wen actually didn¡¯t know Jiuyang because he hadn¡¯t watched him when he cleared the level. In Regretless City, there wasn¡¯t any Internet to read the news, so he didn¡¯t know Jiuyang. All he knew was that there was such a person on the rankings.


    Zhou Wen saw that Jiuyang was a human and didn¡¯t wish to kill him. After all, he had only come this time to return through the teleportation nexus. He had no intention of rushing up the rankings, so he ignored Jiuyang and went straight for Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Jiuyang suddenly shouted at him.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jiuyang.


    ¡°Are you human?¡± Jiuyang was slightly taken aback when he heard Zhou Wen¡¯s voice. He imagined that there would be a high-level dimensional creature inside the Chaos Egg, but his voice sounded human.


    ¡°So what if I am?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s answer immediately excited the Federation citizens.


    Very few humans could enter Dubhe Palace. Now, many people were guessing who the human in the Chaos Egg was and if he was a human with a Guardian.


    Although humans with Guardians were pure humans, they weren¡¯t as welcomed as humans who took Mythical Serums.


    Saints like Jiuyang who came from the Holy Land were even more unpopular.


    People still had some fantasies before they saw who the person inside the Chaos Egg was. They hoped that it was a human who had relied on his own abilities to rush into Dubhe Palace and not a human who had borrowed the power of a Guardian.


    ¡°As a human, I¡¯ll give you a way out. Follow me and don¡¯t do anything,¡± Jiuyang said to Zhou Wen.


    Everyone understood what Jiuyang meant. If Zhou Wen were to vie for the rankings with him, Zhou Wen would die. If he didn¡¯t compete with him and followed his every order, he would still live.


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen and waited for his answer.


    Although many people felt that fighting Jiuyang in a place like Dubhe Palace was no different from courting death, most people still hoped that they could fight. After all, it was human nature to enjoy spectacles.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen agreed immediately.


    He had no intention of competing with Jiuyang for the ranking. It was meaningless because if he didn¡¯t clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon, he wouldn¡¯t be able to obtain the rewards. There was no point in competing.


    Now, all Zhou Wen wanted to do was quickly return to Earth. He didn¡¯t want to invite trouble.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s answer left Jiuyang slightly taken aback. He never expected the other party to immediately cower.


    However, since he had cowered, Jiuyang didn¡¯t have any intention of killing him. He glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I hope you know what you should and shouldn¡¯t do. Otherwise, bear the consequences yourself.¡±


    With that said, Jiuyang walked towards Dubhe Palace¡¯s door.


    ¡°How boring. He gave up just like that. He¡¯s not a man at all.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a wise decision. To fight Jiuyang in a place like Dubhe palace when he has the power of the Sun God is no different from throwing an egg at a rock.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder he wears an egg on the outside. He¡¯s just an unlucky egg. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to attempt the Cube¡¯s rankings. I reckon he only wanted to rush to the teleportation nexus, but he ended up so unlucky. He activated the Cube at the same time as Saint Jiuyang and entered some PVP mode. Thankfully Jiuyang is kind. Otherwise, he can only blame it on his bad luck if he is killed.¡±


    ¡°Haha, Unlucky Egg. How apt.¡±


    Soon, the words ¡°Unlucky Egg¡± spread online. Looking at Zhou Wen, who was floating in the air and entering Dubhe Palace behind Jiuyang, they came to believe that the words ¡°Unlucky Egg¡± suited him.


    ¡°Although it¡¯s a little embarrassing, it¡¯s better than fighting Jiuyang in a place like Dubhe Palace. It won¡¯t be too late to settle scores with Jiuyang after he returns to Earth,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile as he heaved a sigh of relief.


    Zhang Chunqiu looked at the Chaos Egg in puzzlement and muttered to himself, ¡°Strange.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s strange?¡± Xia Liuchuan looked at Zhang Chunqiu and asked.


    ¡°I know Zhou Wen quite well. With his personality, there¡¯s no reason for him not to vie for first place unless he¡¯s not attempting to clear the level. Although Jiuyang is powerful and has a natural advantage in Dubhe Palace, Zhou Wen is probably aiming for first place if he¡¯s there. He has to defeat Jiuyang no matter what. Since he has to defeat Jiuyang, is there a need for him to compromise?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Xia Liuchuan thought for a moment and felt that Zhang Chunqiu was right.


    Back when Zhou Wen fought Xia Jiuhuang in that extremely difficult situation, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t show a hint of cowardice.


    ¡°According to what you said, if he isn¡¯t trying for the rankings, why did he go to Dubhe Palace?¡± Xia Liuchuan said after some thought.


    ¡°You¡¯d have to ask him in person.¡± Zhang Chunqiu had no idea either.


    They couldn¡¯t guess that Zhou Wen was just using it as a waypoint.


    Zhou Wen followed behind Jiuyang. Just as he entered Dubhe Palace, Starlord Ravenous Wolf released a terrifying blast of light that blasted at Jiuyang.


    The Sun God Armor on Jiuyang¡¯s body emitted a divine glow like the sun. When the power of the light blast landed on him, not only did it fail to injure him, but it also made the Sun God Armor even stronger.


    This person¡¯s Guardian is rather interesting. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be curious when he saw how magical the Sun God Armor was. It was much stronger than his Fire-Runic Divine Armor Queen. He sized up Jiuyang and the Sun God Armor from the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen had no idea that the Sun God Armor was created by the Sun God Holy Temple. It was the strongest sun-type Guardian that ordinary Guardians could compare with. Under the Sun God Holy Temple¡¯s full efforts, it was already a Calamity-grade Guardian.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for the Sun God Holy Temple to chance upon Jiuyang, who was most compatible with the Sun God Guardian, before bestowing it upon him.


    Jiuyang¡¯s status in the Sun God Holy Temple was equivalent to Xiao¡¯s status in the Trajectory Holy Temple.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t disappoint the Sun God Holy Temple¡¯s expectations. The last time he cleared Dubhe Palace, the Sun God Guardian was still at the Human Realm. In just a short span of time, it had already reached the Hell level.


    Apart from having the full support of the Sun God Holy Temple, the main reason for that was that Jiuyang¡¯s talent and Life Providence were highly compatible with the Sun God Guardian.


    Jiuyang¡¯s trip here was to kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf. He stood in the blast of light as the Sun God armor on his body shone like a blazing sun. He walked towards Starlord Ravenous Wolf against the terrifying blast of light.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf seemed to sense the pressure as he stood up from his throne.

 Chapter 1566 - Who’s the Unlucky One?

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to leave through the teleportation nexus, but when he saw that Jiuyang had already begun fighting Starlord Ravenous Wolf, he decided to stand in a corner by the door and watch their battle.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf was a martial repository. No matter what technique he used, it appeared perfect and flawless. It could even be considered stunning.


    ¡°I never knew that it could be used this way!¡± Those who could truly understand Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s battle couldn¡¯t help but praise him from time to time.


    Although Zhou Wen had already seen it once, he still found it stunning when he saw it again.


    Jiuyang wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage when fighting Starlord Ravenous Wolf. He wasn¡¯t as stunning as Starlord Ravenous Wolf. His every move was standard; they didn¡¯t provide any surprises.


    It was like the sun rising in the morning every day before setting in the evening. It was never absent, nor did it bring about surprises.


    He was a man that didn¡¯t bring about pleasant surprises or subvert expectations. Yet, his simple techniques were on par with Starlord Ravenous Wolf. No matter how shocking Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s attacks were, it was difficult for him to truly suppress Jiuyang. They were evenly matched.


    What was even more terrifying was that due to the Sun God Armor, the high-temperature radiation that Starlord Ravenous Wolf emitted made the Sun God Armor¡¯s power grow stronger.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf had the upper hand for a short period of time, but over time, Jiuyang would definitely hold the advantage.


    ¡°As expected of a man with Sun God. He¡¯s really powerful.¡±


    ¡°The Four Dinosaur Kings defeated Starlord Ravenous Wolf four against one. Jiuyang alone can fight Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Furthermore, it looks like he has a chance of winning. This is the difference.¡±


    ¡°In comparison, Unlucky Egg is¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear the discussions on the Internet. Even if he could hear it, he wouldn¡¯t take it to heart. He was watching with relish.


    This person should be Saint Jiuyang on the rankings, right? I never expected that such a figure would pop up from the Holy Land in such a short period. Zhou Wen watched carefully from the side.


    Most of the Saints who came from the Holy Land were enemies. If he could learn more about them now, it would be knowing himself and his enemy before they really fought in the future.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen felt a heartfelt admiration for Jiuyang.


    Zhou Wen had seen many Guardians. The humans who had contracted Guardians were basically focused on developing the abilities of Guardians. They studied how to maximize the strength of the Guardians.


    Of course, Jiuyang did the same. However, other than that, he didn¡¯t give up on his cultivation.


    His strength came from a Guardian, but his technique and concepts had also reached an extremely high level. Even without the Guardian¡¯s power to support him, his technique and concept remained top-notch.


    Where did the Holy Land find these people? Figures like Xiao and Jiuyang are all talented among us humans. What a pity¡­ Zhou Wen felt a little regretful.


    Unfortunately, these people were Saints from the Holy Land. They were different from Jiang Yan and the other Guardians. Jiang Yan and the others had only contracted Guardians. As long as the Guardians were on their side, they could completely control their fates and not be controlled by the dimension.


    The Saints of the Holy Land weren¡¯t that simple. Even if their Guardians were willing to follow them, it would probably be difficult for them to betray the Holy Land.


    In any case, Zhou Wen had never heard of the Holy Land having any traitors.


    Previously, An Tianzuo had captured a few Saints, but he had failed to dig out anything. Even if there were Saints who were willing to join him, they were later proven to be spies.


    The Holy Land¡¯s control over Saints definitely exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen knew that with the Guardian¡¯s strength, Jiuyang would likely win in the end.


    There was no point in continuing watching. Zhou Wen floated towards the teleportation nexus, planning on leaving Dubhe Palace and returning to Earth.


    Just as he floated forward a few meters, before Zhou Wen could approach the teleportation nexus, he suddenly saw a light flash from the throne. Another Starlord Ravenous Wolf had appeared.


    After the second Starlord Ravenous Wolf appeared, he immediately charged down without a word.


    As Zhou Wen was relatively far from the newly-appeared Starlord Ravenous Wolf, the newly-appeared Starlord Ravenous Wolf pounced at Jiuyang, who was relatively close to him.


    Jiuyang, who had already gained a slight advantage in a one-on-one battle, was immediately thrown into danger when he was besieged by two Starlord Ravenous Wolves.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are there two Starlord Ravenous Wolves? Previously, the Four Dinosaur Kings attacked Starlord Ravenous Wolf together, but there wasn¡¯t a second Starlord Ravenous Wolf!¡±


    ¡°How can that be the same? The Four Dinosaur Kings are a team, and Unlucky Egg and Jiuyang are actually two different teams. It¡¯s normal for two Starlord Ravenous Wolves to appear.¡±


    ¡°Jiuyang is being besieged by two Starlord Ravenous Wolves. It looks like he won¡¯t be able to last much longer.¡±


    ¡°Why are the two Starlord Ravenous Wolves attacking Jiuyang and not that Unlucky Egg?¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He never expected such a development.


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen who hadn¡¯t expected it. Jiuyang was caught by surprise. Although the Sun God Armor could restrain Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s high-temperature radiation blast, Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s other strengths were no trifling matter.


    Furthermore, Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s combat prowess was indomitable. Jiuyang could handle a one-on-one battle, but against two, he immediately fell into a perilous situation. Even if he wanted to rush towards the teleportation nexus, there was no chance.


    The second Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s combat strength wasn¡¯t weaker than the first. The two Starlords worked together flawlessly as they constantly suppressed Jiuyang.


    Bang!


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf punched Jiuyang¡¯s shoulder. Streams of light over the Sun God Armor shattered as Jiuyang was thrown a few steps back.


    Thankfully, Jiuyang¡¯s foundation was sufficiently powerful. The Sun God Armor was indeed powerful. This punch only slightly injured Jiuyang without leaving serious injuries.


    Jiuyang stabilized his body and dodged the pursuit of another Starlord Ravenous Wolf. He threw out both fists and exchanged countless punches with the first Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Light blasts and shockwaves erupted continuously, causing the entire hall to rumble as though it was about to collapse.


    The two Starlord Ravenous Wolves were like one. Jiuyang retreated under their barrage of attacks.


    ¡°Haha, Jiuyang is trapped in his own web. He never expected two Starlord Ravenous Wolves to appear in the arena. From the way the Starlord Ravenous Wolf appeared, if he had killed Zhou Wen outside, the second Starlord Ravenous Wolf probably wouldn¡¯t have appeared,¡± Xia Liuchuan said gloatingly.


    Zhang Chunqiu said with a bitter smile, ¡°Jiuyang might not have thought of it, but neither did we. Thankfully, Jiuyang was ahead. Zhou Wen still has a chance of rushing into the teleportation nexus.. Otherwise, he¡¯ll still be doomed when those two Starlord Ravenous Wolves kill Jiuyang.¡±

 Chapter 1567 - Tiger Soul General Appears

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on escaping. He was thinking about which Companion Beast to send.


    He originally didn¡¯t plan on fighting, but the situation made it clear that it was almost impossible for Jiuyang to win. At most, he would severely injure Starlord Ravenous Wolf or kill one in exchange for his life.


    It was a waste not to pick up such a bargain. After all, this was the Calamity-grade Starlord Ravenous Wolf. In-game, Zhou Wen might have to clear all the dungeons in the Big Dipper instance dungeon before he would respawn again. Two of them had now appeared in real life. If a Companion Beast dropped, he would be making a killing.


    Zhou Wen planned on finishing off the two Starlord Ravenous Wolves when Jiuyang was at his wits¡¯ end.


    Which Companion Beast should I send? The Golden Wyrm Scissors makes it too obvious. It¡¯s more suitable to keep it as a trump card. After some thought, Zhou Wen planned on letting the Tiger Soul General who had just advanced to the Calamity grade fight.


    The Tiger Soul General was extremely suitable for the Big Dipper dimensional zone. He definitely needed it to appear in the future. It was only a matter of time.


    Furthermore, the Tiger Soul General¡¯s appearance was very different from before. Even people who had seen it in the past would definitely not recognize it.


    After all, ordinary people didn¡¯t have the ability to fuse Companion Beasts, nor could they imagine that a Companion Beast would undergo such a huge change. They wouldn¡¯t associate it with the same Companion Beast. At most, they would think that it was a Companion Beast of the same type.


    I¡¯ll let the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General get some training then. With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    After all, it needed to gather strength ahead of time. Only then would it be unbeatable. Being at the Human Realm, it would have to waste time gathering strength to kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    After the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General appeared, it was struck by high-temperature radiation and light blasts. The flames within his body immediately burned vigorously as though something was swimming in its armor.


    Zhou Wen got the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to stand beside him while waiting for an opportunity to attack.


    The spectators were greatly surprised when they saw a Companion Beast appear beside Unlucky Egg. They couldn¡¯t help but size it up.


    Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General now looked pretty cool. Its entire appearance was extremely imposing, like a mechanical warrior riding a mechanical tiger. Its body was still burning with terrifying flames. In its hand was an odd-looking spear that seemed high-tech. Its entire appearance was like a high-tech mecha knight from the future world.


    ¡°What Companion Beast is that? It looks very cool.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of looking good? Don¡¯t you see that Unlucky Egg doesn¡¯t dare let it attack?¡±


    ¡°Currently, no Companion Beast owned by humans can fight a Calamity-grade creature, right?¡±


    ¡°Since it can withstand the high-temperature radiation, it should be at the Terror grade.¡±


    ¡°From the flames on his body, I can tell that he¡¯s a fire-elemental Companion Beast. It¡¯s not surprising that he can withstand high-temperature radiation.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, what do you think of the Companion Beast summoned by Unlucky Egg? Can you determine its level?¡± The host, Su Yi, chatted with Professor Gu on the program.


    ¡°Based on his appearance and the abilities he displayed, he should be at the Terror grade at the very least. However, the possibility of him being at the Calamity grade isn¡¯t high,¡± Professor Gu said.


    ¡°Why? Is it because humans do not have Calamity-grade Companion Beasts yet?¡± Su Yi asked in puzzlement.


    Professor Gu smiled and said, ¡°There are already Calamity-grade Companion Beasts among humans. It¡¯s something I¡¯ve seen with my own eyes, but it¡¯s not the time to reveal which Companion Beast. However, I¡¯m certain that it¡¯s not the one on the screen. Furthermore, if Unlucky Egg has a Calamity-grade Companion Beast that can fight Starlord Ravenous Wolf, he wouldn¡¯t have tried heading for the teleportation nexus. Previously, he had already decided to give up and leave. This means that he doesn¡¯t have the confidence to fight. Therefore, I¡¯m guessing that the Companion Beast isn¡¯t at the Calamity grade. It¡¯s most likely at the Terror grade.¡±


    ¡°I see. Since it¡¯s only a Terror-grade Companion Beast and can¡¯t fight Starlord Ravenous Wolf, what¡¯s the point of summoning it now?¡± Su Yi asked again.


    ¡°It¡¯s naturally difficult for a Terror-grade Companion Beast to fight a Calamity-grade creature. However, if Saint Jiuyang and the two Starlord Ravenous Wolves fight to an internecine outcome, he might still stand a chance,¡± Professor Gu said.


    ¡°Are you saying that Unlucky Egg wants to pick up the spoils? Is that possible?¡± Su Yi said in surprise.


    ¡°Although the chances aren¡¯t high, if he succeeds, he might be able to kill two Calamity-grade creatures in one fell swoop. If he¡¯s lucky, he will be elevated to success once a Companion Egg drops. After all, such an opportunity can¡¯t be encountered at any time. Without Saint Jiuyang, there wouldn¡¯t be such a chance. It¡¯s normal for some people to be blinded by huge benefits,¡± Professor Gu said.


    ¡°Then can Unlucky Egg clinch this rare opportunity? Let¡¯s wait and see.¡± Su Yi was also very curious about the outcome.


    The people watching the program were crazily commenting on this matter. Most people believed that Unlucky Egg was taking too much risk. The chances of success were too low, so the best choice was to take the opportunity to teleport away. Otherwise, he might very well die there.


    Bang! Bang!


    Two consecutive attacks landed on Jiuyang, causing the Sun God armor on his body to dim. Cracks crisscrossed the armor.


    Must I use that power? Jiuyang felt a little bitter. He had always been unwilling to use that power because it made him feel like a puppet without any value.


    Therefore, he would rather use his own techniques to fight than use that power.


    But at this point, he no longer had a choice.


    ¡°Do you need help?¡± Jiuyang suddenly heard a voice and couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback.


    Although he had been fighting with all his might, he didn¡¯t give up on monitoring Zhou Wen to prevent him from causing trouble while he was fighting.


    Jiuyang had also seen Zhou Wen summon the Tiger Soul General. Like Professor Gu and most people, he believed that Zhou Wen wanted to take advantage of the situation when he and the Starlord Ravenous Wolves were mutually injured.


    Although Jiuyang knew that he wouldn¡¯t give Zhou Wen such a chance, he never expected Zhou Wen to say such words.


    Jiuyang¡¯s heart stirred as he temporarily gave up on using that power. As he fought bitterly, he asked, ¡°How are you going to help me?¡±


    ¡°Get out of the way,¡± Zhou Wen said as he ordered the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to charge at the Starlord Ravenous Wolves.


    This place was very suitable for the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. During this period of time, the power accumulated by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had reached a level that surprised Zhou Wen.


    The high temperature and energy blasts of Dubhe, as well as Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ blasts of light, gave the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General time to quickly accumulate the energy of the demonic flames in its body.


    Now, the terrifying demonic flames in the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body were like a bomb that could explode at any moment.

 Chapter 1568 - The Might of the Tiger Soul General

    Translator: CKtalon


    Flames burned over the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General as he charged at the Starlord Ravenous Wolves like an unbridled horse.


    Everyone was taken aback. They originally imagined that Unlucky Egg merely wanted to pick up the spoils, but now, it clearly wasn¡¯t time.


    What is he doing? Does he really want to help me by getting the Companion Beast to rush forward at this moment? Jiuyang was somewhat puzzled. He didn¡¯t know what the other party was thinking. He highly doubted that he would really help him.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had already charged forward. As Jiuyang was momentarily at a loss as to what Zhou Wen meant, he failed to immediately work in tandem with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The two Starlord Ravenous Wolves attacked the Tiger Soul General from both sides. Their fists carried terrifying high temperatures and radiation, as well as powerful explosive power.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was attacked from both sides. It looked like it couldn¡¯t deal with the attacks.


    In fact, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General couldn¡¯t be bothered with the attacks. He ignored the Starlord Ravenous Wolf on the left. The spear in his hand carried a violent purple flame as it struck at Starlord Ravenous Wolf on the right.


    This attack risked one¡¯s life. There was no technique to speak of. It depended on who was faster and stronger.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was clearly a little slower. The Starlord Ravenous Wolves were a little faster and were relatively more agile. The fists of the one on the left struck it.


    The Starlord Ravenous Wolf on the right dodged the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s spear. After getting close, his fist also struck it.


    Four punches struck the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body simultaneously. Immediately, blinding light and a shockwave that resembled a supernova erupted.


    Even Zhou Wen and Jiuyang found the light blinding. They could hardly see anything as the shockwave sent their bodies retreating.


    The humans watching the Cube¡¯s live broadcast found it even harder to see what was happening. The screen was filled with blinding light.


    From the looks of it, that Companion Beast is doomed. To be struck by two Starlord Ravenous Wolves at the same time, even Jiuyang can¡¯t withstand such destructive power, right?


    Most people had such thoughts. Such a terrifying attack was probably unbearable even for a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, much less a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    When the dazzling light gradually weakened, everyone immediately widened their eyes. They saw the Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ fists strike the Tiger Soul General from both sides. However, the Tiger Soul General remained standing proudly. The armor on his body wasn¡¯t shattered by their strikes. Instead, the flames in his body looked even more turbulent. The beautiful patterns on his armor became even more dazzling.


    Boom!


    The Tiger Soul General waved the spear in his hand and swept it from left to right. The Starlord Ravenous Wolf on the right reached out to grab the spear, but the moment his palm touched it, he immediately felt a huge force repel him as his body involuntarily flew backward and slammed into the Starlord Ravenous Wolf on the left.


    The two Starlord Ravenous Wolves immediately collided and tumbled out together.


    The Tiger Soul General charged forward on his mount. The spear in his hand danced like a dragon as he charged at the two Starlord Ravenous Wolves.


    Everyone was already stunned. The Tiger Soul General was fighting two alone, but it continued charging forward. The Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ attacks only sent the Tiger Soul General retreating, but their armors would crack whenever the Tiger Soul General struck them.


    The Tiger Soul General hardly dodged the Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ attacks. Relying on its powerful physique and defense, it sent the two Starlord Ravenous Wolves into a retreating defeat.


    ¡°This cannot be happening, right? That Companion Beast can actually ignore the Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ attacks?¡±


    ¡°This is crazy!¡±


    ¡°What Companion Beast is that? It¡¯s ridiculously strong. Humans actually have such powerful Companion Beasts?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, who is this Unlucky Egg? His Companion Beast is too amazing!¡±


    The Tiger Soul General charged at the Starlord Ravenous Wolves like a ferocious general fighting a mere foot soldier. The two Starlords could only constantly dodge. It was difficult for them to fight it head-on.


    Jiuyang watched in a daze as the Tiger Soul General fought the Starlord Ravenous Wolves. This situation completely exceeded his expectations. He was momentarily unsure if he should continue fighting.


    After some hesitation, Jiuyang gave up on the idea of charging forward to fight. If he were to fight now, it would be him taking advantage of Zhou Wen. Jiuyang clearly felt that it was beneath him to do such a thing.


    Who is he? Jiuyang stared at the Chaos Egg as his eyes emitted a sun-like glow. He wanted to see who was inside, but he couldn¡¯t see anything.


    Even if his eyes could see through things, it was impossible for him to see through the Chaos Egg.


    The Tiger Soul General was like a devil general from hell as it constantly charged forward. The Starlord Ravenous Wolves, who had been arrogant and unbridled, appeared to be on the brink of collapse under the Tiger Soul General¡¯s onslaught. It was like a battle between a child and an adult. They could hardly put up a defense.


    Even Zhou Wen never expected the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to be that ferocious. He was clearly at the Human Realm, while the Starlord Ravenous Wolves were likely at the Hell level.


    Ignoring the difference in level, it was truly terrifying for it to completely suppress two Starlord Ravenous Wolves in a one-on-two situation.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that the reason the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was so strong was partly that of the environment in Dubhe Palace. Also, the Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ abilities were high temperature in nature, so they were actually restrained by the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became stronger the more it fought. In the beginning, the Starlord Ravenous Wolves¡¯ attacks could still push it back a distance. Later on, they could hardly push him back by more than two steps.


    Crack!


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was like a ferocious tiger out in the wild. With the violent flames, he penetrated a Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s chest and nailed him to the ground.


    The other Starlord Ravenous Wolf brandished his fists crazily from behind and punched the back of the Tiger Soul General¡¯s head again and again. However, the violent attacks failed to even crack the Tiger Soul General¡¯s helmet.


    The Tiger Soul General swung his hand backward and grabbed the Starlord Ravenous Wolf by the neck and lifted him in front of him.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf used his hands and feet to attack the Tiger Soul General with all his might. However, the Tiger Soul General seemed oblivious to his explosive strength. With a sudden squeeze of his palm, he snapped Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s neck.


    A head fell from the neck and the body lost its vitality as its limbs went limp.


    The Starlord Ravenous Wolf, who had been nailed to the ground, struggled to get up, but he was held down by the spear.


    The Tiger Soul General glanced at him and flicked the spear in his hand, lifting the Starlord Ravenous Wolf and sending him flying.


    While Starlord Ravenous Wolf was still in midair, the spearhead of the Tiger Soul General¡¯s spear shot out tracers like a Gatling¡¯s barrel.


    The shooting-star-like tracers constantly struck Starlord Ravenous Wolf in the air.. This continued for dozens of seconds before his body exploded.

 Chapter 1569 - Here Comes the Companion Beast

    A Companion Egg dropped from Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s shattered body. Zhou Wen immediately saw the Companion Egg thanks to his good eyesight. He got the Tiger Soul General to grab it and return to his side.


    ¡°A Calamity-grade Companion Egg!¡± Many people watching the live broadcast were dumbfounded.


    ¡°There¡¯s no justice in this world. He already has such a powerful Companion Beast, but now, he has Starlord Ravenous Wolf drop. Could it be like that old adage, the rich get richer?¡±


    ¡°Damn it, why would a Companion Egg drop! Why is Zhou Wen so lucky with Companion Beasts! Among the top human powerhouses, he¡¯s probably the only one who can fight simply using Companion Beasts.¡± Xia Liuchuan also wailed.


    Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, ¡°This is fate. You can¡¯t be envious.¡±


    ¡°A Starlord Ravenous Wolf Companion Beast. Professor Gu, this should be the first Calamity-grade Companion Egg that the Federation¡¯s citizens know of, right?¡± Su Yi asked Professor Gu.


    Professor Gu still seemed to be in a daze. Only when he heard Su Yi¡¯s question did he snap to his senses. He said expressionlessly, ¡°It¡¯s indeed the first Calamity-grade Companion Egg that the Federation citizens have seen with their own eyes. However, to people who already have such powerful Companion Beasts, the Starlord Ravenous Wolf Companion Beast can only be considered icing on the cake. That Companion Beast is rather powerful. Not only is it at the Calamity grade, but it¡¯s also not an ordinary one¡­¡±


    The screen was filled with sarcastic comments while Professor Gu commented.


    ¡°Professor Gu, didn¡¯t you insist that the Companion Beast is definitely at the Terror grade?¡±


    ¡°Elder Gu, that¡¯s not what you said just now!¡±


    In Luoyang¡¯s An family, An Sheng said with a look of delight, ¡°Young Master Wen¡¯s Companion Beast luck is really good. He has another Calamity-grade Companion Beast. With just his Companion Beasts, he might be invincible in the Federation.¡±


    ¡°Invincible in the Federation? Don¡¯t speak too soon,¡± An Tianzuo said with a cold snort.


    Li Xuan and company were envious. ¡°Zhou Wen really has it easy when it comes to Companion Beasts.¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem easy at all, right?¡± Female Sword Immortal Qin Zhen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s far from easy. Coach is perhaps the only one in the Federation to be capable of defeating two Starlord Ravenous Wolves with only Companion Beasts,¡± Ming Xiu said with admiration.


    Another heated debate about Companion Beasts stirred in the Federation.


    In recent years, although people had been using Companion Beasts, people believed that they were ultimately inferior to Guardians. This was because top humans basically used Guardians to fight. Otherwise, they took Mythical Serums. Although Companion Beasts were used, they were not the main force in high-end battles. They only provided support in combat.


    It was very rare for someone like Zhou Wen to produce such results purely using a Companion Beast. Or rather, he was the only one at present.


    People once again realized that top-notch Companion Beasts weren¡¯t weaker than any creature.


    Jiuyang looked at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General with a strange expression.


    This was the first time he had seen such a powerful Companion Beast. Although he also had the ability to hunt Calamity-grade creatures, he didn¡¯t focus on hunting dimensional creatures and obtaining Companion Beasts. This was because he always felt that his strength was key. Companion Beasts were like Guardians¡ªexternal forces.


    However, after seeing the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General today, he had to admit that such external forces were indeed a little strong.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to fantasize. He led the Tiger Soul General towards the teleportation nexus and quickly vanished.


    When Jiuyang saw Zhou Wen leave, he imagined that he had teleported away, so he wasn¡¯t in the mood to stay any longer. He chose to teleport away and return to the Cube.


    However, when Jiuyang looked back at the Cube, he was surprised to discover that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t left the Star Palace. The Cube¡¯s footage continued. The Chaos Egg and the Tiger Soul General were still on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    However, the scene was no longer Dubhe Palace, but another Star Palace he had never seen before.


    ¡°What¡¯s that? What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Another Star Palace. It looks different from Dubhe Palace.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it over after killing Starlord Ravenous Wolf? Why is there another Star Palace?¡±


    People watched the Cube¡¯s live broadcast in surprise as they guessed what was going on. As for some people with more imagination, they seemed to have guessed what it was.


    ¡°Could it be that the dimensional zone this time isn¡¯t just Dubhe Palace, but a serial dimensional zone?¡±


    ¡°No way? In that case, don¡¯t tell me the Big Dipper has a dimensional zone for each star? Only by clearing seven dimensional zones will it be considered true clearance?¡±


    ¡°That must be the case. Do you still remember? After clearing the Venusian dimensional zone, there were Companion Eggs that could be obtained. However, nothing appeared after clearing Dubhe Palace. That means that they didn¡¯t really clear it.¡±


    ¡°This Star Palace is ranked behind Dubhe Palace. It should be Merak Star Palace, right? In that case, the dimensional creature here should be Starlord Titan Gate, right?¡±


    There were still many talents in the Federation. Many people had already guessed it correctly.


    However, there were already people who began to worry for Zhou Wen. This was because the Merak Star Palace was an unknown Star Palace. The dimensional creature inside was also unknown.


    If Unlucky Egg encountered an accident because he wasn¡¯t familiar with the dimensional creature inside, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    ¡°Old Zhang, you¡¯re impressive. Your guess is really accurate. This is indeed a serial dimensional zone. The second Star Palace is undoubtedly Merak.¡± Xia Liuchuan gave Zhang Chunqiu a thumbs up.


    ¡°It¡¯s just basic inference,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said. ¡°However, isn¡¯t Zhou Wen being a little too rash? The abilities and stats of the dimensional creature in Merak Star Palace are definitely different from Starlord Ravenous Wolf. If he takes the risk to enter, it will be a serious loss for us humans if anything happens.¡±


    Professor Gu also made a similar statement. ¡°This person is clearly letting it get to his head. He thinks that a powerful Companion Beast can resolve all problems. This is a common mistake. Different Companion Beasts should be used against different dimensional creatures¡­¡±


    While Professor Gu was still explaining in detail, the Tiger Soul General had already rushed through the Merak Star Palace¡¯s door, heading straight into the Star Palace.


    Others might not understand Merak Star Palace, but Zhou Wen knew it very well. Starlord Titan Gate was very strong, but he was only equal to Starlord Ravenous Wolf. The Tiger Soul General had already accumulated enough strength. He was much stronger than when he killed Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    The current Tiger Soul General was enough to instantly kill Starlord Titan Gate.


    The huge Starlord Titan Gate stood up. His body made the people watching the livestream gasp. Compared to him, the Tiger Soul General was like an ant versus an elephant. It looked much weaker..

 Chapter 1570 - Egg Sovereign

    1


    Translator: CKtalon


    While everyone was still reeling in shock from Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s powerful aura and size, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had already rushed over.


    Starlord Titan Gate opened his mouth, but before he could release the sound wave, the spear emitted a terrifying flaming bullet.


    Rumble!


    The meteor-like purple flaming bullets spewed into Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s mouth. In a few seconds, his head exploded.


    The huge body collapsed like a mountain, shaking the entire Star Palace for a while.


    ¡°Different Companion Beasts target¡­ Yes¡­¡± Before Professor Gu could finish his sentence, he couldn¡¯t close his mouth.


    The entire Federation fell silent for a few seconds before the Internet broke out into a frenzy. The screen was flooded with all sorts of messages, blocking the live broadcast¡¯s footage.


    ¡°He¡¯s practically invincible!¡±


    ¡°Too f*cking strong!¡±


    ¡°Your Excellency Egg Sovereign, please accept my bow.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to use my ten years of lifespan to exchange for that Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is awesome, Brother Tiger is awesome!¡±


    Many people on the Internet liked to give all sorts of nicknames. Soon, Unlucky Egg from before was replaced by Egg Sovereign. They didn¡¯t know the name of the Tiger Soul General, but from the aura that resembled a ferocious tiger out in the wild and how the mount that the creature sat on looked like a tiger, they gave him the nickname ¡°Brother Tiger.¡±


    There were many other nicknames, but these two were most acceptable by the masses. They quickly spread.


    ¡°Egg Sovereign, continue clearing the levels. Clear all the Big Dipper dimensional zones.¡±


    ¡°Brother Tiger is so impressive. What dimensional creature can¡¯t he kill? Finish it.¡±


    Xia Liuchuan and Zhang Chunqiu exchanged looks and saw the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast is ridiculously strong,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little ridiculous.¡± Zhang Chunqiu suddenly thought of something. He picked up his phone and called Zhang Yuzhi. ¡°Yuzhi, don¡¯t you want to go out for a walk¡­¡±


    Xia Liuchuan glanced at Zhang Chunqiu in contempt as he thought smugly to himself, You, Zhang Chunqiu, claim to be good at divination. So that¡¯s all you amount to. Looks like I¡¯m the wise one. I¡¯ve long sent Little Yue to Guide City.


    Jiuyang was also shocked by the strength of the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Although he didn¡¯t know what level Starlord Titan Gate was, being behind Starlord Ravenous Wolf meant that it was impossible for him to be weaker than Starlord Ravenous Wolf. Yet, he was instantly killed. It wasn¡¯t because Starlord Titan Gate was weak, but because the Tiger Soul General was too powerful.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t look at the Tiger Soul General again. Instead, he looked at the Chaos Egg and muttered to himself, ¡°Interesting. I really want to know what level that person is at to possess such a powerful Companion Beast.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care. He got the Tiger Soul General to continue blasting apart Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s body as a few crystals dropped. One of them was crystalline like jade. There was Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s shadow inside¡ªa skill crystal.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he got the Tiger Soul General to pick up all the crystals before rushing into the teleportation nexus.


    Many people were looking forward to the egg emperor and Brother Tiger clearing the seven levels and completing the Big Dipper dimensional zone.


    However, they were disappointed. Zhou Wen teleported out of the dimensional zone with the Tiger Soul General.


    He wasn¡¯t stupid. The third Star Palace¡¯s Starlord wasn¡¯t someone who could be resolved with brute force. Although the Tiger Soul General was strong, it was useless against that Starlord.


    The stronger the destructive power of the Tiger Soul General, the faster he would die.


    After Zhou Wen teleported out, the Cube¡¯s screen switched to a ranking. A new name was placed first.


    ¡°Tiger Soul General! That must be the name of that Companion Beast, right?¡± When people saw the name, they were first taken aback before they reacted.


    ¡°Tiger Soul General is so strong. Why didn¡¯t he let him continue clearing the levels?¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is way too cowardly, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really a waste to have such a powerful Companion Beast follow him.¡±


    Many people were displeased with Zhou Wen quitting at this moment. From their point of view, even if the Tiger Soul General couldn¡¯t clear the seven levels, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem for him to clear two or three more. It was a little cowardly to quit now.


    There was something else that surprised everyone. Although Jiuyang didn¡¯t perform as well as Zhou Wen, he was already very strong. However, his name had vanished from the rankings.


    Originally, even if the Tiger Soul General entered the rankings, Jiuyang would at most drop one spot. Now, his name had completely vanished. People guessed that it had something to do with the previous PVP mode.


    Jiuyang himself had already seen the notification on the Cube. As he had lost in the PVP mode, he would not be able to enter the dimensional zone through the Cube for a month.


    ¡°Jiuyang, why didn¡¯t you use that item?¡± Holy God walked over from afar and arrived behind Jiuyang.


    ¡°Greetings, Lord Holy God.¡± Jiuyang genuflected and bowed at Holy God.


    ¡°Answer me,¡± Holy God said again.


    ¡°It was my oversight. I originally thought that I didn¡¯t need to use that item. I never expected such an accident to happen.¡± Jiuyang looked up and asked, ¡°Lord Holy God, do you know who that Egg Sovereign is?¡±


    ¡°So what if I know?¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, please inform him that I wish to meet him in person,¡± said Jiuyang.


    ¡°Sure, but I have a request. Bring him back to the Holy Land. If you can¡¯t do it, there¡¯s no need to know,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°Why do you need him to be brought back?¡± Jiuyang asked.


    ¡°Because he¡¯s an enemy of the Holy Land,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°He¡¯s Zhou Wen?¡± Jiuyang suddenly thought of something and blurted out.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t too stupid. According to the information we gathered previously, that egg-shaped ability is an ability that Zhou Wen once used. We haven¡¯t discovered anyone with a similar ability, so we are certain that it¡¯s him,¡± Holy God said. ¡°Bring him back to the Holy Land. It¡¯s best if you can capture him alive. If you can¡¯t, bring back his corpse.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Lord Holy God.¡± After a moment of silence, Jiuyang stood up and bowed before turning to leave.


    ¡°Godsfall.¡± Holy God softly called out a name after seeing Jiuyang disappear from his vision.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, what are your orders?¡± A young man in gorgeous armor who looked like a prince walked in front of Holy God and knelt down.


    ¡°Follow Jiuyang secretly. If Jiuyang doesn¡¯t complete the mission, you will take over,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°Yes, Your Excellency. I definitely won¡¯t disappoint you.¡± The corners of Godsfall¡¯s mouth curled up slightly as he revealed a strange smile. His handsome face made one shudder.


    ¡°You have another mission. Bring Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast back, especially that Tiger Soul General. You have to bring it back,¡± Holy God emphasized twice.


    Godsfall answered with a smile, ¡°Lord Holy God, don¡¯t worry. This is what I¡¯m best at. It won¡¯t just be the Tiger Soul General.. I¡¯ll bring back all of Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts.¡±

 Chapter 1571 - Ravenous Wolf Ring

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Zhou Wen came out of the teleportation nexus, he indeed arrived on Merak Star. Beside him was the Cube. He would find himself back at the Cube he used if he were to use it.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t need to return. He directly used Singularity Universe to teleport back to Earth.


    I¡¯m finally back. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when he saw the familiar scenery.


    Although living outside didn¡¯t adversely affect him, he still felt comfortable at home.


    This was already within the range of Guide City, but it was still a distance from the city. Zhou Wen instant transmitted and returned to his yard.


    ¡°Old Zhou, you¡¯re finally back,¡± said Li Xuan¡ªwho lived beside him¡ªwith a grin when he came over to check due to the commotion.


    ¡°It¡¯s only been a few days. You make it sound like I¡¯ve been away for a few years. Nothing happened here, right?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°With me around, what can happen?¡± Li Xuan seemed to think of something as he changed the topic and continued with a smile, ¡°I forgot. Something did happen.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t flustered at all. Li Xuan¡¯s tone didn¡¯t sound urgent.


    ¡°Xia Xuanyue came to Guide City,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Why is she here?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He had a deep impression of Xia Xuanyue.


    The Demonic Sword in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand originally belonged to Xia Xuanyue. Furthermore, after what happened to Xia Jiuhuang, it was difficult not to remember her.


    ¡°The claim is that she¡¯s here to see if we can do some business. I think she¡¯s here for you. Otherwise, in this crappy place of ours, what business can the dignified eldest daughter of the Xia family do here?¡± Li Xuan nudged Zhou Wen with his elbow and said with a knowing expression, ¡°Aren¡¯t you still single? I think this eldest daughter of the Xia family is pretty good. Although she¡¯s a little older than you, she¡¯s beautiful. Besides, as the saying goes, a wife three years older than the husband ensures a richer life.¡±


    ¡°What nonsense are you spouting? I¡¯ve only met Xia Xuanyue a few times. I¡¯m not familiar with her at all.¡± Zhou Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    Li Xuan chuckled and said, ¡°You¡¯ll soon get to know each other, and before you know it, you¡¯ll be bedding her.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense. It¡¯s not good if she hears you.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to waste his breath on Li Xuan. He pondered and said, ¡°What do you think she¡¯s doing here? Is she friend or foe?¡±


    ¡°My take is that she doesn¡¯t seem to have any ill intentions. I reckon the Xia family finds us promising and wants to make a bet ahead of time,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, we can let her stay. If we really build a city in the future, we will definitely need to connect to other cities. The Xia family has a deep background and plenty of resources. It¡¯s not a bad choice to become partners.¡± Zhou Wen had a good impression of the Xia siblings.


    ¡°She¡¯s been here for days. Do you want to meet her?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Where is she?¡± Zhou Wen felt that he should meet Xia Xuanyue. It was best if he could clearly figure out why she was here.


    ¡°She¡¯s staying in a hotel in the city. I originally prepared a place for her to stay, but she said that she wanted to tour the area, so she didn¡¯t stay here.¡± Li Xuan paused before continuing, ¡°Recently, she has been circling the nearby dimensional zones. She¡¯s probably carrying out an inspection.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do some packing now and find her later.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he placed Demonic Neonate on the bed, took a shower, and changed his clothes.


    By the time Zhou Wen came out, Li Xuan had already left. Although the city was nominally theirs, Li Xuan had been the one worrying about various matters. Even if Zhou Wen wanted to chat with him, Li Xuan really didn¡¯t have the time.


    He took out Starlord Ravenous Wolf and looked at its stats.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Big Dipper Dubhe


    Life Soul: Ravenous Wolf


    Wheel of Destiny: Omnipotent


    Terror Form: Starlord Reincarnation (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Starlight Zone (Hell-level)


    Strength: 200


    Speed: 200


    Constitution: 200


    Essence Energy: 200


    Talent Skill: Starjewel, Wolf Devourer, Martial Path Heavenly Book.


    Companion Form: Ring


    Zhou Wen checked Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s stats carefully and couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback. Typically, only some special Companion Beasts, such as Banana Fairy and Truth Listener would have their stats at the minimum after evolving to the Calamity grade.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising that Starlord Ravenous Wolf had an Evolvable attribute. However, its attributes were the lowest at the Hell level. This was intriguing.


    Typical wild Companion Eggs wouldn¡¯t have their values at the starting value. Starlord Ravenous Wolf having such stats meant that he wasn¡¯t ordinary at all.


    In that case, the Starlords in every domain are actually in their most basic form. There should still be plenty of room for growth. Zhou Wen thought again. Don¡¯t tell me the Starlords of the Big Dipper are in the form of rings? Perhaps they can even form a set.


    Zhou Wen was only musing. He also knew that it was too difficult to have seven Starlord Companion Beasts drop.


    As Zhou Wen had already seen Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s appearance and abilities, he summoned him in the form of a ring.


    A star ring appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s finger. The surface of the ring was a star that emitted a starlight halo that enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    What¡¯s the use of this ring? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. He tried a few times and realized that the starlight wasn¡¯t a protective shield. It couldn¡¯t stop external forces from invading.


    With a thought, he took out his phone and entered the Big Dipper instance dungeon. Zhou Wen immediately knew what use the halo had.


    With this ring, the high temperature and radiation on Dubhe were ineffective against him. Furthermore, Dubhe¡¯s power was constantly gushing into the ring. The ring served as a conduit, making Zhou Wen feel as though infinite power was coursing through his body.


    This ability was only effective on Dubhe, but it was useless in other Star Palaces.


    This thing is only useful on Dubhe. I can¡¯t stay on Dubhe forever, right? It¡¯s impossible for me to invite people to Dubhe every time I fight. Zhou Wen found the ring¡¯s ability somewhat useless.


    However, Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s combat strength was still very strong. He didn¡¯t need to appear in his companion form.


    Zhou Wen packed his things and thought for a moment before picking up the sleeping Demonic Neonate and taking her with him.


    He didn¡¯t know what was happening with Demonic Neonate. Zhou Wen was afraid that things would be bad if something alarmed her while he wasn¡¯t by her side.


    He carried Demonic Neonate out and headed for Xia Xuanyue¡¯s hotel.


    ¡­


    What Xia Xuanyue had seen in Guide City over the past few days shocked her.


    Xia Xuanyue and Xia Liuchuan originally believed that investing in Guide City now was providing timely help.


    However, the situation in Guide City was very different from what they had imagined.


    Apart from Li Xuan, there were also Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan who were helping Zhou Wen. The two of them were rather famous in the Federation, but according to the Xia family¡¯s intelligence, their strength was much greater than their fame.


    Now that they were here, it meant that their families had already chosen to invest in Guide City and Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1572 - A Secret

    What surprised Xia Xuanyue even more was that the famous Female Sword Immortal, Qin Zhen, was also here.


    Qin Zhen¡¯s fame wasn¡¯t as great as Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s, but there was a reason why Xia Xuanyue knew her.


    Qin Zhen came from an average family, but in the past few years of studying at Sunset College, she had displayed extremely powerful talent in the way of the sword.


    The various factions thought highly of a genius without any background like Qin Zhen. Who didn¡¯t want to have a few talented sword masters like Qin Zhen under their wing? Even if they funded her with her doing nothing, it was better than having such a strong person serve their enemies.


    When Qin Zhen was in her sophomore year, many families had already contacted her. It wasn¡¯t just the typical wealthy family. Even the six families had contacted her¡ªboth openly and secretly¡ªand had made some offers.


    The Xia family had also invited Qin Zhen. The conditions offered were rather high, but Qin Zhen still rejected them.


    Later, Xia Xuanyue learned that the conditions offered by the other families were pretty good. The Family Clan of Gods had even prepared a Guardian and Mythical Serum for her. They were all attributes that best suited her. They also earmarked a large number of resources for her usage.


    However, Qin Zhen didn¡¯t go anywhere. She rejected everyone¡¯s invitation and stayed at Sunset College as a tutor.


    People originally believed that Qin Zhen had stayed in Sunset College because of An Tianzuo. Many young geniuses had chosen to join Luoyang or directly join the Sunset Army because of the name ¡®An Tianzuo.¡¯


    Only two days ago, when Xia Xuanyue chanced upon Qin Zhen lecturing students on the school field, did she realize that she was in Guide City.


    The conditions here were worlds apart from what the six families had to offer. She really couldn¡¯t figure out why Qin Zhen had chosen to stay here.


    Could it be that Qin Zhen thinks so highly of Zhou Wen? Xia Xuanyue thought to herself.


    As large families, they definitely couldn¡¯t place all their eggs in one basket. Even if one basket had a problem, there were still eggs in the other basket that could be eaten.


    However, Qin Zhen was different. She was only one egg¡ªherself¡ªso it was equivalent to her betting everything on Guide City and Zhou Wen.


    What surprised Xia Xuanyue even more was that she saw Hui Wan when she was shopping yesterday.


    President Hui Haifeng only had one son. He took care of him like he was a treasure. The present situation in Guide City wasn¡¯t optimistic, but Hui Haifeng didn¡¯t mind leaving his only son here. It left Xia Xuanyue somewhat surprised.


    Could this Hui Wan not be Hui Haifeng¡¯s biological son? Xia Xuanyue was very suspicious.


    The situation in Guide City was completely different from what Xia Xuanyue had imagined. She was already somewhat in a dilemma, unsure if the conditions she and Xia Liuchuan had come up with could move Zhou Wen.


    If this place was only a piece of charcoal, the conditions they offered were rather good. However, from the looks of it, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to need any. It wouldn¡¯t be that easy to convince him.


    Xia Xuanyue called and told Xia Liuchuan what had happened. After Xia Liuchuan heard that, his face was filled with disbelief.


    ¡°The Ming Xiu you¡¯re talking about is Swordsman Tomorrow Ming Xiu? And the Feng Qiuyan is the one from the Sea Return family?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Yes, I heard that they were classmates with Zhou Wen.¡± Xia Xuanyue recounted what she had heard.


    ¡°Not only do Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu represent themselves, but they also represent their families. Although these two families can¡¯t be considered top-notch, they have become famous among the various warlords after the appearance of these two,¡± Xia Liuchuan said after some thought.


    Together with Qin Zhen and some others, Guide City¡¯s strength far exceeded their expectations.


    ¡°From the looks of it, we have to change our previous plans. The chips in the past could be considered a timely help to the former Zhou Wen, but things aren¡¯t the same now. We are a step too late. We need to raise our chips,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a sigh.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the hotel, Xia Xuanyue had just returned. The two of them met in the hotel lobby.


    ¡°Miss Xia, can you get used to this place?¡± Zhou Wen walked over and asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not bad; it¡¯s quite quiet.¡± Xia Xuanyue smiled and said, ¡°If you have the time, let¡¯s find a place to chat?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a meeting room upstairs,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so formal. My brother is in charge of the family¡¯s matters. I¡¯m only a messenger. It¡¯s almost meal time. I heard that there¡¯s a shop nearby that makes roasted meat using a secret recipe that¡¯s pretty good. I was just thinking about trying it someday. Shall we try it together?¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded in agreement and followed Xia Xuanyue to the barbecue shop.


    After the two of them ordered their food and sat down, Xia Xuanyue said, ¡°Guide City is a nice place, but it¡¯s not easy to gain a foothold here.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed not easy.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°Have you ever thought of cooperating with anyone?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked.


    ¡°Not at the moment. However, if the Xia family wishes to invest in Guide City, we can consider it.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Xia Xuanyue and said, ¡°I wonder how much the Xia family plans on investing?¡±


    Xia Xuanyue raised a finger without saying a word.


    ¡°What does one mean?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°One secret for 30% of Guide City¡¯s future profits,¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°What kind of secret is so valuable?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips. He didn¡¯t believe that there was any secret that was worth 30% of Guide City¡¯s profits.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t found a dimensional zone to build a city yet, right?¡± Xia Xuanyue asked without answering.


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Xia Xuanyue in surprise. Her question was definitely not without reason.


    ¡°I know of a dimensional zone nearby. It¡¯s easy to defend and difficult to attack. Not only is it difficult for outsiders to enter, but the environment inside is also very suitable for building a city. It¡¯s not a lot to exchange such a dimensional zone for 30% of your income, right?¡± Xia Xuanyue said.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s a nearby dimensional zone, I¡¯ll be able to find it sooner or later. Why should I give you 30%?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If it was that easy to find it, I wouldn¡¯t be telling you about it. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can search for it. Forget anything I said if you can find it.¡± Xia Xuanyue seemed very certain that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t find it.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll search for it first. We¡¯ll talk when I can¡¯t find it.¡± Zhou Wen was very direct.


    ¡°Take your time. I won¡¯t raise prices even if you can¡¯t find it.¡± Xia Xuanyue smiled.


    ¡°If I find it, I¡¯ll definitely leave the best spot for your Xia family in the most prosperous place when I build the city in the future,¡± Zhou Wen added.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s a deal.¡± Xia Xuanyue didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen could find the dimensional zone. If it was that easy to find it, it wouldn¡¯t have been hidden until today.


    The reason the Xia family could find the dimensional zone was that it had something to do with the Xia family..

 Chapter 1573 - First Showcase of Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens

    Translator: CKtalon


    After Zhou Wen returned, he recounted the matter to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Is there such a dimensional zone nearby?¡± Li Xuan had recently spent quite a bit of time studying the nearby dimensional zones.


    Safety was ultimately a huge problem when it came to constructing a city outside. The city needed to be built inside a dimensional zone, but Li Xuan had inspected many nearby dimensional zones, but none of them satisfied him.


    Or rather, he had nothing to choose from. The nearby dimensional zones were strange, making them unsuitable for building a city inside.


    ¡°Let¡¯s continue searching. If we really can¡¯t find it, we will have to negotiate with the Xia family. We need a dimensional zone.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that having so many people living outside wasn¡¯t a long-term solution.


    If a Calamity creature were to pass by one day, their city would be doomed. It was impossible for Zhou Wen to guard this place daily.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll continue searching. It doesn¡¯t make sense that they can find it, but we can¡¯t,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily.


    After handing the matter of finding the dimensional zone to Li Xuan, Zhou Wen returned and continued studying how to kill the Starlord at the third level.


    After returning, Zhou Wen searched for information on the Internet and learned that the third star of the Big Dipper was named Phecda. The Starlord guarding it was named Cherished Kismet.


    ¡°You have to repay what you owe. You have to pay for what you damaged. You have to pay for what you kill. I cherish kismet and I¡¯ll make the call on how it should be returned. In this case, how can there be anything unfair in this world?¡±


    This was the core belief of Starlord Cherished Kismet. After Zhou Wen saw this, he roughly knew why Starlord Cherished Kismet had such an ability.


    How do I crack Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s ability? Zhou Wen kept thinking about this problem.


    Zhou Wen tried all the methods he could, but the outcome was the same. As long as he injured Starlord Cherished Kismet, he would be injured. He died if he killed him. There were no exceptions.


    Wait! Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something as his eyes lit up.


    He had been thinking about how to kill Starlord Cherished Kismet, but after reading some information on him, Zhou Wen realized that killing him didn¡¯t necessarily require the power that killed.


    These words sounded a little awkward, but they seemed to be a viable path.


    I have to repay what I owe, damage or kill. Then, what if it¡¯s something I give to him? Zhou Wen wanted to give killing Starlord Cherished Kismet from another angle a shot.


    At this moment, Human Sovereign¡¯s strength came in handy. This power couldn¡¯t injure others, but it could treat the opponent.


    Zhou Wen wondered what the outcome would be if he used Human Sovereign¡¯s power to deal with Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but take out his phone and open the dungeon before entering the Big Dipper dimensional zone.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf and Starlord Titan Gate hadn¡¯t respawned. They probably wouldn¡¯t respawn until all seven levels were cleared.


    Such a serial dungeon is just too troublesome. I can¡¯t even farm a dimensional creature alone. Zhou Wen entered the Phecda Star Palace without summoning a Companion Beast.


    It was useless even if he summoned one. Even someone as powerful as the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General would die instantly if he made any killing attempts.


    Zhou Wen had previously thought about what would happen if Li Xuan were to kill Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    Li Xuan would be beheaded when he slayed Starlord Cherished Kismet. However, being beheaded wasn¡¯t enough to kill Li Xuan. Would this form some cycle? It was rather intriguing.


    The green-armored Starlord Cherished Kismet remained sitting there firmly like a meditating Buddha. It was as though he didn¡¯t see the blood-colored avatar.


    Zhou Wen engraved the Ancient Sovereign Sutra on the Wheel of Destiny. Human Sovereign¡¯s figure appeared and fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen was like the sun as he emitted a glorious glow like a miniature humanoid sun.


    ¡°This domain¡¯s name really sucks.¡± Zhou Wen activated Human Sovereign¡¯s Sacrifices to the Heavens domain and muttered to himself.


    The moment Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens was activated, large amounts of vitality surged to wherever the light from Zhou Wen¡¯s body shone.


    If there were injured people, their wounds would quickly heal in such a powerful vibrant domain. It could even revive people who were on the brink of death.


    Even the injuries a Companion Beast suffered could rapidly recover.


    Even if there wasn¡¯t any damage, vegetation would rapidly grow. The effects of Human Sovereign¡¯s Sacrifices to the Heavens when used to save people were excellent.


    However, Zhou Wen had never thought of using it to kill. This was the first time.


    Zhou Wen stared at Starlord Cherished Kismet as the power of Human Sovereign¡¯s Sacrifices to the Heavens shone on him. Starlord Cherished Kismet suddenly opened his eyes.


    After the green armor was hit by the light from Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it began turning from green to yellow before turning from yellow to black as though it was rotting.


    As for Zhou Wen, he didn¡¯t suffer any injuries. Instead, he felt his vitality grow stronger.


    It¡¯s indeed feasible! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    As for Starlord Cherished Kismet, he suddenly stood up and charged at Zhou Wen with all his might.


    His Speed and Strength weren¡¯t inferior to Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s, but to Zhou Wen, what was terrifying wasn¡¯t his Strength and Speed. In terms of combat, Zhou Wen could barely fight him with his experience and techniques.


    Thankfully, Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s technique was much weaker than Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s. Starlord Ravenous Wolf was an all-rounder, while Starlord Cherished Kismet was clearly much weaker in this aspect. That allowed Zhou Wen to put up a fight.


    Zhou Wen constantly used instant transmission and movement techniques to dodge Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s attacks.


    Starlord Cherished Kismet was illuminated by the light from Zhou Wen¡¯s body. He was rapidly weakening and losing strength.


    Finally, Zhou Wen had the chance to punch Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s back. This punch contained intense vitality. If it struck a heavily injured person, the wounds on the heavily injured person would immediately heal.


    However, when this punch landed on Starlord Cherished Kismet, his green crystal armor produced a black fist mark. The fist mark quickly turned to dust like burning ashes.


    And in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, large amounts of vitality appeared out of thin air, making his Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens domain even stronger.


    I never expected that my Ancient Sovereign Sutra would have such a day. Zhou Wen was very excited as he threw punch after punch at Starlord Cherished Kismet at an even faster speed.


    Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s body was already very weak, and his speed was much slower. The green crystal armor had basically turned black, and the spots that Zhou Wen¡¯s fist struck immediately turned to dust.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s onslaught, Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s body exploded and turned to dust.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    A few dimensional crystals dropped. Just as Zhou Wen was feeling depressed about not having a Companion Egg drop, he realized that there was a Samsara Stone in the dimensional crystals that dropped.


    Another Samsara Stone! Zhou Wen was delighted.. Ignoring everything else, he decided to pick it up first.

 Chapter 1574 - Megrez Star Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    Although the fusion system allowed Companion Beasts to advance to a higher level, there were too many uncertain factors involved. The failure rate was too high, and it might change some important characteristics of a Companion Beast.


    After all, not all Companion Beasts had Jinxes Master, so it was fine for him to occasionally try his luck or experiment with large numbers of Companion Beasts of the same type.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare randomly fuse rare Companion Beasts. If he was unlucky, he would be flabbergasted if they were destroyed.


    The Samsara Stone was different. Companion Beasts that used the Samsara Stone not only had an Evolvable attribute, but they could also be renurtured. Their evolution direction was easily controlled, allowing him to forge the Companion Beast he wanted.


    Who should I use this Samsara Stone on? Zhou Wen was hesitant. It wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have a choice, but he had too many choices. Many Companion Beasts needed to evolve.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen finally chose to give the Samsara Stone to the Invisibility Cloak.


    The Invisibility Cloak had been very useful at the Mythical stage previously, but after reaching a higher level, Terror-grade creatures typically had extrasensory abilities. It was very difficult for the Invisibility Cloak to evade their detection.


    If the Invisibility Cloak can advance to the Terror grade or even the Calamity grade, the invisibility it brings can resolve many problems, Zhou Wen thought as he placed the Invisibility Cloak and Samsara Stone together.


    The Chaos Egg could be used to withstand attacks head-on, but there was ultimately a limit. Furthermore, it was easy to be trapped. If the Invisibility Cloak could prevent the Calamity-grade creatures from detecting him, Zhou Wen could secretly explore the high-level dimensional zones without risking his life.


    In reality, the Invisibility Cloak was a divine artifact that could save his life.


    The Invisibility Cloak didn¡¯t change at all after the flash of light. There weren¡¯t any changes due to its original invisibility. However, its stats had returned to the Mortal stage and it had an Evolvable attribute.


    How does upgrading the Invisibility Cloak work? Zhou Wen tried using Essence Energy Crystals which turned out useful. Soon, a high-level Essence Energy Crystal was absorbed by the Invisibility Cloak.


    Furthermore, the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s level rapidly increased, jumping from the Mortal stage to the Epic stage.


    Essence Energy Crystals can raise the level of the Invisibility Cloak. That makes things easier. Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    A problem that could be resolved with Essence Energy Crystals wasn¡¯t a problem for Zhou Wen. This was likely the easiest Companion Beast to evolve.


    It was really difficult for him to evolve creatures like Banana Fairy and Evil Spirit King.


    Zhou Wen placed the Essence Energy Crystal that Starlord Cherished Kismet had dropped on the Invisibility Cloak. Essence Energy immediately surged over the Invisibility Cloak, and soon, the Invisibility Cloak rose to the Mythical stage.


    No way. A Calamity-grade Essence Energy Crystal only raised it to the Mythical stage? Zhou Wen felt his heart ache.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to grind Essence Energy Crystals. He could just get beaten up with the Chaos Egg up to produce many solid Essence Energy Crystals.


    Since I¡¯m already here, I¡¯ll take a look at the fourth Star Palace. After all, I need to find a place to get beaten up. It doesn¡¯t matter where I go. Zhou Wen wanted to know what kind of dimensional creatures there were in the subsequent Star Palaces.


    After feeding the dimensional crystals to the Companion Beasts that required them, he used the teleportation nexus to enter the next Star Palace.


    Zhou Wen had checked the web for information on the Big Dipper. The fourth star was called Megrez. The Starlord that corresponded to it was likely the most familiar Starlord to those in the East District.


    People treated those who received the title of top scholar as a mortal incarnation of Starlord Merciful Song, a testimony of how cultured this Starlord was.


    For example, famous historical figures in the East District¡ªBao Qingtian, Wen Tianxiang, Liu Bowen, and so on¡ªwere said to be mortal incarnations of Starlord Merciful Song.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the authenticity of these claims, but how could there be books for someone to study in a place like Megrez? It was most likely a legend without merit.


    After a moment of dizziness, Zhou Wen arrived in front of the Star Palace on Megrez.


    This is Megrez? Zhou Wen looked around in surprise.


    As the Big Dipper consisted of stars with extremely high temperatures, ordinary humans would vaporize upon entering.


    However, it wasn¡¯t hot at all. Zhou Wen even found it refreshing as though a cold wind was blowing from Megrez Star Palace.


    Looking up, there was still the boiling high-temperature liquid outside the barrier. It was not much different from the first three stars, but the color of the liquid was somewhat different.


    Zhou Wen could tell that the liquid¡¯s temperature was extremely high and extremely unstable. From time to time, he could see terrifying energy eruptions.


    However, standing here, he still couldn¡¯t feel any heat.


    It should be a problem with the Star Palace, right? Zhou Wen carefully sized up the Star Palace. It looked like it was carved from white jade. Its various exquisite shapes and patterns were extremely elegant.


    After carefully taking in his surroundings, Zhou Wen immediately realized that there was indeed a cold aura emitted from the jade palace.


    A scholar is indeed different. He knows how to enjoy himself by using natural cold jade to build an air-conditioned room, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen pushed open the door of Megrez Star Palace with the Chaos Egg protecting him.


    There were many mysterious words engraved on the walls of the Star Palace. Even the pillars had words. They had their own style, but unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t recognize any of them.


    Starlord Merciful Song, don¡¯t you descend to Earth often as a mortal? Can¡¯t you at least learn the Federation¡¯s common language? Or the East District¡¯s ancient language? Your scribbles look good, but what¡¯s the point of them if they can¡¯t be understood? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    The legendary Starlord Merciful Song sat on a throne in the Star Palace.


    He was wearing snow-white jade armor, but the armor was as smooth as a mirror. There weren¡¯t even any patterns, much less words.


    That¡¯s a little overboard. You are Starlord Merciful Song after all. Even if you don¡¯t have a word on your helmet, you should at least have one on your chest. Learn from Kakarrot. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he saw Starlord Merciful Song move.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. His foot hadn¡¯t even crossed the door¡¯s sill when Starlord Merciful Song moved. This was unprecedented among the Starlords.


    Starlord Merciful Song raised his right hand. In his right hand was a book.


    The book was also made of jade and had a warm luster. Starlord Merciful Song looked up at Zhou Wen before slowly opening the jade book in his hand.


    Why are you flipping through the book? Don¡¯t tell me you want to test me on my knowledge? I¡¯ve already returned most of the things I learned in school to the tutors. Unless you want to test me on questions from my third year in primary school, I wouldn¡¯t know how to do it either.. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, the jade book opened and a treasure glow surged into the sky.

 Chapter 1575 - Jiuyang Comes Knocking

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen imagined that the Chaos Egg would be capable of withstanding the treasure beam when it landed on the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded the next second. The treasure beam didn¡¯t attack the Chaos Egg. Instead, it carried the Chaos Egg towards the jade book and stored it inside.


    Zhou Wen struggled to get out to no avail. He was forcefully pulled into the book. Just as he was thinking about how to escape, he heard a thud as the book snapped to a close.


    Zhou Wen felt his surroundings turn dead silent as though it was an endless dark void. He couldn¡¯t see, hear, or sense anything.


    He attempted to rush out, but there was nothing around him. No matter where he went, the outcome was the same. It was as though there was no end to the void.


    This is definitely Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s domain power. I wonder what domain this is. Why is it so odd? Zhou Wen knew that things were going south.


    Although Starlord Merciful Song didn¡¯t kill him, trapping him here forever was worse than killing him.


    Thankfully, this was a game, so Zhou Wen could commit suicide again. In reality, it was basically no different from dying.


    Of course, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait for Starlord Merciful Song to open the jade book. He knew the principle of striking first to gain the upper hand.


    He had made it a habit in-game to identify the other party¡¯s abilities before taking action. It was mainly to understand the abilities of dimensional creatures. Otherwise, even if he killed a dimensional creature, he wouldn¡¯t even know what abilities it had.


    He failed to come up with a way to escape after some extended thinking. Even if he released the Golden Wyrm Scissors, it could only fly randomly in the endless void. There was no way out.


    Here, spatial powers didn¡¯t seem to work as though they were locked. Zhou Wen was actually unable to use spatial teleportation or instant transmission. He had no choice but to commit suicide.


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, he was just about to enter the dungeon and gain the upper hand over Starlord Merciful Song by killing him with the Golden Wyrm Scissors and not giving him a chance to flip open the jade book when he suddenly heard his phone ring.


    ¡°Old Zhou, someone¡¯s looking for you.¡± It was Li Xuan.


    ¡°Who?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°He¡¯s wearing a cloak and a mask. It¡¯s impossible to tell who he is. However, from his bearing, he shouldn¡¯t be an ordinary person. Do you want to meet him? If not, I¡¯ll defeat him and send him on his way,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Let me take a look first,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked out and quickly arrived at the door.


    ¡°Where is he?¡± Zhou Wen saw Li Xuan drinking tea in the guardhouse.


    ¡°Over there.¡± Li Xuan curled his lips towards the left of the door.


    Zhou Wen looked in that direction and saw a person standing under the shade of a tree. Indeed, just as Li Xuan had said, the person was tightly covered up. One couldn¡¯t even tell if the person was male or female.


    However, Zhou Wen recognized him at a glance and couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback.


    Jiuyang, what¡¯s this fellow doing here? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Zhou Wen was wondering why Jiuyang was being so polite if he knew that he was Egg Sovereign and wanted to seek revenge.


    However, if he wasn¡¯t here to seek revenge, what else could Jiuyang be doing?


    ¡°Do you know him?¡± Li Xuan asked as he drank his tea.


    ¡°Jiuyang,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Pfft!¡± Li Xuan spat out the tea he had just drunk. ¡°Which Jiuyang? Saint Jiuyang?¡±


    ¡°Who else could it be? I¡¯ll go see what he¡¯s here for,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards Jiuyang.


    ¡°Who are you? Why do you want to see me?¡± Zhou Wen came in front of Jiuyang and asked, feigning ignorance.


    ¡°You know who I am,¡± Jiuyang said calmly. ¡°I came here to invite you to the Holy Land as a guest.¡±


    ¡°Although I don¡¯t know who you are, I appreciate your kindness. It¡¯s best if you return. A sanctified place like the Holy Land isn¡¯t a place an ordinary person like me can go.¡± Zhou Wen rejected it without even thinking.


    Holy God hated him to the core. It would be odd if something beneficial awaited him in the Holy Land.


    ¡°Alright, if you defeat me, you don¡¯t have to go,¡± Jiuyang said bluntly.


    In fact, Jiuyang¡¯s main goal for coming here was to fight Zhou Wen. Whether Zhou Wen went to the Holy Land was a matter of Holy God¡¯s concern. Jiuyang didn¡¯t care, but he couldn¡¯t disobey Holy God¡¯s orders.


    ¡°Don¡¯t joke around. How can I beat you?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t know who I am, how do you know that you can¡¯t beat me?¡± Jiuyang said calmly to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen knew that he had been careless, but he didn¡¯t need to worry about such matters. He said with a smile, ¡°Saints from the Holy Land are each stronger than the last. No matter which one of them comes, a mortal like me isn¡¯t their match.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter what you say. Fight me or I¡¯ll take you back through force. The outcome will be the same,¡± Jiuyang said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we do this? Go back for now. I¡¯ll visit the Holy Land when I¡¯m free. I really have something on now and can¡¯t leave.¡± Although Zhou Wen was already at odds with the Holy Land, he wasn¡¯t willing to fall out with it.


    ¡°Do you want to choose the venue or should I do the honors?¡± Jiuyang ignored what Zhou Wen said and continued speaking at his own pace.


    When Zhou Wen saw Jiuyang¡¯s behavior, he knew that things wouldn¡¯t end well today. Instead of letting Jiuyang fight him here and cause Guide City to suffer, he might as well choose a venue himself. At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t harm his family and friends.


    ¡°Follow me,¡± Zhou Wen said as he vanished.


    Ordinary people couldn¡¯t even see Calamity-grade entities when they traveled at the speed of light.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t say a word as he followed. He followed beside Zhou Wen at an unhurried pace. Clearly, he was much faster than Zhou Wen.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t Jiuyang¡¯s speed, but the speed of the Sun God Guardian.


    ¡°You are indeed very strong, but you don¡¯t have a Guardian. Did you use Spirit Casting or a Mythical Serum?¡± Jiuyang sized up Zhou Wen as his eyes gradually lit up.


    ¡°Would you believe me if I said that I didn¡¯t use Spirit Casting or a Mythical Serum?¡± Zhou Wen said as he flew.


    ¡°No,¡± Jiuyang answered with certainty because he had never seen a human advance to the Mythical stage purely as a human, much less to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°Then I can¡¯t answer you.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he had already crossed the mountain range known as the spine of the world and continued heading west.


    ¡°Why are you running so far? There¡¯s no one here,¡± Jiuyang said.


    ¡°It¡¯s boring without anyone. I¡¯ll take you to an interesting place. It¡¯s more interesting to fight there..¡± Zhou Wen continued flying forward without looking back as he headed for the West District.

 Chapter 1576 - Sunset City

    Translator: CKtalon


    As one of the six families, the Cape family had been like the other five families in recent years. Compared to the era when the six families controlled the Federation, they appeared abnormally low-key.


    Of course, such a low profile didn¡¯t mean that the Cape family had really reached a point of no return. Instead, the six families were working hard to digest the resources brought about by the evolution of the world.


    In the past, the six families relied on the Holy Land, but as Earth¡¯s dimensionalization sped up, this served as an opportunity for them to obtain a large number of resources without relying on the Holy Land for resources like before.


    This was also the main reason why the six families dared to attempt to escape the Holy Land¡¯s control. Only with resources could they have the capital to resist.


    In this rapidly changing era, the Cape family was the family that had changed the most.


    The Cape family actively attempted anything¡ªCompanion Beasts, Guardians, Spirit Casting, Mythical Serums¡ªthat could make humans stronger.


    This allowed the Cape family¡¯s strength to constantly increase. The development of the dimensional zones surrounding them was also the highest among the various families.


    Sunset City was the city that the Cape family had built in a dimensional zone in recent years.


    It was dark in the dimensional zone due to the lack of natural light. Only the city was brightly lit, so it was also called City of Nightlights.


    This dimensional zone was called the ¡°Forbidden Zone of the Gods.¡± It was a dimensional zone that the Cape family had discovered and developed in recent years. The Forbidden Zone of the Gods was very strange. It was like a world that couldn¡¯t be illuminated by divine light. There was no birth, aging, sickness, or death here, as though being here gave one eternal life.


    Of course, this was referring to the natural way of life. People still died from being murdered.


    After the Cape family discovered the characteristics of the Forbidden Land of the Gods, they established Sunset City here. The members of the Cape family gradually moved to live in Sunset City.


    The faces of the humans living here seemed to be frozen. They looked the same as they did a few years ago. There were no signs of aging.


    Only by leaving Sunset City would time continue to leave signs on them.


    Who didn¡¯t want to live forever? The Cape family used the magical powers of the Forbidden Land of the Gods to recruit many young geniuses. Their faction also grew stronger day by day.


    It was only because they hadn¡¯t completely developed the dimensional zones they controlled and didn¡¯t have the energy to plunder resources from other places that it gave off the impression that the Cape family had become much more low-key in the past few years.


    Zhou Wen had long heard of the Cape family¡¯s Sunset City and the Forbidden Land of the Gods. He had always wanted to visit, but he had been tied down by other matters and didn¡¯t have the spare time.


    The reason Zhou Wen wanted to come to Sunset City wasn¡¯t because he wanted to cause trouble for the Cape family due to his grudge with them. He was eyeing the dimensional zone known as the Forbidden Land of the Gods.


    Zhou Wen had recently been studying which dimensional zones were compatible with his Essence Energy Art. He wanted to advance his Essence Energy Art to the Calamity grade as soon as possible.


    Back when he saw some information about the Forbidden Land of the Gods, Zhou Wen felt that this place might be very compatible with his Dao Sutra or Godfiend Era.


    There might be doubt since the Dao Sutra was an Essence Energy Art from the East District, so how could it be compatible with the Forbidden Land of the Gods?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that it was a problem. He only looked at the characteristics and didn¡¯t deliberately distinguish between the East and West District.


    The Dao Sutra Zhou Wen cultivated took the Zero Taboo path. As for the Forbidden Land of the Gods, it also had the ability to ban nomological powers. Therefore, Zhou Wen felt that the two were somewhat similar and wanted to try his luck.


    Furthermore, a special space like the Forbidden Land of the Gods seemed to have some compatibility with the spatial-type Godfiend Era.


    Of course, these were all Zhou Wen¡¯s guesses. He had never been to the Forbidden Land of the Gods and only felt that there was such a possibility. This was the perfect opportunity for him to visit.


    Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have a good relationship with the Cape family. If he really fought Jiuyang and destroyed their territory, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t feel the pinch.


    If the Forbidden Land of the Gods was really compatible with his Essence Energy Art and could help him advance to the Calamity grade, it would inevitably destroy the Forbidden Land of the Gods. Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be troubled by that or feel sorry for the Cape family.


    ¡°Stop. Entry to the area ahead is forbidden. Unauthorized people are not to enter.¡± A Guardian of the Cape family blocked Zhou Wen and Jiuyang¡¯s path.


    ¡°Please inform the owner here that we wish to enter,¡± Zhou Wen said to the Guardian with a smile.


    ¡°Do you have an appointment?¡± the Guardian asked as he sized up Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was wearing casual clothes and had a child-Demonic Neonate-in his arms. He looked completely different from when he entered the rankings. The Guardian clearly didn¡¯t recognize him.


    ¡°What are you talking about? Don¡¯t you see the Saint here. What appointment do we need?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Jiuyang.


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s a Saint? This is the Cape family. Without an appointment, even the Holy Father can¡¯t enter, much less a Saint.¡± The Guardian was very unyielding.


    Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t angry. He said to Jiuyang with a smile, ¡°Your reputation doesn¡¯t seem very useful!¡±


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t even look at Zhou Wen as though he wanted to ignore him.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to push the matter of entering Sunset City to the Saint, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel depressed when he saw Jiuyang remain silent.


    A young man walked out and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Mr. Zhou, if you wish to enter Sunset City, you just need to give your name. There¡¯s no need to do it in the name of the Saint.¡±


    ¡°You know me, but I don¡¯t know you. Isn¡¯t that a little unfair?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the young man.


    The man was in his twenties and he didn¡¯t look much older than Zhou Wen. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He had a high nose bridge and a slender figure. Although he was nearly two meters tall, he didn¡¯t look excessively tall due to his good proportions.


    ¡°My name is Carlos. Nice to meet you, Mr. Zhou.¡± The young man smiled and extended his palm.


    ¡°I don¡¯t expect your Cape family to be happy seeing me.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t extend his hand as he looked at him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if the Cape family will be happy seeing you, but I¡¯m very happy to see you. You have always been my idol,¡± said Carlos with a serious expression.


    ¡°Are you sure I¡¯m an idol? Not someone you want to beat up?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, you¡¯re reading too much into it. The grudge between you and the Cape family is one thing, but my admiration for you is another. Although I also want you dead, this doesn¡¯t affect my admiration for your achievements. If possible, I hope you can help me sign an autograph. I¡¯ll definitely treasure it,¡± said Carlos sincerely.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for an autograph. Let¡¯s shake hands.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand and shook Carlos¡¯s hand.


    Zhou Wen definitely didn¡¯t dare randomly sign autographs.

 Chapter 1577 - Forbidden Land of the Gods

    Translator: C alon


    Zhou Wen imagined that Carlos wanted to take the opportunity to compete with him, but to his surprise, he only shook his hand.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, what brings you here to Sunset City?¡± asked Carlos. ¡°Someone wants to fight. I heard that Sunset City is a good place, so I came to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said. ¡°Although our Cape family had a misunderstanding with you in the past, that¡¯s all in the past. If Mr. Zhou has any displeasure with our Cape family, there¡¯s no harm in saying it out loud. On behalf of the Cape family, I¡¯ll definitely give you a satisfactory answer,¡± said Carlos calmly. ¡°I¡¯m not the one who wants to fight, but him. You should discuss it with him.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Jiuyang


    *This gentleman is¡­¡±Carlos sized up liuyang, but this person was covered up too well. He couldn¡¯t tell who it was.


    Jiuyang glanced at Zhou Wen. He naturally knew that Zhou Wen wanted him to be the scapegoat, but Juyang had no intention of defending himself.


    ¡°Jiuyang, lend me your Sunset City,¡± Jiuyang said indifferently.


    Carlos was stunned when he heard Jiuyang¡¯s name. There was probably no one in the Federation who didn¡¯t know Jiuyang¡¯s name.


    Carlos looked at Zhou Wen in disbelief only to have him say: ¡°In the flesh.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor to have the two of you use Sunset City for a battle. However, I hope the two of you can give me some time. I¡¯ll need to clean up Sunset City to make it more conducive for the two of you to fight in peace,¡± said Carlos pleasantly without flaring up.


    ¡°Sure,¡± Jiuyang said. Jiuyang and Zhou Wen knew that Carlos likely wanted to evacuate the people in the city to prevent them from being accidentally injured in their battle


    Jiuyang was at the Calamity grade. If Zhou Wen could be his opponent, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be too weak. A city could easily be destroyed in a battle at that level.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll take the two of you to Sunset City to take a look.¡± After giving instructions to someone, Carlos led Zhou Wen and Jiuyang into the Forbidden Land of the Gods.


    Just as the legends said, the Forbidden Land of the Gods was pitch-black. Nothing could be seen. In the darkness, there was a road lined with street lamps that extended into the darkness like a glowing snake. At the end of the road was a brightly lit city. City of Nightlights appeared especially mysterious and beautiful in the darkness.


    When Zhou Wen walked into the darkness, he felt nomological forces restrain his body. The Heaven Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder immediately reacted. This was only a normal reaction Back at Mount Laojun, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder would also react.


    ¡°Was this Sunset City later built? Zhou Wen was here to find an opportunity to advance to the Calamity grade. He wasn¡¯t interested in a city built by humans.


    ¡°Yes, there are no buildings in the Forbidden Land of the Gods. It was just a dark and desolate area. There weren¡¯t even dimensional creatures. Every blade of grass, tree, lamp, and brick here were transported in by our Cape family through painstaking efforts. Everything was constructed according to the design,¡± said Carlos.


    Zhou Wen was even less interested in Sunset City when he heard that. Therefore, he asked, ¡°Could it be that there¡¯s really nothing in the huge Forbidden Land of the Gods?¡±


    ¡°Not really.¡± Carlos thought for a moment and said, ¡°There¡¯s indeed a city in this darkness, but that city is only left with dilapidated walls. It should have been destroyed in a war. We¡¯ve also studied that city, but we didn¡¯t find any traces of creatures, nor did we find any fragments of daily necessities. It seemed to be an empty city.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Take us there.¡± Zhou Wen was intrigued.


    ¡°This way, please.¡± Carlos had a good temper. He led the way with a flashlight and circled around Sunset City before heading deep into the darkness.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen observed the Forbidden Land of the Gods. The ground here was barren like wasteland. There were traces of a battle everywhere


    The various ring-shaped pits were similar to the ring-shaped craters on the moon. However, it was obvious that the ring-shaped pits here weren¡¯t formed from meteorites, but from a specific impact.


    There were also some crisscrossing rifts that looked like huge saber marks no matter how one looked at them. Apart from the darkness, the other laws here were somewhat chaotic. For example, when sound passed through an empty space, there would be a distortion. Clearly, there was a distortion or fault layer in the space.


    Darkness wasn¡¯t a problem for Zhou Wen, but the distortion of space and sound affected Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    As Carlos walked, he explained, ¡°Legend has it that the gods once fought here and destroyed everything, including order and light. This prevented all things from growing and eventually turned it into a forbidden land for life.¡± ¡°Since this is a forbidden land where nothing can live, why is it said that one can live forever here?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s just fake news. You can indeed not age here, but that¡¯s only because your face doesn¡¯t age. In fact, your body will still age. No matter how young you look, you will still die when you reach a high age,¡± said Carlos


    ¡°I see. However, even if one doesn¡¯t age visibly, it¡¯s already amazing. There should be many beautiful women who are willing to live in Sunset City for the rest of their lives, right?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. If Sunset City could really gave people eternal life, the Cape family probably wouldn¡¯t be able to occupy this place so safely.


    ¡°There are indeed many beautiful ladies who have come to Sunset City to settle down permanently. If Mr. Zhou is interested, you can take a walk in Sunset City. It¡¯s considered a beautiful scene that¡¯s rare elsewhere,¡± said Carlos with a smile.


    Zhou Wen declined to comment. Jiuyang didn¡¯t say a word. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t interested


    Carlos told him some more things about the Forbidden Land of the Gods as though he knew everything there was to know. It was impossible to find fault with him. Even as an enemy, it wouldn¡¯t be nice to fall out with him.


    Soon, Zhou Wen saw the ruins of an ancient city in front of him. However, there were only some broken walls and stone pillars left. Thanks to the years, these man-made objects had almost returned to their original states.


    On the broken walls and stone pillars, there were no human text carvings or patterns. They were all in their most primitive state.


    Zhou Wen kept using Truth Listener and his eyes to observe his surroundings, but unfortunately, he didn¡¯t discover anything special in the ruins.


    He didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol, much less anything that could advance him to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it here,¡± Jiuyang said to Zhou Wen impatiently.


    ¡°Alright. Since this is where the gods once fought, it¡¯s a good place for a duel.¡± Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    ¡°Do you want to entrust the child in your hands to them?¡± said Carlos as he glanced at Demonic Neonate in Zhou Wen¡¯s arms.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, if there¡¯s a need, you can leave her with us. Our Cape family won¡¯t do anything to the child,¡± said Carlos.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. It¡¯s just for fun. I¡¯ll carry her myself.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really plan on fighting Jiuyang to the death.

 Chapter 1578 - Zone Core

    Chapter 1578: Zone Core


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Many people in Sunset City are ordinary people. I hope the two of you can


    understand. Try your best not to implicate the innocent,¡± said Carlos.


    This place was sufficiently far from Sunset City and the rules of the Forbidden


    Land of the Gods were somewhat special, making it difficult for energy to be


    transmitted over great distances; therefore, the possibility of Sunset City being


    affected wasn¡¯t high.


    However, as a precaution, Carlos raised the issue.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s best if you evacuate everyone,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright. Please wait a moment. Give me an hour.¡± Without wasting any time,


    Carlos turned around and quickly returned to Sunset City.


    Many core members of the Cape family in Sunset City were waiting for his


    news in the meeting room.


    Carlos, is that person really Jiuyang? Why is he here?¡±


    ¡°Are they really going to duel here?


    ¡°why did you order everyone to evacuate the Forbidden Land of the Gods?


    After they stopped asking, Carlos slowly said, ¡°They are going to have a duel in


    the ancient city ruins. As a precaution, everyone has to temporarily leave the


    Forbidden Land of the Gods.¡±


    Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when they heard that.


    ¡°The abandoned city is far from our Sunset City. Furthermore, with the rules of


    the Forbidden Land of the Gods, it¡¯s impossible for shockwaves from the battle


    to reach us. There¡¯s no need to move, right?¡±


    ¡°There are more than a hundred thousand people in Sunset City. Evacuating


    them isn¡¯t that simple. Besides, no matter how strong Jiuyang is, ir¡¯s


    impossible for him to really massacre the city, right?¡±


    ¡°How strange. If it¡¯s really Jiuyang, why would he fight Zhou Wen? Although


    Zhou Wen is very strong, he shouldn¡¯t have reached Jiuyang¡¯s level, right?


    Everyone discussed spiritedly, but most people didn¡¯t change their opinions.


    ¡°Who has the final say here¡± Carlos asked expressionlessly.


    Of course it¡¯s you, but.¡± An elder from the Cape family wanted to say


    something.


    ¡°Since you know that I call the shots, execute it. In an hour, everyone has to


    leave Sunset City and the Forbidden Land of the Gods. If anyone has any


    objections, you can report me to the family head in the future. Carry out my


    orders immediately,¡± said Carlos coldly.


    Everyone looked at each other. Although many people were unhappy, they


    knew that it was useless to say anything else. This place was under Carlos¡¯s


    jurisdiction.


    ¡°This is making a mountain out of a molehill. We will definitely let the family


    head hear about this.¡± The elder snorted coldly and got up to leave the meeting


    room.


    The others left one by one and began the evacuation.


    Carlos got his subordinates to supervise the evacuation. After everyone had


    left, a middle-aged man named Youkai came to Carlos and said, ¡°Carlos, is


    there really such a need? The abandoned city is very far from Sunset City. Even


    a Calamity-grade battle shouldn¡¯t affect this place. Furthermore, we forcefully


    evacuated everyone because of this. This will affect our family¡¯s reputation.¡±


    Carlos shook his head and said with a bitter smile, ¡°Although the chances aren¡¯t


    high, I can¡¯t risk the lives of everyone in the city. Besides, it¡¯s not like you don¡¯t


    know the grudge between Zhou Wen and our Cape family. He might very well


    take the opportunity to seek revenge. Furthermore, I have a nagging feeling


    that his trip here isn¡¯t as simple as a duel. Why would he fight Jiuyang? Why did


    he have to come to the Forbidden Land of the Gods to carry out the duel? There


    must be a reason for this. Therefore, we can only watch him and prepare for


    the worst.¡±


    ¡°Is Zhou Wen that strong¡± Youkai pondered.


    ¡°Do you think a Saint like Jiuyang will duel with anyone?¡± Carlos asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Ill go take a look as well.¡± It made sense when Youkai thought


    about it. Although Jiuyang had lost to Egg Sovereign, everyone knew his


    strength. How could such a person casually fight a weakling?


    For Jiuyang to fight Zhou Wen meant that Zhou Wen was likely an existence on


    the same level as Jiuyang. At the very least, he wasn¡¯t much weaker.


    Do you think it¡¯s possible that Zhou Wen is Egg Sovereign?¡± Carlos suddenly


    said.


    ¡°It¡¯s really possible. Let¡¯s go take a look.¡± Youka?¡¯s eyes lit up.


    After Carlos returned, Zhou Wen walked straight into the ruins, hoping to find


    something new.


    ¡°What are you looking for?¡± Jiuyang suddenly asked as he followed Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t easy for me to make this trip. I want to take a look. Perhaps I¡¯ll gain


    something,¡± Zhou Wen answered casually.


    If you wish to find the Zone Core here, I¡¯m afraid you will be disappointed. The


    Forbidden Land of the Gods doesn¡¯t have a Zone Core,¡± said Jiuyang.


    ¡°What¡¯s a Zone Core!¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he roughly


    guessed what Jiuyang was referring to.


    ¡°How did you advance to the Calamity grade without knowing what a Zone


    Core is?¡± Jiuyang paused and didn¡¯t wait for Zhou Wen to answer. He explained,


    ¡°A Zone Core is the core of a zone. To advance to the Calamity grade, you need


    to find the Zone Core corresponding to your Essence EnerEy Art. Only by


    absorbing the Zone Core can you advance to the Calamity grade. Typical


    dimensional zones only have one core. If the core is destroyed, the dimensional


    zone will be useless. This is also the reason why the various Calamity creatures


    on Earth will destroy the dimensional zone they were born in.¡±


    Then how do you know that there¡¯s no Zone Core here? Zhou Wen never


    expected to hear this. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have


    taken so many detours.


    ¡°Zone Cores have their good and bad. The stronger a dimensional zone is, the


    higher the quality of the Zone Core. After advancing to the Calamity grade, the


    level of the Calamity Zone is directly related to the Zone Core. Typically, a Zone


    Core is the same level as the Calamity grade. It¡¯s divided into the levels of


    Human Realm, Hell, and Heaven. If one absorbs a Human Realm Zone Core,


    then after advancing to the Calamity grade, the Zone Core might very well stay


    at the Human Realm forever. It¡¯s almost impossible to improve further.¡±


    After slightly adjusting his breathing rhythm, Jiuyang continued, ¡°In the


    Mythical era, the Forbidden Land of the Gods once had a Heaven-level Zone


    Core. The so-called Battle of the Gods was actually just a contest for the Zone


    Core here. Unfortunately, the Zone Core was ultimately destroyed. No one took


    it away. Therefore, the Forbidden Land of the Gods is actually equivalent to


    half a crippled dimensional zone.¡±


    There¡¯s actually such a thing? Who were the ones vying for the Zone Core back


    then? How do I know what level the Zone Core is? Zhou Wen muttered


    inwardly.


    He had no idea that there was a division of levels when it came to Zone Cores.


    He didn¡¯t know any of this infomation when absorbing Zone Core. He felt that


    just being able to fuse with his Essence Energy Art was sufficient, so he didn¡¯t


    think too much about it


    lf the Ancient Sovereigm Sutra, i Refinement At, and Chaos Egg only


    absorbed Zone Cores at the Human Realm, wouldn¡¯t that mean that there¡¯s no


    way to improve further?Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.

 Chapter 1579 - Beauty of Simplicity

    Chapter 1579: Beauty of Simplicity


    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you already advanced to the Calamity grade? Why are you still


    searching for the Zone Core?¡± Jiuyang had seen Zhou Wen¡¯s speed before. It was


    definitely at the Calamity grade, so he was convinced that Zhou Wen had


    already advanced to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer, nor could he answer. He could be considered a


    Calamity-grade, but that was under the condition of simulating other Essence


    Energy Arts. He himself hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t told me how to distinguish the level of a Zone Core?¡± Zhou Wen


    asked.


    ¡°The Zone Core isn¡¯t an inanimate object. Levels are demarcated artificially. To


    know what level the Zone Core is, one can only observe the zone itself. The


    stronger a dimensional zone is, the stronger the Zone Core condensed. There


    are also some other details that need to be observed by yourself. There are no


    fixed standards,¡± Jiuyang said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Sweetie¡¯s Hut is definitely very strong, but can


    those words be considered a Zone Core? The Ancient Sword Tomb should be


    very strong as well. The possibility of it being at the Heaven Realm is very high,


    but I can¡¯t be sure. Sovereign Sui¡¯s Tomb can only be considered special. It¡¯s


    hard to say if it¡¯s at the Heaven level.


    Zhou Wen had been figuring things out by himself all this while. Today, he


    finally learned more formal information. It only gave him more questions.


    ¡°Why are you telling me this?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jiuyang. He was considered an


    enemy of the Holy Land, so there was no need for Jiuyang to tell him this.


    Jiuyang said indifferently, ¡°These things are considered secrets among


    humans, but they aren¡¯t considered secrets in the Holy Land. Anyway, you will


    enter the Holy Land soon, so it¡¯s fine to tell you this in advance.¡±


    It¡¯s good to be confident, but you have to be prepared to suffer a setback. Zhou


    Wen felt that Jiuyang¡¯s temper was very odd.


    The two of them were clearly enemies. Furthermore, Zhou Wen had previously


    defeated him in Dubhe Palace. They were about to have a duel.


    However, Jiuyang could speak to him calmly. If it wasn¡¯t for the impending


    duel, Zhou Wen even felt like he was chatting with a friend instead of an


    enemy.


    In fact, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t realize that he was also such a strange person. To


    Jiuyang, Zhou Wen was also an enemy.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time. There¡¯s no need to wait any longer. Let¡¯s begin. Summon your


    Companion Beasts and let me see what else you have other than that


    Companion Beast,¡± Jiuyang said to Zhou Wen as he glanced in the direction of


    Sunset City.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a duel. There¡¯s no need to fight to the death. Why don¡¯t we set some


    ground rules?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to fight Jiuyang to the death.


    ¡°What rules?¡± Jiuyang asked with a frown.


    ¡°Me using a Companion Beast or you using a Guardian isn¡¯t the true


    manifestation of our abilities. Neither of us will use external forces and we¡¯ll


    limit our strength at the Epic stage. How about we rely on our cultivation and


    techniques to determine victory?¡± Zhou Wen had seen Jiuyang¡¯s technique and


    knew that his technique and realm were top-notch. He just lacked strength.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Jiuyang looked at Zhou Wen seriously before agreeing.


    Just then, Youkai and Carlos returned and heard their conversation. Youkai was


    enlightened and said, ¡°It¡¯s no wonder Zhou Wen dares to fight Jiuyang. So


    that¡¯s what he¡¯s up to.¡±


    However, Carlos shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t think of it so simply. Although


    their strengths are at the Epic stage, Jiuyang has already experienced the


    strength of the Calamity grade. By having different vantage points, Jiuyang will


    see everything from a more comprehensive perspective. His realm is also


    much higher than Zhou Wen¡¯s. It won¡¯t be easy for Zhou Wen to win.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Even if the same amount of money is given to different people, it


    will definitely be the people with more information sources who can earn more


    money.¡± Youkai thought of the industry he was familiar with.


    As the two of them were discussing, they didn¡¯t see a figure standing in the


    darkness not far from them. As the environment was too dark and the figure


    had no aura, he was like a ghost. No one noticed his arrival.


    This person was naturally Godsfall, who had been secretly monitoring Jiuyang.


    He had heard Zhou Wen¡¯s conversation.


    Jiuyang is too stubborn. It doesn¡¯t matter if you call him stupid or clumsy, but


    when it comes to persistence, I¡¯m afraid there¡¯s no one else in the world who


    can compare to him. He has been cultivating martial techniques since he was


    young. Among us Saints, any Saint was better than Jiuyang in the first year. In


    the second year, Jiuyang could already keep up with everyone¡¯s progress. And


    in the third year, very few Saints of the same generation were his match when


    it came to the same martial technique. They could only use other techniques to


    make up for it and think of ways to defeat him. After a few years, even if


    Jiuyang only uses the most ordinary martial techniques, it will be very difficult


    for anyone to defeat him in terms of martial techniques.


    Godsfall thought to himself, If Zhou Wen wants to compete with Jiuyangin


    technique and realm, there¡¯s no need for me to take action. What a pity.


    ¡°What weapon are you using?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jiuyang.


    ¡°My body is the weapon,¡± Jiuyang answered naturally, exuding full confidence.


    ¡°Then you won¡¯t mind me using a saber, right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Feel free to do so.¡± Jiuyang clearly didn¡¯t mind.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and the Bamboo Blade appeared in his hand.


    However, after some thought, Zhou Wen put it away and summoned an Epic


    Companion Beast saber.


    Since he requested to have an Epic-stage battle, using the Bamboo Blade was


    excessive.


    ¡°You can use the saber you are used to,¡± Jiuyang said.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what saber I use. Since I was the one who came up with the


    idea, you can attack first.¡± Zhou Wen held the hilt without unsheathing it.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he moved his feet and threw a punch at


    Zhou Wen.


    Indeed, he had only used the strength of the Epic stage. Furthermore, this


    punch didn¡¯t look profound. It was just an ordinary thrust. It was fast enough,


    but with the strength of the Epic stage, its speed was much slower than usual.


    Ignoring Zhou Wen, even Youkai and Carlos could see it clearly. It wasn¡¯t


    difficult to dodge.


    However, Zhou Wen only used his Epic strength, so the speed he could produce


    wasn¡¯t very fast. Faced with such a punch, he didn¡¯t choose to dodge. Instead,


    he raised his scabbard and blocked Jiuyang¡¯s attack.


    Jiuyang¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change despite having his punch being blocked. His


    other fist followed as his punches rained down.


    Jiuyang¡¯s boxing technique wasn¡¯t profound. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have Feng


    Qiuyan¡¯s ability to grow stronger while in combat. However, this ordinary


    boxing technique pressured Zhou Wen.


    In this world, the more complicated something was, the higher the level.


    Sometimes, simplicity was also a form of beauty, a simple sublime feeling.


    Jiuyangwas the kind of person who could turn something simple into


    something sublime.


    It was clearly a very simple boxing technique, but when used by Jiuyang, it


    became extremely threatening.


    The feeling was akin to Monkey Sun having 72 transformations; yet, it was


    difficult for him to withstand the might of Buddha¡¯s flip of the hand..

 Chapter 1580 - Who’s the One With the Higher Vantage Point?

    Chapter 1580: Who¡¯s the One With the Higher Vantage Point?


    Translator: CKtalon


    It looks like Jiuyang is getting very serious! Godsfall knew very well that the simpler Jiuyang¡¯s boxing technique was, the stronger it was.


    Youkai clearly didn¡¯t understand this principle. He had always felt that a true expert¡¯s move would be totally impossible to guard against. It would definitely be an extremely incisive killing move. Every move would be fatal. Even if it wasn¡¯t gorgeous, it would definitely be strange and unpredictable.


    Youkai couldn¡¯t tell what was good about Jiuyang¡¯s simple and boring boxing technique. He said in puzzlement, ¡°Is this a legendary Calamity-grade powerhouse? It doesn¡¯t look like much. I can also use such a boxing technique. It seems like these Calamity-grade powerhouses are only slightly stronger.


    Their realm might not be much higher than the average person.¡±


    However, Carlos said with a sneer, ¡°If you were to use such a fist technique to fight Zhou Wen, you would have long been killed.¡±


    Youkai said indignantly, ¡°I guarantee that my boxing technique will be identical to Jiuyang¡¯s. So he¡¯ll be fine, while I¡¯ll be beaten to death by Zhou Wen?¡±


    ¡°You only saw his boxing technique, but you didn¡¯t see the details,¡± Carlos replied.


    ¡°Details?¡± Youkai was slightly stunned.


    ¡°His boxing technique is very simple, so is his movement technique, and his footwork is equally simple. However, when he uses them together, it¡¯s nothing simple. Far from that,¡± said Carlos.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I tell what¡¯s so special about him? I can also use these things of his without any flaws.¡± Youkai carefully sized him up again, but he failed to identify anything.


    Carlos didn¡¯t look at Youkai, He stared at Jiuyang in battle and said, ¡°You can¡¯t tell because he has already reached the realm of becoming one with nature. It looks ordinary, but in fact, every move he makes, from his movement technique, footwork, fist techniques, to even the changes in his eyes have


    perfectly fused with his surroundings. in a battle in such ruins, no brick or wall is an obstacle for him; instead, these external objects aid him. This can¡¯t be summarized with the word simple. You only see his fist technique being simple, but you don¡¯t see the multi-dimensional world he has built. You only


    see the fist, but he has the entire world in his eyes.¡±


    ¡°Is it that unbelievable?¡± No matter how carefully Youkai looked at it, he only found Jiuyang¡¯s battle very fluid. He didn¡¯t see anything about the multi-dimensional world.


    ¡°Yes, Saint Jiuyang is really very strong. It¡¯s not as simple as borrowing the Guardian¡¯s strength. Even if he suppresses his strength to the Epic stage, Zhou Wen¡¯s chances of defeating him are pitifully low,¡± said Carlos.


    ¡°Then what about you? Can you crack his multi-dimensional world?¡± Youkai asked. Clearly, in his heart, Carlos was an existence comparable to Jiuyang.


    In fact, although Carlos wasn¡¯t famous, he had been entrusted with important responsibilities by the Cape family at a young age. One could tell his status in the Cape family from how he ruled Sunset City.


    Such a person was naturally not a fool.


    ¡°My Guardian isn¡¯t as strong as his,¡± Carlos answered.


    ¡°Then, ignoring Guardians, what about the martial arts realm?¡± Youkai asked again.


    ¡°Twon¡¯tt lose.¡± Although Carlos¡¯ answer was somewhat ambiguous, he was confident that he wouldn¡¯t lose against a figure like Jiuyang. It was obvious that he was very confident in his martial arts realm.


    ¡°I knew it. Saint Jiuyang, Ya of the Holy Spirit Association, and Immortal of the League of Guardians are definitely not your match. In the future, when you inherit the position of family head, our Cape family will definitely be able to recover its former glory,¡± Youkai said happily.


    ¡°How can it be that easy? There are too many powerful fellows in the Federation these days. I don¡¯t have the confidence to beat those fellows you mentioned. Ignoring everything else, just fighting Jiuyang to the death would be my death.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because your Guardian¡¯s level isn¡¯t as high as his. When the Guardian¡¯s level is the same, he will definitely die,¡± said Youkai.


    ¡°That might not be the case. To be honest, even if our strength levels are the same, I¡¯m not completely confident of defeating him. This person is like a Buddha. Mortals won¡¯t be able to find any flaws in him. That¡¯s why I said that I won¡¯t lose, but I might not win either,¡± said Carlos seriously.


    ¡°Well, I have a question. You make Jiuyang sound so powerful. Why hasn¡¯t he defeated Zhou Wen yet?¡± Youkai asked in puzzlement.


    Carlos sighed and said, ¡°Jiuyang is very strong, but Zhou Wen isn¡¯t weak either. His standards aren¡¯t much worse than Jiuyang¡¯s. Furthermore, he keeps adopting a purely defensive stance. No matter how Jiuyang tries to entice him, he doesn¡¯t counterattack. Under such circumstances, it¡¯s very difficult for


    him to make mistakes. He also doesn¡¯t give Jiuyang a chance.¡±


    ¡°see. Now that you mention it, I understand. Just like in sieges of ancient cities, the defending side will have the advantage. The attacking side needs several times the military strength to storm the city. However, their strength is the same now. It will be very difficult for Jiuyang to win. Zhou Wen is good


    at scheming,¡± Youkai said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s just like soccer. When the weaker team fights the stronger team, they often choose to defend before counterattacking, This is the strategy Zhou Wen is using now,¡± said Carlos with a nod.


    Godsfall, who was behind them, heard their conversation. He couldn¡¯t help but size up Carlos in surprise as he thought to himself, I never expected such a figure to appear in the Cape family. Should I kill him first?


    However, after some hesitation, Godsfall temporarily gave up on this thought. He had come mainly for Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts and didn¡¯t wish to reveal his existence; that would make Zhou Wen wary.


    Godsfall shared the same view as Carlos. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to be in a bad situation, just as Carlos had said, although weak teams could counterattack, strong teams might not give them a chance to counterattack.


    It was especially so for a person like Jiuyang. He wouldn¡¯t make any mistakes, much less give his opponent a chance. Therefore, Zhou Wen would definitely lose in the end.


    The difference in realm is still too great. Zhou Wen doesn¡¯t stand a chance. It won¡¯t be too late for me to suddenly strike and snatch Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts when Jiuyang defeats him. Godsfall watched the battle with the intention of watching the show.


    The saber in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand constantly changed its angle and blocked Jiuyang¡¯s repeated attacks. He just wanted to see how deep Jiuyang¡¯s realm went.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had encountered an opponent like Jiuyang. He was very curious.


    However, in terms of realm, Jiuyang¡¯s realm was much weaker than the vine sword¡¯s realm. In terms of vantage point, Zhou Wen had the high ground.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat interested in Jiuyang¡¯s realm and wanted to make more observations.


    Jiuyang¡¯s realm was somewhat similar to the Nondisputatious Sword Intent of the three thousand sword intents. It seemed like he could draw on things as a reference to push the Nondisputatious Sword Intent to a higher level¡­

 Chapter 1581 - Nondisputatious Sword Intent

    Translator: CKtalon


    Sincere words are not fine; fine words are not sincere.


    Those who are skilled do not dispute; the disputatious are not skilled in it.


    Those who know are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it.


    The sage does not accumulate for himself. The more that he expends for others, the more does he possess of his own; the more that he gives to others, the more does he have himself.


    With all the sharpness of the Way of Heaven, it injures not; with all the doing in the way of the sage he does not strive.


    This was the origin of the Nondisputatious Sword Intent. It was a passage from ancient scriptures.


    The skilled didn¡¯t need to strive. Things would naturally fall into their hands because others couldn¡¯t do what they could do. It would only be natural for the things to be given to them.


    Jiuyang¡¯s realm also contained this concept. He pursued his own cultivation without being affected by anything else.


    Zhou Wen looked at Jiuyang¡¯s realm and gained a deeper understanding of the Nondisputatious Sword Intent.


    3000 sword intents are just too many. If I want to figure out the true meaning of all of them, forget a mortal like me with about a hundred years of lifespan, even if I could live for more than a thousand years and figure out one every year, that will only cover a third. Besides, it¡¯s impossible for me to figure


    out the true meaning of one sword intent in a year. I¡¯s fine if I just figure out a few things in the fature, but I can¡¯t pursue perfection like Jiuyang. The ancient scripture¡¯s saying is right. Those who know are not extensively learned; the extensively learned do not know it. Although my 3,000 sword intents


    aren¡¯t weak, Jiuyang¡¯s realm is much higher than any of the 3,000 sword intents, Zhou Wen thought.


    As the essence of their realms were too similar, Zhou Wen quickly made a huge breakthrough in the Nondisputatious Sword Intent from referencing Jiuyang.


    Til give it a try and see how well I¡¯ve cultivated this sword intent. Zhou Wen¡¯s saber stance changed as he used a concept similar to Jiuyang¡¯s. It was none other than the Nondisputatious Sword Intent that had just experienced a breakthrough.


    Jiuyang,Carlos, and Shenluo¡¯s eyes focused at the same time. They could tell that the change in Zhou Wen¡¯s saber aura was very similar to Jiuyang¡¯s boxing concept.


    He actually wants to imitate Jiuyang¡¯s technique and concept. Isn¡¯t he a little too idealistic? How can such a realm be mastered in a short period of time? It¡¯s especially so for Jiuyang¡¯s characteristic of pursuing details. It¡¯s not something that can be mastered just from mimicking. He¡¯s aiming high only to


    achieve little. Shenluo snorted coldly.


    Carlos was also somewhat puzzled. Zhou Wen¡¯s actions seemed a little too rash.


    It was true that Zhou Wen was a genius, but Jiuyang was also a genius. Furthermore, he was a top genius. To use Jiuyang¡¯s ultimate skill that he had cultivated for so many years after such a short period of time was a little arrogant.


    However, the battle left the two dumbfounded.


    ¡®The saber in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand remained sheathed, but he had already switched from defense to offense. During the battle with Jiuyang, the similarity of their techniques and realms exceeded 90%.


    More importantly, Zhou Wen had managed to tie with Jiuyang without being at a disadvantage.


    ¡°Could it be that¡­ there¡¯s really such a genius in this world¡­¡± Carlos widened his eyes and muttered to himself in disbelief.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± By the side, Youkai didn¡¯t understand. He could only tell that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t blindly defending, but his attacks weren¡¯t very powerful. They were very ordinary.


    Carlos said with a bitter smile, ¡°Youkai, do you think I¡¯m considered a genius?¡±


    ¡°Of course. If you aren¡¯t a genius, there aren¡¯t any geniuses in the Federation. Although you don¡¯t have the Sovereign Body inherited from your family, your talent and comprehension far exceed those fellows with the Sovereign Body. I still remember the time when you trained in an Essence Energy Skill


    John took two months to master. You did it for a short while to be much stronger than him,¡± said Youkai.


    ¡°Then, do you think it¡¯s possible for someone to learn something that will take me one to two decades in just a few minutes?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s naturally impossible. A human who can do such a thing, no¡ªI shouldn¡¯t say human; it¡¯s impossible for humans to do it. If they can do it, they are not human at all,¡± said Youkai.


    ¡°But that fellow just did it,¡± said Carlos with another bitter smile.


    ¡°Who? What did he do?¡± Youkai was stunned and asked blankly.


    ¡°Jiuyang¡¯s talent isn¡¯t inferior to mine. I believe his cultivation realm was obtained through arduous cultivation. If it were me, I would also need so much time, but in the short twenty to thirty minutes of battle, Zhou Wen actually reached the same realm as him. He¡¯s even on par with Jiuyang,¡± said Carlos.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right? Could it be that Zhou Wen already knew it and is only using it now?¡± Youkai guessed with a look of disbelief.


    Carlos sighed and said, ¡°I hope so too, but it¡¯s obvious that his realm is still improving. He should still be in the midst of comprehension. In the past, I always felt that I was a genius, not inferior to anyone in the Federation. Even An Tianzuo was only a target for me to catch up with in my studies.


    However, after meeting Zhou Wen today, I suddenly feel disheartened and even some despair.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that way. There must be a reason. It¡¯s impossible for there to be such a genius among humans. There must be a problem. We can find the problem. Don¡¯t give up¡­¡± Youkai immediately panicked. Carlos was the most promising person in the Cape family now. If he were to be dispirited, it would


    undoubtedly be a fatal blow to the Cape family.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯m not a greenhouse flower who hasn¡¯t experienced storms. Even if Zhou Wen is really such a genius, I won¡¯t give up on my goal. I¡¯m just feeling wistful.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Youkai heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that there was nothing abnormal about the latter¡¯s expression. However, he was still alarmed.


    If it was really as Carlos had said, Zhou Wen was too terrifying.


    Shenluo¡¯s surprise was far greater than that of the two. They didn¡¯t know much about Jiuyang, so they were only speculating.


    However, Shenluo knew a lot about Jiuyang. Among the many Saints in the Sun God Holy Temple, only Jiuyang had obtained the recognition of the Sun God Guardian and obtained the Sun God Holy Temple¡¯s Holy Artifact.


    Although everyone was a Saint in name, Jiuyang, who controlled the Sun God Holy Temple¡¯s Holy Artifact, was actually the Sun God Temple¡¯s Holy Son.


    Shenluo was in a similar situation. He knew very well how great the price one needed to pay to become the Holy Son who controlled the Holy Artifact.


    Jiuyang had been cultivating arduously since he was young. His achievements were the result of years of hard work. Even Shenluo had to admit that he was no match for Jiuyang in terms of the martial arts realm.


    It was very difficult to mimic Jiuyang¡¯s realm because it wasn¡¯t as simple as hard work. It also required inhuman talent.


    Such a talented and extremely hardworking person had actually been imitated by someone in a short battle. Furthermore, the combat strength he displayed wasn¡¯t inferior to Jiuyang¡¯s. Shenluo found it unbelievable.


    This Zhou Wen looks much more terrifying than expected. It¡¯s no wonder Lord Holy God sent me to help Jiuyang. Indeed, Lord Holy God has foresight. I definitely can¡¯t let such a fellow grow stronger. Otherwise, he will be a great enemy of my Holy Land. Killing intent flashed in Shenluo¡¯s eyes..

 Chapter 1582 - Connate Appropriation

    Translator: CKtalon


    The Holy Land could tolerate a human with a powerful Companion Beast, but it couldn¡¯t tolerate the existence of a person who was powerful enough to threaten the Holy Land.


    Godsfall secretly rejoiced. Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s cultivation hasn¡¯t reached an uncontrollable level. There¡¯s still a chance of destroying him before he attains his full potential.


    Godsfall was already secretly searching for a suitable opportunity to attack.


    However, before killing Zhou Wen, Godsfall wanted to snatch his Companion Beast. From his point of view, there was no conflict between the two matters.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s main combat strength stemmed from his Companion Beast. As long as it was snatched from him, Zhou Wen would suffer a drop in strength. Killing him wouldn¡¯t be difficult since it was useless having only a potent realm.


    Godsfall no longer had the mood to watch the show. Instead, he stared intently at Zhou Wen, searching for the best opportunity to attack.


    Now that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t summoned his Companion Beast and had suppressed his strength to the Epic stage, it could be said that this was the best opportunity for Godsfall. It was a god-sent opportunity.


    Godsfall was the Connate Holy Temple¡¯s Holy Son. The Essence Energy Art he cultivated was the same as Li Xuan¡¯s Invincible Connate Divine Art.


    However, Li Xuan cultivated an incomplete version, and not only did Godsfall cultivate the complete version, but it was also a modified version that had been supplemented by past Saints.


    Unlike Jiuyang, Godsfall didn¡¯t choose to contract a Guardian. Instead, he chose the path of Spirit Casting and devoured the Connate Ancient God Guardian.


    Coupled with the Connate Holy Temple sparing no expense to groom him, Godsfall had reached the Hell level like Jiuyang thanks to the massive amount of resources.


    Furthermore, the abilities that Godsfall was good at were different from the typical Connate Holy Temple Saint. His Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, Terror transformation, and Calamity Zone were different from Li Xuan¡¯s.


    Li Xuan became stronger from being beaten up, but Godsfall could directly plunder the growth of others. It could be said that the two of them were at two extremities with some similarities.


    The Calamity Zone of Godsfall was called ¡°Connate Return¡± and was also called ¡°Connate Appropriation.¡±


    In his domain, he could appropriate the other party of everything other than their Connate body.


    A Connate Body referred to one¡¯s body of flesh and blood. Clothes, weapons, and accessories could be appropriated as long as they were external.


    Companion Beasts were also foreign objects. Godsfall could also appropriate them.


    However, Connate Appropriation wasn¡¯t without restrictions. If Godsfall wanted to strip something, he had to come into contact with it. Furthermore, it needed to be used on living creatures.


    Of course, the appropriation of a Companion Beast had to be done when Zhou Wen was alive. Once Zhou Wen died, the Companion Beast would transform into Essence Energy and dissipate back into the universe. Then there would be nothing to appropriate.


    Under normal circumstances, as long as the enemy summoned a Companion Beast, Godsfall could snatch it for his own use.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was somewhat powerful. Godsfall didn¡¯t wish for Zhou Wen to have a chance to resist, so he decided to attack Zhou Wen himself.


    As long as he touched the Companion Beast tattoo¡ªeven if it was invisible¡ªhe could successfully appropriate it.


    Therefore, what Godsfall needed to do was actually determine where the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was located on Zhou Wen.


    This wasn¡¯t difficult to determine. There was a general rule. For example, armor-type Companion Beasts were usually tattooed on one¡¯s chest or back.


    Weapon-type Companion Beasts were typically on one¡¯s palms or arms.


    Godsfall didn¡¯t know what the Tiger Soul General¡¯s companion form was, but from the looks of it, it was highly likely that it was similar to armor. Even if it wasn¡¯t, such a Companion Beast was most likely on the chest or back. These were also the targets Godsfall chose.


    As long as I snatch his Tiger Soul General, it will be easy for Jiuyang and me to kill him, Godsfall had already made up his mind. He was just waiting for an opportunity to succeed in one strike.


    In order to increase his success rate, Godsfall planned on touching Zhou Wen¡¯s body as much as possible. It wouldn¡¯t be a problem to appropriate more Companion Beasts. Regardless, he couldn¡¯t miss the Tiger Soul General. Otherwise, it would be troublesome once Zhou Wen summoned it.


    Godsfall didn¡¯t know that even if Zhou Wen were to summon the Tiger Soul General, it wouldn¡¯t be as powerful as he had seen on the Cube.


    There was no heat here at all. The Tiger Soul General had no way of accumulating the demonic flames in his body, nor did he have the time to temper his body. His level was only at the Human Realm, so he was basically no threat to Godsfall and Jiuyang.


    Godsfall didn¡¯t know this, so he was determined to obtain the Tiger Soul General. Godsfall even wanted to use the Tiger Soul General to kill Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen, oh Zhou Wen, blame it on yourself for becoming enemies with the Holy Land and and on your overestimation of your abilities. Godsfall took the opportunity to instantly appear behind Zhou Wen.


    Godsfall was good at the Connate Breath technique. In the senses of others, Godsfall was no different from a rock on the ground. If one didn¡¯t see him with their own eyes, it would be difficult to discover his existence.


    Despite being extremely careful, Zhou Wen failed to discover him.


    At the instant Godsfall approached, he clung his entire body to Zhou Wen¡¯s back. His hands wrapped around him and pressed down on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    The Connate Appropriation took effect. The clothes covering the area vanished just before Godsfall touched Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s reaction was extremely fast. In an instant, the Chaos Egg had already burgeoned from his body and sent Godsfall flying.


    Godsfall¡¯s figure spun in midair and landed on the ground like a ghost. He licked his lips and stared smilingly at Zhou Wen with his slender eyes.


    ¡°Egg Sovereign! So Zhou Wen is Egg Sovereign!¡± Youkai shouted when he saw the Chaos Egg over Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Carlos was first slightly taken aback and then enlightened before he said, ¡°I see. It¡¯s no wonder Jiuyang challenged Zhou Wen to a duel. I should have known.¡±


    In fact, it couldn¡¯t be blamed on Carlos. It was mainly because the Tiger Soul General¡¯s performance was too domineering, No one believed that Zhou Wen could obtain its Companion Egg from killing the corresponding dimensional creature. Previously, the main speculation by people was that Egg,


    Sovereign was Human Sovereign. They didn¡¯t think of Zhou Wen.


    Their guess wasn¡¯t wrong, but no one expected Human Sovereign to be Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Inever expected the Holy Land to think highly of me. They even laid an ambush with a Saint here to wait for me,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown. He had already vaguely sensed that something was amiss with his Companion Beasts.


    ¡°Godsfall, why are you here?¡± Jiuyang also frowned and asked Godsfall.


    ¡°To help you complete the mission,¡± Godsfall said indifferently.


    ¡°This is my business. I don¡¯t need you,¡± Jiuyang said coldly.


    ¡°This is an order from Lord Holy God.¡± With that said, Godsfall ignored Jiuyang and looked at Zhou Wen with a smile. ¡°Zhou Wen, it¡¯s our first time meeting. My name is Godsfall, a Saint from the Connate Holy Temple. Don¡¯t forget my name in what¡¯s left of your short life..¡±

 Chapter 1583 - Snatching Companion Beasts

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What did you do to me?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he checked his body.


    He could clearly sense that there was something wrong with many of his Companion Beasts. There was a faint force that seemed to lock onto a portion of his Companion Beasts.


    It was especially so for the Companion Beasts on his back. This feeling was extremely intense. A similar situation happened at his chest where Godsfall had touched.


    Godsfall smiled at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°What I did was to hold your life in my hand. Your life is now in my hands.¡±


    ¡°Ido want to know how I¡¯ll die,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°You mostly rely on your Companion Beasts, right?¡± As Godsfall spoke, he snapped his fingers.


    With a snap, a hidden tattoo on Zhou Wen¡¯s body automatically surfaced and flew out. Even the Chaos Egg failed to stop the Companion Beast from leaving.


    Soon, a Poison Bat-like Companion Beast flew to Godsfall¡¯s side and circled him twice before flying onto his back and turning into a tattoo.


    ¡°How can this be?¡± Carlos and Youkai were alarmed. They had never heard of anyone capable of snatching a person¡¯s Companion Beast.


    ¡®There was a powerful contractual force binding Companion Beasts. Once they hatched, they couldn¡¯t even be transferred. If they were forcefully transferred, one had to pay a huge price or even pay with their lives.


    Godsfall had actually snatched a Companion Beast from him. If this ability were to spread, it would probably cause panic in the Federation.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Zhou Wen remained unmoved.


    Zhou Wen had already seen similar powers from Liu Yun. Furthermore, Liu Yun¡¯s technique was better than Godsfall¡¯s.


    Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that Godsfall needed to touch his Companion Beast tattoo to steal it. As for Liu Yun¡¯s Star Stealer, it had long reached the stage of stealing pets out of thin air.


    Zhou Wen had always wanted to lear Star Stealer, but he had never had it drop. This left him vexed.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Godsfall¡¯s expression turned cold as he raised his palms and clapped.


    With a clap, another Companion Beast tattoo appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s body. This time, it wasn¡¯t just one, but ten. All of them flew towards Godsfall.


    Godsfall originally wanted to strike fear in Zhou Wen. Ordinary people would be horrified to have ten Companion Beasts stripped from him.


    However, Godsfall soon realized that the ten Companion Beasts he had appropriated from Zhou Wen were all low-level Companion Beasts like Poison Bats, Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors, Steel Cauldron Sprites, and so on. He didn¡¯t even get a single Mythical stage, much less Tiger Soul General.


    ¡°Any more?¡± Zhou Wen asked Godsfall.


    He had many low-level Companion Beasts on him. Ignoring the Musical Note Sprites, he needed a large number of Runic Heavy-Armored Warriors, Steel Cauldron Sprites, and other Companion Beasts for fusion. He would farm them every now and then, so he had a lot of them. Furthermore, these


    Companion Beast tattoos were mainly on his chest and back.


    Godsfall¡¯s expression changed slightly. He never expected Zhou Wen to have so many low-level Companion Beasts.


    Although there were no restrictions on the number of Companion Beast contracts, having too many Companion Beasts was useless in battle. A person¡¯s control was limited. It was not bad for an ordinary person to control two or three Companion Beasts while fighting.


    It would be impressive even for some experts who cultivated psyche techniques to simultaneously control more than ten Companion Beasts.


    Unless it was an extremely intelligent Companion Beast, summoning a large number of Companion Beasts was similar to having a disorderly mob. They might even become a burden, much less be of help.


    Therefore, most people would choose Companion Eggs that were useful to them or excellent Companion Eggs for incubation. Most of the Companion Eggs they didn¡¯t need were sold.


    It was especially so for a high-level powerhouse like Zhou Wen. He had no interest in Companion Eggs below the Mythical stage. Even if he picked them up, he would give them to his friends and juniors or exchange them for the materials he needed.


    It was very rare to have low-level Companion Beasts like Zhou Wen.


    If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need them for fusion, he wouldn¡¯t have had so many low-level Companion Beasts on him.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how many low-level Companion Beasts you have,¡± Godsfall said coldly as he clapped his hands again.


    Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    Godsfall could only appropriate ten Companion Beasts for each Connate Appropriation. He could only sense that Connate Appropriation had locked onto Zhou Wen¡¯s body, but he didn¡¯t know how many Companion Beasts there were.


    This was because no matter how many Companion Beasts there were, the tattoos would overlap. Furthermore, different Companion Beasts could appear in the same spot. Zhou Wen¡¯s back and chest were densely covered with overlapping tattoos.


    Godsfall could only sense the Companion Beast tattoos, but he didn¡¯t know how many Companion Beasts there were or what Companion Beast they were.


    His clapping wasn¡¯t done at random, Every time he used Connate Appropriation, he expended a large amount of Essence Energy. Even if Godsfall had tremendous amounts of Essence Energy, this series of clapping made his forehead drip with sweat.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts flew out like scattering flowers. More than a hundred Companion Beasts flew towards Godsfall.


    Youkai and Carlos were deeply shocked by this scene. To them, Godsfall¡¯s Connate Appropriation was an invincible divine technique.


    With such an ability, he was an existence that could do whatever he wanted among humans.


    After all, most humans relied on their Companion Beasts to fight. Who wouldn¡¯t be afraid of Godsfall¡¯s ability?


    ¡°Twonder if he can snatch a Guardian. If he can do so, it will be too terrifying,¡± Youkai muttered to himself.


    They were alarmed, but Godsfall was so depressed that he nearly blew a gasket.


    Godsfall clearly saw the Companion Beasts before they flew over. Many of them were low-level Companion Beasts he had seen previously. Even if he had never seen them before, there were many that looked familiar. Clearly, they were commonly-seen, low-level Companion Beasts.


    Godsfall wasn¡¯t sure if there were any higher-level Companion Beasts, but there was definitely no Tiger Soul General.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Zhou Wen stood there without moving, nor did he have any intention of attacking Godsfall. He wanted to know how many Companion Beasts Godsfall¡¯s ability could snatch from him¡ªhe wanted to know the limits of this ability.


    As for whether his important Companion Beast would be snatched away, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too worried.


    He had too many Companion Beasts on him. It wasn¡¯t easy for Godsfall to win the luck of the draw¡ªCompanion Beasts that Zhou Wen valued. Furthermore, there weren¡¯t many Companion Beasts that Zhou Wen valued.


    Prisoned Dragon was in that area, but the Limitless Demon Dragon King wasn¡¯t. It was located slightly lower.


    Tiger Soul General was also situated in that region, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried about it at all. If Godsfall really snatched Tiger Soul General, Liu Yun¡¯s experience back then would be what was awaiting him..

 Chapter 1584 - Holy Artifact

    Translator: CKtalon


    Godsfall gritted his teeth and raised his hands to clap again. He refused to believe that Zhou Wen had all these trash Companion Beasts.


    Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    After a series of clapping, Godsfall was covered in sweat. His eyes were red, and the veins on his forehead protruded.


    ¡®The Companion Beasts on Zhou Wen¡¯s body flew up like scattering petals of flowers in bloom and headed for Godsfall.


    Carlos and Youkai were already stunned, but Zhou Wen was about to burst out laughing.


    Godsfall¡¯s luck was clearly not good. Among the Companion Beasts he snatched, there wasn¡¯t even a Mythical Companion Beast, much less Prisoned Dragon. They were all Epic and Legendary Companion Beasts.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t Godsfall¡¯s bad luck. It could only be said to be expected.


    After all, the combined ratio of Mythical and Terror-grade Companion Beasts was at most one in ten thousand. It wasn¡¯t easy to get them from drawing one to two hundred Companion Beasts.


    Ignoring ten consecutive draws, there was no guarantee of a successful draw of a Mythical Companion Beast even with a hundred consecutive draws.


    After the Companion Beasts landed on Godsfall, they belonged to him. Upon receiving the information from the Companion Beasts, Godsfall¡¯s pupils dilated as blood seeped out of the corner of his mouth.


    This fellow¡­ How many trash Companion Beasts does he have on him¡­ Godsfall already knew that none of the Companion Beasts he had snatched were at the Mythical stage.


    Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the answer to this question. He had farmed a large number of Companion Beasts for the sake of fusion. Although many low-level Companion Beasts were useless to others, their Life Providences, Life Souls, and skills might be good materials for fusion. Zhou Wen naturally


    wouldn¡¯t skip out on them. He had been constantly gathering Companion Beasts that were trash in the eyes of others.


    Just the Companion Beasts on his back numbered in the tens of thousands. It would be difficult for Godsfall to extract the Tiger Soul General from them.


    This was under the circumstances that Godsfall had made a relatively good choice. He hadn¡¯t chosen the location of the Musical Note Sprites. Otherwise, if he tried drawing Companion Beasts from the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites, it would make Godsfall suffer a greater breakdown.


    No¡­ [can¡¯t let this continue¡­ That bastard is nuts¡­ Why does he have so many trash Companion Beasts on him for no reason. From that detestable expression he¡¯s wearing, he must still have many trash Companion Beasts. Godsfall also knew that he was at his Essence Energy limits. If he were to


    continue appropriating, he would collapse without Zhou Wen needing to do a thing.


    Zhou Wen was originally alarmed as he wondered if he should retreat.


    However, after hearing what Godsfall said, he felt relieved and dispelled the thought of retreating, He stared at the Holy Artifact in Godsfall¡¯s hand that was changing like a Taiji sphere, wanting to know what use it had.


    In the future, he would have to fight the Holy Land, so it was better to learn more about it now.


    With the Chaos Egg protecting him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t panic.


    As the power of the Connate Insight became stronger, Godsfall¡¯s entire body seemed to be affected by it. The Connate aura circulated between the man and the talisman, causing Godsfall to undergo a complete transformation.


    Godsfall was like an ancient god. His eyes seemed to have six illusory, intersecting lines. They were like lightning as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen felt uncomfortable as though he was being peeped at with his clothes stripped off. In the next second, Godsfall suddenly shouted, ¡°It¡¯s him!¡±


    As Godsfall shouted, he extended his right thumb and middle finger and snapped his fingers.


    Pa!


    Although he was still using Connate Appropriation, the snap of his fingers was like a bolt from the blue. There was even a bolt of lightning that lit up between his fingers, illuminating the entire Forbidden Land of the Gods.


    After the thunderclap sounded, Zhou Wen felt his body relax as though a thousand tonnes of weight had been lifted off his body. A Companion Beast was forcefully separated from him, transforming into a mecha general that rode a ferocious tiger. It ran towards Godsfall in midair. It was none other than


    the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Zhou Wen watched in surprise as the Tiger Soul General flew towards Godsfall. He was alarmed. He actually managed to snatch the Tiger Soul General from me. That Holy Artifact is interesting!


    The Tiger Soul General wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast that could be easily snatched away. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t shake it off even if he wanted to, so it was even harder for others to snatch it.


    Zhou Wen still remembered that the last time Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun managed to snatch the Tiger Soul General was when he used the Zhang family¡¯s ancestral Fate Reversal Talisman. Furthermore, the Tiger Soul General¡¯s level was relatively low back then.


    Now that the Tiger Soul General could still be snatched away despite being at the Calamity grade, this piqued Zhou Wen¡¯s interest in the stone talisman.

 Chapter 1585 - Tiger Soul General Appropriated

    Translator: CKtalon


    When Godsfall saw Tiger Soul General fly towards him, he revealed a gratified smile and thought to himself, Although the process was a little tricky, I still completed the mission.


    After Tiger Soul General landed on Godsfall, Godsfall looked down at Zhou Wen and said indifferently, ¡°You should be proud to be able to force me to use the Holy Artifact.¡±


    However, when Godsfall sensed the information from Tiger Soul General, he was stunned. He almost couldn¡¯t believe the information he had received.


    ¡°Impossible. How can it only be at the Human Realm?¡± At that instant, Godsfall thought that he had snatched a fake Tiger Soul General.


    From Tiger Soul General¡¯s performance on Dubhe, he was undoubtedly at the Hell level. Furthermore, he had to be a top existence at the Hell level. Only then could he possess such might and easily kill two Starlord Ravenous Wolves.


    Therefore, Godsfall found it unbelievable that Tiger Soul General was only at the Human Realm.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s name wasn¡¯t wrong and its appearance was right. It couldn¡¯t be fake. After all, Calamity-grade Companion Beasts were relatively rare. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t have two identical Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, right? The chances were too low.


    Could it be that Tiger Soul General is really that strong? He can kill Hell-level creatures at the Human Realm? Godsfall had his suspicions.


    Apart from the difference in physical attributes, there was also the evolutionary difference of the Calamity Zone. A Hell-level domain would undergo a qualitative change.


    For example, the two domains of fire and water that were both at the Human Realm might be able to mutually restrain each other, but if one domain advanced to the Hell level, it would completely crush the other.


    Godsfall only noticed Tiger Soul General¡¯s level and ability, but he didn¡¯t have the time to carefully study his skills. Therefore, he didn¡¯t realize how terrifying the Jinxes Master skill was.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, is this the Tiger Soul General you used to kill the Starlord Ravenous Wolves?¡± Godsfall summoned Tiger Soul General and asked Zhou Wen.


    Although he felt that the possibility of Zhou Wen possessing two Tiger Soul Generals wasn¡¯t high, Godsfall still wanted to get to the bottom of it.


    ¡°It¡¯s whatever you make it to be.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Godsfall with a look of pity.


    It was fine if he possessed Tiger Soul General, but to actually summon it¡ªeven Liu Yun hadn¡¯t been as arrogant as him.


    It¡¯s coming¡­ It¡¯s coming¡­ Zhou Wen was somewhat excited.


    In fact, he didn¡¯t know what the snowflake-like points of light were. However, he had a nagging feeling that the sudden appearance of these snowflakes was related to Tiger Soul General.


    The points of light constantly condensed in the sky as they snowballed. Although no one knew what it was, the terrifying energy fluctuations in the snowball left everyone alarmed.


    ¡°Stop gaslighting!¡± Godsfall held the Connate Insight in his hand and transformed into a Connate Divine Light that struck the huge snowball in the sky.


    ¡®The Connate Divine Light was indomitable and could destroy virtually anything in the world. However, when it struck the snowball, it was like water being soaked up by a sponge as it seeped into the snowball.


    The snowball that was originally emitting light became even brighter. As for the snowflakes that flew out of everything, they flew towards the snowball at an even faster speed and fused with it.


    The points of light that seemed to be snow appeared to have accelerators activated as they charged towards the huge snowball in the sky.


    Godsfall was first taken aback before he realized the problem.


    These snowflake-like points of light weren¡¯t caused by anyone. They seemed to have appeared because of his Connate power and the Connate Insight.


    Zhou Wen naturally saw this scene. His thoughts were the same as Godsfall. The points of light were definitely affected by the Holy Artifact.


    However, he went one level deeper than Godsfall. He felt that this coincidence might not be a pure coincidence. Perhaps it was thanks to Tiger Soul General.


    Zhou Wen carefully sensed the energy fluctuations of the points of light, hoping to know what kind of power it was.


    However, the energy fluctuations of the points of light were very special. He could only sense the existence of energy, but he couldn¡¯t tell what attributes it had.


    Zhou Wen extended his finger and touched a point of light with his fingertip. Immediately, he felt a strange force enter his body from his fingertip.


    This power¡­ Zhou Wen widened his eyes in disbelief.

 Chapter 1586 - Terrifying Jinxes Master

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen became alarmed when he felt the power in the point of light.


    This power was actually attracted by the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It flew towards the Heaven-Opening Scripture engraving on the Wheel of Destiny and landed in it, disappearing with a flash.


    Could these things¡­ be parts of the shattered Zone Core of the Forbidden Land of the Gods? Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed as he looked at the points of light.


    More and more points of light flew towards the snowball in the sky at an accelerated pace. In just a moment, countless points of light gathered together, forming a huge cloud-like blob of light in the sky.


    Godsfall used Connate Insight, but he failed to dissipate the light blob with one strike. Instead, he boosted the power of the light blob. He immediately knew that this thing was likely triggered by his strength.


    After some thought, Godsfall gathered his strength and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Regardless of what the blob of light was, all he needed to do was kill Zhou Wen and leave the Forbidden Land of the Gods before that thing fully formed.


    He held the Connate Insight in one hand and grabbed at Zhou Wen with the other. Zhou Wen immediately felt an immense suction force suck the Chaos Egg towards his palm.


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering how to deal with it, his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Light shone brightly in the sky as a beam of light suddenly shot down from the ball of light. Like lightning, it struck Godsfall¡¯s head.


    Godsfall was alarmed, but he couldn¡¯t dodge the lightning, All he could do was gather his strength to resist it.


    Lightning struck Godsfall¡¯s head, but it didn¡¯t produce any sparks or electric bolts. Godsfall¡¯s body trembled as his legs went limp and he fell to the ground.


    ¡®The Connate aura on his body instantly vanished without a trace, resulting in the Connate Insight losing its driving force and dimming. It stopped spinning and turned back into the stone talisman before falling to the ground.


    As for the blob of light in the sky, it became even more dazzling as it smote down with lightning.


    Godsfall¡¯s expression changed drastically as he hurriedly gathered his strength again. However, he had none left. He wanted to dodge, but it was too late. All he could do was summon a bird-shaped Companion Beast to shield his head.


    The lightning seemed to have a life of its own as it circled around and struck Godsfall.


    Godsfall had been drained of his Connate Essence Energy. The lightning landed on him and vanished like previously, but the change in Godsfall¡¯s body wasn¡¯t as simple as the disappearance of Essence Energy.


    Godsfall, who was originally rather handsome, instantly had his hair tun white, his face covered in wrinkles and his eyes turbid. His vitality dropped to rock bottom, like an old man on the brink of death.


    Everyone was alarmed when they saw this scene. Even someone as powerful as Godsfall had ended up in such a state after being struck by two bolts of lightning. It was shocking.


    Youkai and Carlos turned around and ran. Who knew if the blob of light would treat them as its next target after killing Godsfall.


    Even Godsfall couldn¡¯t withstand two bolts of lightning. They probably couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike.


    ¡°Jiuyang¡­ Save me¡­¡± The aging Godsfall was like an old man. It was difficult for him to even struggle to his feet. He used all his strength to cry to Jiuyang for help, but he only let out an extremely weak and hoarse voice.


    ¡®When the third bolt of lightning struck down, Jiuyang¡¯s body emitted light as he condensed the Sun God Light and smote the lightning that descended from the sky.


    The lightning seemed bent on hitting Godsfall. Before it collided with the Sun God Light, it strangely vanished. When Jiuyang saw it again, the lightning had landed on Godsfall.


    ¡°Ah!¡± As the third bolt of lightning descended, Godsfall let out a tragic cry. The flesh on his body shriveled at a discernible pace.


    A layer of withered skin clung tightly to the bones, almost no different from a skeleton.


    However, Godsfall didn¡¯t die just like that. His eyes protruded due to the shrinking of his flesh. They were filled with horror and despair.


    With his current body, it was difficult for him to even crawl up. Alll that was left was death.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw this. After all, he was at the Hell level, and comparable to a Heaven-level powerhouse with the use of the Connate Insight. Yet, he still ended up in such a state.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any pity for him, but when he thought of Godsfall¡¯s outcome and how he might have been harmed by Jinxes Master, he felt uncomfortable.


    Tiger Soul General had always followed him in the past. Furthermore, he had an even more ferocious Bamboo Blade resulting in double the Jinxes Master. He was lucky that nothing had happened to him.


    In the past, he only felt that Jinxes Master had some influence like resulting in him getting hurt, but it wouldn¡¯t lead to his death.


    However, to see Godsfall reduced to such a state left Zhou Wen¡¯s heart trembling as his legs went limp. It was a first.


    Although it¡¯s quite a pity, it can¡¯t be considered a bad thing if Tiger Soul General dies with Godsfall, Zhou Wen thought.


    He originally wondered if he should find an opportunity to retrieve Tiger Soul General, but after seeing Godsfall¡¯s death, Zhou Wen felt that he should cherish his life and stay away from Jinxes Master.


    After losing the Human Realm Tiger Soul General, he could still obtain other Companion Beasts. If for some reason he failed to hold back Jinxes Master one day, it wouldn¡¯t be as simple as losing a Companion Beast. His life would be over.


    Zhou Wen was already considering whether he should throw the Bamboo Blade out. This was too terrifying, He didn¡¯t wish to become like Godsfall.


    Now wasn¡¯t the time to think about this. Zhou Wen and Carlos reacted the same way. They turned around and prepared to run, Who knew if that thing would treat them as its next target after killing Godsfall?


    Godsfall had Tiger Soul General, and he had the Bamboo Blade. They were both lethal things.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to run, he heard a boom. An explosion sounded from the blob of light as another bolt of lightning struck down.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the lightning was aimed at Godsfall to kill him, but to his surprise, the lightning didn¡¯t strike at Godsfall. Instead, it came at him.


    Holy sh*t! Zhou Wen was so frightened that he immediately instant transmitted, hoping to dodge the lightning.


    However, it was useless. The bolt of lightning struck him amidst his instant transmission, blasting him back into reality.


    Zhou Wen was blasted out in an instant. No matter how strong his previous opponent was, they could at most strike him down before he instant transmitted or after he completed it. He had never encountered such a situation.


    Godsfall, who was on his last breath, seemed to feel a little more delighted when he saw Zhou Wen being struck by the lightning.


    ¡°Come to hell with me.¡± Godsfall gritted his teeth, his hoarse voice almost inaudible..

 Chapter 1587 - Condensing a Zone Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen felt his heart palpitate. All he could do was pin his hopes on the Chaos Egg, hoping that it could withstand the power of the lightning.


    However, in an instant, Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his spine. The power of the lightning seeped into the Chaos Egg and struck him.


    Even the activated Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and Truth Listener were useless.


    Zhou Wen shivered as the Chaos Egg automatically dissipated, exposing his body.


    It¡¯s over! Zhou Wen¡¯s body and mind trembled as he felt his calves and stomach cramp. He was only human, one that was afraid of death. In particular, he didn¡¯t want to end up like Godsfall.


    He wanted to resist, but he realized that his Essence Energy was instantly sucked away by the lightning that invaded his body.


    His Essence Energy was like iron powder, and the lightning was like a magnet. The former was instantly sucked dry, leaving nothing behind.


    Without Essence Energy, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do anything, He couldn¡¯t even throw Demonic Neonate out.


    Now, Zhou Wen finally knew how Godsfall felt when he was struck. It was no wonder Godsfall didn¡¯t have a chance to resist. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a chance either.


    Zhou Wen could sense that the lightning retreated like the receding tide after absorbing his Essence Energy.


    However, before it left Zhou Wen¡¯s body, the Heaven-Opening Scripture on his Wheel of Destiny automatically lit up without any Essence Energy to support it.


    The lightning that was retreating at high speeds stopped. It moved toward the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder as though it had been attracted.


    Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. Although he had previously discovered that the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder could attract the points of light, he felt that it might not be able to withstand such terrifying energy after seeing Godsfall¡¯s outcome.


    Lightning surged into the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and the sutra automatically opened. Strange words gradually appeared on the blank pages.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t recognize any of the words, but for some reason, he vaguely understood the meaning behind them.


    Godsfall lay on the ground as he panted with great difficulty. However, he stared intently at Zhou Wen, unwilling to take his last breath as though he was waiting for Zhou Wen to head to the netherworld with him.


    Jiuyang looked at Zhou Wen who had been struck by lightning, After some thought, he reached out and took out something. It was a strange bead that resembled a miniature sun.


    With the divine bead in hand, the Sun God Light on Jiuyang¡¯s body became stronger and stronger. He stared at Zhou Wen as though he wanted to do something.


    Another bolt of lightning descended as Jiuyang¡¯s body emitted a divine light. It illuminated the nearby area, revealing everything. The powerful Sun God Light struck the lightning.


    ¡°Jiuyang¡­ What are you doing¡­ Cough¡­¡± Godsfall shouted hysterically with all his strength, only to cough out blood.


    ¡°He¡¯s my opponent. Even if he dies, he has to die at my hands,¡± Jiuyang answered calmly.


    However, just as he said that, Jiuyang¡¯s expression changed drastically. The Sun God Light augmented by the Holy Artifact failed to stop the lightning.


    The lightning vanished like a ghost. When it appeared again, it had already struck Zhou Wen.


    Upon seeing this scene, Godsfall laughed crazily. His face was as warped as a devil¡¯s.


    However, Godsfall¡¯s smile quickly froze.


    ¡®When he had been struck by the second lightning bolt, his body had rapidly aged and lost its vitality. However, none of that happened after Zhou Wen was struck by the second lightning bolt.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s aura didn¡¯t weaken; it even became stronger. It was as though an intangible force was erupting from his body.


    Jiuyang was slightly taken aback as he stopped and looked at Zhou Wen.


    Rumble!


    Explosive booms sounded from the light blob in the sky as the bolts of lightning formed a thunderstorm that constantly struck Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen seemed to be bathed in lightning, but his body didn¡¯t wither like Godsfall. Instead, his aura became stronger and stronger.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Godsfall widened his eyes as though he had gone mad. He cried out angrily, but his voice was so hoarse that it was difficult to hear.


    Words constantly appeared on the Heaven-Opening Scripture in Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Every bolt of lightning that fused into it formed words on the Heaven-Opening Scripture.


    The shapes of the words were strange, but one could understand their meaning with a glance.


    From the looks of it, that thing is indeed the Zone Core that was shattered back then. Furthermore, it happens to be compatible with my Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. It has benefited me. Instantly, Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this was considered luck. Although he had previously discovered that the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder could absorb the points of light, he wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to absorb it if Godsfall hadn¡¯t attracted the shattered Zone Core out.


    I wonder what the Zone Core looked like before it was shattered? Zhou Wen stared at the blob of light in the sky and realized that it was gradually shrinking.


    The blob of light was clearly not the true face of the Zone Core. It was only a collection of fragments. There was no Inowing what the real Zone Core looked like.


    Unless one chanced upon an ancient powerhouse who had participated in the battle, it was very difficult to know what the core looked like.


    Zhou Wen was actually somewhat puzzled. This Zone Core was already so terrifying in its shattered state. It could easily kill the Holy Artifact-wielding Godsfall; how powerful would it be when it was complete?


    This Zone Core was clearly extraordinary to have so many powerhouses vie for it.


    ¡®More and more words appeared on the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Finally, it began condensing a domain power. Zhou Wen could sense that the power of the Heaven-Opening Scripture was building a nomological domain.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body floated in the air as a strange force spread out from his body.


    These were the original ancient city ruins. Nearby, the ancient city ruins within the domain¡¯s range were undergoing a strange change.


    The broken walls, stone pillars, and ground were like a movie playing backwards as they were restored to their former appearance.


    ¡®The weathered bricks were gradually repaired, and broken stone pillars appeared out of thin air. The entire ancient city seemed to be undergoing a reversal of time.


    Zhou Wen¡­ Is he condensing a domain to advance to the Calamity grade? Carlos couldn¡¯t move his eyes away when he saw the strange magical scene.


    After running for a short distance, they realized that something was amiss. When they turned their heads and saw this scene, they were stunned.


    Zhou Wen¡­ He seems to have a pure human body¡­ Youkai sized up Zhou Wen¡¯s body as his expression tured even odder.


    It wasn¡¯t just Youkai. Jiuyang also discovered the same problem. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any traces of Spirit Casting on him, nor did he have the characteristics of a dimensional creature after using the Mythical Serum. No matter how he looked at it, he was a pure human.


    He¡¯s advancing to the Calamity grade as a pure human? Jiuyang stood there and looked at Zhou Wen in a daze..

 Chapter 1588 - Regicide

    Translator: CKtalon


    Jiuyang had always believed that Zhou Wen had used some method to advance to the Calamity grade. Now, he suddenly realized that Zhou Wen was condensing a domain. Furthermore, it was completely different from what he had imagined. Zhou Wen seemed to be a pure-blooded human without using


    any external help.


    Can pure-blooded humans really reach this stage? Jiuyang looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression.


    Godsfall¡¯s expression was even more complicated. He didn¡¯t have any blood left to vomit. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve definitely vomited another three liters of blood.


    He had lost his vitality from being struck by the lightning. Zhou Wen had been struck by the same lightning, but he ended up advancing to the Calamity grade. There was no justice in this world.


    It shouldn¡¯t be like this¡­ It shouldn¡¯t be like this¡­ The resentment in Godsfall¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t be appeased. He used his last breath to order the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to kill Zhou Wen. Even if he couldn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen, it was fine if he could interrupt his advancement to the Calamity grade.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General accepted the order and turned to look at Zhou Wen. The purple flames in his eyes constantly flickered, but he didn¡¯t immediately rush over.


    Godsfall believed that due to his severed vitality and how he was on his last breath that his connection with his Companion Beast had weakened. All he did was repeatedly urge the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General received Godsfall¡¯s repeated orders, but it still didn¡¯t charge at Zhou Wen.


    He slowly turned around and walked towards Godsfall.


    ¡°You¡­ What are you doing¡­ I told you to kill him¡­¡± Godsfall roared at the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. He didn¡¯t know what had happened. Why would the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General walk to him? He had clearly ordered the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to kill Zhou Wen. Why would


    the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General walk back?


    Godsfall was puzzled. At the same time, he seemed to realize something, He immediately sensed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s information again.


    Malicious Evil¡­ Heaven-defying Slaying¡­ Jinxes Master¡­ What kind of f*cking Companion Beast is this¡­ Only then did Godsfall realize that something was amiss with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Be it his Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, Terror transformation, Calamity Zone, or


    skills, everything was very wrong.


    Just looking at it might not be much, but when combined together, Godsfall felt a chill run down his spine.


    He had never seen a Companion Beast with such evil and vile attributes. Together with the Heaven-defying Slaying zone and Jinxes Master skill, this deepened the chill running down his spine. He opened his mouth to seek help from Jiuyang.


    However, just as he opened his mouth, the spear in the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s hand slashed across his neck. Godsfall¡¯s head was sent flying.


    This development stunned everyone.


    Jiuyang never expected Godsfall to be killed by his Companion Beast. He looked at the Tiger Soul General with blood still dripping from his spear tip. His face was filled with shock.


    ¡°Carlos, am I dreaming? Wasn¡¯t that Companion Beast snatched away by Godsfall? His owner should be Godsfall, right?¡± Youkai rubbed his eyes in disbelief.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t dreaming. I saw it too. He¡¯s indeed Godsfall¡¯s Companion Beast and it has indeed killed him,¡± said Carlos with an odd expression.


    ¡°A Companion Beast killing its master? How can that be? Furthermore, once its master dies, it should be reduced to ashes, right?¡± Youkai¡¯s mind was filled with question marks.


    Godsfall¡¯s head fell to the ground as his eyes nearly popped out. It was obvious how he couldn¡¯t accept his death.


    The Companion Beast tattoo on his body dissipated with his death, turning into Essence Energy that returned to the universe.


    However, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General remained standing proudly on his mount without any signs of dissipating.


    This strange scene made everyone shudder. If Companion Beasts could kill their masters, then with so many Companion Beasts on them, they wouldn¡¯t even know how they died if a Companion Beast attacked them one day. There was no way to defend against it.


    The blob of light in the sky shrank as the domain power emitted from Zhou Wen¡¯s body intensified. The restoration of the ancient city nearby sped up.


    Ancient buildings were erected out of thin air, gradually restoring the ancient city to its original appearance.


    Strange. Could it be that the Heaven-Opening Scripture¡¯s domain is a Time Reversal Zone? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    The power displayed by the domain now was like reversing time, but the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder had nothing to do with temporal powers. From the beginning to now, he had never used a temporal item to advance.


    No, it¡¯s not temporal, Zhou Wen quickly realized the problem.


    If it was a reversal of time, not only would the ancient city be restored, but everything inside would also be restored.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if there were any residents in the ancient city in the past, but there would definitely be creatures destroying it. If time flowed back, the creatures that destroyed the ancient city should have appeared in the reverse flow of time.


    Now, only the ancient city was being restored. The creatures that had destroyed it didn¡¯t appear. Furthermore, upon careful inspection, one would discover that many places in the domain hadn¡¯t changed because of the domain¡¯s power. Only the ancient city had changed.


    ¡®What kind of domain is this? Zhou Wen kept sensing the domain¡¯s power, but he still couldn¡¯t understand what kind of domain it was.


    The power of a domain was formed from two parts. One was the Essence Energy Art that one cultivated, including the Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and Terror transformation formed during the cultivation of the Essence Energy Art. These would have a certain effect on the domain¡¯s


    abilities.


    The other important component was the Zone Core that one absorbed.


    Zhou Wen could sense the portion of the Essence Energy Art, but he didn¡¯t know what kind of power the Zone Core gave him. He also needed to constantly discover the domain¡¯s abilities.


    From the beginning, when the Zone Core severely injured Godsfall, its power showed some form of devouring and absorption. However, now that Zhou Wen had absorbed the Zone Core¡¯s power, it produced an effect similar to the reverse flow of time. This made Zhou Wen momentarily unable to


    determine what kind of ability the domain condensed by the Dao Sutra was.


    Zhou Wen also thought of another possibility. If one¡¯s Essence Energy Art and Zone Core combined to produce a domain, producing a special reaction, it might also trigger a domain ability that was different from both.


    Just like a chemical reaction, the combination of two different elements could form a new material.


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a new ability. It was only because Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about the Zone Core¡¯s abilities.


    Boom!


    Only a tiny portion of the blob of light remained. This portion transformed into a huge pillar of light that blasted at Zhou Wen.


    As the pillar of light descended on Zhou Wen, the entire Forbidden Land of the Gods began to tremble. It was as though a huge earthquake had happened. Cracks that spanned hundreds of kilometers appeared on the ground as everything collapsed.


    The buildings in Sunset City collapsed one after another, and huge rifts opened beneath the city. Half of the city had already fallen, and the remaining parts were constantly sliding down.


    The darkness in the sky seemed to be cut open like a curtain. It peeled off piece by piece, revealing the originally blue sky. The entire Forbidden Land of the Gods was collapsing.


    So to advance to the Calamity grade, one needs to use the power of a dimensional zone as the price. Carlos seemed to understand something¡­

 Chapter 1589 - Zone Formation

    Translator: CKtalon


    Youkai was rejoicing, ¡°Thankfully, you forced the evacuation of everyone in Sunset City. Otherwise, not many in Sunset City would have survived such a huge disaster.¡±7


    ¡®The Forbidden Land of the Gods collapsed more and more violently. Carlos and Youkai didn¡¯t dare stay any longer. They turned around and rushed towards the exit of the Forbidden Land of the Gods.


    Thankfully, Carlos¡¯s Guardian was already at the Terror grade. Otherwise, it was unknown if he could escape alive.


    ¡®The entire Forbidden Land of the Gods collapsed except the area near Zhou Wen. The ancient city had mostly been restored.


    The ancient city had a mysterious and ancient aura. Buildings made of rocks had a very simple design. There were basically no decorations. Occasionally, one could see extremely simple drawings on some walls. They were also abstract things like landscapes.


    Is this ancient city built by humans or is it an ancient city that originally existed in the dimensional zone? Zhou Wen guessed.


    However, just as he was sizing up the ancient city, it suddenly shattered and turned to dust that rose into the sky. When the ashes flew into the air, they vanished.


    ¡®When the ancient city completely vanished, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder finally completed its evolution and reached the Calamity grade. Its domain power had completely taken form.


    It has finally advanced to the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. This was a pleasant surprise.


    He originally thought that he had made a wasted trip, but to his surprise, he raised the Dao Sutra to the Calamity grade and condensed a Calamity Zone.


    However, up to now, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know much about the Calamity Zones ability. He needed more time to understand it before he could figure out what kind of domain it was.


    ¡®The dark Forbidden Land of the Gods no longer existed. The sky was blue. When the sunlight shone down, there were crisscrossed abysses everywhere.


    Just as Zhou Wen was rejoicing, he saw a blob of purple light run towards him. Looking up, it was the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    What¡¯s going on? Shouldn¡¯t he perish with Godsfall? Zhou Wen had been paying attention to the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and the newly formed domain. He hadn¡¯t paid attention to the situation outside the domain and didn¡¯t see what had happened.


    Upon seeing Godsfall¡¯s corpse on the ground while the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was rushing towards him, he was somewhat surprised. Just as he was about to stop the Tiger Soul General¡¯s charge, he saw the ferocious tiger leap up. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General transformed into a purple


    flame that flew towards Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    It was useless for Zhou Wen to block it. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General transformed back into a tattoo and imprinted it on Zhou Wen¡¯s body¡ªback in its original spot.3


    Holy sh*t.. This. What¡¯s going on.. A Companion Beast can return on its own without dying with its master¡­ Zhou Wen was truly alarmed. He looked at the headless corpse that was sliding down the valley and couldn¡¯t help but cry out, ¡®Was Godsfall¡¯s head chopped off by Tiger Soul General?¡±


    ¡°He was the one who chopped it off,¡± Jiuyang said as he stood not far from Zhou Wen.


    Was he really beheaded by Tiger Soul General? Zhou Wen was even more alarmed. Such a Companion Beast wasn¡¯t only feared by others; even he was also alittle afraid.


    The Companion Beast was one with him. If Tiger Soul General came out while he was sleeping and beheaded him with one strike, that would be such an unjust death.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss. He couldn¡¯t fuse Tiger Soul General into oblivion or throw it away. Unless he could make Tiger Soul General die in battle, it was almost impossible to shake him off.


    It also seemed difficult to let Tiger Soul General die in battle. The more this fellow fought, the stronger he became. If he really took him to a particularly dangerous place, Zhou Wen might die before he died.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you a pure-blooded human?¡± Jiuyang stared at Zhou Wen and asked. Although the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was very strange, Jiuyang wasn¡¯t too interested in him.


    Instead, it was Zhou Wen who piqued Jiuyang¡¯s interest.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Zhou Wen looked at his body and didn¡¯t discover anything different from a human.


    After receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s affirmative answer, Jiuyang¡¯s expression became even more complicated.


    ¡°Can you tell me how pure-blooded humans can advance to the Mythical stage?¡± Although Jiuyang knew that Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t give him an answer, he couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Up to now, the human experts at the Mythical stage and above he knew had relied on external forces other than Zhou Wen.


    The education Jiuyang had received since he was young and what he had seen made him believe that it was impossible for pure-blooded humans to advance to the Mythical stage.


    The teachings of the Holy Temple clearly indicated that humans were sinners of the world. They were punished by God and had natural flaws. It was impossible for them to advance to the Mythical stage as humans.


    However, Zhou Wen in front of him made Jiuyang suspect the teachings of the Holy Temple for the first time.


    ¡°Having nine Life Providences and nine Life Souls allows the advancement to the Mythical stage. Of course, it¡¯s only a possibility. The chances are very low and the possibility of failure is very high.¡± Zhou Wen answered Jiuyang unexpectedly.


    2


    In fact, this wasn¡¯t considered a secret. This was because Xia Jiuhuang had previously attempted this method. Furthermore, Jing Daoxian had told him this method, so Jing Daoxian definitely knew about it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that the other families didn¡¯t have any information about this.


    However, no one could do it. Apart from Xia Jiuhuang who used an inhuman forbidden technique, no one else could gather the nine Life Providences and nine Life Souls.


    ¡°You have nine Life Providences and Life Souls?¡± Jiuyang was stunned as he asked Zhou Wen in disbelief.


    ¡°Guess,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile. He suddenly instant transmitted to a spot and reached out to grab the Connate Insight that had fallen to the ground. Then, he teleported away and instantly vanished.


    He had already achieved his goal here. There was no need for him to continue wasting time. Furthermore, he wasn interested in continuing the battle with Jiuyang.


    Jiuyang was very strong, but Zhou Wen had already seen through him. Furthermore, he had gained insight into the Nondisputatious Sword Intent. There was no point in continuing the battle. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t plan on killing Jiuyang.


    Previously, when the lightning struck, Jiuyang had tried to help him block it. Regardless of the reason for helping him, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to kill him now.


    In contrast, Zhou Wen was still very interested in the Connate Insight. Godsfall could use the power of the Connate Insight to reach the Heaven level, so it was obvious that it was at least a Heaven level item.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t snatch the Connate Insight because it was useless to him. He couldnt stimulate its power.


    Besides, before Godsfall¡¯s death, Jiuyang wasn¡¯t willing to touch the Connate Insight. Otherwise, it would easily trigger a misunderstanding between the Connate Holy Temple and the Sun God Holy Temple.


    Later on, Godsfall¡¯s death, as well as Zhou Wen¡¯s advancement to the Calamity grade as a pure-blooded human, shocked Jiuyang greatly. His attention wasn¡¯t on the Connate Insight that had fallen to the side.


    Of course, it was mainly because it was useless to him. Therefore, Jiuyang didn¡¯t take the Connate Insight seriously.


    However, Zhou Wen was different. The appearance of the Zone Core fragments triggered by the Connate Insight made him feel that he might be able to use it..

 Chapter 1590 - Teacher Domain

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen carried Demonic Neonate back to Guide City. The Holy Land probably wouldnt cause him any trouble so soon after Godsfall¡¯s death.


    After all, there weren¡¯t many existences like Godsfall and Jiuyang in the Holy Land. Otherwise, the Holy Land would have long controlled the entire Federation.


    However, with high speeds at which anomalies happened on Earth, troubles would only become more prevalent in the future. Zhou Wen also felt that he had to find a dimensional zone to establish a city as soon as possible. Otherwise, any Calamity creature that came might destroy all the humans in Guide


    City.


    I wonder how Li Xuan and company are doing. Have they found the dimensional zone that Xia Xuanyue mentioned? Zhou Wen played with the Connate Insight in his hand.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, it was a stone talisman. He could sense the mysterious energy within, but he didn¡¯t know how to trigger it.


    He attempted to use the power of the Dao Sutra to drive the stone talisman. After all, the Dao Sutra¡¯s Zone Core was lured out by the stone talisman.


    Zhou Wen was quickly disappointed. He realized that the stone talisman rejected the Dao Sutra¡¯s Essence Energy.


    The reason the stone talisman could trigger the Zone Core fragments wasnt because of the attraction between them, but because of their repelling forces. To put it simply, it was like the meeting of two enemies.


    Therefore, the Connate Insight could draw out the core fragments, and the core fragments immediately targeted the Connate Insight-wielding Godsfall. He died quite an unjust death.


    He had not expected to find himself in a dimensional zone that perfectly restrained him and the Connate Insight.


    If the dimensional zone was intact, Godsfall would have long discovered this problem. Unfortunately, the dimensional zone was ina half-crippled state with its core shattered. Godsfall never expected such a situation.


    Zhou Wen tried a few more Essence Energy Arts, but he was unable to activate the power of the Connate Insight. All he could do was put it away before taking out his phone to study the new domain.


    2


    Calamity Zone: Teacher Domain (Human Realm)


    Teacher Domain: Domain of Education


    1


    What kind of domain is the Teacher Domain? Could it be the domain for being a teacher? Zhou Wen looked at the information on the Teacher Domain and still didn¡¯t understand what kind of domain it was.


    He knew the word ¡°education, ¡± but he couldn¡¯t figure out how a domain could educate others.


    Could it be that the domain also teaches physics and chemistry, as well as singing and dancing?Zhou Wen imagined the scene and a dark cloud immediately appeared over his head.


    No, I have to figure it out. Just as Zhou Wen was about to switch on his phone and find a dungeon to study the power of the Teacher Domain, he heard the door open.


    The baby bear extended its tongue and ran over excitedly. It pounced on Zhou Wen and licked his face, slathering him in saliva.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly hugged the baby bear and calmed it down before wiping the saliva from his face.


    ¡®When the baby bear saw Zhou Wen, it appeared abnormally excited. It would occasionally nudge Zhou Wen, preventing him from using his phone. All he could do was put it away.


    ¡°Has Jiuyang¡¯s matter been resolved?¡± Li Xuan walked in and said with a smile.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know when they will come again, so you have to speed up. Find a dimensional zone that¡¯s suitable for building a city. I¡¯s best if it¡¯s the kind of dimensional zone that even Calamity creatures can¡¯t enter without our permission,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan¡¯s expression immediately fell. ¡°It¡¯s not like you don¡¯t know how odd the dimensional zones near Guide City are. I recently explored all the nearby dimensional zones that I could enter. I nearly lost my life, but I failed to find a suitable place to build a city. Do you think Xia Xuanyue is joking with us?


    Perhaps there¡¯s no such dimensional zone at all. It¡¯s impossible for there to be no clues if it really exists!¡±


    Zhou Wen shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think so. She¡¯s here to cooperate. There¡¯s no benefit in lying to us, and we don¡¯t suffer any losses.¡±


    ¡°If there¡¯s really no other way, give her some benefits. If it¡¯s really suitable for the building of the city, it won¡¯t be a loss. It¡¯s better than being in such a disadvantaged position, right?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°That¡¯s the only way if you really can¡¯t find anywhere suitable. By the way, which dimensional zones can¡¯t you enter? Make a list of them. I¡¯ll visit them.¡± Zhou Wen still planned on taking a look himself.


    Furthermore, if he visited more dimensional zones, he might be able to find a Zone Core.


    ¡°Thave it saved. I¡¯ll send it to you now.¡± Li Xuan took out his phone and sent a message to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and took a look. Wow, there were more than ten dimensional zones with their names and addresses listed. From the looks of it, Li Xuan had worked hard.


    ¡°These can¡¯t be entered?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    With Li Xuan¡¯s abilities, was it that difficult to enter a dimensional zone? It wasn¡¯t as though he wanted him to conquer the dimensional zones.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know how odd the dimensional zones in this crappy place are?¡± Li Xuan rolled his eyes at him and said angrily.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll visit them now.¡¯ Zhou Wen got up and prepared to leave. When he reached the door, he seemed to think of something as he stopped and looked at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Why are you looking at me? Have you never seen a handsome guy before?¡± Li Xuan felt a little uncomfortable being looked at by Zhou Wen as he shouted.


    ¡°Do you know this thing?¡± Zhou Wen took out the Connate Insight and held it in front of Li Xuan with his fingers.


    Li Xuan¡¯s cultivation foundation was also the Invincible Connate Divine Art. Although it was incomplete, he could be considered half a member of the Connate Holy Temple. Perhaps he could use it.


    ¡°This thing looks a little familiar. Let me think.¡± Li Xuan pondered for a moment before slapping his thigh. ¡®T¡¯ve seen this before.¡±


    ¡°Where have you seen it?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed, imagining that Li Xuan knew what the stone talisman was.


    ¡°You still want to test me? Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯m well-versed in everything from astronomy to geology? This thing is a magatama, right? It¡¯s something from overseas. In the past, Li Mobai had brought some back from overseas. Although he called them divine artifacts, they were actually useless¡ªnothing


    more than an accessory,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Have you seen such a mark on the magatama?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the horizontal marks on the Connate Insight.


    Li Xuan took a closer look and said in puzzlement, ¡®I¡¯ve never seen such magatama. Typical magatama should have a hole at the head. Why is this spot empty?¡±


    ¡°This is called yao. The long lines are Yang, while the short lines are called Yin. Together they form hexagrams. You know about the Eight Trigrams, right?¡± Zhou Wen threw the Connate Insight to Li Xuan. ¡®I got it from a Saint from the Connate Holy Temple. It seems like only Saints who cultivate the


    Invincible Connate Divine Art can trigger its power. Try and see if you can use it.¡±


    ¡°¡±Thave to give it a try then.¡± Li Xuan caught the Connate Insight and circulated his Essence Energy Art, attempting to inject Essence Energy into it..

 Chapter 1591 - Blessing Halo

    Translator: CKtalon


    Li Xuan¡¯¡¯s face flushed red, but there was still no reaction from the Connate Insight.


    ¡°Old Zhou, don¡¯t tell me you randomly picked up a stone by the side of the road to bullsh*t me?¡± Li Xuan asked Zhou Wen with a look of suspicion.


    ¡°Thave better things to do.¡± Zhou Wen took back the Connate Insight and curled his lips. ¡°It¡¯s definitely because your training isn¡¯t up to par. Otherwise, why can¡¯t you use it when the Connate Holy Temple¡¯s Saint can?¡±


    ¡°Tch, that¡¯s because it¡¯s beneath me. How good can something from the Connate Holy Temple be? I want to create a path that belongs to me. I¡¯ll kill all those Connate Saints later and let them know who¡¯s the orthodox one. I like to forge my own path and force others to have no other paths to take.¡± Li Xuan


    wore a look of contempt.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll pay a visit to those dimensional zones.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to waste his breath on him. He walked out and the baby bear followed behind him.


    After Zhou Wen left, Li Xuan cursed under his breath hatefully, ¡°What the hell is that crap? How dare you discriminate against me? When I destroy the Connate Holy Temple in the future, I won¡¯t allow anyone to cultivate the Invincible Connate Divine Art again. I¡¯ll make sure you are never used by others.


    Til tum you into a useless piece of trash.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that Li Xuan didn¡¯t want it, but he really didn¡¯t have the ability to use it. After all, his Invincible Connate Divine Art wasn¡¯t pure. Few people who practiced the orthodox version in the Connate Holy Temple could use the Connate Insight, much less a pirated version.


    Zhou Wen looked at the baby bear beside him and had a nagging feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn¡¯t recall it.


    Strange, why do I feel like I¡¯ve forgotten something? Zhou Wen frowned in thought, but after some thought, he couldn¡¯t figure out what was amiss.


    Ya¡¯er was with the An family while Chick was still evolving to the Calamity grade. The antelope had been following Ya¡¯er and didn¡¯t come along, This was also the reason Zhou Wen felt at ease letting Ya¡®er stay with the An family.


    With the antelope by Ya¡¯er¡¯s side, it could escape with Ya¡¯er even if they encountered an invincible opponent.


    Zhou Wen thought carefully and thought that he was missing something, He opened the chaos space and did a headcount.


    Zhou Wen immediately realized what he had forgotten. He had left Liz and Leem in the chaos space.1


    How did I forget them? Seeing that there was no one around, Zhou Wen decided to release them.


    ¡°Master.¡± After Liz and Leena came out, they immediately prostrated before Zhou Wen. They showed no resentment despite being confined for so long.


    ¡°Get up. From now on, you are not allowed to call me master.¡± It was fine in Regretless City, but if anyone in the Federation saw Liz and Leem call him master, there would be plenty of opportunity for misunderstandings.


    ¡°Your Devilish Excellency¡­¡± Liz and Leem wanted to address him by his title, but they were stopped by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t allowed to call me Your Devilish Excellency either. In the future, just call me Zhou Wen. This is an order.¡± Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible to reason with them, so he went straight to the point.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Mas¡­ Zhou¡­ Wen¡­¡± Although the two sisters didn¡¯t know why the Devil King wanted them to call him that, they were willing to obey unconditionally. They didn¡¯t know what the words ¡°Zhou Wen¡± meant.


    ¡®When they called Zhou Wen, they were actually thinking about Your Devilish Excellency. They made a name into an honorific. Therefore, when they addressed Zhou Wen by name, their intonation sounded odd.


    After the two sisters stood up, they realized that there were all sorts of plants everywhere. There were also various insects and beasts shuttling through the forest. Birds flew in the sky, and the baby bear, who was still following Zhou Wen, was momentarily stunned.


    Having lived in Regretless City, they had never seen such a scene. They thought that this was heaven.


    ¡°Is this¡­ Is this heaven?¡± Liz and Leem muttered to themselves in confusion.


    Of course not. Humanity is now in deep waters and can die at any moment. If this were heaven, I reckon no one would be willing to go to heaven after death, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡°Sorry¡­ Sorry¡­¡± Only then did Liz and Leem recall that their master was the Devil King, How could they mention heaven in front of him? They hurriedly apologized.


    ¡°This place is the same as Regretless City. There are also many humans here, but the humans here are different from the humans in Regretless City. Many of the humans here are very evil and can kill you at any time. Therefore, if you encounter other humans in the future, don¡¯t randomly talk to them,


    much less tell anyone about how you come from Regretless City. In the future, you have to obey my orders¡­¡± Zhou Wen told them some things to facilitate their adaptation to life on Earth.


    Liz and Leem listened attentively to Zhou Wen¡¯s teachings and memorized every word.


    ¡°Liz, release your Blessing Halo.¡± After Zhou Wen told them everything he could think of, he thought of her abilities and wanted to see what effects her Blessing Halo had.


    Liz¡¯s Life Providence and Life Soul were blessing powers, while Leem¡¯s were curse powers. Both were very useful.


    ¡°Yes, Zhou Wen.¡± Liz immediately used her Life Soul.


    Acircular halo appeared beneath Liz¡¯s feet like slowly blooming lotus flowers. Standing near her, he could clearly sense a strange force infusing into his body. The closer he got to her, the clearer his senses became.


    Although this power didn¡¯t enhance his physique, it made Zhou Wen feel comfortable.


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of your Blessing Halo?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Ican find more when searching for Stone Root Grass,¡± Liz answered shyly.


    How pathetic! In that place, no matter how good one¡¯s talent and ability is, it¡¯s all a waste. Zhou Wen led Liz and Leem to a nearby dimensional zone. Firstly, he could search for the dimensional zone, and secondly, he could give it a try and see how much help the Blessing Halo could provide him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much hope. After all, Liz¡¯s level was too low. She was only at the Epic stage.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have high expectations for her Blessing Halo. It was fine as long as it had some practical use. If he had a chance of advancing to the Calamity grade in the future, a large-scale Blessing Zone would be amazing.


    Of course, it also depended on whether Liz and Leem would have any other ideas after coming to Earth. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on nurturing them now.


    After following the direction indicated by the map, Zhou Wen suddenly saw a white Companion Egg the size of an ostrich egg on the grass in front of him. Its outer shell was like porcelain.


    No way? Is the Blessing Halo that useful? I can pick up Companion Eggs just by walking! Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan his surroundings, but he didn¡¯t discover any ambushes or other creatures.


    Am I really that lucky? Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the Companion Beast. It was really a Companion Egg..

 Chapter 1592 - Skyimmortal Swan

    Translator: CKtalon


    Heavenly Crane: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Skyimmortal


    Life Soul: Swan.


    ¡®Wheel of Destiny: Fairy Wings


    Terror Form: Skyimmortal Transformation (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Charming Zone (Human Realm)


    Strength: 100


    Speed: 100


    Constitution: 100


    Essence Energy: 100


    Talent Skill: Flying Immortal Skill, Heavenly Avian Cross, Charming Dance, Swan¡¯s Call


    Companion Form: Wings


    Are the effects of the Blessing Halo that powerful? I actually picked up an Evolvable Calamity-grade Companion Egg just by having it activated. What if it¡¯s activated for ten hours? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    He felt that something was amiss. If the Blessing Halo was really that impressive, Liz wouldn¡¯t have had such a tragic life in Regretless City.


    A blessing is only a blessing after all, not luck. Even Wang Lu, who has so many Luck Companion Beasts, doesn¡¯t have such good luck, much less Liz¡¯s Blessing Halo. She¡¯s only at the Epic stage. Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss, but he had already used Truth Listener to scan the surroundings several


    times, but he didn¡¯t discover any problems.


    Apart from some ordinary birds and beasts, there wasn¡¯t a single dimensional creature in a radius of more than five kilometers. The nearby dimensional zones were also very quiet. No break-out dimensional creatures appeared.


    There¡¯s no reason for me not to pick up such a high-level Companion Egg, right? Zhou Wen made up his mind. He summoned the Prisoned Dragon armor and put it on before carefully walking to the Companion Egg¡¯s side. After making two probes, he picked it up.


    Nothing happened. Zhou Wen successfully obtained the Companion Egg and looked around, but he didn¡¯t discover anything abnormal.


    There¡¯s no stopping luck when it comes. I managed to pick up an evolvable Calamity-grade Companion Beast just like that. Zhou Wen was extremely delighted.


    In the past, he had worked so hard to kill a Calamity-grade creature so that he might have a Companion Egg drop. Great, he was now just picking one off the road.


    Zhou Wen held the Companion Egg and looked around before wiping his body. He muttered to himself, If [had known that the Blessing Halo was so useful, I would have released Liz a long time ago.


    Since there wasn¡¯t anyone around, Zhou Wen took a picture of the Companion Egg and hatched it in-game.


    Soon, a beautiful white swan appeared in front of Zhou Wen. Moments later, it transformed into a pair of snow-white wings and appeared behind him.


    Zhou Wen gently flapped his wings and instantly appeared far away.


    This wing Companion Beast augments my flying speed greatly! Zhou Wen was even more delighted.


    As he continued on his way with Liz and Leem, he got her to keep the Blessing Halo activated the entire time. Zhou Wen thought to himself, /f can pick up a Calamity-grade Companion Egg with the Blessing Halo activated, just picking one up every hour would be awesome.


    Despite having this in mind, Zhou Wen walked all the way to the dimensional zone without picking up anything.


    Ignoring the Calamity-grade Companion Egg, he didn¡¯t even see a Legendary Companion Egg.


    From the looks of it, it was just a coincidence. It wasn¡¯t the power of the Blessing Halo. Zhou Wen wasnt an insatiable person. He was already very satisfied to have picked up one Calamity-grade Companion Egg.


    He threw all his energy into the dimensional zone in front of him. This dimensional zone was a river. In the past, this was the Yellow River¡¯s old course. Due to the Yellow River¡¯s change in direction, this place had almost dried up.


    However, after the dimensional storms, it was filled with river water again, Furthermore, no matter how deep he dived, he couldn¡¯t reach the bottom of the river.


    ¡®What was even more terrifying was that one would sink in the river water even while holding onto a lifebuoy. Many people failed to leave after entering. Up to now, no one knew what was at the bottom of the river.


    There was definitely a dimensional zone in the river, but no one knew what kind of dimensional zone it was.


    There were two commonly proliferated legends. One was that there were water ghosts under the former course of the Yellow River dimensional zone. People would be pulled down by the water ghosts to replace them as scapegoats once they entered the river.


    Although the versions of the water ghost legends were different, they shared roughly the same idea.


    There was also another legend that beneath the Yellow River¡¯s old course lay a buried ancient city. The ancient city under the river was the true dimensional zone.


    The various legends were somewhat exaggerated, but no one had really seen the water ghosts or the ancient city. Furthermore, most of the people who had entered the river had vanished.


    Although Li Xuan had an immortal body, he wasn¡¯t good at swimming. If he really fell into the water, it would be difficult for him to escape even if he didn¡¯t drown. Therefore, Li Xuan didn¡¯t dare investigate this dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen could swim pretty well. He had specially cultivated water-type Essence Energy Skills, so his combat strength in the water wasn¡¯t much weaker than on the ground. Therefore, he chose the Yellow River¡¯s former course as his first stop.


    Zhou Wen only planned on heading down to take a look and see if there was the legendary ancient city.


    If there was really a legendary ancient city at the bottom of the river, he might be able to create a city similar to Atlantis. Perhaps it would become famous in the future and become a new, legendary underwater city.


    However, just as he approached the Yellow River, Zhou Wen saw that the river water seemed to be boiling as it emitted bubbles in the middle of the river.


    What¡¯s happening? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    He had never heard of such a thing happening in the Yellow River. He had only heard that the surface of the river was as calm as still water and that lifebuoys couldnt float.


    However, the bubbles that constantly rose in the middle seemed to be a result of boiling. This didn¡¯t look like calm stagnant water.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed for a while and realized that the bubbles weren¡¯t formed by high temperatures. The temperature of the river wasnt high, and the bubbles rose from beneath the river.


    Is there something blowing bubbles down there? Zhou Wen used Truth Listener to scan the bottom of the river, but the river was like a bottomless abyss. After scanning for more than a thousand meters, he still didn¡¯t find anything, nor did he discover the bottom of the river. All he saw were large amounts of


    bubbles rising from the depths of the river as they constantly rushed out.


    If such an anomaly hadn¡¯t happened, Zhou Wen would have dived into the river to take a look, but now, he couldn¡¯t just enter.


    As he was pondering over it, he suddenly saw the bubbles that had appeared in the middle of the river turn blood-colored. It was as though blood was gushing out from the bottom of the river.


    The pungent smell of blood quickly entered Zhou Wen¡¯s nose.


    As the blood gushed out, waves began to appear on the river surface. The water level in the middle of the river clearly rose.


    Something¡¯s coming out?Zhou Wen had already sensed that deep in the abyss-like river, a behemoth was slowly surfacing..

 Chapter 1593 - Bottom of the River

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that the thing floating up would be a dimensional creature, but to his surprise, after a while, he saw a huge metal pillar extend out of the abyss-like river.


    Splash!


    ¡®The metal pillar broke out of the water and kept rising. The part that surfaced was black, as though it was made of raw metal. There were many strange patterns engraved on it.


    ¡®The metal column was more than two meters in diameter. After surfacing for about seven to eight meters, it finally stopped.


    The blood-colored river water that remained on the metal column constantly flowed down the patterns on the metal column. It looked like the metal column was bleeding.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen sized up the metal column and suddenly thought of the Sea-stabilizing Holy Cudgel from Journey to the West.


    They were both stuck in the water, but one was stuck in the sea and the other in the river. The way they appeared was very similar.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but shout at the metal column, ¡°Expand!¡±


    ¡®The metal column clearly didn¡¯t react, leaving Zhou Wen rather disappointed. However, it was just a spur of the moment. On careful look, he knew that the metal column was very different from the Sea-stabilizing Holy Cudgel.


    The Sea-stabilizing Holy Cudgel was also known as the Compliant Golden-Hooped Rod. The two ends were golden, but this metal column was completely black. It was clearly not the same thing.


    Zhou Wen first stored Liz and Leem in the chaos space. He originally wanted to store the baby bear inside, but the baby bear refused.


    The Chaos Egg could only store creatures that entered willingly. If the baby bear didn¡¯t cooperate, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t store it.


    Thankfully, nothing happened after the metal column appeared. He didn¡¯t have to worry for the time being.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the metal column and decided to leave with the baby bear. He wasn¡¯t afraid, but it would be bad if anything happened to the baby bear and the sleeping Demonic Neonate.


    Just as Zhou Wen turned around, he suddenly felt a huge force behind him. His body involuntarily slid towards the metal column.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly gathered his strength to escape the metal column¡¯s suction force. However, he failed to withstand it. Even though he used all his strength, his body still slid towards the metal column.


    The baby bear was even worse than Zhou Wen. Its claws scratched the ground, tearing through the rocks, but it still slid towards the metal column at an even faster rate than Zhou Wen.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, thousands of Sword Pills appeared out of thin air, transforming into swords that charged at the metal column.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The Sword Pills struck the metal column, creating deep dents. If there was enough time, the metal column would probably be shattered by the Sword Pills.


    However, the suction force on the metal column didn¡¯t disappear. Zhou Wen and the baby bear were still sucked towards the dented metal column. Furthermore, the suction force was still increasing in intensity, pulling them towards it at faster speeds.


    Come out! Zhou Wen summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Soul Mirror.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors transformed into a golden beam of light that snipped at the metal column. The Soul Mirror also used the Soul-IIluminating Divine Light on the metal column in a bid to store it inside.


    Clang!


    Just as the Golden Wyrm Scissors approached the metal column, it stuck to it like a piece of metal sucked by a powerful magnet.


    The Soul Mirror¡¯s Soul-IIluminating Divine Light shone on the metal column, but it didn¡¯t react at all. It didn¡¯t get stored in the Soul Mirror. Instead, the Soul Mirror was also sucked onto the metal column.


    It¡¯s too late! Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and used Teacher Domain.


    In the domains that Zhou Wen had already condensed, Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens was a healing-type, while the Chaos Egg was a defensive-type. Only the usage of Teacher Domain remained unknown, so he decided to give it a try.


    When the Teacher Domain was activated, an invisible domain immediately enveloped the river. Zhou Wen felt his body lighten as the suction force from the metal column vanished. The Golden Wyrm Scissors and Soul Mirror were also unsummoned by Zhou Wen.


    The baby bear in the Teacher Domain stopped at the same time and was no longer pulled towards the metal column.


    Although I still don¡¯t know what abilities the Teacher Domain has, it looks rather useful. Zhou Wen stood in midair as Sword Pills appeared from the void.


    A portion of the Sword Pills appeared beneath the baby bear and lifted it up. More Sword Pills charged at the metal column like a surging river, constantly striking it.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The metal column constantly caved in and deformed from the impact. Shattered pieces of metal fell and landed in the river.


    Crack!


    The metal column above the water surface shattered and collapsed into the river, the result of Sword Pill¡¯s bombardment.


    However, the metal column above the river¡¯s surface was only a very short portion. Such a strike didn¡¯t seem to shake the foundation of the metal column.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the Sword Pills charged into the river and constantly struck the metal column, shattering it inch by inch. Even the river water failed to lessen the Sword Pills¡¯ attacks.


    I want to see what¡¯s up. Zhou Wen charged into the river with the infinite Sword Pills.


    ¡®Wherever Zhou Wen stood, Sword Pills appeared out of thin air, warding off the river water. The Sword Pills constantly struck the metal column, shattering it.


    However, the metal column was just too long. The parts Zhou Wen could sense exceeded a thousand meters. He didn¡¯t know when he could completely destroy it if he continued bombarding it.


    Therefore, after trying for a while, Zhou Wen gave up on the idea of completely destroying the metal column. He circled around it and, under the protection of the sword domain, headed deep into the river.


    In the Calamity-grade sword domain, the Sword Pill particles were indestructible. Even if they dissipated, they only went from light to darkness. With a thought, Zhou Wen could switch them without expending any energy.


    Zhou Wen dived a thousand meters, but he still failed to see the bottom of the river. Beneath him was still a bottomless river. The metal column seemed to have no end as it continued extending towards the bottom of the dark river.


    ¡°L don¡¯t believe you have no end.¡± Zhou Wen continued charging down.


    The lower he went, the stronger the suction force of the river. The suction force on the metal column became stronger.


    However, with the protection of the Teacher Domain, the suction force was useless against Zhou Wen. The sword domain tore through the river and served as an aegis for Zhou Wen and the baby bear to rush into the depths of the river.


    After diving for more than three thousand meters, Zhou Wen finally sensed the existence of the river¡¯s bottom. At the same time, he saw the end of the metal column.


    Beneath the metal column was a gigantic toad. It was jade-white and crystalline, and it suffused a holy halo.


    The combination of ugliness and holiness looked extremely strange.


    ¡®The toad was constantly respiring in a bid to escape the suppression of the black metal column. The bubbles came from its mouth.


    The black metal column pressed down on it. Every time it struggled, the black metal column would crush a parotoid gland on its body. Black-red liquid flowed out from it, dyeing the nearby river red.


    As the toad exhaled, it produced a terrifying suction force that sucked everything nearby into its mouth.


    Its mouth was like a bottomless pit that couldn¡¯t be filled. And its main target was Zhou Wen..

 Chapter 1594 - Lusting Toad

    Translator: CKtalon


    However, its suction force immediately vanished when it came into contact with Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain.


    The toad continued sucking with all its might as it looked at Zhou Wen with eyes filled with greed.


    If it wasn¡¯t suppressed by the black metal column and couldn¡¯t rush out, it would have long lunged at Zhou Wen.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen realized that the black metal column had penetrated the toad¡¯s body and nailed it into the rocks at the bottom of the river.


    Every time the toad breathed, the black metal column rose a few meters and was slowly squeezed out of its body. Large amounts of blood spewed out during the process.


    Although Zhou Wen was very willing to fight powerhouses, that was typically against humans. He always took advantage of any weakness of dimensional creatures to kill them.


    Sword Domain activated as countless Sword Pill particles charged at the toad.


    However, when the Sword Pill particles rushed out of the Teacher Domain, they were immediately sucked into the toad¡¯s mouth. Then, their connection with Zhou Wen was severed as though they had been sucked into another space.


    This skill is somewhat similar to Behemoth¡¯s! Zhou Wen bombarded the toad with Sword Pill particles, but no matter how many there were, they would be sucked into the toad¡¯s mouth. Not a single one was left.


    Treally would have been helpless against you in the past. Zhou Wen saw the metal column in its body rise higher and higher as though it was about to be completely pulled out. Without any hesitation, he charged at the toad.


    ¡®As Zhou Wen approached, the domain enveloped the toad.


    ¡®When the Teacher Domain completely enveloped the toad, Zhou Wen discovered a magical scene. The powerful suction force that erupted from the toad¡¯s mouth instantly vanished.


    It felt as though the toad¡¯s power was blocked.


    The sanctified light on the toad¡¯s body instantly dimmed. The toad¡¯s body lost its luster as its originally snow-white crystalline body turned into a charcoal-like color.


    Without the terrifying suction force, the resplendent defense over its body vanished. The Sword Pills surged toward the toad without any obstruction. Countless Sword Pills struck the toad like billions of arrows piercing through its body.


    The toad¡¯s body was covered in holes. Blood and poison flowed out. It looked disgusting and terrifying, making one feel nauseous.


    The toad roared angrily, but it couldn¡¯t release its strength that could only circulate within its body. However, its body was nailed to the bottom of the river by the metal pillar, preventing it from escaping.


    The pitiful toad was crushed to pieces by Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Domain. Its body was completely shattered by Sword Pill, dyeing the river red.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to head over to take a look and see if there were any Companion Eggs, he suddenly saw a strange light fly out of the toad¡¯s flesh. It charged into the cosmos like a laser and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    What was that? Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he looked up at the sky, but he couldn¡¯t see anything in the cosmos.


    Crack! Crack!


    The huge metal pillar suddenly began to shatter. Furthermore, the originally hard metal seemed to turn into mud. It melted into the water the moment it made contact with the water. It was a shadow of its former hardness.


    Zhou Wen used his sword domain to ward off the river water before searching the toad¡¯s flesh. He saw that there seemed to be crystalline moonlight seeping out of the flesh as he peeled it open.


    There was a jade artifact inside. A moonlight-like halo seeped out from the artifact.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen extended his hand and sucked the artifact over.


    The artifact was crystalline. It looked like a basin carved from flawless jade. Even the jade basin emitted a blurry glow.


    Zhou Wen rummaged through the flesh again, but he didn¡¯t find anything like a Calamity Essence or Companion Egg. There wasn¡¯t even a dimensional crystal.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen held the jade basin and looked at it for a while.


    He had never seen anything similar in a dimensional creature¡¯s body. This wasn¡¯t a dimensional crystal or a Companion Egg. There seemed to be a mysterious force circulating in the jade basin, but it was different from the toad¡¯s powers.


    ¡®The metal pillar had already turned to mud and sank to the bottom of the river. Zhou Wen searched the bottom of the river again, but he didn¡¯t see the legendary underwater city, nor did he discover any water ghosts.


    There¡¯s only one toad under the huge Yellow River? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    It clearly hadn¡¯t been a day or two since the toad had been suppressed at the bottom of the river. Why did it suddenly want to escape when he arrived? This was too much of a coincidence.


    Just as he returned to the river surface, Zhou Wen suddenly saw someone drinking and roasting meat by the river bank.


    Jing Daoxian? Zhou Wen immediately frowned when he saw the person.


    ¡°This alcohol isn¡¯t bad. Try it.¡± Jing Daoxian threw the wine flask at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That Companion Egg is yours?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t drink from it as he threw the alcohol flask back.


    ¡°The Skyimmortal Swan Companion Beast isn¡¯t bad, right?¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    ¡°So it was you causing trouble. What do you want?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Jing Daoxian drank a mouthful of alcohol and took another mouthful of meat. As he chewed, he said, ¡°The Skyimmortal Swan Companion Beast is pretty good, but incubating it will definitely alarm the toad. There aren¡¯t many humans on Earth who have the ability to finish it at the bottom of the river.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Jing Daoxian without a word. He didn¡¯t believe that Jing Daoxian would give him the Skyimmortal Swan Companion Egg for this reason.


    ¡°Do you know the story of a toad lusting after a swan?¡± Jing Daoxian asked with a smile.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it just a story of a toad wanting to eat swan meat?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Young man, you should read more. The protagonists of this story are actually two immortals. One is called Toad Immortal, while the other is Swan Fairy. At Queen Mother¡¯s Immortality Peach Banquet, Toad Immortal saw the beautiful Swan Fairy and was momentarily unable to restrain his emotions. He


    tried to molest Swan Fairy. In her rage, Queen Mother casually threw a Moon Essence Basin at Toad Immortal, stopping him from molesting Swan Fairy and banishing him to the mortal world.¡±


    ¡°To everyone¡¯s surprise, the Moon Essence Basin fused into Toad Immortal¡¯s body and could no longer be extracted. As the Moon Essence Basin was a gift from the Moon Goddess, Queen Mother felt some regret. She wanted the Moon Essence Basin back after allowing Toad Immortal to return to the


    Heavenly Courts after experiencing certain trials.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred when he heard Jing Daoxian¡¯s story. Could it be that the jade basin is the Moon Essence Basin?


    ¡°That¡¯s ultimately a myth. Even if that toad is really Toad Immortal, it might not be the same as the myth,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed different, but the Moon Essence Basin does exist. Furthermore, it¡¯s already in your hands, right?¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile..

 Chapter 1595 - Moon Essence Basin

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What Moon Essence Basin? I¡¯ve never seen it before,¡± Zhou Wen immediately denied.


    What a joke. It hadn¡¯t been easy for him to obtain it. He definitely couldn¡¯t give it to Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian only smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I don¡¯t want the Moon Essence Basin. I just want to remind you that you have the Skyimmortal Swan and the Moon Essence Basin. Toad Immortal won¡¯t let you off so easily.¡±


    ¡°shall repeat myself. I¡¯ve never seen the Moon Essence Basin. Furthermore, I¡¯ve already killed it. So what if it doesn¡¯t let me off? Can it crawl back from the netherworld and bite me?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Have you forgotten the story I just told you? You only killed Toad Immortal¡¯s mortal body. It can be considered as helping Toad Immortal escape. When it completely recovers its true body, it will quickly come for you,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want me to give you the Skyimmortal Swan and the Moon Essence Basin so that you can lure that Toad Immortal away?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe Jing Daoxian at all.


    ¡°If you trust me, I can help you,¡± Jing Daoxian said seriously.


    ¡°Stop joking. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ll take my leave.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and left.


    Jing Daoxian said, ¡°You should know very well that you can kill the toad because it¡¯s suppressed to begin with. That body is also a restriction on Toad Immortal. When it recovers and makes a comeback, it won¡¯t be that easy to deal with. It¡¯s a top-notch Heaven-level creature.¡±


    Zhou Wen tumed around and asked, ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what you want the Moon Essence Basin for?¡±


    Jing Daoxian had plotted to give the Skyimmortal Swan Companion Egg to Zhou Wen so that he could kill the toad. It was naturally a plot for him to obtain the Moon Essence Basin.


    ¡°Idon¡¯t plan on hiding it from you. I need the essence of the sun and moon to help the Yin Yang Mirror grow. The Moon Essence Basin is a treasure for Moon Essence. It¡¯s very helpful for the Yin Yang Mirror¡¯s growth.¡± Jing Daoxian paused before saying, ¡°However, I¡¯m not lying to you. As long as you have


    the Skyimmortal Swan and the Moon Essence Basin on you, Toad Immortal will be able to find you once it completely recovers its true body.¡±


    ¡°Then let¡¯s put it this way. What do I gain by giving you the Skyimmortal Swan and the Moon Essence Basin?¡± Zhou Wen asked bluntly.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t not dying the greatest benefit?¡± Jing Daoxian narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°I know you can¡¯t accept it, but how can there be so many things in this world that go according to one¡¯s wishes? A young man can grow by suffering some losses. This is tuition money that you need to pay. As long as you don¡¯t


    die, you will gain experience from suffering losses. You can also get others to pay you tuition fees in the future.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I quit school a long time ago.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and left with the baby bear.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you can fight Toad Immortal just because you killed that toad. The toad was only mortal, completely different from Toad Immortal,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°That¡¯s still better than you not being able to deal with a mere toad,¡± Zhou Wen said without looking back.


    ¡°Tll be heading to Yinxu soon. You can find me there when you need me,¡± Jing Daoxian added.


    ¡°Please go and don¡¯t worry about me.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and quickly left.


    Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t in a rush. He took a sip of alcohol and muttered to himself, ¡°When you meet the real Toad Immortal, you will naturally come to me.¡±


    Although Zhou Wen rejected Jing Daoxian, that didn¡¯t mean that he didn¡¯t take Toad Immortal to heart.


    Jing Daoxian was right. If the toad hadn¡¯t been suppressed, it wouldn¡¯t have been that easy for him to kill it.


    Furthermore, the Teacher Domain played a huge role in his killing of the toad; otherwise, it would have been a bitter battle.


    Regardless of whether Toad Immortal was as powerful as Jing Daoxian described, he had to be wary of him.


    The pressing matter at hand is to study the Teacher Domain. This domain is extremely useful. Even if I don¡¯t fight Toad Immortal, it will be of great use in the future. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and didn¡¯t continue exploring the other dimensional zones. Instead, he teleported to the Moon.


    He wanted to ask Lady Supreme Yin what the Moon Essence Basin was.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Misfortune dimensional creature I got you to find?¡± Lady Supreme Yin asked when she saw Zhou Wen.


    ¡°About that¡­ I haven¡¯t found it yet¡­¡± Zhou Wen had forgotten about it.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to do something, but Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s requirements were too high. The attribute of misfortune was difficult to find to begin with, and it required something with low levels but with great potential. Zhou Wen had never seen such a dimensional creature before.


    ¡°Why are you here when you haven¡¯t found it?¡± Lady Supreme Yin said angrily.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, I have something here. I want you to help me take a look at it.¡± Zhou Wen took out the Moon Essence Basin.


    The door to Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s temple suddenly opened. Moonlight shone out and landed on the Moon Essence Basin, sweeping it into the temple before closing the door.


    ¡°Lady Goddess, what are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed as he thought to himself, Don¡¯t tell me Lady Supreme Yin wants to steal my Moon Essence Basin?


    ¡°Where did you get this?¡± Lady Supreme Yin didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen¡¯s question and instead asked.


    Zhou Wen recounted what had happened. After Lady Supreme Yin heard that, she sighed and said, ¡°So that¡¯s how it is. You¡¯ve gotten into big trouble. Jing Daoxian is right. As long as the Moon Essence Basin and the Skyimmortal Swan are with you, Toad Immortal won¡¯t let you off. No matter where you


    are, it will be able to find you.¡±


    ¡°Legend has it that this Moon Essence Basin is a gift from the Moon Goddess to the Queen Mother. Is it true? Do the Heavenly Courts and the Queen Mother really exist?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    Lady Supreme Yin fell silent for a while. Only when Zhou Wen began suspecting that she had fallen asleep did she say, ¡°There¡¯s no Heavenly Courts in the world, but Queen Mother does exist. However, she¡¯s not in the Heavenly Courts, but a dimensional zone on Earth.¡±


    ¡°In that case, is the Moon Essence Basin really a gift from you?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°No.¡± Lady Supreme Yin explained, ¡°The Moon Essence Basin is actually a Zone Core. It was forcefully destroyed by Queen Mother and extracted from a dimensional zone. I don¡¯t know what it was originally used for, but later on, it was used to suppress Toad Immortal. That¡¯s why the Moon Essence Basin


    was injected into its body.¡±


    ¡°Which dimensional zone does Queen Mother live in?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Tt has long been destroyed in the Mythical era war. Even if you can find it, all that¡¯s left is ruins,¡± said Lady Supreme Yin with a sigh.


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed. ¡°Who has the ability to destroy such a dimensional zone?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I¡¯m on the Moon after all. I¡¯m only partially aware of what¡¯s happening on Earth.¡± As Lady Supreme Yin spoke, she threw out the Moon Essence Basin.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian is right. A Heaven-level Toad Immortal is a top-notch Calamity-grade creature. Ordinary Calamity-grade creatures can¡¯t compare with it. Although the Moon Essence Basin is good, it¡¯s not worth risking your life for it,¡± said Lady Supreme Yin..

 Chapter 1596 - Treasurefall Money

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Toad Immortal is very strong?¡± Zhou Wen felt that Lady Supreme Yin was persuading him to give the Moon Essence Basin to Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Very. Otherwise, Queen Mother wouldn¡¯t have spent so much effort to suppress it underground instead of killing it.¡± Lady Supreme Yin paused before adding, ¡°A Heaven-level domain is already a complete domain. Compared to a Hell-level domain, there¡¯s a qualitative difference. Furthermore, you are


    only at the Human Realm. It won¡¯t be easy to defeat it.¡±


    Is there no other way? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think that the Heaven level was that invincible.


    At the very least, Godsfall, who already had Heaven-level power, was killed by the Zone Core of the Forbidden Land of the Gods.


    Now that Zhou Wen had inherited the power of the Forbidden Land of the Gods¡¯ core, although he was still at the Human Realm, it wasn¡¯t impossible for him to restrain Toad Immortal. It was just like how his Teacher Domain restrained the toad¡¯s devouring domain.


    ¡°Toad Immortal and the toad are two different concepts. Toad Immortal¡¯s powers are very special. Even Queen Mother wasn¡¯t able to kill it. It¡¯s obvious how terrifying it is.¡± Lady Supreme Yin continued urging Zhou Wen not to clash head-on with Toad Immortal.


    ¡°What kind of power does Toad Immortal have?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know that the power of moonlight has a restraining effect on its strength. That¡¯s why the Moon Essence Basin was used to suppress i


    creatures have reached their full potential resulting in qualitative changes. It¡¯s not a wise idea to fight them.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t take any chances. Although you might both be at the Calamity grade, the domain powers of Heaven-level


    ady Supreme Yin said agaii


    ¡°Tunderstand.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    He took in Lady Supreme Yin¡¯s advice, but he was unwilling to give up the Moon Essence Basin and the Skyimmortal Swan.


    After returning to Earth, Zhou Wen thought about what to do.


    He believed that there was a solution to everything. Although the Heaven Realm was powerful, it wasn¡¯t impossible for him to win.


    Til figure out the Teacher Domain first before thinking of a way to fight Toad Immortal. If there¡¯s really no other way, I¡¯ll lure it to the Big Dipper dimensional zone. I don¡¯t believe I can¡¯t kill it there. Zhou Wen never thought of giving the Moon Essence Basin and the Skyimmortal Swan to Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian was resting in a wooden hut outside Yinxu. Liu Yun was drawing a map.


    ¡°Old man, why did you lay a trap for Zhou Wen? Couldn¡¯t you just negotiate with him nicely?¡± Liu Yun grumbled as he drew.


    Jing Daoxian said with a smile, ¡°In this world, don¡¯t place your hopes on the kindness and sympathy of others.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not sympathy, alright? It should be a partnership,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily. ¡°With Zhou Wen¡¯s temper, it¡¯s definitely impossible for him to give you the Moon Essence Basin. Without it to advance the Yin Yang Mirror to the Heaven level, I want to see how you can enter Yinxu.¡±


    ¡°He will come. In the face of death, a so-called temper is nothing,¡± Jing Daoxian said confidently.


    ¡°Are you that confident in Toad Immortal? My junior brother has killed Hell-level creatures before. The Heaven level is only one level higher.¡± Liu Yun was puzzled as to why Jing Daoxian was so confident in Toad Immortal.


    ¡°Toad Immortal is also known as Golden Toad Immortal. Its most famous ability is Treasurefall Money,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly.


    ¡°Treasurefall Money? The legendary ability that can shake off all Dharma treasures?¡± Liu Yun was alarmed.


    ¡°That¡¯s just a myth. The true Treasurefall Money is actually a sealing force. Be it creatures or weapons, be it humans or Companion Beasts, as long as they are struck by Treasurefall Money, they will be sealed. They will no longer be able to use any of their strength and become ordinary,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    1


    ¡°Then isn¡¯t Junior Brother in grave danger?¡± Liu Yun said in surprise.


    Everyone knew that Zhou Wen¡¯s main combat strength was his Companion Beasts, but Toad Immortal could seal Companion Beasts. In its domain, Companion Beasts were useless.


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a Guardian, even if he did, he would still be sealed by the Treasurefall Money.


    Unless one¡¯s strength far exceeded Toad Immortals, preventing him from using Treasurefall Money, it was very difficult for them to stand a chance of winning.


    ¡°With that punks life-preservation means, it should be more than enough for him to escape and seek my help,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently.


    Liu Yun thought for a moment and found that Zhou Wen¡¯s stumbling over while crying for help made him feel excited.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s wait for Zhou Wen to come pleaing.¡± Liu Yun¡¯s mind had already surfaced the scene of his junior brother rolling and crawling over to hug his thigh. He felt an unbearable itch, eager for that moment to arrive immediately.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have Liu Yun¡¯s rich imagination. He was currently studying the Teacher Domain.


    The Teacher Domain was formed by his talent combined with his Essence Energy Art and the Zone Core. His strength and Essence Energy Art¡¯s powers were easily understood, but the power brought by the Zone Core was unfamiliar to Zhou Wen.


    After any creature fused with the Zone Core, they needed a process of figuring it out to unleash the true abilities of the domain.


    Some domains were relatively easy to understand. For example, some high-temperature domains only needed one to change the temperature.


    However, just because it was easy to understand didn¡¯t mean that it could be used properly. A high-temperature domain wasn¡¯t as simple as just blindly raising the temperature. There were also techniques to exploit the difference in temperature. Those needed to be figured out and practiced.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain was more complicated because it had very complicated abilities.


    After constant testing, Zhou Wen came to understand the various abilities it had.


    The most important ability in the Teacher Domain was to seal all nomological powers. In the past, the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder could only prevent Zhou Wen from being affected by various taboo powers. It was considered a passive ability.


    Now, the Teacher Domain could seal all nomological powers and taboos within the domain. Essence Energy couldn¡¯t be released and could only circulate in creatures¡¯ bodies.2


    Therefore, in the Teacher Domain, all creatures could only rely on their bodies to fight. It was almost impossible for them to release their strength.


    All sorts of domain powers were sealed in the Teacher Domain. Most domain powers were ineffective.


    However, there were some domain powers that were applied to one¡¯s body. The Teacher Domain had little influence on such powers.


    Of course, Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t know what the limits of the Teacher Domain were or if it could seal high-level domains.


    This sealing power wasn¡¯t everything the Teacher Domain had. It could even be said that it was only the basic ability of the Teacher Domain. Some abilities were built on this foundation.


    For example, one could selectively remove the seal. As for the person who used the ability in the Teacher Domain, the pattern and trajectory of the ability would be recorded by the Teacher Domain.


    Zhou Wen could directly understand his opponent¡¯s various abilities. He could even know the flaws of his opponent¡¯s abilities through comparison using the Teacher Domain itself.

 Chapter 1597 - You Are An Exception

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was still constantly studying the various abilities and uses of the Teacher Domain.


    The same piece of paper had different uses in the hands of different people.


    In the hands of an ordinary person, it might only be used as a diary or a post-it note. It might even be used to wipe one¡¯s mucus, but in the hands of an artist, it might be a world-class painting.


    Different people produced different effects on the same item.


    No matter how powerful a Calamity Zone was, it required the user to have enough control and imagination. Otherwise, just the domain itself was strong, but the person ultimately couldn¡¯t be considered a true expert.


    Just as Zhou Wen was studying the Teacher Domain, he suddenly heard someone shouting outside. He listened carefully and realized that changes had happened on the Cube again. Another person was about to attempt the Big Dipper Palaces.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t care who attempted the Star Palaces. Even a Heaven-level creature wouldn¡¯t be able to clear it so easily.


    Taking the level with Starlord Cherished Kismet as an example, the stronger the offensive strength of a Heaven-level creature, the more miserable their death would be.


    However, when Zhou Wen heard someone shout out ¡°fsukuyomi,¡± his heart stirred. He hurriedly switched on his phone and opened the livestream. Indeed, Tsukuyomi had already entered Dubhe Palace.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised that Tsukuyomi could reach a place as distant as Dubhe Palace.


    Ignoring the fact that the other planets had Cubes, even if they didn¡¯t, Tsukuyomi¡¯s spatial teleportation ability wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. It wasn¡¯t impossible for her to teleport to Dubhe Palace.


    Zhou Wen was thinking about something else. Tsukuyomi is the Lady Goddess of the Moon, so she definitely has the power of moonlight. And that toad is restrained by the power of moonlight. Doesn¡¯t that mean that Tsukuyomi is the nemesis of that Toad Immortal? I wonder what level she has reached?


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, Tsukuyomi had already walked to the door. Two ghost phantoms appeared in front of her and pushed open Dubhe Palace¡¯s door for her.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf seemed to feel pressure when he saw Tsukuyomi. He didn¡¯t wait for Tsukuyomi to walk over before launching an attack. A terrifying surge of light blasted at Tsukuyomi like a volcanic eruption.


    How will Tsukuyomi deal with Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s starlight domain? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. Everyone was curious about Tsukuyomi¡¯s performance.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s domain was called ¡°Ghost Parade.¡± It had the ability to summon ghosts, but inside the starlight domain, the starlight attacked indiscriminately. Summoning a single ghost was actually not much different from summoning a hundred ghosts.


    When the light blast descended, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t dodge, nor did she have any intention of attacking. Hashihime, who was wearing a kimono and seemed to be enveloped by darkness, appeared beside Tsukuyomi. The paper umbrella in her hand opened as blurry neon colors appeared around her, blocking


    the light blast.


    Hashihime held the umbrella and followed Tsukuyomi. Tsukuyomi slowly walked towards Starlord Ravenous Wolf. No matter how powerful the light blast was, it couldn¡¯t break through her defense.


    Just Hashihime alone managed to block Starlord Ravenous Wolfs starlight domain. From the looks of it, Tsukuyomi is already at the top of the Hell level, Zhou Wen thought.


    ¡®When Starlord Ravenous Wolf saw that the blast of light couldn¡¯t do anything to Tsukuyomi, he immediately charged down, hoping to engage her in close combat.


    However, when he rushed over, ghosts suddenly appeared. Starlord Ravenous Wolf was immediately surrounded.


    It was difficult to beat a number advantage even for the best of people, especially when the number advantage was overwhelming. Soon, Starlord Ravenous Wolf was ganked to the point of death. Tsukuyomi remained standing under the umbrella and didn¡¯t make a move. After Starlord Ravenous Wolf


    died, she walked towards the teleportation nexus.


    ¡°Goddess Tsukuyomi is too powerful!¡±


    ¡°Ghost Parade. Who can withstand such strength at the same level? Whoever fights Tsukuyomi is equivalent to fighting a hundred alone.¡±


    Before anyone could say anything, they saw a new scene appear on the Cube¡¯s screen. It was the projection of Merak Star Palace.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi wants to challenge Starlord Titan Gate?¡±


    ¡°Of course she has to. Her domain is virtually invincible among peers of the same level. I wouldn¡¯t find it strange even if she chose all the Big Dipper stars, much less the second Star Palace.¡±


    ¡®As everyone discussed, Tsukuyomi had already pushed open the door to the Merak Star Palace.


    Hashihime kept following Tsukuyomi. Just as the door to Merak Star Palace opened, the ferocious ghosts rushed in. A fox-like shadow rushed into Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s body the moment he opened his mouth.


    Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s open mouth closed. He couldn¡¯t make a sound. He lost control of his body and could hardly fight the ghosts.


    Before Starlord Titan Gate could escape the control, the hundred ghosts had already surged forward and devoured him.


    Tsukuyomi killed two Starlords without even lifting a finger. She walked into the teleportation nexus once again.


    However, this time, the Cube didn¡¯t produce a new Star Palace. Instead, a ranking appeared.


    Everyone hurriedly looked at the rankings. Their eyes landed on first place, but they realized that first place wasn¡¯t Tsukuyomi. It was still the Tiger Soul General.


    Tsukuyomi was ranked second despite slaying two Starlords.


    ¡°How did this happen? Egg Sovereign used a Companion Beast after all. Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t even use a Companion Beast. Why is she ranked below Egg Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, this doesn¡¯t make sense!¡±


    ¡°Of course, Egg Sovereign¡¯s Tiger Soul General is even stronger. He killed two Ravenous Wolves alone and instantly killed Titan Gate. His strength is far above Tsukuyomi¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Tiger Soul General is undoubtedly stronger.¡±


    People were discussing who was stronger¡ªTiger Soul General or Tsukuyomi. Soon, they were divided into two factions. No one could convince the other. All sorts of analysis threads constantly appeared on the Internet.


    Zhou Wen had already teleported outside Merak the moment the rankings appeared. Now, he only hoped that Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t teleported over from the Cube on a particular planet. That way, he wouldn¡¯t be able to see her even if he came to Merak.


    After arriving on Merak, Zhou Wen quickly instant transmitted towards the Star Palace¡¯s entrance. Before he entered the planet, he saw Tsukuyomi¡¯s figure rush out of the high-temperature liquid.


    Hashihime was still standing behind Tsukuyomi as she held the umbrella. All the high temperature, radiation, and shock waves were isolated by the umbrella.


    ¡°are you looking for me?¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I want to make a deal with you,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Although he had a plan, Lady Supreme Yin had said that it wasn¡¯t easy to deal with Toad Immortal. To be safe, Zhou Wen decided to buy some additional insurance.


    ¡°You know that I never make deals with others,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°This deal is very beneficial to you,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Whether there are benefits or not does not concern me.¡± Tsukuyomi remained unmoved.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed, but he heard Tsukuyomi continue, ¡°However, you are an exception.¡±


    1

 Chapter 1598 - Battling Starlord Merciful Song Again

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was puzzled. Although Tsukuyomi had always expressed her fondness for him, he really couldn¡¯t figure out why she had such a favorable impression of him.


    To Zhou Wen, everything needed to be explained with logic, but he really couldn¡¯t figure out why Tsukuyomi had a good impression of him. Therefore, he had always felt that there was something wrong with this matter. However, he couldn¡¯t figure out the problem no matter how much he racked his


    brains over it.


    1


    If it was for the Heavenly Happiness Token, he had previously agreed to give it to Tsukuyomi, but Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t want it. This reason was clearly not valid.


    ¡°Look at this.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out why Tsukuyomi had a good impression of him, but at the very least, she wasn¡¯t a threat to him.


    ¡°This is a Zone Core?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at the Moon Essence Basin in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s called the Moon Essence Basin. Do you think it¡¯s of any use to you?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he held it.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s useful.¡± Tsukuyomi gave an affirmative answer before smiling at Zhou Wen. ¡°Are you giving it to me?¡±


    ¡°Sort of. However, its owner is a Heaven-level creature, Furthermore, it cares a lot about the Moon Essence Basin. It will not spare anyone who has it in their possession. It will come looking for it soon.¡± Zhou Wen paused before continuing, ¡°I can give you the Moon Essence Basin, but when the time


    comes, you have to join forces with me to kill the original owner.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Tsukuyomi agreed without any hesitation.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to consider it? That¡¯s a Heaven-level creature. Furthermore, I heard it¡¯s rather terrifying, It¡¯s also a top existence among Heaven-level creatures,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What sort of considerations should I have?¡± Tsukuyomi asked Zhou Wen with a faint smile.


    ¡°At the very least, you should ask about the Heaven-level creature,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Even if I don¡¯t agree to it, do you think I¡¯ll stand by the side while watching you be killed?¡± Tsukuyomi said slowly, ¡°Apart from me, no one can touch my man.¡±


    5


    ??Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was filled with question marks as he thought to himself, When did I become yours?


    2


    However, Zhou Wen felt that there was no point in continuing. Therefore, he threw the Moon Essence Basin to Tsukuyomi. ¡°If it can be used, use it as soon as possible.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to give the Moon Essence Basin to Jing Daoxian, nor did he wish to return it to Toad Immortal. It was a good choice to use it to make a deal with Tsukuyomi and obtain her help.


    After all, the Moon Essence Basin was useless to Zhou Wen. The Essence Energy Art he cultivated didn¡¯t have any moon-elemental attributes.


    ¡°Even so, we have to find a suitable place. This place won¡¯t do.¡± As Tsukuyomi spoke, she approached Zhou Wen and grabbed his hand. Then, she stepped into the void and instantly vanished.


    ¡®When the spatial teleportation ended, Zhou Wen realized that he had arrived on a planet. It was barren without any signs of life, but there was a thick layer of ice in many places.


    Tsukuyomi pulled Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and flashed to the bottom of a glacier cliff. There was an underground ice cave there with a snow-white fur blanket and some daily necessities. It was likely where Tsukuyomi lived.


    ¡°The universe is too dangerous. Terrifying cosmic creatures might appear at any time. I need two days to absorb the Moon Essence Basin. In these two days, I won¡¯t have the ability to resist external forces. I¡¯ll have to trouble you to protect me.¡± With that said, Tsukuyomi sat down on the white fur and held


    the Moon Essence Basin in her hands.


    Bright moonlight immediately rose from the Moon Essence Basin and enveloped Tsukuyomi¡¯s entire body as though a bright moon was right in front of her.


    One could vaguely see Tsukuyomi in the bright moon. The moonlight was as blurry as a veil, allowing one to only see Tsukuyomi¡¯s beautiful figure from her silhouette. It added a mysterious beauty to her.


    Two days. Toad Immortal wouldn¡¯t arrive that quickly, right? Zhou Wen took out a chair from his chaos space and placed it near the entrance of the ice cavern. He sat on the chair and took out his phone to continue grinding.


    As he grinded the dungeons, Zhou Wen remained sufficiently alert. Truth Listener and Great Brahma¡¯s abilities were circulated to their limits. Any commotion nearby couldn¡¯t escape his notice.


    Zhou Wen chose to enter the Big Dipper instance dungeon. He had killed the first three Starlords and they hadn¡¯t respawned. Zhou Wen went straight to the fourth Star Palace where the guardian was Starlord Merciful Song.


    The last time Zhou Wen came, he was stored in the book in Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s hand.


    This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give Starlord Merciful Song a chance. He summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors and ordered it to attack him.


    Starlord Merciful Song didn¡¯t dodge the Golden Wyrm Scissors. The book in his hand automatically opened as strange words appeared, transforming into a treasure beam that struck the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    The Golden Wyrm Scissors was indomitable, but when it was illuminated by the treasure glow, it involuntarily flew into the book and landed on it. It transformed into a picture of the Golden Wyrm Scissors that was imprinted on the page.


    Holy sh*t, is Starlord Merciful Song that impressive? They are both at the Hell level, but he actually managed to subdue the Golden Wyrm Scissors! Zhou Wen was alarmed. Starlord Merciful Song was stronger than he imagined.


    However, Zhou Wen could tell that the book in Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s hand was very powerful, but his combat strength wasn¡¯t much. He guessed that as long as he could get close, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill him.


    The key was how to deal with the book. In the past, Zhou Wen could only attempt to charge forward or use something as a shield.


    Now, he had an additional choice. He could try to see if the Teacher Domain could seal the book in Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s hand. This was also Zhou Wen¡¯s goal for coming here.


    Although the Teacher Domain was very strong, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if it was still effective against high-level domains. He could use the Hell-level Starlord Merciful Song as an experiment.


    Seeing the book in Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s hand open again, the text¡¯s treasure glow rushed out of the page and swept towards Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen also summoned the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    The Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder automatically opened as the words inside shimmered with a strange glow. The invisible Teacher Domain also opened and enveloped Megrez Star Palace.


    The moment the Teacher Domain enveloped the Star Palace, the treasure glow that rushed out of the Starlord Merciful Song¡¯s book instantly vanished. Even the book that shimmered with text lost its glow. The text vanished and the page turned to white paper.


    Haha, the Teacher domain is invincible! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he summoned the golden sniper rifle and pulled the trigger at Starlord Merciful Song.


    1


    Bang!


    Starlord Merciful Song had zero combat skills. He couldn¡¯t even dodge a Human Realm sniper bullet. The sniper bullet blasted a bloody hole in his body.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen kept firing, but Starlord Merciful Song dodged in a sorry state, and because he wasn¡¯t good at combat, he lasted until the seventh sure-kill shot before his head exploded.

 Chapter 1599 - Starlord Ardent Virtue

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡®Killed Calamity creature, Starlord Merciful Song. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed that he didn¡¯t see a Companion Egg. However, when he saw the high-level Essence Energy Crystal, his expectations were lifted again.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had been raising the level of the Invisibility Cloak. The advancement of the Invisibility Cloak was relatively easy¡ªhaving Essence Energy Crystals was enough. Therefore, Zhou Wen would gather solid Essence Energy from the Chaos Egg to raise its level.


    However, the solid Essence Energy only seemed to be capapable of raising the level of the Invisibility Cloak to the Terror grade at best. Any higher and it wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Now that he had Hell-level Essence Energy Crystals, he could try to see if he could improve the Invisibility Cloak.


    The Essence Energy Crystal¡¯s value was only 200. The other dimensional crystals with various attributes were also 200. This was the basic value of the Hell-level.


    From this, it could be seen that the Starlord Merciful Song that Zhou Wen had killed was the same as the Starlord Ravenous Wolves from before. They were in their most basic state.


    If the Starlords of the seven Star Palaces are all at the initial stage of the Hell level, their statuses don¡¯t seem to match the myths and legends! In Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, the seven Starlords had a rather high status. It didn¡¯t seem like they were only at the Hell level.


    He fed the Essence Energy Crystal to the Invisibility Cloak and the other crystals to different Companion Beasts.


    After the Invisibility Cloak absorbed the Essence Energy Crystal, there was clearly a powerful Essence Energy fluctuation on the invisible clothes. However, the fluctuation lasted for a long time without allowing the Invisibility Cloak to advance. Finally, the Essence Energy fluctuation gradually vanished.


    The Invisibility Cloak remained at the Terror grade.


    The Terror-grade Invisibility Cloak¡¯s Terror transformation was invisibility. This greatly increased its invisibility ability, allowing one to remain invisible indefinitely.


    This invisibility was a form of formless, matterless, and shadowless intangibility. It was impossible to sense the location of the Invisibility Cloak through contact between matter. Using detection methods like heat was useless against the Terror-form Invisibility Cloak.


    After putting on the Terror transformed Invisibility Cloak, he basically vanished. Ordinary Calamity-grade creatures might not discover it.


    However, it wasn¡¯t true vanishment. At the very least, Zhou Wen could hear the location of the Invisibility Cloak when he used Truth Listener.


    Therefore, to be safe, Zhou Wen still hoped to raise the Invisibility Cloak to the Calamity grade. If he could hide it from Truth Listener, there weren¡¯t many creatures at the Calamity grade who could discover the Invisibility Cloak.


    If he wasn¡¯t afraid that the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s fusion with other Companion Beasts would change the Invisibility Cloak¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen would rather use a Calamity-grade Companion Beast to fuse it until it reached the Calamity grade.


    From the looks of it, I still need more high-level Essence Energy Crystals to advance the Invisibility Cloak to the Calamity grade, Zhou Wen was already considering where to get more Calamity-grade Essence Energy Crystals.


    After clearing the area, Zhou Wen chose to teleport to the next Star Palace.


    The fifth star of the Big Dipper was Alioth. According to the information obtained on the Internet, the Starlord of Alioth Star Palace was Ardent Virtue. Legend had it that he specialized in killing the imprisoned.


    However, as there wasn¡¯t much information, and the information might not be the same as the true Starlord, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t guess what abilities Starlord Ardent Virtue had.


    After arriving at the Alioth Star Palace, Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that the Star Palace he had imagined wasn¡¯t there. There was only a huge jade mountain.


    The jade mountain was made of white jade and emitted a cold crystalline aura. On the mountaintop, there was a peach blossom tree.


    The peach blossoms bloomed beautifully and the entire tree was pink. A man in white jade armor sat cross-legged under the peach tree. A sheathed white jade sword was placed flat on his lap.


    Peach blossoms flew everywhere as the petals slowly fell, but not a single petal landed on the Starlord, It was as though all the petals would automatically circle around him.


    What kind of Starlord is Starlord Ardent Virtue? Zhou Wen stared at him as he walked towards the white jade mountain.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue remained sitting under the peach blossom tree as though he hadn¡¯t noticed Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival. He didn¡¯t react despite Zhou Wen reaching the mountainside.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue finally opened his eyes when Zhou Wen reached the top of the mountain.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s face due to the helmet. All he could see were his eyes.


    The pair of eyes were unimpressionable. The eyes were definitely not ugly, and could even be described as good-looking.


    However, for some reason, seeing those eyes made Zhou Wen shudder. It even made him feel extremely uneasy as a voice seemed to plead him to turn around and escape.


    Evil aura!


    There was an evil aura in those eyes that made him feel afraid.


    As the pair of eyes stared at Zhou Wen, he had a feeling that he wasn¡¯t a person, but a pig waiting to be slaughtered.


    That¡¯s right. This should be the Alioth Star Palace. The Starlord should be Starlord Ardent Virtue not Starlord Martial Song. Why does this fellow look like he wants to employ force at any moment? Zhou Wen thought.


    Just as Zhou Wen had this in mind, Starlord Ardent Virtue did exactly as he imagined.


    The white jade sword in his hand instantly unsheathed. By the time Zhou Wen saw it unsheathed, the tip of the sword was already at his heart, about to stab in.


    Clang!


    The Bamboo Blade on Zhou Wen¡¯s finger flicked out and blocked the white jade sword. As the blades clashed, Zhou Wen slid forward with the Bamboo Blade.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue had vanished. When Zhou Wen sensed him again, he was already behind him. The tip of the white jade sword was about to pierce through Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    How fast! Zhou Wen had already activated the Teacher Domain, but its power didn¡¯t seem to be of any use against Starlord Ardent Virtue.


    It was obvious that Starlord Ardent Virtue was a Starlord who was good at melee combat. He didn¡¯t need to project his strength at all. Furthermore, his movement technique focused on speed and not instant transmission. The basic abilities of the Teacher Domain didn¡¯t have much effect on Ardent Virtue.


    However, in the Teacher Domain, it recorded Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s every move.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Zhou Wen raised his Bamboo Blade and fought Starlord Ardent Virtue. Although the Bamboo Blade was still at the Terror grade, its hardness wasn¡¯t inferior to a Calamity-grade weapon.


    The continuous collision with the white jade sword failed to damage it.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue had very high combat strength, and was in no way weaker than Starlord Ravenous Wolf. However, their combat styles were different.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s entire body was the weapon. He used every technique to perfection, but Starlord Ardent Virtue was different. He only knew how to use a sword. Furthermore, his sword was only a fast sword. It wasn¡¯t as varied as Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    Among all the martial arts in the world, only speed was invincible.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal was already very fast, but compared to Starlord Ardent Virtue, it was as slow as a snail.


    Moments later, the sword left Zhou Wen with many injuries..

 Chapter 1600 - Saber Practice

    Translator: CKtalon


    Starlord Ardent Virtue attacked and moved at increasing speeds. It was similar to Feng Qiuyan¡¯s swift saber.


    However, Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s speed was many times faster than Feng Qiuyan¡¯s. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t keep up with such speed. Even with his judgment, he still couldn¡¯t withstand his attacks.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to summon the Golden Wyrm Scissors to kill Starlord Ardent Virtue, but on second thought, such a swift sword was very rare. If he killed Starlord Ardent Virtue now, he didn¡¯t know when he would respawn. Instead of killing him straight away, he might as well use him to


    practice his saber techniques.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal also clinched victory through speed. To have such an opponent in combat training was many times better than training by himself.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen gave up on the idea of killing Starlord Ardent Virtue and only fought with his saber techniques.


    Transcendent Flying Immortal was very strong, but Zhou Wen¡¯s Speed and Strength were much weaker than Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s. It was very difficult to make up for the difference with pure saber techniques.


    Furthermore, Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s swift sword had already reached a sublime realm with ever increasing speeds. Before long, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t withstand it and had his heart penetrated by Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s sword.


    The game screen went black as Zhou Wen dripped his blood to revive. He entered Alioth Star Palace again.


    The repeated battles all ended with Zhou Wen¡¯s death.


    However, such battles weren¡¯t completely meaningless.


    The Disqualified allowed Zhou Wen to see Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s flaws, but because he was too fast, he couldn¡¯t grasp them even if he saw them,


    As for Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s trajectory recorded by the Teacher Domain, although it wasn¡¯t as direct as a video, it simplified matters, allowing Zhou Wen to understand many things directly.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s sword was very fast, and it looked disorganized. It seemed to have no fixed trajectory, making it impossible to predict it or guard against it.


    However, from the trajectories recorded by the Teacher Domain, Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s attacks weren¡¯t without pattern.


    Its attacks had too many variations. There were so many that it was impossible for humans to remember them. It was like a repeating decimal. No matter how many numbers there were in the middle, they would eventually repeat. It wasn¡¯t like an irrational number with no discernible pattern.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s attacks were so variable that there were a million, or even more, possibilities. Therefore, ordinary people couldn¡¯t determine his pattern.


    However, Zhou Wen, who had the Teacher Domain, predicted the subsequent changes after understanding a portion of his trajectory. He didn¡¯t really need to see all the changes.


    Zhou Wen increasingly felt that the Teacher Domain¡¯s ability was terrifying. Although it wasn¡¯t a pure Strength-type ability, it was an ability that was closest to the essence of all things.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue¡¯s random sword techniques might not be cracked by others even if they spent their entire lives trying, but Zhou Wen seemed to be able to do so as though he could predict the future. Every time, he would strike first or directly strike his flaws before finally slashing at Starlord Ardent


    Virtue. A first for injuring him.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. The Teacher Domain was a gift that kept giving. He couldn¡¯t predict what kind of power he could develop in the future.


    No, no. This is purely relying on the power of the Teacher Domain to win. I haven¡¯t mastered my saber technique at all. I have to practice my saber. Zhou Wen gave up on using the Teacher Domain and purely used Transcendent Flying Immortal to fight him.


    The three thousand sword intents were very strong, as was the Heart Defying Sword Art, but in comparison, Zhou Wen preferred Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    The reason was that Transcendent Flying Immortal was simple; it saved him trouble. The three thousand sword intents were too cumbersome; it didn¡¯t really match Zhou Wen¡¯s personality.


    Zhou Wen died again and again. The experience he obtained in exchange was something that couldn¡¯t be obtained under normal circumstances.


    Zhou Wen was only at the Terror grade and didn¡¯t have the augmentation of various domains. The difference between him and the Hell-level Starlord Ardent Virtue was just too great. It was almost impossible for him to win purely in terms of techniques. Every battle could only end with death.


    However, Zhou Wen enjoyed it. Every death made Transcendent Flying Immortal break through.


    In the past, although Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal focused on speed, it was leaning towards dominance.


    Immortal Slaying, which was born from Transcendent Flying Immortal, was extremely domineering.


    However, against an opponent like Starlord Ardent Virtue, if he was domineering, even if Zhou Wen pushed the power of Immortal Slaying to its limits, it would ultimately be akin to an egg striking a rock.


    However, Transcendent Flying Immortal wasn¡¯t just domineering. There were other aspects that allowed Zhou Wen to develop.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s saber techniques became faster and faster as they became more and more elegant. His body was like a flying immortal and his saber came from beyond the heavens. His saber techniques and movement techniques became more unpredictable.


    Others were straightforward with their saber techniques, but Zhou Wen¡¯s saber techniques became more curved.


    Zhou Wen seldom had the chance to purely practice a particular skill because he cultivated too many Essence Energy Arts, making it difficult for him to advance.


    Other humans who used Mythical Serums, Spirit Casting, or contracted Guardians only needed to find a suitable Zone Core to quickly advance to the Calamity grade or even rapidly reach a higher level.


    In order to keep up with the progress, Zhou Wen had no choice but to devote a large amount of time to his various Essence Energy Arts and the search for dimensional zones.


    Although it was very difficult, the benefits he obtained were inestimable.


    It was almost impossible for other humans of the same level to clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon alone. There was always a Starlord who could restrain their strength and make victory almost impossible.


    However, Zhou Wen could clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon alone. This was the difference.


    Just as Zhou Wen was practicing Transcendent Flying Immortal, he suddenly heard a commotion.


    The commotion was somewhat terrifying. Zhou Wen put down his phone and listened attentively. Truth Listener immediately transformed the sound into an image that appeared in his mind.


    A huge warship-like behemoth was entering the atmosphere. It produced a lightning-like glow from friction with the atmosphere.


    The azure lightning produced by the friction with the atmosphere covered its entire body, making it look like a huge electric eel wrapped in azure lightning.


    Unlike an electric eel, it had a pair of wings on both sides of its body. The four wings that resembled butterfly wings were also enveloped by azure lightning. As it flapped its wings, the lightning produced by the friction spread out in the atmosphere. Lightning flashed between the sky and land,


    illuminating the originally dark planet.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. Although the lightning wasn¡¯t emitted by the cosmic creature, the fact that it could produce lightning from friction had something to do with its body.


    From the might of the lightning, he knew that this cosmic creature was definitely not an easy opponent.


    According to what Zhou Wen knew, cosmic creatures were typically split into two types. One type was Companion Beasts that tore out of celestial bodies. They were in the minority, but they were extremely impressive. If he encountered one in the universe, escaping immediately was the best choice.


    The second type was more common. For dimensional creatures like Tsukuyomi who came from planets, they varied in strength, but no matter how weak they were, they would at least be at the Mythical stage or above. There were Terror and Calamity creatures, but Calamity creatures occupied the


    majority.


    It wasn¡¯t because fewer creatures of other levels entered the universe, but because too many had died.


    The cosmic creature in front of him looked at least at the Human Realm. It might even be stronger¡­

 Chapter 1601 - Void Salamander

    Translator: CKtalon


    As he wasn¡¯t sure what level the cosmic creature was or what kind of power it had, Zhou Wen tried his best to hide his aura, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t discover him.


    Anything could happen in a battle with the unknown. Zhou Wen could improvise based on the situation, but Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t move. It would be troublesome if something happened.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for any trouble, but the cosmic creature seemed to be coming for him. After tearing through the atmosphere, it clearly rushed towards the glacier rift.


    Although it might be a coincidence, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He didn¡¯t wish to take the risk. Instead of waiting for the cosmic creature to come and end up fighting beside Tsukuyomi, he might as well attack first and divert the battlefield as far away as possible.


    Without any hesitation, he summoned the Soul Mirror, the Golden Sniper, and Starlord Ravenous Wolf to guard the ice cavern to prevent any accidents.


    Zhou Wen put on the Invisibility Cloak and silently rushed out of the rift, heading straight for the cosmic creature.


    He originally imagined that if the Invisibility Cloak could hide from the cosmic creature¡¯s senses, he could use the Golden Wyrm Scissors to slice it into two when he came close. Better be safe than sorry.


    However, before he could approach the cosmic creature, he saw it flap its wings. Lightning rained down like a storm, immediately enveloping the nearby area.


    The Terror-grade Invisibility Cloak is still inadequate. Zhou Wen activated the Teacher Domain, causing the terrifying lightning to vanish.


    Summoning Bamboo Blade in hand, Zhou Wen continued charging at the cosmic creature.


    Although the lightning on its body kept spewing out, it would vanish the moment it entered the Teacher Domain¡¯s range. This made Zhou Wen feel a lot more at ease. As long as the Teacher Domain could be of use, he would have a huge advantage.


    The cosmic creature didn¡¯t panic when it saw the lightning on its body vanish. It continued charging at Zhou Wen.


    The entire body of the cosmic creature was enveloped in the Teacher Domain. The lightning over its body vanished.


    Zhou Wen released the Golden Wyrm Scissors and slashed at the cosmic creature without any hesitation. He simultaneously drew the Immortal Culling Sword and slashed out a terrifying sword beam using the most domineering Immortal Slaying.


    Ina real-life battle, striking first to gain the upper hand against an unknown enemy was the best choice. He didn¡¯t have the luxury of figuring out his opponent¡¯s abilities like in-game.


    No matter what the opponent¡¯s ability was, as long as he killed it immediately, it would be useless no matter how impressive its abilities were.


    The cosmic creature was extremely fast. It flapped its wings and dodged the Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s slash, but it failed to dodge the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ attack.


    With a crack, the cosmic creature¡¯s head was snipped off.


    Blood splattered across the sky as the head and corpse fell and smashed into the glacier. Large swaths of the glacier cracked as blood flowed everywhere.


    With the Teacher Domain combined with the Golden Wyrm Scissors, I¡¯m practically invincible. Zhou Wen was delighted.


    ¡®The Teacher Domain restrained the enemy¡¯s powers, and the Golden Wyrm Scissors was a specialist in melee combat. There was no better combination than them.


    ¡®The Swan Wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back flapped as he instantly arrived in front of the cosmic creature¡¯s corpse.


    From the wound, he could tell that its body was crystalline and somewhat similar to fresh shrimp meat. Furthermore, it emitted a strange luster.


    The bones inside were like white jade. There were fine scales around its body, and they also looked like jade. From its appearance, one would almost think that it was a white jade statue.


    With a thought from him, the Golden Wyrm Scissors flew over and cut open its body. He hoped to find dimensional crystals.


    He didn¡¯t find any dimensional crystals, but there was a single bone shimmering with a strange lightning glow. It was obvious that it had undergone a Calamity transformation. This thing was food for Calamity-grade creatures, and it was also the energy needed for the evolution of the Calamity Zone.


    The entire bone was huge and spanned more than a hundred meters. It was impossible to devour it. One could only use Essence Energy Arts to absorb the energy within.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t good at lightning. Even if he absorbed the lightning energy, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use. Therefore, he stored the single bone in the chaos space.


    Although there was energy in the flesh and blood, the energy contained was relatively low because the flesh hadn¡¯t undergone a Calamity transformation. Furthermore, the energy would quickly dissipate into the universe. It was useless keeping it. At most, he could only roast it for food.


    Zhou Wen got the Golden Wyrm Scissors to cut open the alien creature¡¯s head. Immediately, he saw a crystalline Companion Egg inside its skull.


    A Companion Egg! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly took out the Companion Egg and used his phone to snap a picture.


    Void Salamander: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Body of Origin


    Life Soul: Soul of Lightning


    Wheel of Destiny: Vacuity Kill


    Terror Form: Lightning Origin (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: True Void Zone (Human Realm)


    Strength: 105


    Speed: 101


    Constitution: 124


    Essence Energy: 117


    Talent Skill: Wings of Thunder, Sky Lightning Strike, Wings of Lightning, Void Slash.


    Companion Form: Mount


    It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen a mount-type Companion Beast. This fellow¡¯s stats are pretty good, but he¡¯s only at the Human Realm. Furthermore, it¡¯s lining the bottom. I¡¯m quite surprised. From the way it appeared, I thought it was at the Hell level, Zhou Wen thought.


    Although the Void Salamander¡¯s stats and level were weaker than Zhou Wen imagined, it was already extremely lucky to obtain a Calamity-grade Companion Beast.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen put away the Companion Egg and didn¡¯t immediately incubate it.


    Companion Eggs could be used as supplementary materials. If they were combined with a Companion Beast, they wouldn¡¯t change the Companion Beast¡¯s original characteristics. It was very convenient to use such a high-level Companion Egg to raise a Companion Beast¡¯s level.


    If two Companion Beasts were combined, it was very easy to produce changes, albeit unpredictable ones.


    Zhou Wen cut some of the flesh of the Void Salamander and sliced it into thin slices. He took out a stove and pot and slid the meat slices in the pot. He dabbed it in some sauce and placed it in his mouth.


    Mm, it¡¯s really delicious! It¡¯s much better than shrimp, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but marvel.


    Unfortunately, Demonic Neonate is still sleeping. Otherwise, she would definitely like it, Znou Wen mused regretfully as he ate.


    ¡®As he was eating, he suddenly felt the glacier beneath his feet tremble as though a fluctuation was spreading through it.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly. The average person might not know what had happened, but Zhou Wen heard a high-frequency sound wave that ordinary people couldn¡¯t hear through Truth Listener. The sound wave came from beyond the planet.


    To be able to produce sound waves from space and affect the interior of a planet, such power was truly terrifying.


    Zhou Wen looked up into the void and his expression changed drastically. He saw a gigantic Void Salamander rushing towards the planet. Its body was more than ten times bigger than the one Zhou Wen had killed and had almost completely transformed into blazing white lightning. It descended towards


    Zhou Wen like a thundercloud that blotted out the sky..7

 Chapter 1602 - Heaven Level

    Translator: CKtalon


    Zhou Wen was somewhat in a daze when he heard the huge Void Salamander¡¯s roar. He was still holding chopsticks in his hand with a piece of freshly cooked salamander meat between them.


    This¡­ Zhou Wen stared at the Salamander in the sky with widened eyes. A chill ran down his spine all the way to the soles of his feet.


    Without waiting for the Void Salamander to react, Zhou Wen threw away the chopsticks in his hand and activated the Teacher Domain again. At the same time, he summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors, pulled out the Immortal Culling Sword, and charged at the Void Salamander.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that the slightly smaller Void Salamander was most likely its son. There was no room for negotiation now that he had cooked its son. Unless he chose to escape, it would be a situation of fighting to the death.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t escape or Tsukuyomi would be a goner if she was discovered.


    Asmall Void Salamander was at the Human Realm. Who knew what level this huge Void Salamander was at? It was at least at the Hell level. The possibility of it being at the Heaven level was very high.


    If he was unlucky and it was at the Apocalypse grade, Zhou Wen was already prepared to flee for his life.


    The blazing white lightning on the Void Salamander¡¯s body surged and surged down like an ocean. After touching the Teacher Domain, the lightning immediately dimmed.


    However, the lightning didn¡¯t disappear like before. It only dimmed significantly, but it still maintained its lightning form and quickly spread in the Teacher Domain.


    No way! Even the Teacher Domain can¡¯t seal it! Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils constricted as his body instinctively instant transmitted into the cosmos.


    The Void Salamander¡¯s body was huge, but its actions weren¡¯t clumsy. With a flash of lightning, its huge body vanished. When it appeared again, it was already in front of Zhou Wen. It opened its mouth, hoping to devour him.


    Before it could close its mouth, the lightning inside smote down.


    Zhou Wen could only use the Chaos Egg to withstand the terrifying lightning blast before instant transmitting out before its mouth snapped to a close to escape the fate of being devoured.


    Zhou Wen constantly instant transmitted as he rushed out of the atmosphere and arrived in space.


    During this process, the Void Salamander stayed on Zhou Wer¡¯s heels. Its body vanished into thin air like lightning and appeared out of thin air again. Every time it appeared, it nearly devoured Zhou Wen.


    Although Zhou Wen escaped death time and time again, he was constantly struck by lightning.


    A large number of solid Essence Energy Crystals appeared in the Chaos Egg. What was even more terrifying was that a portion of the lightning seeped into the Chaos Egg, causing Zhou Wen¡¯s body to tremble.


    Thankfully, the Teacher Domain had already sealed a portion of the lightning powers. The Chaos Egg had blocked more than half of them. Otherwise, just one bolt of lightning could have charred Zhou Wen to ashes.


    Zhou Wen roughly figured out that the Void Salamander was most likely at the Heaven level.


    This was bad news, but it was also good news.


    Zhou Wen already knew that he was far from the Heaven-level Void Salamander¡¯s match, but he still had a chance of escaping. At the very least, he wouldn¡¯t be crushed to death.


    Thankfully, he had lured the Void Salamander away from the planet. Tsukuyomi should be safe for the time being.


    Now, all Zhou Wen needed to do was lure the Void Salamander further away. Then, he could use Singularity Universe to teleport to a distant galaxy and escape the Void Salamander¡¯s pursuit.


    The domain power of a Heaven-level creature has indeed undergone a qualitative change. It can actually break through the Teacher Domain¡¯s seal and the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense. As Zhou Wen fled, he circulated the Beginningless Sword Domain with all his might.


    The Sword Pills that filled the sky faced the blazing white lightning, but they were all destroyed by the lightning in an instant. They turned to their Yin aspect and vanished.


    The terrifying lightning passed through the Teacher Domain and struck the Chaos Egg.


    The seemingly gapless Chaos Egg cracked at the spots where strikes were combined under the lightning¡¯s bombardment. The lightning seeped in and made Zhou Wen scream as his hair stood up.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s domain was sufficiently powerful. Furthermore, it had multiple domains. If it were at the ordinary Human Realm, even a Hell-level creature would have blasted him to ashes.


    Zhou Wen constantly instant transmitted to escape, but the Void Salamander¡¯s speed was just too fast. When he instant transmitted again, the Void Salamander¡¯s mouth was already waiting for him as countless bolts of lightning swept down.


    Zhou Wen was no longer capable of instant transmission. All he could do was use interstellar teleportation to teleport to a distant planet.


    Due to the urgency of the matter, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to choose which planet to go to. Therefore, he randomly chose a planet to distance himself from the Void Salamander.


    The Void Salamander will soon be lured away. I hope it won¡¯t return to that planet. Zhou Wen wanted to teleport back and see how Tsukuyomi was doing.


    However, he was afraid that he would lure the Void Salamander over if he teleported back. Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t move, nor could he touch her. It would make matters worse.


    ¡®As Zhou Wen was too far away from Tsukuyomi, the Companion Beasts he had left with her had automatically returned to him. Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t have any protection now.


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating, he saw a flash of lightning. The Void Salamander appeared in front of him again. Even interstellar teleportation failed to shake it off.


    Holy sh*t! Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed drastically.


    He was still worried about Tsukuyomi, but now, he could only worry about himself.


    Zhou Wen realized that it was impossible for him to shake off the Void Salamander when it could actually follow him despite such a distant interstellar teleportation.


    What should I do? Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as he thought of several solutions.


    The first solution was to teleport back to Earth. According to Zhou Wen¡¯s experience, the entire universe had a very strong nomological suppression for dimensional creatures.


    Earth¡¯s rules had a powerful suppressive effect on dimensional creatures in the universe. Creatures above the Calamity grade, even if they didn¡¯t come from the dimension, would still be greatly suppressed in Earth¡¯s interior.


    Even a native Calamity like Tsukuyomi could only leave Earth if she didn¡¯t want to be suppressed.


    Therefore, after returning to Earth and using Earth¡¯s rules, he might be able to escape the pursuit of the Void Salamander.


    If it dared to chase him into Earth, he might even be able to use Earth¡¯s suppression to kill it.


    However, there was a drawback to doing so.


    If the Void Salamander wasn¡¯t suppressed immediately after charging into Earth, or if the suppression wasn¡¯t enough to make it drop below the Calamity grade, its strength would bring about a destructive calamity for Earth.


    Although such a disaster wouldn¡¯t destroy Earth, it was still fully capable of destroying a few human cities.


    As he wasn¡¯t sure when the Void Salamander would be suppressed, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take the risk.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen decided to try Plan B. It was to head to the Big Dipper and enter the Big Dipper Palaces.


    As long as he lured the Void Salamander in and allowed it to attack Starlord Cherished Kismet, he might be able to kill it.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s ability could kill the Void Salamander. After all, the power of the Heaven level had somewhat exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s knowledge..

 Chapter 1603 - Fleeing into the Star Palace

    Translator: CKtalon


    At this point, Zhou Wen had no other choice. He had to give it a try. If Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t kill the Void Salamander, Zhou Wen could only return to Earth to seek refuge.


    It¡¯s no wonder even Calamity creatures are afraid of the cosmos. There are countless creatures like the Void Salamander in the universe. If I¡¯m unlucky, I¡¯ll basically die if I encounter one. Zhou Wen used interstellar teleportation with all his might to teleport to Phecda.


    1


    He had to use the Cube previously because he was in the dimension, so he naturally didn¡¯t need to use the Cube to enter the Big Dipper dimensional zone again.


    He arrived at the entrance of Phecda¡¯s dimensional zone and saw the Void Salamander descend with the lightning that blotted out the sky. Without any hesitation, he used spatial teleportation and entered the dimensional zone.


    However, when Zhou Wen rushed in, he was surprised to discover that he wasn¡¯t in Phecda Star Palace, but Dubhe Palace.


    Before Zhou Wen could figure out what was going on, he saw the lightning blast dissipate as the Void Salamander appeared in Dubhe.


    ¡®The Cubes around the world lit up. The scene that appeared was Dubhe Palace, where Zhou Wen was.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s Egg Sovereign. He¡¯s already first. Why is he still challenging the levels?¡±


    ¡°What do you know? This is called surpassing oneself.¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is awesome. The other creatures are vying for first place, but he¡¯s trying to surpass himself.¡±


    ¡°Wow, what¡¯s that lightning? It looks like a lightning dragon with butterfly wings!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, the Companion Beast that Egg Sovereign summoned looks even more ferocious than the Tiger Soul General!¡±


    Many people believed that the Void Salamander was a Companion Beast summoned by Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare stay when he saw the Void Salamander enter. He pushed open the door and rushed into Dubhe Palace without stopping.


    ¡®When Starlord Ravenous Wolf saw Zhou Wen enveloped by the Chaos Egg, he immediately used his starlight domain and punched at him with the power of starlight.


    The blast of light was like a volcanic eruption as it drowned Zhou Wen and the entire Star Palace.


    The Void Salamander that rushed in behind him didn¡¯t hesitate to cast lightning.


    The originally terrifying starlight domain appeared weak under the void lightning. Starlord Ravenous Wolf and the starlight domain were instantly reduced to ashes.


    Zhou Wen rushed to the teleportation nexus against the lightning and chose to teleport to the next Star Palace.


    ¡°How domineering. What Companion Beast is that?¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign¡¯s new Companion Beast seems to be even more ferocious than the Tiger Soul General. That lightning is too domineering!¡±


    ¡°Where does Egg Sovereign get his Companion Beasts from? It¡¯s so enviable.¡±


    Many people¡¯s eyes turned red with envy, but they didn¡¯t know that Zhou Wen was feeling utterly miserable.


    After he teleported to Merak Star Palace, the Cube¡¯s screen changed to Merak Star Palace. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen pushed open the door and rushed in.


    The Void Salamander rushed in after him.


    Just as Starlord Titan Gate stood up, lightning descended from the sky. He was blasted to pieces before he could even stand up, much less open his mouth.


    1


    Zhou Wen charged crazily amidst the lightning and stood on the teleportation nexus again, teleporting to the next Star Palace.


    ¡°Another instant kill. He¡¯s too powerful.¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is looking invincible!¡±


    ¡°What Companion Beast is this? How did Egg Sovereign obtain such a powerful Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°The heavens must be jealous of my looks. Otherwise, why don¡¯t I have such a powerful Companion Beast?¡±


    Everyone watched as the Void Salamander unleashed its might. They were envious, jealous, and hateful, but Zhou Wen had already rushed into the Phecda Star Palace.


    Now, Zhou Wen was extremely nervous. This was his last chance.


    If Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s ability couldn¡¯t kill the Void Salamander, Starlord Ardent Virtue behind him would definitely be even more useless.


    Zhou Wen had yet to explore the subsequent Star Palace. It was dangerous for him to enter alone, so it was naturally impossible for him to continue. When the time came, he could only teleport back to Earth to seek refuge.


    Unless it was absolutely necessary, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take this path.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s situation isn¡¯t good.¡± Not everyone was that ignorant. Zhang Chunqiu and company could tell that the Void Salamander wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast, but a dimensional creature that was pursuing him.


    ¡°That fellow really knows how to cause trouble. Can¡¯t he just stay at home? Why does he have to provoke such a terrifying creature? I guess he just likes to tempt fate.¡± Xia Liuchuan really couldn¡¯t figure out why such a fellow was still alive.


    ¡®Wang Lu was extremely nervous when she saw Zhou Wen being pursued. She held her hands in front of her chest as though she was praying.


    Inside the Holy Land, Holy God was also watching the battle.


    ¡°Lord Holy God, from the looks of it, it¡¯s a Heaven-level creature. Zhou Wen has actually provoked it. I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t be able to escape death,¡± said the Saint standing beside him.


    ¡®The Saint¡¯s hair and beard were white, making him look ancient. He wore a white robe, making it impossible to tell which Holy Temple he belonged to.


    ¡°He can¡¯t die,¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    ¡°Your Excellency, why?¡± the old Saint asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°The Connate Holy Temple¡¯s Holy Artifact is still with him. We have to retrieve it,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°But I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s too late now,¡± the old Saint said.


    ¡°There¡¯s still time. He won¡¯t die so easily. At the very least, he still has the ability to escape. Find Xiao and Jiuyang, Get them to go together and watch the area outside the Star Palace. If Zhou Wen comes out, get them to give that Void Salamander a hand.¡± Holy God looked at the scene in the Cube with a


    deep gaze.


    After Zhou Wen rushed into the Phecda Star Palace, he headed straight for the area behind Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    Just like before, the Void Salamander descended with lightning and struck Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    Boom!


    Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s body was blasted to ashes. Almost at the same time, the Void Salamander¡¯s body shattered, turning into countless sparks that scattered in all directions.


    Success! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    However, in the next second, the joy on his face froze.


    The shattered lightning on the Void Salamander¡¯s body automatically gathered together and transformed back into the Void Salamander.


    Holy sh*t, that works? Zhou Wen was so depressed that he nearly vomited blood.


    ¡®The Heaven-level Void Salamander and the Human Realm-level Void Salamander didn¡¯t look like the same creature.


    ¡°Egg Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast actually has an undying body. It¡¯s really powerful!¡± Everyone was even more envious when they saw this scene.


    Zhou Wen was close to tears. Thankfully, Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s ability was indeed impressive. He was also restored.


    The Void Salamander¡¯s lightning struck again. Starlord Cherished Kismet was killed again as the Void Salamander¡¯s body split apart again.


    What should I do? Zhou Wen knew that there was no point in him going to the next Star Palace. The only way out was to return to Earth.


    He definitely had to return to Earth. The problem was where..1

 Chapter 1604 - Trapped

    Translator: CKtalon


    Before the Void Salamander took form again, Zhou Wen rushed into the teleportation nexus and left the dimensional zone.


    The Void Salamander finished taking form and charged out after Zhou Wen.


    The scene on the Cube immediately changed to a ranking. The Tiger Soul General¡¯s name was still on the rankings. However, the Void Salamander¡¯s name appeared on the rankings now, occupying first place.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Egg Sovereign has taken first and second place!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such a thing? This is heaven-defying!¡±


    Ordinary people imagined that Egg Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beasts had separately entered the rankings, but in fact, it was only because they didn¡¯t know the mechanism of the Cube that resulted in such a misunderstanding.


    In fact, there was no such thing as having Companion Beasts enter the rankings. The name ¡®Tiger Soul General¡¯ was written by Zhou Wen himself. It represented Zhou Wen himself and not the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Any creature on the rankings could decide their name with a thought.


    However, ordinary people didn¡¯t know this. They imagined that it was a Companion Beast that had entered the rankings from the beginning, but now that the Void Salamander¡¯s name was on the rankings, it caused such a misunderstanding.


    After Zhou Wen left the dimensional zone, he immediately wanted to teleport back to Earth. He had already thought of teleporting to Zhuolu and luring the Void Salamander to the underground sea. There were dimensional creatures in the Sapphire Sky and the strange bone sand desert. Perhaps they


    could fight the Void Salamander.


    Even if they weren¡¯t the Void Salamander¡¯s match, as long as they could hold back the Void Salamander for a period of time and allow the Void Salamander to be slowly suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules, Zhou Wen would eventually be able to turn the tables.


    In fact, Zhou Wen¡¯s first choice wasn¡¯t Zhuolu, but Chess Mountain. However, considering how Chess Mountain was too close to Luoyang, it would be tragic if the Void Salamander unleashed its might when it arrived. The residents of Luoyang City wouldn¡¯t have the time to retreat into the dimensional


    zone.


    However, when Zhou Wen used Singularity Universe¡¯s interstellar teleportation ability to return to Earth, he realized that he couldn¡¯t teleport out.


    He frowned and looked around. He realized that there was a strange spatial distortion in the cosmos. The nearby stars looked like phantoms. Several similar stars appeared in different directions.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, we meet again.¡± A familiar voice sounded from the cosmos. Zhou Wen looked up and saw Xiao, Jiuyang, and an old man with white hair standing in the void.


    Xiao¡¯s body seemed to fuse with the distorted void. The power that distorted the cosmos likely originated from his body.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. Xiao and Jiuyang were here. They had the Holy Land¡¯s Holy Artifacts with them. With the augmentation of the Holy Artifacts, they could reach the Heaven level.


    Xiao came from the Trajectory Holy Temple. The Trajectory Holy Temple was best at altering space and time. It would probably be difficult for him to use spatial teleportation to escape now that Xiao had sealed the area.


    Jiuyang¡¯s body emitted a sun-like glow as he blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s path.


    The old Saint stood in the middle of the three of them with his hands in his sleeves. His eyes looked like he hadn¡¯t woken up with his drooping eyelids. He hadn¡¯t used any power.


    However, since he came with Jiuyang and Xiao, he was clearly not an ordinary person. Perhaps he was another Saint with a Holy Artifact.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the Void Salamander had already rushed out and swept towards him with lightning bolts that filled the sky.


    Behind him was the powerful Void Salamander. The space had been sealed by Xiao, and there were three Saints blocking his path. Zhou Wen immediately fell into an extremely dire situation.


    He instantly made a decision. Without a word, he charged at Xiao and company, hoping to lure the three of them into the battle.


    The Void Salamander didn¡¯t distinguish between friend and foe. When the lightning struck, it would sweep through the battlefield. When that happened, he might have a chance of escaping.


    However, when Zhou Wen charged at Xiao and company, he realized that the space in front of him had stacked up. The distance looked short, but he couldn¡¯t reach it no matter how hard he tried.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was likely Xiao¡¯s spatial domain. He immediately activated the Teacher Domain, hoping to seal it.


    The power of the Teacher Domain did seal a portion of the spatial domain, but it couldn¡¯t completely seal it. The space ahead remained stacked, making it difficult for him to rush forward.


    Damn it!Zhou Wen already knew that the power of the Teacher Domain could seal all sorts of domain powers, but if the other party¡¯s domain reached the Heaven-level¡¯s perfect domain, he wouldn¡¯t be able to completely seal it.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen vaguely felt that there was another domain power in the spatial domain. The domain power that also restrained Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be seen or touched, but it had been in effect all this while. The power likely came from the old Saint.


    Two Heaven-level domain powers trapped Zhou Wen in space. Even if Zhou Wen had a chance to rush over, Jiuyang was already waiting for him with the Holy Artifact in hand. He definitely wouldn¡¯t give him a chance.


    Furthermore, before Zhou Wen could think of a way to continue forward, the Void Salamander had already arrived behind him. Large swaths of lightning drowned the Chaos Egg as the huge Salamander¡¯s mouth was just seconds from swallowing it.


    Goddamnit! Zhou Wen instant transmitted and dodged the Void Salamander¡¯s devouring despite the void lightning.


    However, his instant transmission could only be maintained for a very short distance. He was unable to break through the spatial folds and even the range of the void lightning.


    Zhou Wen could only use all his strength to circle around the Void Salamander as he thought of a way to escape.


    ¡°Give him more pressure. Try to end the battle quickly,¡± the old Saint said to Jiuyang and Xiao.


    Xiao smiled and said, ¡°Old K, there¡¯s no rush. With our domains limiting him in space, he won¡¯t have a chance to escape. Sooner or later, he will die at the mouth of the Void Salamander. Besides, if we join in the fray, we might give him a chance. It¡¯s not as safe as this.¡±


    ¡°That Zhou Wen is only an ordinary Calamity. He¡¯s at most at the Hell level. The three of us will join the fray with Holy Artifacts. What¡¯s there to be afraid of¡± Old K said with a frown.


    ¡°You can¡¯t say that. You haven¡¯t fought him before and don¡¯t know how powerful this guy is. I think it¡¯s best to be safe. Jiuyang has fought him before. Why don¡¯t we hear what Jiuyang has to say?¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°Jiuyang, what are your thoughts on this?¡± Old K looked at Jiuyang.


    ¡°can¡¯t see through him,¡± Jiuyang said calmly.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s wait and see,¡± Old K said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen constantly shuttled through the lightning. Although he wasn¡¯t devoured by the Void Salamander, he was constantly blasted by the lightning.


    However, Zhou Wen discovered something very strange. There seemed to be something brewing in the Teacher Domain..

 Chapter 1605 - Grand Void Lightning Art

    Chapter 1605 Grand Void Lightning Art


    The Teacher Domain couldn¡¯t completely seal a perfected domain. A perfected domain would constantly leave trajectories in the Teacher Domain like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. As the power in the Teacher Domain constantly changed, the puzzle would become more and more complete.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense much of it, but as the trajectories became more and more complete, he realized that they seemed to be changing


    Zhou Wen had been fighting the Void Salamander for so long that he didn¡¯t know how many times he had been struck by lightning. The trajectories that resembled a jigsaw puzzle became more and more completed as they seemed to emit a rhythm.


    What will happen if I complete those trajectories? Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that this might be an opportunity.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of a way to break out for the time being, so he decided to attempt to piece together the trajectories. The power sealed by the Teacher Domain wouldn¡¯t leave a trajectory in the Teacher Domain-only powers that couldn¡¯t be sealed would leave a trajectory. However, for the same power, some trajectories overlapped, while others didn¡¯t.


    Only the trajectories that didn¡¯t overlap would become part of the jigsaw puzzle. The overlapping trajectories were useless.


    What Zhou Wen needed to do was obtain more non-overlapping trajectories to connect all the trajectories together to form a huge net.


    The trajectories produced by the same attack often overlapped. Zhou Wen had to make the Teacher Domain come into contact with the other party¡¯s domain to obtain more trajectories. However, under the attack of the Void Salamander, Zhou Wen found it difficult to protect himself. It was extremely dangerous to make more contact with its domain.


    Old K and company had been paying attention to Zhou Wen¡¯s battle with the Void Salamander. Seeing that Zhou Wen was about to fight the Void Salamander to the death, Old K said, ¡°Zhou Wen is like a trapped beast. From the looks of it, we will soon complete the mission.¡±


    ¡°It should be soon,¡± Xiao said indifferently as he thought to himself. With Jiuyang and Old K here, it¡¯s probably impossible to secretly help Zhou Wen escape. Is it worth exposing my identity for him?


    Xiao wasn¡¯t a hesitant person, but at that moment, he was somewhat hesitant.


    It was almost impossible to infiltrate the Holy Land. Unless it was a coincidence, it was impossible for him to enter the Holy Land to become a Saint. It was even harder to reach his status. If his identity was exposed, everything he had done previously would be in vain.


    If it were any other time, Xiao wouldn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice Zhou Wen. However, when he thought of what An Tianzuo had said to him, Xiao hesitated.


    Just as Xiao was hesitating, changes happened to the battle.


    The Void Salamander originally had the absolute advantage with its lightning powers enveloping Zhou Wen. Under the bombardment of the lightning, more and more lightning bolts appeared in the Chaos Egg¡¯s crevices as though it was about to explode.


    Suddenly, the lightning domain released by the Void Salamander seemed to weaken. The sea-like lightning also decreased. ¡°Why is the lightning on the Void Salamander decreasing?¡± Old K also discovered this situation and frowned.


    ¡°From the looks of it, Zhou Wen is going all out. This is the last bit of brilliance before his death,¡± Xiao said.


    Jiuyang continued, ¡°The Void Salamander¡¯s lightning isn¡¯t ordinary lightning. Instead of calling it lightning, it¡¯s more like a clash of void powers. You might be capable of melting the void power away even with the use of the Holy Artifact.¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, we didn¡¯t join the battle. Otherwise, we might have been in danger in this caged battle with Zhou Wen.¡± Xiao nodded.


    Old K looked at the battling Zhou Wen and felt that what Xiao and Jiuyang said made sense, but he had a nagging feeling that something was amiss.


    On the battlefield, Zhou Wen had already pieced together the trajectories in the Teacher Domain, forming a complete net.


    The moment the net was mended, the entire net¡¯s trajectories lit up and emitted a strange glow.


    Of course, only Zhou Wen could see this glow


    ¡ªsomething that only existed in the Teacher Domain itself.


    As the trajectories emitted a glow, they began to change, turning into strange runes.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t read them, but he knew what they meant, just like the words in the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder.


    The trajectory-transformed runes constantly flew towards the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, gradually forming scripture text one after another.


    Great Void Lightning Art! Zhou Wen vaguely comprehended the true meaning of the words and realized that it was an Essence Energy Art.


    As the trajectories transformed into scriptures, the Teacher Domain¡¯s seal on the lightning became stronger and stronger.


    This resulted in the situation Old K and company saw. The lightning released by the Void Salamander was constantly decreasing. The lightning wasn¡¯t melted by Zhou Wen, but the power of the Teacher Domain had sealed the corresponding rules of the void lightning. In the beginning, Old K believed that this was Zhou Wen¡¯s final gamble or his final brilliance before his death.


    Old K felt that something was amiss as large swaths of void lightning vanished until the biggest one disappeared.


    ¡°No good. That¡¯s not Zhou Wen¡¯s final burst of strength. He found a way to restrain the void lightning!¡± Xiao shouted in horror, ¡°But how is this possible? How can a Human Realm like him restrain a Heaven-level domain?¡± ¡°That fellow is indeed difficult to figure out,¡± Jiuyang said in thought.


    ¡°Attack together. We can¡¯t give him any chance. We have to retrieve the Holy Artifact,¡± Old K said as he rushed into the battlefield. He held a scepter in his hand and pointed at Zhou Wen, who was being pursued by the Void Salamander.


    The tip of the scepter emitted a strange glow. Wherever the light shone, Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain converged significantly.


    Xiao and Jiuyang charged in as well. Jiuyang¡¯s body emitted divine light as he punched Zhou Wen. Divine light erupted as though it wanted to penetrate the universe.


    Xiao appeared behind the Chaos Egg like a ghost and struck it, sending it flying. A large number of solid crystals condensed in the Chaos Egg. As for the Great Void Lightning Art¡¯s scripture that appeared in the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, it had already ended. In the Teacher Domain, all the void lightning powers were sealed, making all the lightning vanish without a trace. Even the Void Salamander¡¯s body transformed from lightning to flesh.


    It resembled the tiny Void Salamander that Zhou Wen had killed. It had white jade-like scales and snow-white butterfly wings. Although its body was huge, its speed was astonishing


    Unable to release the power of the void lightning, the Void Salamander could only fight using its body. Even so, the same power remained circulating in its body-it just couldn¡¯t be released. Its speed and strength didn¡¯t weaken, and it remained extremely ferocious.

 Chapter 1606 - Breaking Through the Encirclement

    Chapter 1606 Breaking Through the Encirclement


    The restrictions on Zhou Wen decreased significantly without the void lightning¡¯s bombardment.


    Although there were three more people attacking, Zhou Wen felt that this was an opportunity


    Bang!


    Xiao struck the Chaos Egg with his palm. The power that was enough to distort space and rip through time deformed the Chaos Egg greatly. It flew out like a bullet in the shape of an eggplant.


    Although the Chaos Egg flew towards the Sun God Light blasted out by Jiuyang, it dodged the Void Salamander¡¯s bite.


    Jiuyang¡¯s punch was like a sun as it struck the Chaos Egg and sent Zhou Wen flying.


    Although the Chaos Egg flickered as though it would crack at any moment, it ultimately didn¡¯t shatter.


    The scepter in Old K¡¯s hand slammed into the Chaos Egg that came flying to him. It nearly split the Chaos Egg apart. It looked like a calabash with a thin waist in the middle, but it still didn¡¯t snap.


    Zhou Wen was actually most afraid of being devoured by the Void Salamander. Although the attacks of Old K and company were ferocious, they failed to deal much damage on him after the screening of the Teacher Domain and the Chaos Egg. Zhou Wen remained virtually unharmed with the Prisoned Dragon armor donned.


    If it wasn¡¯t for Demonic Neonate in his arms, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have been injured.


    Old K, Xiao, and Jiuyang¡¯s powers also left their trajectories in the Teacher Domain, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to piece together their trajectories. After all, he was besieged by four Heaven-level existences. Zhou Wen¡¯s situation was dire.


    Old K and company had deliberately avoided the Void Salamander, but since they were attacking Zhou Wen, it was impossible for them to completely dodge it.


    The trio attacked the Chaos Egg from different directions when Zhou Wen suddenly retracted his Teacher Domain.


    In the next moment, the extremely terrifying void lightning on the Void Salamander¡¯s body appeared again, instantly enveloping everyone.


    The three people who were attacking Zhou Wen had no choice but to gather their strength to resist the void lightning


    Boom!


    The trio¡¯s strength collided with the void lightning. A terrifying shockwave erupted from the collision of the four Heaven-level forces, tearing open some cracks in Xiao and Old K¡¯s domains.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s senses were extremely sharp as he immediately sensed the existence of the cracks. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the opportunity and rushed out of the Chaos Egg. He unsheathed the Golden Wyrm Scissors in his hand and widened a crack before disappearing with interstellar teleportation.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± Old K felt a headache coming on. Zhou Wen had managed to escape under such circumstances.


    The Void Salamander was sent retreating by the combined forces of the trio. Its ferocious nature was triggered as lightning erupted from its body, transforming into an infinite sea of lightning that surged towards the trio.


    ¡°The Void Salamander can¡¯t be defeated by force. Leave quickly.¡± Xiao retreated and vanished into the void like a ghost. Jiuyang forcefully blasted away the lightning storm and forged a path before rushing into the distance.


    Old K raised his scepter, forming an invisible force that protected his body, but the void lightning could still penetrate it. It made his hair stand on end as smoke emitted.


    Thankfully, the scepter had already blocked most of the force. The lightning didn¡¯t kill him.


    The Void Salamander didn¡¯t fight them to the death. After spewing out the lightning, its body transformed into an electric blast and vanished in the blink of an eye. Zhou Wen had already teleported back to Earth, but he didn¡¯t go to Zhuolu. Instead, he went to the Holy Land.


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t plan on heading to the Holy Land because it was useless.


    TIC


    Although the Holy Land was on Earth, one had to pass through a teleportation nexus to enter it. Apart from that, there was no other way to enter.


    Therefore, even if Zhou Wen went to the Holy Land, it was impossible for him to take the Void Salamander in. Furthermore, it was useless even if he did.


    The Holy Land was the only place on Earth without any rules to suppress it. There might be an Apocalypse-grade dimensional creature inside. Even if the Void Salamander entered, it wouldn¡¯t be able to cause any trouble.


    Therefore, in the beginning, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t planned on heading to the Holy Land, but the arrival and siege of Old K and company gave him new ideas.


    Since Old K and company could ambush him outside the dimensional zone, he too could ambush the Saints outside the Holy Land.


    If dimensional creatures left the Holy Land, they would be suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. Even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses wouldn¡¯t leave the Holy Land for no reason. Then, the only creatures that could pose a threat to the Void Salamander were the few Holy Artifact-wielding Saints.


    However, those Saints might not be the Void Salamander¡¯s match.


    Zhou Wen clearly sensed that the true Heaven-level Void Salamander was much stronger than the Heaven-level powers produced by Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s reliance on the Holy Artifacts.


    So what if it¡¯s the Holy Land? If you want my life, you have to pay the price. Zhou Wen teleported to the vicinity of the Holy Land and quickly felt space tremble. Lightning appeared out of thin air and transformed into the Void Salamander.


    ¡°Come on! Big worm!¡± Zhou Wen immediately rushed towards the teleportation nexus at the entrance of the Holy Land when he saw the Void Salamander appear.


    It used to be guarded by members of the six families, but now, it was guarded by Saints. ¡°Who dares to barge into the Holy Land?¡± A Saint was guarding the area in each of the four directions. When they saw Zhou Wen appear above the teleportation nexus, they immediately shouted in unison, prepared to attack.


    Before they could attack, they saw a snow-white glow in the sky. A terrifying sea of lightning descended and instantly electrocuted everything nearby, including the four Saints. Everything within a fifty-kilometer radius was charred black, turning into a huge charred pit.


    The teleportation nexus in the middle of the lightning remained standing. Although it was charred black, it wasn¡¯t destroyed.


    After Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain condensed the Void Lightning Grand Art, its seal on the void lightning had reached a hundred percent. Zhou Wen converged the Teacher Domain, covering only the Chaos Egg and allowing the other places to be struck by the lightning. The lightning in a radius of fifty kilometers surged like an ocean. Such a commotion had long attracted the Federation¡¯s attention. The satellites in the sky had already captured the images of the lightning sea and the Void Salamander.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, isn¡¯t that Egg Sovereign¡¯s Void Salamander? Why did it come to Earth?¡±


    ¡°That looks like the Holy Land, right?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Egg Sovereign is attacking the Holy Land!¡±


    ¡°Quick¡­ Quick¡­ Quick livestream¡­ This will make an exclusive headline¡­¡±


    Soon, everyone in the Federation watched the livestream in surprise. They couldn¡¯t believe their eyes.


    ¡°Egg Sovereign¡­ is attacking the Holy Land¡­ Isn¡¯t this too ridiculous¡­¡±


    ¡°He has inflated! Egg Sovereign has really inflated! Although his Companion Beasts are very ferocious, a place like the Holy Land definitely can¡¯t be defeated with one or two Companion Beasts. What¡¯s the difference between that and suicide?¡±


    Instantly, everyone broke out into a flurry of discussion. Ordinary people believed that Egg Sovereign was attacking the Holy Land, but the truly discerning bigwigs knew that Zhou Wen was trying to divert the trouble to the Holy Land.

 Chapter 1607 - Blocking the Entrance

    Chapter 1607 Blocking the Entrance


    The lightning sea was extremely terrifying, but Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss.


    Being inside the lightning, Zhou Wen could sense that the power of the Void Salamander¡¯s lightning was weakening at a terrifying speed. This weakening speed was much faster than Zhou Wen imagined. At this speed, it wouldn¡¯t be long before the Void Salamander fell to the Hell level or even the Human Realm. It might even fall to the Terror grade. Zhou Wen saw the Void Salamander¡¯s body distort abnormally as though invisible steel needles had stabbed into its body, causing it to distort in pain.


    Even so, the Void Salamander charged at Zhou Wen with all its might, hoping to chomp him to death. It was obvious how much it hated him.


    The rules of Earth that suppress creatures alien to Earth are too powerful! Zhou Wen, who should have been happy, wasn¡¯t that happy.


    If this had happened previously, Zhou Wen would be very happy. However, he still wanted to use the Void Salamander to camp at the entrance to the Holy Land. If the Void Salamander were to continue weakening, how was it to camp outside?


    Any Saint with a Holy Artifact could kill the Void Salamander.


    Such a Void Salamander definitely didn¡¯t have the capability to hold a siege of the Holy Land¡¯s entrance. Zhou Wen immediately stopped and used spatial teleportation to return to the cosmos.


    The Void Salamander also rushed out of Earth and continued pursuing Zhou Wen. After it left Earth, its body rapidly recovered as its lightning powers increased.


    ¡°Eh? Why is it gone?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? I haven¡¯t had my fill of watching. And that¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°I knew it. No matter how impressive Egg Sovereign is, he¡¯s still far inferior to the Holy Land. So it¡¯s just a feint.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s already impressive that he dares fire a shot at the Holy Land.¡±


    ¡°Bring Old K and Jiuyang back immediately. No matter what, we have to track Zhou Wen. I want his life.¡± Holy God¡¯s eyes were cold.


    Ever since the establishment of the Holy Land, no one had dared to do such a thing at the Holy Land¡¯s entrance. Zhou Wen¡¯s actions were equivalent to trampling all over the Holy Land¡¯s reputation. Although it didn¡¯t affect the Holy Land itself, its lofty status in the hearts of humans had been trampled. ¡°Lord Holy God, even if I bring Jiuyang and Old K back, it won¡¯t be easy to track Zhou Wen again.¡± Xiao thought to himself, That punk really has a death wish. He actually came to the Holy Land to cause trouble. Thankfully, he knew better and ran fast.


    Holy God naturally knew that it would probably be very difficult to capture Zhou Wen. They succeeded when he left the dimensional zone. It was almost impossible to capture him now. What puzzled Holy God even more was that he had already tried a few times to predict Zhou Wen¡¯s whereabouts, but he had failed to predict anything. It was as though everything about Zhou Wen had nothing to do with this world. This was almost impossible. Any creature that lived in the universe would definitely have a connection with this universe. He would definitely be able to discover something through this connection if it existed.


    In this aspect, Holy God was an expert. However, he couldn¡¯t predict anything related to Zhou Wen. He couldn¡¯t even sense Zhou Wen¡¯s connection to the world.


    Typically, when such a situation happened, it meant that the other party¡¯s strength was far above Holy God¡¯s. He could forcefully conceal his connection with the world, preventing Holy God from prying into his secrets.


    However, those capable of doing so were all bigwigs at the Apocalypse grade. There was no such existence on Earth at present.


    Zhou Wen clearly couldn¡¯t be an Apocalypse-grade bigwig. Then, the most likely possibility was that there was something on him that blocked his connection with this world.


    After some thought, the anger in Holy God¡¯s heart gradually calmed down. He knew that Xiao was right. It was useless for them to chase after Zhou Wen now. They should first set up a trap. When it was time to pull in the net, Zhou Wen would have nowhere to run. All he could do was bow his head and die.


    Boom!


    As Holy God was thinking, he suddenly heard a loud boom followed by continuous thunderclaps.


    Holy God and Xiao were stunned as they instantly realized what had happened. Through the spirit mirror, they looked at the entrance of the Holy Land and saw that there was another sea of lightning at the entrance. Zhou Wen, who was protected by the Chaos Egg, was floating above the teleportation nexus.


    It was as though the same old scene was being replayed. The Void Salamander used void lightning to constantly bombard the area near the teleportation nexus.


    This b*stard! Xiao was alarmed. He never expected Zhou Wen to dare return.


    Xiao felt like cursing. It wasn¡¯t easy for him to dispel Holy God¡¯s determination to do an all-out pursuit of Zhou Wen, but to his surprise, Zhou Wen had repeated his actions.


    It wasn¡¯t just Xiao. Many people watching the livestream also thought that it was about to end. Even the livestream was about to be switched to something else. To their surprise, something unexpected happened again.


    ¡°Heavens, Egg Sovereign has returned with that terrifying Companion Beast!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s he up to?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he really wants to fight the Holy Land to the death?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s definitely not a fight to the death. If so, he wouldn¡¯t have retreated just now.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? This is the strategy of great leaders in ancient times. When the enemy advances, we retreat. When the enemy retreats, we advance. It¡¯s called guerrilla warfare.¡±


    Everyone became excited again. Everyone had mixed feelings about the Holy Land. In the beginning, humans had almost treated the Holy Land as a true holy land in their hearts.


    However, in this era, people no longer had the same faith in the Holy Land. They gradually realized that the Holy Land had always enslaved humans and controlled the Federation.


    However, as the Holy Land had reigned over humans for too long, even if there was some animosity in their hearts, very few people dared to challenge the Holy Land¡¯s authority.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s current actions were equivalent to doing something countless humans wanted but didn¡¯t dare do. The agreement was far more important than the outcome.


    Zhou Wen circled the cosmos with the Void Salamander. After it recovered, he lured it back to Earth.


    The Void Salamander¡¯s void lightning constantly struck the teleportation nexus, leaving charred marks everywhere. Although it wasn¡¯t damaged, tiny cracks had already appeared. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t insist on staying. Moments later, he returned to the cosmos and lured the restrained Void Salamander back.


    ¡°Zhou Wen!¡± Holy God¡¯s eyes were extremely cold as though they were about to emit a cold aura.


    Boom!


    In the next second, Zhou Wen and the Void Salamander appeared again. The lightning enveloped the Holy Land¡¯s entrance again.


    Crack!


    The extremely hard and almost invulnerable teleportation nexus cracked under the bombardment of the void lightning.


    ¡°Bring Old K and Jiuyang back immediately.¡± Holy God¡¯s voice seemed to be squeezed out from between his gritted teeth.

 Chapter 1608 - Attention from Everyone

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Immediately.¡± Xiao accepted the order and left the Holy Land to bring Jiuyang and Old K back.


    Xiao, who had the power of the Trajectory Holy Temple, was good at spatial travel, while Jiuyang and Old K weren¡¯t adept at such powers. After separating from each other at the Big Dipper, they didn¡¯t immediately return.


    Before Xiao left Earth, he glanced at Zhou Wen and the Void Salamander who had returned to Earth before thinking to himself, Perhaps the hooha Zhou Wen made is an opportunity.


    With this in mind, Xiao used spatial teleportation to return to the Big Dipper to search for Jiuyang and Old K.


    Currently, they were the only three humans in the Holy Land who could use Holy Artifacts. Although there were existences stronger than them in the Holy Land, they weren¡¯t humans. It was impossible for them to leave the Holy Land to fight.


    ¡°Xiao, what¡¯s wrong with you? Why did you flee without us?¡± Old K said angrily when he saw Xiao.


    ¡°Twas just trying to catch up to Zhou Wen. I thought I might be able to trap him again,¡± Xiao explained.


    ¡°So? What happened¡± Old K asked.


    Xiao shrugged and said, ¡°Of course I didn¡¯t catch up. Therefore, I returned to the Holy Land and reported the situation to Lord Holy God.¡±


    ¡°Humph, what¡¯s the point?¡± Old K snorted coldly.


    ¡°It was indeed useless, but Zhou Wen came knocking on our door,¡± Xiao said unhurriedly.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Old K frowned.


    Xiao roughly recounted how Zhou Wen had attacked the Holy Land¡¯s teleportation nexus with the Void Salamander. Then, he said, ¡°Cut the crap. We don¡¯t have time to waste. We have to quickly find Jiuyang and return to stop Zhou Wen. Otherwise, it will be very troublesome for us to enter the Holy Land if


    the teleportation nexus is destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Of all the options available to him, he took that? I definitely won¡¯t give him another chance again,¡± Old K said coldly.


    ¡°Wait for me here. I¡¯l find Jiuyang first before returning to take you back.¡± As Xiao spoke, his figure flashed and vanished.


    Zhou Wen once again returned to the Holy Land with the Void Salamander. The void lightning followed closely behind, leaving the teleportation nexus cracking.


    The foundation of the teleportation nexus had already cracked as rubble constantly shattered amidst the lightning. The entire teleportation nexus would collapse if this continued.


    Unfortunately, the Void Salamander was greatly suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. It could only stay on Earth for a few seconds each time. As time passed, its strength decreased drastically. The weakened void lightning couldn¡¯t damage the foundation of the teleportation nexus.


    Zhou Wen lured the Void Salamander into destroying the teleportation nexus again and again because he realized that only the Void Salamander¡¯s void lightning could truly destroy the teleportation nexus¡¯s comerstone.


    Even the Golden Wyrm Scissors couldn¡¯t damage the teleportation nexus.


    This didn¡¯t mean that the Golden Wyrm Scissors¡¯ destructive power wasn¡¯t strong. The Golden Wyrm Scissors could tear open the cornerstones, but the cornerstones would quickly recover. The cornerstones that were destroyed by the void lightning would shatter without being restored.


    The power of the Void Salamander looked like lightning, but in fact, it was the power of the void at a deeper level. It wasn¡¯t an ordinary electric current¡ªthe reason why it could destroy the foundation of the teleportation nexus.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to destroy the teleportation nexus and prevent the Saints from easily coming out. In the future, it would be difficult for them to return to the Holy Land if they headed out of the Holy Land to plunder resources.


    Even if there was another way out for the Holy Land, it at least allowed him to vent his anger.


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is blowing up the entrance to the Holy Land!¡±


    ¡°If the teleportation nexus is really destroyed, will the Saints in the Holy Land and the dimensional creatures in the Holy Temple ever come out again?¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign is heaven-defying. None of the Saints has dared to come out despite him bombarding the Holy Land¡¯s entrance for so long.¡±


    ¡°The Holy Land doesn¡¯t look as terrifying as we imagined. Look at them staying silent while Egg Sovereign does this.¡±


    ¡°The Void Salamander is just too powerful!¡±


    ¡°The Sovereign Egg hasn¡¯t released the Tiger Soul General yet.¡±


    Although Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t do anything to the Holy Land, he had erased the lofty image and fear that the Holy Land had left in the hearts of humans for so many years.


    ¡°This fellow, Zhou Wen, isn¡¯t just slapping the Holy Land in the face, but ripping its mouth apart,¡± Xia Liuchuan said excitedly.


    ¡°Tm just afraid that he won¡¯t be able to leave again if he doesn¡¯t leave now.¡± Zhang Chunqiu wasn¡¯t that optimistic. He knew the power of the Holy Land.


    After all, the six families had once served the Holy Land. They knew a little about the place.


    ¡°Should we do something?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked Zhang Chunqiu.


    Zhang Chunqiu pondered for a moment and nodded. ¡°Make some preparations. Perhaps we can help Zhou Wen at a critical moment. If Zhou Wen can really destroy the Holy Land¡¯s teleportation nexus, it will be a boon to us.¡±


    ¡°What other preparations are needed? Haven¡¯t we been making preparations all these years?¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s eyes burned. The six families had been silent all this time, digesting the resources brought to them by the rapid changes in this world.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rash. Our present strength isn¡¯t enough to fight the Holy Land head-on. We will only be helping Zhou Wen when necessary.¡± Zhang Chungqiu glared at Xia Liuchuan, peeved.


    He had the best relationship with Xia Liuchuan and Dugu Ge. Among the trio, Dugu Ge was especially self-centered. He was more staid and restrained. Xia Liuchuan was the most radical. At the brink of death, he could often erupt with unimaginable potential.


    However, it was also because of his personality with a propensity of doing radical things that only Zhang Chunqiu could restrain Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°When can we fight those fellows head-on?¡± Xia Liuchuan said gloomily.


    ¡°When you can block the entrance of the Holy Land like Zhou Wen and have nobody daring to come out,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°I¡¯d better make preparations.¡± Xia Liuchuan tured around and left.


    Xia Liuchuan knew that he couldn¡¯t block the entrance to the Holy Land. He wasn¡¯t afraid of those Saints. He was confident that he could fight even existences like Xiao and Jiuyang.


    However, those Saints had Holy Artifacts in their hands and they were inhumanly powerful.


    ¡°Stay sharp.¡± Xia Liuchuan gathered all the Mythical Serum experts that the Xia family had secretly nurtured in the past few years.


    Typically, when people used Mythical Serums, they would use whatever Mythical Serum was most compatible with them.


    However, the Xia family was different. The Xia family members would categorize different talented people and use a specific Mythical Serum. When they advanced to the Mythical stage, they wouldn¡¯t use whatever Mythical Serum they liked, but the kind of Mythical Serum the Xia family needed.


    From the looks of it, it was a huge sacrifice. Many Xia family members failed to use their talent to the best of their abilities, nor did they use the most compatible Mythical Serum.


    However, when the Xia family was together, the power they erupted was far beyond what ordinary people could imagine.

 Chapter 1609 - Junior Brother

    Translator: CKtalon


    Why is this teleportation nexus so resilient? Zhou Wen had already used the Void Salamander to strike seven or eight times, but only a portion of the teleportation nexus¡¯s foundation was destroyed. Its main body remained.


    ¡®When Zhou Wen returned to the Holy Land, he immediately realized that something was amiss. At the instant he appeared, the surrounding space distorted as a strange invisible domain power enveloped him.


    Old K, Jiuyang, and Xiao appeared not far away. Zhou Wen immediately realized what had happened.


    However, since Zhou Wen dared to be here, he had already thought of a solution. He wasn¡¯t surprised.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you will definitely die today for daring to destroy the Holy Land¡¯s teleportation nexus,¡± Old K said coldly as he raised the scepter in his hand.


    Unfortunately, the satellites could only capture the scene, but it was difficult to capture sounds from afar. The people watching the livestream couldn¡¯t hear what Old K was saying. They only knew that the Holy Land had finally sent someone.


    ¡°That¡¯s Jiuyang! The other two Saints¡¯ identities don¡¯t seem to be inferior to Jiuyang¡¯s. Their strength shouldn¡¯t be too different, right?¡±


    ¡°One Jiuyang isn¡¯t much weaker than Egg Sovereign. Now that three have appeared, Egg Sovereign is in danger.¡±


    ¡°That might not be the case. Egg Sovereign¡¯s Tiger Soul General hasn¡¯t been released. It¡¯s hard to say who¡¯s stronger.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Su Yi and Professor Gu were also commentating. Su Yi asked, ¡°Professor Gu, a Saint has finally appeared. What do you think of Egg Sovereign¡¯s chances of winning?¡±


    Professor Gu cleared his throat and said, ¡°From the previous battle, the difference in strength between Jiuyang and Egg Sovereign isn¡¯t too great. If the other two Saints aren¡¯t weaker than Jiuyang, Egg Sovereign will probably be in danger this time.¡±


    ¡°Since Professor Gu says that Egg Sovereign is in danger, it means Egg Sovereign should be safe.¡±


    2


    ¡°Lwas still worried about Egg Sovereign just now. After hearing Professor Gu¡¯s analysis, I feel a lot more at ease.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t we agree not to utilize the weapon of mass destruction¡ªProfessor Gu? Why are we using it now? Those Saints are really unlucky.¡±


    The screen was filled with such optimistic comments. Professor Gu¡¯s face immediately warped when he saw them.


    ¡°From the battle just now, Egg Sovereign should be proficient in spatial teleportation. It shouldn¡¯t be that easy for those Saints to attack him, right?¡± Su Yi said.


    Professor Gu said expressionlessly, ¡°From a professional point of view, it¡¯s impossible that the Holy Land doesn¡¯t know that Egg Sovereign is good at spatial teleportation. Since they sent Saints, they naturally have a solution. If Zhou Wen were to retreat now, he might still have a chance of escaping. It


    would probably be too late if he waits any longer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s set! It¡¯s set! Professor Gu just gave his blessings. Egg Sovereign is going to be invincible.¡±


    1


    ¡°Sir, with your words, I think the Holy Land has already lost.¡±


    ¡®There were all kinds of optimistic comments on the screen, leaving Professor Gu¡¯s face livid and pale. He was so angry that he stopped talking.


    In fact, all of his analysis couldn¡¯t be said to be completely without reason. In fact, there was some evidence. He wasn¡¯t randomly spouting nonsense, but in the end, he was teased by the netizens, making him feel embarrassed.


    Zhou Wen felt regretful. Although he had already thought of a way to break through the encirclement of Old K and Xiao¡¯s domains, he could only escape. It was impossible for him to continue bombarding the teleportation nexus.


    Til come again in the future. Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. Just as he was about to rush out, he suddenly heard a voice not far away.


    ¡°Do Saints like to bully others with numbers?¡± A three-sail ship flew over from the distant sky. On the bow was a man.


    The man wore a white robe and held an ancient sword in his arms. He sat casually at the bow of the ship with the ancient sword in one hand and a small teapot in the other. After he finished speaking, he took a sip.


    The white robe on his body fluttered with the wind. On his back was the word ¡°Ya.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Ya¡­ Why is he here¡­¡± Although the people watching the livestream couldn¡¯t hear what Ya was saying, they recognized him at a glance.


    ¡°Ya doesn¡¯t have a grudge against Egg Sovereign, right? He won¡¯t help those Saints, right?¡±


    ¡°Ya hates Guardians the most. How can he help the Holy Land? He must be here to help Egg Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ There seems to be someone over there¡­¡±


    On the other side of the screen, something seemed to be approaching.


    ¡°Quick, look over there. It looks like¡­ Immortal¡­¡±


    The scene changed a little. Indeed, on the other side, a person was riding the wind and walking through the void as though he was stepping on invisible stairs.


    He walked very slowly, but in the blink of an eye, he arrived near the battlefield. It was none other than Immortal from the League of Guardians.


    ¡°Why is Immortal here? The League of Guardians is a lackey of the dimension. He must be here to help those Saints kill Egg Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Loriginally thought that with Ya¡¯s help, Egg Sovereign might still have a chance of survival. I never expected the League of Guardians¡¯ Immortal to come. They should be archenemies, right?¡±


    ¡®As everyone was discussing, they saw Ya carry the ancient sword on his shoulder and suddenly leap up. He tore through the air and rushed into the domain, blocking Old K and company. He said indifferently, ¡°Junior Brother, leave these three to me. Continue doing what you want to do.¡±


    1


    ¡®When Ya said this, he used some special power to make his voice sound even louder than the void lightning. Even the program team filming hundreds of kilometers away captured his voice.


    The people watching the livestream immediately broke out into an uproar when they heard that. Holy sh*t, Egg Sovereign is actually Ya¡¯s junior brother. So he¡¯s from the Holy Spirit Association!


    ¡°Is the Holy Spirit Association that strong now? Ya¡¯s junior brother is so powerful. Then, how strong is Ya now?¡±


    ¡°You are tempting fate!¡± Old K¡¯s expression darkened as he pointed the scepter in his hand. It immediately transformed into terrifying ripples that swept towards Ya like a huge wave.


    Before Ya could take action, a petal fell. Wherever the petal passed, the huge waves instantly vanished.


    Immortal walked over step by step with a flower between his fingers. The petal had dropped from the withered flower.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what¡¯s going on? Immortal is actually here to help Egg Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Aren¡¯t the League of Guardians and those fellows from the Holy Land in cahoots?


    ¡°Immortal, do you know what you¡¯re doing? Don¡¯t think that you can be presumptuous here just because the Immortals are backing you,¡± Old K said coldly as he stared at Immortal.


    ¡°Of course I know what I¡¯m doing. I don¡¯t want to interfere in your matters, but who asked you to harm my junior brother?¡± Immortal said indifferently.


    Immortal also used some special power to say those words. Although his voice was gentle, it was extremely clear amidst the rumbling thunder. Everyone in the distance could hear him clearly.


    ¡°No way! Could Immortal be Egg Sovereign¡¯s senior brother?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense. Aren¡¯t Immortal and Ya archenemies? How can Egg Sovereign be their junior brother at the same time?¡±


    ¡°There must be a mistake somewhere!¡±


    Everyone¡¯s mouths gaped open. They immediately thought that their ears were damaged. They must have heard wrongly or were suffering from auditory hallucinations.

 Chapter 1610 - Taiji Symbol

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s Immortal and Ya? With the double domains of Trajectory and Imperial authority, all of them will be trapped here regardless of the numbers,¡± Old K snorted disdainfully.


    The Imperial Authority¡¯s domain restricted one¡¯s body and the Trajectory domain limited space. With both domains in action, even Zhou Wen, who was good at spatial powers, couldn¡¯t break through.


    Of course, this was also because Zhou Wen¡¯s spatial powers hadn¡¯t reached the Calamity grade. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be in such a disadvantageous position.


    Although Ya and Immortal were very strong, it was also difficult for them to break through the double domains. Even if they entered the battlefield, they would also end up trapped.


    The petals on the flower in Immortal¡¯s hand withered and flew towards Old K and company.


    However, the petals seemed to fall into a maze. They were clearly flying towards Old K and company, but halfway through, they strangely appeared in different spots. They floated and circled around, but they were unable to approach Old K and company.


    Ya pulled out Primordial Immortal Sword and slashed at Old K. The flaming sword beam clearly slashed at Xiao, but it strangely curved and changed directions.


    ¡°Te said it before. It¡¯s useless no matter how many people there are. How can the power of the Holy Land be something ordinary people like you can reach?¡± Old K said with a sneer.


    ¡°The power of the Holy Land might not be that impressive. As a mortal, | insist on challenging it.¡± A voice suddenly sounded as a figure appeared on the battlefield.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, who¡¯s that b*stard?¡± Some of the spectators couldn¡¯t help but cry out when they saw the person¡¯s appearance.


    The person was wearing a white shirt and a tailcoat. He wore a top hat and a monocle. He held a cane in his hand.


    He didn¡¯t look like he was here to fight. No matter how one looked at it, he looked like a coquettish youth who had sneaked into a high society banquet and wanted to pick up girls.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know him? That¡¯s Thief Sage who¡¯s as famous as Deceit King.¡±


    ¡°Thief Sage looks like this? My youth has been destroyed.¡±


    ¡°Why did Thief Sage suddenly come here¡­ Don¡¯t tell me he has something to do with Egg Sovereign?¡±


    As everyone was guessing, they heard Liu Yun say in all seriousness, ¡°Junior Brothers, don¡¯t worry. With your Eldest Senior Brother here, a mere spatial zone isn¡¯t a problem.¡±


    Liu Yun deliberately projected his voice. Once his words were broadcast online, it immediately caused a commotion.


    ¡°Thief Sage is Egg Sovereign and the others¡¯ eldest senior brother? For real?¡±


    ¡°No way. These people are actually fellow disciples?¡±


    ¡°This spans way too f*cking much. Immortal and Ya have always been rivals. Thief Sage has always been a loner. They are actually fellow disciples? Then were all those things that happened in the past just an act?¡±


    ¡°So what if they are fellow disciples? Isn¡¯t it common for fellow disciples who graduated from the same school to fight to the death on the battlefield?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s not a big deal being fellow disciples, but to make people like Ya, Immortal, and Thief Sage become enemies with the Holy Land for him, I¡¯m increasingly curious as to who Egg Sovereign is.¡±


    ¡°Egg Sovereign sure has good social relations!¡±


    ¡°Pui! What do you mean popular? He¡¯s just a social butterfly.¡±


    As people spoke, Liu Yun summoned a strange Companion Beast. It looked like an ancient mirror, but it wasn¡¯t flat.


    In the middle of the item was a Taiji symbol. Outside it was the Eight Trigrams, Seven Stars, Five Elements, and other symbols. The Taiji symbol constantly spun, and the Eight Trigrams was in constant flux, forming a three-dimensional image.


    Liu Yun held the strange object as his Essence Energy circulated, immediately returning the distorted space around him to normal. Xiao¡¯s spatial domain seemed to lose its effect.


    ¡°No good! Kill Thief Sage first.¡± Old K¡¯s expression changed as he pointed the scepter at Liu Yun.


    A petal floated down and landed on his scepter, forcefully pressing it down. Immortal¡¯s figure appeared in front of Old K.


    Ya also blocked Jiuyang who started charging forward.


    ¡°You are also an expert at spatial manipulation. From the looks of it, we need to decide on who¡¯s better between us.¡± Liu Yun faced Xiao and raised the strange Companion Beast in front of him.


    ¡°That¡¯s the Taiji Symbol, right?¡± Xiao sized up the strange Companion Beast in Liu Yun¡¯s hand and asked.


    ¡°You sure are knowledgeable. You know that this is a Taiji Symbol. Since you know the Taiji Symbol, why don¡¯t you quickly escape? On account of your good acumen, I¡¯l let you live.¡± Liu Yun held the Taiji Symbol as though he was number one in the world.


    ¡°What a pity. That¡¯s only a Calamity-grade Taiji Symbol. It¡¯s only a Hell-level Companion Beast that hasn¡¯t even reached the Heaven level. To think that a Hell-level Companion Beast can actually fight my Heaven-level Trajectory Zone. It does live up to its reputation. Unfortunately, it entrusted itself to


    the wrong person. What a pity,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°You¡¯re f*cking not even a person.¡± Liu Yun suddenly raised the Taiji Symbol in his hand and aimed it at Xiao, immediately distorting the space in front of him.


    Xiao took a step forward and strangely vanished. However, he appeared behind Liu Yun and slashed his fingers at the back of his neck like a blade.


    Liu Yun¡¯s pupils constricted as he instant transmitted out. However, a long wound had been left behind as blood stained his white shirt.


    ¡°You¡­ are still far from it¡­¡± Xiao said indifferently as he moved his feet as though he was taking a stroll. His figure strangely appeared in different spots.


    He was standing in front of Liu Yun moments ago, but he appeared behind him after taking one step. With another step, he appeared on Liu Yun¡¯s left.


    Liu Yun constantly instant transmitted. At the same time, he wanted to use the Taiji Symbol to capture Xiao, but he couldn¡¯t lock onto Xiao¡¯s location.


    Elsewhere, Old K and Immortal, Jiuyang, and Ya began fighting.


    Seeing that they had blocked Old K and company and the spatial domain¡¯s lock had been removed, Zhou Wen teleported into the cosmos with the Void Salamander.


    Only the power of the Void Salamander could shatter the foundation of the teleportation nexus. Ya and Immortal were most likely here to help Zhou Wen destroy the teleportation nexus.


    Boom! Boom!


    Zhou Wen lured the Void Salamander and struck the teleportation nexus again and again. As for the battle happening around him, it had already reached a climax.


    Liu Yun was crushed by Xiao unilaterally. His suit was tattered and his white shirt was dyed blood-red.


    If not for the Taiji Symbol in hand, Xiao would have been killed long ago.


    Immortal and Ya¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t much better. Clearly, they hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven level and were at a disadvantage in battle.


    Immortal¡¯s situation was slightly better. He had two Guardians. Although he hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven level, his Strength and Speed weren¡¯t much different. For the time being, he could still circle around Old K and hold him back, preventing him from escaping his reach.


    Ya¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t good. His sword was too arrogant and stubborn, and Jiuyang was also exemplary when it came to head-on combat. The two of them fought head-on.


    Ya¡¯s sword became faster and faster as it became increasingly relentless. However, when facing Jiuyang, it was suppressed time and time again. His Strength and Speed were inferior.


    Blood had already seeped out of Ya¡¯s mouth. The flesh between his thumb and index finger had ruptured from holding the sword, but he had no intention of stopping or dodging..

 Chapter 1611 - I’m Thief Sage

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°The sun is the source of life. All life is born from the power of the sun. No matter how strong you are, it¡¯s impossible for you to be an enemy of the sun. This is because your strength originates from the sun.¡± Jiuyang struck out again and again, suppressing Zhong Ziya, preventing him from slashing out


    with his sword.


    ¡°So what if I¡¯m born because of the sun? If parents give birth to children, do children have to be inferior to their parents? Tempered steel is born from iron ores, but when forged into sabers and swords, it can slice through iron like mud¡­ Ignoring the fact that the sun might not be the source of all life,


    even if it is¡­ Iwill defy the heavens and slay the source¡­¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s eyes were like a sword as the sword intent on his body constantly erupted. The sword beam from Primordial Immortal Sword in his hand became stronger and stronger.


    ¡°Not a bad idea and you are brave. Unfortunately, it¡¯s still lacking the necessary oomph.¡± Jiuyang¡¯s palms were like the palms of Buddha of the Great Sun. No matter how powerful Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword moves were, they were suppressed.


    Pfft!


    ¡®The sword beam was suppressed by the sun-like palm force as it shattered like glass. The sword in Zhong Ziya¡¯s hand was pressed down inch by inch as blood spewed out of his mouth.


    Bang!


    Jiuyang¡¯s palm crushed Zhong Ziya¡¯s entire body.


    Everyone was alarmed, but in the blink of an eye, Zhong Ziya¡¯s figure appeared elsewhere with the Primordial Immortal Sword in his arms. He was uninjured, as though everything that had happened was an illusion.


    ¡°What kind of oomph do you want? Sour, sweet, bitter, spicy, or salty?¡± As Zhong Ziya spoke, he moved, leaving behind afterimages.


    No, instead of calling them afterimages, they were actually identical to Zhong Ziya¡¯s original body. It was impossible to tell which was the real Zhong Ziya.


    The five replicas of Zhong Ziya drew their swords and charged at Jiuyang. The sword beams crisscrossed, each more ferocious than the last.


    Jiuyang opened his palms and blocked the attacks of all five Zhong Ziyas.


    The five Zhong Ziyas were clearly not as simple as illusions. Their powers were real, identical to Zhong Ziya¡¯s true body. It was impossible to tell which was Zhong Ziya¡¯s true body.


    ¡°An ugly piece of work has zero value no matter how many times you replicate it.¡± Jiuyang only had two hands that used moves so simple that anyone could understand; yet, he still suppressed Zhong Ziya and shattered his avatars one after another.


    ¡°Replicas indeed have no value, but the paintings used for practice are different. Perhaps in your eyes, every painting is ugly, but no matter how great a painting is, it¡¯s built on this ugliness¡­¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s figure blinked as his avatars appeared like ghosts and charged at Jiuyang from different corners.


    ¡°That depends on who the artist is. Not everyone has the potential of a master. Do you?¡± Jiuyang said indifferently.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. I only know how to kill,¡± the Zhong Ziyas that filled the sky like ghosts answered in unison. Sword beams overlapped and crisscrossed like a net as they enveloped Jiuyang from all directions.


    ¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯re still lacking the oomph.¡± Jiuyang stood like a Buddha as he raised his palm. Like the rising sun, he melted the sword beams.


    Meanwhile, Immortal and Old K¡¯s battle continued.


    The scepter in Old K¡¯s hand released the power of Imperial Authority again and again, hoping to restrain Immortal¡¯s body. However, Immortal¡¯s movement technique was ethereal. The power of Imperial authority was ultimately unable to restrain his body.


    Jiang Yan didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of killing Old K either. All he did was casually circle around Old K. Old K felt that Jiang Yan would grab his weakness and deliver a fatal strike if he didn¡¯t attack. But if he did, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything to Jiang Yan. With Jiang Yan holding him back, he


    couldn¡¯t help the rest.


    Liu Yun was most tragic. He clearly hadn¡¯t reached the same level as Xiao. They also had spatial powers, so he was almost at Xiao¡¯s mercy.


    It was only with the deterrence of the Taiji Symbol that he could barely last until now.


    His clothes were almost drenched in blood, but for some reason, he didn¡¯t use any armor-type Companion Beasts, nor did he summon a Guardian.


    ¡°F*ck, Eldest Senior Brother Thief Sage is too miserable!¡±


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, run!¡±


    The people watching the livestream couldn¡¯t see the details of the battle, but they would see a pause when Liu Yun phased into existence. Xiao¡¯s figure would slide past Liu Yun like a ghost, leaving a new wound on him.


    ¡°Your spatial powers are too inferior. If that¡¯s considered spatial powers, then your spatial powers are at most a child¡¯s toy model of a world,¡± Xiao said disdainfully as he left another wound on Liu Yun¡¯s body.


    Liu Yun waved the Taiji Symbol in his hand and shone it in the direction of Xiao¡¯s voice, but there was no sign of Xiao.


    ¡°Xiao, ignore that fellow. Stop Zhou Wen first. We can¡¯t let him chip away at the teleportation nexus further,¡± Old K shouted.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Xiao agreed and took a step forward before disappearing. He dodged the power of the Taiji Symbol and headed for the teleportation nexus.


    However, Liu Yun¡¯s figure instant transmitted in front of Xiao and threw the Taiji Symbol at him.


    The Taiji Symbol emitted a strange power in the air, sweeping everything around it into its interior as though it wanted to devour space.


    Xiao¡¯s figure flashed as he dodged the Taiji Symbol¡¯s sweep. However, as the instant Xiao dodged, Liu Yun instant transmitted in front of him and smashed his hand at Xiao¡¯s face.


    Bang!


    Xiao and Liu Yun had fought before. Liu Yun¡¯s fist missed and slid past Xiao¡¯s cheek. As for Xiao¡¯s palm, it penetrated Liu Yun¡¯s chest, right through his heart.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be my enemy.¡± Xiao flicked the blood from his palm and turned to head for the teleportation nexus.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother!¡± Upon seeing this scene, the people in front of the livestream couldn¡¯t help but cry out.


    Some sentimental women covered their mouths with their hands as tears welled in their eyes.


    However, in the next second, the gown and shirt around Liu Yun¡¯s body shattered and turned to ashes, revealing Liu Yun¡¯s naked body. However, there were no injuries on his upper body.


    Clearly, the tuxedo was some special Companion Beast which had suffered the injuries on Liu Yun¡¯s behalf.


    ¡°I¡¯s not a big deal to be your enemy.¡± Liu Yun extended his left hand. In between his fingers was a ring made of thin silk.


    Xiao¡¯s strength quickly dissipated and he dropped to the Hell level as though he had lost some kind of augmentation.


    ¡°You¡¯re good.¡± Xiao¡¯s pupils constricted slightly as he turned around and looked at the ring in Liu Yun¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m not your match, don¡¯t forget that my nickname is Thief Sage.¡± Liu Yun held the ring in one hand and the Taiji Symbol in the other. He said smugly, ¡°Without the Holy Artifact, you¡¯re only at the Hell level.. What right do you have to show off your superiority in front of me?¡±

 Chapter 1612 - Shatter!

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Whether there¡¯s a Holy Artifact or not has nothing to do with my sense of superiority.¡± Xiao¡¯s figure shook like a wandering soul as he suddenly appeared in front of Liu Yun, his nose just inches from Liu Yun¡¯s nose.


    Liu Yun was alarmed. It was too late for him to instant transmit. The Taiji Symbol that had just released its power in another direction couldn¡¯t be returned immediately.


    Bang!


    Xiao punched Liu Yun¡¯s abdomen, bending his body immediately like a shrimp before sending him flying.


    Thankfully, he had already donned Companion Beast armor. The armor seemed to provide good defence; Xiao¡¯s punch only shattered the armor protecting his abdomen.


    Before Liu Yun could stop flying, Xiao had already flashed above his head. His leg was like a saber as he chopped down at Liu Yun¡¯s head.


    Liu Yun tried his best to control his body as he waved his hand and shone the Taiji Symbol at Xiao.


    However, in the next second, Liu Yun was alarmed to discover that Xiao, who had clearly chopped down with his leg, seemed to undergo spatial dislocation.


    The Taiji Symbol hit nothing, but Xiao¡¯s leg struck his chest, shattering Liu Yun¡¯s armor. The bones in his chest seemed to crack as his body was sent smashing into the ground.


    2


    Liu Yun¡¯s body blasted a huge crater in the ground and rocks. The rocks were still splattering, but before Liu Yun¡¯s body could come to a rest, Xiao¡¯s figure appeared in front of him again as his knee slammed into his face.


    Liu Yun finally reacted. The instant the knee hit his nose, he instant transmitted into the sky. The rocks underground exploded from Xiao¡¯s knee jab like a meteorite hitting a planet.


    However, before Liu Yun could heave a sigh of relief, Xiao¡¯s figure appeared behind him like a ghost.


    Liu Yun waved the Taiji Symbol in one hand and grabbed at Xiao with the other.


    However, just as he attacked, Xiao tumed around and appeared in front of him. He threw a punch at Liu Yun¡¯s face and the helmet fragmented. Liu Yum¡¯s face distorted as he flew diagonally.


    ¡°Poor Eldest Senior Brother!¡± The people watching the battle couldn¡¯t see the battle clearly. However, after the program team released an ultra slow-motion analysis, this thought surfaced in everyone¡¯s minds.


    Xiao was like an omnipotent and omnipresent god as he brutally beat up Liu Yun.


    Thankfully, Liu Yun had stolen Xiao¡¯s Holy Artifact, so his strength only remained at the Hell level. The armor on Liu Yun¡¯s body was very powerful, preventing him from being beaten to death.


    ¡°That fellow!¡± An Tianzuo couldn¡¯t help but shake his head with a bitter smile when he saw Xiao beat up Liu Yun.


    ¡°That Xiao is powerful!¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s expression was solemn. He had always felt that the so-called Saints were strong only because they had obtained the resources of the dimension and were augmented by the Holy Artifacts.


    Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t believe that he would lose to any Saint that was at his level. However, Jiuyang and Old K¡¯s performance was already shocking. Xiao was even crazier.


    Even if they were at the same level, Xia Liuchuan wasn¡¯t confident of defeating Xiao.


    ¡°Thankfully, he didn¡¯t think much of Liu Yun in the beginning. Otherwise, Liu Yun would already be dead. He wouldn¡¯t have had the chance to steal his Holy Artifact.¡± Zhang Chungiu wore a heavy expression.


    ¡°Should we attack?¡± Xia Liuchuan asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late. We can only hope that Zhou Wen can quickly destroy the teleportation nexus. Otherwise, even if we help, we won¡¯t be able to resolve the actual problem.¡± Zhang Chungiu had been paying attention to the teleportation nexus.


    Under the repeated bombardment of the void lightning, the teleportation nexus that resembled a black stone pillar was filled with tiny cracks. It looked like it would shatter at any moment.


    Quickly shatter! Zhou Wen descended with the Void Salamander again as he watched the void lightning strike the teleportation nexus. The pillar¡¯s comerstone, which was clearly covered in cracks, didn¡¯t truly collapse. Only its surface crumbled away slightly.


    He didn¡¯t care about himself, but Liu Yun couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. He was about to be beaten to a pulp.


    It was only thanks to the Taiji Symbol that he could barely deal with Xiao. Every time, he would sweep the Taiji Symbol at Xiao, preventing him from killing him.


    Even so, Liu Yun couldn¡¯t last much longer. If this continued, he would probably die there.


    You¡¯re still too naive. Do you really think that the Holy Land¡¯s teleportation nexus can be destroyed so easily? Although the void lightning can injure the teleportation nexus, it¡¯s not that easy to truly destroy it. It will require at least another dozen or so full-strength strikes from the Void Salamander


    before it can collapse the foundation. Holy God sneered indifferently.


    However, Zhou Wen no longer has the time. In another three more Void Salamander lightning strikes, Xiao should be able to finish off that human. As long as the Taiji Symbol in the human¡¯s hand loses its effect, everyone there will die. Holy God glanced at Xiao, who was thrashing Liu Yun. He was


    somewhat surprised. I never expected Xiao¡¯s strength to reach such a stage. His strength and realm have far exceeded his level. Among the three Holy Sons, he has the best combat abilities. Even Jiuyang, who has reached the Heaven level, is probably no match for him. He¡¯s just a little too proud, but he


    does have the right to be proud.


    Holy God actually felt somewhat smug looking at Xiao.


    After all, Xiao¡¯s present achievements were all thanks to him alone. If he hadn¡¯t taken Xiao to Lake Frustration and allowed Xiao to advance with the power of Lake Frustration, provided Xiao with a large number of dimensional resources, and recommended him to be in charge of the Trajectory Holy


    Temple¡¯s Holy Artifact, Xiao wouldn¡¯t have grown strong so quickly.


    The greater Xiao¡¯s achievements were, the more glory it meant for Holy God.


    Of course, Xiao didn¡¯t obtain all of this for no reason. Holy God had brought him into Lake Frustration and made him use the power of Lake Frustration to advance only to get Xiao to capture the former principal.


    Xiao received the subsequent special treatment of the resources and Holy Artifact because he had brought back the former principal.


    However, Xiao¡¯s growth far exceeded Holy God¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°Shatter!¡± Zhou Wen descended with the Void Salamander again and couldn¡¯t help but roar.


    This was because Liu Yun couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. He was about to be killed. If he couldn¡¯t crack the teleportation nexus, Zhou Wen would have to give up on the idea of destroying the teleportation nexus and help Liu Yun.


    Once Liu Yun died, the Taiji Symbol would lose its effect. Immortal and Ya would be trapped here, and the Void Salamander wouldn¡¯t be able to leave. In the end, he still wouldn¡¯t be able to destroy the teleportation nexus. It made things even worse.


    Sometimes, one had to make a choice, so this was Zhou Wen¡¯s last attempt. He strongly hoped that he could crack the teleportation nexus¡¯s cornerstone.


    Due to his mood, Zhou Wen¡¯s roar was so loud that it was captured for the livestream. Everyone watching the livestream heard the roar.


    They seemed to be infected by Zhou Wen¡¯s emotions as many people subconsciously clenched their fists. They prayed inwardly, hoping that the lightning could shatter the teleportation nexus as Egg Sovereign wished.


    ¡°shatter!¡± Many people held their breaths, eager to punch the cornerstone themselves.


    Humans like to place their hopes on unrealistic matters. They think that they can resolve all problems with emotions. What a joke. Holy God knew very well that the void lightning couldn¡¯t destroy the teleportation nexus¡¯s foundation.


    Boom!


    At the instant the void lightning descended, a volcanic eruption-like aurora streaked across the sky and struck the foundation of the teleportation nexus alongside the void lightning.

 Chapter 1613 - What happened to Brotherhood?

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°Shatter!¡± With Zhou Wen¡¯s roar, the lightning struck down.


    At the same time, a beam streaked across the sky. It resonated at the exact moment Zhou Wen roared as though it was a miracle responding to him.


    Boom!


    Void lightning struck the teleportation nexus¡¯s cornerstone. Lightning flowed through the cracks, making the cornerstone look like a stone pillar covered in lightning cracks.


    Although it looked like it was about to shatter, it didn¡¯t.


    However, the beam that accompanied Zhou Wen¡¯s voice struck the cornerstone. The stone pillar that was filled with cracks from the lightning¡¯s invasion suddenly exploded. Light and lightning spewed out from within like huge exploding lightning fireworks.


    Boom!


    The huge teleportation nexus¡¯s cornerstone was like a collapsed building. The entire foundation cornerstone shattered into pieces and collapsed. One could sense the terrifying shockwave from as far as 500 kilometers away.


    It felt like an earthquake a few hundred kilometers away from the teleportation nexus. The ground churned like waves as rifts opened up on the ground. They crisscrossed like huge spiderwebs.


    The barren land instantly turned into ruins.


    Looking at the crumbling cornerstone, everyone¡¯s mouths gaped open. There was excitement, anger, doubt, and even more horror.


    Holy God stared intently at Zhou Wen and pursed his lips without making a sound. However, the glint in his eyes was chilling.


    ¡°What was that beam of light?¡±


    ¡°Could it be that a deity heard Egg Sovereign¡¯s voice and responded to him with a miracle?¡±


    ¡°This is a miracle! Could it be that my Egg Sovereign is a person chosen by the heavens? Even the heavens are helping him.¡±


    Ordinary people really couldn¡¯t think of any creature that could produce such a powerful beam. They believed that it was a miracle.


    As for the various factions that were more concerned about the An family, they had already guessed what the beam was.


    The An family had shocked the entire Federation when it destroyed Skysplit Tower, but they had never used that terrifying weapon again.


    After such a long time, when the forgetful humans were about to forget that terrifying weapon, it revealed its ferociousness again today. The shock it produced was even more direct than before.


    ¡®The Void Salamander¡¯s powerful strength failed to collapse the cornerstone despite bombarding it so many times. However, this single shot shattered it.


    ¡®With such a strong comparison, the shock dealt to the heart was incomparable to the previous time.


    Up to now, many people had yet to recover from their shock. This shot was just too shocking.


    In fact, this shot wasn¡¯t as terrifying as people imagined. The void lightning had almost destroyed the cornerstone. Cracks had already appeared in its interior, but it was just short of a final push.


    It was like the straw that broke the camel¡¯s back. Without this straw, the camel could still last for a period of time, but once this straw was placed on it, the camel would immediately collapse.


    Of course, this was only an analogy. The effects of this shot were far stronger than a piece of straw. Its destructive power was no weaker than the void lightning, It produced such an effect by working in concert with the void lightning. Neither was indispensable.


    On a mountaintop a few hundred kilometers away from the Holy Land, An Sheng was instructing people to dismantle and distribute the Essence Energy compression accelerator before returning with the parts.


    An Sheng didn¡¯t know how this thing was brought there. Before Old K and company appeared, the accelerator had been in Luoyang¡¯s An family. It was impossible to transport such a huge accelerator here in such a short period of time unless one had powerful spatial powers.


    Zhou Wen was likely the only spatial expert in the An family capable of this feat. However, Zhou Wen had been fighting all this while, so it was impossible for him to do such a thing.


    Furthermore, with An Tianzuo¡¯s temper, it was impossible for him to request Zhou Wen¡¯s help.


    An Sheng had some guesses, but he buried them in his heart forever. He didn¡¯t even think about it.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Zhou Wen had already achieved his goal and wasn¡¯t willing to stay any longer. He wanted to get Zhong Ziya and company to retreat quickly. There was no benefit in continuing the battle, much less truly storming into the Holy Land.


    However, when he spoke and looked into the sky, he realized that Immortal¡¯s body had already transformed into countless petals. By the time the petals scattered, he had already vanished.


    Zhong Ziya only left his avatar on the battlefield. His true body rode his sword and instantly vanished like a meteor.


    ¡°What happened to brotherhood?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open for a while.


    The only tragic one was Liu Yun. His movement technique and escaping abilities were originally the strongest among the three, but he ended up being entangled by Xiao. They were both spatial experts, so Xiao didn¡¯t give him a chance to use spatial teleportation to escape.


    After all, Liu Yun was good at close-range instant transmission. Long-distance teleportation wasn¡¯t his forte. He was much weaker than Zhou Wen and needed plenty of time to prepare. Under Xiao¡¯s attacks, there was no time to use long-distance teleportation.


    In terms of movement techniques, Xiao¡¯s Trajectory movement technique was even stranger. Furthermore, Xiao was proficient in all sorts of different techniques. He forcefully intercepted Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun was half-dead. He barely survived to this moment thanks to the Taiji Symbol. Zhou Wen guessed that Jing Daoxian had most likely helped him obtain the Taiji Symbol.


    Bang!


    ¡®When Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun, he saw Xiao palm strike Liu Yun in the chest. Liu Yun¡¯s sternum caved in as he spat out a mouthful of blood.


    Along with the blood spewed out was the Holy Artifact ring that Liu Yun had swallowed in battle.


    Xiao reached out to grab the Holy Artifact ring and put it on his finger. His palm didn¡¯t stop; it struck Liu Yun¡¯s head again.


    Liu Yun had nowhere to hide. The armor on his body had long shattered and was unable to provide any protection. If Xiao¡¯s palm, augmented by the Holy Artifact, struck him, his entire head would explode.


    Bang!


    Xiao¡¯s palm struck down, but it didn¡¯t land on Liu Yun, but the Chaos Egg. The Chaos Egg blocked Xiao¡¯s terrifying palm.


    ¡°Junior Brother¡­ You¡¯re finally here¡­¡± Liu Yun, who had been beaten to a pulp, was so excited that he was about to cry.


    ¡°Leave now. Leave this to me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    In fact, there was no need for Zhou Wen to say anything. Liu Yun had already instant transmitted away.


    Once Liu Yun left, the surrounding space immediately distorted and fault lines appeared after losing the Taiji Symbol¡¯s domain¡¯s restraint on the Trajectory domain. Old K and Jiuyang also surrounded him.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, why did everyone leave? They left Egg Sovereign alone?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they fellow disciples? Isn¡¯t it all about brothers who never abandon each other?¡±


    ¡°Te already said that even brothers can¡¯t be relied on, much less fellow disciples.¡±


    ¡°They escaped way too quickly!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite a sucky situation to be in.. If they escape, leaving Egg Sovereign behind, what will happen to him?¡±

 Chapter 1614 - One Against Three

    Chapter 1614 One Against Three


    Xiao, Jiuyang, and Old K had already displayed their powerful strength. Even existences as powerful as Immortal and Ya couldn¡¯t gain any advantage. They were suppressed.


    Xiao even thrashed Thief Sage Liu Yun. If the three of them had jointly attacked Zhou Wen previously, people wouldn¡¯t have had a straightforward idea of how strong they were. However, now that there was a comparison, the spectators were alarmed when the three of them attacked Zhou Wen. They couldn¡¯t help but worry for him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you have to pay the price for everything you¡¯ve done.¡± Old K stared coldly at Zhou Wen as the scepter in his hand emitted an invisible strange fluctuation.


    Now that Liu Yun had escaped, it was unlikely he could return. Without the Taiji Symbol¡¯s suppression, Old K and Xiao¡¯s domain powers could restrain Zhou Wen again.


    ¡°When did I say I was running?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently. He had no intention of running to begin with. Otherwise, he would have run with Liu Yun.


    As Zhou Wen spoke, the Void Salamander lunged over again. However, this time, it didn¡¯t return to the cosmos to recover. Its strength had been greatly suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules, and could hardly maintain its Hell-level strength.


    The void lightning descended as it crazily struck the Chaos Egg. The Void Salamander opened its mouth in a bid to devour Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dodge and allowed the Chaos Egg to be devoured by the Void Salamander.


    As the void lightning was too intense, the people watching the livestream only saw the lightning drown Zhou Wen. They didn¡¯t know what was happening inside. However, Old K and company could clearly see that after the Void Salamander devoured Zhou Wen, a saber beam seeped out of its body. It went from its head to its tail as though it had been sliced open from the middle.


    The Void Salamander¡¯s lightning body split into two, revealing Zhou Wen, who was wearing the Dragon King armor and holding the Bamboo Blade. As for the Void Salamander¡¯s lightning body, it quickly dissipated, leaving nothing behind.


    Only then did the people watching the live broadcast clearly see Zhou Wen¡¯s figure floating in the air. Without the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection and the intense light of the void lightning, everyone could clearly see him. ¡°Deceit King!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, so Egg Sovereign is Deceit King!¡±


    Everyone immediately recognized Zhou Wen in the Limitless Demon Dragon King armor. Zhou Wen wore the Prisoned Dragon armor as Human Sovereign, and the Limitless Demon Dragon King armor as Deceit King.


    The Limitless Demon Dragon King armor had a benefit-it could combine the nine into one. Apart from Zhou Wen himself, Zhou Wen could still borrow the power of eight creatures after putting on the Limitless Demon Dragon King armor.


    Now, Zhou Wen had already imprinted the Limitless Demon Dragon King¡¯s mark on eight Companion Beasts. The eight Companion Beast tattoos were shimmering.


    However, due to the Dragon King armor¡¯s cover, people couldn¡¯t see the shimmering Companion Beast tattoos. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, Soul Mirror, Golden Wyrm Scissors, Truth Listener, and other Companion Beasts¡­ as well as Demonic Neonate¡¯s tattoo shimmered with a demonic glow.


    Demonic Neonate finally woke up again and returned to Zhou Wen. Furthermore, she had reached the Terror grade.


    The power of the eight Companion Beasts had already fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Zhou Wen could freely use all their strength for himself.


    Among the eight Companion Beasts, Truth Listener contributed the most. Following that were the Golden Wyrm Scissors and the Terror-grade Demonic Neonate. Furthermore, among the eight Companion Beasts, only Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t at the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade as the black crystal-like Dragon King armor emitted a strange black glow. It flickered like flames, sucking all light that approached it.


    ¡°I knew it. How could there be so many human experts? So it¡¯s Deceit King. It¡¯s no wonder he¡¯s so good at spatial powers.¡±


    ¡°Deceit King¡¯s Companion Beast is even more impressive than himself!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. Didn¡¯t Deceit King fight Ya and Immortal? They were actually fellow disciples?¡±


    ¡°This world is so complicated!¡±


    ¡°Even if he¡¯s Deceit King, it¡¯s very dangerous to face the three Saints. Why did he unsummon the Void Salamander?¡±


    ¡°I think Deceit King isn¡¯t as strong as his Companion Beasts, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. The Void Salamander and Tiger Soul General are practically invincible. Quickly summon them. They should be able to fight the three Saints. There might even be a chance of defeating them.¡±


    Everyone hoped that Zhou Wen could summon the Void Salamander and Tiger Soul General. Zhou Wen wanted to summon them, but it was impossible.


    The Tiger Soul General needed time to grow powerful. It wasn¡¯t suitable for the present situation, so summoning it was useless.


    The Void Salamander wasn¡¯t his Companion Beast at all, and he had already killed it. However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t hatched the Human Realm Void Salamander Companion Egg. Even if he hatched it, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use in a battle of this level.


    Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade in hand as his Essence Energy was extremely converged. He stood on the ruins of the teleportation nexus and said to Old K and company, ¡°Didn¡¯t you want to kill me? Bring it on.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll fight you,¡± Jiuyang said as he walked towards Zhou Wen. ¡°Jiuyang, wait. Now isn¡¯t the time to be a hero. The teleportation nexus has been destroyed. Lord Holy God must be furious. We have to kill him. We mustn¡¯t allow any other variabilities.¡± As Old K spoke, he called out to Xiao. ¡°Xiao, let¡¯s attack together. We definitely can¡¯t let him escape again.¡± Xiao nodded and surrounded Zhou Wen with Old K. He was puzzled. Zhou Wen clearly had a chance to leave with Liu Yun, so why didn¡¯t he?


    What are you trying to do? Xiao was puzzled, but he had no choice but to participate in this battle with Zhou Wen. He had to maintain his identity in the Holy Land and he couldn¡¯t allow himself to be exposed.


    Under such circumstances, it was impossible for Xiao to secretly help Zhou Wen. If he made any abnormal movements, Holy God would definitely notice.


    Jiuyang threw a punch at Zhou Wen. His punch was like a scorching sun in the sky, as though it wanted to melt everything. With a thought, Zhou Wen unsheathed the Bamboo Blade in his hand and seemed to fuse with it. His body followed a strange arc as he slashed at Jiuyang.


    If Jiuyang was a blazing sun that could incinerate everything, Zhou Wen was an immortal that had ascended in broad daylight. His strike didn¡¯t look fast, but it was elegant as though it was untainted by the mortal world.


    The saber didn¡¯t look fast, but it dodged Jiuyang¡¯s fist. The blade traced an arc and slashed at Jiuyang¡¯s throat.


    Jiuyang was slightly taken aback. It was clearly a strike that was light and didn¡¯t seem to use much strength, but it made him feel like he couldn¡¯t block or dodge. All he could do was take a step back and make way for the Bamboo Blade.


    Old K and Xiao attacked from both sides, surrounding Zhou Wen from different angles.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he still hasn¡¯t summoned the Void Salamander and the Tiger Soul General. Could it be that Egg Sovereign¡­ No¡­ Deceit King really wants to rely on that saber to fight the three Saints?¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t summoned his Companion Beasts, the spectators were alarmed. Even the top experts of the various factions were no exception.

 Chapter 1615 - Analyzing the Video

    Chapter 1615 Analyzing the Video


    Jiuyang palm¡¯s might blotted out the sky. Xiao¡¯s movement technique was bizarre. Old K¡¯s combat techniques were the worst, but the scepter contained some kind of magical power. It could block the Bamboo Blade in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand every time.


    The trio besieged Zhou Wen with attacks that left him stifled. Ignoring the ordinary spectators, even existences like Xia Liuchuan, Zhang Chunqiu, and Lance broke out into a cold sweat.


    They placed themselves in Zhou Wen¡¯s shoes and imagined how they could withstand such attacks. However, no matter how they thought about it, they realized that they would be quickly overwhelmed and killed.


    Lance was too engrossed in this enactment. After watching for a while, his face was as pale as snow. In the end, he spat out blood.


    With the augmentation of the Holy Artifact, the three of them had Strength and Speed that had already reached the Heaven level. Ignoring the trio, just any one of them was not someone most humans could match. Anyone would think that they were doomed to lose if the trio attacked.


    However, under the siege of the trio, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was like a flying immortal. He held the saber in his right hand and the scabbard in the left as he fought the trio to a draw.


    All the major media outlets were trying their best to analyze the ultra slow-motion video. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see the battle from the video at all. Only some special equipment could analyze through slow motion.


    ¡°Professor Gu, the video is still being analyzed. Our level is too low, so we can¡¯t see the battle situation. Can you tell us the current situation?¡± Su Yi said to Professor Gu.


    Professor Gu nudged his glasses and said in a deep voice, ¡°Even Mythical experts can¡¯t see such a battle clearly. I can only analyze it based on some of the available information.¡±


    ¡°Please speak.¡± Su Yi was also curious about the situation.


    Although many people believed that Professor Gu was a jinx whose predictions were always inaccurate, they could only see flashes of light. They had no idea what was going on. Regardless of whether what he said was right or wrong, it was good to hear what he had to say.


    O VII.


    Furthermore, other than some of Professor Gu¡¯s analysis mistakes, some of his analysis made sense.


    Professor Gu cleared his throat and said, ¡°We¡¯ve already seen Deceit King¡¯s combat strength in the previous Cube ranking battle. Later on, many experts did an ultra slow-motion analysis. He indeed has high combat strength; his level is even higher than Immortal and Ya, but he¡¯s still on the same level. He doesn¡¯t have the ability to deliver absolute suppression.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve already analyzed a portion of the battle between Immortal and Ya. Their combat strength is actually still a little inferior to the three Saints. In that case, Deceit King¡¯s strength is about the level of a Saint. It might even be superior.¡±


    ¡°Of course, if Deceit King were to use Companion Beasts, the strength of the Void Salamander and the Tiger Soul General would be extremely terrifying. In a one-on-one situation, he shouldn¡¯t be weaker than a Saint. He might even be stronger. However, now that he¡¯s not using Companion Beasts and is only using his own abilities and combat strength, things aren¡¯t looking good.¡±


    ¡°Deceit King has always been smart. Does he have a reason for doing this?¡± Su Yi asked again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what plans he has, but everyone has seen the strength of the three Saints. It¡¯s especially so for Xiao. His strength is terrifying. I really can¡¯t think of anyone among humans who is stronger than him. Similarly, he¡¯s proficient in spatial powers. In a one-on-one situation, even Deceit King might not be able to gain the upper hand, much less now when he¡¯s fighting against three. If Deceit King summons a Companion Beast, there¡¯s still a chance. Otherwise, I really can¡¯t think of a chance for him to win.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I believe that it¡¯s definitely a tactic if Deceit King doesn¡¯t summon his Companion Beasts. He will likely summon his Companion Beasts at the critical moment¡­¡± Professor Gu continued analyzing. As people listened to Professor Gu¡¯s analysis, they couldn¡¯t help but agree. Although Professor Gu was famous as a jinx, these words reached their hearts. ¡°Professor Gu is right. Deceit King is probably leaving his Companion Beasts as a trump card by not summoning them.¡± ¡°Professor Gu¡¯s analysis is a little reliable this time.¡±


    ¡°I hope Professor Gu doesn¡¯t jinx it again. The Companion Beasts are definitely a trump card. Deceit King will definitely win.¡±


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll support Professor Gu this time.¡±


    Everyone felt that Professor Gu¡¯s analysis was right. Looking at the various comments that finally supported him after all this time, Professor Gu was secretly delighted. I should be able to make a comeback this time. I should be able to wipe away the stigma of being a jinx.


    Just as Professor Gu was thinking about how to restore his reputation and prestige, Su Yi received the notification from the program team. She said with a look of delight, ¡°Our staff has already analyzed a portion of the video. Although it¡¯s only a portion, according to the technical personnel, it¡¯s already extremely exciting¡­¡±


    ¡°Cut to the chase. Quickly release the ultra slow-motion analysis!¡±


    ¡°I want to see the video. Please release it quickly.¡± ¡°Goddess Su Yi, spare me. Quickly release the video, alright? My heart can¡¯t take it!¡± Su Yi smiled and said, ¡°I know no one wants to hear me now, but the program team is preparing to send the analysis over. Please wait a moment.¡±


    Soon, the program¡¯s scene turned into a battle scene. Under the ultra slow-motion camera, the average audience finally saw the battle scene of Zhou Wen, Xiao, and company. Although the video had been slowed down significantly, the four of them still moved very quickly. Furthermore, as Jiuyang would occasionally emit the Sun God Light, causing the image to be rather inconsistent, the entire scene would often end up white.


    From the intermittent scenes, one could tell that the trio was fighting a rather intense battle.


    ¡°Pay attention to Jiuyang¡¯s palm. This palm looks simple, but it contains infinite profundity and future variability. Regardless of whether Deceit King defends, attacks, or dodges, Jiuyang¡¯s subsequent changes can make Deceit King suffer¡­ Look at Xiao¡¯s finger¡­ What a terrifying fellow¡­ I can¡¯t even predict where this finger will point¡­ Old K¡¯s sceptre technique is really ingenious¡­ I¡¯m afraid Deceit King will be in trouble next¡­¡± Professor Gu constantly explained according to the content displayed in the video. ¡°Look, Deceit King has been pushed into a corner¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s projection appeared as Professor Gu hurriedly continued.


    However, he couldn¡¯t finish his sentence. The smile on his face gradually vanished, replaced by a look of shock.


    From the way Jiuyang and company were attacking, Deceit King could only be in a disadvantaged position. He might even be severely injured.


    Of course, as the battle was still in progress, Professor Gu knew that Deceit King wasn¡¯t dead. Otherwise, he might even believe that Zhou Wen was doomed if he didn¡¯t summon his Companion Beasts.


    However, the content on the screen was the opposite of his explanation.

 Chapter 1616 - Heaven Man Smite

    Chapter 1616 Heaven Man Smite


    Professor Gu was caught up in his excitement explaining, but the scene he saw was far from what he had expected. He couldn¡¯t continue after a few words.


    He originally imagined that Deceit King¡¯s situation wouldn¡¯t be good, but from the scene, Deceit King was fighting three alone. He had his saber in his right hand and scabbard in his left while blocking the attacks of the three Saints. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t look to be in trouble at all. His movement techniques were elegant like an immortal¡¯s. Every move he made looked elegant and composed without any signs of being forced. ¡°How is this happening?¡± Professor Gu was somewhat dumbfounded. It wasn¡¯t just Professor Gu. The audience watching the program was also somewhat dumbfounded. They had already seen the combat strength of Jiuyang and company. Ignoring Jiuyang and Old K, just Xiao alone gave off an unstoppable feeling


    They were clearly virtually invincible, but when they fought Zhou Wen, they didn¡¯t show any of the strength and dominance they previously had. Instead, they appeared bounded.


    ¡°This is fake, right?¡±


    ¡°Are the three Saints holding back?¡±


    Everyone secretly suspected. The present Xiao, Jiuyang, and Old K didn¡¯t look as impressive as before. It was as though they had turned from invincible kings to amateurs who could only circle around the periphery. Thinking of Xiao¡¯s violent thrashing of Liu Yun, it was difficult not to suspect that they were going easy on Deceit King.


    However, truly perceptive experts didn¡¯t think so.


    Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s standards didn¡¯t decrease. They even performed better than in the previous battle, but they still failed to suppress Deceit King


    Now, Deceit King¡¯s movement technique was extremely bizarre. Under the siege of the trio, he seemed to be walking leisurely. He was neither anxious nor pressed. His body was like the wind as he easily dodged most of the attacks. Even if he couldn¡¯t dodge them, he would block using his Bamboo Blade and scabbard.


    The attacks of Jiuyang and company didn¡¯t seem to put any pressure on him at all. Instead, every casual swing of the Deceit King¡¯s saber seemed to give Jiuyang and company immense pressure. They had no choice but to treat it seriously and even retreat. Every strike seemed to target their most feared weakness.


    ¡°This person¡¯s saber art has probably reached the point of Heaven Man Smite!¡± Zhang Chunqiu exclaimed.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t understand what Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s adjective meant.


    He knew about Heaven Man Unity, but he had never heard of Heaven Man Smite.


    Zhang Chunqiu explained, ¡°You can understand it as a public outrage. Even God can¡¯t stand it and wants to destroy him.¡±


    In Guide City, Li Xuan and company were also watching the battle. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s eyes lit up as his face alternated between worry and joy. At times, he frowned in thought, and at times, he was overjoyed. At times, his face was filled with puzzlement and confusion.


    ¡°I originally thought that my saber art was slowly approaching Coach. But from what I¡¯m seeing today, I realize that there¡¯s still a huge gap. From the looks of it, I haven¡¯t worked hard enough,¡± Feng Qiuyan muttered to himself.


    ¡°Coach, when are you going to use some sword techniques? I really want to see how he uses a sword,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    The female sword immortal, Qin Zhen, fixated her eyes on Zhou Wen, afraid that she would miss any detail.


    Among the three of them, she had gained the most insights. This was because she had learned Transcendent Flying Immortal to begin with. And now, Zhou Wen had pushed the Immortal in Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits, allowing Qin Zhen to comprehend many things that she had never thought of before.


    Li Xuan wasn¡¯t very interested in saber techniques. He only found Zhou Wen¡¯s saber techniques very powerful and his movement techniques very strong. He was elegant and truly like an immortal.


    ¡°Professor Gu, it looks like Deceit King really doesn¡¯t need to use Companion Beasts, right?¡± Su Yi¡¯s eyes shimmered as her face was filled with excitement.


    Although Deceit King¡¯s reputation wasn¡¯t as good as Human Sovereign¡¯s, he was still a representative of humanity. Without a contract with a Guardian, he had no connection to the Holy Land. Su Yi hoped that Deceit King could obtain victory.


    ¡°Yes, it does look interesting. Deceit King¡¯s Strength, Speed, and saber arts are surprisingly strong¡­¡±


    ¡°Cut it out, Professor Gu. I¡¯m willing to confer you the Greatest Jinx of All Heavens.¡±


    ¡°I never expected that. Professor Gu, you¡¯re really impressive.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re such a jinx¡­ You¡¯re such a jinx¡­ You¡¯re such a jinxed jinx¡­¡±


    ¡°In the future, if anyone dares to say that Professor Gu isn¡¯t a jinx, I¡¯ll spit in his face.¡±


    ¡°Haha, Professor Gu is innocent. No one expected Deceit King to be this strong. He¡¯s practically a sicko!¡±


    Professor Gu¡¯s nickname of Jinx probably couldn¡¯t be washed away. Zhou Wen could fight the three of them because he had to thank the Limitless Demon Dragon King armor and the eight Companion Beasts. The power the eight Companion Beasts provided him, especially Truth Listener, the Golden Wyrm Scissors, and Demonic Neonate, was unimaginably powerful. With their combined strength, Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength and Speed could almost reach the Heaven level.


    Although he had only touched the threshold, Xiao, Jiuyang, and company had also used Holy Artifacts to reach the Heaven level. They were inferior to true Heaven-level existences. They, too, had only touched the threshold. Under such circumstances, Zhou Wen was at the same starting point as the three of them.


    To be able to fight three alone, other than giving credit to the mysterious effects of The Disqualified and the Teacher Domain, it was also thanks to Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal which had also reached an extremely high realm.


    In terms of realm, Transcendent Flying Immortal was no longer inferior to a true Heaven-level existence. Even a top Heaven-level existence might not be stronger than Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Furthermore, as the battle continued, Transcendent Flying Immortal continued transforming. His movement techniques and saber techniques became more and more elegant and ghostly. Everyone was alarmed to discover that despite the three Saints besieging Zhou Wen, they felt that the trio were the ones in danger as though they would be killed by him at any moment.


    Xiao and Jiuyang could still match Zhou Wen in terms of technique and realm, but Old K was lacking in this aspect. He relied on the Holy Artifact¡ªthe scepter¡ªto block Zhou Wen¡¯s attack.


    Although Zhou Wen had the upper hand, it was still impossible for him to completely break through the trio¡¯s siege. He only had an advantage, not an overwhelming advantage.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush. He was fighting, but also practicing. Transcendent Flying Immortal was transforming. He had already vaguely touched a new realm, but it was only a tiny sliver. It was still unknown if he could fully comprehend it.


    Apart from practicing Transcendent Flying Immortal, the Teacher Domain had also been gathering the trajectories of Jiuyang and company¡¯s powers. It was a trajectory that only Heaven-level perfect domains could leave behind in the Teacher Domain.


    Previously, the trajectory left behind by the void lightning had condensed into the Great Void Lightning Art-an Essence Energy Art. Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to study it carefully, he knew that it was definitely not bad.


    Now, the trajectories left behind by Jiuyang and company were constantly made complete. Perhaps they could condense an Essence Energy Art as well.

 Chapter 1617 - Composed

    Chapter 1617 Composed


    ¡°Lord Holy God, should we head out and help Jiuyang and the rest?¡± The Saints knelt on one knee and asked Holy God.


    ¡°The teleportation nexus has already been destroyed. How are you going to help them?¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± The Saints were rendered speechless.


    ¡°Is there nothing you can do, Lord Holy God?¡± a Saint asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s naturally a way, but it¡¯s not that easy to leave. It¡¯s too late now. Besides, even if you are sent out, what can you do with your strength?¡± Holy God said expressionlessly.


    The Saints fell silent. Jiuyang and company were already the cream of the crop among the Saints. They were still unable to defeat Zhou Wen despite being augmented by the Holy Artifacts. Even if they could leave, they wouldn¡¯t be of much use in such a battle. It would even be difficult for them to participate in the battle.


    ¡°You think too little of yourself. How can the Saints of the Holy Land only have this little ability? Watch carefully. The show has just begun,¡± Holy God said with a deep gaze.


    Just as Holy God had said, for Jiuyang and company to stand out in the cruel environment of the Holy Land and become the controllers of the Holy Artifact meant that they were no pushovers. Old K used the scepter to block Bamboo Blade and shouted at Jiuyang and Xiao in a deep voice, ¡°At this stage, there¡¯s no need to hold back. If we can¡¯t kill him here today, how can we face Lord Holy God?¡± His words were fervent, but there was another underlying meaning. In fact, he wanted to tell Jiuyang and Xiao that if they couldn¡¯t kill Zhou Wen, Holy God probably wouldn¡¯t let them off easily even if they returned to the Holy Land.


    The punishment ranged from having the Holy Artifact confiscated to a life-threatening situation.


    Xiao and Jiuyang also knew that the Holy Land was definitely not holy. There was too much cruel competition there. Once they failed, once they made a huge mistake, countless Saints would crawl over their corpses to take their place.


    To the six Holy Temples, they weren¡¯t completely irreplaceable. At the very least, not yet.


    Xiao and Jiuyang exchanged looks as the Sun God Bead in Jiuyang¡¯s arms lit up. His entire body seemed to turn into light as he charged at Zhou Wen with terrifyingly high temperatures.


    Previously, although Jiuyang had also emitted the Sun God Light, he had only used powerful destructive power. He didn¡¯t have such terrifyingly high temperatures that could melt


    things.


    On the other side, the ring on Xiao¡¯s finger emitted a strange glow, causing his body to distort strangely. Even his figure was almost indiscernible.


    When he attacked Zhou Wen, his figure seemed to distort strangely in space. He clearly looked like he was going one direction, but he would appear in another.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s saber that slashed at Xiao failed to touch him.


    Old K tried his best to channel his scepter, but he only managed to make it a little stronger. It didn¡¯t produce any stronger effects.


    Even so, it placed Zhou Wen in danger.


    Bang!


    When Bamboo Blade met Jiuyang¡¯s fist, although Bamboo Blade was extremely hard and was only at the Terror grade, it wasn¡¯t inferior to a Calamity-grade weapon. However, it bent under Jiuyang¡¯s fist. Even Zhou Wen¡¯s body was sent retreating. However, once the force dissipated, Bamboo Blade¡¯s blade bounced back.


    Xiao¡¯s figure was like a wandering soul as he dodged the scabbard slash that Zhou Wen delivered with his left hand. He stuck close to Zhou Wen, his sharp nails slashing at his neck. Zhou Wen had already tried his best to dodge, but he was still a little slow. The armor around his neck had a deep mark that almost reached Zhou Wen¡¯s skin.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the pressure increase. Xiao and Jiuyang gave him immense trouble.


    ¡°Is it still too much? He should be summoning his Companion Beasts, right?¡± Xia Liuchuan said after some thought.


    ¡°Xiao and Jiuyang will probably become our archenemies in the future. I wonder how many Saints like them there are in the Holy Land,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said after some thought.


    ¡°Who knows? Those Saints all have terrifying talent. I wonder where the Holy Land found so many children to nurture.¡± Xia Liuchuan thought for a moment and said, ¡°Thankfully, even if they have talent and resources, they might not be able to become true experts. It depends on their beliefs and comprehension. There probably aren¡¯t many Saints like Xiao and Jiuyang in the Holy Land.¡±


    ¡°Even if there aren¡¯t many, there are six temples,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said. ¡°Old K is clearly inferior. If the other Holy Artifacts wielders are like Old K, it will be much easier for us to deal with them,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    However, Zhang Chunqiu shook his head and said, ¡°Don¡¯t underestimate Old K. Although his combat strength and talent are inferior to Xiao and Jiuyang, strength may not be all that matters. The strength he possesses isn¡¯t primary. His ability to control the overall situation is what he¡¯s good at.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you realize that Old K has been making up for the flaws caused by Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s attacks?¡± Zhang Chunqiu glared at Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°Naturally. However, I still think that Xiao and Jiuyang are more terrifying,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t wish to harp on this problem. As he looked at the satellite¡¯s screen, he muttered to himself, ¡°Let¡¯s see how Zhou Wen plans on dealing with it. Even if he summons a Companion Beast, he might not be able to control it well in such a fast-paced battle.¡±


    Everyone felt that Zhou Wen would summon a Companion Beast at any moment, but after waiting for a while, Zhou Wen still had no intention of summoning one.


    And his current situation was deteriorating. Under the crazy siege of the three Saints, wounds constantly appeared on his body.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like a Saint.¡± Holy God was very satisfied with the trio¡¯s performance, especially Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s. It even surprised him.


    The two of them grew unimaginably fast. Every Saint in the Holy Land was a genius, but in comparison, the other Saints appeared too mediocre.


    Holy God had already begun thinking that he should raise the standard when searching for the wielders of the Holy Artifacts for the other three temples. He should search for people using Xiao and Jiuyang as the benchmark. A Saint like Godsfall definitely didn¡¯t deserve being a Holy Son.


    It¡¯s about time he summons a Companion Beast, right? Holy God was also guessing when Zhou Wen would summon a Companion Beast. Zhou Wen had no intention of summoning a Companion Beast. He constantly brandished the Bamboo Blade as his body moved with the saber¡¯s force. Although he was in a predicament, his actions remained composed.


    To put it simply, even if his face was beaten until it swelled like a pig¡¯s head, his hair never turned messy.

 Chapter 1618 - Something’s Missing

    Chapter 1618 Something¡¯s Missing


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do it to show off. He kept within his Transcendent Flying Immortal realm, which was why he produced such an effect. No matter how disadvantaged he was, his figure was still as graceful as an immortal.


    Zhou Wen had been practicing Transcendent Flying Immortal during his battles with Starlord Ardent Virtue. Transcendent Flying Immortal had already reached an extremely high level of the Calamity grade.


    In the battle with Jiuyang and company, he pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to the limits of the Heaven level.


    However, no matter how extreme a Heaven-level martial technique was, it was ultimately at the Calamity grade. It was impossible for it to help Zhou Wen reverse the disadvantageous situation he was facing.


    Zhou Wen had never come into contact with the Apocalypse grade, nor did he know what kind of level it was. It was impossible to push Transcendent Flying Immortal to the Apocalypse grade.


    However, during the battle, Zhou Wen vaguely felt that Transcendent Flying Immortal seemed to be missing something, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what it was.


    Zhou Wen wanted to figure out what he was lacking by exploiting the overwhelming disadvantage he was in while fighting Jiuyang and company. The Disqualified allowed Zhou Wen to deduce the opponent¡¯s weakness. The Teacher Domain constantly replicated the opponent¡¯s trajectory, allowing Zhou Wen to gain an understanding of their strength.


    However, there was something that left Zhou Wen puzzled. After such an extended battle, there were already many trajectories left in the Teacher Domain with no further increase.


    However, for some reason, the three trajectories were still incomplete. They didn¡¯t form a complete puzzle like the Void Salamander¡¯s trajectory before turning into an Essence Energy Art. Could it be that the three of them relied on the Holy Artifact to reach the Heaven-level perfect domain? Therefore, in theory, their domains aren¡¯t perfect, so they can¡¯t form a perfect puzzle? Zhou Wen guessed. He had already tried many times. No matter how the Teacher Domain replicated their trajectories, it didn¡¯t add new trajectories.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood for research. His mind was still focused on Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    What else is missing? After some thought, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out what was missing


    Transcendent Flying Immortal could be said to have reached the epitome of gracefulness. Be it its trajectory or concept, there were no flaws. Even the Teacher Domain couldn¡¯t find any imperfections.


    Zhou Wen still felt that something was missing from such a perfect Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Could it be that it lacks the original domineeringness of Transcendent Flying Immortal? Zhou Wen thought of a possibility.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had studied Transcendent Flying Immortal and had taken a domineering path which eventually led to him creating Immortal Slaying. Now that Transcendent Flying Immortal had changed to the path of an elegant immortal, it naturally didn¡¯t have that domineering aura.


    Zhou Wen was wondering if the Immortal Dao¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal lacked that domineering aura. If he fused domineeringness with the Immortal Dao, would it have a stronger effect? However, after some thought, Zhou Wen eliminated this possibility.


    The Immortal Dao focused on elegance. Even the trajectory it took was an arc. As for dominance, it was straight forward. The fastest, strongest, most ruthless, and most domineering attack naturally had to go in a straight line.


    Although they were both Transcendent Flying Immortals, in essence, the two had completely different modes. It was impossible for them to fuse together.


    If it¡¯s not lacking a domineering aura, what¡¯s missing? Zhou Wen thought as he fought.


    Chi!


    Xiao¡¯s palm streaked across his waist like a blade, slicing open the armor. Blood flowed out of the cracks in the armor.


    Zhou Wen already had quite a number of such wounds, as well as the burn wounds left behind by Jiuyang¡¯s Sun God Power.


    The armor formed by the Limitless Demon Dragon King was only at the Terror grade after all. Its abilities far exceeded its level, but there was an obvious deficiency.


    The defense of a Terror-grade armor was almost negligible under the attacks of a Calamity-grade expert.


    Only an armor with Absolute Defense like the Prisoned Dragon armor could put up some resistance. The Dragon King armor wasn¡¯t Prisoned Dragon armor, so it couldn¡¯t reach that level. Therefore, he suffered serious injuries. If the Dragon King armor shattered, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to borrow the power of Truth Listener and the other Companion Beasts. When that happened, he would no longer be able to fight Jiuyang and company. It would be difficult for him to fight one-on-one, much less three.


    m


    As the ultra slow-motion analysis took a long time, the video played by the program team was greatly delayed. Even so, they skipped a lot of content in the middle and began to be analyzed from the back. If everything was played, it would probably happen days after the battle ended. Now, the analyzed content revealed Xiao and Jiuyang unleashing their power while Zhou Wen was in peril. He had already suffered quite a number of injuries. The armor was charred black and looked rather worrisome.


    Professor Gu was delighted when he saw this.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s actions had really dealt a blow to him. He didn¡¯t dare read the comments because they were all about him being a jinx.


    When Professor Gu was young, he was once known as a genius, but that was in a small city in his hometown.


    After entering a reputable school and seeing the elites from all over the Federation, he realized that his talent, which he had been proud of in the past, was worthless.


    He had worked hard, hoping to change his life with hard work, but no matter how hard he tried, his elite peers were like mountains that he could only look up to.


    This was because he knew that no matter how hard he worked, it was impossible for him to become the best in combat. Therefore, he switched to studying various theories.


    Although he didn¡¯t abandon cultivation, his combat strength and level were far inferior to his acumen.


    With the results of his years of research, Professor Gu became a professor and participated in many programs. He was quite talented and some of his analysis was very accurate. He quickly accumulated fame. Over the years, he had always been ranked No. 1 in the industry. It could be said that he was an authority in this field. Professor Gu had always been proud of this, and he even became a little conceited. He couldn¡¯t stand contrarian opinions. No matter what he did, he felt that he was right. Others just didn¡¯t understand.


    However, in the past few years, he had been very unhappy.


    He had made frequent mistakes in the analysis of Human Sovereign, Deceit King, and company. Those were unprecedented. Recently, he had been labeled as Professor Jinx.


    It was even more ridiculous today. He felt like his face was about to swell from Deceit King¡¯s slapping.


    Now that he saw Deceit King at a disadvantage, he immediately felt a breath of fresh air surge from his feet to his head, instantly energizing him.


    Professor Gu knew that his chance had now come. He could finally avenge his humiliation.


    Now, I¡¯ll let you illiterates know what scientific analysis is. Jinx? There¡¯s nothing of that sort. As a professor, my analysis is the most scientific and authoritative one. How can there be a mistake? Professor Gu was secretly delighted as he cleared his throat. ¡°Ahem, it¡¯s not surprising for such a situation to happen. I¡¯ve analyzed it previously. Deceit King¡¯s strength can at most compete with a Saint. In a three-on-one situation, he will definitely lose. Just like my previous analysis, it¡¯s time for him to summon his Companion Beasts. I believe it won¡¯t be long before we can see the Void Salamander and Tiger Soul General again.¡±

 Chapter 1619 - Am I Really A Jinx?

    Translator: CKtalon


    Professor Gu¡¯s analysis couldn¡¯t be considered wrong, If Zhou Wen really had the Void Salamander and the crazy Tiger Soul General available, he would definitely have summoned them.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have it at all. He couldn¡¯t summon it even if he wanted to.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was calm, Although he was in grave peril, he didn¡¯t panic at all. His mind was so calm that it made one¡¯s hair stand on end. It was as though he didn¡¯t know what terror and fear were.


    The damage to the Dragon King armor increased, and Zhou Wen knew that he didn¡¯t have much time left.


    What¡¯s missing? Zhou Wen continued searching for an answer in battle.


    Within the confines of Zhou Wen¡¯s possible Strength and Speed, Transcendent Flying Immortal could be said to be a perfect technique. It fully utilized Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength and Speed.


    To be able to fight three alone¡ªwith all three Saints holding Holy Artifacts for so long without them finding any flaws¡ªit was only because their strength was inferior that they were suppressed. This was enough to prove how powerful Transcendent Flying Immortal was.


    That¡¯s not right! Zhou Wen suddenly realized a problem.


    It was true that Transcendent Flying Immortal was very powerful, but it wasn¡¯t only because of Transcendent Flying Immortal that Zhou Wen had the upper hand despite fighting three alone.


    The Disqualified allowed Zhou Wen to easily see through his opponent¡¯s weaknesses and flaws. As for the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen quickly knew his opponent¡¯s abilities like the back of his hand. Transcendent Flying Immortal looked so powerful because of the augmentation of these two abilities.


    If I don¡¯t have the ability of The Disqualified and the Teacher Domain, can Transcendent Flying Immortal still be so powerful? Zhou Wen immediately understood why he felt that Transcendent Flying Immortal was lacking something.


    The strength of Transcendent Flying Immortal was built on external factors, not because it was really that powerful. The present Transcendent Flying Immortal was still lacking, but this loss was made up by external forces.


    Making up for things was sometimes a good thing, but not all the time.


    It was like an ancient monarch encountering a year of famine. There wasn¡¯t even bran to eat, resulting in tragic events of people selling their children for food.


    The citizens had no rice. It was already a life-and-death situation. After a minister reported it, the monarch actually answered, ¡°Why don¡¯t they eat meat?¡±


    This monarch didn¡¯t lack food and clothes, so he naturally couldn¡¯t understand what hunger was. He could never put himself in a position to think of a solution, and it was very difficult for him to grow.


    Now, Transcendent Flying Immortal was like a youth with a good family environment. Although he was outstanding enough, he was still a flower in a greenhouse. He had never experienced storms and had yet to become a true expert.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen resolutely gave up on using The Disqualified and the Teacher Domain. He forcefully separated the effects of the two powers from Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    It was very dangerous to do so. To do such a thing in such a disadvantageous situation was almost like playing with fire.


    Since Zhou Wen chose to do so, he naturally had his confidence. Even if Transcendent Flying Immortal couldn¡¯t truly grow, he wasn¡¯t the monarch or a flower in a greenhouse. As a person who controlled Transcendent Flying Immortal, he was confident that it could truly mature before things went south.


    Although Zhou Wen was confident, he was thrown into a dangerous and problematic situation once Transcendent Flying Immortal lost the augmentation of the Teacher Domain and The Disqualified.


    In that split second, Zhou Wen seemed to lose his original agility. Although his moves were still very elegant, they appeared somewhat lost as though he had lost his direction.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen failed to dodge Old K¡¯s scepter and was struck in the abdomen. He was sent flying like a shrimp. The armor on his abdomen shattered, revealing his swollen abs.


    Not long after his body flew out, Jiuyang appeared behind Zhou Wen. A sun-like fist struck Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    If it were in the past, with the augmentation of The Disqualified and the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen would have been able to predict and dodge the strike.


    However, Zhou Wen was somewhat slow to react. His movement technique was still bizarre, but he failed to dodge the punch.


    Zhou Wen could only turn around with all his might. He raised his scabbard and Bamboo Blade and crossed them in front of his chest to block the sun-like fist.


    The flames exploded as the high temperature enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body like a furnace. The Dragon King armor on his body had already turned into red-hot metal that was even dripping with molten liquid.


    This was only because Zhou Wen had already used alll his Essence Energy to protect the Dragon King armor. Otherwise, the armor might have turned into liquid metal.


    Zhou Wen fell into an extreme disadvantage. In a short period of time, the Dragon King armor suffered serious damage and was about to collapse.


    Professor Gu had been looking forward to Deceit King summoning his Companion Beasts, hoping to wash away his reputation as a jinx.


    However, from the ultra slow-motion video analysis, Deceit King didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of summoning his Companion Beasts. Despite being at such a disadvantage, he still insisted on fighting the three saints with his skills.


    What are you doing? Why aren¡¯t you summoning your Companion Beasts at such a time? Do you really have a death wish? Professor Gu shouted inwardly, hoping to help Zhou Wen summon the Void Salamander and Tiger Soul General in his place.


    Even if he only summoned one, that could wash away his reputation as a jinx.


    However, there was nothing. Deceit King continued fighting alone.


    ¡®When Zhou Wen forcefully dispelled the connection between The Disqualified and the Teacher Domain with Transcendent Flying Immortal, Professor Gu nearly jumped up.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? If you don¡¯t summon your Companion Beasts, you¡¯ll be dead. What¡¯s the point of using tactics? That¡¯s not how you hide your true strength. There should be a limit to playing the pig to eat the tiger. Otherwise, you¡¯ll really end up a pig¡­¡± Professor Gu was somewhat agitated as he voiced


    out his doubts.


    Professor Gu¡¯s words were nasty, but no one retorted. Everyone shared the same thoughts as Professor Gu. If he didn¡¯t summon his Companion Beasts at this moment, it would be too late even if he eventually did.


    If he were seriously injured and no longer had any combat strength, the three Saints could circle around his Companion Beasts and kill Deceit King first. When that happened, the powerful Void Salamander and Tiger Soul General would vanish together and be useless.


    ¡°Could Deceit King have gone overboard with his posturing and become a real pig?¡± Many people were worried. After all, the battle was right in front of them. Deceit King had already fallen into an absolute disadvantage. His injuries were getting worse and he was about to die.


    The veins on Professor Gu¡¯s forehead protruded as he roared inwardly. Summon a Companion Beast. Quickly summon a Companion Beast. Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯d rather die than summon a Companion Beast to f*ck me over, right?


    Looking at the heavily injured Deceit King, Professor Gu suddenly felt a little afraid.. Could it be that I¡¯m really a jinx? Because of my jinxed mouth, I made Deceit King Xiu crazy¡­ He¡¯d rather die than summon a Companion Beast?

 Chapter 1620 - Why Didn’t You Summon Companion Beasts?

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± Not only did Professor Gu not understand, but even Jiang Yan frowned as he watched the livestream.


    He naturally knew that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the Void Salamander, but at this moment, he hadn¡¯t summoned any Companion Beasts. To fight the three saints without finding an opportunity to escape was clearly not Zhou Wen¡¯s style.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Old Zhou mistakenly thinks that he has an immortal body like me?¡± Li Xuan said with a cheeky smile.


    Others might not know Zhou Wen, but he knew very well that if a fellow like Zhou Wen¡¯s life was in danger, he would run faster than anyone. It was impossible for him to fight the enemy to the death.


    Since Zhou Wen had done so, he definitely had some plans, so Li Xuan wasn¡¯t worried at all.


    Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu shared the same thoughts as Li Xuan. They had almost blind confidence in Zhou Wen, so they also believed that Zhou Wen was setting up a trap. The present disadvantage was only an illusion to entrap the enemy.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to think of a way to help him?¡± Xia Xuanyue looked at Li Xuan and company. She was somewhat puzzled. Are these fellows plastic brothers? They have long hoped for Zhou Wen¡¯s death. Otherwise, why aren¡¯t they showing the least bit of anxiety despite his prolonged battle? They have no


    intention of thinking of a way to help.


    Li Xuan even wore an excited expression as though he was delighted that Zhou Wen was being killed.


    ¡°Help him? Why help him? A fellow like Zhou Wen doesn¡¯t need help,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    Xia Xuanyue sized up Li Xuan, but she was judging what he meant. Do they really think highly of Zhou Wen and think that he can handle it himself, or do they wish for him to die?


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s situation wasn¡¯t optimistic. It could be said that he was on the brink of death. This made Xia Xuanyue guess that the latter was more likely.


    The city hasn¡¯t even been built, but the internal conflict is already so serious? Xia Xuanyue thought.


    ¡°Coach is just practicing. He doesn¡¯t need any help.¡± Feng Qiuyan¡¯s words made Xia Xuanyue feel that the internal strife was dark and terrifying, At this point in time, was he still practicing? Would anyone practice at a time like this? He doesn¡¯t even know how to lie, or rather, he can¡¯t be bothered to hide it.


    As the saying goes, a well-taught disciple starves their masters. This disciple has yet to finish his apprenticeship, but he¡¯s already looking forward to his teacher¡¯s death. Xia Xuanyue sighed inwardly.


    2


    ¡°Coach is just fooling around with them. When he¡¯s tired with the games, it will only take a blink of an eye for him to turn the tables,¡± Ming Xiu added.


    At this stage, he can still turn the tables in the blink of an eye. Can what you said be any more fake? Xia Xuanyue felt indignant for Zhou Wen as she looked at the only female among them, Qin Zhen.


    She knew that Qin Zhen had always considered herself Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple. Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu could only be considered half-disciples, but she was a true disciple. Perhaps she wasn¡¯t as heartless as Li Xuan and company.


    Seeing Xia Xuanyue look at her, Qin Zhen¡¯s eyes were filled with admiration. She said excitedly, ¡°Senior Zhou is teaching me the essence of Transcendent Flying Immortal through actual combat. In order to let me understand it, he deliberately doesn¡¯t use all his strength to let me see it clearly. Senior is


    really thoughtful, just like the notebook he gave me back then.¡±


    Xia Xuanyue looked at Qin Zhen with an odd expression. It was unknown if she was telling the truth or acting.


    If she was acting, it looked sincere and heartfelt. It didn¡¯t look fake at all.


    However, those words were too fake if it weren¡¯t an act. Only someone with a screw loose could say such words.


    1


    Now that Zhou Wen is about to be killed, are you really stupid or faking it to think that he¡¯s going out of the way to teach you? Xia Xuanyue began to doubt her judgment. She couldn¡¯t help but watch the battle livestream carefully.


    Li Xuan and company said that Zhou Wen was deliberately hiding his strength, but no matter how Xia Xuanyue looked at it, she felt that Zhou Wen was about to be beheaded. He didn¡¯t look like he was hiding his strength at all.


    Are these four fellows really stupid, or do they want Zhou Wen to die so much? Xia Xuanyue couldn¡¯t tell at all that Zhou Wen had any chance of survival.


    ¡°Summon a Companion Beast¡­ Summon a Companion Beast¡­ Summon a Companion Beast¡­¡± Professor Gu¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as veins protruded from his forehead. He pressed his hands on the table and stood up, roaring at the top of his lungs.


    He didn¡¯t wish to be a jinx, much less jinx Zhou Wen to death, but what the hell was going on today? Deceit King was about to be killed, but he still hadn¡¯t summoned his Companion Beasts.


    This didn¡¯t make sense. It didn¡¯t make any sense. Now, Professor Gu was a little afraid of himself. In the past, he didn¡¯t take it to heart when people said that he was a jinx. But now, he couldn¡¯t explain why Deceit King hadn¡¯t summoned his Companion Beasts. It was impossible.


    ¡°Unless¡­¡± Professor Gu¡¯s voice was hoarse. As there were too many blood vessels, the whites of his eyes had tumed completely red. He looked ferocious and terrifying, but he was extremely uneasy.¡± Could it be¡­ I¡¯m really a jinx¡­¡±


    Be it those who could understand the battle or those who couldn¡¯t understand the battle through the slow-motion analysis, they were all puzzled. They couldn¡¯t understand why this was happening.


    ¡°Professor Gu is really quite a jinx. Deceit King is about to fall.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu¡­ Old Master Gu¡­ I¡¯m begging you¡­ Stop talking about summoning Companion Beasts¡­¡±


    ¡°Please, don¡¯t jinx it any more!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Even Deceit King can¡¯t withstand Professor Gu¡¯s jinx. He¡¯s doomed.¡±


    ¡°Deceit King has lost all his intelligence from being jinxed. He¡¯s on the brink of death. He definitely can¡¯t summon Companion Beasts. Perhaps those Companion Beasts have already gone on strike and are rebelling.¡±


    ¡°Professor Jinx¡­ He lives up to his reputation¡­ What a pity for the great Deceit King¡­¡±


    Some of the female fans who supported Deceit King were about to cry. They were all begging Professor Gu to stop jinxing it.


    I¡¯m not a jinx¡­ I¡¯m not¡­ Professor Gu was on the brink of a mental breakdown. He was already in a daze as he jumped onto the platform. He pressed his hands on the big screen that was used for the broadcast, producing loud snapping sounds. The video on it flickered as he roared at the top of his lungs,


    ¡°Summon your Companion Beasts for me!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯s over!¡± Those who had witnessed Professor Gu¡¯s jinxes felt their hearts turn cold.


    Professor Gu had given his all at jinxing, This mighty jinxed roar was something even Deceit King didn¡¯t deserve at the cost of his life.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was once again struck by Old K¡¯s scepter as his body flew to the side. And there, Jiuyang and Xiao were already ready to attack. The sun-like fist and the god-like fingers struck at Zhou Wen, who had lost his balance. Their attacks were inches away..

 Chapter 1621 - Zenith Heaven True Immortal

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°I¡¯s over!¡± Upon seeing this situation, Professor Gu¡¯s excitement plummeted. He nearly collapsed on the commentary platform.


    The audience felt disheartened. They felt that it wasn¡¯t worth it for Deceit King to die just like that. He clearly had such powerful Companion Beasts, but he didn¡¯t use them. It was truly unacceptable for him to die so tragically.


    Sigh! Xia Xuanyue sighed inwardly. She had a good impression of Zhou Wen. She originally wanted to cooperate with him, but from the looks of it, there was no chance.


    However, just as Zhou Wen was about to be hit by Jiuyang and Xiao, his body suddenly somersaulted.


    It was as though he had just woken up from a dream and was stretching.


    This seemingly languid action instantly dodged Jiuyang and Xiao¡¯s attacks that were inches away. At the same time, it made Old K, who was pursuing him, lose his target.


    ¡°Something different seems to have happened!¡± Jiang Yan muttered to himself as he looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°The real show is about to begin.¡± Zhong Ziya sat in the stone pavilion and leaned against the stone railing. He held a cigarette butt in one hand and a handful of fish food in the other as he casually threw them into the lake.


    ¡°Eh! That fellow¡¯s aura seems to have changed into something strange.¡± Xia Liuchuan keenly sensed something.


    ¡°Tt seems like something fun is about to happen,¡± Zhang Chungiu said with narrowed eyes.


    Old K and Jiuyang rushed forward to attack Zhou Wen again. Xiao¡¯s body was like an illusion as his figure flickered in and out of existence. He constantly attacked from the distorted space, pointing at Zhou Wen¡¯s vital spots from various unbelievable angles.


    The present Zhou Wen seemed to have nothing mortal about him. Although Transcendent Flying Immortal was elegant, it was still somewhat domineering.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t cultivate it well, nor was it that being domineering was wrong. The most primitive skill of Transcendent Flying Immortal was 70% domineering. It was innate. It was just too difficult to change it after cultivating this much.


    However, Zhou Wen changed it. He no longer had the domineering trait. Ignore the dominance, even the seven emotions and six desires of the mortal world seemed to have nothing to do with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s every move was like an otherworldly immortal. It was indescribably refreshing.


    Jiuyang, Xiao, and Old K¡¯s ferocious attacks were originally like a storm, but when they came in front of Zhou Wen, they seemed to turn into breeze or drizzle. For some reason, the ferocious attacks seemed to become soft and powerless as Zhou Wen easily resolved them.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Upon seeing this scene, Holy God¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted. He lost control of his emotions as his voice subconsciously rose.


    However, Holy God wasn¡¯t sure if what he saw was what he was thinking. Therefore, he widened his eyes and stared intently at Zhou Wen.


    Everyone felt Jiuyang and company¡¯s attacks suddenly turn soft in front of Zhou Wen for some reason. However, upon careful inspection, they realized that their attacks hadn¡¯t weakened. They were still as powerful as before. The soft feeling was just an illusion.


    And the one who created this illusion was naturally Zhou Wen.


    What¡¯s going on? Professor Gu stared blankly at the slow-motion scene. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t summoned his Companion Beasts, but he hadn¡¯t been killed. Not only was he not killed, but he had even gained the upper hand.


    That¡¯s right, he had the upper hand. An advantage that was visible to the naked eye.


    No matter how ferocious the attacks of Jiuyang and company were, they gave off the strange feeling that Zhou Wen was playing with them instead of engaging in a life-and-death battle.


    It felt like a professional world boxing king participating in a variety program or a celebrity in a martial arts movie choosing to fight the boxing king in the ring.


    The boxing king naturally wouldn¡¯t fight seriously. He would only play with them for the sake of the program. He would wear a look of forced seriousness and helplessness.


    Now, Zhou Wen gave off the feeling that experts as powerful as Jiuyang and Xiao were amateurs in front of him.


    How did this happen!? Professor Gu slumped back in his chair and watched everything happen in a daze. He didn¡¯t know what to feel.


    ¡°Why do I feel that¡­ Deceit King seems very¡­ very¡­¡± A person thought for a long time but couldn¡¯t think of a word to describe Deceit King¡¯s present state.


    ¡°Immortal!¡± someone beside him added.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! It¡¯s immortal. Why doesn¡¯t Deceit King look like a thief? Why does he seem to be emitting an immortal aura¡­¡± The person from before slapped his thigh and shouted.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. His every move feels ethereal, like an immortal untainted by the mortal world.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, to be able to fight so gracefully, Deceit King is a first!¡±


    ¡®When Old K smashed his scepter over, Zhou Wen¡¯s body moved as though he was blown by the wind. As he moved with the scepter, he gently raised the Bamboo Blade in his hand, causing the scepter to uncontrollably tilt to another angle.


    Jiuyang¡¯s punch happened to strike at that spot, colliding with the scepter and producing a shocking explosion. The shockwave produced was like water ripples that quickly spread in all directions. Everything that came into contact with the shockwave was shattered and melted into magma. Old K rapidly


    retreated and landed on the ground, creating a huge crater. His hand that held the scepter trembled non-stop. He couldn¡¯t hold it any longer as blood kept dripping from his hand.


    Xiao¡¯s hand chopped at Zhou Wen¡¯s neck from behind like a saber. As for his other hand, it swung out of the distorted space and stabbed at his abdomen like a hook.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even turn his head as he moved the scabbard in his left hand out, slamming into Xiao¡¯s hook-like left hand. At the same time, he used the force of the collision to quickly bounce up.


    Due to Xiao¡¯s strength, the scabbard bounced up extremely quickly. Zhou Wen twisted his scabbard-holding palm as though he was placing the scabbard on his shoulder.


    However, the tip of the scabbard was aimed at Xiao¡¯s throat. If Xiao continued charging at him and chopped at Zhou Wen¡¯s neck with his right hand, Zhou Wen¡¯s scabbard would definitely slam into his throat.


    Despite fighting three alone, Zhou Wen was calm and composed. He was very casual as though everything had the panache of a god. His every move was incomparably elegant.


    Jiuyang and company were played by his otherworldly saber techniques like panicked clowns.


    If one hadn¡¯t seen the previous battle, it would be difficult to believe that the three of them were peerless experts.


    ¡°Deceit King has really f*cking become an immortal!¡± someone shouted.


    ¡°How is this Deceit King¡­ He¡¯s clearly an Immortal King¡­¡±


    Many people agreed. The title of Deceit King didn¡¯t seem to match the true immortal-like figure in front of them.


    This¡­ This is the Apocalypse-level concept of the Immortals¡­ Zenith Heaven True Immortal¡­ He¡¯s a human¡­ He actually touched the highest concept of the Immortals¡­ Although he has only just touched it¡­ But¡­ But¡­ How is this possible¡­ A mere human¡­ A mere human¡­ Holy God finally


    confirmed his thoughts as his eyes were filled with shock.

 Chapter 1622 - Immortal Bandit

    Chapter 1622 Immortal Bandit


    Although Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was inferior to Jiuyang¡¯s and his speed was inferior to Xiao¡¯s, he could defeat the three of them with the Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s concept. The original encirclement looked like it had been cracked one by one.


    The hard and straight Bamboo Blade and scabbard didn¡¯t seem as solid in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. It gave off a very strange feeling as though the blade and scabbard had turned into soft ribbons.


    Of course, the saber and scabbard didn¡¯t change, nor could they bend. The feeling they gave off was purely a visual error brought about by the concept of Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Unlike the domineering and direct Immortal Slaying, Zhou Wen¡¯s saber art was unpredictable. Not only was the trajectory of his saber art abnormal, but it could also divert external forces.


    The blade met Jiuyang¡¯s fist, but it didn¡¯t collide with it. The blade spun and crossed Jiuyang¡¯s fist as it slashed at his neck.


    At the same time, the scabbard in Zhou Wen¡¯s other hand slashed at Old K. Old K raised his scepter with both hands and faced the incoming scabbard.


    The scabbard collided with the scepter, but it didn¡¯t make a sound. At the instant the scabbard touched the scepter, Zhou Wen released the scabbard, his tiny fingers hooked to the end of the scabbard.


    After the front of the scabbard made contact, it spun with the point of contact as the center. The part Zhou Wen held spun and struck Old K¡¯s head.


    Old K felt his head buzz as he sank. His body was slammed into the rock like a nail as the scabbard returned to Zhou Wen¡¯s hand with the rebounding force.


    Zhou Wen did a backhand slash with the scabbard, blocking Xiao¡¯s 13 ghostly attacks and forcing him to retreat.


    Jiuyang retreated at high speeds as he struck out with his other hand at the Bamboo Blade. However, with a slight movement of Zhou Wen¡¯s fingers, the Bamboo Blade was like an agile snake. The tip of the blade flicked back and stabbed into his wrist. It retracted immediately, having snapped his tendons.


    In the blink of an eye, two of the three saints were injured.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it will take for me to catch up to Coach¡¯s saber art.¡± Although Feng Qiuyan said that, he was calculating how much he had comprehended.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t Coach practicing sword techniques?¡± Ming Xiu wore a look of regret, but it wasn¡¯t that he hadn¡¯t gained anything. Saber techniques and sword techniques had something in common.


    Qin Zhen remained silent as she silently memorized the Transcendent Flying Immortal that Zhou Wen had displayed. She had received Zhou Wen¡¯s teachings and obtained the secret teachings of Transcendent Flying Immortal. However, even as a female sword immortal who had learned Transcendent Flying Immortal and became famous from it, she found it difficult to interpret it.


    Xia Xuanyue was already dumbfounded. Many question marks appeared over her head. Was he really practicing his saber previously? Practicing his saber under the encirclement of the three Saints?


    ¡°Miss Xia, I¡¯ve already said that there¡¯s no need to worry. Old Zhou won¡¯t die so easily.¡± Li Xuan still looked carefree.


    Xia Xuanyue really didn¡¯t know what to say. She was still in shock. Such a saber technique probably couldn¡¯t be called human anymore.


    Similarly, those who really understood were shocked. Dugu Ge, Zhang Chunqiu, Xia Liuchuan, and the younger Lance had goosebumps all over their bodies.


    That fellow is really amazing. He can actually hone his saber techniques to such a level. I¡¯ve been left far behind. No, I have to train now. I have to catch up to him as soon as possible. Lance¡¯s eyes lit up. He stopped watching the livestream, turned around, and headed for the training grounds.


    Soon, rumbling sounds came from the training grounds.


    Seeing how the three Saints were suppressed by Zhou Wen to the point of barely being able to protect themselves, the seals on the two domains were meaningless. Holy God¡¯s expression was as cold as eternal ice.


    ¡°Come back.¡± Although he wished he could skin Zhou Wen alive, Holy God still ordered a retreat.


    It didn¡¯t matter if Jiuyang and company died, but if the three Holy Artifacts landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands, it would undoubtedly be a huge blow to the Holy Land.


    After receiving the order, Jiuyang and company retreated without any hesitation.


    As Xiao retreated, he strangely vanished.


    Jiuyang and Old K flew in two different directions. As the teleportation nexus was destroyed, they couldn¡¯t return to the Holy Land directly.


    Although Zhou Wen had figured out an advanced concept of Transcendent Flying Immortal, it could only strengthen his combat strength. It couldn¡¯t fundamentally increase his Strength and Speed.


    It wasn¡¯t a problem to fight three alone, but it wasn¡¯t that easy to catch up to them.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen threw the Bamboo Blade in his hand at Old K. The Bamboo Blade transformed into a cold beam as it drew an arc in the air and quickly approached Old K¡¯s back.


    Old K had learned his lesson, so he didn¡¯t dare use the scepter to block Zhou Wen¡¯s Bamboo Blade. All he could do was dodge.


    However, just as he dodged, he saw a golden light flash above his head. A golden pair of scissors landed on his neck. With a snip, his head immediately separated from his body. Blood splattered everywhere as the Guardian armor on his body shattered and dissipated.


    Zhou Wen arrived beside Old K¡¯s corpse almost instantaneously and picked up the scepter.


    The scepter was the same as the Connate Insight that Zhou Wen had previously obtained. It was a Holy Artifact of the six Holy Temples, but the Connate Insight came from the Connate Holy Temples, while the scepter came from the Divine Emperor Holy Temple.


    Despite destroying the teleportation nexus and killing a Saint right in front of the Holy Land, nobody appeared. Such might was probably rare even in history. The Holy Land had never suffered such humiliation.


    Zhou Wen stood there as the people watching the livestream looked at him as though he was an immortal.


    The shouts of ¡®Immortal King¡¯ sounded everywhere in the Federation.


    The Saints in the Holy Land were alarmed and furious. Holy God didn¡¯t say a word, but his expression was extremely ugly.


    In a short period of time, two Holy Artifacts had been snatched away by Zhou Wen. He had even camped at the Holy Land¡¯s entrance to kill the Saints. It was insulting. If not for the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules, Holy God would have personally taken action to kill Zhou Wen. Unfortunately, this was Earth, not the dimension. He could only fantasize.


    Just as people were about to worship Zhou Wen like a god, they saw him bend down and reach out to search Old K¡¯s corpse. He quickly placed the thing he had taken out of Old K¡¯s body into his pocket.


    This wretched action formed a stark contrast to his previous elegant figure. Everyone was stunned. They couldn¡¯t imagine that it was the same person.


    A second ago, Zhou Wen was still akin to an immortal, but now, he looked like an extremely greedy thief. He didn¡¯t even spare the corpse.


    ¡°This¡­¡± The people who were shouting ¡®Immortal King¡¯ gradually softened their voices. They looked a little guilty and embarrassed.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more appropriate to call him Immortal Bandit!¡± It was unknown who said this, but it immediately resonated with many people.

 Chapter 1623 - Harvest

    Chapter 1623 Harvest


    After Zhou Wen took out Old K¡¯s items, he instant transmitted away. There was no reason to stay.


    He definitely wouldn¡¯t dare enter the Holy Land. Those Saints probably wouldn¡¯t dare come out either. There was nothing to be done here. If anything really came out of the Holy Land, he might not be able to deal with it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t return to Guide City directly. Instead, he teleported to the planet where Tsukuyomi was. When he entered the glacier rift, he saw that Tsukuyomi was still there. She was enveloped by intense moonlight and had yet to complete her evolution.


    Thankfully, nothing had happened. Only then did Zhou Wen feel relieved as he took out all his spoils.


    The baby Void Salamander Companion Egg was good stuff. Although it was only at the Human Realm, it could still evolve in the future. If it could grow to the level of the adult Void Salamander, it would be extremely powerful.


    The key was that the power of void lightning was very destructive against spatial creatures. It might be of great use in the future. Zhou Wen had already decided to nurture the Void True Salamander.


    Old K¡¯s scepter was the same as the Connate Insight. Zhou Wen tried it, but there was no reaction. He probably needed a special physique and Essence Energy Art to use it.


    There were also some things that he found on Old K. There were a few dimensional crystals, but their levels weren¡¯t high. They were useless to Zhou Wen.


    Apart from that, there was a small box. It was made of metal and was locked. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t manage to find the key. He used the Golden Wyrm Scissors to cut it open and realized that there was a sheepskin inside.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen took out the sheepskin and realized that there were many red and blue lines on it. There were also some black spots. It looked like a map, but after studying it for a while, he couldn¡¯t tell what map it was. All he could do was temporarily put it away.


    Apart from these things, there was something else that had dropped after Zhou Wen killed the adult Void Salamander. He had stored it in the chaos space.


    It was a crystal the size of a soccer ball. There seemed to be a mysterious void inside. Countless lightning bolts shimmered and flowed within. It looked irregular as it was born out of nothing before disappearing into the


    void.


    Zhou Wen could sense a very intense void lightning power in the crystal ball. He guessed that it was the Calamity essence of the Void Salamander.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have a void lightning attribute, but he couldn¡¯t bear to use it as an energy supplement. Therefore, he put it away. When he hatched the Void Salamander, he might be able to use it to advance it a little.


    That Void Lightning Grand Art only has spells. It¡¯s a pure Essence Energy Art. I wonder if humans can cultivate it? Zhou Wen roughly looked at the content of the Void Lightning Grand Art and felt that it shouldn¡¯t be a problem. However, he had already reached such a level, so there was no need for him to cultivate it.


    In the future, if he met someone suitable, he might give it a try.


    Without immediately incubating the Void Salamander, Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate looked the same as before. She hadn¡¯t grown taller, and her body didn¡¯t seem to have changed much. She was wearing blackish-purple armor and hugging the Demonic Sword. The Heaven Shrouding Bell hung at her waist.


    She stood there with a cold expression as though she was telling everyone not to approach.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and looked at her detailed stats.


    Demonic Neonate: Terror (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Child of Dimension


    Life Soul: Supreme True Demon


    Wheel of Destiny: One Spin.


    Terror Form: Great Demon King (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Demon Domain (Human Realm)


    Strength: 99


    Speed: 99


    Constitution: 99


    Essence Energy: 99 Talent Skill: Demonic Sword, Heaven Shrouding Bell


    Companion Form: None


    Holy sh*t, she has a Calamity Zone at the Terror grade? It¡¯s no wonder the power she provided me was so strong! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. A Terror-grade Calamity Zone was a little sick.


    Furthermore, Demonic Neonate¡¯s stats were very strange. When other Mythical creatures advanced to the Terror grade, they would probably break through to 82 points and absorb stat crystals to reach the 99-point limit of the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen had reared many Companion Beasts, but once Demonic Neonate evolved, she was already at the 99-value limit. There was no need for her to absorb any more.


    Neonate¡¯s potential is really terrifying. I wonder what her origins are. Zhou Wen never expected Demonic Neonate to have such great potential.


    It was surprising that the child, who looked like a barbarian, could grow to such a stage.


    She should have come here from the time Teacher opened up the dimensional passageway. There¡¯s a high chance that she¡¯s a creature from the dimension. The chances of her being a devil are very high¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he felt that it wasn¡¯t that simple.


    If it was only a high-level creature of the Devil race, even if it was the monarch of the Devil race, there was no need for Grim Demon to act like it was taboo. No matter how Zhou Wen threatened and tempted him, Grim Demon refused to reveal anything about Demonic Neonate.


    After all, anyone could guess from Demonic Neonate¡¯s performance that she might be the monarch of the devils, so what was there to hide? Furthermore, Zhou Wen was Demonic Neonate¡¯s master, so there was no need for Grim Demon to hide such matters.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look before his gaze landed on Demonic Neonate¡¯s Life Providence and Wheel of Destiny. Demonic Neonate¡¯s other abilities were related to devils, but her Life Providence was the Child of Dimension. This seemed problematic.


    If she was the Devil Monarch, her Life Providence should have been Child of the Devil Monarch or even a Devil Monarch Life Providence. However, that didn¡¯t happen. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what use the Life Providence-Child of Dimension-had.


    There was also the problem of the Wheel of Destiny. Zhou Wen also had One Spin, but his One Spin was a postfix. In fact, the Wheel of Destiny was No Engravings. Perhaps the two were somewhat different.


    However, even so, Zhou Wen still hadn¡¯t discovered the use of this One Spin. Demonic Neonate naturally didn¡¯t understand.


    Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate without a word, likewise for Demonic Neonate. It was unknown what she was thinking.


    Zhou Wen sighed and reached out to stroke Demonic Neonate¡¯s head.


    Demonic Neonate clearly had extremely high intelligence and was smarter than Zhou Wen¡¯s other Companion Beasts, but for some reason, she didn¡¯t communicate with anyone or play with other Companion Beasts. She wasn¡¯t as lively as Banana Fairy.


    Sometimes, Zhou Wen wondered if she was a robot.


    After getting Demonic Neonate to stand by the side, Zhou Wen took out the Void Salamander Companion Egg and injected Essence Energy to hatch it.


    The appearance of the Void Salamander Companion Beast was no different from the baby Void Salamander. He had already seen its stats which remained unchanged.


    He took out the Void Salamander¡¯s crystal ball and made an attempt by placing it in front of the Void Salamander Companion Beast. It immediately swallowed the crystal ball without any hesitation.

 Chapter 1624 - Starlord Martial Song

    Translator: CKtalon


    The moment the crystal ball was swallowed, the Void Salamander¡¯s body began to emit void lightning. Its scales, four wings, and body appeared to begin transforming into lightning.


    Moments later, the Void Salamander transformed into pure void lightning. Not long after, it automatically flew back to Zhou Wen and returned to its tattoo form.


    I wonder how long it will take to evolve? Zhou Wen found it odd.


    Typically, when a Terror-grade Companion Beast advanced to the Calamity grade, it would enter an evolutionary state. However, very few Companion Beasts would undergo such a situation at the Calamity grade.


    Typically, their domains would directly advance, so it didn¡¯t take long.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have much experience advancing to a domain. He felt that it was possible that some Companion Beasts needed such a state.


    After packing up, he glanced at Tsukuyomi beside him. The moonlight around her body didn¡¯t show any signs of weakening.


    I hope she can complete her evolution before Toad Immortal arrives. Zhou Wen took out his phone and continued gaming.


    As he had already mastered his saber techniques, there was no need for him to use Starlord Ardent Virtue for practice.


    After entering the Star Palace, he used the Limitless Demon Dragon King armor and eight Companion Beasts¡¯ powers. Together with the Transcendent Flying Immortal he had just figured out, he quickly killed Starlord


    Ardent Virtue. Unfortunately, only two stat crystals dropped.


    Starlord Ardent Virtue sure is cool¡ªif only a Companion Egg dropped. It would definitely be cool to produce him. Zhou Wen felt a little regretful.


    Through the teleportation nexus, Zhou Wen headed for the next Star Palace. Now, Zhou Wen only wanted to clear all the Star Palaces so that the Starlords could quickly respawn and allow him to grind them


    indefinitely.


    These Starlords had their own characteristics. Even if it was just one, it was already considered an excellent-grade Companion Beast. Furthermore, typically speaking, such Companion Beasts might have a very high


    compatibility score. Using the phone¡¯s fusion function, he could probably fuse the seven Starlords into one. It would definitely be a Heaven-level Companion Beast.


    The sixth star of the Big Dipper was called Mizar. Many people were unfamiliar with this name, but they were probably more familiar with the name ¡®Martial Song¡¯ in the East District.


    The moment he entered the Mizar instance dungeon, Zhou Wen was stunned by the scene in front of him.


    Is this the God of Fortune Hall or the Martial Song Star Palace?


    There were four rows of trees planted in front of the Star Palace. A row of trees had copper leaves and copper branches, and they were covered in copper coins.


    The second row of trees had silver leaves and silver branches filled with silver ingots.


    The third row of trees was filled with golden leaves and silver branches.


    The fourth row of trees was filled with colorful gems, pearls, agate, jade, and jadeite.


    If he hadn¡¯t known that this was the Mizar Star Palace where Starlord Martial Song resided, Zhou Wen would have imagined that this was the territory of the God of Fortune.


    In Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, many humans in the ancient era claimed to be a mortal incarnation of Martial Song, but they were all famous generals. None of them were rich.


    Could it be that everyone has made a mistake in the past? Not only can he fight, but he¡¯s also especially rich? Zhou Wen thought of a superhero from a comic. That superhero¡¯s superpower was ¡®being rich.¡¯ He was


    especially good at fighting because he was rich.


    With this curiosity in mind, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to push open the door to Mizar Star Palace.


    Holy sh*t, is this some golden Saint Seiya? Zhou Wen looked at a huge money tree in the golden Star Palace.


    Under the money tree sat a Starlord in golden armor with all sorts of gems embedded in him.


    At a glance, he thought it was the godlike Saint Seiya, but on careful look, this money tree was a little too eye-catching. It wasn¡¯t that sublime.


    Starlord Martial Song was wearing golden armor with many gems on him. He was extremely dazzling. Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t understand his name.


    As though he had discovered Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival, Starlord Martial Song turned to look in his direction. Zhou Wen noticed that his eyes were still closed.


    Bro, can you stop pretending to be a Virgoan, acting all reserved and self-effacing? Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    Although Starlord Martial Song didn¡¯t open his eyes, he seemed to see Zhou Wen. He slowly raised his right hand and pointed his index finger at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg to protect his body. He had no intention of attacking first.


    The main reason he was fighting the Starlords in-game was to understand their various abilities. It would be easier for him to challenge the dimensional zones in real life in the future. Killing him with one strike would


    be straightforward, but in that case, he would still be clueless about Starlord Martial Song.


    Starlord Martial Song pointed at Zhou Wen with his index finger. The finger covered under a golden gauntlet suddenly shimmered with a golden light that quickly surged into a golden halo.


    In the next moment, the halo erupted as a golden beam shot out and headed straight for the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen had no intention of blocking it, allowing the golden beam to hit the Chaos Egg. He wanted to know how powerful Starlord Martial Song¡¯s offensive strength was and what special effects it had.


    However, when the golden beam landed on the Chaos Egg, it didn¡¯t produce any Essence Energy. Ignoring solid Essence Energy, there wasn¡¯t even any liquid or gaseous Essence Energy.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen hurriedly sensed carefully and immediately realized that a golden coin had appeared where the golden beam had struck the Chaos Egg.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense anything amiss when the gold coin stuck to the Chaos Egg.


    Suddenly, some kind of power seemed to rise from the gold coin. The power was intangible. Zhou Wen could only sense the existence of the power, but he couldn¡¯t see it clearly.


    Rustle! Rustle! Ding!


    All sorts of strange sounds entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears. He immediately saw the gold, silver, copper coins, ingots, and gems on the hundred-meter-tall money tree with an umbrella-like crown shake violently as though


    they were attracted by some force.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen had cleared five Star Palaces, but this was the first time he had seen such a situation employing external forces.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The copper coins on the tree flew over and shot at the Chaos Egg like raindrops.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that this would be a storm-like attack, but to his surprise, the copper coins stuck to the outside of the Chaos Egg. They covered the Chaos Egg tightly, turning it into a huge copper coin


    ball.


    As for the Chaos Egg, it didn¡¯t produce any Essence Energy. This proved that the power of the copper coins didn¡¯t attack the Chaos Egg and only enveloped it.


    What¡¯s going on? Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, the silver ingots fell from the tree and flew towards the Chaos Egg.


    Like the copper coins, the silver ingots stuck to the Chaos Egg and enveloped it.


    Soon, the gold coins on the money tree fell and wrapped it in another layer..

 Chapter 1625 - Power of Money

    Translator: CKtalon


    Is he trying to kill me with money? Zhou Wen wore an odd expression. The copper, silver, and gold coins enveloped the Chaos Egg layer by layer, but they didn¡¯t produce any destructive power.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling puzzled, many gems, agate, and jadeite fell from the tree. The treasure glow that filled the sky flickered as though it was raining gems.


    The falling gems once again enveloped the layer of gold coins and pieced together to form a bigger gem shell. There was no gap at all.


    Just as Zhou Wen was wondering what use it had, he suddenly felt the copper coins, silver coins, gold coins, and gems that were wrapped outside instantly produce terrifying energy fluctuations.


    Boom!


    In the next moment, a rainbow blast of light bloomed on the screen. It was so bright that one could go blind.


    This only lasted for an instant. After the light flashed, the screen turned black. The blood-colored avatar under the Chaos Egg¡¯s protection was killed.


    So after all of that, those coins and gems were time bombs! Zhou Wen immediately came to a realization. He had watched helplessly as his opponent planted countless bombs on him before blowing him up.


    Of course, if it were in reality, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t have given Starlord Martial Song such a chance. This was only an experiment. It was why Starlord Martial Song had the time to plant the money bombs on


    him.


    However, the might of the money bombs left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised. The Chaos Egg¡¯s defense was strong, but it was instantly destroyed. Even a Heaven-level expert might not be able to withstand such


    destructive power.


    He entered the game again and arrived at the Mizar Star Palace, only to have Starlord Martial Song shoot the golden beam again. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to passively take a beating. He unsheathed his


    Bamboo Blade and slashed at the golden beam.


    The golden beam struck the blade and immediately shattered. However, a golden coin-shaped mark appeared on the blade.


    After the gold coin mark appeared, the coins on the tree fell again. Zhou Wen brandished his saber to slash at the coins. Wherever the saber beam passed, the copper coins exploded. The power of a single copper coin


    bomb was equivalent to a strike at the Human Realm.


    As for the destructive power produced by the explosion of the silver coins, it was much stronger than the copper coins. The gold coins and gems also became stronger. Zhou Wen estimated that the destructive power


    produced by the explosion of the gems was very close to the Heaven level. It was extremely terrifying.


    It¡¯s no wonder the Chaos Egg was blasted apart just now. With so many coins and gems wrapped around it, it would be strange if it wasn¡¯t destroyed. Zhou Wen experimented again and again, becoming more and more


    familiar with the abilities of the money tree and Starlord Martial Song.


    Starlord Martial Song was indeed very good at fighting. He was extremely fast, and every strike carried the power of money. Wherever he struck, the money mark would appear. Then, the coins and gems on the money


    tree would automatically fly towards the mark.


    As long as he was hit by a money mark, he would be bombarded by copious amounts of money until he was blasted to death alongside the disappearance of the money mark.


    Zhou Wen realized that even a Heaven-level expert couldn¡¯t withstand the attack of the money tree. The only way was to kill Martial Song before that.


    This wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen. Once he put on the Demon Dragon King armor and he had the power of his eight pets, he could kill Starlord Martial Song with Transcendent Flying Immortal without touching him.


    However, there was something that puzzled Zhou Wen. Starlord Martial Song¡¯s money powers were only at the Hell level. They hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven level, but the Teacher Domain couldn¡¯t completely seal them.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen beheaded Starlord Martial Song with Transcendent Flying Immortal. As his corpse dissipated, a dimensional crystal dropped. At the same time, a Samsara Stone appeared.


    Another Samsara Stone! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he realized that the dimensional crystal wasn¡¯t an ordinary stat crystal, but a skill crystal.


    Apart from that, a few gems on Starlord Martial Song¡¯s armor fell. The gems emitted intense Calamity-grade Essence Energy fluctuations. They were clearly the source of the Calamity transformation.


    What a pity. I can¡¯t take this Calamity-grade Essence away. Zhou Wen found it regretful.


    Calamity creatures expended a large amount of Essence Energy, but Companion Beasts were an exception. As long as they weren¡¯t summoned, even Heaven-level creatures didn¡¯t expend much Essence Energy.


    Even if he summoned them out, Zhou Wen had the ability to produce Essence Energy through the Chaos Egg. As long as he suffered enough attacks, he could condense high-level compressed solid Essence Energy


    Crystals that could be used for his Calamity-grade Companion Beasts.


    Which Calamity-grade Companion Beast is most compatible with Starlord Martial Song¡¯s strength? Perhaps I can use the power of these gems to advance my Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen thought of his few


    Calamity-grade Companion Beasts and nothing came to mind.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and attempted to give the gem to Demonic Neonate, but Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t interested at all.


    Finally, Zhou Wen fed the gem to Golden Wyrm Scissors, but it only slightly improved its Essence Energy. It didn¡¯t advance any further.


    Starlord Martial Song Crystal: Money-type Terror transformation, Strength 99, Constitution 99, Speed 99, Essence Energy 99.


    The requirement for this thing wasn¡¯t high. Zhou Wen had already met the stats requirement, but he really couldn¡¯t meet the requirement for money-type Terror form. All he could do was abandon it.


    The Samsara Stone was good stuff. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and gave it to Primordial Spore.


    Primordial Spore¡¯s parasitizing ability was very strong, but because it was only at the Mythical stage, it was very difficult for it to parasitize high-level creatures. It had to raise its level to have a chance of parasitizing


    higher-level creatures.


    After all, at the Calamity grade, the tiny body of Primordial Spore no longer had the advantage. It was very easy for Calamity-grade creatures to see it, so it was almost impossible to secretly carry out parasitisation.


    Primordial Spore: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Eternal Immortality


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Parasitizing


    Companion Form: None


    As Primordial Spore couldn¡¯t evolve to begin with, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to evolve it. After experimenting a few times, he realized that the fellow couldn¡¯t absorb Essence Energy Crystals. It had to parasitize a


    creature and suck away its essence, vitality, and spirit before evolving.


    However, Primordial Spore was too weak in the beginning. It could only parasitize low-level creatures, so its growth was very slow. It could only be nurtured slowly with no better way.


    Zhou Wen could go to the Moon to obtain some osmanthus flowers, but he didn¡¯t plan on doing so. Such an evolution was very fast, but he might not be able to nurture a truly good pet.


    Although it was a little troublesome, Zhou Wen still chose to let Primordial Spore parasitize different dimensional creatures..

 Chapter 1626 - Shaking the Star Palace Empty

    Translator: CKtalon


    n the fleeting clouds, jade buildings appeared and disappeared like mirages.


    A jade pavilion would appear in the clouds one second, turning into a palace the next second.


    From time to time, one could see mountain peaks floating in the air. The mountain peaks had something divine about them. Some of the mountain peaks were unique and dangerous, while others carried a weight of


    solemnity. There were even mountain peaks that seemed to support the heavens as they stood erect in the world.


    However, they seemed to be illusions. The flight of a beautiful butterfly across them or the drifting of clouds would result in the images of the jade buildings and mountains vanishing.


    n the sea of clouds that filled the sky, there was a small boat slowly advancing. At the bow stood a man. His white clothes fluttered slightly with the clouds, but his long hair that resembled ice and snow hung behind


    him without any ripples.


    He was handsome with a pair of crystal-like dragon horns on his head. Although he was handsome, he didn¡¯t have the sharp angular features of a typical handsome man. His face was softer, giving off a gentle feeling.


    When the boat arrived in front of the mirage-like clouds, a jade building gradually appeared as butterflies flew out.


    The butterflies that looked like phantoms gradually turned corporeal. Their wings flapped, sweeping away the clouds like a veil, making the illusory jade building behind the clouds appear even more real.


    The boat beneath the white-robed man¡¯s feet had already stopped as he calmly looked at the jade building. On the jade building¡¯s plaque were two words that didn¡¯t seem to be tainted by the mortal world.


    Immortal Crossing. The white-robed man silently read the words on the jade building¡¯s signboard. His eyes revealed a strange look that seemed to be praise, but also somewhat different.


    ¡°Immortality and mortality are just separated by a single thought. The world only knows how to seek an immortal destiny, but they don¡¯t know that such destiny is already across them. It¡¯s just that the world is ignorant


    and doesn¡¯t know how to redeem themselves.¡± A woman¡¯s voice sounded from the Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion.


    ¡°Having been summoned, Dragon King of the Octokind, Wang Mingyuan, is humbly here before you to pay my respects. May I know which Immortal Supremacy of the Immortals you are?¡± Wang Mingyuan folded his


    arms in front of his chest, his sleeves hanging down as he bowed slightly.


    The woman in the Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion didn¡¯t seem to hear him as she continued, ¡°Zhou Wen is your disciple?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Wang Mingyuan answered calmly.


    ¡°Where did he obtain the concept of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal?¡± the woman asked again.


    ¡°Self-taught.¡± Wang Mingyuan remained as gentle as ever.


    t¡¯s rare for an Immortal to comprehend the concepts of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal. Do you think a mere mortal human can comprehend the concepts of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal?¡± The woman¡¯s voice


    was somewhat cold.


    ¡®ve never taught him. If he hadn¡¯t figured it out himself, I wouldn¡¯t know how he learned it either,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    if you can teach the concepts of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal, us Immortals will respect you as master.¡± The woman¡¯s voice turned even colder.


    wouldn¡¯t dare.¡± Wang Mingyuan bowed slightly. His eyes were lowered, but he didn¡¯t bend his back.


    ¡°Go. Bring Zhou Wen to the Immortals.¡± The woman¡¯s voice sounded again.


    mmortal Supremacy, may I ask why you want him to come to the Immortals?¡± Wang Mingyuan had no intention of leaving.


    f I say I want to kill him, will you bring him here?¡± The woman seemed to be born a cold person. Her voice had a coldness that kept others at bay.


    ¡°No, but I know that you won¡¯t kill him, Immortal Supremacy. There¡¯s no need to go through so much trouble to kill him if you want him dead,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°You know that I won¡¯t kill him, but you still reject me. Do you think that I won¡¯t really kill you because of my good temper?¡± With the woman¡¯s voice, infinite power seemed to surge out of the Immortal Crossing Jade


    Pavilion like invisible threads that bound Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body.


    Tears immediately appeared on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s clothes due to the invisible threads. The silk clung tightly to his skin, and an invisible thread had already wrapped around his neck. Just touching his skin was enough


    to slice through the crystalline jade-like skin as blood seeped out.


    It was as though Wang Mingyuan¡¯s head would leave his body forever with just a thought from the woman.


    ¡°I have no intention of offending you. I just want you to know that I¡¯m his master and naturally have to suffer any punishment my disciple needs to suffer.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression remained calm as before. The


    gentleness seemed to have penetrated deep into his bones. Even if his head was chopped off, it would be difficult for him to turn ferocious.


    The invisible threads suddenly retracted before dissipating, as though the mirage in the clouds had never existed.


    ¡°The path to immortality and mortality is gradually opening. There¡¯s nothing stopping it in this great world. All races vie for supremacy, and my race needs a Holy Son in the human world. Go, bring Zhou Wen to the


    Immortals. As long as he¡¯s my race¡¯s Holy Son, the matter between Perfect Sword Immortal and Berserker Immortal will be written off.¡±


    The Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion gradually vanished into the clouds, going from something corporeal to nothingness. Finally, it vanished like a phantom. Only the woman¡¯s voice echoed in the sea of clouds.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan bids¡­ farewell¡­¡± Wang Mingyuan bowed slightly and turned around on the boat. He looked at the ethereal sea of clouds with a smile in his eyes.


    Zhou Wen continued exploring the Star Palace and entered the seventh Star Palace.


    The seventh star of the Big Dipper was Alkaid, and the Starlord was Army Breaker. It was said that he was a Starlord with immense killing intent. Legend had it that he was an extremely destructive existence just like


    the Seven Killings Star.


    However, after seeing Starlord Martial Song, Zhou Wen was still very doubtful whether Starlord Army Breaker was the kind with immense killing intent.


    After teleporting into the Alkaid dimensional zone, he immediately saw the Star Palace. It looked surprisingly normal. A proper Star Palace stood in the sun-like halo.


    There was a long staircase from where Zhou Wen stood to the front of the Starlight Palace. It looked like a staircase to heaven.


    Zhou Wen stepped onto the stairs and walked towards Alkaid Star Palace, but he quickly realized that his Essence Energy was rapidly drained.


    Zhou Wen sped up and charged towards the Star Palace¡¯s door, but the faster he charged, the faster he lost his Essence Energy. Before he reached the midway point, nearly half his Essence Energy had been drained.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly as he used spatial teleportation to reach the end of the steps and the door to Alkaid Star Palace.


    However, at the instant he instant transmitted out, he felt the Essence Energy in his body empty. There wasn¡¯t even a drop left. His legs went limp and he nearly fell to the ground.


    Thankfully, even without Essence Energy, Zhou Wen¡¯s physique was already rather powerful. He stood firm and looked at the door of Alkaid Star Palace. He was somewhat surprised. As expected of the last star of the


    Big Dipper. My Essence Energy is useless before entering the Star Palace.


    Zhou Wen was already attempting to recover his Essence Energy. His Essence Energy recovery speed was very fast, but here, as long as there was a sliver of Essence Energy in his body, it would immediately be


    drained. There was no way to gather it..

 Chapter 1627 - Strange Sound

    Translator: CKtalon


    After activating the Teacher Domain, the Essence Energy in his body immediately stopped draining. The restored Essence Energy wouldn¡¯t be drained again, and it didn¡¯t


    take long for it to return to normal.


    Thankfully, it¡¯s only a taboo power. Zhou Wen pushed open the door to Alkaid Star Palace and saw resplendent starlight inside.


    The interior of Alkaid Star Palace was hemispherical. The spherical dome had resplendent starlight, like a miniature starry sky.


    In the miniature starry sky floated a Starlord in blue armor. Everything seemed to revolve around him.


    Is that Starlord Army Breaker? Zhou Wen stared at the Starlord floating in the air and summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors to attack him.


    Zhou Wen was just waiting to see how strong the last Starlord of the Big Dipper, Starlord Army Breaker, was. To his surprise, when the Golden Wyrm Scissors charged over,


    Starlord Army Breaker failed to put up a timely defence and was sliced into two.


    ¡®Killed Calamity creature, Starlord Army Breaker. Discovered Dimensional Crystal.¡¯


    This¡­ And it¡¯s over¡­ Zhou Wen was taken aback before he realized that Starlord Army Breaker had really died.


    Even when Zhou Wen picked up the dimensional crystal on the ground, he still found it unbelievable that the last dungeon of the Big Dipper instance dungeon had ended


    just like that.


    Could it be that this isn¡¯t the last Star Palace in the Big Dipper instance dungeon? There¡¯s another Star Palace behind it? Zhou Wen walked to the teleportation nexus,


    hoping to see if he could teleport to the next Star Palace.


    However, he only had the choice of leaving the Star Palace. There was no subsequent Star Palace for teleportation.


    Although he found it unacceptable, it was the truth. Zhou Wen had no choice but to teleport out of the dungeon.


    There were a total of seven Star Palaces in the Big Dipper instance dungeon. Zhou Wen had already cleared them, but the seven Starlords inside hadn¡¯t respawned. Zhou


    Wen wanted to wait 24 hours to see if the seven Starlords inside would respawn.


    I wonder how long it will take for Tsukuyomi to completely absorb the Moon Essence Basin. Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi beside him. The moonlight didn¡¯t show any


    signs of weakening.


    He stood up and stretched. He originally wanted to release Liz and Leem to let them take a breather and chat with him, but on second thought, he dispelled this thought.


    This wasn¡¯t Earth. In such an environment, one couldn¡¯t survive without strength at the Mythical stage or above.


    Just as he was about to summon Banana Fairy and other highly-intelligent Companion Beasts, he suddenly heard a strange sound.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated. Could it be another cosmic creature?


    However, after Zhou Wen listened carefully, he realized that the sound didn¡¯t come from the sky, but from beneath the nearby glacier.


    Badump! Badump!


    Zhou Wen found the sound resembling a heart beat. It was very rhythmic. It wasn¡¯t loud, but he could hear it clearly.


    The sound came from the depths of a glacier rift. The rift was deep and exceeded Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    He summoned the Golden Wyrm Scissors, the Soul Mirror, and a few other Calamity-grade Companion Beasts and got them to guard Tsukuyomi. Zhou Wen took Demonic


    Neonate and instant transmitted towards the glacier rift.


    When he arrived beside the rift, the sounds became even more obvious. They came from below. They were deep and powerful, like the salvos of heavy cannons.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the glacier rift and realized that it was like a huge flat trumpet. The further down he went, the smaller the space became. Furthermore, it was


    very deep. He still didn¡¯t discover the source of the sound despite going to the limits of Truth Listener¡¯s hearing range. It was probably further down.


    The structure of the entire glacier rift was like a flattened trumpet. As for what was below, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know.


    After watching for a while, Zhou Wen turned around and returned.


    Tsukuyomi was still absorbing the power of the Moon Essence Basin and couldn¡¯t move. If there was really something terrifying down there and Zhou Wen lured it out, it


    would be very disadvantageous for Tsukuyomi.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to restrain his curiosity. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to explore it after Tsukuyomi returned to normal.


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat worried if the thing that emitted the sounds from the glacier rift would come out by itself.


    The beating sounds didn¡¯t stop. After Zhou Wen returned to the ice cavern, he kept paying attention to the situation. Although nothing rushed out of the glacier rift, the


    sounds made Zhou Wen feel extremely weird.


    I hope everything will be fine before Tsukuyomi returns to normal. Zhou Wen was puzzled. Logically speaking, it¡¯s impossible for Tsukuyomi to deliberately choose a


    dangerous place for her residence.


    Time ticked by. Although there was nothing abnormal from the glacier rift, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let down his guard.


    After some time, Zhou Wen suddenly heard something amiss.


    Previously, the sound from the other side was very rhythmic, just like a heartbeat. But now, the sound was different in frequency and rhythm.


    Eh! Zhou Wen listened for a while longer and realized that the rhythm of the sound seemed to be the rhythm of some tune, not just a random beat.


    Furthermore, this tune seemed to be very pumped and cheerful. There were continuous thumping sounds that sounded like drums.


    Zhou Wen frowned inwardly as he continued paying attention to the glacier rift. He was already prepared to react.


    However, nothing appeared. The rhythm of the sound kept changing like a drummer¡¯s drumbeat.


    Although Zhou Wen found it odd and was somewhat curious about what was down there, he didn¡¯t dare take the risk to investigate.


    After some time, a high and sharp voice suddenly sounded, giving Zhou Wen a fright.


    Previously, it had been a low, thumping sound, but now, it resounded through the clouds like a trumpet. Even if he didn¡¯t use Truth Listener, he could probably hear it


    clearly in every corner of the planet. Zhou Wen¡¯s eardrums were about to be pierced by the sound.


    After this shrill sound, it returned to its previous low, thumping sound. There was no other sharp sound.


    Zhou Wen listened attentively, but after the earth-shattering sound, there was no abnormal activity.


    Only then did Zhou Wen relax a little. He walked out of the ice cavern and planned on moving about.


    However, when he walked out of the ice cavern and raised his head to stretch his neck, he suddenly realized that a cosmic creature had appeared outside the planet.


    Furthermore, there was more than one. There were already several different types of cosmic creatures cruising outside the planet¡¯s atmosphere. They were all strange in


    shape, like monsters circling the dining table..

 Chapter 1628 - Something Big Is Going to Happen

    Chapter 1628 Something Big Is Going to Happen


    Zhou Wen hurriedly hid in the ice cavern, afraid that the cosmic creatures would discover his whereabouts.


    As Zhou Wen secretly sized up the dimensional creatures, he thought to himself, Why are there so many cosmic creatures here? Are they here for Tsukuyomi? Or is it related to the sound under the glacier?


    Zhou Wen had already discovered five cosmic creatures. One of them was enveloped by a huge electromagnetic storm. He couldn¡¯t tell what it looked like. Occasionally, he would see strange snake-like tentacles extend out from the electromagnetic storm before quickly retracting


    From a mere fleeting glance, he could tell that the tentacle was probably thousands of meters


    long.


    There was also a colorful strange fish with a transparent, muslin-like tail. It swam around the planet as though space had turned into a fish pond.


    In addition, there were two wolf-like creatures with black and white unihorns. They stood in the asteroid belt near the planet and stared into the interior of the planet. The white Unicorn Wolf¡¯s eyes were black, while the black Unicorn Wolf¡¯s eyes were white. Their eyes emitted a demonic glow.


    There was also a dream-like blue ribbon of light that circled the planet and flew at high speeds outside the atmosphere. It looked like a transparent blue ribbon of light. It was unknown if it looked like this to begin with or if it had some special ability.


    Although he only roughly observed them and was too far away to scan them in detail, he could tell that they were likely Calamity-grade creatures.


    From the looks of it, they¡¯re not here for Tsukuyomi, Zhou Wen thought to himself. If they were here for Tsukuyomi, they would have rushed in like the Void Salamander and eaten her while she couldn¡¯t move.


    However, the cosmic creatures were only loitering around the periphery of the planet. None of them entered the atmosphere as though they were afraid of something. Were they attracted by the sound under the glacier rift? What¡¯s there? Could it be that the Companion Beast in this planet is about to appear? If a planet¡¯s Companion Beast is about to appear, a corresponding dimensional zone should appear¡­ Zhou Wen sized up the glacier rift again.


    If a planet¡¯s Companion Beast really appeared, that place was probably the entrance to the dimensional zone.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out what the cosmic creatures were afraid of. Why hadn¡¯t they entered the atmosphere? Even if a planet¡¯s Companion Beast had really appeared, there was no danger as long as they didn¡¯t enter the dimensional zone. It didn¡¯t seem like there was no reason for them to land.


    Tsukuyomi, you have to be faster! Zhou Wen turned to look at Tsukuyomi and couldn¡¯t help but feel depressed when he saw that she remained motionless. The moonlight on her body didn¡¯t weaken at all.


    Something big was definitely happening. Even if they weren¡¯t here for Tsukuyomi, how could they miss a delicacy when they discovered a immobile Calamity creature like Tsukuyomi?


    Calamity creatures basically ate Calamity creatures to replenish their energy.


    Thankfully, the cosmic creatures didn¡¯t rush into the planet for the time being. There was still some buffer time, but this was what Zhou Wen was worried about.


    Something that could make so many cosmic creatures afraid was probably not a good thing. Now that they were above this planet, the situation might end up being worse than having the cosmic creatures rush over.


    The sound from the glacier rift was still sounding. Amidst the low thumping sounds, there would occasionally be a sharp trumpet-like sound.


    Every time the sharp sound sounded, some cosmic creatures would appear outside the planet. The first five cosmic creatures that appeared each occupied a certain area. Many cosmic creatures that appeared later were devoured or killed by the five cosmic creatures the moment they approached their territory. Most of the cosmic creatures that appeared later were at the Terror grade. They were very afraid of the first five cosmic creatures that appeared, but they couldn¡¯t bear to leave. They watched from afar.


    Something big is about to happen! Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss as he looked at the strange cosmic creatures on the periphery of the planet. This matter was bizarre.


    Zhou Wen was already considering if there was any way to safely evacuate Tsukuyomi.


    Beep! Beep!


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking of a solution, he heard a faint sound coming from the ice cavern.


    The ice cavern was also under the glacier rift, but it wasn¡¯t in the same area as the glacier rift that produced the sound. It was thousands of kilometers away. At that moment, there was a sound coming from beneath the glacier fault beside the ice cavern. It immediately gave Zhou Wen a fright.


    Zhou Wen immediately raised Truth Listener¡¯s ability to its limits and swept it towards the bottom of the glacier fault.


    The fault layer of the glacier wasn¡¯t deep. It only extended about four thousand meters down from the ice cavern. Zhou Wen had previously scanned it with Truth Listenerthere was a thick glacier at the bottom without anything else.


    At that moment, there was a beeping sound coming from below. It left Zhou Wen alarmed as he scanned the area again. He realized that a pool the size of a well had melted at the bottom of the fault.


    Tiny bubbles slowly rose from the water before slowly bursting. Zhou Wen stared at the tiny bubbles and used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to venture deep into the pool.


    The appearance of tiny bubbles made it very likely that there were creatures below. Zhou Wen had to figure out what was down there. It was too close to the ice cavern, so once the thing inside came out, they would definitely be the first to bear the brunt of the impact.


    This pool was also strange. The bottom was the same as the top, with a pool that had melted the size of a well¡¯s hole. Beyond it was hard ice that showed no signs of melting.


    Thankfully, the pool wasn¡¯t as deep as Zhou Wen imagined. After a few hundred meters, Zhou Wen finally saw the bottom of the pool. It was still a glacier, but there was a strange plant growing there.


    The plant was very strange. The leaves were like circular mushroom caps. Each leaf was the size of a palm and the blue color had some translucency. Layers of leaves rose up layer by layer. And at the top, there was a fruit that looked like a peach. It was the size of a fist and would produce tiny bubbles from time to time.


    The tiny bubbles that rose to the surface came from this peach-like fruit.


    Zhou Wen felt a powerful vitality from the strange underwater plant, but it was only vitality. It wasn¡¯t accompanied by any intense Essence Energy fluctuations.


    What¡¯s this? A native plant on this planet? Zhou Wen was puzzled. After scanning for a while, he didn¡¯t discover anything special about the plant.


    Suddenly, the sharp trumpet-like sound came from the distant glacier rift.

 Chapter 1629 - Strange Tiny Bubbles

    Chapter 1629 Strange Tiny Bubbles


    Zhou Wen was already used to the sharp sound and didn¡¯t find it strange. However, when he heard this new sound, his eyes suddenly widened.


    Zhou Wen seemed to find it unbelievable as he widened his eyes even more as though he wanted to see something clearly.


    In fact, there was no need for him to do so. This was because he couldn¡¯t see what he wanted to see with his eyes. He needed Truth Listener to hear it to produce a scene in his mind.


    It was an unconscious natural reaction because of his surprise.


    What Zhou Wen wanted to see was the tiny bubbles produced by the plants in the water.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay too much attention to the tiny bubbles. He only paid attention to the plant itself.


    However, when the sharp sound sounded, Zhou Wen discovered something strange.


    Before the sharp sound, a bubble that was somewhat different from ordinary bubbles rose from the peach-like fruit. Although the size of the bubble was no different from an ordinary bubble, its color was a little wrong. It was a faint blue color. The color wasn¡¯t deep, but it was still distinguishable from ordinary bubbles.


    The moment the bubble appeared was the instant before the sharp sound. It was too much of a coincidence.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay much attention in the beginning, but because of this, he subconsciously began paying attention to the ordinary bubbles. Then, he was surprised to make a discovery.


    Every time an ordinary bubble appeared, he would hear a low thud.


    The bubbles surfacing from the fruit matched the sound produced by the glacier crack 100%. Furthermore, bubbles would appear first before the sound came from beneath the glacier crack.


    What¡¯s going on? Could it be that the sound below is affected by this plant? Zhou Wen scanned the plant again and again in surprise, but he didn¡¯t discover any definite relationship between the plant and the glacier rift.


    It was rooted in the ice, and the roots below could be seen clearly. It was all in the glacier, with no other place connected to the outside world.


    There were no gaps under the ice. It seemed unlikely that such a tiny plant could connect to the glacier rift thousands of kilometers away and cause a huge sound.


    Zhou Wen observed for a long time. When the glacier rift produced a sharp sound again, a unique blue bubble appeared from the fruit.


    There¡¯s no mistake about it. The glacier rift definitely has something to do with this plant, but what is it? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    More and more cosmic creatures were attracted by the sound. In the Holy Land, Holy God was also observing the glacier-covered planet through a Spirit Light Mirror.


    ¡°Lord Holy God.¡± Xiao and Jiuyang walked in and bowed to Holy God.


    ¡°Come and take a look,¡± said Holy God as he looked at the Spirit Light Mirror.


    ¡°Is this planet¡¯s Companion Beast about to appear?¡± Jiuyang said after taking a look. ¡°It¡¯s true that the planet¡¯s Companion Beast is about to appear.¡± Holy God paused before continuing, ¡°However, this planet is somewhat different. It probably won¡¯t be that easy for its Companion Beast to appear.¡±


    ¡°What happened on this planet?¡± Xiao asked. Holy God pondered for a moment and said, ¡°This planet¡¯s Companion Beast is actually not its original Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Not it¡¯s original Companion Beast? Can the Companion Beasts produced by a planet be replaced?¡± Jiuyang was somewhat puzzled.


    Holy God said indifferently, ¡°There¡¯s a type of bee on Earth that will lay its eggs in other larvae. The eggs will absorb the nutrients of the larva and grow until they tear out of its body.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too cruel.¡± Jiuyang sighed.


    ¡°Cruel? Perhaps you should know that there¡¯s another bird on Earth called a cuckoo. It will secretly place its egg in the nests of other birds and get other birds to help hatch it. And after the cuckoo breaks out of its shell, it will push the other eggs out and smash them to pieces. It will enjoy all the food alone,¡± Holy God added.


    Jiuyang¡¯s scalp went numb. In contrast, cuckoos were even more sinister. They killed the other party¡¯s children and got the other party to raise it.


    ¡°In other words, the Companion Beast on that planet has been parasitized. Who has the ability to parasitize a planet?¡± Xiao asked after some thought.


    ¡°Another Companion Beast, a Companion Beast that had no choice but to parasitize because its planet was accidentally destroyed.¡± Holy God paused before saying, ¡°In the Mythical era, in the battle of the gods, a planet was accidentally shattered. Back then, many experts present wanted to snatch the Companion Beast that had appeared ahead of time, but no one succeeded. It escaped into this planet.¡±


    ¡°Those experts can shatter a planet. Can¡¯t they shatter this planet too?¡± Jiuyang asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already said that it was an accident. How can a planet protected by the rules of the universe be so easily cracked?¡± Holy God pondered for a moment and continued, ¡°Before that Companion Beast escaped into the planet, it accidentally swallowed something that didn¡¯t belong to it. When you go, it¡¯s naturally best if you can bring back the Companion Beast from that planet. If you can¡¯t, kill it and retrieve what¡¯s inside its body.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Xiao and Jiuyang answered the order and were about to leave when they were stopped by Holy God.


    ¡°Many terrifying existences in the dimension know about this matter. They will definitely think of a way to vie for it. Your mission won¡¯t be that easy.¡± Holy God took out two items and gave them to Xiao and Jiuyang. ¡°The Holy Artifact can raise your strength to the Heaven level, but it¡¯s ultimately not the true Heaven level. You have to fuse with the Holy Artifact to truly advance to the Heaven level. This can help you.¡±


    ¡°Fuse with the Holy Artifact? That won¡¯t do, right?¡± Jiuyang and Xiao were stunned.


    The Holy Artifact belonged to the Holy Temple. They only wielded them, so how could they randomly fuse with it?


    ¡°No matter how good a Holy Artifact is, it can only be of use when it¡¯s in your possession. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already discussed it with the Trajectory Holy Temple and the Sun God Holy Temple. You have already been allowed to fuse with the Holy Artifact. Only then can you truly fight Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Lord Holy God.¡± Jiuyang and Xiao hurriedly bowed.


    ¡°Remember, no matter how strong your strength is, it will ultimately be up to you. Whether you plan on dealing with Zhou Wen or not, your abilities are also an important part,¡± said Holy God.


    ¡°We definitely won¡¯t disappoint you.¡±


    ¡°Go. You don¡¯t have much time left. Go to that planet after you succeed in the fusion.¡±


    As he watched the two of them leave, a sneer suffused the corners of Holy God¡¯s mouth. He muttered to himself, ¡°How can a Holy Artifact be fused so easily? Even if you die, the Holy Artifact will still exist.¡±

 Chapter 1630 - Bubble Music

    Chapter 1630 Bubble Music


    The cosmic creatures outside the planet didn¡¯t rush into the atmosphere while Zhou Wen was observing the strange plant.


    The rhythm formed by the bubbles sounded very pleasant. It wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as the sound produced by the glacier cracks, but it was abnormally moving.


    Since Zhou Wen had nothing to do, he suddenly had an idea. He summoned a Musical Note Sprite and used it to replicate a bubble¡¯s music.


    Although he didn¡¯t know music, the Musical Note Sprite had musical talent and abilities. Furthermore, Zhou Wen¡¯s memory wasn¡¯t bad. The Musical Note Sprite replicated the bubble¡¯s sounds and quickly produced a contiguous piece of bubble music.


    Bubbles constantly rose, but thankfully, Zhou Wen had enough Musical Note Sprites. He replicated them one by one, producing music that left him somewhat surprised.


    The music was infectious. As Zhou Wen listened, he couldn¡¯t help but tear up.


    Zhou Wen was not a perceptive person when it came to emotions; he wasn¡¯t a sentimental person. Even if others were moved to tears from listening to ordinary music, he didn¡¯t feel anything. However, the simulated bubble music made him feel intense sorrow.


    It was music that was close to despair and death. It had a suppressed anger, like a roar before death, or a knell before Death culled lives.


    Without the augmentation of Essence Energy, just the music itself was infectious. It left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    This infectious force was unstoppable by any force. Even the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder couldn¡¯t fend off the shock that penetrated deep into his soul. Zhou Wen listened for a while and had the urge to commit suicide.


    Thankfully, he was extremely firm mentally. He immediately became wary and suppressed that thought.


    What powerful music! Zhou Wen frowned slightly, but he still got the Musical Note Sprites to continue simulating the music and recording it.


    Twenty-four hours had passed. The Big Dipper instance dungeon had indeed respawned. Zhou Wen entered the dungeon and killed the Starlords one by one.


    The first six Starlords didn¡¯t drop Companion Eggs. When it came to the seventh Starlord Army Breaker, Zhou Wen deliberately didn¡¯t use the Teacher Domain and entered Mizar Star Palace after his Essence Energy was depleted.


    As he didn¡¯t use the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen immediately felt something different after entering Mizar Star Palace. The stars in the cosmos shimmered with a demonic glow.


    He summoned Golden Wyrm Scissors and aimed it at Starlord Army Breaker, but just as Golden Wyrm Scissors flew up, the starlight that filled the sky descended and instantly enveloped the entire Star Palace.


    Golden Wyrm Scissors was sent flying as the blood-colored avatar was killed by the starlight. The phone screen turned black.


    I see. Previously, the Teacher Domain enveloped the Star Palace and sealed the powers of those stars. That¡¯s why Starlord Army Breaker looked so weak. Zhou Wen immediately came to a realization.


    Ordinary people would have expended all their Essence Energy before entering the Mizar Star Palace. Although summoning Companion Beasts doesn¡¯t require much Essence Energy, they still need some Essence Energy to support them. When the time comes, they probably won¡¯t be able to summon a single Companion Beast, nor can they use Essence Energy Arts. Facing such terrifying starlight power, even a Heaven-level expert would probably die. Unless one¡¯s body can withstand the starlight that filled the sky or can think of a way to resolve the problem of zero Essence Energy, they can only use powers like the Teacher Domain to kill Starlord Army Breaker. Zhou Wen immediately realized that the Mizar Star Palace was indeed terrifying.


    Thankfully, the Teacher Domain could perfectly restrain Starlord Army Breaker. It made it extremely easy for Zhou Wen to kill him.


    However, Zhou Wen still wanted to give it a try. If he didn¡¯t use the Teacher Domain, was there any other way to kill Starlord Army Breaker? After trying a few times, the results weren¡¯t ideal.


    As he didn¡¯t have any Essence Energy, he couldn¡¯t use any Essence Energy Arts. He couldn¡¯t even use the Chaos Egg for defence. Apart from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder, there were no other Essence Energy Arts that could ignore such taboos.


    If the Prisoned Dragon armor can improve further, I might be able to withstand the slaughter of the starlight with its Absolute Defense. Unfortunately¡­ Zhou Wen had always wanted to raise Prisoned Dragon to the Calamity grade, but he hadn¡¯t found a good solution.


    While Zhou Wen attempted to kill Starlord Army Breaker, the Musical Note Sprites continued simulating the bubble music according to his orders.


    After simulating countless musical notes, the bubble music finally began to repeat. However, every time it repeated, the rhythm of the music became much faster, and the infectious feeling it produced became stronger.


    The despair and dead silence would probably make ordinary people immediately have the thought of suicide.


    Zhou Wen became accustomed to it after listening to it multiple times. He could even hum the tune without the Musical Note Sprite¡¯s simulation.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any musical talent. All he could do was hum the right tune, but its infectiousness was far lacking.


    In the end, he failed to come up with any other way to kill Starlord Army Breaker. He used the Teacher Domain to kill him to prevent it from affecting the respawn time of the other Starlords.


    The respawn time of the Big Dipper instance dungeon was set according to the time of Starlord Army Breaker¡¯s death. It respawned once every twenty-four hours. If Army Breaker didn¡¯t die, the other Starlords wouldn¡¯t respawn either.


    After putting away his phone, Zhou Wen scanned the plant below and was surprised to discover that the leaves were withering.


    The leaf at the bottom was already shriveled like a withered leaf. Soon, it fell from the stem and turned to dust in the water.


    The leaf above also began to wither. Worried that something bad would happen, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Musical Note Sprites as a strange scene happened. After the Musical Note Sprites were unsummoned, the withering clearly slowed down.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen summoned the Musical Note Sprites again and made them simulate the bubble music again.


    Indeed, the leaves withered much faster.


    How strange. The leaves¡¯ withering speed is actually affected by music. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was a good or bad thing for the leaves to wither faster.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen unsummoned the music sprites.


    Now, the best situation for Zhou Wen was to keep the status quo. From this angle, it was naturally a good thing that the leaves withered slowly. Without the music of the Musical Note Sprites, the speed at which the leaves withered was indeed much slower. Zhou Wen estimated that all the leaves would wither in about fifty to sixty hours.


    I hope Tsukuyomi can wake up before the leaves completely wither. Zhou Wen had a feeling that something major might happen when all the leaves withered and fell.


    Time ticked by until the last leaf withered and fell, but Tsukuyomi remained unconscious. Zhou Wen stared intently at the remaining fruit atop the plant.

 Chapter 1631 - Little Trumpet

    Chapter 1631 Little Trumpet


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was in his throat as he activated various domains. At the same time, he summoned his Companion Beasts, so that he could deal with anything that happened.


    The last leaf had already fallen, leaving the peach-like fruit high up on a bent stem. It bobbed slightly along the water surface and bubbles rose from time to time. Crack!


    Cracks appeared on the fruit before it opened up fully.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze to see what was inside the cracked fruit, but he realized that it was only the outer layer. Furthermore, it was split into three petals that slowly drooped out.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    The fruit split apart layer by layer like a blooming flower. When the last layer cracked, he finally saw a hemispherical space in the middle of the fruit. A figure was inside.


    The figure looked like a bee. It was only the size of a finger and its entire body was as black as black jade.


    Strangely, there was a tiny, black trumpet-shaped object in the bee¡¯s front claws. No matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, it looked like a mini suona.


    At that moment, the bee was holding the tiny trumpet with its front claws. Its body was slightly hunched as it hid in the space inside the fruit. Bubbles rose from the mini trumpet. This was likely the source of the bubbles from before.


    Could this fellow be this planet¡¯s Companion Beast? Zhou Wen thought.


    As the fruit cracked, more and more bubbles floated out of the trumpet, speeding up the rhythm of the music.


    The sound from the glacier rift grew louder and louder. The terrifying sound caused the glaciers on the planet to begin crumbling. Huge glacier rifts appeared on the planet as the entire planet seemed to tremble.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got his Companion Beasts to separate the ice cavern from the glaciers outside. Tyrant Behemoth held up the entire ice cavern to prevent Tsukuyomi from being affected by the shock.


    The atmosphere also produced visible ripples due to the sonic vibrations, as though it was about to fall apart.


    Zhou Wen kept observing the bee playing the trumpet and saw that it appeared to still be sleeping. It didn¡¯t fly out of the space inside the fruit.


    Boom!


    Suddenly, an intense sound came from the atmosphere. Zhou Wen turned his attention and realized that a cosmic creature had finally rushed into the atmosphere. Under the high-speed impact, its body rubbed against the atmosphere, producing burning flames. However, there wasn¡¯t only one cosmic creature that rushed into the atmosphere. Groups of cosmic creatures roared as they charged into the atmosphere from the cosmos. They were like meteors wrapped in flames as they rushed into the planet.


    When it rains, it pours¡­ Zhou Wen observed for a while and suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    The cosmic creatures that rushed into the atmosphere didn¡¯t seem right.


    Boom!


    A cosmic creature slammed into the planet, triggering an effect similar to an atomic bomb explosion. The shockwave swept through the rocks and glaciers and spread out in a ring shape. Everything was destroyed wherever it passed.


    Zhou Wen clearly sensed that all the bones in the cosmic creature¡¯s body had snapped. Its body had distorted and deformed from the collision. Blood spewed out from the wound that its bones pierced open alongside the shockwave.


    This isn¡¯t charging into a planet to snatch something, but courting death! Zhou Wen watched as the cosmic creatures committed suicide by slamming into the planet. The entire planet was filled with terrifying collisions and explosions.


    Moments later, the huge planet was riddled with holes. It was difficult to find an intact area. It was as though it had been bombarded by thousands of atomic bombs.


    Many cosmic creatures slammed into the planet. Those that survived were mostly heavily injured. They struggled in the meteorite crater and began ripping apart their bodies in crazy self-mutilation.


    Zhou Wen had already discovered that the creatures that rushed in were all Terror-grade creatures. In the beginning, the five Calamity-grade creatures that occupied the nearby area in space didn¡¯t rush in.


    From the looks of it, these Terror creatures must have been affected by the bubble music and rushed in to commit suicide. Zhou Wen looked at the heavily damaged planet and the cosmic creature corpses everywhere and couldn¡¯t help but shudder. He couldn¡¯t help but size up the black bee again.


    This fellow already has such a terrifying influence even before it wakes up. How terrifying will it be when it does? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but have a scene appear in his mind: a small black bee playing a suona-like trumpet. This scene that was supposed to appear adorable was filled with mountains of corpses and seas of blood.


    Countless creatures committed suicide as corpses were strewn across the land. Blood flowed like a river, and there was a hellish scene everywhere.


    Should I think of a way to kill it before it wakes up? Zhou Wen already had such a thought. Once such a terrifying creature appeared, it would probably be no different from the apocalypse.


    As he was thinking, Zhou Wen realized that something was amiss.


    After a round of suicidal attacks by cosmic creatures, the glacier rift no longer made a sound, but the tiny trumpet in the bee¡¯s claw was still emitting bubbles.


    Could it be that all of this wasn¡¯t caused by the bee and the trumpet? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. After paying attention for a while, there was indeed no sound from the glacier rift.


    The bee¡¯s trumpet was still blowing bubbles normally without any changes. This raised a new question for Zhou Wen.


    In space, the cosmic creatures rushed into the planet again. The five Calamity creatures rushed in from different directions. This time, they didn¡¯t commit suicide. They headed for the glacier rift.


    However, they only arrived near the glacier rift and didn¡¯t rush in directly. They each occupied a spot near the glacier rift and seemed to be on guard against each other.


    Soon, through his scanning, Zhou Wen detected two figures rushing into the atmosphere. They were Xiao and Jiuyang.


    Why are they here? Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    The universe was boundless and there were many planets. Although there was a huge commotion here, it was insignificant to the universe. This place was extremely far from Earth. Unless one had interstellar teleportation abilities, even a Calamity-grade creature would take countless years to rush here from Earth.


    It was definitely not a coincidence that Xiao and Jiuyang had appeared here. The Holy Land can¡¯t be that resourceful, right? They know which planet¡¯s Companion Beast is about to be born in the universe? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°We came in time, thankfully. That Companion Beast hasn¡¯t appeared.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but hear when Jiuyang spoke.

 Chapter 1632 - Toad Immortal

    Chapter 1632 Toad Immortal


    ¡°I wonder how strong the five Calamity-grade dimensional creatures are,¡± Xiao said as he observed the five cosmic creatures.


    ¡°Regardless of their strength, we have to take that Companion Beast back.¡± Jiuyang stared at the glacier rift and said, ¡°Lord Holy God said that that Companion Beast is different from ordinary Companion Beasts. It won¡¯t appear in a normal manner. It¡¯s very likely that there won¡¯t be a corresponding dimensional zone and it might rush out directly. When the time comes, I¡¯ll deal with it. Try your best to help me hold back those dimensional creatures.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not confident fighting five alone,¡± Xiao said with a bitter expression.


    ¡°We can swap. You deal with that Companion Beast,¡± Jiuyang said indifferently. ¡°Forget about it. I¡¯ll try my best to hold them back.¡± Xiao pondered for a moment and shook his head.


    The two of them discussed other details. As they hadn¡¯t expected a human to appear here, they didn¡¯t screen their conversation.


    This couldn¡¯t be blamed on them. This place was so far from Earth that humans couldn¡¯t reach it even if they spent their entire lives. Furthermore, how was it possible for there to be a human here across the vast universe? Zhou Wen heard their conversation and roughly learned that their arrival wasn¡¯t a coincidence. Holy God seemed to know the Companion Beast on this planet very well.


    However, up to now, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t heard much useful information.


    He only knew that there seemed to be something wrong with the Companion Beast on this planet and that it would rush out directly, but he didn¡¯t hear Jiuyang or Xiao say what the problem was.


    Just as Xiao and Jiuyang were discussing the details, they suddenly heard a loud bang. They hurriedly turned their heads and saw that the blue ribbon-like cosmic creature had rushed into the glacier rift.


    As though it was contagious, the other cosmic creatures moved as well. They rushed into the glacier rift one after another and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    Jiuyang and Xiao were taken aback. They never expected such a situation to happen when they came. Holy God only said that it was very difficult for this Companion Beast to appear, but he didn¡¯t say that it could rush in.


    The two of them exchanged looks before Xiao said, ¡°Why don¡¯t we go in and take a look?¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Jiuyang nodded slightly. The two of them headed for the glacier rift and soon vanished.


    Zhou Wen watched them enter the glacier rift and was somewhat tempted. However, he ultimately held back. He didn¡¯t know when Tsukuyomi would be fine, so he definitely couldn¡¯t take the risk.


    Should I take her away from here? Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi, who was still absorbing the Moon Essence, and wondered if he should leave the planet.


    The reason he hadn¡¯t left previously was that Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t move, nor could she be stored in the chaos space. It was also impossible for him to carry out interstellar teleportation of the huge ice cavern. It would be too dangerous if they encountered terrifying cosmic creatures after bringing her into the cosmos.


    However, this place was even more dangerous than the cosmos. Furthermore, most of the cosmic creatures in the planet¡¯s vicinity were dead. The few Calamity creatures who weren¡¯t dead had already entered the glacier rift.


    Based on the present situation, the dimensional creatures in the nearby cosmos were probably drawn over. It wouldn¡¯t be easy to encounter a cosmic creature nearby, so there shouldn¡¯t be any danger.


    He could find a nearby planet to settle down and wait for Tsukuyomi to return to normal.


    Before Zhou Wen could lift the ice cavern up, he heard another sound coming from the atmosphere. Zhou Wen hurriedly stopped and used Truth Listener to scan the direction of the sound.


    A strange, fat person in a golden robe passed through the atmosphere and headed for the interior of the planet.


    Furthermore, the person was rushing in the direction of Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen carefully sized up the strange person. The robe on his body looked golden, but it wasn¡¯t completely golden. Golden square-holed coins were embroidered with golden thread over black cloth. They even overlapped, revealing very little of the base fabric. Therefore, it looked like he was wearing a golden robe that covered his rotund figure.


    His face was very fat, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. His cheeks were like two meatballs with standard dead fish eyes.


    Is this a human? Zhou Wen felt that this guy¡¯s aura was odd, as though he wasn¡¯t human.


    Seeing that the strange person was about to reach them and was still heading straight for their location instead of the glacier rift, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Could this be Toad Immortal? Zhou Wen thought to himself. His aura was indeed similar to the toad, but it was somewhat different.


    ¡°Hand over the Moon Essence Basin and I¡¯ll let you die a quick death.¡± The person in the coin robe came above the ice hole where Zhou Wen was and shouted hoarsely. His throat seemed to have been ground by sand paper, making his voice sound extremely unpleasant, like fingernails scratching the surface of metal. It gave one a headache.


    It¡¯s indeed him. Why did this fellow take human form? He really came at the worst possible time. Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he thought about how to deal with the present situation.


    Swan Immortal was with him, and Moon Essence Basin was with Tsukuyomi. With these two things, Toad Immortal could find them no matter where they went.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Toad Immortal valued more. If Toad Immortal thought more highly of the Moon Essence Basin, it would be impossible for him to lure Toad Immortal away.


    From the looks of it, I can only fend him off head-on. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate when he saw that Toad Immortal seemed to have the intention to charge down. He used instant transmission and appeared outside the ice cavern to confront Toad Immortal.


    ¡°You finally dare to show yourself. You killed my body and snatched my Moon Essence Basin. Dying ten thousand times isn¡¯t even enough.¡± Toad Immortal stared at Zhou Wen with his dead fish eyes as his golden pupils shimmered with killing intent.


    Without giving Zhou Wen a chance to speak, Toad Immortal¡¯s cheeks swelled up like two balloons. It made one worry that they would explode at any moment.


    However, in the end, his cheeks reached the size of gym balls without exploding. Then, he spat at Zhou Wen, instantly forming a terrifying storm. Everything that stood in front of the storm was swept up.


    Banana Fairy was originally the best choice to deal with wind-elemental powers, but unfortunately, her level was a little low. No matter how strong her resistance against wind-elemental powers was, she couldn¡¯t fight something that spanned so many levels.


    After all, Toad Immortal was an existence at the Heaven level. The storm was just too powerful. Under the high-speed airflow, everything was torn apart. Furthermore, it enveloped a large area with almost no end in sight.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, a sword domain appeared out of thin air. Countless Sword Pills appeared around him as they faced the terrifying storm.

 Chapter 1633 - Contest of Taboo Powers

    Chapter 1633 Contest of Taboo Powers


    The Sword Domain produced Sword Pills without end, but in the storm, they were quickly reduced to Yin. A large number of Sword Pills vanished, unable to block the storm¡¯s attack.


    The Heaven-level wind is so powerful! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t retreat. At the very least, he couldn¡¯t let the battle affect Tsukuyomi in the glacier below.


    The Dragon King armor appeared as the eight Companion Beasts¡¯ powers augmented Zhou Wen at the same time, raising his Strength greatly as his Sword Domain appeared again.


    The galaxy-like Sword Pills reappeared in the storm and charged forward.


    With the augmentation of the eight Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength was still inferior to Toad Immortal, but the effects of Sword Pill particles had something to show. After the Sword Pills in front of him vanished from the storm, they quickly changed from Yin to Yang and appeared again. The endless Sword Pills constantly struck the storm. Although the storm was stronger than the Sword Domain, as long as it couldn¡¯t destroy the Sword Domain in one fell swoop, it would be blocked by the constantly reborn Sword Pills.


    The Sword Pill particles could constantly be rejuvenated, but the storm couldn¡¯t. After a period of time, the power of the storm weakened, and the power of the Sword Domain gained the upper hand.


    ¡°Eh!¡± Toad Immortal looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    He clearly felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was only at the Human Realm, but he had suddenly raised it to a level infinitely close to the Heaven level. This leap was somewhat exaggerated. Furthermore, the characteristics of the Sword Domain surprised him. It was virtually an undying power that was very rare even among Heaven-level creatures.


    The torrent formed by Sword Pills tore through the storm and charged at Toad Immortal like a galaxy.


    Toad Immortal sneered and opened his mouth again. However, this time, he wasn¡¯t exhaling, but sucking


    He opened his mouth and countless Sword Pill particles flew uncontrollably into it. The small mouth seemed to be able to devour everything. After the Sword Pill particles were sucked in, they immediately lost contact with Zhou Wen. This fellow still has his Void Devouring ability? It¡¯s much stronger than the toad body from before! Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop attacking when he saw that it was useless no matter how many Sword Pill particles he had.


    ¡°How dare a mere human compete with the likes of an Immortal?¡± Toad Immortal said disdainfully as a golden beam seemed to flash from his mouth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t see what it was, but he immediately summoned the Chaos Egg.


    Pa!


    The Chaos Egg was sent flying by something as solid Essence Energy Crystals appeared in large numbers. Many of the compressed and stacked numbers appeared. He¡¯s actually not dead? Toad Immortal was slightly taken aback. In the next second, golden light flashed from his mouth again.


    Zhou Wen failed to see what it was again. He condensed the Sword Domain to protect himself when the Sword Pill particles were suddenly pulled away. A force tore through the Sword Domain and struck the Chaos Egg, sending it flying again.


    Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The golden light shimmered as it struck the Chaos Egg from different directions, sending it flying. The golden light was so fast that Zhou Wen could only see a shadow flash. He had no time to block it as he staggered from the strike. His reaction couldn¡¯t keep up. Thankfully, the Chaos Egg was powerful enough to withstand the continuous attacks of the golden light without shattering.


    This Toad Immortal seems even stronger than the Void Salamander! Zhou Wen thought about how he could defeat him. At the very least, he had to stall for time.


    He hoped that if Toad Immortal continued attacking, he could accumulate a large number of high-level solid crystals and transfer them to foodie Companion Beasts like Tyrant Behemoth.


    Unfortunately, Toad Immortal didn¡¯t give him such a chance. After striking a few times, he realized that he couldn¡¯t shatter the Chaos Egg. The golden light revealed its form and wrapped around the Chaos Egg.


    It was a golden tongue that extended out of Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth. After wrapping around the Chaos Egg, it suddenly retracted and pulled the Chaos Egg towards his mouth.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen reacted quickly. Just as he was about to be swallowed, he used instant transmission to rush out.


    ¡°You also know spatial instant transmission. Let¡¯s see how fast you can instant transmit.¡± Toad Immortal snorted coldly as his golden tongue flicked again, transforming into a golden beam that flashed.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to use the Chaos Egg to block the golden tongue¡¯s attack. At the same time, he activated the Teacher Domain. The golden tongue wrapped around the Chaos Egg again. As it pulled it into its mouth, it also used Void Absorption¡¯s power to imprison Zhou Wen, preventing him from using spatial instant transmission to escape.


    However, as he absorbed, he suddenly realized that Void Absorption¡¯s power had decreased significantly. Unable to hold onto Zhou Wen, it allowed Zhou Wen to escape again using instant transmission.


    After escaping again, Zhou Wen unsummoned Chaos Egg and used Transcendent Flying Immortal to raise his speed to its limits, leaving elegant arcs in the air. Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue attacked several times, but it failed to touch Zhou Wen.


    The Teacher Domain allowed Zhou Wen to know the trajectory of the tongue attacks. Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s speed gave him the possibility of dodging. Toad Immortal was somewhat surprised. His Void Devouring and storm powers had clearly been weakened.


    ¡°Taboo power?¡± Toad Immortal rolled his eyes and sized up Zhou Wen with a frown.


    Zhou Wen had almost shown everything he had. Apart from the Immortal Culling Sword, he didn¡¯t have any other means. All he hoped for was to last a little longer.


    During the battle, Zhou Wen consciously led the battlefield into the cosmos, but he couldn¡¯t make it too obvious to prevent himself from being seen through by Toad Immortal; that would lead to him rushing straight for Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°You are still far from being able to use taboo powers against me.¡± As though confirming what power Zhou Wen was using, Toad Immortal snorted coldly and trembled. Thousands of golden beams shot out from his body.


    The golden beams transformed into golden square-holed coins that flew in different directions. Like nails, they nailed into the void, turning the area into a money space. Zhou Wen immediately felt his Essence Energy rapidly vanish. He couldn¡¯t maintain the power of the Sword Domain and the Chaos Egg and could only barely maintain the Teacher Domain.


    The Teacher Domain has met its match! Zhou Wen immediately realized the problem. Toad Immortal actually had powers similar to the Teacher Domain.


    Furthermore, the other party¡¯s strength had already reached the level of a perfect domain. The Teacher Domain was ultimately at the Human Realm. Due to the power of the eight Companion Beasts, the power of the Teacher Domain was very close to the Heaven level, but it was only close. It was still much weaker than the true Heaven level.


    Now, Zhou Wen found it difficult to even use spatial instant transmission.


    ¡°I never expected to encounter a human who can use taboo powers. However, I¡¯m a progenitor when it comes to using taboo powers. Yours remain wanting,¡± Toad Immortal said with a sneer.

 Chapter 1634 - Each With Their Own Scheme

    Chapter 1634 Each With Their Own Scheme


    If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to use Companion Beasts in Toad Immortal¡¯s Money Domain.


    However, Zhou Wen could still maintain a portion of his abilities and the use of his Companion Beasts. He still maintained the connection between the Demon Dragon King armor and the eight Companion Beasts. This was all thanks to the Teacher Domain.


    Although the Teacher Domain wasn¡¯t as powerful as the Money Domain, it wasn¡¯t completely suppressed; it even had a certain effect on Toad Immortal.


    Despite both being at the Heaven level, the Void Salamander was only good at the power of void lightning, but Toad Immortal¡¯s power was more varied and difficult to deal with.


    As for Jiuyang, Xiao, and company, they were actually about the same as Zhou Wen. They were all at a pseudo Heaven level. They were still a distance away from the true Heaven level.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue swept over like lightning. Zhou Wen used the Transcendent Flying Immortal he had figured out and moved gracefully. He dodged Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue attacks again and again, and even seized some opportunities to counterattack.


    However, Toad Immortal was far from what Jiuyang and company could compare with. Not only was he powerful, but his combat techniques had also reached the sublime realm. With him holding the advantage, even Transcendent Flying Immortal couldn¡¯t suppress him.


    The concept of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal! Toad Immortal recognized the concept of Transcendent Flying Immortal at a glance as though he was very surprised. His strange eyes sized up Zhou Wen in surprise as he thought to himself, What¡¯s wrong with this human? Not only is he proficient in taboo powers, but he¡¯s also at the Zenith Heaven True Immortal realm, one of the highest realms of us Immortals¡­ Is this fellow really human? Could it be some big shot of the Immortal race who descended and he¡¯s deliberately plotting to make things difficult for me?


    However, after watching for a while, Toad Immortal dispelled this thought. Zhou Wen¡¯s Zenith Heaven True Immortal concept was only at the beginner level. If a true Immortal big shot were to descend using possession, it shouldn¡¯t be at this level.


    A human can actually reach such a level. To be able to comprehend the concept of the Zenith Heaven True Immortal at such a level, it would be too unreal if not for Immortal big shots pulling the strings from behind. The more Toad Immortal thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss. He suspected that there was some big shot behind Zhou Wen who was scheming against him.


    Back at the Queen Mother of the West, he had fallen for a scheme. As the saying went, once bitten, twice shy. The more Toad Immortal thought about it, the more he felt that something was amiss.


    With this in mind, Toad Immortal hesitated. He didn¡¯t dare attack Zhou Wen with all his might. He held back a little and secretly observed, hoping to find any clues.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s reputation wasn¡¯t good. The legend of a toad lusting after a swan¡¯s flesh had tarnished his reputation. However, in terms of strength, Toad Immortal¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t as terrible as the rumors said. Otherwise, he would have died at the Queen Mother of the West¡¯s place.


    How could it be as simple as being banished to the mortal realm after molesting the Swan Fairy at such a place? Furthermore, he had brought out the Moon Essence Basin, a treasure of the Moon.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. He could clearly sense that the pressure Toad Immortal exerted on him had weakened significantly.


    Although Toad Immortal still had the advantage, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel the pressure of being on the brink of death. He didn¡¯t know what Toad Immortal was thinking or what motives he had, but it was a good thing for him.


    Although the Teacher Domain was still far inferior to Toad Immortal¡¯s Money Domain, it wasn¡¯t just a taboo domain. The true strength of the Teacher Domain lay in the word ¡°Teacher.¡±


    At that moment, the Teacher Domain was constantly accumulating the trajectories of the Money Domain. It was as though it was completing a jigsaw puzzle as it gradually pieced together the corresponding trajectories of the Money Domain. After successfully completing all the trajectories the last time, he gained an additional ¡°Great Void Lightning Art¡± on the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder. Later on, he attempted to piece together the trajectories of Xiao and Old K¡¯s powers, but he failed.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that for the Teacher Domain to condense an Essence Energy Art, the domain had to be at least a Heaven-level perfect domain. It might even be even more stringent. Toad Immortal¡¯s strength was stronger than the Void Salamander¡¯s, and it was even stranger. Zhou Wen felt that it was highly likely that he could turn the Money Domain into an Essence Energy Art.


    Of course, Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t cultivate the Essence Energy Art. However, the process of condensing an Essence Energy Art was also needed to evolve the Teacher Domain. It would make the Teacher Domain stronger. After condensing the Void Lightning Grand Art, the Teacher Domain could seal the formerly unsealable Heaven-level void lightning domain. Then, after converting the Money Domain into an Essence Energy Art, it should be able to seal Toad Immortal¡¯s Money Domain. When the time came, Zhou Wen¡¯s chances of defeating Toad Immortal would be much higher.


    Toad Immortal wasn¡¯t in a rush to go all out, much less Zhou Wen. The two of them had their own ulterior motives. The battle looked intense, but in fact, it wasn¡¯t that dangerous.


    Jiuyang and Xiao rushed into the glacier rift. After passing through the glacier layer, they realized that there was still a stone abyss beneath them. It led deep into the core. The interior shimmered as their vision and various Essence Energy detection abilities were screened. It was unknown how deep it went.


    Occasionally, a strange blue light would flash below. It was from the blue ribbon-like Calamity creature that was flying towards the abyss.


    ¡°Strange!¡± Xiao stared at the abyss and frowned.


    ¡°What did you discover?¡± Jiuyang asked.


    ¡°From the music that tempted dimensional creatures to commit suicide, the Companion Beast on this planet should be music-type. However, do you see any traces of music-type powers in the abyss?¡± Xiao pointed into the abyss. ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little strange. I don¡¯t see any music-type powers. There¡¯s only a power that¡¯s close to death¡­¡± Jiuyang sensed for a moment before continuing, ¡°However, my Sun God Light is the nemesis of that dark aura of death.¡±


    Xiao nodded. ¡°In that case, let¡¯s go in and take a look first. Don¡¯t let those Calamity creatures snatch the initiative. It will be troublesome if the Companion Beast is devoured by them.¡±


    Jiuyang nodded slightly as the Sun God Light on his body bloomed before he charged into the abyss.


    Xiao followed behind Jiuyang and used the power of the Sun God Light to ward off the psychedelic light.


    After descending countless meters into the abyss, the psychedelic glow in front of them suddenly vanished. They found themselves inside a huge spherical space.


    Is this the core of the planet? Jiuyang looked around and realized that there was a white egg-shaped object floating in the middle of the huge spherical space.


    The egg-shaped object looked very strange. The white outer shell was like a membrane of some creature. It looked very thin and was almost transparent. One could even see a blurry light seeping out of it.


    On the membrane-like outer shell, there were many black blood vessels. They varied in thickness and were distributed under the outer shell, but they protruded in a pronounced manner. They looked like blood vessels no matter how one looked at them.


    Furthermore, the entire egg was like a heart as it shrank and expanded. As this continued, the blood vessels became thicker and thinner. There was even liquid flowing in them, making it look ugly and bizarre.

 Chapter 1635 - Fighting for the Companion Egg

    Chapter 1635 Fighting for the Companion Egg


    The five Calamity creatures from before were surrounding the egg-shaped object. The blue ribbon of light circled above. The two unicorn wolves occupied the left side, and the strange fish was on the right.


    Far away from Jiuyang and company was the ball of magnetic storms. From time to time, tentacles would extend out as though they wanted to sweep away the white egg-shaped object, but they didn¡¯t seem to dare. They quickly shrank back.


    Jiuyang and Xiao¡¯s arrival immediately alarmed the Calamity creatures. They constantly sized them up. Once they realized that they were too weak or had any weaknesses, they would probably immediately attack to reduce their competitors. ¡°Can you see the situation inside?¡± Jiuyang asked Xiao when he saw that the Calamity creatures seemed to be afraid of each other and didn¡¯t take the initiative to attack them.


    His combat strength was very strong, but he was far inferior to Xiao¡¯s proficiency in some special techniques.


    Xiao¡¯s eyes suffused a demonic glow as his pupils turned white. He resembled a pupil-less blind man.


    After staring at the white egg-shaped object for a few seconds, Xiao¡¯s eyes returned to normal. He looked at Jiuyang and shook his head. ¡°I can¡¯t see what¡¯s inside. I can only sense that there¡¯s a lifeform inside.¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be wrong. This is the core of the planet. The planet¡¯s Companion Beast should be hatching here. I reckon the rift abyss we entered is the path opened up by the parasitic Companion Beast when it rushed in,¡± Jiuyang guessed after some thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, but those five Calamity creatures don¡¯t look simple. It probably won¡¯t be easy to snatch the Companion Beast inside from their jaws. Furthermore, the Companion Beast inside can appear at any time. When the time comes, we won¡¯t just be facing five Calamity creatures,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°Act according to plan then. Contract the Companion Beast before it appears, or kill it ahead of time,¡± Jiuyang said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. If we go over now, we will probably be besieged by those Calamity creatures.¡± Xiao shook his head slightly, gesturing for Jiuyang not to go over for the time being


    ¡°Being Calamity-grade creatures, their intelligence can¡¯t be too low. Even some creatures with low intelligence have already accumulated quite a bit of experience and intuition. No one wants to become the target of the masses, but they don¡¯t know that if that Companion Beast appears, it will be difficult to say who ends up as the meal,¡± Jiuyang said with a cold snort when he saw that none of the five Calamity creatures were willing to charge forward.


    ¡°Therefore, we have to think of a way to incite them,¡± Xiao said as he looked at the white egg-shaped object.


    ¡°How?¡± Jiuyang asked.


    ¡°Just wait here for me. I¡¯m better at incitement.¡± As Xiao spoke, he took a step forward and vanished like a ghost.


    When he appeared again, he was already in front of the white egg-shaped object. He extended his hand and slapped it.


    Pa!


    Xiao was the closest to the electromagnetic storm. Before he could touch the white egg-shaped object, the tentacles in the electromagnetic storm flailed wildly. Every tentacle carried a terrifying electromagnetic storm, causing the electromagnetic storm that only covered its body to spread out and envelop half the planet¡¯s core.


    Before the electromagnetic storm landed on Xiao, he easily turned around and vanished. Large swaths of the electromagnetic storm missed him while most of the electromagnetic storms landed on the white egg-shaped object. With a series of crackling sounds, the white egg-like object rapidly shrank to about half its original size as though it had been injured.


    With this, the other four Calamity creatures were immediately unable to sit idle. All of them carried terrifying domain powers, hoping to control the white egg-shaped object in their domains.


    The black-and-white wolves¡¯ domains were very strange. The black wolf¡¯s domain power was a black barrier, while the white wolf¡¯s domain power was a white barrier.


    When they stood together, the intersection of the black and white barriers turned transparent as though it had vanished.


    The strange fish flicked its tail, and its graceful tail that resembled a cloud blotting out the sky covered the white egg-shaped object from all directions.


    The blue ribbon of light was even more direct. With a flash, it wrapped around the white egg-shaped object.


    Apart from the strange fish¡¯s domain power being relatively slow, the domain powers of the other four Calamity creatures descended almost at the same time. Together with the Calamity creature that had used the electromagnetic storm, all sorts of domain powers intertwined, instantly producing a terrifying explosion.


    All sorts of forces constantly collided, producing continuous explosions and shockwaves. The entire space shook as cracks appeared on the hard rocks that supported the interior space of the planet. Extremely hard rocks constantly fell.


    The five Calamity creatures were sent flying. No one could snatch the white egg-shaped object.


    ¡°Such powerful destructive power failed to break its outer shell and deal a certain level of damage to it!¡± Xiao had hidden behind Jiuyang at some point in time and said with a smile.


    The Sun God Light on Jiuyang¡¯s body bloomed and blocked the shockwaves that surged at them. He said in surprise, ¡°Two of these five Calamity creatures seem to be at the Heaven level. The other three are also powerful Hell-level creatures. Furthermore, the domain powers of the three Hell-level creatures are very special.¡± ¡°Those at the Hell level are fine, but it¡¯s probably hard to tell if we can handle the Heaven-level ones,¡± Xiao said as his expression suddenly changed. In the middle of the explosion, the white egg-shaped object shrank to the height of a person. The membrane that was almost transparent had turned into the color of milk. It looked much thicker.


    Most importantly, the terrifying energy blast from before failed to injure it.


    ¡°What kind of Companion Beast is this planet¡¯s original Companion Beast? Is its eggshell¡¯s defense that high that two Heaven-level and three Hell-level forces failed to injure it at all?¡± Xiao frowned.


    ¡°From the looks of it, your incitement sucked.¡± Jiuyang wasn¡¯t looking at the white egg-shaped object. Instead, he was looking at the few Calamity creatures because they were in a brawl.


    The monster in the electromagnetic storm and the strange fish were clearly at the Heaven level. Their strength was extremely terrifying. The black and white wolves were probably still at the Hell level, but when their domain powers were stacked together, they could actually withstand the power of a Heaven-level creature. They weren¡¯t taken advantage of by the strange fish and the monster in the electromagnetic storm.


    The blue ribbon-like Calamity creature was likely at the Hell level, but its strength was extremely strange. It shuttled through the various domains without being too affected.


    The five monsters fought each other, hoping to snatch the white egg-shaped object and have a good meal. However, in the battle, they didn¡¯t notice that tiny cracks had appeared on the white egg-shaped object.

 Chapter 1636 - Birth of the Companion Beast

    Chapter 1636 Birth of the Companion Beast


    I can¡¯t wait any longer. Jiuyang realized the anomaly on the white egg-shaped object. He knew that he couldn¡¯t wait any longer. If he waited any longer, the Companion Beast inside would probably be born.


    The Sun God Light erupted with a resplendent divine glow as Jiuyang¡¯s body seemed to transform into a beam that tore through spacetime. He instantly arrived in front of the white egg-shaped object, hoping to penetrate it with the Sun God Light.


    However, before his Sun God Light could touch the white egg-shaped object, he saw several huge tentacles extend out from behind and block it.


    The Sun God Light collided with the tentacles and forcefully severed the tentacles that were wrapped in electromagnetic force, reducing them to pieces. However, in the next second, electromagnetic light flashed as the tentacles that had been sliced into pieces gathered together again and swept towards Jiuyang.


    While Jiuyang was fighting the tentacle monster, Xiao secretly instant transmitted to the back of the white egg-shaped object and extended his fingers to slice it apart.


    A blue light instantly swept over at an unbelievable speed. Xiao had no choice but to retract his finger. Otherwise, his finger would have been severed by the blue light before it touched the white egg.


    The other Calamity creatures rushed over as well, plummeting the scene into further chaos.


    Xiao dodged the blue light and the strange fish¡¯s attacks several times, but he failed to get close to the white egg-shaped object.


    ¡°Help me open up a path.¡± The Sun God Light on Jiuyang¡¯s body became even more resplendent. His entire body seemed to turn into light as every strike was like a hydrogen bomb exploding. However, when such a powerful force struck the transparent barrier formed by the combination of the black and white wolves, it failed to break through. He ultimately failed to charge over.


    ¡°It¡¯s better if you help me open up a path.¡± Xiao¡¯s figure flashed past like a phantom, luring the strange fish and the blue light to Jiuyang¡¯s vicinity.


    Jiuyang¡¯s whole body emitted divine light that nearly enveloped the entire planet¡¯s interior space. The few Calamity creatures were attacked, and they couldn¡¯t focus on Xiao¡¯s whereabouts.


    Xiao finally found an opportunity. Like a ghost, he arrived in front of the white egg-shaped object again. Before the Calamity creatures could stop him, he pointed his finger at it.


    Just as Xiao thought he was about to succeed, the white egg-shaped object suddenly shattered like glass. The white fragments scattered and turned into a sticky white liquid from touching anything. Although Xiao was the closest, his reaction was the fastest. Before the white fragments touched him, his figure vanished as he retreated. When he appeared again, he was already extremely far away. He dodged left and right, missing the flying white fragments.


    The other Calamity creatures and Jiuyang were also affected. The tentacle monster used its tentacles to whip the white fragments, and some of them stuck to its tentacles. The strange fish used its tail to sweep away the fragments, but it also got some white liquid stuck onto it.


    The black and white wolves were protected by a barrier, blocking all the white fragments. White mucus covered the barrier¡¯s exterior.


    The blue light was the fastest and dodged all the white shards.


    The Sun God Light on Jiuyang¡¯s body was too intense. Everything that came close vaporized. The white fragments were no exception. They couldn¡¯t approach him at all.


    The Calamity creatures collectively looked at the white egg-shaped object and saw a white Companion Beast floating in front of it.


    It looked very strange. Its entire body was snow-white like jade. Its body was upright, and its legs were like a goat¡¯s, but its upper limbs were like a hairless monkey¡¯s. Its nails were extremely sharp and emitted a jade luster.


    Its eyes were huge, and its nose was sharp and short. When it pursed its lips, one could only see a slightly curved arc. There was no hair on its head, and the back of its head was abnormally large. It drooped down to its back like a horn.


    There was no hint of vitality from it, as though it was a lifeless jade statue. However, its eyes were moving. Its vertical pupils that resembled feline eyes were slowly turning left and right as though it was observing the Calamity creatures and Jiuyang and company.


    The tentacle monster¡¯s huge tentacles that swept towards the Companion Beast carried an electromagnetic storm with them.


    The Companion Beast didn¡¯t dodge when it saw the huge dragon-like tentacles sweep over with electromagnetic forces. It only stood there and looked at it in a daze.


    The tentacles had already reached the Companion Beast and even wrapped around its body, but the Companion Beast remained motionless.


    The Calamity creatures, Jiuyang, and Xiao, who had been watching, felt regret. If they had known that the Companion Beast would be so slow to the uptake, they would have been the first to rush forward.


    They had thought that the tentacle monster was too rash just now, but from the looks of it, it was too late for them to rush over.


    Just as the Companion Beast was about to be pulled into the electromagnetic storm and the Calamity creatures were filled with regret, the tentacles suddenly came to an abrupt halt.


    The tentacles froze in midair as though they were trembling. The tentacles that bound the Companion Beast slowly released.


    Just as everyone was wondering what had happened, they suddenly saw something white seeping out of the tentacles. It was like white paint and white spots rapidly spread across its body.


    At first, it looked like it was suffering from leukoplakia. Most of the areas on its back turned white and even had a jade- like luster. Soon, all the tentacles and even the body in the electromagnetic storm turned into white jade.


    It wasn¡¯t just the tentacle monster. The strange fish was experiencing the same thing. Large amounts of white spots appeared on its tail before rapidly spreading out, spreading from its tail to its body.


    It was obvious that the strange fish had been trying its best to escape the white contagion, but its strength failed to stop anything. Soon, its entire body was dyed white, turning into a jade-like white fish.


    ¡°Things aren¡¯t looking good!¡± Xiao frowned. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me those two fellows¡­¡± Before Jiuyang could finish his sentence, he saw the tentacle monster and the strange fish let out strange cries at the same time. They came to the Companion Beast¡¯s side like a monster version of two sidekicks.


    Xiao and Jiuyang exchanged looks. They knew that things were going south. Among the five Calamity creatures, two Heaven-level creatures were controlled by the Companion Beast.


    ¡°As expected of an existence that can parasitize the interior of a planet,¡± Xiao sighed. He never believed that it was an easy task to complete. The Companion Beast was forced to be born before it had fully developed. It had even escaped the capture of many experts during the deity battle and parasitized the planet. Xiao didn¡¯t believe that such an existence could be easily killed.

 Chapter 1637 - Terrifying Companion Beast

    Chapter 1637 Terrifying Companion Beast


    The Companion Beast only watched without any intention of moving.


    The controlled electromagnetic tentacle monster and strange fish lunged at Jiuyang and company fiercely. Their strength didn¡¯t change at all; they even seemed stronger. A large electromagnetic storm descended as Jiuyang condensed the Sun God Light. The collision with the electromagnetic storm triggered a terrifying energy explosion. There were dazzling light spots everywhere. It was so dazzling that one couldn¡¯t even open their eyes.


    The strange fish¡¯s tail that covered the sky descended, enveloping the black and white wolves, the blue ribbon of light, and Xiao.


    The blue ribbon of light was too fast. In a flash, it rushed out of the tail¡¯s range. Xiao¡¯s figure phased away and vanished like a ghost. The black and white wolves weren¡¯t fast enough. They could only raise the barrier and forcefully block the strange fish¡¯s tail.


    The muslin-like tail enveloped the barrier. Although it couldn¡¯t crack it, the tail enveloped the barrier and constantly tightened. The barrier shrank bit by bit.


    Seeing that the situation wasn¡¯t looking good, the blue ribbon of light headed straight for the exit. It followed the passageway through the abyss to the outside world and rushed out without looking back. ¡°Xiao, are you confident?¡± Jiuyang asked as he fought the electromagnetic tentacle monster.


    ¡°Let¡¯s give it a try. That fellow¡¯s strength is probably more terrifying than we expected.¡± As Xiao spoke, he charged at the newly-born Companion Beast like a phantom.


    Although Xiao came from the Trajectory Holy Temple, he was proficient in the various techniques of the six Holy Temples. He could even use the various famous techniques of the Federation.


    At the instant he instant transmitted to the Companion Beast, Xiao¡¯s entire body moved. Every part of his body turned into a terrifying killing weapon.


    Even a finger or tongue turned into terrifying weapons of murder.


    Coupled with his strange movement technique, Xiao delivered countless attacks in an instant. Fingers, palms, fists, elbow, shoulder, knees, legs, and feet. All sorts of attacks rained down on the Companion Beast¡¯s white jade-like body like a storm. It struck every inch of its body countless times. Every strike carried terrifying Yin power that penetrated its body. Perhaps it was because it didn¡¯t react in time, the Companion Beast didn¡¯t show any resistance. Its body retreated repeatedly before it was sent flying by Xiao¡¯s punch.


    Boom!


    The Companion Beast¡¯s body flew out and slammed into the stone dome, creating a huge crater as its body sank into the shattered rocks.


    Its body was embedded in the rocks, but it didn¡¯t struggle. Its feline-like eyes stared straight ahead as though it wasn¡¯t focused. It was unknown what it was looking at.


    Xiao had no intention of stopping. He instantly appeared in front of the Companion Beast and threw a barrage of punches at its face.


    Just as the phantom-like fist was about to land on the Companion Beast¡¯s face, the fist shadows that filled the sky suddenly vanished. A claw grabbed Xiao¡¯s fist.


    Xiao tried his best to escape the claw, but his wrist felt like it was about to snap. The fist held by the claw remained motionless.


    This was no trifling matter. Xiao¡¯s other arm and legs moved as his body attacked the Companion Beast in an extremely strange manner. Every joint in his body seemed to contain immense explosive power.


    Before Xiao¡¯s attack landed on the Companion Beast, the Companion Beast¡¯s fist suddenly exerted strength as it raised Xiao¡¯s body.


    Boom!


    Xiao¡¯s body spun uncontrollably as he was slammed into the rocks. Blood spewed out of his mouth as his bones emitted cracking sounds. It was unknown how many had been shattered.


    At some point in time, the Companion Beast had already drilled out of the rocks. It floated in the air and looked at Xiao who had been smashed into the rocks.


    Its feline-like eyes gradually began to glow as it stared at Xiao with a strange smile.


    Xiao also stared at it. He felt an unprecedented crisis.


    Xiao had experienced too many storms. He knew when things only looked dangerous and when it was really dangerous. Even when he entered Lake Frustration, he didn¡¯t feel that he was in such grave danger.


    ¡°Xiao, be careful.¡± Jiuyang wanted to rush over to help, but the electromagnetic tentacle monster held him back fearlessly. No matter how Jiuyang struck, the electromagnetic tentacle monster¡¯s body would gather together again before fusing into one.


    It was as if it wasn¡¯t a living creature at all, but a collection of countless iron sand particles. Due to the existence of electromagnetism, no matter how its body was destroyed, it could be sucked back and reformed as a whole.


    They were both at the Heaven level. Although Jiuyang¡¯s offensive strength was far stronger than the electromagnetic tentacle monster after absorbing the Holy Artifact, one didn¡¯t need to defend at all and attacked with all its might. The other had to take into account many things. Even though he had the advantage, he couldn¡¯t escape the entanglement of the electromagnetic monster any time soon.


    Xiao heard Jiuyang¡¯s warning, but it was too late. In fact, he had already begun moving his body, hoping to use the power of the Trajectory to traverse the void and pull away from the Companion Beast.


    However, just as his body was about to enter the void, a claw grabbed his neck. His body that had already turned into an illusion seemed to have no corporeal body. One of his feet had now stepped into the void and was pulled out.


    Bang!


    The claw that grabbed Xiao¡¯s neck pressed him into the rocks. Xiao¡¯s entire body sank into the rocks again, causing the hard rocks to splatter everywhere.


    Following that, the Companion Beast¡¯s entire body seemed to turn into a killing weapon. Fingers, palms, fists, feet, legs, knees, elbow, etc. landed on Xiao like a storm.


    Just like a replica of Xiao¡¯s bombardment of the Companion Beast, every inch of Xiao¡¯s body crackled from the Companion Beast¡¯s attacks. All his bones were fractured.


    What was even more terrifying was that Xiao¡¯s Trajectory power was unable to free him from his present predicament. He was crushed there and could only bear the brunt of the dense barrage of attacks.


    ¡°Wa!¡± Blood spewed out of Xiao¡¯s mouth as his body distorted and deformed. He sank into the rocks and no longer looked like a human.


    ¡°Xiao!¡± Jiuyang was alarmed. Although they had already expected the Companion Beast¡¯s abilities to be very high, they never expected them to be this high.


    was


    After fusing with the Holy Artifact, Xiao was already a true Heaven-level existence. Furthermore, with Xiao¡¯s abilities, he was top-notch among Heaven-level existences. It was unimaginable that he would be thrashed like this.


    ¡°Don¡¯t come over.¡± Jiuyang was just about to rush over and attract the Companion Beast¡¯s attention when he heard Xiao¡¯s voice.


    Xiao¡¯s voice was definitely not a result of pessimistic self-sacrifice. His voice didn¡¯t have the down and out feeling of a loser, nor did it have the weakness it should have. In any case, it had a terrifying madness.


    Jiuyang looked at Xiao in puzzlement and realized that there was still blood at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were somewhat terrifying. His eyes seemed to be filled with madness.

 Chapter 1638 - Xiao’s Emotions

    Chapter 1638 Xiao¡¯s Emotions


    Jiuyang was slightly stunned. He had always thought that Xiao was the kind of person who wouldn¡¯t reveal any of his emotions no matter what situation he faced. Even when facing death, Jiuyang had never seen him show any abnormal emotions. It was as if death to Xiao was as casual as heading home for a nap. Saints underwent a cruel period of cultivation. Every Saint was very strong, but that didn¡¯t mean that every Saint had astonishing talent. Instead, the untalented and unaccomplished Saints would have long been eliminated.


    Therefore, to outsiders, as long as they were Saints who stepped out of the Holy Lands, they appeared very strong. However, they didn¡¯t know how cruel this was.


    Jiuyang clearly remembered seeing Xiao when they were young.


    Back then, Xiao was a backup Saint of the Trajectory Holy Temple, and he was a backup Saint of the Sun Holy Temple. They rarely had the chance to meet, but the Six temples would carry out a joint test every once in a while. All the reserve Saints in the six temples would participate in the test together. The people who came in last in the test would be directly eliminated.


    Nobody knew where the eliminated Saints went; in any case, they would never be seen again.


    Jiuyang himself was slow to warm up and he accepted new things very slowly. Therefore, his ranking was very low every time. There was once when he almost fell into the elimination ranks.


    It was only then that he noticed Xiao,


    as


    Xiao was about the same age as him. Back then, he was still a child, only a little more than ten years old. In the past, Jiuyang didn¡¯t notice Xiao because the better a candidate¡¯s grade was, the closer they would stand to the front during the six temples¡¯ joint test.


    Jiuyang had always been at the back, and Xiao used to stand in front. However, Xiao was standing behind Jiuyang this time. This was the first time that Jiuyang had seriously paid attention to Xiao.


    It was very dangerous back then. Xiao was only one spot away from being eliminated. All the backup Saints after Xiao were eliminated and were never seen again.


    Back then, a child¡ªwho was also ranked at the back and was relatively familiar with Xiaoasked, ¡°Xiao, your combat abilities are so impressive that you can at least rank in the top three. Why did you lose?¡±


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not good at using my left hand.¡± Xiao¡¯s answer puzzled Jiuyang-who was standing beside him.


    The child from before was also very puzzled. He asked, ¡°Does your ability to use your left hand have anything to do with whether you can win?¡±


    ¡°I wanted to use my left hand to defeat all the reserve Saints, so I only used my left hand. However, I lost very badly. But from now on, I will only use my left hand until I defeat all the reserve saints in the six temples¡¯ joint test,¡± Xiao replied.


    When Jiuyang heard this, he thought nothing of it.


    In such a cruel competition, if Xiao had only used his left hand¡ªwhich he was not good at


    ¡ªto fight, he would probably end up dying very tragically. At a critical moment of life and death, he would definitely be forced to use his right hand.


    However, it was only during the next six temples¡¯ joint test that Jiuyang realized that Xiao was not joking. In that tragic battle, Xiao indeed did not use his right hand. In the entire joint test, Xiao only used his left hand. His right hand was not used at all.


    Xiao naturally lost miserably. He didn¡¯t even win a single round.


    This was also very normal. Which surviving Saint wasn¡¯t talented and willing to work hard? Furthermore, they were too young, so the means they could learn were very limited. Back then, it was very difficult to widen the gap between them.


    If Xiao had fought seriously, it was not impossible for him to be in the top three or even number one. However, he kept using his non-dominant left hand to fight.


    Others had practiced their dominant hands for more than ten years, but he had only practiced his hand for a month. How could this be compared?


    Jiuyang originally imagined that Xiao would definitely use his right hand to fight at the final moment, but he didn¡¯t. Xiao didn¡¯t use his right hand even when he fell into the elimination brackets.


    Jiuyang watched helplessly as this happened. He was truly puzzled.


    Xiao could clearly live and clearly win, so why didn¡¯t he use his right hand? The rule of not using his right hand was a rule he had set himself. He could completely not abide by it. No one would laugh at him. In fact, few people knew about this matter.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you use your right hand?¡± Jiuyang secretly asked Xiao before Xiao was taken away.


    ¡°I said I¡¯d only use my left hand, so I¡¯ll only use my left hand,¡± Xiao answered very easily as though he wasn¡¯t the one about to be eliminated.


    If Holy God hadn¡¯t appeared to protect Xiao back then, Xiao¡¯s skeleton would have probably turned to ashes by now.


    From then on, Jiuyang would pay attention to Xiao from time to time. However, no matter when it was, no matter how dangerous the situation was, he didn¡¯t see Xiao flare up. It was as if he was a robot that was following a program without any emotions.


    However, Xiao now had such a crazy expression. Jiuyang had never seen such emotions before. He was somewhat worried that Xiao had already lost his composure. That would really be dangerous. He probably wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to escape.


    ¡°You can¡¯t take my life yet.¡± Xiao¡¯s eyes were as crazy as a devil¡¯s, but his voice was terrifyingly cold.


    The Companion Beast ignored Xiao as it once again charged at him like a storm. Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The Companion Beast¡¯s attacks were blocked by Xiao.


    He didn¡¯t dodge; instead, he blocked all of them head-on. At such a close distance and with such unpredictable and lightning-like attacks, Xiao blocked all of them.


    His reaction speed seemed to have reached an unbelievable level. Even the attack near his face was blocked by Xiao.


    No¡­ It¡¯s not just fast¡­ It¡¯s more like Xiao has long sealed off all possibilities¡­ No matter how the Companion Beast attacks, it will ultimately result in one path-being blocked by Xiao¡­ Amazing¡­ Jiuyang¡¯s eyes flickered as though he found it unbelievable.


    He had always believed that his combat strength and concepts were the strongest among all the Saints, but the crazy Xiao had shattered his understanding and made him suspect himself.


    Without a doubt, Xiao¡¯s combat skills weren¡¯t weaker than his. His concepts were even stronger than his. This was somewhat different from the Xiao he knew.


    Xiao¡¯s eyes were filled with fighting spirit, but his actions were calm like a machine. He didn¡¯t make any mistakes in such a crazy battle.


    How does he do it? Jiuyang was alarmed and somewhat suspicious.


    This was almost different from the Xiao he usually knew, but he was clearly Xiao. It was impossible for it to be fake.


    What puzzled Jiuyang even more was that if this was Xiao¡¯s true strength, why hadn¡¯t Xiao used such an ability when they attacked Zhou Wen?

 Chapter 1639 - Identical

    Chapter 1639 Identical


    In the Li family¡¯s backyard, a beautiful boy crawled through a dog hole and said to another boy, ¡°Laughing Li, do me a favor.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Laughing Li asked the beautiful boy.


    ¡°Bury me in your garden,¡± the beautiful boy said with a serious expression. ¡°Why?¡± Laughing Li looked at the beautiful boy expressionlessly as though he wasn¡¯t surprised at all.


    If other children heard this, they would definitely be very surprised, even shocked and afraid. However, Laughing Li was an exception. This was because he knew the beautiful boy in front of him. He knew that there was no need to be surprised at anything he did because he definitely had his reasons.


    If it didn¡¯t make sense, then it must be that this world didn¡¯t make sense. It definitely wasn¡¯t that the beautiful boy didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°I want to try to see what it¡¯s like to be a dead person,¡± the beautiful boy said.


    ¡°You will really be a dead person if you¡¯re buried,¡± Laughing Li curled his lips and said. ¡°I won¡¯t; I¡¯ve already learned the breathing catheter. As long as I¡¯m not buried too deep, I won¡¯t die.¡± The beautiful boy ran to a small clearing in the garden and grabbed a handful of soil. He shook it and said, ¡°They won¡¯t let me try it at home. I can only try it at your place. Quickly come and bury me.¡±


    Laughing Li walked over expressionlessly and dug away the soil with the beautiful boy.


    It was originally used to plant Chinese roses, but it was temporarily empty because they hadn¡¯t bought a suitable species.


    The two of them dug a pit that was about two feet deep. The beautiful boy entered the pit to have a feeling of it. The length was suitable, so he said to Laughing Li, ¡°Laughing Li, find a bamboo tube and stick it in my mouth. Then, bury me. I¡¯ll use the bamboo tube to breathe¡­¡±


    After a long time, the two of them finally buried the beautiful boy. Only half of the bamboo tube was exposed.


    Laughing Li reached out to give it a try. Only when he could sense the breathing through the bamboo tube did he heave a sigh of relief.


    Time ticked by. In the beginning, Laughing Li was still very worried. From time to time, he would go over to test to see if the beautiful boy was still breathing; he was afraid there would be none.


    However, he later realized that the airflow in the bamboo tube was very rhythmic and long. It was likely not a big problem.


    According to their agreement, Laughing Li needed to dig out the boy 72 hours later.


    However, on the first night, something strange happened.


    Laughing Li was used to sleeping alone from a young age. It wasn¡¯t that he was willing to sleep alone, but he still had two younger brothers whom his mother had to take care of. With them sleeping on each side, he would have nowhere to sleep.


    Furthermore, Laughing Li wasn¡¯t someone who would wheedle. He wasn¡¯t too young, so he got his own room early on.


    Not long after Laughing Li fell asleep, he was suddenly woken up by a strange sound. He opened his eyes in a daze and realized that there was someone standing by his bed.


    There was plenty of moonlight today, so he could see that the figure was a child about his age. Laughing Li thought that the beautiful boy had crawled out by himself, so he rubbed his eyes and asked, ¡°Tianyou, why did you crawl out by yourself?¡±


    ¡°Tianyou, why did you crawl out by yourself?¡± The moment the figure spoke, Laughing Li jumped in fright. He jolted and woke up completely.


    The figure wasn¡¯t just mimicking him. Even his voice and tone were identical. For a moment, Laughing Li even suspected that he was the one speaking


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Laughing Li sat up immediately and leaned against the wall. He stood on the bed and sized up the figure warily.


    As there was only moonlight and it came from behind the figure, Laughing Li couldn¡¯t see his face. However, the more he looked at the outline, the more he felt that it resembled him. He couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill in his heart.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± The voice sounded again, one identical to Laughing Li¡¯s voice and tone.


    Laughing Li stared at the silhouette and suddenly threw a punch at his face.


    The silhouette tilted its head slightly and dodged Laughing Li¡¯s fist. At the same time, it threw a punch at Laughing Li¡¯s face.


    Laughing Li failed to dodge the punch and ended with a bleeding nose.


    However, he ignored it and continued throwing punches at the figure. He used all his strength, hoping to leave a mark on the figure.


    However, the figure¡¯s speed and strength were clearly much stronger than Laughing Li¡¯s. He easily dodged Laughing Li¡¯s attack.


    Thanks to dodging Laughing Li¡¯s fist, the figure had his side facing the moonlight. Laughing Li immediately saw his appearance.


    That face was identical to his. It was as though it was carved from the same mold. Even the painful expression from Laughing Li¡¯s bleeding nose was replicated by that face.


    Laughing Li wasn¡¯t frightened or surprised. He only shouted and pounced at the child who looked like him. His pounce was easily dodged by the child. Furthermore, no matter how he shouted, there was no reaction from the outside. It was as though he was the only one left in the entire Li family compound. Could it be that I¡¯m dreaming? No, it¡¯s not a dream. This definitely isn¡¯t a dream. Laughing Li calmed down and pounced at the child again. He knew that his strength and speed were much weaker than the child¡¯s, but he had to leave something on the child. Otherwise, he would be silently replaced. No one would know that Uncrying Li was no longer the former Uncrying Li.


    Laughing Li didn¡¯t know what kind of existence it was or why it was doing such a thing, but he knew very well what he himself was capable of.


    He lunged again and again, but the boy dodged all of them. His punches and kicks were easily blocked. He failed to injure the boy, but he was hit many times.


    Every time he showed a painful expression when he was injured, the boy would mimic it like a puppet. ¡°Dad¡­ Mom¡­ Butler¡­¡±


    ¡°Dad¡­ Mom¡­ Butler¡­¡±


    Laughing Li shouted, and so did the boy. He imitated his voice perfectly. Even Laughing Li himself couldn¡¯t tell that it was voices from two different people.


    Laughing Li decided to shut up because he already knew that shouting was useless. If it was useful, his family would have long come to save him.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you shouting?¡± The boy finally spoke when he saw Laughing Li hold back his words. Furthermore, there was no expression on his face.


    Laughing Li remained silent as he pounced at the boy with all his might. Even if it was just a scratch, he wanted to leave something on the boy.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to scream? Then I¡¯ll do it for you,¡± the boy said coldly as he suddenly raised his leg and kicked Laughing Li¡¯s chest. Laughing Li couldn¡¯t dodge in time and was kicked to the ground.


    However, he gritted his teeth and didn¡¯t say a word. He even tried his best to control the expression on his face to prevent the muscles on his face from changing.

 Chapter 1640 - You’re A Fool

    Chapter 1640 You¡¯re A Fool


    ¡°Can you endure the pain? I want to see how much you can tolerate.¡± The boy kicked Laughing Li again and again. He even stepped on Laughing Li¡¯s fingers and crushed them bit by bit.


    Yet, as a ten-year-old boy, he didn¡¯t even grunt under such torture. His face twitched unnaturally as his forehead was covered in cold sweat. His eyes were bloodshot and his eyeballs were about to pop out.


    However, it was obvious that Laughing Li was trying his best to control his expression. He tried his best not to let his expressions and reactions be mimicked by the boy who looked like him.


    No matter how the boy tortured Laughing Li, his expression didn¡¯t change much. Apart from the pain in his body that made his face twitch uncontrollably, it was difficult to find any other expression on Laughing Li¡¯s face.


    There was no sign of anger or hate on his face. The boy only saw mockery and disdain in Laughing Li¡¯s eyes.


    This seemed to strike a nerve in the boy, causing anger and violence to appear on his expressionless face. He directly stepped on Laughing Li¡¯s head, leaving it covered in blood. He refused to stop.


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Despite being tortured like this, Laughing Li laughed happily.


    Looking at the laughing Laughing Li, the boy couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. He really didn¡¯t understand why Laughing Li could still laugh so happily. Shouldn¡¯t Laughing Li be crying bitterly at such a time? Shouldn¡¯t he be filled with resentment and anger? Shouldn¡¯t he hate him to the core? Shouldn¡¯t he be horrified and uneasy?


    None of this happened. Laughing Li was only laughing. Furthermore, he was laughing very happily. It was a joy that came from the bottom of his heart, not an act. There was even a hint of smugness in his smile.


    For some reason, when he saw Laughing Li laughing, the boy¡¯s heart burned with anger. As he stomped on Laughing Li¡¯s face, he asked through gritted teeth, ¡°What are you laughing at?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m laughing at you¡­ Laughing at how you don¡¯t get it at all¡­¡± Laughing Li¡¯s mouth was covered in blood as he spoke intermittently. As there was too much blood, his words were hardly discernible.


    ¡°What don¡¯t I get?¡± The boy lowered his head and approached Laughing Li, hoping to hear what he was saying. ¡°That you¡¯re a fool!¡± However, the moment the boy approached Laughing Li, Laughing Li suddenly opened his mouth and spat a mouthful of blood on the boy¡¯s face. The boy subconsciously closed his eyes.


    Bang!


    Just as his eyes closed, Laughing Li¡¯s headbutted him in the chin, causing the boy¡¯s chin to distort as he leaned his head back.


    At that moment, Laughing Li seemed to go mental. He didn¡¯t care about his injuries or if his bones were broken. His bloody palm slammed into the boy¡¯s face.


    Laughing Li¡¯s palm deformed from the impact. His already fractured fingers were distorted beyond recognition.


    However, Laughing Li ignored all of that. Like a lunatic, he rushed forward and punched and kicked the boy. He even bit him with his teeth.


    In the beginning, the boy managed to resist, but it was unknown if he was frightened by Laughing Li or if he was punch-drunk. The boy, who was clearly stronger than Laughing Li in terms of strength, speed, and technique, was beaten until he screamed repeatedly. He even wanted to escape, but how could he? His body was covered in blood. It was impossible to tell if it was his or Laughing Li¡¯s.


    Bang!


    An old man in a Saint costume appeared in the room and sent Laughing Li, who was beating up the boy, flying with a slap. Laughing Li¡¯s body shattered the window and fell into the garden outside. He rolled far away and landed on the ground. It was unknown if he was dead or alive.


    However, seeing that he was covered in blood and many parts of his body had broken bones, he was probably doomed.


    ¡°Useless.¡± The old man glared at the boy on the ground and cursed coldly.


    The boy jolted in fright. He immediately got up and kowtowed to the old man. ¡°Your Excellency¡­ No¡­ Don¡¯t kill me¡­ Don¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°The Holy Land spent so much time, energy, and resources to nurture you, but you are inferior to a child from an ordinary family clan. What¡¯s the point of having you?¡± the old man said with a cold expression.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­ I¡­ I can do it¡­ I was just careless¡­ I definitely won¡¯t make the same mistake again¡­¡± The boy kowtowed in horror.


    ¡°Forget it. It¡¯s troublesome to do another round of nurturing. Continue your mission. You should know what to do next, right?¡± As the old man spoke, he looked at Laughing Li, whose fate was unknown. ¡°For you to be incapable of killing the boy you are to replace and to require my help, it¡¯s a disgrace to the Holy Land.¡±


    ¡°There definitely won¡¯t be a next time,¡± the boy hurriedly said with his head lowered.


    ¡°Quickly dispose of his corpse,¡± the old man said coldly.


    ¡°Yes, yes. I¡¯ll do it right away.¡± The boy hurriedly rushed into the garden and took out a small bottle. He poured the liquid in the small bottle onto Laughing Li.


    Laughing Li¡¯s clothes were immediately corroded by the liquid as his flesh and bones began to melt. ¡°A terrifying figure is approaching. Hide the corpse until he completely disintegrates. I¡¯ll hold back that person,¡± the old man suddenly said with a heavy expression as he looked out into the darkness.


    The boy hurriedly picked up Laughing Li¡¯s corpse and looked around. Finally, he pushed it into the grass and hid the corpse there. When the boy turned around to take a look again, he realized that the old man had already vanished. He looked around uneasily for a while before the old man finally returned.


    ¡°Who was it?¡± the boy hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Hmph, it¡¯s none of your business. Has the corpse disintegrated?¡± the old man said coldly.


    The boy hurriedly pulled away the grass and looked again. He realized that there was only some foul liquid in the grass. Apart from that, there was nothing else.


    ¡°It¡¯s done,¡± the boy said.


    The old man took a look and nodded when he saw the liquid. ¡°From today onwards, you are the eldest young master of the Li family, Uncrying Li, understand?¡± ¡°Yes, Your Excellency. I¡¯m Uncrying Li,¡± the boy hurriedly said.


    The old man reached out his hand and did a swipe, lifting up the smelly liquid along with the vegetation and soil. He sucked it into a huge cloth bag before turning to leave.


    ¡°Your Excellency, how should I contact you?¡± the boy hurriedly asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to contact me. You are Uncrying Li. Uncrying Li is you. Only when the Holy Land needs you will you be a Saint. When you are needed, a Saint will naturally summon you.¡± With that said, the man left the Li family compound.


    Strangely enough, after the old man left, the Li family, which was like a land of the dead, suddenly seemed to return to normal. There were sounds of night insects everywhere, and even the sound of people getting up at night to go to the bathroom.


    ¡°I¡¯m Uncrying Li¡­ I¡¯m Uncrying Li¡­¡± the boy muttered to himself a few times before treating his wounds and cleaning up the glass window shards¡­


    After he returned to his room, in a pool not far from the grass, a beautiful boy secretly surfaced with the heavily injured Laughing Li.


    Looking at Laughing Li¡¯s room, the beautiful boy hesitated for a moment before leaving the Li family¡¯s residence with the dying Laughing Li on his back.

 Chapter 1641 - Mental Mutation State

    Chapter 1641 Mental Mutation State


    It¡¯s been a long time since I felt like this. Xiao recalled the past.


    Ever since he impersonated Xiao, he had never revealed this side of himself. He had been acting as his impersonator.


    There were even times when Xiao questioned who the real Laughing Li was.


    Only when he completely let go of himself did Xiao truly feel that he was still Laughing Li, the elite who could match An Tianzuo.


    His eyes were bloodshot and his hair and beard were disheveled, but his eyes were extremely cold. He was like a devil that had escaped from the Hell of Avicinaraka. Having suffered hundreds of lifetimes of torture, he was filled with boundless anger, but his heart was already dead.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Xiao¡¯s Strength and Speed gradually exceeded his limits. He fought the Companion Beast crazily without being at a disadvantage. His attacks were even more ferocious than the Companion Beast¡¯s.


    Bang!


    Amidst countless punches and kicks, Xiao managed to be slightly faster than the Companion Beast. He punched the Companion Beast in the face, sending it flying. It slammed into the rocks, causing a large area to collapse.


    Xiao¡¯s figure instant transmitted in front of the Companion Beast as his fists and feet bombarded it, constantly blasting its body into the rocks.


    It was unknown how many attacks landed on the Companion Beast. When Xiao threw his final punch, the Companion Beast¡¯s body slammed through the rocks, penetrated the ground, and flew into the air.


    Xiao rushed out as well. He hovered in midair and looked at the Companion Beast lying in midair as though all its bones had been broken.


    Just as Xiao was about to charge forward again, he realized that there were two people fighting in the air not far away.


    Why is he here? Xiao was taken aback when he saw Zhou Wen. He never expected to see Zhou Wen here.


    Zhou Wen was fighting Toad Immortal when he saw two things spew out from the ground. He was given a fright. On careful look, he saw that one of them was Xiao. The other creature looked very strange. He didn¡¯t know what it was, but it was clearly a Companion Beast with a pure energy body. Alright, there¡¯s indeed an ambush. You want to scheme against me? Dream on. Seeing Xiao and the Companion Beast rush out, Toad Immortal confirmed his thoughts. He retreated at high speeds as the money that filled the sky returned to his robe.


    Toad Immortal looked down at the situation below and determined what to do next.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t chase after Toad Immortal. He also observed Xiao and the Companion Beast as he guessed what was going on.


    Zhou Wen had always believed that the bee in the plant was the Companion Beast born from this planet.


    However, from the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case. The Companion Beast that rushed out of the ground with Xiao was likely the Companion Beast born from this planet.


    Crack! Crack!


    As the few of them had their own thoughts, the Companion Beast slowly moved. It cracked its neck as its distorted body gradually returned to normal. It stood up again, its body still as perfect as before as though it had never been injured.


    Xiao frowned slightly. He had indeed used all his strength. Even the secret he had hidden had been exposed. Every strike¡¯s offensive strength was enough to kill a Heaven-level expert.


    The Companion Beast in front of him had recovered so quickly despite suffering so many attacks. Such a recovery ability was unbelievable.


    However, what happened next surprised Xiao even more.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s body tensed up as its muscles showed. Its entire body seemed to be filled with explosive strength. Its eyes turned red, but it didn¡¯t seem to have any emotions. This¡­ This is¡­ Xiao looked at the changes in the Companion Beast¡¯s body and revealed a look of horror.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s present state was identical to his. This left Xiao very surprised.


    After all, this state of his wasn¡¯t a type of talent or Essence Energy Skill, but an effect on his body through a mental mutation.


    This ability was the result of a mutation in the psyche. It couldn¡¯t be cultivated, so it didn¡¯t expend Essence Energy when used. It was Xiao¡¯s unique ability.


    Even An Tianzuo hadn¡¯t mastered this ability. Although Xiao had already told him everything about how to enter this state, An Tianzuo just couldn¡¯t do it.


    Later, according to An Tianzuo¡¯s analysis, Xiao¡¯s mental state was related to his experience and thoughts. It wasn¡¯t something others could imitate.


    However, the Companion Beast had also entered such a state. It left Xiao in disbelief.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s figure flashed as it charged at Xiao. Its Strength, Speed, Constitution, and Essence Energy had entered a special mental state like Xiao¡¯s. Its various abilities had increased again.


    Although Xiao remained in the same state, he was once again suppressed. He was surpassed by Companion Beasts in every aspect.


    An independent Heaven-level Companion Beast? After Toad Immortal saw the situation below, his eyes immediately revealed a look of greed.


    The Companion Beasts produced by planets were somewhat different from the Companion Beasts on Earth.


    Only humans could use the Companion Beasts on Earth. As for Companion Beasts born from the celestial bodies in the universe, they weren¡¯t limited to humans.


    Haha, my luck is here. I never expected a Companion Beast from this planet to appear! Toad Immortal immediately became greedy when he saw the Companion Beast.


    This was also his true nature. Back at the Queen Mother of the West, if he hadn¡¯t been greedy, he wouldn¡¯t have been sealed in a mortal body like the toad and suppressed for so many years.


    Toad Immortal had suffered greatly once after all, so he had learned his lesson. Although his greed ate at him, he still watched and didn¡¯t rush forward immediately.


    If it were in the past, Toad Immortal would have long rushed forward and swallowed the Companion Beast.


    Toad Immortal didn¡¯t want any Companion Beasts, but the pure energy in the Companion Beast¡¯s body was extremely beneficial to him. It made him drool.


    Although Xiao was suppressed by the Companion Beast, he still managed to put up a resistance.


    The Companion Beast used abilities that he was best at. He knew those abilities too well. With this understanding, Xiao could circle around them.


    Battles aren¡¯t as simple as imitating. A sneer appeared on Xiao¡¯s lips.


    He roughly understood that this Companion Beast had the ability to imitate other creatures, but Xiao didn¡¯t believe that such an imitation could defeat him.


    I¡¯ve been in the Holy Land for so many years. It was in no way a waste of my youth. The coldness in Xiao¡¯s eyes intensified as his eyes turned crazier.

 Chapter 1642 - Sometimes True, Sometimes Fake

    Chapter 1642 Sometimes True, Sometimes Fake


    Xiao wasn¡¯t Laughing Li from back then after all. What he had learned over the years was no longer as simple as a mental state.


    His person, mind, body, and abilities were much more mature than before. When he was young, he might have relied on his mutated mental state to seek out a possibility for victory, but to the present Xiao, that was no longer the case.


    The Companion Beast attacked again. With the augmentation of the mental state, his speed was unbelievably fast.


    And just as his fist was about to touch Xiao, Xiao took half a step back. When the Companion Beast¡¯s fist struck Xiao¡¯s body, it passed through him as though Xiao¡¯s body didn¡¯t exist. It was just an illusion.


    Xiao¡¯s figure really began to dissipate like a phantom. Almost at the same time the phantom began to dissipate, another Xiao appeared on the other side of the Companion Beast and threw a punch at the back of the Companion Beast¡¯s head.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s reaction was extremely fast. He swung his arm and slammed his elbow into Xiao¡¯s fist.


    However, when his elbow collided with the fist, he was surprised to discover that his elbow went through Xiao¡¯s fist. He didn¡¯t sense any force. It was also an illusion.


    Elsewhere, the phantom that should have dissipated struck the Companion Beast¡¯s face, causing it to fall backward. ¡°Sometimes real, sometimes fake. You learned my psyche mutation, but you didn¡¯t learn my true thoughts. It¡¯s just an empty shell.¡± Xiao, who was behind the phantom, spoke out. At the same time, he struck the Companion Beast that was leaning back and leaped up to slam his knee into its waist.


    The sound of the Companion Beast¡¯s back snapping could almost be heard. The Companion Beast that was about to snap was sent flying into the sky like a meteor.


    Just as Xiao was about to chase after the Companion Beast using his Trajectory movement technique and deliver a fatal combo when he saw a golden light flash in the sky, the Companion Beast that was thrown into the air was caught by the golden light and pulled into Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth.


    Toad Immortal finally found an opportunity after watching for a long time. He wrapped his tongue around the Companion Beast and swallowed it.


    ¡°I never expected such a pleasant surprise. I actually managed to devour a Heaven-level Companion Beast so easily.¡± Toad Immortal was somewhat smug as he looked at Xiao and said, ¡°Punk from the Trajectory Holy Temple, go back and tell Holy God that Toad Immortal will happily accept this Companion Beast.¡±


    With that said, Toad Immortal ignored Xiao and turned to fly towards Zhou Wen.


    After all, to him, killing Zhou Wen to retrieve the Moon Essence Basin and the Skyimmortal Swan was most pertinent. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to devour a Heaven-level Companion Beast and slowly digest its energy.


    ¡°Did I say that you can leave?¡± As Toad Immortal flew towards Zhou Wen, he heard Xiao¡¯s cold voice.


    ¡°Why? Can¡¯t you accept this?¡± Toad Immortal turned around and rolled his strange eyes as he looked at Xiao.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I can¡¯t accept it, but I want to kill you. You shouldn¡¯t have taken something that belongs to the Holy Temples.¡± As Xiao spoke, his figure flashed in front of Toad Immortal. His sharp fingers slashed at Toad Immortal¡¯s throat.


    A golden light flashed from Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth as his tongue wrapped around Xiao¡¯s arm. However, he realized that it was only an illusion. As for Xiao, he had already appeared behind him. His fingers were like hooks as he grabbed at Toad Immortal¡¯s fat head.


    Toad Immortal waved his hand and the golden-robed sleeve blocked Xiao¡¯s five fingers. However, it was only an illusion. The phantom-like Xiao continued slashing at Toad Immortal¡¯s throat.


    A golden light flashed from Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth as he cleaved away Xiao¡¯s arm. At the same time, he sneered and said, ¡°Such a trick is fine against that stupid Companion Beast. You are still far from being able to injure me¡­¡±


    Bang!


    Before Toad Immortal could finish his sentence, he realized that the Xiao in front of him was also an illusion. A third Xiao appeared on the other side of his body and punched Toad Immortal in the face.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s face distorted as his body sank with his face. He slammed into the glacier, causing a large area to collapse.


    What a powerful fellow. He¡¯s already at the Heaven level, right? Zhou Wen frowned inwardly.


    The last time he could defeat the three Saints in a one-on-three battle was because they had yet to truly advance to the Heaven level. However, from the looks of it, not only was Xiao already at the Heaven level, but his abilities and realm seemed to be much stronger than before.


    How long has it been? This fellow has actually grown to such a stage. Are the Holy Land¡¯s resources really that abundant? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    Jiuyang had already rushed out. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to fight the dimensional creatures controlled by the Companion Beast. As he fought, he retreated. He rushed out of the planet and saw the battle between Xiao and the Companion Beast, as well as the scene of Toad Immortal being sent into the glacier.


    What is this fellow up to? Jiuyang looked at Xiao, feeling increasingly puzzled.


    The abilities Xiao displayed were much stronger than his normal standards. This wasn¡¯t because his strength had increased. However, the power brought by the Holy Artifact wasn¡¯t enough to make Xiao undergo such a huge change.


    The only way possible was if Xiao already had a very high realm and ability, but if that was the case, Jiuyang found Xiao harder to figure out. He even had some doubts.


    The dimensional creatures controlled by the Companion Beast rushed out and held back Jiuyang again. Jiuyang wasn¡¯t in the mood to fight them. Although he had no choice but to deal with them, most of his attention was on Xiao.


    Boom!


    The glacier collapsed, forming a huge hole. A shockwave spread out from the glacier as a figure rushed out like a cannonball. It was the livid Toad Immortal.


    His cheeks swelled up. Being a Heaven-level attack, the punch had not been light. Toad Immortal was also at the Heaven-level, so he wasn¡¯t strong enough to ignore attacks of the same level.


    ¡°You¡¯re dead.¡± Toad Immortal¡¯s eyes flashed with killing intent as he stared at Xiao and enunciated each word clearly.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. If you don¡¯t spit out that Companion Beast, you¡¯re indeed dead,¡± Xiao said indifferently.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that you can challenge me just because you¡¯ve learned some tricks from the Trajectory Holy Temple. You will soon know how foolish you are.¡± As the toad spoke, its body emitted a golden glow. Countless square-holed coins shot out like stars. They were nailed into the nearby void, enveloping a large area into the Money Domain.

 Chapter 1643 - Treasurefall Money

    Chapter 1643 Treasurefall Money


    Under the envelopment of the Money Domain, all sorts of powers were immediately sealed. Even Essence Energy couldn¡¯t circulate normally.


    Xiao¡¯s figure immediately sank as though he had fallen out of a special trajectory. When he moved again, he couldn¡¯t leave behind any afterimages. Even the Essence Energy circulation in his body stopped, preventing him from releasing it.


    ¡°You are still too young to fight me.¡± Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue moved again as he instantly appeared in front of Xiao and swept towards his neck.


    Xiao was unable to enter the void trajectory again, making it difficult for him to dodge the tongue. He could only use his hand to block the golden light.


    Bang!


    Xiao¡¯s body was sent flying. The tongue chased after him like a bolt of lightning and lashed around him.


    Xiao tried his best, but he could barely block the tongue¡¯s attacks. He didn¡¯t have the strength to counterattack as he was constantly struck.


    This was still a result of him maintaining his mental mutation state. Otherwise, he might have been swallowed by the tongue. Jiuyang and the electromagnetic tentacle monster were also within the range of the Money Domain. Under the influence of the Money Domain, the Sun God Light on Jiuyang¡¯s body immediately converged. It could only circulate in his body without being released.


    The electromagnetic storm around the electromagnetic tentacle monster vanished, revealing its true body.


    What was previously thought to be a huge octopus wasn¡¯t the case. Its main body was like a meat pillar made of intertwined tentacles. The tentacles extended out from the meat pillar. And in the middle of the meat pillar, there was a huge eyeball wrapped around it. Its wheel-like pupil was looking left and right, making it look extremely strange.


    This was because its body had turned into white jade. It looked like a white jade statue, but it wasn¡¯t that terrifying. If it was its original color and appearance, it would probably be even more terrifying.


    Although the electromagnetic monster and Jiuyang couldn¡¯t release their Essence Energy, their Essence Energy was still circulating in their bodies. It wasn¡¯t completely sealed.


    This was thanks to them being at the Heaven level. If it were some low-level creature, their Essence Energy would probably be completely sealed, crippling them.


    Xiao wanted to summon his Companion Beasts, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t. The sealing effects of the Money Domain were just too powerful.


    Ding! Toad Immortal suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a golden beam. Xiao had already sensed that the golden beam was somewhat different from the tongue from before, but he had no chance of dodging. All he could do was deliver a punch.


    When the fist collided with the golden light, Xiao saw that it was a golden ancient coin. The ancient coin seemed to contain a huge suction force as it stuck to his fist. Instantly, Xiao felt the Essence Energy in his body vanish without a trace. The last bit of resistance was wiped away.


    ¡°Die.¡± Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue swept over again.


    Without Essence Energy, although Xiao¡¯s physical strength wasn¡¯t bad, it was difficult for him to withstand Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue. Although he tried his best to push the tongue away, he was still pulled towards Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth.


    Even if Jiuyang wanted to save him, most of his strength had been sealed. He couldn¡¯t rush over in time, much less with the electromagnetic monster still pestering him.


    Just as Xiao was about to be pulled into Toad Immortal¡¯s mouth, he suddenly saw a saber beam slash down and strike the middle of Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue. Although this strike failed to sever Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue, it still left a wound. Alarmed and in pain, Toad Immortal retracted his tongue, allowing Xiao to be liberated.


    ¡°Zhou Wen?¡± Xiao retreated and saw that the person who had struck out was Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Gentlemen, how about we cooperate and kill him first?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s strength was extremely terrifying. Zhou Wen could barely survive alone. After Toad Immortal finished off Xiao, it would probably be him and Tsukuyomi next.


    The enemy of an enemy was a friend. As long as he could kill Toad Immortal, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind temporarily cooperating with the Saints of the Holy Land.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Xiao was straightforward as he agreed. At the same time, he said, ¡°You can crack his power?¡±


    Jiuyang also wanted to know the answer to this question. Everyone had clearly seen Zhou Wen slash out a saber beam in Toad Immortal¡¯s domain. Clearly, he wasn¡¯t suppressed by the domain¡¯s power.


    Jiuyang and Xiao wanted to know if Zhou Wen could only exempt himself or if he could help them. If Zhou Wen could only exempt himself, they couldn¡¯t recover their combat strength, making any form of cooperation useless.


    ¡°Probably, but I have a condition. After killing him, everything on him will belong to me,¡± Zhou Wen said as he dodged the furious Toad Immortal¡¯s attacks.


    ¡°Deal.¡± Jiuyang was still somewhat hesitant, but Xiao agreed immediately.


    ¡°Xiao¡­¡± Jiuyang wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Xiao.


    ¡°Nothing is more important than survival. Let¡¯s survive first,¡± Xiao said with a wave of his hand.


    Jiuyang didn¡¯t say anything else. In fact, he didn¡¯t have the time to say anything else. The electromagnetic monster continued attacking crazily. Without the power of the Sun God Light, Jiuyang¡¯s strength was much weaker than the huge electromagnetic monster.


    When Toad Immortal saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s Essence Energy wasn¡¯t sealed, and how he was stronger than before, killing intent surged in his heart. He opened his mouth and spat out another Treasurefall Money, turning it into a golden beam that smashed at Zhou Wen.


    Seeing Xiao¡¯s outcome, Zhou Wen already knew how terrifying the Treasurefall Money was. How was it possible for him to allow it to stick to him? He used instant transmission to dodge the Treasurefall Money¡¯s attack.


    As the Teacher Domain simulated more and more trajectories of the Money Domain, it almost reached completion. Although he couldn¡¯t condense an Essence Energy Art, it had a faint restraining effect on the Money Domain, allowing Zhou Wen to obtain more power over it.


    However, at the instant Zhou Wen phased into existence, the Treasurefall Money slammed into his forehead.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the Essence Energy in his body vanish as he fell from the sky.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s physical strength and reaction were still present. He somersaulted and landed on the ground, preventing his head from hitting the ground.


    Zhou Wen wanted to gather his Essence Energy, but he couldn¡¯t control them. Apart from the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder circulating, the other Essence Energy Arts were completely sealed. The Dragon King armor on his body was sealed as it transformed into a tattoo that returned to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen¡¯s connection with the other eight Companion Beasts was instantly severed, greatly weakening Zhou Wen¡¯s strength.


    Zhou Wen reached out to remove the ancient coin on his forehead, but it seemed to be stuck to his bones. Unless Zhou Wen chopped off his head, it was impossible for him to remove the ancient coin.


    ¡°I was once invincible in the Mythical era. To think a few mere humans have the delusion of fighting me,¡± Toad Immortal said disdainfully as he brandished his tongue again and swept it at Zhou Wen, who had lost his Essence Energy.


    Toad Immortal felt that Zhou Wen was the greatest threat. Although Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was the weakest, he was also proficient in taboo powers. He likely posed the greatest threat to him.

 Chapter 1644 - Cover

    Chapter 1644 Cover


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was at best at the Human Realm. Without the help of the Dragon King armor and eight Companion Beasts, he was far from being capable of fighting Toad Immortal.


    A golden beam flashed as Zhou Wen retreated with all his might, but he failed to dodge in time.


    Bang! A figure rushed over and slammed into the golden light from the side, causing it to deviate from its trajectory, allowing Zhou Wen to escape the calamity.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue stabbed into the glacier to the side, piercing a huge hole in it. The ice shattered and splattered.


    Zhou Wen retreated and avoided the ice shards. He swept his gaze and realized that the person who had struck the tongue was surprisingly Xiao.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be able to stall for long. You have to make the best use of time.¡± With that said, Xiao charged to the other side without waiting for Zhou Wen to answer. He raised a huge block of ice and smashed it at Toad Immortal in midair.


    Make the best use of time? What the hell can I make it into? My Teacher Domain is affected by the ancient coin, so its effects are nearly zero. There¡¯s no point in making the best use of time! Zhou Wen thought to himself, but Xiao was crazily grabbing ice blocks and throwing them at Toad Immortal. He was clearly buying time for him.


    Meanwhile, Jiuyang had also lured the electromagnetic monster elsewhere. At the same time, he was creating space for himself. Toad Immortal faced the ice blocks and opened his mouth to suck at them. All the ice was swallowed by him, unable to pose any threat to him.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue flicked over. Xiao couldn¡¯t withstand the blow with his strength and was sent flying. He slammed into the rocks, cracking them. The bones in his body emitted a cracking sound as blood seeped out of his mouth uncontrollably.


    Zhou Wen continued retreating rapidly, hoping to distance himself from Toad Immortal, but Toad Immortal was just too fast. Without the augmentation of the eight pets, Zhou Wen was far inferior.


    Before he could retreat, Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue wrapped around him again. Zhou Wen pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits, but he only managed to circle around it twice. He couldn¡¯t circle around it a third time.


    Just as the tongue was about to entangle Zhou Wen, a huge boulder suddenly flew over and smashed into him, sending him tumbling away.


    Although the smash wasn¡¯t light, Zhou Wen ultimately dodged the tongue¡¯s attack.


    In the distance, Jiuyang held a stone in his hand as he smashed it at Toad Immortal¡¯s tongue. Although it was instantly shattered by the tongue and failed to be of any use, it gave Zhou Wen some time.


    Jiuyang himself was swept up by the electromagnetic monster¡¯s tentacles and smashed into the ground. Large rocks shattered as his body bounced up with the rubble. Blood bloomed like a flower.


    It¡¯s useless even if you protect me! Zhou Wen immediately broke out into a cold sweat when he saw that they wanted to protect him.


    Before he was hit by the Treasurefall Money, he could indeed be of use. Now, he was truly useless.


    The power of the Teacher Domain was suppressed to the point of it being unable to leave his body. Ignoring the fact that he couldn¡¯t help Jiuyang and Xiao escape the influence of the Money Domain, even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t escape it. The only way to escape the present predicament was for the Teacher Domain to turn the power of the Money Domain into an Essence Energy Art.


    However, Zhou Wen had tried for quite some time and had nearly pieced together all the trajectories of the Money Domain, but he was just short of completing it.


    He failed to piece it together despite having so much time. He didn¡¯t have the confidence to do it in such a short period of time and in such a difficult environment.


    However, Jiuyang and Xiao seemed to place all their hopes on Zhou Wen. Even though they suffered injuries, they constantly protected him.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat dumbfounded. He was between laughter and tears.


    What the hell is going on!? Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as he circulated the Teacher Domain. At this moment, he had no choice but to try his best.


    In order to protect him, Xiao and Jiuyang suffered serious injuries. It didn¡¯t seem like they could last much longer. Hurry up and piece it to completion! Zhou Wen circulated the Teacher Domain with all his might to analyze the Money Domain, but the effects were very poor. He couldn¡¯t figure out the last part he lacked.


    This darn ancient coin! As Zhou Wen ran through the ruins made of glaciers and rocks, he cursed inwardly.


    If he hadn¡¯t been suppressed by this ancient coin, he wouldn¡¯t be in such a sorry state.


    Ancient coin¡­ Wait a minute¡­ Zhou Wen seemed to figure out something as he used the Teacher Domain to analyze the ancient coin on his forehead.


    Xiao was already in a tragic state, but Jiuyang was in an even worse state. After all, there was still a Heaven-level electromagnetic monster pursuing him. Jiuyang was already severely injured. He was swept up by the electromagnetic monster as tentacles wrapped around his body and pulled him into the pillar of flesh.


    Xiao was helpless. He had just been sent flying by Toad Immortal¡¯s palm. All his bones seemed to have fallen apart. Ignoring saving Jiuyang, he couldn¡¯t even protect himself.


    Am I really going to die here!? Jiuyang sighed inwardly.


    Suddenly, a beam of light shot into the sky, illuminating everyone¡¯s eyes. Before Jiuyang could see what the light was, it flashed past him, drew an elegant arc, and stopped in the sky.


    Crack! Crack!


    The tentacles that wrapped around Jiuyang snapped one after another. Jiuyang instantly regained his freedom. At the same time, the Sun God Light in his body spewed out again, causing his entire body to turn into light. He was like a humanoid sun.


    Jiuyang looked at the figure in the air in pleasant surprise. Indeed, he saw Zhou Wen floating in the air in the Dragon King armor. He held the Bamboo Blade that emitted a cold aqueous glow. The tip of the blade was still dripping with blood.


    He finally managed to do it. Xiao sensed the strange power that spread out from Zhou Wen¡¯s body. The Essence Energy in his body stirred, but due to the suppression of the Treasurefall Money, he remained motionless.


    ¡°You actually recovered your Essence Energy¡­ Unfortunately¡­ Under the Treasurefall Money¡­ Everything¡­¡± Before Toad Immortal could finish his sentence, his fish-like eyes suddenly narrowed.


    Zhou Wen reached out and plucked the Treasurefall Money from his forehead.


    ¡°Treasurefall Money? Are you talking about this?¡± Zhou Wen pinched the Treasurefall Money with his fingers and suddenly crushed it. The money fragments scattered down from his fingers like gravel. ¡°How¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± Toad Immortal¡¯s eyes nearly popped out. He found it unbelievable.


    Even in the Mythical era, he had once been invincible using the Treasurefall Money. He had defeated countless terrifying bigwigs.


    However, he had never imagined that the Treasurefall Money would be crushed by a human.


    After Zhou Wen crushed the Treasurefall Money, his figure flashed in front of Xiao. He pressed down on the Treasurefall Money on Xiao¡¯s body and exerted some strength, shattering it to crumbling pieces.

 Chapter 1645 - Source of All Evil

    Chapter 1645 Source of All Evil


    As the Treasurefall Money shattered, Xiao immediately returned to normal. When his body moved, it was as though he had an illusion that followed him. It was as though he was swimming between nothingness and reality. ¡°Impossible!¡± Toad Immortal was still in disbelief as he used all his strength to activate his Money Domain.


    However, under the influence of Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain, the effects of the Money Domain were completely eliminated. It couldn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen and company in the Teacher Domain at all.


    When Zhou Wen used the Teacher Domain to scan the Treasurefall Money, he completed the final piece of the puzzle. The trajectories in the Teacher Domain transformed into streams of light that fell into the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and condensed Source of All Evil.


    With the birth of the Essence Energy Art, the Teacher Domain immediately had a restraining effect on the Money Domain. Wherever the Teacher Domain was, the Money Domain could no longer produce any effects.


    Even Treasurefall Money was affected. Under the restraint of the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen easily crushed it.


    We are finally back at the starting line again. Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief. They finally had the capital to fight Toad Immortal.


    Before Zhou Wen could take action, Xiao had already stood forward. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Toad Immortal in midair.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He was the very impressive and strong Toad Immortal, but all of this was built on the effectiveness of the Money Domain and the Treasurefall Money. Toad Immortal had relied on this unique skill to survive while wreaking havoc in the Queen Mother of the West¡¯s dimensional zone.


    Now that the Money Domain had lost its effects and the Treasurefall Money ability had been cracked by Zhou Wen, Toad Immortal immediately lost most of his confidence.


    Despite both being at the Heaven level, he had seen Xiao¡¯s combat strength. Without the Money Domain and Treasurefall Money, Toad Immortal knew that he was probably no match for Xiao, much less Jiuyang and Zhou Wen.


    Toad Immortal knew the principle of ¡°where there¡¯s life, there¡¯s hope.¡± He turned around and wanted to escape. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to think of a way to deal with Zhou Wen when he wasn¡¯t with the others.


    However, to Toad Immortal¡¯s surprise, just as he turned around, he saw Xiao behind him. He was smiling at him, but the smile made Toad Immortal¡¯s back turn cold. Cold sweat flowed down his forehead.


    ¡°F*ck you.¡± Toad Immortal suddenly exerted strength as the golden light on his golden robe trembled. He spat out a piece of Treasurefall Money that shot at Xiao.


    However, in the Teacher Domain, no matter how his golden robe trembled, the Money Domain was useless. The Treasurefall Money wasn¡¯t as terrifying as before. Although it could still be shot out, Xiao easily dodged it.


    Pa! Pa!


    Xiao appeared in front of Toad Immortal like a ghost. His palm struck back and forth, slapping Toad Immortal¡¯s head left and right. His face was about to be smashed in, and the sound of bones cracking could be heard clearly.


    IS


    Toad Immortal waved his hands, hoping to fight Xiao to the death. However, when he pounced on Xiao, he only managed to hit an illusion. Another Xiao appeared behind him. His leg slashed at Toad Immortal¡¯s waist like a blade, sending him flying. Zhou Wen only saw Xiao¡¯s phantoms surrounding Toad Immortal and attacking him crazily. He couldn¡¯t tell which was the illusion and which was the real deal. Both seemed capable of swapping between themselves at any time, causing Toad Immortal to cry out in pain from the lashing. He swayed back and forth like a roly-poly. Blood constantly splattered out with Xiao¡¯s attacks as countless bones in his body were fractured.


    ¡°We agreed that everything on him will be mine.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat anxious when he saw this.


    If this continued, Toad Immortal would definitely be killed by Xiao. When the time came, Zhou Wen might not be able to catch up to him if Xiao ran off with something.


    Bang!


    Xiao¡¯s final kick struck Toad Immortal¡¯s head, smashing it right into his chest.


    Toad Immortal¡¯s body crashed into the planet like a comet, creating a huge ring-shaped crater. His mangled body no longer looked human.


    ¡°I¡¯ll naturally keep my promise,¡± Xiao said indifferently without any intention of picking up the corpse.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care as he rushed over to loot the corpse.


    What Zhou Wen wanted the most was Toad Immortal¡¯s Calamity Essence. This was because Toad Immortal¡¯s domain power was the power of taboo. This was similar to the Teacher Domain¡¯s attributes. Perhaps Toad Immortal¡¯s Calamity Essence could raise the Teacher Domain to the Hell level or even the Heaven level.


    In that case, even without the augmentation of the Dragon King armor and eight Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen could fight a Heaven-level expert.


    Zhou Wen hoped that Toad Immortal¡¯s body had the Calamity Essence, but before he could go over, Toad Immortal¡¯s body moved.


    ¡°He¡¯s still alive?¡± Zhou Wen and Xiao were taken aback.


    No matter how one looked at the injuries Toad Immortal suffered, he was doomed. He wasn¡¯t a Calamity creature that was good at recovery. It was impossible for him to survive.


    Just as the two of them were feeling puzzled, Toad Immortal¡¯s body staggered as he stood up.


    His actions were very strange, his body jerking like a zombie. In the next second, large amounts of white matter surged out of Toad Immortal¡¯s body and instantly enveloped his body.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ the Companion Beast of this planet¡­ It¡¯s not dead yet¡­¡± Zhou Wen and company immediately knew what it was. Indeed, after the white matter devoured Toad Immortal¡¯s body, it quickly distorted and shrank. Soon, it turned into the strange white jade-like Companion Beast.


    It didn¡¯t suffer any apparent injuries, much less be devoured and digested by Toad Immortal.


    Furthermore, from the looks of it, its body had become even more majestic. It was clearly much taller and stronger than before. Its aura had also become stronger.


    ¡°Be careful. This Companion Beast is very good at devouring and imitating.¡± Xiao looked at the Companion Beast with a heavy expression.


    Previously, the Companion Beast could imitate his psyche mutation state and combat strength. Now that it had devoured Toad Immortal, Xiao was worried that it had even imitated Toad Immortal¡¯s abilities.


    The facts proved that Xiao¡¯s worries weren¡¯t unnecessary. The Companion Beast swept its gaze at everyone as its body suddenly emitted a powerful golden light. Ancient coins shot out from its body.


    ¡°Holy sh*t!¡± Zhou Wen exclaimed in surprise as his eyes widened. Not only had the Companion Beast learned Toad Immortal¡¯s abilities, but he had also made them stronger.


    Previously, when Toad Immortal used the Money Domain, the money that formed the domain was only ordinary money. Only the ancient coin condensed in his mouth was Treasurefall Money.


    However, the golden ancient coins that emitted from the Companion Beast¡¯s body were all Treasurefall Money, forming a domain made of Treasurefall Money.


    The power of the Teacher Domain could indeed restrain the Treasurefall Money, but it wasn¡¯t as easy as restraining the Money Domain. Now that the entire domain was made of Treasurefall Money, the effects of the Teacher Domain on the Money Domain immediately weakened.


    Thankfully, in the Teacher Domain, the Money Domain still couldn¡¯t be of much use.


    Hum!


    The Companion Beast¡¯s body tore through the void and instantly appeared in front of Xiao.

 Chapter 1646 - 6 Besieging

    Chapter 1646 Besieging


    The Companion Beast threw a punch at Xiao¡¯s abdomen, but Xiao¡¯s figure turned into an illusion, causing the punch to pass through his body and fail to injure him.


    Xiao¡¯s true body appeared on the other side of the Companion Beast and similarly threw a punch at its head.


    The Companion Beast seemed to be unable to dodge in time and was struck in the head by Xiao¡¯s punch. However, Xiao¡¯s fist passed through its head, missing it-it was actually an illusion.


    Xiao¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted as he immediately turned his head. He saw an identical Companion Beast appear in another direction. The Companion Beast¡¯s fist was already in front of his face.


    In an exchange between reality and illusion, Xiao returned to the phantom from before. The body that had been struck in the face had turned into an illusion.


    However, when Xiao returned, he realized that the Companion Beast he thought was an illusion had similarly struck his abdomen. A terrifying force entered his body through his abdomen, causing his muscles and bones to tremble. He suddenly flew out and barely stopped after traveling dozens of kilometers in the air.


    Isn¡¯t that Xiao¡¯s ability? The Companion Beast actually learned it! Zhou Wen and Jiuyang were alarmed when they saw the Companion Beast¡¯s phantom vanish from midair, leaving only its true body.


    Xiao¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t only limited to the power of the Trajectory Holy Temple, but it was also supplemented by his own insights and mental mutations. Even a Saint of the Trajectory Holy Temple couldn¡¯t master such an ability.


    The Companion Beast could actually imitate it and use such an ability to injure Xiao. It was obvious how terrifying it was.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s figure flashed as it arrived in front of Zhou Wen. Its fist struck Zhou Wen¡¯s abdomen at an indiscernible speed.


    Zhou Wen pushed Transcendent Flying Immortal to its limits as his figure gracefully drew an arc, dodging the Companion Beast¡¯s repeated attacks.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s entire body was like a weapon as it dealt an onslaught of attacks at Zhou Wen. After a round of attacks, it failed to injure him.


    Suddenly, it opened its mouth and a white beam flashed. The white light was so fast that even Transcendent Flying Immortal couldn¡¯t dodge it. His body was bound by a white object ¨C the tongue of the Companion Beast.


    This fellow actually learned Toad Immortal¡¯s move! Zhou Wen held the Bamboo Blade in one hand and slashed at the tongue that bound his body.


    With the sharpness of the Bamboo Blade and Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, this strike only left a shallow wound. It failed to sever the tongue.


    Having dealt such a wound, it would probably require dozens of slashes to sever the tongue.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have that much time. The tongue yanked him towards the Companion Beast and instantly made him arrive in front of it. He was about to be pulled into its open mouth.


    Sun God Light tore through the sky like an aurora and struck the Companion Beast. The Companion Beast had no choice but to dodge the Sun God Light¡¯s attack, preventing Zhou Wen from being pulled into its mouth.


    At that moment, Xiao rushed over. While the Companion Beast dodged the Sun God Light, he appeared behind Zhou Wen like a ghost. His fingers were like blades as he repeatedly slashed at his tongue. The power that could slice through the void left deep marks on his tongue.


    Feeling pain in its tongue, the Companion Beast released Zhou Wen and retracted the tongue back into its mouth.


    ¡°Jiuyang, come over. Attack together,¡± Xiao shouted at Jiuyang. Jiuyang had already rushed over. At the same time, the electromagnetic monster that was chasing after him rushed over.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood what Xiao was up to. The three of them were to attack the Companion Beast together. Although the electromagnetic monster was an enemy, the enemies combined might not necessarily become stronger enemies.


    However, the three of them together would become stronger. Zhou Wen used Transcendent Flying Immortal. He was as agile and elegant as a true immortal in the sky. As he besieged the Companion Beast, he used the electromagnetic monster to restrain the Companion Beast¡¯s attacks.


    Although the electromagnetic monster was also at the Heaven level, its intelligence was ordinary to begin with. Furthermore, after being controlled by the Companion Beast¡¯s power, it only had the instinct to fight.


    Its arrival provided cover for Zhou Wen and company. From time to time, they would position themselves to exploit the electromagnetic monster for blocking the Companion Beast¡¯s attacks.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Bamboo Blade drew out arcs as it slashed at the Companion Beast from different directions.


    Jiuyang¡¯s Sun God Light struck the Companion Beast from different directions again and again. Xiao¡¯s phantoms surrounded the Companion Beast from every direction. Although this was the first time the three of them were working together, they seemed to be telepathically connected. Their teamwork was flawless.


    Bang!


    After all, it was difficult for the Companion Beast to fight six hands with two fists. In a moment of carelessness, Jiuyang struck its back with the Sun God Fist. Its white jade-like muscles were charred black by the Sun God Light.


    While the Companion Beast was staggering, Zhou Wen¡¯s saber and Xiao¡¯s fingers constantly slashed at it. Zhou Wen¡¯s Bamboo Blade left saber marks on the Companion Beast¡¯s body.


    Xiao¡¯s fingers constantly ripped through the Companion Beast¡¯s body as Jiuyang¡¯s fists struck out repeatedly. The three of them unleashed their strongest strength as they attacked the Companion Beast¡¯s body from three different directions.


    The Companion Beast staggered from the beating as the wounds on its body increased significantly. At that moment, the electromagnetic monster charged forward and swept its tentacles at Zhou Wen and company.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to divert his attention to slash at the electromagnetic monster¡¯s tentacles. Flashing the saber beam a few times, he snapped one of the tentacles.


    When he turned his head to look at the Companion Beast, he realized that Jiuyang¡¯s Sun God Light and Xiao¡¯s finger forces had penetrated its body, but the Companion Beast¡¯s body was gradually dissipating like a phantom. The three of them looked around and quickly realized that high in the sky, the Companion Beast stood atop the clouds. The wounds on its body were healing at an unbelievable speed. ¡°We can¡¯t give it time to heal.¡± Xiao took a step forward and arrived in front of the Companion Beast. Although the Companion Beast had learned his abilities, Xiao didn¡¯t admit that he would lose to the same ability.


    Furthermore, he knew this ability very well. He also knew what weaknesses it had.


    Xiao moved his fingers and produced space-rupturing powers that slashed at the Companion Beast.


    However, in the next second, Xiao, Zhou Wen, and Jiuyang widened their eyes. They saw the Companion Beast¡¯s figure move like an immortal as it drew an elegant arc and dodged Xiao¡¯s space-rupturing powers.


    It was Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal movement technique. Not only was it Transcendent Flying Immortal, but even the concept was identical.


    What¡¯s going on with this Companion Beast? Zhou Wen and company couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill. The strength of this Companion Beast far exceeded their imagination.

 Chapter 1647 - Two Companion Beasts

    Chapter 1647 Two Companion Beasts


    However, there was no way out. Zhou Wen and Jiuyang charged forward without any hesitation.


    Jiuyang¡¯s Sun God Light penetrated everything and illuminated everything. It was a force that was virtually impossible to hide from.


    However, under the Sun God Light, the Companion Beast¡¯s body turned into an illusion. Its true body strangely appeared behind Jiuyang as its fingertip slashed at Jiuyang¡¯s neck like a blade.


    Zhou Wen flew like an immortal as he slashed down with his Bamboo Blade. Xiao¡¯s figure strangely appeared on the other side of the Companion Beast as he stabbed the Companion Beast¡¯s eyes with two fingers. The Companion Beast¡¯s fingertip that swiped at Jiuyang remained unchanged. The other monkey claw-like palm flicked the Bamboo Blade, causing it to change direction and slash at Xiao.


    Xiao and Zhou Wen quickly diverted their strength, barely avoiding the situation of them killing each other. However, the Companion Beast¡¯s fingers had already swiped at Jiuyang¡¯s neck. At the same time, its hooves kicked out like lightning. With a sun-like glow, it kicked Zhou Wen and Xiao, sending them flying.


    The armor on Zhou Wen and Xiao¡¯s chests were destroyed. The terrifying light charred their flesh until it turned to ash.


    Jiuyang had already tried his best to move forward, but a bone-deep wound remained on his neck. Blood was gushing out. Instantly, all three of them were injured.


    This fellow is a freak! Zhou Wen forcefully suppressed the wound on his chest. When he saw the Companion Beast approaching him, he hurriedly dodged in the direction of the electromagnetic monster and used it to block the Companion Beast¡¯s attack.


    Just as Zhou Wen circled behind the electromagnetic monster, he saw a white light flash from the Companion Beast¡¯s mouth. Its tongue wrapped around the electromagnetic monster and pulled its huge body towards its open mouth.


    The electromagnetic monster¡¯s body was extremely huge, but when it was pulled to the Companion Beast¡¯s mouth, it strangely shrank and was swallowed.


    The Companion Beast didn¡¯t rush over for the time being. Jiuyang stopped the wound on the back of his neck and swallowed his saliva. ¡°This fellow might not be as simple as a Calamity-grade creature.¡±


    ¡°No matter what it was in the past, we have to kill it now. Otherwise, we will be the ones dying.¡± Xiao¡¯s expression was solemn.


    ¡°Do you know the origins of this Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    It was definitely not a coincidence that Xiao and Jiuyang were here. They must know something to be able to find such an inconspicuous place in the universe among millions of stars.


    Jiuyang and Xiao exchanged looks as Xiao said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to hide anything now. This Companion Beast¡¯s origins are somewhat special¡­¡±


    Xiao recounted the origins of the Companion Beast, but he didn¡¯t mention that it had something on it.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he heard that.


    ¡°You mean that this planet actually has two Companion Beasts?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Xiao and asked.


    ¡°In theory, there should be two, but the other one should have been sucked dry by the parasitic Companion Beast. The chances of survival are very low,¡± Jiuyang said.


    ¡°That might not be the case!¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but think of the bee in the plant.


    He had always believed that the bee was the Companion Beast on this planet because it had all sorts of Companion Beast characteristics.


    However, after this Companion Beast appeared, Zhou Wen overturned his previous speculation, believing that the bee might be a native creature that was similar to a Companion Beast produced by this planet.


    Upon hearing Xiao¡¯s words, Zhou Wen suspected that although this planet had been parasitized by the Companion Beast, the original Companion Beast hadn¡¯t died. It was very likely that both Companion Beasts had survived.


    However, he didn¡¯t know which was the original Companion Beast on this planet and which was the parasite.


    The Companion Beast didn¡¯t give Zhou Wen any time to consider. After floating in the air for a moment, it launched another attack and charged over like a phantom.


    One after another, the phantoms used Transcendent Flying Immortal¡¯s movement techniques to charge at Zhou Wen and company.


    It was originally three people attacking a Companion Beast, but now, it was as though the three of them were being attacked by the Companion Beast.


    Bang! Bang!


    The phantoms were Xiao¡¯s techniques, but at that moment, when used by the Companion Beast, they seemed to be even more powerful than Xiao¡¯s. Not only could he not tell which were the phantoms, but every phantom seemed to have offensive strength.


    Zhou Wen and company didn¡¯t last long before they suffered varying degrees of injuries. If this continued, it was only a matter of time before they were beaten to death.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to use Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens. Although this domain was useless to him, Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s injuries rapidly healed inside the domain.


    This crappy domain clearly has such potent healing abilities, so why can¡¯t it heal me! Zhou Wen was extremely vexed.


    Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s injuries quickly healed. They were originally very happy, but when they saw Zhou Wen¡¯s situation, their expressions changed.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength had clearly healed them, but his injuries didn¡¯t heal quickly. This was just too strange.


    ¡°You are really a classic example of sacrificing yourself for others,¡± Xiao said loudly as he fought. He had already guessed what was going on.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s what I want? I can treat anyone in this crappy domain of mine but myself,¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily. He had already used Transcendent Flying Immortal with all his might, but the concepts of the Transcendent Flying Immortal movement techniques of the phantoms weren¡¯t inferior to his. They were faster than him, making him suffer more and more injuries as he fought.


    Although Jiuyang and Xiao¡¯s situation was much better thanks to Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens, they were also unable to fend for themselves. They didn¡¯t have the strength to help Zhou Wen.


    They also knew very well that a large part of the reason they could survive this long was because of Zhou Wen¡¯s double domains. One domain helped them block the Money Domain¡¯s seal, while the other helped them rapidly recover. Without these two domains to save their lives, it was impossible for them to last until now.


    Zhou Wen also knew that he couldn¡¯t last much longer. He kept thinking about how he could escape his present predicament.


    With his Teacher Domain and interstellar teleportation abilities, he might be able to escape.


    However, if he escaped just like that, Tsukuyomi would definitely die under the glacier.


    With the acumen of this Companion Beast, it was impossible for it not to discover Tsukuyomi¡¯s existence. I can only take a gamble now! Zhou Wen thought of the bee in the ice pool.


    If it was really the other Companion Beast on the planet, be it the original Companion Beast or the parasitic Companion Beast, in theory, the two were enemies.


    After all, the parasite had snatched the nutrients of the original Companion Beast. It was impossible for the two to have a friendly relationship.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Zhou Wen roared as he called out to Xiao and Jiuyang and charged down the glacier.


    Although Xiao and Jiuyang didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to, they had no strength to fight once they left Zhou Wen¡¯s domain. All they could do was rush over and burrow into the glacier with him.

 Chapter 1648 - Mythical Object

    Chapter 1648 Mythical Object


    The Companion Beast chased after them as Zhou Wen and company fled beneath the glacier. Thankfully, with the glacier as cover, the Companion Beast¡¯s attacks were somewhat obstructed. ¡°Zhou Wen, don¡¯t tell me you want to use the terrain to stall for time?¡± Jiuyang released the Sun God Light from his body as though a volcano had erupted, sending the pursuing phantoms retreating.


    ¡°No, there¡¯s another Companion Beast down there. Perhaps that thing can save our lives.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he had already rushed to the side of the pool.


    ¡°There¡¯s another Companion Beast?¡± Jiuyang and Xiao were first taken aback before they immediately reacted.


    Could it be that the parasitized Companion Beast isn¡¯t dead? After Jiuyang¡¯s first thought, he immediately thought of another possibility and continued, ¡°Which one is the parasitized Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± Zhou Wen said as he plunged into the pool.


    Jiuyang and Xiao charged down as well. The Companion Beast pursuing them struck the pool with terrifying power, blasting a hole through the pool and the nearby glaciers, forming a huge crater.


    The pool wasn¡¯t deep to begin with, so when it blasted through, it revealed the strange plant. Zhou Wen and company suffered immense pressure in the water as they were slammed into the glacier beside them.


    The surrounding glaciers shattered. Only the glacier where the strange plant was remained intact. Neither the bee in the fruit nor the plant were affected.


    Zhou Wen and company got up from the ice crater and prepared to fight, but they realized that the Companion Beast was floating in the air. It didn¡¯t continue attacking. Instead, it stared at the bee in the strange plant.


    ¡°They are indeed related,¡± Jiuyang said.


    ¡°I never expected the Companion Beast that was parasitized to still be alive. However, I wonder which of the two of them is the Companion Beast born from the planet itself.¡± Xiao looked at the bee and then at the Companion Beast in the sky. A strange glint flashed in his eyes as though he had discovered something


    In fact, Jiuyang had also discovered Xiao¡¯s discovery.


    The bee held a trumpet in its claws. No matter how one looked at it, it didn¡¯t look like something a bee should have. It was likely an external object.


    According to Holy God, the escaping Companion Beast had accidentally taken something away before parasitizing the planet.


    Although Holy God didn¡¯t say what that thing was, from the looks of it, it was very likely this tiny trumpet.


    Of course, this was only their guess. It might not be accurate. The Companion Beast that chased after them seemed to be afraid of the bee. It floated in the air without coming down. It kept staring at the bee, its gaze focused on the tiny trumpet. It didn¡¯t move, nor did Zhou Wen. Jiuyang and Xiao didn¡¯t dare move either, hoping to wait for an opportunity.


    Zhou Wen hoped to stall for time until Tsukuyomi finished her absorption. When that happened, he wouldn¡¯t have any qualms about fighting or escaping, unlike how bound he was.


    ¡°Are you hiding something from me?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s observational abilities were extremely sharp, so how could he not notice that the Companion Beast was constantly looking at the trumpet?


    Furthermore, Jiuyang and Xiao were also looking at the trumpet. This made Zhou Wen even more certain that they knew something.


    Jiuyang pondered for a moment and said, ¡°At this point, there¡¯s no need to hide it from you. According to what we know, when the Companion Beast passed through the Mythical battlefield, it accidentally brought something into the planet. As the planet is protected by the rules of the universe, even Heaven-level creatures can¡¯t forcefully open the planet unless the Companion Beast inside it is about to appear. Therefore, no one can retrieve it.¡± ¡°What did the Companion Beast bring in? Zhou Wen was very curious.¡±


    He roughly knew that there had been a Mythical era on Earth. In that era, countless powerful lifeforms had fought on Earth or even in the universe.


    even


    However, for some reason, these powerful existences either vanished or sealed themselves.


    According to the various information Zhou Wen already knew, the dimensional zones in the Mythical era on Earth were very likely to have opened. Later on, for some reason, they were sealed again. Only when the dimensional storms of recent times descended did the sealed dimensional zones open again.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen had always been curious about what had happened during the Mythical era.


    as


    Of course, this was only his speculation. Only lifeforms who had experienced that era knew if this was the case.


    However, even an existence like Grim Demon who had experienced that era couldn¡¯t figure out how the final Mythical battle ended.


    Perhaps only an existence like The Thearch will truly know what happened in the Mythical era. Zhou Wen had always felt that The Thearch definitely knew many things. Zhou Wen still found The Thearch unfathomable like a bottomless abyss.


    In the past, when Zhou Wen was young, he felt that The Thearch was very strong. Now, he could fight Calamity-grade creatures, but that didn¡¯t change his former views.


    In fact, the stronger he was, the more he found The Thearch¡¯s strength unbelievable.


    The power of wish was heaven-defying. Even a Heaven-level domain was inferior to it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Jiuyang shook his head and said, ¡°The information we obtained was only that the Companion Beast brought in something very important, but we don¡¯t know what it is. Now, we are very suspicious that it¡¯s the trumpet in the bee¡¯s claw.¡± ¡°If it¡¯s really the trumpet, doesn¡¯t that mean that the bee is the Companion Beast parasite? The fellow we fought is a native of this planet?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°If the trumpet is really that thing, that guess is very likely.¡± Xiao had been observing the Companion Beast in the air. Halfway through his sentence, he suddenly changed the topic. ¡°Be careful. That fellow can¡¯t hold back.¡±


    Indeed, just as Xiao said that, the Companion Beast rushed down. Its target was obvious. It wasn¡¯t any of Zhou Wen and company, but the bee in the fruit.


    When the Companion Beast took one step, the light on its foot was as dazzling as the sun. It was Jiuyang¡¯s Sun God Light that it mimicked.


    Although the Sun God Light wasn¡¯t scorching hot enough when used by it, its destructive power was even more terrifying than when Jiuyang used it.


    The bee in the fruit was still lying there as though it hadn¡¯t woken up. The bee remained motionless even when the Companion Beast¡¯s sun-like feet stepped on the fruit.


    Boom!


    A powerful force struck the fruit, triggering a terrifying explosion. Even with Zhou Wen and company¡¯s strength, they couldn¡¯t help but retreat from the shockwave produced by the explosion.

 Chapter 1649 - The Trumpet Sounds

    Chapter 1649 The Trumpet Sounds


    After the explosion, Zhou Wen and company looked at the plant and bee.


    However, the spot where the plant was had already become a huge crater. The plant that grew in the glacier had long vanished. Not a single leaf or vine was left behind.


    Where did the bee go? Don¡¯t tell me it died just like that? Zhou Wen scanned his surroundings, hoping to find the bee¡¯s remains. He didn¡¯t believe that the bee had died just like that.


    Indeed, Zhou Wen quickly discovered traces of the tiny bee. It wasn¡¯t dead. It was floating in the air and looked extremely lucid. The wings on its back moved so quickly that they appeared almost invisible.


    In its front claws, it still held the trumpet-like item as it stared at the Companion Beast that had retreated into the air.


    The Companion Beast also stared at the bee as though it had some qualms. It didn¡¯t attack again.


    In the blink of an eye, the Companion Beast seemed to make up its mind as it attacked the bee again. It used Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal.


    Arcs of Essence Energy slashed at the bee from all directions. It was like an inescapable net that prevented it from dodging.


    As the creator of Transcendent Flying Immortal, Zhou Wen naturally knew how terrifying such an attack was. Unless the bee¡¯s speed far exceeded the Companion Beast¡¯s, it could only await death. Just as Zhou Wen thought that the bee was about to suffer, he saw it finally wake up. It placed the trumpet in its mouth, puffed up its cheeks, and blew hard.


    A high and sharp sound blared from the trumpet. Zhou Wen felt that it sounded like a suona.


    No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that it was similar. It was exactly a suona. The high pitch voice was something that no other musical instrument could simulate. It was music that penetrated straight to the soul.


    Pfft! Under the protection of the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but vomit a mouthful of blood when he heard the suona¡¯s sound.


    Jiuyang and Xiao¡¯s situation was even worse. Although they were also within the Teacher Domain¡¯s range and were protected by it, the Teacher Domain wasn¡¯t their own strength after all. The injuries they suffered were worse than Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    Xiao and Jiuyang fell from the sky and into the glacier ruins. It was unknown if they were dead or alive.


    The Companion Beast also spat out blood as it fell from the sky, plummeting towards the ravaged planet.


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen and company. Even the black and white wolves and the strange fish, who were fighting inside the planet, fell to the ground when they heard the suona. It was unknown if they were dead or alive as well.


    Anything alive on the planet fell when they heard the suona, their survivability a question.


    The bee¡¯s wings trembled. Its claws still held the trumpet, but it didn¡¯t blow it again. The sound swept across the planet as though it was searching for a living creature.


    When Zhou Wen saw the bee¡¯s gaze sweep towards him, he immediately pretended to be dead in the ruins of the glacier and rocks. He converged all his vitality and aura, hoping to fool the bee.


    What the hell is this? It seems even more terrifying than the Companion Beast that was pursuing us. Are all the Companion Beasts on this planet that terrifying? I wonder how Tsukuyomi is doing. Will this lethal suona sound affect Tsukuyomi and kill her? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more likely it was.


    Even Heaven-level Companion Beasts and experts like Xiao couldn¡¯t withstand the suona¡¯s sound and fell onto the planet. It was still a question if they were dead or alive. If Tsukuyomi, who was in a state that didn¡¯t allow disturbances, heard this sound, the chances of her dying were very high.


    Even if she didn¡¯t die, the possibility of her going berserk was very high.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the chance to save Tsukuyomi even if he wanted to. The suona¡¯s sound instantly covered the entire planet, preventing him from saving her.


    It was unknown if Jiuyang and Xiao were dead or alive. In any case, there was no sound after they landed. It was highly likely that the situation wasn¡¯t good.


    As Zhou Wen pretended to be dead, he used Truth Listener¡¯s powers to scan the Companion Beast¡¯s location. He saw it struggling to stand up. Although the suona had dealt him quite significant damage, it hadn¡¯t killed him.


    As the Companion Beast struggled to its feet, its injuries rapidly healed. When it floated in the air, it had already returned to its uninjured state. It looked like it had never been injured.


    The Companion Beast stared at the bee as the coldness in its eyes intensified. Its aura also became stronger.


    A dog-eat-dog fight. Zhou Wen had no intention of getting up to participate in the battle. All he wanted to do was watch from the side as the two terrifying Companion Beasts fought.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to know who would win. What he was most worried about was if anything happened to Tsukuyomi. When the Companion Beast moved and attacked the bee, Zhou Wen silently sneaked towards Tsukuyomi.


    However, when Zhou Wen arrived, he realized that the ice cavern had already collapsed and shattered into ice. Although he didn¡¯t find Tsukuyomi¡¯s corpse, she was probably doomed.


    After all, Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t move while absorbing the power of the Moon Essence Basin. It was impossible for her to withstand such a force.


    I¡¯ve already tried my best. You can¡¯t blame me even if you died. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. He had worked so hard for so long, but he ultimately couldn¡¯t save Tsukuyomi¡¯s life.


    With Tsukuyomi doomed, Zhou Wen no longer had any reason to continue fighting. He was already considering how to escape.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately escape. He pretended to be dead in the glacier ruins, hoping to wait until the outcome of the two terrifying Companion Beasts was decided.


    The two Companion Beasts were extremely terrifying existences. One seemed to be able to transform all the powers in the world for its own use as though it was a monster that couldn¡¯t be killed. As for the bee, it only blew the tiny trumpet, and even Heaven-level creatures couldn¡¯t withstand it. How impressive was that?


    Zhou Wen was basically certain that the bee was the parasitic Companion Beast. The suona-like item was very likely something that had been lost in the battlefield of the gods.


    What¡¯s that tiny trumpet? It only needs a mere blow to be so powerful. If the bee were to use it to play a tune, what would happen? Zhou Wen thought of the music produced by the bubbles.


    Back then, just music without any power could make humans and dimensional creatures commit suicide. If the tune was played by a trumpet, Zhou Wen really had no idea what the outcome would be.

 Chapter 1650 - Both Pets Fighting

    Chapter 1650 Both Pets Fighting


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he saw the Companion Beast charge at the bee again. It had fused Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal and Xiao¡¯s Trajectory movement technique together, making it unbelievably fast. Wherever it passed, it left behind afterimages in the void.


    In the blink of an eye, the Companion Beast arrived in front of the bee again and threw a punch at it.


    Halfway through, its fist split into dozens. Like split tentacles, they struck the bee from different directions.


    Every split fist carried extremely potent Sun God Light. It was as though dozens of cold suns were striking the bee from different directions.


    This fellow is a freak. It even learned the electromagnetic monster¡¯s ability. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the limits of the Companion Beast. In any case, it appeared capable of learning any ability.


    mo


    It would be even more terrifying if it mastered the bee¡¯s trumpet blowing ability. Beep!


    The suona suddenly sounded in an earth-shattering manner. The fists were about to hit the bee, but the Companion Beast¡¯s body seemed to suffer a heavy blow as it flew out with a bang.


    The dozens of fists that split apart constantly exploded. Likewise, the body kept exploding as if it were filled with explosives


    Zhou Wen was already very far from the battlefield, but the sound of the suona immediately stirred the Essence Energy in his body like a nuclear reactor that was close to meltdown.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen was relatively far from the battlefield. Furthermore, the Teacher Domain had played a role. He forcefully suppressed the violent Essence Energy in his body. Otherwise, he might have exploded like the Companion Beast.


    What¡¯s that trumpet? It¡¯s too terrifying! Zhou Wen stared at the suona the bee had placed by its mouth in envy.


    Even the Companion Beast that was almost invincible at the Calamity grade was blown up by it. The might of the suona was terrifying.


    Zhou Wen felt that it made sense when he thought about it. During the battle of the gods, there were countless terrifying experts who fought their way into the cosmos. The creatures who could participate in such battles were definitely the cream of the crop in that mythical era.


    The things they brought with them were naturally extraordinary. Furthermore, despite having gone missing for so many years, Holy God was still eyeing it. It was obvious how precious it was.


    However, Zhou Wen failed to figure out what powerful divine artifact was a suona in myths.


    Bang! Bang!


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly heard an explosion nearby. He saw the white and black Horned Wolves rush out of the underground cave. Just as they left the cave, their bodies exploded, turning into a bloody mist that filled the sky.


    When they were in the planet¡¯s interior, the sonar attacks they suffered were weaker. They could barely rely on the barrier they combined to survive.


    However, they wanted to escape. After leaving the underground cave, they were attacked by the sound. Their bodies couldn¡¯t withstand it and immediately exploded.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s sharp eyes noticed that two crystal-like Companion Eggs dropped from the black and white wolves¡¯ blood mist. His eyes immediately lit up.


    The suona had already reached its final note. The sound waves produced weakened as Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to instant transmit over. He grabbed the two Companion Eggs-one in each hand-and instant transmitted back.


    He didn¡¯t wish to leave just like that. Even if Tsukuyomi had already encountered misfortune, he had to see her corpse to leave in peace.


    When Zhou Wen went to snatch the Companion Egg, he saw the strange fish rush out of the underground cave. It charged at the bee fearlessly.


    Elsewhere, Jiuyang and Xiao crawled out. They were bleeding from their seven orifices. The situation didn¡¯t look good.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± Xiao shouted softly as he attempted to use the Trajectory technique to escape into the void.


    Neither of these two Companion Beasts were to be trifled with. Even if he joined forces with Zhou Wen and Jiuyang, they wouldn¡¯t be able to gain any advantage. They might even lose their lives.


    Jiuyang also planned on rushing out of the atmosphere. Space greatly restricted sound transmission.


    The bee clearly wasn¡¯t interested in them as it kept staring at the exploding Companion Beast. Just as the Companion Beast¡¯s body was about to be blasted apart, the blasted body quickly reformed and the wounds vanished. This was the electromagnetic monster¡¯s ability. However, the effects were even more ridiculous when used by the Companion Beast.


    The strange fish had already arrived above the bee. Its tail transformed into a cloth that blotted out the sky as it swept down to envelop the bee.


    Zhou Wen imagined that the bee was about to blow its suona again as he retreated at high speeds, hoping to get further away.


    However, to his surprise, the bee didn¡¯t blow the suona. A cold glimmer flashed around its tail as Zhou Wen saw the cold beam pierce through the strange fish¡¯s tail and penetrate its body. After being controlled by the Companion Beast, the strange fish¡¯s white jade-like body instantly turned black. Then, it collapsed and turned into dust.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s vision was in no way inferior to a Calamity-grade expert. Furthermore, with Truth Listener¡¯s help, he could clearly see the strange fish¡¯s body disintegrate into extremely tiny black particles. After the black particles scattered, they disintegrated again, preventing Zhou Wen from seeing them. This thing¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s a poison-type¡­ Zhou Wen thought of his Doctor Darkness Companion Beast. Doctor Darkness relied on absorbing poison to evolve. He had recently advanced to the Terror grade, but he hadn¡¯t found any stronger poison to advance him to the Calamity grade.


    If this bee was really a poison-type creature, it meant that the toxin it had used was extremely terrifying. It was unknown what would happen if Doctor Darkness were to absorb it.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if it was a poison-type power. Even if it was, he didn¡¯t know if the Terror-grade Doctor Darkness could withstand such a terrifying poison.


    After all, even a Heaven-level creature was poisoned to death from a single stab. The Terror-grade Doctor Darkness might disintegrate before advancing to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°It¡¯s no good. This planet seems to be locked onto by some force. We can¡¯t leave.¡± Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s expressions were abnormally ugly. They had attempted to escape, but they couldn¡¯t.


    The entire planet seemed to be sealed by some strange force. Even Xiao¡¯s void trajectory power didn¡¯t allow for escape.


    Elsewhere, the Companion Beast that had already healed pounced at the bee again. Clearly, it wanted to snatch the suona controlled by the bee.


    The bee seemed to know that its poison needle was useless against the Companion Beast. It might even be absorbed and learned by the Companion Beast. Therefore, it didn¡¯t use the method used against the strange fish to deal with it. Instead, it played the suona again.


    This time, the sound was somewhat different from before. Although it was equally loud, it also made one feel a sense of sorrow that resembled sobbing.


    This tune¡­ Zhou Wen knew that it was the bubble music he had heard many times by the pool.

 Chapter 1651 - Gushing Tears

    Chapter 1651 Gushing Tears


    The suona sounded as the Companion Beast that was charging at the bee suddenly seemed to be shackled. Its movements became abnormally slow.


    Furthermore, there seemed to be a downward force that gradually pulled the Companion Beast to the ground.


    As the bee played the suona, it easily dodged the Companion Beast¡¯s attacks.


    Zhou Wen and company were already very far from the battlefield, but the sound of the suona made their knees sink. Their bodies leaned forward as they had the urge to kneel. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your faces¡­¡± Jiuyang suddenly shouted. Zhou Wen and Xiao didn¡¯t feel anything amiss, but when they looked at each other, they realized that tears had subconsciously fallen from the corner of their eyes and were flowing down their cheeks.


    Zhou Wen wiped the tears from his face, but there were still tears seeping out of the corners of his eyes.


    S


    rners


    ¡°You too,¡± Xiao glanced at Jiuyang and said in a deep voice.


    Jiuyang reached out to wipe his tears. Indeed, he realized that tears had already appeared on his face at some point in time. He couldn¡¯t help but reveal a look of horror.


    ¡°It¡¯s the power of that music.¡± Zhou Wen circulated the Teacher Domain with all his might, hoping to screen the sound coming from the distance, but he couldn¡¯t.


    The suona¡¯s sound seemed to ring in his head, causing more and more tears to flow. Jiuyang and Xiao were in an even worse state. They were already covered in tears. What was even more terrifying was that they felt their knees sink deeper and deeper. Their bodies were on the brink of collapse, as though they would kneel at any moment.


    Boom!


    The Companion Beast on the battlefield fell onto the planet. Its knees were bent as its strength constantly erupted as though it was resisting some invisible force.


    The Companion Beast¡¯s face was the same as Zhou Wen and company¡¯s. It was already covered in tears. Its huge eyes were constantly brimming with tears as though it was experiencing extreme sorrow.


    ¡°Damn it, we mustn¡¯t kneel or we might die.¡± Seeing the Companion Beast struggling with all its might not to kneel, Xiao had a bad feeling. He tried his best to stop his knees from bending, but to no avail. His legs couldn¡¯t help but slowly bend.


    Zhou Wen and Jiuyang were the same. As they cried, they tried their best to prop their bodies up, preventing themselves from kneeling. Their efforts were less than ideal.


    Zhou Wen tried a few methods, but none of them worked. When he saw that the Companion Beast couldn¡¯t escape the magical power of the music, he knew that ordinary powers were useless.


    If even the top Calamity Companion Beast couldn¡¯t withstand the sound, it was even harder for them to withstand it.


    Seeing his knees approaching the ground, Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and summoned the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites. Then, he used the Golden Harp to control them and made them play the bubble music he had heard by the pool.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was of any use. He just treated it as a last-ditch effort. Perhaps the outcome of doing so would accelerate their kneeling, but at this point, there was no other way. All he could do was give it a try.


    After summoning the Musical Note Sprites and Golden Harp, they were surprisingly unaffected by the magical sound, giving Zhou Wen some hope.


    Under the control of the Golden Harp, the Musical Note Sprites began playing the bubble music.


    It was strange. It was clearly the same music, but the effects of the Musical Note Sprites¡¯ playing were different from the suona.


    The sound waves produced by the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites combined with the suona¡¯s music immediately made Zhou Wen and company¡¯s tears gush out. Their knees suddenly sank, just shy of a foot from the ground.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Zhou Wen, what the f*ck are you doing?¡± Jiuyang couldn¡¯t help but curse in fright.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly got the Musical Note Sprites to stop playing. He had expected this possibility, but he never expected it to be the worst situation.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, get your Musical Note Sprites to continue playing that music,¡± Xiao suddenly said.


    Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he immediately thought of something. Xiao also said, ¡°Don¡¯t let their rhythm be the same as the suona. Play it out-of-sync.¡±


    Zhou Wen had already begun doing it. Although he didn¡¯t know if it would be effective or make them kneel faster, the outcome was the same if he didn¡¯t do anything ¡ªthey would only kneel at a slower pace.


    Amidst the Golden Harp¡¯s music, a portion of the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites produced rhythmic music. The tune was the same as the suona¡¯s tune, but the beat was out-of-sync.


    The Musical Note Sprites that filled the sky surrounded Zhou Wen and company as they danced like countless butterflies. The sound waves constantly echoed around them.


    Zhou Wen and company were so nervous that their foreheads were covered in sweat. Their tears were still flowing, and Zhou Wen was prepared to order the Musical Note Sprites to stop playing at any moment.


    However, after the music sounded, their knees didn¡¯t suddenly sink. Instead, they sank at a much slower speed; their tears also flowed less.


    It¡¯s effective! Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he hurriedly ordered all the Musical Note Sprites to perform together.


    The sound waves constantly echoed. As the beat was out-of-sync, it produced a very discordant feeling with the suona¡¯s music. Although Zhou Wen and company could still hear the suona¡¯s music and their tears were still flowing, the speed at which the tears flowed had slowed down significantly. The force that made their knees sink had weakened significantly, allowing them to barely withstand the pressure and not continue sinking.


    Zhou Wen was in a dilemma. The bubble music combined with the hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites was indeed effective. If he used this power to help the Companion Beast, he might be able to free it from the restrictions of the music. It might even give it the strength to fight.


    The problem was that the two Companion Beasts weren¡¯t anything good. One wanted their lives while blowing the trumpet, while the other wanted their lives even without the trumpet being played.


    No matter which Zhou Wen helped, the final outcome might not be a good thing.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen controlled the Golden Harp and tried his best to control the sound waves near them, preventing the Musical Note Sprites¡¯ powers from affecting the Companion Beast.


    The Companion Beast would definitely kill them. The bee had only shown animosity towards the Companion Beast and hadn¡¯t targeted them. Zhou Wen decided to place his bet on the bee.


    Making such a decision was actually equally risky.


    This was because the bee had the treasure-like suona. It was highly likely that it was the parasitic Companion Beast. It could parasitize others and appropriate their nutrients or even their lives. It was impossible for it to be a docile Companion Beast. After it killed another Companion Beast, it was very likely to kill Zhou Wen and company. However, at this point in time, there had to be a choice. The rest was up to fate.


    Under the magical sound of the suona, the Companion Beast¡¯s knees approached the ground. Even someone as powerful as it couldn¡¯t withstand the god-like music.


    Bang!


    One of the Companion Beast¡¯s knees knelt on the ground, producing fractures in the ground that spanned several kilometers.

 Chapter 1652 - Dead

    Chapter 1652 Dead


    The Companion Beast continued persisting as it shot out Treasurefall Money repeatedly, but it couldn¡¯t eliminate the power it was affected


    by.


    The Treasurefall Money that flew out was easily dodged by the suona-blowing bee.


    Bang!


    With another loud bang, the Companion Beast¡¯s other leg knelt on the ground. Its hands pressed down on the shattered ground as it bared its teeth and struggled with all its might, but it was unable to get up no matter what.


    Its eyes were already distorted as tears poured down.


    A strange scene also happened-black flames began to rise from the Companion Beast¡¯s white jade-like body.


    Every inch of its body seemed to emit a transparent black gas. The black gas was indiscernible as though it was a death aura that came from the Netherworld. It emitted an ominous aura.


    As the black gas rose, the extremely powerful Companion Beast¡¯s vitality rapidly drained. Even its Essence Energy rapidly weakened. The body that looked like it was carved from white jade was also aging and shriveling. In just a moment, the Companion Beast¡¯s body looked like it was about to turn from a youth to an old man. Its jade-like body was covered in wrinkles. The original white color gradually turned yellow, like the color of old newspapers that had been through the ravages of time.


    Zhou Wen and company were alarmed when they saw this. They were secretly glad that they hadn¡¯t knelt down. Otherwise, they would already be dead.


    However, even if the Musical Note Sprites could temporarily resist the bee¡¯s suona, Zhou Wen and company still couldn¡¯t escape. Once the Companion Beast died, it would probably be their turn.


    Although Zhou Wen had already decided to place a bet on the bee, he wasn¡¯t confident when he saw the situation. He even had the intention of helping the Companion Beast stall for time by keeping it in check.


    However, Zhou Wen ultimately gave up on this idea. The army of Musical Note Sprites wasn¡¯t really able to resist the suona. Even if he was willing to help the Companion Beast, he might not be able to provide much help. Instead, he might anger the bee.


    Perhaps the bee hadn¡¯t wanted their lives at first, but by giving a hand, he might end up making things worse.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had other plans. If the bee really wanted them dead, Zhou Wen would definitely end up kneeling.


    His Life Providence was unlikely to sit idle. After all, this wasn¡¯t him kneeling, but being forced to kneel. With Sigh of the King¡¯s temper, how could it tolerate such a thing?


    As for whether the Sigh of the King could withstand the suona¡¯s music, that wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen knew. When the time came, he could only leave it to fate.


    ¡°From the looks of it, we are most likely going to die here today.¡± Jiuyang glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I don¡¯t have any pursuits or wishes in my life. My only regret is not being able to personally defeat you.¡± ¡°Why are you still thinking about that at a time like this? It¡¯s best if you think about how to stay alive.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. What kind of person was he? At this point in time, he was still thinking about such matters.


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because it¡¯s difficult to tell if we¡¯ll live. We might die immediately. If I don¡¯t make things clear now, I won¡¯t die happy,¡± Jiuyang said.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Who cares if you¡¯re happy when you¡¯re dead? I¡¯ve never heard of anyone who would be happy dying. ¡°Xiao, do you have any ideas?¡± Zhou Wen ignored Jiuyang and turned to look at Xiao.


    Xiao frowned and pondered for a moment before saying with a serious expression, ¡°Just say whatever you want to say. It might be a form of release.¡±


    Zhou Wen was rendered even more speechless, but on second thought, he asked Jiuyang and Xiao, ¡°Since we¡¯re about to die, can you tell me if Ouyang Ting, who you captured, is still alive? Why did you capture him?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze was mainly trained on Jiuyang. He felt that this fellow was rather reliable. At this moment, he might even tell the truth. As for Xiao, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare believe his words even at the moment of death.


    ¡°Alive. Don¡¯t ask me anything else. I don¡¯t know,¡± Jiuyang said.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be delighted when he saw that Jiuyang didn¡¯t seem to be lying. As long as he was still alive, there was still a chance of rescuing him in the future. Furthermore, from Jiuyang¡¯s words, Xiao seemed to know more. Therefore, he cast his gaze at Xiao.


    Xiao said expressionlessly, ¡°Even if I die, I¡¯ll take matters related to the Holy Land to the grave. Furthermore, we might not die.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a solution?¡± Jiuyang and Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. As long as that bee doesn¡¯t want us dead, we naturally won¡¯t have to die,¡± Xiao said indifferently.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to tell me that. I know it too.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat exasperated. All he could do was ask Jiuyang, ¡°Jiuyang, where do you Saints come from? Why are you so loyal to the Holy Land? Have you never thought that the Holy Land is enslaving your kind?¡±


    Jiuyang shook his head and said, ¡°The so-called same kind are just unfamiliar lifeforms. What¡¯s the difference between them and other unknown creatures? What has their lives got to do with us?¡±


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t agree with Jiuyang¡¯s theory, from Jiuyang¡¯s point of view, what he said made sense.


    Saints had been nurtured by the Holy Land since they were young. Their living environment was different from ordinary humans, so it was normal for them to not identify with humanity.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to ask something, he suddenly heard a long roar. He saw the Companion Beast roaring at the sky. As for its body, it had already reached its limits. What flowed out of its eyes weren¡¯t tears, but blood from its body. Furthermore, the blood had already dried up.


    This was a Companion Beast. If it were an ordinary dimensional creature, it might have long died. After this long roar, the Companion Beast completely lost its resistance. It was yanked by the power of the music as its head slammed into the ground as though it was kowtowing.


    With this kowtow, its body instantly disintegrated. Most of its body transformed into black gas that rose up and condensed in the air in its Companion Beast shape. Then, it slowly rose into the sky and slowly dissipated.


    Something dropped from where the Companion Beast was. The strange crystal had many faces. A few of them had strange patterns engraved on them.


    Zhou Wen found the patterns rather familiar. On careful look, one of the patterns was Treasurefall Money. Another symbol was the electromagnetic monster. A few of the faces had lines without a complete pattern. However, the concepts contained in the lines were vaguely similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal and Xiao¡¯s Trajectory Art.


    Is this the Companion Beast¡¯s Calamity-grade essence? Zhou Wen stared at the crystal and thought.

 Chapter 1653 - Targeted

    Chapter 1653 Targeted


    Zhou Wen wished he could immediately lunge forward and snatch the Calamity essence. It was a Heaven-level Calamity essence, and not an ordinary one.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare move a step. He had no delusion in front of the bee. Keeping his life was already his greatest wish.


    The bee moved the suona away from its mouth and stopped playing.


    However, before Zhou Wen and company could heave a sigh of relief, the bee flapped its wings and flew towards them.


    The bee didn¡¯t fly quickly as it slowly landed.


    Zhou Wen and company didn¡¯t dare move. Only their eyes moved as they watched the bee. The bee held the suona and floated in the air as it slowly landed on the Calamity essence.


    Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s tense nerves relaxed a little. Up to now, the bee didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of killing them.


    Xiao and Jiuyang weren¡¯t afraid of Calamity-grade creatures. Even against the freaky Companion Beasts from before, they had the ability to fight them to the death. However, the power of the suona had already exceeded the limits of a Calamity-grade creature. They had nearly died from the shockwaves of the suona¡¯s music; there was no need discussing facing it head-on.


    The tiny bee wasn¡¯t enough to scare them, but the suona struck terror in them. Even Zhou Wen was no exception.


    Although Zhou Wen still had one last trick up his sleeve, even he didn¡¯t know how useful it was. Therefore, it was best not to have things develop to that point.


    The three of them watched as the bee flew to the Calamity essence. It extended its claws and grabbed the Calamity essence, lifting the strange crystal up.


    The bee clearly didn¡¯t have the Companion Beast¡¯s ability. It couldn¡¯t directly devour the Calamity essence. It hugged the Calamity essence and wanted to absorb the energy inside.


    ¡°That bee might not be the parasitic Companion Beast, but the Companion Beast born on this planet,¡± Xiao suddenly said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen and Jiuyang were taken aback. They had always imagined that the bee was the Companion Beast that had parasitized this planet¡¯s Companion Beast. After all, it had such a divine artifact in its hand. It seemed to match being the parasitic Companion Beast.


    Xiao said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you realize that this planet didn¡¯t change after that Companion Beast died?¡±


    Zhou Wen and Jiuyang immediately realized the problem when they heard Xiao say that.


    Once a Companion Beast born from a planet was born, the planet would suffer a destructive blow and explode. It was very likely that half of it would explode like Venus.


    However, when the Companion Beast appeared, although it triggered some changes in the planet, the planet functioned normally even after its death.


    As for the changes and damage to the planet¡¯s surface, they were relatively inconsequential.


    ¡°In that case, that Companion Beast doesn¡¯t look like a Companion Beast born from this planet. It doesn¡¯t have any connection with this planet,¡± Jiuyang said after some thought.


    ¡°If this bee is the Companion Beast born from this planet, why would the divine artifact snatched by the parasitic Companion Beast be in its hands?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. Although he also felt that the Companion Beast didn¡¯t look like the Companion Beast born from this planet, he couldn¡¯t explain this problem.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t difficult to explain. After that Companion Beast parasitized the planet¡¯s interior, it wasn¡¯t able to completely control the Companion Beast produced by the planet itself. Instead, the divine artifact was snatched away. Or rather, it had a reason that required it to abandon the divine artifact. It happened to let the Companion Beast produced by the planet pick up the spoils. It¡¯s probably something like that. It¡¯s not easy to guess the exact situation.¡±


    Xiao paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°The reason I said that the bee is the Companion Beast born from this planet is only partly the answer. Another important reason is that although that Companion Beast¡¯s abilities are strange, its strength isn¡¯t compatible with this planet. This bee is different. Its strength vaguely resonates with this planet.¡±


    ¡°Its power resonates with this planet? Why didn¡¯t I discover it?¡± Jiuyang said in puzzlement, ¡®This planet ¡®s surface is covered by glaciers. The Companion Beast produced should have some ice-elemental powers, right? That bee doesn¡¯t seem to have any ice-elemental powers, right?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an ice-elemental power,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. ¡°Xiao is right. That bee does have an intrinsic connection with this planet. Up to now, this connection has been ongoing.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Jiuyang still didn¡¯t understand what connection Xiao and Zhou Wen were talking about.


    ¡°You are just too slow.¡± Xiao explained helplessly, ¡°Didn¡¯t you realize that the restrictions on this planet haven¡¯t been removed? If that Companion Beast was really born from this planet, even if the planet didn¡¯t explode after it died, the restrictions should have been removed.¡±


    ¡°I see.¡± Jiuyang sometimes suffered from being slow. It was his nature, but once he was in a situation, things he thought about were more than a normal person¡¯s thoughts.


    ¡°If the bee is really the Companion Beast born from this planet and possesses the divine artifact snatched from the mythical battle, and now that it has killed the parasitic Companion Beast, wouldn¡¯t we be in greater danger?¡± Jiuyang said. Xiao sighed and said, ¡°Indeed. Unless it¡¯s not interested in us at all, our situation is even more dangerous than being pursued by that Companion Beast.¡±


    As the three of them spoke, the bee¡¯s claws hugged the Calamity essence as it flapped its wings and flew towards them. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart immediately chilled. Xiao and Jiuyang didn¡¯t have it easy either. Although the bee didn¡¯t blow the trumpet and there were no music restraints, they could move freely. The restrictions of the planet still existed. As long as they couldn¡¯t leave this planet, even if they instant transmitted to the other end of the planet, it wouldn¡¯t be of much use.


    Once the bee¡¯s suona sounded, they would still be required to kneel.


    Now, Zhou Wen could only rejoice that this thing hadn¡¯t appeared on Earth. Otherwise, with the suona sounding, 99% of humans around the world would have died. There weren¡¯t many people who could last until they knelt and kowtowed.


    Escaping was futile, so none of the trio moved. Their six eyes stared at the slowly approaching bee.


    Zhou Wen increasingly felt that something was amiss because the bee was flying straight at


    au


    him.


    Indeed, the tiny bee flew in front of him without any intention of continuing its flight. It circled Zhou Wen a few times as though it was sizing him up.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s muscles tensed up as he prepared to fight to the death.


    However, the bee didn¡¯t attack Zhou Wen. After circling a few times, it flew off into the distance.


    After flying for a short distance, the bee suddenly stopped. It raised its suona and blew it, aiming it at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1654 - Different Tunes

    Chapter 1654 Different Tunes


    Zhou Wen was immediately frightened out of his wits. As he retreated with all his might, he ordered the Golden Harp to gather the strength of hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites to fend off the bee¡¯s suona music.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that even the power of hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites and Golden Harp couldn¡¯t match the bee¡¯s suona. After all, it was a power that could easily kill Heaven-level creatures.


    Zhou Wen already had the resolve to kneel. All he could do was place his hopes on the Sigh of the King


    However, Zhou Wen was taken aback when the suona sounded. This was because the music produced by the bee was somewhat different from the tune he had heard before.


    If the tune Zhou Wen had heard previously was the beckoning of Death, one filled with grief, then the tune he was hearing now didn¡¯t feel sad at all. It even made him feel happy.


    The two extremes of music-one sad, one happy-were actually played from the same musical instrument. It was truly unbelievable.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel the urge to commit suicide because of the bee¡¯s musical instrument. Although the Essence Energy in his body stirred with the music, it wasn¡¯t the stirrings of an explosion. Instead, it was an indescribable impulse. His Essence Energy became abnormally active, but this activity didn¡¯t cause any damage to his body.


    The only difference was that Zhou Wen¡¯s body was similarly restrained in such music. Ignoring instant transmission, even moving was extremely difficult.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel the force pulling him to his knees. However, on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    If he knelt, he might be able to trigger the Sigh of the King. Now that he didn¡¯t have to kneel, wouldn¡¯t that mean that he couldn¡¯t even activate the Sigh of the King? He wouldn¡¯t even be able to use his final trump card.


    As Zhou Wen was thinking, he saw the bee blowing the suona as it turned around and slowly flew in another direction.


    Xiao, Jiuyang, and Zhou Wen were delighted. If this bee didn¡¯t plan on taking their lives and just left, they could survive.


    However, to their surprise, when the bee turned around and flew away, their bodies followed the bee¡¯s flight uncontrollably.


    The Golden Harp orchestrated hundreds of thousands of Musical Note Sprites in a symphony, but it didn¡¯t affect the tune that the bee played. After all, this was completely different from the tune from before. Zhou Wen had never heard this tune before, so it was too late to learn it now.


    What does it want? Zhou Wen was alarmed and puzzled, unsure if it was a blessing or a curse.


    If the bee really wanted them dead, it could just play the tune of death. There was no need to do this.


    However, if the bee didn¡¯t want to kill them, it could just release them. Why did it have to play such a strange tune?


    The trio was forced to follow the bee. Due to the restrictions of the music, they could only walk on the ground and not fly.


    This planet was covered with glacier faults and rubble ruins after the battle. As they walked forward, they couldn¡¯t change their direction. They would occasionally collide with ice and rocks and even fall to the bottom of the cliff, leaving them in a sorry state. Thankfully, the three of them had strong physiques. They only looked pathetic, but they didn¡¯t suffer much damage.


    ¡°Where do you think this bee is taking us? Don¡¯t tell me it wants to take us to its nest and store us as food reserves?¡± Jiuyang said with a strange expression.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that Jiuyang¡¯s words didn¡¯t sound right, but on careful thought, they made sense.


    The bee wasn¡¯t the Companion Beast. It didn¡¯t have an extremely powerful devouring ability. It wasn¡¯t able to directly devour and digest the Companion Beast¡¯s Calamity essence, much less devour the three of them.


    It seemed reasonable to take them back and use them as food reserves. ¡°That Holy God of yours is so resourceful; did he not leave any backup plans for you before you came?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°If we had any means, we would have used them long ago. Would we have waited until now?¡± Xiao curled his lips and said, ¡°However, I think this bee might not have any ill intentions towards us. At the very least, it shouldn¡¯t have any ill intentions towards Jiuyang and me.¡±


    Zhou Wen was even more depressed when he heard that. Xiao was right. The bee had been targeting Zhou Wen from the beginning. Xiao and Jiuyang had only been implicated.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, is there something special on you that attracted that bee?¡± Xiao asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°If there¡¯s really anything on me that it likes, do you think it won¡¯t directly snatch it?¡± Zhou Wen said angrily.


    Xiao thought for a moment and felt that Zhou Wen was right. If the bee really fancied something on Zhou Wen, it could just kill him and snatch it. There was no need to go through so much trouble.


    ¡°If it hasn¡¯t taken a fancy to something, could it have taken a fancy to you?¡± As Xiao involuntarily walked forward, he sized up Zhou Wen from the side as though he wanted to figure out what about Zhou Wen attracted the bee.


    When Jiuyang heard Xiao, he said as though he had come to a realization, ¡°If the bee is really a Companion Beast born from this planet, then the energy of this planet was originally provided to it. Now, at least half of it has been sucked away by that Companion Beast, preventing it from completely evolving. Now, has it chosen Zhou Wen and wants to use his body for parasitization¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s face immediately turned pale when he heard that. There was a slight possibility in Jiuyang¡¯s words.


    Imagining the scene of the bee drilling into his body and slowly gnawing away at his organs, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but shiver.


    ¡°No way! In terms of physique and levels, you guys are much stronger than me. If it wants to parasitize someone, it should parasitize your bodies. It shouldn¡¯t be me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s not necessarily the case. Perhaps the bee likes a talented host like you,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°Talented my ass. I¡¯m just an ordinary person¡­¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    ¡°Ordinary?¡± Jiuyang and Xiao looked at him sideways.


    They didn¡¯t think so. Zhou Wen¡¯s domain power clearly hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven¡¯s level of perfection. It wasn¡¯t even as complete as a Hell-level domain, but his domain power was actually able to fight a Heaven level existence. Furthermore, he had multiple domains.


    What was even more terrifying was that there was no sign of the Guardian or other creature¡¯s genes on him. It was as though he was a pure-blooded human who had advanced to the Calamity grade.


    If such a person was still called an ordinary person, they really didn¡¯t know who else in this world was extraordinary.


    As the three of them spoke, the bee had already flown into a glacier rift. The three of them couldn¡¯t help but fall.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The three of them fell to the bottom of the rift and smashed open three ice craters. When they crawled out of the ice craters, they realized that the bee had stopped playing and was looking at an ice cavern.


    Zhou Wen traced the bee¡¯s gaze and when he saw the scene inside the ice cave, his eyes widened as his mouth gaped open. He nearly cried out.

 Chapter 1655 - Meeting Tsukuyomi Again

    Chapter 1655 Meeting Tsukuyomi Again


    Tsukuyomi isn¡¯t dead! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised to see Tsukuyomi sitting cross-legged in the ice cavern.


    Tsukuyomi hadn¡¯t been able to move. Furthermore, she had been implicated in that earth-shaking battle. Zhou Wen originally imagined that she had most likely encountered misfortune.


    He never expected to see Tsukuyomi again. Although her situation didn¡¯t look good, she was still alive. It was fine as long as she was alive.


    Tsukuyomi sat cross-legged in the ice cavern and circulated her Moonlight Force as though she was healing her injuries. There were no visible injuries on her body. She had probably been disturbed during her evolution and suffered internal injuries.


    Why did the bee come to Tsukuyomi? Could it be that it wants to finish us all off? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he couldn¡¯t care less as he loudly warned Tsukuyomi.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s voice couldn¡¯t enter the ice cavern because the bee had started playing its suona again. The suona¡¯s sound immediately drowned out Zhou Wen¡¯s voice.


    Ignoring Tsukuyomi, who was far away in the ice cavern, even Xiao and Jiuyang, who were nearby, couldn¡¯t hear what he was shouting.


    The moment the suona sounded, the trio¡¯s bodies were controlled again. No matter how they struggled, they couldn¡¯t escape its control. Even the Heaven-Opening Scripture of the Highest Elder and the Teacher Domain were useless.


    Truth Listener¡¯s Evil Warding didn¡¯t have any effect. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out what category the suona¡¯s power came under. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but walk towards the bee, but he quickly realized that something was amiss.


    He walked towards the bee under the music¡¯s control, but Xiao and Jiuyang didn¡¯t walk over. They remained standing where they were.


    Zhou Wen could even see Xiao and Jiuyang trying their best to move their bodies, but they couldn¡¯t move at all. They stood firmly in place as though they had been nailed there.


    It¡¯s over. Could it be as Jiuyang said? This bee wants to parasitize me? Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his back.


    Countless thoughts ran through his mind. Just as he was thinking about how he could escape the bee¡¯s control, he saw Tsukuyomi being forced out of the ice cavern. Tsukuyomi clearly saw Zhou Wen as well. She opened her mouth as though she was saying something to him, but due to the influence of the suona, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear what she was saying despite the close distance. She looked rather alarmed, a probable sign that she didn¡¯t know what had happened.


    Zhou Wen regretted not learning lip-reading. If he knew lip-reading, he would at least know what Tsukuyomi was saying, so he wouldn¡¯t be gripped by such anxiety.


    The two of them walked towards the bee. As the distance closed, Zhou Wen could roughly hear Tsukuyomi¡¯s words.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± Tsukuyomi asked in panic.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story,¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile. Too many things had happened in between, making it impossible to give a quick summary.


    ¡°Ignore that for now. Let¡¯s see if there¡¯s any way to escape the suona¡¯s control.¡± Zhou Wen could only hope that Tsukuyomi had a way to escape the suona¡¯s music.


    Tsukuyomi should have been at the Hell level before. After absorbing the power of the Moon Essence Basin, if nothing happened in the middle, she should be at the Heaven level. Now, he didn¡¯t know what her situation was or if she had advanced perfectly. If she was already at the Heaven level, she might have a solution.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already tried, but none of them worked. That sound is too strange. I can¡¯t affect it with sound-type powers, nor can I affect it with spatial powers,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a shake of her head.


    As the two of them spoke, they had already walked to a point less than fifty meters from each other. Furthermore, they were still approaching. In between them was the suona-playing bee.


    ¡°If even you are out of options, then we can only leave it up to fate. I hope that the bee doesn¡¯t want our lives,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh.


    Zhou Wen could only accept it if the bee really wanted to parasitize him. He only hoped that the bee wouldn¡¯t suck him dry after parasitizing him. That way, he would have time to think of a solution.


    If there was really no other way, Zhou Wen would make a trip to Chess Mountain. He would rather sign some unfair treaties with The Thearch than have his flesh sucked dry by the bee.


    However, the bee¡¯s actions left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    If the bee really wanted to parasitize him, it could only parasitize one person. Then why did it bring Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi over?


    Could it be that this fellow wants to choose a host like how an ancient emperor chooses concubines? Does he want to gather all the beautiful girls together and compare them? Zhou Wen thought for a long time but couldn¡¯t figure out what the bee was up to.


    The two of them were already in close proximity to the bee. The distance between Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi was only a step or two before the two of them finally stopped and stood facing each other. The bee¡¯s music also stopped, but Zhou Wen realized that his body was still being controlled ¨C he couldn¡¯t move freely.


    ¡°What happened here?¡± Tsukuyomi asked Zhou Wen with a heavy expression.


    ¡°Sigh, I also want to know what happened,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh. Although he had watched the bee appear from the very beginning, he really didn¡¯t know what it was up to.


    Tsukuyomi was about to say something when she heard an earth-shattering suona blare.


    The bee was just above the two of them. It was just too close to them. The suona sounded even clearer than before. It was as though it reached into their souls, causing their souls to tremble.


    Thankfully, although the sound was a little terrifying, it didn¡¯t seem to do anything substantial. Apart from being unable to move, nothing else happened.


    Just as Zhou Wen was guessing what the bee meant, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. Something had automatically flown out of the Chaos Bead.


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed. After all, the chaos space in the Chaos Bead was equivalent to another spacetime. Unless Zhou Wen opened the Chaos Bead himself, the things inside shouldn¡¯t be affected by the outside world.


    Now that something had flown out, it was clearly affected by the suona. This left Zhou Wen even more alarmed at its power.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and saw that the thing that had flown out of the Chaos Bead was a token. It was the Heavenly Happiness Token that Emperor of Shang had given him.


    The Heavenly Happiness Token was actually a palm-sized stone token. There was a red ¡°joy¡± character on it. At that moment, the Heavenly Happiness Token floated between Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi. The originally ordinary stone token shimmered with a strange glow.

 Chapter 1656 - Paying Respects to the Heavens and Earth

    Chapter 1656 Paying Respects to the Heavens and Earth


    The sudden appearance of the Heavenly Happiness Token made Zhou Wen immediately realize something


    When Emperor of Shang gave him the Heavenly Happiness Token, he didn¡¯t say anything. He even gave it very casually as though it was nothing important. However, ever since Zhou Wen obtained the Heavenly Happiness Token, what happened around it made him vaguely understand that it was definitely important.


    Just the characteristic of allowing a Calamity creature to stay on Earth was extremely terrifying.


    On Earth, other than humans, all creatures would be forced to leave Earth for the universe once they advanced to the Calamity grade. If they stayed, they would definitely be suppressed by the rules or they would seal themselves. Only by weakening their strength to below the Calamity grade could they stay on Earth.


    The most direct example was the antelope. A strong fellow like the antelope was definitely at the Calamity grade, and it wasn¡¯t an ordinary Calamity-grade. Its usual cultivation was always in a sealed state. Even if it was heavily injured, it didn¡¯t dare release its strength.


    With the standards of humans now, if Calamity creatures could stay on Earth, how was it possible for humanity to survive? Earth would have long been ruled by the dimensional creatures.


    Now, the Heavenly Happiness Token was dazzling. Streams of light circulated in euphoria. It was like a red lantern hanging above Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi.


    Boo¡­ Boo¡­ Boo¡­


    The bee continued using all its strength as it kept blowing the suona. As the suona music sounded, the light on the Heavenly Happiness Token intensified. Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t help but turn towards the Heavenly Happiness Token.


    ¡°Xiao, why do I find this scene a little familiar!¡± Jiuyang, who was standing by the side, frowned as he looked at the scene in front of him.


    Xiao said with a strange expression, ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, what they are doing now seems to be a tradition of ancient times.¡±


    Jiuyang¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard Xiao. ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a kind of tradition¡­ What¡¯s the name of that tradition again¡­¡±


    As many traditional customs had already vanished in the Federation, much less Jiuyang, who was born in the Holy Land. He only occasionally read some historical information, so he didn¡¯t have a deep impression of it. He couldn¡¯t recall it immediately.


    ¡°Paying respects to the heavens and earth,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s a ceremony to pay respects to the heavens and earth done during weddings in the East District¡¯s ancient times. There¡¯s no mistake about it. I chanced upon it when reading. The music that used to be played seems very similar to the music played by the bee¡­ How should I put it¡­ It¡¯s festive¡­¡± Jiuyang¡¯s expression turned odd. ¡°But this is too strange. A Companion Beast born on a distant planet actually knows the tradition that few humans know of. It even wants to force Zhou Wen to pay respects to the heavens and earth with a dimensional creature. This is too bizarre. What does it want? Is this really about paying respects to the heavens and earth?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think¡­ it¡¯s wrong¡­¡± Xiao looked at Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi in thought.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, there are a total of three steps. First, paying respect to the heavens and the earth, then paying respect to the ancestors. Finally, both husband and wife will pay respect to each other. After that, they will be sent into the bridal chamber for consummation to be truly considered husband and wife and¡­¡± As Jiuyang spoke, he heard the bee¡¯s suona turn loud and profound. The entire suona was raised by it as it blew into the void with all its strength as though it was paying respects to something.


    With the suona sounding, Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi couldn¡¯t help but kneel towards the Heavenly Happiness Token and slowly kowtow.


    Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi had naturally heard Xiao and Jiuyang¡¯s conversation. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange at all. The Heavenly Happiness Token was something that dealt with marriage. For it to appear, Zhou Wen refused to believe that it had nothing to do with marriage.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any feelings for paying respect to the heavens and earth. Even if he really did so with Tsukuyomi, the Heavenly Happiness Token-invoked nuptial didn¡¯t mean anything Ignoring the fact that both of them were forced, even if they weren¡¯t, it wasn¡¯t difficult for modern people to get a divorce.


    What Zhou Wen was worried about was why the bee was doing this. What benefits would his marriage with Tsukuyomi bring to the bee?


    Wait, could it be¡­ Zhou Wen thought of a possibility and felt his scalp tingle.


    The Heavenly Happiness Token¡¯s ability was very likely not just carrying out a rite. Otherwise, it would be useless for such a divine artifact to be created just for a nuptial.


    If the Heavenly Happiness Token had a more specific use, it was very likely that this effect would allow Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi to enter the bridal chamber. It was even possible that they could directly conceive.


    Recalling the guess that the bee wanted to parasitize him, Zhou Wen¡¯s back was already covered in cold sweat. He increasingly felt that the bee wanted to parasitize their descendants.


    Typically, humans and dimensional creatures definitely had incompatible reproductive organs, but something like the Heavenly Happiness Token was very odd. It might have a special effect to break through such restrictions.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more terrified he became. He tried his best not to kneel, but his body involuntarily sank. He couldn¡¯t stop it at all. All he could do was delay it a little.


    On the other side, Tsukuyomi was also struggling with all her might, but it didn¡¯t have much of an effect.


    ¡°No matter what it wants, I won¡¯t let something you don¡¯t like happen,¡± Tsukuyomi suddenly said. Her tone was odd as though it was filled with determination.


    Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi knelt side by side. Upon hearing her voice, he could only use the corner of his eye to look at Tsukuyomi. He saw her expression turn apodictic as a strange force was brewing in her. ¡°You have a solution?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted. Since Tsukuyomi still had powers to use, they might be able to escape their present predicament.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Tsukuyomi nodded.


    ¡°Then quickly use it. I can¡¯t hold on any longer. If you don¡¯t use it, I¡¯ll really kneel down.¡± Zhou Wen was delighted when he heard that as he hurriedly urged Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry. I¡¯ve said it before. No one can force you to do something you don¡¯t like in front of me.¡± As Tsukuyomi spoke, the force in her body intensified. Her entire body was like a volcano that was about to erupt.


    Zhou Wen suddenly felt that something was amiss. He realized that blood was beginning to seep out of Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. The strength in her body was expanding as though it was about to explode. ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°The Heavenly Happiness Token can forcefully facilitate a marriage, but marriage is ultimately between two people. As long as one of them dies, the Heavenly Happiness Token will naturally be useless¡­¡± Tsukuyomi said.


    ¡°You are self-destructing!? Stop!¡± Zhou Wen immediately shouted.


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s strength showed no signs of stopping. Instead, it swelled even more. It was as though moonlight was seeping out of Tsukuyomi¡¯s skin, making her body turn crystalline. Energy surged in her as though she would immediately explode. ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. As long as I¡¯m around, no one can force you to do something you don¡¯t like.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes were resolute, but she revealed a smile on her face and slowly said, ¡°This is all I can do for you¡­ Take care¡­¡±

 Chapter 1657 - Sigh of the King Reappears

    Chapter 1657 Sigh of the King Reappears


    Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes were firm, resolute, and stubborn, but there was sorrow, sadness, relief, liberation, reluctance, pain, and other complicated emotions hidden deep in her eyes.


    Even a heartless person would probably melt when they saw Tsukuyomi¡¯s eyes. They would be moved by the sincere emotions and feel pity for her.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen was only a little slow-witted; he wasn¡¯t truly heartless.


    ¡°Tsukuyomi, stop. I¡¯ve never said I¡¯m unwilling¡­ Stop quickly¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s emotions went through upheavals as he couldn¡¯t help but shout.


    However, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t stop. She smiled bitterly and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to force yourself. I¡¯ve said it before. No one can force you to do something you aren¡¯t willing to


    much less sympathy¡­¡± Zhou Wen saw that Tsukuyomi was already on the brink of self-destruction and didn¡¯t have the time to convince her. Therefore, he roared, ¡°Stop when I tell you to. Cut the crap. Don¡¯t I know what I want? If I want you to live, you should live. If I don¡¯t want you dead, you aren¡¯t allowed to die. From now on, you will do whatever I say.¡±


    Tsukuyomi watched in a daze as her eyes gradually softened. The energy fluctuations on her body finally stopped expanding, but they didn¡¯t dissipate.


    ¡°Do you know what it will entail if we kneel down? It¡¯s not a simple ritual, but truly becoming husband and wife. Are you really willing?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen and asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Of course. If not, I wouldn¡¯t have let you live,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh.


    Although it was good to keep Tsukuyomi alive, it was difficult to predict what the bee would do to them next. If it was really as he thought, the bee¡¯s target was the descendant embryo of him and Tsukuyomi, it would be troublesome.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll listen to you. If you don¡¯t want me dead, I won¡¯t die¡­¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s cheeks flushed as she said lovingly. At this moment, the two of them couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. Zhou Wen¡¯s knees were about to touch the ground, and the distance he was from the ground was only the height of a piece of paper.


    Zhou Wen had already resigned himself to fate and gave up resisting. He planned to take things one step at a time to see what the bee was up to.


    However, just as Zhou Wen gave up on resisting and his knee was about to touch the ground, a force erupted from his body, causing his knee to bounce up from the ground as he stood straight.


    ¡°Scram!¡± A voice sounded from Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It sounded like it came from his mouth, but Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth didn¡¯t move.


    Furthermore, that voice wasn¡¯t a man¡¯s voice, but a woman¡¯s.


    With the word ¡°scram,¡± the bee that was playing the suona seemed to be struck by lightning as it suddenly flew backward. The suona in its claws fell out.


    The dazzling Heavenly Happiness Token lost all its luster and fell from the sky, returning to its original stone form. Before Zhou Wen could react, he saw a shadow flash from his body. Demonic Neonate had rushed out of his body and caught the suona in the air. She held it to her mouth and puffed up her cheeks before blowing at the bee.


    The loud suona music penetrated straight to the soul, causing everyone¡¯s heads to buzz. It was as though their souls were about to be blown out of their bodies.


    The bee was the first to bear the brunt of the attack. It became dizzy, and its body kept spinning in the air. It looked like it was losing consciousness.


    Perhaps it was because Zhou Wen was Demonic Neonate¡¯s master or perhaps Demonic Neonate had deliberately not allowed the suona¡¯s sound to affect Zhou Wen, but regardless of the reason, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t affected. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen used the Demon Dragon King armor and borrowed the power of eight Companion Beasts. Then, he injected all his strength into the Golden Wyrm Scissors and snipped at the dizzy bee.


    Although the bee was very powerful, it was only at the Heaven level. It hadn¡¯t reached the Apocalypse grade and was affected by the suona¡¯s music. It was already powerless to fight the Golden Wyrm Scissors.


    Furthermore, the reason it was so strong was that the suona played a huge role. Without the suona, the bee was at most similar to the Companion Beast from before or even inferior.


    Just as the bee¡¯s fate was about to be sealed, it suddenly flapped its wings with all its might and transformed into a stream of light to escape, hoping to put up a final struggle.


    Zhou Wen chased with the Golden Wyrm Scissors in hand. Now, he naturally couldn¡¯t let the bee off.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the bee¡¯s figure flashed and landed diagonally on Tsukuyomi. It hid behind her as though it was afraid and stole a glance at Demonic Neonate before stabbing its head into Tsukuyomi¡¯s neck, turning into a Companion Beast tattoo.


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi in a daze as Tsukuyomi¡¯s gentle and shy expression gradually turned embarrassed.


    As though realizing something, Tsukuyomi¡¯s expression instantly changed to pleasant surprise. ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re really amazing. This Companion Beast is afraid of you. It automatically contracted with me and became my Companion Beast. As expected of my husband¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Tsukuyomi and didn¡¯t say


    patted Zhou Wen on the shoulder. ¡°Zhou Wen, it¡¯s worth it to be deceived by a woman who¡¯s


    Xiao didn¡¯t say anything and only gestured at Tsukuyomi with a thumbs up gesture. ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± With that said, Xiao reached out and pulled Jiuyang. The two of them immediately vanished into the void. Only Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi were left on the dilapidated planet.


    Zhou Wen finally understood why a smart woman like Tsukuyomi would choose such a dangerous planet as her residence and choose to absorb the Moon Essence Basin here.


    Previously, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t thought too much about it. Now that he thought about it carefully, he immediately felt that there was definitely something fishy. Coupled with the fact that the bee had become Tsukuyomi¡¯s Companion Beast at the critical moment of life and death, he was certain that Tsukuyomi had long known about the planet and had even begun setting up the whole thing. It was definitely not a coincidence that she had chosen to stay here to absorb the Moon Essence Basin.


    Their eyes met and the atmosphere was a little awkward.


    ¡°Ahem, Zhou Wen, listen to my explanation¡­¡± Tsukuyomi looked into Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes as her cheeks flushed red.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to explain. It¡¯s good that you¡¯re fine. I should return.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry. Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t harm him. Even if they had finished the nuptials at the end, it wouldn¡¯t have been as dangerous as he imagined


    Demonic Neonate held the suona and flew back to Zhou Wen¡¯s side. She transformed back into a tattoo and even the suona vanished.

 Chapter 1658 - Terrible News

    Chapter 1658 Terrible News


    I nearly succeeded. How infuriating. Tsukuyomi clenched her fists angrily when she saw Zhou Wen teleport away, but she didn¡¯t know how to vent her anger. She was extremely depressed.


    What¡¯s the power that repelled the parasitic bee and the Life-and-Death Suona? I seem to hear a voice that doesn¡¯t belong to Zhou Wen. Could it be that there¡¯s a terrifying existence hidden in Zhou Wen¡¯s body? After calming down, Tsukuyomi¡¯s puzzlement intensified. Thoughts constantly flashed through her mind. Why is that terrifying existence hidden in Zhou Wen¡¯s body? What¡¯s her relationship with Zhou Wen? Will it harm Zhou Wen? No, I have to think of a way to figure it out.


    However, on second thought, she couldn¡¯t return to Earth now. Furthermore, because of that matter, Zhou Wen definitely didn¡¯t trust her. It would probably be difficult to resolve the problem if she went to Zhou Wen now.


    From the looks of it, I have to think of a solution. Tsukuyomi narrowed her eyes in thought as her mind raced.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t as Tsukuyomi had imagined. He was already a little used to Tsukuyomi¡¯s style of doing things. Even if he was deceived, he wasn¡¯t surprised. He even felt that it was only right and proper. He wasn¡¯t angry at all. Of course, this didn¡¯t mean that Zhou Wen had become foolish from all the lies. It was only because Zhou Wen knew very well that no matter how Tsukuyomi lied to him, she wouldn¡¯t really harm him.


    After teleporting back to Earth, Zhou Wen returned to Guide City. As interstellar teleportation had a certain deviation, Zhou Wen appeared near the ancient city.


    Just as he was about to return to the base, he suddenly sensed something. He turned his head and saw a white-robed man standing by the lake.


    A breeze blew gently from the lake, causing the white-haired, dragon-horned man¡¯s clothes to flutter as though he would ride the wind at any moment.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s body trembled. Although he only saw a figure, he recognized it at a glance.


    ¡°Little Wen.¡± The white-robed man turned around and smiled at Zhou Wen. It was Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Teacher, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen was delighted to see Wang Mingyuan again. With Wang Mingyuan¡¯s current status, he definitely wouldn¡¯t casually return to Earth, much less just come to drink tea and chat with him.


    Zhou Wen stood there, momentarily unsure if he should run to Wang Mingyuan as he stood there in a daze. ¡°You¡¯ve grown up.¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled and turned around again. With his back facing Zhou Wen, he looked at the ancient city enveloped by the misty rain and said, ¡°When you¡¯re young, there are many things you can avoid. You didn¡¯t have to make choices because someone was standing at a high vantage point to shield you from the elements. However, as you gradually grow up, the person who shielded you from the elements would no longer be as tall as you. There would be no way to protect you in a world with no multiple choice questions. That¡¯s when it¡¯s time for you to make a choice.¡±


    ¡°Teacher, what do you want me to choose?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan and ultimately didn¡¯t walk over.


    ¡°Earth¡¯s seal is weakening. Before long, all the dimensional zones will break out,¡± Wang Mingyuan said. ¡°I know.¡± Zhou Wen nodded with a heavy expression. More and more dimensional zones had been breached in recent times. It probably wouldn¡¯t be long before they were completely breached.


    ¡°When all dimensional zones break out, it will be when Earth¡¯s Companion Beast appears.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s words immediately made Zhou Wen tremble.


    ¡°That fast!?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    According to the present situation, it would probably only be a year or two before the dimensional zones were completely breached. If Earth¡¯s Companion Beast were to appear, wouldn¡¯t Earth be doomed?


    ¡°Perhaps it will be faster than you imagine.¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled and said, ¡°Furthermore, this isn¡¯t the worst.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s worse than this?¡± Zhou Wen felt that his young heart couldn¡¯t withstand such a blow.


    If Earth¡¯s destruction wasn¡¯t the worst situation, he really couldn¡¯t fathom what could be worse.


    ¡°When that happens, the entire universe¡¯s rules that suppress the dimension will be lifted. In fact, the suppression of the universe¡¯s rules on the dimension has already begun to weaken,¡± Wang Mingyuan said slowly. Towards the end, the smile on his face completely vanished.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhou Wen asked in horror.


    He knew very well how terrifying such a situation would be. The reason why humans could survive, or rather, the entire universe where Earth was located, could maintain a relatively peaceful state, was all because of the universe¡¯s rules of suppression on the dimension.


    Without this nomological suppression, all creatures in the universe would face a huge disaster, much less humans.


    Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen as he continued, ¡°This is a disaster, but it¡¯s also an opportunity.¡±


    ¡°What opportunity?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand. If the dimension really launched a large-scale invasion, what chance would humanity have?


    ¡°No one has found Earth¡¯s Companion Beast yet, nor does anyone know which dimensional zone on Earth will determine the ownership of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. Even if the top experts of the dimension descend, they wouldn¡¯t dare rashly invade Earth. They still need humans as their representatives to vie for Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Is there a need? If the dimension¡¯s Apocalypse-grade powerhouses can really descend completely on Earth, they have the ability to clear all the dimensional zones. Why go through so much trouble?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°They also want to do so, but unfortunately, they wouldn¡¯t dare.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t dare?¡±


    ¡°Yes, they wouldn¡¯t dare. Even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses will be afraid.¡± ¡°What are they afraid of? What on Earth is making them afraid?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed as he had a nagging feeling that this might be the crux of everything. ¡°I don¡¯t know what on Earth makes them afraid either. However, the former strongest expert of the dimension rushed into Earth with supreme might and nearly cracked it. However, he ultimately failed to come out and vanished from the face of the earth,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Is it that ship with a woman¡¯s portrait?¡± Zhou Wen immediately thought of the woman¡¯s portrait and the anchor.


    Wang Mingyuan nodded. ¡°Therefore, even if the suppression of the cosmic rules disappears, the dimension won¡¯t completely invade Earth for the time being. They need some representatives to figure out what¡¯s on Earth for them.¡±


    After a pause, Wang Mingyuan continued, ¡°There are many races in the dimension now, but there are a total of seven truly powerful races. You shouldn¡¯t be too unfamiliar with them. The six Holy Temples represent the six powerful races of the dimension. However, the strongest in the dimension isn¡¯t these six races, but the Immortals.¡±


    Zhou Wen did some calculations and realized that he wasn¡¯t a stranger to them at all. He had dealt with many people in the Holy Land and had a grudge with the Immortals. With this in mind, he had offended all seven of the strongest races in the dimension.


    In the future, when the dimension fully descended, he felt that his living environment would become abnormally harsh.


    ¡°Since the Immortals are so strong, why didn¡¯t they establish a Holy Temple in the Holy Land?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled by this.


    ¡°Previously, the strongest expert from the dimension who descended on Earth came from the Immortals¡ªthey were a race that all submitted to. Back then, even the union of the six Holy races had to submit to the Immortals. Unfortunately, the Immortal who made all races submit vanished from Earth,¡± Wang Mingyuan said slowly.

 Chapter 1659 - Choosing My Own Path

    Chapter 1659 Choosing My Own Path


    Zhou Wen¡¯s hair stood on end when he heard that. Such a powerful existence had actually vanished from Earth. It was no wonder the terrifying existences in the dimension were so wary of Earth.


    ¡°After the Immortals suffered that heavy blow, the six Holy races were able to rise up and become the rulers of the dimension. Even so, they needed the six races to join forces to suppress the heavily weakened Immortals. After so many years, even if the six Holy races join forces, it will be difficult for them to completely suppress the present-day Immortals. The possibility of them ruling the world again is very high.¡±


    Wang Mingyuan paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°The descent of the dimension is inevitable. The various races will seek out their representatives on Earth. The Immortals hope that you can become their representative. If you agree, the matter between Perfect Sword Immortal and Berserker Immortal will be written off.¡±


    ¡°If I become the representative of the Immortals, wouldn¡¯t that be equivalent to helping the Immortals destroy Earth?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. Wang Mingyuan smiled and said, ¡°Then you have to ask yourself.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan in a daze, unsure what he meant. Without explaining, Wang Mingyuan threw an item at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen caught it and saw that it was an ice crystal-like ring.


    ¡°You are already at the age where you can make your own choices. Think about it slowly. If you are willing to become the representative of the Immortals, crush that ring,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as his figure gradually turned ethereal, as though he was about to turn transparent. ¡°Teacher, if it were you, what would you choose?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°My path might not be suitable for you,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he finally turned around. His transparent body floated in the air as he looked gently at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Some people choose to walk towards heaven, while others choose to walk towards hell. No matter where they go, they just have to follow their hearts.


    ¡°If you walk to hell one day, don¡¯t be afraid or hesitant. Stretch out your hand. There will definitely be a hand waiting for you at a spot within reach.¡± With that last word, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body completely vanished.


    Zhou Wen looked at the spot where Wang Mingyuan had vanished and didn¡¯t move for a long time.


    ¡°In an era where all the gods are about to descend to the mortal world, what¡¯s the difference between walking to heaven and walking to hell?¡± After a long while, Zhou Wen sighed and put away the ring.


    When he returned to Guide City, he found the situation there wanting. Li Xuan, Qin Zhen, Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and company were busy fighting everywhere to ensure the safety of the base.


    Recently, more and more break-out creatures had rushed out of dimensional zones near Guide City. If not for the fact that Li Xuan and company were top experts among humans, the base would have long been razed to the ground.


    Even with so many experts gathered in Guide City, ordinary citizens had recently suffered casualties. Although there weren¡¯t many, it was enough to make one wary.


    ¡°Old Zhou, you¡¯re finally back. We have to find the dimensional zone to build a city as soon as possible. There¡¯s no way to defend this crappy place,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily when he saw Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen saw that Li Xuan wasn¡¯t in a good mood. His eyes were bloodshot. If even Li Xuan, who had an almost immortal body, looked so exhausted, the others must be suffering even more. ¡°It¡¯s time to find a dimensional zone to build a city. Is Xia Xuanyue still here?¡± Zhou Wen knew that it would probably be difficult to find a suitable dimensional zone to build a city in a short period of time. If there was no other way, he could only cooperate with the Xia family.


    ¡°She¡¯s been here the entire time and has helped us quite a bit. Recently, there have been too many break-out creatures appearing. We don¡¯t have enough manpower, and Xia Xuanyue and the Xia family have contributed quite a bit,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll meet her.¡± Upon hearing Li Xuan¡¯s words, Zhou Wen knew that Li Xuan had tacitly agreed to cooperate with the Xia family.


    The Xia family was quite sincere. Break-out creatures had recently appeared with high frequencies. Many families that had come to observe had already evacuated Guide City.


    For Xia Xuanyue to still lead people to help guard the base at this time showed the Xia family¡¯s sincerity.


    ¡°By the way, Sis Yuzhi is here. She has been of great help to us recently,¡± Li Xuan hurriedly added when he saw Zhou Wen preparing to leave.


    ¡°Why is she here? Who else from the Zhang family is here?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    Others might not know Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s background, but Zhou Wen knew very well that the entire Zhang family treated her like a treasure, afraid that anything would happen to her.


    Ignoring a dangerous place like Guide City, even in the Zhang family¡¯s dimensional zone, Zhang Yuzhi would have many people protecting her.


    The Zhang family had actually sent Zhang Yuzhi to Guide City, exceeding Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°There¡¯s also Zhang Xiao and a White Crane team. From what Sis Yuzhi said, the Zhang family seems interested in investing in us.¡± Li Xuan¡¯s tone suddenly turned suggestive as he lowered his voice and said, ¡°However, I don¡¯t know if the Zhang family is interested in us or if Sis Yuzhi is interested in someone.¡±


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Zhou Wen glared at him angrily. ¡°With Sis Yuzhi¡¯s importance to the Zhang family, if it wasn¡¯t for the Zhang family¡¯s ulterior motives, how could they have let her come here? Even if Sis Yuzhi agreed, the Zhang family wouldn¡¯t have let her come.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, that might be exactly what they want. Speaking of which, you aren¡¯t young anymore. Although Sis Yuzhi is a little older than us, she¡¯s definitely not considered old. It¡¯s not bad to have a mature woman, so consider it,¡± Li Xuan said with a silly smile. ¡°You still have time to think about this. From the looks of it, there¡¯s no rush to build a city,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Don¡¯t, it¡¯s best if you quickly find a dimensional zone to build the city. If this continues, even if I can hold on, the others will collapse,¡± Li Xuan hurriedly said.


    ¡°Where are Xia Xuanyue and Sis Yuzhi now?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°They are all in the Fuyue Estate. A group of dimensional creatures was cleared last night. They are probably resting now. Xia Xuanyue and the Xia family live in Block 9 while Sis Yuzhi and Zhang Xiao live in Block 10.¡± Li Xuan gave Zhou Wen the detailed address.


    ¡°Why did you arrange for them to be so close?¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    Li Xuan said helplessly, ¡°I didn¡¯t arrange it. They requested it themselves. The Xia family and the Zhang family have a good relationship. They said that they can take care of each other by living closer to each other.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. After bidding Li Xuan farewell, he headed for the Fuyue Estate and quickly arrived at the district.


    After some hesitation, Zhou Wen walked towards Block 9, hoping to discuss the dimensional zone with Xia Xuanyue.


    ¡°Zhou Wen.¡± Just as he was about to reach Block 9, he heard someone call his name. He turned his head and saw Zhang Yuzhi standing at the entrance of Block 10, waving at him.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, you¡¯re here for me, right?¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to turn around and walk over, he realized that Xia Xuanyue had walked out of Block 9 and greeted him with a smile.

 Chapter 1660 - A City for You

    Chapter 1660 A City for You


    Zhou Wen looked at Xia Xuanyue before looking at Zhang Yuzhi. After some thought, he said, ¡°Time is tight. Let¡¯s have a chat together.¡±


    Zhou Wen gathered the two of them over but didn¡¯t enter the building. He sat down in the garden pavilion in the district. With the Xia and Zhang families guarding outside, he wasn¡¯t afraid of anyone disturbing them.


    ¡°Miss Xia, you previously said that there is a suitable dimensional zone that can be used to build a city. I have intentions of cooperating, but I can only decide after seeing the exact situation of that dimensional zone. Don¡¯t worry, we can sign a contract first. As long as we use the dimensional zones you provide to build a city, I won¡¯t give you a single cent less,¡± Zhou Wen said bluntly, having no intention of being gratuitous.


    He knew that time was of the essence. In the next year or two, the dimensional zones would completely break out. When that happened, without a dimensional zone as a refuge, hundreds of thousands of people would probably die. ¡°With the Federation¡¯s current situation, what¡¯s the point of signing a contract?¡± Xia Xuanyue smiled and continued, ¡°Since I¡¯m here, I naturally trust you. There¡¯s no need to sign a contract. I can take you there anytime.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, Zhang Yuzhi beat him to it. ¡°Wait, Little Wen, why didn¡¯t you ask me before if you¡¯re trying to find a dimensional zone to establish a city?¡±


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. ¡°Sis Yuzhi, what do you mean?¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi said, ¡°In terms of geomancy, which family in the world can compare to our Zhang family? Let alone finding a place to build a city, even if you want to find a place to build a palace, I can help you find the best spot.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s words sounded like bragging, but when Zhou Wen thought about it, it did seem to make sense. The Zhang family specialized in this, so although it was a problem for Zhou Wen and company, she could probably resolve it easily.


    When Xia Xuanyue heard Zhang Yuzhi say that, she curled her lips and said, ¡°I admit that your Zhang family¡¯s knowledge of geomancy is indeed unparalleled in the world. You guys are probably the best if you¡¯re trying to find a grave site, but it¡¯s not necessarily the case when it comes to finding the dimensional zone. Zhou Wen, you have to think carefully. Don¡¯t use the lives of hundreds of thousands of people to verify their knowledge.¡±


    What Xia Xuanyue said makes sense. Even if the art of geomancy can really deduce where there are dimensional zones, how can I deduce if that dimensional zone is suitable for building a city? Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t angered when she heard that. She continued indifferently, ¡°Little Wen, I¡¯ll take you there to take a look first. See if it¡¯s suitable for you.¡±


    Dres


    ¡°Sis, what are the Zhang family¡¯s conditions?¡± Zhou Wen knew the principle of settling scores clearly even between brothers. Furthermore, Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t only represent herself, but she also had the Zhang family¡¯s interests behind her.


    ¡°What do you mean by conditions? This is my greeting gift to you.¡± Zhang Yuzhi smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯m me, and the Zhang family is the Zhang family. You helped me so much in the past, so what¡¯s wrong with giving you a home? Regardless of whether you will cooperate with the Zhang family in the future, it has nothing to do with this matter. Furthermore, I don¡¯t wish for you to cooperate with the Zhang family.¡±


    Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s last sentence left Xia Xuanyue and Zhou Wen stunned.


    The first half of the sentence was understandable. Be it Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s true thoughts or her desire to build a good relationship with Zhou Wen, those words made sense.


    However, her last sentence didn¡¯t make sense. As a member of the Zhang family, Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t wish for Zhou Wen to cooperate with the Zhang family. It was baffling.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to ask why, but he held back. There were too many people here, so it wouldn¡¯t be nice to ask. He planned on asking her in private later.


    However, Xia Xuanyue suddenly thought of something. She glanced at Zhang Yuzhi before saying meaningfully to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, the dimensional zone I plan on introducing to you is Diqiu. I can guarantee that our Xia family discovered that dimensional zone first. It¡¯s unlike some families who rely on their intelligence to do despicable deeds.¡±


    Clearly, Xia Xuanyue suspected that the Zhang family had stolen information about the Xia family and wanted to use the same dimensional zone to cooperate with Zhou Wen. She didn¡¯t believe a word Zhang Yuzhi said.


    After all, Guide City had many strange dimensional zones. How could it be so easy to find another dimensional zone suitable for establishing a city? The possibility of it being the same dimensional zone was extremely high.


    Regardless of whether the Zhang family had stolen the information from the Xia family, Xia Xuanyue had said it first. If it was really the same dimensional zone, it wouldn¡¯t be nice for the Zhang family to continue vying for it. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the name Diqiu.


    Legend had it that Emperor Ku of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors was buried there. Everyone felt that there should be a dimensional zone there, but no one found it.


    Ignoring the question of whether it was suitable for establishing a city, it was already amazing for the Xia family to have found the Diqiu dimensional zone.


    Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi, wanting to know if the dimensional zone Zhang Yuzhi mentioned was Diqiu.


    The corners of Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s mouth curled up slightly as she said disdainfully, ¡°Some people like to project themselves on others when judging them. Our Zhang family naturally knows about a dimensional zone like the Digiu dynasty, but it¡¯s a cemetery after all. Even the tomb of Emperor Ku can¡¯t change the fact that it¡¯s a haunted place. That¡¯s a place for the dead. Why would I get Little Wen to build a city in that place? Wouldn¡¯t that be building a city for the dead?¡±


    ¡°Oh, then I would like to know where the dimensional zone your Zhang family chose is,¡± Xia Xuanyue said as she stared at Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°It¡¯s not Diqiu anyway. As for where it is, it has nothing to do with your Xia family,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she pulled Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and got up. ¡°Let¡¯s go. I¡¯ll take you to see that dimensional zone now. As for Diqiu, there¡¯s no point in going.¡±


    ¡°Miss Xia, if we use Diqiu City in the future, the Xia family will definitely have a share. Don¡¯t worry about that.¡± Zhou Wen explained to Xia Xuanyue before being pulled away by Zhang Yuzhi.


    After leaving the district and finding no one around, Zhou Wen asked Zhang Yuzhi, ¡°Sis, where is the dimensional zone you mentioned?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there.¡± Zhang Yuzhi blinked, but she didn¡¯t tell Zhou Wen the answer. All she did was pull him forward. Zhang Xiao and the members of the White Crane team protected Zhang Yuzhi without speaking to Zhou Wen. Even Zhang Xiao, who had always had a problem with Zhou Wen, didn¡¯t say a word.


    As they traveled, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. The path Zhang Yuzhi had taken him on was the one near Guide City. He had been to all these places before, and he knew the dimensional zones here. There weren¡¯t any dimensional zones that were suitable for establishing a city.


    When Zhang Yuzhi stopped, Zhou Wen looked at the familiar ancient city and moat and asked with an odd expression, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the dimensional zone you mentioned is here?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s Guide Ancient City. If you want to build a city, the city is already here. You can even save the money needed to build it. Aren¡¯t I good to you?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.

 Chapter 1661 - Entering the Ancient City Again

    Chapter 1661 Entering the Ancient City Again


    ¡°Sis, are you joking?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened.


    Others might not know, but he knew very well how terrifying the existence inside the ancient city was. Even though Zhou Wen could already match Heaven-level creatures, he still didn¡¯t dare rashly enter the ancient city.


    Before reaching the three conditions mentioned by the humanoid creature, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk to enter the ancient city again.


    Zhang Yuzhi said in all seriousness, ¡°Of course not. There are indeed terrifying existences in the ancient city. The various factions have actually been trying to probe the situation inside, but those who entered basically didn¡¯t come out alive. We don¡¯t know much about the situation inside, and my family was lucky to learn of the situation inside.¡±


    ¡°Since you know this, you should know that the ancient city can¡¯t be used as a human city.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi in puzzlement, unsure why she had made such a suggestion.


    ¡°Others might not know, but have you forgotten what abilities I have?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s not good for you to use that ability, right?¡± Zhou Wen knew what kind of ability Zhang Yuzhi had, but Zhang Yuzhi wasn¡¯t willing to use such an ability herself. Therefore, he had never thought of getting Zhang Yuzhi to use her ability to help him.


    ¡°It wouldn¡¯t be nice if I killed my friend, but as long as I don¡¯t harm my friend, there¡¯s naturally nothing wrong,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said as she blinked.


    ¡°How do I build a city without killing that creature?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled. If he didn¡¯t kill it, how could he occupy the ancient city?


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m here, the terrifying creatures in the city will always be my friends. My friends naturally won¡¯t harm my friends, so won¡¯t you be able to build a city?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a smile.


    ¡°Well¡­ You can¡¯t stay here forever, right?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhang Yuzhi in a daze before saying


    ¡°Why not? I came here to join you. I won¡¯t return to Mount Dragon Tiger again. Don¡¯t tell me you won¡¯t take me in?¡± Zhang Yuzhi looked very serious without any intention of joking.


    ¡°Even if you are willing, the Zhang family won¡¯t let you stay here forever, right?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that the Zhang family was willing to let Zhang Yuzhi stay outside. She was the Zhang family¡¯s supreme treasure.


    ¡°Why not? It was the family¡¯s decision. I¡¯ll stay here with you in the future. There¡¯s no need to return. I don¡¯t need to care about the Zhang family¡¯s matters anymore,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said. Zhou Wen still had his concerns. Even if the Zhang family was willing to let Zhang Yuzhi stay, what if the Zhang family made her leave in the future?


    If Zhou Wen and company entered the ancient city, wouldn¡¯t everyone be doomed once Zhang Yuzhi left? Even if Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t leave, wouldn¡¯t Zhou Wen be controlled by the Zhang family if they used her as a threat?


    No matter how Zhou Wen thought about it, he felt that the ancient city couldn¡¯t be accepted. However, Zhang Yuzhi had already pulled him towards the ancient city¡¯s entrance. As they walked, she said, ¡°I know what you¡¯re worried about. If you are willing to take me in, I¡¯ll be a part of Guide City in the future. It¡¯s naturally impossible for me to ignore Guide City. Without your permission, I definitely won¡¯t leave the ancient city. Furthermore, even if I want to leave, I¡¯m afraid there won¡¯t be a home to return to.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed, imagining that something had happened to the Zhang family. ¡°Chunqiu wants me to tell you that after I enter Guide City, I can¡¯t treat myself as a member of the Zhang family.¡± Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s expression darkened.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why the Zhang family was willing to release Zhang Yuzhi. To the Zhang family, Zhang Yuzhi was their most precious wealth. Yet, they were giving their most precious wealth to an outsider. He really couldn¡¯t figure out why the Zhang family was doing this.


    ¡°Chunqiu said that the dimensional zones on Earth will soon undergo a large-scale breakout. It will happen in only a year or two. He doesn¡¯t know how long the Zhang family can defend the fort, so he got me to come here and leave a way out for them. If Mount Dragon Tiger can¡¯t be defended one day, with me here, the Zhang family can still have a place to stay.¡± Zhang Yuzhi recounted Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s words without hiding anything.


    ¡°What makes Zhang Chunqiu think that I¡¯ll definitely be able to defend this place? The environment here isn¡¯t much better than Mount Dragon Tiger.¡± Zhou Wen was taken aback when he heard that.


    Guide City had many myths and legends. There were countless immortals from all walks of life. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t completely confident that he could defend it if all the dimensional zones were breached.


    However, the Zhang family had actually deduced that all the dimensional zones on Earth were about to break out. The timing was about as Wang Mingyuan had said. They were indeed capable.


    ¡°Chunqiu said that if there¡¯s a final human city on Earth, it will definitely be yours,¡± Zhang Yuzhi mimicked Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s tone and said in all seriousness.


    ¡°I never expected Zhang Chunqiu to think so highly of me.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly.


    ¡°Stay here and wait for me. I¡¯ll go in with Zhou Wen.¡± Zhang Yuzhi got Zhang Xiao and the White Crane team to stay outside the ancient city¡¯s entrance as she pulled Zhou Wen into the ancient city.


    The interior of the ancient city had already expanded to an extremely large scale. There were pavilions and buildings and large palaces. It looked like a huge ancient capital that was completely different from the original small city.


    Even someone like Zhou Wen, who had been born here, couldn¡¯t recognize this place.


    Furthermore, the situation inside was somewhat strange. There was no sound at all in the huge ancient city. It was so quiet that one could even hear a pin drop.


    There were many dimensional creatures in the moat outside the city, but there wasn¡¯t a single one in the city. The silence was deafening.


    ¡°Is your ability really effective against all dimensional creatures? Will high-level dimensional creatures be immune to your ability?¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhang Yuzhi uneasily.


    This humanoid creature was no ordinary dimensional creature. If Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s ability was useless, wouldn¡¯t they be sending themselves to their deaths?


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure if high-level dimensional creatures are immune to my ability. However, up to now, nothing like that has happened. Even Calamity creatures are no exception.¡± Zhang Yuzhi was very confident in her abilities. Clearly, she had never failed.


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when his eyes suddenly focused. He saw a figure slowly walking over from the ancient city¡¯s middle street.


    The figure had his head lowered. His long gray hair cascaded down, almost covering his entire face. His hands seemed to hang by his sides subconsciously. When he walked, it was as though they had snapped and were swaying with his figure.


    He didn¡¯t seem to be walking fast and was staggering, but despite clearly walking from the end of the long street, he was almost in front of them in a few steps.


    Has he completely lost himself? Zhou Wen stared at the humanoid creature. He couldn¡¯t sense the nearly human-like aura from before. Now, he looked like a pure dimensional creature no matter how he looked at it.

 Chapter 1662 - A Bug-like Ability

    Chapter 1662 A Bug-like Ability


    Zhou Wen subconsciously shielded Zhang Yuzhi behind him. At the same time, he put on the Dragon King armor and borrowed the power of eight Companion Beasts, prepared to fight the humanoid creature at any time.


    ¡°Calm down. He won¡¯t be our enemy,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said gently as she pressed her hand on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    With that said, Zhang Yuzhi walked out from behind Zhou Wen without waiting for him to say a word. She took the initiative to walk towards the humanoid monster.


    ¡°Are you sure it¡¯s fine?¡± Zhou Wen was still somewhat worried. He had a nagging feeling that if the imperceptible ability failed, it would be equivalent to dying.


    Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t answer as she walked towards the humanoid monster. Her aura seemed to have changed.


    The humanoid monster had clearly lost its humanity, nor did it remember Zhou Wen. Its eyes shimmered with a sanguine glow. Even the hair hanging down in front of it couldn¡¯t hide the ferocious glint in its eyes, as though it could devour anyone at any moment.


    The Essence Energy fluctuations from his body weren¡¯t weaker than the Companion Beast killed by the suona. Zhou Wen still felt that it was too dangerous. He secretly summoned Demonic Neonate and made her prepare to attack at any time.


    Although Demonic Neonate was only at the Terror grade, her combat strength wasn¡¯t inferior to the top Heaven-level creatures, especially the suona she had just snatched. To be able to kill a Heaven-level creature by blowing the suona was no ordinary feat. ¡°Come to my side.¡± Faced with such a terrifying creature, Zhang Yuzhi spread out her arms as though she was welcoming an old friend she hadn¡¯t seen in a long time. It made Zhou Wen break out into a cold sweat.


    If Zhang Yuzhi got too close to the humanoid creature and something happened, Zhou Wen might not be able to rescue her.


    Just as Zhou Wen was hesitating about stopping Zhang Yuzhi, the humanoid creature had already walked in front of her. Zhang Yuzhi rushed over and hugged the humanoid creature.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s scalp tingled as he nervously looked at the humanoid creature with a ferocious glint in its eyes. He almost couldn¡¯t help but attack.


    Thankfully, he held back in the end. The humanoid creature was hugged by Zhang Yuzhi and didn¡¯t attack her. The ferocious glint in his eyes was revealed when he looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m here¡­¡± Zhang Yuzhi placated the humanoid monster.


    The powerful and terrifying humanoid creature gradually turned gentle and stopped showing its ferocious appearance.


    Seeing the humanoid creature slowly relax and quieten down, Zhang Yuzhi released her grip on him and stroked his hair with one hand.


    If he hadn¡¯t seen it with his own eyes, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have believed that there was such an unbelievable power in the world. Such a powerful and terrifying dimensional creature was like a child as it rubbed its head and face against Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s palm.


    It¡¯s no wonder the Zhang family has always treated Zhang Yuzhi as a god, afraid that something would happen to her. Such an ability is like a bug in games. The Zhang family has used Zhang Yuzhi all these years and killed countless high-level dimensional creatures. Their wealth must be much richer than I imagined, Zhou Wen thought.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed, but he never thought of using Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s powers to kill dimensional creatures. That would be too cruel for Zhang Yuzhi.


    Although he didn¡¯t know what Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s ability was, Zhou Wen could tell that it wasn¡¯t just a skill. Zhang Yuzhi had also thrown in her true feelings and even unconditional trust, treating dimensional creatures as existences that could live and die together with her.


    Such commitment might be the foundation of Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s ability.


    Under Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s placation, the humanoid creature had become much more docile. However, when it looked at Zhou Wen, it still revealed a ferocious look from time to time, looking feral.


    ¡°Don¡¯t approach him for the time being. I need to spend more time with him. After some time, he won¡¯t be as afraid of strangers as he is now,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said to Zhou Wen as she placated the humanoid creature.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he looked at the humanoid creature and said, ¡°Can you communicate with him? Can you ask him some questions?¡±


    The last time the humanoid creature spoke to him, it was done in a vague manner, Zhou Wen wanted to know what the three conditions the humanoid creature mentioned were.


    ¡°Sure, but it will take some time. I haven¡¯t completely gained his trust,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t gained his complete trust even like that?¡± Zhou Wen saw that Zhang Yuzhi could already touch the humanoid monster¡¯s head. If she wanted to harm the humanoid creature, she could attack his vital spots at any time. ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. His willpower is very strong. I reckon it will take at least half a month to completely make him trust me. When the time comes, you can ask whatever you want,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I¡¯ll look around the city to see if there are any other dimensional creatures. I also want to see if this place is really suitable for human habitation.¡± Since Zhang Yuzhi was building her relationship with the humanoid creature. It was useless for Zhou Wen to stay here, so he decided to tour the ancient city.


    The space inside the ancient city had expanded tremendously. There were palatial buildings everywhere. Yet, such a huge city didn¡¯t have any dimensional creatures.


    In the past, there were still Skeleton Soldiers and Skeleton Generals in the city, but now, there was nothing. It was an empty city. Even the interior of the buildings was empty. If nothing went wrong, this place was indeed very suitable for living. Even the houses were ready-made and in move-in condition. Zhou Wen roughly estimated that the buildings in the city were more than enough for a million people to live in. There were plenty of empty spaces in the city, so it wasn¡¯t a bad idea to use them as farms.


    The key was that there was a well in the ancient city. Zhou Wen tasted it and realized that the water in the well was sweet and refreshing. It could be drunk directly and was different from the water in the moat. There was no need to worry about water sources.


    As long as the four city gates were closed from the inside, it would be difficult for the creatures outside to barge in. It was indeed a good place that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.


    Of course, this place wasn¡¯t completely without flaws. At present, there weren¡¯t any dimensional creatures in the city. If he wanted to hunt dimensional creatures, he had to go out and hunt the skeletons that crawled out of the moat.


    There weren¡¯t any edible dimensional creatures nearby, so it wasn¡¯t conducive for gathering meat.


    However, these problems weren¡¯t major problems. There were solutions. The most important thing now was to find a home for the hundreds of thousands of people to settle down. Ancient City was undoubtedly the most suitable place for the time being.


    I ended up establishing a city here. Zhou Wen came to the Fire God Platform and looked at the stone saber embedded in the stone furnace. He didn¡¯t know what to feel.


    After making all kinds of turns and detours, to his surprise, he still returned to the starting point.


    Overseer Luoyang¡¯s residence. An Tianzuo, who was reading some documents, suddenly looked up and said, ¡°Since you¡¯re here, come in and have a cup of tea. Be it fighting or escaping, there¡¯s no rush.¡±


    ¡°As expected of Overseer An.¡± Before the door opened, a figure passed through it.


    The figure was a shadow. It was blurry as though a person could be seen clearly. However, no matter how carefully one looked, one couldn¡¯t tell what he looked like.


    ¡°How do I address you?¡± An Tianzuo poured a cup of tea and pushed it in front of the figure.


    ¡°You can call me Spirit Slave. I came to see you, Overseer, because I hope that you can become the representative of our Spirit race in the human world¡­¡± the figure said slowly. ¡°Why should I be your representative?¡± An Tianzuo drank a mouthful of tea and placed the teacup on the table before asking Spirit Slave.


    ¡°The Earth¡¯s seal will soon be lifted. The dimensional descent is a foregone conclusion. The various races of the dimension are searching for representatives in the human world and will provide them with large amounts of resources. Our Spirit race will also provide you with resources,¡± said Spirit Slave.


    ¡°Then why should I choose your Spirit race and not the other races?¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change as he continued asking.

 Chapter 1663 - Representatives

    Chapter 1663 Representatives


    ¡°The resources that the six Holy races possess are indeed much more than our Spirit race. What they can give you might also be what our Spirit race can¡¯t give you. However, the six Holy races have been plotting on Earth for many years and have already spread the net for countless geniuses among humans. Even if they think highly of you, the resources they give you will only be a tiny fraction,¡± said Spirit Slave.


    An Tianzuo sat in his chair and placed his hands on the table as he calmly looked at Spirit Slave and said, ¡°A large race is a large race after all. Even if it¡¯s just a fraction, it might not be less than what you can offer. Furthermore, as the saying goes, when it comes to choosing shade, it¡¯s better to choose a big tree. If I choose your Spirit race, it¡¯s equivalent to fighting alone. And by choosing them, not only can I obtain resources, but I can also have many helpers, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right. However, the Holy race might not think as highly of you as we do. It¡¯s impossible for them to have their race¡¯s sovereign to personally meet you, much less give you pointers. This is my race¡¯s sincerity.¡±


    ¡°The leader of your race wants to meet me?¡± An Tianzuo revealed a look of surprise.


    ¡°Yes. Although my race hasn¡¯t reached the position of Holy races, my race¡¯s leader is a powerful existence that can be ranked in the top ten of the alien races.¡± Spirit Slave¡¯s voice was filled with pride.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll meet your race¡¯s leader who can be ranked in the top ten of the alien races,¡± said An Tianzuo.


    This time, Spirit Slave was the one who was slightly taken aback. He never expected An Tianzuo to agree so easily. He swallowed the words of persuasion he had prepared.


    ¡°Why? Can¡¯t we meet now?¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    ¡°Of course. However, with Earth¡¯s openness, it¡¯s still a little troublesome to enter the dimension. I can only ask you to leave Earth with me before using some means to enter the dimension¡­¡±


    Luoyang¡¯s Li family.


    ¡°Li Mobai, you don¡¯t have to answer me immediately. You can consider it slowly.¡± Li Mobai sat in front of the lamp that shone his shadow on the wall. The shadow was completely different from his actions. Furthermore, it could make sounds.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Take me to your Lord of Evil Ghosts,¡± Li Mobai said.


    ¡°What a wise choice.¡± The shadow cackled. In the next second, the lamp was switched off and the room turned pitch-black.


    The Ultimate Family Clan of the North District.


    ¡°Lance, tell me your answer.¡± A glorious figure floated in front of Lance. Under the immense pressure, the companions who were with Lance couldn¡¯t withstand the terrifying pressure as they knelt on one knee. Their faces were distorted and their bodies were covered in sweat.


    ¡°There are so many Saints in the Divine Emperor Holy Temple. Why do you still want me? Furthermore, the ones corresponding to your Divine Emperor Holy Temple should be the Cape family, right? Why aren¡¯t you choosing people from the Cape family? Why are you looking for me?¡± Lance¡¯s entire body was trembling. His legs were about to break, but he still held on and didn¡¯t kneel.


    SOV


    ¡°There can only be one sovereign in this world. If you come, you will be the only sovereign in my race¡¯s Holy Temple.¡± The figure continued, ¡°However, everyone wants to become sovereign. If you become sovereign, you have to constantly accept challenges from everyone. If you lose, you will be reduced to nothing. If you remain undefeated, the people who want to become sovereign will constantly challenge you until you die or lose¡­ Tell me¡­ your choice¡­¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if I become sovereign or not. The key is that I like the feeling of constantly winning,¡± Lance said in all seriousness.


    Zhou Wen had already explored Guide Ancient City thoroughly in the past few days. Apart from the lack of dimensional creatures, everything else was suitable as a human city.


    The city was big enough. Not only was it huge, but there was also a large space inside the many buildings. The entire city¡¯s space was many times bigger than it appeared from the outside.


    Furthermore, there was plenty of water here. There were many stone wells distributed in the city, and the underground water in the wells was endless.


    It could be used for planting and breeding. As long as there was water, they could become self-sufficient with food.


    The only hidden danger was the stone saber on Fire God Platform. If the stone saber was pulled out, it was unknown what changes the ancient city would undergo.


    As for the humanoid monster, it had already been completely tamed by Zhang Yuzhi. It followed Zhang Yuzhi every moment like her bodyguard.


    However, other than Zhang Yuzhi, he had a strong desire to attack other humans when he saw them. Luckily, with Zhang Yuzhi around, he wouldn¡¯t really attack humans.


    S.


    ¡°How is it? Have you decided? Do you want to build a city here?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked Zhou Wen with a smile.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it here,¡± Zhou Wen answered with a nod. He had already thought it through over the past few days, so there was no need for him to hesitate.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s answer, Zhang Yuzhi sighed. ¡°From the looks of it, I jumped from one cage to another.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t a cage. This is home,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Then I want to choose the best room for this home.¡± Zhang Yuzhi laughed again.


    Zhou Wen left the ancient city and returned to the base. Zhang Yuzhi and the Zhang family stayed in the ancient city. It wasn¡¯t that Zhang Yuzhi didn¡¯t wish to return with him, but she couldn¡¯t leave. She needed to continue nurturing her relationship with the humanoid monster, hoping to restrain him as much as possible to prevent any accidents from happening during the mass migration.


    Just as Zhang Yuzhi had said, if they really built a city, it would probably be difficult for her to leave in the future.


    Zhou Wen returned to the base and found Li Xuan in the meeting hall. Then, he realized that Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen were all there.


    ¡°Old Zhou, you came back at the right time. They encountered some trouble. Give them some suggestions,¡± Li Xuan said as he pointed at Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Zhou Wen imagined that something had happened to their family when he saw that they were fine.


    Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expression was solemn as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Coach, there are dimensional races that want the two of us to become their representatives on Earth.¡± ¡°Which race found you? One of the six Holy Temples?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised when he heard that. He had already learned from Wang Mingyuan that the seal on Earth was weakening. The terrifying existences in the dimension wouldn¡¯t dare risk entering Earth themselves. They would definitely find some humans to figure out what was on Earth on their behalf.


    Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu were the cream of the crop among humans, so it wasn¡¯t surprising that the races of the dimension would seek them out.


    ¡°No, they are all races I¡¯ve never heard of. The one that came to me is some Inter race? The one that went to Little Yanyan is some Phaseless race.¡± Ming Xiu paused before continuing, ¡°They said that they will send us into the dimension to cultivate for a period of time and give us enough resources and help us advance to the Calamity grade. Coach, do you think we should go?¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Ming Xiu before looking at Feng Qiuyan. He shook his head and sighed. ¡°The answer is already in your hearts. Why bother asking?¡±


    ¡°If Coach needs me to stay, I¡¯ll stay,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°I need you, but not now.¡± Zhou Wen patted Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Just respect your conscience. However, you still have to be careful. The fellows from the dimension aren¡¯t good people. You can take advantage of them, but be careful not to be exploited.¡±


    ¡°The base¡¯s situation is in a terrible state now. If we leave, will the base be capable of defending?¡± Ming Xiu asked worriedly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already chosen a city. There¡¯s no need to build it. We can move over immediately,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    There was no such thing as an airtight secret in the world. The news of the various dimensional races choosing representatives among humans quickly spread in the Federation.

 Chapter 1664 - Mohe

    Chapter 1664 Mohe


    It was unknown if it was news released by the dimension itself, but the entire Federation soon learned that the various races of the dimension had chosen their representatives among humans.


    They could obtain the resources of the dimensional races and enter a high-level world like the dimension to cultivate. They could obtain the pointers of dimensional experts, and he didn¡¯t even have to sell their lives to the dimension like Saints. All they needed to do was sign a contract and help the dimensional races find something on Earth to terminate the contract.


    Even if the contract wasn¡¯t terminated, other than searching for such a thing, the representative could also reject the other requests of the dimension and not work for them.


    Almost everyone was tempted by such conditions. It was more like a partnership. Without really selling one¡¯s life to the dimension, one could obtain all sorts of benefits. Where else could one find such a good deal?


    Everyone felt that this was a good thing, but the people who really received the invitation were watching. Very few people directly accepted the invitation.


    Things were too good to be true, so it inevitably made people suspicious, afraid that dimensional powerhouses would tamper with the contract.


    Although Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu had already decided to head to the dimension for cultivation, they didn¡¯t immediately head there. They still decided to wait for the people from Guide City to be evacuated into the ancient city before heading to the dimension after everything had stabilized.


    This process went very smoothly. There were many buildings in the ancient city to begin with, so all they needed to do was draw up plans for the distribution. In this aspect, Li Xuan had found experts from the Li family, and the Zhang family was a top expert in this area. After discussion, they quickly came up with a plan. Hundreds of thousands of people methodically migrated into the ancient city.


    The migration wasn¡¯t difficult. The difficult part was how to form a self-sufficient supply chain in the ancient city and provide livelihoods to the residents.


    It was impossible for Zhou Wen to provide for them for no reason. Excessive kindness could backfire, and kindness wasn¡¯t something that could be easily given. Hundreds of thousands of people needed to pay a price for something. Otherwise, if they relied on Zhou Wen¡¯s providence, chaos would definitely ensue in the future.


    The quality of the hundreds of thousands of people were varied and their combat abilities were basically very low. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect them to really fight. Those who could fight were given the chance to hunt dimensional creatures to exchange for supplies. Those who didn¡¯t have combat abilities were employed in farming, livestock raising, business, education, and administrative work.


    These complicated plans and work were basically handled by Li Xuan and the Zhang family, with the Xia family involving themselves a little. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to put his mind on this.


    Apart from grinding dungeons daily, Zhou Wen focused more on how to advance his various Essence Energy Arts to a domain.


    I have to advance to the true Calamity grade as soon as possible. After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to make another trip to Luoyang. Firstly, he had to bring Ya¡¯er back. Secondly, he had to make a trip to Small Buddha Temple in real life to see if he could find the opportunity for Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to advance to the Calamity grade. ¡°The Cube has lit up again. Another person is challenging the Star Palace dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s actually a human. Furthermore, it looks a little familiar.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a famous loser from the Family Clan of Gods? The inept Mohe? Why is he challenging the Cube¡¯s Star Palace? Does he have a death wish?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. How did he enter? Don¡¯t four people have to be together to open the Cube? Would the Family Clan of Gods sacrifice three lives to send Mohe up? What¡¯s the


    point?¡±


    It was no wonder people were surprised. Mohe was quite famous in the West District and even the entire Federation.


    Of course, it was infamy. Born in a family like the Family Clan of Gods, not only was Mohe¡¯s talent and aptitude surprisingly poor, but he only condensed a Life Providence at the age of twenty to become a Legendary.


    More exasperating was his Life Providence; it was extremely useless. It was called ¡°Harming Others Without Benefiting Oneself.¡±


    The useless God of Unkilling Life Providence that the Dugu family produced only meant that one couldn¡¯t kill. Mohe was even more extreme. If Mohe were to harm others, not only would others be fine, but he would end up injured.


    The simplest example was when Mohe slashed at someone¡¯s neck with a saber. The person would end up fine, but Mohe would have his own head chopped off.


    Of course, Mohe had never really tried chopping off the heads of others. When he went to hunt dimensional creatures, he suffered a backlash.


    One could imagine how despairing it was for Mohe, who had finally condensed a Life Providence after twenty years of hard work and was excited to hunt dimensional creatures.


    Since then, Mohe had become a joke of the Family Clan of Gods.


    Although no one dared to say anything about Mohe in front of the Family Clan of Gods, in private, Mohe¡¯s ¡°reputation¡± had already spread throughout the Federation. He was famous for being a loser.


    Now, Mohe had actually ascended the Cube and entered Dubhe Palace. It was no wonder those who knew him were surprised.


    Everyone stared at the screen in a daze. Most people felt that Mohe¡¯s actions were no different from suicide. Perhaps there was no need for the Calamity-grade Starlord Ravenous Wolf to do anything. Just the high temperature in the Star Palace was enough to kill Mohe.


    Mohe stood in the Star Palace with a mocking smile. In the high temperature, a strange light rose from his body. Countless light beams intertwined, forming a black Guardian armor around him.


    ¡°So he contracted a Guardian. However, even if he has a Guardian, what¡¯s the point when he has such a useless Life Providence? Ignoring the fact that his Guardian might not be able to defeat Starlord Ravenous Wolf, even if he can, would he dare kill Starlord Ravenous Wolf? Wouldn¡¯t killing Starlord Ravenous Wolf be equivalent to killing himself?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the Family Clan of Gods thinking? Isn¡¯t getting Mohe up there killing him?¡± ¡°I think the Family Clan of Gods also feels that it¡¯s too embarrassing with this loser around. Therefore, they deliberately sent him to his death?¡±


    As everyone discussed, Mohe had already walked towards the Star Palace¡¯s door. Without any hesitation, he pushed the door open and walked in.


    As they watched Mohe approach step by step, Starlord Ravenous Wolf finally reacted. His fist bloomed like a purple sun as a terrifying glow enveloped the entire Star Palace.


    Seeing the Star Palace devoured by the light, everyone thought that Mohe was doomed. However, in the next second, everyone widened their eyes.


    Boom!


    The light exploded as Mohe continued walking slowly amidst the light. As for the Starlord Ravenous Wolf that attacked Mohe, its body suddenly exploded, turning into light dust that filled the sky before disappearing.


    ¡°How can this be?¡± Everyone¡¯s mouths gaped open for a long time.


    As for Mohe, he had already passed through the teleportation nexus and arrived at Merak Star Palace. He pushed open the Star Palace door again and faced the huge mountain-like Starlord Titan Gate.


    Starlord Titan Gate roared angrily as his fist struck at Mohe with supreme divine power.


    However, Mohe continued advancing slowly. He didn¡¯t even look up at Starlord Titan Gate as though he didn¡¯t take his fist seriously.


    Boom!


    Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s huge fist smashed down as though it could reduce Mohe¡¯s tiny body to dust with one strike.


    However, in the next second, while Mohe stood there unharmed, Starlord Titan Gate¡¯s body exploded like a watermelon from head to toe. Everyone was dumbfounded as they watched this shocking scene in a daze.

 Chapter 1665 - First Place Changes

    Chapter 1665 First Place Changes


    The average person felt that the scene in front of them was extremely shocking. Mohe had killed two Starlords without even moving his hand. He was unimaginably powerful.


    Furthermore, Mohe had been infamous in the past. It made it even more unbelievable now.


    As for some of the top humans, they roughly guessed that Mohe might have the ability to reflect damage.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be as simple as a reflection,¡± Li Xuan said after some thought. ¡°The ability to reflect damage typically consumes energy during the reflection process. Therefore, the reflected power won¡¯t exceed the user¡¯s strength. As for Mohe, his situation is clearly different. The reflected power is even stronger than the two Starlords.¡±


    Xia Xuanyue, who was also watching the battle, nodded and said, ¡°Perhaps the reflection isn¡¯t the power involved, but the damage itself.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s very likely.¡± Li Xuan felt that what Xia Xuanyue said made sense.


    Zhou Wen was also watching the battle. He felt that Mohe¡¯s strength was somewhat similar to Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s. He thought to himself, I wonder if Mohe will continue the challenge. I wonder who¡¯s stronger between Mohe and Starlord Cherished Kismet?


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Mohe had already walked into the teleportation star. The Cube¡¯s screen changed and became the scene of Phecda Star Palace.


    This is interesting. Both of them need to reflect the powers of the other. How will they fight? Zhou Wen was intrigued.


    Back when Zhou Wen fought Starlord Cherished Kismet, he had used the power of Human Sovereign to kill him. Otherwise, any force that struck him would ricochet.


    If Mohe and Starlord Cherished Kismet didn¡¯t fight and waited to reflect each other¡¯s damage, it seemed like victory would never be decided.


    Mohe pushed open the door of Phecda Star Palace and walked towards Starlord Cherished Kismet. His stance was no different from before, as though he didn¡¯t take Starlord Cherished Kismet seriously.


    ¡°Back then, Egg Sovereign¡­ No¡­ Deceit King only managed to reach Phecda Star Palace with his Companion Beasts¡­ He still hasn¡¯t killed Starlord Cherished Kismet¡­ If Mohe succeeds¡­ won¡¯t he reach first place on the rankings?¡±


    ¡°Even if he can¡¯t kill Starlord Cherished Kismet, he has already reached the highest point that humans can reach. How did Mohe suddenly become so strong? Even if he contracted a Guardian, it¡¯s impossible for him to become so strong all of a sudden, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Furthermore, Mohe¡¯s Life Providence is odd. It should be impossible for him to kill his opponent. How did he easily kill two Starlords?¡±


    The spectators discussed spiritedly as they guessed why Mohe had become so strong. Furthermore, they also wanted to know how Mohe could create a miracle and kill Starlord Cherished Kismet to obtain first place on the Cube¡¯s rankings.


    Mohe walked towards Starlord Cherished Kismet step by step. Everyone¡¯s gazes followed his figure.


    Starlord Cherished Kismet sat there without any intention of getting up.


    If they don¡¯t attack, it will be a hopeless situation. Just as Zhou Wen was thinking, he saw Mohe attack first and punch Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. This outcome was somewhat unexpected. Although he didn¡¯t know what kind of power Mohe¡¯s Guardian had, if his Life Providence hadn¡¯t changed and he took the initiative to kill, the wound would still appear on him.


    Could it be that even Mohe¡¯s Life Providence has been changed? Zhou Wen thought.


    Mohe¡¯s punch didn¡¯t look strong, nor did it carry any mysterious glow. It was an ordinary straight punch that struck Starlord Cherished Kismet.


    Starlord Cherished Kismet showed no intention of dodging. The simple and direct punch struck him.


    After Mohe¡¯s punch landed, Starlord Cherished Kismet remained unharmed. His body didn¡¯t even shake, but Mohe had already retracted his fist.


    ¡°Mohe¡¯s Guardian is indeed the type that reflects damage. It¡¯s just that the damage reflection is powerful. If he¡¯s the one attacking his opponent, his strength will be much weaker.¡±


    Many experts who had already guessed Mohe¡¯s powers revealed an expression that it was as expected.


    However, in the next second, everyone widened their eyes. The seemingly unharmed Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s body suddenly turned to dust as the wind scattered it.


    Silence! Dead silence!


    No one expected such an outcome. Everyone, including Zhou Wen, looked at the Cube¡¯s screen in surprise. The Mohe in the dust that filled the sky was like a devil enveloped in fog, making one find him extremely terrifying.


    Even the experts of the various families were shocked. They originally imagined that Mohe¡¯s Guardian could only reflect damage, but they never expected him to instantly kill a Calamity-grade Starlord with a single punch. He was unimaginably powerful.


    Mohe didn¡¯t stop as he walked straight towards the teleportation nexus. As people guessed inwardly, looking forward to seeing how many Star Palaces Mohe could clear, they realized that the scene had switched back to the Cube¡¯s ranking. Clearly, Mohe didn¡¯t continue challenging.


    Everyone looked at the Cube¡¯s ranking. If nothing went wrong, Mohe¡¯s name should have appeared there.


    Indeed, the first place had changed, but the first place wasn¡¯t named Mohe.


    Fallen race¡¯s representative. Many people silently recited the name that was ranked first.


    Instantly, everyone was enlightened. They were momentarily surprised, but they felt that it was only right.


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder a trash like Mohe would suddenly become so strong. He has become the representative of a dimensional race.¡±


    ¡°A piece of trash can become so strong after becoming a representative. What if I become a representative?¡±


    ¡°What kind of race is the Fallen race? I¡¯ve never heard of it before. It¡¯s definitely not one of the six Holy races. Even a nameless race can nurture such a powerful representative. If one becomes the representatives of the six Holy races, how many benefits will they obtain? How powerful will they be?¡±


    Instantly, everyone was pondering over something


    ¡°From the looks of it, many human geniuses will become representatives of the dimension after today,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    It was indeed as Li Xuan had said. After today¡¯s battle, everyone was talking about Mohe and about representatives. It was as though everyone was extremely interested in becoming a dimensional representative overnight.


    Even ordinary people who weren¡¯t qualified to become representatives were secretly looking forward to the dimension seeking them out and turning them into experts like Mohe.


    After all, even a person like Mohe, who was known as trash, could become so strong. They felt that they weren¡¯t inferior to Mohe no matter what. If Mohe could do it, why couldn¡¯t they?


    Some humans who had received invitations from the dimensional races were embarrassed to let others know that they had received an invitation, but now, many people took the initiative to announce the invitations they received. It was as though receiving a representative invitation had become a very honorable matter.

 Chapter 1666 - A New Era

    Chapter 1666 A New Era


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay special attention to the so-called representatives. Earth was already close to a full-scale breakout. There wasn¡¯t much time left for him, so he didn¡¯t have the time to pay attention to such trivial matters.


    In an ancient building in Ancient Sovereign City, Zhou Wen held the mysterious phone as his eyes widened. His eyes were about to pop out as beads of sweat constantly seeped out of his forehead and dripped down his cheeks.


    Demonic Neonate, Banana Fairy, and the other Companion Beasts looked at Zhou Wen curiously as though they were watching a rare animal.


    It wasn¡¯t their fault for being curious. Zhou Wen had maintained this pose for seventeen to eighteen hours. Apart from his fingers occasionally moving, he was like a wooden statue.


    In-game, Zhou Wen controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter Small Buddha Temple¡¯s game dungeon again. In the past ten hours, he had repeated this action countless times.


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra came from Small Buddha Temple, so Zhou Wen originally wanted to see if he could condense a domain in Small Buddha Temple to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, the game screen quickly turned black every time the blood-colored avatar entered the temple.


    Zhou Wen never expected that the game dungeon, Small Buddha Temple, he had downloaded a long time ago would be so terrifying.


    The three-faced Buddha who had once taken out three Companion Eggs for him to choose was even more terrifying than any Calamity-grade creature Zhou Wen had previously encountered.


    Instant kill-an instant kill that left no room for negotiation. As long as Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra from the beginning and used other Essence Energy Arts to enter the temple, the blood-colored avatar would immediately die the moment the three-faced Buddha opened his six eyes.


    Even if he used the Chaos Egg that had already reached the Calamity grade, it could only last for an instant before the Calamity-grade Chaos Egg exploded.


    Zhou Wen was almost certain that the three-faced Buddha was at least at the top of the Calamity grade¡ªthe Heaven level. However, this was only a guess. Zhou Wen believed that the three-faced Buddha might be at the even more terrifying Apocalypse grade.


    In front of the three-faced Buddha, the stronger Zhou Wen was, the stronger the three-faced Buddha became. He didn¡¯t even have the chance to pull out the Immortal Culling Sword. However, even if he pulled it out and slashed out, it would probably be useless.


    Zhou Wen nearly tried all the methods he could, but he was still instantly killed.


    Faced with such a terrifying three-faced Buddha, Zhou Wen had already given up on the thought of using this place to advance the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to the Calamity grade. The reason he kept throwing himself to his death was that he realized that every time the Chaos Egg exploded, it would grow at an astonishing speed. In less than a day, it was about to touch the threshold of the Hell level under the continuous ravages of the three-faced Buddha.


    In the past month, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t left his room much. Guide Ancient City was also silently undergoing changes. However, this change was like the spring sun melting snow. It was done silently, making it stand out from the tumultuous changes in the outside world.


    More and more alien representatives appeared on Earth. Almost every alien representative displayed their strength on the Cube¡¯s screen through the Big Dipper dimensional zone.


    ne


    After Mohe¡¯s attempt, one alien representative after another attempted the Big Dipper dimensional zones and appeared on the Cube¡¯s rankings. The Cube¡¯s first place constantly changed. The top ten rankings often changed, and the competition was abnormally intense.


    Many new experts were known by everyone. The rankings of the experts who had entered the rankings in the past were gradually pushed to the back. The strength of the veteran experts was gradually questioned.


    The top ten spots on the rankings were nearly all occupied by the representatives of the various races. Now, everyone was discussing the strength of the representatives. Occasionally, when they mentioned the veteran experts, they were mostly discussing how far humans could go without the help of the alien races.


    Although there were some people who firmly believed that powerhouses like Human Sovereign could fight the representatives of the alien races even if they didn¡¯t become representatives, most of the time, many people were more willing to dream of being chosen by an alien race one day and becoming their representative. They would become powerful in a short period of time and become famous on the Cube¡¯s rankings.


    However, there was no free lunch. Most of the people who could become representatives of the alien races were genius experts who stood at the apex of the human pyramid to begin with. Even the originally unknown representatives were chosen because their potential hadn¡¯t been developed before becoming representatives.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t anxious when he saw the representatives appear on the rankings, but someone else was.


    ¡°Honn Shinsakura, have you gone mad?¡± Inside the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, an old man pointed at Honn Shinsakura. His fingers were trembling terribly as his face flushed red. The muscles on his face trembled. Clearly, he was extremely agitated.


    Honn Shinsakura was no longer the tender youth who had followed Sei Gasakai to Luoyang to cultivate. His face no longer had the innocence and impetuousness of a youth. The mature man¡¯s unique steady temperament and firm eyes, as well as his angular facial features, made him look like a lone island. He didn¡¯t stir even when the waves crashed into him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not mad,¡± Honn Shinsakura said calmly as he sat cross-legged on the mat with his swords placed flat on his lap.


    ¡°Not mad? Then you must be out of your mind. Wake up. Your choice determines the lives and future of more than ten thousand disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. Instead of going to the six families, you actually want to go to Guide Ancient City? Do you know what¡¯s going on outside? It¡¯s the era of representatives. Even the Zhang family and the Dugu family, who have always been determined to fight the alien races, have already accepted the existence of representatives. They are trying their best to make their members representatives. What does Guide Ancient City have? I can tell you with certainty that there¡¯s no representative there. You ignored the six families¡¯ generous offers and insisted on going to Guide Ancient City. If that¡¯s not madness, what is?¡± The elder became angrier as he spoke, eager to slap Honn Shinsakura awake.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s there,¡± Honn Shinsakura said calmly without any change in expression.


    ¡°Zhou Wen? No matter how strong Zhou Wen is, he¡¯s not a representative. What future can he have? Ignoring Zhou Wen¡¯s Guide Ancient City, even the Luoyang An family he relies on hasn¡¯t produced a representative yet. Sooner or later, they will be annexed by others. When that happens, we won¡¯t even have the right to negotiate with the six families. We might even end up as cannon fodder. You are joking with the lives of more than ten thousand disciples of my Niten Flying Immortal Palace. I definitely disagree, and the various Elders definitely disagree.¡± When the elder said that, the few Elders standing beside him nodded silently, expressing their support for the elder¡¯s opinion.


    As the anomalies in the dimensional zones overseas became more and more serious, it was difficult for ordinary cultivators to survive at sea. The Niten Flying Immortal Palace had reached the point of having no choice but to consider returning to the continent. Otherwise, it would probably lead to a calamity in the near future.


    However, on the question of where to go after returning to the continent, the current palace master of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, Honn Shinsakura, and the Elder Consortium had a sharp disagreement.


    The six families had previously come into contact with the Niten Flying Immortal Palace and expressed their willingness to take them in. They also offered rather good conditions. The few Elders were inclined to make a choice among the six families, but the present Palace Lord, Honn Shinsakura, insisted on heading to Guide Ancient City.

 Chapter 1667 - Why Not?

    Chapter 1667 Why Not?


    ¡°It¡¯s my decision to head to Guide Ancient City. It¡¯s also an order. It¡¯s not a discussion,¡± Honn Shinsakura said calmly.


    His tone was extremely calm, but it was as though he ignited gasoline. It wasn¡¯t just the elder who had argued with Honn Shinsakura. The other Elders also revealed looks of indignation. All of them opened their mouths. Some cursed angrily, while others tried to persuade him nicely. There were even some who criticized Honn Shinsakura in their capacities as his elders. Their words implied that they didn¡¯t want Honn Shinsakura to be stubborn. Otherwise, he would definitely harm more than ten thousand disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. It was even possible that he would destroy the foundation Sei Gasakai had painstakingly built.


    Seeing the Elders saying all kinds of words, Honn Shinsakura was about to say something when he suddenly saw a white-robed female swordsman walk in. He closed his mouth and looked at the female swordsman.


    ¡°Elders, would you mind listening to me?¡± the female swordsman asked the Elders.


    ¡°Shiraishi Satomi, you came just in time. Quick, come and persuade your senior brother. He wants to destroy the foundation that the Sword Sage has painstakingly built¡­¡± When the elders saw the female swordsman, their eyes immediately lit up. They invited her to join their camp to make a collective bid to persuade Honn Shinsakura otherwise.


    Sei Gasakai had many disciples, but the only ones who could obtain his true teachings were Honn Shinsakura and Shiraishi Satomi. Although Honn Shinsakura had inherited the position of Palace Lord, Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s status in the Niten Flying Immortal Palace was still very high. Her relationship with Honn Shinsakura was relatively good, so Honn Shinsakura would likely consider her words seriously.


    ¡°Elders, the Palace Lord¡¯s decision is right. We should head to Guide Ancient City and not the six families.¡± Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s words left the Elders dumbfounded.


    ¡°Shiraishi Satomi, why are you going crazy with the Palace Lord?¡± The Elders looked at Shiraishi Satomi in puzzlement.


    ¡°I¡¯m not crazy, much less the Palace Lord. Guide Ancient City is our best choice, not the six families,¡± Shiraishi Satomi said firmly.


    ¡°Why?¡± The Elders were even more puzzled. They really couldn¡¯t think of any reason to choose the tiny Guide Ancient City under the An family instead of the six families.


    ¡°Because Zhou Wen¡¯s there.¡± When she said that, Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s eyes seemed to twinkle.


    The Elders were stunned. This was the second time they had heard this today. Honn Shinsakura had first given this answer, and now, Shiraishi Satomi had given the same answer. It was unbelievable that the two cornerstones of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace had given such an answer.


    ¡°Zhou Wen is indeed someone remarkable. There are also rumors in the outside world that he¡¯s Deceit King. Ignoring the fact that he might not be Deceit King, even if he really is, the fact that he hasn¡¯t been chosen by the dimension only proves that his potential is limited. It¡¯s not worth us betting the foundation of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace on him¡­¡± an Elder persuaded.


    ¡°Third Elder is right. Besides, what kind of place is Guide Ancient City? There are strange dimensional zones everywhere, and the environment is not much better than at sea. It¡¯s even more terrifying. In the future, the dimensional zones will break out on a large scale, and the situation might be even worse than at sea. Wouldn¡¯t joining them be jumping out of the frying pan into the fire?¡±


    ¡°Definitely not. Even if we are considering going to Guide Ancient City, we should directly contact Luoyang¡¯s An family. Isn¡¯t going to Guide Ancient City lowering our status?¡±


    ¡°Guide Ancient City is definitely not a good place¡­¡±


    The Elders began persuading Shiraishi Satomi again. No matter how good Shiraishi Satomi and Honn Shinsakura¡¯s relationship with Zhou Wen was, they didn¡¯t believe that it was a place worth staking the foundation of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    ¡°What if Zhou Wen is Human Sovereign?¡± Shiraishi Satomi suddenly said.


    The Elders who kept talking immediately fell silent as they stared at Shiraishi Satomi as though they had frozen. They even forgot to close their mouths.


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± An Elder felt that he had definitely heard wrongly and asked Shiraishi Satomi.


    ¡°If Zhou Wen is Human Sovereign, is he worth entrusting?¡± Shiraishi Satomi asked. ¡°Shiraishi Satomi, don¡¯t spout nonsense just to convince us. Back when Human Sovereign killed Di Tian, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t even twenty years old. He was just a kid. How could he be Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right, that¡¯s right. Zhou Wen is definitely not Human Sovereign. Don¡¯t think that you can fool us and get us to agree to go to Guide Ancient City.¡±


    ¡°Even if Zhou Wen is really Human Sovereign, he hasn¡¯t been chosen by the dimension. It¡¯s unknown if he can still fight representatives. Furthermore, he will be outnumbered¡­¡±


    Shiraishi Satomi was taken aback. She originally imagined that as long as she informed the Elders that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign, she would definitely gain their support. She never expected such an outcome.


    Shiraishi Satomi was momentarily at a loss for words as she looked at Honn Shinsakura with a bitter smile.


    Honn Shinsakura had long expected such an outcome, so he hadn¡¯t revealed the secret of Zhou Wen being Human Sovereign. Firstly, it was useless, and secondly, it could easily cause Zhou Wen trouble.


    Seeing Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s pleading gaze, Honn Shinsakura slowly said, ¡°Elders, do you know why the Sword Dao my master created is called the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±? Why is our place called the Niten Flying Immortal Palace?¡±


    ¡°The Sword Sage said that he received pointers from an expert, so he was able to create the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. As for why it¡¯s called the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, he didn¡¯t say anything¡­¡± an Elder said after some thought.


    The Niten Flying Immortal Palace didn¡¯t discriminate. Most of the disciples were actually recruited from other factions. There weren¡¯t many disciples personally taught by Sei Gasakai.


    In recent years, due to the harsh living conditions overseas, many small factions had joined the Niten Flying Immortal Palace to obtain Sei Gasakai¡¯s protection.


    Most of these Elders used to be rulers of a region, not fellow disciples of Sei Gasakai.


    ¡°You are right. Master created the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± thanks to the pointers of an expert. Back then, I was only a teenager. I followed Master to the mainland to cultivate and met a peerless expert in Luoyang¡¯s peony garden,¡± Honn Shinsakura said.


    ¡°I know about this. Before the Niten Flying Immortal Palace was established, Lord Sword Sage traveled to the mainland. Back then, Lord Sword Sage had already reached a Sword Dao bottleneck and was just short of creating the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±.Because he encountered that expert and was defeated by him, he gained some insight. After returning, he created the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. Palace Master, you should be referring to that time, right?¡± a jaundiced Elder recalled.


    Honn Shinsakura nodded slightly. ¡°That¡¯s right. Do you know who the person I met with Master was?¡±


    ¡°Naturally, he¡¯s a highly-respected senior expert,¡± said the jaundiced Elder.


    ¡°What if I say that the person we met was only a youth who was about the same age as me and was only fifteen or sixteen years old?¡± Honn Shinsakura swept his gaze across everyone¡¯s faces and enunciated each word clearly.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± the Elders shouted in unison. They naturally refused to believe that such a thing would happen.


    A fifteen-year-old youth had defeated Sei Gasakai, who was nearly a Sword Sage back then. This was simply a fantasy.


    ¡°Why not?¡± A voice sounded from outside. Everyone was overjoyed when they heard it. They looked outside and saw Sei Gasakai slowly walking over.

 Chapter 1668 - Not Enough to Eat

    Chapter 1668 Not Enough to Eat


    ¡°Lord Sword Sage¡­ Master¡­¡±


    The group of Elders, Honn Shinsakura, Shiraishi Satomi, and company stood up and bowed. Although Sei Gasakai had already handed over the position of Palace Master of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace to Honn Shinsakura, just the words ¡®Sei Gasakai¡¯ alone held extremely high prestige in the Niten Flying Immortal Palace and even the entire sea.


    ¡°Lord Sword Sage¡­ You have to interfere in this matter¡­ We can¡¯t watch Palace Lord take the Niten Flying Immortal Palace down a path of no return because of his selfishness¡­¡± The Elders hurriedly explained to Sei Gasakai, who had just returned, Honn Shinsakura¡¯s determination to take the Niten Flying Immortal Palace to Guide Ancient City.


    Sei Gasakai waved his hand and stopped the Elders from continuing. Then, he said, ¡°Sakura is the Palace Lord of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. He has the right to make any decision.¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± The Elders were anxious. They wanted to argue, but they were stopped by Sei Gasakai.


    Sei Gasakai looked at the Elders and said indifferently, ¡°Furthermore, I also think that Sakura¡¯s decision is very correct. It¡¯s far more correct to join Guide Ancient City than the six families.¡±


    The Elders didn¡¯t expect Sei Gasakai to say that. They were stunned and lost for words.


    Sei Gasakai continued, ¡°Just as Sakura said, when we traveled in Luoyang, I was filled with ambition. I thought that my Sword Dao was enough to challenge Sunset College¡¯s Leng Zongzheng, but not long after I arrived in Luoyang, I met Zhou Wen. Back then, Zhou Wen was only fifteen or sixteen years old, but I lost to him. The reason the Sword Dao I created is called the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± is due to the insights I gained from Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal. It can be said that Zhou Wen is my master.¡±


    If these Elders had doubted Honn Shinsakura¡¯s words, they no longer had any doubts after hearing it from Sei Gasakai¡¯s mouth. All of them were at a loss for words.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s talent is unparalleled despite being a pure human. He¡¯s definitely not someone who relies on external forces to raise his strength in a short period of time. He will definitely shock the world one day. Furthermore, there are many people who have pledged allegiance to the six families. If we go now, we will only be one of them. Guide Ancient City is at a time when people are needed. It¡¯s a good opportunity to go now. Everything that Sakura has in mind is what our Niten Flying Immortal Palace has in mind too. There is no selfishness in this. Don¡¯t be suspicious.¡± Sei Gasakai swept his gaze across the faces of the Elders. They couldn¡¯t help but lower their heads.


    ¡°We shall abide by the Palace Lord¡¯s orders.¡± The Elders turned around and bowed at Honn Shinsakura.


    Honn Shinsakura¡¯s expression remained unchanged without any ripples in his eyes. He didn¡¯t take the matter to heart. His gaze was distant, as though his focus was no longer in front of him.


    Zhou Wen, I¡¯m coming. My sword will surprise you. Don¡¯t disappoint me!


    ¡°Ah-choo!¡±


    Zhou Wen, who was gaming on his phone, sneezed. After rubbing his nose, he continued focusing on the game.


    In the game, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s entire body was enveloped by the Chaos Egg that resembled crystal or jade. As for the golden light that shot out from the three-faced Buddha¡¯s eyes in the temple hall, it enveloped the Chaos Egg. The golden light seeped into the Chaos Egg and dyed it golden.


    The Chaos Egg had already reached the peak of the Hell level and was about to break through to the Heaven level.


    A Human Realm Chaos Egg could convert the enemy¡¯s strength into Essence Energy Crystals when suffering a beating. Furthermore, Essence Energy Crystals could be stacked to a maximum of 10,000 Essence Crystals.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s stacking ability increased significantly at the Hell level. The highest he could stack reached a hundred million.


    With the Chaos Egg¡¯s ability to accommodate Essence Energy, it could only last for about ten seconds under the three-faced Buddha¡¯s golden light. Furthermore, no matter how the Chaos Egg was destroyed, it couldn¡¯t grow like before.


    Zhou Wen clearly felt that the Chaos Egg was just short of breaking through to the Heaven level, but for some reason, it was always lacking something. It was ultimately difficult for it to truly enter the Heaven level.


    What¡¯s missing? Seeing the game screen go black again with nothing for him and the Chaos Egg to speak for, he couldn¡¯t help but frown in thought.


    as


    Zhou Wen already knew very well that it was impossible for him to help the Chaos Egg advance to the Heaven level with just mechanical suicidal cultivation. He had to figure out the key to advancing.


    ¡°I¡¯m hungry.¡±


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, Demonic Neonate walked to Zhou Wen¡¯s side with the Demonic Sword in her arms. She looked up into Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes and spoke with a serious expression.


    ¡°Hungry?¡± Zhou Wen was first taken aback before he sized up Demonic Neonate in surprise.


    Many Companion Beasts became hungry. If they were starved for too long, they might even dissipate. The most typical representative was Tyrant Behemoth. If there was no food for a long period of time, Tyrant Behemoth might starve to death.


    It was only because Zhou Wen had the resources from the in-game dungeons and an Essence Energy Art like the Chaos Egg that he could raise so many high-level Companion Beasts.


    If it were an ordinary person, most of them would starve to death even if they were given a pile of divine pets.


    However, Demonic Neonate was different. She was very picky. There was little food that she fancied. Even high-level Essence Crystals were beneath her. Even a Calamity-grade Companion Egg was nothing to her.


    It could be said that Demonic Neonate was the one who ate the least among Zhou Wen¡¯s top Companion Beasts. Every time she ate, she would eat something strange. She usually didn¡¯t eat, nor had he heard her mention her hunger.


    Now, Demonic Neonate had taken the initiative to say that she was hungry. This gave Zhou Wen a fright because he didn¡¯t know if he had anything she wanted to eat.


    After carefully sizing her up, Demonic Neonate still looked the same. She was like an adorable and cold magical sword girl. She wasn¡¯t much different from usual, but Zhou Wen carefully observed her for a while and realized that there was indeed something different about her.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s irises usually looked black, but in fact, they weren¡¯t black. They were an extremely deep purple color, so deep that one would mistake them for black.


    However, Demonic Neonate¡¯s irises had lightened in color, turning into a grayish-purple color. The grayish-purple color gave off a degenerate and lonely feeling, as though one would be sucked in if one looked at it for too long.


    ¡°Neonate, what do you want to eat?¡± Zhou Wen took out his high-level Companion Eggs, Essence Energy Crystals, and some essences he had gathered and placed them on the bed for Demonic Neonate to choose.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s gaze swept across the items, but she only shook her head slightly. Zhou Wen took out many more items, but they were also rejected by Demonic Neonate.


    Could it be that I can only use Neonate¡¯s reserves? Zhou Wen rummaged through his belongings and didn¡¯t find anything that Demonic Neonate wanted to eat. He couldn¡¯t help but think of Grim Demon.


    When Demonic Neonate saw Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes fixated on her Demonic Sword, she immediately understood what he was thinking. She shook her head and said, ¡°Not enough.¡±


    Fortunately, unless the Demonic Sword was unsheathed, Grim Demon couldn¡¯t sense the situation outside. Otherwise, he would probably fight Zhou Wen to the death.

 Chapter 1669 - The Strange Ancient Well !

    Translator: CKtalon


    My dear lady, you aren¡¯t eating this or that. If you are so picky, you will starve to death sooner or later. Zhou Wen was depressed, but he didn¡¯t verbalize it as he racked his brains.


    ¡°Neonate, do you have anything you want to eat?¡± Zhou Wen squatted in front of Demonic Neonate and asked as he stroked her head.


    Demonic Neonate thought for a moment before turning to leave. Zhou Wen hurriedly followed. He hadn¡¯t gone out for days, so he found the sunlight a little blinding when he walked out of the room.


    Zhou Wen lived in a courtyard house in the north-west corner of the ancient city. Such courtyard houses were everywhere in Guide Ancient City and weren¡¯t very eye-catching. In fact, there were many bigger courtyard houses.


    As the owner of the ancient city, Zhou Wen could have chosen a better place. The reason he didn¡¯t do so was that this inconspicuous courtyard house actually had something strange.


    Every building in the ancient city was almost an independent space. Zhou Wen had already explored most of the buildings, but he had yet to find a way to enter a few places.


    For example, he had yet to find a way to enter the Town God¡¯s Temple, a bell tower, and some strange courtyards. Although he could enter this small courtyard, there were some bizarre things that Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t figure out.


    On the one hand, he was staying here to explore the secret of the yard, but on the other hand, he was afraid that something would happen here. If anything really happened, he could suppress it in time.


    The yard wasn¡¯t big, and the buildings themselves weren¡¯t too special. However, there was a well in the yard. On special days, one could hear the churning sound of spring water coming from it.


    It sounded normal for there to be such sounds in a well. It wasn¡¯t strange at all for wells with fresh water and underground springs.


    In fact, even if a dimensional creature in the well made a sound, it wouldn¡¯t be strange.


    The strange thing was that there was no water in the well. It was a well without water, but one would often hear water splashing in the middle of the night. This was somewhat strange.


    Zhou Wen had once sent Companion Beasts to explore, but he didn¡¯t discover anything. The ancient well wasn¡¯t deep to begin with, so Zhou Wen could see the bottom at a glance. The bottom was covered in aged soil without any humidity, much less water.


    Every time there was the sound of water, Zhou Wen would look down from the well, but the outcome was the same. He could only see the mud at the bottom of the well with no signs of water.


    However, the sound of water flowing like a fountain clearly reached his ears. It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. Everyone could hear it as long as they entered the yard.


    Zhou Wen had once dug the bottom of the well, but no matter how deep he dug, he didn¡¯t discover anything. Furthermore, the soil he dug out would vanish after some time. The hole that was dug out would return to its original state as though it had never been moved.


    How could Zhou Wen be at ease with such a strange ancient well in such a residence? He could only stay here himself. If anything happened, he could deal with it in time.


    However, for such a long period of time, although the ancient well often produced water sounds in the middle of the night, there were no other abnormalities. Therefore, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t deliberately studied the ancient well recently.


    After Demonic Neonate came out of the room, she came to the side of the ancient well and jumped onto the edge. She craned her neck and looked into the ancient well.


    After watching for a while, Demonic Neonate looked up at Zhou Wen. She pointed the Demonic Sword into the ancient well with one hand and said, ¡°Down there.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing under this ancient well. I dug more than a thousand meters deep, but I didn¡¯t see anything,¡± Zhou Wen said as he came to the ancient well and looked inside. He knew that Demonic Neonate wouldn¡¯t do so for no reason.


    Just like before, he could see the bottom of the well at a glance. There was nothing below.


    Demonic Neonate lowered her head and looked into the well. After a while, she suddenly said, ¡°The thing is down there.¡¯


    ¡°Where is it?¡± Zhou Wen focused his gaze and even summoned Doctor Darkness to fuse with him. He used his Eyes of Penetration to look down, but he still didn¡¯t see anything.


    Demonic Neonate frowned in thought as though she didn¡¯t know how to explain. After a moment of silence, she suddenly reached out and plucked the suona at her waist.


    Typical Companion Beasts didn¡¯t use weapons. Even if some Companion Beasts did, they were companion weapons that they came with. However, Demonic Neonate was different. The tools on her body were basically snatched from others.


    The Demonic Sword, the Heaven Shrouding Bell, and the suona were all snatched from someone. However, other than the Demonic Sword, Demonic Neonate seldom used the Heaven Shrouding Bell and the suona.


    Demonic Neonate placed the suona in front of her mouth. Her cheeks swelled up as she tried to blow the suona.


    ¡°Don¡¯t!¡± Zhou Wen jumped in fright as he hurriedly reached out to hug Demonic Neonate. His other hand covered her mouth, preventing her from blowing out.


    The suona sounded like funeral music. Zhou Wen could withstand the power of


    the suona, but ordinary people in Guide Ancient City probably couldn¡¯t.


    It wouldn¡¯t be good if the entire city cried.


    Zhou Wen covered Demonic Neonate¡¯s mouth, preventing her from releasing her breath. Her cheeks swelled as her eyes widened.


    He reached out to pull away the hand that covered his mouth. Demonic Neonate exhaled and stared at Zhou Wen. ¡°Without blowing¡­ The thing below won¡¯t come out¡­¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s down there?¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t tell what was down there. He was really curious as he stared into Demonic Neonate¡¯s eyes and asked.


    ¡°Food,¡± Demonic Neonate answered with certainty.


    ¡°What kind of food?¡± Zhou Wen nearly vomited blood as he continued asking patiently.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. It¡¯s food,¡± Demonic Neonate answered very quickly.


    Zhou Wen was depressed, but he knew that he couldn¡¯t get any answers from her. He pointed at the suona Demonic Neonate was holding and said, ¡°You can blow this thing, but is there any way to prevent its sound from affecting the others in the city?¡±


    Demonic Neonate tilted her head and thought for a while before nodding. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhou Wen heaved a sigh of relief and released Demonic Neonate. ¡°Go ahead. I happen to want to know what¡¯s inside this ancient well.¡±


    Demonic Neonate placed the suona by her lips again and puffed up her cheeks to blow.


    The loud music was earth-shattering. It penetrated deep into one¡¯s soul as though it wanted to rob a person of their soul.


    Plop!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s legs went limp as he knelt on the ground. His tears in his eyes were like pearls as they fell one after another.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, didn¡¯t you say that it won¡¯t affect the others?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s words turned into sobbing as he struggled to stand up, but he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°There¡¯s no one else here.¡± Demonic Neonate¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as she continued playing the suona.


    The demonic, desolate voice constantly entered Zhou Wen¡¯s ears, causing his tears to constantly fall. He had never cried so much ever since he grew up.


    Zhou Wen was about to say something when he heard the sound of flowing water from the ancient well.


    The sound of water in the ancient well usually sounded at night. This was the first time it had appeared in broad daylight..

 Chapter 1670 - The Object in the Well

    Chapter 1670 The Object in the Well


    Demonic Neonate puffed up her cheeks and blew the suona with all her might. Her face flushed red as beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. The sound of water in the ancient well kept sounding like an inferno. However, other than that, nothing else happened.


    Zhou Wen cried terribly by the side. His tears flowed like a stream non-stop. His eyes were bloodshot as he cried until tears of blood nearly came out.


    What a scam. If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have stayed in this yard. I was still too careless. Zhou Wen felt depressed. If he had known this would happen, he would have at least made some preparations.


    Zhou Wen originally relied on the Sigh of the King to prevent himself from kneeling. It had a natural restraining effect on the suona¡¯s sound, but to his surprise, there was no reaction from the Sigh of the King. It caught him off guard. It was too late to resist after he was hit.


    He pressed his hands on the ground and tried his best to prevent his head from touching the ground. Zhou Wen cried as blood seeped out of the corners of his eyes. However, the ancient well continued making loud noises without anything substantial happeningnothing came out.


    ¡°Neonate, why don¡¯t we try again another day!¡± Zhou Wen cried as he shouted at Demonic Neonate. He really couldn¡¯t hold on any longer and his forehead was about to touch the ground.


    At that moment, the ancient well suddenly lit up. It was as though the mouth of the well had turned into a huge searchlight. Light spewed out from the well and rose several meters high before scattering like a fountain.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly held his breath and focused as he circulated all his strength to resist the sound. At the same time, he used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to observe the anomalous ancient well.


    The water in the ancient well surged out in waves. Soon, Zhou Wen realized that something was slowly floating out of the rising fountain-like light.


    That¡¯s¡­ a skeleton¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed to discover a skull floating out of the light before a skeleton in tattered clothes appeared.


    Soon, a complete skeleton floated above the fountain-like light.


    The skeleton maintained a lotus position. Its body was covered in tattered clothes, and its muscles had long rotted. However, a head of white hair still grew on the skull.


    Logically speaking, hair grew on the scalp. The skeleton¡¯s scalp was long gone. Even if the hair didn¡¯t decay, it should have fallen off. However, the white hair on the skull was silver-white and didn¡¯t show any signs of withering or falling off.


    Apart from that, there was a necklace around the skeleton¡¯s neck that was very eye-catching. It was a necklace made of black metal. The pendant was partially shaped like a Devil¡¯s Eye, and in the middle was a purple circular crystal.


    Although Zhou Wen was using Truth Listener to listen to the scene, for some reason, he felt as though the Devil¡¯s Eye was staring at him and sizing him up.


    Apart from that, the skeleton¡¯s left hand was still clenched tightly. Through the gaps in the fingers, one could see something being held, but most of it was blocked by the skeletal hand. It was impossible to tell what it was. All he could see was a small white object through the gaps.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing it up, the suona suddenly stopped. Demonic Neonate¡¯s figure flashed as she arrived in front of the skeleton. The sheathed Demonic Sword in her hand stabbed at the Devil¡¯s Eye Necklace around the skeleton¡¯s neck. The tip of the sword pointed straight at the purple pupil crystal.


    Clang!


    The Demonic Sword collided with the pendant, producing a crisp sound. The purple crystal emitted a black hole-like purple light that forcefully blocked the Demonic Sword, preventing it from advancing any further.


    Demonic Neonate was already exhausted from playing the suona. At that moment, she unleashed all her strength as her body trembled slightly from overexertion. She gritted her teeth tightly as her fair, chubby face turned purplish-red.


    Zhou Wen was really afraid that she would use too much strength and crush her teeth. She wouldn¡¯t be as cute without her teeth.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why he was still thinking so much at this point in time.


    ¡°Help me.¡± Only when Demonic Neonate squeezed out the words from between her teeth did he react. He immediately leaped up from the ground and summoned the Immortal Culling Sword. He held the hilt and condensed the power of Immortal Slaying. He suddenly pulled the Immortal Culling Sword out of its scabbard and slashed at the necklace around the skeleton¡¯s neck.


    With the power of the Immortal Culling Sword combined with Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, even a powerful Calamity-grade creature couldn¡¯t ignore this strike. However, for some reason, Zhou Wen felt that this strike was likely to return empty-handed.


    In an instant, it arrived in front of the skeleton. Just as the Immortal Culling Sword was about to hit the necklace, the necklace suddenly snapped with a crack and slid down the skeleton¡¯s neck.


    Zhou Wen was immediately taken aback as he forcefully stopped the Immortal Culling Sword in his hand from slashing down. An indescribable palpitation surged in his heart subconsciously. It was as though something ominous would happen if he continued the strike.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had some control over the Immortal Culling Sword. If it were like before, he wouldn¡¯t be able to restrain it even if he wanted to.


    The blade finally stopped a few nanometers from the skeleton¡¯s neck. As the necklace slowly slid down, the light in the ancient well dimmed.


    Zhou Wen could clearly see that the necklace hadn¡¯t really snapped. Instead, the necklace¡¯s clasp had opened by itself, allowing it to slide down.


    After the necklace left the skeleton¡¯s neck, the purple light on the Devil¡¯s Eye converged. The Demonic Sword shattered the Devil¡¯s Eye-shaped pendant, and the purple crystal which represented the pupil dropped.


    Demonic Neonate pouted and sucked the purple crystal into her mouth before swallowing it.


    The entire process was done in one go. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even have the time to size up the purple crystal.


    The necklace that Demonic Neonate had sliced off dropped to the ground. The light in the ancient well completely converged as the skeleton fell. Its long silver hair rapidly withered and dissipated.


    The entire skeleton¡¯s body rapidly disintegrated, turning into ashes that scattered in all directions. The dust that fell had already vanished without a trace before it even touched the ground.


    Pa!


    Something fell to the ground. It was the white object that the skeleton had been holding. It was a squarish metal object that was slightly bigger than a matchbox. On one side of the metal object, there was a white line that was connected to it like a tail.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if it was an illusion, but he had a nagging feeling that the skeleton had released its grip when it dissipated, causing the metal object to fall.


    Zhou Wen looked at the white object and his eyes gradually widened as though he had made an unbelievable discovery.

 Chapter 1671 - Charging

    Chapter 1671 Charging


    Demonic Neonate had just swallowed the purple crystal when her grayish-purple irises darkened. In a moment, they turned dark-purple.


    Before Zhou Wen could carefully size her up, she automatically transformed into a dark beam of light that returned to him.


    Zhou Wen sensed that Demonic Neonate¡¯s consciousness was gradually blurring. Zhou Wen had experienced this many times. It was a sign that she was about to evolve.


    He reached out to pick up the white object on the ground and held it in his hand to stroke it.


    Zhou Wen had definitely never seen it before, but its outer shell was almost identical to Zhou Wen¡¯s mysterious phone. Be it the color or texture, there was no difference.


    Zhou Wen took out the mysterious phone and wanted to compare them to see if the two materials were identical. To his surprise, just as the mysterious phone touched the white object, the white object¡¯s string seemed to be like a magnet and stuck to the end of the mysterious phone.


    The mysterious phone¡¯s screen automatically lit up, revealing a battery charging animation.


    This¡­ Zhou Wen was momentarily rendered speechless in surprise as he looked in the direction of the ancient well. His expression changed as countless thoughts flashed through his mind.


    Ever since he obtained the mysterious phone, he hadn¡¯t charged it at all. The mysterious phone didn¡¯t need to be charged either. There wasn¡¯t even a charging port.


    However, this thing was actually charging. The battery icon on the screen showed that the battery was only at 1%. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know whether there was a difference between having the mysterious phone charged or not. This wasn¡¯t the problem he was most concerned about.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s father had explained the origins of the phone very clearly. It was dug out by Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather from an ancient well in Guide Ancient City, but Zhou Wen¡¯s father wasn¡¯t too sure which ancient well it came from.


    From the looks of it, the object was clearly something that came with a phone. It was most likely a portable charger.


    Could it be that the mysterious phone was dug out from this ancient well? Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind as he looked at the charging phone. His expression became even more complicated.


    He thought of a possibility. If the mysterious phone was really dug out from this ancient well, could the skeleton be his grandfather¡¯s remains?


    Zhou Wen had seen the strength of the necklace with his own eyes. With Demonic Neonate¡¯s strength, it was difficult for her to injure it at all.


    Zhou Wen could roughly guess that his strike probably couldn¡¯t injure the necklace, but when he approached it, the necklace automatically opened.


    When the skeleton dissipated, it seemed to have released its grip, allowing the portable charger to fall. He also felt his heart palpitate just as he was about to slash down.


    These abnormal developments made Zhou Wen wonder if the skeleton had done it on purpose. If the skeleton was really Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather¡¯s remains, all of this could be explained.


    However, Zhou Wen recalled that his grandfather hadn¡¯t gone missing, nor had he been buried. He had been cremated when he passed away. The young Zhou Wen had even participated in the funeral, so it was unlikely that he had left his remains behind.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure it out no matter how hard he tried. The skeleton had already dissipated, so it was impossible to find any clues.


    Looking at the charging phone, Zhou Wen had no choice but to wait. He wanted to see what changes would result after the phone was charged. Perhaps there would be clues when the time came.


    Could it be more than a coincidence that the mysterious phone was dug out from the ancient city? Seeing that the phone¡¯s battery had jumped from 1% to 2%, Zhou Wen picked up the phone and attempted to use it. He realized that he couldn¡¯t use the phone at all as it remained on the charging screen.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what are you doing?¡± Li Xuan shouted as he pushed open the door and walked in.


    Many things had happened in Guide Ancient City recently. Zhou Wen was the kind of boss who left everything to others. Most of the work was coordinated by Li Xuan.


    ¡°When did you arrive?¡± Zhou Wen asked Li Xuan.


    ¡°Not long ago. Why?¡± Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°Did you hear anything or see anything?¡± Zhou Wen asked again. ¡°Are you talking about your yard? Did a spy barge in? I didn¡¯t hear or see anything.¡± Li Xuan immediately sized up the yard warily, but he didn¡¯t discover anything.


    ¡°No, didn¡¯t you see the light rushing out of the ancient well?¡± Zhou Wen recounted the skeleton¡¯s appearance, but he didn¡¯t mention the portable charger. It wasn¡¯t easy to explain.


    ¡°According to what you said, I should have been able to see it from afar. However, I didn¡¯t see anything just now. Guide Ancient City is indeed a little odd. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse for us to occupy this place. I hope nothing bad will happen.¡± Li Xuan paused before continuing, ¡°There¡¯s something I need to discuss with you. The Niten Flying Immortal Palace from overseas has contacted us and wants to migrate to Guide Ancient City. What do you think?¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment before recalling Sei Gasakai. After some thought, he said, ¡°Although the Niten Flying Immortal Palace established by Sei Gasakai is an overseas faction, it hasn¡¯t had much of a conflict with the mainland. It has always been neutral. Furthermore, in this era, be it overseas or the mainland, they are all a part of humanity. We are also in need of manpower now. If there aren¡¯t any unresolvable grudges between us, there¡¯s no harm in taking them in.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought too. However, there¡¯s still some tiny trouble,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    ¡°What trouble?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°The Niten Flying Immortal Palace had already wanted to move inland some time ago. The six families and some major factions were very interested in them and had contacted them. Furthermore, they offered pretty good conditions. Those conditions even tempted me when I heard them, but for some reason, they rejected them all and took the initiative to contact us. They wanted to move to our place, but the conditions they raised were far inferior to the conditions the six families gave them.¡± Li Xuan paused to give Zhou Wen some time to digest.


    ¡°Are you suspecting their motives?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°A little, but that¡¯s not the most important thing. The most important thing is that the Family Clan of Gods seems to be determined to rope in the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. Not only did they actively contact them again and offer better conditions, but they also used their connections to tactfully express their wish for us to reject the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.¡± Li Xuan recounted the entire matter.


    ¡°Who did they find?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Someone from your family.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t say it directly.


    ¡°The An family?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Yes, but Brother Sheng contacted me. He said that there¡¯s no need to worry too much. If there¡¯s a need, we can directly take in the people from the Niten Flying Immortal Palace,¡± Li Xuan added.


    When Zhou Wen heard that, he roughly understood that the Family Clan of Gods had definitely exerted pressure on the An family.

 Chapter 1672 - Everything Beneath the Sky Is Divine Soil

    Chapter 1672 Everything Beneath the Sky Is Divine Soil


    ¡°Old Zhou, what do you think we should do?¡± Li Xuan was a fearless person. He wasn¡¯t asking if he should take in the people from the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, but asking Zhou Wen how he could bring them back to Guide Ancient City.


    According to Li Xuan¡¯s intentions, they had to take these people in regardless of whether the An family could withstand the pressure. The problem was that since the Family Clan of Gods was so insistent, they definitely had ulterior motives. They wouldn¡¯t easily let Honn Shinsakura and Sei Gasakai safely bring the group of people to Guide Ancient City.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pick them up,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Alright. Since you have nothing better to do, it¡¯s good to take a walk,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    He wanted to pick them up himself, but this was early in Guide Ancient City¡¯s development. There were too many things that he needed to do, and Zhou Wen was a boss who left everything to him. Li Xuan really couldn¡¯t leave.


    ¡°Pay more attention to the city when I¡¯m not around,¡± Zhou Wen said as he packed.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I haven¡¯t done so while you are around,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. He hadn¡¯t been taxed with the city¡¯s matters. Li Xuan did all the work.


    ¡°Then this is what we¡¯ll tell them. I¡¯ll reply to Honn Shinsakura. He¡¯s still waiting.¡± As Li Xuan spoke, he walked out without chatting with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen packed his things and looked at his phone that was charging. He realized that it had already charged to 3%. He estimated that it would take more than a day to fully charge


    it.


    Before receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s reply, the Niten Flying Immortal Palace overseas had already begun mobilizing people for the migration. It was definitely not a trivial matter for more than ten thousand people to migrate inland. There were too many things that needed to be taken care of.


    Dozens of ships were pulled inland by whale-like Companion Beasts.


    ¡°From the looks of it, our luck isn¡¯t bad. We didn¡¯t encounter any especially terrifying marine dimensional creatures.¡± Shiraishi Satomi couldn¡¯t help but heave a sigh of relief when she saw the coastline from afar.


    There were many break-out dimensional zones at sea, and terrifying dimensional creatures would appear from time to time. Even the safe routes they had taken in the past couldn¡¯t guarantee absolute safety now.


    Being able to reach inland without any harrowing surprises was a good sign.


    ¡°Sometimes, the terrifying ones aren¡¯t those dimensional creatures,¡± Honn Shinsakura said calmly as he stood at the bow.


    ¡°Palace Lord, don¡¯t worry. We have already planned the route inland and have made arrangements along the way. There won¡¯t be too many problems,¡± the jaundiced Elder said.


    Just as Shiraishi Satomi was about to ask something, her gaze suddenly focused. She saw a person standing on the dock by the beach.


    ¡°He¡¯s here indeed.¡± Honn Shinsakura also saw the person. He seemed to have expected it and wasn¡¯t surprised.


    ¡°Mohe from the Family Clan of Gods. Why is he here?¡± The jaundiced Elder¡¯s expression changed as the other Elders were alarmed.


    It was impossible for Mohe to come to the beach for no reason. Now, Mohe was famous. He was one of the best humans.


    Even in an era with many representatives, his ranking on the Cube had never dropped out of the top three.


    The most terrifying thing was that up to now, no one had been able to find Mohe¡¯s weakness. Mohe was very strong and could easily kill Calamity creatures. What was even more terrifying was that no one could injure him. Injuring Mohe was equivalent to injuring themselves. Mohe would be fine, while his opponent would die.


    ¡°Everyone, please stay.¡± The black-robed Mohe stood by the beach. His face was angular like a beautiful chiseled marble statue.


    Dozens of ships stopped in front of the dock. The huge whale-like Companion Beast floated above the sea as it stared angrily at the tiny human figure. ¡°Mohe, why are you blocking our path?¡± the jaundiced Elder asked Mohe.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never thought of blocking your path. Instead, I¡¯m here to guide everyone,¡± Mohe said calmly.


    ¡°I wonder what path you will point us in?¡± the jaundiced Elder asked with a frown.


    ¡°A path of survival,¡± Mohe said indifferently. ¡°Everything below the heavens is divine soil. Only the citizens of the gods can live on it. If they aren¡¯t divine citizens, how can there be a path of survival?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Family Clan of Gods too authoritative? If we don¡¯t enter the Family Clan of Gods, are you not allowing us to step onto the ground?¡± The jaundiced Elder¡¯s expression turned ugly.


    ¡°No.¡± Mohe shook his head and said, ¡°Regardless of whether it¡¯s the sea or the ground, it is all divine soil. If one doesn¡¯t obtain the favor of God, there will be no place for one to have a foothold in this world regardless of how big the world is. One can only sink.¡±


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace heard it clearly as their expressions changed drastically. Mohe had made it clear that if they didn¡¯t join the Family Clan of Gods, they would probably be buried in the sea today.


    If anyone else said such words, they would only treat it as a joke. However, they had already seen how terrifying Mohe was on the Cube¡¯s livestream. He had the ability to say such words.


    ¡°Is this the only way?¡± Honn Shinsakura finally said as he stared at Mohe with a burning gaze.


    ¡°This is the only way,¡± Mohe answered with certainty.


    Honn Shinsakura didn¡¯t say anything else. He silently pulled out two samurai swords, one long and one short. His aura constantly converged as he stared at Mohe like an abyss.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace on the dozens of ships also summoned their Companion Beasts. They drew their weapons and pointed them at Mohe. The huge Companion Beasts in the sea roared in unison, stirring up stormy waves as though they wanted to devour Mohe.


    Mohe stood there motionless as though he hadn¡¯t seen the shocking killing intent. He was like a god that looked down on all life.


    Seeing Mohe¡¯s lofty stance, Honn Shinsakura laughed. He looked at Mohe and said indifferently, ¡°Mohe, your strength is indeed very strong and magical, but if you don¡¯t touch me, your strength won¡¯t be of any use.¡±


    With that said, Honn Shinsakura gave the order to steer the ship towards the dock. They were not to attack Mohe.


    Hundreds of giant whale-like Companion Beasts roared and swam towards the dock.


    Mohe wasn¡¯t surprised or delighted as he looked at the behemoths and ships that were rushing over. He slowly raised his right palm towards the sea. When he was facing the sea, his fingers suddenly clenched tightly.


    Bang! Bang!


    Explosions sounded incessantly. The hundreds of giant whale-like beasts seemed to be gripped by an invisible hand as their bodies deformed from the pressure and instantly exploded.


    None of the behemoths that pulled the boat survived. Blood instantly dyed the entire sea surface. The seawater turned blood-red and churned with the waves like an Asura sea of blood.


    The waves that carried the blood struck the ships, splattering onto the bodies of the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. Everyone seemed to have fallen into a demonic realm as they lost their ability to think due to the scene in front of them. They stood there in a daze, their faces filled with horror.


    Everyone looked at Mohe as though they were looking at a devil from hell. They couldn¡¯t help but tremble. The timid disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace involuntarily retreated.

 Chapter 1673 - This And Nothing More

    Chapter 1673 This And Nothing More


    Honn Shinsakura stared at Mohe and couldn¡¯t help but feel his heart turn cold. Although he was determined to fight to the death, he couldn¡¯t draw his sword to fight.


    If it were an ordinary opponent, even if their strength was far above his, Honn Shinsakura would still have the courage to fight.


    However, Mohe was different. Only he could kill others, while others couldn¡¯t kill him. Even if Honn Shinsakura could slice through celestial bodies, he couldn¡¯t slash at Mohe. Otherwise, he would only injure himself. Honn Shinsakura was instantly thrown into a dilemma.


    ¡°Must you do this?¡± Sei Gasakai walked out of the cabin and stared at Mohe.


    When Mohe saw Sei Gasakai, he cracked a smile and looked at him. ¡°I heard that you have the title of Sword Sage overseas. The Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± is known as the number one sword art overseas.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just flattery,¡± Sei Gasakai said with a frown.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Mohe nodded.


    These words immediately infuriated the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. Perhaps Sei Gasakai wasn¡¯t the strongest human on Earth, but his Sword Dao realm made him like a saint in the hearts of the disciples.


    ¡°A warrior can be killed but not humiliated. Mohe, I¡¯ll fight you,¡± Honn Shinsakura said with a sullen expression.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t qualified.¡± Mohe didn¡¯t even look at Honn Shinsakura and said to Sei Gasakai, ¡°Since you are known as the overseas Sword Sage, I believe you might have some true talent. I¡¯ll give you a chance. I¡¯ll only fight you with my sword techniques and suppress my strength to the same level as yours. If you can withstand three of my strikes without being defeated, I¡¯ll let you have your freedom. If you lose, the Niten Flying Immortal Palace will have to come under my Family Clan of Gods. Do you dare to agree?¡±


    Sei Gasakai knew very well that it was impossible for things to end peacefully today. If he agreed, there was still a chance. If he didn¡¯t agree, the Niten Flying Immortal Palace would probably not be able to escape the calamity of destruction.


    Furthermore, Sei Gasakai was very confident in his Sword Dao. Ignoring the difference in level, he didn¡¯t believe that he was inferior to Mohe in terms of Sword Dao realm. He didn¡¯t believe that he couldn¡¯t even withstand three strikes.


    ¡°Can your words represent the Family Clan of Gods?¡± Sei Gasakai asked Mohe.


    ¡°If I allow you to leave, no one in the Family Clan of Gods will dare touch you. Of course, the premise is that you, the Sword Sage, can withstand three of my strikes without being defeated,¡± said Mohe indifferently. His goal was to bring the Niten Flying Immortal Palace back to the Family Clan of Gods, not to kill. The killing of the Companion Beasts that pulled the ships was only to intimidate everyone.


    ¡°Alright, three strikes to decide the victor.¡± Sei Gasakai¡¯s mind was calm. He wasn¡¯t moved by Mohe¡¯s words. At the same time, he didn¡¯t really want to remain undefeated after three strikes. Instead, he wanted to win.


    If a sword expert didn¡¯t have the intention to win and only had the mentality of surviving three strikes without being defeated, he would have already been defeated.


    Sei Gasakai summoned two Companion Beasts ¡ªsamurai swords, one long and one short. The blades¡¯ material looked the same, and they presented a demonic purple color. There seemed to be a faint sanguine glow amidst the purple.


    ¡°My weapons are called Ghost Cry and God Howl. They are both growth-type Companion Beasts. They have already grown to the Calamity grade and are higher than my level. When I fight you with this sword, you don¡¯t have to hold back. Just use your Calamity-grade strength,¡± Sei Gasakai said.


    ¡°They are just external objects.¡± With a casual wave of Mohe¡¯s hand, seawater surged into his palm like a fountain. Under the effects of the cold air in his palm, it condensed into a rapier.


    He casually shook the ice sword and said, ¡°Since you are at the Terror grade, I¡¯ll suppress my strength to the Terror grade. Receive three strikes from me and you can go wherever you want.¡±


    Most of the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace wore looks of indignation. Mohe¡¯s actions were an insult to the Sword Sage, Sei Gasakai.


    Some people secretly rejoiced and felt that Sei Gasakai¡¯s chances of winning were higher, but they were also worried that Mohe wouldn¡¯t keep his promise.


    ¡°Please.¡± Sei Gasakai¡¯s mind was calm like an ancient well. He didn¡¯t show any emotions because of Mohe¡¯s words. He stood in the sea like a mountain with his sword calmly.


    ¡°You do have the demeanor of a Sword Sage.¡± Mohe nodded slightly as his eyes turned serious. He thrust the ice sword at Sei Gasakai.


    It was completely different from the aura used to crush hundreds of Companion Beasts with one hand. His thrust was ordinary and simple. It could even be said to be ridiculously ordinary. There were no sword beams or sword aura. The thrust was also very slow, so slow that it felt like he was fooling around.


    Mohe was still standing on the dock, hundreds of meters away from Sei Gasakai on the sea. When he stabbed out, he didn¡¯t move and continued standing on the dock.


    However, for some reason, the slowly stabbing sword tip seemed to be approaching Sei Gasakai.


    It wasn¡¯t just Sei Gasakai. All the spectators felt as though the sword was stabbing at their hearts. Those with weak willpower turned pale from shock and involuntarily retreated.


    However, no matter how they retreated, they couldn¡¯t shake off the feeling that the tip of the sword was about to stab their hearts. It was as though their hearts would be pierced the next second.


    When Honn Shinsakura and Shiraishi Satomi saw this strike, their expressions turned abnormally solemn.


    They knew that it was very difficult to master swift sword strikes. The faster the sword was, the easier it was to kill.


    However, as long as one continued practicing, the sword would always become faster. It was just a matter of how fast it became.


    However, if one wanted to master a slow sword strike, it wasn¡¯t something that could be learned through practice. One had to have extremely high talent in the way of the sword and have an opportunity to gain an epiphany. Only then could one slow down their swift sword.


    Mohe¡¯s slow strike was clearly not as simple as being slow. Its realm was so high that even Honn Shinsakura was alarmed.


    The sword slowly stabbed over. It looked easy to crack, but when he really tried to crack it, he realized that it was impossible.


    This was because he was too slow. No matter how one dealt with him, one would expose their intentions to the other party. The situation that was originally a stalemate would suddenly result in the other party being in a passive position.


    However, if he didn¡¯t resolve the slow sword, the sword would slowly stab at him like how hot water cooked a frog. Once it entered the opponent¡¯s killing range, it would be impossible to crack.


    Neither staying still nor moving worked. Sei Gasakai immediately fell into a dilemma.


    was were worried for Sei Gasakai, but Sei Gasakai remained calm and composed. Without any hesitation, he slashed at Mohe with his weapon, Ghost Cry.


    His strike wasn¡¯t slow at all. On the contrary, it was as fast as a fleeting glimpse. It slashed in front of Mohe in an instant.


    ¡°Amazing!¡± Honn Shinsakura couldn¡¯t help but exclaim. This was the most authentic Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±.


    He used the longer weapon to slash at the enemy and have the shorter one protect the body; the movement was like the spinning of Yin and Yang. It was the best way to resolve a slow sword, but it was only something Sei Gasakai was capable of at his realm.


    The terrifying beam produced by Ghost Cry had already slashed in front of Mohe. If Mohe continued stabbing forward, his sword would be blocked by the short blade¡ªGod Howl. If he retracted his sword and dodged, he would immediately fall into a disadvantage. Ignoring the three strikes, even if he struck out with three hundred or three thousand strikes, it would probably be impossible for him to defeat Sei Gasakai.


    Mohe didn¡¯t retreat or even have the intention of retracting his sword. He used the ice sword condensed from seawater to meet Sei Gasakai¡¯s Calamity-grade blade, Ghost Cry.


    ¡°Is he going to break the contract?¡± Everyone¡¯s hearts skipped a beat.


    How could an ice sword condensed from seawater resist a Calamity-grade Companion Beast weapon unless Mohe used his Calamity-grade strength?


    However, even when the blades clashed, Mohe didn¡¯t use his Calamity-grade power. The ice sword shattered without a doubt.


    Everyone was overjoyed, but in the next moment, everyone¡¯s faces turned ashen. They stood rooted to the ground, unable to believe what they had seen.


    When the blades collided, Mohe¡¯s ice sword was shattered. However, his sword was condensed from seawater to begin with. The shattered ice sword melted into water. As Mohe¡¯s sword stance continued forward, it condensed into a sword and pointed at Sei Gasakai¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Everything has its own characteristics. The way to interpromotion and interrestraint depends on one¡¯s heart. Yet, you haven¡¯t even figured out this point. It looks like the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± is this and nothing more,¡± said Mohe indifferently.

 Chapter 1674 - Three Strikes

    Chapter 1674 Three Strikes


    ¡°You lost. Bring the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace along and return to the Family Clan of Gods with me.¡± Mohe released his palm and the ice sword in his hand transformed into water that flowed into the sea.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace turned ashen. Despite Sei Gasakai¡¯s abilities, Mohe had actually suppressed his strength to the same level as him. Furthermore, despite Sei Gasakai using the Calamity-grade Ghost Cry and God Howling blades, he couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike. This made them suspect Sei Gasakai¡¯s Sword Dao.


    Sei Gasakai was speechless. He had lost so thoroughly that there was nothing else to say.


    Mohe turned around and was about to leave when he saw a youth standing not far behind him. The youth stood there silently sizing him up with a look of interest. This made Mohe frown.


    The youth was less than a hundred meters away from him. He hadn¡¯t sensed the other party¡¯s arrival at all despite this distance. Just this alone surprised him.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou!¡± When Sei Gasakai saw Zhou Wen, he said guiltily, ¡°I¡¯m sorry I lost. I can only follow the agreement and head to the Family Clan of Gods.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Qi, there¡¯s no need to take it to heart.¡± Zhou Wen smiled and said to Mohe, ¡°The Family Clan of Gods is such a huge conglomerate. I don¡¯t think they will snatch my guests from me.¡±


    Mohe looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°That depends on whether you have the ability to take the guests.¡±


    ¡°You say that the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± is this and nothing more. I wonder if you dare make a pact of three strikes with me?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°You indeed live up to your name as Deceit King. You are truly a deceptive person,¡± Mohe mocked.


    The fact that Zhou Wen was Deceit King was no longer a secret among the six families. Before becoming the representative, Mohe had seen Zhou Wen¡¯s battle through the Cube, so he naturally didn¡¯t dare underestimate him.


    He dared to make a pact of three strikes with Sei Gasakai, but he didn¡¯t dare do the same for Zhou Wen.


    It wasn¡¯t that Mohe believed that Zhou Wen was stronger than him. It was only because Deceit King had displayed his powerful spatial abilities. Even if Zhou Wen only dodged, he wasn¡¯t confident of defeating him in three strikes.


    Furthermore, the reason that Mohe could defeat Sei Gasakai in one strike wasn¡¯t that his Sword Dao realm was really much stronger than Sei Gasakai¡¯s. Before coming, Mohe had studied the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±¡¯s Sword Dao and gathered a large amount of information on Sei Gasakai. It could be said that he knew Sei Gasakai like the back of his hand. That was why he could defeat the enemy with one strike. It was his style to plan before taking action.


    The Family Clan of Gods had plenty of information on Zhou Wen, but they couldn¡¯t completely understand Zhou Wen through such information. At the very least, Mohe believed that what the information revealed wasn¡¯t everything about Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You misunderstood me. I¡¯m not asking you to defeat me in three strikes.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°Then do you mean that you want me to receive your three strikes?¡± Mohe¡¯s expression turned cold as he couldn¡¯t help but feel angry. Ever since he became a representative, he had never suffered such derision.


    Although Zhou Wen was famous as Deceit King, that was only in the past. Mohe didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen had the right to say such things to the present him.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head again.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Mohe¡¯s expression softened. He looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Then what do you mean by pact of three strikes?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer him as he waved at Honn Shinsakura. ¡°Come over and help me.¡±


    Honn Shinsakura was taken aback when he heard that. He didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to, but he still walked over the waves and headed to Zhou Wen¡¯s side.


    ¡°Master, why did Zhou Wen get Honn Shinsakura to go over?¡± Shiraishi Satomi asked Sei Gasakai in puzzlement.


    ¡°How can we see through a figure like him? However, Mr. Zhou definitely has his reasons. Just keep watching,¡± Sei Gasakai said.


    ¡°Sir, what are your orders?¡± Honn Shinsakura came in front of Zhou Wen and bowed.


    ¡°I remember that you are Mr. Sei¡¯s disciple. You should have obtained the true teachings of Mr. Sei¡¯s Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked Honn Shinsakura.


    Mohe didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to as he watched without a word.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare call it true teachings. I¡¯ve been working hard to follow in Master¡¯s footsteps,¡± Honn Shinsakura answered.


    ¡°Sakura¡¯s Sword Dao is about to reach my realm,¡± Sei Gasakai said.


    ¡°It¡¯s enough.¡± Zhou Wen nodded in satisfaction.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what are you up to?¡± Mohe asked with a frown.


    ¡°You just said that the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± is this and nothing more. Then I¡¯ll impart three strikes of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± on Mr. Sei¡¯s behalf. It¡¯s the same rule as before. If you can withstand three strikes from him without being defeated, you can take them anywhere you want.¡± When Zhou Wen said that, everyone was stunned speechless.


    Everyone had already seen Mohe¡¯s strength. Even Sei Gasakai couldn¡¯t withstand a single strike. Although Honn Shinsakura was a genius and his cultivation in the way of the sword was close to Sei Gasakai¡¯s, it was unbelievable that he could defeat Mohe after learning three sword strikes.


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just Mohe¡¯s expression. Even his eyes turned cold as he stared intently at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°You will pay the price for your arrogance.¡±


    ¡°All you need to do is answer whether you¡¯ll take the bet,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll fulfill your wish. However, after that, I¡¯ll fight you. I originally didn¡¯t want to be your enemy, but you¡¯re forcing me,¡± Mohe said coldly.


    ¡°Get through his three strikes without being defeated first.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he waved his hand at Honn Shinsakura. ¡°Lend me your blade. I¡¯ll teach you three strikes on behalf of Mr. Sei.¡±


    Although Honn Shinsakura was somewhat puzzled, he still handed the blade to Zhou Wen with both hands.


    Zhou Wen took the samurai sword and casually brandished it twice as though he was familiarizing himself with the blade¡¯s center of gravity.


    ¡°Master, isn¡¯t Zhou Wen being too arrogant?¡± Shiraishi Satomi said with an odd expression.


    Although she knew that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign, it wasn¡¯t easy to defeat Mohe even with the strength Human Sovereign had displayed in the past. To be able to defeat Mohe by teaching Honn Shinsakura three strikes on the spot was unbelievable.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Shiraishi Satomi. The Elders also felt that Zhou Wen was a little condescending. Even if he was Human Sovereign, he couldn¡¯t underestimate an expert at Mohe¡¯s level.


    Even if Zhou Wen really had such a powerful Sword Dao, it was impossible for Honn Shinsakura to immediately master his profound Sword Dao. No matter how talented a swordsman was, it was impossible for him to master a profound sword technique in such a short period of time.


    What was even more unacceptable was that Zhou Wen had actually begun imparting the Honn Shinsakura Sword Art in front of Mohe without any intention of concealment.


    Can we rely on¡­ this person? It wasn¡¯t just the Elders. Even the ordinary disciples felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s actions were a little too childish.


    To teach three strikes in front of the opponent and to use those same three strikes to defeat him, was he treating the opponent as an idiot?

 Chapter 1675 - Education

    Chapter 1675 Education


    Zhou Wen was naturally not an unreliable person. He wasn¡¯t making such a condition to insult Mohe.


    In fact, he had already arrived when Sei Gasakai fought Mohe. Back then, Sei Gasakai had already agreed to Mohe¡¯s challenge. It was too late for him to stop it.


    Therefore, when Sei Gasakai fought Mohe, Zhou Wen activated the Teacher Domain to observe the extent of Mohe¡¯s abilities.


    The Teacher Domain was a Calamity Zone derived from the Dao Sutra. The game¡¯s introduction was the Domain of Education. Its actual use could block the different nomological powers. At the same time, it could study how the other party¡¯s power worked. It could even produce an Essence Energy Art by studying the other party¡¯s nomological power. Zhou Wen originally only wanted to study Mohe¡¯s powers, hoping to figure out what kind of power the reflective power was. However, when Zhou Wen used the Teacher Domain to observe it, he made an unexpected discovery.


    This discovery didn¡¯t stem from Mohe, but because of Sei Gasakai.


    This was because Sei Gasakai¡¯s Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± was inspired by Zhou Wen¡¯s Transcendent Flying Immortal and Immortal Slaying. It could be said to share the same lineage as Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Dao.


    When Sei Gasakai used the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±¡¯s Sword Dao, Zhou Wen discovered some other abilities in the Teacher Domain.


    In the Teacher Domain, not only could Zhou Wen clearly sense all the pros and cons of Sei Gasakai¡¯s Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, but the Teacher Domain had even automatically modified the flaws of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, giving Zhou Wen new insights into the Teacher Domain¡¯s abilities.


    He could clearly sense that as long as he was willing, he could use the Teacher Domain to make up for the flaws of Sei Gasakai¡¯s Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. He could even directly raise Sei Gasakai¡¯s Sword Dao realm.


    So that¡¯s how it is. The so-called Domain of Education is indeed not as simple as imitating and learning. Zhou Wen came to a realization.


    Having Sei Gasakai use the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± to fight Mohe in the Teacher Domain was almost equivalent to Zhou Wen fighting Mohe himself. Now, Zhou Wen had already made a judgment on Mohe¡¯s Sword Dao realm. At the same time, he wanted to test the Teacher Domain¡¯s new ability, so he had raised such a condition.


    Zhou Wen even vaguely felt that he had found a path of advancement for the Teacher Domain.


    Honn Shinsakura looked at Zhou Wen and couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous. The Sword Dao Zhou Wen had imparted was probably extremely profound. Otherwise, it would be difficult for him to defeat Mohe.


    He didn¡¯t doubt Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Dao standards, but he was afraid that he couldn¡¯t master the sword techniques Zhou Wen imparted to him in such a short period of


    time.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous. Just taking it easy while learning it will be enough,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    These words sounded arrogant in the ears of others, but that was the truth. This was because he wanted to use the Teacher Domain to directly raise Honn Shinsakura¡¯s Sword Dao realm and not really let him learn the three strikes.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do my best,¡± Honn Shinsakura said seriously.


    ¡°Then watch carefully.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say another word. After activating the Teacher Domain, he began brandishing the saber in his hand.


    Everyone was drawn to his actions. They wanted to see what peerless sword technique he was teaching to allow Honn Shinsakura to defeat Mohe in such a short period of time.


    Even Mohe couldn¡¯t help but focus on Zhou Wen¡¯s sword technique. He also wanted to know how good Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Dao was.


    Mohe didn¡¯t believe that he would lose to Honn Shinsakura. He was already preparing to defeat Zhou Wen after defeating him.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s next three strikes made everyone widen their eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t because the sword technique Zhou Wen taught was profound and powerful, but because the sword technique Zhou Wen taught was too simple. It was so simple that all the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace could understand it.


    Even the young Mortal-stage disciples understood the sword technique Zhou Wen had taught.


    In fact, it was very difficult for them not to understand it even if they wanted to. This was because the sword technique Zhou Wen had displayed was the most basic sword technique of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±. Even a young child of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace had practiced it countless times and was extremely familiar with it.


    ¡°Master¡­ What¡¯s going on?¡± Shiraishi Satomi began to doubt her eyes. She suspected that Zhou Wen had taught something so profound that she couldn¡¯t understand it.


    Sei Gasakai was equally puzzled. He also suspected that Zhou Wen¡¯s ordinary three strikes contained some profundity, but he really couldn¡¯t tell what was different between them and the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± basic sword stances he had created.


    Mohe knitted his brows tightly. He had focused on studying the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±, so he naturally knew the basic sword moves like the back of his hand. However, he couldn¡¯t tell how Zhou Wen could defeat him with these three strikes.


    Disregarding how Honn Shinsakura could defeat him with three strikes, even if Zhou Wen were to use them himself, Mohe didn¡¯t believe that they would be of any use.


    The others couldn¡¯t sense anything, but Honn Shinsakura felt something completely different.


    Under the effects of the Teacher Domain, the ordinary three strikes struck Honn Shinsakura¡¯s brain like three bolts of lightning, enlightening him. His mind exploded with many unprecedented sword experiences.


    So the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± I mastered has so many flaws¡­ So this is the profundity of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨±¡­ I never expected there to be such a realm¡­


    The three simple strikes in the eyes of others caused Honn Shinsakura to produce the effect of three epiphanies. His cultivation in the Sword Dao had already approached Sei Gasakai, but he suddenly had three epiphanies. His realm in the Sword Dao instantly rose to an unbelievable realm.


    How rare was an epiphany? A swordsman who had an epiphany once in his life could become a sword master of a generation.


    For example, Sei Gasakai had one epiphany because of Zhou Wen. This resulted in him establishing the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± and gaining the reputation of the Sword Sage


    overseas.


    Now, Honn Shinsakura had experienced three consecutive enlightenments. It was an unbelievably fortuitous encounter. In a moment, his Sword Dao realm had reached a status that even Sei Gasakai found difficult to reach. At that moment, he was pleasantly surprised. He almost couldn¡¯t believe that he had gained such insights. He looked at Zhou Wen as though he was looking at a god.


    If he wasn¡¯t a god, how could he use three simple strikes to give him such insight?


    Zhou Wen looked at Honn Shinsakura and was also pleasantly surprised. With Honn Shinsakura¡¯s epiphany and improvement, his Teacher Domain began to improve, evolving from the Human Realm to the Hell level.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that by using the Teacher Domain to educate Honn Shinsakura, Honn Shinsakura¡¯s comprehension of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± should have reached the limits of his comprehension.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case. After Honn Shinsakura experienced three epiphanies, the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨± Sword Dao he had comprehended had exceeded the limits of the Teacher Domain.


    The Master guides one into the way. Cultivation depends on the individual. The education of the Teacher Domain is no longer limited to one¡¯s bottleneck. The enlightenment of the educated will be reflected in the Teacher Domain if they exceed the Teacher Domain¡­ Zhou Wen had already completely understood the Teacher Domain¡¯s abilities.

 Chapter 1676 - Same Plot

    Translator: CKtalon


    ¡°His sword technique is nothing much. Unless he uses powers above the Terror grade, these three strikes should be enough for you to defeat him.¡± Zhou Wen threw the blade back to Honn Shinsakura.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to use words to taunt me. Since I¡¯ve said that I would only use powers on the same level as him, I definitely won¡¯t go back on my word. If I use powers above the Terror grade, it will naturally be considered a loss,¡± said Mohe coldly.


    He didn¡¯t believe that Honn Shinsakura could defeat him with these three strikes.


    Zhou Wen declined to comment, but Honn Shinsakura suddenly bowed at him as a form of thanks. He said solemnly, ¡°I¡¯ll remember your kindness in imparting the Dao.¡±


    ¡°Go.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    Only then did Honn Shinsakura stand up and walk towards Mohe with his blade in hand.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace wore odd expressions. They really couldn¡¯t tell how the three strikes that Zhou Wen had taught were worth Honn Shinsakura¡¯s bow.


    Shiraishi Satomi also wore a puzzled expression as she looked at Sei Gasakai and asked, ¡°Master, are Zhou Wen¡¯s three strikes really that magical?¡±


    She knew how proud Honn Shinsakura was. To be able to make him bow so respectfully meant that he almost treated Zhou Wen as a master. It also indirectly meant that the three strikes were definitely extraordinary. However, Shiraishi Satomi couldn¡¯t tell how the three strikes were different from the basic sword moves she had learned in the past.


    ¡°How can a figure like Mr. Zhou spout nonsense?¡± Sei Gasakai couldn¡¯t tell what was so profound about the three swords, but he could sense that Honn Shinsakura¡¯s aura had changed.


    This change didn¡¯t seem obvious. If Honn Shinsakura hadn¡¯t been taught by Sei Gasakai, it would have been difficult for him to notice this change.


    ¡°Please be careful of my blade.¡± Honn Shinsakura stopped opposite Mohe. He held the blade Zhou Wen had borrowed and didn¡¯t summon the second short blade he often used.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨¹ used dual blades, so Honn Shinsakura was naturally best at dual blades. He only used one instead of two not because Zhou Wen had only used one saber for the three strikes he had taught, but because Honn Shinsakura wanted to avenge Sei Gasakai¡¯s humiliation. Since Mohe had defeated him with a water sword, he had to use a single blade to defeat Mohe.


    Mohe looked at Honn Shinsakura as a strange glint flashed in his eyes. After all, he was a Calamity-grade expert. He could sense the changes in Honn Shinsakura¡¯s aura, but he still couldn¡¯t figure out what Honn Shinsakura had learned from the three strikes. He could only watch helplessly as Zhou Wen taught the three strikes. He really couldn¡¯t figure out what tricks the three strikes could produce.


    Mohe casually grabbed and condensed seawater into a sword again. He looked at Honn Shinsakura and said indifferently, ¡°Don¡¯t waste any more time.


    Attack.¡±


    Although he knew that Honn Shinsakura had grown, Mohe didn¡¯t believe that he could grow to the point of defeating him. Even if Zhou Wen had taught him a godlike sword technique, it was impossible for him to raise Honn Shinsakura to a level that could match him in such a short period of time.


    Furthermore, the three strikes Zhou Wen taught were only the basic sword techniques of the Niten Flying Immortal-ry¨¹.


    In a true battle between experts, confidence was also an important part. If one wasn¡¯t confident, it would be very difficult to win unless one¡¯s strength was truly overwhelming. How could Mohe make such a mistake?


    Honn Shinsakura didn¡¯t say anything else. He held the blade in one hand and slashed at Mohe.


    This strike wasn¡¯t one of the three strikes Zhou Wen had taught him. Instead, it was the strike Sei Gasakai had slashed at Mohe. It was almost identical without any difference.


    Indeed, the three strikes Zhou Wen taught are useless. He¡¯s using Sei Gasakai¡¯s Sword Dao. Those three strikes arejust a ruse. However, aren¡¯t you underestimating me? How can such a trick succeed in front of me?


    Furthermore, I¡¯ve just cracked the sword stance he¡¯s using. A thought flashed through Mohe¡¯s mind, but he didn¡¯t hesitate to thrust his sword out again.


    The battle between the two was almost a replay of the battle between Sei Gasakai and Mohe. The only difference was that Honn Shinsakura only had one blade in his hand and didn¡¯t have the ability to protect himself.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Shiraishi Satomi was at a loss for words. Sei Gasakai had already tried using the same strike, so this strike was bound to fail. Yet, Honn Shinsakura had actually replicated his attempt.


    It wasn¡¯t just her. None of the disciples of the Niten Flymg Immortal Palace understood. The Elders even wondered if Honn Shinsakura¡¯s brain was damaged.


    Only Sei Gasakai seemed to understand something. He shook his head slightly and said with a smile, ¡°This child sure is thoughtful.¡±


    The ice sword that advanced at an extremely slow speed collided with the blade that slashed over crazily again. The ice sword was shattered again. Everything was identical to the last time, as though a movie had been replayed.


    Although Mohe was confident, he was still somewhat afraid. Therefore, he held back and prepared to deal with any development that cropped up.


    However, nothing happened. Honn Shinsakura¡¯s blade shattered his ice sword. The ice sword fragments transformed into water that flowed past Honn


    Shinsakura¡¯s blade and condensed into a water sword that pointed at his chest.


    I won? Mohe naturally found it unbelievable that everything would go so smoothly, but seeing that the water sword was about to stab Honn Shinsakura¡¯s chest, he had to believe it.


    Suddenly, Mohe¡¯s heart palpitated as though he sensed dire danger. His eyes focused and he immediately realized that Honn Shinsakura¡¯s blade had already slashed at his waist at some point in time.


    His sword and Honn Shinsakura¡¯s blade could hit each other almost at the same time, but he only held a water sword while Honn Shinsakura held a Terror-grade Companion Beast blade. If they were to hit each other, the outcome would be different.


    Unless Mohe used powers that exceeded the Terror grade, he would definitely be the one suffering. When that happened, he would naturally lose.


    I thought it was some brilliant sword technique, but it turns out that you just want to use this method to defeat me. Aren¡¯t you too naive? Mohe¡¯s


    Calamity-grade thinking ability and reaction were naturally not something Honn Shinsakura could compare with. At that instant, countless thoughts flashed through Mohe¡¯s mind.


    Almost at the same time, his body naturally moved. His figure moved slightly as he maintained the water sword¡¯s thrust and speed.


    This way, Honn Shinsakura¡¯s blade would brush past him, and his water sword would hit Honn Shinsakura.


    In fact, this reaction had exceeded the limits of the Terror grade. However, this wasn¡¯t a substantial Calamity -grade power, so it couldn¡¯t be said that the Mohe violated the rules.


    However, after Mohe did all of this, his pupils suddenly constricted as he revealed a look of disbelief as though he had seen a ghost.


    He originally imagined that Honn Shinsakura had used all his strength to slash out, but that wasn¡¯t the case at all. Honn Shinsakura¡¯s reaction speed was far inferior to his, so it was impossible for him to keep up with his changes and adapt. However, Honn Shinsakura seemed to have anticipated the change in moves. The blade¡¯s angle changed midway¡ªalmost at the same moment as Mohe. It happened to restrain Mohe¡¯s new move.


    Mohe never expected such a situation to happen. It was as though his opponent was prescient. If he hadn¡¯t moved and continued the stab, Honn Shinsakura would have already lost.


    However, due to his movement, Honn Shinsakura happened to be able to restrain him. At such a close distance, unless he used the speed of a Calamity-grade to move again, he wouldn¡¯t be able to do anything.


    In that instant of hesitation, the water sword in Mohe¡¯s hand was shattered by the blade in Honn Shinsakura¡¯s hand. The tip of the blade stopped in front of Mohe¡¯s chest.


    Instantly, there was only the sound of the sea waves. Everyone seemed to be petrified as they watched Honn Shinsakura point his blade at Mohe¡¯s chest.


    ¡°Am I f*cking dreaming?¡± On the ship, someone shouted in a fugue..

 Chapter 1677 - Easy Advancement

    Chapter 1677 Easy Advancement


    ¡°Am I still living in a dream?¡± The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace widened their eyes in disbelief.


    With just one strike, Honn Shinsakura had actually defeated the unparalleled Mohe in sword technique. It was unbelievable.


    However, what surprised them the most wasn¡¯t that Honn Shinsakura had defeated Mohe with one strike, but that Zhou Wen had only taught him three simple strikes, allowing Honn Shinsakura¡¯s Sword Dao to advance so rapidly.


    Honn Shinsakura¡¯s sword technique was originally weaker than Sei Gasakai¡¯s. Even Sei Gasakai had been defeated by Mohe with one strike, but now, Honn Shinsakura had turned the tables. This was an unimaginable difference.


    All the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace looked at Zhou Wen as though they were looking at a god or an immortal pill. It was as though they could immediately ascend to immortality if they swallowed him.


    The people who knew Honn Shinsakura found it even more unbelievable.


    Take Shiraishi Satomi for example. She often practiced swordsmanship with Honn Shinsakura, so she knew his Sword Dao very well. But now, she realized that Honn Shinsakura¡¯s Sword Dao was like the sea, making it impossible for her to see its depths. It even made her feel puny in front of a mountain.


    And all of this was because Zhou Wen had taught him three strikes. It was miraculous.


    Mohe stared intently at Honn Shinsakura. He couldn¡¯t believe that Honn Shinsakura had become so strong just because Zhou Wen had taught him three strikes. However, the truth was right in front of him, so he had no choice but to believe it.


    If Honn Shinsakura had such standards long ago, he wouldn¡¯t have watched Sei Gasakai¡¯s defeat without doing anything.


    Is Zhou Wen¡¯s teaching standards so high or is Honn Shinsakura¡¯s perceptivity too terrifying? This thought flashed through Mohe¡¯s mind as he instantly answered himself.


    Honn Shinsakura had been with Sei Gasakai for so many years. If his talent was really that strong, he would have long formed his own faction. He would have long surpassed Sei Gasakai, so he wouldn¡¯t have waited until now to have such a breakthrough.


    The only explanation was that Zhou Wen¡¯s Sword Dao was just so powerful.


    Although Mohe wasn¡¯t willing to believe it, he had to admit that he didn¡¯t understand how Zhou Wen had taught him. This made him suspect his realm and standards for a moment.


    ¡°You lost,¡± Honn Shinsakura retracted his blade and said to Mohe.


    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t go back on my word. I won¡¯t stop anyone from the Niten Flying Immortal Palace from going anywhere.¡± With that said, Mohe ignored Honn Shinsakura and turned to Zhou Wen. He stared at him and said, ¡°Deceit King lives up to his reputation. You¡¯re even stronger than the rumors. I wonder if you dare fight me?¡±


    Zhou Wen was filled with joy because with Honn Shinsakura¡¯s epiphany, his Teacher Domain had risen from the Human Realm to the Hell level.


    Even Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t expected such a speed of advancement. At that moment, he was doing the math. If he did it a few more times, wouldn¡¯t the Teacher Domain easily advance to the Heaven level?


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t as simple as Zhou Wen imagined. The reason the Teacher Domain could advance from the Human Realm to the Hell level was that Honn Shinsakura¡¯s talent and perceptivity were excellent. He had undergone three epiphanies under the influence of the Teacher Domain, causing his Sword Dao to reach an unbelievable realm. In terms of Sword Dao, even a Heaven-level swordsman wasn¡¯t completely confident of defeating Honn Shinsakura. It could be said that Honn Shinsakura was already a true sword master.


    If it were an ordinary person with inferior talent and perceptivity, it was hard to say if they could even experience a single epiphany, much less three.


    The Teacher Domain could only impart experience and influence perceptivity, but it wasn¡¯t powerful enough to force enlightenment.


    It could be said that the Teacher Domain and Honn Shinsakura were mutually fulfilling each other¡¯s wishes. Furthermore, Honn Shinsakura had three epiphanies. Apart from his talent, the immense pressure was also an important reason.


    The fate of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace lay on his shoulders, giving him the motivation to exceed his limits. If it were any other time, he might have gained an epiphany once or twice under the influence of the Teacher Domain instead of three times.


    It wouldn¡¯t be easy for Zhou Wen to use the Teacher Domain to produce such a person.


    Thankfully, there were many geniuses on Earth. There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. However, Zhou Wen had many geniuses he could use. There was just another problem. Zhou Wen had to have a deep understanding of the Dao they cultivated. Otherwise, the Teacher Domain¡¯s abilities would be greatly reduced.


    ¡°Come find me after you advance to the Heaven level.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too interested in fighting Mohe.


    After the two battles, Zhou Wen had a general understanding of Mohe¡¯s realm. Mohe¡¯s realm was considered very strong among humans, but it was only strong. If he wasn¡¯t at the Calamity grade and didn¡¯t have the shocking ability to deal reflective damage, it was impossible for him to be so famous at his realm.


    These words were practically saying to Mohe: ¡°Your abilities aren¡¯t good enough. Go back and train for a few more years.¡±


    If Zhou Wen had said those words when he first arrived, even the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace would probably have thought that he was too arrogant and conceited.


    However, everyone felt that there was nothing wrong with Zhou Wen¡¯s words. Mohe couldn¡¯t even defeat Honn Shinsakura, who had learned three strikes from Zhou Wen, so how could he be Zhou Wen¡¯s match?


    When Mohe heard Zhou Wen, he couldn¡¯t help but raise his eyebrows slightly. ¡°Perhaps your Sword Dao realm is indeed above mine, but a Sword Dao realm isn¡¯t the only criterion that determines victory.¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, you are very confident in your ability to reflect damage,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Do you dare or not?¡± Mohe said coldly.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with whether I dare or not. What¡¯s the benefit of fighting you?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°What benefits do you want?¡± Mohe was first taken aback before he asked with a frown.


    ¡°If you lose, tell me why you insist on having the Niten Flying Immortal Palace join the Family Clan of Gods,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Zhou Wen had always been puzzled by this question. Although the Niten Flying Immortal Palace was not a small faction and Sei Gasakai and Honn Shinsakura were considered elites among humans, they didn¡¯t seem worth the Family Clan of Gods¡¯s attention. At the very least, there was no need for them to pay such a huge price for the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, much less be so insistent.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Mohe hesitated for a moment before agreeing to Zhou Wen¡¯s request.


    Since they could no longer recruit the Niten Flying Immortal Palace into the Family Clan of Gods, this secret was meaningless to them.


    Furthermore, even if Zhou Wen knew this secret, he might not be able to obtain any benefits from it.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s not waste any time. Let¡¯s begin.¡± Just as Zhou Wen said that, he gathered the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra and struck out at Mohe¡¯s head.


    The Calamity Zone condensed by the Ancient Sovereign Sutra was called the Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens. This power could restrain Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s ability to deal damage-also an ability to reflect damage. Zhou Wen also wanted to know if the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power could restrain Mohe.


    When Mohe saw Zhou Wen¡¯s incoming palm strike, he had no intention of dodging. He knew that his Sword Dao realm was inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. Instead of wasting time competing in technique, he might as well use his strongest strength to determine the victor.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen struck Mohe¡¯s head with his palm, producing a dull thud.

 Chapter 1678 - Karma Reversal

    Chapter 1678 Karma Reversal


    The name of Mohe¡¯s Life Providence was Harming Others Without Benefiting Oneself. Previously, it was famous for being a useless Life Providence. If he harmed others, not only would others not be injured, but he would also suffer the same injuries.


    This Life Providence had once made Mohe doubt life, but he didn¡¯t sink into depression like the average person would. Instead, he regained his confidence and firmly believed that there was no crippled Life Providence in the world, only crippled people. He definitely could find a way to use his Life Providence.


    However, after trying one method after another, none of them met with success.


    Mohe had also thought that perhaps his Life Soul had some special attribute that could reverse the disadvantage of his Life Providence and even turn the disadvantage into an advantage.


    However, it didn¡¯t happen. His Life Soul was equally weak and he was similarly unable to harm others.


    When humans finally found a way to advance to the Mythical stage, Mohe placed his hopes on the Wheel of Destiny. He thought that the Wheel of Destiny could change everything.


    Likewise, it didn¡¯t. His Wheel of Destiny was actually the same type. He still couldn¡¯t harm anyone.


    Even someone as mentally resilient as Mohe was about to break down. Although he was a member of the Family Clan of Gods, he was a cripple. He didn¡¯t obtain many resources. He had already paid a significant price to reach the Mythical stage.


    No matter how many resources his family had, it was impossible for them to help him advance to the Terror grade.


    Mohe didn¡¯t blame the family. He felt that it was fair. If it were him, he wouldn¡¯t invest the resources on a hopeless person either.


    Just as Mohe had given up hope, he never expected the dimension¡¯s Fallen race to find him and help him advance to the Calamity grade.


    When Mohe¡¯s Life Providence advanced to the Terror grade and entered the Terror form, it finally underwent a reversal. Just as he had imagined, it turned the disadvantage into an advantage.


    His Terror form was called Karma Reversal. Under the effects of the Terror form, he went from harming others without benefiting himself to harming others to benefit himself. His Life Soul and Wheel of Destiny also became extremely powerful.


    When he advanced to the Calamity grade, he could finally freely control his strength and no longer be restrained by all sorts of restrictions. Not only could he injure others, but anyone who harmed him in his domain would also suffer a karma reversal, causing the enemy to be injured instead. Furthermore, this kind of injury would be reflected multiple times over.


    Mohe knew his abilities very well. Even if Zhou Wen¡¯s level was higher than his and his strength was greater than his, it was still impossible for him to defeat him. The stronger Zhou Wen was, the more miserable his defeat would be.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen struck Mohe on the head. Just as Mohe was considering if he should take this opportunity to eliminate Zhou Wen, he suddenly felt his head buzz. His mind went blank as his body fell forward uncontrollably and slammed to the ground. Then, an intense pain spread throughout his body as the sound of bones shattering constantly sounded.


    Mohe was slammed to the ground by Zhou Wen. As his body twisted and sank into the ground, all his bones fractured as blood seeped out of his seven orifices.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± Mohe¡¯s irises constricted as he struggled to get up. However, he realized that his arm and leg bones had snapped into several pieces. He couldn¡¯t control them at all. He couldn¡¯t even move, much less stand up. The intense pain pulsed through his nerves.


    On the distant ship, the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace fell dead silent. Everyone gaped as they stared blankly at Zhou Wen and Mohe, who had been slammed into the concrete ground.


    For a moment, they suspected if this was the real Mohe. Perhaps this Mohe was only a replica and a weak imposter. Otherwise, how could he have been smacked to the ground by Zhou Wen and not be able to get up?


    He was Mohe, the Mohe who had appeared virtually invincible on the Cube. Even a Calamity-grade dimensional creature had been casually killed by him. There was no need for him to do anything. If a Calamity creature attacked him, they would be killed by this Fallen race representative¡¯s recoil.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Mohe had previously killed hundreds of Companion Beasts with one hand and if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Mohe had just defeated Sei Gasakai with one strike, they would have no doubt that he was a useless imposter.


    But now, they looked at Zhou Wen with eyes filled with zeal and respect.


    This was the true peak combat strength of humanity. Without becoming a representative or relying on a Guardian, his strength had reached an unbelievable level.


    After casually teaching Honn Shinsakura three strikes, he allowed Honn Shinsakura to defeat Mohe in terms of sword techniques. With a casual palm strike, he slammed the invisible Mohe to the ground. How terrifying was this existence?


    ¡°Master, is he really pure human?¡± Even Shiraishi Satomi, who knew Zhou Wen¡¯s identity, found it difficult to believe the truth she knew.


    To be able to smack down Mohe with a single slap, how powerful was this force? Shiraishi Satomi found it difficult to believe that pure humans could reach this stage.


    After all, before Zhou Wen was born, no human could advance to the Mythical stage as a pure-blooded human, much less slap a Calamity-grade existence to the ground.


    ¡°Some people are born different,¡± Sei Gasakai said with a sigh.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen was like a god in the eyes of the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    Zhou Wen looked at the struggling Mohe, who couldn¡¯t stand up, and was somewhat surprised. He never expected the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power to restrain Mohe. It was even stronger than he imagined.


    However, Zhou Wen soon understood the reason. He had the Hell-level Teacher Domain constantly activated. The effects of the Teacher Domain were now even stronger than before.


    During the entire process of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power resisting Mohe¡¯s power, the effects of the Teacher Domain were completely unleashed due to Mohe¡¯s power being restrained. The Teacher Domain had already deduced the rules of Mohe¡¯s power.


    Zhou Wen already understood the rules of Mohe¡¯s power. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh inwardly. Mohe sure is unlucky. This power of Karma Reversal can gain the upper hand against any powerful force. However, the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s domain power is a form of sacrificial power. Human Sovereign sacrificed himself to the heavens to fulfill the wishes of others. When it¡¯s used on him, what¡¯s originally a saving power becomes a force of destruction thanks to his Karma Reversal powers.


    It was only because Zhou Wen was just giving it a try from the beginning that he didn¡¯t dare use all his strength. He was afraid that the Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power couldn¡¯t injure Mohe and he would suffer the consequences. If he had used all his strength, he would probably have killed Mohe.


    ¡°Get someone to take him back.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a bloodthirsty person, nor was there any reason for him to kill Mohe.


    If it were anyone else, they might have imagined that Mohe was an enemy and wanted to eliminate him as soon as possible. However, Zhou Wen stood at a different vantage point.


    In particular, the few conversations he had had with his teacher, Wang Mingyuan, made Zhou Wen realize very clearly that his enemy wasn¡¯t humans or these representatives, but the terrifying dimension. These representatives might become humanity¡¯s hope and main combat strength in the future. This was also why he didn¡¯t object to Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu becoming representatives.

 Chapter 1679 - My Adversary Has Never Been Humanity

    Chapter 1679 My Adversary Has Never Been Humanity


    ¡°You aren¡¯t killing me?¡± Mohe asked in surprise. He never expected Zhou Wen to get someone to take him back and not kill him.


    Others might be afraid of the Family Clan of Gods¡¯ faction and wouldn¡¯t dare attack him because of their qualms, but Mohe knew very well that the An family had no intention of compromising with the Family Clan of Gods. Even if the An family was willing to compromise, an existence like Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to worry about the Family Clan of Gods.


    ¡°Why should I kill you?¡± Zhou Wen asked calmly.


    Mohe was first taken aback before saying, ¡°Because I¡¯m your enemy now.¡±


    ¡°My enemies have never been humans.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen turned around and walked towards Honn Shinsakura.


    Looking at Zhou Wen¡¯s back, Mohe¡¯s expression changed constantly. He kept thinking about Zhou Wen¡¯s words: ¡°My enemies have never been humans.¡± He didn¡¯t know what to feel.


    Honn Shinsakura got two disciples to take Mohe back before leading the remaining disciples to Guide Ancient City with Zhou Wen.


    The Elders who were unwilling to migrate to Guide Ancient City were now overjoyed. They would occasionally appear in front of Zhou Wen and greet him Mr. Zhou warmly.


    Zhou Wen was in a rather good mood. He originally imagined that it would be a tiring trip that wasted his time, but he never expected to find a way to advance the Teacher Domain. He was already planning to try it on Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen to see if he could raise the Teacher Domain to the Heaven level when he returned.


    He used spatial teleportation abilities on his trip here. It didn¡¯t take much time, but when he returned, he had to slowly travel with more than ten thousand disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. It wasn¡¯t that fast.


    As the route they chose was relatively safe, they didn¡¯t encounter much trouble along the way. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even need to take action to resolve the minor problems they encountered. Honn Shinsakura and company resolved them themselves, so Zhou Wen had nothing to do.


    He wanted to grind the game dungeons, but his phone was still charging. There was no way to operate it.


    The charging took longer than Zhou Wen had anticipated. After more than fifty hours, the phone¡¯s battery finally reached 99%. It was just short of the final 1%.


    Zhou Wen held his phone and waited for the final 1% to be completed. He was very curious about the difference after the phone was charged up.


    Ordinary phones were charged for extended usage, but the mysterious phone had no need for that. Changes were definitely in stall from the charging.


    Ding! With a notification sound, the battery reached 100%. As Zhou Wen waited in anticipation, the phone screen finally changed.


    The battery icon vanished and the screen turned black. A line of white words appeared in the middle of the screen.


    ¡°Fully charged. Restarting system¡­¡±


    Restart? Why isn¡¯t it an upgrade? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. He imagined that there would be a tremendous change, but he never expected it to only be a restart.


    The phone didn¡¯t make Zhou Wen wait too long. After a while, the line of words vanished. The phone screen lit up again and entered the familiar home screen.


    Looking at the familiar scene, Zhou Wen swiped his finger a few times, but he didn¡¯t discover any obvious differences. Even the background was the same. The icon of every game dungeon was identical.


    Don¡¯t tell me this thing is really just charging for extended usage? Zhou Wen was depressed. After all this trouble, it really didn¡¯t seem any different.


    He flipped it back and forth several times. Apart from the game dungeon icons representing dungeons that had already been downloaded, nothing had increased. No matter how he looked at it, it was identical to before.


    Unwilling to give up, he studied it for a while longer before he was completely disappointed. The mysterious phone hadn¡¯t changed at all.


    Are you messing with me? Zhou Wen felt depressed, but there was nothing he could do. He randomly opened the Ant City dungeon. Having not grinded dungeons for a few days, he planned on grinding the dungeon to see if he could obtain anything useful. I wonder if the drop rate will be higher after it¡¯s fully charged. It can¡¯t be completely useless, right? Zhou Wen thought to himself as he suddenly froze when he saw the Ant City dungeon.


    After clicking on the icon, he didn¡¯t enter the game like before. Instead, two options appeared.


    Normal mode¡­ Hidden mode¡­ I knew it was impossible for there to be no changes¡­ Could this be the legendary hidden dungeon? Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed when he saw the two options. He chose the hidden mode without any hesitation.


    In the past, there would always be some hidden places. Even if one cleared the game, it was very likely that they wouldn¡¯t discover the hidden mysterious dungeons. Typically, one had to use special methods to enter.


    Hidden dungeons often had all sorts of hidden bosses and treasures. There might even be a drop rate that was much higher than ordinary dungeons.


    Zhou Wen only imagined the scene of him casually killing a few dimensional creatures after entering a hidden dungeon and having Companion Eggs and Essence Energy Crystals drop. He couldn¡¯t contain his excitement.


    If he was lucky, he might be able to drop a divine artifact just by killing a monster. Just the thought of it was thrilling.


    The Ant City dungeon was a dungeon that came with the phone. It was also the first dungeon Zhou Wen had come into contact with. However, Zhou Wen had yet to kill the Guardian of Ant City.


    This Guardian could actually become stronger and stronger with time. This was considered a unique existence.


    After entering Ant City, the game screen didn¡¯t seem to change. The ant-type dimensional creatures didn¡¯t show any signs of becoming stronger. With Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, he could easily kill a large group with one strike.


    Soon, he arrived at the ant nest. Just as Zhou Wen was about to rush into the huge hive where the Golden Ant King was, he suddenly saw a strange glow appear on the game screen.


    Although it was called Ant City, it was actually a huge cave with many ant nests inside. In the past, Zhou Wen had always cleared the ant nests before fighting the Ant City Guardian.


    The layout of the cave and the ant nest didn¡¯t change, but at the deepest part of the cave, there was a mountain wall that shimmered with golden light.


    Zhou Wen looked carefully and realized that there was a protruding rock on the shimmering mountain wall. The rock was only the size of a palm and it curved slightly. The color and texture were no different from ordinary rocks.


    If not for the fact that the rock was glowing with golden light, Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t have noticed it no matter how many times he came.


    Zhou Wen stopped provoking the ant colony in Ant City. He summoned the Invisibility Cloak and wore it. He secretly came in front of the golden rocks and reached out to touch them.


    The rock itself didn¡¯t seem strange. It was no different from the rocks beside it. It was unlikely to be a treasure.


    Zhou Wen attempted to explore. When he exerted strength with his hand to attempt spinning the rock, it began moving. Then, there was a grinding sound as the rock sank into the mountain wall. Then, a crack that could allow a person to pass opened up on the mountain wall.

 Chapter 1680 - Golden Demonic Ant King

    Chapter 1680 Golden Demonic Ant King


    The crack was filled with golden light, making it impossible to see what was inside. Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on observing as he controlled the blood-colored avatar to enter the crack.


    The golden light outside looked resplendent, but it was like a thin layer of ripples. After passing through the golden light, he found a cave inside.


    The cave was rather large, and the space was similar to a factory¡¯s warehouse. However, there was no sign of dimensional creatures in the huge cave. There was only a huge egg-shaped object carved from gold on a stone platform.


    It was golden in color and looked like 24K gold. It was more than a meter tall and nearly a meter wide. It looked fat and there were many strange patterns on it. The patterns were bent and curved in an unidentifiable manner. Or perhaps it wasn¡¯t a pattern at all, but natural patterns.


    Is this a Companion Egg? Zhou Wen reached out to stroke the golden egg as a message immediately appeared on his phone.


    ne


    Golden Demonic Ant King: Mortal (Evolvable)


    Strength: 11


    Speed: 11


    Constitution: 11


    Essence Energy: 11


    Talent Skill: Golden Guardian, Demonization, Ant Strength God, King Transformation


    Companion Form: Golden Battle Armor


    An evolvable Companion Beast! Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned odd. This thing was equivalent to a free pick up. Furthermore, from its skills, it was both a king and a demon. It seemed rather powerful.


    If every dimensional zone had such a hidden spot, wouldn¡¯t he be able to pick up divine pets everywhere?


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t contain his joy as he hatched the Golden Demonic Ant King. Without looking at its appearance, he eagerly exited the Ant City dungeon and chose the Big Dipper instance dungeon.


    Ant City could only be considered a low-level game dungeon. Apart from the Ant City Guardian, the other dimensional creatures¡¯ levels were pitifully low.


    If such dungeons had evolvable Companion Beasts, what would be the treasure hidden in a high-level dungeon like the Big Dipper? Just the thought of it excited Zhou Wen.


    Of course, there were some higher-level dungeons. Although there might be better things hidden in places like Chess Mountain, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t clear those places yet. He couldn¡¯t enter any random place.


    If the hidden dungeon was somewhere Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t reach, it was useless even if he entered.


    Zhou Wen could already clear the seven Star Palaces in the Big Dipper instance dungeon. No matter where the hidden dungeon was, he could find it. He planned on experimenting with it.


    He eagerly opened the Big Dipper instance dungeon. Just like before, there were two options-ordinary and hidden. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to choose the hidden mode.


    After entering the first Star Palace, he didn¡¯t find any traces of the hidden dungeon. Zhou Wen had no choice but to storm through one Star Palace after another, but he was disappointed again and again. He killed six Star Palace Starlords without finding any traces of the hidden dungeon.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s definitely in the last Star Palace. At this moment, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush as he teleported into the final Star Palace.


    The Alkaid Star Palace was the Star Palace where Starlord Army Breaker was. It was the last of the seven Star Palaces of the Big Dipper. In front of the Star Palace was a long staircase that drained all Essence Energy. Only the power of the Teacher Domain could restrain the taboo power.


    If one didn¡¯t have the ability of the Teacher Domain, they would lose all their Essence Energy before reaching the Star Palace. No matter how strong a powerhouse was, they would only be killed by Starlord Army Breaker.


    However, to Zhou Wen, Starlord Army Breaker was the easiest to kill.


    In front of the stairs, he didn¡¯t find any traces of the hidden dungeon. Zhou Wen activated the Teacher Domain and walked into the Star Palace, killing Starlord Army Breaker with one strike. Unfortunately, only some Essence Energy Crystals dropped. He didn¡¯t find any Companion Eggs or skill crystals.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t care about this at all today. He didn¡¯t even look at the Essence Energy Crystals on the ground because he realized that there was a spot shimmering with an ice-blue light in Alkaid Star Palace.


    Alkaid Star Palace was a miniature outer space. At the top of the curved Star Palace, there were many stars shimmering. It should have been filled with starlight, but now, there was a star that shimmered with a dazzling ice-blue light that outshined the other stars. The other stars appeared dim, and only one star independently shimmered with an ice-blue glow.


    Without a doubt, the mini star that shimmered with an ice-blue glow in the corner was likely the key spot to the hidden dungeon. Zhou Wen flew and quickly arrived in front of the mini star.


    Although he didn¡¯t know how to activate the hidden dungeon, it was only a matter of time once he found the key spot.


    Zhou Wen studied it for a while. When he spun the mini star, it immediately emitted a dazzling ice-blue beam.


    Zhou Wen was given a fright as he instant transmitted into the distance. He realized that the ice-blue beam wasn¡¯t directed at him, but at the Army Breaker Star Palace¡¯s teleportation nexus.


    The teleportation nexus was immediately dyed ice-blue. Starlight threads shimmered with ice-blue light, completely different from the usual activation.


    This was the last Star Palace. Usually, through this teleportation nexus, one would be teleported out of the Big Dipper Palaces. Now, it looked like it was connected to a completely different world.


    Zhou Wen walked into the teleportation nexus and the teleportation nexus that emitted a blue glow immediately activated, teleporting him out of Alkaid Star Palace.


    After a bout of vertigo, the scene in front of Zhou Wen became clearer. He couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw it.


    It was another Star Palace¡ªa Star Palace built from ice. It was propped up by huge ice pillars. There were doorways, but there were no doors. At a glance, one could see a Starlord wearing ice armor standing in the middle of the huge Ice Palace.


    The Starlord stood on the ice platform, her figure tall and straight. Her head was slightly raised, and her eyes seemed to be looking up at the sky under a black ice mask. Her hands were crossed on the hilt of a black ice sword, and the tip of the black ice sword was stabbed into the ice platform.


    From her curvy figure that even her armor couldn¡¯t hide, she was undoubtedly a Starlady. However, she exuded the presence of a monarch, making one have the urge to bow and worship her.


    Starlady Polestar! Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed when he saw the Starlady¡¯s name in-game. His expression changed.


    This name wasn¡¯t unfamiliar to Zhou Wen at all.


    Previously, the antelope had tricked him into carrying a huge log to Forbidden City. However, when he arrived, he realized that the log was a coffin for the living. The sleeping person inside was Starlady Polestar, and she had nearly killed Zhou Wen.


    That Starlady Polestar was a Guardian. Zhou Wen imagined that it might just be the same name. There shouldn¡¯t be any relationship between the two.


    However, in the next second, Zhou Wen realized that he was wrong.

 Chapter 1681 - : White Dragon’s Ghost

    When Starlady Polestar slowly looked down at Zhou Wen, starlight appeared in the ice palace like stars that filled the sky. It was the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array that Zhou Wen was very familiar with.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had imitated Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle


    Stellar Array and created the Minor Heavenly Cycle Array.


    With just a glance, Zhou Wen¡¯s hair stood on end as he summoned the Hell-level Chaos Egg to protect his body.


    It was because he was so familiar with the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array that Zhou Wen knew how terrifying the starlight was.


    The one in Forbidden City was already very terrifying. This person¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array didn¡¯t seem much different, but the power inside made Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitate.


    Just as the Chaos Egg was summoned, the sky was filled with starlight. Endless starlight shone on the Chaos Egg, and the entire Star Palace was drowned by starlight.


    The Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg rapidly increased. A Hell-level Chaos Egg could combine 100 million Essence Energy Crystals into one. Even so, it was still difficult to contain the rapidly produced Essence Energy.


    In just a few seconds, the Hell-level Chaos Egg exploded. The blood-colored avatar exposed to the starlight was instantly killed by it.


    What¡¯s this? It¡¯s definitely a Heaven -level existence. Isn¡¯t a hidden dungeon a place to pick up free treasures? Why is there such a thing? Zhou Wen looked at the black screen as his mind was filled with question marks.


    The treasure picking plan that he had originally planned didn¡¯t seem to work now. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and had a new guess about the hidden dungeon.


    Now, Zhou Wen suspected that the reason there were no dimensional creatures in Ant City¡¯s hidden dungeon and only one Companion Egg was very likely because it was a dungeon that came with a phone. It was equivalent to a tutorial dungeon, and the Golden Demonic Ant King Companion Egg was an existence akin to a beginner¡¯s starter pack.


    If it were under normal circumstances, Zhou Wen would have had the portable charger from the begmning and would have obtained the Golden Demonic Ant King Companion Beast, but unfortunately, he had only obtained the phone and not the portable charger. That was why he had missed the starter pack.


    Now, Zhou Wen seriously suspected that other than Ant City¡¯s hidden dungeon, it wasn¡¯t easy to benefit from the other hidden dungeons.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to confirm this guess. Zhou Wen restarted a new dungeon. This time, he activated a low-level Dragon Gate Grotto dungeon.


    It was as Zhou Wen had guessed. When he found the hidden dungeon in Dragon Gate Grotto, he realized that the hidden dungeon was none other than the Dragon¡¯s Well that Wang Mingyuan had used to mutate.


    In that case, these hidden dungeons also exist in reality, but some of them haven¡¯t been discovered?Another thought flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    However, after some thought, even if he knew the location of the hidden dungeon in reality, it didn¡¯t seem to be of much use. After all, he could grind the hidden dungeon in-game.


    That¡¯s not right! Zhou Wen quickly realized that something was amiss.


    This was because he had previously thought of entering Ant City¡¯s hidden dungeon again to see if he could obtain another Golden Demonic Ant King Companion Egg, but there was nothing inside.


    In other words, it was very likely that the things in the hidden dungeon wouldn¡¯t respawn, or the respawning would be very slow. Then, knowing the location of the hidden dungeon in reality became very important.


    After clearing a hidden dungeon in-game, he could also do it in real life. This was equivalent to obtaining the rewards of two hidden dungeons.


    Just like the white dragon in Dragon¡¯s Well, the white dragon in real life had been fused by Wang Mingyuan, but there was still a white dragon in-game.


    Now, Zhou Wen only needed to kill the white dragon to see if it would respawn again to know if his guess was wrong.


    The white dragon had an ice-elemental attribute, and it was at the Terror grade. It was almost invincible to Zhou Wen back when he was in school, but now, he could view it in derision.


    Seeing the white dragon spew out a surging ice fog, Zhou Wen threw a punch over as his powerful Essence Energy sent the ice fog tumbling backward.


    Zhou Wen origmally imagined that the Terror-grade white dragon would only be killed if his punch landed on it.


    However, the outcome surprised Zhou Wen. After he killed the white dragon with one punch, its body shattered like a heavily damaged ice block. It looked like it was dead.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the white dragon with his eyes, but within Truth


    Listener¡¯s ability, he outlined a white dragon¡¯s figure in his mind. It was still in its origmal spot.


    Zhou Wen took a closer look and used some skills that enhanced his vision. He even used Doctor Darkness¡¯s Eyes of Penetration, but he still couldn¡¯t see the white dragon.


    After dispelling Truth Listener¡¯s ability, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear anything even if he used his ears. It was as though there was nothing there.


    The other Companion Beasts that enhanced hearing found it difficult to discover the white dragon¡¯s figure. Only Truth Listener¡¯s ability could discover its existence. It was as though the white dragon¡¯s figure was a ghost. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see ghosts at all. Only people with Yin Yang Eyes could.


    What¡¯s this? Dimensional creatures can end up as ghosts? Zhou Wen looked at the shattered white dragon¡¯s body and found it odder.


    As Zhou Wen was still pondering over it, the ghost-like white dragon moved and charged at him.


    It moved silently without causing any spatial fluctuations¡ªlike a ghost. Apart from Truth Listener¡¯s ability, no other power could discover the white dragon¡¯s existence.


    Even the Teacher Domain couldn¡¯t discover it. Zhou Wen had tried all sorts of other powers, but he couldn¡¯t discover it when the white dragon moved.


    However, when the white dragon approached Zhou Wen, he felt his heart palpitate.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s present strength, even if he stood still, it was impossible for ordinary Terror creatures to severely injure him. Now, this white dragon had made him react instinctively to danger. It was unbelievable.


    Thankfully, it was only in-game. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to dodge. He wanted to see what the Terror-grade white dragon could do to him.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had another thought deep down. However, even he didn¡¯t dare to face it. He wanted to know what abilities the white dragon had. This was because Wang Mingyuan had fused with the white dragon, so he naturally had its abilities.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was so strong that it was almost comparable to a Human Realm Calamity creature. In theory, it was very difficult for a Terror-grade creature to deal a destructive blow to him.


    The white dragon rushed in front of Zhou Wen, but it passed through his body like a real ghost without leaving any injuries.


    However, when the white dragon completely passed through Zhou Wen¡¯s body, the blood-colored avatar suddenly collapsed to the ground as the game screen went black.

 Chapter 1682 - Exquisite Nine Orifices

    Chapter 1682 Exquisite Nine Orifices


    What¡¯s that? Zhou Wen was alarmed. Although his true level was at the Terror grade, a Terror-grade creature that was capable of killing him was truly rare.


    What was even stranger was that other than Truth Listener, no other ability could see it. That was what made it most terrifying.


    If the enemy had such an ability, wouldn¡¯t they be able to kill anyone they wanted? Ignoring the fact that it was difficult to guard against them while sleeping, even if they weren¡¯t sleeping and had their eyes wide open, they would still be silently killed. They wouldn¡¯t even know how they died.


    Even an ability like the Teacher Domain that could analyze the rules of various powers couldn¡¯t sense the existence of that thing. This was a little terrifying.


    Zhou Wen chose to enter Dragon Gate Grotto again, wanting to figure out what it was. After entering the dungeon again, the white dragon returned to its original appearance. It didn¡¯t seem to have really died and become a ghost. The ghost-like form was likely its ability.


    After killing the white dragon again, the spectral white dragon appeared again. Just like the last time, it silently charged at Zhou Wen. This time, Zhou Wen chose to dodge.


    The spectral white dragon¡¯s speed was naturally inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. It chased after Zhou Wen, but it couldn¡¯t keep up with his speed.


    As Zhou Wen dodged, he observed the white dragon and realized that it didn¡¯t seem to have the ability to use other skills in such a strange state. All it did was constantly attempt to burrow into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    He summoned Tyrant Behemoth and got it to face the spectral white dragon, but Tyrant Behemoth couldn¡¯t see it at all. Even under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, Tyrant Behemoth used all its strength to strike the spectral white dragon only to hit air. As for the spectral white dragon, it passed through Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body like passing through a wall. Tyrant Behemoth immediately died and fell to the ground.


    This time, Zhou Wen saw it clearly. At the instant the spectral white dragon passed through Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body, it transformed into a humanoid spectral creature.


    This thing looks very similar to Teacher¡¯s appearance¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the spectral creature and realized that it was 70% similar to Wang Mingyuan¡¯s appearance after his mutation. However, it looked more inhuman than Wang Mingyuan. Instead, it looked like the legendary Dracotaur. It had a dragon head and a human body. It was extremely strange. The spectral creature maintained its Dracotaur form for a short period of time. Not long after passing through Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body, it transformed back into the spectral white dragon.


    Zhou Wen made some more attempts and realized that all sorts of Companion Beasts would die on the spot if the spectral white dragon passed through their bodies. They weren¡¯t injured at all; it was as though their souls had been taken away.


    Every time the spectral white dragon took a Companion Beast¡¯s life, it would take on a Dracotaur form.


    After making some more attempts, he realized that other than Truth Listener, no other force could injure it in its spectral white dragon form. However, in its Dracotaur form, there were some forces that could injure it.


    For example, the power of the Dao Sutra and Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra could cause damage to it when it was in its Dracotaur form.


    What a strange ability. After all sorts of tests, Zhou Wen had a comprehensive understanding of the spectral creature. He immediately used the power of the Dao Sutra to shatter it with a punch.


    ¡®Killed a Terror creature, Nine Orifices Exquisite Dragon. Discovered Essence Energy Crystal¡­¡¯


    ¡®Killed a Terror Guardian, Realm Crosser¡­¡¯


    Zhou Wen stared blankly at the notification on his phone. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to even look at the items that had fallen to the ground.


    What¡¯s going on? Could it be that the Guardian parasitized the Exquisite Nine Orifices Dragon¡­ Many thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. He was certain that Wang Mingyuan had likely fused with the Realm Crosser.


    He looked down at the items that had fallen to the ground and realized that other than Essence Energy Crystals, there was something else that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    It was something that resembled ice and crystal. Its shape was extremely irregular, like a heart or a skull. However, they didn¡¯t look like one either. On the ice crystal-like object were nine different-sized holes.


    This item¡¯s name in-game was ¡®Exquisite Nine Orifices.¡¯ Zhou Wen picked it up and carefully read its information.


    Exquisite Nine Orifices: Able to clear up Companion Beasts.


    Zhou Wen recognized these words, but he didn¡¯t know what they meant when they were strung together.


    Does clearing up here mean clearing some aperture in the body, or does it mean something like clearing doubts in the form of an epiphany? Zhou Wen only knew of the enlightenment meaning commonly used among humans.


    However, that usually meant that a person was too slow and couldn¡¯t learn anything. One day, it was as though they had suddenly figured out something. They could learn anything with just some simple instructions.


    However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t guess the exact effects of using this phrase on a Companion Beast.


    If it was just to make Companion Beasts smart, it didn¡¯t seem to be of much use to Zhou Wen. This was because to him, most Companion Beasts were just tools. He could control Companion Beasts to fight without needing them to be too smart. Furthermore, Zhou Wen¡¯s main Companion Beasts were basically highly intelligent. There was no need for them to become smarter.


    After searching the hidden dungeon, he didn¡¯t find anything else. He was almost certain that this Exquisite Nine Orifices was the reward for this hidden dungeon.


    The items in-game had to be used in-game and couldn¡¯t be taken out of the game. If he left them in-game, he was afraid that they would be gone after the dungeon respawned. Zhou Wen had no choice but to decide which Companion Beast to use the Exquisite Nine Orifices with.


    I¡¯ll show it to Neonate. Zhou Wen wanted to summon Demonic Neonate, but he couldn¡¯t. Only then did he recall that Demonic Neonate was still evolving and couldn¡¯t be summoned.


    In fact, if it was something that unlocked intelligence, Zhou Wen still had a choice. It was to use it on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. The fellow was like a machine that only knew how to kill. Its intelligence didn¡¯t seem to be high, so if it could become smarter, it would definitely be even more terrifying


    Unfortunately, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s stats and skills were ultimately a thorn in Zhou Wen¡¯s heart, so it was best not to use it on him.


    Demonic Neonate is evolving. I can forget about the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. Then, who should I use it on? Zhou Wen thought of his Companion Beasts and finally summoned Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener¡¯s intelligence wasn¡¯t low, but it couldn¡¯t speak the entire time. Therefore, it gave off the feeling that its intelligence wasn¡¯t high.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure what the Exquisite Nine Orifices was for. Furthermore, he didn¡¯t have any Companion Beasts that he especially wanted to improve. Giving it to Truth Listener was a pretty good choice.


    Upon receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s order, Truth Listener swallowed the Exquisite Nine Orifices. Then, golden light suddenly erupted from its body as the six earrings on its ears began to shatter.


    Is the effect that strong? Zhou Wen was given a fright. He hadn¡¯t let Truth Listener shatter the earrings for a long time. Now that all six earrings had been destroyed, it would be terrible if something happened.


    The only thing he was glad about was that they were in-game. Even if something really happened, it wouldn¡¯t affect Truth Listener in real life.


    If all six earrings were destroyed in reality, Truth Listener even had the risk of escaping Zhou Wen¡¯s control. This had happened before.


    Zhou Wen stared intently at the phone screen as he watched Truth Listener¡¯s body transform into a terrifying golden ape after the earrings shattered. Golden light erupted from its body as a violent aura nearly tore out of the screen.

 Chapter 1683 - Heaven 999

    Chapter 1683 Heaven 999


    As the golden light intensified, the golden ape¡¯s body shrank and its body gradually transformed into a human.


    Zhou Wen had seen Truth Listener¡¯s form before. It felt somewhat similar to the Super Saiyan transformation of a certain protagonist in a particular comic.


    However, Truth Listener in that state was almost about to escape Zhou Wen¡¯s control and his Companion Beast team.


    Now, Truth Listener had once again transformed into the wild, blonde, handsome warrior form. Perhaps it was because of the game, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel the loss of connection with Truth Listener.


    Even though all six earrings had shattered and he had transformed into a human, his connection with Truth Listener was still very clear. It wasn¡¯t as indiscernible as when he summoned Truth Listener in reality.


    Above Truth Listener¡¯s head, nine strange beams of light spewed out. They looked like nine holes, but in fact, it was only because the light source was too intense that it gave off an illusion.


    The nine spots of light corresponded to the nine holes in the nine orifices.


    ¡°Roar!¡± The nine spots on his head glowed brightly at the same time, like the final eruption of a volcano. The light was so blinding that Zhou Wen could hardly open his eyes. All he could hear was Truth Listener¡¯s painful roar.


    After the light gradually weakened, Zhou Wen saw the scene in-game again.


    Truth Listener, who had transformed into a blonde, wild, and handsome man, stood there, being half a head taller than Zhou Wen. He looked somewhat sinister, but his eyes were surprisingly gentle as though he was looking at the blood-colored avatar.


    This feeling was very magical. In the past, when Zhou Wen used Truth Listener, he was always worried. It wasn¡¯t because he was afraid that it would hit him, but because he was afraid that it would sever ties with him. This was the first time he had seen Truth Listener standing in front of him with its full power unleashed with every earring shattered.


    Zhou Wen opened Truth Listener¡¯s information window and checked its stats and level.


    Truth Listener: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven¡¯s Senses


    Life Soul: Evil Nullification


    Wheel of Destiny: Nirvana of Ultimate Hell


    Terror Form: Holy Evil (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Evil Breaker (Heaven level)


    Strength: 999


    Speed: 999


    Constitution: 999


    Essence Energy: 999


    Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible Vajra Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes


    Companion Form: Earring


    Holy sh*t, Heaven-level stats actually reach 999! Zhou Wen wore an envious look as he was somewhat surprised.


    He had yet to advance to the Calamity grade, and his stats were at 99. At the Human Realm, he could break through to 100 points and reach a maximum of 199.


    The lowest stats in the Hell level were 200, and the highest was unknown to Zhou Wen. He guessed that it was 400 or 399, but 999 stats of the Heaven level were terrifying.


    If Starlady Polestar¡¯s stats were the same, it wouldn¡¯t be strange for her to blast through the Hell-level Chaos Egg.


    Of course, Zhou Wen felt that such stats weren¡¯t something every Companion Beast could achieve. After all, many Companion Beasts had limited talent. They might not be able to advance to the Heaven level. Even if they advanced to the Heaven level, their stats might not be maxed out.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, 999 stats should be the maximum stats at the Heaven level. He guessed that Demonic Neonate would probably have such stats when she advanced to the Heaven level. It was hard to say for the other Companion Beasts. Although they were all evolvable Companion Beasts, there were definitely differences.


    Zhou Wen really wanted to try summoning Truth Listener in reality, but when he thought of the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace beside him, he decided against it.


    Suppressing his excitement, Zhou Wen exited the Ant City dungeon and launched the Big Dipper instance dungeon. He wanted to see if the Heaven-level Truth Listener could defeat Starlady Polestar.


    How strong will the Heaven-level Truth Listener be? Zhou Wen was already eager to see Truth Listener¡¯s ability.


    When facing Starlord Ravenous Wolf, Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener and released its strongest human form.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf threw a punch as a terrifying blast of light illuminated the entire Star Palace.


    Boom!


    With a casual punch from Truth Listener, Starlord Ravenous Wolf and half the Star Palace exploded. Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth gaped open for a long time as he looked at the wrecked Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    This is too f*cking violent! Zhou Wen muttered inwardly as his face bloomed with joy.


    Starlord Titan Gate was instantly killed. Zhou Wen originally imagined that Starlord Cherished Kismet, who had the ability to reflect damage, might cause trouble for a pure Strength-type Companion Beast like Truth Listener, or that Zhou Wen had to do it himself.


    In the beginning, Zhou Wen was still thinking that although Truth Listener was strong, it had to rely on its owner to clear the Big Dipper instance dungeon under the effects of mutual augmentation and suppression.


    However, the outcome left Zhou Wen flabbergasted. Truth Listener blasted apart Starlord Cherished Kismet with a single punch. Reflective damage? Not supposed to clash head-on? That was all nonsense. In front of the violent Truth Listener, there was nothing that couldn¡¯t be resolved with a single punch.


    If there was one, another punch would do the trick.


    Starlord Merciful Song, Starlord Ardent Virtue and Starlord Martial Song were instantly killed. The staircase in front of the Army Breaker Star Palace that could make one lose their Essence Energy failed to stop Truth Listener¡¯s footsteps. There was no need for Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain powers to restrain the taboo powers.


    Truth Listener casually walked up to the Army Breaker Star Palace and blasted Army Breaker to pieces with another punch.


    Zhou Wen finally saw what it meant to defeat everything with one force. Truth Listener didn¡¯t have many strange abilities, but its strength was practically invincible.


    Of course, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t naive enough to believe that Truth Listener¡¯s pure strength was that powerful. The reason why Truth Listener¡¯s pure strength was strong was also under the premise that it had abilities like Evil Nullification, Holy Evil, Evil Breaker, and Evil Warding. Due to the existence of these abilities, he could fight with his strength without any worries without being restrained by some strange powers.


    Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be that easy to clear Starlord Cherished Kismet¡¯s level with strength alone.


    Following behind Truth Listener, Zhou Wen¡¯s only role was to use the teleportation nexus to enter the next Star Palace. After killing Army Breaker, he activated the hidden teleportation nexus that led to the hidden North Pole Star Palace.


    Such a powerful Truth Listener shouldn¡¯t be weaker than Starlady Polestar, right? When he arrived in front of the ice palace again, Zhou Wen felt somewhat uneasy as he looked at Starlady Polestar standing in the palace with her sword pressed to the ground.


    Truth Listener was indeed very strong, but Starlady Polestar wasn¡¯t weak either. An existence that could blast apart a Hell-level Chaos Egg definitely couldn¡¯t be underestimated


    Sensing Zhou Wen and Truth Listener¡¯s arrival, Starlady Polestar slowly lowered her head and looked at them. At the same time, dazzling starlight began to rise from her body. The entire Star Palace seemed to transform into an endless sea of stars. The starlight that filled the sky shone at Zhou Wen and company, making them feel like they were in a sea of starlight.


    Truth Listener stood in front of Zhou Wen as the golden light over its body shimmered like an electric current. Its feral golden eyes seemed to pass through thousands of stars and collide with Starlady Polestar¡¯s gaze.

 Chapter 1684 - Don’t Be a Burden

    Chapter 1684 Don¡¯t Be a Burden


    Zhou Wen summoned the Chaos Egg to protect his body. In such a battle, all he needed to do was protect himself and not become Truth Listener¡¯s burden.


    Thousands of starlight beams intertwined and poured down. It was unimaginably terrifying. Probably the end of the world could match this.


    Truth Listener¡¯s entire body emitted golden light as it raised its head to face the infinite starlight. It had no intention of dodging or defending. Its legs suddenly exerted strength as its body shot into the sky like a cannonball.


    ¡°You f*cked me over!¡± Zhou Wen let out a tragic cry.


    Although Truth Listener was a pure Strength-type Companion Beast and didn¡¯t have the ability to release its Strength, just the fluctuations produced when its strength broke through space sent Zhou Wen flying. The Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg crazily crystallized.


    Before he could resist the starlight, the Chaos Egg was already half-filled. The Chaos Egg kept tumbling from the tremors, making Zhou Wen curse inwardly. He swore that he had to stay away from Truth Listener in future battles.


    Boom!


    The random thoughts were still in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind when he heard a terrifying explosion. Truth Listener was facing the starlight of the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array head-on. Countless starlight intertwined on his body like laser slicing blades.


    The light beams were abnormally sharp, as though they could slice through everything. However, when it struck Truth Listener¡¯s resplendent golden body, it shattered like glass. Truth Listener instantly broke through the layers of starlight and threw a punch at Starlady Polestar, who was standing in the middle of the hall.


    Starlady Polestar finally made a move. She pulled out the embedded black ice sword from the ground with one hand. The black ice-like sword was instantly filled with starlight. The blade slashed out and collided with Truth Listener¡¯s fist.


    Boom!


    Golden and blue light erupted as the shockwave produced countless crystals inside the Chaos Egg, almost causing it to explode.


    Zhou Wen no longer had the mood to pay attention to Truth Listener¡¯s battle with Starlady Polestar. Now, his priority was to survive. Otherwise, the game would be over once he died. It was useless no matter how strong Truth Listener was.


    It was clearly impossible for him to continue surviving by relying on the Chaos Egg¡¯s powers. Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced as he thought about how he could live a little longer.


    Although the Teacher Domain could play a certain role, defense wasn¡¯t the Teacher Domain¡¯s forte, so it wasn¡¯t of much use.


    Apart from the Teacher Domain and the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen also had two other domain powers. One was the Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens domain. This was clearly unsuitable for the present situation.


    The other was the Beginningless Sword Domain. However, under normal circumstances, the Beginningless Sword Domain was used for attacks. Furthermore, the Beginningless Sword Domain was only at the Human Realm, making it difficult for it to withstand the power of the Heaven-level Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    However, with the help of the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen acutely discovered an opportunity.


    No matter how the Human Realm¡¯s Beginningless Sword Domain changed, it was impossible for it to resist the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. However, Truth Listener attracted most of the starlight, giving the Beginningless Sword Domain a sliver of a chance.


    This possibility was because Zhou Wen knew the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array very well. He had even used it as a blueprint to create the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. This made him think of something.


    I can only take a gamble with my life. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and crazily activated the Qi Refinement Art. Countless Sword Pill particles erupted and surrounded the Chaos Egg.


    The Sword Pill particles were also arranged in a cycle¡ªthe Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array that Zhou Wen had created.


    If used against ordinary Calamity creatures, the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array formed by the Sword Pill particles could be said to be indestructible, but it was easily destroyed in Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array.


    However, the Sword Pill particles weren¡¯t truly destroyed. They were a power that simultaneously had two incorporeal and corporeal states. What appeared like their destruction was, in fact, them transforming into incorporeal particles. In theory, the Sword Pill particles were truly immortal and indestructible.


    Of course, the Sword Pill particles that had turned into incorporeal particles were temporarily useless. Zhou Wen had to persist until they turned back into corporeal particles.


    If it were any other time, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have been able to condense so many Sword Pill particles at once. However, the Chaos Egg was filled with Essence Energy Crystals. Furthermore, every Essence Energy Crystal was Essence Energy Crystals stacked with units of a hundred million. The amount of Essence Energy was astonishing.


    Zhou Wen directly attempted to use himself as a medium, or rather, a conduit. He used the Qi Refinement Art to crazily absorb the Essence Energy Crystals before transforming them into Sword Pill particles to form the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array to resist the terrifying external forces.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was only at the Terror grade after all. If massive amounts of Essence Energy were sucked into his body, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand it.


    However, Zhou Wen had no choice. All he could do was place his hopes on the Qi Refinement Art.


    The Qi Refinement Art was an extremely rich Essence Energy Art. From the moment he cultivated to now, Zhou Wen had devoured countless Essence Energy Crystals to cultivate it to such a level.


    In the past, Zhou Wen would have felt his heart ache, but now, he only hoped that the Qi Refinement Art¡¯s appetite was big enough to completely transform the Essence Energy Crystals he absorbed into Sword Pill particles.


    A stack of Essence Energy Crystals that numbered in the hundreds of millions could explode Zhou Wen¡¯s weak Terror body. Now that he had absorbed thousands of such Essence Energy Crystals, Zhou Wen could only silently pray for Sweetie¡¯s blessing.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to absorb that much, but if he didn¡¯t, the constantly accumulating Essence Energy Crystals would fill the Chaos Egg up until it exploded.


    ¡°Ah!¡±


    Terrifying Essence Energy surged through Zhou Wen¡¯s body, making him feel like his body was about to be crushed and explode. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a roar.


    Zhou Wen imagined that his body was about to explode, but it didn¡¯t happen. In the pain that resembled his body being completely crushed to powder, Zhou Wen managed to withstand it.


    This didn¡¯t mean that Zhou Wen¡¯s body was strong, but that the Qi Refinement Art had forcefully allowed such violent Essence Energy to flow crazily in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, transforming into a large number of Sword Pill particles.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body repeatedly jumped back and forth at the gates of hell. Every time Zhou Wen thought his body was about to explode, the Qi Refinement Art would transform and produce a large number of Sword Pill particles, allowing Zhou Wen, who had stepped into the gates of hell, to jump out again.


    Although the Qi Refinement Art was doing a good job, there were too many Essence Energy Crystals. The speed at which they were converted couldn¡¯t keep up with Zhou Wen¡¯s absorption speed.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought he was doomed, the Beginningless Sword Domain suddenly underwent a strange change.


    Although this change was strange, it wasn¡¯t a coincidence. Apart from a large number of Sword Pill particles being converted and forming the biggest Beginningless Sword Domain in history, Zhou Wen was constantly using the Teacher Domain to observe Starlady Polestar¡¯s Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. At the same time, he adjusted the Minor Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array arranged by the Sword Pill particles.


    The Hell-level Teacher Domain was much more powerful than before. The things it could analyze were naturally much more than before.

 Chapter 1685 - Sword Domain Level Up

    Chapter 1685 Sword Domain Level Up


    A large number of Sword Pill particles were arranged in the Minor Heavenly Cycle Sword Formation according to Zhou Wen¡¯s will. As Zhou Wen constantly formulated it, the Sword Pill particles were arranged in an ever tighter-knit pattern.


    Just as Zhou Wen¡¯s body was about to collapse, a large number of Sword Pill particles suddenly seemed to gain sentience and a life of their own as they automatically circulated.


    All the Sword Pill particles seemed like iron powder that was being attracted by a magnet as they clumped together.


    However, this clumping wasn¡¯t without order. Instead, it was arranged according to the Minor Heavenly Cycle Array¡¯s core. It also wasn¡¯t completely arranged according to the rules. It seemed to be instinctively arranged according to some strange rules.


    In an instant, all the Sword Pill particles connected tightly, leaving no gap between them. It was as though they had become a natural whole.


    The Sword Pill particles were extremely small to begin with. Even if they were arranged under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, it was inevitable that there would be gaps. However, there was no gap between the Sword Pill particles. It was as though they were one-a complete large Sword Pill particle.


    However, the Sword Pill particles weren¡¯t in the shape of a sword or pill. Instead, they were arranged in the shape of an egg that enveloped the Chaos Egg as it constantly blocked the attacks from the outside world.


    Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that his Sword Domain had advanced to the Hell level. Furthermore, it was crazily extracting Essence Energy from his body. The eggshell-shaped Sword Pill that enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body grew bigger and bigger.


    Having advanced to the Hell level, the Sword Domain which couldn¡¯t resist Starlady Polestar¡¯s strength, became stronger and stronger due to the Qi Refinement Art¡¯s absorption of Essence Energy and the infinite Essence Energy in the Chaos Egg.


    As long as Essence Energy was available, the Sword Domain seemed to become infinitely stronger. The lack of quality was made up in quantity. Furthermore, the Sword Pill particles had the characteristics of immortality. They would only become stronger and stronger.


    Bullets could shoot through steel plates, but they couldn¡¯t pass through a hundred-meter pile of soil. Now, because the Sword Pill particles in the Sword Domain were too dense and there were more and more of them, they gradually stabilized the situation while resisting Starlady Polestar¡¯s strength.


    The Hell-level Chaos Egg combined with the Hell-level Sword Domain produced an unexpected effect, allowing Zhou Wen to gain a foothold in such a terrifying battlefield.


    As the Sword Domain leveled up, Zhou Wen had already sensed the changes in its effects. It didn¡¯t mean that the Sword Domain would really be an egg-shaped object in the future.


    The egg shape was only because Zhou Wen needed it to be arranged in this form. Based on Zhou Wen¡¯s requirements, he could transform it into a sword or other shapes.


    What the Sword Domain truly improved was the effect of Sword Pill particles becoming one.


    A chopstick could easily be snapped, but a bundle of chopsticks could hardly be snapped. Furthermore, the Sword Pill particles that had combined into one were not as simple as a bundle of chopsticks. They were truly one.


    Only now did Zhou Wen have the mood to size up the situation on the battlefield. However, all he could see was starlight and a constantly shimmering golden light.


    It was so fast that even with Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight, he couldn¡¯t see their actions clearly. He couldn¡¯t even see their figures clearly. Wherever Truth Listener moved, there were golden afterimages. In Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, these afterimages were a golden ribbon of light of unknown length. The ribbons of light intertwined densely in the Star Palace like tangled hemp.


    In fact, it was only a delay in Zhou Wen¡¯s vision. The golden ribbon of light he saw was already an afterimage left behind by Truth Listener before it moved countless spots over.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see it, but the Teacher Domain could sense the changes in the nomological powers. In the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen felt an extremely domineering force constantly collide with a force that resembled a brilliant monarch¡¯s aura. Without a doubt, the destructive force came from Truth Listener, while the brilliant monarch aura came from Starlady Polestar. The two forces were completely different, but they were equally terrifying.


    Even if Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see it clearly, the Teacher Domain continued to replicate and deduce the rules of the brilliant monarch aura, making the power appear more and more orderly in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    From the situation, Zhou Wen roughly knew that the Teacher Domain was about to deduce a new Essence Energy Art.


    They were both perfect domain powers, but the Teacher Domain only inferred Starlady Polestar¡¯s powers and not Truth Listener¡¯s powers. This left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    Is it because Truth Listener¡¯s powers are difficult to deduce, or is it because I already have the foundation of the Minor Heavenly Cycle Array? Zhou Wen guessed, but he couldn¡¯t make an accurate judgment.


    Regardless, it was an excellent thing for Zhou Wen. This was because as long as the Teacher Domain deduced Starlady Polestar¡¯s Essence Energy Art, it could directly ban this power from circulating in the Teacher Domain.


    Now, Zhou Wen was already looking forward to seeing how delightful it would be when the Teacher Domain stopped the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array from circulating.


    Thinking of how he could go to Forbidden City to find the other Starlady Polestar and stop her Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array in front of her, Zhou Wen wished he could immediately head to Forbidden City.


    It was clearly not an easy task to deduce Starlady Polestar¡¯s Essence Energy Art. It was like a spiderweb as the Teacher Domain constantly perfected the nomological webs, hoping to connect them into a complete network.


    However, there were too many missing parts. The speed at which the Teacher Domain weaved the net was too slow. At this speed, it would probably take at least eight to ten years to complete all the parts.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen suddenly felt the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array that had gradually become clearer become blurry again. What was even more terrifying was that in the blurry starlight, twelve mysterious celestial palaces seemed to appear. Each celestial palace seemed to contain a mysterious force that seemed otherworldly. Furthermore, each celestial palace had a different style.


    It was like divine might that resembled an ocean, danger that resembled an abyss, unfathomable mystery, or immense imperial favor. The power of every celestial palace was shocking. Just seeing the phantom of the celestial palace nearly made Zhou Wen¡¯s will collapse. He felt as tiny as an ant under the Heavenly Dao.


    The twelve celestial palaces were like divine temples that controlled everything in the universe. Any one of them could dictate the fate of all things. Life and death were just one thought away.


    At that moment, the twelve celestial palaces exerted pressure at the same time. Beneath the celestial palaces was the handsome and wild Truth Listener, who was shimmering with golden light and had blonde hair dancing in the wind.


    Holy sh*t! Zhou Wen felt the terrifying power in the twelve celestial palaces. Even if the remnant might swept over, the Hell-level Sword Domain around him shattered like scrap metal. It couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow.


    No matter how Zhou Wen extracted Essence Energy to replenish it, he couldn¡¯t restore the Sword Domain.


    Just as Zhou Wen thought that he needed to run through the dungeon again, Truth Listener suddenly leaped up and charged towards the celestial palaces under the infinite pressure.

 Chapter 1686 - Emperor Star

    Chapter 1686 Emperor Star


    Starlady Polestar seemed to be an imperial monarch that had existed since ancient times. She looked down at all living beings from the top of the twelve celestial palaces as though everything in the world was just a toy beneath her hands.


    ¡°The heavens fall when an emperor is born. All fate lies in the twelve palaces. No life in the world can defy them.¡± Looking at Truth Listener that defied the heavens, Starlady Polestar slashed with the black ice sword in her hand lightly. The twelve celestial palaces came crashing down as though the universe was suppressed beneath them.


    The tiny Truth Listener was like a drop in the ocean beneath the twelve celestial palaces. It was almost negligible.


    However, Truth Listener¡¯s eyes burned like a golden sun. It didn¡¯t dodge at all, nor did it hesitate. Its golden body burned as it extended its arm to its limits and threw a punch at the celestial palaces that came crashing from the sky.


    Boom!


    A mysterious celestial palace that represented fate was torn apart by Truth Listener¡¯s fist as its wreckage fell in all directions.


    Truth Listener was like an overlord that defied the heavens. It ran amok and faced the heavens with an unstoppable might as it continued charging into the sky.


    Booms sounded incessantly as Zhou Wen saw mysterious, unfathomable palaces that seemed to have the ability to suppress fate being penetrated by Truth Listener, turning into wreckage that filled the sky. The scene was shocking, making him feel an inexplicable sense of fear. At the same time, a ball of flames seemed to burn in his heart as his blood seemed to boil.


    If the heavens destroy me, I will defy the heavens. If the emperor slays me, I will kill the emperor. No one in the world can control my fate.


    In Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, Truth Listener was like an ancient god of war who disrespected the world and didn¡¯t worship the supernatural. It used its body to desecrate divine might as it shattered all the celestial palaces.


    When every celestial palace was shattered, cracks appeared on the black ice sword in Starlady Polestar¡¯s hand.


    Starlady Polestar could still maintain her composure when a few celestial palaces were shattered in the beginning. However, as she watched the celestial palaces shatter one after another while Truth Listener continued tearing through the air with an indomitable force, the look in Starlady Polestar¡¯s eyes behind her mask gradually turned into shock.


    When the last celestial palace was shattered by Truth Listener, Starlady Polestar¡¯s body trembled as the black ice sword in her hand shattered, turning into fragments of ice that scattered in all directions./ please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Truth Listener arrived in front of Starlady Polestar that very moment. The fist burning with golden flames blasted at her unreasonably.


    The twelve celestial palaces shattered as Starlady Polestar¡¯s aura declined to its nadir. She held the damaged sword and slashed at Truth Listener¡¯s fist with all her might. However, at the instant the fist collided with the sword, the damaged sword shattered. The fist that emitted golden light struck her chest.


    The black ice-like armor scattered like butterflies, revealing Starlady Polestar¡¯s beautiful body and face. Her face was as beautiful as a goddess¡¯s, making it impossible for anyone to desecrate her.


    However, Truth Listener¡¯s fist mercilessly struck the beautiful face, instantly blasting it apart. The beautiful head that was like a work of art exploded as blood bloomed like the petals of a chrysanthemum flower.


    Starlady Polestar¡¯s headless body fell from the sky after her head exploded from the punch, turning into specks of profound light that dissipated. Only a strange crystal fell to the ground, emitting a resplendent starlight like the eternal north star in the sky.


    ¡®Killed Calamity creature, Starlady Polestar. Discovered Emperor Star Crystal.¡¯


    He really killed her! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised as he looked at Truth Listener that resembled an ancient god in the sky. Truth Listener¡¯s strength shocked him.


    As expected of a Heaven-level 999 Companion Beast. It¡¯s so powerful and violent. Zhou Wen reached out to pick up the Emperor Star Crystal on the ground and looked at its stats in pleasant surprise.


    Emperor Star Crystal: Emperor¡¯s Life Star. Can obtain the help of the world.


    Zhou Wen looked at the simple information and was momentarily at a loss.


    Without a doubt, this Emperor Star Crystal was likely the treasure of this hidden dungeon, but it was difficult to understand what use it had.


    From the literal meaning, it should be saying that an emperor was the world¡¯s chosen one, so his Life Providence was extremely honorable. Even the world would help him.


    But how was such a thing used?


    Could it be that this thing can make the person who possesses it become the chosen one? From then on, everything will be smooth sailing. I can get whatever I want. Just killing a random monster will drop a divine artifact. Not only will I not die from jumping off a cliff, but I can bump into fortuitous encounters? Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but recall the legend of an ancient emperor.


    Legend had it that there was a chosen one who fought for the throne with a figure comparable to a transmigrator. This chosen one was originally forced to retreat in defeat and was about to be destroyed. However, to his surprise, a meteor descended from the sky and destroyed the enemy¡¯s army, making him the final victor. The only explanation was that he was the chosen one.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare hope for such luck. He only hoped that he wouldn¡¯t be too unlucky.


    He attempted to absorb the Emperor Crystal, but he received feedback that he wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast and couldn¡¯t use it.


    Holy sh*t, is this thing for Companion Beasts? Zhou Wen was rendered speechless as his dream of getting whatever he wanted instantly shattered.


    If only Companion Beasts can use it, who should I use it on? Demonic Neonate is still evolving. I can only choose another Companion Beast to use this thing. Zhou Wen was somewhat vexed. There was too little information on the Emperor Crystal, so he didn¡¯t know what use it had. If he randomly gave it to a Companion Beast, the benefits it obtained might not be as strong as he had expected. It might even have the opposite effect.


    If this thing was a treasure that changed Life Providences and changed the Life Providence that was most compatible with Companion Beasts, what was the use of having it gain an Emperor Life Providence?


    In terms of combat strength, Truth Listener was Zhou Wen¡¯s greatest combat strength. He naturally should give it good things, but as he didn¡¯t know what effects the Emperor Crystal had, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the risk with Truth Listener.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned Tyrant Behemoth. This fellow had previously advanced to the Calamity grade and had two Life Providences¡ªEndless Strength and Mountain River Absorption. Even if he changed one to a useless Life Providence, his combat strength wouldn¡¯t weaken much.


    Furthermore, its name had the word ¡°tyrant¡± in it. It could barely be related to an emperor. Zhou Wen planned on using it to test the waters.


    After Tyrant Behemoth was summoned, it swallowed the Emperor Crystal under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    When the crystal entered its stomach, a blob of black starlight immediately bloomed from Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s stomach. Soon, it enveloped Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s entire body in black light, as though it had transformed into a black hole.


    Zhou Wen only heard Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s roar coming from the black hole. Soon, there was silence. Only the black hole-like light constantly distorted and changed.

 Chapter 1687 - Imperial Lord Behemoth

    Chapter 1687 Imperial Lord Behemoth


    When the black hole-like light vanished, Tyrant Behemoth appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s vision again. Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that Tyrant Behemoth had changed so much.


    The originally tall Tyrant Behemoth had become much smaller. It was only about three meters tall. Compared to before, it had clearly dropped in size, but it had become even more muscular.


    In the past, Tyrant Behemoth looked a little bloated and clumsy, but now, Tyrant Behemoth looked like a muscular monster without any excess fat.


    Furthermore, Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s body had undergone some changes. Its flesh looked extremely black, as though it was made of black iron. It gave off an indestructible feeling


    Now, instead of saying that Tyrant Behemoth was a living creature of flesh and blood, it was better to say that it was a black iron monster filled with explosive and destructive power.


    What was even stranger was that in the middle of Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s head, another horn grew out. The horn looked somewhat similar to a unicorn¡¯s horn. It was straight with spiral patterns, and there was a strange glow swirling inside.


    Zhou Wen opened Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s information to see what changes its stats and skills had undergone, but he realized that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s name had changed.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Extreme Strength, Mountain River Absorption, Emperor¡¯s Life


    Life Soul: Violent Imperial Crown


    Wheel of Destiny: Absolute Strength (S-grade)


    Terror Form: Tyrant


    Calamity Zone: Overlord Zone (Human Realm)


    Strength: 199


    Speed: 199


    Constitution: 199


    Essence Energy: 199 Talent Skill: Mountain Consuming, Rampage, Behemoth, Armor Breaker, Penetration, Ripping, Poison Fang, Bite, Ever-Victorious, Unstoppable.


    Companion Form: Boxing Glove


    Seeing that Tyrant Behemoth¡¯s domain was still at the Human Realm, Zhou Wen was slightly disappointed. However, there was an additional Emperor¡¯s Life in his Life Providence. His Life Soul had also changed from Violent Crown to Violent Imperial Crown. His stats had reached the limits of the Human Realm, so it wasn¡¯t completely unchanged./ please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Its stats and skills haven¡¯t changed much. I wonder how its actual combat strength is. Zhou Wen muttered inwardly.


    The level of the Big Dipper instance dungeon was high enough. Logically speaking, the treasures produced in the hidden dungeon shouldn¡¯t be bad. Zhou Wen originally believed that it could at least advance to the Hell level, but he never expected it to remain at the Human Realm.


    After quitting the Big Dipper instance dungeon, Zhou Wen originally planned on finding a dungeon to test the difference between Imperial Lord Behemoth and Tyrant Behemoth.


    Before Zhou Wen could launch a new dungeon, he heard a commotion in front of the team.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, I¡¯m afraid we have to change our route,¡± Shiraishi Satomi rushed over and said to Zhou Wen with a heavy expression.


    ¡°What happened over there?¡± As Zhou Wen asked, he used Truth Listener¡¯s ability to scan the area ahead.


    In front of them was a canyon with a river that was half a person¡¯s height deep flowing through it. In the water, there was a behemoth lying horizontally. It looked like it had fallen asleep.


    Shiraishi Satomi whispered helplessly, ¡°The route we designed originally avoided some dangerous areas. According to our investigations, there weren¡¯t any large dimensional zones near the canyon, but for some reason, a Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast appeared here. I¡¯m afraid we can¡¯t take this path.¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to know anything about the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, Shiraishi Satomi continued explaining, ¡°The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast might not be famous inland, but overseas, it¡¯s infamous. It once destroyed several large islands. Even the strongest factions overseas can¡¯t do anything about it. It¡¯s said that not only is this beast at the Calamity grade, but it might even have reached the peak of the Calamity grade. Furthermore, this Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast is very likely the one from overseas.¡±


    ¡°This is the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast from overseas.¡± Sei Gasakai also walked back and said with a heavy expression, ¡°In the past, when I was out traveling, I saw its ferocious wrath on Ryukyu Island. With a stomp, it crushed an island spanning hundreds of kilometers into pieces and sent it sinking to the bottom of the sea. Its divine might was unparalleled. It¡¯s even more terrifying than the Calamity-grade creatures that entered the Cube¡¯s rankings. Thankfully, the scouts ahead discovered it ahead of time and didn¡¯t wake it up. We still have time to change directions, but we have to walk a few hundred more mountain roads to circle it.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the type of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast? What kind of abilities does it have?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Its body is extremely powerful. Back when Ryukyu Island gathered the entire island¡¯s powers to launch an attack, it didn¡¯t dodge at all. It didn¡¯t even damage its scales. Furthermore, it has the ability to control the water flows of the sea and can sweep up huge waves. I don¡¯t know if it has other abilities,¡± Sei Gasakai answered after some thought.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s no need to change course. Retreat fifteen kilometers and leave it to me.¡± It was rare to encounter a break-out Calamity creature, so Zhou Wen naturally wasn¡¯t willing to miss such a good opportunity.


    With Truth Listener, a Calamity-grade existence that was almost invincible, even if the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was really at the Heaven level, it was definitely no match for Truth Listener with its powerful body.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, be careful.¡± Sei Gasakai didn¡¯t say anything else as he arranged for the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace to retreat in an orderly manner. However, after retreating for a few kilometers, the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast woke up and stood up from the water. It looked over with a pair of strange golden crystal-like eyes. The golden light in its eyes was like two miniature suns.


    It was covered in red scales. Its head was like a dragon¡¯s, and its body was like a lion¡¯s. Its body was more than ten meters long. Just standing there gave off a terrifying pressure. When its strange eyes swept across, the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, who had weaker mental fortitude, were so frightened that their legs went limp. From the looks of it, this beast has long discovered our arrival. It just pretended to sleep. Zhou Wen knew that such Calamity-grade creatures had sharp senses, so how could it not have discovered them?


    Although the aura of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was terrifying, Zhou Wen was accustomed to seeing powerful Calamity-grade creatures. He could roughly guess that this fellow hadn¡¯t reached the level of Starlady Polestar, but it was much stronger than the typical Human Realm creature. It might be a Hell-level Calamity creature.


    Seeing that the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was about to charge at him, Zhou Wen thought of something and summoned Imperial Lord Behemoth. He could use this Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast to test Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s combat strength.


    Being the same Strength-type, Imperial Lord Behemoth had thick skin and flesh. Even if it wasn¡¯t a match for the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, it wouldn¡¯t be instantly killed. Once it wasn¡¯t a match for the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, he could just release Truth Listener.


    After Imperial Lord Behemoth appeared, the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, which had originally wanted to rush over, stopped. It rolled its strange golden eyes and sized up Imperial Lord Behemoth as though it didn¡¯t find it an easy target.


    Zhou Wen felt relieved when he saw this. He ordered Imperial Lord Behemoth to attack the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth exerted strength with its feet, instantly causing the ground beneath it to collapse hundreds of meters out. It charged at the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast as it tore forward with shockwave.

 Chapter 1688 - Ferocious Behemoth

    Imperial Lord Behemoth appeared in front of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast as though it had teleported. Its black iron-like claws struck its head.


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast roared and didn¡¯t dodge. It opened its mouth filled with strange teeth and bit at Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth was only about three meters tall. It was slightly taller than ordinary humans, but it appeared a little small in front of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast that was about ten meters long.


    1


    If this bite landed, most of Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body would probably be inside its mouth. It might even be devoured whole.


    Everything happened in a split second. The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace couldn¡¯t see what happened. Even an existence like Sei Gasakai could only see the two beams of light collide before a shockwave that resembled a nuclear explosion surged over.


    Sei Gasakai, Honn Shinsakura, and company couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed. Although they were still five to ten kilometers away from the battlefield, the range of the shockwave was too great. They weren¡¯t afraid, but most of the ordinary disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace would probably be killed by the shockwave.


    Seeing the shockwave that brought with it mud and sand sweeping over, the ordinary disciples were so shocked that they forgot to escape. In fact, even if they tried their best to escape, it was impossible for them to escape the range of the shockwave.


    Just as countless disciples were in despair, they saw the huge shockwave suddenly vanish without a trace. The sand and rocks that filled the sky fell and formed a huge ring-shaped slope with the battlefield as the center.


    Everyone looked over in horror and saw a figure standing in front of the ring-shaped slope. It was Zhou Wen.


    The terrifying shockwave seemed to come to a halt when it reached him. It descended like dust as though Zhou Wen was a god that couldn¡¯t be desecrated. Nothing in the world could violate him at all.


    Zhou Wen had only used the Teacher Domain to ban the rules of force in the area, preventing the shockwave from continuing. This also indirectly meant that the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast hadn¡¯t reached the Heaven level. Otherwise, the Teacher Domain wouldn¡¯t have completely forbidden a perfect domain power.


    On the battlefield, Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s two claws grabbed the upper and lower jaws of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast and forcefully resisted its bite, preventing it from fully closing its fang-filled mouth.


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast exerted strength with its four claws as it charged forward with all its might. It pushed Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body back as its legs left a deep mark on the ground.


    ¡°Roar!¡± Just as everyone thought that Imperial Lord Behemoth was no match for the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, the three strange horns on Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s head emitted a mysterious glow, transforming into a black crown. The horn in the middle emitted a mysterious glow like a black pearl embedded in the crown which enveloped Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body like black-iron imperial armor.


    With the appearance of the crown, Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s eyes turned blood-red as its body expanded. It instantly became a massive beast that was dozens of meters tall. Its two feet blocked the impact of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast one after another.


    The two monsters were in a stalemate. They clashed like prehistoric monsters. Neither of them retreated half a step, but the ground beneath their claws fractured as though an earthquake was running through.


    1


    Zhou Wen looked at Imperial Lord Behemoth in surprise. This fellow¡¯s strength was stronger than Zhou Wen imagined. The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was undoubtedly at the Hell level. Only Imperial Lord Behemoth could actually withstand the power of the Hell-level creature at the Human Realm without being at a disadvantage. Just this alone made Zhou Wen feel that his usage of the Emperor Star was indeed worth it.


    What surprised Zhou Wen even more was that Imperial Lord Behemoth gradually gained the upper hand. It slowly split open the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast¡¯s mouth that was about to close.


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast let out a strange whimper as it stomped the ground with its four claws, hoping to slam Imperial Lord aside. However, no matter what crazy actions it took, Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body, which was emitting a mystic glow, didn¡¯t budge at all. It still slowly split opened the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast¡¯s mouth.


    Roar!


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast roared again as a strange energy fluctuation emitted from its body. The river in the valley seemed to be attracted by some force as it swept up huge waves.


    The towering wave instantly drowned Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body as it swept towards disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace behind without stopping. However, when the wave reached Zhou Wen, it was like a toilet being flushed. All the water flowed down without touching Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace were dumbfounded. Although they had long treated Zhou Wen as a top-notch human, such godlike actions still left them alarmed and envious.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expand the range of the Teacher Domain¡¯s power to the battlefield. He wanted to see how powerful Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s true combat strength was.


    In the battlefield where water surged and mud tumbled, the roars of mutated beasts resounded through the world.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace only saw mud and rocks tumbling. They couldn¡¯t see the battle inside at all until a shocking scream sounded.


    The water and mud that were swept up instantly fell, revealing the figures of two behemoths.


    The originally extremely terrifying Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was lifted up by Imperial Lord Behemoth. Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s two claws still held onto its upper and lower jaw, but at that moment, the mouth of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast had already been widened to the extreme. The corners of its mouth had cracked open as the scales on its face cracked and blood gushed out.


    Now, the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was like a kitten or puppy with its mouth torn open in front of the huge Imperial Lord Behemoth. It could only struggle and scream.


    However, no matter how its claws attacked Imperial Lord Behemoth, they only left claw marks that weren¡¯t too deep on the mystic light armor around Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body. As for the claw marks, they instantly healed.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth didn¡¯t seem to feel anything. It ignored the final struggle of the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast and slowly tore its mouth apart, hoping to rip its head into two.


    Chi!


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast¡¯s bloody chin was torn open. In pain, the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast unleashed its potential. It struggled backward with all its might, snapping the fangs that Imperial Lord Behemoth was holding. Only then did it escape its control and tumble to the ground.


    The disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace looked at Imperial Lord Behemoth, who had a broken tooth in one hand and a bloody chin in the other. It was as though they were looking at a devil king who had walked out of hell.


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, which was virtually invincible overseas, had been ravaged by Imperial Lord Behemoth like a kitten or puppy. Even its chin had been ripped off. It was just terrifying.


    The typical disciple was envious, but the Elders were secretly rejoicing. They were glad that Honn Shinsakura hadn¡¯t listened to them and insisted on heading to Guide Ancient City. Now, they understood his insistence.


    Such a figure and such a Companion Beast were probably rare even among the six families.


    Zhou Wen imagined that the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast was about to escape. Just as he was about to cooperate with Imperial Lord Behemoth to kill it, he suddenly saw an unbelievable scene.


    The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast didn¡¯t escape. Instead, it bent its front hooves and bowed its head at Imperial Lord Behemoth as though it was kneeling until its forehead touched the ground.


    1

 Chapter 1689 - Wasting a Treasure

    Everyone saw this unbelievable scene. Even Zhou Wen gaped in surprise.


    Dimensional creatures were very difficult to tame. Ignoring the brainless dimensional creatures that basically fought to the death, even highly-intelligent dimensional creatures would self-destruct when forced into a corner. Apart from humans with special abilities, it was very rare to hear of dimensional creatures being tamed after being bested in combat.


    The higher the level of a dimensional creature, the lower the possibility of it being tamed. It was unbelievable that this Hell-level Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast would submit to the Human Realm Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    However, the truth was right in front of him. Zhou Wen suddenly thought of a possibility. Could it be that the Life Providence of the Emperor Life Providence had played a role, causing the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast to show an originally impossible attitude?


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that it was right. In the past, Tyrant Behemoth had killed many dimensional creatures, but he hadn¡¯t seen any dimensional creatures submit to it.


    Ignoring the Calamity grade, he had never encountered such a situation even with Mortal dimensional creatures.


    Now, Zhou Wen was filled with regret. If he had known that the Emperor Star was such a powerful item, he would have given it to Truth Listener. With Truth Listener¡¯s strength, it was almost invincible among Calamity-grade creatures. He could just defeat a few Calamity-grade dimensional creatures and get them to submit to him before having them watch the gates at Guide Ancient City.


    2


    It was useless to regret it now. Thankfully, Imperial Lord Behemoth was rather powerful. In the future, if he placed more effort on it and gave it more resources, even if it couldn¡¯t advance to the Heaven level, it would be rather impressive at the Hell level.


    1


    If the Human Realm Imperial Lord Behemoth could defeat the Hell-level Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast, then it was possible that the Hell-level Imperial Lord Behemoth might be able to compete with ordinary Heaven-level dimensional creatures.


    This wasn¡¯t a pointless trip. If I get the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast to watch the gates at Guide Ancient City, I doubt even the six families would dare barge in. Just as Zhou Wen was daydreaming, Imperial Lord Behemoth grabbed the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast and ripped its body into two with its claws. Then, it threw it into its mouth and chewed, causing blood to splatter everywhere.


    It actually ate¡­ It ate¡­ It ate¡­ Zhou Wen widened his eyes and stared blankly at Imperial Lord Behemoth. He had the urge to slap the prodigal who had squandered all the wealth.


    1


    This was a Hell-level fighter, but it was eaten just like that. It was a waste of a treasure. Such acts were deserving of a lightning strike.


    However, Imperial Lord Behemoth didn¡¯t think anything about it. After chewing a few times, it swallowed it and even burped.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Looking at the Imperial Lord Behemoth, Zhou Wen had the urge to slice open its stomach and pull out the Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast. Unfortunately, it was useless even if he dug it out.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth in hatred, but the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace were mesmerized. The Water Avoidance Gold-Eyed Beast that was extremely ferocious overseas had been devoured just like that. In their eyes, Imperial Lord Behemoth had become synonymous with ferocity and invincibility.


    Zhou Wen gloomily unsummoned Imperial Lord Behemoth. This fellow had eaten a Hell-level dimensional creature, but experienced no change. From Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, it was no different from Pigsy eating a Ginseng Fruit.


    After setting off again, the disciples and elders of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace became even more respectful and obedient towards Zhou Wen. Many people even looked at Zhou Wen with fervent gazes. It was unknown what they were thinking.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about what they were thinking. His mind was filled with a question. If the hidden dungeons in-game didn¡¯t respawn, could he obtain the Emperor Star in real life?


    From the results of his previous research, it was very likely that there was another Starlady Polestar in the North Pole Star Ice Palace in reality. Perhaps he could obtain another Emperor Star in reality.


    Zhou Wen originally had no desire to challenge the Big Dipper instance dungeon in reality. The Cube¡¯s ranking was meaningless to him.


    However, this discovery made Zhou Wen have the thought of challenging the Big Dipper Palaces again. It wasn¡¯t for the ranking, but to obtain an Emperor Star.


    1


    I¡¯ll wait and see. If the hidden dungeon in-game really doesn¡¯t respawn, I can only attempt the Big Dipper Palaces in real life. Zhou Wen had already made up his mind. If he could really obtain another Emperor Star, he would give it to Demonic Neonate or Truth Listener. He yearned for a few more.


    Nothing unexpected happened along the way. The ordinary dimensional creatures they encountered were shooed away by Honn Shinsakura and company. Zhou Wen finally led them back to Guide Ancient City.


    The two Niten Flying Immortal Palace disciples who had taken Mohe back arrived at Guide Ancient City half a day later. After Zhou Wen asked, he learned that they hadn¡¯t sent Mohe all the way back to the Family Clan of Gods. They had met people from the Family Clan of Gods on the way and Mohe had returned with them.


    To Zhou Wen¡¯s surprise, Mohe got them to bring something back and said that it was for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen opened the box and realized that there was only a piece of paper inside. On the paper was a number. It was obvious that it was a phone number.


    Zhou Wen roughly guessed what Mohe was up to. The two of them had previously made a bet. If Mohe lost, he had to tell Zhou Wen why the Family Clan of Gods wanted the people from the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask because he felt that it was useless to ask. If Mohe wasn¡¯t willing to say, he could just give a random reason. It wouldn¡¯t be difficult.


    From the looks of it, Mohe planned on fulfilling his promise and telling him the secret.


    After introducing Sei Gasakai, Honn Shinsakura, and company to Li Xuan, Zhou Wen got Li Xuan to settle them in. He returned to the yard and called the number left behind by Mohe.


    ¡°Zhou Wen.¡± Before Zhou Wen could say a word, Mohe¡¯s voice sounded.


    ¡°How do you know it¡¯s me?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant. Mohe¡¯s tone made it clear that it was him, but Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t made a sound. Could it be that Mohe had the ability to spy on him through the signal?


    ¡°Only you know this number,¡± Mohe said emotionlessly.


    ¡°I see. You left me this number to tell me the secret of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace, right?¡± Zhou Wen was enlightened as he asked directly.


    ¡°Although I¡¯m not a good person, I¡¯m a person who will fulfill promises.¡± After a pause, Mohe continued, ¡°Actually, the Family Clan of Gods doesn¡¯t want all the disciples of the Niten Flying Immortal Palace.¡±


    ¡°Who do you want? Sei Gasakai or Honn Shinsakura?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Neither. It¡¯s Shiraishi Satomi,¡± Mohe answered.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Although Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s talent was pretty good, Honn Shinsakura and Sei Gasakai weren¡¯t inferior to her. Furthermore, their cultivation levels were already above hers.


    ¡°Only she can obtain the Amaterasu Companion Beast.¡± Mohe¡¯s answer left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi came from the same pantheon. Furthermore, it was said that Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi were twins.


    1

 Chapter 1690 - Ise Island

    In that pantheon, Tsukuyomi represented the moon, and Amaterasu represented the sun. They were both supreme gods, and Amaterasu was ranked ahead of Tsukuyomi.


    Zhou Wen had seen Tsukuyomi¡¯s prowess. If there was really a Amaterasu Companion Beast, even Zhou Wen was tempted.


    However, Zhou Wen still doubted if there really was an Amaterasu Companion Beast. After all, it was an existence similar to Tsukuyomi.


    Since Tsukuyomi was already so powerful, Amaterasu was probably not inferior to Tsukuyomi. With humanity¡¯s current standards, it was temporarily impossible for them to kill Amaterasu to obtain a Companion Beast.


    Now that Mohe had told him that Shiraishi Satomi could obtain the Amaterasu Companion Beast, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°What¡¯s so special about Shiraishi Satomi?¡± Zhou Wen asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Shiraishi Satomi¡¯s Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny are all perfectly compatible with Amaterasu. Only she can obtain its favor,¡± answered Mohe.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen heard Mohe¡¯s tone as though Shiraishi Satomi didn¡¯t need to kill Amaterasu to obtain a Companion Beast.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t within the confines of our bet. Think about it yourself,¡± Mohe said with a faint smile.


    ¡°Can you give me a hint?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind and asked casually.


    ¡°Ise Island, we¡¯re even.¡± With that said, Mohe hung up.


    Zhou Wen put down the phone and thought for a moment before finding Sei Gasakai. Since Honn Shinsakura and Shiraishi Satomi were also there, he recounted what Mohe had told him.


    ¡°Ise Island?¡± The three of them were at a loss after hearing that.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know where Ise Island is?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    They were born and raised overseas. If they didn¡¯t know where Ise Island was, Zhou Wen suspected that Mohe was joking with him.


    ¡°There¡¯s no island overseas called Ise Island. In myths and legends, the Ise Divine Palace is the residence of Great God Amaterasu. The place is called Takamagahara, but that¡¯s only a legendary place. There¡¯s no corresponding location in reality.¡± Honn Shinsakura thought for a moment and said, ¡°Could it be that the information given by Mohe is wrong?¡±


    Shiraishi Satomi also said with a bitter smile, ¡°Perhaps they are really mistaken. My Life Providence, Life Soul, and Wheel of Destiny have nothing to do with the sun. How can they be perfectly compatible with the stats of Great God Amaterasu?¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded. Although he was a little interested in Amaterasu, this interest was built on Tsukuyomi¡¯s existence. He wasn¡¯t disappointed if he couldn¡¯t obtain the Amaterasu Companion Beast.


    Just as he was about to return to continue gaming, he heard Sei Gasakai say, ¡°Takamagahara is indeed something that exists in legends. There¡¯s no corresponding place in reality. However, when I was traveling at sea, I did encounter a place suspected to be Takamagahara.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Wen look at him, Sei Gasakai continued, ¡°Takamagahara, Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, and Yomi are the three domains that form the Bansei pantheon. Among them, Takamagahara is also known as Country in the Clouds or Sky Island. Legend has it that it¡¯s an island floating in the clouds above the sea. It¡¯s invisible to mortals, and it¡¯s where the deities live.¡±


    ¡°Once, after I experienced a storm at sea, the sky opened up and the clouds dissipated. I vaguely saw a huge island appear in the sky, but a moment later, the island in the sky vanished. I also went to the sky to investigate, but I didn¡¯t find any traces of the island, so I thought it was a mirage.¡±


    With that said, Sei Gasakai pondered for a moment before continuing, ¡°But later, I heard from some friends that they saw the mirage-like sky island in the same location. Furthermore, when the island appeared, someone attempted to approach it, but they were pushed out by a powerful invisible force. After the island vanished, there was nothing there. We suspected that it was likely the legendary Takamagahara, but we couldn¡¯t confirm it.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. Where¡¯s that island?¡± Zhou Wen was really interested. After all, it was a dimensional zone of a pantheon. Perhaps he could download the dungeon and grind to his heart¡¯s content.


    Zhou Wen memorized the location Sei Gasakai told him. He could visit the place when he had the time in the future.


    Now, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to do those things. All he wanted to know was if the hidden dungeon would respawn and if he could obtain a second Emperor Star.


    There was another more important matter. Zhou Wen planned on letting Truth Listener see if it could kill the three-faced Buddha of Small Buddha Temple.


    The hope of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra advancing to the Calamity grade was probably in Small Buddha Temple. However, the three-faced Buddha was just too powerful. With Zhou Wen¡¯s own strength, there was temporarily no hope. Truth Listener¡¯s advancement to the Heaven level gave Zhou Wen a sliver of hope.


    After returning home, Zhou Wen opened the Small Buddha Temple dungeon and entered it again. He couldn¡¯t help but feel nervous.


    Truth Listener was obtained from Small Buddha Temple. Zhou Wen had no idea if it could defeat the three-faced Buddha.


    This time, Zhou Wen directly circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and entered the temple hall. The three-faced Buddha didn¡¯t react and wouldn¡¯t attack anyone who cultivated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra.


    This time, Zhou Wen was just here as a bystander. Truth Listener was the one who really needed to do all the work.


    My Listener, you have to work hard. Whether the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra can condense a domain depends on you. Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener and got it to remove the restrictions of the earrings as he prayed silently.


    Just as Truth Listener was summoned, the three-faced Buddha, who looked like a lifeless statue, suddenly widened his eyes and looked at Truth Listener standing in front of Zhou Wen, giving him a fright.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that only by switching out the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra would the three-faced Buddha react. This sudden development gave Zhou Wen a fright.


    The three different faces of the three-faced Buddha¡ªone without joy or worry, one filled with extreme sorrow, and one with a smile¡ªhad six Buddha eyes that emitted golden light. They stared at Truth Listener in unison.


    The six golden beams were like six extremely bright searchlights that focused on Truth Listener.


    The earrings on Truth Listener¡¯s ears were unsealing, but only three of them had shattered. Under the Buddha¡¯s eye¡¯s golden light, the remaining three earrings shattered together, instantly allowing Truth Listener to remove all the restrictions. Its body quickly transformed into an ape before it took human form.


    Zhou Wen secretly urged Truth Listener to take action quickly, but Truth Listener stood there motionless. Zhou Wen saw the ruthless expression on its face as though it wanted to shatter the three-faced Buddha with one strike, but its body didn¡¯t react at all.


    It¡¯s over. Truth Listener is completely restrained by the three-faced Buddha. I should have known that Truth Listener came from here. The possibility of defeating the three-faced Buddha is slim. Zhou Wen was alarmed as he knew that it was impossible to count on Truth Listener to kill the three-faced Buddha.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to unsummon Truth Listener, he suddenly saw the three-faced Buddha open its mouth to speak.


    1

 Chapter 1691 - Great Samsara Wheel

    ¡°Child of Buddha who walks the world, your tamed Companion Beast has already reached the Heaven level. You will be rewarded.¡± With the words appearing on the chat window on the phone, something flew out from the three-faced Buddha¡¯s head and floated in front of Zhou Wen.


    It was an irregular crystal the size of a fist. The crystal emitted a strange dark golden light that looked a little like a Buddhistic glow, but it was also somewhat different.


    Great Samsara Wheel! Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw the information on the crystal.


    Great Samsara Wheel: A world-destroying item with destructive energy. Can be used to advance to the Apocalypse grade. There are a total of three. This is one of them.


    Zhou Wen was truly alarmed. He had never seen what the Apocalypse grade looked like. It was unimaginable that this thing could advance a person to the Apocalypse grade.


    Can this thing allow my Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra to advance to the Apocalypse grade? Then wouldn¡¯t I be invincible? Ignoring staying on Earth, even counterattacking the dimension isn¡¯t a dream¡­ Just as Zhou Wen was fantasizing, the three-faced Buddha spoke again.


    ¡°The other two Great Samsara Wheels will be obtained by the other two Sons of Buddha after their tamed Companion Beasts advance to the Heaven level. Only by gathering all three Great Samsara Wheels together and using their power can one advance to the Apocalypse grade.¡±


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    Holy sh*t, so this thing is a defective product! Zhou Wen was depressed.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know who the other two people who had obtained Small Buddha Temple¡¯s Companion Beasts were, he didn¡¯t know how long it would take for their Companion Beasts to advance to the Heaven level. He had to pray that they didn¡¯t die prematurely. Otherwise, there would be no hope for the three Great Samsara Wheels.


    Zhou Wen was still wondering how many chances he had of obtaining the three Great Samsara Wheels when he saw the three-faced Buddha continue speaking. ¡°The three tamed Companion Beasts were originally one. Only by fusing them into one can they advance to the Apocalypse grade¡­¡±


    As the voice gradually weakened, the golden light in the three-faced Buddha¡¯s eyes gradually converged. Finally, they closed their eyes and returned to their lifeless statues.


    What do you mean originally one? It¡¯s basically to make the three Sons of Buddha and the tamed Companion Beasts fight and devour each other. In the end, only one can obtain all the benefits, Zhou Wen thought.


    Looking at the motionless three-faced Buddha, Zhou Wen was considering a very important problem.


    Although the three-faced Buddha didn¡¯t say it clearly, he guessed that one had to be at the Heaven level to use the power of the three Great Samsara Wheels to advance to the Apocalypse grade.


    The problem was that his Samsara Wheel was in-game, so it was impossible for him to take it out of the game. As for the other two Sons of Buddha, even if they could obtain the Great Samsara Wheel, it would be in reality. Even if Zhou Wen could snatch the other two Great Samsara Wheels back, it would be difficult for him to bring them into the game.


    In other words, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to gather all three Great Samsara Wheels no matter what.


    Is this considered a bug in-game? Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless as he looked at the Great Samsara Wheel in-game.


    Although Small Buddha Temple basically couldn¡¯t respawn and it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to leave the Great Samsara Wheel here, it was useless to just leave it there. It needed all three wheels to be used.


    I wonder if this thing can be used now? Zhou Wen attempted to use the Great Samsara Wheel in-game. He had only made a casual attempt believing that he was only at the Terror grade. Furthermore, this thing was incomplete. It was unlikely that he could really use it.


    However, to his surprise, the Great Samsara Wheel immediately flashed with a dark-gold glow as it charged into the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body. Then, the blood-colored avatar¡¯s entire body was dyed dark-gold. It was like a dark-gold figure of light as the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra circulated crazily.


    Holy sh*t, that works too! Zhou Wen felt the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra circulate crazily as the Terror-form Great Brahma automatically appeared. Its entire body emitted a dark-gold glow like a world-destroying fiend.


    Zhou Wen and the blood-colored avatar shared the same feeling. Now, Zhou Wen felt that the blood-colored avatar was enduring an indescribable sense of comfort.


    That¡¯s right, it was indeed comfortable.


    If any other Essence Energy Art were to suddenly obtain such immense energy, they would definitely be in extreme pain even if they could barely absorb it. Their bodies would explode from the excessive energy, so how could they feel comfortable?


    The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra was completely different. Zhou Wen felt comfortable as though he had eaten a ginseng fruit. His pores were filled with joy as he felt light as though he had fallen into the clouds.


    Ever since he began cultivating, Zhou Wen had only had one thought for cultivation¡ªhardship. However, today, it had changed Zhou Wen¡¯s views drastically. He never knew that cultivating could be so comfortable.


    Amidst this comfortable feeling, Zhou Wen even heard a decadent sound. An illusion of a beautiful Buddha girl circling him appeared in his mind.


    Could it be that Small Buddha Temple cultivates in Happiness Meditation? Zhou Wen no longer felt as simple as being comfortable. He felt orgasmic.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower was firm, so he wouldn¡¯t succumb to it. However, the feeling was extremely pleasant. Furthermore, Zhou Wen could tell that this wasn¡¯t some set of methods that questioned himself or a test of his willpower.


    Great Brahma¡¯s appearance was very similar to the three-faced Buddha, but he had four faces and eight arms. The front and left faces represented the pity and kindness of the world without any desire. Only the face on his back had never been seen. Even Zhou Wen himself didn¡¯t know what the face looked like. All he could sense was that the eyes on the face were secretly peeping at all life.


    As the power of the Great Samsara Wheel constantly surged in, the dark-gold light on Great Brahma¡¯s body intensified as his head slowly spun.


    The head spun instead of turning. The face on its back slowly spun to the front, and the face in front was slowly spun to the back.


    The frontal face showed no joy or sorrow. It represented zero desires, so he didn¡¯t have the ability to take the initiative to attack. This was also why Zhou Wen didn¡¯t often use Great Brahma. It was just too passive.


    When the face at the back gradually spun around, Zhou Wen could already see his side profile.


    It was an extremely beautiful face. It was hard to tell if it was male or female, but it was extremely beautiful. Coupled with that faint smile, it gave off a charm that prevented him from moving his eyes away. He wished he could look at this face for the rest of his life.


    However, on this face was a pair of sinister eyes. The eyes were also extremely beautiful, but if one looked at them for a long time, they would feel a chill in their hearts. The longer one looked at them, the more terrified they became.


    If he kept staring at those eyes, he would probably go crazy from fear.


    Such a face matched with such eyes was truly unfathomable.


    When the face turned to the front, Zhou Wen¡¯s comfort reached its peak. Then, he instantly fell from the clouds into the valley. The feeling of all the prosperity going to zero instantly occupied Zhou Wen¡¯s heart.


    1


    And at that moment, the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra¡¯s domain condensed and advanced to the Calamity grade.


    1

 Chapter 1692 - Rising to the Heaven Level!

    Small Perfection of Wisdom¡¯s Calamity Zone was somewhat similar to the First Order of Chaos. They had both undergone changes over the Terror transformation. The face behind Great Brahma spun around, and his entire aura underwent a tremendous change. Even his strength changed with him, reaching the Calamity grade.


    It was completely different from the expressionless frontal face. When this terrifying face appeared, Great Brahma no longer exuded the peace from before. Even his strength became incisive.


    Zhou Wen could sense that this power carried an extremely destructive nature. However, before he could carefully savor it, Great Brahma underwent a new change.


    Zhou Wen was delighted. Great Brahma was actually charging straight for the Hell level. It wasn¡¯t like other Essence Energy Arts that remained at the Human Realm after advancing to the Calamity grade.


    A treasure that allows advancement to the Apocalypse grade is indeed different. Even if it¡¯s only an incomplete portion, the energy it produces isn¡¯t something ordinary Zone Cores can match. I wonder if Great Brahma has the chance of advancing to the Heaven level. Zhou Wen kept paying attention to Great Brahma¡¯s changes.


    The insights obtained from advancing could be said to be an extremely rare experience. It was probably impossible for it to happen a second time.


    As the energy increased, the face behind Great Brahma vanished. The two faces on both sides gradually became blurry.


    The eight arms vanished one after another.


    When the other three faces completely vanished, leaving only that beautiful face, six of the eight arms vanished, making Great Brahma look even closer to a human.


    As for his beautiful face, it seemed to have undergone some changes. It became even more unfathomable. He had a faint smile that didn¡¯t seem like a smile; it looked like anger, sorrow, or worry, but none of them at the same time. It was impossible to tell what emotions he had.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Only the terrifying look in his eyes seemed to become even more terrifying.


    At that moment, the game also indicated that the Calamity Zone had advanced to the Hell level, but Great Brahma continued changing without stopping.


    It¡¯s going straight for the Heaven level? Zhou Wen was delighted. The Heaven level was probably the best among humans. Even the human representatives who obtained the resources of the dimensional species probably couldn¡¯t advance to the Heaven level in such a short period of time.


    Dark-gold matter appeared over Great Brahma¡¯s body. The dark-gold matter was very likely the dark-gold crystals of the Great Samsara Wheel. The dark-gold crystals connected and transformed into something that resembled armor that enveloped Great Brahma¡¯s body.


    The armor gradually took form. Even Great Brahma¡¯s face was enveloped by the dark-gold armor. The edge of the wheel of light that resembled a black hole behind him gradually turned into a dark-gold crystal, forming a wheel that resembled a black hole inside and a dark-gold crystal outside.


    Great Brahma sat cross-legged as he formed a seal with his hand. The wheel behind him spun incessantly as though it was a god that had come from the void, making it even more unfathomable.


    ¡®Great Brahma Zone advanced to the Heaven level.¡¯


    With the notification in-game, Great Brahma finally stopped changing. This was enough to surprise Zhou Wen. He was originally vexed about using the Great Samsara Wheel, but it had also cheered him up immensely.


    It was hard to say if he could obtain the other two Great Samsara Wheels in the future, but advancing to the Heaven level was a huge boon.


    As for not having this Samsara Wheel, the other two chosen ones had also had the possibility of advancing to the Apocalypse stage severed. However, what had that got to do with Zhou Wen? They could only blame their bad luck.


    Zhou Wen was interested to know who the two unlucky ones were. He wanted to know what expression they would have when they learned that one of the Great Samsara Wheels was gone.


    Looking at Great Brahma, who had advanced to the Heaven level, Zhou Wen really wanted to use the three-faced Buddha to test its might.


    However, Zhou Wen quickly dispelled this thought. He originally imagined that the three-faced Buddha might be at the Heaven level, but he found it unbelievable that he could produce a treasure like the Great Samsara Wheel that allowed advancement to the Apocalypse grade.


    I should head out and try other dimensional creatures. Zhou Wen glanced at the statue-like three-faced Buddha and left the Small Buddha Temple dungeon.


    While Zhou Wen was happily gaming at home to level up, the outside world wasn¡¯t idle. The representatives of the various races constantly appeared in the world and made a name for themselves on the Cube.


    Many of them were famous geniuses in the past, but there were also some unknown figures who appeared.


    Mohe¡¯s Cube¡¯s ranking had already dropped to third place, and first place hadn¡¯t changed for a long time.


    The Sun race¡¯s representative in the human world, ¡°Karoman,¡± had established a record of clearing the six Star Palaces of the Big Dipper. Up to now, no one could match him.


    There was already news that Karoman was a member of the Cape family, but they didn¡¯t admit or deny it. Their attitude was very ambiguous.


    A handsome man in golden armor who resembled a sun god stood outside the dimensional zone where the Family Clan of Gods was.


    ¡°Karoman, why aren¡¯t you with the Cape family? Why are you here?¡± The guards of the Family Clan of Gods who were guarding the dimensional zone couldn¡¯t help but become nervous when they saw the handsome man.


    Karoman¡¯s shocking performance in the Big Dipper palaces had already shocked the entire world. Some people even called him the strongest human powerhouse now.


    ¡°I want to see Mohe,¡± said Karoman calmly.


    His voice was gentle, but it had an irresistible authority. When the guard heard this, he subconsciously turned around, hoping to find Mohe.


    ¡°Karoman, are you eager to determine the victor between us?¡± Mohe walked out of the dimensional zone and said to Karoman.


    Mohe¡¯s injuries had already healed. It was impossible to tell that he had been severely injured not long ago.


    Karoman shook his head and said, ¡°Although you are very strong, I¡¯ve never treated you as an opponent. I¡¯m here to get an answer from you.¡±


    ¡°What answer?¡± Mohe didn¡¯t mind the arrogance in Karoman¡¯s tone.


    ¡°Do you know how to ascend the Ise Shrine?¡± Karoman didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he asked directly.


    ¡°So what if I know? So what if I don¡¯t?¡± Mohe asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a bet with you. If I win, tell me how to ascend the Ise Shrine.¡± Karoman still looked lofty.


    ¡°What do you have in mind?¡± Mohe knew that since Karoman had come knocking on his door, he definitely had an information source. Even if he denied it, he wouldn¡¯t let it go so easily.


    ¡°The first person to clear the Big Dipper palaces is the victor,¡± said Karoman.


    ¡°Are you confident of passing the final Alkaid Star Palace?¡± Mohe frowned slightly.


    Alkaid Star Palace was the Army Breaker Star Palace. The long steps in front of the Star Palace could eliminate all Essence Energy. No matter how strong a cultivator was, they would become trash without Essence Energy if they entered the Star Palace. Therefore, up to now, no one had been able to crack it.


    ¡°It can be cracked at any time,¡± said Karoman indifferently.

 Chapter 1693 - Karoman

    ¡°Professor Gu, what do you think of the recent rankings?¡± Su Yi tried her best to host the program.


    Although there had been a storm on the Cube¡¯s rankings recently, with experts constantly appearing while the rankings constantly changed, the program¡¯s ratings were very good. However, Su Yi just couldn¡¯t lift her spirits.


    Professor Gu answered, ¡°At present, those who can enter the top ten of the Cube¡¯s rankings are experts who can clear the fifth Star Palace. Only the Sun race¡¯s representative, Karoman, who¡¯s ranked first, has cleared the sixth Star Palace. He¡¯s considered unique. However, according to my research, there should be three to four people in the top ten who have a high chance of clearing the sixth Star Palace.¡±


    ¡°Who are they?¡± Su Yi asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give an example first. For example, the representative of the Fallen race, Mohe. His strength shouldn¡¯t be inferior to Karoman. It¡¯s only a matter of time before he can clear the sixth Star Palace. The others also have similar strength. It¡¯s just that even if they can clear the sixth Star Palace, they might not be able to surpass Karoman on the rankings, so they didn¡¯t take action,¡± Professor Gu analyzed.


    As the host, Su Yi¡¯s reaction was still very fast. She continued in line with Professor Gu¡¯s words and asked, ¡°Then, Professor Gu, who do you think will be the first to clear the seventh Star Palace?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. According to the results of Karoman¡¯s previous attempt, the stone steps in front of Alkaid Star Palace can eliminate Essence Energy. He gave up before he finished walking the stone steps. From this, one can roughly determine that after reaching the end, one¡¯s Essence Energy might be completely drained. With such characteristics, no matter how powerful a powerhouse is, they will be crippled when they reach the Star Palace. Unless one has a way to retain Essence Energy, no one has a chance of clearing the seventh Star Palace.¡±


    Professor Gu paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°As for who has such an ability, it¡¯s still unknown for the time being. However, there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s certain. It¡¯s difficult to avoid having one¡¯s Essence Energy drained. Therefore, although he¡¯s ranked higher, he has the least chance among them.¡±


    The comments were discussing who would be the first to clear the seventh Star Palace. There were all kinds of comments, but the topic of discussion was basically on the top few.


    Just as the discussion was getting heated, they suddenly saw the Cube¡¯s screen light up. A figure appeared on the screen. It was none other than Karoman.


    ¡°Karoman?¡± Su Yi was stunned when she saw Karoman. Professor Gu¡¯s expression turned odd.


    ¡°Karoman is already ranked first. There¡¯s no need for him to challenge the Big Dipper Palaces again unless he wants to challenge the seventh Star Palace¡­¡± Su Yi¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°Professor Gu is mighty. As expected of his jinxed mouth.¡±


    ¡°Sect Master Gu will unite the world for ages.¡±


    1


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to call the Sect Master Gu the strongest in the universe.¡±


    The comments were all expressing their amazement of Sect Master Gu. Professor Gu had just said that it was impossible for him to clear the seventh Star Palace, and here he was challenging it. Furthermore, he was clearly here for the seventh Star Palace. Everyone felt that Professor Gu was truly amazing.


    The golden-armored Karoman arrived in front of the first Star Palace. Sun God Light bloomed from his body as though he was a divine son blessed by the Sun God.


    With every step he took, the golden Sun God Light on his body was dazzling, making his handsome face appear even more holy.


    When Starlord Ravenous Wolf saw Karoman walk in, he immediately blasted out a blast of light. Karoman also threw a punch. The sun-like golden divine light collided with Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s blast of light.


    The terrifying dazzling light made it impossible for anyone other than a very small number of experts to see what was happening on the screen. The experts knew that Karoman and Starlord Ravenous Wolf had exchanged countless punches at that instant. Their speed had already reached the speed of light, so ordinary people couldn¡¯t see their actions.


    As for the broadcast, it was completely dazzling. Soon, when the dazzling light vanished, Starlord Ravenous Wolf had already been killed by Karoman. Many crystals dropped on the ground.


    ¡°He¡¯s so powerful. He killed Starlord Ravenous Wolf in one punch.¡± The average person only saw Karoman deliver a punch and thought that he had instantly killed Starlord Ravenous Wolf with one punch.


    ¡°No matter how many times I look at it, it¡¯s always so pleasing to the eye. Karoman is just so perfect. He doesn¡¯t look like a human at all. He¡¯s like the Sun God Apollo.¡±


    Everyone marveled at Karoman¡¯s strength, feeling envious. Many people wondered when they would be lucky enough to be chosen by the dimensional races to become a powerful existence like Karoman.


    Karoman cleared one Star Palace after another. The Starlords who looked extremely powerful in the eyes of ordinary people were easily killed by Karoman. It only took a few seconds.


    However, ordinary people couldn¡¯t see that Karoman had actually used many techniques. The reason he could kill the Starlords so quickly was mainly because he had already understood their abilities and used targeted tactics.


    Even so, it was rather shocking.


    ¡°Although I¡¯ve already seen it once, I have to admit that Karoman is extremely powerful. He does resemble Human Sovereign¡¯s former glory,¡± Su Yi said with a sigh.


    Unexpectedly, Su Yi¡¯s exclamation triggered a collective criticism on the screen.


    ¡°Although you are my goddess, there¡¯s no way to compare Human Sovereign and Karoman now, right? It¡¯s impossible for pure humans to advance to the Calamity grade, right?¡±


    ¡°Sis, isn¡¯t Human Sovereign old news from years ago? The new generation replaces and surpasses the old. Human Sovereign has long been smacked to death on the beach.¡±


    ¡°Although I¡¯m unwilling to admit it, I have to say that the strength of the representatives who obtained the resources of the dimensional races has increased too quickly. Unless Human Sovereign has become a representative, there¡¯s nothing to compare.¡±


    ¡°With Human Sovereign¡¯s temperament, he probably won¡¯t bow down to the dimensional races. It¡¯s unlikely he will become a representative.¡±


    ¡°It would be sad if Human Sovereign becomes a representative.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be sad about? What era are we in now? Everything depends on strength. It¡¯s sad if you don¡¯t have strength.¡±


    Amidst everyone¡¯s discussion, Karoman had already cleared the sixth Star Palace and arrived at the long staircase of the seventh Star Palace.


    Everyone immediately fell silent as they held their breaths and watched the screen. The last time, Karoman had given up midway. Thankfully, there was still a chance of giving up before entering the Star Palace¡¯s entrance. If he entered the Star Palace, he wouldn¡¯t even have the chance to give up.


    Under the attention of everyone, Karoman stepped onto the flight of stairs and walked towards the Star Palace¡¯s door.


    Everyone counted the number of steps Karoman took in their hearts. When he reached the spot he had given up the last time, he didn¡¯t give up as before. Instead, he continued walking.


    When he reached the end of the stone steps, even Su Yi couldn¡¯t help but raise her voice and shout, ¡°Karoman has walked all the way up!¡±

 Chapter 1694 - Our Relationship as Fellow Disciples Cant Just Fade Away

    Professor Gu felt a little embarrassed as Karoman walked up the stone steps. The sun-like golden divine light on his body was still as resplendent as before. Anyone could tell that he had found a way to be immune to the Essence Energy drainage.


    Under the attention of everyone, Karoman pushed open the door to Alkaid Star Palace. It was like an unknown new world that drew everyone¡¯s attention.


    Starlight shimmered in Alkaid Star Palace. Starlord Army Breaker stood there like a god.


    Karoman didn¡¯t show any fear. The golden divine light on his body rose like flames as he walked towards Starlord Army Breaker.


    His footsteps were calm and he wasn¡¯t as fast as he was in the other Star Palaces. After all, Starlord Army Breaker was an unknown Starlord. He had only obtained some information from the Sun God Holy Temple, and it was only speculation. It wasn¡¯t completely accurate.


    Starlord Army Breaker suddenly opened his eyes. His originally calm aura immediately turned into killing intent that surged into the sky. His body charged at Karoman like a phantom.


    Karoman didn¡¯t retreat and actually went forward.


    Starlight shot out as the sun shone.


    The screen was filled with light, making it impossible to see what had happened. Only a few Calamity-grade experts could tell what had happened by standing in front of a Cube.


    The entire world was dead silent. Everyone looked at the screen that was trembling violently with light. Although they didn¡¯t know what had happened, the sound of forces colliding inside made their hearts undergo upheavals.


    ¡°Can Karoman clear the seventh Star Palace?¡± Su Yi muttered.


    ¡°A battle at this level is too high-end. Ignoring the fact that I can¡¯t see anything on the livestream, even a Calamity-grade powerhouse can only see some clues through the Cube. All we can do now is wait for the slow-motion replay before analyzing. However, when the outcome is decided, there won¡¯t be much point analyzing,¡± Professor Gu said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°Professor Gu, we believe in you. Karoman will definitely win.¡±


    ¡°Sect Master Gu, that¡¯s not right. You can¡¯t doubt your jinxing standards. You have to be confident in yourself.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say another word. You are our beacon of light. We don¡¯t even need to see the outcome to know that Karoman will definitely win.¡±


    Many people in the comments were teasing Professor Gu, making him feel a little depressed. However, after such a long time, he had mostly gotten used to it. The title of Jinx Sect Master had long been known by the entire world.


    Mohe stood in front of the Cube with a strange expression.


    ¡°Mohe, what¡¯s the situation? What are the chances of Karoman winning?¡± an elder from the Family Clan of Gods asked.


    Even the powerhouses of the Family Clan of Gods couldn¡¯t tell much.


    ¡°Karoman has already figured out Starlord Army Breaker¡¯s abilities. I¡¯m afraid he¡¯s about to clear the seventh Star Palace.¡± Mohe paused before saying, ¡°This fellow is indeed terrifyingly strong. It¡¯s not only because he obtained the resources of the Sun God Temple, but mainly because he has extremely high combat intelligence and talent.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s clearing it now? From the looks of it, this person poses the greatest threat to our Family Clan of Gods among the younger generation,¡± the elder said after some thought.


    Mohe didn¡¯t refute him, but another figure appeared in his mind. Although Karoman was indeed very powerful, he still found that person even more terrifying.


    Time ticked by. When people could finally see the scene on the screen, only the son of the Sun God, Karoman, remained standing in the Star Palace.


    ¡°He cleared the seventh Star Palace in less than six minutes. He¡¯s really strong.¡±


    ¡°Karoman is truly invincible.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s undoubtedly the strongest human at this stage.¡±


    ¡°F*ck, the Cape family sure is lucky. They clearly are backed by the Divine Emperor Holy Temple, but they actually produced a representative of the Sun God Temple. This is just ridiculous.¡±


    Amidst everyone¡¯s exclamations of praise, Karoman walked towards the teleportation nexus and was teleported out of the Big Dipper Palaces. The ranking on the Cube remained the same. Karoman remained in first place.


    ¡°As expected, the Alkaid Star Palace is the last Star Palace. Karoman is the first human to clear the Big Dipper Palaces. He will permanently enter the annals of history. Even if someone else clears the seventh Star Palace in the future, they won¡¯t be able to waver his status. After all, being the first person to clear it is the most difficult,¡± Professor Gu sighed.


    Although Su Yi was also very excited, she felt a little disappointed. She hoped that the person in her heart would be the first to clear the Big Dipper Palaces.


    Are pure humans really going to be eliminated by the times? Su Yi sighed inwardly.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t pay attention to this matter at all. At that moment, he was immersed in Great Brahma¡¯s terrifying abilities.


    Great Brahma at the Heaven level was completely different from when it was at the Terror grade. If the Great Brahma in the Terror transformation was a god that took pity on the world, then the present Great Brahma was a god that was disappointed with the world and wanted to destroy the world to cleanse it.


    2


    They were both gods, but the two were worlds apart.


    Now, not only did Great Brahma possess destructive power, but he could also fuse with Zhou Wen¡¯s body and let him use his strength.


    In-game, after the blood-colored avatar fused with Great Brahma, it looked like he was wearing dark-gold armor. It gave off a mysterious and extremely powerful feeling.


    In particular, the black hole-like wheel of light behind him made the dark-gold armor appear blurry and illusory as though it didn¡¯t belong to the human world.


    Just as he was admiring the powers of Great Brahma from the fusion, his phone suddenly rang.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and saw that it was from Hui Haifeng, who he hadn¡¯t contacted in a long time.


    ¡°Junior Brother, what have you been busy with recently? Why didn¡¯t you contact me? Our relationship as fellow disciples can¡¯t just fade away,¡± Hui Haifeng said with a grin. It was hard to tell that he was already the supreme leader of the Federation.


    ¡°Speak your mind.¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. Hui Haifeng had thrown Hui Wan at him and now he was doing this.


    ¡°What are your thoughts on the matter regarding Karoman?¡± Hui Haifeng¡¯s tone turned solemn.


    ¡°What Karoman?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Are you serious? Don¡¯t you know that Karoman has cleared the Big Dipper Palaces?¡± Hui Haifeng asked doubtfully.


    ¡°Someone cleared the Big Dipper Palaces so quickly? I really didn¡¯t know about this and didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. Who¡¯s Karoman?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°To think that you are the lord of a city and an overlord of an area now. You don¡¯t even know such a huge matter. What kind of City Lord are you?¡± Hui Haifeng was somewhat speechless. After a pause, he said, ¡°Karoman is from the Cape family. He¡¯s now the representative of the Sun God Holy Temple. He has just cleared the Big Dipper Palaces. The entire world is filled with news about him.¡±


    ¡°What has this got to do with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Of course it has something to do with you. Look at the rankings. The top ten are all representatives of the dimensional races. If this continues, I¡¯m afraid everyone will think that there¡¯s nothing wrong with being ruled by the dimension. In the future, we¡­¡±


    ¡°Stop. What do you want? Get to the point.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the patience to listen to him reason.


    ¡°Junior Brother, as the saying goes, with great strength comes great responsibility. In order to let the citizens of the Federation regain their glory as humans, shouldn¡¯t you show your face on the rankings and let them know that even if you don¡¯t submit to those fellows from the dimension, humans can still become top-notch powerhouses¡­¡± Hui Haifeng spoke with emotion and reason, a heartfelt speech.

 Chapter 1695 - Human Sovereign Appears Again

    Zhou Wen had plans on challenging the Big Dipper Palace in real life, so there was an immediate agreement. Therefore, Zhou Wen agreed without rejecting him.


    The Big Dipper Palaces in-game had already respawned. Zhou Wen grinded it again, but just as he had expected, Starlady Polestar hadn¡¯t respawned. He was basically certain that he could only grind the hidden dungeons once in-game. If he wanted to obtain the treasures in the hidden dungeons, he had to think of a solution in reality.


    1


    If Zhou Wen had been a little hesitant previously, afraid that he would die before Truth Listener defeated Starlady Polestar, Great Brahma¡¯s advancement to the Heaven Realm completely dispelled this worry.


    Now, Zhou Wen was considering what identity to use to clear the Big Dipper Palace.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s status, he would definitely become the focus of all the factions in the future. The various races in the dimension would probably treat Guide Ancient City and him as a thorn in their side. They would think of all possible ways to eliminate them.


    Therefore, after some hesitation, Zhou Wen decided to challenge the Big Dipper Palace as Human Sovereign. Furthermore, this identity had high prestige among humans, so it was most suitable.


    Sweetie, please bless me. Let me obtain another Emperor Star. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t get his mind off the Emperor Star. That thing could add a Life Providence for no reason. It was very suitable for any Companion Beast.


    2


    He headed straight for a Cube, Hui Haifeng hoped that he struck while the iron was hot. He wanted to crush the rankings before Karoman¡¯s achievement caused a greater impact.


    ¡°Professor Gu, Karoman has become the first person to clear the Big Dipper Palaces. Those in second place to tenth place haven¡¯t even been able to clear the sixth Star Palace. I¡¯m afraid the rewards of the Big Dipper Palaces this time will be very likely to belong to him.¡± Su Yi chatted with Professor Gu on the program.


    Professor Gu nodded slightly and said, ¡°Although everything is still unknown before the Cube¡¯s countdown ends, it will be very difficult for anyone to surpass Karoman for the time being. Even if someone can clear the Big Dipper Palaces, it won¡¯t be easy to surpass him on the rankings.¡±


    2


    As Professor Gu spoke, he suddenly realized that the Cube¡¯s screen had lit up again.


    1


    ¡°Another person wants to challenge the Big Dipper Palace? Who could it be? Mohe or someone else?¡± Everyone watching the program was slightly taken aback before they became excited.


    ¡°The reason this person¡¯s challenging the Big Dipper Palaces at this time is clearly because of Karoman!¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s trying to stir up some sh*t! However, to be able to cause a stir, they must be someone with extraordinary strength. At the very least, they have to have the strength to clear the Big Dipper Palaces. Who could it be?¡±


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    As everyone discussed, a white figure appeared on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    The pure white figure was like a god wrapped in holy light. Although they couldn¡¯t see what the person in the light looked like, many people immediately recognized who it was.


    ¡°Holy sh*t! Human Sovereign is here!¡±


    ¡°F*ck! Human Sovereign is here? What does he want? Does he want to storm the Big Dipper Palaces?¡±


    ¡°Thankfully, I didn¡¯t give up. I¡¯ve waited for you. Human Sovereign, you¡¯re finally here!¡±


    ¡°Why are you so excited? For Human Sovereign to come here means that he¡¯s definitely a Calamity-grade existence. Without becoming a representative and receiving the help from the dimension¡¯s massive resources, do you think a pure human can advance to the Calamity grade so quickly?¡±


    ¡°Sigh, what you said makes sense. The present Human Sovereign is probably not the former Human Sovereign.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly as the comments flooded in, making it almost impossible to read them. It was obvious that Human Sovereign hadn¡¯t been completely forgotten. He had just been silent for too long.


    ¡°Did Human Sovereign choose to challenge the Big Dipper Palaces at this time because he has an agenda? Professor Gu, what do you think?¡± When Su Yi saw Human Sovereign challenging the Big Dipper Palace, she looked completely different. She looked very spirited.


    ¡°You mean that Human Sovereign chose to storm the Big Dipper Palaces the moment Karoman cleared the seven Star Palaces to prove that ordinary humans aren¡¯t inferior to the representatives?¡± Professor Gu said.


    Su Yi nodded excitedly. ¡°I think it¡¯s not as simple as a coincidence.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign must have come prepared if he chose to attempt the rankings at this moment. Furthermore, he has already seen the battle between Karoman and Starlord Army Breaker. He knows Starlord Army Breaker¡¯s abilities. It shouldn¡¯t be a big problem to clear the seventh Star Palace.¡± Professor Gu didn¡¯t mention if Human Sovereign was pure human. He only said that Human Sovereign would definitely be able to clear the seven Star Palaces.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. With Sect Master Gu¡¯s jinxing, Human Sovereign is in danger.¡±


    ¡°No, Sect Master, you are going to jinx Human Sovereign!¡±


    The comments were filled with wailing. Who could withstand Jinx Sect Master¡¯s jinxing?


    ¡­


    An Sheng stood behind An Tianzuo and said as he looked at the scene on the Cube, ¡°Overseer, if Young Master Wen were to rush to the top of the rankings at this moment, he would definitely be able to inspire many humans. This will be extremely beneficial to humanity¡¯s future development.¡±


    An Tianzuo said coldly, ¡°Ignoring the question of whether he can clear the seven Star Palaces, even if he plans on doing so, according to the rules of the Cube¡¯s ranking, the first person to clear the seven Star Palaces will receive an unspoken bonus score. It will be very difficult for him to be ranked above Karoman. If he¡¯s calm enough and studies Starlord Army Breaker¡¯s abilities, he might have a chance of defeating him in the most perfect manner. He¡¯s already such a grown man, but he¡¯s still so rash.¡±


    ¡°Perhaps Young Master Wen already has a card up his sleeve,¡± An Sheng muttered.


    ¡°What do you mean a card up his sleeve? I think he¡¯s just hot-headed.¡± An Tianzuo snorted as he stared at the screen, his eyes seemingly filled with anticipation.


    3


    ¡­


    ¡°Human Sovereign has actually appeared at this moment. Things have become interesting.¡± Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan were also watching in front of the Cube in the Zhang family compound.


    ¡°Is Human Sovereign still pure human?¡± Xia Liuchuan stared at the figure on the screen with interest, but unfortunately, he couldn¡¯t even see what the person inside looked like.


    ¡°We¡¯ll know soon,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said indifferently.


    ¡­


    The various factions were paying attention to Human Sovereign. Instead of saying that they wanted to know if Human Sovereign could clear the Big Dipper Palaces, they wanted to know if Human Sovereign had become a representative.


    Zhou Wen appeared in his Terror form as Human Sovereign. In fact, he had already fused with Great Brahma, but he didn¡¯t plan on using Great Brahma to fight.


    Under everyone¡¯s expectant gazes, Zhou Wen pushed open the Star Palace¡¯s door and summoned Truth Listener.


    Everyone was taken aback. They never expected Human Sovereign to summon a Companion Beast to fight. Although very few humans had Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, it was almost impossible to clear the level with just one Companion Beast in a continuous battle like the seven Star Palaces.


    Furthermore, fighting on the Cube was watched by everyone. Using too many Companion Beasts was equivalent to showing their trump cards to their enemies. Therefore, unless necessary, very few people used Companion Beasts.


    Could it be that Human Sovereign¡¯s strength hasn¡¯t reached the level needed to clear the seven Star Palaces? He needs to rely on the power of multiple Companion Beasts to clear the seven Star Palaces. If that¡¯s the case, it should be very difficult for him to surpass Karoman on the rankings, right? Many people had such thoughts flash through their minds.

 Chapter 1696 - Blasting Apart With A Slap

    ¡°Humanoid Companion Beast? It looks so cool!¡±


    The Truth Listener that Zhou Wen had summoned had its limiter removed with the six earrings. It appeared in the Star Palace in its human form. Its handsome and wild appearance immediately attracted the attention of many people.


    Even in this era where Calamity creatures were common, humanoid Companion Beasts were still extremely rare.


    Before anyone could carefully appreciate Truth Listener¡¯s appearance, it instantly arrived in front of Starlord Ravenous Wolf.


    Starlord Ravenous Wolf¡¯s fist emitted light, but before he could deliver a blast of light, Truth Listener¡¯s palm struck him to the ground along with his blast of light. It exploded as all sorts of Essence Energy Crystals dropped and fell to the ground.


    Ordinary people wouldn¡¯t be able to see the battle process, but everyone could see Truth Listener¡¯s strike that blasted Starlord Ravenous Wolf apart. This was because its actions were so simple, direct, and without any technical content.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°This Companion Beast is so cool! If he were a human, I would definitely marry him.¡±


    ¡°To slap Starlord Ravenous Wolf to death in one strike. This Companion Beast is comparable to Karoman. It¡¯s no wonder Human Sovereign dares to challenge the Big Dipper Palaces.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, this Starlord Ravenous Wolf is fake, right? He¡¯s a Calamity-grade creature after all. He was killed just like that?¡±


    The entire world instantly broke into an uproar. Su Yi said excitedly, ¡°As expected of Human Sovereign. Just a mere Companion Beast of his is already so powerful. I wonder how powerful he is. I really look forward to seeing him personally take action.¡±


    Professor Gu continued, ¡°Your anticipation might not last long. This Companion Beast is indeed extremely powerful, but it¡¯s obvious that he¡¯s a Strength-type melee Companion Beast. It shouldn¡¯t be difficult to deal with Starlord Ravenous Wolf and Starlord Titan Gate, but when it comes to Starlord Cherished Kismet of the Third Star Palace, this Companion Beast will be restrained. It needs Human Sovereign to take action himself or summon a new Companion Beast.¡±


    Amidst everyone¡¯s discussion, Zhou Wen had already arrived at the second Star Palace with Truth Listener. Just as Professor Gu had predicted, Truth Listener effortlessly killed Starlord Titan Gate. Everyone could clearly see that Starlord Titan Gate had no means of retaliating.


    ¡°Now, I want to know how Human Sovereign will deal with Starlord Cherished Kismet. Will he do it himself or summon a new Companion Beast?¡± Professor Gu said.


    Upon hearing Professor Gu¡¯s explanation, everyone began to look forward to it. They were discussing if Human Sovereign should take action himself or summon a new Companion Beast.


    Some people looked forward to seeing Human Sovereign¡¯s glory, while others hoped to see him showcase more powerful Companion Beasts.


    However, after Human Sovereign walked into the Cherished Kismet Palace, he didn¡¯t summon another Companion Beast. Professor Gu said, ¡°From the looks of it, Human Sovereign plans on taking action himself. I wonder what kind of power he will use and what strategy he will take. However, as long as Human Sovereign takes action, I can roughly tell if he advanced to the Calamity grade as a pure human¡­¡±


    Before Professor Gu could finish his analysis, he saw Truth Listener blast apart Starlord Cherished Kismet with a slap.


    Exploded from a slap¡­ Exploded from a slap¡­ Exploded from a slap¡­ The scene became a little odd. The professor¡¯s eyes widened and his mouth gaped open for a long time.


    Does this even f*cking make sense? Isn¡¯t Starlord Cherished Kismet able to reflect damage? Doesn¡¯t it have powerful recovery abilities? Isn¡¯t it able to restrain Strength-type Companion Beasts? Isn¡¯t it invincible when being beaten? What happened? Where am I? Who am I? Professor Gu¡¯s mind was filled with questions.


    2


    ¡°Haha, my Human Sovereign is awesome. There¡¯s no such thing as strategy. There¡¯s no need to do it himself. The Companion Beast can resolve it with a slap.¡±


    ¡°This Companion Beast is invincible. It can even slap the opponent to death. It freaking doesn¡¯t make sense.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me Human Sovereign will use one Companion Beast to kill all seven Starlords?¡±


    ¡°Awesome, Human Sovereign is mighty. I never knew that Companion Beasts could be so ferocious.¡±


    ¡°This is the strongest Companion Beast in the world. I won¡¯t accept any retorts.¡±


    Many humans had great expectations and a good impression of Human Sovereign to begin with. Truth Listener¡¯s domineering performance instantly ignited everyone¡¯s enthusiasm.


    ¡°Professor Gu, Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast is so powerful. Which type of Companion Beast do you think it is? Will Human Sovereign use this Companion Beast to clear the Big Dipper Palaces? If that¡¯s the case, will his ranking have a chance of overtaking Karoman?¡± Su Yi was very excited as she raised several questions.


    Professor Gu finally snapped to his senses and forced himself to calm down. ¡°From the looks of it, this Companion Beast¡¯s level should be very high. It ignores powers that are strong against the Strength stat. If nothing goes wrong, he should be able to clear the Big Dipper Palaces with a Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, don¡¯t do that. I¡¯m afraid Human Sovereign won¡¯t be able to withstand your jinx.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? If this Companion Beast doesn¡¯t work, Human Sovereign will definitely have other powerful Companion Beasts. It will be a feast for our eyes to see a few more.¡±


    Everyone was delighted. In the past, they couldn¡¯t see the battles between the other experts and the Starlords clearly. They could only watch the slow-motion analysis afterward. This was the first time they had seen it so clearly on the livestream.


    Zhou Wen led Truth Listener to clear one Star Palace after another, all of them exploding with a single slap. No Starlord could withstand the seemingly simple strike, nor did they have the chance to counterattack.


    When the various factions saw how powerful Truth Listener was without the need to use any countermeasures or strategies to kill the Starlords, their expressions turned extremely odd.


    They originally wanted to observe Human Sovereign¡¯s strength through this battle, but now, they didn¡¯t even know what abilities Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast had, much less Human Sovereign¡¯s strength.


    Such a slap was like striking an egg. Nothing could be seen.


    ¡­


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡¯s Companion Beast should be the strongest in the world.¡± An Sheng sighed.


    ¡°Humph, to rely on external forces and not pay attention to his cultivation will result in him suffering sooner or later.¡± Although An Tianzuo said that, he couldn¡¯t help but size up Truth Listener.


    ¡­


    The first six Starlords failed to cause any trouble for Truth Listener. Now, people were wondering if the long staircase in front of Alkaid Star Palace that could drain Essence Energy could restrain Human Sovereign and his Companion Beast.


    ¡°The first six Star Palaces failed to put any pressure on Human Sovereign. Will the final Alkaid Star Palace give him some pressure?¡± Su Yi was confident in Human Sovereign. She firmly believed that Human Sovereign would definitely be able to clear the seventh Star Palace. She only wanted to know if the long staircase could cause any trouble for him.


    ¡°In theory, the long stairs can wipe out Essence Energy. Even if that Companion Beast¡¯s strength is invincible, it¡¯s still an Essence Energy creature after all. It will definitely be restrained on the long steps. If Human Sovereign doesn¡¯t have a way to restrain the flight of stairs, I¡¯m afraid this won¡¯t be easy. However, since Human Sovereign came, he must be prepared. I believe he should have the ability to restrain the stairs. Then, all he needs to do is unsummon the Companion Beast and summon it after entering the Star Palace. That will resolve all the problems.¡± Professor Gu analyzed the strategy that Zhou Wen might use.


    1

 Chapter 1697 - Hidden Star Palace

    Zhou Wen arrived in front of the long stairs. He naturally wouldn¡¯t unsummon Truth Listener. It would only be more troublesome to summon it again.


    Furthermore, Truth Listener wasn¡¯t afraid of these strange taboos at all. It was even better than his Teacher Domain. He didn¡¯t need to do anything; the ability to drain Essence Energy along the long flight of stairs was useless against him.


    Everyone immediately became excited when they saw Human Sovereign take Truth Listener up the long flight of stairs without any intention of unsummoning it.


    ¡°Sect Master Gu¡¯s mouth is indeed blessed. From the looks of it, Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast isn¡¯t afraid of the Essence Energy draining ability along the stairs.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the Companion Beast that isn¡¯t afraid. Human Sovereign definitely isn¡¯t afraid either. This is quite impressive.¡±


    As expected, Human Sovereign easily led Truth Listener to the end of the long flight of stairs and pushed open the door to Alkaid Star Palace.


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast is just so cool. It¡¯s practically domineering. All kinds of powers are useless against it. What kind of Companion Beast is this? I¡¯ve never heard of such a Companion Beast,¡± Su Yi said excitedly.


    Professor Gu was a little embarrassed, so he stopped talking. He didn¡¯t know what was wrong with him today; no matter how he analyzed it, it was wrong. Professor Gu thought to himself, It¡¯s best if I don¡¯t talk too much. This Human Sovereign really doesn¡¯t play by the rules.


    2


    Zhou Wen pushed open the Star Palace¡¯s door and walked in with Truth Listener who delivered another explosive punch. This was under the condition that Zhou Wen got Truth Listener to hold back. Otherwise, even the Star Palace would probably be wrecked.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, that works? Karoman fought for a few minutes, but it just takes a punch to finish him off?¡±


    ¡°This Companion Beast is nuts!¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for strategy or plan. Just blow it up with one punch.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡¯s the best. Even Sect Master Gu can¡¯t jinx him. He was so steady, clearing the seven Star Palaces so casually.¡±


    ¡°No matter how I look at it, this Companion Beast is stronger than Karoman. Although he relied on a Companion Beast to clear the levels, it¡¯s too amazing. It should have a chance of vying for first place on the rankings, right?¡±


    ¡°Can I ask where I can get such a Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°Stop dreaming. Ignoring the fact that such a Companion Beast is definitely unique, even if there¡¯s a place to obtain it, you don¡¯t have the ability to obtain it.¡±


    Everyone was awestruck. Truth Listener¡¯s domineering style left them wanting for more.


    ¡°Professor Gu, do you think Human Sovereign has a chance of getting first place?¡± Su Yi asked Professor Gu.


    Professor Gu cleared his throat and said conservatively, ¡°In theory, the score obtained from using a Companion Beast to clear the level is lower than clearing it individually. The more Companion Beasts used, the lower the score. However, Human Sovereign only used one Companion Beast. Furthermore, he cleared the level in a steamrolling manner. His score shouldn¡¯t be low, so he has a chance of vying for first place.¡±


    As he spoke, Professor Gu couldn¡¯t hold it in any longer. He continued, ¡°However, Human Sovereign has already seen the abilities of all the Starlords. The difficulty of clearing the level definitely can¡¯t compare to Karoman, who cleared the Star Palace on his first attempt. If Human Sovereign was the first person to clear the seven Star Palaces, he would definitely be first on the rankings. Now, there¡¯s still some suspense.¡±


    The meaning behind Professor Gu¡¯s words was that although Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast was very strong, he had benefited from Karoman and hadn¡¯t cleared the unknown Star Palace himself.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. After all, it¡¯s only a matter of one punch. Even if he hadn¡¯t seen Karoman clear the level, Human Sovereign can clear it as he pleases. I bet that Human Sovereign will definitely be at the top of the rankings.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a pity. If only Human Sovereign had come out earlier.¡±


    Just as people were discussing if Human Sovereign could reach the top of the rankings, they saw him arrive in front of a mini star in the Star Palace. Truth Listener reached out to push the mini star, causing it to spin.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing?¡± It wasn¡¯t just the average person. Even the people from the various factions were puzzled. They didn¡¯t know why Human Sovereign wasn¡¯t leaving after clearing the level.


    Junior Brother, what are you trying to do? Hui Haifeng was already very satisfied with Zhou Wen¡¯s performance. Although he hadn¡¯t taken action himself, it was already very commendable for him to use a Companion Beast to surpass Karoman¡¯s limelight.


    Amidst everyone¡¯s puzzlement, the mini star emitted a blue light that transformed into a blue beam that shone on the teleportation nexus, dyeing it ice-blue.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what¡¯s Human Sovereign doing?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°No way. Could there be something fishy with the Big Dipper Palaces?¡±


    Many people widened their eyes as they watched the magical changes in the Star Palace.


    When Zhou Wen walked into the teleportation nexus with Truth Listener, the scene on the Cube changed to the North Star and the ice palace.


    ¡°Heavens, there¡¯s actually another Star Palace?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, there¡¯s a hidden Star Palace?¡±


    ¡°How did Human Sovereign know?¡±


    Instantly, the Internet was filled with surprised comments as a series of question marks flooded the screen.


    Professor Gu was dumbfounded. He had just said that Human Sovereign hadn¡¯t cleared an unknown Star Palace himself, but it ended up with him activating an unknown Star Palace.


    Now, Professor Gu wished he could slap himself twice. He regretted saying that last sentence.


    ¡°This Starlord looks so cool. What Starlord is this?¡±


    ¡°Lad, you don¡¯t usually read, right? It¡¯s obvious that you aren¡¯t cultured. The star corresponding to the Big Dipper is definitely the North Star. And the North Star has the name of the Purple Star Palace. I guess this Star Palace should be the Purple Star Palace. Lord Human Sovereign is indeed a genius who knows everything about astronomy and geology. He must have used Purple Star Astrology to figure out the hidden Star Palace. I¡¯m getting more impressed with him.¡±


    ¡°This is the true sovereign of humanity. There¡¯s no need for him to enter the Star Palaces personally. He can deduce the hidden Star Palace with just a snap of his fingers. A cultured person is just that confident.¡±


    Many people were about to turn Human Sovereign into a myth. Unbeknown to them, Zhou Wen knew nothing about Purple Star Astrology.


    ¡°Human Sovereign actually knows Purple Star Astrology?¡± Zhang Chunqiu wore a look of shock.


    Purple Star Astrology was also known as the number one form of divination, a field meant to serve an emperor. The Zhang family also studied Purple Star Astrology, but there weren¡¯t many people who were truly proficient in it. Yet, Human Sovereign actually knew it and seemed to be very proficient in it. This left him somewhat surprised.


    It was impossible to deduce the existence of the hidden Star Palace from the layout of the miniature stars in the Star Palace and find the star that could open a hidden dimensional zone among the countless miniature stars if one didn¡¯t know Purple Star Astrology.


    ¡°What does this fellow not know?¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s face was filled with envy and jealousy.


    In the Wang family, Wang Lu wore a look of worry as she prayed silently. I hope nothing happens.


    Compared to others¡¯ curiosity about the hidden Star Palace, Wang Lu was more worried about Zhou Wen¡¯s safety. She had long known that Human Sovereign was Zhou Wen.


    ¡°The dangers of the hidden Star Palace are unknown. Young Master Wen is too rash.¡± An Sheng also wore a look of worry.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t say a word, but his eyes were also filled with worry.


    3

 Chapter 1698 - Sovereign of Humanity

    Chapter 1698 Sovereign of Humanity


    ¡°What a pity. It looks like your position as first place will change hands.¡± In the Family Clan of Gods, Mohe looked at Karoman and smiled.


    ¡°Since I know that there¡¯s a hidden Star Palace, the first place will be mine sooner or later. Furthermore, it¡¯s hard to say if he can clear the hidden Star Palace. Just a Companion Beast might not be able to deal with all situations,¡± said Karoman indifferently.


    As the two of them spoke, Starlady Polestar opened her eyes in the Star Palace. Stars appeared in the sky and transformed into countless starlight beams that shot down, instantly lighting up the world. The entire Star Palace seemed to have turned into an endless universe. The entire Cube¡¯s screen was occupied by the gorgeous starlight.


    The calm expression on the face of Karoman changed immediately. Such an aura and form of strength were definitely not something the Starlords of the previous seven Star Palaces could compare with.


    ¡°Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array!¡± Zhang Chunqiu, who had always been calm, exclaimed involuntarily.


    Even the low-level ordinary people could tell that this Starlady was very different when they saw the power that resembled the primordial universe.


    Under the aura of the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, the average person felt as tiny as an ant or a speck of dust. Even through the screen, despair spread in their hearts.


    Boom!


    Golden streams of light erupted in the starlight like a golden flash that streaked across the galaxy. The battle had finally begun.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    It was like a galaxy exploding as countless stars bloomed. Not to mention ordinary people, even the Calamity-grade representatives could hardly see what was happening inside.


    As Karoman watched, he felt his body turn cold. His inner wear was drenched in cold


    sweat.


    There¡¯s no way to fight her! These were the only words in Karoman¡¯s heart. If he were to fight Starlady Polestar, he would probably be instantly killed.


    ¡°What the hell? Is Human Sovereign really that strong?¡± Xia Liuchuan¡¯s mouth gaped open for a long time.


    He couldn¡¯t see the battle, but to be able to survive at such a level proved that Human Sovereign¡¯s strength was extremely powerful. Xia Liuchuan knew very well that if he were to watch the battle inside, he would probably be reduced to nothing.


    ¡°Is Young Master Wen already that strong?¡± An Sheng¡¯s face was filled with joy.


    ¡°All he knows is to show off all day. It¡¯s as though he¡¯s afraid that others won¡¯t know who he is.¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s tone was cold, but the corners of his mouth subconsciously curled up, forming a very beautiful arc.


    Few humans could understand a battle at this level. Those who could were also alarmed.


    ¡°Has he already reached such a level?¡± In an uninhabited ancient city, an elder narrowed his eyes as he watched the battle on the Cube. It was none other than Jing Daoxian, who hadn¡¯t appeared in a long time.


    After watching for a while, Jing Daoxian stopped and turned to leave. He muttered to himself, ¡°From the looks of it, I have to be faster. Otherwise, I really won¡¯t be able to keep up with this era.¡±


    Everyone watching the battle felt the same. A chill ran down their spines as they couldn¡¯t stop the fear in their hearts. Some with weaker willpower were trembling.


    The apocalyptic clash made everyone feel tiny and powerless.


    ¡°This is what makes a f*cking Calamity!¡± It was unknown who sent such a comment. This sentence began to appear on all the programs on the Internet.


    ¡°Professor Gu, what level is this battle? Is this still at the Calamity grade?¡± Su Yi was dazzled as she muttered.


    ¡°I can only say that such a battle has already exceeded any known powerhouse at this stage. I have to apologize for my words. To be able to participate in such a battle, even if Human Sovereign doesn¡¯t fight personally, it¡¯s enough to prove that his strength is above all known humans.¡±


    Professor Gu continued with a solemn expression, ¡°If he really has a pure human body and hasn¡¯t contracted a Guardian, then Human Sovereign is undoubtedly the sovereign of humanity. Such strength might meet its match in the future, but it¡¯s definitely unprecedented. Only now do I know why Human Sovereign didn¡¯t personally fight the Starlords from before. It¡¯s because he finds it beneath him to do so. It¡¯s just like a lofty emperor who doesn¡¯t personally kill ordinary people. Those Starlords aren¡¯t worthy of him taking action personally.¡±


    ¡°Now, I only hope that Human Sovereign can come out alive. If such a person dies in the Star Palace, it will be our greatest loss,¡± Professor Gu added with a heavy expression.


    ¡°May the heavens bless us. Let Human Sovereign win!¡± Su Yi¡¯s palms were sweaty from nervousness.


    ¡°May the heavens bless him!¡± This sentence flooded the screen. Looking at the terrifying cosmic starlight, many people began praying for Human Sovereign.


    When the twelve Star Palaces appeared, everyone felt as though the end of the world had arrived. It was also as though a divine punishment had appeared to punish the world.


    Even watching the livestream through the screen made one have the urge to kneel down and pray and repent.


    The twelve Star Palaces slowly came crashing down. It was suffocating. The twelve Star Palaces were like the power of the Heavenly Dao.


    Everyone beneath the Heavenly Dao was an ant. Even the most unprecedented sage couldn¡¯t escape the suppression of the heavens. Sooner or later, they would have to accept their fate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t die!¡± Hui Haifeng¡¯s forehead was covered in cold sweat as his eyes nearly popped out. They were bloodshot.


    He regretted letting Zhou Wen step forward, but who the hell knew that Zhou Wen would do such a thing? If he really died inside, he wouldn¡¯t know how to answer to himself.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan also stared intently at the screen. Xia Liuchuan, who always liked to tease and couldn¡¯t keep his mouth shut, seemed to be mute. He couldn¡¯t say a word.


    It was an indescribable pressure. Everyone felt as though an inescapable mountain of fate was pressing down on their chests. They were so uncomfortable that they were about to suffocate. It was as though the sky was about to collapse as despair involuntarily filled their minds.


    Boom!


    A dark-gold bolt of lightning shot up in defiance of the heavens, shattering a Star Palace. It was like the first ray of light in the extreme night, illuminating everyone¡¯s hearts.


    Boom! Boom!


    Explosions sounded incessantly as the Star Palaces that represented fate were blasted to pieces. It was like a thunderclap that entered their ears, making the people who were about to suffocate shatter the mountains that pressed down on their chests. They couldn¡¯t help but tremble as the despair in their hearts gradually turned into excitement.


    Boom!


    The moment the last Star Palace shattered, everyone¡¯s bodies jolted before they heaved a long sigh as though they had put down a heavy burden.


    The Star Palaces were destroyed as the starlight that filled the sky was extinguished. Only two figures remained standing proudly in the Star Palace. One of them looked up at the sky indifferently while the other was handsome and wild as he looked down at all life from above.

 Chapter 1699 - A Simple Name

    Chapter 1699 A Simple Name


    ¡°Junior Brother, well done!¡± Hui Haifeng jumped up excitedly. The effect was much stronger than he had expected. It couldn¡¯t be any more perfect.


    In the eyes of ordinary people, Human Sovereign was already a god-like existence. Truth Listener, who had blasted apart the twelve Star Palaces, made people love, fear, and envy him.


    ¡°Your daddy is ultimately your daddy. No matter how the times change, Human Sovereign is the strongest human. There¡¯s no one else.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m dying of laughter. There was actually someone who wanted to compare Karoman to Human Sovereign? Is there a comparison?¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign is mighty. This is the true number one expert of humanity. Those representatives are so weak.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t brag yet. How do you know that Human Sovereign isn¡¯t a representative? I think he¡¯s basically a representative. Otherwise, how could he become so strong in such a short period of time?¡±


    ¡°Shut up. My Human Sovereign is definitely not a representative.¡±


    While ordinary people engaged in a war of words on the Internet, the representatives, including Karoman, couldn¡¯t say a word. Or rather, they were in no mood to speak.


    Most of them had signed a contract with alien races to increase their strength. They originally imagined that they could become the top existences among humans, but Human Sovereign¡¯s unparalleled strength made them feel like they had suddenly fallen from heaven to the mortal world.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Which race is he the representative of?¡± After a long silence, Karoman finally spoke.


    It wasn¡¯t just Karoman who was wondering. All the representatives and experts of the various factions believed that Human Sovereign was definitely a representative. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to reach such a level in such a short period of time.


    It had nothing to do with talent, but resources. Without the resources provided by the dimension, it would probably take at least eight to nine years for humans to obtain them in the dimensional zones. It was impossible for even a Human Realm Calamity to appear, much less at a level like Human Sovereign.


    Everyone stared at the Cube¡¯s screen and waited for the moment the ranking appeared. They wanted to know which race Human Sovereign was the representative of.


    It wasn¡¯t just the various factions on Earth. Even many terrifying existences in the dimension were looking at the Cube¡¯s screen. They also wanted to know which race had nurtured such a human. From their point of view, nurturing a human like this was a huge investment.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about what others thought. His mind was filled with


    joy.


    Emperor Star. Indeed, there¡¯s an Emperor Star in reality. Starlady Polestar had dropped another Emperor Star in reality. Without any hesitation, Zhou Wen put away the Emperor Star and teleported out of the Star Palace.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s departure, the Cube¡¯s screen returned to the rankings.


    Under the attention of everyone, the first place on the rankings changed hands as expected. Karoman was kicked to second place. However, when everyone saw the first name, they had the same reaction.


    Unbelievable!


    The name in first place was very simpleHuman Sovereign. It was without any additional prefixes or postfixes. Such a simple name surprised countless people in the Federation.


    As for the representatives and experts of the various factions, they only felt despair spread in their hearts.


    ¡°How is that possible¡­ Human Sovereign isn¡¯t a representative¡­¡± They couldn¡¯t believe that a human could reach such a level at such a point in time without relying on the resources of the alien races.


    However, they had no choice but to believe it. If Human Sovereign was really a representative of the dimensional races in the human world, then according to the contract, he had to add the name of the dimensional race on the rankings unless the contract Human Sovereign signed was different from theirs.


    However, up to now, they had never heard of a different contract. All the human representatives on the rankings did so without exception. It was obvious that the contents of the contracts were about the same.


    Instantly, many representatives wore odd expressions. In order to increase their strength, they had signed a contract with dimensional races and become their representatives.


    However, they suddenly realized that a person who didn¡¯t rely on the dimension to provide resources was already far ahead of them. This left them momentarily unable to accept the blow.


    ¡°Haha, I knew it. It¡¯s impossible for Human Sovereign to be a representative of the dimension. As expected of my Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Long live our sovereign!¡±


    ¡°Unbelievable. Human Sovereign should be able to defeat those representatives. He¡¯s pure human. I really wonder how those representatives feel after obtaining so many resources, only to be trampled beneath Human Sovereign¡¯s feet.¡±


    ¡°I want to say something, but I¡¯m not cultured enough. There¡¯s only two words in my mind-Human Sovereign is awesome.¡±


    ¡°Not only are you uncultured, but you also don¡¯t know how to count. That¡¯s clearly four words, alright?¡± The entire Federation boiled over. A human who wasn¡¯t a representative had actually reached such a level. Furthermore, it was possible that he was a pure human. He hadn¡¯t become a representative or contracted a Guardian. It was even possible that he hadn¡¯t used the Mythical Serum. This was as perfect as a dream.


    Of course, most people didn¡¯t believe that Human Sovereign remained pure human. They were more willing to believe that Human Sovereign had made some sacrifices to reach this stage.


    The various platforms that were originally discussing representatives now talked about Human Sovereign. Companion Beasts-a very popular phrase to begin with-once again exceeded the search numbers of representatives and became the most popular search.


    As people didn¡¯t know Truth Listener¡¯s name, and due to someone giving it the nickname of ¡°Crown Prince,¡± the Internet was calling it that. There were countless discussions about Truth Listener.


    Not every human could be a representative, but everyone had a chance of obtaining a Companion Beast. They wanted to know how to obtain such a powerful Companion Beast. The existence of evolvable Companion Beasts had already become common knowledge. It was just difficult for ordinary people to obtain them, but no matter how difficult it was, there was still a chance of obtaining one. If one could nurture one to the level of Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast, wouldn¡¯t they also become a top human expert?


    ¡°So what if I¡¯m weak? It¡¯s fine as long as my Companion Beast is strong enough. If you aren¡¯t convinced, fight my Companion Beast! If you aren¡¯t convinced, fight Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast!¡± Many people began to change their views. They no longer envied the experts who became representatives.


    Although it was impossible to completely change this concept in an instant, it was a good start.


    ¡°Young Master Wen is just so strong. It¡¯s hard to imagine how he managed to reach this stage. He suffered so much in secret, but he never complained. Young Master Wen has had it hard,¡± An Sheng said with a sigh.


    An Tianzuo remained silent. Zhou Wen¡¯s growth was faster than he had imagined. He had truly become the cornerstone of the human race. He felt gratified as some kind of power grew in his body, causing his blood to heat up.


    It¡¯s time to go there. How can I fall behind him?

 Chapter 1700 - Karoman Is Here

    Chapter 1700 Karoman Is Here


    Zhou Wen held the newly produced Emperor Star and hesitated about who to use it on.


    This thing was an improvement for anyone who used it. It didn¡¯t have any negative effects. With an additional Emperor¡¯s Life Life Providence, the other aspects were enhanced.


    The best choices were naturally Truth Listener and Demonic Neonate. After careful consideration, Zhou Wen decided to keep it for Demonic Neonate. He would give it to her after she completed her evolution.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen preferred Demonic Neonate, but that the Emperor¡¯s Life seemed to have the effect of gaining submission from dimensional creatures.


    Truth Listener was a violent person. It seemed a little difficult for him to rule a group of dimensional creatures. Demonic Neonate¡¯s sinister personality was somewhat suitable.


    Unfortunately, he only had one Emperor Star. If he had a few more, he could have all of them-Dragon Eclipse, Banana Fairy, and so on-have one. That would be perfect.


    Of course, this was only a thought. The treasures in hidden dungeons didn¡¯t even respawn in-game, making it impossible for them to be mass-produced.


    Zhou Wen put away the Emperor Star and summarized his various Essence Energy Arts. He planned on advancing all his Essence Energy Arts to the Calamity grade as soon as possible. Otherwise, it would always be a latent danger if he didn¡¯t reach the Calamity grade.


    Currently, the Essence Energy Arts that had condensed a Calamity Zone were the First Order of Chaos (Hell level), Qi Refinement Art (Hell level), Dao Sutra (Hell level), Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra (Heaven level), and Ancient Sovereign Sutra (Human Realm).


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The only ones which hadn¡¯t condensed a Calamity Zone were the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, Godfiend Era, and the Demon God Catalog.


    Zhou Wen had no clue where to go to have Godfiend Era condense a Calamity Zone. It was very difficult to find a corresponding dimensional zone to an Essence Energy Art of unknown origins. All he could do was slowly experiment.


    The Demon God Catalog had a clear dimensional zone that was compatible with it, but when he thought of The Thearch of Chess Mountain, Zhou Wen found it a little thorny.


    Even without The Thearch, just the four generals of the Mo family that Zhou Wen had seen in Chess Mountain weren¡¯t people to be trifled with. There was a high chance that they were Heaven-level existences.


    With the principle of doing the easier things first, Zhou Wen planned on putting in some effort on the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. The Endless Sea of Stars was likely compatible with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, so it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to find an opportunity to advance to the Calamity grade.


    He opened the Endless Sea of Stars dungeon on his phone and indeed, the choice of modes appeared. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to choose the hidden mode.


    The Endless Sea of Stars looked like it corresponded to space. Every tiny planet corresponded to the stars in the universe. As there were too many stars, Zhou Wen could only slowly wander the Endless Sea of Stars. As he hunted dimensional creatures in the Endless Sea of Stars, he searched for the location of the hidden dungeon.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s luck was pretty good. He found the suspected hidden dungeon after searching for a few days.


    It was a tiny, inconspicuous planet. It was barren with nothing but rocks. Even dimensional creatures didn¡¯t stay on it.


    If it were any other time, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have paid attention to this place, but under hidden mode, the tiny planet emitted a black glow.


    From the looks of it, it should be here. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover anything special about the tiny planet and prepared to land on it to take a closer look.


    It looked like an ordinary planet, but when the blood-colored avatar landed on it, it suddenly felt an unparalleled suction force pull at its body, causing it to collapse to the ground.


    Although Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade, he had a few Calamity-grade Essence Energy Arts. His physique wasn¡¯t something ordinary Terror-grade creatures could compare with.


    The suction force of the tiny planet prevented Zhou Wen from escaping as he was sucked to the ground. Its strength was unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen first used the Calamity-grade Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡¯s power to attempt to stand up, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t escape.


    Following that, he switched to the Qi Refinement Art, but it still didn¡¯t work. He even used the Heaven-level Small Perfection of Wisdom only to fail at standing up.


    The suction force on the small planet seemed infinite. No matter how powerful his strength was, it was difficult to escape it.


    After Zhou Wen used the Teacher Domain, he was finally liberated from the suction force, allowing him to fly freely on the tiny planet.


    The Dao Sutra is still reliable at critical moments. Zhou Wen sighed as he slowly searched the entrance of the hidden dungeon on the tiny planet.


    To his surprise, after searching the entire planet, he didn¡¯t find anything abnormal. Naturally, he didn¡¯t find the entrance to the hidden dungeon.


    This is strange. This should be the entrance to a hidden dungeon. Why can¡¯t I find an entrance? Zhou Wen attempted to push the tiny planet to see if it was like the Purple Star Palace. Only by pushing the planet could he trigger the entrance to the hidden dungeon.


    The planet didn¡¯t budge. Even Great Brahma¡¯s power couldn¡¯t move it at all.


    From the looks of it, the way to enter isn¡¯t to push this tiny planet. Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and switched his Essence Energy Art to the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. He deactivated all the other Essence Energy Arts.


    After retracting the Teacher Domain, even with the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art activated, Zhou Wen¡¯s body was still sucked to the ground. However, this time, it was somewhat different.


    His body lay on the hard rocks, but he felt that the rocks no longer looked like rocks. They seemed to turn into some liquid or bubbles as his body gradually sank into the tiny planet.


    ¡­


    Li Xuan had been very busy recently, giving him the urge to learn a clone technique.


    Zhou Wen was a boss who didn¡¯t do anything. He had to worry about the hundreds of thousands of people in Guide Ancient City. Although he had the Zhang and Xia families to share the burden, they weren¡¯t one of them after all. It wasn¡¯t convenient to leave certain matters to them.


    When will Ming Xiu and Little Yanyan return? The other representatives are back. What¡¯s taking them so long? Li Xuan began to miss the two oddities.


    When the two of them were around, Li Xuan would sometimes have a headache due to their annoying antics, but now that they were really gone, he felt that something was missing. At the very least, no one was helping him with the chores.


    ¡°Brother Xuan, bad news. Something bad has happened.¡± A fashionably-dressed young man rushed over and shouted as he ran.


    Li Xuan looked at the young man¡¯s attire and found it irksome no matter how he looked at it. He thought to himself, I have to think about designing a uniform later. Otherwise, these civil servants will look like hooligans and affect our image. I¡¯ll discuss it with Old Zhou when I have the time. However, with that fellow¡¯s odd aesthetic sense, it¡¯s probably useless discussing it with him.


    ¡°What¡¯s the fuss? Don¡¯t you know how to be steady? You are now the captain of Guide Ancient City¡¯s city guard. Look at you?¡± Li Xuan first reprimanded the youth before asking, ¡°What happened?¡±


    ¡°Karoman¡­ Karoman is at the city gates¡­ He said he wants to see our City Lord Zhou Wen¡­¡± The youth forced himself to calm down, but his tone was still somewhat flustered.


    Although the entire world acknowledged that Karoman was inferior to Human Sovereign, no one treated Human Sovereign as a human. In the hearts of the average person, he was still an invincible existence.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing here?¡± Li Xuan frowned slightly, unsure what Karoman¡¯s goal was. All he could do was head out to meet him and figure out his goal.

 Chapter 1701 - Disciples Share the Burden When Matters Crop Up

    Chapter 1701 Disciples Share the Burden When Matters Crop Up


    ¡°Karoman, why are you here instead of enjoying yourself at the Cape family residence?¡± Li Xuan stood in front of the city gates, looking frivolous.


    ¡°I want someone.¡± As he stood there casually, he gave off the feeling of being high and mighty, like a proud son of heaven.


    ¡°If you want someone, find a human peddler. We are a prim and proper place which doesn¡¯t sell people,¡± Li Xuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    Karoman frowned slightly, but he didn¡¯t flare up. He wasn¡¯t worried about Li Xuan and Zhou Wen, but this was nominally the An family¡¯s territory. Even the Cape family was somewhat afraid of Luoyang¡¯s An family.


    ¡°Lend me Guide Ancient City¡¯s Shiraishi Satomi for a month. Tell me how much you need in exchange,¡± said Karoman.


    ¡°How pitiful. You¡¯re already aging at such a young age. Your ears no longer work. Let me repeat myself. If you want to buy someone, find a human peddler. This place doesn¡¯t sell people,¡± Li Xuan said with a sneer.


    Li Xuan knew about Shiraishi Satomi and Ise Island. When he heard Karoman mention Shiraishi Satomi, he guessed what he was up to. He naturally couldn¡¯t hand Shiraishi Satomi over to him.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for An Tianzuo, you wouldn¡¯t have the right to negotiate with me. I hope you won¡¯t make a mistake.¡± Karoman frowned. If the negotiation really failed, even if he had to fall out with An Tianzuo, he definitely had to take Shiraishi Satomi away today.


    To others, Amaterasu was only a powerful Companion Beast, but it wasn¡¯t that simple for Karoman.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    His Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, Terror transformation, and Calamity Zone were perfectly compatible with the power of the Sun God Holy Temple. Otherwise, the Sun God Holy Temple wouldn¡¯t have chosen the Cape family as their representative. After all, the Cape family was the faction of the Holy Emperor Temple in the human world.


    As for Amaterasu, he was the Sun God of a pantheon. He was extremely compatible with Karoman and was one of the Companion Beasts he had to vie for.


    Upon hearing that, Li Xuan laughed. ¡°You really don¡¯t need to consider anyone. Our Guide Ancient City doesn¡¯t need to rely on anyone.¡±


    ¡°In that case, get Zhou Wen out. I want to see how powerful the legendary Deceit King is.¡± A cold glint flashed in Karoman¡¯s eyes as he planned on ending the battle quickly and taking Shiraishi Satomi away before An Tianzuo received the news and rushed over.


    ¡°Alright, hold on a moment.¡± Li Xuan knew how powerful Karoman was. Now that his level was inferior to his, he didn¡¯t plan on fighting him head-on. He returned to the city to find Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯ll only wait three minutes,¡± said Karoman coldly.


    Li Xuan couldn¡¯t be bothered to waste his breath on him. After entering the city, he headed straight for Zhou Wen¡¯s yard and explained the situation to him.


    Karoman is the representative of the Sun race, and he also has sun-type strength. Amaterasu is the Sun God. It¡¯s not difficult to understand why he¡¯s so anxious. From the looks of it, it¡¯s really possible that Shiraishi Satomi is really related to Ise Shrine. Zhou Wen thought for a moment and followed Li Xuan out of the city.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you dare make a bet with me? Let¡¯s fight. If I lose, this Calamity-grade Companion Beast will be yours. If you lose, lend me Shiraishi Satomi for a month,¡± said Karoman as he held a fist-sized Companion Egg that emitted a purple glow.


    ¡°No deal.¡± Zhou Wen rejected it without any hesitation.


    Victory was a certainty, but he wouldn¡¯t use someone of his as a stake. This was his bottom line.


    ¡°Don¡¯t force me to do something I¡¯m unwilling to do.¡± Karoman¡¯s expression turned cold as he stared at Zhou Wen and enunciated each word clearly. At the same time, the golden divine light on his body rose like the sun¡¯s holy brilliance.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly heard someone say languidly, ¡°Coach, is this person here to cause trouble?¡±


    ¡°Little Xiuxiu, you¡¯re back?¡± Li Xuan was immediately overjoyed when he saw the young man walking over from the main road. Finally, someone could share his workload.


    ¡°Brother Xuan, what¡¯s going on?¡± Ming Xiu sized up Karoman and asked.


    ¡°This fellow is the Cape family¡¯s Karoman, second on the Cube¡¯s rankings. He¡¯s here to cause trouble,¡± Li Xuan said casually.


    Karoman wasn¡¯t in the mood to listen to their nonsense. He said to Zhou Wen, ¡°Zhou Wen, do you want to fight me or do you want me to storm Guide Ancient City and take her away? You can choose between the two paths. I¡¯ll give you one final minute to consider.¡±


    ¡°Coach, rest for a while. A disciple shall share the burden when matters crop up. Leave this riff-raff to me.¡± Ming Xiu¡¯s expression made it seem like he was trying to chase away a street punk instead of a world-renowned super powerhouse.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded. He also wanted to see how much improvement Ming Xiu, who had returned from the dimension, had undergone. With him watching from the side, even if Ming Xiu wasn¡¯t a match for Karoman, nothing serious would happen.


    ¡°Little Xiuxiu, are you up to it? Although this fellow isn¡¯t much of a character, he¡¯s still strong,¡± Li Xuan whispered to Ming Xiu.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Ming Xiu gave Li Xuan a reassuring look before walking in front of Karoman. ¡°Do you want to leave by yourself or do you want me to send you off?¡±


    ¡°You have a death wish!¡± Karoman was slightly furious.


    Ignoring the fact that Ming Xiu kept calling Zhou Wen Coach, making it obvious that he was clearly Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple, he didn¡¯t even take Zhou Wen to heart, what¡¯s more Ming Xiu. He was already filled with killing intent.


    It was impossible for him to take Shiraishi Satomi away peacefully today. Karoman had already decided to serve a warning. Even if he didn¡¯t kill Ming Xiu, he would cripple him.


    Without any further nonsense, Karoman produced Sun God Light with a thought. Thousands of light streams shot out in every direction. It was really as if the Sun God was enraged.


    Ming Xiu didn¡¯t panic. He clenched his right hand and a sword appeared in his hand before he slowly stabbed out.


    When Li Xuan and the guards standing on the city wall saw this scene, they couldn¡¯t help but feel their hearts in their throats. Ming Xiu¡¯s strike looked slow and weak. It wasn¡¯t fast, ruthless, or accurate at all. It didn¡¯t have any shocking aura either. It was soft and seemed to lack force.


    Compared to Karoman¡¯s dazzling image, it made one suspect that Ming Xiu would be instantly reduced to dust.


    However, Zhou Wen was slightly surprised when he saw Ming Xiu¡¯s strike.


    He knew Ming Xiu¡¯s Tomorrow Sword Art very well. Now that he had activated the Teacher Domain to take a look, he immediately realized that the current Tomorrow Sword Art was indeed much stronger than before. In terms of realm, it wasn¡¯t inferior to the present Honn Shinsakura. Even Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t completely understand its profundity. It was only with the help of the Teacher Domain that he could identify its true profundity.


    Of course, their Sword Dao was different, and there was little comparison.


    When the dazzling Karoman saw this strike, his expression changed slightly. He couldn¡¯t tell the trajectory of the strike. It was as though the strike had no origin or destination, as though it had been born out of thin air.


    At his realm, he could almost predict the trajectories of every sword art. Such a situation surprised him. His contempt immediately vanished. He knew that he had encountered a terrifying opponent.

 Chapter 1702 - Silence

    Chapter 1702 Silence


    Many core members of Guide Ancient City stood on the city walls to watch the battle. The Zhang family, the Xia family, as well as the newly arrived Niten Flying Immortal Palace¡¯s Sei Gasakai, Honn Shinsakura, Shiraishi Satomi, and company.


    Naturally, there were also many original members of Guide Ancient City. When they saw Ming Xiu fight Karoman, they felt somewhat uneasy.


    Swordsman Tomorrow was quite famous, but compared to a figure like Karoman who was in the limelight, he was much weaker.


    It was especially so for Sei Gasakai and the other people from the Niten Flying Immortal Palace. They believed that Zhou Wen was very strong and could fight Karoman, but who was Ming Xiu? They weren¡¯t too sure and had some doubts.


    However, when Ming Xiu really began fighting Karoman, everyone was shocked.


    The intensity of the battle exceeded many people¡¯s expectations. Although Karoman¡¯s might was unparalleled, he didn¡¯t seem to be overwhelmingly strong when facing Ming Xiu. It could even be said that he was restrained by the slow swordplay. It was difficult to determine the victor.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou is really godlike. Just a disciple of his is on par with Karoman. It¡¯s truly breathtaking,¡± Sei Gasakai said with a sigh.


    ¡°It was indeed the right choice for us to come to Guide Ancient City.¡± The Elders had long forgotten how they had objected to Honn Shinsakura coming to Guide Ancient City. Their faces were blooming with joy.


    An existence like Karoman could only fight Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple to such an extent. Guide Ancient City¡¯s immense strength far exceeded their imagination. It was as unfathomable as the sea.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    re


    In fact, they had been rather surprised recently. The Zhang and Xia families had a large number of businesses in Guide Ancient City. This was completely different from what they had imagined.


    It was especially shocking that the Zhang family¡¯s princess, Zhang Yuzhi, was in Guide Ancient City.


    In fact, the Zhang and Xia families were also very surprised. They knew that Ming Xiu was very strong, but they never expected him to be this strong.


    ¡°The Ancient City has finally produced a representative,¡± Zhang Yuzhi said with a sigh. It was unknown what she was thinking.


    The person who was most surprised was Karoman himself. Ming Xiu¡¯s sword technique looked ordinary, and each move looked simple and unadorned. It was even a little slow, but it brought him great trouble.


    The most troublesome temporal-type attacks! Karoman had already identified Ming Xiu¡¯s temporal-type abilities, but he still found it challenging fighting him.


    Due to the time lag, the sword that Karoman¡¯s eyes saw might not be the real sword. Perhaps it was a sword from a second ago, or perhaps from another second before. He found it difficult to deal with it.


    Originally, Karoman wanted to defeat Ming Xiu using technique, but now, he was rather depressed. He couldn¡¯t see the possibility of winning.


    In that case, I can only crush everything with absolute strength. Karoman decided to release all his strength and carry out a large-scale destructive attack, preventing Ming Xiu from using those headache-inducing techniques.


    Who cares if it happened a second or two ago. The power that burned like the sun for all eternity could destroy everything over time. As the representative of the Sun race, this was also the power that Karoman was best at.


    Just as Karoman was about to release all his strength, he suddenly heard Zhou Wen, who was watching the battle from afar, say, ¡°Guide City has thousands of years of history. It wasn¡¯t easy to preserve many things to this day. It¡¯s best if you restrain yourself. Don¡¯t destroy the precious wealth that was a witness to history.¡±


    Guide Ancient City was a dimensional zone. No matter how intense the battle outside was, it was difficult for it to affect the interior of the ancient city.


    However, the area outside Guide City didn¡¯t have the ability to protect itself. Once an existence at the level of Karoman completely unleashed his strength for a large-scale attack, the entire city would probably be leveled.


    Although there were no more humans in the city, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see the area outside Ancient City reduced to charred ruins.


    Karoman sneered inwardly. Are you my father? Must I obey you? Of course, you don¡¯t want me to use my strength to defeat this fellow. As for whether that crappy city will be destroyed, what has it got to do with me? I must take Shiraishi Satomi away today. No one can stop me.


    As he thought about it, the Golden Divine Light on Karoman¡¯s body expanded and was about to devour everything nearby.


    At the instant the Golden Divine Light expanded, Karoman heard Zhou Wen say something like ¡°how disobedient.¡± He didn¡¯t clearly hear the words because he wasn¡¯t in the mood to hear him. His heart was filled with horror.


    At that instant, the Sun God power on Karoman¡¯s body vanished without a trace. It was as though an omnipotent god had been struck down to the mortal world and had his godhood skinned, reducing him to an ordinary mortal.


    The Sun God power naturally wouldn¡¯t vanish. However, in Zhou Wen¡¯s Teacher Domain, the circulation of the Sun God power was restricted, preventing him from releasing it out of his body.


    Without the Sun God power, even though Karoman¡¯s physique was still good, it was difficult for him to use it against Ming Xiu.


    Ming Xiu didn¡¯t take the opportunity to defeat Karoman. He sheathed his sword and stood there without continuing the battle.


    As for Karoman, he looked at Zhou Wen in horror. He didn¡¯t know how Zhou Wen had done it, but it was clearly Zhou Wen¡¯s doing.


    ¡°I already said that if you want to fight, fight. However, don¡¯t destroy anything here.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he removed the restrictions of the Teacher Domain on the Sun God power, restoring the right to use it.


    ¡°Continue,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Continue? Continue my ass! Karoman stood there with an odd expression. He didn¡¯t move for a long time as ten thousand curses roared in his heart.


    In Karoman¡¯s eyes, Guide Ancient City was like an empty city, one that he could come and go as he pleased as though it was empty.


    But now, Guide Ancient City had become as dangerous as a dragon¡¯s pool or a tiger¡¯s den in his eyes. It was also like an evil demon¡¯s den that was enveloped by a mysterious demonic fog. It made Karoman feel reverence.


    Guide Ancient City naturally hadn¡¯t changed. However, the pressure Ming Xiu exerted on Karoman, as well as the fear from how Zhou Wen suddenly made it difficult for him to release the Sun God power, changed his state of mind.


    It was hard for him to imagine that there were two terrifying existences in such a small city. It was especially so for Zhou Wen, who made it difficult for him to release the Sun God power. It made him feel fear deep down.


    Without the Sun God power, Karoman was like a bird that had lost its wings or a horse without legs. The horror was not something an ordinary person could imagine.


    Karoman didn¡¯t know if there were any more terrifying existences in this small city, but he no longer had any fighting spirit. His lofty aura had long vanished without a trace.


    Karoman didn¡¯t move, as though an awkward atmosphere was spreading in the air.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we switch locations?¡± Ming Xiu spoke, finally breaking the darn silence.

 Chapter 1703 - Anasrava Gold Turtle

    Chapter 1703 Anasrava Gold Turtle


    Karoman turned around and left without saying a word.


    ¡°Why did he leave just like that?¡± Many of the people watching the battle on the wall were puzzled. They could only tell that Karoman and Ming Xiu had fought to a draw. Then, after Zhou Wen said a few words, he left. It was baffling


    Leaving just like that? How boring. Zhou Wen felt a little stilted. He was using the Teacher Domain to analyze Ming Xiu¡¯s Tomorrow Sword Art. If no one fought Ming Xiu after Karoman left, what was there to analyze?


    ¡°Coach, don¡¯t do a thing next time. Otherwise, it will be too boring,¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    ¡°If you find it boring, why don¡¯t you fight me?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard Ming Xiu say that.


    Ming Xiu¡¯s situation was somewhat similar to Honn Shinsakura¡¯s. If he could use the Teacher Domain to help Ming Xiu grow, the Teacher Domain might be able to advance again and reach the highest level of Heaven. ¡°It¡¯s naturally best if you¡¯re willing to give me pointers.¡± Ming Xiu¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard Zhou Wen. Having been in the dimension for so long, he wanted to know how much he had improved.


    ¡°We¡¯ll talk when we get back,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked into the city.


    It wasn¡¯t like he was fighting an outsider. There was no need for Ming Xiu to expose all his abilities. It was better to find a secret place to fight Ming Xiu.


    After Karoman left, the more he thought about it, the more upset he felt. He guessed that Zhou Wen had a power that could restrain his Sun God power, just like how the long steps in front of the Alkaid Star Palace could eliminate Essence Energy-like powers. If I had known, I wouldn¡¯t have returned the Anasrava Gold Turtle so early. Karoman didn¡¯t believe that he was weaker than Zhou Wenit was only because Zhou Wen had a special ability that restrained his Sun God power. As long as he could crack that special ability, defeating Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be difficult.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The Anasrava Gold Turtle was the Companion Beast he had used to clear the Alkaid Star Palace¡¯s long flight of stairs. It transformed into golden armor to protect his body, allowing him to withstand the taboo power of the staircase.


    Karoman felt that Zhou Wen¡¯s power was similar to the staircase¡¯s powers. The Anasrava Gold Turtle was likely effective against him. As long as he wore the Anasrava Gold Turtle armor and went to Guide City, he wouldn¡¯t need to cower. He would definitely be able to defeat Zhou Wen and Ming Xiu.


    However, the Anasrava Gold Turtle wasn¡¯t his Companion Beast. He had only borrowed it. If he wanted to borrow it again, it would take at least half a month to borrow and then return it. Furthermore, he had to pay a price.


    Karoman didn¡¯t mind paying a price, but he couldn¡¯t afford to wait.


    Ever since he became a representative, he had never suffered such a huge setback. He couldn¡¯t wait to defeat Zhou Wen to redeem his pride.


    After some thought, he took out his phone and called a number. The call quickly connected.


    ¡°Pata, lend me your Anasrava Gold Turtle again.¡± Karoman directly revealed his intentions.


    ¡°Why? Do you still want to challenge the Star Palace? I advise you to give up. According to the information I obtained, Starlady Polestar should be at the Heaven level. Apart from Human Sovereign, I¡¯m afraid no one else among the humans can match her. You will only be sending yourself to your death. It¡¯s none of my business if you send yourself to your death, but the Anasrava Gold Turtle I lend you won¡¯t be able to return. I¡¯m not participating in this deal.¡± Pata¡¯s words left Karoman even more depressed.


    The Cube¡¯s ranking was dominated by Human Sovereign, and he had been taught a lesson by Zhou Wen in Guide Ancient City. With Karoman¡¯s arrogant personality, there was nothing that made him feel worse than this.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to the Star Palace,¡± said Karoman.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Pata was somewhat surprised. With the abilities of Karoman, even without the Anasrava Gold Turtle, there weren¡¯t many humans on Earth who could match him.


    ¡°If I want to defeat someone, I need to use the power of the Anasrava Gold Turtle.¡± ¡°Who? Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s Human Sovereign?¡± Karoman¡¯s words surprised Pata. Who else on Earth could make Karoman so afraid? He even needed to borrow his Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    ¡°Guide Ancient City¡¯s Zhou Wen has a special power that can eliminate my Sun God power. I need the Anasrava Gold Turtle to resist it.¡± Karoman didn¡¯t hide anything as he recounted the matter.


    ¡°What a coincidence. I happen to be heading to Guide Ancient City as well. I¡¯ll be there in at most half a day.¡± After a pause, Pata continued, ¡°The Anasrava Gold Turtle is the nemesis of those taboo powers. It will definitely be able to help you, but in terms of price¡­¡±


    ¡°The same old,¡± Karoman immediately said in delight, having never expected that Pata would come to the vicinity of Guide Ancient City as well.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be anxious. Let me think about it again. Let¡¯s chat when we meet.¡± After agreeing on a time, Pata hung up. However, it was different from what Pata had said. He was almost at Guide Ancient City and didn¡¯t need half a day.


    After taking a look at Guide Ancient City, Pata walked straight towards it.


    ¡°Brother, please help me pass the message that the Ultimate Family Clan¡¯s Pata is requesting an audience with City Lord Zhou Wen,¡± Pata said to the guard with a grin when he arrived at the city gates.


    When the guard heard that he was from the Ultimate Family Clan, he didn¡¯t dare take his time. He hurriedly got someone to report to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What have we done recently? Why is there always someone knocking on our door? First it was the Cape family¡¯s Karoman, and now, there¡¯s the Ultimate Family Clan¡¯s Pata,¡± Li Xuan said languidly after hearing the news.


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of trouble, but it would be troublesome if there were too many problems.


    ¡°Take him to the meeting hall.¡± Zhou Wen was about to fight Ming Xiu, so he could only put it aside for now.


    The Ultimate Family Clan had a good relationship with him. Lance and Sadie were his friends, so it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to slight the members of the Ultimate Family Clan.


    When Zhou Wen saw Pata in the meeting hall, he was first taken aback.


    In Zhou Wen¡¯s impression, the Ultimate Family Clan had handsome men and beautiful women with long legs. Lance could be said to be the most handsome man in the world, and Sadie was also a beauty among beauties. Her long legs were straight and snow-white, dazzling.


    However, Pata was short and stout. He was probably only about 1.6 meters tall. His eyes were small, with even smaller irises, and his green bean-like irises darted around in his eyes. Together with the sparse hair on his head, he looked like a bald rat.


    This was too different from the handsome men and beautiful women of the Ultimate Family Clan in Zhou Wen¡¯s impression. He couldn¡¯t help but take a second look.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t someone who judged a book by its cover. He said politely, ¡°Welcome to Guide Ancient City. Lance, Sadie, and I are friends. If you need any help, there¡¯s no need to stand on ceremony with me. You will definitely be welcomed with the highest standard.¡±


    ¡°Thank you very much, but I¡¯m not here on holiday. I want to make a deal with you,¡± said Pata with a smile.


    ¡°What deal?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Since you are friends with Lance, I won¡¯t beat around the bush. You have a taboo power that counters the Sun God power, right?¡± Pata said bluntly.


    ¡°Sort of. Is this related to the deal?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I have a Companion Beast that can restrain your powers. Now, Karoman wants to use my Companion Beast to deal with you,¡± said Pata with a smile. ¡°I can choose not to lend it to him, but the condition is that I¡¯ll take a third of Guide Ancient City¡¯s future profits.¡±

 Chapter 1704 - It’s Time to Return It

    Chapter 1704 It¡¯s Time to Return It


    ¡°A third of the Ancient City¡¯s profits?¡± Li Xuan looked at Pata as though he was looking at a lunatic.


    Pata clearly didn¡¯t believe that he was a lunatic. He said with great confidence, ¡°Don¡¯t think that a third of the profits is a lot. If I lend my Companion Beast to Karoman, with his personality, he definitely won¡¯t let this matter rest after suffering such humiliation. He might even hunt you down. When that happens, you¡¯d even lose your life. What¡¯s the point of having more money and resources?


    ¡°Therefore, wanting a third of the profits isn¡¯t excessive. It can even be said to be a very reasonable price. This is also on account of your good relationship with some of the members of our Ultimate Family Clan. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have come here to negotiate with you. If I were to directly negotiate with Karoman, it would definitely be more than this price,¡± Pata said eloquently as though everything was under his control.


    Zhou Wen only looked at Pata with interest without saying a word.


    Li Xuan said in exasperation and amusement, ¡°Your analysis is very accurate, but are you really sure that a Companion Beast can do what you just said?¡±


    ¡°I knew you wouldn¡¯t believe me, but it¡¯s fine. I can prove to you that my Companion Beast is worth this price,¡± said Pata as he summoned the Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    It was a huge turtle made of gold. It lay motionless in front of Pata like a golden statue.


    The Anasrava Gold Turtle looked somewhat different from ordinary turtles. Its back was as smooth as a mirror, without any patterns that a turtle shell should have. Its limbs, head, and tail formed a unibody.


    Li Xuan looked at it for a long time and felt that it didn¡¯t look like a turtle. Instead, it looked like a softshell turtle.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Before Li Xuan could voice his thoughts, Pata transformed the Anasrava Gold Turtle into golden armor and put it on.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t be unfamiliar with this armor, right? Previously, the reason why Karoman was able to successfully clear the long staircase in front of Alkaid Star Palace was that he had borrowed my Anasrava Gold Turtle. And its abilities are far from that. If you don¡¯t believe me, you can use the taboo power that can eliminate the Sun God powers to see if it¡¯s effective against my Anasrava Gold Turtle,¡± said Pata confidently.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a turtle shell. Do you really think¡­¡± Li Xuan was about to say something teasing when he was interrupted by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Your turtle¡¯s name is Anasrava Gold Turtle?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry at all as he sized up the golden turtle with interest.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s stronger than when I lent it to Karoman. It has already reached the Hell level.¡± Pata was somewhat smug.


    He indeed had the right to be smug. In this era, the number of people who could possess Hell-level Companion Beasts could be counted on one hand.


    ¡°Anasrava should be a Buddhist saying. Buddhism has the so-called Anasrava Wisdom. It refers to witnessing the truth, a wisdom gained from abandoning all worries and disobedience. It¡¯s also known as Buddha Wisdom. Such a Companion Beast shouldn¡¯t be from the North District, right?¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    In order to cultivate the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, he had studied the Buddhist Sutra for a period of time. Although he wasn¡¯t proficient in it, he knew something related to Buddhism.


    The word ¡®Anasrava¡¯ represented perfection. It was a manifestation of great wisdom in Buddhism. To be able to use the name ¡®Anasrava¡¯ meant that this turtle was probably extraordinary.


    However, what really intrigued Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t its name, but because the aura of the Anasrava Gold Turtle was somewhat different from ordinary Buddhist-type Companion Beasts. This difference was somewhat similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s Truth Listener. It made Zhou Wen suspect that it might have come from Small Buddha Temple.


    Back when the three-faced Buddha gave three Companion Eggs, Zhou Wen chose Truth Listener. He wasn¡¯t very sure what the remaining two Companion Eggs were.


    ¡°You are quite a discerning person. That¡¯s right. The Anasrava Gold Turtle is indeed not a Companion Beast from the North District. However, in this era, Companion Beasts no longer have any limitations. It doesn¡¯t matter where it came from. What¡¯s important is that it¡¯s in my hands,¡± said Pata.


    ¡°If I were to guess, would you tell me where this Anasrava Gold Turtle came from?¡± Zhou Wen said to Pata.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Pata frowned.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, this Anasrava Gold Turtle should be from Luoyang.¡± When Zhou Wen mentioned Luoyang, Pata¡¯s eyes flickered, making him even more convinced of his judgment.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a question of where it comes from. What exactly¡­¡± Before Pata could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen interrupted him.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a problem. Luoyang belongs to the An family. Since your Companion Beast came from Luoyang, it should belong to the An family to begin with. How can you use it to make a deal with me?¡± Zhou Wen said slowly.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, cut the crap. Why don¡¯t you say that all the Companion Beasts in the world belong to your family? Do you want to make a deal with me? Don¡¯t force me to lend the Anasrava Gold Turtle to Karoman.¡± Pata was somewhat vexed.


    Zhou Wen ignored Pata¡¯s anger and took out his phone to call a number.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, why are you suddenly calling me?¡± Lance¡¯s voice sounded over the phone.


    ¡°Let me ask you something,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Lance found it odd. Zhou Wen and the An family were basically active in the East District and seldom went to the North District. He didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was up to.


    ¡°Pata is from your Ultimate Family Clan, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    Lance paused and didn¡¯t answer directly. Instead, he asked, ¡°Why are you suddenly asking this?¡±


    By the side, Pata sneered and said, ¡°Zhou Wen, it¡¯s useless even if you try to pull strings. Lance¡¯s reputation doesn¡¯t matter to me. A third of the profits-not one cent less. It¡¯s useless no matter who you get.¡±


    Pata imagined that Zhou Wen was trying to get Lance to negotiate on his behalf, so he spoke without any mercy.


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking. Do I need to take you into consideration?¡± Zhou Wen ignored Pata and said to Lance.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to consider me. As long as you don¡¯t beat him to death, it¡¯s fine.¡± Lance answered immediately without asking any questions.


    Zhou Wen immediately knew that Lance and Pata didn¡¯t have a good relationship. It was even possible that this fellow didn¡¯t have many good social connections in the Ultimate Family Clan.


    If Pata had some social connections in the Ultimate Family Clan, it would be impossible for Lance to say such things.


    ¡°Got it.¡± Having made a decision, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else and hung up.


    Pata looked at Zhou Wen and said coldly, ¡°Zhou Wen, I advise you to think it through carefully. Since I dare come here, I¡¯m not afraid that you will attack me. Don¡¯t force me to side with Karoman. You can¡¯t bear the consequences, much less Guide Ancient City.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve thought it through very clearly. Since I don¡¯t need to consider Lance, it¡¯s time for you to return what¡¯s not yours.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he had secretly switched to the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art.


    Not long ago, Zhou Wen had entered a hidden dungeon in the endless cosmos. Furthermore, he had advanced the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art to the Calamity grade. Now, he could test it out with Pata.

 Chapter 1705 - Universe Inversion

    Chapter 1705 Universe Inversion


    The hidden dungeon in the Endless Sea of Stars was on a small planet. After Zhou Wen was sucked into the tiny planet, he realized that there was a dimensional creature he had never seen in the Endless Sea of Stars.


    It was a little similar to Planet Devourer. It looked very similar to a jellyfish. It had a transparent hemispherical body with countless tentacles below-way more than jellyfish.


    However, this dimensional creature was only the size of a basketball. It wasn¡¯t as huge as the Planet Devourer.


    Inside the hidden dungeon, there was a terrifying suction force everywhere. It was much more terrifying than the suction force outside the tiny planet. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move inside the hidden dungeon.


    The jellyfish-like dimensional creature instantly appeared above the red avatar¡¯s head. Countless tentacles wrapped around its head, making Zhou Wen feel as though his body was being sucked dry. He immediately summoned the Chaos Egg to protect himself before blocking the jellyfish¡¯s attack.


    The jellyfish constantly attacked the Chaos Egg. Although Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t move, he realized something.


    The jellyfish couldn¡¯t move in the hidden dungeon either. All its actions were done through spatial teleportation, which meant that it was constantly instant transmitting.


    Although Zhou Wen could continuously instant transmit, his body was constantly in a state of instant transmission like the jellyfish. As there was almost no gap between instant transmissions, it didn¡¯t seem like he was instant transmitting.


    It sounded difficult to understand. In fact, because the instant transmission interval was too short, the jellyfish Zhou Wen saw was actually just an afterimage. The real jellyfish had already undergone the next instant transmission by the time Zhou Wen saw it.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    What amazing spatial ability. It¡¯s only because dimensional creatures have special physiques that they can reach this stage. It¡¯s impossible for a human¡¯s body to withstand such continuous instant transmission. Zhou Wen attempted instant transmissions in the hidden dungeon. Indeed, as he had expected, he could use spatial powers to move in the hidden dungeon without being restricted.


    The jellyfish¡¯s spatial powers were very strong, but from Zhou Wen¡¯s observations, it was likely only at the Human Realm. As its spatial powers were so powerful, it probably wouldn¡¯t be easy for others to kill it. Even if someone at the Hell level came, they might not be able to gain the upper hand.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to kill the jellyfish. The Teacher Domain could restrain the suction force of the hidden dungeon, and he was proficient in spatial powers. Killing the jellyfish was too easy.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do so because he wanted to learn the technique of constant instant transmissions from the jellyfish. He wanted to see if he could achieve such instant transmission with his human body.


    If he could really do that, it would be very difficult for ordinary Calamity-grade creatures to injure him.


    Zhou Wen originally only fought the jellyfish with the intention of practicing, but to his surprise, something strange happened when the jellyfish instant transmitted onto the Chaos Egg


    The Human Realm jellyfish didn¡¯t have the ability to break through the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense. It was the same this time. The jellyfish failed to damage the Chaos Egg at all.


    Strangely, the Companion Beast armor Zhou Wen was wearing suddenly vanished. And in the jellyfish¡¯s transparent hemispherical body, a mini armor Companion Beast appeared before quickly disappearing.


    Zhou Wen was surprised to discover that his armor Companion Beast had been declared dead by the game system.


    Isn¡¯t this Eldest Senior Brother Liu Yun¡¯s Star Stealer? This fellow actually knows it? Zhou Wen was first alarmed before he was delighted


    He had always wanted to learn the Star Stealer skill, but no matter how many times he grinded in the endless cosmos, he failed to obtain the Star Stealer skill crystal. Now that this jellyfish actually had such a skill, he might be able to come up with a solution.


    Furthermore, the jellyfish¡¯s ability was clearly stronger than Liu Yun¡¯s Star Stealer. Liu Yun probably couldn¡¯t snatch a Companion Beast through the Chaos Egg either.


    Having had no intention of immediately killing the jellyfish to begin with, the new idea Zhou Wen came up with made him even more unwilling to kill it.


    Zhou Wen attempted to analyze the jellyfish¡¯s ability and soon realized that it was impossible for him to learn it.


    This was because it wasn¡¯t an ordinary Essence Energy Skill, but the jellyfish¡¯s innate ability. Unless Zhou Wen transformed into a jellyfish, it was impossible for him to master


    it.


    Despite his great disappointment, Zhou Wen still used the jellyfish to practice for a period of time. When he was almost done with his spatial instant transmission technique, he was still inferior to the jellyfish. He could only slowly hone whatever was lacking in the future. He killed the jellyfish when fighting it no longer brought about any benefits.


    A Zone Core dropped from the jellyfish¡¯s body. It was this Zone Core that advanced the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art to the Calamity grade.


    What surprised Zhou Wen even more was that the Zone Core was born from the jellyfish, so it contained the jellyfish¡¯s talent ability. After the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art condensed a Calamity Zone, it had an ability similar to Star Stealer.


    Of course, it was just an additional ability. The Calamity Zone¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t just that.


    Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art: Universe Inversion (Human Realm)


    Previously, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art was best at long-distance teleportation. The Godfiend Era was the king of instant transmission at close range, but after advancing to the Calamity grade, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art¡¯s instant transmission ability had been greatly enhanced. It could almost be said to have reached Minute Subtlety.


    In the past, Zhou Wen¡¯s long-distance teleportation had been very inaccurate, but now, he could carry it out with precision at the millimeters level. It was much more accurate than satellite positioning.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t the main ability of Universe Inversion. This was only the strengthening of the Calamity Zone¡¯s Terror transformation. In fact, Zhou Wen still wasn¡¯t too sure about the true ability of Universe Inversion.


    As Zhou Wen was studying Universe Inversion, Karoman came knocking on his door. Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t finished studying it.


    From the results of the research, Universe Inversion could change some cosmic rules.


    For example, gravity had a downward effect, and Universe Inversion could completely reverse the effects of gravity. When that happened, things on the ground would fly up by themselves.


    It sounded unbelievable, but it wasn¡¯t without reason. Zhou Wen understood it this way. It was like the two extremes of a magnet-like poles repel while unlike poles attract. Universe Inversion changed the unlike poles that were originally stuck together into like poles, so they naturally repelled each other.


    This was only Zhou Wen¡¯s current understanding. As his research on Universe Inversion wasn¡¯t deep enough, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if his understanding was wrong. He didn¡¯t dare come to a conclusion.


    It¡¯s time to test the Universe Inversion¡¯s ability to steal Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen looked at the Anasrava Gold Turtle armor and secretly circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s previous experiments, he had to come into contact with the other party¡¯s Companion Beast to ¡®steal¡¯ it.

 Chapter 1706 - Gold Turtle In Hand

    Chapter 1706 Gold Turtle In Hand


    Pata¡¯s flaunting of the Anasrava Gold Turtle in front of Zhou Wen was equivalent to delivering gifts to his doorstep. Regardless of whether the Anasrava Gold Turtle was one of the three Companion Beasts from Small Buddha Temple, Companion Beasts that had the ability to withstand taboo powers were extremely rare. There was no reason for him not to take it.


    Pata clearly didn¡¯t think so. Over the years, he had been traveling everywhere and had entered countless dangerous dimensional zones. The miraculous performance of the Anasrava Gold Turtle kept boosting his confidence. He was very certain that no one could control him as long as he wore the Anasrava Gold Turtle armor.


    Furthermore, he had an instant transmission Companion Beast on him. He could instantly escape far away. With the help of the Anasrava Gold Turtle, Pata was completely confident that he could leave safely, so he was rather fearless.


    Seeing Zhou Wen extend his palm and strike at him, Pata didn¡¯t sense that his strength was affected by a taboo power at all. He imagined that Zhou Wen¡¯s taboo power was indeed useless against him.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let you see what an excellent-grade Companion Beast is.¡± Pata wasn¡¯t in a rush to teleport away. He still wanted to show Zhou Wen and company how powerful the Anasrava Gold Turtle was.


    From his point of view, even if Zhou Wen was at the Calamity grade, it was impossible for him to break through the defense of the Hell-level Anasrava Gold Turtle. Taking one step back, even if Zhou Wen could crack it, it was impossible for him to kill him with one strike.


    Apart from Human Sovereign¡¯s fantastic Companion Beast, Pata wasn¡¯t afraid of anyone on Earth. Even if the powerful Karoman fought him, he would dare stand still and receive three punches from him.


    Of course, the reason Pata did so was mainly because he hoped to let Zhou Wen understand how powerful the Anasrava Gold Turtle was, compelling him to make a deal with him. After all, the benefits he could obtain from lending a Companion Beast to Karoman were limited. 30% of Guide Ancient City¡¯s future profits was a huge benefit that would be a constant stream of income.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Come on, I¡¯ll stand here and let you hit me. I¡¯ll let you see what a true top-notch defensive Companion Beast is.¡± Pata straightened his back and stood proudly in his spot as though he thought nothing of him. He looked rather imposing. Zhou Wen slapped Pata, but it didn¡¯t hurt at all. Pata was still feeling smug inwardly. Deceit King is nothing much after all. After all, he¡¯s only an expert in the era without representatives. Compared to the present representatives, he¡¯s still not strong enough. If not for the taboo power that can restrain Karoman, Guide Ancient City would have long been destroyed by him. Perfect. I¡¯m the one reaping in all the profits. Is 30% of the profits too little? That¡¯s right. You just slapped me. Now if you want my help, 30% isn¡¯t enough to resolve the problem. At least 40%¡­ No¡­ 50%¡­


    Pata was still fantasizing of how Zhou Wen and company pleaded with him in horror, hoping that he wouldn¡¯t lend his Companion Beast to Karoman.


    As he was thinking, Pata suddenly felt a chill run down his body. It was similar to being suddenly stripped naked and thrown into the snow in winter.


    A little cold? Zhou Wen has ice-elemental power? This cold aura is useless against me¡­ Just as Pata was thinking, he suddenly felt that something was amiss. He couldn¡¯t sense the Anasrava Gold Turtle¡¯s consciousness.


    No¡­ Impossible¡­ Pata thought of a possibility, but he couldn¡¯t accept it mentally. Or rather, he wasn¡¯t willing to accept it at all.


    Looking down at his body, he was alarmed to discover that the golden armor on his body had vanished, leaving only the clothes he usually wore.


    Anasrava Gold Turtle¡­ Where¡¯s the Anasrava Gold Turtle¡­ Pata couldn¡¯t accept it at all. He summoned the Anasrava Gold Turtle repeatedly, but there was no reaction.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised because he had started with Universe Inversion to steal the Anasrava Gold Turtle over. However, to his surprise, the power of Universe Inversion didn¡¯t take effect immediately.


    It was unknown if it was because Universe Inversion was only at the Human Realm and couldn¡¯t steal a Hell-level Companion Beast or if it was because the power of the Anasrava Gold Turtle was so crazy that it could even withstand the power of the Universe Inversion.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen activated the Teacher Domain, hoping to figure out what kind of rules the Anasrava Gold Turtle used. To his surprise, the originally useless Universe Inversion under the Teacher Domain became effective and successfully stole the Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    Zhou Wen could only slowly study the principle in the future.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s series of actions gave Pata time to fantasize. This was also how he experienced the two extremes of heaven and hell in such a short period of time.


    ¡°You¡­ What did you do to me¡­¡± Pata looked at Zhou Wen with a look of horror. Up to now, he still wasn¡¯t willing to believe that the Anasrava Gold Turtle was gone. He still hoped that the Anasrava Gold Turtle had been sealed by Zhou Wen using some taboo power.


    It was no wonder Pata wasn¡¯t willing to believe it. The reason he had his present achievements and status was basically because of the Anasrava Gold Turtle. Once he lost the Anasrava Gold Turtle, most of his strength would be gone. ¡°After hearing you extol the virtues of the Anasrava Gold Turtle so much, I decided to take it for a spin.¡± Zhou Wen extended his hand and the Anasrava Gold Turtle appeared in front of him. Its golden body was motionless like a statue.


    ¡°Take it for a spin?¡± For a moment, Pata felt his brain lacking oxygen as it instantly went blank.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You¡­ Return the Anasrava Gold Turtle to me¡­¡± Pata was overwhelmed by anxiety and was momentarily at a loss for words. When he snapped to his senses, he hurriedly added,¡± Mr. Zhou, it¡¯s all my fault. I was just joking with you. On account of Lance, please return the Anasrava Gold Turtle to me. I¡¯ll leave immediately and guarantee that I won¡¯t lend it to Karoman¡­ No¡­ Karoman is nothing¡­ You aren¡¯t even bothered by him¡­ If you have any requests in the future, I¡¯ll definitely be at your beck and call¡­¡±


    Li Xuan nearly burst out laughing. ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask around about Zhou Wen¡¯s nickname before you came? Do you think the nickname Deceit King was for nothing? Have you heard of a thief not leaving empty-handed? Besides, you came knocking on our door. Now, you want it back? Are you still dreaming?¡±


    ¡°On account of Lance and the Ultimate Family Clan, I¡¯ll spare your life. Go,¡± Zhou Wen said casually. ¡°I¡­.¡± Pata didn¡¯t give up. The Anasrava Gold Turtle was everything to him. He was about to go crazy.


    ¡°Why? Do you still want to leave your life here?¡± Li Xuan interrupted him coldly.


    Pata¡¯s heart chilled as he realized that without the protection of the Anasrava Gold Turtle, he wasn¡¯t absolutely safe. If Zhou Wen and company really wanted to kill him, he might not have a chance of escaping.


    Pata steeled his heart and flew away. No one stopped him, allowing him to successfully leave Guide Ancient City.


    Zhou Wen had indeed released him on account of Lance. Otherwise, how could he have let him walk out of Guide Ancient City alive?


    After Pata left Guide Ancient City, his mind became adrift as though he was dreaming.

 Chapter 1707 - The Whereabouts of the Immortal Sword

    Chapter 1707 The Whereabouts of the Immortal Sword


    Just as he was in a daze, he suddenly heard his phone ring. He subconsciously took it out and answered the call.


    ¡°Pata, have you arrived? Where are you now? Quickly lend me the Anasrava Gold Turtle.¡± Karoman¡¯s anxious voice sounded from the phone.


    Upon hearing Karoman mention the Anasrava Gold Turtle, Pata felt even more stifled. He had suffered a huge blow just now and hadn¡¯t recovered from it. Now, he was truly awake and his heart ached even more.


    ¡°Borrow my ass. Don¡¯t come to me again if it¡¯s anything related to Zhou Wen in the future,¡± cursed Pata as he hung up and switched off his phone.


    Karoman was puzzled by the cursing and couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. He immediately called back, but he received the notification that the other party had switched off his phone.


    What¡¯s going on? Karoman wore an odd expression. Thinking back to Pata¡¯s words, ¡°Don¡¯t come to me again if it¡¯s anything related to Zhou Wen in the future,¡± he had a rough idea.


    This fellow went to look for Zhou Wen? Furthermore, he suffered a loss? Karoman guessed a portion of it. Although it wasn¡¯t all, he was already somewhat afraid.


    Although Pata¡¯s strength is a little lacking, he has the Anasrava Gold Turtle protecting him. He shouldn¡¯t have suffered a loss, but from Pata¡¯s tone, he seems to have suffered a huge loss. Could it be that the Anasrava Gold Turtle can¡¯t withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s taboo power? No matter how he thought about it, he never expected Pata¡¯s Anasrava Gold Turtle to be taken away by Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was rather comfortable at home as he looked at the Anasrava Gold Turtle¡¯s stats.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Anasrava Gold Turtle: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Anasrava Body


    Life Soul: Immortality


    Wheel of Destiny: Immunity to All Dharma


    Terror Form: Invulnerable Vajra Body (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Invincible Without Me (Hell)


    Strength: 200


    Speed: 200


    Constitution: 200


    Essence Energy: 200


    Talent Skill: Protection, Breaking Out, Exorcism, Eternal


    Companion Form: Armor


    It¡¯s just advanced to the Hell level. The stats are still the most basic stats of the Hell level. Zhou Wen was greedy. He originally wondered if the Anasraya Gold Turtle¡¯s stats had reached the peak of the Hell level.


    It didn¡¯t occur to him that ordinary people had no way of obtaining so many resources to feed a Calamity-grade Companion Beast. Pata had invested tons to be able to get the Anasrava Gold Turtle to the Hell level.


    This was only because he had become a representative and had used most of the resources given by the dimensional races on the Anasrava Gold Turtle. Otherwise, it was a question whether the Anasrava Gold Turtle could advance to the Calamity grade by itself.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat curious if the Anasrava Gold Turtle could withstand the power of the Teacher Domain, so he summoned it to give it a try. He realized that this thing wasn¡¯t afraid of the power of the Teacher Domain. Or rather, it wasn¡¯t completely afraid.


    The Teacher Domain could affect the Anasrava Gold Turtle, but it couldn¡¯t completely seal it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t continue his research. The better the Anasrava Gold Turtle was, the more uncomfortable he felt. If it was really one of the three Companion Beasts of Small Buddha Temple, it would definitely be devoured by Truth Listener in the future. No matter how deep the research went, he couldn¡¯t keep it. It would only make him feel worse. Let me see if it¡¯s you. I hope not. Zhou Wen summoned Truth Listener to see if it would react to the Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    Truth Listener¡¯s golden eyes immediately lit up when it saw the Anasrava Gold Turtle. Before Zhou Wen could say a word, the earrings on its ears shattered by themselves and it quickly transformed into the golden ape. It went forward to bite the Anasrava Gold Turtle.


    It really is one! Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless as he ordered the Anasrava Gold Turtle to not resist and let Truth Listener swallow it.


    After swallowing the Anasrava Gold Turtle, Truth Listener automatically transformed into a tattoo and returned to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t summon it no matter how hard he tried.


    This fellow is getting more and more willful. Did he follow Demonic Neonate¡¯s bad example? Zhou Wen muttered as he began studying his next target to advance to the Calamity grade.


    Now, the only Essence Energy Arts that hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade were the Godfiend Era and the Demon God Catalog. Zhou Wen definitely wouldn¡¯t go to Chess Mountain now. Even if he wanted to go, he had to wait for Truth Listener to finish its digestion.


    The origins of the Godfiend Era are unknown. I don¡¯t even know which pantheon¡¯s Essence Energy Art it is. However, its stats are related to space. I¡¯ll find a spatial dimensional zone to give it a try. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any suitable dungeons on his phone. All he could do was flip through some information, hoping to find a suitable dimensional zone.


    Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the person I want?¡± A cold woman¡¯s voice sounded from the jade building.


    Wang Mingyuan sighed softly and said, ¡°I¡¯ve already handed the token to Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t come. Perhaps he has already made a decision or perhaps he hasn¡¯t thought it through.¡± ¡°This isn¡¯t the answer I want.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was emotionless. There was no joy, anger, sadness, or joy in it, but it made one feel reverence after hearing it, as though they were listening to the teachings of a god.


    Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t afraid as he said calmly, ¡°He¡¯s only my disciple, not my son. Even a son might not completely listen to me.¡±


    oma


    ¡°If you can¡¯t do it, what¡¯s the point of keeping you?¡± the woman said indifferently as though she had Wang Mingyuan¡¯s life pinched between her fingers.


    ¡°I know the whereabouts of that immortal sword.¡± Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t seem to care about life and death as he continued smiling.


    ¡°I hope what you say next can be exchanged for your life,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°The sword is at Kunlun Mountain,¡± Wang Mingyuan answered. ¡°How do you know that the sword is at Kunlun Mountain?¡± The woman didn¡¯t believe Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes,¡± Wang Mingyuan answered calmly.


    ¡°Since you saw it, why didn¡¯t you bring the sword back?¡± the woman asked again.


    ¡°I could see it, but I couldn¡¯t get it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m no match for the dimensional creatures of Kunlun Mountain. There¡¯s even a phoenix guarding the sword.¡± ¡°What kind of phoenix?¡± the woman asked curiously.


    Dragons were lascivious, resulting in many mixed-blood dragons, but phoenixes were pure creatures. Different types of phoenixes were unheard of.


    ¡°The Feng and Huang of a Phoenix,¡± Wang Mingyuan answered strangely.


    However, the woman seemed to understand him. She said thoughtfully, ¡°No wonder. It¡¯s indeed beyond you.¡±


    After a pause, the woman continued, ¡°If you go to Kunlun Mountain again, will you be able to find the location of the sword?¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s only to take a look, I can lead the way at any time. I definitely won¡¯t disappoint you, Immortal Supremacy,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    The meaning behind his words was very clear. He could lead the way, but it was definitely impossible for him to retrieve the sword.


    ¡°You just need to lead the way. Someone will naturally retrieve the sword,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready at your disposal, Immortal Supremacy,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Stay here and listen to orders from the Immortals. Someone will inform you when the time comes.¡± The woman fell silent after saying that.


    Wang Mingyuan bowed slightly before turning to leave the Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion.


    Inside the Immortal Crossing Jade Pavilion, an azure-robed woman frowned slightly as though she was thinking about something important.

 Chapter 1708 - The Legendary Kunlun Mountain

    Chapter 1708 The Legendary Kunlun Mountain


    Zhou Wen flipped through a lot of information. Although there weren¡¯t many spatial dimensional zones, Guide Ancient City¡¯s information sources were becoming more and more varied. The intelligence department was constantly improving, allowing Zhou Wen to gain knowledge of more spatial dimensional zones.


    However, after looking around, he wasn¡¯t sure which one was more compatible with the Godfiend Era.


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering which spatial dimensional zone to visit, Liu Yun suddenly called. ¡°Junior Brother, it¡¯s been a long time since we last met. Do you miss your dear Eldest Senior Brother?¡± Liu Yun was still as greasy as ever.


    ¡°I miss the treasures on you more,¡± Zhou Wen subconsciously replied.


    Every time he met Liu Yun, Zhou Wen seemed to be able to get some good things from him. For a long period of time, Zhou Wen treated Liu Yun as a treasure delivery boy. His words were truly heartfelt.


    When Liu Yun heard that, he said in an extremely ambiguous and exaggerated tone, ¡°Junior Brother, I never expected you to be such a person. Although I do have a big tool and great skill, I¡¯m really not interested in


    men!¡±


    Zhou Wen was taken aback before he reacted. ¡°Speak your mind. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯m hanging up.¡± ¡°Don¡¯t be so petty. Can¡¯t you take a joke? I have something serious to discuss with you,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy. I¡¯ll hang up if there¡¯s nothing else.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really hang up. ¡°I discovered something good in a dimensional zone. Are you interested in joining me?¡± Liu Yun hurriedly said.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°You¡¯ll come to me if there¡¯s something good? Speak. What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that Liu Yun would share good things with him out of goodwill.


    ¡°Hehe, nothing much. It¡¯s just that I can¡¯t deal with that dimensional zone myself. If you are interested, let¡¯s give it a try together. I won¡¯t take advantage of you either. Everything we obtain will be split 50-50,¡± Liu Yun said with a grin.


    ¡°What dimensional zone? What good things are inside? What¡¯s the thing you can¡¯t handle? Tell me everything in detail. If¡­ I mean if¡­ I agree to go with you and discover something different, don¡¯t blame me for turning hostile.¡± Zhou Wen knew Liu Yun too well. Although this fellow couldn¡¯t be considered bad, he was definitely not a good person. He could at most believe 70% of what he said.


    ¡°Have you heard of Kunlun Mountain?¡± Liu Yun¡¯s tone became much more serious.


    ¡°Which Kunlun Mountain are you talking about?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Smart. It¡¯s definitely not the one on the map,¡± said Liu Yun with a smile.


    ¡°You found the legendary Kunlun Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. The Kunlun Mountain on maps was different from the legendary Kunlun Mountain. Kunlun Mountain was also known as the Kunlun Ruins. There were many legendary versions.


    Some said that Kunlun Mountain was mainly led by the Queen Mother of the West, while others said that it was the capital of Human Sovereign, Fuxi. Others said that it was the home of the gods.


    Although there were many versions of the legends, it was impossible to tell which was real and which was fake. However, in all the versions of the myths and legends, that place was a top-notch land of immortals. Those who could be related to Kunlun Mountain were basically the super immortals of the eastern pantheon.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s been found and something good has been discovered, but I can¡¯t retrieve it myself. There¡¯s still hope if we join forces,¡± Liu Yun said sincerely.


    ¡°If it¡¯s really the legendary Kunlun Mountain, do you think I can pick up the spoils so easily from that place?¡± After Zhou Wen saw how terrifying Chess Mountain was, he didn¡¯t dare rashly enter the unknown top dimensional zones.


    Although the Mythical creatures in Chess Mountain were terrifying, they seemed to be inferior to Mount Kunlun.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already made a trip inside. Ain¡¯t I back safely? Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ve already investigated and have a plan. I¡¯m just lacking you as a helper. Are you coming?¡± Liu Yun said with confidence.


    ¡°Tell me. What do you want to do?¡± Although Zhou Wen was already tempted, he wouldn¡¯t agree to Liu Yun so easily before figuring out the actual situation.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be honest with you. I discovered a sword in Kunlun Mountain-a very powerful sword. You are very familiar with Human Sovereign¡¯s sword. That sword is definitely not inferior to Human Sovereign¡¯s. However, there¡¯s a powerful dimensional creature guarding the sword. I can¡¯t deal with it myself, so I came to you for help,¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°How do you know that the sword isn¡¯t inferior to Human Sovereign¡¯s sword?¡± Zhou Wen knew that Liu Yun was implying that he was Human Sovereign, but he pretended not to understand.


    ¡°Because that sword is very similar to Human Sovereign¡¯s sword. I reckon it¡¯s very likely related to Human Sovereign¡¯s sword.¡± Liu Yun hesitated for a moment before continuing, ¡°I suspect that Human Sovereign¡¯s sword might be one of the legendary Four Swords of Immortal Vanquishing. And the one I discovered at Kunlun Mountain might be one of them.¡±


    ¡°One of the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s interest was truly piqued, but he still had to make things clear. ¡°What¡¯s the level of the dimensional creature guarding the sword?¡±


    ¡°It might be the Heaven Realm,¡± Liu Yun answered hesitantly.


    ¡°What do you mean it might be the Heaven Realm?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m not sure either. It¡¯s just a guess. This is the truth. Do you think I can fight such a dimensional creature? If I really attack, even if I can come out alive, I probably won¡¯t have the strength to talk to you,¡± Liu Yun said helplessly.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and said after some thought, ¡°I can agree to go with you to take a look, but I¡¯ll decide if I¡¯ll participate in the operation. I¡¯ll decide after I get there. If you agree, I¡¯ll go with you. If not, just pretend I¡¯ve never heard of it.¡±


    ¡°Sure. I¡¯ll send you the coordinates. You can teleport over. We¡¯ll meet there.¡± After Liu Yun said that, he hung up and sent Zhou Wen the coordinates.


    Don¡¯t tell me this fellow wants to scam me again? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare teleport over casually. He held the coordinates and compared them to the map to see where the coordinates Liu Yun had given him were.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to know where the legendary Kunlun Mountain was.


    Of course, he had another goal for going there. He wanted to see if he could find the tiny palm symbol and download the Kunlun Mountain dungeon into his phone.


    Why is it here? Zhou Wen looked at the coordinates on the map and couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    He originally imagined that the legendary Kunlun Mountain wasn¡¯t where the present Kunlun Mountain was. It was likely a relatively remote area, but the location indicated by the coordinates wasn¡¯t too far from where Zhou Wen was. It was a small county city named Yang City County. After checking some information on the Internet and knowing that Yang City County hadn¡¯t fallen and that there were still people living there, Zhou Wen felt relieved. He planned on teleporting over to meet Liu Yun and see what the legendary Kunlun Mountain looked like.

 Chapter 1709 - Nine Gates

    Chapter 1709 Nine Gates


    Yang City County had a population of hundreds of thousands before the dimensional storm. Now, the number of people living in the city was less than 50,000. This was only because there weren¡¯t many dimensional zones near Yang City County, and it was rare for break-out creatures to appear.


    There were a few dimensional zones in Yang City County, but they weren¡¯t very famous. He had never heard of them causing much of a stir. Before Zhou Wen came, he had read some information about Yang City County and guessed that if Kunlun Mountain was nearby, the most likely place would be the mountain known as Xicheng Mountain.


    Legend had it that Xicheng Mountain was a place where the King of Shang prayed for rain. The locals also called it Holy King Square. As the surrounding cliffs were like a city and the middle was sunken like a basin, it was given this name due to it having four entrances in the north, south, east, and west.


    The mountain was the typical Karst geographical terrain. There were limestone caves of all sizes on the mountain. There was a local saying that there were 72 single dragon nests, 124 ghost millstones, and 360 small metal pots. It was said that the huge limestone caves here could accommodate more than ten thousand people. However, ever since the dimensional storms, Xicheng Mountain became even more complicated. People who entered had a high chance of getting lost. Furthermore, no one saw any dimensional creatures inside.


    There were too many dimensional zones that didn¡¯t produce dimensional creatures with unknown secrets. Few people would take the initiative to explore them.


    The reason Zhou Wen suspected that this was the Kunlun Mountain that Liu Yun had mentioned was that in the information he had found online, someone had indeed said that this was the legendary Kunlun Mountain of ancient times.


    However, this saying was a localized rumor. Not many people knew about it. Zhou Wen had only seen it after searching the Internet. He had no idea that such a saying existed in the past.


    ¡°Junior Brother, you look radiant. You¡¯ve been doing pretty well recently.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up Yang City County, Liu Yun crawled out of nowhere and grinned.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be doing well.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun and realized that this fellow hadn¡¯t advanced to the Calamity grade.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing I can do about it. The old fellow doesn¡¯t let me go into the dimension. I can only rely on myself. I don¡¯t know when I can advance to the Calamity grade. In my opinion, it¡¯s a waste not to take the dimension¡¯s resources. It¡¯s great not to work after receiving the benefits,¡± Liu Yun grumbled.


    Zhou Wen knew that the old fellow Liu Yun mentioned was Jing Daoxian. Liu Yun was apparently Jing Daoxian¡¯s grandson. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too sure if it was true.


    What¡¯s the situation now? Although Zhou Wen was curious about what Jing Daoxian had been up to, he knew that it was useless to ask, so he decided not to bother.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring that chick over?¡± Liu Yun sized up Zhou Wen for a while before suddenly asking ¡°Why should I bring it here?¡± Zhou Wen frowned. For Liu Yun to mention Chick, he clearly had some plans.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? There¡¯s a phoenix in Mount Kunlun. That chick of yours should be a phoenix, right? If you bring it over, you might be able to get them to recognize each other as family. We might be able to get the sword without fighting,¡± said Liu Yun. ¡°When did you tell me that there¡¯s a phoenix on Kunlun Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen glared at him and continued, ¡°Furthermore, not all phoenixes are relatives. How can there be such a good thing?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t bring Chick to a place like Kunlun Mountain on adventures. It was better to wait for Chick to advance to the Heaven Realm. /


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Let¡¯s take a look at the situation first. If you are confident, we¡¯ll carry out the heist. If you aren¡¯t confident, we¡¯ll retreat and discuss it further.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he turned around and headed for the mountain.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the Kunlun Mountain you¡¯re talking about is the Xicheng Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he walked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s not an easy path. Only I, the number one thief in the world, can take people in and out freely. If it were anyone else, even the immortals in heaven probably wouldn¡¯t be able to come out.¡± Liu Yun was smug as though he was speaking the truth.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t improved much after all this time, but your bragging skills are getting better,¡± Zhou Wen quipped.


    ¡°I¡¯m really not bragging this time. What kind of place is the legendary Kunlun Mountain? The home of all immortals. To put it bluntly, ordinary immortals are just ordinary villagers at Kunlun Mountain¡­¡± The two of them chatted as they walked and soon arrived in front of the mountain.


    Xicheng Mountain wasn¡¯t very steep. The mountain peaks formed a circle like slumbering tigers. It looked like a mountain city.


    ¡°There are four gates on Xicheng Mountain. They are also the four entrances to the dimensional zone. However, if you really enter through these four gates, you can forget about seeing what the real Xicheng Mountain looks like.¡± Liu Yun led Zhou Wen to the other side without walking towards the nearest entrance.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°There are four on the surface and five hidden entrances. In fact, Xicheng Mountain has a total of nine gates. Doesn¡¯t the Classic of Mountains and Seas say that Kunlun is 800 leagues long and 10,000 fathoms high. Towering above is a tree that¡¯s 30 meters tall and five-people wide. It¡¯s a place in which a giant stalk of grain is growing, nine wells that are enclosed in jade thresholds, and where the nine city gates are guarded by animals called Kaiming. If Xicheng Mountain is really Kunlun Mountain, there naturally has to be nine gates,¡± Liu Yun answered. ¡°What do you mean by ¡®if?¡¯¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a guess. Although my guess is most likely correct, aren¡¯t there always what-ifs? I¡¯m precise with my words. I can¡¯t guarantee something I¡¯m not sure about,¡± Liu Yun spouted nonsense.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, Liu Yun stopped by a pool near a mountain wall. He pointed at the pool and said, ¡°We¡¯re here. This is one of the nine gates of Kunlun Mountain. Only by using this entrance can we see what the real Kunlun Mountain looks like.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s walk around first. Didn¡¯t you say that there are a total of nine gates? Take me to all nine gates.¡± Zhou Wen sized up the pool and didn¡¯t see the tiny palm symbol nearby.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really care if he could enter Kunlun Mountain, but he had to find the tiny palm symbol.


    ¡°Apart from the four gates-north, south, east, and west-I only know of one. The other gates are hidden. I won¡¯t be able to find them anytime soon. Besides, what¡¯s so nice about those gates? Isn¡¯t entry all that matters?¡± Liu Yun seemed a little anxious when he saw Zhou Wen turn around and leave.


    ¡°Why are you so anxious?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and sized up Liu Yun.


    ¡°Am I?¡± Liu Yun laughed, trying to brush the matter of.


    ¡°You¡¯re getting anxious.¡± Zhou Wen nodded seriously. He felt that something was amiss with Liu Yun. He was definitely hiding something from him. ¡°Sigh, I¡¯m just anxious to obtain the sword as soon as possible. Look at how impressive Human Sovereign is. If I have that sword, my future achievements will definitely not be inferior to Human Sovereign. I might even be able to obtain the title of Stealer Sovereign¡­ Hey¡­ Don¡¯t leave¡­¡± Liu Yun hurriedly chased after Zhou Wen when he saw him turn around to leave.


    As the two of them were wandering around the vicinity of the mountain, an azure-robed woman was walking towards it. She was clearly dressed in a very ordinary outfit and didn¡¯t look eye-catching, but upon careful inspection, nobody could see what she looked like. Even her figure was indescribable.

 Chapter 1710 - Is It A Trap?

    Chapter 1710 Is It A Trap?


    ¡°Kunlun?¡± The woman stood in front of the north gate of Xicheng Mountain, staring at the strange mountain terrain as though she was thinking about something.


    ¡°Immortal Supremacy, do you really want to enter the mountain personally?¡± Wang Mingyuan, who was dressed in white, stood not far behind the woman and spoke respectfully. ¡°Can¡¯t I enter Kunlun?¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°Immortal Supremacy, you can go anywhere regardless of how big the world is. However, Earth hasn¡¯t been completely breached yet, so it¡¯s a little inconvenient. Immortal Supremacy, why do you have to enter the mountain personally? It will be fine getting a subordinate to enter the mountain with me to scout the situation,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say it so tactfully. Even though I¡¯m restricted to a certain extent on Earth¡±¡ªthe woman said with an indifferent expression-¡°so what? Ignoring the mere restriction, even if I can¡¯t use any strength, there¡¯s nothing on Earth that can harm me at


    all.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, Immortal Supremacy.¡± Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t say anything else. ¡°Why must we enter through the north gate?¡± the woman asked as she looked at the mountain entrance.


    ¡°Out of the nine gates of Kunlun, there are only the east, west, south, and north gates that remain unhidden. The other five gates are hidden. I only know three of the five hidden gates. The things I see when I enter Kunlun Mountain from those three gates are completely different. Entering Kunlun through the four gates results in being at different locations, but it¡¯s only a difference in location. The things seen are the same.¡± Wang Mingyuan paused before continuing, ¡°The sword I saw can only be seen by entering the four unhidden gates.¡± ¡°Since the things seen from entering the four unhidden gates are the same, why don¡¯t we enter through the other three gates? Why must we enter through the north gate?¡± the woman asked again.


    ¡°There¡¯s a Mountain God Temple outside the other three gates. It¡¯s difficult to hide our whereabouts when entering the mountain from there. The mountain is already aware, so it¡¯s not convenient for us to do anything,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s enter through the north gate.¡± The woman glanced at Wang Mingyuan and nodded slightly. ¡°I¡¯ll lead the way,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he walked towards the mountain entrance.


    The woman followed behind Wang Mingyuan unhurriedly and they entered the mountain entrance one after another.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Junior Brother, stop walking about. Let¡¯s enter the mountain quickly.¡± Liu Yun followed Zhou Wen and kept persuading him to enter the mountain quickly. ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s walk around first.¡± Zhou Wen was certain that Liu Yun was hiding something from him. Furthermore, it was something very important. Otherwise, with Liu Yun¡¯s personality, he wouldn¡¯t be in such a rush.


    Even if he was anxious, he wouldn¡¯t reveal such a look.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you the truth. I¡¯m not the only one who knows that the sword is in Kunlun Mountain. I¡¯m really afraid that someone else will beat us to it. Stop walking around. Let¡¯s go in quickly.¡± Liu Yun knew that if he didn¡¯t say anything, it would be impossible for him to pull Zhou Wen into the mountain.


    Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun and didn¡¯t say a word. Liu Yun said anxiously, ¡°Don¡¯t look at me like that. I swear that everything I said was the truth. If there¡¯s a single false word, it will make my lower body impotent for the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°You actually dared to make such a venomous oath. From the looks of it, you aren¡¯t lying to me,¡± Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go, quickly. Time waits for no one. We have to get the sword out before the others,¡± Liu Yun said anxiously. ¡°I said that I believe you, but I didn¡¯t say that I¡¯ll enter the mountain now. I¡¯ll walk around first,¡± Zhou Wen said as he continued walking forward, ignoring whether Liu Yun followed.


    ¡°Junior Brother, don¡¯t you realize what¡¯s happening now? Don¡¯t throw a tantrum. If that sword is snatched by someone else, won¡¯t that suck for us? When the time comes, it would be too late for regret,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    ¡°Then tell me. Who will beat us to it?¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of turning back as he continued walking forward.


    ¡°About that¡­¡± Liu Yun was stunned.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t the one who discovered the sword in Kunlun Mountain,¡± Zhou Wen suddenly said. ¡°How did you know?¡± Liu Yun was slightly taken aback.


    ¡°You are good at stealing, and there¡¯s nothing in such a place that you can steal. Without knowing what¡¯s inside, you definitely won¡¯t go in for a stroll,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright, I admit that I didn¡¯t discover it.¡± Liu Yun knew that he couldn¡¯t fool Zhou Wen, so he didn¡¯t deny it.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian discovered it?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    The only person who could find such a strange place was probably that strange old man. ¡°You guessed wrongly this time. This place wasn¡¯t found by the old fellow first.¡± Liu Yun¡¯s answer exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°I can tell you, but you have to promise me that you will immediately follow me into the mountain when you know the answer,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s best I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen continued walking forward.


    Liu Yun burned with anxiety as he said helplessly, ¡°It¡¯s our human traitor teacher who discovered it. He also made a deal with the old fellow and got me to get you to retrieve the sword. However, he told me not to tell you


    yet.¡±


    ¡°Human traitor?¡± Zhou Wen was taken aback before he realized what Liu Yun meant.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t he tell me himself?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. He only told the old fellow that the Immortals are very interested in that sword. We have to take it before the Immortals do. We might be too late if we delay our entry. It¡¯s best if you quickly enter the mountain with me,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of turning back.


    ¡°What do you mean it doesn¡¯t make sense? What I said was true. If I lie to you, I¡¯ll let you remove my head and use it as a toilet.¡± Liu Yun was really anxious.


    ¡°I mean, this entire matter doesn¡¯t make sense.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and continued, ¡°Teacher discovered this place first, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Liu Yun nodded.


    ¡°Since he was the one who discovered it first, he could have informed me earlier even if it wasn¡¯t convenient for him to retrieve the sword. Why did he have to wait until the Immortals are about to arrive before getting you to take me to retrieve the sword?¡± Zhou Wen pondered. ¡°Perhaps he can¡¯t do so in the dimension because of the situation and he didn¡¯t have the chance to inform you,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°If it¡¯s really that urgent, why would he take such a huge detour? He even wants you to take me there and not tell me the news directly?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and said to Liu Yun, ¡°After your grandfather received the news, he probably spent quite some time understanding the situation inside, right?¡±


    ¡°You know that too?¡± Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°With that old man¡¯s personality, how can he easily trust others? Furthermore, he¡¯s risking his grandson¡¯s life. If he doesn¡¯t figure out the situation inside, how can he let you take me in?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Now that you mention it, it does seem to be the case,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily. ¡°Are you telling me that Teacher wants to scam us?¡± ¡°I don¡¯t think he will scam us. Perhaps he¡¯s just using us as two chess pieces,¡± Zhou Wen said distractedly. His gaze and attention were attracted by the scenery ahead.

 Chapter 1711 - The Gate Found by Accident

    Chapter 1711 The Gate Found by Accident


    After circling around Xicheng Mountain for so long, Zhou Wen finally saw the tiny palm symbol.


    However, there was no entrance to the mountain at the spot where the tiny palm symbol was. There was a bare stone wall with a fist-sized depression on it. As the nearby mountain walls weren¡¯t flat, the depression looked inconspicuous.


    ¡°Junior Brother, are you really not planning on entering the mountain? I think that although Teacher is a little strange, he wouldn¡¯t scam us. Furthermore, the old fellow has already gone in to take a look. You know how sharp his eyes are. If he says that there¡¯s no problem, I don¡¯t think there will be a problem,¡± Liu Yun muttered.


    Zhou Wen ignored him. He took out his phone and snapped the tiny palm symbol on the mountain wall with his back facing Liu Yun. His phone immediately displayed the download notification of the dungeon. ¡°What¡¯s so good about snapping this crappy mountain? Say something. Do you want to enter the mountain or not?¡± Liu Yun was extremely depressed. ¡°Don¡¯t you think this mountain wall is a little different?¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the mountain wall.


    If not for the tiny palm symbol, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have discovered anything amiss here. However, since the tiny palm symbol was engraved here, it didn¡¯t make sense that there was nothing special around the mountain wall.


    Therefore, after repeated observations, Zhou Wen realized that the mountain wall was somewhat special.


    ¡°What¡¯s different?¡± Liu Yun was taken aback when he heard that. He couldn¡¯t help but carefully size up the mountain wall. ¡°The protrusions and depressions on this mountain wall are somewhat strange,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked.


    ¡°What¡¯s so strange about it? Why don¡¯t I see any differences? The terrain here is just like that. It¡¯s all natural. There aren¡¯t any signs of artificial excavation.¡± Liu Yun was a little puzzled. He couldn¡¯t tell what was wrong.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, the protrusions and depressions here are arranged in a profound formation. They look irregular, but they contain great wisdom.¡± Ever since Zhou Wen watched the battle between Truth Listener and Starlady Polestar, he had a deeper understanding of the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. He knew a little about such stuff.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Although he didn¡¯t know what the arrangement of the protrusions and depressions was called, some of them were very similar to the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array. It wasn¡¯t difficult to make an analogy.


    ¡°You know array formations?¡± Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°A little. Let me see. If I¡¯m not wrong, there should be something else here,¡± Zhou Wen said as he reached out and pressed down on one of the protrusions.


    However, nothing happened. He didn¡¯t manage to sink the protruding stone, nor did anything happen nearby.


    ¡°Haha, Junior Brother, there¡¯s no need to blush. It¡¯s normal for humans to make mistakes. Don¡¯t show off if you haven¡¯t learned it well in the future¡­¡± He was very happy that he had finally found an opportunity to criticize Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen ignored him and pressed a few other protrusions and depressions.


    ¡°Junior Brother, array formations come from the Book of Changes. It¡¯s a form of specialized knowledge. It¡¯s not something that can be learned simply by browsing through. If you really want to learn it, I¡¯ll recommend you to the Zhang family later. Their family is good at this¡­¡± Liu Yun was speaking happily when the smile on his face suddenly froze. After Zhou Wen finished tapping, he heard cracking sounds as a fissure suddenly opened in the mountain wall.


    The hole wasn¡¯t big, only slightly bigger than a dog hole. People could probably only crawl inside; it was impossible for ordinary people to stand up.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, there really is one. Could this be one of the nine gates of Kunlun? However, this entrance is too small. It¡¯s very difficult for humans to enter. Can those creatures in Kunlun Mountain burrow out?¡± Liu Yun widened his eyes.


    ¡°I wonder if we can reach the place you mentioned by entering from here,¡± Zhou Wen said as he sized up the hole.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid no one knows about this mountain entrance. Who knows what will happen if we enter from here. Let¡¯s not waste any time. If you want to enter, go through the gate I mentioned.¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t wish to take the risk. Kunlun Mountain wasn¡¯t a place where one could take risks.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on entering either. Like Liu Yun, he wasn¡¯t willing to risk his life.


    Since the mobile dungeon was already downloading, he could slowly explore it in-game in the future.


    Just as he was about to leave, he suddenly heard a strange sound coming from the hole, as though something was rubbing two stones together.


    What¡¯s that sound? Zhou Wen sized up the cave entrance. It didn¡¯t seem to be obstructed, but he could only see a meter or two. When he looked further in, he couldn¡¯t see anything. All he felt was darkness.


    Darkness wasn¡¯t an obstacle to Zhou Wen¡¯s vision. He could see everything clearly even if it was pitch black. It wasn¡¯t as simple as being dark.


    ¡°It sounds like someone¡¯s using sandpaper to grind rocks.¡± Liu Yun listened for a while before continuing, ¡°That sound seems to be getting closer and closer to the hole. Could something be coming out?¡±


    ¡°What could it be? A break-out creature?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat curious. After retreating and waiting for a period of time, he continued staring intently at the hole.


    Liu Yun retreated even further than Zhou Wen. If something really came out of Kunlun Mountain, it would definitely be an extremely terrifying object.


    The stronger the dimensional zones were, the harder it was for the dimensional creatures inside to break out. The thought of creatures that could break out of the Kunlun Mountain struck fear in him.


    The grinding sounds coming from the cave grew louder and louder. Zhou Wen thought for a long time, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what the sound was. He had never seen an animal make such a sound when crawling out.


    No matter how hard he listened, it sounded like someone was grinding rocks. Not long after, the sound of grinding became even more intense. This time, it didn¡¯t sound like it was grinding rocks. It sounded more like someone was cutting rocks.


    The thin and sharp sound hurt one¡¯s eardrums.


    ¡°From the commotion, I reckon a huge fellow is about to come out. Let¡¯s not cause trouble. Quickly close the gate.¡± Liu Yun retreated a distance. If there was so much of a stir, he would probably be the first to escape.


    ¡°Since it¡¯s coming out, it won¡¯t be too late to leave after seeing what it is,¡± Zhou Wen said as he retreated. The two of them hid behind a boulder in the distance and secretly looked in the direction of the cave entrance. Now, he was really curious about what would crawl out.


    ¡°Junior Brother, do you think an electric saw will crawl out?¡± Liu Yun looked nervous, but he didn¡¯t stop talking.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he saw a blurry shadow appear in the cave, but he couldn¡¯t clearly make it out. The thing in the cave seemed to have walked out of the thick fog. At first, he could only see its outline, but as he got closer and closer to the cave entrance, its appearance gradually became clearer.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Finally, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun saw what the thing that crawled out of the cave looked like, but they still didn¡¯t recognize it.

 Chapter 1712 - Treasure

    Chapter 1712 Treasure


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Liu Yun looked at the thing that came out of the cave with a look of surprise.


    ¡°How would I know what it is!¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell what it was either.


    The thing that came out of the cave didn¡¯t look like a living creature. From the exposed parts outside the cave, it looked like a metal container.


    As only a portion of it was exposed, its entire body couldn¡¯t be seen. It looked like a metal container with four sides. There were many strange and mysterious patterns engraved on it, making it look ancient.


    The metal container was still squeezing out because it was slightly bigger than the cave. With every movement, the metal outer wall emitted an ear-piercing screech as it rubbed against the mountain wall. It was the sound Zhou Wen and Liu Yun had heard previously.


    Clang!


    Just as Zhou Wen and Liu Yun were hiding in the distance and watching, a metal container dropped out of the cave and landed on the ground. Indeed, it was a metal container that was about the height of a person. It was wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. The bottom was squarish, and it was impossible to tell what it was.


    The two of them exchanged looks and neither of them dared to show themselves. They hid in the distance and watched for a while. The thing remained motionless as though it was dead.


    Furthermore, after the metal container fell out, nothing else came out of the cave.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Junior Brother, you are the knowledgeable one. Why don¡¯t you take a look at it and see what it is?¡± Liu Yun wanted to know what it was, but he didn¡¯t dare take a gander for himself. He encouraged Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Such matters should be left to senior brothers.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk. His feet didn¡¯t move at all as though he had rooted himself to the ground.


    The two of them looked at each other. No one dared to really go over.


    Time ticked by. The two of them waited for more than half an hour, but there was no movement from the metal artifact.


    Liu Yun¡¯s curiosity was greater than Zhou Wen¡¯s. Finally, he couldn¡¯t help but summon a Companion Beast that resembled a cat or a ferret. He controlled the Companion Beast and made it carefully approach the metal artifact.


    The two of them stared at the Companion Beast and metal container until the Companion Beast crawled to its side. However, the thing remained motionless.


    ¡°Crawl in and see what¡¯s inside.¡± Zhou Wen observed for a while. The middle of the metal container was empty. It was a square basin, but he couldn¡¯t see what was inside. He had used several vision techniques, but all he saw was chaotic noise. He couldn¡¯t see what was inside.


    Liu Yun naturally wouldn¡¯t take the risk with his main Companion Beasts. The Companion Beast he had summoned was only an ordinary Epic Companion Beast. Even if it died, he wouldn¡¯t feel the pinch. He immediately stopped arguing with Zhou Wen and ordered the Companion Beast to jump up.


    Seeing the Companion Beast standing on the metal container while nothing happened, Liu Yun ordered it to drill in again.


    The moment the Companion Beast entered, the metal container immediately reacted. It trembled as though it had been electrocuted. A strange light was swirling inside.


    After a moment, before the two of them could figure out anything, the metal container stopped trembling and returned to its original motionless state.


    ¡°Is it dead?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see the situation inside the metal container, so he could only ask Liu Yun.


    Liu Yun wore an odd expression and didn¡¯t answer Zhou Wen¡¯s question. He stared intently at the metal container. Soon, Liu Yun¡¯s Companion Beast crawled out of the metal container. However, the Companion Beast that crawled out was clearly bigger. Its originally pale yellow fur was even more resplendent with golden light, like a golden-furred beast.


    Zhou Wen immediately widened his eyes when he saw it. With his present abilities, even if he didn¡¯t know what kind of Companion Beast it was, he could roughly tell its level.


    The Companion Beast that Liu Yun had summoned was clearly at the Epic stage, but after crawling out, it had reached the Mythical stage.


    The two of them immediately realized that the metal container seemed to be an amazing treasure.


    ¡°Is your Companion Beast an evolvable type?¡± Zhou Wen asked Liu Yun.


    If it was an evolvable Companion Beast, it wouldn¡¯t be difficult for it to advance from the Epic stage to the Mythical stage due to the help of some powerful treasure.


    However, if a non-evolving Companion Beast could advance to the Mythical stage inside the metal container, that would be amazing.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s an evolvable Companion Beast. From the looks of it, there¡¯s quite a lot of energy inside. It actually advanced to the Mythical stage so quickly,¡± said Liu Yun.


    As Liu Yun spoke, he suddenly instant transmitted to the metal container and reached out to grab it.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen appeared on the other side of the metal container and grabbed it with one hand. He knew Liu Yun too well. From Liu Yun¡¯s words, he knew that he was definitely lying. The Companion Beast he had summoned was most likely an unevolvable Epic.


    Liu Yun¡¯s actions proved this point. Zhou Wen grabbed the edge of the metal container and tried his best to snatch it.


    To be able to advance an ordinary Companion Beast to the Mythical stage, this thing was practically a divine artifact.


    If ordinary Companion Beasts could advance to the Mythical stage after staying inside for a moment, what changes would a true high-level Companion Beast undergo inside? Just the thought of it was thrilling.


    Liu Yun was only at the Terror grade and his strength was far inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s. Although the two of them grabbed the edge of the metal container, Zhou Wen was strong enough to pull it towards him. Just as Zhou Wen thought he was about to succeed, Liu Yun twisted the palm holding the metal container, making it suddenly vanish. Zhou Wen felt air in his grasp.


    ¡°Haha, Junior Brother, I¡¯m not as good at fighting as you are, but you¡¯re still wanting when it comes to stealing. Besides, I gave you a chance just now. You didn¡¯t do it yourself. Now that I have it, you can¡¯t take it from me.¡± Liu Yun took two steps back and looked at Zhou Wen with a smug look. Clearly, he had transferred the metal container somewhere.


    Zhou Wen felt a little regretful. If he had known, he would have used Universe Inversion first to get the metal container in his position.


    But it was already too late. Even if Zhou Wen wanted to use the Universe Inversion, it was useless if he couldn¡¯t find the metal container.


    ¡°Congratulations on obtaining the treasure, Eldest Senior Brother. It¡¯s best if you take a closer look. That thing might not be able to be used by you.¡± However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t the kind of person who believed that all the treasures in the world should belong to him. Since Liu Yun had snatched the treasure from him due to his carelessness, he didn¡¯t plan on vying for it.


    ¡°Haha, I know the feeling of sour grapes. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll examine it carefully, but don¡¯t even think about touching it.¡± Liu Yun instant transmitted far away before waving his hand again, producing the metal container out of thin air.


    As he guarded against Zhou Wen, he carefully observed the metal artifact. Soon, he summoned an Epic Companion Beast and threw it in.


    A magical scene happened again. The metal artifact trembled as the Epic Companion Beast that Liu Yun had thrown in advanced to the Mythical stage.


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m finally rich.¡± Liu Yun laughed out loud, almost jumping with joy.

 Chapter 1713 - Golden Elixir Pills?

    Chapter 1713 Golden Elixir Pills?


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed not bad to be able to advance ordinary Companion Beasts to Mythical Companion Beasts.¡± Zhou Wen implied that Mythical Companion Beasts were no longer of much use at their level.


    ¡°How do you know that this thing can only advance Companion Beasts to the Mythical stage?¡± Liu Yun wasn¡¯t convinced. He summoned a Terror-grade Companion Beast and let it enter the metal container.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that this thing could evolve a Terror-grade Companion Beast into a Calamity. In that case, a Calamity would have been too pedestrian.


    The metal container trembled again, but even when it stopped trembling, Liu Yun¡¯s Companion Beast didn¡¯t come out.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Don¡¯t tell me the Companion Beast was devoured by the metal container?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Liu Yun in puzzlement.


    Liu Yun¡¯s expression was somewhat alarmed before it turned from shock to pleasant surprise. Then, he laughed out loud.


    ¡°Could this fellow have gone mad from anger?¡± Zhou Wen said with a slight frown.


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who¡¯s crazy,¡± Liu Yun said excitedly as he summoned his Companion Beast out of the metal container. The Companion Beast had really advanced from the Terror grade to the Calamity grade. ¡°No way? It really advanced to the Calamity grade!¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat taken aback.


    ¡°That¡¯s not all. Look at this.¡± Liu Yun was so happy that he started becoming incoherent. He reached into the metal container.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Soon, Liu Yun pulled out his hand again. He held something in his palm.


    ¡°Take a look. Do you know what these are?¡± Liu Yun spread out his hand and saw three circular crystals of different sizes in his palm. The small one was about the size of a pigeon egg, and the big ones were like duck eggs. They swirled with rainbow colors as though they had some strange fragrance. ¡°What are they?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think they were Essence Energy Crystals, nor did they look like Zone Cores. He didn¡¯t know what they were.


    ¡°Haha, let me tell you. Don¡¯t be envious, jealous, or hateful. These are all treasures among treasures. Just now, my Terror-grade Companion Beast only ate something the size of a bean and advanced to the Calamity grade. The two advanced to the Mythical stage from taking a sniff. Furthermore, there weren¡¯t any side effects. There are three more here, and each one is many times bigger than the other¡­ Haha¡­ Be envious¡­ Be jealous¡­ Unfortunately, you were too late. These treasures are all mine¡­¡± Liu Yun was so excited that he was almost incoherent.


    ¡°There¡¯s such a thing?¡± Zhou Wen gaped in envy.


    ¡°I get it. The metal container must be Taishang Laojun¡¯s pill furnace. These are immortal pills refined by Taishang Laojun¡­ Perhaps it¡¯s the legendary Nine Revolutions Golden Elixir Pill¡­¡± As Liu Yun spoke, his eyes suddenly lit up. He stared at the three crystals in his hand and muttered to himself, ¡°These things seem indiscriminate. They can be used by any Companion Beast. I wonder if they can be used on humans?¡±


    Liu Yun was fanatical about advancing to the Calamity grade, but Jing Daoxian refused to let him take shortcuts, nor was he to accept resources from the dimension. Therefore, Liu Yun had been working hard, but he was still a distance away from advancing to the Calamity grade.


    Now that three treasures were suddenly placed in front of him, how could he not let his imagination run wild?


    Furthermore, looking at the attributes of the three Companion Beasts after their evolution, not only could they evolve Companion Beasts, but the attributes they had after evolution were excellent. They weren¡¯t inferior to Companion Beasts that evolved with Zone Cores.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when you eat it,¡± Zhou Wen said casually.


    To his surprise, Liu Yun stared at the crystal in his hand for a while before throwing the smallest one into his mouth.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, do you have a death wish? You actually dare eat something like that? Taishang Laojun¡¯s Golden Elixir Pill? Is Kunlun related to Taishang Laojun?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed. Although the item was good, it wasn¡¯t something one should randomly eat.


    What was an elixir to Companion Beasts might be a poison that penetrated the intestines of humans.


    ¡°How is it unrelated? Legend has it that Kunlun is the Holy Land of Daoism. I know what I¡¯m doing.¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t mind at all as though he was confident.


    Just as he said that, Zhou Wen saw Liu Yun¡¯s skin turn crystalline as though a colorful light was seeping out.


    Liu Yun wore an excited and surprised expression. He reached out and swallowed the two big ones as well.


    Just as he swallowed the two crystals, a strange glow rose from Liu Yun¡¯s body. It was as though an immortal aura was spewing out, emitting a strange fragrance.


    Liu Yun circulated the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art as his body shimmered with starlight, as though he was the center of the universe. Countless stars revolved around him like a miniature universe.


    The pocket universe was originally a monotonous white color. As the immortal aura fused into it, it gradually turned into a gorgeous color. The energy contained in it became more and more terrifying.


    It really works? Could it really be Taishang Laojun¡¯s Golden Elixir Pills? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. Liu Yun was clearly condensing a Calamity Zone to advance to the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen truly regretted it. If he had done it earlier, these treasures would have been his.


    Soon, Liu Yun¡¯s Calamity Zone condensed and he officially advanced to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°Haha, Junior Brother, my dear Junior Brother, to think that you would have such a day. You¡¯ve finally lost to me, right? Not only did this thing advance me to the Calamity grade, but the Calamity Zone I condensed is also the best among the best¡­¡± Liu Yun laughed at the sky, looking smug as though he was an emperor who had conquered a kingdom.


    ¡°Congratulations, Eldest Senior Brother,¡± Zhou Wen said as he couldn¡¯t help but glance into the cave.


    Since there was such an item in the cave, there might be more. Even he was tempted by such a treasure.


    The two of them exchanged looks and instantly understood what each other was thinking. Almost at the same time, they rushed into the cave.


    Although the immortal sword was good, that wasn¡¯t something they could definitely get their hands on. The treasures here were real. If Taishang Laojun¡¯s alchemy room was really inside, wouldn¡¯t they make a killing?


    Thinking of what Monkey Sun had done after entering Taishang Laojun¡¯s alchemy room, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun wanted to carry out such a heist.


    The two of them rushed into the cave one after another. Thankfully, they were relatively rational people and weren¡¯t blinded by benefits. They were very careful and even summoned several Companion Beasts to scout ahead.


    To their surprise, although this path was rugged and long, it wasn¡¯t dangerous at all. The two of them proceeded carefully without anything happening. After a long while, they finally reached the end of the cave and crawled out of a hole to find themselves inside a stone chamber.


    There were no dimensional creatures in the stone chamber. The two of them observed the stone chamber and as they looked around, their expressions turned odd.


    The decorations in the stone chamber were very simple, almost without any decorations. There was a hole on the ground, and on both sides of the hole were two stone slabs that extended from the ground. From the shape of the hole, the metal container from before was likely embedded in this hole.


    They connected such a setup with something bad.

 Chapter 1714 - Pheasant?

    Chapter 1714 Pheasant?


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, don¡¯t you think this setup looks a little like something?¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the pit on the ground.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡± Liu Yun turned his face and deliberately avoided Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Put that metal container into the pit. If you do So, I think it resembles¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Liu Yun interrupted him violently.


    ¡°Shut up. What do you mean it resembles something? It resembles nothing. Cut the crap! There¡¯s a door there. Let¡¯s see if it can be opened.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he walked towards the door without looking back as though he was running for his life. There was even a faint retching sound.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that Liu Yun definitely had the same thoughts as him.


    No matter how I look at it, it looks like a squatting toilet. Could the metal container be Kunlun Mountain¡¯s toilet? If the metal container is really a toilet, wouldn¡¯t that make the so-called Golden Elixir Pills that Liu Yun ate¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, he quickly had second thoughts. I don¡¯t think so. How strong are the fellows in Kunlun Mountain to produce feces that can advance a person to the Calamity grade!? ¡°The door here can be opened. There seems to be a garden behind it.¡± Liu Yun had already cracked open the door with a push and looked out.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly followed and looked out through the crack in the door. Indeed, there was a garden outside. All sorts of flowers and plants that he had never seen or heard of were scattered across the garden. They looked like they had grown naturally and hadn¡¯t been artificially tended. However, they had a strange beauty to them, as though they were deserving of such beauty.


    The garden seemed huge with no end in sight. There was a blue sky and white clouds above them with no other buildings.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°There seems to be a creature over there,¡± Liu Yun whispered. Zhou Wen also saw a white bird lying in a flower patch in the distance. Due to the cover of the flower shrubs, he couldn¡¯t see its full appearance. He only saw that its upper body resembled a peacock, but it was somewhat different.


    ¡°Could that be the phoenix you mentioned?¡± Zhou Wen whispered to Liu Yun.


    ¡°Are you stupid? A phoenix lives on a divine tree. How can a phoenix set up a nest in grass? Besides, have you seen a white phoenix?¡± Liu Yun rolled his eyes and said angrily. ¡°That¡¯s true. That¡¯s a pheasant in the grass.¡± Zhou Wen thought that it made sense.


    The two of them carefully sized up the surroundings through the crack in the door. Apart from the white pheasant, they didn¡¯t see any other creatures, much less any other buildings.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. There¡¯s only one pheasant here. Then who¡¯s the toilet for? Could it be that pheasant?¡± Zhou Wen muttered.


    ¡°Do you believe that I¡¯ll fight you to the death if you continue?¡± Liu Yun felt like vomiting again as he forcefully held back.


    ¡°I¡¯m just saying. Don¡¯t take it seriously. Perhaps it¡¯s not a toilet at all,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Liu Yun gritted his teeth and didn¡¯t make a sound. He continued observing the situation outside. After a while, he said, ¡°Should we go out and take a look? There seems to be only a pheasant in the garden. It shouldn¡¯t be too dangerous.¡±


    ¡°That might not be the case.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so.


    If the things inside the metal container were really produced by the pheasant, Zhou Wen felt that heading out with Liu Yun was equivalent to delivering themselves to their deaths.


    ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s go out. There¡¯s almost no time. It¡¯s best if we retrieve the sword early,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    Just as the two of them were about to return the way they came, they suddenly heard a strange cry coming from the garden.


    ¡°Quack! Quack!¡± The white bird let out a strange cry that sounded like a duck¡¯s quack. The sound was extremely unpleasant.


    After a few cries, the white bird stood up. Only then did Zhou Wen and Liu Yun see its full appearance.


    Its head looked a little like a peacock¡¯s, but its back was like a pheasant¡¯s. It didn¡¯t have the long feathers of a peacock.


    ¡°Pui, it¡¯s really a pheasant.¡± Liu Yun cursed his bad luck inwardly. If the things inside the metal container were really shat out by this pheasant, he felt his stomach churn just thinking about it.


    After the pheasant stood up, it leisurely strolled in the garden. After taking a few steps, it pecked at the flowers. It was unknown what it was pecking at.


    After Zhou Wen saw what the pheasant was doing, he felt a chill run down his spine.


    The pheasant was eating the fruits in the grass, but the fruits looked a little strange. The fruits in the grass were the size of a fist and looked like babies in a uterus.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight, he could see that there were clear facial features on the faces of the grass fruits. If it wasn¡¯t for the grass vines, he would have imagined that it was a baby that had been taken out prematurely via a C-section.


    The pheasant swallowed each fruit in one mouthful. It was unknown what they tasted like.


    ¡°Could this thing be a ginseng fruit? That thing blooms every three thousand years and bears fruit every three thousand years. It needs another three thousand years to ripen. It¡¯s a good thing that takes ten thousand years to produce.¡± Liu Yun¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw this. It was obvious that he was up to no good.


    ¡°Is your brain damaged? Ginseng fruits grow on the ginseng fruit trees. What¡¯s here is clearly a grass fruit. Furthermore, the legendary ginseng fruit should be in the house of that Earth Immortal ancestor. Why is it on Mount Kunlun?¡± Zhou Wen said angrily.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Liu Yun was immediately deflated.


    As the two of them were talking, they suddenly heard the pheasant let out another ugly cry and run.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly looked over and was slightly alarmed by the scene he saw. He saw the pheasant running with all its might, chasing after a grass fruit.


    The grass fruit was much bigger than the typical grass fruit. It was completely white like a chubby baby. The pheasant chased after it, and the grass fruit baby ran ahead. It jumped around in the garden, and the pheasant wasn¡¯t able to catch up to it.


    After watching for a moment, Liu Yun cheered inwardly. He was glad that he hadn¡¯t really gone out. Otherwise, if he had really been targeted by that pheasant, it would be a question if he could come out alive.


    The speed at which the pheasant chased after the baby was so fast that even they as Calamity-grade creatures couldn¡¯t see it clearly. Even if they could see it clearly, their reaction speed couldn¡¯t keep up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave quickly.¡± Liu Yun felt that this place was too dangerous. It was best to leave as soon as possible.


    ¡°Let¡¯s watch a little longer.¡± Zhou Wen kept staring at the grass fruit baby.


    The grass fruit baby¡¯s speed wasn¡¯t slower than a pheasant¡¯s. Furthermore, he could use the soil, flowers, and other objects in the garden to escape. It didn¡¯t seem like it was only proficient in Earth Escape, but it could also use Wood Escape and Water Escape.


    This thing is a little like a Ginseng Baby Companion Beast, but it¡¯s at an even higher level. Ginseng Babies only know how to escape through the earth. This fellow has already displayed three escape techniques. Could it be that it can use the escape techniques of all five elements? Zhou Wen was intrigued by the grass fruit baby.

 Chapter 1715 - New Dungeon

    Chapter 1715 New Dungeon


    ¡°Holy sh*t, these two things are awesome!¡± Liu Yun¡¯s eyes were sharp enough. He could see most of an average Calamity-grade battle.


    But now, he couldn¡¯t see the actions of the pheasant and the grass fruit baby. All he could see were two beams of light bouncing around the garden.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s more amazing than you imagine,¡± Zhou Wen added.


    His words came from the bottom of his heart. Zhou Wen had already seen top Calamity creatures. Even existences as powerful as Truth Listener and Starlady Polestar couldn¡¯t do what the pheasant and the grass fruit baby were doing


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the pheasant and the baby were creatures above the Calamity grade, but he was certain of one thing. In terms of speed, the pheasant and the grass fruit baby were probably above Truth Listener and Starlady Polestar.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any speed-measuring equipment. At their level, it was difficult to tell the difference in speed with the naked eye.


    However, there was a very obvious difference between Starlady Polestar and the pheasant. When Starlady Polestar and Truth Listener moved at such speeds, they would produce a terrifying shockwave. Just the shockwave alone could destroy everything beneath the Calamity grade.


    However, the pheasant was so fast that there was no sonic boom or sound of it breaking through the sound barrier, much less a shockwave. Even the flowers and grass beside it weren¡¯t damaged at all. It looked like they were still growing strong. This alone proved that it was extraordinary.


    Zhou Wen vaguely felt that the pheasant might be a legendary Apocalypse-grade existence, but it was only a guess. After all, he had never seen what an Apocalypse-grade existence looked like. Perhaps this was a top Speed-type Calamity.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Junior Brother, what do you think that baby-like grass fruit is? Even such a powerful dimensional creature wants to eat it. What will happen if we eat it?¡± Liu Yun couldn¡¯t help but whisper with envy.


    ¡°I advise you not to court death.¡± Zhou Wen was also envious, but he knew very well how terrifying the pheasant¡¯s speed was. Just this speed wasn¡¯t something they could match. If Zhou Wen fused with Great Brahma, he could still hold out a little. Liu Yun would definitely die instantly. It wouldn¡¯t even take him a second to die.


    ¡°I¡¯m not stupid. It¡¯s just a thought. I have to go back and flip through the books to see what those fruits are. Even if I can¡¯t eat the big one, aren¡¯t there still many small fruits in the garden? Perhaps I can think of a way to get a few.¡± Liu Yun was a shrewd person. He felt terrible returning empty-handed from a garden filled with treasures.


    ¡°How? Do you dare to head out and pluck them?¡± Zhou Wen also wanted to get a few grass fruits, but with the pheasant outside, the risk was too great.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little dangerous for us to steal them ourselves. We can get our Companion Beasts to steal them while that pheasant is attracted by the grass fruit baby. I have a Companion Beast that¡¯s best at Earth Escape and invisibility. It should be easy to pluck two grass fruits by burrowing to a spot underneath the grass fruits before returning.¡±


    Liu Yun changed the topic and continued, ¡°However, just in case, I think we should cooperate. You should also get a few Companion Beasts. If my Companion Beasts are discovered, they can go out in time to distract that pheasant so that my Companion Beast can return safely. When the time comes, everyone will get a share of the fruits. However, there¡¯s something you have to be careful of. That pheasant¡¯s level definitely isn¡¯t low. It will probably be difficult for ordinary Companion Beasts to attract its attention. It¡¯s best if you bring out some high-level Companion Beasts.¡± ¡°Dream on. Using my high-level Companion Beast as cannon fodder?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°If you have a Companion Beast that can turn invisible and use Earth Escape, you can steal the grass fruits. I don¡¯t mind releasing my Companion Beasts to be the shield. You have to do something, right? You can¡¯t just sit idle and wait for the benefits, right?¡± Liu Yun said with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have such a Companion Beast, but I don¡¯t want them to be cannon fodder. If you want to steal it, steal it yourself. I won¡¯t snatch it from you.¡± Zhou Wen really didn¡¯t plan on stealing it.


    After all, the dungeon here was already downloading. After the dungeon finished downloading, he could obtain the fruits in-game. There was no need to take the risk. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s make it clear first. Don¡¯t be jealous of the fruits I bring back. Don¡¯t you try to snatch mine.¡± Liu Yun had wanted to pull Zhou Wen along because he was afraid that he would ruin his plans.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Am I someone who does such things?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Yes, you are,¡± Liu Yun said mercilessly.


    ¡°Alright, I guarantee not to touch the fruits you steal. Will that do?¡± Zhou Wen said as he spread out his hands.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± Liu Yun nodded in satisfaction before beginning to summon his Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen originally wanted to see what Companion Beasts Liu Yun had summoned, but his phone suddenly produced a chime.


    The dungeon is done downloading? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. The download time for the dungeon was much faster than he imagined.


    According to past experience, the higher the level of the dungeon, the slower the download time. It hadn¡¯t been long, but the dungeon had already been downloaded. Didn¡¯t that mean that this dungeon wasn¡¯t very high-level? However, on second thought, he felt that something was amiss. From the metal container and crystals to the pheasant and the grass fruit baby, they were not things that could appear in low-level dungeons. It had to be a high-level dungeon.


    If this is really a high-level dungeon, there¡¯s only one possibility left. Has the download speed sped up after the phone was charged? Zhou Wen guessed as he took out his phone to take a look. Indeed, there was an icon on the phone¡¯s home screen. It was the symbol of Xicheng Mountain.


    It¡¯s really Kunlun Mountain! Zhou Wen was alarmed and delighted when he saw the name under the icon.


    Kunlun Mountain¡¯s status in myths was just too high. It was likely that there weren¡¯t many dimensional zones on Earth that were better than Kunlun Mountain.


    If one had the strength to clear the Kunlun Mountain instance dungeon, they could dominate all the dimensional zones on Earth.


    More importantly, a dimensional zone like Kunlun Mountain might be the testing ground for true Earth¡¯s Companion Beast to choose its owner. After clearing the level, he might even be able to obtain Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Of course, if he really discovered that Kunlun Mountain was the testing ground for Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, Zhou Wen would be on guard in reality to prevent others from clearing the level. This was to prevent Earth¡¯s Companion Beast from appearing and blowing up Earth.


    Let me see what¡¯s different between the ordinary and hidden modes of Kunlun Mountain. Zhou Wen already had some guesses, but he still needed to confirm them.


    After launching the Kunlun Mountain dungeon, Zhou Wen first chose the ordinary mode. After entering, he realized that the blood-colored avatar was standing in front of the Kunlun Mountain¡¯s north entrance. He circled the Kunlun Mountain, but he didn¡¯t discover anything special.


    Then, he switched to the hidden mode and entered the Kunlun Mountain instance dungeon again. He quickly discovered something, but this time, he discovered a lot more.


    In the past, the hidden dungeon would only have one spot with a concealed halo. As for the Kunlun Mountain dungeon, there were five places with hidden haloes. They looked like the five hidden gates in Kunlun Mountain.

 Chapter 1716 - Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place

    Chapter 1716 Caught Between a Rock and a Hard Place


    Two of the five places with a concealed halo were the cave he was in and the pool that Liu Yun had taken Zhou Wen to.


    Zhou Wen chose to open the cave in-game. Just as he was about to enter the cave, Liu Yun had already released his Companion Beast that sneaked towards the grass fruit.


    It was a Companion Beast that looked like a rat, but it was slightly bigger than a cat. After it was summoned, its body jolted before it vanished in front of Zhou Wen. It was unknown what kind of invisibility it had used, but even his hearing couldn¡¯t sense its existence.


    Liu Yun actually has such a Companion Beast? Zhou Wen was alarmed. Just as he was about to use other methods to see if he could track it, the Companion Beast had already crawled out of the stone chamber and headed for the grass fruit.


    Although Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t see it, he could vaguely sense the location of the Companion Beast. After switching a few Essence Energy Arts and using Great Brahma¡¯s powers, he saw its true body. Its invisibility ability couldn¡¯t hide from Great Brahma¡¯s Buddha Eyes.


    The Companion Beast was also proficient in Earth Escape. After entering the garden, it vanished the moment it landed. When it appeared again, it was already beside a grass fruit. It extended its claws and was about to pluck the grass fruit when it suddenly saw a white light flash.


    ISmr


    Before Liu Yun could unsummon the Companion Beast, he saw it vanish. The pheasant¡¯s figure appeared as it raised its neck as though it had swallowed something.


    ¡°My Shadow Rat!¡± Liu Yun¡¯s expression changed drastically. The other Companion Beasts he had prepared didn¡¯t have the time to draw away the pheasant¡¯s attention.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare continue gaming as he observed the pheasant¡¯s reaction. Once the pheasant did anything out of order, he would immediately escape.


    Thankfully, the pheasant didn¡¯t seem to notice the stone chamber. After swallowing Liu Yun¡¯s Shadow Rat, it immediately chased after the grass fruit baby.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, my condolences,¡± Zhou Wen consoled.


    ¡°F*ck off. That¡¯s a unique Shadow Rat. It wasn¡¯t easy for me to feed it to the Calamity grade. Do you know how much effort I spent on it¡­¡± Liu Yun cursed gloomily.


    ¡°This is life. It¡¯s best if we leave quickly.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to waste time here. Since he had already downloaded the game, there was no point in staying here.


    Although Liu Yun was still somewhat indignant, he knew that things couldn¡¯t be undone. Just as he was about to leave with Zhou Wen, he suddenly saw a flash of light. The grass fruit baby had burrowed into the stone chamber and was standing between Zhou Wen and Liu Yun. Its huge eyes that were extremely disproportionate to its face sized up Zhou Wen and Liu Yun.


    Holy sh*t! Zhou Wen and Liu Yun felt their backs turn cold as they immediately had the thought of escaping.


    However, this thought only existed in their mind and couldn¡¯t be realized. Just as he looked at the hole from the corner of his eye, he saw a white figure standing there¡ªit was the white pheasant.


    ¡°We¡¯re doomed!¡± The two of them felt their hearts turn cold.


    However, they weren¡¯t the kind of people who would sit back and do nothing. They didn¡¯t think at all and instinctively reacted.


    Liu Yun instant transmitted to the garden outside the stone chamber.


    The pheasant was standing at the hole at the exit. Instant transmission in that direction was almost equivalent to courting death. There might be a chance of survival if he rushed into the garden.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen made the same reaction. However, while he instant transmitted, he had already completed the fusion with Great Brahma. When he instant transmitted, he was already wearing dark-gold armor. The dark-gold wheel on his back emitted a dark black hole-like glow.


    Bang!


    The duo who had instant transmitted simultaneously seemed to slam into a stone wall and bounced back at the same time.


    Liu Yun fell on his ass. Zhou Wen could barely stand, but he felt his head buzz from the collision. He felt like he had a concussion.


    The pheasant and the grass baby remained rooted to the ground as they looked at the two of them from both sides.


    ¡°I told you to retrieve the sword earlier, but you insisted on wandering around. Look at what happened now? My life is gone because of you,¡± Liu Yun said with a sullen expression.


    He knew that he couldn¡¯t escape, so he didn¡¯t even bother getting up. He just sat on the ground and looked at the two creatures.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move again. The Teacher Domain had already been activated as he scanned the situation in the stone chamber, hoping to know what power had trapped them inside.


    Strangely, there were no traces of the nomological powers of the pheasant and the grass fruit baby in the stone chamber. Clearly, the power that prevented them from instant transmitting out of the stone chamber didn¡¯t come from the two strange creatures.


    The power of the stone chamber is what¡¯s stopping us from leaving? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun didn¡¯t move, nor did the pheasant and the grass fruit baby take the initiative to attack. They only sized them up as though they were somewhat curious about them.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to come in,¡± Zhou Wen said casually as he looked at the half-open door.


    He couldn¡¯t leave with spatial instant transmission, but it didn¡¯t mean that he couldn¡¯t leave. Perhaps this stone chamber only restricted spatial instant transmission. Perhaps there wouldn¡¯t be any restrictions if one walked out of the door.


    However, Zhou Wen knew very well that with his speed, it was impossible for him to be faster than the pheasant and the grass fruit baby. They hadn¡¯t attacked yet, so if he rashly rushed out, he might immediately infuriate them.


    ¡°Anyway, nothing good will come from being with you. My life will be lost because of you sooner or later.¡± Liu Yun also realized the subtle situation. He just sat there and spoke without any intention of rushing out.


    The pheasant¡¯s silver eyes sized up the two of them, but after looking at them for a while, it seemed to lose interest in them and focused its gaze on the grass fruit baby.


    From the looks of it, this fellow isn¡¯t interested in eating meat. Zhou Wen was immediately delighted.


    Indeed, the pheasant raised its claws and walked to the side as though it wanted to circle around Zhou Wen and Liu Yun to continue its hunt of the grass fruit baby.


    Liu Yun was also overjoyed. At that moment, he didn¡¯t dare say another word to prevent himself from provoking the pheasant.


    As long as the pheasant charged at the grass fruit baby, the two of them would have a chance of burrowing out of the cave and leaving this terrifying place. Zhou Wen was calculating how far the pheasant needed to leave the cave before he could successfully rush out, but to his surprise, the pheasant only took two steps before the grass fruit baby moved.


    The baby¡¯s figure flashed and vanished from their sight.


    ¡°Junior Brother¡­ You¡­ On your head¡­¡± Liu Yun widened his eyes as he looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s head as though he had seen a ghost.


    If not for the Great Brahma armor covering Zhou Wen¡¯s face, no one would have been able to see his face. They would definitely have realized that his expression was worse than Liu Yun¡¯s.


    This was because the grass fruit baby had jumped onto Zhou Wen¡¯s head. It sat on the dark-gold helmet as its white feet levitated above Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead, swaying back and forth.

 Chapter 1717 - A Delicate Situation

    Chapter 1717 A Delicate Situation


    ¡°Junior Brother, it¡¯s not that I don¡¯t want to help you, but it¡¯s just that you¡¯re too unlucky As a person, you have to accept your fate. In the future, I¡¯ll burn more paper money for you every year. Three incense sticks every year will definitely be plenty¡­¡± Liu Yun inched back as he spoke.


    The pheasant stared intently at Zhou Wen¡¯s head as it carefully raised its claws and carefully approached him, like a ferocious bird that could attack at any moment.


    Liu Yun had seen the speed of the pheasant. With a peck from it, the grass fruit baby might be able to dodge it, but Zhou Wen probably wouldn¡¯t be able to. Perhaps the beak would pierce through his head. No matter how powerful his recovery abilities were, he probably wouldn¡¯t survive.


    Zhou Wen stared at the pheasant without moving his body, but his brain was rapidly working


    If Zhou Wen were to reach out to chase the grass fruit baby away, he might lure the pheasant into attacking immediately. However, if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take action, the pheasant¡¯s aura would reach an unbelievable level. It would probably be even harder to deal with it.


    There was no solution. Instantly, Zhou Wen fell into a dilemma.


    If it were an ordinary person, their first choice would definitely be to shake off the grass fruit baby on their head, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do so.


    The grass fruit baby clearly wants to use me as a shield, but unfortunately, I¡¯m not someone who can be controlled by you. You need to pay the price for using me. With a thought, Zhou Wen circulated the First Order of Chaos. The Chaos Egg instantly enveloped his body, including the grass fruit baby above him.


    The Chaos Egg could typically only protect Zhou Wen, but if the object was very close to him, such as his clothes, it would also be within its confines.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Zhou Wen watched from the side for a long time and could tell that although the grass fruit baby¡¯s escape technique was special, its offensive strength was probably far inferior to that of the pheasant. After enveloping it in the Chaos Egg and with Great Brahma protecting him, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the grass fruit baby harming him inside.


    When the grass fruit baby realized that it was trapped by the Chaos Egg, it wasn¡¯t worried at first. It even sized up the Chaos Egg curiously.


    When the pheasant saw the Chaos Egg, it was also somewhat curious. It didn¡¯t attack immediately. After observing for a moment, it exerted strength with its claws and, like a ghost, appeared by the Chaos Egg. It struck down at the Chaos Egg with its beak.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s defense was almost invincible. Even the Heaven-level Starlady Polestar couldn¡¯t break through the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense. It was only because her strength was too powerful that it produced too many Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg, causing it to explode.


    Although the pheasant¡¯s strike was terrifying and had the ability to penetrate all seemingly indestructible objects, it failed to penetrate the Chaos Egg


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s outer shell was crushed by the beak like a deformed balloon. However, it ultimately didn¡¯t shatter, managing to block the pheasant¡¯s beak.


    Inside the Chaos Egg, a large number of Essence Energy Crystals appeared out of thin air. The production was in no way inferior to the speed at which Starlady Polestar¡¯s attacks produced them. This strike nearly filled the Chaos Egg with Essence Energy Crystals. It was almost without gaps.


    The grass fruit baby was alarmed as its figure flashed in a bid to escape with an escape technique.


    However, its head slammed into the Chaos Egg-it failed to escape. It bounced back and landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s head again. Zhou Wen felt a lot more at ease. Although the pheasant¡¯s offensive strength was powerful, it was still within the Calamity grade range. It didn¡¯t have any crushing destructive power.


    As long as it¡¯s not at the Apocalypse grade, my Great Brahma might be able to put up a fight. Zhou Wen secretly heaved a sigh of relief.


    The grass fruit baby was somewhat anxious. It tried a few more times, but it failed to rush out of the Chaos Egg. Just as Zhou Wen had expected, although its escape technique was very special, it was difficult to realize it in an independent space like the Chaos Egg.


    Blame yourself for taking the hard way out. You asked for it; don¡¯t blame me. As Zhou Wen¡¯s mind raced, the Chaos Egg flew into the garden. At the same time, he used Imperial Lord Behemoth to devour the large number of Essence Energy Crystals produced by the Chaos Egg.


    The originally flustered grass fruit baby suddenly stopped and stared at the Essence Energy Crystals as though it had discovered a new brand new world.


    No way? Zhou Wen realized something. Before he could do anything, the grass fruit baby opened its mouth and sucked in the Essence Energy Crystals nearby.


    Its tiny mouth didn¡¯t look big, but its devouring speed was even faster than the Imperial Lord Behemoth. In a moment, it sucked most of the Essence Energy Crystals into its stomach.


    Its petite body was like a bottomless pit. A large number of Essence Energy Crystals were sucked in, but its belly didn¡¯t react at all. It didn¡¯t even swell.


    The pheasant outside seemed a little surprised that its attack failed. When it saw the Chaos Egg fly towards the garden, it attacked with its beak again. Although the Chaos Egg wasn¡¯t slow, it was much slower than the pheasant. The latter easily struck it.


    A large number of Essence Energy Crystals were produced in the Chaos Egg again. According to Zhou Wen¡¯s original calculations, even if Imperial Lord Behemoth were to devour the Essence Energy Crystals, the Chaos Egg could only withstand four or five strikes before it exploded from the excessive crystals.


    However, now that the grass fruit baby had sucked in a large number of Essence Energy Crystals while the pheasant had repeatedly pecked at the Chaos Egg, there weren¡¯t many Essence Energy Crystals produced-most of them were sucked away by the grass fruit baby.


    This fellow is indeed Egg Sovereign¡­ However, this thing¡¯s defense is stronger than I imagined. It can actually withstand such attacks! Liu Yun was alarmed.


    What surprised him wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen being Egg Sovereign, but the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t know the trick underlying it and imagined that the Chaos Egg could really withstand the pheasant, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.


    Although he was temporarily safe and the Chaos Egg wouldn¡¯t explode anytime soon, the grass fruit baby¡¯s body gradually underwent a strange change as it constantly absorbed Essence Energy Crystals.


    Its body was snow-white and crystalline like a snow-white lotus root, but at that moment, a strange red glow gradually suffused from it.


    The red glow was misty and smokelike as it seeped out of the snow-white body, giving the baby a ruddy look. It was as though a pale-faced patient had regained their color.


    As a large number of Essence Energy Crystals were sucked away by it, the red glow intensified.


    The pheasant attacked a few times, but it failed to crack the Chaos Egg. It seemed to be vexed as it exerted all its strength. Its head was like a sewing machine as it kept pecking at the Chaos Egg.


    The number of Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg increased exponentially. Zhou Wen was originally worried that it would explode, but he never expected the baby¡¯s absorption speed to increase. The Essence Energy Crystals that were just produced were sucked into its stomach almost immediately.

 Chapter 1718 - Battling the Pheasant in the Garden

    Chapter 1718 Battling the Pheasant in the Garden


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if he should be happy or worried. With the existence of the grass fruit baby, he didn¡¯t have to worry about the Chaos Egg exploding. However, it was also because of the existence of the grass fruit baby that Zhou Wen was somewhat worried. This thing had absorbed so many Essence Energy Crystals that its body was becoming redder and redder. It was like a red-hot branding iron. Who knew what other tricks it could pull.


    Although the grass fruit baby didn¡¯t have any offensive strength and hadn¡¯t displayed any powerful offensive means after being trapped by Zhou Wen, with only a notably powerful escape technique, the world was sometimes unpredictable. Water was considered a relatively malleable material that typically couldn¡¯t harm a human¡¯s body.


    However, ignoring the floods and tsunamis, just water pressure at a high enough level could slice through rock and steel.


    If anything abnormal happened after the grass fruit baby absorbed a large number of Essence Energy Crystals, it might become an existence that was more lethal than the pheasant.


    Although he knew of the potential problems, there was no good solution. If he unsummoned the Chaos Egg now, Zhou Wen would have to face the pheasant¡¯s relentless attacks.


    The offensive strength displayed by the pheasant was definitely not weaker than Truth Listener.


    Of course, Truth Listener¡¯s might wasn¡¯t completely determined by its offensive strength, but to be comparable to Truth Listener in terms of offensive strength gave Zhou Wen a headache.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that Truth Listener couldn¡¯t be summoned, I wouldn¡¯t be in such a situation. Zhou Wen steeled his heart and charged towards the stone chamber¡¯s door.


    As Zhou Wen expected, although the stone chamber forbade spatial powers, it didn¡¯t forbid entry and exit. The Chaos Egg immediately squeezed out of the stone chamber¡¯s door and rolled into the garden.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The pheasant rushed out as well and continued pecking at the Chaos Egg crazily.


    The grass fruit baby¡¯s body was already as red as ruby. The red glow inside was blinding. Thankfully, its body didn¡¯t produce a temperature, so it didn¡¯t cause any substantial damage to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen attempted to use instant transmission in the garden and realized that it wasn¡¯t forbidden. However, when he instant transmitted, the pheasant had already appeared beside him and continued pecking.


    Being able to use spatial instant transmission made Zhou Wen feel a lot more at ease. After the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art advanced to the Calamity grade, his instant transmission ability had greatly increased. Although he couldn¡¯t continuously instant transmit without any delays, it wasn¡¯t something an ordinary person could compare with.


    Seeing that the grass fruit baby¡¯s body seemed to be undergoing a tremendous change, Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Once it underwent a qualitative change, his situation might become more dire.


    Gritting his teeth, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Chaos Egg and exposed himself to the pheasant.


    Almost at the same time, Zhou Wen used Universe Inversion to rapidly and continuously instant transmit, hoping to escape the pheasant¡¯s attack.


    In any case, the pheasant¡¯s original target was the grass fruit baby. Even if he was accidentally injured, as long as he survived the first attack, the pheasant would probably chase after the grass fruit baby.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s plan was good, but after he instant transmitted, he realized that the grass fruit baby had appeared behind him, sticking to him like a shadow and was lying on his shoulder.


    The pheasant pecked down at the same time. It was so fast that instant transmission was impossible to dodge in time.


    ¡°If the tiger doesn¡¯t show its might, do you think I¡¯m HELLO KITTY?¡± The Great Brahma armor on Zhou Wen¡¯s body shimmered with a dark glow as he threw a punch forward.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to fight the pheasant head-on because he was afraid that it would be too powerful. Secondly, he was afraid that the commotion caused by the battle would attract other terrifying creatures.


    This was Kunlun Mountain, an unimaginable and terrifying place in myths. Legend had it that countless immortals gathered here. Who knew how many terrifying creatures like the pheasant existed here?


    However, he couldn¡¯t care less now. He had to stay alive first.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that his full-powered strike would destroy a large section of the garden if it collided with the pheasant, but to his surprise, after the fist collided with the beak, there was only a dull thud. The expected explosion and shockwave didn¡¯t happen.


    There¡¯s something wrong with this garden! Zhou Wen immediately realized the problem.


    Previously, when the pheasant was chasing after the grass fruit baby, they didn¡¯t cause any sonic booms or shockwaves. From the looks of it, it wasn¡¯t because they could control their strength, but because there was some force in the garden that suppressed the spread of energy.


    The power of the Heaven-level Great Brahma had annihilative power that could destroy almost everything. However, in the clash with the pheasant¡¯s power, he didn¡¯t gain any advantage.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t at a disadvantage. The pheasant retreated from Zhou Wen¡¯s punch as his legs went limp and he nearly knelt on the ground.


    This didn¡¯t mean that Great Brahma¡¯s strength was inferior to the pheasant, but that Zhou Wen¡¯s physique was too poor. His Terror-grade body was still too weak in such a battle. Just the remnant forces that entered Great Brahma¡¯s armor made it difficult for his body to withstand them.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Junior Brother, what¡¯s with your armor? Why is it so powerful?¡± Liu Yun, who was sneaking a peep from the stone chamber, nearly fell over when he saw Zhou Wen send the pheasant retreating several steps with a single punch. He was so jealous that his eyes turned red.


    The pheasant¡¯s ferocity was triggered by Zhou Wen¡¯s punch. It flapped its wings and charged forward with a strange cry, constantly attacking Zhou Wen like a ribbon of light.


    Liu Yun couldn¡¯t see the pheasant¡¯s actions at all, but Zhou Wen could see them clearly with Great Brahma¡¯s augmentation. However, Great Brahma wasn¡¯t good at speed. He couldn¡¯t keep up despite being able to see it.


    After he brandished his fists to block a few pecks, he found himself unable to dodge the next peck.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to use his body to withstand the pheasant¡¯s peck, he suddenly felt his vision blur. His body had mysteriously appeared elsewhere in the garden.


    The grass fruit baby! Zhou Wen immediately realized what had happened. The grass fruit baby lying on him had definitely used an escape technique to dodge the pheasant¡¯s peck.


    How could the pheasant give up? It charged over almost at the same time and began fighting Zhou Wen again.


    Great Brahma¡¯s destructive power wasn¡¯t afraid of the pheasant¡¯s powerful strength at all. It was just that its speed was inferior. However, every time Zhou Wen was in danger, the grass fruit baby would take the initiative to use an escape technique to help him dodge the attack. It was difficult to determine the victor.


    How did Junior Brother cultivate? He actually reached such a stage as a pure human! Liu Yun was dumbfounded as he drooled in envy.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too happy because his worst fears came true. Deep in the garden, a terrifying aura came from afar.

 Chapter 1719 - Phoenix Breed

    Chapter 1719 Phoenix Breed


    Half of the sky in the garden was dyed golden. It was a huge, strange golden bird that looked like a cross between an eagle and a condor. Its golden wings spread out as though they blotted out half the sky.


    Holy sh*t, could it be a Golden-Winged Roc? Zhou Wen remembered seeing a creature suspected to be a Roc, but it wasn¡¯t that big, nor did it have such a terrifying aura.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be sure if it was the Golden-Winged Roc, but he was certain that the golden-winged bird was at least at the Heaven level. It might be at the legendary Apocalypse grade. I can¡¯t stay in this godforsaken place any longer. As Zhou Wen fought the pheasant, he rushed towards the stone chamber.


    He had failed to find a way out despite fighting in the garden for so long.


    The blue sky above the garden had white fluffy clouds. His spatial powers weren¡¯t nullified, but when Zhou Wen wanted to use interstellar teleportation to leave, he realized that he couldn¡¯t contact the stars outside.


    The garden seemed endless. No matter in which direction he scanned, all he saw was an endless garden.


    The pheasant was cleverer than Zhou Wen imagined. It clearly saw through Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions and stopped fighting him. Instead, it blocked the stone chamber¡¯s entrance¡ªthe only way out.


    There was a spatial seal in the stone chamber, so he could only forcefully rush in. Zhou Wen gritted his teeth as the Great Brahma armor on his body circulated with dark swirling light, erupting with unparalleled destructive power. Zhou Wen punched the pheasant blocking the door.


    Although Great Brahma¡¯s speed was inferior to the pheasant¡¯s, his destructive power wasn¡¯t inferior to it. Zhou Wen wanted to blast the pheasant apart and rush into the stone chamber to escape.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The pheasant had a stubborn temper. Despite knowing that its strength was inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s, it refused to dodge¡ªit was bent on stopping him.


    Just as the fist was about to strike the pheasant, Zhou Wen was secretly delighted when a golden light suddenly rose in front of him. The resplendent golden-winged bird appeared behind the pheasant. Its golden wings bent down to protect its body.


    Boom!


    The destructive force struck the golden wings, but not a single feather fell. The golden-winged bird¡¯s body seemed to be stronger than the pheasant¡¯s.


    ¡°This trope of the older one coming after the younger one is defeated seriously gets old. Junior Brother, take care. I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡± Liu Yun shouted before burrowing into the hole and leaving without looking back.


    Zhou Wen cursed inwardly. From the looks of it, the white pheasant was most likely the golden-winged bird¡¯s fledgling. If a fledgling was already so terrifying, there was no need to mention the golden-winged bird. Just its speed and defense alone made Zhou Wen lose the desire to fight.


    The golden-winged bird was clearly infuriated by Zhou Wen¡¯s punch as it let out a screech. Its body emitted a golden glow as it spread its wings that blotted out the sky and fanned at Zhou Wen with a terrifying aura.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared to fight a bloody battle with all his might. The black hole-like wheel of light behind the Great Brahma armor spun as though it was connected to hell.


    Just as the battle was about to begin, they suddenly heard an ear-piercing and discordant strange cry.


    When the golden-winged bird heard the cry, it suddenly stopped flapping its wings and slowly retreated.


    What does it want? Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at the pheasant and the golden-winged bird behind it. The pheasant was still screaming at the golden-winged bird. The golden-winged bird took a few steps back and suddenly made an action that nearly made Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes pop out.


    It actually prostrated in front of the pheasant. From the looks of it, it was extremely respectful to the pheasant. It didn¡¯t look like a mother treating her child. Instead, it looked like a subject paying respects to a monarch.


    The pheasant screeched angrily at the golden-winged bird that prostrated. Its arrogant look was like a slave owner insulting its slave.


    The golden-winged bird lay there motionless. No matter how the pheasant cursed, it remained unmoved as though it was only right for the pheasant to treat it like this.


    Heavens! What¡¯s going on? The golden-winged bird looks like the legendary Golden-Winged Roc. Even if it¡¯s not a Golden-Winged Roc, it¡¯s at least a Heaven-level existence. In terms of combat strength, it¡¯s above the pheasant. Why is it so respectful and reverent towards the pheasant? Zhou Wen was dumbfounded.


    The pheasant seemed to be done cursing. Then, it turned around and looked at Zhou Wen. In the next second, it pounced over as though it wanted to skin Zhou Wen alive.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to fight the pheasant again. What was depressing was that regardless if the Golden-Winged Roc had done it deliberately or not, it was blocking the stone chamber¡¯s door, preventing Zhou Wen from having the chance to rush in.


    What¡¯s up with this pheasant? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    The pheasant¡¯s combat strength was clearly inferior to the golden-winged bird, yet the golden-winged bird was so reverent to it. Apart from having a natural bloodline and race advantage, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t figure out why the golden-winged bird was reverent towards the pheasant.


    Could it be that this pheasant is a real phoenix? Zhou Wen had no choice but to have his suspicions.


    In certain myths, the phoenix had once given birth to the Peacock Bright King and the Golden-Winged Roc. If that golden-winged bird was really a Roc, then the only one who could make the Golden-Winged Roc bow its head in terms of bloodline and race was the phoenix. Even the Peacock Bright King didn¡¯t have such rights.


    However, no matter how he looked at it, the white bird in front of him was like a pheasant, not the legendary supreme divine phoenix.


    On second thought, Zhou Wen realized that it wasn¡¯t unacceptable. The chick he reared was also a phoenix. Ignoring the fact that it didn¡¯t look like one when it was young, it still didn¡¯t look like one now.


    Despite both being phoenixes, Chick¡¯s level was clearly not as high as the pheasant. This made Zhou Wen suspect that Chick¡¯s phoenix bloodline wasn¡¯t very pure.


    Could it be that a real phoenix actually looks like a pheasant? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The pheasant constantly attacked Zhou Wen, seemingly determined to kill him personally.


    Although the golden-winged bird had no intention of attacking Zhou Wen after being reprimanded by the pheasant, it kept eyeing him covetously.


    From the looks of it, if the pheasant suffered any damage, it would immediately rush over and tear Zhou Wen to pieces.


    From the looks of it, it¡¯s time to use Great Brahma¡¯s true strength. I don¡¯t care if you are a true phoenix. I¡¯ll kill you first. Don¡¯t say that I didn¡¯t give you a chance. You were the one who insisted on courting death. The Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra in Zhou Wen¡¯s body circulated crazily as the Great Brahma armor over his body became even more mysterious. The black hole halo wheel behind him didn¡¯t change, but it seemed to be devouring everything nearby.


    ¡°All life is equal¡­¡± Zhou Wen stood in the garden like a Buddha. Faced with the pheasant¡¯s pecking, he slowly closed his eyes and chanted like a Buddha.

 Chapter 1720 - All Life is Equal

    Chapter 1720 All Life is Equal


    The pheasant was accustomed to having the final say at Kunlun Mountain. It pecked down without any regard for anything.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes remained closed, but it was as though he had already expected the pheasant¡¯s attack trajectory. He raised his palm slightly and extended a finger, blocking the pheasant¡¯s beak.


    At the instant the two came into contact, the wheel of light behind Zhou Wen was like a true black hole that instantly devoured everything


    The man and pheasant didn¡¯t seem to change, but their surroundings had become extremely strange.


    The garden that was inches away vanished. The grass, flowers, and trees vanished as well. The golden-winged bird that was eyeing them covetously also vanished. It was as though Zhou Wen and the pheasant were the only ones left in the world. Everything around them was an empty darkness.


    The pheasant was slightly stunned as it looked around, seemingly puzzled.


    ¡°All life is equal except for one life.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes remained closed as he walked towards the pheasant.


    The true power of Great Brahma¡¯s domain was naturally not as simple as having powerful destructive power. This was the true power of Great Brahma¡¯s domain.


    In Great Brahma¡¯s domain, all powers and life were isolated. Only the creatures that Zhou Wen pulled into Great Brahma¡¯s domain could touch Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Any creature outside Great Brahma¡¯s domain, even someone as powerful as the golden-winged bird, could only see an illusion without touching anything inside.


    Unless the creature locked onto by Great Brahma¡¯s domain died or Great Brahma¡¯s domain was defeated, no external force could affect Zhou Wen.


    The golden-winged bird noticed the anomaly and let out an angry cry. Its wings slashed at Zhou Wen with a terrifying golden light.


    However, the golden light that could slice through everything seemed to slash at an illusion. No matter how many times it slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it couldn¡¯t injure him at all. The two seemed to be in two completely different spaces.


    The pheasant remained as belligerent as before as it transformed into a white beam and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was already filled with killing intent, but it didn¡¯t show on his face. He was as calm as Buddha. His body moved slightly as he dodged the pheasant¡¯s pecking. At the same time, he threw a punch at the pheasant¡¯s abdomen.


    The pheasant flapped its wings and instantly leaped into the air, dodging Zhou Wen¡¯s fist. At the same time, its hook-like claws reached out for Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    Great Brahma only had one face and a pair of arms left under the armor, but this didn¡¯t mean that the other abilities had vanished. They had only been fused into this face.


    Faced with the pheasant¡¯s claw attack, Zhou Wen¡¯s speed was too slow to dodge or block. He had no intention of dodging or blocking as he used his helm to block the pheasant¡¯s indomitable claw attack.


    Bang!


    The indomitable claw grabbed the dark-gold helm, but it failed to penetrate it. It didn¡¯t even make Zhou Wen take a step back. Instead, it let out a tragic cry as it flew backward as though it had suffered a heavy blow.


    Great Brahma also had the ability to reflect damage. After fusing all four sides, this ability became even stronger.


    Looking at the pheasant that flew out, Zhou Wen tore through the void and instantly arrived in front of it. He punched it repeatedly like a storm.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The pheasant suffered continuous attacks as its body staggered from the impact, distorting in the air.


    It had to be said that the pheasant¡¯s body was extremely powerful. Typical Calamity-grade creatures would have long been shattered by such a destructive force.


    However, the pheasant only let out tragic cries. Feathers were constantly sent flying, but it didn¡¯t suffer a fatal blow, nor did it lose its combat strength.


    It even reached out its claws and beak to counterattack during the gap between Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks. However, when its attacks landed on Zhou Wen, it ended up being injured.


    Seeing Zhou Wen crazily attack the pheasant, sending its feathers flying everywhere, the golden-winged bird outside cried out angrily. The golden light on its body erupted like a volcano as it slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s figure again and again.


    However, such a terrifying attack was completely useless. It could clearly see Zhou Wen, but all its forces passed through him. It was as though he was a mirage. No matter how destructive the golden-winged bird¡¯s power was, it was useless against Zhou Wen while he was inside Great Brahma¡¯s domain. All it could do was panic outside.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if you are a phoenix or a pheasant. Even if you are the Son of the Universe, you are only a living creature. You only have one life. Fight with your life on the line; there¡¯s only you and me.¡± Zhou Wen punched the pheasant again and again. The strikes weren¡¯t fatal, but made the pheasant scream repeatedly as its feathers constantly tore apart.


    The pheasant¡¯s body, which was originally covered by white feathers, had golden skin exposed in many places. The skin was crystalline like gold crystal, as though there was a rainbow luster flowing within.


    After suffering such ferocious blows, although the pheasant kept screaming, it became more ferocious. The rainbow-colored glow in its body intensified.


    What was even more terrifying was that the pheasant only knew simple offensive techniques like pecking and claw strikes. They were far inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s rich techniques, but with the passage of time, the pheasant¡¯s techniques became more varied.


    In fact, no technique Zhou Wen used could injure the pheasant a second time.


    If it were an ordinary Calamity-grade creature, they would have long been out of options and wouldn¡¯t be able to injure the pheasant at all.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s combat techniques appeared infinite in number. A seemingly simple punch contained infinite variations, making it difficult for the pheasant to predict his attack trajectory. In terms of strength, Zhou Wen might not be the strongest on Earth, but in terms of combat realm and techniques, no one on Earth was his match.


    Ignoring the infinite variations of the three thousand sword intents, just the Small Perfection of Wisdom realm was enough to turn Zhou Wen into something magical. It was as though a simple move would become unpredictable and unfathomable in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    The pheasant was constantly struck. Its feathers flew in the sky.


    Yi!


    Just as it was about to turn into a bald chicken, the pheasant suddenly let out a strange cry. The rainbow-colored light in its body tore out and its entire body was enveloped by strange colors.


    The body that was about to turn bald instantly transformed into rainbow feathers that covered its body again.


    Not only that, but its body also underwent an inexplicable change. The feathers on its head and back grew longer and longer as they danced like immortal clouds.


    The rainbow feathers on its body spread out in the wind. After it spread its wings, the rainbow-colored glass-like luster rose and danced, swirling around its body like immortal clouds.


    At that moment, the pheasant no longer looked like a pheasant. It was clearly a rainbow phoenix surrounded by an immortal aura.


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 Chapter 1721 - Rainbow Phoenix

    Chapter 1721 Rainbow Phoenix


    This is a phoenix? Why doesn¡¯t it look as orthodox as Chick? Zhou Wen saw that the phoenix was colorful and beautiful, but due to its beauty, it lacked its domineeringness.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s impression of a phoenix was a bird covered in golden flames-domineering and noble.


    Although such a gorgeous creature looked like a phoenix, it still left Zhou Wen somewhat puzzled.


    Having been bullied for so long, the pheasant was already enraged. At that moment, it transformed into a rainbow phoenix and spat out rainbow-like flames.


    Zhou Wen condensed the power of Great Brahma and punched the rainbow flames.


    Great Brahma¡¯s power seldom encountered a nemesis. Its destructive power was extremely powerful, but when it encountered the rainbow flames, it lost the destructive power it should have¡ªit was forcefully disintegrated by the rainbow flames.


    What kind of flame is this? It can actually restrain Great Brahma¡¯s power! Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly instant transmitted to dodge the burning of the rainbow flames.


    ¡°Junior Brother.¡± Zhou Wen was fighting the rainbow phoenix when he suddenly heard Liu Yun¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you flee? Why are you back?¡± Zhou Wen heard the voice, but he didn¡¯t see Liu Yun. He didn¡¯t know where he had hidden, nor did he have the time to find his location.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®flee?¡¯ I went to get the cavalry for you,¡± said Liu Yun.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your cavalry?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he fought. ¡°I haven¡¯t found one, so be careful. I think the bird you¡¯re fighting is most likely a phoenix.¡± Liu Yun paused before continuing, ¡°Don¡¯t think that phoenixes only spew fire. In ancient myths and legends, phoenixes are actually an extremely terrifying existence. This phoenix is probably the kind of phoenix in ancient myths. It has terrifying might.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to speak to him. Great Brahma¡¯s powers were restrained, and his speed was inferior to the phoenix¡¯s. All he could do was rely on his techniques to fight the rainbow phoenix, but he was already at a disadvantage.


    ¡°Have you heard of the legend of phoenixes giving birth to Rocs and Peacocks?¡± Liu Yun continued transmitting his voice.


    ¡°Cut the crap. Tell me something useful.¡± Zhou Wen really wasn¡¯t in the mood to listen to his stories. Great Brahma¡¯s powers were restrained, making his combat a challenge.


    ¡°From what I see, your strength seems to be somewhat similar to the Buddhist pantheon. Back then, the Peacock Bright King was able to devour Buddha, so it¡¯s obvious that the Peacock¡¯s strength has a restraining effect on the Buddhist pantheon. As for the phoenix, it¡¯s the peacock¡¯s ancestor. Its strength will restrain you. You can try fighting it with a different type of power. Perhaps it will be better,¡± said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed. He naturally knew that any other type of power might not be restrained, but he had to have one to change.


    Only Great Brahma was at the Heaven level. The powers below the Heaven level couldn¡¯t touch the phoenix. Truth Listener hadn¡¯t completed its mutation, so it couldn¡¯t be summoned.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you say something useful?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t dodge in time and the rainbow flames were about to burn him.


    His vision blurred as he realized that he had been moved far away, dodging the rainbow phoenix¡¯s attack.


    Only then did Zhou Wen recall that the grass fruit baby was still lying on his shoulder. It had escaped with Zhou Wen, allowing him to dodge the rainbow flames.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll forgive you for being uneducated. Have you heard of a mythical peacock that knows the Five-colored Divine Light? I reckon this phoenix¡¯s rainbow flames are even more terrifying than the Five-colored Divine Light. It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t touch it,¡± said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to be tainted by the rainbow flames. If it could even disintegrate the power of Great Brahma, death was almost a certainty if he touched it.


    Thankfully, the grass fruit baby provided sufficient help. As long as Zhou Wen encountered danger, this fellow would use an escape technique to escape with him. It was very obedient.


    I don¡¯t care anymore. If it benefits, so be it. Zhou Wen knew that this couldn¡¯t continue.


    The rainbow phoenix was much faster than him while Great Brahma was restrained by the rainbow flames; he had to think of other solutions.


    He simultaneously circulated Great Brahma and the Chaos Egg. Just as the Chaos Egg protected Zhou Wen¡¯s body, the rainbow flames enveloped the Chaos Egg.


    Thankfully, the Chaos Egg wasn¡¯t burned through as Zhou Wen expected. However, Essence Energy Crystals were produced crazily, almost bursting the egg instantaneously. Zhou Wen got Imperial Lord Behemoth to absorb Essence Energy Crystals, but it was only a drop in the ocean. Thankfully, the grass fruit baby didn¡¯t disappoint him. It opened its mouth and instantly absorbed most of the Essence Energy Crystals.


    The red light in its body became brighter and brighter, like a crystal chandelier.


    Although what Liu Yun said is a little far-fetched, it¡¯s not completely impossible. If a phoenix can give birth to a peacock and a roc, then there¡¯s no reason why a phoenix can¡¯t have the abilities of a peacock and a roc. The Golden-Winged Roc¡¯s speed is unparalleled, and the mythical peacock does have Five-colored Divine Light. This phoenix has the speed of a roc and the peacock¡¯s Five-colored Divine Light. Furthermore, it¡¯s an upgraded version. It probably won¡¯t be easy to kill. If Truth Listener is around, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult for me to find an opportunity by joining forces with it¡­ Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried about the Chaos Egg exploding for the time being. He carefully observed the rainbow phoenix, hoping to find its weakness.


    The Teacher Domain analyzed the rainbow phoenix¡¯s trajectory again and again, but the analysis was very slow. It was unknown how long it would take to completely analyze it.


    After the grass fruit baby absorbed the crystals for a period of time, the red light in its body gradually dimmed, turning into a red heart that appeared in its chest. The grass fruit baby¡¯s body gradually returned to its original appearance after the heart completely solidified. It was no longer as transparent as before.


    When the baby completely recovered, it stopped absorbing Essence Energy Crystals.


    Zhou Wen was immediately given a fright. The Chaos Egg had lasted all this time thanks to the grass fruit baby¡¯s absorption of the Essence Energy Crystal. Otherwise, the Chaos Egg probably wouldn¡¯t have lasted two seconds under the rainbow flames.


    Indeed, in the blink of an eye, the Chaos Egg was pushed to its limits. Imperial Lord Behemoth couldn¡¯t absorb much, so just as it was about to explode


    Bang!


    The Chaos Egg failed to hold on and exploded. Zhou Wen¡¯s body was immediately exposed. Thankfully, he used spatial instant transmission to leave his previous spot without touching the rainbow flames.


    ¡°Little brat, don¡¯t just eat and do nothing. Haven¡¯t you already completed your evolution? Quickly beat up that crappy bird.¡± Zhou Wen was still counting on the grass fruit baby to fight the phoenix, so he could take the opportunity to escape.


    However, the grass fruit baby lay on Zhou Wen¡¯s back without any intention of fighting. It was unknown if it had a good temper, had no intention of taking revenge, or if it knew that its strength was inferior to the rainbow phoenix, making it afraid of fighting it.


    Just as he was feeling depressed, he suddenly realized that something was amiss with the Chaos Egg.


    In the past, after the Chaos Egg exploded, its foundation would be damaged. It would take some time to condense it again. Yet, after the Chaos Egg exploded, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense any damage to its foundation. It was as though he could continue using the Chaos Egg


    Zhou Wen gave it a try and indeed, the Chaos Egg appeared around him again.

 Chapter 1722 - Chaos Heaven Level

    Chapter 1722 Chaos Heaven Level


    Why can the Chaos Egg suddenly be used continuously? Zhou Wen knew that something had definitely happened to the Chaos Egg, but he wasn¡¯t sure what caused the change.


    Such a change was definitely related to the use of the Chaos Egg. Between the rainbow phoenix and the grass fruit baby, one of them had definitely affected the Chaos Egg; Zhou Wen was more inclined to the former.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen made another attempt. He could immediately use the Chaos Egg after it exploded. He didn¡¯t need to wait like before.


    This is a little strange. The Chaos Egg clearly hasn¡¯t advanced to the Heaven Realm, but it¡¯s very different from before. What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen carefully sensed the Chaos Egg¡¯s every shattering and rebirth. He increasingly felt that the changes in the Chaos Egg were related to the rainbow phoenix.


    Or rather, it was related to the rainbow flames. The Chaos Egg underwent such a change after being burned by the rainbow flames.


    Previously, the Chaos Egg exploded countless times, but there weren¡¯t any special changes. Now, there¡¯s actually such a change. Could it be that this rainbow phoenix is really different? Then, if this continues, will the Chaos Egg have a chance of advancing to the Heaven Realm? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind stirred.


    The Chaos Egg hadn¡¯t changed for a long time. Now that he finally saw the opportunity to advance it to the Heaven Realm, Zhou Wen naturally wouldn¡¯t let it go.


    It was only because Zhou Wen had many life-preservation means. Anyone else would be eager to escape; they wouldn¡¯t have such thoughts in a battle of such magnitude.


    The Chaos Egg exploded again and again. Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the Chaos Egg that hadn¡¯t stirred for a long time had finally undergone a clear change.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    It really works! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    was


    ¡°Junior Brother, aren¡¯t you going to escape? What are you waiting for?¡± Liu Yun¡¯s voice sounded again. It was obvious that he was puzzled.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, didn¡¯t you say that the sword was protected by a phoenix? Is that phoenix the same one as this?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°They are all rainbow colors, but it seems a little different. It¡¯s definitely not the same one. Furthermore, that phoenix has always been rainbow-colored. It¡¯s unlike this phoenix which was a pheasant in the beginning,¡± Liu Yun answered.


    ¡°Does that mean that as long as I can deal with this phoenix, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to retrieve the sword?¡± Although Zhou Wen said that, his thoughts were somewhat different.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too concerned about getting the sword. He was considering whether he should try his luck with the other phoenix if this phoenix¡¯s rainbow flames couldn¡¯t advance the Chaos Egg to the Heaven level.


    ¡°What are you thinking? There might still be some hope if you manage to get Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beast; otherwise, stop dreaming,¡± Liu Yun probed.


    ¡°That might not be the case.¡± Zhou Wen thought to himself, Truth Listener¡¯s offensive strength is indeed powerful, but the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense isn¡¯t weak either. If it can advance to the Heaven level, it might be able to withstand the rainbow phoenix¡¯s flames.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. When Liu Yun saw the Chaos Egg explode again and again, he imagined that Zhou Wen was just being stubborn. He continued, ¡°Hold on a little longer. I¡¯ve already contacted the old fellow. When he comes, he might have a way to help you escape.¡±


    ¡°Jing Daoxian has already reached the Heaven level?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed.


    ¡°No, but the old fellow has many solutions. There are some things that we can¡¯t do, but he has a way to resolve them. We have to accept this. The old dogs hunt the best,¡± said Liu Yun.


    Zhou Wen believed him-a person like Jing Daoxian couldn¡¯t be measured by his level.


    Although Zhou Wen wanted to know what level Jing Daoxian was at, it wasn¡¯t appropriate to ask Liu Yun. After all, he and Jing Daoxian might be enemies in the future. Getting Liu Yun to betray his own kin wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen could bring himself to do, even if Liu Yun was willing to say.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t the old fellow here yet?¡± Liu Yun was somewhat worried that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be able to last long when he saw the Chaos Egg crack again and again. However, he hadn¡¯t received a response after sending a message. Jing Daoxian hadn¡¯t appeared either.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s endurance far exceeded Liu Yun¡¯s expectations. Every time Liu Yun felt that Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t last much longer, the latter proved him wrong.


    Liu Yun was almost numb towards the end.


    I wonder what Essence Energy Art this junior brother of mine cultivates in. Why are there so many strange abilities? How many Essence Energy Arts has he cultivated? Liu Yun guessed inwardly.


    Typically, people would only cultivate one Essence Energy Art. Humans who could cultivate two Essence Energy Arts at the same time were already rare.


    However, with Liu Yun¡¯s understanding of Zhou Wen, the latter definitely had more than two Essence Energy Arts.


    If I didn¡¯t know that it was impossible for this fellow to join the dimension, I would have thought that he had long betrayed his humanity. It¡¯s unbelievable that a pure human can do this¡­ Liu Yun actually suspected that Zhou Wen was no longer human like Wang Mingyuan.


    Otherwise, it would be almost impossible for others to advance to the Mythical stage by cultivating two Essence Energy Arts-even if they used a Mythical Serum. Yet, Zhou Wen was already at the Calamity grade. Furthermore, he used far more than two Essence Energy Arts.


    After the Chaos Egg shattered countless times, Zhou Wen finally felt that it had reached a critical point. It didn¡¯t stir much as though success was a matter of course. When the Chaos Egg was summoned again, it had already advanced to the Heaven level and was somewhat different from before.


    The Heaven level! Zhou Wen looked at the Chaos Egg, eager to know what changes the Heaven-level Chaos Egg had undergone.


    The greatest possibility was that the stacking of Essence Energy Crystals increased, but when the rainbow flames burned over, Zhou Wen realized that the stacking numbers of Essence Energy Crystals didn¡¯t change. They were still in the hundreds of millions, so there was no way to continue stacking them.


    Soon, Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised to discover a large number of Essence Energy Crystals appear in the Chaos Egg. The Chaos Egg would have exploded in the past, but now, with so many Essence Energy Crystals inside, it didn¡¯t feel crowded at all.


    The space inside the Chaos Egg has expanded! No, it¡¯s not as simple as having expanded!


    The rainbow flames constantly burned the Chaos Egg. The number of Essence Energy Crystals inside the Chaos Egg was uncountable, but despite the space being limited, it didn¡¯t pile up.


    The Chaos Egg stopped shattering. After a while, he suddenly heard Liu Yun¡¯s voice again. Furthermore, his emotions seemed rather unstable.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, don¡¯t tell me that you planned on using the phoenix to cultivate from the beginning?¡± Liu Yun shouted. He could now tell that the Chaos Egg had advanced.


    ¡°No, I just did some last-minute training,¡± Zhou Wen said truthfully.


    Liu Yun fell silent. After a while, he heard Liu Yun say through gritted teeth, ¡°Freak!¡±

 Chapter 1723 - Canyon

    Chapter 1723 Canyon


    The Heaven-level Chaos Egg still didn¡¯t have any offensive abilities, but its defense became unimaginably powerful. Even the strange power of the rainbow flames couldn¡¯t cause any substantial damage to the Chaos Egg.


    From the looks of it, the Chaos Egg is purely a defensive Essence Energy Art. It would be even better if it had some offensive strength, Zhou Wen thought greedily.


    With the Heaven-level Chaos Egg protecting him, the rainbow flames couldn¡¯t harm Zhou Wen anymore. Instead, the number of Essence Energy Crystals in the Chaos Egg reached an astronomical number. It benefited a gluttonous Companion Beast like Tyrant Behemoth.


    After all, Essence Energy Crystals were useless. Zhou Wen got the Companion Beasts that could absorb Essence Energy Crystals to absorb them as best they could. Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s crazy devouring made it advance to the Hell level. As long as there was enough time, it was only a matter of time before it advanced to the Heaven level.


    It¡¯s easier to rear a Companion Beast like Imperial Lord Behemoth. As long as there¡¯s food, it can advance. If others knew of Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts, they would probably vomit blood.


    If it were an ordinary person raising Imperial Lord Behemoth, not having it starve to death would be amazing enough. Advancing to the Calamity grade was an extravagant hope.


    Explosive Fiend Man had also swallowed quite a number of Essence Energy Crystals and it came close to advancing to the Calamity grade -it was one of the few Companion Beasts that could advance to the Calamity grade with Essence Energy Crystals.


    ¡°Bro, stop fooling around. We need to gonow. The immortal sword over there isn¡¯t waiting for anyone. If it¡¯s really taken by the Immortals, it would be too late for regrets,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    Although Zhou Wen really wanted to stay here and use the rainbow flames to raise his Companion Beasts¡ªwhere raising Imperial Lord Behemoth to the Heaven level was the best possible outcome before leaving-he gave up after some thought.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Since there was already a solution and the dungeon had been successfully downloaded, there were plenty of opportunities in the future. He might not stand another chance with that sword in the future.


    Things like the Immortal Culling Sword might not exist in-game. It was useless even if he downloaded the dungeon.


    If that sword was really a set with the Immortal Culling Sword, it was better to have it in his hands than have the Immortals possess it.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen might have been somewhat hesitant, unwilling to take the risk in such a dangerous place. Now that the Chaos Egg had advanced to the Heaven level, his worries were greatly reduced.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen stopped fighting the rainbow phoenix and charged into the stone chamber against the rainbow flames.


    The rainbow phoenix indignantly spewed fire at Zhou Wen as it chased after him, eager to burn him to ashes. Unfortunately, it could only watch as Zhou Wen rushed into the stone chamber and entered the pit.


    The golden-winged bird cried out angrily, but unfortunately, it couldn¡¯t touch Zhou Wen.


    It was unknown if the rainbow phoenix and the golden-winged bird refused to enter because they disdained the pit for being a toilet or if there was some other reason, but they didn¡¯t chase after them.


    ¡°Go back.¡± Seeing the rainbow phoenix cease its pursuit, he dispelled the Chaos Egg in the tunnel and planned on letting the grass fruit baby return alone.


    Although this thing was magical, it involved too many variables. It wasn¡¯t under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, so it might be troublesome to take it back.


    Furthermore, ordinary Calamity creatures couldn¡¯t randomly leave dimensional zones. It wasn¡¯t easy for creatures to break out of the dimensional zones.


    It wasn¡¯t difficult to break out of ordinary dimensional zones, but it wasn¡¯t that simple to break out of a dimensional zone like Kunlun.


    The grass fruit baby sat on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder, but it didn¡¯t seem to hear him. It remained motionless as it looked at Zhou Wen with an innocent expression.


    ¡°Go back to where you come from.¡± Zhou Wen pointed inside.


    The grass fruit baby remained motionless as though it didn¡¯t understand what Zhou Wen was saying


    Forget it. It will naturally return at the exit when it realizes it can¡¯t leave. Zhou Wen continued heading for the exit.


    To his surprise, after Zhou Wen stepped out the exit, the grass fruit baby followed him out of the Kunlun Mountain dimensional zone without any obstruction.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally out!¡± Liu Yun was already waiting outside. He heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Zhou Wen come out.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your grandfather?¡± Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t see Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mention it. There wasn¡¯t any response after I sent the message. I don¡¯t know where he went.¡± Liu Yun shrugged and continued, ¡°Let¡¯s not talk about this for now. We are far behind schedule. I don¡¯t know if we can make it now.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he turned around and headed for the pool.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to deal with this thing first?¡± Liu Yun pointed at the grass fruit baby on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    Going to such a dangerous place with such an unknown item was equivalent to carrying a time bomb. Who knew when something would happen?


    Zhou Wen glanced at the grass fruit baby and pondered for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°Forget it. Let¡¯s talk when we get there.¡±


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t say anything else as the two of them headed for the entrance to the pool.


    The entrance to the pool was beneath the pool¡¯s surface. At the end of the underground river-like waterway was a bigger pool. One could still hear rumbling sounds.


    Before surfacing, Zhou Wen first used the Teacher Domain to scan the nearby area and realized that this place was completely different from the place they had entered.


    This was a huge canyon. They were under a waterfall that was probably ten thousand feet tall. The cascading water was like a roaring white dragon hanging from the mountain wall. It looked extremely spectacular.


    However, they didn¡¯t find the phoenix or immortal sword that Liu Yun had mentioned. There was flowing water in the canyon, and there were plenty of fungi growing on the cliffs on both sides. The big ones were almost like houses, and the small ones were about the size of millstones. They stacked on the stone walls and looked like circular roofs.


    The fungi were colorful and beautiful. The entire canyon appeared to be a fairyland.


    ¡°Be careful. The spores emitted by these mushrooms are everywhere. If you accidentally breathe them in, they will parasitize your body and suck dry your flesh and blood as nutrients¡­¡± Liu Yun knew that Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight had reached a microscopic level and could see the spores, but he still warned him.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there are dimensional creatures like the Ganoderma Baby here?¡± Zhou Wen remembered reading on the Internet that someone had obtained a Ganoderma Baby Companion Beast that had extremely powerful recovery skills. Typical injuries could be instantly healed.


    It was said that it had the ability to resurrect the dead. As long as a person was still breathing, no matter how serious their injuries were, they could be treated. However, that ability seemed to require sacrificing the Ganoderma Companion Beast. Even so, it was already very enviable. Zhou Wen had long wanted to get one, but it was too rare. He couldn¡¯t buy it, nor did he know which dimensional zone it came from.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t hear the old man mention that there¡¯s such a thing. He only told me that the spores here are very terrifying. We mustn¡¯t let them enter our bodies,¡± Liu Yun said after some thought.


    Liu Yun¡¯s words reminded Zhou Wen of a Companion Beast of his.

 Chapter 1724 - Phoenix

    Chapter 1724 Phoenix


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t found a suitable way to evolve Primordial Spore after turning it into an Evolvable Companion Beast.


    In the past, Primordial Spore had once devoured other types of spores to evolve. Now that there were spores everywhere in the canyon, it was unknown if Primordial Spore could do the same by devouring them.


    However, Primordial Spore¡¯s level was too low. Zhou Wen was afraid that it would end up being devoured, so he didn¡¯t dare rashly attempt it. He planned on experimenting in-game in the future.


    ¡°The immortal sword is at the end of the canyon. We have to rush over as quickly as possible. Don¡¯t use spatial teleportation here, nor do you have to fly too quickly. Follow me.¡± As Liu Yun spoke, he leaped into the air and slowly flew towards one end of the canyon. ¡°Why can¡¯t I fly too quickly?¡± Zhou Wen could understand not being able to use spatial teleportation.


    There were spores everywhere. If he used spatial teleportation to teleport, his body might very well bump into the spores when he phased into existence. It was equivalent to him taking the initiative to inject spores into his body. That was equivalent to courting death.


    ¡°There are too many spores¡ªif we fly too quickly, it will attract a large number of spores to attach to us. Don¡¯t think that it¡¯s easy to ward them off. It will be different if there are more. Anyway, it¡¯s very dangerous here. It¡¯s more reliable for us to follow the old man¡¯s method,¡± Liu Yun explained.


    Zhou Wen nodded and slowly flew behind Liu


    Yun.


    A lone peak tore through the clouds-a somewhat strange mountain peak.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    Typical mountain peaks were narrow at the top and wide at the bottom. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand the pressure from the mountain rocks and would easily collapse. However, this mountain peak was narrow at the bottom, wide at the bottom. It looked like a strange fusiform that stood at the end of the canyon. From afar, it looked like it would collapse at any moment.


    vas narro


    Beneath this strange mountain peak, a man and a woman were looking up.


    ¡°Immortal Supremacy, that immortal sword is embedded on the mountaintop. However, there¡¯s a phoenix resting on this mountain. Once one approaches the mountain peak, they will be attacked by the phoenix. I can only send you to this point,¡± Wang Mingyuan said neither obsequiously nor superciliously as he stood behind the woman.


    The woman stared at the mountain for a long time before saying, ¡°You speak the truth. The immortal sword is indeed on the mountaintop, protected by a phoenix.¡±


    ¡°How would I dare lie to you, Immortal Supremacy?¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°However, since I¡¯m here, just follow me up the mountain. Although a phoenix is an ancient divine creature, it can¡¯t injure you at all with me around,¡± the woman said indifferently.


    ¡°Immortal Supremacy, according to the agreement, I¡¯m only responsible for taking you to the immortal sword. Furthermore, with my meager combat abilities, I¡¯ll only bring trouble by following you. I won¡¯t be of much help.¡± Wang Mingyuan naturally didn¡¯t wish to follow the woman up the mountain.


    The woman said calmly, ¡°Everyone knows that phoenixes have five colors. Mortals view dragons as emperors, while phoenixes are the concubines or empress. However, they don¡¯t know that at the beginning of the chaos, the Yin and Yang transformed into dragons and phoenixes. That¡¯s a true phoenix.¡±


    After a pause, the woman continued, ¡°Before humans were born, dragons and phoenixes dominated the world. There was a huge battle that nearly tore the world apart. Do you know who the final victor was?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve only heard of the Dragon-Phoenix calamity, but I don¡¯t know who won in the end. However, if I were to guess, it should be the phoenixes which clinched the final victory,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°For the Buddha race to employ you in such an important position is indeed not without reason.¡± The woman glanced at Wang Mingyuan and continued, ¡°The dragon is Yin, and the phoenix is Yang. The phoenix indeed clinched final victory in the battle between the dragons and phoenixes. Although it was a Pyrrhic victory and it injured its own kind, it ultimately obtained the dragon¡¯s Yin. Only by fusing Yin and Yang could it be called a phoenix. Mortals treat dragons as an emperor and think of them as a pure Yang body, but in fact, it¡¯s just inaccurate. How can such a blasphemous thing be a pure Yang body?¡±


    ¡°However, after the Dragon-Phoenix calamity, the phoenix was severely injured and had to recluse itself from the world. The phoenixes that mortals later saw were only transformed from ordinary birds that obtained a little of the phoenix¡¯s blood. The phoenix bloodline that truly inherited chaos has seven colors. The rainbow-colored Yin Yang divine light can ward off the sun and moon. How can those so-called phoenix flames compare?¡±


    As the woman spoke, she retracted her gaze from the mountain peak and looked at Wang Mingyuan. ¡°In the legends of you humans, there¡¯s the legend of a phoenix giving birth to a Golden-Winged Roc and a Peacock. Although such legends have many flaws, there¡¯s one thing that¡¯s right. The abilities of the Golden-Winged Roc and Peacock do come from the phoenix, but they haven¡¯t completely obtained its essence.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve also heard that peacocks have Five-colored Divine Light. I believe it comes from the phoenix, right?¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not wrong, but the Five-colored Divine Light is naturally much inferior to the phoenix¡¯s Rainbow Divine Light,¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°However, the present phoenix has ultimately damaged its foundation. It will be difficult for it to recover its former glory. Furthermore, the phoenix here can¡¯t be the one born from the Chaos. It¡¯s just a descendant of its linege. It can only be considered a mortal creature if it hasn¡¯t entered the Apocalypse grade. Just go up. With me around, it can¡¯t injure you at all.¡±


    With the woman already saying so much. Wang Mingyuan knew that he had to accompany her up. All he could do was nod and say, ¡°I¡¯ll obey your orders, Immortal Supremacy.¡±


    The woman didn¡¯t say anything else as she walked towards the strange mountain peak. Wang Mingyuan followed behind her and stared at the mountain peak without any change in expression.


    However, Wang Mingyuan was secretly puzzled. I got her to enter through the north gate and took such a long detour. Why haven¡¯t Liu Yun and Zhou Wen arrived? Could something have happened?


    Although Wang Mingyuan was puzzled, his expression remained stoic as he followed the woman onto the mountain.


    Just as the two of them reached the top of the mountain, they heard a phoenix cry that stirred the clouds. A rainbow beam tore down from the mountaintop like a rainbow that streaked down from the sky and flew towards them.


    If Zhou Wen were here, he would definitely be familiar with the Rainbow Divine Light. Inside the Rainbow Divine Light was a rainbow phoenix. The glow around it was identical to the rainbow flames Zhou Wen had


    seen.


    However, the Rainbow Divine Light of the rainbow phoenix was purer and thicker than the rainbow flames of the one in the garden. It was impossible to tell its original form through the flames. All one could see was the resplendent colors of light.


    The woman showed no intention of dodging when she saw the Rainbow Divine Light shoot toward her. With a slight pull of her slender hand, her index and middle fingers transformed into a sword stance as she pointed at the Rainbow Divine Light.


    An invisible sword beam-formless and colorless¡ªtore out of her finger. The intent of the sword aura made one feel as though a sharp sword was rising against the night sky to meet the Rainbow Divine Light.

 Chapter 1725 - Nihility Sword Aura

    Chapter 1725 Nihility Sword Aura


    The sword beam collided with the Rainbow Divine Light, but it didn¡¯t produce any sound. The two forces intertwined strangely like two ropes.


    The woman stood at the foot of the mountain as the phoenix soared halfway up the mountain. The tug-of-war seemed to be in a stalemate.


    It didn¡¯t seem like a tense situation, but it was actually a dire situation that could throw one into complete danger at any moment.


    When two forces intertwined, any force that was slightly weaker would immediately suffer the backlash from both forces. Therefore, they could only constantly squeeze out whatever was left of their strength to resist the other party to the end, not daring to relax at all.


    ¡°The phoenix is already under my control. Kill it,¡± the woman suddenly said indifferently to Wang Mingyuan as she fought the phoenix.


    Wang Mingyuan frowned slightly. For the woman to make him take action now, it could be said that she was scheming.


    If she was powerless to kill the phoenix and needed Wang Mingyuan to determine victory, it would be the best opportunity to kill her if Wang Mingyuan were to turn against her.


    However, on the other hand, this might also be a test for Wang Mingyuan.


    However, who could guarantee that she didn¡¯t really have any strength left? If Wang Mingyuan really had ulterior motives, he would probably miss a great opportunity.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    If it were anyone else, they might have hesitated, but Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t hesitate at all. He used his palm as a blade and condensed an ice-like blade beam that slashed at the phoenix in midair.


    The phoenix was unable to dodge due to the woman¡¯s restraints. When the blade beam slashed at its body, it was like a sharp blade slicing through flesh. It was split into two.


    The Rainbow Divine Light dissipated as the phoenix¡¯s body exploded in all directions. However, in the next second, the scattered rainbow streams gathered together again and instantly transformed back into the phoenix.


    The phoenix spread its wings as the rainbow feathers on its body emitted divine light. Like a rainbow sun, the light radiated in all directions.


    Wang Mingyuan quickly retreated like a ghost, but his speed wasn¡¯t as fast as the Rainbow Divine Light. Seeing that he was about to be injured by it, he had no choice but to condense the power of ice and lightning to resist it.


    However, the moment the light of ice and lightning touched the Rainbow Divine Light, it immediately disintegrated. It couldn¡¯t even resist for a moment.


    Wang Mingyuan had already tried his best to retreat, but he couldn¡¯t escape the brilliance of the Rainbow Divine Light. The armor on his body instantly melted as though it wasn¡¯t hard armor but snow.


    The snow-white skin and muscles beneath the armor melted the moment they came into contact with the Rainbow Divine Light. In the blink of an eye, white bones could be seen.


    Just as Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body was about to be completely enveloped by the Rainbow Divine Light, an invisible force seemed to separate his body from it, forming a clear barrier.


    The woman emitted infinite sword beams. The invisible and colorless sword beams were so dense that even a needle tip couldn¡¯t pierce them. They forcefully blocked the Rainbow Divine Light.


    ¡°The Yin-Yang Rainbow Divine Light can disintegrate many things, but my Nihility Sword Aura isn¡¯t one of them,¡± the woman said indifferently.


    ¡°Immortal Supremacy is indeed extraordinary.¡± Wang Mingyuan looked down at his chest. His flesh had already melted, revealing his sternum. He could even see the beating heart inside.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about anything and focus on treating your injuries,¡± the woman said before ignoring Wang Mingyuan. She stared at the phoenix as the sword intent on her body became increasingly ethereal.


    The Nihility Sword Aura resisted the Yin Yang Rainbow Divine Light and gradually gained the upper hand. The invisible and colorless sword beams forcefully restrained the Rainbow Divine Light. The phoenix let out a cry as the Rainbow Divine Light became brighter, but it was difficult to redeem the situation.


    ¡°It¡¯s ultimately not the phoenix from the beginning of the chaos.¡± The woman sighed and took a step forward. Thousands of sword beams tore through the Rainbow Divine Light and instantly penetrated the phoenix¡¯s body.


    The phoenix¡¯s colorful body was instantly diced into specks, but in the next second, the specks of light coalesced into the phoenix¡¯s body again.


    As though it knew how powerful the woman was, the phoenix let out a long cry and flew back to the top of the mountain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s go up the mountain to take a look at that immortal sword.¡± The woman didn¡¯t chase after the phoenix. She turned to look at Wang Mingyuan and saw that the wound on his chest hadn¡¯t healed. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s healing powers didn¡¯t seem to be of any use against the injury.


    There was a faint rainbow glow around the wound, preventing the regeneration and healing of the flesh.


    The woman waved her hand and slashed at Wang Mingyuan with an invisible sword beam.


    Wang Mingyuan remained motionless as he allowed the invisible sword beam to slash at him. The sword beam sliced through his injuries again as more blood flowed out.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you dodge?¡± the woman asked Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m nobody. If you want me dead, there¡¯s no need to wait until now,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he used his healing powers again. This time, his flesh quickly regenerated and the wound healed in a moment.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± With that said, the woman turned around and walked towards the top of the mountain.


    Wang Mingyuan followed behind the woman as the two of them headed for the mountaintop.


    The phoenix could fly freely on the mountain, but the woman and Wang Mingyuan could only walk up the mountain. Even a powerful existence like the woman couldn¡¯t fly freely on this strange mountain like the phoenix.


    Without the phoenix¡¯s obstruction, the two of them quickly arrived at the mountaintop.


    There was a grass patch on the mountaintop. In the middle of the lawn stood a stone monument which had a sword completely embedded in it, leaving only its hilt visible.


    ¡°The appearance of the sword spells doom for the world, even mighty immortals shall meet peril.¡± The woman looked at the stone monument and slowly read the words on it. Her expression darkened.


    ¡°I wonder which person carved these words. How arrogant,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Not a person,¡± the woman said coldly.


    ¡°Not a person?¡± Wang Mingyuan looked at the woman in puzzlement.


    The woman didn¡¯t answer this time. With a wave of her hand, the Nihility Sword Aura slashed at the stone monument with the immortal sword embedded in it.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    When the sword beam slashed at the stone monument, one could hear the sound of a blade snapping. The stone monument was completely unharmed. The powerful Nihility Sword Aura that could break through the Rainbow Divine Light failed to leave any marks on the stone monument.


    The woman was slightly taken aback as she looked at the stone monument with a frown and muttered quietly, ¡°Do you have so much hate? Even in death, you still insist on being enemies with the Immortals?¡±


    After staring at it for a while, the woman slowly walked towards the stone monument. She stood in front of it and reached out to grab the hilt of the sword. She muttered again, ¡°So what if you have resentment? You are ultimately a part of it. How can you say something like vanquishing the world and immortals? It¡¯s nothing but a joke.¡±


    With that said, the woman used her strength in an attempt to pull the sword out of the stone monument.


    As the woman¡¯s infinite strength was injected into the hilt, the entire mountain seemed to tremble. However, the sword remained motionless. It didn¡¯t even budge an inch.

 Chapter 1726 - The Path to Immortality Doesn’t Tolerate One Speck of Dust

    Chapter 1726 The Path to Immortality Doesn¡¯t Tolerate One Speck of Dust


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun carefully passed through the canyon and finally stood in front of the strange mountain peak.


    ¡°Kunlun is indeed a mysterious place. We couldn¡¯t see such a strange and tall mountain even after walking all this distance. We can only see it when standing at the foot of the mountain. If we fly, I¡¯m afraid we will crash into it,¡± Liu Yun sighed.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to say something, he suddenly saw the mountain shake.


    ¡°Oh no, we¡¯re too late. From the looks of it, the Immortals are already retrieving the sword. What did I say? I told you not to walk around, but you refused to listen. It¡¯s too late for regrets now,¡± Liu Yun said gloomily.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Immortals have yet to retrieve the sword,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the mountain peak.


    ¡°You can see them?¡± Liu Yun looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°Even the best eyes can¡¯t see a hundred meters in such a strange place. How can I see it?¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°Then how do you know that the Immortals failed to retrieve the sword?¡± Liu Yun asked.


    ¡°A man¡¯s intuition.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain as he walked up the mountain.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Liu Yun hurriedly stopped Zhou Wen. ¡°Teacher told us to retrieve the sword before the Immortals come. Now that the Immortals are already retrieving the sword, aren¡¯t you looking for trouble if you go up now?¡±


    ¡°If Teacher really wanted us to retrieve the sword ahead of time, he wouldn¡¯t have informed us so late. I¡¯m afraid he wanted us to meet the Immortals to begin with,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked and stepped onto the mountain.


    ¡°Then all the more you shouldn¡¯t head up. Despite knowing that it¡¯s a trap, you are still jumping in?¡± Although Liu Yun said that, he followed.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s a trap or not. I only want that sword. Go back now. I¡¯ll go up and take a look. If things don¡¯t work out, I¡¯ll naturally leave,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Alright. With that turtle shell of yours protecting you, you don¡¯t have to worry about not being able to escape.¡± Liu Yun stopped in his tracks and didn¡¯t follow Zhou Wen up the mountain, but he had no intention of leaving.


    Zhou Wen walked towards the mountaintop step by step. Liu Yun had told him not to fly on this mountain unless it was absolutely necessary, nor should he use instant transmission abilities.


    Liu Yun didn¡¯t know the consequences of using them. Those words had come from Jing Daoxian.


    On the mountaintop, the woman released her grip on the sword hilt and said to Wang Mingyuan, ¡°Draw the sword.¡±


    ¡°Immortal Supremacy, you must be joking. How can I pull out a sword that you can¡¯t?¡± Wang Mingyuan said calmly.


    ¡°I have my reasons. Just draw the sword,¡± the woman said indifferently.


    ¡°Yes, Immortal Supremacy.¡± Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t say anything else. He walked to the stone monument and reached out to grab the hilt. He tried his best to pull the sword out, but it remained motionless.


    ¡°Even the body of a human can¡¯t pull it out?¡± The woman frowned slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m no longer human.¡± Wang Mingyuan released his hand and retreated to the side.


    ¡°Indeed. Then let¡¯s find a pure human to give it a try.¡± As the woman spoke, she turned to leave the mountain, but when she looked down, she saw a figure approaching from halfway up the mountain.


    ¡°Who else knows about this place?¡± the woman turned her head and asked Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never told anyone about this place since my discovery. It¡¯s not within my means if others had independently discovered this place.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He looked as usual as he continued, ¡°If it¡¯s a human, wouldn¡¯t that be great? Immortal Supremacy, you wouldn¡¯t have to go out to find someone.¡±


    The woman couldn¡¯t tell if Wang Mingyuan was lying, so she didn¡¯t ask further. She turned to look at the figure at the foot of the mountain, hoping to confirm who it was.


    On this strange mountain peak, the woman¡¯s gaze was greatly affected. She could only see the outline of a figure from afar.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyesight clearly wasn¡¯t that strong. He didn¡¯t see the woman¡¯s figure when she saw him. By the time he saw the woman on the mountaintop, she could identify him clearly.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, don¡¯t tell me that there¡¯s such a coincidence in this world. No one else has discovered the secret of Kunlun Mountain, and it just so happens that you and your disciple discovered the same secret.¡± The woman¡¯s gaze at Wang Mingyuan had already turned cold.


    ¡°There are many coincidences in the world. This isn¡¯t strange. I can swear on my soul that I¡¯ve never told this secret to my disciple.¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke, he really began making the oath.


    When the woman saw that Wang Mingyuan had really sworn a soul oath, she remained unconvinced. However, it was impossible for there to be no reaction from Wang Mingyuan if he was lying under the soul oath. This meant that he wasn¡¯t lying.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s really a coincidence,¡± the woman said as though she was about to turn to look down the mountain. However, before she could turn around, she suddenly waved her hand and slashed at Wang Mingyuan.


    This slash was too sudden. Furthermore, the woman¡¯s Nihility Sword Aura was too fast. Before Wang Mingyuan could react, he was beheaded by the Nihility Sword Aura.


    When Wang Mingyuan¡¯s head fell from midair, his face was filled with shock and disbelief. It was as though he never expected the woman to kill him. He refused to believe it even in death.


    ¡°The path to immortality doesn¡¯t tolerate one speck of dust.¡± The woman seemed to have done something trivial. She didn¡¯t even look at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s corpse.


    It was impossible for anyone to survive under the Nihility Sword Aura unless Wang Mingyuan had the ability to undergo Nirvana Rebirth like a phoenix. Unfortunately, Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t a phoenix, nor did he have the ability to revive.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s corpse and head fell from the mountain. Zhou Wen was originally sizing up the woman when he suddenly saw something rolling down. On careful look, his expression changed drastically.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Zhou Wen reached out to grab Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body and head. After confirming his death, his expression turned even uglier. This was indeed Wang Mingyuan¡¯s corpse. He was dead.


    In an instant, Zhou Wen seemed to make a decision. Unexpectedly, he threw Wang Mingyuan¡¯s corpse away and ran down the mountain.


    ¡°The so-called feelings of humans are truly hypocritical.¡± The woman was first taken aback as a sneer appeared on her lips. She walked down the mountain.


    She didn¡¯t walk quickly as though she was taking a stroll, but despite Zhou Wen running at full speed, the distance between them became shorter and shorter.


    Just as Zhou Wen reached the mountainside, he heard a cold voice behind him. It sounded like it was coming from behind his neck.


    ¡°If you continue running, I¡¯ll chop off your head just like your teacher.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body instantly froze as he stopped running. He slowly turned around and saw the woman standing less than three meters behind him, staring coldly at him.


    ¡°Sister, I don¡¯t think we know each other, right?¡± Zhou Wen revealed a stiff smile as he looked at the woman.

 Chapter 1727 - Zhou Wen Draws the Sword

    Chapter 1727 Zhou Wen Draws the Sword


    ¡°Are the elites among humans as cunning as you?¡± the woman said coldly as she stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°That¡¯s not right. You make it sound as though you aren¡¯t human,¡± Zhou Wen said in thought when he saw that the woman didn¡¯t immediately take action.


    ¡°How can I be a lowly creature like humans?¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°I¡¯m giving you two choices now. Do you want to live or die?¡±


    The woman spoke as though Zhou Wen¡¯s life was firmly within her grasp. As long as she gently moved her fingers, she could crush Zhou Wen to death.


    ¡°Sigh, who wants to die if they can live?¡± Zhou Wen sighed.


    ¡°Come with me if you want to live.¡± As the woman spoke, she turned and walked towards the mountaintop.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before following the woman to the top of the mountain. As he walked, he asked, ¡°Why do you want me to follow you up the mountain?¡±


    ¡°Doing what you wanted to do,¡± the woman answered.


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know what I was planning on doing. Why don¡¯t you make it clear?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°If you want to die, feel free to continue acting dumb.¡± The woman didn¡¯t seem willing to waste her breath on Zhou Wen as she sped up.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to get some information out of her, but when he heard her say that, he quickly followed her to the mountaintop.


    The stone monument and sword hilt on the mountaintop remained the same. Zhou Wen naturally saw it at a glance and couldn¡¯t help but recite, ¡°The appearance of the sword spells doom for the world, even mighty immortals shall meet peril.¡±


    ¡°Pull that sword out,¡± the woman said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Why do you want me to pull out the sword? What sword is that?¡± Zhou Wen asked the woman, but he thought to himself, Could this be the Immortal Peril Sword of the Four Immortal Vanquishing Swords?


    The sword didn¡¯t have any aura, so Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t tell if it was the Immortal Peril Sword.


    ¡°If you have so much time to talk, why don¡¯t you pray that you can pull the sword out? Otherwise, you will follow in your teacher¡¯s footsteps,¡± the woman said coldly.


    ¡°You killed my teacher just because he couldn¡¯t pull out this sword?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°Don¡¯t test my patience.¡± If not for the fact that she was unwilling to take the trouble to head out and find another human, the woman probably wouldn¡¯t have allowed Zhou Wen to say so much.


    ¡°Will you keep your word? Will you really let me leave if I pull out the sword? Will you kick me to the curb when I¡¯ve outlived my usefulness?¡± Zhou Wen looked around and didn¡¯t find the phoenix that Liu Yun mentioned. He thought that it might have been killed by a woman.


    I can only survive in front of the phoenix, but this woman can kill the phoenix. I wonder if the Chaos Egg can block her attack. Logically speaking, Earth hasn¡¯t completely lost its seal, so dimensional creatures will still be greatly restricted on Earth. Even if she¡¯s at the Apocalypse grade, she shouldn¡¯t be able to unleash the power of the Apocalypse grade on Earth.


    ¡°I¡¯m a woman of her word,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll believe you for now,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards the stone monument. When he arrived in front of it, he didn¡¯t grab the hilt. Instead, he bowed at the stone monument and seemed to chant something, but it was indecipherable.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± the woman asked with a frown.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you wanted me to pray? I¡¯m praying for the heavens to bless me so that I can pull the sword out of the stone monument,¡± Zhou Wen said in all seriousness.


    The woman didn¡¯t say anything else as she looked coldly at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen chanted for a while before looking up and reaching out to grab the hilt of the stone monument.


    The hilt didn¡¯t have any similarities to the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword. It made Zhou Wen suspect if it was the Immortal Peril Sword. Logically speaking, the four swords that formed a set should have some similarities.


    Who cares if it¡¯s real or not. I¡¯ll pull it out first. Whoever draws it naturally owns it, Zhou Wen thought to himself as he gripped the hilt with both hands and pulled.


    The woman stared at the hilt and saw that it remained motionless. She immediately lost interest in Zhou Wen and raised her hand to use the Nihility Sword Aura to kill him.


    The Immortals had the intention of making Zhou Wen their representative, but Zhou Wen had never gone to the Immortals with the token. Rejecting the Immortals made him their enemy. The fewer enemies like Zhou Wen on Earth, the better.


    ¡°Wait, I didn¡¯t circulate my energy. When I finish circulating my energy, I¡¯ll definitely pull it out,¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly said.


    It wasn¡¯t that he was afraid of fighting the woman. After all, they had to fight sooner or later. It was useless to be afraid. However, if he could pull out the sword first, it would naturally be better than being empty-handed.


    Upon hearing his words, the woman didn¡¯t immediately kill him. She only said coldly, ¡°I don¡¯t have that much time to waste on you. I¡¯ll give you thirty breaths.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how long thirty breaths were. Since the woman was willing to let him try, he decided to continue.


    He first circulated the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra and attempted to pull out the sword again, but the sword remained motionless.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to switch to the First Order of Chaos before attempting to pull out the sword. However, the sword seemed to have taken root. No matter how hard Zhou Wen tried, he couldn¡¯t budge the sword at all.


    The woman stood by the side expressionlessly, but when she saw Zhou Wen use two completely different Essence Energy Arts that had already reached the Calamity grade, she thought to herself, Although this person is cunning, his talent is top-notch among humans. Without borrowing the powers of the dimension or fusing with a mutated bloodline, he can actually cultivate two Essence Energy Arts at the same time. Furthermore, he has reached the Calamity grade. It¡¯s indeed rare. It¡¯s no wonder that Immortal Supremacy of the race named him as a representative.


    As she was thinking, she saw Zhou Wen use another completely different Essence Energy Art. Furthermore, he had also reached the Calamity grade. Her eyes couldn¡¯t help but focus. He actually cultivated three Essence Energy Arts at the same time and they have all reached the Calamity grade. If such a talent can¡¯t be used by us Immortals, I definitely can¡¯t have him leave this place alive today.


    The woman didn¡¯t have any killing intent yet. Instead, she wanted Zhou Wen to become the representative of the Immortals.


    Zhou Wen used the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art again, hoping to see if he could steal the sword, but there was still no reaction. This left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed.


    He originally wanted to draw the sword before fighting the woman. Even if he couldn¡¯t defeat her, he could escape with the sword. After all, he couldn¡¯t let the sword fall into the hands of the Immortals.


    However, the Essence Energy Arts he had tried were useless. It was probably very difficult to pull it out.


    I¡¯ll give it another try. Zhou Wen planned on giving it a try with the Dao Sutra in the end. If it didn¡¯t work, he would have to give up.


    Although he still had the Human Sovereign Sutra to use, it was too obvious. If he used it in front of the woman, she would probably recognize him as Human Sovereign. When that happened, she might even kill him.


    Even if he wanted to fight, Zhou Wen hoped to keep the initiative with him.

 Chapter 1728 - Immortal Sword Is Out

    Chapter 1728 Immortal Sword Is Out


    Four Essence Energy Arts! The woman couldn¡¯t help but be alarmed.


    To be able to cultivate four Essence Energy Arts to such a stage was rare even in the dimension. It was unimaginable for a human to cultivate to such a stage.


    A pure-blooded human can actually cultivate all four Essence Energy Arts to the Calamity grade. If he can really take that step in the future, he will definitely be an extremely terrifying existence. He will be a lord of a region even in the dimension¡­ However, the woman thought again. I¡¯m overthinking things. How can that step be so easy to take? Ignoring the four Essence Energy Arts, it¡¯s probably difficult to cultivate one Essence Energy Art to the extreme, much less four.


    Although the woman felt that it was unlikely for Zhou Wen to take that step to reach the Apocalypse grade, the way she looked at him was somewhat different.


    Even if such a person can¡¯t take that step, he can be considered invincible on Earth. If he can be used by us Immortals, who can compete with us for Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? The woman thought to herself. However, this person can¡¯t be left alive no matter what. Even if he can be used by me, I have to eliminate him in the future. It¡¯s better to be safe than sorry. If he really takes that step, I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult to control him.


    As the woman was thinking, she suddenly felt her feet shake. The entire mountain shook.


    It¡¯s out! The woman was pleasantly surprised as she saw Zhou Wen slowly pull out the sword from the stone monument.


    A portion of the blade had already been pulled out, revealing a layer of rust on the sword¡¯s exterior. There was no light at all, but there was a terrifying killing intent.


    Instead of calling it killing intent, it was more precisely a bloody aura. Just the smell made one¡¯s hair stand on end. It was as though their blood was stirring restlessly and was flowing towards the sword.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    It¡¯s indeed that sword! Only now did the woman confirm that it was the immortal sword.


    The sword looked rusty, but the woman knew that it wasn¡¯t rust, but blood-blood of an immortal, the blood of a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal.


    Back then, the immortal had killed countless Heaven Immortals with this sword. Even the Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal stained the sword with his blood and was mercilessly slain by it.


    This sword was probably the only one in the world with such a heavy bloodlust. It had a baneful aura that was fed from the blood of countless Immortals. There was only one in the world.


    After Zhou Wen circulated the Dao Sutra to draw the sword, the sword seemed to respond to him. It wasn¡¯t as motionless as before. As his palms slowly moved away from the stone monument, the aura on the sword made Zhou Wen truly feel that it was indeed a sword that was part of a set with the Immortal Culling Sword.


    Although he didn¡¯t know if it was the Immortal Peril Sword, this sword had an indescribable similarity to it.


    The sword¡¯s shape was completely different, and the aura on the sword was completely different. However, there was something deep down that was the same. How could Zhou Wen, who had been using the Immortal Culling Sword, not sense it?


    As the sword was pulled out, the entire mountain shook more and more violently. Cracks also appeared on the stone monument. When the sword completely separated from the stone monument, the latter shattered.


    The grass patch that was originally only a small part of the mountaintop grew crazily. In just a moment, the entire mountain peak was covered in grass. The grass continued growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    ¡°Give me the sword.¡± Upon seeing Zhou Wen pull out the immortal sword, the woman forgot her aloof way of speaking. With a flash, she appeared in front of Zhou Wen and reached out to grab the immortal sword in his hand.


    Zhou Wen held the immortal sword and felt the power surge like an ocean or a volcano that was about to erupt. It seemed to contain infinite power. It was a power that was filled with baneful aura, making killing intent rise in him.


    Looking at the woman who was attempting to grab the immortal sword, Zhou Wen held the hilt with both hands and slashed down at her.


    As Zhou Wen brandished the dim sword, it seemed to transform into a sanguine beam that instantly slashed at the woman.


    ¡°You¡¯re tempting fate!¡± the woman shouted coldly as an Essence Energy sword beam erupted from her hand.


    The omnipresent sword beams instantly enveloped Zhou Wen and the immortal sword.


    Zhou Wen ignored the sword beams that approached him as he continued slashing at the woman with the immortal sword. At the same time, his body was enveloped by Great Brahma armor.


    Crack!


    The immortal sword slashed apart the Nihility Sword Aura that could suppress the Yin Yang Rainbow Divine Light, leaving a diagonal bloody mark on the woman¡¯s face, from her left forehead to the right of her chin.


    What a powerful sword! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. The power of the sword was stronger than he imagined.


    It was clearly a set of swords, but this immortal sword was much stronger than Immortal Culling. It made Zhou Wen suspect that his Immortal Culling Sword was really one of the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords, or was it just a replica.


    In fact, Zhou Wen was reading too much into it. The Immortal Culling Sword was naturally not a replica. The Immortal Culling Sword wasn¡¯t stronger than the Immortal Peril Sword either. The reason he felt that the Immortal Peril Sword was stronger was that its former owner had killed countless Immortals. Even a Zenith Heaven Golden Immortal had been slain by the sword. The sword had absorbed the blood of countless Immortals, forming a baneful aura that made it even more effective against Immortals than the Immortal Culling Sword.


    As expected of the sword that slew all Immortals. It¡¯s stained with the blood of countless Immortals. This sword naturally has an extremely powerful restraining effect on Immortals. Even a mortal with this sword can slice through an Immortal¡¯s body. Even I¡¯m no exception. The woman stood far away and stared at the immortal sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, but she didn¡¯t attack again.


    I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯s been since I¡¯ve been injured. The woman reached out to stroke the sword gash on her face. She didn¡¯t seem angry. Instead, she seemed to be recalling something.


    ¡°From the looks of it, this sword doesn¡¯t seem compatible with you. It¡¯s best I take it with me to prevent it from bringing you a bloody calamity.¡± Zhou Wen stared intently at the woman.


    He wasn¡¯t smug that his strike had injured the woman. In that situation, the woman was completely caught off guard. She only reacted at the last minute after the sword beam was destroyed. Yet, she could still dodge the strike that even Zhou Wen believed was fatal. Such speed wasn¡¯t something Zhou Wen could match.


    ¡°Do you think you can really injure me with a sword?¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen and said indifferently, ¡°You still have a chance now. Hand the sword to me and swear to become the representative of my Immortals. I can let bygones be bygones.¡±


    ¡°We will only know if I can injure you after trying.¡± How could Zhou Wen give up the immortal sword he had obtained?


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have such plans to begin with, even if he had such plans in the past, he would probably be tempted when he saw the immortal sword¡¯s might.


    ¡°I hope you won¡¯t regret it.¡± The woman slowly raised her hand. The Nihility Sword Aura on her body condensed again, but the sword beam became fainter and fainter. In the end, one couldn¡¯t sense the existence of the sword beams at all.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated as he instinctively summoned the Chaos Egg to protect himself.

 Chapter 1729 - Chaos Egg Cracks

    Chapter 1729 Chaos Egg Cracks


    Just as the Chaos Egg enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it suddenly caved in without any warning. It was as though something was squeezing the Chaos Egg from all directions, causing it to constantly distort like a balloon that could burst at any moment.


    Looking at the Essence Energy Crystals that appeared crazily in the Chaos Egg, Zhou Wen secretly cheered inwardly. He couldn¡¯t sense the existence of the sword beams at all. If not for his intuition and the existence of the Chaos Egg, he would have been severely injured by the terrifying sword beams.


    The woman was somewhat surprised that her Nihility Sword Aura failed to penetrate the Chaos Egg


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how long you can last.¡± The Nihility Sword Aura over the woman¡¯s body surged out, hoping to blast the Chaos Egg apart.


    However, no matter how mighty her sword beams were, they failed to break through the 1 Egg¡¯s defense.


    As expected, her strength is suppressed to a certain extent since Earth hasn¡¯t completely lost its seal. It¡¯s still within the Calamity grade range. Zhou Wen immediately felt relieved when he saw the Chaos Egg block the Nihility sword beams.


    ¡°Have fun. I won¡¯t be joining you,¡± Zhou Wen said as he prepared to leave.


    ¡°To be able to withstand the Nihility Sword Aura, your strength should be Chaos. To be able to cultivate a Chaos-elemental Essence Energy Art to such an extent, and a pure defensive Essence Energy Art at that, I¡¯m afraid only someone like you who can cultivate multiple Essence Energy Arts at the same time can do it,¡± the woman said as her tone turned even more unyielding. She continued, ¡°Unfortunately, you are ultimately at the Calamity grade; the level you come into contact with is too low.¡±


    As he spoke, the invisible Nihility Sword Aura suddenly changed. It stopped attacking the Chaos Egg and began rapidly spinning around


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    it.


    Although the Chaos Egg¡¯s defense was astonishing, it didn¡¯t have any destructive power. With the sword beams spinning around it, it was unable to rush out.


    Not only was he unable to rush out, but he was also forced to spin by the power of the sword aura.


    The Chaos Egg¡¯s spinning didn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen inside, but being trapped here and unable to leave clearly wasn¡¯t good news for him.


    ¡°The Calamity grade is still low. Does that mean you are at the Apocalypse grade? However, it looks like the Apocalypse grade is nothing much. So what if you can retain me?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    The woman said disdainfully, ¡°Chaos is the source of the world. It¡¯s seamless, without beginning. It¡¯s an indestructible whole, and nothing in the world can break it. If you were facing ordinary people, indeed no one could break it. Unfortunately, you encountered me. So what if it¡¯s the One Essence of Chaos? Ignoring your mere Chaos Body, even when the world was in chaos, it could still be torn apart by supreme power. I shall slash apart Chaos today and carry out the splitting of the heavens and earth.¡±


    Just as he said that, the Nihility Sword Aura that was spinning the Chaos Egg split into two. One sword aura made the Chaos Egg spin clockwise while the other sword aura made the Chaos Egg spin counter-clockwise. The sword aura¡¯s differing directions made parts of the Chaos Egg spin in two different directions.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly as he immediately understood what the woman was up to. The One Essence of Chaos was an inseparable whole, resulting in an indestructible Chaos Egg. Even if one¡¯s strength was stronger than Zhou Wen¡¯s, it was difficult to crack it.


    However, there was no true One Essence of Chaos in this world. It was like a microscopic particle. Every time people believed that a particular particle was the smallest particle that couldn¡¯t be split, they would realize that it wasn¡¯t the smallest, nor was it truly inseparable with the development of technology


    What the woman did was forcefully add Yin and Yang to the Chaos Egg. When the Chaos Egg had Yin and Yang, it was no longer an indestructible whole.


    Originally, this was almost impossible, but the woman¡¯s Nihility Sword Aura was also similar to Chaos, making the impossible possible.


    Of course, the main reason was that the woman¡¯s level was too high. Her level was far above Zhou Wen¡¯s, and her understanding of Chaos was far beyond his.


    If Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of Chaos could reach the same level as the woman¡¯s, would the Chaos Egg be changed by the Nihility Sword Aura? It depended on who was stronger.


    Although Zhou Wen had realized the problem, it was already too late.


    As the Nihility Sword Aura constantly spun in two directions, cracks appeared on the distorted Chaos Egg. The cracks appeared to be strangely symmetrical. They looked extremely beautiful, but to Zhou Wen, it was a fatal blow.


    This was the first time the Chaos Egg had been torn apart in a head-on clash. In the past, even if the Chaos Egg exploded, it would explode from the inside. It had never been torn apart from the outside.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be amazed that knowledge was power. Although their strengths were at the Calamity grade and Zhou Wen¡¯s body wasn¡¯t at the Calamity grade, the difference wasn¡¯t overwhelming. The difference in knowledge was fatal.


    Despite seeing the cracks on the Chaos Egg increase, Zhou Wen remained extremely calm.


    Battles were ever-changing. Anything could happen.


    Although experts who could steer a battle were terrifying, they weren¡¯t considered top-notch existences if they didn¡¯t have the ability to deal with all sorts of unexpected situations.


    Although Zhou Wen was far inferior to the woman in terms of knowledge, the art of combat didn¡¯t veer off from a core principle. The most basic things couldn¡¯t be violated.


    Since my knowledge is inferior to yours, I¡¯ll turn your knowledge into mine. Zhou Wen had the Teacher Domain activated the entire time as he analyzed the woman¡¯s Nihility Sword Aura.


    If it were any other ability of the Immortals, the Hell-level Teacher Domain might not be able to analyze it. However, the Nihility Sword Aura was the same as the Chaos Egg. They were both Chaos-type powers.


    Furthermore, the woman had said some key information, allowing Zhou Wen to understand the crux of the matter. The speed at which the Teacher Domain analyzed the Nihility Sword Aura far exceeded its usual speed.


    Even analyzing some ordinary Calamity-grade creature abilities wouldn¡¯t be as fast as now.


    If the woman knew that her words would leave such a huge impact on Zhou Wen, she probably wouldn¡¯t have said so much nonsense.


    The power of the Nihility Sword Aura was born from the void. Like Chaos, it was power from before the world was created. Although it was called a sword aura, it could actually take any form.


    It could be a wall, a shield, or even a palace. It could change into whatever shape she wanted.


    Nihility doesn¡¯t mean that there¡¯s really nothing. Nothingness itself is an existence¡­ As the rules analyzed by the Teacher Domain increased, Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of the Nihility Sword Aura deepened.


    It¡¯s still a little short. Chaos Egg, hold on! The Teacher Domain hadn¡¯t completely analyzed the Nihility Sword Aura. The nomological connections weren¡¯t complete, so it couldn¡¯t transform into an Essence Energy Art.


    However, the Chaos Egg couldn¡¯t hold on any longer. It shattered under the Nihility Sword Aura as Zhou Wen¡¯s body was instantly exposed.

 Chapter 1730 - Level Gap

    Chapter 1730 Level Gap


    The moment the Chaos Egg shattered, the killing intent in the woman¡¯s eyes intensified. Since Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be used by her, she definitely couldn¡¯t allow such a human to exist in the world.


    The Nihility Sword Aura pressed down on Zhou Wen from all directions, hoping to crush his body to dust.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were clear. The dark golden wheel behind Great Brahma¡¯s armor shimmered with a dark glow as though all the light in the world was being sucked in by it.


    ¡°Break!¡± Great Brahma¡¯s destructive power bloomed with Zhou Wen¡¯s fist as he struck the woman.


    Boom!


    The power of Great Brahma slammed into the Nihility Sword Aura and shattered it. Zhou Wen took the opportunity to charge at the woman.


    A look of surprise flashed in the woman¡¯s eyes. Although the Nihility Sword Aura wasn¡¯t as indestructible as the Chaos Egg, there weren¡¯t many forces that could blast through


    In a situation of equal strength, there were definitely no more than ten powers in the dimension that could withstand the Nihility Sword Aura. For Zhou Wen¡¯s strength to blast through the Nihility Sword Aura meant that the Essence Energy Art he cultivated was in the top ten, or at least similar.


    However, this wasn¡¯t enough to surprise the woman. What truly surprised her was that Zhou Wen had chosen to clash with her head-on.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    From the point of view of the average person, the front was where the power was the strongest. If Zhou Wen only wanted to crack the Nihility Sword Aura, he should attack from other weak spots.


    However, the Nihility Sword Aura wasn¡¯t the case. In fact, the woman had placed the weakest point of the Nihility Sword Aura right in front.


    Zhou Wen chose the front. It was unknown if he had really seen through it or if he was lucky to attack the weakest spot.


    Is it just a coincidence? The woman¡¯s killing intent intensified.


    The two Essence Energy Arts that Zhou Wen had displayed were extremely rare in the dimension. One was the pure defense of Chaos, while the other had destructive power. It was somewhat similar to the supreme power of the Buddha race, but there were obvious differences. It appeared like an anomalous Essence Energy Art.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had cultivated four Essence Energy Arts. Even if the other two Essence Energy Arts weren¡¯t comparable to these two, it was already terrifying enough.


    The woman¡¯s hand moved slightly as the invisible sword beams once again closed in on Zhou Wen from all directions.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen actually broke through the Nihility Sword Aura again. This time, Zhou Wen chose the leftmost area to break through the Void Sword Aura. It happened to be the weakest spot.


    It¡¯s not a coincidence! A strange glint flashed in the woman¡¯s eyes as she once again condensed the Nihility Sword Aura to suppress Zhou Wen.


    The outcome was the same. Zhou Wen could choose the weakest spot to break every time, making it difficult for her to kill him.


    ¡°You can actually see the Nihility Sword Aura?¡± the woman said as she stared at Zhou Wen. The sword aura on her body continued crushing down at him.


    ¡°If you can see through my Chaos powers, why can¡¯t I see through your Nihility Sword Aura?¡± Zhou Wen broke through the sword beams again and again as he asked.


    In fact, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t having it well. Great Brahma¡¯s destructive power was ultimately inferior to the Nihility Sword Aura. Every time he tore through the sword aura, Zhou Wen would suffer a backlash.


    If his body was at the Heaven level, such a recoil wouldn¡¯t be able to injure him. However, he was only at the Terror grade. Such a recoil affected his body significantly.


    If not for the Great Brahma armor having already absorbed and reflected most of the force, his body would have long collapsed. Now, Zhou Wen felt as though his organs were about to rupture as blood seeped out of his seven orifices.


    Thankfully, with the armor enveloping his body, the woman couldn¡¯t see Zhou Wen¡¯s situation.


    ¡°Is that so? Then let me see if you really understand.¡± The Nihility Sword Aura on the woman¡¯s body suddenly converged and transformed into an invisible sword in her hand.


    The woman realized that the scattered Nihility Sword Aura wasn¡¯t enough to kill Zhou Wen, but the Nihility Sword Aura she condensed was enough to easily break through Great Brahma¡¯s destructive power.


    The woman slashed out at an unbelievable speed.


    Zhou Wen quickly moved as he condensed Great Brahma¡¯s power to blast at the Nihility sword beam.


    Crack!


    The power of Great Brahma that could absorb and destroy everything like a black hole was sliced apart by the Nihility sword beam in the woman¡¯s hand as though it was tofu.


    However, Zhou Wen also used that instant to dodge the Nihility Sword Aura¡¯s slash.


    The woman slashed three times in a row, and Zhou Wen dodged all three times. Although he was in a sorry state and barely dodged each time, it was enough to surprise the woman.


    ¡°As expected, you understand,¡± the woman said coldly. ¡°But so what if you understand? I¡¯ll let you know what the gap in level is.¡±


    Only then did the woman move her feet and stab at Zhou Wen like a fairy.


    This strike was fast enough. Zhou Wen saw an opportunity and suddenly drew the immortal sword to slash at the woman¡¯s body.


    The immortal sword slashed at the invisible sword beam like a blood beam, but it brushed past it. The woman¡¯s figure was like a veil in water as she gracefully swept past Zhou Wen. The invisible sword beam streaked across the Great Brahma armor and sliced through the nearly indestructible dark-gold armor.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to use instant transmission on the mountaintop. Only then did he barely dodge the strike before the sword sliced through his body.


    On Great Brahma¡¯s armor, there was a crack that nearly covered his entire chest. Blood was seeping out of the wound.


    ¡°You can actually use spatial teleportation on this mountain?¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any discomfort. It was probably due to the effects of the Teacher Domain that he wasn¡¯t injured by the restrictions on the mountain.


    ¡°Alright,¡± the woman said out of the blue as she slashed at Zhou Wen again.


    Her form was light and ethereal. Every strike was like a dance. Each strike didn¡¯t seem to have much strength exerted, but Zhou Wen knew that any strike was enough to cause pandemonium.


    It was also in a place like Kunlun Mountain that greatly suppressed the energy fluctuations. Just the fluctuations of the sword aura could probably collapse a mountain.


    One strike after another, Zhou Wen used the immortal sword in one hand and the power of Great Brahma in the other to resist the woman¡¯s Nihility Sword Aura.


    However, from beginning to end, be it the immortal sword or the power of Great Brahma, they failed to touch the woman¡¯s Nihility Sword Aura.


    The woman seemed to be able to predict the future. Even if Zhou Wen used instant transmission, she could appear where he had instant transmitted. When Zhou Wen instant transmitted, the sword beam was almost on his neck.


    Zhou Wen suddenly flipped the immortal sword in his hand and used the hilt to block the Nihility Sword Aura. Only then did he escape the beheading calamity. He didn¡¯t dare continue instant transmitting. A bloody mark on his neck was testament that Great Brahma armor couldn¡¯t block the terrifying Nihility Sword Aura.


    In just a moment, Zhou Wen¡¯s Great Brahma armor was covered in bloody marks as blood seeped out in a ghastly sight.

 Chapter 1731 - Too Late

    Chapter 1731 Too Late


    He couldn¡¯t block it. He couldn¡¯t block the woman¡¯s attack at all.


    What Zhou Wen believed to be a perfect setup and move appeared full of flaws in front of the woman. It forced Zhou Wen to pay a certain price to block her attacks.


    The immortal sword in his hand that could resist the Nihility Sword Aura failed to touch the Nihility Sword Aura in the woman¡¯s hand.


    This pressure made Zhou Wen recall the word ¡°dimensional-lowering strike.¡± Many of the woman¡¯s means exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding


    The woman¡¯s words were very arrogant, but she did have the right to be arrogant. The difference in knowledge was indeed huge.


    I can¡¯t take it anymore. If this continues, I won¡¯t be able to last until the Teacher Domain finishes analyzing the Nihility Sword Aura. Zhou Wen¡¯s injuries increased as his heart turned colder.


    The woman was like an omnipotent god. No matter how Zhou Wen¡¯s strength and technique changed, she seemed to be able to see through everything and crack Zhou Wen¡¯s painstaking setup.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to be struck by the Nihility Sword Aura again, his figure suddenly vanished and appeared on the other side of the mountaintop.


    The woman was slightly taken aback. This time, she hadn¡¯t expected Zhou Wen¡¯s location of appearance, nor did she manage to attack immediately.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Five Elements As One Escape technique?¡± The woman frowned slightly as she looked at the grass fruit baby on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    Zhou Wen secretly cheered inwardly. If he hadn¡¯t dodged the strike, one of his arms would have been severed.


    Now, Zhou Wen was secretly glad that he had brought the grass fruit baby with him. It was the grass fruit baby who had used an escape technique to help him escape the strike.


    When the woman attacked again, Zhou Wen could only continue fighting to the death. The grass fruit baby occasionally used an escape technique to help him, but it was only once in a while. It didn¡¯t use an escape technique to help Zhou Wen escape every time.


    Zhou Wen understood why the grass fruit baby hadn¡¯t been using an escape technique to help him. It wasn¡¯t that the grass fruit baby was unwilling, nor was it that it lacked strength.


    The real reason was the woman. This was because after the grass fruit baby used several escape techniques to help Zhou Wen escape, the woman¡¯s prediction of where Zhou Wen would appear became closer and closer to where he appeared. It was only a matter of time before she could accurately predict his location. Furthermore, it wouldn¡¯t take long.


    ¡°There aren¡¯t many people in the dimension who know an escape technique that combines the five elements. However, in front of me, it¡¯s just a tiny trick,¡± the woman said as she slashed out.


    Zhou Wen, who had just escaped in a sorry state, found a bone-deep gash appear on his chest.


    Zhou Wen knew that the woman had completely seen through the grass fruit baby¡¯s escape technique. If the grass fruit baby used the escape technique to help him, he would probably be killed the moment he phased into existence.


    I can¡¯t dodge anymore. Zhou Wen stopped his fast-moving footsteps and stared intently at the woman¡¯s feet with a heavy mood.


    Although there were many changes to the sword technique, no matter how he stabbed and slashed, the final path to attack Zhou Wen was the same. What was truly unpredictable was the woman¡¯s movement technique.


    As long as he could predict the woman¡¯s trajectory, it would be much easier to use the immortal sword to block the Nihility Sword Aura.


    After suffering so many strikes and watching for so long, Zhou Wen already had a general idea of the woman¡¯s movement technique, but he wasn¡¯t sure if he could block it.


    ¡°Are you giving up so quickly?¡± the woman said coldly without stopping. Her graceful figure instantly appeared in front of Zhou Wen as she slashed at him with the Nihility Sword Aura.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t retreat as though he had seen an opportunity. The immortal sword in his right hand slashed in a direction.


    ¡°It¡¯s over. How can you predict an immortal technique?¡± Amidst the woman¡¯s teasing, the immortal sword missed as the Nihility Sword Aura slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s neck from the other side.


    The woman believed that she would definitely be able to kill Zhou Wen this time. At such a close distance, even an escape technique wouldn¡¯t be able to help Zhou Wen escape. And the hand without the immortal sword couldn¡¯t withstand the full-powered slash of the Nihility Sword Aura with Great Brahma¡¯s strength alone.


    Crack!


    A noise that sounded like glass shattering sounded beside Zhou Wen. The Immortal Culling Sword appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s left hand as the blade blocked his neck, forcefully slicing through the Nihility Sword Aura.


    ¡°This sword¡­ So you are Human Sovereign¡­¡± The woman immediately recognized the Immortal Culling Sword.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dare call myself Human Sovereign. I¡¯m just one of many lives.¡± Zhou Wen held the immortal sword in one hand and the Immortal Culling Sword in the other as he stared intently at the woman¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°Alright, it¡¯s time for me to eliminate this calamity for my Immortals.¡± The woman moved again like a fairy, making it impossible to tell her intended direction. The Nihility Sword Aura had already arrived in front of Zhou Wen.


    The Nihility Sword Aura was formless to begin with. Coupled with such unpredictable movement techniques, if it were an ordinary Calamity-grade creature, they probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to see where the sword aura was, much less withstand it.


    However, Zhou Wen only had one belief in mind. No matter what, he had no other choice but to believe in his analysis and judgment.


    Clang!


    The Immortal Culling Sword missed, but the immortal sword struck the Nihility Sword Aura again, resolving the calamity of death.


    The woman frowned slightly. This was the second time Zhou Wen had blocked her attack.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t completely predict her behavior, so he prepared two sets of actions every time. The sword in one hand was both a prediction and a type of sealing.


    If his prediction was correct, he would naturally be able to block the Nihility Sword Aura. If his judgment was wrong, he could also seal the area, shrinking the area that the woman could attack. It made things more predictable.


    This method wasn¡¯t smart, but without powerful calculating and multitasking abilities, it was impossible.


    The woman didn¡¯t seem to believe that Zhou Wen could really block her attacks as she attacked again and again.


    Zhou Wen used both swords in unison and blocked the woman¡¯s attacks again and again. Although there were times when his judgment was wrong and he was injured by the woman, the injuries weren¡¯t fatal.


    In fact, this was also a deliberate act on Zhou Wen¡¯s part. When he couldn¡¯t make a confident judgment, he chose to seal off the routes of certain fatal trajectories, preventing the Nihility Sword Aura from killing him.


    ¡°As expected of the strongest human. You are indeed capable, but multitasking is too ordinary among the Immortals.¡± As the woman spoke, she condensed the Nihility Sword Aura in her other hand, planning on using the two swords to fend off Zhou Wen¡¯s two swords.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the woman as a smile surfaced over his lips.


    If the woman had used two swords from the beginning, it wouldn¡¯t have been difficult to crack his dual swords, but things were different now. After so many rounds of clashing, Zhou Wen was completely familiar with the woman¡¯s behavior.


    Just as the woman had said, there was no true One Essence of Chaos in the world. Similarly, there was no true fixed form. Anyone, even an Immortal, had their own behavioral rules.


    However, the woman¡¯s movement technique was varied, so much so that it looked irregular. However, just because it didn¡¯t look regular didn¡¯t mean it wasn¡¯t regular.

 Chapter 1732 - Everything Under Apocalypse Is a Mirage

    Chapter 1732 Everything Under Apocalypse Is a Mirage


    ¡°What do you mean too late?¡± The woman didn¡¯t immediately take action as she asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Your sword beams won¡¯t be able to injure me again.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s high-strung nerves relaxed along with his body. The two swords in his hands drooped casually to the ground.


    ¡°It¡¯s good to be confident, but blind confidence will kill you,¡± the woman said indifferently. She didn¡¯t take Zhou Wen¡¯s words to heart and even treated them as a joke.


    Previously, Zhou Wen had only been able to block her attacks because he had used the two immortal swords to restrain the advantage of the Immortals. He had to exchange injuries for survival.


    Now that Zhou Wen had said that her sword couldn¡¯t injure him again, the woman naturally didn¡¯t believe him.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you always wanted my life? What about now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Alright.¡± The woman struck out after saying a single word. She brandished her swords together. Even if Zhou Wen could block one of the sword-like Nihility Sword Aura, the other would definitely be able to kill him.


    Clang! Clang!


    However, two consecutive sounds of sword beams being snapped entered her ears. The two immortal swords in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands accurately slashed at the incorporeal sword aura, snapping them.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± The woman didn¡¯t believe it. She condensed her sword aura and attacked Zhou Wen again.


    She refused to believe that a Calamity-grade creature like Zhou Wen could see through her sword technique.


    Although her strength was only at the Calamity grade, her knowledge and realm were at the Apocalypse grade. It was impossible for a Calamity-grade creature to see through her sword technique.


    However, the subsequent battle forced the woman to accept reality. Her sword technique had really been seen through, or rather, her movement technique had been seen through.


    No matter how the woman¡¯s movement technique and sword technique changed, the two swords in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands could accurately find the two beams of Nihility Sword Aura. Instantly, the two of them exchanged more than ten thousand blows, but the Nihility Sword Aura in the woman¡¯s hand failed to injure Zhou Wen again.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with this human!¡± The way the woman looked at Zhou Wen changed. She found it unbelievable that a human could have such terrifying combat strength and talent.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. Your sword aura can no longer injure me.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s mind calmed down.


    A level suppression was just a result of a knowledge difference. It was akin to how ancient people only knew how to use blades, but had never seen modern firearms. When using blades against firearms, they would naturally suffer greatly.


    However, when ancient people learned how to use a gun, it might not be worse than those using it in the present day. They might even be better.


    The difference in knowledge was sometimes the easiest to bridge. As the woman struck Zhou Wen with a dimensional-lowering strike, she also made him quickly absorb some knowledge that he originally couldn¡¯t come into contact with.


    The average person would be different, but Zhou Wen was someone with excellent learning abilities and the courage to experiment.


    On the mountaintop, sword strikes sounded incessantly.


    Not only could Zhou Wen block the woman¡¯s attacks, but he could even occasionally counterattack.


    ¡°You are indeed very strong. You live up to your name as Human Sovereign. Unfortunately, you were born in the wrong place.¡± The woman sighed as though she was feeling sorry for Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°If you were born in a large race in the dimension, you would definitely be an overlord with such talent. You would have great achievements. Unfortunately, you were born among humans and are only at the Calamity grade. It will probably take a long time to advance to the Apocalypse grade, but you don¡¯t have the time,¡± the woman said with a look of pity.


    ¡°So what? I¡¯m still young. I have plenty of time. I can afford to wait,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t wait any longer. This is because you have to die here today. Although I¡¯m already beginning to admire you, you can¡¯t be used by me. I ultimately can¡¯t let you live in this world. Otherwise, you will definitely be a calamity for our Immortals in the future.¡± The woman spoke sincerely as she recognized Zhou Wen¡¯s talent and abilities. Even she was very afraid of him.


    ¡°Should I thank you for your praise or should I hate you for killing me?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°Neither. Death is like the extinguishing of a lamp. Apart from life, everything else is ephemeral. It¡¯s like how the Buddha race talks about reincarnation. They are just fooling themselves. You don¡¯t need to thank me, nor do you need to hate me. Cherish every second you live, even if it¡¯s just an additional moment.¡±


    The woman paused for a moment before saying, ¡°A person like you shouldn¡¯t die like this, but you had to be human. Tell me, do you have any last wishes? Perhaps I can help you fulfill them.¡±


    ¡°You make it sound as though I¡¯m doomed.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry. As he spoke, he fought the woman, hoping to understand more about her movement techniques, sword techniques, and the Nihility Sword Aura.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve already decided to kill you, so you will definitely die.¡± The woman suddenly retreated and stood there looking at Zhou Wen. She said with a serious expression, ¡°Tell me your last wish.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any last wishes, nor do I need them. If there¡¯s a need, you can tell me your last wishes,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Pity.¡± The woman sighed and stopped looking at Zhou Wen. She even looked up at the Kunlun dome.


    The sky above Kunlun Mountain looked no different from the sky outside. The scorching sun was high in the sky.


    However, this sky wasn¡¯t the real sky. Kunlun Mountain itself was a pocket world. Even if one had the ability to fly or burrow underground, they couldn¡¯t rush out from Kunlun Mountain¡¯s sky.


    The sword intent on the woman¡¯s body rose like a blade that pierced into the sky.


    The entire Kunlun Mountain¡¯s sky changed color. The originally sunny weather immediately became filled with dark clouds. Furthermore, there was a faint light brewing in the dark clouds, as though infinite lightning was gathering.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed drastically. From what the woman was doing she was probably going to forcefully break through the restrictions in Kunlun Mountain and use the power of the Apocalypse grade.


    Zhou Wen had never seen how terrifying an Apocalypse-grade power was, but he knew that it was definitely overwhelming.


    The Immortal Culling Sword and immortal sword slashed at the woman crazily. The woman stood there without any intention of dodging, allowing the two swords that could restrain Immortals to slash at her body.


    However, the immortal sword that could even slice through the Nihility Sword Aura seemed to slash at an invisible steel wall. It stopped three feet away from the woman. No matter how Zhou Wen exerted strength or dealt a barrage of attacks, he couldn¡¯t advance any further.


    The two swords slashed down like an onslaught, but the woman didn¡¯t even spare them a glance.


    ¡°Everything under Apocalypse is a mirage. It¡¯s just an empty dream.¡± The woman retracted her gaze from the sky and slowly looked at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1733 - Calamity of the Apocalypse

    Chapter 1733 Calamity of the Apocalypse


    Is the power at the Apocalypse grade really that invincible? Zhou Wen was alarmed. The Immortal Culling Sword and immortal sword had the effect of restraining Immortals. With his full-powered attack, he couldn¡¯t even approach the woman.


    Escape!


    This was the only thought Zhou Wen had. He wanted to rush down the mountain, but his body seemed to sink into the void as he found it difficult to use any strength.


    The feeling was very strange. It was as though everything around him had turned into an empty vacuum. There was no place to act his strength on, so there was naturally no way to move.


    No, it should be said that it was a state even more terrifying than a vacuum. Even he seemed to have turned into an unreal existence.


    ¡°Everything under the Apocalypse will return to nothingness. To be able to die under the power of the Nihility Calamity makes you the number one human in the world. You shouldn¡¯t have any regrets.¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen like a god. Although the two of them were standing at almost the same height, it felt like the woman was looking down at him.


    Nihility Calamity? Zhou Wen stared at the woman without a word as he looked at the lightning in the sky from the corner of his eye.


    He knew that the woman definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to maintain such power for long. Using an Apocalypse-grade power on Earth¡¯s Kunlun Mountain would definitely put immense pressure on her. If time passed, even if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take action, the woman would be destroyed by the restriction¡¯s power.


    The problem was if he could last until then. The power of the Apocalypse already made him find it redoubtable. He switched several Essence Energy Arts, but he was unable to escape the restraints of the Nihility power.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The face of the grass fruit baby lying on Zhou Wen flushed red as though it was trying its best to use an escape technique. However, it was the same as Zhou Wen. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn¡¯t escape, much less escape with Zhou Wen.


    The restrictions on Earth are more powerful than I imagined. It looks like I don¡¯t have much time left. It¡¯s time to end this. The woman looked at the lightning in the sky and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to send you on your way.¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen and was about to kill him when she suddenly heard a phoenix¡¯s cry from the side of the mountain.


    The phoenix that had been sent retreating by the woman flew up the mountain like a rainbow. It instantly arrived at the mountaintop and charged at Zhou Wen, who was standing there motionless.


    The woman watched as the phoenix charged at Zhou Wen without stopping it. It was as though she had the intention of finishing the phoenix off as well.


    The phoenix on the mountain isn¡¯t dead? What does it want? Does it want to take the opportunity to kick me while I¡¯m down? Several thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Before Zhou Wen could figure it out, the phoenix had already rushed in front of him. However, the phoenix¡¯s target wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen, but the immortal sword in his hand.


    ¡°You still want to snatch the immortal sword at a time like this? Even if you snatch the immortal sword, will that woman let you off?¡± Zhou Wen imagined that the phoenix was trying to snatch the sword.


    However, what happened next surprised Zhou Wen. The phoenix slammed into the immortal sword as its entire body seemed to melt while it rushed into it.


    The blood-stained immortal sword immediately emitted a rainbow glow due to the fusion of the phoenix. When the phoenix completely fused with the immortal sword, the immortal sword emitted Rainbow Divine Light like a sun emitting rainbow beams.


    I see. It¡¯s no wonder I didn¡¯t see the sword¡¯s glint from this sword before. So the immortal sword¡¯s glint had actually transformed into a phoenix. The woman wasn¡¯t alarmed when she saw this scene. Instead, she was delighted


    It was useless even if the immortal sword had a glint. The owner of the immortal sword was no longer the Immortal who had killed all the immortals. A Calamity-grade creature holding the immortal sword with a glint couldn¡¯t produce much power.


    This ended up benefiting the woman. A complete immortal sword was naturally more valuable than an immortal sword without its glint.


    Just as the woman was feeling delighted, she heard a strange cry. In the distant sea of clouds, a strange white bird rushed towards the mountain peak.


    The woman was slightly surprised when she saw the strange bird. She didn¡¯t recognize what it was.


    Zhou Wen was taken aback when he saw the white bird. It was clearly the phoenix he had encountered in the Kunlun Mountain garden, but it was still in the form of a white chicken.


    As the white bird charged towards the mountain peak, the white feathers on its body gradually turned rainbow-colored. Its body was rapidly transforming into a phoenix.


    It¡¯s actually a phoenix? The woman was somewhat surprised as she carefully sized up the white bird that was transforming into a phoenix. She seemed to notice something and muttered to herself, ¡°This is a little strange. This phoenix seems to be somewhat similar to the phoenix formed by the immortal sword¡¯s glint, but it¡¯s also somewhat different. It¡¯s not a pure manifestation of the sword glint¡­¡±


    As the woman pondered, the white bird had already transformed into its rainbow phoenix form. It charged at Zhou Wen like the previous phoenix.


    Don¡¯t tell me it wants to rush into the immortal sword as well? Zhou Wen was secretly delighted.


    The more strength he had, the more hope he had. Although he didn¡¯t know if he could resist the power of the Apocalypse, it was better to have more help.


    To his surprise, the phoenix didn¡¯t charge at the immortal sword. Instead, it charged at Zhou Wen and slammed into his chest.


    The rainbow beam imprinted on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest like a colorful phoenix tattoo.


    At the same time, Zhou Wen felt a force surge into his body and instantly fill it. Even the dark-gold Great Brahma armor turned colorful.


    ¡°So that¡¯s how it is.¡± The woman seemed to come to a realization as a sneer suffused the corners of her mouth. ¡°Phoenix Immortal, oh Phoenix Immortal, so you have long perished. Even your sword intent has turned mortal. Fine by me. Today, I¡¯ll vanquish your will and snatch your sword. When the Immortals return to this world, it would be eternal merit.¡±


    After the phoenix fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body, not only did Zhou Wen feel that his body was filled with sword intent as though it was about to explode, but he also felt that he had formed an indescribable connection with the immortal sword.


    Previously, although he could borrow the power of the immortal sword with it in hand, it was ultimately a relationship between a human and a tool. Now, he felt as though he was connected to the immortal sword by blood.


    With the augmentation of the two phoenixes and Zhou Wen¡¯s own strength, it seemed to weaken the Apocalypse power. His body regained some mobility.


    Without any hesitation, he thrust the immortal sword that emitted a rainbow-colored glassy glow at the woman in front of him.


    Zhou Wen seemed to fuse with the immortal sword as he transformed into a rainbow beam that charged at the woman.


    The sword beam tore through the Nihilistic power of the Apocalypse and went for the woman¡¯s chest.


    The unparalleled sword beam tore through the layers of Nihility and arrived in front of the woman. Just as it was about to pierce her chest, it suddenly stopped.


    The woman raised her right hand in front of her chest and clamped the blade of the immortal sword with her index and middle fingers, preventing it from advancing an inch.

 Chapter 1734 - Slaying Immortal Supremacy

    Chapter 1734 Slaying Immortal Supremacy


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s a Phoenix Immortal¡¯s sword intent? You aren¡¯t Phoenix Immortal after all. You are ultimately mortal without the phoenix¡¯s tribulation. Even if I can¡¯t completely use the power of the Nihility Calamity, killing you will be as easy as flipping my hand.¡± The woman clasped the sword in one hand and raised her other hand to strike Zhou Wen¡¯s head.


    The suppression from the world intensified. If this continued, her body would probably not be able to withstand it.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Such a powerful force was still easily resolved by the woman. The difference between the Calamity grade and the Apocalypse grade was greater than Zhou Wen imagined. It was already impossible to escape. Zhou Wen seemed to have no chance against the woman¡¯s palm that carried the power of the Apocalypse.


    Suddenly, the woman¡¯s body paused as her palm that was striking at him came to a stop.


    Teacher! Zhou Wen immediately understood something. He crazily activated the power in his body as he continued stabbing the immortal sword at the woman.


    Zhou Wen had always guessed that Wang Mingyuan hadn¡¯t really died. After he killed the white dragon under Dragon Gate Grotto, the white dragon had once existed in a state that humans couldn¡¯t see. Furthermore, it possessed extremely terrifying death powers.


    Back then, Zhou Wen had wondered if Wang Mingyuan had obtained the same power. However, he had only suspected it previously. Now that he saw the anomaly in the woman¡¯s body, he immediately confirmed his previous guess.


    The woman¡¯s body was affected. At the instant her fingers that clasped the immortal sword relaxed, the immortal sword passed through her fingers and stabbed straight at her chest.


    Her clothes tore as the sword plunged into her flesh. The rainbow sword beam tore through her crazily in a bid to fully penetrate her body. However, the sword beam was instantly restrained by the power of the Nihility Calamity. The immortal sword¡¯s tip that had just stabbed in couldn¡¯t continue forward as blood flowed down the sword.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    No matter how hard Zhou Wen exerted his strength, the immortal sword seemed to have taken root and didn¡¯t budge.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, you sure are capable at scheming. You actually managed to hide from my eyes. Unfortunately, you still underestimate the power of the Apocalypse grade. No matter how you scheme, you are ultimately a clown in front of absolute strength,¡± the woman said as she slowly raised her left hand and swatted at Zhou Wen.


    It was obvious that Wang Mingyuan still had a certain influence on the woman¡¯s body, but this influence was rapidly weakening.


    If not for Wang Mingyuan¡¯s strange and bizarre form and the fact that he was attached to the woman¡¯s body, the woman would have long killed him with a slap.


    However, this was only a matter of time. After resolving Zhou Wen and the immortal sword, even if Wang Mingyuan possessed the woman¡¯s body, it would ultimately be difficult for him to escape death.


    eN


    Just as the woman¡¯s palm was about to strike Zhou Wen¡¯s head and the power of the Nihility Calamity was about to finish him, a look of delight flashed in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    Teacher Domain had finally completed its analysis. It transformed into strange words that formed an Essence Energy Art-Nihility Sword Art. Almost at the same time, the Teacher Domain advanced from the Hell level to the Heaven level.


    Zhou Wen unleashed the power of the Teacher Domain with all his might. At the same time, he threw away the Immortal Culling Sword in his other hand. He held the immortal sword with both hands and pushed it forward with all his might.


    The nomological powers analyzed by the Teacher Domain could be completely screened, but that was only against powers below the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how useful the Teacher Domain was against powers at the Apocalypse grade.


    However, he didn¡¯t have the luxury of time to consider it. In this situation, either one of them died, so he could only take a gamble.


    Although the power of the immortal sword had weakened the power of the Nihility Calamity, the latter still gave Zhou Wen immense pressure, greatly reducing the strength he could muster.


    The moment the power of the Teacher Domain appeared, Zhou Wen immediately felt his body sink. The feeling of having nowhere to direct his force vanished without a trace. He was immediately delighted.


    The woman was already confident of victory. Just as she was about to kill Zhou Wen, she suddenly felt an intense pain in her chest. The immortal sword penetrated her chest as the rainbow sword beam penetrated her body, causing rainbow patterns to appear over her body. It was like the cracks in a torn painting that had been reattached.


    The woman¡¯s palm struck Zhou Wen¡¯s head almost at the same time, sending him flying. Great Brahma¡¯s helmet caved in as he tumbled far away, nearly falling off the mountain.


    ¡°No¡­ Impossible¡­¡± The woman looked down at the immortal sword that had penetrated her chest with a look of disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take your life.¡± A faint voice sounded from the woman¡¯s body. It was cold and emotionless¡ªWang Mingyuan¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, don¡¯t be too happy. This is only an avatar of my true body. Even if you kill the clone, you won¡¯t obtain any substantial benefits. Death will only await you when you return to the dimension.¡± The woman¡¯s body disintegrated by the power of the immortal sword. Without the support of her body, the power of the Nihility Calamity quickly dissipated as the terrifying lightning in the sky gradually receded. ¡°I don¡¯t need to obtain any substantial benefits. I just need your experience and knowledge. Perhaps to you Immortals, strength is supreme, but to humans, knowledge is the greatest power. This is enough for me.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s voice sounded again. ¡°Furthermore, this is Earth, Kunlun Mountain. Even if you are Immortal Supremacy¡¯s avatar, you can¡¯t make contact with her, right?¡±


    ¡°So retrieving the immortal sword was your scheme from the beginning. You wanted to kill me from the beginning.¡± The woman¡¯s voice was filled with anger. She wished she could slap Wang Mingyuan into meat paste.


    However, when she used her strength, the fine patterns on her body widened. Blood instantly dyed her clothes red. It looked like she had just been scooped out of a pool of blood.


    ¡°Why torture yourself? Phoenix Immortal¡¯s sword slew all immortals. Having your heart pierced through and staining this sword gives you zero chance,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a sigh.


    The woman was so angry that she wanted to say something, but when she opened her mouth, blood spewed out. Rainbow light seeped out of her mouth as her entire body cracked from a bursting rainbow light.


    ¡°If not for¡­ Earth¡¯s¡­ suppression of strength¡­ How could you¡­ injure me¡­ And that person¡­ That person¡­¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen and said in a daze. Before she could finish her sentence, her body had completely collapsed, turning into minced meat and broken bones.


    A ghost-like figure walked out of the woman¡¯s shattered body and went towards Wang Mingyuan¡¯s corpse that Zhou Wen had thrown to the side. It transformed into crystals that resembled ice and jade and quickly condensed into Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body.


    ¡°Little Wen, your growth is so fast that it far exceeds my expectations.¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled at Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1735 - I’ll Wait for You at the Immortals

    Chapter 1735 I¡¯ll Wait for You at the Immortals


    ¡°Teacher, are you still you?¡± Zhou Wen looked into Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes and asked slowly.


    ¡°What am I?¡± Wang Mingyuan picked up the sword on the ground and handed it to Zhou Wen. He continued, ¡°In different environments, there will be a different me. Born in a remote mountain village, I¡¯m a villager. In school, I¡¯m a student. In the military, I¡¯m a soldier. After becoming a commander, I¡¯m a leader. These can all be me, but me in every period of time has different thoughts and views. It can also be said that every stage of me is no longer the same me as before.¡±


    ¡°What are you now?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he took the sword.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still remembered the question Wang Mingyuan had asked him and his students. Zhou Wen already knew Wang Mingyuan¡¯s choice, but just as Wang Mingyuan had said, people had different thoughts in different environments. Was the present Wang Mingyuan still the same Wang Mingyuan?


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be sure. He felt that he knew less and less about Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m me. At least nothing can change me now,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m relieved.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait for you at the Immortals.¡± Wang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Wen with a glazed look. It was unknown what he was thinking.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already decided not to become the representative of the Immortals,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    However, Wang Mingyuan only smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s not important. I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t wait for Zhou Wen to say anything else before heading down the mountain.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s back and seemed to have many things to say, but he didn¡¯t seem to have anything to say. He opened his mouth but didn¡¯t say a word in the end. All he did was watch Wang Mingyuan disappear down the mountain.


    I hope Earth¡¯s seal will last longer. Zhou Wen had already acutely sensed the power of the Apocalypse grade.


    Just the power unleashed by an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse¡¯s avatar nearly killed him. Furthermore, this was under the suppression of Earth¡¯s power. The avatar failed to unleash the full might of the Apocalypse.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t believe what a disaster would be if Earth completely lost its seal and a true Apocalypse-grade powerhouse descended.


    Before Earth completely lost its seal, he had to obtain the power to fight an Apocalypse-grade existence no matter what. Otherwise, it would be a calamity.


    I have to quickly advance to the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen sheathed the Immortal Culling Sword. Just as he was thinking about where to place the immortal sword, it flew towards its scabbard.


    The Immortal Culling Sword¡¯s scabbard could only accommodate the Immortal Culling Sword and didn¡¯t have any excess space. However, when the immortal sword flew over, it strangely inserted itself into the scabbard and stuck tightly to it.


    When the immortal sword was sheathed, the hilt seemed to undergo some strange changes. Two ancient words, ¡°Immortal Peril,¡± appeared on the hilt.


    It¡¯s indeed the Immortal Peril Sword. Zhou Wen had long guessed it, but he was still somewhat delighted when he saw the name.


    The Immortal Peril Sword and Immortal Culling Sword had a powerful restraining effect on the Immortals. And now, the strongest race in the dimension was the Immortals. In the future, if he could find the Immortal Vanquishing Sword and the Immortal Entrapment Sword, he might be able to fight them even if he couldn¡¯t reach the Apocalypse grade.


    I wonder where the other two immortal swords are. Zhou Wen also knew that it was too difficult to gather all four immortal swords.


    Unwilling to stay on Kunlun Mountain any longer, Zhou Wen packed his things and left the mountain. He saw Liu Yun at the exit. Liu Yun didn¡¯t seem to know anything as he asked Zhou Wen if he had obtained the immortal sword.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you see Teacher?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement. If Liu Yun had seen Wang Mingyuan, he probably wouldn¡¯t have asked such a question.


    ¡°No.¡± Liu Yun shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it. Let¡¯s head back now.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the Immortals would send anyone over now that an Apocalypse-grade avatar had been destroyed here. It was best to leave as soon as possible.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you got it. I still have something to do, so I won¡¯t be returning with you.¡± Liu Yun heaved a sigh of relief and waved goodbye to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to keep him around as he returned to Guide Ancient City alone.


    After returning to the ancient city, Zhou Wen got Li Xuan to help him gather information about the dimensional zones, hoping to find a dimensional zone that matched the Godfiend


    Era.


    He himself was studying the Kunlun Mountain dimensional zone on the mysterious phone. He entered the strange stone chamber through the familiar door, but he didn¡¯t see the metal container or the white bird.


    However, there were many grass fruit babies in the garden.


    Speaking of grass fruit babies, the grass fruit baby that followed Zhou Wen had actually followed him back to Guide Ancient City. It followed Zhou Wen all day without any intention of leaving.


    He attempted to enter the garden to pluck the grass fruit babies. They grew on grass vines and couldn¡¯t escape at will. Zhou Wen easily plucked them.


    However, before he could think of a way to deal with the grass fruit baby in his hand, he suddenly felt the entire garden shake. Roots that resembled dragons drilled out of the ground and swept towards the blood-colored avatar with a demonic glow.


    Zhou Wen condensed Great Brahma¡¯s power and blasted at the dragon-like root, forcefully snapping it. However, the root blotted out the sky and enveloped him from all directions, preventing him from even instant transmitting.


    Great Brahma¡¯s power bombarded the layers of roots crazily, but the roots seemed endless. In the end, he was trapped inside and could only use the Chaos Egg to defend.


    The roots enveloped the Chaos Egg, but they were unable to burst it. Just as Zhou Wen was about to carefully observe the roots, he realized that the Chaos Egg was shrinking.


    Soon, Zhou Wen realized that after the roots enveloped the Chaos Egg, many tiny roots attached to it as though they were rooted in the ground as they absorbed the Chaos Egg¡¯s power.


    Not only did the Chaos Egg not produce any Essence Energy Crystals, but it also had quite a bit of energy sucked away. The Chaos Egg¡¯s strength was weakening.


    What¡¯s this? It can actually restrain the Chaos Egg! Why didn¡¯t I see it when I entered the garden in reality? Zhou Wen ignored the Chaos Egg and scanned the source of the root.


    However, he didn¡¯t see the source of the roots from as far as he could sense. The roots came from underground; he didn¡¯t know if they came from the same plant.


    Before long, the Chaos Egg was sucked dry. The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body was also exposed as it was bound by the roots. The roots were like blood-sucking leeches that sucked dry the Great Brahma armor and the blood-colored avatar¡¯s body. The game screen then went black.


    This thing is at the Apocalypse grade, right? Zhou Wen was alarmed.

 Chapter 1736 - Final Countdown

    Chapter 1736 Final Countdown


    Dripping a drop of blood to revive, he entered the garden again. After a few attempts, Zhou Wen realized that as long as he didn¡¯t touch the strange flowers and grass in the garden, the strange root wouldn¡¯t appear. As long as he damaged the flowers, the roots would immediately appear.


    What was even more terrifying was that the number of roots was unimaginable. No matter how many roots Zhou Wen severed, he would ultimately be trapped by them. Furthermore, that thing could absorb any form of energy. As long as he was trapped, it was equivalent to death. No defensive skill could withstand it.


    Zhou Wen temporarily gave up on the idea of benefiting from the garden and went to the canyon at Kunlun Mountain.


    There were many spores in the canyon. These things were most suitable for Tai Sui and Primordial Spore¡¯s growth. However, he didn¡¯t know if Primordial Spore¡¯s level was too low; he was afraid that it would end up being parasitized instead of being the parasite.


    After releasing Tai Sui and Primordial Spore, Tai Sui immediately pounced towards the spot with the most spores like a glutton seeing a feast.


    However, Primordial Spore wasn¡¯t in a rush. It circled around the blood-colored avatar for a while before flying towards a fist-sized red fungus and burrowing in.


    Su Yi and Professor Gu were doing a program, but this time, the program¡¯s screen wasn¡¯t a battle scene, but a countdown on the Cube.


    The Big Dipper dimensional zone had already entered a countdown. There was less than an hour left.


    ¡°Professor Gu, there are less than fifty minutes left. Up to now, no one has challenged the North Pole Star Palace. Human Sovereign¡¯s first ranking might very well last until the end,¡± Su Yi said excitedly.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ Beauty Su, don¡¯t ask the Sect Master such a question. If he jinxes it again, Human Sovereign will be in danger¡­¡± The comments were filled with wailing.


    ¡°Sect Master, please don¡¯t jinx Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Beauty Su, are you trying to kill my Human Sovereign! What kind of grudge do you have with him?¡±


    Professor Gu¡¯s face nearly darkened as he looked at the screen that was filled with pleading. He cleared his throat and said, ¡°Currently, the strongest representatives are Mohe and Karoman. However, their strength shouldn¡¯t be enough to clear the hidden North Pole Palace dimensional zone. Unless a new expert appears, Human Sovereign¡¯s first place should still be secured.¡±


    When Professor Gu said that, his heart raced. Human Sovereign, you have to hold the fort. Whether you can wipe away my title of Jinx is up to you.


    Professor Gu had failed so many times in the past, but Human Sovereign had never been jinxed by him no matter how hard he tried. Now, he finally understood. He grabbed Human Sovereign and tried jinxing him as best as he could, hoping to rely on Human Sovereign to redeem himself.


    Of course, his jinxing was actually just his normal analysis.


    The more Professor Gu said such things, the more flustered the audience became. Many people who hoped that Human Sovereign could obtain first place were panicking.


    Time ticked by. In the last ten minutes, no one entered the Cube to challenge it.


    Ol16


    ¡°From the looks of it, Human Sovereign¡¯s first place is secured,¡± Professor Gu said as he secretly heaved a sigh of relief.


    However, just as he said that, the Cube¡¯s screen suddenly changed. Someone had challenged the Big Dipper Palace by entering


    it.


    ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Sect Master has shown his might. Our Human Sovereign is in danger.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, the Sect Master doesn¡¯t give up unless he kills our Human Sovereign!¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s challenging it now? I¡¯m so flustered.¡±


    Professor Gu¡¯s heart skipped a beat. He hurriedly took a closer look and realized that the person who had entered the Big Dipper Palace was surprisingly Mohe, who was ranked third.


    ¡°Although Mohe is very strong, it should still be a little difficult to challenge the hidden North Pole Star Palace. After all, he didn¡¯t even clear the Army Breaker Star Palace before this,¡± Professor Gu hurriedly said when he saw that it was Mohe.


    ¡°Sect Master, please stop talking!¡± The comments were begging for mercy; they almost occupied the entire screen.


    ¡°Why is Mohe challenging again at this moment? Is he confident of clearing the hidden North Pole Star Palace?¡± Su Yi was also uneasy.


    Although Mohe was considered a human powerhouse, Su Yi still hoped that Human Sovereign could obtain first place.


    After Mohe entered the Star Palace, he didn¡¯t hesitate to quickly storm through one Star Palace after another. It looked like he really had the intention to head to the hidden North Pole Star Palace.


    Everyone¡¯s hearts were in their throats. Soon, they saw Mohe rush into the Army Breaker Star Palace. Furthermore, the stairs that could drain Essence Energy in front of the Star Palace didn¡¯t have any effect on him.


    After Mohe defeated Starlord Army Breaker, as everyone had expected, he did what Human Sovereign did and activated the teleportation nexus to head to the North Pole Star Palace.


    ¡°Heavens, is Mohe really going to fight Starlady Polestar!¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu¡¯s mouth is really blessed. Whatever he says goes the other way.¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡¯s first place is in danger. Mohe must have come prepared. It¡¯s impossible for a powerhouse like him to tempt fate on impulse!¡±


    ¡°No way?¡± Professor Gu felt like crying. He was more nervous than anyone else.


    He pretended to be calm, but he was shouting desperately in his heart, Please don¡¯t¡­ You have to hold on¡­


    Just as people were guessing how Mohe would defeat Starlady Polestar, they were stunned when they saw the scene in the North Pole Star Palace.


    The North Pole Star Palace remained the same, but Starlady Polestar wasn¡¯t inside. It was actually an empty Star Palace.


    ¡°How did this happen?¡± Everyone, including Mohe and Professor Gu, was stunned.


    Su Yi reacted quickly and immediately thought of a possibility. She said excitedly, ¡°I get it. The hidden North Pole Star Palace is different from ordinary Star Palaces. The Starlady in this Star Palace will only appear once. Only the first person to defeat her will obtain benefits.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That¡¯s it.¡± Professor Gu also slapped his thigh in excitement. ¡°There¡¯s only one Starlady Polestar. In other words, the first person to defeat her will definitely be first. Human Sovereign has really secured his first place.¡±


    Mohe searched the Star Palace but didn¡¯t find any traces of Starlady Polestar. He then understood what had happened and was extremely depressed.


    It hadn¡¯t been easy for him to think of a way to defeat Starlady Polestar. He had even spent a lot of money to borrow many powerful Companion Beasts, but he never expected such an outcome.


    Although he was indignant, he had no choice but to leave the Star Palace.


    The Cube¡¯s countdown had already gone to zero by the time Mohe exited. The Cube¡¯s screen revealed a starry sky.


    In the Star Palace, one could see the Big Dipper emit light one after another. Furthermore, the light was extraordinary, so bright that it made one¡¯s heart tremble.


    Boom! The first star of the Big Dipper exploded. The dazzling light penetrated the Cube¡¯s screen, blinding everyone.


    Following that, the Big Dipper stars exploded one after another. Finally, the North Star emitted its final brilliance, drowning its screen in a light blast produced by the huge explosion.

 Chapter 1737 - Mystic Thearch

    Chapter 1737 Mystic Thearch


    When the Cube¡¯s screen dimmed again, the screen had already turned into the Cube¡¯s ranking


    Under the gaze of everyone, the last name on the Cube¡¯s ranking turned into fragments of light and dissipated. Then, from bottom to top, the names shattered and vanished.


    Moments later, there was only one name left on the rankings¡ªHuman Sovereignshimmering eternally like the sun.


    ¡°We ultimately failed.¡± In front of the dimension¡¯s Cube, a non-human creature that looked human stared at the shimmering words ¡°Human Sovereign¡± and sighed.


    As for most humans on Earth, they fell into a euphoric revelry. Although they didn¡¯t know who Human Sovereign was or if he was even human, most humans seemed to gain something in their hearts. It was indescribable, but it made their hearts feel weightier and less restless.


    Zhou Wen had been gaming on his phone and hadn¡¯t left his room in days. At that moment, he was pulled to the Cube by Li Xuan as he looked at the glorious words ¡°Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Old Zhou, why do I find these words so pleasing to the eye?¡± Li Xuan felt as though something was stirring in his body. He wished he could do something, but there was no place for him to vent.


    ¡°These words are a little ugly,¡± Zhou Wen said after looking at the words for a long time.


    ¡°Ugly? Why don¡¯t I think so?¡± Li Xuan tilted his head and sized it up for a moment before shaking his head.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little ugly,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked to the Cube and reached out to touch it.


    The Cube immediately lit up as Zhou Wen¡¯s body was sucked into it. However, this time, he didn¡¯t teleport to any dimensional zone. Instead, he appeared in an empty darkness.


    In the darkness, there were seven blobs of light shimmering. On careful look, they represented seven different Companion Eggs.


    Are these the Big Dipper Companion Eggs? Zhou Wen looked at the seven Companion Eggs. Although he knew that they were already his, he couldn¡¯t feel happy.


    The Big Dipper stars shattered, producing these Companion Beasts. If Earth¡¯s Companion Beast were to appear in the future, Earth would share the same outcome as the Big Dipper stars.


    As Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the seven Companion Eggs lit up at the same time. They trembled as though they were about to fly towards Zhou Wen.


    However, when they really moved, they didn¡¯t fly towards Zhou Wen. They seemed to be attracted by an invisible vortex as they spun around the center of the void.


    As the spinning speed increased, the light on them transformed into meteors that flew towards the center of the vortex. The light also weakened.


    Despite devouring so much light, the middle of the vortex became darker and darker as though the darkness had transformed into something corporeal that condensed into a black Companion Egg.


    When the light on the seven Companion Eggs completely vanished, they also vanished, leaving only the extremely black Companion Egg floating in the void.


    The Companion Beasts of the Big Dipper were actually absorbed by the Companion Beast of the North Star. What kind of Companion Beast is it? A sword? Or is it armor? Or could it be¡­ Before Zhou Wen could finish his thoughts, the Companion Beast of absolute darkness rushed towards him and instantly shot into his forehead.


    A black tattoo gradually appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead. The tattoo¡¯s style was strange as though it wasn¡¯t static. It constantly changed every second, making it difficult to see its true appearance.


    With a thought, the constantly changing black tattoo tore out of his body and transformed into a Companion Beast.


    This is¡­ Starlady Polestar¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the Companion Beast in surprise.


    The Companion Beast was wearing Absolute Darkness armor. As it was too dark, light couldn¡¯t even reflect. At a glance, it looked like a black silhouette. However, its figure resembled Starlady Polestar, but it gave Zhou Wen a different feeling.


    Although Zhou Wen had already received the information on the Companion Beast, he habitually took out his phone to take a look.


    Mystic Thearch: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Emperor


    Life Soul: Mystic


    Wheel of Destiny: Birth (S-grade)


    Terror Form: Nirvana


    Calamity Zone: Sovereign of the Universe (Heaven level)


    Strength: 999


    Speed: 999


    Constitution: 999


    Essence Energy: 999


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: Soul


    Holy sh*t! What the hell is this! Zhou Wen looked at the Mystic Thearch¡¯s stats and didn¡¯t close his mouth for a long time.


    In terms of stats, it was really the best among the best. It was directly at the Heaven level and had 999 stats. Zhou Wen had only seen such stats on Truth Listener before. This was the second one.


    However, this thing didn¡¯t even have a single skill. It had to be known that the seven Starlords had special skills. Furthermore, every special skill had their unique characteristic. As long as one used it well, it would be a powerful killing machine.


    There was no need to mention Starlady Polestar. Just the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array was infinitely profound.


    This thing gathered the characteristics of eight celestial bodies¡¯ Companion Beasts, but it didn¡¯t have a single skill. Wouldn¡¯t that make it a pure Strength-type Companion Beast?


    Zhou Wen already had Truth Listener as a Strength-type Companion Beast. No one would mind having another top-notch Companion Beast, but it was repeated after all. Furthermore, no matter how strong a Strength-type Companion Beast was, it was probably not as strong as Truth Listener that was invulnerable to everything. This thing didn¡¯t have that ability, so it was easily affected by all sorts of taboo powers. It might not be able to unleash its mighty powers in actual combat.


    You should at least get me two skills. Even without the Major Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array, at least give me two of the other Starlords¡¯ powers like reflective damage and forming prisons with books! Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed, but he knew that the Mystic Thearch definitely had his advantage.


    As Zhou Wen received the Mystic Thearch Companion Beast, the words ¡°Human Sovereign¡± on the Cube¡¯s screen finally dissipated. The Cube¡¯s screen gradually turned black and returned to a dead silence.


    Everyone believed that the matter was over. Some people had already planned on switching off their phones to do something else. Even the livestream program was prepared to switch to the host and guest¡¯s commentary.


    However, to their surprise, the Cube that had just turned black suddenly lit up again.


    Everyone looked at the scene in shock, unsure what had happened. They imagined that something hadn¡¯t ended, but when they saw the scene on the Cube, they realized that a new dimensional zone had appeared on the Cube, launching a new Cube battle.


    ¡°Why would a new dimensional zone appear so quickly?¡±


    ¡°The Cube actually activated a Cube battle back to back. Has this ever happened before?¡±


    ¡°What is this place? It doesn¡¯t look like a planet, right?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen it before.¡±


    The people on Earth looked at the scene on the Cube, but no one recognized what dimensional zone it was.

 Chapter 1738 - The Cube Starts Again

    Chapter 1738 The Cube Starts Again


    On the Cube¡¯s screen was a lake enveloped in fog. At a glance, it was only a foggy lake. Although there was no end in sight, it made one feel that it was a lake and not an ocean.


    It was impossible to tell what place it was just from the scene. There were countless rivers and lakes on Earth. Just from this scene, it was impossible to guess where it was.


    People were discussing what it was. The analysts of the various programs had all sorts of guesses, but no one could say with certainty what it was.


    Zhou Wen came out of the Cube and immediately saw the scene on it. His pupils constricted.


    ¡°Old Zhou, the Cube is here to provide you warmth again. From the looks of it, it¡¯s time for you to reap some benefits again,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile as he looked at the scene on the Cube.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it won¡¯t be that simple this time.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was solemn.


    ¡°What do you mean? Is there anyone on Earth who can snatch first place from you?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°No one on Earth can snatch it from me, but I¡¯m afraid this isn¡¯t just limited to humans on Earth.¡± Zhou Wen stared at the Cube¡¯s screen without blinking.


    ¡°You mean¡­¡± Li Xuan seemed to guess something as his expression turned odd. He looked at the scene on the Cube and said,¡± Don¡¯t tell me you want to say that the dimensional zone on the Cube is the dimension?¡±


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been to the dimension once. It does look like it. Call Ming Xiu over,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan hurriedly gave Ming Xiu a call and got him over. Without waiting for Li Xuan to ask, Ming Xiu said, ¡°I saw it on the livestream. The place where the Cube is might very well be in the dimension.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean ¡®might very well be?¡±¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Previously, when I went to the dimension, the place I went was limited to the Inter race¡¯s territory. I¡¯ve never been to places outside the Inter race. The place on the screen is completely different from the Inter race¡¯s territory, but there¡¯s one place that¡¯s very similar,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    ¡°What¡¯s similar?¡± Li Xuan looked around, but he couldn¡¯t tell what was different between the lake on the screen and a lake on Earth. It was just a little misty.


    Ming Xiu explained, ¡°The dimension¡¯s space is different from our space. It¡¯s impossible for creatures below the Mythical stage to see the matter around them, much less move. It¡¯s just like how three-dimensional creatures can¡¯t understand the four-dimensional world¡­¡±


    ¡°Then it¡¯s even more impossible for it to be the dimension. This scene has been broadcast for quite some time. Everyone on the Internet can see this lake. Even children without cultivation can see it,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°You can¡¯t see it because your level in life isn¡¯t high enough. In essence, it¡¯s also a manifestation of order and rules. As I¡¯ve been to the dimension, I can sense similar order and rules above the misty lake. The reason why ordinary people can see it is because the existence of the Cube has modified the transmission scene to a certain extent. If one really goes there, ordinary people can only see the distorted dazzling light. No, I¡¯m afraid they won¡¯t even be able to see the dazzling light and will be killed¡­¡± Ming Xiu explained.


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Li Xuan had never been to the dimension, so he didn¡¯t know if what Ming Xiu said was true.


    ¡°If Ming Xiu thinks so too, then there¡¯s likely no mistake about it.¡± Zhou Wen nodded as many thoughts flashed through his mind.


    ¡°Heavens, if that¡¯s really the dimension, doesn¡¯t that mean that we can storm into the dimension through the Cube?¡± Li Xuan¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°In theory, yes. But have you thought about why the Cube can show the dimension?¡± Ming Xiu asked.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that simple? It means that the Cube is resourceful. It can even connect to the dimension,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Ming Xiu shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°Can¡¯t you think deeper?¡±.


    ¡°Speak your mind and spout your nonsense. Are you itching for a beating again? Stop leaving me hanging?¡± Li Xuan snorted coldly.


    ¡°What if the dimension is just a dimensional zone?¡± Ming Xiu asked.


    Li Xuan was taken aback when he heard that. His expression turned nasty as he said after a while, ¡°That¡¯s impossible, right?¡±.


    ¡°The possibility isn¡¯t high, but what if it is?¡± Ming Xiu said with a bitter smile, ¡°Even if it isn¡¯t, this dimensional zone is in the dimension. In other words, there¡¯s no suppression of Earth¡¯s cosmic rules there. If those dimensional creatures can enter, do you think we humans will still have a chance of getting first on the Cube¡¯s rankings?¡±


    Ming Xiu, who had been to the dimension, knew better than Li Xuan how terrifying the dimension was. Human Sovereign was already considered very strong on Earth, but in the dimension, lifeforms below the Apocalypse grade weren¡¯t considered powerhouses.


    ¡°I was just thinking about how to use this thing to counterattack the dimension, but I forgot about that,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily. ¡°I don¡¯t think the Cube will do that. If those sick fellows from the dimension can also be on the rankings, there¡¯s no point in humans participating.¡± ¡°No, those creatures from the dimension will definitely be able to get on the rankings.¡± Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t the dimension control the Cube in the past? Although I can tell that they can¡¯t really control the Cube, I¡¯m certain that they can enter the Cube. They just can¡¯t adapt to the rules of Earth¡¯s universe.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be afraid of. It¡¯s something from the dimension to begin with. At most, we¡¯ll give it to them. We¡¯ll just storm over when we have the strength in the future,¡± Li Xuan said after some thought.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this matter isn¡¯t that simple. I have a nagging feeling that there¡¯s something amiss, but I can¡¯t figure it out immediately,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. The factions with representatives also realized how unusual this dimensional zone was. They were alarmed and puzzled as they guessed what it meant.


    As everyone discussed, the Cube¡¯s screen suddenly changed. Someone had activated the Cube¡¯s challenge.


    ¡°Someone challenged the Cube so quickly? I wonder who it is?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Human Sovereign? Mohe or Karoman?¡±


    ¡°There are so many people who are willing to take the risk. We don¡¯t even know what dimensional zone this is, but someone has actually attempted it.¡±


    The average man on the street discussed spiritedly, but people who really knew what kind of dimensional zone it was were filled with worry.


    When the challenger appeared on the screen, the expressions of many human powerhouses changed.


    With gold armor and a dark-gold staff, a lifeform that looked almost no different from humans other than being more than twice as tall as humans-standing at four to five meters tall at the very least-appeared.


    On the forehead of the lifeform was a third eye. When it opened, it was like a golden sun, very similar to the Sun Sage God engraved in the Sun God Holy Temple.

 Chapter 1739 - Lake of Fog

    Chapter 1739 Lake of Fog


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed in the dimension,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily as he looked at the golden god-like creature.


    Zhou Wen, Ming Xiu, and company didn¡¯t say a word as they watched the creature walk towards the lake.


    His body emitted a golden sun-like glow. The fog over the lake quickly dispersed as the surroundings instantly became clear.


    However, there was still nothing on the lake. All that could be seen was water ripples.


    The creature from the Sun race walked on the surface of the lake. His tall body looked like he was walking on flat ground over the water surface. He had the aura of a true god descending to the mortal world.


    After walking a short distance, the water suddenly churned. The lake water seemed to come to life as it transformed into a pair of arms that wrapped around the Sun race member. They grabbed his legs and were about to pull him into the lake.


    The Sun race member¡¯s body emitted a golden glow as the pair of water arms seemed to vaporize due to the high temperature, instantly turning into steam. A strange scream sounded underwater before there was silence.


    Moments later, the lake seemed to boil. The waves churned as pairs of arms extended out of the lake. The entire lake seemed to turn into a forest of arms.


    Countless water arms grabbed at the Sun race member as the distant water arms crawled out of the water. One could see that they were water demons condensed from water. They looked a little like humans, but their ears were like fins. Where their legs should have been, there was a snake¡¯s tail.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL(d0t)C0M.


    The countless water demons leaped out of the water and pounced at the Sun race member, but he didn¡¯t panic at all. The Sun God Light on his body glowed brightly as all the water demons that were illuminated immediately vaporized. No water demon could approach him.


    The Sun race member walked deeper into the Lake of Fog step by step.


    There were countless water demons in the lake, but none of them could approach him. Along the way, countless water demons were vaporized by the Sun God Light.


    In just more than ten minutes, the fog ahead opened up and a swath of green appeared.


    A small green island appeared over the lake. The island was flat and there were almost no undulations. The ground was covered in green grass, but in the middle of the island, there was a tree. The tree looked like a crown, and its trunk looked ordinary. However, the leaves looked like they were forged from silver. There were many golden apple-shaped fruits on the tree.


    The Sun race member walked to the tree and reached out to pluck a golden apple. Then, he walked to a spot similar to a teleportation nexus. As the teleportation nexus¡¯s light rose, the Sun race member vanished.


    The Cube¡¯s screen changed as a Cube ranking appeared. On it was the name ¡°Sun race¡¯s Raleigh.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it? It looks simple. The fruits on the tree are limited. I don¡¯t know if there will be any left after plucking them. Why don¡¯t we take the opportunity to pluck one now?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°It looks simple, but there¡¯s something profound about it. Don¡¯t act rashly.¡± Ming Xiu hurriedly stopped Li Xuan.


    Just as Li Xuan was about to say something, he saw the Cube¡¯s screen light up again. Another person was challenging the Cube.


    ¡°It¡¯s the representative of the Family Clan of Gods, Reddy.¡± Li Xuan immediately recognized a human with flames burning all over his body.


    Reddy clearly had the same thoughts as Li Xuan. He wanted to take the initiative and pluck the golden apple now.


    The Sun race¡¯s Raleigh had relied on his power of the sun to safely cross the Lake of Fog. His power of fire and the power of the sun were both scorching. He believed that it wouldn¡¯t be difficult to deal with the water demons.


    However, when Reddy landed on the lake, his body sank into it.


    A look of horror appeared on Reddy¡¯s face as though he was struggling to fly up, but it was to no avail. His flaming body quickly sank into the lake. All one could see was a red glow gradually dimming under the lake. Moments later, there was no sign of him. The Cube¡¯s screen switched back to the rankings. On it was still ¡®Sun race¡¯s Raleigh.¡¯


    Li Xuan¡¯s expression turned nasty as he said with lingering fear, ¡°That was close. That Reddy was at the Calamity grade after all. He also had the power of fire that restrains the water element, but he was actually finished just like that. Thankfully, I didn¡¯t go.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t just Li Xuan who felt a lingering fear. Upon seeing this scene, many people on Earth were alarmed. Reddy was considered a famous figure now. He had also entered the top ten in the previous battle of the Big Dipper. Nobody expected him to die so easily.


    Instantly, the Lake of Fog and Raleigh became a hot topic of discussion. Due to Raleigh¡¯s appearance, the average person knew that the place might be a dimension. People clearly became more intrigued about the dimension.


    Of course, they were also guessing Raleigh¡¯s level. The Calamity-grade Reddy had died without a stir, but Raleigh could easily pass through the Lake of Fog. The difference was extraordinary. Some people even guessed that he was at the Apocalypse grade.


    However, a human powerhouse like Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for Raleigh to be at the Apocalypse grade, but he was very likely a Heaven-level existence.


    Although Zhou Wen was also paying attention to the Lake of Fog, he had no intention of challenging it. The most important thing now was to quickly advance the remaining two Essence Energy Arts to the Calamity grade.


    Tai Sui and Primordial Spore were doing well in Kunlun Mountain¡¯s canyon. The spores had given them immense help. Tai Sui had already reached the Calamity grade and was still growing. It was only a matter of time before Primordial Spore advanced to the Calamity grade. In the future, they would be two very important combat forces.


    However, he hadn¡¯t found a suitable dimensional zone that matched the Godfiend Era. This left him depressed.


    ¡°Old Zhou, look who¡¯s here.¡± One day, Zhou Wen was studying the information on dimensional zones when he heard Li Xuan¡¯s voice coming from afar.


    ¡°Wang Lu!¡± Zhou Wen went out and saw Li Xuan and Wang Lu walk over.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, why do you look the same? Even a woman like me is jealous,¡± Wang Lu said with a smile as she sized up Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t changed much either,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan whistled. ¡°Old Zhou, what¡¯s with that look in your eyes? Wang Lu has clearly grown a lot.¡±


    Not only did Li Xuan accentuate the word ¡®grown¡¯, but he also dragged it out. As he spoke, he even scanned Wang Lu from top to bottom.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but look in the direction of his gaze. Wang Lu¡¯s face immediately flushed red as she slapped Li Xuan in the face, jerking his face to the other side as his mouth contorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s unfair. Old Zhou ogled as well. Why did you only hit me?¡± Li Xuan rubbed his face and said indignantly.


    ¡°Blame it on your mouth!¡± Wang Lu spat and turned to Zhou Wen. ¡°I heard you are looking for a spatial dimensional zone?¡±

 Chapter 1740 - Infinite Reset

    Chapter 1740 Infinite Reset


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise. He had gotten Li Xuan to secretly carry out a search for spatial dimensional zones. Although it wasn¡¯t as exaggerated as absolute confidentiality, he didn¡¯t tell anyone.


    ¡°Old Zhou, it¡¯s been so many years, but why haven¡¯t you improved at all? Someone has clearly been paying attention¡­ Ouch¡­¡± Before Li Xuan could finish his sentence, Wang Lu pinched him.


    ¡°Alright, you guys continue chatting. I¡¯ll leave, alright?¡± Li Xuan winked at Zhou Wen before turning to leave.


    After Li Xuan left, Wang Lu said to Zhou Wen, ¡°I heard from Li Xuan that you are looking for a spatial dimensional zone. Coincidentally, I recently encountered a somewhat special spatial dimensional zone. If you are interested, I can take you there.¡±


    ¡°You could have just given me a call. Why did you make the trip yourself?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The corners of Wang Lu¡¯s eyes twitched as her fingers couldn¡¯t hold back the urge. However, she ultimately suppressed it and said to Zhou Wen, ¡°That dimensional zone is somewhat special. It wasn¡¯t convenient to talk over the phone, so I came by myself.¡± ¡°What kind of dimensional zone is it?¡± Zhou Wen was fretting over this problem, so he hurriedly asked.


    Wang Lu was somewhat disappointed, but she still said, ¡°I still don¡¯t know the name of that dimensional zone. The location is in Lop


    Nur.¡±


    ¡°Lop Nur?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.C0M.


    He had heard of this place before. It was west of the East District. In ancient times, it had the names of Earth¡¯s Ear and the Sea of Death. It was said that many strange and bizarre things had happened there before the dimensional storms descended.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s Lop Nur. There aren¡¯t many dimensional zones there, but it¡¯s very strange. An elder of my race accidentally entered and discovered a dimensional zone¡­¡± Wang Lu recounted the situation of the dimensional zone in detail.


    The elder from the Wang family had originally gone to the edge of the desert to search for a Companion Beast, but due to an accident, he lost his direction and accidentally entered Lop Nur.


    Lop Nur had been extremely dangerous in ancient times, only to become even stranger and more bizarre after the dimensional storms. Anyone who accidentally entered almost never came out.


    The Wang family member originally believed that he was doomed, but to his surprise, he discovered a dimensional zone. After something happened in the dimensional zone, he came out alive.


    As for the place he came out from, it was no longer a desert. Instead, it was far away on the other end of another sea. That sea was equally famous. It was the Bermuda Triangle known as the Devil¡¯s Triangle.


    The Wang family member couldn¡¯t explain what was going on. Many of his experiences were things he didn¡¯t understand, but there were some key experiences that confirmed that he had experienced some special spatial powers.


    There were no dimensional creatures in the dimensional zone, but no matter where he went, he would ultimately return to the same place. This wasn¡¯t the bizarre part. What was bizarre were the marks he had left behind.


    After realizing that he was lost, the Wang family member left a lighter somewhere and continued walking. After walking for some time, he saw the lighter again. What was even stranger was that he realized that he had an additional lighter on him.


    He only had one lighter and had already placed it on the ground as a mark. It was impossible for there to be a second one. However, when he saw his lighter, he subconsciously touched his pocket to find another lighter inside. When he took it out and saw that it was identical to the lighter on the ground, he was shocked.


    The Wang family member threw both lighters to the ground. After circling around, he found himself having another lighter.


    After circling the area a few times, a pile of lighters appeared in front of him. All the lighters were identical in every way. Even he couldn¡¯t tell which was his original lighter.


    ¡°In that case, I¡¯m afraid that it¡¯s no longer just spatial powers. It¡¯s very likely related to the power of spacetime.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and asked, ¡°How did he walk out later? How did he reach Bermuda?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know.¡± Wang Lu shook her head and said, ¡°He fainted in the end. When he woke up, he was already on a beach.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting,¡± Zhou Wen said in thought.


    ¡°Our family plans on exploring that dimensional zone. If you are interested, you can join us,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°Alright, count me in.¡± Zhou Wen felt that this dimensional zone was really odd. Perhaps it was really compatible with the Godfiend Era. Even if he didn¡¯t enter, he could try to find the tiny palm symbol.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t compatible with Godfiend Era, he had to make a trip to help Wang Lu.


    The two of them chatted for a while longer. After setting a time and about how she couldn¡¯t stay long because her family was preparing to explore the dimensional zone, Wang Lu returned to the Wang family.


    ¡°Old Zhou, are you stupid? Did your head get kicked by a donkey when you were young?¡± Li Xuan was rendered speechless when he heard Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    Li Xuan sighed and said, ¡°You are a beast. You wasted Wang Lu¡¯s efforts.¡± ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Wang Lu wants to explore the dimensional zone. Didn¡¯t I agree to help her?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Need your help? Don¡¯t you get ashamed? With Wang Lu¡¯s luck, would she need your help? Besides, do you know what she meant by raising that matter? Leaving something behind allows another item to appear. Furthermore, it can be infinitely replicated. If one doesn¡¯t throw the lighter, but a high-level Companion Egg or skill crystal, do you know what that means?¡± Li Xuan wore a look of disappointment.


    ¡°That¡¯s really something I didn¡¯t think of.¡± Zhou Wen was immediately taken aback. He immediately understood the true value of the dimensional zone.


    Even if there were no other discoveries, just using this strange phenomenon could produce unimaginable benefits.


    ¡°She has informed you of such a huge secret; yet, you only think that you¡¯re helping her? Are you a beast?¡± Li Xuan couldn¡¯t help but curse.


    ¡°In that case, I really owe Wang Lu a huge favor. I¡¯ll have to repay her in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Li Xuan was rendered speechless as though he couldn¡¯t be bothered to say anything else to Zhou Wen. ¡°Do whatever you want. Anyway, if you let Wang Lu down in the future, as your bro, I¡¯ll definitely be on her side.¡±


    With that said, Li Xuan left. He was afraid that if he continued speaking to Zhou Wen, he wouldn¡¯t be able to help but beat him up.

 Chapter 1741 - Wang Lu’s Request

    Chapter 1741 Wang Lu¡¯s Request


    Over the next few days, alien races plucked the golden apples and appeared on the rankings, but there wasn¡¯t a single human on the rankings. Even human representatives didn¡¯t enter the Cube¡¯s rankings, much less manage to pluck the golden apple.


    Even powerful representatives like Mohe didn¡¯t challenge the Cube.


    Ordinary people only hoped that humans could enter the rankings, but they didn¡¯t know that the representatives had basically received a warning from the alien races not to challenge the Cube.


    There were a total of 37 golden apples on the tree. As the number of golden apples decreased, more and more people hoped that Human Sovereign could challenge it and occupy a spot on the Cube.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t hear their summoning. He followed Wang Lu and company into the strange Lop Nur. The electronic devices here had no signal, so he had no idea what was happening outside.


    The boundless desert was a forbidden zone for humans in ancient times. Once one was lost in it, they would die in a few days without having any food or water.


    Their group had water-elemental Terror-grade experts, so it wasn¡¯t difficult for them to draw water. They also had plenty of food, so they didn¡¯t need to worry about this. However, this didn¡¯t mean that they could do anything they wanted. Lop Nur became far more terrifying after the dimensional storms, so the group proceeded carefully.


    It was unknown if it was because of Wang Lu¡¯s existence, but they encountered zero danger along the way. However, after walking for a few days, they failed to find the dimensional zone the Wang family member mentioned.


    ¡°Third Uncle, where should we go now?¡± Looking at the endless salt plains, Wang Lu frowned and asked the middle-aged man beside her.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.C0M.


    The middle-aged man¡¯s name was Wang Huaiduan. In terms of seniority, he was Wang Lu¡¯s third uncle. He was in his forties and was only at the Mythical stage after using the Mythical Serum. He was the one who had discovered the dimensional zone back then.


    ¡°Sorry, Family Head. Back then, I accidentally walked into that dimensional zone. I only know that it¡¯s probably in this area. As for where it exactly is, I really have no clue,¡± Wang Huaiduan said in embarrassment.


    Wang Lu had no intention of reprimanding him. It wasn¡¯t surprising that Wang Huaiduan didn¡¯t know the location of the dimensional zone back then. She didn¡¯t expect Wang Huaiduan to remember much. All he needed to do was confirm that it was this area.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s in this area, right?¡± Wang Lu asked again.


    ¡°It should be,¡± Wang Huaiduan said.


    Wang Lu nodded and looked at Zhou Wen who was playing with his phone. ¡°Zhou Wen, lend me one of your shoes.¡±


    ¡°What for?¡± Sitting on the Great Might Vajra Bull¡¯s back, Zhou Wen took off his shoe and threw it to Wang Lu while asking her.


    ¡°Trying my luck.¡± Wang Lu took Zhou Wen¡¯s shoe and tossed it out. She looked at the tip of the shoe and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go that way.¡±


    With that said, Wang Lu picked up the shoe and returned it to Zhou Wen.


    The Wang family didn¡¯t doubt Wang Lu¡¯s seemingly childish actions as they walked in the direction she had mentioned.


    Zhou Wen took the shoe and put it on. He looked at Wang Lu curiously and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you use this method previously?¡±


    ¡°Humans can¡¯t have too many extravagant hopes. If they wish for too much fortune that doesn¡¯t belong to them, it might not be a good thing even if they obtain it in the end,¡± Wang Lu said ambiguously. Zhou Wen nodded. He had some understanding of that.


    Although Wang Lu¡¯s luck was amazingly lucky, she wasn¡¯t the Goddess of Luck with boundless divine strength. There was probably a limit to her luck. She might not be able to resolve everything with luck.


    If anything could be resolved by luck, Wang Lu would have long become the strongest human. In fact, Wang Lu had yet to advance to the Calamity grade.


    The group continued on their way. After walking for less than half a day, Wang Huaiduan suddenly pointed ahead and shouted, ¡°There it is. That¡¯s the entrance to the dimensional zone.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a lake appear on the endless salt plains. The lake wasn¡¯t big, and the water surface was calm like a mirror.


    Wang Huaiduan continued excitedly, ¡°See that strange-shaped boulder by the lake? As long as we step past it, we can enter that strange dimensional zone.¡±


    The strange-shaped boulder that Wang Huaiduan mentioned stood more than ten meters tall. Perhaps due to the ravages of the sandstorm, there was a huge crack in the middle of the boulder that could accommodate two people walking side by side.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the crack on the boulder. Through the crack, he saw the lake behind it. It didn¡¯t seem different.


    ¡°Stay here and rest for the night. We¡¯ll explore the dimensional zone tomorrow.¡± Wang Lu led everyone to the boulder, but she didn¡¯t immediately enter. Looking at the sun that was about to set, she instructed everyone to pitch tents and set up a temporary camp.


    Zhou Wen circled the vicinity but didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. All he could do was return to the camp resentfully.


    Zhou Wen had brought his own tent. While resting at night, he saw Wang Lu pull open the curtain and enter.


    ¡°Having problems sleeping?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    Wang Lu sat down and shook her head. ¡°I need your help with something.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± The reason Zhou Wen didn¡¯t immediately agree wasn¡¯t because he wanted to consider the pros and cons, but because he felt that if Wang Lu were to look for him now, the matter of asking him for help was probably no trifling matter. He had to treat it seriously and not let down Wang Lu¡¯s request.


    Wang Lu took out a box and placed it in front of Zhou Wen. ¡°Help me hold this. After entering the dimensional zone tomorrow, if everything goes smoothly, you can place it somewhere suitable.¡±


    ¡°Could the thing inside be¡­¡± Before Zhou Wen could finish his sentence, Wang Lu pressed his lips with her finger.


    ¡°You just need to know. I¡¯ll leave the item to you.¡± With that said, Wang Lu got up and left the tent without staying any longer.


    Zhou Wen looked at the box in front of him and couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    If his guess was right, the box likely contained an important treasure prepared by Wang Lu. It was very likely a high-level Companion Egg. As Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t be too far from their masters, they couldn¡¯t be placed in dimensional zones to replicate them. This was also why Wang Huaiduan hadn¡¯t experimented back then. It was because he didn¡¯t have any Companion Eggs on him, preventing him from experimenting.


    The Wang family had come prepared. They had definitely prepared a very high-level Companion Egg or other treasures. However, he didn¡¯t know why Wang Lu had placed the item in the box with him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t open the box to see what it was. He put it away and continued grinding his game dungeons.


    The night passed uneventfully. The next morning, the Wang family packed their things and marched through the boulder. Zhou Wen followed the team. At the instant he passed through the crack, the scene in front of him didn¡¯t seem much different from what he had seen before.

 Chapter 1742 - Identical

    Chapter 1742 Identical


    He clearly saw the Salt Water Lake behind the boulder, but after passing through it, he saw the same Salt Water Lake. It didn¡¯t seem any different.


    ¡°Have we really entered a dimensional zone?¡± someone asked in puzzlement.


    Many people wanted to ask this question. Even Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. After passing through the stone crack, it didn¡¯t seem any different from before.


    ¡°It¡¯s different. Very different,¡± Wang Huaiduan said with certainty. ¡°If we don¡¯t pass through the crack in this boulder, we will leave this Salt Water Lake no matter where we go. And after passing through the crack in the boulder, no matter where we go, we will ultimately return to the lake. It¡¯s as though we are circling around it.¡±


    ¡°Has the loop already begun?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he looked around.


    ¡°It should have already begun. However, after we leave this place, we won¡¯t be able to see this boulder no matter how we walk. In other words, it¡¯s impossible for us to leave this place.¡± Wang Huaiduan thought for a moment and said, ¡°At that time, I walked for a long time and couldn¡¯t leave this place. I thought I was doomed. I was exhausted and delirious. Back then, a suction force suddenly appeared in the lake and I was swept in. When I woke up, I was already on the coast of Devil¡¯s Triangle. I don¡¯t know how I got out.¡±


    ¡°Third Uncle, come with us. Zhiyuan, stay in front of the boulder with a team.¡± Wang Lu instructed calmly, looking somewhat like a family head. She was somewhat different from the Wang Lu Zhou Wen knew.


    Apart from leaving a five-person team in front of the boulder, the others followed Wang Lu. Zhou Wen was among them.


    This time, the Wang family didn¡¯t leave anything behind. They wanted to see if they could still see the five-person team when they returned.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.C0M.


    Zhou Wen followed them. At the same time, he used the Teacher Domain to scan his surroundings, especially the lake. If there was really anything strange, it was the most likely problem.


    However, after scanning for a while, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover anything within the Teacher Domain¡¯s range. There didn¡¯t seem to be any creatures in the lake. Ignoring dimensional creatures, he didn¡¯t even discover ordinary microorganisms.


    ¡°The salt content in this lake is very high. A person can float in it when jumping in. Previously, I jumped into the lake, hoping to find some dimensional creatures as food, but I didn¡¯t discover anything,¡± Wang Huaiduan said as he walked.


    Wang Lu only listened quietly without saying a word. Everyone stuck to circling the lake without wandering off. After walking for a period of time, they estimated that they had circled the lake once, but they still didn¡¯t see the boulder that they used for entry.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a little strange.¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He didn¡¯t sense any changes in space. The boulder and the Wang family members guarding it had vanished. This dimensional zone was indeed not simple.


    ¡°Little Li, act according to plan,¡± Wang Lu said to a youth from the Wang family.


    The youth nodded and stayed by the lake. The others continued circling the lake.


    The youth had some of the Wang family¡¯s Companion Eggs on him. If he had duplicates of those Companion Eggs when they found him, the Wang family would really make a


    killing


    ¡°This dimensional zone is indeed a little strange. Be careful,¡± Zhou Wen walked beside Wang Lu and whispered to her.


    He had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. Or rather, this dimensional zone made him uneasy.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, don¡¯t worry. The last time I came, I circled this place for a few days and didn¡¯t find any dimensional creatures. I even spent quite some time in the lake. If there were any dimensional creatures, they would have long eaten me,¡± Wang Huaiduan said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with being careful. Everyone, focus,¡± said Wang Lu. The Wang family members responded and continued circling the lake. Perhaps Zhou Wen was too sensitive, but they didn¡¯t encounter anything along the way.


    Zhou Wen guessed that they were about to circle the lake. He focused his gaze forward, hoping to see Little Li.


    He saw him. It was similar to when they left. Little Li was sitting by the lake, fiddling with the sand in boredom.


    As Zhou Wen watched, his expression suddenly changed.


    ¡°Little Li is there!¡± After walking for a while, someone finally saw Little Li and shouted in pleasant surprise.


    ¡°Quick, let¡¯s see if the Companion Eggs on him have doubled.¡± Everyone became excited as they quickened their pace towards Little Li.


    As they ran, everyone slowed down again, revealing looks of horror.


    This was because they realized that the Little Li sitting there wasn¡¯t one, but two. Two identical Little Lis sat side by side.


    The reason Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed drastically was that he had seen two Little Lis. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t tell which was the real Little Li under the Teacher Domain. Or rather, both Little Li were real.


    ¡°Even humans can be replicated?¡± Even at a close distance, Zhou Wen still couldn¡¯t tell what was different between the two Little Lis.


    At that moment, the two Little Lis also discovered Zhou Wen and company. They immediately got up and ran towards them. As they ran, they shouted, ¡°Family Head¡­ Not good¡­ Something strange happened¡­ There¡¯s an additional me¡­ No¡­ Something is impersonating me¡­¡±


    There was nothing wrong with what he said. The problem was that the two Little Lis¡¯ words were identical. Even their expressions were identical. Instantly, everyone was stunned.


    ¡°Little Li, stand there and don¡¯t move,¡± Wang Lu said as she stared at the two Little Lis.


    Without any hesitation, the two Little Lis stopped as though they fully trusted Wang Lu.


    ¡°Take out the Companion Eggs you have on you,¡± Wang Lu continued.


    The two Little Lis removed their backpacks and took out the Companion Eggs inside. There were a total of seven Companion Eggs. Each Companion Egg was different, but the Companion Eggs of the duo were identical, like twins.


    ¡°I should have known. This godforsaken place can replicate the lighter, so it¡¯s possible to replicate humans as well. We shouldn¡¯t have left Little Li here,¡± Wang Huaiduan said with a sigh.


    ¡°Family Head, Third Uncle, quickly think of a way. I don¡¯t want to have two of me,¡± the two Little Lis said with a sullen expression.


    Wang Lu was momentarily at a loss. She couldn¡¯t tell which Little Li was the original Little Li. She couldn¡¯t help but look at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen shook his head slightly. He couldn¡¯t tell which Little Li was real either.


    ¡°Leave the Companion Eggs here now. Let¡¯s continue walking.¡± Wang Lu thought for a moment and got someone to put down the Companion Eggs they had brought along. Then, she took the two Little Lis along and continued circling the lake.


    Now, they really didn¡¯t dare to leave a human here. They couldn¡¯t even deal with the two Little Lis. If they ended up making a few more Little Lis, his wife would probably be in a difficult position when he returned.

 Chapter 1743 - No Replication

    Chapter 1743 No Replication


    Zhou Wen did have the urge to replicate the good things on him; it would be crazy if he could replicate a few items like the mysterious phone.


    Even if the mysterious phone couldn¡¯t be replicated, it would be awesome to have a few Immortal Culling Swords and Immortal Peril Swords.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t really do so. He had to figure out what was going on with this dimensional zone before he dared to experiment with the Immortal Culling Sword. Otherwise, if something went wrong, it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    Looking at the two Little Lis in the team, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that something was amiss. If anything could be replicated to obtain endless benefits, wasn¡¯t this dimensional zone a little too powerful?


    The Wang family was actually very uneasy. The benefits involved were just too great-so great that it was unbelievable.


    If it wasn¡¯t because Wang Lu had extremely powerful luck, they might not have dared to come despite knowing the benefits.


    Everyone in the group had their own thoughts as they circled the Salt Water Lake again. When they arrived at the area where they had left their luggage, they indeed discovered two identical piles of luggage.


    When they opened the luggage, everything was duplicated. However, only one item of the things that Little Li had replicated previously appeared.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there are two possibilities. One possibility is that the replica can¡¯t be replicated. The second possibility is that the same item will only have one replicated,¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.C0M.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine replicating one at a time. One each time means that doing it ten times gets ten. If we stay here for a few days, we won¡¯t lack any Companion Beasts. The Wang family¡¯s rise is just around the corner¡­¡± The Wang family was extremely excited.


    Some people had already experimented with hatching a replicated Companion Egg-the outcome was identical to a normal Companion Egg.


    At this moment, no one doubted the value of replicating Companion Eggs. They only wanted to replicate more Companion Eggs and things.


    The only person who was more vexed was Little Li. The authenticity of the two Little Lis couldn¡¯t be determined. All they could do was temporarily watch the duo to prevent any trouble.


    ¡°Family Head, there¡¯s no mistake about it. This dimensional zone is our Wang family¡¯s blessed land. Leave everything you brought behind and try your best to replicate more things. Who knows if there will be a time limit here¡­¡± an elder from the Wang family said to Wang Lu.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. Let¡¯s stick to the original plan and leave a portion behind.¡± Wang Lu shook her head.


    Some wanted to persuade Wang Lu otherwise, but she cut them off. ¡°The plan is to protect the family¡¯s interests. If we don¡¯t act according to the plan, who will be responsible if anything happens?¡±


    The members of the Wang family looked at each other. In the end, they followed Wang Lu¡¯s orders and left a portion behind before circling the lake again.


    ¡°What are your thoughts?¡± Wang Lu walked beside Zhou Wen and asked softly.


    ¡°This is very likely a spacetime dimensional zone as expected. I left a few low-level Companion Eggs there. I should discover something next time,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Wang Lu asked in puzzlement.


    Wang Lu had noticed Zhou Wen placing a few Companion Eggs there. The Companion Eggs had also been replicated. There would be another additional one when they returned. There didn¡¯t seem to be any difference, so she didn¡¯t know what Zhou Wen was referring to.


    Zhou Wen explained, ¡°I only left one of those Companion Eggs and replicated Companion Eggs there.¡±


    Wang Lu was extremely smart. Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she immediately understood. ¡°You left a portion of original Companion Eggs and a portion of replicated Companion Eggs. If all the Companion Eggs are replicated again, it means that there¡¯s no limit to the replication. However, the same item can produce one replicated item. If a portion of the Companion Eggs aren¡¯t replicated, that means that the replicas can¡¯t be replicated.¡±


    Zhou Wen nodded and said, ¡°If it¡¯s really the power of spacetime that¡¯s at work, then be it the original or a replica, they should be replicated. No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that it¡¯s a replica. Or rather, it¡¯s better to describe it as a parallel space. Those things come from a parallel space and not a replica. If the replica isn¡¯t replicated, it¡¯s hard to make further determination. Of course, it¡¯s only a guess now. We still have to see the outcome.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you tempted at all when you see the replicated items?¡± Wang Lu asked as she sized up Zhou Wen.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen was still able to come up with such ideas without being affected. It left Wang Lu alarmed.


    Wang Lu¡¯s luck was excellent. She usually didn¡¯t lack anything, but when she saw the replicated items, her will wavered. The reason she insisted on following the plan was just to be safe.


    Even so, she wasn¡¯t as calm as Zhou Wen. ¡°Yes, how can I not be? However¡­¡± Zhou Wen seemed to hesitate and didn¡¯t finish his sentence.


    ¡°Just say it if it¡¯s convenient. If it¡¯s not convenient, don¡¯t say it,¡± said Wang Lu.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing inconvenient. I¡¯m just afraid that you will think too much,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought. ¡°Then just say it. I¡¯ll definitely believe you,¡± Wang Lu said seriously.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that I¡¯ll believe in it myself. I¡¯d rather it be wrong.¡± Zhou Wen smiled bitterly and continued without waiting for Wang Lu to press further, ¡°To be honest, according to my past experience, something will happen every time I enter an unfamiliar dimensional zone. It¡¯s rather harrowing every time, so no matter how tempted I am, I still have my scruples.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering what it was. You gave me a fright. Don¡¯t worry. With me by your side, your luck will turn for the better,¡± said Wang Lu with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried. I¡¯m just afraid that you will be worried,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    The two of them chatted as they walked. After circling the area for a long time, everyone approached the place where the items were placed. Zhou Wen saw the pile of items from afar. The Companion Eggs he had placed were among them.


    One¡­ Two¡­ Six¡­ That¡¯s not right¡­ Half of them haven¡¯t been replicated¡­ Zhou Wen counted silently in his heart and couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    According to his previous guess, if it were spatial powers at work, the Companion Eggs he had left behind should have produced new ones, be it the original or replicas. However, half of them had clearly not been replicated.


    ¡°The replicas cannot be replicated? In other words, only the original will be replicated. Is this a spacetime power?¡± Wang Lu also saw Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Eggs and immediately knew what had happened.

 Chapter 1744 - Problem

    Chapter 1744 Problem


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and stared thoughtfully at the Companion Eggs.


    However, the members of the Wang family had already rushed to their luggage in euphoria. They only needed to circle around to obtain many precious Companion Eggs. The things that they had risked their lives for in the past could now be obtained by taking a stroll. Anyone would be excited to the point of losing control


    ¡°Family Head, there¡¯s no mistake about it. Everything is correct. Stop hesitating. Leave that thing behind. We don¡¯t know what will happen in the future. Let¡¯s quickly get a few more while we can.¡± A few elders from the Wang family came over to persuade Wang Lu.


    ¡°Stick to the plan; it will be done in the next round. There¡¯s no rush,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°The plan is set by humans. We can be more flexible when needed. There¡¯s no need to be so inflexible. If we had left that thing behind earlier, there would be three of them now. Apart from you, we can also have one¡­¡± The elder didn¡¯t finish his sentence, but Zhou Wen understood.


    The Wang family probably had a special Companion Egg or treasure, but they were afraid of any accidents, so they didn¡¯t dare leave it there.


    Now that the Wang family saw the items being replicated again and again, they couldn¡¯t help but want Wang Lu to replicate more of that item so that they could also have a copy. ¡°As long as it can be replicated, everyone will naturally have a share. There¡¯s only one round left. Let¡¯s go,¡± Wang Lu said as she continued on her way, not giving those people a chance to speak.


    The few elders were somewhat helpless, but they didn¡¯t say anything else. They packed their things and continued on their way with Wang Lu.


    ¡°Did you discover anything?¡± Wang Lu asked when she saw Zhou Wen frowning in thought.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.C0M.


    ¡°Not really, but I thought of something. If I want to determine which one is the original Little Li, we can leave one there and see if he will be replicated to know if he¡¯s the original,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If it¡¯s the original version, wouldn¡¯t there be another Little Li?¡± Wang Lu said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen laughed as well. ¡°That¡¯s why it¡¯s just a thought. Actually, there¡¯s no point in distinguishing them. Even if you know who¡¯s the replica, you can¡¯t be heartless enough to kill him, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although he¡¯s a replica, he¡¯s no different from Little Li. We grew up together, so how can we bear to do it? Unless he¡¯s not Little Li¡­¡± Wang Lu said gloomily.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not Little Li, what else could it be?¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he turned to look at the two Little Lis. When he saw them, his expression suddenly changed.


    As the other members of the Wang family were excited, all of them wanted to walk faster. In the beginning, they had paid special attention to the two Little Lis, but now, the two had unknowingly fallen to the back. No one wanted to watch them.


    The two Little Lis were originally identical, but now, one of them had changed at some point in time.


    Little Li was only in his twenties. His eyes were rather big, and he had black oriental-styled irises. However, now that one Little Li had his head lowered, his eyes had turned completely white like a blind person.


    From the point of view of an ordinary person, there were only a few differences. However, in Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes, Little Li emitted a strange aura that resembled white smoke rising from his body.


    Oh no, there¡¯s something wrong with the replica. Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    The Little Li who had his head lowered suddenly looked up and revealed a strange smile at Zhou Wen. In the next moment, he pounced on the other Little Li beside him.


    As the duo were too close, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the time to do anything. The moment the two Little Li came into contact, they seemed to fuse together, turning from two to


    one.


    Zhou Wen had already flashed in front of Little Li, but he didn¡¯t know what was happening. It was naturally impossible for him to directly kill him. All he did was reach out to grab Little Li¡¯s arm and restrain him.


    ¡°Mr. Zhou, what are you doing?¡± Upon hearing the commotion behind, the Wang family stopped and looked over. Seeing Zhou Wen grab Little Li¡¯s arm, they looked at him in puzzlement.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you realize that one Little Li is missing?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Little Li and said.


    As they were too excited, everyone had long forgotten about Little Li. Only when Zhou Wen mentioned it did they recall.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Why is there only one Little Li? Where did the other Little Li go? Don¡¯t tell me he ran off?¡± Everyone looked around but didn¡¯t find the other Little Li.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what¡¯s going on?¡± Wang Lu hadn¡¯t seen the scene, so she didn¡¯t know that the two Little Li had fused into one.


    Zhou Wen recounted what he had seen while observing Little Li¡¯s reaction.


    Little Li was very honest. He allowed Zhou Wen to grab him without moving or struggling. His eyes looked a little demented.


    Everyone was puzzled when they heard that. They sized up Little Li, but no matter how they looked at it, they couldn¡¯t imagine how the two of them had fused into one.


    ¡°There¡¯s something wrong with the replicas here. We can¡¯t continue replicating them,¡± Zhou Wen said to Wang Lu.


    Before Wang Lu could say anything, an elder from the Wang family said in a strange tone, ¡°Mr. Zhou, did the two Little Lis really fuse into one?¡±


    ¡°I saw it with my own eyes,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°There are so many people here. Why are you the only one who saw it? Isn¡¯t it too much of a coincidence that no one else saw it?¡± The elder snorted coldly.


    ¡°Uncle Liu, what do you mean?¡± Wang Lu said unhappily.


    ¡°Family Head, I¡¯ve already said that we should keep this matter private. However, you refused to listen and insisted on letting an outsider follow. Now, he can¡¯t stand that our Wang family will be doing well. Family Head, what do you think we should do?¡± the elder said angrily.


    ¡°Uncle Liu, what are you trying to say?¡± Wang Lu frowned.


    ¡°None of us saw the two Little Lis fuse into one. Only Mr. Zhou saw it. He even said with certainty that there¡¯s a problem with the replica and that we can¡¯t continue replicating. Don¡¯t you think that there¡¯s a problem with this? Even if the two Little Lis really fused into one, it doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t continue replicating. Wouldn¡¯t using one of the replicas before they fuse work? Why can¡¯t we continue replicating? I think it¡¯s because someone doesn¡¯t want our Wang family to do well and is deliberately making things difficult for us. It¡¯s hard to tell if the other Little Li had fused or met with misfortune thanks to someone.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Wen doesn¡¯t lie,¡± Wang Lu said.


    ¡°One can never judge a book by its cover. Family Head, you are still young. There are some things that you haven¡¯t seen through. In front of absolute benefits, what can people not do?¡± The elder was rather friendly to Wang Lu, but not towards Zhou Wen. ¡°Even if the two Little Lis have fused into one, he should be able to speak, right? If we ask him ourselves, won¡¯t the truth be out? What¡¯s the point of restraining him?¡±

 Chapter 1745 - Why Are You Smiling?

    Chapter 1745 Why Are You Smiling?


    ¡°What questions do you have? You can ask them now.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let go of Little Li¡¯s hand.


    ¡°He¡¯s already half-dead from your grabbing. How are we to ask?¡± A Wang family member said, ¡°Let him go first. There are so many of us. Are you afraid that he will escape?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not afraid of him running. I¡¯m just afraid that he won¡¯t run.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let go of Little Li.


    ¡°Family Head, what¡¯s going on? No matter what, Little Li is a subordinate of our Wang family. Even if we want to arrest and question him, it should be done by our Wang family. Why leave this to an outsider?¡± the elder said unhappily to Wang Lu. ¡°That¡¯s right. Why are the other things we replicated fine except for Little Li? Furthermore, he¡¯s clearly fine. He looks half-dead and can¡¯t even speak because he¡¯s being held hostage. I¡¯m afraid someone is up to no good.¡±


    ¡°People from the Wang family should naturally be dealt with by the Wang family itself.¡±


    Many people from the Wang family were somewhat displeased with Zhou Wen, but they didn¡¯t dare make a move. They also knew that Zhou Wen was powerful and wasn¡¯t someone ordinary people could match.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what¡¯s Little Li¡¯s situation now?¡± Wang Lu asked Zhou Wen.


    Although Wang Lu was the head of the family, that didn¡¯t mean that she could ignore the Wang family¡¯s feelings. If people lost their sense of belonging, the family would be over.


    Wang Lu believed Zhou Wen, but she had to placate the Wang family members¡¯ emotions.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.COM


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure either. I just feel that something is amiss.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the demented Little Li and recalled his smile. He had a nagging feeling that this fellow was dangerous.


    ¡°Heard that? What kind of answer is that? Can you hold a member of our Wang family hostage just because you feel that something is amiss?¡±


    ¡°Family Head, he can¡¯t even give a reason. Is this how people do things?¡±


    When the Wang family heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, they became even more distrustful of him. They only believed that he had ulterior motives.


    Wang Lu was in a dilemma, but she didn¡¯t relent. Zhou Wen could tell that Wang Lu was in a difficult position. After some thought, he said, ¡°Forget it. Since you want him, I¡¯ll give him to you. However, if anything happens, it won¡¯t be my business.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t need outsiders to worry about the Wang family,¡± the Wang family members immediately said.


    With Wang Lu around, they felt that nothing would happen with her luck.


    Desire is really a terrifying emotion, Zhou Wen thought to himself. If it were any other time, these people wouldn¡¯t dare speak to me like that. But in the face of so many benefits, they aren¡¯t afraid of offending me. Forget it. It¡¯s not like I can keep holding onto Little Li. I can take this opportunity to see what¡¯s so strange about him.


    Zhou Wen no longer held back Little Li and returned him to the Wang family.


    Two Wang family members took Little Li from Zhou Wen¡¯s hands. Although they had some concerns and were afraid that there was something wrong with him, they felt relieved when they saw that he appeared demented.


    ¡°Little Li¡­¡± After getting Little Li back, the Wang family wanted to wake him up and ask him about what had happened, but Little Li remained silent. He seemed to be in a daze and nothing could be got out of him.


    Many people still suspected that Zhou Wen had secretly done something to Little Li. They didn¡¯t believe the words of the two Little Lis fusing into one. If they didn¡¯t know Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, they would probably have taken him down before interrogating him.


    ¡°Family Head, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s any problem. Aren¡¯t the replicated Companion Eggs fine? In any case, we aren¡¯t replicating people. It should be fine. Let¡¯s not waste any more time. Let¡¯s continue.¡±


    Everyone urged Wang Lu to quickly put down the treasure prepared by the Wang family and replicate a few more.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wang Lu nodded and took out a box from her backpack and placed it on the pile of things.


    Zhou Wen watched coldly from the side. This time, he didn¡¯t say a word.


    Everyone set off again and circled the Salt Water Lake. Although there were also people who were worried that something would go wrong, their desire for treasures exceeded their worries.


    Along the way, Zhou Wen observed Little Li. He was escorted forward by two members of the Wang family, but there was no reaction.


    When they returned to the place where they had placed the items, there was indeed another pile of replicas. The box that Wang Lu had taken out was also among them. ¡°See? I knew it. There¡¯s no problem. Isn¡¯t everything fine?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s replicate a few more. It¡¯s best if we can each obtain one¡­¡±


    ¡°With this treasure land, our Wang family will definitely become an existence like the six families in the future.¡±


    They were all in a festive mood, as though they would soon become great nobles on Earth.


    Wang Lu didn¡¯t say a word as she looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Continue walking,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently. It was useless to say anything else now. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t leave, so he could only continue walking.


    Round after round, more and more things were replicated.


    Ignoring the Wang family¡¯s delight, Zhou Wen found it odd.


    He had clearly seen the two Little Lis fuse into one, but the replicated Companion Eggs didn¡¯t do the same.


    Even the box that Wang Lu had put down had been replicated multiple times. There were no strange fusions.


    As for the item in the box, Zhou Wen also knew what it was. In the Wang family¡¯s euphoria, someone had accidentally revealed it, Zhou Wen knew that it was a Calamity-grade Companion Egg. With the Wang family¡¯s standards, they likely didn¡¯t have the ability to hunt Calamity-grade creatures. It was highly likely that Wang Lu had obtained it through luck.


    After circling so many times, Little Li remained in a daze. He didn¡¯t do anything out-of-place.


    Could it be that something will happen only after living creatures are replicated? Or could it be that only humans have problems? Zhou Wen thought of all sorts of possibilities.


    They walked to the place where the items were placed again. Indeed, there was another pile of items there. The Wang family was so happy that they were about to go crazy.


    Many replicated Companion Eggs had been hatched by the Wang family¡ªthey were also fine.


    As for the Calamity Companion Egg box, no one had taken it. Firstly, they needed Wang Lu¡¯s permission. Secondly, even if they took it now, they wouldn¡¯t be able to hatch it.


    The Wang family didn¡¯t even have a single Calamity-grade creature. Just their Essence Energy was insufficient to incubate a Calamity Companion Beast. If they forced the hatching, they would only die from having their Essence Energy sucked dry. Therefore, no one requested to hatch it now.


    Wang Lu only put away the replicated box every time without any intention of incubating it.


    As everyone was feeling excited, Zhou Wen saw the dazed Little Li finally show an expression. He revealed a strange smile again, but other than Zhou Wen, no one was paying attention to him.


    This time, he didn¡¯t stop smiling. He kept smiling, making Zhou Wen¡¯s hair stand on end.


    ¡°Little Li, are you awake? Why are you smiling?¡± The Wang family members who were escorting Little Li finally realized that something was amiss with him.

 Chapter 1746 - The Strange Little Li

    Chapter 1746 The Strange Little Li


    Little Li still didn¡¯t say a word. He only smiled at the person, making the person¡¯s hair stand on end.


    When the others heard the voice, they looked over. However, what they saw next was extremely strange and terrifying.


    The person grabbing Little Li¡¯s hand sank into his body as though his body wasn¡¯t made of flesh but sand.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Everything happened too quickly. The person only had time to scream before most of his body fused into Little Li¡¯s body.


    A few members of the Wang family rushed over to stop the person from sinking further. However, when their hands touched the person¡¯s body, it was as though they had been electrocuted. Their eyes rolled back as their bodies trembled non-stop. The few of them connected together and sank into Little Li¡¯s body.


    ¡°No good!¡± Wang Lu was alarmed as she immediately released her Companion Beasts to pull them away.


    The Companion Beast that resembled a polar bear grabbed their bodies and tried to pull them out.


    However, exerting strength failed to pull the people out. Only half of the body was pulled out. The rest had already sunk into Little Li¡¯s body.


    Looking at the blood on the ground and the strange smile on Little Li¡¯s face, everyone felt their scalps tingle. A chill rose from the soles of their feet to their heads.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XN0VEL.COM


    ¡°We can only kill him now,¡± Zhou Wen said when he saw Wang Lu still hesitating.


    Wang Lu had become the head of the Wang family because she had extremely lucky abilities. However, in terms of personality, she was excessively kind and hated killing. In this era, she wasn¡¯t the best leader.


    The Wang family also knew that Wang Lu¡¯s personality was too docile. It was only because they needed her luck to bring luck to the family that they had no choice but to let her become the family head.


    ¡°He¡¯s no longer Little Li. Kill him,¡± Wang Lu ordered through gritted teeth.


    The elders of the Wang family had long had the intent to kill. Just as Wang Lu said that, a few people released their Companion Beasts and charged at Little Li.


    However, when the Companion Beasts pounced at Little Li, a strange scene happened. One Companion Beast after another sank into Little Li¡¯s body like the others.


    ¡°What the hell. The family head¡¯s Companion Beast was clearly fine¡­¡± The few elders tried their best to retrieve their Companion Beasts, but how could they? They were instantly sucked into Little Li¡¯s body.


    No one dared to release their Companion Beasts again. All of them desperately released sword beams and saber beams at Little Li.


    However, the sword beams and saber beams also sank into Little Li¡¯s body. Now, Little Li didn¡¯t seem to have a body of flesh and blood, but a black hole. Anything that approached him would be sucked in.


    Instantly, everyone stopped and didn¡¯t dare attack Little Li. They looked at him in horror.


    They looked at Little Li, but the motionless Little Li suddenly moved. He charged at a member of the Wang family like a ghost, his face still wearing the same mask-like smile.


    The person wanted to dodge, but his speed was much slower than Little Li¡¯s. All he could do was summon his Companion Beast to block, but the Companion Beast was grabbed by Little Li¡¯s hand. His head was also grabbed by Little Li¡¯s other hand before the man and pet were sucked into his body.


    Monster! This word appeared in everyone¡¯s minds as their first thought was to escape.


    Upon encountering such a redoubtable monster, their psychological defense had already collapsed. They had no intention of fighting at all. All that was left was fear. They wanted to stay as far away from the monster as possible.


    In fact, even if they wanted to fight, they would only be slaughtered by Little Li.


    ¡°None of you are allowed to run.¡± Zhou Wen flicked his sleeve and pulled the few people running ahead flying back.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, do you want our Wang family dead?¡± Wang Huaiduan shouted sternly.


    ¡°Have we forgotten how this monster came about? If you run in all directions, you will return from different directions. Then, what about the people who aren¡¯t with you? Will they be replicated?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    In fact, what Zhou Wen said was very simple. If everyone was separated and found themselves back in the same spot from different directions, all of them would be replicated relative to the others. That would be a mess.


    Although such a situation might not happen, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t take the risk.


    ¡°Run in one direction.¡± Wang Lu was the first to react.


    Only then did everyone understand. However, a few more people were sucked into Little Li¡¯s body during this process. Little Li continued lunging at the others.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to run. Wang Lu, try using your Companion Beast to stop him,¡± Zhou Wen said to Wang Lu.


    When Wang Lu heard Zhou Wen¡¯s words, she didn¡¯t hesitate and ordered the white bear to charge at Little Li.


    Previously, many people had used Companion Beasts. No matter what kind of Companion Beast it was, they ended up fusing with Little Li¡¯s body. However, Little Li dodged the white bear¡¯s charge, preventing it from touching his body. ¡°Why doesn¡¯t he dare touch the white bear? Is it because the white bear¡¯s stats restrain him?¡± Wang Lu was slightly taken aback before she looked at Zhou Wen in pleasant surprise.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s the white bear¡¯s stats that restrain it, but you,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°Me?¡± Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement.


    ¡°This is only my speculation. You are the only one who hasn¡¯t replicated a Companion Egg in the Wang family, right? I believe that¡¯s the key,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You mean¡­¡± Wang Lu¡¯s expression turned ugly; she wasn¡¯t happy because of that.


    If Zhou Wen¡¯s guess was right, it meant that there was something wrong with the replicas. The white bear kept chasing Little Li, but Little Li¡¯s movement technique was extremely strange. The Terror-grade white bear couldn¡¯t catch up to him, but it also caused Little Li some trouble, preventing him from chasing others.


    The Wang family secretly heaved a sigh of relief when they saw the white bear hold back Little Li. However, before they could finish venting their anger, their expressions turned even uglier.


    Little Li didn¡¯t chase after them again, but he pounced at the things piled on the ground.


    There were all sorts of Companion Eggs and treasures there. After Little Li plunged into the items, his body was like a magnet. The things approached him with all their might and strangely fused into his body.


    ¡°It¡¯s over! It¡¯s all over!¡± The Wang family was dumbfounded.


    Everything, including the original Companion Eggs and the replicated Companion Eggs, fused with Little Li¡¯s body. It looked like nothing would be left behind.


    Little Li¡¯s body seemed to undergo a strange change as he absorbed a large number of items.


    His black hair became whiter and whiter, and his eyes were like the white eyes of the blind. Furthermore, they became whiter and whiter as though light was gathering inside.


    Now, many members of the Wang family were filled with regret. If they had known this would happen, they wouldn¡¯t have doubted Zhou Wen. They would have long finished the scourge that was Little Li.

 Chapter 1747 - Spacetime Strength

    Chapter 1747 Spacetime Strength


    Everyone only wanted to escape, but they knew that escaping was useless. Ignoring the question of whether there would be more monsters similar to Little Li, there was no way to escape. No matter how they ran, they would ultimately return. They would ultimately die.


    Wang Lu controlled the white bear to charge at the monster, Little Li, who was fusing with various items. This time, the monster, Little Li, didn¡¯t dodge. Looking at the roaring white bear, he suddenly extended his hand and pressed down on the white bear¡¯s open mouth.


    The Terror-grade white bear was pressed to the ground. No matter how much it struggled, it couldn¡¯t get up.


    In the next second, the spot where the white bear¡¯s palm touched the monster, Little Li, sank into his palm like the other things.


    ¡°My Companion Beast won¡¯t do either!¡± Wang Lu was alarmed. She wanted to retrieve the white bear, but how could she? Moments later, the white bear was sucked into Little Li¡¯s palm.


    Little Li¡¯s entire body suffused a strange white light, especially his hair and eyes. It was indescribably strange.


    The members of the Wang family turned ashen. They originally wanted to count on Wang Lu¡¯s Companion Beast, but now, it was useless. They immediately felt that they had lost their crutch.


    Zhou Wen frowned as he looked at Little Li. The Teacher Domain constantly circulated as it analyzed the nomological powers on Little Li¡¯s body, but the speed of its analysis was extremely slow.


    However, he was certain that Little Li had the laws of time and space, but there were some differences. Perhaps it was the legendary spacetime power.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    In a moment, the piles of items were sucked into Little Li¡¯s body. Little Li¡¯s body, which emitted a strange white light, levitated off the ground. His entire body was like a white devil enveloped by a demonic glow. His white hair hung down, turning into white eyes that seemed to reflect the sins of the world.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what should we do?¡± Wang Lu was at a loss. The situation had exceeded her control.


    ¡°Kill him.¡± Zhou Wen condensed the power of Great Brahma and his body was immediately enveloped by the dark-gold armor as he threw a punch at the monster, Little Li.


    The destructive beam struck the monstrous Little Li¡¯s body. The power was enough to destroy a Calamity-grade expert, but when the beam struck the monster, it passed through it without causing any damage to his body.


    Upon seeing Zhou Wen take action, the members of the Wang family, who had thought of him as a powerhouse, felt their hearts turn cold. They didn¡¯t care about anything else as they fled. They knew that they couldn¡¯t escape, but every second they lived counted.


    Zhou Wen threw punch after punch. The destructive power of the Great Burning Heaven failed to touch the monstrous Little Li. It passed through his body as though it didn¡¯t exist.


    Little Li¡¯s figure flashed and vanished from everyone¡¯s sight. When he appeared again, he grabbed the head of a Wang family member with each hand and instantly sucked them into his body.


    Zhou Wen switched Essence Energy Arts and attempted to attack the monstrous Little Li with different powers. However, no matter what kind of power it was, it felt as though he had struck nothing. It passed through his body without causing any damage.


    Instead, it was the monstrous Little Li who instant transmitted again and again. He grabbed the Wang family members who had fled in all directions and sucked them into his body.


    Wang Lu summoned Companion Beasts to charge at the monstrous Little Li, but they were no longer effective. They were also sucked into the monster¡¯s body.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I shouldn¡¯t have brought you here.¡± Wang Lu sighed.


    Zhou Wen said, ¡°Let¡¯s cut out the banal chatter. This fellow is indeed a little troublesome. If I¡¯m not wrong, this fellow should be a product of spacetime powers. His strength should have already reached the Calamity grade, but my strength should be stronger than his. That¡¯s why he can¡¯t directly absorb my strength. However, because he has spacetime powers, it¡¯s difficult for my strength to hit his body. This is somewhat troublesome.¡±


    ¡°Why can¡¯t you hit him?¡± Wang Lu hurriedly asked, hoping to help Zhou Wen.


    ¡°According to my guess, he should be able to switch to different spacetimes at will. It looks like my strength hit him, but in fact, he¡¯s already in a different spacetime. No matter how strong I am, I can¡¯t penetrate spacetime and hit him in another spacetime¡­¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°Then is there no other way?¡± Wang Lu was burning with anxiety. ¡°Unless I also have spacetime powers and can break through the restrictions of spacetime, I ultimately won¡¯t be able to do a thing to him. Unfortunately, I only have spatial powers and not temporal powers, much less spacetime powers,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh.


    Wang Lu felt even more despair when she heard that. She watched as the Wang family members were absorbed by the monstrous Little Li one by one. She said tragically, ¡°I don¡¯t have spacetime powers either, nor do I have spacetime Companion Beasts. From the looks of it, we are doomed.¡±


    ¡°Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen pondered and said, ¡°You just reminded me of something.¡±


    ¡°You have a spacetime-type Companion Beast?¡± Wang Lu was overjoyed.


    ¡°No.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Wang Lu was at a loss. She felt that she should be angry, but at this point in time, there was no point in being mad.


    ¡°However, I have a strange Companion Beast. Perhaps I can give it a try.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried that he would die here.


    He had already noticed something. The monstrous Little Li had grown by absorbing the things here, but up to now, there weren¡¯t any Calamity-grade Companion Eggs. There were no Calamity-grade Companion Eggs among the replicated items.


    Even if he absorbed everything here, he would at most be at the Calamity grade. It was impossible for him to advance to the Apocalypse grade. Even if Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t kill him, he couldn¡¯t do a thing to him.


    As for the box Wang Lu had placed there previously, Zhou Wen guessed that it was empty. Perhaps it wasn¡¯t a Calamity-grade Companion Egg inside. The real Calamity-grade Companion Egg was inside the box Wang Lu had given him.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat impressed with Wang Lu¡¯s foresight. If Wang Lu really placed the Calamity-grade Companion Egg there for replication, resulting in many replicated Calamity Companion Eggs that ended up absorbed by the monstrous Little Li, who knew what level of growth he would have.


    ¡°Then quickly give it a try!¡± Wang Lu said anxiously.


    ¡°Alright.¡± With a thought, an extremely black shadow-like Companion Beast appeared in front of him. It was none other than the Mystic Thearch Companion Beast he had just obtained.


    ¡°I hope it will be useful.¡± Zhou Wen ordered Mystic Thearch to attack the monstrous Little Li.


    Mystic Thearch was a very strange Companion Beast. It didn¡¯t have any skills, but its other stats were top-notch. However, Zhou Wen had previously attempted to get the Mystic Thearch to fight, but he realized that it wasn¡¯t a Strength-type melee Companion Beast.

 Chapter 1748 - Mystic Thearch

    Chapter 1748 Mystic Thearch


    Mystic Thearch seemed to have an invisible weapon in hand. Every time it flashed, it would kill a dimensional creature. It was very strange.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t had the time to do further research before following Wang Lu to Lop Nur. Therefore, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t completely understand Mystic Thearch¡¯s abilities.


    However, after seeing the monstrous Little Li, Zhou Wen had a guess. Could Mystic Thearch¡¯s ability be related to spatial powers?


    Of course, it was only related. The Mystic Thearch¡¯s power wasn¡¯t spacetime. At the very least, it wasn¡¯t ordinary spacetime power.


    Mystic Thearch was dressed in extremely black armor like a shadow female samurai. Her body resembled Starlady Polestar.


    When the monstrous Little Li saw Mystic Thearch, it was unknown if he knew that his strength was inferior or if there was another reason, but he actually instant transmitted elsewhere.


    However, at the same time he instant transmitted, Mystic Thearch appeared beside him like a ghost and swept past monstrous Little Li.


    The white light over monstrous Little Li¡¯s body changed as his entire body turned illusory and unreal. It was as though he had entered another spacetime. He didn¡¯t seem to be injured.


    Is Mystic Thearch¡¯s power equally ineffective? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    Just as Zhou Wen thought that he needed to think of another solution, he saw Mystic Thearch charge at the monstrous Little Li again. However, this time, she didn¡¯t directly hit him; she only waved her right hand like a saber.


    Zhou Wen immediately widened his eyes. Under the gaze of the Teacher Domain and himself, he clearly saw the spacetime powers on the monstrous Little Li being sliced apart.


    It was an indescribable feeling. It was as though there was a layer of transparent tempered glass between monstrous Little Li and Mystic Thearch. Mystic Thearch¡¯s slash split the transparent barrier into two, or rather, opened up a door.


    This was only what Zhou Wen felt. The average person would think that Mystic Thearch had casually waved her hand as though nothing had happened.


    With that wave, the Mystic Thearch stepped forward and swept past the monstrous Little Li.


    In the next second, the monstrous Little Li¡¯s head flew into the air as though it had been sliced off by a sharp blade.


    Bang!


    The flying head and the falling body exploded at the same time as an illusory transparent blob of light fell.


    Zone Core! Zhou Wen was pleasantly surprised. He never expected the Zone Core to be in the body.


    The moment the monstrous Little Li died, Salt Water Lake seemed to experience an earthquake. It suddenly trembled a few times before everyone realized that the missing entrance boulder had appeared not far away.


    The five-person team waiting there also appeared in everyone¡¯s vision.


    The Wang family members were alarmed and delighted. They couldn¡¯t be bothered to thank Zhou Wen as they scrambled for the entrance boulder.


    Wang Lu looked at Zhou Wen as though she had many things to say, but she was momentarily at a loss for words. Finally, she said, ¡°It¡¯s good to have you around.¡±


    ¡°Why are you standing on ceremony with me? Can I have this Zone Core?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the Zone Core and asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s all yours,¡± Wang Lu said in disappointment.


    ¡°I do need this item, so I won¡¯t stand on ceremony. If you find a dimensional zone that¡¯s suitable for you in the future, I¡¯ll help you get the Zone Core.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as he picked it up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go. This dimensional zone is a little strange. It seems like that¡¯s not all. Let¡¯s not find ourselves stuck in it again.¡± Zhou Wen pulled Wang Lu out and rendezvoused with the Wang family in front of the entrance boulder.


    The Wang family had suffered heavy losses this time. More than ten Mythical personnel had died, and two were at the Terror grade. More importantly, the Companion Eggs that the Wang family had accumulated for a long time were lost.


    However, this was already a rather good outcome. If not for Zhou Wen, they would probably have been wiped out.


    Before leaving, Zhou Wen secretly returned the box to Wang Lu.


    ¡°Take care.¡± Zhou Wen patted Wang Lu¡¯s head. He wanted to console her, but he didn¡¯t know what to say. He wasn¡¯t someone who was good at consoling others.


    ¡°Take care too.¡± Wang Lu¡¯s expression was odd.


    Just as Zhou Wen turned to leave, Wang Lu suddenly asked, ¡°If I have nowhere to go one day, will you take me in?¡±


    ¡°Of course, but I don¡¯t think you will reach that stage with your luck,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember your words.¡± Wang Lu seemed a little serious.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t read too much into it. All he wanted to do now was find a safe place and see if the Zone Core could advance Godfiend Era to the Calamity grade.


    He also had to figure out Mystic Thearch¡¯s abilities as soon as possible. The power displayed by the Mystic Thearch made Zhou Wen think of something very important.


    Mystic Thearch tore through spacetime to kill the monstrous Little Li. If this ability was used elsewhere, it would be of great help to Zhou Wen.


    He used spatial teleportation to return to Guide Ancient City. Zhou Wen returned to his room and eagerly took out the Zone Core before switching to the Godfiend Era Essence Energy Art.


    As his Essence Energy Art circulated, the Zone Core in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand transformed into transparent streams of light that seeped into his body from his hands.


    At the Cape family in the West District.


    ¡°Family Head, there¡¯s news from the East District¡¯s Wang family. Wang Lu and the rest have returned,¡± the blonde middle-aged man came in front of the Cape family¡¯s family head and said with a strange expression.


    ¡°What¡¯s the outcome? Can that dimensional zone really replicate a Companion Egg?¡± The Cape family head looked up and asked the blonde middle-aged man. Clearly, he thought highly of the matter.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The blonde middle-aged man smiled bitterly.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know? What did the people who infiltrated the Wangs say?¡± The Cape family head stared at him.


    ¡°They didn¡¯t return. Apparently, they died in Lop Nur,¡± the blonde middle-aged man said.


    ¡°None of them returned alive?¡± The Cape family head frowned.


    ¡°No, none of them returned. Could it be that they were discovered by the Wangs? The exploration of some magical dimensional zone was used as a ruse to eliminate them?¡± After some thought, the blonde middle-aged man realized that there was only one possibility.


    ¡°From the looks of it, we have underestimated the Wangs. Since that dimensional zone is fake, this matter ends here. You are dismissed.¡± The Cape family head lowered his head and continued studying the item in his hand. The Wangs weren¡¯t worth his anger.


    Furthermore, the Wang family was a family in the East District after all. It would be very troublesome for the Cape family to touch them.


    More and more alien races appeared on the Cube¡¯s rankings, but no humans entered the ranking. Although there were also humans who attempted to enter the rankings, they couldn¡¯t even cross the Lake of Fog, much less pluck the golden apple.


    ¡°I¡¯m really displeased seeing those alien races act so arrogantly.¡± Li Xuan was feeling depressed watching the livestream. When he saw Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu walk over, his eyes lit up. He walked over with a smile and wrapped his arm around their shoulders. ¡°Aren¡¯t we good brothers?¡±

 Chapter 1749 - Godfiend Spacetime

    Chapter 1749 Godfiend Spacetime


    ¡°No.¡± Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan took a step back almost at the same time and looked at Li Xuan warily.


    Li Xuan retracted his hands in embarrassment before his expression instantly changed. He said indignantly, ¡°I never expected you guys to be such people. I treated you as brothers, but you don¡¯t treat me as a brother. Are you still human? Do you have any conscience?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not a bad person when you don¡¯t call us brother. But nothing good comes out of you calling us brother,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    ¡°Am I that kind of person?¡± Li Xuan said angrily.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan answered in unison.


    Li Xuan was taken aback as he scratched his nose in embarrassment. ¡°Your misunderstanding of me is too deep¡­¡±


    ¡°Just get straight to the point. We know what kind of person you are,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    ¡°I¡¯m just thinking that there¡¯s not a single human on the Cube. It doesn¡¯t look pretty. There aren¡¯t many golden apples left. Why don¡¯t you go up and win some glory for us humans?¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°I want to, but this isn¡¯t easy,¡± Ming Xiu said helplessly.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°What¡¯s not easy about it?¡± Li Xuan asked.


    ¡°Firstly, we might not be able to pluck the golden apple since our strength is still lacking. Secondly, the various alien races have sent similar messages to their representatives. We are not allowed to challenge this dimensional zone,¡± Ming Xiu said.


    ¡°You are representatives, not slaves. Must you obey them? I think they just don¡¯t want the dimension¡¯s resources to fall into the hands of us humans. They are extremely sinister,¡± Li Xuan goaded.


    ¡°Of course, other than the contract¡¯s conditions, there aren¡¯t many restrictions on a representative. It¡¯s not impossible to go if we have to, but we can forget about receiving any more resources.¡± Ming Xiu shrugged.


    ¡°There will still be more resources?¡± Li Xuan was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°Of course, they agreed to help us advance to the Heaven level. Otherwise, how can we have any competitive ability?¡± Ming Xiu thought for a moment and continued, ¡°However, that¡¯s not the main point. I¡¯ve gained a lot of insight recently. Even if I don¡¯t receive their resources, advancing to the Heaven level is only a matter of time. The main reason is that we haven¡¯t reached the Heaven level yet. We might not be able to pass through the Lake of Fog to pluck the golden apple.¡±


    ¡°Is that Lake of Fog really that terrifying? Those alien races seemed quite relaxed.¡± Li Xuan found it unbelievable.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple.¡± It was rare for the taciturn Feng Qiuyan to speak. ¡°The alien races have a better understanding of that place to begin with. The alien races that attempt it have a way to restrain the place, but our understanding of the Lake of Fog is very limited. From the looks of it, the fog should have the ability to disrupt space. The lake water also has some kind of suction force that will suck a Calamity-grade creature to the bottom of the lake. Even if one can resist the suction force of the lake, as time goes by, one will eventually be exhausted. If we can¡¯t crack the fog and reach the island in the middle of the lake before that, we will ultimately die.¡±


    ¡°Even you aren¡¯t confident. From the looks of it, that place is indeed very dangerous. There¡¯s no point in going,¡± Li Xuan said gloomily. ¡°It¡¯s just depressing watching those alien races strut around.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that simple? If Coach is willing to take action, that wouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± Feng Qiuyan said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go and find him.¡± Li Xuan could only let Zhou Wen do it. Therefore, he led Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu to find Zhou Wen.


    With the help of the Zone Core, Godfiend Era advanced to the Calamity grade. Zhou Wen was studying the Godfiend Era¡¯s Calamity Zone and Mystic Thearch¡¯s powers.


    Godfiend Era¡¯s Calamity Zone was called Godfiend Spacetime. It had the characteristics of spacetime and was very useful. It was especially effective when combined with Mystic Thearch¡¯s powers.


    In Godfiend Spacetime, Zhou Wen could temporarily use Spacetime Backtracking.


    For example, if Zhou Wen¡¯s body was penetrated by a saber, as long as he used Godfiend Spacetime, his body could return to the state before he was hit.


    Of course, this was only an example. In fact, it was much more complicated. Now, Godfiend Spacetime could only backtrack for a short period of time. He couldn¡¯t randomly choose the period of the backtracking. He probably had to advance to Hell or the Heaven level to have greater freedom.


    Zhou Wen was mostly done studying Mystic Thearch¡¯s abilities. This gave him a sliver of hope-hope to counterattack the dimension.


    Mystic Thearch¡¯s power could actually break through dimensional barriers. This was a power Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    Typically, if one was in a dimensional zone, even if they had spatial teleportation abilities, it was impossible for them to teleport out of the dimensional zone. However, Mystic Thearch¡¯s power could directly tear open the dimensional zone to connect to the space outside.


    In other words, as long as Mystic Thearch attached herself to Zhou Wen in her soul form, Zhou Wen could ignore the dimensional zone¡¯s seal. Once he encountered danger, he could directly teleport out of the dimensional zone.


    Coupled with the Godfiend Spacetime¡¯s Spacetime Backtracking, Zhou Wen¡¯s escape abilities were off the charts. He could head to any dimensional zone he hadn¡¯t dared to go to without any worries.


    Based on Zhou Wen¡¯s testing of all the dimensional zones that he had downloaded, he could apparently teleport out.


    Of course, this wasn¡¯t what Zhou Wen valued the most. What excited him the most was that Mystic Thearch¡¯s ability should be able to tear through the dimensional barrier, allowing Zhou Wen to enter the dimension freely.


    This was only Zhou Wen¡¯s speculation. He didn¡¯t dare go to the dimension. If he encountered an Apocalypse-grade big shot, he might not have a chance of returning.


    end


    Now, he was using Godfiend Spacetime and Mystic Thearch¡¯s abilities to explore Chess Mountain, hoping to advance the last Essence Energy Art to the Calamity grade.


    ¡°Old Zhou, what are you busy with?¡± Li Xuan brought Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan to him.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Wen knew that something was up when he saw the three of them come together.


    Li Xuan shared his thoughts with Zhou Wen before saying, ¡°It¡¯s a waste not to take things from the dimension. If you have the ability, show your face. That would bring us humans glory, right?¡±


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and said, ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to pluck the golden apple, but I reckon the golden apple isn¡¯t the most important thing in that dimensional zone.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Doesn¡¯t that place end after plucking the apple?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°That seems to be the case on the surface, but if it¡¯s really that simple, why haven¡¯t any of the alien race¡¯s Apocalypse-grade experts appeared? I reckon there¡¯s something hidden inside that we don¡¯t know. Why don¡¯t we let the alien races scout ahead and prevent those alien big shots from being on guard? At the final moment, we might have a chance of succeeding in one strike. Otherwise, if I¡¯m watched by an Apocalypse-grade big shot, I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult for me to have another chance.¡± Zhou Wen had already considered this problem, so it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t dare go. ¡°You sure are scheming.¡± Li Xuan said with a smile, ¡°Then let them be smug for a few more days. However, not a single human has been on the rankings. It¡¯s truly depressing.¡±

 Chapter 1750 - Trajectory Girl

    Chapter 1750 Trajectory Girl


    ¡°Do you want to go?¡± Zhou Wen pondered for a moment and asked Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan.


    ¡°Yes, Coach, do you have a solution?¡± Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°Call Qin Zhen over. I¡¯ll be your sparring partner.¡± Zhou Wen felt that it was time to showcase the true effects of the Teacher Domain.


    ¡°Right away.¡± Ming Xiu hurriedly ran out. He knew better than anyone how rare it was to be taught by Zhou Wen. It was comparable to an immortal opportunity.


    ¡°Old Zhou, didn¡¯t you say not to alert the enemy?¡± Li Xuan frowned.


    ¡°It might not be a bad thing to cause some commotion,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Li Xuan seemed to understand something as he said in enlightenment, ¡®You are trying to push them out as targets!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make it sound so nasty. I just want those alien races to know that humans aren¡¯t as weak as they imagine, nor are they inseparable from their resources,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°How boring. Another alien race.¡± A youth switched off the livestream on his phone with flagging interest. Over the past few days, there wasn¡¯t a single human name on the Cube¡¯s rankings. The number of people watching the livestream decreased.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°If Human Sovereign doesn¡¯t come, I reckon no human can enter the rankings. Compared to the alien races, humans are still a little weak.¡± A youth beside him found it boring as well and switched his phone off.


    Usph. 1 four Mali Pare


    ¡°I really hope Human Sovereign can come out quickly and steamroll those alien races,¡± the youth from before said.


    ¡°Are you guys dreaming?¡± A girl walked over arrogantly and said disdainfully, ¡°Human Sovereign is only considered relatively strong among humans. He¡¯s too ordinary when compared to the alien races. Steamroll others? It¡¯s hard to say if he can cross the Lake of Fog.¡±


    The girl¡¯s words immediately made the surrounding people glare at her angrily.


    ¡°Young lady, what are you talking about?¡± the elder beside her glared at her.


    ¡°I¡¯m just telling the truth. Humans are weak.¡± The girl didn¡¯t take the angry looks of everyone to heart as though she hadn¡¯t seen them.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re asking for a beating.¡± A burly man rushed over angrily, wanting to teach the girl a lesson.


    However, just as he reached out to grab the girl¡¯s shoulder, a hand suddenly extended from the side and grabbed his wrist. Immediately, his entire body couldn¡¯t move.


    ¡°Friend, a gentleman speaks without resorting to force.¡± The owner of the hand was a handsome man. With a shake of his hand, the burly man lost his balance and retreated. He ultimately failed to get a footing as he plopped to the ground.


    The expressions of the onlookers changed. The burly man was rather famous in the area. After all, he was an expert who had successfully advanced to the Mythical stage using the Mythical Serum. Yet, he was easily pushed to the ground. It was obvious how terrifying the other man¡¯s strength was.


    Although they were angry, no one dared to say anything else as they watched the girl and the man leave one after another.


    ¡°Xiao, are humans such senseless creatures?¡± the girl said as she walked.


    ¡°Your Highness, most humans are delusional creatures,¡± Xiao said with a smile.


    ¡°Is that the same for Human Sovereign?¡± the girl asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Xiao answered with certainty.


    The girl seemed somewhat disappointed. ¡°Aren¡¯t there any interesting humans?¡±


    ¡°According to what I know, there¡¯s an interesting human, but this person is also a delusional person,¡± Xiao said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± The girl couldn¡¯t understand Xiao¡¯s words.


    ¡°It sometimes becomes very interesting when one is excessively delusional,¡± Xiao explained.


    The girl asked with piqued interest, ¡°What¡¯s interesting?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it interesting to turn delusion into reality?¡± Xiao said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting, but is there really such a person?¡± The girl found it unbelievable.


    ¡°The city he¡¯s in is nearby. Your Highness, do you want to pay a visit?¡± Xiao took out his phone and showed the girl a map.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go take a look and see if this delusional fanatic is as interesting as you say.¡± The girl glanced at the map on her phone before softly reciting, ¡°Guide Ancient City¡­¡±


    ¡°He definitely won¡¯t disappoint you, Your Highness.¡± Xiao¡¯s eyes seemed to be smiling.


    The two of them headed for Guide Ancient City. They didn¡¯t seem to be walking fast, but they soon vanished.


    Overseer Luoyang¡¯s residence.


    ¡°Overseer, there¡¯s news that the mermaid is out at sea,¡± An Sheng said excitedly to An Tianzuo when he arrived at the restaurant.


    An Tianzuo didn¡¯t react when he heard that. He placed the spoon to his mouth and gently blew at the porridge inside before taking it to Ya¡¯er¡¯s mouth. ¡°Ya¡¯er, be good. Have some porridge. You¡¯re still growing. How can you not eat?¡±


    ¡°Uncle, I don¡¯t want to eat it,¡± Ya¡¯er said as she shook her head.


    ¡°Does it not suit your taste? What do you want to eat? I¡¯ll make it for you myself. By the way, don¡¯t you like the sweet soup I cook the most? I¡¯ll cook it for you now,¡± An Tianzuo said dotingly as he put down the bowl and spoon.


    ¡°Uncle, I miss Brother,¡± Ya¡¯er said pitifully as she looked at An Tianzuo with her large eyes.


    over


    An Tianzuo sighed softly. ¡°Ya¡¯er, be good. Wait a little longer. When the situation over there stabilizes, I¡¯ll get Ah Sheng to take you to him.¡±


    ¡°Really, Uncle?¡± Ya¡¯er immediately stood up happily.


    ¡°When has Uncle ever lied to you? Come, drink the porridge¡­¡± An Tianzuo picked up a spoonful of porridge and fed it to Ya¡¯er.


    After Ya¡¯er finished the porridge, An Tianzuo got someone to take her to the garden to play before he and An Sheng went to the study.


    ¡°What did he say?¡± An Tianzuo asked with a heavy expression.


    ¡°The one from the Trajectory Holy Temple has been taken to Young Master Wen¡¯s,¡± An Sheng said.


    ¡°Who got him to take her there? Didn¡¯t I get him to bring her here?¡± An Tianzuo frowned.


    ¡°He said that it¡¯s more suitable over there.¡± An Sheng paused before saying, ¡°I think it¡¯s good to go to Young Master Wen. Young Master Wen¡¯s people aren¡¯t that inflexible. Perhaps they can do something we can¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Are you implying that I¡¯m inflexible?¡± An Tianzuo glared at An Sheng.


    ¡°No, not at all. Overseer, you are mistaken. I¡¯m saying that Young Master Wen¡¯s people are rather barbaric. Perhaps they suit the taste of the person from the Trajectory Holy Temple,¡± An Sheng hurriedly explained.


    ¡°A bunch of amateurs.¡± An Tianzuo snorted coldly before continuing, ¡°Make the arrangements. If anything happens on Xiao¡¯s side, at least there¡¯ll be a remedy.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry. Didn¡¯t he say that although the one from the Trajectory Holy Temple is strong, she¡¯s not one of those old freaks. Her temperament hasn¡¯t completely matured. Furthermore, she¡¯s suppressed on Earth. Nothing serious will happen,¡± An Sheng said.


    An Tianzuo stared at An Sheng without saying a word. An Sheng hurriedly said, ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll do it right away.¡±

 Chapter 1751 - The Best Teacher

    Chapter 1751 The Best Teacher


    ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything special here.¡± The girl walked on the streets of Guide Ancient City as she looked around, seemingly disappointed.


    How could anyone interesting be found in an ordinary place? The girl didn¡¯t believe that there were any humans here that were worth her visit.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re here, there¡¯s no harm in taking a look,¡± Xiao said with a smile.


    ¡°I hope the person you mentioned won¡¯t disappoint,¡± the girl said indifferently, no longer in high spirits.


    ¡°I think he will be interesting.¡± Xiao looked at the end of the long street.


    The girl also looked over and saw a crowd. She didn¡¯t know what they were doing.


    The girl watched, but didn¡¯t see anything amiss as she asked curiously, ¡°What are they doing?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll know when we go over,¡± Xiao said as he walked over.


    The girl followed Xiao. When she arrived, she saw many people lining up in front of a hall.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Friend, what are you doing?¡± Xiao stood at the back of the team and asked a man in front.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you see for yourself¡­¡± the man grumbled, but before he could finish his sentence, he saw an Essence Energy Crystal in Xiao¡¯s hand. Immediately, his fierceness turned mild as he took the Essence Energy Crystal with a smile. ¡°The city guard is recruiting members. We are all here to register.¡±


    ¡°Being a city guard should be a very dangerous job, right? Why are there so many people signing up?¡± Xiao asked.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t local, am I right?¡± the man asked in understanding.


    ¡°I¡¯m new here,¡± Xiao answered.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s no wonder. You aren¡¯t aware that the City Guard¡¯s captain, Captain Qin, is City Lord Zhou¡¯s personal disciple. As long as one enters the City Guard, one can obtain Captain Qin¡¯s guidance. You definitely know how powerful our City Lord Zhou is. He¡¯s one of the strongest powerhouses among humans. He has killed countless dimensional creatures and even alien races are easily killed. How powerful is he? Captain Qin is his personal disciple, so her sword techniques are already godlike. We can obtain her guidance. If one is lucky, they might gain City Lord Zhou¡¯s fancy; that would be amazing. That¡¯s an opportunity that many people dream of. How can there not be many people registering?¡± the man said with a proud expression.


    When the girl heard the words ¡°even alien races are easily killed,¡± she couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    The man continued, ¡°However, the City Guard¡¯s recruitment requirements are very high. Ordinary people won¡¯t be admitted. Don¡¯t just look at how many people are lining up. It¡¯s already not bad if one-tenth of them are admitted in the end. I¡¯m just here to try my luck. If I can really enter the City Guard, it will be a blessing from my ancestors. After all, I¡¯ll be City Lord Zhou¡¯s grand-disciple. Perhaps I can storm into the dimension and kill those alien races. Let¡¯s see if they dare to act arrogant.¡±


    The man¡¯s words were actually mostly what humans said when they bragged. He didn¡¯t really believe that such a day would come.


    However, these words sounded different to the girl¡¯s ears. It made her expression turn ugly.


    ¡°How can we meet City Lord Zhou?¡± the girl asked the man.


    ¡°Just line up here. If you are accepted later, you will be able to see City Lord Zhou,¡± the man answered.


    ¡°Xiao, let¡¯s line up as well,¡± the girl said coldly.


    ¡°Will that be okay? Don¡¯t we have something to do?¡± Xiao said in a dilemma.


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush. I want to see how powerful City Lord Zhou, who can easily kill alien races, is,¡± the girl said with a cold expression.


    ¡°Young lady, you¡¯re right on that. Just follow our City Lord Zhou. The six families sound very powerful, but they are far inferior to our City Lord Zhou. If you are really lucky to enter the City Guard and obtain the City Lord¡¯s favor, your future will be limitless. Killing the alien races will only be a matter of time¡­¡± The man was dancing on the precipice of death.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m really looking forward to it,¡± the girl said expressionlessly. When she heard the man speak of luck, the corners of her eyes twitched.


    The girl and Xiao were in the line. They waited for a while before entering the hall. The staff got them to fill in a form and do some tests.


    The Strength and Speed tests were naturally nothing to the girl. She didn¡¯t reveal too much either. All she wanted was to wait to see City Lord Zhou and see how he could easily kill the alien races.


    Xiao didn¡¯t say anything else. He only helped the girl fill in the information.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the interesting person you mentioned is City Lord Zhou?¡± the girl asked Xiao.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s quite an interesting person,¡± Xiao answered with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s interesting, but you¡¯re right about one thing. He¡¯s indeed a seriously delusional person,¡± the girl said with a cold snort.


    ¡°That¡¯s what makes it interesting, right?¡± Xiao said with a smile.


    Just as the girl was about to say something, the staff who maintained order walked over and led the people who had passed the test to a square. They got everyone to line up and wait.


    Soon, a few people walked over from the side tunnel and arrived at the podium in the square.


    ¡°The person in the middle is Zhou Wen,¡± Xiao said in a low voice as he stood behind the girl.


    In fact, there was no need for Xiao to say which was Zhou Wen. This was because the youths who had signed up for the City Guard looked at Zhou Wen with admiration.


    ¡°Congratulations on passing the test. From today onwards, all of you will be members of Guide City¡¯s guards. Let¡¯s welcome our City Lord Zhou Wen to speak¡­¡± Before the staff member presiding over the ceremony could finish his sentence, applause sounded from below.


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t look anything special,¡± the girl said disdainfully as she stared at Zhou Wen.


    As the girl spoke, she suddenly saw Zhou Wen glance at her. It was unknown if it was intentional or not, but Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze seemed to pause on the girl¡¯s face before moving away.


    Xiao didn¡¯t respond. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly as he wore a faint smile.


    Zhou Wen stood on the stage and swept his gaze across everyone¡¯s faces before slowly saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know why you want to join the City Guard, nor do I want to know why you want to join it. I just want to know if you know what joining the City Guard means?¡±


    ¡°The best benefits, the most stable income.¡± A burly man¡¯s words made everyone smile.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. In Guide City, the City Guard¡¯s income and benefits are the best. You can obtain large amounts of resources every month and receive the best training and the best guidance from a teacher¡­¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he was suddenly interrupted by a voice.


    ¡°The best teacher? Are you referring to yourself?¡± It was the girl.


    Everyone looked at Zhou Wen. Although their motives were different from the girl¡¯s, they also wanted to know if Zhou Wen was personally guiding them. Although Qin Zhen was very strong, she was naturally much weaker than Zhou Wen. It would be great if they could obtain Zhou Wen¡¯s personal guidance.


    Zhou Wen looked at the girl and sized up her cold face. He said calmly, ¡°Yes.¡±

 Chapter 1752 - Bet

    Chapter 1752 Bet


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s answer, the girl said with a faint smile, ¡°Since you are the best teacher, you must be the strongest existence. Then, why haven¡¯t I seen your name on the Cube¡¯s rankings?¡±


    With that said, everyone looked at her. They knew that she had come with ill intentions. Li Xuan, who was beside Zhou Wen, frowned and wanted to say something, but he was stopped by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Young lady, you are still young and lacking in culture and knowledge. I don¡¯t blame you for that,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen secretly implying that she was illiterate, the girl nearly blew her top. She glared at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°What did I say wrong? Please point it out.¡±


    ¡°The most outstanding artist in the world, the best chess player, and the strongest warrior. I believe many people are familiar with their names, but how many people know who their teacher is? How many people know what great achievements and works their teacher has?¡± Zhou Wen continued unhurriedly, ¡°There are specialties in every field. A good teacher doesn¡¯t necessarily have to be powerful. It depends on what kind of student the teacher produces.¡±


    ¡°In that case, the students you taught are very powerful. I wonder which one on the Cube¡¯s ranking is your student? Which Immortal? Or is it a Saint?¡± The girl¡¯s tone was filled with mockery as she continued, ¡°There¡¯s no human on the rankings. I wonder which alien is your student?¡±


    The people beside her glared at the girl. Everyone knew that she was deliberately causing trouble.


    However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t angry. He continued smiling as he looked at the girl and said, ¡°Since you think so, why don¡¯t we make a bet?¡±


    ¡°How?¡± the girl asked.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°If my disciple¡¯s name is on the Cube¡¯s rankings, you have to sincerely acknowledge me as your master and bow in front of everyone. Do you dare take the bet?¡± Zhou Wen asked the girl.


    ¡°Sure, but if you lose, I don¡¯t want you to just acknowledge me as your master. I want you to kneel before me in public and acknowledge me as your master.¡± When the girl said that, everyone was enraged.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s reputation in the city was extremely high. Ignoring Li Xuan and company, even the reserve members of the City Guard who had just passed the test wished they could lunge forward and slap the girl twice.


    The girl didn¡¯t seem to notice their angry glares as she looked at Zhou Wen with contempt. She knew very well the origins of the alien races on the rankings. It was impossible for Zhou Wen¡¯s students to be on the list.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand to stop the commotion and gave the girl an affirmative answer.


    The girl was somewhat surprised as she curled her lips and said, ¡°Then please point out who your student is. Don¡¯t try to bluff your way out by randomly pointing out one. That¡¯s useless to me. I have plenty of ways to verify it.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to prove it.¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Ming Xiu and said to the girl, ¡°Do you think he¡¯s considered my student?¡±


    ¡°So what if he¡¯s your student?¡± The girl frowned.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s have his name appear on the rankings,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Ming Xiu didn¡¯t wait for him to say anything else. He got up and walked out. In a few steps, he had already left the square and was heading for the Cube in the city.


    The girl immediately understood what Zhou Wen was up to. She couldn¡¯t help but sneer. ¡°What a good plan. I¡¯m just afraid that your student will die for nothing.¡±


    Zhou Wen only smiled and didn¡¯t say anything else. He led everyone towards the Cube as the girl and Xiao followed.


    Ever since the dimensional zone in the dimension had opened up, no human had passed through the Lake of Fog to reach the golden apple tree. Having the golden apple being plucked by the alien races left many humans depressed.


    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t anyone stepped forward to clear the level at this point in time? Where did those human gods of war who usually claim to be invincible go? Could it be that even Human Sovereign has cowered? Is the dimension really that terrifying?¡± A young man watched the live broadcast as he sent comments to vent his displeasure.


    Su Yi, who was hosting the program, saw many similar comments. She said with a heavy voice, ¡°Professor Gu, there aren¡¯t many golden apples left. Do you think humanity still stands a chance of plucking a golden


    apple?¡±


    OUS


    Professor Gu pondered for a moment before saying, ¡°Previously, there were a few famous human powerhouses who attempted it, but they failed to even pass through the Lake of Fog. It¡¯s obvious how terrifying the dimensional zone is. They far exceed the dimensional zones in Earth¡¯s universe. With humanity¡¯s overall strength, I¡¯m afraid only a few of the strongest powerhouses have the possibility of clearing the level to pluck the golden apple. However, such an existence is our most precious wealth. How can we easily take the risk? Not participating is the best choice.¡±


    ¡°Could it be that Human Sovereign isn¡¯t completely confident?¡± Su Yi asked again.


    ¡°Impulsiveness is the devil. Regardless of whether one has the confidence or not, there¡¯s no need to take risks. By staying useful, one can do more meaningful and valuable things in the future. I personally think that the choice between Human Sovereign and all the human powerhouses is correct. This is the correct choice¡­¡± As Professor Gu spoke, he suddenly saw the Cube light up.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s attempting the level¡­ It¡¯s a human¡­¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, who is it? I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen him before!¡±


    ¡°I seem to remember him. He¡¯s called Swordsman Today or something¡­¡±


    ¡°Fool, it¡¯s Swordsman Tomorrow. He¡¯s quite famous in our area, but he should be much weaker than top experts like Mohe. Why is he there?¡±


    ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow? Isn¡¯t that Ming Xiu from the Ming family? I heard that he has pledged allegiance to an underling of the An family. An Tianzuo didn¡¯t do it himself, and instead sent him there? Isn¡¯t this sending him to his death?¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. Many people recognized Ming Xiu, but most people didn¡¯t know that he had joined Zhou Wen.


    Under the attention of everyone, Ming Xiu entered the Lake of Fog and floated above the lake. His surroundings were filled with fog; there was zero visibility.


    ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow¡¯s Tomorrow Sword Art is rather famous, but can his Tomorrow Sword Art nullify the strange fog?¡± Su Yi stared at the Cube¡¯s screen and commented.


    ¡°The fog should be a kind of nomological power. It can¡¯t be broken by physical attacks. It¡¯s useless no matter how good your sword techniques are¡­¡± As Professor Gu spoke, he saw Ming Xiu draw a sword.


    Ming Xiu looked straight ahead and drew his sword to stab forward. The sword¡¯s body slowly stabbed forward, and his body moved with the sword. He became one with the sword and charged forward.


    His strike didn¡¯t have a shocking aura, nor was there any resplendent sword beam. Instead, it was like a beautiful swordswoman flying on a sword, performing some kind of artistic sword dance.

 Chapter 1753 - Humanity’s First Fruit

    Chapter 1753 Humanity¡¯s First Fruit


    ¡°He didn¡¯t plunge in? How did he do it?¡± Su Yi was overjoyed as she said excitedly.


    The comments exploded. Everyone was discussing why Ming Xiu hadn¡¯t fallen into the lake. Previously, there were human powerhouses who had attempted to clear the level, but just as they entered the Lake of Fog, they inexplicably fell into the lake and died.


    Ming Xiu could actually fly on the Lake of Fog. This was already a pleasant surprise.


    ¡°This Ming Xiu fella is something! Why haven¡¯t I heard of him before?¡±


    ¡°Ignorant. That¡¯s a powerhouse from our East District, the famous Swordsman Tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be smug about? He¡¯s not out of the Lake of Fog yet.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly. The names ¡®Ming Xiu¡¯ and ¡®Swordsman Tomorrow¡¯ quickly spread throughout the Federation. Even many factions in the dimension were paying attention to the attempt.


    Ming Xiu rode his sword and slowly flew across the misty lake.


    Suddenly, his stance changed. He slashed with his hand. His actions were still gentle and slow, but there was nothing wherever his sword slashed.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    After that, Ming Xiu brandished his sword several times, but he failed to hit anything. Everyone was puzzled.


    ¡°What¡¯s he doing? Performing?¡± Many people were puzzled. They really couldn¡¯t see the meaning behind the sword brandishing. They only felt that it was a swordplay.


    Professor Gu, who hadn¡¯t commented in a long time, seemed to understand something. He said excitedly, ¡°Amazing, really amazing!¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, are you talking about Ming Xiu?¡± Su Yi asked Professor Gu in puzzlement.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Professor Gu continued excitedly, ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow lives up to his reputation. I have to take back what I said previously. His sword art has already transcended the typical sword art and reached an unprecedented height. It¡¯s not an exaggeration to say that he¡¯s the number one sword art expert I¡¯ve ever met.¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, can you please explain in detail how strong Swordsman Tomorrow¡¯s sword technique is?¡± Su Yi added.


    ¡°Previously, many human experts speculated about the Lake of Fog. Most of them believed that the Lake of Fog had a powerful suction force. Creatures with insufficient strength would be sucked to the bottom of the lake the moment they entered. However, after seeing Swordsman Tomorrow¡¯s performance, I truly understand that my previous guess was wrong. The Lake of Fog doesn¡¯t have any suction force. What really pulls creatures to the bottom of the lake isn¡¯t the suction force of the lake, but an invisible creature,¡± Professor Gu said seriously.


    ¡°An invisible creature?¡± Su Yi looked at the lake in surprise again, but she still didn¡¯t discover anything. She said in puzzlement, ¡°If there¡¯s really a creature lurking in the lake to attack the challenger, even if it can¡¯t be seen with the naked eye, the lake should have some reaction, right? But from the looks of it, the lake doesn¡¯t stir at all. It¡¯s as calm as a mirror¡¯s surface. How does that creature rush out of the water to attack the challenger?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because the lake doesn¡¯t stir that I was misled. Only when Swordsman Tomorrow appeared did I discover something. That underwater creature is an existence that can freely traverse the water without affecting the water flow. However, you have to watch carefully. Don¡¯t look at the water surface. Pay attention to the fog around Swordsman Tomorrow when he brandishes his sword¡­ It¡¯s not beside the sword, but somewhere further away from it¡­¡±


    After hearing Professor Gu¡¯s words, people looked carefully and immediately saw something unusual.


    Every time Ming Xiu brandished his sword, a tiny vortex would appear in the fog not far from the sword. If one didn¡¯t look carefully, they would think that it was the airflow caused by the sword.


    However, upon careful inspection, one would discover that the direction of the vortexes was clearly different from the airflow triggered by the sword.


    The more Professor Gu spoke, the more excited he became. ¡°Although I can¡¯t see what that creature is, every swing of Swordsman Tomorrow¡¯s sword forces it into a retreat. Clearly, it has sealed off the creature¡¯s attack path. It looks like he¡¯s slowly brandishing his sword, but it¡¯s an ingenious and flawless judgment and seal¡­ This person is really too powerful¡­ I can¡¯t imagine how he did it¡­¡± After Professor Gu¡¯s explanation, the average person gradually understood. The more they looked at Ming Xiu, the more they felt that he was indeed extremely powerful. Their impression of him gradually improved.


    ¡°I never expected such a powerful swordsman to exist among us humans!¡±


    ¡°This Swordsman Tomorrow is really strong and ferocious. He¡¯s many times stronger than the representatives of the six families. Look at those fellows. They don¡¯t even dare to attempt the level while he rushes straight in.¡±


    ¡°From today¡­ No¡­ From now on¡­ Ming Xiu is my idol¡­¡±


    Everyone watched as Ming Xiu tore through the fog like a sword immortal. In the distance, they could vaguely see the lake¡¯s bank and the golden apple tree. They immediately became excited.


    ¡°These young people grow very quickly.¡± Zhang Chunqiu looked at the scene on the Cube and couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    ¡°You make it sound like you¡¯re very old. You¡¯re not much older than them,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a twitch of his lips.


    ¡°My person may not be old, but my heart is old,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said indifferently.


    ¡°There are merits to being old. This world doesn¡¯t just need young courage,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    ¡°But that¡¯s the mental crutch that humans need,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    It was indeed as Zhang Chunqiu had said. The moment Ming Xiu stepped onto solid ground, many people watching the livestream around the world cheered in unison.


    Although many people didn¡¯t know who Ming Xiu was in the past, at that moment, Ming Xiu was like family or even their own incarnation. They felt the joy as if it was their own.


    Ming Xiu held his sword and walked towards the golden apple tree. Under the attention of everyone, he slashed at the stalk of one of the golden apples.


    Just as everyone thought that humans were finally about to take down the first golden apple, they heard a metallic clang. The thin stalk blocked Ming Xiu¡¯s sword without suffering any damage.


    Everyone was alarmed. Previously, when they saw the alien races easily pluck the golden apples, they imagined that it would be easy to pluck it. They never expected it to be so hard.


    Ming Xiu slashed at the apple stalk again and again. After slashing more than ten times, he failed to damage it at all. His forehead was already covered in sweat, and his breathing had become very heavy. Everyone was alarmed.


    Is the difference between humans and alien races really that great? Many humans couldn¡¯t help but feel a chill.


    ¡°Humans are ultimately too weak. So what if they can walk to the golden tree? They can¡¯t do anything.¡± The girl, who was originally worried, secretly heaved a sigh of relief when she saw this scene. She looked at Zhou Wen provocatively.


    Just as the girl said that, Ming Xiu took two steps back and didn¡¯t continue brandishing his sword. He only held his sword in one hand and stared intently at the golden apple hanging on the tree branch.


    In the next second, Ming Xiu suddenly brandished his sword again. However, this time, his sword was even slower than before. It moved towards the golden apple inch by inch.


    ¡°Can such a slow sword slice off the golden apple?¡± Su Yi asked. This was also the answer all humans wanted to know.


    The moment the blade touched the branch, it made one feel as though their eyes had gone adrift. For some reason, the sword passed through the tree branch and arrived behind the golden apple.


    Crack!


    Just as everyone was wondering what had happened, the tree branch snapped and the golden apple fell. Ming Xiu grabbed it with one hand.


    Humanity finally had their first golden apple.


    Soon, the Cube¡¯s screen changed. The dimensional zone vanished and was replaced by the Cube¡¯s ranking. A new name appeared on the rankings. However, when people saw the name clearly, their eyes widened as their mouths involuntarily gaped. They didn¡¯t close them for a long time.

 Chapter 1754 - The Weakest Disciple

    Chapter 1754 The Weakest Disciple


    ¡°Zhou¡¯s Weakest Disciple, Ming Xiu! What the hell is this?¡±


    ¡°Zhou? Which Zhou? Isn¡¯t his surname Ming?¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, could it be Zhou Wen?¡±.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little ridiculous. Zhou Wen might not even be able to reach such a level.¡± ¡°Is this a prank? From the looks of it, Swordsman Tomorrow has a good relationship with Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°This joke is too much¡­ Zhou¡¯s disciple¡­ and the weakest at that¡­¡±


    When they saw Ming Xiu¡¯s name on the rankings, there was an uproar. It was totally unacceptable. The first human to pluck the golden apple was actually a young man¡¯s disciple. It was fine if he was a disciple, but to claim that he was the weakest¡ªno matter how one looked at it, he appeared to be deliberately posturing.


    ¡°Coach, I¡¯m ranked ninth. Is that alright?¡± Ming Xiu walked out with a grin.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± Zhou Wen never expected Ming Xiu to leave such a name on the rankings. However, it didn¡¯t matter. He looked at the girl and said, ¡°How about it? Is my disciple¡¯s name on the rankings now?¡±


    The girl¡¯s expression turned nasty as she gritted her teeth and said, ¡°He¡¯s clearly the representative of the Inter race. He used the power of the Inter race. How is that because you¡¯re his teacher?¡±


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Why? Have you swallowed your previous words?¡± Li Xuan mocked. The girl¡¯s lips moved as though she wanted to say something, but she couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Not convinced?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush as he asked the girl with a smile.


    ¡°Of course not. He¡¯s clearly the representative of the Inter race. How can he be considered a student of yours?¡± The girl was naturally indignant.


    ¡°Alright, since you aren¡¯t convinced, I¡¯ll make sure you are convinced.¡± Zhou Wen could sense that although the girl looked ordinary, she had an extremely terrifying aura. He didn¡¯t wish to force her, so he gave Feng Qiuyan a look.


    Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t a person who liked to waste his breath. When he saw Zhou Wen¡¯s look, he walked straight to the Cube and started the challenge.


    ¡°This is also my student. If he leaves his name on the rankings, will you submit?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile. ¡°Hmph, leave a name before we speak.¡± The girl was very stubborn, but she was already feeling a little nervous.


    Zhou Wen smiled and didn¡¯t say anything else. He turned to look at the Cube¡¯s screen.


    Everyone was still immersed in the excitement of having the first human pluck the golden apple. Many people were discussing what Ming Xiu¡¯s Zhou¡¯s Weakest Disciple meant.


    Most people who knew guessed that Ming Xiu was referring to Zhou Wen, but how could the average person know? There were many ordinary people in the East District who knew that Ming Xiu had joined Guide City. The ordinary people in the other districts had never even heard of Ming Xiu¡¯s name, so how could they know where he was?


    Many people were asking who Zhou referred to. Those who knew Zhou Wen¡¯s name immediately posted Zhou Wen¡¯s name on the Internet as well as his relationship with Ming Xiu.


    ¡°For real? From what you¡¯re saying, Zhou Wen is only about Ming Xiu¡¯s age. How can he be Ming Xiu¡¯s teacher? Are you joking?¡±


    ¡°He must be joking. No matter how powerful Zhou Wen is, it¡¯s impossible for him to be stronger than Ming Xiu, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Ming Xiu is already a top existence among humans. How old is Zhou Wen? How can he be Ming Xiu¡¯s teacher!?¡±


    As everyone discussed, they suddenly saw the Cube¡¯s screen light up again.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, another human is attempting the level. What day is it today? Nobody tried previously, but when it rains, it pours!¡±


    ¡°Who is that person? He also looks unfamiliar!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him. He¡¯s less famous than Swordsman Tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me he thinks that Ming Xiu did it easily, so he thinks that the dimensional zone is easy and wants to try his luck?¡±


    It was no wonder they didn¡¯t know Feng Qiuyan. Feng Qiuyan was much more low-key than Ming Xiu. Many people in the East District knew the name of Swordsman Tomorrow. Few people in the East District knew Feng Qiuyan¡¯s name, much less the other districts. ¡°Professor Gu, do you know this Feng Qiuyan?¡± As expected of a host, Su Yi was quite knowledgeable. She immediately called out Feng Qiuyan¡¯s name. However, she had only seen some information about him and knew that there was such a person. She didn¡¯t know much about Feng Qiuyan¡¯s strength.


    ¡°If I remember correctly, this Feng Qiuyan should be from the South Sea¡¯s Feng family. Now that the South Sea has fallen, there aren¡¯t any humans living there. I wonder where the Feng family has moved to.¡± Professor Gu was rather professional as he directly revealed Feng Qiuyan¡¯s origins.


    ¡°Do you think Feng Qiuyan has a chance of plucking the golden apple?¡± Su Yi asked again.


    ¡°There¡¯s definitely a chance, but it¡¯s very small. Although Swordsman Tomorrow has already scouted the Fog Lake and it¡¯s theoretically much easier for people to clear it later, Feng Qiuyan is too anxious. If he spent more time on preparation, the chances would be much higher. He¡¯s too rash¡­ However, there aren¡¯t many golden apples left now. It¡¯s understandable that he¡¯s anxious¡­¡± Professor Gu meant that Feng Qiuyan was too eager for success and wanted to take the opportunity to pick up the spoils.


    However, just as Professor Gu said that, he saw Feng Qiuyan appear above the Lake of Fog. Then, without doing anything else, he drew his saber and slashed forward.


    Boom!


    The saber beam slashed down like the blade of heavenly punishment, splitting the fog in front of him into two. The fog churned to the sides, revealing a straight and wide path.


    The saber beam didn¡¯t stop as it slashed at the lake, splitting it into two. The waves surged to the sides as though they were separated by divine power as they extended into the distance.


    At the end of the slash, one could see the divine tree with the golden apple. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s body was like a stream of light as he instantly rushed to the island and landed in front of the divine tree.


    He drew his saber and slashed again. He chopped off a golden apple which landed in his hand.


    All of this happened too quickly. Everyone was still waiting to see how Feng Qiuyan would clear the level. Feng Qiuyan¡¯s attempt ended before they were mentally prepared.


    Only when the Cube¡¯s screen jumped from the dimensional zone to the Cube¡¯s rankings did people snap to their senses and break into an uproar. ¡°F*ck, what did I just see?¡±


    ¡°Heavens, slap me. Was I dreaming?¡± ¡°I¡¯m probably still f*cking asleep, right? That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Where did this person come from? He¡¯s too


    powerful!¡±


    ¡°When did such a sicko appear among us humans?¡±


    ¡°Who said that we humans don¡¯t have powerhouses? This Feng Qiuyan isn¡¯t inferior to any dimensional creature¡­¡±


    The comments were crazy. The screen was filled with question marks. No one could believe that such an unknown young man had cleared the level in such a domineering manner.


    However, when they saw the name Feng Qiuyan left on the rankings, they weren¡¯t just going crazy. They practically became berserk.

 Chapter 1755 - Zhou’s Disciples

    Chapter 1755 Zhou¡¯s Disciples


    On the rankings, there were only a few simple words¡ª¡±Zhou¡¯s Disciple, Feng Qiuyan.¡± It wasn¡¯t as fancy as Ming Xiu¡¯s. It was just like Feng Qiuyan¡¯s character-simple and direct.


    However, these few simple words made everyone go crazy. If Ming Xiu was only joking previously, to have another person use the title of Zhou¡¯s disciple made the seemingly joke title become intriguing.


    Furthermore, even if Feng Qiuyan wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s student, he was definitely under Zhou Wen like Ming Xiu. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have given such a name.


    For two experts to suddenly appear on the rankings of a previously unknown human faction was terrifying enough.


    Furthermore, there were only two humans on this ranking so far. It could be said that they stood above the entire Federation.


    ¡°Another of Zhou¡¯s disciples. Is this for real?¡±


    ¡°Is Zhou Wen really very strong?¡±


    ¡°Could they really be Zhou Wen¡¯s students?¡±


    ¡°It must be fake. How can such a thing happen? To have two Calamity-grade students who can enter the Cube¡¯s rankings, it can only happen if Zhou Wen is an immortal!¡±


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Professor Gu, what¡¯s your take? Could Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan really be Zhou Wen¡¯s students?¡± Su Yi said excitedly.


    ¡°That¡­ It¡¯s hard to say¡­ However, typically speaking, no one will joke on such matters. However, to say that someone about their age can teach two students like them is a little too odd¡­¡± Professor Gu said ambiguously. He didn¡¯t dare to make any certain claims.


    Previously, when Ming Xiu gave this name, almost no one believed it. They thought it was a joke, but now, everyone was doubtful. They weren¡¯t so sure if it was a joke, but they couldn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°I was wondering how powerful you were. So it¡¯s another alien representative. He¡¯s clearly the representative of the Phaseless race. What¡¯s the difference between him and that Inter representative from before?¡± In any case, having said something similar, the girl clearly felt less burdened when she said such words. She spoke with a righteous tone.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind. In fact, Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu could really be considered his disciples.


    If it was in the past, because Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu had excellent talent and relied on themselves to figure things out, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have dared to admit that he had taught them. Now, Zhou Wen could say with a clear conscience that he had indeed taught them.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t used the Teacher Domain to raise their realms and deduce their flaws, how could they have advanced to the Heaven level so quickly?


    In fact, even without the matter regarding the girl, Zhou Wen had spent so much time and effort teaching them so that they could pluck the golden apple. A bet with the girl was just an additional boon to him.


    Of course, the Teacher Domain was amazing, but it also depended on Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu¡¯s aptitudes and perceptivity. Otherwise, it would be impossible for them to receive such a good effect. The Teacher Domain couldn¡¯t teach a fool to be the strongest in the world. It could only be considered guiding and developing their potential.


    ¡°So this doesn¡¯t count either? Then let¡¯s have another one,¡± Zhou Wen said to the girl.


    ¡°Hmph, don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s another representative of some race?¡± The girl snorted coldly.


    ¡°Since you have such good eyesight, does she look like a representative of some race?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at Qin Zhen.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, the girl sized up Qin Zhen. A strange ripple flashed in her eyes, making her eyes appear like an abyss with layers of fog overlapping.


    ¡°She¡¯s not a representative,¡± the girl said with certainty as she retracted her gaze.


    ¡°Then if she leaves her name on the rankings, you won¡¯t go back on your word, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Who went back on their word? You were the one who cheated,¡± the girl immediately retorted.


    ¡°Just say it. If she enters the rankings, will you admit defeat or not?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t argue with her as he said indifferently.


    Although the girl felt that Zhou Wen definitely had the confidence to say such words, she was irrevocably committed. All she could do was bite the bullet and say, ¡°As long as she¡¯s really your disciple, I¡¯ll naturally admit defeat.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen responded and turned to Qin Zhen. ¡°Take it steady. Don¡¯t fool around.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Qin Zhen replied. She turned around and walked towards the Cube to activate it again.


    ¡°Why? Are you so unconfident of a disciple you taught?¡± When the girl heard Zhou Wen¡¯s exhortations to Qin Zhen, she imagined that Zhou Wen was worried that she wouldn¡¯t be able to clear the level. She immediately felt emboldened and teased Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that she will have too much fun,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    He wasn¡¯t worried that Qin Zhen wouldn¡¯t be able to clear the level. Previously, he had taught Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen together. Ming Qiuyan and Ming Xiu had their own paths, and Zhou Wen had only played a supporting role.


    However, Qin Zhen was different. The path she had taken was Zhou Wen¡¯s to begin with. It could be said that Zhou Wen had guided Qin Zhen all the way.


    Zhou Wen was a man, but Qin Zhen was a woman. The Immortal Slaying that Zhou Wen had developed was domineering, and Qin Zhen had an especially stubborn personality.


    She believed in Zhou Wen and the path he had pointed out, so she firmly took it without any detours or diversions.


    However, women were fundamentally different from men. This wasn¡¯t discrimination, but simply physical differences.


    Qin Zhen was unbending. Furthermore, as a woman, she pushed the domineeringness to an even higher level.


    This couldn¡¯t be considered a mistake. Not being adaptable wasn¡¯t a flaw. However, the outcome of doing so was to make Qin Zhen¡¯s sword art extreme and domineering.


    Clearing the level wasn¡¯t a problem, but being excessively hard made things brittle. Zhou Wen was afraid that Qin Zhen would be too extreme and take risks, resulting in injury.


    The reason he got Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan to challenge the level first was to give Qin Zhen time to prepare to prevent her from injuring herself by being too unyielding.


    He was bound to win, but Zhou Wen wanted zero damage; he wasn¡¯t worried about winning or losing


    ¡°What¡¯s going on today? Another person is attempting the level again? And it¡¯s a woman?¡± Su Yi couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when she saw Qin Zhen appear on the screen.


    Donned in white armor and a silver helm, Qin Zhen¡¯s outstanding figure was accentuated by her long and slender legs. Even if one couldn¡¯t see her face, her figure and aura made one feel that she was a beauty.


    ¡°Can someone tell me who this woman is?¡±


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t even show her face. Who can tell? However, she shouldn¡¯t be another of Zhou¡¯s, right?¡±


    ¡°Who knows? What if it¡¯s another of Zhou¡¯s disciples?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. A single Guide City producing three ranked experts?¡±


    ¡°These legs¡­ This figure¡­ is really amazing¡­¡±


    ¡°After Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan, all sorts of people are appearing. I wonder which family she belongs to. There are quite a number of female representatives in the six families; I just wonder who she is.¡±


    ¡°Why doesn¡¯t she show her face? If she dies inside, no one will remember her? This figure¡­ Tsk, tsk¡­¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly as they guessed where Qin Zhen came from and if she could clear the level like Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan.

 Chapter 1756 - Take it Steady. Don’t Fool Around

    Chapter 1756 Take it Steady. Don¡¯t Fool Around


    Qin Zhen levitated over the Fog Lake. The only thing people could see on the Cube¡¯s screen was her. There was endless fog around her.


    Everyone stared nervously at the scene as they wondered if this woman with an excellent figure could tear through the fog¡¯s obstruction, dodge the underwater monster¡¯s attack, or how she would clear the level and pluck the golden apple.


    Waiting-everyone was waiting, but as time passed, Qin Zhen floated there without moving as though the scene had frozen. ¡°What¡¯s going on? Is the livestream stuck?¡±


    ¡°The technology these days is getting worse. It can even lag for such a simple livestream.¡±


    ¡°We strongly condemn the incompetent officials of the Federation.¡±


    ¡°What are you braying? How is it lagging? Open your eyes and watch carefully. The fog is still moving.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s really moving. If it¡¯s not lagging, why isn¡¯t she moving?¡±


    ¡°Did her brain suddenly short-circuit?¡±


    Everyone looked at the livestream in puzzlement, wondering what the woman was waiting for.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    When Zhou Wen saw Qin Zhen standing there motionless, he couldn¡¯t help but clasp his forehead with a depressed expression.


    He naturally knew what Qin Zhen was thinking, but he had clearly exhorted her to take it steady and not fool around. Now, she was standing there, waiting for the invisible monster in the lake to come out. She wanted to kill the water monster. Was there anything else that was f*cking crazier?


    Finally, Qin Zhen moved. She condensed light into a sword and slashed at the calm lake.


    Crack!


    Although one couldn¡¯t see what Qin Zhen¡¯s sword beam had hit, the cracking sound made it obvious that she had definitely slashed at something and severed it.


    The purple light condensed into a sword in Qin Zhen¡¯s hand. After the strike, the sword beams crisscrossed and slashed at the lake.


    Cracks sounded incessantly like steel being sliced apart. Qin Zhen was like a high and mighty queen as she mercilessly lashed at the ants beneath her.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, this woman is too ferocious. She actually wants to kill the invisible monster in the lake! She¡¯s not leaving unless it¡¯s killed!¡±


    ¡°Awesome, really awesome. She¡¯s really heretical. She doesn¡¯t care about clearing the level at all. She¡¯s here to kill monsters to gain experience.¡±


    ¡°This woman is really¡­ inexplicable¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s indeed no explanation. This figure and sword technique are too domineering.¡± ¡°I wonder what she looks like.¡±


    The nervousness from before instantly vanished without a trace. Now, no one was worried about Qin Zhen clearing the level. The atmosphere became extremely festive.


    People were guessing if the woman could kill the invisible monster in the lake. Some even made bets.


    Qin Zhen didn¡¯t make them wait too long. After the continuous cracking sounds, Qin Zhen suddenly became one with the sword. She transformed into an extremely domineering purple sword beam and instantly rushed into the lake.


    This series of actions stunned everyone. Everyone was thinking about how to clear the level, but this woman refused to leave unless she killed the monster. She had actually rushed into the lake herself. Any other person who did that would be an expert at courting death.


    Boom!


    A pillar-like purple sword beam erupted from the lake and shot into the sky. Something seemed to shatter amidst the sword beam, producing the loud sound of glass shattering.


    With a loud bang, the heavy fog that enveloped the Lake of Fog dissipated, revealing a clean mirror-like lake and the strange golden fruit tree in the distance.


    There was also Qin Zhen, who appeared in the sky with the sword beam, looking down at the golden fruit tree like a lofty queen.


    ¡°This woman is really too arrogant and fierce. Who would dare marry her!?¡±


    ¡°She has the right to be arrogant. If you have the ability, go kill the monster on the Cube.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, please accept my bow and take me in. I¡¯m willing to die for you¡­¡±


    ¡°I knew it. There are many experts among humans. Previously, no one was willing to step forward. Now, there are so many¡­¡±


    Amidst everyone¡¯s discussion, Qin Zhen walked towards the golden fruit tree. The distance to the lake wasn¡¯t as far as she imagined. The reason there was a sense of distance was because of the fog.


    Without any suspense, Qin Zhen slashed down the golden apple. Following that, the Cube stopped its broadcast and revealed the Cube¡¯s ranking


    Ming Xiu got ninth while Feng Qiuyan got seventh. As Qin Zhen had killed the lake monster, her ranking was higher than theirs, so she was ranked fourth.


    The ranking wasn¡¯t much of a problem. After all, it wasn¡¯t first place. The subsequent rankings weren¡¯t too different, but when people saw the name on the Cube¡¯s ranking, they were dumbfounded.


    ¡°Zhou¡¯s Disciple, Qin Zhen! It¡¯s Zhou again!¡±


    ¡°This is crazy! Zhou has gotten three people on the rankings in a row.¡±


    ¡°I suddenly recalled Ming Xiu¡¯s title!¡± ¡°Haha, it looks like I¡¯m not the only one who thought of it. It¡¯s true that he¡¯s Zhou¡¯s weakest disciple. It¡¯s really the truth. Feng Qiuyan and Qin Zhen are indeed stronger than him. He¡¯s undoubtedly the weakest.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. The weakest student is ranked ninth. Is this real life?¡±


    ¡°Ming Xiu is the weakest. I wonder how many disciples can fight as well as Ming Xiu. Don¡¯t tell me they will pluck all the remaining golden apples today!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, it can¡¯t be that explosive, right!?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s possible. The six families are cowardly turtles. Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple has stepped forward to help us humans win back our pride. This is a true hero of humanity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in love. Who knows how I can become Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple? I¡¯m willing to be the weakest under Zhou.¡±


    The words ¡®Zhou¡¯s Disciple¡¯ instantly became popular. Some people had already changed their online name to ¡®Zhou¡¯s So-and-So,¡¯ while others had changed it to ¡®Zhou¡¯s Lackey.¡¯


    ¡°Anything else to say? She¡¯s not a representative, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked the girl with a smile.


    ¡°She¡¯s not a representative, but how would I know if she was personally taught by you? Perhaps you begged her to pretend to be one of your disciples.¡± The girl remained stubborn. If the dignified Holy Lady of the Trajectory Holy Temple were to acknowledge a human as her master, she would be disgraced.


    ¡°Since you say so, let¡¯s end the bet,¡± Zhou Wen said casually. He didn¡¯t really want the girl to bow to him as her master, nor did he plan on forcing her into a corner.


    Zhou Wen had long recognized the disguised Xiao. He could roughly guess the girl¡¯s origins.


    The girl was pumped when she heard Zhou Wen.


    With the girl¡¯s logic, if victory was already in her grasp, how could she let it go so easily?


    For Zhou Wen to actually let it go, he was definitely afraid. The person named Qin Zhen was definitely not his disciple. Zhou Wen was a liar.


    ¡°Don¡¯t. I¡¯ve always kept my word. I¡¯ll definitely keep my word. As long as you can prove that she was taught by you, I¡¯ll immediately serve tea and acknowledge you as my master,¡± the girl said arrogantly, believing that she had caught Zhou Wen by surprise.


    ¡°How do you want me to prove it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Simple. Since she¡¯s your student, her sword art must have been taught by you. Show me her sword art. If a teacher¡¯s sword art isn¡¯t as good as a student¡¯s, then our bet¡­¡± The girl didn¡¯t finish her sentence, but her meaning was obvious. If Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art was inferior to Qin Zhen¡¯s, the bet would be considered her win.

 Chapter 1757 - The Elegance of that Strike

    Chapter 1757 The Elegance of that Strike


    ¡°Are you sure you want to see my sword art?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the girl and asked helplessly.


    ¡°Of course, how can I go back on my word? If you want to bet, let¡¯s bet to the end.¡± The more Zhou Wen was unwilling to force the girl into a corner, the more pumped she became. She only believed that she had grasped Zhou Wen¡¯s weakness.


    ¡°Alright, I hope you won¡¯t regret it.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t compromise any further, nor did he wish to.


    ¡°I definitely won¡¯t regret it,¡± the girl said


    firmly.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste any time. With a wave of his hand, an ordinary sword appeared in his hand.


    ¡°What can I do to make you think that my sword art is good enough?¡± Zhou Wen asked the girl.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not about being good enough. It has to be the same sword art as hers, and it has to be better than hers.¡± The girl corrected him and continued, ¡°How about this? If you use all your strength to attack me, I can naturally tell if your sword art is better than hers.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Why? Are you going back on your word?¡± the girl mocked.


    ¡°Of course not. I¡¯m just afraid that you will go back on your word after losing and refuse to admit it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I¡¯m the dignified¡­ How can I go back on my word? Am I that kind of person?¡± The girl was immediately enraged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of person you are. It¡¯s true that someone went back on their word previously.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the girl as though he was saying: Don¡¯t you know what kind of person you are? The girl wanted to refute, but when she thought of how she seemed to be in the wrong, the words she was about to say changed. ¡°Then what do you want?¡±


    ¡°Blades and sabers have no eyes, so it¡¯s inevitable that someone will be accidentally injured. There¡¯s no need to draw the sword. How about this? Since you have to acknowledge me as your master after losing, I¡¯ll teach you in advance. Use any sword art you want and I¡¯ll correct your mistakes.¡± Zhou Wen threw the sword in his hand to the girl.


    ¡°You want to teach me how to use a sword?¡± The girl caught the sword and widened her eyes as she looked at Zhou Wen. The corners of her eyes twitched as though she had heard something unbelievable or an extremely funny joke.


    ¡°That¡¯s right.¡± Zhou Wen nodded with certainty.


    ¡°Good, very good.¡± The girl laughed in exasperation as she cursed inwardly. How ignorant. What an arrogant and ignorant human. You actually dare to boast shamelessly about teaching me how to use a sword. I¡¯m the dignified Holy Lady of the Trajectory Holy Temple. Can you understand my sword arts?


    ¡°Then watch carefully.¡± The girl was exasperated, but she didn¡¯t argue. She drew the sword and slashed at Zhou Wen.


    Everyone was shocked by her actions because her strike was so fast. Furthermore, this strike was identical to the sword art Qin Zhen had used. There was almost no difference.


    Even Li Xuan, Ming Xiu, and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expressions changed drastically.


    She was able to replicate Qin Zhen¡¯s sword art perfectly after watching for a brief moment. The movements weren¡¯t only identical, but even her aura and sword intent were identical. This ability was inhuman.


    Or rather, this girl had long been secretly plotting against Zhou Wen, allowing her to understand the sword art that Zhou Wen taught Qin Zhen so thoroughly.


    Either way, this girl was up to no good.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised when he saw the girl¡¯s abilities. Instead, he confirmed her identity. Previously, when he saw the girl and Xiao, Zhou Wen had roughly guessed that she was from the six Holy Temples. Now, he was basically certain that the girl was from the Trajectory Holy Temple like Xiao. With the help of the Teacher Domain, Zhou Wen saw it more clearly than the average person. It wasn¡¯t identical, but carved from the same mold.


    This wasn¡¯t a result of training, but from replication. Only the Trajectory Holy Temple that studied Trajectory powers was good at this.


    The sword in the girl¡¯s hand slashed at Zhou Wen in an extremely domineering manner. The shimmering sword beams crisscrossed like lightning or cracks, enveloping Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body. It left one shuddering.


    However, Zhou Wen remained motionless. Even when the girl retracted her sword and retreated, he didn¡¯t move his toes.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid, but the people by the side were so nervous that their palms were sweating. If the girl¡¯s sword tilted just a little, Zhou Wen¡¯s head would be gone.


    Thankfully, such a thing didn¡¯t happen. Zhou Wen remained safe and sound.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid that I¡¯ll chop off your head?¡± Looking at the motionless Zhou Wen, the girl¡¯s eyes were filled with surprise. She felt that this person was surprisingly bold.


    ¡°Why should I be afraid? Didn¡¯t we agree? It¡¯s just me giving pointers, not a duel. You won¡¯t injure me, so what¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t think so. He didn¡¯t dodge because he was confident that the girl wouldn¡¯t be able to injure him. He only wanted to use words to hold her back, hoping that she wouldn¡¯t fall out with him if she lost.


    The girl was still a little naive, so she never expected Zhou Wen to be so scheming. She thought to herself that although Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t a good person, he was still a man of his word.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finished seeing the sword art. Please correct me now,¡± the girl said with a faint smile as she threw the sword back to Zhou Wen.


    She had replicated Qin Zhen¡¯s sword technique without missing a beat. She insisted on proving that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t taught it to Qin Zhen.


    ¡°At this level of sword arts, words no longer suffice. As your master, I¡¯ll demonstrate it once to you. After seeing it, you will naturally know where your mistakes are.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s words infuriated the girl. It was as though she was bound to lose and had to acknowledge Zhou Wen as her master.


    However, there was no time for the girl to retort. Zhou Wen slashed at her with the sword.


    Domineering and resolute. If Qin Zhen¡¯s domineeringness was like an empress in the human world, she had an irresistible, invincible authority, then Zhou Wen¡¯s strike was unreasonable and domineering.


    When immortals did a divination, they could figure out if a treasure was fated with them. All others were to give up.


    When immortals did another divination, they could figure out if one¡¯s time was out. The immortal could slay them on behalf of the heavens.


    When an emperor needed someone executed, he had to at least throw charges at them with a groundless crime. Immortals didn¡¯t need any reason. They were the heavenly mandate. If they said that one deserved death, one deserved death.


    Ordinary people could only dream of such domineeringness, but they would never be able to achieve it.


    Such domineeringness wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s sword intent. His sword intent was even more extreme.


    Immortal slaying-it didn¡¯t matter if one were an immortal or a god. They could be finished off with one strike; there was no need to waste any breath on them.


    This was the tyrant among tyrants. In short, it was ¡°daddy¡± in ¡°who¡¯s your daddy.¡± If you were unreasonable, I would be even more unreasonable than you. There was no room for negotiation when beating you up.


    The girl had originally made up her mind to remain motionless like Zhou Wen to show her poise. She was good at Trajectory powers, so she could determine his trajectory the moment he attacked. If Zhou Wen wanted to harm her, it wouldn¡¯t be too late to dodge when the time came.


    However, when Zhou Wen slashed out, the girl was alarmed to discover that she couldn¡¯t predict the trajectory of the strike. She couldn¡¯t be sure if the final strike would hit her.


    The girl¡¯s face immediately revealed a look of panic. It was an unpredictable trajectory. This made the girl, who was used to having an omniscient view, panic.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s originally gentle image suddenly became as terrifying as a phantasm in her eyes. The domineering sword also seemed to become Death¡¯s scythe that was about to reap her beautiful and touching life.


    In her panic, the girl couldn¡¯t help but take a step back.

 Chapter 1758 - Trajectory Seeking Kowtows for Tutelage

    Chapter 1758 Trajectory Seeking Kowtows for Tutelage


    Although it was only a small step, the girl¡¯s beliefs were already shaken.


    What was even more fatal was that after taking this small step back, the girl realized that the tip of Zhou Wen¡¯s sword couldn¡¯t touch her body. If she didn¡¯t move, the tip of the sword would only slice past her.


    This discovery further shattered the girl¡¯s psychological defense. It instantly made her expression turn embarrassed and angry. It was anger and embarrassment after being fooled.


    Just as she had expected, Zhou Wen¡¯s strike slashed across her in a teasing manner. The further away the tip of the sword was from her, the uglier the girl¡¯s expression.


    Many of the new city guards watching the battle began booing.


    The girl had slashed so many times beside Zhou Wen, but he stood there motionless. Many times, the blade had almost brushed past his cheek.


    Now, Zhou Wen had only slashed once and it was such a distance from the girl; yet, she had retreated. Clearly, she wasn¡¯t confident enough.


    ¡°How¡¯s my strike? Is it worthy of being able to teach such a student?¡± Zhou Wen sheathed the sword and said calmly to the girl.


    The girl looked at Zhou Wen as her lips moved, but she couldn¡¯t say a word. She could naturally tell that Zhou Wen¡¯s realm and standards were far above Qin Zhen¡¯s. Even she couldn¡¯t figure out his trajectory. Such standards were probably something only the big shots of the various races could do in the dimension.


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    For a human to actually cultivate his sword arts to such a level, it could be said that he was infinitely close to the realm of the Apocalypse-grade big shots. He could probably even match the Apocalypse-grade realm. The girl couldn¡¯t imagine how Zhou Wen had done it.


    The girl knew very well that it was impossible for humans to produce an Apocalypse-grade. Finding someone close to one was impossible as well; yet, Zhou Wen¡¯s sword art realm clearly exceeded his level.


    In fact, the girl had overestimated Zhou Wen¡¯s realm. Zhou Wen¡¯s Immortal Slaying was indeed very strong and his realm was indeed very high.


    When teaching Qin Zhen, the feedback from the Teacher Domain also deepened Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of Immortal Slaying. The teaching process was also a process of self-growth, allowing him to reach the present realm of Immortal Slaying.


    Now, the Immortal Slaying realm was indeed close to the realm of many Apocalypse-grade big shots, but it was still quite a distance away. The reason the girl had such a feeling was thanks to the Teacher Domain.


    When the girl demonstrated her sword art, the Teacher Domain had already produced some level of analysis. It was through such an analysis that Zhou Wen had a certain understanding of her Trajectory powers. Only by targeting her with the sword could he achieve a better effect.


    The Heaven-level Teacher Domain was undoubtedly a divine skill.


    The girl looked at Zhou Wen without the contempt from before.


    The girl was already an existence infinitely close to the Apocalypse grade. She was also the existence closest to advancing to the Apocalypse grade in the Trajectory Holy Temple in the past few millennia. From her point of view, Zhou Wen was already qualified to be mentioned in the same breath as herat least in terms of sword arts realm.


    ¡°Lady, what are you waiting for? Quickly come and acknowledge him as your master. It¡¯s your good fortune to be my brother¡¯s disciple,¡± Li Xuan mocked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, young lady. Quickly acknowledge him as your master. It¡¯s your good fortune to be under City Lord Zhou¡¯s tutelage. If you miss this opportunity, there won¡¯t be another one.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. To be able to become City Lord Zhou¡¯s disciple is something many people can¡¯t even beg for. You have profited from a disaster.¡±


    Everyone jeered, causing the girl¡¯s face to turn livid and pale. She looked like she would explode at any moment.


    At that moment, Xiao stood forward and coughed lightly. ¡°City Lord Zhou¡¯s sword art is indeed unprecedented in the human world. This lady¡¯s sword art isn¡¯t inferior either. Why don¡¯t we call this a draw?¡±


    Xiao knew very well that if the girl really went berserk, even if Zhou Wen and company could remain safe and sound, Guide City would probably be reduced to a river of blood.


    Just as Xiao said that, the girl suddenly looked up and stared at Zhou Wen with a sharp gaze. She enunciated each word clearly and said, ¡°Will you dare have me acknowledge you as my master?¡±


    Zhou Wen originally didn¡¯t take this to heart. Since he knew that the girl wasn¡¯t human but an alien from the Trajectory Holy Temple, he wasn¡¯t in the mood of taking in an alien student, much less teach her anything to prevent her from becoming a calamity for humanity in the future.


    As Xiao spoke, Zhou Wen planned on letting it go, but with the girl provoking him, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to let her off.


    ¡°Why wouldn¡¯t I dare?¡± Zhou Wen asked indifferently.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll acknowledge you as my master. I hope you won¡¯t regret it in the future.¡± With that said, the girl really took a step forward and knelt in front of Zhou Wen. She said loudly, ¡°Master, please receive three kowtows from your student, Trajectory Seeking.¡±


    Xiao¡¯s expression changed drastically, but it was too late to stop her.


    Without a word, the girl knelt down. The moment her forehead touched the ground, the sky suddenly changed color. The originally bright sky instantly turned strange.


    The sky seemed to turn into a kaleidoscope as it was split into pieces. The original clouds and sun seemed to become countless after being refracted by the kaleidoscope.


    The sky was strange, beautiful, and resplendent. Instantly, everyone was dumbfounded.


    Looking up at the strange sky, Xiao¡¯s expression turned abnormally odd.


    Zhou Wen was also looking at the strange scene in the sky. The Teacher Domain wasn¡¯t big enough to envelop the entire sky, so he naturally didn¡¯t know what the strange scene was about.


    Zhou Wen vaguely felt a strange energy fluctuation from the girl.


    However, the power was extremely strange. It wasn¡¯t metal, wood, water, fire, or earth, nor was it space, time, or matter. Instead, it was somewhat similar to the power on Wang Lu¡¯s body, but it was also somewhat different.


    ¡°Do you dare let me continue?¡± The girl knelt in front of Zhou Wen with a teasing look in her eyes.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you continuing? Aren¡¯t you going to kowtow three times?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Master, please accept your student, Trajectory Seeking¡¯s second bow.¡± The girl was straightforward as she bowed again.


    With this bow, the originally kaleidoscope-like sky shattered like glass. After the kaleidoscope-like luster, it turned into an extremely dark abyss, going from a sharp contrast of extreme brightness to extreme darkness. The entire Guide City instantly fell into absolute darkness.


    It was pitch-black, and it was difficult to make out anything that was inches away. The residents of Guide City fell into a panic. In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Guide City. The entire world was in a panic, unsure what had happened.


    ¡°Master, please accept your disciple, Trajectory Seeking¡¯s third kowtow.¡± Only the girl¡¯s voice echoed in the darkness. Her figure couldn¡¯t be seen, but one could hear her forehead touching the ground.


    After this shout, a white light instantly descended from the extremely black sky. The white light was unimaginably fast as though it was originally there. From the moment it was discovered to the moment it landed on Zhou Wen, there seemed to be a period of time and space missing. It was impossible to dodge.

 Chapter 1759 - Nameless God

    Chapter 1759 Nameless God


    In the palace that resembled the Primordial Universe, a terrifying existence suddenly opened its eyes. Its gaze seemed to be able to pass through distant stars.


    What happened? Why was the Nameless God triggered? Could something have happened to Trajectory? The terrifying existence¡¯s mind raced as strange ripples immediately appeared on its body. The ripples intertwined into a complicated net that trembled like countless ropes of fate.


    Moments later, a strange expression appeared on the terrifying existence¡¯s face. He had failed to deduce the fate trajectory related to Trajectory Seeking. However, he vaguely felt she wasn¡¯t facing life-threatening danger.


    ¡°Holy Lord, what happened?¡± The creature guarding the terrifying existence was like a turtle or snake as it asked in surprise. ¡°The Trajectory Holy Lady likely encountered something, but I can¡¯t find the trajectory of her fate,¡± said Holy Lord Trajectory in thought.


    ¡°How is that possible? With your relationship with the Holy Lady, even if she¡¯s on Earth and is screened by the rules, you should be able to see the trajectories of fate that are connected to her¡­ Could it be that¡­ the nomological forces on Earth have become stronger again?¡± the monster said in horror. ¡°What should we do? If something happens to the Holy Lady, wouldn¡¯t your plan¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. If she¡¯s really in danger, no matter how the rules of Earth screen it, I¡¯ll still be able to sense her. The Holy Lady isn¡¯t in danger now, but I can¡¯t deduce her relevant trajectories¡­¡± Holy Lord Trajectory seemed to be thinking about something.


    ¡°Could it be that the other Holy Lords have discovered the secret of the Holy Lady and set up a trap to kill her? No, I have to personally rush to Earth. No matter what, I can¡¯t let them succeed.¡± As the Turtle Snake spoke, it was about to crawl out of the cave beneath the divine throne. Resembling a turtle or snake, its head burned with black flames that were strange like a vortex.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to panic. The restrictions of Earth¡¯s rules haven¡¯t been completely removed. They don¡¯t have the guts to go to Earth now. Even if they go, it will be difficult for them to unleash the power of the Apocalypse grade. How can they kill the Trajectory Seeking?¡± Holy Lord Trajectory said.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. The Holy Lady has the combined power of six saints, making her an unparalleled perfect existence. In the future, once she advances to the Apocalypse grade, even the strongest Immortal Threach of the Immortals will probably find it difficult to match her. Those old fellows are nothing.¡± Only then did Turtle Snake recall what kind of existence the Holy Lady was. He was no longer in a rush to rush into Earth to save her.


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    ¡°I¡¯m just puzzled about what happened to trigger the Nameless God.¡± Holy Lord Trajectory still frowned as he thought, but no matter how he tried, he couldn¡¯t obtain any more information related to it.


    ¡°The Nameless God was actually triggered. Doesn¡¯t that mean that the Holy Lady is in grave danger? No, I have to make a trip personally. I can¡¯t let anything happen to the Holy Lady.¡± Turtle Snake immediately became agitated.


    ¡°If the Nameless God can¡¯t protect Trajector Searching, it¡¯s useless for you to rush over now.¡± Holy Lord Trajectory stopped Turtle Snake again.


    ¡°Holy Lord, you have been plotting for countless years. If anything happens to the Holy Lady, I¡¯m afraid it will be difficult to find another existence who possesses the bloodlines of the six Holy races. It will be difficult for you to sign a contract with that Nameless God again,¡± said Turtle Snake.


    Holy Lord Trajectory naturally knew that it was impossible for a second Trajectory Seeking to appear. He had plotted for countless years to obtain the top bloodline of the six Holy races and fuse it with her. It was impossible for him to replicate a second existence.


    Furthermore, the Nameless God had already accepted Trajectory Seeking, so it was impossible for him to contract another.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. With the contract of the Nameless God protecting her, even if she¡¯s on Earth, no one can take her life. At most, she will suffer some physical pain. She¡¯s still impetuous, so it¡¯s good to let her get some training.¡± Holy Lord Trajectory no longer felt conflicted about deducing what had happened. w¡Èxiaworld. site Instead, he tried his best to conceal the fate related to the Trajectory Seeking to prevent the other Holy Lords or terrifying existences of the Immortals from discovering the anomaly.


    The Nameless God wasn¡¯t a real god, but to the six Holy races, it was an existence even more terrifying than a true god.


    Back then, the Immortals were supreme. The six Holy races were far from the Immortals¡¯ match and were still underlings. However, they had already secretly formed an alliance and tried all means to overthrow the Immortals¡¯ rule.


    One of the plans was called the Nameless God. They used the strongest strength of the six races to create a powerful weapon. The might of the weapon was enough to easily kill an Apocalypse-grade existence.


    When Nameless God was born, the six Holy races were overjoyed. They believed that they could rely on the power of Nameless God to overthrow the rule of the Immortals and usher in a new era that belonged to the six Holy races.


    However, they soon realized that they were counting their chickens before they hatched. No one could use Nameless God. Back then, the top powerhouses of the six races had attempted to control Nameless God, but none of them succeeded. There was an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse who was too stubborn and ended up provoking Nameless God and being killed.


    Later, they learned that Nameless God was a fusion of the six races¡¯ strongest powers. No matter which race¡¯s powerhouse it was, it was impossible for them to match Nameless God perfectly.


    Only a Holy Body with the perfect bloodline of the six races could truly control Nameless God.


    However, such an existence was believed to be impossible to appear back then. Therefore, it had never been used after Nameless God was created.


    Later on, the Immortals mysteriously collapsed. The six Holy races took advantage of the situation and became the new overlords of the dimension. They didn¡¯t use Nameless God at all.


    After becoming the new overlord of the dimension, it was difficult for the six Holy races to be as united as before. It was even harder to obtain a perfect Holy Body. Even the six Holy races didn¡¯t wish for Nameless God to be controlled by someone.


    However, Holy Lord Trajectory didn¡¯t dispel this thought. He had secretly spent a lot of effort to set up an unimaginable long-term plan. By chance, he finally had Trajectory Seeking born and reached a contract with Nameless God.


    However, as Trajectory Seeking hadn¡¯t advanced to the Apocalypse grade, her strength was too weak and she couldn¡¯t really use the abilities of Nameless God. However, with its power, even if it only left a contract mark on her, it was enough to protect her life. Therefore, Holy Lord Trajectory wasn¡¯t too worried about her safety.


    What he wanted to know was who had blocked the fate trajectory related to Trajectory Seeking. Did someone already know of the existence of a perfect Holy Body?


    After doing the screening work, Holy Lord Trajectory¡¯s gaze passed through endless spacetime and looked at the huge statue in the forbidden zone of the six races. The statue looked like a ghost or devil, a Buddha or a saint, but upon careful inspection, it was no different from a human. However, there was a vertical mark between its brows¡ªthe location of the Nameless God.


    Now, the vertical mark emitted a demonic white light. It was like a vertical white electric eye that was glaring angrily at a spot in the void.

 Chapter 1760 - 0 King Bathed in Holy Light

    Chapter 1760 King Bathed in Holy Light


    The strange white light descended from the sky seemingly without going through any process. It landed on Zhou Wen without any space to dodge. Ignoring Zhou Wen¡¯s present speed, even if his speed was a hundred times faster, it would be difficult for him to dodge the white light that appeared out of thin air.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t flustered. He was no longer the weakling who knew nothing and was always on tenterhooks. He already had a knowledge framework in his heart that could analyze all sorts of unknown powers. For such an impossible-to-block force that directly acted on one¡¯s body, it was impossible for it to be a fatal force, and it was very unlikely a damaging skill.


    Indeed, when the white light landed on Zhou Wen, it didn¡¯t harm his body, but it instantly made him feel like he was being suppressed by a mountain. His legs trembled as his knees involuntarily bent.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen knew what power it was. He was half right. It wasn¡¯t a power that could directly kill him, but this power would still harm his body. He was too familiar with such power and had seen it countless times.


    It was a power similar to the Sigh of the King. No, to be precise, it was similar to the power of the strange woman who resided in his body with the Sigh of the King.


    As the woman didn¡¯t have a corporeal body, she naturally couldn¡¯t control corporeal powers. This white light was the same as the woman with the Sigh of the King. They were purely psychic powers.


    In this world, the psyche was the most profound thing. Even at Zhou Wen¡¯s level, it was impossible for him to turn his psyche into a corporeal entity. He couldn¡¯t even make a piece of paper fly with his psyche.


    No matter how powerful one¡¯s will was, they could only control their bodies and not affect others.


    The other skills that looked like they were using the psychic powers for strength control were only using psychic powers to control some kind of power in one¡¯s body. It wasn¡¯t purely the psychic power in action.


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    It was just like sword intent. Sword intent was a combination of sword force and the psyche. It wasn¡¯t pure psychic power. Such sword intent could only affect the other party¡¯s psyche and not cause any actual damage to matter.


    However, Zhou Wen had seen two-and-a-half people who could directly materialize their psyche and use it on external objects.


    One was the woman with the Sigh of the King, and the other was this white light. The reason there was another half was that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure if the person was using pure psychic powers.


    That half was The Thearch. Since she could make a wish come true, Zhou Wen believed that the wish itself was a psychic power. However, he couldn¡¯t confirm it, so he could only count it as half.


    The white beam¡¯s psychic power wasn¡¯t weaker than the Sigh of the King that Zhou Wen had seen before. It was even stronger. It could cross space and force him to bend his knees. The existence of this psychic power was unimaginably powerful.


    Are Apocalypse-grade experts that terrifying? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had already used all his strength, but his knees were still rapidly buckling to the ground.


    In fact, not all Apocalypse-grade creatures had such psychic powers. Or rather, it could be said that very few creatures could reach such a level.


    The tangible powers transformed from firm willpower and psychic power were on completely different levels. No matter how firm Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower was, he couldn¡¯t stop his legs from bending.


    Looking at Zhou Wen¡¯s bent legs, Trajectory Seeking thought to herself, You want to be my teacher and receive my kowtow? I¡¯m just afraid you don¡¯t have the life to accept it.


    Trajectory Seeking knew it very well. How arrogant was the pride of a god-like weapon like Nameless God? How could it tolerate its contractor bowing to any other creature?


    After three kowtows, Zhou Wen was already a dead person in the eyes of Trajectory Seeking.


    I gave you a chance before. You were the one who chose to let me take you as my master. You can¡¯t blame me even if you die. However, it¡¯s not a loss for you to die under the power of Nameless God. If you weren¡¯t an Apocalypse-grade existence, Nameless God wouldn¡¯t have bothered to react. With this in mind, Trajectory Seeking still felt a little uncomfortable. She originally didn¡¯t have any intention to kill, but she had been forced into such a situation. In her anger, she kowtowed. Looking at Zhou Wen who was about to kneel, she thought to herself, Don¡¯t be so eager to be someone else¡¯s teacher in your next life, much less be my teacher.


    Li Xuan, Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, Qin Zhen, and company, who were close to Zhou Wen, all had top-notch combat strength among humans. However, just the aftershocks of the white light made them stand rooted to the ground. No matter how they struggled, they couldn¡¯t move at all.


    It wasn¡¯t just them. In fact, no one in Guide City could move. Humans with weaker strength and willpower were pressed to the ground.


    Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and company also fought the force with all their might, but their knees had already fallen to the ground. Despite pressing their hands against the ground, they were still unable to withstand it. Their bodies were about to collapse to the ground.


    Li Xuan stood there motionless without bending his knees. All he heard was his bones cracking as broken bones protruded from his flesh.


    Qin Zhen propped herself up on the ground with her sword and forced herself not to kneel. However, the sword was quickly pressed into the ground. Her body quickly approached the ground and she had no choice but to lie down.


    What kind of existence was Nameless God? With his contractor kneeling on the ground, how could others stand? They couldn¡¯t even kneel, much less stand.


    Since Trajectory Seeking was kneeling, everyone could only prostrate themselves.


    And this was only the aftershocks from the psychic power. Zhou Wen, who was facing it head-on, had yet to touch the ground with his knees. His strength and will far exceeded everyone¡¯s, but it was still insufficient to resist the power.


    Trajectory Seeking closed her eyes. She had already expected the outcome and didn¡¯t wish to see Zhou Wen¡¯s tragic state of being completely destroyed by the psychic power.


    Trajectory Seeking closed her eyes and waited for the sound of bones cracking and blood splattering. However, after waiting for quite some time, she only heard the sounds of the people by the side slamming into the ground. She didn¡¯t hear the sound of Zhou Wen¡¯s knees hitting the ground, much less the sounds of bones cracking as she imagined.


    Could it be that his body was completely reduced to dust before he could hit the ground because of Nameless God¡¯s wrath? Trajectory Seeking couldn¡¯t help but open her eyes and look at Zhou Wen.


    In the next second, when she saw things clearly, her eyes widened as though she had seen a ghost. Her face was filled with shock and disbelief.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t reduced to dust as she had imagined, nor was he kneeling on the ground as she had imagined. Zhou Wen was standing there perfectly fine. His knees that had been bent previously were now straight.


    It wasn¡¯t just his knees. Even his spine was straight. Even his head was raised high without any signs of looking down and out.


    Zhou Wen stood ramrod straight as he raised his head and stared into the void like a king bathed in holy light.

 Chapter 1761 - Two Options

    Chapter 1761 Two Options


    Zhou Wen stared into the void. In fact, he couldn¡¯t see anything. What he was really looking at was the Sigh of the King Life Providence, or rather, the woman that only existed in it.


    With Zhou Wen¡¯s strength, he was indeed unable to withstand the Nameless God¡¯s psychic powers. It was the power of the Sigh of the King that resisted the terrifying psychic power. How could an existence that had once stood at the peak of power and had all races submit to her tolerate kneeling to others?


    Others couldn¡¯t see it, nor could Zhou Wen, but he could sense that a woman¡¯s phantom seemed to overlap with his body. She was staring into the void as though she was looking at something.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, are you afraid?¡± A woman¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. The voice was clearly beautiful, but it had an indescribable authority. It was difficult to associate it with the word pleasant.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word, but only thought of the sentence. It was enough for the owner of the voice to know what Zhou Wen was talking about.


    ¡°The owner of this psyche is an extremely powerful existence. Even the leaders of the six races can¡¯t match it. A thought is all it needs to kill you,¡± the woman continued.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t answer the question of fear. He wanted to know what kind of existence the woman in his Life Providence was.


    In the past, he had felt that there was something wrong with his Life Providence. Now that it could actually speak to him, it made him even more uneasy.


    There was actually another consciousness in his body. It knew everything about him and even knew what he was thinking. This made him feel like he was naked in front of a stranger without any sense of security.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    ¡°I¡¯m you.¡± The woman¡¯s answer left Zhou Wen somewhat confused, unsure what she meant.


    The woman didn¡¯t continue answering Zhou Wen¡¯s doubts. Instead, she continued, ¡°That existence is extremely terrifying. Ignoring Earth, even in the dimension, it¡¯s a supreme existence. Getting his contractor to kneel in front of you is equivalent to insulting him. He definitely won¡¯t let you live. Are you afraid?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen was indeed afraid. Anyone who was targeted by an existence that could kill them with a thought would be so afraid that they would be unable to eat or sleep. There was no reason to hide the truth. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t hide it from the woman who knew what he was thinking.


    ¡°Although that existence is extremely terrifying, he has a fatal weakness. Without a contractor, he can¡¯t leave the dimension, nor can he sense the information on Earth. Now, you have two choices. One is to kill the girl in front of you. As long as you kill her, the existence will no longer be able to sense the information inside Earth due to the suppression of Earth¡¯s rules. Naturally, it won¡¯t be able to kill you with its psyche,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the second option?¡± Zhou Wen asked. ¡°The second option is naturally not to kill the girl. I can temporarily screen his psyche from locking onto you,¡± the woman added.


    ¡°It sounds like the first option is easier.¡± Zhou Wen changed the topic and continued, ¡°You seem to have something to say.¡±


    ¡°That existence isn¡¯t a creature, or rather, it¡¯s not entirely a creature. He should be a weapon,¡± the woman said slowly. ¡°It¡¯s not a weapon in the traditional sense, but something similar to what you humans call a Companion Beast. It¡¯s a weapon with its own life and consciousness.


    ¡°But no matter what kind of weapon he is, as long as he¡¯s a weapon, a host has to use him. However, a weapon like him has extremely harsh requirements for the host. It¡¯s almost impossible to find another existence like the girl in the dimension.¡±


    ¡°In that case, as long as I kill her, I can settle it once and for all?¡± Zhou Wen pondered.


    ¡°At the very least, it¡¯s impossible for an existence like the girl to appear in a short period of time. Even if such an existence appears in the future, it will be countless years later. With the lifespan of humans, I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to live to that day. To you, it¡¯s considered a done deal,¡± the woman said indifferently.


    ¡°In that case, why did you mention the second option? This second option shouldn¡¯t be as simple as you say, right?¡± Zhou Wen said in thought.


    ¡°If the girl can live, she can truly use that weapon and liberate it after advancing to the Apocalypse grade. Only then will you have a chance to snatch it.¡±


    ¡°How?¡±


    ¡°Lost Immortal Sutra¡­ With the Lost Immortal Sutra, as long as you defeat the girl with that weapon, you might be able to snatch it for your own use. However, this is very dangerous. The girl¡¯s talent far exceeds yours. After advancing to the Apocalypse grade, she will be an extremely powerful existence. With the power of that weapon, no one in the dimension can match her. If you want to defeat her and snatch that weapon, it¡¯s almost equivalent to courting death.¡±


    ¡°In that case, why should I snatch it?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Because Earth doesn¡¯t have time left.¡± The woman continued, ¡°The reason he can send his psyche to Earth to kill you is partly because he¡¯s extremely powerful and has a contractor providing positioning here. However, ultimately, it¡¯s because the restrictions on Earth are already very weak. In a few years, the extremely terrifying existences in the dimension will descend to Earth. When that happens, even if humans aren¡¯t wiped out, they will probably be reduced to slaves. Only by obtaining that weapon can you storm into the dimension and suppress all races, preventing the ill fate of human extermination.¡±


    ¡°What you said is contradictory. If I can defeat the girl with that weapon, do I still need that weapon?¡± Zhou Wen could tell that something was amiss.


    ¡°It¡¯s not contradictory. You only have one chance, and that is to enter the dimension. When she advances to the Apocalypse grade and obtains that weapon, you can use the short period she needs to break into the weapon to sneak an attack and defeat her while she can¡¯t completely unleash the weapon¡¯s might. No matter how powerful the weapon is, it ultimately needs a host to use it,¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°However, it¡¯s too difficult. You have to enter the dimension alone and find the girl while she liberates the weapon. You also have to defeat a powerhouse that¡¯s almost at the peak of the Apocalypse grade. It can be said it¡¯s an ending that spells almost certain doom.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no chance of survival. Since there¡¯s no chance, why should I take this path?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Of course, you can choose not to. With your abilities, even if Earth completely breaks out of its seal, you might be able to find a place to hide in the universe. Life-preservation shouldn¡¯t be a problem,¡± the woman said indifferently. ¡°You can live by taking the first option. The second option is to give you and humanity a miracle. It¡¯s up to you how you choose.¡±

 Chapter 1762 - My World Doesn’t Have Dead Ends

    Chapter 1762 My World Doesn¡¯t Have Dead Ends


    ¡°Between surviving and creating a miracle, what will you choose?¡± The woman¡¯s voice echoed in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°I choose to live to create a miracle,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    The woman had given Zhou Wen a framework, but he didn¡¯t believe that this framework was an ironclad principle that couldn¡¯t be transcended. Both paths were paths that the woman had set herself. Why did he have to choose the path that the woman had set?


    The so-called two options the woman proposed weren¡¯t the best choice for Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Live on or create miracles. You can only choose one. There¡¯s no third option,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°That¡¯s your path, not mine,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Oh, then tell me, what¡¯s your path?¡± the woman asked.


    ¡°Nothing is absolute in my path. Be it the girl or that weapon, they won¡¯t be a necessary existence for me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You mean that you won¡¯t snatch that weapon, nor will you kill the girl?¡± the woman frowned.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    ¡°No, I¡¯ll do my best to snatch that weapon, but even if I can¡¯t obtain it, it¡¯s not a dead end for me,¡± Zhou Wen said firmly.


    ¡°Make it clear,¡± the woman pressed.


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m not dead, my world doesn¡¯t have dead ends,¡± Zhou Wen enunciated each word clearly.


    ¡°No dead ends?¡± The woman ruminated over Zhou Wen¡¯s words as her voice gradually turned odd. ¡°Even such a supreme existence isn¡¯t a dead end for you? Do you still want to become an existence that can surpass him? The ignorant are truly fearless. I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know what kind of existence it is, but¡­ I like it¡­ Then let me see¡­ where your end is¡­¡±


    With the woman¡¯s voice, her psychic power suddenly rose and spewed out like a volcano.


    Trajectory Seeking looked at Zhou Wen with an odd expression. Zhou Wen stood in the corporeal white light for several seconds, but he remained composed as though he hadn¡¯t been injured at all.


    As for the humans beside him, existences as powerful as Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu were already prostrating on the ground, unable to move.


    How is this possible! He can actually withstand the will of Nameless God? Trajectory Seeking found it unbelievable. In the next second, her eyes reflected the beauty of fireworks as her eyes widened to their limits.


    Boom!


    An invisible force seemed to spew out from Zhou Wen¡¯s body as the white light enveloping him shattered. It scattered like fireworks before disappearing.


    The terrifying white pillar of light seemed to be pierced by a sharp blade as it instantly collapsed, turning into streams of light that scattered before disappearing.


    The will of Nameless God¡­ was actually crushed¡­ Trajectory Seeking almost couldn¡¯t believe her eyes. Amidst the gorgeous white streams of light, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure was like a god. It seemed to fog Trajectory Seeking¡¯s eyes, preventing her from seeing clearly.


    As the white pillar of light dissipated, the extremely black sky returned to its sunny state. It was no longer as strange as before.


    The pressure on the residents of Guide City vanished as they stood up.


    Trajectory Seeking looked up at Zhou Wen in a daze for a long time.


    In the dimension, Holy Lord Trajectory¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted as a look of horror that had never been seen in millennia appeared on his face.


    In the forbidden zone of the six races, the white vertical eye on the stone statue exploded. Instantly, the white light vanished and it returned to its previous cracked state. On both sides of the vertical mark, many tiny cracks appeared like spiderwebs.


    The power of Nameless God¡¯s psyche has actually suffered a backlash¡­ This is impossible¡­ How can there be such a terrifying lifeform on Earth¡­ Could it be that the Immortal went missing on Earth because¡­ Holy Lord Trajectory¡¯s mind flickered as he found it difficult to control himself.


    Zhou Wen retracted his gaze and looked at the kneeling Trajectory Seeking in front of him. He thought to himself, What do you mean that the weapon is a supreme existence? Isn¡¯t it clearly inferior to you? What are you? Why did you become my Life Providence? Where does the Lost Immortal Sutra come from? However, the woman didn¡¯t respond to his thoughts. The Sigh of the King Life Providence had already converged, and there was no movement from it. It was dead silent.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen thought of something. Ever since he had the Sigh of the King Life Providence, no matter how powerful an existence was, they couldn¡¯t make him kneel. Only once did he kneel.


    Back then, Zhou Wen believed that Demonic Neonate¡¯s cooperation with the suona was too powerful, so the Sigh of the King didn¡¯t react.


    But from the looks of it, he had underestimated the power of the Sigh of the King. The reason for her not appearing and allowing him to kneel probably wasn¡¯t because the woman knew that she couldn¡¯t stop Zhou Wen from kneeling.


    With the way the woman defeated the psychic power, it would probably only take a thought for her to kill Demonic Neonate with the suona.


    Could it be¡­ Zhou Wen thought of a possibility as his expression turned odd.


    If it wasn¡¯t because Demonic Neonate and the suona were too powerful, there was only one possibility left. It was that Zhou Wen had no choice but to kneel back then. Even the Sigh of the King had no reason to stop it.


    Could the reason¡­ be that corpse? After some thought, Zhou Wen could only think of this possibility. Back then, other than the corpse, he really couldn¡¯t think of anything nearby that would make the Sigh of the King not react to his kneeling.


    ¡°Are¡­ Are you really human?¡± Trajectory Seeking¡¯s voice interrupted Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts. She looked at him with a lost look.


    Ever since she was young, the thoughts that Holy Lord Trajectory had instilled in her were that Nameless God was an invincible existence. Once she truly controlled Nameless God, she could rule the world. Even if the Immortal from before was revived, she didn¡¯t believe that she would lose.


    However, Nameless God¡¯s psychic power was actually defeated. This completely overturned her world view, causing her confidence in herself and Nameless God to waver.


    ¡°Since you have already acknowledged me as your master, you have to abide by the rules. You have to greet me as ¡®Teacher¡¯ in the future, understand?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he looked at her.


    Trajectory Seeking¡¯s beliefs wavered, and she couldn¡¯t think of anything to refute Zhou Wen. All she did was look at him in a daze as though she had tacitly agreed.


    Suddenly, the Cube emitted light as another creature attempted the level. Zhou Wen turned his head and realized that it was another human. Furthermore, he was rather familiar with this person.


    He wore a white robe, revealing his fair and firm chest. His long hair cascaded down wantonly as he casually placed a sheathed sword on his shoulder. He looked languid and wild, as though he wasn¡¯t here to clear the level but to enjoy the sun.

 Chapter 1763 - His Brother

    Chapter 1763 His Brother


    What is Zhong Ziya trying to do? Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    Zhong Ziya had always been at odds with the dimension. Others wanted to become Guardians or representatives, but his organization was hunting Guardians and representatives. This time, he had actually taken the initiative to show his face and clear the level. Wasn¡¯t he afraid that the dimension would target him?


    Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan were two extremes. Jiang Yan was willing to come into contact with the dimension by learning from them, but Zhong Ziya believed that Guardians and alien representatives were no different from traitors who should be killed quickly.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t that extreme. Between Guardians and representatives, there were some that deserved killing and others that didn¡¯t. There was no generalization.


    Upon seeing another human attempt the level, everyone immediately became excited. With so many humans clearing the level in a row, the gloom that had enveloped their hearts over the past few days was lifted.


    They were all discussing who this person was. Not many people had seen Zhong Ziya¡¯s true face, but there were many who knew the name ¡°Ya.¡± They just couldn¡¯t associate Ya with Zhong Ziya.


    Zhong Ziya wasn¡¯t like the previous challengers. He didn¡¯t fly in the air but landed on the lake. Only then did people realize that he wasn¡¯t wearing any shoes. His bare feet stepped on the lake, causing the surface to ripple slightly.


    This man¡­ is so beautiful¡­ Many women and even men watching the livestream couldn¡¯t help but have this thought flash through their minds.


    Previously, Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan were undoubtedly rare handsome men, but their handsomeness had some traces of youth. Although Zhong Ziya wasn¡¯t old, he had an indescribable beauty.


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    It was feral, mature, sexy, and even somewhat charming. Just him standing there made one feel their hormones screaming. To exaggerate, if he were a cat, just passing by would be enough to make a female cat on the roadside go into heat.


    He was beautiful, but not feminine. He was seductive, but not gaudy. Furthermore, he had a strong dangerous aura. Many women found it difficult to move their eyes away from him.


    Pulling out the sword!


    As people admired Zhong Ziya¡¯s face, he pulled out the sword on his shoulder.


    The unsheathing and sheathing of the sword was done in a swift, fluid manner. It allowed one to see it clearly. However, upon careful inspection, the sword had already returned to its scabbard and was still casually placed on his shoulder.


    Many people couldn¡¯t understand what Zhong Ziya¡¯s casual strike was about.


    He has grown too quickly. Zhou Wen sighed.


    In the past, Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword techniques were wild. Zhou Wen found such a sword art very strong, but it didn¡¯t pose him any danger.


    Now, Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique looked reserved, but it made Zhou Wen feel extreme danger.


    If the Zhong Ziya in the past was a ferocious devil that made people afraid just by looking at him, then the present him was an elegant and beautiful devil in hell.


    It looked harmless, but it had the ability to make one wish they were dead.


    After the strike, Zhong Ziya slowly walked barefooted on the surface of the lake without sinking like the people who had previously failed.


    Splash!


    Not long after Zhong Ziya walked over, the water where he was standing churned as a huge object floated up from the water.


    The object was like a crystal-like octopus. Every tentacle was dozens of meters long and it was covered in suction cups. Its entire body was transparent.


    It was likely the culprit behind pulling people to the bottom of the lake.


    However, it was now floating-a clear sign that it was dead. There was a sword mark that was as thin as a strand of hair on its head. It didn¡¯t look long. If one didn¡¯t look carefully, they wouldn¡¯t discover the existence of the sword mark.


    However, it had died just like that. Instantly, the people watching the livestream were dumbfounded. Their mouths gaped open for a long time.


    ¡°This man is truly perfect. He¡¯s beautiful and valiant. If I can marry him, I can die in


    peace.¡±


    ¡°If I could marry him, I¡¯d be willing to live ten years less.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to marry him. I would accept death if I could sleep with him once.¡±


    Just like how men admired beautiful women, women also liked to admire beautiful men. Zhong Ziya was undoubtedly a rare and charming man, so it was no wonder they were like this.


    Most men were wondering who this man was. His sword was casual, not as ingenious as Ming Xiu¡¯s, nor was it as domineering as Qin Zhen¡¯s. But now that they thought about it, his sword was even more terrifying. Just looking at it gave them goosebumps.


    This was the first time someone had killed the monster in the lake, and it was also the first time people had seen the monster.


    However, no one was in the mood to study what monster it was. Everyone¡¯s eyes were attracted by the unique man, eager to know who he was.


    In particular, the members of the six families were about to go crazy.


    The appearance of Ming Xiu, Feng Qiuyan, and Qin Zhen had already made them feel a strong sense of danger. Now, not only did this man make them feel a sense of danger, but they also urgently wanted to know who this man was.


    Everyone stared at Zhong Ziya as he proceeded through the fog. He casually walked step by step and soon, he passed through the fog and stepped ashore. The golden fruit tree was right in front of him.


    Zhong Ziya walked to the bottom of the golden fruit tree and held the sword on his shoulder with one hand. He extended his other hand and casually plucked a golden apple.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Previously, Ming Xiu¡¯s first strike hadn¡¯t been able to slice off the golden apple, but Zhong Ziya had casually plucked it. Such an ability left one speechless for a description.


    The scene changed and became the Cube¡¯s ranking. Although many women felt that they had not seen enough and wanted to take a few more glances at Zhong Ziya, they also wanted to know who this man was.


    The moment the ranking appeared, everyone looked at the top for some reason. Although there was no way to explain why, everyone believed that he should be ranked there.


    Indeed, the first name on the ranking changed. When people saw the name clearly, they were dumbfounded.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s brother!¡± Someone couldn¡¯t help but recite.


    The words were very simple. There was a name in it, but everyone knew that the owner of this name wasn¡¯t the devil-like handsome man.


    ¡°Has Zhou¡¯s people finished taking all the elites of the mortal world?¡±


    ¡°No wonder he¡¯s so awesome¡­ He¡¯s Ming Xiu¡¯s uncle!¡±


    ¡°The Zhous¡­ are amazing¡­¡±


    ¡°How can this be? Are the Zhous going to dominate the rankings?¡± ¡°How can you blame the Zhous for dominating the rankings? It¡¯s clearly those cowards from the other families who don¡¯t dare to make an attempt.¡±


    As people were discussing crazily, the Cube lit up again. Another person was attempting the level, and it was another human. The first thought in everyone¡¯s minds was: Could this be another member of the Zhous?

 Chapter 1764 - All Plucked

    Chapter 1764 All Plucked


    This dimensional zone had appeared for a long time. By the time Ming Xiu started plucking the golden apple, there were only five golden fruits left on the tree. Ming Xiu, Feng Qiuyan, Qin Zhen, and Zhong Ziya had plucked four of them, leaving the last golden fruit.


    Upon seeing another human attempt the level, everyone felt very pleased. Regardless of whether this was from Zhous or not, it was fine as long as it was plucked by a human. At the very least, the remaining five golden apples had been all taken by humans, wiping away the shame from before.


    ¡°Who is this person? Why are the ones making an attempt today all unfamiliar faces!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve seen this one before. It¡¯s another young expert. From the looks of it, there are really all kinds of hidden young talents on Earth.¡±


    ¡°I wonder if it¡¯s from the Zhous again.¡±


    ¡°I have a feeling that this guy should also be from the Zhous.¡±


    ¡°Another unfamiliar face. It has to be from the Zhous.¡±


    ¡°What do you know? All of you are only wondering if that person is from the Zhous. None of you realize what¡¯s really important.¡±


    ¡°Sure, smart alec. Tell us what¡¯s important.¡±


    / please keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    ¡°Don¡¯t you guys realize that this is the last golden apple? If this golden apple is plucked, the Cube¡¯s battle should be over. Then, the person ranked first will obtain the reward. Previously, the rewards from those planets were planetary Companion Beasts. Then, if this is the dimension, what will the reward be?¡±


    ¡°Now that you mention it, it does seem like it. Since this is the last golden apple, this is going to determine first place.¡±


    ¡°In that case, if nothing goes wrong, first place will definitely be obtained by us humans. It¡¯s either Zhou Wen¡¯s brother or this young man¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be surprised when he saw the man. It was Liu Yun, who he hadn¡¯t seen in a while.


    Liu Yun was known as Thief Sage. He had many means to change his appearance, but this time, he didn¡¯t disguise himself. Instead, he entered the Cube with his true appearance.


    However, it could be seen that this fellow had carefully dressed up. He was wearing a gorgeous robe and looked like he was dressed like a cultivator. He looked mysterious, holy, and solemn.


    This fellow had even dyed his hair gray. He had wiped away his usual cheeky look, and he wore a solemn expression. At a glance, he really looked lofty.


    What¡¯s this fellow thinking? Is his brain damaged? Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless.


    As Thief Sage, he had stolen many things from the various families. Once people discovered what he looked like, it would probably be difficult for him to show his true face again. Once he appeared, he would be hunted by everyone.


    Thankfully, few families had seen Liu Yun¡¯s true face. There were even fewer who knew that Liu Yun was Thief Sage. Liu Yun changed from his usual self. He stood there like a lofty son of god with his arrogant and solemn expression.


    Everyone waited to see how he would clear the level, but Liu Yun stood there without walking forward. He had no intention of killing the monster in the lake.


    ¡°For me to be here personally, are you not offering me the fruit immediately? Am I to personally retrieve it?¡± Liu Yun suddenly said as he levitated above the lake.


    This sentence left everyone dumbfounded. They looked at him as though they were looking at a fool.


    Someone could be impressive and be good at posturing, but one couldn¡¯t go too far. If they went too far, they would become a fool. Now, Liu Yun had gone too far.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, does this fellow think he¡¯s the Jade Emperor? He even wants them to offer the fruit to him. Is he crazy?¡±


    ¡°I think there¡¯s a high chance that this person is crazy. Who would do something like that?¡±


    ¡°Is this fellow here to perform a comedic skit?¡±


    Everyone felt that Liu Yun was posturing too much, to the point of being a little silly. Ignoring the fact that he was only a human, even a supreme existence in the dimension wouldn¡¯t order a tree to offer up its fruit.


    Just as everyone was prepared to watch a good show and wait to see how Liu Yun would finish, they saw an angry expression appear on Liu Yun¡¯s face. He shouted coldly, ¡°From the looks of it, you want me to do it myself?¡±


    Just as he said that, Liu Yun reached out and grabbed at the fog in front of him.


    He hadn¡¯t moved at all since he entered. His grab looked like a joke, rendering the spectators speechless. They felt that he had definitely gone mad. However, in the next second, everyone widened their eyes. After Liu Yun casually grabbed, a golden apple appeared in his palm out of thin air and was firmly held by his fingers.


    ¡°What a chore to have me do it myself.¡± As Liu Yun muttered to himself, the Cube¡¯s screen switched to the Cube¡¯s ranking.


    Instantly, the humans watching the battle fell silent. If Zhong Ziya¡¯s performance was still within their understanding, then Liu Yun¡¯s performance had far exceeded their understanding. They didn¡¯t know how to describe their feelings.


    ¡°This is too sick!¡±


    ¡°What happened just now?¡±


    ¡°That works too? Is that fellow really the Jade Emperor?¡±


    As everyone was exclaiming, the ranking changed again. A new name replaced second place.


    ¡°Zhou Wen¡¯s Eldest Brother! Holy sh*t, no wonder he¡¯s so strong. So he¡¯s Zhou Wen¡¯s eldest brother!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up with this ranking? Why do I feel that this eldest brother is stronger than that brother from before? He should be first, right?¡±


    ¡°I think this one is stronger too, but they¡¯re family anyway. It doesn¡¯t matter who¡¯s ahead and who¡¯s behind.¡±


    ¡°Are the people from the Zhous that impressive?¡± ¡°I¡¯m afraid the Zhous will become the number one faction on Earth in the future. They are too powerful. The six families are nothing in front of the Zhous.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how strong that Zhou Wen is. Unfortunately, there aren¡¯t any golden apples left. Otherwise, we could see how strong he


    is.¡±


    ¡°I wonder how many brothers of this caliber Zhou Wen has?¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t do anything, but his name went viral across the Federation. Many people were discussing Ming Xiu and company, but the person who was discussed the most was Zhou Wen himself.


    Although he hadn¡¯t done anything, it was precisely because he hadn¡¯t done anything that people wanted to know what kind of existence the person who had so many experts around him was.


    However, what was strange was that although all the golden apples had been plucked, the Cube¡¯s battle didn¡¯t end. They could still continue entering the Cube to clear the level.


    ¡°The dimension¡¯s dimensional zone is indeed not that simple. Just plucking the golden apple doesn¡¯t allow one to obtain the final victory.¡± Zhou Wen had expected this, so he wasn¡¯t surprised.


    ¡°Do you want to know why it didn¡¯t end?¡±. Trajectory Seeking, who had been standing by the side, suddenly asked with a complicated expression.


    ¡°You know the answer?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Trajectory Seeking.


    ¡°Of course, I¡¯m just afraid that you won¡¯t dare to challenge the level after I tell you,¡± Trajectory Seeking said with a pout.


    ¡°Tell me about it.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Trajectory Seeking with interest.

 Chapter 1765 - Tomb of the Fallen Gods

    Chapter 1765 Tomb of the Fallen Gods


    ¡°The golden fruit tree isn¡¯t the end,¡± said Trajector Seeking.


    ¡°That¡¯s strange. Since the golden fruit tree isn¡¯t the end, why did the Cube automatically end the battle after plucking the golden apple?¡± Zhou Wen asked. Aww


    ¡°What do you think that place is? It¡¯s not some trash dimensional zone in Earth¡¯s universe, but a dimensional zone in the dimension.¡± Trajectory Seeking continued disdainfully, ¡°There¡¯s no teleportation nexus in the Lake of Oblivion. The only way to leave is to pluck the golden fruit. Only ignorant humans like you think that the fellows on the rankings are the only ones in the dimension? In fact, those fellows are just inferior fellows in the dimension. There are too many experts who can pluck the golden fruits. The reason there are still golden fruits left is that they are reserved for the Lake of Oblivion¡¯s exploration. However, they have all been plucked by ignorant humans like you. Now, unless you can really clear the level, you won¡¯t be able to leave the Lake of Oblivion.¡±


    ¡°It sounds like the dimension doesn¡¯t know much about the Lake of Oblivion. What you said is something the dimension had just learned about, right?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Trajectory Seeking didn¡¯t deny it as she curled her lips and said, ¡°Even in the dimension, the Lake of Oblivion is a famous existence. Many people know about it, but not many people dare explore it.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked curiously.


    ¡°Because that¡¯s the Tomb of the Fallen Gods,¡± said Trajectory Seeking. ¡°I never expected the dimension to have gods,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    The creatures in the dimension were no different from gods and devils to humans. Furthermore, among the many races in the dimension, there were ghosts and immortals.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that there was the concept of a god in a place like theirs.


    / Please Keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Humph, the gods of the dimension are completely different from the gods of you humans. To you humans, gods are just a form of spiritual faith that doesn¡¯t really exist. And in the dimension, gods are only a race, not something imaginary like what you humans imagine.¡± Ever since Trajectory Seeking had become his disciple, she felt uncomfortable beside Zhou Wen. Her words were even more biting than before.


    ¡°Then the Tomb of the Fallen Gods is where the Gods bury their clansmen? In that case, the Gods must know the place very well. Why don¡¯t they challenge themselves?¡± Zhou Wen asked the question in his mind.


    ¡°If the Gods hadn¡¯t completely gone extinct, why would that place be called the Tomb of the Fallen Gods?¡± Trajectory Seeking roughly explained the situation.


    The Gods were originally a very powerful race in the dimension, an existence that was comparable to the Immortals. When the Immortals and Gods fought for supremacy in the dimension, they were almost evenly matched for a long period of time.


    However, one day, the birthplace of the Gods was suddenly destroyed. The Gods became extinct as a result. Almost no God survived.


    There was no accurate explanation for how the Gods were destroyed.


    The most accepted explanation was that they had been exterminated by the Immortals, but the Immortals had never admitted to this matter, so no one could be sure of the actual situation.


    Many races in the dimension knew that it was an extremely majestic divine mountain in the past. The divine mountain was almost comparable to a world. It could accommodate all life, and there were countless magical objects inside.


    However, the divine mountain vanished overnight. The spot where the divine mountain was originally located turned into an unfathomable lake. Later on, many experts from the various races entered, hoping to figure out the secret of the Gods¡¯ overnight destruction, but they never returned-none returned.


    The Land of Oblivion referred to the place where the divine mountain sank. It also had the meaning of obliviating all things. No creature dared to enter.


    If not for the Cube activating the battle in the Land of Oblivion, the dimensional powerhouses probably wouldn¡¯t have dared enter.


    The dimension didn¡¯t know much more about the Land of Oblivion than humanity. After their previous analysis, they realized that the golden fruit was only an item used to leave the Land of Oblivion, not the true key.


    Even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses weren¡¯t willing to risk entering the Land of Oblivion. Otherwise, how could humans pluck the golden fruits?


    ¡°Now that you know the true secret of the Land of Oblivion, do you still dare challenge it?¡± Trajectory Seeking goaded Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Now that you mention it, I really don¡¯t dare,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Humph.¡± Trajectory Seeking was somewhat exasperated, but she knew that it was indeed difficult for Zhou Wen to clear the level now.


    Even the Apocalypse-grade big shots in the dimension didn¡¯t dare take the risk. As long as there was nothing wrong with Zhou Wen¡¯s brain, he definitely wouldn¡¯t choose to take the risk now.


    ¡°Do you dare?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°So what if I don¡¯t dare? I¡¯m not a teacher,¡± Trajectory Seeking said angrily.


    ¡°Great. As your teacher, I¡¯ll teach you something today,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You want to challenge the Land of Oblivion now?¡± Trajectory Seeking widened her eyes as she looked at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at a fool.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. As your teacher, I naturally have to teach you something you don¡¯t know. Otherwise, how can I be your teacher?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    He naturally didn¡¯t really want to teach Trajectory Seeking, nor would he risk his life for this. The reason he chose to challenge the level now was that he had seen something in the Land of Oblivion.


    Previously, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t paid much attention to the Land of Oblivion, but this time, when Ming Xiu and company attempted the level, Zhou Wen watched very seriously, especially when Ming Xiu attempted the level because Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    Although he had already taught Ming Xiu and company how to pluck the golden apples, he would have still been worried despite having 100% confidence.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen watched very seriously. This was also why he saw something that he originally believed couldn¡¯t exist in the dimension.


    It was a tiny palm symbol on the golden fruit tree. It was the symbol of a downloadable dungeon for the phone. It was quite surprising that the dimension had a tiny palm symbol.


    The origins of the phone were even more mysterious than Zhou Wen imagined. Even the dimension had a mark, so what kind of existence was the person who created the phone? Zhou Wen found it unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol after Qin Zhen cleared the level, but Zhong Ziya and Liu Yun beat him to it.


    However, it didn¡¯t matter. As long as he downloaded the tiny palm symbol and attempted the level in-game, he could still come out unscathed with the experience.


    Of course, there was another more important reason for Zhou Wen¡¯s confidence. He realized that the Sigh of the King was stronger than he had imagined. This gave him the confidence and guarantee.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you are ignorant or fearless. If you wish to die, I won¡¯t stop you. Don¡¯t blame me if you die. I didn¡¯t force you to go.¡± From Trajectory Seeking¡¯s point of view, if Zhou Wen really went, it would be no different from tempting fate.

 Chapter 1766 - New World

    Chapter 1766 New World


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he walked towards the Cube.


    It¡¯s been a while since I¡¯ve tried entering the Cube. Zhou Wen stood on the Cube and felt ambivalent. If he had a choice, he would rather game than take the risk himself.


    However, the dimensional zone this time had a different meaning. If he could download it, it would be a great boon to his future understanding of the dimension.


    As the Cube lit up, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure vanished.


    ¡°It¡¯s Zhou Wen!¡± The host, Su Yi, immediately shouted when she saw Zhou Wen¡¯s figure appear in the Lake of Fog. Her shouting ¡®Zhou Wen¡¯ seemed to have immense magical power as it attracted everyone¡¯s attention.


    Due to Ming Xiu and company, everyone in the Federation wanted to know what Zhou Wen looked like and what kind of person he was. They were just too curious.


    Their first impression didn¡¯t take their breath away; many people were somewhat disappointed.


    Zhou Wen looked withdrawn and handsomehe didn¡¯t have the wildness and charm like Zhong Ziya, nor was he as noble as Liu Yun who looked like the son of god. He didn¡¯t even have the youthfulness of Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan.


    The feeling Zhou Wen gave off was that he was a rather handsome ordinary person. If one had to say something good about him, it was that his figure wasn¡¯t bad. His slender and muscular figure was streamlined without any especially exaggerated muscles.


    / Please Keep reading on MYB0XNOVEL.COM


    ¡°Preposterous!¡± An Tianzuo slammed the table with a nasty expression.


    It was fine if Ming Xiu and company had attempted the level previously, but there were still golden fruits back then, so there wasn¡¯t much risk. However, now that the golden fruits had been plucked, no one knew what would happen if they entered. Exiting became a question.


    ¡°He¡¯s letting it get to his head after some tiny achievements. How can he do anything big in the future?¡± An Tianzuo was infuriated, and his tone was naturally nasty. ¡°Overseer, don¡¯t worry too much. With Feng Qiuyan and company, as well as his two brothers scouting ahead, Young Master Wen should have some confidence. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have gone in,¡± An Sheng consoled.


    ¡°Who¡¯s his brother? Are those fools worthy of being his brother?¡± An Tianzuo was even more infuriated. ¡°Is what those idiots did called scouting? That¡¯s more like creating a dead end. Only that punk has these riffraff that deserve being executed.¡±


    An Sheng didn¡¯t dare continue the conversation. He muttered softly under his breath-in a voice that could only be heard by himself, ¡°Right, and only you are worthy.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?¡± An Tianzuo glared at him.


    ¡°I said that Young Master Wen only has one brother. Those two fellows went overboard by shamelessly impersonating as one,¡± An Sheng hurriedly said, afire with noble indignation.


    ¡°Who¡¯s his brother? Do you think I, An Tianzuo, have such an idiot younger brother?¡± An Tianzuo snorted coldly and continued, ¡°Bring me the recently researched combat suit.¡±


    ¡°Overseer, what are you trying to do?¡± An Sheng was immediately alarmed.


    ¡°Nothing. Can¡¯t I take it out to take a look?¡± An Tianzuo said coldly, ¡°Ah Sheng, you¡¯ve been talking more and more recently. Do my orders have to get your approval?¡±


    ¡°Overseer, how would I dare? I¡¯ll get it now.¡± An Sheng hurriedly saluted and left, but he prayed inwardly. Please let nothing happen to Young Master Wen. Otherwise, this would be a bad joke. A life might even be lost.


    Zhou Wen floated above the lake and felt his body being suppressed by a strange force. This feeling wasn¡¯t unfamiliar. He had been to the dimension when he was weak. The dimension was filled with such power. Creatures below the Mythical stage had no space to survive in the dimension. It was impossible to even see what the world looked like.


    Humans on Earth could see the appearance of the Lake of Oblivion because the Cube¡¯s broadcast had screened the power¡¯s interference. People inside didn¡¯t share such benefits.


    However, with Zhou Wen¡¯s present standard, such powers naturally couldn¡¯t do a thing to him.


    Due to Trajectory Seeking¡¯s existence, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use any other identities. Some things couldn¡¯t be used. After some thought, he summoned a Companion Beast.


    The Companion Beast Zhou Wen summoned was Demonic Neonate, who had just woken up from her slumber.


    The last time Zhou Wen dug out the mysterious phone¡¯s charger in the ancient well, he had discovered a skeleton. The skeleton was wearing a purple crystal pendant. Demonic Neonate had entered an evolutionary state after swallowing the purple crystal. He had been unable to summon her. It was only recently when Zhou Wen was teaching Ming Xiu and company that he had sensed the reestablishment of a mental connection with Demonic Neonate.


    After evolving, Demonic Neonate had already reached the Calamity grade.


    Demonic Neonate: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Child of Dimension


    Life Soul: Supreme True Demon


    Wheel of Destiny: One Spin.


    Terror Form: Great Demon King (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Demon Domain (Heaven level)


    New World: Demon Realm


    Strength: 1000


    Speed: 1000


    Constitution: 1000


    Essence Energy: 1000


    Talent Skill: Demonic Sword, Heaven Shrouding Bell, Suona


    Companion Form: None


    Mystic Thearch¡¯s peak Calamity stats were 999. That sufficiently surprised Zhou Wen, making him believe that it was the apex of a Calamity creature. It was impossible for one to have higher stats.


    However, Demonic Neonate had actually evolved to the Heaven level. Furthermore, her stats were all at 1000. She had one more point than Mystic Thearch. More importantly, Demonic Neonate had a new ability, New World. He didn¡¯t know what it was for.


    According to past experience, Demonic Neonate had a Calamity Zone when she was at the Terror grade. Then, the New World ability that the Calamity-grade Demonic Neonate now had was probably an ability that only the Apocalypse grade had.


    Demonic Neonate was also one of the reasons Zhou Wen dared to enter to snap the picture.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s image didn¡¯t change much. She still looked like the purple-robed girl from before. She held the Demonic Sword in her arms, but the Heaven Shrouding Bell and suona had vanished. It was unknown where she had hidden them.


    Everyone found it novel that Zhou Wen had summoned a Companion Beast that resembled a human girl.


    Although the few humans who had successfully cleared the level previously had also used Companion Beasts, they had all appeared in weapon or armor form. The main combat strength remained human.


    Zhou Wen summoned his Companion Beast in its original form, probably planning on using it as his main combat strength. This was a first.


    As more and more Guardians and representatives appeared, the effects of human Companion Beasts seemed to weaken. Very few Companion Beasts could fight top-notch representatives. In such situations, the chances of Companion Beasts appearing were decreasing, especially top-notch battles that were carried by Companion Beasts.


    Many people were looking forward to seeing what abilities Zhou Wen¡¯s adorable and cold humanoid Companion Beast had.


    After Demonic Neonate came out, she floated beside Zhou Wen and glanced at the lake. The Demonic Sword in her arms suddenly jumped out of its scabbard and plunged into the lake.

 Chapter 1767 - Digging the Tree

    Chapter 1767 Digging the Tree


    The tiny Demonic Sword rushed into the lake without forming any ripples. Moments later, the lake suddenly rippled as the monster floated belly up.


    As the octopus-like monster died, the fog over the Lake of Fog dissipated, revealing a clean lake surface and the nearby island with the golden fruit tree on it.


    ¡°What a powerful Companion Beast!¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, it¡¯s fine if the people around Zhou Wen are that strong, but even his Companion Beast is crazy strong!¡±


    ¡°I beg for the origins of this Companion Beast.¡±


    ¡°Can Companion Beasts be that strong?¡±


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s first appearance stunned the entire Federation. It had been a long time since they had seen such a powerful Companion Beast appear. It comforted the people who were already starting to doubt the powers of Companion Beasts.


    However, people were still puzzled. Without the golden apple, what could Zhou Wen do even if he arrived in front of the golden fruit tree? Was he going to dig out the golden fruit tree and bring it back?


    Zhou Wen led Demonic Neonate towards the golden fruit tree. There was no other danger along the way as he successfully got ashore and arrived in front of the golden fruit tree.


    / Please Keep reading on MYBOXN0VEL.COM


    Everyone stared at Zhou Wen to see what plans he had. Without the golden apple, what could he do?


    In the next second, everyone widened their eyes as they saw Zhou Wen take out his phone and snap a picture of the golden fruit tree. He didn¡¯t look like he was clearing the level, but like a tourist who was taking a picture at a landmark as a memento.


    The dimension¡¯s dimensional zone that gave people a sense of danger suddenly didn¡¯t seem that dangerous.


    Is he there to clear the level or be on vacation? No one could help but have this question rise up in their minds.


    Zhou Wen took a few photos of the golden fruit tree. It was just for show. All he really needed was to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol on the golden fruit tree.


    After snapping the tiny palm symbol, the phone screen displayed the words ¡®downloading¡¯. It calmed Zhou Wen down significantly.


    Indeed, I can download the dungeon. Could it be that the phone¡¯s origins are related to the dimension? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    As he was thinking, he didn¡¯t idle. He summoned another Companion Beast.


    It was Imperial Lord Behemoth, who he hadn¡¯t used in a long time. Imperial Lord Behemoth, who had just reached the threshold of the Calamity grade, was naturally not as powerful as Demonic Neonate.


    However, Imperial Lord Behemoth was very suitable for physical labor.


    When people saw the majestic Imperial Lord Behemoth appear, they immediately thought of something. A thought couldn¡¯t help but appear in their minds. Don¡¯t tell me he really wants to dig up the golden fruit tree?


    Soon, they had an answer to their doubts. This was because Imperial Lord Behemoth had really begun digging the tree. Its huge and sharp claws grabbed at the roots of the golden fruit tree.


    With a clang, Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s powerful claws only left a white mark on the tree root. It couldn¡¯t even be considered damage.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised as he ordered Imperial Lord Behemoth to dig up the soil beside the tree root. Although it wasn¡¯t deep, there were obvious results. It dug out a little soil.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, he¡¯s really going to uproot the golden fruit tree!¡±


    ¡°What a ruthless person. Others only pluck apples, but he doesn¡¯t even spare the tree. What¡¯s the difference between that and digging up someone¡¯s ancestral grave?¡± ¡°Too ruthless¡­ But I like it¡­¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly as their attention was on the digging Imperial Lord Behemoth. They wanted to know if Imperial Lord Behemoth could dig out the golden fruit tree.


    No one paid attention to Zhou Wen who was gaming on his phone.


    Zhou Wen held the mysterious phone and kept paying attention to the download progress. Getting Imperial Lord Behemoth to dig up the tree was only to divert the attention of others. He didn¡¯t believe that digging up the tree could really clear the dimensional zone.


    The phone kept showing the download progress. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know when it would finish. All he could do was act calm as he watched Imperial Lord Behemoth dig the tree.


    He didn¡¯t wish for Imperial Lord Behemoth to dig too quickly. He didn¡¯t know what to do next if it really dug out the tree. Before using his phone to figure out the dimensional zone¡¯s situation, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare proceed further.


    Thankfully, the soil beneath the golden fruit tree was terrifyingly hard. The Calamity-grade Imperial Lord Behemoth was good at strength, but it could only dig out a small amount of soil every time. According to this, it would probably take at least half a day to dig out the golden fruit tree.


    Time ticked by. Everyone kept staring at the scene, but after more than two hours passing, the scene remained fixed on Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s tree digging. Many people became sleepy.


    ¡°I can¡¯t take it anymore. I¡¯ll go take a nap. Wake me up when he¡¯s done digging.¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, it will take at least a few hours to dig out the tree. I¡¯ll sleep for a while too.¡±


    Many people went to bed. After watching so many human challenges and digging for so long, it would be strange if they weren¡¯t sleepy.


    Zhou Wen was also burning with anxiety. The download was still stuck at the progress screen despite downloading for so long.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard a clang. It sounded like a metal clang. He was immediately given a fright as he hurriedly looked at Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    With a glance, he discovered something amiss.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth had dug half a meter deep into the soil beneath the tree, revealing a black object that was completely different in color from the soil.


    The metal clang was produced when Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s claws touched the black object.


    The spectators were also attracted by the loud clang. They also saw the black object and were puzzled as to what it was.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed it for a while and could only tell that it looked like metal or stone. Only a small portion was exposed, and most of it was still buried in the soil.


    Seeing that the thing didn¡¯t seem to pose any threat, Zhou Wen ordered Imperial Lord Behemoth to continue digging around the black object.


    It wasn¡¯t that Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to dig out the black object, but the hardness of the object wasn¡¯t inferior to the golden fruit tree. Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s claws couldn¡¯t leave any marks on it, so it was impossible for it to dig it up.


    The black object was bigger than Zhou Wen imagined. Imperial Lord Behemoth dug further past the black object, revealing its ever-increasing size as it dug. There was no end to the digging.


    After digging for several hours, it didn¡¯t manage to dig all the way to the edge. Instead, it dug out the surroundings of the golden fruit tree. Now, people could clearly see that the golden fruit tree was rooted in the black object. It was impossible to dig it out unless the black object was shattered. ¡°From the looks of it, it¡¯s impossible to uproot the golden fruit tree.¡± The spectators also saw Zhou Wen¡¯s predicament as they waited for his next move.

 Chapter 1768 - Three-Eyed Gods

    Chapter 1768 Three-Eyed Gods


    Zhou Wen looked at the black object below and frowned slightly. Before he could do anything, the Demonic Sword in Demonic Neonate¡¯s arms automatically flew out again.


    The tiny Demonic Sword charged straight at the roots of the golden fruit tree and plunged in with a plop.


    The Demonic Sword penetrated the hard golden fruit tree as it charged in like a drill and vanished in the blink of an eye. There was only a cracking sound coming from the hole as well as spewing powder.


    When did the Demonic Sword¡¯s offensive strength become so strong? Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    When Demonic Neonate first obtained the Demonic Sword, the Demonic Sword¡¯s strength wasn¡¯t that powerful. It now had such powerful strength. The golden fruit tree that even the Calamity-grade Imperial Lord Behemoth couldn¡¯t damage was easily penetrated by the Demonic Sword. This was just the Demonic Sword¡¯s strength, not Demonic Neonate¡¯s strength augmenting it.


    From the looks of it, the power of the Demonic Sword can grow with Demonic Neonate¡¯s growth. Zhou Wen was very envious of Demonic Neonate¡¯s ability.


    Zhou Wen was only envious, but the spectators were already shocked speechless. The destructive power displayed by the Demonic Sword was unbelievable.


    Boom!


    Before long, there was a loud boom. The golden fruit tree that was rooted in the black matter began to crack from its roots. The entire tree collapsed and fell to the ground.


    / Please Keep reading on MYBOXN0VEL.C0M


    After the golden fruit tree collapsed, a pitch-black hole appeared where it originally was. It led straight down, but there was no end in sight. It was pitch-black like a bottomless abyss.


    Could it be that I found the key to this dimensional zone by chance? Zhou Wen was alarmed. He had dug the tree to stall for time, but to his surprise, he had discovered something


    ¡°So there¡¯s a whole different world beneath the golden fruit tree. Zhou Wen¡¯s digging of the tree really has a deeper meaning. Professor Gu, what do you think will be inside the hole?¡± Su Yi completely misunderstood Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions, but her view was shared by most people. Everyone believed that Zhou Wen had long determined the existence of the underground cave.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Everything is unknown,¡± Professor Gu said with a heavy expression. ¡°If we had those alien races as a reference during the earlier attempts, everything that Zhou Wen is encountering now is unknown. The difficulty is completely different from before. I only hope that he can return safely.¡±


    Many people watching the program stared nervously at the scene. Just as Professor Gu had said, every step Zhou Wen took was a challenge of the unknown. It was even more nerve-racking than the battles with expected outcomes.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the hole and didn¡¯t plan on entering. He was just stalling for time. He had to wait for the download of the phone dungeon to be completed.


    He didn¡¯t move, but Demonic Neonate moved. She jumped into the bottomless abyss. Zhou Wen was alarmed but it was too late to summon her back.


    After Demonic Neonate jumped into the hole, her connection with him was immediately severed. He could only sense Demonic Neonate¡¯s existence, but she couldn¡¯t transmit any information.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen summoned Imperial Lord Behemoth and jumped in.


    With his understanding of Demonic Neonate, she probably wouldn¡¯t be stupid enough to send herself to her death. There might not be the imagined danger down there.


    ¡°That punk¡­ He¡¯s a brainless boor¡­¡± An Tianzuo nearly exploded from anger. It was equivalent to tempting fate by not doing the most basic reconnaissance or probes before jumping in.


    An Sheng didn¡¯t dare say a word. He didn¡¯t know how to explain Zhou Wen¡¯s actions which were simply too rash.


    ¡°Sigh, he¡¯s still too young. He was blinded by his previous successes. He didn¡¯t even do the basic reconnaissance work and jumped in just like that.¡± Professor Gu couldn¡¯t help but sigh and shake his head.


    This time, even many of Professor Gu¡¯s haters felt that what he said made sense. It looked like Zhou Wen had made a very rash choice.


    How could they know that Zhou Wen had no choice? He couldn¡¯t let Demonic Neonate take the risk herself.


    As Zhou Wen jumped into the hole, the Cube¡¯s screen plunged into darkness. It lasted for a long time before it suddenly lit up.


    As the light was too blinding, people¡¯s eyes couldn¡¯t immediately adapt to it. All they felt was a blinding light in front of them, preventing them from seeing anything. It took a while for their eyes to gradually adapt to the dazzling light before they gradually saw the scene clearly.


    The scene that entered their vision was shocking. It was a huge palace that was many times bigger than a human palace. Every pillar was a thousand feet tall and the various artifacts were shockingly large. Even the steps in the palace were more than ten meters tall.


    At the end of the stairs was a throne that was nearly a hundred meters tall. On it was a humanoid creature wrapped in golden armor.


    The creature looked like a human, but its body was far bigger than a human¡¯s.


    In front of this huge palace and creature, Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate were as tiny as ants. Even the humans watching the battle through the livestream couldn¡¯t help but feel extremely tiny.


    Suddenly, the golden giant on the throne opened its eyes. Its eyes were blue like the sea, and on its forehead was a vertical eye with a golden pupil. Its three eyes stared coldly at Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate like a god was looking down at mortals.


    The average person felt that the golden-armored giant¡¯s aura was shocking, like a god or devil. However, the dimensional powerhouses watching the battle were alarmed and nearly cried out.


    ¡°Three-Eyed Gods!¡± Trajectory Seeking¡¯s composure was clearly inferior to those old monsters as she blurted out.


    ¡°What Three-Eyed Gods?¡± Li Xuan asked her.


    ¡°That¡¯s the legendary Gods that vanished overnight. That golden vertical eye is the proof of the Gods¡¯ noble bloodline. I never expected the Gods to still remain¡­ There are even pure-blooded Gods that live in this world¡­¡± Trajectory Seeking continued with a complicated expression, ¡°Zhou Wen probably won¡¯t be able to return.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing impressive about the races in the dimension. It¡¯s not like Old Zhou hasn¡¯t killed one before. What¡¯s so impressive about the Gods?¡± Li Xuan curled his lips.


    ¡°What do you know? Having a golden vertical eye represents the noblest bloodline of the Gods. They are born powerhouses and possess unparalleled strength. They are extremely rare existences among the Gods. They are existences that can fight many of the strongest alien races. How can a mere human fight them? Zhou Wen is dead,¡± Trajectory Seeking said with certainty.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to say that that thing is at the Apocalypse grade?¡± Li Xuan asked with a trembling voice.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the Apocalypse grade. Even among the Apocalypse-grade creatures, the Three-Eyed Gods are the strongest existences. Back then, it was an existence that could fight the Immortals at their peak¡­¡± Trajectory Seeking sighed.

 Chapter 1769 - The Abnormal Demonic Neonate

    Chapter 1769 The Abnormal Demonic Neonate


    ¡°There are indeed survivors from the Three-Eyed Gods.¡± Holy Lord Trajectory wasn¡¯t too surprised to see the Three-Eyed Gods.


    Even the powerful Immortals didn¡¯t have the ability to destroy the Gods along with their divine mountain back then; therefore, there was definitely something amiss.


    However, after so many years, no one could figure out the truth.


    Now that a golden Three-Eyed God had appeared, Holy Lord Trajectory wanted to use this opportunity to understand the truth behind the disappearance of the Gods.


    The other alien factions had the same thoughts as they paid attention to the Cube¡¯s screen.


    However, from their point of view, a mere human was doomed. It was impossible for him to cause much of a stir in front of the Three-Eyed God that possessed a golden vertical eye.


    The only thing they were interested in was how the Three-Eyed God would kill Zhou Wen. From this, they could tell how much strength the Three-Eyed God retained.


    The moment Zhou Wen saw the Three-Eyed God, he felt like he was a father being tricked by his child. His first thought was to immediately escape, but the temple seemed to imprison him with some special power. He couldn¡¯t use spatial skills to leave.


    It wasn¡¯t an ordinary taboo rule. Otherwise, the Teacher Domain would definitely be able to crack it.


    / Please Keep reading 0n MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s experience, that power was likely a very pure power. It was so pure that other power determinants couldn¡¯t exist in it. Therefore, in such a pure power domain, no ability could be used unless one¡¯s power broke through the purity of this power.


    Neonate, oh Neonate, you really screwed me over this time. Zhou Wen attempted to retreat ¨C his body wasn¡¯t restrained.


    The omnipresent pure power that filled the entire temple suppressed all abilities, but it didn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen¡¯s body at all. Even Zhou Wen marveled at this strange characteristic.


    However, he didn¡¯t have the time to study this now. All he wanted to do was stay as far away from the Three-Eyed God as possible. Even if he couldn¡¯t leave the temple, it was better to stay away from him.


    The aura emitted by the Three-Eyed God made him feel extreme danger. Although he couldn¡¯t determine the exact level of the Three-Eyed God, Zhou Wen had a strong feeling that he was an Apocalypse-grade existence.


    He reached out to grab Demonic Neonate¡¯s tiny hand and wanted to pull her back with him, but Demonic Neonate had no intention of retreating at all. She stood there without moving as she stared at the Three-Eyed God.


    Under everyone¡¯s gaze, the Three-Eyed God slowly stood up.


    He originally sat there with an extremely oppressive aura, but after standing up, the aura became even more terrifying. Even just watching from the livestream screen made him feel like a godking who controlled everything. It was as though a casual glance from him could kill all life.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart was in his throat, but despite pulling hard, Demonic Neonate remained motionless as she continued looking at the Three-Eyed God.


    Has this child¡­ gone silly¡­ That shouldn¡¯t be the case¡­ Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    No one knew Demonic Neonate¡¯s personality better than Zhou Wen. She liked to hide in the shadows and sneak an attack. How could she not weigh the pros and cons and insist on standing there waiting for death? Could it be that Demonic Neonate has a plan? Zhou Wen looked at the Three-Eyed God who was slowly walking down the stairs. He gritted his teeth and stood there motionless.


    Neonate, oh Neonate, don¡¯t screw me over. Zhou Wen knew that even if he didn¡¯t hide his strength, he only had a 1% chance of survival in a head-on battle with the Three-Eyed God.


    This 1% chance was only thanks to Sigh of the King, not because his strength was enough to survive.


    I should have known that something would happen every time I enter a true dimensional zone. I shouldn¡¯t have come. Zhou Wen sighed inwardly, but he could only wait for a miracle to happen.


    Is a mere human worthy of having such a noble God get up to kill him? Could it be that the power of the Three-Eyed God has already weakened to such an extent? Holy Lord Trajectory frowned slightly.


    It wasn¡¯t just him. Basically, the alien powerhouses who knew of the Gods¡¯ former glory believed that it was beneath the Three-Eyed God to get up and walk down the stairs.


    Golden Three-Eyed Gods were at the peak of the Apocalypse grade. They could kill creatures below the Apocalypse grade without even moving their fingers. Even if there were thousands of creatures below the Apocalypse grade, they would be reduced to ashes with a mere thought.


    Upon seeing the golden Three-Eyed God get up and walk down, the alien powerhouses basically believed that his strength had weakened tremendously. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to do such a thing.


    Ordinary humans didn¡¯t know how terrifying the golden Three-Eyed God was as they discussed how Zhou Wen was going to kill him.


    ¡°I wonder if the City Lord will personally take action this time¡­ Or will he let that adorable Companion Beast kill the golden giant¡­¡± In front of Guide City¡¯s Cube, many people were discussing this problem. Clearly, they were very confident in Zhou Wen.


    If three of his students could easily enter the rankings, how bad could Zhou Wen be as their teacher?


    ¡°Ignorant humans, Zhou Wen is dead,¡± Trajectory Seeking said with a cold snort.


    She wasn¡¯t convinced about Zhou Wen despite taking him as her master. She refused to address him as ¡®Teacher.¡¯ However, her words came from the bottom of her heart.


    ¡°Young lady, don¡¯t think that the giant is very strong just because he¡¯s tall and mighty. Among the monsters our City Lord Zhou has killed, there are many who are much bigger than him. There¡¯s nothing impressive about him. It will probably only take two or three strikes,¡± an elder beside her informed Trajectory Seeking with a smile.


    ¡°Two to three strikes? I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need for that,¡± Trajectory Seeking said with a sneer.


    ¡°True. Our City Lord Zhou is a godlike figure. A single strike should be enough for such a giant. At most, two strikes,¡± the elder said with a chuckle, believing that Trajectory Seeking agreed with him.


    Many citizens beside him echoed, feeling that the elder was right.


    Most ordinary people in Guide City treated Zhou Wen as a god. In their hearts, Zhou Wen was an invincible existence. Killing the giant would be easy.


    Keep laughing. Let¡¯s see if you can still laugh when you see Zhou Wen smacked to death later. Trajectory Seeking couldn¡¯t be bothered to argue with such ignorant citizens as she thought disdainfully.


    ¡°Is that three-eyed giant very strong?¡± Li Xuan wasn¡¯t an ordinary person. He could naturally sense that the Three-Eyed God was very strong, so he asked Trajectory Seeking worriedly.


    ¡°Strong? You can be a little more confident and use an affirmative tone.¡± Trajectory Seeking finally grasped an opportunity and said immediately, ¡°The golden Three-Eyed Gods at their peak were unparalleled and powerful existences in the dimension. They were almost synonymous with invincibility¡­¡±


    As Trajectory Seeking spoke, her voice suddenly came to a halt. Her eyes, which were still glued to the Cube¡¯s screen, gradually widened. Even at her limits, they were still expanding. Her eye sockets almost failed to contain her eyeballs.

 Chapter 1770 - Covenant of God

    Chapter 1770 Covenant of God


    The golden Three-Eyed God slowly walked down the stairs and arrived in front of Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate. At the same time, he pressed down with his palm.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart skipped a beat as he had the urge to draw his sword. However, Demonic Neonate¡¯s tiny hand tugged at him slightly as though telling him not to be nervous.


    I¡¯ll believe you this once. Don¡¯t screw me over, Neonate! Zhou Wen held back the urge to draw his sword and thought to himself.


    The spectators watched as the golden Three-Eyed God pressed down with his palm, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t move. Their hearts immediately rose to their throats.


    However, to everyone¡¯s surprise, the golden Three-Eyed God¡¯s palm didn¡¯t strike Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate. Instead, it extended in front of them.


    The way the golden Three-Eyed God bent down and extended his hand didn¡¯t look like a provocation. Instead, it looked like a human male inviting a lady to dance.


    This action was somewhat strange to humans, but to the alien big shots who knew the Gods well, they were already dumbfounded.


    Trajectory Seeking¡¯s eyes widened as though she had seen a ghost.


    She naturally knew that this action wasn¡¯t an invitation to dance, but it was also an invitation etiquette. It was also a ritual unique to the Gods.


    / Please Keep reading 0n MYB0XNOVEL.C0M


    Zhou Wen was still looking at the terrifying creature in front of him, unsure what he meant. Just as he was pondering over it, Demonic Neonate pulled his hand slightly, gesturing for him to raise his hand and meet the palm of the golden Three-Eyed God.


    Zhou Wen knew that Demonic Neonate wouldn¡¯t harm him. He hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to extend his hand to meet the golden Three-Eyed God¡¯s huge palm.


    When the golden Three-Eyed God saw Zhou Wen extend his hand, a strange glint flashed in his eyes. However, it only lasted a moment. His actions didn¡¯t change, nor did his palm move.


    Finally, Zhou Wen pressed his palm on the hand of the golden Three-Eyed God, or rather, on the tip of one of his fingers. The Three-Eyed God was just too big. A finger was much bigger than Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    At the instant the two palms touched, the golden Three-Eyed God emitted a strange golden divine light that wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s palm like countless golden threads.


    Instantly, golden divine light shone brightly, causing the entire screen to be filled with golden light. It was almost impossible to see the scene inside.


    ¡°Covenant of God¡­ The golden Three-Eyed God¡­ and a human¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± Trajectory Seeking stared blankly at the dazzling golden scene. Her brain couldn¡¯t function anymore.


    The Gods were a very ancient race in the dimension. They were also a unique existence among many strange lifeforms.


    Gods were born with peak strength. They weren¡¯t like ordinary alien races that could continue raising their strength.


    The only way for Gods to continue raising their strength was through the Covenant of God. This was a ritual or contract that only Gods could use.


    The other races in the dimension couldn¡¯t use the Covenant of God, not because it was profound, but because the Covenant of God required the special physiques of a God to be of use. Without the special physiques of the Gods, the Covenant of God couldn¡¯t be reached.


    The physique of the Gods was originally that of the three-eyed giant, but once the Covenant of God was made, a God¡¯s body would undergo a strange change.


    Amidst the golden light, the body of the golden Three-Eyed God gradually changed. In a moment, he no longer looked human. Furthermore, his body was rapidly shrinking.


    Soon, the golden Three-Eyed God vanished. Only a very special golden trident remained in Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    The golden trident was somewhat similar to a Heaven Scorcher Halberd. It was completely made of gold, and at the point of contact, there was a golden gem that resembled an eye.


    The trident was covered in mysterious and strange patterns that shimmered with a soul-stirring glow, as though it was a divine artifact used by gods.


    No, it should be said that this was a divine artifact, a weapon formed by a God.


    Zhou Wen held the golden trident and felt the majestic power that resembled an endless sea of stars inside. He was stunned.


    The golden trident¡¯s strength was just too powerful. It was so powerful that Zhou Wen felt that his strength was trivial.


    Without a doubt, the golden Three-Eyed God that had transformed into the golden trident was an Apocalypse-grade existence. Such a powerful existence had actually taken the initiative to transform into his weapon.


    Or rather, he had taken the initiative to transform into Demonic Neonate¡¯s weapon. This left Zhou Wen in disbelief. He had already overestimated Demonic Neonate¡¯s origins, but now, he had no choice but to reevaluate her origins.


    Zhou Wen could tell that the golden Three-Eyed God had originally chosen Demonic Neonate. It was only because of Demonic Neonate¡¯s choice that the golden Three-Eyed God ultimately made a covenant with Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen could tell, but others couldn¡¯t. Everyone only saw the golden giant take the initiative to transform into Zhou Wen¡¯s weapon. Many people exclaimed.


    ¡°Young lady, what did I say? Our City Lord Zhou is a godlike figure. That giant knows how powerful City Lord Zhou is and took the initiative to acknowledge him as his master, turning him into our City Lord Zhou¡¯s weapon¡­¡± The elder who had spoken to Trajectory Seeking previously wore a look as though it was only right. It was as though the golden Three-Eyed God was poor in acumen if he hadn¡¯t acknowledged Zhou Wen as his master.


    Trajectory Seeking was rendered speechless. She didn¡¯t know how to refute. She didn¡¯t even have the mood to refute. At this moment, she hadn¡¯t recovered from her shock.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Trajectory Seeking. The experts of the six Holy races, the Immortals, the Ghosts, and the Spirits were dumbfounded. They couldn¡¯t recover from their shock for a long time.


    When the Gods were at their peak, the Covenant of God had also been used, but most of them were low-level gods who used the Covenant of God to form a covenant with other alien races.


    Gods were divided into green, blue, white, and gold levels according to the color of the vertical eye. The green-eyed Gods were the weakest, but they were also born at the Calamity grade.


    The white-eyed Gods were born at the Apocalypse grade, so it was almost impossible for them to form an alliance with other races, much less the strongest golden Three-Eyed Gods.


    Typically, the Gods that formed a covenant with other races were mostly green-eyed and blue-eyed Gods. Even so, once a green-eyed God was willing to form a covenant with the other races, they would be in high demand.


    If one wasn¡¯t an Apocalypse-grade big shot, it was very rare for them to obtain the favor of the green-eyed God.


    The Apocalypse-grade big shots were naturally not fools. The Calamity-grade green-eyed Gods were useless to them, but after using the Covenant of God, they became weapons that could grow. Furthermore, they were weapons with high intelligence. They were incomparable to ordinary weapons.


    Now, a human youth had actually been acknowledged by the golden Three-Eyed God and formed the Covenant of God, becoming a weapon for the human youth. How could they not be surprised?


    Throughout the history of the Gods, such a thing was virtually unprecedented.

 Chapter 1771 - Gods’ New Sovereign

    Chapter 1771 Gods¡¯ New Sovereign


    My dear baby Neonate, I really didn¡¯t dote on you for nothing¡­ Zhou Wen wished he could hug Demonic Neonate and kiss her twice. Just as he was secretly delighted, he suddenly felt the golden trident in his hand tremble.


    The golden gem on the golden trident suffused a strange glow as the tip of the trident automatically pointed in the direction of the throne.


    Is it trying to get me to ascend the throne? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he walked towards the throne with Demonic Neonate in one hand and the trident in the other.


    The Cube¡¯s livestream continued as the Earth and the dimension paid attention to Zhou Wen¡¯s every move.


    When Zhou Wen arrived in front of the throne and leaped up, the huge temple suddenly trembled violently.


    Zhou Wen also wanted to sit on the throne to appear more imposing, but unfortunately, the throne was just too huge. He would only look ridiculous if he really sat on it.


    As the temple trembled, the Cube¡¯s screen slowly zoomed out. The temple became smaller and smaller on the screen before the scene returned to the golden fruit tree that had been sliced apart. Then, it continued pulling away, allowing people to oversee the entire island.


    The entire island was trembling violently as though there was an earthquake. The surrounding lake water surged, forming waves that constantly smashed into the island.


    As for the island itself, it started floating. Huge cracks appeared over the island, as though it would crumble at any moment.


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    Boom!


    Just as people were worried, the island began to crumble. Rubble kept peeling off from the rising island and plunged into the lake.


    The island rose higher and higher as the crumbling intensified, but the speed at which it crumbled wasn¡¯t as fast as it rose. The island stood like a mountain peak above the lake as many collapsed spots revealed the black object Zhou Wen had dug out.


    When the rocks outside had completely peeled off, people finally saw the true appearance of the island. Or rather, it wasn¡¯t an island at all, but a black mountain.


    The entire lake was filled with rocks that fell from the mountain. The lake stirred as the mountain rose higher and higher, becoming more and more majestic. It tore through the clouds and looked down at the endless sea of clouds.


    At the peak of the mountain, a huge palace slowly appeared.


    ¡°The Gods¡¯ divine mountain that went missing¡­¡± Trajectory Seeking was stunned by this series of changes. She only stared at the black divine mountain in a daze.


    The mountain tore through layers of clouds and rose to an unknown height. It stood high above the clouds. The huge and mysterious palace emitted a strange gentle glow, like a soul palace that was independent of the world.


    When the divine mountain stopped trembling, the Cube¡¯s screen zoomed back at the divine mountain from a closer angle.


    At that moment, people saw huge figures appear above the divine mountain as though they had drilled out of the ground.


    Soon, people could clearly see that the huge figures were three-eyed giants.


    Although the new three-eyed giants weren¡¯t as tall as the golden three-eyed giant from before, they were still more than a hundred meters tall.


    However, their vertical eyes were mostly green and blue. Only a very small number of them were silver in color.


    Golden vertical eyes like the golden three-eyed giant¡¯s were nowhere to be seen on them.


    More and more huge figures appeared, soon covering the divine mountain with countless numbers.


    The towering divine mountain couldn¡¯t accommodate the large number of gigantic figures. Most green-eyed Gods appeared at the foot of the mountain.


    After an unknown period of time, huge figures covered the top and bottom of the divine mountain.


    The square in front of the temple was filled with white-eyed Gods.


    Just as everyone was reeling in shock, countless three-eyed giants suddenly genuflected in the direction of the temple. They placed a hand on their chests and lowered their heads as they shouted in unison, ¡°Your arrival is welcomed, unparalleled new king.¡±


    The shouts shook the world. The entire dimension could hear the awe-inspiring sounds.


    The expressions of the experts from the various races in the dimension changed. As for most of the humans, they were pleasantly surprised and even euphoric.


    A human was actually treated as a king in the dimension. How glorious was that?


    Before Zhou Wen, everyone believed that the races in the dimension were lifeforms that transcended humanity. It was impossible for humans to be mentioned in the same breath as them. They should be grateful for any favor they received.


    However, what Zhou Wen had done today completely overturned the average person¡¯s understanding.


    They suddenly realized that not only could humans be recipients of resources donated by the races of the dimension, but they could also become supreme existences that were worshiped by countless powerful dimensional creatures.


    When had a human ever received such treatment? The spectating humans were stunned.


    It wasn¡¯t just the humans who were stunned. Even the various dimensional bigwigs were stunned.


    That was the invincible race of Gods, a race that had once almost reached the apex of the dimension. Yet, they actually acknowledged a human as their new sovereign. This was something they didn¡¯t dare imagine.


    ¡°Long live our sovereign¡­ Long live the Gods¡­¡± The thousands of Gods on the divine mountain shouted in unison, their voices reverberating across the dimension.


    With shouts that shook the world, the Cube¡¯s screen changed again and switched to the Cube¡¯s ranking.


    Without any suspense, first place changed to two simple words¡ª¡±Zhou Wen.¡±


    These two extremely simple words and the simple name shocked the human world and the dimension in that instant.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a good mood.


    He was indeed very happy when the myriad Gods worshiped him.


    However, after the worship ended, the Gods that covered the mountain vanished like they had been dusted. In the blink of an eye, only Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate remained on the entire divine mountain with the golden trident in hand.


    What a scam! Only then did Zhou Wen react and let out a wail.


    The Gods that filled the mountain just now weren¡¯t real Gods at all. They were just illusions condensed from unyielding wills.


    When the new king of the Gods appeared, the unyielding will finally earned liberation and completely dissipated.


    They were liberated in satisfaction, but now that the entire world knew that Zhou Wen had become the new king of the Gods, wouldn¡¯t he have to face the wrath of the entire dimension? Sadly, he was a commander without an army.


    A human had become the king of the Gods, and the Gods had once been one of the strongest races in the dimension. How could the old fellows in the dimension tolerate this?


    Now, Zhou Wen only wanted to know if he could leave the divine mountain and return to Earth.


    However, the outcome chilled Zhou Wen¡¯s heart. The Cube¡¯s challenge had already ended, but he wasn¡¯t teleported back to Earth. Instead, he remained in the temple.

 Chapter 1772 - Grim Demon’s Story

    Chapter 1772 Grim Demon¡¯s Story


    On the divine mountain, Zhou Wen got Demonic Neonate to summon Grim Demon as he asked with a smile, ¡°Grim Demon, how have I treated you all this while?¡±


    ¡°Not¡­ bad¡­¡± Grim Demon stammered, but he cursed inwardly. You still have the nerve to ask how you¡¯ve treated me? Don¡¯t you know how you¡¯ve been treating me?


    ¡°It¡¯s just not bad?¡± Zhou Wen said with a sullen expression.


    Grim Demon was alarmed as he hurriedly forced a smile and said, ¡°Not only is it not bad, but it¡¯s really good. It¡¯s so good that I¡¯m speechless. It¡¯s like having a second parent.¡±


    Only then did Zhou Wen nod in satisfaction. ¡°Since you know that I¡¯m really good to you, it¡¯s time for you to do something.¡±


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Grim Demon looked at Zhou Wen warily.


    ¡°Take a look at this place first,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°This is¡­ the divine mountain of the Gods¡­¡± After Grim Demon carefully looked around, his expression changed drastically. ¡°Why did you bring Master to such a place¡­ Don¡¯t you know¡­¡±


    Halfway through his sentence, Grim Demon seemed to realize something and suddenly shut up.


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    ¡°What don¡¯t I know?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon and said slowly.


    ¡°Nothing.¡± Grim Demon shut up, clearly unwilling to reveal anything more related to Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°You can choose not to say anything, but it¡¯s best you figure out what¡¯s going on.¡± Zhou Wen raised the golden trident in his hand in front of Grim Demon and continued, ¡°This is the only surviving God on the divine mountain. And now, he has become my weapon. As for me, I¡¯ve been left on this divine mountain by the Cube. I can¡¯t return to Earth. I think you know what will happen next better than me.¡±


    ¡°What did you say? This is a weapon formed by a golden God. Would a golden God choose to become your weapon?¡± Grim Demon wore a look of disbelief.


    ¡°Of course, he became my weapon partially thanks to Neonate,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°What do you mean by partially thanks to Master? I think it¡¯s clearly all thanks to Master,¡± Grim Demon immediately corrected.


    ¡°No matter who contributed, I¡¯m now the wielder of this weapon. Furthermore, I¡¯m now stuck in the dimension. Neonate naturally has to stay here. Now, the entire dimension knows that I¡¯ve become the owner of the divine mountain and possess this golden weapon.¡±


    ¡°Fool, didn¡¯t I tell you not to expose Master¡¯s existence? How can you take her to participate in the Cube battle¡­¡± Grim Demon cursed in exasperation.


    ¡°Apart from that, do you have anything else to say? If not, wait to die with your master,¡± Zhou Wen interrupted Grim Demon and said expressionlessly.


    Grim Demon immediately fell silent as his expression changed for a while before he sighed and said, ¡°You¡¯ve gotten it wrong. Even if I tell you everything about Master, it will still be useless for your current situation. It might even be more dangerous. If you expose Master because of this, I can only say that you are really stupid.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t tell me, how do you know that it won¡¯t help me?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush as he said casually.


    ¡°Alright, actually, what I know isn¡¯t bad, but there¡¯s something I can tell you with certainty. The reason the divine mountain and the Gods vanished overnight has a lot to do with Master,¡± Grim Demon said helplessly.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be delighted when he saw Grim Demon finally relent.


    Zhou Wen had grown increasingly curious about Demonic Neonate¡¯s origins. However, there were too few people who knew her origins. Grim Demon was definitely the one who knew most about the truth, but he was too tight-lipped. Even if Zhou Wen threatened him with his life, Grim Demon refused to say a word. It was rare for him to be willing to say anything about Demonic Neonate.


    Grim Demon wore a conflicted expression. After a while, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you a story.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°In the past, there was a hunter who hunted every day for survival. One day, when he was hunting, he saw a wolf biting a rabbit. As for the rabbit, it was a mother who had just given birth. In its nest, there were a few kits who were clamoring for food. When the kits saw their mother by the nest, they crawled out of their nests, hoping to be breastfed, but they couldn¡¯t understand that not only was their mother in danger, but even they themselves would become food for the hungry wolf.¡± With that said, Grim Demon stared at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°If you were the hunter, what would you do?¡±


    ¡°Kill that wolf and save the rabbit and its kits,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Alright, if the hunter saves the rabbit and its children, that wolf will go hungry, and it might also be the mother of a few wolf cubs. Without food, it and its children will starve to death. If you know this, will you still save the rabbit and those kits?¡± Grim Demon asked again.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Wen answered without any hesitation.


    This was an unsolvable problem to begin with. From different angles, be it whether Zhou Wen saved them or not, it was wrong. Therefore, he didn¡¯t need to think too much. All he needed to do was be himself.


    ¡°Very good. You saved that rabbit and its kits. The wolf was killed by you, and the wolf cubs starved to death. After that, the rabbits no longer had any natural enemies. They constantly reproduced and their numbers constantly increased. The resources originally available were no longer able to satisfy the rabbits¡¯ appetite. They couldn¡¯t fill their stomachs, so the rabbits would group up and eat the crops you planted, causing the crops you planted to be wiped out by harvest time. You wouldn¡¯t have any food to pass the winter. What would you choose?¡± Grim Demon continued posing difficult questions to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°In that case, I made the wrong choice from the beginning. I shouldn¡¯t have saved that rabbit.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t usually a stubborn person. Although he could come up with reasons to refute Grim Demon, he didn¡¯t do so. Instead, he changed his train of thought.


    ¡°Alright, if you don¡¯t save the rabbits, the wolf will have plenty of food after hunting the rabbits. The wolf cubs will quickly grow and give birth to more wolves. When that happens, the entire mountain will be filled with wolves. Ignoring hunting in the mountains, even living in the mountains will be very dangerous. Perhaps the wolf pack will rush into your house and tear you apart for food. Is this the outcome you want?¡± Grim Demon sneered.


    If it were an ordinary person, they would only blame Grim Demon for coming up with unsolvable problems. However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so. After some thought, he said, ¡°I can tame that wolf. At the same time, with the help of the wolf, I can hunt a certain number of rabbits and maintain the number of rabbits within a certain range. This way, the rabbits will not overbreed and the wolves won¡¯t be a threat to me.¡±


    Only then did Grim Demon nod as though he was pleased with his answer. ¡°I hope you can make the same choice when you encounter the same thing in the future and not act on impulse.¡±


    ¡°And then?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to discuss this with Grim Demon. All he wanted to know was what Grim Demon¡¯s story had to do with Demonic Neonate.

 Chapter 1773 - White Jade Pillar

    Chapter 1773 White Jade Pillar


    ¡°Eventually, someone saved the rabbits and reared the wolf. From then on, the world was beautiful,¡± Grim Demon said sarcastically.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Zhou Wen felt that the story wasn¡¯t over.


    ¡°Of course not. A wolf is ultimately a wolf, not a dog, but that¡¯s not the most terrifying thing. Sometimes, rabbits might not really be rabbits. That¡¯s what¡¯s most terrifying,¡± Grim Demon said with a sneer.


    ¡°It¡¯s best if you finish your story.¡± Zhou Wen had roughly noticed something.


    ¡°I¡¯m done. You should be able to guess what will happen next,¡± Grim Demon said as he glanced at Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the rabbit?¡± Zhou Wen had guessed that the Gods were likely the wolf. As for Demonic Neonate, or rather, a race that Demonic Neonate represented, they were hunters. As for the rabbit, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Grim Demon asked.


    ¡°Immortals?¡± Zhou Wen guessed, but he wasn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°They look as cute as rabbits, but in fact, they are even more terrifying than wolves.¡± Grim Demon didn¡¯t say it out loud, but it was already considered tacit agreement.


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    After a pause, Grim Demon continued, ¡°Now, you should understand why I repeatedly emphasized that we mustn¡¯t let Master be exposed, right?¡± ¡°I understand, but she¡¯s already exposed. Furthermore, I¡¯m still trapped in the dimension and can¡¯t leave. Do you think the Immortals will come here?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t have the ability to leave the dimension. If the Cube didn¡¯t send him back, he could return himself.


    Others might not be able to do it, but Zhou Wen, who had the Mystic Thearch Companion Beast, could easily break through the spatial barrier. It wasn¡¯t difficult to return. He only wanted to obtain more information regarding Demonic Neonate from Grim Demon.


    Now, he finally knew Demonic Neonate¡¯s origins. It was even bigger than Zhou Wen had imagined. Demonic Neonate or the race that Demonic Neonate belonged to was originally an existence that could suppress the Immortals and Gods.


    ¡°Perhaps, perhaps not. The Immortals are no longer the original Immortals. That rebellious Immortal is no longer in the world. With what Master has become, perhaps no Immortal can recognize her,¡± Grim Demon said after some thought. ¡°However, it¡¯s best you leave immediately. It¡¯s better to be safe than sorry.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this thing can fight an Immortal powerhouse?¡± Zhou Wen said as he shook the golden trident in his hand.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say. If the traitor from back then is still around, this thing wouldn¡¯t pose any threat to her. Otherwise, the Gods wouldn¡¯t have been in oblivion for so long. If she¡¯s not around, this thing might still be able to scare those fellows,¡± Grim Demon said.


    ¡°Huh?¡± Zhou Wen frowned slightly.


    ¡°What else do you want? Although I¡¯ve been away from the dimension for a long time and don¡¯t know much about the Immortals¡¯ present strength, for them to be capable of suppressing the six Holy races again, it¡¯s impossible for there to be only one person at the Apocalypse grade in the race. You aren¡¯t at the Apocalypse grade yourself. It¡¯s not easy to resist an Apocalypse grade with the help of this thing. Do you want to fight a group alone?¡± Grim Demon quipped.


    ¡°That¡¯s true. In that case, let¡¯s return.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he ignored Grim Demon¡¯s expression and unsummoned Demonic Neonate.


    As Demonic Neonate¡¯s weapon, Grim Demon was stored away in the Demonic Sword.


    Damn bastard, you will be struck by lightning sooner or later. Grim Demon realized that he had been tricked by Zhou Wen as he cursed inwardly.


    Zhou Wen naturally couldn¡¯t hear his curse. Even if he could hear it, he wouldn¡¯t take it to heart.


    Summoning Mystic Thearch to possess him in his soul form, he used the spatial teleportation power of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art and instantly returned to Earth.


    Without Mystic Thearch¡¯s power, the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art couldn¡¯t break through the spatial barrier. It could only teleport in the dimension, so it was impossible for him to return to Earth.


    Not long after Zhou Wen returned to Earth, a terrifying existence tore through the air and descended on the divine mountain. However, there was only an empty mountain left. The terrifying existence scanned the area for a long time but didn¡¯t discover anything.


    If I had known this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have been so apprehensive. A human punk actually obtained the golden Three-Eyed God. The terrifying existence frowned slightly. He stared at the divine mountain for a moment before turning around and disappearing.


    Several extremely terrifying existences descended on the divine mountain in a row, but when they saw the empty divine mountain, no one was interested in staying any longer. They only felt a little regretful.


    After a long time, another terrifying creature arrived at the divine mountain. Furthermore, more than one came.


    It was a woman who looked like a fairy. The clouds beneath her feet landed on the divine mountain. At the same time, she flicked her sleeve and something flew out.


    When the thing flew out of her sleeve, it looked the size of a pellet, but when it landed in front of the temple, it turned into a huge white jade pillar.


    The white jade pillar was erected in front of the temple¡¯s door. It was almost as tall as the huge temple as though it was rooted there. And on the white jade pillar, there were black metal chains wrapped around it. Every metal chain passed through a human man¡¯s body and firmly bound him to the white jade pillar.


    ¡°Old Zhou, you¡¯ve really struck it rich this time. I¡¯m afraid everyone in the Federation knows your name, Zhou Wen,¡± Li Xuan exclaimed excitedly when he saw Zhou Wen return.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I wanted to be that famous; it¡¯s just that my strength doesn¡¯t allow it,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°You actually took the compliment?¡± Li Xuan punched Zhou Wen and cursed him in amusement.


    ¡°That¡¯s only because I deserve the compliment.¡± Zhou Wen turned to look at Trajectory Seeking and said, ¡°My dear disciple, do you think I have the right to teach you now?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Trajectory Seeking surprisingly nodded in response. Her attitude was completely different from before.


    Back when Zhou Wen repelled the will of Nameless God, Trajectory Seeking could still console herself, believing that it was the influence of Earth¡¯s rules that prevented Nameless God from remotely unleashing his true strength.


    However, Zhou Wen was now able to make the golden Three-Eyed God willingly make a Covenant of God. This was a manifestation of absolute strength.


    Even an existence like the golden Three-Eyed God was willing to be Zhou Wen¡¯s weapon. There was nothing shameful about her being Zhou Wen¡¯s disciple.


    Seeing that Trajectory Seeking¡¯s beliefs had wavered, Zhou Wen was about to say something when he saw the Cube suddenly light up.


    Another person is attempting the level? Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He had already taken away something valuable from the Tomb of the Fallen Gods. He didn¡¯t understand why the Cube was continuing the battle. The person clearing the level wasn¡¯t a human, but a strange beast that looked like a lion but was made of bronze.


    Unlike before, no scene of the Lake of Fog appeared again. The bronze lion appeared at the foot of the divine mountain.


    It moved its four hooves as wind and fire rose beneath its feet. In a moment, it ran to the peak of the divine mountain.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, there were already two people on the empty peak of the divine mountain.


    One was a beautiful woman, while the other was an extremely handsome man with dragon horns on his head and white hair that resembled ice threads. The man was tied to a white jade pillar with chains piercing through his sternum. One could feel the pain just looking at him.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Zhou Wen immediately trembled when he saw the man¡¯s appearance.

 Chapter 1774 - Open Trap

    Chapter 1774 Open Trap


    The human man tied to the pillar was none other than Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s first thought was that the Immortals had learned of his joint kill with Wang Mingyuan because the beautiful woman standing beside the pillar looked like an Immortal.


    Before Zhou Wen could think further, the Immortal woman struck Wang Mingyuan with her whip. The invisible whip left a new bloody mark on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s tattered clothes.


    His crystalline flesh split open as blood seeped into his tattered clothes. It sent a chill deep into one¡¯s heart. Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The fairy lashed at Wang Mingyuan again and again, causing more and more bloody wounds to appear on his body. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change, but Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned extremely ugly.


    The bronze lion that had attempted the level previously roared and charged at the fairy, but it was struck by the fairy. The seemingly powerful bronze beast body was torn apart by the whip. The Cube¡¯s screen also vanished.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was nasty as he stared at the black Cube¡¯s screen without moving for a long time.


    The divine mountain was in the dimension. Apart from entering through the Cube, creatures from the dimension could enter without using the Cube.


    The appearance of the fairy and Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t surprise Zhou Wen, but the meaning behind it made him uneasy.


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    When the Immortals discovered that Wang Mingyuan had betrayed them, they could have directly executed him or even imprisoned him for torturing


    However, now that they had sent Wang Mingyuan to the divine mountain to whip him, allowing everyone to see it through the Cube. It was clearly not as simple as torturing Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen even believed that the Immortals¡¯ goal was to force him to save Wang Mingyuan and take the opportunity to eliminate him.


    Knowing of such a possibility was one thing, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t stand seeing Wang Mingyuan being treated this way without doing anything


    Just as Zhou Wen was thinking about how to save Wang Mingyuan, someone was one step ahead of him.


    The Cube lit up again. Someone had launched a new round of attempts. The person attempting the level was Zhong Ziya, who had already appeared once and left his name on the rankings.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find it strange when he saw Zhong Ziya. He had always been such a person. He appeared arrogant and unyielding, but he was the person who cared the most about his teacher, Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhong Ziya is indeed the same Zhong Ziya. He has grown up, but his original intention has never changed. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly.


    If the Immortals were really targeting him, Zhou Wen, and it was under the condition that they knew that he had obtained the help of the golden Three-Eyed God, they must have made all the necessary preparations on the divine mountain. Or rather, with the Apocalypse-grade holding the fort, Zhong Ziya was probably doomed.


    Zhou Wen already planned on using spatial teleportation to head to the divine mountain. He couldn¡¯t let Zhong Ziya die for nothing.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, don¡¯t be in a rush to go.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to teleport over, he suddenly heard a familiar voice. Turning his head, he saw Jiang Yan standing not far from the Cube.


    Jiang Yan was still as quiet as before. There was nothing different about him. Time didn¡¯t seem to leave any marks on him.


    ¡°Zhong Ziya shouldn¡¯t have gone. I¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to explain, but he was interrupted by Jiang Yan.


    ¡°I know what you are getting at. This is an open trap, but it leaves one no choice but to go.¡± Jiang Yan looked at Zhong Ziya who was walking up the divine mountain and said, ¡°However, I think you should believe Ya. Since he¡¯s gone, he won¡¯t just be throwing himself to his death.¡±


    ¡°The golden Three-Eyed God I obtained is at the Apocalypse grade.¡± Zhou Wen pointed out the main point. He knew that Zhong Ziya was very strong, but this trap might be targeted at the Apocalypse grade. No matter how powerful Zhong Ziya was, he wasn¡¯t at the Apocalypse grade, making him far inferior.


    ¡°You know this, I know it, and Ya knows it very well. Ya got me to tell you to just watch. If needed, he will seek our help. It won¡¯t be too late to go when the time comes. Let¡¯s wait and see. You have your path, and he has his. Let him take his path first,¡± Jiang Yan said.


    Since Zhong Ziya had said that, Zhou Wen had no choice but to hold back his anxiety and watch him walk up the divine mountain.


    After arriving at the mountaintop, they saw that the fairy and Wang Mingyuan were still there. The fairy was still whipping Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan was already covered in injuries from the whipping. His clothes had turned into a blood-colored beggar outfit. He looked like he was on his last breath and the situation wasn¡¯t good. On the square in front of the temple, there were still remnants of the bronze lion¡¯s torn corpse.


    The humans watching the livestream were discussing spiritedly and even cursing indignantly. Many people recognized Wang Mingyuan. Even those who had never seen him before gritted their teeth in hatred after hearing the host¡¯s introduction.


    From the point of view of the average person, Wang Mingyuan was undoubtedly a traitorthe most shameless human traitor.


    ¡°Serves him right. Such a person should have died a long time ago. The heavens are blind to let him live to this day.¡±


    ¡°Humph, traitors indeed don¡¯t have a good ending. Do you think you can enjoy wealth just because you submitted to the dimension? Aren¡¯t you still going to be killed by those fellows from the dimension?¡±


    ¡°This is the first time I¡¯ve seen a human being tortured by alien races. Whip him a few more times and kill that bastard.¡±


    Many people wished they could do the honors of whipping Wang Mingyuan twice or watch him die with their own eyes.


    Seeing Zhong Ziya walk to the temple, the fairy who was whipping Wang Mingyuan finally stopped and turned to look at him.


    ¡°You¡­ shouldn¡¯t have come¡­¡± Wang Mingyuan also raised his pale face and said weakly.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing about whether I should or should not. I came because I felt like it. I¡¯ll leave if I don¡¯t feel like it. No one can stop me,¡± Zhong Ziya said indifferently, but he didn¡¯t stop walking. He continued walking towards Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°You are Ya, the president of that whatever association who killed many Guardians and representatives, right?¡± The fairy glanced at Ya and asked without any expression.


    With that said, the people watching the livestream were alarmed. Only then did they realize that Zhong Ziya was Ya.


    ¡°I want to take him away. Are you stopping me?¡± Zhong Ziya carried his sword and had a smile on his lips. His eyes seemed to be covered in a layer of mist as he smiled at the fairy.


    ¡°I won¡¯t stop you, but you have to leave your life behind,¡± the fairy said expressionlessly.


    ¡°That¡¯s simple, but you need to seek permission from the sword in my hand. If it accepts, you can do whatever you want with me.¡± As Zhong Ziya spoke, he suddenly sped up. At the same time, he unsheathed the sword that was resting on his shoulder and stabbed at the beautiful fairy with a startling beam.

 Chapter 1775 - Evaluation of Four People

    Chapter 1775 Evaluation of Four People


    It was clearly a thrust without any unnecessary variations, but it gave off a wild and tragic aura.


    It was as though under this strike, only one person would live. There was no room for negotiation. ¡°This sword technique has already reached a sublime realm. Only after seeing this strike today do I know what a sword technique is,¡± Professor Gu praised.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword had already stabbed in front of the female Immortal. The female Immortal waved her sleeve and brushed it against the sword. The seemingly soft clothes produced a metallic clang when they collided with the sword.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword was brushed to the side by the clothes as his body tilted.


    Zhong Ziya, who had lost his balance, twisted his body in a strange state in midair. He forcefully transformed the thrust into a slash and slashed at the female immortal again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The sound of metal clashing sounded incessantly. Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword was brushed away by the sleeve again and again, and again, but he ingeniously made all kinds of variations in the air. From beginning to end, it was an attack without any signs of dodging or retreating


    That wild and demonic sword technique was terrifying, but no matter how sharp and demonic his attacks were, they were gently flicked away by the female Immortal. He couldn¡¯t even make her retreat half a step.


    Even the spectators felt helpless despair.


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    What humans were most afraid of wasn¡¯t that the enemy was powerful, but that they couldn¡¯t see hope. Although the female Immortal didn¡¯t take the initiative to attack, it was already enough to make them despair.


    If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have been defeated without fighting. Their confidence would have been crushed.


    Zhong Ziya was Zhong Ziya after all. Under such circumstances, not only did his fighting spirit and confidence not weaken, but it boosted his sacrificial will.


    ¡°As expected of Zhong Ziya. However, why does his sword technique feel odd?¡± Li Xuan praised.


    Li Xuan was an extremely determined person, but if he were Zhong Ziya, he would probably feel a little discouraged in such a situation. A person as confident as Zhong Ziya was either a true genius or a true lunatic.


    Of course, Li Xuan also had his confidence. He might grumble or feel vexed from being discouraged, but he definitely wouldn¡¯t give up.


    However, freaks like Zhong Ziya who didn¡¯t seem to know what fear and despair were were rare.


    There were many standards in this world that measured strength. There were also many standards that measured sword techniques. One¡¯s sword could be fast enough, ruthless enough, or even slow enough.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique seemed to possess the highest standards of all kinds of sword techniques. It was fast when it needed to be fast, and slow when it needed to be slow. It was ruthless when it needed to be ruthless, and it was very ingenious when it needed to be ingenious.


    However, if one were to really comment on his sword art, there didn¡¯t seem to be any suitable words.


    ¡°Senior Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique is wild enough!¡± Feng Qiuyan voiced out everyone¡¯s impression of Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s wild. I was wondering why it¡¯s odd. This person¡¯s sword technique is just too wild. It looks very irregular. Many poses and actions are very irregular, but they are very effective. It¡¯s like¡­ like¡­¡± Li Xuan couldn¡¯t think of a word to describe it. ¡°It¡¯s like having a dog paddling faster than a swimming champion,¡± Ming Xiu added.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the feeling.¡± Li Xuan nodded immediately. Ming Xiu¡¯s words had hit the nail on the head.


    Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°Back then, Jiang Yan, Zhong Ziya, Hui Haifeng, and I studied under Teacher. Teacher once evaluated our talent.¡±


    ¡°What were his comments? Who has the highest talent? It¡¯s definitely you, right?¡± Li Xuan and company were intrigued. They stopped watching the battle and turned to look at Zhou Wen.


    Although Trajectory Seeking deliberately didn¡¯t look at Zhou Wen, she pricked up her ears to listen. Clearly, she wanted to know what Zhou Wen was about to say.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not the one with the highest talent. That¡¯s what Teacher said back then. He said that in terms of talent, Zhong Ziya is a naturally sentimental person. If he has decided on something, he can be extremely devoted. No matter what he learns, he will learn faster than anyone. Therefore, among the four of us, he has the highest talent.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your ranking?¡± Trajectory Seeking couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Li Xuan and company also wanted to know the answer to this question.


    ¡°I¡¯m fourth,¡± Zhou Wen said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°No way. Your teacher¡¯s acumen sucks. A person like you is only ranked fourth?¡±. Trajectory Seeking blurted out. She had already determined that Zhou Wen had extremely invincible talent. Otherwise, how could a human achieve such achievements?


    ¡°That¡¯s your grandmaster. Don¡¯t you know how to respect your seniors?¡± Li Xuan rendered Trajectory Seeking speechless with a single sentence.


    Zhou Wen continued, ¡°Zhong Ziya is sentimental. Jiang Yan¡¯s evaluation is that he¡¯s born a heartless person, while Hui Haifeng¡¯s evaluation is that he¡¯s the most secular person, and I only received a mediocre evaluation. Do you think I¡¯m the one with the worst talent among the four?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan, but Hui Haifeng¡¯s secular evaluation shouldn¡¯t be as good as yours, right?¡± Ming Xiu asked. ¡°Most people are secular. To be able to become the cream of the crop among billions of people, how can someone described to be the most secular be inferior to the mediocre?¡± Zhou Wen sighed and said, ¡°Teacher¡¯s judgment of people is very accurate. When Hui Haifeng later became the Federation President, he indeed reached the peak of the secular world.¡±


    As he spoke, Zhou Wen kept paying attention to the battle.


    Zhong Ziya undoubtedly had the peak combat strength of a Calamity-grade creature. None of his moves seemed to be earth-shattering, nor did they have any dazzling lighting effects. However, it definitely wasn¡¯t because he lacked strength. It was only because he converged all his strength into his body without leaking any.


    If it were the past Zhong Ziya, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have cared about such details; it was something that Jiang Yan cared about. Now that Zhong Ziya had done it, it was obvious that many things came to the same end. Perhaps their starting points were different, but in the end, they would all reach the same destination.


    Clang!


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword was brushed away by the female Immortal¡¯s sleeve again. However, this time, the female Immortal didn¡¯t wait for Zhong Ziya to continue attacking. Instead, she suddenly extended her slender hand from her sleeve and grabbed the sword. With a slight shake, she forced Zhong Ziya to release his grip.


    With a gentle shake, the female Immortal grabbed the hilt and stabbed at Zhong Ziya.


    ¡°She¡¯s imitating Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique?¡± Li Xuan exclaimed with an odd expression. The female Immortal attacked Zhong Ziya repeatedly. Every move she used was clearly once used by Zhong Ziya.


    The crux of the matter wasn¡¯t that the moves were the same. Even the wild aura was identical. If one only looked at the sword technique and not at the person, one would think that the person wielding the sword was Zhong Ziya.


    She used Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword technique to deal with him, yet she still sent him into a repeated retreat. His body was covered in bloody wounds.

 Chapter 1776 - Super Evolution

    Chapter 1776 Super Evolution


    ¡°Xuan, take a closer look. Perhaps that path will help you,¡± Zhou Wen suddenly said to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Whose path? That female Immortal¡¯s?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°No, Zhong Ziya¡¯s,¡± Zhou Wen said with a shake of his head.


    Li Xuan looked at the injured Zhong Ziya. Zhong Ziya clearly had a completely different style from him, but he didn¡¯t doubt Zhou Wen¡¯s words. Instead, he stared intently at Zhong Ziya.


    More and more wounds appeared on Zhong Ziya¡¯s body, but they didn¡¯t heal quickly. This was completely different from Li Xuan¡¯s abilities.


    However, Li Xuan¡¯s eyes gradually lit up.


    Although the sword art used by the female Immortal was identical to Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword art, the way she used it crushed him. Or rather, they were on completely different levels.


    When solving the same question, although primary school students could do it correctly, another could do it in a relatively more complicated manner. This was the difference thanks to knowledge.


    It was the same for Zhong Ziya¡¯s situation now; as long as Zhong Ziya took a look, the same method couldn¡¯t injure him again. Every injury on his body made him rapidly grow.


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    It sounded simple, but there weren¡¯t many people in this world who could really do it. This was because what people saw was only a sword art, not something deeper behind it.


    However, Zhong Ziya could deduce what was involved on the surface and immediately use it for his benefit. This ability was amazing.


    The female Immortal¡¯s sword art posed less and less threat to him.


    Li Xuan couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. ¡°My brain isn¡¯t as good as his. I can¡¯t do it to such an extent.¡±


    ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be your focus.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head but didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Just as people thought that Zhong Ziya¡¯s most difficult period had passed, he began to be injured again. Furthermore, his injuries were worse than before. The sword marks nearly severed his arm.


    The female Immortal¡¯s sword art changed again, but it didn¡¯t transcend Zhong Ziya¡¯s sword art.


    Different people had different ways of using the same item. This depended on the person, not the item itself.


    In the eyes of a peasant, a tree was used to grow flowers and bear fruits. In the eyes of a carpenter, it was a wooden bed or a wooden table. In the eyes of a gardener, it was a part of a garden.


    It was the same for sword arts. The same sword art could be given different meanings.


    The female Immortal clearly didn¡¯t want to kill Zhong Ziya directly. What she wanted to do was squash Zhong Ziya¡¯s confidence, as well as humanity¡¯s confidence.


    A race could fail and decline, but they would ultimately hold out hope for an eventual rise, but once it lost its confidence, even if it could survive, it would only be an auxiliary item.


    ¡°You will pay the price for your arrogance.¡± Zhong Ziya, who was covered in blood, didn¡¯t waver at all.


    ¡°I like that look in your eyes,¡± the female Immortal replied indifferently without stopping her sword.


    The sword arts that seemed to contain all the profundity of the world exchanged blows. The same move was used, but they appeared worlds apart. It felt as though Zhong Ziya was completely inadequate.


    Zhong Ziya was like a trapped beast. Although he was still extremely ferocious, he seemed pitiful.


    Before Zhong Ziya could react, the female Immortal had already planted a seed of invincibility in the hearts of the spectating humans. As the battle continued, this seed constantly sprouted and grew stronger.


    If Zhong Ziya were to be defeated today, this seed would probably become an eternal wall that made it difficult for humans to regain their confidence as a race.


    ¡°Do you know what the strongest talent in the world is?¡± Zhong Ziya suddenly retreated a distance and said to the female Immortal who wasn¡¯t pursuing him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± The female Immortal wasn¡¯t afraid that Zhong Ziya would escape. There was no teleportation nexus here, and the Cube couldn¡¯t teleport any creature out. Even if Zhong Ziya wanted to escape, where could he run to in the dimension?


    ¡°The strongest talent in the world is evolution. Any creature can become stronger through their own evolution and adapt to different environments to do things that they originally couldn¡¯t do.¡± Zhong Ziya stared at the female Immortal with a burning gaze as his body gradually underwent some magical changes.


    ¡°So?¡± the female Immortal asked with interest.


    ¡°And my talent is Super Evolution.¡± As Zhong Ziya spoke, the changes in his body suddenly intensified.


    His wounds quickly healed and his skin instantly returned to its crystalline snow-white state. There seemed to be a glow flowing over his skin as every strand of hair flowed with a luster.


    ¡°Every setback I experience in life, every blow I suffer, and even if I¡¯m covered in wounds, as long as the pain doesn¡¯t kill me, they will ultimately become the cornerstone of my evolution, allowing me to forge the stairs to victory. Every wound you leave on me will bring you closer and closer to the grave¡­¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s eyes burned with zeal.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t look any different,¡± the female Immortal said indifferently.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s body didn¡¯t look any different from before. He wasn¡¯t like Li Xuan. Every time Li Xuan was injured, his carapace would undergo a different change. It was a very obvious evolutionary sign.


    Zhong Ziya wasn¡¯t the same. His body was no different from before. He still had two hands, two legs, and a head. From Li Xuan¡¯s point of view, Zhong Ziya hadn¡¯t evolved enough.


    ¡°My evolution is here.¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s eyes seemed to be burning with flames as he pointed at his head.


    Just as he said that, Zhong Ziya¡¯s body went into motion again. He charged at the female Immortal and threw a punch at her exquisite face.


    The female Immortal stared coldly at Zhong Ziya until his fist was about to reach her. Then, she brandished the sword in her hand again.


    The sword was like a beam as it slashed at Zhong Ziya¡¯s fist.


    There was no sound of a fist colliding with the blade, nor did the blade slash at Zhong Ziya¡¯s fist.


    As though he had predicted the future, Zhong Ziya retracted his seemingly full-strength punch. His other fist suddenly exerted strength and struck the female Immortal¡¯s cheek from an unbelievable angle.


    A glint of surprise flashed in the female Immortal¡¯s eyes. Before this, no matter what technique Zhong Ziya used, she could tell at a glance. However, this time, she failed to identify Zhong Ziya¡¯s two fists.


    This could only mean one thing¡ªZhong Ziya¡¯s realm was already close to her level, preventing her from enjoying a higher vantage point.


    For the first time, the female Immortal chose to dodge. She took a step to the side and dodged Zhong Ziya¡¯s fist.


    With the female Immortal retreating, Zhong Ziya¡¯s attacks poured down like a torrent, preventing the female Immortal from counterattacking. All she could do was constantly retreat and dodge.


    The humans watching immediately became pumped, their despairing hearts stirring again.

 Chapter 1777 - Transcendent Immortal

    Chapter 1777 Transcendent Immortal


    ¡°Interesting.¡± The female Immortal didn¡¯t seem to feel any pressure as she watched Zhong Ziya with interest.


    SH


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s attack trajectory was becoming more and more incomprehensible. The female Immortal watched for a while before seemingly coming up with something. She narrowed her eyes and said, ¡°In that case, I¡¯ll let you evolve more thoroughly. Let me see how much your so-called Super Evolution can evolve.¡±


    As she spoke, the female Immortal stopped all her actions and stood there, no longer dodging Zhong Ziya¡¯s attacks.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s fist was less than ten centimeters away from the female Immortal¡¯s face, but without any obstruction, Zhong Ziya¡¯s fist seemed to freeze. It stopped moving. Even his entire body seemed to freeze in midair as though it was a frozen scene.


    Such a scene made the spectators think that the livestream was stuck, but they quickly realized that it wasn¡¯t a pause in the livestream. Zhong Ziya was frozen in midair.


    ¡°My New World is right in front of you. Continue your evolution.¡± The female Immortal looked at Zhong Ziya calmly without any intention of taking the opportunity to kill him.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s eyes burned like flames as he stared at the female Immortal. It was as though he was about to combust, but his body couldn¡¯t move at all.


    The sliver of hope that rose in everyone¡¯s hearts was instantly crushed.


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    At that moment, everyone understood that the hope they imagined was just an illusion.


    The female Immortal had never used her true strength to fight Zhong Ziya. Instead of calling it a battle, it was better to say that she was just playing a game.


    This blow instantly sank many people¡¯s hearts into a bottomless abyss. The combat strength displayed by both parties was on a completely different level. If the female Immortal really wanted Zhong Ziya dead, Zhong Ziya would have died countless times.


    Even Zhang Chunqiu, Xia Liuchuan, and the other top humans frowned when they saw this scene. Their expressions were extremely nasty.


    ¡°The difference between the Calamity grade and the Apocalypse grade is too great. Without entering the Apocalypse grade, humans are still lambs waiting to be slaughtered in front of dimensional powerhouses,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a sigh.


    ¡°Villains die from talking too much. That female Immortal is too arrogant. Perhaps Zhong Ziya will make her regret her actions,¡± Xia Liuchuan said through gritted teeth.


    Zhang Chunqiu didn¡¯t say a word as he stared at the Cube¡¯s screen.


    Zhou Wen also stared intently at the Cube¡¯s screen. This was the first time he had seen the power of the Apocalypse grade so clearly. The power had already exceeded the Calamity grade¡¯s understanding of power. He was momentarily unable to analyze what power it belonged to.


    However, the word ¡°New World¡± mentioned by the female Immortal made Zhou Wen confirm that the New World ability Demonic Neonate had was undoubtedly an Apocalypse-grade ability.


    A Calamity-grade has the ability of the Apocalypse grade, but her physique hasn¡¯t reached the Apocalypse grade. Does Demonic Neonate have the ability to fight an Apocalypse-grade? Zhou Wen thought to himself, but he had no answer.


    ¡°Could the difference between the Calamity grade and the Apocalypse grade really be that great? They can¡¯t even move in front of an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse?¡± Li Xuan said in despair.


    The abilities Zhong Ziya displayed made Li Xuan sigh at his inferiority. However, such a Zhong Ziya was akin to a bug toyed by a cat in front of the female Immortal. When she was sick of toying with him, she could smack him to death with a swipe of her claw. This made Li Xuan feel sad for the loss of his kind.


    ¡°No, he¡¯s moving. He¡¯s just moving very slowly,¡± Jiang Yan said calmly.


    When everyone heard Jiang Yan¡¯s words, they couldn¡¯t help but take a closer look. Indeed, they realized that Zhong Ziya was moving, but his movement was so slow that they couldn¡¯t even see it with the naked eye. He was even slower than a snail¡¯s crawl.


    ¡°So close, yet so far. Zhong Ziya is less than ten centimeters away from the female Immortal, but it¡¯s as though he¡¯s worlds apart. It¡¯s not that his speed has slowed down, but the space between them has changed.¡± Zhou Wen had already noticed it and knew a little more.


    Trajectory Seeking suddenly added, ¡°You¡¯re right. That female Immortal is a supreme powerhouse of the Immortals. She¡¯s known as a Transcendent Immortal. Even at the Apocalypse grade, she¡¯s an extremely powerful existence. Her New World is called Transcendent Heaven. In her New World, you are confined within the heavens, but she stands beyond it. No matter how close you are to her, that¡¯s a distance between the heavens and the earth. Only she can injure others, but no one can injure her.¡±


    Although Trajectory Seeking didn¡¯t use the honorific title of teacher when speaking to Zhou Wen, she no longer had the contempt from before. It was obvious that she gave Zhou Wen some recognition.


    ¡°What the hell is this ability? Doesn¡¯t that mean that they aren¡¯t in the same world? It¡¯s impossible for Zhong Ziya to injure her?¡± Li Xuan said gloomily.


    ¡°Having a Calamity-grade battle an Apocalypse-grade is unfair to begin with,¡± Trajectory Seeking said. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that the Transcendent Immortal is somewhat interested in Zhong Ziya¡¯s abilities, he would have died countless times. This is a battle which has long had an outcome determined.¡±


    ¡°That might not be the case.¡± Jiang Yan stared at Zhong Ziya, who was at an absolute disadvantage, and slowly said, ¡°That person isn¡¯t a man who will easily admit defeat.¡±


    ¡°So what if he doesn¡¯t admit defeat? In front of absolute strength, all techniques are useless,¡± Trajectory Seeking said.


    Boom!


    Just as Trajectory Seeking finished speaking, they suddenly heard an explosion from the Cube¡¯s screen. They saw Zhong Ziya¡¯s long hair fluttering in the wind, his eyes blood-red like burning blood-colored flames.


    His body was abnormally pumping with blood. His skin seemed to be covered in a layer of crystalline sanguine light as his entire body seemed to be enveloped by a thin blood-colored halo.


    As the sanguine light on his body intensified, his body began to move as though the power of the New World was ineffective against him.


    ¡°Transcendent Heaven¡¯s power failed!¡± Li Xuan was pleasantly surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that the power of Transcendent Heaven has failed, but Zhong Ziya¡¯s speed is becoming faster. He¡¯s so fast that he can instantly cross worlds. It¡¯s difficult to stop his speed¡­¡± Zhou Wen was also very happy.


    ¡°You¡¯re too long-winded. I¡¯ve already told you that powers that can¡¯t kill me will become stepping stones for me to scale the peak to victory. I¡¯ll use your blood and bones to forge my victory. Swallow the evil fruit you planted.¡± Zhong Ziya¡¯s voice was as cold as ice, but his blood-red eyes were fiery. The sanguine light on his body erupted like a volcano.


    At that instant, his body completely recovered its mobility. The power of Transcendent Heaven seemed to lose its effect on him.


    Zhong Ziya was like a hellish devil burning with blood flames. His fist that flickered with blood flames swung crazily at the female Immortal¡¯s face like a blood-colored bolt of lightning. He traversed the ten centimeters instantly.


    ¡°He¡¯s about to turn the tables!¡± Li Xuan was delighted


    The billions of humans watching also felt the same joy as him. They couldn¡¯t contain their excitement and had the urge to throw out a punch with Zhong Ziya.


    What New World, what Transcendent Heaven, what Apocalypse grade? In front of humans who could evolve infinitely, they were all trash. They would all be smashed to death.


    Bang!


    In the next second, Zhong Ziya¡¯s body suddenly sank. A white hand struck Zhong Ziya¡¯s head, slamming him into the hard rocky ground. His body and limbs twisted into a strange angle.


    The blood flames on Zhong Ziya¡¯s body instantly vanished as all his bones were shattered by the strike.


    He tried his best, struggling to get up, but he only managed to raise his head slightly before having it plop down. He had lost consciousness and it was unknown if he was dead or alive.


    ¡°Super Evolution? Is that it?¡± The female Immortal was somewhat disappointed. She didn¡¯t look at Zhong Ziya again as though she had just smacked an ant to death.


    The Cube¡¯s screen turned black at that moment. It was like a bottomless abyss that devoured the confidence and dignity of all humans. It seemed to cast a spell on the people who had been dancing with joy. Their expressions were ugly as they stood there in a daze. They were at a loss. Most of them were extremely disappointed.


    Without any other miracles, Zhong Ziya was defeated.


    The female Immortal had given Zhong Ziya all the conditions for growth, but Zhong Ziya was still squashed by a single palm strike. He died like a bug without any dignity.

 Chapter 1778 - Bet

    Chapter 1778 Bet


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s dead?


    Zhou Wen stood there in a daze for a long time. Although human lives weren¡¯t that precious in this era, with life-and-death separations happening almost every day, Zhou Wen never expected Zhong Ziya to die one day.


    To be honest, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t interacted with Zhong Ziya for long, but his death left Zhou Wen feeling odd.


    It was akin to always being with one¡¯s parents and siblings. One wouldn¡¯t have any particularly deep feelings for each other, with people sometimes finding the other party especially annoying, but if something really happened to the other party, indescribable, uncontrollable feelings would erupt.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be rash. In fact, what I said previously wasn¡¯t what Zhong Ziya wanted me to pass on to you. What he really said is that if he loses, no one is to go again. Wait for the opportunity to become powerful enough,¡± Jiang Yan said as he pressed down on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°When do we wait till?¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself.


    ¡°I know you have a powerful dimensional weapon. Perhaps that weapon has the power to fight Transcendent Immortal, but Zhong Ziya¡¯s defeat has already highlighted a problem. External forces are ultimately external forces. If your strength doesn¡¯t reach that level, your body will be a fatal weakness when facing the Apocalypse grade,¡± Jiang Yan said slowly. ¡°You still need to wait. At the very least, you have to ensure that you can survive. Otherwise, even if you go, you won¡¯t be able to avenge Zhong Ziya, much less save Teacher. You will just be throwing another life at them.¡±


    Zhou Wen was a very rational person, so he understood Jiang Yan¡¯s words.


    Zhong Ziya¡¯s abilities were already very strong. Transcendent Immortal had also given him enough opportunities to grow to the point of being able to resist the power of the New World, but he had ultimately been defeated so tragically.


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    Zhong Ziya¡¯s lacking level was his fatal weakness, and it was also applicable to Zhou Wen.


    The Terror grade¡­ is indeed too low¡­ With this in mind, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes became more resolute.


    Without a word, Zhou Wen suddenly used spatial teleportation and left Guide Ancient City.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t head to the divine mountain or the Cube. Instead, he arrived outside Chess Mountain.


    Yes, Jiang Yan was right. If he was the weakness, he wouldn¡¯t be able to save Wang Mingyuan even if he went, much less avenge Zhong Ziya. Therefore, he wanted to break through from his current level.


    The Apocalypse grade was too far away, but Zhou Wen was still one step short of advancing to the true Calamity grade. As long as he advanced the Demon God Bloodline Catalog he had obtained from Chess Mountain to the Calamity grade, he could truly advance to the Calamity grade.


    However, he couldn¡¯t obtain the Zone Core from Chess Mountain even in-game. However, there was a shortcut¡ªThe Thearch.


    On the black mountain wall, the flower was as beautiful as ever. It looked a little frail, as though a strong gust of wind could snap it.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡± The Thearch wasn¡¯t surprised by his appearance as though she had expected Zhou Wen to come.


    ¡°How can the Demon God Bloodline Catalog advance to the Calamity grade?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to beat around the bush with The Thearch as he directly revealed his goal.


    ¡°It¡¯s very simple. As long as I¡¯m willing, the Demon God Bloodline Catalog can be advanced to the Calamity grade at any time,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°State your conditions.¡± Zhou Wen was already prepared to pay the price.


    ¡°You know very well what I want,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Zhou Wen naturally knew very well that The Thearch had always hoped to use his strength to escape, so he had always refused to visit Chess Mountain.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s also impossible for you,¡± The Thearch said calmly.


    ¡°This is the last time I¡¯m coming to Chess Mountain. Give me an acceptable condition or we¡¯ll go our separate ways from now on.¡± Zhou Wen was prepared to pay the price, but the price was definitely not to let The Thearch escape.


    ¡°What a naive child. Do you think this path belongs to you?¡± The Thearch teased.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that it wasn¡¯t that he could sever ties with The Thearch just because he said so.


    ¡°I want to kill Transcendent Immortal, so if I were to be killed by her, all those paths will have nothing to do with me if I don¡¯t return,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t her match. Even if you have the golden Three-Eyed God, it won¡¯t work. The golden Three-Eyed God is very strong, but you are too weak,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I came to you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You are using your life to threaten me. Don¡¯t you find this ridiculous? Why should I care about your life? Do you really think that no one other than you can help me escape?¡± The Thearch¡¯s voice turned cold.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what I think,¡± Zhou Wen said bluntly.


    The Thearch seemed to be taken aback. She never expected Zhou Wen to be so straightforward. Moments later, she suddenly said with a laugh, ¡°Although I really want to say that you are nothing, unfortunately, just as you said, only you can help me escape.¡±


    Zhou Wen was the one taken aback this time. Although he had guessed it long ago, he never expected The Thearch to admit it so bluntly.


    ¡°However, your usefulness is only limited to the time before Earth¡¯s seal is completely lifted. Now, Earth can only last for two years at most, so your usefulness will only last two years,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°I won¡¯t give you even a second.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if The Thearch was telling the truth. Even if it was true, he wouldn¡¯t release The Thearch ahead of time.


    ¡°Hehe¡­¡± It was unknown if she was laughing out of anger, but The Thearch laughed so hard that the flower bent its waist.


    ¡°Alright, alright, alright. If you want the Zone Core, I can give it to you, but it depends on whether you have the guts to bet with me.¡± The Thearch continued laughing happily as though she wasn¡¯t angry at all.


    ¡°What do you want to bet on?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m betting that you will regret it,¡± The Thearch said meaningfully.


    ¡°Regret what?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°Regret killing Transcendent Immortal,¡± The Thearch said.


    Zhou Wen never expected The Thearch to bet on this. After some thought, he said firmly, ¡°I definitely won¡¯t regret it.¡±


    in


    He could naturally wait, but Wang Mingyuan couldn¡¯t. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to experience seeing the people he cared about die again. Even if his fate was unpredictable, he wouldn¡¯t regret it even if he died in battle.


    ¡°Then make a contract with me. If you regret it, something on you will belong to me,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Perhaps it¡¯s your life, your eyes, or your soul. No matter what it is, you can¡¯t reject it, right? If you want to obtain something, you have to pay the price. If you aren¡¯t willing to pay anything and don¡¯t wish to take any risks, you can leave now,¡± The Thearch said coldly.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen knew that making a bet with The Thearch was no different from making a deal with a devil, but he really couldn¡¯t wait any longer. Furthermore, even if he was defeated, he definitely wouldn¡¯t regret his choice.


    ¡°Then make a contract with me¡­¡± The Thearch slowly stipulated the contract and got Zhou Wen to repeat it.


    After Zhou Wen heard the contents of the contract and carefully thought about it, he felt that there was no problem before repeating it.


    ¡°Very well. As you wish. The Zone Core you want is there¡­¡± The flower¡¯s flower trail spun as a petal fell.


    After the petal fell, a figure appeared out of thin air in front of Zhou Wen. It was a beautiful woman.


    The woman floated in the air with a blank expression. She couldn¡¯t move her body, and her eyes were filled with shock when she saw Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1779 - Living Zone Core

    Chapter 1779 Living Zone Core


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with the woman in front of him. An Tianzuo¡¯s sister, An Jing, could be considered his sister from a certain angle.


    Of course, neither An Jing nor Zhou Wen admitted to this relationship.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this?¡± Zhou Wen turned his gaze to the flower and asked coldly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want Chess Mountain¡¯s Zone Core? Chess Mountain¡¯s Zone Core is on her. She¡¯s a living Zone Core,¡± The Thearch teased.


    ¡°What do you mean by ¡®on her?¡±¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression darkened.


    ¡°She was nurtured by me. The Zone Core that¡¯s compatible with her is naturally Chess Mountain¡¯s Zone Core. Now, she has already used Chess Mountain¡¯s Zone Core to advance to the Calamity grade. What do you think I mean?¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hand me the Zone Core. Is that a violation of the contract?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°How did I violate the contract? If you need me to give it to you personally, I can strip the Zone Core from her body and hand it to you.¡± The Thearch smiled even more happily. ¡°However, without the Zone Core, she naturally can¡¯t be at the Calamity grade. Furthermore, it¡¯s impossible for her to advance to the Calamity grade in the future. Apart from this Zone Core, it¡¯s impossible for there to be a second Zone Core in the world that¡¯s compatible with her.¡±


    ¡°Do you think this will make me regret it?¡± Zhou Wen said expressionlessly.


    ¡°Whether you regret it or not has nothing to do with the contract. I just want you to understand a principle. There¡¯s no free lunch in this world. You aren¡¯t willing to pay the price, yet you want to obtain such a precious item. How can there be such a good thing in this world?¡± The Thearch smiled and said, ¡°Young people have to firmly remember that this world isn¡¯t revolving around them. It¡¯s not something you can do as you wish. You have to pay the corresponding price for what you want. The benefits that don¡¯t require you to pay might end up making you lose even more.¡±


    ¡°How will you choose now? Do you want me to personally give you the Zone Core?¡± The Thearch smiled very happily.


    How could Zhou Wen not know the truth behind The Thearch¡¯s words? Since he wanted to make a deal with the devil, he was already prepared to pay the price. However, he never expected such a situation.


    However, even so, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t regret coming here, nor did he regret making a bet with The Thearch.


    He turned to look at the motionless An Jing. In fact, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t paid much attention to her before today because he had never paid attention to her.


    An Jing looked at Zhou Wen with a complicated expression. From Zhou Wen¡¯s conversation with The Thearch, she understood what was going on.


    An Jing originally imagined that she had obtained a huge opportunity, but she never expected it to turn out this way. She couldn¡¯t help but feel disheartened.


    She worked hard to prove that she wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen, but the distance between the two of them grew.


    After meeting The Thearch, she believed that she finally had a chance to catch up or even surpass Zhou Wen. She never expected that she was just a bargaining chip between The Thearch and Zhou Wen.


    Perhaps it wasn¡¯t even considered a bargaining chip because there was still a chance of winning the bet, but she didn¡¯t stand any chance. With a word from Zhou Wen, her hard-earned achievements would be stripped away.


    An Jing had a deep understanding of The Thearch¡¯s words.


    ¡°It¡¯s something that doesn¡¯t belong to me. Take it away,¡± An Jing suddenly said to Zhou Wen.


    She didn¡¯t need Zhou Wen¡¯s pity, much less have him give in to her. She would rather start all over again. Otherwise, it would be meaningless even if she succeeded. If she accepted Zhou Wen¡¯s pity, she wouldn¡¯t have the right to say anything about surpassing him.


    ¡°Hehe, did you hear that? She¡¯s willing to sacrifice herself for you. What a good sister. What shall be your choice? Do you want me to take the Zone Core out of her and give it to you now?¡± The Thearch¡¯s voice sounded indescribably disgusting to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Of course I want the Zone Core,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly. ¡°However, do you dare make a bet with me?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you want to make a bet with me?¡± The flower bud turned to Zhou Wen and sized him up with interest.


    ¡°Yes, do you dare?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to showcase your clumsy goading. I can tell you clearly now that I¡¯ll accept any bet. Even if it¡¯s an unfair bet, it¡¯s fine. Just tell me what you want the bet to be,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°My bet is very fair. I want to bet on luck.¡± Although The Thearch made it very clear that she would accept an unfair bet, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on making such a bet.


    This was because Zhou Wen knew very well that his knowledge wasn¡¯t on the same level as The Thearch¡¯s. Even if he believed that he would definitely win, he might not. Furthermore, he might lose even more tragically.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to bet on luck with me? You¡¯ve probably forgotten that to me, even if it¡¯s a one in a billion chance, as long as I¡¯m willing, it¡¯s a hundred percent chance. I suggest that you bet on something that has a higher chance of winning. For example, you can bet that you are a man, or you can bet that I won¡¯t die today. That way, your chances of winning will be higher,¡± The Thearch persuaded sincerely.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. Since it¡¯s a bet, it has to be absolutely fair. I¡¯ll bet with you on luck. If you don¡¯t win, her Zone Core won¡¯t count. Give me another Zone Core. If I lose, her Zone Core will still be yours. The previous bet will still be valid. Furthermore, it will be as you wish. I¡¯ll help you escape now.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°As you wish. How do you want to bet on your luck?¡± The Thearch was truly intrigued. She wanted to know how Zhou Wen was going to bet.


    ¡°I want to bet with you on who will live longer.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate as he revealed the bet he had thought of.


    After The Thearch heard Zhou Wen¡¯s bet, she immediately understood his intentions. She said disdainfully, ¡°You want to bet that I¡¯ll live longer than you, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I want to bet that I¡¯ll live longer than you,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch couldn¡¯t help but be slightly taken aback because it was impossible for Zhou Wen to win with such a bet.


    If The Thearch was willing, she could kill Zhou Wen. Then, she would naturally win the bet. Therefore, this was a bet that was suicidal.


    What kind of person was The Thearch? After some thought, she immediately understood Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts. Her voice turned cold. ¡°Do you really think I won¡¯t kill you? It¡¯s best if you don¡¯t test my patience. My tolerance is very limited.¡±


    ¡°You can kill me, but you won¡¯t be able to win if you kill me. You will still lose the bet,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I win after killing you?¡± The Thearch was somewhat curious. She couldn¡¯t figure out why she would still lose after killing Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1780 - Analysis

    Chapter 1780 Analysis


    ¡°If you kill me and win this bet, it will be impossible for you to win the other bet. You can only win one of the two bets. If you don¡¯t kill me, you might win both bets. Do you want to win one bet or two?¡± Zhou Wen said slowly.


    ¡°Are you betting your life that I have to win both rounds?¡± The Thearch¡¯s voice was somewhat cold.


    An Jing also looked at Zhou Wen in shock. There was no need for Zhou Wen to do so. He could have directly taken her Zone Core.


    However, Zhou Wen had used his life to bet on the second Zone Core and not her Zone Core. This was unacceptable to An Jing.


    Why? Is it because of me? An Jing looked at Zhou Wen in a daze as her expression turned more and more complicated.


    ¡°I¡¯m betting that a person like you won¡¯t accept such an imperfect outcome,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°I never expected you to know me so well, but I can very well not kill you. The bet will still be in progress. I don¡¯t need to give you the Zone Core, and I will still win everything,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°You can naturally make such a choice, but before I obtain the Zone Core, the first bet will not be valid. Besides, I¡¯ve already said that if you don¡¯t win, you will give me another Zone Core, right? The bet is still ongoing, which means you haven¡¯t won yet,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Do you think such a language trap can restrain me?¡± The Thearch said disdainfully.


    ¡°No, I just believe that you don¡¯t want a meaningless victory. Besides, you care more about the other bet.¡±


    ¡°What if that¡¯s how I want to win?¡± The Thearch said. ¡°I¡¯ll head to the divine mountain now,¡± Zhou Wen said without any hesitation.


    The Thearch fell silent. Just as Zhou Wen had said, the chances of Zhou Wen surviving without obtaining the Zone Core to head to the divine mountain were almost zero. Such a victory was indeed meaningless to her.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t want Zhou Wen¡¯s life, but to win the bet.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I want to win, but not like this.¡± The Thearch didn¡¯t seem interested in continuing the conversation. The flower shook and a petal fell.


    The mountain wall of Chess Mountain parted like a door as a demonic beam flew out and headed straight for Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen reached out to grab the stream of light and saw that it was a purple multifaceted crystal. It was like lightning and fog that constantly changed.


    ¡°Scram.¡±


    When Zhou Wen heard The Thearch¡¯s voice, he looked up at the mountain wall and realized that it had already closed. The flower had also vanished.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    An Jing¡¯s voice sounded from behind him. He turned around and saw her staring at him with a strange expression.


    ¡°What do you mean why?¡± Zhou Wen asked casually


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take my Zone Core? Why did you bet your life?¡± An Jing bit her lip and asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re family, right?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and left. ¡°I still have something on. I¡¯ll make a move first.¡±


    ¡°Family?¡± An Jing was taken aback as she watched Zhou Wen tear through space and vanish.


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind An Jing, he had already accepted Ouyang Lan and An Tianzuo.


    There was no need to mention Ouyang Lan. She had always treated Zhou Wen well. As for An Tianzuo, although he had never treated Zhou Wen nicely, Zhou Wen knew very well that if not for An Tianzuo¡¯s orders, An Sheng wouldn¡¯t have done so much for him.


    Zhou Wen was someone who preferred soft tactics over hard tactics. An Tianzuo had done so many things for him, so he wasn¡¯t willing to let An Jing end up in such a state unless it was absolutely necessary.


    He teleported back to Guide Ancient City. He originally wanted to immediately absorb the Zone Core and advance to the Calamity grade, but he heard more grievous news.


    ¡°Jiang Yan is also finished?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan in a daze, unable to recover from his shock.


    ¡°He said that there were some things he had to do. The opportunity Zhong Ziya risked his life to exchange for allowed him to see the fatal weakness of the Transcendent Immortal. Therefore, he had to give it a try no matter what. Also, before he left, he told me to tell you that if he loses, he knows that you will definitely go. He also knows that nothing can stop you.¡± Li Xuan sighed and said, ¡°He said that if you have to go, study his battle with Transcendent Immortal a few more times. Go when you are confident.¡±


    ¡°Is he dead?¡± Zhou Wen asked angrily.


    Jiang Yan had clearly persuaded him not to go, but he had gone himself.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know¡­ See for yourself¡­¡± Li Xuan played the recording of the battle.


    The projection began when Jiang Yan ascended the divine mountain. There was another white jade pillar in front of the temple with Zhong Ziya chained to it.


    However, he was different from Wang Mingyuan who was clearly still alive. Zhong Ziya¡¯s limbs and head drooped down. His body relied on the chains that penetrated it to prevent him from falling. It was unknown if he was dead or alive.


    The battle between Jiang Yan and Transcendent Immortal wasn¡¯t complicated. It could even be said to be simple. He lost even faster than Zhong Ziya and was defeated in one strike. His fate was unknown as he fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen knew that it wasn¡¯t because Jiang Yan was weaker than Zhong Ziya. On the contrary, Jiang Yan posed a greater threat to Transcendent Immortal, so he made her serious from the beginning.


    Zhou Wen watched the battle between Jiang Yan and Transcendent Immortal repeatedly. Although it was only one move, Zhou Wen saw many things.


    Jiang Yan, who was wearing Guardian armor, had fused with the Guardian at a high level and reached the peak of the Calamity grade. However, he was different from Zhong Ziya. Jiang Yan didn¡¯t have the Super Evolution ability, so it was impossible for him to crack the power of Transcendent Heaven like Zhong


    Ziya.


    Jiang Yan used another method that was unique to him.


    If Zhong Ziya¡¯s ability was to be an enemy to the world, Jiang Yan¡¯s power was to assimilate the world.


    All powers could be used for himself. In Transcendent Heaven, as Jiang Yan walked towards Transcendent Immortal, he also assimilated and absorbed Transcendent Heaven.


    When he arrived in front of Transcendent Immortal, Jiang Yan¡¯s strength and ability had almost reached the same level as hers.


    Instead of saying that the strike was a battle between Jiang Yan and the Transcendent Immortal, it was more like a battle between two Transcendent Immortals. They had the same strength and the same move, but Jiang Yan still failed to withstand a single strike.


    Zhou Wen trembled as he watched. Jiang Yan¡¯s battle was filled with the determination to die. He didn¡¯t do it to defeat Transcendent Immortal, but to let Zhou Wen see the essence of her strength.


    The power displayed by Transcendent Immortal was only superficial. It was difficult to see the true profundity from watching the battle.


    Jiang Yan used the power and ability of Transcendent Immortal to clearly show the profundity within. This wasn¡¯t a battle; it was more of an analysis.


    Jiang Yan used his life to analyze the essence of the power of Transcendent Immortal.


    After Zhou Wen finished watching, he didn¡¯t say a word as he returned to his room. He summoned Demonic Neonate and the golden trident to guard the area outside and took out the Zone Core.

 Chapter 1781 - Divine Path Human Path

    Chapter 1781 Divine Path Human Path


    As the Demon God Bloodline Catalog circulated, the purple Zone Core gradually fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The Demon God Bloodline Catalog was a very bizarre cultivation technique that could simulate the power of any demon. This was very rare among all the cultivation techniques.


    It was similar to Jiang Yan¡¯s abilities, but it wasn¡¯t as direct. Furthermore, there were more restrictions.


    Not being direct and having many restrictions didn¡¯t mean it was weak. In fact, having restrictions meant it had more possibilities. The Demon God Bloodline Catalog also had its advantages.


    Boom!


    Zhou Wen felt a magical change happening inside his body. It wasn¡¯t an exaggeration to say that the change was a complete transformation.


    His blood boiled like magma, as though it wanted to melt his entire body.


    Legend had it that when demons reached a certain realm, they would take human form. This process was known as ¡®Taking Form.¡¯ And now, Zhou Wen¡¯s body¡¯s transformation was similar. The entire structure of his body seemed to have changed.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t need to take human form. His body didn¡¯t undergo any changes in appearance, but his body gained more possibilities.


    Finally, a new Calamity Zone was formed. The Demon God Bloodline Catalog had successfully advanced to the Calamity grade.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to carefully take in the Demon God Bloodline Catalog that had advanced to the Calamity grade, his body suddenly underwent an even more intense change.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra that had been silent all this while finally erupted again. As for the eight cultivation techniques that had condensed a Calamity Zone, they were like eight reservoirs that constantly provided the Lost Immortal Sutra with all sorts of energy.


    No, to be precise, Lost Immortal Sutra was extracting energy.


    Sas


    An indescribable sense of comfort ran through Zhou Wen¡¯s every nerve. It was as though he was about to ascend to immortality. The feeling was intoxicating.


    If anyone saw Zhou Wen at that moment, they would probably be shocked.


    Zhou Wen, who was sitting there, wasn¡¯t surrounded by lightning, nor was there any colorful energy flowing. All he did was have his eyes open; they were glazed over as though he was in a trance.


    His skin was slightly sweaty, but his cheeks were so pink that it made one¡¯s heart tremble.


    No matter how one looked at it, he looked like a young girl having a wet dream. There was even a hint of a seductive smile on his lips.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel as comfortable as he looked.


    On the ravaged land, magma spewed out. A god stood high above the clouds as he looked down at the primitive land. His eyes were as indifferent as water, as though he wasn¡¯t looking at the mortal world, but a lifeless desert.


    ¡°The Heavenly Path is my path, and this path is nature.¡±


    A voice seemed to echo from the god¡¯s body. As the god¡¯s mood changed, the entire land changed.


    All things grew and withered as the land underwent changes. The sea rose and fell as generations constantly replaced one another in the river of history.


    It was an unimaginable divine power. A thought from a god resulted in change to all things.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was uncontrollably massaged by the divine power. One moment it was water, another moment it was stone, and another moment it was grass.


    Just as Zhou Wen was feeling alarmed by the irresistible divine power, he saw the god in the sky turn into another. It was a god that resembled light and lightning. His face couldn¡¯t be discerned, but he felt boundless divine power ripple out of him. The world turned dark.


    ¡°Let there be light.¡± His psyche fluctuated.


    Hence, there was light in the dark world.


    ¡°Let there be trees.¡±


    Hence, there were trees in the empty world.


    ¡°Let there be clouds.¡±


    Clouds appeared in the empty sky.


    Everything in the world appeared out of thin air with a thought. The originally dark and empty world gradually became colorful.


    Gods constantly appeared up to a total of eight gods. Every god displayed unimaginable divine power. It was a power that mortals could only look up to, making Zhou Wen feel as tiny as an ant.


    Zhou Wen had never seen those gods before, but he could tell from the divine power they emitted that they were the eight cultivation techniques he had cultivated.


    However, the realm they displayed was far beyond what the present Zhou Wen could reach.


    After the eight gods were displayed one by one, the world returned to the desolate scene of a flooded land. However, on the ravaged land, there was an additional weak human figure.


    As Zhou Wen could only see the back, he couldn¡¯t tell who it was. It looked like a girl as she seemed to be advancing with great effort. Every step she took was staggering as though she would collapse at any moment.


    Step by step, the girl fell countless times. Finally, she failed to stand up in front of a lake.


    As for her hand, it was still extended towards the lake. Even in death, she failed to fulfill her wish, even if all she wanted was a sip of water.


    ¡°Divine Path has no joy; Human Path is intrinsically sad.¡± A voice sounded beside Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen turned around and saw a woman standing beside him.


    Although her face couldn¡¯t be seen, Zhou Wen immediately knew who she was¡ªthe woman from the Sigh of the King.


    Zhou Wen wanted to ask, but he couldn¡¯t say a word.


    ¡°It¡¯s time to make a choice, what will you choose: the Divine Path or the Human Path?¡± The woman didn¡¯t look at Zhou Wen as she stared at the spot where the sky and ground met.


    Eight gods appeared in the sky one by one, and the girl stood up again and continued forward. However, the lake in front of her had already vanished. Wherever she looked, there was nothing. It was just a dilapidated land that resembled the end of the world.


    ¡°Who¡­ are you¡­¡± Zhou Wen asked again, but this time, he managed to voice it out.


    The woman didn¡¯t answer as she smiled. With a wave of her hand, the world shattered. The eight gods and the girl vanished, waking Zhou Wen from the dream-like world.


    The power of the eight cultivation techniques had already been fused by the Lost Immortal Sutra. Zhou Wen suddenly realized that he was still problematic.


    This was a critical period for condensing the Calamity Zone. The eight cultivation techniques were originally simulated by the Lost Immortal Sutra, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have the physique needed for the eight cultivation techniques.


    At this stage, by fusing the power of the eight cultivation techniques with the Lost Immortal Sutra, he could truly possess the power of eight Calamity Zones at the same time.


    Zhou Wen was already very familiar with these eight powers. At the same time, he could already see the future of the eight powers in the illusion.


    Having eight Calamity Zones at the same time was something unreachable even for supreme existences in the dimension, much less a human.


    However, retaining these eight powers also meant losing the chance of condensing a Calamity Zone that belonged to him.


    Two paths-one was filled with light, while the other was filled with unknowns.


    ¡°Are you trying to tell me that you are my other path?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate as he circulated the Lost Immortal Sutra. The surging power instantly surged towards his brain as the Calamity Zone began to officially condense.

 Chapter 1782 - Advancing to the Calamity Grade

    Chapter 1782 Advancing to the Calamity Grade


    ¡°If the Divine Path is an analogy to reaching the peak once success is reached, then the Human Path is a weakling¡¯s growth history. The peak is the benefits that are truly in one¡¯s hands, but the future is ultimately unpredictable.


    ¡°Life isn¡¯t a game. There are too many accidents and there¡¯s no chance of a redo. No one knows if there will really be a day when one will grow up. Most people in reality will collapse halfway like the girl in the illusion.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew very well that although the woman seemed to have given him a choice between the Divine Path and the Human Path, she hadn¡¯t really given him a choice.


    Be it the Divine Path or the Human Path, they had their own flaws.


    What the woman really wanted to tell him was that a third path existed¡ªGodhood Human Path.


    It fused the Divine Path and Human Path, and used the realm of deities as a foundation; yet, one had to constantly seek a breakthrough like a human.


    ¡°Could this be your path?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the woman¡¯s origins or what experiences she had, but from the realm of the Godhood Human Path, the woman was probably as great as Zhou Wen had seen in his dreams.


    ¡°Your path has supreme glory, but that¡¯s ultimately not my path. I¡¯m not at your level. Even with that state of mind, it¡¯s difficult for me to do anything.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose the Godhood Human Path mentioned by the woman. He ultimately chose the Human Path without any hesitation.


    Only by visiting all the mountains could one say that there were no more mountains left in the world. Only by plucking all the flowers could one say that there were no more flowers that caught one¡¯s eye. If one had never experienced anything, how could they dare say that they had no worries?


    The Human Path implied all the good and bad of the human world. Only when one was flourishing after experiencing all that the world had to offer could they be considered having a Human Path Godhood.


    With his mind set, he constantly circulated the Lost Immortal Sutra as strange powers overlapped, transforming into a strange force field.


    Deep in his soul, there seemed to be a woman¡¯s sigh. It was unknown if it was sorrow or disappointment.


    Boom!


    The Terror grade that had bound Zhou Wen for a long time was finally broken through. He seemed to be reborn as the world seemed to widen in his eyes.


    Humans have their paths as humans. Gods have their paths as gods. I¡¯m not a god, but I¡¯ve stepped onto the divine path¡­ Zhou Wen stood up and took out his phone to check his stats.


    Zhou Wen: Calamity


    Life Providence: Sigh of the King


    Life Soul: Slaughterer


    Wheel of Destiny: No Engravings (One Spin)


    Terror Form: The Disqualified (Beyond S)


    Calamity Zone: Human Realm (Heaven level)


    Strength: 1000


    After reading the information, Zhou Wen knew that he was already standing at the true peak of the Calamity grade. Like Demonic Neonate, he had all his stats at 1000. His Calamity Zone was already at the Heaven level.


    Such stats could be said to be unparalleled among Calamity-grade creatures, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t confident that he could withstand an attack from Transcendent Immortal.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t fighting alone. He still had the golden trident, Demonic Neonate, and a group of Companion Beasts.


    Furthermore, Zhou Wen had another important guarantee¡ªthe divine mountain dungeon that had been downloaded by the mysterious phone.


    Zhou Wen had clearly taken away the most important golden Three-Eyed God on the divine mountain, but the Cube battle hadn¡¯t ended. This was a very important problem.


    If he could figure out why the Cube battle hadn¡¯t ended, it might be key to Zhou Wen¡¯s success in rescuing Wang Mingyuan.


    After launching the divine mountain dungeon, the Lake of Fog and the golden fruit tree remained. He controlled the blood-colored avatar to come in front of the golden fruit tree and casually plucked a golden fruit.


    As expected, as long as he had the golden fruit, he could leave the divine mountain dungeon at any time.


    Unfortunately, the golden fruit in-game couldn¡¯t be brought to reality. These things were meaningless to Zhou Wen.


    Summoning Demonic Neonate, he pushed down the golden fruit tree and revealed the entrance to the temple. He entered the temple buried at the bottom of the lake, but he didn¡¯t see the golden Three-Eyed God. The entire temple was empty.


    There¡¯s actually no golden Three-Eyed God in the dungeon. That¡¯s strange. From the looks of it, the thing needed to clear the dungeon isn¡¯t the golden trident. What could it be? Zhou Wen carefully searched the temple.


    The temple was extremely huge. Every item was many times bigger than what humans used. The stone throne, stone pillars, and stone sculptures were all tools carved from black stone. Apart from that, there was nothing else.


    He searched the entire temple but didn¡¯t find anything. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised. If it was that easy to discover the key, the divine mountain in the real world would have long been overturned by the Immortals. They would have long found it.


    The battle of the Cube hadn¡¯t ended, meaning that the Immortals hadn¡¯t found anything. It was normal for Zhou Wen to not find anything since even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses couldn¡¯t find it.


    Apart from the monster in the Lake of Fog and the golden fruit tree, there¡¯s no living creature in the entire dungeon. There¡¯s no danger in the temple. What¡¯s the point of such a dungeon existing? Zhou Wen frowned in thought.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up as he hurriedly left the temple¡¯s exit and floated in the air to look at the entire island.


    Could it be¡­ The true item to clear this game dungeon¡­ is this divine mountain¡­ Zhou Wen sized it up for a while and muttered to himself.


    The divine mountain in-game didn¡¯t rise out of the lake like in reality. It was still beneath the lake, and there was nothing in the temple. No matter how one looked at it, the only treasure was the divine mountain itself.


    However, be it in-game or in reality, the divine mountain was an unparalleled huge existence. It was probably more than ten thousand meters tall. Furthermore, the divine mountain¡¯s material was extremely hard and heavy. Ordinary Calamity-grade creatures couldn¡¯t damage it at all.


    It was probably more difficult to uproot such a divine mountain than destroying a planet. Even the Apocalypse-grade powerhouses probably couldn¡¯t do it, much less Zhou Wen.


    If it could be stored away, Transcendent Immortal would have long done so. Why would she leave the divine mountain there?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up. He burrowed into the temple that was situated in the divine mountain¡¯s belly and carefully observed every inch of the black stone, hoping to find some clues.


    After a carpet sweep, Zhou Wen finally discovered something.


    So that¡¯s how it is. It¡¯s no wonder the Cube battle didn¡¯t end. I was missing something. Zhou Wen looked at the sculpture behind the black stone foundation and was immediately enlightened.


    The carvings were mysterious and strange. They depicted some strange beasts. In the middle was a strange beast facing forward. It had three eyes like the Gods, but the pupils in the middle of the three eyes were hollowed out. Zhou Wen took a look and saw that the shapes, positions, and distances of the three holes matched the golden trident¡¯s tips.


    These three holes corresponded to the golden trident. If his guess was right, he had to stick the golden trident in to activate a mechanism or end the Cube¡¯s battle.


    However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t taken that step after obtaining the golden trident. Therefore, the Cube battle hadn¡¯t ended.


    However, there¡¯s no golden Three-Eyed God in-game, so there¡¯s no golden trident. How do I clear the level? Zhou Wen thought for a while but failed to figure it out.


    Since the golden trident couldn¡¯t be brought into the game, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t experiment. He could give it a try in reality, but he didn¡¯t know what would happen.


    Unable to find any other clues, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up and call Li Xuan over.


    ¡°Li Xuan, if I don¡¯t return this time, there¡¯s nothing to worry about. My dad can take care of himself, and Ya¡¯er has someone to take care of her. As for you, I¡¯m a little worried. There¡¯s something you have to promise me,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.

 Chapter 1783 - Appearance

    Chapter 1783 Appearance


    ¡°If you¡¯re worried, come back and do it yourself. Stop yapping.¡± Li Xuan sneered.


    Zhou Wen smiled. ¡°Who the f*ck doesn¡¯t want to return? But if I don¡¯t return, guard Guide Ancient City if you can. If not, there¡¯s no need to force it. You have to survive.¡±


    ¡°If you know that survival is important, think of every possible way to return. Back then, we agreed to build a city together. The city is now here, and so am I, so you better f*cking return here,¡± Li Xuan said as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What if¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by Li Xuan.


    ¡°There¡¯s no what-if. It¡¯s easy to abandon the city, but where can we go?¡± Li Xuan asked in response.


    Zhou Wen was slightly stunned before he smiled. ¡°That¡¯s true. Where can you retreat


    to?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you understand. Make sure to return. The city exists with you around.¡± Li Xuan¡¯s tone was relaxed, but his word was worth its weight in gold.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen stared at Li Xuan for a moment before nodding and walking out.


    Just as he walked out of the courtyard, he saw a graceful figure standing beside the stone path. She was leaning against an ancient wall and looking at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yuzhi¡­¡± Zhou Wen was slightly stunned when he saw Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°Are you leaving?¡± Zhang Yuzhi asked Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen nodded slightly and didn¡¯t say anything. In fact, he didn¡¯t know what to say.


    ¡°Can you not go?¡± she asked again.


    ¡°There are certain things that will eat at you your entire life if you don¡¯t do them,¡± Zhou Wen said. Zhang Yuzhi stared at Zhou Wen and didn¡¯t say a word. After a while, she suddenly walked in front of Zhou Wen, spread her arms, hugged him, and whispered into his ear, ¡°Come back.¡±


    With that said, she released her grip and left without waiting for Zhou Wen¡¯s answer.


    Zhou Wen stared blankly as Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s figure went into the distance. When she reached the corner of the street, Zhang Yuzhi suddenly turned around and smiled brightly. ¡°When you return, let¡¯s visit Mount Dragon Tiger.¡±


    As he watched the beautiful figure turn the corner and disappear, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand why Zhang Yuzhi wanted him to visit Mount Dragon Tiger.


    After some thought, he threw all his thoughts to the back of his mind and headed for the Cube.


    He originally wanted to make a trip to Luoyang to visit Ya¡¯er, Ouyang Lan, and his father¡ªwho he hadn¡¯t talked much with.


    However, he didn¡¯t go in the end. He was a person who didn¡¯t like partings. If he really couldn¡¯t return, he hoped that he would be quickly forgotten and no longer be missed. The Cube kept showing the scene of the divine mountain. Wang Mingyuan, Zhong Ziya, and Jiang Yan were chained to the white jade pillars in front of the temple. The Transcendent Immortal was in the temple and couldn¡¯t be seen.


    ¡°Professor Gu, in your opinion, is it possible for Human Sovereign to defeat Transcendent Immortal if he fights?¡± Su Yi asked on the live broadcast.


    She had always trusted Human Sovereign and firmly believed that Human Sovereign was the strongest human. If it were in the past, she definitely wouldn¡¯t have asked such a question. However, Transcendent Immortal was too strong, so strong that it left her in despair. Even a powerhouse like Human Sovereign couldn¡¯t give her a sufficient sense of security.


    ¡°An Apocalypse grade. That¡¯s a gap that humans can¡¯t cross at present.¡± Professor Gu didn¡¯t answer Su Yi directly, but his meaning was obvious. The people watching the live broadcast were very unhappy with this sentence, but they had to admit that there was nothing wrong with Professor Gu¡¯s words.


    ere


    From the looks of it, there was no Apocalypse-grade existence among humans. Nobody even knew how to reach the Apocalypse grade.


    Even existences like Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan ¡ªwho had used everything they had and even their lives-couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow from Transcendent Immortal. The difference in strength was despairing.


    Su Yi lost interest in talking for a moment, causing the live broadcast to fall silent.


    As a professional host, she shouldn¡¯t have let such a situation happen. However, she really couldn¡¯t bring herself to speak. She felt a deep sense of powerlessness.


    Suddenly, the Cube¡¯s still screen stirred as a figure appeared on the divine mountain.


    ¡°Zhou Wen?¡± Su Yi couldn¡¯t help but exclaim when she saw the figure on the screen clearly.


    After two human powerhouses suffered a crushing defeat, Zhou Wen actually appeared on the divine mountain at this moment. It gave them an ominous feeling.


    ¡°Why did you choose such a time?¡± Professor Gu couldn¡¯t help but frown.


    Everyone knew very well that there was probably no existence among humans that could resist Transcendent Immortal. Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya¡¯s two battles had already made everyone realize this clearly.


    It didn¡¯t seem like a good choice to rashly fight Transcendent Immortal now.


    ¡°Too rash¡­ Too rash¡­ Be it Zhong Ziya or Jiang Yan, as long as they can wait two more years, even if it¡¯s only one year, such elites might very well grow to the point of fighting Transcendent Immortal. But now, they have sacrificed themselves for nothing. Now, Zhou Wen has gone as well¡­ He¡¯s really too young¡­ Too rash¡­ Sigh¡­¡± Professor Gu found it a pity and was even a little angry, having expected better from Zhou Wen.


    It was indeed as he said. If Zhou Wen had waited a year or two, he might have full confidence in defeating Transcendent Immortal. But what was the point of winning when the time came?


    Doing the right things at the right time was one thing, but some things couldn¡¯t be repeated for the rest of their lives once they were missed.


    Zhou Wen walked up the divine mountain step by step and arrived in front of the temple. He stared at Zhong Ziya, Jiang Yan, and Wang Mingyuan-who were chained to the white jade pillars.


    His heart couldn¡¯t help but sink when he saw Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan clearly.


    Through the Cube, he couldn¡¯t determine if the two of them had completely lost their lives. Therefore, Zhou Wen still had a sliver of hope that they still had a chance of survival.


    But after observing them at close range, Zhou Wen¡¯s heart turned cold. They had indeed completely lost their lives, and it was impossible for them to be revived.


    On the other hand, Wang Mingyuan still had life in him and wasn¡¯t weak. His injuries weren¡¯t as serious as imagined.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s voice sounded as she walked out of the temple.


    ¡°Someone has to collect the debt owed.¡± Zhou Wen sized up Transcendent Immortal as he spoke.


    ¡°How do you want to collect it?¡± Transcendent Immortal asked calmly.


    ¡°Blood for blood.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze was like a blade as he stared at Transcendent Immortal. He walked forward slowly, and stars appeared around him. In an instant, it was as if all the stars in the sky were shining brightly.


    As Zhou Wen advanced, the stars in the sky turned into straight shooting stars that rushed at Transcendent Immortal. The densely packed light swords streaked across the void like a torrent and overlapped as they attacked Transcendent Immortal.


    There was no extreme speed or infinite variations, just pure suppression of strength.


    A human competing in strength with the Apocalypse-grade Transcendent Immortal? Will that work? The watching humans were filled with doubts.

 Chapter 1784 - Power of the Human World

    Chapter 1784 Power of the Human World


    Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s two battles with Transcendent Immortal had already made everyone aware of the gap between humans and Transcendent Immortal.


    Be it Zhong Ziya or Jiang Yan, their strength was greatly inferior to that of a Transcendent Immortal at the beginning of the battle. It was almost an insurmountable gap.


    It didn¡¯t seem wise for Zhou Wen to fight Transcendent Immortal head-on.


    ¡°Ignorant human.¡± Transcendent Immortal was as still as a mountain. The thousands of sword beams were less than a meter away from her, but they seemed to be frozen.


    Instead of describing them as frozen, the sword beams were still moving, albeit very slowly. They were so slow that the movement couldn¡¯t be seen with the naked eye. It could hardly traverse one-thousandth of a meter in ten thousand years.


    Everyone seemed to freeze with the sword beam, and even their breathing seemed to stop.


    Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan had attempted different methods to crack Transcendent Heaven¡¯s powers. Then, what method would Zhou Wen use to crack that insurmountable power?


    They weren¡¯t as wild as Zhong Ziya or as confident as Jiang Yan. There weren¡¯t even any deliberate variations. They were the same seemingly infinite sword beams as more and more of them gathered in front of Transcendent Immortal.


    ¡°Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. Is he trying to crack it with absolute strength? Is this really feasible?¡± Professor Gu explained in a questioning tone, clearly not agreeing with this method.


    ¡°Using quantity to result in a qualitative change might be a feasible path¡­¡± Su Yi¡¯s tone wasn¡¯t that firm.


    In fact, everyone knew very well that with the characteristics of Transcendent Heaven, it was useless to just accumulate strength.


    Luoyang¡¯s An family.


    An Tianzuo¡ªwho always spoke nastily-was silently watching the Cube¡¯s screen.


    An Sheng turned to look at An Tianzuo, finding it a little strange that An Tianzuo didn¡¯t flare up this time. Zhou Wen was taking more risks than ever before.


    ¡°Is it strange?¡± An Tianzuo asked indifferently as he watched the scene.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master Wen is in danger this time. If he loses, he probably won¡¯t even have a chance to escape.¡± It was rare for An Sheng to speak so calmly.


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because failure is not an option that it¡¯s meaningless to say anything.¡±


    ¡°Then, shouldn¡¯t you be angrier?¡± An Sheng asked in confusion.


    An Tianzuo smiled. ¡°Men always have things they have to do despite knowing that it¡¯s impossible. Only such a man can be called a brother of mine.¡±


    An Sheng almost thought that there was something wrong with his ears. He really couldn¡¯t imagine those words coming out of An Tianzuo¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Is this all you have?¡± Transcendent Immortal ignored the increasing number of sword beams in front of her.


    The difference in levels couldn¡¯t be changed simply by accumulating strength. ¡°You¡¯re inferior to those two arrogant fellows. It seems like the providence of humans ends here.¡± Transcendent Immortal was no longer in the mood to watch Zhou Wen¡¯s clumsy performance. Her finger moved slightly in preparation to crack the sword beam and deliver a fatal blow to Zhou Wen.


    But the moment Transcendent Immortal raised her finger, the seemingly still sword beam suddenly moved.


    From extreme stillness to extreme movement, the sword beam struck Transcendent Immortal at a speed indiscernible by the naked eye like a galaxy pouring down.


    Rumble!


    Sword beams raged as Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body flew out amidst the sword beam and slammed into the hall¡¯s wall.


    The infinite stream of swords exploded, instantly turning the entire scene into chaotic sword beam shards. For a moment, nothing could be seen clearly.


    After all the light dissipated, people saw Transcendent Immortal embedded in the hall¡¯s wall that had been blasted into by the sword beam.


    The armor on her body had cracked, and her face was smeared lightly with blood. Blood was still seeping out of the corners of her mouth.


    ¡°Heavens! Transcendent Immortal is injured!¡± someone exclaimed, almost unable to believe their eyes.


    The powerful Transcendent Immortal had actually been injured by Zhou Wen head-on. After watching the two previous battles, such a scene seemed like a dream.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, well done!¡± Su Yi shouted excitedly.


    People also seemed to see a glimmer of hope. The figure standing quietly in front of the hall seemed to give humans hope amidst despair.


    ¡°What power is that?¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body was trapped in the wall as she stared at Zhou Wen and asked.


    ¡°The power of the human world,¡± Zhou Wen replied calmly.


    This sentence sounded like Zhou Wen was responding to her mockery of humans, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mean that. The power of the human world he was talking about was the Human Realm domain he had obtained after advancing to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Realm domain was very simple. Using his own logic to describe it, it could be described by: genuine.


    When the human world was genuine, a fantasy without illusions, there would only be a cruel reality.


    All rules other than the mortal world¡¯s rules were illusory. It wasn¡¯t determined by human emotions.


    To put it simply, all the rules other than the mortal world¡¯s rules were useless in the Human Realm domain.


    The power of Transcendent Heaven didn¡¯t belong to the mortal world, so it naturally wasn¡¯t of any use in the Human Realm domain.


    However, even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t expect the power of the Human Realm domain to be so effective. Even an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse couldn¡¯t break through its restrictions.


    ¡°Impressive. Then, let me see what kind of power the human world has.¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body slowly escaped the wall. As she moved, the wounds on her body quickly healed. Even her clothes and armor strangely recovered.


    Boom!


    Just as Transcendent Immortal escaped, Zhou Wen appeared in front of her as if he had teleported. He punched her chest and blasted her into the depression in the wall again.


    A barrage of attacks poured down as shimmering fists crazily struck Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body.


    The light blasts constantly flickered. The fluid actions and the feeling of each punch striking flesh was a delightful scene.


    Many people couldn¡¯t help but be excited. The seemingly lofty and invincible Transcendent Immortal was actually being steamrolled by Zhou Wen, making their blood boil with excitement.


    §é


    Before this battle began, nobody had expected such a situation. Nobody expected Transcendent Immortal to be completely defeated by Zhou Wen. It seemed like she didn¡¯t even have the strength to counterattack.


    ¡°It¡¯s so brutal¡­ Zhou Wen is so strong¡­¡± Su Yi shouted without regard for her image, her voice a little hoarse.


    ¡°Beautifully done!¡± Professor Gu also clenched his fists excitedly.


    In the Overseer Manor, An Tianzuo kept frowning and silently watched the scene.


    Boom!


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s crazy bombardment, the hall¡¯s walls finally couldn¡¯t take it any longer. Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body was blasted into the hall like a sandbag, and rubble and dust flew everywhere.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ it really will work¡­¡± An Sheng stared at the scene and unconsciously clenched his fists, his palms sweating nervously.

 Chapter 1785 - New World’s Strength

    Chapter 1785 New World¡¯s Strength


    After the dust settled, the pupils of the people staring at the scene suddenly constricted, and their eyes involuntarily widened.


    Transcendent Immortal slowly walked out of the temple. Her armor was still as bright as new, and her face was flawless. It even had a lustrous glow, making it impossible to tell that she was injured.


    It was as if Zhou Wen¡¯s violent attacks had nothing to do with her.


    ¡°It¡¯s fake, right? She¡¯s not even injured?¡± Someone couldn¡¯t believe it and consoled himself.


    SC


    ¡°How strong is Transcendent Immortal¡¯s physique to not be injured?¡± Someone had a look of despair.


    an


    Professor Gu analyzed the situation with a look of disappointment. ¡°From the current situation, Transcendent Immortal has an incomparable self-healing ability. The damage Zhou Wen inflicted on her isn¡¯t as fast as her self-healing speed. I¡¯m afraid there will be a tough battle ahead.¡±


    As people discussed, Transcendent Immortal finally walked out of the temple. She stared at Zhou Wen and slowly said, ¡°Do you know the real difference between an Apocalypse and a Calamity?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just possessing the New World,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to know about the New World.¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s eyes were cold as she stared at Zhou Wen and continued, ¡°That¡¯s right. The difference between the Apocalypse grade and a Calamity grade is whether one has a New World. However, do you know what a New World is?¡±


    The people watching pricked up their ears. The Apocalypse grade was too distant for humans. No human knew what kind of realm it was. It was better to hear something than not know anything. ¡°It¡¯s just a form of strength,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a form of power? What a bold claim. The ignorant are fearless. A so-called calamity is just a disaster. The world will still be the same after the disaster. However, an apocalypse is different. It¡¯s the power to destroy the old world and establish a new world. It¡¯s the rebuilding of order, the creation of a ruler, and a supreme existence that controls everything.¡± As her tone gradually became fanatical, the armor on Transcendent Immortal¡¯s body fluttered as if an invisible force was surging out like a volcanic eruption.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly because he could sense that the power of the Human Realm domain had lost its binding effect on Transcendent Immortal.


    No! Not only was it no longer having a restraining effect, but the entire Human Realm domain was also being destroyed. It quickly collapsed like a rotten palace.


    ¡°Everything under the Apocalypse is illusory. Things like Calamity are nothing but dust in my eyes. The old order shall be destroyed, and a new world that belongs to me will be established. You can¡¯t really hurt me, but I can easily destroy the power you¡¯re proud of.¡± Transcendent Immortal slowly raised her finger and pointed at Zhou Wen as she continued, ¡°You are ultimately nothing but an insignificant speck of dust.¡±


    With that said, a beam of light instantly passed through space-time and landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s forehead, instantly penetrating


    him.


    Upon seeing this, everyone felt like they had fallen into an ice cavern.


    In their opinion, Transcendent Immortal had actually not used her true strength in the life-and-death battle. She was just playing. Transcendent Immortal¡ªwho had now shown the power of the New World¡ªwas like a genuine god. It made one unable to have the courage to fight her, leaving only deep despair and fear.


    ¡°Without entering the Apocalypse grade¡­ you will ultimately be nothing but dust¡­¡± The words didn¡¯t kill, but they threw people to the depths of hell.


    Apocalypse¡­ How can there be an apocalypse in the human world?


    ¡°So what if it¡¯s dust? To see a world in a grain of sand and a heaven in a wild flower. Even a grain of sand can be in thousands of forms. If you don¡¯t even know this, it seems like the dimension¡¯s Apocalypse grade is just this and nothing much.¡± A refreshing voice suddenly appeared, but it seemed to jolt the self-pitying people awake.


    People suddenly looked up at the scene and were pleasantly surprised to discover that Zhou Wen-who they originally thought had his head blown off by Transcendent Immortal¡¯s finger-had appeared behind Transcendent Immortal at some point in time. His figure had leaped up high, and his right arm stretched back to its limits like a drawn bow. His fist shot out like an arrow.


    The ¡®Zhou Wen¡¯ that had previously been penetrated by Transcendent Immortal¡¯s finger had already dissipated like smoke. It was only an avatar.


    Bang!


    The fist struck the back of Transcendent Immortal¡¯s head, causing her body to fall forward and roll hundreds of meters away before stopping


    Transcendent Immortal remained uninjured, but her expression turned extremely nasty.


    It could be said that she had been playing when she was beaten up by Zhou Wen. She hadn¡¯t used her true strength at all.


    However, it was completely different this time. Although she wasn¡¯t injured, it embarrassed her.


    ¡°Haha, stop being a poser? New World? Old World? He¡¯ll torture you to death equally well.¡± Li Xuan laughed loudly.


    ¡°As expected of Coach. I need to take note.¡± Feng Qiuyan thoughtfully opened up his small notebook and wrote something on it.


    ¡°Coach might not be as strong as Transcendent Immortal, but his skills and realm are definitely superior,¡± Ming Xiu praised.


    This punch swept away the previous gloominess, and it also made Ouyang Lanwho was watching the battle in front of the Cube-exhale.


    Transcendent Immortal floated up, and the dust on her armor automatically dissipated. She returned to her lofty deity-like appearance from her disheveled appearance.


    But this time, people didn¡¯t look at her with the same reverence and fear as before.


    As she looked at Zhou Wen, Transcendent Immortal¡¯s eyes were filled with bewilderment.


    In her New World, a Calamity grade should¡¯ve completely lost their ability to use orderly powers, but Zhou Wen was completely unaffected. She had never encountered such a situation.


    How could Transcendent Immortal know that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t an ordinary Calamity grade?


    Eight types of Calamity Zones had combined into one, helping the Lost Immortal Sutra break through to the Calamity grade. How could the resulting Human Realm domain be an ordinary Calamity Zone?


    Although the Human Realm domain couldn¡¯t resist the New World¡¯s power head-on, the New World¡¯s power couldn¡¯t completely destroy it.


    At this moment, Zhou Wen had completely restrained the Human Realm domain and fused it with his body. He still maintained the circulation of his strength in Transcendent Immortal¡¯s New World.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Transcendent Immortal suppressed the anger in her heart and pretended to be calm as she looked at Zhou Wen. ¡°You do have some redeeming qualities. Unfortunately, in the face of absolute strength, all techniques are nothing but a clown¡¯s tricks. Even if I stand here and let you use all your techniques, you won¡¯t be able to harm me at all.¡±


    ¡°Not necessarily.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he slowly drew his two swords. At the same time, his body underwent a strange change.


    A mystic crystal-like armor quickly covered Zhou Wen¡¯s body. It was black like an abyss as if it could absorb all light. The armor that tightly wrapped around his muscles outlined his slender and muscular body like a god emperor.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Human Sovereign¡­ Zhou Wen is Human Sovereign¡­¡± Su Yi¡¯s expression went from confusion to shock, then to pleasant surprise, then to utter alarm. Finally, she screamed, and her voice echoed in the ears of all the humans watching the live broadcast. It was deafening.

 Chapter 1786 - Time’s Up

    Chapter 1786 Time¡¯s Up


    ¡°Immortal sword?¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s expression changed slightly when she saw the two swords in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands.


    She wasn¡¯t sure if the two swords in Zhou Wen¡¯s hands were the ones in her mind, but they made her feel uneasy.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what immortal sword Transcendent Immortal was talking about, but he had relied on the Immortal Culling Sword to defeat Perfect Sword Immortal and Berserker Immortal.


    The two swords, Immortal Peril and Immortal Culling, seemed to have a powerful restraining effect on the Immortals. Perhaps they could really injure Transcendent Immortal.


    As for the armor on Zhou Wen¡¯s body, it was transformed from the Mystic Thearch Companion Beast.


    Mystic Thearch was born from absorbing the Big Dipper¡¯s Companion Egg. He had a similar body to Empress Polestar, but there were some differences. The strength of his stats was second only to Demonic Neonate. He was almost on par with Truth Listener.


    Furthermore, Mystic Thearch had an advantage that Truth Listener didn¡¯t have. His companion form was a soul, allowing him to fuse with Zhou Wen. It allowed Zhou Wen to obtain all his strength and abilities, as well as boost his Constitution. Similarly, it was easier to fully release his powers.


    Truth Listener¡¯s earring form could only give Zhou Wen its abilities. Mystic Thearch was more useful in this aspect.


    With Su Yi¡¯s shout, even those who didn¡¯t recognize Zhou Wen as Human Sovereign stared at him in shock. They wanted to see if Su Yi was telling the truth.


    Soon, everyone confirmed that Zhou Wen was Human Sovereign.


    ¡°I never expected Human Sovereign to be Zhou Wen. He¡¯s too young. I thought he would be an immortal hermit!¡±


    ¡°I should have known that there are that many experts among humans. It¡¯s definitely one of them. I just never expected it to be Zhou Wen.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve known for a long time that Zhou Wen has the looks of an emperor¡­¡±


    ¡°Scram!¡±


    In the Wang family¡¯s courtyard, Wang Lu closed her eyes and pressed her palms together in front of her chest as she silently prayed.


    She didn¡¯t dare watch the battle in front of the Cube, nor did she dare watch the livestream because her heart couldn¡¯t withstand the unknown outcome.


    In the dimension, once defeated, there was only death. There was no chance of escaping.


    So he¡¯s Human Sovereign. That makes it even more interesting. In the unknown underwater ancient city, Tsukuyomi, whose white dress was like snow, sat on a chair-sized shell. She held her cheek and looked at Zhou Wen with interest. Her eyes seemed to flicker with a strange light.


    Under the attention of everyone, Zhou Wen struck out with both swords and vanished into thin air.


    Transcendent Immortal¡¯s figure suddenly vanished. Then, she heard an ear-piercing sound, but she didn¡¯t see anyone.


    Occasionally, power would erupt out of thin air, producing a demonic blast of light. After forming the Human Realm domain, the powers of the other eight cultivation techniques had completely fused with Zhou Wen¡¯s body. He could use them as freely as his limbs, elevating it to a higher level.


    Godfiend Spacetime¡¯s instant transmission no longer had any restrictions. It could be used in battle without any pause.


    The Teacher Domain had already become an instinct, allowing him to sense the other party¡¯s actions and analyze their pros and cons.


    Great Brahma¡¯s domain strengthened the body, and the First Order of Chaos augmented his body with external forces.


    The Demon God Bloodline Catalog was ever-changing. The Human Sovereign Sacrifices to the Heavens domain made Zhou Wen stronger the more he fought.


    Universe Inversion was unpredictable. The Beginningless Sword Domain made the two immortal swords even sharper and indomitable.


    These were no longer domains, but a talent or instinct. There was only one true domain, and that was the Human Realm domain.


    All the humans watching the battle, including experts like Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan, couldn¡¯t see the extent of the battle, nor could they tell who had the upper hand.


    Such a battle had exceeded the limits of human understanding. Only a few dimensional Apocalypse-grade experts could see the truth of the battle. It was precisely because they could see it clearly that the bigwigs of the dimensional races were even more alarmed.


    Zhou Wen was undoubtedly only at the Calamity grade. It was unprecedented for a Calamity grade to fight an Apocalypse grade to such an extent.


    No matter how powerful a Calamity grade was, they were as weak as dust in front of an Apocalypse grade.


    Those Calamity-grade experts who claimed to have killed Apocalypse-grade experts managed to do so through special reasons. They didn¡¯t really kill an Apocalypse-grade expert in a fair battle.


    To put it bluntly, those Calamity-grade creatures were just chess pieces. The true chess player behind them was still an Apocalypse-grade big shot.


    The nature of this battle was completely different. Zhou Wen was a genuine Calamity. Transcendent Immortal wasn¡¯t restrained by any external forces and was at her peak.


    Even among Apocalypse-grade experts, Transcendent Immortal was definitely not a run-of-the mill expert.


    It was difficult to determine the outcome of the battle between Zhou Wen and Transcendent Immortal despite him being a Calamity. Although Transcendent Immortal had the upper hand, it was enough to shock the bigwigs of the dimension.


    ¡°Is the potential of humans really that terrifying? If that human is also at the Apocalypse grade¡­¡± At that moment, a thought surfaced in their minds: Humans had to be wiped out. Not a single one could be left alive.


    Zhou Wen fell into a dire battle. He had already used all his techniques and even with the augmentation of Mystic Thearch and other Companion Beasts, he could barely fight Transcendent Immortal. He was barely doing anything to her.


    The power of the New World is just too powerful. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but sigh. The difference between the Apocalypse grade and the Calamity grade was just too great.


    This was all thanks to Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s sacrifice. If they hadn¡¯t allowed Zhou Wen to see the essence of Transcendent Immortal¡¯s strength, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to put up such a resistance.


    There was always someone better. Transcendent Immortal¡¯s New World seemed to be countless spaces interweaving together. Every time Zhou Wen thought that his immortal sword had struck Transcendent Immortal, he would discover that the Transcendent Immortal he had struck was like a bubble. Transcendent Immortal was in a distant space.


    On the other hand, Zhou Wen was forced to constantly change his offensive methods. Once he used the same move a second time, he would immediately be counterattacked by Transcendent Immortal.


    Even if it was ever-changing, there would always be an end.


    When Zhou Wen¡¯s sword missed again, a palm suddenly appeared in front of him, preventing him from dodging. All he could do was cross his swords to block the palm. It was as though he had been struck by a sledgehammer.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s legs left deep marks on the square¡¯s ground paved with divine stone as he retreated hundreds of meters before coming to a forceful halt.


    His entire calf sank into the stone slabs. In front of him were two deep trenches that had been plowed out. The two swords in his hand kept trembling.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. You aren¡¯t on the same level as me. No matter how hard you work, you can only die in vain.¡± Transcendent Immortal danced in the air and looked down at Zhou Wen, who was on the ground. She was like an invincible goddess.


    In fact, most of the humans watching the battle had no idea what had happened. From their point of view, Zhou Wen and Transcendent Immortal had suddenly vanished for less than a second before Zhou Wen appeared in the square in a sorry state. Then, they heard Transcendent Immortal¡¯s invincible declaration.


    ¡°Could it be that even Human Sovereign can¡¯t last a second in front of Transcendent Immortal?¡± Everyone shuddered.


    ¡°The Apocalypse grade is really strong.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Transcendent Immortal in the sky and praised.


    ¡°Since you already know the difference, your time is up. It¡¯s time to go.¡± Transcendent Immortal pressed down with her palm. It was clearly a slender jade-like hand that was only the size of a palm. It wasn¡¯t even as big as Zhou Wen¡¯s hand, but in the eyes of the world, it managed to blot out the sky. It was like an omnipresent heavenly punishment that contained the might to destroy the world.

 Chapter 1787 - In the Human World

    Chapter 1787 In the Human World


    There was only that single palm under the sky.


    Zhou Wen looked up, but all he could see was the palm. It was as if everything in the world was enveloped by that slender hand.


    It literally blotted out the sky with one hand, coming from beyond the heavens. Even the heavens seemed like a toy to be manhandled.


    There was nowhere to hide, much less escape.


    Even the audience could sense the unparalleled pressure from the palm through their television screen. It was as if it was a hand of heaven that could crush them like ants.


    Zhou Wen was iron-willed. He suddenly swung his left hand and stabbed the Immortal Peril Sword into the ground, holding the hilt of the Immortal Culling Sword with both hands.


    The two swords had their own characteristics and could unleash different abilities, but he now needed to gather all his strength for a desperate strike. He couldn¡¯t divert his strength anymore, so he could only give up on one sword and fight with one.


    With both hands holding the Immortal Culling Sword, the strength in his body surged into the sword like a tsunami, causing the body of the Immortal Culling Sword to tremble non-stop from the influx of immense power.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that using his strength to fight the peerless strike of Transcendent Immortal head-on was no different from throwing an egg at a rock.


    It was the true power of the apocalypse-a power capable of destroying a world.


    No matter how powerful a Calamity-grade powerhouse was, they were still limited to the confines of a world. If the world was destroyed, a calamity was nothing.


    Only by breaking out of the world will I have a chance of survival. Under the earth-shattering pressure, Zhou Wen looked at her jade-like hand, but his expression was as calm as an ancient well.


    After years of cultivation, Zhou Wen¡¯s character had long been tempered to be as tough as steel. Even in the face of death, he could clearly weigh the pros and cons.


    Images of his past cultivation flashed through his mind. The persistence of the First Order of Chaos, the artifice of the Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art, the purity of the Qi Refinement Art, the bizarreness of the Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, the essence of the Dao Sutra, the illusions of the Godfiend Era, the countering of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra, and the truth of the Demon God Inheritance Catalog.


    Yet these paths that he had spent so much effort figuring out were all severed by himself.


    There are 50 Great Daos, 49 come from heaven. The one removed is my Dao, and it¡¯s also the Dao of Humanity¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s heart burned more and more.


    As a human, he didn¡¯t need to be indifferent to everything, nor did he need to be one with the world, much less see past the mortal world.


    Humans were humans. Since they were born into the world, they should live as themselves. They weren¡¯t doing it for the heavens or the earth; they were only doing it for themselves.


    SC


    As Transcendent Immortal¡¯s palm pressed down, the entire temple produced cracking sounds. Deep cracks appeared on the eternally indelible wall of divine stones, like pythons intertwined.


    The divine mountain trembled as if it would collapse at any moment under the immense pressure of the palm.


    The destructive power made people¡¯s hearts palpitate as they stared at the sword-wielding Zhou Wen, the unease in their hearts intensifying despite them praying countless times for him to withstand the palm strike.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure and the sword in his hand appeared tiny beneath the palm. They were so small that they were almost negligible.


    ¡°Regardless of whether you are Zhou Wen or Human Sovereign, in my opinion, you are nothing more than fleeting clouds. Your life and death are in my hands.¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s voice was like the voice of the Heavenly Dao as it surged from all directions and echoed for a long time, capable of destroying one¡¯s soul.


    Bang!


    The huge divine stone pillars outside the temple collapsed one after another under the palm¡¯s pressure like rotten wood shavings.


    ¡°To escape the Three Realms and not be confined to the Five Elements, an immortal beyond the heavens is lawless.¡± The sword in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand lowered as he looked up at the heavens and slowly chanted.


    ¡°Not bad. To be able to understand the true gap between you and me, I guess you can die in peace,¡± Transcendent Immortal said calmly as she continued pressing down with her palm, about to crush Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Unfortunately, that¡¯s only your delusion. It¡¯s sad and lamentable. If there¡¯s still an area beyond the heavens, it won¡¯t be that. So what if you¡¯ve escaped the Three Realms and not confined to the Five Elements? I¡¯ll let you know that you¡¯re still¡­ in¡­ the human¡­ world.¡± As he spoke, Zhou Wen held the Immortal Culling Sword with both hands and counterattacked with a mighty strike.


    As the Immortal Culling Sword rose, Zhou Wen¡¯s body and sword emitted light. It wasn¡¯t intense, but it was dazzling.


    It was like a phoenix that had been reborn from fire and was undergoing a transformation. With the appearance of the light, Zhou Wen and the sword underwent a transformation, but it also seemed to be burning. When the sword tore through space and met Transcendent Immortal¡¯s palm, Zhou Wen¡¯s body and sword seemed to have completely turned into light, turning into a blazing white projection.


    When the sword and palm collided, there was no dazzling explosion of light, nor was there a shockwave that tore through everything. There were no sparks as expected, nor was there an earth-shattering collapse.


    The blade struck the flesh, slicing open the flesh on his palm, and blood flowed down the blade.


    ¡°I-impossible¡­¡± Transcendent Immortal¡¯s face twisted, and her eyes were filled with shock and disbelief.


    The full-powered strike of an Apocalypse-grade force was actually cracked open by Zhou Wen. She couldn¡¯t accept such a ridiculous outcome, regardless.


    Transcendent Immortal¡¯s five fingers suddenly contracted as she gripped the sword, allowing the flesh on her five fingers to be sliced open. The blade sank into her bones, and blood splattered.


    She struck out with her other hand again, hoping to kill him on the spot.


    Zhou Wen was already prepared and was about to forcefully summon Demonic Neonate to help him withstand the fatal strike.


    But before Zhou Wen could summon Demonic Neonate, Transcendent Immortal¡¯s palm suddenly stopped. Her pupils constricted strangely as if she had encountered something unexpected and extremely terrifying


    Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze went past Transcendent Immortal¡¯s face and saw a familiar face.


    ¡°Teacher¡­¡± Zhou Wen was slightly stunned.


    The white-robed person behind Transcendent Immortal was none other than Wang Mingyuan.


    At this moment, Wang Mingyuan had a calm expression and was filled with vigor. He didn¡¯t look like he was about to die from his serious injuries at all. He stood behind Transcendent Immortal and pressed a palm on her head. His five fingers were like hooks that stabbed into her skull.


    Although he couldn¡¯t see anything, Zhou Wen could sense that the strength in Transcendent Immortal was rapidly flowing away.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t sense the strength coming from Transcendent Immortal¡¯s hand that was gripping the sword.


    Zhou Wen stared blankly at Transcendent Immortal and Wang Mingyuan behind her. He saw that the former¡¯s vitality was almost drained, and her entire body hung down like an old willow branch in the wind. If Wang Mingyuan hadn¡¯t grabbed her head, she would¡¯ve probably fallen to the ground.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­¡± Like a dying old man who couldn¡¯t even speak properly, Transcendent Immortal weakly said the word ¡®you¡¯ before her head suddenly exploded like a watermelon.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s fingers were stained with blood as he looked at the headless corpse as if he were looking at trash. ¡°Zhou Wen, you did well.¡± Wang Mingyuan took out a white handkerchief and wiped the blood off his fingers, allowing the white handkerchief to drift away with the wind. Then, he smiled at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at the damaged temple, and his expression changed drastically when he saw the situation.

 Chapter 1788 - Something Unusual

    Chapter 1788 Something Unusual


    Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan, who were imprisoned on the stone pillar, had already turned into two dried corpses. Their flesh was shriveled like dried bacon.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan with a gloomy expression. He hoped that Wang Mingyuan could give him an explanation, hoping that the truth wasn¡¯t what he thought.


    Wang Mingyuan sighed softly and said, ¡°Some sacrifices are inevitable to do what needs to be done.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen felt as though he had fallen into an ice cavern as his body trembled uncontrollably.


    ¡°They risked their lives to come here for you.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s voice trembled uncontrollably.


    ¡°Therefore, I want them to die for a reason,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°You were plotting against them from the beginning?¡± Zhou Wen still had a sliver of hope as he asked Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°It¡¯s not just them. Including you, I chose all my students because you guys have the talent I need.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s honesty left Zhou Wen speechless.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan in silence. Jiang Yan treated Wang Mingyuan like a mentor in life, and Zhong Ziya treated Wang Mingyuan like a father.


    Even Zhou Wen himself treated Wang Mingyuan as a good teacher worthy of respect.


    However, he never expected that Wang Mingyuan had been plotting against them from the beginning.


    ¡°If you want to do something extraordinary, you have to use extreme means. I had no other choice,¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently.


    ¡°What about Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan? Didn¡¯t they have other choices as well? But they chose you,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly as he looked at Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°They chose me, but I chose the entire world. There¡¯s no contradiction,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Teacher, this is the last time I¡¯ll call you that. I hope you won¡¯t regret your choice in the future,¡± Zhou Wen said as he turned to leave.


    ¡°You can leave, but leave the two swords behind.¡± Wang Mingyuan stopped Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What if I say no?¡± Zhou Wen stopped but didn¡¯t turn his head.


    ¡°I¡¯ve already lost two disciples. I don¡¯t wish to lose a third.¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed.


    Zhou Wen ignored Wang Mingyuan and walked to the side of the Immortal Peril Sword, about to pull it out.


    Bang!


    Wang Mingyuan waved his sleeve gently as a force surged towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen slashed out with his backhand at the surging undercurrent, but it was as though he had struck a spring.


    His powerful force was completely absorbed before it erupted, sending Zhou Wen flying.


    In midair, he felt the hand holding the Immortal Culling Sword tremble as it uncontrollably left his hand. When Zhou Wen stabilized himself and looked again, he saw that the Immortal Peril Sword and Immortal Culling Sword were already in Wang Mingyuan¡¯s hands.


    Zhou Wen gathered his strength as his fists erupted with infinite strength as he struck at Wang Mingyuan. However, Wang Mingyuan, who was inches away, seemed to be in another world. No matter how ferocious his punches were, they couldn¡¯t injure Wang Mingyuan at all.


    It was the power of Transcendent Immortal, but not completely. It was even stranger than Transcendent Immortal¡¯s powers.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that it was impossible for him to defeat Wang Mingyuan today.


    This was because the current Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t only Wang Mingyuan. Not only did he have the power of Transcendent Immortal, but the attack he used to snatch the swords previously had the inklings of Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya, perhaps even more.


    Jiang Yan could use external forces for his own. Zhong Ziya could infinitely stimulate his evolution. Such talent and ability were now used by Wang Mingyuan. Furthermore, he had successfully advanced to the Apocalypse grade after absorbing the power of Transcendent Immortal.


    Ignoring Zhou Wen, even in the dimension, it was difficult to say if anyone could defeat him.


    Wang Mingyuan ignored Zhou Wen as his hands moved slightly. The Immortal Peril Sword and Immortal Culling Sword rose up as two other swords flew out of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s sleeve.


    The four swords had different shapes, but they gave off a mysterious feeling.


    In the next second, the four swords gathered together. At the instant they collided, they fused into one, turning into a sword that floated beneath Wang Mingyuan¡¯s feet.


    ¡°If we can meet again, everything will end.¡± Wang Mingyuan glanced at Zhou Wen before turning around and riding the sword away. The white-robed sword shadow vanished into the horizon in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Wen looked in the direction Wang Mingyuan had vanished with a complicated expression. Finally, he could only smile bitterly and walk towards Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s skeletons.


    ¡°Let¡¯s¡­ go home¡­¡± Zhou Wen carried the two skeletons and left the divine mountain, feeling mixed emotions.


    After returning to Guide Ancient City, Zhou Wen buried Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s corpses on a hill outside the city. He looked at their tombstones and was at a loss for words.


    ¡°F*ck, Wang Mingyuan is really a piece of trash. I¡¯ve never seen such a shameless person. You guys risked your lives for him, but he still schemed against all of you. He¡¯s inhumane. Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s deaths weren¡¯t worth it,¡± Li Xuan said angrily.


    ¡°That¡¯s their choice. At the very least, they met it calmly in death,¡± Zhou Wen said slowly.


    ¡°What bullsh*t calmness? Do you know what people are saying now?¡± Li Xuan hesitated.


    Even if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know, he could guess what people would say.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what they say. The dead can¡¯t be revived.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to care about what others said.


    ¡°Well said. The dead hold the least value. Why don¡¯t you put some thought into saving your life?¡± A hoarse voice sounded.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan turned their heads and saw an elder walking over with a strange smile.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian? What are you doing here?¡± Zhou Wen asked the elder with a frown.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to save your lives, of course,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a faint smile.


    ¡°You should save your life first,¡± Li Xuan said coldly.


    Jing Daoxian thought nothing of it. He walked to the tombstone and said with infinite regret, ¡°What a pity.¡±


    ¡°What about?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Unfortunately, their powers weren¡¯t used by me. Otherwise, the dimensional king wouldn¡¯t be Wang Mingyuan, but me.¡± Jing Daoxian sighed. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Li Xuan asked with a frown.


    ¡°Kid, are you really stupid or are you pretending to be stupid? Why did Wang Mingyuan do so many things? With the ability to infinitely evolve and transform all powers for his own use, coupled with the power of Transcendent Immortal helping him advance to the Apocalypse grade, what else could it be for? Just watch. If he doesn¡¯t die, he will soon become the king who controls the entire dimension,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a twitch of his lips.


    Zhou Wen had already roughly guessed it, but Li Xuan¡¯s mouth gaped open in surprise. After a while, he said, ¡°From what you¡¯re saying, Wang Mingyuan wants to turn himself into a devil. To subdue the devils as a devil sounds rather tragic.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m just afraid that he will end up becoming the most lethal devil king,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a sneer.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°What do I mean¡­ Hehe¡­ I¡¯m afraid Wang Mingyuan hates humans more than the monsters from the dimension¡­¡± Jing Daoxian said with a strange laugh..

 Chapter 1789 - Mythical Divide

    Chapter 1789 Mythical Divide


    ¡°Why?¡± Li Xuan asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°What do you think is the greatest disaster for humans after the dimension¡¯s descent?¡± Jing Daoxian asked with a smile.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s those terrifying dimensional creatures,¡± Li Xuan said matter-of-factly.


    ¡°You¡¯re still too young,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a pout.


    ¡°Stop putting on an act. What else can it be?¡± Li Xuan retorted indignantly.


    Jing Daoxian glanced at Li Xuan and narrowed his eyes. ¡°If two countries were to fight and your family ended up getting killed, do you think it would be more unacceptable if your family was killed by the enemy or betrayed by your own people?¡±


    Li Xuan¡¯s heart skipped a beat. ¡°You mean that Wang Mingyuan has been betrayed by his own people?¡±


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s worse than that.¡± Jing Daoxian chuckled coldly. ¡°Since ancient times, the most despairing thing in every calamity isn¡¯t the calamity itself. The human heart is often crueler than a calamity.¡±


    Zhou Wen, who had been silent, suddenly recalled the question Wang Mingyuan had asked them.


    If the person you loved the most was insulted and he didn¡¯t have the strength to resist the enemy, would he choose to fight at the risk of his life or endure the humiliation and join the enemy to seek revenge?


    Back then, Zhou Wen had believed that the enemy Wang Mingyuan mentioned was the dimensional creatures. From the looks of it, if Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t fooling them, the enemy Wang Mingyuan mentioned might not be the dimensional creatures.


    ¡°Old fellow, can you not speak in riddles? If you have anything to say, just say it.¡± Li Xuan¡¯s curiosity was piqued.


    ¡°I also want to make it clear, but unfortunately, I¡¯m not sure,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly.


    ¡°After all this time, you don¡¯t know anything, and here you are bullsh*ting!¡± Li Xuan said unhappily.


    ¡°Even I have to admire a shrewd person like Wang Mingyuan. I don¡¯t know much about him, but according to my investigations, he was once married and had children. Have you heard him mention them?¡± Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t angry as he continued speaking slowly.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. Wang Mingyuan has never been married, much less had children. Everyone knows that,¡± Li Xuan immediately retorted.


    ¡°You¡¯re free to believe anything you want. It¡¯s not the first time I¡¯ve worked with him. This is all I¡¯ve found out. I can say with certainty that he had a wife and children, but they¡¯re gone now,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently.


    Before Li Xuan could say anything else, Jing Daoxian continued, ¡°Actually, it doesn¡¯t matter if it¡¯s real or fake. You will know the outcome soon.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew what Jing Daoxian meant. If it was really as Jing Daoxian had said, that Wang Mingyuan once had family and they had been harmed by humans, then once Wang Mingyuan became the ruler of the dimension, he would definitely return to Earth to do something


    ¡°How do you want to cooperate?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan¡¯s strength is probably invincible. There¡¯s only one way to restrain him.¡± Jing Daoxian enunciated each word clearly. ¡°Chess Mountain.¡±


    When he heard the words ¡°Chess Mountain,¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred.


    Back then, he had made two bets with The Thearch. One of the bets was proposed by Zhou Wen. The two of them bet that Zhou Wen would live longer than The Thearch. This bet was still ongoing.


    Another bet was that Zhou Wen would regret killing Transcendent Immortal. From the looks of it, Zhou Wen had lost the bet.


    He did regret killing Transcendent Immortal. The Thearch had actually predicted this outcome back then. It was obvious that she had long seen through Wang Mingyuan¡¯s scheme.


    Zhou Wen really wanted to ask The Thearch why Wang Mingyuan was doing this, but he didn¡¯t.


    Zhou Wen had already lost the first bet. If he went to see The Thearch now, she could kill him and win the second bet.


    Therefore, Chess Mountain was undoubtedly the most dangerous place for Zhou Wen.


    Jing Daoxian had now mentioned Chess Mountain. Countless thoughts flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Why Chess Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Jing Daoxian and asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s very likely to have the answer that everyone wants. The answer regarding the dimension,¡± Jing Daoxian continued. ¡°If you are careful enough, you should be able to tell that there¡¯s a very clear watershed in ancient myths. It¡¯s before and after the Shang dynasty.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t understand what Jing Daoxian meant.


    ¡°Lad, read more when you have the time,¡± Jing Daoxian said disdainfully. ¡°In the myths before the Shang dynasty, be it Pangu, N¨¹wa, or the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the relationship between humans and gods was equal. And after the Shang dynasty, immortals became high and mighty. The status of humans plummeted. Even the emperors of the human world called themselves the Son of Heaven. To put it nicely, they were under the orders of the heavens and had destinies determined by the heavens. To put it bluntly, they were the representatives designated by the gods. They were just lackeys. After the Shang dynasty, there was no human king.¡±


    ¡°What has this got to do with the dimension?¡± Li Xuan was still puzzled.


    ¡°Apart from Chess Mountain, have you seen any of the dimensional zones on Earth before the Zhou dynasty?¡± Jing Daoxian asked.


    Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were taken aback. They had never seen dimensional zones before the Zhou dynasty.


    ¡°The dimensional zones on Earth can be related to myths and legends, but have you seen dimensional zones related to mighty figures like Pangu, N¨¹wa, Hou Yi, and Kuafu? The connection between all dimensional zones and myths ends at the Shang dynasty. It¡¯s as though they have been sliced into two¡­¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes were fervent. ¡°The source of everything lies in the Shang dynasty, and Chess Mountain is the origins of the Shang dynasty. It¡¯s here where we can solve the mystery of all of this. Perhaps we can obtain what we want.¡±


    ¡°After all that talk, this is just an unfounded guess.¡± Li Xuan curled his lips and continued, ¡°I remember that Feng Qiuyan¡¯s hometown has dimensional zones related to Human Ancestor Fuxi. Guide also has Human Sovereign Suirenshi¡¯s dimensional zone. These are all myths from before the Shang dynasty.¡±


    ¡°Suirenshi is a human, not a myth. As for Fuxi, he¡¯s probably inextricably linked to Chess Mountain,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little ridiculous. Do you really think I¡¯m uneducated? What has Fuxi got to do with Chess Mountain?¡± Li Xuan said disdainfully.


    ¡°Then tell me, who started the war that destroyed the Shang dynasty?¡± Jing Daoxian asked.


    ¡°N¨¹wa.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the relationship between N¨¹wa and Fuxi?¡± Jing Daoxian asked again.


    ¡°I think they¡¯re siblings?¡± Li Xuan said with some uncertainty.


    ¡°Some say siblings, others say husband and wife¡ªno matter which one it is, it means that the relationship between the two isn¡¯t simple. And all the ancient myths stop at the Shang dynasty. The only one that can be tied to ancient mythology is the Shang dynasty. Why is that?¡± Jing Daoxian said seriously, ¡°Perhaps we can obtain the answer after cracking Chess Mountain.¡±

 Chapter 1790 - Telling a Love Story

    Chapter 1790 Telling a Love Story


    Although Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t the type to spout words of wisdom and his words weren¡¯t pleasant, everything he said was very alluring. He even raised the possibility that Chess Mountain might be related to Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Towards the end of the conversation, Zhou Wen could only say that he would consider it and didn¡¯t give Jing Daoxian an accurate answer.


    Jing Daoxian looked confident as though he was certain that Zhou Wen would cooperate with him. After giving Zhou Wen his contact details, he staggered away.


    ¡°Old Zhou, do you think that old fellow, Jing Daoxian, is fooling us? He doesn¡¯t sound reliable no matter how I look at it. Is Chess Mountain really related to Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? Can we determine that Chess Mountain is related to Earth¡¯s Companion Beast just because it¡¯s the watershed in ancient mythology? Isn¡¯t that too far-fetched?¡± Li Xuan whispered after Jing Daoxian left.


    ¡°With his character, if Jing Daoxian dares to take the risk at Chess Mountain, he must have some confidence. He definitely hasn¡¯t been entirely truthful.¡± Zhou Wen also knew that Jing Daoxian definitely didn¡¯t have any good intentions. Regardless of whether Chess Mountain was related to Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, Jing Daoxian only wanted to use them.


    However, Zhou Wen had his own considerations, so he didn¡¯t directly reject Jing Daoxian.


    He had to go to Chess Mountain. Even if he didn¡¯t go, The Thearch definitely wouldn¡¯t let him off. If he could pull Jing Daoxian along, it was hard to say who would be cannon fodder.


    ¡°No matter how I think about it, this matter doesn¡¯t seem right. Even if what Jing Daoxian said makes sense, that Chess Mountain is a watershed in ancient mythology. It might not have anything to do with Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. Furthermore, Chess Mountain is only a watershed in eastern myths. How do you explain the myths in other regions?¡± Li Xuan pondered.


    ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as a watershed in the myths of the other regions. From the source, the myths of the other regions have always been about the supremacy of the divine. Gods are rulers to begin with. There¡¯s no such thing as a watershed,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Li Xuan thought about it carefully and realized that it was true. The few Mythical systems in the world were basically theocracies. There was nothing involving humans.


    ¡°In short, I don¡¯t think that old fellow is reliable. The things regarding Wang Mingyuan are most likely unreliable,¡± Li Xuan said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll eventually get the answers whether it¡¯s true or not, but I have to make a trip to Chess Mountain.¡± Zhou Wen told Li Xuan about Chess Mountain, and Li Xuan also understood why Zhou Wen had to go to Chess Mountain.


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such a sick creature on Earth. Isn¡¯t it even more terrifying than the dimension¡¯s Apocalypse?¡± Li Xuan jumped in fright when he heard The Thearch¡¯s omnipotent wish power.


    ¡°At the very least, from what I¡¯ve sensed, she¡¯s definitely not weaker than Transcendent Immortal.¡± Zhou Wen sighed.


    ¡°Then why are you going? Aren¡¯t you sending yourself to your death?¡± Li Xuan shouted.


    ¡°She won¡¯t let me off even if I don¡¯t go. I can sense that after the bet, there¡¯s an inexplicable connection between us. I can¡¯t escape.¡± Zhou Wen smiled bitterly.


    ¡°That f*cking sucks!¡± Li Xuan was rendered speechless.


    Not long after returning to the ancient city, a message appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s phone. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw the sender and content of the message. ¡°Little Wenwen, I¡¯m back in Luoyang. Come to Luoyang when you have the time. It¡¯s been a long time since I had a good chat with you.¡± The sender was Zhou Wen¡¯s father, Zhou Lingfeng


    Zhou Wen replied before heading to Luoyang¡¯s An family.


    He hadn¡¯t seen Zhou Lingfeng in a long time. He could also take the opportunity to visit Ya¡¯er in Luoyang.


    Luoyang in March remained a little chilly. When the wind blew on his face, there was a knife-like coldness.


    In front of the An family¡¯s mansion, a man in a white military uniform and a large cloak stood at the door, his face expressionless.


    Behind him stood a smiling man, and in front of him was a beautiful girl who looked like a doll.


    The girl didn¡¯t say a word when she saw Zhou Wen. She shook off the man¡¯s hand that was holding hers and ran to Zhou Wen. She threw herself into his arms and hugged his neck tightly.


    ¡°Ya¡¯er.¡± Zhou Wen picked up Yaler and gently stroked her head. His originally impetuous mood seemed to calm down significantly.


    ¡°Young Master Wen,¡± An Sheng greeted with a smile.


    Before Zhou Wen could answer, he heard An Tianzuo say indifferently, ¡°Uncle Zhou and Mom are waiting for you inside for dinner.¡± Zhou Wen nodded at An Sheng and carried Ya¡¯er into the An family residence.


    Ouyang Lan was the same as before. She didn¡¯t seem to have changed much, but Zhou Lingfeng looked much older than before.


    Although he still looked as refined and casual as before, there were many white hairs around his temples.


    Ouyang Lan warmly invited Zhou Wen to sit down. An Jing also sat by the side. Their eyes met, but neither of them said a word.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s present state of mind was completely different from when he first arrived in Luoyang. He had this meal in comfort.


    He no longer cared about the thoughts and views of others. He had his own principles. He treated the kind with kindness, and returned with a fist to those who were malicious. There was no need to blame himself or pity himself.


    ¡°Little Wenwen, have a cup of tea with me. It¡¯s been a long time since we sat down for a chat.¡± After the meal, Zhou Lingfeng called Zhou Wen over and the two of them went to the small garden in the backyard.


    A pot of tea and two people. Under the cold moonlight, steam from the tea rose.


    Zhou Lingfeng picked up the teacup and took a sip. After putting down the teacup, he suddenly said something Zhou Wen had never expected. ¡°Have you been to Xiyuan Store?¡±


    ¡°How did you know?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    Zhou Lingfeng didn¡¯t answer as he continued, ¡°Have you seen that silver-haired Companion Beast? How does it feel?¡±


    ¡°What feeling?¡± Zhou Wen felt that Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s question was out of the blue. He didn¡¯t know what he was referring to.


    ¡°My Companion Beast isn¡¯t bad, right?¡± Zhou Lingfeng asked again with a smile.


    Pfft!


    Zhou Wen spat out the mouthful of tea he had just drunk.


    He stared at Zhou Lingfeng with widened eyes and said in disbelief, ¡°What did you say? That silver-haired Companion Beast is your Companion Beast?¡±


    He never expected Zhou Lingfeng to say such words. In fact, he still found it unbelievable despite hearing it with his own ears.


    ¡°Why? Is it difficult to accept that I have a Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a faint smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to accept you having a Companion Beast, but that Companion Beast¡­¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for words.


    ¡°He¡¯s indeed different. He can be said to be my Companion Beast, but also not,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said calmly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Isn¡¯t that silver-haired Companion Beast the former principal¡¯s¡­ which is your current father-in-law?¡± Zhou Wen was filled with puzzlement.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. He was indeed separated from me by Father-in-law,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a nod.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The more Zhou Wen heard, the more confused he became.


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story. I have to tell you a story. It¡¯s a touching love story.¡± Zhou Lingfeng took a sip of tea as though he was immersed in his memories. He also seemed somewhat nostalgic and smug.

 Chapter 1791 - Shattered Values

    Chapter 1791 Shattered Values


    ¡°Are you sure that you are telling a touching love story? Not a modern tea art story?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Zhou Lingfeng, who seemed extremely touched by his own story, with an extremely odd expression.


    Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s story was complicated, but it was very simple to summarize.


    It was a story of a male scumbag with a wife and a female scumbag with a childhood sweetheart fianc¨¦ who hit it off at first sight. They got together shamelessly after abandoning their respective wife and husband.


    When Zhou Lingfeng told the story, he was so moved by his own story that tears welled up in his eyes. However, no matter how Zhou Wen listened, he felt his values crumble. There were a few instances when he nearly couldn¡¯t help himself from strangling Zhou Lingfeng


    Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s wife and Ouyang Lan were best friends, and Ouyang Lan was already engaged to the An family.


    In the end, it was because they had invited Zhou Lingfeng and his wife to their place as guests and hang out together and attend their wedding that something happened.


    The male scumbag flirted with his wife¡¯s bestie and eloped with the bride before the wedding began. The female scumbag became pregnant with some random guy¡¯s child and returned to marry her fianc¨¦.


    Zhou Wen felt his nerves being hammered again and again. He stood there in a daze as he looked at Zhou Lingfeng with his mouth agape.


    ¡°So, An Tianzuo and I are really half-brothers?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s voice sounded odd.


    His mother had passed away early. It was hard to tell if she had been angered to death by this adulterous couple.


    ¡°Ahem, Little Wenwen, you¡¯re good at everything, but your EQ is too low.¡± Zhou Lingfeng coughed lightly and said something that completely shattered Zhou Wen¡¯s worldview. ¡°Why can¡¯t you be brothers from the same parents?¡±


    Pfft! This time, Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t help but spit out a mouthful of tea at Zhou Lingfeng


    Zhou Lingfeng didn¡¯t mind at all. He picked up a towel to wipe his face and continued, ¡°The situation back then was a little complicated. If Lan¡¯s second child was still a boy, she would have to bear some of the old scores of the An family¡¯s previous generation. The situation wasn¡¯t good. How could I let our son suffer? Coincidentally, your mother had just given birth to a girl¡­ So¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you saying that An Jing is my mom¡¯s child and I¡¯m supposed to be f*cking An Jing?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s worldview had already shattered into pieces as he spoke incoherently.


    ¡°Although what you said isn¡¯t exactly accurate, it¡¯s roughly that,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a nod.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t the An family have any doubts?¡± Zhou Wen refused to believe that the An family knew nothing about such matters given their capabilities.


    ¡°The adult world is complicated. The An family was in trouble both internally and externally. They needed someone to inherit the family business. That brother also needed an heir, but he didn¡¯t have the ability,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said as he drank his tea.


    Zhou Wen was speechless for a long time before saying, ¡°Auntie¡­ Lan¡­ Does she know?¡±


    Zhou Lingfeng shook his head. ¡°She doesn¡¯t know that I secretly swapped you. She has always thought that An Jing is her biological daughter. You have to keep this matter to yourself. You can¡¯t tell anyone, much less let Little Jing know.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was already in a mess. He was momentarily in a daze, wondering if he was dreaming


    ¡°Why are you suddenly telling me this?¡± he asked with a complicated expression.


    ¡°What you¡¯re doing now is too dangerous. It¡¯s hard to say if you can return alive in the future. I can¡¯t let you die without knowing who your biological mother is, right?¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the silver-haired Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you about how your grandfather dug up that phone in the ancient well. However, there was something else that was dug out with the phone-a silver Companion Egg.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sank into his memories again.


    After Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s recount, Zhou Wen learned the complete story.


    Back then, Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather had dug up the box containing the phone and the silver Companion Egg and brought them home that day.


    Back then, phones were already quite common, but it couldn¡¯t be switched on. As for the Companion Egg, no one knew what Companion Eggs were back then. He only considered it a strange egg, so he didn¡¯t pay much attention to it and casually placed it on the table at home.


    Zhou Lingfeng was young back then, so he used the Companion Egg in the box as a ball.


    It was unknown what Zhou Lingfeng had done to hatch the Companion Egg, but the silver Companion Beast became Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Zhou Lingfeng had only been a few years old and had never cultivated. How could he withstand the energy drain needed to hatch a Companion Beast? It was a miracle he hadn¡¯t died.


    However, Zhou Lingfeng still fell seriously ill and fell into a coma for several days.


    Back then, Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather sought treatment everywhere with Zhou Lingfeng, but there was no solution.


    It was Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather who had thought of something. He brought the remaining box and phone to get someone to appraise them. He wanted to know where the items came from. Perhaps he could figure out the origins of the silver Companion Egg and save Zhou Lingfeng.


    The person Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather had found was the young Ouyang Ting.


    Although Ouyang Ting was very young back then, he was already quite accomplished in archeology. His appraisal indicated that the box containing the phone was from the Shang/Zhou dynasty.


    However, phones didn¡¯t exist during that era. How could it appear in a box from the Shang dynasty?


    They originally imagined that it was put in by someone later on, but after studying it, all the test results indicated that the phone had been passed down from the Shang/Zhou dynasty over thousands of years with the box.


    From then on, Ouyang Ting began studying such matters, hoping to solve the mystery.


    After some time, Zhou Lingfeng recovered by himself. However, because he had too little energy, he couldn¡¯t activate the silver-haired Companion Beast and summon him.


    It wasn¡¯t until the dimensional storms and Ouyang Ting¡¯s subsequent research that Zhou Lingfeng was able to summon the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    According to Zhou Lingfeng, unlike ordinary Companion Beasts, the silver-haired Companion Beast was like a child about Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s age when it first appeared. It looked very childish and cute.


    As Zhou Lingfeng grew up, the silver-haired Companion Beast also grew up. This surprised Ouyang Ting and company.


    After the dimensions appeared, some people obtained Companion Beasts, but they were completely different from Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s Companion Beast. The silver-haired Companion Beast had too many strange traits.


    The reason Zhou Lingfeng learned the various languages and ancient texts was that his goal was the same as Ouyang Ting¡¯s. He wanted to unravel the secrets of the box, phone, and silver-haired Companion Beast.


    A phone that had been passed down from the Shang/Zhou dynasty was impossible, but it still happened. Zhou Lingfeng had been to countless ruins dating to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. He had read many ancient books and information, but all of them indicated that there were no phones during those times.


    ¡°Could transmigration really exist?¡± Back then, Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Ting had similar questions, but they quickly rejected this thought.


    If transmigration really existed, even if it was extremely unlikely, it was impossible for it to only happen once. Over the endless years, there would definitely be more people and objects that transmigrated.


    However, reality proved that other than this phone, there was no real physical evidence of any other suspected transmigration incidents. Furthermore, many of them were confirmed to be fake.


    Until one day, the silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly awakened.

 Chapter 1792 - Approaching the Truth

    Chapter 1792 Approaching the Truth


    ¡°Chess Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown after hearing Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s description.


    Back then, Zhou Lingfeng had taken the silver-haired Companion Beast around the entire East District. The silver-haired Companion Beast just looked like a growing Companion Beast without any knowledge.


    Zhou Lingfeng stood in front of the mountain and didn¡¯t venture deep when he went to Chess Mountain. The silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly awakened some unknown knowledge and memories.


    The knowledge and memories seemed to be deeply engraved in his genes. He was just waiting for an opportunity to awaken.


    Zhou Lingfeng had felt that something was amiss. He immediately retreated without entering the mountain and watched from afar.


    Even so, many strange things happened after that. The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s soul seemed to change. His personality was completely different from before.


    If not for the fact that Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t harm their masters, Zhou Lingfeng would have long died at the hands of the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    In order to survive, Zhou Lingfeng went to Ouyang Ting again. With Ouyang Ting¡¯s help, he transferred the silver-haired Companion Beast to him.


    He never expected Ouyang Ting to encounter danger a few times before imprisoning the silver-haired Companion Beast in Xiyuan Store.


    However, according to what Zhou Lingfeng knew, during the years when Ouyang Ting had the silver-haired Companion Beast, his personality became very strange. He often vanished without a trace, disappearing for months or even a year or two.


    As for where Ouyang Ting had been during that period of time, Zhou Lingfeng didn¡¯t know. However, there was one time when Ouyang Ting sent a message to Zhou Lingfeng. His tone was very excited as though he had made a major discovery.


    However, the content of the message was somewhat incomprehensible. Zhou Lingfeng didn¡¯t understand what it meant.


    Later on, Ouyang Ting vanished for a period of time. When he appeared again, he had already returned to normal. He didn¡¯t mention that matter again. The silver-haired Companion Beast was also sealed in Xiyuan Store.


    ¡°What was the message the former principal sent you?¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhou Lingfeng.


    ¡°I¡¯m already close to the truth. I¡¯ll soon know the ultimate secret of humanity,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said.


    ¡°The truth¡­ The ultimate secret of humanity¡­ And then?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s all. I sent a message asking, but Ouyang Ting didn¡¯t reply.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed.


    The two of them chatted about some matters related to Ouyang Ting and the silver-haired Companion Beast, but they failed to get the gist of anything. Zhou Lingfeng failed to provide any more useful information.


    After leaving the An family, Zhou Wen had a nagging feeling that something was amiss, but he couldn¡¯t put his finger on it.


    Zhou Lingfeng seemed to be revealing everything without holding back, but for some reason, Zhou Wen still felt that something was wrong.


    What¡¯s wrong? Zhou Wen carefully recalled, but he couldn¡¯t figure out what was wrong. He only subconsciously felt that Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s tone was a little odd.


    From the looks of it, if I want to know the truth, I have to start with that silver-haired Companion Beast. Zhou Wen planned on making another trip to Xiyuan Store to meet the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    The phone, the silver-haired Companion Beast, Chess Mountain, and The Thearch. Perhaps only the silver-haired Companion Beast and The Thearch could give him an answer.


    The last time he went to Xiyuan Store, Zhou Wen had remained very careful. This time, he didn¡¯t spend much effort to surreptitiously arrive at the place where the silver-haired Companion Beast was imprisoned.


    Just as Zhou Wen appeared in the chamber, the silver-haired Companion Beast that seemed to be asleep with its eyes closed seemed to sense something. It slowly opened its eyes and looked at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s tone was odd as though he had expected Zhou Wen to come.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°Just a Companion Beast,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast answered indifferently.


    ¡°Whose Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t believe such nonsense. Previously, the silver-haired Companion Beast had said that he was only a Terror-grade Companion Beast.


    ¡°If you want to know the answer, you can try opening it.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast pointed at the metal slab connected to the chain.


    Zhou Wen had always guessed that the passcode left behind by the former principal was to open the metal slab. He just hadn¡¯t dared to attempt it in the past.


    ¡°If you want me to open it, you have to at least give me a reason,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°Life or death, is that a choice?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said with a


    sneer.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°Her wish mark has already been left on you. If you want to live, it¡¯s your only chance,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said indifferently.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed. He already knew who the silver-haired Companion Beast was referring to, but he still had to confirm the answer.


    ¡°Who else can leave a wish mark on an existence like you who can resist an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse? Apart from her, there¡¯s no one else in this world who can do it,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said slowly.


    ¡°Who is she?¡± Zhou Wen asked again, enunciating every word.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile. ¡°In human terms, her name should be N¨¹wa.¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed. He never expected the silver-haired Companion Beast to give him such an answer.


    N¨¹wa was a great existence in Eastern mythology


    Pangu split the heavens and earth, and N¨¹wa created humans. It could be said that that was the origins of human mythology.


    Could The Thearch be the legendary Mother of Humanity, N¨¹wa? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart trembled, but on careful thought, it seemed possible.


    The Battle of the Gods that destroyed the Shang dynasty and led to the rise of the Zhou dynasty was started by N¨¹wa. It seemed reasonable to say that Chess Mountain was related to N¨¹wa.


    ¡°Continue.¡± Zhou Wen stared at the silver-haired Companion Beast. He was eager to know more.


    Zhou Wen could sense that he was very close to the truth.


    ¡°Open it and you will know everything.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t reveal any more information.


    ¡°Since you know that I can fight an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse, you must have seen my battle with Transcendent Immortal,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to threaten me. Even if you can kill an Apocalypse-grade existence, you can¡¯t kill me.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast could hear the threat in Zhou Wen¡¯s words, but he didn¡¯t seem to mind at all.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes turned cold. No matter how strong the silver-haired Companion Beast was, it couldn¡¯t be stronger than the Apocalypse grade.


    Furthermore, if he was really that powerful, how could he be trapped in such a place?


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. Unless Earth is destroyed, no one can kill me.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast was indifferent, completely ignoring Zhou Wen¡¯s threat.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen could tell what the silver-haired Companion Beast was implying but he found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Because I¡¯m Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s words were like a bolt of lightning, leaving Zhou Wen stunned.

 Chapter 1793 - Deceived

    Chapter 1793 Deceived


    ¡°You¡¯re Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    Not to mention the birth of a planetary Companion Beast, even the birth of Calamity-grade powerhouses brought about huge disasters. The birth of a planetary Companion Beast would bring a huge disaster to the planet itself, and it might even lead to the planet¡¯s destruction.


    Just as the silver-haired Companion Beast had said, how could his birth have happened silently, to be easily dug out from an ancient well?


    ¡°I was, but currently not completely one,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said. ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen frowned. He really didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°In theory, I should be. Unfortunately, something went wrong. Earth produced another Companion Beast, so I¡¯m not completely one.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of such a thing.¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t believe everything the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°You won¡¯t believe me no matter how I explain it. However, as long as you open it, you will naturally know the truth,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    After all that, he returned to the starting point. This gave Zhou Wen a headache.


    He looked at the metal slab and frowned in silence.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t rush him. He just looked at Zhou Wen as though he was certain that Zhou Wen would open the metal slab.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen decided to open it.


    At this stage, if he didn¡¯t open it now, he probably wouldn¡¯t have another chance after he went to Chess Mountain.


    The truth was right in front of him. If he stopped moving forward, how could he obtain the truth? Sometimes, risks needed to be taken without stepping back. ¡°You¡¯ve finally made a decision. That¡¯s good.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast saw through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts and spoke with a smile.


    ¡°How do I open it?¡± Since he had already made up his mind, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste his breath.


    ¡°You can treat it as a box encrypted by a passcode. As long as you know the passcode, you can open it¡­¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the passcode was the metal slab¡¯s passcode, so he entered the passcode left behind by the former principal according to the method mentioned by the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    Crack!


    After entering the password, the metal slab suddenly cracked.


    The metal slab was originally one without any gaps, but now, it had cracked neatly. Then, it split into four pieces and slowly spread out, revealing the space inside.


    When the metal slab was completely opened, Zhou Wen saw everything inside. His expression couldn¡¯t help but turn nasty as he turned to look at the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed very surprised as well. His eyes were somewhat dazed, and his expression changed from surprise to disbelief before turning to anger.


    ¡°B*stard, that b*stard lied to me¡­ He actually dared¡­ He actually dared¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed extremely furious.


    His silver hair fluttered despite the air being still as it stood up vertically. His body emitted a resplendent silver light.


    With just a slight exertion of strength, he produced cracking sounds. The metal chains that restrained him snapped inch by inch.


    If Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t isolated this space, such a huge commotion would have long attracted the people from Xiyuan Store.


    ¡°Nice acting,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly as he stared at the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°Acting? I spent most of my life acting for you? F*ck acting!¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast cursed angrily.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen realized that he didn¡¯t seem to be acting. He was indeed extremely angry. The grievance didn¡¯t seem to be faked.


    cem


    ¡°That b*stard said that he placed that thing inside. As long as I break free, the thing inside will automatically be destroyed. Only the passcode can open it¡­¡± The more the silver-haired Companion Beast spoke, the angrier he became. His eyes were filled with hatred as though he wanted to tear a living person apart and eat them.


    Zhou Wen wore an odd expression. If it was really as the silver-haired Companion Beast had said, he was too miserable. In order not to destroy the thing inside the metal slab, he had been trapped here for decades. At the end of the day, there was nothing inside.


    ¡°Who is the person you¡¯re talking about?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat curious. What kind of talent could fool a fellow who claimed to be Earth¡¯s Companion Beast to such an extent?


    ¡°Apart from that b*stard, Ouyang Ting, who else?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast gritted his teeth as every word seemed to be squeezed out from his clenched teeth.


    Zhou Wen had long guessed it, but he was still surprised when he heard the silver-haired Companion Beast say the name.


    I never expected the former principal to have played such a trick, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    ¡°Where¡¯s that b*stard Ouyang Ting? I¡¯m going to kill him!¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Zhou Wen and asked.


    ¡°He should be at the Holy Temple,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°What kind of place is the Holy Temple?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast asked with a frown. ¡°Don¡¯t you know about the Holy Temple? It¡¯s the Holy Land that the dimension established on Earth.¡± Zhou Wen explained the origins of the Holy Temple.


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Upon hearing the establishment of the Holy Temple, the silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly interrupted Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s impossible?¡± Zhou Wen asked, perplexed.


    ¡°At that time, even the Immortals at their peak couldn¡¯t develop such an area on Earth, much less the five dimensional races,¡± said the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°How do you know it¡¯s impossible?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°What kind of place do you think Earth is? Is it a place where those nobodies can behave atrociously? That¡¯s¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly stopped.


    ¡°That¡¯s what?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°Anyway, it¡¯s impossible for those idiots to have developed such a place on Earth at that time. It¡¯s impossible even if they used all the dimensional powers.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast clearly didn¡¯t want to reveal those secrets.


    Zhou Wen found it funny when he heard that. For someone who had been fooled by an empty box for decades, he was one to call others idiots.


    ¡°I got it! Holy Temple¡­ I see¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly gritted his teeth and shouted.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to ask him anything else, the silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly leaped up with a boom.


    The entire building, along with the underground chamber, was penetrated. The silver-haired Companion Beast transformed into a silver stream of light that disappeared.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly chased after him. With his present speed, he could easily catch up to the silver-haired Companion Beast even without instant transmission.


    What surprised Zhou Wen was that the silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t seem to have lied to him. The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s strength was probably at the Terror grade. At most, it was at the peak of the Terror grade.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop the silver-haired Companion Beast because he could tell that he was heading in the direction of the Holy Land.


    Zhou Wen was surprised again when the silver-haired Companion Beast flew, his speed became faster and faster. Soon, he broke through.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s energy was increasing at an unbelievable speed.


    What surprised him even more was that wherever the silver-haired Companion Beast flew, all sorts of plants rapidly grew. Even the withered flowers and trees instantly revived as though spring had instantly descended to the land.


    Could it be that this fellow is really as he said, Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? Zhou Wen seemed to begin believing what the silver-haired Companion Beast had said.

 Chapter 1794 - Destroying the Holy Land

    Chapter 1794 Destroying the Holy Land


    The silver-haired Companion Beast accelerated, and when he arrived at the Holy Land, the energy fluctuations he emitted were no longer inferior to the Calamity grade.


    Zhou Wen watched as the silver-haired Companion Beast tore through space and entered the Holy Land. It didn¡¯t use any equipment like a teleportation nexus.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t have been able to accomplish this. It was only after advancing to the Calamity grade and fusing the eight abilities into one that he could do it as easily as the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    The Holy Land hadn¡¯t changed much from the past. The silver-haired Companion Beast ignored the various restrictions in the Holy Land as he swept his gaze while in midair before flying in one direction.


    The majestic Sun God Temple was no different from what Zhou Wen had seen before. However, he didn¡¯t see a single person along the way.


    It was unknown where the Saints had gone. There was no one.


    ¡°Get out here.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast looked at the Sun God Holy Temple and shouted coldly.


    His voice wasn¡¯t loud, it seemed to be able to penetrate the world and enter one¡¯s mind. Zhou Wen felt his brain buzz from the sound.


    However, the Sun God Holy Temple remained silent.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t waste his breath. A silver glint flashed in his eyes, and without him moving, the almost indestructible Sun God Holy Temple rapidly decayed. Countless sprouts grew out of the palace.


    As the sprouts rapidly grew, the Sun God Holy Temple also cracked and shattered. The palaces collapsed one after another, and the hard divine stones shattered.


    In just a moment, the Sun God Holy Temple that had stood for years seemed to completely collapse, turning into fragments. The lush branches occupied the original spot of the Sun God Holy Temple.


    At a glance, it looked like an ancient forest. It was completely unimaginable that it was once a holy palace.


    At this stage, there was still no sign of anyone.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly and headed in another direction.


    Connate Holy Temple, Divine Emperor Holy Temple¡­ Zhou Wen watched as the silver-haired Companion Beast destroyed the temples.


    Those mysterious and strange Holy Temples were like tofu in front of the silver-haired Companion Beast. They were probably even inferior to tofu. They turned into fertilizer with a mere glance.


    This fellow¡¯s strength is really strange! Zhou Wen was secretly alarmed.


    What surprised him even more was that the entire Holy Land was like a dead city. Five Holy Temples had been destroyed, but not a single living creature was seen.


    Even if it¡¯s not convenient for the five races of the dimension to interfere, where did those Saints go? What about Holy God? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Boom!


    The last Trajectory Holy Temple turned into a vegetation paradise as well, but there were still no living creatures.


    ¡°Damn b*stard!¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast cursed angrily.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? They seem to know that you were coming.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask. This was too bizarre.


    ¡°Ouyang Ting sure is scheming.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°Hmph, are you an idiot? You still don¡¯t understand that everything was set up by Ouyang Ting. Holy Land? It¡¯s just a nest of spies.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly. ¡°That old b*stard¡¯s plan was good. Unfortunately, he underestimated my recovery ability. As long as he¡¯s still on Earth, I can find him.¡±


    ¡°You mean that this Holy Land was created by Ouyang Ting?¡± Zhou Wen found it unbelievable.


    ¡°Who else could it be? You think you can obtain something like that with the power of the dimension? Dream on.¡± With a wave of the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s hand, everything in the Holy Land revived. All sorts of plants grew crazily, and in a moment, the space in the Holy Land collapsed.


    The sky seemed to crack like glass, revealing Earth¡¯s normal scenery.


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the so-called Holy Land was actually an island over the sea. It was completely different from what he had imagined.


    The Holy Land was set up by the former principal. How is that possible? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart churned in disbelief.


    Back then, the former principal had been kidnapped by the Holy Land. In order to save him, Zhou Wen and the An family had spent a lot of effort.


    But now that he thought about it, the silver-haired Companion Beast was trapped by the former principal. Apart from him, who could evacuate the Holy Land upon predicting that the silver-haired Companion Beast would escape?


    The silver-haired Companion Beast ignored Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts. His eyes shimmered with silver light as though he had formed a strange connection with Earth. The silver light in his eyes seemed to resonate with the tides of the sea.


    After a while, the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s expression turned uglier.


    ¡°Strange, what¡¯s going on? Could it be that that old b*stard is no longer in this world?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast muttered to himself as his expression turned uglier.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a long time before asking the silver-haired Companion Beast, ¡°Are you sure that the Holy Land was created by Ouyang Ting?¡± ¡°Hmph, other than those who once obtained my strength, who else can help those fellows from the dimension produce such a space on Earth?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said proudly.


    ¡°Kid, what¡¯s your relationship with that old b*stard?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly stared at Zhou Wen and asked.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss for an answer. In the past, Ouyang Ting was only his former principal who treated him well.


    However, ever since Zhou Lingfeng told him the story that destroyed his worldview, Zhou Wen realized that Ouyang Ting was his grandfather.


    ¡°We¡¯re considered relatives.¡± Zhou Wen had no intention of hiding it.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast sized up Zhou Wen and said coldly, ¡°Nonsense. The bloodline in you clearly belongs to that disappointing good-for-nothing. What has it got to do with that old fellow?¡±


    ¡°Who are you talking about?¡± he asked with a frown.


    ¡°Apart from that disappointing Zhou Lingfeng, who else could it be? Your eyes and brows are 70% similar to his. I get angry just seeing you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Zhou Lingfeng is my father. How did he offend you?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Offend me? He¡¯s not qualified. Just mentioning him makes me angry. If he wasn¡¯t so useless, I wouldn¡¯t have been reduced to such a state.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast became angrier as he spoke.


    From the spiel of curses the silver-haired Companion Beast made, Zhou Wen roughly knew what had happened after Zhou Lingfeng obtained the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    In the words of the silver-haired Companion Beast, Zhou Lingfeng was trash.


    He clearly had the strongest Companion Beast on Earth, but he didn¡¯t seek to improve himself. He spent all his time fooling around and hitting on girls. He didn¡¯t cultivate at all, allowing the silver-haired Companion Beast to evolve very slowly. In the end, he forcefully separated the silver-haired Companion Beast from him and gave it to Ouyang Ting. To give such a huge opportunity to others made him nothing but a prodigal.

 Chapter 1795 - Cooperation

    Chapter 1795 Cooperation


    Although the silver-haired Companion Beast made Zhou Lingfeng sound terrible, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so.


    Sometimes, giving up was harder than persisting. Furthermore, what the silver-haired Companion Beast said was only one-sided. Only they knew the truth.


    ¡°What¡¯s your relationship with Chess Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen interrupted the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s complaints and asked a question he really wanted the answer to.


    If The Thearch was really N¨¹wa and the silver-haired Companion Beast was Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, what was the relationship between the silver-haired Companion Beast that suddenly awakened when he approached Chess Mountain and N¨¹wa?


    Could it be as Jing Daoxian had said, Chess Mountain was the beginning of myths?


    ¡°Why should I tell you?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you owe me an answer?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t refute him this time. He had said that Zhou Wen only needed to open the metal slab to know the answer, but he hadn¡¯t given him anything


    ¡°Speaking of which, we were all schemed against. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Perhaps we can cooperate.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Your strength is barely passable. Perhaps you can help a little.¡±


    ¡°Cooperate? How?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t retort. If he wasn¡¯t strong enough, how could the silver-haired Companion Beast cooperate with him? However, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to fuss over this. He wanted to know as much as possible.


    ¡°Stop the birth of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s answer surprised Zhou Wen.


    answer


    Zhou Wen imagined that he wanted to find Ouyang Ting, but the outcome was something else.


    However, Zhou Wen got a rough idea of the situation on second thought.


    Since the silver-haired Companion Beast was Earth¡¯s former Companion Beast, and now that Earth had produced a new Companion Beast, it naturally hindered him. It wasn¡¯t strange for the silver-haired Companion Beast to want to snatch back something that belonged to him.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to ask, the silver-haired Companion Beast explained, ¡°I want to snatch back what belongs to me. And if you don¡¯t stop the birth of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, it will be the destruction of Earth when it is born. It will also be the end of humanity. Therefore, we have a common goal. Cooperation is the best choice.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me the Earth Companion Beast you mentioned is on Chess Mountain?¡± Zhou Wen asked with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Apart from that, where else?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said.


    ¡°Have you forgotten that the N¨¹wa you mentioned left a wish mark on me? If I go to Chess Mountain, only death awaits me.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to obtain more useful information from the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°Do you think she can¡¯t kill you if you don¡¯t go anywhere? How naive. She has already left a wish mark on you. As long as she¡¯s willing, you won¡¯t be able to escape death no matter where you go.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed to think of something as he sized up Zhou Wen and said, ¡°It¡¯s a little strange. She has already left a mark on you, but she didn¡¯t attack you. That is strange.¡±


    ¡°Then tell me about her,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to say. Only one person can live, she or me. Without her, I wouldn¡¯t have ended up in such a state,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said hatefully.


    Zhou Wen found it funny. This silver-haired Companion Beast tended to push everything on others.


    One moment, he was talking about how he would have turned out without Ouyang Ting, while the next moment, he was talking about how he would turn out without Zhou Lingfeng. Now, he was talking about how he would turn out without N¨¹wa.


    From Zhou Wen¡¯s expression, the silver-haired Companion Beast knew what he was thinking. He immediately said angrily, ¡°Kid, if you were me, I¡¯m afraid you would be even worse than me.¡±


    Enraged, the silver-haired Companion Beast recounted what had happened.


    Zhou Wen truly sympathized with the silver-haired Companion Beast after hearing his story. It was a tragedy.


    Every planet in the universe had only one Companion Egg. Zhou Wen had long known this, but where did these Companion Eggs come from? He never had an answer to this question.


    According to the silver-haired Companion Beast, he didn¡¯t know where he came from. When he gained consciousness, he was dug out by someone.


    A planetary Companion Egg that had just been born and hadn¡¯t begun the incubation process had been dug out. This was unimaginable.


    However, someone had done it. That person was the N¨¹wa-also The Thearch as suspected by Zhou Wen-mentioned by the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    As the silver-haired Companion Beast had just gained consciousness and was still ignorant, he didn¡¯t know who the woman was.


    Only after he awakened did he figure out what had happened.


    N¨¹wa had used some unknown method to dig him out to nurture a new Earth Companion Beast.


    As for why she was doing this, the silver-haired Companion Beast still didn¡¯t know.


    He only remembered that the woman had descended from the sky on a huge ship and dug him out while he was still an egg.


    ¡°A huge ship?¡± The scene of a huge ship immediately surfaced in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    There were legends about a Great Flood in myths all over the world. And in the information Zhou Wen had obtained over the years, there was a story of a ship descending from the sky to save the humans in the flood.


    The anchor and the woman¡¯s portrait made the image in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind even clearer.


    Could it be that the flood back then was triggered by N¨¹wa¡¯s ship entering the underground world to dig out the Earth Companion Egg? Zhou Wen gradually connected all the information together.


    However, there was something Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand. Why was it that in the legends of the Great Flood, there were legends of an ark saving humans in other areas, but there were no records of this in Eastern myths?


    The Great Flood myth of the East only had the legend of Yu the Great controlling the water, but there was no record of a ship saving humans.


    If Chess Mountain was the birthplace of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, wouldn¡¯t the East have more legends about the ship?


    ¡°Let¡¯s work together to kill her before she escapes. You get to live, and I¡¯ll take back what belongs to me. We¡¯ll each take what we need,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast suggested again.


    ¡°Since you know that I have a wish mark, how do we go to Chess Mountain?¡±


    ¡°I naturally have a way. Otherwise, why would I want to work with you?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed confident as he turned around and left. ¡°Follow me.¡±


    Zhou Wen flew with the silver-haired Companion Beast. At that moment, the energy fluctuations from the silver-haired Companion Beast had completely vanished. It was impossible to tell what level his strength had reached.


    Just from his speed, he didn¡¯t seem to be weaker than an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse like Transcendent Immortal.


    Moments later, the silver-haired Companion Beast landed somewhere. Zhou Wen focused his gaze and was somewhat surprised.


    Why is it here? Zhou Wen was alarmed. The place the silver-haired Companion Beast had brought him to was Guide Ancient City.

 Chapter 1796 - Human Sovereign’s Stone Saber

    Chapter 1796 Human Sovereign¡¯s Stone Saber


    There were people coming and going around Guide Ancient City. Ever since Zhou Wen¡¯s identity as Human Sovereign was exposed, more and more people rushed to Guide Ancient City.


    Many ordinary people who were affiliated with other factions nearby had brought their families here, hoping to settle down here.


    However, entering Guide Ancient City wasn¡¯t as easy as before.


    Many people had no choice but to stay outside, causing the periphery of Guide Ancient City to become abnormally lively. All sorts of tents and temporary camps could be seen everywhere. It even had a bazaar.


    Seeing Zhou Wen appear, everyone watched from afar, but no one dared to speak.


    ¡°Interesting. It looks like they are rather respectful of you,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said mockingly.


    ¡°This city belongs to me now,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s really interesting,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said meaningfully as he walked into the ancient city.


    Zhou Wen followed him in. After entering the ancient city, everyone he met would bow and call him City Lord. Some even called him ¡°Your Excellency Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°Do you have what it takes to be called Human Sovereign?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast couldn¡¯t help but mock.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a nickname. There are many nicknames like God, Saint, and Buddha. Human Sovereign is nothing,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    To his surprise, the silver-haired Companion Beast immediately scoffed when it heard Zhou Wen. ¡°What God, Saint, Buddha? How can those things be compared to Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with interest.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed to have a very high evaluation of humans. He even believed that gods, immortals, saints, and buddhas couldn¡¯t be compared to humans.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly and continued walking forward without saying a word.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡± Zhou Wen wanted more information.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when we get there.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t explain further.


    Soon, the human and pet arrived in front of a strange building


    ¡°Fire God Platform?¡± Zhou Wen wore a strange expression. Fire God Platform could be said to be the core of Guide Ancient City. There was a stone saber embedded in the platform. Just shaking the stone saber an inch would cause a huge anomaly in Guide Ancient City.


    Even The Thearch had designs on the stone saber. She wanted Zhou Wen to get it for her, but to no avail.


    Now that the silver-haired Companion Beast was here, it was most likely for the stone saber.


    As Zhou Wen expected, after the silver-haired Companion Beast walked onto Fire God Platform, he came in front of the furnace with the stone saber and stared at it.


    ¡°If you want to touch it, it¡¯s best you make yourself clear.¡± Zhou Wen stood in front of the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    If the stone saber moved, there would definitely be a major change. The lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Guide Ancient City couldn¡¯t be risked.


    ¡°It¡¯s not me who wants to touch it, but you,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said with a twitch of its lips.


    ¡°Can it remove the wish mark on me?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°No.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s answer surprised Zhou Wen, but he continued, ¡°However, it can temporarily prevent N¨¹wa from triggering the wish mark on you.¡±


    ¡°Do you know what will happen if the stone saber is pulled out?¡± Zhou Wen probed.


    ¡°Nothing will happen,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast answered without any hesitation.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you aren¡¯t sincere about cooperating with me.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned cold. ¡°I once attempted to pull out the stone saber. Just a slight nudge caused a dimensional zone anomaly, but you¡¯re telling me that nothing will happen?¡±


    ¡°It won¡¯t since I¡¯ve said so. Who do you think you are? Are you worth me lying to you?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast said superciliously, ¡°With me around, nothing will happen.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the origin of this stone saber?¡± Zhou Wen asked doubtfully.


    ¡°To think you call yourself Human Sovereign. Don¡¯t you even know about Human Sovereign¡¯s stone saber?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast teased.


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡¯s stone saber?¡± Zhou Wen had never heard of it.


    ¡°The fire of human civilization was born from this saber,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast explained casually.


    Zhou Wen looked at the stone saber in the furnace in surprise. The evaluation of the silver-haired Companion Beast was extremely high.


    Zhou Wen roughly knew that human civilization began with the use of tools and fire, but it was still somewhat controversial if stone tools were the earliest man-made tools.


    ¡°Cut the crap. With this saber protecting you, you can withstand N¨¹wa¡¯s wish mark. Are you pulling it out or not?¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said impatiently.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and didn¡¯t say anything else. He walked to the stone furnace and reached out to grab the hilt of the stone saber.


    In the past, he had to circulate the power of the Ancient Sovereign Sutra to move the stone saber, but now, there was no need to go through so much trouble.


    With just a slight nudge, the stone saber moved a little.


    To his surprise, the stone saber didn¡¯t produce any anomalies despite the greater nudge.


    ¡°You sure are cautious. You have the same character as your useless father.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly when he saw that Zhou Wen was only probing without really pulling out the stone saber.


    Zhou Wen thought nothing of it as he slowly pulled out a sliver, but there was still no reaction.


    ¡°As expected of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast!¡± Zhou Wen praised the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast didn¡¯t appreciate it and only grunted coldly.


    He pulled out the stone saber bit by bit. Just as the silver-haired Companion Beast had said, Guide Ancient City showed no anomalies.


    More than half of the stone saber had been pulled out. Just as Zhou Wen was about to completely pull it out, he suddenly heard a whistling sound. A figure tore through the air and arrived on Fire God Platform.


    The figure had long gray hair and tattered armor. It was none other than the humanoid creature that had been guarding Guide Ancient City before Zhou Wen entered.


    At that moment, the humanoid creature¡¯s hair and beard were disheveled. Its eyes were red as it stared intently at Zhou Wen, who was pulling at the saber. However, it didn¡¯t immediately pounce forward. Instead, it stood there motionless as it stared at Zhou Wen. It was unknown what he was thinking.


    Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s voice sounded from below Fire God Platform. She quickly rushed up and ran to the humanoid creature¡¯s side, trying her best to appease him.


    Zhou Wen was able to enter Guide Ancient City thanks to Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s control of the humanoid creature. However, from the looks of it, Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s control of him had weakened drastically.


    Under Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s appeasement, the humanoid creature continued staring intently at Zhou Wen as though it would kill him at any moment.


    Zhou Wen had long thought of this uneasy factor, but he had no other choice.


    The battle at Chess Mountain was probably ten thousand times more dangerous than the battle with Transcendent Immortal. He had to be prepared.


    Furthermore, after the battle with Transcendent Immortal, Zhou Wen had comprehended the trump card, ¡°In the Human World.¡± He also had the confidence to defeat the humanoid creature.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast watched coldly without saying a word.


    Zhou Wen looked at the humanoid creature without retracting his strength as he pulled out the stone saber inch by inch.

 Chapter 1797 - As You Wish

    Chapter 1797 As You Wish


    The stone saber was very rough. Instead of calling it a saber, it was more like a poorly polished stone rod.


    The side near to the blade was rather smooth, but the side of the blade¡¯s spine was abnormally rough. It was even pockmarked.


    Only the handle of the saber was very smooth due to being excessively held. It felt like it had smoothened from oxidation.


    At the instant the stone saber was pulled out, Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s appeasement seemed to completely fail. The humanoid creature charged up and instantly tore through the air It arrived in front of Zhou Wen with a blast and reached out to grab the stone saber.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to attack the humanoid monster, he suddenly saw a silver flash. Vines grew out from under the humanoid creature¡¯s feet like ropes, tying it up like a dumpling.


    Just as the humanoid monster¡¯s finger was about to touch the stone saber, it couldn¡¯t advance any further despite extending it as much as it could.


    Zhou Wen looked at the silver-haired Companion Beast who said indifferently, ¡°I said that nothing will happen.¡±


    The humanoid creature roared at Zhou Wen, but no matter how he struggled, he couldn¡¯t escape the vines¡¯ restraints.


    ¡°So the abilities of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast are life-type?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the vines and muttered to himself.


    ¡°Bullsh*t. How can you fathom my abilities? This isn¡¯t even strength, just something random,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said angrily as though he had suffered a great insult.


    Zhang Yuzhi sized up the silver-haired Companion Beast in surprise. She had spent the most time with humanoid creatures, so no one knew better than her how terrifying its strength was. The silver-haired Companion Beast could actually subdue it without moving a finger. This was already enough to surprise her.


    However, none of this shocked her as much as Zhou Wen¡¯s words. She never expected the one in front of her to be Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    ¡°What are you looking at? That crappy ability of yours is useless against me. Stop wasting your emotions.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast glanced coldly at Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, is he really Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? You actually obtained Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhang Yuzhi said in pleasant surprise.


    ¡°What kind of look is that? Is he even up to it¡­¡± Halfway through his sentence, the silver-haired Companion Beast seemed to find it inappropriate and said something else. ¡°That punk is just my lackey.¡±


    ¡°Yuzhi, go back for now. I¡¯ll tell you in detail later,¡± Zhou Wen said to Zhang Yuzhi.


    ¡°Can you not hurt him?¡± Zhang Yuzhi hesitated for a moment before looking at the humanoid creature.


    ¡°As long as it¡¯s within my control, I won¡¯t harm him.¡± Zhou Wen knew that Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s ability was very special. She didn¡¯t just control creatures. She had to also devote her feelings and treat the creatures as family.


    Zhou Wen originally had no intention of killing the humanoid creature. This humanoid creature was very special, making him even more eager to figure out its origins.


    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± Zhang Yuzhi tried to convince the humanoid creature to leave with her, but at that moment, her ability was completely ineffective against it. The humanoid creature ignored her and struggled with all its might. It kept staring at the stone saber in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°He won¡¯t die,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said coldly.


    Only then did Zhang Yuzhi feel completely relieved. She tried to appease the silver-haired Companion Beast, but it was useless. Only then did she leave Fire God Platform under Zhou Wen¡¯s persuasion.


    ¡°I¡¯ve obtained the stone saber, but I don¡¯t feel my connection with that person being severed,¡± Zhou Wen said to the silver-haired Companion Beast.


    ¡°How can it be that easy? What do you think a wish mark is? It doesn¡¯t belong to¡­¡± Before the silver-haired Companion Beast could finish its sentence, he stopped as though he realized that he had said too much.


    ¡°You want to cooperate with me, but you keep hiding everything from me. How can we cooperate?¡± Zhou Wen said with a sullen expression.


    ¡°It¡¯s pointless telling you certain things. You might not believe me either. Instead, you might become overly cautious which won¡¯t be good for either of us.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast pointed at the humanoid creature and said, ¡°This fellow is a little strange. If I¡¯m not wrong, he was originally a human.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s human?¡± Zhou Wen knew that the silver-haired Companion Beast was changing the topic, but he was still shocked by his words. ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. He was definitely a human in the past. It¡¯s not strange for a human to mutate, but it¡¯s very strange for him to mutate so completely. Unless¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast sized up the humanoid monster and pondered.


    ¡°Unless what?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Unless he¡¯d willingly given up his bottom line as a human and had been to that place.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast wore a strange expression.


    ¡°If you continue talking to me in riddles, our cooperation will end here,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sullen expression.


    ¡°Unless he entered that ship. That¡¯s the only place that can completely transform humans into creatures.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast paused and curled his lips. ¡°I also want to explain it to you, but I don¡¯t completely understand it myself. How can I explain it clearly? If you want to know the truth, ask N¨¹wa yourself.¡± ¡°Cut the crap. How do I use this stone saber?¡± Zhou Wen could sense a strange power contained in the stone saber, but this power couldn¡¯t sever the connection between the mark and The Thearch.


    ¡°Give me the saber,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said as he extended his hand.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the silver-haired Companion Beast before throwing the stone saber at him.


    ¡°You are a little braver than your father. You aren¡¯t considered pure trash.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast sized up the stone saber and spoke without looking up. It was unknown if it was a compliment or mockery.


    Before Zhou Wen could say anything, the silver-haired Companion Beast suddenly held the stone saber in reverse and stabbed it into its chest.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. The stone saber penetrated the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s chest, with the blade seemingly protruding from his back.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the silver-haired Companion Beast and asked with a frown.


    ¡°Indeed, this Human Sovereign Stone Saber isn¡¯t enough. Cut the crap. Success or failure depends on this. I¡¯ll trust you humans one more time,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast looked at his chest and whispered.


    At the spot where the stone saber touched his chest, silver flames arose as though they were leaking out of his body and burning his flesh.


    ¡°Come, pull out the saber.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast released the hilt and spread out his hands. He looked up at Zhou Wen as silver light bloomed in his eyes.


    Zhou Wen finally understood what he was doing. Companion Beasts couldn¡¯t automatically terminate their contracts with humans, so the contract on the silver-haired Companion Beast probably hadn¡¯t been completely terminated. Now, he wanted to use the stone saber to sever his contract with humans, but this was clearly not enough. Therefore, he could only choose to use this opportunity to have a new contract replace the previous one.


    In other words, if he succeeded, the silver-haired Companion Beast would become Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± Zhou Wen reached out and grabbed the hilt of the stone saber again, pulling it out with all his might.

 Chapter 1798 - Annihilation

    Chapter 1798 Annihilation


    As the stone saber was pulled out, the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s body floated in the air. His limbs leaned back as his chest protruded out like he were a living sacrifice.


    Silver flames spewed out and surged towards Zhou Wen¡¯s body, instantly enveloping him.


    Companion Beasts that had already signed a contract couldn¡¯t sign a contract with others, but with the stone saber as a medium, a new contract formed between the two.


    A silver symbol gradually appeared on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest.


    The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s body gradually dissipated in the silver flames until he completely vanished. The silver symbol on Zhou Wen¡¯s chest was resplendent.


    Just as Zhou Wen looked down to see what the symbol on his chest was, he saw it suddenly flash and vanish without Zhou Wen¡¯s control.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body suddenly emitted silver light. His black hair quickly turned silver, and even his eyes were filled with silver.


    ¡°Who the hell stipulated that Companion Beasts can only be used as slaves to human? What are humans? I¡¯m the true ruler of everything!¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s will roared crazily in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s consciousness hadn¡¯t been completely occupied, but he wasn¡¯t flustered. All he did was calmly communicate with the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s will.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you understand? What a stupid fellow. By occupying your body, I can be my absolute self. No one can control me anymore.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast mocked, ¡°I still have to thank you for the body you contributed to me. I¡¯m very satisfied with this body. A Calamity-grade capable of producing Apocalypse-grade strength. As expected of a race that has been blessed.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why you chose me and not anyone else,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Hmph, I¡¯ve already been scammed twice. I don¡¯t have the patience to play any games. This time, I¡¯m going to do it in one step. You don¡¯t have to resent Lingfeng for screwing me over so badly. A son has to repay his father¡¯s debt. That¡¯s your life.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast seemed to be in an extremely good mood. It spoke frankly unlike before.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that he was trash? How did he scam you again?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking.


    Sensing that Zhou Wen¡¯s willpower was weakening, the silver-haired Companion Beast said smugly, ¡°That trash isn¡¯t good at anything, but he¡¯s very cunning. He kept delaying his cultivation, preventing me from evolving. He even f*cking tricked me and forcefully stripped me of my Essence Energy¡­ However, it doesn¡¯t matter now. I¡¯ll take back everything he owes me.¡±


    ¡°In that case, everything you said about N¨¹wa was a lie?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Do I need to lie to a nobody like you? That woman indeed tore through the air on a boat and forcefully dug me out of the core. Unfortunately, she died after that.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast snorted coldly.


    ¡°Died?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback. Since she¡¯s dead, who¡¯s the one at Chess Mountain?


    Zhou Wen never expected such an outcome. ¡°Who else could it be other than N¨¹wa?¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s explanation confused Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You mean that the woman who steered the boat isn¡¯t the same person as N¨¹wa? The one in Chess Mountain is N¨¹wa, and the one driving the boat is another woman? Who¡¯s N¨¹wa? Who¡¯s the woman?¡± Zhou Wen quickly understood what the silver-haired Companion Beast meant.


    ¡°I also want to know who that woman is. She came on a ship and descended into this world. She shattered the dimension single-handedly and forcefully dug out the planet¡¯s egg. That¡¯s an unparalleled shocking ability¡­¡± When the silver-haired Companion Beast spoke of the woman, there was a hint of admiration.


    ¡°Shattered the dimension? Isn¡¯t she an Immortal? How can she shatter the dimension?¡± Zhou Wen could tell that something was amiss.


    According to the information he had obtained, the woman who had descended on the ship was likely the supreme existence of the Immortals.


    However, from the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s tone, it didn¡¯t seem to be the case.


    ¡°The Immortals are nothing. They aren¡¯t worthy of being lumped with her,¡± the silver-haired Companion Beast said disdainfully. ¡°Because of her descent, the entire dimension was almost shattered. A mere Immortal is nothing.¡±


    ¡°Now, your body will be used by me. In the future, you will definitely become the ruler of the entire world. That will also be your glory.¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast devoured crazily, hoping to completely devour Zhou Wen¡¯s consciousness.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking forward to seeing that day, but unfortunately, you can¡¯t,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Whether it works or not isn¡¯t up to you¡­ to say¡­¡± Before the silver-haired Companion Beast could finish its sentence, it suddenly realized that Zhou Wen¡¯s seemingly weak consciousness had suddenly turned from weak to strong. No matter how he devoured it, he couldn¡¯t completely erase Zhou Wen¡¯s consciousness.


    ¡°Heavens, it¡¯s no wonder you can resist an Apocalypse with your Calamity body. The strength of your will is almost inhuman. So you were also plotting against me. Unfortunately, you¡¯re still too inexperienced. I¡¯m Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. On Earth, no life can compete with my will¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s will became stronger and stronger, as though the entire Earth¡¯s will was injecting energy into him.


    Even someone as tenacious as Zhou Wen felt an unparalleled pressure. His consciousness was being devoured bit by bit.


    ¡°This body is mine!¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s consciousness roared crazily.


    However, in the next second, the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s crazy roar stopped.


    Another will suddenly appeared in his consciousness.


    Zhou Wen finally activated Sigh of the King as the strange woman¡¯s consciousness awakened.


    ¡°How¡­ How is this possible¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s consciousness seemed to tremble violently as though something extremely terrifying had happened.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­ Aren¡¯t you already dead¡­ How is it possible¡­¡± The silver-haired Companion Beast felt the strange consciousness. Its horror had already exceeded the limits of his mental endurance.


    ¡°Annihilate.¡± Like a woman ruling the world, she didn¡¯t even look at the silver-haired Companion Beast as she indifferently spat out a word.


    The silver color over Zhou Wen¡¯s body instantly receded like a tidal wave. The silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s consciousness also vanished amidst extreme horror.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes regained clarity as he looked down at his chest. He saw all the silver condensed on his chest, forming a silver symbol.


    Could it be that the Sigh of the King transformed from the Lost Immortal Sutra is the woman mentioned by the silver-haired Companion Beast? Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t get more useful information from him. Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions.


    He never expected that the final answer was already on him.


    He habitually took out his phone and looked at his stats. Indeed, there was a new Companion Beast in the Companion Beast column.

 Chapter 1799 - All Lives Are Equal

    Chapter 1799 All Lives Are Equal


    Prisoner: Apocalypse grade (Incomplete Body) Life Providence: All Life Life Soul: All Life Wheel of Destiny: All Life (S-grade)


    Terror Form: All Life


    Calamity Zone: All Life (Heaven level)


    New World: All Life


    Strength: 1,013


    Speed: 1,014


    Constitution: 1,052


    Essence Energy: 1,000


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: Soul


    Zhou Wen was stunned when he saw the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s stats.


    It wasn¡¯t because he was ridiculously strong, but because he was too weak. A dignified Apocalypse-grade Companion Beast only had such stats.


    Just the Calamity-grade Mystic Thearch and Truth Listener¡¯s stats were about the same as his. Apart from having the New World that the Apocalypse grade should have, he didn¡¯t have anything that stood out.


    What was even more surprising was that his Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, Terror transformation, Calamity Zone, and New World were all the same.


    He¡¯s an Apocalypse-grade Companion Beast at the end of the day. Why is he so weak? Zhou Wen summoned Prisoner.


    Silver light flashed as the silver-haired Companion Beast appeared in front of him again. His hair was still messy and his clothes were disheveled. However, the silver-haired Companion Beast¡¯s eyes had already lost their luster. He was like a puppet that only knew how to follow Zhou Wen¡¯s orders.


    From the looks of it, the silver-haired Companion Beast no longer had a sense of self. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed. He originally hoped to obtain some useful information from him, but from the looks of it, it was impossible.


    Thankfully, his companion form is a soul. I can be imbued with his powers. Zhou Wen ordered Prisoner to transform into a soul and attach himself to him.


    The silver light fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body as his hair and pupils turned silver. His hair strangely grew longer, almost reaching his feet. His armor also seemed to be plated with a layer of silver.


    What¡¯s the use of this All Life New World? I hope it doesn¡¯t disappoint me. Zhou Wen felt the power Prisoner gave him.


    After Zhou Wen¡¯s eight techniques fused into one, his comprehension of strength far exceeded the ordinary Calamity grade. He wasn¡¯t inferior to the Apocalypse grade and even exceeded it in certain things.


    After carefully comprehending it for a moment, Zhou Wen revealed a look of delight.


    The power of All Life exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. Although Prisoner¡¯s abilities were all one and the same, they were very useful.


    If he wanted to use a word to describe the abilities of All Life, Zhou Wen felt that he only needed to add the word ¡°equality¡± behind it.


    Within the power range of the All Life New World, be it immortals, saints, buddhas, or demons, they were all equal. They all had the right to die.


    Yes, right. It wasn¡¯t to kill the enemy, but to let him obtain the right to die.


    This power didn¡¯t have any substantial lethality. It didn¡¯t sound impressive, but on careful thought, one could tell that it was a very crazy ability.


    When Zhou Wen fought Transcendent Immortal, she had displayed extraordinary self-healing abilities. The damage Zhou Wen had dealt to her wasn¡¯t as fast as her self-healing speed.


    However, after possessing All Life, she couldn¡¯t heal from the injuries Zhou Wen inflicted. Even powerhouses with the ability to revive wouldn¡¯t be revived.


    Together with Zhou Wen¡¯s own Human Realm domain, it could be said to be a perfect match.


    Although my physique is a little lacking, this ability is impressive. Now, Zhou Wen completely believed Prisoner¡¯s previous words.


    It was likely that he had been dug out ahead of time. Otherwise, his stats wouldn¡¯t be so bad, nor would he be crippled.


    What a pity. I wonder how strong a complete Earth Companion Beast will be. Zhou Wen felt regretful.


    What delighted Zhou Wen even more was that the power of New World¡¯s All Life could affect the wish mark The Thearch had left on him.


    However, it only had an effect; it didn¡¯t not fully remove it!


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if this influence could completely isolate the connection between The Thearch and him, but it was better than having no defense at all.


    From the looks of it, I have to make a trip to Chess Mountain to completely eliminate the wish mark, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The safest way was to advance to the Apocalypse grade before heading to Chess Mountain.


    However, Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t come up with anything other than killing Apocalypse-grade creatures and obtaining their powers to rise up the ranks.


    But how many Apocalypse-grade creatures were there on Earth? Which one could Zhou Wen kill?


    The places on Earth that Zhou Wen suspected to have Apocalypse-grade creatures were Mount Laojun, Small Buddha Temple, and a few others. The most likely place was Chess Mountain.


    There was also an Apocalypse grade that Zhou Wen was basically certain of-Sweetie.


    Of course, it was impossible for Zhou Wen to kill Sweetie. Even if he wanted to kill her, he couldn¡¯t find her. It was even more likely that he wasn¡¯t Sweetie¡¯s match.


    He glanced at the trapped humanoid creature and put away the stone saber. He lifted him up and locked him in a palace.


    He was very likely a human who had boarded that huge ship. Perhaps he could gain some clues from him in the future.


    However, before that, Zhou Wen had to find someone who was good at stealing soul information. As his thoughts were in a mess, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to get anything out of him.


    He got Zhang Yuzhi to try to appease the humanoid creature. After a few attempts, he realized that as long as the stone saber didn¡¯t appear near him, Zhang Yuzhi¡¯s ability was still very effective against him.


    What has this stone saber got to do with him? Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss.


    The origins of the stone saber were very problematic. Logically speaking, the Human Sovereign Stone Saber was likely related to Suirenshi.


    However, the stone saber was on Fire God Platform. Fire God Platform was called Fire God Platform, but it was actually an observatory. It had nothing to do with Suirenshi.


    What¡¯s the use of this saber? Zhou Wen held the stone saber and studied it.


    There was indeed a masculine Yang force in the saber. It was as red as fire, but the power it truly stimulated wasn¡¯t fire-elemental.


    Ordinary powers couldn¡¯t be released from the stone saber. No matter how much Essence Energy Zhou Wen injected, the stone saber couldn¡¯t release an inch of saber aura.


    A stone saber that could only be used in melee combat could only be tested in actual combat.


    In the dimension.


    On a mountain that burned like the sun, the temperature was probably capable of instantly melting steel.


    However, on such a mountain, there was an extremely majestic palace made of gold.


    This was where the Solarians lived. It was one of the strongest races in the dimension and had several Apocalypse-grade experts.


    In the past, if another race came to Inocciduus Divine Mountain, even an Apocalypse-grade expert wouldn¡¯t step past it. They would land at the foot of the mountain and walk up to the Sun God Temple.


    However, today, a white figure floated above Inocciduus Divine Mountain and sized up the Sun God Temple beneath his feet.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, do you have a death wish?¡± Several ancient voices sounded from the Sun God Temple. The flames that enveloped the entire Inocciduus Divine Mountain raged crazily with the voices as though they wanted to burn the entire world to ashes.


    ¡°Death or submission is a choice you need to make,¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently.

 Chapter 1800 - Submission or Annihilation

    Chapter 1800 Submission or Annihilation


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, how dare you show your face?¡± A golden-armored general that emitted a sun-like glow rushed out of the Sun God Temple and arrived in front of Wang Mingyuan. He pointed at Wang Mingyuan and said coldly, ¡°The Immortals failed to take your life, but the Inocciduus Divine Mountain shall be your resting place.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t submit to me, this will be the last sunset of Inocciduus Divine Mountain,¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently, ignoring the golden-armored general. Such a tone immediately infuriated the Solarian¡¯s golden-armored divine general. Without another word, he emitted infinite divine light that shone at Wang Mingyuan.


    The omnipresent light instantly illuminated the entire world with golden light. The glorious golden light penetrated everything, destroying and burning it.


    Even space melted under the illumination of the Solar Divine Light. The golden light seemed to dawn the end of the world.


    The terrifying Solar Divine Light shone on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body, but he had no intention of dodging or resisting it. He just stood motionless in midair.


    The golden light landed on Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body like water on a sponge. It fused into his body without causing any ripples.


    The golden-armored general was horrified. The Apocalypse-grade Solar Divine Light could burn the heavens and annihilate the earth, but it was unable to injure Wang Mingyuan at all. This was something he had never imagined in the past.


    In his shock and anger, the golden-armored general fully unleashed Solar Divine Light. All the beams condensed into an aurora that instantly penetrated Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body like a golden lightning spear.


    However, Wang Mingyuan remained floating calmly as he quietly looked at the golden-armored general. The golden beam that penetrated his body was hot enough to melt any immortal existence in the world, but it failed to injure him at all.


    It was as though the body was a ghost that didn¡¯t exist in the world. The golden beam couldn¡¯t injure his body at all.


    The golden-armored general¡¯s pupils constricted because he felt his Apocalypse powers crazily leak out. In the blink of an eye, most of the solar beams he had condensed vanished.


    ¡°Bastard! How dare you!¡± Several roars sounded from the Sun God Temple as several golden beams shot out. Golden figures soared into the sky.


    The four Apocalypse-grade powerhouses of the Solarians appeared and surrounded Wang Mingyuan from different directions. They shot out beams of Solar Divine Light at Wang Mingyuan, hoping to wipe him out.


    The world seemed to turn into a red-hot furnace. The entire area around Inocciduus Divine Mountain turned into a golden domain of light. It was like an extremely huge golden sun that illuminated the entire dimension.


    However, when the Solar Divine Light that was enough to destroy everything stabbed into Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body, it was like a stone sinking into the sea. It didn¡¯t cause any ripples. Instead, a golden glow rose from Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body. It was the power of the Solar Divine Light.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ How can this be¡­¡± The four bigwigs of the Solarians were horrified. They couldn¡¯t imagine that someone in this world could fight four alone. Not only was he not injured by their Solar Divine Light, but he could also devour its power.


    ¡°Submission or annihilation?¡± There was no joy on his face as Wang Mingyuan asked calmly.


    His body was already close to perfection. The abilities of Sword Immortal Nihility, Zhong Ziya, Jiang Yan, and Transcendent Immortal had fused into one, changing Wang Mingyuan¡¯s physique to an unparalleled state. Almost no power in the world could injure him.


    The four Solarian bigwigs felt the power in their bodies surge towards Wang Mingyuan like a tidal wave. If they didn¡¯t stop, they would probably be sucked dry in a moment.


    A deep sense of shock and helplessness arose in their hearts. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s thin figure was even more unattainable than the majestic Inocciduus Divine Mountain in their eyes.


    They simultaneously wanted to retreat, but they realized that their powers were leaking uncontrollably. They couldn¡¯t stop.


    ¡°This is your choice. Then be annihilated.¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke calmly, the Solar Divine Light on his body expanded like a balloon.


    A silent golden glow filled the entire world as though it melted away all sound. It became dead silent.


    A moment later, the golden light receded. Wang Mingyuan remained the same as before, as though nothing had happened.


    However, Inocciduus Divine Mountain and the Sun God Temple, and all the Solarians, including the four Apocalypse-grade bigwigs, had vanished.


    The spot where it was originally located had already turned into a golden scorching hole, like a huge void furnace.


    Zhou Wen leaned against the sofa and focused on grinding on his phone.


    Chess Mountain dungeon. This was a dungeon that Zhou Wen had downloaded into his phone a long time ago, but he had yet to clear


    it.


    Now, all he wanted to do was complete the Chess Mountain dungeon before heading to it in reality.


    In the past, Chess Mountain was like a land of forbidden existences to Zhou Wen. It was common for him to die thousands of times inside. Every time he entered, he couldn¡¯t avoid death despite all his caution.


    Zhou Wen was much more relaxed this time round. He advanced with ease until he arrived at the four Demonized Generals¡¯ territory.


    Zhou Wen originally believed that although the four Demonized Generals were powerful, they hadn¡¯t reached the standards of the Apocalypse grade and were only top-notch Calamity-grade creatures. With his present strength, he could still kill them easily.


    The outcome left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised. The four Demonized Generals held the Azure Cloud Sword, Chaos Essence Umbrella, Azure Jade Lute, and the Purple-Gold Flower Fox Ferret. The four different powers formed a strange domain that resembled a barrier.


    Zhou Wen slashed with all his might, but he failed to crack the strange domain.


    This piqued Zhou Wen¡¯s interest. He didn¡¯t use it In the Human World. He just used all sorts of techniques to fight the four Demonized Generals. For a moment, it was difficult to determine who had the upper hand.


    The four Demonized Generals are already so powerful. How powerful will Chess Mountain¡¯s final boss be? Who will this boss be? Zhou Wen guessed.


    The Nine-Tailed Fox had long appeared. In other words, the mythical Daji couldn¡¯t be the final boss of Chess Mountain.


    Of course, King Zhou couldn¡¯t be the final boss because he had long gone to the dimension and seemed to be imprisoned there.


    The Thearch? Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure because there was nothing related to The Thearch in the phone dungeon.


    The powers of the four Demonized Generals were very strange. They each had their characteristics, but Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was unpredictable. In the Human World, he ultimately cracked their defense. After killing one of the Demonized Generals, the remaining three Demonized Generals¡¯ strength immediately decreased drastically as they were easily dispatched by Zhou Wen.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The items dropped by the four Demonized Generals fell to the ground, almost covering the ground.


    Zhou Wen saw that there was actually a Companion Egg among them. Just as he was about to pick it up, the entire cave suddenly trembled. The mountain wall beside him split open. It was dark and deep like the gaping mouth of hell.

 Chapter 1801 - Jade

    Chapter 1801 Jade


    Seeing this, Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the Companion Egg on the ground. As for the large number of Essence Energy Crystals, they were useless to Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t even bother picking them up.


    The crack in the mountain wall widened and soon, a bottomless, pitch-black cave appeared. Zhou Wen probed the insides using the Teacher Domain, but he realized that the Essence Energy inside seemed to have dried up. He couldn¡¯t sense any Essence Energy fluctuations.


    Nothing happened even when the mountain wall came to a complete standstill. He summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and let him scout ahead as he entered the cave.


    The Essence Energy appeared drained. He couldn¡¯t sense any aura, nor did any creatures appear.


    The winding cave meandered for several kilometers before it opened up. Zhou Wen and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General arrived at a huge natural cave.


    Just like the tunnel outside, the Essence Energy here had already dried up. There was nothing left in the huge cave. There was no sign of life at all.


    In the middle of the cave was a stone that was three to four meters tall.


    The stone looked a little strange. It was sharp at the top and round at the bottom, like a sharp stone pillar. It was translucent and grayish-white.


    He could vaguely see a weak point flickering inside the stone platform like a heartbeat.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen circled the stone a few times, but he couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    He ordered the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to attack. It was at the Calamity grade, but the attacks were unable to damage it at all.


    This is interesting. Is this thing an item or a creature? Zhou Wen was momentarily unsure.


    He summoned Mystic Thearch and Prisoner, but the power of these two top Companion Beasts was still unable to budge the stone pillar.


    Zhou Wen realized that the hardness of this thing far exceeded his imagination, so he summoned Mystic Thearch and Prisoner back and attached them to himself.


    Energy surged crazily into his palm as he unleashed his strongest strength, ¡°In the Human World.¡± His palm slashed at the stone pillar like a blade.


    With a clang, he etched a mark about three centimeters deep on the stone pillar.


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed. This was a power that could even injure the Apocalypse grade, but it only left such a shallow mark on the stone pillar.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t receive any warning that he had attacked a creature, so he became even more intrigued.


    He constantly struck the stone pillar, slicing it apart inch by inch. Sweat seeped out of his forehead.


    Even someone as powerful as Zhou Wen found it difficult to continuously use strength like In the Human World.


    As the stone was pared off bit by bit, the light inside gradually became clearer. After spending plenty of time, he finally heard a ding. The force from In the Human World seemed to have slashed at something even harder; it didn¡¯t leave a trace.


    After wiping away the stone dust on the surface, he saw a milky-white, fluorescent jade-like object inside. It was the object that shone, and it felt warm to the touch.


    Following the milky-white boundary, Zhou Wen slowly peeled off the translucent stone layer. After spending more time on this, he finally saw the milky-white jade¡¯s complete appearance.


    This is¡­ Monkey Sun¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the milky-white jade that was mostly exposed and his eyes couldn¡¯t help but light up.


    The milky-white jade looked like a curled-up monkey.


    Could this be the legendary Intelligent Stone Monkey? Zhou Wen still remembered the myth he had heard when he was young. Sun Wukong was born out of a stone and was known as one of the Four Dimitrios Monkeys. His name was Intelligent Stone Monkey.


    However, on second thought, he found it unlikely. Back then, Zhou Wen had seen the Four Dimitrios Monkeys. This thing was different from the Intelligent Stone Monkey.


    After some thought, he thought of another possibility


    Among the mythical figures related to the Shang dynasty, there was indeed an ape. It was the leader of the Seven Monsters of Plum Mountain, Yuan Hong, who had cultivated from a white ape.


    He was a terrifying being that could fight Erlang Shen. His Eight-Nine Arcane Art was invincible and was almost the apex of physical combat strength.


    If it¡¯s really the white ape, it should be a boss. How did it become a block of stone? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    There was nothing else here, and he couldn¡¯t slash apart the jade monkey. All he could do was leave the cave and explore other places.


    There were many Calamity-grade existences in the Chess Mountain dungeon. There were also existences that weren¡¯t inferior to the four Demonized Generals, but he didn¡¯t discover any Apocalypse-grade existences.


    After touring all of Chess Mountain dungeon, he didn¡¯t discover anything that satisfied him, nor was there any notification of clearing it.


    Strange. Could it be that there¡¯s something I haven¡¯t discovered? Zhou Wen circled a few more times. Apart from the jade monkey, there was nothing else that seemed resolvable. ¡°Old Zhou, that old fellow is here again.¡± Li Xuan interrupted Zhou Wen, who was engrossed in the game.


    ¡°Who?¡± Zhou Wen was momentarily taken aback.


    ¡°Who else other than Jing Daoxian?¡± Li Xuan curled his lips and said, ¡°Apart from that old fellow, there¡¯s also your Eldest Senior Brother, Liu Yun.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and followed Li Xuan out to meet Jing Daoxian and Liu Yun in the living room.


    ¡°Junior Brother, long time no see. Do you miss your Eldest Senior Brother?¡± Liu Yun said with a grin.


    ¡°I really do,¡± Zhou Wen said with a sigh.


    Among his fellow disciples, only Liu Yun and Hui Haifeng were left. Thinking of Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan, Zhou Wen still found it difficult to accept the fact that they were dead.


    Upon hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s words, Liu Yun felt a little embarrassed. He sighed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t have to worry too much. Everyone dies eventually.¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and asked Jing Daoxian, ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡±


    orr


    ¡°Have you considered what we discussed last time? The day after tomorrow is the best opportunity to enter Chess Mountain. If you miss this opportunity, it will be difficult to enter again,¡± Jing Daoxian said. ¡°Why the day after tomorrow?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what Jing Daoxian meant. ¡°There¡¯s no need to act dumb in front of me. Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know about the flower on the mountain wall? I¡¯ve secretly observed it for years. That day is the only day it will disappear every year.¡±


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s words surprised Zhou Wen. ¡°What do you mean by disappearing? Where does it go?¡±


    ¡°It leaves Chess Mountain, but I¡¯m not sure where it goes. It will definitely return in twenty-four hours, so we only have twenty-four hours. We have to exit Chess Mountain regardless of whether we can storm it,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    Zhou Wen frowned and didn¡¯t say a word. Such matters couldn¡¯t be a lie. Since Jing Daoxian had said so, it was definitely true.


    If it was really as Jing Daoxian had said, then this was really an opportunity.


    Prisoner also said that Earth¡¯s Companion Beast was on Chess Mountain, but he couldn¡¯t find it in the dungeon. He probably had to make a trip to Chess Mountain in reality.

 Chapter 1802 - Free News

    Chapter 1802 Free News


    In the misty mountain range, a blood river slowly flowed out, dyeing the nearby land red.


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡­¡± The soldiers stationed outside the blood river spontaneously saluted when they saw Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Call me Zhou Wen.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the soldiers and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. Their exposed skin had many abscesses.


    There were even people whose faces were covered in burst boils, making them look abnormally disgusting and hideous.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the officer beside him and asked.


    The officer said with a bitter smile, ¡°Young Master Wen, this blood river looks harmless, but if you stay here for extended periods, your body will develop such abscesses. The longer you stay, the worse the rot. We haven¡¯t discovered a way to treat it, nor can we bandage it. The more we bandage it, the worse it becomes.¡±


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you retreat?¡± asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°We don¡¯t dare leave without orders, nor can we leave. There¡¯s people behind us so we have no choice but to guard this area,¡± the officer said firmly.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat moved. Who wasn¡¯t afraid of death? However, these soldiers still held on despite knowing that they were facing death. It was difficult to imagine how they had withstood the pressure to stay behind.


    ¡°Take off your shirt,¡± Zhou Wen said to the officer.


    ¡°That¡¯s not appropriate, right?¡± The officer hurriedly rejected.


    ¡°If he¡¯s unwilling, are you willing?¡± Zhou Wen asked the soldier beside him.


    The soldier wore an odd expression as though he was torn, but in the end, he shook his head.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say another word as he walked in front of the soldier and reached out to grab his clothes.


    The soldier wanted to retreat, but he was held back by Zhou Wen. After some hesitation, he stopped struggling as Zhou Wen lifted his shirt.


    It was a shocking sight. His chest and back were mostly covered in bloody boils. Many of them had ruptured as pus and blood slowly seeped out.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you afraid of death?¡± Zhou Wen asked the soldier.


    ¡°Yes,¡± the soldier answered after a long while.


    ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you leaving?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Where can I go? Every additional day I persist means one more day for my family to live a good life. Even if it¡¯s an hour or a minute, I don¡¯t wish for the same thing to happen to my family,¡± the soldier said as he held back his tears.


    One could hear the helpless despair in his words.


    As more and more dimensional zones broke out, the living space of humans was reduced and compressed.


    Ordinary people could still live peacefully at home because someone was paying the price in blood, tears, and even their lives.


    ¡°Live well. There will be a day of reunion.¡± Zhou Wen reached out and patted the soldier on the shoulder.


    The abscesses on the soldier¡¯s body immediately healed at a visible speed.


    It wasn¡¯t just one soldier. The abscesses on all the soldiers guarding the blood river rapidly subsided.


    These abscesses weren¡¯t injuries or poison, nor were they ordinary bacterial infections. Instead, their bloodlines had been contaminated.


    Therefore, ordinary strength couldn¡¯t heal him at all. Even the Calamity-grade Holy Light of Healing couldn¡¯t treat such injuries.


    The entire An family was helpless against this. Only Zhou Wen, who had the power of the Demon God Bloodline Catalog, could cleanse their tainted bloodline.


    In modern terms, there was something wrong with their genes. There was no way to treat them, and the condition could even be inherited.


    Moments later, the abscesses on everyone¡¯s bodies vanished as the soldiers and officers recovered.


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡­¡± The officers and soldiers were extremely excited.


    Zhou Wen stopped the officer from speaking as he swept his gaze across the soldiers. ¡°No matter how difficult it is, you have to survive. Your family is waiting for you to return.¡±


    With that said, he turned around and charged into the blood river with the other two.


    The officers and soldiers saluted in the direction of Zhou Wen¡¯s departure. Even when the figure completely vanished into the blood mist, they were still unwilling to lower their hands.


    ¡°This is the present era-survival of the fittest. This is the law of nature. No one can change it,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently.


    ¡°Nature doesn¡¯t have rules determining who dies,¡± Zhou Wen retorted.


    ¡°Hehe, have you ever thought that even if you can change their fate and let them live, them living is equivalent to depriving the lives of others? If a person who should have died survives, he will take up a spot of someone that didn¡¯t need to die. Is this really mercy?¡± Jing Daoxian sneered.


    ¡°You trying to say that humans are the original sin of this world, right?¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently, ¡°Perhaps what you said is right, but to me, it doesn¡¯t matter if humans are good or bad. I only want the people I care about to live. I don¡¯t know anything about mercy, nor am I a saint, nor do I have great foresight. I just want the people in front of me to live well.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m starting to like you. Then I¡¯ll give you another piece of news for free.¡± Jing Daoxian paused before continuing, ¡°Wang Mingyuan once entered Chess Mountain, and he wasn¡¯t the only one.¡±


    ¡°Who else?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown because he had roughly guessed who Jing Daoxian was talking about.


    ¡°Ouyang Ting,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly as he stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t surprised because he had already thought of this possibility.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you curious about what they did inside Chess Mountain?¡± Jing Daoxian said enticingly.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid you don¡¯t know either,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°This kind of goading is still useful against young people. An old man like me doesn¡¯t have that much of a temper.¡± Although Jing Daoxian said that, he continued, ¡°However, I can tell you that I also entered back then. Furthermore, other than the three of us, there¡¯s another person. You will definitely be interested in this person.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. This time, he really couldn¡¯t guess who it was.


    ¡°Your father, Zhou Lingfeng.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s words left Zhou Wen taken aback.


    He remembered that Zhou Lingfeng had told him that he had never entered Chess Mountain. He had only retreated after approaching Chess Mountain because of Prisoner¡¯s anomaly.


    Now, Jing Daoxian was suddenly telling him that Zhou Lingfeng had also entered Chess Mountain with Jing Daoxian, Wang Mingyuan, and Ouyang Ting, Zhou Wen was momentarily unsure if he should believe Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°I know you don¡¯t believe me, but I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t believe what I¡¯m about to say.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s smile was very strange, making Zhou Wen shudder.


    ¡°What are you trying to get at?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t answer directly and asked, ¡°Have you seen your mother?¡±


    ¡°I¡­¡± Zhou Wen opened his mouth and suddenly realized that everything his knew about his mother came from Zhou Lingfeng. He really didn¡¯t seem to have seen his mother before. He didn¡¯t even have any memories of her appearance.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t remember what Zhou Lingfeng had told him about his mother.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen stopped and stared at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°When Zhou Lingfeng came out of Chess Mountain, he was carrying a baby.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s words were like an earthquake, shocking Zhou Wen speechless.

 Chapter 1803 - Entering Chess Mountain

    Chapter 1803 Entering Chess Mountain


    ¡°What¡¯s the origin of that baby?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a complicated expression.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know about that. Anyway, your father wasn¡¯t carrying a baby with him when he entered Chess Mountain,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a chuckle.


    ¡°In that case, Junior Brother, you might not be human?¡± Liu Yun widened his eyes as he sized up Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You are the one who is inhuman,¡± Zhou Wen said gloomily.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that Jing Daoxian was saying this to firm his determination to enter Chess Mountain. It was hard to tell if it was true.


    Even if it was true, the baby that Zhou Lingfeng had carried out was very likely An Jing and not Zhou Wen.


    Of course, this also had a premise¡ªZhou Lingfeng wasn¡¯t lying. He and An Jing had indeed been swapped.


    However, on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    In the past, the former principal, Ouyang Ting, often praised him as a genius. He even said that there were two kinds of geniuses in the world. One type of genius was Zhou Wen, and the other type were the other geniuses.


    Although Zhou Wen was indeed very talented back then, he wasn¡¯t that good.


    Having learned that Ouyang Ting and Zhou Lingfeng had entered Chess Mountain together, and Ouyang Ting knew that Zhou Lingfeng had carried a baby out of Chess Mountain, the former principal¡¯s praise of Zhou Wen was somewhat intriguing.


    What¡¯s the truth? Zhou Wen felt puzzled, unsure which was the truth.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say that. Since I agreed to enter Chess Mountain with you, I won¡¯t go back on my word,¡± Zhou Wen said as though he didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°You are free to believe whatever I say.¡± Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t say anything else as he led the way.


    The path Jing Daoxian led was completely different from the path Zhou Wen usually took. He circled around the mountain wall with the flower growing on it and arrived in front of a ditch.


    The three of them crawled into the ditch like rats and entered a narrow, squarish tunnel. They had to crawl on all fours.


    Zhou Wen had already gone through the Chess Mountain dungeon countless times in-game, but he didn¡¯t know that there was such a secret passage leading into Chess Mountain. He was somewhat surprised.


    From the looks of it, Chess Mountain in real life is indeed very different from the game dungeon. Zhou Wen thought to himself. This has never happened in the other dungeons. At most, there were some minute differences. Chess Mountain is indeed different from other dimensional zones.


    As he hadn¡¯t gone to the mountain wall, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the flower had left as Jing Daoxian had said.


    Jing Daoxian had already exhorted them not to use any abilities along the way. They had to restrain all their Essence Energy fluctuations, so the three of them crawled very slowly.


    After about an hour, the three of them finally crawled out of the tunnel. The exit that led to the sea was a pool consisting of stone and jade.


    From the looks of it, the tunnel they had crawled into was likely the pool¡¯s drain.


    Zhou Wen sized up his surroundings. He had never seen this place in the game dungeon. He couldn¡¯t help but suspect that Chess Mountain had another dungeon.


    ¡°Why is this pool so strange?¡± Liu Yun sized up the pool and discovered some problems. He pointed at the edge of the jade pool and said, ¡°Why are there so many small containers there? These small containers shouldn¡¯t be used for showers, right?¡±


    ¡°Sigh, my silly grandson. I¡¯ve always tried getting you to read more, but you insist on reading all that nonsense. Have you never heard of pool of alcohol and meat forest-a symbol of extravagance?¡± Jing Daoxian sighed.


    ¡°This is the legendary alcohol pool?¡± Liu Yun said in disbelief, ¡°Why don¡¯t I smell alcohol? Instead, it reeked of blood along the way.¡±


    ¡°Hehe, do you really think the pool of alcohol and meat forest are just filled with ordinary alcohol and meat?¡± Jing Daoxian sneered.


    ¡°What else could it be other than ordinary alcohol and meat?¡± Liu Yun asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Think it through yourself,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he crawled out of the alcohol pool. He looked around as though he was searching for something


    Soon, Jing Daoxian walked towards a stone wall and pushed it open, revealing a half-man-made tunnel.


    Under Jing Daoxian¡¯s lead, the three of them entered the tunnel. As they walked, Liu Yun suddenly vomited.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression turned nasty as well. Dried corpses hung on both sides of the tunnel. They were like moldy cured meat, densely packed like a forest.


    ¡°Could this be the legendary meat forest¡­ That alcohol pool¡­¡± Liu Yun muttered to himself before vomiting.


    ¡°It¡¯s not without reason that Shang Tang perished,¡± Liu Yun said after a while as he wiped the stain from his mouth.


    Jing Daoxian ignored Liu Yun and slowly walked forward.


    After passing through the tunnel, there was a huge stone chamber. In the middle of the stone chamber stood a metal artifact that was several meters tall. It looked like a furnace or cauldron, covered in black mud.


    ¡°This should be the torture device used in branding, right?¡± Zhou Wen said as he sized up the metal container.


    ¡°You can also call it an alchemy furnace.¡± Jing Daoxian narrowed his eyes and said, ¡°The ancients were obsessed with alchemy. They believed that if one wanted to live forever, they had to increase their lifespan. And the best way to increase one¡¯s lifespan was naturally to make up for it with form.¡±


    ¡°In other words, the so-called branding punishment was just an excuse. They were using humans to refine pills?¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t imagine how ridiculous and foolish that era was.


    These places didn¡¯t exist in game dungeons, and they coincided with history. They were completely different from pure mythical or legendary game dungeons.


    He couldn¡¯t help but ask with a frown when he saw Jing Daoxian circle around the metal vessel and head towards a stone door, ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    They hadn¡¯t seen a single creature despite all this time in Chess Mountain. It didn¡¯t seem right.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Jing Daoxian pushed open the stone door and walked in without explaining further.


    Zhou Wen glanced at Liu Yun and saw that he was also looking indifferent. Clearly, he didn¡¯t know much more than Zhou Wen.


    Since he had already come this far, there was naturally no reason for him to retreat now. All he could do was follow him alongside Liu Yun.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, are you really Jing Daoxian¡¯s grandson?¡± Zhou Wen said to Liu Yun.


    ¡°Probably.¡± Liu Yun smiled bitterly


    ¡°I heard that that old fellow became enemies with the entire Federation for a woman, I never heard of him getting married. How did he have a son and grandson?¡± Although Zhou Wen lowered his voice, how could Jing Daoxian not hear him? In fact, he was saying this to Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian had actually brought Liu Yun along to Chess Mountain, a dangerous place. This made him suspect that Liu Yun had also been tricked by Jing Daoxian.


    If he was really his only grandson, who would be willing to bring him to such a godforsaken place?


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Jing Daoxian ignored Zhou Wen and stopped ahead.


    Zhou Wen and Liu Yun looked over and saw a building that resembled a temple. It was completely made of stone. The stone door was open and they could see a jade statue carved from white jade.

 Chapter 1804 - Nüwa Temple

    Chapter 1804 N¨¹wa Temple


    The jade statue was engraved in the shape of a woman. She was beautiful but not gorgeous. She had a dignified bearing and her entire body seemed to emit a holy glow.


    Although the stone temple was nameless, Zhou Wen and Liu Yun had already guessed that the jade statue was very likely the legendary N¨¹wa.


    ¡°The war between Shang and Zhou, or rather, the beginning of the war between humans and gods, is here-N¨¹wa¡¯s temple.¡± Jing Daoxian also confirmed their guess.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t there any creatures in such a place?¡± Liu Yun asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Not being able to see something doesn¡¯t mean there¡¯s nothing.¡± Jing Daoxian stared at the N¨¹wa statue and said, ¡°Back then, the four of us had different fortuitous encounters here.¡±


    ¡°What fortuitous encounters?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the stone temple and saw that there was only one room inside. Apart from N¨¹wa¡¯s statue, there was nothing else.


    ¡°N¨¹wa Temple doesn¡¯t seem dangerous, but it¡¯s actually the most bizarre place in the world.¡± Jing Daoxian arrived at the entrance of the temple, but he didn¡¯t walk in. He sneered and said, ¡°All four saw different scenes after walking into N¨¹wa Temple.¡±


    ¡°You mean that N¨¹wa Temple is actually an entrance to a different space? Everyone will enter a different space?¡± Zhou Wen said in thought.


    ¡°That¡¯s one way to explain it, but it¡¯s not that simple.¡± Jing Daoxian paused before continuing, ¡°After I came out of N¨¹wa Temple, I stayed here for a long time. I only saw Ouyang Ting and Zhou Lingfeng come out separately, but I didn¡¯t see Wang Mingyuan. Zhou Lingfeng was carrying a baby in his arms. Ouyang Ting didn¡¯t show anything special.¡±


    ¡°What did you see in N¨¹wa Temple?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. I just obtained something. You¡¯re very familiar with that thing,¡± Jing Daoxian said with narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s the Lost Immortal Sutra. After I obtained it, I tried all sorts of methods to crack the secret technique within. Not only did I fail, but I also ended up suffering damage. Furthermore, I gave it to different people, but the outcome was the same. No one could master the Lost Immortal Sutra. Instead, they ended up worse off. Later, I had an idea¡­¡± Jing Daoxian looked at Zhou Wen with a strange look.


    ¡°You gave me the Lost Immortal Sutra. It was indeed premeditated. You suspected that I¡¯m the baby my father carried out of N¨¹wa Temple,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Reality has proven that only you can master the Lost Immortal Sutra.¡± Jing Daoxian seemed to be certain that Zhou Wen was the baby.


    ¡°In that case, not only did you obtain Lost Sutra Immortal in N¨¹wa Temple, but you also saw something else,¡± Zhou Wen said slowly as he looked at Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Why do you say that?¡± Jing Daoxian asked with interest.


    ¡°If you only obtained Lost Immortal Sutra and didn¡¯t have anything more precious, why would you give it to me so easily? You gave me Lost Immortal Sutra because you wanted to use the power of me and Lost Immortal Sutra to obtain something even more precious,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re right. I did see something even more precious, but to obtain that thing, I have to master the Lost Immortal Sutra. And the only person who can master it is you.¡± Jing Daoxian readily admitted Zhou Wen¡¯s guess.


    ¡°In that case, you must have thought of a way to get me in. Why don¡¯t you tell me?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask what the item was.


    ¡°Everyone finds themselves in a different place when entering N¨¹wa Temple. There¡¯s only one way to get you to where I ended.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes flickered. ¡°That is to make the two of us become one.¡±


    ¡°Oh, how can we become one?¡± Zhou Wen continued asking without batting an eyelid.


    ¡°It was originally very easy. After you cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra, I was going to snatch your body and abilities for myself. Unfortunately, this method won¡¯t work now. I might not be able to defeat you in a fight.¡± Such shameless words sounded natural from Jing Daoxian¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry for raising the difficulty for you,¡± Zhou Wen quipped.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. A living person must go with the flow. There¡¯s always a way,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile. ¡°Not only did I fail to cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra, but it also caused a huge latent danger to my body. It can be said that all these years, I¡¯ve been dragging my half-crippled body in a race with Death. Although I survived, I¡¯ve always been half a step away from death¡¯s door.


    ¡°Therefore, I thought of a way to resolve the problem with my body and let you enter N¨¹wa Temple with me.¡±


    ¡°What was it?¡± Zhou Wen was really curious.


    ¡°I can attach myself to your Companion Beast. This way, you and I will be one,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°That works?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°To me, there¡¯s nothing in this world that¡¯s impossible.¡± Jing Daoxian spoke casually, but his tone was filled with pride.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It¡¯s only a temporary attachment. After leaving N¨¹wa Temple, we will go our separate ways and have nothing to do with each other in the future,¡± Jing Daoxian added, afraid that Zhou Wen would have scruples. ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m very interested in seeing how you will attach yourself to my Companion Beast.¡± With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned a low-level Vigor Ant Companion Beast.


    ¡°Although my name has the word ¡®xian¡¯-in other words ¡®immortal,¡¯ I¡¯m not a true immortal. I can¡¯t attach myself to just any Companion Beast,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he slowly took out a Companion Egg and handed it to Zhou Wen. ¡°Hatch this Companion Egg first. I can only attach myself to it.¡±


    Zhou Wen sized up the Companion Egg and saw that it was a fist-sized black crystal-like Companion Egg. Black light swirled inside like a black hole that devoured everything.


    ¡°What Companion Egg is this?¡± Zhou Wen scanned the Companion Egg and didn¡¯t discover anything abnormal. Jing Daoxian hadn¡¯t tampered with it.


    ¡°A special Calamity-grade Companion Egg. After you hatch it, you will naturally know why I can only attach myself to it,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    Zhou Wen took the Companion Egg and glanced at Liu Yun. ¡°What will happen to Eldest Senior Brother after we enter?¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to enter. All he needs to do is stay here to provide backup. If we encounter any mishaps inside and remain inside for twenty-four hours, he can leave and get help,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    ¡°Who can save us?¡± Zhou Wen could tell that Jing Daoxian was implying something.


    ¡°It might be Ouyang Ting, Zhou Lingfeng, or even Wang Mingyuan. Who knows? Perhaps someone doesn¡¯t want us to die inside,¡± Jing Daoxian said indifferently. ¡°There¡¯s not much time left. Let¡¯s begin.¡±


    Zhou Wen glanced at Jing Daoxian and with a thought, he injected Essence Energy into the Companion Egg in his hand and hatched it.


    After the Companion Egg absorbed the Essence Energy, it immediately emitted a black light that transformed into a black light vortex that fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body and condensed into a strange symbol on his forehead.

 Chapter 1805 - Super Jinx

    Chapter 1805 Super Jinx


    With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned the Companion Beast.


    It was a black humanoid Companion Beastblack clothes, a black hat, black shoes, and a black veil. Only its hair was especially long and white, and the ends burned with white light.


    Super Jinx: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Unlucky Ghost of Hell


    Life Soul: God of Misfortune


    Wheel of Destiny: Greater Deva¡¯s Five Signs of Decay


    Terror Form: God of Misfortune¡¯s Possession (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: 100% Unlucky Zone (Heaven-level)


    Strength: 400


    Speed: 400


    Constitution: 400


    Essence Energy: 400


    Talent Skill: None


    Companion Form: Permanent Passive


    Zhou Wen frowned when he saw the Companion Beast¡¯s information. He looked at Jing Daoxian, who had given him the Companion Egg


    Clearly, Jing Daoxian¡¯s previous words weren¡¯t trustworthy. Super Jinx didn¡¯t have any abilities that were convenient for possession. All these abilities pointed in one direction-to make Zhou Wen suffer.


    Furthermore, its Companion Form was especially strange. Zhou Wen had never seen such a Companion Form before. It meant that there was a permanent passive acting on him. It probably meant that even if he didn¡¯t summon Super Jinx, its ability would still be in effect.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I lied to you again.¡± Jing Daoxian chuckled. With that said, he didn¡¯t wait for Zhou Wen to take action before rushing through the door of N¨¹wa Temple.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take action as he had other plans.


    ¡°N¨¹wa Temple does have multiple spaces. He wasn¡¯t lying about that,¡± Zhou Wen muttered to himself as he watched Jing Daoxian¡¯s body vanish like he had sunk into water.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Liu Yun was still in a daze as he asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°This Companion Beast will increase one¡¯s bad luck. Furthermore, even if it isn¡¯t summoned, it will still have an effect. From the looks of it, your old man is using me as a beacon,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    He had never trusted Jing Daoxian from the beginning. He had long thought of the possibility of Jing Daoxian tampering with the Companion Egg.


    Perhaps to others, Super Jinx was a problem that was extremely difficult to resolve, but to Zhou Wen, it wasn¡¯t a problem at all.


    Using the phone¡¯s Companion Beast fusion function, he could directly wipe out Super Jinx¡¯s abilities. It couldn¡¯t be easier.


    ¡°What beacon?¡± Liu Yun didn¡¯t understand what Zhou Wen meant.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later.¡± Zhou Wen unsummoned Super Jinx before taking out his phone and opening the Companion Beast interface.


    I¡¯ll wipe away Super Jinx first. Zhou Wen planned on using the lowest-level Companion Beast to fuse with the Super Jinx. Even if he couldn¡¯t wipe it in one round, he only needed a few more rounds to wipe out its Life Providence, Life Soul, Wheel of Destiny, and so on into something different. It might even be destroyed.


    Such an unlucky Companion Beast¡¯s fusion success rate had to be pitifully low. The possibility of it being destroyed on its first fusion was very high.


    Zhou Wen wanted to tap on the Companion Beast he wanted for the fusion, but to his surprise, he sneezed and closed his eyes uncontrollably.


    ere


    Zhou Wen immediately knew that things were bad. When he opened his eyes and looked at the phone screen again, he realized that the fusion animation was playing.


    In less than a second, Zhou Wen thought of something and hurriedly checked his Companion Beasts. Indeed, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was gone.


    ¡°F*ck you!¡± Zhou Wen cursed under his breath.


    ¡°Why are you still on your phone at a time like this? Aren¡¯t you going to think about how to resolve the Companion Beast problem? Why don¡¯t you transfer the Companion Beast to me or let me kill your Companion Beast?¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless now.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head and smiled bitterly.


    Now that this thing had fused with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, who knew what would happen? He could only hope that the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was stronger than Super Jinx and could override all the latter¡¯s abilities.


    ¡°What does beacon mean?¡± Liu Yun scratched his ears and cheeks anxiously.


    ¡°If I¡¯m not wrong, there will definitely be a multiple-choice question waiting for me in N¨¹wa Temple. Furthermore, there will be two choices. As long as I choose the wrong one, your old man will be able to choose the right one.¡± Zhou Wen paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°However, there¡¯s something I don¡¯t understand. If he wants to use me to eliminate a wrong answer, he can choose anyone else. There¡¯s no need to trick me into coming over. Therefore, it¡¯s very likely that only I can choose. No one else can make the choice.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s there to choose? Under such circumstances, it¡¯s best if you leave quickly,¡± Liu Yun said.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I also need an answer. This is an opportunity for me,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the phone screen.


    The fusion came to an end. The Companion Beast that appeared on the screen still looked like the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. There were almost no changes. However, there were some subtle black patterns on the armor, and their edges burned with a white halo.


    Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General: Calamity (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Super Malicious Evil


    Life Soul: Super Tiger Soul Runes


    Wheel of Destiny: Super Ferocious and Evil


    Terror Form: Super Devil Knight (S+) Calamity Zone: Super Heaven-defying Slaying (Heaven-level)


    Strength: 999


    Speed: 999


    Constitution: 999


    Essence Energy: 999


    Talent Skill: Super Tempered Steel Cauldron. Super Rampage. Super Magic Stone Curse. Super One with Horse. Super Penetrating Pierce. Super Evil Penetration. Super Badlands. Super Jinxes Master. Super Crazy Sweep. Super Life Slaying.


    Companion Form: Permanent Passive


    These stats stunned Zhou Wen. It was a miracle that a fused Companion Beast could obtain such stats.


    After all, the two Companion Beasts used for fusion could only be considered high-level Calamity-grade Companion Beasts, not true top-notch ones.


    It was normal to have such stats when combining Companion Beasts like Truth Listener or Mystic Thearch with Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Two Companion Beasts with stats that didn¡¯t exceed 400 at most produced 999 stats. This had nothing to do with luck.


    What was even more terrifying was that all his abilities had the word ¡®Super¡¯ as a prefix. It was obvious that all his original abilities had increased.


    Thankfully, it didn¡¯t inherit any of the abilities related to bad luck. But this Permanent Passive and Super Jinx Master¡­ Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if his life could endure such hardship


    ¡°Wait here. I¡¯ll go in and take a look.¡± Seeing that Liu Yun still wanted to persuade him to leave, Zhou Wen interrupted Liu Yun and walked straight into N¨¹wa Temple.


    Jinxes Master was terrifying, but Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid. He had studied the reason why Jinxes Master hadn¡¯t caused any substantial damage to him.


    What did Jinxes Master mean? In order to study this problem, Zhou Wen gathered a lot of information and asked some people who had Companion Beasts with Jinxes Master.


    The outcome of the research was that Jinxes Master targeted the master¡¯s Life Providence. It would weaken the master¡¯s Life Providence. In serious cases, not only would the Life Providence not be able to play a positive role, but it might even have negative effects, causing the master to be unlucky or even die.


    It was normal for an ordinary person¡¯s Life Providence to not be able to withstand Jinxes Master, but Zhou Wen¡¯s Life Providence was different. It was the Sigh of the King. It wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen¡¯s Life Providence to begin with. It was a Life Providence formed after absorbing the Lost Immortal Sutra. Jinxes Master was aimed at the woman in the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Zhou Wen deduced that the reason he hadn¡¯t suffered any damage despite having the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General for so long was that the Sigh of the King had taken all the damage. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General couldn¡¯t do a thing to him.

 Chapter 1806 - The True Thearch

    Chapter 1806 The True Thearch


    The air that rippled like water slid across Zhou Wen¡¯s skin, but the scene in front of him didn¡¯t change.


    N¨¹wa Temple was still N¨¹wa Temple. The N¨¹wa jade statue remained standing in the middle of the stone house.


    Standing inside, Zhou Wen turned to look outside and saw that the door had already turned into a stone wall. There wasn¡¯t a way out at all.


    Zhou Wen used the Teacher Domain to scan the entire stone house, but he didn¡¯t discover anything. Apart from N¨¹wa¡¯s jade statue, there was nothing special in the stone house, nor was there any sign of Jing Daoxian.


    There should be multiple spaces, but according to Jing Daoxian, they are likely different kinds of spaces. After Jing Daoxian enters, he might not end up in N¨¹wa Temple. Zhou Wen stared at the N¨¹wa jade statue in thought.


    Jing Daoxian made me have Super Jinx. If he wants me to be his beacon, there will definitely be a choice to be made. Where¡¯s the choice? Zhou Wen walked towards the N¨¹wa jade statue and circled it.


    Although the jade statue is extraordinary, it doesn¡¯t have any vitality or energy fluctuations. It doesn¡¯t seem to contain anything. Zhou Wen frowned.


    Time was limited, and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have time to waste. Since he couldn¡¯t discover anything abnormal, he could only use a stupid method.


    With a thought, the Human Realm domain immediately enveloped the entire stone house.


    Before Zhou Wen could use brute force, the N¨¹wa jade statue in the Human Realm underwent changes.


    The N¨¹wa jade statue turned to ash and dissipated into the air inch by inch.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he immediately understood what had happened.


    In the Human Realm domain, only human world rules could exist; everything else would be eliminated. In other words, this N¨¹wa jade statue didn¡¯t belong to the human world.


    Clang!


    After the N¨¹wa jade statue completely dissipated, something fell out of it.


    Zhou Wen took a careful look and was immediately taken aback. It was a key made of jade. Furthermore, it was very big-half a foot long


    As he picked up the jade key, there was a cracking sound behind him.


    He turned around and saw that the stone wall that he had entered from was shrinking to the sides, opening up an entrance again.


    However, beyond the entrance wasn¡¯t the previous entrance to N¨¹wa Temple, but a naturally-formed stone cave.


    Zhou Wen summoned a few Companion Beasts and searched the cave, but he didn¡¯t discover any danger.


    He walked into the cave. It wasn¡¯t deep, so it didn¡¯t take long for him to reach the end. It was a bigger cave with stone pillars erected. Every stone pillar was connected to a chain. Where the chains gathered was a beautiful woman sitting there.


    The beautiful woman was looking at him with a harmless look.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw her appearance. This was because this woman looked identical to the N¨¹wa jade statue.


    If that was all, Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t be so surprised. After all, there were many immortals who could live forever in myths. It was normal for a goddess like N¨¹wa to exist in a dimensional zone.


    However, Zhou Wen sensed that the woman¡¯s aura was that of a human. Furthermore, she was a very pure human. He couldn¡¯t sense the aura of any alien creature.


    It was unbelievable that a pure human had lived from the Mythical era to the present.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here,¡± the woman said with a smile when she saw Zhou Wen, almost unsurprised.


    ¡°You are¡­ The Thearch¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed slightly when he heard the woman¡¯s voice. He was extremely familiar with this voice. It was The Thearch¡¯s voice.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± the woman said with a smile.


    ¡°You are N¨¹wa?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°No.¡± The woman unexpectedly denied it.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t N¨¹wa?¡± This time, it surprised Zhou Wen.


    Although he had never trusted Jing Daoxian, no matter how he analyzed it, The Thearch should have been N¨¹wa. Furthermore, she looked identical to N¨¹wa¡¯s jade statue.


    ¡°Of course not.¡± The woman wore a faint smile. ¡°Do I look like your mother?¡±


    ¡°What do you mean? Are you saying that N¨¹wa is my mother? Am I really the baby my father carried out of here? My father and N¨¹wa¡­¡± The woman¡¯s words sent tumultuous waves raging in Zhou Wen¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Haha!¡± The woman laughed out loud.


    ¡°What are you laughing at?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°You¡¯re really an adorable little fool. What nonsense is on your mind? It¡¯s true that your mother is N¨¹wa, but Zhou Lingfeng isn¡¯t your biological father. He just adopted you,¡± the woman said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen instantly felt that his brain wasn¡¯t working. The woman had said that he was N¨¹wa¡¯s child, but he wasn¡¯t Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s child.


    Zhou Lingfeng claimed that he was Ouyang Lan¡¯s child. Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to who to believe.


    ¡°What evidence do you have to say that I¡¯m N¨¹wa¡¯s child?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°The fact that you can come here proves that you are N¨¹wa¡¯s child. Apart from her child, no one can come here,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°That isn¡¯t evidence,¡± said Zhou Wen with a shake of his head.


    ¡°Since you can¡¯t accept it, I¡¯ll give you some evidence that you¡¯ll find acceptable. You cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra, right?¡± the woman said.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Is this considered evidence?¡±


    ¡°Of course, other than N¨¹wa¡¯s child, no one can cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra. It¡¯s something specially left for her child. It¡¯s impossible for others to master it,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Can¡¯t there be an accident?¡± Zhou Wen still found it unbelievable.


    ¡°It¡¯s impossible for accidents. This is because the Lost Immortal Sutra doesn¡¯t belong to this world. Only you, who doesn¡¯t belong to this world, can cultivate it.¡± The woman¡¯s words left Zhou Wen alarmed again.


    ¡°What do you mean? Didn¡¯t you just say that I¡¯m N¨¹wa¡¯s child? How did it become that I don¡¯t belong to this world?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand what the woman was saying. It was a contradiction.


    ¡°There¡¯s no contradiction. You are N¨¹wa¡¯s child, but you don¡¯t belong to this world,¡± the woman said slowly.


    ¡°In that case, N¨¹wa isn¡¯t from this world?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°No, N¨¹wa is, but you aren¡¯t.¡± The woman shook her head.


    These words left Zhou Wen completely confused. He couldn¡¯t understand the woman¡¯s train of thought at all.


    ¡°What do you think N¨¹wa is?¡± the woman suddenly asked.


    These words immediately made Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stir. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want to say that N¨¹wa isn¡¯t a person at all, but Earth itself?¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t too stupid. N¨¹wa is the Earth that gives birth to everything,¡± the woman said with a smile.


    ¡°In that case, all humans and even all the creatures on Earth are N¨¹wa¡¯s children,¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s different.¡± The woman shook her head.


    ¡°What¡¯s different?¡± Zhou Wen pressed.


    ¡°Because you are a core lifeform produced by Earth. In the words of you humans, you are Earth¡¯s Companion Beast,¡± the woman enunciated each word clearly.


    The woman¡¯s words left him completely dumbfounded as he stood there in a daze.

 Chapter 1807 - Who Should I Believe?

    Chapter 1807 Who Should I Believe?


    ¡°So what if I¡¯m Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen already had an idea as he asked the woman.


    ¡°So what? Since you¡¯re here, it means that I can leave,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember having promised to save you.¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    The Thearch revealed a teasing smile. ¡°I don¡¯t remember saying that I need you to save me.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need me to save you?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°When I was invincible, you weren¡¯t even an egg. If I can¡¯t even save myself, what¡¯s the point of having you?¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°In that case, why are you still here?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips and teased.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s because I¡¯m waiting for you. I made an agreement with her. Only when I hand the item to you can I leave,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°Her? N¨¹wa?¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss. The Thearch had just said that N¨¹wa was actually Earth itself and not an ordinary individual lifeform. How was she going to make an agreement with Earth?


    If the person who made the agreement with The Thearch wasn¡¯t N¨¹wa, there was only one possibility. The person who made the agreement with The Thearch was the woman who had arrived on Earth on a ship and dug out Prisoner.


    But who was that woman? Who was The Thearch?


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s guess, one of the women between that woman and The Thearch was definitely an Immortal, the Immortal Empress who had once reigned supreme in the dimension.


    According to the various signs, the possibility of The Thearch being that Immortal was higher.


    If The Thearch was the Immortal Empress, then where did the woman who drove the ship come from? Why did she dig out the Earth Companion Beast? Why did she nurture a new Earth Companion Beast? Why did she leave something for the new Earth Companion Beast and let The Thearch guard it?


    All sorts of questions prevented him from coming up with the real answer. The only one who could answer his questions was The Thearch.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± To his surprise, The Thearch¡¯s words made all of Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations vanish.


    ¡°How can you not know who she is?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t give up.


    ¡°I claim to be invincible in the world. Before the dimensional restrictions were broken, I broke through the dimensional barrier and descended into the universe you are in. I originally thought that no one in the world could match me.¡± The Thearch sighed and said, ¡°But when I descended to Earth and wanted to resolve everything, she appeared. She tore through the air with a huge ship and stood in my way. It¡¯s impossible for me not to know of such an existence if it really exists in the world, but I¡¯ve never heard of such a person.¡±


    ¡°You mean that she doesn¡¯t belong to our world or your dimension?¡± Zhou Wen was even more alarmed.


    ¡°Perhaps.¡± The Thearch continued, ¡°I fought her, but I lost. That was the first defeat I suffered since I was born.¡±


    That¡¯s a little exaggerated. Are you claiming that you were born invincible? Zhou Wen cursed inwardly, but he didn¡¯t say it out loud.


    The Thearch read Zhou Wen¡¯s mind at a glance and said indifferently, ¡°I was born an Apocalypse.¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately rendered speechless. What a simple and arrogant answer. To be born at the Apocalypse grade, it wasn¡¯t easy for her to lose.


    ¡°And then?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly changed the topic. Such a topic made him feel a little sad.


    He had worked hard on his cultivation to this very day, but he was still a mere Calamityinferior to a baby.


    The Thearch was very happy at striking a blow on Zhou Wen. She said with a smile, ¡°You don¡¯t have to belittle yourself. If Zhou Lingfeng hadn¡¯t taken you away, there¡¯s a high chance that you would have been considered an Apocalypse when you were born.¡±


    ¡°How did Zhou Lingfeng take the baby away?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure this out. Ignoring the fact that the woman was so terrifying, even The Thearch, who was guarding this place, wouldn¡¯t have permitted Zhou Lingfeng to take the baby away.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I originally thought that no one could take you away, but Zhou Lingfeng managed to do so.¡± The Thearch smiled and said, ¡°If you want to know the answer, I¡¯m afraid you can only commit suicide and go to another world to ask her for the answer.¡±


    ¡°That woman is dead?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°Of course, she defeated me, but she left her life behind,¡± The Thearch said indifferently. ¡°In fact, I suspect that she was injured before our battle. She died not long after the battle. In order to abide by my agreement with her, I stayed here until I handed the item to you.¡±


    ¡°What is it?¡± Zhou Wen finally couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t answer this time. She only stood up and produced cracking sounds. The chains that bound her snapped one by one. In the blink of an eye, she regained her freedom.


    Zhou Wen had previously suspected that The Thearch was lying to him. From the looks of it, The Thearch didn¡¯t need his help to escape.


    ¡°I¡¯ve long told you that what I need is you. You were only blinded by your own insecurities and cowardliness.¡± As The Thearch spoke, she took two steps forward and pointed at the spot she was sitting on. ¡°This is the thing she wanted me to give


    you.¡±


    Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the spot where The Thearch had been sitting was a jade-like box. On the front of the box was an ancient lock.


    ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I promised her that you¡¯ll be the only one to take it out.¡± The Thearch glanced at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Didn¡¯t you already obtain the key? Why don¡¯t you open it


    yourself?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t open it.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was wondering if he should open the box, he suddenly heard a familiar voice behind him.


    He turned his head and saw Jing Daoxian staggering over from the tunnel. He didn¡¯t look good. His body was covered in blood and his white hair was disheveled, but his eyes were abnormally firm as though they were glowing


    ¡°You¡¯re actually not dead?¡± The Thearch seemed a little surprised when she saw Jing Daoxian, but that was all.


    ¡°Even Hades can forget about accepting an old man like me. I can¡¯t die even if I wanted to.¡± Jing Daoxian walked over step by step. Essence Energy fluctuations couldn¡¯t be sensed from his body at all, but there seemed to be an invisible aura spreading out like a mountain.


    ¡°Kid, don¡¯t listen to her nonsense. If you open that box, she will truly be set free. When that happens, no one will be able to hold her back,¡± Jing Daoxian said to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch before looking at Jing Daoxian. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know who to believe. In fact, Zhou Wen felt that neither of them was trustworthy. If he had to choose, he would rather believe The Thearch.

 Chapter 1808 - Decision

    Chapter 1808 Decision


    ¡°Zhou Wen, isn¡¯t it obvious? If she really had the ability to escape, how would I still be alive?¡± Jing Daoxian continued.


    He had to admit that what Jing Daoxian said made sense.


    If The Thearch was really as strong and free as she said, how could she tolerate Jing Daoxian spouting nonsense in front of her?


    Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch, hoping to hear her explanation.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to make a decision. The present situation was very beneficial to him. Perhaps this was the opportunity to dig out the truth.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of explaining to Zhou Wen. She only looked at Jing Daoxian and said, ¡°You risked your life to come here to tell him that this box can¡¯t be opened?¡±


    Not a single word was an explanation, but it was more powerful than any explanation.


    Jing Daoxian had risked his life to come here. Before entering N¨¹wa Temple, he even tried using Super Jinx to scam Zhou Wen. He definitely wasn¡¯t doing it just to stop Zhou Wen from opening the box.


    If that was the case, there was no need for him to invite Zhou Wen to Chess Mountain.


    ¡°I came for a reason, but the item isn¡¯t in that box,¡± Jing Daoxian said slowly without flinching.


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. Why are you here?¡± The Thearch looked at Jing Daoxian with interest.


    ¡°For you.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s answer not only surprised The Thearch, but also Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Are you trying to say that I¡¯m Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± The Thearch laughed.


    ¡°Ahem, there¡¯s no mistake about it. She¡¯s the real Earth Companion Beast. That box is something that suppresses her. If you open it, she will escape. Zhou Wen, you should know better than me what kind of impact the birth of a planet¡¯s Companion Beast will have on the planet,¡± Jing Daoxian said to Zhou Wen.


    In just a short while, Zhou Wen had heard two versions regarding Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. One version said that he was Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, and now, Jing Daoxian said that The Thearch was Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. Who was lying?


    The Thearch had no intention of defending herself. She only smiled at the two of them like a spectator watching a program. ¡°You said that she¡¯s Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. What evidence do you have?¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t believe Jing Daoxian¡¯s one-sided story.


    Jing Daoxian leaned against the wall and sat down. As he panted, he said, ¡°Zhou Wen, think about it carefully. Who on Earth can control everything on Earth and satisfy all their wishes? Do those dimensional Apocalypse powerhouses even have such abilities?¡±


    Jing Daoxian was indeed able to grasp the crux with every word he said. This was also something Zhou Wen had always found suspicious.


    The Thearch could do whatever she wanted on Earth with the power of wishes. This ability couldn¡¯t be summarized with the word powerful.


    ¡°Is that all?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that this was enough to confirm that The Thearch was Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    Jing Daoxian coughed out blood. After a while, he continued, ¡°I don¡¯t know if she told you that only you can come here. Back then, the four of us entered N¨¹wa Temple. Although we went to different spaces, all of us ended up meeting her. Of course, I can only say that I¡¯ve seen her before. I also obtained the Lost Immortal Sutra from her. Whether Wang Mingyuan and company saw her or not, I¡¯m only guessing. Whether you believe me or not is up to you.¡±


    ¡°Is what he said true?¡± Zhou Wen asked The Thearch.


    The Thearch had indeed said that only Zhou Wen could come here, but now, Jing Daoxian had also entered. This was problematic.


    If Jing Daoxian had really been here before, it could only mean that The Thearch¡¯s words were even more unbelievable.


    ¡°Would you believe me if I said that he has never been here?¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°But he¡¯s here now. You told me that only Earth¡¯s Companion Beast can reach this place,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That was before you obtained the key. Now that you are here, there are naturally no restrictions. However, even so, I¡¯m indeed surprised that he came here alive,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    What the two of them said made sense, so Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to determine who was more trustworthy.


    However, who was more trustworthy wasn¡¯t a choice for Zhou Wen. He didn¡¯t need to make a choice.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian, you said that she¡¯s Earth¡¯s Companion Beast and you came for her. Now that you¡¯ve seen her, what do you plan on doing?¡± Zhou Wen asked Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Naturally, I¡¯ll contract her and make her work for me,¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°How? You don¡¯t seem fine. Are you sure you can defeat her?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe that Jing Daoxian had that ability.


    Ignoring the fact that Jing Daoxian was already injured, even if he wasn¡¯t injured, how could he defeat The Thearch?


    ¡°I can¡¯t do it now, but you can.¡± Jing Daoxian coughed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t be fooled by her appearance. She¡¯s very weak now. She¡¯s definitely not your match. Remember what I told you? On this day every year, that flower will vanish and leave Chess Mountain. This is definitely not a lie. After that flower leaves, she won¡¯t have that omnipotent strength. She¡¯s very weak now. This is our only chance. There¡¯s not much time left. You have to make a choice as soon as possible.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± The Thearch continued grinning at them. She didn¡¯t stop them from talking, nor did she have any intention of explaining


    ¡°Think about it carefully. Did she tell you that she¡¯s an Immortal, but she¡¯s clearly human. How can she be an Immortal?¡± Jing Daoxian continued.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch. He was also puzzled by this question.


    Anyone could tell that The Thearch¡¯s body was 100% human. No one would believe the obvious lie of her being Immortal.


    However, with The Thearch¡¯s scheming abilities, would she use such an obvious lie?


    ¡°Are you questioning me?¡± The Thearch curled her lips as though she was extremely disdainful.


    ¡°I just want to know the truth,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°The truth is in front of you. Open the box and you will naturally understand the truth,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t believe me, you can subdue her first before opening the box,¡± Jing Daoxian added.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch and slowly pulled out the Human Sovereign Stone Saber hanging at his waist.


    At this point, there had to be an end to the matter. After hearing both sides, Zhou Wen already had his own judgment.


    Just as Jing Daoxian had said, he didn¡¯t have much time left. He had to make a decision.


    Hum!


    The Human Sovereign Stone Saber tore through the air and slashed out with a hum.

 Chapter 1809 - A Loss in the End

    Chapter 1809 A Loss in the End


    The Human Sovereign Stone Saber slashed at The Thearch with terrifying might.


    Clang!


    The Thearch didn¡¯t dodge. When the Human Sovereign Stone Saber came slashing in front of her, it seemed to strike an invisible metal wall. Not only did it fail to hit The Thearch, but Zhou Wen¡¯s hand that held the saber also trembled and went numb. He nearly dropped the Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian, what are you waiting for? Why aren¡¯t you helping?¡± Zhou Wen shouted as he held the hilt with both hands and slashed at The Thearch again.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The repeated violent slashes didn¡¯t even touch the edge of The Thearch¡¯s clothes. They were blocked by an invisible barrier.


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes flashed with joy. As he summoned his Companion Beast, his body burgeoned as he pressed his palm on the invisible barrier.


    Jing Daoxian struck repeatedly, leaving overlapping bloody palm imprints on the invisible barrier. They were the blood flowing from his body.


    ¡°Attack the blood mark,¡± Jing Daoxian said as he struck.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate as he slashed at the bloody handprints left behind by Jing Daoxian.


    Strangely, the invisible barrier that was stained with blood seemed to soften significantly. Although the Human Sovereign Stone Saber still failed to slice through the invisible barrier, Zhou Wen could sense that it seemed to have cleaved into something.


    ¡°Put away your saber and wait for me,¡± Jing Daoxian shouted again. At the instant Zhou Wen withdrew his saber, Jing Daoxian pressed down on the spot Zhou Wen had just slashed at. The blood smeared on an invisible spot and turned into a bloody gash.


    The outline of the bloody mark revealed a saber gash that was several centimeters deep.


    Jing Daoxian retreated after delivering one strike as Zhou Wen slashed at the same spot again, splitting open the saber gash.


    With the two of them cooperating, the invisible barrier was split open bit by bit. The blade of Human Sovereign¡¯s stone saber was getting closer and closer to The Thearch.


    The Thearch watched the duo¡¯s actions, but she didn¡¯t do anything. She only said coldly, ¡°Zhou Lingfeng really can¡¯t produce anything good. You are the same as him-pitiful and shameless.¡±


    Zhou Wen remained silent as he continued cooperating with Jing Daoxian. After ten consecutive strikes, he seemed to hear the sound of glass shattering as the invisible barrier was completely cleaved apart.


    Zhou Wen and Jing Daoxian charged at The Thearch from both sides.


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to her nonsense. Subdue her and contract her while she has no ability to resist.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s blood spewed out like rain as they ran at The Thearch.


    It¡¯s no wonder this old fellow often looks like a sick ghost. He sheds so much blood in every battle. It¡¯s already a miracle that he¡¯s not dead. Zhou Wen cursed inwardly, but the Human Sovereign Stone Saber in his hand didn¡¯t stop as it slashed at The Thearch.


    In the next second, Jing Daoxian and Zhou Wen¡¯s expressions changed drastically.


    The blood that Jing Daoxian had spewed out and Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Sovereign Stone Saber landed on The Thearch, but they seemed to strike a phantom. They passed through her body without causing any damage.


    ¡°Skyfiend Disintegration, Boundless Blood Sea!¡± Jing Daoxian roared as the blood in him surged out of his pores, enveloping the entire cave and dyeing everything blood-red.


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s body turned as thin as a skeleton, but it wasn¡¯t shriveled. Every inch of his muscles seemed to contain unimaginable terrifying explosive power, like a thousand-year-deceased devil that had crawled out of hell.


    ¡°Got you.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s zombie-like face revealed a fanatical expression.


    The Thearch¡¯s figure vanished in the blood-colored light and reappeared on the jade box again. She remained chained as she sat on the jade box.


    The blood stained her white clothes and beautiful face, forming a strange and enchanting scene.


    ¡°Success!¡± Jing Daoxian was overjoyed. As he struck out with his palm, the blood in the cave seemed to come alive. It surged towards The Thearch like thousands of blood-colored worms.


    Zhou Wen retreated to the side and watched everything coldly.


    ¡°Kid, you sure know how to read the situation. After this old man becomes the number one person in the universe, you will definitely be blessed,¡± Jing Daoxian said in a hoarse voice when he saw that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t betrayed him.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he watched coldly.


    ¡°What a ruthless person. What a ruthless heart.¡± The Thearch¡¯s voice sounded from amidst the blood worms, but it sounded calm as always.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if The Thearch was talking about him or Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°If a man isn¡¯t ruthless, how can he stand tall in this world?¡± As Jing Daoxian spoke, he walked towards The Thearch.


    He seemed to carry a mountain with every step. Blood surged towards The Thearch even more crazily.


    ¡°Although humans are derivatives of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast, they can only be considered as supplementary materials. They don¡¯t have the aptitude to cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra. To be able to modify the Lost Immortal Sutra to such an extent and cultivate it to this stage, you must have killed countless people and taken countless lives. You have also suffered unimaginable pain. You are indeed a ruthless person.¡± The Thearch changed the topic and said coldly, ¡°But are you still you?¡±


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard of the saying? Are those with titles necessarily more noble? As humans, why is Earth¡¯s Companion Beast superior to others? Why can he master the Lost Immortal Sutra, but I can¡¯t? I never believed in absolutes, and I was bent on mastering it. I even want it to be stronger than the original Lost Immortal Sutra.¡± Jing Daoxian approached step by step. His blood had already completely enveloped The Thearch¡¯s body, making her look like a ball of blood.


    ¡°How pathetic. You still haven¡¯t mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra. You¡¯re just fooling yourself,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter what it is. What¡¯s important is that I will be stronger, and you belong to me now.¡± Jing Daoxian finally walked in front of The Thearch and slapped the blood ball with one hand.


    With Jing Daoxian¡¯s palm strike, the blood ball seemed to find an outlet as all the blood gushed along the palm, surging into The Thearch¡¯s body.


    The blood ball instantly vanished. Jing Daoxian pressed his palm on The Thearch¡¯s head, forming a blood-colored red dot on her forehead.


    ¡°Zhou Lingfeng was right. That flower is the source of Earth¡¯s power, and you are the key to obtaining the power source.¡± Staring at the blood dot on The Thearch¡¯s forehead, the ruthlessness in Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes intensified.


    ¡°I see. I was wondering how you know so much. So it¡¯s that shameless fellow, Zhou Lingfeng.¡± The Thearch sighed and said, ¡°I should have known. He was the only one who came here. I just didn¡¯t expect him to be so shameless. He sent you here to die because he didn¡¯t dare come himself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s useless no matter what you say now. I want this power.¡± Jing Daoxian exerted strength in his palm as the blood spot on The Thearch¡¯s forehead became more and more gnarly. It transformed into blood threads that flowed through her veins and spread out like dense blood-colored spiderwebs.


    ¡°If I still had one-ten-millionth of my strength, how could I allow you to be so impudent? Forget it. Do I ultimately have to lose to him?¡± The Thearch sighed softly and slowly closed her eyes. With this sigh, The Thearch¡¯s body underwent a strange change. Her skin split open like dry soil and crumbled piece by piece. Pfft!


    Jing Daoxian spat out a mouthful of black blood as he retreated. He looked in horror at The Thearch¡¯s cracked body.


    The blood that Jing Daoxian had injected into The Thearch¡¯s body dropped alongside the cracked skin. It was no longer under Jing Daoxian¡¯s control.


    Inside the cracked and peeling outer shell, a seemingly perfect body that looked like an immortal was reborn. It emitted an unparalleled immortal aura. It didn¡¯t belong to the mortal world. Just a glance at it made one feel ashamed as though it was sacrilegious towards that existence.


    The chains that bound The Thearch also fell to the ground with the mud casing.


    ¡°A loss in the end.¡± The Thearch didn¡¯t even look at the exhausted Jing Daoxian as she sighed to herself.

 Chapter 1810 - Never A Defeat in Life

    Chapter 1810 Never A Defeat in Life


    ¡°Cough¡­ Zhou Lingfeng lied to me¡­ Or did you lie to Zhou Lingfeng¡­¡± Jing Daoxian, who had lost all his blood, was on his last breath. He coughed repeatedly, but there was no blood left to cough out.


    ¡°Only the two of you have seen my true body,¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°In that case¡­ It seems¡­ I¡¯ve also lost¡­ That¡¯s acceptable¡­¡± As Jing Daoxian spoke, his vitality rapidly dissipated and he quickly stopped breathing.


    The Thearch¡¯s sharp eyes stared at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Ahem, The Thearch, don¡¯t misunderstand. I knew that Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t your match. I was just trying to trick him into revealing his true colors,¡± Zhou Wen said with a cough.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t anything good either.¡± The Thearch snorted coldly.


    ¡°The Thearch, you lied to me too, right? We¡¯re all the same. Let¡¯s not exchange snides at each other,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Thearch glanced at Zhou Wen and said coldly, ¡°I never expected to lose to you and your father. The item is yours, but there will be plenty of opportunities in the future. I¡¯ll make sure to spend a good time with you and your father.¡±


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly. He had already guessed something.


    What The Thearch had said was basically the truth, but she had lied to Zhou Wen at the critical moment.


    The Thearch was clearly an Immortal, so why did she have the outer shell of a human? Zhou Wen had always been puzzled about this.


    Later on, he finally figured it out. Now, he was basically certain that his judgment back then wasn¡¯t wrong.


    The reason why The Thearch had a human body was definitely because only humans could possess or use the item in the box.


    If Zhou Wen had opened the box previously, the item inside would have most likely been snatched away by The Thearch.


    Now that she didn¡¯t have a human shell, The Thearch had lost the right to obtain the item in the box. The threat to Zhou Wen was greatly reduced.


    However, from what The Thearch had said, the truth was probably more complicated than Zhou Wen had imagined.


    It was very likely that it involved the woman who had steered the ship over. Perhaps The Thearch¡¯s human shell was created by that woman. There was some agreement between the two of them.


    ¡°A figure like you will naturally keep your word. Since you said that you will settle scores with us in the future, you won¡¯t make things difficult for me today, right?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to fight The Thearch to the death now.


    ¡°Try saying another word of nonsense.¡± The Thearch was clearly in a bad mood.


    Zhou Wen smiled and didn¡¯t say anything else. He took out the key and inserted it into the keyhole of the jade box before gently turning the key.


    The Thearch and Zhou Wen were taken aback because the key remained motionless despite Zhou Wen using his strength several times.


    ¡°Is this key really meant to open this box?¡± Zhou Wen looked at The Thearch.


    The Thearch¡¯s expression was somewhat odd. She got Zhou Wen to pull out the key and looked at it for a while before returning it to him for him to try again.


    The outcome was the same. No matter how hard Zhou Wen tried, the key couldn¡¯t open the jade box.


    ¡°How is this¡­ Impossible¡­¡± The Thearch wore a look of disbelief.


    ¡°From the looks of it, I can¡¯t help you. I¡¯ll return this to you.¡± Zhou Wen threw the key to The Thearch.


    In fact, Zhou Wen had long guessed that he might not be able to open this jade box because he wasn¡¯t the Earth Companion Beast that The Thearch had mentioned.


    If he was an Earth Companion Beast, how could Prisoner not sense it back then? After all, he was once an Earth Companion Beast. It was impossible for him not to sense it at all.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible. You are Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. You should be able to open it. Unless¡­ Impossible¡­ If you aren¡¯t the baby Zhou Lingfeng took away, how can you master the Lost Immortal Sutra¡­¡± The Thearch had clearly figured out something, but not everything.


    Zhou Wen had long figured it out. Zhou Lingfeng hadn¡¯t lied to him. Zhou Lingfeng had indeed swapped him with An Jing. If he wasn¡¯t wrong, An Jing was Earth¡¯s Companion Beast.


    What Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out was what method Zhou Lingfeng had used to deceive everyone. Even an existence like The Thearch hadn¡¯t discovered anything.


    ¡°Zhou Lingfeng, well f*cking done. He really put in a lot of effort to prevent me from escaping!¡± The Thearch seemed to have figured everything out as she gritted her teeth in hatred.


    She was born an Apocalypse and had been virtually invincible her entire life. Her only defeat was at the hands of an unimaginable person who ended up dying because of their fight.


    Now, she had been schemed against by mere humans. This made The Thearch feel extremely humiliated.


    ¡°The Thearch, what¡¯s going on? Two heads are better than one. Tell me and let¡¯s analyze it together. I¡¯m still confused,¡± Zhou Wen asked, feigning ignorance.


    ¡°You are the scapegoat Zhou Lingfeng found. What right do you have to make sarcastic remarks in front of me?¡± The Thearch said coldly.


    ¡°You mean that my father wants me to die in place of Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°Hmph, you¡¯re still calling him ¡®father?¡¯. You¡¯re really hopelessly stupid to acknowledge a scoundrel as your father. If you were really the son of that shameless Zhou Lingfeng, how could he have made you a scapegoat and hide the real Earth Companion Beast?¡± The Thearch looked at Zhou Wen as though she was looking at an idiot.


    ¡°However, I don¡¯t understand. Why can you cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra when you aren¡¯t Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? This is impossible.¡± The Thearch sized up Zhou Wen. She still couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    ¡°Why not? Didn¡¯t you say that Earth¡¯s Companion Beast is human? I¡¯m also human. Didn¡¯t Jing Daoxian also master the Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Is that thing he mastered worthy of being called the Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± The Thearch said disdainfully, ¡°Between stones, how can granite compare to diamonds?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m a stone that resembles a diamond?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Leave. I¡¯ve never felt more ashamed in my life. However, even if the Earth Companion Beast doesn¡¯t take it away, it¡¯s only a matter of time before I break out. In less than a year, this thing will naturally be born and my oath will be nullified. When that happens, I want to see how Zhou Lingfeng will stop me.¡± The Thearch sat back on the box and closed her eyes, ignoring Zhou Wen.


    Seeing that The Thearch was ignoring him, Zhou Wen glanced at Jing Daoxian¡¯s corpse and said, ¡°I¡¯ll be taking his corpse with me.¡±


    Seeing that The Thearch still had no intention of bothering with him, Zhou Wen carried Jing Daoxian¡¯s corpse and walked out.


    Death was the ultimate punishment. Since he was already a dead man, there was nothing to fuss about. Liu Yun was still waiting outside. After all, Jing Daoxian was his only family. He would take his corpse to Liu Yun and have him bury Jing Daoxian in peace. After leaving N¨¹wa Temple, he saw Liu Yun still guarding outside.


    Liu Yun¡¯s expression changed when he saw Jing Daoxian¡¯s corpse.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to return the corpse to Liu Yun and explain what had happened, he suddenly felt the corpse in his hand move.


    Zhou Wen jumped in fright and threw the corpse to the ground.


    A crack appeared on the shriveled corpse¡¯s back. Something was squirming inside as it tore open the gap bit by bit and crawled out.


    It started with a finger then an entire palm. An arm drilled out, followed by the head and body.


    A young and miniature Jing Daoxian crawled out with a baby-like body, leaving a strange empty mortal coil on the ground.


    ¡°You¡¯re not dead?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the young version of Jing Daoxian in surprise. ¡°Lost Immortal Sutra. If I can¡¯t even get an Immortal lost, how can it be called Lost Immortal? I naturally won¡¯t die so easily.¡± Not only had Jing Daoxian¡¯s body turned into a youth, but even his voice had become very tender. He was like a child whose voice hadn¡¯t cracked. It didn¡¯t match his tone at all and sounded very strange.


    As expected of Jing Daoxian! Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but praise inwardly. None of the old fellows who could dominate the Federation back then were easy to deal with.


    Only now did Zhou Wen understand why Jing Daoxian had to bring Liu Yun here to guard the door. What seemed like a gratuitous act now appeared to be a well-planned scheme.

 Chapter 1811 - Two Stories

    Chapter 1811 Two Stories


    ¡°Zhou Wen, from the looks of it, we are the ones who can truly become partners.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s youthful voice left Zhou Wen very confused.


    ¡°Us?¡± Zhou Wen had never felt that he and Jing Daoxian would become partners. Not in the past nor in the future.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you understand? At the end of the day, you are just a scapegoat Zhou Lingfeng found. He used you to replace Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. If I hadn¡¯t made that female Immortal lose her human body, guess what would have happened?¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    ¡°She would snatch the item in the box and very likely kill me, the original owner,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Zhou Lingfeng is using you as a tool, and I¡¯ve been tricked by him. The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Don¡¯t you think we should be the best partners?¡± Jing Daoxian said.


    However, Zhou Wen suddenly smiled and said, ¡°You seem to be very afraid of my father. According to what I know, his combat strength isn¡¯t strong. With your strength, why do you have to implicate me if you want to find trouble with him?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that you were deceived by him. He has never treated you sincerely, nor does he have any feelings for you. Do you really think that Zhou Lingfeng is such a simple person? If he¡¯s really that simple, do you think he can take away Earth¡¯s Companion Beast from N¨¹wa Temple? Would he be able to design a way for you to replace Earth¡¯s Companion Beast? Besides, Ouyang Ting is very likely backing him.¡± Jing Daoxian snorted coldly. ¡°At the end of the day, Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Ting are the same kind of people. They are both sanctimonious schemers. Only Wang Mingyuan has some humanity.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t agree with Jing Daoxian¡¯s words, but he was somewhat surprised that Jing Daoxian¡¯s evaluation of Wang Mingyuan was above Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Ting¡¯s.


    ¡°I hope we will be friends instead of enemies in the future.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to continue arguing with Jing Daoxian. After bidding farewell to Liu Yun, he left by himself.


    With The Thearch on Chess Mountain, it was useless unless Earth¡¯s Companion Beast came itself.


    Zhou Wen only wanted to meet Zhou Lingfeng and ask him why he had done all of this.


    Zhou Lingfeng seemed to have expected Zhou Wen to come looking for him. Before Zhou Wen could head to Luoyang, he was already waiting for him in Guide Ancient City.


    ¡°You met The Thearch?¡± Zhou Lingfeng leaned against the wooden chair in the pavilion, admiring the setting sun. His first sentence surprised Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly before asking, ¡°Is An Jing the baby you carried out of N¨¹wa Temple?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Lingfeng nodded.


    ¡°Am I your biological son?¡± he asked again. ¡°In the flesh.¡± Zhou Lingfeng smiled.


    ¡°Is Ouyang Lan really my biological mother?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Of course. Why would I lie to my son?¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed.


    ¡°Since I¡¯m your son, why did you make me take the risk on behalf of An Jing?¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid of taking risks, but he needed Zhou Lingfeng to give him an explanation.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that I wanted you to replace An Jing, but you came this far yourself,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t give you the phone. I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to activate it, nor did I expect you to master the Lost Immortal Sutra.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed and said, ¡°I originally wanted you to live a peaceful life, but you chose this path yourself.¡±


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it arranged by you? If you hadn¡¯t exchanged An Jing for me, why would Jing Daoxian give me the Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips.


    ¡°It¡¯s normal for him to give you the Lost Immortal Sutra. You shouldn¡¯t have been able to master it, but you did.¡± Zhou Lingfeng paused before continuing, ¡°This should be the influence of that phone, right? Actually, I still haven¡¯t figured out why you can activate that phone. In theory, that phone can only be used by An Jing. I¡¯ve tried many times in the past, but I haven¡¯t been able to activate it.¡±


    ¡°Because she¡¯s Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡±


    ¡°No, because it was specially prepared for her by her mother.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t her mother N¨¹wa or should I say, Earth?¡±


    ¡°Of course not. Why do you think Prisoner was dug out?¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed. ¡°Since you¡¯ve already been to N¨¹wa Temple, The Thearch should have lost her qualifications. It¡¯s time to tell you. I¡¯ll start from the beginning.¡±


    Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s story was very simple. A mother gave birth to a baby, but the baby was about to die due to a congenital defect.


    In order to extend the baby¡¯s life, the mother had put in a lot of effort and even sacrificed her life to come to a special planet. She dug out the life that was originally born within the planet and replaced it with her child. She used the energy of the special planet to maintain her daughter¡¯s life.


    In order to do all of this, she had nearly exhausted her life. She wasn¡¯t able to accompany her daughter as she grew up. She originally wanted to leave something behind for her daughter, but due to an accident, some important things were lost. The original setup couldn¡¯t be fully completed.


    This matter happened to be known by the four of them, so they went to the place their mother had prepared, hoping to obtain the things she had left behind.


    In the end, the four of them obtained something. One of them obtained the child.


    The person didn¡¯t know what the other three had obtained. In fact, the other three also wanted to know what that person had obtained. They had been investigating each other for years.


    SOL


    The person who obtained the child was the weakest and most useless among the four of them. However, he knew that he couldn¡¯t let the other three obtain the child. This was because once this child awakened, it would be the end of Earth. The other three might not care about this. They were capable of anything in order to obtain strength.


    In order to protect the child, the person had no choice but to come up with a solution. He swapped his child for the child, making the other three people who were secretly observing unsure if the child was useful. All they could do was observe in secret and not completely fall out with him.


    If nothing went wrong, the three of them would slowly realize that the child wasn¡¯t the child they imagined. They would naturally give up.


    However, to their surprise, an accident really happened. The child convinced the three of them that he was that woman¡¯s child.


    ¡°According to what you said, The Thearch has seen An Jing before. Why didn¡¯t she discover that An Jing is Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Because she didn¡¯t know that Earth¡¯s Companion Beast was that woman¡¯s child, nor did she know that the child was so weak that she should have died long ago. Everyone believed that Earth¡¯s Companion Beast would be very strong, but they never expected that Earth¡¯s Companion Beast was actually very weak. It relied on Earth¡¯s special energy to survive. She¡¯s not much different from ordinary humans. As long as she hasn¡¯t awakened, no one can tell the difference between her and ordinary humans.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed and said, ¡°Thankfully, there was an accident. The mother¡¯s plan didn¡¯t completely succeed. The phone she left for the child and the Companion Beast that was meant to be the child¡¯s first Companion Beast were accidentally lost on Earth. If things had really gone according to her plan, Earth would have long been doomed.¡±


    ¡°In that case, is it true that Grandfather picked up the phone and Companion Egg?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He originally imagined that those were just meant as a cover.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s true. If we hadn¡¯t obtained Earth¡¯s Companion Egg, we wouldn¡¯t have discovered Chess Mountain, much less enter to explore and find those things and discover those secrets.¡± Zhou Lingfeng continued, ¡°All these years, I only know that Jing Daoxian obtained the Lost Immortal Sutra. I still haven¡¯t figured out what Father-in-law and Wang Mingyuan obtained. However, they must have obtained more than me and Jing Daoxian. This is because only the two of them saw the ship. They obtained what was on it.¡±


    ¡°You and Ouyang¡­ What¡¯s going on between you and Auntie Lan?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t think of anything else to ask, so he asked another question he had been trying to figure out.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you? Mutual love between two people is a beautiful love story,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a smile.


    ¡°But¡­¡± Zhou Wen wanted to say that this love story was too immoral, but he couldn¡¯t say it out loud. ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking.¡± Zhou Lingfeng curled his lips and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll tell you another story.¡±


    There was once a large family with generations of talented people, but in the recent generation, none of the boys in the family amounted to much.


    They were either prodigal sons or ordinary people with average talent.


    If it were an ordinary family or ordinary era, it would have been fine. At most, they would have squandered their family assets.


    However, in such an environment, if the family was really reduced to ruin, they probably wouldn¡¯t even have a way to survive. Their enemies would devour the entire family until nothing was left.


    Thankfully, there was always a way out. That family gave birth to a girl with extreme talent that no one could match.


    However, she was a girl, so it was difficult for her to inherit the family business.


    ¡°What era are we in now? Why are you still favoring boys over girls?¡± Zhou Wen curled his lips. He didn¡¯t like this story at all.


    ¡°Times are changing, and views are changing, but the fundamentals haven¡¯t changed. When a girl has a husband and her child, do you think she will have more plans for her husband and tiny family, or will she have more plans for her family clan? You have to know that back then, there were powerful enemies everywhere. Countless people had designs on that family. God knows how many men approached that girl. Was it for the girl herself or something else?¡±


    Zhou Lingfeng continued, ¡°So the girl¡¯s parents thought of a way to raise her as a boy.¡±


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re saying that Auntie Lan¡¯s first husband, the one from the An family, is a woman?¡± Zhou Wen suddenly understood as he asked with widened eyes.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Zhou Lingfeng laughed.


    Zhou Wen was extremely flabbergasted. He never expected things to turn out this way. It was no wonder Zhou Lingfeng had said that the An family¡¯s descendant was infertile.

 Chapter 1812 - Unsealed Mount Laojun

    Chapter 1812 Unsealed Mount Laojun


    After Zhou Lingfeng left, Zhou Wen kept digesting the news.


    Almost all the questions were answered. Now, there was only one important question left.


    Back when An Jing¡¯s mother came on the boat, what had happened to make her plan fail?


    As a result, the phone and Prisoner Companion Beast were lost, allowing Zhou Wen¡¯s grandfather to dig them out of the ancient well.


    Could it be related to the Battle of the Gods in the Shang and Zhou dynasties? Zhou Wen thought to himself. From all the information he had obtained, the Battle of the Gods was a turning point. Perhaps that was the reason An Jing¡¯s mother had lost her phone.


    The Battle of the Gods was started by N¨¹wa, but in fact, N¨¹wa didn¡¯t exist at all. N¨¹wa was Earth itself.


    The N¨¹wa statue in N¨¹wa Temple was made in the image of The Thearch¡¯s human shell.


    In other words, The Thearch was the one who had instigated the mythical Battle of the Gods. Furthermore, The Thearch and An Jing¡¯s mother seemed to have had some kind of bet, forcing Zhou Wen to connect the two together.


    Is it because of The Thearch that An Jing¡¯s mother¡¯s plan failed and she lost her phone and Companion Egg? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    If An Jing¡¯s mother¡¯s plan had completely succeeded, An Jing would have had the phone and Prisoner at the beginning. She would also be able to cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra. An Jing¡¯s growth would be unimaginable.


    Without these, An Jing wasn¡¯t much different from an ordinary person. She wasn¡¯t especially outstanding, which was why she was born lacking.


    It was useless to theorize now. Zhou Wen planned on advancing to the Apocalypse grade as soon as possible to deal with the impending calamity.


    In less than a year, The Thearch would break free. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Wang Mingyuan was up to. These were all troublesome matters.


    With his present strength, he wasn¡¯t enough to deal with such a situation.


    Although Zhou Lingfeng didn¡¯t know what Ouyang Ting and Wang Mingyuan were up to, Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s words corroborated Jing Daoxian. Wang Mingyuan might not hate dimensional creatures the most, but humans.


    If Wang Mingyuan really became the dimensional king, no one could predict what he would do.


    How can I advance to the Apocalypse grade? Zhou Wen could only think of a few places or enter the cosmos to search for new dimensional zones to see if he could find one.


    He didn¡¯t have the time to search for a needle in a haystack, so he planned on starting with Mount Laojun.


    He switched on his phone and chose to enter Mount Laojun dungeon.


    Mount Laojun dungeon was strange and unpredictable. It had a strange taboo power. It was very difficult for ordinary people to even enter, much less explore the dimensional zone.


    These taboos were no longer of much use to him. Zhou Wen walked into Mount Laojun and began exploring it.


    The white crane at the bridgehead was still there. With a thought, Zhou Wen killed the white crane with a sword beam.


    ¡®Killed Calamity-grade creature, True Immortal Crane. The Dao has been naturally destroyed. Mount Laojun¡¯s seal will be broken.¡¯


    Following the game¡¯s notification, the whole of Mount Laojun¡¯s Golden Peak was suddenly enveloped by a blood cloud. The sea of clouds in the sky churned like a sea of blood, dyeing all of Mount Laojun red.


    In an instant, the tiny person condensed from Zhou Wen¡¯s blood died on the spot for no reason. Without even knowing how he died, the game screen went black.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t alarmed but delighted. He didn¡¯t even know how he had died despite his present strength. This meant that there was likely something at the Apocalypse grade in Mount Laojun¡¯s dungeon. He entered the dungeon again. Before killing the True Immortal Crane, Zhou Wen activated the Human Realm domain.


    However, once Mount Laojun¡¯s seal was broken, the game screen suddenly turned black again. He died for unknown reasons.


    Is the unsealed Mount Laojun that terrifying? Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. He was an existence that could fight an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse. How did he die on Mount Laojun without even having a chance to fight?


    He tried a few more times, but the outcome was the same. As long as he killed the True Immortal Crane and broke Mount Laojun¡¯s seal, he would die for no reason.


    Zhou Wen attempted to rush into Golden Peak¡¯s Daoist temple without killing the True Immortal Crane. The True Immortal Crane chased after him, but it couldn¡¯t catch up to Zhou Wen¡¯s speed.


    In the Daoist temple, he saw many other dimensional creatures that looked like small animals, but their levels were relatively low. They were inferior to the Calamity-grade True Immortal Crane.


    When he arrived in the yard, he saw a crooked tree planted in a corner. Tied to the tree was an Azure Bull which was sleeping soundly on the ground.


    Realizing that Zhou Wen had barged in, the Azure Bull was immediately jolted awake. It struggled free from its reins and charged at Zhou Wen.


    Only a Calamity? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed when he saw the Azure Bull¡¯s strength.


    He originally imagined that being Taishang Laojun¡¯s mount, the Azure Bull might be an Apocalypse-grade existence, but from the looks of it, Zhou Wen had clearly read too much into it.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t fight the Azure Bull. After using his speed to escape, he continued searching the Golden Peak.


    However, the outcome left Zhou Wen somewhat disappointed. Apart from the Azure Bull and the True Immortal Crane, the other dimensional creatures were relatively weak. There were very few Terror-grade creatures, and some were the lowest Mortal creatures.


    From the looks of it, the true secret of Mount Laojun lies after the seal is broken. As Zhou Wen pondered, he casually killed a tiny animal.


    As expected, as long as he killed any animal, the Dao would naturally be destroyed, unsealing Mount Laojun. Zhou Wen was killed again.


    Zhou Wen had also tried all sorts of Companion Beasts to protect himself, but they were useless. He couldn¡¯t avoid the strange deaths with abilities like Evil Nullification.


    What the hell is this? Zhou Wen now knew very well that he couldn¡¯t use force after Mount Laojun¡¯s seal was broken. He could only find the corresponding solution.


    After dying so many times, Zhou Wen had some guesses.


    Even if Mount Laojun has an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse, it¡¯s impossible for him to be strong enough to instantly kill me. It can only be a special power. This power ignores the difference in level and strength and can directly kill the target. And this power will only be triggered after I kill a creature. Could this power be the ability to exchange a life for a life? As long as I kill a life, I will definitely die, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen decided to give it another try. This time, he didn¡¯t personally kill the creatures. Instead, he summoned Mystic Thearch and let him kill the True Immortal Crane.


    Indeed, without Zhou Wen personally killing the True Immortal Crane, the game didn¡¯t go black again despite Mount Laojun breaking its seal.


    Success! Seeing Mystic Thearch suddenly die, Zhou Wen imagined that he had escaped a calamity, but he quickly felt depressed.


    After Mystic Thearch died, the blood-colored avatar quickly died, just slightly later than the previous attempts.


    What bullsh*t rules are these? They come one after another? Zhou Wen nearly threw his phone in anger.


    Throwing the phone was definitely useless. Soon, Zhou Wen calmed down because he had another idea.

 Chapter 1813 - Companion Beast That Makes The Master Jealous

    Chapter 1813 Companion Beast That Makes The Master Jealous


    After entering the game again, Zhou Wen summoned a large number of Companion Beasts¡ªImperial Lord Behemoth, Banana Fairy, Dr. Soul, and so on. He made them each be in charge of a creature on Mount Laojun.


    Upon receiving Zhou Wen¡¯s order, all the creatures on Mount Laojun were killed at the same time. Not a single one survived.


    With so many Companion Beasts needing to be killed, they should be able to help me stall for time, Zhou Wen thought.


    Fantasy was always beautiful, but reality was harsh. The Companion Beasts that killed the creatures on Mount Laojun were wiped out almost instantly. Zhou Wen, the instigator, was immediately punished as the game screen went black again.


    Seriously!? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed


    However, he still had a backup plan. Now, there were only four Companion Beasts he hadn¡¯t tried- Prisoner, Demonic Neonate, Truth Listener, and Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    Ever since Truth Listener evolved, it had been in the form with earrings and he had never summoned it in battle.


    However, Truth Listener¡¯s ability had always aided Zhou Wen. Since it couldn¡¯t protect him, it was probably useless even if he summoned


    it.


    Prisoner was at the Apocalypse grade. He was Zhou Wen¡¯s final trump card. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to use him after giving everything a try.


    As for Demonic Neonate, because she had been with him for too long, they had a deep relationship. Even in-game, he wasn¡¯t willing to see her die again and again. He didn¡¯t use her unnecessarily.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had just advanced to Super Jinxes Master. Zhou Wen was afraid that he would trigger bad luck by using him. He didn¡¯t usually use him.


    Forget it. Let¡¯s see how strong the matured Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General is. Zhou Wen summoned the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    When he charged up Mount Laojun again, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to run in. He got the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to attack the True Immortal Crane.


    A black-purple armor covered his entire body and mount. The outer ring of black-purple flames rose and swayed with white edges of light. It looked both textured and fashionable. It exuded the aura of a peerless final boss.


    How depressing. Such a crappy pet looks even cooler than me. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out how this thing had gotten to where it was today.


    Among the three unsolved mysteries of Companion Beasts, there was Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. The other two unsolved mysteries were Demonic Neonate¡¯s origins and Truth Listener¡¯s appearance.


    The True Immortal Crane flew over and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General raised his spear and pointed it at the sky.


    Bang!


    The True Immortal Crane¡¯s body was penetrated by the spear beam as it fell to the ground and died.


    It doesn¡¯t need to accumulate strength to be this strong now? Holy cr*p! Just as Zhou Wen was sighing, he saw the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body light up.


    As Mount Laojun was unsealed, blood-colored light enveloped the mountaintop. A strange flame burned in the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body.


    The black color gradually turned purple before turning from purple to a pale color. The flames became brighter and brighter as they seeped out from the gaps in the armor like electric patterns that coiled around his body.


    How f*cking cool¡­ Even Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes turned red with envy.


    However, to his delight, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General wasn¡¯t immediately killed.


    In fact, not only was this fellow not killed, but the aura in his body became more and more terrifying. A moment later, his aura exceeded that of the Apocalypse-grade Prisoner.


    Of course, Prisoner was trash among the Apocalypse grade. Surpassing him wasn¡¯t too surprising


    ¡°Go; let¡¯s see what¡¯s different about Mount Laojun after its seal is broken.¡± Zhou Wen ordered the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to lead the way and cross the bridge before heading into the yard.


    The blood-red color enveloped Mount Laojun, dyeing everything red. Even the white rabbit that was eating grass in the yard was covered in blood.


    The bunny¡¯s originally red eyes were now so red that they looked like they could drip blood.


    Bang!


    Two sanguine beams shot out from Bunny¡¯s eyes and shot straight at Zhou Wen like lasers. The strength fluctuations reached the Calamity grade.


    Although Zhou Wen easily dispelled the sanguine light, it still gave him a fright.


    The white rabbit was originally something trivial at the Mortal stage. After Mount Laojun¡¯s seal was broken, this thing actually became a Calamity-grade creature. Wasn¡¯t this leap too great?


    Even a Mortal bunny had become a Calamity. It was unimaginable how terrifying the other creatures were.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General had already rushed forward and finished off the bunny.


    ¡®Killed Calamity-grade creature, Demonized Rabbit. Discovered dimensional crystal.¡¯


    The dimensional crystal was already useless to Zhou Wen. Without even taking a look, the human and pet continued walking forward.


    Soon, they encountered some demonized creatures. All of them were at the Calamity grade. The Demonized Rabbit was only at the Human Realm, and there were subsequently Heaven-level creatures everywhere.


    If an ordinary Calamity-grade human were here, even if they brought seventeen or eighteen Calamity Companion Beasts, they would probably die.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t an ordinary Calamity grade. The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General became stronger the more he fought. It didn¡¯t take much effort for Zhou Wen to kill all the demonized creatures he encountered.


    Unfortunately, along the way, they didn¡¯t discover any Apocalypse-grade creatures. The strongest was only a top Calamity-grade existence that could fight an existence at Mystic Thearch¡¯s level.


    Before Mount Laojun was sealed, only the True Immortal Crane and Azure Bull were at the Calamity grade. If there¡¯s any Apocalypse after the seal is broken, it will probably be the True Immortal Crane and Azure Bull. The True Immortal Crane has already been killed. Now, it depends on whether the Azure Bull is at the Apocalypse grade. Zhou Wen directed the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General to head for the yard where the Azure Bull was.


    Before entering the yard, he saw that the crooked tree in the yard had turned blood-red. Furthermore, the tree crown that was originally dotted sparsely with leaves was now filled with blood-red flowers.


    From the outside, it looked like a blood-colored umbrella that covered most of the yard.


    He immediately saw the Azure Bull when he walked into the yard, but he almost didn¡¯t recognize it.


    The Azure Bull had already turned blood-colored. Furthermore, its body was standing upright like a human. Its body had also transformed into a humanoid form. Apart from the bull¡¯s head that hadn¡¯t changed, the other parts of its body looked like a muscular man with bulging muscles. He was more than two meters tall.


    This thing turned into the Bull Demon King? No matter how Zhou Wen looked at it, the Azure Bull looked like the legendary Bull Demon King


    Before Zhou Wen could size it up, the demonized Azure Bull let out a strange cry at the sky. The sound waves surged over like an avalanche.


    Caught off guard, Zhou Wen was instantly killed by the sound wave. The game screen went black.


    Apocalypse grade¡­ It¡¯s definitely at the Apocalypse grade¡­ Furthermore, it¡¯s not the typical Apocalypse grade¡­ Zhou Wen became excited.


    Although he didn¡¯t deliberately guard against it, the Human Realm domain had been constantly activated. Coupled with his defensive instincts, it was impossible for an ordinary Apocalypse to instantly kill him.


    I finally have something. Zhou Wen excitedly dripped his blood to start the game again, but this time, he was more careful.


    Since Azure Bull could reach the Apocalypse grade, so could the Calamity-grade True Immortal Crane. In that case, Mount Laojun had two Apocalypse-grade creatures to kill. Advancing to the Apocalypse grade was just around the corner.


    Therefore, after entering the game again, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t choose to kill the True Immortal Crane to trigger the unsealing. Instead, after escaping the True Immortal Crane, he randomly killed a small animal and triggered the unsealing.

 Chapter 1814 - Battling the Demon Bull

    Chapter 1814 Battling the Demon Bull


    This time, Zhou Wen had some experience. When Mount Laojun¡¯s seal was broken, he was already fully armed. Mystic Thearch and Prisoner were directly attached to him in a soul state. The Human Realm domain was also activated.


    Indeed, after Mount Laojun¡¯s seal was broken, the True Immortal Crane let out a long cry as something abnormal happened in the sanguine light.


    It had the head of a bird and the body of a human. Its blood-red body transformed into feathered armor, turning it into a monster that was half-human, half-bird.


    The aura on the True Immortal Crane¡¯s body instantly rose like an erupting volcano. Just its incisive aura made it difficult to look at it directly.


    In the next second, blood-feathered swords appeared around the half-human, half-bird monster transformed from the True Immortal Crane. They embroiled Zhou Wen and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General like a storm.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, countless Sword Pills appeared and faced the blood-feathered swords that filled the sky.


    Countless sword beams collided and exploded in midair. The shockwave produced by the explosion killed all the demonized animals around them.


    Such strength was enough to destroy a continent, perhaps enough to destroy a planet, but strangely, this strength failed to destroy the buildings in Mount Laojun. The aftershocks were restricted to Mount Laojun.


    Under the continuous impact of the blood feather swords, Zhou Wen retreated step by step. His strength ultimately hadn¡¯t reached the Apocalypse grade and couldn¡¯t compare to the True Immortal Crane that had advanced to the Apocalypse grade.


    In the Human World!


    Just as the blood feather swords were about to overwhelm Zhou Wen, he suddenly slashed out with his hand. A terrifying force slashed out from his palm like scissors, splitting the sword curtain formed by the blood feather swords into two as he continued slashing at the True Immortal Crane.


    The True Immortal Crane¡¯s figure flashed and instantly vanished, dodging Zhou Wen.


    When it appeared again, it was already behind him.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s spatial instant transmission ability wasn¡¯t inferior to anyone. His figure also vanished.


    The human and crane quickly moved and fought on Mount Laojun. Ordinary people couldn¡¯t see anything other than the shockwaves produced by the collision.


    Bang!


    After a loud bang, Zhou Wen retreated in flight. After landing on the ground, he propped himself up with one hand and slid back more than ten meters before stopping.


    On the other side, the True Immortal Crane¡¯s figure appeared and landed steadily on the ground.


    The True Immortal Crane shrieked at the sky as a strange force instantly enveloped Mount Laojun. It had finally activated its New World power.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt as though his body was restrained by some force, preventing him from moving.


    However, it was only an instant. With the augmentation of the Human Realm domain and Prisoner, almost no taboo power could restrain Zhou Wen.


    The True Immortal Crane imagined that Zhou Wen had been imprisoned by its New World powers and transformed into a stream of light that charged at Zhou Wen¡¯s heart.


    At the instant the True Immortal Crane arrived in front of him, Zhou Wen struck its head.


    With a bang, its head smashed into the ground, blasting open a huge crater.


    What followed was Zhou Wen¡¯s barrage of attacks. Punch after punch, In the Human World¡¯s power constantly erupted, slamming the bird¡¯s head into the ground again and again.


    Feathers flew everywhere as demonic blood spewed out.


    The True Immortal Crane¡¯s skull cracked bit by bit before it was shattered by Zhou Wen.


    ¡®Killed Apocalypse-grade creature, True Demon Crane. Discovered dimensional crystal.¡¯


    A few dimensional crystals dropped, but there were no Companion Eggs or anything else. It left Zhou Wen somewhat depressed.


    Thankfully, the True Demon Crane was at the Apocalypse grade. If he farmed it a few more times in the future, he would have Companion Eggs, Zone Cores, or something else.


    Up to now, Zhou Wen still hadn¡¯t figured out what an Apocalypse-grade advancement item was.


    After killing the True Demon Crane, Zhou Wen cleared Mount Laojun with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul before heading to the yard where the Azure Bull was.


    The scene was identical to the last time he saw it. The blood-red demonic tree and the half-human, half-ox demonic bull welcomed him with a terrifying sound wave attack the moment he entered.


    With his previous experience, Zhou Wen defended with all his might and withstood the Demon Bull¡¯s sound wave attack.


    The flames in the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s body rose crazily. Without waiting for the Demon Bull¡¯s sound wave to cease, it went against the flow and charged forward.


    Bang!


    The Demon Bull swung its fist and collided with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡¯s spear tip. It sent the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and his horse flying back and slammed into the wall, causing it to collapse


    In the Human World!


    Zhou Wen slashed out with his palm as an invisible blade-like force tore through space and slashed at the Demon Bull¡¯s face.


    Bang!


    A power that could injure Transcendent Immortal was shattered by the Demon Bull¡¯s punch like glass.


    What powerful strength. What a terrifying body. With such powerful creatures on Earth, why would we need to be afraid of the dimension¡¯s invasions? Zhou Wen sighed inwardly, but on second thought, if these creatures really broke out, it was unknown if they would help humanity. Perhaps they would become a nightmare for humanity.


    Using spatial instant transmission to fight the Demon Bull, the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General charged forward and held back the Demon Bull¡¯s attacks.


    Thankfully, although the Demon Bull¡¯s body was very strong, it didn¡¯t have the spatial abilities of the True Immortal Crane. It couldn¡¯t injure Zhou Wen immediately, so it could only vent its anger on the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    The Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General was struck again and again before standing up. The shattered armor was also reborn in the flames and quickly returned to its original state.


    Every time the armor was repaired, it made the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General stronger, but it was still no match for the Demon Bull.


    Zhou Wen, who took the opportunity to launch sneak attacks, repeatedly slashed at the Demon Bull using In the Human World, but he failed to slice through its flesh. Its body was unimaginably resilient.


    As though it was enraged by Zhou Wen and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General, the Demon Bull grabbed the nose ring on its nose and yanked it with all its might. It tore off the nose ring and threw it out.


    After the nose ring left its hand, it immediately vanished from Zhou Wen¡¯s sight before the game screen went black again.


    What was that? Zhou Wen was alarmed. If it were in reality, he wouldn¡¯t even know how he died.


    He didn¡¯t immediately enter the game again. Zhou Wen searched for myths and legends regarding Azure Bull on the Internet.


    In many myths and legends regarding Taishang Laojun, the Azure Bull was his mount. As for the nose ring, after Zhou Wen checked, he felt that it was very similar to Taishang Laojun¡¯s Dharma treasure, Vajra Chakram.


    Legend had it that when Taishang Laojun transformed into Buddha, he already had such a treasure with him. In Journey to the West, Sun Wukong, who even the Demon Slaying Sword couldn¡¯t injure, was knocked unconscious by this thing.


    After roughly figuring out the nose ring¡¯s ability, he entered the game again.


    Nothing useful dropped from killing the True Demon Crane.


    After the Demon Bull used its nose ring, Zhou Wen instant transmitted to prevent himself from being hit by it.


    The nose ring was definitely very powerful. It was as though it had a positioning device installed. No matter how Zhou Wen instant transmitted, the nose ring could catch up. As long as Zhou Wen¡¯s instant transmission stopped, it would immediately crack his head.


    This wasn¡¯t a problem for Zhou Wen. He maintained instant transmission to fight the Demon Bull.


    As he dodged the nose ring, he attacked the Demon Bull, hoping to find its weakness.


    Before he could find its weakness, an anomaly happened again. The infuriated Demon Bull summoned its nose ring back.


    It grabbed the nose ring with both hands and aimed it at Zhou Wen and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General.


    In the next second, Zhou Wen felt the world spin. For some reason, the game screen went black again.

 Chapter 1815 - Companion Beast that Counters Demon Bull

    Chapter 1815 Companion Beast that Counters Demon Bull


    Zhou Wen tried a few more times, but the outcome was about the same. As long as the Demon Bull shone its nose ring at him, his screen would turn black no matter how powerful he was.


    Even Demonic Neonate was useless. Demonic Neonate¡¯s Demonic Sword, Heaven Shrouding Bell, and other items were restrained by the nose ring.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put down the game and check the information regarding the Vajra Chakram again.


    In Journey to the West, Zhou Wen saw some descriptions of the Vajra Chakram¡¯s abilities. This thing could actually seal all sorts of Dharma treasures in the world. Immortals, deities, or buddhas were useless against it. It could seal with 100% accuracy.


    The Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring in real life seemed to be even more ferocious than the Vajra Chakram described in Journey to the West. Not only could it be used to seal Dharma treasures, but it could also directly seal humans and Companion Beasts.


    However, in Journey to the West, Zhou Wen had also found a way to restrain the Vajra Chakram. According to Taishang Laojun, without the Banana Fan, even he couldn¡¯t restrain the Vajra Chakram.


    Zhou Wen really had the Banana Fan. His Banana Fairy was the incarnation of the Banana Fan. However, her level was too low. Even if her element was strong against it, the difference in levels made it useless. Therefore, Zhou Wen planned on leveling up Banana Fairy to see if he had a chance of cracking the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring.


    ¡­..


    Although he couldn¡¯t kill the Demon Bull, he could thankfully kill the True Demon Crane as he pleased. All Zhou Wen could do was grind the True Demon Crane again and again, hoping that something useful would drop.


    It had to be said that there was really a problem with the drop rate of Apocalypse-grade creatures. Many dimensional crystals dropped, but there was nothing useful.


    Those dimensional crystals could only be food for Imperial Lord Behemoth and be used to raise the stats of other Companion Beasts. They weren¡¯t of much use elsewhere.


    Thankfully, there were no time restrictions for the Mount Laojun dungeon. It could be grinded indefinitely. Otherwise, it was unknown how long it would take to obtain something useful.


    During the period when Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons to raise Banana Fairy¡¯s level, the number of break outs across the Earth increased dramatically. Most humans had already moved into dimensional zones. There were more creatures outside than humans. Things had gone almost topsy-turvy.


    Who¡¯s actually the owner of Earth? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried about how long humans could last.


    Once those terrifying dimensional zones were completely breached, dimensional creatures like Demon Bull would rush out of the dimensional zones. No human could match them.


    Raising Banana Fairy¡¯s level started very smoothly. Soon, she reached the Heaven realm at the limits of the Calamity grade. Her stats were considered maxed out, but compared to Companion Beasts like Mystic Thearch and Truth Listener, she was still much weaker. Her various stats were only at 400, nothing as terrifying as 999.


    He led Banana Fairy to fight the Demon Bull again. It was unknown if it was because Banana Fairy¡¯s stats were too low or if there was a difference between reality and what was written in the books, but the Banana Fan couldn¡¯t restrain the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring. Zhou Wen died tragically in-game again.


    ¡°Old Zhou, have you heard? Someone discovered a Peach Garden dimensional zone. Eating one of the peaches can increase one¡¯s lifespan by three years. Someone also discovered a ginseng fruit Tree dimensional zone and ate one to gain eternal youth¡­¡± Li Xuan recounted the various rumors from the outside world. All sorts of news spread everywhere with the emergence of new dimensional zones.


    A lot of news became more and more exaggerated the more it spread. It was unknown which was true and which was false.


    ¡°Are you listening?¡± Li Xuan said gloomily when he saw Zhou Wen gaming with his head lowered.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening. Those are just rumors. We don¡¯t know if they are true or not. There¡¯s no need to waste time verifying them one by one,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t dare say anything else, but the dimensional zone with the ginseng fruit tree is definitely real. A friend of mine went in, but he didn¡¯t get to eat the ginseng fruit. One of his companions ate it. I heard that his white hair turned black, and he became twenty years younger in the blink of an eye¡­¡± Li Xuan¡¯s saliva splattered as he spoke.


    ¡°You want to go?¡± Zhou Wen looked up at Li Xuan.


    ¡°Hehe, it¡¯s indeed a little boring staying in the city all the time. It¡¯d be good to go out for a walk,¡± Li Xuan said as he scratched his head.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go out for a walk. It¡¯ll be good to get some relaxation time.¡± Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t made any progress and was also somewhat stifled.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? You made me waste my breath. I¡¯ll make the preparations.¡± Li Xuan went out to make arrangements before heading out with Zhou Wen.


    The tourist attraction, Wuzhuang Daoist Temple, had been enveloped by a mysterious force ever since the advent of dimensional zones. Humans could no longer enter. Not long ago, the door to Wuzhuang Daoist Temple suddenly opened. Thousands of rays of light bloomed from inside in a way more dazzling than the sun. They lasted for seven days and seven nights before dissipating.


    After that, someone entered Wuzhuang Daoist Temple and found a ginseng fruit tree inside.


    Rumor had it that a person obtained a ginseng fruit and immediately changed from an elder to a young man in his twenties after eating it.


    From then on, the originally deserted Wuzhuang Daoist Temple became crowded.


    However, not many people could come out of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple alive. None of the people who came out had their youth restored.


    Now, the area in front of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple had returned to its usual bleakness. Occasionally, a few people would appear outside the temple, but they would disappear after entering


    One day, two men brought a girl to the entrance of Fifth Manor. It was Zhou Wen and Li Xuan. Sitting on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder was Demonic Neonate. ¡°Immortal Abode of Immortality; Daoist With Longevity Rivaling the Heavens.¡± Li Xuan looked at the couplets on both sides of the door and couldn¡¯t help but recite them.


    ¡°Human Sovereign, are you here to enter the Wuzhuang Daoist Temple to seek the ginseng fruit that grants immortality?¡± A voice sounded from the side. Zhou Wen and Li Xuan turned their heads and saw two men walking towards the door. They were none other than Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you guys here for the ginseng fruit as well?¡± Li Xuan curled his lips.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Zhang Chunqiu smiled and said, ¡°Since we are fated to meet, why don¡¯t we form a team?¡±


    ¡°Fate my ass. Don¡¯t tell me you were waiting here for us?¡± Li Xuan seemed to come to a realization as he said, ¡°F*ck, don¡¯t tell me you were the ones who leaked this information to me? I remember now. That fellow has always had an ambiguous relationship with your Zhang family.¡±


    ¡°I just want to share the fruit of immortality with the two of you. If there¡¯s anyone who can crack Wuzhuang Daoist Temple today, I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s only our Human Sovereign.¡± Zhang Chunqiu had no intention of hiding it and readily admitted it.


    ¡°Then what do I need you for? Why should I share it with you?¡± Li Xuan snapped back.


    ¡°We naturally have to share good things with good friends.¡± Xia Liuchuan continued, ¡°Besides, without us leading the way, it won¡¯t be easy for you to find the ginseng fruit tree in Wuzhuang Daoist Temple. That thing isn¡¯t a fruit tree that grows in an ordinary yard.¡±


    ¡°From what you¡¯re saying, could it be that the ginseng fruit tree is grown in the sky?¡± Li Xuan thought nothing of it and teased.


    ¡°It¡¯s naturally impossible for it to grow in the sky. It just grows underground,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a smile.

 Chapter 1816 - Whip Punishment

    Chapter 1816 Whip Punishment


    ¡°How do we cooperate?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to waste time. Since Zhang Chunqiu was familiar with Wuzhuang Daoist Temple, it wasn¡¯t impossible for them to cooperate. ¡°The rule of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple only allows everyone to pluck one ginseng fruit. We don¡¯t ask for more. We just want one ginseng fruit each,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste his breath. He raised his phone and took a picture of the signboard of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple. He had just seen the tiny palm symbol and could download the game dungeon.


    The four of them hit it off and entered Wuzhuang Daoist Temple under the lead of Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°Old Zhou, do you think these two fellows are gay? The Xia family and the Zhang family are so far apart, but these two are always together. I wonder what they are up to,¡± Li Xuan secretly said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°How would I know? Perhaps their situation is similar to Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu¡¯s. Their Life Providences are compatible and they improve faster together,¡± Zhou Wen replied casually. He wasn¡¯t interested in the gossip between Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that they are, you know¡­ If they have any thoughts for me¡­¡± Li Xuan made a fearful expression.


    ¡°Brother Li, don¡¯t worry. Ignoring the fact that I¡¯m not interested in men, even if I was, I wouldn¡¯t choose you.¡± Zhang Chunqiu suddenly turned his head and smiled at Li Xuan.


    ¡°The descendant of the Hero King is indeed capable.¡± Li Xuan was somewhat surprised. He had used a special skill when conversing with Zhou Wen. It was impossible for others to hear their conversation, but Zhang Chunqiu could.


    Wuzhuang Daoist Temple was ancient and quiet. There were strange flowers and plants everywhere. Every step led them to new scenes, making it look like a serene winding path.


    They didn¡¯t find any traces of abnormal creatures, leaving Zhou Wen and Li Xuan somewhat puzzled. Why didn¡¯t most of the people who entered Wuzhuang Daoist Temple return? This place didn¡¯t look as dangerous as they imagined.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that it¡¯s not dangerous just because there are no abnormal creatures here. It¡¯s easy to enter but difficult to leave. Once you enter, it won¡¯t be easy to find a way out.¡± Zhang Chunqiu answered their doubts.


    The two of them looked back the way they came, but they didn¡¯t see any difference.


    ¡°The owner of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple is known as the ancestor of Earth Immortals. He¡¯s not inferior to the Three Pure Ones. Although it¡¯s only a mythical legend, it¡¯s enough to show how dangerous Wuzhuang Daoist Temple is. In order to figure out the mysteries of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple, our two families lost many people here,¡± Xia Liuchuan said.


    Reality wasn¡¯t a game, and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for excessive trouble. He followed Zhang Chunqiu and company¡¯s instructions and walked in behind them.


    A tall wall and door appeared in front of them. Before entering the yard, Zhang Chunqiu reminded, ¡°This is the first obstacle of Wuzhuang Daoist Temple. After entering the yard, we will be tied to pillars. Each of us has to be whipped thirty times. After enduring these thirty whips, we can enter the main hall.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this the same as the plot in Journey to the West? Monkey Sun can withstand thirty whips without any problems, so we naturally won¡¯t have any problems.¡± Li Xuan wasn¡¯t afraid of being beaten. He wasn¡¯t worried at all when he heard that he would be whipped thirty times.


    ¡°Although the two of you are powerful, you guys need to be careful. That whip is a little strange. When it whips, not only does it injure the body, but it also has an effect on the mind.¡± Zhang Chunqiu paused before saying, ¡°After passing the whipping test, entering the main hall invites the punishment of being fried in oil. That oil isn¡¯t ordinary oil. It can permeate into the body. If the body¡¯s external defense is the only thing that¡¯s relatively high, they will definitely be fried inside out.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t say about anything else, but I¡¯m an expert when it comes to torture. Don¡¯t worry,¡± Li Xuan said disapprovingly.


    Seeing that Li Xuan and Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind, Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan didn¡¯t say anything else. They thought that they would naturally know how powerful the punishment was after giving it a try. The four of them passed through the door as though they had passed through a special spatial passageway. When they came out, they realized that they were tied to an eave pillar.


    The four of them were tied to motionless pillars. A pitch-black whip danced in the air and lashed at the first person.


    Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The whip struck Xia Liuchuan, and although he was already wearing Companion Beast armor, his armor was still torn apart.


    From Xia Liuchuan¡¯s expression, he probably didn¡¯t have a good time. However, he held back his cries and endured thirty lashes.


    After thirty lashes, the rope that bound him automatically vanished.


    Next was Zhang Chunqiu. Zhang Chunqiu also suffered thirty whips. His skin and flesh were lacerated, but he didn¡¯t say a word.


    The two of them treated their injuries as they looked at Li Xuan being tortured. They exchanged looks and laughed inwardly. There¡¯s going to be a good show later.


    Although the thirty whips weren¡¯t fatal to them, the pain that tortured their souls wasn¡¯t something ordinary humans could endure.


    Pa!


    With the lashing, the grinning Li Xuan¡¯s pupils constricted and his eyes widened.


    Zhang Chunqiu, and Xia Liuchuan thought that there would be an even more exciting scene. To their surprise, Li Xuan¡¯s expression became more and more relaxed as the wounds left by the whip instantly healed. ¡°Li Xuan¡¯s self-healing ability can be considered number one among humans,¡± Zhang Chunqiu praised.


    After thirty lashes, Li Xuan walked over with a grin. ¡°What whipping? It¡¯s this and nothing more.¡± Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan looked at each other and smiled bitterly. Young people these days were really shocking.


    The two of them looked at Zhou Wen again, hoping to know how he would perform under the thirty lashings.


    Even though they knew that the thirty lashes definitely wouldn¡¯t affect Zhou Wen much, it was a rare sight to see Human Sovereign tied up and whipped. They probably wouldn¡¯t have the chance to see it a second time.


    was a la


    Xia Liuchuan took out his phone and wanted to take a video of Zhou Wen.


    If there was a chance to upload it online in the future, he had already thought of the title: ¡°Daddy Xia assaults Human Sovereign.¡±


    After all, others didn¡¯t know who was doing the whipping. Since he was the one who had filmed the video, he could frame it however he wanted.


    However, in the next second, the three of them widened their eyes. The Seven Star Whip circled Zhou Wen, but it didn¡¯t whip him. It flew back to the wall and hung itself. The rope around Zhou Wen also vanished.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, what¡¯s going on? Why weren¡¯t you whipped?¡± Li Xuan immediately shouted. He was also waiting to watch the show, so why wasn¡¯t there any whipping?


    ¡°What did Monkey Sun say? If there¡¯s anything, the disciple will take it on the master¡¯s behalf,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Was that such a line?¡± Li Xuan was puzzled.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan looked at Li Xuan as though they were looking at an idiot. Without a word, they turned around and walked towards the hall.


    Zhou Wen also followed. Only then did Li Xuan react and shout, ¡°Holy sh*t, you¡¯re making fun of me. You¡¯re the monkey. Your entire family are monkeys.¡±

 Chapter 1817 - Ginseng Fruit

    A huge pot was propped up in the hall. The firewood below burned fiercely as the oil in the pot bubbled.


    1


    Zhou Wen, Li Xuan, and Zhang Chunqiu stood in front of the oil pot as Xia Liuchuan clicked his tongue from the frying.


    Xia Liuchuan was surrounded by mystic light as he struggled with the hot oil. His head was covered in sweat as he wore a constipated expression.


    After being fried for half an hour, Xia Liuchuan came out of the pot.


    Zhang Chunqiu was also thrown into the oil pot by a mysterious force. Purple light rose from his body as he sat cross-legged in the oil pot, easily enduring the punishment of being fried.


    When it was Li Xuan¡¯s turn, he took the oil pot as a bathtub.


    Li Xuan had suffered all sorts of torture in the past; this whipping and frying were nothing to him.


    When it was Zhou Wen¡¯s turn, he wasn¡¯t thrown into the pot and was given a free pass.


    1


    ¡°That¡¯s not fair!¡± Li Xuan shouted. ¡°What kind of crappy place is this? Why don¡¯t you get whipped or fried?¡±


    ¡°You have to believe that good people can live a peaceful life,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Who are you calling evil?¡± Li Xuan was depressed.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan looked at each other and saw the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes.


    In a place like Wuzhuang Daoist Temple, there was no distinction between good and bad people. To not be tortured, Zhou Wen definitely had a unique ability to render Wuzhuang Daoist Temple¡¯s powers ineffective. This was extraordinary.


    1


    ¡°As expected of Human Sovereign,¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed.


    The four of them passed through the main hall and arrived at the courtyard at the back. Under Zhang Chunqiu¡¯s lead, they arrived at a separate courtyard.


    There was indeed a huge tree growing in the yard. The crown of the tree covered the sky, and the leaves were like black iron. There were white baby-like fruits sitting cross-legged. It was the Ginseng Fruit Tree.


    1


    ¡°The Ginseng Fruit Tree is just like the legend in Journey to the West. It¡¯s invulnerable to metal. The ginseng fruits can only be struck down with special tools. It¡¯s impossible to pluck it with brute force. Furthermore, the fruit will escape when it touches the ground. It has to be caught by a jade plate. We have to find the Golden Strike used to strike the fruit first. We need to work hard to find it,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s just a fruit. As long as you are strong enough, how can you not be able to hit it? If you can¡¯t hit it, that¡¯s because you aren¡¯t strong enough. Let me give it a try.¡± With that said, Li Xuan flew up and slashed at one of the ginseng fruits that were connected to the tree branch.


    Clang!


    The ginseng fruit didn¡¯t suffer any damage. Li Xuan refused to believe it and used all his strength to slash a few more times. The ginseng fruit swayed left and right, but it didn¡¯t suffer any damage.


    ¡°What crappy fruit is this¡­¡± Li Xuan was depressed again.


    ¡°We¡¯ve already tried all sorts of methods. Apart from finding the Golden Strike, we really can¡¯t strike it down.¡± As Zhang Chunqiu spoke, he turned to look at Zhou Wen. ¡°Zhou Wen, do you want to give it a try? If you can hit it, it will save us the trouble of looking for the Golden Strike. We¡¯ve been searching for some time, but we still haven¡¯t been able to find it.¡±


    1


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind giving it a try.¡± Zhou Wen took the jade plate from Zhang Chunqiu and flew to a fruit.


    Legend had it that it took 9,000 years for the ginseng fruit to ripen. One sniff could make one live 360 years, and eating one could make one live 47,000 years.


    1


    Zhou Wen took a sniff, but he didn¡¯t smell anything. From the looks of it, not all legends are accurate.


    1


    He counted a total of 72 fruits on the tree. Without any hesitation, he placed the jade plate under a fruit and reached out to grab a ginseng fruit, about to yank it off.


    To his surprise, just as his hand touched the ginseng fruit, it fell and was easily plucked by him.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan widened their eyes. Zhang Chunqiu had just made a passing remark and didn¡¯t believe that Zhou Wen could really pluck it.


    However, the situation now seemed off. Not only did Zhou Wen pluck it, but he also did it rather easily.


    Zhou Wen flew to another ginseng fruit and reached out to pluck another one.


    This time, Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan¡¯s mouths gaped open. Even if they obtained the Golden Strike, each of them could only pluck one. Zhou Wen plucked two with his bare hands, making it no different from plucking a pear or an apple.


    Zhou Wen threw the jade plate with the two ginseng fruits to Zhang Chunqiu before moving again without waiting for them to say a word.


    Like the autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, he plucked all the remaining ginseng fruits on the tree in a jiffy. The ginseng fruits vanished from his hand one by one, and it was unknown where they were placed.


    1


    ¡°Thank you for leading the way, Brother Zhang and Brother Xia. Let¡¯s cooperate again in the future if there¡¯s a chance. We¡¯ll be leaving now.¡± With that said, he strode off with Li Xuan.


    Zhang Chunqiu and Xia Liuchuan were stunned for a long time before Xia Liuchuan said, ¡°Is he still f*cking human? He¡¯s a beast.¡±


    ¡°I originally had some concerns about moving my entire family to Guide Ancient City. From the looks of it, we should take action as soon as possible. I¡¯m afraid only this person can deal with the tumultuous changes after Earth suffers a complete break out¡¯,¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a heavy expression.


    ¡°My family doesn¡¯t really care. After all, the Xia family only exists in name. It doesn¡¯t matter where we move to,¡± Xia Liuchuan said with a smile.


    1


    After returning home, Zhou Wen took out the ginseng fruits and placed them in front of Li Xuan. Li Xuan picked one up and stuffed it into his mouth.


    The fruit that was as hard as iron when growing on the tree melted in his mouth and turned into a sweet liquid that flowed into his stomach.


    Just as Li Xuan exclaimed how sweet it was, white smoke emitted from all his pores. Soon, he was enveloped by water vapor.


    After a while, the water vapor completely dissipated. Li Xuan¡¯s skin was crystalline like jade as he shouted, ¡°Awesome! I actually advanced to a new realm, going from the Human Realm to Hell!¡±


    1


    ¡°There¡¯s actually such an effect?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised as he pointed at the remaining ginseng fruits and said, ¡°Eat a few more and see if you can directly advance to the Apocalypse grade.¡±


    To his surprise, Li Xuan shook his head and said, ¡°Power that doesn¡¯t come from self-cultivation is ultimately a building without a base. I¡¯m afraid there will be trouble in the future. One fruit is enough.¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that Li Xuan had such an awareness.


    ¡°Put away the remaining ginseng fruits. They might be useful in the future.¡± Li Xuan smiled and said, ¡°Try one too.¡±


    Zhou Wen ate one and found it extremely sweet. A clear feeling gushed through his body. Although his Essence Energy increased, he didn¡¯t advance like Li Xuan.


    1


    From the looks of it, advancing to the Apocalypse grade isn¡¯t that easy. However, it¡¯s not impossible if I eat more. With a thought, Zhou Wen planned on grinding Wuzhuang Daoist Temple again in-game to see if there were any ginseng fruits there.


    However, before that, he gathered Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, Qin Zhen, Zhang Yuzhi, and the others over and gave each of them a ginseng fruit.


    Everyone advanced a level after eating it.


    The ginseng fruit was magical. Regardless of whether one¡¯s level was high or low, eating one could advance one realm. If someone at the Human Realm ate it, they would reach Hell. If someone at Hell ate it, they would reach Heaven.


    And if a Mortal ate it, they would only become Legendary.


    Everyone ate their fill. Zhou Wen put away the remaining ginseng fruits and didn¡¯t let them eat too much. Just as Li Xuan had said, although these external factors were good, they lacked tempering. Their levels rose, but their realms were unstable. It was ultimately not the right path.


    After returning to his room, Zhou Wen took out his phone and dripped his blood into the Wuzhuang Daoist Temple dungeon. Soon, he arrived in front of the ginseng fruit tree. Indeed, there were 72 ginseng fruits hanging on the tree.


    1

 Chapter 1818 - No Longer Human

    Zhou Wen activated the Human Realm domain and plucked a ginseng fruit from the tree. Then, he summoned Banana Fairy and let her eat it.


    Zhou Wen had already eaten the ginseng fruit. It wasn¡¯t of much use to him and couldn¡¯t provide him further improvement.


    Demonic Neonate refused to eat it at all. After some thought, he decided to let Banana Fairy try it first. If she could improve further, she might have a chance of restraining the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring.


    1


    ¡°Banana Fairy¡¯s stats +100.¡±


    1


    After eating a ginseng fruit, Banana Fairy¡¯s stats increased tremendously, making Zhou Wen overjoyed.


    Without any hesitation, he plucked the ginseng fruits and got Banana Fairy to eat them.


    ¡°Banana Fairy¡¯s stats +85¡­ Banana Fairy¡¯s stats +79¡­¡±


    1


    Although the effects of every ginseng fruit were decreasing, her stats kept rising. In the blink of an eye, she had eaten 64 of them. All her stats had reached 998. She was just short of reaching the limit of 999.


    1


    After eating a few more, her stats didn¡¯t increase at all.


    Zhou Wen was a little obsessive-compulsive. He felt a little uncomfortable seeing that missing stat point. After all, the Wuzhuang Daoist Temple dungeon was a game. There would be plenty of opportunities to grind for ginseng fruits in the future. He immediately continued feeding her one after another.


    1


    That single point was as difficult as ascending to the heavens. When she ate the 70th fruit, she remained short of the last point.


    There was no point in saving the last two. He fed them to Banana Fairy. Finally, after eating the 72nd fruit, all her stats reached 999.


    1


    She had to eat all 72 of them to max out her stats! Zhou Wen was still delighted. Knowing that the ginseng fruit had such an effect, he could raise the levels of the other Companion Beasts in the future.


    He imagined taking a group of 999-stat Calamity preciouses to clear dungeons in the future. The scene made the corners of Zhou Wen¡¯s mouth curl up.


    2


    However, after respawning the dungeon, he was somewhat depressed.


    The respawn time for Wuzhuang Daoist Temple¡¯s ginseng fruit was a year. To grind another 999-stat Calamity pet would take a year.


    1


    It¡¯s better than nothing. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush. He could slowly grind in the future. It was better than nothing.


    The legendary ginseng fruit could only be eaten once every nine thousand years. In comparison, a year wasn¡¯t long.


    I wonder if the 999-stat Calamity Banana Fairy can be of any use against the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring. Zhou Wen launched Mount Laojun again and charged forward with the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General and Banana Fairy.


    1


    The True Demon Crane was extremely stingy. It dropped dimensional crystals every time, but none of the truly good things dropped.


    It wasn¡¯t easy for him to reach the Demon Bull again. After a battle, the Demon Bull grabbed the nose ring with both hands and aimed it at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen held the banana fan in one hand and fanned at the Demon Bull.


    Banana Fairy¡¯s Calamity Zone was called ¡°Yin Yang World.¡± Together with the only skill, Supreme Yin Wind, an invisible tornado swept towards the Demon Bull.


    1


    Originally, as long as the nose ring shone on them, it would definitely spell death for Zhou Wen and the Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General. They couldn¡¯t even last a second. This time, he didn¡¯t immediately kill them. After a second or two, the game screen went black.


    The banana fan indeed has a restraining effect on the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring. It¡¯s only because there¡¯s a huge level difference between the two that the restraining effect is relatively ordinary. If they were both at the Apocalypse grade, it would probably be much easier to crack the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring. Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    1


    Although the delay was only slightly more than a second, there were already all sorts of possibilities. As long as he killed the Demon Bull in that second, the nose ring naturally wouldn¡¯t be a threat.


    As for letting Banana Fairy advance to the Apocalypse grade, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t even dare think about it. Even he couldn¡¯t advance to the Apocalypse grade, much less Banana Fairy.


    Zhou Wen began grinding Mount Laojun dungeon again and again, constantly searching for the possibility of killing the Demon Bull.


    1


    While Zhou Wen was grinding dungeons, the Zhang and Xia families had sent people to contact Li Xuan, hoping to relocate their entire family to Guide Ancient City.


    These two families had deep foundations. It was unexpected for them to give up their ancestral business to come to Guide Ancient City. It left Zhou Wen and Li Xuan surprised.


    However, they had always had a good relationship with the two families. Furthermore, Zhang Yuzhi and Xia Xuanyue were in Guide Ancient City. This matter went very smoothly.


    After discussing all sorts of details, the two families gradually relocated to Guide Ancient City.


    ¡°Brother Zhang, I still want to hear your reasons,¡± Zhou Wen suddenly asked when he walked Zhang Chunqiu out.


    ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t ask me, I still want to find an opportunity to chat with you about this matter.¡± Zhang Chunqiu paused before saying, ¡°As you know, our family¡¯s former Hero King has a deep relationship with Jing Daoxian.¡±


    1


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°My patriarch had no choice but to harm his lover, the person Jing Daoxian liked. For that woman, Jing Daoxian nearly slaughtered all the upper echelons of the Federation.¡± Zhang Chunqiu hesitated for a moment before continuing, ¡°I¡¯m afraid this will happen again.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that Wang Mingyuan had experienced the same thing¡­¡± Zhou Wen had heard a little from Jing Daoxian. Although he had some guesses, he was still somewhat surprised when he heard that.


    ¡°It¡¯s a little different.¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed and said, ¡°Our Zhang family also happened to know something about Wang Mingyuan. His wife and daughter might have died in the chaos of war.¡±


    1


    ¡°You mean that his wife and daughter didn¡¯t die at the hands of a creature, but were killed by humans?¡± Zhou Wen understood what ¡®chaos of war¡¯ meant.


    Zhang Chunqiu nodded. ¡°I don¡¯t know the details. My patriarch guessed that they might have been accidentally killed during the chaos.¡±


    ¡°Could it be that the person who killed his wife and daughter is very strong? Even Wang Mingyuan can¡¯t take revenge?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°No, those people aren¡¯t strong. Furthermore, they are already long dead. They died tragically. It was probably Wang Mingyuan¡¯s doing.¡± Zhang Chunqiu shook his head.


    ¡°Then why¡­¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Since Wang Mingyuan had taken revenge, why was the Zhang family so worried?


    1


    ¡°Back then, my patriarch met Wang Mingyuan and even played a game of chess with him. Do you know what my patriarch said about him?¡± Zhang Chunqiu said with a complicated expression.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he looked at him, waiting for him to continue.


    ¡°This person is extremely stubborn. He has a route he has charted in his heart and is no longer human. If he can¡¯t become a hero who changes the world in the future, he has to become the Devil Lord who destroys the world.¡± Zhang Chunqiu sighed.


    Zhou Wen understood what he meant and said in frustration, ¡°Does it mean that no matter what, he will change the order of the world?¡±


    ¡°An inhuman heart probably doesn¡¯t abide by the ways of the world. If such a person establishes a new order, it will definitely be through bloodshed.¡± With that said, Zhang Chunqiu bade farewell and left.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t calm down for a long time. After he completely calmed down, he set off for Luoyang.

 Chapter 1819 - Born Proud

    ¡°Young Master Wen, you¡¯re back.¡± An Sheng immediately greeted Zhou Wen with a grin.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, is An Tianzuo around?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Overseer is in his office. Why are you looking for him?¡± An Sheng was somewhat surprised. The two of them had never gotten along, so why was Zhou Wen taking the initiative to look for An Tianzuo?


    ¡°I have something to discuss with him.¡± Zhou Wen wanted them to move to Guide City. Even if it wasn¡¯t for the An family, it would be safer for Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Lan.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take you to him.¡± An Sheng hurriedly led the way and took Zhou Wen to An Tianzuo¡¯s office.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s expression was cold. He had never been nice to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I came this time hoping that the An family can move to Guide Ancient City.¡± Zhou Wen looked at An Tianzuo with a complicated expression. He still couldn¡¯t accept the fact that An Tianzuo was his biological brother.


    ¡°Are you worried about Wang Mingyuan?¡± An Tianzuo immediately understood Zhou Wen¡¯s intentions.


    ¡°Yes, I heard that Wang Mingyuan¡¯s wife and daughter might have died in the war. His home was here. If he returns, Luoyang will probably be his first target,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°I understand what you mean, but the An family can¡¯t leave.¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s expression softened.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°The An family¡¯s decades of research and plans are all in Luoyang. The present Luoyang City, or rather, the entire Luoyang area, is the fruits of our labor. After leaving Luoyang, everything will have to be redone. There¡¯s no time,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what An Tianzuo meant. An Sheng hurriedly added, ¡°We have always been engaged in research on converting dimensional energy into technological weapons. We have already converted most of the dimensional zones in Luoyang into energy pools. We guide the dimensional energy in them to store as energy. Once a war happens, the entire Luoyang area will become a war machine that combines offense and defense. It can be said that Luoyang is now a huge war fortress. If there really comes a day when someone needs to stand up to protect Earth¡¯s home, this will be the last resort.¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised when he heard that. To be able to guide the power of a dimensional zone to be used for their purposes was indeed amazing. However, he didn¡¯t know how far the research progress that An Tianzuo and company had made and if they could fight an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse.


    ¡°Take Uncle Zhou, the Empress Dowager, Little Jing, Ya¡¯er, and a portion of the An family members to Guide Ancient City,¡± An Tianzuo said after some thought.


    For a person like him to say such words meant that he had acknowledged Zhou Wen. Otherwise, how could he entrust the most important people to Zhou Wen?


    ¡°I still have something on. I won¡¯t be meeting Aunt Lan and the rest. Help me by taking this to them.¡± Zhou Wen saw the determination in An Tianzuo¡¯s eyes and didn¡¯t persuade him further. He only left some ginseng fruits and got An Sheng to arrange for Zhou Lingfeng and company to go to Guide Ancient City.


    After leaving the An family, Zhou Wen went to Wang Lu.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Wang Lu was somewhat surprised to see Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Luoyang isn¡¯t safe. If you don¡¯t mind, the Wang family can move to Guide Ancient City.¡± Zhou Wen directly stated his intentions.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wang Lu didn¡¯t ask why it wasn¡¯t safe and agreed immediately.


    ¡°Try this.¡± Zhou Wen handed a ginseng fruit to Wang Lu.


    ¡°Is this the famous ginseng fruit that people were talking about a while ago?¡± Wang Lu took the ginseng fruit and sized it up curiously.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If an ordinary person eats it, they can immediately advance a realm. If they are half a step away from advancing to the Calamity grade, one fruit can directly advance them to the Calamity grade,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s more suitable for you to use such a precious item.¡± Wang Lu wanted to return the ginseng fruit to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I still have plenty. Furthermore, this thing is useless to me.¡± Zhou Wen paused before saying, ¡°I¡¯ll get An Sheng to help arrange for the Wang family to move to Guide Ancient City. If there¡¯s anything you need, tell him. I¡¯ll make a trip to the Moon to see if I can bring Wang Chan back.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen left the Wang family.


    After Zhou Wen left, Wang Lu looked at the ginseng fruit in her hand and didn¡¯t eat it. Instead, she placed it on a plate and placed everything in a glass cabinet.


    On the Moon, Wang Chan nearly jumped up in joy when she saw Zhou Wen.


    She was almost bored to death on the Moon. There was no other human around, so how could someone her age withstand it?


    Zhou Wen also gave her a ginseng fruit. Wang Chan finished it in a few bites. She found it delicious and asked Zhou Wen for two more.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind and gave her two more. To his surprise, Wang Chan didn¡¯t eat them again. Instead, she ran to the Moon Goddess and gave the two ginseng fruits to her.


    ¡°You¡¯re here to take Wang Chan away, right?¡± Moon Goddess asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yes, if possible, can you move to Guide Ancient City with me?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Wang Chan¡¯s Life Providence can¡¯t be changed, but it can probably be controlled now. You can take her back.¡± After a pause, Moon Goddess said, ¡°I won¡¯t be going. If the Moon dies, this world won¡¯t need a Moon Goddess.¡±


    Zhou Wen persuaded her a little more and told her that if the Moon Goddess couldn¡¯t leave the Moon because of some restrictions, he would think of a way to help her leave.


    ¡°I appreciate your kindness, but there¡¯s really no need. Sometimes, living isn¡¯t necessarily the best choice.¡± Moon Goddess still rejected Zhou Wen¡¯s kindness, having no plans on leaving.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to take Wang Chan back to Guide Ancient City and think of a way to talk it through with the Moon Goddess in the future.


    As dimensional zones broke out on a large scale, communication between humans everywhere became more and more difficult. Earth had already become a paradise for dimensional creatures.


    Apart from inviting his family and friends to move to Guide Ancient City, Zhou Wen had been constantly grinding dungeons.


    He had a feeling that Wang Mingyuan was about to return.


    Li Xuan also migrated his family over, but Li Mobai wasn¡¯t among them. Li Xuan angrily complained to Zhou Wen. Li Mobai didn¡¯t know what was good for him. He was too stubborn.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t cook up a fuss, but Li Mobai didn¡¯t act any better. He didn¡¯t take Li Xuan seriously at all and showed no intention of joining Li Xuan in Guide Ancient City.


    ¡°Some people are born proud,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile. It reminded him of someone.


    After rounds of battle, Zhou Wen finally found the Demon Bull¡¯s weakness.


    It was impossible to break through its powerful body from the outside. Only from the inside could one severely injure it.


    While the Demon Bull was using sound waves to attack, Zhou Wen gathered all his strength in the Human World domain and injected it into the Demon Bull¡¯s body like a needle, immediately severely injuring it.


    It sounded very easy, but to do so, he first needed the banana fan that could restrain the nose ring. He also had to think of a way to make the Demon Bull use a sound wave attack in that split second. Furthermore, he had to make sure that the Demon Bull didn¡¯t have the chance to close his mouth. He then had to withstand the sound wave attack and deliver the injection. To accomplish this, Zhou Wen died thousands of times.


    Boom!


    The Demon Bull¡¯s body fell to the ground and something dropped.


    This is¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes lit up when he saw the items.

 Chapter 1820 - World Fragment

    There was a black loop right in the middle¡ªit was the Demon Bull¡¯s nose ring.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed. Although the Apocalypse-grade Demon Bull was powerful, it wasn¡¯t truly invincible.


    The reason it was so difficult to kill was mostly because of this nose ring.


    Now, a nose ring had dropped. It was much more useful than the Demon Bull Companion Egg.


    1


    Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the nose ring.


    ¡®Obtained New World item, Vajra Chakram.¡¯ Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw the notification in-game.


    1


    The words ¡®New World¡¯ were definitely related to the Apocalypse grade. Perhaps this was the key to his advancement to the Apocalypse grade.


    1


    ¡®Level insufficient¡­ Unable to use¡­ Level insufficient¡­ Unable to use¡­¡¯ Zhou Wen attempted to inject Essence Energy into the Vajra Chakram, but to his dismay, the game constantly indicated that it couldn¡¯t be used.


    2


    This left him somewhat depressed. He couldn¡¯t take anything that couldn¡¯t be stored on him out of the game, but if he left it in-game, he would lose the items once he refreshed the dungeon. That would be terrible.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen could only summon Demonic Neonate to see if she could use the Vajra Chakram. Although she wasn¡¯t at the Apocalypse grade, she had a New World.


    2


    After Demonic Neonate came out, she immediately saw the Vajra Chakram. With a wave of her hand, it landed in her hand and wrapped around her wrist, automatically shrinking to a suitable size.


    Then, he saw a game notification that an additional Vajra Chakram was added to Demonic Neonate¡¯s list of skills.


    1


    Seriously!? Zhou Wen was immediately depressed. A perfectly good treasure had been taken away by Demonic Neonate, but he failed to obtain anything.


    Thankfully, having this thing belong to Demonic Neonate was equivalent to him having it. Zhou Wen checked the other items dropped by the Demon Bull.


    Two Apocalypse-grade dimensional crystals and a Zone Core. No Companion Egg.


    2


    Zhou Wen summoned Imperial Lord Behemoth and made it absorb the dimensional crystals and Zone Core.


    This glutton soon advanced to the Heaven level. All his stats reached 400.


    400 was already the limit of an ordinary Calamity. It was very difficult to have every stat reach 999. Even for evolvable Companion Beasts, not every one of them could reach 999.


    1


    He dripped his blood to refresh the dungeon, but the Mount Laojun dungeon could only be refreshed once a month. It would take another month to respawn the Demon Bull.


    1


    Since he couldn¡¯t pin his hopes on Mount Laojun, Zhou Wen changed strategies and went to another Small Buddha Temple dungeon.


    1


    The three-faced Buddha was most likely at the Apocalypse grade. If he killed him, there was a chance of advancing to the Apocalypse grade.


    1


    Small Buddha Temple was extremely strange, but to Zhou Wen, most dungeons¡¯ taboos were useless. It could be said that he was immune to all taboos.


    Just like the punishment taboos in Wuzhuang Daoist Temple, they wouldn¡¯t land on Zhou Wen at all.


    There were very few taboos that could directly kill him. Mount Laojun¡¯s life-for-life taboo was one of the rare few.


    1


    When he arrived in front of the three-faced Buddha, it didn¡¯t react at all. It didn¡¯t take the initiative to attack Zhou Wen, nor was it triggered by him.


    Zhou Wen slashed out, and the sword beam landed on the head of the three-faced Buddha like a divine smite.


    Boom!


    The dark-gold light on the three-faced Buddha¡¯s body shone brightly, blocking Zhou Wen¡¯s sword beam. Then, the entire Small Buddha Temple shook. The three-faced Buddha statue moved as it slowly stood up.


    1


    The hall exploded as a result of the three-faced Buddha¡¯s body. The huge and strange Buddha body stood above the ruins of the hall like a supreme Buddha.


    Zhou Wen was as tiny as an ant in front of him. He turned his face to Zhou Wen and with the bleeding-face side, he only glanced at him. Immediately, an invisible force rose as though it wanted to tear Zhou Wen¡¯s body to pieces.


    The Human Realm domain was activated. He had Prisoner and Mystic Thearch augment him at the same time. Prisoner¡¯s New World power was also activated by Zhou Wen.


    The invisible force was immediately blocked, preventing it from invading Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    When the three-faced Buddha saw this, he aimed another of his faces at Zhou Wen. It was the benevolent face that smiled at him.


    1


    Zhou Wen felt his mind instantly blur. He had the urge to rush to the three-faced Buddha like a moth to a flame.


    However, it only lasted for an instant before everything returned to normal.


    Upon having two attacks fail, the three-faced Buddha finally looked at Zhou Wen with his front-facing side. This time, Zhou Wen felt as though the eyes were a bottomless abyss that wanted to suck him in.


    Suddenly, the three-faced Buddha¡¯s expression changed drastically. His huge, towering body leaned forward as his body rapidly shrank.


    It turned out that Demonic Neonate had crawled out from behind Zhou Wen. Her chubby white hands held a black ring as she aimed the Vajra Chakram at the three-faced Buddha. The ring seemed to spin in the void as it sucked the three-faced Buddha in.


    After absorbing the three-faced Buddha, the Vajra Chakram flew out of her hand and floated in the air, spinning and flashing irregularly. The void inside seemed to shatter layer by layer, like a cosmic Big Bang.


    After a long time, the Vajra Chakram calmed down and landed in Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand. Then, he saw a game notification.


    ¡®Killed Apocalypse-grade creature, Three-Body Buddha. Discovered dimensional crystal. Discovered World Fragment.¡¯


    2


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s hand trembled as two things dropped from the ring. One was a dimensional crystal, and the other was a handful of strange things.


    It was a material between gaseous, solid, and liquid phases. It seemed to be a combination of three phases of matter, but it also seemed to be constantly changing. At times, it looked like a dark-gold crystal, at times a dark-gold cloud, and at times a dark-gold liquid.


    1


    Sometimes, all three states would appear at the same time, as though there were infinite changes. It looked strange and mysterious.


    Zhou Wen reached out to grab it, but he felt that his palm wasn¡¯t touching anything. However, the item was there. It had never moved as though it was just a phantom.


    From the looks of it, this is the item that helps one advance to the Apocalypse grade. Zhou Wen was delighted. He condensed In the Human World again and reached out to grab the World Fragment.


    1


    This time, Zhou Wen finally felt his fingers grab something. He held the strange World Fragment in his hand.


    Circulating the Lost Immortal Sutra, he was about to absorb the World Fragment into his body.


    Suddenly, he felt his ears heat up. It was the earring formed by Truth Listener that shimmered with a dark-gold glow.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood something. After some hesitation, he handed the World Fragment to Truth Listener.


    1


    Just as the World Fragment made contact with the earring formed by Truth Listener, it immediately fused into it and vanished in the blink of an eye. The light on the earring also became strange.


    ¡®Truth Listener fused with World Fragment¡­ Evolution in progress¡­¡¯ A game notification popped up again.


    I did all that for someone else again. Zhou Wen left the dungeon helplessly. He wanted to refresh the dungeon again, but he received another notification that it would take another month.


    1


    How am I to advance to the Apocalypse grade in that case? Thankfully, I already know what¡¯s needed to advance to the Apocalypse grade. As long as I obtain a suitable Apocalypse fragment, it won¡¯t be difficult to advance to the Apocalypse grade. However, what kind of World Fragment is suitable for my Lost Immortal Sutra? Where can I find such a World Fragment? Zhou Wen thought to himself.

 Chapter 1821 - Giant City

    Zhou Wen had already been to a few dungeons in-game that might produce Apocalypse-grade creatures. Apart from failing to find a boss in Chess Mountain, Mount Laojun and Small Buddha Temple hadn¡¯t respawned.


    1


    From the looks of it, I need to add some new dungeons. Zhou Wen thought about where to get some new dungeons.


    1


    Now, there were break-out dimensional zones everywhere on Earth. There was a plethora of news, and creatures like dragons and vampires could often be seen.


    There were even people who had seen angels descending, devils running amok, sprites dancing, and so on.


    1


    However, no matter how he analyzed it, the possibility of those places having an Apocalypse-grade creature was slim. What really concerned Zhou Wen was a place called Giant City.


    1


    According to the intelligence gathered, an extremely huge city had appeared in the West District. The city walls were more than a thousand meters tall, taller than the tallest building built by humans.


    The city gates were more than a thousand meters tall. It was unknown what kind of creature could open such a door.


    Giant City was surrounded by clouds. Many people who wanted to rush into the city to gather information had already vanished from the world. Up to now, no one knew what was inside the city, and the city gates had never been opened.


    Some people guessed that the giant city was very likely related to the second generation of rulers in ancient Greek mythology, the Titans.


    Ancient Greek mythology had three generations of god-kings. The first generation god-king, Uranus, was the god of the sky. The second generation god-king, Cronus, was the youngest of the twelve Titans. He was an amalgamation of the creative and destructive power of time that allowed him to devour all of time. The third generation god-king was Zeus, known as the king of the gods. He was also the god of the sky and lightning.


    1


    However, the myths in ancient Greece were very chaotic, just like the myths in the East. The god-king¡¯s family was somewhat similar to the Heavenly Courts in the East. It was just a mythical system. The original gods weren¡¯t family members of these god-kings.


    In some versions, the first god to be born was Chaos, the God of Chaos. It was somewhat similar to Pangu in the East.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in the Titans, but he was very interested in the God of Chaos, Chaos.


    This was because Zhou Wen had long suspected that his First Order of Chaos was likely related to Chaos.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen decided to head to the giant city to take a look. It was best if he could find the tiny palm symbol. If he really couldn¡¯t find it, he didn¡¯t plan on entering.


    1


    Although Zhou Wen had the ability to fight Apocalypse-grade creatures, who knew what special abilities they had? It wouldn¡¯t be worth it if he accidentally lost his life inside.


    After getting the coordinates of the giant city, he used spatial teleportation to arrive there.


    Although he already knew that the giant city was definitely magnificent, he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked by its beauty when he stood in front of it.


    I wonder how long it will take for humans to build such a majestic city. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but marvel as he looked at the black city on the mountain peak.


    The mountain was thousands of meters tall, and the city was more than a thousand meters tall. The city was on the mountain, piercing through the clouds. It was like an illusory city in the clouds.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t take note of the name of the mountain. Although the information had it, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t remember such a long name, nor was he in the mood to remember it.


    ¡°You can¡¯t enter this city.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to reach the city gate on the mountain peak, he was suddenly stopped by a voice.


    1


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen turned his head and realized that it was Tsukuyomi walking over with a smile.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I be here?¡± Tsukuyomi asked.


    1


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you already leave Earth after the break out?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Why would Tsukuyomi return when she had already broken out? Wouldn¡¯t she be rejected by Earth¡¯s rules if she returned?


    ¡°Earth¡¯s seal is now pitifully weak. I was born on Earth. What¡¯s so strange about me returning? As for you, why are you here?¡± Tsukuyomi asked.


    1


    ¡°I heard that there¡¯s a giant city here, so I came to take a look. Why did you say that we can¡¯t enter?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t explain in detail.


    ¡°Curiosity kills the cat. Although you now have the ability to fight an Apocalypse-grade creature, it¡¯s best you don¡¯t enter this city. Otherwise, you might become a ghost of humanity,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    ¡°Is this place that terrifying? Why can¡¯t I tell?¡± Zhou Wen pretended to be surprised.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for you to probe. I¡¯ll tell you whatever you want to know. There¡¯s definitely an Apocalypse creature in this city. Furthermore, it¡¯s not an ordinary one.¡± Tsukuyomi saw through Zhou Wen¡¯s thoughts at a glance and curled her lips. ¡°I¡¯ve been here for more than half a month. I¡¯ve seen countless humans enter, but none of them came out. Furthermore, I¡¯ve seen some unbelievable scenes.¡±


    ¡°What scenes?¡± he hurriedly asked.


    ¡°This city¡­ can devour the sky¡­¡± Tsukuyomi said with a strange expression.


    ¡°Devour the sky? How so?¡± Zhou Wen was even more intrigued.


    ¡°You came at the right time. You will see it tomorrow night,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile without telling Zhou Wen the answer.


    ¡°Why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t ask further as he sized up Tsukuyomi.


    ¡°I originally thought that this was the place of the twelve Titan Gods. Perhaps there¡¯s something I need, but from the looks of it, it shouldn¡¯t be. Even if there is, it shouldn¡¯t be just the Titan Gods here. There must be something even more terrifying inside. I¡¯ve already given up,¡± Tsukuyomi said as she shrugged.


    1


    ¡°Then leave first. I¡¯ll take a look around.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he flew to the city¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I tell you not to enter? I¡¯m not stopping you if you are suicidal, but you can consider marrying me and letting me give birth to a son for you before entering. It will also ensure that your Zhou family doesn¡¯t just end with you,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile as she followed Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Where did you learn that from?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know whether to laugh or cry. Tsukuyomi¡¯s strange thoughts were endless.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this how you humans think? What¡¯s so strange about that?¡± Tsukuyomi pretended to be aggrieved and continued like a bullied wife, ¡°Could it be that I misunderstood the saying that there are three ways to be unfilial?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t understand it wrongly, but¡­¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to explain. All he could do was shut up and stare at the giant city¡¯s city gates.


    To his disappointment, he didn¡¯t see the tiny palm symbol on the city gate. However, he had experience. Sometimes, the tiny palm symbol wasn¡¯t necessarily on the city gate. It could also be in a very ordinary spot. Therefore, he walked along the city wall and slowly searched for the tiny palm symbol.


    1


    ¡°You should have more descendants given your excellent genes. If humans are really wiped out in the future, I can also take our children away from Earth to live on other planets. Your descendants will be the future of humanity¡­¡± Tsukuyomi followed behind Zhou Wen and spouted nonsense that gave him a headache.


    He circled the city but didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol. Zhou Wen originally wanted to leave, but when he thought of Tsukuyomi saying that the city could devour the sky, he wanted to see how it did so. Therefore, he stayed behind and waited until the next night.

 Chapter 1822 - Sky-Swallowing Giant City

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to consider such a fair-skinned, beautiful, and long-legged wife?¡± Tsukuyomi looked at Zhou Wen with anticipation.


    Zhou Wen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. Dealing with Tsukuyomi was even more tiring than fighting an Apocalypse-grade creature. Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t handle what she said and didn¡¯t know how to answer.


    2


    Thankfully, time finally passed. Zhou Wen ignored Tsukuyomi and looked at the time. It was two minutes away from the time Tsukuyomi had mentioned.


    It was already midnight, but the weather wasn¡¯t bad. The entire sky was like a piece of glazed blue skin stained with patterns. Apart from some clouds, everything else was so clean that it was intoxicating.


    The stars seemed to become especially dazzling, and there were many stars that were originally invisible.


    After human civilization was gradually destroyed, the night sky became more and more beautiful.


    ¡°Heads up. It¡¯s coming.¡± Tsukuyomi looked in the direction of the giant city and reminded Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had long seen that the black city was emitting black flames. They weren¡¯t real flames, but they weren¡¯t smoke either. They were more like shadows produced after space was distorted.


    Flames rose and filled the sky. The originally quiet starry sky seemed to distort as irregular shadows appeared. The starlight also dimmed significantly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask Tsukuyomi when he saw that there were no other changes to the city.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know soon.¡± Tsukuyomi only gestured for Zhou Wen not to be distracted and to keep his eyes peeled at the giant city.


    1


    Zhou Wen turned his head in puzzlement and happened to see a bizarre scene.


    The huge stone city suddenly seemed to have a heartbeat as the entire city shrank and expanded.


    1


    From the beat, the giant city was clearly bigger than before.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, don¡¯t tell me this giant city is alive?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed and was glad that he didn¡¯t plan on entering.


    If it was really a living creature, wouldn¡¯t he be sending himself into its stomach by entering?


    Every once in a while, the giant city would contract and expand like it was swallowing something. Every time, it would become bigger, making it look extremely bizarre.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if this city is a living creature. I only know that this city isn¡¯t an ancient building. At the very least, no human knew of its existence before it appeared. This is because this city happened to appear on the mountain where the legendary Titan Gods lived. Many people mistook it for a city of the Titan Gods. I observed it for a long time and saw it go from a city about the size of your ancient city to what it is now. It only took half a month,¡± Tsukuyomi explained.


    If it¡¯s not the city of the Titan Gods, what¡¯s the origin of this city? Zhou Wen thought, but he couldn¡¯t gather any clues.


    Although he had studied some ancient Greek myths, he had only had a rough idea. He knew some of the more famous Greek myths, but he couldn¡¯t figure out how this city was related to Greek mythology.


    The giant city continued swallowing and spitting as it grew bigger and bigger. It stood in the darkness like a monster that could devour the sky.


    That¡¯s not right. If this thing keeps growing, will it cover the entire Earth? Zhou Wen suddenly thought of such a possibility and immediately frowned.


    If this fellow continued expanding without limit, it would probably be bigger than Earth itself in less than half a year based on the current projections. Wouldn¡¯t all humans be in trouble then?


    As though reading Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, Tsukuyomi said, ¡°That¡¯s hard to say. I don¡¯t know what this fellow¡¯s origins are either. Ever since it appeared, it has been absorbing energy from the sky every three days. It has never stopped.¡±


    ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I have to resolve this problem as soon as possible to prevent any future troubles,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°How? We haven¡¯t even figured out what it is.¡± Tsukuyomi shook her head.


    I¡¯ll get a Companion Beast to investigate, Zhou Wen thought as he summoned a Companion Beast. It was a very low-level black snake.


    The black snake slithered forward and headed for the city. Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi watched nervously from afar, prepared to fight or escape at any time.


    When the black snake approached the city, there was no reaction from the black city. As usual, the black snake circled the city gates several times without being attacked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try breaking down the door and taking a look?¡± Tsukuyomi seemed intrigued as she stared at the city gates.


    ¡°This is only a Legendary black snake. How can it push open such a door?¡± Although Zhou Wen said that, he still got the black snake to slither towards the door.


    It wasn¡¯t a solution to continue this stalemate. It was good to probe.


    To Zhou Wen and Tsukuyomi¡¯s surprise, just as the black snake touched the door, the thousand-meter-tall door was opened by the black snake with a slight touch.


    Behind the door was a huge palace. Humans couldn¡¯t even be considered ants in front of the palace. It was unknown what kind of creature it was and how huge it was to live in such a palace.


    However, he only saw the palace and no other creatures. All he could do was get the black snake to continue exploring.


    Under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, the black snake crawled along the stone path. An even stranger scene happened.


    As the black snake advanced, its body unknowingly grew bigger.


    The black snake was originally only about a meter long. It wasn¡¯t a Companion Beast that relied on its size to win. It had only traveled about twenty meters into the city, but its body had already exceeded five meters.


    Although its body was rapidly expanding, from the black snake¡¯s feedback, it didn¡¯t feel any discomfort.


    Zhou Wen made the black snake stop. After the black snake stopped, its body continued growing. It didn¡¯t stop expanding just because it stopped.


    This city is rather interesting. Zhou Wen looked at the huge city thoughtfully and continued ordering the black snake to go deeper.


    When the black snake crossed the square and arrived in front of the palace, its body had already become extremely huge. It was probably comparable to Behemoth.


    Logically speaking, the black snake should have become many times stronger given its gigantification. With such a body, even if it just used pure strength, it shouldn¡¯t be difficult to kill an Epic or Mythical creature.


    However, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense the black snake¡¯s level increase. It was still a Legendary Companion Beast.


    The black snake¡¯s huge body finally arrived in front of the palace. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s orders, it reared its head at the palace¡¯s door.


    The palace¡¯s architectural style was completely different from the ancient buildings in the East District. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure anything out from it. All he wanted to do was quickly finish exploring it. He wasn¡¯t interested in studying it carefully.


    The door to the palace was easily pushed open by the black snake again. The scene he saw gave him a fright.


    Inside the palace, there was a huge head hanging in the hall like a crystal chandelier.


    However, the person¡¯s hair was disheveled. His grayish-white hair covered his face, and only his bloody neck could be seen. It looked extremely terrifying. Furthermore, the person¡¯s head was humongous. If Zhou Wen were to enter himself, his body wouldn¡¯t even be fit to be a louse on the person¡¯s head.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the head, he suddenly saw it open its eyes and stare at him.

 Chapter 1823 - Size

    The head had clearly discovered Zhou Wen¡¯s presence, but it seemed to be provoking him. The unbridled gaze of pure evil made Zhou Wen frown slightly.


    Crack! Crack!


    The human head opened its mouth and sucked the huge black snake into its mouth like a noodle before chewing.


    Moments later, the black snake, along with its skin and bones, was swallowed. The palace¡¯s door and city gates closed.


    1


    ¡°That person¡¯s goading sucks.¡± Tsukuyomi could tell as well and spoke with a smile.


    ¡°It riled me up though.¡± With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned another Mythical Companion Beast and made it head for the door.


    The outcome was similar to the last time. The city gates and palace gates opened at a touch. After the Companion Beast entered, its body expanded, but it was ultimately swallowed by the head.


    1


    He summoned several Companion Beasts in a row, but all of them were swallowed by the head without exception. Finally, Zhou Wen summoned a Calamity-grade Companion Beast, but it still didn¡¯t work.


    No matter what level a Companion Beast was, they had no resistance against the head. Even a Calamity shared the same fate. They didn¡¯t even have the chance to fight as they were swallowed in one mouthful.


    ¡°Thankfully, I didn¡¯t enter. Even a Calamity-grade Companion Beast was swallowed in one mouthful. My tiny body can¡¯t withstand a single bite. That head is probably at the Apocalypse grade.¡± Tsukuyomi patted her trembling chest with a look of fear.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to hear her as he summoned another Companion Beast. However, this time, the Companion Beast he summoned was Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it a pity for such a powerful Companion Beast to die?¡± Tsukuyomi sized up Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    1


    ¡°That might not be the case.¡± Zhou Wen ignored Tsukuyomi¡¯s persuasion and got Imperial Lord Behemoth to head for the door.


    When he arrived in front of the city gates, Imperial Lord Behemoth roared angrily as its body suddenly expanded to its largest form.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth pushed open the city gate and walked straight in.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body was like a small mountain to begin with. After entering the huge city, it grew bigger with every step.


    When it arrived at the entrance of the palace, its body was already taller than the two to three thousand-meter-tall palace. It had to crouch low to the ground to enter the palace.


    When the strange giant head saw Imperial Lord Behemoth, its expression immediately changed. Although its facial expression was hidden, its constricted pupils and widened eyes undoubtedly meant that it was extremely alarmed.


    2


    When Imperial Lord Behemoth came in front of the head, it was already much taller than it. It opened its mouth and swallowed the head before chewing.


    3


    The head failed to put up any resistance as it was swallowed alive by Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    1


    ¡°I see. How did you discover it?¡± Tsukuyomi also saw through the trick and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a young man who just came out into this world. How can I really be angered by it? Sacrificing those Companion Beasts was just a test. The distance between every Companion Beast entering the city and the head is actually increased according to a certain ratio. Although that head is capable, it¡¯s impossible for a Calamity-grade Companion Beast not to have a chance of struggling against it even if it¡¯s at the Apocalypse grade.


    1


    ¡°This can only mean that this is a rule. All Companion Beasts that reach the head are already restricted by the rules. They can¡¯t resist at all. This way, the conclusion is very obvious. Any creature that walks in front of the head will be devoured if it¡¯s not as big as the head. If something else is bigger than it, it can only be devoured,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    1


    ¡°Hubby, you¡¯re so smart. I¡¯m liking you more and more.¡± Tsukuyomi pretended to be naive.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Zhou Wen wore a wry smile.


    Thankfully, there were changes in the city again. Zhou Wen hurriedly looked into the city and saw that after the head was swallowed by Imperial Lord Behemoth, a strange change happened in the palace.


    The ground in the innermost area of the palace slowly rose up, turning into a huge throne. The throne seemed to be tailor-made for Imperial Lord Behemoth. It seemed to be custom made for it to sit.


    The palace itself had also become taller and bigger. It was clearly much taller than the other palaces in the city.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and got Imperial Lord Behemoth to walk towards the throne. After it sat on it, a strange ability immediately flowed from the throne to Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen could clearly sense that the energy in Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s body was slowly increasing. Its body seemed to be strengthening.


    This left Zhou Wen somewhat surprised. Imperial Lord Behemoth was already a Companion Beast with 400 stats in the Heaven realm. This was the limit of ordinary Calamity-grade Companion Beasts. If he wanted to improve further and continue raising its stats, he had to have a rare treasure like a ginseng fruit.


    Ordinary dimensional crystals, even Apocalypse-grade dimensional crystals, couldn¡¯t help Imperial Lord Behemoth grow.


    1


    It was unknown what kind of magical power the palace and throne possessed to allow Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s stats to continue rising.


    ¡°I get it. One can receive the energy obtained from the giant city¡¯s sky-devouring by sitting on that throne.¡± Tsukuyomi¡¯s beautiful eyes immediately lit up.


    Without waiting for Zhou Wen to say a word, Tsukuyomi had already summoned an extremely huge Companion Beast and made it head into the city.


    2


    It was a strange ghost train. Zhou Wen had seen it before. It was one of the hundred ghosts.


    Tsukuyomi leaped up and sat in the train, entering the city with the train.


    After the ghost train entered the city, it didn¡¯t go to the palace where Imperial Lord Behemoth was. Instead, it took a detour and headed for another palace.


    The ghost train grew bigger and bigger after entering the palace. When it arrived in front of another palace, it was already bigger than a mountain.


    The door to the palace opened wide, revealing a huge human head inside. However, the ghost train was already bigger than the human head. A huge mouth that was filled with gears opened at the ghost train¡¯s head and swallowed the human head.


    Indeed, a throne appeared in the palace. However, the throne didn¡¯t match the ghost train¡¯s figure. Instead, it matched Tsukuyomi¡¯s figure.


    1


    Tsukuyomi walked out of the ghost train and sat on the throne. Immediately, infinite energy surged into her body.


    1


    ¡°Zhou Wen, quickly come in. The energy here is very strong. If you can stay here for a year or so, you might be able to directly advance to the Apocalypse grade.¡± Tsukuyomi sat on the throne and didn¡¯t forget to call out to Zhou Wen.


    2


    Zhou Wen was somewhat tempted, but he didn¡¯t have Tsukuyomi¡¯s ghost train. If he entered and became so big, wouldn¡¯t he end up a giant if he couldn¡¯t return to his original size? That wouldn¡¯t be fun.


    1


    Furthermore, with his size, it was probably impossible for him to be bigger than the head after entering. When that happened, he would be the one devoured.


    I wonder if my abilities can crack the city¡¯s nomological powers. Although Zhou Wen felt that he wasn¡¯t afraid of the city¡¯s rules, he wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk.


    1

 Chapter 1824 - Invincible Existence

    The giant city is quite interesting. It doesn¡¯t depend on strength but on size. If it were an extremely huge Mortal creature, wouldn¡¯t it be able to dominate the giant city? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    However, it was unrealistic when one thought about it. No matter how large a Mortal creature was, they maxed out at the size of dinosaurs or whales. It was impossible for them to compete in size with a mythical creature like Behemoth.


    1


    Just as Zhou Wen was considering how he could enter the city without changing his size, he saw the city gates suddenly close. The void shadows that filled the sky vanished. Dawn had broken.


    Zhou Wen was immediately alarmed, afraid that something would happen to Tsukuyomi and Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    Thankfully, he could still sense Imperial Lord Behemoth¡¯s existence. It likely wasn¡¯t in danger.


    I can only wait for the next opening of the city. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the rules of the city¡¯s opening, so he could only stay here and wait for it to open again.


    ¡°Li Xuan, do you have any huge Companion Beasts on your side?¡± Zhou Wen contacted his friends and told them about the city.


    There were a total of twelve palaces in the city. Now, only two of them were occupied and there were still ten palaces available. It would be best if someone could use them.


    1


    Unfortunately, huge Companion Beasts weren¡¯t easy to find. The largest Companion Beast an ordinary person had was the size of an elephant or whale. Such Companion Beasts would probably be devoured when they walked in front of the huge human head.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have many that could match the size of the human head. Only Torch Dragon¡¯s size had the absolute advantage.


    The remaining Companion Beasts¡ªeven the dragons¡ªweren¡¯t even the size of the human head.


    Li Xuan and company didn¡¯t have any especially large Companion Beasts. The biggest was a common dragon Companion Beast from the West District. It wasn¡¯t much bigger than a dinosaur, so it was impossible for it to occupy a palace.


    An Sheng asked Zhou Wen to leave a few spots for him if they were still available.


    Zhou Wen replied that there were still many spots. Even if Torch Dragon and he occupied two more spots, there were still eight empty palaces.


    After a while, An Sheng sent another message: ¡°Young Master Wen, according to our team¡¯s calculations, the giant city should be related to the twelve Titan Gods. If you have a way to enter and occupy the palace, you don¡¯t have to worry about your size. If our calculations are correct, you will return to your normal size after leaving the giant city.¡±


    1


    ¡°Got it.¡± Zhou Wen had also thought of this possibility, but he wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk.


    He originally wanted Imperial Lord Behemoth to come out, but the city had closed too quickly and he hadn¡¯t had the time.


    He would get Imperial Lord Behemoth to come out the next time the city opened. That way, he would naturally know the outcome.


    While Zhou Wen waited in front of the huge city, he sat under a nearby tree to grind dungeons, hoping to find other Apocalypse-grade dungeons. However, some dungeons disappointed him. They weren¡¯t as strong as he imagined.


    1


    I wonder how strong the Guardian in Ant City is now. Zhou Wen thought of Ant City¡¯s Guardian.


    1


    However, that thing was a Guardian, not a dimensional creature. It was hard to say if it would drop a World Fragment if he killed it.


    Since he had nothing to do, Zhou Wen activated the Ant City dungeon, planning on visiting Ant City¡¯s Guardian.


    1


    He carefully arrived at the spot where Ant City¡¯s Guardian was, but he wasn¡¯t attacked by her. This surprised Zhou Wen.


    On careful look, he realized that she was sitting cross-legged above Ant City. Her appearance was no different from a human, like a graceful girl.


    However, her eyes were closed as she sat in a lotus position like an immortal. Her body emitted a strange halo.


    It was like an immortal glow protecting her body, but also like a Buddhistic glow that was holy and inviolable.


    Sensing Zhou Wen¡¯s arrival, Ant City¡¯s Guardian opened her eyes and glanced at him. She still had no intention of attacking him.


    1


    Her previously orange-red pupils had now turned crystalline black.


    After glancing at him, she closed her eyes again as though she didn¡¯t want to bother with him.


    Since he was already here, how could he leave after taking a look? Zhou Wen summoned Prisoner and got him to blast Ant City¡¯s Guardian with his strongest strength.


    Prisoner¡¯s long silver hair danced like a devil. Silver light bloomed in his eyes like two silver lasers that instantly shot at Ant City¡¯s Guardian.


    1


    Ant City¡¯s Guardian remained sitting there without moving. She opened her eyes again and looked straight at Prisoner¡¯s silver beam without dodging.


    However, under her gaze, the silver beams shot out from Prisoner¡¯s eyes collapsed like pixels.


    1


    In the next second, even Prisoner¡¯s body disintegrated into countless pixels. He died.


    What ability is this? Even the Apocalypse-grade Prisoner can¡¯t withstand a single blow from her. He couldn¡¯t even withstand a glance. This fellow has definitely advanced to the Apocalypse grade. Furthermore, it¡¯s not an ordinary Apocalypse grade¡­ Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    1


    The growth speed of Ant City¡¯s Guardian was terrifying. He felt that he had no hope of killing her in this lifetime.


    1


    Zhou Wen summoned a group of Companion Beasts to attack Ant City¡¯s Guardian, but with just a glance, all the Companion Beasts turned into pixels and shattered. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t escape the same fate. The game screen went black again.


    What a sick fellow. Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. The earliest dungeon turned out to be the most difficult one.


    In the past, he could exchange a few blows with Ant City¡¯s Guardian. It even looked like there was a slight chance of killing her.


    Now, Zhou Wen was many times stronger than before, but he realized that the difficulty of killing Ant City¡¯s Guardian was even higher than before. There wasn¡¯t even a sliver of possibility.


    1


    He tried a few more times, but he still suffered a crushing defeat. Ant City¡¯s Guardian didn¡¯t even move a finger before she killed Zhou Wen with her gaze.


    An Sheng¡¯s arrival made him feel much better.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, how¡¯s the situation here?¡± An Sheng came to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and sized up the huge city.


    ¡°Nothing has changed. The city hasn¡¯t re-opened yet. Imperial Lord Behemoth is still alive inside,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. It¡¯s all thanks to you. If we can successfully evolve this batch of Companion Beasts to the Calamity grade, it will be an extremely important bargaining chip for the entire An family,¡± An Sheng said as he summoned six Companion Beasts.


    Although the six Companion Beasts looked different, it was obvious that they were from the same species¡ªan extremely huge giant.


    1


    ¡°Do you think they can defeat that head with their size?¡±


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t be a problem. What Companion Beasts are these?¡± Zhou Wen looked up and sized up the giants. Although their sizes weren¡¯t comparable to Imperial Lord Behemoth, they were about half the size of it after its gigantification. They were more than enough to deal with the huge human head.


    ¡°These are all Giant Companion Beasts in Norse mythology. They are evolvable Mythical creatures, but it¡¯s rather troublesome to evolve them. There aren¡¯t enough resources to support them. Now, if we can use the giant city to turn them into Calamity-grade creatures, we won¡¯t have to worry about lacking laborers in the future¡­¡± An Sheng said excitedly.


    1


    ¡°You want to use a Calamity-grade Giant for manual labor?¡± Even Zhou Wen felt that An Sheng was being too extravagant.


    ¡°It¡¯s rather difficult to use a dimensional zone¡¯s energy. Progress has always been very slow. You¡¯ve helped us resolve a huge problem.¡± An Sheng smiled and said, ¡°Although Overseer didn¡¯t say anything, I can tell that he¡¯s very happy.¡±


    ¡°Whether he¡¯s happy or not has nothing to do with me. I just don¡¯t want to waste it,¡± Zhou Wen said with a pout.


    1


    The two of them waited outside the city. After another night, the city underwent another change when night fell again.

 Chapter 1825 - Supreme Dark Hemisphere

    Just like the last time, the strange flames that could devour the sky rose up again, distorting the entire sky into a demonic scene.


    Zhou Wen summoned Torch Dragon and got it to enter the city first and head for one of the palaces inside.


    Torch Dragon¡¯s body was extremely huge to begin with, so the giant city¡¯s effects on it were more pronounced. After slamming open the palace door, they realized that the head inside was clearly much bigger than the two heads from before. It was unknown if it was because the heads were growing or if different palaces had heads of different sizes.


    Thankfully, Torch Dragon was huge enough. It was still much bigger than the human head. It swallowed it in one mouthful and became the new owner of the palace.


    An Sheng watched from the side the entire time. He roughly estimated that his six giants shouldn¡¯t have much of a problem.


    However, An Sheng was still very careful. He first let a Frost Giant enter the city. Nothing abnormal happened. After entering the palace, the Frost Giant was slightly bigger than the human head, allowing it to successfully occupy a palace.


    1


    The remaining five Giants also entered the giant city one by one and quickly occupied the other five palaces. These giants were barely bigger than the human heads, so nothing unexpected happened.


    Zhou Wen summoned Imperial Lord Behemoth out. After it left the palace, its body shrank bit by bit. After leaving the city gates, it returned to its original size.


    As such, Zhou Wen was immediately overjoyed. As long as his body wasn¡¯t affected, he had a way to enter the palace.


    ¡°From the looks of it, our guess is right. This huge city should be the territory of the legendary twelve Titan Gods. There¡¯s Titan power in the palace. Unfortunately, humans aren¡¯t big enough. Otherwise, we could consider entering to receive the energy,¡± An Sheng said after some thought.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s not difficult to become bigger.¡± Zhou Wen glanced at Imperial Lord Behemoth beside him as his body suddenly began to change.


    His body rapidly expanded as he transformed into the likes of Imperial Lord Behemoth. Soon, two identical Imperial Lord Behemoths appeared outside the city gates.


    The power of the Demon God Bloodline Catalog had already become Zhou Wen¡¯s innate ability. It wasn¡¯t difficult to simulate a dimensional creature.


    1


    Even if he didn¡¯t use this method, Zhou Wen could transform into the devil-like Supreme Hell King. That also provided a body that could grow bigger.


    After getting An Sheng to wait outside, Zhou Wen entered the city with Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    After entering, Zhou Wen immediately realized that something was amiss. The Imperial Lord Behemoth beside him was affected by the city again, but his body remained unchanged.


    1


    After some thought, he knew what was going on. The rules of the giant city were equally ineffective against him.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen returned to his original appearance and stopped simulating Imperial Lord Behemoth.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth quickly returned to its original palace. There was no longer a huge head there. It sat on the throne again.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in a rush to head to the other palaces. Instead, he circled the city to see if there was anything else other than the twelve palaces.


    After circling the periphery of the palace, he didn¡¯t discover any other buildings. Only when he walked to the center of the palace did he discover something strange.


    The twelve palaces surrounded a square. There were no monuments or pillars on the square, only lines engraved on the ground. Starting from the center of the square, they spread out in a radial pattern.


    In the middle of the lines was a black, hemispherical object that covered the ground. The hemisphere was dark and lusterless, like a dark shadow. Light that landed on it was absorbed, giving one the illusion that it was a black hole.


    The power that distorted the sky was emitted from the dark hemisphere.


    Zhou Wen sized up the dark hemisphere and searched his mind for information related to the twelve Titan Gods. There seemed to be only one thing that was related to a dark hemisphere.


    1


    Could this thing be related to Gaia? Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    There were many legends about Gaia. The Mother of Gods, Earth Mother, and the grandmother of all the gods. There was a saying that Gaia was a goddess alongside Chaos. There was also a saying that Gaia was the first god born from Katos.


    1


    Regardless of which theory it was, Gaia¡¯s status was extremely lofty among the Nordic pantheon.


    1


    Whether the dark hemisphere was related to Gaia was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. He didn¡¯t plan on taking the risk to study it.


    After making no other discoveries, he headed for a palace and pushed open the door to see the huge human head inside.


    When the giant head saw Zhou Wen, it opened its bloody mouth to devour him. Zhou Wen casually waved his hand and the sword beam sliced the giant head into two.


    The throne rose and Zhou Wen sat on it. Immediately, strange energy surged into Zhou Wen¡¯s body, making him feel the energy in his body constantly increase.


    From the looks of it, this thing works for me. Perhaps I can really advance to the Apocalypse grade here. Zhou Wen felt the energy in his body surge and was immediately overjoyed. He immediately had other thoughts.


    1


    Tsukuyomi, Imperial Lord Behemoth, Torch Dragon, and the six Giants. Together with Zhou Wen himself, they occupied a total of ten palaces. There were still two palaces left.


    Since Zhou Wen could ignore the rules of the giant city, he didn¡¯t need to worry about anything. He summoned Demonic Neonate, hoping that she could occupy this palace before heading to the other palaces.


    1


    To his surprise, after Demonic Neonate was summoned, her black eyes sized up her surroundings before she rushed out of the palace door and headed for the dark hemisphere.


    Oh no! Zhou Wen knew that something bad was about to happen as he hurriedly chased after her.


    1


    When he caught up to Demonic Neonate, she had already arrived in front of the hemisphere. Thankfully, she didn¡¯t do anything. She just stood there and sized up the hemisphere.


    ¡°Neonate, don¡¯t do anything rash.¡± Zhou Wen exhorted Demonic Neonate not to act rashly.


    2


    This wasn¡¯t a game. If anything went wrong, the two of them would lose their lives.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t move, but the extreme dark hemisphere suddenly changed. Twisted shadows surged out crazily and enveloped Demonic Neonate and Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he hurriedly picked up Demonic Neonate and wanted to teleport away. To his surprise, no matter how he used spatial teleportation, he failed to leave his spot.


    The surrounding space turned dark as though they had been devoured by the dark hemisphere.


    I should have known. One shouldn¡¯t be greedy; I shouldn¡¯t have summoned Demonic Neonate. Zhou Wen hugged Demonic Neonate and looked around helplessly. There was nothing but darkness. Even though Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze could penetrate the cosmos and his consciousness could cover the entire planet, he couldn¡¯t see or feel anything in the darkness.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you.¡± Suddenly, a strange voice sounded in the boundless darkness. It was impossible to determine its location as though it came from every direction.

 Chapter 1826 - : Gaia

    ¡°Who is it?¡± Zhou Wen frowned as he stared at the nothingness.


    Suddenly, in the depths of the darkness, a white light gradually lit up. It approached from afar and dimmed to a glow.


    A figure wrapped in white light slowly walked out from the darkness.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally found you, Child of Dimension.¡± The blurry figure¡¯s gaze seemed to focus on Demonic Neonate.


    1


    ¡°Child of Dimension?¡± Zhou Wen immediately understood that the person the figure was looking for wasn¡¯t him, but Demonic Neonate. Demonic Neonate¡¯s Life Providence was Child of Dimension.


    1


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t react. She stared at the figure and was eager to kill it.


    1


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯m Gaia.¡± The figure sighed and continued, ¡°I never expected Child of Dimension to be reduced to such a state.¡±


    ¡°Why are you looking for her?¡± Zhou Wen stared warily at the figure. He still couldn¡¯t figure out Gaia¡¯s intentions for Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Only the Child of Dimension can restore balance to the entire world,¡± Gaia said.


    1


    ¡°What do you mean? Is the world abnormal now?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Do you think it¡¯s normal for a Child of Dimension to be reduced to a toy?¡± Gaia¡¯s tone was filled with sorrow.


    1


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s heart raced as he seemed to approach the truth of the world.


    Gaia seemed to have not communicated with anyone for a long time and wanted to express her thoughts. Upon hearing that, she continued, ¡°Back then, that terrifying woman tore through the air and forcefully imprisoned the various rulers in her ship, throwing the world into chaos. She nearly overturned the entire dimension, causing the Child of Dimension to lose the favor she should have received¡­¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression changed when he heard that. The story Gaia told was even more bizarre and terrifying than The Thearch¡¯s.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen knew that the woman had not only defeated The Thearch, but she had also captured the rulers of many worlds.


    World-level lifeforms were existences that maintained dimensional order. They were all super deities like Gaia.


    1


    Because they were imprisoned, Earth and the dimension fell into chaos. All sorts of dimensional zones slowly broke out.


    Zhou Wen asked Gaia which world-level creatures were imprisoned on the ship. Every name Gaia mentioned left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    ¡°Gaia, God, Shiva¡­¡± Those were supreme existences in Earth¡¯s myths, and they were only a small sample.


    1


    There were also some things that Gaia didn¡¯t know because she had only seen a portion of them. After being imprisoned, they fell asleep. She wasn¡¯t sure which world-level lifeforms the woman had captured and brought onto the ship.


    However, the ship later encountered an accident, allowing these world-level creatures to escape and return to their original worlds.


    However, due to the damage they suffered while imprisoned, most of these world-level creatures fell into a deep sleep.


    1


    ¡°Who is that woman? Could it be that she¡¯s really powerful enough to easily defeat so many Apocalypse-grade experts?¡± According to Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding, the so-called world-level was likely at the Apocalypse grade. Furthermore, it was very likely a peak Apocalypse.


    1


    ¡°Perhaps she¡¯s not that strong, but she can break the rules. Furthermore, many world-level creatures were sealed by her in their slumber. If not for the Immortal Thearch exceeding her expectations and being on the brink of breaking through, her plan would have long succeeded. The Child of Dimension would no longer exist.¡± As Gaia spoke, she glanced at Demonic Neonate as though she pitied her.


    1


    After obtaining information from Gaia, Zhou Wen finally had a complete outline.


    Not only did the woman who steered the ship capture Earth¡¯s Companion Egg, but she had also captured world-level creatures from across the entire dimension, hoping to overturn the entire dimension.


    1


    Demonic Neonate was originally fated to be the protagonist of the dimension, but because of the woman¡¯s destruction, she had fallen to the state Zhou Wen saw her in.


    Everything that woman had done was to save her child, which was An Jing. Perhaps her goal wasn¡¯t just to make An Jing an Earth Companion Beast. She might have a bigger scheme.


    An accident had happened midway, the Immortal Thearch that Gaia mentioned was very likely The Thearch. Although she had lost to that woman, she had completely messed up the woman¡¯s plans.


    1


    This was why the world was now in such a state.


    It could be said that the present world was an accident. Without that woman, Demonic Neonate would be the strongest existence in this world and the protagonist of the entire dimension.


    As expected of The Thearch. Zhou Wen praised inwardly, but he was also somewhat worried.


    In less than a year, The Thearch would be able to escape. When that happened, it was hard to say if it would be a blessing or a curse for humanity.


    1


    ¡°Since the world is now in this state, why are you still looking for her?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but glance at Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Only by restoring the Child of Dimension can this world return to normal,¡± Gaia said as her body emitted white light.


    The white light flew towards Demonic Neonate. After touching Demonic Neonate¡¯s body, it immediately dissipated like snowflakes landing on fire.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Gaia was actually transmitting her energy to Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t stand on ceremony and directly absorbed Gaia¡¯s energy for herself.


    Gaia¡¯s projection weakened. Moments later, the projection flickered. After a while, she was almost invisible.


    ¡°You trust her that much?¡± Zhou Wen was very surprised that Gaia wanted to sacrifice herself to help Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°The reason for my existence is to maintain the order of this world¡­ If this world doesn¡¯t exist, what¡¯s the point of my existence¡­ The damage to the Child of Dimension is worse than I imagined. I haven¡¯t completely recovered my strength. From the looks of it, there¡¯s no way to completely repair the damage to the Child of Dimension¡­ You have to be careful¡­¡± Gaia said intermittently.


    ¡°Be careful of what?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°Be careful of the world-level creatures on the ship¡­ It¡¯s very likely that some of them have already sided with the woman¡­¡± Gaia¡¯s voice became weaker and weaker until it was completely inaudible. The projection completely vanished.


    1


    Zhou Wen and Demonic Neonate also escaped from the darkness. The darkness remained in front of them as though everything had been a dream.


    There are traitors among the world-level lifeforms on the ship? Zhou Wen frowned inwardly.


    Those lifeforms were extremely terrifying existences. The only one Zhou Wen had seen was Sweetie. He never expected Sweetie to have been on that ship.


    2


    Unfortunately, he didn¡¯t know where Sweetie had gone. If he could find her, he might be able to obtain more useful information.


    Looking at Demonic Neonate¡¯s stats, there were no changes at all. Gaia had sacrificed herself; yet, she still couldn¡¯t allow Demonic Neonate to continue growing. He didn¡¯t know how she could advance to the Apocalypse grade.

 Chapter 1827 - Heaven Ascension Steps

    After Gaia¡¯s consciousness vanished, the city continued operating as usual, but something seemed to be missing.


    Zhou Wen led Demonic Neonate to the palace and killed the giant heads in the remaining two palaces. One of the palaces was left for Doctor Darkness.


    1


    The effects of the palace on top-notch Companion Beasts were very ordinary. The energy absorbed by an Apocalypse-grade Companion Beast like Prisoner wasn¡¯t enough to support their continued growth.


    It was somewhat effective on those at the Calamity grade. It allowed them to exceed the 400-stat limit, but it required a long wait.


    The effects on low-level Companion Beasts were obvious. The reason Zhou Wen chose Doctor Darkness was mainly because this Companion Beast¡¯s companion form was a soul. It was very convenient to use, and its skills were relatively rare and useful.


    Zhou Wen occupied the last palace, but he felt that the effects were very weak. It was impossible to boost him into the Apocalypse grade. Therefore, he had no choice but to choose another Companion Beast to replace him as he left the city.


    1


    In order to prevent others from coming to the city, An Sheng stayed outside to guard it. If someone discovered the secret of the city and wanted to enter to replace the Companion Beasts that were receiving energy, he could inform Zhou Wen in time.


    He had gained plenty on this excursion to the giant city. The improvement of the Companion Beasts was secondary; the main goal was to allow Zhou Wen to figure out everything.


    Now, it was basically confirmed that The Thearch was that Immortal Thearch. N¨¹wa didn¡¯t actually exist. Or rather, N¨¹wa was Earth itself. An Jing¡¯s mother wasn¡¯t N¨¹wa.


    1


    As for where the woman came from, it was difficult to determine.


    From the information obtained, the woman wasn¡¯t a creature from Earth or even the dimension. It was very likely that she came from another world.


    3


    Lost Immortal Sutra and the mysterious phone were things that women had brought. Perhaps they didn¡¯t belong to this world at all.


    As for where the woman came from, only she herself knew or those who had been on the ship had some sliver of knowledge.


    Wang Mingyuan and the principal should have boarded the ship after the crash or seen the wreckage of the ship. What did they obtain there? Zhou Wen really wanted to seek them out for questions, but unfortunately, the principal¡¯s whereabouts were unknown. Wang Mingyuan probably wouldn¡¯t tell him anything.


    Let¡¯s think of a way to advance to the Apocalypse grade first. When Earth truly suffers the full breakout, perhaps an answer to everything can be obtained. Zhou Wen continued analyzing the dimensional zone information Li Xuan had brought back, hoping to find a place suitable for him to advance to the Apocalypse grade.


    Although many dimensional zones seemed to be at the Apocalypse grade, he found them unlikely after some analysis.


    Just as he was feeling vexed, the Cube activated again.


    1


    The same scene appeared on the Cube¡¯s screens all over the world. It left people confused.


    It was a path, a path that led to the sky.


    Stone steps floated in the air without any support. They spiraled into the sky with no end in sight. There was nothing else.


    1


    Just as everyone was feeling puzzled, a figure appeared on the screen. It had white hair and white clothes. It clearly looked human, but there were crystalline dragon horns on its head.


    Who else could it be but Wang Mingyuan? He walked up the stone steps step by step like an immortal in an immortal palace.


    ¡°Old Zhou, your teacher is up to no good again,¡± Li Xuan teased.


    1


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to joke with him as he stared at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s figure in thought.


    The place in the scene was undoubtedly not on Earth. It should be the dimension, but he didn¡¯t know where it was.


    Many people were paying attention to Wang Mingyuan¡¯s attempt, but to everyone¡¯s surprise, Wang Mingyuan walked up without encountering any trouble. No creatures appeared to attack him.


    He circled again and again. Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t in a rush. After walking for an unknown period of time, he finally arrived at the end of the Heaven Ascension Steps.


    At the end was a floating platform. There were no buildings or creatures.


    1


    Wang Mingyuan stood at the end without moving, but the Cube¡¯s screen automatically switched to the rankings.


    The rankings only had Wang Mingyuan¡¯s name occupying first place.


    ¡°Why is the Cube¡¯s challenge so easy this time? All one needs to do is to reach the end of the stone steps to complete the challenge?¡±


    ¡°There has to be something odd about this, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s too simple. Are they competing to see who can walk faster?¡±


    Humans discussed spiritedly. Many people were tempted. Such a simple trial seemed to be something anyone could complete. As long as one¡¯s stamina was good enough, it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to finish the flight of stairs.


    1


    Although many people suspected that there was something odd about the stone steps and that it wasn¡¯t easy to scale them, it didn¡¯t stop people from making attempts.


    The Cube lit up again as a human stood on the stone steps.


    1


    Everyone stared at the human, wanting to see if there was anything strange about the stone steps. However, the person stood motionless on the first stone step as though he had been petrified.


    Just as everyone was feeling puzzled, the stone step beneath his feet plummeted. The person stood on the stone step in a daze and fell with it until he completely vanished.


    1


    Soon, the stone step rose again, but the person was nowhere to be seen. The Cube¡¯s screen changed as the challenge ended.


    ¡°There¡¯s indeed something strange, but what¡¯s going on? Could that person have been immobilized?¡±


    ¡°This is too strange. After all, he¡¯s a Terror-grade human. How did it end just like that?¡± Those who knew him were alarmed.


    1


    No one knew what was going on, so no human dared to challenge the level again.


    Zhou Wen could tell that there was definitely a taboo power on the stone steps. It wasn¡¯t something an ordinary person could walk up.


    Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to compete with Wang Mingyuan, but there was a tiny palm symbol on the stone steps. It was on the side of the first stone step.


    1


    He attempted to take a picture of the tiny palm symbol with his phone, but unfortunately, the Cube¡¯s broadcast didn¡¯t allow the phone to download the dungeon.


    Just as he was considering making the trip himself, the Cube lit up again. However, this time, it wasn¡¯t a human, but a creature from the dimension.


    It was unknown what creature it was. Its entire body was wrapped in a loose gray robe. Even its head was covered, leaving only a pair of white, empty eyes like a blind person without pupils.


    He stood on the stone step and wasn¡¯t frozen like the human who had made the previous attempt. He walked up the steps one at a time.


    However, his footsteps were extremely heavy, as though he was carrying a mountain. It was extremely difficult for him to walk, unlike Wang Mingyuan¡¯s relaxed steps.


    1


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me this thing has the same nature as the Gravitational Stairs?¡± Li Xuan said after watching for a while.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that simple. It isn¡¯t because of gravity that he has such a difficult time walking,¡± Zhou Wen said as he stared at the screen.

 Chapter 1828 - Honey Trap

    ¡°Isn¡¯t it gravity?¡± Li Xuan looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°No, if it were gravity, that human would have been pressed to the ground. It would be impossible for him to stand there,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Seems tricky if it¡¯s not gravity.¡± Li Xuan scratched his head. ¡°Thankfully, someone else is scouting. Let¡¯s wait and see.¡±


    The alien on the stone steps was still advancing, but his speed was getting slower and slower. After a while, one could see the stone steps behind him falling one after another. His speed could no longer keep up with the speed at which the stone steps behind him fell.


    In his horror, he tried with all his might to head higher, but he couldn¡¯t walk fast. His footsteps became heavier and heavier.


    Finally, the stone steps beneath his feet fell into the bottomless abyss, taking him along with it.


    Without any struggle, the stone steps and the creature vanished. The Cube¡¯s scene vanished, and the creature¡¯s attempt at clearing the level ended in failure.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you can¡¯t use abilities other than your body there. I¡¯m afraid you have to rely on pure physical strength to walk up,¡± Li Xuan analyzed.


    1


    Zhou Wen nodded in agreement. The creature that cleared the level was likely at the Calamity grade. He hadn¡¯t used any abilities from beginning to end. It was obvious that there was a very powerful taboo power restriction on the stone steps.


    2


    ¡°One can¡¯t use their abilities and can only rely on their physical strength, but it has nothing to do with gravity. What kind of power is it that slows down the challengers?¡± Li Xuan muttered to himself.


    ¡°That can only be determined by giving it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Li Xuan jumped in fright and hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t do anything rash. This Cube battle is clearly different from the past. If you don¡¯t succeed, you will definitely die. There¡¯s no third path. It won¡¯t be too late to go after figuring out the stone steps.¡±


    1


    ¡°I know.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the Cube¡¯s screen and guessed all the possibilities.


    The various human factions were also drawn to the Cube¡¯s challenge, and although the challenge looked very dangerous, those with acumen realized that this might be an opportunity.


    Walking on the stone steps didn¡¯t allow one to use all sorts of abilities. They could only rely on their bodies. This restriction had its pros and cons. If one¡¯s body was strong enough, this restriction was a form of protection.


    There were suddenly more humans challenging the Cube, but most of them weren¡¯t true powerhouses. Among the challengers, there were very few at the Terror grade.


    Anyone with experience could tell that some organization was scouting out a path.


    1


    However, the cost of scouting was rather high. In just half a day, more than ten humans had died.


    The deaths of these challengers weren¡¯t completely fruitless. Although most of them could only stand on the stone steps and move a little, two of them managed to take two to three steps.


    ¡°I wonder who is so heinous to use human lives as a pathfinder.¡± Li Xuan couldn¡¯t stand it any longer as he cursed softly.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t like this method of sacrificing lives, but other than that, he couldn¡¯t think of any other way.


    The Cube lit up again. Just as the two of them thought that another human was being used as a pathfinder, they realized that the person clearing the level was a female dimensional creature.


    1


    Drought Demon Fairy is free! Zhou Wen was slightly surprised when he saw the dimensional creature.


    1


    The Zhang family had always sealed off the place where Drought Demon Fairy slept, and although they knew that it was only a matter of time before she gained freedom, they never expected her to appear so quickly.


    If such an existence had already broken out, it was hard to say how long Earth could last.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. We tried our best.¡± Zhang Chunqiu walked over.


    ¡°It¡¯s only a matter of time. Such an existence can¡¯t be suppressed.¡± Zhou Wen had previously interacted with Drought Demon Fairy. He knew that if she really wanted to gain freedom, the Zhang family definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to suppress her. It was just that she hadn¡¯t left for some reason.


    Drought Demon Fairy walked up the stone steps. It was much easier than the dimensional creature from before. She walked even faster than Wang Mingyuan.


    1


    However, as she approached the floating platform, Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s speed slowed down significantly.


    It was obvious that Drought Demon Fairy was slightly inferior to Wang Mingyuan. Wang Mingyuan had maintained the same speed from beginning to end. Clearly, he didn¡¯t give his all.


    1


    However, from the looks of it, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for Drought Demon Fairy to walk onto the floating platform. Her strength was equally shocking.


    No one expected Drought Demon Fairy to slow down significantly when there were less than 20 steps to the floating platform. When she reached the last few stone steps, she had to take a break after every step.


    It was originally believed that the speed at which the stone steps fell wouldn¡¯t be able to catch up to her, but the final stretch had taken her too long. The falling stone steps were about to catch up.


    Zhou Wen and company felt their hearts race when they saw this. When Drought Demon Fairy reached the last stone step, she stood there for a long time without moving. She didn¡¯t take the step onto the platform.


    The stone steps behind fell faster and faster¡ªthere were less than ten stone steps left.


    Just as everyone thought that Drought Demon Fairy was about to die, she finally took the final step and stepped onto the platform.


    1


    The moment Drought Demon Fairy stepped onto the platform, the flames on her body erupted like a volcano that had been suppressed for a long time.


    The flames that surged into the sky dyed the entire sky blood-red as though the entire void was burning.


    She¡¯s advancing to the Apocalypse grade¡­ Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes focused.


    1


    At that moment, the shock Zhou Wen felt was unimaginable. She had only taken one stone step, but she had already begun advancing to the Apocalypse grade. She made it look easy.


    It wasn¡¯t just Zhou Wen. The human powerhouses around the world were about to go crazy.


    Anyone could tell that Drought Demon Fairy was advancing. Anyone who knew Drought Demon Fairy knew that she was definitely at the peak of the Calamity grade. Another advancement meant the Apocalypse grade.


    1


    ¡°What kind of place is that stone staircase?¡± Zhang Chunqiu was dumbfounded. No one knew Drought Demon Fairy better than the Zhang family. Because of this, no one was more surprised than the Zhang family.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid something big is about to happen.¡± Zhou Wen sighed.


    After walking a certain distance, one could advance to the Apocalypse grade. To humans, this was an unimaginable temptation.


    Many talented humans might not be able to touch the threshold of the Calamity grade even after working hard for decades.


    Now, as long as one walked a certain distance, they could advance to the even more unattainable Apocalypse grade. How many humans could resist such a huge temptation?


    1


    The stronger a human was, the more they couldn¡¯t resist this temptation.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that it wasn¡¯t that easy to advance to the Apocalypse grade. To human experts, it was a huge honey trap. Countless human elites would risk their lives and ultimately pay the price with their lives.


    The shocking flames on Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s body were still rising crazily. The entire world seemed to have turned into purgatory.


    And she was the ruler of that purgatory.


    The Cube¡¯s screen changed as a second name appeared on the rankings.


    Drought Demon Fairy was ranked second.


    1

 Chapter 1829 - Absolute Order

    Zhou Wen could predict what would happen next. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to pay attention to the Cube¡¯s battle. He continued searching for his dimensional zone to prepare for his advancement to the Apocalypse grade.


    Li Xuan came to Zhou Wen from time to time, telling him who had died while challenging the stone steps.


    The only good news was that Wang Lu had already moved the Wang family to Guide Ancient City, making it even more prosperous.


    A portion of the Zhang family and the Xia family had already moved over. However, these two families had too many businesses. Many of them needed time to be slowly moved.


    1


    In the deepest depths of the dimension¡¯s endless sea was a large group of strange underwater palaces.


    A white figure slowly approached the underwater palace.


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, are you really going to kill me?¡± In front of the palace, a group of merfolk-like creatures glared angrily at the white figure. All of them were indignant, but their eyes hid deep fear.


    1


    ¡°Submit or perish. Choose one,¡± Wang Mingyuan said calmly as he looked at the merfolk-like creatures.


    ¡°You have already ascended the Destiny Platform. As long as you wait for the final outcome, you can become the king of all species. Why are you forcing us into a dead end?¡± the leading merman roared at Wang Mingyuan.


    1


    ¡°The outcome needs to be created yourself, not wait for it to be handed to you on a platter. Even the heavens can¡¯t control my life, much less decide who I am.¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently, ¡°Whether the Sea Gods submit or perish depends on your single word.¡±


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, don¡¯t think that you are really invincible in the dimension. In this Endless Sea, our Sea God race is an invincible existence. If we give it our all and use the power of this Endless Sea, even if we can¡¯t kill you, we will definitely severely injure you. When that happens, do you think those fellows who were forced to submit will still obey you?¡± The leading Sea God continued in a deep voice, ¡°Us Sea Gods have always maintained a neutral stance. We have never fought with anyone for anything. You are the master of the dimension. We only need a small living space. It will definitely not affect you. Why are you making things difficult for us?¡±


    1


    Wang Mingyuan said unhurriedly, ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as neutrality in this world. If it¡¯s not within the rules, it¡¯s outside the rules. So-called neutrality means that you don¡¯t have to keep to the rules. If you don¡¯t, you will be my enemy. Therefore, you only have two choices. You can join the order I established or you don¡¯t need to abide by the order.¡±


    Only the dead didn¡¯t need to abide by any order. The Sea Gods naturally understood what Wang Mingyuan meant.


    ¡°Since you can¡¯t tolerate us, let¡¯s be destroyed together.¡± The Sea Gods raised the tridents in their hands and roared in unison. A strange power rose and stirred the entire Endless Sea.


    1


    The Endless Sea suddenly seemed to come to life. With the Sea Gods as its center, it transformed into a huge maelstrom.


    The maelstrom was enough to devour planets. It was like a blue black hole that swept through everything and devoured everything.


    Wang Mingyuan stood in the middle of the maelstrom and allowed the water to strike him, but he seemed to be frozen in place. No matter how powerful the vortex was, it couldn¡¯t move his body at all.


    ¡°Only Absolute Strength can create Absolute Order. Since you aren¡¯t willing to coexist with Absolute Order, embrace Absolute Strength,¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently as he extended his palm and clenched it slightly.


    1


    Boom!


    The Endless Sea suddenly surged into the sky.


    It was as though the world had turned upside down. All the seawater fell into the sky, and everything in the sea rose into the sky.


    The underwater palaces were uprooted as they flew into the sky with the seawater.


    The Sea Gods gathered in front of the palace staggered. They were no longer able to maintain their collective control of the sea. One by one, they were lifted into the sky by the seawater. Even the Apocalypse-grade Sea God King was no exception. He screamed as he was swept into the sky.


    The sea turned into the sky, and the seabed turned into land. Only one person stood between heaven and earth.


    ¡°Is it that difficult to abide by the rules?¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed and clenched his fists.


    1


    Everything in the sea in the sky exploded. The blood of the marine creatures dyed the sea red, and the sea above turned into a sky of blood.


    ¡°Since you¡¯re here, why don¡¯t you come and meet me?¡± Wang Mingyuan suddenly said indifferently.


    ¡°Now that you are the king of the dimension, who knows if you will still like an old friend like me?¡± A smiling voice sounded not far behind Wang Mingyuan. It was none other than Holy God, who had vanished from the Holy Land.


    1


    ¡°We may be old, but we might not be friends.¡± Wang Mingyuan turned around and looked at Holy God.


    ¡°It¡¯s been so many years, but you haven¡¯t changed at all. Is it really that difficult to let go of hatred? They have been dead for so many years. It¡¯s time to let go of some things. No matter how much you torture yourself, the dead won¡¯t revive,¡± Holy God said with a sigh.


    ¡°It¡¯s precisely because the lost ones won¡¯t be revived that I can¡¯t let the tragedy repeat itself. Only when all creatures abide by the rules will such a tragedy not happen again,¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you being a little too idealistic? Even if you become the dimension king and can control the life and death of all races, it¡¯s impossible for you to control the hearts of people, much less make every planet in the universe abide by your rules. The stars are born and destroyed, and the mountains and rivers change. As long as there are variables, there will definitely be tragedy,¡± Holy God said.


    ¡°Then let this world no longer have any variables,¡± Wang Mingyuan said expressionlessly.


    1


    Holy God couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°Wang Mingyuan, oh Wang Mingyuan, you are really an extremely conceited person. The variables in the world can¡¯t be calculated even with the power of the gods. Furthermore, you are only a human. Even if you become the dimension king, you aren¡¯t an omniscient and omnipotent existence. How are you going to make this world no longer have any variables? Destroy it?¡±


    Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t react to Holy God¡¯s mockery at all. He only said indifferently, ¡°Have you forgotten what we saw on that ship?¡±


    1


    Upon hearing this, Holy God¡¯s expression changed as he cried out, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you want¡­ Are you crazy?¡±


    ¡°How do you know if you don¡¯t give it a try?¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    ¡°If you fail, you will destroy everything. I¡¯m afraid the entire world will be destroyed.¡± Holy God¡¯s expression changed.


    ¡°But if it succeeds, this world will become a real Garden of Eden,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    1


    ¡°What if you fail?¡± Holy God asked.


    ¡°If it fails, what¡¯s the point of such an unlucky world existing?¡± Wang Mingyuan smiled.

 Chapter 1830 - Heaven

    ¡°What about the people you care about?¡± Holy God stared at Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Everyone has to abide by the rules. There are naturally no exceptions.¡± Wang Mingyuan looked straight into Holy God¡¯s eyes. ¡°What about you? Do you choose to be confined by the rules or be outside the rules?¡±


    1


    ¡°I already know my fate at my age. How can there be any rules? I¡¯m just waiting for death,¡± Holy God said with a smile.


    ¡°Then let me send you off.¡± Wang Mingyuan waved his sleeve and instantly sliced Holy God¡¯s body into two.


    However, on careful look, he realized that it was only Holy God¡¯s robe that had been torn into two. His whereabouts were unknown.


    1


    Wang Mingyuan looked at the robe that had dropped to the ground and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. He muttered to himself, ¡°I hope you really are aware of fate.¡±


    Zhou Wen finally locked onto another dimensional zone. It was the legendary Heaven.


    This was a popular dimensional zone recently. Many humans went to Heaven and obtained angel Companion Beasts there.


    1


    The Heaven dimensional zone was a relatively safe dimensional zone. As long as a human could reach the Mythical stage, there was a high chance of obtaining an angel Companion Beast in Heaven.


    Now, many people believed that Heaven was a land bestowed by the heavens and would be the final salvation for humanity. More and more people from the West District headed to Heaven. There were already a few large factions who wanted to build a base there.


    1


    From the information they had obtained, most of the angel Companion Beasts obtained by humans in Heaven were ordinary two-winged angels. Legend had it that someone had obtained a four-winged angel, but there was no video or photo evidence.


    However, there were also people who said that the so-called Heaven dimensional zone might not be the real Heaven, but the Garden of Eden.


    1


    Heaven was the kingdom of God. It shouldn¡¯t appear on the land, so it could be the Garden of Eden.


    Be it Heaven or the Garden of Eden, Zhou Wen wanted to take a look. Perhaps he could find information related to Sweetie.


    1


    ¡°Old Zhou, are you really going to Heaven? That¡¯s not auspicious,¡± Li Xuan teased.


    ¡°I want to take a look even if there¡¯s a Western Paradise, let alone Heaven,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    1


    ¡°You don¡¯t say. The Western Paradise does exist. Someone discovered a mountain suspected to be the legendary Mount Numinous. However, that place is too terrifying. No one returned. Those who went might have really gone to paradise,¡± Li Xuan said with a smile.


    1


    ¡°Where¡¯s Mount Numinous?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. He hadn¡¯t seen any information regarding Mount Numinous.


    ¡°Legend has it that it¡¯s near the Himalayas, but it¡¯s not in a fixed spot. Occasionally, someone will see Mount Numinous appear before they can enter. It depends on fate if you can really find it yourself.¡± Li Xuan told him the information regarding Mount Numinous. This was a report he had obtained not long ago. He hadn¡¯t had the time to tidy it up and add it to the database.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, If I don¡¯t gain anything in Heaven, I can try my luck there.


    1


    When they heard that Zhou Wen was going to Heaven, Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu were rather interested. Together with Wang Lu and Qin Zhen, the five of them headed to the Heaven dimensional zone.


    Li Xuan had originally wanted to go, but unfortunately, there were still many things he needed to deal with in the ancient city. All he could do was stay behind gloomily.


    Zhou Wen never expected Li Xuan to have the patience to manage the ancient city. He was more like the city lord than Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen had the intention of making Li Xuan the City Lord in name and in practice, but unfortunately, Li Xuan wasn¡¯t willing. All he said was that the city belonged to the two of them. He was the body of the ancient city, and Zhou Wen was the soul of the ancient city. Neither of them was replaceable.


    1


    Zhou Wen teleported everyone to the place suspected to be the Heaven dimensional zone. There were people everywhere.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen had the foresight to disguise himself. Otherwise, Human Sovereign¡¯s arrival would definitely cause a stir.


    ¡°This place is almost a market.¡± Ming Xiu looked around and realized that many people were setting up stalls to sell Companion Eggs. There were even people selling angel Companion Eggs.


    Occasionally, one could see someone walking around with an angel Companion Beast, attracting many envious gazes.


    ¡°Angel Companion Beasts are very beautiful!¡± Wang Lu said as she sized up an angel Companion Beast.


    The angel Companion Beast flapped its wings and flew in the air, following behind its master. It had blonde hair and white clothes, looking unimaginably handsome.


    However, its beauty was a little neutral. It was impossible to tell if it was male or female.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be envious. We¡¯ll get a few later and form an angel legion for you,¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    1


    Upon hearing Ming Xiu¡¯s words, someone beside him found it unacceptable.


    ¡°Outsider, don¡¯t be too arrogant. Angel Companion Beasts are bestowed by the heavens. It¡¯s already a blessing to obtain one.¡± The elder who was setting up a stall beside him seemed to be a pious parishioner as he looked at Ming Xiu.


    ¡°What era are we in? Why are you still talking about such things? If there¡¯s really a god, why would the world become what it is now?¡± Ming Xiu retorted.


    2


    Ming Xiu¡¯s words immediately incurred the wrath of everyone. The people nearby glared at him angrily. If they didn¡¯t know that foreigners who came here weren¡¯t to be trifled with, they would have long pounced on Ming Xiu and tied him up before sending him to the gallows.


    ¡°Swordsman Tomorrow, Feng Qiuyan, Female Sword Immortal. Why are the three of you free to stroll around our West District? Could it be that you are also interested in the angel Companion Beast?¡± A blonde, blue-eyed man with an angel Companion Beast walked over.


    Ming Xiu sized up the man and clearly recognized who he was. He curled his lips and said, ¡°Fred, do you own Heaven? Can¡¯t we come and enter?¡±


    1


    ¡°I¡¯m just giving you a friendly reminder. God loves the world. As long as you are grateful, you can naturally go anywhere. I¡¯m just afraid that you have evil intentions. If you really enter Heaven, not only will you not obtain an angel Companion Beast, but you will also be sent to Hell,¡± Fred said with a faint smile.


    ¡°I hate your Cape family¡¯s nonsense.¡± Ming Xiu glanced at Fred in disgust.


    1


    Qin Zhen explained to Zhou Wen that Fred was one of the more famous experts in the Cape family in recent times. It was said that the Guardian he had contracted had already reached the Calamity grade, allowing him to conquer many mysterious dimensional zones in the West District.


    ¡°As a friend, I just want to remind everyone. This friend is?¡± Fred sized up Zhou Wen.


    It was because he suspected Zhou Wen¡¯s identity that he stood up and said that nonsense to Ming Xiu.


    ¡°It has nothing to do with you.¡± Ming Xiu didn¡¯t want to attract attention here, so he spoke first.


    Without caring what Fred was up to, Ming Xiu had already passed him and led Zhou Wen and company towards the entrance of Heaven.


    It was a strange river that wasn¡¯t too wide, but it was enveloped in white fog. Even those with special eye techniques couldn¡¯t see through the white fog to see where the river headed.


    There was a small boat docked by the river. There were no boatmen on the boat, but as long as someone was sitting on it, the boat would automatically sail into the fog.


    Not long after, the boat returned by itself, but the person on the boat was gone.


    ¡°Only the most pious believers can take the Ship of Salvation to Paramita. Take heed if you aren¡¯t pious believers,¡± Fred said indifferently.


    1

 Chapter 1831 - Ship of Salvation

    As they spoke, someone else jumped onto the boat.


    The boat looked very sturdy. It had already carried many people into the fog.


    However, when this person jumped onto the boat, the boat seemed to be a phantom. The person¡¯s body passed through the boat and landed in the river.


    1


    The river wasn¡¯t wide, and it flowed very slowly. However, after the person fell in, he didn¡¯t even struggle before sinking to the bottom and disappearing in the blink of an eye.


    The water didn¡¯t even splash. A life was lost just like that.


    ¡°This is what happens when you aren¡¯t pious,¡± Fred said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen and company looked at each other. Although they had already learned of this situation from the intelligence, they were still somewhat alarmed.


    Even though someone had died in the water, there were still many people lining up to board the ship.


    After all, there were very few dimensional zones where one could obtain a Companion Beast without fighting. Furthermore, it was at least a Mythical Companion Beast.


    Although it was a Mythical Companion Beast that couldn¡¯t evolve, it was enough to make ordinary people go crazy.


    1


    ¡°Coach, have you figured out anything?¡± Ming Xiu asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Ming Xiu, those words of yours are gratuitous.¡± Feng Qiuyan¡¯s expression seemed to say that confidence was a given when it came to Coach.


    ¡°Everything is within Coach¡¯s expectations.¡± Qin Zhen nodded as though she agreed with Feng Qiuyan¡¯s point of view. She also felt that Zhou Wen had definitely figured out everything.


    Zhou Wen looked at the three pairs of eyes that were filled with anticipation and admiration as a string of curses ran through his mind.


    Why did I even bother bringing the few of you along. It¡¯s really killing me. I have nothing! Zhou Wen was depressed.


    1


    He was only here to take a look at the situation. These three fellows had made it seem like he would commit a heinous crime if he didn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, let¡¯s board the boat together,¡± Wang Lu suddenly said.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu and saw her nod at him. He immediately understood that Wang Lu had absolute confidence. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have said such words.


    2


    The few of them followed behind Wang Lu and lined up at the back of the line.


    ¡°You want to board the boat together?¡± Fred heard their conversation and said with a faint smile, ¡°Don¡¯t blame me for not reminding you. The Ship of Salvation can only ferry one person at a time. Otherwise, you won¡¯t be able to pass.¡±


    1


    ¡°Just because others can¡¯t cross it doesn¡¯t mean that we can¡¯t.¡± Seeing that Zhou Wen had already accepted Wang Lu¡¯s suggestion, Ming Xiu thought that Zhou Wen had a plan and immediately counterattacked.


    ¡°Is that so? Then I really want to see how all of you are going to cross the River of Heaven together. How about this? You don¡¯t have to queue. Just go. I still have the authority to determine so.¡± Fred had already confirmed Zhou Wen¡¯s identity.


    There was probably no other person in the world who could win Ming Xiu and Feng Qiuyan¡¯s trust so completely.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. We can just line up here.¡± Wang Lu rejected Fred.


    If they really wanted special treatment, there was no need for them to use Freds privileges. If they revealed Zhou Wen¡¯s identity as Human Sovereign, everyone would probably automatically let him board the boat first.


    Fred didn¡¯t say anything else as he watched from the side. He wanted to see how Zhou Wen and company crossed the River of Heaven.


    It was impossible for the Ship of Salvation to carry two people at once. Furthermore, Zhou Wen and company had a total of five people. The Cape family had tried many times. Death was certain if more than one person boarded it.


    If Human Sovereign died in the River of Heaven, it would be great news for the Cape family.


    1


    Be it Zhou Wen or An Tianzuo, they had a terrible relationship with the Cape family. There were many conflicts.


    The Cape family had many talented experts who had died at the hands of Zhou Wen and the An family. At that moment, Fred didn¡¯t dare fall out with Zhou Wen because he knew that he was no match for him, but he hoped that Zhou Wen could die an early death.


    1


    The Cape family would only clap and cheer for the demise of Human Sovereign. At most, they would say regretfully, ¡°There¡¯s a price to pay for being young and frivolous.¡±


    Zhou Wen and company lined up in a long line. After two to three hours, it was finally their turn.


    Fred couldn¡¯t wait any longer. He wished he could push everyone in front of Zhou Wen into the river so that Zhou Wen and company could quickly board the boat and have the Cape family¡¯s greatest enemy drown.


    ¡°I¡¯ll board the ship first. You guys can follow.¡± As Wang Lu spoke, she gently leaped and landed on the Ship of Salvation.


    Ming Xiu and company were still somewhat worried and prepared to save her at any time. After all, they knew that Wang Lu wasn¡¯t a believer of God.


    2


    Fall down¡­ Fall down¡­ Fred cursed inwardly. He hoped Zhou Wen¡¯s entire team would be wiped out.


    Unfortunately, things didn¡¯t go as he hoped. Wang Lu stood firmly on the boat.


    1


    It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m afraid Zhou Wen won¡¯t dare to board the boat if Wang Lu were to fall immediately. Fred only hoped that Zhou Wen would be the second to board.


    If the two of them boarded the ship together, the Ship of Salvation would definitely sink.


    His prayer seemed to receive a response from God. Zhou Wen was really the second to jump onto the Ship of Salvation.


    Zhou Wen also knew that the two of them would sink if they boarded the boat. He was worried that an accident would happen, so he was the second to jump onto the Ship of Salvation.


    Fall! As Zhou Wen¡¯s toes landed on the boat, Fred nearly shouted.


    There were still many believers in line on the shore. They also looked at Zhou Wen and company. The Ship of Salvation could only redeem one person at a time, but the two of them had boarded together. Weren¡¯t they courting death?


    1


    To their surprise, Zhou Wen landed firmly in the boat. He didn¡¯t fall into the water, nor did the Ship of Salvation sink.


    How did this happen? Fred¡¯s face was filled with disbelief.


    The rule of sinking once there were two had been easily broken. Fred refused to believe that Zhou Wen and Wang Lu were pious believers of God.


    Furthermore, no matter how pious they were, the boat couldn¡¯t accommodate two people.


    Could it be that God bullies the weak and fears the strong? This blasphemous thought appeared in Fred¡¯s mind.


    1


    The other believers were already dumbfounded. This was the first time they had seen two people board the boat without causing it to capsize.


    What shocked them even more was that Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen jumped onto the boat one by one.


    Soon, all of them stood firmly on the boat. None of them fell into the water, and the boat didn¡¯t sink.


    ¡°Heavens, how pure is their faith? They can actually board the Ship of Salvation together?¡±


    ¡°They must be extremely pious believers to receive such a gift.¡±


    ¡°Merciful God is so kind to his believers.¡±


    There were exclamations of praise on the shore, amusing Ming Xiu.


    ¡°Ignoramuses. This is all because of our coach¡¯s might. What has it got to do with their God?¡± Feng Qiuyan curled his lips and muttered softly.


    2


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Lu. He knew very well that he hadn¡¯t done anything. Everything was thanks to Wang Lu, but he didn¡¯t know how she had done it.


    1


    Although Wang Lu was considered a person of faith, her faith wasn¡¯t in God.


    Seeing Zhou Wen and company enter the fog on the Ship of Salvation, Fred¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look too good.


    After the Ship of Salvation returned, he immediately jumped onto it to see if Zhou Wen and company had obtained an angel Companion Beast.

 Chapter 1832 - Forbidden Fruit

    Zhou Wen and company had never seen such a luxurious dimensional zone.


    Gold bricks paved the ground with silver lining the railings. If this were before dimensional zones appeared, ordinary people wouldn¡¯t have to worry about food for the rest of their lives. They could just dig out a few pieces.


    The huge square was filled with people. Zhou Wen and company followed the crowd, and everywhere they passed was luxurious and beautiful.


    After passing through the square, they saw three gardens. Most people rushed towards the garden in the middle. That was where they could obtain angel Companion Beasts.


    1


    Zhou Wen and company followed them into the garden. The garden was also paved with golden bricks. In the middle was a pool that churned with white fog.


    Having followed them at some point in time, Fred said from the side, ¡°That¡¯s the Angel Reincarnation Pool.¡±


    Before coming, Zhou Wen and company had already done their homework, so they naturally knew that it was the Angel Reincarnation Pool.


    If a human jumped into the Reincarnation Pool, an angel Companion Beast would naturally return with the human who jumped in.


    If the person was unlucky, they would never return.


    1


    As for how to obtain an angel Companion Beast under the Reincarnation Pool, there was no detailed information.


    There were many people who came to the Reincarnation Pool, but not many people dared to jump in. Some people who were determined to obtain one inevitably hesitated in front of the Reincarnation Pool. Many of them gave up.


    1


    Seeing that there were many people queuing in front, Zhou Wen said to Wang Lu and company, ¡°Line up here first. I¡¯ll go to the other gardens to take a look.¡±


    Among the three gardens in Heaven, the Reincarnation Pool was the safest. As long as one didn¡¯t attempt to jump into the Reincarnation Pool, there was no danger.


    However, the other two gardens were different. Few people came out of one, while nobody came out from the last one.


    ¡°Do you want me to accompany you?¡± Wang Lu asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need. I¡¯ll feel more at ease with you here.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head. Without Wang Lu here, Zhou Wen was afraid that something would happen to Feng Qiuyan and company.


    He left the Reincarnation Pool Garden alone and went to the garden on the left. He heard that there was a fruit tree there. It was suspected to be the garden where Adam and Eve had stayed.


    1


    This was also one of the reasons why people felt that this was Eden and not Heaven.


    1


    Some people could enter and leave this garden, but others couldn¡¯t. It was said that only those who plucked the fruit could come out, but not everyone could pluck the fruit.


    ¡°Friend, it¡¯s best that you be careful. It¡¯s easy to enter this garden, but it¡¯s not that easy to come out.¡± Fred also followed Zhou Wen to the orchard. He seemed to be warning him out of goodwill, but he was actually goading him.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered with him. There weren¡¯t many people in front of the entrance, so he walked straight in.


    There were still golden bricks and silver walls in the garden. In the middle was a fruit tree. It had golden branches and silver leaves, but the fruit was as red as fire. It looked a little like an apple.


    1


    Zhou Wen had previously obtained a golden apple that could change a person¡¯s Life Providence, but he had kept it unused. Now that he saw the apple, he was somewhat puzzled as to why there were so many myths related to apples in Western myths.


    1


    There were only about ten people in the garden. They were all thinking of ways to pluck the apples.


    It was strange. Among the dozen or so people, some were climbing the tree, some were tiptoeing to grab the branches, but no one flew up to pluck the apples.


    Fred followed and said to Zhou Wen with a smile, ¡°There¡¯s a taboo in the orchard. Your feet can¡¯t leave anything solid at the same time. If you want to pluck an apple, you have to climb up yourself.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the use of these apples?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Eating it can raise one¡¯s cultivation level.¡± Fred didn¡¯t elaborate on how many levels it could raise.


    1


    Isn¡¯t this similar to the effects of the Ginseng Fruit? It¡¯s probably useless to me. It can be used to feed Companion Beasts. Zhou Wen saw a person climb onto a tree branch and reach out to pluck an apple.


    Without any difficulty, he ripped out an apple and eagerly stuffed it into his mouth before eating it in big mouthfuls.


    Bang!


    Just as he finished eating the apple, the person suddenly fell from the tree and lay on the ground, motionless.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to go forward to check on him, the person¡¯s body suddenly moved. His limbs twisted strangely as his entire body trembled violently.


    Fine scales grew on his skin, and his eyes became strange. Scales also grew on him, but the scales were transparent.


    1


    Soon, the person had turned into a monster that was half human and half snake. A snake-like tail even grew from his buttocks.


    1


    Getting up from the ground, the person charged at the other humans as though he had gone mad, looking like he was about to devour them.


    The angel behind Fred blinked forward and condensed a light sword in his hand, killing the half-human, half-snake monster.


    ¡°This fruit isn¡¯t something anyone can eat. Only kind-hearted pious believers can eat it. If you have evil intentions or have impure beliefs, you will become such a half-human, half-snake monster. Friend, do you still want to try?¡± Fred smiled at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Can only kind believers eat it?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Fred answered without hesitation.


    ¡°Then, have you eaten the fruit on the tree?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he sized up Fred.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Fred puffed out his chest proudly.


    ¡°That relieves me.¡± Zhou Wen seemed relieved.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Fred looked at Zhou Wen suspiciously.


    ¡°If you can be considered a kind person, I definitely can¡¯t be considered evil.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen walked towards the apple tree.


    Let¡¯s see how arrogant you can be when you eat the forbidden fruit and become a monster. Fred was depressed as he thought that he had asked an unnecessary question.


    When he looked at Zhou Wen again, his mouth gaped open in surprise.


    Zhou Wen stood in midair as though he was stepping on an invisible staircase. He walked to the side of a fruit and reached out to pluck it.


    What the hell. The garden¡¯s restrictions are actually ineffective against him! Fred¡¯s expression turned nasty, but he couldn¡¯t help but praise inwardly. Human Sovereign really lives up to his name. Even a dimensional zone at the level of Heaven is ineffective against him. He¡¯s really terrifyingly strong. Unfortunately, such a person has a bad relationship with my Cape family. It¡¯s really a headache.


    1


    After Zhou Wen plucked an apple, he didn¡¯t stop. He walked to another fruit and soon, he plucked seven or eight fruits. From his stance, it looked like he wanted to pluck all the fruits.


    Fred was immediately alarmed as he hurriedly stopped him. ¡°Friend, each person can only eat one forbidden fruit. The more you eat, the greater the punishment. You can¡¯t pluck too many.¡±


    1


    Fred naturally wasn¡¯t reminding Zhou Wen out of goodwill. Although the fruits could turn people into monsters, as long as they weren¡¯t affected by the fruits, they could break through the natural barriers and advance to the Mythical stage as pure humans. They didn¡¯t need to rely on the Guardian¡¯s power or use the alien genes like before. Every forbidden fruit meant a pure Mythical human. How could he allow Zhou Wen to pluck all of them?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to hear him as he constantly plucked the fruits, plucking almost all the fruits on the tree.

 Chapter 1833 - Death-Deserving Heretics

    Fred wanted to stop him, but he didn¡¯t dare. All he could do was watch as Zhou Wen plucked all the fruits from the tree.


    Fred¡¯s heart bled for the fruits as he watched Zhou Wen put them all away.


    You didn¡¯t even eat them, but you plucked them all. God will definitely punish you, Fred cursed inwardly.


    This time, he didn¡¯t remind Zhou Wen that the fruit couldn¡¯t be taken out of the orchard for there would be punishment.


    Zhou Wen put away all the fruits and turned to walk out of the orchard.


    While Fred cursed Zhou Wen inwardly, Zhou Wen left the orchard unscathed. It left Fred alarmed and furious.


    From the looks of it, Heaven¡¯s taboo powers are useless against me. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t find the tiny palm symbol, but he wasn¡¯t flustered at all.


    When he returned to the Reincarnation Pool, Wang Lu and company were still queuing. There were still many people in front.


    ¡°Coach, any gains?¡± Ming Xiu hurriedly asked when he saw Zhou Wen return.


    ¡°I plucked a few fruits. I¡¯ll give you guys some when I figure them out.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t want to randomly give Ming Xiu and company the fruits for consumption. It wouldn¡¯t be good if they became monsters that were half-human and half-snake.


    ¡°Forget about the fruit. I haven¡¯t completely digested the Ginseng Fruit from last time.¡± Ming Xiu shook his head repeatedly.


    He hadn¡¯t completely assimilated the energy given to him by the Ginseng Fruit.


    Fred, who had returned with Zhou Wen, gritted his teeth when he heard that. He didn¡¯t treat the forbidden fruits as treasures at all.


    After queuing for a while, many people in front gave up. It was finally Zhou Wen and company¡¯s turn.


    ¡°I¡¯ll head down to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said as he walked towards the Reincarnation Pool and jumped in.


    When he landed in the Reincarnation Pool, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel himself plummet. Instead, he felt as though he was floating in mid-air.


    It was white everywhere¡ªwhite fog. He couldn¡¯t see anything.


    Just as he was feeling puzzled, something seemed to walk towards him from the white fog.


    ¡°Sweetie!¡± Zhou Wen nearly cried out in pleasant surprise when he saw the figure.


    Who else could this lovely girl be but Sweetie?


    Sweetie walked over with a smile. She didn¡¯t say a word as she walked in front of Zhou Wen and pressed her hand on his head.


    Immediately, a holy glow enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body. Only then did Zhou Wen realize that the Sweetie in front of him wasn¡¯t corporeal, but a realistic projection.


    As the light descended, a crystalline Companion Egg appeared in front of him.


    It wasn¡¯t the common white or silver, nor was it a luxurious golden color. Instead, it was a Companion Egg that was transparent like a colorless crystal.


    Inside the Companion Egg, strange light circulated and intertwined, as though there was a mini pocket universe inside.


    ¡°Covenant Garden¡­ Covenant Garden¡­¡± When Zhou Wen picked up the Companion Egg, the glowing Sweetie¡¯s projection gradually vanished. Only a voice seemed to echo in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Covenant Garden. Isn¡¯t that the last garden? Zhou Wen was wondering if Sweetie meant for him to enter the last garden.


    As he was thinking, he felt a gentle force lift his body out of the Reincarnation Pool.


    Zhou Wen landed on the ground. The people around him looked at him, but they didn¡¯t see the angel Companion Egg in his hand. They knew that he had already put it away and were somewhat disappointed.


    ¡°Head down in order.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t worried that anything would happen to them. Since this was Sweetie¡¯s territory, she probably wouldn¡¯t let anything happen to his friends.


    Feng Qiuyan, who was right in front, jumped into the Reincarnation Pool without any hesitation. Soon, he rose from the Reincarnation Pool.


    Unlike Zhou Wen, he held a golden Companion Egg in his hand.


    ¡°Heavens! It¡¯s a golden Companion Egg. It¡¯s a six-winged seraphim Companion Egg!¡± Many people exclaimed.


    This was the first time they had seen someone obtain a golden Companion Egg. It was a Companion Beast that was born at the Calamity grade.


    Fred¡¯s eyes widened when he saw this. Why could Zhou Wen, a bunch of faithless fellows, obtain the six-winged seraphim Companion Egg just by going down? Why did he, a believer of God, only obtain the two-winged seraphim?


    ¡°It¡¯s my turn.¡± Ming Xiu was eager to give it a try and jumped down after Feng Qiuyan came up.


    Seeing Ming Xiu go down, Zhou Wen asked Feng Qiuyan casually, ¡°What did you see down there?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything. A Companion Egg just fell from the sky and landed in my hand¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan recounted the process. It was similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s, but he hadn¡¯t seen Sweetie¡¯s figure.


    Soon, Ming Xiu also rose up. He was also holding a golden angel Companion Egg.


    Madness! This was madness!


    The golden Companion Eggs hadn¡¯t appeared for a long time and now two had actually appeared in succession.


    Fred¡¯s eyes turned red. He really couldn¡¯t comprehend how Zhou Wen and company could obtain the golden Companion Eggs. They were clearly a group of heretics, so they should have been burned to death.


    What was even more devastating was that after Qin Zhen went down, she came up with a golden Companion Egg as well.


    This time, everyone was already numb to the turn of events as they looked at Zhou Wen and company, dazed.


    There were even genuine believers who began to suspect if they were representatives chosen by God. Otherwise, how could they be so lucky?


    ¡°It looks like God dotes on us very much,¡± Ming Xiu said with a smile.


    ¡°Wang Lu, it¡¯s your turn.¡± Zhou Wen urged Wang Lu.


    Wang Lu nodded and walked to the side of the pool before gently jumping in.


    Fred¡¯s eyes were about to split open. Even his breathing seemed to be spewing out scorching air. He widened his eyes and stared at the Reincarnation Pool. If Wang Lu were to bring another golden Companion Egg up, he was afraid that he wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand such a blow and would explode on the spot.


    That can¡¯t be. How can God dote on these detestable heretics? We are the people of God¡­ Fred felt extremely resentful.


    Wang Lu seemed to spend a much longer time down there than Feng Qiuyan and company. After a while, they saw Wang Lu¡¯s figure rise up.


    In Wang Lu¡¯s hand was a gold and silver Companion Egg. Golden and silver light intertwined and circulated inside. It was holy and beautiful.


    ¡°What Companion Egg is that? Why is there such a Companion Egg? There¡¯s both gold and silver colors. What is it?¡± Everyone looked at the Companion Egg in Wang Lu¡¯s hand, puzzled.


    Could there be a Companion Beast higher than the six-winged seraphim? This thought made Fred doubt himself.


    What right did they have to receive such a gift from God? They were clearly not believers of God.


    Wang Lu quickly put away the Companion Egg and left the Reincarnation Pool Garden with Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1834 - Covenant

    ¡°Head back now. I¡¯ll go to the other garden to take a look.¡± Zhou Wen still had his mind on Sweetie.


    Sweetie¡¯s projection had signaled for him to head to Covenant Garden. Perhaps Sweetie¡¯s true body was there.


    1


    Zhou Wen had long wanted to find Sweetie, so he naturally wasn¡¯t willing to let go of such an opportunity.


    However, from the intelligence, none of the people who entered Covenant Garden could come out. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t willing to take the risk with Wang Lu and company.


    ¡°We will just wait for you here. It¡¯s so slow to return by ourselves,¡± Wang Lu said with a smile.


    ¡°Alright. Wait for me here.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen walked towards Covenant Garden.


    After passing through the door of Covenant Garden, he immediately realized that it was completely different from the other two gardens.


    There were no gold bricks paving the ground, nor were there any silver. This garden was really a garden. There were all sorts of green plants everywhere, and beneath his feet was ordinary soil.


    1


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that there was something special about the plants and that he might be able to obtain something good. To his surprise, after careful inspection, he realized that the plants were very ordinary. The energy contained in them was extremely low, no different from the weeds by the roadside.


    He used the Teacher Domain to scan the huge garden and quickly realized that there was a huge box made of gold among the plants.


    The huge box was about the length of a person. It was made of gold without any adorning patterns. It looked simple and spartan, but it was also very luxurious.


    Strangely, there wasn¡¯t even a slit on the box. Although it was called a box, it was more like a huge golden brick.


    1


    However, for some reason, Zhou Wen felt that it was a box and not a whole piece of gold.


    ¡°Sweetie, are you inside?¡± Zhou Wen called out a few times, but there was no reaction.


    Don¡¯t tell me you want me to split open the box to save you? Zhou Wen scanned the entire Covenant Garden and found nothing other than the golden box.


    3


    He didn¡¯t know where the people who had entered had gone. Even if they were dead, they should have left behind some bones, right? However, there wasn¡¯t any blood here.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen condensed Sword Pill in his hand and slashed at the golden box.


    Clang!


    Despite the metallic clang, the golden box remained intact.


    He tried a few more times and even used his In the Human World strength, but the golden box remained undamaged.


    What kind of box is this? Zhou Wen was alarmed as he became even more certain that Sweetie was inside. It was very likely that she was trapped in the box for some reason.


    1


    At that moment, Zhou Wen could only summon Demonic Neonate. Demonic Neonate glanced at the golden box and didn¡¯t draw her sword. She took off her Vajra Chakram and threw it over.


    With a thud, it smashed into the golden box, leaving a dent.


    Zhou Wen was overjoyed as he watched Demonic Neonate command the Vajra Chakram to smash the golden box again and again. Soon, a crack appeared.


    He hurriedly got Demonic Neonate to stop as he looked into the crack.


    With a glance, Zhou Wen was immediately dumbfounded. Sweetie wasn¡¯t in the golden box. All he saw was a piece of tattered cloth inside.


    1


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and sucked the tattered cloth out of the gap.


    1


    The white cloth was mottled with dark brown stains. It looked like a used bandage.


    What¡¯s this? Zhou Wen was puzzled. It was impossible to put an ordinary bandage in such a sturdy box.


    No matter how he studied it, he didn¡¯t discover anything special about it.


    However, this thing was unlikely simple. Zhou Wen attempted to pull it, but he failed to snap it.


    1


    ¡°Sweetie, where are you?¡± Zhou Wen called out for a long time without receiving any response.


    From the looks of it, Sweetie isn¡¯t here. Could it be that she got me to come here just to obtain this rag? Zhou Wen thought for a moment and couldn¡¯t help but look at the golden box.


    Since he was already here, he couldn¡¯t just take the piece of cloth back. Zhou Wen attempted to store the golden box in his storage space, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t.


    Since he couldn¡¯t store it, he could only carry it back. Zhou Wen attempted to lift the golden box.


    He realized that he could do so when he exerted his strength. Although it was very heavy, Zhou Wen could still just about lift it.


    ¡°Sweetie, if you aren¡¯t here, I¡¯m leaving.¡± Zhou Wen lifted the deformed golden box and walked out of the garden.


    1


    He didn¡¯t receive any response even when he walked out of Covenant Garden.


    Fred and many others were waiting outside. They wanted to know if Zhou Wen could become the first human to walk out of Covenant Garden.


    If it were before they came, no one would believe that he could walk out alive.


    However, Wang Lu and company¡¯s shocking performance in the Reincarnation Pool made them less certain.


    Fred looked at Covenant Garden¡¯s entrance in frustration. He didn¡¯t wish for Zhou Wen to come out, but Zhou Wen¡¯s absence made him feel uneasy.


    Who knew what Zhou Wen was doing inside? Perhaps he was plundering the good things in Covenant Garden. Those treasures belonged to the believers of God.


    1


    Suddenly, Fred saw a figure walk out of Covenant Garden.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Fred was first taken aback when he saw the deformed golden box on Zhou Wen¡¯s shoulder. However, after careful thought, his expression immediately turned nasty.


    ¡°That¡­ That¡­ Don¡¯t tell me it¡¯s the Ark of the Covenant!¡± Fred almost cried out.


    Legend had it that God had signed a contract with humans, and the contract was placed in the Ark of the Covenant. It was the most precious treasure in the mythology of God.


    1


    The garden¡¯s name was Covenant Garden. The Cape family had always suspected that it had something to do with the Ark of the Covenant. Now that Zhou Wen was carrying such a golden box, Fred couldn¡¯t help but make connections.


    1


    However, if it was really the Ark of the Covenant, how could it be reduced to such a state? It looked like it had been deformed by a hammer. It even had a crack on it.


    ¡°Is this the Ark of the Covenant?¡± It wasn¡¯t just Fred who thought of this. Many believers outside the door seemed to guess that the golden box was likely the legendary Ark of the Covenant.


    There were already pure believers praying to the golden box. There were even believers blocking Zhou Wen¡¯s path.


    That was an item that God had made a covenant with humans. To them, it was the most precious treasure in the world. As long as the covenant remained, God would protect his believers. Even after death, they could obtain God¡¯s protection and enter Heaven.


    1


    However, if the covenant was destroyed, these believers would definitely be abandoned by God. They refused to let an outsider take away the Ark of the Covenant even at the cost of their lives.


    Seeing the red-eyed believers surrounding them, Feng Qiuyan and company hurriedly went closer to Zhou Wen and protected him.

 Chapter 1835 - Son of the Holy Spirit

    Zhou Wen removed his mask and revealed his true appearance.


    ¡°Human Sovereign!¡± The people surrounding Zhou Wen and company immediately recognized him and were stunned.


    ¡°Everyone, please make way.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen walked forward with the golden box.


    The believers automatically gave way and no one stopped them.


    ¡°Zhou Wen isn¡¯t a believer of God. How can we let him take the Ark of the Covenant away?¡± Fred still wanted to put up a last stand.


    1


    However, no one bothered with him. The believers looked at Fred as though he was a fool.


    ¡°So it¡¯s Human Sovereign. Then it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder you can obtain such grace. As expected of the sovereign of humanity. It¡¯s only right.¡±


    ¡°Lord Human Sovereign having the Ark is most appropriate. Only Lord Human Sovereign can represent our human race. The Holy Father must have thought so too. That¡¯s why He bestowed such a gift¡­¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen carried the golden box and left Heaven with Wang Lu and company. Fred¡¯s face turned livid with anger.


    Zhou Wen ignored Fred. Now that humans had suffered heavy losses, he couldn¡¯t be bothered to start a massacre because of one person.


    With the Cape family around, the West District could maintain its stability for a period of time. If the Cape family collapsed now, the West District would definitely be in chaos. When that happened, more people would die.


    1


    If not for his disinclination to see the West District in chaos, Zhou Wen would have long wiped out the Cape family. It wouldn¡¯t be too late to settle scores with them in the future.


    Without taking the Ship of Salvation back, Zhou Wen used spatial teleportation to send Wang Lu and company back to Guide Ancient City.


    ¡°Coach, is this really the legendary Ark of the Covenant?¡± Ming Xiu circled the golden box a few times and asked in puzzlement.


    He didn¡¯t discover anything special about the golden box. It looked no different from an ordinary one.


    ¡°Who knows?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what it was either. Even if it was really the Ark of the Covenant, it was only a cabinet used to store contracts. It was unlikely to be important.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the special material of the cabinet, he wouldn¡¯t have brought it back.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, what do you plan on doing with this box?¡± Wang Lu asked.


    ¡°Nothing. I only brought it back because of its special material. This isn¡¯t ordinary gold. Even Calamity-grade powers can¡¯t damage it at all,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have any plans, can you leave it to me?¡± Wang Lu asked after some thought.


    ¡°Sure. Take it if you need it,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°I have a Companion Beast that has the art of forging. I can use this box to forge tools for you. What do you want? Some weapon or armor?¡± Wang Lu explained.


    1


    ¡°Armor.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that he didn¡¯t lack weapons. Furthermore, the golden box¡¯s material was so special that even the Vajra Chakram couldn¡¯t smash it open in one strike. If it was used as armor, it might be able to withstand an Apocalypse-grade attack.


    ¡°Alright, leave it to me.¡± Wang Lu got someone to take the golden box back.


    Zhou Wen returned to his room and began studying his gains received from Heaven.


    51 forbidden fruits, a crystal-like Companion Egg, and a blood-stained rag.


    Zhou Wen temporarily couldn¡¯t figure out the use for the rag, nor did he eat the forbidden fruit willy-nilly. All he could do was hatch the Companion Egg.


    As Essence Energy was injected, the holy light in the Companion Egg intensified. When the glow reached its peak, it emitted a light blast that resembled a cosmic Big Bang.


    When the light gradually dissipated, a beautiful angel appeared in front of him.


    The angel was dressed in white and looked holy and elegant. She looked like an ordinary two-winged angel, but she had six pairs of crystal-like wings on her back.


    2


    As Zhou Wen was still sizing up the angel Companion Beast, she flashed gently and appeared behind him as though she had instant transmitted. Her hands hugged Zhou Wen¡¯s body from behind as her six pairs of crystal wings enveloped him, protecting his body. She transformed into crystalline holy light that fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    After the angel vanished, a twelve-winged seraphim tattoo appeared on his back.


    Child of the Holy Spirit: Calamity (Evolvable)


    1


    Life Providence: Holy Child


    Life Soul: Holy Spirit


    Wheel of Destiny: Wheel of Rebirth


    Terror Form: Holy Spirit Transformation (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Infinite Reincarnation (Heaven-level)


    Strength: 999


    Speed: 999


    Constitution: 999


    Essence Energy: 999


    Talent Skill: Omniscient & Omnipotent


    Companion Form: Soul


    Sweetie sure is interesting! After seeing the stats of Child of the Holy Spirit, Zhou Wen could only say that the Companion Beast was perfect.


    Her entire body was immune to all sorts of taboo powers. She also had the ability to revive. As for Omniscient & Omnipotent, it could mimic any skill of the opponent.


    1


    Of course, this was under a premise. The Child of the Holy Spirit had to be struck by those skills before she could simulate them.


    Furthermore, it could only be used once. It wasn¡¯t permanent.


    Although there were some restrictions, it was already good enough.


    There was no need to mention the Companion Beast¡¯s Soul form. It was one of the most practical Companion Beast forms.


    999 stats was already the limit of a Calamity Companion Beast. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have many of them.


    1


    After summoning her and admiring her for a while, Zhou Wen unsummoned the Child of the Holy Spirit and took out another forbidden fruit.


    He didn¡¯t dare eat it. Even if he ate it, it was impossible for him to die. However, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t accept it if he grew those ugly scales.


    1


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that Demonic Neonate wouldn¡¯t eat it. After all, she refused to eat the Ginseng Fruit. It was impossible for the effects of the forbidden fruit to surpass the Ginseng Fruit.


    He took out a forbidden fruit and summoned Explosive Fiend Man. Just as he was about to experiment on him, Demonic Neonate came out herself and took the forbidden fruit from Zhou Wen¡¯s hand. She swallowed it in two or three mouthfuls.


    1


    ¡°You eat this?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Seeing that Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t changed after eating the forbidden fruit, he decided to give all the forbidden fruits to Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t stand on ceremony as she stuffed the forbidden fruits into her mouth one by one. Soon, only one of the forbidden fruits was left.


    Demonic Neonate licked her lips, but she didn¡¯t eat the remaining forbidden fruit. Instead, she pointed at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what she meant. He imagined that Demonic Neonate wanted him to eat the remaining forbidden fruit.


    Just as Zhou Wen was about to pick up the forbidden fruit, Demonic Neonate tugged at his sleeve to stop him from eating it. Then, she pointed at Zhou Wen¡¯s back.


    Zhou Wen immediately understood that Demonic Neonate wasn¡¯t referring to him, but the Child of the Holy Spirit tattoo on his back.


    1


    Zhou Wen summoned the Child of the Holy Spirit again and pointed at her. ¡°You want her to eat it?¡±


    Demonic Neonate nodded, indicating that Zhou Wen finally got it right.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t be bothered to ask further. Since Demonic Neonate indicated for him to feed it to her, he would feed it to her. Therefore, he gave the forbidden fruit to the Child of the Holy Spirit and let her eat it.

 Chapter 1836 - Visiting the Dimension Again

    After eating the forbidden fruit, his body suddenly floated in the air as the six pairs of crystal wings on his back extended to their limits.


    A black flame spewed out from the Child of the Holy Spirit¡¯s body. The white holy light on its body was like gasoline that had been ignited. Instantly, its entire body was enveloped by the black flame as though it was bathing in it.


    1


    The white robe was dyed black, and so were the crystal-like wings. His hair and pupils also turned black.


    1


    When the black flames completely vanished, the Child of the Holy Spirit looked completely different.


    What¡¯s going on? Zhou Wen glanced at the Child of the Holy Spirit¡¯s stats and was immediately alarmed.


    Child of the Land of Depravity¡¯s Holy Spirit: Apocalypse grade (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Holy Child


    Life Soul: Holy Spirit


    Wheel of Destiny: Wheel of Rebirth


    Terror Form: Holy Spirit Transformation (S-grade)


    Calamity Zone: Infinite Reincarnation (Heaven-level)


    New World: Dark Realm


    Strength: 1,000


    Speed: 1,000


    Constitution: 1,000


    Essence Energy: 1,000


    Talent Skill: Omniscient & Omnipotent


    Companion Form: Soul


    A tiny forbidden fruit had actually allowed the Child of the Holy Spirit to break through to the Apocalypse grade. This was unimaginable.


    Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. The Ginseng Fruit shouldn¡¯t be inferior to the forbidden fruit. Banana Fairy had only advanced to the peak of the Calamity grade after eating so many Ginseng Fruits; she didn¡¯t advance to the Apocalypse grade.


    2


    Now, Zhou Wen was somewhat regretful. If he had known this would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have given all the forbidden fruits to Demonic Neonate. If he had just given them to a few Companion Beasts, wouldn¡¯t he have had plenty of Apocalypse-grade Companion Beasts?


    1


    Just one more, and Zhou Wen could eat it himself. He had been looking forward to advancing to the Apocalypse grade, but he had missed that chance.


    As though sensing Zhou Wen¡¯s resentful gaze, Demonic Neonate said coldly, ¡°Only she can use it.¡±


    2


    With that said, she ignored Zhou Wen and returned to his body.


    He felt a little better when he heard that only the Child of the Holy Spirit could use it.


    Why is it so difficult for me to advance to the Apocalypse grade? Zhou Wen sighed and put away the remaining bloody rag.


    1


    Sweetie had probably let him enter the Covenant Garden to obtain this rag. However, he didn¡¯t know what use it had, so he could only store it away.


    1


    Heaven doesn¡¯t provide me a chance of advancing to the Apocalypse grade. Where else can I advance? Zhou Wen thought about it but couldn¡¯t figure it out.


    From the looks of it, the place with the greatest chance of him advancing to the Apocalypse grade was probably the stone steps that the Cube was livestreaming.


    Drought Demon Fairy could advance to the Apocalypse grade after walking the stone steps. His foundation shouldn¡¯t be inferior to Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s. After walking the steps, there was a high chance that he could advance to the Apocalypse grade.


    Do I have to make the trip myself? Zhou Wen knew that there was a tiny palm symbol there, but if he didn¡¯t go personally, he wouldn¡¯t be able to download the game dungeon.


    1


    If he really made the trip, he could just walk straight up. Why would he need the game dungeon? This was an unsolvable chicken and egg problem.


    I¡¯m really stupid! Zhou Wen suddenly had a thought.


    The stone steps were likely in the dimension. If he went through the Cube, he would directly ascend the stone steps and have no choice but to begin the challenge.


    However, if he didn¡¯t use the Cube, he could first go to the dimensional zone and find the stone steps. Then, he could take a picture of the small symbol on them and download the game dungeon.


    Zhou Wen found Feng Qiuyan and Ming Xiu. The two of them had been to the dimension and were more familiar with it. Perhaps they could provide Zhou Wen with some information.


    However, the outcome left him somewhat disappointed. After they arrived in the dimension, they had been locked up in an area by the dimensional creatures for cultivation. They hadn¡¯t even seen many dimensional creatures, much less wandered around.


    How am I to find that stone staircase? The dimension is so huge. Who knows if I¡¯ll encounter an Apocalypse-grade fellow who will cause trouble for me? After some thought, Zhou Wen realized that the only person he knew in the dimension was Emperor of Shang.


    That¡¯s okay. I happen to have some questions. Perhaps Emperor of Shang can give me an answer. Zhou Wen decided to make a trip to the dimensional zone to find Emperor of Shang.


    1


    With Demonic Neonate¡¯s Heaven Shrouding Bell, it wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen to head to the dimensional zone.


    1


    After passing through the spatial barrier, he arrived in the dimensional zone again.


    Back when he first came to the dimension, he had been suppressed by the dimensional powers to the point of almost being unable to walk. Now, he didn¡¯t feel anything.


    1


    This dimension¡¯s scenery isn¡¯t bad. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but praise as he took in the beautiful scenery.


    Unfortunately, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t have any concept of the dimension¡¯s layout. Demonic Neonate also knew nothing. She had brought him to the dimensional zone, but she had no idea where they were.


    Looking around, he saw that this was a desert. It was completely different from where Emperor of Shang was.


    This desert was strange. Zhou Wen had seen white deserts, yellow deserts, and even red deserts, but he had never seen a black desert.


    1


    It was an endless black desert. Even with the range of Zhou Wen¡¯s domain, he couldn¡¯t sense its ends.


    Just as he was considering which way to go, he discovered a dimensional creature in his domain.


    Zhou Wen had once seen an ancient movie that presented a shark that could swim in the sand.


    He never expected to see a shark swimming in the desert.


    Of course, it was definitely not a shark, but it looked very similar to a shark. It moved in the black desert with only its fin exposed. Its body moved quickly in the black sand as though it was catching something under the sand.


    Why does it look like something stupid? Is there no intelligent creature that I can ask? Zhou Wen was somewhat depressed.


    1


    Upon having that thought, the shark-like creature seemed to be grabbed by an invisible hand. It was pulled out of the sand and made to float in front of Zhou Wen.


    This fellow was only at the Terror grade. It was no different from an ant in front of Zhou Wen. He could crush it to death without needing to do anything.


    1


    ¡°Can you understand me? If you can¡¯t, I¡¯ll kill you,¡± Zhou Wen said to the shark floating in the air.


    1


    ¡°I understand¡­ I understand¡­¡± the shark said repeatedly.


    ¡°Eh, your intelligence is higher than I imagined.¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile, ¡°What¡¯s your name and race?¡±


    1


    ¡°My name is Demon Shark. I¡¯m a member of the Sand Sea race,¡± the shark hurriedly answered without any hesitation.


    1


    ¡°Hey¡­ Demon Shark¡­ Do you know where the stone steps in the Cube are?¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. There¡¯s a Cube in our desert. I can take you to the Cube¡­¡± Demon Shark said with a fawning expression.


    ¡°Do I need you to lead the way if I¡¯m using the Cube? I¡¯m asking you if you know where the Cube is and how to get there.¡± Zhou Wen felt that this fellow was even more foolish than a fool. He was an idiot.


    ¡°Your Excellency, I really don¡¯t know. You can ask the elder of our Sea Sand race. He definitely knows.¡± Demon Shark hurriedly gave Zhou Wen an idea.


    ¡°How many Apocalypse-grade experts does your Sand Sea race have?¡± Zhou Wen originally wanted to flare up, but on second thought, he suppressed his anger and asked the Demon Shark with a smile.

 Chapter 1837 - Heavenly Happiness God

    ¡°Our Sand Sea race has a total of six Apocalypses¡ªfour Elders, the patriarch, and the Sand Sea¡¯s Bravest¡­¡± Demon Shark said as it did the calculations.


    1


    Six Apocalypses¡­ Is this fellow bullshiting me? Zhou Wen frowned as he stared at Demon Shark, but no matter how he looked at it, it didn¡¯t look like such a shrewd creature.


    ¡°Are there so many Apocalypses in the Sand Sea race?¡± No matter how he thought about it, he couldn¡¯t think of such a possibility.


    Apocalypses weren¡¯t run-of-the-mill powerhouses. Even a large race like the Immortals felt the tremendous loss if one Apocalypse died. It was impossible for the nameless Sand Sea race to have six Apocalypses.


    1


    ¡°Your Excellency, you might not know this, but strictly speaking, our Sand Sea race can¡¯t be considered a race¡­¡± Demon Shark explained in a daze.


    1


    Through the Demon Shark¡¯s explanation, Zhou Wen learned what the Sand Sea race was.


    There was actually no Sand Sea race. There were very few native creatures in the Sand Sea, and none of them were worth mentioning.


    1


    As the Sand Sea had a very special force field, ordinary creatures didn¡¯t dare approach it. It was very difficult to find traces of them here. Therefore, many creatures that were being chased would run to the Sand Sea for refuge, but only a few creatures could get inside.


    It wasn¡¯t until a hunted creature discovered a treasure in the Sand Sea that the Sand Sea race was truly born.


    It was a huge container that resembled an hourglass. As long as one traveled from one end of the hourglass to the other, one could obtain the Sand Sea¡¯s unique ability¡ªSand Sea. Creatures with the Sand Sea ability could move freely in the Sand Sea as though they were in water. This was the true reason why the Sand Sea race could survive here.


    1


    After that, foreign creatures constantly joined the Sand Sea race. Up to now, the entire Sand Sea race had six Apocalypse-grade creatures, hundreds of Calamity-grade creatures, and countless Terror-grade creatures.


    This is a gathering place for criminals! Zhou Wen finally understood why the Sand Sea race was so remarkable. They were a race where all sorts of ferocious people gathered.


    1


    He had originally wondered if he could take advantage of the situation, but from the looks of it, there was no hope. No matter how strong Zhou Wen was, it was impossible for him to defeat six Apocalypses.


    ¡°Do you know of Emperor of Shang?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Your Excellency, are you talking about Lord Heavenly Happiness?¡± For some reason, Demon Shark immediately became excited when he heard Emperor of Shang¡¯s name.


    1


    ¡°You know him?¡± Zhou Wen thought of the Heavenly Happiness Token that Emperor of Shang had given him and believed that it couldn¡¯t be wrong. He never expected Emperor of Shang¡¯s name to be so famous in the dimension.


    ¡°Of course I know. If there¡¯s a chance, I¡¯ve long wanted to beg him to arrange a marriage for me and let me carry on the family line. I was originally from the Demon Shark race, but the Demon Shark race has long been wiped out. Where can I find another female Demon Shark¡­ Only Lord Heavenly Happiness can do this¡­¡±


    1


    As the Demon Shark rambled on, Zhou Wen finally understood why Emperor of Shang was so famous in the dimension.


    The dignified emperor actually played the role of a matchmaker here.


    Of course, that wasn¡¯t right. Emperor of Shang was rather important. It concerned the reproduction of the various races in the dimension. This was definitely a huge problem.


    What surprised him the most was that Emperor of Shang had the ability to carry on the lineage of an extinct race.


    As long as someone of this race was still alive, be it male or female or hermaphrodite, he had the ability to make them pregnant and have children.


    1


    Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s doing the honors himself? Zhou Wen¡¯s mind was filled with malice. When he thought of that scene, he couldn¡¯t stand it and retched.


    1


    Soon, he knew what was going on through the explanation from the Demon Shark.


    Emperor of Shang controlled a path that led to the source of life. After entering the source of life, he could obtain the opportunity to use the individual¡¯s reproductive genes. However, the eggs of the creatures that were born had to be left in the source of life and wait for the source of life to automatically send them out.


    Wait¡­ When Zhou Wen heard that, he finally felt that something was amiss.


    This was because he thought of the place he had gone with Ice Maiden in the past. It was between the Human World and the dimension. There were large numbers of dimensional Companion Eggs. It was said that those Companion Eggs would automatically enter the dimensional zones of the Human World.


    Could it be that the dimensional creatures in Earth¡¯s dimensional zones were created by Emperor of Shang? Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his spine.


    1


    Of course, this was only Zhou Wen¡¯s guess. It might not be the case.


    Thankfully, Demon Shark was obsessed with reproducing. It had asked about the path to the Heavenly Happiness Temple. Otherwise, it would have been difficult to find it.


    Demon Shark told Zhou Wen that after passing through the Sand Sea in one direction and passing through the area of the four races, he would arrive at the Heavenly Happiness Temple in the Heavenly Set Mountain Range.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s face darkened when he heard that.


    Ignoring the fact that the four were large dimensional races, among which were the most terrifying Immortals, Zhou Wen had to pass through them.


    ¡°Your Excellency, don¡¯t worry. The Immortals have already submitted to the new king. As long as you join the new king¡¯s camp, you can swagger over. You don¡¯t have to be as afraid of them as before,¡± Demon Shark said.


    1


    ¡°You mean Wang Mingyuan?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that Wang Mingyuan had actually taken down the Immortals. It looked like the dimension was about to completely fall.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Our Sand Sea is also discussing joining with the new king¡¯s ambassador. After we join the new king¡¯s camp, we won¡¯t have to hide here anymore¡­ When the time comes, I¡¯ll go to the Heavenly Happiness Temple¡­ I¡¯ll beg Lord Heavenly Happiness to keep my race going¡­¡± Demon Shark¡¯s eyes were filled with anticipation.


    1


    ¡°You are really¡­ a shark genius¡­¡± With a thought, Zhou Wen put the Demon Shark down and turned to head in the direction it had mentioned.


    Demon Shark immediately dived into the sand when it landed. It swam a few rounds in the sand before coming out and looking in the direction Zhou Wen had left.


    ¡°Idiot, what are you doing here?¡± A figure crawled out of the sand and jumped onto the Demon Shark¡¯s back with a smile.


    Demon Shark jumped in fright when it realized that the person riding on its back was a black-armored, black-haired, long-haired girl with white hair clips. Only then did it heave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Bravest, I just saw a human,¡± Demon Shark said.


    1


    ¡°Human? How can there be a human in the desert? Are you lying to me?¡± the girl who was called Bravest by Demon Shark said in disbelief.


    ¡°Great Bravest, how can I lie to you? A human just walked over. I chatted with him for a long time¡­¡± Demon Shark said smugly.


    ¡°I want to see which human is so bold to come to the dimensional zone and even dare to come to my Sand Sea.¡± The strongest girl asked for Zhou Wen¡¯s whereabouts before diving into the Sand Sea and disappearing.

 Chapter 1838 - Bravest

    Zhou Wen roughly knew his location in the dimension, so there was nothing to be worried about.


    More than half of the dimension had been taken down by Wang Mingyuan. Only a few dimensional races were still holding on.


    1


    Now that the dimensional races couldn¡¯t even fend for themselves, how could they have the time to care about an outsider like him?


    As long as he didn¡¯t go knocking on the other party¡¯s door, probably no Apocalypse-grade powerhouse would have the time to chase after him.


    Why would the dimension invade Earth when it¡¯s so vast? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled.


    Just the Sand Sea alone was much bigger than the whole of Earth.


    1


    What was there for them to vie for in such a small place like Earth?


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly saw the Sand Sea ahead of him ripple like water. Then, he saw a person jump out of the sea of sand like a fish jumping out of the water.


    Her long black hair swayed, and her slender figure and proportions were almost like a character in a comic. Her long, slim legs didn¡¯t seem realistic.


    ¡°Human, you actually dare barge into the dimension?¡± Bravest levitated in mid-air and looked down at Zhou Wen superciliously.


    1


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, Bravest noticed Zhou Wen¡¯s looks and immediately exclaimed, ¡°Human Sovereign¡­ You are Human Sovereign¡­¡±


    ¡°Am I that famous now?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised that a creature he had encountered in the dimension would know him.


    ¡°Human Sovereign, why did you come to the Sand Sea? Do you have any ulterior motives?¡± Bravest stared at Zhou Wen and asked warily.


    ¡°I¡¯m just passing by. I don¡¯t have any ulterior motives,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t lie to me. Did Wang Mingyuan get you to come to the Sand Sea?¡± Bravest clearly didn¡¯t believe Zhou Wen.


    1


    ¡°I have nothing to do with Wang Mingyuan.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head.


    ¡°Tch, who doesn¡¯t know that you are Wang Mingyuan¡¯s disciple? Now that Wang Mingyuan wants to unify the dimension and fight the various races, the situation isn¡¯t looking good.¡± Bravest said proudly, ¡°He wants to rope in our Sand Sea race, but we haven¡¯t come to an agreement. Does he want you to ambush our Sand Sea?¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen looked at Bravest with an odd expression.


    He could sense that the girl¡¯s aura was extremely powerful. She was undoubtedly at the Apocalypse grade.


    However, such an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse actually said such unreliable words that sounded extremely childish.


    This made Zhou Wen suspect that all dimensional creatures had low intelligence.


    ¡°How may I address you?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a light cough.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± The girl looked alarmed.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m just a mere Calamity. With the six Apocalypse-grade creatures in the Sand Sea, how am I to sneak an attack on you?¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly. He felt that the creatures in the Sand Sea were strange.


    Demon Shark and the girl were a little abnormal. It was unknown if they had sand for brains after all these years living in the sand.


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± Bravest thought for a moment and realized that it made sense. Hence, she nodded and said, ¡°That¡¯s true. You¡¯re tempting fate if you want to ambush our Sand Sea alone. Then why did you come to the Sand Sea?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t I just say that I was just passing by?¡± Zhou Wen repeated helplessly.


    ¡°Where are you going?¡± Bravest asked curiously.


    ¡°Heavenly Happiness Temple.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hide it.


    ¡°You are going to the Heavenly Happiness God?¡± Bravest immediately revealed a look of pleasant surprise when she heard that. ¡°You also want to get a mate from Heavenly Happiness God?¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen found her words somewhat weird.


    ¡°No, I have something else to ask Heavenly Happiness God for help.¡±


    Bravest¡¯s eyes darted around as a smile appeared on her face. ¡°You are a human. You are unfamiliar with the dimension that is fraught with danger. I¡¯ll be kind and take you to the Heavenly Happiness Temple.¡±


    No matter how he looked at it, Zhou Wen felt that she was the one who wanted to head to the Heavenly Happiness Temple herself, but her bristly expression made it seem like she was helping him.


    1


    ¡°Thank you,¡± he said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s good that you know that I¡¯m helping you. When we reach the Heavenly Happiness Temple, you have to help me.¡± Bravest¡¯s eyes darted around.


    ¡°Of course. It¡¯s only right to help each other.¡± Zhou Wen nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s a deal. Let¡¯s set off now.¡± With that said, Bravest burrowed into the sea of sand and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    She really has sand for brains¡­ Zhou Wen looked at the desert in exasperation.


    After a while, Bravest burrowed out again and asked Zhou Wen in puzzlement, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Why aren¡¯t you leaving?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the ability to walk under the sand,¡± Zhou Wen explained patiently.


    ¡°How troublesome.¡± As Bravest spoke, she grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and jumped into the Sand Sea.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt the sand beneath his feet turn into water. Not only did it not hinder his body, but it also had a magical buoyancy.


    The sand seemed to turn transparent. His vision could actually penetrate the sand, allowing him to see things in the distance.


    Bravest pulled Zhou Wen through the Sand Sea where he saw all sorts of dilapidated ancient buildings at the bottom.


    If he wasn¡¯t sure that he was under the sand, he would have suspected that this was an ancient city that had been submerged by seawater.


    Occasionally, he could see other creatures in the Sand Sea, but they swam far away upon noticing the girl. No one dared to approach.


    The girl pulled Zhou Wen to a stop in front of an ancient building¡¯s door and kicked the giant turtle-like creature in front of it. She kicked it to the side and pushed open the door to enter.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s too troublesome bringing you along. Pass through the hourglass to obtain the ability to move freely in the Sand Sea,¡± Bravest said as she pointed at a huge transparent hourglass in the palace.


    1


    ¡°Is this the Sand Sea¡¯s treasure?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the hourglass with interest.


    ¡°Cut the crap. Hurry up.¡± The girl pushed Zhou Wen towards the hourglass.


    Zhou Wen arrived above the hourglass. The upper half was transparent crystal, but when he stood on it, he felt his feet go limp as his body sank into the hourglass.


    There was transparent sand in the hourglass. When Zhou Wen landed in the transparent sand, he immediately felt like he was soaking in water again.


    The world spun as the hourglass automatically started flowing. The transparent sand in the upper half began to funnel down. Zhou Wen followed the sand vortex to the lower half of the hourglass.


    When the transparent sand drowned his body, he felt a strange reaction.


    Clang!


    Zhou Wen fell out of the hourglass. At that moment, even without the girl holding him, the surrounding sand became like water to him.


    1


    ¡°This treasure isn¡¯t bad. Why is it here?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Why wasn¡¯t anyone taking such a treasure away?


    ¡°No one can take this away, so it can only be placed here,¡± said Bravest.


    ¡°It cannot be taken away?¡± Zhou Wen curiously went forward to touch the hourglass.

 Chapter 1839 - Destiny Platform

    ¡°Can I try taking it?¡± Zhou Wen turned to ask the girl.


    1


    ¡°Feel free to give it a shot.¡± Bravest clearly didn¡¯t realize the seriousness of the matter and readily agreed to Zhou Wen¡¯s requested attempt.


    There were many experts in the Sand Sea, and almost every one of them had tried. If it was possible, they would have long taken it away instead of leaving it here.


    Even Apocalypse-grade powerhouses were helpless against it, much less Zhou Wen who was only a Calamity. No matter how powerful a Calamity was, one was only a Calamity.


    1


    Zhou Wen reached out to hug the hourglass and exerted his strength to lift it up.


    However, the outcome was tragic. The hourglass didn¡¯t even budge. It was unimaginably heavy. It was probably much heavier than a mountain.


    ¡°How was that? Do you still want to give it another go?¡± Bravest asked with a smile. She had long expected this outcome.


    ¡°Let me try again.¡± With a thought, Zhou Wen transformed into Supreme Hell King¡¯s huge body. Then, he reached out to grab the hourglass and unleashed his full strength again.


    No matter how hard he tried, the hourglass remained motionless as though it had been welded shut.


    1


    ¡°Haha, why aren¡¯t you trying?¡± Bravest asked with a laugh when she saw Zhou Wen return to his human form.


    ¡°I still have to give it a try, but I want to try something else.¡± With a thought, Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate was the Child of Dimension after all. She was the true protagonist of this world. All sorts of treasures placed before her were fated to be hers. What others couldn¡¯t remove didn¡¯t mean that Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t.


    1


    ¡°If you can¡¯t even do it, what can this little one do?¡± Bravest curled her lips and commented.


    ¡°We¡¯ll only know if it works after trying,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Try as much as you want. Summon a few more little ones. Don¡¯t tire her out.¡± Bravest stood there with her arms crossed, looking like she was watching a good show.


    Demonic Neonate glanced at the girl before turning to look at the hourglass. She had no intention of walking over. Instead, she took off the Vajra Chakram and shone it at the hourglass.


    1


    Immediately, the surrounding buildings and the Sand Sea shook. The seawater-like sand kept churning as the buildings were swept up.


    Bravest¡¯s expression changed drastically. When she looked at the hourglass again, she realized that it had already vanished.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You¡­¡± Bravest almost burst out in tears. She knew that she was in big trouble. This hourglass was the foundation of the Sand Sea race. Without it, the Sand Sea race wouldn¡¯t be able to continue expanding in the future. ¡°Quickly return the hourglass!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite impossible. It¡¯s impossible for the things she puts away to come out again. I¡¯m afraid it has already been destroyed,¡± Zhou Wen said helplessly as he spread out his hands.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. You have to return it. Otherwise, I¡¯m dead¡­¡± Bravest paced around anxiously.


    1


    ¡°Is it that serious?¡± Zhou Wen pretended to be deep in thought. ¡°The hourglass has already been destroyed, so it definitely can¡¯t be returned. How about this? Since you are going to the Heavenly Happiness Temple together, why don¡¯t we leave now and leave this place to prevent you from being implicated?¡±


    Bravest gritted her teeth and said, ¡°How can that do?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t do anything about it if you can¡¯t. I¡¯ll be leaving now. Take your time to consider it.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen turned around and quickly left.


    He had already taken their treasure. Was he going to wait for them to fight him?


    ¡°Don¡¯t go!¡± Bravest immediately chased after him.


    The two of them traversed the Sand Sea, one at the heel of the other. At that moment, the Sand Sea was still trembling, throwing the Sand Sea race into chaos; no one knew what had happened.


    With Zhou Wen and Bravest¡¯s speed, they quickly rushed out of the Sand Sea¡¯s range. This was the result of Zhou Wen deliberately waiting for the girl without using spatial teleportation.


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you running?¡± Bravest nearly slammed into Zhou Wen when he made an abrupt stop.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the way. I need you to lead,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°How can you humans be so shameless? You stole our race¡¯s cornerstone treasure and still want me to lead the way for you?¡± Bravest said angrily.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me to take it? When did it become stealing? You were the one who said that I could take it,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°When was that said? I said try¡­ try¡­ Do you understand?¡± Bravest snapped back angrily.


    ¡°That might be because my comprehension is lacking. I¡¯m sorry. Now that I¡¯ve taken it and destroyed it, there¡¯s nothing that can be done. Let¡¯s quickly head to the Heavenly Happiness Temple,¡± Zhou Wen said sincerely.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Bravest hesitated.


    Zhou Wen could naturally tell that the girl was in a dilemma. Otherwise, with her Apocalypse grade, how could she not have caught up to him after so long? The girl probably hadn¡¯t decided whether she should capture Zhou Wen.


    ¡°How about this? Let¡¯s go to the Heavenly Happiness Temple first before we come up with a solution.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he walked forward.


    The girl wore a complicated expression. Seeing that Zhou Wen had already walked far into the distance, she had no choice but to follow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t even think about escaping. You have to return our cornerstone treasure.¡±


    ¡°Got it. Why are you looking for the Heavenly Happiness God?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    ¡°Then I should know your name, right? How should I address you?¡±


    ¡°Ah Yong.¡±


    1


    ¡°Ah Yong, how did you advance to the Apocalypse grade?¡±


    ¡°I was born in the Apocalypse grade. Why would I need advancement? That¡¯s something only the weak need.¡±


    1


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen chatted with Ah Yong and roughly learned of her situation.


    However, Ah Yong refused to reveal why she wanted to visit the Heavenly Happiness God.


    In fact, he didn¡¯t need to ask to guess. What else could a creature ask from the Heavenly Happiness God? They naturally wanted descendants.


    1


    It would be a pity for Ah Yong who had such good genes to not leave a descendant. Not only should she leave one, but she should also leave plenty.


    Zhou Wen was already considering if he should think of a way to enter the Source of Life and obtain some high-level Companion Eggs.


    A Companion Egg left behind by a creature like Ah Yong might be a natural Apocalypse. He would be rich if he could get a few.


    1


    With this thought in mind, the more Zhou Wen looked at Ah Yong, the more he found her pleasing to the eye. He even found Ah Yong a little familiar.


    However, Zhou Wen only believed that it was an illusion. Sometimes, people were like that. It was inevitable that they would encounter a few strangers that they found familiar.


    Ah Yong clearly didn¡¯t know the way. Under her lead, the two of them took many detours. Thankfully, when others saw Ah Yong¡¯s fearless Apocalypse-grade aura, no one dared to stop them. Instead, they arrived at the Heavenly Happiness Temple without much trouble.


    When Zhou Wen arrived at the Heavenly Happiness Temple again, he felt somewhat wistful.


    ¡°Why are you here again?¡± Emperor of Shang was rather surprised to see Zhou Wen walk into the Heavenly Happiness Temple with an Apocalypse-grade dimensional creature behind him.


    ¡°I need help with something.¡±


    ¡°Did you deliver the message I entrusted you with?¡± Emperor of Shang asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and said, ¡°She didn¡¯t say anything.¡±


    Emperor of Shang nodded and said, ¡°Speak. What do you want me to help you with?¡±


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s nothing. I just want you to give me directions,¡± Zhou Wen said in embarrassment.


    ¡°What directions?¡± Emperor of Shang imagined that Zhou Wen¡¯s ¡®directions¡¯ was just an analogy, but to his surprise, Zhou Wen was really here to ask for directions.


    1


    However, after hearing Zhou Wen¡¯s description of the place, Emperor of Shang¡¯s expression turned odd. ¡°Why do you want to go to Destiny Platform?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you know that the Cube battle is held there?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled; Emperor of Shang didn¡¯t seem to know anything.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t left this place for thousands of years. How would I know what¡¯s happening outside?¡± Emperor of Shang sighed and continued, ¡°I advise you not to go to the Destiny Platform.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. The Cube battles had already started; why couldn¡¯t he go?


    ¡°The Destiny Platform is where the King of the Dimension ascends the throne. Only the King of the Dimension can stand there. If it¡¯s not the destined King of the Dimension, anyone who stands on it will only die.¡± Emperor of Shang¡¯s words gave Zhou Wen a fright.


    2

 Chapter 1840 - The Mystery of Ah Yongs Past

    ¡°That¡¯s not right. The king isn¡¯t the only one who has ascended the Destiny Platform. The person isn¡¯t dead either.¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°That¡¯s because the Destiny Platform hasn¡¯t been activated yet. When the Destiny Platform truly activates, all creatures who have ascended it, no matter where they are, will be transported to the Destiny Platform and undergo the baptism of the power of Destiny. The person who can ultimately survive the baptism of Destiny shall be the King of the Dimension.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s said that the last time the Destiny Platform opened was when the supreme Immortal Thearch of the Immortals appeared. She was the true King of the Dimension. In the years after the Immortal Thearch¡¯s reign, the Destiny Platform never activated again. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s because the time hasn¡¯t come or if there¡¯s no one worthy of activating the Destiny Platform. Now that the Destiny Platform has activated again, it looks like a new era is being ushered in.¡±


    1


    Emperor of Shang told him some of the legends regarding the Destiny Platform.


    ¡°That explains it.¡± Zhou Wen was secretly glad that he hadn¡¯t rashly attempted the stone steps. If I¡¯m not wrong, the last dimensional king recognized by the Destiny Platform should be The Thearch trapped in Chess Mountain.


    3


    He asked Emperor of Shang a few more questions, but since Emperor of Shang knew very little about the outside world, Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up.


    ¡°Heavenly Happiness God¡­ I have a question for you¡­¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to leave, Ah Yong, who had been silent, finally spoke.


    ¡°Please speak.¡± Emperor of Shang smiled at Ah Yong.


    ¡°Please tell me¡­ Who¡¯s my father¡­ Where is he¡­¡± Zhou Wen and Emperor of Shang were taken aback by Ah Yong¡¯s words.


    1


    ¡°Are you in the wrong place? This is the Heavenly Happiness Temple, not the Destiny Temple. I don¡¯t know how to read fortunes,¡± Emperor of Shang said with a bitter smile.


    Like Zhou Wen, he originally imagined that Ah Yong was here to pray for children, but he never expected her to be looking for her father.


    1


    However, Ah Yong shook her head and said, ¡°My mother told me that she met my father here where she fell in love with him, resulting in my birth. So you must know who my father is, right?¡±


    ¡°Is that so? What¡¯s your father¡¯s name?¡± he asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Mother said that she doesn¡¯t know my father¡¯s name either. She only knows that my father is human,¡± Ah Yong continued.


    1


    ¡°Human?¡± Emperor of Shang was even more puzzled.


    The Heavenly Happiness Temple was connected to the source of life. It did indeed have the ability to allow asexual creatures to reproduce. This was also the Heavenly Happiness Temple¡¯s job.


    Although the Heavenly Happiness God was somewhat similar to Elder Moon¡ªa matchmaking deity¡ªHeavenly Happiness God wasn¡¯t involved in matchmaking. Furthermore, he was alleged to be a matchmaker between a creature and a human. Emperor of Shang couldn¡¯t remember when he had done such a thing.


    ¡°Yes, he¡¯s a human.¡± Ah Yong nodded with certainty. ¡°My mother said that he¡¯s a very outstanding human man.¡±


    ¡°Then who¡¯s your mother?¡± Emperor of Shang really couldn¡¯t recall such a person, so he could only ask again.


    Ah Yong hesitated for a moment as though she had some concerns, but in the end, she gritted his teeth and said, ¡°My mother told me not to tell anyone her name. I hope you can help me keep it a secret.¡±


    ¡°Your mother¡¯s name will definitely not come from me,¡± Emperor of Shang said solemnly.


    ¡°My mother¡¯s name is Fate,¡± Ah Yong said carefully as though she was afraid that others would hear her.


    ¡°Fate Goddess of the Trajectory race!¡± Emperor of Shang was alarmed when he heard that.


    1


    ¡°You really know my mother. In that case, you know who my father is, right?¡± Ah Yong was overjoyed as she asked again.


    Emperor of Shang carefully sized up Ah Yong. After a while, he slowly said, ¡°I don¡¯t know who your father is.¡±


    ¡°How is that possible? You clearly know my mother¡­¡± Ah Yong immediately panicked, as though she would attack at any moment.


    ¡°Hear what I have to say first.¡± Emperor of Shang seemed to sink into his memories. After a while, he slowly said, ¡°After the Immortal Thearch, there was no true king in the dimension. The powerhouses of the various races had the intention to become king. Back then, there were a total of five people who had the greatest chance of becoming the next dimensional king. The Trajectory race¡¯s Fate Goddess was one of them¡­


    ¡°The Fate Goddess wanted a child, so she came to the Heavenly Happiness Temple. However, something unexpected happened. The Fate Goddess didn¡¯t give birth to a descendant in the source of life. Instead, she met a human.¡±


    ¡°That human is my father, right?¡± Ah Yong asked excitedly.


    ¡°That human is very likely your father.¡± Emperor of Shang confirmed Ah Yong¡¯s guess.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t that mean you know? Why did you say that you don¡¯t know who my father is? You made me so disappointed,¡± Ah Yong argued.


    ¡°I only know that he¡¯s a human, and I also know that he left with your mother. In theory, he should be your father. However, I can¡¯t be sure. After all, I didn¡¯t see you being born, and I don¡¯t know where that human came from or who he is.¡± Emperor of Shang sighed and said, ¡°You came here to find him, right? I¡¯m helpless about this. I don¡¯t know where he came from or where he went.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you even know his name?¡± Ah Yong was stunned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know that he came down from a large ship,¡± Emperor of Shang said.


    ¡°Ship!¡± Zhou Wen and Ah Yong shouted in unison.


    ¡°Why did you shout?¡± Ah Yong glared at Zhou Wen.


    How could Zhou Wen not shout? If the huge ship that Emperor of Shang mentioned was the one that belonged to An Jing¡¯s mother, there would be a problem.


    When the ship was struck down, Ah Yong¡¯s mother came to the Heavenly Happiness Temple after the ship was destroyed by The Thearch.


    1


    By then, An Jing¡¯s mother had already died and The Thearch was trapped in Chess Mountain. Why would the ship appear again?


    Could it be that the ship wasn¡¯t completely destroyed after The Thearch struck it down? It still sailed for a period of time? No matter how Zhou Wen thought about it, something was amiss. Perhaps the ship that Emperor of Shang mentioned isn¡¯t the ship that An Jing¡¯s mother used.


    ¡°Is this what the big ship you mentioned looks like?¡± Ah Yong reached out and took out a pocket watch. She opened it, revealing a circular photo on the inside of the pocket watch¡¯s lid. It was a picture of a ship with a melancholic woman standing at the bow. She was probably Ah Yong¡¯s mother, the Fate Goddess.


    However, Zhou Wen¡¯s focus wasn¡¯t on Fate Goddess. He kept looking at the ship in the photo.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed because he was now certain that the ship was the huge ship that Gaia had mentioned¡ªthe ship that An Jing¡¯s mother was piloting.


    It was obvious that the ship had been severely damaged. It was certain that this was a photo taken after The Thearch had struck the ship down.


    Back then, it should have been the time when the trapped world-level lifeforms escaped the ship, or perhaps slightly later in time. When Ah Yong¡¯s father alighted from the ship, was he also a lifeform trapped on the ship? But were there such existences among humans back then? Humans who could be trapped with lifeforms like God and Shiva? Zhou Wen looked at the photo in a daze.


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    1

 Chapter 1841 - : Too Similar

    Unfortunately, this photo only captured Ah Yong¡¯s mother and not her father.


    ¡°It¡¯s this ship. Back then, this heavily damaged ship that looked like it was on the brink of collapse actually flew out of the source of life. It gave me a fright. Back then, the Fate Goddess and that man were at the bow of the ship and were taken far away by it. This is everything I know. I don¡¯t know what happened subsequently,¡± Emperor of Shang said.


    1


    Ah Yong clearly had some hope. She thought that she could find out who her father was by coming here, but things didn¡¯t go as planned.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t bear to see Ah Yong in such a state, so he asked, ¡°Your Majesty, do you still remember what that man looks like?¡±


    ¡°It happened thousands of years ago, but I still remember some of it. After all, it hadn¡¯t been long since I arrived back then. Furthermore, this was the first time I¡¯d seen such a shocking scene. It¡¯s also the only time I¡¯ve seen something fly out from the source of life,¡± Emperor of Shang said with a smile. He already understood what Zhou Wen meant. Without waiting for Zhou Wen to say another word, he extended his finger and drew on the ground.


    In a way, Emperor of Shang¡¯s drawing skills were rather good, but they were somewhat different from the popular drawing styles. His drawing was realistic, but not completely.


    In terms of abstraction, it wasn¡¯t completely abstract. It gave off a godlike feeling, and the details weren¡¯t that exquisite.


    However, as he watched, Zhou Wen¡¯s expression gradually changed as the portrait became more and more complete.


    He looked at the portrait and then at Ah Yong. His gaze became even stranger. He finally knew why he had found Ah Yong familiar. It wasn¡¯t an illusion. She really looked familiar. Ah Yong looked very similar to someone he knew.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s probably such a person that gives off such vibes. The details might not be completely the same, but the overall feeling can¡¯t be wrong,¡± Emperor of Shang said.


    ¡°Is this my father? He looks quite handsome,¡± Ah Yong said happily.


    Although she still didn¡¯t know who her father was, she finally knew that she really had a father, and a good-looking one at that.


    ¡°He should be your father. You look very similar to him. However, you are a woman and he is a man, so there will be some differences, and your temperament is different,¡± Emperor of Shang said.


    ¡°Your Majesty, is this really what the man looks like?¡± Zhou Wen asked Emperor of Shang in disbelief.


    Emperor of Shang glanced at him and said indifferently, ¡°My artistic achievements were the best in my era.¡±


    1


    How is that possible? Do they only look alike? People may look alike, but how can the vibes they give off be the same? Zhou Wen looked at the portrait as countless thoughts raced through his mind.


    He was too familiar with the person in the portrait, but he couldn¡¯t associate this person with the word ¡®father.¡¯


    How can he have such a big daughter? Zhou Wen kept sizing up the portrait and Ah Yong. The more he looked at them, the more they resembled each other. It was f*cking him.


    ¡°What are you looking at?¡± Ah Yong felt uncomfortable under Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze as he roared at him.


    ¡°Well, if there¡¯s someone in this world who looks very similar to the person in this painting¡ªI mean very similar¡ªbut it probably isn¡¯t your father, do you want to meet him?¡± Zhou Wen said hesitantly.


    ¡°What¡¯s the point of looking alike? He¡¯s not my father,¡± Ah Yong said with a twitch of her lips.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. That person couldn¡¯t be Ah Yong¡¯s father.


    Ah Yong looked like a girl, but in fact, it was unknown how old she was. After all, her parents had met thousands of years ago.


    However, he couldn¡¯t help but look at the portrait on the ground. It looked too similar. Zhou Wen had never gotten such vibes from another person.


    This f*cking resembled An Sheng, but how old was An Sheng? It was impossible for him to have such a daughter.


    1


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s bid each other farewell. I want to go to Destiny Platform to take a look.¡± Although Zhou Wen still had some doubts, he felt that it was impossible. He could tell An Sheng about this when he returned.


    ¡°Wait a minute, I¡¯ll go with you,¡± Ah Yong hurriedly said. ¡°You haven¡¯t returned the cornerstone treasure to me. How can you leave just like that?¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind. With an Apocalypse protecting him, he could save himself a lot of trouble along the way.


    After bidding Emperor of Shang farewell, Zhou Wen and Ah Yong rushed to Destiny Platform.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, where is the person you said looks like my father?¡± As she walked, Ah Yong suddenly asked.


    ¡°On Earth,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Does he really look like my father?¡± Ah Yong asked again.


    ¡°Yes. The facial features might be a little different from the portrait, but they are extremely similar,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Can you take me to see that person?¡± Ah Yong¡¯s words caught Zhou Wen off guard.


    1


    ¡°He just looks like him. He¡¯s not your father. Why do you want to meet him?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    He wasn¡¯t worried that Ah Yong would cause trouble on Earth. With Ah Yong¡¯s personality, she probably wouldn¡¯t go overboard.


    What Zhou Wen was worried about was what impression this would give the other dimensional Apocalypse-grade creatures if a dimensional Apocalypse-grade powerhouse were to appear on Earth.


    They would believe that the taboo power on Earth was already very weak and was enough to support their true bodies¡¯ descent. This was the situation Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to see the most.


    Be it Earth or humans, they weren¡¯t prepared for the dimension¡¯s incursion.


    ¡°I don¡¯t feel anything from looking at the portrait. I just want to see what the real person looks like. It¡¯s good to have a reference.¡± Ah Yong said it very casually, but Zhou Wen could tell that she had probably made up her mind to go.


    ¡°Can you go to Earth?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, so you have to be responsible for taking me to Earth to meet that person. Otherwise, return our cornerstone treasure.¡± From the looks of it, Ah Yong was going to keep clinging onto Zhou Wen.


    ¡°The rules in Earth¡¯s universe reject dimensional creatures. If you go, you might be suppressed by Earth¡¯s rules. Have you thought it through?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Have you forgotten that I have half a human bloodline? Perhaps it¡¯s not as exaggerated as you say.¡± Ah Yong¡¯s words left Zhou Wen taken aback.


    1


    He had really forgotten that Ah Yong still had half a human bloodline.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t sure what would happen when Ah Yong arrived on Earth. All he could do was say, ¡°I¡¯m going to the Destiny Platform first before returning to Earth.¡±


    ¡°Ain¡¯t I accompanying you now? You can accompany me to Earth to take a look at that person. Forget about the cornerstone treasure. I won¡¯t tell anyone that you stole it,¡± Ah Yong said as she walked.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t steal it. I took it,¡± Zhou Wen corrected her.


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    1

 Chapter 1842 - Lake of the Sky

    According to Emperor of Shang, the location of Destiny Platform was called Dimensional Airspace. The so-called airspace was an area void of everything.


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    In that area, there was nothing other than the Destiny Platform. Furthermore, it was virtually infinite. To find the Destiny Platform in the dimensional space depended on whether one was destined to find it.


    Currently, most of the creatures that had ascended the Destiny Platform¡¯s staircase had likely gone through the Cube. They had never been to the Dimensional Airspace.


    1


    It looked like the Cube had reduced the difficulty of ascending it, but in fact, it had increased the mortality rate.


    In the past, people couldn¡¯t find the location of the Destiny Platform by going through the Dimensional Airspace. They knew that it wasn¡¯t their fate. Giving up on ascending the Destiny Platform gave them a chance to escape from the Dimensional Airspace.


    1


    However, creatures that went via the Cube would find themselves on the staircase without even a chance of giving up.


    ¡°Wait for me here. I¡¯ll come out after I¡¯m done,¡± Zhou Wen said to Ah Yong as he looked at the bottomless, mirror-like lake.


    This lake was called the Lake of the Sky, the entrance to the Dimensional Airspace.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll go in with you.¡± Ah Yong was worried about Zhou Wen entering alone. He was afraid that if he ran away, nobody would be able to take her to see the person who resembled her father.


    1


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. After all, there wasn¡¯t any danger in the Dimensional Airspace. At most, they would be trapped inside.


    1


    Just as the two of them were about to jump into the Lake of the Sky, they suddenly saw a huge maelstrom appear in the lake.


    1


    A horned head rose from the vortex, followed by a snow-white body and hooves. It was a snow-white unicorn.


    After the unicorn emerged from the water, it walked on the water surface with its four hooves. As though sensing Zhou Wen and Ah Yong¡¯s existence, it glanced over and turned to gallop over.


    Zhou Wen looked at the unicorn warily. With the augmentation of the Human Realm domain, he could sense that the unicorn was extraordinary. It was probably an Apocalypse-grade existence.


    The unicorn came close and stopped on the lake. It sized up Ah Yong and suddenly said, ¡°When did the Fate Goddess have a descendant like you? You¡¯re actually half-blood.¡±


    1


    Ah Yong was immediately enraged as a terrifying power spread out from her body. The entire space began to distort and tear.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. Ah Yong¡¯s New World power could actually distort and tear through space. This was a rather powerful ability.


    In the distorted space, the surrounding area was torn apart. White light rose from the unicorn¡¯s body, but it wasn¡¯t injured by the distorted space.


    ¡°If the Fate Goddess was still alive and came in front of me personally, she might have been able to injure me, Karoman. Your powers are lacking,¡± the unicorn said proudly.


    1


    ¡°You are Karoman?¡± Ah Yong¡¯s expression changed slightly when she heard the unicorn announce its name.


    ¡°So you know my name.¡± Karoman raised his head proudly and spoke to Ah Yong and Zhou Wen with his nostrils aimed at them.


    1


    ¡°On account of the Fate Goddess, I¡¯ll give you a way out. You are a descendant of Fate. Since you¡¯ve inherited her powers, you shouldn¡¯t be fooled by the Dimensional Airspace. Take me to the Destiny Platform and you may leave,¡± said Karoman.


    ¡°Who is he?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask Ah Yong.


    Ah Yong hurriedly gave Zhou Wen a look and whispered, ¡°It once competed with my mother for the title of dimensional king. It was one of the strongest creatures of that era.¡±


    1


    ¡°I see.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly when he heard that, but he didn¡¯t pay much attention to it. One of the strongest creatures of that era referred to the strongest creature ranked behind The Thearch. It was naturally incomparable to The Thearch.


    ¡°A mere human actually dares to look down on me. Do you really think that you can run amok in the dimension just because you defeated Transcendent Immortal?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s attitude made Karoman very happy. He also recognized Zhou Wen.


    Before Zhou Wen could say a word, the white light over Karoman¡¯s body suddenly expanded like a sun that illuminated everything around him.


    Ah Yong¡¯s New World immediately shrank from the pressure. Ah Yong¡¯s expression didn¡¯t look good as she tried her best to power the New World to protect herself and Zhou Wen.


    However, the range of her New World was shrinking. It could hardly envelop their bodies any longer.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the three Companion Beasts¡ªMystic Thearch, Prisoner, and the Child of the Land of Depravity¡¯s Holy Spirit¡ªattached themselves to him in the form of souls.


    After Mystic Thearch attached itself to Zhou Wen, it enveloped him in black armor.


    Prisoner turned the gaps in the armor to white light.


    The Child of the Land of Depravity¡¯s Holy Spirit made six pairs of black wings appear on Zhou Wen¡¯s back. There was also white light at the edges.


    1


    Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body emitted white flames that burned black in the middle as though a devil had descended.


    ¡°Ah Yong, move aside.¡± Zhou Wen wanted to give it a try to see how far he was from a true Apocalypse-grade expert.


    Ah Yong retreated when she heard that and looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s back in surprise. The aura Zhou Wen emitted wasn¡¯t inferior to hers.


    Now, Zhou Wen had the augmentation of two Apocalypse-grade Companion Beasts. Together with his and Mystic Thearch¡¯s strength, he was good enough to fight ordinary Apocalypse-grade experts.


    ¡°Are you even worthy?¡± The white light on Karoman¡¯s body intensified under the provocation. However, when the white light arrived in front of Zhou Wen and touched the black and white flames on his body, it melted.


    Two New World powers¡ªPrisoner¡¯s All Life plus the Child of the Land of Depravity¡¯s Holy Spirit¡¯s Darkness¡ªaugmenting Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Realm domain might not be able to suppress Karoman, but his New World powers were made useless.


    The six pairs of wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back spread out as feathers with black and white flames transformed into sword beams that tore through Karoman¡¯s domain. They swept towards him like a river of stars.


    ¡°Strange!¡± Karoman shouted as a terrifying sword beam shot out from his eyes, tearing apart the sword stream that came lunging at him.


    However, in the next second, the thousands of sword feathers vanished into thin air and appeared out of thin air again, slashing at Karoman from all directions.


    Karoman leaped into the air like a bolt of lightning. With a stomp of his hooves, a terrifying shockwave immediately shattered all the sword feathers. Light scattered everywhere.


    ¡°Human, you are still lacking.¡± The light in Karoman¡¯s eyes intensified as he instantly shot through Zhou Wen¡¯s body like a laser.


    However, it was only an afterimage. Zhou Wen¡¯s body had already appeared behind Karoman. The huge shadow of Holy Hell King appeared behind Karoman and struck out at him.


    Boom!


    Caught off guard, Karoman was slammed into the Lake of the Sky.


    Zhou Wen instant transmitted to the surface of the Lake of the Sky and passed through it.


    1


    It was a clear lake, but when he passed through it, he didn¡¯t feel any water pressure. It was as though he had passed through a bubble.


    After entering the Lake of the Sky, he realized that it was an empty sky. It was the sky both top and bottom. He no longer saw the Lake of the Sky from before.


    Not far away, Karoman was glaring at Zhou Wen angrily. It didn¡¯t think much of Zhou Wen, but it had been slapped down by him. Although it hadn¡¯t injured him, it had infuriated him.


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    1

 Chapter 1843 - Sin of All Life

    Ah Yong followed after him and immediately saw spatial distortions and terrifying light blasts everywhere in the void. It was as though countless colorful suns had blasted apart in the sky.


    Strangely, the colorful suns that blasted apart slowly spread in all directions like paint on rice paper instead of exploding immediately.


    The sky was dyed with rainbow colors that twisted and intertwined like a meaningless abstract painting.


    Ah Yong was alarmed. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t disadvantaged in his fight against Karoman. He seemed to be many times stronger than she had imagined.


    This fellow¡­ is so strong¡­ Ah Yong had always been convinced that she could easily defeat Zhou Wen, but from the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case.


    1


    Even if it were her, it was impossible for her to fight Karoman to such an extent. At most, she could only protect herself.


    With the augmentation of the Companion Beasts, Zhou Wen constantly battled Karoman. Although his strength couldn¡¯t severely injure Karoman, the battle gave Zhou Wen new insights into the power of the Apocalypse grade.


    The power of the New World wasn¡¯t just suppressing others with power, but the power of creation.


    1


    In the New World, an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse was equivalent to a Creator. They could use the New World to create all sorts of rules. These rules were what made the New World truly powerful.


    1


    For example, if power was a stone, then one could use the power of the New World to temper this stone. It could turn stone into steel and even forge the steel into a sharp blade. The power of the sharp blade was naturally stronger than the stone and easier to control.


    1


    What if he didn¡¯t create sharp blades, but guns or even nuclear weapons?


    With the same foundation, the more creative one was, the stronger the power the New World could manifest. The difference would be tremendous.


    1


    The New World couldn¡¯t create something out of nothing. It still needed to use one¡¯s existing strength as the foundation to create stronger nomological powers.


    In this aspect, Zhou Wen had the upper hand. Other creatures typically only had one foundational power, or at most two or three.


    However, Zhou Wen had eight foundations to begin with. Together with the Lost Immortal Sutra, it could be said that his foundational powers far exceeded others.


    1


    Furthermore, he was being augmented by these soul-form Companion Beasts whose foundational powers he could use for his own.


    Of course, Zhou Wen¡¯s main strength came from these Companion Beasts. His strength hadn¡¯t reached the level of the New World.


    If Zhou Wen one day possessed the New World, even if he had just advanced to the Apocalypse grade, it wasn¡¯t something an ordinary Apocalypse could compare with.


    1


    At the Apocalypse grade, it was no longer a competition of who had stronger foundational powers, but who was more creative.


    However, the more Karoman fought Zhou Wen, the more alarmed he became. He had seen Zhou Wen fight Transcendent Immortal in the Cube¡¯s battle. Back then, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t that strong¡ªonly his strength was rather strange.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was no longer strange, but truly powerful. Furthermore, it was terrifyingly powerful.


    He could use two New Worlds at the same time. Furthermore, he could create stronger rules under the foundation of the New World¡¯s strength.


    As the battle continued, the rules Zhou Wen created became more and more terrifying, leaving Karoman alarmed.


    With the foundation of the two New Worlds¡ªAll Life and the Dark Realm¡ªand with Zhou Wen¡¯s own strength as a supplement, Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding became clearer and clearer. He finally created the first mature New World rule.


    2


    ¡°Sin of All Life!¡± The six pairs of wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back spread out as he spread out his arms.


    1


    Instantly, the entire world seemed to open a door to Zhou Wen as infinite power surged towards his body.


    Karoman was alarmed to discover that his strength was flowing towards Zhou Wen, becoming a part of him.


    ¡°What monster is this?¡± Karoman let out a strange cry as the horn on his head emitted a glow. It was like a sharp blade that slashed at Zhou Wen, who was absorbing the energy of all things.


    Boom!


    The energy Zhou Wen absorbed collided with the horn blade, producing a shockwave that spread tens of thousands of kilometers.


    Thankfully, this was an empty dimensional space. Otherwise, the nearby planets would probably have been destroyed.


    1


    Pfft! Zhou Wen spat out a mouthful of blood as he looked down at the wound on his chest. The wound had sliced through his armor, leaving a bloody gash across his chest.


    Meanwhile, Karoman wasn¡¯t injured. He laughed smugly and said, ¡°Kid, you¡¯re lacking. How can you understand the rules of the New World that took me countless years and battles to comprehend?¡±


    1


    Just as Karoman was feeling smug, he saw the wounds on Zhou Wen¡¯s body heal at a visible speed. In the blink of an eye, even his armor had healed.


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a good rule. What¡¯s its name?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to know it. This time, I¡¯ll slice you into two. Let¡¯s see how you can heal yourself¡­¡± Karoman¡¯s horn lit up again.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was indifferent as the Sin of All Life was activated again. Endless energy gathered towards Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Your New World¡¯s rules are useless. The outcome will be the same even if you do it ten thousand times!¡± Karoman shouted wantonly as his horn activated the terrifying Heaven Slaying Blade again.


    1


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t retreat as he raised his hands to clasp the Heaven Slaying Blade. A black-and-white vortex formed between his hands.


    The Heaven Slaying Blade slashed at the black-and-white vortex, but it was held back. It failed to continue slashing forward.


    What shocked Karoman even more was the black-and-white vortex¡¯s devouring of the Heaven Slaying Blade¡¯s energy.


    The energy of the black-and-white vortex intensified, but the energy of the Heaven Slaying Blade became weaker and weaker.


    ¡°How is this possible¡­¡± Karoman was horrified as he hurriedly retracted his New World rules.


    However, once the power of the Heaven Slaying Blade vanished, the black-and-white vortex in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand was sent towards Karoman.


    Wherever the black-and-white vortex passed, all the energy was sucked in, causing the power of the black-and-white vortex to become stronger and stronger, as though the entire space was about to be swept in.


    Karoman let out a tragic cry as he transformed into a white beam of light that tore through space and instantly vanished.


    Zhou Wen extended his hand and beckoned. The black-and-white vortex immediately dissipated like the wind.


    Karoman¡­ He actually chose to escape after getting a beating¡­ Ah Yong looked up at Zhou Wen in a daze.


    Karoman was an existence that could once compete with top dimensional powerhouses for the title of dimensional king. Yet, he had been forced to flee by Zhou Wen. It was unbelievable.


    1


    Ah Yong felt that no one would believe her even if she told her Sand Sea companions what she had seen.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to Destiny Platform. You should be able to find the way, right?¡± Zhou Wen landed beside Ah Yong and said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡­ think so¡­¡± Ah Yong suddenly became a little reserved.


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 Chapter 1844 - Zhou Wens Guess

    There was no sense of direction in the dimensional space¡ªno up or down, left or right. One didn¡¯t even know if they were walking in a straight line.


    1


    Without any reference, how could one be sure that they were walking in a straight line?


    Just like humans living on Earth might think that Earth was flat. The feeling humans gained from their senses was sometimes very unreliable.


    However, Ah Yong wouldn¡¯t get lost in such an airspace, it was only a matter of time before she found it even though she didn¡¯t know where the Destiny Platform was.


    After searching for about two or three days, the duo finally saw the stone steps of Destiny Platform.


    Looking at the Destiny Platform with their own eyes was even more shocking than what was presented on the Cube. The path leading to heaven spiraled up to the sky.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and snapped a picture of the tiny palm symbol on the first stone step. The phone immediately entered the download screen.


    2


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Ah Yong sized up the phone in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand curiously.


    ¡°Taking a picture as a memento,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°What¡¯s a photo?¡± Ah Yong still looked confused.


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    ¡°It¡¯s just taking a picture and recording the scene. You can look at it when reminiscing in the future, just like the picture on your pocket watch,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°So a photo is taken with this thing? I thought it was a spatial scene that was frozen with some kind of ability.¡± Ah Yong felt more intrigued.


    1


    ¡°It¡¯s normal that you haven¡¯t seen something like a phone in the dimension. How about this? I¡¯ll take a photo for you as a memento.¡± Zhou Wen took out an ordinary phone and aimed it at Ah Yong.


    3


    ¡°What should I do? Where should I put my hand? Should I stand like this?¡± Ah Yong was immediately at a loss.


    Zhou Wen pressed the shutter, hoping to snap her flustered look.


    However, Ah Yong didn¡¯t appear on the screen. It was as though she didn¡¯t exist.


    Creatures above the Terror grade could no longer be sensed with the naked eye or equipment. One had to use special equipment to see them. Ordinary phones didn¡¯t have this function.


    1


    ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡± Ah Yong flashed behind Zhou Wen and looked at the phone screen in anticipation, but she realized that she wasn¡¯t on the screen. She looked at Zhou Wen in puzzlement and asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you take a picture of me?¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± Zhou Wen put away his phone and took out a piece of paper and a pencil. He froze the paper in midair before drawing on the paper.


    1


    Although Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how to draw, it wasn¡¯t difficult for him to replicate a painting with his present abilities.


    Zhou Wen drew Ah Yong¡¯s helpless look from memory. Behind her were the stone steps of Destiny Platform.


    There could be thousands of beautiful photos, but it was probably difficult to have a second picture of an Apocalypse-grade big shot with such a blank and innocent look.


    ¡°Is this how a photo is produced? Why is it different from mine?¡± Ah Yong asked in puzzlement.


    1


    ¡°There are all sorts of different types of photos. This is a rather special photo. It¡¯s much better than your photo.¡± Zhou Wen was actually somewhat puzzled as to how Ah Yong¡¯s father had managed to snap the Fate Goddess.


    2


    Thinking of Ah Yong¡¯s father, Zhou Wen thought of An Sheng. He couldn¡¯t figure out if that fellow was Ah Yong¡¯s father.


    Zhou Wen remembered that An Sheng had said that he had been picked up by An Tianzuo after he lost his memory. Even his name was given to him by the An family.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen felt that An Sheng might really be Ah Yong¡¯s father. After all, even An Sheng himself didn¡¯t know who he was in the past. Who knew?


    Thinking of amnesia, Zhou Wen thought of Ah Lai. He was the person Zhou Wen had brought out of the Trajectory Holy Temple. He seemed to have lost his memory as well.


    2


    According to Ah Lai, he had gone out to sea with his father to fish, but they encountered a huge storm. When he woke up, he was already in the Holy Temple; he hadn¡¯t seen his father again.


    1


    Furthermore, the timeline Ah Lai mentioned didn¡¯t match the timeline in the Holy Temple.


    Ah Lai was like an ancient person who had transmigrated to modern times. He was very unfamiliar with everything modern. Zhou Wen believed that what he said was likely true.


    1


    But how did an ordinary person like him cross the river of time and enter the Trajectory Holy Temple from the sea?


    Previously, Zhou Wen had no clue, but now, he thought of a possibility.


    Ah Yong¡¯s father was on a large ship before entering the dimension where he met the Trajectory race¡¯s Fate Goddess. They fell in love and even gave birth to a mixed child.


    1


    Then, was there a possibility that Ah Lai and his father had encountered a flood and not a simple storm?


    Ah Lai was like Ah Yong¡¯s father. He had boarded the ship during the flood. However, Ah Lai was unconscious while Ah Yong¡¯s father was conscious.


    For some reason, Ah Lai was taken to the Trajectory Holy Temple by the Fate Goddess, so he was trapped there.


    1


    Of course, these were only Zhou Wen¡¯s wild guesses. It was very likely that they were worlds apart from the truth. Perhaps Ah Lai had never encountered a huge ship, nor had he interacted with the Fate Goddess and Ah Yong¡¯s father.


    ¡°It¡¯s done.¡± Zhou Wen handed the portrait to Ah Yong.


    ¡°Why did you draw me so ugly?¡± Ah Yong took the portrait and curled her lips.


    1


    ¡°Give it back if you don¡¯t like it.¡± Zhou Wen reached out to take the painting.


    However, Ah Yong quickly turned to her side with the painting in hand and said, ¡°Your drawing is so ugly. I have to put it away myself to prevent others from seeing it.¡±


    1


    ¡°We¡¯ve already seen the Destiny Platform. It¡¯s time for us to leave.¡± Just as Zhou Wen was about to leave, he suddenly saw a flash on the steps of the Destiny Platform. A figure appeared on the first step.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly teleported far away with Ah Yong to prevent himself from being captured by the Cube.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but be taken aback when he saw the person on the stone steps from afar. Why is this old fellow here?


    1


    The person on the stone steps had black hair and eyes. His body was muscular and energetic. He was clearly a young man, but his eyes gave off an aged feeling.


    That person was naturally the rejuvenated Jing Daoxian. Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled. Why would a scheming person like him take the risk to participate in the Cube¡¯s battle?


    1


    Only one person will remain standing on the Destiny Platform eventually. Even if he can ascend the Destiny Platform, he will ultimately have to fight Wang Mingyuan to the death. How can he be Wang Mingyuan¡¯s match? Zhou Wen found it odd no matter how he thought about it.


    1


    With Jing Daoxian¡¯s personality, even if he didn¡¯t know that only one person could remain standing on Destiny Platform, he wouldn¡¯t have done such a thing. Could it be with his body turning young, he had become impulsive and hot-blooded?


    As Zhou Wen sized up Jing Daoxian, Jing Daoxian also discovered him. He looked at him and moved his mouth as though he was saying something to Zhou Wen, but he only mouthed his words without making a sound.


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 Chapter 1845 - Human Hero?

    Zhou Wen looked at the shape of his mouth. He was likely saying the words ¡°Lost Immortal.¡±


    Lost Immortal Sutra? Why is he suddenly telling me this? What does he mean? As Zhou Wen frowned, Jing Daoxian had already turned around and walked up the stone steps.


    1


    He was different from all the creatures who had taken the staircase. Jing Daoxian walked very quickly.


    Other creatures, be it humans or dimensional races, had an abnormally difficult time walking the stairs. Even Wang Mingyuan, who didn¡¯t look like he had expended any effort, didn¡¯t travel that briskly either.


    However, Jing Daoxian was walking very quickly as though he wasn¡¯t walking on the dimensional staircase, but ordinary stone steps.


    1


    This speed continued without any signs of slowing down.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, when did such an amazing person appear among us humans?¡±


    ¡°Those legs are definitely not human legs. They are practically divine legs. They are about to lift off.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, us humans are filled with talents. Any one of us can crush all those dimensional creatures.¡±


    ¡°My feet are eager to try it just from watching. I want to go up and take a walk.¡±


    The livestream was about to explode. No one expected a human they had never seen before to perform so well in the Cube¡¯s battle.


    Now, everyone wanted to know who this person was. Why had they never heard of such a human?


    ¡°Professor Gu, have you heard of this human powerhouse? Why have I never heard of such a human powerhouse before?¡± Su Yi said excitedly.


    1


    ¡°In this era, there are many geniuses among humans. It¡¯s normal for there to be human powerhouses that we have never heard of.¡± Professor Gu looked as though he had experienced plenty and was unfazed.


    ¡°Then in your opinion, Professor, which faction does this new human powerhouse belong to?¡± Su Yi asked again.


    2


    ¡°No matter which faction he belongs to, he¡¯s the hero of humanity,¡± Professor Gu said righteously.


    1


    Recently, he had been the victim of online outrage. He had been accused of feigning knowledge he didn¡¯t know. He had been accused of having a foul mouth, the foulest mouth king, the king of jinxes, the master of suckers, and so on.


    2


    Professor Gu didn¡¯t even dare to go online to read the comments due to the online vitriol. That was why he restrained himself today. He didn¡¯t analyze or make comments. He was just talking in a roundabout way.


    I won¡¯t draw any conclusions or make any judgments. You can¡¯t call me a jinx that way, right? Professor Gu thought to himself.


    1


    The audience in the livestream was very tolerant of Professor Gu this time. They felt that he was right. No matter who it was, as long as they were human, they would be bringing glory to humanity if they stepped up. They would be heroes of humanity.


    ¡°Professor Gu is not bad when he is in control of his mouth.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. If your standards aren¡¯t up to par, don¡¯t make empty analyses. Can¡¯t you just play the fool?¡±


    ¡°Professor Gu, you¡¯ve finally come to your senses.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine to heap praise. It would have been better if he had given such commentaries. Why did he insist on making blind analyses? He ended up winning his reputation as a jinx.¡±


    Many people were sufficiently accepting of Professor Gu¡¯s performance this time. They felt that Professor Gu was finally taking a steady approach.


    Jing Daoxian, who was walking on the staircase, flew up. It made one¡¯s blood boil.


    Restrictions? Inability to walk? Falling down? None of them existed for Jing Daoxian. He had almost reached the Destiny Platform before the first stone step fell.


    Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t even stop when he took the final step that Drought Demon Fairy took with all her might.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, this is too amazing. I feel like he¡¯s stronger than Wang Mingyuan!¡±


    1


    ¡°Amazing. This person is really amazing. Even if Human Sovereign were here, he probably wouldn¡¯t be that fantastic.¡±


    ¡°This speed definitely makes him first. Otherwise, there¡¯s no justice.¡±


    Everyone was about to go crazy. They had never seen anyone ascend the steps like this. This unfamiliar human instantly became the focus of everyone¡¯s attention.


    Jing Daoxian stood on the Destiny Platform with his hands open as though he was welcoming something.


    In the next second, infinite energy surged towards him like a heavenly river.


    Jing Daoxian wants to use the Destiny Platform¡¯s power to advance to the Apocalypse grade? Zhou Wen looked at Jing Daoxian with interest.


    1


    Zhou Wen knew that Jing Daoxian cultivated a remake version of the Lost Immortal Sutra. He had seen the power of Jing Daoxian¡¯s self-created version of the Lost Immortal Sutra. It was indeed very powerful.


    However, compared to the original Lost Immortal Sutra, Zhou Wen still felt that Jing Daoxian was lacking something.


    Now, Zhou Wen knew why Jing Daoxian had said the words ¡°Lost Immortal.¡± Jing Daoxian wanted Zhou Wen to see his Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Jing Daoxian had relied on the Lost Immortal Sutra to easily reach the Destiny Platform.


    Instead of saying that he had walked up, it was more like he had cheated.


    He didn¡¯t withstand the power of the stairs at all. The Lost Immortal Sutra had played fate for a fool. Not only did it fool the stairs, but it also fooled the Destiny Platform, allowing him to undergo the baptism of destiny.


    1


    Jing Daoxian had originally wanted Zhou Wen to take a good look at his Lost Immortal Sutra. He wanted to tell Zhou Wen that his Lost Immortal Sutra wasn¡¯t inferior to Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    What a talent. He clearly can¡¯t cultivate the Lost Immortal Sutra, but he managed to take another path and forcefully create a Lost Immortal Sutra that¡¯s similar to the Lost Immortal Sutra. No one else in this world can do it. Zhou Wen sighed in amazement.


    1


    Despite knowing that Jing Daoxian was comparing himself to him, Zhou Wen still felt that this person was indeed a rare genius.


    With countless lives on Earth and the dimension as witness, Jing Daoxian seemed to ascend as his body floated in the air. The surrounding space distorted more and more until people could only see a huge distorted space floating above the Destiny Platform. They couldn¡¯t see what Jing Daoxian was doing inside.


    No one understood what had happened to Jing Daoxian even after the Destiny Baptism ended, but the Cube¡¯s screen switched to the rankings.


    Unexpectedly, Jing Daoxian, who had walked up the Destiny Platform so quickly, was only ranked third. He was still behind Drought Demon Fairy. He didn¡¯t rank first as people had expected.


    1


    However, no one discussed this problem because all their attention was attracted by the words ¡°Jing Daoxian¡± on the rankings.


    To the Federation, these words were almost equivalent to evil.


    The title as the Federation¡¯s serial killer, the greatest devil in human history, the Bloody Butcher, and so on could be associated with this name.


    1


    It could be said that this name was the childhood trauma of all Federation citizens. When children were disobedient, adults would say that Jing Daoxian would come to eat up the naughty children. Immediately, children would be so frightened that they wouldn¡¯t dare cry again.


    No one expected such a young-looking man to be Jing Daoxian.


    Professor Gu looked at Jing Daoxian¡¯s name as the corners of his mouth twitched violently. He had the strong urge to curse.


    Thank you for reading on novelhall.com


    4

 Chapter 1846 - Setting the Ground Rules

    ¡°Let¡¯s leave the dimensional space now.¡± Zhou Wen got Ah Yong to lead the way.


    It wasn¡¯t easy to leave. Without Ah Yong leading the way, it was impossible to find a way out.


    They had to take a specific path to see the Lake of the Sky.


    1


    After leaving the dimensional space, Zhou Wen looked at Ah Yong and said, ¡°You have to be mentally prepared. Although you have half a human bloodline, you might still be restricted on Earth.¡±


    ¡°I understand.¡± Ah Yong nodded.


    ¡°Also, before we go, we have to set some ground rules,¡± Zhou Wen continued.


    ¡°What do you mean by ground rules?¡± Ah Yong didn¡¯t understand human speak.


    1


    ¡°It means that there will be rules between us. You have to abide by them when we reach Earth. Otherwise, I won¡¯t take you to Earth,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a contract then. What kind of contract do you want?¡± Ah Yong understood.


    1


    ¡°Firstly, after arriving on Earth, you have to listen to me. You can¡¯t do anything I don¡¯t allow you to do,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Am I not to see that person if you don¡¯t permit me?¡± Ah Yong widened her eyes.


    1


    ¡°Yes, you definitely can¡¯t do anything I disallow you from doing. Of course, this is only to prevent you from doing anything that will harm humans. As long as you don¡¯t do anything overboard, this agreement won¡¯t affect you too much,¡± Zhou Wen explained.


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to see that person. I¡¯m not going to kill anyone. I won¡¯t do anything to harm humans. You can rest assured about that.¡± Ah Yong agreed to Zhou Wen¡¯s conditions.


    1


    ¡°Second, you can¡¯t act alone after arriving on Earth. No matter where you go, you have to inform me first. You can only go after I agree,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why must I get your permission?¡± Ah Yong was very displeased.


    ¡°Sigh, you can only blame yourself for being too strong. The power in you is too terrifying. Humans and even Earth are too weak compared to you. Even an unintentional action of yours might injure many people. I can¡¯t do anything about it. It¡¯s your fault for being so strong,¡± Zhou Wen said as he shrugged.


    Ah Yong beamed when she heard that. ¡°Being strong is also a vexing problem. Alright then, I¡¯ll give you weak Earthlings a break. I agree to this contract.¡±


    1


    ¡°Third¡­ I¡¯ll tell you in the future.¡± Zhou Wen coughed lightly. In fact, he hadn¡¯t thought of the third rule.


    ¡°Why wait until later?¡± Ah Yong asked in puzzlement.


    ¡°Your talent is amazing and your growth speed is so fast. If your strength greatly increases every few days, how would I know what new problems will appear? When there are new problems, I can only resolve them when the time comes¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Alright then, I¡¯ll be understanding of you guys.¡± Ah Yong couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s make a contract. You are so strong that no one on Earth can restrain you. We can only rely on a contract.¡± Zhou Wen wore a helpless expression.


    Ah Yong happily signed a contract with Zhou Wen, unaware that she had already sold herself.


    After signing the contract, Zhou Wen used Mystic Thearch¡¯s Sovereign of the Universe and tore through space to return to Earth with Ah Yong.


    1


    The reason he didn¡¯t use it when he came was that he didn¡¯t know where he was going in the dimension. There was plenty of randomness when he used Sovereign of the Universe.


    If he were to teleport directly into a dimensional race¡¯s nest, who knew if he could escape?


    ¡°Is this a human city? It doesn¡¯t look like much. It¡¯s dirty, dilapidated, and old. It doesn¡¯t look good at all.¡± Ah Yong looked around curiously.


    Zhou Wen looked at the city in front of him and said casually, ¡°How can Earth compare to the dimension? I don¡¯t understand either. Why do the bigwigs of the dimension insist on coming to Earth?¡±


    1


    He didn¡¯t dare take Ah Yong back to Guide Ancient City, nor did he dare let her go to Luoyang to meet An Sheng immediately.


    This was the Cape family¡¯s territory. He brought Ah Yong here first to confirm that she would abide by the contract before deciding how to settle her down.


    1


    When the soldiers guarding the city saw Zhou Wen, their expressions immediately changed. They hurriedly took out their phones and contacted the Cape family¡¯s upper echelons.


    Before Zhou Wen reached the door with Ah Yong, he saw the head of the Cape family, Shann Cape, welcome him with a few of the Cape family¡¯s upper echelons.


    1


    ¡°Welcome, Your Excellency Human Sovereign. I¡¯ve already ordered my servants to prepare a banquet¡­¡± Shann Cape welcomed him with a smile, not mentioning the grudge between the Cape family and Zhou Wen.


    Shann Cape had put in a lot of effort. He was very good at entertaining the guests and did so with great flair.


    If Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what the Cape family was like in the past, he would have imagined that this family was a benevolent family.


    The dimension respected strength and evolution was its life goal. It didn¡¯t have the mood or time to pull such tricks.


    1


    Ah Yong had never seen so many novel things. Just all the kinds of food made her almost forget her goal for coming to Earth. Her mouth didn¡¯t stop eating the moment she arrived at the Cape family¡¯s residence.


    1


    Ah Yong had fun with all sorts of entertainment. The entire trip was very pleasant.


    An Sheng, An Sheng, if this is really your daughter, as your brother, I¡¯ve helped you take care of your child. Zhou Wen used the Cape family¡¯s place to entertain Ah Yong. When he left, Ah Yong even left with many gifts.


    She didn¡¯t stand on ceremony with any of the tailor-made dresses or jewelry. She took whatever looked good.


    The necklace around Shann Cape¡¯s neck was given to her just because Ah Yong said that it looked good.


    In fact, Shann Cape didn¡¯t know Ah Yong¡¯s identity. Zhou Wen had already used a method to conceal Ah Yong¡¯s aura, so ordinary people couldn¡¯t tell her identity.


    Shann Cape was naturally so cooperative because of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°He¡¯s finally gone.¡± The Cape family watched Zhou Wen and Ah Yong leave and heaved a sigh of relief.


    Ever since Zhou Wen¡¯s identity as Human Sovereign was exposed, the Cape family had been living in fear, afraid that Zhou Wen would cause trouble for them.


    The last time Zhou Wen went to the Heaven dimensional zone, it had made the Cape family nervous for a while, believing that it was a signal that Zhou Wen was about to attack the Cape family.


    Zhou Wen was an existence that could fight Apocalypse-grade creatures. He was undoubtedly the strongest human. The Cape family knew that once Zhou Wen wanted the Cape family destroyed, they had no chance of survival.


    Although the Cape family had already made preparations to have many descendants change their names and be sent elsewhere, that was only enough to preserve their bloodline.


    1


    While Ah Yong was playing, Zhou Wen had used his phone to contact An Sheng.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, how are you going to thank me?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, what are you talking about? Why should I thank you?¡± An Sheng was taken aback by Zhou Wen¡¯s words, unsure what he meant.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t you thank me for helping you take care of your daughter?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, you were never one for jokes,¡± An Sheng said helplessly, believing that Zhou Wen was joking. Furthermore, it was a very lame joke.


    1


    ¡°I¡¯m not joking. Your daughter is really here. She¡¯s beside me,¡± Zhou Wen stopped teasing An Sheng and said seriously.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± An Sheng also felt that something was amiss. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t seem to be joking with him.


    Zhou Wen recounted Ah Yong¡¯s origins. An Sheng fell silent for a long time.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, where are you now? Can I meet her?¡± An Sheng¡¯s voice sounded again with a heavy tone.


    This time, it was Zhou Wen¡¯s turn to be alarmed. ¡°Ah Sheng, is she really your daughter?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I don¡¯t have any memories of the past. The memories before Overseer took me back to the An family are all gone. All these years, I¡¯ve been hoping to regain my memories, but I have no clue. Therefore, I want to see Ah Yong,¡± An Sheng said.


    1


    ¡°Name a place. I¡¯ll take her there now.¡± Zhou Wen could understand An Sheng¡¯s feelings. Without knowing his own identity, An Sheng probably hadn¡¯t had a good time all these years.


    Thank you for reading on novelhall.com

 Chapter 1847 - Ascending Destiny Platform

    ¡°Wait¡­ Wait¡­¡± Ah Yong pulled Zhou Wen back as her face flushed red.


    ¡°What is it now?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Ah Yong. Ever since he had said that he wanted to take her to An Sheng, Ah Yong would suddenly raise many issues.


    She would need to have some water one moment or relieve herself the next. Another moment, she would claim that her legs were numb and she needed some rest.


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, You are an Apocalypse-grade creature. Your body is already so pure that it doesn¡¯t contain any impurities. You are a pure energy body. Do you still need to use the toilet? Your legs are numb? Earth will probably go numb before you.


    1


    ¡°I still want to drink some water¡­¡± Ah Yong¡¯s eyes darted around as though she didn¡¯t dare meet Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be nervous. That person only looks like your father. He¡¯s not really your father. What¡¯s there to be nervous about? Let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll return and have some fun after taking a look.¡± Zhou Wen held Ah Yong¡¯s hand and teleported to a pavilion on the outskirts of Luoyang.


    An Sheng was already standing in the pavilion. When he saw Zhou Wen appear with Ah Yong, An Sheng¡¯s gaze landed on her.


    Ah Yong was a big shot at the Apocalypse grade. She was clearly many times stronger than the weak An Sheng, but when An Sheng¡¯s gaze landed on her, it made her feel extremely uneasy.


    Ah Yong subconsciously tugged at Zhou Wen¡¯s clothes. Seeing Zhou Wen nod at her, she felt a little relieved and looked at An Sheng again.


    An Sheng¡¯s appearance was indeed very similar to Emperor of Shang¡¯s painting. Ah Yong felt that if she really had such a father, she wouldn¡¯t find him off-putting. Furthermore, she felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity.


    ¡°Ah Sheng, say something. Don¡¯t just stand there.¡± Zhou Wen felt like an inexperienced matchmaker. He didn¡¯t know how to make the two introverted youths chat.


    ¡°Hello, Ah Yong. I¡¯m your father.¡± An Sheng spoke, but his first sentence nearly made Zhou Wen choke.


    ¡°She¡­ She¡­ She¡¯s really your daughter¡­ Are you sure¡­¡± Zhou Wen widened his eyes as he sized up the two of them in disbelief.


    Although he had one or two thoughts previously that An Sheng might be Ah Yong¡¯s father, he never expected it to be true.


    ¡°I think she is.¡± An Sheng spouted nonsense with a serious expression.


    Zhou Wen was already beginning to suspect that An Sheng found Ah Yong was gullible and wanted to trick an Apocalypse-grade big shot like Ah Yong to be his free goon.


    Does saying that you are her father really make you her father? I can even say that I¡¯m The Thearch¡¯s father. Will she acknowledge me? Zhou Wen cursed inwardly.


    ¡°Daddy¡­¡±


    Just as Zhou Wen was cursing An Sheng for being unreliable, he never expected Ah Yong to have tears well in her eyes. She pounced forward and hugged An Sheng, calling him daddy.


    Holy sh*t, what kind of person are you? How can you recognize someone like this? Can you have some of the dignity as expected from an Apocalypse-grade big shot? Try to figure out the situation before recognizing him as your father. Are you really acknowledging him as your father just because he said so? If I had known, I would have said you were my daughter. I also lack an Apocalypse-grade big shot to hold the fort! Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes nearly popped out.


    Zhou Wen coughed lightly and wanted to say something, but the father and daughter continued chatting as though they hadn¡¯t heard him.


    One kept calling ¡®Dear Ah Yong¡¯ and the other kept calling ¡®Daddy¡¯ affectionately. It left Zhou Wen dumbfounded.


    You can acknowledge a loved one just like that? Zhou Wen was beginning to doubt life.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, I¡¯ll take Ah Yong out to have fun. I won¡¯t keep you.¡± An Sheng got up and informed Zhou Wen before leaving with Ah Yong.


    Hey, are you leaving just like that? I went through so much trouble to bring your daughter here from the dimension. You didn¡¯t even thank me? Don¡¯t you have any manners? Ah Sheng, you¡¯ve changed¡­ Zhou Wen was so depressed that he wanted to vomit blood.


    However, the family of two ignored him and left.


    Is Ah Yong really An Sheng¡¯s daughter? Zhou Wen watched the two of them leave in deep thought.


    An Sheng wasn¡¯t an honest person. He was good at lying¡ªparticularly good¡ªbut he wasn¡¯t a person without principles. Zhou Wen believed that An Sheng wouldn¡¯t spout nonsense.


    Although Ah Yong was childish, she wasn¡¯t stupid. With the power of the Apocalypse grade, it was impossible for her to casually acknowledge a father.


    If An Sheng was really Ah Yong¡¯s father, Zhou Wen felt that his previous guess might really be true.


    Unfortunately, Ah Lai doesn¡¯t know anything. Otherwise, I could ask him again, Zhou Wen thought regretfully.


    Ah Lai¡¯s situation was somewhat different from An Sheng¡¯s. An Sheng had truly lost his memory. A portion of his memories might be hidden somewhere in his brain and he might remember it in the future.


    Strictly speaking, Ah Lai might not have lost his memory. He might have really been unconscious for a period of time. In other words, the memory in between was very likely non-existent, so it was naturally impossible for him to recall anything.


    What a mess! Zhou Wen felt a headache. He felt that the most complicated thing in the world was humans. It was even more complicated than the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    The phone vibrated. It was a notification that the dungeon had been downloaded.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly took out his phone and indeed, he saw a game icon of Destiny Platform on the home screen.


    Whatever. I don¡¯t care. Gaming suits me better. Zhou Wen turned around and vanished.


    Lying on his bed, he opened the Destiny Platform dungeon.


    The blood-colored avatar appeared on the staircase, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any discomfort. He walked to the second stone step without feeling anything.


    From the looks of it, the power of the Destiny Platform is useless against me. Zhou Wen walked up to the Destiny Platform in one breath and realized that it was completely motionless. It didn¡¯t show any signs of a vital baptism like Jing Daoxian and company.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and understood what was going on.


    He walked back and arrived at the first stone step of the staircase again. Then, he forcefully sealed all his abilities.


    He had too many rule-breaking and taboo-breaking abilities. The Destiny Platform directly excluded him and didn¡¯t treat him as a human at all. Since he wasn¡¯t confined by the rules, he naturally couldn¡¯t enjoy the benefits provided by the rules¡¯ framework.


    After forcefully blocking his abilities, Zhou Wen immediately felt his body being sucked onto the stone steps.


    Zhou Wen only used his physical strength to stride forward to resist the suction force as he walked towards the Destiny Platform.


    As he walked up, the suction force became stronger. Thankfully, Zhou Wen¡¯s physique was excellent. He endured the suction force and arrived in front of the Destiny Platform again.


    His body seemed to be pulled by countless hands from hell, preventing him from taking the final step.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s muscles, bones, and even veins were exerting their full strength. With a roar, he finally broke through the layers of resistance and stepped onto the Destiny Platform.


    After he stepped onto the Destiny Platform, the force that pulled at his body immediately vanished. A strange force enveloped the entire Destiny Platform from every direction.


    Thank you for reading on novelhall.com

 Chapter 1848 - One Living Person

    Zhou Wen felt an endless power surge into his body. The power was pervasive, filling every cell in his body.


    The power even seemed to inject his soul with vitality. His thought processes became abnormally active.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes seemed to see many things as everything in front of him rapidly magnified.


    Microscopic dust looked bigger than a skyscraper in his eyes. Countless bacteria danced in front of him like huge monsters.


    They grew bigger and bigger in an incredulous manner. Soon, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t even see the bacteria because they were so huge that he couldn¡¯t see their entirety.


    1


    The extremely minute world constantly unfolded in front of him. Streams of light flashed as the entire world seemed to change repeatedly between light and darkness.


    The terrifying energy was changing the flaws in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, correcting his imperfections in the most minute of ways.


    1


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body was changing, and his strength was being corrected. Everything was developing in the most perfect direction.


    No matter how perfect a person was, they would become imperfect when magnified.


    No matter how perfect a work of art was, there were countless flaws when magnified.


    Ancient Sovereign Sutra¡­ Did I cultivate it wrongly?¡­ Small Perfection of Wisdom¡­ Did I cultivate it wrongly? Demon God Bloodline Catalog¡­ Did I cultivate it wrongly as well? Zhou Wen felt the power in his body constantly transform as everything approached perfection.


    3


    Was I wrong? Zhou Wen felt his body become more and more perfect as his expression turned odd.


    Yes, he wasn¡¯t perfect and had made many mistakes.


    But were mistakes meant to disappear? At the very least, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t think so.


    Humans didn¡¯t exist because it was right. Zhou Wen felt that it was because of those mistakes that made them humans.


    Absolute perfection and absolute correctness meant everything was the same, but mistakes gave life a sense of self.


    If I were to choose between the perfect me and the flawed me, I would choose to retain that imperfect self. Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes became more and more determined as the Lost Immortal Sutra circulated crazily. He used his strength to resist that worldly power, preventing the terrifying power from baptizing his body.


    1


    Life was like a painting, and mistakes were like brush strokes. Absolute perfection wasn¡¯t a painting. A few out-of-character strokes were the memories of an entire life.


    Every Essence Energy Art Zhou Wen cultivated was imperfect and he had taken a wrong path. However, those mistakes contained his insights and understanding. If these mistakes vanished, what was the point of his insights and understanding?


    2


    If everyone was on the right path, there would be no path.


    Under Destiny, I am myself. The Human Realm domain roared crazily in Zhou Wen¡¯s body, hoping to devour the Destiny power that baptized his body.


    The world may be large, but I¡¯ll only take a portion of it. Zhou Wen controlled the terrifying power and charged in one direction.


    Boom!


    The blood-colored avatar¡¯s body exploded like blood plasma as the game screen went black.


    It really doesn¡¯t work? Zhou Wen smiled, but he didn¡¯t take it to heart.


    He wanted to advance to the Apocalypse grade, but not that way.


    He activated the Destiny Platform dungeon again and walked onto it to receive the baptism.


    1


    He met with repeated failures.


    Again and again, every advancement to the Apocalypse grade ended in failure. An imperfect body and strength seemed incapable of advancing to the Apocalypse grade.


    1


    However, Zhou Wen continued stubbornly. Perhaps his choice was wrong, but so what? At the very least, he still had a chance to redo it.


    ¡­


    4


    ¡°Gosh, slow down.¡± Li Xuan followed behind Ya¡¯er, who was running around the streets. He felt his legs go numb.


    He swore that when he found a wife in the future, the first criterion was whether his wife knew how to take care of children. He couldn¡¯t afford to undergo such suffering.


    1


    At that moment, Li Xuan seemed to understand the hardships his mother had gone through to raise him.


    Ya¡¯er entered a shop. Li Xuan finally sat down on a chair outside the shop to rest when he suddenly heard someone speaking behind him: ¡°It¡¯s not easy to bring up a child, right?¡±


    ¡°Are you talking to me?¡± Li Xuan turned his head and saw a man sitting behind him, smiling at him.


    ¡°It seems like there¡¯s only the two of us here,¡± the man said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Li Xuan nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s indeed not easy to raise a child, but thankfully, it¡¯s not my child.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s your child, it won¡¯t be a problem. As long as it¡¯s your child, no matter how much trouble she causes, someone will bear the consequences for her. Unfortunately, she¡¯s not your child.¡± The man looked regretful.


    1


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Li Xuan frowned as he stared at the man. He had long felt that something was amiss with this man.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time the Li family has a descendant. You shouldn¡¯t waste any time,¡± the man said.


    ¡°Who are you? If you continue spouting nonsense, don¡¯t blame me for being impolite.¡± Li Xuan stood up as a terrifying power spread through his body, prepared to deliver a thunderous strike at any moment.


    ¡°Then let me see how impolite you can be,¡± the man said with a smile.


    Li Xuan didn¡¯t say a word as his fist wrapped in carapace instantly appeared in front of the man.


    However, in the next second, Li Xuan¡¯s pupils constricted as horror filled his face.


    The man extended a finger and blocked his fist, preventing it from advancing any further.


    1


    Li Xuan¡¯s shock wasn¡¯t trivial. Although he controlled his strength and didn¡¯t want to kill, it wasn¡¯t something an ordinary person could withstand.


    The other party had actually blocked his fist with just one finger, leaving him extremely alarmed.


    Li Xuan¡¯s fist moved again, striking the man with an even more violent force.


    The man extended his finger and pressed it on his fist, blocking it again.


    Li Xuan threw out both fists at the same time, producing afterimages that enveloped the man like the Thousand-Hand Guanyin. However, all his attacks were parried by the man¡¯s finger. He didn¡¯t even move.


    1


    ¡°Not bad!¡± The man praised the panting Li Xuan.


    These words sounded extremely sarcastic to Li Xuan¡¯s ears. His eyes focused as his body was enveloped by a strange carapace. An unparalleled strength erupted from his body as he threw another punch at the man.


    Even if a mountain stood in front of him, it would collapse from Li Xuan¡¯s punch.


    However, the man extended his finger and pressed it against Li Xuan¡¯s fist again. It made Li Xuan feel as though his body was being pressed down by a mountain, preventing him from moving at all.


    ¡°Of the Li family¡¯s three heroes, just having one alive is enough,¡± the man said as he extended his hand towards Li Xuan¡¯s chest.


    1


    Crack!


    The nearly indestructible carapace was penetrated by the man¡¯s palm as his fingers gripped Li Xuan¡¯s heart.


    Li Xuan¡¯s eyes bulged as he felt as though his heart was about to explode.


    In the next second, a strange energy entered his heart, causing it to suddenly begin beating like a full-powered motor.


    Boom!


    Explosive energy wreaked havoc in Li Xuan¡¯s body, making him feel as though his body would explode at any moment.


    ¡°Goodbye, Baby Brother.¡± Li Xuan stood there, unable to move. All he could do was watch as the man retracted his palm and left.


    2


    The man¡¯s final words made Li Xuan widen his eyes. The door to his memories seemed to open as childhood memories surfaced.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ You¡­¡± Li Xuan realized something and tried his best to move his body to chase after the man, but his body was completely out of his control. No matter how he struggled and roared, even if he wanted to risk his life, he couldn¡¯t move a step. All he could do was watch helplessly as the man vanished. Tears of blood flowed from his eyes.


    Plop!


    Li Xuan fell to the ground, unable to move. Only his heart was beating violently as though someone had left something inside.


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 Chapter 1849 - Li Familys Eldest Son

    Luoyang¡¯s Overseer residence.


    In An Tianzuo¡¯s office, a man sat opposite him with his legs crossed. The chair under his buttocks was only supported by two legs, making him look very languid.


    The man who dared to be so unruly in front of An Tianzuo was probably a first in years.


    ¡°Have you thought it through?¡± An Tianzuo looked at the man in front of him with a frown.


    1


    ¡°What¡¯s there to think about? Didn¡¯t I already decide when I embarked on this path?¡± the man said with a smile.


    ¡°Perhaps there¡¯s no need to take such a risk,¡± An Tianzuo said softly.


    ¡°Little Zuozuo, when did you play it so safe? Haven¡¯t I lived like this all my life?¡± the man curled his lips.


    1


    An Tianzuo ignored the man¡¯s teasing and continued, ¡°Up to now, no normal human has been able to walk up. Those two can no longer be considered humans.¡±


    ¡°Then I, Laughing Li, will be the first normal human to walk up,¡± the man said.


    1


    ¡°What if you fail?¡±


    ¡°Then I die.¡±


    ¡°What about the Li family?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s still the second and third sons in the Li family. After all these years, the Li family can still survive without me. With Second Brother around, I¡¯m at ease no matter what happens at home. Third Brother is an unreliable person. He¡¯s always pulling off tricks. He always thinks that no one can understand him and that he¡¯s the only one who¡¯s clear-headed. Actually, he¡¯s just a pitiful person who¡¯s deceiving himself. However, with Second Brother and your family watching him, I¡¯m not worried.¡±


    Laughing Li thought of the man who had stood on the city gate and stared at him when he left Guide Ancient City. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh. ¡°That one from your family is getting stronger and stronger. We are already inferior to him. You were both born from the same parents, but why are your personalities so different?¡±


    2


    An Tianzuo glared at him. ¡°Don¡¯t spout nonsense. If Little Jing hears you, I¡¯ll kill you now without needing you to go to Destiny Platform.¡±


    1


    ¡°You want to protect everything. How long can you keep this up? Sometimes, it¡¯s time for you to let them grow up,¡± Laughing Li said seriously.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that she will grow up. If she doesn¡¯t, she will always be my baby sister. I can shield her from the elements. If she grows up, I don¡¯t know if she will still acknowledge me as her elder brother.¡± An Tianzuo sighed.


    ¡°There¡¯s a 50-50 chance. Aren¡¯t you going to take a gamble?¡± Laughing Li said with an evil smile.


    ¡°I won¡¯t use her as a bet,¡± An Tianzuo said in a deep voice.


    1


    ¡°Are you getting more and more indecisive as you age? If you don¡¯t take the risk, I¡¯ll take the risk. If I can enter the Apocalypse grade, I might be able to fight that person in the future.¡± Laughing Li stood up and walked to the door.


    ¡°Laughing Li.¡± An Tianzuo got up and stopped Laughing Li.


    ¡°What?¡± Laughing Li turned around and asked with a smile.


    ¡°Come back.¡± An Tianzuo only said two words.


    ¡°Of course I have to come back. This time, I¡¯ll be ahead of you. You¡¯ve lost.¡± Laughing Li turned around and walked out of the office, disappearing without looking back.


    ¡°You have to win this time.¡± An Tianzuo looked at the open office door and stood there for a long time.


    ¡­


    The Cube¡¯s screen lit up as the scene of the staircase appeared again.


    ¡°Another human is making another attempt. Who is that person? Why haven¡¯t I seen him before? Could it be another devil?¡±


    1


    Now, the Federation¡¯s citizens were in a dilemma. Wang Mingyuan, who was first on the rankings, was the greatest traitor of humanity. The second human on the rankings was also the greatest devil in the Federation¡¯s history. The two humans on the rankings weren¡¯t good people.


    ¡°I hope he¡¯s a good person. Otherwise, my faith will break down. It makes me wonder if only evil people can live better lives in this world.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so pessimistic. We still have Human Sovereign.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I wonder what Human Sovereign is doing. Why hasn¡¯t he attempted the level?¡±


    1


    ¡°Human Sovereign probably won¡¯t give up on such a good opportunity. Before Human Sovereign entered the Apocalypse grade, he could already fight Apocalypse-grade creatures. When he enters the Apocalypse grade, which one of the dimensional fellows will dare cross the line?¡±


    1


    As people discussed, Laughing Li on the staircase had already moved.


    A Guardian appeared behind Laughing Li and transformed into armor that enveloped his entire body.


    Upon seeing the Guardian appear, no one could help but be disappointed.


    In the end, Guardians were a reliance on dimensional powers for humans to become strong.


    Could such a person be considered a human powerhouse?


    Wearing the Guardian armor, Laughing Li walked up the staircase.


    He didn¡¯t walk very quickly. Every step seemed to take all his strength as though he was carrying a mountain.


    ¡°Old Zhou, do you think he can make it?¡± Li Xuan felt uneasy in front of the Cube. He didn¡¯t even dare look at the Cube¡¯s screen.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Zhou Wen shook his head. He had never seen anyone use a Guardian to walk up to the Destiny Platform. He didn¡¯t know if the rules of the Destiny Platform would allow such a person to reach the top.


    1


    ¡°Can¡¯t you say something auspicious?¡± Li Xuan sat back in his chair like a deflated balloon.


    ¡°If I say I don¡¯t know, it means that there¡¯s still a chance. If I say there¡¯s no chance, there¡¯s really no chance,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You¡­¡± Li Xuan was momentarily at a loss for words.


    These words sounded true, but they also made him feel uncomfortable.


    Laughing Li continued advancing. Although he walked very slowly, he maintained this speed without slowing down.


    When he was about halfway there, the first stone step began to fall.


    According to the speed at which the stone steps fell, if Laughing Li continued walking at this speed, he would probably fall with the stone steps before he reached the Destiny Platform.


    Laughing Li took a deep breath and suddenly quickened his pace.


    Everyone was surprised to see Laughing Li capable of increasing his speed. Li Xuan also clenched his fists in excitement.


    However, Zhou Wen frowned. He saw some invisible cracks appear on Laughing Li¡¯s Guardian armor.


    The faster Laughing Li walked, the more cracks appeared on his Guardian armor. Soon, even Li Xuan could see the cracks.


    ¡°Will something bad happen?¡± Li Xuan became more and more flustered.


    If the Guardian armor shattered, how could Laughing Li reach the Destiny Platform?


    Crack! Crack!


    After walking for a distance, Laughing Li¡¯s footsteps slowed down. The cracks on his Guardian armor grew bigger and bigger. One could even hear the sound of his armor cracking.


    Laughing Li was still dozens of stone steps away from the Destiny Platform, but it looked like his Guardian armor couldn¡¯t last much longer.


    The stone steps behind fell faster and faster. They were only a few hundred steps from Laughing Li.


    ¡°Come on Old Pal. We¡¯re almost there.¡± Laughing Li raised his leg and took another step.


    However, the armor on his body was cracking. The armor on his calf cracked and a piece fell.


    With every step Laughing Li took, some of his armor fell. Furthermore, it fell faster and faster. It was about to collapse.


    Laughing Li took another step forward. He was still more than ten stone steps away from the Destiny Platform. There were only a few dozen stone steps left before all of them fell.


    Bang!


    The Guardian armor on his body completely shattered, turning into fragments that filled the sky. Laughing Li¡¯s body was completely exposed as though he had been nailed to the stone steps.


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 Chapter 1850 - Stand Firm. Dont Fall

    Laughing Li¡¯s armor shattered and flew into the air; he continued clenching a piece by his palm.


    ¡°Old Pal, stay with me for a while longer.¡± Laughing Li clenched his fists as he stared at the Destiny Platform in front of him. There seemed to be some strange power surging in his body.


    1


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you moving? Move! Move! Weren¡¯t you very capable when you bullied me? Why aren¡¯t you moving now? Walk forward!¡± Li Xuan slammed the Cube¡¯s screen hatefully.


    1


    ¡°Calm down. Wait for me.¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s figure flashed and instantly vanished.


    1


    As though he had heard Li Xuan¡¯s cursing, Laughing Li moved again. He took a step up the stone steps.


    Blood gushed out as fine patterns appeared on his leg as though they had been cut by a knife.


    Laughing Li walked up step by step. With every step he took, his body seemed to be sliced open by invisible blades. Blood flowed out of his body, and in three steps, his clothes were almost dyed red with blood.


    ¡°Overseer, can he reach the top?¡± An Sheng asked.


    ¡°Yes, of course. No one in this world is more reliable than that fellow,¡± An Tianzuo said firmly, but his palms were covered in sweat.


    1


    Laughing Li walked up step by step. He was covered in blood and one couldn¡¯t tell the color of his clothes.


    The people who had previously claimed that Laughing Li was relying on a Guardian were now silent.


    Many people held their breaths as though they would make Laughing Li collapse if their breathing were any louder.


    The stone steps behind kept falling and were about to catch up to Laughing Li. As for the stone steps in front of Laughing Li, there was only one left. He only needed two steps to reach the Destiny Platform.


    However, Laughing Li¡¯s vision was already a blur. His eyes were covered in blood and he felt dizzy.


    Laughing Li clenched his fist tightly as the Guardian armor fragment in his palm stabbed into his flesh.


    1


    The pain had already numbed Laughing Li. He wasn¡¯t using the pain to jolt himself awake; he wanted to clench his fists tighter.


    ¡°Move!¡± Laughing Li gritted his teeth so hard that they were about to crack. His body felt like it was being pressed down by a mountain, and he couldn¡¯t even lift his toes.


    Bang!


    Laughing Li raised his leg with sheer force and stepped onto the last stone step. Blood immediately flowed onto the stone steps, leaving a blood-colored footprint. Countless wounds on his body were gushing out blood.


    The final step.


    1


    Laughing Li raised his leg again and stepped up. His blood had almost run dry and his body had already shriveled up. All his bones were groaning in pain. It was a miracle that he wasn¡¯t dead.


    Crack!


    It was as though a bone had snapped. The right leg that held up his center of gravity had snapped.


    Laughing Li propped his left leg on the ground and looked at the last step in front of him. As long as he completed this step, he could ascend Destiny Platform.


    The stone steps behind him had all fallen, leaving only the one under Laughing Li¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Go, go, go!¡± Li Xuan roared as he grabbed the screen depicting the Cube.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t just Li Xuan. Many people watching the livestream were already beginning to hope that Laughing Li could reach the top.


    Laughing Li¡¯s face distorted as his vision blurred. His brain was about to stop functioning, but he still maintained one thought¡ªI want to go up. Laughing Li tried his best as he exerted strength with his left leg. His broken right leg moved for the final step.


    Crack!


    His left leg bones fractured, but his right foot had already stepped onto the Destiny Platform. The last stone step had also fallen.


    ¡°He¡¯s up!¡± Li Xuan was overjoyed.


    Many people heaved a sigh of relief. The trip up to the Destiny Platform was one filled with anxiety.


    However, Laughing Li, who had one foot on it, lost his balance and fell backward.


    His legs were already broken¡ªhe couldn¡¯t support his body at all. He fell backward and was about to fall off the Destiny Platform.


    1


    Damn the heavens, can¡¯t you let me defeat him once? Laughing Li closed his eyes and allowed his body to fall into the void.


    He had already done his best; he could only accept this outcome.


    ¡°Laughing Li!¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s body trembled as his eyes turned bloodshot, as though everything in his eyes had turned blood-red.


    Li Xuan couldn¡¯t utter a single word. He leaned on the Cube and watched as Laughing Li collapsed. His mind went blank.


    ¡°Is it over?¡± Su Yi saw that Laughing Li¡¯s toes were about to leave the Destiny Platform and fall into the void. She secretly wiped the corners of her eyes.


    1


    ¡°That¡¯s what a man is.¡± Many people felt pity for Laughing Li¡¯s failure.


    Suddenly!


    1


    ¡°Stand firm. Don¡¯t fall.¡± A figure appeared behind Laughing Li and pressed a hand on his back. He whispered into his ear and pushed him back.


    1


    Laughing Li¡¯s eyes were already filled with blood. He couldn¡¯t see anything. His ears were also filled with blood. He couldn¡¯t hear anything either. All he could feel was someone pushing him from the back. His body returned to Destiny Platform. His legs were twisted and he couldn¡¯t stand upright. However, he remained standing. He used his twisted legs to stand. His broken leg bones pierced through his flesh and stabbed into the ground, supporting his body.


    Zhou Wen pushed Laughing Li as his body was repelled by a force. He instantly fell into the void and vanished.


    1


    ¡°Did you see that? What was that?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Human Sovereign¡­¡± Everyone immediately recognized the black-armored Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Human Sovereign was touched by this person and came to save the day.¡±


    ¡°As expected of Human Sovereign. With him around, nobody can stop anyone from going up.¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why Human Sovereign didn¡¯t come to clear the level. So he can go up whenever he wants. Not only can he go up himself, but he can also help others!¡±


    As people discussed, the energy on the Destiny Platform had already surged towards Laughing Li. The terrifying energy rapidly regenerated his flesh.


    The Guardian armor fragment in Laughing Li¡¯s hand also rapidly grew and connected with his flesh.


    1


    Strange trajectories of light streaked across Laughing Li¡¯s body. There were countless wounds that looked like he had been sliced by blades.


    Under the condensation of the terrifying energy, the wounds turned into beams of light.


    The energy used to repair these wounds was far more intense than the ones repairing his fractured legs.


    This was because the injuries of these wounds had been delayed. Laughing Li¡¯s injuries were originally worse than this. He should have died before he could even reach the top.


    However, the effects of his injuries came slower than others. This was the effect of his Trajectory Body.


    1


    However, the injuries were only delayed; they still existed. After the delay, the injuries would snare their heads even more violently, so it was even more difficult to recover.


    Thankfully, he was already standing on the Destiny Platform. No matter how serious his injuries were, as long as he wasn¡¯t dead, he could be healed.


    When the armor completely covered Laughing Li¡¯s body, the Cube¡¯s screen changed to the rankings.


    The words ¡°Eldest Son of the Li family¡± appeared in fourth place on the rankings. Laughing Li didn¡¯t leave his name, but his identity.


    Now, he could tell everyone that he was the eldest son of the Li family and not the Holy Son of the Holy Land, Xiao.


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    1

 Chapter 1851 - Nine Tribulations Devil Seed

    Zhou Wen could ignore the rules of Destiny Platform. He originally imagined that it wouldn¡¯t be a problem to give Laughing Li a nudge.


    1


    However, that nudge immediately made him feel an extremely terrifying force repel his body into the void.


    1


    What is this place? When Zhou Wen stopped, he realized that he was no longer in the dimensional space.


    1


    The dimensional space was empty, but there were huge ¡°glaciers¡± everywhere here.


    Pieces of what looked like ice floated in the air. Some were like mountains, while others extended for more than ten thousand kilometers like a glacier continent.


    There were things that looked like icebergs everywhere in the void, but Zhou Wen knew that they weren¡¯t ice because he didn¡¯t feel any coldness.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sizing up the crystals, his eyes suddenly focused. He saw that in a nearby mountain-like crystal, there was a fellow wearing a grayish-black cloak. Apart from not having a scythe, he looked like Death.


    Isn¡¯t this the dimensional creature that attempted the trip up the staircase? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart palpitated.


    1


    This place was clearly the final destination for those who failed to ascend the Destiny Platform. He didn¡¯t know the consequences of being thrown into such a place.


    Light flashed from his body as Prisoner and the Child of the Land of Depravity¡¯s Holy Spirit attached themselves to him, protecting his body with Mystic Thearch.


    Mystic Thearch¡¯s Sovereign of the Universe could allow Zhou Wen to go anywhere in the universe, but he couldn¡¯t teleport here. The other teleportation abilities of Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping and Godfiend Era also lost their effects.


    1


    This place seemed to be an independent space outside the universe without any connection to the original universe.


    1


    The wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back flapped as he traversed the huge crystals.


    He saw many creatures sealed in crystals. All of them were lifelike as though they were just sleeping.


    These creatures weren¡¯t limited to those who had failed to ascend the stairs. There were also some dimensional creatures that Zhou Wen had never seen before.


    1


    What creature is that? Zhou Wen saw an extremely huge crystal that was probably many times bigger than Earth.


    And in the crystal was a strange creature. Its black metal body was winding like a dragon, and its whiskers were as huge as a mountain range.


    Could this be an Apocalypse-grade creature? Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred.


    If this was really an Apocalypse-grade creature, wouldn¡¯t it be like meat on a chopping board to him? He could chop it up however he wanted. The opportunity to advance to the Apocalypse grade was right in front of him.


    Suddenly, he heard a terrifying explosion from afar. He scanned it and immediately discovered an old acquaintance.


    In the distant void, the rules of the New World erupted from Karoman¡¯s body, but it was no match for its adversary.


    1


    On its body, ice crystals were spreading as though they had grown out of its body.


    The New World rules on Karoman¡¯s body erupted as it pulled out the crystals that grew out of its body. Its fur and flesh were torn apart.


    However, the speed at which it pulled out the crystals couldn¡¯t keep up with the speed at which the crystals grew. More and more crystals appeared on its body.


    ¡°Karoman, why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen blinked to him and asked.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t remember when Karoman had entered the Destiny Platform. How did this fellow end up in this strange place?


    1


    When Karoman saw Zhou Wen, it could be said that its eyes were especially red as though it had met an enemy. It directly conjured New World rules that enveloped Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen used the New World¡¯s rules to resolve Karoman¡¯s attack and said with a smile, ¡°You can¡¯t even protect yourself, yet you still want to kill me. Do we have such a huge grudge?¡±


    ¡°If it weren¡¯t for you, would I be trapped in such a godforsaken place? Even if I die, I¡¯ll drag you down with me.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me what difficulties you have? Perhaps I can help you. There¡¯s no need to fight to the death,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Help me¡­ Eh¡­ Why didn¡¯t you¡­¡± Just as Karoman was about to curse Zhou Wen, it suddenly realized that something was amiss¡ªthose strange crystals weren¡¯t growing on Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    1


    ¡°Ahem¡­ You¡¯re right. There¡¯s no need to fight to the death. We are all people of status. We should talk nicely.¡± Karoman¡¯s change in expression was unimaginable.


    ¡°Um¡­ Human Sovereign¡­ Look at what¡¯s on me¡­ Can you help me get rid of them first?¡± Karoman licked its lips and said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I have to take a closer look at this. Tell me first how you grew these things. Perhaps I have a way,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t f*cking know how this thing grew. Previously, after you screwed¡­ had a friendly exchange with me, I found a way out in the dimensional space. Who knew that I would accidentally enter this godforsaken place. Then, these damn things began to grow on my body. Furthermore, they grew longer and longer. They continued growing after I plucked them out. How can you not have this on you?¡± As Karoman spoke, it suppressed its desire to express its true thoughts while speaking nicely.


    1


    ¡°Perhaps humans are born immune,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Immune my ass. I saw many humans wrapped in crystals over there¡­¡± Karoman shouted loudly in the beginning, but when it realized that it still needed Zhou Wen¡¯s help, its voice slowly turned gentle.


    ¡°In that case, my strength might be able to restrain these crystals. Do you want me to help you pull it out?¡± Zhou Wen stared at it and said with a smile.


    ¡°Bro, thank you so much. From now on, you are my brother. If there¡¯s anything, just say my name. I guarantee that no one in the dimension will dare touch you.¡± Karoman was overjoyed as it hurriedly said, ¡°Bro, quickly do something. The crystals on my body are growing.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and slashed at the crystal on Karoman¡¯s body.


    He didn¡¯t really want to help Karoman. He just wanted to see if his strength could really restrain the crystals.


    Crack!


    The crystals shattered when the power of In the Human World slashed at them. The shards fell, disappearing in the air.


    1


    When Karoman saw that the crystals that Zhou Wen had shattered didn¡¯t grow back, it shouted excitedly, ¡°Bro, you¡¯re really something. This move is really useful. Quickly remove the crystals from my body.¡±


    I don¡¯t know how to leave this place alone. It¡¯s good to have this fellow to scout the way. With a thought, Zhou Wen slashed out again using In the Human World, shattering the crystals on Karoman¡¯s body.


    Soon, the crystals on Karoman were all shattered, and they didn¡¯t grow back.


    Without the crystals, Karoman felt extremely relieved. It shook its body and the bloody wounds immediately healed at a speed invisible to the naked eye. In the blink of an eye, it was back to normal.


    ¡°Bro, not bad. You¡¯re different from those treacherous humans. If there¡¯s anything in the future, just give my name. I guarantee that no one will dare provoke you in the dimension,¡± said Karoman.


    1


    ¡°Karoman, do you know how to leave this place?¡± Zhou Wen naturally didn¡¯t take its words to heart.


    ¡°Who the hell knows how to get out? I don¡¯t even know how I got in,¡± Karoman said gloomily.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s find a way out together.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he flew in a direction.


    ¡°Wait for me. I¡¯ll go with you.¡± Karoman was afraid that the crystals on its body would grow out again, so it hurriedly followed Zhou Wen.


    The two of them hadn¡¯t walked far when they saw a huge metal creature sealed in the crystal. Karoman immediately said in horror, ¡°This is¡­ a Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡­ Why is it here¡­¡±


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    1

 Chapter 1852 - Astonishing Discovery

    ¡°Do you know this thing? Is it an Apocalypse-grade creature?¡± Zhou Wen asked Karoman.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even know about the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed? Oh right. You are a human from Earth. What could you know about the dimension? Before the Immortal Thearch unified the dimension, there was actually another race that could fight the Immortals¡ªthe Devils. However, the Devils were later destroyed by the joint forces of many races in the dimension. Unlike the Immortals, the Devils are the public enemy of the dimension. This Nine Tribulations Devil Seed is one of the Devil King¡¯s Apocalypse-grade pets,¡± said Karoman.


    1


    ¡°Pet? Did you say pet? An Apocalypse-grade creature is just a pet? Isn¡¯t it a Devil?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed. To be able to treat an Apocalypse-grade creature as a pet, how powerful were the Devils back then?


    1


    ¡°Yes, a pet. The Devils back then¡­ Tsk tsk¡­ Speaking of which, if the Immortal Thearch hadn¡¯t appeared, the various races of the dimension would be nothing but toys. If that Immortal Thearch hadn¡¯t suddenly vanished, there would be nothing for the races of the dimension.¡± The Immortal Thearch that Karoman mentioned was naturally The Thearch.


    1


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, It¡¯s no wonder Grim Demon is so afraid of Demonic Neonate¡¯s identity being exposed. The Devils were wiped out by the combined forces of all the races in the dimension. They are public enemies of the dimension. Even if it¡¯s to eliminate them completely, it¡¯s impossible for them to let any of the Devils off.


    1


    ¡°I originally thought that all the pets under the Devil King had died in that battle. I never expected the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed to be here,¡± said Karoman.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t figured out if he was touching the creatures in the crystals. It wouldn¡¯t be good if the things inside came to life after the crystals were destroyed.


    Furthermore, the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was the Devil King¡¯s pet. The Devil King might be Demonic Neonate¡¯s elder. This thing was also related to Demonic Neonate. It was considered Demonic Neonate¡¯s pet.


    1


    The two of them continued walking forward. After a while, Karoman suddenly pointed at a mountain-like crystal and said, ¡°Skyfiend Consort, why is she here?¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen looked at the crystal and saw an enchanting demoness with a black veil covering her face. She looked seductive and beautiful, but her body was several times bigger than a human¡¯s. She was more than ten meters tall.


    ¡°Is this a Devil?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Not really. She¡¯s similar to the Nine Tribulation Devil Seed,¡± Karoman said with an odd expression.


    1


    ¡°This is also a pet¡±? Zhou Wen looked at Skyfiend Consort with a complicated expression. He found the Devil King quite kinky to have this as a pet.


    1


    Karoman suddenly sped up and flew forward. The horror on its face intensified as it exclaimed from time to time.


    ¡°Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper Dog¡­ Six-path Devil Heart¡­ Seven Sins Phoenix¡­ Star Devourer¡­ What the hell is going on¡­ Why are the Devil King¡¯s pets here¡­ Weren¡¯t they by the Devil King¡¯s side during the battle back then?¡± Karoman cried out.


    1


    ¡°The Devil King should be a collector. He amassed so many strange pets.¡± Zhou Wen was nonchalant as he admired the various strange creatures in the crystal.


    ¡°What happened in that battle back then? Why are these fellows trapped here? Did they not participate in that battle, or did they escape after that battle?¡± Karoman muttered to itself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not worry about why they are here. Let¡¯s find a way out.¡± Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t interested in knowing why they were here.


    Karoman nodded and continued flying forward. Thankfully, there were no more creatures that left him alarmed.


    Occasionally, he would see creatures sealed in crystals, but they weren¡¯t famous.


    ¡°This is¡­¡± Karoman stopped shouting. It was Zhou Wen¡¯s turn to cry out in surprise.


    1


    In an island-like crystal not far ahead, there was a dilapidated ship frozen.


    1


    The ship looked identical to the one Zhou Wen had seen in Ah Yong¡¯s photo. At the very least, the bow was the same.


    Heavens, could this be that huge ship? Why is it here? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    This was because he had always believed that the ship was somewhere in Chess Mountain.


    Otherwise, how did Wang Mingyuan and the former principal board the ship? Could it be that they didn¡¯t board it at Chess Mountain?


    1


    Instantly, Zhou Wen was somewhat confused. This made his gradually clearer thoughts turn blurry.


    According to Zhou Wen¡¯s previous speculation, the ship had been damaged during the battle between The Thearch and An Jing¡¯s mother. It had automatically sailed between Earth and the dimensional zone for a period of time.


    1


    It was during that period of time that the man resembling An Sheng and Ah Lai boarded the ship. The ship came out of the source of life and wandered the dimension for a period of time.


    Later, The Thearch was defeated. Due to the oath, she was trapped in Chess Mountain by An Jing¡¯s mother.


    Back then, An Jing¡¯s mother should have already found the damaged ship and placed it in Chess Mountain.


    The reason for this inference was that after Zhou Lingfeng and company went to Chess Mountain, Wang Mingyuan and the former principal should have seen the huge ship there.


    However, if the previous speculation was true, why would the ship be here?


    Zhou Wen was momentarily unable to figure out what was going on.


    ¡°It¡¯s a crappy ship. What are you looking at?¡± Seeing that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t following, Karoman flew back and asked.


    ¡°Leave first. I want to take this ship out to take a look.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he condensed In the Human World and slashed at the crystal that enveloped the ship.


    A crack appeared in the crystal, but it was nothing compared to the massive crystal.


    Zhou Wen ignored Karoman and focused on slashing at the crystals. Soon, the crystals were sliced off by Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Is there anything special about this crappy ship?¡± Karoman looked around but couldn¡¯t see anything special about it.


    1


    Karoman didn¡¯t dare proceed without Zhou Wen. It was afraid that the crystals would grow on it again, so it could only wait for Zhou Wen.


    It was unknown how many In the Human World strikes he had delivered. The crystals outside the ship constantly shattered and fell.


    When the crystal outside the ship finally shattered and revealed the hull, Zhou Wen realized that the crystal was only wrapped around the ship like an eggshell. There was no crystal inside.


    It was unlike the other creatures where crystals grew out of their bodies.


    Although he could already board the ship, he still cleaned up the crystals wrapped around the ship for safety.


    The ship finally completely escaped from the crystal. It slowly floated forward and actually moved by itself.


    Zhou Wen flew towards the deck of the ship and landed where Ah Yong¡¯s mother had taken the photo.


    Since a human had boarded the ship, it meant that there wasn¡¯t much danger on the ship. Zhou Wen wanted to know whether it was that huge ship. If it was, what else was on it?


    1


    Looking at the shattered door, Zhou Wen secretly gathered his strength and walked into the cabin.


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 Chapter 1853 - Cabin

    The wooden hull was damaged in many places, leaving only a few wooden planks strewn or hanging around.


    1


    Zhou Wen pushed open the wooden door and walked in. He followed the wooden stairs down the narrow passageway to the cabin.


    There was a corridor below. On both sides of the corridor were rooms. Many of the wooden doors were open.


    Zhou Wen looked at the length of the corridor and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly. It was probably longer than the entire ship¡¯s hull. Clearly, there was a special space in the cabin.


    ¡°Why did you enter this crappy ship?¡± Karoman followed him in. After all, it planned on following Zhou Wen wherever he went. It didn¡¯t plan on separating from Zhou Wen before leaving this godforsaken place.


    1


    ¡°Just taking a look.¡± Zhou Wen walked forward.


    The first room on the left of the corridor was 001, and the first room on the right was 002, the doors to both rooms were open. Zhou Wen looked inside and realized that although the room wasn¡¯t big, it was well-equipped. There was even a stand-alone bathroom. It was just a little small, allowing a person to stand inside to take a shower.


    1


    Although it was small, it was better than nothing.


    There were also tables, beds, and other things in the room which were fixed to the ground. Although they were simple, they were very useful.


    There were no living creatures in the two rooms, so Zhou Wen didn¡¯t enter and continued walking forward.


    On the left were odd-numbered rooms¡ª001, 003, and 005, etc.


    On the right were even-numbered rooms. Zhou Wen checked the first few rooms and found them open. The things inside were similar, but he didn¡¯t find anything special, much less any creatures.


    1


    The door to 007 was closed. Zhou Wen walked to 007¡¯s door and took a deep breath, preparing himself for battle. Then, he reached out to grab the door handle and tried opening it. The door opened.


    There were still the same things behind the door. There were no living or dead creatures.


    From the looks of it, all the creatures on this ship have probably escaped. Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed as he continued walking forward, hoping to find the captain¡¯s room. Perhaps he would gain something.


    Although he felt that there might not be any creatures in the cabins, he still checked them one by one without missing a single room.


    He scanned every room with his domain, afraid that he would miss something.


    ¡°Eh, that thing looks familiar,¡± Karoman suddenly said as it looked at a room.


    ¡°What looks familiar?¡± Zhou Wen turned his head and looked at the room. He had already seen the room, but there was nothing inside.


    ¡°Do you see the symbol engraved on that table? It looks a little familiar,¡± said Karoman as it walked in and came to the wooden table. It stared at a symbol that looked like a text.


    1


    ¡°You recognize this symbol?¡± Zhou Wen had seen the symbol, but he didn¡¯t know what it meant.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve seen it somewhere before. Let me think.¡± Karoman thought for a moment and suddenly shouted, ¡°I remember now. This is the mark of the Three-Eyed King.¡±


    ¡°Three-Eyed King? You mean the golden Three-Eyed God?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°Yes, I remember now. You went to the Three-Eyed God¡¯s divine mountain in the Cube¡¯s battle. That¡¯s right. It¡¯s those Three-Eyed Gods. At their respective peaks, the golden Three-Eyed Gods were almost on par with the Immortals. That means the Immortals still had their Immortal Thearch. The Three-Eyed God King I¡¯m talking about was the king of the golden Three-Eyed Gods back then. Legend has it that he already had strength that wasn¡¯t inferior to the Immortal Thearch. Later on, for some reason, the Three-Eyed God King vanished. All the Three-Eyed Gods also vanished strangely. Even the divine mountain vanished.¡±


    1


    Zhou Wen suddenly recalled the story Grim Demon had told him about rabbits, wolves, and hunters.


    If the hunter back then was the Devils and the rabbit was the Immortals, then the wolf should be the Gods.


    Zhou Wen remembered that Grim Demon had mentioned saving the rabbits and raising the wolves. Did that mean that the Immortals were saved and the Gods tamed?


    When Grim Demon recounted this outcome, his tone was filled with mockery. In fact, the Immortals had joined forces with the various dimensional races to completely eliminate the Devils.


    As for what role the Gods had played back then, it was still unknown.


    However, from the fact that the golden Three-Eyed God had transformed into a golden trident for Zhou Wen¡¯s use because of Demonic Neonate, the Gods might have stood on the side of the Devils back then, resulting in their present outcome.


    However, based on the timeline, something didn¡¯t seem right. The Gods were still able to fight the Immortals at their peak. This meant that they had prospered for a period of time after the destruction of the Devils.


    In that case, the Gods might be on the Immortals¡¯ side and had joined forces with them to destroy the Devils.


    ¡°Are you sure this is the mark of the Three-Eyed King?¡± Zhou Wen asked Karoman.


    ¡°There¡¯s no mistake. I¡¯ve seen this symbol before. It¡¯s the Three-Eyed King¡¯s personal mark,¡± said Karoman with certainty.


    ¡°Why is the mark of the Three-Eyed King here? What is this ship?¡± Karoman asked Zhou Wen.


    1


    ¡°I also want to know what this ship is.¡± Zhou Wen really couldn¡¯t answer Karoman. Up to now, he didn¡¯t know where An Jing¡¯s mother and this ship came from.


    He could now guess that the Three-Eyed God King had once been imprisoned on the ship. Zhou Wen carefully scanned the room again. Apart from this mark, there were no other symbols or text.


    After leaving the room, the two of them continued walking forward. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t let go of any symbol or text. Unfortunately, the information he obtained was still zero.


    ¡°Is this room locked?¡± When he arrived at Room 014, Zhou Wen grasped the door handle but couldn¡¯t open it.


    ¡°Let me do it.¡± Karoman¡¯s eyes emitted a divine light as two laser-like beams shot at the door lock.


    However, the door lock remained intact. It wasn¡¯t even scuffed.


    ¡°What¡­ What is this¡­¡± Karoman was given a fright. Although it hadn¡¯t used its full strength, its Apocalypse-grade strength couldn¡¯t even damage a lock. This was too shocking.


    1


    Karoman once again gathered the power of the Apocalypse, hoping to blast open the entire door. However, when the power of the Apocalypse struck the door, the wooden plank that looked like it couldn¡¯t withstand a single strike acted like a sponge. It sucked up the Apocalypse power that Karoman shot out without budging.


    ¡°What the hell is this ship?¡± Karoman looked at the door in horror.


    ¡°I also want to know what this is.¡± Zhou Wen stared at the door lock for a while before condensing the In the Human World power and slashing at it with one hand.


    Crack!


    Zhou Wen smashed through the door lock with one hand as the door creaked open.


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 Chapter 1854 - A Human

    Zhou Wen and Karoman looked into the room and immediately perked up. There was a creature sitting in there.


    1


    He sat with his back facing the door. In front of him was a table. From the back, he resembled a human. He was wearing denim clothes and a headset.


    1


    No matter how they looked at his attire, he looked like a youth who had yet to step into society, or a technical expert who was good at computers.


    But how could there be such a young man on this ship? Zhou Wen found it unbelievable. Who could board this ship? They were all mythical figures like God, Shiva, and Gaia.


    1


    Is a skilled expert comparable to those mighty figures? Zhou Wen found it ridiculous.


    Perhaps he was the same as Ah Lai¡ªa passerby who had accidentally boarded the ship. He wasn¡¯t one of those existences.


    1


    He subconsciously used the Human Realm domain to scan the person and immediately realized that it was only a corpse. Although it remained sitting and its clothes were still intact, its flesh had long withered, leaving only bones.


    On the table in front of the youth was a laptop. He held the mouse in one hand and had his other hand resting on the keyboard.


    1


    It was unknown how many years had passed since he had died, but the youth continued maintaining this posture.


    Is this really a human gamer? Zhou Wen sized up the corpse in surprise.


    Zhou Wen originally imagined that this was another person like Ah Lai, but on second thought, he felt that something was amiss.


    When did the Great Flood myths happen? When did the huge ship descend? Were there computers back then?


    1


    Ignoring the laptop, even the denim clothes on the corpse were impossible back then!


    Could it be that this person only boarded the ship in the past few centuries? That¡¯s not right. The ship had long vanished. When did he board? Zhou Wen was puzzled as he looked at the laptop.


    He carefully moved the laptop from under the corpse¡¯s hand and tried to switch it on, but there was no reaction. It was unknown if it was broken or out of battery.


    1


    Zhou Wen guessed that it was definitely out of power. Whether it was damaged or not was unknown.


    Thankfully, he had many daily necessities with him. He found a set of high-capacity batteries used for traveling. Thankfully, the laptop¡¯s plug was compatible. He plugged it in to see if it could be charged.


    While charging, he sized up the other things in the room.


    The room gave a vibrant feeling. There was a blanket on the bed, a down pillow, and even a poster of a beauty by the bed.


    Zhou Wen carefully looked at the beauty on the poster. She had a round face, and she wore a white miniskirt and boots. Her long legs were fair and slender. She looked very eye-catching.


    1


    He didn¡¯t know her. Zhou Wen had never seen this female celebrity before, nor did he know what era she was from.


    In fact, Zhou Wen might not even know a female celebrity of his era.


    Unfortunately, there was no Internet in such a godforsaken place. Otherwise, he could search online to see what era the female celebrity on the poster was from. This way, he could know what era this corpse was from.


    He took out his phone and took a few photos of the poster. He planned on investigating after he left. Perhaps he could find some clues.


    Apart from the things on the bed and some daily necessities, Zhou Wen also discovered a suitcase. When he opened it, other than some clothes, there were also some magazines of girls dressed in revealing clothes.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly picked up the magazine. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to look at the beauties. If there was a date on the magazine, he should be able to tell the time from it.


    However, he soon realized that the magazine was weird. He could understand the pictures. They were all sexy beauties that were a feast for the eyes, but he didn¡¯t recognize any of the words on it. Even the numbers and symbols were completely different from what he knew.


    1


    What language is this? Why are the numbers and symbols different from those used by the world? Zhou Wen found it increasingly odd.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to put away the magazines before flipping through the suitcase. There was nothing worth noticing inside.


    Zhou Wen looked at the corpse again and said to it, ¡°Bro, I don¡¯t mean to be disrespectful to you, nor do I covet your wealth. I just want to find something that can determine your identity. If possible, I can take you home.¡±


    With that said, Zhou Wen rummaged through the pockets on his clothes.


    In the shirt pocket, Zhou Wen found a wallet. Apart from that, he didn¡¯t find anything else.


    When he opened the wallet, there was no money inside. There wasn¡¯t even a coin, nor was there a bank card or identification card. There was only a photo of the beauty on the poster.


    From the looks of it, this brother is obsessed with that female celebrity. He didn¡¯t put anything in his wallet but a photo of that female celebrity. Zhou Wen took out the photo and looked at it before casually flipping it over to look at the back.


    1


    Then, he saw a strange symbol written on the back of the photo. He didn¡¯t know what it meant.


    Zhou Wen suddenly thought of something and looked at the laptop. Indeed, he saw similar symbols on the keyboard.


    Don¡¯t tell me this is a passcode? Zhou Wen searched the notebook for a while and found the suspected switch.


    I hope it can be turned on! After pressing the switch, Zhou Wen chanted inwardly.


    Soon, the computer screen lit up and he was immediately overjoyed.


    ¡°What¡¯s this?¡± Beside him, Karoman sized up the laptop curiously.


    ¡°Laptop.¡± When Zhou Wen answered, a horizontal bar appeared on the computer screen with an unknown symbol behind it.


    Although he couldn¡¯t read, he could guess that a passcode was needed.


    Zhou Wen flipped the photo over and matched the symbols on the photo, searching for the corresponding symbol on the keyboard.


    This keyboard was somewhat different from the keyboard layout Zhou Wen was familiar with, but it was similar enough.


    After typing the characters, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know if the button in the usual spot was the enter key, nor did he dare press it. He used the mouse to click on the arrow after the text box.


    After hearing some beautiful chime, there was finally an image on the computer. It was a picture of the female celebrity.


    1


    There were many icons on the desktop that were different from the ones Zhou Wen was familiar with. He couldn¡¯t understand the words beneath the icons.


    He could only click on it randomly. Thankfully, the usage was the same. He could open an icon by double clicking.


    Many of the functions of the icons were unknown after opening them.


    Thankfully, after some fumbling, he already knew which icon represented folders and which icon represented documents or pictures.


    After a series of clicks, he found many folders containing pictures. After clicking on them, he was dumbfounded before immediately closing them.


    ¡°You humans look pretty good with your buttocks bare. Why do you guys wear those troublesome clothes?¡± Karoman also saw the pictures and curled its lips.


    Zhou Wen ignored it and found the folder where documents were stored. He opened a few and saw that they were all words and symbols that he couldn¡¯t understand.


    Just as he was about to give up, he suddenly saw a document with a few design sketches.


    The sketch immediately made his pupils contract as he revealed a look of disbelief.


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    3

 Chapter 1855 - Ant City Blueprint

    The sketch was of an ant. From the first few simple strokes to the subsequent details that were gradually filled in, it presented a strange cartoon design of an ant.


    1


    However, no matter how one looked at it, this ant looked similar to the ants from Ant City.


    It couldn¡¯t be said to be similar. They were identical.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly scrolled down again. There were many more sketches. This time, it was even more obvious. The various ant prototypes from Ant City could be found here.


    1


    Without a doubt, the sketch here was likely the prototype of the Ant City dungeon.


    Zhou Wen wished he could become a linguist who could immediately understand what the words meant.


    1


    Unfortunately, he wasn¡¯t one. He could only look at the illustrations.


    This document was filled with original blueprints of various ants, but he didn¡¯t see any other pictures.


    Zhou Wen closed the document and clicked on other documents to look for illustrations.


    In the same folder, Zhou Wen found the design sketch of the Ant Nest. There were all sorts of scenes inside, and they were basically the same as the ones on the phone.


    Could it be that this fellow designed Ant Nest? Zhou Wen looked at the corpse with a complicated expression.


    3


    He flipped through all the documents and carefully looked at all the places where he could see pictures, but he didn¡¯t see any pictures related to phones.


    He didn¡¯t see the sketch of Ant City¡¯s Guardian either. He didn¡¯t even see the design of the cocoon.


    Strange, why aren¡¯t they here? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    Ant Nest¡¯s design drafts were all there, but there were no designs of Ant City¡¯s Guardian. There was no cocoon in the map either. This was somewhat strange.


    1


    As he couldn¡¯t read or find files like videos and pictures, he could only put away the notebook to study when he returned.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to take the corpse out for burial, but when he thought about it, where else was more suitable as a grave?


    It was basically impossible for a living person to come in and disturb him. If he was taken out for burial, someone might dig up his grave hundreds or thousands of years later and use his corpse to witness the existence of history.


    1


    Zhou Wen only took a picture of the celebrity and left her there to accompany him.


    After leaving the room, he continued exploring the remaining rooms with Karoman. Most of the rooms were empty. There were a few locked rooms. After Zhou Wen opened the doors, he realized that they were empty and even cleaner. It was likely that no one had lived there.


    After passing through the entire corridor¡ªa total of two hundred rooms¡ªhe didn¡¯t see any other creatures. He guessed that when the ship was damaged, all the creatures inside had escaped.


    At the end of the corridor was a staircase that led downwards. The two of them walked down the stairs and realized that there were all sorts of machinery and equipment below. There was no space for people to live.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know much about machinery, but he could tell that the ship¡¯s machinery was a little strange. It was different from all the machinery Zhou Wen had seen before.


    The various machinery inside wasn¡¯t made of steel, but something that looked like a mix of metal and plastic. He did not know what it was.


    1


    Many machines and instruments had been destroyed. There were several large holes in the ship¡¯s hull. It was likely that it had suffered serious damage during the battle.


    Among the destroyed equipment, Zhou Wen saw that there were no circuit boards or other components inside. They were all made of rows of crystals. Only the outer shell was made of the metal and plastic-like material.


    1


    Zhou Wen picked up some crystal fragments and the material that had fallen to the ground and planned on getting someone to study them.


    Although the interior was severely damaged, there were still a few instruments and some machinery operating. This was probably the reason why the ship was still moving on its own.


    After circling the area, they didn¡¯t discover anything, nor did they find any other paths. Zhou Wen and Karoman returned to the cabin on the upper level. As they walked back, they looked around again. After confirming that there was nothing else, they left the cabin.


    Zhou Wen looked at the second floor on the ship. It was the control room of the ship. It had been severely damaged.


    Half of the helm had been destroyed, and the remaining half was tattered. It was unknown if there was anything valuable inside.


    ¡°This ship is really strange,¡± said Karoman.


    ¡°How is it strange?¡± Zhou Wen asked casually.


    ¡°The thing down there should be the energy source of this ship, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. That was the engine room. What¡¯s wrong with that?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand what Karoman meant.


    ¡°Since there¡¯s an engine room, why does this ship have sails?¡± Karoman pointed at the tattered sails.


    1


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback. He had really never thought of this problem.


    Previously, he had the impression that this was a ship with many sails, so he didn¡¯t sense anything amiss.


    However, with Karoman raising the issue, Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    The ship¡¯s propelling system was so advanced that even though it was damaged to such an extent, it could still propel the ship forward.


    With such advanced technology, was there a need to use sails?


    However, not only did this ship have sails, but it also had multiple sails. It was like a sailboat that could only rely on wind in ancient times.


    ¡°Are these sails meant to save energy?¡± Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    Why would a ship that could sail freely in space need that bit of wind? Furthermore, there wasn¡¯t wind everywhere.


    ¡°Could it be just for decoration?¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°If it¡¯s really for decoration, there¡¯s no need to get so many sails. Three sails will be more aesthetically pleasing. Furthermore, I¡¯ve just seen them. The design of these sails is very reasonable. They should be usable,¡± said Karoman.


    1


    ¡°What do you think these sails are for?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t figure out what they were for, so he asked Karoman.


    ¡°How would I know? Maybe when they are on break, they will raise the sails and let it float around,¡± said Karoman casually.


    Zhou Wen felt that this answer was even more unreliable, but he couldn¡¯t think of any other explanation. Therefore, he stopped thinking about it and went to the helm on the second floor.


    The helm was filled with rotten wooden planks. Half of the rudder had been destroyed, and only a small portion hung on it. It looked like the drive rod had snapped.


    Zhou Wen moved the wooden planks away one by one, hoping to find something useful inside.


    Soon, he discovered a plastic bag with words he didn¡¯t recognize printed on it.


    When he opened it, he saw that it was filled with white things. Zhou Wen took a careful look and his expression turned odd.


    This was clearly a pack of baby diapers. Zhou Wen immediately thought of An Jing. It was very likely that An Jing¡¯s mother had lived in the helm with her and had even changed her diapers here.


    1


    Karoman was also rummaging through something on the other side when it suddenly said in surprise, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Zhou Wen turned his head and saw it touching something spherical with its hooves.


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 Chapter 1856 - Disordered Images

    Zhou Wen carefully looked at the sphere. It was the size of an adult man¡¯s fist. Half of it was made of the white metallic plastic, while the other half was black like glass.


    Zhou Wen picked up the sphere and carefully studied it. He realized that there was a small circle on the upper hemisphere.


    After touching the small circle, the black half of the sphere suddenly lit up.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly released his grip and looked at the sphere warily.


    The sphere automatically floated up. The black glass half shot out a beam that produced a holographic projection in the air.


    The video was of a woman and a baby. It looked like it was recorded from inside the ship¡¯s helm.


    The woman looked quite beautiful and looked like the mother of the baby. She seemed to be an ordinary human woman.


    The baby was somewhat strange. She was placed in a sealed transparent box. The woman was only teasing the baby from the outside.


    It was obvious that the baby was very weak. She reached out her tiny hands in a bid to hug the woman, but all she could do was touch the transparent lid and look helplessly at the woman outside.


    Could this be An Jing and her mother? Zhou Wen thought with a strange expression.


    There were many scenes in the video. Some of them were of the woman watching the child, while most of them were of the baby.


    It was obvious that the woman was recording the baby¡¯s growth. It was also obvious that the woman loved the child very much.


    The woman sometimes spoke, but Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t understand a word she said. It wasn¡¯t a language he knew, so he naturally didn¡¯t understand her.


    Those were pretty much all the scenes. Zhou Wen found them meaningless, so he decided to let it play by itself while he searched for other useful things in the helm.


    Under the tattered wooden planks, he found many daily necessities¡ªnothing useful.


    ¡°July 14th¡­¡± Suddenly, Zhou Wen heard a familiar voice. Furthermore, he understood it.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly turned his head and saw that the holographic projection projected by the sphere was no longer of the woman and child.


    It was an image of another woman. The moment Zhou Wen saw the woman, his eyes widened.


    Sigh of the King¡­ Zhou Wen immediately recognized that this woman was definitely the woman in the Sigh of the King. There was no mistake about her figure and temperament.


    The difference was that this woman was wearing a white uniform and had strange glasses on her face. She sat expressionlessly facing the video and wrote something in a notebook while speaking.


    ¡°July 14th. Successfully discovered coordinates Z14. Experiment in progress¡­¡±


    The scene changed. It was still of the woman sitting there writing.


    ¡°July 15th. Spatial positioning activated. Failed for unknown reasons.¡±


    ¡°July 16th, spatial positioning successful. Phone system connection successful¡­¡±


    ¡°July 17th, failure.¡±


    ¡°July 18th, failure.¡±


    ¡°Failure¡­ Failure¡­ Failure¡­¡±


    After a few consecutive days of failure, the scene switched to the woman and baby.


    ¡°Holy sh*t!¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but shout gloomily.


    He knew what was going on. If his guess was right, this sphere was used by the woman in Sigh of the King to record the results of her daily experiments.


    However, for some reason, it ended up with An Jing¡¯s mother. An Jing¡¯s mother used it to take videos of her child¡¯s daily life. For some reason, it overwrote a portion of the experimental records.


    After a while, the scene suddenly switched to the laboratory.


    ¡°September 7th. The experiment is about to end. It seems a little boring. Should I add something interesting¡­¡± On the screen, the woman¡¯s lips curled up slightly, revealing an evil expression.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen the woman show an expression in front of the camera. It gave him an odd feeling.


    The scene changed to the woman and a baby again. It gave him a headache.


    Zhou Wen stared intently at the holographic projection, but all that followed were pictures of the woman and baby. After it ended, there was nothing. The sphere automatically shut down and fell to the ground.


    Zhou Wen was momentarily rendered speechless as he picked up the sphere and put it away.


    Karoman was already impatient as it shouted for Zhou Wen to leave quickly and find a way out of this godforsaken place.


    Seeing that there was nothing useful here, Zhou Wen got off the ship with it and watched as the ship continued wandering in this strange space.


    From the looks of it, An Jing and An Jing¡¯s mother come from another world. I wonder what relationship that world has with this place. Is it like the relationship between Earth and the dimension? Zhou Wen felt that something was amiss.


    The other world didn¡¯t seem like the dimension, but like another place where humans lived.


    From the fragmented experimental records, he could roughly guess that the phone was probably made by the woman in Sigh of the King. However, he didn¡¯t know how it ended up in the hands of An Jing¡¯s mother.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra definitely belonged to the woman in the Sigh of the King. It had nothing to do with An Jing¡¯s mother.


    The phone and Lost Immortal Sutra are all hers. Is the interesting thing she mentioned the Lost Immortal Sutra? Or is it something else? Zhou Wen thought of the Guardian in Ant City.


    Unfortunately, the video isn¡¯t complete. Otherwise, I would have known what¡¯s going on. Zhou Wen really wanted to know if the woman in Sigh of the King was still alive.


    He couldn¡¯t understand what An Jing¡¯s mother was saying, but he could understand what the woman was saying.


    If the two of them came from the same world, he shouldn¡¯t have understood either of them.


    That was unless An Jing¡¯s mother had nothing to do with this world, and that woman was the one who was related to this world. She knew the language of this world, so she could use this language to record the results of her experiments.


    An Jing¡¯s mother had used some means to obtain the phone, Lost Immortal Sutra, and other things from the woman. It was even possible that this huge ship originally belonged to the woman.


    Is there really another human world in this world? Zhou Wen¡¯s curiosity had already reached its peak. If there really was one, he wanted to take a look and see that woman¡¯s world.


    This place seemed to be the same as the dimensional space. It was boundless. No matter how fast Zhou Wen and Karoman sped up, they found themselves going in circles.


    After a while, they realized that they had returned to the vicinity of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    ¡°What the hell is this place? I don¡¯t want to be trapped here for the rest of my life. I don¡¯t want to be turned into a specimen like these fellows,¡± Karoman roared gloomily.


    ¡°Since we can¡¯t find a way out, let¡¯s give it a shot. If I peel off the crystal, will the creature inside still be alive?¡± Zhou Wen looked around and planned on finding an experimental subject.


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 Chapter 1857 - Nine Tribulations Devil Seed

    Karoman said that these creatures were the pets of the Devil King. Apocalypse-grade ones were rather dangerous.


    If these fellows really came to life after shattering the crystal, it was also a question if he could control them.


    Although they were all pets of the Devil King, and, in theory, they should be considered Demonic Neonate¡¯s pets, who knew if they were still loyal to the Devil King? Even if they were loyal to the Devil King, they might not be loyal to Demonic Neonate. Furthermore, these fellows hadn¡¯t died in the battle against the Devils. That was problematic in itself.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± Karoman asked in puzzlement when it saw Zhou Wen staring blankly at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if the fellows inside are dead. If they are already dead, they are treasures, don¡¯t you think?¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    When Karoman heard that, its eyes lit up. ¡°That¡¯s right. If you can break these crystals, let¡¯s dig out the New World fragments of these fellows inside. With so many Apocalypse-grade fragments, just the New World fragments dug out can make us invincible. When the time comes, forget Wang Mingyuan, even if Wang Mingyuan¡¯s father comes, we will beat him until he calls me granddaddy.¡±


    1


    The dimension had always respected the strong. Karoman didn¡¯t find anything wrong with plundering the power of other lives.


    With Zhou Wen planting a thought in it, it immediately had designs on the Devil King pets.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid the fellows inside aren¡¯t completely dead. After I open the crystal, it will be troublesome if they come back to life,¡± Zhou Wen said with feigned hesitation.


    When Karoman heard that, it immediately said, ¡°That shouldn¡¯t be a problem. Previously, when crystals grew out of my body, I knew how powerful they were. It will be fine revealing these fellows¡¯ weak spots as long as you don¡¯t shatter the entire crystal and only shatter a portion. They won¡¯t be able to move even if they are still alive.¡±


    ¡°Not a bad idea. Let¡¯s give it a try. Do you know what weaknesses the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed has?¡± Zhou Wen said as he sized up the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    Karoman thought for a moment and said, ¡°The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed is a very terrifying creature. It was very weak when it was born. It was even weaker than the weakest creature in the dimension. It couldn¡¯t even reach the Mythical stage. However, its evolution ability was extremely terrifying. As long as there were enough resources, it could constantly evolve without any limitations. It¡¯s not like ordinary creatures with limited talent. No matter how hard they work, it¡¯s difficult for them to advance to the next level.


    ¡°Legend has it that after a Demon Seed advances to the Apocalypse grade, its body will stop evolving when it reaches a certain level. Then, it will transcend a tribulation and be reborn. It will once again fall from the top of the pyramid to the bottom and evolve again. This time, after reaching the Apocalypse grade, its upper limit will become even higher. It can go further in the Apocalypse grade. When it reaches its limit again, it will transcend a tribulation and be reborn. After that, it will become stronger every time it transcends a tribulation and returns to the Apocalypse grade. It can be said to be a terrifying existence that grows infinitely.


    ¡°I heard that the Devil Seed by the Devil King¡¯s side had undergone nine tribulations and rebirth. That¡¯s why it¡¯s called the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. Such a creature¡¯s body has almost evolved to a perfect level. It¡¯s almost impossible to find flaws in it,¡± said Karoman after some thought.


    ¡°After all that talk, it doesn¡¯t have any weaknesses?¡± Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. ¡°Weren¡¯t you just spouting nonsense?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m saying that others can¡¯t find the weakness of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed, it doesn¡¯t mean that I can¡¯t find it.¡± Karoman felt that it was being looked down on and immediately said, ¡°According to what I know, the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed beside the Devil King didn¡¯t evolve perfectly. Although it has undergone nine tribulations and should theoretically be perfect, it had secretly eaten another pet raised by the Devil King before it transcended the tribulation. It angered the Devil King and was slapped in the face by him, causing one of its ears to go deaf. After that, despite transcending the tribulation and being reborn, it couldn¡¯t recover the damage to its ear. It left behind a fatal flaw.¡±


    ¡°I see. Which ear do you think its damaged ear is?¡± Zhou Wen sized up the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed and realized that on its huge head, there were seven ears on each side making a total of fourteen ears. Each ear was bigger than an island.


    ¡°It should be the ear on the left. It¡¯s hard to say which one it is,¡± said Karoman.


    Zhou Wen carefully observed the seven ears on the left side of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. From the outside, he didn¡¯t discover any damage.


    However, on second thought, it made sense. The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed had experienced nine tribulations and was reborn. Its external injuries had long healed. It was impossible to tell. It was probably an internal injury.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s try one by one.¡± Zhou Wen flashed to the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s ear and slashed out with his hand, shattering the crystal outside its left ear.


    Not long after, a huge ear appeared. Zhou Wen kept observing the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. Seeing that it didn¡¯t move, he slashed at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s ear.


    With a clang, In the Human World¡¯s power slashed at the ear, leaving a shallow wound. Although it was a few centimeters deep, this wound was almost negligible to the huge Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    ¡°Let me do it. The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed has undergone nine tribulations. Its body has already evolved to the extreme. Ordinary Apocalypse-grade creatures can¡¯t injure its body. You¡¯ll have to depend on me,¡± said Karoman as the horn on its head lit up. It lowered its head and transformed into a shocking beam of light that struck the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s ear.


    Clang!


    With a shocking bang, Karoman retreated and its body swayed in the air. It almost plummeted as though it was drunk.


    Is this fellow really one of the strongest Apocalypse existences after the Immortal Thearch? Zhou Wen looked at the pathetic Karoman with a mixed look.


    If the Apocalypse powerhouses in the dimension ranked after the Immortal Thearch were at such a level, it was only right that there was no king.


    Karoman sobered up a little. Seeing Zhou Wen looking at it made it fly into a rage due to its embarrassment. Without a word, it lowered its head and made another charge.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Karoman slammed into it several times, but it failed to shatter the ear. It had already lot its bearings as he spun in the air.


    Although Zhou Wen looked down on Karoman, it wasn¡¯t weak. It could only be said that the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was just too powerful.


    If a pet of the Devil King is so terrifying, how strong was the Devil King back then? Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before summoning Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Do you know it?¡± Zhou Wen pointed at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed and asked Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate gazed at it for a while before shaking her head at him.


    ¡°Get Grim Demon out,¡± Zhou Wen said to Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate obediently pulled out the Demonic Sword and released Grim Demon.


    ¡°I almost suffocated to death¡­¡± Grim Demon shouted the moment he came out, but halfway through, he was shocked when he saw the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. He even swallowed his words.


    ¡°Holy sh*t, Nine Tribulations Devil Seed, why is it here?¡± Grim Demon shouted as he retreated, as though he was very afraid of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


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 Chapter 1858 - The Opportunity to Rule the World

    Chapter 1858 The Opportunity to Rule the World


    Only when he realized that the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed appeared frozen did Grim Demon calm down.


    He looked around and was even more alarmed when he saw Skyfiend Consort in the distance. ¡°Nine Tribulations Devil Seed, Skyfiend Consort¡­ Why are they here¡­ What is this place¡­ What happened?¡±


    ¡°Grim Demon, you know these creatures, right?¡± Zhou Wen said to Grim Demon.


    ¡°Yes, of course I know them. These are fellows who were favored by the Devil King. In that era, we didn¡¯t even need to say the Devils, who in the entire dimension didn¡¯t know them?¡± Grim Demon asked in surprise, ¡°Why are the two of them here?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just the two of them. Look over there,¡± Zhou Wen said as he pointed in a direction.


    Grim Demon flew over in puzzlement. As he flew, crystals grew out of his body, giving Grim Demon a fright.


    Zhou Wen directly used in the Human World to shatter the crystals on Grim Demon.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡± Grim Demon checked his body and didn¡¯t find any more growing crystals.


    ¡°Go take a look first,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    Grim Demon flew over suspiciously. Soon, his cry sounded. From the looks of it, Grim Demon knew all of the Devil King¡¯s pets.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Why are the Devil King¡¯s most beloved creatures here? Shouldn¡¯t they have died in the Battle of the Fallen Devils?¡± After Grim Demon returned, his face was filled with perplexity.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I want to ask you. As a Devil, you should know better than me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°This¡­ I wasn¡¯t with the Devils during that battle. I didn¡¯t see what happened with my own eyes. I thought they had all died in battle. Why are they all in such a place? What kind of place is this?¡± Grim Demon asked.


    Zhou Wen explained where they were. After Grim Demon heard that, he seemed to think of something and exclaimed, ¡°In that case, this should be the bottom of the Dimensional Airspace?¡±


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°I remember a legend. The Dimensional Airspace¡¯s Destiny Platform is connected to the upper world. The bottom is connected to the taboo land¡­ It¡¯s also the universe where your Earth is¡­ Could it be that these fellows saw that the situation was hopeless in that battle and wanted to escape to Earth to avoid the pursuit of the other races, but they were trapped by that strange crystal after arriving here?¡± Grim Demon said.


    ¡°Probably not. Would you take a path you don¡¯t even know about? Furthermore, with these fellows¡¯ abilities, even if Earth hadn¡¯t broken out back then, they would have had the ability to open up a spatial passageway to Earth, right?¡± Zhou Wen rejected Grim Demon¡¯s suggestion.


    Grim Demon¡¯s words made Zhou Wen recall something.


    Back when Wang Mingyuan tore through the passageway to the dimensional zone, Demonic Neonate had come to Earth through that passageway.


    Is it possible that when Wang Mingyuan tore through the tunnel, this place was also connected to Earth? Did Demonic Neonate leave from here? Zhou Wen thought about it and felt that it wasn¡¯t impossible.


    Unfortunately, Demonic Neonate had been transformed by the Dead Man Tree after Zhou Wen killed her. She didn¡¯t have any memories of the past, or she would have known something


    However, Zhou Wen still hoped that she didn¡¯t remember any of that. If she really had her memories, she would definitely remember that Zhou Wen had once killed her.


    ¡°Now that you mention it, I remember something.¡± Karoman pondered and said, ¡°I heard that after that battle, no one knew where the Devil King¡¯s corpse was. No one saw the corpses of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed or Skyfiend Consort. Everyone thought that they had been killed by the Immortal Thearch, but from the looks of it, that¡¯s not the case.¡±


    ¡°However, the Immortal Thearch had said that the Devils had been destroyed. If she wasn¡¯t 100% confident, it would be impossible for her to announce it to the world. From the looks of it, only the Immortal Thearch knows what went on.¡± Karoman looked at Grim Demon and said, ¡°You should be the Guardian prototype created by the Devil King, right?¡±


    ¡°I never expected anyone in this world to know me.¡± Grim Demon couldn¡¯t help but reveal a smug expression.


    ¡°How can I not know? The Guardian techniques of the various races were learned from the Devils. You can be considered the progenitor of Guardians,¡± said Karoman with a smile. ¡°However, from the looks of it, you don¡¯t seem to be doing well. You don¡¯t even have a proper contractor and have fallen to the status of contracting a weapon.¡±


    Grim Demon was very smug in the beginning, but the more he listened, the darker his expression became. After a while, he said gloomily, ¡°It¡¯s none of your business.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Grim Demon in surprise. He never expected this fellow to have such a lofty background.


    Karoman sized up Demonic Neonate and continued, ¡°Your Companion Beast is a pure Devil. This is very rare. Pure Devils were very rare back then, much less now. Thankfully, times are different. If Wang Mingyuan hadn¡¯t appeared and the Immortals were still in charge, you would probably have been attacked by all the races when you brought such a Devil to the dimension. No one would be willing to see the Devils rise again.¡±


    ¡°Hmph, they aren¡¯t worthy without Immortal Thearch.¡± Grim Demon snorted coldly.


    ¡°The Immortal Thearch is gone, and the Devil King is gone. What¡¯s there to be worthy of?¡±


    ¡°The King is gone? Master¡­¡± Grim Demon wanted to say something, but he stopped before he could finish.


    Zhou Wen was also somewhat curious about Demonic Neonate¡¯s relationship with the Devil King. He guessed that they were related by blood.


    From Grim Demon¡¯s appearance, he probably knew. However, with Karoman beside him, Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t ask. He planned on interrogating him when there was no one around.


    ¡°By the way, if you want to know what happened back then, why don¡¯t you get these fellows out and ask them? Are these fellows still alive?¡± Grim Demon suddenly slapped his thigh and looked at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know if it¡¯s alive. I¡¯m just afraid that if it¡¯s alive, it will bring us harm after we get it out,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was so terrifying that his strength couldn¡¯t even injure it. If it really wanted to kill someone, it would be troublesome.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s no way it would dare do so.¡± As Grim Demon spoke, he subconsciously glanced at Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen naturally knew what Grim Demon meant, but he found it odd.


    Even if Demonic Neonate was a descendant of the Devil King, the races in the dimension only respected the strong. They were loyal to the powerful Devil King, but they might not bow down to Demonic Neonate who hadn¡¯t grown to her full potential. This was also one of the reasons Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t considered releasing them. However, from Grim Demon¡¯s indication, he seemed to be very certain that the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed would bow down to Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Zhou Wen asked Grim Demon.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m sure. Don¡¯t worry.¡± With that said, Grim Demon used a special ability to send his thoughts into Zhou Wen¡¯s mind. ¡°They will definitely be loyal to Master. If they are still alive, Master can reign supreme over the dimensional zone with their help. The opportunity to rule the world is right in front of her.¡±


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 Chapter 1859 - Breaking the Seal

    Chapter 1859 Breaking the Seal


    Reign supreme? Zhou Wen glanced at Grim Demon and said nothing.


    Grim Demon felt a little uncomfortable under Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze. He sent another voice transmission. ¡°I swear with my life that those guys definitely won¡¯t dare to hurt Master. You have to trust me.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, As if I¡¯ll believe you. You¡¯re loyal to Demonic Neonate, but not to me. You only said that they won¡¯t hurt Demonic Neonate, but you didn¡¯t say that they won¡¯t hurt me.


    Zhou Wen ignored Grim Demon and turned to look at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. Then, he pulled out the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and used Sin of All Life.


    Infinite power surged into Zhou Wen¡¯s body from all directions, boosting his strength. Energy even seeped out of Karoman and Grim Demon and surged towards Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What are you trying to do?¡± Grim Demon shouted in horror. He wanted to stop Zhou Wen, but he didn¡¯t dare.


    Zhou Wen ignored him. When his strength reached a certain level, Human Sovereign Stone Saber slashed at the exposed ear with the terrifying New World nomological power.


    Crack!


    The nigh indestructible huge ear was sliced apart by Human Sovereign Stone Saber like an island cleaved off from the mainland.


    Although the ear was severed, no blood flowed out. There was still indestructible flesh inside.


    ¡°From the looks of it, it wasn¡¯t this ear that was injured,¡± Karoman said after some thought.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he shattered the crystal over another ear. He used Sin of All Life again to slice open the ear.


    However, there were still no signs of him severely injuring the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. Zhou Wen had no choice but to shatter the crystal that enveloped another ear.


    One ear after another was split open by Zhou Wen, but he only managed to slice them off; he didn¡¯t discover the weakness of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    He had sliced off six of the seven ears on the left, leaving only one. ¡°This should be this one,¡± said Karoman.


    Zhou Wen once again condensed the Sin of All Life and sliced off the ear, but he still failed to discover the weakness that Karoman had mentioned.


    ¡°What did you just say?¡± Zhou Wen wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at Karoman.


    After using the Sin of All Life seven times, Zhou Wen¡¯s body suffered immense pressure, but he didn¡¯t find the weakness that Karoman had mentioned.


    ¡°Ahem, isn¡¯t it the left? Then it should be the right,¡± Karoman said awkwardly.


    ¡°You said the left,¡± Zhou Wen said with a frown.


    ¡°That was what was on my mind. The Devil King isn¡¯t left-handed, so when slapping the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed with his right hand, he would definitely hit ear on the left. I never expected the miscalculation. Could it be that the Devil King is left-handed?¡± Karoman pretended to be in deep thought.


    ¡°Do you believe that I¡¯ll slap you to death with my left hand?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Karoman angrily.


    He never expected Karoman to be so unreliable as to use such a method to deduce the location of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s injuries.


    Karoman knew that it was in the wrong and pretended not to hear Zhou Wen. It said awkwardly, ¡°It must be the right. Try again.¡±


    Helpless, Zhou Wen rested for a while before preparing to chop off the ears on the right.


    ¡°Are you crazy? They are all Master¡¯s strongest helpers. With them, you can regain control of the dimension and become the lord of the dimension. What¡¯s the point of killing it?¡± Grim Demon sent a crazy voice transmission to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen found him annoying and got Demonic Neonate to unsummon him into the Demonic Sword. His ears immediately enjoyed silence.


    Zhou Wen held his saber and walked towards the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed again despite finding Karoman unreliable. It was very likely that the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed didn¡¯t have any so-called weakness.


    However, there was no other way now, so he decided to give it a try.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t discover anything when he sliced off the first right ear. It was the same for the second and third ear. However, when Zhou Wen sliced off the fourth right ear, he realized that there was a hole in it.


    It was obvious that the hole was formed because of fractured bones. It was different from the normal ear structure of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    ¡°So the legend is true. The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s ear was really injured by the Devil King¡­¡± Karoman cried out excitedly.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. Karoman was just taking hearsay seriously. It was just lucky to get it right.


    Karoman didn¡¯t care about this. It flew into the ear hole, planning to kill the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed from the inside.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t follow. He waited outside with Demonic Neonate for the outcome.


    Zhou Wen knew that Karoman was in a rush to enter because it wanted to find the New World Fragment of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed. It was afraid that Zhou Wen would get to it first.


    Zhou Wen also wanted the New World Fragment, but he wasn¡¯t sure if the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was dead or alive, nor was he sure if it still had the ability to fight. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to take the risk.


    If Karoman wanted the New World Fragment, he could let it have it. Since it couldn¡¯t leave the bottom of the Dimensional Airspace, it could only rely on Zhou Wen. When the time came, he wasn¡¯t afraid that it would not cough it out obediently.


    Terrifying light flashed from time to time through the ear hole. Karoman was probably wreaking havoc inside.


    Crack! Crack!


    Karoman was engaged in wanton destruction inside, but it didn¡¯t know that cracks had begun to appear on the crystal over the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    Zhou Wen watched as cracks spread across the huge crystal. He was somewhat alarmed and puzzled. This fellow is actually still alive. Furthermore, its strength can break through the crystal. This is somewhat strange. Since its strength can break through the crystal, why is it sealed here?


    ¡°Karoman, come out now. Something isn¡¯t right outside.¡± Zhou Wen shouted into the ear hole.


    ¡°If there¡¯s anything wrong, wait for me to come out.¡± Karoman¡¯s voice came from inside, but it had no intention of coming out.


    ¡°Cracks are appearing on the crystal. It¡¯s best if you come out quickly,¡± Zhou Wen said again.


    ¡°Haha, you want to trick me into leaving so that you can come in and snatch the New World Fragment, right? I¡¯m not easily fooled. I¡¯m about to break through the doorway to the New World and obtain its New World Fragment. Don¡¯t even think about snatching the fruits of my labor. After I obtain the New World Fragment, I¡¯ll naturally leave and see what cracks there are¡­¡± Karoman answered smugly.


    No matter how benevolent I am, I can¡¯t redeem a person who has a death wish. Zhou Wen shook his head slightly and didn¡¯t say anything else. All he did was watch the cracks on the crystal constantly expand.


    Bang!


    The cracks were as big as a canyon, but it was also like a river that meandered over the crystal. Soon, large chunks of crystal fell from the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s body.


    Crystals that were as large as a mountain or even a huge island fell. The scene was unimaginably spectacular.


    It was as though Earth had cracked open and the continent had collapsed into the sky.


    Zhou Wen picked up Demonic Neonate and placed her on his shoulder as he watched this beautiful and magnificent scene.


    Karoman had no idea what was happening outside and was still dealing damage inside.


    Most of the crystals that enveloped the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed had already peeled off with nothing but a few crystals remaining. Its huge moon-like eyes suddenly opened. They were like two pitch-black moons, but also like deep black holes. Just a glance was enough to make one feel like they were being sucked in.


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 Chapter 1860 - Master

    Chapter 1860 Master


    ¡°Achoo!¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed sneezed and spat Karoman out of its nostrils.


    Karoman was wrapped in a bubble. Despite it desperately stabbing at the bubble with its horn, the bubble didn¡¯t shatter. It was nothing like ordinary bubbles.


    No matter what Karoman unleashed, all the bubble did was distort and deform-it couldn¡¯t be pierced.


    Karoman was actually trapped by the bubble. Its sharp horn couldn¡¯t even pierce through it.


    After the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed finished sneezing, it roared at the sky. The wound on its ear quickly healed and it recovered in the blink of an eye.


    It looked down at Zhou Wen and company. When its gaze landed on Demonic Neonate, it suddenly bent down and slowly extended its huge head in front of Demonic Neonate¡¯s feet. A strange voice sounded at the same time. ¡°Master¡­ You¡¯ve finally woken up¡­¡±


    Karoman originally imagined that a huge battle would ensue, but when it saw this scene, it was dumbfounded. ¡°Master¡­ Could it be¡­ That¡¯s the Devil King¡­¡±


    Demonic Neonate looked at the almost prostrating Nine Tribulations Devil Seed with a puzzled expression.


    She didn¡¯t understand why ¡°food¡± would address her as master.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed seemed to discover a problem and immediately flew into a rage. It looked at Zhou Wen with its deep black eyes.


    ¡°You¡­ You dare turn Master into such a state¡­ You¡­ Will suffer eternal damnation¡­¡± The enraged Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s eyes seemed to turn into a black hole as a terrifying suction force pulled Zhou Wen¡¯s body towards its eyes.


    Suddenly, Demonic Neonate stood in front of Zhou Wen and threw out the Vajra Chakram.


    When the Vajra Chakram struck the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s head, it immediately let out a tragic cry and tumbled down.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed had an extremely powerful body. It quickly recovered from the Vajra Chakram¡¯s strike and flew back to Demonic Neonate.


    ¡°Master¡­¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed remained respectful despite being hit by Demonic Neonate. It didn¡¯t dare show any disrespect.


    Demonic Neonate held the Vajra Chakram in one hand and the Demonic Sword in the other as she glared fiercely at the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed seemed to understand something. It looked at Demonic Neonate, who was glaring at it fiercely, and slowly said, ¡°Master, you have indeed come up with a flawless plan. Back then, when you established this body, you once said that we were to wait for your devil soul to be restored if you couldn¡¯t recover your true self. From the looks of it, this is the time.¡±


    As the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed spoke, a terrifying demonic aura rose from its body. As the demonic aura on its body surged, eight other terrifying auras also surged into the


    sky.


    The crystals around the eight terrifying creatures¡ªSkyfiend Concubine, Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper Dog, Six-path Devil Heart, Seven Sins Phoenix, Star Devourer, Devilish Trichilio Eater, Defy Bone Spirit, Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate-cracked and peeled off as they shattered.


    Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown when he saw the terrifying creatures shatter their crystals.


    These fellows were once extremely terrifying existences of that era. Without the Devil King and Immortal Thearch, they were invincible.


    When the dimension was at its peak, all the races had to join forces to defeat the Devils. Yet, these fellows could still carve out a bloody escape route to this place. It was obvious how terrifying they were.


    In this era where Immortal Thearch wasn¡¯t around, it was probably difficult to find an existence in the dimension that could fight them.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally back? My dear master¡­¡± Skyfiend Consort swung her waist and walked over. Every move she made seemed to emit infinite charm that was irresistible. It made one want to throw themselves into her arms.


    Woo! The Hell Gatekeeper Dog¡¯s mouth that seemed to be able to devour the world opened slightly in the void as it let out a deep roar that signaled extreme danger. Its red eyes stared intently at Zhou Wen as though it wanted to devour him at any moment.


    A man who looked like a true immortal from heaven had six halos behind him like overlapping moonlight. The white robe on his body fluttered as he carefully sized up Demonic Neonate. He slowly said, ¡°Why has Master become like this? She looks no different from when she was born. What happened?¡±


    The Seven Sins Phoenix, who was covered in rainbow light and seemed to be transformed from color glazed, let out a baby-like voice. ¡°It looks like something has indeed happened to Master. She hasn¡¯t regained her memories.¡±


    At first, it had the innocent voice of a baby girl, but it changed with every word. Sometimes, it sounded like an ancient elder, sometimes like a seductive girl, sometimes seductive to the core, and sometimes ferocious like a ghost.


    This sentence had countless variations. If one were to carefully distinguish it, they would discover that they were switching between a total of seven voices.


    ¡°Master hasn¡¯t awakened yet. Why did you wake me up?¡± The black hole-like Star Devourer emitted a strange voice. The voice didn¡¯t vibrate in the air, but seemed to ring in one¡¯s mind.


    ¡°That human looks delicious. Why don¡¯t you let me eat him first?¡± The body of the Devilish Trichilio Eater looked like a giant, but on careful look, his body was made of countless broken limbs. His chest was formed by heads placed side by side, and there were all sorts of severed limbs on his arms. His entire body was covered in distorted mouths and strange eyes.


    It was as though there were creatures squirming and twisting in his body.


    ¡°You eat the body. The soul belongs to me.¡± The Defy Bone Spirit stood there as its body phased in and out of existence like a demonic spirit in the shadows.


    ¡°Screw off. I want both the body and soul.¡± Devilish Trichilio Eater snorted coldly.


    ¡°Shut up. Let me see what¡¯s going on with Master.¡± The only one who looked more like a normal human, Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate, came in front of Demonic Neonate and bowed slightly. ¡°Master, do you still remember me?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to ask. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong. Master¡¯s memories haven¡¯t awakened at all. It¡¯s time to use the Devil Spirit that Master left with us,¡± said the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate stared at Demonic Neonate for a while and nodded slightly. ¡°Master, don¡¯t be anxious. We will let you recover your true self.¡±


    As Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate spoke, he turned to the other terrifying creatures and said, ¡°Stop fooling around. Quickly extract Master¡¯s Devil Spirit and help her recover her true self.¡±


    With that said, Immortal Slaughterer Ancient Subordinate reached out to grab his head. He pulled out a black spirit flame from between his eyebrows and threw it at Demonic Neonate¡¯s forehead.


    The black spirit flame floated towards Demonic Neonate¡¯s forehead.


    Demonic Neonate threw out the Vajra Chakram and smashed it at the black spirit flame. However, when the Vajra Chakram smashed into the black spirit flame, it seemed to hit an illusion-it passed through the black spirit flame without being affected at all.


    Demonic Neonate shook the Heaven Shrouding Bell next. Spatial ripples distorted space, but the black spirit flame remained unaffected as it floated in front of Demonic Neonate.


    Demonic Neonate pulled out the Demonic Sword and quickly slashed at the black spirit flame. However, no matter how many times the Demonic Sword struck the black spirit flame, it was as though it had slashed at an illusion. Again, the black spirit flame wasn¡¯t affected at all.


    The black spirit flame seemed to lock onto Demonic Neonate. No matter how Demonic Neonate retreated and dodged, she couldn¡¯t affect its approach. The black spirit flame was close to landing on Demonic Neonate¡¯s forehead.


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 Chapter 1861 - Damaged Ship

    Chapter 1861 Damaged Ship


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s figure suddenly vanished and returned to Zhou Wen.


    The power in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand grabbed the black spirit flame and held it in his palm.


    He could clearly tell that the black spirit flame was only a spirit body. It likely carried a sliver of the Devil King¡¯s spiritual consciousness. Although all sorts of powers couldn¡¯t injure it, it likely lacked any lethality. It was only effective against Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen grabbed the black spirit flame and quickly flew away.


    The Devil King¡¯s pets were alarmed and furious. Shocking New World rules enveloped the world as they intertwined and bombarded Zhou Wen.


    Under the interweaving of the terrifying New World rules, everything was wiped out. Even Karoman, who was wrapped in the bubble, was crushed.


    ¡°I share a life with your master. She won¡¯t live if I die,¡± Zhou Wen shouted coldly.


    The terrifying laws that were about to land on him immediately came to a halt and didn¡¯t touch him.


    The six pairs of wings on Zhou Wen¡¯s back flapped crazily as he transformed into a shadow and instantly vanished into the horizon.


    The nine Devil King pets were alarmed and furious as they immediately chased after him. The Seven Sins Phoenix flapped its wings and appeared beside Zhou Wen like a ghost. Its wings transformed into rainbow threads that wrapped around Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Skyfiend Consort also appeared above Zhou Wen like a fairy in the clouds. She stepped on Zhou Wen¡¯s head with her bare feet.


    The other terrifying existences appeared beside him. Zhou Wen¡¯s speed was incapable of shaking them off. Zhou Wen¡¯s body vanished into thin air and he couldn¡¯t teleport out of this godforsaken place, he could only use instant transmission here.


    When the nine Devil pets caught up to Zhou Wen again, they realized that Zhou Wen had landed on the deck of the damaged ship. He bent down and rushed into the cabin.


    When they saw the ship, they were taken aback. They didn¡¯t rush in to capture him immediately. ¡°This ship looks a little familiar,¡± the Seven Sins Phoenix said.


    ¡°That¡¯s an understatement. It¡¯s that ship,¡± the Defy Bone Spirit said coldly.


    ¡°Why is it here? And in such a state?¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed stared at the ship and frowned.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to be afraid of? We weren¡¯t afraid back then. Now that it¡¯s in such a state, the people inside are probably long gone. What¡¯s there to be afraid of?¡± As Devilish Trichilio Eater spoke, he slapped the ship.


    His huge hand was almost half the size of the ship. A strange mouth opened on his hand, revealing a mouthful of fangs that were about to crush the ship.


    However, when his hand grabbed the hull, the gaping mouth filled with sharp teeth failed to tear apart the seemingly damaged ship.


    His teeth scraped against the wooden planks, producing creaking sounds. They snapped, leaving only teeth marks on the wooden plank. He failed to tear through it.


    ¡°Ah!¡± Devilish Trichilio Eater suddenly cried out in pain and retracted his palm.


    On the palm, there was an additional wound on the mouth as black blood flowed out.


    Zhou Wen stood in the cabin with the Human Sovereign Stone Saber in hand. The saber was still dripping with black blood.


    The faces on Devilish Trichilio Eater¡¯s hand squirmed as though they wanted to apply pressure and heal the wound, but they couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Strange, why can¡¯t this tiny wound heal!¡± Devilish Trichilio Eater exclaimed in surprise.


    ¡°I wonder what method this fellow used to control Master¡¯s Destiny Body. He is quite something,¡± Seven Sins Phoenix said.


    ¡°A mere human. Let me control him and he¡¯ll beg for death.¡± As the Defy Bone Spirit spoke, its shadow-like body transformed into a terrifying shadow that enveloped the entire space. When the shadow reached the cabin¡¯s entrance, Zhou Wen held Human Sovereign¡¯s ancient saber with both hands and activated In the Human World to slash at the shadow.


    ¡°Human, your saber can¡¯t injure me¡­ Ah¡­¡± Just as Defy Bone Spirit was speaking eerily, it suddenly let out a tragic cry. The incorporeal shadow had been cleaved open by the Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    ¡°Strange¡­ How strange¡­ It¡¯s impossible for a corporeal body to injure my Spirit Body¡­ How can this be¡­¡± Defy Bone Spirit retreated. There was a small wound on its shadow-like body that couldn¡¯t heal.


    Instantly, the few terrifying existences were somewhat surprised. Zhou Wen¡¯s strength was nothing in their eyes, and this injury was nothing, but for him to injure them with unhealable wounds was somewhat unbelievable.


    ¡°You idiots who only know how to kill, let me do it.¡± Skyfiend Consort smiled sweetly as she walked towards the ship.


    Although her body was like a giant, her figure was extremely graceful. Every move she made emitted infinite charm, making one¡¯s mind involuntarily attracted to her.


    ¡°Sweetie, come into my arms. I¡¯ll let you enjoy the most extreme joy in this world¡­¡± Skyfiend Consort landed on the deck and spoke to Zhou Wen with a smile.


    Looking at her flirty appearance and hearing her soul-stirring voice, Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes seemed to blur as he walked out of the cabin. ¡°Come, sweetie. I¡¯ll let you die of bliss¡­¡± Skyfiend Consort emitted strange rules that distorted the original rules of the world.


    Zhou Wen walked in front of her when she reached out to grab him.


    Suddenly, a saber beam flashed. Skyfiend Consort exclaimed as a wound appeared on her palm. Zhou Wen had already returned to the cabin.


    Skyfiend Consort struck out in exasperation in a bid to shatter the entire ship with her terrifying power, but only a few tiny cracks appeared on the deck when it landed. They were almost unnoticeable.


    The other terrifying existences were even more surprised. Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate looked at Zhou Wen in the cabin and said, ¡°Human, it¡¯s easy for us to kill you. We only didn¡¯t kill you because of Master that resides in you. If you are willing to return Master, we can guarantee you live and give you a huge opportunity.¡±


    ¡°You claim that Demonic Neonate is your master, but she¡¯s actually just a tool. If your Devil King wants to snatch her body to be revived, what will happen to her soul?¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°From the looks of it, there¡¯s been a misunderstanding. She¡¯s not the tool you mentioned. She¡¯s our master¡¯s actual body.¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate patiently explained, ¡°Back then, our master¡¯s body was severely damaged, so she had no choice but to use the Rejuvenation technique to allow herself to be reborn. She¡¯s the Devil King, so there¡¯s no such thing as possession. The Devil Spirit is only her past life¡¯s memories. Even if she doesn¡¯t accept the Devil Spirit now, she will awaken her past life¡¯s memories in the future. Accepting the Devil Spirit is just bringing forward the process. It won¡¯t do her any harm.¡±


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate could tell that Zhou Wen was very protective of Demonic Neonate and wasn¡¯t just trying to stay alive. Therefore, he persuaded, ¡°Even if her memories of her previous life are awakened, her present memories won¡¯t disappear. She¡¯s the Devil King, and the Devil King is her. Why would she erase her memories? You did a good job protecting Master. Even if the Devil King awakens her memories, she will definitely view you in a different light. Why do you have to do something that only brings harm to others without benefiting yourself?¡±


    Zhou Wen thought to himself, Good job my ass. I killed her and made her my pet. If her memories really awaken, will she still be nice to me?


    ¡°In that case, hand the Devil Spirit over to me. I¡¯ll help her,¡± Zhou Wen said as he guarded the cabin door.


    ¡°Bullsh*t. What if you go back on your word after we give you the Devil Spirit?¡± the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed said angrily.


    ¡°Then give it a try and see if you can snatch her from me,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Ancient Subordinate, why waste your breath on him? Leave it to me,¡± Six-path Devil Heart said indifferently.


    ¡°It looks like that¡¯s the only way.¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate nodded slightly.


    Six-path Devil Heart landed on the deck gracefully like an immortal. He didn¡¯t walk to the cabin and only looked at Zhou Wen.


    Laws were intangible. Zhou Wen stared warily at the Six-path Devil Heart, unsure what he was up to.


    Six-path Devil Heart looked at Zhou Wen for a while as his expression turned odd. The two of them stared at each other as the atmosphere gradually became awkward.


    ¡°Devil Heart, what are you doing? Quickly fuse your mind with his,¡± the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed shouted.


    ¡°This person is really strange¡­ I can¡¯t sense his mind¡­¡± Six-path Devil Heart said awkwardly.


    The Devil pets were alarmed and puzzled. Even they were somewhat afraid of the fusion of Six-path Devil Heart¡¯s mind. They had to pay a certain price to not be controlled by him.


    A mere human had actually prevented Six-path Devil Heart from sensing his mind. This was strange. Could it be that he was a dead person without a mind?


    ¡°Since this method doesn¡¯t work, we can only shatter the ship and leave him with nowhere to hide. Then, we can trap him and forcefully extract Master¡¯s body,¡± said Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡± Six-path Devil Heart returned and nodded.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s work together to shatter this damn ship. Let¡¯s see what else he can rely on.¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was already impatient as it came to the side of the


    ship.


    Nine extremely terrifying creatures surrounded the ship as all sorts of terrifying laws intertwined.


    When the nine terrifying forces landed on the ship, the entire ship trembled. The wooden planks creaked as the nails popped out.


    Pa!


    Wooden planks snapped one after another.


    The strength of the nine Devil pets was just too powerful. The damaged ship ultimately couldn¡¯t withstand their strength and was close to disintegration.


    Zhou Wen looked at the tottering ship and couldn¡¯t help but frown. Without the protection of the ship, it would be difficult for him to withstand the nine Devil pets.


    Now that the laws of the nine New Worlds had locked onto the entire space, he didn¡¯t even have the chance to use spatial teleportation to escape.


    Crack! Crack!


    More and more wooden planks broke apart as nails flew everywhere. With a boom, the deck and planks on the ship shattered and collapsed. The ship instantly turned into a skeleton, revealing the various instruments inside.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body fell and landed on the ship¡¯s keel. He couldn¡¯t help but be stunned when he saw the scene inside.


    In the middle of the keel, the outer shells of many instruments had shattered. Zhou Wen saw a figure sitting cross-legged in the cubic crystal.


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 Chapter 1862 - A Woman In Uniform

    Chapter 1862 A Woman In Uniform


    Zhou Wen was alarmed when he saw the figure.


    The person inside the crystal was a woman. She didn¡¯t look young, and she had wrinkled facial skin. Her skin was thickly creased, enough to pinch an ant to death.


    Looks weren¡¯t important. The key was the clothes she was wearing. It was a very special white uniform. Zhou Wen had seen such a uniform not long ago.


    It was the woman in the spherical holographic projection. The woman was wearing this uniform when she was doing the video logs of her experiments.


    Could it be that this is the woman in the Sigh of the King? Is she already this old? Zhou Wen was somewhat disappointed.


    He imagined the woman in the Sigh of the King as a god-like existence, but it turned out that she would also age and die.


    On second thought, it made sense. Such a woman had lived for an unknown period of time. Calling her an old demoness was an understatement.


    The woman sat cross-legged in the crystal. On careful look, one would realize that the crystal she was in was actually hollow and filled with liquid. It looked like she was frozen in the crystal, but she was actually soaking in the liquid.


    However, for some reason, her body remained in stasis regardless of the tremors to the crystal.


    The ship was destroyed. The instruments inside were also torn apart by the terrifying New World powers. More and more instruments revealed the crystals inside. Some crystals even shattered.


    Without the protection of the ship, Zhou Wen felt the infinite rules envelop him, preventing him from moving at all.


    The nine Devil pets didn¡¯t want to kill him. They only wanted to imprison him so that they could strip Demonic Neonate from him.


    Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was immediately overjoyed when it saw that Zhou Wen had been imprisoned. However, its expression changed drastically when it suddenly saw the woman in the crystal.


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate and company also saw the woman in the crystal. Their expressions turned nasty.


    ¡°She¡¯s still alive?¡± The seven voices of the Seven Sins Phoenix were filled with surprise.


    ¡°From the looks of it, even if she¡¯s not dead, she¡¯s about to die. She¡¯s only human. Her lifespan is very limited.¡± The Devilish Trichilio Eater snorted coldly.


    ¡°Take her life while she¡¯s down. What are we waiting for? The Devils¡¯ fragmented situation is thanks to her. It¡¯s time to settle this score,¡± Defy Bone Spirit said sinisterly.


    ¡°I¡¯m just afraid that we aren¡¯t her match,¡± said Six-path Devil Heart.


    ¡°Rubbish. If the nine of us join forces, who can match us other than the Immortal Thearch? She¡¯s nothing!¡± the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed said angrily.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Although her origins are a little bizarre, she¡¯s ultimately not a true powerhouse. If she hadn¡¯t won Master¡¯s favor and obtained some benefits, killing her would be like squashing an ant,¡± said the Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper Dog


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget where she came from. That ship and the things on her are powerful. We have to be wary,¡± Six-path Devil Heart said calmly.


    ¡°If those crappy things hadn¡¯t bewitched Master, such a huge problem wouldn¡¯t have been planted.¡± The Seven Sins Phoenix said coldly, ¡°Regardless of whether she¡¯s dead or alive, we can¡¯t let her live in this world.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I don¡¯t care where she came from. I didn¡¯t swallow her in the past on account of Master. I¡¯ve long wanted to kill her.¡± The faces of the Devilish Trichilio Eater twisted as they stuck out their tongues to lick their lips as saliva drooled from them.


    ¡°In that case, let¡¯s destroy her. It can be considered as avenging Master and us Devils.¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate nodded slightly.


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Star Devourer also let out an ethereal voice.


    ¡°Then kill her.¡± Killing intent flashed in Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate¡¯s eyes as the laws of the New World descended even more violently, grinding away the ship¡¯s keel and crystal.


    Terrifying existences like the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed also pushed their New World rules to their limits. The nine terrifying New World rules intertwined and crushed the crystal like millstones.


    The extremely hard crystal shattered upon contact. After the crystal shattered, the liquid inside didn¡¯t spill out. It maintained its cubic shape, looking magical and strange.


    Under the suppression of the nine New World rules, the liquid instantly evaporated. The woman¡¯s body was about to be crushed. Suddenly, the woman opened her eyes and looked at everything in front of her indifferently.


    The nine laws crushed the woman, but they didn¡¯t even rip her white uniform.


    Zhou Wen roughly understood what was going on from their conversation.


    This woman wasn¡¯t the woman who did the experiment log that Zhou Wen had seen previously, but An Jing¡¯s mother. However, for some reason, she was wearing this white uniform.


    It was also possible that this white uniform was a uniform unique to an organization. They would have one as long as they were a member of the staff.


    However, when he watched the video, the woman wasn¡¯t wearing this white uniform while taking care of the child.


    After the woman was attacked by the New World¡¯s rules, she finally seemed to wake up. Her gaze turned sharp.


    Light patterns appeared on the uniform as her body instantly soared into midair.


    ¡°You guys aren¡¯t dead yet?¡± The woman swept her gaze across the terrifying existences and said in a hoarse voice.


    ¡°How can we die before you? You ungrateful traitor,¡± the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed cursed.


    The woman said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m not a member of the Devils to begin with. How am I a traitor?¡±


    ¡°How shameless. Who saved your life when you were heavily injured? How can you say such things? How shameless.¡± Skyfiend Consort snorted coldly.


    ¡°We were just extracting benefits from each other. It¡¯s not like we owed each other.¡± The woman sneered and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to waste your breath. If you want to kill me, come at me together.¡±


    ¡°You aren¡¯t worthy.¡± Skyfiend Consort glanced at the woman disdainfully. ¡°If not for the clothes on you, what right do you have to spout nonsense in front of us? You would have died countless times.¡±


    ¡°The difference between humans and beasts is that humans know how to use tools, but beasts don¡¯t,¡± the woman said slowly.


    Enraged, Skyfiend Consort flew up. With a grab of her fingers, chains appeared out of thin air and crisscrossed in the void.


    The woman quickly dodged, but she was unable to dodge the omnipresent chains. Soon, she was wrapped by the chains and her limbs were bound in midair.


    However, no matter how hard Skyfiend Consort tried, she couldn¡¯t tear apart the woman¡¯s body. In the end, she failed to injure her.


    A light flashed in the woman¡¯s hand as a blade of light shot out from her uniform glove, snapping the chains that bound her.


    Skyfiend Consort flew higher to continue her fight with the woman.


    Zhou Wen was trapped in the New World rules and couldn¡¯t move, but when he saw the battle between Skyfiend Consort and the woman, he found it odd.


    He had always believed that An Jing¡¯s mother was an extremely powerful existence, at least at the level of The Thearch.


    on


    However, he realized today that this woman¡¯s realm wasn¡¯t as high as he imagined.


    Ignoring the fact that she was inferior to The Thearch, her realm was already much lower than Skyfiend Consort. However, her strength was sufficiently powerful. Furthermore, the white uniform was magical and strange, allowing her to fight Skyfiend Consort without being at a disadvantage.


    How did this woman defeat The Thearch? Just by relying on that uniform? Zhou Wen was puzzled.


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 Chapter 1863 - Strange Uniform

    Chapter 1863 Strange Uniform


    The battle between Skyfiend Consort and the woman continued. To everyone¡¯s surprise, the woman was completely at a disadvantage at the beginning. She was beaten up by Skyfiend Consort initially, only to slowly become stronger and stronger. She began to gain the upper hand.


    Skyfiend Consort¡¯s combat habits and abilities seemed to be seen through by the woman as she was suppressed more and more.


    Often, before she could attack, the woman¡¯s attacks had already reached a spot that would be strategically most disadvantageous for her. The woman held a blade of light in each hand as she constantly moved swiftly in the air.


    Although she wasn¡¯t using instant transmission, her speed wasn¡¯t slower than it. She forced Skyfiend Consort to retreat again and again.


    A strange glint flashed in Skyfiend Consort¡¯s eyes. Her body floated in the air as she pressed her palms together again. She closed her eyes and ignored the woman¡¯s attack.


    When the light blade slashed over, Skyfiend Consort¡¯s body split into two, two into four, and four into eight. In the blink of an eye, Skyfiend Consort¡¯s figure was everywhere, like countless demonesses descending into the mortal world.


    VV


    The Skyfiend Consorts in various poses produced thousands of Skyfiend Chains that wrapped around the woman.


    No matter how fast the woman was, she couldn¡¯t dodge the omnipresent Skyfiend Chains. Her limbs and body were quickly entangled again. The speed at which the blade beams sliced through the Skyfiend Chains wasn¡¯t as fast as their incoming speed.


    Skyfiend Chains intertwined like gears, locking into each other seamlessly as they quickly imprisoned the woman layer by layer.


    The Skyfiend Chains formed a huge chain ball. The other end was held in the hands of countless Skyfiend Consorts. The scene was like countless demonesses pulling at a black planet.


    ¡°Perish!¡± With her fierce but coquettish voice, the Skyfiend Chain in every Skyfiend Consorts¡¯ hand lit up.


    The white light was like burning flames. As they surged through the Skyfiend Chains to the chain ball, the entire chain ball ignited with white light.


    Boom!


    The chain ball was like a massive hydrogen bomb exploding. The ensuing light blast seemed to illuminate the entire space.


    The shockwave sent the surrounding huge mountain-like crystals tumbling in the air. Those that were closer even exploded.


    Seeing the terrifying might of this strike, Zhou Wen knew very well that when Skyfiend Consort chased after him, she had scruples about Demonic Neonate and hadn¡¯t attacked him ruthlessly. He wasn¡¯t capable of withstanding such terrifying power at present.


    If Zhou Wen were to take on this strike, he would probably be blasted to pieces.


    When the blast of light dissipated, Zhou Wen¡¯s pupils constricted. In the middle of ground zero, the woman was still floating there. Her white uniform wasn¡¯t damaged at all. Apart from her hair being a little messy under her hat, there were no other injuries.


    What the hell is that? Zhou Wen was astounded. He could also tell that the woman had relied on her uniform to survive.


    But what kind of clothes could withstand such terrifying power without suffering any damage?


    Even the armor formed by the Apocalypse-grade Mystic Thearch couldn¡¯t withstand such power without injuries.


    ¡°A beast is ultimately a beast. It only knows how to use its most primitive claws and teeth,¡± the woman said disdainfully as she appeared in front of Skyfiend Consort like a phantom. A light blade suddenly appeared in her hand as she sliced at Skyfiend Consort¡¯s throat.


    Skyfiend Consort quickly retreated like a ghost. She passed through layers of space but failed to dodge the light blade in the woman¡¯s hand. The light blade was close to hitting her neck


    An ancient saber blocked the blade of light and shattered it. The woman¡¯s body was lifted and she was sent flying thousands of meters away before she stabilized herself.


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate stood in front of Skyfiend Consort with a saber in hand. He stared coldly at the woman and said, ¡°No matter what your origins are, you have to die for betraying Master.¡±


    As Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate spoke, he slowly raised his saber. The saber emitted a sanguine glow in the pitch-black darkness, as though it was tainted by the night and blood.


    ¡°I¡¯ve long heard that Immortal Slaughterer Ancient Subordinate is the number one executioner of the Devil King. He has killed countless alien powerhouses. Today, I want to see if you live up to that name,¡± the woman said with a smile as she looked at him, unworried.


    However, Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate ignored her. He only looked at the saber he held in both hands before raising them like he was performing a sacrificial ritual.


    ¡°First Slash¡­ Life¡­¡± With the solemn voice of Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate, he slashed down at the void with both hands.


    No saber beam appeared in the boundless void, but with a whoosh, the woman¡¯s collar split open. A bloody mark appeared on her neck. Thankfully, it wasn¡¯t deep, but it made the woman¡¯s expression change slightly.


    ¡°Second Slash¡­ Soul¡­¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate slashed down again with an icy expression.


    Crack!


    The hat on the woman¡¯s head and uniform split into two as a strand of hair fell.


    ¡°Third Slash¡­ Immortal¡­¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate extended his hand and wiped the blade. A blood sacrifice was made to the blade, making it darker and even more sinister. There was no light reflecting from the blade at all.


    As this saber slashed down from the void, the woman, who was rapidly darting through the sky, was suddenly thrown up on her back. Her body was constantly distorted and deformed. Tears appeared on her white uniform as blood spewed out from them. It was as though countless invisible blades were dismembering the woman.


    Blood splattered across the sky. When Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate retracted his saber, the woman¡¯s body was already covered in blood. Her white uniform was completely dyed red with blood, no longer showing any white.


    ¡°As expected of Ancient Subordinate.¡± Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was overjoyed.


    To its surprise, just as it finished speaking, it saw the woman suddenly stand up.


    The blood on the uniform seemed to be sucked into the uniform. Soon, the white uniform restored its original color. Light connected the wounds and in the blink of an eye, they returned to normal. Not even a speck of dust was left behind, much less a hole.


    ¡°Immortal Slaughtering lives up to its name. Unfortunately, I¡¯m not an immortal. You can¡¯t kill me.¡± As the woman spoke, she suddenly reached out and grabbed. A blade beam appeared in her glove again. She held the blade with both hands and slashed at the void. She shouted softly, ¡°First Slash¡­ Life¡­¡±


    Crack!


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate was alarmed as he reached out for the back of his neck. His hand was covered in blood, and a bone-deep gash had appeared on his neck. His bones had nearly been snapped.


    ¡°Second Slash¡­ Soul¡­¡± The woman slashed again.


    However, the blade beam failed to land. A figure appeared in a dream-like state as it slammed into her body and instantly vanished. The woman¡¯s hands that were holding the blade beam froze there, unable to slash any further.


    ¡°You are only relying on this strange set of clothes. Now that you are me, how can you resist my strength?¡± The woman¡¯s mouth produced the voice of the Six-path Devil Heart as she reached out to undress as though she was about to take off the white uniform.


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 Chapter 1864 - Escape

    Chapter 1864 Escape


    ¡°Discovered psyche invasion. Beginning elimination¡­¡± The white uniform suddenly emitted an electronic voice. Then, light threads appeared on the uniform and stabbed into the woman¡¯s body.


    It was impossible to tell if there were any light threads inside the uniform. The woman¡¯s exposed face had light threads stabbing into it like extremely thin infusion tubes. Strange light seemed to be injected into her body.


    Bang!


    Six-path Devil Heart bounced out of the woman¡¯s body with an ugly expression. Strange threads of light swam through his body.


    Just as Six-path Devil Heart wanted to remove the threads of light from his body, the woman had already arrived in front of him and slashed at him.


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate brandished his saber and slashed over, blocking the woman¡¯s blade beam and saving Six-path Devil Heart.


    Seven Sins Phoenix spewed out Rainbow Divine Light that shone on the woman. Hell¡¯s Gatekeeper Dog opened its mouth and was about to swallow the woman when Devilish Trichilio Eater threw a slap.


    The nine Devil pets joined forces to attack the woman. It was different from when they attacked Zhou Wen. This time, they were serious.


    The woman dodged Ancient Subordinate¡¯s saber and was illuminated by the Rainbow Divine Light. The white uniform transformed into a strange mirror that reflected the Rainbow Divine Light at the Hell Gatekeeper Dog, scaring it into retreating.


    Devilish Trichilio Eater slapped the woman and the mouth on its palm swallowed her. Their gear-like teeth bit down.


    Bang!


    A bloody hole appeared on the back of Devilish Trichilio Eater¡¯s hand. The woman tore out, but she was sucked in by the black hole-like Star Devourer.


    After a while, Star Devourer¡¯s body suddenly trembled violently. White light surged out from the black hole as the woman broke free again.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. The strength of the nine Devil pets left a deep impression on him, but the woman¡¯s uniform left a deeper impression on him.


    It wasn¡¯t just the uniform. The woman was also very strange.


    Her body was clearly not something ordinary humans could compare with. She wasn¡¯t inferior to even Apocalypse-grade creatures, but her consciousness and realm were too low. It was so low that Zhou Wen suspected that she was just an ordinary person who had never cultivated.


    The reason she could fight the nine Devil pets was because of the white uniform that seemed to have a life and intelligence of its own.


    But could the body of an ordinary human be comparable to an Apocalypse-grade powerhouse? Anyway, it was impossible for humans on Earth to have such a body.


    An Jing¡¯s parents and Sigh of the King come from a world with humans. Furthermore, could the humans in that world have bodies that aren¡¯t inferior to Apocalypse-grade creatures? Then why is An Jing so weak? Isn¡¯t she also a human from that world? The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more puzzled he became.


    Zhou Wen had another thought. There¡¯s something wrong with An Jing¡¯s body to begin with. The reason An Jing¡¯s mother came to this world and did so many things was to make An Jing¡¯s body recover. What¡¯s wrong with An Jing¡¯s body? Why did she have to come to our world to make her recover? Their world looks much stronger than ours. Be it technology or human physique, they are stronger than ours. Then why did she come here and not treat her there?


    Zhou Wen felt that there were two possibilities. One was that An Jing¡¯s problem couldn¡¯t be resolved in that world. The other possibility was that An Jing¡¯s mother was only a relatively ordinary person in that world. She didn¡¯t have the ability to treat her daughter in that world, and this world happened to have something that could treat An Jing.


    Zhou Wen was more inclined to the latter. He even suspected that the huge ship and the white uniform on An Jing¡¯s mother were obtained by An Jing¡¯s mother through some unknown method from the woman who created the Lost Immortal Sutra. It was even possible that it had been stolen.


    If the two of them had a good relationship and the woman lent the ship and uniform to An Jing¡¯s mother, what about the experiment logs?


    How could she lend something like that to An Jing¡¯s mother? If it was really something borrowed, An Jing¡¯s mother probably wouldn¡¯t have overwritten the experiment logs.


    The more Zhou Wen thought about it, the more he felt that there was something amiss. Now, he was certain that the Lost Immortal Sutra wasn¡¯t meant for humans in this world to cultivate. It was no wonder no one had mastered it before.


    If the humans in that world were born with physiques comparable to the Apocalypse grade, the humans here would be courting death if they practiced the cultivation techniques there.


    The crazy battle continued. The entire space was filled with distorted space and shattered crystals.


    The world seemed to become abstract. If such a battle happened on Earth, Earth would probably have been blasted apart countless times.


    I definitely can¡¯t let these fellows go to Earth, Zhou Wen thought to himself.


    The nine Devil pets fought the woman with all their might. They no longer had the strength to care about Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen gathered his strength and tore apart the New World rules that trapped him. He planned on escaping first.


    Before he could escape, a terrifying force swept over and struck Zhou Wen¡¯s body, sending him flying.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body flew hundreds of kilometers in the air like a pellet as he spat out blood. He was extremely depressed. If I were to be accidentally injured a few more times, I would probably die.


    more


    Bang!


    Just as he thought about it, his body was struck by another force and sent flying again.


    Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t broken free and couldn¡¯t move his body. He was sent flying an unknown distance by the force before he slammed into something and stopped.


    Zhou Wen calmed the churning blood in him before realizing that he had slammed into the Hell Gatekeeper Dog. Its body was covered in wounds as black blood constantly flowed out. One of its eyes was blind, making it look extremely pathetic.


    Hell Gatekeeper Dog also discovered Zhou Wen. Just as it extended its claws to grab him, it suddenly saw a blade beam slash at Zhou Wen.


    Hell Gatekeeper Dog suddenly turned around and brandished its sharp claws at the light blade. Nomological forces transformed into claw beams that collided with the light blade.


    Hell Gatekeeper Dog let out a tragic cry as its claws were sliced off by the blade beam. Blood spewed out.


    As Hell Gatekeeper Dog cried out in pain, it swept its tail and sent Zhou Wen flying, allowing him to dodge the blade beam that continued slashing forward.


    Zhou Wen tumbled as he flew out. After being repeatedly struck, the rules of the New World around him weakened significantly as he finally rushed out.


    Looking at the battle between the Devil pets and An Jing¡¯s mother, Zhou Wen was momentarily at a loss as to which side to help.


    The Devil pets weren¡¯t anything good, but An Jing¡¯s mother was also an extremely dangerous person. For An Jing, she almost wanted to destroy Earth. Who knew what crazy things she would do in the future?


    If she knew that An Jing had been removed ahead of time and hadn¡¯t been able to absorb all the energy on Earth, who knew if she would do it again.


    If he didn¡¯t help anyone and couldn¡¯t leave this godforsaken place, he would ultimately be the one to suffer no matter which side


    won.


    Let¡¯s wait and see. Zhou Wen was just about to sit back and see if he could reap the benefits when he suddenly saw a flash in front of him. An Jing¡¯s mother had appeared in front of him.


    The blade of light in her hand slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s neck.


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 Chapter 1865 - Opening the Path to Destiny

    Chapter 1865 Opening the Path to Destiny


    The woman was somewhat surprised to see that the Hell Gatekeeper Dog would rather suffer serious injuries to protect a human like Zhou Wen.


    When did these minions of the Devil King become kind ones who love humans? The woman was somewhat puzzled.


    Regardless of the reason, this gave her an opportunity.


    Although the uniform on her body was magical, it needed to be recharged. If this continued, it was unknown how long the energy could last. This was energy that she had recharged after sleeping in the charging chamber for an unknown length of time.


    Now that the charging chamber had been destroyed, it would be even more troublesome to recharge it.


    The nine Devil pets were extremely terrifying existences. The woman relied on her uniform to suppress them, but it wasn¡¯t that simple to kill them.


    Now that she had discovered such an opportunity, she naturally couldn¡¯t miss it.


    Her goal wasn¡¯t to kill Zhou Wen, but to use this human to throw the Devil pets into disarray.


    The Devil pets were all smart fellows. Although the woman seemed to have the advantage, they were actually draining the energy of the woman¡¯s uniform.


    The woman originally imagined that when she charged at Zhou Wen, those fellows would definitely risk their lives to save him, but that wasn¡¯t the case. The lack of help from the Devil pets made her realize that something was amiss.


    Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate and the other Devil pets sneered. How could they not tell what the woman was thinking?


    However, from their point of view, the woman was daydreaming.


    The reason Hell Gatekeeper Dog had risked being injured to help Zhou Wen was that his body was still imprisoned. He had no way of dealing with his situation.


    Now that Zhou Wen had escaped, how could it be easy to injure him?


    Just as the blade beam in the woman¡¯s hand was about to slash at Zhou Wen, Zhou Wen¡¯s figure suddenly vanished. When he appeared again, he was already behind Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate.


    ¡°Everyone, our relationship can only be considered an internal conflict. Why don¡¯t we cooperate and finish off the outsiders first? What do you think?¡± Zhou Wen had already determined that the woman was an extremely dangerous existence. She was even more dangerous than the nine Devil pets.


    The nine Devil pets were very strong, but their strength was still within Zhou Wen¡¯s range of knowledge. As for the woman herself, she wasn¡¯t strong, but what she wore exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding.


    Furthermore, this woman had attacked him without any reason. It was obvious how heartless she was. If she were to escape and return to Earth, who knew what she would do.


    In comparison, Zhou Wen was more willing to let the nine Devil pets live. After he advanced to the Apocalypse grade, the nine Devil pets wouldn¡¯t be an insurmountable problem.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Kill her first before dealing with the problem between us. Everything can be discussed,¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate said with a nod.


    The other Devil pets nodded in agreement. They didn¡¯t have the energy to deal with Zhou Wen for now.


    As the nine Devil pets spoke, they charged forward again and worked in a team to trap the woman.


    Zhou Wen could clearly see that they weren¡¯t really going all out. They were only probing the weakness of the uniform.


    If they didn¡¯t finish off the uniform, they wouldn¡¯t be able to kill the woman no matter what. Instead, they would be left in a sorry state by the woman.


    Zhou Wen cooperated with them by using Sin of All Life, and although they had never worked in a team before, top experts had very similar ideas. Even though this was the first time they were working in a team, it was as though they had already done so countless times.


    Zhou Wen saw an opportunity. The Sin of All Life struck the woman¡¯s uniform, and the powerful force bounced back, nearly injuring Zhou Wen himself.


    What the hell is this? It¡¯s just a uniform, but it¡¯s already so strong. What kind of world does she belong to? Zhou Wen was increasingly intrigued by that world.


    The woman was surprised to discover that the strength of Zhou Wen, a human, had already reached the Apocalypse grade. Furthermore, his realm had caught up to the Apocalypse grade, unlike her who relied on the combat suit.


    This left her very surprised as she thought to herself, Have the humans on Earth already evolved to such a level while I was sleeping to recharge my combat suit? I wonder how my daughter is now? She should have been born, right?


    In the woman¡¯s opinion, if an ordinary human had already evolved to such a level. As the child of Earth, her daughter should be stronger than this human.


    Although I wasn¡¯t able to help her plunder the source of the Child of Dimension, Earth¡¯s uniqueness should be able to allow my daughter to have enough starting capital. Even if she returns home, she should be able to lead a good life. The more the woman thought about it, the more gratified she felt. However, on second thought, her face was filled with bitterness. I stole from that person. Even if I return, there¡¯s no place for me. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to take her home for the rest of my life.


    The woman didn¡¯t regret doing this. If she hadn¡¯t done so, her daughter would have long ceased to exist.


    Since I can¡¯t return, I¡¯ll become the owner of this world. Let my daughter live here like a princess. The woman¡¯s eyes became even more determined as she looked at the nine Devil pets and Zhou Wen with an increasingly cold expression.


    Zhou Wen retreated to the back and was observing the woman¡¯s uniform when he suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    The nine Devil pets were also smart fellows. They also realized that something was amiss. As they struck out with terrifying strength, they quickly retreated.


    White streams of light lit up from the woman¡¯s white uniform. They condensed into a body of light that formed a sphere formed by overlapping halos.


    As the halos spun rapidly, they connected with the other halos. Soon, the entire sphere turned into a hole of light as it moved at high speeds.


    Everything around her was sucked towards the light hole.


    The huge crystal was sucked into the light hole and was instantly minced into nothingness. The light hole mercilessly devoured everything.


    The nine Devil pets and Zhou Wen resisted with all their might, but they were still unable to stop their bodies from moving towards the light hole.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly used his Human Realm domain when he saw that the power of the Apocalypse Devil pets couldn¡¯t hinder the suction force produced by the light hole.


    He never expected the Calamity-grade Human Realm domain to be more useful than the Apocalypse-grade New World powers. He immediately stopped.


    The nine Devil pets weren¡¯t that lucky. Their bodies were slowly pulled towards the light hole. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn¡¯t escape. They could only slow down a little.


    The full-powered strikes they bombarded at the light hole were also devoured by it. It was futile.


    Zhou Wen could tell that the power of the light hole didn¡¯t belong to this world. Only the power of the Lost Immortal Sutra could resist it.


    ¡°Human, we¡¯ll open the path to Destiny for you. Quickly escape.¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate shouted and gave up resisting the suction force of the light hole. He gathered all his strength and slashed at the void.


    The other eight Devil pets didn¡¯t communicate, but they made the same decision almost at the same time.


    The nine powers-Seven Sins Phoenix¡¯s sinflames, Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s power of the demonic tribulation, Hell Gatekeeper Dog¡¯s power to wipe out all life, Defy Bone Spirit¡¯s power of the defying spirit, Devilish Trichilio Eater¡¯s evil eating power, Six-path Devil Heart¡¯s mental demon powers, Star Devourer¡¯s devouring power, and Skyfiend Consort¡¯s Skyfiend power-gathered into one, transforming into a pillar of light that pierced through the void and penetrated the bottom of the Dimensional Airspace.


    A huge rift appeared in the void. Through the rift, Zhou Wen vaguely saw the stone steps.


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 Chapter 1866 - Battle of the Heavenly Stairs

    Chapter 1866 Battle of the Heavenly Stairs


    Zhou Wen was somewhat hesitant when faced with the passageway that the nine Devil pets had opened using their last ounce of strength.


    He wasn¡¯t touched by the actions of the nine Devil pets. They went through this effort for the Devil King and not him, Zhou Wen. There was nothing to be touched about.


    Zhou Wen was considering a problem. If he left this place, would the woman follow him out?


    There were two possibilities. The woman had the ability to leave this place, so even if Zhou Wen didn¡¯t leave, she would still enter the human world in the future.


    The other possibility was that the woman didn¡¯t have the ability to leave this place. Then, it would be terrible if she followed at his heels.


    Zhou Wen felt that the latter was unlikely. Since the nine Devil pets could tear open the passageway, and the woman¡¯s combat strength wasn¡¯t inferior to the nine Devil pets, the possibility of her not being able to leave was relatively low; after all, her ship managed to enter previously.


    ¡°What are you waiting for? Leave now! The passageway won¡¯t hold,¡± Nine Tribulations Devil Seed roared.


    Zhou Wen glanced at the nine Devil pets that were struggling bitterly¡ªthey were about to be sucked into the hole of light. He then looked at the light hole and the staircase beyond the passageway.


    In that case, let¡¯s take a gamble. Zhou Wen quickly flew towards the passageway that the nine Devil pets had opened up. At the same time, he summoned Demonic Neonate and flew with her.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­¡± The woman¡¯s expression changed when she saw Demonic Neonate.


    At the instant Zhou Wen rushed out of the passageway, the light hole over the woman¡¯s body stopped circulating as she chased after him.


    She had identified Demonic Neonate and realized that Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t recovered the will of the Devil King. This was undoubtedly a pleasant surprise for her.


    She originally thought that there was no hope of her daughter becoming the Child of Dimension, but now that she had discovered such an unexpected opportunity, she had to capture Demonic Neonate even if she had to give up the chance of killing the nine Devil pets.


    The nine Devil pets were safe, but there was no joy. Instead, they were alarmed and furious.


    They wanted to chase after the woman to stop her, but the passageway they had opened had already closed.


    ¡°Quick, tear open another passageway. We can¡¯t let her catch up to Master,¡± Immortal Slaying Ancient Subordinate said anxiously.


    The nine Devil pets exerted their strength again and tore open a passageway that connected the lowest level of the dimensional space to the outside.


    Unfortunately, this passageway had a random element. After they tore open the passageway and rushed out, they found no sign of Zhou Wen or the woman nearby.


    After Zhou Wen rushed out, he was already on the staircase.


    The woman rushed out and slashed at him with the blade beam.


    However, when she arrived in front of him, the woman¡¯s body suddenly sank and landed on the stone steps of the staircase.


    Zhou Wen was delighted when he saw this. The power of the staircase is also effective against her.


    Zhou Wen was betting that the power of the staircase was effective against the woman. It didn¡¯t matter if it didn¡¯t have any effect. If it really didn¡¯t have any effect, he would rush straight to the Destiny Platform and use its power to advance to the Apocalypse grade. He would fight the woman again and see which was stronger-her equipment from some other world or him.


    Zhou Wen unsummoned Demonic Neonate and walked up the stone steps.


    The woman held the blade of light and chased after him. The two of them kept climbing the stairs, one chasing after the other.


    All the Cubes in the world and the dimension lit up. People were surprised to discover two humans appear on the Cube¡¯s screen.


    ¡°That person¡­ seems to be Human Sovereign¡­ Who¡¯s that woman?¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign is attempting the level!¡±


    ¡°Can two people enter the Destiny Platform at the same time?¡±


    ¡°Why does it look like that woman is hunting down Human Sovereign?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t abilities forbidden on the staircase? What¡¯s the light blade in the woman¡¯s hand?¡±


    All the major media outlets quickly began broadcasting. Professor Gu and Su Yi also began their program.


    ¡°Professor Gu, do you think that person is Human Sovereign? Why is he being pursued by a woman? Who is that woman?¡± Su Yi said as she watched the scene.


    ¡°Based on available information, the person on the staircase should be Human Sovereign. There¡¯s no reliable information on who the woman is. However, from the looks of it, she likely has a deep grudge with Human Sovereign. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have chased after Human Sovereign on the staircase.¡± Professor Gu paused before saying, ¡°From the looks of it, that woman¡¯s speed of ascending the staircase isn¡¯t slower than Human Sovereign¡¯s. It¡¯s really surprising. I never expected so many hidden experts to appear among us humans. With their strength, it shouldn¡¯t be a problem for these two to ascend the Destiny Platform. The only problem is, if they both ascend the staircase, how will they rank in this challenge?¡±.


    ¡°I really want to know what kind of love-hate relationship this woman has with Human Sovereign. They are actually fighting up the stairs,¡± Su Yi said with a smile.


    ¡°Among us humans, I¡¯m afraid only Human Sovereign and this woman have the ability to do such a thing,¡± Professor Gu said with a smile.


    The audience¡¯s gossipy souls were also burning. They wanted to know what was going on.


    Due to the restrictions of the staircase, the woman could only walk up step by step. However, her uniform was indeed magical. Her speed on the staircase was even faster than Zhou Wen¡¯s.


    Thankfully, Zhou Wen could directly ignore the rules of the staircase. However, he deliberately slowed down and didn¡¯t rush up the Destiny Platform. He only pretended to be as fast as the woman and lured her into following him.


    Their pursuit continued quickly as they approached the Destiny Platform.


    When they were less than fifty steps away from Destiny Platform, the woman¡¯s speed clearly slowed down.


    Zhou Wen also pretended to be affected as he continued luring the woman up.


    At the end of the day, the woman was only an ordinary person who relied on the combat suit. She was very strong, but her understanding of the essence of strength was far inferior. It was impossible to tell that Zhou Wen had deliberately suppressed his speed.


    All she wanted was to capture Demonic Neonate. She relied on her combat suit to charge forward without any regard for the staircase.


    Zhou Wen saw that there were less than ten steps left on the staircase and knew that it was about time. He stopped walking up.


    He couldn¡¯t really walk onto the Destiny Platform and let that woman rush up. Who knew what would happen?


    It might be a good or bad outcome, but he didn¡¯t wish to take the risk.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen stood on the stone steps and asked the woman.


    When the woman saw Zhou Wen stop, she didn¡¯t immediately rush over. She pointed the blade of light at him and said, ¡°You don¡¯t deserve to know who I am. Hand over the Devil King and I¡¯ll spare your life.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not impossible to hand her over to you, you have to at least give me a reason.¡± Although Zhou Wen had already roughly guessed the situation, it was ultimately just speculation. He wanted to know the truth personally.


    ¡°Die or hand her over. You have no choice.¡± The woman walked towards Zhou Wen step by step. From the looks of it, she wasn¡¯t in the mood to chat with him.


    ¡°Who lives or dies is still up in the air.¡± Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t get anything out of her, so he pulled out the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and spread out the six wings on his back. Terrifying energy gathered towards him.


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 Chapter 1867 - Battle of the Heavenly Stairs (2)

    Chapter 1867 Battle of the Heavenly Stairs (2)


    Zhou Wen rose into the air, spread his six pairs of wings, and raised the Human Sovereign¡¯s ancient saber in his hand. The power of the world gathered on him.


    The woman struggled to fly into the sky. Her legs seemed to be nailed to the stone steps, making it difficult for her to step off.


    ¡°First Slash¡­ Life¡­¡± The woman held the blade of light and wanted to use Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate¡¯s Immortal Slaying again.


    However, those forces couldn¡¯t be used on the staircase. There was no reaction from the blade beams.


    The only strength she could muster was the energy of her combat suit. She couldn¡¯t use any strength related to this world.


    The woman stood on the stone steps and could only watch helplessly as infinite strength gathered on Zhou Wen.


    She gritted her teeth and continued walking upward. Although she wasn¡¯t good at combat and didn¡¯t have a very high realm, she wasn¡¯t stupid.


    On the contrary, the woman was very smart. She had already guessed that she could only regain her freedom after finishing the stairs.


    Scaling the last few steps became harder and harder. Even with the support of the combat suit, it was still difficult for her. However, she still managed to walk, and her speed wasn¡¯t very slow.


    Zhou Wen originally wanted to gather more strength, but seeing that she was in no way slow, he didn¡¯t have the time to continue channeling greater strength.


    Zhou Wen swung the Human Sovereign Stone Saber in his hand at the woman, and the terrifying nomological force turned into a strange saber beam that went for her head.


    Clang!


    The woman swung her blade at the saber beam formed by Sin of All Life. The collision resulted in the snapping of the saber beam.


    This outcome was already within Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations. His body was like a flying immortal as he blinked about in the sky and slashed at the woman from all directions.


    The woman brandished her blade of light to parry the incoming saber beams, but she failed to block them all. Some of the saber beams were snapped by her, while others struck her.


    The saber beam that could slice through a planet only caused light patterns to ripple on the woman¡¯s uniform upon contact; they failed to slice through it.


    What¡¯s up with that uniform? Zhou Wen frowned.


    When the woman saw that Zhou Wen¡¯s saber beam couldn¡¯t tear through her combat suit, she stopped fighting him. As she brandished her blade, she tried her best to sever Zhou Wen¡¯s saber beam as she walked toward the Destiny Platform at the end of the stairs.


    Even so, Zhou Wen¡¯s saber beams only made the woman grunt in pain without producing much of an effect.


    Zhou Wen knew that it was useless to continue slashing with only about ten stone steps left ahead of the woman, so he summoned Demonic Neonate again.


    After Demonic Neonate came out, she took the opportunity while Zhou Wen was attacking the woman to immediately throw the Vajra Chakram at the woman¡¯s head.


    Bang!


    The Vajra Chakram smashed into the unprepared woman¡¯s head, causing her hat to collapse as though it had hit her head.


    The woman¡¯s body swayed as though she was drunk and nearly fell onto the stone steps.


    Her expression didn¡¯t look too good, but she still stood firm and accelerated towards the Destiny Platform.


    Bang! Bang!


    Demonic Neonate constantly threw out the Vajra Chakram, causing the woman to stagger. Cracks appeared on her combat suit.


    The woman gritted her teeth and endured the pain as she continued walking up with all her might.


    Demonic Neonate retracted the Vajra Chakram when she saw this. She grabbed the sides of the Vajra Chakram with both hands and aimed it at the woman like she was aiming a mirror at her.


    The Vajra Chakram could envelop all things, but when the woman was within its sights, it failed to suck her in.


    Zhou Wen was even more certain of his guess when he saw this. The woman didn¡¯t belong to this world to begin with, so the Vajra Chakram¡¯s ability was useless against her. It wasn¡¯t as effective as physical attacks.


    There were only four stone steps left in front of the woman. If she rushed up, who knew what would happen?


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and flashed behind the woman. Human Sovereign Stone Saber slashed at her body again. This time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t use the Sin of All Life, but in the Human World.


    The spot he attacked was also where the combat suit had been torn apart by the Vajra Chakram.


    The Human Sovereign Stone Saber slashed at the tear in the combat suit and actually made progress. The blade sliced through her flesh as blood gushed out.


    The woman¡¯s flesh was extremely tough. Zhou Wen¡¯s full-powered strike only sliced through her flesh without reaching her bones.


    He slashed at the woman again and again while Demonic Neonate constantly threw out the Vajra Chakram, smashing it on the woman¡¯s head, causing her to stagger.


    The woman was attacked from both sides. She staggered and was close to collapsing. Coupled with the suppression from the stone steps, she couldn¡¯t take another step up.


    The people watching the battle were somewhat stunned. They didn¡¯t understand why Human Sovereign would kill a human woman.


    The human woman¡¯s combat strength was shockingly powerful. She managed to hold on and not succumb despite Human Sovereign¡¯s barrage of attacks.


    However, they didn¡¯t know if they should cheer Human Sovereign on. For a moment, there was silence as the atmosphere became extremely heavy.


    After all, they were both humans. No one knew who was in the right. Furthermore, it looked like the woman was being trounced by Zhou Wen.


    Women, children, and the elderly were more easily considered weak, and humans had an innate pity for the weak. Although they felt that it was impossible for Human Sovereign to kill a woman for no reason, no one felt that Human Sovereign¡¯s murder was a good idea.


    ¡°Professor Gu, any thoughts?¡± Su Yi didn¡¯t understand the current situation and consulted Professor Gu.


    Professor Gu pondered and said, ¡°It¡¯s unlikely Human Sovereign would kill someone for no reason, much less under such circumstances. Furthermore, in the beginning, it was that woman who was chasing after Human Sovereign. I think there must be a reason for this. Human Sovereign definitely has his reasons.¡±


    The people watching the program sighed when they heard Professor Gu¡¯s words.


    ¡°It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Now that Professor Gu has opened his mouth, Human Sovereign¡¯s reputation is probably ruined.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, with Professor Gu being such a jinx, don¡¯t tell me Human Sovereign is about to become some devil?¡±


    ¡°Amitabha, please don¡¯t let it happen!¡±


    The woman brandished the blade beam and desperately blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Sovereign Stone Saber and Vajra Chakram. She endured her injuries and took another step up the stone steps.


    Zhou Wen saw that there were only three stone steps left ahead of her. The woman was still seeking an opportunity to head up, so he was also burning with anxiety.


    In the Human World, along with the Human Sovereign Stone Saber, could only slice through the woman¡¯s flesh. Her body was definitely not inferior to an Apocalypse creature¡¯s.


    Seeing that the woman had taken another step and was only two steps away from Destiny Platform, Zhou Wen knew that he couldn¡¯t stop her if this continued.


    Zhou Wen gritted his teeth and landed on the last stone step. Demonic Neonate sat on his shoulder as the two faced the woman below.


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 Chapter 1868 - Combat Suit

    Chapter 1868 Combat Suit


    When the woman saw Zhou Wen stand in front of her, her eyes immediately burned with killing intent.


    The reason she was in a passive position was that she was trapped by the staircase and couldn¡¯t touch him.


    But now, Zhou Wen was right in front of her, inches away. The anger and humiliation in her heart had reached an extreme. The energy in her combat suit erupted as the blade of light in her hand transformed into a stream that slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s waist.


    Faced with this slash, Zhou Wen abandoned the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and took a step forward. Instead, he approached the woman and grabbed her with one hand.


    The woman¡¯s blade beam that slashed at Zhou Wen¡¯s waist stopped. Not only did it not slash down, but it was also repelled.


    Zhou Wen approached the woman and blocked her wrist with his palm. At such a close distance, the woman¡¯s blade beam couldn¡¯t slash down.


    ¡°You are very strong. Unfortunately, you don¡¯t have the ability to control these powers,¡± Zhou Wen said as his entire body moved.


    At this virtually-zero distance, Zhou Wen¡¯s entire body transformed into a lethal weapon. His fingers, palm, fist, elbow, knee, crotch, leg, foot, shoulder¡ªanywhere could produce shocking strength.


    The woman¡¯s strength stemmed from the combat suit, as well as the combat analysis and calculation ability it gave her.


    However, this distance was too close. Before the woman could understand the combat suit¡¯s analysis, Zhou Wen had already delivered multiple attacks.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s attacks rained down on the woman like a storm, rendering her unable to counterattack.


    The woman flailed her arms with all her might, hoping to counterattack, but her attacks were blocked by Zhou Wen. She couldn¡¯t injure him at all. Zhou Wen could move freely on the steps unlike the woman.


    In an instant, the woman¡¯s body and head suffered countless blows. Thankfully, the combat suit¡¯s defense and her body were strong enough to withstand the attacks.


    Despite burning with rage, the woman could only suffer the beating. She had strength, but it was useless.


    Boom! The combat suit emitted a glow as the woman activated the light hole-like ability again. This ability came from the combat suit. It was different from the abilities of this world, so the staircase couldn¡¯t restrict it.


    The woman had refrained from using this ability because it expended a lot of the combat suit¡¯s energy. When she used it previously, she had already expended most of the energy that the combat suit had painstakingly charged up. If she used it again, the combat suit¡¯s energy would probably be exhausted.


    Seeing the halo spin faster and faster around the woman and about to turn into a hole of light, Zhou Wen only took a step back with a sneer and unsummoned Demonic Neonate.


    The light hole took form and sucked everything nearby into it. It was a force even the nine Devil pets couldn¡¯t resist.


    Zhou Wen, who was inches away, didn¡¯t seem to react at all. He stood there and looked coldly at the woman.


    He didn¡¯t use In the Human World to resist the suction force of the light hole. Instead, he completely removed the power to resist the taboo, causing his body to be affected by the staircase and be nailed to the last stone step.


    He could sense the powerful suction force of the light hole. At the same time, the power of the staircase pinned him motionless. Two terrifying forces constantly pulled at Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    This was a clash between the powers of two worlds. It no longer had much to do with Zhou Wen himself. He only used his own strength to ingeniously connect the two powers.


    en


    The current situation was like two strongmen doing a tug-of-war, and Zhou Wen was the rope.


    Is the power of that world stronger or the power of this world stronger? Let¡¯s decide the victor here. Zhou Wen looked at the woman. He had already guessed that the woman¡¯s ability would definitely expend a lot of energy. Otherwise, she would have used it again after the initial beating.


    Zhou Wen only needed to use the power of the staircase to expend all her energy to win.


    Without the help of the combat suit, the woman was nothing. At the very least, in the field of combat, the woman was nothing.


    The woman clearly realized the problem, but the light hole had already been activated. Even if she stopped the light hole now, the energy in her combat suit would be depleted.


    The woman knew that she had no choice. This was her final gamble. It was life or death.


    She never expected to be forced into such a state by a human. Ever since she came to this world, she had never suffered such a huge loss.


    Perhaps it was because she had stayed in this world for too long that she felt a sense of superiority in this world. She felt that she was a higher-level creature. The creatures in this world were just a group of uncivilized primitives or even beasts.


    Having been forced to this point, the woman gradually recalled who she was.


    She was just an ordinary mother. In that world, she was just an ordinary woman. What gave her the right to look down on other humans?


    Only as a mother could she complete the tremendous feat in order to give her daughter a chance of survival. Although she had caused a terrible disaster and never dared to return to that world again, she had no regrets.


    I haven¡¯t seen my daughter yet. I can¡¯t die. The woman looked at Zhou Wen with an increasingly determined expression.


    In the next moment, the woman did something shocking. The combat suit on her body suddenly peeled off.


    The combat suit cracked open without any warning. It peeled off the woman¡¯s body and enveloped Zhou Wen.


    The woman was only left with a set of white tights. There were wounds everywhere from Zhou Wen¡¯s slashes, and many of the wounds were still bleeding.


    However, the woman¡¯s eyes were filled with smugness because she knew that she was about to win. Zhou Wen was doomed.


    She had stolen this combat suit from someone she could only look up to for the rest of her life.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that she had obtained the activation passcode for it, she would never have the right to come into contact with such a combat suit.


    The woman already knew through the manual the consequences of gaining illegal access to the combat suit.


    If someone illegally wore the combat suit, it would immediately activate the emergency invasive mode. It would use the hidden energy in the combat suit to completely eliminate the person who wore it by force.


    This was something created by the god-like woman. How could the people of this world withstand it?


    The moment Zhou Wen was enveloped by the combat suit, the woman knew that he was doomed.


    Although losing her combat suit greatly weakened her combat strength in this world, she could only barely be considered at the Apocalypse grade with her own body.


    However, as long as she could live, she didn¡¯t care about any of this. All she wanted now was to see her daughter.


    The combat suit enveloped Zhou Wen¡¯s body and instantly, it clung tightly to him. The cracks vanished.


    White patterns of light appeared on the combat suit as the light became brighter and brighter. It made Zhou Wen look like a humanoid object condensed from white light, or a nuclear reactor that could explode at any moment.


    Zhou Wen was alarmed. He wanted to tear the combat suit apart, but he couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Die!¡± The woman looked coldly at Zhou Wen, waiting for him to be eliminated by the combat suit.


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 Chapter 1869 - Successful Matching

    Chapter 1869 Successful Matching


    Zhou Wen felt that the uniform that enveloped his body was nurturing terrifying energy as though it would explode at any moment.


    However, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn¡¯t tear off his clothes.


    There was clearly a crack previously, but he couldn¡¯t find it no matter how hard he tried.


    Just as he was reeling in shock, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind.


    ¡°System matching, successful. Combat suit connection, successful. Energy source matching, successful. Combat suit system fully activated¡­ Charging¡­ Repairing¡­¡±


    After the voice came to an end, Zhou Wen immediately felt the Lost Immortal Sutra in his body circulate crazily as the energy in his body flowed into the combat suit.


    Light threads appeared over the cracks in the previously damaged combat suit. The light threads intertwined and quickly repaired the cracks, leaving not a single mark.


    Instantly, Zhou Wen felt that his body was about to be drained. He hurriedly spread out the six wings on his back and activated the Sin of All Life. Energy surged into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    The woman looked at him in surprise as her eyes gradually widened in disbelief.


    How¡­ How can he activate the combat suit¡­ This is impossible¡­ The woman couldn¡¯t accept that the humans of this world could activate the combat suit.


    The combat suit didn¡¯t belong to this world at all, nor could it be activated by the humans of this world.


    This had nothing to do with one¡¯s strength; the system was completely different.


    This was like a person from a world of technology picking up an immortal cultivator¡¯s flying sword and managed to fly with it. How could that happen?


    However, the combat suit had clearly been activated. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to self-repair.


    Instantly, the woman thought of a possibility, but this possibility made her find it even more impossible.


    Could it be that he¡­ has mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra¡­ That¡¯s impossible¡­ The woman repeatedly denied her thoughts.


    Back then, she had stolen some experimental objects from the god-like existence¡ªthe Experimenter and some experimental objects on board.


    Apart from the combat suit, cell phone, and phone accessories, there was also the Lost Immortal Sutra and something that could allow her to return from this world.


    She had deliberately stolen the other items. The combat suit was something she needed. Without the combat suit, she couldn¡¯t dig out the Earth Companion Egg, nor could she let her daughter replace Earth¡¯s Companion Egg, much less snatch the essence of the Devil King¡¯s Child of Dimension.


    The phone and accessories were prepared for her daughter. With the phone and accessories, her daughter could quickly grow in this world after she was born.


    However, being able to obtain Lost Immortal Sutra exceeded her expectations. This was because the Lost Immortal Sutra had been beside the phone when she stole it.


    Back then, the woman couldn¡¯t believe her luck. Lost Immortal Sutra was a cultivation technique cultivated by that godlike existence.


    It was also a famous cultivation technique in that world.


    The woman was thrilled to obtain it. Later, after she entered this world on the Experimenter, she tried cultivating it but met with failure. This left her very disappointed.


    The woman originally wanted to leave the Lost Immortal Sutra and phone to her daughter, hoping that she could cultivate it in the future.


    However, an accident happened. She imagined that no one in this world could match her after her successful instigation of all the races to eliminate the Devil King.


    Just as she was about to implement her plan to become the lord of the dimension, her plan was ruined by the Immortal Thearch. She was nearly killed by her.


    Although she ultimately defeated the Immortal Thearch with her fully charged combat suit, she was still severely injured. Furthermore, the combat suit¡¯s energy was completely exhausted. She had no choice but to hide in the charging chamber to recuperate.


    Back then, the phone and some other things had been lost in that battle, including the Lost Immortal Sutra. Even the Earth Companion Egg she had dug out and planned on giving to her daughter was gone.


    The woman didn¡¯t have the time to search for it. All she could do was wait for the day she was reborn.


    Thankfully, she had made a bet after defeating the Immortal Thearch. She got the Immortal Emperor to help her guard Chess Mountain to prevent her daughter from being disturbed and allow her to successfully grow to the day she was born.


    Now, it was suspected that someone had mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra. How could she believe it?


    As a person from a high-level world, she couldn¡¯t master it. She couldn¡¯t accept that a person from a low-level world could master


    it.


    However, the truth was right before her eyes. The woman had no choice but to accept it. The human in front of her had indeed mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    The energy in the woman¡¯s body flowed uncontrollably towards Zhou Wen. Without the protection of the combat suit, she couldn¡¯t withstand the power of Sin of All Life.


    The woman gritted her teeth and walked forward, hoping to complete the final step and pass Zhou Wen to ascend Destiny Platform.


    She didn¡¯t know the purpose of the Destiny Platform, but she had to do something. Otherwise, once Zhou Wen completely controlled the combat suit, she probably wouldn¡¯t stand a chance of survival.


    Ignoring the fact that Zhou Wen now possessed the combat suit, even if he didn¡¯t have one, the woman knew that she wasn¡¯t his match.


    However, without the help of the combat suit, although her physique was strong, she felt like she was carrying a mountain on the staircase.


    The woman walked up a step with great difficulty. As long as she walked past Zhou Wen, she could reach Destiny Platform with one final step.


    However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn¡¯t lift her leg. She couldn¡¯t take the final step.


    To ascend the Destiny Platform, one didn¡¯t just rely on strength. One¡¯s willpower and realm were also very important.


    The woman¡¯s willpower wasn¡¯t weak, but her realm was much weaker. She couldn¡¯t raise her foot for this final step no matter what.


    The stone steps were about to finish falling. They were closing in on the last step where the woman and Zhou Wen were standing.


    I definitely can¡¯t go back¡­ I definitely can¡¯t¡­ The woman thought of her girl. She didn¡¯t know where she found the strength to step onto Destiny Platform before the stone steps fell.


    The moment the woman stood on the Destiny Platform, the last stone step fell, taking Zhou Wen down with it.


    On the Destiny Platform, infinite energy gathered and surged towards the woman¡¯s body.


    When the woman felt the infinite energy surge into her body, she was immediately pleasantly surprised-one that exceeded her expectations.


    With such terrifying energy injected into her body, she could use this power to advance further. She might even have a chance of becoming a true powerhouse.


    Zhou Wen fell with the stone steps, hoping to use his strength to escape the suppression of the staircase¡¯s rules. He didn¡¯t wish to enter the bottom of the dimensional space again.


    However, almost all the energy in his body had been drained by the combat suit. Sin of All Life could absorb energy as fast as the combat suit. How could he have the ability to use those powers to remove the restrictions of the staircase?


    Just as he was feeling depressed, he suddenly heard the combat suit¡¯s voice in his mind. ¡°Energy source discovered. It can be converted and absorbed. Do you want to head to the energy source to convert and absorb energy?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen made his choice without any hesitation.


    The combat suit was magical. It could understand Zhou Wen¡¯s words.


    In the next second, he felt the combat suit erupt with terrifying energy. Light patterns surged across the combat suit, propelling his body away from the stone steps and flying towards Destiny Platform.


    The energy that erupted from the combat suit was even stronger than when it was on the woman. Even the rules of the staircase couldn¡¯t completely restrain it.


    Thank you for reading on novelhall.com

 Chapter 1870 - Master-Disciple Battle

    Chapter 1870 Master-Disciple Battle


    The woman was crazily absorbing energy when she suddenly felt most of the energy that surged into her body decrease.


    The woman looked up and couldn¡¯t help but be stunned. She saw Zhou Wen floating on Destiny Platform in the combat suit. The energy that was surging towards her was now surging towards the combat suit.


    The combat suit had absorbed terrifying amounts of energy. Not only was the damage from before rapidly healing, but it was also rapidly being charged.


    The woman was alarmed and furious. She instantly felt utmost regret. Not only had she given away the combat suit, but even the opportunity that belonged to her had been snatched away.


    The woman leaped up angrily and punched the combat suit.


    The combat suit only rippled with light patterns without being dealt any damage. Her attacks were completely useless against it.


    Unwilling to give up, the woman repeatedly smashed at the combat suit, but it was to no avail.


    Bang!


    A light pattern flashed on the combat suit as the woman¡¯s body was sent flying and she fell off the Destiny Platform.


    Boundless energy surged towards the combat suit. Zhou Wen could sense that the energy in the combat suit was becoming stronger.


    ¡°Charging combat suit¡­ 2%¡­ 7%¡­ 10%¡­ 16%¡­¡±


    The energy reserves of the combat suit constantly increased, but the woman could only watch helplessly as the energy was snatched away by the combat suit as she fell into the bottomless abyss.


    Zhou Wen had previously seen how terrifying the energy of the Destiny Platform was. It could allow ordinary creatures to advance to the Apocalypse grade, but such terrifying energy only charged the combat suit to 19%.


    The energy on the Destiny Platform gradually vanished and didn¡¯t descend upon him again. It ultimately ended with a 19% charge.


    The Cube¡¯s scene vanished at this point and turned into the rankings. However, there wasn¡¯t any additional ranking on the board. There were only the people who had been on the rankings previously.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Everyone was confused.


    The woman and Human Sovereign had ascended the Destiny Platform, but why weren¡¯t their names on the rankings? This was somewhat strange.


    Even if the woman was knocked off the Destiny Platform, Human Sovereign¡¯s name should have appeared. However, his name was missing


    Zhou Wen flew down, hoping to grab the woman and get to the bottom of the truth.


    The woman plummeted. It looked like she was about to fall to the bottom of the Dimensional Airspace again.


    Zhou Wen was just about to chase after her and stop her when he suddenly saw a figure flash.


    A man in white clothes with crystal-like dragon horns on his head appeared beside the woman. He reached out and grabbed her shoulder, immediately stopping her from falling


    Zhou Wen flew to the man who was pressing down on the woman with one hand, preventing her from escaping. He frowned and said, ¡°What are you trying to do?¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t even call me teacher anymore?¡± Wang Mingyuan held down the woman with one hand and sighed at Zhou Wen.


    ¡°My teacher died when he plotted to kill Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°This world isn¡¯t a fairytale world. You have to learn to accept reality.¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed.


    ¡°If I¡¯m as numb as a rock, I might as well die.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the woman restrained by Wang Mingyuan and said, ¡°Let her go.¡±


    ¡°What if I say no? Are you going to kill me?¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he pulled out the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and aimed it at Wang Mingyuan.


    This woman was the key to solving all the mysteries. No matter what, he couldn¡¯t let her fall into Wang Mingyuan¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Fine by me; let me see what you¡¯ve learned over the years,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile as he floated in the air and held the woman down with one hand.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t waste his breath. The Human Sovereign Stone Saber in his hand tore through the void and instantly slashed in front of Wang Mingyuan. The light patterns on the combat suit surged, raising Zhou Wen¡¯s Strength and Speed. The might of this strike was no weaker than the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s strength.


    Wang Mingyuan waved his hand and flicked the side of Human Sovereign¡¯s stone saber, causing it to deviate from its trajectory.


    Following the force of Wang Mingyuan¡¯s flick, Zhou Wen spun the Human Sovereign Stone Saber in his hand and drew an arc as he slashed at Wang Mingyuan even faster and more ruthlessly.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Every time Zhou Wen¡¯s saber approached Wang Mingyuan, the blade would be deflected by him. As for Zhou Wen, he would use the momentum of the deflected trajectory to slash at him again.


    One strike after another, the strength and speed of the saber became faster and faster.


    This was no longer a simple battle. The strength of the two of them constantly snowballed on Human Sovereign Stone Saber. The power on the saber had already reached a horrendous level.


    If one didn¡¯t control their strength well, they would suffer a backlash from the duo¡¯s combined strength accumulated on the saber.


    ¡°Your techniques are sublime, but it¡¯s still a little lacking. You haven¡¯t completely realized their full potential,¡± Wang Mingyuan said slowly as he flicked away the Human Sovereign Stone Saber again.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as he slashed the Human Sovereign Stone Saber over.


    ¡°Fuse with the Heavenly Dao and understand the will of the heavens. What you want is to let nature take its course. It¡¯s not natural enough. You have to focus on realizing the general trend and not waste your time on the details,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he repelled the Human Sovereign Stone Saber again while fighting Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s the general trend?¡± Zhou Wen finally spoke, but the saber in his hand didn¡¯t stop.


    ¡°It¡¯s cold in early spring. It might prompt one to buy warm clothing without realizing that it¡¯s winter¡¯s last hurrah. The coming summer is the general trend,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know when summer will come. I¡¯ll buy warm clothing for tonight¡¯s cold because the present is all that I know,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°You are a child. You can be willful,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a smile.


    ¡°The willful ones might not be all children. Some elders are even more willful.¡±


    The two of them pointed their sabers at each other, but their mouths weren¡¯t idle.


    The power on the saber grew stronger and stronger, almost to the point of losing control.


    Suddenly, Zhou Wen retracted his saber and took a step back. He held the hilt in one hand and pressed the back of the saber with the other. The blade kept trembling due to the terrifying power.


    The terrifying power was suppressed by Zhou Wen¡¯s palm as it gradually dissipated.


    ¡°When one was trying to control the floods by blocking the source of water, that only met with failure. His son used the method of diverting water to resolve the floods. Don¡¯t you understand that the principle of diverting water is better than blocking it?¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed as he looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s actions.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been a smart person. You should have known this very well when you taught me back then.¡± Zhou Wen completely dispelled the power on the saber as he held the hilt of the Human Sovereign Stone Saber with both hands and slowly raised it above his head.


    were


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Back then, when I got the few of you to pull the Dragon Lock Chain, you were the most inflexible one.¡± Wang Mingyuan seemed to recall the past as a smile appeared on his lips.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think there¡¯s anything wrong with that,¡± Zhou Wen remarked.


    ¡°Child, this world isn¡¯t as simple as black and white.¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed.


    ¡°Black is black. White is white. If you can¡¯t tell black from white, it¡¯s because you can¡¯t see the essence at its core.¡± Zhou Wen had already raised the Human Sovereign Stone Saber above his head and stared at Wang Mingyuan. He slowly said, ¡°Now, let go of her.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I can¡¯t do as you wish,¡± Wang Mingyuan answered indifferently.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he slashed down with the Human Sovereign Stone Saber. Terrifying power condensed into a blade that tore through space and slashed at Wang Mingyuan.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression froze slightly as a sword flew out of his sleeve and flew towards Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    That sword was none other than the Immortal Culling Sword that Zhou Wen often used.


    When the saber and sword clashed, a shockwave that spanned thousands of kilometers reverberated. Thankfully, there was nothing in the Dimensional Airspace. Otherwise, everything would have been destroyed.


    Wang Mingyuan revealed a look of surprise. The Immortal Culling Sword in his hand had been struck away by Zhou Wen¡¯s strike. It deviated to the side as the Human Sovereign Stone Saber continued slashing at Wang Mingyuan.


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 Chapter 1871 - Master-Disciple Battle (2)

    Chapter 1871 Master-Disciple Battle (2)


    Clang!


    Another sword appeared in front of Wang Mingyuan and blocked the Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    na


    The Human Sovereign Stone Saber¡¯s force remained boundless. After sending the sword flying, it continued slashing at Wang Mingyuan.


    Clang! Clang!


    Another two swords appeared in front of Wang Mingyuan and blocked the Human Sovereign Stone Saber in the form of a cross. Finally, they fully defended against the Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    ¡°The power of the other world is indeed interesting.¡± Wang Mingyuan threw out the Immortal Culling Sword that flew into the air. The four swords surrounded and trapped Zhou Wen inside.


    This was the first time Zhou Wen had seen the complete Four Immortal Vanquishing Swords. The four swords emitted terrifying might. Just the sword intent from the swords could wipe away the will to kill.


    The four swords moved as sword beams crisscrossed. The sword beams intertwined like lightning in a bid to slay Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were clear as he brandished the Human Sovereign Stone Saber with both hands. He didn¡¯t make any unnecessary movements as he blocked the attacks from the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords.


    The combat suit provided him with potent energy, allowing him to fight an Apocalypse expert at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s level without being at a disadvantage. He even had the advantage.


    One had to know that Wang Mingyuan had absorbed the power of countless Apocalypse-grade experts. He was so powerful that no one in the world could match him.


    The energy of the combat suit allowed Zhou Wen to fight him without being at a disadvantage. This was absolutely amazing.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen suddenly slashed out, sending the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords flying.


    The four Immortal Vanquishing Swords that had been swept away flew back to Wang Mingyuan¡¯s side. Wang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Wen¡¯s combat suit and said, ¡°You¡¯re actually immune to the taboo power of the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords. It¡¯s no wonder she could use that combat suit to defeat the Immortal Thearch back then.¡±


    ¡°You know about her?¡± Zhou Wen stopped when he heard that and didn¡¯t continue attacking Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Back then, your father, Ouyang Ting, Jing Daoxian, and I entered Chess Mountain together and got lost inside. We took different paths. Finally, Ouyang Ting and I boarded the ship from another world and found something on it,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°What did you find?¡± Zhou Wen immediately asked.


    He had found almost nothing on the ship previously. It turned out that the useful things had long been taken away by Wang Mingyuan and Ouyang Ting.


    However, Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t say what he and Ouyang Ting had found on the ship. Instead, he said, ¡°Jing Daoxian and your father didn¡¯t reach the ship. The place they went should be where the Immortal Thearch was imprisoned.¡±


    ¡°That Immortal Thearch lost unjustly. She only lost because she didn¡¯t understand the other world. If not for the unequal information, how could she have lost to such a person?¡± Wang Mingyuan glanced at the woman who was restrained by him. ¡°The energy of the other world is stronger than the energy of this world, but their order in life might not be higher than ours. Although that Immortal Thearch was defeated because of the unequal information, she wasn¡¯t someone who would be at the mercy of others. In that battle, she secretly took something that originally belonged to a woman. Furthermore, when Jing Daoxian barged in, she deliberately let him obtain it.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew that he was talking about the Lost Immortal Sutra. Only today did he realize that the Lost Immortal Sutra came from The Thearch.


    ¡°Your father was able to take An Jing out of Chess Mountain because of that Immortal Thearch. Otherwise, with your father¡¯s abilities back then, how could he have taken An Jing away who was in the core meant to replace Earth¡¯s Companion Beast?¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s words left Zhou Wen alarmed.


    ¡°You know that An Jing is the baby my father brought out?¡± Zhou Wen said in surprise.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that before. Only after I took you in as my disciple did I realize that you were definitely not that baby. Although your father¡¯s cultivation talent isn¡¯t much, he¡¯s still considered a talent. He is unpredictable and creative. Only he could think of replacing An Jing with you. He lied to me, Ouyang Ting, and Jing Daoxian. He¡¯s the only one in the world who can lie to the three of us.¡±


    ¡°Since you knew that An Jing was the baby, why didn¡¯t you attack her?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Why should I?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked.


    ¡°Because she¡¯s Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. Isn¡¯t that what you want?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Before I boarded the ship, that was indeed what I wanted. However, after seeing what was on the ship, Earth¡¯s Companion Beast was already useless to me. Or rather, it wasn¡¯t what I wanted to begin with.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes shimmered with a strange glint.


    ¡°What did you see on the ship?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but ask again.


    ¡°I saw another possibility.¡± Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t elaborate. He glanced at the woman and said, ¡°I want to enter the other world, but my strength to this very day can¡¯t open the passageway to enter that world. Therefore, I need her.¡±


    ¡°What possibility?¡± Zhou Wen also looked at the woman. The woman didn¡¯t say a word.


    Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t say anything as he looked at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°It¡¯s time for you to leave. The combat suit on you might be able to defeat Immortal Thearch, but it¡¯s useless against me. This is because I¡¯ve already figured out that world. These things are no longer a mystery to me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about it, so I want to know more. Therefore, it¡¯s best you leave this woman with me.¡± Zhou Wen brandished his saber again and slashed at Wang Mingyuan.


    ¡°Must we fight?¡± Wang Mingyuan sighed and extended his hand. The four Immortal Vanquishing Swords flew into his hand and fused into one, turning into a sword.


    Clang! The clash of blades didn¡¯t produce a shockwave this time. Zhou Wen felt the power of his combat suit flow towards Wang Mingyuan like a dam.


    Zhou Wen was very familiar with this power. It was Jiang Yan¡¯s ability. However, Wang Mingyuan had improved it. He was better and more terrifying than Jiang Yan.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen activated sin of All Life. His body immediately absorbed external forces like Wang Mingyuan.


    Both parties were absorbing energy. Immediately, it was like a tug-of-war. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t absorb Wang Mingyuan¡¯s energy, and neither could Wang Mingyuan absorb his.


    The sword in Wang Mingyuan¡¯s hand suddenly pressed down. As he absorbed the power, he could also suppress his opponent. Furthermore, the power on the sword became stronger and stronger.


    The more pressure Zhou Wen gave him, the stronger Wang Mingyuan¡¯s sword became.


    He actually fused Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya¡¯s powers into one? Zhou Wen¡¯s anger gradually rose.


    He knew that Wang Mingyuan was deliberately provoking him by using Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan¡¯s strength in front of him.


    But that didn¡¯t matter because Zhou Wen was really furious.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength erupted as the Human Realm domain replaced the Sin of All Life. Human Sovereign Stone Saber slashed again, but this time, it was powered by In the Human World.


    In the Human World was only a Calamity-grade skill, but with the augmentation of the combat suit¡¯s energy, it now possessed the strength of the Apocalypse grade.


    Clang!


    Human Realm¡¯s first slash sent the sword in Wang Mingyuan¡¯s hand flying. The second slash forced Wang Mingyuan to release his grip on the woman and retreat. The third slash shattered the seemingly long distance in front of Wang Mingyuan as the blade came slashing in front of him.


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 Chapter 1872 - Master-Disciple Battle (3)

    Chapter 1872 Master-Disciple Battle (3)


    Wang Mingyuan couldn¡¯t dodge the third strike. He suddenly extended his hands and clamped down on Zhou Wen¡¯s Human Sovereign Stone Saber.


    With the augmentation of the combat suit, the power of the Human Sovereign Stone Saber was unparalleled. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s hands were blasted away as his body plummeted like a meteor.


    The woman regained her freedom and immediately fled in one direction.


    How could Zhou Wen let her escape? The answer to all the mysteries lay with her. He had to capture her and interrogate her.


    The woman hadn¡¯t flown far when Zhou Wen appeared in front of her and struck out with Small Perfection of Wisdom¡¯s strength.


    The force pressed down on the woman like a huge palm that blotted out the sky. The woman raised her palms to resist, but the crashing palm pinned her to her spot.


    ¡°Where are you from?¡± Zhou Wen asked the


    woman.


    Before the woman could answer, a flying sword slashed at Zhou Wen from the sky.


    Zhou Wen brandished his saber and sent the four fused Immortal Vanquishing Swords flying. However, Wang Mingyuan appeared in front of him like a ghost as he grabbed at his chest.


    Zhou Wen had no choice but to give up on suppressing the woman and raise his palm to parry with Wang Mingyuan. A terrifying shockwave immediately swept across the sky like a tsunami.


    The two of them fought an intense battle while vying for the woman.


    The woman had never suffered so terribly ever since coming to this world.


    Although she had been injured in the battle with the Immortal Thearch, she had never suffered such humiliation.


    Zhou Wen and Wang Mingyuan treated her like fish on a chopping board. They could grab her however they wanted. More importantly, she couldn¡¯t muster any resistance.


    Without the combat suit, the woman¡¯s combat strength was on a completely different level from theirs.


    During the battle, Zhou Wen discovered the magical aspects of the combat suit.


    In battle, the combat suit constantly analyzed the enemy¡¯s various stats. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s various energy attributes, Speed, Strength, and other information would directly be reflected into Zhou Wen¡¯s brain.


    There were even various countermeasures and solutions listed, as well as some of the functions of the combat suit itself.


    For example, the light blade that the woman had been using was one of the combat suit¡¯s functions. The light hole ability that the woman used was also one of the combat suit¡¯s functions. However, using these functions required the combat suit to expend its stored energy, especially the light hole skill. It consumed 1% of its energy every second. The remaining energy in the combat suit only had enough for slightly over ten seconds.


    This 1% energy burn per second referred to the lowest power output. If the power of the hole was increased, the energy expenditure would be even faster.


    Apart from that, Zhou Wen also saw many functions. He had never seen the woman use these functions. He didn¡¯t know if it was because the woman hadn¡¯t used them due to the lack of energy, or if she didn¡¯t know that they existed.


    One of the automatic combat functions piqued his interest. It wasn¡¯t that he wanted to completely rely on the combat suit, but he could pry into the combat methods of that world through the combat suit.


    Zhou Wen attempted to activate automatic combat mode before he felt his body being rapidly moved by the combat suit. The light patterns on the combat suit made the combat suit charge at Wang Mingyuan at an unbelievable speed.


    Was the human brain stronger than a computer?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know the answer, but the combat suit¡¯s reaction was indeed faster than humans. It could instantly calculate the enemy¡¯s various parameters and attack their weakness in the simplest and most effective way.


    Furthermore, any reaction was almost synchronized with the body. To be able to make a judgment in an instant and receive feedback from the body was fascinating.


    Even with Wang Mingyuan¡¯s strength, he was at a disadvantage fighting the combat suit.


    Even someone as strong as Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t have a brain comparable to the combat suit. In close combat, his body was repeatedly hit by the combat suit.


    Bang!


    The fist of the combat suit emitted light as it struck Wang Mingyuan¡¯s chest, sending him flying tens of thousands of kilometers.


    Zhou Wen turned around and chased after the fleeing woman. Before he could grab her, the Immortal Vanquishing Sword flew over again, forcing the combat suit to dodge.


    Wang Mingyuan appeared opposite Zhou Wen and blocked his path. ¡°The technology of that world is indeed magical. Even the brain of an Apocalypse-grade creature can¡¯t keep up with such analysis and reaction. However, such an ability has its weaknesses. It¡¯s easy for me to crack it.¡±


    The combat suit wasn¡¯t Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen might stop to listen to him, but the combat suit wouldn¡¯t. Light patterns flashed on its body as it charged forward like a combat machine.


    ¡°Life isn¡¯t as simple as processing data. No matter how powerful a computer is, it can¡¯t calculate all the possibilities of a chaotic system. Our brains, on the other hand, can infinitely approach that threshold.¡± Wang Mingyuan slowly stabbed out. This strike was very slow, so slow that it was incomprehensible.


    However, such a slow strike caused the combat suit to fall into a frenzy of calculations. It was as though the CPU was overloaded and was hanging. It failed to react in time.


    Suddenly!


    A blade of light flashed as Wang Mingyuan¡¯s clothes were sliced open, revealing his chest that was covered in fine transparent scales. A bloody mark appeared on the scales as blood seeped out.


    Wang Mingyuan extended his finger and wiped the blood from his chest. His fingertip brushed past his lips and tasted the blood.


    ¡°I forgot. You¡¯ve already grown up. There¡¯s no need for me to teach you. You already know everything I know,¡± Wang Mingyuan said with a sigh.


    Zhou Wen was also observing the combat suit¡¯s various modes. He also noticed the flaws of the combat suit.


    No matter how strong its computing ability was, it was impossible to calculate infinite values. However, although it was difficult to get an exact value, a human¡¯s brain could rely on feelings to infinitely approach the correct value.


    This feeling was very difficult to understand. If Wang Mingyuan could do it, Zhou Wen could do it as well.


    However, Wang Mingyuan didn¡¯t treat Zhou Wen as a true opponent. He never expected Zhou Wen to be able to do this, so he was injured by him.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you have indeed grown up. You are no longer my disciple, but an opponent who can fight me.¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke, light threads surged out of his body. They quickly fused with his wounds and also caused his body to undergo a strange change.


    His body gradually turned translucent, but his organs, bones, flesh, and blood couldn¡¯t be seen at all. All that could be seen were countless starlight-like points of light flowing in his body as though it was an independent universe.


    ¡°Do you know what the strongest power in this world is?¡± Wang Mingyuan looked down at Zhou Wen like a creature produced by the universe.


    ¡°No?¡± Zhou Wen answered coldly.


    ¡°That¡¯s the rules of Chaos. Chaos is nothingness. It¡¯s a rule without any rules. If you can comprehend this, you will be the ruler of this universe. Nothing will surprise you again because everything in the world will be within your rules.¡± The power emitted by Wang Mingyuan tore through the Dimensional Airspace.


    A tunnel that took the combined strength of nine Devil pets to open was torn open by Wang Mingyuan alone. Furthermore, the power that tore through space was only because of his excessive power. It wasn¡¯t deliberate.


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 Chapter 1873 - Ascending to the Destiny Platform Again

    Chapter 1873 Ascending to the Destiny Platform Again


    Zhou Wen watched as Wang Mingyuan grew stronger, but in the end, he couldn¡¯t sense his strength fluctuations at all.


    Not sensing any energy fluctuations didn¡¯t mean that they no longer existed, but that he had such overwhelming power that it was undetectable.


    It was just like how humans lived on Earth but couldn¡¯t sense Earth¡¯s high-speed movement. When the difference in strength was large enough to accommodate the other party, there was no way to sense it.


    How many Apocalypse-grade creatures did he devour to have such strength? Zhou Wen was somewhat alarmed. Such strength was indeed terrifying As though reading Zhou Wen¡¯s mind, Wang Mingyuan spoke with a smile, ¡°Even if you absorb all the power of the dimension¡¯s Apocalypse-grade creatures, it¡¯s impossible to reach such a level. The source of strength isn¡¯t about quantity; it¡¯s about what you have and how it can be used.


    ¡°What you have determines your upper limit, and what you can do with these things determines if there¡¯s a limit,¡± Wang Mingyuan said as he looked up slightly. Zhou Wen felt an omnipresent force pressing down on his body as though it wanted to crush him.


    ¡°Warning¡­ Warning¡­ Discovered cosmic power¡­ Please immediately activate Cosmic mode¡­¡± The combat suit¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind again.


    ¡°Activate Cosmic mode.¡± Zhou Wen authorized the combat suit to carry out the order.


    The light patterns on the combat suit immediately produced an intense reaction. The entire combat suit turned into light as though a ball of white energy was enveloping Zhou Wen.


    After Cosmic mode was activated, the combat suit¡¯s analysis appeared in his mind again.


    ¡°Unknown creature¡­ Cosmic energy level¡­ 0.99¡­¡± According to the analysis of the combat suit, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s energy value didn¡¯t even seem to reach 1.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know how it was categorized. Such powerful energy wasn¡¯t even at 1.


    ¡°Maintaining Cosmic mode requires additional energy from the owner¡¯s body. Detected insufficient energy; using stored energy to maintain Cosmic mode. Currently, the energy level is at 16%. It can maintain Cosmic mode for 13 seconds¡­ 13¡­ 12¡­¡± The combat suit¡¯s voice constantly sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    Wang Mingyuan looked at him and said with a smile, ¡°That combat suit is indeed good stuff. Unfortunately, you know nothing about its essence, nor do you have the ability to control it. How long can you maintain this state?¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter how long it takes.¡± Zhou Wen switched off the combat suit¡¯s Cosmic mode.


    ¡°Leave the combat suit and that woman behind and you may leave,¡± Wang Mingyuan said to Zhou Wen, believing that he had given up.


    ¡°Defeat me and everything will naturally be yours.¡± The Lost Immortal Sutra in Zhou Wen¡¯s body circulated crazily.


    ¡°Is my action even required? Without the energy support of the combat suit, you aren¡¯t qualified to be my opponent,¡± Wang Mingyuan said.


    ¡°Just because it¡¯s not enough now doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t ever be enough.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, his figure suddenly vanished. When he appeared again, he had already arrived behind the woman and grabbed her.


    ¡°It¡¯s useless. Without the power of the combat suit, you can¡¯t take her away.¡± Wang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Wen as the power of the entire universe seemed to press down on him.


    Ignoring spatial teleportation, he couldn¡¯t even move a step. The entire space pressed down on him, making it difficult for him to move.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s combat suit activated Cosmic mode again which enveloped his body like a blob of light.


    ¡°How many seconds can you last? Ten seconds? Eight?¡± Wang Mingyuan was like the ruler of the universe as he walked towards Zhou Wen step by step. No matter how Zhou Wen changed his position, he arrived in front of him.


    No matter which way Zhou Wen went or how he used spatial teleportation, the outcome was the same-Wang Mingyuan appeared in front of him with a single step.


    Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t in a rush to fight Zhou Wen. He could easily defeat Zhou Wen and snatch the woman back when the combat suit¡¯s energy was depleted.


    However, when Zhou Wen moved again, Wang Mingyuan frowned and didn¡¯t chase after him. He stood there and looked at Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen stood on the stone steps of the staircase and pulled the woman up.


    ¡°You plan on using the Destiny Platform¡¯s energy to charge the combat suit again?¡± Wang Mingyuan watched Zhou Wen run up the stairs without any intention of chasing after him.


    The Cube lit up again. To everyone¡¯s surprise, Human Sovereign was pulling the woman and running up the stairs again.


    ¡°Again? Doing this again and again. Is he having a good time?¡±


    ¡°Boss, that¡¯s a staircase, not a slide. Don¡¯t do that¡­¡±


    ¡°Others scale the staircase, but what¡¯s Human Sovereign doing?¡±


    ¡°Human Sovereign, can we be more serious? This is a high-end place in the dimension. How can you use it as a playground?¡±


    Although people said that Human Sovereign shouldn¡¯t be using it as a playground, they were all in high spirits.


    Zhou Wen pulled the woman up. His speed wasn¡¯t very fast because he didn¡¯t use the power to block taboos. Instead, he suffered the power of the staircase.


    His present strength was unable to resist Wang Mingyuan, and the energy reserves of his combat suit were insufficient. Only by using the Destiny Platform¡¯s power to advance to the Apocalypse grade could he have the capital to fight Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen had already tried countless times in-game. With his own strength, he couldn¡¯t advance to the Apocalypse grade without the energy baptism of the Destiny Platform.


    However, today¡¯s battle gave him a new idea.


    The energy of the combat suit and Wang Mingyuan inspired Zhou Wen.


    Wang Mingyuan was right. It wasn¡¯t necessarily true that one was stronger with greater powers. It depended on what one had and how one used these powers.


    This sentence reminded him that the most important thing was the combat suit¡¯s Cosmic mode. It gave Zhou Wen a new understanding of the Immortal Lost Sutra. He figured out why he found it so difficult to cultivate. It wasn¡¯t that the Lost Immortal Sutra itself was difficult, but that the rules of the world he understood were different from the rules needed by the Lost Immortal Sutra. Therefore, Zhou Wen had never understood many things about the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    However, after seeing the combat suit¡¯s Cosmic mode and Wang Mingyuan¡¯s strength, Zhou Wen knew what the problem was.


    Without a doubt, the No-Rules power Wang Mingyuan had comprehended was essentially because he had understood the rules of another world. He had combined the rules of that world with the power of this world to produce the so-called No-Rules power.


    Zhou Wen pulled the woman onto the Destiny Platform. The power of the staircase couldn¡¯t stop him at all. Even the woman was pulled onto the Destiny Platform.


    Terrifying energy immediately condensed on the Destiny Platform. However, this time, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wear his combat suit to receive the Destiny Platform¡¯s energy.


    He released the woman and removed the combat suit, allowing it to float beside him. He used his body to receive the baptism of the Destiny Platform¡¯s power.


    Thank you for reading on novelhall.com

 Chapter 1874 - Ninth Heaven’s Human Sovereign

    Chapter 1874 Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign


    The energy that crazily surged into his body was circulated by Zhou Wen via the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    He had already tried many times in the past. He didn¡¯t wish to transform his body into the most perfect state, nor did he wish to erase his personality.


    It was precisely because it wasn¡¯t perfect that it gave life its myriad colors. If everyone cultivated according to the most perfect ratio and the most perfect personality, what was the difference between them and robots? They might as well create a perfect robot body and inject their souls into it. What was the point of cultivation?


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish for absolute perfection. He only hoped that he could constantly surpass himself in a certain aspect. But previously, Zhou Wen had repeatedly met with failure.


    It was just like a student who was good in one subject but bad in others. No matter how good he was in that single subject, it was still difficult for him to get into an ideal university after failing all the other subjects.


    This described Zhou Wen¡¯s present situation. He wanted to use all his energy to strengthen a certain portion and not strengthen everything


    However, the outcome of doing so was that other than that portion, the other aspects of the body couldn¡¯t meet the requirements to advance to the Apocalypse grade. This resulted in repeated failures.


    However, seeing Wang Mingyuan¡¯s No-Rules and combat suit¡¯s Cosmic mode suddenly inspired Zhou Wen.


    Since there was no way to advance to the Apocalypse grade in such a manner, could he bypass the rules of advancement and use a new method to advance to the Apocalypse


    grade?


    Apocalypse was the rule of this world, and in another world, there was no such thing as an Apocalypse. For example, An Jing¡¯s mother was born with an Apocalypse-grade body. Advancing to the Apocalypse grade wasn¡¯t even a problem they faced.


    Ancient Sovereign Sutra. Demon God Bloodline Catalog. Small Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. Godfiend Era. Qi Refinement Art. Dao Sutra. Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping Art. First Order of Chaos. Eight strange energies constantly changed over Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    If he followed the normal path of advancement, Zhou Wen¡¯s body would be transformed into the most perfect state by the Lost Immortal Sutra. All his personality would be wiped out, and these eight powers naturally wouldn¡¯t exist.


    It couldn¡¯t be said that they wouldn¡¯t exist, but that it would be pointless differentiating them.


    For example, some athletes were good at speed, some were good at strength, and others were good at technique. For the Lost Immortal Sutra, it allowed a person to have everything-strength, speed, and technique. Was there a need to separate the competitions?


    However, from Zhou Wen¡¯s point of view, being strong in everything meant that he wasn¡¯t strong in anything. Without a comparison, there wouldn¡¯t be a better or worse.


    What he needed to do now was to retain his personality and also preserve the possibility of advancing further.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s strength rose as it transformed into a corporeal body behind him. The figure was like a transparent figure of light that constantly changed its form and aura.


    The figure was like a Qi Refinement Warrior as the aura in the body constantly evolved. It guided the aura in his body to change, demonstrating the profundity of the Qi Refinement Art layer by layer.


    Among the people watching the Cube¡¯s screen, there were many people who practiced Essence Energy Arts related to Qi Refinement. When they saw the transformation of the figure, all of them felt as though they had obtained a treasure. They found the answer to many questions in their hearts.


    ¡°So this is what Qi Refinement is like¡­ Controlling Qi with thoughts¡­ I¡¯ve figured it


    out¡­¡±


    ¡°A sword beam is akin to a rainbow¡­ One strike travels 15,000 kilometers¡­ I finally understand¡­¡±


    ¡°A formidable aura¡­ I finally understand¡­¡±


    The humans who cultivated arduously, be it the big shots who were about to break through their limits or ordinary cultivators, obtained a lot of inspiration and understanding from the light behind Zhou Wen. Many people immediately broke through the shackles that had been troubling them for a long time.


    After the Qi Refinement Art, the figure transformed into the Hell King form of Small Perfection of Wisdom as it constantly evolved.


    ¡°Amitabha¡­ Buddha is compassionate¡­ I¡¯ve been given such great fortune in my lifetime¡­¡± A monk stood in the snow and looked at the scene in the Cube. His eyebrows drooped as a Buddhistic glow gradually rose from his body.


    Everyone who practiced Buddhism in the human world was enlightened. Instantly, countless humans broke through their realms.


    After the Small Perfection of Wisdom, the figure transformed into a demon god. Demonic aura blotted out the sky as it constantly changed its various stances. It shed its demon body layer by layer, transforming from a demon to a god before finally achieving greatness.


    When humans who cultivated the Demon Essence Energy Art saw this scene, even the ancestors of the aristocratic families suddenly shed their wrinkled old skins. They broke out of their cocoons and were reborn. Their rejuvenated bodies walked out of their old skins.


    ¡°What I¡¯ve gained can¡¯t be paid back. This technique is like a teacher. You deserve my bow.¡± A patriarch resembling a youth genuflected at the Cube.


    The moment the Dao Sutra was used, thousands of ascetic cultivators broke through. Purple light surged into the sky from the Zhang family of Mount Dragon Tiger. One Daoist after another, who had been bottlenecked for countless years, suddenly had purple gas surge from their bodies as purple lotus flowers bloomed above their heads.


    In the remote mountains and lakes, there were people who cultivated arduously only to comprehend the Great Dao in one day.


    1 ds


    A person stood above the mountains and seas. The aura of the Great Dao on his body was as majestic as the sea, causing the sea to recede. Dark clouds covered the sky as lightning struck down and struck the person.


    The person¡¯s body was struck by the lightning, but he remained unharmed. Instead, his entire body became brighter and brighter as though he had been tempered by lightning


    ¡°I¡¯ve figured out¡­ my Dao¡­¡± The person looked up at the sky and spread out his arms to welcome the baptism of the lightning.


    The light behind Zhou Wen constantly changed, almost covering all sorts of different Essence Energy Arts. Anyone who saw this would more or less gain some insight.


    The entire human world had their realms increased by a level or two on this day.


    The eighth one regarding the transformation into Human Sovereign¡¯s body was a variation in Essence Energy that very few people could comprehend.


    The world only knew the way of a King and Overlord, but they didn¡¯t know the way of the Sovereign-a self-sacrificial belief. In the presidential palace, Hui Haifeng stared at the figure that had transformed into Human Sovereign as though in thought.


    The light behind Zhou Wen froze in its Human Sovereign form. However, above the Human Sovereign figure, strange figures appeared. Seven different types overlapped and fused into the Human Sovereign figure, gradually becoming one with it.


    The figure was like a god or devil, a saint or demon, a ghost or immortal, a king or heaven. A terrifying aura constantly evolved in his body, turning into a pure beam of light that illuminated a world.


    §Ñ


    (


    The energy in the Destiny Platform had already stopped surging. Zhou Wen looked at his stats with an odd expression. Behind the New World column were the words ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign.¡¯


    He had clearly used the power of the Destiny Platform to condense a New World. Why was his level still at the Calamity grade and not the Apocalypse grade? Could it be that this situation happened because I took a detour and didn¡¯t use my body as a foundation to forge a New World? Zhou Wen wore a complicated expression, unsure if this situation was good or bad.


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 Chapter 1875 - Woman’s Memories

    Chapter 1875 Woman¡¯s Memories


    The Cube¡¯s screen switched to the rankings. The name ¡®Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯ appeared on the rankings, ranked at the bottom.


    Now, everyone realized that the Cube¡¯s rankings were arranged according to the order of ascension. It had nothing to do with strength.


    ¡°With such a ranking, wouldn¡¯t the first person to ascend gain a huge advantage?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? Whoever gets first place will be first. Is there any meaning to such a ranking?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t make hasty conclusions. There must be something amiss. I think there¡¯s definitely a follow-up to this ranking. It¡¯s impossible for it to end just like that.¡±


    Everyone discussed spiritedly, feeling that such a ranking was too unfair.


    Zhou Wen put on the combat suit again. The woman stood on Destiny Platform and didn¡¯t escape again.


    She already knew that she had no chance of escaping in front of these two humans. She could only hope that they suffered an deadly outcome before she had a chance of survival.


    Wang Mingyuan looked at Zhou Wen from midair. The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign stood in midair above Zhou Wen and faced him. One was a transparent cosmic body with billions of stars, while the other was formed from pure light.


    Terrifying power constantly appeared out of thin air between the two, like a cosmic storm. Just the energy produced from the confrontation was enough to destroy a planet.


    Wang Mingyuan stared at the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign for a moment before turning his gaze to Zhou Wen and the woman. After a long while, he sighed and said, ¡°You have already reached the Destiny Platform. There¡¯s no room for negotiation. Forget it. Take her away. We¡¯ll settle this on the day of Destiny.¡±


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan took a step forward, tearing open a spatial rift in the Dimensional Airspace as he stepped into it and vanished.


    Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as the woman¡¯s expression changed drastically.


    She originally wished for an internecine outcome between Zhou Wen and Wang Mingyuan, but she never expected the latter to retreat.


    Zhou Wen looked at the woman and said coldly, ¡°If you want to live, answer my questions. It¡¯s best you don¡¯t disappoint me.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± the woman sighed.


    ¡°Where are you from and why are you here?¡± Zhou Wen asked the most fundamental question.


    He knew that the woman came from another world, but he didn¡¯t know what world it was. As for the reason the woman came here, he was almost certain of the answer.


    ¡°I come from a world without gods,¡± the woman said without any hesitation.


    ¡°A world without gods? Is that the name of your world?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Does the world you live in have a name?¡± the woman asked.


    Zhou Wen found it reasonable. Naming something was relative. If there was no other world as a reference, who would name an infinite existence?


    ¡°What kind of world is that?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to describe it because it¡¯s completely different from your world. It¡¯s a completely different system. I don¡¯t know how to describe it to you. I can only say that it¡¯s a world without gods,¡± the woman said.


    ¡°Continue,¡± Zhou Wen said coldly.


    ¡°Since you have already mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra and activated the combat suit, you should be able to sense how different that world is.¡± The woman pondered for a moment before continuing, ¡°Can I ask you a question?¡±


    ¡°Speak.¡± Zhou Wen roughly guessed what she wanted to ask.


    ¡°Humans have already evolved to such a stage. Is Earth still in existence?¡± The woman saw that Zhou Wen and Wang Mingyuan were already so terrifying that they were about to reach the threshold of her world.


    Therefore, she was still looking forward to seeing if her child had already come into being. Would she be as powerful as Zhou Wen and Wang Mingyuan, or perhaps even stronger?


    After all, her child had received Earth¡¯s energy. Her achievements should be second only to the Devil King.


    The Devil King had been schemed against by her and had yet to recover. Then, the strongest person in this world should be her daughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll be disappointing you. Earth is still intact,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Earth is still around? Earth¡¯s Companion Beast hasn¡¯t appeared yet?¡± The woman¡¯s expression changed slightly. This was somewhat different from what she had imagined. Humans had already evolved to such a level, so how could Earth¡¯s Companion Beast not have appeared?


    ¡°You want to ask about your daughter, right?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the woman.


    ¡°You¡­ You¡­ How did you know¡­¡± The woman¡¯s expression changed drastically as she had an ominous feeling.


    ¡°Answer my question and I¡¯ll naturally tell you the answer.¡± Zhou Wen looked at the woman and said, ¡°You better think carefully before answering my question. I don¡¯t have the patience to waste my time with you.¡±


    The woman¡¯s expression changed. From Zhou Wen¡¯s attitude, she knew that something had probably happened to her daughter.


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± the woman asked through gritted teeth.


    ¡°Do I need to ask again?¡± Zhou Wen said with a cold expression.


    The woman stared at Zhou Wen for a while before slowly saying, ¡°I¡¯m just an extremely ordinary mother in that world. As my child was born with a congenital flaw, she couldn¡¯t survive in my world. I tried everything to let her live a little longer¡­¡±


    The woman slowly recounted her story. Most of it was as Zhou Wen had imagined, but there were also some things that Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t expected.


    The woman¡¯s husband was a member of a mysterious organization and also a researcher. The woman accidentally saw her husband¡¯s research and realized that they were studying another world.


    She was only curious back then. After reading their research materials, she was surprised to discover a possibility of letting her daughter live.


    Her daughter was born weak and had problems with her organs. It was impossible for her to survive in her world.


    However, if it was in the world her husband studied, the requirements for survival in that world were very low. Furthermore, in the research project, there was a way to use the energy of that world to strengthen oneself.


    ere


    The woman stole her husband¡¯s work pass and sneaked into the research facility. She stole Experimenter that could enter the alternate world. At the same time, she stole the combat suit, phone, Lost Immortal Sutra, and some other things in the laboratory.


    Back when she took those things, she had already triggered the laboratory¡¯s alarm. Originally, she would have been stopped, but her husband appeared in time and stopped the laboratory personnel, allowing her to activate Experimenter at the final moment to enter the alternate world.


    However, before Experimenter entered the alternate world, she saw her husband being beaten to death because he had tried his best to stop those people.


    Although the woman had set a course for return, she never made the trip.


    What happened after the woman arrived was similar to Zhou Wen¡¯s previous guess. She entered Earth following the experimental data and dug out Earth¡¯s Companion Egg. Then, she placed her daughter inside and let her absorb Earth¡¯s energy to grow.


    However, the woman felt that this wasn¡¯t enough. This was because the true ruler of this world was the Devil King. Only by obtaining the source of the Devil King¡¯s energy could one become the strongest existence in this world.


    The woman realized that she was no match for the Devil King even with the stolen combat suit. She deliberately approached the Devil King and relied on the novel ideas and various trinkets of the other world to obtain the Devil King¡¯s trust.


    The Devil King was engrossed in the research of the things she had brought with her and ignored everything else. Only then did the woman have the chance to secretly sow discord, making all races unwilling to be bullied by the Devils again. They joined forces to destroy the Devils.


    Back then, the Gods and Immortals were extremely powerful. They were also the Devil King¡¯s most trusted right-hand men. However, she never expected the Gods and Immortals to betray her. Furthermore, the Immortal Thearch of the Immortals appeared out of nowhere and possessed strength that was in no way inferior to the Devil King.


    In that battle, having indulged in those mysterious things and studying them, she had exhausted most of her strength. Defeat was the only outcome.


    Even so, the Devil King still opened a spatial passageway and took herself and the nine Devil pets out of the battlefield before disappearing.


    The woman originally thought that she could reap the benefits, but to her surprise, not only did she let the Devil King escape, but the strength of that Immortal Thearch far exceeded her expectations.


    After the Devil King vanished, she had originally planned on conquering the world and turning all the strongest powerhouses in this world into servants to give her daughter the best living environment.


    However, she had underestimated Immortal Thearch. Her plan was mostly ruined. Many important things had been lost in that battle, and she nearly lost her life.


    It was only because Immortal Thearch didn¡¯t understand the technology of the other world that she barely won the bet and suppressed Immortal Thearch.


    However, in fact, Immortal Thearch wasn¡¯t injured at all. She herself suffered from nontrivial injuries, and her combat suit¡¯s energy was depleted. She had to return to the ship to sleep and recharge.


    Thankfully, Immortal Thearch kept her promise and trapped herself in Chess Mountain to help the woman protect her child. This allowed the woman to sleep in peace and recharge.


    The more Zhou Wen listened, the more he felt that something was amiss. This was because the woman only mentioned two points.


    One point was the research facility, and the other was the world Zhou Wen was in. Apart from that, the woman seemed to know nothing about the world she came from.


    ¡°Do you remember the color of the sky in your world?¡± Zhou Wen asked the woman.


    ¡°The sky is naturally¡­¡± The woman originally said in disdain, but before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly realized that she had never seen the sky before. Her expression gradually changed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me your home was in that research facility?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the woman and asked with an odd expression.


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 Chapter 1876 - Truth and Illusion

    ¡°My home¡­ Facility¡­¡± The woman¡¯s expression turned odder.


    Zhou Wen gazed at her and knew that there was indeed something wrong. How could anyone describe their world as a world without gods?


    No matter how different the two worlds were, they would have some detailed descriptions and not say things like a world without gods. This sentence itself made Zhou Wen find it odd.


    This didn¡¯t seem like something a human would say. It was more like an answer preset by a machine.


    The woman was clearly not a machine, so why did she answer the question like this?


    ¡°What do you remember?¡± Zhou Wen stared at the woman and asked.


    ¡°I remember that my husband and I were very loving¡­ We had a daughter¡­ But she wasn¡¯t very healthy¡­ And my world¡­ I remember¡­ I remember¡­¡± The woman became incoherent.


    Zhou Wen could imagine her current feelings. If it were him, he might have collapsed as well.


    ¡°Tell me, how do you use the toilet in your world? What kind of food do you eat? Where did you buy food?¡± Zhou Wen asked some more questions.


    ¡°The toilet is in the room¡­ The food is purchased from the food machine¡­ I remember now¡­ Everything in our world is automatic. Whatever we need, we just need to press a button and things will be delivered through the pipes¡­¡± The woman had already realized the problem, but she couldn¡¯t bring herself to question her life. She was still trying to find some evidence to prove that her life was hers.


    ¡°In other words, you have never left your home. Everything you know comes from those technological products, right?¡± Zhou Wen asked after some thought.


    ¡°Of course I left home. How can I not have left home¡­ Didn¡¯t I go to the research facility¡­¡± the woman said with a pale face and trembling lips.


    ¡°And apart from the research facility?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°Apart from the research facility¡­ I¡­ I¡­¡± The woman couldn¡¯t continue.


    ¡°Also, you said that the research facility belongs to a very powerful person. Then what¡¯s that person¡¯s name? You never said her name.¡± Zhou Wen pressed further.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know that she¡¯s very powerful, but I don¡¯t know her name¡­¡± The woman shook her head in pain.


    ¡°You are full of contradictions. You say that she¡¯s very powerful, so she must be very famous. You even know that her cultivation technique is called Lost Immortal Sutra, so why don¡¯t you know her name? At the very least, she should have a professional title or something,¡± Zhou Wen enunciated each word clearly.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know¡­ I really don¡¯t know her name¡­¡± The woman shook her head in horror.


    ¡°Then you should know your husband¡¯s name, right?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the woman and asked his last question.


    ¡°Of course I know my husband¡¯s name¡­ His¡­ His name is¡­¡± The woman suddenly broke down as she held her head and let out a heart-wrenching scream.


    Without needing the woman to answer, he already knew the answer.


    This woman was just a puppet. Perhaps her memories had long been tampered with. Perhaps she had been an experimental subject since she was born.


    She brought the phone and Lost Immortal Sutra. The person behind the scenes probably wanted her to bring these things here. Who is the person behind the scenes? Is it the woman in the Lost Immortal Sutra? What does she want? Zhou Wen imagined that he could approach the truth after finding this woman, but he suddenly realized that the truth was even more complicated and puzzling than he imagined.


    2


    Who¡¯s controlling all of this? Is the world I¡¯m in real or illusory? Zhou Wen was already beginning to doubt the authenticity of this world.


    The phone could simulate this world¡¯s dimensional zone out of thin air. In the past, Zhou Wen only found it magical, but now that he thought about it carefully, he suddenly found it terrifying.


    Why can a phone download dungeons in reality? Could it be that this world is built from data streams, allowing it to be downloaded into the game? Could this entire world be virtual? Zhou Wen felt a chill run down his spine.


    1


    Although he felt certain that this world was real, who knew if this feeling was just a kind of data?


    Just like everything the woman had experienced, the truth she believed in, and even the fact that she was willing to risk her life for it, didn¡¯t seem that reliable now.


    ¡°No¡­ No¡­ I have a family¡­ I have a husband¡­ I have a child¡­ Yes¡­ I have a child¡­ My child can prove everything¡­ This can¡¯t be fake¡­¡± The woman pounced over crazily and grabbed Zhou Wen. ¡°You know where my child is, right? You know, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know.¡± Zhou Wen nodded slightly.


    ¡°Take me to her. My life can¡¯t be a lie. I have a child.¡± The woman¡¯s expression was somewhat distorted.


    ¡°Alright,¡± Zhou Wen agreed. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign appeared behind the woman and pressed a hand on her head. A ball of light trapped the woman inside.


    No matter how the woman struggled, she failed to escape the ball of light.


    The ball of light had the characteristics of the First Order of Chaos. It was nigh indestructible against anything under the power of the Apocalypse grade.


    The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign reached out and grabbed it. The ball of light automatically shrank, turning into a glass ball the size of a pigeon egg that landed in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand.


    From the looks of it, I can only meet that person. With a thought, Zhou Wen tore through the dimensional space and teleported back to Earth.


    Now that the Dimensional Airspace couldn¡¯t withstand Zhou Wen¡¯s Apocalypse-grade strength, Zhou Wen arrived in front of Chess Mountain¡¯s mountain wall.


    The flower was still growing on the mountain wall, sunbathing lazily.


    ¡°The Thearch, I¡¯m here,¡± Zhou Wen said as he looked at the flower.


    There were a total of five people who had come into contact with the truth. Jing Daoxian and Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s knowledge was likely limited. They had never been on the huge ship and knew nothing about the other world.


    Wang Mingyuan and the former principal had been on a ship before, so they had some understanding of the other world. However, even they didn¡¯t know if what they knew was the truth.


    Zhou Wen guessed that the things on the ship were deliberately brought over by the mastermind. The credibility of those things wasn¡¯t high.


    If there was anyone who could understand the truth, it would be the Immortal Thearch who had wrecked the woman¡¯s plan¡ªThe Thearch of present day.


    ¡°You want to know about that woman?¡± The flower¡¯s green leaves extended out in an extremely human-like manner as though it was stretching.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°Then you¡¯ve asked the wrong person.¡± The Thearch¡¯s answer exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s expectations.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been on that ship. I don¡¯t know much more than Wang Mingyuan. If you want to know anything, you should ask Wang Mingyuan, not me,¡± The Thearch said.


    ¡°What I see might not be true. I want to know your answer,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    ¡°My answer is very simple. Go to that world and take a look. You will naturally understand everything,¡± The Thearch said. ¡°If you aren¡¯t confident, you can ask someone. She¡¯s the person most likely to understand that world.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it Wang Mingyuan?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°Of course not. Everything that woman brought back then has been studied by that person. Do you think anyone knows that world better than her?¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°Devil King¡­¡± Zhou Wen immediately knew who The Thearch was referring to.


    However, the Devil King had already become the present Demonic Neonate. She no longer had her past memories, so what could he ask? Unless Zhou Wen allowed Demonic Neonate to fuse with the Devil Soul left behind by the Devil King and retrieve her past memories.


    But was such a Demonic Neonate still Demonic Neonate? Even if she was still Demonic Neonate, would she forgive him for killing her?


    Zhou Wen felt mixed emotions as he was momentarily at a loss.


    ¡°She has already grown up. Even if you don¡¯t let go, she will slowly awaken. When she advances to the Apocalypse grade, it will be the day the Devil King returns,¡± The Thearch said indifferently as though she had long seen through Demonic Neonate¡¯s identity.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± Zhou Wen sighed and looked up at the flower. ¡°Do you need me to release you?¡±


    There was no point in continuing to imprison The Thearch. If she wanted to be released, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t mind doing the favor.


    ¡°Unnecessary. The break-out is at hand. I should have time to participate in the Destiny Battle,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°You want to participate in the Destiny Battle?¡± Zhou Wen was alarmed.


    ¡°Of course, I want to become the rightful Lord of the Dimension. Then, I¡¯ll go to that world to see who¡¯s controlling all of this. It should be a very interesting opponent,¡± The Thearch said.


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 Chapter 1877 - Something Grandpa Left Behind

    After leaving Chess Mountain, Zhou Wen knew that the battle at Destiny Platform was truly crazy.


    Wang Mingyuan and The Thearch would participate in the battle at Destiny Platform to vie for the throne of the dimension. Unfortunately, he was also embroiled.


    The name on Destiny Platform isn¡¯t mine, but my Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign. I wonder if I can avoid participating in this battle. Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t afraid, but he didn¡¯t know why he needed to participate in this battle.


    He didn¡¯t want to become the dimensional king, nor did he have an enemy he had to kill. Why would he participate in this battle?


    As he walked towards Luoyang, Zhou Wen kept thinking about something.


    He could directly teleport to Luoyang City or even accurately enter a room, but he walked slowly because he was still in a dilemma and couldn¡¯t make a decision.


    The woman he trapped might be An Jing¡¯s mother, but it was also possible that she wasn¡¯t.


    After all, even the woman¡¯s own memories weren¡¯t reliable. Who knew if the memory of An Jing being her child had been stuffed into her mind by someone?


    If she was really An Jing¡¯s mother, shouldn¡¯t he let An Jing know of her existence? Zhou Wen felt that she had the right.


    However, if the woman wasn¡¯t An Jing¡¯s mother, letting An Jing know of this would only add to her worries.


    As he pondered, Zhou Wen had already walked to the door of Overseer Manor.


    Although Zhou Wen had already concealed his true appearance and ordinary people couldn¡¯t tell who he was, An Sheng was already waiting at the door.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, Overseer is waiting for you,¡± An Sheng said with a heavy expression.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t Ah Yong here?¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but frown when he didn¡¯t sense Ah Yong¡¯s aura.


    ¡°She¡¯s out,¡± An Sheng said as he walked. ¡°I owe that child too much. I should have spent more time with her, but unfortunately, it¡¯s the most critical moment now. I really don¡¯t have the time to accompany her.¡±


    Zhou Wen knew what An Sheng meant. Now that Earth¡¯s full-scale breakout was imminent, Luoyang might be fine, but all sorts of dimensional creatures had long run amok elsewhere. Most humans could only be active in specific dimensional zones.


    The dimensional zones that used to look extremely dangerous had now become a safe zone for humans.


    Of course, that was only limited to dimensional zones controlled by humans. Even so, there was still news of mutations of already-controlled dimensional zones, wiping out the humans hiding inside.


    The reason Luoyang was better was firstly because of the An family¡¯s actions, and secondly, because this was the place closest to Chess Mountain. This was the last place to break out.


    What puzzled Zhou Wen was that An Sheng didn¡¯t take him to An Tianzuo¡¯s office. After passing through the City Lord Manor, he didn¡¯t walk far from the back door before arriving at an area surrounded by an electric fence.


    Even with An Sheng¡¯s status, he needed to produce a special device when he passed by the guard, allowing the guard to verify it before passing.


    After the two of them entered, Zhou Wen realized that there was only one building in the fenced area.


    It was a strange building that looked like a huge metal rod embedded with crystals stabbing into the sky.


    Although it was taller than many skyscrapers and had a diameter of dozens of meters, on careful look, one would realize that it wasn¡¯t a building. It was more like an energy transmission device.


    1


    An Tianzuo stood in front of the huge pillar-like installation. Many staff members were busy working on it.


    ¡°Did you bring that woman?¡± An Tianzuo turned to look at Zhou Wen when he heard An Sheng¡¯s voice.


    ¡°You know her?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°No, but I can guess that she¡¯s related to Little Jing.¡± An Tianzuo stared at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°Before figuring out the truth, I don¡¯t want anyone to disturb Little Jing.¡±


    ¡°Do you know the truth?¡± Zhou Wen asked An Tianzuo.


    ¡°No. Didn¡¯t you come here to tell me the truth?¡± An Tianzuo said indifferently.


    ¡°Unfortunately, I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s the truth.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to waste his breath on An Tianzuo as he recounted the woman¡¯s relationship with Little Jing, as well as the woman¡¯s origins and everything else.


    An Tianzuo and An Sheng were shocked when they heard that. They only knew that An Jing wasn¡¯t Zhou Lingfeng and Ouyang Lan¡¯s child. When they saw the woman on the Cube¡¯s screen, for some reason, they felt that the woman was related to An Jing, but they didn¡¯t know that there was such a complicated relationship.


    ¡°In other words, there are two possibilities. This woman might be Little Jing¡¯s biological mother, or it might be a memory that someone injected into her mind,¡± An Tianzuo said after some thought.


    ¡°Yes, if we want to know the answer, I¡¯m afraid we can only enter the research facility the woman mentioned.¡± Zhou Wen even began to suspect if the world the woman mentioned existed. Perhaps it was just a research facility for higher-level creatures in the universe.


    ¡°How can we enter that research facility?¡± An Tianzuo clearly had the same thoughts as Zhou Wen. He wanted to visit it.


    ¡°That woman said that she brought a device along that allows her to return, but that device was lost in the battle with The Thearch. She doesn¡¯t know how she can return now.¡± Zhou Wen sighed.


    ¡°Can¡¯t we build another one?¡± An Tianzuo frowned slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid it¡¯s very difficult. That woman doesn¡¯t know anything.¡± Zhou Wen paused and said, ¡°However, The Thearch said that she has already vaguely sensed the existence of a certain inexplicable place. She firmly believes that¡¯s where the woman comes from. As long as she takes that final step, she can reach it. Therefore, she will participate in the Destiny Platform battle and use the Destiny Platform¡¯s power to take that final step.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me there aren¡¯t any clues regarding that device?¡± An Tianzuo still didn¡¯t give up. He had to figure out An Jing¡¯s true identity before deciding if he should let An Jing know about all of this.


    ¡°You can ask her yourself.¡± Zhou Wen waved his hand and a ball of light the size of a glass ball appeared in front of An Tianzuo and An Sheng. The ball of light grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of a person. Through the ball of light, they could see the imprisoned woman inside.


    ¡°Your daughter is in their hands. If you want to see your daughter, answer their questions properly.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen turned around and left. He still had to see Zhou Lingfeng and didn¡¯t wish to waste time here.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, I¡¯ll walk you out.¡± An Sheng hurriedly chased after him, leaving An Tianzuo alone to interrogate the woman.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, this is the central area that connects Luoyang region¡¯s entire dimensional zone. We call that fellow Optimus. If you encounter danger, you can come here. We can use Optimus to help you, but preparations take time. It¡¯s best if you give us three hours to prepare,¡± An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What can it do?¡± Zhou Wen asked as he glanced at the metal column.


    ¡°It can extract the dimensional zone¡¯s power from the entire Luoyang area, including Chess Mountain¡¯s energy. Although we haven¡¯t fully harnessed its full power, we have determined from our tests numbering over a thousand that at full power, it would only need three hours to condense enough energy to kill an Apocalypse grade¡­ Of course¡­ This is only a deduction. There might be some mistakes¡­¡± An Sheng laughed dryly.


    ¡°How did you extract Chess Mountain¡¯s power?¡± Zhou Wen asked in surprise.


    ¡°It might be an involved explanation, but the rough explanation is that there are veins between all the dimensional zones on Earth. However, these veins aren¡¯t easy to find. We have more or less grasped the veins of the dimensional zones near Luoyang. We can use Optimus to extract the energy from these dimensional zones¡­¡± An Sheng had already put it very simply, but Zhou Wen still didn¡¯t understand what the veins were.


    After separating from An Sheng, Zhou Wen went to Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s residence. After finding him, he told him what he knew.


    After Zhou Lingfeng heard that, he said with a bitter smile, ¡°I never expected there to be so many twists and turns. The real mastermind actually isn¡¯t this woman.¡±


    ¡°Do you think she¡¯s An Jing¡¯s mother?¡± Zhou Wen asked Zhou Lingfeng.


    An Jing had been personally carried out of the core by Zhou Lingfeng. He was most qualified to answer this question.


    ¡°I think so.¡± Zhou Lingfeng gave an unexpected answer.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what basis Zhou Lingfeng had for saying that.


    ¡°If what you said is true, then the woman and Little Jing should be experimental subjects. Or rather, the real experimental subject is actually Little Jing. The woman is only the person who sent Little Jing over and completed the experiment. The woman and Little Jing are very ordinary. Why did they choose such ordinary people? If Little Jing is suitable as an experimental subject because of her congenital problems, then what about the woman? Unless there¡¯s some inevitable connection between them. Even if the woman discovers the truth, she will complete the experiment according to their plans. This can only be because of family ties, so I think the possibility of them being biological mother and daughter is very high.¡± Zhou Lingfeng shared his thoughts.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and felt that what Zhou Lingfeng said made sense. However, this was only speculation. He couldn¡¯t confirm that she was An Jing¡¯s mother.


    ¡°Was the phone and Earth Companion Egg really accidentally picked up by my grandfather?¡± Zhou Wen had always been suspicious of this. If it was really accidentally picked up by his grandfather, why couldn¡¯t others use the phone but him?


    ¡°It was really picked up from the well by accident. Otherwise? Do you think our ancestors are qualified to participate in such a battle?¡± Zhou Lingfeng spread out his hands and said, ¡°Anyway, that¡¯s what my father told me.¡±


    Zhou Wen thought that it made sense. Humans had no right to participate in the battle between the woman and Immortal Thearch.


    ¡°Apart from the phone and Earth Companion Egg, was there anything else?¡± Zhou Wen had come to Zhou Lingfeng mainly to find out if his grandfather had picked up the device that led to the research facility.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Lingfeng thought for a moment and said, ¡°But I heard from your grandfather that the father-in-law of mine took it.¡±


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 Chapter 1878 - Crystal

    ¡°What was it?¡± Zhou Wen hurriedly asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not too sure what it was. I¡¯ve also asked your grandfather. He said that it was a round crystal. When he went to seek help from my father-in-law, it was taken away for research. He didn¡¯t return it to him,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said after some thought.


    ¡°A round crystal? Was it spherical or circular?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression immediately turned odd.


    ¡°I remember your grandfather said it was circular. He gestured back then. It didn¡¯t look very big,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said as he thought.


    Zhou Wen hurriedly rummaged through his things when he heard that. He remembered that there had indeed been such an item before.


    Back then, he had found a small metal slab in the temple in Zhuolu. The small metal slab was very similar to the large metal slab that chained Earth¡¯s Companion Beast. Zhou Wen had used the passcode left behind by the former principal to open the small metal slab.


    Inside the small metal slab was a circular crystal similar to the one Zhou Lingfeng had mentioned. It wasn¡¯t very big, about the size of the silver Yuan Datou coin from many years back.


    Zhou Wen still remembered that one side of the crystal was engraved with an anchor, while the other side was engraved with a woman¡¯s side profile.


    As he hadn¡¯t figured out what use it had, he had thrown it in a corner after putting it away. If Zhou Lingfeng hadn¡¯t mentioned it, Zhou Wen would have forgotten about it.


    Soon, Zhou Wen found the circular crystal and handed it to Zhou Lingfeng. ¡°Take a look at this.¡±


    After Zhou Lingfeng took it, he looked at it carefully. After a long while, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen that thing before. I¡¯ve only heard your grandfather describe it. It¡¯s been so long that I¡¯ve almost forgotten it. Where did you get it from?¡±


    Although Zhou Lingfeng couldn¡¯t figure out if the crystal slab was the item his grandfather had picked up, Zhou Wen felt that it was most likely the case.


    The metal slab was opened with the former principal¡¯s passcode. The things inside must have been placed in by the former principal, just like the trapped Earth Companion Beast.


    Furthermore, there was a symbol of the anchor and the woman¡¯s side profile on the crystal. It was definitely related to the true owner of the Experimenter. This thing was most likely what An Jing¡¯s mother had said could take her back.


    Zhou Wen took back the crystal slab and bade Zhou Lingfeng farewell before turning to leave. He wanted to know if it was the device the woman had mentioned. He just needed the woman to take a look to know.


    However, he was somewhat puzzled. He didn¡¯t sense any energy from it. He hadn¡¯t discovered anything special about it when studying it previously. How could such a thing take the woman back to where she came from?


    As he pondered, Zhou Wen returned to the yard where Optimus was. An Sheng was still waiting at the door. When he saw Zhou Wen, he hurriedly welcomed him.


    Before An Sheng could say a word, Zhou Wen said, ¡°Has An Tianzuo finished his interrogation?¡±


    ¡°It should be soon.¡± An Sheng turned his head and looked inside.


    ¡°Come in.¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s voice sounded.


    After Zhou Wen and An Sheng entered, they realized that the woman in the ball of light was crying her heart out.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t know anything. She¡¯s just a puppet that had been used,¡± An Tianzuo said with a nasty expression.


    ¡°Have you confirmed her identity?¡± Zhou Wen actually wanted to ask if she was An Jing¡¯s mother.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± An Tianzuo said coldly before turning to leave, looking extremely impatient.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s highly likely. Otherwise, Overseer wouldn¡¯t be so vexed,¡± An Sheng whispered to Zhou Wen before quickly chasing after An Tianzuo.


    Zhou Wen watched An Tianzuo leave before looking at the woman who was still wailing. He didn¡¯t know what An Tianzuo had said to her to turn her into this.


    ¡°Why are you crying?¡± he asked the woman.


    The woman ignored him and kept crying.


    ¡°Stop crying. Look at this.¡± Zhou Wen took out the crystal slab and waved it in front of the woman.


    When the woman saw the crystal slab, her crying stopped a little. However, she was still sobbing. She glanced at the crystal slab with an indifferent expression as though she didn¡¯t care at all. Her eyes were gray and hollow.


    An Tianzuo, that bastard. What did he say to make the woman¡¯s heart turn so ashen? Zhou Wen pondered for a moment. Seeing that the woman wasn¡¯t looking at him, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t you want to know the truth? Don¡¯t you want to know why they treated you like this? Don¡¯t you want to know if that¡¯s your daughter? Only by returning there can you know the truth.¡±


    The woman¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the beginning, but towards the end, she gradually turned to look at Zhou Wen and the crystal slab in his hand.


    ¡°Is this the device you mentioned?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    The woman nodded. This left Zhou Wen overjoyed. He never expected that the crucial item to resolve all the mysteries was already in his hands.


    ¡°How do I use this thing?¡± he hurriedly asked.


    The woman¡¯s eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head and said, ¡°It¡¯s useless. The Experimenter has already been destroyed. It¡¯s useless even if we find it. We need the Experimenter to activate it.¡±


    Zhou Wen was immediately at a loss when he heard that. The energy system and technology in that world were completely different from this world. He had nowhere to start.


    ¡°Is there no other way?¡± he asked with a frown.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know that there¡¯s a device on Experimenter that activates it. I don¡¯t understand how those devices work at all,¡± the woman said in pain.


    Zhou Wen was somewhat helpless. However, since this thing needed to be activated, it also meant that it needed energy to drive it. Zhou Wen planned on using his strength to give it a try. Even if his energy wasn¡¯t compatible with it, he still had the combat suit.


    The combat suit and the crystal slab came from the same place. Their energies should be compatible.


    With this in mind, Zhou Wen waved his hand and shrunk the ball of light that trapped the woman. He placed it in his pocket like a glass bead before teleporting to the sea.


    This was because he didn¡¯t know what would happen if the crystal was activated. He couldn¡¯t test it in a populated area.


    Of course, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t wish to immediately activate the crystal. He only wanted to see if his strength was effective against the crystal.


    Zhou Wen held the crystal in his hand and circulated the Lost Immortal Sutra, allowing his energy to flow into the crystal bit by bit.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s energy was constantly injected into it, but the crystal didn¡¯t react. No matter how much energy Zhou Wen injected, the crystal didn¡¯t react at all.


    Towards the end, Zhou Wen even used the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign, but he was still unable to effect any changes to the crystal at all.


    Is this thing that hard? Zhou Wen was somewhat surprised. Under the full strength of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡ªa top-notch power at the Apocalypse grade¡ªhe still couldn¡¯t activate the crystal. Perhaps it was due to the incompatibility between energy systems, but for the crystal to remain undamaged or deformed at all implied somewhat terrifying.


    After some thought, Zhou Wen put on the combat suit again. He wanted to use the energy of the combat suit to activate the crystal. As the energy of the combat suit was injected, the anchor symbol on the crystal lit up.


    However, there was too little energy left in the combat suit. Just as the anchor symbol lit up, the combat suit¡¯s energy was nearly drained. Zhou Wen had no choice but to stop injecting energy.


    From the looks of it, the energy of the combat suit should be able to activate the crystal, but I have to think of a way to charge it up. Zhou Wen thought about where to charge the combat suit.


    A person can only go to the Destiny Platform once. Even if I go up again, I won¡¯t be able to trigger the baptism of the Destiny powers. If I could have a few more baptisms, I should be able to fill up the combat suit¡¯s energy. Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible and thought of the Destiny Platform in-game.


    The Destiny Platform in-game could provide repeated baptisms, but he couldn¡¯t take anything external into the game.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment. The combat suit comes from the same place as the phone. Perhaps I can take it into the phone.


    Although he didn¡¯t think he could count on the idea, he didn¡¯t have any other good solutions. Therefore, he put on his combat suit and switched on his phone to give it a try.


    Just as Zhou Wen took out his phone, he suddenly heard the combat suit¡¯s voice in his brain. ¡°System connection established. Do you want to log in?¡±


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 Chapter 1879 - Break Out

    Wh¡ª Don¡¯t I need to drip any blood? Zhou Wen was completely unprepared for this revelation.


    The woman hadn¡¯t mentioned that the combat suit could be connected to the phone, nor had she mentioned that the combat suit could directly activate the gaming phone.


    On second thought, he understood the reason.


    The woman hadn¡¯t completely activated the combat suit previously. She had only used the passcode to activate some of the defensive functions of the combat suit¡ªnot the core functions.


    Zhou Wen chose to enter the game and felt a virtual screen appear in front of him. The dungeon icon from the phone appeared in front of him.


    After choosing the Destiny Platform icon, the scene in front of him changed. He realized that he had arrived at the staircase.


    Is this the correct way to launch the phone games? There¡¯s no need to use the phone and control it with my mind. I can directly enter the game. The combat suit will also be worn on me¡­ If I die like this, can I revive¡­ Zhou Wen studied it for a while and realized that other than the combat suit, nothing from reality had been brought into the game.


    In other words, he was still using his avatar in-game, but it was more three-dimensional and realistic than before.


    If his perceptive feedback in-game was 50% previously, he was getting 100% now. It was almost no different from the real world.


    The various functions of the combat suit could also be used in-game.


    Zhou Wen attempted to ascend the Destiny Platform before using the combat suit to absorb the energy descending from it. The energy in the combat suit increased at a speed visible to the naked eye.


    After the Destiny Baptism ended, the combat suit¡¯s energy reached 21%. Zhou Wen chose to quit the game and realized that the combat suit in reality also had 21% energy.


    That makes things easier. Zhou Wen entered the Destiny Platform again and again, using the Destiny Baptism to increase the combat suit¡¯s energy.


    After six consecutive attempts, the combat suit was finally fully charged.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t attempt to activate the crystal with the combat suit because he didn¡¯t plan on going to the world the woman came from. He had to resolve the matter at hand first.


    Advancing to the true Apocalypse grade was his top priority. Otherwise, he wasn¡¯t 100% confident of surviving the subsequent Destiny Battle.


    The Thearch and Wang Mingyuan were existences that had already reached the epitome of this world. Zhou Wen had to defeat them.


    After experiencing the advancement path of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign, Zhou Wen now understood that the reason he couldn¡¯t advance to the Apocalypse grade wasn¡¯t because he lacked energy.


    His own energy was enough to support the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s advancement to the Apocalypse grade. The reason he hadn¡¯t advanced to the Apocalypse grade was that he lacked a deeper understanding of the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    Thankfully, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s No-Rules and the features presented by the combat suit had already given Zhou Wen a deeper understanding of the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    With this understanding, Zhou Wen was already confident that he could directly advance to the Apocalypse grade, but he didn¡¯t do so.


    This was because his understanding was only of the Lost Immortal Sutra, and the Lost Immortal Sutra came from another world.


    1


    If he used these insights to advance to the Apocalypse grade, it would actually be the Lost Immortal Sutra advancing to the Apocalypse grade, not him advancing to the Apocalypse grade.


    Many parts of the Lost Immortal Sutra were incompatible with this world. Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of the world was also incompatible. Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t accept advancing to the Apocalypse grade in such a state.


    He wanted to modify the Lost Immortal Sutra and make it his cornerstone, not advance it.


    The Lost Immortal Sutra was from another world¡ªwhat Zhou Wen needed was a Lost Immortal Sutra he could call his own.


    Zhou Wen calmed down and studied the Lost Immortal Sutra daily, waiting for the day it was completely compatible with him.


    Time passed day by day. Occasionally, some creatures would attempt the Destiny Platform, resulting in more than ten names on the rankings.


    Dimensional zones around the world constantly broke out. Earth had almost become a paradise for dimensional creatures.


    In space, planets constantly exploded as all sorts of terrifying dimensional creatures emerged. Space became a new battlefield.


    All sorts of cosmic creatures evolved through killing in the universe. Every lifeform¡¯s starting point was at least a Calamity.


    There were also many cosmic creatures that ascended Destiny Platform¡ªthe number of Apocalypse-grade existences was even higher from the dimension.


    In this era, humans appeared increasingly puny and lacking in presence. If it wasn¡¯t for the few human names on the rankings, the world would have almost forgotten this race that was originally the ruler.


    Or rather, humans had never dominated anything. They had only been guarding Earth.


    For some reason, although the battle in space was intense, Earth remained ignored. No cosmic creature came to Earth.


    ¡­


    1


    A human was fighting a dimensional creature in the wilderness when he suddenly heard cracking sounds in the sky.


    Even the dimensional creature fighting him was stunned. It couldn¡¯t help but look up at the sky.


    With a glance, the person was immediately stunned. The blue sky seemed to crack like glass.


    The cracks crisscrossed in the air and constantly spread. It looked like the entire sky was about to shatter.


    ¡­


    2


    ¡°It¡¯s finally coming.¡± An Tianzuo stood in front of Optimus and looked at the sky that was about to shatter. Behind him were rows of soldiers.


    ¡°Overseer, everything is in order.¡± An Sheng came to An Tianzuo¡¯s side and saluted.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s begin,¡± An Tianzuo said as he stared at the sky.


    ¡­


    1


    In Luoyang City, everyone looked at the sky in horror. They watched as the cracks in the sky grew bigger and bigger, winding for hundreds of thousands of kilometers.


    Wind!


    A strange wind rose from their sides, like a wind that came from underground into the sky.


    How could the wind blow from the ground to the sky? No one knew where the wind came from.


    However, the strange wind became more and more intense. Some of the smaller things on the ground were blown into the sky.


    A two- or three-year-old child was blown into the air by the wind because of an adult¡¯s carelessness. Furthermore, he rose higher and higher as though he was about to fly towards the growing crack in the sky.


    The child¡¯s parents yelled in horror as they jumped to grab their child, but they failed.


    Even they were about to be blown into the sky by the strange wind.


    The shop signs on the streets were torn apart by the wind and flew into the sky. The trees rustled as some small trees were uprooted and also flew into the sky.


    The wind! It grew stronger and stronger! Even the buildings began to tremble as though they would collapse at any moment.


    Similar situations happened all over the world. Apart from humans who had long hidden in dimensional zones, there were humans swept into the sky everywhere outside. Many dimensional creatures were also swept into the sky.


    Hum!


    In the middle of Luoyang, a white pillar of light rose into the sky. It was like an erupting volcano as it spread out in the sky. The spiderweb-like light gradually transformed into an umbrella that blotted out the sky, enveloping the entire area of Luoyang.


    Bam! Bam! Bam! Bam!


    When the light barrier fully enveloped Luoyang, the strange wind vanished. The things that were swept into the sky smashed down one after another.


    Cars fell from the sky, smashing holes in the ground as all sorts of things rained down.


    After a long while, when everything calmed down, the people hiding in refuge centers walked out and saw that the cracks in the sky outside the barrier were extremely huge.


    Boom!


    With a loud boom, the sky shattered like glass. The entire Earth trembled as the clouds in the sky completely dissipated.


    Looking from afar, it was as though the entire Earth was spewing out shockwaves.


    As this happened all sorts of things on Earth spewed out.


    Rubble, buildings, cars, machinery, icebergs, trees¡ªall sorts of things were spewed into space.


    Apart from the dimensional zones, everywhere on Earth looked apocalyptic.


    The cities were completely destroyed. All human civilization was destroyed and thrown into space, leaving behind huge craters.


    Oxygen was almost depleted. Only the ancient buildings in the dimensional zones remained standing, becoming humanity¡¯s last sanctuary.


    Everyone looked at the apocalyptic scene in horror as they looked up at the sky uneasily.


    ¡°We can finally come over!¡± A terrifying huge creature appeared in the sky, its shadow enveloping most of Earth.


    The creature grew bigger and bigger, looking even bigger than the entire planet. It was descending towards Earth.


    Everyone was extremely alarmed. Such a huge creature made Earth seem like a ball in front of it. If it descended, it would probably crush the entire planet.

 Chapter 1880 - I Agree

    The monster stopped outside Earth. The people under its shadow were uneasy, but at that moment, another terrifying huge figure appeared in the sky.


    It was a monster that blotted out the sky like a shadow. One could only see a huge canine head from the shadow.


    ¡°Could this be the legendary moon-eating Heavenly Dog¡­¡± Everyone was alarmed. Two terrifying creatures were simultaneously coveting Earth. Earth was no different from a fragile jelly bean in front of them.


    What was even more despairing was that a third terrifying figure appeared.


    A rainbow phoenix-like dimensional creature blotted out a portion of the sky, illuminating the entire world like stained glass.


    Ignoring ordinary people, even the experts of the various families were trembling. They had already sensed how terrifying and powerful those creatures were.


    Any one of them was an existence that humans could not match. Even if humans on Earth used all their strength, it would probably be difficult for them to defeat any of them.


    What was worse was that terrifying figures constantly appeared and surrounded Earth from all directions.


    Earth was like the pearl in the game of two dragons. However, dragons weren¡¯t outside, but nine extremely terrifying monsters in different poses.


    Is Earth¡­ about to be destroyed¡­ Everyone couldn¡¯t help but feel despair.


    Emergency countermeasures were discussed among the major factions, but to no avail.


    If there was only one terrifying creature, they might still stand a chance by giving their all. Someone could even risk their life to lure the terrifying creature away.


    Now that nine terrifying creatures were surrounding Earth¡ªeach with the ability to destroy Earth¡ªall that was left was despair.


    On Earth, a creature tore through the air. It was a mountain-like Cyclops.


    A mysterious light erupted from the Cyclops¡¯s body as he blasted at one of the terrifying creatures.


    As its body rose into space, the light intensified as though it could penetrate the sky.


    Waves shook the ancient buildings and ancient trees in the mountains protected by dimensional zones on Earth.


    Everyone was pleasantly surprised. They never expected a break-out creature from Earth would stand up to resist the foreign enemies.


    Furthermore, the Cyclops¡¯s strength was unimaginably powerful, as though it was an Apocalypse-grade existence.


    ¡°That Cyclops¡­ I seem to have heard of him somewhere¡­ He should be an invincible existence in myths¡­¡± Someone recognized the identity of the Cyclops and had a sliver of hope.


    If the Cyclops could kill the invading monsters or produce an internecine outcome, Earth would still have a chance of survival.


    ¡°You monsters, don¡¯t underestimate Earth. Earth has many powerful gods guarding it¡­ That¡¯s our god¡­¡± In a temple-like dimensional zone, a boy clenched his fists with an excited expression.


    Beside the boy, many people cheered for the Cyclops excitedly. He was the strongest god in their race¡¯s myths and legends.


    The Cyclops charged in front of one of the monsters with an extremely intense light.


    Everyone looked forward to a stunning battle. They prayed for the Cyclops, praying that it could kill all the monsters.


    However, in the next second, everyone was collectively petrified.


    The monster yawned and extended its claws. Like a glass ball, it flicked a claw at the Cyclops that was covered in divine light. It exploded the Cyclops¡¯s body as though it was flicking an ant to death.


    Streams of light and flesh splattered like blood-colored fireworks.


    ¡°Dead¡­ He died just like that¡­¡± Everyone felt their bodies run cold. Even their despair seemed to freeze.


    The boy was already dumbfounded as though he couldn¡¯t believe what he had seen. His faith crumbled.


    Without hope, how could there be despair?


    ¡°Anyone else?¡± The monster¡¯s voice sent shockwaves across the ground like a tsunami, causing the ground to churn like waves. It was extremely terrifying.


    Just as everyone was feeling horrified, they saw a figure shoot into the sky and meet the terrifying monsters.


    Soon, people saw what the figure was.


    The figure was none other than the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign. He had already arrived in space and stood in front of the monster that had blasted apart the Cyclops with a finger.


    ¡°Human Sovereign has finally appeared. Kill those monsters.¡±


    ¡°How could I have forgotten? We still have Human Sovereign. He will definitely be able to defeat those monsters and save Earth.¡±


    ¡°Go for it, Human Sovereign!¡±


    No one was in the mood to speak nonsense. They only hoped that Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign could defeat the monster. After all, this concerned their survival.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, after the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign appeared, he didn¡¯t charge straight at the monster to fight. He stopped after rushing into space and raised something in his hand.


    It was too far away. Ordinary people could only see the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign shimmering in the sky like a star. They couldn¡¯t see what was happening.


    Only some human powerhouses could see the situation clearly. They saw the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign holding a tablet.


    The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign showed the monsters the tablet. The originally aggressive monsters suddenly deflated like a balloon. Their arrogant attitudes instantly vanished. One of the monsters even had its ears drooping.


    ¡°Yes¡­ Master¡­¡± Nobody knew what had happened. They only saw the nine monsters bow at the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign like obedient puppies. Then, they quickly shrank and obediently followed behind the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign. They flew towards Earth and vanished in the blink of an eye.


    After waiting for a long time, nothing happened. It was as though the nine monsters had never come.


    ¡°What¡¯s the meaning of this¡­ Master¡­ What Master¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you stupid? They bow to the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign and call him master. Human Sovereign is their master from a long time ago.¡±


    ¡°Holy sh*t, is Human Sovereign already that strong? He made such terrifying creatures acknowledge him as master with just an avatar!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve long known that no matter what era it is, Human Sovereign is invincible. Any dimensional creature has to obediently call him daddy.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t make sense! That Cyclops is a mythical boss after all. Yet, he was so easily killed. How did such an existence become so obedient after seeing Human Sovereign?¡±


    Everyone talked excitedly. At that moment, the nine Devil beasts were following the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign into Guide Ancient City.


    They had suppressed their bodies and turned into the size of ordinary humans. Soon, they arrived at Zhou Wen¡¯s yard.


    The tablet Zhou Wen had made the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign show them was a video recorded by Demonic Neonate. It was naturally Demonic Neonate who had given them the order.


    When the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed saw Zhou Wen, it immediately said with a nasal voice, ¡°Kid, although we once fought together, that¡¯s a separate matter. If you don¡¯t release Master, we won¡¯t let you off either¡­¡±


    ¡°I agree to let her regain her past memories,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he interrupted the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed.


    The nine Devil pets were taken aback. The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed opened its mouth, but it didn¡¯t know what to say. The words it had prepared previously didn¡¯t seem to be needed.


    They originally imagined that Zhou Wen wouldn¡¯t agree to let their master retrieve her memories so easily. They never expected things to go so smoothly.

 Chapter 1881 - : The Devil Kings Return

    Zhou Wen had already thought it through. Since it was only a matter of time before Demonic Neonate regained her memories, perhaps it wasn¡¯t a bad thing to let her regain her memories now.


    Instead of letting her recall those things herself, it was better to take the initiative to give her a chance. In theory, surrendering was usually met with leniency.


    Furthermore, the Devil King was also the person who was most likely to know the truth about the other world. She had studied everything the woman had brought with her and had expended a huge amount of effort and energy. Otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t have been defeated by the combined forces of the myriad races.


    He didn¡¯t believe that the Devil King hadn¡¯t figured out anything after sacrificing so much.


    ¡°I can agree with Demonic Neonate getting back her memories, but the premise is that she does so willingly. Otherwise, no one is to force her,¡± Zhou Wen said to the nine Devil pets.


    ¡°How can we agree? Master doesn¡¯t have any memories now. If she isn¡¯t willing to accept¡­¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed immediately objected.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before. If she¡¯s unwilling to accept it, no one is to force her,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Who gave you the courage to be so presumptuous in front of us? Don¡¯t think that you have the right to be presumptuous just because you¡¯ve fought alongside us¡­¡± the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed said coldly.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say a word as the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign behind him grabbed the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed with one hand.


    ¡°You are tempting fate!¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was enraged as it swiped its claw at the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s palm and collided with it.


    Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign grabbed the claws of the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed as two pure physical forces erupted.


    Bang!


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed bent its hind legs and was forced to kneel on the ground by the power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign. No matter how much strength it exerted, it couldn¡¯t stand up.


    Nine Tribulations Devil Seed was astounded. The other eight Devil pets¡¯ expressions changed as well.


    Nine Tribulations Devil Seed¡¯s pure strength could be said to be the hard ceiling of any Apocalypse-grade creature. In a confrontation of pure strength, it was suppressed to the point of being unable to counterattack. Just this strength alone could put him at the top anywhere in the world.


    After the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign retreated behind Zhou Wen, Nine Tribulations Devil Seed roared and was about to pounce at Zhou Wen, but it was stopped by Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, there¡¯s no point in stopping us. It¡¯s only a matter of time before Master awakens,¡± Immortal Slaying Ancient Subordinate said to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Even if it¡¯s only for a second, no one is to force her to do something she¡¯s unwilling to do,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Kid, do you really think we don¡¯t dare kill you?¡± the Devilish Trichilio Eater said sarcastically.


    Zhou Wen swept his gaze across the faces of the nine Devil pets and said calmly, ¡°You are still alive because you were Demonic Neonate¡¯s former subordinates. Otherwise, you would have been corpses the moment you arrived outside Earth.¡±


    The nine Devil pets were enraged when they heard that. The Hell Gatekeeper Dog transformed into a black shadow, wanting to tear through the room and devour the entire Guide Ancient City.


    However, to its surprise, it couldn¡¯t break out of the tiny room. The bubble-like light ball enveloped the entire room.


    The room was shattered, but the nine Devil pets were trapped in the ball of light. No matter how much strength they unleashed, they were unable to shatter the ball of light. Zhou Wen only stood outside the ball of light and looked at them calmly.


    The nine Devil pets were horrified. Even Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate¡¯s three slashes couldn¡¯t leave a mark on the ball of light.


    No matter how the ball of light twisted and changed, it couldn¡¯t burst. The nine Devil pets charged left and right in vain.


    The ball of light was mainly based on the Chaos Egg¡¯s characteristics and had fused with several other powers. Under Zhou Wen¡¯s control, it was almost an immortal existence. Even the combined forces of the nine Devil pets would find it difficult to crack it.


    The nine Devil pets were alarmed. The way they looked at Zhou Wen was different. Such a power he casually conjured could trap them without them realizing it. Perhaps only the Devil King from back then could be so terrifying.


    This human¡­ has actually become this powerful¡­ Only then did they realize that Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t acting arrogantly¡ªhe had the ability to kill them.


    The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s eyes flashed as the ball of light immediately shattered. The nine Devil pets fell out of the ball of light.


    Then, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign swept his gaze across the shattered house. The house quickly returned to its original state as though it was a video played in reverse.


    ¡°This person¡­ is too terrifying¡­¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed glared at Zhou Wen. Although its face was filled with anger, it didn¡¯t dare flare up at him again.


    ¡°Whether Demonic Neonate is willing to retrieve her past memories is up to her. It¡¯s not up to you to decide.¡± When Zhou Wen said those words, the nine Devil pets fell silent. No one said anything else.


    ¡°In that case, please let our master decide.¡± Immortal Slaughtering Ancient Subordinate sighed. He knew that the human in front of him had terrifying strength that was probably in no way inferior to the Devil King and Immortal Thearch of yesteryear.


    Zhou Wen summoned Demonic Neonate. When the nine Devil pets saw Demonic Neonate, they immediately greeted her. Demonic Neonate looked at them coldly without any response.


    ¡°Before she makes her choice, please shut up.¡± Zhou Wen took out the blob of Devil Spirit spirits he had obtained and placed them in front of Demonic Neonate. ¡°Do you want it?¡±


    ¡°Master, you must¡­¡± The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed anxiously wanted to persuade her, but it suddenly felt a tremendous force rush at it. The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign appeared in front of it and sent it flying with a slap.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed slammed through the wall and fell to the ground outside. It wasn¡¯t a big deal. It jumped up angrily and wanted to rush into the room, but when it saw Zhou Wen¡¯s cold gaze, its heart skipped a beat. It subconsciously stopped and didn¡¯t dare enter.


    The other Devil pets thought at the same time, That was close. Thankfully, Nine Tribulations¡¯ mouth was faster than mine. Otherwise, I would have been the one sent flying.


    Demonic Neonate looked at the Devil Spirit in Zhou Wen¡¯s hand and nodded slightly under the expectant gazes of the nine Devil pets.


    The nine Devil pets were immediately overjoyed as they cried tears of joy.


    ¡°You don¡¯t think it will harm you?¡± Zhou Wen asked again.


    The Nine Tribulations Devil Seed opened its mouth, about to criticize Zhou Wen, but it seemed to realize something. It hurriedly turned to look at the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign and saw it staring at it. It hurriedly closed its mouth.


    Demonic Neonate nodded slightly again before Zhou Wen released his grip on the Devil Spirit.


    Since Demonic Neonate was certain that the Devil Spirit wasn¡¯t harmful to her, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t stop her and allowed the Devil Spirit in his hand to fly towards her.


    After the Devil Spirit escaped his grasp, it immediately charged at Demonic Neonate¡¯s forehead.


    Demonic Neonate didn¡¯t dodge and allowed the Devil Spirit to land on her glabella, transforming into a black mark.


    Seeing that Zhou Wen had indeed kept his promise and allowed their master to retrieve the Devil Spirit, none of them hesitated any further. Every Devil pet took out another Devil Spirit. Together with the one Zhou Wen had previously snatched, there were a total of nine Devil Spirits.


    The other Devil Spirits automatically flew towards Demonic Neonate¡¯s glabella and fused into it, leaving a mysterious symbol there.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s expression changed constantly. All sorts of strange scenes seemed to flow rapidly in her eyes. At the same time, the mysterious mark began to burn with flames.


    The dark purple flames enveloped Demonic Neonate¡¯s body and quickly devoured it. Furthermore, the flames burned brighter and brighter. Demonic Neonate could no longer be seen.


    The dark purple flames were extremely terrifying, but they didn¡¯t have a temperature, nor did they affect anything around them.


    The nine Devil pets looked at the flames with delight. Zhou Wen felt uneasy.


    After Demonic Neonate obtains the memories of her previous life, will she still acknowledge me? She¡¯s my Companion Beast. Even if she doesn¡¯t acknowledge me, she shouldn¡¯t be able to renege on our agreement, right? Zhou Wen was somewhat worried.


    When the dark purple flames gathered, Demonic Neonate¡¯s figure gradually appeared from the flames.


    First, it was a pair of long, slender legs, followed by exaggerated curves. Even the black-purple robe couldn¡¯t hide her graceful figure.


    When all the mystical purple flames were sucked into the mysterious mark, Demonic Neonate¡¯s cold, exquisite, extremely beautiful, but daunting face finally appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Noble, beautiful, elegant, cold, mysterious, holy, sexy, evil, and other conflicting adjectives were perfectly compatible with this woman.


    A woman in a black and purple robe with long hair that reached her ankles. Her eyes were like a mysterious starry sky, and her skin was as white as milk. As her eyes darted around, she made the entire world seem to pale in comparison. She stood quietly in front of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°You¡­ deserve death¡­¡± The woman looked at Zhou Wen and enunciated each and every word.

 Chapter 1882 - The Devil King

    Indeed, she still hates me for killing her previous self? Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate, who could no longer be called Demonic Neonate, and was momentarily discouraged.


    1


    He had been with Demonic Neonate for so long that his ties with her ran deep. He found it difficult to accept suddenly becoming her enemy.


    He originally imagined that Demonic Neonate would take into account their past relationship and not make things difficult for him, but from her words, she probably hated Zhou Wen to the core and wanted him dead.


    1


    That¡¯s right. I killed her. It¡¯s normal if she wants to kill me. Zhou Wen looked at Demonic Neonate, but he didn¡¯t plan on sitting idle.


    With a thought, he wanted to unsummon Demonic Neonate.


    No matter what Demonic Neonate became, she was still Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast. In theory, she had to obey his orders.


    1


    However, with a thought from Zhou Wen, Demonic Neonate stood there motionless, unable to be unsummoned.


    Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t too surprised because Demonic Neonate could freely enter and exit without his orders. This situation wasn¡¯t strange.


    1


    ¡°Master, you¡¯re finally back!¡± Skyfiend Consort was pleasantly surprised. She curtailed her seductiveness and solemnly bowed at Demonic Neonate.


    The other Devil pets also called out their master¡¯s name in unison and bowed at Demonic Neonate.


    Zhou Wen was envious. After countless years, the nine Devil pets remained loyal to Demonic Neonate. This loyalty wasn¡¯t something that could be obtained simply through force.


    Demonic Neonate gestured slightly before the nine Devil pets got up one after another. Their faces were filled with joy. The Hell Gatekeeper Dog was like a husky as it lay at Demonic Neonate¡¯s feet. It looked like it wanted Demonic Neonate to stroke its head.


    ¡°It¡¯s been hard on you,¡± Demonic Neonate whispered. Her voice seemed to have an indescribable charm that made one feel at ease.


    Zhou Wen had always heard of how cruel the Devil King was. When he really saw her, he couldn¡¯t tell how cruel she was, nor could he tell that she had any evil aura.


    ¡°Master has been reborn. We swear to follow Master and will definitely help Master rule the world.¡± The nine Devil pets were extremely excited. They wanted to immediately follow the Devil King and fight for supremacy.


    3


    Demonic Neonate nodded slightly, but she looked at Zhou Wen with an indifferent gaze before walking towards him.


    Zhou Wen opened his mouth to say something, but he realized that he couldn¡¯t even move his lips.


    At that moment, time and space seemed to freeze. Everything was frozen there. Only Demonic Neonate kept walking like a demoness against the river of time.


    1


    Zhou Wen was alarmed as he frantically activated the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign and Lost Immortal Sutra, but he felt as though everything had been frozen. The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign stood there without any reaction. His body was like a boulder without any energy flowing.


    Zhou Wen could only watch as Demonic Neonate walked in front of him and extended her slender fingers towards his cheek.


    If he could still sweat, his forehead would probably be covered in cold sweat. Unfortunately, no sweat came out of him.


    It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. Indeed, one can¡¯t be arrogant. I thought that with my present strength, even if the Devil King revived, I would have the ability to fight her. I never expected the Devil King to be so powerful. I don¡¯t even have the chance to resist¡­ Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t in the mood to praise the Devil King¡¯s strength. His mind raced as he thought of a way to escape.


    However, it was difficult for him to even speak. It was impossible for him to convince the Devil King by playing the emotional card.


    Just as the Devil King¡¯s finger was about to touch him, a golden light suddenly erupted from Zhou Wen¡¯s ear. Terrifying golden energy gathered in front of him, turning into a wild and handsome blonde man who stood in front of him.


    3


    Truth Listener has completed its evolution! Zhou Wen was overjoyed.


    Truth Listener had undoubtedly reached the Apocalypse grade. To be able to break the suppression of the Devil King¡¯s power, it was obvious that his strength was no ordinary existence even at the Apocalypse grade. At the very least, it was above the nine Devil pets. It was even stronger than the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign.


    1


    The nine Devil pets and the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign seemed to be frozen, but Truth Listener could move freely. This was enough to explain many things.


    The golden light on Truth Listener¡¯s body erupted crazily. With strength capable of tearing through space, it threw a punch at the Devil King.


    This punch didn¡¯t have any nomological powers to speak of, nor was there any technique. It was pure, unadulterated strength that was unimaginably powerful. Space shattered like glass under this punch, collapsing into a black hole.


    Such powerful strength was much stronger than the Nine Tribulations Devil Seed that cultivated its body as well. Even Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare take the punch head-on.


    Yet, the Devil King ignored such a terrifying punch. With just a glance at Truth Listener, Truth Listener¡¯s body seemed to be struck by an invisible sledgehammer as it flew backward and slammed into the wall.


    1


    He sprawled against the wall like a fly that had been slapped against the wall, unable to move.


    Wh¡ª Zhou Wen never expected such an outcome. His body turned cold as his heart sank.


    In the next second, the Devil King¡¯s finger landed on Zhou Wen¡¯s cheek, causing him to shiver.


    My life is over¡­ Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    The Devil King¡¯s slender and round fingers slid across Zhou Wen¡¯s face and stopped at his chin. Then, she raised his chin slightly, causing Zhou Wen to look up.


    The Devil King looked at Zhou Wen with a faint smile. Her voice that seemed to travel across spacetime sounded in his ears. ¡°You¡­ wanted to be my daddy?¡±


    Zhou Wen broke out into a cold sweat. He hated his younger self for saying those words. He regretted it so much that he wanted to slap himself.


    3


    In the past, he had found Demonic Neonate adorable. After spending some time with her, he had subconsciously raised her like a daughter.


    2


    Back then, Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t speak. Zhou Wen had made Demonic Neonate call him daddy as though he was teaching a daughter how to speak.


    Now that he thought about it, Zhou Wen could only be glad that Demonic Neonate couldn¡¯t speak back then and hadn¡¯t really called him daddy. If she had done so, death for him would probably have been an extravagant hope today.


    Zhou Wen wanted to defend himself, but he couldn¡¯t say a word. The Devil King had no intention of listening to his excuses. She exerted more strength with her fingers, raising Zhou Wen¡¯s head even higher.


    ¡°You even got me to serve you tea¡­¡± The Devil King¡¯s expression turned even stranger. She was clearly smiling, but Zhou Wen didn¡¯t feel any warmth. His heart had already turned cold.


    1


    How would I know that such a day would come? You¡¯re a Companion Beast. Was I to do it myself when there was you to command around? I also wanted you to experience the joy of being a human¡­ Thankfully, you ignored me back then. You didn¡¯t do anything, so why are you blaming it on me now? Zhou Wen criticized inwardly.


    ¡°When you encountered danger, you even got me to help you fend off the calamity¡­¡± Every word the Devil King said was like a heavy hammer that sent Zhou Wen¡¯s heart deeper into hell.


    1


    It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. I¡¯m afraid dying today would be extravagant¡­ Zhou Wen had already given up struggling. All he wanted was a quick death.


    Indeed, after the Devil King recounted Zhou Wen¡¯s crimes, she added, ¡°You¡­ really¡­ deserve death¡­¡±


    ¡°You wish for death? Not so easy.¡± With that said, Zhou Wen wanted to close his eyes and wait for the fate of being tortured to death, but he felt his chin being pinched by the Devil King. Then, the red lips imprinted on his lips.


    2


    A strange force instantly spread through Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    1

 Chapter 1883 - Advancement to the Apocalypse Grade

    Zhou Wen felt his mind explode as his consciousness entered that strange space.


    1


    In the void, the woman who had appeared in Zhou Wen¡¯s dream floated in the air with the Devil King.


    1


    ¡°How dare you stand in front of me?¡± The Sigh of the King stared coldly at the Devil King.


    The Devil King only glanced at her, seemingly in no mood to speak. Her eyes were filled with contempt.


    The Sigh of the King was infuriated. With a wave of her arm, infinite light immediately appeared in the void. Light shone over the Devil King from all directions as though it wanted to melt the entire world to become part of the light.


    1


    However, when the layers of light arrived in front of the Devil King, it seemed to freeze.


    In the next second, with a gaze from the Devil King, all the light shattered. The entire void space shattered with the light.


    The Sigh of the King shattered as well. Cracks appeared on her body, leaving her face filled with surprise.


    ¡°You¡­ took that step¡­¡± Sigh of the King¡¯s figure began to separate and was about to shatter like glass. She looked at the Devil King with an odd expression.


    1


    The Devil King ignored her and only watched indifferently as the Sigh of the King cracked.


    Crack!


    The Sigh of the King¡¯s body shattered along with the entire void, turning into fragments that began to soar.


    ¡°We¡­ will meet again¡­¡± The Sigh of the King¡¯s voice gradually dissipated in the shattered void.


    ¡°You¡¯re just a wisp of consciousness. Are you even worthy?¡± the Devil King said coldly.


    1


    Zhou Wen felt his brain and heart ache terribly. It wasn¡¯t just his brain and heart. It was as though every cell in his body was being ripped apart, making him almost go berserk from the pain.


    He didn¡¯t wish to experience this feeling a second time in his life. It was as though someone had pulled out his blood vessels or bones. Even his brain felt like it had been plucked out piece by piece.


    Pain. There was nothing but pain. Then, there was an endless emptiness. It was as though something important had been pulled out of his body. His soul felt like it was about to fly out of his body.


    Just as he thought his soul was about to return to hell, a strange energy suddenly surged out of his body.


    The power didn¡¯t come from the Devil King or any external force, but from Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    It was like a seed that had been planted. After thousands of years, it suddenly sprouted and crawled out from the ground, revealing a sprout filled with vitality.


    Every cell surged with vitality, gradually awakening his body. The emptiness was gradually filled, and he was even more energetic than before.


    Zhou Wen felt an unprecedented sense of relief. It was as though the shackles on his body had been unlocked as he rushed out of prison to be reborn.


    When he opened his eyes, he realized that the Devil King in front of him had vanished. The nine Devil pets had also vanished. Everything that had happened seemed like a dream, as though it had never happened.


    1


    Zhou Wen naturally knew that it wasn¡¯t a dream. He hurriedly checked his Companion Beast information.


    Demonic Neonate¡¯s name had vanished from the Companion Beast list, but he was surprised to see Devil King¡¯s name.


    Devil King: ???


    However, all the information on the Devil King was question marks. There was nothing to be seen. Even she didn¡¯t even know what level she was at.


    2


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred as he hurriedly checked his information.


    The original Life Providence was no longer Sigh of the King, but a new name¡ªHuman Sovereign.


    3


    Zhou Wen wore a complicated expression. He roughly understood what had happened.


    Previously, the Sigh of the King Life Providence was transformed from the soul he absorbed from the Lost Immortal Sutra. Or rather, it was transformed from the woman in the Lost Immortal Sutra. It wasn¡¯t his true Life Providence.


    The Devil King shattered the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s soul and the Sigh of the King¡¯s Life Providence. Only then did Zhou Wen¡¯s true Life Providence appear and condense into the Human Sovereign Life Providence.


    As the Sigh of the King¡¯s Life Providence was removed, Zhou Wen felt as though there were no shackles on his body. Just standing there made him feel a surge of infinite energy rushing into his body.


    1


    This energy was very strange. No matter how much energy surged into his body, it didn¡¯t burden him. Instead, it slowly nourished his body, constantly transforming it.


    Zhou Wen finally knew why he couldn¡¯t advance to the Apocalypse grade. It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t advance, but that his previous Life Providence limited his body, preventing him from advancing to the Apocalypse grade using the path set by the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    1


    Zhou Wen had previously wanted to modify the Lost Immortal Sutra to make it suitable for him and not adapt to it. The reason he hadn¡¯t succeeded was because of the limitations of the Life Providence.


    1


    Now that there were no restrictions on his Life Providence, the Lost Immortal Sutra was no longer restricted. Following Zhou Wen¡¯s will, there were constant changes, making it quickly become very different from before.


    Zhou Wen realized that he could break through that final obstacle and successfully advance to the Apocalypse grade with a single thought.


    In fact, with a thought, Zhou Wen broke through the restrictions of the Calamity grade and entered the Apocalypse grade. The power of the New World began to condense in his body.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body underwent a tremendous change. The world seemed completely different in his eyes.


    With just a thought, Zhou Wen felt his entire being sublimate.


    Zhou Wen: Apocalypse grade (Evolvable)


    3


    Life Providence: Human Sovereign


    Life Soul: Slaughterer


    Wheel of Destiny: No Engravings (One Spin)


    Terror Form: The Disqualified (Beyond S)


    Calamity Zone: Human Realm (Heaven level)


    New World: Unique and Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign.


    1


    Strength: 9999


    2


    ¡­


    Zhou Wen looked at his information with a complicated expression. He called out to the Devil King twice, but he didn¡¯t receive any response.


    What¡¯s wrong with her? Did she pay a huge price to shatter the Sigh of the King? Did her body suffer damage? Or did she expend too much strength and is sleeping to recharge? Zhou Wen was somewhat puzzled, but he didn¡¯t have an answer.


    Although he couldn¡¯t figure out the reason, Zhou Wen already understood that Demonic Neonate hadn¡¯t forgotten him, nor did she resent him. She had even helped him shatter the restrictions of the Sigh of the King and allowed him to retrieve his Life Providence.


    1


    From the looks of it, she¡¯s still the same Demonic Neonate from before. Zhou Wen heaved a long sigh of relief. Demonic Neonate was still around, and he had advanced to the Apocalypse grade. Now, he could participate in the Destiny Battle in peace.


    At the same time Earth¡¯s seals cracked, the Cubes in the entire universe lit up at the same time. A countdown appeared on it. It was only a nine-day countdown. It was estimated that when the countdown ended, it would be the day the Destiny Battle began.


    Suddenly, the Cube¡¯s screen changed and a scene of the staircase appeared. Another person had ascended the staircase to the Destiny Platform.

 Chapter 1884 - The Battle of Destiny Begins

    The person¡¯s entire body was wrapped in a gray robe, and his face couldn¡¯t be seen at all. One couldn¡¯t even tell if he was a man or a woman.


    1


    The person stood on the staircase and walked forward step by step. He didn¡¯t take much effort to reach the Destiny Platform.


    Terrifying energy gathered on the person¡¯s body which resembled a huge bottomless pit. No amount of energy seemed to be able to make him react at all.


    The entire process could be said to be uneventful. The scene switched to the rankings, and at the bottom of the rankings, the words ¡°Holy God¡± appeared.


    1


    This attempt was somewhat baffling. One didn¡¯t even know if Holy God was a human or a god before it ended.


    All kinds of monsters have appeared. Holy God is also participating in the Destiny Battle. Who is he? Zhou Wen looked at the name on the rankings and couldn¡¯t help but frown slightly.


    This was because after Zhou Wen learned of the origins of the Holy Land, he had always suspected that Holy God was the former principal, but they were only his suspicions that he couldn¡¯t confirm.


    If it was really the former principal, three of the four people who had entered Chess Mountain were to participate in the Destiny Battle. Only Zhou Wen¡¯s father hadn¡¯t participated.


    Just as Zhou Wen was pondering over it, he suddenly saw the Cube light up again. Another person had ascended the staircase.


    When he saw them appear on the Cube¡¯s screen, his heart couldn¡¯t help but contract.


    1


    A figure enveloped by an immortal glow stood on the staircase and immortal light cascaded down from the figure, Zhou Wen could sense that it was definitely The Thearch.


    1


    She¡¯s free¡­ Although he had long known that such a day would come, Zhou Wen still paid attention when it happened.


    Up to now, there were a total of two people who Zhou Wen was completely unable to match. One was Demonic Neonate who had recovered her Devil King body, and the other was The Thearch.


    1


    Although Wang Mingyuan was very strong, he wasn¡¯t so strong that it exceeded Zhou Wen¡¯s comprehension.


    The Devil King and The Thearch had an incomprehensible strength.


    Of course, that was in the past. Now that Zhou Wen had advanced to the Apocalypse grade, he could fight the two of them head-on. He would only know after they started fighting.


    Now, Zhou Wen¡¯s understanding of strength had reached a deeper level. He already had some concept of the Devil King and The Thearch¡¯s strength.


    Alright, I have to resolve everything after all. Let¡¯s end this all at the Destiny Battle. Zhou Wen took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. He stared at the Cube¡¯s screen, hoping to see how The Thearch would ascend Destiny Platform.


    The various factions were also paying attention to the situation on the Destiny Platform. Everyone seemed to realize that the Cube¡¯s battle was somewhat different.


    Even though people didn¡¯t know the importance of the Destiny Battle, they felt that something was different.


    The Thearch stood on the first stone step and wasn¡¯t in a rush to walk up. She only looked at the staircase calmly.


    Time ticked by. Some people were puzzled as to why she wasn¡¯t walking. Did she not have the ability to walk up?


    1


    Suddenly, the stone steps under The Thearch¡¯s feet moved, but the stone steps didn¡¯t fall into the bottomless abyss. Instead, they rose.


    The Thearch stood on the stone steps as though she was ascending. The stone steps rose into the sky and slowly headed for Destiny Platform.


    This scene stunned all the creatures in the world. Even the strongest Human Sovereign they acknowledged could only ignore the rules of the staircase and move freely on it, but not reverse the rules like her.


    The stone steps slowly rose to the Destiny Platform. This wasn¡¯t taking the staircase at all. It was more like taking the elevator.


    2


    Endless energy gathered in the sky like an endless sea that blotted out the sky.


    Everyone waited for the phenomenon of the energy landing, but they were alarmed to see the immortal glow on The Thearch¡¯s body bloom.


    A gorgeous and magical glow illuminated the sky, instantly melting the sea of clouds that filled the sky. All the energy was scattered, revealing a blue-white void.


    Arrogance!


    Her arrogance had no limits. Others received the baptism of Destiny, but The Thearch wiped it out.


    1


    My life is up to me, not the heavens. Who has the right to determine her limits, and what right did it have to decide her destiny?


    Immortal!


    The Cube¡¯s ranking appeared. There was only one word on it.


    1


    This simple word appeared like an insurmountable mountain, but also like a sky that suppressed everything. It was unreachable.


    Among the Immortals, countless Immortals silently raised their left hands towards the Cube¡¯s screen with two fingers against their foreheads. This was the highest etiquette among the Immortals, representing their loyalty to their monarch.


    Their monarch had returned.


    From this moment on, the Immortals were no longer the fallen Immortals, but the strongest Immortals who had once reigned supreme.


    1


    Everyone that¡¯s supposed to be here is here. On the divine mountain, Wang Mingyuan stared at the word ¡®Immortal¡¯ on the rankings with a burning gaze as though he was looking forward to something.


    How troublesome! Holy God wore a strange expression as he frowned at the word ¡°Immortal.¡±


    Many experts who had already printed their names on the rankings were looking at the ordinary but unparalleled word ¡°Immortal.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at the word ¡®Immortal¡¯ as his mind raced.


    Regardless of whether he was willing to be enemies with The Thearch, only one person could survive in the Battle of Destiny.


    Zhou Wen felt the spot where the Devil King was on him vaguely burning as though the Devil King was also affected by the word ¡°Immortal.¡±


    ¡°You wish to fight her too?¡± Zhou Wen gradually felt tempted.


    If he could defeat Wang Mingyuan, Holy God, and The Thearch¡ªthese strongest existences in the world¡ªhe would have the right to take that step.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I have a bad feeling,¡± Li Xuan came to Zhou Wen¡¯s side and said hesitantly.


    ¡°What bad feeling?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid this battle will be very troublesome.¡± Li Xuan looked at the Cube¡¯s screen and said, ¡°Perhaps many people will die.¡±


    ¡°Are you worried about Laughing Li?¡±


    Li Xuan nodded slightly. ¡°And you. I know you are very strong, but those fellows¡­¡±


    Before Li Xuan could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen already understood what he meant. Those fellows were very strong and could be said to be the strongest in this world.


    ¡°I know. No one can back out of this battle. All you can do is try your best to survive.¡± Zhou Wen looked at Li Xuan and slowly said, ¡°I¡¯m sorry; I¡¯m not confident of saving his life.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak further. You have to return alive,¡± Li Xuan said.


    Zhou Wen nodded without a word. It wasn¡¯t that he wasn¡¯t confident of returning alive, but this battle was somewhat different. He couldn¡¯t predict the final outcome.


    Ever since The Thearch stepped onto the Destiny Platform, almost no creature attempted the staircase.


    The huge difference made the powerful creatures who were still considering it quickly give up. They no longer had the intention to vie for it.


    Time passed day by day. When there were only 24 hours left on the countdown, there were only three new creatures on the rankings. There were no more after that.


    At the instant the countdown ended, all the creatures on the rankings, no matter where they were, suddenly transformed into streams of light and dissipated.

 Chapter 1885 - Holy God

    There was no scene of the Destiny Platform on the Cube¡¯s screen. There was only a blob of flickering light.


    The light was like a ghost, but it also seemed to be some constantly changing energy. As the light changed, a cold voice sounded from the Cube.


    ¡°The victor of the Destiny Battle shall be king. You will become the new dimensional king. The entire world is the battlefield of the Destiny Battle. There are no rules. The creature that survives to the end is the new dimensional king. All creatures of the myriad worlds, look forward to your new king¡­¡±


    1


    After the voice came to an end, the Cube¡¯s scene changed, splitting into many monitor-like scenes. Every scene showed a creature participating in the Destiny Battle.


    All the creatures that participated in the Destiny Battle were randomly sent to a corner of the Dimensional Airspace. There were no other creatures nearby, so no battle happened.


    1


    People searched for the person they wanted to see from the screens. Most of them cast their gazes at Zhou Wen.


    At that moment, Zhou Wen wasn¡¯t using his Companion Beasts. He was wearing the combat suit, and his face was still his original appearance.


    1


    The Cube¡¯s voice reached every end of the Dimensional Airspace. He knew the rules, but the Dimensional Airspace was almost endless. It wasn¡¯t easy for any of the ten plus creatures to encounter one of them. It was no different from searching for a needle in a haystack.


    1


    However, this wasn¡¯t a problem for certain terrifying existences. Ignoring the fact that it was in the Dimensional Airspace, even if one was hidden at the end of the universe, they would definitely be able to find them if they wanted to.


    Zhou Wen gave it a try. It wasn¡¯t difficult to leave the Dimensional Airspace, but the battlefield of the Destiny Battle was the entire world. It was useless even if he left the Dimensional Airspace. Unless all living creatures who participated in the Destiny Battle gave up the throne, the Destiny Battle would continue until only one creature remained standing.


    1


    Wang Mingyuan, who was dressed in white with crystal horns on his head, appeared in front of an Apocalypse creature. The Apocalypse creature erupted with terrifying energy, hoping to repel Wang Mingyuan.


    The four immortal swords around Wang Mingyuan flew out and instantly killed the Apocalypse creature. The screen depicting the Apocalypse creature turned black as its name on the rankings vanished.


    1


    The Thearch took a step forward and arrived on the Destiny Platform. She stood on it as though she was waiting for something. She had no intention of leaving to find the others.


    Soon, a gray-robed figure arrived in front of Destiny Platform. He walked up the stone steps and arrived in front of The Thearch.


    1


    As Zhou Wen hadn¡¯t started fighting, this drew the attention of many.


    The Thearch¡¯s invincible stance made many people believe that she was the strongest existence on the rankings.


    Holy God was also a very mysterious figure. They looked forward to whatever sparks would arise from their battle.


    ¡°The Thearch, you shouldn¡¯t have come,¡± Holy God said slowly as he looked at The Thearch.


    1


    Only then did people realize that the supreme existence with the word ¡°Immortal¡± wasn¡¯t named ¡®Immortal.¡¯


    ¡°That sounds familiar,¡± The Thearch said with piqued interest.


    Holy God smiled and said, ¡°Back in front of Chess Mountain, you said something similar to the four of us. However, today, I¡¯ll return those words to you.¡±


    1


    ¡°This is interesting. Why shouldn¡¯t I be here?¡± The Thearch said indifferently.


    ¡°Although I didn¡¯t see your true body back then, I would have died a long time ago before reaching that ship without your secret help. It can be said that you saved my life,¡± Holy God said.


    ¡°We had shared interests,¡± The Thearch said casually.


    ¡°You have your plans, but to me, the truth is the truth. No matter what the motive is, you saved my life.¡± Holy God sighed and said, ¡°You were once the monarch of the dimension. This position is meaningless to you. Why do you have to get involved in this mess?¡±


    ¡°From the looks of it, you found the answer you wanted on that ship.¡± The Thearch¡¯s expression remained unchanged.


    ¡°I did get something. After years of research, I¡¯ve already seen the true colors of this world. That¡¯s why I said that you shouldn¡¯t have come. Participating in the Destiny Battle means there¡¯s no room for retreat. I can¡¯t choose not to be your enemy,¡± Holy God said.


    ¡°You want to tell me that no opponents are worthy of you in this world, including me, right?¡± The Thearch remained calm as she spoke slowly.


    ¡°Some people pursue strength, while others study the rules. Those who pursue strength might be temporarily strong, but only those who control the rules can control the entire world,¡± Holy God said.


    1


    ¡°Are you sure you already control the rules of this world?¡± The Thearch said with a faint smile.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ve already controlled the rules of this world. In my eyes, there are no more secrets in this world. All of this is thanks to you, so I really don¡¯t want to be your enemy, but I have no choice now,¡± Holy God said with a sigh.


    ¡°So your way of repaying me is to be the first to come to me?¡± The Thearch laughed.


    Holy God wanted to say something, but he was interrupted by The Thearch. ¡°It¡¯s useless to say anything else. Let me see what the world you control is like.¡±


    ¡°Pardon me,¡± Holy God said as he extended his palm. A black mass slowly condensed in his palm.


    The black matter was like smoke and light as it distorted and deformed in Holy God¡¯s palm. Soon, it transformed into the shape of the Cube.


    1


    What was even stranger was that although the Cube was only the size of a palm, it was identical to the Cubes scattered around the world. There was even a scene on the Cube.


    In those scenes were the images of creatures participating in the Destiny Battle. Even the blackened scenes were identical.


    The Cube in his hand was a mini version of the Cube.


    The mini Cube floated in front of Holy God. Holy God extended a finger and tapped a certain scene.


    The scene was of an Apocalypse-grade creature. Its body was like a dragon as it searched for other participating creatures in the Dimensional Airspace.


    Holy God tapped his finger on the scene that belonged to it, and the scene immediately turned black.


    1


    Everyone was alarmed to discover the disappearance of the creature¡¯s names on the rankings.


    Although no one saw what had happened to the Apocalypse creature, they could imagine its outcome.


    Everyone was horrified. Holy God could wipe out people who participated in the Destiny Battle via controlling the Cube. This was practically cheating. It was like a GM with the authority to ban players entering the arena to fight other players. Equipment or stats were of no use. The account was banned, and even the data in-game was deleted.


    1

 Chapter 1886 - Redefining the Rules

    ¡°The Thearch, I¡¯ll send you on your way,¡± Holy God said as he pointed at the grid that belonged to The Thearch.


    The Thearch only looked at Holy God silently without doing anything. It was as though she didn¡¯t plan on killing him before his finger landed on the screen.


    Holy God tapped the screen with his finger, and the scene immediately flashed. The hearts of those who were staring at the screen skipped a beat, imagining that The Thearch was about to die.


    The scene between Holy God and The Thearch overlapped. Even if The Thearch¡¯s scene went black, one could see how The Thearch died through Holy God¡¯s scene.


    Unexpectedly, after The Thearch¡¯s screen was tapped by Holy God, it only flashed for a moment¡ªit didn¡¯t turn black.


    Holy God¡¯s expression changed drastically as he quickly tapped a few more times. However, the screen only flashed a few times without any inkling of going black.


    ¡°Should I say that you are too confident, or should I say that you are too lacking in confidence?¡± The Thearch looked at Holy God and said indifferently, ¡°Your so-called understanding of the rules of this world is only your understanding of this world. You are too confident in those things, but you don¡¯t have confidence in your world. What a pitiful and tragic fellow. As a part of this world, when you deny this world, you are denying yourself. By denying yourself, how can you truly control the power of this world? You were abandoned by the world the moment you gave up on this world.¡±


    Holy God retreated in horror. He never expected that the power he had studied for so long, a power he believed made him in control of everything, to be nothing but a joke in The Thearch¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Come,¡± The Thearch whispered. The black mini Cube in Holy God¡¯s hand vanished into thin air and appeared in front of The Thearch.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t look at Holy God. She only looked at the Cube in front of her with interest. She extended a finger and pointed at the screen of Holy God.


    Holy God gathered his strength and wanted to summon the Cube back, but the Cube seemed to have severed its connection with him. It didn¡¯t react at all as it floated quietly in front of The Thearch.


    Holy God¡¯s expression changed as his figure traveled a strange trajectory and vanished in front of The Thearch. In the next moment, Holy God appeared in front of Zhou Wen.


    Almost at the same time, The Thearch pressed her finger on the screen that belonged to Holy God.


    The scene flashed for a moment, but it didn¡¯t turn black. However, the scene dimmed significantly and was rapidly dimming.


    Holy God¡¯s body was like a reflection in a trick mirror. It strangely distorted and flickered as though it would disappear at any moment.


    Zhou Wen frowned just as he saw Holy God suddenly appear in front of him, only to see Holy God¡¯s figure distort. At the same time, he heard Holy God call his name.


    When he heard the voice, his body immediately trembled. He was extremely familiar with the voice. It was the former principal¡¯s voice.


    Is Holy God really my former principal? Zhou Wen saw that Holy God was about to be killed by some force and immediately used his New World power to envelop him.


    Holy God¡¯s distorted body immediately stopped distorting thanks to the New World power. It no longer looked distinct as it returned to its normal state.


    On the mini Cube, the scene that was rapidly dimming returned to normal.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± When The Thearch saw this scene through the mini Cube, she grabbed it with her fingers. The mini Cube automatically disintegrated, turning into independent cubes. On each cube was a scene that was neatly arranged in front of her.


    Small cubes constantly changed on her palm. They disintegrated and reformed repeatedly like toy blocks.


    At that instant, The Thearch seemed to understand the secrets to the Cube. She looked at the grid that belonged to Holy God and under her gaze, the grid¡¯s scene began to flash.


    Zhou Wen felt a terrifying force pressing down on his New World as the surrounding space flickered.


    Looking at the changing space around him, Holy God said with a bitter smile, ¡°I never expected that all my years of painstaking research would end up with nothing. The Thearch is right. The moment I lost confidence in this world, I was abandoned by it.¡±


    ¡°You are really¡­¡± Zhou Wen looked at Holy God, momentarily at a loss on how to address him.


    If it were in the past, Zhou Wen could call him sir, but to be precise: Ouyang Ting was Ouyang Lan¡¯s father; hence, Zhou Wen was Ouyang Lan¡¯s biological son, so Ouyang Ting was his grandfather.


    1


    Holy God shook his head and stopped Zhou Wen from continuing. ¡°Listen to me. I know I¡¯m a failure, and I shouldn¡¯t have lost confidence in my world, but there¡¯s really no other way. What I saw was just too terrifying. Remember, don¡¯t dream of going to that world. It¡¯s not a place we should go.¡±


    ¡°What did you see?¡± Zhou Wen asked with a frown.


    ¡°That¡¯s not important. Remember, don¡¯t try to open the door to that world¡­ Ignorance is sometimes a blessing¡­¡± As Holy God spoke, he charged out of Zhou Wen¡¯s New World.


    Ouyang Ting was clearly prepared to die. He wanted to bury himself and everything he knew.


    However, no matter how Ouyang Ting¡¯s figure moved, he seemed to be fixed in place. He couldn¡¯t rush out of Zhou Wen¡¯s New World.


    ¡°Make things clear. I¡¯d rather die in fear than live in ignorance,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    Ouyang Ting looked at Zhou Wen in a daze before realizing that Zhou Wen had grown to an unimaginable level.


    ¡°It looks like I was really wrong.¡± Ouyang Ting sighed.


    The Thearch was competing with Zhou Wen through the mini Cube when a figure slowly walked over and landed on the Destiny Platform.


    His white clothes were whiter than snow, and there was a sword with a ferocious aura hanging at his waist. It was none other than Wang Mingyuan.


    1


    ¡°You¡¯re here.¡± The Thearch looked at Wang Mingyuan and smiled.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this what you want?¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently, ¡°From the moment we entered Chess Mountain, everything was within your plans.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re smarter than him. Since you know that, why are you here?¡± The Thearch¡¯s smile deepened.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t I come?¡± Wang Mingyuan looked at The Thearch and said indifferently, ¡°The world is like a chess game. You are a chess player, and I was a chess piece in the past. Now, not only do I want to be a chess player, but I also want to be the person who sets the rules of the game. I want to redefine the rules of this world.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. How do you redefine the rules?¡± The Thearch asked Wang Mingyuan.


    1


    ¡°Absolute rules don¡¯t require a chess player. All living beings will go about their matters under the rules. Everyone will follow their own destinies. There will be no disputes, no differences in status, nor will there be any discrimination or hatred. Absolute rules represent absolute equality¡­¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes gradually burned as he stared at The Thearch and slowly said, ¡°Killing a chess player is the first step to redefining the rules.¡±


    ¡°At the end of the day, aren¡¯t you still going to be a chess player?¡± The Thearch said disdainfully.


    ¡°You can also say that there can only be one truth in this world.¡± As Wang Mingyuan spoke, the sword at his waist automatically unsheathed and transformed into a sharp beam of light that went straight for The Thearch.

 Chapter 1887 - Goodbye

    Chapter 1887: Goodbye


    The moment the sword appeared, it was as if there was only this sword and the Thearch left in the world.


    With nowhere to hide and nothing to block. It was as if all other choices were gone, and this was the only path left in the world.


    ¡°Chaos of Nothingness, I never expected you to have grasped the primordial laws. You¡¯re indeed qualified to be a chess player.¡± The Thearch nodded slightly, seemingly impressed.


    Looking at the sword that seemed to occupy the world, the Cube at the tip of the Thearch¡¯s finger flew out to meet the immortal sword.


    The scene on the Cube that belonged to Wang Mingyuan was facing the tip of the immortal sword.


    If this strike stabbed down, it was equivalent to Wang Mingyuan using his strength to wipe himself out. If he didn¡¯t stab down, the Chaos of Nothingness would immediately be cracked. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s aura would be torn through, and he would immediately be thrown into a disadvantage.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes were firm, and he didn¡¯t have the slightest intention of retreating. The immortal sword didn¡¯t stop at all as it crashed into the Cube, and the tip of the sword stabbed into the Cube projection that belonged to him.


    The tip of the immortal sword inched into the Cube¡¯s projection, causing it to flicker erratically as if it would turn black at any moment.


    The surrounding space also oscillated between dark and light, as if day and night were constantly alternating.


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it before¡ªI don¡¯t want to be a chess player. I want to redefine the rules¡­ I want to destroy the person who defines the rules¡­¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression was cold as the power on the immortal sword intensified.


    Crack!


    The projection of the Cube was penetrated by the immortal sword, and the entire Cube disintegrated, scattering fragments everywhere. However, Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t wiped out. He still stood on the Destiny Platform calmly.


    After the immortal sword penetrated the Cube, it continued in its thrust towards The Thearch with unstoppable might.


    However, when the immortal sword arrived in front of the Thearch, it appeared to be grabbed by an invisible hand. It stood fixed in place. No matter how the immortal sword trembled, it couldn¡¯t advance an inch.


    The Thearch looked at the immortal sword in front of her and sighed. ¡°To redefine the rules, you have to destroy the original rules first. Do you know what this means?¡±


    ¡°Merely death.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s eyes were calm as though he had said it casually, but he had unimaginable determination.


    ¡°Nice way of putting it. From the looks of it, you really understand.¡± The Thearch laughed. ¡°Unfortunately, only one person can ultimately go there. Otherwise, I would really want to see how far you could go.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s indeed a pity that I can¡¯t let you live to see that day.¡± Wang Mingyuan nodded slightly as though he agreed with The Thearch¡¯s point of view. However, their pity was on completely different matters.


    The Thearch¡¯s smile deepened. ¡°Apart from the Devil King from back then, you are the second fellow I find interesting.¡±


    With that said, The Thearch suddenly said seriously, ¡°To show my respect for you, I¡¯ll fight you seriously.¡±


    As she spoke, The Thearch grabbed the immortal sword with her fingers. It changed directions and the hilt landed in her hand.


    The Thearch held the immortal sword and slowly said, ¡°The world only knows that the four Immortal Vanquishing Swords can restrain Immortals, but it doesn¡¯t know why it can restrain the Immortals. That¡¯s because this sword is my sword. It¡¯s the sword of the Immortal Thearch. You are wrong to want to use it to kill me.¡±


    With that said, The Thearch wiped her finger across the sword. Blood that resembled an immortal glow and numinous liquid smeared the blade.


    The blood that seemed both liquid and gas seeped into the blade, causing the sword beam on the immortal sword to bloom as it trembled.


    Just as everyone was wondering what The Thearch was doing, they saw The Thearch throw the sword at Wang Mingyuan.


    The sword didn¡¯t have any strength. Wang Mingyuan casually grabbed it and held the immortal sword again.


    ¡°The sword has a spirit and doesn¡¯t drink its master¡¯s blood. Now that it has drunk my blood, it¡¯s no longer my sword. It belongs to you now. Hold it tightly and let me see how far you have come.¡± The Thearch finally became serious.


    Wang Mingyuan glanced at the immortal sword in his hand and suddenly threw it out of Destiny Platform, allowing it to land in the bottomless abyss.


    ¡°Now, we can begin,¡± Wang Mingyuan said calmly as he looked at The Thearch.


    ¡°I¡¯m really beginning to see you in a different light.¡± The Thearch¡¯s lips curled up slightly as the immortal glow on her body constantly rose. The entire Dimensional Airspace was dyed many colors by the immortal glow.


    ¡°You and I are the same kind of people, and we have the same goal. If there¡¯s a next life, I hope we can be friends.¡± Wang Mingyuan¡¯s expression was solemn as his aura converged. His aura became more corporeal as his entire body became more and more crystal-clear. It was so transparent that he was about to vanish.


    ¡°See you in your next life.¡± The Thearch clenched her fingers into a fist and threw a punch at Wang Mingyuan.


    With a punch, the world followed.


    The energy in the entire space seemed to be sucked dry by this punch as the fist constantly magnified in everyone¡¯s eyes. The entire world seemed to be unable to contain the might of this punch and was about to shatter.


    Wang Mingyuan followed with a punch as he took a step forward.


    His first punch didn¡¯t have any might, but as his fist faced the destructive punch, his strength became stronger and more domineering.


    As he walked against the light, he became more and more dazzling, even more dazzling than light.


    Moving up against the world, he devoured everything in a way even more majestic than the world.


    The fist broke through all restraints, but it contained the power of all things. It shattered layers of rules and came close to The Thearch¡¯s fist.


    When the two fists collided, his fist¡¯s might was no longer inferior to The Thearch¡¯s. The two apocalyptic forces collided.


    Boom!


    The Dimensional Airspace exploded from the terrifying energy impact. Tremendous amounts of energy erupted and swept through the entire dimension.


    Mountains shattered as rivers instantly evaporated. Mysterious forbidden zones were swept apart.


    The ground cracked and temples collapsed.


    The entire dimension seemed to have been swept by a calamity. It was a mess.


    The various races of the dimension trembled in fear in the middle of the ruins. Only a few places that were protected by the power of Apocalypse-grade powerhouses could avoid the calamity and retain a complete land for their race.


    Many of the contestants in the Dimensional Airspace were sent flying by this terrifying force. They tumbled for an unknown distance in the distorted and collapsing space, and some were even severely injured.


    Zhou Wen and Holy God looked in the direction of the Destiny Platform. With the Dimensional Airspace destroyed, it no longer had the ability to distort space. They immediately saw the Destiny Platform in the distance and the two figures standing on it.


    Wang Mingyuan and The Thearch stood facing each other on Destiny Platform. The two of them looked calm as though they weren¡¯t injured.


    ¡°Did you do your best?¡± Wang Mingyuan asked The Thearch.


    ¡°I did,¡± The Thearch said.


    Wang Mingyuan nodded slightly and said calmly, ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    With that said, Wang Mingyuan turned around and flew towards Zhou Wen.

 Chapter 1888 - The Path to Heaven Isnt Flat, Only the Body Can be Honed

    Chapter 1888: The Path to Heaven Isn¡¯t Flat, Only the Body Can be Honed


    ¡°Wang Mingyuan, what are you trying to do?¡± Holy God stared at the approaching Wang Mingyuan and asked sternly.


    ¡°Do you know why no one has bothered with you all these years? Jing Daoxian would rather face Death than cooperate with you?¡± Wang Mingyuan said indifferently as he looked at Holy God.


    ¡°Why?¡± Holy God frowned. He never understood why Wang Mingyuan and Jing Daoxian weren¡¯t willing to cooperate with him.


    Cooperation was clearly beneficial to everyone, allowing them to take fewer detours and better understand those matters, but Jing Daoxian and Wang Mingyuan had rejected him.


    Wang Mingyuan had rejected him. It could be said that Wang Mingyuan wasn¡¯t willing to share the secrets he had obtained, but Jing Daoxian hadn¡¯t obtained it. All he had obtained was the Lost Immortal Sutra that he couldn¡¯t cultivate.


    He had a way to heal Jing Daoxian¡¯s injured body, but even so, Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t willing to cooperate with him. This puzzled Holy God.


    ¡°You obtained the most and were the first to obtain powers that didn¡¯t belong to you, but you failed to turn those powers into yours. Be it in the past or the present, you are a weakling. This has never changed. How can a powerhouse like Jing Daoxian cooperate with a weakling?¡± With that said, Wang Mingyuan ignored Holy God and didn¡¯t even spare him a glance. He turned around and walked towards Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan with a complicated expression without saying a word.


    Holy God stood there in a daze, momentarily at a loss for a reaction.


    Wang Mingyuan came in front of Zhou Wen and handed him a box. ¡°Take it. You should be interested in what¡¯s inside.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t reject it as he reached out to take the box. This was because he knew that Wang Mingyuan was doomed. This was probably his last chance.


    That earth-shattering strike seemed to be evenly matched, but in fact, it had ended Wang Mingyuan. Or rather, he was already a dead person. He had only relied on his extremely strong will to not immediately dissipate into the world.


    However, that will was like an extinguishing candle that could turn to ashes at any moment.


    Seeing Zhou Wen take the box, Wang Mingyuan seemed to heave a sigh of relief. He looked at Zhou Wen and said with a smile, ¡°Although I lost, I never regretted taking this path. Unfortunately, I ultimately can¡¯t change this filthy world.¡±


    As he spoke, points of light gradually flew out from his body.


    ¡°Child, I¡¯m sorry. It¡¯s time for me to leave.¡± Wang Mingyuan closed his eyes and spread out his arms to hug Zhou Wen.


    Holy God hurriedly warned, ¡°Zhou Wen¡­ Be careful¡­¡±


    Zhou Wen knew what Holy God meant. Wang Mingyuan had the ability to devour everything, but he didn¡¯t dodge and allowed Wang Mingyuan to hug him.


    Wang Mingyuan closed his eyes and hugged Zhou Wen with a smile. His lips moved slightly as though he was saying something. More and more points of light flew out from his body.


    Moments later, Wang Mingyuan suddenly pushed Zhou Wen away and said with a smile, ¡°My journey has come to an end. You have to continue on your journey. No matter how rugged it is, no matter how many difficulties stand in your way, it doesn¡¯t matter. Don¡¯t be lost. Don¡¯t be sad. There¡¯s no need to be afraid, nor do you have to be hesitant. Even if you fall one day, understand that it¡¯s an inevitable stage in life. Child, I have nothing left for you. All that¡¯s left is this skin. Let him pave a path for you. I hope he can let you go further.


    ¡°The path to heaven isn¡¯t flat, only the body can be honed.¡± With that said, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s body emitted a blinding light as his body rapidly dissipated, turning into countless fluorescent lights that gathered towards the Human Sovereign Stone Saber at Zhou Wen¡¯s waist.


    ¡°Teacher!¡± Zhou Wen looked at Wang Mingyuan¡¯s rapidly disintegrating figure and extended his palm to grab something, but in the end, he gave up and muttered bitterly.


    Wang Mingyuan¡¯s figure was almost gone. He couldn¡¯t even make a sound. All one could see was his lips changing as though he was saying something.


    Zhou Wen read his lips. He was talking about the box.


    In the next second, Wang Mingyuan¡¯s figure completely disintegrated and surged towards the Human Sovereign Stone Saber like a river of stars.


    Just as Zhou Wen was sighing, he suddenly felt his phone vibrate. The stream of light that was flying towards the Human Sovereign Stone Saber changed directions and flowed towards Zhou Wen¡¯s phone. Soon, they were all sucked into the phone.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s heart stirred. He knew that the Dead Man Tree in the phone had definitely taken action and sucked in the dead Wang Mingyuan.


    Zhou Wen wanted to stop it, but he ultimately gave up.


    In a moment, the stream of light was injected into the phone, and the phone stopped vibrating.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t look at the situation on the phone. All he did was open the box.


    There were only three things in the box¡ªone red and one blue Companion Egg. Beneath them was a book.


    The book didn¡¯t have a name. The cover was blank. When he flipped it open, he saw a drawing on the first page. It was a very simple drawing that looked like a child¡¯s graffiti. It was a little girl with pigtails. She held a man¡¯s hand in one hand and a woman¡¯s hand in the other. Behind her was a colorful hut.


    The drawing was very crude and without any technique. It wasn¡¯t very nice either, but the smiles on their faces were very bright.


    Zhou Wen sighed inwardly. The three people on the painting were probably Wang Mingyuan and his family. If he guessed correctly, this painting was probably drawn by the girl in the painting. The girl was likely Wang Mingyuan¡¯s daughter.


    After flipping to the next page, there were some words. The content was an Essence Energy Art. At the same time, there were many annotations, but the Essence Energy Art didn¡¯t have a name.


    Zhou Wen only took a short look and knew how terrifying this Essence Energy Art was. However, just like the Lost Immortal Sutra, the requirements to cultivate this Essence Energy Art were too high.


    Wang Mingyuan must have devoured Zhong Ziya and Jiang Guan to complete the conditions needed to cultivate this Essence Energy Art.


    Their talent partially met the conditions needed to cultivate this Essence Energy Art. From the looks of it, the talent abilities of Transcendent Immortal and Void Sword Immortal were also a part of the conditions.


    The more he read, the more he found this Essence Energy Art terrifying. Furthermore, this was clearly an Essence Energy Art created by Wang Mingyuan. It wasn¡¯t an external Essence Energy Art like the Lost Immortal Sutra.


    As he read, his expression turned odder.


    He realized that Wang Mingyuan hadn¡¯t been able to cultivate the Essence Energy Art he had created to the final step. If he had really cultivated it to the final step, he might not have lost today.


    The reason Wang Mingyuan failed to reach the final step was that he lacked a talent.


    Absolute Focus¡­ Zhou Wen felt bitter because it was his talent.


    Wang Mingyuan had previously said that he had his reasons for taking in his disciples. Zhou Wen had previously imagined that Wang Mingyuan had taken him in as a disciple because he suspected that he was the child Zhou Lingfeng had carried out of Chess Mountain.


    From the looks of it, that wasn¡¯t the case. It was because he had Absolute Focus.


    However, Wang Mingyuan clearly had a chance to attack him previously, but he ultimately didn¡¯t devour Zhou Wen like he had devoured Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know why Wang Mingyuan hadn¡¯t attacked him. Was it because of their relationship as teacher and student, or was there some other reason? No one knew now. Everything had been reduced to dust with Wang Mingyuan¡¯s death.

 Chapter 1889 - Settling Scores

    Chapter 1889: Settling Scores


    Zhou Wen looked at the remaining two Companion Eggs in the box and seemed to think of something as he vanished.


    Holy God wanted to chase after Zhou Wen, but before he could do anything, he saw a person fly over.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian, what are you doing here?¡± Holy God asked the young-looking Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°Hehe, I¡¯m here to settle scores with you,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a chuckle.


    ¡°What scores do we have to settle?¡± Holy God frowned slightly.


    ¡°To settle the score for you secretly hurting me, of course.¡± Jing Daoxian couldn¡¯t help but sneer.


    ¡°When did I hurt you?¡± Holy God said unhappily.


    ¡°Hehe, if you¡¯ve never harmed me, why did you pretend to be missing and hide in the Holy Land?¡± Jing Daoxian continued disdainfully, ¡°You believed that you had done so flawlessly. Unfortunately, you never expected that your good grandson would end up exposing your scheme while trying to save you.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Holy God didn¡¯t seem to understand what Jing Daoxian was saying.


    ¡°Ouyang Ting, you¡¯re really a good actor. At this stage, do you think there¡¯s any point in continuing?¡± Jing Daoxian said disdainfully, ¡°Back then, the four of us entered Chess Mountain. Not long after, you went to the Holy Land. Later, all those things cropped up in the Holy Land. A stupid person would be able to figure it out. Six Holy races corresponding to the six races¡¯ bloodline? You are the same as that trash from the Xia family. You just want to snatch the bloodline of others.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that the old man from the Xia family was too stupid, but what you did was much more brilliant. You did a beautiful job of deceiving your superiors. Not only did you use the power of the six races of the dimension for your use, but you also obtained the six strongest human talent bloodlines. I have to admit that I admire you. Your move was brilliant. If it wasn¡¯t for your grandson insisting on saving you and forcing you to reveal a flaw, no one would have expected you to be Holy God.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s choice of words were nice, but his tone and expression were filled with contempt.


    The people who heard these words were dumbfounded. They couldn¡¯t believe the truth behind the so-called six bloodlines.


    ¡°Jing Daoxian, what nonsense are you spouting? What do you want?¡± Holy God¡¯s voice turned cold.


    Jing Daoxian curled his lips and said, ¡°What you did is none of my business; I can¡¯t be bothered with you. However, you shouldn¡¯t have schemed against me. There should be information regarding the Lost Immortal Sutra in the things you obtained from the ship, right? You don¡¯t have to deny it. There had to be something. All those things you did were all preparations for cultivating the Lost Immortal Sutra. Unfortunately, the information you obtained must be incomplete, so you didn¡¯t attack me and chose me to be your lab rat.


    ¡°Back when you came to me to cooperate and said that you could help me alleviate my injuries and extend my life, I knew that something was amiss.¡± Jing Daoxian chuckled coldly. ¡°If I hadn¡¯t figured everything out back then and played along, dragging Xia down to replace me as the new lab rat, I¡¯m afraid you would have long snatched the Lost Immortal Sutra I had and killed me, right?


    ¡°You think you did it flawlessly, but in fact, you¡¯re just an idiot.¡± Jing Daoxian sneered and said, ¡°Wang Mingyuan is right. From beginning to end, you¡¯re just a pitiful weakling. It¡¯s useless no matter how much you obtain. Trash will always be trash.¡±


    ¡°Are you done?¡± Holy God¡¯s tone was cold as killing intent appeared in his eyes.


    ¡°Do you want to kill me? There¡¯s no rush. It won¡¯t be too late to attack after I finish telling you the last thing you don¡¯t know,¡± Jing Daoxian said with a smile.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Holy God stared at Jing Daoxian and asked.


    ¡°Do you know why I gave the Lost Immortal Sutra to Zhou Wen?¡± Jing Daoxian said with a faint smile.


    ¡°Because he¡¯s the child Zhou Lingfeng carried out. You want to find the correct cultivation method of the Lost Immortal Sutra on him,¡± Holy God said coldly.


    ¡°Haha, from the moment I stood in front of him, I knew that he wasn¡¯t that child. Just like how Wang Mingyuan knew that he wasn¡¯t that child, I¡¯m afraid only you thought otherwise.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes were filled with contempt. ¡°Zhou Wen was never that child. He was the child of Zhou Lingfeng and your daughter. Since you wanted me to be your lab rat, I chose to have your grandson be my lab rat. Back then, after you knew that Zhou Wen had cultivated the Lost Immortal Sutra, were you still very happy that another person had become your lab rat?¡±


    Towards the end, Jing Daoxian laughed maniacally. ¡°Ouyang Ting, oh Ouyang Ting, I can only say that your luck isn¡¯t bad. Zhou Wen actually mastered the Lost Immortal Sutra. It¡¯s a pity you didn¡¯t get to see your grandson die because of your machinations.¡±


    The killing intent and anger in Holy God¡¯s eyes could no longer be concealed. He raised his palm slightly and gradually condensed a black mini Cube in his hand. He stared at Jing Daoxian and said, ¡°Are you done? If there¡¯s nothing else to say, you can be on your way.¡±


    As he spoke, Holy God pointed at the scene that belonged to Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°What you learned from the ship is useless against Immortal Thearch and Wang Mingyuan. Do you think it will be useful against me? I¡¯ll let you see how strong the Lost Immortal Sutra that you failed to obtain is.¡± Jing Daoxian wasn¡¯t afraid at all. There was even a hint of mockery on his lips.


    On the Cube, the scene that belonged to Jing Daoxian suddenly vanished. Even his name on the rankings vanished.


    However, before Holy God¡¯s finger could touch the scene that belonged to him, it vanished.


    What was even more shocking was that through Holy God¡¯s scene, people could still see Jing Daoxian standing there unharmed.


    Holy God looked at the mini Cube without Jing Daoxian¡¯s image, his eyes revealing surprise.


    ¡°This world isn¡¯t as simple as you think. Do you think you can control this world just because you grasp a few rules you learned from others? You¡¯re still far from it.¡± Jing Daoxian grinned like a devil. ¡°Now, it¡¯s time to settle our scores.¡±


    In the next second, Jing Daoxian appeared in front of Holy God like a ghost and grabbed his face.


    Holy God¡¯s figure drew a strange trajectory as though space had folded over him. The layers of spatial trajectories made Jing Daoxian lose himself in them.


    Crack!


    Jing Daoxian¡¯s hand strangely passed through the folded space and grabbed Holy God¡¯s face, shattering the mask there.


    The mask and the remaining fragments on Holy God¡¯s face fell bit by bit, revealing his true appearance.


    It was a flawless face. There was nothing imperfect about it. All the lines and contours seemed to have been carefully calculated. They had the most perfect proportions and curves.


    To be so perfect made a person inhuman.


    Looking at that face, Jing Daoxian was somewhat alarmed. ¡°You aren¡¯t Ouyang Ting. Who are you?¡±

 Chapter 1890 - Nameless

    Chapter 1890: Nameless


    ¡°You can call me Ouyang Ting or¡­ Nameless¡­¡± Holy God said indifferently as he looked at Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian was slightly taken aback as he sized up Holy God. Moments later, he cackled strangely. ¡°Ouyang Ting, oh Ouyang Ting, you¡¯re really pathetic. You schemed your entire life, but in the end, you ended up benefiting others. Nameless, you are the Nameless God created by the six races, right?¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t say he benefited others. Ouyang Ting is Nameless; Nameless is Ouyang Ting. We are a whole to begin with.¡± Holy God paused before continuing, ¡°You¡¯re right. In terms of talent, I¡¯m inferior to you. In terms of capability, I¡¯m inferior to Wang Mingyuan. My schemes directed at all of you failed. I didn¡¯t obtain Wang Mingyuan¡¯s information or your Lost Immortal Sutra.


    ¡°However, that¡¯s no longer important. After obtaining the bloodlines of the six races, I obtained the chance to fuse with Nameless God. Now, my bloodline is already the most perfect bloodline in this world. It¡¯s still too early to declare the outcome of our battle,¡± Holy God said indifferently.


    Jing Daoxian said disdainfully, ¡°Most perfect bloodline? If I¡¯m not wrong, you were able to fuse with the Nameless God created by the combined forces of the six dimensional races all thanks to that grandson of yours.¡±


    Holy God didn¡¯t deny it as he nodded and said, ¡°The backlash of Nameless God¡¯s will was indeed an opportunity for me to fuse with it. However, is that important? No matter what the process was, I did it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true. This is a world that only cares about the outcome. Then let me see if your most perfect bloodline is perfect.¡± Jing Daoxian¡¯s eyes suffused a glow as he smiled like a ferocious ghost. He instantly appeared in front of Holy God.


    Holy God¡¯s whereabouts became unknown, but space flowed around him. At the same time, his fist emitted a sun-like glow.


    Boom!


    Jing Daoxian clawed through space, including the sun¡¯s light. The chaotic light turned the entire Cube¡¯s screen into a world of flowing light.


    The people watching the battle through the Cube could only see all sorts of light blasts flashing. They couldn¡¯t discern their battle at all.


    The other participants¡¯ scenes also became very unstable due to the battle. From time to time, all sorts of streams of light flashed on the screen. Only The Thearch¡¯s scene wasn¡¯t affected.


    Only then did people realize that the scene representing Human Sovereign had turned black. Even the name of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign had vanished.


    Zhou Wen, who was also a cultivator of the Lost Immortal Sutra, could also ignore the rules of the Destiny Platform and the Cube. At that moment, Zhou Wen landed in an uninhabited area in the dimension. He held the two Companion Eggs Wang Mingyuan had left behind.


    They were the only things left behind by Wang Mingyuan apart from the book.


    Before Wang Mingyuan died, he had used his supreme willpower to stall for time to deliver the items to him. It was obvious how much Wang Mingyuan valued these things.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising that it was so cherished; the book was Wang Mingyuan¡¯s way of reminiscing about his family, as well as the Essence Energy Art he took a lifetime to create.


    Why did he cherish these two Companion Eggs so much? If they were very rare and powerful Companion Eggs, why didn¡¯t Wang Mingyuan use them himself?


    If they weren¡¯t precious Companion Eggs, why would he treasure them so much? This was clearly contradictory.


    Zhou Wen thought of a possibility, so he was very eager to verify his guess.


    He directly injected Essence Energy and hatched the two Companion Eggs.


    These two Companion Eggs didn¡¯t require much Essence Energy. They were likely Mythical Companion Eggs.


    After the two Companion Eggs were hatched, they transformed into a red and blue beam that fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    On his left and right arms, two strange tattoos¡ªone red, one blue¡ªformed.


    The red mark on the left arm was a red dot, and the mark on the right arm was a blue dot. They looked very simple.


    Zhou Wen took out his phone and hurriedly looked at the information on the two Companion Beasts.


    Yin Reincarnation Flower: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Yin Yang Reincarnation Flower


    Life Soul: Twin Yin Soul


    Wheel of Destiny: Great Samsara Wheel


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Extreme Yin Births Yang


    Companion Form: Soul


    Yang Reincarnation Flower: Mythical (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Yin Yang Reincarnation Flower


    Life Soul: Twin Sun Soul


    Wheel of Destiny: Great Samsara Wheel


    Strength: 81


    Speed: 81


    Constitution: 81


    Essence Energy: 81


    Talent Skill: Extreme Yang Births Yin


    Companion Form: Soul


    Zhou Wen summoned the Yin and Yang Reincarnation Flowers and saw the red and blue plants appear in front of him.


    The Yin Reincarnation Flower had two blue leaves with a flower bud growing at the tip. It was only slightly bigger than his palm. Inside the crystalline blue roots and leaves, one could vaguely see red veins that resembled blood vessels.


    The Yang Reincarnation Flower was red. It looked almost identical to the Yin Reincarnation Flower. At the tip was a red flower bud with blue veins inside.


    Two flowers floated in the air like two dancing sprites.


    Zhou Wen watched for a while before frowning slightly. He reached out and put away the two flowers.


    He originally imagined that these two Companion Eggs were related to Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan. Perhaps Wang Mingyuan had the means similar to the Dead Man Tree that could turn the dead Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya into Companion Eggs.


    However, these two Companion Beasts were only two flowers and not Zhong Ziya and Jiang Yan. Zhou Wen didn¡¯t sense Jiang Yan and Zhong Ziya¡¯s auras from the two flowers. Even if they were really related to the two of them, there was probably only little information left behind in the two Companion Beasts.


    He looked at the Dead Man Tree on his phone again. A crystalline fruit that resembled ice had grown on the tree. He didn¡¯t know when it would ripen.


    Even if it really matured, the Companion Beast it transformed into was only similar to Wang Mingyuan, not Wang Mingyuan.


    The past ultimately cannot be returned. Zhou Wen sighed.


    Zhou Wen put away his phone and was about to head to Destiny Platform when he saw a figure walking towards him.


    ¡°How should I address you?¡± Zhou Wen looked at the person and said with a smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m Li Xuan¡¯s eldest brother and your elder brother¡¯s childhood friend. Calling me brother wouldn¡¯t be a problem, right?¡± the person said with a smile.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a problem indeed.¡± Zhou Wen nodded and wiped away his smile as he solemnly addressed him as brother.


    Laughing Li felt a little uncomfortable seeing Zhou Wen so formal. He waved his hand and said, ¡°You are the same as your brother. You¡¯re serious over everything. It¡¯s not fun at all.¡±


    ¡°Brother Li, there¡¯s something I need your help with,¡± Zhou Wen said solemnly.


    ¡°You want to ask about your grandfather, Ouyang Ting, right?¡± Laughing Li knew what Zhou Wen wanted to ask. He sighed and said, ¡°Back when I swam across Lake Frustration, I did see your grandfather, Ouyang Ting.¡±


    ¡°Is he Holy God?¡± Zhou Wen asked.


    ¡°I can only tell you that Ouyang Ting was already dead when he swam across Lake Frustration,¡± Laughing Li said bitterly.

 Chapter 1891 - Boundless

    Chapter 1891 Boundless


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t understand Laughing Li.


    Laughing Li explained, ¡°Ouyang Ting swam across Lake Frustration, and I swam across Lake Frustration as well. That lake is very strange. As long as one has worries, they won¡¯t be able to swim across the lake and will definitely sink. However, how can humans not have worries? They won¡¯t be humans! As far as I know, only two humans have swam across Lake Frustration alive. For that to happen, there are only two possibilities.¡±


    Laughing Li paused for a moment before continuing, ¡°One way to swim across Lake Frustration alive is to abandon your worries. The other way is to resolve them.¡±


    ¡°You chose the second method?¡± Zhou Wen muttered.


    Laughing Li nodded. ¡°It¡¯s impossible for a person to not have any worries, but not all worries can be resolved. The so-called solution is actually to have a clear mind and no worries in one¡¯s heart. In order to have a clear mind, one mustn¡¯t hesitate to sacrifice themselves. A person can die, but not their beliefs. If they are capable of giving up their lives, they naturally won¡¯t be affected by their worries.¡±


    Zhou Wen understood what Laughing Li meant, but how many people in the world could really do something as simple as clearing their minds?


    ¡°What¡¯s the price to pay for abandoning your worries?¡± Zhou Wen stared at Laughing Li and asked. He had already guessed that the former principal might have chosen this path.


    ¡®Abandoning one¡¯s frustrations in the Lake of Frustration isn¡¯t that easy. One has to abandon everything that produces frustrations. However, such an abandonment is equivalent to giving up on one¡¯s past.¡± Laughing Li said with a bitter smile, ¡°I originally thought that Ouyang Ting and I had taken the same path. Only after I met him did I realize that he took another path.¡±


    Zhou Wen finally understood why Laughing Li said that Ouyang Ting had died when he swam across the Lake of Frustration. Abandoning the past was no different from death.


    ¡°So, Ouyang Ting is Holy God now, right?¡± Zhou Wen sighed.


    ¡°Yes, I didn¡¯t know back then either. It was only thanks to your brother. After he met Ouyang Ting, he could tell that Ouyang Ting was no longer the Ouyang Ting of the past.¡± Laughing Li nodded.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else. Even if Ouyang Ting had abandoned his past, in terms of bloodline, he was still Ouyang Lan¡¯s father and grandfather. What else could he say? ¡°You didn¡¯t come to me to tell me this, right?¡± Zhou Wen said to Laughing Li.


    ¡°Of course not. I came to you to get you to help me remove my name from the rankings. You should be able to do it, right?¡± Laughing Li


    said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ascend Destiny Platform yourself? Why do you want to be removed?¡± Zhou Wen asked in puzzlement.


    Laughing Li spread out his hands and said, ¡°I just wanted my name on Destiny Platform and show off. Who knew that this would happen in the end? If I had known that there would be such a Destiny Battle, I wouldn¡¯t have come up here to court death.¡±


    Zhou Wen looked at Laughing Li in a daze.


    After a while, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh. ¡°I thought you ascended Destiny Platform to fight for humanity¡¯s future.¡±


    ¡°Bullsh*t. How can a person like me have such noble thoughts?¡± Laughing Li curled his lips and continued, ¡°Isn¡¯t living well nice?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s easy to remove your name, but it¡¯s hard to say if that person will let you off,¡± Zhou Wen said after some thought.


    Erasing the Destiny Platform¡¯s ranking wasn¡¯t difficult for Zhou Wen, who had the Lost Immortal Sutra. However, erasing the ranking didn¡¯t mean that they were uninvolved with the Destiny Battle.


    Only one person could survive the Destiny Battle. As long as the people participating in the Destiny Battle were still alive, no one could truly be conferred the title of monarch.


    If The Thearch was really determined to be conferred the title of monarch again, she had to kill all the participants, regardless of whether they were on the rankings.


    ¡°I know.¡± Laughing Li nodded slightly. ¡°Before


    that, I can at least do something I want to do.¡±


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say anything else as he waved


    his hand and slashed at Laughing Li.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t release any might, but Laughing Li¡¯s Cube screen went black. The name on the rankings vanished.


    ¡°Brother, thank you.¡± Laughing Li turned around and left without any hesitation. Seeing Laughing Li leave, Zhou Wen looked


    into the distance. His gaze passed through layers of space and reflected two figures-Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting.


    The two of them were covered in wounds, but


    they continued fighting crazily. Jing Daoxian¡¯s clothes had completely torn apart, revealing his firm muscles. His entire


    body emitted a strange aura.


    Every strike seemed to point straight to the


    source. No matter how the world changed, it didn¡¯t seem to affect him at all.


    He was a true destroyer. He ignored all rules


    and tore apart all rules.


    Ouyang Ting was completely different. He used the rules of the world to the extreme. The power of the entire world seemed to be aiding


    him. One defied the heavens while the other followed the will of the heavens. Victory was momentarily undetermined as they were constantly injured in their clashes.


    After watching for a moment, Zhou Wen stopped paying attention to their battle. They were all very strong, almost no weaker


    than Wang Mingyuan. However, so what if they were as strong as Wang Mingyuan? Wang


    Mingyuan had already lost. They still had no chance of beating The Thearch. Zhou Wen looked in the direction of Destiny


    Platform and saw The Thearch staring at him.


    With a thought, Zhou Wen was about to head to Destiny Platform. This was a battle he couldn¡¯t avoid. Even if he hid at the end of the universe, The Thearch probably wouldn¡¯t let him off. ¡°If you want to go to Destiny Platform, you


    have to defeat me first.¡± A figure blocked Zhou Wen¡¯s path. It was Drought Demon Fairy. ¡°There doesn¡¯t seem to be any grudge between


    us, right?¡± Zhou Wen frowned at Drought Demon Fairy.


    ¡°You dug up my grave. If this isn¡¯t a grudge,


    what is?¡± Drought Demon Fairy said indifferently.


    ¡°The Zhang family was the one who dug you


    I was just a bystander. At most, I was just watching over them. Why aren¡¯t you looking for the person in question? Why me?¡± Zhou


    Wen was at a loss whether to laugh or cry. ¡°People who can¡¯t even ascend the staircase


    aren¡¯t qualified,¡± Drought Demon Fairy said with a smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s a little unreasonable,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°When have I ever been reasonable?¡± As


    Drought Demon Fairy spoke, the surrounding space suddenly rose with terrifyingly high temperatures.


    The high temperature completely melted everything, making one see a hellish scene.


    Zhou Wen ignored the terrifying high temperature and summoned Truth Listener with a thought.


    Truth Listener transformed into the handsome


    man in a golden kasaya and stood in front of


    Zhou Wen. Its golden eyes stared at Drought Demon Fairy.


    At that moment, her entire body was burning


    with flames that surged into the sky. The omnipresent flames filled the entire world, wanting to incinerate everything.


    Truth Listener raised its hands in front of it as though it was ripping its clothes. It pulled sideways with all its might. The flaming world was like a curtain that Truth Listener tore apart with its bare hands. The flames swept to the sides like curtains.


    Truth Listener: Apocalypse grade (Evolvable)


    Life Providence: Heaven¡¯s Senses Life Soul: Evil Nullification Wheel of Destiny: Nirvana of Ultimate Hell


    Terror Form: Holy Evil (S-grade) Calamity Zone: Evil Breaker (Heaven level)


    New World: Boundless


    Strength: 9999


    Speed: 9999


    Constitution: 9999 Essence Energy: 9999 Talent Skill: Truth Listener, Indestructible


    Vajra Body, Evil Warding, Nine Extremes Companion Form: Earring


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 Chapter 1892 - I’m Just Me

    Chapter 1892 I¡¯m Just Me


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s body emitted surging red flames as her fist capable of melting virtually anything met Truth Listener.


    Truth Listener¡¯s fist destroyed all strength it encountered-the instant the two fists


    collided, the flames over Drought Demon Fairy seemed to be extinguished by water.


    Bang!


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s body flew out like a meteor and slammed into the ground like an atomic bomb exploding. A huge shockwave rose from the ground like a wave.


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s strength was clearly far inferior to Truth Listener¡¯s. They were both at the Apocalypse grade, but there was a stark difference in strength.


    Truth Listener¡¯s stats were 9,999-the peak of the Apocalypse grade.


    Previously, when Truth Listener had just evolved, it had been slapped to the wall by the Devil King like a fly.


    This gave Zhou Wen the impression that Truth Listener wasn¡¯t very strong, but the battle with Drought Demon Fairy made him understand that it wasn¡¯t that Truth Listener wasn¡¯t strong enough, but that the Devil King was too strong.


    Drought Demon Fairy stood up from the crater. The flesh on the back of her hand had split open, but there wasn¡¯t a drop of blood. Only flames rose from the wound.


    She stared intently at Truth Listener. She never expected Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beast to be so strong.


    As she straightened her back, Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s body burned with red flames again. However, the red flames didn¡¯t envelop the surrounding area but her body. The illusory flames turned into a magma-like red liquid before turning into a red crystal. Her entire body resembled a red crystal statue thanks to the red flames¡¯ envelopment.


    Everyone paid attention to the battle through the Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s screen.


    It wasn¡¯t that they didn¡¯t want to watch other battles, but that the battles elsewhere were not available.


    Jing Daoxian and Nameless¡¯s battle resulted in them only seeing all sorts of colorful light. Even the other screens were affected.


    Only this side was relatively unaffected, allowing them to see the battle clearly.


    The ground beneath Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s feet instantly turned into a sea of magma. It spread out from her with no end in sight.


    This wasn¡¯t caused by Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s New World power. It was simply the remnant heat emitted by the flaming crystal when it touched the ground.


    ¡°What terrifying heat energy. As expected of Drought Demon Fairy. The description of her flames ravaging the lands is an


    understatement¡­¡± Zhang Chunqiu praised.


    The Zhang family had been guarding against the Drought Demon Fairy for years, so they more or less had some indescribable feelings for her.


    An Sheng looked at Drought Demon Fairy and the magma sea beneath her feet and said thoughtfully, ¡°What a pity. If such a high temperature is used to generate electricity, we can resolve the global power problem. Just one-thousandth of the heat energy converted into electricity will be enough to last the world for countless years.¡±


    An Tianzuo smiled and said, ¡°You¡¯re the only person who can think of using Drought Demon Fairy to generate electricity. Her powers aren¡¯t as simple as high temperatures.¡±


    ¡°What is it then?¡± An Sheng asked in


    puzzlement.


    ¡°The essence of heat is actually a macroscopic manifestation of the movement of microscopic particles. Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s strength is not so much fire but absolute control over kinetic energy,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference? No matter what the


    name is, isn¡¯t it just high temperatures?¡± An Sheng still didn¡¯t understand.


    ¡°Continue watching and you will understand.¡± An Tianzuo didn¡¯t explain further.


    This was because he no longer had the time to


    explain. Truth Listener had already appeared above Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s head like a


    ghost. It threw a punch at Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s head.


    A sneer appeared on Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s


    lips as she brandished her fist at Truth Listener


    again.


    At the instant she threw out her fist, the flames


    were like huge lotus flower petals that


    retracted layer by layer, enveloping Truth Listener¡¯s body.


    The outermost petal was as red as fire. The


    first petal became shallower, but it also became


    more corporeal.


    The layers of petals gradually turned transparent and colorless, but they also turned from illusory flames to crystals. They sealed Truth Listener in the middle of the lotus flower


    as though it was frozen in ice. ¡°Drought Demon Fairy can control the


    movement of particles, meaning she can accelerate, deccelerate, or even stop particles. When there¡¯s zero movement, that¡¯s probably Absolute Zero,¡± An Tianzuo said.


    Only then did An Sheng understand how


    terrifying Drought Demon Fairy was. If all particles were to stop moving, wouldn¡¯t that mean that life would cease? Wouldn¡¯t that


    mean death?


    ¡°What a pity. Young Master Wen¡¯s Companion Beast is such a powerful Companion Beast. To think it will be killed by Drought Demon Fairy


    just like that,¡± An Sheng said with a sigh.


    ¡°It won¡¯t die so easily.¡± An Tianzuo¡¯s words left An Sheng slightly taken aback. Before he could ask further, the huge lotus flower on the Cube¡¯s screen suddenly shattered. Truth Listener shattered the seal and


    punched Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s fist, smashing her down like a nail.


    Drought Demon Fairy¡¯s body was smashed into


    the magma sea before Truth Listener rushed in without any hesitation.


    Everyone saw terrifying magma pillars rise up from the magma sea like volcanic eruptions. Instantly, the magma spewed out. Finally, all the magma surged into the sky like seawater.


    The spot where the magma sea was originally located turned into a huge, bottomless pit. The sky turned into a magma sea as though the world had flipped on its head.


    In the huge crater, Truth Listener floated in the


    air, its blonde hair dancing in the wind. As for Drought Demon Fairy, she lay twisted on the ground. At such a strange angle, all her bones had probably been shattered. ¡°Drought Demon Fairy was defeated just like


    that¡­ That Companion Beast is too terrifying¡­¡¯


    ¡°Such strength is truly invincible.¡± ¡°Strength is above all. In front of absolute


    strength, everything is trash.¡±


    ¡°Companion Beasts can actually be this strong?¡± ¡°Looking at Human Sovereign¡¯s Companion Beasts, and then looking at mine, apart from being gluttonous, this glutton is really inferior to his in every aspect. I have the urge to


    strangle it to death.¡±


    Zhou Wen glanced at Drought Demon Fairy on


    the ground and with a thought, he unsummoned Truth Listener and turned to


    leave.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Drought Demon Fairy wasn¡¯t dead yet.


    She struggled to stand up, but her bones that


    had been shattered by Truth Listener couldn¡¯t automatically fuse. She couldn¡¯t stand up despite struggling a few times.


    ¡°Do you still want to continue?¡± Zhou Wen asked Drought Demon Fairy. ¡°You want to fight that Immortal Thearch?¡± Drought Demon Fairy asked.


    ¡°I have no choice but to fight,¡± Zhou Wen said


    indifferently.


    ¡°In that case, please kill me.¡± Drought Demon


    Fairy¡¯s words left Zhou Wen slightly taken aback.


    ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen had seen people plead for their lives, but he had never seen someone


    wish for death like Drought Demon Fairy. ¡°Your Human Sovereign Stone Saber doesn¡¯t have a soul. I¡¯m its soul,¡± Drought Demon Fairy said slowly.


    ¡°You are the soul of the Human Sovereign


    Stone Saber?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Drought Demon Fairy in surprise.


    ¡°Fire is the source of life for humans. The Human Sovereign Stone Saber is the Fire Stone Saber, and I¡¯m the soul of the Fire Stone Saber.


    I¡¯m the first flame of humanity that Suirenshi ignited.¡± Drought Demon Fairy closed her eyes and said, ¡°This body is already useless. Kill me


    and sacrifice my soul to the saber. That will make it the true Human Sovereign Stone Saber. Only then can you be considered a true Human Sovereign. Only then will you be qualified to


    represent humanity to vie for the position of the dimensional king.¡±


    ¡°I see. However, I¡¯m afraid you are mistaken. There has always been only one Human Sovereign, and I¡¯m only me, not that Human Sovereign.¡± Zhou Wen turned around and walked towards Destiny Platform, ignoring Drought Demon Fairy.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally here.¡± The Thearch smiled when she saw Zhou Wen walk up the Destiny


    Platform.


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 Chapter 1893 - Staked Battle

    Chapter 1893 Staked Battle


    ¡°It was only a matter of time.¡± Zhou Wen stood on Destiny Platform and sized up The Thearch. ¡°There has to be an understanding between us. I lost the last bet, so I want to win it back this time.¡±


    ¡°Typically, those who want to right their losses tend to lose more.¡± The Thearch smiled.


    ¡°I want to give it a try,¡± Zhou Wen said calmly.


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll give you another chance. How about we make another bet?¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°How?¡± Zhou Wen knew that their battle had already begun. At their realm, their words and actions were enough to destroy their opponent, much less a bet.


    ¡°Let¡¯s bet on who will win between the two.¡± The Thearch raised her palm and a mini Cube condensed in her palm.


    The Cube disintegrated, and one of the squares flew out. It zoomed in and quickly reached the size of a normal Cube screen like a wall.


    On the screen was the battle between Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting. The Thearch wanted to bet on their outcome with Zhou Wen.


    ¡°What¡¯s the bet?¡± he asked with a frown.


    ¡°The bet is naturally the throne determined by fate,¡± The Thearch said indifferently. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll give you a chance to choose. You can choose first.¡±


    ¡°I choose Ouyang Ting,¡± Zhou Wen said without any hesitation.


    In fact, he had no other choice. If the loser of this battle might not necessarily die before they interfered in this battle, then their deaths were a certainty with their involvement.


    Even if Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting wanted to give up the battle, there was no chance. They had to fight to the death.


    Therefore, Zhou Wen could only choose Ouyang Ting. Otherwise, Ouyang Ting would be dead even if he won. How was Zhou Wen to face Sis Lan in the future if that were the case?


    If Zhou Wen really had to choose based on the chances of victory, he would have chosen Jing Daoxian.


    However, it didn¡¯t matter. This was no longer a battle between Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting, but a battle between Zhou Wen and The Thearch. It didn¡¯t matter who was chosen.


    ¡°From the looks of it, you didn¡¯t have much of a choice when given one,¡± The Thearch said with a smile.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter if there¡¯s a choice as long as I end in victory,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Then I¡¯m really looking forward to it.¡± The Thearch glanced at the two combatants and said indifferently, ¡°Since you are the person I chose, you are the chosen one. The heavens will naturally help you.¡±


    When The Thearch said that, Ouyang Ting, was abandoned by the very power that he gained from following the will of the heavens and gaining its help. The power of the world directed itself to Jing Daoxian.


    Jing Daoxian cultivated a heaven-defying technique, but with the help of the world¡¯s power, the originally balanced situation was immediately overturned.


    The world pressed down when Jing Daoxian threw a punch. Ouyang Ting, who was like a bird in a cage facing a calamity, couldn¡¯t escape the might of Jing Daoxian¡¯s punch. He was about to be crushed to death.


    The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign appeared above Zhou Wen. He pointed at the world and split the rules of the Great Dao into two. The power of the world immediately lost its restrictions and dissipated. It no longer favored Jing Daoxian, nor was it usable by Ouyang Ting.


    Although the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign had split the Great Dao rules into two with the Dao Sutra¡¯s method, cracking The Thearch¡¯s wish powers, it made it difficult for Ouyang Ting to borrow the power of the world. It was only a matter of time before he was defeated.


    With a thought from Zhou Wen, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign emitted a glorious light. The light passed through layers of space and landed on Ouyang Ting, immediately increasing his combat strength. Furthermore, his body obtained an almost infinite self-healing ability, immediately turning the tides.


    The Thearch praised, ¡°Offering yourself to redeem others is greatness. Unfortunately, human nature is evil. So-called good is just self-satisfaction. It won¡¯t end well.¡±


    With the Thearch¡¯s words, the power of Human Sovereign that had augmented Ouyang Ting greatly became a burden for him. It made him


    feel like he was carrying a mountain. The self-healing power became a resistance to his


    recovery.


    However, in an instant, the power of Human


    Sovereign that had augmented Ouyang Ting¡¯s


    body switched to Jing Daoxian. All the pressure turned into pressure on Jing Daoxian. ¡°What a great Sky-Stealing Sun-Swapping. It¡¯s indeed extremely magical.¡± The Thearch smiled and said, ¡°However, harming others ultimately brings harm to oneself. It¡¯s karma. One has to suffer the consequences of their evil


    deeds.¡±


    The situation changed again because of The Thearch¡¯s words. The Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s strength clearly didn¡¯t land on Ouyang Ting, but the same Human Sovereign¡¯s strength appeared on Ouyang Ting¡¯s body. It became a burden for him and pulled the duo


    back to the same starting line. Everyone was already dumbfounded. Powerhouses like Jing Daoxian and Ouyang


    Ting were already godlike existences in their eyes. They could destroy a planet with a single


    move.


    However, these two terrifying powerhouses seemed to be ants that were being toyed with in front of Zhou Wen and The Thearch. Their survival was completely out of their


    control. Instead, it was decided by the actions of third parties.


    Everyone felt their scalps tingle as they felt


    endless sorrow. If a powerhouse like Jing Daoxian suffered such a fate, they were probably even worse than ants.


    ¡°This battle is almost giving me depression.¡±


    Xia Liuchuan sighed.


    ¡°Now, I understand Wang Mingyuan a little. He didn¡¯t want to be a chess piece and wanted


    to be a chess player, but he failed.¡± Zhang Chunqiu smiled bitterly.


    ¡°Cut it out. At the very least, Wang Mingyuan


    was a chess piece. We aren¡¯t even chess pieces. We are just the materials used to create chess


    pieces.¡± Xia Liuchuan lost interest in speaking and continued watching the battle. Although Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting were also burdened by the power of Human


    Sovereign, Ouyang Ting was still at a disadvantage without the augmentation of the world¡¯s power.


    This was why Zhou Wen had previously believed that Jing Daoxian had a higher chance of winning. Ouyang Ting had borrowed power from too many external sources, while Jing Daoxian himself was already a transcendent


    existence.


    ¡°The Thearch, well-played,¡± Zhou Wen praised. Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign emitted a brilliant light again. When the light shone down, it transformed into a bubble-like shadow that enveloped the area where Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting were fighting. In an instant, Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting¡¯s


    Essence Energy were drained as the power of Human Sovereign on their backs vanished. The two terrifying powerhouses who originally had supreme strength suddenly lost all their strength and turned into two mortals.


    However, they continued their brawl. They had been fighting like immortals just


    moments ago, but now, they were no different from the hooligans on the streets. They


    punched and kicked each other and even grappled with one other.


    Everyone was already numb from the fight. Such invincible powerhouses were just two worthless lives in the eyes of Zhou Wen and The Thearch.


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 Chapter 1894 - Let Me Give You A Boost

    Chapter 1894 Let Me Give You A Boost


    In Courage


    Instead of calling the battle between Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting a battle, it was more like a battle between Zhou Wen and The


    Thearch. Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting were just tools.


    It was no different from the mahjong pieces or the dice on the table.


    It looked like the two of them were exchanging blows, but Zhou Wen knew very well that he was on the losing end. From beginning to end, The Thearch had only taken advantage of the situation and hadn¡¯t really used her strength.


    Zhou Wen had already pushed the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s abilities to their limits. Even if he continued, he would probably lose in the end.


    As expected of The Thearch. She¡¯s still so unfathomable. Wang Mingyuan¡¯s desperate strike failed to pry into her true limits, Zhou Wen sighed inwardly.


    ¡°It¡¯s quite interesting this way,¡± The Thearch said with a smile as she looked at Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting fighting in the bubble. She didn¡¯t give them any further impetus.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that even if The Thearch didn¡¯t do anything, Jing Daoxian would definitely win if this continued.


    Ouyang Ting wasn¡¯t good at combat. He was better at using all sorts of rules. As for Jing Daoxian, he was experienced in combat. Despite using the same abilities, his combat strength was far above Ouyang Ting¡¯s.


    However, under the First Order of Chaos, Zhou Wen could only control Essence Energy. It was impossible for him to have one person possess Essence Energy while the other didn¡¯t.


    Thankfully, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s ability wasn¡¯t just that. With a thought, the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s eyes suffused a demonic sanguine glow.


    As the sanguine light in the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s eyes bloomed, Ouyang Ting¡¯s body underwent a mutation. Scales appeared on his body as though he was about to become a demon beast.


    His Strength and Speed rapidly increased as his body strengthened. He once again gained the upper hand in the battle with Jing Daoxian. The Thearch seemed somewhat disappointed when she saw Zhou Wen use such a method. ¡°I¡¯ve given you so much time, but you¡¯ve only grown to this stage? From the looks of it, you still lack the courage. Then let me give you a boost.¡±


    The Thearch looked at Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting in battle and said, ¡°What an ugly performance. What¡¯s the difference between them and dogs fighting?¡±


    With The Thearch¡¯s voice fading, Jing Daoxian and Ouyang Ting really turned into two ferocious dogs that bit at one another.


    The Thearch¡¯s voice didn¡¯t stop there as she continued, ¡°Humans are ugly. It¡¯s best if all of you don¡¯t remain as humans. Being beasts suit all of you better.¡±


    Zhou Wen¡¯s expression fell as he focused his mind on sensing Earth. Immediately, he turned nasty.


    All humans had turned into an assortment of animals because of The Thearch¡¯s words. Be it cows, sheep, dogs, donkeys, pigs, or horses, all these animals were in a panic. Not a single human could be seen.


    ¡°It looks like that¡¯s still insufficient courage,¡± The Thearch said indifferently. ¡°Come.¡±


    A black husky appeared out of thin air in front of The Thearch. No matter how it struggled in the air, it couldn¡¯t escape the invisible


    restraints.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s expression was extremely nasty as his body emitted divine light as he stared intently at The Thearch.


    He sensed Li Xuan¡¯s aura from the husky.


    ¡°Giving you a boost in courage.¡± The Thearch looked at the Li Xuan husky and said indifferently, ¡°A warrior will die for his bosom friend. You can be considered to have died a


    worthy death.¡±


    Enraged, Zhou Wen instantly appeared in front


    of The Thearch. The Unique New World power


    enveloped the Li Xuan husky, putting himself between him and The Thearch as he threw a


    punch at her.


    The Thearch¡¯s figure turned incorporeal; Zhou Wen¡¯s fist seemed to travel infinite distance


    without reaching her.


    This was the power of Transcendent Immortal.


    However, when used by The Thearch, it was


    many times stronger than his. It was as though there was an infinite space between the two of


    them.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes were firm as steel as his fist pressed forward. He broke through the infinite space and appeared in front of The Thearch. ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Unfortunately, you¡¯re still too weak.¡± The Thearch pressed one finger in front of Zhou Wen¡¯s fist, preventing him from advancing any further.


    ¡°From the looks of it, the courage I gave you


    isn¡¯t enough. You still don¡¯t have the determination to abandon everything. You still have scruples.¡± The Thearch looked at Zhou


    Wen calmly and continued, ¡°Then let me help you remove them.¡±


    Zhou Wen sensed that things were going south. He swept his senses towards Earth and saw the human bodies that had transformed into animals explode, turning into bloody mists. It was the same all over Guide Ancient City and


    Luoyang City.


    Suddenly, a girl¡¯s figure appeared above Earth. The golden holy light on her body illuminated the entire Earth like the sun. Wherever the


    golden light went, the humans who had transformed into animals stopped self-destructing.


    Sweetie! Zhou Wen sensed the girl¡¯s aura and


    was overjoyed.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, I can¡¯t last long. Quickly defeat


    her.¡± Sweetie¡¯s voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s


    mind.


    Zhou Wen stared at The Thearch as Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body like a phantom.


    The power of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human


    Sovereign and Unique overlapped as Zhou Wen¡¯s strength rose like a volcanic eruption.


    ¡°You¡­ deserve death¡­¡± Zhou Wen¡¯s fist carried unparalleled strength as it pressed down on The Thearch¡¯s fingers inch by inch. ¡°Now that¡¯s more like it.¡± The Thearch¡¯s fingers also emitted a divine light that resisted Zhou Wen¡¯s terrifying strength. His fist couldn¡¯t advance any further.


    Not only was he unable to advance an inch, but


    he was also pressed back by the finger. The Thearch still managed to constantly suppress Zhou Wen with just a finger. His straight arm gradually bent.


    The volcanic flames on Zhou Wen¡¯s body were also suppressed, pressing back into his body, causing his bones to tremble and groan as though they were about to explode.


    Boom!


    A dark purple light bloomed on Zhou Wen¡¯s


    body as a purple-robed figure appeared in front of him. The light sent The Thearch


    retreating a few steps before she stabilized herself.


    ¡°Devil King, you¡¯ve finally found yourself.


    You¡¯ve made me wait too long.¡± The Thearch didn¡¯t look surprised. Instead, her eyes showed excitement.


    ¡°You¡­ deserve death¡­¡± the Devil King said


    coldly.


    ¡°Yes, I do deserve death. I didn¡¯t take that step


    because I was waiting for you to kill me.¡± The Thearch seemed to be extremely satisfied when she saw the Devil King. Her eyes burned as she said, ¡°You weren¡¯t defeated in that battle back then, nor did I win. How can I take that step without defeating you?¡±


    ¡°Then die.¡± The Devil King looked at The Thearch coldly, her eyes filled with killing intent. She was angry.


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 Chapter 1895 - One Step

    Chapter 1895 One Step


    ¡°In that battle, you were already at the end of your tether and I couldn¡¯t win either. Now that we are fighting, we can truly decide who is the monarch of this world. Devil King, you shall¡­¡±


    Pa!


    Before The Thearch could finish her sentence, a slap landed on the left side of her face, causing her face to jerk to the side. Blood splattered from the corner of her mouth.


    The Devil King stood in front of The Thearch and looked at her without a word.


    ¡°Today, you shall¡­¡± The Thearch shuttled over like a celestial object as she spoke again.


    Pa!


    Another slap landed on the left side of The Thearch¡¯s face, causing her face to jerk to the other side. The Devil King was still standing in front of her, looking at her coldly.


    ¡°Continue,¡± the Devil King said coldly as she looked at The Thearch.


    ¡°Today¡­ shall¡­ be¡­ the¡­ day¡­ of¡­ your¡­ death¡­¡± The Thearch stared at the Devil King and finally finished her sentence.


    Pa!


    Nothing happened after she said that other than the Devil King slapping her face again. Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!


    The Devil King slapped The Thearch¡¯s face repeatedly, using the front and back of her palm, causing her body to sway left and right, but she couldn¡¯t dodge or escape.


    The Devil King finally sent The Thearch flying with a slap and she collapsed on Destiny Platform.


    ¡°A half-step Cosmic dares to spout nonsense about Destiny? Do you really think you are the Sovereign of the Universe? How insipid,¡± the Devil King said expressionlessly as she looked at The Thearch on the ground.


    Zhou Wen was dumbfounded. The invincible The Thearch didn¡¯t even stand a chance against the Devil King. It was no wonder Truth Listener couldn¡¯t even withstand a glance.


    Even a half-step Cosmic was crushed, much less Truth Listener at the peak of the Apocalypse grade.


    ¡°You¡­ have already taken that step¡­¡± The Thearch¡¯s face was swollen as blood seeped out of the corner of her mouth. However, her face wore no anger or indignation. Instead, she was very excited. She slowly got up and stared at the Devil King with a burning gaze.


    ¡°Is there a need?¡± the Devil King said indifferently.


    ¡°As expected of the Devil King. So you have long taken that step. I¡¯m such a joke. Here was I waiting for you to take that step together. This is good. Very good actually. It¡¯s better than I expected.¡± The Thearch looked at the Devil King as though she had gone mad. The space around her constantly distorted.


    Zhou Wen immediately felt that something was amiss. It wasn¡¯t just the space around The Thearch that distorted. The entire world¡¯s


    space began to distort.


    No, it wasn¡¯t just spatial distortions. Even time began to distort.


    The people who had exploded to their deaths


    suddenly revived; the Cube¡¯s screen went haywire; and the battle that had completed replayed again.


    In fact, it wasn¡¯t a replay, but that the dead had been revived. Or rather, spacetime had rewound to that moment before their deaths.


    On Earth, ancient people who had died decades or even centuries ago appeared on the streets in strange clothes, looking around blankly.


    Half of the street was filled with modern skyscrapers, but the other half was filled with ancient wooden houses.


    The sun and moon switched spots as the sea rose into the sky. The mountain peaks floated in the sky as the stars circled the sky. The world changed in a way resembling a mirage or a strange dream.


    Cracks appeared beneath The Thearch¡¯s feet. The Destiny Platform, which had experienced the wear and tear of countless years on which countless monarchs had fought, cracked.


    ¡°Demonic Neonate¡­ We can¡¯t let her continue¡­¡± Zhou Wen said to the Devil King.


    The Devil King ignored Zhou Wen. Although she was half-Demonic Neonate, she was also


    half-Devil King.


    She had slapped The Thearch in the face partially because of Demonic Neonate¡¯s anger. She didn¡¯t listen to Zhou Wen because of her


    pride as Devil King.


    Yes, pride. Out of pride, she didn¡¯t stop The


    Thearch from taking that step, nor was she willing to stop The Thearch from taking that step. She just watched.


    Aircraft carriers brushed past ancient wooden


    boats in the middle of the sea and sky. Ancient fighter jets tore through fireworks before crashing into a building.


    The building collapsed, but it didn¡¯t smash into the street beside it because it had already turned into a barren land. Dinosaurs ran across


    the collapsed ruins.


    The entire city of Luoyang suddenly rose. Another ancient city appeared under Luoyang City. Furthermore, it was still rising. Ancient cities rose up one after another ancient cities that had been destroyed by the river of time. The same situation happened in Guide Ancient City. Cities stacked on top of each other. There were cities beneath cities like skyscrapers. In the ancient cities from different periods, humans wearing clothes from different periods looked at the sky in confusion. They were shocked by the scene in front of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve waited too long for this step.¡± The Thearch slowly took a step towards the Devil King. With this step, the dimensional


    mountains and rivers turned on their heads as


    many dimensional domains collapsed. The monarchs of the races who had died previously were also revived.


    A sun-like god walked out of the sky and descended onto Inocciduus Divine Mountain with a smile. The Solarians were pleasantly


    surprised as they knelt before the sun-like god and shouted ¡°My liege!¡± in unison.


    In the Connate Tomb that buried countless Celestial Thearchs, Celestial Thearchs who had passed away walked out one after another. The


    thirteen Celestial Thearchs looked down at the Connate Land.


    ¡°Your Majesty¡­¡± The Connates cried out in surprise. Some cried tears of joy. However, in the next moment, the gods


    instantly turned to dust and dissipated.


    With one step, the universe changed.


    Pa!


    Just as she took that step and arrived in front


    of the Devil King, her face was slapped to the side again.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it. Unfortunately, you¡¯re still


    too weak. Do I need to give you any further


    boosts in courage?¡± the Devil King said indifferently as she looked at The Thearch. This was what The Thearch had said to Zhou


    Wen. The Thearch was stunned by the Devil King¡¯s slap. She had already taken that step and become a true Cosmic-grade, but she still couldn¡¯t dodge the Devil King¡¯s slap.


    After so many years of waiting and scheming,


    all of it seemed to be reduced to a joke thanks to this slap.


    The Thearch had willingly stayed in Chess


    Mountain to keep her promise, but she hadn¡¯t been idle all these years. Chess Mountain was the closest to Earth¡¯s core, and Earth was the forbidden land of ancient


    times. It suffered the suppression of the forbidden land in ancient times. Over the years, the insights she had obtained made her stronger than before. She had reached a point where her word was a rule.


    A word could change the sun and moon, a word


    could defy life and death, and a word could bring things into existence.


    She didn¡¯t take that step. She only waited for the Devil King to appear-for that final battle and for the most brilliant moment to take that


    step.


    She wanted to trample over the Devil King to become king. Only then would she be a true


    monarch and be qualified to represent this universe.


    However, this slap pricked the bubble that was The Thearch¡¯s endless wait.


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 Chapter 1896 - Newbie Training

    Chapter 1896 Newbie Training


    ¡°That¡¯s great.¡± The Thearch looked up at the endless universe as though she was relieved.


    She slowly retracted her gaze and looked at the Devil King in front of her. ¡°I¡¯ve been looking forward to the day we fight again. I¡¯ve been looking forward to a perfect outcome, but I¡¯ve forgotten that anticipation isn¡¯t enough. I thought I had been working hard and preparing, but I neglected a fact. The world doesn¡¯t exist because of my expectations. I sealed myself in a world I was looking forward to and never came out of it.


    ¡°Thank you for letting me take the step out. This is the Devil King I want. This is the battle I was really looking forward to.¡± The Thearch calmed down as she looked at the Devil King and continued slowly, ¡°I was a challenger in the past, and I¡¯m still a challenger now. Devil King, let¡¯s begin again.¡±


    As The Thearch spoke, she was no longer as proud as a god who had everything in her control, nor was she as lofty as a monarch who controlled all power in the world.


    The Thearch closed her eyes and crossed her hands in front of her voluptuous chest. She looked like a pious nun praying to God, but also like a priest asking the heavens for a gift.


    ¡°I wish that there were no more Immortal Thearchs in this world¡­ I wish that there were no more dimensional monarchs in this world¡­ I wish¡­ I wish to use everything to fight you¡­ I wish to live for this one battle¡­¡±


    As The Thearch made her wishes, the immortal glow on her body dissipated, revealing her ordinary woman-like figure.


    Her figure was like an immortal, but she no longer had any transcendent aura. She was just like an ordinary woman in the mortal world.


    Some kind of shackle seemed to crack on her body, making her more and more real.


    Looking at the ordinary girl with half the aura of an immortal monarch, the Devil King¡¯s eyes turned serious for the first time.


    Boom!


    The Destiny Platform shattered beneath The Thearch¡¯s feet as boulders fell into an endless abyss.


    The two of them stood in midair as an invisible force swept through the entire world.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen felt his body being sent flying by the invisible force. He slammed into a planet and exploded it after flying for an unknown


    distance.


    Even someone as powerful as Zhou Wen


    couldn¡¯t withstand that terrifying power, much less the other dimensional races.


    Countless dimensional creatures were sent


    flying by the terrifying force. They slammed through the spatial barrier and were thrown into Earth¡¯s universe.


    The other dimensional creatures were fine, but Zhou Wen was severely injured by the terrifying power because he was too close to the battlefield.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body slammed into a planet and finally stopped. He hurriedly got up to take a look, but he saw an unforgettable scene.


    The sky was split into two. One half was the starry sky, and the other half was the endless dimensional world.


    The starry sky was filled with supernovas. The dimensional world looked apocalyptic.


    Everything was disintegrating. Only two celestial bodies of light that resembled the sun and moon emitted unimaginable energy


    fluctuations.


    Under the clash of the Devil King and The


    Thearch¡¯s powers, Earth¡¯s universe was separating from the dimension. The potency


    could separate the two worlds.


    No, the potency was so powerful that it wanted to destroy everything. The two worlds had clearly been separated, but Earth¡¯s universe was still affected by that terrifying power. One star after another exploded.


    Even galaxies were instantly destroyed. Sweetie


    did her best to protect Earth, but the planets in the Solar System exploded one after another. Pluto, Neptune, Uranus. Stars bloomed with aurora, and these were just a few specks of dust in the countless exploding stars. Stars exploded everywhere in the Milky Way as terrifying creatures rushed out of the exploding


    stars.


    The dimensional creatures that were thrown


    into the universe realized that this universe


    seemed to be even more terrifying than the dimension. There were extremely terrifying cosmic creatures awakening in the supernovas.


    However, the cosmic creatures didn¡¯t attack the dimensional creatures because they were also trembling in fear. Under the terrifying power, the universe was collapsing and shrinking, as though it was returning to the primordial atom when the universe first began.


    Devil King¡­ You can¡¯t keep this up¡­ The world


    can¡¯t withstand your battle at all¡­ Zhou Wen sent his thoughts to the dimension that had been stripped away, but he didn¡¯t receive any response.


    He wanted to rush into the dimensional zone,


    but he was repelled again and again. He couldn¡¯t rush in at all.


    Sweetie¡¯s strength had already begun to


    weaken. Zhou Wen had no choice but to let Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign return to Earth and protect the Solar System with his


    supreme power.


    That was all Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign was capable of. Just the aftershocks of the power made the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human


    Sovereign have no choice but to resist with all his might.


    Cosmic-grade¡­ What kind of power is that? Zhou Wen looked at the dimensional zone that


    resembled a mirage. A phenomenon looking like a solar eclipse emitted infinite energy.


    The entire universe trembled under the light of the two blazing suns. Countless creatures looked at the two blobs of light in horror. The sun and stars paled in comparison. The universe had an unprecedented two-sun wonder.


    Zhou Wen had never seen or heard of a Cosmic-grade before. The Apocalypse grade was already a limit of this world, and the


    Cosmic grade clearly exceeded the limits of this world.


    It was a power that shouldn¡¯t have existed in


    this universe. It was enough to destroy the entire universe.


    Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign and Sweetie


    struggled to hold on. Zhou Wen knew that they couldn¡¯t last long. If this battle didn¡¯t end soon, the entire universe would probably be doomed.


    A power that transcends this universe? Zhou


    Wen was unable to contact the Devil King, so he had already given up on the thought of dissuading her. He reached out and took out his phone.


    He quickly tapped an icon on the phone. It was


    the only game dungeon that came with the


    phone.


    When his mind entered the game, Zhou Wen quickly appeared in Ant City.


    In the sky above Ant City, the girl-like


    Guardian was looking at him calmly. ¡°Are¡­ you ready?¡± To his surprise, Ant City¡¯s


    Guardian spoke. Her voice was cold and heartless, like an electronically-synthesized voice.


    ¡°Ready for what?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly


    taken aback as he asked the Ant City Guardian. ¡°Coordinates: Z14. Vitality value: 0.99. Hasn¡¯t reached the standard needed to initiate rookie


    training¡­ Discovered abnormal energy fluctuations in Z14 spacetime¡­ Detecting¡­ Z14 spacetime is on course for destruction¡­


    Estimated to be completely destroyed in the four main universe hours¡­ Emergency procedures activated¡­ Rookie training activated¡­ Please complete the rookie training in four main universe hours¡­ Opening the door to the main universe¡­¡±


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 Chapter 1897 - The Only Choice

    Chapter 1897 The Only Choice


    After Ant City¡¯s Guardian said that, she suddenly moved, appearing in front of Zhou Wen like a ghost and striking his head.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s figure vanished as he moved through layers of space. He was in a constant instant transmission state, leaving behind afterimages everywhere in Ant City.


    However, the Ant City Guardian¡¯s palm still struck him. Zhou Wen raised both hands to meet it as his Unique New World power surged.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen and the Unique New World were shattered by the Ant City Guardian¡¯s palm. His vision went black as he was kicked out of the game.


    The words ¡°Failed Rookie Training¡± appeared on his phone. Zhou Wen entered the game again. Ant City¡¯s Guardian was still there.


    When he entered the game in the combat suit, everything felt more realistic. However,


    because he died too quickly, he hadn¡¯t had a chance to take it all in.


    Zhou Wen knew very well that the Strength and Speed of Ant City¡¯s Guardian far exceeded his. She was likely a Cosmic-grade that he wasn¡¯t. She could kill him with just her Strength and Speed.


    Death didn¡¯t discourage him. Instead, he was overjoyed.


    What he wanted was Cosmic-grade power. Only by advancing to the Cosmic grade could he participate in the battle between the Devil King and The Thearch and stop them from destroying the entire universe.


    The rookie training on the phone wasn¡¯t prepared for him to begin with. He hadn¡¯t reached the standard required to activate the rookie training. Now that he had activated it by force, the only way was to have a


    breakthrough.


    Ant City¡¯s Guardian struck out with her palm again. Zhou Wen knew that it was impossible for him to dodge. He couldn¡¯t even instant transmit. It was useless no matter how fast he


    was.


    Fight it out? It was even more impossible. The might of Ant City¡¯s Guardian¡¯s palm could destroy the universe. The peak of the Apocalypse grade was ultimately inferior to that strength.


    Since I can¡¯t dodge or fight her head-on, I can only borrow her strength. Zhou Wen struck out at the Ant City Guardian¡¯s palm, but this palm contained a suction force that drew upon Ant City Guardian¡¯s power.


    However, the moment their hands came into contact, Zhou Wen¡¯s palm shattered. His arm and body exploded as he died before he could use the borrowed strength himself.


    ¡°Failed Rookie Training¡­¡±


    Standing in front of Ant City¡¯s Guardian again, Zhou Wen chose to take the initiative to attack. All his strength transformed into countless sword beams that poured towards Ant City¡¯s Guardian like a galaxy.


    Bang!


    The sword beams that filled the sky shattered as a palm grabbed Zhou Wen¡¯s head and


    crushed it.


    ¡°Failed Rookie Training¡­¡¯


    He failed again and again. Zhou Wen changed his powers and combat strategy every time, but the outcome was surprisingly identical. He couldn¡¯t even withstand a single strike from Ant City¡¯s Guardian. This was an absolute suppression.


    At the end of the day, the Apocalypse grade was still within the Mythical stage.


    The stages of Terror, Calamity, and Apocalypse were only at the Mythical stage, but Cosmic had already exceeded the Mythical stage.


    The repeated deaths didn¡¯t discourage him. Instead, he kept improving in terms of


    Strength and Speed.


    He could also raise his Strength and Speed


    using the battle¡¯s pressure.


    Unfortunately, no matter how fast or strong he


    was, he couldn¡¯t withstand the palm of Ant City¡¯s Guardian.


    This won¡¯t do. No matter how I improve, they are ultimately within the rules of this universe. As for Ant City¡¯s Guardian¡¯s palm, it can


    destroy an entire universe. Therefore, no matter how strong or how fast I am, it¡¯s useless. Only by exceeding the rules of this universe can I block that palm. Zhou Wen already knew the reason for his loss, but how could he surpass the rules of this universe? He was born and raised here. He was a part of this universe, so how could he transcend it? Zhou Wen thought of the Devil King and The Thearch. Their strength had already exceeded the rules of the universe. They were undoubtedly at the Cosmic grade. He didn¡¯t know how the Devil King¡¯s strength exceeded the rules of the universe.


    However, The Thearch had previously demonstrated very well. She used her wish to


    shatter the rules of the universe. While abandoning herself, she also abandoned the


    universe that gave birth to her. At the same time, she also gained independence. That was already a very clear path. If Zhou Wen


    wanted to take that path, he had to use his New World power to resist the power of the universe. When the New World power exceeded


    the rules of the shattered universe, he would advance to the Cosmic grade.


    However, if he advanced to Cosmic like this, his strength would be the same as The Thearch


    and the Devil King. Once he unleashed his strength, it would have a huge influence on the


    universe.


    The battle between the Devil King and The


    Thearch nearly caused the universe to collapse.


    If he participated in the battle, it would only speed up its collapse.


    If he advanced to the Cosmic level like that, it would be no different from a failure. This was also the path Ant City¡¯s Guardian had


    pointed out to him¡ªhe was to advance to the Cosmic grade before the universe was destroyed. From there, he could open the so-called door to the universe and head to the


    main universe.


    That way, Zhou Wen could live, but his family


    and friends would be destroyed with the


    universe.


    Perhaps the Devil King and The Thearch could


    survive, but the others would definitely die.


    No, that¡¯s not my path. My path has never changed. What I need isn¡¯t destruction. Zhou Wen looked at the Ant City Guardian¡¯s palm


    that struck again as the power of the Unique New World erupted again.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen¡¯s body shattered again. He had failed


    again.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t enter the game again. He


    stood in the cosmos and sensed the universe that was about to be destroyed. The stars exploded as the universe collapsed.


    Every creature fled in fear. Even the cosmic creatures flew around like frightened birds. The entire universe was within Zhou Wen¡¯s perception, but he suddenly retracted his gaze. This universe was just too big. It was so big


    that it was unreal. Zhou Wen¡¯s gaze constantly converged.


    Supercluster, galactic cluster, Local Group,


    Milky Way Galaxy, Gould Belt, Local Bubble, Local Interstellar Cloud, Oort Cloud, Solar System, Earth, East District, Guide Ancient


    City.


    His vision constantly narrowed and focused before finally landing on the familiar faces. Ya¡¯er, Wang Lu, Li Xuan, Ouyang Lan, Zhou Lingfeng, An Jing, Zhang Yuzhi, Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, Qin Zhen. One familiar face after another flashed through Zhou Wen¡¯s eyes. Zhou Wen suddenly came to a realization and understood why he had always rejected advancing to the Apocalypse grade using the Lost Immortal Sutra¡¯s path and why he insisted on advancing to the Apocalypse grade in an imperfect form.


    That path represented destruction and rebirth. Without destruction, there was no construction. The birth of a new universe meant the death of an old universe. Advancing to the Cosmic grade meant creating a new universe, and the New World was actually an embryonic form or seed of the new


    universe.


    This seed absorbed nutrients in the old


    universe and germinated. It grew to a point where it could replace the old universe. It basically meant the old universe¡¯s doom.


    Of course, there were strong and weak, big and small universes. A powerful universe might give birth to a few new universes, but it might not completely perish.


    However, this universe had already given birth to the Devil King and The Thearch. If he used


    this method to advance to the Cosmic grade, would this universe be able to withstand it? Or would it immediately collapse? Zhou Wen didn¡¯t dare or wish to take the risk.


    Why must something be destroyed before it can be created to form a new universe? This universe gave birth to me and raised me. There are people in this land who gave me life, and there are also people I cherish. No matter how imperfect it is, no matter how ugly it is, no matter how scarred it is or how close it is to death, this is the most perfect world that I want in my heart. It is also my only choice. From the moment I was born, this was already destined. Zhou Wen looked up as his eyes gradually became firm. The power of the Unique New World spread out and gradually fused with the shattered universe.


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 Chapter 1898 - Slap

    Chapter 1898 Slap


    Under the combined protection of Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign and Sweetie, Earth was temporarily spared from being implicated, but the damage it had previously suffered left Earth in ruins.


    Guide Ancient City was at the top of the layers of ancient cities. Most of the humans who had turned into animals had returned to their original appearances thanks to the influence of the Ninth Heaven¡¯s Human Sovereign¡¯s power; even so, they still felt their hearts tremble when they saw the mirage-like scene in the sky.


    The dimension looked like an apocalyptic scene. The ground cracked and the mountains and seas hung upside down. There were ruins everywhere, and nebulae burst out all over the universe.


    This scene made everyone feel like ants. A random step from someone would most probably trample the entire race to their deaths.


    Wang Lu closed her eyes and prayed. Ya¡¯er looked up at the starry sky while in Ouyang Lan¡¯s arms.


    Just as everyone was feeling alarmed, they suddenly felt the ground tremble. The overlapping ancient cities were sinking and dissipating bit by bit.


    The crumbling mountains and rivers, as well as the collapsed buildings, quickly returned to their original states.


    All sorts of fragments rose strangely and returned to their original spots.


    Like restoring shattered mirrors, the people who had died in the calamity were miraculously revived.


    Collapsed skyscrapers stood tall in the city again. All sorts of plants were restored as greenery once again covered the land.


    The seawater that surged towards the continent receded, and the toppled mountains returned to their original places.


    Under the influence of the terrifying power, the planet that had deviated from its orbit returned to its original orbit. Space, in its shattered form, shimmered again.


    Upon seeing this unbelievable scene, everyone was pleasantly surprised. They imagined that a god had appeared and stopped this terrifying calamity.


    In space, many cosmic creatures looked at the recovering universe and roared excitedly.


    However, the creatures from the dimension were all filled with worry.


    Earth¡¯s universe was recovering, but


    everything in the dimension was still en route towards destruction. The black and white lights


    were destroying everything.


    In the past, they yearned to rush into Earth¡¯s universe, but now, they yearned to return home. Unfortunately, their home was already devastated.


    The creatures of the two worlds looked at the illusory dimensional scene when they suddenly saw a person fly into the sky and walk towards the illusory dimensional zone.


    The person walked to the separated boundary between the dimension and Earth¡¯s universe. With a pull of his hands, the two were pulled back together like a curtain.


    He walked into the dimensional zone just like that. Wherever he walked, everything would recover and everything beneath his feet would revive.


    It was just like a second coming at the end of days. In front of him were the ruins of the world, but behind him was a flourishing world.


    Every step he took restored everything in the world to its original position. Mountains and rivers were restored, and everything was reborn.


    ¡°A god has finally appeared!¡± The various dimensional races were so excited that they nearly cried.


    ¡°Human Sovereign¡­ is back¡­¡± After the


    humans identified the figure, they were so excited that they couldn¡¯t control themselves. Their Human Sovereign had returned.


    ¡°Young Master Wen¡­ has he become a god?¡± An Sheng was pleasantly surprised and couldn¡¯t help but cry out.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡± An Tianzuo snorted


    coldly, but his eyes were filled with joy.


    ¡°As expected of my man.¡± Tsukuyomi looked at the figure in the city with a proud


    expression.


    The Devil King and The Thearch, who were crazily unleashing their strength, suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    They felt as though their strength was weakening. No, it shouldn¡¯t be said that their strength was weakening, but everything around them had changed.


    The space that could originally be torn apart with a glance from them remained unmoved. Every blade of grass, tree, and flower seemed


    to turn into divine objects. Their strength was unable to damage them.


    ¡°What¡­ happened to this world¡­¡± The Devil King and The Thearch couldn¡¯t help but stop fighting and look at the bizarre world.


    They were alarmed and puzzled to discover


    that Zhou Wen was walking over. Every step he


    took was causing a strange change in the


    world.


    Everything they had destroyed was restored behind him.


    Their eyes couldn¡¯t help but focus. Zhou Wen


    had actually taken that step; he had become a Cosmic existence.


    However, what they couldn¡¯t understand was that after breaking through to the Cosmic grade, one had to sever ties with the universe.


    However, Zhou Wen seemed to fuse with the universe without being ostracized by the rules of the universe.


    ¡°Are you guys done fooling around?¡± Zhou


    Wen walked in front of them and said calmly.


    Zhou Wen stopped, but his magical power


    didn¡¯t stop. It went beyond Zhou Wen¡¯s body and spread throughout the dimension, restoring the ruins-like dimension to its original state.


    Even the shattered Destiny Platform and the


    staircase had returned. The Thearch and the


    Devil King were standing on Destiny Platform. The Cubes emitted light again, illuminating the myriad worlds, transmitting their images and voices to every corner of the universe.


    All the creatures in the world were paying


    attention to the three figures. Be it dimensional


    creatures or humans, they silently prayed that Zhou Wen could defeat the two terrifying


    women.


    ¡°Devil King, are you going to discipline your


    man or do you want me to do it for you?¡± The


    Thearch looked at the Devil King and said, not taking Zhou Wen seriously.


    So what if he advanced to the Cosmic grade? Without a transcendent realm, even if he advanced to the Cosmic grade, he too would be thrashed-just like when she first advanced to the Cosmic grade; she couldn¡¯t even withstand a single slap from the Devil King. Anyone could tell that Zhou Wen was still one with the universe and hadn¡¯t transcended. ¡°This is a battle between us. It has nothing to


    do with you,¡± the Devil King said to Zhou Wen. Zhou Wen looked at the two unparalleled existences-one immortal and one devil-and didn¡¯t get angry because of their words.


    Instead, he laughed.


    He walked between The Thearch and the Devil


    King and said calmly, ¡°Let¡¯s end it here. Stop fooling around.¡±


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t have the ability to discipline


    him, let me discipline him for you.¡± After The


    Thearch said to the Devil King, she glanced at Zhou Wen and said coldly, ¡°Come over.¡± A single sentence was enough to make her wish


    come true. Her voice seemed to make the world bow its head.


    Due to her words, Zhou Wen walked towards her and arrived in front of her. ¡°Slap your mouth,¡± The Thearch said again.


    She wanted Zhou Wen to slap himself. This was also a slap to the Devil King¡¯s face. Zhou Wen extended his palm, but it didn¡¯t land


    on his face. Instead, he reached out and


    grabbed The Thearch. Under The Thearch¡¯s astonished gaze, her body


    was lifted up by Zhou Wen and pressed down on Destiny Platform.


    ¡°Slap my mouth, huh?¡± Zhou Wen extended


    his palm and slapped The Thearch¡¯s buttocks, stunning her. She lay there in a daze as her pupils constricted. Her face was filled with


    shock as her mind went blank.


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 Chapter 1899 - Guardian Egg

    Chapter 1899 Guardian Egg


    The Thearch¡¯s body trembled violently in rage when she realized what had happened.


    It was fine if she was slapped in the face by the Devil King. After all, she was the Devil King, the former lord of the dimension, an


    unparalleled existence.


    The Thearch didn¡¯t find it embarrassing to be slapped in the face by the Devil King, but to be spanked by a punk like a child in front of all the creatures of the two worlds made The Thearch feel an unconcealable humiliation. It was worse than killing her.


    It wasn¡¯t just The Thearch. All the Immortals lowered their heads when they saw this scene. The greatest existence of the Immortals had actually been spanked. They felt ashamed.


    The other races wore odd expressions. It was clearly a battle that concerned the survival of the universe, but for some reason, they found the mood turning odd.


    The Thearch¡¯s wish powers bloomed from her body as she suddenly attempted to stand up.


    However, she felt as though she was being suppressed by an unimaginable force. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn¡¯t escape from Zhou Wen¡¯s palm.


    The Thearch was shocked. She couldn¡¯t fathom how Zhou Wen could be so strong despite being at the Cosmic grade like her. It was impossible.


    Pa! Zhou Wen slapped The Thearch¡¯s buttocks again. ¡°Do you now know who¡¯s in charge here? This universe is now under my protection. If you dare do anything rash, what follows won¡¯t be as simple as a spanking.¡±


    As Zhou Wen spoke, he grabbed The Thearch and held her under his armpit with one arm. The Thearch couldn¡¯t escape no matter how she struggled.


    They were both at the Cosmic grade, but The Thearch had only absorbed a portion of the power of this universe to produce her own cosmic power.


    However, Zhou Wen had been augmented by the entire universe¡¯s power. Compared to Zhou Wen¡¯s cosmic power, The Thearch¡¯s cosmic power was like a son to a father. Unless The Thearch took a step further and continued raising her cosmic power to the level of the universe, no creature in the universe could fight Zhou Wen.


    The Thearch wanted to become monarch, but Zhou Wen was the person who decided on the position. How could she fight Zhou Wen?


    Zhou Wen looked at the Devil King and her expression immediately changed. She turned around and wanted to teleport away. She didn¡¯t want to be spanked in public like The Thearch.


    However, the spacetime around the Devil King¡¯s body changed as a huge hand reached


    out.


    Zhou Wen clamped the Devil King with his other arm and vanished with the Devil King and The Thearch.


    The Cubes in various parts of the universe dimmed at the same time, and nothing could be seen.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± The creatures in the


    universe looked at each other, momentarily at a loss for words.


    ¡°A calamity that nearly destroyed the universe ended just like that?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± An Sheng was


    dumbfounded.


    His daughter was born at the Apocalypse grade,


    making him feel smug for quite some time, but now, Zhou Wen had actually snatched away two women who could destroy the universe. He was inhuman.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t plan on killing The Thearch because she was someone who wanted to leave,


    and he too planned on leaving.


    Zhou Wen was already an invincible existence in this universe, but it was different after he left. Without the augmentation of the universe¡¯s power, Zhou Wen was like the Devil King and The Thearch-a Cosmic existence. With a companion by his side, wouldn¡¯t it be better to have more cannon fodder in the face


    of death?


    As for the Devil King, she was Demonic Neonate. After so many years of relationship, it was even more impossible for Zhou Wen to kill her. After he left, the Devil King would be an important aide to Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen carried The Thearch and the Devil


    King back to Guide Ancient City. After letting them go, the Devil King stood there obediently. A strange glint flashed in The Thearch¡¯s eyes as some kind of power seemed to surge in Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Zhou Wen knew that this was the wish power she had left in him after losing to her However, such wish power couldn¡¯t injure


    Zhou Wen further. With a thought, the wish powers backlashed, turning The Thearch into a


    flower.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just live in peace?¡± Zhou Wen glanced at the flower on the ground and waved


    his hand. The flower vanished. Then, he extended his hand and beckoned at the Devil


    King. The Devil King obediently returned to


    him.


    However, when Zhou Wen looked at her stats again, there were still question marks behind the Devil King. Her stats remained a mystery to


    him. Taking out his phone, Zhou Wen entered Ant


    City again.


    After entering Ant City, Zhou Wen immediately


    lost the augmentation of the Cosmic powers. However, he was already at the Cosmic grade¡ª even without the augmentation of cosmic


    powers.


    Looking at his stats, he realized that his stats on the phone were the same as the Devil King¡¯s. They were both question marks. Clearly, the phone couldn¡¯t show the stats of


    Cosmic-grade creatures. ¡°Energy detection¡­ Vitality has reached 1¡­ Rookie training activated¡­¡± Ant City¡¯s Guardian came in front of Zhou Wen again.


    She struck out with her palm. Zhou Wen


    managed to block the palm he couldn¡¯t previously.


    When their palms clashed, Zhou Wen and the


    Ant City Guardian took a step back. It was a


    draw.


    After being on the same level of life, the Ant City Guardian that Zhou Wen originally found invincible no longer had that suppressive might from before.


    Zhou Wen¡¯s combat skills were far above the


    Ant City Guardian. With both of them having similar strength, Zhou Wen could easily block the Ant Guardian¡¯s attacks regardless of how ferocious they were.


    Bang!


    Zhou Wen sent the Ant City Guardian flying


    with a punch. Her body slammed into the wall and transformed into vanishing fragments. A Companion Egg dropped.


    ¡®Killed Ant City Guardian. Discovered Guardian Egg. Rookie training completed. Cosmic system unlocked¡­ Unlocking¡­ Insufficient cosmic


    energy¡­ Unlocking failed¡­ Please return to the main universe to complete the unlocking¡­ Please use a Cosmic coin to open the door to


    the main universe¡­¡¯


    As the notification sounded in-game, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what Cosmic coins were. His heart suddenly stirred as he took out the crystal slab from before.


    ¡®Cosmic coin detected. Do you wish to use the Cosmic coin to open the door to the main universe?¡¯ A notification immediately popped up on the phone.


    Zhou Wen hesitated for a moment before


    picking up the Guardian Egg. The Guardian Egg immediately transformed into a beam of light that fused into Zhou Wen¡¯s body.


    Ant City Guardian (Rookie¡¯s Unique Guardian): ???


    He switched off the phone and put away the


    Cosmic coin.


    The truth was right in front of him, but he didn¡¯t know if he would return alive. He wanted to bid farewell to his family first.


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 Chapter 1900 - The Last Supper

    Chapter 1900 The Last Supper


    ¡°Are you really leaving? You still have a choice,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said as he drank his tea.


    ¡°I wish to head out to take a look,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°So what if you see it? What if you can¡¯t withstand it?¡± Zhou Lingfeng put down the teacup and asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I might regret seeing it, but I¡¯ll always regret it if I don¡¯t,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    your


    ¡°That¡¯s true. Instead of living the rest of life in regret, you might as well die a quick death.¡± Zhou Lingfeng smiled and said, ¡°From the looks of it, I have to work harder. If my main account is crippled, I can only power level my smurf.¡±


    Zhou Wen was somewhat speechless. He could never keep up with Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s train of thought.


    ¡°Tell Ouyang Lan yourself. If there¡¯s a need, you can also tell her the truth,¡± Zhou Lingfeng suddenly said seriously.


    Zhou Wen pondered for a moment before shaking his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. It¡¯s good to let An Jing be her child. If I fail to return, I¡¯ll just be making her sad for no reason.¡±


    ¡°Then have a meal with her.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°You should meet Tianzuo too,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said again.


    Zhou Wen shook his head and said, ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°No matter what, you are brothers. What


    grudge can¡¯t be resolved?¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a bitter smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s no grudge between us. I¡¯m just not used to it. Same for him. It¡¯s perfectly fine the way it is,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile.


    ¡°Seriously? Forget it. I¡¯ll leave it up to you.¡± Zhou Lingfeng shook his head helplessly.


    That night, Zhou Wen ate with Ouyang Lan and Zhou Lingfeng. Ya¡¯er and An Jing were there.


    Ya¡¯er stayed by Zhou Wen¡¯s side the entire time. An Jing lowered her head and ate without saying a word.


    ¡°Come, come, come, our hero who saved the world. Here¡¯s a toast.¡± Ouyang Lan was very happy as she kept pouring wine and toasting Zhou Wen.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t reject her. After a few glasses, Ouyang Lan became a little tipsy; she danced with Zhou Wen.


    She was even more straightforward than a


    man, but she wasn¡¯t good with alcohol.


    ¡°Zhou Wen, did I treat you well?¡± Ouyang Lan¡¯s face flushed red as she wrapped her arms


    around his shoulder.


    ¡°Excellent,¡± Zhou Wen said with a nod.


    ¡°You are Lingfeng¡¯s son, which means you are my son. It¡¯s been so long, but you haven¡¯t called me mom. Have I not done enough?¡± Zhou Wen was slightly taken aback as he was momentarily at a loss for an answer.


    ¡°Or am I not good enough for you to call me mom?¡± Ouyang Lan said angrily.


    ¡°Of course you are good enough. You are my


    mother,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°No, you have to seriously call me Mom,¡±


    Ouyang Lan said.


    ¡°Mom,¡± Zhou Wen called out with mixed


    feelings.


    ¡°My good son, I can now tell everyone that my


    son is the hero who saved the world.¡± Ouyang Lan staggered to her feet and raised her glass. ¡°Come, a toast to my good son.¡±


    With that said, Ouyang Lan downed the wine in


    her cup.


    ¡°That¡¯s enough. Stop drinking,¡± Zhou Lingfeng


    persuaded.


    ¡°Why not? I¡¯m happy today. Let¡¯s drink till we drop! Am I right, son?¡± Ouyang Lan grabbed the bottle again and poured herself some wine.


    Ouyang Lan eventually collapsed from drinking. Zhou Lingfeng carried her back to her room before Zhou Wen got up to leave.


    ¡°Are you leaving?¡± An Jing suddenly said from behind Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Zhou Wen nodded.


    ¡°Will you return?¡± An Jing¡¯s words made Zhou


    Wen realize that he had misunderstood her


    first question.


    ¡°How did you know I was leaving?¡± Zhou Wen turned around and asked An Jing.


    ¡°The Thearch said that she wants to leave. A


    person like you would have the same thoughts as her, right?¡± An Jing said.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m leaving. I don¡¯t know if I can return.¡±


    Zhou Wen sighed. Even An Jing could tell, so how could Ouyang Lan not? She didn¡¯t say a word despite drinking so much. It must have been a huge blow to her.


    ¡°Goodbye,¡± An Jing said as she turned to leave.


    It surprised Zhou Wen. An Jing was calm like her name, nothing like before.


    Zhou Wen went out and walked the streets of


    Guide Ancient City. Although it was almost midnight, the streets were still brightly lit. After walking for a short distance, he saw a person sitting on the stone steps by the street. It was Jing Daoxian.


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± Zhou Wen had


    come here because he knew that Jing Daoxian


    was here. Otherwise, why would he need to


    walk? He could go anywhere with a mere thought.


    ¡°Can I take a look at the Essence Energy Art


    Wang Mingyuan left behind?¡± Jing Daoxian


    asked.


    ¡°No,¡± Zhou Wen replied.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing I can do. Kill me,¡± Jing


    Daoxian said as he stood up and walked in


    front of Zhou Wen.


    ¡°Why? Are you sick of living?¡± Zhou Wen looked at Jing Daoxian¡¯s expression; he didn¡¯t seem to be joking. He really looked like he wanted to die.


    ¡°You¡¯ve become a god, and my path has been


    severed. I can¡¯t take that step, so death is my only solution.¡± Jing Daoxian pointed at Zhou Wen and said, ¡°I know you have something


    that can turn a dead person into a Companion Beast. Kill me and turn me into your Companion Beast. Take me with you.¡± ¡°Do you know what that means? Not everyone


    can become a Companion Beast after death.


    Even if you succeed, you will lose all your past memories. It can be said that it¡¯s no longer you. Are you sure you want that?¡± Zhou Wen


    said to Jing Daoxian. The reason the Devil King could find herself


    again was that she had left her Devil Spirit


    behind in advance. It was equivalent to leaving behind an avatar with her past memories. By fusing with the avatar, she could be considered to have found a portion of herself. Wang Mingyuan and Jing Daoxian didn¡¯t have


    such things. If they became Companion Beasts, there was no coming back.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter. If I can¡¯t improve further, what¡¯s the difference between living and dying? There¡¯s nothing unknown in life. To me, I¡¯m already a dead person¡­¡± As Jing Daoxian spoke, blood flowed from the corner of


    his mouth.


    Zhou Wen frowned slightly. He realized that Jing Daoxian¡¯s vitality had been severed. He was killing himself. From the looks of it, he was really bent on death.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s see your luck.¡± Zhou Wen pulled out the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and stabbed it into Jing Daoxian¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Jing Daoxian slowly closed his


    eyes. People came and went on the streets, but no one could see Jing Daoxian and Zhou Wen. It was as though they didn¡¯t exist. Seeing Jing Daoxian completely lose his life, Zhou Wen was wondering if the Dead Man Tree would react to him when his phone vibrated. The Dead Man Tree indeed reacted. Zhou Wen watched as Jing Daoxian¡¯s corpse turned into points of light and was sucked into the Dead


    Man Tree. Another fruit grew on the tree. You won the bet again, but was it really worth


    it? Zhou Wen sighed and put away his phone.


    He recalled the two Companion Eggs Wang Mingyuan had left behind. After taking them out, he hatched them.


    Indeed, it was the same as the information he had previously read. One was the Yin Reincarnation Flower, while the other was the Yang Reincarnation Flower.


    The two plants had two leaves¡ªone blue and one red¡ªwith flowers growing on the top. The roots below danced around Zhou Wen like two pixie-like Companion Beasts.


    Zhou Wen focused his gaze and his body trembled. There was a transparent bead in each of the two flower pistils.


    There was an extremely tiny baby curled up in each bead as though they were in their mother¡¯s womb.


    Upon closer inspection, the two babies looked


    familiar.


    As expected of Teacher. Zhou Wen pondered


    for a moment before taking a step forward and disappearing. When he appeared again, he was already in front of Liu Yun.


    ¡°Eldest Senior Brother, I have something I need your help with.¡± Zhou Wen summoned the two Reincarnation Flowers and made them float in front of Liu Yun.


    ¡°These are¡­¡± Liu Yun looked at the babies in


    the beads and immediately looked at Zhou Wen in surprise.


    ¡°Help me raise them.¡± With a thought, the two Reincarnation Flowers were transferred to Liu


    Yun.


    Even if he managed to leave, his survival remained a mystery. He wouldn¡¯t take them with him to their deaths. ¡°Are you leaving?¡± Liu Yun asked Zhou Wen.


    ¡°It¡¯s as though everyone in the world knows that I¡¯m leaving.¡± Zhou Wen smiled bitterly. ¡°Haha, who asked you to be Human Sovereign? If you don¡¯t leave, many people¡ªno, it should


    be said that many creatures will feel terrible,¡±


    Liu Yun said with a laugh. ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen was puzzled.


    ¡°Who likes to call others daddy forever? You


    ¡°Haha,


    aren¡¯t their father.¡± Liu Yun chuckled. now that you mention it, I should head over and hear them call me daddy before I leave.¡± Zhou Wen also laughed.


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 Chapter 1901 - Artifacts Seal

    Chapter 1901 Artifacts Seal


    On Inocciduus Divine Mountain, a person slowly walked over the mountain. When he arrived in front of the temple at the top of the mountain, many Solarians bowed to him with the highest etiquette. At the same time, they said in unison, ¡°The Solarians welcome our liege.¡±


    Zhou Wen swept his gaze across everyone before landing on the face of the leading Solarian Holy Lord. He said indifferently, ¡°Bring me your Race Artifact.¡±


    The expressions of the Solarian Holy Lord and the numerous Solarians changed. The Solarian Holy Lord looked up at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°May I know what Your Majesty wants our Race Artifact for?¡±


    ¡°To seal Earth and reestablish the ancient seals,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Your Majesty, this is unfair. You are the dimensional king. How can you quell the masses of this great injustice¡ªusing our Race Artifact to form a human seal?¡± the Solarian Holy Lord said angrily.


    ¡°What¡¯s justice? Is it justice for the dimension to invade Earth? Is it justice for the Solarians to kill humans? Or is it justice only if you Solarians become king?¡± Zhou Wen said coldly, ¡°I¡¯m a king, but I¡¯m even more human. The human race will naturally prosper as a result. If you aren¡¯t happy with that, endure it. If you can¡¯t, perish.¡±


    The Solarian Holy Lord broke out into a cold sweat as he pleaded, ¡°How can my race dare to be at odds with Your Majesty? Since Your Majesty wants the Race Artifact, we will naturally offer it up. However, I wonder how my race will be dealt with in the future?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll establish new rules. The world will be enfeoffed. The various races will each possess their own territory. There will be a battle on Destiny Platform every hundred years. If your race has someone who can defy the heavens and change their fate, they can fight on the Destiny Platform. The victor is king and the loser is vilified. Success means prosperity. Defeat means lying low and waiting for the next Century Battle,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°Can humans participate in the battle?¡±


    Solarian Holy Lord asked.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhou Wen answered.


    ¡°Will Your Majesty participate in the battle?¡±


    the Solarian Holy Lord asked again.


    ¡°Would a Century Battle be needed if I were to participate in the battle?¡± Zhou Wen said


    indifferently.


    ¡°The dimensional races shall be witnesses. Us Solarians are willing to offer up our Race Artifact and shall await Your Majesty¡¯s institution of the new rules and destiny. We will participate in the Century Battle.¡± The Solarian Holy Lord offered the Solarian¡¯s Race Artifact, the Great Light Wheel, with both


    hands.


    Zhou Wen put away the Great Light Wheel and casually swiped his hand. Inocciduus Divine Mountain formed an independent space as space was sliced apart. Furthermore, this independent space was sealed, preventing it from making contact with the outside world.


    ¡°The Solarian will rise again at the battle of destiny in a hundred years.¡±


    The powerhouses of the various races of the dimension were watching this scene with


    extremely complicated expressions.


    Zhou Wen went to all the races in the


    dimension and confiscated their Race Artifacts.


    None of them dared to disobey him.


    The dimensional races were separated into independent spaces. From then on, they were no longer connected and evolved


    independently.


    Zhou Wen returned to Earth¡¯s universe with


    the various Race Artifacts. He gestured a few times, returning the nebulae to their rightful spots as the Race Artifacts fell towards Earth like a meteor shower. Every time a Race Artifact landed on Earth, it added a mysterious nomological force to Earth.


    After the Race Artifacts entered Earth, their Artifact Spirits automatically found a dimensional zone and entered. In the blink of


    an eye, they vanished. The corresponding dimensional zone would also undergo a


    tremendous change.


    With all the artifacts on Earth, the rules of


    order were like layers of chains that firmly sealed Earth.


    However, it was different from before. In the


    past, the power that sealed Earth imprisoned Earth¡¯s energy and nomological system.


    And this time, Zhou Wen had sealed Earth with


    all the Race Artifacts. He had condensed the


    power of all sorts of dimensional laws on Earth, causing Earth¡¯s energy to almost be


    visible to the naked eye. All sorts of nomological powers were within reach. It was difficult not to become stronger after


    being born in such an amazing place. It was nothing for someone to be born a Mythical in


    the future.


    Furthermore, with the Race Artifact Seal, those terrifying cosmic creatures were unable to enter Earth. It ensured Earth¡¯s safety for years


    to come.


    Powerhouses who originally couldn¡¯t advance to the Mythical stage with their human bodies could now easily advance to the Mythical stage


    just by taking in the rules of the world. They no longer had any restrictions.


    Countless people cried tears of joy, and countless people shouted Human Sovereign¡¯s name in unison, unwilling to stop for a long


    time. At that moment, everyone from the Cape family wore a gloomy expression. The dimension¡¯s Race Artifacts had descended all over Earth, but only the Cape family didn¡¯t receive a single one. They unfortunately sensed


    that the energy in the Cape family¡¯s area was much thinner than elsewhere.


    If they cultivated in such a place, the Cape


    family would probably decline with each generation. Even their children would be weaker than others.


    ¡°Human Sovereign is unfair!¡± a young man from the Cape family roared angrily.


    Pa!


    The Cape family head slapped him in the face


    and said coldly, ¡°It¡¯s already a great favor that we weren¡¯t wiped out. Why are you spouting nonsense? Do you want to bring about the extermination of our Cape family?¡± The young man fell silent. Thinking back to the grudge between the Cape family and Zhou Wen, they indeed had to be grateful that they hadn¡¯t been wiped out.


    Although they were indignant, they had to endure it.


    The present Earth was no longer the former


    Earth.


    When Zhou Wen reached Giant City, he found that it had also undergone a tremendous change. Even more terrifying energy surged into the city.


    This was Gaia¡¯s sanctuary. It was originally one of the core areas of Earth. Several Race Artifacts had flown into Giant City, sending infinite energy in.


    Tsukuyomi and Zhou Wen¡¯s Companion Beasts,


    who were absorbing energy in Giant City¡¯s temples, quickly broke through. Advancing to


    the Calamity grade was as simple as eating and drinking. Tsukuyomi was the first to break through to the Apocalypse grade.


    Imperial Lord Behemoth also broke through to


    the Apocalypse grade. All the Companion Beasts advanced crazily. ¡°Honey, is this worldly energy your gift to me?¡± Tsukuyomi, who was wearing a long moonlight muslin dress and looking like a


    goddess, walked out of Giant City. She was like a bride waiting to be married. She exuded mystery, beauty, sexiness, and a charm. It was almost unforgettable.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving. I¡¯m taking these Companion Beasts with me,¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Where to?¡± Tsukuyomi was slightly taken


    aback.


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving this world and heading to that unknown land,¡± Zhou Wen answered. ¡°Honey, I¡¯ll wait here obediently for your


    return, just like a woman waiting for her husband¡¯s return,¡± Tsukuyomi said silently. ¡°There¡¯s no need to wait for me. I might not be able to return,¡± Zhou Wen said. ¡°You can¡¯t say that. After all, my heart has


    been stolen by you. In the future, I will be yours in life and your ghost in death. If you don¡¯t return for a day, I¡¯ll wait for a day. If you don¡¯t return for the rest of your life, I¡¯ll wait a lifetime for you. If not this lifetime, the next. In short, I¡¯ll keep waiting until the day you return to put on the wedding dress for me,¡± Tsukuyomi said with a smile.


    Zhou Wen shook his head speechlessly. He hadn¡¯t said that he wanted to marry Tsukuyomi. After some thought, Zhou Wen handed one of the Race Artifacts he had reserved to Tsukuyomi. ¡°This is an artifact from the dimensional Moon Gods. It should be


    of some use to you.¡± Tsukuyomi took the Race Artifact and her eyes


    seemed to turn red. ¡°Honey, is this a token of our love? I¡¯ll definitely cherish it. Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll wear it and wait for your return. I love you.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t know what to say. He had already decided to take that step. He couldn¡¯t accept such feelings, much less let Tsukuyomi face the unknown risk with him. Furthermore, Tsukuyomi didn¡¯t have the ability to leave, so


    Zhou Wen could only turn around and leave without a word.


    After Zhou Wen¡¯s figure vanished, Tsukuyomi¡¯s expression immediately changed. She pouted and muttered to herself, ¡°It¡¯s not


    that easy to run. If you can leave, I can leave as


    well. Let¡¯s see where you can run when I take that step to catch up to you.¡± An Sheng was eating when he suddenly realized that Zhou Wen was sitting beside him.


    He jumped in fright. ¡°Young Master Wen, you know that you can scare someone to


    death?¡±


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 Chapter 1902 - Farewell

    Chapter 1902 Farewell


    ¡°It¡¯s fine even if you get scared to death. I¡¯ll pull you from Death¡¯s grasps.¡± Zhou Wen smiled.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, having already offended those dimensional fellows, why are you giving them a way out?¡± An Sheng didn¡¯t understand why Zhou Wen was giving them a chance to fight in the Century Battle after dividing the dimensional races.


    ¡°I¡¯m not leaving a path for them, but leaving some challenges for humanity. Isn¡¯t it very boring to just sit around until death comes?¡± Zhou Wen smiled and said, ¡°Although I¡¯m also human, I have to admit that humans are naturally warlike. If there are no foreign enemies, I¡¯m afraid there will be constant internal strife.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, but aren¡¯t you afraid that humans will end up destroyed?¡± An Sheng said with a smile.


    ¡°If humanity gets destroyed under such conditions, it can only mean that humanity deserves it. It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s destroyed,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently.


    ¡°That¡¯s true.¡± An Sheng looked at Zhou Wen and asked, ¡°When are you leaving?¡±


    ¡°I have some matters to settle. I¡¯ll leave after I¡¯m done.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, a strange glow suffused his body as Companion Beast tattoos appeared.


    Zhou Wen reached out and grabbed the tattoos, tearing them off his body and enveloping them in a halo.


    The tattoos were torn off by Zhou Wen and transformed into balls of light. There were a total of seven or eight of them, including Imperial Lord Behemoth and Mystic Thearch who had just advanced to the Apocalypse grade. ¡°I have no use for these Companion Beasts. Give them to whoever you deem fit.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he took out two more Race


    Artifacts and handed them to An Sheng. ¡°Keep these two Race Artifacts and see if you can use them.¡±


    An Sheng looked at the two Race Artifacts. One of them was a Spirit Race Artifact, so he narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, ¡°Young Master Wen, don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll definitely deliver them to the person who needs them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s up to you to decide. There¡¯s no need to tell me. I should leave.¡± Zhou Wen got up and prepared to leave.


    ¡°Young Master Wen, you have to come back,¡± An Sheng called out to Zhou Wen.


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Zhou Wen didn¡¯t look back as he took a step forward and vanished.


    Zhou Wen visited his family and friends one by one and left some Companion Beasts for them. He had no use for them in the future.


    Leaving it to them was a guarantee that they could gain a foothold on Earth in the future. When he stepped into Wang Lu¡¯s yard, he saw her sitting in the pavilion. There were two filled wine glasses on the stone table. One glass was in front of Wang Lu, while the other was opposite her. However, there was no one


    opposite Wang Lu.


    ¡°Sit. Let¡¯s have a drink.¡± When Wang Lu saw


    Zhou Wen, she combed her hair and raised the


    wine glass in her hand.


    Zhou Wen sat down and gently clinked his


    wine glass with Wang Lu.


    ¡°I wish you all the best,¡± Wang Lu said as she


    downed the wine in her glass.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Zhou Wen also drained his glass.


    Zhou Wen knew that Wang Lu didn¡¯t lack


    Companion Beasts, but he took out a


    Companion Beast and placed it in front of her.


    ¡°Banana Fairy has been with me for many years. I won¡¯t need her in the future. Take her


    with you.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡± Wang Lu took the ball of light and


    immediately contracted it. Banana Fairy¡¯s immortal-like figure immediately appeared beside Wang Lu and sat on a banana leaf. She seemed to be on a swing as she floated around Wang Lu.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a gift too. Please take it,¡± Wang Lu said as she took out something from her pocket and held it between her fingers.


    It was a very ordinary one-dollar coin commonly seen in the Federation. On one side


    was the number 1, and on the other side was a


    flower.


    ¡°Thank you,¡± Zhou Wen said with a smile as he took the coin.


    ¡°Do you still remember how many breakfasts


    you owe me from when we were still at school?¡± Wang Lu said with a smile. ¡°I remember. I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t have the


    chance to repay you in the future.¡± Zhou Wen couldn¡¯t help but smile when he recalled his


    school days. That might have been the most beautiful and comfortable period of his life. ¡°As a person, you have to keep your word. You have to repay what you owe. You are Human Sovereign and also the King of Dimensions.


    Such a hero wouldn¡¯t go back on his word, right?¡± Wang Lu said jokingly.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll repay you when I return.¡± Zhou


    Wen nodded seriously.


    ¡°It¡¯s a deal then. I¡¯ll wait for you to buy me breakfast,¡± Wang Lu said with a smile. After leaving Wang Lu¡¯s place, Zhou Wen


    returned to the City Lord Manor. Li Xuan was sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed, watching the news.


    Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen were also


    there. When they saw Zhou Wen return, the three of them stood up.


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± Li Xuan remained sitting on the


    sofa as he asked casually.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. I¡¯m back. Sit down.¡± Zhou Wen


    sat down beside Li Xuan and casually threw the


    three Race Artifacts to Feng Qiuyan, Ming Xiu, and Qin Zhen. ¡°Keep them as a memento.¡± ¡°This is the Phaseless Race Artifact, Phaseless


    Ring¡­¡± Feng Qiuyan said in surprise when he saw the Race Artifact in his hand.


    ¡°The Eye of the Inter race.¡± Ming Xiu was also


    alarmed.


    Back when they went to the dimension, they had gone to these two races.


    Qin Zhen held her Race Artifact in silence


    before putting it away.


    ¡°I¡¯m your coach after all. I have to leave you something before I leave,¡± Zhou Wen said as he took out some Companion Beasts and threw


    them to them.


    ¡°Coach, you¡¯ll need these things when you


    leave. We¡­¡± Before Feng Qiuyan could finish his sentence, Zhou Wen interrupted him with a wave of his hand. ¡°If I need to rely on these Companion Beasts to save my life, there¡¯s no way I¡¯ll live.¡±


    ¡°This is for you.¡± Zhou Wen handed another Race Artifact to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Me too?¡± Li Xuan was somewhat surprised.


    ¡°It¡¯s not for you. This is the Evil Ghosts¡¯ Race Artifact. I remember that your second brother, Li Mobai, went to the Evil Ghosts back then, am I right?¡± Zhou Wen said.


    ¡°Why are you giving me something for him?¡±


    Li Xuan said unhappily.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know him. There¡¯s no reason for me to give him something. I¡¯ve given it to you. Whether you want to give it to someone else or


    keep it for yourself is your business. It has


    nothing to do with me.¡± As Zhou Wen spoke, he took out a few Companion Beasts and handed them to Li Xuan. ¡°Although these


    fellows aren¡¯t very strong, they are very special. In the future, you will have to guard


    Ancient City and deal with all sorts of situations. These will be useful.¡± These Companion Beasts included Primordial


    Spore, Evil Spirit King, Tai Sui, Explosive Fiend Man, Doctor Darkness, and other strange Companion Beasts. Finally, Zhou Wen gave Prisoner to Li Xuan.


    After Zhou Wen left, Guide Ancient City would be relying on Li Xuan. Without any decent Companion Beasts, many wealthy families in


    Guide Ancient City would probably carve the city up very quickly. Although Prisoner was considered very weak among the Apocalypse grade, he was once Earth¡¯s Companion Beast after all. Now that Earth was being nurtured by the Race Artifacts, he could definitely continue growing in such an environment. He should be able to become an important aide to Li Xuan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. With me around, nothing will


    happen to us.¡± Li Xuan didn¡¯t stand on


    ceremony as he contracted all the Companion Beasts.


    ¡°Guard it if you can. Don¡¯t worry if people no longer believe in it,¡± Zhou Wen said. ¡°With me around, it will be fine,¡± Li Xuan said indifferently, but his eyes were extremely firm.


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 Chapter 1903 - A World Without Gods (End)

    Chapter 1903 A World Without Gods (End)


    ¡®Do you wish to use the Cosmic coin?¡¯ Deep in the cosmos, Zhou Wen held his phone in one hand and Cosmic coin in the other. An activation notification appeared on his phone.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t hesitate to choose ¡®yes.¡¯ He wanted to see what was outside this world, as well as where the laboratory and woman in the video were.


    Why could the phone download dimensional zone dungeons? Who was behind all of this? Was the main universe a higher-level world than this universe, or was that just a name? Why did they send An Jing and her mother in? All of these answers could only be obtained by leaving. Therefore, he chose to leave without any hesitation; he was willing to risk everything for this.


    Hum!


    The Cosmic coin left Zhou Wen¡¯s finger and spun violently in the air. Purple lightning shot out from the Cosmic coin like an energy storm.


    The surrounding space distorted as the purple light intensified and grew bigger.


    Boom!


    A purple ancient door slowly descended amidst the distorted purple light.


    As the ruler of this universe, Zhou Wen actually felt the laws of the universe being crushed and shattered by the purple door. It was akin to glass.


    The purple door descended in an extremely terrifying manner and seemed to condense mysterious and ancient nomological powers in every inch. It was incomprehensible.


    With it suppressing and shattering everything, it made Zhou Wen feel that even if he used all the power in the universe, it would probably be difficult to budge the door at all.


    Back then, did An Jing¡¯s mother steer the ship through this door? Zhou Wen stared at the purple door that had now completely descended and walked to it. Just as he was


    about to push it open, he suddenly saw a


    strange change in the surrounding space. Four figures tore through the air.


    They were the Four Dimitrios Monkeys who stood in four different spots and looked down at Zhou Wen like four demons.


    ¡°You may leave, but leave Truth Listener behind.¡± The Long-Armed Ape Monkey¡¯s voice was like a huge pillar striking a bell. Its voice was heavy and resounding. As it resounded, it seemed to baptize souls with an ancient charm. ¡°Why?¡± Zhou Wen asked the Long-Armed Ape Monkey.


    ¡°It can¡¯t head there, or it will be inauspicious. It won¡¯t be beneficial to you at all. Instead, it will invite a great disaster,¡± the Six-Eared Macaque said with a grin.


    ¡°Why would it be inauspicious when Truth Listener leaves?¡± Zhou Wen frowned.


    ¡°Because Truth Listener shouldn¡¯t leave in the


    first place.¡± The Red-Bottomed Horse


    Monkey¡¯s voice sounded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance. Give me a reason to convince me,¡± Zhou Wen said indifferently as he glanced at the purple door.


    The Four Dimitrios Monkeys looked at each other. The Intelligent Stone Monkey said, ¡°Truth Listener¡¯s fate has something to do with your fate. If you leave with him, one of you will suffer in the future. It¡¯s best if you leave him behind.¡±


    After hearing that, Zhou Wen didn¡¯t say another word as he pushed open the door. ¡°You can¡¯t take Truth Listener away!¡± The Four Dimitrios Monkeys roared in unison, hoping to rush forward to stop Zhou Wen. However, after the purple door was pushed open, the purple light that shot out shone on the Four Dimitrios Monkeys. Immediately, they screamed in unison. The places where their bodies were illuminated by the purple light vanished like melted ice.


    They flew back, not daring to approach the door or be illuminated by the purple light behind it. All they could do was roar from afar, hoping that Zhou Wen would leave Truth Listener behind.


    Zhou Wen ignored them and walked out the door amidst the purple light, disappearing into


    it.


    He dared to leave with the Devil King and The Thearch. The Devil King was the Child of Dimension and could be said to be the master


    of fate. If she could leave this world, why couldn¡¯t Truth Listener?


    He didn¡¯t take the words of the Four Dimitrios


    Monkeys to heart. In fact, they had said similar things in the past.


    Zhou Wen didn¡¯t believe in that at all. He had


    already fused with the universe. Even if the Four Dimitrios Monkeys could deduce the heavenly secrets, how could they know more


    than him?


    Boom!


    The purple door closed and gradually vanished in the purple light. The storm-like purple light finally condensed into a point and suddenly shattered into nothingness.


    ¡°It¡¯s over¡­ Truth Listener has left¡­¡± The Four Dimitrios Monkeys¡¯ faces were ashen. ¡°Haha, are the four of you jokers? You¡¯re killing me. You wanted to use that nonsense to


    fool him. Don¡¯t you know who that person is?¡± A rich and beautiful nobleman in a white fur coat stood in the air above the Four Dimitrios Monkeys and said with a smile.


    ¡°You darn fellow, you dare stand before us?


    Why didn¡¯t you stop him from taking Truth Listener away?¡± The Four Dimitrios Monkeys roared angrily at the white-robed nobleman.


    ¡°Why should I stop him?¡± The nobleman curled his lips and said disdainfully. ¡°You should know the consequences if Truth Listener is discovered by them,¡± the Long-Armed Ape Monkey said in a deep voice. ¡°How would I know the consequences? I¡¯m not his father.¡± The nobleman cursed. ¡°I¡¯m just a


    calm Adonis. What do I have to stop him? The four of you didn¡¯t even dare to stop him. Why should I? Will you be responsible if my handsome face is accidentally injured?¡± ¡°Why don¡¯t you just die?¡± The Intelligent Stone Monkey wore an angry expression, but it couldn¡¯t speak with the nobleman¡¯s eloquence. It only managed to come up with one sentence.


    ¡°Truth Listener has already been taken away


    by him. It¡¯s too late to say anything now,¡± the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey said with a sigh. ¡°You have yourself to blame. Why didn¡¯t you


    take action in the past? Now that he¡¯s the ruler of a universe, what¡¯s the point of stopping him?¡± the nobleman curled his lips. ¡°Who would have expected him to succeed in


    the end? That Devil King was clearly the destined one.¡± The Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey felt even more helpless when it heard


    that. ¡°That¡¯s why you can¡¯t beat the heavens no


    matter how much plotting you do. Instead of wasting your time on useless things, you might as well drink a little more.¡± The nobleman looked at the spot where the purple door had


    vanished and turned to slowly leave. ¡°Truth Listener doesn¡¯t belong here to begin with. Leaving with him is a hundred times better than cowering here with the four of you cowards.¡±


    The Four Dimitrios Monkeys were enraged and


    were about to attack the nobleman, but he was nowhere to be seen. What is this place? Zhou Wen looked at the


    scene in front of him in a daze. This was


    somewhat different from what he had imagined.


    The place he stood was before a huge tomb that was as huge as a mountain. Around him was a boundless void. This huge tomb was actually floating in the void.


    On the mountain-like tomb, there were all sorts of strange objects stuck in it. There were


    common things like swords, sabers, and axes. There were also some strange things, such as rulers, banners, cauldrons, furnaces, and even a broom stuck upside down.


    No matter what item it was, it seemed to have


    a mysterious power flowing in it. Every item


    was unbelievable.


    If he could take back any item here, it would probably be an earth-shattering divine item. However, many of these divine objects had already snapped, leaving only their incomplete bodies embedded in the tomb, adding a hint of sorrow to the tomb.


    At the top of the tomb was a cloth flag. It looked ordinary and nothing special.


    However, on the cloth flag, there were the words: Destiny Divination!


    Zhou Wen silently chanted the words. Although the flag didn¡¯t have anything special about it, the words gave him a mysterious feeling. ¡°Welcome to the world without gods. This will


    be the place where you begin and end. Please leave an item that represents you on the Heavenly Tomb. If you die there, this item will be your last tombstone. The item will remain intact as long as you are alive. Regardless of whether you were a god or devil, immortal or


    saint in the past, from now on, you will only struggle to survive in that terrifying world as a normal person. There are no gods, immortals, or saints in that world because even the most


    ordinary person was once the ruler of a world. And in that world, you are just an ordinary person who can die at any time. What you need to do is live on and walk to the end¡­¡±


    There were no words engraved in front of the


    a


    grave. The tombstone that resembled wordless heavenly monument suddenly lit up as a voice sounded in Zhou Wen¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Zhou Wen asked the tomb. There was no answer. No matter what Zhou Wen said, he didn¡¯t receive any response. Furthermore, he couldn¡¯t find a way to leave. The boundless void seemed endless. He couldn¡¯t sense any life, not even the existence of matter. It was as though there was only one


    tomb in the entire world.


    Zhou Wen thought for a moment and removed the Human Sovereign Stone Saber at his waist before casually stabbing it into the grave. Although the voice didn¡¯t say what needed to


    be left behind¡ªprobably anything-Zhou Wen still decided to leave the Human Sovereign Stone Saber behind. If any creature from Earth or the dimension came here in the future, they


    should be able to recognize the Human Sovereign Stone Saber and determine his life and death from its condition.


    Of course, at Zhou Wen¡¯s level, the Human Sovereign Stone Saber was already useless to him. It was no different from an ordinary weapon. It was useless keeping it by his side.


    The Human Sovereign Stone Saber stabbed into the Heavenly Tomb, and the light on the tombstone immediately transformed into a vortex tunnel. At the other end of the tunnel


    was likely the ¡°world without gods¡± mentioned by the voice.


    Live to the end¡­ Live to the end¡­ When Zhou Wen was devoured by the vortex, he heard the


    voice again, constantly echoing in his ears. ¡°System unlocked¡­ Vitality evaluation¡­ Rookie Lv. 1¡­ Guardian 1¡­ Discovered lifeform that can be converted into Destiny Guardian¡­ Discovered lifeform that can be converted into a Guardian¡­ Converting¡­ Discovered lifeform that can be converted into a Guardian¡­ Converting¡­ Discovered lifeform that can¡¯t be converted into a Guardian¡­ Energy restructuring¡­ Energy restructuring¡­ Error¡­.. Error¡­ This lifeform can¡¯t be restructured¡­ Resetting scan¡­ Origin of lifeform¡­ Z14 spacetime¡­ Name: Fiend-Armored Tiger Soul General¡­ Can¡¯t be reconstructed¡­ Equivalent transformation into a Guardian¡­ Lifeform can¡¯t be converted into a Guardian¡­ Energy restructuring¡­ Restructuring failed¡­¡± Wen kept hearing a voice in his mind. It was likely the voice of the phone¡¯s system. Then, he felt his vision go black as he fell unconscious. ¡°You¡¯re finally here¡­ My lovely¡­ toy¡­¡± In a


    Zhou


    huge prison in the cosmos, there was only one bespectacled female prisoner. She seemed to sense something as she looked up at the cosmos beyond the prison. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly as she wore an intriguing smile. She was like a hunter who had discovered her prey.


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 Chapter 1904 - Epilogue

    Chapter 1904 Epilogue


    Two girls were playing on the grass when they suddenly saw a snow-white antelope walk past them. Their eyes lit up.


    The antelope was abnormally handsome. Its white fur was as soft as a plush toy. It didn¡¯t appear bald like an ordinary antelope.


    The two girls ran over and wanted to feed the antelope some grass.


    The antelope was docile and obedient. It lowered its head and slowly ate the grass that the little girl brought over, delighting the two girls even more. They reached out their tiny hands to stroke the antelope¡¯s fur; it looked like it was enjoying itself.


    ¡°You¡¯re actually eating grass. Have some integrity, would you?¡± A man walked over and looked at the antelope.


    The two girls jumped in fright, thinking that the antelope belonged to the man. They hurriedly apologized to the man for touching his antelope.


    The man smiled and handed some candy to the two girls, sending them elsewhere to play.


    ¡°Integrity? Can that stuff be eaten?¡± The antelope suddenly turned into a nobleman in a white fur coat. It spat out the grass in its mouth and said disapprovingly, ¡°Besides, Zhou Lingfeng, compared to you, I believe my integrity is probably perfect.¡±


    ¡°Why aren¡¯t you enjoying yourself on Mount Laojun? Why are you here?¡± Zhou Lingfeng sized up the antelope and said in surprise, ¡°Have your injuries healed?¡±


    ¡°The Race Artifacts are now on Earth. There¡¯s almost infinite Essence Energy and various nomological powers on Earth. If I can¡¯t recover in such an environment, would I have been able to survive?¡± The antelope smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s all thanks to your good son. Otherwise, my injuries would have killed me.¡¯


    ¡°Who asked you to tempt fate? You¡¯re clearly a loser, but you chose to force open that door,¡± Zhou Lingfeng curled his lips and said.


    ¡°You¡¯re the loser. Your entire family consists of losers. If you hadn¡¯t instigated me, would I have left Mount Laojun?¡± The antelope fumed.


    ¡°How was I the one instigating you? Did I push or pull you into doing it? You were the one who wanted to leave,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said as he shrugged.


    ¡°Hmph, if you hadn¡¯t told me how nice the outside world is, would I have opened that screwed-up door?¡± The antelope snorted coldly.


    ¡°I was telling the truth. Not a single word of falsehood.¡± Zhou Lingfeng smiled.


    ¡°Who knows if what you said is true. It¡¯s not like I managed to leave.¡± The antelope stared at Zhou Lingfeng and said, ¡°Although you can¡¯t return, your son¡¯s return can be considered a fulfillment of your wish.¡±


    ¡°Who knows if it¡¯s a blessing or a curse. I originally wanted him to live here peacefully for the rest of his life. I never expected him to reach this stage. This wasn¡¯t my intention.¡± Zhou Lingfeng sighed.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to worry about? He¡¯s your son. He belongs to that world to begin with,¡± the antelope said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as simple as you put it. I was just a prisoner who had been stripped of everything. I can¡¯t be considered a member of that world. Furthermore, he has half of Earth¡¯s blood. He basically has nothing to do with that world.¡± After Zhou Lingfeng said that, he frowned and asked, ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°I want to leave. I came to ask if you have any other solutions?¡± the antelope said with


    narrowed eyes.


    ¡°Yes, make a Cosmic coin yourself and open


    the door,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said with a smile.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t have come looking for you if I knew how to make one.¡± The antelope rolled its eyes at him. ¡°You are from that world. Don¡¯t you know any other methods? Is there a back door or something?¡±


    ¡°If I hadn¡¯t become a prisoner, it wouldn¡¯t


    have been difficult for me to send you out. Now, there¡¯s nothing I can do. However, you can try to find the other exiled prisoners. Perhaps they will have a solution,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said.


    ¡°Find my ass? Why would I come to you if I


    could find them? I¡¯ve waited at Mount Laojun for thousands of years, but I didn¡¯t get to meet Laozi. I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s dead or did he return. You were the only prisoner in the past few millennia. Who am I to find?¡± The antelope cursed, looking extremely incompatible with his noble look.


    ¡°Then there¡¯s nothing I can do about it. I¡¯ve


    only been here for a few decades. If you can¡¯t find one, I can¡¯t find one either. Besides, we nearly caused a huge disaster the last time we abducted Truth Listener from the Four Dimitrios Monkeys to open the door. It nearly caused the dimensional zones to break out ahead of time. Truth Listener was also reduced


    to its original state due to excessive expenditure of its essence. If you hadn¡¯t let it absorb energy for recovery by secretly swapping it with Small Buddha Temple¡¯s Companion Egg, I¡¯m afraid you wouldn¡¯t have been able to stay alive.¡± Zhou Lingfeng thought for a moment and said, ¡°Now that Truth


    Listener has been taken away, the only Cosmic coin that the female prisoner brought is gone. If you want to leave, there¡¯s no other solution but to create a Cosmic coin yourself.¡± ¡°You were both prisoners, but why was that woman treated so well? You f*cking fell like a dog. Not only did she come on a ship, but she also had a Cosmic coin. That¡¯s a stark difference. Does that woman have a very strong backer in your world? And you are just a poor fellow with nothing.¡± The antelope chuckled. ¡°I don¡¯t know if she has a backer, but that ship


    and Cosmic coin weren¡¯t for her. They were for her child. She was a prisoner, but her child


    wasn¡¯t. That¡¯s why there was a ship and a Cosmic coin. They were for her child to use when she grew up. However, I think there¡¯s still something wrong. In theory, a pregnant woman shouldn¡¯t be exiled here. Not only was she exiled, but her memories were also tampered with. Furthermore, she brought so many things that don¡¯t belong to this world. This is very problematic,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said. ¡°Didn¡¯t you say that you once led a glorious life


    in that world? Did you never hear of the Lost Immortal Sutra?¡± the antelope said.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m very certain that there¡¯s no Lost Immortal Sutra in the famous cultivation techniques in that world,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said.


    ¡°Is there a possibility that your memories were also tampered with?¡± the antelope said sinisterly.


    Zhou Lingfeng¡¯s expression changed slightly. ¡°What you said isn¡¯t impossible, but the indications put it at a very low probability.¡±


    ¡°As long as there¡¯s a possibility, it¡¯s possible, right?¡± The antelope curled its lips and said, ¡°Forget it. There¡¯s no point in saying this now.


    Let¡¯s think about how to create a Cosmic coin. How do we get that thing?¡±


    ¡°First, find a Cosmic lifeform and turn it into a


    Cosmic coin,¡± Zhou Lingfeng answered with a serious expression.


    ¡°How?¡± The antelope frowned. ¡°How would I know? It¡¯s not like I can do it.¡±


    Zhou Lingfeng spread out his hands and said, ¡°In that world, one needs to use a special place to turn Cosmic lifeforms into Cosmic coins. This isn¡¯t that world, nor is there such a place. How would I know how to do the transformation? I¡¯ve heard of people who can turn Cosmic lifeforms into Cosmic coins, but


    that¡¯s only a legend. No one has seen them before.¡±


    ¡°Cut the crap. I might as well head back to wait


    for Laozi.¡± The antelope looked displeased as it turned around and left.


    ¡°Enjoy life. The outside world isn¡¯t as good as you think,¡± Zhou Lingfeng said to the antelope. ¡°F*ck, that¡¯s not what you said decades ago when you tempted me.¡± The antelope gave him the middle finger without turning its head. Zhou Lingfeng smiled and said, ¡°I just had the


    intention to escape and return back then. Now


    that I think about it, staying here isn¡¯t a bad idea.¡± ¡°F*ck off.¡± The antelope vanished without looking back.


    Zhou Lingfeng looked in the direction where the antelope had vanished for a while before retracting his gaze. He muttered to himself, ¡°I


    hope the Lost Immortal Sutra doesn¡¯t really belong to that woman. Otherwise, Little Wen will be in big trouble.¡±


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 Chapter 1905-END - Bonus Chapter: Antelope’s Gift

    Chapter 1905 Bonus Chapter: Antelope¡¯s Gift


    There was no one around Guide Ancient City who didn¡¯t know Carpenter Zhou.


    There was nothing to say about his carpentry skills passed down from his ancestors. Thanks to these skills, such as making beds, cabinets, and even building houses, he could complete all of them using standard tenon and mortise structures without using even a nail, much less a nail gun.


    Some old families would ask Carpenter Zhou for help when they moved to a new house or got married.


    Carpenter Zhou¡¯s craftsmanship was good and he was honest. He never bickered with others. If the client was rich and gave more, he would accept what he deserved with a smile. Poorer clients could pay less, and he would still accept it with a smile, without a care.


    If the neighbors were really in trouble, he would provide them with meals and never complain.


    He was such a good person, but the heavens didn¡¯t bless him. He and his wife were already in their early fifties, but they were barren. This was Carpenter Zhou¡¯s only regret.


    Ancient City recently underwent renovations. The city officials wanted to restore this unique ancient city to its appearance back in its heyday. Therefore, the city leadership sought out Carpenter Zhou and got him to help repair some ancient houses and wooden buildings. While cleaning an old courtyard, Carpenter Zhou and a few workers dug out a broken wooden box from an ancient well.


    At first, the workers imagined that they had dug up some treasure, but when they opened the box, they saw that it was filled with mud and water.


    After pouring out the mud and water, they found a phone that could no longer be turned on. There were also all kinds of random stuff. Most of them were rusty. There was also something that looked like a rubber ball.


    When they saw the phone, the workers immediately realized that it was not an antique treasure at all. They lost interest, believing that someone had thrown their rubbish into the abandoned ancient well.


    Carpenter Zhou found the wooden box rather interesting, so he tidied up the things inside and brought them home. After cleaning them up, he placed the random items in the storeroom and only studied the wooden box.


    This wooden box didn¡¯t have any nails, nor did it use any glue. It was obvious that it was made with good workmanship. Carpenter Zhou had been a carpenter for most of his life, but he had never seen such workmanship. He held the wooden box in his hand and studied it all day.


    That day, Carpenter Zhou was preparing to head out to work. His home was in Ancient City, so he could have slept a little longer. Furthermore, a master like him actually didn¡¯t have to go so early. There were even many things that he didn¡¯t have to do personally.


    However, Carpenter Zhou had been


    hardworking for most of his life. He really felt uncomfortable watching others work while he sat idle.


    Carpenter Zhou couldn¡¯t sleep well if there was still work to be done. He got up at dawn, put on his clothes, prepared breakfast for his wife, and placed it on the table. Then, he pushed open the door and prepared to head to the construction site to think about what to do


    next.


    But the moment he pushed open the door, Carpenter Zhou was stunned.


    He saw a fair and fat antelope standing at the door. That antelope exuded a godly presence.


    Its white curly hair was as white as cotton. It was tall, big, handsome, and extremely clean.


    Carpenter Zhou had seen antelopes on television before, but none of the antelopes on TV had such long curly hair. None of them were as fair and amazing as this one. What surprised Carpenter Zhou even more was that the curly-haired antelope was holding a child that looked to be a few months old in its


    mouth.


    The child was wearing dungarees and the antelope held the strap in its mouth. Its big black eyes met Carpenter Zhou¡¯s.


    Ow!


    The curly-haired white antelope suddenly


    opened its mouth and let out a cry. The child in its mouth also fell to the ground. Then, it turned around and fled, disappearing in a blink


    of an eye.


    The child fell to the ground and immediately cried out in pain. Carpenter Zhou hurriedly carried the child and checked if he was injured.


    Fortunately, the child was not injured; it was just a fall.


    Carpenter Zhou carried the child back home


    and asked his wife to take care of him. After


    dawn, he went to the police station to get the police to help find the child¡¯s family. However, no one had reported a missing child despite the police¡¯s investigations. When they heard that a curly-haired white antelope had brought the child to Carpenter Zhou¡¯s house, all of them found it odd.


    The Ancient City was only so big. The news of the antelope bringing a child to a barren couple quickly spread throughout the city. People said that the heavens found Carpenter Zhou a good man and got the antelope to give him a son. In the beginning, Carpenter Zhou did not believe in such things. However, as time passed, with no one coming forward to claim the child, they took care of the child. The old


    couple liked the child very much, so they wanted to adopt him.


    After a few months of not finding the child¡¯s


    parents, and with the help of the relevant department, the old couple successfully adopted the child. They named him Zhou


    Yangyang, and the family of three started a new life.


    Zhou Yangyang was not even a year old, but he did not cry or make a fuss. He was also good-looking. Other than being lazy and picky, he was really good in every aspect.


    A child of this age should be at the age where


    he should eat and play. The old couple was not stingy and bought him all kinds of delicious


    food. They treated him like a treasure and doted on him every day, unwilling to leave him


    for a moment, afraid that he would bump into something.


    One day, Carpenter Zhou went out to work the


    night shift. His wife rocked Zhou Yangyang to sleep. Seeing that the woman was sound asleep, Zhou Yangyang suddenly got up quietly and tiptoed out of bed. He opened the door to the courtyard and gently opened the main door. People in the know would know that this was a


    child less than a year old, but those not in the know would think he was a recalcitrant thief. The door cracked open, and an antelope¡¯s head sneaked in. It looked around and realized that there was no one else other than Zhou Yangyang before quickly entering. ¡°Darn you, you actually have the cheek return? You didn¡¯t bring me along when you


    to


    fled,¡± Zhou Yangyang said under his breath. His fluency and expression did not make him look like a child who was less than a year old.


    ¡°Ahem, you can¡¯t blame me. You know my current situation. I don¡¯t have any Essence Energy at all. I¡¯m not much different from an ordinary antelope. If I¡¯m really captured, I might be roasted into lamb skewers. How can I


    not run?¡± the curly-haired antelope said awkwardly.


    ¡°Hmph, why are you back?¡± Zhou Yangyang said angrily.


    ¡°Hehe, didn¡¯t we agree that if we find something, we¡¯ll do fifty-fifty? You can¡¯t have it all for yourself. You¡¯ve infiltrated for a few


    months. Have you found anything?¡± the antelope asked with a chuckle. ¡°What¡¯s there to find? That couple watches


    over me 24 hours a day. I don¡¯t even dare to


    speak. How am I to find anything?¡± Zhou Yangyang rolled his eyes. Just as the antelope was about to say something, it heard a voice coming from the back room. It turned around and walked out, not forgetting to remind Zhou Yangyang, ¡°Don¡¯t forget who saved you when you first arrived. Remember to give me half of what you


    get.¡±


    The antelope crawled out of the door. Soon, Carpenter Zhou¡¯s wife hurriedly walked out of the house. When she saw Zhou Yangyang sitting obediently on a small stool in the yard, she heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°Yangyang, why did you run out by yourself? My baby, I was so worried.¡± The woman


    carried Zhou Yangyang and kissed him on the cheek lovingly. Zhou Yangyang looked helpless. After being carried back into the house by the woman, Zhou Yangyang sat helplessly in the crib. The woman even gave him a puppet to play with.


    Zhou Yangyang waited for the woman to fall asleep and snore before carefully climbing out of the crib and searching the room. According to his observations over the past two to three months, the item was definitely in the


    storeroom.


    He walked quietly to the door of the storeroom, but he realized that he could not reach the door handle. He muttered gloomily, ¡°That darn b*tch. It¡¯s fine if you exile me, but you even


    made me an infant. I¡¯ll teach you a lesson when I get back.¡± Zhou Yangyang had no choice. He looked around and saw a small wooden stool to the side. He had no choice but to move the stool


    over. Just as he placed it at the door of the storeroom, he heard the woman¡¯s snoring stop. There was also the sound of her body turning. She seemed to be getting up. Zhou Yangyang hurriedly moved the stool back


    and sat down, pretending to be very obedient. But after a while, he heard the woman snoring


    again. It turned out that the woman had only turned in her sleep. How can a woman snore like that? Zhou Yangyang lifted the stool gloomily and moved it to the door of the storeroom. His body was really too tiny and he didn¡¯t have


    any strength at all. Even moving a stool was


    exhausting.


    Just as Zhou Yangyang was about to step on the stool to open the door, the woman¡¯s snoring stopped again. This time, it sounded like she


    was about to wake up. Zhou Yangyang hurriedly moved the stool back and sat down obediently.


    But after a while, there was another snore from


    the back room. This made Zhou Yangyang so depressed that he almost blew a gasket. Gritting his teeth, he moved the stool over.


    This time, Zhou Yangyang was determined to the door.


    open I¡¯m just a child anyway. What¡¯s wrong with being curious? So what if I¡¯m found out? It


    doesn¡¯t matter. I¡¯m not going to put up an act anymore. I want to open the door! Zhou Yangyang stood on the stool angrily. Who cares


    about that woman? I just want to open the door.


    Zhou Yangyang


    placed his hand on the


    doorknob and was about to open the door when


    he suddenly felt a large force at his waist that


    lifted him up.


    ¡°Yangyang, what are you doing here?¡± Carpenter Zhou, who had just finished his


    night shift, was back. He picked up Zhou Yangyang and kissed him on the face. Damn Earthlings, why do you like the faces of


    your loved ones so much? Don¡¯t you have a


    face yourself? Zhou Yangyang¡¯s face was filled with resistance and helplessness.


    ¡°Yangyang, you can¡¯t open this door. Otherwise, you¡¯ll be in big trouble,¡± Carpenter


    Zhou pointed at the door of the storeroom and


    said.


    Zhou Yangyang thought to himself, As expected, the item should be inside. It seems


    that this human has discovered that those


    things are unusual. Carpenter Zhou¡¯s words made Zhou Yangyang even more determined to search the storeroom. However, Carpenter Zhou and his wife were too


    concerned about him and were afraid of any accidents.


    They were in their fifties and had finally gotten


    a son. How could they not care?


    Any stir would have the couple immediately appear beside Zhou Yangyang. It could be said


    that they never left his side, causing Zhou Yangyang¡¯s plan to fail again and again. Zhou Yangyang nearly went crazy. If it weren¡¯t


    for the fact that he had turned into a baby, he


    would have chopped the couple on the neck


    and knocked them out.


    After putting up with this for many more days,


    Zhou Yangyang finally found a perfect


    opportunity.


    Carpenter Zhou went out to work while the woman washed clothes in the yard. Zhou Yangyang, who was pretending to be


    asleep, secretly got up and carried the small stool to the door of the storeroom. He stood on it and held the handle. He even stole a few glances outside. After confirming that the woman would not come in, he pressed the


    handle and pulled the door open. My babies¡­ here I come¡­ Eh¡­


    Zhou Yangyang only opened a sliver, but the


    door opened fully by itself. Zhou Yangyang


    only saw cardboard boxes piled up inside. They


    were so full that they were about to overflow.


    The door


    had been closed with great difficulty previously. Now that Zhou Yangyang pulled it open, the cardboard boxes inside instantly lost


    their balance and surged out like a flood,


    instantly drowning Zhou Yangyang.


    ¡°Ah¡­ Yangyang¡­¡± When the woman heard the


    sounds, she hurriedly ran into the house. When


    she saw the situation, she immediately pounced forward and pushed away the cardboard boxes. She picked up Zhou Yangyang, whose face was bruised and swollen,


    and said with an aching heart, ¡°Yangyang, good Yangyang¡­ Yangyang, don¡¯t cry¡­ It¡¯s all Mommy¡¯s fault¡­ Mommy shouldn¡¯t have bought so many things online¡­¡±


    The plan


    failed again!


    Damn female Earthling¡­ Why did you buy so much useless junk¡­ You already bought it¡­ so


    why didn¡¯t you even open it¡­ It hurts so


    much¡­ Boohoo¡­ Zhou Yangyang was


    devastated.


    After recuperating for a few days, Zhou Yangyang¡¯s injuries finally recovered under the


    couple¡¯s meticulous care.


    However, because of what had happened, the


    couple kept a


    closer eye on him. They even locked the door of the storeroom to prevent


    Zhou Yangyang from opening it again. Do you think that you can stop the number one


    military advisor in the universe, Fengling? Earthlings, you are too naive. Zhou Yangyang


    held a key in his hand and smiled sinisterly. glanced at the woman sleeping


    Zhou Yangyang


    soundly in the room. This time, he had come prepared. While the woman was asleep, he stuffed earplugs into her ears. The woman had been taking care of him day and night for the past few days. She was so tired that she slept


    soundly and did not even know that she had


    earplugs in.


    He stood on the small stool again and opened


    the door with the key. Then, he jumped to the


    side elegantly and watched the boxes fall to the ground. He elegantly bowed, as though he was


    making a curtain call.


    A genius is a genius. Even if he becomes a


    baby, he¡¯s still a genius baby. How can such a small matter stump me? Zhou Yangyang


    climbed over the mountain-like cardboard


    boxes and arrived in the storeroom.


    He finally saw the item of his dreams. At the


    far end of the storeroom was a large wooden


    box that should contain what he wanted.


    Babies, I¡¯m here! Zhou Yangyang came to the


    wooden box and used all his strength to open


    the lid.


    Bang!


    Zhou Yangyang only saw a red object pop out


    of the box and smash straight into his face. He


    fell backward onto the cardboard boxes, his nose bleeding.


    Inside the wooden box, a red boxing glove was shaking continuously. Below it was a thick and


    large


    spring.


    Why did you buy such a thing¡­ Zhou Yangyang


    lay on the pile of cardboard boxes with a look


    of despair. Tears fell from the corners of his


    eyes.


    ¡°Baby¡­¡± The woman¡¯s devastating cry


    sounded


    again.


    As expected, Zhou Yangyang rested for a few more days.


    Failure after failure made Zhou Yangyang


    almost think that this couple had discovered


    his true identity and were deliberately messing


    with him.


    However, no matter how he looked at it, it did


    not seem like it. Every plan ended in failure and he was covered


    in injuries.


    When Zhou Yangyang thought that he had been


    possessed by the God of Misfortune and was


    about to despair, he was pleasantly surprised. Carpenter Zhou took out a wooden box for him


    to play with. When the wooden box was


    opened, Zhou Yangyang¡¯s eyes lit up. He was


    so excited that he thought he had finally been


    doted on by God.


    The items in the wooden box were things he


    had


    dreamed of. The phone, the Cosmic coin, Companion Egg¡­


    the Earth


    That night, Zhou Yangyang took advantage of


    the fact that the couple had fallen asleep and


    prepared to escape.


    After quietly opening the door, the antelope


    was already waiting outside. Seeing Zhou Yangyang come out, the antelope hurriedly rushed out of the shadows in the alley when it


    saw that there was no one around. It hurriedly


    asked, ¡°Did you succeed?¡±


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Zhou Yangyang patted


    the trash bag he was carrying proudly.


    ¡°Everything is inside. Let¡¯s go.¡± Without another word, the antelope picked up


    Zhou Yangyang and threw him onto its back


    before running towards the city gate.


    I¡¯m finally free. Fengling looked at the small


    courtyard that was gradually disappearing. For


    some reason, he felt a little uncomfortable.


    Zhou Yangyang was lost!


    Carpenter Zhou and his wife nearly cried themselves blind. They searched everywhere for Zhou Yangyang, asking everyone they saw.


    They searched everywhere, but they could not find any trace of Zhou Yangyang. The police helped search for him when they reported the


    lost child, but they failed to find any clues.


    Zhou Yangyang seemed to have disappeared


    into thin air.


    Carpenter Zhou and his wife seemed to lose


    their souls. They were in a daze. They seemed


    to have aged significantly in a few days. They


    even sprouted white hair.


    The woman found any child around Zhou


    Yangyang¡¯s age resembling Zhou Yangyang. Many times, she would pounce on him in


    surprise, only to be disappointed that she had


    been mistaken.


    The couple could not let go of the child. In the


    end, they pooled their family¡¯s money


    and


    drove the pickup truck that Carpenter Zhou usually used to deliver wood. They planned to


    go out and look for Zhou Yangyang. Even if


    they had to travel all over the country, they had to find the child.


    Carpenter Zhou drove the pickup with his wife. There was a small flag made from Zhou


    Yangyang¡¯s photo on the pickup. In the back


    row were pots, pans, blankets, and other daily


    necessities.


    The couple had just driven out of the city gate handsome snow-white antelope standing in


    when they were stunned. They saw a


    the middle of the road with a dejected child in


    its mouth. It seemed to be smiling at them.


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